{"ID":"FMD_test_0","claim":"When I ran for Congress, I promised to refuse money from corporate PACs. Ive kept that promise.","posted":"08\/19\/2020","sci_digest":["Rep. Abigail Spanberger says she's kept a promise to reject corporate PAC money., She does, however, accept contributions from leadership PACs that raise money from corporate PACs., The Center for Responsive Politics estimates 2.6% of donations to Spanberger is indirect money from corporate PACs."],"justification":"Rep. Abigail Spanberger sits in a yard with her parents during aTV ad, talking about the lessons they imparted. Growing up, my parents taught me, Correct whats wrong, maintain whats right, the Virginia Democrat says. Then, Spanberger addresses something shes trying to correct: Corporate donations to political campaigns. When I ran for Congress, I promised to refuse money from corporate PACs, she says. Ive kept that promise. Spanberger is seeking a second term this fall in one of the nations most closely watched House races. Shes opposed by Republican state Del. Nick Freitas in Virginias 7th District which, prior to Spanbergers election in 2018, had a long history of voting Republican. The National Republican Campaign CommitteesaysSpanberger islyingin her ad and accepting backdoor corporate contributions. So we fact-checked Spanbergers claim that shes spurned corporate PAC contributions, and found it needs elaboration. According to herlatest filingswith the Federal Election Commission, Spanberger has raised $4.2 million in contributions since the start of 2019 through the end of June 2020. We found no money that came directly from corporations. But the NRCC has a small point. While Spanberger refuses direct corporate donations, she accepts contributions from PACs that do take corporate contributions. In other words, she receives a small amount of corporate PAC money that has been filtered. A corporate PAC is affiliated with a specific company that gathers donations from its employees and distributes it to politicians and political interest groups. Corporate funds cannot be contributed to the PAC. There are two main conduits that receive corporate PAC money and pass it on. One of the pipelines is formed by leadership PACs, which are set up bymostmembers of Congress to help candidates from their party. For example, Spanberger has received a maximum $10,000 from the Forward Together PAC, associated with Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va. Forward Together hasaccepted contributionsfrom a list of corporations, including Merck, Citigroup, Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, General Electric and Altria. We counted 60 leadership PACs that have contributed to Spanbergers campaign. The second conduit is formed by ideological PACs, which are established by groups focusing on special causes, such as regulation, defense or health care. Spanberger hasreceived $651,000from PACs since the start of 2019. About $111,000 of that money filtered down from corporate PACs, according to the Center for Responsive Politics - a Washington nonprofit that tracks political money. The Center made its estimate by converting the percentage of money each Spanberger PAC donor received from corporations to a fraction of money it gave to her campaign. Perspective As weve said, Spanberger has raised $4.2 million since 2019 began. The $111,000 that trickled in from corporations is 2.6% of all contributions to her campaign. Sixty members of Congress - including three Republicans - have promised not to accept corporate money, according to End Citizens United, a Washington nonprofit seeking to tighten campaign finance laws. Rep. Elaine Luria, D-2nd, is the only other Virginia congress member to make the pledge. Campaign finance advocates told us theyre unaware of any incumbent who is declining both corporate and leadership PAC money. End Citizens United has endorsed Spanberger largely because of her no-corporate-money pledge and is not upset by her acceptance of leadership PAC money, according to Adam Bozzi, spokesman for the organization. Michael Beckel, research director for Issue One, another Washington non-profit seeking campaign finance reform, also told us Spanberger has been consistent. Bozzi and Beckel said direct contributions often give corporations access to politicians. They said office holders are far less likely to feel beholden to a corporation when its money has been filtered through a leadership PAC. If anything, the candidate may feel indebted to the politician whose leadership PAC contributed to his or her campaign, Beckel said. Spanberger has kept her promise to voters, Bozzi said. Sarah Bryner, research director for the Center for Responsive Politics, said its become vogue for Democrats to decline corporate PAC money, but voters should be aware. Candidates trying to remove themselves are putting themselves in an awkward position because to completely shut themselves off from corporate donations right now is impossible, she said...If you need money to run a political campaign, unless youre independently wealthy, youre getting money from people. And most people work for corporations. Bettina Weiss, Spanbergers campaign manager, said, Abigail does not take corporate PAC money. Full stop. She accused Republicans of waging a farcical attack on Spanbergers fundraising. Weiss noted that Spanberger cosponsored theFor the People Act of 2019, a comprehensive voting rights, campaign finance and ethics bill aimed at reducing corporate influence on Congress. The measure, with236 cosponsors, passed the House and has stalled in the Senate. A final note:PolitiFact state bureaus have recently fact-checkedtwosimilarclaims by politicians who said they have rejected corporate PAC money, but didnt factor in leadership PAC money. Both claims were rated Mostly True. Our Ruling Spanberger says shes kept her promise to refuse corporate PAC donations. Shes raised $4.2 million - none directly from corporations, although an estimated $111,000 of corporate money has come in indirectly through other PAC contributions. Thats less than 2.6% of her campaigns take, but it counts. Realizing that it may be impossible to block all traces of corporate money from a successful congressional campaign, we rate Spanbergers statement Mostly True.","issues":["Campaign Finance","Virginia"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1","claim":"Are individuals involved in sex trafficking marking vehicles as possible targets?","posted":"08\/25\/2020","sci_digest":["Human trafficking is a real problem in the world, but the schemes outlined in many viral rumors like this one are not."],"justification":"In August 2020, a photograph showing the figures \"1f1b\" written on the back window of a vehicle began circulating on social media, accompanied by a warning about an alleged tactic used by sex traffickers to flag potential targets. Those sharing this meme claimed that this term stood for either \"1 female 1 boy\" or \"1 female 1 baby,\" asserting that cars were being tagged with these codes by sex traffickers. The meme gained viral traction when it was posted on actor James Woods' Twitter account. The text read: \"A very close friend of mine was out today doing shopping with her child at the Bricktown Walmart. When she left the store, a lady stopped her and made her aware of what was written on her back window (1f1b). I'm just going to assume that it stands for 1 female 1 baby. She was then informed that this is how sex traffickers are tagging cars. Please, please, mothers, fathers, grandparents, aunts, and uncles, be AWARE! Feel free to share! Won't be tagging my friend for personal reasons.\" The claims made in this viral social media post are unfounded. Police in Bricktown, New Jersey, have stated that they are unaware of any such activity. Before we examine the police statement regarding this matter, let's consider the game of telephone that helped this rumor spread. The text of this post indicates that this incident happened to a \"friend of mine.\" As we read further, we see that this \"friend\" was warned about this new criminal tactic by a random stranger\u2014not a police officer, a news reporter, or even a Walmart employee, just an anonymous \"lady.\" The original post received a few thousand shares, but this post garnered far wider circulation. As we moved further away from the rumor's origins, the details became increasingly muddled. One poster, for instance, claimed that this incident took place in Bricktown, Oklahoma City, despite the fact that there is no Walmart in that location. When we attempt to trace this rumor back to its origins, we find that the claim is based on something someone saw on Facebook, written by a person asserting that their friend had heard from a stranger that the code \"1f1b\" was being used by sex traffickers to flag future targets. In other words, this rumor lacks credible origins. The local Patch website reported that Brick Township Sgt. Jim Kelly said the department had not been notified. \"We have no reports of anything like this,\" Kelly stated. He also mentioned that the department has not been alerted by state or federal authorities about any information indicating that criminals are marking vehicles \"as a method for anything.\" It's simply another Facebook rumor without any facts, Kelly said. A new variant of this rumor emerged on social media in July 2021. \"AND THIS, THIS IS WHY I CARRY! Not only do I carry, but I'm educated in how to defend myself if ever put in a circumstance like this! Please be aware of your surroundings AT ALL TIMES!\" On July 27, 2021, at around 3:30 PM, between Prairie Grove and Hogeye, a truck had a black Tahoe stop in front of it. A man got out and began asking the female driver of the truck for directions. She rolled down her window but had her seatbelt on and doors locked. As the man approached, he punched her in her left eye and cut her arm. Thankfully, she was carrying and grabbed her gun. He fled the scene. She called the police, who advised her that the mark \"1FW\" on her back window is a human trafficking mark. She had been marked somewhere, and this man followed her; when she was on a road alone, he attempted to take her. Thankfully, she is home with her family tonight. We are told they often mark mailboxes and trash cans too. This particular marking stands for one female white. This is not the first time that such baseless warnings have gone viral on social media. In July 2019, for example, we reported on the false claim that sex traffickers were flagging targets by placing zip ties on houses, mailboxes, or vehicles. In December of that year, a false rumor circulated that sex traffickers were lying down in front of vehicles to trick them into stopping. That same month saw the spread of another false rumor claiming that roses were being placed on cars to mark potential targets. Human trafficking is a real problem in the world, but the schemes described above are not based on any real-world threats. In fact, The Polaris Project, a non-profit that runs the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline, states that the forced kidnapping aspect of the aforementioned rumors is one of the most prevalent myths regarding trafficking: The Polaris Project Myth: It's always or usually a violent crime. Fact: The most pervasive myth about human trafficking is that it often involves kidnapping or physically forcing someone into a situation. In reality, most traffickers use psychological means such as tricking, defrauding, manipulating, or threatening victims into providing commercial sex or exploitative labor.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1YtGz9EM5vbOMsaMcEz9hqcqnlWMOJXEO"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1oq3Jt8DAvaau4Yl5lHnzgqOJV0-FncJb"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_2","claim":"Missing Child: Ember Graham","posted":"09\/01\/2015","sci_digest":[""],"justification":"FACT CHECK: Is an infant named Ember Graham missing from her Happy Valley, California, home?      Claim:  An infant named Ember Graham is missing from her Happy Valley, California, home.    Example:   [Collected via Facebook, August 2015] My Ember is STILL missing. She went missing July 2, 2015 from Happy Valley, CA. She was six months old, wearing a size 2 Kirkland diaper. She has brown hair, and distinct brown downturned eyes. She is approximately 15 pounds and 2' 1\". She is now 8 months old. She is a epileptic and needs to take special medication for her seizures, BUT that does not mean she still is not alive, she could survive without it. I'm begging anyone with any sort of information to please come forward! It could even be anonymously. I just want my baby back! I NEED her back. You could drop her off at any hospital, church, or fire station. Anywhere public. Or you could call anonymously by dialing *67 before you enter in the number. There is a $10,000 reward for anyone with information leading to the wearabouts of my little girl. Please call the Nor Cal top line at (530) 378-4491. Anonoymously or not! Please help me bring my baby home. Even if you have no information, please share her picture out there and tell everyone you know. We're relying on the public and the community for help now, we have spent every single day searching the surrounding areas and have found nothing, we have run out of real estate. Please help find my baby. #northerncalifornia #california #emberskye #missing #baby #missingbaby #8monthsold #littlegirl #epilepsy #theresacaputo #nancygrace #dateline #missingpersons #dr.phil #pleasecomehome  Origins: On 25 August 2015, Facebook user JamieLee Tomlin-Graham published the above-quoted appeal to her personal Facebook page, seeking leads in the case of her missing infant daughter, Ember Graham. published A number of \"missing child\" pleas are outdated, inaccurate, or otherwise misstated on social media, but this one is relevant and current: Ember Graham indeed disappeared from her home in California in July 2015 and remains missing. Six-month-old Graham was last seen on 2 July 2015, and early in the investigation Shasta County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Pat Kropholler said father Matthew Graham was a person of interest in her disappearance: missing child Graham \"In the case of Ember Graham the sole person of interest in her disappearance still remains with her father, Matthew Graham,\" Kropholler said in the press release. \"The Sheriffs Office Major Crimes Unit has investigated tips received from the public and all other possible angles of a stranger abduction.\" \"There is no evidence that a third party was involved, including anyone within the family,\" he said. \"The motive of why he abandoned her or what lead to him disposing of her body died with him when he confronted officers with deadly force in Dunsmuir, California after he had carjacked a vehicle at gunpoint,\" Kropholler stated. A pacifier found on the side of a road in Ono, California, on 10 July 2015 was tested and determined to be baby Ember's. On 13 July Matthew Graham was killed in a shootout with police, an event that further complicated the investigation into Ember Graham's whereabouts: pacifier event Graham was spotted by Shasta County and Siskiyou County deputies and California Highway Patrol officers in Dunsmuir. He was shot and killed, according to the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Department. After the babys disappearance, authorities said Graham showed no remorse and didn't ask how they planned to find his daughter; they said he refused to submit to a voice stress test and asked for a lawyer. Investigators said they also found it tough to believe that a stranger could break into Grahams 25-foot camper trailer undetected and snatch Ember away, as he claimed. The home is surrounded by two fences and protected by guard dogs; the room where Ember slept apparently has no working door and can only be pried open with a screwdriver, which would make a lot of noise, detectives said. Pages on Facebook and Twitter have been created by Ember Graham's family to assist in the search for the child, and anyone with information has been asked to call the Shasta County Sheriffs Major Crimes Unit at (530) 245-6135. Facebook Twitter Last updated:  1 September 2015 Originally published: 1 September 2015","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1FuQ5ryU3uOQvcC07mp5UGU0H5_qfNnWT","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=15PVQVniWyUszmANaj0sAUorGoeY3vgTU","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_3","claim":"Did U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings Write a Bill to Keep All of Barack Obama's Records Sealed?","posted":"05\/07\/2019","sci_digest":["H.R. 1233 was intended to improve public access to all presidential records, not to \"keep Obamas records sealed.\""],"justification":"On 26 November 2014, U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law H.R. 1233, the Presidential and Federal Records Act Amendments of 2014. This bill, sponsored by Democratic U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, was described in a press release as one that \"modernizes records management by focusing more directly on electronic records and complements efforts by the National Archives and the Office of Management and Budget to implement the President's 2011 Memorandum on Managing Government Records.\" A meme that circulated in 2019, during a period of controversy over Congress's attempts to obtain access to some of President Donald Trump's records (such as his tax returns), claimed that Cummings's bill had been intended to \"keep all of [Barack] Obama's records sealed.\" First of all, this meme plays on the false premise that years after the end of Obama's presidency, a number of his key personal records remain \"sealed,\" meaning that records that would ordinarily be accessible to the public have been restricted via court orders. In fact, most of Obama's primary personal records have either long been available to the public (e.g., Illinois state Senate records, Selective Service registration), are restricted from public access due to existing federal laws that apply to all Americans (e.g., college records), or simply aren't known to exist (baptismal record, college thesis). Moreover, H.R. 1233 applies only to federal records (i.e., records \"made or received by an agency of the United States Government under Federal law or in connection with the transaction of public business\"), and none of the record types listed above\u2014with the exception of Obama's Selective Service registration, which has been public for many years\u2014are federal in nature. In fact, H.R. 1233 included several provisions to facilitate and strengthen the ability of the U.S. government to collect, preserve, and release federal records in a timely fashion, not to promote keeping them \"sealed.\" These provisions include strengthening the Federal Records Act by expanding the definition of federal records to clearly include electronic records, confirming that federal electronic records will be transferred to the National Archives in electronic form, granting the Archivist of the United States final determination as to what constitutes a federal record, authorizing the early transfer of permanent electronic federal and presidential records to the National Archives while legal custody remains with the agency or the President, clarifying the responsibilities of federal government officials when using non-government email systems, empowering the National Archives to safeguard original and classified records from unauthorized removal, and codifying procedures by which former and incumbent Presidents review presidential records for constitutional privileges. Formerly, this process was controlled by an Executive Order subject to change by different administrations. The one tiny grain of truth in this claim is that Cummings's bill included a provision allowing a former or current President 60 days to review and contest potential public disclosure of any \"presidential record not previously made available.\" However, that provision applies to all Presidents (former and current); such claims must be made based on grounds of constitutionally based privilege; and privilege claims are subject to being overridden by the incumbent president or by court order. As the National Coalition for History noted, H.R. 1233 followed from Obama's efforts early in his administration to strengthen public access to presidential records. For over a decade, the National Coalition for History has been a lead advocate for the enactment of Presidential Records Act (PRA) reform legislation. The organization was a plaintiff with other historical and archival groups in a federal lawsuit that sought to have an Executive Order (EO) issued by President George W. Bush, which severely limited public access to presidential records, declared invalid. On January 21, 2009, in one of his first official acts, President Barack Obama revoked the Bush administration's Executive Order 13233. The language in the Obama Executive Order 13489 is similar to an EO issued by President Reagan in 1989, which was also in effect during the presidencies of George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. The Reagan executive order was revoked when President Bush issued EO 13233 in November 2001. Unfortunately, without the passage of legislation, there was nothing to prevent a future chief executive from reinstituting onerous restrictions on access or extending the privilege beyond that of the incumbent and former president, as President Bush did. To put this issue to rest, legislation (H.R. 1233) was introduced in the House in 2013, creating a framework that would enable former presidents to request continued restricted access on a very narrow basis, essentially codifying the Reagan and Obama administration rules. H.R. 1233 imposes a time limit in which a former president must assert any claim of privilege upon a determination of the Archivist to make available to the public a record of that former president. The bill also establishes processes for managing the disclosure of records upon the assertion of privilege by a former president and grants the incumbent president the power to decide whether or not to uphold any privilege claim of a former president, absent a court order to the contrary. In short, Cummings introduced legislation intended to improve public access to all presidential records.","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1gZQq7UTWEg1hSVWIdNTwQGhBb3vSYkKE","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1bJFA_LZ7Noxo7LXIrGuQEh3dtdzldTnD","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_4","claim":"Are 20 Percent of Homicide Victims with Restraining Orders Killed Soon After Obtaining Them?","posted":"10\/15\/2018","sci_digest":["An image disseminated online cites part of a 2008 study on domestic violence but omits one key piece of information."],"justification":"With October marking Domestic Violence Awareness Month in the U.S., readers contacted us regarding a graphic circulating online that shared an alarming statistic about homicide rates for partners who obtained restraining orders. The graphic, which was unattributed but bore the hashtag #DVAM2018, stated: 1 in 5 homicide victims with restraining orders are murdered within two days of obtaining the order, and 1 in 3 within the first month. The figures were taken from a 2008 study on intimate partner homicides (IPH). Although the data presented in the meme was accurate, it lacked some context provided by the original source and could therefore be potentially misleading when taken in isolation. According to that study, about 11% of 231 women killed by male intimates had been issued a restraining order. About one-fifth of the female IPH victims who had a restraining order were killed within two days of the order being issued, and about one-third were killed within a month. Nearly half of those with a restraining order had been protected by multiple orders. Victims killed in a shared residence (versus elsewhere) had lower odds of having a restraining order, whereas victims from rural (versus urban) counties, married (versus dating) victims, and Latino (versus non-Latino) victim-offender dyads had higher odds of having a restraining order. The type of weapon used was not associated with whether the victim had been under the protection of a restraining order. While the numbers used in the meme were quoted accurately, we are rating this item as a Mixture because it does not mention that the overwhelming majority of IPH victims reported by the survey who were killed by intimates (89%) did not have restraining orders in place. Omitting this piece of information could create a false impression regarding the effectiveness of restraining or protective orders, and more recent data supports their use as a deterrent against intimate partner violence. A 2011 study published by the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire found that the quality of life improved for the 213 women they surveyed who had received civil protective orders. Half the women reported that the orders were not violated, and the majority of respondents reported declines in \"days of distress and sleep loss\" after obtaining those orders. The report concluded by noting that not only are civil protective orders effective, but they are relatively low cost, especially when compared with the social and personal costs of partner violence. The effectiveness is particularly relevant for low-income rural women, who face more personal and social barriers to stopping the violence, including higher unemployment and tighter connections to the violent partner. Rural women also have fewer community resources or alternatives available to help them. Therefore, increasing access to civil protective orders should be an important goal in helping victims and their children and in lowering the societal costs of partner violence. We contacted Katherine Vittes, the lead researcher for the 2008 study cited in the meme, seeking comment but did not receive a response prior to publication.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Qa2vhfpZTwGtdNB77y0cGKJWTRDCr-mV","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_5","claim":"John Kerry's Address Given on the Front Porch","posted":"10\/20\/2004","sci_digest":["Were streets closed and Bush\/Cheney signs removed during John Kerry's 'front porch' stop on Labor Day?"],"justification":"For John Kerry's Labor Day 'front porch' stop in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, neighborhood streets were closed, and residents were told to take down their Bush\/Cheney signs. Neighborhood streets were closed: True. Residents were ordered to remove their Bush\/Cheney signage: False. Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2004] Good Tuesday morning! John Kerry brought his \"front porch meeting\" to our Canonsburg, PA neighborhood on Labor Day morning. Since you will never hear the truth from the TV or print media, I thought that you should know from someone who was 'almost' there. The residents who live on the street where the event took place were not allowed to attend. Kerry brought in approximately 90 invitation-only VIPs. In addition, there was a hard-luck case who was about to lose her job at USAIR, and another was an elderly woman who was having health care problems. Neither one was from this neighborhood. The street was closed to all traffic the night before, and all residents on the street were REQUIRED to remove their Bush\/Cheney signs. The sympathetic police officers on duty told us that Kerry used eminent domain to claim the street for his purposes. Residents who have homes within the perimeter (approximately one full block) were kept behind a line away from the partisan crowd. The rest of us were not allowed within the one-block cordon. A neighbor from across the street came to the line where we were being kept and asked us to come onto his property. The police told us that we could stand on this man's FORMERLY private property! This was set up so that Kerry's views could be heard - but not the neighbors. About 30 people (mostly neighbors) shouted down the street, \"Let the neighbors in.\" We could barely hear Kerry speaking with his microphone because press buses were used to block us off from view! This morning's papers are reporting how hecklers tried to interrupt Kerry as he spoke to the neighborhood gathering, but he turned our chants to his favor by calling us rude. Even though most of the media was there to record our stories of not being included in the neighborhood forum, not one of them printed or aired the truth. This is what America will look like if Kerry becomes president. Get registered and get all of your friends registered to vote if they have not already. Kerry thinks that he is better than the rest of us, and he has the media on his side to make him out to be what he is not! Finally, last night as I drove down the street where the rally was, I was shocked to see Bush\/Cheney signs in almost every yard on the street! Please send this e-mail on to as many people as you can. LET FREEDOM RING! Origins: On Monday, the 6th of September 2004, John Kerry took his campaign to Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, a working-class neighborhood near Pittsburgh. That day's schedule began with a front-porch question and answer session with supporters on West College Street at the home of Dale and Jody Rhome. It is that session of politicking which is the subject of the e-mail quoted above. Although not every claim made in the report can be substantiated or dismissed, some can. Statements made in two articles that appeared in the Observer-Reporter, the newspaper from the nearby town of Washington, Pennsylvania, after the 'front porch' meeting support the e-mail's claim of the street's being closed all night to traffic: \"The 200 block of West College was shut down for the visit\" and \"On Sunday morning, the Rhomes and Kerry campaign workers went door-to-door on the street, alerting neighbors of Kerry's upcoming visit. [Said Jody Rhome] 'We also told them they had to get their cars off the street because the street was being shut down.'\" However, its next assertion, that \"all residents on the street were REQUIRED to remove their Bush\/Cheney signs,\" appears to contradict a line from an Observer-Reporter article two days after the event: \"In an effort to block out the few dozen Bush supporters on one end of the street, Kerry officials provided volunteers with various Kerry signs in key positions to block Bush signage.\" Had neighbors been made to take down their Bush\/Cheney signs, nothing would have remained that required screening from sight. Yet the Observer-Reporter's statement might have referred to placards brandished by demonstrators rather than signs erected on people's lawns. However, a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette account of the day makes it clear that fixed signs were not removed, saying: \"Beth Soucie, who stood in a yard filled with Bush signs, said she will stick with the Republican incumbent.\" The description of the Soucie yard stands at odds with the claim of removed signs, as does the photo on this page of Mrs. Soucie and two other women standing in the Bush\/Cheney-festooned Soucie yard. According to a blogger called Ilja who posts on the RightNation.us forums, his conversation with Stan Soucie, the husband of the Beth Soucie interviewed and photographed by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, further argued against the 'sign removal' aspect of the account. In his 18 September 2004 post to the \"Kerry Campaign Stop Angers Pennsylvania Neighborhood\" thread, he reported: RightNation.us Angers He said that I could cite him [Stan Soucie] and that they were not told they had to take their Bush\/Cheney signs down because there was a yard down the street from where they were standing with a whole lot of Bush signs in the yard. He did state that whenever the TV cameras would move to where a Bush sign was, the Democratic organization would hold their signs in front of the Bush signs to block out the view. However, since they were standing on a porch, the Democrat signs were not tall enough to block them. The e-mailed narrative states, \"The sympathetic police officers on duty told us that Kerry used imminent domain to claim the street for his purposes.\" If members of the police force said that, they were in error because Senator Kerry could not have invoked \"eminent domain.\" One block of West College was cordoned off by the Secret Service, who are charged with protecting the nominee. The Senator would not have had much, if any, say in this. John Kerry was heckled during his remarks that morning and did engage in dialogue back and forth with his detractors, which means the e-mail's \"This was set up so that Kerry's views could be heard - but not the neighbors\" should be viewed with skepticism. Also, that the Senator was heckled shows that the assembled crowd couldn't have been composed of only hand-picked VIPs; otherwise, there wouldn't have been that sort of sparring. This is the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's account of some of those exchanges: With a friendly crowd in Canonsburg lobbing softball questions yesterday, Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry could have ignored a pocket of hecklers that tried to disrupt his campaign. Instead, Kerry pulled the detractors into his Labor Day speech, part of the \"front-porch discussions\" he's been holding across the country. He told them their shouts and taunts couldn't cover up facts\u2014namely, that America has had a net loss of 1.6 million jobs under President Bush. Gasoline prices are up 31 percent since Bush took office, and college tuition has grown more expensive by the year, he said. At the same time, he said, wages are down by $1,500 for \"the average family.\" One heckler then shouted, \"Yeah, Kerry, you're really average.\" Kerry pounced on the comment, replying: \"No, I'm privileged, and my tax burden went down. I don't think that's right.\" Kerry said Bush, also a man of money and privilege, has worked hard to lessen tax payments for the wealthiest Americans. Otherwise, Kerry said, Bush has presided over an economy that is in disarray. Income for all Americans fell 9.2 percent in 2001 and 2002, according to the Internal Revenue Service. In addition, Bush has rung up record budget deficits, and he will be the first president since Herbert Hoover in the Great Depression to have lost more jobs than he created, Kerry said. \"Franklin Roosevelt, Jack Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon all created jobs during their presidencies, even though they had wars to contend with,\" Kerry said. The jobs developed under Bush's administration are nothing to shout about, Kerry went on. He seized on a just-released Bureau of Labor Statistics report that said new jobs in growing industries pay $8,848 a year less than jobs that were lost, either because of shrinking industries or the exportation of work to foreign soil. \"If you think that's moving in the right direction, go vote for the other guy,\" Kerry said to the hecklers. According to the e-mail, \"This morning's papers are reporting how hecklers tried to interrupt Kerry as he spoke to the neighborhood gathering, but he turned our chants to his favor by calling us rude.\" The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette had a different take on what was said and why: Patricia Romano of Canonsburg told Kerry that she has had 11 throat surgeries and must pay so much for prescription drugs that she had to get a part-time job at age 70. Hecklers drowned out Romano at one point. That prompted Kerry to say, \"While the Bush people were rudely shouting, we had a 70-year-old woman trying to speak\" about runaway costs of prescription drugs. The identity of the person who wrote this by now much-traveled account remains a mystery. Roughly three of every four copies that found their way to us were prefaced: \"Received this from a very good friend in PA. She wants everyone to know what she saw.\" Yet in none of those forwards was the 'very good friend in PA' identified by name or her e-mail address provided; other than her gender and state of residence, nothing is known about the purported authoress of this chronicle. Paradoxically, about one-quarter of the narrations bear the name \"Ken Armstrong,\" and about one-twentieth \"Charles A. Walter.\" Both are decidedly male names, further muddying the question of authorship. Barbara \"front porch remarks, back fence gossip\" Mikkelson Last updated: 20 October 2004 Sources: Hazlett, Terry. \"Prepping a Porch for Kerry.\" [Washington] Observer-Reporter. 8 September 2004 (p. A1). Simonich, Milan. \"Kerry Jousts with Hecklers.\" Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 7 September 2004 (p. A3). Walters, Patrick. \"Heinz Kerry Visits Pittsburgh, Philadelphia for Labor Day Parades.\" The Associated Press. 7 September 2004. Warco, Kathie. \"Rendell, Hoeffel Stump in S. Strabane.\" [Washington] Observer-Reporter. 7 September 2004 (p. A1).","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1PZ5vhqPtsvj1AX6RKo5kCduO__1-2iPx"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ECJPY7X4-iCwSuVot2YvqjXMHAG7hs3M"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_6","claim":"Detailed Social Housing Initiative","posted":"07\/28\/2011","sci_digest":["Video clip shows Tacoma housing development 'built for illegal immigrants' who are receiving 'refugee pay.'"],"justification":"Claim: Video clip shows a Tacoma housing development \"built for illegal immigrants\" who are receiving \"refugee pay.\" Example: [Collected via e-mail, July 2011] I want to move to Tacoma... to the good life! Here is a development in Tacoma, WA (Salishan) that was built for illegal immigrants! 1,325 homes created! Refugee pay offers them $2,642 per month in SSI benefits, plus food stamps, plus Section 8 housing. You will see new expensive cars in this video. Wouldn't you like to get a free ride like the illegals? Origins: As noted by Kathleen Merryman of the Tacoma News Tribune, the video clip linked above about the Salishan housing development on Tacoma's East Side has garnered a good deal of attention for that community: William B. Mount is going viral on Salishan. The Tacoman once used public access television to air his worldview and now posts videos on YouTube. About five months ago, he and a woman named Jane drove through Salishan on Tacoma's East Side with a video camera and a big box of misinformation. They delivered a 10-minute commentary on the mixed-use and mixed-income redevelopment of the worn-out public housing site and posted it on the video-sharing site. The stew of untruths simmered there. It's at a boil now. Tacoma Housing Authority (THA) and Tacoma City Council members are receiving e-mails from people upset over what he calls the misuse of Social Security funds. As Ms. Merryman described in considerable detail in an excellent analysis of the video, virtually all of the claims made within it regarding Social Security, foreigners, and illegal immigrants are false: analysis Claim: \"What you are looking at is a $225 million complex, $225 million complex, of housing out of the Social Security budget for 1,300 units.\" False: No Social Security funds were used to redevelop Salishan. Claim: \"All welfare housing. All Social Security housing for foreigners will get $2,642 a month. All of that comes out of the Social Security budget.\" False: Of Salishan's renters, 97 percent are citizens of the United States, according to THA Executive Director Michael Mirra. \"We know of no government program that pays $2,642 per month to foreigners,\" Mirra said. Claim: \"The average income in here is about $13,000 per year, not including welfare, not including Social Security refugee pay, not including Women, Infants, and Children.\" False: The $13,000 figure is based on out-of-date 2000 Census data. As for the other sources, Mirra said: \"We do not know of anyone who gets something called 'Social Security refugee pay.'\" Claim: \"This school was built by Tacoma specifically to house foreigners and welfare recipients.\" False. Lister Elementary School does not \"house\" any foreigners or welfare recipients. Claim: \"They mollycoddle these foreigners who come across the border illegally.\" False. THA does not rent to people who are in this country illegally, and 97 percent of Salishan residents are U.S. citizens. Claim: \"And they don't pay taxes. This housing is free if you are on Social Security refugee pay.\" False. Anyone who buys non-food goods and services in Washington State pays sales tax, and every Salishan household with earned income is subject to federal income taxes. Every Salishan rental household with an income pays rent. For complete information, we recommend reading the News Tribune's thorough debunking of the video. Last updated: 28 July 2011","issues":["income"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_7","claim":"Does Website for Wisconsin Republicans Say 'Prepare for War'?","posted":"01\/12\/2021","sci_digest":["The St. Croix County Republican Party supposedly kept the phrase on its website, despite requests to take it down."],"justification":"On Jan. 12, 2021, news reports surfaced alleging that a web page for Wisconsin's St. Croix County Republican Party told supporters to \"prepare for war,\" despite urging from the state party to remove the message and the deadly insurrection by supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol the previous week. The reports were true. As of this report, the homepage for the local Republican group in northwestern Wisconsin read, \"Si vis pacem, para bellum,\" the Latin adage meaning \"if you want peace, prepare for war.\" Underneath that heading, the page stated in English: If you want peace, prepare for war. The phrase, originally coined in the 4th or 5th century, embodies the concept conveyed in earlier works such as Plato's \"Nomoi\" and carries with it a modern interpretation of \"Peace Through Strength,\" a cornerstone of conservative beliefs. Welcome to the digital battlefield. The message also perpetuated the conspiracy theory that \"Democrats in concert with the Marxist left and a complicit mass media\" were running a coordinated scheme to undermine conservative Americans and attempt to overturn Trump's 2016 presidential win, without providing proof to support the claims. The page also alleged that Trump's political opponents colluded in an illegal scheme to block him from serving another presidential term, though numerous court battles and reviews by election security experts proved that did not happen. Rather, President-elect Joe Biden defeated Trump under election laws outlined in the Constitution and federal and state statutes, receiving at least 270 electoral votes. After those false claims, the St. Croix Republican Party's homepage stated that Trump radically changed the party and that \"patriots need to continue the fight\" and \"stand and be counted as a conservative warrior\" to uphold the Constitution and remove \"leftist tyrants\" from elected positions in Wisconsin. According to online archives of the URL, stcroixrepublican.org, the website at one point called for \"eliminating\" those political opponents instead of removing them. The St. Croix County party's chairman, John Kraft, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the homepage included the phrase \"prepare for war\" before the deadly insurrection in defiance of Biden's presidential win on Jan. 6. He did not specify when the page was first posted and did not respond to the local newspaper's question about whether he considered taking down the message after the attack by right-wing extremists. Kraft told the newspaper he \"can't help what twisted inferences local Democrats choose to attribute to it.\" On Jan. 9, Kraft stated on his Facebook page that \"it's never been clearer that we are absolutely at war with the left,\" according to The Associated Press. A representative of the group did not respond to Snopes' request for an interview for this report, though updates will be posted if someone returns the message. According to Wisconsin Republican Chairman Andrew Hitt, the state party does not control the local parties and had asked St. Croix County Republicans to remove the call to \"prepare for war\" before the violent insurrection, though he did not specify a date for the request. He told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: \"Especially in light of recent events, it's an ill-chosen phrase to express their sentiments. We suggested at an earlier date they remove this, but they declined to take our advice.\"","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=19agzFTtS2IlLn4e_RMLM6cxMiXTtnsqt","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_8","claim":"This Is Not a Real Photo of the Pope in a Puffy Coat","posted":"03\/26\/2023","sci_digest":["We will soon be drowning in AI-generated deepfake images."],"justification":"On March 25, 2023, a photo that appeared to show 86-year-old Pope Francis out and about in a fashionable white puffer jacket went viral on social media. As many who saw it suspected, it was actually a deepfake image created via artificial intelligence (AI). It originally appeared on Reddit in the r\/midjourney subreddit. Midjourney is an app that generates images from natural-language prompts, much like DALL-E, another well-known AI image-generating app. Many Midjourney experimenters share their creations in the subreddit. The image was part of a gallery comprising four different views of the pope in a puffy coat. March 2023 was something of a breakout month for AI-generated deepfakes. Mid-month, former U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement that he expected to be arrested soon in connection with the Stormy Daniels hush-money case prompted a flood of deepfake images on social media, positing imaginative scenarios surrounding such an arrest.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1eSKhCvt5EvgCKwESZSpj-Qr6kl06KtWh","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_9","claim":"Did an 11-Year-Old Girl Shoot and Kill 'Illegal Aliens' Burglarizing Her Home?","posted":"05\/02\/2007","sci_digest":["The fake story of two undocumented immigrants burglarizing a home and being killed by a little girl with a shotgun is more than a decade old."],"justification":"A story about two armed \"illegal aliens\" killed during an attempted home invasion by an 11-year-old shotgun-wielding girl was posted to LibertyPost.org on 25 April 2007:  Two illegal aliens, Ralphel Resindez 23 and Enrico Garza 26, probably believed they would easily overpower a home alone 11 year old Patricia Harrington after her father had left their two story home. It seems the two crooks never learned two things, they were in Montana and Patricia had been a clay shooting champion since she was nine. Patricia was in her upstairs room when the two men broke through the front door of the house. She quickly ran to her father's room and grabbed his 12 gauge Mossberg 500 shotgun. Resindez was the first to get up to the second floor only to be the first to catch a near point blank blast of buck shot from the 11 year olds knee crouch aim. He suffered fatal wounds to his abdomen and genitals. When Garza ran to the foot of the stairs, he took a blast to the left shoulder and staggered out into the street where he bled to death before medical help could arrive. It was found out later that Resindez was armed with a stolen 45 caliber handgun he took from another home invasion robbery. The victim, 50 year old David Burien, was not so lucky as he died from stab wounds to the chest. Although the account was widely cited as a validation of \"anti-illegal immigration\" and\/or pro-gun ownership positions, confirmation of the tale as a real-life incident was lacking. The only documentation for this item was numerous web sites all citing the same information, with no details of time or place (other than a reference to Montana). Searches of news databases (including Montana-based newspapers) failed to turn up any corresponding news stories containing any of the four names provided, and the name of one of the putative criminals (\"Ralphel Resendez\") just happened to echo an alias (Raphael Resendez-Ramirez) used by Angel Maturino Resendiz (also an undocumented immigrant), the infamous \"Railroad Killer.\" Railroad Killer Although many versions of this item cited the home invasion incident as having taken place in Butte, Montana, that area's sheriff said no such thing had occurred in that city: When asked about the authenticity of the events described in this story, Butte-Silver Bow Sheriff John Walsh told The Montana Standard that his office never investigated such an incident. \"This never happened,\" Walsh said. The story claims the girl shot and killed the two intruders while she was home alone. The story doesn't provide a street address or attribute the information to any official sources. Walsh brushed off the story as an urban myth. \"It's amazing how these things get around,\" he said. The only news story (of recent vintage) we could turn up about a minor using a shotgun to kill two armed intruders attempting a home invasion robbery took place in December 2006 and involved a 17-year-old boy in Texas (rather than an 11-year-old girl in Montana): news story An overnight home invasion robbery attempt in northeast Harris County ended in a hail of gunfire that left two suspects dead. Investigators said a 17-year-old was home with his cousin when four armed men kicked in the door and started shooting. The teen pulled out a shotgun of his own and fired back at the suspects, killing two of them. Going back almost twenty years to 1988, we did find a news story about an 11-year-old shooting and killing two home intruders, but again the details didn't match the example cited above: Switzer, S.C.  An 11-year-old boy who had been left alone after school shot and killed two men as they tried to steal a videocassette recorder from his family's home, police said. William Todd Knight, the son of Billy and Ann Knight, \"acted very wisely,\" said Spartanburg County Coroner Jim Burnett. \"His life was in danger, he looked for an escape and could not find one ... he was a very brave young man.\" Spartanburg County Sheriff's Department Capt. John Blackwood said the boy was watching cartoons in his parents' bedroom Monday afternoon when he heard noises at the front door of the family's brick, ranch-style home. Todd told officers he was scared, so he went to his room for the .22-caliber rifle his father had given him for Christmas and loaded four rounds. He then went to the front door and saw a man he described as \"rough\" pounding on the door. The man finally left in a white Datsun. Todd said he resumed watching cartoons and about 10 minutes later heard banging, this time at a dining room window. He saw two men climbing through the dining room window. The boy said he went into the bathroom to climb out the window, but saw the white Datsun was parked in the back yard. Todd told police he went back to the hallway, peeked around the corner into the den and was spotted by one of the intruders as they were taking the VCR. Todd then fired three rounds at the men, who dropped the VCR and fled. When police arrived, one of the dead men was found face down next to a woodpile in the back yard, approximately 50 to 75 feet from the house, while the second man was in the driver's seat of the white two-door Datsun. In October 2012, a 12-year-old Oklahoma girl shot (but did not kill) an unarmed burglar who broke into the house while she was home alone: Kendra St. Clair, 12, was at home alone in Oklahoma, when loud banging began on the door to her family's home. Soon, the glass shattered and an intruder had entered. \"I was scared and I didn't know what to do next,\" Kendra [said]. Petrified, she called her mom Debra. \"I said Kendra get the gun and go get in my closet now. And call 911.\" The young 6th grader followed her mom's orders to the tee. Kendra had taken shelter in a closet, clutching her mother's .40 caliber glock gun while she listened to the intruder make his way around her home. Her fear intensified to sheer terror, when she saw the knob of the closet door beginning to turn. At that point, that for the first time in her life, Kendra fired a gun. Police said the bullet traveled straight through the closet door and struck 32-year-old Stacey Jones in the shoulder, scaring him out of the house. They arrested him a few blocks away and charged Jones with first degree burglary. In January 2015, an 11-year-old Michigan girl armed with a shotgun was reported to have scared away (but not fired upon) a home intruder: An 11-year-old girl was able to scare off a suspect  later taken into custody  during a home invasion in Lapeer County's North Branch Township. The girl was home alone when a vehicle pulled into the driveway. One person knocked on all the doors and forced their way inside the home when there was no response. The girl locked herself inside a bathroom and hid in a closet with a shotgun. The suspect eventually opened the bathroom door and closet where the child was hiding with the weapon. The girl aimed the shotgun at the suspect, who then fled from the home. Police said the girl was not harmed during the encounter. \"The 12-gauge shotgun is her weapon,\" said Lapeer County Sheriff Detective Sgt. Jason Parks. \"She and her father are into hunting and avid sportsmen. She was familiar with that weapon.\" Parks praised the girl's responsibility, poise and composure. \"She is fully capable of staying there by herself as we can clearly see based on this situation,\" he said. \"She was able to defend herself from an intruder and be able to resolve an event even most adults would be taken aback by.\" In August 2015, an 11-year-old St. Louis boy left home with his 4-year-old sister reportedly staved off several home invasion attempts before finally shooting and killing a 16-year-old intruder, although accounts differ as to what actually took place: accounts Authorities said an 11-year-old child and his 4-year-old sister were at their home when two men attempted to break in. The suspects attempted to get into the home twice, but failed. They made their way inside through the front door on the third attempt around 2:30 p.m. After the suspects entered the home, police said, the 11-year-old picked up a gun and fatally shot Lamonte Streeter. According to police, Streeter's body was found inside the home and evidence collected at the scene indicate that he was shot while inside. Some neighbors are providing a different version of events. One woman, who said she saw the shooting, [said] the 11-year-old and Streeter were arguing on the home's front porch when the shots were fired. \"The little boy's (person shot) jumped up and went towards there and laid down and he lands in the doorway. He was always sitting on the porch, he never went inside the house,\" said a neighbor. The second alleged intruder, identified by police as a 22-year-old man, was arrested shortly after the incident on suspicion of burglary, police said. Acosta, Roberto. \"11-Year-Old Uses Shotgun to Scare Off Suspect Home Invasion.\"\r  The Flint Journal.  1 February 2015. Emeigh, John Grant. \"Fake Story Still Circulating on Internet.\"\r  The Montana Standard.  13 December 2007. Greenblatt, Mark. \"Oklahoma Girl, 12, Shoots Intruder During Home Burglary.\"\r  ABC News.  20 October 2012. Associated Press. \"Boy, 11, Shoots, Kills 2 Intruders.\"\r  The [Elyria, OH] Chronicle Telegram.  15 March 1988 (p. 6). KHOU-TV [Houston]. \"Teen Shoots, Kills 2 Would-Be Robbers.\"\r  28 December 2006.","issues":["lien"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1HraJOwsLVJTqScd8hA-mif2v6U6SfoJx","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_10","claim":"Spokane Man Saves Ducklings Jumping from Building Ledge","posted":"07\/30\/2008","sci_digest":["\"Could you imagine the second day of your life having to jump from a building to get home?\" "],"justification":"Mallard ducks frequently make their nests at ground level, but for whatever reason a female Mallard in downtown Spokane, Washington, chose a cement awning ten feet up an office building for her nesting site.  As detailed in viral email at the time, the duck laid her clutch of eggs just outside the window of Joel Armstrong, a senior loan officer at Sterling Savings Bank, and he arrived at work one day in May 2008 to find the ducklings hatched and the mother standing on the edge of the awning.  As Armstrong watched, mama duck then flew down to the sidewalk below, and her ducklings started lining up on the ledge to jump down onto the hard concrete below to join her:   Something really amazing happened in Downtown Spokane this week and I had to share the story with you. Some of you may know that my brother, Joel, is a loan officer at Sterling Bank. He works downtown in a second story office building, overlooking busy Riverside Avenue. Several weeks ago he watched a mother duck choose the cement awning outside his window as the uncanny place to build a nest above the sidewalk. The mallard laid nine eggs in a nest in the corner of the planter that is perched over 10 feet in the air. She dutifully kept the eggs warm for weeks and Monday afternoon all of her nine ducklings hatched.   Joel worried all night how the mamma duck was going to get those babies safely off their perch in a busy, downtown, urban environment to take to water, which typically happens in the first 48 hours of a duck hatching. Tuesday morning, Joel came to work and watched the mother duck encourage her babies to the edge of the perch with the intent to show them how to jump off!  The mother flew down below and started quacking to her babies above. In his disbelief Joel watched as the first fuzzy newborn toddled to the edge and astonishingly leapt into thin air, crashing onto the cement below. My brother couldn't watch how this might play out. He dashed out of his office and ran down the stairs the sidewalk where the first obedient duckling was stuporing near its mother from the near fatal fall.   Joel looked up. The second duckling was getting ready to jump! He quickly dodged under the awning while the mother duck quacked at him and the babies above. As the second one took the plunge, Joel jumped forward and caught it with his bare hands before it hit the cement. Safe and sound, he set it by the mamma and the other stunned sibling, still recovering from its painful leap. One by one the babies continued to jump to join their anxious family below. Each time Joel hid under the awning just to reach out in the nick of time as the duckling made its free fall. The downtown sidewalk came to a standstill. Time after time, Joel was able to catch the remaining 7 and set them by their approving mother.   At this point Joel realized the duck family had only made part of its dangerous journey. They had 2 full blocks to walk across traffic, crosswalks, curbs, and pedestrians to get to the closest open water, the Spokane River. The onlooking office secretaries then joined in, and hurriedly brought an empty copy paper box to collect the babies. They carefully corralled them, with the mother's approval, and loaded them up into the white cardboard container. Joel held the box low enough for the mom to see her brood. He then slowly navigated through the downtown streets toward the Spokane River, as the mother waddled behind and kept her babies in sight. As they reached the river, the mother took over and passed him, jumping into the river and quacking loudly. At the water's edge, the Sterling Bank office staff then tipped the box and helped shepherd the babies toward the water and to their mother after their adventurous ride.   All nine darling ducklings safely made it into the water and paddled up snugly to mamma duck. Joel said the mom swam in circles, looking back toward the beaming bank workers, and proudly quacking as if to say, 'See, we did it! Thanks for all the help!   Thankfully, one of the secretaries had a digital camera and was able to capture most of it (except the actual mid-air catching) in a series of attached photographs. Please join me in celebrating my brother  The Downtown Duck Hero!  [Ed. note: Yes, we're aware that the captions to the pictures displayed above reference nine ducklings, even though ten are plainly visible in some photographs.] Joel Armstrong himself described what happened for Spokane television station KREM: \"The first duckling goes to the edge and... smack. Just hits the sidewalk,\" he said. Horrified, Armstrong darted out of his office and to the sidewalk below. The duckling laid motionless for about 10 seconds before regaining its senses. The next thing Armstrong knew, all the ducklings had instinctively lined up on the ledge ready to follow the first one's lead. Now lined up a like a centerfielder, Armstrong proceeded to shag ducks like falling baseballs from the sky with his bare hands. \"In one instance two jumped at the same time,\" he said. Armstrong caught both. \"I truly think the entire time the mother duck could sense I was trying to help,\" he said. \"She just stood there and allowed me to catch them.\" Armstrong and some of his Sterling Savings co-workers then tried to escort the mother and her offspring to the Spokane River, but the ducklings were too slow to dodge traffic and make it all the way to the water under their own power.  So their human helpers obtained a cardboard box, placed the ducklings into it, and walked them to the river, where the little fowl quickly took to the more hospitable aquatic environment. \"It was amazing watching them jump,\" Armstrong said. \"Could you imagine the second day of your life having to jump from a building to get home?\"  Armstrong's story quickly spread on the Internet in the form of the  narrative reproduced above, put together by his sister, Candace Mumm. narrative In May 2009, the \"duckling rescue\" scenario was repeated when a second brood of ducklings hatched on the ledge at Sterling Savings Bank and was once again caught by Joel Armstrong as they jumped from their nest. hatched Variations:  A March 2009 variant shifted the setting of this piece from Spokane to San Antonio; the duckling savior to \"Michael R\" (said to be an accounting clerk instead of a loan officer); and the bank to \"Frost Bank.\"  Also, instead of just \"onlooking secretaries\" helping corral the ducklings, the variant reported that \"several San Antonio Police Officers\" helped get the ducklings into the box to be carried to the river.  Blocker, Kevin.  \"Man Catches Ducklings Jumping from Ledge.\"\r  KREM-TV [Spokane, WA].  26 May 2008.\r\r KREM-TV [Spokane, WA].   \"Duck Makes Nest on Spokane Office Ledge ... Again.\"\r   1 May 2009.\r\r KREM-TV [Spokane, WA].   \"Duck Family's Amazing Journey Caught on Tape.\"\r   19 May 2009.\r","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1xeqaEjT4ttqlr771P70pbJCSbqE98Sp9","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=10fCGsEzCNbguea3KBdDBecd5AnGUmiDU","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=18NJM5nKr9vIirhRlQnlg7GQIxhWWY8US","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1K-jtdYY-40o5B8xxuTu6OIZEwBZ2pxn7","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1BkN3BOASdeqX59jQFfK8f29tkguHiV7N","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=15SCKOaws-rEo5-PUV9kb-62zPj_Am3pM","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1MO09BFplbR9MlXm459bo6QPsXbleco4_","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1J624lRog1SW5TX39C7Pcjd4LBVlbqI9S","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1VAkCP_ZRFwRKa5rxU2ns-IHtDlVkCQ5h","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1sevGQXIDf0jLGXRwYDzDX6Z1YAlFdLqy","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Zy-ZTMcY7Bkc0v4akduQdTVsXiOqvf7k","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_11","claim":"Is This Surprising Payment from an Unknown Individual Genuine?","posted":"04\/02\/2020","sci_digest":["Someone you dont know sends you a check, then asks you to deposit it and send some of the money to another party. But the check is counterfeit."],"justification":"In March 2020, the prospect of the U.S. government's sending out $1,200 stimulus checks to individual taxpayers as part of a $2 trillion emergency economic package to address the COVID-19 pandemic created a prime opportunity for grifters who engage in scams that involve luring victims by mailing checks to them. In particular, a several-year-old check-scam warning was widely recirculated via social media. Such warnings served a useful purpose in alerting many viewers to be wary of receiving checks in the mail from unexpected sources. However, they also poorly served audiences by misstating how the underlying scams connected with those checks work. It is not the case, as claimed in the warning reproduced above and in the following news clip, that the scammers who mail out these checks \"do this in hopes of getting your account information when you deposit the check,\" and then using that information to clean out your bank account. A little common sense would be relevant here: If simply depositing a check provided the sender of that check with the means to obtain your personal banking information and drain your bank account, it would be unsafe for any bank customer to ever deposit any check. Clearly, that is not the case, as millions of people maintain checking accounts without regularly falling victim to scammers. All such check scams have two essential components: 1) Scammers mail out counterfeit checks (often made out in the names of real organizations) to lure their victims into believing they are receiving money. 2) Scammers instruct their victims to send back some of the funds they supposedly received from depositing the fake checks (usually via wire transfer, Western Union, PayPal, or gift cards). The scammers count on the fact that funds from deposited checks are often made available to bank customers before the banks can confirm that the checks are authentic and have cleared. The victims of these scams, mistakenly believing they have received \"free money\" once they have deposited their fake checks, are then usually receptive to sending some of that money back to the scammers for some legitimate-sounding purpose. But by the time the victims' banks discover the deposited checks were bad, the scammers already have the money their victims forwarded to them, and the victims are stuck paying all of those funds back to their banks. The person running the scam convinces a victim to cash a check and then send, via wire transfer, a portion of the money to another location. The portion kept by the victim can be called payment for a job, part of a commission, or a prize. However, the check turns out to be a very convincing fake. Banks in the United States are required to make funds available within a few days, but it can take weeks for a fraudulent check to be discovered. This means the wire transfers will happen long before the bank or the victim discovers that the initial check was fake. This scheme is effective because many consumers aren't fully aware of how the check-clearance process works. Unfortunately, the term \"clear\" sometimes gets used prematurely. An item has cleared only after your bank receives funds from the check writer's bank. Bank employees might tell you that a check has cleared, and your bank's computer systems might show that you have those funds available for withdrawal, but that doesn't necessarily mean you can spend the money risk-free. In many cases, when a bank employee tells you an item cleared, they are saying you can spend that money with your debit card, withdraw cash from an ATM, or set up a payment online. Most of the time, this informal terminology is fine because funds typically arrive as expected. Most of the confusion around checks comes from bank policies and federal laws that allow you to spend money before a check really clears. Banks are required to make a portion of your deposit available quickly\u2014usually the first $200 or, on certain official checks, $5,000\u2014and they might need to release the remaining funds after several business days. But that policy might prematurely provide access to the money. It does not mean the funds successfully arrived from the check writer's bank. If a check bounces, the bank reverses the deposit to your account\u2014even if you already spent some or all of the money from that deposit. If you don't have enough money in your account to cover the reversal, you end up with a negative account balance, and you could start bouncing other payments and racking up fees. Ultimately, you are responsible for deposits you make to your account, and you're the one at risk. The lures that scammers use to dupe their victims into sending them the illusory proceeds from the depositing of counterfeit checks are many and varied: Mystery Shopping Scam: Scammers engage victims to act as \"mystery shoppers\" by making purchases from various vendors in order to rate their service. The scammers then send out counterfeit checks to their victims, instructing them to keep a portion of the funds to cover the costs of purchasing and returning the goods and to compensate them for their time, then wire back the rest of the money. Reshipping Scam: Scammers engage job-seekers to act as work-at-home re-shippers, receiving (possibly stolen) goods and sending them on to other locations. Then the counterfeit checks those re-shippers are sent to compensate them for their efforts and to reimburse them for the shipping charges they incurred bounce, and they're left holding the bag. Payment-Processing Scam: Scammers hire job-seekers to work as payment processors. The victims are instructed to open business accounts in their own name, deposit counterfeit checks sent to them into those accounts, then disburse the deposited funds as directed by the scammers. When the business account overdraws because the deposited checks are fake and bounce, the victim is on the hook for making restitution to the bank. Windfall Scam: Scammers send out counterfeit checks that they declare are the proceeds from an inheritance, lottery win, or some other type of prize giveaway. Recipients are instructed to deposit the checks and return a share of the money to cover processing fees, shipping and handling charges, legal fees, taxes, or other charges. Online Sales Overpayment Scam: Scammers agree to purchase items that have been advertised for sale or auction online, then send out counterfeit checks for greater than the sale price and ask the victims to refund the overpayments. Rental Scams: Scammers respond to ads seeking roommates or tenants, send a check to cover the rent plus a little extra, then ask that the overpayment be forwarded to another party to cover moving expenses. As the U.S. Federal Trade Commission succinctly describes such scams: Fake checks drive many types of scams like those involving phony prize wins, fake jobs, mystery shoppers, online classified ad sales, and others. In a fake check scam, a person you don't know asks you to deposit a check\u2014sometimes for several thousand dollars and usually for more than what you are owed\u2014and wire some of the money back to that person. The scammers always have a good story to explain the overpayment\u2014they're stuck out of the country, they need you to cover taxes or fees, you need to buy supplies, or something else. But by the time your bank discovers you've deposited a bad check, the scammer already has the money you sent, and you're stuck paying the rest of the check back to the bank. The best way to avoid falling victim to such scams is not to cash or deposit checks for people you do not know, not to wire money to people you do not know, and not to spend funds from large checks you have deposited until you have verified with your bank that those checks have fully cleared.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ChQLi5UG5vBxE-0vMzEKtBE4YShsyi_u"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_12","claim":"Did Abraham Lincoln Express Opposition to Racial Equality?","posted":"08\/16\/2017","sci_digest":["An authentic quote from Lincoln has attracted renewed attention, along with some commentary that oversimplifies his views on race."],"justification":"In the aftermath of violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in August 2017 (and in the context of a wider debate over the removal of Confederate statues), a particular quote spread on Facebook and Twitter, appearing to indicate Abraham Lincoln's opposition to racial equality. On 14 August, the remarks formed part of a Dallas Morning News column by former Texas State Senator Jerry Patterson, who wrote: wrote During his famous debates with Sen. Stephen Douglas, Lincoln explained to the crowd: \"I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races ... I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races from living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be a position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race.\" Lincoln was no different than most white males, North and South, at the time. He was a white supremacist. The quote as presented by Patterson, and in several Facebook and Twitter posts, is authentic. Lincoln did make those remarks on 18 September 1858. They came at the beginning of his opening speech at the fourth of seven famous debates with Stephen Douglas, during Lincoln's unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Senate in Illinois. Lincoln had been under attack from Democrats who accused him of supporting racial equality, and his comments were a defense against those allegations.  Facebook Twitter There is no official transcript of those debates, and the accounts published at the time in two Illinois newspapers  the Republican Chicago Press and Tribune and the Democratic Chicago Times  often diverged along partisan lines, according to Rodney Davis and Douglas Wilson's annotated \"Lincoln-Douglas Debates\" (page vii.) page vii Nonetheless, here are the most relevant remarks, as reported in the pro-Lincoln Chicago Press and Tribune on 21 September 1858. You can read that day's report in full here.  here    Chicago Tribune Archives  Despite the frequent spinning of the speeches by both newspapers, there appears to be consensus on Lincoln's Charleston remarks regarding racial equality. The Chicago Times report, reprinted in Harold Holzer's 1993 Lincoln-Douglas Debates, does not significantly vary from that published by the Press and Tribune: reprinted I will say then, that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters of the negroes, or jurors, or qualifying them to hold office, of having them to marry with white people. I will say in addition, that there is a physical difference between the white and black races, which I suppose, will forever forbid the two races living together upon terms of social and political equality, and inasmuch, as they cannot so live, that while they do remain together, there must be the position of superior and inferior, that I as much as any other man am in favor of the superior position being assigned to the white man. Of course, this excerpt from one speech does not represent the totality of Lincoln's views on race and racial equality, but the remarks were far from a complete outlier, and Lincoln's views were more complex and uncomfortable than the prevalent modern impression of him as the racially-enlightened Great Emancipator.  We spoke to Columbia University historian Eric Foner, author of several books on Lincoln, including The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery. Eric Foner \"There's no question that: one, before the Civil War, Lincoln hated slavery. He always did,\" Foner told us: Two, he shared many of the prejudices of his society. That was a deeply racist society both north and south before the Civil War. He did insist that black people were entitled to what they call the natural rights of man  life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.... And also that black people were entitled to what they used to call the fruits of their own labor. During the Civil War, Foner says, Lincoln's views evolved radically as he was exposed to black people such as Frederick Douglass, who were far more talented than he had assumed, and as the efforts of freed slaves in the Union army earned them, in Lincoln's view, the right to citizenship. Just before his death, Lincoln gave a speech in which he mentioned the possibility of giving black Union soldiers and wealthy black elites the right to vote, in direct contradiction to his 1858 remarks. And yet, Foner told us, for a long time Lincoln's plan for black people in the United States largely consisted of arranging for them to the leave the country and set up colonies elsewhere. Foner also warned against overemphasizing the importance of ethnicity to Lincoln by isolating specific racist remarks he made: The fact is, Lincoln said almost nothing about race. He was not that interested in race...Race was not a major intellectual construct for Lincoln...And the 1858 speech was purely defensive. That doesn't excuse it, but he was being attacked in those debates as believing in negro equality.  \"Whereas abolition was a central aspect of Lincolns moral compass\", the Harvard historian Henry Louis Gates wrote in 2009, \"racial equality was not\": 2009 ...Lincoln despised slavery as an institution, an economic institution that discriminated against white men who couldnt afford to own slaves and, thus, could not profit from the advantage in the marketplace that slaves provided. At the same time, however, he was deeply ambivalent about the status of black people vis--vis white people, having fundamental doubts about their innate intelligence and their capacity to fight nobly with guns against white men in the initial years of the Civil War. Gates concluded: [Lincoln] certainly embraced anti-black attitudes and phobias in his early years and throughout his debates with Douglas in the 1858 Senate race... By the end of the Civil War, Lincoln was on an upward arc, perhaps heading toward becoming the man he has since been mythologized as being: the Great Emancipator, the man who freed  and loved  the slaves. But his journey was certainly not complete on the day that he died. Abraham Lincoln wrestled with race until the end.    Patterson, Jerry.  \"If We Mean to Remove Memorials of White Supremacists, that Includes Lincoln.\"\r  Dallas Morning News.  14 August 2017. Davis, Rodney O.; Wilson, Douglas J. [eds].  \"The Lincoln-Douglas Debates.\"\r University of Illinois Press.  2008. Chicago Daily Press and Tribune.  \"Mr. Lincoln's Speech.\"\r  Chicago Tribune Archive.  21 September 1858. Holzer, Harold. [Editor].  \"The Lincoln-Douglas Debates.\"\r  Fordham University Press.  2004. Gates Jr., Henry Louis. \"Was Lincoln a Racist?\"\r The Root. 12 February 2009.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=17zXN_Q9jPANGPU7-ozdaPyzzTJpGoBBh","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_13","claim":"Is This Meme About Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccinations Accurate?","posted":"07\/07\/2020","sci_digest":["It's difficult to make a nonexistent vaccine mandatory."],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease.  fighting Find out Read Submit Become a Founding Member CDC WHO During the COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic of 2020, social media was rife with misinformation about the disease and potential treatments for it, as exemplified by the following meme:   All of the substantive statements contained in this meme are false or purely speculative, as detailed below: \"The COVID-19 vaccine will be mandatory in order to go back to school.\" As of this writing (mid-2020), no effective COVID-19 vaccine exists, nor is it known when (or if) one will become available. Should such a vaccine be produced, whether children will be required to take it before returning to school is a decision that will be made at local levels and based on a variety of factors. No one can assert at this time with any reliability that all schoolchildren everywhere will have to be vaccinated to attend school again. \"They will contain RFID chips.\" The notion that citizens will be subjected to compulsory, involuntary implantation with RFID chips (so the government can better track them) is an old conspiracy theory trope with no basis in fact. The specific claim that the COVID-19 pandemic is being used as a pretext to push a vaccine with a microchip capable of tracking Americans (along with the rest of the world's population) is one that we have already debunked at length. RFID chips debunked at length \"The Bible says you will break out into boils.\"  The Bible does not say that humans will \"break out into boils\" as a result of COVID-19 vaccinations or RFID chips. The Bible is silent on both these subjects, as vaccination and RFID technologies were not developed until many centuries after the texts that comprise the Bible were written and compiled. \"Many kids will die from the COVID-19 vaccine. Just to remind you the 4 kids that took the vaccine, died immediately.\" As no effective COVIO-19 yet exists, no one can say that \"many kids\" will die from it, nor, obviously, that any children have already died from it. The latter rumor is also one we previously debunked at length here on Snopes.com debunked at length","issues":["liability"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1iaXk-MT3CpiHYHxBxd2Wmv_0ybq26naq","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_14","claim":"Was Hillary Clinton Offered a Plea Deal in August 2017?","posted":"08\/10\/2017","sci_digest":["A single source claimed that Hillary Clinton was offered a plea deal after the Justice Department reopened an investigation into her server."],"justification":"On 8 August 2017, NewsMax author Ed Klein published an article (\"Hillary's Plea Bargain\") heavily insinuating that Hillary Clinton had been quietly offered a plea bargain due to the Justice Department's belief that the former candidate was prosecutable on \"a number of counts.\" That claim rested on a solitary anonymous source, purportedly a \"Clinton lawyer.\" That designator was not further qualified or explained, and it seems contradictory that a lawyer purportedly working on Clinton's behalf would leak such a potentially damaging tidbit about his client to the author of several anti-Clinton books. Klein claimed that \"discussion\" of a plea took place in July 2017 between the unnamed lawyer and \"a high-ranking Justice Department\" official: The Justice Department has reopened the investigation of Hillary Clinton's mishandling of classified material on her private email system while she was secretary of state, and is considering offering her a plea bargain if she will agree to plead guilty to charges of breaking the law, according to a Clinton attorney ... During the exploratory talks with the prosecutor, the Clinton attorney was told that despite former FBI Director James Comey's decision last July not to prosecute Hillary, the Justice Department has reexamined the email case and believes there are ample grounds for prosecuting Hillary on a number of counts. Under the Justice Department's plea offer, Hillary would be required to sign a document admitting that she committed a prosecutable crime. In return, the DOJ would agree not to bring charges against Hillary in connection with the email probe. Also as part of the agreement, the Justice Department would not proceed with an investigation of Hillary's pay to play deals with foreign governments and businessmen who contributed to the Clinton Foundation or who paid Bill Clinton exorbitant speaking fees. The article concluded with a stipulation that the source had \"cautioned that normally a plea is offered by a prosecutor only upon arraignment,\" whereas Clinton had not been charged with any crime. No other news reports we located carried a version of the claim that was not sourced from Klein's article, and his Twitter header suggests that he is perhaps emotionally invested in the prospect of Clinton's theoretical indictment: header   Despite doubling down on his remarks about the Clinton investigation, there seemed to be a discrepancy in communication, because after the article was published, he told [America Talks Lives Miranda] Khan that the Department of Justice was considering reopening it, not that they had reopened it. They are seriously thinking of reopening this investigation and therefore if she doesnt take the plea agreement, which I agree with you, she almost certainly wont, I think they will then proceed with this investigation and this is going to drag on for a long time and in a way balance the investigation thats going on with President Donald Trump and his campaign advisers regarding so-called collusion with the Russians. The outlet was far from the first to take issue with Klein's sourcing and attribution. In 2012, Politico reported: reported On the other hand, his Clinton book was strewn with serious factual errors, truncated and distorted quotes, and the overall themes don't gibe with any other serious accounts of Clinton's life. The disdain for Klein's previous efforts haven't necessarily broken along political lines. Of the same tome, conservative New York Post columnist John Podhoretz said in 2005: said Curious and revealing. Because if any book in recent memory reads as though it has been written out of greed  a greedy hunger to separate millions of conservative book buyers from their hard-earned 25 bucks  it is Ed Klein's \"The Truth About Hillary.\" This is one of the most sordid volumes I've ever waded through. Thirty pages into it, I wanted to take a shower. Sixty pages into it, I wanted to be decontaminated. And 200 pages into it, I wanted someone to drive stakes through my eyes so I wouldn't have to suffer through another word. It's June 2005. Hillary Clinton has been a major public figure in the United States for nearly 15 years. Somehow I imagine that if, indeed, she had \"embraced\" lesbianism \"as a revolutionary concept\" during her college years  years that have been written about exhaustively  we would have heard about it before now ... We also probably would have heard by now that Bill Clinton learned Hillary was pregnant with Chelsea by reading about it in an Arkansas newspaper. This detail is offered up by a single source  an \"investment banker from New York\"  in the course of a story about how Bill \"raped\" Hillary while on vacation in Bermuda in 1979. Coupled with the claim was a second assertion that Clinton never bothered to inform her husband she was pregnant. In 2005, Klein (in his own words) \"dial[ed] back\" during an interview about the passage on C-SPAN2, essentially retracting the claim in its entirety: interview HOST: OK. Is it true that Bill Clinton found out that his wife was expecting by reading the newspaper? KLEIN: Yes. HOST: Tell us a little bit more about that. KLEIN: Well, let me actually dial back. HOST: All right. KLEIN: I suspect that Bill Clinton knew that his wife was pregnant since she was pregnant for three months by the time the announcement came out. But it is true that the announcement was not made in the names of Governor and Mrs. Clinton or Governor and Ms. Rodham as she was then known, but was made in her name alone, and that she made the announcement and Bill Clinton said to my source, whom he was speaking to on the phone, \"Guess what, you'll never  you'll never believe this, but I'm sitting here reading that Hillary has announced she's pregnant.\" That's how he found out that she  HOST: The announcement had been made. KLEIN: The announcement had been made. In 2014, The Guardian reviewed a subsequent Clinton book, Blood Feud: reviewed On a sunny afternoon in May last year, we are told, Hillary Clinton gathered six girlfriends from Wellesley's class of 1969 for a boozy lunch at Le Jardin du Roi, a bistro near her home in Chappaqua, New York. Recently liberated from the State Department, Clinton is said to have let loose on her erstwhile boss, accusing President Obama of having no hand on the fucking tiller. Klein discloses breathlessly that the wines had been carefully chosen by Roi, the owner of the restaurant, and that Roi waited on Hillary personally and prepared a special vegan dish for her after the former first lady told him that she was trying to lose weight. There is, however, a problem with this centrepiece of Blood Feuds prologue. Le Jardin du Roi was not named after the backyard of a man called Roi. It means The Garden of the King, or The Kings Garden in French. Its just the name of the restaurant, a puzzled staff member told the Guardian when reached by telephone. The name of the man who owns the restaurant is Joe. This is not the first glaring factual error to have made its way into Kleins reporting. It is not even the first time a mistake has been made in the very first anecdote of one of his books ... Two publishing industry sources familiar with the situation confirmed a report by BuzzFeed [in 2014] that Blood Feud had been dropped by its original publisher, William Morrow, because the content did not pass a vetting by in-house lawyers. When youre at an imprint of HarperCollins, which is part of NewsCorp, they take that stuff very seriously, and they check all of your sources and notes and they want to know where you got stuff, said one. Klein's suggestion that Hillary Clinton was to be indicted and had already been offered a plea deal quickly travelled through hyperpartisan corners of the Internet, but a number of criticisms of Klein's relationships with facts and sources have dogged his work from at least 2005, with numerous prominent conservative journalists among his most vocal critics.  Klein, Ed.  \"Hillary's Plea Bargain.\"\r  NewsMax.  8 August 2017. Podhoretz, John.  \"Smear For Profit.\"\r  New York Post.  22 June 2005. Swaine, Jon.  \"Edward Klein: The Difference Between The Truth And A Lie.\"\r  The Guardian.  14 July 2014. Taylor, Sarah.  \"Report: Hillary Clinton Email Investigation Reopened  Clinton Purportedly Offered Plea Deal.\"\r  The Blaze.  9 August 2017. Thrush, Glenn.  \"Ed Klein's Obama Book Debuts At #1 On Times List -- Knocks Caro To #2.\"\r  Politico.  24 May 2012.","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1dceG4ko7NEMFepnLP0I4NWh0Xoj_w0c_","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_15","claim":"Does This Photograph Show Beetles Embedded in a Dog's Mouth?","posted":"11\/21\/2015","sci_digest":["A shocking image was circulated with a warning to pet owners to check their dogs' mouths for beetles."],"justification":"In mid-November 2015, a photograph purportedly showing what resemble common ladybugs and Japanese beetles embedded on the roof of a dog's mouth began circulating via Facebook:   Most of the users who shared the above-displayed image on Facebook included a variation of the following message: SOMEBODY ASKED ME TO PASS THIS ALONG .... Japanese Beetles and Lady Bugs can attach to the roof of your dog's mouth, and make him\/HER become ill. Symptoms include excessive drooling. Check your dog's mouth and remove any insects. While we haven't been able to identify who the \"Somebody\" is in the above-quoted Facebook post, a message posted by the Hands & Paws group did provide some information about the image's origin: provide This posted photograph is recent  posted by a vet tech and when I saw the photo started doing research - because I too thought there was no way the photo could be real. There is no photoshop  there is no hidden agenda. It's just me. The Founder of a tiny little dog rescue in Florida finding the photo and the facts behind the photo amazing, astonishing and wanted to share the information with my fellow dog lovers. We reached out to Hands & Paws for more information about the image without results, but multiple incidents are on record of beetles embedding in dogs' mouths, such as this one from November 2016: this one Frances Jiriks brought her pooch Bailey into Hoisington Veterinary Hospital after he refused to eat, she told KAKE. He was also foaming at the mouth and a bit lethargic, the dog owner said. When they arrived at the animal clinic, Dr. Lindsay Mitchell discovered between 30 and 40 lady beetles clinging to the roof of Baileys mouth. The beetles look nearly identical to ladybugs though they secrete a mucus which allows them to stick, as they did inside Baileys mouth. The bugs were successfully removed from the dogs mouth, but Mitchell warned their presence could pose a variety of health risks to mans best friend. [Video here] Video here In 2008, Lindsey Derek published an article in the journal Toxicon about the subject: article A six-year old mixed-breed dog presented with severe trauma to the oral mucosa suggestive of chemical burn. Sixteen Harmonia axyridis (Coccinellidae) were removed from the oral cavity, which revealed trauma consistent with chemical burn. The beetles had become embedded in mucosa covering the hard palate and required manual removal. A diagnosis of beetle-induced chemical burn was warranted and consistent with the nature of the chemical constituents of H. axyridis hemolymph. That article also included a photograph of the beetles in the dog's mouth, which closely resembled the image circulated in November 2015:   KAKE-TV [Wichita].  \"Lady Beetles Causing Problems for Pet Owners.\"\r  19 October 2016. Schladebeck, Jessica.  \"Photo of Kansas Dog with Mouth Full of Asian Lady Beetles Illustrates Health Issue for Pups.\"\r  [New York] Daily News.  4 November 2016. Stocks, Ian C. and Derek E.Lindsey  \"Acute Corrosion of the Oral Mucosa in a Dog Due to Ingestion of Multicolored Asian Lady Beetles.\"\r  Toxicon.  10 May 2008.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1fz6GYn77w9usM5UAr5kZxB9Cj46dBE2N","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1YiYudKy_sV0CniddrFDgAYaBILYif73K","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_16","claim":"Says taxes paid by the poorest residents of Texas are above the national average.","posted":"03\/14\/2011","sci_digest":[],"justification":"New York Times columnist Paul Krugman sees Texas as a model for how things might be going wrong across the nation. In his latest blast, posted online on Feb. 27, he critiques the state's reputedly low taxes. \"Texas taxes are low, at least if you're in the upper part of the income distribution,\" Krugman writes. He adds, parenthetically, that taxes on the bottom 40 percent of the population are actually above the national average. It is undisputed that the two major Texas state and local taxes\u2014sales and property\u2014impose a greater burden on low-income Texans. According to the Texas State Comptroller's latest study of tax incidence, issued last month, Texas households earning $29,223 or less are expected to spend 6 percent of their income on general sales taxes and 5.3 percent of their income on school property taxes in 2013. The report states that households earning more than $29,223 are likely to spend, on average, no more than 3.4 percent of their income on each of the two taxes. The left-leaning Austin-based Center on Public Policy Priorities wrote in 2009 that Texas relies on the sales tax for more than half of all state tax revenue\u2014a pattern typical of regressive tax systems. Since low- and moderate-income Texans tend to spend all of their income each year to support their families, the sales tax takes a much greater percentage of their income than it does from higher-income families, who can afford to save some of their income or spend it on services that are not subject to the sales tax. Yet do the state's poorest residents also pay higher taxes than the national average? By e-mail, Krugman told us he based his statement on an analysis released on Nov. 18, 2009, by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a research arm of Washington-based Citizens for Tax Justice, which advocates for fair taxation of middle- and low-income families. The study indicates that the 20 percent of Texas families earning less than $18,000 a year spend 12.2 percent of their income on state and local taxes, while the next-wealthiest 20 percent of families, earning $18,000 to $31,000, spend 10.2 percent of their income on these taxes, which largely consist of sales and property taxes. Nationally, the poorest 20 percent and the next-poorest 20 percent of families spend an average of 10.9 percent and 10 percent of their income, respectively, on state and local taxes, according to the study. Conversely, the study states that the 60 percent of Texas families earning $31,000 or more contribute a smaller portion of their income to state and local taxes than the national average. Texas households in the top 20 percent of income, earning $89,000 or more, paid 5.8 percent of their income or less, while such households nationally paid 8.8 percent or less. Texas is among 10 states with particularly regressive tax systems, the study notes. One result is that low-income families pay almost six times as much of their earnings in taxes as do the wealthy, while middle-income families in these states pay up to three-and-a-half times as high a share of their income as the wealthiest families. We reached Matt Gardner, the institute's director. He stated that the study drew on data from the Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. He mentioned that it was methodologically improved from earlier attempts by the institute to gauge who bears the brunt of state and local taxes. Next, we shared the methodological details that Gardner provided with Billy Hamilton, a former deputy state comptroller of Texas. Hamilton, who was involved in the state's past studies of tax incidence, remarked, \"It sounds like what they did is very logical.\" Gardner affirmed that Krugman's comparison accurately reflects the study. We noticed that the difference between what the second-poorest 20 percent of Texas households pay and the national average appears small; the Texans paid only 0.2 percent more. Based on a $30,000 annual income, that's $60 more. Though measurable, it's not a huge difference, Gardner noted. Footnote: Krugman's statement might not have applied to both subsets of lower-income Texans in the past. The institute's previous studies, based on different methodologies and 1995 and 2002 tax payments, similarly showed the poorest 20 percent of Texans paying more than their counterparts nationally. However, the next-to-poorest 20 percent of Texans paid a smaller portion of their incomes in state and local taxes than residents in the same income group nationally, Gardner explained. We rate Krugman's statement as True.","issues":["Income","Taxes","Texas"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_17","claim":"Does AARP Support the Democratic Party?","posted":"08\/19\/2020","sci_digest":["When individuals support a political party, it does not automatically mean their employer follows suit."],"justification":"In mid-August 2020, Snopes readers inquired about a meme circulating on Facebook that claimed money given to AARP (formerly American Association of Retired Persons), an advocacy organization that lobbies on behalf of retired Americans, goes \"directly\" to the Democratic party.   It's unclear what exactly is meant by the phrase, \"what you pay AARP.\" The organization has an estimated 38 million members, all of whom typically pay annual dues at $16 per year. As a 501(c)4 tax-exempt organization, it also accepts charitable donations. estimated dues at tax-exempt accepts Either way, any money paid to AARP through membership dues or donations does not go \"directly\" to the Democratic party. The AARP lobbies the government on behalf of causes that affect people aged 50 and older. Those activities may include taking a stand on health care and Social Security. stand Social Security In terms of candidates and political parties, however, AARP's official position is that it is non-partisan. The organization states it \"does not support, endorse or contribute to political candidates or parties.\" states Instead, per AARP, the organization's role in terms of election politics is \"connecting voters to information about where the candidates stand on issues most important to them including the future of Social Security and other critical issues related to financial security, health and well-being.\" We checked the AARP's federal campaign finance data using the website Open Secrets, a project operated by the government accountability organization The Center for Responsive Politics. We found no contributions to any political candidates or parties, Democratic or otherwise, from AARP, the organization. However, contributions from individuals who work for AARP is another matter. Open Secrets \"AARP does not have any record of direct contributions to political parties or candidates based on my review of federal campaign finance and tax filings covering recent years, but AARPs officers [executives] and employees can still make political donations in a personal capacity, and contributions from donors listing AARP as their employer in Federal Election Commission records have primarily gone to Democratic candidates in recent years,\" said Anna Massoglia, a researcher for The Center for Responsive Politics. AARP policy prohibits employees or officers from engaging in any personal political activity using AARP resources or during work hours. policy According to campaign finance data tracked by Open Secrets, individual donors associated with AARP made a total of $96,381 in political contributions as of this writing in the 2020 federal election cycle, the majority (87.45%) of those donations going to Democratic candidates. total majority Massoglia said that as a 501(c)4 organization, the AARP is allowed under U.S. tax code to engage in some political campaign activity. But their activities have been issue-oriented and bipartisan. For example, a 2018 AARP ad praised U.S. President Donald Trump on drug pricing policy. The organization has also supported upholding the Affordable Care Act, the landmark health care law signed by Trump's Democratic predecessor, President Barack Obama. praised supported AARP spokesperson Jason Young told us by phone that the organization, as a 501(c)4 non-profit, is prohibited by law from making political contributions. \"Not only does AARP not make donations of this sort, we never have and we don't have a PAC,\" Young added. Young said that although some AARP employees have made political contributions in a personal capacity, the sum of donations is relatively small. \"It's fair to say we are largely absent form this type of political engagement, and that's because AARP as an organization is focused on policy, not politics,\" Young stated. Although it's true that individuals who work for AARP have donated primarily to Democratic candidates, individual donations are not the same as contributions by an organization. Because AARP as an organization has not contributed to the Democratic party or its candidates, we rate this claim,  Hahn, Steve.  \"Voter and Candidate Reminder: AARP Is Strictly Non-Partisan.\"\r  AARP.  26 August 2016. AARP.org. \"How Much Does AARP Membership Cost?\"\r  Accessed 18 August 2020. AARP.org.  \"IRS Definition.\"\r  3 March 2011. AARP. org.  \"AARP Policy on Personal Political Activity.\"\r  Accessed 19 August 2020. Bunis, Dena.\"AARP Urges Federal Appeals Court to Preserve the ACA.\"\r  1 April 2019. Updated to include comments from AARP spokesperson Jason Young.","issues":["finance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Uz7SDD0RI0oBZmiCBSPU9s5gD8I9shLc","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_18","claim":"Did Ghislaine Maxwell Attend Chelsea Clinton's Wedding?","posted":"04\/27\/2022","sci_digest":["We were asked by our readers if convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell truly was photographed near former U.S. President Bill Clinton as he walked his daughter down the aisle at her wedding."],"justification":"A photograph frequently shared on social media appears to show convicted sex trafficker and former Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell watching as former U.S. President Bill Clinton walks his daughter, Chelsea, down the aisle at her wedding. Then-U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, her mother, was also in attendance but is out of frame in the picture. It is true that this is a real photograph, available on the Getty Images licensing website. It has not been doctored, and the woman circled below in film director Adam McKay's 2019 tweet is indeed Maxwell. The photograph of Maxwell at Clinton's wedding received a wave of new shares in April 2022 following news that Tesla CEO Elon Musk was buying Twitter. The picture was reshared in response to other social media users (who presumably dislike Musk) sharing a real photograph of him standing near Maxwell at a public event. The photograph of Musk and Maxwell was captured at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in 2014. Musk later tweeted that he didn't know her and that she had \"photobombed\" him. According to BBC.com, Chelsea married investment banker Marc Mezvinsky at the Astor Courts estate in New York on July 31, 2010. A no-fly zone was in place above the Hudson Valley, and nearby roads were closed as guests arrived in limousines. Television star Oprah Winfrey, film director Steven Spielberg, Hollywood actor Tom Hanks, and singer Barbra Streisand are reportedly among the 500 guests. Earlier, actors Ted Danson and his wife Mary Steenburgen told reporters in the town of Rhinebeck, where many of those invited were staying, that they were both excited about attending the ceremony. Weeks prior to the wedding, on June 18, 2010, New York Magazine's Intelligencer reported that Chelsea purportedly had a firm policy on who was to be invited. According to the article, \"bride-side sources\" said that Chelsea \"instituted a strict no-strangers policy\" and that \"she must personally know every invitee.\" Years later, in 2019, Politico published that \"a person familiar with the relationship\" said that, prior to the 2010 wedding, Chelsea had become close with Maxwell, something that a spokesperson for Clinton later disputed. Maxwell's family knew Trump before Epstein arrived on the scene, and she continued to socialize with Chelsea Clinton after Epstein was jailed on sex offenses. Maxwell first grew close with the Clintons after Bill Clinton left office, vacationing on a yacht with Chelsea Clinton in 2009, attending her wedding in 2010, and participating in the Clinton Global Initiative as recently as 2013, years after her name first emerged in accounts of Epstein's alleged sexual abuse. A person familiar with the relationship said that Ghislaine was the contact between Epstein and Clinton. She ended up being close to the family because she and Chelsea became close. Lawyers for Maxwell did not respond to requests for comment, and a spokesperson for Clinton disputed the idea that the two women were ever close. The reference to Epstein being \"jailed on sex offenses\" referred to his previous time behind bars in 2008 and 2009, prior to the 2010 wedding. A secret plea deal reached in 2007 required Epstein to serve 18 months in jail, followed by 12 months of house arrest. He ended up leaving jail after around 13 months. At the time, reports indicated there were \"roughly\" 40 girls who had been identified as victims. On Aug. 10, 2019, after Epstein was arrested again on sex trafficking charges, he was later found dead in his jail cell. An autopsy ruled that it was a suicide by hanging. A wave of new conspiracy theories began following his death. We previously published a fact check about a picture of Epstein with former President Clinton. It was also an authentic photograph, published in a digital copy of the March 2003 edition of Vanity Fair. In sum, yes, Maxwell was in attendance at Chelsea Clinton's wedding and was photographed in the background behind the Clinton family.","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=19GKNepF3XpLVW-vvzuWhCZ48ygxjZtXb","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_19","claim":"Do 643,000 Bankruptcies Occur in the U.S. Every Year Due to Medical Bills?","posted":"04\/21\/2016","sci_digest":["A popular meme holds that 643,000 Americans go bankrupt every year over medical bills, but the underlying math is elusive."],"justification":"In April 2016, a meme was published by the Facebook page \"The Other 98%\" (among others) claiming that 643,000 Americans declare bankruptcy due to medical bills every year, while in several other first-world countries, bankruptcies related to medical bills are non-existent (due to the implementation of national social health insurance\/medical care systems in those countries). At the fine print at the bottom of the meme was a citation: \"Source: NerdWallet Health Analysis.\" No link to the specific analysis referenced was provided, but presumably, the item in question was a 19 July 2013 publication by NerdWallet pertaining to medical bankruptcies. However, in that analysis, NerdWallet repeatedly stated that their findings were \"estimates\" or \"extrapolations,\" and some of their data were quite old even back in 2013. The primary portion of that article stated that in 2013, over 20% of American adults were struggling to pay their medical bills, and three in five bankruptcies would be due to medical bills. While we are quick to blame debt on poor savings and bad spending habits, the study emphasizes the burden of health costs causing widespread indebtedness. Medical bills can completely overwhelm a family when illness strikes, says Christina LaMontagne, VP of Health at NerdWallet. Furthermore, 25 million people hesitate to take their medications in order to control their medical costs. Unfortunately, this can lead to even worse financial outcomes as preventative treatments are not rendered, and patients end up using expensive ambulance and ER care as their health worsens. Finally, many question whether President Obama's universal health insurance mandate will protect Americans from problems with medical bills. Insurance is no silver bullet, says LaMontagne. Even with insurance coverage, we expect 10 million Americans will face bills they are unable to pay. Although the \"643,000\" figure didn't expressly appear in that article, if we take the number of bankruptcy filings in the U.S. in 2013 (1,032,236) and apply NerdWallet's statement that \"three in five (60%) bankruptcies will be due to medical bills,\" we arrive at a number of medical bill-related bankruptcies (619,342) reasonably close to the 643,000 figure (although technically, a bankruptcy filing can represent more than one person). Likewise, a 2013 CNBC item based on the 2013 NerdWallet Health Analysis included a chart showing the estimated total number of medical-related bankruptcies in the U.S. in 2013 to be 646,812, which is also quite close to the cited 643,000 figure. Since the number of bankruptcy filings in the U.S. is a matter of public record, the accuracy of this figure hinges on the reliability of the estimate that 60% of those filings are medical-related. In NerdWallet's \"Methodology & Sources\" section, the site stated that their medical bankruptcy estimates were based on a 2009 Harvard study, which in turn used bankruptcy data from 2007 and involved interviewing a random national sample of bankruptcy filers. BACKGROUND: Our 2001 study in five states found that medical problems contributed to at least 46.2% of all bankruptcies. Since then, health costs and the numbers of un- and underinsured have increased, and bankruptcy laws have tightened. METHODS: We surveyed a random national sample of 2,314 bankruptcy filers in 2007, abstracted their court records, and interviewed 1,032 of them. We designated bankruptcies as medical based on debtors' stated reasons for filing, income loss due to illness, and the magnitude of their medical debts. RESULTS: Using a conservative definition, 62.1% of all bankruptcies in 2007 were medical. NerdWallet reported that they employed a more conservative estimate than the Harvard study figure regarding the proportion of bankruptcies that are medical-related: We relied on a widely cited Harvard study published in 2009. NerdWallet Health chose to include only bankruptcies explicitly tied to medical bills, excluding indirect reasons like lost work opportunities. Thus, we conservatively estimated medical bankruptcy rates to be 57.1% (versus the authors' 62.1%) of U.S. bankruptcies. We also used official bankruptcy statistics, released this month through March 2013, from U.S. Courts. Still, quantifying the occurrence of medical bankruptcies can be problematic, as noted in a January 2016 New York Times article on the subject. Research on","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1k9K0CG2zMmTUgq18pCvECiLHN7HeQh5L","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1NEVI-mILgzYgOxjUWm7s_ZQc254MkzVO","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_20","claim":"Is the USPS going to close soon due to the impact of COVID-19?","posted":"04\/29\/2020","sci_digest":["For many Americans who fear leaving their homes during the pandemic, the Postal Service is a lifeline."],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease. \n\nIn April 2020, during an unprecedented interruption to the U.S. economy due to social-distancing restrictions to curb the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease, the United States Postal Service (USPS) remained in operation. Canvassing city streets and rural roads with packages of prescriptions, food, and bills, the mail carriers provided a lifeline for many Americans who feared leaving their homes during the pandemic. Under the U.S. Constitution, the federally run Postal Service must serve all Americans equally, regardless of where they live. However, with a novel virus spreading from person to person, that commitment to service came at a cost: 1,800 USPS employees had either tested positive for or were suspected to have contracted COVID-19 as of April 25, according to the National Association of Letter Carriers. More than 40 such workers had died. \n\nThe virus's toll on employees' health was not the only pandemic-fueled problem for leaders of the Postal Service; a decline in mail deliveries\u2014a leading source of revenue for the agency\u2014due to business shutdowns raised worries that the national mail carrier would not economically recover from a coronavirus recession. From high-profile Democrats in Washington, D.C., to lesser-known musicians who said they rely on USPS to help them run independent labels, supporters across the country took to Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit to call attention to what they feared were limited days left for USPS. Many of the social media posts included calls to action. Supporters rushed to buy stamps, hoping any type of profit boost would stave off a collapse, or urged people to contact U.S. lawmakers and tell them to help the Postal Service with federal funds. As of April 28, almost 390,000 people had signed an online petition on Change.org to express their support for USPS, while more than 440,000 people had endorsed an open letter using an automated texting service (texting \"USPS\" to 50409) that promised to contact congressional representatives on behalf of petitioners. \n\nIn the age of COVID-19, having a healthy and strong postal service is more important than ever. More and more Americans are relying on the USPS to deliver medicines, food, and essentials now that social distancing is a matter of life and death. Seeing those pleas online, numerous people contacted Snopes to investigate the validity of the claim that the national mail carrier was, indeed, on the brink of closure due to the pandemic. To get to the root of each assertion, we began by analyzing the history of funding for USPS\u2014which is an independent executive agency and has not received taxpayer funding in decades\u2014and changes in how Americans rely on it. As online communication advanced between 2010 and 2020, USPS's volume of first-class and marketing mail decreased\u2014a problem for the agency's bottom line because stamps and other postal products to send that type of mail yield lucrative profit margins. Meanwhile, private competitors such as Amazon and FedEx grew in popularity and reach, raising USPS's package volume because the agency contracts with them (often for what's called the \"last mile\" of deliveries in rural or remote areas). Such shipments for the USPS increased from 3.1 billion in 2010 to 6.2 billion in 2018, federal data show. \n\nBut market trends aside, the agency has run in the red for years, with a total of $143 billion in unfunded liabilities and debt as of fall 2018 (an amount that is double its annual revenue), according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The debt, in large part, is a result of a congressional mandate on how the agency must fund retiree pensions and health benefits for employees. In 2006, under the George W. Bush presidential administration and a Republican-led Congress, the federal government enacted the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, which forced USPS to calculate what it expected to spend on the benefits over the next 50 years and then prepay that amount between 2007 and 2016. The math rounded out to an expense of about $5.6 billion annually. However, in 2012, the agency began defaulting on the payments. \n\nThat history aside, the pandemic is only exacerbating the agency's already-troubled financial situation. Addressing a group of congressional lawmakers on April 9, Postmaster General Megan Brennan said mail volume had dropped 30 percent in the early days of the crisis, and she expected that decline to reach 50 percent by the end of June. For this fiscal year, which runs from October 2019 to September 2020, she said the Postal Service was preparing for a $13 billion revenue shortfall due \"directly to COVID-19\" in 2020 and an additional $54.3 billion in losses over 10 years. Considering those projections, she said the agency could \"run out of cash this fiscal year\" (or by the end of September) without federal intervention. \"The sudden drop in mail volumes, our most profitable revenue stream, is steep and may never fully recover,\" she later told The New York Times. Further details on the potential downturn were unknown; it was not explained where, or to what extent, regions may first notice interrupted USPS service due to the profit loss, nor if the agency would maintain its existing payroll of some 640,000 employees or close altogether. \n\nUsing the COVID-19 outbreak in their rationale, some lawmakers\u2014primarily U.S. House Democrats\u2014attempted to rally support for and extend more federal money to help USPS in spring 2020. Among the leaders of the public outcry was Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., who is a member of the House government operations committee that oversees the Postal Service. He told The Washington Post: \"I'm so frustrated at how difficult it has been for a long time to galvanize attention and action around an essential service. And maybe the pandemic forces us all to refocus on this service and how essential it is and how we need to fix it while we can before it gets into critical condition.\" The requests came to a head in March 2020 during negotiations over a $2.2 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package, called the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Initially, lawmakers agreed to set aside $13 billion in federal dollars for USPS that the agency would not have to repay. However, purportedly at the urging of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and aides to U.S. President Donald Trump, congressional leaders removed that provision from the CARES Act while leaving its funding boosts to help small businesses, passenger airlines and air cargo carriers, and most U.S. taxpayers via one-time stimulus checks, among other provisions that aimed to jump-start the economy. \n\nAccording to a senior Trump administration official and a congressional official, Trump would have vetoed the entire bill if it had contained any such funding to help the postal agency, The Washington Post reported. \"We told them very clearly that the president was not going to sign the bill if [money for the Postal Service] was in it,\" the Trump administration official said. In last-round debates over what to include in the CARES Act, however, a bipartisan pair of senators (Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis.) proposed what some federal leaders considered a compromise between Trump and USPS advocates: a $10 billion loan to help the agency cover operating expenses through the spring of 2020. Trump signed the CARES Act into law on March 27, including the provision that read: \n\nBut as of mid-April, the Postal Service did not have access to the funds. Despite Trump's approval of the legislation, the USPS-specific provision required additional signatures from both him and Mnuchin before the agency could request the loan money. While signing off on other aspects of the federal stimulus bill on April 24, Trump said he would not sign the loan unless the service fulfilled his long-standing request to raise prices on shipping and postal materials to cover its debt\u2014a call to action based on a false assertion that the service loses money by delivering for Amazon. (Government analysts have said that type of price change could lead to private delivery competitors swooping in on USPS's business and, perhaps, offering cheaper prices for easy city routes and fewer options for rural Americans, and it would only raise a marginal amount of new revenue compared to USPS's total debt.) At the signing, Trump said: \"The","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1jhz7SJ4iTm1SqCKu-mVaazmiZWIZiVVb"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1i0y8df5_3V2pcQ-TGamPXyHZ7htiUBtZ"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1M-z3GM642e8sOr4I4ZB-s8SgqeGlakCi"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_21","claim":"Knopp says he upheld a campaign promise not to join the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS).","posted":"02\/23\/2013","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Freshman Oregon Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend, is clear that lawmakers need to fix the Public Employees Retirement System this year and that they themselves should not be part of the system. He pledged during his campaign to decline membership in PERS. Earlier this month, Knopp's office issued a press release stating that along with being sworn into office, he upheld a campaign promise not to join the state retirement program known as the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS). \"It is very important to me to honor the promises that I've made,\" Knopp is quoted as saying in the release. \"If we don't fix PERS now, there will be fewer firefighters protecting our communities, fewer police officers on the streets, and fewer teachers in the classroom.\" PERS is contentious. Lawmakers reformed the system in 2003, curbing benefits for new employees going forward. Some lawmakers say it's still too generous. Public employee unions firmly assert that the benefits were bargained for and are fair. Gov. John Kitzhaber, a Democrat, wants to find savings in the system, as do Republicans; House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, is lukewarm to the idea. Public employees generally favor Democrats with campaign help and money, so it's not surprising to hear that Knopp, a Republican, promised to opt out. But PolitiFact Oregon also recalled that before he joined the Senate this year, Knopp was a three-term member of the Oregon House. In fact, he was House majority leader when lawmakers tackled reform in 2003. We were pretty sure he had been a member of PERS. Knopp's office confirmed what we thought to be true. He joined the system in 1999, when he was first elected to the House, and remained an active member until 2005, when he left office. As a member for six years, he was vested in the system. The money continued accruing until 2010. What happened in 2010? Knopp needed money for a family medical emergency, so he cashed out his account. The total gross amount was $8,167.07, which we acknowledge is not an astonishingly high figure. Retirement benefits are calculated based on pay and length of service, and legislators don't earn much, about $20,000 a year. Still, we think his previous membership is a relevant detail curiously missing from an otherwise glowing press release. If PolitiFact Oregon were in office and had made public employee retirement a major part of our platform and had promised to opt out, we think we'd make it explicit that we had once been part of PERS, in the interest of full and complete disclosure. In any case, Knopp had three options when he was sworn into office this year: join the Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan, which is the pension system he's criticizing; join the Oregon Savings Growth Plan, which is like any other deferred compensation plan; or decline to join a retirement plan. Knopp chose the deferred compensation plan. The state\u2014his employer, the taxpayers\u2014contributes 6 percent to his plan. The state does not pick up the additional 6 percent of salary on behalf of employees, as it would under PERS. We had two questions for the senator from Central Oregon: One, why not publicize the fact that he was a member\u2014for more than a decade\u2014of the system he is now criticizing? And two, why take a retirement option at all? Let's take the retirement question first. Knopp told PolitiFact Oregon that he's not opposed to compensation for legislators. He just doesn't want them to vote on a system in which they have a stake. To that end, he has co-sponsored a bill to prohibit future legislators from joining PERS or the deferred compensation plan, because they shouldn't be forced to be in the system, as he was. \"Actual or perceived, there needs to be somebody who completely represents citizens and taxpayers, without a conflict,\" he said. As to the first question, Knopp said he disclosed his previous membership on the campaign trail. When his Democratic challenger said Knopp was a PERS member at an October 2012 candidates forum, he replied, \"I closed my account years ago, honestly, to pay some medical bills when my daughter had two brain surgeries.\" We understand that the retirement system in 1999 was not the legislative issue that it was in 2003 or that it is in 2013. But why didn't he close his account before 2003, when it was clear he'd have to vote on PERS reforms? He said it wasn't clear at the time whether he could. Why not close the account in 2005, after leaving office? He said he co-sponsored a bill in 2003 that offered a financial incentive for people with inactive accounts to close their accounts. He thought it unseemly to benefit from that legislation\u2014although we checked, and he wouldn't have qualified. Then why wait until 2010 to close his account? Knopp didn't have a clear answer. He acknowledges that had he not needed the money in 2010, he would have continued to be a member. Knopp has been a consistent and outspoken critic of the Public Employees Retirement System. He served as the House chairman of the committee to reform PERS in 2003. He promised voters that he would not accept PERS this year, and he followed through on that promise. What Knopp failed to mention is that he was a member of PERS who closed his account in 2010 because his family needed the money. Knopp could have closed his account in 2003\u2014and avoided the conflict then\u2014or he could have closed his account when he left office in 2005. None of that takes away from the accuracy of the statement\u2014he honored his pledge to stay out of PERS\u2014but it is additional information that we deem missing from his press releases. We rate the statement Mostly True.","issues":["Oregon","Elections","Pensions","Retirement","State Budget","Transparency"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_22","claim":"We reduced the government workforce by 13,000, 11 percent, during my eight years.","posted":"06\/09\/2015","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Before announcing that he was going to announce his presidential candidacy, former Gov. Jeb Bush told a crowd at an Orlando event that he was dedicated to conservative principles like reducing the size of government. We reduced the government workforce by 13,000, 11 percent, during my eight years, he said on June 2, 2015, at Gov. Rick Scotts Economic Growth Summit at Walt Disney World. He also touted high job-creation numbers during his term. Bush is expected to officially announce his candidacy on June 15. Meanwhile, we wondered whether his claim about shrinking the state government workforce passed muster. Working through the cuts Bush served two terms between 1999 and the start of 2007, and proposed cutting25 percent of state employeesearly in his term. He didnt cut that many, but he did oversee a reduction in state workers. His Right to Rise PAC sent us state payroll numbers from Bushs tenure that backed the claim. A Bush spokesman said the data came from the Legislatures General Appropriations Act (i.e., the approved state budget) each year, minus workers for the State University System andtemporary employeesfor which the governors office isnt responsible. These are legitimate numbers, but can be hard to parse. To find them in the annual budget, which usually clocks in at more than 400 pages, youd have to add them up from the positions listed for each state agency. You can sift through each budget if youd like, but we decided to look at it a slightly different way to make it a little simpler for you to gauge, using the states Department of Management ServicesAnnual Workforce Report. Thats a general snapshot of state personnel, how much they make and what jobs they do. Part of that count is theState Personnel System, which includes about two-thirds of state employees in more than 30 different agencies and departments. It also excludes university and temporary jobs, and a few others. The numbers arent exactly the same as what Bushs PAC provided, but the State Personnel System shows who is employed by state agencies at any given time. Year General Appropriations Act State Personnel System employees 1998-99 127,363 124,838 1999-2000 126,723 124,160 2000-01 125,007 123,505 2001-02 120,091 120,581 2002-03 117,869 117,561 2003-04 116,797 115,504 2004-05 116,317 113,030 2005-06 116,463 108,706 2006-07 113,633 108,866 Total change -13,730 -15,972 Percent change -10.8 percent -12.8 percent Either way you slice it, Bush can claim the state workforce he had a say over did shrink during his tenure, generally in the terms he noted. The Annual Workforce Report has the added bonus of keeping track of how many employees an agency gains or loses each year. That shows that departments like Children and Families, Health, and Corrections all lost plenty of positions under Bush, who focused on privatizing state services. That privatization of government work has been controversial. For example, contractors working for the Department of Children and Familieshave been criticized for cost overrunsand running an ineffective, or even dangerous, privatized foster care program. Similar problems have been debated for contracts withpayroll servicesandprivately run prisons, among others. Florida International University public administration professors Howard Frank and David Guo said that instead of focusing on how many state jobs were eliminated, its better to consider whether the moves really saved the state money. The Department of Management Services doesnt dissect the differences betweenjobs that were cut and the contractsthat replaced them. That makes it difficult to untangle exactly how much the state may have saved by privatizing, automating or consolidating government positions. The state now has the lowest number of government workers per capita in the United States. But Bushs workforce cuts between 1999 and 2007 came as the states population ballooned by about 3.5 million and the budget jumped from$48.6 billion to $73.9 billion. Our ruling Bush said, We reduced the government workforce by 13,000, 11 percent, during my eight years. He was referring to a specific count of workers in state agencies cut between 1999 and 2007, and in context we can consider his numbers pretty accurate. Experts told us its important to keep in mind that privatizing state jobs or cutting positions doesnt mean its necessarily cheaper or better for taxpayers. The statement, however, is accurate, and we rate it True.","issues":["Jobs","State Budget","Florida"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_23","claim":"Says he was known as Veto Corleone for cutting spending as Florida governor.","posted":"05\/26\/2015","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Former Gov. Jeb Bush has resurrected an infamous moniker from his days in Tallahassee on the campaign trail in an attempt to show he is the godfather of fiscal conservatism. During a meeting with business leaders in Portsmouth, N.H., on May 20, 2015, Bush pointed out that he was well-known for using the line-item veto at his disposal as governor. \"They called me Veto Corleone, which was something I was quite proud of,\" Bush said, citing a reference to Marlon Brando's character in The Godfather. He added that he vetoed 2,500 separate line items totaling $2 billion over his eight years. Bush has brought out that anecdote several times during the run-up to a presidential campaign, implying he would again focus on cutting wasteful spending. We wondered if he was accurate in claiming that nickname. We made our own inquiries and found that yes, pork projects really did sleep with the fishes. \n\nBush came into office in 1999 vowing to use his line-item veto on state spending he didn't like, and he followed through with a vengeance. He also wanted the state to focus on building reserves. That first year, he shocked lawmakers by slashing $313 million out of the $48.6 billion budget approved by the Legislature. It was more than double the previous veto record of $150 million set by Republican Gov. Bob Martinez in 1988. The Senate was so angry about the cuts that they sued Bush over his partial veto of funding for an extended school year. The Florida Supreme Court eventually ruled that Bush defied the state Constitution by cutting $16 million out of a $40 million appropriation to keep schools open longer. They said he either had to cut all of the program or none of it. Media reports said John Thrasher, then speaker of the House, dubbed Bush Veto Corleone after the fictional mafia don (spelled Vito Corleone) for his liberal use of the power. Thrasher, who is now president of Florida State University, confirmed to PolitiFact Florida that he coined the nickname, which seemed to be something of a friendly dig. Thrasher's collegial relationship with Bush was apparent in 2000 when Thrasher brought the budget to Bush's office while wearing a white lab coat and a stethoscope to make sure the governor had a heart. Bush answered by approving a couple of Thrasher's pet projects, then chopping another $313.7 million out of appropriations. \n\nHere's a look at how much Bush vetoed from each year's budget: \nYear Total state budget Amount Bush vetoed \n1999 $48.6 billion $313 million* \n2000 $51 billion $313.7 million \n2001 $48.3 billion $288.8 million \n2002 $50.4 billion $107 million \n2003 $53.5 billion $33 million \n2004 $57.3 billion $349 million \n2005 $64.7 billion $180 million \n2006 $73.9 billion $448.7 million \n\n* The state Supreme Court ruled a $16 million veto in 1999 unconstitutional. The first year of Bush's second term, in 2003, Bush cut a low of $33 million, but $7.2 million of that was funding for high-speed rail. Bush later led an effort to repeal a constitutional amendment requiring the creation of high-speed rail transit in the state. Bush also saved the most for last, hacking $448.7 million out of the 2006 budget, including a university tuition increase, spending on parks and police vehicles, as well as job training and education programs. That year, state spending was up to $73.9 billion, a 52 percent increase from his first year in office. \"It's never easy,\" Bush said in 2006. \"You always hurt people's feelings. I don't enjoy that. And I'm always surprised that people are surprised. I've been consistent. There should be no surprises. And the people who really follow the budget knew that.\" \n\nWe should note that if Bush wins the presidency, he likely won't get to whack as much. A president doesn't have a line-item veto and has to either accept or reject an entire piece of legislation. \n\nOur ruling: Bush said they called me Veto Corleone as governor for his frequent use of the line-item veto. He did have a fondness for ruthlessly slashing projects he deemed wasteful or not in line with his agenda. Thrasher confirmed he nicknamed the governor after the fictional mobster. This is one favor we grant Bush. We rate the statement True.","issues":["State Budget","Florida"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_24","claim":"Will banks be required to disclose all transactions exceeding $600 to the IRS as part of the Biden proposal?","posted":"09\/16\/2021","sci_digest":["The American Families Plan has a reporting requirement for banks that has infuriated some."],"justification":"Announced in April 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden's American Families Plan is an ambitious proposal that aims to expand Americans' access to childcare and education and increase the number of women in the workforce. The plan intends to fund all of this through higher taxes on income earners and increased reporting requirements for banks that could potentially yield more tax revenue. These reporting requirements have drawn the ire of several banks that took issue with this less widely known section of the plan. A Facebook post by FNB Community Bank claimed: \"The Biden administration has proposed requiring all community banks and other financial institutions to report to the IRS on all deposits and withdrawals through business and personal accounts worth more than $600, regardless of tax liability. This indiscriminate, comprehensive bank account reporting to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) could soon be enacted in Congress and will create an unacceptable invasion of privacy for our customers.\" Another screenshot shared by our readers expressed similar concerns: The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) even began a campaign, calling on communities to send a letter to Biden to prevent this so-called intrusive proposal: \"Tell Congress: Don't Let IRS Invade My Privacy. The Biden administration is proposing requiring financial institutions to report to the IRS all transactions of all business and personal accounts worth more than $600. This is an unprecedented invasion of privacy. In order to oppose this intrusive proposal, please send this letter to your representative and senators immediately.\" We looked up the proposal itself, and it does require more robust reporting of transactions across business and personal accounts. The proposal, which aims to go into effect after December 31, 2022, states: \"This proposal would create a comprehensive financial account information reporting regime. Financial institutions would report data on financial accounts in an information return. The annual return will report gross inflows and outflows with a breakdown for physical cash, transactions with a foreign account, and transfers to and from another account with the same owner.\" This requirement would apply to all business and personal accounts from financial institutions, including bank, loan, and investment accounts, with the exception of accounts below a low de minimis gross flow threshold of $600 or fair market value of $600. We begin by explaining some of the more technical terms in this proposal. A \"de minimis threshold\" is broadly defined as the amount of a transaction that has such a small value that accounting for it would be unreasonable. We spoke to Visiting Assistant Professor of Tax Law at New York University, Nyamagaga Gondwe, who explained, \"It is the amount below which the IRS would argue isn't worth investigating. It's the difference between your company giving you a $5 card to Subway versus traveling on a private jet on your company's dime. The latter is worth reporting.\" In this case, \"gross flow\" refers to the aggregate inflows and outflows of cash from bank accounts. In sum, the current proposal stipulates that an aggregate amount of less than $600 worth of cash flowing into and out of accounts is not worth reporting. The \"fair market value\" refers to the amount people are willing to pay for an asset in the open market. In this case, Gondwe argued, the use of the term could possibly refer to the changing market value of transactions exceeding $600 that may occur in foreign currency transactions. The ICBA claims that the proposal will make banks report \"all transactions\" above the limit, but this is misleading. While it is true that the IRS will have more information on cash flows above $600, that doesn't mean they will have all the information pertaining to all transactions. The Center for American Progress (CAP) points out that banks will only be providing aggregate numbers to the IRS after each year\u2014gross inflow and gross outflow\u2014and not individualized transaction information. This reporting requirement would also extend to peer-to-peer payment services like Venmo but wouldn't require people to report any additional information to the government. According to The Wall Street Journal, financial institutions must already report interest, dividends, and investment incomes to the IRS, and the IRS can obtain other information through audits. According to Marie Sapirie of Tax Notes, a publication focused on tax news, a parenthetical to the proposal indicates that there is some flexibility in raising the minimum account balance\/inflow\/outflow above $600. The Tax Notes report also states that the Treasury Department estimated this form of reporting would raise $463 billion over the 10-year budget window, making it the third-largest revenue raiser proposed in the budget. The aim is to target businesses outside of large corporations that carry out gross underreporting of their income, amounting to $166 billion per year. According to the proposal: \"Requiring comprehensive information reporting on the inflows and outflows of financial accounts will increase the visibility of gross receipts and deductible expenses to the IRS. Increased visibility of business income will enhance the effectiveness of IRS enforcement measures and encourage voluntary compliance.\" Banks claim this would be an invasion of consumer privacy, with the ICBA saying it would allow the government to monitor account information. However, CAP analysts Seth Hanlon and Galen Hendricks argue, \"Only the prior year's total inflow and total outflow would be reported on annual forms. No one would say that the IRS monitors you on your job because it receives a W-2 from your employer with your total wages every January.\" Another challenge not mentioned in the ICBA's consumer alert is the higher costs this reporting proposal may impose on banks. In May 2021, a coalition of banking associations wrote a letter to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, arguing that they already provide a lot of data to the IRS and that this would impose additional costs on their systems. The costs and other burdens imposed to collect and report account flow information would surpass the potential benefits from such a reporting scheme. New reporting would appear to require material development costs and process additions for financial institutions, as well as significant reconciliation and compliance burdens on impacted taxpayers. For example, reporting total gross receipts and disbursements would require a new reporting paradigm for depository institutions, necessitating system changes to collect the information. On the flipside, Sapirie wrote for Tax Notes, the benefits of such a reporting proposal may be difficult to realize: \"Increasing the amount of information flowing into the IRS would not in itself lead to increased enforcement, and it might come with added challenges.\" Former IRS Commissioner Charles O. Rossotti acknowledged that the IRS today cannot use all the information it already receives, and significant areas of noncompliance are barely addressed, so more reporting alone will not solve the problem. It would almost certainly have a deterrent effect for taxpayers contemplating evasion, but the extent of that effect is unclear, and it might be insufficient to justify the costs to financial institutions and the federal government of implementing such a large new reporting regime. But CAP's analysis argues that this will help prevent tax evasion while also providing more funding to enhance data security for consumers: \"Additional funding would go to enhancing data security. Even at present, the IRS's data security is already much better than that of the financial industry, with only very rare and limited breaches compared to the exponentially larger data breaches from financial institutions. Second, the reporting of information flows only from financial institutions to the IRS and not in the other direction, as some earlier proposals had called for.\" The Biden administration's bank reporting proposal is a critical element of the Build Back Better agenda. It gives the IRS some visibility into opaque forms of income that disproportionately accrue to high-income individuals. Despite fearmongering from bank lobbies, the proposal protects taxpayers' privacy while simply requiring banks to provide basic, aggregated information about flows. That enables the IRS to select audits in a more efficient and equitable way so that the vast majority of taxpayers will be less likely to be audited. By deterring and helping catch tax cheats, the proposal raises substantial revenue for the Build Back Better agenda, which provides critical investments to increase economic opportunities for American families and communities. On October 12, 2021, Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended the proposal in response to a question from a reporter, who said, \"[Banks] are concerned about the tracking of transactions that are greater than $600; Americans are starting to get worried about this. Do you think [this] is going to stay in the Reconciliation Bill?\" \"With all due respect, the plural of anecdote is not data,\" Pelosi said. \"Yes, there are concerns that some people have. But if people are breaking the law and not paying their taxes, one way to track them is through the banking measure. I think $600\u2014that's a negotiation that will go on as to what the amount is. But yes.\" Whatever the impact of this proposal is, it does require additional reporting of certain bank transactions, just not in the way the banks are portraying it.","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1O3TM4bEJZWg8OSIzGY1RR1rm8QA-nVJd"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1TZMsUpr0u9WqwMhhCUkX-TSUzd2i2rTj"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_25","claim":"Did Biden Say if Israel Didn't Exist, the US 'Would Have To Invent an Israel'?","posted":"02\/08\/2024","sci_digest":["The then-senator called Israel the best $3 billion investment the U.S. made.\r"],"justification":"The protracted, often bloody Israeli-Palestinian conflict exploded into a hot war on Oct. 7, 2023, when the militant Palestinian group Hamas launched a deadly attack on Israel and Israel retaliated by bombarding the Gaza Strip. More than 20,000 people, the vast majority of them Palestinians, were reportedly killed during the first two months of the war alone. The violence is driven by mutual hostilities and territorial ambitions dating back more than a century. The internet has become an unofficial front in that war and is rife with misinformation, which Snopes is dedicated to countering with facts and context. You can help. Read the latest fact checks. Submit questionable claims. Become a Snopes Member to support our work. We welcome your participation and feedback. Israeli-Palestinian conflict Hamas deadly attack on Israel retaliated were reportedly killed mutual hostilities Read Submit Become a Snopes Member feedback In late 2023 and into 2024, as the Israel-Hamas conflict continued, a number of social media posts highlighted U.S. President Joe Bidens longtime support of Israel. Many such posts sought to criticize him for that support as the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza by Israeli bombardment approached more than 27,000. posts criticize killed The posts included an old video clip of then-U.S. Sen. Biden from 1986 in which he allegedly said, [Supporting Israel] is the best $3 billion investment we make. Were there not an Israel, the United States of America would have to invent an Israel to protect her interests in the region. (Screenshot via X) Biden indeed said the above words, in the context of opposing an arms sale to Saudi Arabia. He argued that sending weapons to that country would compromise Israel's security. Biden was arguing during a Senate debate for overriding a presidential veto pertaining to arms sales in Saudi Arabia. In May 1986, then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan had vetoed a congressional resolution that sought to block his request to sell advanced missiles to Saudi Arabia. May 1986 Biden supported the prohibition of arms sales to Saudi Arabia and called on the Senate to override Reagans veto because it would put Saudi Arabia in the position of having to support their Arab brethren against Israel. The quote in question emerged at the end of Bidens statement, transcribed below. supported Around three hours' worth of the Senate debate, including Bidens full statement, is available for viewing on C-SPAN. We transcribed sections of Bidens speech below (emphasis, ours): C-SPAN Quite frankly, the Saudis are an 80-member family oligarchy that finds themselves adrift in the midst of an Islamic revolution, the consequences of which they do not comprehend any more than we [...] the government of Saudi Arabia, is the anachronism of the 20th century in the Middle East, and the fact of the matter is [...] the Saudis have no choice but to fund the PLO. The Saudis have no choice but to be supportive of their Arab brethren. The Saudis have no choice but to do that for in fact, about 55,000 Palestinians control the infrastructure of Saudi Arabia. They literally have their hands on the spigots [...] that control the oil. And so I would suggest to my colleagues we should not be viewing this so much in terms of whether or not the Saudis are good guys or bad guys. We should view it in terms of what is realistic. Madam President, it is this senator's opinion that it is totally unrealistic to expect the Saudiswith or without our help in terms of arms salesto do anything other than maintain a policy which they have had, which is one that is not particularly helpful to our interest. And furthermore, I would suggest to my colleagues in the Senate that we're doing a disservice to Saudi Arabia. [...] For I believe the Saudis do not want to have a war with Israel. But I believe once we send their arsenal soaring in terms of sophisticated weapons, they will be put in the untenable position the next time there is a conflict in the region, of having to get directly involved, of having to move with their Arab brethren. For if they don't, they will be moved. Biden went on to argue that the U.S. should support Saudi Arabia through other means, including helping its internal security, and concluded by saying Israel could not afford to have an unstable Saudi Arabia either (emphasis, ours): argue We do not have a Middle East foreign policy at this moment and to suggest that we are going to substitute an arms sales package for a policy in the name of trying to suggest that this is a litmus test once again. I've been here 14 years. I'm tired of being subjected to a litmus test by the Saudis. Litmus test by anyone else. We should operate and move in what is the naked self interest of the United States of America. And if we wish to help the Saudis, what we should be doing for Saudi Arabia is helping them with their infrastructure as it relates to their domestic security requirements. [...] We should be dealing with their ability to protect their own internal security from within. [...] if we look at the Middle East, I think it's about time we stopped those of us who supportas most of us doIsrael in this body, for apologizing for our support for Israel. There's no apology to be made. None. It is the best $3 billion investment we make. Were there not an Israel, the United States of America would have to invent an Israel to protect her interests in the region.  In June 1986, the Senate voted to uphold Reagans veto with a narrow margin of a single vote. However, opponents of the arms sale also claimed a victory because the overall package of sales was reduced significantly. uphold claimed This was not the only time Biden used such language to describe his support for Israel. In 2020, Israeli newspaper Haaretz revealed a 1986 document detailing Biden's meeting with Israel's ambassador in Washington, D.C. In the meeting, Biden was thanked for supporting aid to Israel, to which Biden reportedly said, Thats our best investment, where we get the biggest bang for our buck.\" Haaretz Levinson, Chaim. Rare 1986 Document Reveals Bidens Views on Israel and Saudi Arabia. Haaretz, 28 Dec. 2020. Haaretz, https:\/\/www.haaretz.com\/israel-news\/2020-12-28\/ty-article\/rare-1986-document-reveals-bidens-views-on-israel-and-saudi-arabia\/0000017f-f2ca-d8a1-a5ff-f2ca769b0000.Accessed 8 Feb. 2024. Osgood, Brian and Linah Alsaafin, Tamila Varshalomidze. UN: 300k in North Gaza at Risk of Famine as Israel Continues to Block Aid. Al Jazeera, https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/liveblog\/2024\/2\/8\/israels-war-on-gaza-live-us-says-space-for-truce-deal-israel-vows-war.Accessed 8 Feb. 2024. Roberts, Steven V. PRESIDENT VETOES EFFORT TO BLOCK ARMS FOR SAUDIS. The New York Times, 22 May 1986. NYTimes.com, https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1986\/05\/22\/world\/president-vetoes-effort-to-block-arms-for-saudis.html.Accessed 8 Feb. 2024. \"Senate Session.\" June 5, 1986 | C-SPAN.Org. https:\/\/www.c-span.org\/video\/?45851-1\/senate-session. Accessed 8 Feb. 2024.\r","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1LdyDq3LlNc2Go6pgz_hXmWErrUrqA-FC","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_26","claim":"Stephanie Cegielski Was Not Donald Trump's 'Top Strategist'","posted":"03\/29\/2016","sci_digest":["Stephanie Cegielski, a former spokeswoman for the \"Make America Great Again\" super PAC, wrote an open letter to Donald Trump supporters."],"justification":"On 28 March 2016, Stephanie Cegielski, a one-time strategist for the \"Make America Great Again\" super PAC, published an open letter to Trump supporters on the website xoJane. Even Trump's most trusted advisors didn't expect him to fare this well. Almost a year ago, recruited for my public relations and public policy expertise, I sat in Trump Tower being told that the goal was to get The Donald to poll in double digits and come in second in delegate count. That was it. The Trump camp would have been satisfied to see him polling at 12% and taking second place to a candidate who might hold 50%. His candidacy was a protest candidacy. The letter immediately went viral, and while some pondered Cegielski's main talking point (that Donald Trump doesn't want to be president and didn't expect to be the GOP frontrunner), others questioned whether Cegielski was really Trump's top campaign strategist. Complicating matters, the headline appeared to contradict the body of the article. xoJane identified Cegielski as Trump's \"top strategist\" in their title, but Cegielski identified herself as the \"Communications Director of the 'Make America Great Again' Super PAC\" in her open letter to Trump supporters. In 2015, I fell in love with the idea of the protest candidate who was not bought by corporations. A man who sat in a Manhattan high-rise he had built, making waves as a straight talker with a business background, full of successes and failures, who wanted America to return to greatness. I was sold. Last summer, I signed on as the Communications Director of the Make America Great Again Super PAC. It was still early in the Trump campaign, and we hit the ground running. His biggest competitor had more than $100 million in a Super PAC. The Jeb Bush deep pockets looked to be the biggest obstacle we faced. We seemed to be up against a steep challenge, especially since a big part of the appeal of a Trump candidacy was not being influenced by PAC money. Cegielski was identified as a \"spokeswoman\" for the super PAC in an August 2015 article published in Politico, and Cegielski called herself a \"consultant\" on her LinkedIn profile. While Cegielski's official title may be unclear, it's certain that labeling her \"Trump's top campaign strategist\" is incorrect. Cegielski worked for a super PAC (which, despite the name, is not legally recognized as a political action committee and by law cannot contribute directly to or coordinate with a political campaign, although they can use raised funds to campaign independently) and not for Donald Trump's presidential campaign. Technically known as independent expenditure-only committees, super PACs may raise unlimited sums of money from corporations, unions, associations, and individuals, then spend unlimited sums to overtly advocate for or against political candidates. Unlike traditional PACs, super PACs are prohibited from donating money directly to political candidates, and their spending must not be coordinated with that of the candidates they benefit. Hope Hicks, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign, told Yahoo News that Cegielski was never employed by Donald Trump's presidential campaign. Evidently, she worked for a super PAC which Mr. Trump disavowed and requested the closure of via the FEC. The \"Make America Great Again\" super PAC went dark as of October 2015 amid ongoing scrutiny of where the money was coming from and going to, and whether the committee had direct ties to the Trump campaign.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1npGT5NdPlKDeTs_0NcRk2FDkzi3M2pKB","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_27","claim":"Truckers' Strike","posted":"09\/06\/2005","sci_digest":["Are truckers poised to strike over rising fuel prices?"],"justification":"Claim:  Truckers are poised to strike over rising fuel prices.  OF AND  INFORMATION Examples:  [Collected via e-mail, August 2005] Good Morning Friends,I have spoken with a few independent truckers in the past 24 hours, and they ALL have indicated to me that there will be a nationwide trucker strike by the Teamsters Union & Major Independents commencing between 8 & 12 September 2005. They will be protesting the high price of fuel nationwide, and intend to bring the Nation to her knees, as they did in the early seventies. I have no reason to doubt these individuals, as their grapevine is usually accurate, and this poses a serious problem for the Nation at large. Almost everything moves by truck across this country, and it won't take very long for our merchants shelves and gasoline storage tanks to empty resulting in serious shortages in food and fuel. So, be prepared.... fill your pantries and autos prior to the eighth of September!!!! Unlike the contrived oil and gasoline shortages of the early seventies, the US is not in the position of turning open the spigot and allowing the oil and refined products to flow. Because of the hurricane, the lack of new refineries, and the lack of an ingenious national energy policy, these shortages are real and will be exploited by the Teamsters Union. Every domestic refinery is producing gasoline and home heating oil at maximum capabilities, and combined with the shut down of the refineries in the Gulf due to the hurricane, along with the inability to pump crude oil from the Gulf region, there will be serious shortages for approximately two months. This is a serious National emergency!!!! There have already been long gasoline lines in the South this Labor Day weekend, as many with whom I have spoken from that region have stated to me that in some areas of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North and South Carolina, Louisiana, and Florida, gasoline is already being rationed. These individuals are being allowed only 10 gallons each.... just enough to get by during this shortage. Every Governor of the above mentioned states have asked their citizens to stay at home over the holiday, thus trying to avoid a disaster in the making. Wal-Mart has announced that their entire fleet of trucks will stop moving good and services effective Tuesday, September 6th... they know that something is in the making, and don't want to jeopardize either their trucks or personnel during the National Strike. Every independent trucker with whom I have spoken, has stated to me that they will not roll during this time frame, as the Teamsters mean business!!!! Terry......Teamster Union Member  [Collected via e-mail, August 2005] Are you aware American's are considered greedy? - Saudi Arabia 2005 target price for selling oil was $21 a barrel. Currently, they're selling oil at almost $70 a barrel, while their cost of producing that barrel is just $1.50 . (Fortune, Financial Times, New York Mercantile, Exchange) Consider this E-mail a WARNING...Truckers unions losing patience with the Federal Government and the U.S. Oil Companies... truckers are advised to watch for signs of terrorist activity (AP).Under pressure, major freight carriers strike early agreements with Teamsters Union . 88,000 unionized truckers are getting the brunt of fuel costs, the major Truckers Unions and drivers has had about enough of getting ripped off.  With truckers unions and drivers claiming unreal fuel expenses the unrest and shift is beginning to give birth to a National Truckers Strike. There have been some severe strikes in years past and the talk is complete shut down.  Even the owner operators will park their rigs and go out and even work at menial jobs just to survive. The cost of operationhas been eating away their truck payments.  One comment was said at a local, \"I wonder if the banks have big enough parking lots to hold the repossessions\" . The anger has begun to intensify with drivers and the Truckers Union which is directed towards Federal and Oil Companies.  August 17th 2005 a small nucleus of Tanker and Trailer drivers begun to organize in Alabama. It is said three Unions have started to react with the drivers and are threatening to strike for lower fuel prices or else.  It has elevated to a fever to contact and encourage their counterparts in other States throughout the nation to strike, Nationwide. If this threat begins to take form, there are preparations that MUST be started NOW.  The trucking industry is the prime provider for pretty much everything we have and enjoy in our home. One major item happens to be our FOOD, then our Fuel, medical supplies, clothing, housewares, building materials, emergency supplies when disaster happens, it goes on and on and on. Get the point, this fuel expense is beginning to take its toll. It is vitally serious and important for you to increase your immediate food supply, purchase can food items, canned meat, (most of these canned items have a shelf life of 5 Years.)  NOW is time to STOCK UP and not when the trucks stop rolling. THIS IS A WARNING IN ADVANCE.  Inform your friends and families include the elderly. You are asked to send this to anyone and everyone. This threat is real, do nothing now and you will find out.  [Collected via e-mail, March 2008] I drive a delivery truck, and stopped at a truck stop off of I - 95. There was a group of truckers standing around talking, and I happened to hear them talking about the upcoming strike planned for the first of April. It is in response to the unaffordable diesel prices, and our government's lack of help to the independent businessman. I was told by them that I should try and stay off of I-95 and to stock up on food stuffs because its gonna get really expensive, really quick. Has any one else heard of this? I have noticed that the local grocers I deliver to have doubled their on hand supply of foodstock, and have noticed that prices have started to really go up quite a bit, really quickly. This might be one heck of a great april fools joke, but what if it isn't? Origins:  Various e-mails about a looming independent truckers and Teamsters union strike began arriving in inboxes everywhere in the last week of August 2005.  However, at that time there was no mention of an impending nationwide labor action on the Teamsters web  Teamsters site, nor was there an announcement from Wal-Mart that its fleet of trucks would suspend operations on Tuesday, September 6th (as claimed in e-mailed warnings). And, in the event, no such truckers' strike ever did materialize. In March 2008, rumors once again began to circulate that truckers would stage a strike on 1 April 2008 (not as a mandatory union-sponsored work stoppage, but as a grassroots demonstration supported by independent truck owner-operators) to protest the rising price of diesel fuel. Until a few years ago diesel fuel had generally been cheaper than gasoline, but emissions standards requiring the use of ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD) have driven up diesel prices to the point that it is now often more expensive than gasoline.  (As of mid-March 2008, the average price of diesel fuel in the U.S. was $4.037 per gallon, while gasoline prices averaged $3.275 per gallon during that period.) ULSD Every 5-cent increase in the price of diesel results in an estimated $1,000 increase in truckers' annual expenses, and in March 2008 independent truckers began talking about staging a one-day nationwide trucker shutdown on 1 April 2008 to protest the prospect of their \"going broke out on the highway wearing our trucks out\": A trucker's strike may be looming on the horizon.  Many independent over the road truck drivers are fed up with rising fuel and insurance costs and are looking into organizing and trying to join together to take rigs off the road and that would mean shortages at supermarkets, convenience stores and if it was carried out to the extreme, eventually at every retail outlet in America.  Everything that gets delivered to a retail store in your city or town is eventually delivered by a truck, and if it were highly organized a strike could paralyze the economy. Whether such a shutdown will take place, how widespread participation will be, and how effective such an action will be in ameliorating truckers' rising fuel expenses is something that will only be known in the aftermath. There is precedent for independent truck owners and operators banding together to strike over rising fuel costs (although the word \"strike\" is being used here not in its familiar sense of an action waged against employers to force better wages, benefits, or working conditions for employees, but a work stoppage intended to paralyze industry and thereby force a change in government policy).  In February 1974, four months after OPEC had declared an oil embargo against the U.S. and other western nations over their support of Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, a group known as the Owners\/Operators Independent Drivers Association of America staged a national strike to protest the spiraling costs of fuel, fuel shortages, and reduced speed limits. (In response to the OPEC oil embargo, President Nixon had signed a bill imposing a 55 MPH speed limit on interstate highways.)  The ten-day strike resulted in numerous acts of violence, prompting Pennsylvania governor Milton Shapp to activate National Guard units to assist in providing security for commercial vehicles and roadways.  The conditions that prompted the strike largely evaporated when OPEC ended its embargo the following month. Last updated:  26 March 2008    Byrd, Gene.  \"Trucker's Strike Looming: Fuel Cost Protest in April, Real or Hoax?\"   The National Ledger  24 March 2008.     CNNMoney.com.  \"Gas Prices Rise.\"   28 March 2008.     The Quad City Times.  \"Whispers Grow of Nationwide Truckers Strike.\"   26 March 2008.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_28","claim":"Did President Trump Shut Down the White House Phone-In Comment Line?","posted":"01\/24\/2017","sci_digest":["The White House phone-in comment line was non-operational in January 2017, but the change took place during President Obama's administration."],"justification":"On 23 January 2017, the web site Addicting Info published an article reporting that the news Trump administration had dismantled the White House call-in line in order to \"ban the public\" from calling to offer comment or protest: article Trump Bans The Public From Calling The White House To Comment Or Protest In another attempt to stifle freedom of expression, President Trump and his administration have dismantled the White House switchboard comment operating system. Instead, callers will be told to take their complaints and comments to Facebook and other White House social media platforms. While it's true that the White House call-in comment line was inactive as of January 2017 (we called the number and were informed by an automated voice message that the comment line was closed), it's inaccurate to say that the Trump administration \"banned\" the public from calling the White House or \"dismantled\" the White House switchboard.  call-in When Donald Trump was sworn in as the new President of the United States on 20 January 2017, both a peaceful transition of power and a digital transition of assets took place. For instance, the majority of content on WhiteHouse.gov was removed and archived at ObamaWhiteHouse.archive.gov in order to give the Trump administration the opportunity to populate the government web site with their own content. Similar changes were made with the @POTUS Twitter account. content @POTUS In this case, the White House comment line was shut down nearly a week before President Trump took office. On 14 January 2017, the Washington Times reported that the Obama administration had closed down the phone-in comment line: reported President Obama is done listening  at least by phone. The White House comments line, 202-456-1111, is no longer working and apparently hasnt been operational for weeks. The line is normally staffed by volunteers. Callers to the line hear a recorded message: The comment line is currently closed, but your comment is important to the president. The recorded message advised callers to send comments for the White House via Facebook Messenger. Although President Obama's White House Facebook account had Messenger installed, as of the moment President Trump's does not: Messenger  While one could argue that President Trump's administration was slow to pick up the digital reins in the days immediately following his inauguration, it's incorrect to say that he \"dismantled\" the White House call-in line. It's more accurate to say that the White House call-in comment line was closed at the end of President Obama's term, and the Trump administration did not reinstate it in the first few days of his presidency. Denson, Ryan.  \"Trump Bans the Public from Calling the White House to Comment or Protest.\"\r  Addicting Info.  23 Janaury 2017. Boyer, Dave.  \"White House Shuts Down Call-In Line.\"\r  The Washington Times.  14 January 2017.","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=13JpVBKuB-u9a0elMR_OXQZjqOVt6Ix0n","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_29","claim":"Was $30 million donated by Planned Parenthood to Democrats in order to sway the outcome of the Midterm Elections?","posted":"04\/23\/2018","sci_digest":["Social media memes misleadingly conflated Planned Parenthood itself with a coalition of organizations and PACs."],"justification":"On 18 April 2018, the Facebook page The Newly Press shared a text-based meme asserting that taxpayer-subsidized Planned Parenthood was spending upwards of $30 million to influence the outcome of the upcoming midterm elections. A later similar meme claimed specifically that all $30 million was going to Democratic candidates. However, a 16 April 2018 Roll Call piece made clear a distinction absent from Internet memes, namely that the $30 million figure represented funds to be provided by a coalition of organizations, of which Planned Parenthood Votes was but one member. A coalition of liberal organizations that includes the political arm of Planned Parenthood rolled out a $30 million program to mobilize infrequent voters to cast ballots for progressive candidates in the midterm elections. Targeting people of color, young people, and women is a time-worn strategy, but it has not worked in previous midterm cycles mostly because efforts often engage too close to election day and do not build real relationships, the coalition said in its release. The other organizations funneling money and resources to the initiative, which the coalition is calling Win Justice, are the Center for Community Change Action, Color Of Change PAC, and the Service Employees International Union. The organizations are targeting 1.25 million voters in Florida, a million in Michigan, and 250,000 in Nevada through door-knocking and text messaging with volunteers. Roll Call also noted that the multiple-group initiative included Planned Parenthood Votes, which is \"the political arm of Planned Parenthood\" (i.e., a super PAC branch), an entity separate from the main Planned Parenthood Federation of America organization. Memes such as the one referenced above suggest it should be \"highly illegal\" for Planned Parenthood to receive taxpayer subsidies yet expend funds on political activities. According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations such as Planned Parenthood are indeed \"prohibited\" from funding such endeavors. Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. Contributions to political campaign funds or public statements of position (verbal or written) made on behalf of the organization in favor of or in opposition to any candidate for public office clearly violate the prohibition against political campaign activity. Violating this prohibition may result in denial or revocation of tax-exempt status and the imposition of certain excise taxes. However, Planned Parenthood is affiliated with two offshoot political entities that are separate from the main organization and thus can be involved with funding midterm elections. Planned Parenthood Action Fund (PPAF) is a 501(c)(4), which the IRS stipulates \"may further its exempt purposes through lobbying as its primary activity without jeopardizing its exempt status.\" The second organization, Planned Parenthood Votes, is a Super PAC. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) defines Super PACs such as Planned Parenthood Votes as \"committees that may receive unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations, labor unions, and other political action committees for the purpose of financing independent expenditures and other independent political activity.\" In short, Planned Parenthood itself is not \"dishing out $30 million on midterm elections\" in violation of the law. Rather, a separate political arm of Planned Parenthood (which is donor-funded and may legally engage in such activities) is one part of a coalition of several groups that is expending an aggregate of $30 million on mobilizing infrequent voters for the 2018 midterm elections.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=127XqwNYcx4HFojP5oUUX5QMtKIZeX9qp"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1uAJ8t3X4dzcvB-ZieQ4gSD_RPQPqraQF"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_30","claim":"2011 W-2 tax documents and HR3590 legislation","posted":"05\/25\/2010","sci_digest":["Starting in 2011, will all employees have to pay taxes on the value of health insurance provided by their employers?"],"justification":"Claim:  Starting in 2011, all employees will have to pay taxes on the value of health insurance provided by their employers.  Example:  [Collected via e-mail, May 2010] I contacted my Congressman about House bill HR 3590, the health care bill. I asked for a summary of changes. The Aid directed me to go to www.thomas.gov, enter HR 3590 in the search box and look for summaries. Starting in 2011 (next year folks) your W-2 tax form sent by your employer will be increased to show the value of whatever health insurance you are given by the company. It does not matter if that's a private concern or Governmental body of some sort. If you're retired? So what; your gross WILL go up by the amount of insurance you get. You will be required to pay taxes on a large sum of money that you have never seen. Take your tax form you just finished and see what $15,000 or $20,000 additional gross does to your tax debt. That's what you'll pay next year. For many it also puts you into a new higher bracket so it's even worse. This is how the government is going to buy insurance for 15% that don't have insurance and it's only part of the tax increases. Not believing this I researched the summaries and here's what I'm reading: On page 25 of 29:TITLE IX REVENUE PROVISIONS- SUBTITLE A: REVENUE OFFSET PROVISIONS - (sec. 9001, as modified by sec. 10901)    Sec.9002.\"requires employers to include in the W-2 form of each employee the aggregate cost of applicable employer sponsored group health coverage that is excludable from the employee's gross income.\" Joan Pryde is the senior tax editor for the Kiplinger letters. Go to Kiplinger's and read about 13 tax changes that could affect you. Number 3 is what I just told you about. Why am I sending you this? The same reason I hope you forward this to every single person in your address book. People have the right to know the truth because an election is coming in November and we need to vote in Conservatives that will repel this horrid law!    Origins:  This is another case of a legislative issue which has a kernel of truth to it, but which has been misinterpreted, affects only a small percentage of the population, and has misleadingly been blown out of proportion through someone's mistaken assumption that it applies to everyone. Section 9002 of PPACA, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590), requires that all employers, beginning in 2011, report the aggregate cost of employer-sponsored health benefits they provide to employees on those employees' W-2 forms.  However, the monetary values so reported will neither be counted as gross income nor will they be taxed; they will be included for informational purposes only.  (Section 106A of the Internal Revenue Code states that, in general, employer-provided health coverage is not taxable to the employee.) Section 106A The portion (Title IX, Sec. 9001) of the PPACA referenced above is entitled \"Excise Tax on High Cost Employer-Sponsored Coverage.\"  This is the section of the recently passed health care reform legislation that addresses taxing so-called high-level \"Cadillac\" health care plans that some employees receive through their employers.   Title IX, Sec. 9001 In general, beginning in 2018 (not 2011), the PPACA imposes a 40% excise tax on the value of employer-sponsored medical insurance that exceeds a given threshold (initially $27,500 annually).  This excise tax would be paid by the insurance company, not the employee, and is initially expected to affect fewer than 10% of families covered by health insurance: Many employers pay most of the premium for health coverage. Workers pick up the rest but pay no taxes on the employer's often-substantial contribution. That's why many unions have bargained hard for generous health coverage over the years, even if that meant forgoing a bigger pay raise. The new agreement would take away the tax advantage for a small portion of the health benefit by imposing a 40 percent tax on the amount by which the premiums for employer-sponsored health coverage exceed specified thresholds. That would be $27,500 a year for a family, starting in 2018. The tax on a $29,500 plan would be $800, or 40 percent of $2,000. The insurance company would pay the tax but would almost certainly pass it along to the employer and its employees. That $27,500 threshold is well above the current average of $13,400 for a family plan. By 2016, more than 80 percent of all family plans are projected to still fall below the threshold. In the following years, the tax threshold would rise more slowly than the likely rate of inflation in medical costs, which could mean the plans of millions of workers  a small minority of the work force  would be subject to the tax in theory. Most likely, insurers will drop their premiums just below the threshold. They could do that by setting higher deductibles and co-payments, managing access to care more tightly, or reducing benefits. Last updated:  25 May 2010    The New York Times.  \"Cadillac Plans.\"   15 January 2010.    The Washington Post.  \"Will President Obama Defend the 'Cadillac Tax' to Cut Health-Care Costs?\"   12 January 2010.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_31","claim":"Did US Unemployment Reach Record Low Due to Trump?","posted":"10\/13\/2020","sci_digest":["The Trump campaign alleged pre-COVID-19 unemployment rates were evidence that he could jumpstart the pandemic-stricken economy."],"justification":"During the U.S. vice presidential debate on Oct. 7, 2020, Republican candidate Mike Pence claimed he and U.S. President Donald Trump worked \"from day one\" in the White House to drive down American unemployment to \"record\" low levels  evidence, he alleged, that voters should re-elect Trump on Nov. 3 to try and reshape the economy after unprecedented job losses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Oct. 7, 2020 COVID-19 pandemic The statement echoed previous comments by the president. In October 2019, the White House issued a news release suggesting the Trump administration's \"pro-growth agenda\" was the reason for new jobs and a declining unemployment rate, reaching a level not seen in 50 years. news release Then, on Jan. 29, 2020, roughly one week after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the first COVID-19 case in the U.S., Trump reiterated on Twitter: reiterated   About six weeks later as the deadly virus spread nationwide, Trump doubled down on that \"50 year\" claim and said his administration is responsible for the \"best unemployment numbers in the history of our Country.\" He tweeted: tweeted   The claim took on another layer as the pandemic worsened: Trump alleged without evidence that his administration was responsible for helping Black Americans, specifically, get jobs. For instance, on June 2, he claimed he \"has done more for the Black Community than any President since Abraham Lincoln,\" and that the country's unemployment figure among Black Americans was evidence of that work. claimed After that, Trump supporters went a step further by circulating the below-displayed meme online, alleging that Trump not only drove down unemployment rates for people who identify as Black or African American but also women and Hispanic workers.   This was true: U.S. Unemployment Reached 50-year Low Under Trump But no evidence showed Trump was responsible for causing the dip. First, to determine the validity of the underlying claim  that Trump shaped the economy so that U.S. unemployment dipped to the lowest rate ever  we considered the data available. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) began calculating the country's unemployment rate  the number of people seeking work divided by the sum of that amount and total people employed  in March 1940, when demographers first launched a monthly survey of households nationwide called the \"Current Population Survey.\" Before that, more subjective and less comprehensive data existed. So to ensure accuracy in this report, we only considered the country's unemployment figure post-1940, as compiled by BLS and the U.S. Census Bureau and to which government officials refer. Bureau of Labor Statistics According to our analysis of the labor statistics before Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20, 2017 (see below for our analysis of the jobless rate during his presidency), the country recorded the lowest unemployment rate in 1944, near the end of World War II. At that time, just 1.2% of Americans were unemployed and seeking jobs, per BLS data, which included workers over the age of 14. (Note: The survey in modern years only counted adults and teenagers over the age of 16, not 14.) The survey   Next, we considered BLS unemployment data over the course of 50 years before Trump's inauguration to determine whether the country's jobless rate indeed fell to the \"the lowest level in more than 50 years\" under his leadership. We learned 1969's annual unemployment rate was about 3.6%, in part, because millions of men were drafted for the Vietnam War and left the American workforce, making the sum of all those seeking or maintaining employment significantly lower. In May 1969, for instance, the unemployment rate was 3.4%. After that, we obtained statistics to gauge the country's monthly unemployment rate from the beginning of Trump's term  Jan. 20, 2017  to January 2020, when the U.S. COVID-19 outbreak began and businesses on a grand scale prepared to temporarily close or furloughed workers to prevent the spread of the deadly virus. (We did not consider U.S. unemployment during the outbreak since the claim was framed by the Trump campaign that he was more suited than Democratic rival Joe Biden to revive the pandemic-stricken economy.)  Per the BLS' Current Population Survey, the country's unemployment rate in February 2017, which was compiled including survey responses in the weeks before and after Trump took office in January, was 4.6%. From that point, the proportion of Americans seeking work compared to the total number of people in the country's workforce slightly decreased under the Trump administration. By September 2019, the percentage reached 3.5%  the lowest rate since December 1969. That meant Trump was correct in saying that unemployment dropped to the lowest point in about 50 years under his watch. However, his second tweet  that that metric was the lowest in U.S. history (or since the comprehensive unemployment data existed)  was false. The World War II-era 1.2% unemployment rate was lower. Trump was correct According to BBC economists' analysis of the recent employment figure, the change was a result of 490,000 Americans leaving the workforce. Jerome Powell, whom President Barack Obama appointed to the Federal Reserve System's board of governors and Trump promoted to the agency's chairman in 2018, told CBS News at the time that \"an unusually large number of people in their prime working years\" were not seeking employment or maintaining jobs for a variety of reasons, such as the U.S. opioid crisis, and that the U.S. workforce participation rate was lower than almost every other advanced country. BBC economists' analysis Federal Reserve System's board of governors CBS News We also obtained data showing the country's unemployment rate by race and gender to determine the accuracy of the above-displayed meme that alleged the percentage of unemployed female workers, as well as people who identify as Black, African Americans or Hispanic, was higher in 2009 than in 2019, among other things. According to the monthly data, these facts were true at face value: were true technically ended But that statistical snapshot is missing necessary context to consider the claim  that Trump's fiscal and regulatory policies led to millions of workers finding jobs  accurate: In February 2009, roughly one month after Obama was sworn into office, he signed a $787 billion stimulus package to save jobs and reverse the economic downturn. The increased public spending on everything from roads to science programs to unemployment benefits, as well as other market trends, created new jobs on a mass scale. And, in turn, labor statistics showed a steady increase in job growth and a gradual decrease in the country's jobless rate over the course of a decade until the pandemic hit.   Looking at the graph above, we determined no significant disruptions or changes in the country's unemployment rate when Trump took office  the steady decrease is essentially indistinguishable from the Obama years after the recession. \"At best, you would say it's been a continuation of a steady trend,\" economist Austan Goolsbee told MSNBC. told MSNBC In other words, it was false to claim that Trump moved into the White House and jumpstarted a failing economy. Rather, conditions were improving for American workers years before voters elected the real estate billionaire as president. NBC News reported in August 2020: NBC News The president rightly takes credit for having low unemployment during his presidency. In December of 2019, the unemployment rate was a scant 3.5 percent, the lowest it had been in 50 years. However, as good as that number was, when Trump took office the rate was already at 4.7 percent. That figure is quite low by historical standards (lower than all of the 1980s as well as most of the 1990s and 2000s). In December of 2017, it was the lowest the number had been since the Great Recession. In fact, Obama saw a much steeper drop in unemployment in his second term, a 3.3 drop in the rate, than Trump did in his first three years, a decline of 1.2 points. Thats not to besmirch the remarkably low unemployment under Trump, but its hard to ignore that the unemployment track under Obama had been downward. Again, the numbers look like the continuation of a trend, not something new. Another analysis of labor statistics by NPR came to the same conclusion: that job growth remained consistent since the end of the recession in 2010 and 2018, while the unemployment rate steadily decreased. NPR reported: labor statistics by NPR So while the White House can certainly point to some yardsticks that indicate a meaningful turnaround on Trump's watch  including small business sentiment, business investment and goods-producing job growth  broader measures of the overall job market and wages show the economy continues to follow the steady, upward glide path that began under Obama. In sum, considering no evidence showed policies enacted by the Trump administration drove down the country's unemployment rate  but rather the roughly 50-year low in fall 2019 was essentially a continuation from the Great Recession's recovery, per economists' analysis of BLS data  we rate this claim \"false.\" per economists BBC News. \"US Jobless Rate At Lowest Since 1969.\"  3 May 2019. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. \"BLS Data Viewer.\"  Accessed 13 October 2020. Wingfield, Brian. \"The End of the Great Recession? Hardly.\"  Forbes. 20 September 2010. Jones, Chuck. \"Trump's Economic Scorecard: 3 Years In Office.\"  Forbes. 10 February 2020. Horsley, Scott. \"FACT CHECK: Who Gets Credit For The Booming U.S. Economy.\"  NPR. 12 September 2018. Ruhle, Stephanie. \"Which President Gets The Credit For The Booming Economy?\"  MSNBC. 10 September 2018.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1BwUABZjw6NWfyOLa74E9SlcitV0L6e0G","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1tTMdc6b174otnk-sgNZ4kwWXqehqAGeH","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1af29y8spo5atl074JB3CsKtROt6Cf4iB","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1-QVHTgkQNigqzwirc4be9tIvy2zyxLmE","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1lDWZo3yqjxViVrgqSC9De_Wnsj1q5Qqp","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1KiZdGkVNm6ZFn-fmCO_o2dUlxmDZf82_","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_32","claim":"Do rising levels of ice in the Arctic and Greenland suggest that global warming may be less certain?","posted":"10\/04\/2017","sci_digest":["Single data points presented without context do not interfere with the scientific consensus on climate change."],"justification":"On 1 October 2017, pseudoscientific alternative health website NaturalNews.com, which is geared primarily toward supplement enthusiasts with a discerning taste for deep state conspiracy theories, posted an article (\"Dont Look Now, But Arctic Sea Ice Mass Has Grown Almost 40% Since 2012\") that attempts to cast doubt on the scientific veracity of global warming by first presenting the following grotesque caricature of a straw man argument: article straw man One of the most popular pieces of \"evidence\" that climate alarmists just love to bring up to prove the global warming narrative is the \"all the ice is melting in the Arctic and the polar bears are dying\" line. Weve all seen the documentaries where a polar bear is desperately clinging to a tiny piece of ice and you just know hes going to die soon. They article then presents two observations that make the generally factual point that there has been relatively more sea ice in the Arctic and glacial ice on Greenland in 2017 than there have been at specific times in the recent past: The latest figures from the National Snow and Ice Data Center, located at the University of Colorado, show that sea ice extent has increased by 40 percent since 2012. [...] [The Danish Polar Portal reports that]: If we rank the annual surface mass balance since 1981 from low to high, the lowest on record was 2011-2012 (38 Gt) and this year is the 5th highest out of the 37 year record. Danish Polar Portal To be clear, the primary data scientists use to document global warming are records of Earth's temperature over time, not doomed polar bear imagery. Zeke Hausfather, a research scientist for the independent, nongovernmental Berkeley Earth research group told us in an e-mail that, in this area, pretty much \"all groups who provide estimates\" of global temperature unequivocally point to nearly uninterrupted temperature rises since the 1970s, as shown in this comparison of various estimates produced by the climate and energy policy website Carbon Brief: Zeke Hausfather produced   \"People interested in global warming are best-served looking at actual global temperatures,\" Hausfather said. While this temperature trend is uncontroversial and clear, the climate system as a whole is a complex beast with numerous entangled parts. The basic approach to writing a blog post that \"debunks\" the concept of global warming is to highlight without explanation various parts of that system at a single point in time. NaturalNews.com is no exception to that basic strategy here. Arctic Sea Ice Natural News cites a climate change denial blog called ClimateDepot.com as evidence of the claim that sea ice has grown 40 percent since 2012. In reality, the claim made by this website was more specific and less useful. In a post dated 18 September 2017, Climate Depot stated: stated Arctic sea ice extent is up 40% from this date five years ago. \"Sea ice extent\" is one of many different metrics used to characterize the presence of sea ice, and is generally defined as \"the area of ocean [based on pixels in satellite imagery] where at least 15 percent of the surface is frozen\". On the day of 17 September 2017, sea ice extent was indeed higher than it was on 17 September 2012: defined   This does not mean, however, that sea ice has grown almost 40 percent since 2012, nor does it mean that the overall trend in arctic sea ice is toward growth  it hasn't and it isn't. The issue here is that sea ice extent is quite variable from year to year, and thus looking at two discrete points is a fairly useless exercise without the full context. \"We don't expect it to monotonically decrease every year,\" Hausfather told us.  This chart (using data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center) shows September sea ice extent compared against the same average used in the maps cited by Climate Depot, showing both this aforementioned variability but also an overall trend of reduced ice extent. Note that the year 2012 was no random year to select for comparison; it is actually the record lowest year in terms of Arctic sea ice extent  making anything compared to it necessarily higher: from   The overall trend of declining sea ice is even clearer when you look at a different measure: sea ice volume (presented by the Polar Science Center, below). Not only do such records show a clear negative trend, they also show just how anomalous 2012 was as a data point: Polar Science Center   In reality, 2017 was the eighth lowest year on record for Arctic sea ice extent since satellite measurements began in 1978. But in no world but the pseudo-scientific fringe internet would the concept of global warming rely on every single year breaking the previous year's record for sea ice minimum. eighth Tom Karl, the former director of NOAAs National Centers for Environmental Information, told us that 2017's sea ice extent was still much lower than the 1980-2010 average (by two standard deviations), and that, despite claims to the contrary, \"one can't look at a trend over 5 years and say much about the impact of global warming as other factors are also important on these short time scales.\" director Glacial Ice on Greenland The NaturalNews.com approach for glacial ice on Greenland was similarly lacking scale and context. The main source for these arguments was a completely legitimate end-of-year report put out by the Danish Polar Portal, a website run by the Danish Meteorological Institute. In that report, the organization makes this factual statement: report Heavy snow and rain in winter with a relatively short and intermittent summer melt season have left the Greenland ice sheet with more ice than has been usual over the last twenty years  in fact we have to go back to the 1980s and 90s to see a year similar to this one in terms of snow fall and ice melt. This statement, and the figures presented by NaturalNews.com, are referring to a metric known as Surface Mass Balance (SMB), which Polar Portal describes: describes Each year glaciers gain ice from snow and freezing rain and lose ice by melt that runs off. Adding these together gives the surface mass budget (SMB) in Greenland, the ice sheet typically gains mass from around September to May and loses more mass than it gains in the ablation [melting] season of June, July and August. Importantly, however, this measurement only presents half the picture in terms of how much mass is being lost from year to year from Greenland's glaciers. That's because it does not include the rather significant portion of ice that breaks  or calves  off into the ocean to melt elsewhere. On average this accounts for about 500 Gt [gigatons] of further ice loss. This, as stated in the Polar Portal post, nearly matches the estimated gain in SMB reported by Natural News, effectively canceling it out. In a post on Carbon Brief, analysts with the Danish Meteorological Society put this years measurement in context: post While the Greenland ice sheet has seen a neutral, or small positive, change in ice for this year, it should be noted that Greenland has lost approximately 3,600bn tonnes of ice since 2002. Like the record of Arctic sea ice earlier, when put in the context of the entire trend of Greenland's ice mass over time (presented by Polar Portal below), 2017's measurement does nothing to change larger and completely unambiguous trends of overall melting: Polar Portal    Further, in the case of Greenland's ice sheet, there is not much of a mystery surrounding the lackluster amount of melting this year; a massive storm  the remnants of Hurricane Nicole  parked itself atop the continent, dumping a large amount of snow on the ice-covered continent: Hurricane Nicole dumping Heavy rain and snow in October in especially eastern Greenland gave record totals of precipitation in the main east coast town of Tasiilaq as the remnants of former hurricane Nicole passed by and, much as with Harvey in Houston this year, got lodged over eastern Greenland for some days. However, after Nicoles extreme precipitation, the rest of the winter was actually pretty average in terms of the amount of snow that fell. Because neither the higher-than-2012 arctic sea ice from 17 September 2017 nor the neutral amount of ice loss in Greenland in 2017 do anything to disrupt the overall trends of decreasing ice, and because climatological science does not require (nor does it expect) ice or temperature records to be broken every single year, we rank the claim that these observations are reasons to doubt the tenets of climate change as false. Watson, Tracey.  \"Dont Look Now, but Arctic Sea Ice Mass Has Grown Almost 40% Since 2012.\"\r  Natural News.  1 October 2017. Mottram, Ruth, et al.  \"Guest Post: How the Greenland Ice Sheet Fared in 2017.\"\r  Carbon Brief.  1 September 2017. Polar Portal.  \"End of the SMB Season Summary 2017.\"\r  12 September 2017. Morano, Marc.  \"Massive Arctic Ice Gain (Up 40%) Since Low Point of 2012.\r  Climate Depot.  19 September 2012. Hausfather, Zeke.  \"State of the Climate: Warm Temperatures and Low Sea Ice Mark First Half of 2017.\"\r  Carbon Brief.  21 July 2017. National Snow and Ice Data Center.  \"Arctic Sea Ice at Minimum Extent.\"\r  19 September 2017. Polar Science Center.  \"PIOMAS Arctic Sea Ice Volume Reanalysis.\"\r  Accessed 4 October 2017. NASA.  \"End-of-Summer Arctic Sea Ice Extent Is Eighth Lowest on Record.\"\r  19 September 2017. NASA.  \"NASA Sees Tropical Storm Nicole Going Extra-Tropical.\"\r  18 October 2016.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1QslOHegs5OE_1BwcIBXnUUgEvAD65YIj"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1VVNDW2yWMEiiMFV8BTUY3wWlW8YrFvVl"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=14fuJXdiwrFLbffQrIaCfmkdNqzt7GvF2"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Mf4s6-C6CAuVu1G6uSkT53P8RLt7P9YA"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=18Pi_K7KrigyuB5zUvvYrVy1YPIXSDqHB"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_33","claim":"Does Video Show Athletes Fainting Due to COVID-19 Vaccine?","posted":"11\/30\/2021","sci_digest":["A series of fear-mongering videos were circulated on social media with unsubstantiated and false claims. "],"justification":"In November 2021, rumors claiming that an unusual number of athletes had fainted or collapsed in the previous year were widely circulated online. These rumors were often accompanied by fear-mongering captions that warned people against receiving COVID-19 vaccines. One video, for example, featured messages such as \"Not normal ... Boost at your own [peril],\" \"#ATHLETES IN ALL SPORTS ARE DROPPING DEAD AND THE MASTERS FORCE VACCINES ON US ALL,\" and \"Vaccines dropping them daily. Sick world.\" This video does not show vaccine injuries or people fainting due to the COVID-19 vaccine. While it includes real incidents from 2021, none of these incidents has been connected to the COVID-19 vaccine. Other plausible explanations, such as dehydration or heat exhaustion, have been offered for these incidents, and a few of the clips in this video show athletes who were not vaccinated. There is no evidence that the COVID-19 vaccine has resulted in an increase in fainting incidents. The video features seven fainting incidents, and we have been able to source six of the seven clips. None of the fainting incidents we were able to investigate were caused by the COVID-19 vaccine. Here's what these clips show, starting with the first one: \n\nThe first clip shows Denmark's Christian Eriksen collapsing during Euro 2020 in June 2021 after suffering a cardiac arrest. While this incident has been used by anti-vaxxers to stir up fear over the COVID-19 vaccine, Eriksen was not vaccinated. Inter Milan team director Giuseppe Marotta stated, \"He didn't have COVID and wasn't vaccinated either.\" \n\nThe second clip shows Chinelle Henry and Chedean Nation, two West Indies cricket players who fainted during a match in July 2021. While both players were taken off the field on stretchers, neither required hospitalization. An exact cause for this incident was not provided, and labeling it a vaccine injury is pure speculation. Furthermore, both players returned to the field a few days later to compete. They had collapsed on the field in separate incidents during the second T20I on Friday but were back with the team on Sunday, the day of the third game. In separate messages posted on Twitter, both said they didn't have any hospital stay or restrictions imposed on them. \"I just want to thank you guys for all your concern and well wishes, and I am doing well. No hospital stay, no restrictions. Now I'm just focused on going out there and getting the series 3-nil,\" Henry said. \n\nThe third clip shows Moussa Dembele, a striker for Atletico Madrid, who collapsed during training in March 2021. Diario AS reported that Dembele fainted after a \"sudden drop in blood pressure,\" but there were no other complications. Dembele was not hospitalized, and after being examined by the team's doctors, he drove his own car home from the field. There's no evidence that this incident was related to a COVID-19 vaccine. It's worth noting, however, that Dembele tested positive for COVID-19 a month before this incident. \n\nThe fourth clip shows Jack Draper, a young British tennis player, suffering from a bout of heat exhaustion at the Miami Open in March 2021. As was the case with Dembele, it's possible that COVID-19, not a COVID-19 vaccine, contributed to this medical episode. Draper stated that he was diagnosed with coronavirus in January and that the lingering effects of the disease, in addition to the heat, may have contributed to his collapse. Draper said, \"I was out for two weeks with COVID in January ... I didn't move a muscle and that was after pre-season as well, so I put in a really good pre-season and then I didn't play, so it's been a rough start to the year [...] I got it; it's obviously an extremely aggressive virus and you can catch it from anywhere, but I got it and it did affect me quite badly for seven days. I had bad symptoms and then I recovered pretty quickly from there, but it definitely had an effect on me. I've put in loads of great training since then, so it's no excuse, but did it have an effect on me at the time? Probably. With a lot of these things, you don't know how much it really affects you.\" \n\nThe fifth clip in this video is the one we know the least about. It doesn't appear to be a professional badminton event; rather, this clip seems to come from a security camera at a recreational facility. Project Comprova, a collaboration of more than a dozen news outlets around Brazil, found that this video was likely shot somewhere in Malaysia. Little is known about this incident at the time, so we can't say exactly what happened here. However, those claiming that this shows a \"vaccine injury\" are doing so without evidence. \n\nThe sixth clip shows Charles Bulu, a Ghanaian referee, collapsing in March 2021 during the final minutes of an Africa Cup match between Cote d'Ivoire and Ethiopia. Goal.com reported that Bulu was initially appointed as the fourth official but had to step in as the main referee after a colleague tested positive for COVID-19. Bulu, who was treated at a hospital according to the Ghana Football Association, told the Daily Graphic, a Ghanaian newspaper, that the incident was related to a poor diet, a lack of sleep, dehydration, and excessive heat: \"I didn't eat quite well both at breakfast and lunch, hoping that I would rather take in some banana just before the game, only to arrive at the Match Officials' dressing room to realize that no such provision had been made, despite our request for it. [...] I could not take in as much water as my body needed, and with the heat and intensity of the game, I began feeling dehydrated by the 68th minute, but unfortunately, there was no Fourth Referee to step in. I was hoping I could hold on till the next water break, which was around the 75th minute, but before then, I just blacked out.\" \n\nThe final clip in this video compilation shows Bert Smith collapsing during a March Madness game in April 2021. Smith was taken off the floor on a stretcher but did not require immediate hospitalization. Hours later, as a precaution, Smith decided to visit a hospital, fearing that he may have a concussion. While Smith did not have a concussion, the doctors found that he had a blood clot. The Indy Star reported that Smith was put on blood thinners and was released a few days later. It's unclear what caused the blood clot, but Smith had tested positive for COVID-19 a few months earlier. \n\nAn athlete fainting is not a particularly rare occurrence. According to The Athletic, a player faints on the football pitch every four days. While the video does not show athletes who fainted or collapsed from the COVID-19 vaccine, it does show various athletes fainting in 2021. There's not enough evidence to determine whether fainting incidents are becoming more common due to the pandemic, but here are a few things to consider. First, people infected by COVID-19 may experience \"long Covid,\" or lingering symptoms from the disease after the initial infection subsides. These symptoms may include shortness of breath, fatigue, and heart palpitations. Second, one of the rare side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine is myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the British regulator for drugs and vaccines, told Reuters that this is a rare side effect and its symptoms are often mild. Dr. Sonya Babu-Narayan, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, told the Telegraph that athletes diagnosed with COVID-19 are at a greater risk of having a heart condition than those who receive the COVID-19 vaccine: \"Whilst vaccine-induced myocarditis has been reported in children and young adults following the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, it's actually quite rare ... The risk of myocarditis or myocarditis-type injury to the heart, or other cardiovascular complications, is much greater if you get COVID-19. That's why it's important to avoid COVID-19, and the best way to do that is to stay up-to-date with your vaccine doses.\" \n\nAt the moment, there's not enough evidence to suggest any connection between COVID-19 or COVID-19 vaccines and an increase in fainting incidents. When Reuters asked FIFA about this rumor, the soccer organization stated that it was not \"aware of a rise in episodes of cardiac arrests\" and that there had not been any cases \"flagged in relation to individuals receiving a COVID vaccine.\"","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=13U05HpJ_eQmRLwXaQ-UwSznHl4Ka4WOs","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1eEBGTGNmm3JcO6QYMQZZu_5fi1rKaiRP","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1YOIecIZgaSkxbYKNQVCwrqP1_rIt94Pw","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1onNFGg_QJS_QpfQkA43-yfPRj01MkxRN","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1u7c4wfUZ_t8UCqH1VAXpx6KW0OGXpKDB","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_34","claim":"$42.4 Billion Consumer Rebate Program","posted":"09\/18\/2016","sci_digest":["Misleading ads touting a \"new law\" that provides consumers with a \"cash rebate on every single purchase\" actually reference an old tax break that benefits only a small minority of taxpayers."],"justification":"For over a year, unscrupulous financial sites (primarily the Oxford Club) have been trying to peddle costly memberships and newsletter subscriptions to consumers by deceptively touting that Congress recently passed a $42.4 billion \"consumer rebate program\" entitling taxpaying Americans to a \"cash rebate on every single purchase\"\u2014a program that you, too, could cash in on if you paid $49 for a subscription to find out how. Such come-ons typically referenced a \"new\" or \"secret\" law that had been \"quietly\" enacted at the end of 2015. Late on Friday, December 18, 2015, President Obama quietly signed a new 233-page Congressional act into law. There was little fanfare; after all, it was the weekend before Christmas, and most of the White House reporters had already gone home for the holidays. But buried deep inside the act, in Section 106, is a hidden bombshell\u2014one that I believe deserves your immediate attention. In short, it contains a program that gives every taxpaying American the right to collect a cash rebate on nearly every single purchase made in 2016. This is not a joke. We're talking about an opportunity to collect a cash rebate on virtually anything you pay for during this year. All of this was highly misleading. The referenced \"cash rebate\" program was actually a decade-old tax deduction provision that applied to a small minority of taxpayers and could not fairly be described as a program to provide consumers with \"cash rebates on nearly every purchase\" (at least not without stretching the definition of the word \"rebate\" to the breaking point). In general, the U.S. income tax code has long allowed taxpayers who itemize their federal income tax returns to deduct any state and local income taxes they pay during the year. However, some state and local governments don't impose income taxes on residents and instead fund their operations in other ways (such as higher sales or property taxes), so those who live in such states were disadvantaged by not having a federal tax deduction to offset what they paid to keep their local government services running. To make things a little more equitable, for ten years running, Congress voted in an exception every year that allowed taxpayers to choose to deduct either state and local income taxes or state and local sales taxes on their federal returns. Finally, at the end of 2015, a bill was passed by Congress and signed by President Obama, making this temporary yearly provision a permanent part of the law. So, the minority of taxpayers who live in one of the nine no-income tax states (Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Texas, Tennessee, Washington, and Wyoming) and itemize their federal tax returns may see some benefit from this not-new-but-recently-permanent law, as may a few others (such as taxpayers who have relatively low incomes but made large taxable purchases during the course of a given year). But it's a tax deduction rather than a \"cash rebate\" program, and it affects only a small percentage of taxpayers and not \"every taxpaying American.\" As the Stock Gumshoe site summarized the issue: I expect lots of you were already fully aware of this, or blissfully unaware because it will never impact your lives or your tax obligations, but [the \"permanentization\" of this tax break] is real and it has certainly made a difference for folks in no-income-tax states and a few other folks in non-typical circumstances. And it's also been the law of the land for about ten years and has recently been made permanent, so you won't have to be on pins and needles each winter as you watch to see if Congress extends the break another year. And no, it is not a rebate to 119 million Americans, but for at least the 24 million or so households in no-income tax states (or the approximately 8 million of them who itemize deductions, anyway), it could certainly make (and in all cases where they've been paying attention since 2004, probably already has made) a difference on their tax returns.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=14AF4BsvCLB9luKUscdcs-Bx8-A0cf7Wh","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_35","claim":"Was Prince Integral in the Development of Air Jordan Sneakers?","posted":"04\/24\/2016","sci_digest":["An online item suggested that Prince played a vital role in basketball star Michael Jordan's commercial success with Nike."],"justification":"Shortly after the death of Prince Rogers Nelson (the musician known solely as Prince) in April 2016, an image macroexaggerating the musician's role in the commercial success of NBA superstar Michael Jordan began  circulating online:   album The claim about Prince's bringing Michael Jordan to Nike in 1983 is possible in a temporal sense (Jordan first signed with the company in 1984), but we found no evidence that events actually transpiredinthe manner described by this macro. Contemporaneous news articles from 1984 also failed to mention any connection between Prince, Jordan and Nike. mention An article published by ESPN in February 2013 gave a detailed history about how Michael Jordan landed with Nike, and while ESPN identified several people involved in getting Jordan to meet with Nike (Jordan wore Converse shoes rather than Nikes and was reluctant to switch), Prince was not among them: Nike was a fast-rising star. The company's revenue went from $28.7 million in 1973 to $867 million by the end of 1983. But things had started to turn on them toward the end of the year. In February 1984, the company reported its first quarterly loss ever. The Olympics in Los Angeles that summer provided a nice morale boost  most notably, Carl Lewis won four gold medals in Nikes  but there wasn't an immediate translation in sales. Converse and adidas weren't ready for Jordan, but all of a sudden, Nike needed him. If the company could only get him on the plane. The claim that Prince designed the Air Jordan 1 is also based on fantasy, as the first Air Jordan sneakers werecreated by Peter Moore: created Peter Moore has been involved with just about anything you find coolincluding video games, basketball kicks, and especially designing the sneaker that changed everything. Tinker Hatfield receives all the daps for his work with MJ, but it was Moore who created the first Jordan (and the ball and wings logo) that started a phenomenon. The statements made in the above-displayed macro appear to be an exaggeration of a comment issued by Jordan shortly after Prince's death: comment \"Like so many people I am shocked at the news that Prince has died,\" Jordan said. \"In a world of creative performers, Prince was a genius. His impact not just on music, but on culture, truly can't be measured. His songs inspired me throughout my career and remind me of so many moments from my life.\" Although Michael Jordan praised Prince as having inspired him throughout his career, the musician apparently had no direct impact on Jordan's commercial success with Nike.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1dmRwRoHx4ZfGUlKtMCvndF09Q43N1oJp","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_36","claim":"Is Volkswagen's 300 MPG Car Banned in the U.S.?","posted":"04\/14\/2014","sci_digest":["Is the federal government preventing Volkswagen's XL1 model car from being sold in the U.S. because the vehicle is too fuel-efficient?"],"justification":" Claim:  The federal government is preventing Volkswagen's XL1 model car from being sold in the U.S. because the vehicle is too fuel-efficient.  Examples:  [Collected via e-mail, September 2013] Volkswagen's New 300 MPG Car Not Allowed In America Because It Is Too Efficient Would like to know of the article is valid. Origins:  For many years conspiracy rumors have circulated positing that a collusion between Big Oil and the U.S. government has prevented the American public from having the opportunity to purchase fully developed, market-ready automobiles capable of obtaining fuel efficiencies of 200-300 MPG.  Such rumors have taken the form of everything from mysterious forces stealing cars equipped with miracle carburetors to keep that technology's existence a secret, to the federal government's enacting regulations intended for the sole purpose of keeping high-mileage vehicles out of the U.S. market in order to protect the interests (and profits) of American oil companies. miracle carburetors high-mileage April 2014 saw the emergence of yet another entry in this vein, courtesy of Jim Stone, Freelance Journalist (the same \"journalist\" who promulgated the ridiculous story about a passenger on missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 who supposedly hid his cell phone in his rectum and used it to post a picture to the Internet after the flight was hijacked), positing that Volkswagen has a terrific 300 MPG vehicle that only costs $60,000 all ready to go, but it can't be sold (or even seen) in America because politicians in the pay of oil companies are conspiring to keep it unknown and unsellable in the U.S.: Jim Stone, Freelance Journalist ridiculous You won't find the 300 MPG Volkswagen XL1 in an American showroom, in fact it has even been denied a tour of America because it is too efficient for the American public to be made widely aware of, and oil profits are too high in America with the status quo in place. No tour has been allowed for this car because the myth that 50 mpg is virtually impossible to obtain from even a stripped down econobox is too profitable to let go of, and when it comes to corporate oil profits, ignorance is bliss. The answer is obvious. Simply for the sake of raking in huge profits from $4 a gallon gas, getting guzzled at 10X the rate it should be, the corporations have via campaign contributions and other types of pay outs succeeded in getting the FED to legislate the best cars off the road for irrelevant trumped up reasons.  Even after being hand made with \"exotic\" materials in an intentionally limited edition, the Xl1 still only costs $60,000. There is a lot more of a market for this car than 2,000 units at that price, have no doubt, this car is being held back on purpose. In this case the vehicle in question is the Volkswagen XL1, a two-person,  \"one-liter\" concept car (i.e., a vehicle capable of averaging 100 km per liter of fuel, or about 235 MPG) originally shown to the public back in 2002 and modified (and renamed) several times since over the intervening years.  The latest unveiled version of the XL1, already put into production, is a plug-in diesel-electric hybrid described thusly by Green Car Reports: XL1 Green Car Reports The Volkswagen XL1 is a plug-in diesel hybrid with a body seemingly beamed in from a future time. It's the physical representation of the benefits of reducing weight and improving aerodynamics. The small body may only take two people, but it's allowed for an incredibly streamlined body with a drag coefficient of only 0.189. Low weight  only 1,752 lbs  means only a small engine and electric motor is needed to deliver respectable performance. Much of the car is constructed from carbon fiber, aluminum and titanium. VW says the car will do 261 mpg, though the real figure will be lower than that should it ever be tested under EPA guidelines. Even so, it'll still use comfortably less fuel than any vehicle currently on sale. A diesel engine of only 0.8 liters and 2 cylinders capacity produces 47 horsepower, with a further 27 horses delivered by the electric motor. Power reaches the wheels via a 7-speed dual-clutch gearbox. Those figures sound miniscule by modern standards, but the XL1 should reach 62 mph in 12.7 seconds. Top speed is 98 mph. Operating alone, the small battery can deliver up to 31 miles of range, and can be charged via plug or regenerative effect. It's true that very few, if any, Volkswagen XL1s will likely be seen on U.S. roads in the immediate future, but that situation will be due to a confluence of factors that does not include a government\/Big Oil conspiracy to keep them out of the U.S. First of all, it's not true that the XL1 has \"been denied a tour of America because  it is too efficient for the American public to be made widely aware of.\"  Existing safety and traffic regulations do limit where the current XL1 models can be legally driven in public roads in the U.S., but Volkswagen has taken at least three of the vehicles on tour around the U.S., and the staff of Jalopnik drove one around Manhattan at the end of 2013. Jalopnik Second, the primary reason the XL1 won't be seen in the U.S. anytime soon is that Volkswagen is only producing 200 units for retail sale (not 2,000 as claimed above), all of them to be sold in Europe via some sort of selection (i.e., lottery) process.     200 units But why only 200 cars?  And why only in Europe? As for the first part, the answer is that new vehicles like the XL1 are expensive to develop and produce (and therefore expensive for consumers to afford), and similar forms of automobiles have not yet met with tremendous success on the commercial market, so any automotive company that puts such a model into full-blown production risks sinking a whole lot of money into something that may not sell well at all (especially in the U.S. market, where consumers have very different expectations and preferences than European car buyers do). The XL1 is in many ways still a concept\/prototype vehicle, and so Volkswagen is testing the waters by putting out a limited production run to see how many consumers are really interested in shelling out the equivalent of U.S. $150,000 (not $60,000 as claimed above) for a two-person car.  And the testers at Car and Driver found that while the XL1's fuel efficiency might be superb, it might also be somewhat overblown as presented in promotional materials: Car and Driver The XL1 should run 31 miles solely on electric power, says [VW development engineer Ulrich] Mitze. But on the cold and rainy April day we drove it, the small, 60-cell, 5.5-kWh, 150-pound lithium-ion battery pack needed a recharge after only 22 miles.  According to the on-board computer, we are fuel hogs. Having started with a full tank (2.6 gallons) and fully charged batteries, we ended our trip after 67 miles; fuel consumption plummeted at one point to a dismal 128 mpg. Achieving the XL1's theoretical 749-mile range would take a right foot as light as a moonbeam. As for why only Europe, the answer is that the U.S. does have many safety standards in place (enacted many years ago a variety of reasons, none of which was to keep high-mileage vehicles off the U.S. market) that all automobile manufacturers have to meet in order to legally sell their vehicles in America, regulations that sometimes require manufacturers to modify or retrofit models that were produced for sale under less strict regulations in Europe (or other parts of the world).  If Volkswagen wants to test-market their XL1 in limited quantities, there's no reason for them to expend millions of dollars preparing and certifying those vehicles for U.S. safety standards when they can vend  their small lot of cars just as well in the European market without all the added expense.  As noted by USA Today: The XL1 [is] a spaceship-like, ultra-high-mpg, plug-in diesel-electric hybrid. VW used exotic, but obtainable, materials and technologies to craft a mileage-above-all car able to get 261 mpg in European tests, equating, very roughly, to perhaps 200 mpg in U.S. tests. Barely a real production model, it's made in a factory, but largely by hand. It couldn't meet U.S. safety rules and needed changes in German rules to be on the road there. And if one buys into the conspiracy theory that the government and Big Oil are colluding to keep high-mileage vehicles off the U.S. market in order to protect profits from gasoline sales, one has to wonder why those powerful and malevolent entities aren't doing anything to stop Americans from purchasing cars produced by Tesla, superbly-performing vehicles that use no gasoline at all yet still deliver premium performance, have great range for electric cars, have received the highest rating of any automobile ever evaluated by Consumer Reports, are top-rated for safety even under tougher U.S. standards, but are widely available for purchase in the U.S.: Tesla Most Americans may never actually see a Tesla Model S sedan in person, but you will want to know why this car is so important to the automotive industry and what all the media fuss is about. Tesla Motors was founded in 2003 by a group of intrepid Silicon Valley engineers who set out to prove that electric vehicles could be awesome. The name of the company pays homage to Nicola Tesla, a Serbian American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, physicist, and futurist best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system. As the California automakers first production model, the Tesla Model S is 100 percent electric, a car so advanced it sets the new standard for premium performance. This is not a hybrid, nor is it equipped with any kind of \"range expanding\" gasoline engine. At the heart of the vehicle is the proven Tesla powertrain, delivering both unprecedented range and a thrilling drive experience. The Tesla Model S has won the 2013 Motor Trend Car of the Year award, received the highest rating of any automobile in history from Consumer Reports (99 out of 100) and achieved the best possible US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration rating. Unlike the internal combustion engine with hundreds of moving pieces that spark, pump, belch, and groan, the Tesla motor has only one moving piece: the rotor. As a result, Model S acceleration is instantaneous, like flipping a switch. Hit the accelerator. In 5.4 seconds, Model S is traveling 60 miles per hour, without hesitation and without a drop of gasoline. As in so many cases, what is attributed to furtive conspiracy is more easily explained away as wishful thinking colliding with the hard, cold realities of economics. Last updated:  14 April 2014    Healey, James R.  \"Test Drive: VW XL1 Shows How to Get 200 MPG.\"   USA Today.  7 December 2013.     Ingram, Antony.  \"261 MPG Volkswagen XL1 Production Confirmed, Debuts Geneva.\"   Green Car Reports.  21 February 2013.     Ingram, Antony.  \"Orders for 261-MPG Volkswagen XL1 Exceed Production of 200.\"   Green Car Reports.  28 October 2013.     Zoellter, Juergen.  \"2014 Volkswagen XL1.\"   Car and Driver.  June 2013.     Green Bay Press Gazette.  \"2014 Tesla Model S Sedan Takes the Electric Car to a New Level.\"   14 April 2014.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1hlUINfCUMX30O4LAOCR4DtqbXhDG0tSW","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_37","claim":"Concepts deserving of discarding","posted":"07\/27\/2015","sci_digest":[""],"justification":"FACT CHECK: Was Nick Hanauer's 2012 TED Talk about income inequality banned because it was \"too politically controversial\" to release? Claim: A 2012 TED Talk video featuring wealthy entrepreneur Nick Hanauer speaking on the subject of income inequality was banned because it was deemed \"too politically controversial.\" Example: [Collected via e-mail, July 2015] There are several articles that claim \"TED Banned This Billionaire For Exposing Capitalism's Biggest Lie\" or similar wording. This refers to the speech of Nick Hanauer, a Seattle venture capitalist. The sensational language of this claim makes me suspicious, as does the unlikelihood of the assertion. Is it true? What is the source of the rumor? Origins: On 1 March 2012, Seattle-based venture capitalist and entrepreneur Nick Hanauer participated in the global conference series of \"TED Talks.\" The video of his six-minute talk, widely circulated since its release, captured him addressing a range of issues pertaining to income inequality and capitalism from the perspective of a very wealthy individual. Not long after Hanauer's March 2012 talk was filmed, rumors began circulating that TED had deliberately suppressed the clip due to its potentially offensive nature (to wealthy individuals). On 16 May 2012, National Journal published an article contending that TED's organizers had quashed the groundbreaking talk because its content was simply too controversial to release, an odd assertion considering the 2011 emergence of a well-known protest movement known as Occupy Wall Street. The article noted that TED organizers invited Hanauer, the first non-family investor in Amazon.com, to give a speech on March 1 at their TED University conference. Inequality was the topic, specifically Hanauer's contention that the middle class, and not wealthy innovators like himself, are America's true \"job creators.\" \"We've had it backward for the last 30 years,\" he said. \"Rich businesspeople like me don't create jobs. Rather, they are a consequence of an ecosystemic feedback loop animated by middle-class consumers, and when they thrive, businesses grow and hire, and owners profit. That's why taxing the rich to pay for investments that benefit all is a great deal for both the middle class and the rich.\" You can't find that speech online. TED officials initially told Hanauer they were eager to distribute it. \"I want to put this talk out into the world!\" one of them wrote to him in an e-mail in late April. But early this month, they changed course, telling Hanauer that his remarks were too \"political\" and too controversial for posting. In the years since 2012, Hanauer's TED clip has paradoxically been viewed millions of times while remaining the focus of articles describing it as \"banned,\" \"too controversial,\" or the speech TED \"doesn't want you to see.\" While it's difficult to determine the accuracy of statements about its online availability in March 2012, the clip clearly became widely available and was frequently viewed on sharing sites such as YouTube shortly thereafter, and it has remained popular ever since. However, in 2015, many social media users continued to assert that Hanauer's talk was banned. In late May 2012, a contributor to TED's forums specifically asked why Hanauer's talk had been \"banned,\" prompting a lengthy discussion during which individuals affiliated with TED linked to a statement issued by TED curator Chris Anderson explaining why Hanauer's talk had not been promoted. The service by which Anderson published the explanation (Posterous) shuttered in April 2013, taking Anderson's remarks with it. However, a cached version revealed the date (17 May 2012), title (\"TED and inequality: The real story\"), and content of Anderson's rebuttal. Anderson opened by stating that \"TED was subject to a story so misleading it would be funny... except it successfully launched an aggressive online campaign against us.\" He described an ensuing \"firestorm of outrage\" on sites including Reddit and Huffington Post, wherein TED was \"accused of being cowards ... in the pay of our corporate partners ... [and] the despicable puppets of the Republican party.\" Anderson's account of the decision not to release Hanauer's talk differed dramatically from the circulating rumors: Here's what actually happened. At TED this year, an attendee pitched a 3-minute audience talk on inequality. The talk tapped into a really important and timely issue. However, it framed the issue in a way that was explicitly partisan. (The talk explicitly attacked what he called an article of faith for Republicans. He criticized Democrats too, but only for not also attacking this idea more often.) It included a number of arguments that were unconvincing, even to those of us who supported his overall stance, such as the apparent ruling out of entrepreneurial initiative as a root cause of job creation. The audience at TED who heard it live (and who are often accused of being overly enthusiastic about left-leaning ideas) gave it, on average, mediocre ratings\u2014some enthusiastic, others critical. At TED, we post one talk a day on our home page. We're drawing from a pool of 250+ that we record at our own conferences each year and up to 10,000 recorded at various TEDx events around the world, not to mention our other conference partners. Our policy is to post only talks that are truly special. We try to steer clear of talks that are bound to descend into the same dismal partisan head-butting people can find every day elsewhere in the media. We discussed this internally and ultimately told the speaker we did not plan to post. He did not react well. He had hired a PR firm to promote the talk to MoveOn and others, and the PR firm warned us that unless we posted, he would go to the press and accuse us of censoring him. We again declined, and this time I wrote to him and tried gently to explain in detail why I thought his talk was flawed. He then forwarded portions of the private emails to a reporter, and National Journal duly picked up the story. As Anderson noted, income inequality was the subject of at least one TED Talk video in 2011. Much of the rumor regarding Nick Hanauer's purportedly banned TED Talk segment hinged upon the differing assertions made by TED and Hanauer at the time of the controversy in 2012. However, Anderson's claims (that TED curators are tasked with promoting only the most impactful clips) weren't implausible or suggestive of a cover-up. It would be difficult to determine whether Hanauer or anyone working on his behalf threatened a public relations offensive, but TED maintained that quality and not content was behind the decision not to feature the video (which clearly was not \"banned\" from public view but was simply not promoted by TED). Since the time of the initial debate over whether or why the TED talk was \"banned,\" the clip has been distributed both by TED and other outlets and widely viewed by a large online audience. In August 2014, Hanauer returned for a TED Talk titled \"Beware, fellow plutocrats, the pitchforks are coming.\" While it's true that TED opted not to promote Hanauer's initial appearance (during which he discussed income inequality), his segment was not banned, and the organization cited his lack of substantive content alongside his primary reliance on partisan ideas as the reason it was not curated alongside other featured TED Talks. At no point during the immediate controversy did TED appear to deny the existence of the video, remove it from the Internet, interfere with its distribution, or otherwise thwart the ideas advocated by Hanauer from spreading. The group simply chose initially not to promote the clip (as they do for a large number of TED Talks) in favor of other content selected by their curators. Last updated: 27 July 2015 Originally published: 27 July 2015","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1aDfOAxuCMdEN83HmeqvM3leDet6w2Kql"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_38","claim":"Medicaid is close to 30 percent of the state budget and the biggest expenditure at the state.","posted":"03\/12\/2015","sci_digest":[],"justification":"After rejecting Medicaid expansion in 2013, the Florida Legislature is taking a serious look at it this session. The program pays for health insurance for the very poor. On March 10, astate Senate panelapproved aproposalthat would allow Florida to accept $50 billion in federal dollars to expand coverage to about 800,000 low-income residents. The plan would establish a state-run private insurance exchange for residents who earn less than $16,000 a year or $33,000 for a family of four. Though the bill won unanimous support of the GOP-dominated Senate Health Policy Committee, it faces an uphill battle in the more conservative House. Also, it would require the federal government to grant Florida a waiver. The feds might object to parts of the Senate proposal that require beneficiaries to pay a monthly premium based on their salary, ranging from $3 to $25. During the Senate hearing, the Florida Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Mark Wilson said he had met with legislators to discuss the chambers ideas for a Medicaid proposal. We recommended a 32 percent cap on state expenditures, we are coming close to 30 percent right now, he said. It's the biggest expenditure at the state and wed like to protect taxpayers with a 32 percent cap. Does Medicaid come close to eating up nearly one-third of the state budget and is it the states biggest expenditure? Medicaid and the state budget Medicaid is a joint state and federal program aimed at providing health insurance to the very poor. The 2010 Affordable Care Act encourages states to expand eligibility and agreed to pay 100 percent of the expansion for the first three years, declining to 90 percent in 2020 and beyond.Twenty nine statesadopted the expansion -- six including Florida are considering it, according to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Republican Gov. Rick Scott initially opposed Medicaid expansion butswitched his positionin 2013 when he came out in support of it. But Scott didnt lobby the GOP-led Legislature, which ultimately rejected the expansion. In 2014, Democratic challenger Charlie Crist attacked Scott for not pushing for it and argued it would have led toincreased jobsin Florida. Edie Ousley, a spokeswoman for the chamber, sent PolitiFact Florida state budget documents, as well as information from groups such as Florida TaxWatch, to show how much of the budget is devoted to Medicaid. We also examined documents we received from the Florida Office of Economic and Demographic Research. The original 2014-15 Medicaid appropriation was$23.6 billionfrom all state and federal funds. The total budget for all funds was about $77.08 billion, which means that Medicaid accounts for about 30.6 percent of the budget. On March 4, the state released its latest revision for how much is needed for Medicaid this year and concluded it was $23.52 billion -- about 55 percent is federal dollars and 45 percent is state money. For all funds, Medicaid is the largest program, Amy Baker, the states chief economist, told PolitiFact Florida. But education programs -- including K-12 and higher education -- have received on average slightly more than 52 percent of all state general revenue appropriations since 1997-98. The second-largest policy area is human services. Over this same period, the human services portion of the budget has grown from 25 percent to nearly 30 percent, primarily because of the states Medicaid program growth, Baker said. Nationwide, Medicaid accounts for about 20 percent of state general fund appropriations while K-12 accounts for about one-third, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Medicaid eats up such a large chunk of the budget due to rising health care costs and growing caseloads -- and it continues to grow at a faster rate than education spending, said Arturo Perez, fiscal affairs director for the NCSL. TheNational Association of State Budget Officersfound that if they combined state and federal spending, on average about 26 percent of states budgets were for Medicaid in 2014. When combining those federal and state dollars, there is no question it is the biggest chunk of the budget in total -- no question, said Kurt Wenner, of Florida TaxWatch. George Washington University health policy professor Leighton Ku said that as far as state-based fiscal burdens, a better measure is to focus on how much of the state general fund goes to Medicaid. That level is about 20 percent of state general fund expenditures, he said. The general fund corresponds better to what state taxpayers contribute and takes out stuff like federal revenue. Still a lot, but much lower than 31 percent. Nonetheless, there is no doubt that Medicaid is a large component of state budgets, so there is reason for legislators to be concerned about the costs. But the majority of Medicaid costs that are paid by the federal government are not a burden to state taxpayers, but essentially an influx of federal funds to the state that promotes economic growth in the state, Ku said. Thus, the actual burden to state taxpayers is far less than 30 percent of their state tax dollars, he said. In terms of state\/local expenditures, education costs are always much higher. Our ruling Medicaid is close to 30 percent of the state budget and the biggest expenditure at the state, Wilson said. There are two ways to look at Medicaid spending. The 30 percent figure is correct if Wilson counts both the state and federal dollars that go toward Medicaid, and it is the biggest expendituree. However, if we only count state dollars, then education eats up a bigger piece of the budget. It's important to understand that the federal government contributes to Medicaid, so the statement is accurate but needs additional information. We rate this claim Mostly True.","issues":["Medicaid","State Budget","Florida"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_39","claim":"Did You Know This?","posted":"01\/10\/2004","sci_digest":["Messages chronicle U.S. accomplishments in rebuilding Iraq since the end of major combat."],"justification":"Claim:  Messages chronicle U.S. accomplishments in rebuilding Iraq since the end of major combat. Multiple. Examples:  [Collected on the Internet, 2003] Since President Bush declared an end to major combat on May 1.... the first battalion of the new Iraqi Army has graduated and is onactive duty.. over 60,000 Iraqis now provide security to their fellow citizens.. nearly all of Iraq's 400 courts are functioning.. the Iraqi judiciary is fully independent.. on Monday, October 6 power generation hit 4,518 megawatts - exceeding the prewar average.. all 22 universities and 43 technical institutes and colleges are open, as are nearly all primary and secondary schools.. by October 1, Coalition forces had rehab-ed over 1,500 schools - 500 more than scheduled.. teachers earn from 12 to 25 times their former salaries.. all 240 hospitals and more than 1200 clinics are open.. doctors salaries are at least eight times what they were under Saddam.. pharmaceutical distribution has gone from essentially nothing to 700 tons in May to a current total of 12,000 tons.. the Coalition has helped administer over 22 million vaccination doses to Iraq's children.. a Coalition program has cleared over 14,000 kilometers of Iraq's 27,000 kilometers of weed-choked canals which now irrigate tens of thousands of farms.  This project has created jobs for more than 100,000Iraqi men and women.. we have restored over three-quarters of prewar telephone services and over two-thirds of the potable water production.. there are 4,900 full-service telephone connections.  We expect 50,000 by year-end.. the wheels of commerce are turning.  From bicycles to satellite dishes to cars and trucks, businesses are coming to life in all major cities and towns.. 95 percent of all prewar bank customers have service and first-time customers are opening accounts daily.. Iraqi banks are making loans to finance businesses.. the central bank is fully independent.. Iraq has one of the worlds most growth-oriented investment and banking laws.. Iraq has a single, unified currency for the first time in 15 years.. satellite TV dishes are legal.. foreign journalists aren't on 10-day visas paying mandatory and extortionate fees to the Ministry of Information for  minders  and other government spies.. there is no Ministry of Information.. there are more than 170 newspapers.. you can buy satellite dishes on what seems like every street corner.. foreign journalists (and everyone else) are free to come and go.. a nation that had not one single element - legislative, judicial or executive - of a representative government, now does... in Baghdad alone residents have selected 88 advisory councils. Baghdad's first democratic transfer of power in 35 years happened when the city council elected its new chairman.. today in Iraq chambers of commerce, business, school and professional organizations are electing their leaders all over the country.. 25 ministers, selected by the most representative governing body in Iraq's history, run the day-to-day business of government.. the Iraqi government regularly participates in international events. Since July the Iraqi government has been represented in over two dozen international meetings, including those of the UN General Assembly, the Arab League, the World Bank and IMF and, today, the Islamic Conference Summit.  The Ministry of Foreign Affairs today announced that it is reopening over 30 Iraqi embassies around the world.. Shia religious festivals that were all but banned, aren't.. for the first time in 35 years, in Karbala thousands of Shiites celebrate the pilgrimage of the 12th Imam.. the Coalition has completed over 13,000 reconstruction projects, large and small, as part of a strategic plan for the reconstruction of Iraq.. Uday and Queasy are dead - and no longer feeding innocent Iraqis to the zoo lions, raping the young daughters of local leaders to force cooperation, torturing Iraq's soccer players for losing games, ormurdering critics.. children aren't imprisoned or murdered when their parents disagree with the government.. political opponents aren't imprisoned, tortured, executed, maimed, or are forced to watch their families die for disagreeing with Saddam.. millions of longsuffering Iraqis no longer live in perpetual terror.. Saudis will hold municipal elections.. Qatar is reforming education to give more choices to parents.. Jordan is accelerating market economic reforms.. the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded for the first time to an Iranian  a Muslim woman who speaks out with courage for human rights, for democracy and for peace.. Saddam is gone.. Iraq is free.. President Bush has not faltered or failed.. Yet, little or none of this information has been published by the Press corps that prides itself on bring you all the news that's important. Iraq under US lead control has come further in six months than Germany did in seven years or Japan did in nine years following WWII.  Military deaths from fanatic Nazi's, and Japanese numbered in the thousands and continued for over three years after WWII victory was declared. It took the US over four months to clear away the twin tower debris, let alone attempt to build something else in its place. Now, take into account that almost every Democrat leader in the House and Senate has fought President Bush on every aspect of his handling of this country's war and the post-war reconstruction; and that they continue to claim on a daily basis on national TV that this conflict has been a failure. Taking everything into consideration, even the unfortunate loss of our sons and daughters in this conflict, do you think anyone else in the world could have accomplished as much as the United States and the Bushadministration in so short a period of time?  [Collected on the Internet, 2005] DID YOU KNOW THIS?  Did you know that 47 countries have re-established their embassies in Iraq? Did you know that the Iraqi government employs 1.2 million Iraqi people? Did you know that 3100 schools have been renovated, 364 schools are under rehabilitation, 263 schools are now under construction and 38 new schools have been built in Iraq? Did you know that Iraq's higher educational structure consists of 20 Universities, 46 Institutes<.NOBR> or colleges and 4 research centers? Did you know that 25 Iraq students departed for the United States in January 2004 for the re-established Fulbright program? Did you know that the Iraqi Navy is operational? They have five 100-foot patrol craft, 34 smaller vessels and a navel infantry regiment. Did you know that Iraq's Air Force consists of three operation squadrons, 9 reconnaissance and 3 US C-130 transport aircraft which operate day and night, and will soon add 16 UH-1 helicopters and 4 bell jet rangers? Did you know that Iraq has a counter-terrorist unit and a Commando Battalion? Did you know that the Iraqi Police Service has over 55,000 fully trained and equipped police officers? Did you know that there are 5 Police Academies in Iraq that produce over 3500 new officers each 8 weeks? Did you know there are more than 1100 building projects going on in Iraq? They include 364 schools, 67 public clinics, 15 hospitals, 83 railroad stations, 22 oil facilities, 93 water facilities and 69 electrical facilities. Did you know that 96% of Iraqi children under the age of 5 have received the first 2 series of polio vaccinations? Did you know that 4.3 million Iraqi children were enrolled in primary school by mid October? Did you know that there are 1,192,000 cell phone subscribers in Iraq and phone use has gone up 158%? Did you know that Iraq has an independent media that consist of 75 radio stations, 180 newspapers and 10 television stations? Did you know that the Baghdad Stock Exchange opened in June of 2004? Did you know that 2 candidates in the Iraqi presidential election had a recent televised debate recently? OF COURSE WE DIDN'T KNOW! WHY DIDN'T WE KNOW? OUR MEDIA WOULDN'T TELL US! Because a Bush-hating media and Democratic Party would rather see the world blow up than lose their power. Instead of shouting these accomplishments from every rooftop, they would rather show photos of what a few perverted malcontent soldiers have done in prisons in many cases never disclosing the circumstances surrounding the events. Instead of showing our love for our country, we get photos of flag burning incidents at Abu Ghraib and people throwing snowballs at presidential motorcades. The lack of accentuating the positive in Iraq serves only one purpose. It undermines the world's perception of the United States and our soldiers. I AM ASHAMED OF MY FELLOW AMERICANS WHO WOULD RATHER SEE TERRORISM SUCCEED THAN A REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT. Origins:  Variations of these items chronicling U.S. accomplishments in rebuilding Iraq have been circulating since mid-2003 and have been forwarded under so many different names (most of them U.S. military personnel serving in Iraq) that it's difficult to determine who the original author was.  The earliest known antecedent appears to be a Coalition Provisional Authority briefing given by L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. Presidential Envoy to Iraq (the highest-ranking U.S. civilian official in Iraq) on 9 October 2003. Some of the accomplishments cited in this piece were echoed in an 8 December 2003 Forbes magazine article by Caspar W. Weinberger, who served as Secretary of Defense during the Reagan  briefing article administration. There is a valid point underlying the theme of these messages, that the media tends to report (and the public tends to follow) stories having to do with disaster, tragedy and misfortune far more than stories about good deeds and good works.  That has always been the nature of news reporting, however; it's not a new development fostered by the \"Bush-hating media.\" (As one editorial writer put it in a commentary on this phenomenon, \"Reporters don't report buildings that don't burn.\") editorial These types of items are generally impossible to categorize with a single truth value because they typically contain a mixture of fact, opinion, subjective statements, inaccuracies, and literally true but often misleading claims.  An Iraqi citizen whose response to the earlier piece quoted above was published on the Voices in the Wilderness web site chronicled some of the differences he saw between the claims the pieces offered and his viewpoint as an Iraqi. response Last updated:  21 February 2005    Sources:   Weinberger, Caspar W.  \"You Read It Here First.\"   Forbes.  8 December 2003.","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_40","claim":"We knew Strom Thurmond had proposed the amendment that blocked Puerto Ricos use of Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection.","posted":"04\/27\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Did he or didnt he? Only the ghost of Strom Thurmond knows for sure. Mystery surrounds whether, back in 1984, the former senator from South Carolina knowingly deprived Puerto Rico of bankruptcy protections that every U.S. state enjoys. Its crunch time for Puerto Rico. The island territory needs to pay bondholders $422 million on May 1. It doesnt have the cash, it cant use bankruptcy to reschedule its payments, and Congress seems unlikely to craft a solution in time to avoid a massive default. During hisApril 24, 2016,HBO showLast Week Tonight, comedian and social critic John Oliver described the devils brew of legal oddities and fiscal recklessness by Puerto Rican officials that brought the island territory of the United States to the financial brink. If you are massively in debt and you cant declare bankruptcy, you are stuck, Oliver said. And this happened because of a tiny amendment to a law in 1984, and the crazy thing is, no one can say why it was written. The tiny amendment Oliver mentioned was stuck in the most boring location one could ever imagine  in the definitions section ofHR 5174, a bill geared mainly to fixing the bankruptcy court system. Buried in a long list of changes was the meaning of state. 'State' includes the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, except for the purpose of defining who may be a debtor under chapter 9 of this title; That was it. With those two dozen words, the bankruptcy protections that applied to every state, and until 1984, to Puerto Rico, too, were wiped away. We tried to find out for ourselves why that amendment got attached, Oliver said. We knew Strom Thurmond had proposed it. So we asked an archivist at the library where his papers are kept to go through the relevant papers, and they came up with nothing. Oliver quipped about that lack of a paper trail, saying it might be the best scenario for Thurmond given his reputation for fervent racism. Oliver enlivened his diatribe over Puerto Rico's dilemma witha rapperformed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the son of Puerto Rican parents and the creator and star of the Broadway hitHamilton.Miranda mentioned Thurmond, too: Somewhere down the line Strom Thurmond's ghost busted a cap at a chance at Chapter 9. Which brings us to the focus of this fact-check: Did Thurmond propose the cunning words that ultimately caught Puerto Rico in a debtors vice? Thurmonds role Ina 2015 ruling, the judges of the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals provided some very helpful background. In March 1984, the House passed its version of a bankruptcy bill. That version did not have the Puerto Rico exemption. Then on May 21, 1984, the judges wrote that Thurmond introduced the package of changes that included the text at the center of this controversy. On the day that he introduced the amendment, Senator Thurmond addressed the Senate to explain several of its numerous stipulations, yet said little about the newly added Puerto Rico exemption, the judges wrote. In fact, we went through theCongressional Recordfor that day (thank you, Internet Archive). Thurmond said less than little. He said nothing. The record shows that after Thurmonds amendment, the exemption became part of the final legislation. While this seems to point the finger at Thurmond, theres more to this story. Aside from introducing the overall amendment, Thurmond might not have had much to do with the text. It had been introduced four years before, and not in the Senate, but in the House. Congress earlier run at changing the law Experts question whether Thurmond actually understood the significance of the amendment. To see why, we have to go back to 1978. That year, Congress gave the bankruptcy law a complete overhaul. As often happens with major legislation, various gaps and ambiguities emerged and, in 1979, the Senate passed a bill to tidy up the loose ends. Among the dross, the Senate defined states to include Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia and any territory or possession of the United States. That legislation moved over to the House, and here the trail becomes murky. Bankruptcy law professor Stephen Lubben at Seton Hall University traced thetwists and turns in a 2014 article. In July 1980, the House Judiciary Committee returned with an amendment to the Senate bill that struck the entire Senate text and replaced it with theJudiciary Committees desired text, including a new definition of state,  Lubben wrote. The House version, under Democratic control, had the Chapter 9 bankruptcy exclusion for Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. That bill never passed, but in April 1981, Lubben found that the exclusion language resurfaced in the Senate. This exclusion was never discussed by Congress, at least publicly, and the language apparently simply materialized as a result of the House Judiciary Committees extensive revision of the 1979 Senate technical corrections bill, Lubben wrote. Lubben told us that the text in Thurmonds 1984 amendment was essentially the same language that was kicking around since 1980. Its not even clear that the parties even understood what was going on, Lubben said. The only thing we can say for certain is the change happened without a whole lot of thought behind it. Another factor makes it hard to find Thurmonds fingerprints on the text that beleaguers Puerto Rico today. The change was never offered as a stand-alone item. It was always bundled with a number of other small changes. Law professor John Pottow at the University of Michigan told us, Strom Thurmond might have introduced that, but its an overstatement to say he played a big role. A final mystery  if youve followed the trail this far, you will notice that in 1984, the House version of the bill didnt have the Puerto Rico exclusion. The logical question is, why was it dropped when the House was the first to add it in 1980? We wish we knew. Our ruling Oliver said we know that Thurmond proposed the text that stripped Puerto Rico of the right to let municipalities and public utilities declare bankruptcy. There is no question that Thurmond introduced the amendment with that change. So technically, he did propose it.But theres no evidence that he came up with the idea, and experts question that he understood the significance of the change that would follow. The statement is accurate but requires some additional information. We rate this claim Mostly True. https:\/\/www.sharethefacts.co\/share\/260b6aad-f921-45fc-9937-1d82d35f7874 This fact-check previously contained erroneous references about the timing of Strom Thurmond's Senate career and Lin-Manuel Miranda's birthplace.","issues":["Bankruptcy","Corrections and Updates","PunditFact"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_41","claim":"A college loan is the only loan in the United States that you cannot refinance when interest rates go down.","posted":"04\/06\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Former President Bill Clinton raised a hot-button issue while campaigning for his wife in Los Angeles this week: America's mounting student loan debt. Student debt in the United States has reached $1.3 trillion, trailing only the amount Americans owe on their mortgages. It is often blamed for preventing young people from buying houses and cars, which fuels the country's economy. Undergraduates in the class of 2015 graduated with an average of $35,000 in student loan debt, the highest in history, according to Edvisors.com, a financial aid website. If elected president in November, Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton would remove a unique barrier related to college loans, the former president claimed. A college loan is the only loan in the United States that you cannot refinance when interest rates go down, Bill Clinton said, speaking at a recent campaign rally at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College. We wondered: Is refinancing really off-limits for all college loans? With student loan debt being such a significant issue this election year, we decided to check the facts. \n\nPast efforts at change \nBoth Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, have pledged to allow student loans to be refinanced. However, they weren't the first to call for this change. In June 2014, Senate Republicans rejected legislation by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., that would have allowed student borrowers to refinance their federal loan debt. Homeowners are refinancing. Small businesses are refinancing. We just want young people who got an education to have their shot, Warren was quoted as saying in a Washington Post news article at the time. Republicans argued that they were not convinced the legislation would have resulted in lower borrowing costs and labeled it an election stunt. The bill would have allowed people with federal and private loans issued prior to 2010 to refinance at 3.86 percent, the article stated. It added that the Obama administration estimated that the bill could have helped 25 million borrowers save $2,000 each over the lifetime of their loans, totaling $50 billion. \n\nOur research \nAs they campaigned across the country, Hillary Clinton and Sen. Sanders have each pledged to allow for the refinancing of college loan debt. What they, and apparently Bill Clinton, are discussing is refinancing federally backed student loans, which account for about 90 percent of all student borrowing. We turned to the nonprofit college planning group American Student Assistance for some advice. They and other groups say federal student loans can be refinanced into private loans. However, doing so can remove federal protections such as fixed interest rates and the ability to pause repayments. Additionally, private student loans can be refinanced into new lower-interest private loans. But there is no provision in federal law allowing the refinancing of a federal loan into another, lower-interest federal loan. There is no federal refinancing. Congress sets the interest rate for federal student loans, and most of these rates are fixed by law, regardless of how solid your credit or income becomes post-graduation, American Student Assistance advises potential borrowers. \n\nPolitiFact Texas examined a similar claim in 2014 and rated it Mostly True. They spoke with Heather Jarvis, a North Carolina attorney specializing in student loan law, who informed them that some graduates may be able to refinance student loans at lower rates through private lenders. However, she noted that this would only occur in cases where borrowers have substantial income. Jarvis added that refinancing federal loans with a private loan is risky, as the borrower gives up important protections that accompany federal loans (like flexible repayment and discharge provisions). Students repaying federally backed loans, Jarvis stated, are effectively barred from refinancing opportunities because federal law makes no provision for the government to make such offers. \n\nAsked about the former president's statement, Bill Clinton's press secretary said in an email that it is very safe to say that the vast majority of students with debt have federal debt. She pointed to statistics from the College Board showing that federal loans account for about 90 percent of student borrowing. She mentioned that a small percentage of borrowers can refinance a federal student loan by converting it into a private loan. \n\nOur ruling \nFormer President Bill Clinton stated at a recent campaign rally in Los Angeles: A college loan is the only loan in the United States that you cannot refinance when interest rates go down. Borrowers of federally backed student loans, which account for about 90 percent of student loans, cannot refinance those into lower-interest federal loans. Congress sets the interest rate on these loans, and there is no provision in federal law that allows for them to be refinanced. Depending on factors such as income, some borrowers can refinance their federal loans into lower-interest private loans, though they risk losing their federal loan protections. Clinton most likely was referring only to federally backed loans when he made his statement, but a clarification about private loans would have been helpful. We rated his claim Mostly True. \n\nMOSTLY TRUE \nThe statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. Click here for more on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.","issues":["Debt","Economy","Education","California"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1arTBbJeYmv6FclMUyglvOQ8xSjMyPeh6","image_caption":"Former President Bill Clinton speaks during a campaign stop for his wife, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016, at the West End Community Development Center in Greenville, S.C. (AP Photo\/Paul Sancya)"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_42","claim":"Tardy Rumors","posted":"09\/01\/2015","sci_digest":[""],"justification":"FACT CHECK: Did Ann Coulter refer to President Obama as a \"retard,\" prompting a response from a Special Olympics athlete? Claim: Ann Coulter referred to President Obama as a \"retard,\" prompting a response from a Special Olympics athlete. Example: [Collected via e-mail, September 2015] Did Ann Coulter call Barack Obama a retard? Origins: On 30 August 2015, Facebook user Aria Brown shared a post reporting that professional political troll Ann Coulter had referred to President Obama as a \"retard\" in a tweet. That Facebook post, which also included a response from Special Olympics athlete John Franklin Stephens, quickly went viral and garnered more than half a million shares in 24 hours. Some people who viewed the Facebook post questioned its authenticity, as they couldn't find the \"Obama retard\" tweet in Coulter's Twitter feed. The reason for this was that the referenced comment was one she made after a 2012 presidential debate between President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney, not something Coulter said in 2015, as implied by the Facebook post. Shortly after the tweet made headlines in 2012, Ann Coulter appeared on Alan Colmes' Fox News radio show to double down on her trolling: \"Look, no one would refer to a Down Syndrome child, someone with an actual mental handicap, by saying 'retard.' Where do you think the words 'imbecile,' 'idiot,' 'moron,' 'cretin' come from? These were all technical terms at one time. 'Retard' had been used colloquially to just mean 'loser' for 30 years ... But no, no, these aggressive victims have to come out and tell you what words to use.\" The response from Special Olympics athlete and global messenger John Franklin Stephens is also real, although not recent. On 23 October 2012, Stephens posted an open letter to Coulter on the Special Olympics Blog: \"Dear Ann Coulter, Come on Ms. Coulter, you aren't dumb and you aren't shallow. So","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1f8dD2p6KAG0jxDKbEw9M5gObSQm-pAQB","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1uciUJjMSSKAAPIWmTv7Adgwu_vpDf8Aj","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1dGuga3LivsQtzgVWZbBH6J9OBYye38se","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_43","claim":"Says in Oregon today, the average debt upon college graduation is more than $24,000.","posted":"08\/10\/2013","sci_digest":[],"justification":"A university degree doesnt come cheap, and politicians are well aware that voters of all stripes wish college was more affordable. In a guest column last month in the Portland Tribune,Oregons junior U.S. senator wrote of his desire to make college more affordable to help grow the economy. In the piece, Democrat Jeff Merkley also cited the debt burden shouldered by the states university graduates. In Oregon today, the average debt upon college graduation is more than $24,000, with many students in debt $50,000 to $100,000, he wrote. At least $24,000 on average? Thats not chump change. For that money, students could splurge on a new car, plunk down a sizeable down payment on a first home or fly off on a very grand tour of Europe. In fact, $24,000 isalmost half of the median annual household income in Oregon, according to the latest U.S. Census figures. We decided to focus our fact check on that statistic. Jamal Raad, Merkleys spokesman, wrote in an e-mail to PolitiFact Oregon that the $24,000 figure comes from a June 2013fact sheet from the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning D.C. think tank. The average debt per borrower in Oregon is $24,370, according to the report. That figure includes both public and private universities, said David Bergeron, the centers vice president for post-secondary education policy. The figure originated from theFederal Reserve Bank of New Yorks Household Debt and Credit Report, which provides a quarterly snapshot of trends in borrowing, including student loans. The statistic comes from a sample of consumer credit data and accounts for federally backed and private loans students borrowed, said Matthew Ward, a spokesman for the bank. The average amount borrowed by Oregon students is a bit less than the $24,810 U.S. average, according to the report. It also noted that 17.1 percent of Oregon consumers -- defined as those with a credit record -- carry student debt. The report listed average debt per borrower, not average debt per college graduate. In other words, many students incur student debt even if they drop out and never graduate. Some students incur no debt. Graduates from Oregon colleges in 2011 incurred an average debt of $25,497, according to The Institute for College Affordability & Success, a nonprofit that tracks student debt. The figures are for public and private schools and are based on voluntary reports submitted to college guidance companyPetersons, which administers a financial aid database. The numbers are only as reliable as the universities are able to track and report. And college financial aid officers arent always aware of private loans that can add up. The institutes numbers indicate that debt amounts can vary widely for private colleges, some of which offer more generous financial aid packages than public universities. For example, Reed College graduates in 2011 left with an average debt of $20,840; Lewis & Clark College $22,956; Willamette University $25,932; and Linfield College $29,754. Well note here that student debt figures are generally calculated out of the pool of graduates who leave school with debt  about 63 percent of Oregon students, the institute said. In other words, about 37 percent of students in Oregon graduate debt free. This matters because officials made similar statements about average debt per graduate inOhioandVirginia, resulting in Half True rulings from sister PolitiFact organizations. They neglected to account for students who graduate without debt. Merkley, unlike the other politicians, did not talk about the average student but the average debt. Well come back to this point later. Finally, we checked with theOregon University System. The average debt of graduates in the class of 2011 across all seven state schools was $23,839, according to theOUS 2012 Fact Book. The figures are for federal loans borrowed by students at each institution. About 59 percent of graduates left with debt. Merkley said that the average debt upon college graduation in Oregon is more than $24,000. The studies we found came up with three figures that largely back him up. The studies calculated student debt in different ways, making apples-to-apples comparisons impossible even though theyre all within range of one another. The studies also fail to account entirely for private loans students take out directly, which would likely increase the average student indebtedness amounts. Still, the reports back up Merkleys statement. The only point left to quibble over is clarifying that 37 percent of students graduate from university in Oregon without any debt. That is additional information that could help readers understand that the $24,000 figure is among those who leave college in debt. Unlike officials in other states, Merkley did not write about the average kid or student incurring a certain amount of debt. He wrote about average debt upon graduation. That makes his statement accurate, but it needs additional information and context. We rate the statement Mostly True.","issues":["Oregon","Debt","Education"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_44","claim":"Tapeworm Diet Pills","posted":"07\/25\/2000","sci_digest":["Legend claims women used to maintain slender figures by ingesting diet pills made from tapeworms."],"justification":"In August 2014, an episode of Discovery Fit & Health's medical scare docudrama Untold Stories of the E.R. dramatized a supposed real-life scenario in which a teenage girl arrived at Florida hospital's emergency room with a bulging stomach, and the cause of the patient's malady was eventually revealed when she went to the bathroom and excreted tapeworms. The girl's mother then allegedly admitted that she had fed her daughter tapeworm egg pills to help the girl drop some weight before an upcoming beauty pageant: dramatized    At some point, the patient went to the bathroom and started screaming. \"It was a toilet bowl full of tapeworms. Blegh!\" [E.R. nurse, Maricar] Cabral-Osorio said. \"It was so gross and she had pooped all these tapeworms. There were a couple that were very long and wiggling around trying to get out of the toilet bowl.\" Trying to keep up the proper bedside manner, Cabral-Osorio told the patient that since the tapeworms were out of the body, she'd be just fine. One question remained. \"We were wondering how did she get those tapeworms, and then you saw the mom turn white,\" Cabral-Osorio said. \"The mom was apologizing to the girl. It's like 'I'm so sorry. You know, I did it just to make you a little skinnier. You needed some help before we went on to the pageant.\" Cabral-Osorio said the mother denied giving her daughter tapeworms per se, but admitted giving the girl pills with tapeworm eggs. This dramatization echoed a century-old rumor about women buying and ingesting diet pills made of tapeworm eggs in order to maintain slender figures, with the parasites taking up residence in the women's intestines and consuming a significant portion of their caloric intake, thereby preventing food from being stored as undesirable, poundage-adding fat and fostering the burning up of previously stored fat. Whether such a method of weight loss was actually ever a common or widespread practice remains a subject of debate. Purported vintage advertisements for tapeworm-based diet pill products dating from the early 20th century are often cited as proof that it was, but whether such products actually matched their advertised descriptions would be difficult to verify at this remove. Just because an ad for a diet pill proclaimed the product contained tapeworm eggs doesn't mean it really did  duping people into buying medicinal nostrums by way of making false and exaggerated claims was standard procedure in the days before government regulation of food and drug products. In the 1960s, memories of those ads resurfaced as appetite-suppressant candies came into vogue, prompting curious dieters to speculate on how they worked. By 1970, diet pills were all the rage, and amphetamines accounted for 8% of all prescriptions written that year. Simple reports about various wonder products evolved into appalling whispered-behind-hands tales about women so desperate to keep their figures that they routinely swallowed magic diet pills which were really tapeworms in capsules. Sometimes the tidbits ended there as \"Did you know ...?\" shared tales, but other times the buzz was expanded into tragic tales detailing the gruesome deaths that had befallen some beautiful but vain young things who were foolish enough to try such remedies. This rumor has been associated with a number of prominent women, such as German model Claudia Schiffer, but probably no one was singled out by it more often than opera singer Maria Callas (1923-1977). Callas was indeed afflicted with tapeworms, but not due to any \"lose weight quick!\" reducing scheme: she was overly fond of steak and liver tartare, raw meat dishes prone to contamination. In her case, the rumor about tapeworm diet pills collided with her real-life condition, resulting in her being misidentified as someone who used such a product. Compounding the error, respected newspapers passed along fatuous statements about her and this rumor as if they were revealed fact. (Example: \"Maria Callas, whose desperation to lose weight led her to swallow a tapeworm, shed several stones over a matter of months and never regained her former power,\" trumpeted The Guardian in 1992.) Some poorly-researched biographies have even claimed this as truth, falling for the myth instead of the reality. It's interesting to note many accounts of the Callas rumor spitefully and self-righteously conclude with the news that her indulgence in this ill-advised tapeworm diet fad caused her to lose the ability to hit the high notes. Such flourishes remind us that vanity rumors are often employed to humble women who aren't much liked or are seen as having attained high positions they did not merit. In Callas' case, her well-publicized, long-standing liaison with Aristotle Onassis caused some to belittle her talent by ascribing her success to her having a powerful benefactor; others wanted to find additional justification for disliking a woman who openly consorted with a (then) married man. The tapeworm diet pill claims usually posited that partakers eventually swallowed deworming pills once they had achieved their desired figures to be rid of the tapeworms, but the rumor also melded with a folk tale to form a new entity:   Other versions of how to draw out a tapeworm include placing milk, cookies, and a hammer near the afflicted person's anus for a few nights and letting the tapeworm gorge himself into complacency on the treats. Once this has been accomplished, the cookie is withheld. When the worm comes all the way out to demand, \"Where's my cookie?,\" whoever is stuck with worm-watching duty that night bashes it with the hammer. An alternative vermifuge calls for 29 steaks and a hammer: The patient eats a steak for 29 days in row, then fasts on the 30th day. The worm becomes closely acquainted with the hammer when it emerges to demand its T-bone. Baker, Ronald.  Hoosier Folk Legends. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1982.  ISBN 0-25-332844-6. Bret, David.  Maria Callas: The Tigress and the Lamb. London: Robson Books, 1997.  ISBN 1-86-105257-X. Brunvand, Jan Harold.  The Choking Doberman. New York: W. W. Norton, 1984.  ISBN 0-393-30321-7  (pp. 111-112). Cohen, Daniel.  The Beheaded Freshman and Other Nasty Rumors. New York: Avon Books, 1993.  ISBN 0-380-77020-2  (pp. 107-108). de Vos, Gail.  Tales, Rumors and Gossip. Englewood: Libraries Unlimited, 1996.  ISBN 1-56308-190-3  (p. 148). Morgan, Hal and Kerry Tucker.  Rumor! New York: Penguin Books, 1984.  ISBN 0-14-007036-2  (p. 65). Moye, David.  \"Woman Feeds Daughter Tapeworms on 'Untold Stories of the E.R.'\" The Huffington Post.  20 August 2014. Smith, Paul.  The Book of Nastier Legends. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1986.  ISBN 0-7102-0573-2  (p. 69). Thomas, Tessa.  \"Health: Pavarotti and Other Weighty Tissues.\" The Guardian.  11 September 1992  (p. 27). Tucker, Elizabeth.  \"The 7-Day Wonder Diet.\" Indiana Folklore.  Vol. 11; 1978  (pp. 141-150). The Big Book of Urban Legends. New York: Paradox Press, 1994.  ISBN 1-56389-165-4  (p. 178). This article was updated on Aug. 22, 2014","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=131oqLvsACj4P6gJ7hl-fz3f_Ww_3CktM","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_45","claim":"Does This Photograph Show a Black Couple Accepting a Gift from KKK Members?","posted":"11\/25\/2018","sci_digest":["The details behind a strange photograph taken in Alabama in 1948 remain elusive."],"justification":"A photograph dating from 1948 depicting an apparent show of \"charity\" on the part of the Ku Klux Klan towards an elderly black couple in Alabama continues to circulate online, although details behind the actual encounter are sparse. The photograph shows 106-year-old Jack Riddle and his wife, Rosie, both former slaves, seated in front of a group of Klansmen (including one dressed as Santa Claus), flanking a radio the group had reportedly given to the couple as a gift:  The image, which was published in newspapers in California and Pennsylvania (among other states), has resurfaced periodically on social media platforms, although it is typically accompanied by little in the way of information about how and why the Klansmen approached the Riddles with their \"gift.\"  John Giggie, an associate professor of history at the University of Alabama, told us that the photograph is \"the type of image that Klan members would dream of\" at the time: It captures the Klan fantasy of returning to a time when black Americans were enslaved and white Americans could lord over them with impunity. The given year of the image is important -- 1948 -- as it marks the emergence of the Dixiecrats, who left the Democratic Party in 1948 over its rising interest in civil rights. In that context, the photo functions as a warning to blacks and those who would support them in their freedom struggle. Giggie added that the photograph also \"screams hyperbole\": The idea of former slaves literally clasping the hands of a Klansmen  dressed as Santa Claus, no less -- and sitting next to a radio seems to create a studied photo in which the Klan is merging examples of American modernity with those of its enslaved past. There is also the nagging sense that this is simply an absurd parody of Klan bravado. The idea of former slaves sitting with Klansmen seems to at least suggest a mockery of Klan pretensions of power and acceptance. Time magazine also published a brief item about the pictured meeting on 3 January 1949 under the heading \"Manners and Morals:\" published In Talladega, Ala., a white-hooded delegation of Ku Kluxers and a white-bearded Santa Claus presented a radio to Jack Riddle, a 107-year-old Negro and his wife, Josey, 86, so they could have their wish, to \"hear the preachers.\" Grand Dragon Samuel Green explained that this demonstrated the \"heart of a Klansman,\" called in photographers to take the most incongruous picture of the week.  A separate photograph of the encounter was collected in the book From the Picture Press, published by the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1973: collected  The museum's caption for the photograph stated that Green and his cohorts \"publicized the 'good will' visit ten days before it occurred.\" However, at least one related clipping posted online has, at the very least, been misattributed. Some blog posts concerning the Riddles' photograph cite a brief op-ed attributed to the Milwaukee Journal newspaper on 26 December 1948: Because the klan's professions and practices vary so much, we suggest that northerners maintain a healthy skepticism about any regeneration of the klan. It will take more than pretty words, and a few gifts to Negroes, to wipe out the record of terror, intimidation and violence that has been synonymous with the name klan. And as for that radio gift to Jack Riddle, the klan's good will toward the Negro will be more convincing when it is concerned with the welfare, the education and the civil rights of all Negroes. The problem of Jack Riddle not having a radio set is only a very small part of the over-all picture of the Negro in the south.  In 1995, the Journal merged with the Milwaukee Sentinel to become the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. When we contacted that successor newspaper regarding the 1948 clipping, assistant managing editor for visual journalism Sherman Williams told us that \"This article does not appear in the 12\/26\/48 edition of The Milwaukee Journal. The article does not match the typography or style of the newspaper then.\" The photograph was also copyrighted by Getty Images, who told us that it was originally shot by a photographer from the Keystone Press Agency. At least two phone numbers listed under that name are invalid, while emails sent to addresses listed under Keystone did not produce responses prior to publication. copyrighted According to an obituary published in Jet magazine in January 1953, Jack Riddle died at the age of 111. published Time.  \"Manners and Morals.\"\r  3 January 1949. West Virginia Memories.  \"Old Newspaper Articles (and Book Mentions) About American Slaves, Former Slaves, And Their Descendants (N-Z).\"\r  Accessed 27 November 2018. Szarkowski, John.  From the Picture Press.\r  Museum of Modern Art, 1973.  ISBN 087070334X.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1bAC0Jpv-_E6l8XVPRQNBhIALfI5txh65","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1-zhlQg0zAIxueIJnq2hpSYb4I-mgOP46","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=17IHXcJ7Ux3pJK1XeptB77zxiaPWDXMTy","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Pk_JrvyOOPqRUr8nGG4d8opbh5QrFUdW","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_46","claim":"Did a Huge Shark Wash Up on a North Carolina Beach?","posted":"02\/19\/2018","sci_digest":["An image purportedly showing a large shark on a Kitty Hawk beach is a composite of at least two different photographs."],"justification":"Digital artist Alex Lex's Facebook page is full of surreal images showcasing exotic animals in various locations around North Carolina. Regular visitors to the site are likely aware that these images are digital creations, not genuine photographs, but the realistic qualities of the work can easily fool the uninitiated. images That was exactly the case on 18 February 2018, when an image was posted showing an enormous shark that purportedly washed up on a North Carolina beach: posted   This post was shared tens of thousands of times and many viewers unfamiliar with Lex's body of work believed that this was a genuine photograph.  However, that was not the case. This is a composite of at least two different photographs. The image of the shark was taken by photographer Jack Cohen in September 2015: photographer   Cohen also commented on the hoax image: commented Hi everyone, this guy is ripping off my original shark photo and trying to take it as his own. It is now going viral and any help you can lend in commenting on his photo that I am the original photographer and that this is copyright infringement would be really appreciated! Thank you! In September 2017, Lex posted an image purportedly showing a terrifyingly huge wave crashing down on Jennette's Pier during Hurricane Jose; that image, too, was fake.  fake","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1RDxsXNMY6lfboLfIq1bUnbl9LoFpbEDf","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=17liA1793hUpLfXbGQKsRW1ElnfkbRXlk","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_47","claim":"A search of bushes and a verification check.","posted":"06\/21\/2015","sci_digest":[""],"justification":"FACT CHECK: Is the area social media meme \"5 Things You Should Know About Jeb Bush\" factually accurate? Claim: A social media meme accurately details five aspects of Jeb Bush's record on women's issues. True Example: [Collected via e-mail, June 2015] Facebook post citing \"evils\" committed by Jeb Bush - only 15.5 months to go with this.... Origins: On June 15, 2015, the women's rights-focused group Ultraviolet published the above-displayed image, addressing the record of Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush, on their Facebook page. After many viewers questioned the veracity of the claims made about Bush and his record on women's issues, the post was edited to include supporting citations for its entries; however, earlier versions of the post continued to circulate without them. The numbered claims and their attendant backgrounds are as follows: \n\n1. Appointed a guardian for the fetus of a rape victim. This statement stemmed from a 2003 case involving a 22-year-old, severely developmentally disabled Florida woman who had been living in state-supervised facilities for most of her life. She had become pregnant after being raped while living in a group home and had no family to make decisions on her behalf. Even though neither the woman herself nor anyone caring for her had sought to abort the fetus, Governor Bush stepped in and asked the court to intervene in this \"uniquely troubling situation\" and appoint a representative to protect the fetus's rights. Religious groups praised the governor's actions. \"If a guardian is appointed, there would be a clear recognition that there is a human being occupying that womb,\" said Brian Fahling, senior trial lawyer for the American Family Association's Center for Law and Policy. \"The governor has the constitutional duty to uphold the right to life.\" The Christian Coalition of Florida issued a statement in support of Mr. Bush. \"The appropriate thing to do is allow the child an opportunity at life and prosecute the criminal who raped the helpless woman.\" Critics say the governor's actions are intended to keep the issue in the courts until the woman is in the third trimester of her pregnancy and can no longer obtain an abortion. \"Our take on this is that this woman's needs, her desires, and her interests need to take precedence,\" said Bebe Anderson, a lawyer with the Center for Reproductive Rights, an advocacy group. \"If she is incompetent, someone else should represent her and her interests alone and make that decision for her.\" The critics also accuse Mr. Bush, a Republican, of trying to set a precedent in establishing legal protection for fetuses and of using the case to win political points with conservative groups. The governor said in his statement, \"While others may interpret this case in light of their own positions, we see it as the singular tragedy it is, and remain focused on serving the best interests of this particular victim and her unborn child.\"\n\n2. The statement originated with the Florida Adoption Act of 2001 (more commonly known as \"Bill 141\" or the \"Scarlet Letter\" law), which overhauled the state's adoption regulations with the stated goal of trying to \"provide greater finality once the adoption is approved, and to avoid circumstances where future challenges to the adoption disrupt the life of the child.\" The bill was inspired, in part, by the three-year fight over Baby Emily, whose father, a convicted rapist, had contested her adoption. (The Florida Supreme Court ruled in favor of Emily's adoptive parents in 1995.) The law required that any woman who was planning to put her infant up for adoption but did not know the identity of the child's father first had to run newspaper advertisements once a week for a month in the community where the child might have been conceived, disclosing their names, ages, height, hair and eye color, race, and weight, the child's name and birthplace, a description of the possible father, and details of the dates and places of sexual encounters that might have produced the child. Advocates of the bill maintained that it protected the rights of men who may not have known they had fathered children and that it would \"minimize last-minute challenges from a biological father, as well as challenges a father might bring after an adoption has been made legal,\" while critics contended that it was \"draconian and humiliating,\" and that Governor Bush's failure to veto the bill indicated he supported the \"shaming\" of women for their sexual activity. Although Jeb Bush had previously lamented the lack of social stigma for having children outside of marriage (writing in his 1995 book Profiles in Character that \"one of the reasons more young women are giving birth out of wedlock and more young men are walking away from their paternal obligations is that there is no longer a stigma attached to this behavior, no reason to feel shame\"), he did not fully approve of Bill 141 and said that the state should not be \"stigmatizing women.\" Gov. Jeb Bush noted numerous problems with it. Officials in the governor's office say he supports an alternative way of protecting fathers' rights\u2014one already in use in many other states. Called fathers' registries, this system permits men who believe they may have fathered a child to place their names on a confidential list, which must be checked during adoption proceedings. \"We should be making adoption easier, not more difficult, and not stigmatizing women who are trying to do the right thing,\" Bush spokeswoman Elizabeth Hirst told reporters in Tallahassee. \n\n3. Gov. Bush also stated in a letter to Secretary of State Katherine Harris that he felt the bill put too much responsibility on the birth mother to locate the father, and while he did not veto the \"Scarlet Letter\" bill, neither did he sign it; he passively allowed it to become law in the expectation that legislators would revise the section requiring the publication of women's sexual histories. \"House Bill 141 does have its deficiencies,\" he wrote. \"Foremost, in its effort to strike the appropriate balance between rights and responsibilities, there is a shortage of responsibility on behalf of the birth father that could be corrected by requiring some proactive conduct on his part.\" In fact, immediately after he let the Florida Adoption Act become law, Bush was advocating for fixes to it. The Florida House almost immediately passed a law that Bush considered a \"better alternative.\" It cut back on women's reporting requirements and established a paternity registry, for example. These were state-maintained databases that allowed a man to register if he believed he may have fathered a child. Then, if that child were ever put up for adoption, the father would have been notified and could have a say in the proceedings. \n\n4. Governor Bush repealed the \"Scarlet Letter\" law in May 2003, signing a replacement measure that instituted the paternity registry mentioned above. The repeal had become somewhat of a moot issue by then, however, as an appeals court had ruled the previous month that it was unconstitutional for the state to require women and underage girls to disclose their sexual histories, even in cases of consensual sex. \n\n5. Hired a staffer who called women \"sluts.\" The claim that Jeb Bush hired a staffer who called women \"sluts\" is true in a literal sense, although the staffer's employment by Bush was very short-lived, as he immediately left his position after the controversy about some of his several-year-old tweets hit the news. This brouhaha originated with Jeb Bush's temporary hiring in February 2015 of Hipster.com co-founder Ethan Czahor as his Chief Technology Officer, in charge of handling the preparations for Bush's presidential run. Almost immediately after the hiring was announced, Czahor's Twitter history was dissected and shared by various media outlets. Among their findings were a handful of tweets published by Czahor in 2009 and 2010 in which he made insensitive remarks about women and used the word \"sluts\" in reference to them. A Bush spokesman quickly characterized the comments as \"inappropriate\" and indicated that Czahor had been directed to promptly delete them. One day later, Czahor resigned from his newly-assigned position and apologized for his previous remarks. \n\n6. Said low-income women should \"get their life together and find a husband.\" As is often the case with political memes, sometimes the basic assertions check out but are misleading or inaccurate due to a lack of context. While it's true that Jeb Bush made a statement that resembled the one quoted above, it has been reproduced without any relevant contextual information. The controversial quote was one Bush uttered during the 1994 Florida gubernatorial campaign; and the thrust of his statement was that he favored setting a two-year limit on welfare benefits, requiring recipients after that period to find work or other assistance on their own: \"If people are mentally and physically able to work, they should be able to do so within a two-year period. They should be able to get their life together, find a husband, find a job, find other alternatives in terms of private charity or a combination of all three.\" \n\n7. Although a generous interpretation of this statement might be to say that Jeb Bush was simply enumerating the several possibilities that (female) welfare recipients could avail themselves of after the expiration of their benefits, he made it clear later that he felt unmarried women were a significant contribution to the welfare problem. Bush did not deny making the statement. In fact, he repeated that marriage is one way\u2014along with finding a job and help from private charities\u2014for women to get off welfare. Marriage, Bush said, \"is one of many options, and if people are honest about the welfare system we have today, how you get on welfare is not having a husband in the house.\" \n\n8. In support of this claim, Ultraviolet cited an April 2015 Salon article, which in turn referenced an interview Bush gave to Focus on the Family on April 13, 2015. During the course of that interview, Bush lauded Florida's role as an outlier in funding \"crisis pregnancy centers\" (CPCs) during his tenure as governor: \"We were the only state, I believe, to have funded with state monies crisis pregnancy centers to provide counselors so that these not-for-profits that in many cases aren't as well funded as many others could act on their mission, which is to provide broader support, but the actual counseling was done, you know, paid for by the state. It was a godsend for these crisis pregnancy centers and a lot of babies' lives were saved and a lot of families got the joy of being able to bring a child up in their home.\" \n\n9. While Jeb Bush was governor of Florida, the state funded crisis pregnancy centers through the sales of 'Choose Life' specialty license plates (under legislation signed into law by Bush in 1999) and through the creation of the Florida Pregnancy Support Services Program (which was introduced by Bush in 2005): \"The Florida Pregnancy Support Services Program was introduced by Gov. Jeb Bush in 2005 to increase visibility for the state's non-abortion counseling options and stem its rising abortion rate. The $4 million launch established a toll-free hotline\u20141-866-673-HOPE\u2014to point pregnant women in the direction of their nearest non-abortion, nonprofit option, and also provide grants to those organizations for counseling, prenatal support, and adoption. The money is only available to organizations that make no mention at all of abortion. It can go to religious organizations, and it supplements the $800,000 the centers receive yearly from the state's 'Choose Life' license plates and whatever federal funds come in.\" \n\n10. Florida was not alone in that regard, however: several other states, including Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Texas, approved state funding of crisis pregnancy centers during the same timeframe. Moreover, between 2001 and 2006, over $60 million in federal funds were given to crisis pregnancy centers, in large part through abstinence-only programs initiated during the administration of Jeb's brother, President George W. Bush. Last updated: June 21, 2015 Originally published: June 21, 2015 Sources: Canedy, Dana. \"Gov. Jeb Bush to Seek Guardian for Fetus of Rape Victim.\" The New York Times. May 15, 2003. Canedy, Dana. \"Florida 'Scarlet Letter' Law Is Repealed by Gov. Bush.\" The New York Times. May 31, 2003. Dahlburg, John-Thor. \"Florida Wants All the Details from Mothers in Adoption Notices.\" Los Angeles Times. August 21, 2002. Dahlburg, John-Thor. \"Florida Ends 'Scarlet Letter' Adoption Law.\" Los Angeles Times. May 31, 2003. Manes, Billy. \"Immaculate Deception.\" Orlando Weekly. February 26, 2009. Griffin, Michael. \"Smith Rips Bush's 'Find a Husband' Tip for Women on Welfare.\" Orlando Sentinel. September 7, 1994. Hongo, Hudson. \"New Jeb Bush Hire Deletes Comments About Sluts, Gays from Twitter.\" Gawker. February 9, 2015. Kaczynski, Andrew. \"Jeb Bush Chief Technology Officer Resigns After Deleting Old Tweets About 'Sluts.'\" BuzzFeed. February 10, 2015. Kurtzleben, Danielle. \"Jeb Bush and Florida's 'Scarlet Letter Law,' Explained.\" NPR. June 10, 2015. McDonough, Katie. \"Jeb's Abortion Nightmare.\" Salon. April 14, 2015. Miller, Zeke J. \"Jeb Bush Hires Co-Founder of Hipster.com.\" Time. February 9, 2015. Simon, Stephanie. \"States Fund Antiabortion Advice.\" Los Angeles Times. February 11, 2007.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1n0_EO3moHyxI-p8HwmlIqAcLU26Bm9iP"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1FAu5RoY3MuPsh2vattSv6z9V864Od6Rs"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1dliBQ5DmEDjpN6NF9V1lGI8_ubp4U1DZ"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1wSJzFvpEdgj10NRHHCnohi4AaX7e4-8c"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1PSt3KLhsBN17pHhrns-ZxcLSVPo30yYo"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1bhlOldNY_HxJek4r-CsVLiTvuXKfd98y"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1aF1CV3I-iWf0nC9UQeGy3OArwUpAGdNE"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_48","claim":"Is This a 'Government Tracking Device' for Automobiles?","posted":"09\/25\/2019","sci_digest":["The government has not historically been interested in tracking the wear of citizens' automobile tires."],"justification":"Technologies for remotely tracking the movement of automobiles have existed for decades, but earlier versions were typically limited in range, efficiency, and\/or lifespan. The advent of GPS technology, however, has led to the development of devices that enable the reliable tracking of a vehicles location, speed, and direction of travel from virtually anywhere on the globe. tracking Since such tracking devices are no longer solely the province of spy films and literature, it's not so far-fetched that some people might be concerned whether any such gadgets have been furtively introduced to their own vehicles, a concept represented by the following meme:  Of course, those in the know recognize this meme to be a joke, and a rather ridiculous one at that. But to whatever extent the meme \"works,\" it does so because it references an object that is common in the automotive world, yet many motorists remain unaware of what its actual function is. The object seen here is variously known as a \"wheel weight,\" a \"balance weight, or a \"wheel balance weight\":  These weights have nothing to do with \"tracking\"  they are used during the process of a \"wheel balance\" (or \"wheel rebalance\"), a procedure that ensures tires and wheels have equal weight distribution so as to eliminate vibration and excessive or uneven tire wear: wheel balance Tire balancing is a tune-up for your wheel-tire set. It makes sure that weight is evenly distributed around the entire circumference of the unit. The common symptoms of out-of-balance tires are uneven and faster tread wear, poor fuel economy, and vibration in the steering wheel, the floorboard or the seat that gets worse at faster speeds. When all areas of the wheel-tire unit are as equal in weight as possible, the tire will roll smoothly. This helps it wear evenly, for longest life. Balancing also contributes to ride comfort: Imbalanced tires will wobble or hop up and down, which causes vibration. If a front tire isnt properly balanced youll likely feel vibration in the steering wheel. If the problem is in the rear the tremor will be noticeable in the seat or floor. Imbalanced tires are easily corrected, but the work is precise. Its done by attaching small weights, just fractions of ounces, to the wheel. Just half an ounce in weight difference is enough to cause a vibration when youre driving. If you see any of these on your car, leave them alone  they've been placed there for an important, non-governmental reason.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1uTc-gHH7W4spk0lTqBRLkgSzxfK3_Jhr","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=18L_0JGL-TIYdaZfs9b4AsUL1p9NnNj3D","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_49","claim":"Are Michigan farmers being compelled to dispose of edible cherries in order to support imports?","posted":"09\/15\/2016","sci_digest":["A viral Facebook post about surplus U.S. cherry crops destroyed to \"make room for imports\" appeals to locavores but contains some inaccuracies."],"justification":"On 26 July 2016, Michigan cherry farmer Marc Santucci shared a post on Facebook asserting that he was forced to destroy 14 percent of his tart cherry crop in order to protect the market for cherries imported from overseas: shared These cherries are beautiful! But, we have to dump 14% of our tart cherry crop on the ground to rot. Why? So we can allow the import of 200 million pounds of cherries from overseas! It just doesn't seem right. What do you think? Please share this on your Facebook page???. Just to let everyone know we are not allowed to donate or in any way use diverted cherries. I have people who would buy them if I could sell them. Also these are tart cherries with a very short shelf life  Santucci's post slowly circulated on the social network, attracting the attention of blogs and health-conscious social media users through September 2016. As presented, Santucci's tale sounded like an unbelievable level of bureaucratic interference with the farm industry and left readers wondering whether his report about having to destroy 40,000 pounds of edible cherries in order to \"make room\" for imported cherries (and was \"not allowed to donate or in any way use diverted cherries\") was accurate.  Online articles pinned blame for the cherry-chucking on the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), citing a 29 July 2016 Detroit Free Press article about the social media controversy that referenced the federal Agricultural Agreement Act of 1937.  The Detroit Free Press article only briefly mentioned the USDA as a starting point for a very complex cherry charter, noting that cherries were originally not regulated under the Agricultural Agreement Act, but the cherry industry opted into its provisions in 1995.  pinned blame article regulated The act in question was introduced in 1937 due to tumultuous agricultural conditions that exacerbated the Great Depression and aimed to facilitate \"orderly marketing conditions for agricultural commodities in interstate commerce\" for the express purpose of stabilizing farmers' income. Cherry industry experts stressed that the 1995 extension of the regulation to include the tart cherry market was voluntary and had been desired by many cherry farmers: introduced At issue is a marketing order imposed through the U.S. Department of Agriculture as part of the federal Agricultural Agreement Act of 1937. But that law only applies to the tart cherry industry because growers and processors opted into the order in 1995. \"It was created at the industry's behest. It was voted in by growers and processors. It's not an imposition from outside,\" said Perry Hedin, executive director of the DeWitt-based Cherry Industry Administrative Board [CIAB], which oversees the marketing order not only in Michigan but in all states across the country that produce commercial crops of red tart cherries, including New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin. Tart cherries are one of the most volatile crops grown in the U.S., with yields that can vary dramatically year to year, Hedin said. \"This whole concept of the marketing order has two goals: to inject a better stability into our markets and improve grower returns,\" he said. \"The growers have been paid far better prices under the marketing order over the past 20 years than they were before the order was in place.\" A 29 July 2016 editorial published  in the Michigan Farm News also addressed what it framed as multiple misrepresentations in Santucci's viral post, starting with the reason cherry crops were thusly regulated. A horticulture specialist noted that the cherry farmers themselves (not the USDA) had sought market regulation after experiencing damaging price fluctuations: addressed In a classic example of what happens on social media when people form opinions based on emotion instead of fact, a Northwestern Michigan tart cherry grower's Facebook posting has gone viral, but with faulty information to back up the posting's claims ... The problem, however, said Kevin Robson, horticulture specialist with Michigan Farm Bureau, is that the information posted shows either shallow understanding of the federal marketing order or a deliberate attempt to change the order because of political disagreement. \"It's also enforced by the growers themselves,\" he said. \"It is for the betterment of the industry as a whole, and a great number of cherry growers have benefited, even those who voted against it.\" Administered by the Cherry Industry Administrative Board (CIAB), the order this year required tart cherry processors to keep 29 percent (the farmer's posting said he was ordered to dump only 14 percent) of the crop they handle off traditional markets (pies, sweetened desserts, etc.) in an attempt to stabilize both prices and supply, which in cherries has been notoriously volatile. \"For example,\" Reposing said, \"in 1988, when the entity was called the Cherry Administrative Board, growers voted to eliminate the marketing order. Prices began to follow a rollercoaster that led, within 10 years, to tart cherry prices that fell into single figures. Some growers went out of business.\" In response to prices that were below costs of production, tart cherry growers in seven states petitioned the USDA to put a new order and administrative board in place, and prices began to stabilize. Still, some growers, such as the one who posted the photo of a small pile of cherries, took exception to the order. Generally, the Agricultural Agreement Act ensures relatively stable income for tart cherry farmers in the face of a volatile market, with one of the drawbacks of that stability being that in boom crop years (as 2016 was), farmers may end up with a good deal of product they are precluded from selling on the open market.  However, although some outlets claim CIAB heavies visited farms to ensure every cherry lies unchomped, tart cherry farmers have options beyond leaving their surplus crop to \"rot in the sun\": visited farms Processors' options in times of surplus include holding the restricted cherries in surplus  frozen, dried or concentrated  for a later slow year. Farmers also can attempt to sell the surplus cherries in overseas markets or sell them domestically in a newly created market, either as a new product or by convincing a supermarket chain or other end user currently supplied by imported cherries to switch to U.S.-grown, he said. Hedin said Santucci could have worked with the [Cherry Industry Administrative] board to find a place to donate the surplus cherries, which typically aren't eaten raw like sweet cherries because of their very short shelf-life, but are instead used in products such as pie filling and jams. Likewise, the Michigan Farm News piece stated that: Another misstatement on the Facebook posting, [horticulture specialist Kevin] Robson said, is that growers are not allowed to donate or use the dumped cherries \"in any way.\" \"That's just not true,\" Robson said. \"Farmers can use the cherries for research and development, and they could make thousands of cherry pies and donate them to charity if they want. Remember these are tart cherries. They need to be processed  and quickly  to make a viable product. They aren't sweets that you just eat by the handful.\" The Facebook posting wrongly puts the blame for cherry dumping on the marketing order, Robson said, when it is the processor who makes the decision to ask farmers to dump cherries. Santucci himself told Grand Rapids television station WXMI that the dumping of surplus cherries wasn't expressly mandatory, but their short shelf life makes it difficult to find alternative uses for them: told \"I was just notified when we started shaking the trees that 14 percent would have to be kept off the market, so it didn't give me time to find any alternative action,\" he said, adding that tart cherries only have a two-day shelf life. It was true that Santucci's 2016 crop was (as with that of all other cherry growers) subject to a growers' agreement barring surplus cherries from the marketplace, and Santucci asserted he had insufficient time to properly divert his surplus cherries to other uses or markets. But the agreement under which the tart cherry market is regulated doesn't mandate surplus cherries be destroyed, nor does the protocol exist to protect foreign imports. Cherry growers in several states voluntarily opted in to a USDA marketing agreement (rather than being forcibly regulated) following a period of instability in the cherry industry, and agriculture experts widely agree the provision provides more protection than harm to cherry growers.  Jackson, Paul W.  \"Social Media Post Botches Cherry Program Reality.\"\r  Michigan Farm News.  29 July 2016. Matheny, Keith.  \"Traverse City Farmer: Dumping Perfectly Good Cherries Is Rotten.\"\r  Detroit Free Press.  29 July 2016. Pagan, Gabriella.  \"Cherry Dumping Photo Goes Viral, Grower Calls for Change.\"\r  WPBN.  27 July 2016. Shesky, Ty.  \"Farmer Explains Why Cherries Were Left to Waste.\"\r  WXMI.  29 July 2016.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1mc_K2cKBjfGQHguz13BLadnj_GtYP1iF"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_50","claim":"Did an Old Icelandic Translation of 'Dracula' Turn Out To Be 'Fan Fiction'?","posted":"05\/19\/2021","sci_digest":["A brief descent into the dark and murky origins of \"Powers of Darkness\"  a distinctly Nordic take on Bram Stoker's classic novel."],"justification":"In 2021, the story behind a 120-year-old Icelandic version of the classic novel \"Dracula\" captured the imaginations of social media users, who enthusiastically shared the following summary, originally posted by the Twitter account @ihmerst: shared \"Someone translated Dracula into Icelandic and it took over 100 years for anyone to point out he just made a fanfic-rewrite of what he wanted the story to be.\"   \"Dracula,\" written by Irish novelist Bram Stoker and first published in 1897, has come to be regarded as a classic work in the genres of horror and Gothic fiction and helped popularize vampire folklore in the English-speaking world. It has also inspired a vibrant field of academic research into the social and cultural themes upon which the novel touches, as well as the life of Stoker and the origins of \"Dracula.\" academic research One particularly fascinating point of interest involves the existence of alternative versions of the novel, published in Icelandic and Swedish around the turn of the 20th century. The description posted by @ihmerst contained a measure of truth, but oversimplified what is a complicated and unfinished area of research. The photograph contained in @ihmerst's tweet showed a snapshot of the introduction to Hans Corneel de Roos' 2017 English translation of \"Makt Myrkranna\" (\"Powers of Darkness\"), the Icelandic book in question. It was written by journalist Valdimar smundsson, first serialized in his newspaper Fjallkonan in 1900, and later published as a book which, remarkably, included a preface attributed to Stoker himself.  2017 English translation serialized A more clearly legible version of de Roos' introduction can be viewed below:   Up until the 2010s, \"Makt Myrkranna\" remained untranslated from Icelandic and was presumed to be simply a shortened translation of Stoker's original English text. However, de Roos discovered that the plot of the book differed drastically from that of \"Dracula,\" including new characters, more explicit sexual themes and imagery, and a significant shift in style away from the epistolary (letter-writing) format of the original. In 2014, de Roos described \"Makt Myrkranna\" as the first translation of \"Dracula\" and speculated that, in light of elements contained in Stoker's preface, the Irish writer himself may have endorsed \"Makt Myrkranna\" or even collaborated with smundsson on it.  described De Roos' findings made waves in the world of \"Dracula\" scholarship, and when he published the English translation of \"Makt Myrkranna\" in 2017, it attracted mainstream news coverage around the world. mainstream news coverage However, the publicity surrounding de Roos' findings prompted yet another plot twist, as it were. In 2017, the Swedish fantasy writer Rickard Berghorn recognized in the title of the Icelandic text, \"Makt Myrkranna,\" a clear similarity with the title of a Swedish translation of Stoker's novel  \"Mrkrets makter,\" which also translates as \"Powers of Darkness.\" Berghorn made two startling discoveries: first, that serialized versions of \"Mrkrets makter\" had been published in Swedish newspapers beginning in 1899 (that is, before the Icelandic text was published); and second, that the Swedish versions also constituted a radical departure from Stoker's 1897 novel, rather than a straightforward translation.  two startling discoveries Since 2017, something of a consensus has emerged that, rather than constituting a modified and embellished version of \"Dracula,\" based on the original English text, smundsson's Icelandic text was in fact a modified translation of earlier Swedish texts. As a result, @ihmerst's claim that \"someone translated 'Dracula' into Icelandic\" should now be regarded as outdated and inaccurate.  consensus has emerged However, some key questions remain. Who wrote the preface to \"Powers of Darkness,\" which was included in both the Swedish and Icelandic texts and attributed, perhaps fraudulently, to Stoker? Was Stoker even aware in advance of the Swedish text (and subsequent Icelandic text), much less involved in its creation? What was the identity of the unnamed Swedish newspaper editor responsible for \"Mrkrets makter\"? Was the Swedish text simply \"fan fiction\"  an unauthorized alternative version of \"Dracula\" masquerading as a translation  or could it have been based on a much earlier draft of Stoker's own novel? perhaps fraudulently much earlier draft Jarlath Killeen, head of the School of English at Trinity College Dublin (which Stoker himself attended), and an expert in Gothic and Victorian Irish and British literature, has edited and written several books and articles on Stoker and \"Dracula.\" He told Snopes that scholars were continuing to research and debate those questions and others, but the precise origins of the Nordic texts remained \"very unclear and very murky,\" for now.  expert","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1xiRToiBTRxy40iUU2lXAklJimE184_DH","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1L8Otf2cPPZA8zlm7cUcQHehw3L1uRZKA","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_51","claim":"Says Ronda Storms voted to fund the 'Taj Mahal' courthouse.","posted":"08\/13\/2012","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Ronda Storms isNO Fiscal Conservative, claims a simple flier pushed by Storms opponent in the Republican primary for Hillsborough County property appraiser.The mailer from incumbent Rob Turner highlights property tax increases over Storms six-year tenure as a county commissioner as well as a notorious courthouse project that occurred during her time in the state Senate.As a Senator she voted to fund the Taj Mahal Courthouse. We Cant Afford Any More Storms.Ah, the Taj. The not-too-distant origins of Floridas finest courthouse serve as a cautionary tale about last-minute lawmaking and unscrutinized government spending.Is it fair to say Storms voted to fund the new courthouse of the 1st District Court of Appeal?Lets dive in.In her 2010investigative storyabout the facility,Tampa Bay Timessenior correspondent Lucy Morgan characterized the courthouse as a $48 million behemoth in which each judge will get a 60-inch LCD flat screen television in chambers (trimmed in mahogany), a private bathroom (featuring granite countertops) and a kitchen (complete with microwave and refrigerator).In a year of layoffs and cutbacks across the state, these touches of elegance were not appreciated.So how did the project eke past officials and watchdogs (press corps included)?Morgan compiled adetailed timelinestretching from a May 2004 meeting of the 1st DCA judges, in which they said they had outgrown their 23-year-old building, to December 2010, when the fresh, controversial structure was ready for move-in.A key moment in the story happened on the last day of the 2007 legislative session, a typically hectic time ripe for last-minute, undetected budget maneuvering. Tampa Sen. Victor Cristintroduced an amendmentto a 142-page transportation bill that contained a bond issue for $33.5 million for the courthouses construction. No senators asked about the bond issue, and it passed on a voice vote.The bill itself,HB 985, passed by a vote of 37-2. Storms, like most everyone,voted yes. It passed the House, then led by Marco Rubio, and was signed into law by Gov. Charlie Crist.Storms, interviewed by PolitiFact Florida, said she thought she was voting to refurbish a dilapidated courthouse.It certainly wasnt to build mahogany, she said. Anybody who was voting at that time was not voting for the Taj Mahal. What we were voting to do was taking care of the 1st DCA.Storms and Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, became two of theprojects most vocal criticsin the months following theTimesstory. At one point in a committee hearing, Storms quipped, We should insist on our pound of flesh and make them put the air at 80 in the summer and at 50 in the winter.As an aside, Storms said she probably voted against Crists amendment, which contained the bonding language, on an unrecorded voice vote out of a personal philosophy to protest unvetted, vendor-driven language affixed to bills in sessions closing days. (There is no record of voice votes, so we can't tell how Storms voted. )Fasano told us Turners attack is just not honest despite Storms' technical support of the transportation bill.You might as well blame every legislator that voted for it, he said, which would total 105 members.Thats the point, says Warren Weathers, who works for Turner. He recalled Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, saying legislators share blame with the judges who pushed for the fine finishes.We didnt say she built it, Weathers said.Crist (of no relation to Floridas former governor) defended Storms in an interview.Ronda approving the budget for the court system and the construction budget for a new courthouse has nothing to do with the courts design, engineering and building, he said. It would be like saying her approval of the DMV budget holds her accountable for somebodys else driving record.Crists position is understandable. He says groups aligned with the tea party are using the Taj Mahal -- a moniker he hates -- against him in his re-election campaign for Hillsborough County Commission.Our rulingTurner says in a mailer that Storms voted to fund the Taj Mahal Courthouse. She indeed cast a vote for a transportation bill that included funding for the courthouse, that much is true. But there is some additional information we find missing from this attack.Namely, the courthouse money was inserted at the last minute into a larger bill without much explanation. The money, as far as most lawmakers knew, was to build a courthouse, not an opulent one. Once details of the Taj became known, Storms openly criticized the plan.We rate this claim Mostly True.","issues":["Message Machine 2012","State Budget","Florida"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_52","claim":"Forty years ago, a federal Pell Grant paid for nearly 80% of tuition, fees, room and board at a four-year college.","posted":"06\/26\/2019","sci_digest":[],"justification":"As the first debate of the Democratic primary approaches, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., announced his policy proposal to cancel student debt. Outside the U.S. Capitol on Monday, Sandersoutlined his planto cancel $1.6 trillion in student loans by levying a tax on Wall Street financial transactions. During the announcement, the Vermont senator used an old stump speech favorite  that university in the U.S. wasmostly tuition-freethroughout the 20th century  but with an addendum. Sanders said that a federal financial assistance program for low income students, which unlike loans does not need to be paid back, covered almost the entire cost of college back in the late 1970s. Forty years ago, a federal Pell grant paid for nearly 80% of tuition, fees, room and board at a four-year college, Sanders said. Sanders went on to say that though the Pell grant no longer comes close to covering the costs of college, his student debt forgiveness proposal would give the financial assistance grant a significant boost. That made us wonder  did Pell grants really cover nearly the entire cost of attending college four decades ago? We reached out to the Sanders campaign as well as several higher education finance experts to find out. A spokesperson for the Sanders campaign referred us to a2017 policy brieffrom the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a progressive think tank that studies federal and state budget policies. In that analysis, the authors write that in 2017 Pell (covered) just 29 percent of the average costs of tuition, fees, room, and board at public four-year colleges which was its lowest level in more than 40 years and far below the 79 percent it covered in 1975. Spiros Protopsaltis, an author of the brief and an associate professor of education policy at George Mason University, said he believes Sanders statement to be accurate. Protopsaltis explained that in 1975 the average cost of tuition, fees and room and board at a four-year public institution was $1,779, according toCollege Board datacompiled by the authors. The maximum Pell grant that year was  $1,400  or 79% of the total cost. Donald Heller, the provost and vice president of Academic Affairs at the University of San Francisco, who has researched higher education finance, agrees with what Sanders said Monday  with one important caveat. Protopsaltis analysis, showing the grants covering 80% of college costs, only applies to public universities, not private institutions. Thats an important distinction, because it covered less of the cost of a private four-year college or university, Heller said. According to College Board data shared by Protopsaltis, the maximum Pell grant in 1975 would have only covered about 38% of the total cost of attendance at a private, four-year nonprofit school, where the average cost of tuition, fees, room and board averaged $3,682. Thats important to keep in mind. Because the high cost of college, where public higher education is concerned, is also tied to deep funding cuts state governments have made to their college systems. Its not just that Pell has been completely disinvested in. A big portion of that driver is that states have disinvested as well, which has driven tuition up, said Wesley Whistle, a senior adviser at New Americas education policy program Sanders said that 40 years ago a federal Pell grant paid for nearly 80% of tuition, fees, room and board at a four-year college. While this is accurate for public four-year colleges, it is not true of private four-year institutions. Based on the data the Vermont senator cited for his statement, a Pell grant would only cover 38% of the cost of a private university in the late 1970s  well off the nearly 80% of costs Sanders says the grants covered at a four-year college. While Sanders statement is accurate, it leaves out the important context that this number refers only to four-year public college. We rate this statement Mostly True.","issues":["Debt","Education","Vermont"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_53","claim":"Is there a flyer from the Black Lives Matter movement that labels white people as the 'adversary'?","posted":"06\/15\/2020","sci_digest":["A piece of racist propaganda was circulated in an attempt to smear the Black Lives Matter movement. "],"justification":"In the spring of 2020, as protests against racial injustice and police brutality swept across the U.S. following the death of a Black man in police custody, online trolls began spreading racist propaganda in an attempt to smear the Black Lives Matter movement. Generally speaking, these posts made inflammatory and violent claims, falsely attributing them to BLM. For example, one such hoax claimed that BLM protesters were going to \"assassinate white families.\" In June 2020, Snopes encountered yet another flyer falsely attributed to Black Lives Matter that labeled white men, women, and children as \"the enemy.\" However, this is not a genuine flyer issued or endorsed by Black Lives Matter; it is a piece of racist propaganda created to smear BLM and heighten racial tensions. It isn't clear who created this fake poster. The earliest posting we could find was from June 11, 2020, from a Twitter account devoted to QAnon, a wide-ranging and far-right conspiracy theory based almost entirely on anonymous social media posts that claim a deep state plot exists against President Donald Trump. From there, it was shared to the Russian site Aftershock.news, an All Lives Matter account, and an account adorned with British flags, where it received thousands of retweets. While we've found several accounts sharing this flyer along with messages denigrating Black Lives Matter, we've yet to see any accounts connected to the Black Lives Matter movement sharing this flyer in earnest. In addition to the fact that this flyer originated with posters critical of BLM and not with BLM accounts spreading this message, the statements on this flyer are also contrary to the positions of the Black Lives Matter movement. Nowhere on the Black Lives Matter website are white people identified as \"enemies,\" and the website is void of any calls to violence against white people. BLM has also not called for \"re-education camps,\" for \"Black power\" to run the government, or for white people to stop dating outside their race. The official Black Lives Matter website has put out a list of \"demands,\" but that list has practically nothing in common with the viral hoax shown above. The official list from Black Lives Matter calls for an end to systemic racism and for the national defunding of police: \"We call for an end to the systemic racism that allows this culture of corruption to go unchecked and our lives to be taken. We call for a national defunding of police. We demand investment in our communities and the resources to ensure Black people not only survive but thrive. If you're with us, add your name to the petition right now and help us spread the word.\" The \"demands\" on the hoax flyer did not originate with BLM. The items on this list are examples of what someone unfamiliar with the Black Lives Matter movement may fear are central tenets of this group. When a similar fake flyer was found in England, a local BLM activist told Scotland's Evening Telegraph that she believed the display was created by people trying to discredit the movement. She said, \"Things like that, after what happened with the George Floyd mural being defaced, I think that's something that a white supremacist would put up to discredit us. Nobody that I've seen advocating for the BLM movement would think that that is appropriate. My personal opinion is that this is people being framed. This is a way to make us seem in the wrong.\" The art student, who plans to organize a BLM march in Dundee soon, believes that white supremacists are using false posters to encourage violence. \"People that hold those kinds of beliefs aren't part of this movement,\" she added. \"This seems like a way to stop us in our tracks and make us seem violent so they can come back with violence. We aren't here for violence; we're just here for justice and equality in all aspects of life.\" This fake flyer, as well as similar items, has been pushed on internet forums such as 4chan in an explicit attempt to smear the Black Lives Matter movement. In one post, for example, a 4chan poster states that \"people are falling for this [hoax flyer], let's kick it into overdrive.\" In another thread, users exchange various fake BLM posters and encourage each other to share them. In yet another thread, a user gives instructions on how to make and spread this racist propaganda. The only thing maintaining the completely bizarre state of affairs the USA and the world is in right now is the fact that some white people still think they can be on the \"right side of history\" by kneeling for the Noseberg-controlled BLM movement. \"We can destroy their whole plan. Make propaganda posters and spread them around. If enough whites realize that blacks will never ever feel that anything is 'enough,' they'll abandon the movement. It'll crash and burn.\"","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1bOO4jdSX50JItVg7r7QPt5mJi7ktvJER"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=17iVJjHJuzkns5yYAHQLp9TYUoCEBhCw4"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_54","claim":"Was a Roanoke City Department of Social Services Worker Fired Over a Gun Permit?","posted":"03\/12\/2018","sci_digest":["Storm Durham's claim that she was fired over possessing a concealed carry permit is not supported by city policy."],"justification":"On 9 March 2018, a woman claiming to be a social worker at Roanoke, Virginia, social services department, tweeted that she had been fired from solely because she had a concealed carry permit. The woman, whose name is Storm Durham, also said that she would sue the city \"for every penny\":  tweeted I was fired today. From Roanoke City Social Services, serving as a damn good social worker. I was fired for having a concealed carry permit. Not the gun, the permit. I was escorted by 3 city police officers bc I am a \"safety risk to the building\"  Storm Durham (@chelstorrm) March 10, 2018 March 10, 2018 Oh suing for every penny  Storm Durham (@chelstorrm) March 10, 2018 March 10, 2018 Hours later, a meme appeared on the Facebook page \"Chuck Callesto\": meme appeared    Durham also shared her claim in a post on Facebook, as well as live videos in which she said she wanted to be a spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association. The claim, predictably, went viral, with people from across the United States posting angry comments on unrelated City of Roanoke Facebook posts. claim Facebook live videos Someone claiming to have knowledge of the incident also commented, claiming that Durham's boyfriend had threatened a coworker. The comment was later deleted:   Although we were unable to substantiate those claims, the City of Roanoke's Office of Communications sent us a statement refuting Durham's claim on 12 March 2018: A former employee of the City of Roanoke recently posted via social media assertions regarding the basis of her dismissal from City employment. Her posting has also been reported in other media. The City does not publicly comment on specific personnel matters. In light of these assertions, however, it is important to note that the City of Roanoke respects the Constitutional rights of its citizens and that the dismissal in question was not based upon anyones exercise of such rights. In addition, the office told us: The City has no policy or procedure limiting the right of its employees to hold concealed carry permits as authorized by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Durham herself told The Roanoke Times that her termination papers showed different reasons for her firing from the city, where she had worked for less than a year: reasons Four months ago, she said, her trainer taught her a procedure that she followed, but then was reprimanded for it by her supervisor. So she alerted her trainer, who sent her a nasty email calling her sloppy and unprofessional. Durham said she took the matter to her supervisor, who, along with the trainer, threw her under the bus. Later, Durham said, she was given a set of performance expectations that required her to close cases at a faster pace. She acknowledged it took her time to adjust to the caseload in Roanoke after coming from rural Craig County, but said she exceeded all expectations. However, Durham said, she was told that it was actually because of her gun permit: The next day, at about 4:30 p.m. Friday, she was summoned to the office of the assistant director of the department, was told she was being fired and given the document listing the reasons. At the top, she said, was a concern about workplace safety. Durham said she asked about it and was told by the assistant director that her possession of a concealed weapons permit made her a safety risk in the building and for co-workers. Three Roanoke police officers escorted her to her desk, Durham said, where her personal possessions were loaded onto a cart and pushed to her car by one of the officers while the two others escorted her out of the building. We obtained a copy of the official police report in response to our request, which reads in part: Mr. Goss advised that she has a conceal carry permit and believed that she usually has a weapon in her vehicle.... We arrived at 1547 hours. The call was reported on the 3rd floor (Social Services Department). Upon arrival to the 3rd floor we were escorted to one of the offices in the back where we met with Mr. Goss and another employee advising us they wanted us there because they didn't know how Ms. Durham was going to react to the situation. On 13 March 2018, a copy of Storm Durham's termination letter was shared by WSLS.com. In it, \"performance concerns, attendance, dress code issues and unprofessional behavior\" were cited as the reasons for her dismissal: shared   13 March 2018, 3:46 P.M.: Added excerpts from The Roanoake Times and the official police report. 14 March 2018, 2:43 P.M.: Added letter of termination provided to Durham by the City of Roanoke Department of Social Services. ","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=14O0YlAPKIs0X4J_4TjJ8Q-iBz-EDr4rA","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1AkSxuXx2lyu3eE_tLV4mUhB8IqTYwgIk","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1qAv85wKZwT2nSBcyfS8u2DPaJUaGL4jy","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_55","claim":"My campaign finished the last quarter reporting the most cash on hand of any Republican in the field  $13.8 million in the bank, $3.5 million more than the Jeb Bush campaign.","posted":"10\/30\/2015","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Ted Cruz of Texas recently declared that his campaigns fundraising is astonishing and suggested thats a surprise to the Washington chattering class and maybe even former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, another Republican bidding for president. Sen. Cruz, appearing in Houston Oct. 26, 2015, to accept endorsements from statewide elected Republicans including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, celebrated how much hes raised in Texas and in general. He made us wonder with mention of the Texas-born Bush, whos trying to become the third member of his family to win the White House. Cruz said: And we finished the last quarter reporting the most cash on hand of any Republican in the field $13.8 million in the bank, $3.5 million more than the Jeb Bush campaign. Cruz added that if hed predicted such an outcome relative to Bush six months before, reporters would have laughed aloud. Early in 2015,Bush drew headlinesfor raising money at a vigorous clip. No giggling here. But was Cruz right about his campaign having the biggest pile of cash on hand and exceeding Bushs balance by $3.5 million? Campaign vs. campaign, you bet your cacti. But throw in money raised by PACs and Super PACs devoted to individual candidates and it could be theres far more money stowed away to boost Bush. Then again, PAC fundraising updates wont be filed until 2016. Campaign vs. campaign To our inquiry, Cruz campaign spokeswoman Catherine Frazier emailed us a list indicating that Cruzs campaign ended the years third quarter, June through September 2015, with more cash on hand than any other Republican aspirant. Separately, we fetched a Federal Election Commissionsummary, dated Oct. 19, 2015, stating that through September 2015, Cruzs campaign had nearly $13.8 million cash on hand. And Cruzs balance, according to the document, exceeded the cash on hand of any of 15 other listed current or former Republican presidential candidates. At No. 2, retired surgeon Ben Carson had nearly $11.3 million cash on hand, according to the summary, followed by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio with nearly $11 million and Bush with nearly $10.3 million. To be precise, per Cruzs claim in Houston, Bushs cash on hand of $10,271,129 was a little more than $3.5 million less than Cruzs $13,778,904. Were not saying here that Cruz outraised everyone. According toanother FEC summary, also dated Oct. 19, 2015, Carson raised some $31 million through September 2015, outpacing Cruzs nearly $27 million and Bushs nearly $25 million. Businessman Donald Trump, who has led many Republican voter polls, reported a scant $254,773 cash on hand through the third quarter. But Trump, who's wealthy, also has declared plans to self-fund his candidacy. Maybe how much cash he has on hand isnt significant. Also,Politico notedOct. 15, 2015, Trump fielded about $3.7 million in donations in the third quarter. Notably too, Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders each ended the quarter having raised more money and also having more cash on hand than any Republican. Clinton, the former first lady, senator and secretary of state, had nearly $33 million on hand, according to the FEC, and Sanders, a Vermont senator, had $27.1 million. PACs and Super PACs Theres another wrinkle if you consider how much money PACs and Super PACs devoted to candidates may have in cash on hand. According to achartbuilt by the New York Times, last updated Oct. 16, 2015, Bush-backing PACs and Super PACs had $98.2 million cash on hand through June 2015. In contrast, Cruz PACs and Super PACs had $37.5 million cash on hand. We dont see a path to more recent balances; a footnote to the Times chart says most of these groups arent required to file an updated report until Jan. 31, 2016. Separately, the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign spending,posted a chartin October 2015 showing Bush PACs and Super PACs fielding far more money than any other hopeful, again with information limited to what such groups had reported through June 2015:               SOURCE: Web post,Behind the Candidates: Campaign Committees and Outside Groups,Center for Responsive Politics, last updated Oct. 27, 2015 (accessed the same day) The chart is preceded by explanatory text: The modern presidential campaign isn't a single organization. Yes, there's always an official campaign committee. But for every White House candidate, there is usually at least one super PAC or other outside organization devoted to getting him or her elected. These groups can solicit unlimited donations and later use them to pummel rivals  or, as seems to be the case this cycle, take on some of the duties traditionally handled by a campaign, such as organizing town hall meetings or doing voter outreach. The explanation continues: Outside groups aren't allowed to coordinate with official campaign committees, but they're often run by friends and former staffers  even family members  of the candidate they're helping. Overall, as of the middle of 2015, single-candidate super PACs in the presidential race had raised more money than the candidates themselves. But that wasn't true among Democrats, whose potential nominees raised more than the super PACs supporting them. Frazier of Cruzs camp agreed by email it could be that money accumulated to promote Bushs candidacy still runs ahead of funds raised for Cruzs cause. Regardless, she reminded, Cruz limited his Houston claim to funds raised by campaigns alone. Our ruling Cruz said his campaign finished the last quarter reporting the most cash on hand of any Republican in the field $13.8 million in the bank, three and a half million dollars more than the Jeb Bush campaign. This is all so, though Bush still might remain ahead (perhaps way ahead) in money accumulated on behalf of a Republican. We wont know how much total cash has been stashed to help each candidate until PACs report again in 2016. We rate this claim Mostly True. MOSTLY TRUE The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.","issues":["Campaign Finance","Texas"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1gpSVZj_4U9UyUONZgbih8mY-0fWHJhkN","image_caption":"SOURCE"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_56","claim":"Credit Bureau Blocking","posted":"07\/10\/2001","sci_digest":["Can you call a phone number to prevent the four major U.S. credit bureaus from selling your information?"],"justification":"Claim:  The four major U.S. credit bureaus will be allowed to share your private information with anyone who requests it as of 1 July 2003 unless you specifically request them not to.  Example:  [Collected on the Internet, 2001] Just wanted to let everyone know who hasn't already heard, the four major credit bureaus in the US. will be allowed, starting July 1, to release your credit info, mailing addresses, phone numbers etc. to anyone who requests it. If you would like to 'opt out' of this release of info, you can call 1-888-567-8688. It only takes a couple of minutes to do, and you can take care of anyone else in the household while making only one call, you'll just need to know their social security number. Be sure to listen closely, the first opt out is only for two years, make sure you wait until they prompt you to press '3' on your keypad to opt out for good. Origins:  There is truth in the issue which seems to be uppermost in the minds of most of those who receive this message  that is, whether the phone number provided above is valid for the stated purpose or whether it's some sort of information-collecting scam.  The phone number listed (1-888-5OPTOUT) is indeed legitimate; it is a shared number set up with the cooperation of the Associated Credit Bureaus to establish a single point of contact for consumers to call to request that all four major U.S. credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, Trans Union, and Novus\/Innovis) remove their information from the marketing lists and pre-approved credit offer lists sold to third parties.  Yes, they automated system will ask you to enter your phone number, Social Security number, and other personal information, because it needs that information to locate your record.  If you are uncomfortable supplying this information to an automated system, you will have to call each of the four major credit bureaus individually and speak to real people at each one of them, a cumbersone and time-consuming ' process. However, it is not true that consumers must call this number before 1 July 2004, nor is it true that recent legislation allows credit bureaus to share private information with \"anyone who requests it.\"  This misinformation has been circulating since 2001, and the same message keeps getting get dusted off and sent around every year with an updated deadline.  (In fact, if you call the number listed above, the first option you're presented is to listen to a message explaining why the e-mail quoted above is false.) Contrary to the text of the dire warning quoted above, credit bureaus cannot sell your non-public personal information (e.g., Social Security number, employment history, bank account information) to \"anyone who requests it.\"  Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1997, businesses seeking to obtain personal information from credit bureaus must have a \"permissible purpose\" in order to access credit reports.  (Permissible purposes include checking the backgrounds of persons to determine their creditworthiness before selling or renting property to them, extending them loans or credit, or considering them for employment.)  This restriction remains in force, it did not change on 1 July 2001, and it still applies whether or not you call the number listed above.    Credit bureaus can, however, create lists containing the names, addresses, and phone numbers of consumers with good credit and sell them to telemarketers and direct-mail marketers.  (Names, addresses, and phone numbers are not considered \"non-public personal information\" because they may be obtained from a variety of publicly-accessible sources, such as phone directories.) Consumers may call the 1-888-5OPTOUT number to request that all four major credit bureaus not include their information on these marketing lists.  There is no deadline for this process  consumers may call the number at any time. What did change back in 2001 was that due to the implementation of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (also known as the Financial Services Modernization Act) the banking, insurance, and securities industries were allowed to operate under the same corporate affiliation.  (This act set aside legislation passed during the Depression era, which had created legal barriers to prevent mergers between banks, insurance companies, brokerage firms, and other financial institutions.)   Because of consumers' concerns that new financial conglomerates allowed under this legislation might pool their resources to compile huge databases of sensitive customer information and share them with third parties, Congress added a provision to the act requiring that all financial service companies send privacy notices providing a \"reasonable opportunity\" for their customers to opt out of this information-sharing by 1 July 2001.  (These notices had to provide consumers with details about all the kinds of information the companies collected about them and how they used that information.)  The 1 July 2001 deadline applied only to the sending of notification to customers by financial institutions, and it had nothing to do with credit bureaus.  Some key points of this \"opt-out\" process are:  Unlike credit bureaus, financial institutions can share your private information with third parties by default.  In order to stop this sharing, you must specifically invoke your \"opt-out\" privileges to request that they not do it.  Privacy notices had to be sent to customers by 1 July 2001, but there is no deadline by which customers must respond.  Your right to \"opt out\" of the information-sharing process is ongoing and may be invoked at any time.  Most importantly, you must contact every financial institution with which you do business to completely \"opt out\" of the information-sharing process.  The phone number given in the message quoted above (1-888-5OPTOUT) applies only to credit bureaus. Calling this number will not affect the ability of any banks, insurance companies, credit card companies, brokerage firms, or any other financial institutions with which you do (or have done) business from sharing your information. The bottom line is that laws regarding the selling of personal information by financial institutions have become more stringent recently, not less.  The changes may not have made the laws as stringent as we'd like them to be, but at least they're a step in the right direction, not the scare stories these messages make them out to be. Additional information:        Consumer Credit File Privacy: The Real Deal   (Federal Trade Commission)        Protecting Financial Privacy   (Privacy Rights Clearinghouse)        E-mail Sends Wrong Message   (Associated Credit Bureaus)   Last updated:  3 December 2007    Sources:   Buggs, Shannon.  \"Don't Be Fooled on Privacy Issue.\"   The Houston Chronicle.  16 July 2001  (Business; p. 1).     O'Harrow Jr., Robert.  \"Credit Firm Told to Stop Selling Data.\"   The Washington Post.  17 April 2001  (p. E1).     Yip, Pamela.  \"Now Is Time for Consumers to Opt out of Sharing Financial Data.\"   Associated Press.  9 June 2001.     Newsweek.  \"Money Notes.\"   2 July 2001.","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_57","claim":"Did Ronaldo's Coca-Cola Snub Cost the Company Billions?","posted":"06\/18\/2021","sci_digest":["Correlation isn't causation, but it is a coincidence."],"justification":"On June 14, 2021, Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo sat down for a news conference to discuss his team's upcoming match against Hungary in the 2020 UEFA European Football Championship. Before taking questions, Ronaldo moved the two Coca-Cola bottles that were left out for him out of frame to the side of the table, then held up a bottle of water and said, \"Agua.\" As this video went viral, several outlets reported that Ronaldo's Coca-Cola snub had cost the company billions of dollars. The exact cost of the snub varied from outlet to outlet, but the general claim was that it cost Coca-Cola between $4 and $5 billion. Here's an excerpt from The Guardian's report: \"Cristiano Ronaldo's removal of two Coca-Cola bottles during a press conference at the European Championship has coincided with a $4bn fall in the share price of the drinks company.\" The Portugal captain is a renowned health fanatic and made it clear what he thinks of the carbonated soft drink. The 36-year-old shifted the bottles of Coca-Cola away from him during a press conference in Budapest on Monday in the lead-up to his country's Group F game against Hungary. [...] Coca-Cola is one of the official sponsors of Euro 2020. The company's share price dropped from $56.10 to $55.22 almost immediately after Ronaldo's gesture, a 1.6% dip. The market value of Coca-Cola went from $242bn to $238bn\u2014a drop of $4bn. While Coca-Cola's stock did fall after this news conference, there was no indication that this drop was entirely (or even in part) caused by Ronaldo's preference for water. In fact, Coca-Cola's stock was already falling by the time Ronaldo snubbed Coke products in favor of water. Coca-Cola's stock price closed on Friday, June 11, at $56.16. At 9:30 a.m., shortly after the market opened again on Monday, the company's stock had fallen to $55.35, before Ronaldo's news conference had even started. After the conference, held at 3:45 p.m. Central European Time (or 9:45 a.m. CST according to Sportico), Coca-Cola's stock briefly rose and then dropped again. It's certainly possible that Ronaldo's endorsements (or disapproval) of Coke products could temporarily influence the stock market, but a few other facts should be noted. For one, while a $4 billion stock drop may sound like an absolutely devastating turn of events, this really isn't a major story for Coca-Cola. The company has seen a number of similar drops and rises over the last year, and those changes had nothing to do with Ronaldo. As of this writing, Coca-Cola's stock is up about 15% from where it was at this time last year. Furthermore, Coca-Cola's stock is not based purely on sales of their most well-known product, Coke. While Ronaldo may prefer water to soda, Coca-Cola has a large portfolio that includes a variety of products, including the water brand Dasani.","issues":["stock market"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_58","claim":"The reality concerning ANWR","posted":"07\/01\/2008","sci_digest":["E-mail reports the truth about the environmental impact of drilling for oil in ANWR."],"justification":"Claim:  E-mail reports the truth about the environmental impact of drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)    OF AND  INFORMATION Example:  [Collected via e-mail, June 2008] First, do you know what ANWR is? ANWR = Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Now, a comparison:  And some perspective ...  NOTE WHERE THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT AREA IS ... (its in the \"ANWR Coastal Plain\")  THIS IS WHAT THE TV People and others \"GREENS\" SHOW YOU WHEN THEY TALK ABOUT ANWR ... and they are right ... these ARE photographs of ANWR   Isn't ANWR beautiful? Why should we drill here (and destroy) this beautiful place? Well, thats not exactly the truth. Do you remember the map? The map showed that the proposed drilling area is in the ANWR Coastal Plain. Do those photographs look like a coastal plain to you? What's going on here? The answer is simple. That is NOT where they are wanting to drill! This is what the proposed exploration area ACTUALLY looks like in the winter:  And this is what it ACTUALLY looks like in the summer:    HERE ARE A COUPLE SCREEN SHOTS FROM GOOGLE EARTH   As you can see, the area where they are talking about drilling is a barren wasteland.  Oh, and they say that they are concerned about the effect on the local wildlife. Here is a photo (shot during the summer) of the 'depleted wildlife' situation created by drilling around Prudhoe Bay. Don't you think that the Caribou really hate that drilling?  Here's that same spot during the winter:  Hey, this bear seems to really hate the pipeline near Prudhoe Bay, which accounts for 17% of U.S. domestic oil production.  Now, why do you think that the Democrats are LYING about ANWR? Remember when Al Gore said that the government should work to ARTIFICIALLY raise gas prices to $5 a gallon? Well, Al Gore and his fellow Democrats have almost reached their goal! Now that you know that the Democrats have been lying, what are you going to do about it? You can start by forwarding this to everyone you know, so that they will know the truth. P.S.: Drilling does not \"destroy.\" It creates jobs, resources and strengthens our economy  all while protecting our environment. Everyone benefits, even caribou. Origins:  As the price of oil continues to rise with no predictable end in sight, debates over whether the U.S. can and should be producing more oil from domestic sources have been renewed.  A primary focus of such  debates has been the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), an area which encompasses 19 million acres in the northeast corner of Alaska. The ANWR issue is now a political hot potato batted back and forth between proponents of exploration and development in ANWR's Coastal Plain who assert that the area could become a valuable source of domestic oil production with minimal impact on the environment, and opponents who maintain that the potential advantages to be gained from drilling for oil in ANWR are far too small to offset the despoiling (and potential devastation) of a protected wildlife area.The issue has been complicated by the uncertainty of many factors involved in the opening of ANWR to U.S. oil production, such as the total amount of oil underlying the area, the size of the oil fields that might be found in ANWR, the quality of the oil that might be found in ANWR, the potential production capacity of ANWR drilling operations, how long it would take before ANWR operations began providing significant amounts of oil for the U.S. market, what effects the oil extracted from ANWR would have on world oil supply and prices, and the environmental impacts of oil exploration and development in ANWR.    factors The e-mailed slide show reproduced above might serve a useful function in prompting the public to take a greater interest in all the issues surrounding the potential opening of ANWR to oil exploration, but the information it presents is scant and one-sided.  Since the ANWR issue is far too extensive and complex to cover in detail here, we'll just provide a brief summary of both sides' arguments regarding points mentioned by the e-mailed slide show, with links to sites (on both sides of the issue) that provide greater detail:  Although the ANWR is small in size compared to the entirety of Alaska, at 19 million acres it is larger than ten other states.  (As the third graphic shows, ANWR is about the size of the state of South Carolina.) Proponents point out that the proposed development area within the ANWR Coastal Plain is a relatively small patch of 2,000 acres, an area which constitutes roughly1\/10,000 of the total acreage of the ANWR.  Opponents maintain that a similar drilling operation in Alaska at Prudhoe Bay was originally designated to encompass only 2,100 acres but has since expanded to a total drilling footprint of 12,000 acres spread over 640,000 acres of the North Slope. size expanded  Proponents maintain that wildlife continues to flourish amid drilling and other oil production activities in other Arctic regions and would fare just as well near ANWR exploration facilities.  Opponents assert that other North Slope oil development activities have caused an average of 504 spills per year since 1996, including \"4,532 spills between 1996 and 2004 totaling more than 1.9 million gallons of toxic substances.\" flourish spills  Proponents maintain that the proposed ANWR Coastal Plain development area is primarily a featureless, barren expanse that is frozen and windswept for most of the year, and therefore exploration and drilling activities would have minimal impact on wildlife in the immediate area (or in the greater ANWR).  Opponents assert that environmental accidents can have devastating effects far outside the limited areas in which they originally occur. Last updated:  2 July 2008 ","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1tkbMX-abzhjZfg709Mc6Fcg8ZRxOsVxr"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ZeqKDvMFFTFp7_-pKMEVAouLReXC_KiM"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ThxtjmlVTo7ckzvYhDzMpYs1vRhe4e_Y"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1hkn5f31eGQpArc9qc8U3D0fqY3wPxzVN"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Ln0DJPYSbGLmsKqGTqKe9REciJ4evUgm"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1_jsaDxgF506_MuZDdU_G_280GOkIdZnY"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=19aY6CRHHse2Fb0nEAzf4d09vrMrSIZkO"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1qFmYVAHaBgnlT8ES6fnvJfC3_Ev80HPp"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1sTrqbFpcD1gt-DJSFcmGJxe6_m1CMOIQ"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=13S9UdGp0t1_ALKhO0tWUB_qZZsVREnBj"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1SgcZn_kBL2MaBLkvX1Mpa92pXQ6uixkK"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ulwGNbXqtZneeVqN9T8LQ450av9BoZbz"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Bfamn1aQlNgKmTz3PaN10uIFDibk_BjI"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=10qhAgijFVcEA22e2iHJhJkhj5_aKUB8N"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_59","claim":"Did the CDC Allege Anyone Entering a Hospital is ID'ed as a COVID-19 Case?","posted":"12\/04\/2020","sci_digest":["Some rumors about hospital practices during the 2020 pandemic proved almost too wild to be true."],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease.  fighting Find out Read Submit Become a Founding Member CDC WHO As hospitals continued to be overwhelmed in 2020 by a surge in COVID-19 cases across the United States, false information surrounding the management of the disease and patients continued to circulate. overwhelmed One post in particular, shared on our Facebook group, Snopes Tips, claimed that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a statement alleging that \"anyone who walks into the hospital is counted as a Covid case, no matter why they come to the hospital, as the government pays the hospital extra money. post  There are two parts to this claim: Firstly, that hospitals are inflating their COVID-19 numbers, and secondly, that the government is allocating more funds based on coronavirus cases. Snopes covered the second part of the claim back in April. We learned that it was possible that Medicare was paying hospital fees for some COVID-19 cases, but Medicare stated that it does not make standard, one-size-fits-all payments to hospitals for patients admitted with COVID-19 diagnoses and placed on ventilators. covered The CDC highlighted in a statement how the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES), the Paycheck Protection Program, and Health Care Enhancement Act provided $175 billion in relief funds to hospitals and healthcare providers on the front lines of the coronavirus response: highlighted In the first round of the High Impact Allocation, $12 billion was distributed to nearly 400 hospitals who provided inpatient care for 100 or more COVID-19 patients through April 10, 2020. $2 billion of these payments was distributed to these hospitals based on their Medicare disproportionate share and uncompensated care payments. In the second round of funding, $10 billion will be distributed to hospitals having over 161 COVID-19 admissions between January 1 and June 10, 2020. For the first part of the claim, we looked through CDC statements and reports about people admitted to hospitals around the country and were unable to find a case where the CDC said that the hospital was inflating its COVID-19 case numbers in order to get more money. We reached out to the CDC, and the agency referred us to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), but did not confirm whether it had ever made such a statement about hospitals counting everyone who enters as a COVID-19 case. U.S. President Donald Trump promoted another version of this conspiracy theory at a rally in October, where he said hospitals were inflating the numbers of COVID-19 deaths, and was roundly debunked by news outlets and rejected in a statement by the American College of Emergency Physicians.  promoted debunked statement To imply that emergency physicians would inflate the number of deaths from this pandemic to gain financially is offensive, especially as many are actually under unprecedented financial strain as they continue to bear the brunt of COVID-19. These baseless claims not only do a disservice to our health care heroes but promulgate the dangerous wave of misinformation which continues to hinder our nations efforts to get the pandemic under control and allow our nation to return to normalcy. The dire situation in hospitals paints a very different picture, far-removed from claims that they are profiting financially from the pandemic. A New York Times report from Nov. 27, 2020, highlighted how surging coronavirus numbers were resulting in a crisis-level shortage of beds and staff around the country. In some cases, hospitals were facing shortages in protective equipment, forcing healthcare workers to buy their own. As of Dec. 3, 2020, hospitalizations from the virus topped 100,000  an all-time high since the pandemic began.  New York Times Dec. 3, 2020 An April Washington Post report described how hospitals were also suffering from financial losses on account of their deferring or cancelling non-urgent surgeries to free up bed space for the pandemic, cutting off income, and forcing them to lay off workers. At the time, relief packages for hospitals were widely described as insufficient. Washington Post financial losses insufficient Hospital-reported data on COVID-19 patients have addressed a range of issues around the country. A July 2020 ProPublica report detailed how the Trump administration had told hospitals to stop reporting data to the CDC and instead report it to HHS. The move resulted in widespread confusion. While the number of infected patients was soaring nationally, for a period of time it was unclear how many were being treated in hospitals for COVID-19. A few states like Idaho and South Carolina experienced temporary information blackouts, and the COVID Tracking Project reported issues with its figures. July 2020 A Nov. 29, 2020, investigation by the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS) magazine found the federal system for tracking COVID-19 patients was continuing to carry questionable data. HHS collected hospital patient data in two ways  through HHS Protect, and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR). Their two sources of data on the usage of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds for COVID patients conflicted sharply in at least six states. HHS data also diverged sharply from state-supplied data, and showed that over the last two months, COVID-19 in-patient tally in 14 states was consistently lower than HHS Protects. investigation consistently In at least 27 states, the tally was alternating between being lower and higher than HHS. And recently, in 16 states, the tallies grew closer. The over-arching conclusion for this analysis was that hospitals are going to be over-stressed in the upcoming months, with inaccurate information systems in place. We have reached out to the HHS to learn more, and will update this post with more information. Additionally, if the language of the claim is taken at face value, CDC guidance for hospitals references providing necessary in-person clinical services for conditions other than COVID-19 in the safest way possible, minimizing disease transmission to patients [...]. This leads to the conclusion that the CDC itself is not stating that hospitals are classifying everyone who walks in as a COVID-19 case. guidance While it is true that the government did provide relief funds in various forms for COVID-19 cases to hospitals in need of aid, little evidence exists that numbers were being inflated by hospitals for this reason. We thus rate this claim as false.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1OSfOSkoY_xn9AOLBb0_MzaKch1Quzg6k","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_60","claim":"Scam involving a fake $150 anniversary coupon from Lowe's.","posted":"05\/21\/2015","sci_digest":["Don't believe what you see. It's easy to steal the colors, logos and header of an established organization."],"justification":"In late 2019, social media users began seeing posts touting that \"LOWES has announced that everyone who shares this link will be sent a $150 coupon for its anniversary TODAY ONLY\":  This coupon offer was fake, just another iteration of similar scams that have made the online rounds several times before. In May 2015, a fraudulent offer for $100 Lowe's coupons started circulating on Facebook. The message linked Facebook users to a fraudulent web site adorned with the Lowe's logo, and instructed them to follow a simple set of instructions:  Scams like these require users to pass the fake coupon on to their Facebook friends, which widens the pool of potential victims. Next, they direct people to fill out a simple survey, which seems like a harmless task but is used to coax sensitive information such as email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth and credit card numbers out of victims. Finally, users who complete the survey will never receive a free Lowe's gift card but instead will likely sign up for difficult-to-cancel \"Reward Offers\" or have their personal information used for nefarious purposes. The Better Business Bureau provides these three tips to identify scams on Facebook: Facebook Don't believe what you see. It's easy to steal the colors, logos and header of an established organization. Scammers can also make links look like they lead to legitimate websites and emails appear to come from a different sender.Legitimate businesses do not ask for credit card numbers or banking information on customer surveys. If they do ask for personal information, like an address or email, be sure there's a link to their privacy policy. Watch out for a reward that's too good to be true. If the survey is real, you may be entered in a drawing to win a gift card or receive a small discount off your next purchase. Few businesses can afford to give away $50 gift cards for completing a few questions. Lowe's also posted a warning about this scam on their Facebook page: Facebook  In April 2017, two years after we first debunked the initial coupon scam, a new version of it appeared, taking in unsuspecting Facebookers yet again:  Those who clicked on this image on Facebook were taken to a page with a dubious URL& (in this case, https:\/\/www.lowes.com-holdit.us\/?sfpzbJt) and asked to take a simple survey and then to \"like\" and \"share\" the page:  Needless to say, anyone who attempted to redeem these coupons at Lowe's will be unsuccessful (and probably a little embarrassed), and if they have followed the online instructions, they have set themselves and their friends on social media up for, at best, a like-farming scam. A simple racket, certainly, but an effective one. scam   ","issues":["banking"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1RKH6XEqSmgPmYaE50Ik8Lh3VqrkRPBEp"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1smRyE-vPMA0HY_YntTiwUvuqhmQW2HtT"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1tNSdeqXnPMI07aIySdgDCbgBOCqb8S2p"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=18qMTceDfI-x_LWjLLp9zbxALTvr9oc9b"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=14pH5Y280cO6Nz3641xsFDM-VTHCsQbaq"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_61","claim":"Benefits of parental leave available in Europe.","posted":"03\/16\/2017","sci_digest":["Senator Bernie Sanders' office released an image showing how the U.S. 'lags' behind Canada, Norway, and Germany on the issue of parental leave."],"justification":"On 14 March 2017, Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-VT) office posted an image on his Facebook page criticizing the lack of federally-funded family leave in the U.S. by highlighting how similar policies are implemented in three other countries: Facebook   Sanders, who ran for the Democratic Party's 2016 presidential nomination, expressed support for a federal family leave program in the U.S., as stated on his campaign website: stated In my view, every worker in America should be guaranteed at least twelve weeks of paid family and medical leave. Thats why I am a proud cosponsor of the FAMILY Act, introduced by Senator [Kirsten] Gillibrand, which does just that. Under this measure, every employee would receive twelve weeks of paid family and medical leave: to take care of a baby, to help a family member who has been diagnosed with cancer or another serious medical condition, or to care for themselves if they become seriously ill. This would be funded through an insurance program, like Social Security. Workers would pay into it with every paycheck, at the price of roughly one cup of coffee per week. There is no reason not to pass this bill now. His office's claim that the U.S. and Papua New Guinea are alone \"out of 188 countries\" in lacking federal family leave programs is based on a 2015 study by the International Labour Organization (ILO) reporting that statistic. Sanders' post was also accompanied by an image listing individual claims about parental leave policies in Canada, Germany, and Norway.  study Canada allows parents to take 35 weeks' worth of leave while still receiving up to 55 percent of their regular salaries. The country's paid leave benefits are applied as part of its employment insurance (EI) program, which states: program For most people, the basic rate for calculating EI benefits is 55% of your average insurable weekly earnings, up to a maximum amount. As of January 1, 2017, the maximum yearly insurable earnings amount is $51,300. This means that you can receive a maximum amount of $543 per week. While parents can divide the 35 weeks of leave between themselves, mothers can take an additional 15 weeks as part of the program:  EI maternity benefits can be paid for a maximum period of 15 weeks. You cannot receive EI maternity benefits beyond 17 weeks after the expected or actual week of childbirth, whichever of the two is later. EI parental benefits can be paid for a maximum period of 35 weeks. The payments must be made within 52 weeks of the week your child was born or the week your child was placed with you for adoption. Parents seeking to take the paid leave must also meet criteria regarding length of employment, and while parental benefits are open to \"biological, adoptive, or legally recognized parents while they are caring for their newborn or newly adopted child,\" maternity benefits are only available to a child's biological mother: To be eligible for EI maternity benefits, you must have accumulated at least 600 hours of insurable employment in your qualifying period. If you are a self-employed fisher, you must have earned $3,760 from fishing during the 31-week qualifying period immediately before the start of your benefit period. To be eligible for EI parental benefits, each parent who applies for benefits must have accumulated at least 600 hours of insurable employment in his or her qualifying period. If you are a self-employed fisher, you must have earned $3,760 from fishing during the 31-week qualifying period immediately before the start of your benefit period. In Norway, as Sanders' office stated, parents may take 49 weeks of parental leave while receiving 100 percent of their pay. But the Norwegian government's web site also notes that parents have another option that provides lesser coverage for a longer period of time: notes When you apply for parental benefit, you must choose between 100 percent or 80 percent degree of coverage The total benefit period for parental benefit in the case of a birth, is 49 weeks at 100 percent coverage, and 59 weeks at 80 percent coverage. The parents must choose the same degree of coverage. Expectant mothers are also required to use three of their benefit weeks prior to their child's birth and can start using their benefits up to 12 weeks before the child's due date, though only nine of those weeks would be withdrawn from their accrued leave time.  Adoptive parents also have two options: take 46 weeks off while receiving 100 percent of their pay, or take 56 weeks off at 80 percent of their pay. In Germany, there are two ways to take parental leave, one of which is mentioned in the post by Sanders' office: parents can each take between two and 12 months off while receiving \"two-thirds of [their] previous income.\" Benefits range from at least 300 Euros a month to a maximum of 1,800 Euros a month. (Unemployed parents are also eligible for the benefits program.) receiving Parents who are already employed are each protected from losing their jobs while utilizing their family leave. However, parents taking the time off together can extend their benefits period to 14 months. Additionally, parents who participate in the \"ElterngeldPlus\" program can also add four months to their leaves if they each work up to 30 hours a week during their benefit period.  Parents seeking to take part in Germany's parental leave program must submit applications to their employer (if applicable) at least seven weeks before they intend to start taking the time off. Additionally, as of 1 July 2015 parents are eligible for up to 24 months of parental leave if their children are between the ages of two and seven.   Government of Canada.  \"Employment Insurance Maternity and Parental Benefits.\" \r  Accessed 16 March 2017. Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration.  \"Parental Benefit.\" \r  19 July 2013. [Danish] Federal Office for Migration and Refugees.  \"Parental Allowance and Parental Leave.\"\r   Accessed 16 March 2017. International Labour Organization.  \"Social Protection for Maternity: Key Policy Trends and Statistics.\" \r  2015.  Sanders, Bernie.  \"Real Family Values.\" \r  berniesanders.com.  ","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Qz8-tjWdFKGKdKvWyY9xMcuqWhyqcpB-"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_62","claim":"What Donald Trump has achieved within a mere four months?","posted":"05\/24\/2017","sci_digest":["We looked into the accuracy of a viral list touting President Trump's accomplishments during his first four months in office."],"justification":"In May 2017, a Reddit user posted a graphic that purported to list all of President Trump's accomplishments during his first four months in office. It was then widely shared on social media: \"Reddit TRUMP ACCOMPLISHMENTS ..Retweet the hell out of this to annoy @ABC @CBS @cnn @cnbc @MSNBC @nbc @nytimes @washingtonpost #dishonestmedia.\" Creating homebrew visual aids touting the accomplishments (or failures) of top politicians is a popular online pastime, not least because it's a cheap and easy way to propagandize, and because there are no pesky standards of fairness and accuracy to meet. As we've noted with regard to previous specimens (for example, a late-2016 meme touting the alleged economic achievements of President Obama), the graphic format lends itself to the display of cherry-picked facts to make a simplistic case with no semblance of context or nuance. In this case, the claim is that, despite all the carping in the mainstream press about \"chaos\" and \"ineptitude\" in the Oval Office, President Trump has actually accomplished quite a lot during his first four months as chief executive, and thus you will not find mention of major campaign promises Trump has had difficulty keeping so far, such as instituting a Muslim immigration ban and building a wall on the Mexican border. Also, since it's very much a partisan case being made, there will be disagreement over what constitutes an \"accomplishment.\" Some feats, such as reducing unemployment, are uncontroversial, while others, such as dismantling entire government agencies, aren't likely to be regarded as accomplishments by those who find the functions of those agencies critical. Here are the claims: 4.4 percent - lowest since May 2007. As reported in the Washington Post, government data released on May 5, 2017, indicated that the national unemployment rate hit a new low in April: The U.S. job market rebounded strongly last month, and the unemployment rate fell to the lowest level seen in a decade, government data released Friday morning showed, calming fears that had bubbled up in the past month about the state of the economy. Employers added 211,000 jobs in April as the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.4 percent, the lowest level since May 2007. It bears pointing out that the jobless rate had already been on a steady decline since 2010. Further, unemployment hit a previous nine-year low of 4.6 percent in December 2016 when President Obama was still in office. It climbed back up to 4.8 percent in January, dipped to 4.7 percent in February, and to 4.5 percent in March 2017. To what degree short-term improvements in the economy since January can be attributed to a new chief executive whose economic policies remain nascent is perennially up for debate, though according to The New York Times' senior economic correspondent Neil Irwin, a \"Trump effect\" that is buoying corporate hiring policies after the election cannot be ruled out. So does Mr. Trump deserve any credit for solid economic results? If you think the economy is driven by concrete, specific policies around taxes, spending, monetary policy, and regulation, the answer is no. If you think that what really matters is the mood in the executive suite, then just maybe. This is a mostly accurate, partial list of corporations that have announced investments in American facilities and\/or jobs since the election of Donald Trump. With the exception of Bayer AG (which announced $8 billion in new investments, not $1 billion as claimed), the dollar amounts match those cited in press reports between January and April 2017 (sources: Softbank, Exxon Mobil Corp., Hyundai-Kia, Apple, Fiat Chrysler, General Motors, Bayer AG, Toyota, LG Electronics). It's not necessarily accurate to characterize all of these commitments as \"accomplishments\" of President Trump, however. As CBS Moneywatch's Irina Ivanova reported in January 2017, few of the jobs companies are promising to create in the U.S. can be attributed to a sudden renewed commitment to USA Inc. inspired by Trump's America First policies. Indeed, the businesses Trump has been quick to praise have been careful not to characterize their recent hiring announcements as new. And as usual with corporate investments of this scale, such plans are typically months or even years in the making, suggesting they long predate the presidential election. For example, Fiat Chrysler said their promise of a $1 billion investment in Michigan and Ohio plants, projected to create 2,000 jobs, was the \"second phase\" of an industrialization plan announced in 2016. GM's $1 billion investment was \"several years in the making,\" according to sources cited by CBS. The largest of all the announced commitments, SoftBank's pledge of $50 billion, was also in the works long before Trump won the election: Another widely publicized corporate initiative that Trump trumpeted\u2014a promise by SoftBank to create 50,000 high-tech jobs in the U.S.\u2014was the result of a tech fund the company announced on October 14, three weeks before the election. Given the massive tech industry in the U.S., economists say much of the planned $50 billion investment would have found its way to the states regardless of who occupied the White House. You don't just decide overnight to invest $3 billion, said Nathan Jensen, a professor at the University of Texas who studies interactions between government and corporations. Bayer AG's commitment to an $8 billion investment and the creation of 3,000 U.S. jobs was announced by the Trump transition team after the president-elect met in January 2017 with the CEOs of Bayer AG and Monsanto, who are planning a merger. Transition spokesman Sean Spicer credited Trump's negotiating skills for the pledge, but some analysts were skeptical that the companies had actually promised anything that wasn't already on the table when plans for the merger were first revealed in September 2016. Bayer and Monsanto said in a joint statement after Spicer's remarks that the \"combined company expects to spend approximately $16 billion in R&D in agriculture over the next six years with at least half of this investment made in the United States.\" That amounts to about $2.7 billion a year, which roughly equates to what the combined companies already spend in that area globally, [Wall Street analyst Jeremy] Redenius said. As for the U.S. breakdown, he estimates it's likely close to half already; Monsanto spends $1.5 billion a year, the majority of which is in the U.S., he said, and Bayer already invests in R&D here as well. \"Not an increase, but not substantially cutting,\" he said of the global figure. The merger, which awaits U.S. regulatory approval, is not likely to be completed until 2018, CNBC reported. It is true that the U.S. Treasury reported a $182 billion budget surplus in April 2017, the largest April surplus since 2001 (and the second-largest in history), according to MarketWatch. It's unclear exactly how that surplus is attributable to President Trump, however. April is typically a surplus month because of tax receipts. In addition, citing a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) review as its source, the Associated Press reported that the April 2017 surplus was \"inflated\" because of a tax deadline change allowing corporations to pay federal taxes in April that in previous years were paid in March. It remains to be seen what effect Trump's policies will have on the budget deficit for 2017 as a whole (the fiscal year ends on September 30). The CBO projects a 4.6 percent drop in the deficit from what it was in 2016, but that is based on laws and policies already in effect when Trump took office. The stock market can be fickle. As of April 29, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 20,940.51, 6.12 percent higher than when Trump took office\u2014positive movement, unquestionably. That number had risen to 20,981.94 by May 16, then plummeted 372 points the next day as the market was shaken by news that Trump had shared classified information with Russian diplomats in the White House and attempted to divert FBI Director James Comey from an investigation of Trump's alleged ties to Russia before he fired him. It's true that the Consumer Confidence Index, a metric assessing how ordinary consumers feel about the strength of the economy, hit 125.6 in March 2017, its highest point since 2000. It is also true that it fell five points to 120.3 the following month. Even so, it showed that consumers (as of April) had more confidence in the economy under Trump than under Obama, during whose administration the index never exceeded 113.7 (although it did manage to rise to that point after bottoming out in 2009 at 25). As of May 17, 2017, President Trump had signed 34 bills passed by Congress, a comparatively high number in such a short period of time (since Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who signed 76 pieces of legislation in his first 100 days, only Harry Truman, at 55, signed more). That's not to say that all of the legislation signed by Trump between January and May 2017 was necessarily noteworthy, however. One bill changed the name of a Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic in Pago Pago, American Samoa; another renamed a VA health center in Pennsylvania; another approved the location of a memorial honoring Desert Storm and Desert Shield veterans; three appointed citizen regents to the board of the Smithsonian Institution. Nor should it be assumed that Trump's signing of a given bill meant he or his administration was actively involved in its passage. Thirteen such bills nullifying federal regulations enacted during the Obama administration (such as H.J. Res. 69, reversing a U.S. Fish and Wildlife rule pertaining to Alaska's National Wildlife Refuges and S.J. Res. 34, reversing FCC Internet privacy rules) were rushed through Congress and quickly signed because they made use of the Congressional Review Act of 1996, which imposes a 60-day limit on the time allowed to overrule previously passed laws. This is true. Gorsuch was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 7, 2017. This is true. Trump fulfilled a campaign promise by signing an executive order withdrawing the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership international trade agreement on January 23, 2017, one day after announcing he would renegotiate it. Despite President Obama's fervent support for the deal, many groups, including labor unions, were critical of the TPP, and CNN reported that its chances of approval by Congress were already \"bleak.\" The number of illegal border crossings from Mexico into the U.S. in February 2017 were indeed down 40 percent from the previous month, according to statistics provided by the Department of Homeland Security, and that downward trend, which had actually started the previous November, continued in March and April 2017. It's true that in March 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded a $100 million grant to the state of Michigan to upgrade the drinking water infrastructure in Flint, which experienced a lead pollution crisis potentially affecting as many as 100,000 people beginning in 2014. There has been some dispute, however, over whether this ought to be labeled a \"Trump accomplishment\" or an \"Obama accomplishment.\" As we noted in a previous article, funding for the grant came from a bill signed by President Obama in 2016, though the monies weren't officially awarded until after he left office, hence some prefer to credit it to Trump. Although President Trump pledged to \"strengthen\" overseas relationships going into office and he had already met with several important foreign leaders by mid-May 2017, it is too soon to tell to what degree his promise will bear fruit. The president-elect got off to a rocky start with China in December by accepting a congratulatory call from the leader of Taiwan, which China views as a province, not an independent nation, and with which the U.S. does not have diplomatic relations. China lodged a formal complaint. In April, Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, with whom he said he made \"tremendous progress\" but no breakthroughs. A trade deal negotiated by the Trump administration with China in May was rated \"pretty good\" by The Wall Street Journal. Japanese Prime Minister Abe, who has met twice with Trump, issued a joint statement with him reaffirming the \"unshakable alliance\" between the U.S. and Japan. That is despite Trump having called Japan a \"currency manipulator\" during the presidential campaign and pulling out of the TPP, which Abe supported. Whether the \"very, very good chemistry\" Trump says he has with Abe will improve the relationship between the two countries over the long haul remains to be seen. U.S.-Russia relations have been strained for many years, a situation not improved by Russia's attempts to meddle in the U.S. presidential election, nor by the fact that Trump associates are under investigation for possible collusion in that effort. A U.S. missile strike by Trump against Syria, with whose government Russia is closely allied, was strongly condemned by Russian leaders, who warned there could be \"extremely serious\" consequences. British Prime Minister Theresa May was the first foreign leader to visit the Trump White House, and their cordial meeting was portrayed by both countries as a renewal of the \"special relationship\" between the U.S. and the U.K. According to the BBC, Obama was seen by many Britons as more interested in the European Union as a whole than in the U.K. itself, while Trump, who was in favor of Brexit, is perceived as the opposite. President Trump has employed what the Washington Post calls \"hard-line rhetoric\" against North Korea, including threats of force, in hopes of squelching that country's increasing militarism, a strategy some experts dismiss as \"macho posturing\" that could escalate into a Cuban Missile Crisis-like confrontation. In April 2017, Trump ordered U.S. missile strikes against an air base in Syria in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack on civilians by the Syrian government, which has been known to brutalize its own people during the ongoing civil war there. Trump's gesture came up short, however, in that the Syrian Air Force was able to launch a new attack against rebel forces from that same base just hours later. In April 2017, President Trump negotiated the release of U.S. citizen Aya Hijazi, her Egyptian husband, and four other humanitarian workers from a prison in Cairo, Egypt, where they had been locked up since 2014, without evidence or trial, on charges of child abuse and trafficking. Although it is true that President Trump signed an executive order on March 13, 2017, directing the heads of executive branch departments to eliminate all \"unnecessary\" agencies and reorganize those that remain to improve their \"efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability,\" the order gave said department heads six months from the date of signing to come up with suggestions for this process, so not much fat has been trimmed thus far despite the groundwork being laid. President Donald Trump made a campaign trail promise to eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency\u2014a department once looked to as an important national force tackling climate change\u2014and during his first 100 days in office has held true to his word, taking swift strides towards dismantling the agency and rolling back regulations. Alongside EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, a former Oklahoma attorney general who once worked tangentially with the fossil fuel industry to oppose Obama-era regulations, the Trump administration has so far issued a flurry of EPA-focused executive orders, proposed employee buyouts, handed down a social media gag order, and is proposing significant cuts to the EPA budget. The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), a small business advocacy group, has hailed Trump's commitment to cutting \"burdensome regulations,\" while environmental protection groups see it as a threat to public health and the future of the planet. The controversial Dakota Access Pipeline project, halted under President Obama, was revived by President Trump and will begin commercial operations on June 1, 2017. Trump also issued an executive order directing a review of lands designated as national monuments. Specifically, the review will consider all national monument designations of federal public lands since 1996 that are 100,000 acres or larger. Mr. Trump singled out former President Barack Obama's egregious use of federal power in using the Antiquities Act to unilaterally place swaths of American land and water under federal control, adding, \"it's time we ended this abusive practice.\" As with many of the other items discussed above, whether or not one regards this as an \"accomplishment\" (as opposed, say, to a travesty) will depend almost entirely on one's political views going in.","issues":["accountability"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1VCeR5DnIH58RUpAHsgh7IbB59s1HxEme"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_63","claim":"It is essential to regularly review the 1956 Republican Platform.","posted":"10\/23\/2014","sci_digest":["A summary of the 1956 Republican platform describes a significant divergence from the party's focus in recent decades."],"justification":"A few weeks before the 2012 U.S. presidential election, a meme began to circulate on social media suggesting that the 1956 Republican platform included policies that would more closely match those of progressives in later years. The tenets listed in the 1956 Republican platform graphic certainly deviate from many of the GOP's current party lines, but were the cited planks notably different six decades ago? It's difficult to make a direct comparison for a few reasons. One reason is that the Republican Party's national platform is not necessarily the same as the issues espoused by individual candidates at the federal, state, or local levels. In recent years, the advent of social media has enabled candidates and political organizations to push individually important agendas that may not align with the party's overall national platform. Another issue is defining what the party's platform is at any given time. The most recent available Republican Party platform dates to 2012, during the campaign of Mitt Romney. Not all issues addressed in the graphic above were directly mentioned or comparably referenced in the 2012 platform, and individual Republican Party members who have made statements about platform issues since then do not necessarily speak for the GOP at large. The image displayed above first points to assistance for \"low-income communities,\" language that does not specifically appear in the 1956 Republican platform. Under the heading of \"Labor,\" the original document supported (to a degree) several of the positions summarized in the graphic regarding minimum wage laws, unemployment assistance, and equal pay irrespective of gender. The Eisenhower Administration will continue to fight for dynamic and progressive programs which, among other things, will stimulate improved job safety for our workers through assistance to the states, employees, and employers; continue and further perfect its programs of assistance to the millions of workers with special employment problems, such as older workers, handicapped workers, members of minority groups, and migratory workers; strengthen and improve the Federal-State Employment Service and enhance the effectiveness of the unemployment insurance system; protect by law the assets of employee welfare and benefit plans so that workers who are the beneficiaries can be assured of their rightful benefits; assure equal pay for equal work regardless of sex; clarify and strengthen the eight-hour laws for the benefit of workers who are subject to federal wage standards on federal and federally-assisted construction, and maintain and continue the vigorous administration of the Federal prevailing minimum wage law for public supply contracts; extend the protection of the Federal minimum wage laws to as many more workers as is possible and practicable; continue to fight for the elimination of discrimination in employment because of race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, or sex; and provide assistance to improve the economic conditions of areas faced with persistent and substantial unemployment. The quoted portion did not specify expanded access to unemployment insurance benefits. However, the introduction addressed matters of expanding that benefit, as well as Social Security and even health care. The word \"Protect\" did not appear in that section, but it did state: We are proud of and shall continue our far-reaching and sound advances in matters of basic human needs\u2014expansion of social security, broadened coverage in unemployment insurance, improved housing, and better health protection for all our people. We are determined that our government remain warmly responsive to the urgent social and economic problems of our people. We shall continue to seek extension and perfection of a sound social security system. On the matter of supporting and encouraging labor unions, the 1956 Republican platform stated that \"workers have benefited by the progress which has been made in carrying out the programs and principles set forth in the 1952 Republican platform ... workers have gained and unions have grown in strength and responsibility, and have increased their membership by 2 million.\" It pledged to revise and improve the Taft-Hartley Act to protect more effectively the rights of labor unions, management, the individual worker, and the public. The protection of the right of workers to organize into unions and to bargain collectively is the firm and permanent policy of the Eisenhower Administration. In 1954, 1955, and again in 1956, President Eisenhower recommended constructive amendments to this Act. The Democrats in Congress have consistently blocked these needed changes by parliamentary maneuvers. The Republican Party pledges itself to overhaul and improve the Taft-Hartley Act along the lines of these recommendations. By contrast, the 2012 Republican Party platform stated of workers, unemployment insurance, and worker protections that the best jobs program is economic growth. We do not offer yet another made-in-Washington package of subsidies and spending to create temporary or artificial jobs. We want much more than that. We want a roaring job market to match a roaring economy. Instead, what this Administration has given us is 42 consecutive months of unemployment above 8 percent, the longest period of high unemployment since the Great Depression. Republicans will pursue free market policies that are the surest way to boost employment and create job growth and economic prosperity for all. In all the sections that follow, as well as elsewhere in this platform, we explain what must be done to achieve that goal. The tax system must be simplified. Government spending and regulation must be reined in. American companies must be more competitive in the world market, and we must be aggressive in promoting U.S. products abroad and securing open markets for them. A federal-state-private partnership must invest in the nation's infrastructure: roads, bridges, airports, ports, and water systems, among others. Federal training programs have to be overhauled and made relevant for the workplace of the twenty-first century. Potential employers need certainty and predictability for their hiring decisions, and the team of a Republican President and Congress will create the confidence that will get Americans back to work. Unions were also addressed in the 2012 platform in a somewhat different manner: We will restore the rule of law to labor law by blocking \"card check,\" enacting the Secret Ballot Protection Act, enforcing the Hobbs Act against labor violence, and passing the Raise Act to allow all workers to receive well-earned raises without the approval of their union representative. We demand an end to the Project Labor Agreements, and we call for repeal of the Davis-Bacon Act, which costs taxpayers billions of dollars annually in artificially high wages on government projects. We support the right of states to enact Right-to-Work laws and encourage them to do so to promote greater economic liberty. Ultimately, we support the enactment of a National Right-to-Work law to promote worker freedom and greater economic liberty. We will aggressively enforce the recent decision by the Supreme Court barring the use of union dues for political purposes without the consent of the worker. Republicans in 1956 appeared markedly softer on matters of immigration and asylum, as their platform explained: The Republican Party supports an immigration policy that is in keeping with the traditions of America in providing a haven for oppressed peoples, and which is based on equality of treatment, freedom from implications of discrimination between racial, nationality, and religious groups, and flexible enough to conform to changing needs and conditions. In that concept, this Republican Administration sponsored the Refugee Relief Act to provide asylum for thousands of refugees, expellees, and displaced persons, and undertook, in the face of Democrat opposition, to correct the inequities in existing law and to bring our immigration policies in line with the dynamic needs of the country and principles of equity and justice. We believe also that Congress should consider the extension of the Refugee Relief Act of 1953 in resolving this difficult refugee problem which resulted from world conflict. To all this, we give our wholehearted support. In 2012, the GOP platform was slightly more stringent: We recognize that for most of those seeking entry into this country, the lack of respect for the rule of law in their homelands has meant economic exploitation and political oppression by corrupt elites. In this country, the rule of law guarantees equal treatment to every individual, including more than one million immigrants to whom we grant permanent residence every year. That is why we oppose any form of amnesty for those who, by intentionally violating the law, disadvantage those who have obeyed it. Granting amnesty only rewards and encourages more law breaking. We support the mandatory use of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (S.A.V.E.) program\u2014an internet-based system that verifies the lawful presence of applicants\u2014prior to the granting of any state or federal government entitlements or IRS refunds. We insist upon enforcement at the workplace through verification systems so that jobs can be available to all legal workers. The use of the E-verify program\u2014an internet-based system that verifies the employment authorization and identity of employees\u2014must be made mandatory nationwide. State enforcement efforts in the workplace must be welcomed, not attacked. When Americans need jobs, it is absolutely essential that we protect them from illegal labor in the workplace. In addition, it is why we demand tough penalties for those who practice identity theft, deal in fraudulent documents, and traffic in human beings. It is why we support Republican legislation to give the Department of Homeland Security long-term detention authority to keep dangerous but undeportable aliens off our streets, expedite the expulsion of criminal aliens, and make gang membership a deportable offense. Social Security warranted a few mentions in the 2012 platform, most notably in this portion: For much of the last century, an opposing view has dominated public policy where we have witnessed the expansion, centralization, and bureaucracy in an entitlement society. Government has lumbered on, stifling innovation, with no incentive for fundamental change, through antiquated programs begun generations ago and now ill-suited to present needs and future requirements. As a result, today's taxpayers\u2014and future generations\u2014face massive indebtedness, while Congressional Democrats and the current Administration block every attempt to turn things around. This man-made logjam\u2014the so-called stalemate in Washington\u2014particularly affects the government's three largest programs, which have become central to the lives of untold millions of Americans: Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. Among the remaining points of the graphic, gender pay discrepancy was not directly referenced in the 2012 platform. While the two platforms from 1956 and 2012 may appear starkly different when compared side by side, one must also keep in mind that the Republican Party tenets referenced in this meme predate many of the issues American voters now feel are central to their lives 60 years on.","issues":["equity"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Rekl_wi4bny_wHsMX067_XXsvLzwBEH0"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_64","claim":"Did 2021 U.S. Defense Bill Nullify the Insurrection Act?","posted":"12\/23\/2020","sci_digest":["A defense budget bill was surprisingly controversial during the final weeks of 2020."],"justification":"Editor's note: Shortly after this article was published, U.S. President Donald Trump vetoed the National Defense Authorization Act. You can read more about Trump's veto here from the Associated Press. The original article continues below. Associated Press House Resolution 6395, or the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (NDAA), was surprisingly controversial during the final weeks of 2020. U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to veto the military budget bill, which passed the House and Senate with more than a two-thirds majority vote, because it did not call for the removal of Section 230, an unrelated piece of legislation that provides internet publishers legal immunity from third-party content.  threatened to veto Section 230 On Dec. 22, 2020, conservative commentator Chuck Callesto claimed that there was another reason Trump might want to veto the bill. Callesto wrote that the NDAA contained a provision that \"Nullifies the President's use of the Insurrection Act.\"   While Callesto presents his claim as if he is quoting directly from the bill, the phrase \"nullifies the President's use of the Insurrection Act\" does not appear anywhere in the NDAA (which numbers 1,480 pages, not 5,893 as Callesto claimed), the full text of which can be found here.  here Insurrection Act House Amendment 833 It's a bit of a moot point, however, as this amendment did not make it into the final bill. As of this writing, the NDAA does not include any language pertaining to the Insurrection Act.  The Hill reported on Dec. 6 that the amendment pertaining to the Insurrection Act was removed as Congress debated the NDAA: reported The NDAA also includes a modest rebuke of Trumps use of Pentagon funding on his southern border wall. The compromise includes House-passed language capping emergency military construction spending at $100 million annually for domestic projects. Trump took $3.6 billion from military construction funds to build the wall. The compromise jettisoned some rebukes of Trump, including House-passed language to restrict a presidents Insurrection Act powers and block funding for a nuclear test. But this year stands in stark contrast to last year, when most of House Democrats efforts to box in Trump on defense policy were stripped from the final product. In summary, the viral tweet claiming that the NDAA \"nullified\" the Insurrection Act is based on a House amendment proposed in July that would have restricted (not nullified) the president's use of the Insurrection Act. This amendment, which would have required the president to make certifications to Congress before invoking the Insurrection Act, did not make it into the final form of the legislation. ","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1fJwbn53WaJx8yhmVR0q7HAGaVrZ1tr4H","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_65","claim":"Was a Bold Drugstore Shoplifting Incident in SF Due to 'No Arrest' Policy?","posted":"03\/06\/2020","sci_digest":["Video of a brazen crime in the Bay Area wasn't what some people on social media claimed it to be."],"justification":"In early March 2020, a number of social media users posted a video of a genuine shoplifting incident in San Francisco, California, along with commentary that the incident was evidence of \"radical left\" leadership that led to lenient policies that were responsible for the crime: social media users video https:\/\/youtu.be\/PZfcOuRAwzISpecifically, some viewers claimed the crime was the result of some unspecified \"no arrest\" policy in the city of San Francisco. Others stated the incident was the upshot of California Proposition 47, a 2014 ballot measure that, among other reforms, created a new penal code for shoplifting that didn't exist before, classifying it as a misdemeanor if the dollar amount stolen was less than $950. no arrest Others Proposition 47 Both claims are false.We contacted the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD), and a spokesman there said the shoplifting incident was real and occurred about 1 p.m. on Feb. 29, 2020. Employees at the Walgreens drugstore where it occurred told police that three females, possibly minors, took \"several cosmetic items,\" then fled before police arrived. The investigation remains open and no arrests have been made.  San Francisco Police Officer Robert Rueca said that SFPD doesn't have a \"no arrest\" policy. \"If we have the probable cause to believe that someone has committed a crime, we will arrest the suspects and present that case to the District Attorney,\" Rueca said in an email to Snopes. It's also a mischaracterization of events to claim the crime was allowed to occur because of purported leniency resulting from Prop 47.  A person who is accused of committing any misdemeanor can be arrested and face jail time under California state law. Shoplifting in the state is punishable by up to six months in county jail. Shoplifting is defined under California law as \"entering a commercial establishment with intent to commit larceny while that establishment is open during regular business hours, where the value of the property that is taken or intended to be taken does not exceed nine hundred fifty dollars ($950).\" punishable defined Prop 47, which California voters approved in 2014, reclassified some minor crimes as misdemeanors instead of felonies, with the intent of reducing what was at the time a severely overcrowded prison population. The aim was also to reduce the number of people serving long sentences and ending up with felony-conviction records for petty crimes.  Prop 47 increased the felony threshold for certain types of theft from $450 to $950  meaning the simple theft of property valued below $950 is a misdemeanor. It also reduced simple drug possession (possession of drugs without the intent to sell) to a misdemeanor. The claim that Prop 47 is to blame for the incident depicted in the video is representative of misinformation that has been circulating about the law for years, said George Gascn, the former district attorney of San Francisco who is now running for the same position in Los Angeles County and who co-authored Prop 47. Although the threshold for misdemeanor-versus-felony theft prior to Prop 47 was $450, it's unclear whether the new law makes any potential difference in the San Francisco case. In the video, the thieves are seen stuffing drugstore-brand cosmetics into bags. It's unknown how much the items were worth  SFPD would not give us an estimate. \"Prop 47 doesnt cover robberies, theft by the use of force or fear. It doesn't cover burglaries,\" Gascn said. \"If you break into a structure with the intent to commit theft or another felony, that continues to be a felony. If someone breaks into your car to steal even a pack of cigarettes, thats still a felony. Even the crimes that are covered by Prop 47, they were not decriminalized. We moved them from a felony to a misdemeanor. [Perpetrators] can still go to county jail\" if they are convicted. The claim that increasing the value of shoplifted property to meet a felony threshold is contributing to a rash of crime in California is spurious, given that other states have higher thresholds (Texas' felony threshold, for instance, is $2,500). A 2018 Pew Research study found that states that increased thresholds to account for inflation did not see a resulting uptick in crime as a result. $2,500 study Gascn said that when crafting Prop 47, he and his co-authors purposely looked at felony thresholds in red states. States like Texas and Tennessee \"had significantly higher thresholds between felonies and misdemeanors,\" Gascn told us. Part of the intent behind Prop 47 was to deal with inequality embedded in the system, Gascn said. For example, crack possession used to be a felony while possession of drugs like methamphetamines and cocaine were what were known as \"wobblers,\" he said, which is jargon for crimes that prosecutors had some discretion to charge either as misdemeanors or felonies. Racial discrepancies existed in terms of who was most likely to have those drugs; African Americans, for instance, were more likely to be charged with felony drug possession than whites were, he said. Prop 47 was also intended to address severe overcrowding in California's prisons and meet a federal court order to alleviate it. In 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that overcrowding in the state's prison system was unconstitutional. Prop 47 succeeded in helping the state reach key benchmarks by reducing low-level, non-violent offenses like drug possession, petty theft, and writing bad checks to misdemeanors so long as the amounts in question did not exceed $950. The effect was a decrease in the prison population and also a reduction in recidivism. ruled reduction A 2018 study conducted by the University of California at Irvine found no evidence that Prop 47 resulted in an increase in crime. Meantime, violent crime and property crime in California remain at historic lows. study historic lows In summary, the claim that a \"no arrest policy\" exists in San Francisco appears to be made up. We also found no evidence that a change in California state law in regards to misdemeanor shoplifting directly contributed to this incident. We therefore rate this claim   California Courts.\"Proposition 47: The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act.\" Los Angeles Times Editorial Board.\"Editorial: No, Prop 47 Didnt De-Criminalize Misdemeanors.\"\rLos Angeles Times.18 July 2018. Arango, Tim.\"In California, Criminal Justice Reform Offers a Lesson for the Nation.\"\rThe New York Times.21 January 2018. Vock, Daniel V.\"After Years of Court Orders, California's Prison Population Finally Hits Target.\"\rGoverning.9 October 2015. Totenberg, Nina.\"High Court Rules Calif. Must Cut Prison Population.\"\rNPR.23 May 2011. UCI News.\"Proposition 47 Not Responsible for Recent Upticks in Crime Across California, UCI study Says.\"\r7 March 2018. Public Policy Institute of California.\"The Impact of Proposition 47 on Crime and Recidivism.\"\rJune 2018. Public Policy Institute of California.\"Crime Trends in California.\"","issues":["inflation"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1DICD8Tzjka4ASPIefgPO1d1rDHF224HC","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_66","claim":"Is This Journalism Before and After Taliban Takeover?","posted":"08\/17\/2021","sci_digest":["The threat to female journalists in the region is undoubtedly real. "],"justification":"On Aug. 16, 2021, about two weeks after the U.S. withdrew troops from Afghanistan, Taliban fighters took control of the presidential palace in Kabul and seized power. This led to thousands of Afghans attempting to flee the area, and left many, especially women, fearing for their safety.  took control of the presidential palace EuroNews reported: reported Female journalists and activists who have worked towards amplifying the voices of women in Afghanistan now fear for their lives as the Taliban took over Kabul on Sunday in a rapid power grab. Many women journalists were in hiding after being told to return home as Kabul was taken by the armed group. Against this backdrop, a set of \"before and after\" images started circulating that supposedly showed CNN's Clarissa Ward in her regular clothing before the Taliban takeover, and with much of her face, body, and hair covered afterward: These images are real. However, they deserve a little additional context.   Ward explained on Twitter that the \"before\" image shown here was taken in a private compound. The reporter also said that she always wore a head scarf while on the streets of Kabul. However, Ward stated that she began wearing an abaya (a full-length outer garment for women) and fully covered her hair after the Taliban took over the area: explained on Twitter This meme is inaccurate. The top photo is inside a private compound. The bottom is on the streets of Taliban held Kabul. I always wore a head scarf on the street in Kabul previously, though not w\/ hair fully covered and abbaya. So there is a difference but not quite this stark. It should also be noted that Ward was not the only woman who was reporting from the ground following the Taliban's take over of Afghanistan, and that her clothing decisions were not replicated by every other journalist. Two Afghan reporters from the local news outlet TOLO News, for example, wore head scarves without the abaya (similar to what Ward would often wear prior to the Taliban take over). The founder of Tolo News' parent company tweeted a photograph of some women reporters in Kabul:    While Ward noted on Twitter that the changes weren't as stark as presented in this meme, female journalists are truly worried for their lives in the area. The Guardian reported: reported Female Afghan journalists tell of a once free and bustling Kabul now filled with silence and fear as they destroy traces of their identity and work to avoid Taliban militants. Aaisha is one of dozens of female Afghan journalists who have communicated with the Guardian over the past weeks, documenting the fall of their nation to share the devastation with the world. Now they fear that reporting without fear or favour will be the very thing that costs them their future. They constantly receive death threats from the Taliban, and from others who agree that women should not be treated as equal. You can see a video report filed by Ward from Afghanistan here.  here ","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1zCKPXz4XugOuu-aUVKfWLYAAOW2G-5h1","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_67","claim":"Is there evidence of racial bias in tax-evasion prosecutions shown in this meme?","posted":"03\/15\/2019","sci_digest":["What do these four examples have in common?  Nothing of significance, as far as we can tell."],"justification":"One of the more unusual political memes we've come across presented four different cases of tax-related financial improprieties to suggest that tax-evasion prosecutions were somehow influenced by racial bias against non-blacks. However, the \"Tax Racism\" meme offered examples, not all of which were actual cases of tax evasion, so widely spaced in time and differing in circumstances as to be unhelpful in making any point at all about either tax fraud or race. Martha Stewart, the entrepreneur who rose to prominence as the author of books on cooking, entertaining, and decorating, was not charged with or imprisoned for non-payment of income taxes. Stewart was found guilty in March 2004 of felony charges of conspiracy, obstruction of an agency proceeding, and making false statements to federal investigators in a case related to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation into insider trading activity. On June 4, 2003, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed securities fraud charges against Martha Stewart and her former stockbroker, Peter Bacanovic. The complaint, filed in federal court in Manhattan, alleges that Stewart committed illegal insider trading when she sold stock in a biopharmaceutical company, ImClone Systems, Inc., on December 27, 2001, after receiving an unlawful tip from Bacanovic, who was then a broker with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated. The Commission further alleges that Stewart and Bacanovic subsequently created an alibi for Stewart's ImClone sales and concealed important facts during SEC and criminal investigations into her trades. In a separate action, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York obtained an indictment charging Stewart and Bacanovic criminally for their false statements concerning Stewart's ImClone trades. Stewart was sentenced to five months in prison and also settled a civil suit with the SEC by paying a $195,000 fine, a penalty that reflected four times the amount of stock value loss she avoided by taking advantage of inside information, plus interest. Stewart did engage in a dispute with the state of New York in 2002 over unpaid property taxes that she contended she didn't owe because she hardly spent any time in that state, and she was eventually ordered by a judge to pay $220,000 in back taxes plus penalties. But contrary to the false impression created by this meme, she was not prosecuted or jailed over that issue; the time she spent in prison was solely related to a later insider-trading case, not to tax evasion. By the mid-1920s, notorious Chicago mobster Alphonse Gabriel Capone was reportedly taking in nearly $60 million annually ($878 million in 2018 dollars) from a variety of illegal activities, primarily Prohibition-era bootlegging. Capone was dubbed \"Public Enemy No. 1\" after the 1929 Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, in which gunmen allegedly hired by him posed as police officers to murder seven members of a rival gang, leading to increased public pressure on the government to rein Capone in. Federal authorities had difficulty gathering sufficient hard evidence to convict Capone on any substantial criminal charges, so they took what was then a novel approach: Even if they couldn't prove Capone was making his millions illegally, they could prove he wasn't paying income tax on his ill-gotten gains. Despite his obviously lavish lifestyle, Capone never filed a federal income tax return and claimed he had no taxable income, reportedly boasting at one point that, \"They can't collect legal taxes from illegal money.\" He was proved wrong. IRS and Treasury agents gathered evidence that Capone had made millions of dollars in untaxed income, and the mobster was eventually indicted on 22 counts of federal income tax evasion. After conviction, he was sentenced in 1931 to 11 years in prison, fined $50,000, and ordered to pay back taxes in the amount of $215,000. Capone was released from prison in 1939 with time off for good behavior and retired to Florida, where he died in 1947 at the relatively young age of 48. In a literal sense, Capone was indeed jailed for non-payment of income taxes, but the tax evasion charges were essentially a proxy for prosecuting the mobster over the multitude of vastly worse and violent crimes with which he was connected, as well as the immense profits he derived from those criminal activities. Capone was by no means an otherwise upright and law-abiding citizen who was thrown in prison simply because he didn't pay his income taxes. At this point in our narrative, we need to distinguish between different forms of tax evasion. At one end of the spectrum are those who haven't engaged in any fraudulent behavior but simply didn't or can't pay their taxes for any number of reasons\u2014maybe they didn't plan or withhold prudently, they received poor financial advice, they had legitimate confusion or dispute over what constituted taxable income, or they simply overspent and ended up in debt. Although non-payment of taxes is a crime, the IRS will not usually seek prosecution in these types of cases and will instead work with offenders to facilitate payment of their back debts, rather than making repayment difficult or impossible by incarcerating them. At the other end of the spectrum are those who actively engage in fraud to evade the full payment of taxes: They fail to disclose their full income, hide financial transactions, claim deductions to which they are not entitled, disguise monies earned as something other than income, or otherwise file falsified tax returns. The IRS will, at their discretion, seek prosecution in egregious cases of these forms of tax evasion. Leona Helmsley, derisively known as the \"Queen of Mean,\" was a billionaire who, along with her husband, real estate investor and broker Harry Helmsley, owned a vast portfolio of real estate and other assets, including a chain of hotels and the iconic Empire State Building. Leona Helmsley, who once reportedly asserted that \"We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes,\" fell into the latter class of tax evader, falsely manipulating her personal finances, business expenses, and dealings with third parties to avoid paying immense sums of taxes. Some of Helmsley's luster was tarnished in 1986 when court documents and law enforcement officials said she had failed to pay sales taxes in New York on hundreds of thousands of dollars of jewelry she purchased at Van Cleef & Arpels, the exclusive Manhattan store. Two senior store officers were indicted on charges that they operated a scheme by which customers with out-of-state addresses could have their purchases recorded as being mailed to them, thus avoiding city and state taxes. In 1987, a series of adverse articles in The New York Post about the Helmsleys, set off by one of their disgruntled employees, led to a broad investigation. The following year, Harry and Leona Helmsley were indicted by federal and state authorities on charges that they had evaded more than $4 million in income taxes by fraudulently claiming as business expenses luxuries they purchased for Dunnellen Hall in Greenwich, Conn., a 28-room Jacobean mansion on 26 acres with a sweeping view of Long Island Sound that they bought in 1983. In 235 counts in state and federal indictments brought by Robert Abrams, then the New York State attorney general, and Rudolph W. Giuliani, then the United States attorney and later mayor of New York, the Helmsleys were accused of draining their hotel and real estate empire to provide themselves with such extravagances at Dunnellen Hall as a $1 million marble dance floor above a swimming pool, a $45,000 silver clock, a $210,000 mahogany card table, a $130,000 stereo system, and $500,000 worth of jade art objects. Nothing was too small or personal to be billed to their businesses, from Mrs. Helmsley's bras to a white lace and pink satin dress and jacket and a white chiffon skirt\u2014the dress and skirt were entered in the Park Lane Hotel records as uniforms for the staff. Mrs. Helmsley was also charged with defrauding Helmsley stockholders by receiving $83,333 a month in secret consulting fees. She was convicted of 33 felony counts related to her evasion of $1.2 million in federal income taxes. She was sentenced to 16 years in prison (reduced to four years on appeal), fined $7.1 million for tax fraud, and ordered to pay some $1.7 million in back federal and state taxes. She began serving her sentence in 1992 and was released from federal prison in Connecticut in 1994 after having served less than half her sentence. Where along the tax-evader spectrum between \"legitimate dispute\" and \"willful tax fraud\" civil rights activist Al Sharpton might fall is difficult to determine. Claims were made in the press in 2014 that Sharpton owed some $4.5 million in unpaid taxes, but the accuracy of that number and how much of the money owed might already have been repaid by Sharpton were unclear, and his tax-troubles narrative involved a muddied mixture of personal, business, and non-profit finances, as well as liabilities for federal taxes, state taxes, payroll taxes, and personal income taxes. Much of the dispute over the \"why\" and \"how much\" of Sharpton's unpaid tax bill stemmed from the operations of the National Action Network, a not-for-profit civil rights organization founded by Sharpton in 1991. Sharpton contended in a 2014 New York Times account that he incurred an unexpected tax liability because he was taxed personally for income he had given to the non-profit organization, and that he was up to date on repayment plans. Officials contested that the amount he was in arrears for unpaid taxes had actually grown larger, though. Today, Mr. Sharpton still faces personal federal tax liens of more than $3 million and state tax liens of $777,657, according to records. Mr. Sharpton said the federal liens resulted from a demand by the IRS that he pay taxes on earnings from speaking engagements that he had turned over to the National Action Network. He said he was up to date on payment plans for both the federal and state liens, so, he claimed, the outstanding balance was much lower than records showed. But according to state officials, his balance on the state liens is actually $220,000 greater now than when they were first filed during the years 2008 through 2010. A spokesman for the State Department of Taxation and Finance said state law did not allow him to provide any further details. Sharpton then contested that news account, asserting that it referenced \"old taxes\" and insisting again that his tax liens had been paid down below the $4.5 million debt claimed in the New York Times report, which stated Sharpton's unpaid tax debt had nonetheless grown larger, not smaller. During a news conference at the headquarters of his National Action Network in Harlem, Mr. Sharpton sought to refute the assertion that there were $4.5 million in state and federal tax liens outstanding against him and the for-profit businesses he controls. He said that the liens had been paid down, although he declined to say by how much, and that he was current on all taxes he was obligated to pay under settlement agreements with tax authorities. \"We're talking about old taxes,\" he said, adding, \"We're not talking about anything new. So all of this, as if I'm not paying taxes while I'm doing whatever I'm doing, it reads all right, but it just is not true.\" The accuracy of Mr. Sharpton's assertion that the amount he owes the federal government is much lower than the $3.6 million shown in records could not be verified. A spokesman for the Internal Revenue Service said federal law prohibited the agency from divulging any details about individual taxpayers. As for the state tax liens, Mr. Sharpton's assertion that he had paid them down conflicts with information provided by state officials. State authorities filed tax liens against Mr. Sharpton in 2008 and 2009, and again in 2010 against a for-profit business he controls, Revals Communications, all totaling $695,000. But a spokesman for the State Department of Taxation and Finance said the amount due had actually increased to $916,000. Regardless of the numbers, Sharpton wasn't put in prison because tax officials did not deem his case to be an exceptional one of scofflaw tax fraud or evasion that merited prosecution, instead working with him to facilitate his paying down the debt. The conclusion here is a simple one: Cherry-picking four very disparate cases of financial wrongdoing spanning several decades, while ignoring the many other instances of tax evasion successfully prosecuted by the U.S. government, documents nothing about any purported racial bias in such prosecutions.","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1IP9zCFEVjORFI0RNPfw0x3kkCJRNlyjS"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_68","claim":"Hillary Clinton Cut Her Tax Bill by 'Donating' $1 Million to Herself via the Clinton Foundation?","posted":"10\/01\/2016","sci_digest":["Accusations that Hillary Clinton padded her own pockets by deducting charitable donations to the Clinton Foundation appear to be baseless."],"justification":"An Internet meme circulating during the final weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign purported to reveal financial trickery on the part of Democratic contender Hillary Clinton, who allegedly deducted $1 million from her 2015 income tax return after donating it \"to herself\" via contributions to the Clinton Foundation. Assuming that this information came from the candidate's 2015 tax filing (released to the public earlier this year), we went to verify the accuracy of the claims. Our findings were as follows: 1. The return was a joint filing for both Hillary and William J. Clinton. 2. Their shared charitable donations totaled $1,042,000: $42,000 to Desert Classic Charities and $1 million to the Clinton Family Foundation. 3. Declaring an amount, say $1 million, as a charitable donation only reduces your taxable income; it doesn't mean your \"tax bill\" is reduced by that amount. 4. The Clinton Family Foundation is a separate entity from the Clinton Foundation. Inside Philanthropy describes the Clinton Family Foundation as \"a traditional private foundation that serves as the vehicle for the couple's personal charitable giving.\" It has neither staff nor offices. 5. According to Inside Philanthropy, the Clinton Family Foundation regularly disburses contributions to numerous different charities (one of which is, in fact, the Clinton Foundation). Digging into the Clinton Family Foundation's 2014 tax return reveals that they made around $3.8 million in grantmaking and held some $5.3 million in assets. Of total grantmaking in 2014, $1.8 million went to the Clinton Foundation, just under half of total giving. However, in 2013, the Clintons gave $1.8 million through their personal foundation, with only around a fifth of that money going to the Clinton Foundation, around the same share as in 2012. So where have all the other gifts gone? The short answer is to many different places. In 2014, the Clintons donated money to 70 nonprofits through their foundation. The picture looked similar the year before, with many grants falling in the range of $5,000 to $25,000. Recipients of the Clintons' generosity via the Clinton Family Foundation in 2014 ranged from the School of American Ballet to the Arkansas Children's Hospital Foundation to Wellesley College to the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity. The foundation's 2015 tax filing has not yet been made public, so we don't have an accounting of the organizations to which the $1 million contributed by the Clintons that year was disbursed. Regarding the apparent assumption that any monies donated to the Clinton Foundation simply end up in the Clintons' own pockets, we refer readers, once again, to Inside Philanthropy, which describes the actual work the foundation does, and to the charity rating service Charity Navigator, which gives the Clinton Foundation an overall score of 94.74 points out of 100 in terms of its financials, accountability, and transparency.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1mwFOiceNqLMYTW4wZUPk-7h-CRozEZrv","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_69","claim":"Today, if you were raised poor, youre just as likely to stay poor as you were 50 years ago.","posted":"01\/19\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"The newly installed House speaker, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., recently took toMediumto set the stage for a forum in Columbia, S.C., on Republican efforts to fight poverty. The forum, hosted by the Jack Kemp Foundation,drew six 2016 Republican presidential candidates former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, retired physician Ben Carson, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. In his Medium column, Ryan wrote that a new direction was needed on government anti-poverty efforts. Weve been fighting the War on Poverty for 50 years now, he wrote. And I dont think you can call it anything but a stalemate. The federal government has spent trillions of dollars. And yet today, if you were raised poor, youre just as likely to stay poor as you were 50 years ago. Im not saying we havent made progress. We have. But today we have a safety net that catches people falling into poverty. What we need is a safety net that lifts people out of poverty that helps them earn a good paycheck so they can support themselves. Here, well check Ryans statement that today, if you were raised poor, youre just as likely to stay poor as you were 50 years ago. When we asked Ryans staff for their evidence, they pointed us to an academic paper by Raj Chetty, Nathaniel Hendren, Patrick Kline, Emmanuel Saez and Nicholas Turner, Is the United States Still a Land of Opportunity? Recent Trends in Intergenerational Mobility from January 2014. Chetty and Hendren are at Harvard, Kline and Saez are at the University of California-Berkeley, and Turner was with the U.S. Treasury Department. The paper, based on extensive analysis of income and educational-attainment data, found that intergenerational mobility has remained extremely stable since the generation of Americans born in 1971. We find that children entering the labor market today have the same chances of moving up in the income distribution (relative to their parents) as children born in the 1970s, the authors wrote. When we asked one of the co-authors, Saez, whether Ryans summary left out anything important, he said no. Yes, this is broadly correct, Saez told PolitiFact. Saez said the paper shows the odds of staying in the bottom one-fifth of the income distribution when your parents were in the bottom one-fifth have stayed stable for the past four to five decades. The paper and Saez in the interview both noted one caveat  that the consequences of the pattern Ryan is citing have worse effects today because inequality has grown over the same period. Because inequality has risen, the paper notes, the consequences of the birth lottery  the parents to whom a child is born  are larger today than in the past. However, this caveat doesnt undermine Ryans point. If anything, it accentuates it. (We're also not penalizing Ryan for rounding up the study's length to 50 years.) Tara Sinclair, a George Washington University economist and chief economist at the jobs site Indeed, said the paper Ryan chose is a credible one within the profession. These are the authors I would turn to when looking at intergenerational mobility. Our ruling Ryan wrote that today, if you were raised poor, youre just as likely to stay poor as you were 50 years ago. His support for this claim  a respected academic paper published in 2014  found exactly what Ryan described. We rate the claim True.","issues":["National","Families","Income","Poverty"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_70","claim":"White House Increases","posted":"08\/11\/2011","sci_digest":["Chart shows raises given to White House staffers in 2010?"],"justification":"Claim:  Chart shows top 20 raises given to White House staffers in 2010. Example:  [Collected via e-mail, August 2011] Well here you go folks - outrageous salary increases at the WH.  Go Google and set your search parm to white house top 20 raises and you'll get everything you want to know about this article. What the heck does a Director of African-American Media do to get an 86% increase? Hang out over at Black Entertainment TV or maybe sit around and read Ebony? Remember in November Remember: no Cost of Living Adjustment for seniors for two years.  HMMM...17% to 86% RAISES IN SALARY FOR HIS WHITE HOUSE STAFF MEMBERS!!. NO WONDER WE CAN'T HAVE A COST OF LIVING INCREASE & HE WANTS TO NOW RAISE OUR TAXES ALSO. SOUNDS LIKE THE ADMINISTRATION IS REALLY LOOKING OUT FOR THE VOTERS, DOESN'T IT ????    Origins:  This graphic detailing the \"White House's Top 20 Raises\" (which actually includes 21 entries) originated as an accompaniment to a 6 July 2011 Gawker article entitled \"White House Staffers Got a Raise Last Year, And You Did Not.\"   graphic article The chart is accurate as far as it goes, but by itself it does not include the context that 19 of the 21 staffers listed also received new job titles, so the pay increases were not straight raises but came in tandem with promotions and\/or increased job responsibilities.  The Gawker article also noted that, because the number of paid staffers decreased from 466 in 2010 to 451 in 2011, the White House's salary budget actually dropped from $38.8 million to $37.1 million, and the average salary for staffers also dropped from $82,721 to $81,765 (about 65% above the median household income). Last updated:  11 August 2011    Fader, Carole.  \"White House Staff Got Pay Raises, But There's More to the Story.\"   Jacksonville.com.  7 August 2011.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1QxD05on16O-YME8cu6SNsaYZhiWST39y"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_71","claim":"Free Starbucks Gift Card Scam","posted":"10\/18\/2011","sci_digest":["Promises of free Starbucks gift cards to Facebook users are part of a long-running online scam."],"justification":"For years survey scams run on social media platforms have purported to offer free $50 or $100 Starbucks gift cards to those users who clicked particular links, then followed a set of instructions presented at the click-through destination page:   Those who went in search of the promised freebies were asked to click what appeared to be Facebook \"share\" buttons and post comments to the scammer's site. But following such instructions led users into a series of surveys they were instructed to complete (which typically involved providing a good deal of personal information and agreeing to buy several pricey products and\/or sign up for hefty subscriptions) before their gift cards could be sent to them. As always with such cons, there were no gift cards to be had. Users who clicked such links were usually taken to a \"survey\" rife with typographical errors, any combination of which would result in their purportedly winning a $50 gift card -- so long as the user liked, shared, and spread the link on Facebook:More information about this specific type of scam can be found here.  Users who clicked such links were usually taken to a \"survey\" rife with typographical errors, any combination of which would result in their purportedly winning a $50 gift card -- so long as the user liked, shared, and spread the link on Facebook:     More information about this specific type of scam can be found here. here","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=182as5J44e4Z-H4U7Hb7fjFAvzLuET2q1","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1kYuPmI7ZnVLM0f2lJQI5eq6s4GPIvb6N","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=14PZLcpXDLMuPee0bCvouppVoaas6ZiIN","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_72","claim":"Did the Nevada Gaming Commission Deny Trump a Casino License?","posted":"02\/29\/2016","sci_digest":["We were unable to substantiate a claim that Donald Trump was denied a license by the Nevada Gaming Commission because he was not \"trustworthy.\""],"justification":"Donald Trump, the politician, was a relatively new personality in 2016, as many people had already known him for years as a real estate mogul and reality television star. His longstanding presence in American pop culture made him an especially rich source of urban legends, misinformation, and memes. In February 2016, an image-based rumor claimed that Trump's Las Vegas hotel lacked a casino because the Nevada Gaming Commission had deemed Trump not \"trustworthy\" enough to qualify for one. We located one possible source for the claim in a 23 February 1987 New York Times article. According to the piece, which was nearly 30 years old, Trump had difficulty in the 1980s with attempts to expand his empire westward. The article stated, \"Last September, Mr. Trump bought a 4.9 percent stake in the Holiday Corporation, which operates casinos in Atlantic City and Nevada.\" He sold the stake at a $35 million profit in November and bought into Bally. Mr. Trump recently applied for a Nevada casino license, but Paul Bible, chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission at the time, said that Nevada regulators would look askance at any \"greenmailer\" who hurts casino companies operating in Nevada by acquiring large quantities of stock in order to sell the stake back to the company at a premium. Mr. Trump's sale of the Holiday shares was on the open market, after takeover rumors boosted the market price. In court papers filed for the Camden hearing, Mr. Trump's lawyers denied that their client had invested in Bally for the purpose of selling to the company at a premium. \"Mr. Trump has never been, and is not presently, a greenmailer or corporate raider,\" his counterclaim stated. Seventeen years later, Trump's activity in Vegas again made headlines. A February 2004 Las Vegas Review-Journal article included information about the Nevada Gaming Commission's view of Trump at the time: \"Trump and his companies, Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Inc. and the THCR Holding Corp., were required to be licensed by gaming regulators in Nevada after he purchased 358,000 shares of Riviera parent Riviera Holdings Corp.\" The purchase, made in or around early 2003, put Trump over a threshold requiring investigation and licensure by Nevada gaming regulators. Trump and the other officers of his companies were to appear at the Gaming Commission meeting in the capital on Feb. 19 for final approval. Gaming Control Board Chairman Dennis Neilander said the investigations of Trump and his executive team gave the board no need to ask any personal questions at the hearing. He called the applications \"very clean\" and said he was impressed with the backgrounds of some of Trump's personnel. Members of the control board asked Trump and his executives about problems with minors gaining entry to his New Jersey properties, but Chief Operating Officer Mark Brown said the company was making every effort to control the problem. Trump has talked for years about moving into the Las Vegas casino industry, but his expected licensing by the end of the month would make it much easier to put deals together. Later that month, the Associated Press reported that Trump was approved by Nevada state regulators to hold a stake in the Riviera hotel and casino. The Gaming Commission approved Trump and companies that he controls as part of a registration and suitability-finding process that would speed up any actual casino licensing in the future. Repeating his Feb. 4 comments to the commission's investigative arm, the Gaming Control Board, Trump said, \"It's an honor to be here.\" He stated that he had lost many deals in previous years because of a state licensing process that can take more than a year. Trump paid about $2 million for shares in Riviera Holdings Corp., which put him barely over a 10 percent threshold subjecting investors to investigation and licensure by casino regulators. The move was designed to start the state licensing process, Trump said, adding that he had little contact with Riviera executives and didn't intend to expand on his involvement with the property. Asked about his building plans, Trump said he favored a project such as his Trump towers in Manhattan, Chicago, and elsewhere. There's \"not a great chance\" that it would include New Frontier owner Phil Ruffin of Las Vegas, he added. Trump's television career and presidential bid probably disrupted any potential ventures in Nevada between 2004 and 2016, but on 25 February 2016, an article in the Wall Street Journal speculated that Trump was revisiting possibilities in Vegas. Las Vegas casino owner Phil Ruffin said in an interview that he hoped to build a casino with Mr. Trump next to the luxury high-rise Trump Hotel, which the two co-own on the Strip. He mentioned that the plans were still very preliminary, but he expected to accelerate them that year, with the Trump Organization as a 50% owner. There were still no architectural renderings, land surveys, or other concrete proposals, he added. Eric Trump said in an interview that various possible expansion plans had been discussed, including the casino and a new convention space. Nothing had been solidified, he said, adding that the family was focused on other matters, including the elder Mr. Trump's presidential campaign and developing hotels elsewhere. The proposed casino would be on a four-acre parcel next to the Trump Hotel, which Mr. Ruffin and Donald Trump opened in 2008 on land that Mr. Ruffin owned. The site is currently a parking lot for the hotel; Mr. Ruffin said the casino would be connected to the existing hotel. Mr. Ruffin mentioned that he was contemplating a $100 million casino, with the Trumps as 50% partners. He also stated it was unclear if Mr. Trump or his family members would need to undergo the rigorous process of securing a license from the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Mr. Trump owned casinos in Atlantic City for decades but never had any gambling interests in Nevada. We were unable to locate any information to substantiate the claim that Trump was ever denied a gaming license or that his Las Vegas hotel was originally planned as a casino. It is true that Trump engaged in legal battles in the 1980s around buying casino stock. However, in 2004, Trump was approved for the initial stages of casino-based development, and there was no indication he was ever declined a Nevada Gaming Commission license based on whether he was \"trustworthy.\" On 2 March 2016, the Nevada Gaming Commission replied to our inquiry, stating that \"Donald Trump was licensed by the Nevada Gaming Commission in February 2004.\"","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=13U8UqMp1v59NFh5y4Z486a_oKcT1e9fq","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_73","claim":"Ivana Trump was laid to rest at the Trump National Golf Club.","posted":"08\/01\/2022","sci_digest":["Rumors abound about the New Jersey gravesite of former U.S. President Donald Trump's first wife."],"justification":"Former U.S. President Donald Trump's first wife, Ivana Trump, was laid to rest at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, according to media reports and photographs taken of the site. New York Post reporters visited the golf club and photographed Ivana Trump's grave. Their report included several shots from different angles, including one revealing a wooded area near the site. A source told the New York Post that Ivana was buried not too far from the clubhouse. According to the report, she was buried in a location that was not visible to golfers as they tee off for a round of golf. The small section of the club where she was buried is located behind the first tee. A number of memes consisting of edited versions of those photographs went viral in late July 2022, with one in particular receiving tens of thousands of likes and comments on Instagram. The image posted by the Instagram account homegrownterrorists showed a golf cart rolling past what appeared to be Ivana Trump's gravesite. It's clear that this photograph is fake when compared to the pictures published in the New York Post article. The gravesite has been inserted into a wider shot of a golf cart on a golf course fairway. Unlike the Post's photographs, the manipulated image does not show a wooded area immediately adjacent to the grave. A separate rumor speculates that Trump used the burial site for tax break purposes. Indeed, the New Jersey tax code exempts cemetery land from all taxes, rates, and assessments. Potentially, her grave could save the property from paying a significant sum in a state with high tax rates. According to the code, a cemetery company is exempt from paying real property taxes, income taxes, sales and use taxes, business taxes, and inheritance taxes; cemetery trust funds are also exempt from taxes. Trump has expressed his desire to be buried at the New Jersey golf course for years. His company even described it as his favorite property in a 2014 filing with the state. A 2017 Washington Post report revealed how he had been trying to convince local authorities to let him build cemeteries at the golf course since 2007. After numerous attempts, two of his plans were approved around 2017, but construction for them had not begun. The 2017 report stated that the Trump Organization still needed to apply for state approval to make the land a public cemetery. However, Ivana Trump is the first known family member to be buried at the Bedminster golf club. Brooke Harrington, a sociology professor at Dartmouth and tax researcher, pointed out that the tax code has no stipulation for a minimum number of human remains needed for the tax breaks to apply. Documents published by ProPublica show that the Trump Family Trust had sought to designate a property in nearby Hackettstown, New Jersey, as a non-profit cemetery company. However, this was not the first time Trump had been accused of trying to reduce his taxes on the property by varying its use. A 2016 Wall Street Journal report found that the golf club benefited from a farmland tax break because part of the land was designated for agricultural purposes, specifically for hay production and a small herd of goats. The Huffington Post reported in 2019 that he had saved around $88,000 that year. New Jersey laws state that a landowner must have no less than five acres of farmland actively devoted to agricultural or horticultural use for the two years immediately preceding the tax year being applied for and must meet specific minimum gross income requirements based on the productivity of the land. A representative for the Trump Organization told Fortune magazine that the links being drawn between Ivana Trump's gravesite and tax laws were truly evil. While it is unknown if the choice of this location for her grave had any connection to taxes, the Trump family has a history of seeking ways to reduce tax bills. Furthermore, given the photographs and an acknowledgment from a Trump representative regarding the location of her grave while denying the rumors connecting it to tax laws, we rate the overall claim as true.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1zq2NdRJgIWeB93U9K-I6GbmNOfZ-vIGO"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_74","claim":"Is Disney Hiring for Remote, Entry-Level Jobs in Data Entry, Customer Service?","posted":"12\/13\/2023","sci_digest":["According to online ads, employees would enjoy \"free theme park tickets,\" too."],"justification":"On Dec. 13, 2023, we researched online advertisements that were displayed on YouTube and other websites that claimed Disney was hiring remote workers to fill various data-entry job roles. The ads showed the Disney logo and two small castles. The text in the ads specified that there was \"no experience necessary\" and that the work-from-home (WFH) positions would pay up to $23 per hour.  Another similar ad showed the Disney logo with a picture of the Pixar Pal-A-Round ferris wheel at the Disney California Adventure theme park. The ad promised remote customer-service jobs with Disney and said that selected candidates would start at a pay rate of $18 per hour. In red lettering, the ad also promised free theme park tickets.  We found several additional iterations of these same sorts of ads. All of them mentioned Disney and lower-paying jobs that could be done from home. However, as we noted above with our fact-check rating, the ads were false. We found no evidence that Disney was hiring for remote positions for data entry or customer service, nor did we find other entry-level roles that would come with free theme park tickets. As of mid-December 2023, a search of Disney's careers website showed 920 total job listings. Only three of the 920 positions were specified as being remote and were listings for a designer, an animator and an engineer. website These sorts of misleading job ads have been displayed online throughout 2023. They have all led to several different websites. As of December 2023, the same advertiser displaying the Disney job ads was also paying to display ads that claimed Amazon was hiring delivery drivers with a \"$3,000 sign-on bonus,\" according to the Google Ads Transparency Center website (archived). We were unable to find a way to contact the advertiser to ask about the ads. website archived Some ads from the same advertiser also said that Delta Air Lines was hiring for for remote job openings that would include \"free flights for employees.\" Another one claimed that Netflix was hiring for remote customer-service jobs that would come with a free streaming subscription, free lunches and free insurance. None of these ads led to the jobs that had been described. A search for more information about the ads led us to several online complaints about their misleading nature, including posts on Reddit, X and Google's Gmail Help community. Some of the posts made claims that the ads involved phishing scams and malware. We were unable to confirm these claims. Reddit X Google's Gmail Help community While the purpose of the ads was not completely clear, we did notice that some of the purported job board websites that the ads eventually redirected to would ask users if they agreed to be contacted via phone calls, text messages and emails by over 170 of what were called \"marketing partners.\" In other words, the goal of the clickbait ads about various nonexistent job roles may have been primarily about creating a way for one or more people (e.g., the advertiser on Google) to receive some sort of affiliate-marketing (or other kind of) commission based upon misleading online users from the get-go. This story will be updated if we receive more details. @KC6UFM. X, 11 Dec. 2023, https:\/\/twitter.com\/KC6UFM\/status\/1734348051177976104. Transparency Center. Google Ads, https:\/\/adstransparency.google.com\/. u\/Chaomayhem. Its a Travesty That Google Clearly Doesnt Care about the Quality of Ads Run on YouTube. r\/marketing via Reddit.com, 7 Sept. 2023, https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/marketing\/comments\/16ck905\/its_a_travesty_that_google_clearly_doesnt_care\/. User 13516083175457701794. There Are Ads That Google Keeps Promoting and Showing to Me That Are PHISHING SCAMS. - Gmail Community. Gmail Help via Google Support, 30 Apr. 2023, https:\/\/support.google.com\/mail\/thread\/213536488\/there-are-ads-that-google-keeps-promoting-and-showing-to-me-that-are-phishing-scams. Working at Disney. Jobs and Careers at Disney, https:\/\/jobs.disneycareers.com\/.","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1EACEBVVnvjYUlwsvyJQwnoeFgmjI4poJ","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Dy6LaJ0cRad-utgmblQn8KPLJ-DHianN","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_75","claim":"Is the United States' Global Trade Deficit Really $800 Billion?","posted":"03\/09\/2018","sci_digest":["President Donald Trump's statements on the subject leave out the country's $244 billion services surplus."],"justification":"On 8 March 2018, President Donald Trump repeated an often-derided claim regarding the U.S. trade deficit during a press conference at the White House. The president stated that the country currently has a global trade deficit of $800 billion, a statement he has reportedly made more than 50 times since 2015. The remark at the press conference came one day after he reiterated the claim on his Twitter account. However, as news outlets have pointed out, that figure overlooks the fact that the U.S. has a trade surplus. A report released by the Commerce Department shows that the actual deficit is $566 billion. The report indicated that the 2017 increase in the goods and services deficit reflected an increase in the goods deficit of $57.5 billion, or 7.6 percent, to $810.0 billion, and a decrease in the services surplus of $3.7 billion, or 1.5 percent, to $244.0 billion. A report published by the White House in February 2018 stated that the U.S. economy has become more dependent on trade involving \"private service-producing industries\" such as engineering, travel, and finance, among others. Travel (including that for educational purposes) has constituted the largest share of U.S. services exports. Services trade between countries has continued to grow, given declining travel costs, improvements in telecommunications, and growth in online services that allow, for example, computer coding to take place in remote locations. This enables the United States to export high-skilled services to other countries that do not share our expertise and training advantages. Focusing solely on the trade of tangible goods, the report added, ignores the country's \"comparative advantage\" in service-related trade. Trump reiterated his misleading claim on the same day he officially imposed tariffs of 25 percent and 10 percent on steel and aluminum, respectively. Mexico and Canada, the country's partners in the North American Free Trade Agreement, are exempt from those tariffs, and other countries will be allowed to petition for separate exemptions. The president's plan to impose the tariffs led to the resignation of White House chief economic advisor Gary Cohn on 6 March 2018. The Trump administration stated that the tariffs will take effect on 23 March 2018.","issues":["finance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Lg6hS0PZw5Uh7-sZsLxxlQJ43UcAGzgw","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_76","claim":"Says he cut taxes by more than $600 million when he wasgovernor.","posted":"03\/09\/2012","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Republican senate candidate George Allen says he has the will and experience to bring tax relief to Virginia families.When I was elected Governor, we had an audacious agenda that naysayers said couldnt be enacted with a Democrat majority in the state legislature, Allen said in a Feb. 23 guest column forInsideNova.com. However, we worked across party lines and enacted historic reforms. Working together, we cut taxes by more than $600 million...Well stipulate that Allen, who was governor from 1994 to 1998, did convince a Democrat-controlled legislature to pass major reforms to welfare, criminal sentencing and juvenile justice. But his claim of cutting taxes by $600 million, which Allen first made in his farewell address to the General Assembly at the end of his term, has gone largely unexamined.Until now.We asked Dan Allen, a spokesman for the Allen campaign, for proof. He sent us a list of more than a dozen bills and budget changes that occurred on George Allens watch as governor. We scoured economic impact statements for those pieces of legislation and searched newspaper archives to find monetary values for each item.Three of the biggest tax cuts were approved in 1994. *A Social Security income tax deduction for self-employed Virginians valued at $162.1 million over six years, according to a 1997 estimate of the Finance Department. The measure was introduced by previous Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, a Democrat, in his farewell budget. *A tax cut for senior citizens that the Finance Department valued at $215.7 million over six years. The action was tied to a settlement after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Virginia policy of taxing the pensions of federal retirees but not of state government retirees. The high court ruled the groups had to be treated equally. *A tax cut on the tangible assets of corporations worth $104.3 million over four years. The program was originally passed under Gov. Gerald L. Baliles in 1988 and slated to last for eight years. It was suspended for two years in 1992 under Wilder, who was battling a poor economy. Wilder, in his 1994 farewell budget, urged resuming the tax cut for the final four years and Allen, who came to office that January, agreed.Those three cuts add up to $482.1 million.In 1997, Allen signed a bill giving self-employed Virginians a break on unemployment insurance taxes that was worth $137 million over four years, according to the Finance Department document.The campaign also sent us a list of smaller tax cuts that passed when Allen was governor. We found their value by researching impact statements that were prepared at the time by the Department of Planning and Budget. Heres the list:*Major Business Facility Jobs Tax Credit, 1994, worth $2.1 million over two years. *Coal Employment Enhancement Credits, 1995, totaling $33.2 million over two years. *Enterprise Zones, 1995, worth $2.8 million over two years. *Film Production Tax Exemption, 1995, worth $571,000 in two years. *Military Tax Relief, 1996, worth $600,000 in two years. *Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit, 1996, totaling $1.25 million in two years. *Space Flight and Space Launch Activities, 1997, worth $1.35 million annually. *Worker Retraining Tax Credit, 1997, worth $2.1 million in one year. *Virginia Coal Employment and Production Incentive Tax Credit, 1997, worth $13 million over two year.The list from Allen also included the BPOL tax cut on the earnings of businesses. The local tax was estimated to generate $300 million annually. The legislation allowed varying tax reductions depending on the size cities and counties.We were unable to find a value for the BPOL cut and the Allen campaign didnt have one. Dan Allen did not include this reduction in his $600 million calculation. Localities had their own flexibility on this, so it would be hard to quantify, he said.They also didnt include tax cut proposals from George Allens farewell budget in 1998, which news reports valued at $350 million. The major one, approved by the General Assembly, was setting aside $260 million to phase in the first two years of a car tax cut promised by incoming Gov. Jim Gilmore, a Republican.We should note that Allen also proposed a massive $2.1 billion package of tax cuts in 1995 that was opposed by the business community and defeated by Democrats in the General Assembly. And despite Allens tax cutting efforts,state spending roseat an average level for Virginia governors during Allens term.Our ruling:George Allen said more than $600 million in taxes were cut during his governorship.We came up with $676.1 million in cuts, although we should point out that some of these reductions took place over six years. Allen, however, never qualified the time period for the tax cuts. And he arguably could have added other reductions to his list.We rate his statement True.","issues":["State Budget","Taxes","Virginia"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_77","claim":"Pic Shows Humanlike Bones in Gray Whale's Front Fins?","posted":"09\/07\/2023","sci_digest":["\"Them whales evolving into humanoids,\" one social media user commented on the viral pic."],"justification":"For several years an image allegedly depicting a \"front fin bones of a Grey whale\" circulated on social media platforms such as Reddit, 9GAG, Facebook, and X, formerly known as Twitter, reaching (at least) hundreds of thousand of views. Reddit 9GAG Facebook X ? Whales have arm, wrist & finger bones in their front fins. This is the front fin bones of a Grey whale.byu\/Browndog888 inNatureIsFuckingLit ? Whales have arm, wrist & finger bones in their front fins. This is the front fin bones of a Grey whale. u\/Browndog888 NatureIsFuckingLit  The copied-and-pasted description of the viral image read \"Whales have arm, wrist & finger bones in their front fins. This is the front fin bones of a Grey whale.\" We tracked down the source of the image. TinEye and Google reverse-image search results indicated that the image has been shared online at least since 2017.When we investigated further, we found out that the photo was authentic and it dated back to February 15, 2017. The image was shared on various Chinese-languagenewswebsites and in numerous social media posts. TinEye Google various Chinese-language websites posts Bone of whale's fin, spine section & teeth. Good proof that humans evolve from marine lives https:\/\/t.co\/eQwqFioBL6 pic.twitter.com\/5HoI2ISNd9 https:\/\/t.co\/eQwqFioBL6 pic.twitter.com\/5HoI2ISNd9  China Xinhua News (@XHNews) February 15, 2017 February 15, 2017  Xinhua News Agency, an official state news agency of the People's Republic of China, andChina Central Television(CCTV) were among the first to share the picture of this seemingly unlikely discovery. \"Bone of whale's fin, spine section & teeth. Good proof that humans evolve from marine lives,\" the X caption of Xinhua News Agency's post read. However, the in-question photo did not show the fin of a gray whale, but rather that of a sperm whale. The CCTV post with the image in question read: Xinhua News Agency China Central Television Two sperm whales became stranded near the Yangkou Port in Rudong County, East China's Jiangsu Province on Feb. 14, 2016, and they were later made into specimens in Shanghai and Dalian. Now, one specimen has returned to the port for exhibition. A 2018 research paper with the title \"The myodural bridges' existence in the sperm whale\" referenced the 2016 incident, as the whale was shared by Chinese authorities for the purpose ofscientific research: research paper A 15.1-meter long sperm whale was acquired opportunistically examined in this study from stranding with the permission of Chinese Authorities for Animal Protection. It died naturally in the beache of Nantong (Jiangsu province, China). The cadaver was permitted for scientific research under the approval of the Ethics Committee of Dalian Medical University. Some social media users were surprised that whales' bones had a so humanlike appearance. American Museum of Natural History explained that \"the sperm whale's flippers, or pectoral fins, help the animal maneuver through water.\" explained   (American Museum of Natural History) Moreover, the museum underscored that the sperm whale's bone structure is similar to human bones: They also share bone structure with the human arm and hand.In fact, the bones of cetacean flippers are the same kinds of bones as in the human arm, with an upper arm bone, two forearm bones, and hand, wrist, and finger bones. In whales, fingers are elongated and may have additional bones. The joint between upper arm and forearm is immobile, creating an effective paddle. Whales Online, a magazine published by the Group for Research and Education on Marine Mammals (GREMM), published an articlereferring to the whales' front limbs (emphasis ours): article The front limbs of whales' land-roaming ancestors grew much shorter and transformed into pectoral fins. The bones are no longer articulated and do not allow for any movement. The only point of articulation is the shoulder. These fins serve both as a stabilizer and a rudder. Five digits for toothed whales and right whales, four for rorquals: some are very long, with many more phalanges than in land mammals. The bones of the hand are embedded in a fibrous, rigid and resistant tissue and do not appear at the surface of the skin. And here's what the whale's full skeleton looks like: looks like   (baleinesendirect.org screenshot) Facebook. https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cctvcom\/posts\/sperm-whale-specimen-transported-back-to-porttwo-sperm-whales-became-stranded-ne\/10155111753959759\/. Accessed 7 Sept. 2023. \"https:\/\/Twitter.Com\/XHNews\/Status\/831759371986153472.\" X (Formerly Twitter), https:\/\/twitter.com\/XHNews\/status\/831759371986153472. Accessed 7 Sept. 2023. Liu, Pei, et al. \"The Myodural Bridges' Existence in the Sperm Whale.\" PLoS ONE, vol. 13, no. 7, July 2018, p. e0200260. PubMed Central, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0200260. \"Skeleton.\" Baleines En Direct, https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/discover\/life-of-whales\/morphology\/skeleton\/. Accessed 7 Sept. 2023.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1x5EMsl2Pv-Ko-wEORuXKQl_yVwlup1iM","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1zAlYUvbOzQsh2hfd6GJrsyfq4MbdyMt-","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_78","claim":"H-E-B $80 Coupon Scam","posted":"07\/08\/2019","sci_digest":["A free $80 H-E-B grocery coupon Facebook offer is just another version of the ubiquitous survey scam."],"justification":"In July 2019, Facebook users began seeing posts advertising an $80 coupon offer for the H-E-B supermarket chain. These posts were the latest iteration of the common \"free coupon\" or \"free gift card\" scams that frequently plague social media. The fraudulent social media posts falsely proclaimed that the distribution of H-E-B coupons was in honor of the store's 50th anniversary (\"H-E-B is giving a free $80 coupon per family to celebrate its 50th anniversary!\"), although the chain was founded in 1905 and is thus approaching its 114th anniversary. Those postings also linked to sites (such as www.heb.com-jul.com) that were not actually affiliated with the chain. These fake coupon offers are a form of survey scam that typically instructs shoppers to follow \"three simple steps\" in order to get a free gift card. Once the steps are completed, however, users are not greeted with a coupon code; instead, they are asked to fill out a survey and provide personal information such as home address, telephone number, email address, and date of birth. Users are also required to sign up for credit cards or enroll in subscription programs to obtain their \"free\" gift cards. These fraudulent surveys are quite popular on Facebook. If you frequently use Facebook, there is a good chance that you'll run into one of these survey scams again. A July 2014 article from the Better Business Bureau listed key factors for identifying fraudulent Facebook posts: \"Don't believe what you see. It's easy to steal the colors, logos, and header of an established organization.\" Scammers can also make links look like they lead to legitimate websites and emails appear to come from a different sender. Legitimate businesses do not ask for credit card numbers or banking information on customer surveys. If they do ask for personal information, like an address or email, be sure there's a link to their privacy policy. When in doubt, do a quick web search. If the survey is a scam, you may find alerts or complaints from other consumers. The organization's real website may have further information. Watch out for a reward that's too good to be true. If the survey is real, you may be entered in a drawing to win a gift card or receive a small discount off your next purchase. Few businesses can afford to give away $50 gift cards for completing a few questions. H-E-B offers their genuine digital coupons to shoppers at https:\/\/www.heb.com\/static-page\/coupons.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1J2VnXPsKSof98YDJgEM3J9Tsji4epZzD","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_79","claim":"Donald Trump gave financial contributions to NAMBLA.","posted":"08\/09\/2016","sci_digest":["The claim that Trump is a member of the North American Man\/Boy Love Association is the result of a bot programmed by Reddit pranksters."],"justification":"In August 2016, at the height of the presidential campaign, a Reddit user programmed a robot to respond to any mention of the words \"tax return\" with a comment insinuating that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump refuses to release his tax returns because he has donated millions of dollars to an organization that promotes pederasty. The bot, called AutoModerator, responds to every comment in the subreddit EnoughTrumpSpam with the phrase: \"Speaking of tax returns, did you hear Donald Trump is refusing to release them because he has donated to NAMBLA? That's what all the best sources, the most tremendous sources are saying, and if they're all saying that Donald Trump donated to NAMBLA, well, I can see why he would want to cover up his donations to NAMBLA. I'm not claiming that Donald Trump donates to NAMBLA, but that's what these excellent sources are alleging.\" The phrase is accompanied by a disclaimer that it was generated by a bot. However, that hasn't stopped the oblique accusation that Trump may be a member of the North American Man\/Boy Love Association from circulating on the Internet: \"Also, @seanhannity? Look into this disgusting Trump\/NAMBLA nonsense. So gross how the left lies. Trump. NAMBLA. Say that every night.\" A Reddit user who calls himself J. Peterman, possibly a reference to a character on the television sitcom Seinfeld, said he created the bot to mock Trump for his habit of making claims that he attributes to nameless \"people.\" He explained, \"I created it by taking advantage of an existing bot, \/u\/automoderator, made available for all moderators to use to automate certain tasks, and you can make custom code for the subreddit's configuration of AutoModerator. I did that and made it reply to the trigger word 'tax returns' with the copy\/paste you see.\" For example, in June 2016, Trump hinted that President Barack Obama may have had a connection to the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, saying, \"People cannot, they cannot believe that President Obama is acting the way he acts and can't even mention the words 'radical Islamic terrorism.' There's something going on. It's inconceivable. There's something going on... He doesn't get it or he gets it better than anybody understands\u2014it's one or the other, and either one is unacceptable.\" A Reddit moderator who goes by \"Faiz\" and claims to have helped launch the bot told us that he believes it turns Trump's own manner of generating suspicions against his opponents back on him: \"We didn't expect it to take off like this, but the community effort on EnoughTrumpSpam really helped it go viral. The joke spread off Reddit and began confusing people so much that some news outlets even began picking the story up. I think its success is, in a way, emblematic of the way Trump spreads lies and gets people to believe them by constantly repeating them.\" A random user originally posted the block of text, and it became instantly popular on Reddit. \"We all loved it because of how much it imitated Trump's style of making unsubstantiated accusations. You really can't tell the difference between some of the text in the meme and some things Trump wrote during Obama's birther conspiracy. As for why Trump, we picked it up mostly because, as suggested by the name (EnoughTrumpSpam), we are an anti-Trump community and we found this to be a perfect foil to highlight the way Trump spreads conspiracy theories.\" J. Peterman said he was taken aback by how much attention the bot generated. The prank seems to have caught fire, with someone creating a fake Fox News page titled \"NAMBLA neither confirms nor denies Trump's donation allegations.\" \"Now that it's taken off, I'm quite surprised. I'm surprised by how much press attention the bot's coding has garnered as well as the meme in general. I cannot take credit for creating the meme; that was around for a week or so before I did the bot, and it was everyone else who kept the meme going.\" Faiz, the moderator, said he hopes that the prank goes far enough that Trump's campaign is forced to respond to it. \"The ultimate coup de gr\u00e2ce,\" he told the Daily Beast, \"would be if it forces Trump to do something he has adamantly refused to do: release his tax returns.\" The only logical conclusion would really be Trump releasing his tax returns, but he would never do that because he's hiding donations to NAMBLA, Faiz told the Daily Beast. \"That's what I've heard from some very smart people anyway.\" It's worth noting that even if the story were true, NAMBLA is not a nonprofit organization, and so donations to the group would not show up on Trump's tax returns.","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1XGS0NAq6peHFcJ1uoec4GX8fII-tm4uy"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_80","claim":"Chicken Votes for Colonel Sanders","posted":"07\/20\/2008","sci_digest":["Businesses post 'A taxpayer voting for Barack Obama is like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders' signs?"],"justification":"Claim:  Photographs show businesses that posted \"A taxpayer voting for Barack Obama is like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders\" signs. Example:  [Collected via e-mail, July 2008]  Origins:  Skewering a political candidate with an apropos comment is a time-honored way of making a point. Of late, we're seeing this tradition expand into the online world of blogs and message boards but also into the offline world via signage on businesses. The sign pictured above was displayed outside the Mandeville, Louisiana, office of State Farm Insurance agent Bud Gregg.  The sign actually bore different legends on each side, one side displaying the \"chicken\" message shown above and the other side referencing an apocryphal quote attributed to Senator Obama about his hoping to change \"the greatest nation in the history of the world\": change  A State Farm representative said that Bud Gregg's office sign bore these messages until 3 July 2008 and that the company had requested the sign be removed as soon as they became aware of it because the sign was inconsistent with State Farm's policy of not endorsing candidates or taking sides in political campaigns. Both signs are reminiscent of the KFC offering lampooning Senator Hillary Clinton. KFC offering However, although this particular insurance vendor posted the \"like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders\" billboard, he most certainly wasn't the first to get off this zinger. That withering assessment has been leveled at numerous U.S. and Canadian politicians over the years: [Moseley, October 2004] If you are on Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid, a baby-boomer, unemployed, a minority, parent with school-aged children, a college student, without medical insurance, balancing your personal budget, not a CEO, purchasing gasoline, wanting clean air and water, a 401-K owner or earn less than $200,000 per year, then voting for George Bush is like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders.  [Carville, January 2003] The previous highest-ranking black official was Mr. JC Watts from Oklahoma. Do you know what his own father said? A black person voting for a Republican would be like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders.  [Charleston Daily Mail, October 1996] Any hardworking person who votes Republican is like the chicken voting for Colonel Sanders.  [Rogers, March 1996] When workers voted for Mike Harris [Premier of Ontario, 1995-2002], it was like the chickens voting for Colonel Sanders.  [United Press International, October 1984] A working man voting for Reagan is like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders.  [Waters, November 1982] For all that, Brinkley got off the evening's snappiest line: \"Auto workers voting for Republicans this year are like chickens voting for Colonel Sanders.\"  [Feinstein, October 1982] [Michael] Barnes told the gathering of about 150 union leaders and members that \"for a working man or woman in this country to vote Republican in 1982 would be a like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders.\"  [Sheppard, October 1978] Mr. [Steven] Langdon [NDP candidate in Ottawa Centre riding] told an audience that for Ottawa Centre to vote Tory [Progressive Conservative] is like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders. One of Bud Gregg's messages inspired a realtor in Texas to post the same sentiment on a sign outside his business:  Bob Costilow, the owner of Bob Costilow Realtors in Nederland, Texas, said he was appalled by the capital gains tax portion of Senator Obama's tax plan. \"I saw it (i.e., the \"chicken\" saying) in an e-mail on a sign put up by a State Farm agent in Mandeville, Louisiana,\" he said. \"I loved it. I have gotten some calls about it, and some of them were even congratulatory in nature.\" Barbara \"inspiration point\" Mikkelson Update:   An e-mail circulated in October 2008 falsely claimed that we contacted neither Bud Gregg nor State Farm about this subject.  FactCheck.org has verified that the e-mail was false. Update:   An e-mail circulated in October 2008 falsely claimed that we contacted neither Bud Gregg nor State Farm about this subject.  FactCheck.org has verified that the e-mail was false. verified Last updated:  10 April 2009    Feinstein, John.  \"Mondale Is Democrats' Heavy Artillery in Md.\"   The Washington Post.  20 October 1982  (p. A20).    Ferraro, Thomas.  \"Washington News.\"   United Press International.  11 October 1984.    Hayes, Greg.  \"Realtor's Expression of Political Opinion Doesn't Set Well with Passerby.\"   Beaumont Enterprise.  17 July 2008.    Heathcock, Jennifer.  \"Political Message Strikes Chord with Some Southeast Texans.\"   KFDM-TV [Beaumont, TX].  23 July 2008.    Kotz, Pete.  \"The Enemy Within.\"   Cleveland Scene.  3 March 2004.    Moseley, Don.  \"Letter: Vote for Colonel Sanders.\"   Farmington Daily Times.  26 October 2004  (p. A9).    Rogers, Linda.  \"Stop Tearing Each Other Down.\"   The Toronto Star.  8 March 1996  (p. A20).    Sheppard, Robert.  \"Anti-Liberal Feelings Haunt Mackasey.\"   The Globe and Mail.  7 October 1978.    Waters, Harry.  \"Winning the Viewers' Votes.\"   Newsweek.  15 November 1982  (p. 55).    Charleston Daily Mail.  \"Readers' Vent Line.\"   11 October 1996  (p. D5).","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1FTIx9IWzM3YgC5ZNdJiZsp0xCCIDwrTJ","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1fcHUqVlZMmgqUNiWJrjBkyNj-hguYki5","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1F02VQAo0PBKTM24xyDLgArD3Ft_xKCcU","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_81","claim":"Colonel Sanders Left Money to the KKK?","posted":"06\/22\/2000","sci_digest":["Did Colonel Sanders' will direct KFC to give money to the KKK?"],"justification":"Claim:  Colonel Sanders left instructions requiring KFC to donate money to the Ku Klux Klan or feed the homeless for free.  Examples:  [Collected via e-mail, 2000] I heard today that Colonel Sanders' will devotes 10% of KFC's yearly profits to the Ku Klux Klan. Since it's a legal document this is unbreakable!  [Collected via e-mail, 2000] My brother swears that Colonel Sanders of KFC fame, bequested in his will over a million dollars to the KKK.  [Collected via e-mail, 2005] I heard that the name [of Kentucky Fried Chicken] was changed because KFC didn't want to give out a free meal to a hungry person seeking some help. Supposedly, somewhere back in time, the Colonel had put a preposition in his business statement that Kentucky Fried chicken would supply any broke hungry person with a meal free of charge per day if they asked. Someone had read or heard this and demanded it, and sued them. Once word had gotten out, they would be subject to the masses doing the same thing, so they changed their name to KFC  that's the way I heard it ...  [Collected via e-mail, 2006] I heard a rumor that the Colonel from Kentucky Fried Chicken had a policy to serve any homeless person that entered his restaurants who was hungry and had no money. Once he passed away the new executives allegedly changed the name to \"KFC\" so they could do away with that policy. Origins:  One of the curiosities of urban legendry is that nearly every founder of a fast food chain who is publicly identifiable by virtue of having appeared in his company's advertisements has become the subject of rumors associating him (and his company) with some of the most publicly vilified groups society has to offer, such as satan worshippers and the KKK.  Such rumors have dogged, at   one time or another, Ray Kroc of McDonald's, Carl Karcher of Carl's Jr., Dave Thomas of Wendy's, and Harland Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken.    Why this class of legend has been so assiduously linked to the fast food industry is something we haven't yet fathomed: fast food founders don't seem to be, as a group, of any particular religious, geographic, or political affiliation.  And the specific linking of Kentucky Fried Chicken's founder, Harland Sanders, with the Ku Klux Klan doesn't seem to have any basis in fact, other than a vague, naive assumption that a businessman who epitomized the popular image of a 19th century Southern gentleman  a distinguished, elderly man with white hair, moustache, and goatee who wore white suits and black ties, posed with a cane, and affected the honorary  title of \"Colonel\"  must be a Klan sympathizer. What rumors such as the claim that \"Colonel Sanders' will devotes 10% of KFC's yearly profits to the Ku Klux Klan\" reflect is the misperception that Harland David Sanders owned KFC until the day he died.  In fact, Sanders sold his interest in Kentucky Fried Chicken long before his death,  agreeing in 1964 to a $2 million buyout of his U.S. operations by a group of investors (who took the company public a few years later) and turning his entire holdings in the company's Canadian franchises over to charity in 1965, so even if Sanders' will had contained a \"KKK donation\" bequest (which it didn't), it wouldn't have been legally enforceable.  Sanders did continue to serve as KFC's spokesperson and appear in their advertising for many years after the 1964 sale, a participation that undoubtedly led many consumers to believe that he was active in the chain's ownership and management until he finally passed away in 1980. Ditto for the claim that Kentucky Fried Chicken was legally required to provide free meals to the homeless until it cleverly ducked the responsibility by changing its name to \"KFC.\"  Although Sanders did give away a good deal of money during his lifetime and may occasionally have taken pity on some down-and-out types and offered them food at no charge, he neither left any mandate obligating the Kentucky Fried Chicken company to engage in the practice nor had any standing to do so.  And, in any case, the company couldn't have evaded that imperative simply by changing its name.  (Imagine what a shambles the business world would be if people and businesses could discharge debts and other legal obligations merely by filing some change of name documents!)  As we document in another KFC-related article, Kentucky Fried Chicken changed its corporate name to KFC in 1991 for several reasons, foremost among them that increasingly health-conscious consumers were becoming wary of foods advertised as \"fried.\" article Upon his death in 1980, Harland Sanders left behind an estate that was smaller than expected and a will that contained no unusual provisions: The late Col. Harland Sanders, the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken who donated millions to charity, left an estate of less than $1.5 million, according to his will. Most of the estate will go into a trust, with Citizens Fidelity Bank and Trust Co. as executor and trustee, according to documents filed in Shelby County District Court. Sanders, who died Dec. 16 [1980] at 90, made four individual bequests in addition to the money he put in trust, [Kentucky Fried Chicken spokesman John] Cox said. He left a watch to one grandson and a Masonic ring to another grandson. He left $2,000 to Louis Broadus of Richmond, Ky., a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise holder and friend, Cox said, and $5,000 to Harland Williams of Nashville, the son of a longtime friend. Cox said Sanders' estate may be far less than $1.5 million, since $1,187,557 is an estimate of \"property of unknown value\" such as notes and accounts receivable. Last updated:  26 December 2010    Darden, Robert.  Secret Recipe: Why KFC Is Still Cookin' After 50 Years.   Irving, TX: Tapestry Press, 2002.  ISBN 1-930819-12-9  (p. 86). Secret Recipe: Why KFC Is Still Cookin' After 50 Years    de Vos, Gail.  Tales, Rumors and Gossip.   Englewood: Libraries Unlimited, 1996.  ISBN 1-56308-190-3  (p. 140). Tales, Rumors and Gossip    Turner, Patricia.  I Heard It Through the Grapevine.   Berkeley, CA: Univ. of California, 1993.   ISBN 0-520-08185-4  (pp. 99-101, 167, 171). I Heard It Through the Grapevine    Associated Press.  \"Sanders Will Under $1.5 Million.\"   Daytona Beach Morning Journal.  31 December 2010  (p. A2).","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1zzBehbl7J6rWtXn_L4HBZJ5fXvXwgb_Q","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_82","claim":"Is This a Photo of a Man Feeding a Polar Bear?","posted":"08\/16\/2019","sci_digest":["Nikolai Machulyak was a bit of a local celebrity in Siberia due to his frequent encounters with polar bears. "],"justification":"A photograph supposedly showing a man hand-feeding a polar bear in Russia sometime in the 1970s is frequently shared by historical-picture social media accounts:   The seemingly dangerous situation depicted in the image, as well as the fact that these accounts don't always provide accurate captions, led many viewers to be a little skeptical that this was a genuine photograph.  provide accurate captions But this picture is quite real. It was taken near the Siberian town Cape Schmidt off the coast of the Chukchi Sea sometime in the 1970s and shows a man named Nikolai Machulyak. Machulyak was a bit of a local celebrity at the time due to his frequent encounters with polar bears. When rumors of a man who had \"tamed the beasts\" reached author V. Filimonov, he set out to find him. In August 1977, Filimonov published an article about Machulyak entitled \"  \" (\"I Ask For Your Friendship) in the Russian travel magazine   (\"Around the World\"): Around the World   Machulyak explained that a young polar bear was abandoned after a hunter killed its parent in December 1974. Machulyak fed the young polar bear, which he named \"Masha,\" for the remainder of the winter months until the bear left in the spring of 1975. A year later, he encountered a larger polar bear. While it seemed at first as if the bear was about to attack him, he soon realized that something quite different was happening. Here's how Machulyak explained the origins of this story to Around the World magazine (loosely translated via Google): In December 1974, a Chukchi hunter killed a polar bear that devastated its yaranga. After her there was a pestoon - a young bear, which I fed for five months: she had not yet learned to hunt. Called her Masha. In the spring of 1975, she left, and almost a year later I saw her again ..... And suddenly this bear rushes to me. Often a person does not manage to unravel the intentions of the beast, but here I felt: this is not an attack. All bears are usually on the same face ... but then I realized - Masha! I stopped her with a wand. I always carry such a wand with me. Light, sixty centimeters. Masha was at a loss - this was visible in her face, at will, bypassing the wand, approaching me. She clearly recognized me ... And yet it was scary. After all, 11 months have passed since our last meeting. I immediately brought meat from the trap. She ate willingly. The Around the World article also included journal entries that Machulyak had written about his experiences with Masha. In them, he recounts his various encounters with her, such as the time he fed her seal meat from his hands. Masha wasn't the only polar bear that Machulyak encountered during this period. At one point, a larger bear named \"Marya Mikhailovna\" pushed Masha from her den. Machulyak was able to befriend this bear, too, as well as her cubs.  The Russian Geographical Society collected and published several other photographs of Machulyak and this family of polar bears: Russian Geographical Society   Although Machulyak had multiple encounters with these polar bears, he said that he always approached with caution: The beast is the beast. But every time I set myself up before a meeting. I mentally tell Masha, and not only to her, but to any bear: \"I ask for your friendship. Here is my hand in advance  palm up, there is no weapon, there is a can of condensed milk in it that you love. You are a beautiful, strong and amiable beast to me. I want to have a friend in you, and in friendship I will not be more faithful.\" .  \"  .\"\r    .  August 1977.   .  \"  .\"\r  1 April 2014.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1M-Rk8sAI_83l41koTCb5Pkj2rnMpLTU1","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1QMJO0I9CwCHZfWWRFE-eb3JYJAj07yVe","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1OxY_FBfrYZxcIEBHkON_WzzC6WMICUq7","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_83","claim":"Will banks be required to disclose all transactions exceeding $600 to the IRS as part of the Biden administration's plan?","posted":"09\/16\/2021","sci_digest":["The American Families Plan has a reporting requirement for banks that has infuriated some."],"justification":"Announced in April 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden's American Families Plan is an ambitious proposal that aims to expand Americans' access to childcare and education and increase the number of women in the workforce. The plan intends to fund all of this through higher taxes on income earners and increased reporting requirements for banks that could potentially yield more tax revenue. These reporting requirements have drawn the ire of several banks that took issue with this less widely known section of the plan. A Facebook post by FNB Community Bank claimed: \"The Biden administration has proposed requiring all community banks and other financial institutions to report to the IRS on all deposits and withdrawals through business and personal accounts worth more than $600, regardless of tax liability. This indiscriminate, comprehensive bank account reporting to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) could soon be enacted in Congress and will create an unacceptable invasion of privacy for our customers.\" Another screenshot shared by our readers expressed similar concerns: \"The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) even began a campaign, calling on communities to send a letter to Biden to prevent this so-called intrusive proposal: 'Tell Congress: Don't Let IRS Invade My Privacy.' The Biden administration is proposing requiring financial institutions to report to the IRS all transactions of all business and personal accounts worth more than $600. This is an unprecedented invasion of privacy. In order to oppose this intrusive proposal, please send this letter to your representative and senators immediately.\" We looked up the proposal itself, and it does require more robust reporting of transactions across business and personal accounts. The proposal, which aims to go into effect after December 31, 2022, states: \"This proposal would create a comprehensive financial account information reporting regime. Financial institutions would report data on financial accounts in an information return. The annual return will report gross inflows and outflows with a breakdown for physical cash, transactions with a foreign account, and transfers to and from another account with the same owner.\" This requirement would apply to all business and personal accounts from financial institutions, including bank, loan, and investment accounts, with the exception of accounts below a low de minimis gross flow threshold of $600 or fair market value of $600. We begin by explaining some of the more technical terms in this proposal. A \"de minimis threshold\" is broadly defined as the amount of a transaction that has such a small value that accounting for it would be unreasonable. We spoke to Nyamagaga Gondwe, a Visiting Assistant Professor of Tax Law at New York University, who explained, \"It is the amount below which the IRS would argue isn't worth investigating. It's the difference between your company giving you a $5 card to Subway versus traveling on a private jet on your company's dime. The latter is worth reporting.\" In this case, \"gross flow\" refers to the aggregate inflows and outflows of cash from bank accounts. In sum, the current proposal stipulates that an aggregate amount of less than $600 worth of cash flowing into and out of accounts is not worth reporting. The \"fair market value\" refers to the amount people are willing to pay for an asset in the open market. In this case, Gondwe argued, the use of the term could possibly refer to the changing market value of transactions exceeding $600 that may occur in foreign currency transactions. The ICBA claims that the proposal will make banks report \"all transactions\" above the limit, but this is misleading. While it is true that the IRS will have more information on cash flows above $600, that doesn't mean they will have all the information pertaining to all transactions. The Center for American Progress (CAP) points out that banks will only be providing aggregate numbers to the IRS after each year\u2014gross inflow and gross outflow\u2014and not individualized transaction information. This reporting requirement would also extend to peer-to-peer payment services like Venmo, but wouldn't require people to report any additional information to the government. According to The Wall Street Journal, financial institutions must already report interest, dividends, and investment incomes to the IRS, and the IRS can obtain other information through audits. According to Marie Sapirie of Tax Notes, a publication focused on tax news, a parenthetical to the proposal indicates that there is some flexibility in raising the minimum account balance\/inflow\/outflow above $600. The Tax Notes report also states that the Treasury Department estimated this form of reporting would raise $463 billion over the 10-year budget window, making it the third-largest revenue raiser proposed in the budget. The aim is to target businesses outside of large corporations that carry out gross underreporting of their income, amounting to $166 billion per year. According to the proposal: \"Requiring comprehensive information reporting on the inflows and outflows of financial accounts will increase the visibility of gross receipts and deductible expenses to the IRS. Increased visibility of business income will enhance the effectiveness of IRS enforcement measures and encourage voluntary compliance.\" Banks claim this would be an invasion of consumer privacy, with the ICBA saying it would allow the government to monitor account information. However, CAP analysts Seth Hanlon and Galen Hendricks argue, \"Only the prior year's total inflow and total outflow would be reported on annual forms. No one would say that the IRS monitors you on your job because it receives a W-2 from your employer with your total wages every January.\" Another challenge not mentioned in the ICBA's consumer alert is the higher costs this reporting proposal may impose on banks. In May 2021, a coalition of banking associations wrote a letter to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, arguing that they already provide a lot of data to the IRS, and that this would impose additional costs on their systems. The costs and other burdens imposed to collect and report account flow information would surpass the potential benefits from such a reporting scheme. New reporting would appear to require material development costs and process additions for financial institutions, as well as significant reconciliation and compliance burdens on impacted taxpayers. For example, reporting total gross receipts and disbursements would require a new reporting paradigm for depository institutions, necessitating system changes to collect the information. On the flipside, Sapirie wrote for Tax Notes, the benefits of such a reporting proposal may be difficult to realize: \"Increasing the amount of information flowing into the IRS would not in itself lead to increased enforcement, and it might come with added challenges.\" Former IRS Commissioner Charles O. Rossotti acknowledged that the IRS today cannot use all the information it already receives, and significant areas of noncompliance are barely addressed, so more reporting alone will not solve the problem. It would almost certainly have a deterrent effect for taxpayers contemplating evasion, but the extent of that effect is unclear, and it might be insufficient to justify the costs to financial institutions and the federal government of implementing such a large new reporting regime. But CAP's analysis argues that this will help prevent tax evasion while also providing more funding to enhance data security for consumers. Additional funding would go to enhancing data security. Even at present, the IRS's data security is already much better than that of the financial industry, with only very rare and limited breaches compared to the exponentially larger data breaches from financial institutions. Second, the reporting of information flows only from financial institutions to the IRS and not in the other direction, as some earlier proposals had called for. The Biden administration's bank reporting proposal is a critical element of the Build Back Better agenda. It gives the IRS some visibility into opaque forms of income that disproportionately accrue to high-income individuals. Despite fearmongering from bank lobbies, the proposal protects taxpayers' privacy while simply requiring banks to provide basic, aggregated information about flows. That enables the IRS to select audits in a more efficient and equitable way so that the vast majority of taxpayers will be less likely to be audited. By deterring and helping catch tax cheats, the proposal raises substantial revenue for the Build Back Better agenda, which provides critical investments to increase economic opportunities for American families and communities. On October 12, 2021, Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended the proposal in response to a question from a reporter, who said, \"[Banks] are concerned about the tracking of transactions that are greater than $600. Americans are starting to get worried about this. Do you think [this] is going to stay in the Reconciliation Bill?\" \"With all due respect, the plural of anecdote is not data,\" Pelosi said. \"Yes, there are concerns that some people have. But if people are breaking the law and not paying their taxes, one way to track them is through the banking measure. I think $600\u2014that's a negotiation that will go on as to what the amount is. But yes.\" Whatever the impact of this proposal is, it does require additional reporting of certain bank transactions, just not in the way the banks are portraying it.","issues":["liability"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1FUQovANdC4oUu2N2c0XyRX6koPmGwrsO"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1fV0ZXxfLKd3hMvR4u7pMvd9NZnsAyzZl"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_84","claim":"Vanishing Dependents","posted":"03\/29\/2006","sci_digest":["Did several million dependents disappear from income tax returns in 1987?"],"justification":" Claim:  Several million fewer dependents were claimed on federal income tax returns the year the IRS started requiring taxpayers to list the Social Security numbers of their children.  Example:  [Collected via e-mail, 2006] I had read at some point that millions of dependents dropped off the 1040 forms the year that the IRS required social security numbers. This seems incredibly high, but I know that it was a fact that there had been a lot of divorced parents both claiming the same children as dependents and people claiming their pets.   Origins:  The U.S. federal income tax code requires residents to be responsible for their own taxes  that is, it's up to each taxpayer to reckon his income, determine his allowable deductions, and file a tax return with the Internal Revenue Service (or to hire someone to do it for  him).  Such a system allows (some say it even encourages) taxpayers to cheat, engaging in everything from fudging the line between business and personal expenses to hiding large amounts of unreported income.  Although tax fraud may never be completely eliminated, the increasing use of automated record-keeping and tracking technology has made many of the more common cheating schemes quite difficult, if not impossible, to pull off successfully these days. Given how often we're asked to provide our Social Security numbers  (they seem to used for just about everything these days), those of us who began paying federal income tax only in the last twenty years might be surprised to discover that not until 1987 did the IRS begin requiring taxpayers to include the Social Security numbers of all dependent children claimed on their returns.  After all, listing phony dependents in order to claim illegitimate extra deductions has historically been one of the more common forms of tax fraud, so it makes sense the IRS would always have wanted to track such information as closely as possible. This is the notion behind the legend  made familiar to many readers by the 2005 best-seller Freakonomics  that the  year the IRS did begin asking taxpayers to provide Social Security numbers for all dependent children, the number of claimed dependents suddenly dropped significantly: Some cheating leaves barely a shadow of evidence. In other cases, the evidence is massive. Consider what happened one spring evening at midnight in 1987: seven million American children suddenly disappeared. The worst kidnapping wave in history? Hardly. It was the night of April 15, and the Internal Revenue Service had just changed a rule. Instead of merely listing each dependent child, tax filers were now required to provide a Social Security number for each child. Suddenly, seven million children  children who had existed only as phantom exemptions on the previous year's 1040 forms  vanished, representing about one in ten of all dependent children in the United States. The \"seven million\" figure appears to be accurate, as noted in a December 2000 National Tax Journal article by Jeffrey B. Liebman that drew its data from a 1990 Internal Revenue Service conference report: article Another way in which taxpayers without children might claim a dependent child is to invent a fictional one. The strongest evidence for this possibility is that in 1987, the first year in which taxpayers were required to list social security numbers of dependents on their tax returns, 7 million fewer dependent children were claimed than in the previous year. The suggestion by the Freakonomics authors that most or all of that drop in the number of dependents claimed in 1987 was directly attributable to fraud was an obvious one but not necessarily the only one, as alternative explanations could have accounted for a substantial portion of the reduction in number of claimed dependents.  For example, it was not until 1987 that the IRS first demonstrated a program to allow parents to automatically obtain Social Security numbers for their newborn children when those births were registered, and the program did not become nationwide until 1989.  Since the average citizen doesn't generally keep abreast of all the changes made to the tax code from year to year until they directly affect him, perhaps many taxpayers sat down to fill out their returns in 1987 and didn't realize until it was too late that they had never applied for Social Security numbers for their children. 1987 However, the assumption that many taxpayers had previously claimed non-existent children until the newly-implemented Social Security number requirement made it much more difficult for them to safely do so is certainly an obvious one, and seems to be supported by additional information provided by Liebman: Further evidence that nonexistent children may have been claimed comes from the 1988 TCMP [Taxpayer Compliance Measurement Program]. In 1988, taxpayers were required to list on their tax returns the social security numbers of all dependents who were at least five years old. On tax returns where the TCMP auditor disallowed an EITC [Earned Income Tax Credit] claim, 39 percent of the disallowed dependent child claims were dependents for whom the taxpayer checked the box stating the child was under five and did not provide a social security number  possibly because the children did not exist. Likewise, although followup reports in subsequent years noted that some portion of the previously claimed dependents who went \"missing\" in the 1987 tax year were indeed real people who were not claimed as dependents in 1987 for reasons other than their being fictitious (e.g., they were children who had in earlier years been unlawfully claimed as dependents by each of two divorced parents), the pattern of disappearing dependents in 1987 was indicative of widespread fraud: Starting in 1987, the I.R.S. required that taxpayers report the Social Security number of all dependents over the age of 5. That year 7 million American children disappeared from the nation's tax returns, representing a 9 percent drop in the 77 million dependents claimed the previous year and $2.9 billion more in yearly tax revenue. The tax agency said about 20 percent of the vanished dependents were children who had been claimed as dependents by both parents after a divorce. Under the law, only one parent may claim the child as a deduction. Most of the others probably never existed, John Szilagyi, an I.R.S. researcher, said. And some families apparently became quite greedy in creating dependents, each worth a $1,080 deduction in 1986, and $1,900 in 1987. About 66,000 taxpayers who claimed four or more dependents in 1986 claimed none in 1987, after the Social Security identification rule went into effect. And more than 11,000 families claimed seven or more dependents in 1986, but none in 1987. Those returns are now under investigation, with more than 1,000 audits in which the 1986 dependents were disallowed, and back taxes and fines collected. Mr. Szilagyi said some cases of apparent fraud have also been referred to the authorities for criminal investigation.  \"In any individual family, you can imagine that one or two children might legitimately have stopped being dependents in 1987, but it's hard to imagine a legitimate situation in which a taxpayer had seven dependents one year and none the next,\" said Mr. Szilagyi, who drafted the proposal to require Social Security numbers from dependents and baby sitters. Mr. Szilagyi said his research indicates that there are probably four million to five million more dependents being claimed illegally, either because they are fictitious or do not legally qualify as dependents. Last updated:  15 April 2014 Freakonomics    Lewin, Tamar.  \"I.R.S. Sees Evidence of Wide Tax Cheating on Child Care\"   The New York Times.  6 January 1991.    Liebman, Jeffrey B.  \"Who Are the Ineligible EITC Recipients?\"   National Tax Journal.  December 2000  (pp. 1165-1186).","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1WKkVEr7NezlRQepl1e4grSU72aDKEF3m"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_85","claim":"Could a woman be considered the primary earner of the household for orchestrating a fraudulent foster care operation?","posted":"12\/20\/2010","sci_digest":["The facts just don't add up in this email sent to the Rush Limbaugh Show."],"justification":"The item reproduced below originated as an e-mail sent to radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh in July 2010 by Dr. Sebastian J. Ciancio, a urologist practicing in Danville, Illinois. In that e-mail, the doctor encouraged the radio host to \"share this story with your listeners so that they know how the ruling class spends their tax dollars.\" In this example collected from the Snopes inbox in August 2010: I was speaking to an emergency room physician this morning. He told me that a woman in her 20's came to the ER with her 8th pregnancy. She stated \"my momma told me that I am the breadwinner for the family.\" He asked her to explain. She said that she can make babies and babies get money for the family. The scam goes like this: The grandma calls the Department of Children and Family Services and states that the unemployed daughter is not capable of caring for these children. DCFS agrees and states that the child or children will need to go to foster care. The grandma then volunteers to be the foster parent, and thus receives a check for $1500 per child per month in Illinois. Total yearly income: $144,000 tax-free, not to mention free healthcare (Medicaid) plus a monthly \"Link\" card entitling her to free groceries, etc, and a voucher for 250 free cell phone minutes per month. This does not even include WIC and other welfare programs. Indeed, grandma was correct in that her fertile daughter is the \"breadwinner\" in the family. Variations: In December 2010 the following photograph was added to circulating versions of this item, even though the pictured family has no connection to the story and no mention of race appeared in the original text:  In 2014, the setting was moved from Illinois to Florida. The gist of this \"story\" is the claim that an Illinois woman who was pregnant with her eighth child (while still in her 20's) admitted to an emergency room physician that she was deliberately having children and giving them up to foster care in order to earn money for her family, with her grandmother volunteering to raise the children and collecting $1,500 per month from the state for each child, for an annual tax-free income of $144,000 (plus additional benefits). Is the story true? It's a second-hand account, and Dr. Ciancio declined to identify the physician who supposedly told it to him, which makes verification of that aspect of the tale difficult. Nonetheless, whatever a pregnant patient may have told an unnamed emergency room physician, the scenario described simply isn't possible. According to payment rates published by the State of Illinois' Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), monthly payments for licensed relative home care range from $384 to $471 per child, depending upon the age of the child: payment rates  The maximum monthly payment (for a child age 12 and over) is $471 per month, not $1,500 per month, so the largest amount of money a foster parent caring for eight children would receive in a month (assuming all of those children were at least 12 years old) would be $3,768, for an annual total of $45,216  a far cry from the $144,000 yearly income claimed above. (And even the $45,216 figure is a generous projection, given that it's an obvious impossibility for a woman who is pregnant with her eighth child to already have eight children all over the age of twelve.) Pickel, Mary Lou.  \"Tea Party at the Capitol.\"\r  The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  28 February 2009.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=10-GpZNf0J4mwBzxeYDpbCkS4uIow3YrK"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1-THkWCI93KKrZgbTAm_xmRiz9czFEcAl"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_86","claim":"Is the meme offering a precise comparison of COVID relief funds between the United States and other nations?","posted":"12\/11\/2020","sci_digest":["Comparing apples to oranges is ironically a fruitless method of argument."],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease. \n\nAs the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged the global economy in 2020, resulting in growing unemployment, governments scrambled to support people and businesses to varying degrees, announcing a range of stimulus relief funds meant to help struggling businesses and furloughed employees. By December 2020, lawmakers in the U.S. were also running out of time to pass another major coronavirus relief package. \n\nA meme began circulating in late 2020 that compared the U.S. government's stimulus checks\u2014given to a significant portion of the U.S. population\u2014to coronavirus relief funds deployed around the world. The meme effectively argued that the U.S. was not giving enough money to support workers compared with other countries. We broke down the numbers below and learned that, while the figures are largely accurate, the meme was comparing apples to oranges. \n\nBelow are the respective stimulus relief funds being provided to populations around the world, particularly across Europe, Australia, and the U.K. In March 2020, the Australian government outlined a plan to subsidize the wages of 6 million people in order to keep them in their jobs. The plan would pay employees at any company that saw a 30% reduction in revenue around $1,500 Australian dollars (the equivalent of $928 U.S. dollars according to Reuters) every two weeks. This calculation would amount to $1,856 U.S. dollars per month. But according to conversion rates calculated by Newsweek in April, the relief check amounted to around $1,993 per month. Based on current conversion rates calculated on Google Finance, this same amount would now be more than $2,200 every four weeks. Australia also had a number of other social security measures, including one-off Economic Support Payments of AU$750 in April and July 2020 to qualifying recipients. \n\nThe Canadian government provides $500 Canadian dollars per week for up to 26 weeks for workers who stopped working or had their income reduced by at least 50% due to COVID-19. Based on current conversion rates on Google, this amounts to around $1,565 U.S. dollars per month. The meme presumably pulled its data from Newsweek's April 2020 story, which calculated the amount as being $1,433 U.S. dollars per month at that time. Overall, the Canadian government aims to spend up to $75 billion U.S. dollars in emergency aid and economic stimulus to assist members of their population who are struggling financially. Measures include boosting child benefit payments, wage subsidies for small businesses, and tax relief measures. \n\nThe Danish government will cover up to 75% of employee salaries in private companies as long as those companies agree not to fire people. According to Flemming Larsen, a professor at the Center for Labor Market Research at Denmark's Aalborg University, this would amount to up to $3,288 per month (roughly based on the conversion rate at the time of the interview), which aligns with the number in the meme. For hourly workers who qualify, the government would cover 90% of their wages. The deal, which was struck between the government and trade unions, covers companies that have to lay off at least 30% of their staff or 50 staff or more. However, this particular form of coverage does not support the self-employed and other vulnerable groups. \n\nAccording to The Guardian, more than 12 million people in France are covered by a partial unemployment scheme that covers 70% of salaries when companies are forced to reduce or suspend work, which is up to 6,927 euros per month (which, according to Newsweek's calculations in April, was $7,575 U.S. dollars, but around $8,400 today). Employees previously on minimum wage receive 100% coverage of their salaries. The French government is also providing paid leave to parents who cannot work from home and who are responsible for children younger than 16. \n\nThe German scheme covers 10 million workers, according to The Guardian, paying up to 67% of net wages lost due to shorter hours, to a maximum of 6,700 euros per month (again, $7,326.78 U.S. dollars in April according to Newsweek, but $8,125 today) for employees with children and 60% for those without children. The budget also includes a 50 billion euro program to help the self-employed and small businesses threatened with bankruptcy, giving them direct payments of up to 15,000 euros (more than $18,000). Ireland's temporary wage subsidy scheme allows affected companies to recoup up to 70% of their net income up to 21,400 euros until May. After May 4, 2020, the scheme became more generous, paying an 85% subsidy up to the same amount. \n\nAfter May 4, employees would be given a maximum of 350 euros per week if they earned less than or equal to 412 euros per week, and they would receive a maximum of 410 euros per week if they earned between 500 and 586 euros per week. 410 euros amounted to $448.36 U.S. dollars per week according to Newsweek in April, which matches up with the meme's calculation of $1,793.44. Today that amounts to around $1,987. \n\nThe Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme reimburses companies for 80% of their gross salaries up to 2,500 pounds per month (which amounts to around $3,300 U.S. dollars today, and according to Newsweek was $3,084 in April). As of August, some workers were able to return to their jobs part-time, and in November the government extended the scheme until March 31, 2021. \n\nThe U.S. government did indeed give many qualifying people a one-time stimulus relief check of $1,200, which on the surface appears to be a small fraction of what these other countries seem to be giving workers who are unemployed or in danger of being furloughed. This check was given to individual taxpayers who made less than $75,000 in adjusted gross income in 2018. They would receive between $600 and $1,200, with the highest earners getting the maximum payment. \n\nHowever, this meme did not account for the overall stimulus package, including unemployment benefits and additional funds granted for dependents. The data from other countries showcased relief funds for helping the unemployed or preventing layoffs, so the numbers were comparing two totally different items. The CARES Act, a $2 trillion relief bill that was passed in March 2020, increased unemployment benefits and added $600 per week from the federal government on top of whatever base amount workers received from their state. The legislation also added 13 weeks of unemployment insurance. However, many of the provisions from this expired in July. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act also expanded paid family and medical leave options for some workers. A new relief bill is being debated by Congress, with Republicans and Democrats disagreeing over how much stimulus the U.S. economy needs. \n\nGiven that the numbers cited in the meme compare very different stimulus packages around the world, with a range of complex provisions, to a one-time payment in the U.S. that does not reflect the full stimulus relief package, we rate this claim a Mixture.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=14_hRvI8UNwAxo8FjjMmeN7hGK1F6kfk3"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_87","claim":"The United States is the only major industrial economy to have its unemployment rate triple since the coronavirus pandemic began.","posted":"08\/18\/2020","sci_digest":["Clinton was accurate for the broadest comparison, which includes a 20-nation selection of OECD nations between January 2020 and June 2020., The rate in the U.S. was 3.1 times higher in June than in January.","Only Canada came close, with the unemployment rate 2.2 times higher over that period., The one caveat is that extending the U.S. data to July showed that the increase fell slightly below three times."],"justification":"In his Democratic convention address, former President Bill Clinton criticized President Donald Trump's economic record during the coronavirus pandemic, stating that the 45th president has mishandled the twin health and economic crises. \"Donald Trump says we're leading the world,\" Clinton said. \"Well, we are the only major industrial economy to have its unemployment rate triple.\" Using the most clear-cut multi-nation comparison\u2014comparing January to June 2020\u2014Clinton is correct. However, it is worth noting some differences in how countries address unemployment. We turned to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a think tank whose members are advanced industrialized countries. The group collects economic statistics for all its members, including unemployment rates. We chose 20 countries for which data was available, including most of the countries in Western Europe, as well as Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and Israel. For consistency's sake, we compared January to June because only two of the countries reported data for July. As the following chart shows, the United States was among the few countries to experience a dramatic increase in the unemployment rate between January and June. The U.S. is represented by the peach-colored line with the steep climb; you can see each country highlighted if you hover over the list of countries at the bottom. The United States saw its unemployment rate increase from 3.6% to 11.1%. That works out to a little under 3.1 times higher in June than in January. No other country saw such a significant increase. The only other nation that experienced its unemployment rate more than double over that period was Canada, which saw its rate increase 2.2 times. Canada actually had a higher unemployment rate in June than the U.S. did, at 12.3%, but the scale of Canada\u2019s increase was more modest than that of the United States because Canada had a higher rate to start, at 5.5%. Using U.S. data for February instead of January does not change the picture much. The U.S. unemployment rate in February was 3.5%, making the increase through June about 3.2 times. There are a couple of asterisks to Clinton's statement. If you compare January to July, a month for which data isn't available for most of the OECD nations, the increase in the United States was still substantial, but just short of three times higher. The unemployment rate rose from 3.6% in January to 10.2% in July, meaning an increase of 2.8 times. It is also worth noting that the U.S. unemployment rate has fallen for three straight months amid a zigzagging reopening and a volatile economy. Therefore, the unemployment rate is likely to fluctuate a bit before it settles down. Finally, the OECD itself notes some differences across countries. Some nations have employed more aggressive efforts than the United States to subsidize workers to remain on payrolls. Additionally, some countries, such as the United Kingdom, do not count temporarily laid-off workers as unemployed, while the United States does count such workers as unemployed. Clinton stated that the United States is the only major industrial economy to have its unemployment rate triple since the coronavirus pandemic began. This is accurate for the broadest comparison\u2014a 20-nation selection of OECD nations between January 2020 and June 2020. The rate in the U.S. was 3.1 times higher in June than in January. Only Canada came close, with the unemployment rate 2.2 times higher over that period. However, extending the U.S. data to July showed that the increase fell slightly below three times, and there are some complications in making cross-country comparisons. We rate the statement Mostly True. UPDATE, Aug. 20: This article has been updated with additional context about the complications of making cross-country comparisons of unemployment rates. The rating remains the same.","issues":["Corrections and Updates","Economy","Jobs","Coronavirus"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_88","claim":"Is This a Young Woman with President Bill Clinton on Jeffrey Epstein's Plane?","posted":"07\/18\/2019","sci_digest":["The answer to who she really is ... is simpler than some think."],"justification":"Who is the woman in a viral photo with former President Bill Clinton? She's a photographer and co-founder of a New York-based modeling agency. But if you pose that question to adherents of a Qanon conspiracy theory, you'll probably get a different answer: She's an associate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and recruits children to come to the billionaire's island. Qanon conspiracy theory So how did this ordinary citizen get mixed up in the world of Q? It started with a single miscaptioned photograph that supposedly showed her on Epstein's private plane with Clinton:   While this appears to be a genuine, unaltered photograph, the conspiracy theorists spreading it get several things wrong about what it shows. Mainly, the photograph wasn't taken on a plane owned by Epstein, who was charged with new sex crimes related to child-sex-trafficking for prostitution in the summer of 2019.  Before we go any further, we should note that the Q conspiracy theory is built on speculation and wild assumptions. The woman has not been implicated in any legal proceedings related to Epstein, and she has not been charged with any crimes herself (Snopes is not identifying her to protect her privacy). Q conspiracy theory Indeed, Miami Herald reporter Julie Brown, who was fundamental in uncovering Epstein's alleged sex-trafficking crimes, told us that she never come across the woman's name during her investigation into Epstein: \"I have never run across her name anywhere  and I checked with two people involved in the case for 12 years and they never heard of her. They suspect its BS internet conspiracy shit.\"  Julie Brown fundamental We also dug through dozens of Q posts, conspiracy primers, Qanon explainers, and 4chan and 8chan threads attempting to connect her to Clinton and Epstein, but we've yet to see any concrete evidence. Instead, we found invented explanations for out-of-context pictures and illogical leaps of faith being accepted as fact.  The above-displayed picture has been online since 2006. It was originally shared with a caption saying it showed Clinton with a 19-year-old college student aboard billionaire venture capitalist Ron Burkle's private plane. It wasn't until several years later (circa 2017) that the \"Pizzagate\" conspiracy community picked up this picture and started claiming that it showed a woman with Clinton aboard Epstein's plane (popularly dubbed the \"Lolita Express\"). The fact that this photograph was circulating for more than a decade before it became attached to claims relating to Epstein should immediately raise red flags.  shared billionaire venture capitalist circa 2017 Pizzagate Furthermore, photographs reportedly showing the inside of Epstein's plane don't appear to match with this viral picture. Here's a comparison of the viral Clinton photograph and a picture of Epstein's plane obtained by Radar Online: inside of Epstein's plane Radar Online   While we may be entering dot-connecting territory here, the design on the wall behind Clinton bears a resemblance to a photograph from Business Insider supposedly showing the interior of Canadian businessman Frank Giustra's plane. Giustra and Clinton, like Burkle and Clinton, were frequent travel partners: Canadian businessman frequent travel   Angel Urena, Clinton's spokesperson, also denied that the viral image was taken aboard Epstein's plane: \"This photograph was not taken on Epsteins airplane.\" In addition to misidentifying the location of this photograph, Qanon believers also frequently share this photograph with the claim that the woman was underage at the time the photograph was taken. Again, this is based on pure speculation: speculation   When Gawker first shared this photograph in 2006, the organization claimed it showed a \"19-year-old college student.\" This appears to be accurate. In 2009, The Cut identified the woman as a \"22-year-old\" in an article about her photography. This would make her approximately 19 in 2006 when the photograph was allegedly snapped.  Clinton did fly on Epstein's plane a number of times. However, the above-displayed photograph does not document one of these trips. This photograph shows Clinton with a young woman aboard a plane more likely owned by either Burkle or Giustra.  number of times While the question of who she is may send conspiracy theorists down a rabbit hole of assumptions and speculation, the real answer is quite simple: She is a photographer and co-founder of New York-based modeling agency who was needlessly thrown into this world of conspiracy because she once appeared in a photograph on a plane with Clinton.  co-founder Rothschild, Mike.  \"QAnon is Attacking a Random Woman in a Disturbing and Dangerous Way.\"\r  Daily Dot.  21 March 2019. Rothschild, Mike.  \"QAnon is Attacking a Random Woman in a Disturbing and Dangerous Way.\"\r  Daily Dot.  21 March 2019. Ellia, Emma.  \"Crying 'Pedophile' is the Oldest Propaganda Trick in the Book.\"\r  Wired.  1 August 2018. Neon Revolt.  \"D-Room. DINING ROOMS. HRC +++ + +++++ Unlocked? #QAnon #GreatAwakening.\"\r  7 April 2018. NWO Report.  \"Footage Of Abused Children Captured On Jeffrey Epsteins Pedo Island.\"\r  15 April 2018. Radar Online.  \"Tour for the First Time: Inside Bill Clinton Pal's 'Lolita Express' - The Pedophile Billionaire's Sex Jet He Flew On 11 Times.\"\r  11 July 2016. Alterman, Eric.  \"If Jeffrey Epstein Faces Justice, Itll Be Thanks to a Local Newspaper.\"\r  The Nation.  17 July 2019. Brown, Julie.  \"How a Future Trump Cabinet Member Gave a Serial Sex abuser the Deal of a Lifetime.\"\r  Miami Herald.  28 November 2018.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1NHDIhgMuxeScW7wSo_IFdTd3sUZrCqzC","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=12c8AeTCzhlBnbcH5bliX6O08OQsIrBXw","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=11RYeM2tlnCL8I4l7o50_nvwBQ_GemkSD","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1j6MsOnIEvqa2e_IWZP-UvgH1TnjF1PKe","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_89","claim":"Did a Gay Baboon Terrorize an African Village?","posted":"05\/24\/2018","sci_digest":["Rumors about a gay baboon's \"terrorizing\" a village and raping five men can be traced back to a homophobic fake news article."],"justification":"An image purportedly showing a newspaper clipping featuring a story about a gay baboon raping several men near an African village regularly gets shared on social media. This is not a genuine news story, but a verbatim copy of a satirical article that was first published in April 2017 on the South Africa Morning Post website. Men in a village in the North West are living in fear over a large male baboon that likes to grope and assault human males. The baboon is said to have attacked more than six men in the past week, and what baffles the villagers is the fact that the baboon only targets men and does not harm its victims but rather performs sexual acts on top of the terrified individuals before leaving. One victim, George Chiune, said he was coming from the local shebeen when the baboon attacked him and pinned him down. \"I thought it wanted to kill me but realized it was after my bum,\" George said. Five men were admitted to the hospital yesterday after experiencing acute anal pain and fatigue. Doctors confirmed that the men have anal cancer. The baboon, which has been nicknamed Somizi, travels alone, and this, according to an animal behavior specialist, is a strange occurrence because baboons are known to travel in troops. One specialist, Lizzie McKenzie, said the baboon might be an outcast and chased away from its troop. \"That is why it is traveling alone, but as to the reason it is attacking only males, it beats me. I have never seen that behavior in my 20 years in this field,\" she said. When journalists visited the village, all male schoolchildren were reported to be wearing dresses as a preventative measure until the baboon has been dealt with. A cached version of the page shows that this article was filed under the \"satire\" tag. Furthermore, the description on the website's Facebook page states that the South Africa Morning Post publishes \"Satire, Entertainment, Rumours, and Bizarre stories from South Africa, and sometimes around the world.\" The person behind the Morning Post also mentioned the \"gay baboon\" article in an interview with Mail & Guardian Africa. The unidentified writer used the homophobic text as an example of the fake news stories he publishes in order to fund his purportedly genuine journalistic efforts. Advertising can't fund his journalism either. His real news site attracts just a fraction of the audience of his fake news sites and, therefore, a fraction of the income. \"There aren't that many people interested in politics. I can earn a few hundred dollars a month from my news site; it performs so badly. But stuff about gay baboons, stuff about pastors saying they went to heaven, that goes viral,\" he says. It is still unclear whether this fake news story was ever picked up by a genuine newspaper. The text at the bottom of the story states that it was \"printed by Hassan Mohiuddin at City Press, Talpur Road, Kara(...),\" which appears to refer to a newspaper located on Talpur Road in Karachi, Pakistan. However, we could not locate a publisher or publication called \"City Press\" in Pakistan or an editor named Hassan Mohiuddin. Finally, we feel it is our responsibility to clear the pictured baboon's name. Although we are unsure who took the photograph, the earliest iteration we could find was posted to the website Iloho.com by \"oliviam\" in August 2009 and shows a baboon relaxing in Cape Point, South Africa, not terrorizing anyone. The photograph was entitled \"Baboon Beauty Queen.\"","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1LMeXuu4NouCRg1R0rxtpFjMN6alE9F76","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1UFs-mFj-h1BrrTQEz5YglZ_0zRgcBaRD","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_90","claim":"Did Mike Pence Support 'Gay Conversion' Therapy?","posted":"10\/26\/2016","sci_digest":["While running for Congress, Indiana governor Mike Pence called for state funding for \"institutions\" working to enable people to \"change their sexual behavior.\""],"justification":"In October 2016, an image appeared on social media accusing Indiana's governor (and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's running mate) Mike Pence of supporting \"gay conversion\" therapy, particularly the use of electric shocks as part of the practice:  The allegation dates back to 2000, when Pence was running for Congress. His campaign web site at the time touted his call to add a stipulation to the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act, a 1990 law providing funding for HIV\/AIDS treatment for patients living with the disease lacking either the income or the necessary insurance to pay for it on their own: campaign HIV\/AIDS treatment Congress should support the reauthorization of the Ryan White Care Act only after completion of an audit to ensure that federal dollars were no longer being given to organizations that celebrate and encourage the types of behaviors that facilitate the spreading of the HIV virus. Resources should be directed toward those institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior. Although he didn't say so outright, the position has been widely interpreted as signaling Pence's support for \"gay conversion\" therapy, which seeks to \"cure\" patients of being attracted to members of the same sex. According to the American Psychological Association, electric shocks were one of the techniques used to address homosexuality through \"aversion therapy\" prior to the group's decision in 1973 to stop classifying it as a mental disorder. By the time Pence made his statement regarding the Ryan White CARE Act, that group and several others, including the American Psychiatric Association, had rejected the practice: American Psychological Association, American Psychiatric Association, Psychotherapeutic modalities to convert or repair homosexuality are based on developmental theories whose scientific validity is questionable. Furthermore, anecdotal reports of cures are counterbalanced by anecdotal claims of psychological harm. In the last four decades, reparative therapists have not produced any rigorous scientific research to substantiate their claims of cure. Until there is such research available, [the American Psychiatric Association] recommends that ethical practitioners refrain from attempts to changeindividuals sexual orientation, keeping in mind the medical dictum to first, do no harm. The potential risks of reparative therapy are great, including depression, anxiety and self-destructive behavior, since therapist alignment with societal prejudices against homosexuality may reinforce self-hatred already experienced by the patient.Many patients who have undergone reparative therapy relate that they were inaccurately told that homosexuals are lonely, unhappy individuals who never achieve acceptance or satisfaction. The possibility that the person might achieve happiness and satisfying interpersonal relationships as a gay man or lesbian is not presented, nor are alternative approaches to dealing with the effects of societal stigmatization discussed. \"Conversion therapy\" has been banned by law in five states (California, Illinois, New Jersey, Oregon, and Vermont) as well as in Washington, D.C. We contacted Pence's office seeking comment on his stance regarding the issue but did not receive a response. Republicans were hit with a similar accusation in July 2016, when their national platform included the phrase \"We support the right of parents to determine the proper medical treatment and therapy for their minor children.\" accusation platform When asked whether that statement represented support for \"conversion therapy,\" Republican National Committee chair Reince Priebus replied that \"It's not in the platform.\" replied","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1aWFx5zUPB9kd7gdTqRo-Akd5nuNdbyk4","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_91","claim":"Deceptive scheme involving complimentary goods to mark a business's milestone.","posted":"02\/07\/2016","sci_digest":["Businesses are not celebrating their anniversaries by giving away free product to Facebook users who share and like a page.  Those offers are a form of online scam."],"justification":"Scammers and malware purveyors are always looking for ways to entice online users into following web links that will lead those victims into the traps set for them, and offers of free products are prime bait in that pursuit of prey. One common method such predators use is establishing fake Facebook accounts mimicking those of well-known vendors of consumer products (typically of the edible variety, such as Starbucks, Taco Bell, McDonald's, KFC, Wendy's, Burger King, Whole Foods, Safeway, Food Lion, and Little Caesars) and posting bogus offers for \"lifetime passes\" or other dispensations of free product as part of a supposed company anniversary or birthday celebration (e.g., \"Starbucks is giving away free lifetimes in celebration of the brand's 44th anniversary\"). The primary type of free product fraud is the \"sweepstakes scam,\" which is intended to lure victims into completing numerous surveys, disclosing a good deal of personal information, and then agreeing to sign up for costly, difficult-to-cancel \"Reward Offers\" hidden in the fine print. The scammers spread links via e-mail and Facebook that purport to offer free product to those who follow those links. These web pages (which are not operated or sponsored by the companies they reference) typically ask the unwary to click what appear to be Facebook \"share\" buttons and post comments to the scammer's site (which is really a ruse to dupe users into spreading the scam by sharing it with all of their Facebook friends). Those who follow such instructions are then led into a set of pages prompting them to input a fair amount of personal information (including name, age, address, and phone numbers), complete a lengthy series of surveys, and finally sign up (and commit to paying) for at least two \"Reward Offers\" (e.g., Netflix subscriptions, credit report monitoring services, prepaid credit cards): Pursuant to the Terms & Conditions, you are required to complete 2 of the Reward Offers from the above. You will need to meet all of the terms and conditions to qualify for the shipment of the reward. For credit card offers, you must activate your card by making a purchase, transferring a balance, or making a cash advance. For loan offers you must close and fund the loan. For home security and satellite tv offers you must have the product installed. You may not cancel your participation in more than a total of 2 Reward Offers within 30 days of any Reward Offer Sign-Up Date as outlined in the Terms & Conditions (the Cancellation Limit). Not only that, but the fine print on the \"free\" product offers typically states that by accepting its terms, the user agrees to receive telemarketing phone calls and text messages from a variety of different companies:   Similar phony free product lures are used to spread malware. In those versions of the scam, those who attempt to reach the URL provided for the purpose of claiming the free products are instead victimized by a Facebook \"lifejacking\" attack, a malicious script that takes over a user's Facebook profile without their knowledge and propagates itself to their friends' accounts as well. lifejacking In short, those who seek \"free\" merchandise generally end up paying a dear cost for it.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=17fwehVZlByOstHoBBB-nH0hOrnNPfwTo"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_92","claim":"Has John Kerry's possession extended to owning multiple houses, cars, and yachts?","posted":"12\/01\/2020","sci_digest":["A late 2020 meme about the incoming U.S. climate envoy appeared to be based on news stories from the 2004 presidential election cycle."],"justification":"In late November and early December 2020, social media users shared posts claiming that former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who has been selected by President-elect Joe Biden to serve as climate envoy in his administration, owns multiple cars, yachts, homes, and a private jet. The source of this claim appears to be a \"copypasta\" meme circulating on social media platforms, meaning that people are copying and pasting text and sharing it without any accompanying supporting evidence. The intent of the posts seemed to be criticism of Kerry's lifestyle, which leaves a larger carbon footprint than the average person's. Here is an example, with the Facebook user's name cropped out for privacy: The text of the post reads, \"John Kerry as climate czar? Only Democrats could pick a guy with 6 houses, 12 cars, 2 yachts and a private jet to tell you that YOU should take the bus, don't eat meat, use electric cars and not fart to stop pollution.\" The block of text appears to be based on past news stories, many of them published in the lead-up to the 2004 presidential election, in which Kerry was the Democratic challenger to Republican incumbent President George W. Bush. Kerry's bid for the White House was unsuccessful, as Bush won a second term. However, his campaign resulted in media scrutiny of his finances, namely the wealth in his marriage that belongs mostly to his wife, Heinz ketchup heiress Teresa Heinz Kerry, with whom Kerry signed a prenuptial agreement. As we reported in 2004, the couple owned five homes at the time, with a combined value of roughly $29 million. She bought four of those before their marriage, and the couple jointly owned one. In 2017, the couple sold the home in Nantucket, which belonged to his wife's family, and purchased one in Martha's Vineyard. The couple did make use of a luxury yacht, which brought Kerry scrutiny and criticism during the 2004 election cycle over reports that he docked it in Rhode Island to avoid paying higher taxes in Massachusetts. They sold it in 2017. Kerry has also made use of a private jet, but that, too, belongs to his wife. The matter of the Kerrys' cars also came up in 2004, when news outlets reported that he owned multiple vehicles. At the time, he was criticized for calling on people to buy American-made products while his wife drove a German-made car. It is true that Kerry has made use of multiple homes, vehicles, a private jet, and a yacht over the years, though much of the property belongs to his wife. It does appear, however, that the meme exaggerated the number of homes and yachts they have owned.","issues":["finance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1mLbhH8nXUWncg7RgRK708qgwTIEDRIAk"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_93","claim":"Tax Hikes for Sturgis Bikes","posted":"07\/14\/2015","sci_digest":[""],"justification":"FACT CHECK: Did President Obama say on The Rachel Maddow Show that he was going to raise taxes on \"gatherings of white conservatives\" such as the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally?      Claim:   President Obama said on The Rachel Maddow Show that he was going to raise taxes on \"gatherings of white conservatives\" such as the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.    Example:   [Collected via e-mail, July 2015] Saw a meme on Facebook quoting Obama on the Rachel Maddow show on 7\/10\/15 about raising taxes on white conservative gatherings like the Sturgis Motorcycle rally in South Dakota. Did he really say this? Origins: In July 2015, a rumor began to spread online that President Obama was planning to raise taxes on \"gatherings of white conservatives,\" such as the annual motorcycle rally held in Sturgis, South Dakota, with the ultimate intent of shutting them down.  The rumor took the form a widely-circulated meme displaying a photograph of President Obama along with a statement he allegedly made on MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show on 10 July 2015, referencing the then-recent decision to remove the Confederate flag from display at the South Carolina statehouse grounds: motorcycle rally The quote used in this meme is apocryphal. President Obama did not appear on The Rachel Maddow Show on 10 July 2015, nor did any other source record or report him as having said anything like the words reproduced here. appear 10 July This meme started spreading widely after it was published to the Facebook page of an over-40s single biker's club.  That iteration included the instructions to \"SHARE if you are as outraged as I am,\" a come-on commonly used with misleading clickbait content and scams. Facebook scams Last updated:  13July 2015 Originally published: 13July 2015","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Gz9dCFYmBrm2zQEt8y-IWe0kOtF0V06w","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=18O5xBqRC3_4N_a1LTN_K5y2WRFZ_3Jkw","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_94","claim":"The Tea Party of the United States is a new political movement.","posted":"03\/12\/2009","sci_digest":["Protest against federal spending encourages Americans to mail tea bags to the White House."],"justification":"Claim:  Protest against federal spending encourages Americans to mail tea bags to the White House.  Example:  [Collected via e-mail, March 2009] Mailing Tea Bags to Washington, DC What a wonderful idea, I just wish it had been mine. I have a feeling that USPS is going to have a hell of a lot of tea to contend with, after all it only costs 42 cents to send a message, hopefully heard round the world!!! So please mark your Calendars There's a storm abrewin'. What happens when good, responsible people keep quiet? Washington has forgotten they work for us. We don't work for them. Throwing good money after bad is NOT the answer. I am sick of the midnight, closed door sessions to come up with a plan. I am sick of Congress raking CEO's over the coals while they, themselves, have defaulted on their taxes. I am sick of the bailed out companies having lavish vacations and retreats on my dollar. I am sick of being told it is MY responsibility to rescue people that, knowingly, bought more house than they could afford. I am sick of being made to feel it is my patriotic duty to pay MORE taxes. I, like all of you, am a responsible citizen. I pay my taxes. I live on a budget and I don't ask someone else to carry the burden for poor decisions I may make. I have emailed my congressmen and senators asking them to NOT vote for the stimulus package as it was written without reading it first. No one listened. They voted for it, pork and all. O.K. folks, here it is. You may think you are just one voice and what you think won't make a difference. Well, yes it will and YES, WE CAN!! If you are disgusted and angry with the way Washington is handling our taxes. If you are fearful of the fallout from the reckless spending of BILLIONS to bailout and \"stimulate\" without accountability and responsibility then we need to become ONE, LOUD VOICE THAT CAN BE HEARD FROM EVERY CITY, TOWN, SUBURB AND HOME IN AMERICA. There is a growing protest to demand that Congress, the President and his cabinet LISTEN to us, the American Citizens. What is being done in Washington is NOT the way to handle the economic free fall. So, here's the plan. On April 1, 2009, all Americans are asked to send a TEABAG to Washington, D.C. You do not have to enclose a note or any other information unless you so desire. Just a TEABAG. Many cities are organizing protests. If you simply search, \"New American Tea Party\", several sites will come up. If you aren't the 'protester' type, simply make your one voice heard with a TEABAG. Your one voice will become a roar when joined with millions of others that feel the same way. Yes, something needs to be done but the lack of confidence as shown by the steady decline in the stock market speaks volumes. This was not my idea. I visited the sites of the 'New American Tea Party' and an online survey showed over 90% of thousands said they would send the teabag on April 1. Why, April 1?? We want them to reach Washington by April 15. Will you do it? I will. Send it to; 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Washington, D.C. 20500. Forward this to everyone in your address book. Visit the website for more information about the 'New American Tea Party'. I would encourage everyone to go ahead and get the envelope ready to mail, then just drop it in the mail April 1. Can't guarantee what the postage will be by then, it is going up as we speak, but have your envelope ready. What will this cost you? A little time and a 40 something cent stamp.. What could you receive in benefits? Maybe, just maybe, our elected officials will start to listen to the people. Take out the Pork. Tell us how the money is being spent. We want TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY. Remember, the money will be spent over the next 4-5 years. It is not too late. Of course, if you agree with the way things are being done now, just delete!!!!! Origins:   On the evening of 16 December 1773, a group of American colonists who called themselves \"The Sons of Liberty\" furtively boarded the ship Dartmouth, which was docked in Boston harbor with a load of East India Company tea.  Working  through the night, the colonists dumped over 45 tons of tea into the waters of the harbor as a protest against the Tea Act passed by the British government.  The event, which came to be known as \"The Boston Tea Party,\" was one of the seminal events of the American Revolution and remains one of the most iconic moments in all of U.S. history. In 2009, the iconic status of that event was referenced in the name of the New American Tea Party, described as a \"coalition of citizens and organizations concerned about the recent trend of fiscal recklessness in government\" who have begun coordinating events around the U.S. with the announced goal of protesting largesse in federal spending.   The item quoted above seeks to take up the \"Tea Party\" spirit by encouraging Americans to mail tea bags to the White House on 1 April 2009 (in order to arrive by 15 April, the day on which income tax filings are due) as a form of symbolic protest against \"the way Washington is handling our taxes.\"  (The concept is vaguely reminiscent of a 1955 campaign that had citizens mailing small bags of wheat to President Eisenhower to encourage the U.S. to provide surplus food to flood victims in China.) New American Tea Party events wheat Of course, everyone is free to choose whether or not to participate in symbolic protests, so such actions don't have much in the way of verifiable \"true\" or \"false\" aspects  the only issue is how effective the chosen form of protest is likely to be.  With that in mind, we offer a few caveats for those inclined to participate:  An entry in the New American Tea Party blog states that they don't endorse the effort: entry We have received hundreds of questions about an email circulating that urges folks to send tea to Washington on April 1st or April 15th.  This effort is not endorsed by the New American Tea Party, so we can't answer any questions about it.  Given the more stringent security procedures for mail handling enacted after 9\/11, there are no guarantees envelopes containing mailed teabags will get through to the White House without being discarded or significantly delayed, something also noted in the New American Tea Party blog: It is a neat idea, but things like that will likely either be held up getting scanned or end up getting thrown away due to security precautions. (A subsequent New American Tea Party blog entry suggested that just mailing the labels from tea bags might be a way of avoiding this potential pitfall.) entry  Envelopes that cannot be run through USPS sorting machines are subject to an additional 20 postage surcharge. A mailed item is considered  nonmachinable if: nonmachinable  It is a square letter (the minimum size for a square envelope is 5 x 5 inches) It is too rigid  does not bend easily It has clasps, string, buttons, or similar closure devices It has an address parallel to the shorter dimension of the letter It contains items that cause the surface to be uneven The length divided by height is less than 1.3 or more than 2.5  The specific aims of the tea bag protest are not clearly articulated in the e-mail quoted above, so senders might wish to include explanatory notes with their envelopes stating the desired outcome, such as: \"I enclose this teabag as a protest against the passage of any further economic stimulus packages that provide money to businesses without provisions for strict transparency and accountability in how that money is to be spent\" or  \"I enclose this teabag as a protest against the passage of any further economic stimulus packages that include earmarks.\" Last updated:  12 March 2009    Idaho Statesman.  \"Local Group Stages 'Reckless Federal Spending' Protest.\"   27 February 2009.    WJXT-TV [Jacksonville, FL].  \"'Tea Party' Protests Wasteful Spending.\"   MSNBC.  2 March 2009.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_95","claim":"Was it the case that Gerda Puridle, a prostitute, created artificial eyelashes for the purpose of safeguarding her eyes?","posted":"02\/03\/2021","sci_digest":["WARNING: This history lesson begins with a decidely NSFW meme."],"justification":"In January 2021, the website America's Best Pics shared a meme claiming that a prostitute named \"Gerda Puridle\" invented long eyelashes in the 1880s. The woman in this picture was not a prostitute, her name was not Gerda Puridle, and the claim about the origins of artificial eyelashes was fabricated. The woman featured in this meme is Alice Regnault, a French actress and novelist who rose to prominence in the 1870s. This photograph appears to have been taken by French photographer Gaspard-Flix Tournachon (better known as \"Nadar\") circa 1879. It was included in a guide published a few years later called \"Les Actrices de Paris\" (The Actresses of Paris) by Emile Bergerat. Here's how Regnault was described in \"Les Actrices de Paris\" (translated via Google and edited for clarity): \"An intelligent and flexible actress who, through commitment and hard work, has managed to escape a reputation as a 'pretty woman' where the love of the masses kept her, as in a prison. So has the fine and elegant Mademoiselle Regnault proven herself, for some time now.\" While Regnault held titles such as actress, novelist, and journalist, she did not invent elongated eyelashes. According to beauty magazine Marie Claire, humans were tinkering with and beautifying their eyelashes in ancient Egypt, though it wasn't until the late 1800s that people figured out they could lengthen their eyelashes with human hair. An 1882 volume of \"Medical Record\" explained the process of creating artificial eyelashes: \"The Parisians have found out how to make false eyelashes. I do not speak of the vulgar and well-known trick of darkening the rim round the eye with all kinds of dirty composition, or the more artistic plan of doing so to the inside of the lid. No, they actually draw a fine needle, threaded with dark hair, through the skin of the eyelid, forming long loops, and after the process is over - I am told it is a painless one - a splendid dark fringe veils the coquette's eyes.\" While the practice of artificially elongating eyelashes started in the late 1800s, the first patent for an artificial eyelash wasn't secured until 1911. Here's a look at inventor Anna Taylor's artificial eyelash patent. Despite the fact that artificial eyelashes have been around since the late 1800s, and that Taylor filed a patent in 1911, many people credit filmmaker D.W. Griffith for popularizing artificial eyelashes with his 1916 film \"Intolerance.\" The New York Times reported that one day in 1916, while filming \"Intolerance,\" D. W. Griffith studied an actress in a Babylonian costume and felt something wasn't right. Seena Owen's eyes, he said, should be twice as large and \"supernatural.\" He ordered his wigmaker to use spirit gum to glue a pair of lashes made from human hair onto Owen's eyelids. \"One morning she arrived at the studio with her eyes swollen nearly shut,\" the actress Lillian Gish, who was also in the movie, wrote in her memoir. \"Fortunately, Mr. Griffith had already shot the important scenes.\" Within a decade, false lashes became standard equipment for actresses and for flappers who imitated the \"baby doll\" eyes that they saw on-screen. Gish claimed that Griffith invented false eyelashes, but like many Hollywood legends, this one proves to be not exactly true. In 1911, a Canadian woman named Anna Taylor received a U.S. patent for the artificial eyelash; hers was a crescent of fabric implanted with tiny hairs. Even before that, hairdressers and makeup artists tried a similar trick. A German named Charles Nestle (n\u00e9e Karl Nessler) manufactured false lashes in the early 20th century and used the profit from sales to finance his next invention, the permanent wave. By 1915, Nestle had opened a New York hair-perming salon on East 49th Street, with lashes as his sideline. Nestle promoted false eyelashes as a guard against the glare of electric lights and hired chorus girls to bat their eyes at customers. To some men of the era, it was as if a booby trap had been introduced in the war between the sexes. \"When a fair young thing looks at you mistily through her long, curling lashes, do not fall for it until you investigate,\" warned one columnist in 1921. \"The long, curling eyelashes may not be hers, except by right of purchase.\" In short, the claim that a prostitute named Gerda Puridle invented elongated eyelashes is completely fabricated.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=15RlR3kgu_-SJajjua8LanHVFLp5kAfzv"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1_9ln8kM6Qc24-yySkVw3Wi3_O7pvZHBe"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=10rdquf9pJ7yhB-1onCkFbciyBRusnWbi"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Fw5dHCrYm-ZZ3OF6Ju5HrN8YhiZU1Mkc"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1zeQV_BOH7qLFoyCCkvbg_nodo38e1nr7"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_96","claim":"Death Car","posted":"12\/31\/1998","sci_digest":["Used car is rendered unsellable because of the smell of the dead body of its previous owner"],"justification":"Claim: No buyers can be found for a beautiful but cheap car because of the horrible smell that permeates it. LEGEND Origins: The story is told of a car sold for a fantastically low price, its only flaw being a persistent disagreeable odor. Someone had met the Grim Reaper in it, and the remains were not discovered for many months. The smell clinging to the car was that of decomposed flesh; no amount of washing or scrubbing would make it go away. Buyer after buyer was lured by the bargain, but each of them invariably returned the car. The possible source of this \"death car\" legend is explained in a 1959 book on folklore: In 1953, I was collecting Negro folklore in the tiny community of Mecosta in central Michigan, where a colony of colored people had settled on the sand barrens shortly after the Civil War. Called on to speak on folklore before the crowd that gathered on Old Settlers Day, I related the case of the depreciated Buick as an instance of contemporary folklore. That evening, some of the young fellows pulled me aside and politely explained that the incident had occurred in their town. A white man named Demings, who owned a 1929 Model A Ford, committed suicide in it in 1938 after his girl, Nellie Boyers, had a spat with him on a date. He chinked up all the cracks under the seat and on the floorboards with concrete and then sniffed a hose he had connected to his tailpipe while the motor ran. This was in August, and the car and the body were not found until hunting season in October. A guide kept returning to the spot where Demings had pulled the car off the road into the brush, and seeing the car would say, \"That fellow's always hunting when I am.\" Finally, he investigated. This Model A was painted all over with birds and fish and was quite an eye-catcher. A used-car dealer in Remus sold the car to Clifford Cross, who tried every expedient to eradicate the smell. He reupholstered and fumigated the interior in vain and finally had to drive around in midwinter with the windows wide open. At length, he turned the car in for junk. I talked with Clifford Cross and his friends who had ridden in the Ford. Here was the first verified case of the Death Car. Did this modern big-city legend originate with an actual incident in a hamlet of two hundred people in a rural Negro community and, by the devious ways of folklore, spread to Michigan's metropolises and then to other states? Unlikely as it seems, the evidence from many variants, compared through the historical-geographical method of tracing folktales, calls for an affirmative answer. Though this would appear to be the beginning of the legend, folklorist Jan Harold Brunvand said of it, \"Richard M. Dorson thought he had traced 'The Death Car' to a 1938 incident in the small town of Mecosta, Michigan, but later study turned up prototypical elements earlier in Europe.\" Though the make of the car continues to update as time marches on (Model A, Buick, Cadillac, Corvette, Jaguar), astute readers will note that the vehicle is almost always described as both new and of a model deemed to be highly desirable at the time of the story's telling. Unsellable or not, this is yet another of the \"cheap car\" legends in which a young lad's wet dream of a car is sold at a bargain basement price. (Another legend of this genre can be found on our $50 Porsche page.) $50 Porsche Various homilies can be guessed at as the moral of the tale. \"You get what you pay for\" and \"Don't attempt to profit from another's misfortune\" are but two. Gail de Vos provides us with an especially intriguing one: The offensive smell is perhaps not only the smell of death but that of filthy lucre. The prestigious sports car symbolizes wealth; the legend suggests that the only way working-class people can obtain such a product is if it is defective\u2014in other words, if it stinks. Barbara \"heaven scent\" Mikkelson Sightings: An episode of television's Seinfeld (\"The Smelly Car,\" original air date 15 April 1993) featured a car whose stink (from a valet's B.O., not a decaying corpse) made it undriveable and unsellable. More smelly cars (of the rotting flesh variety) can be found in the movies Christine (1983) and Mr. Wrong (New Zealand, 1985). Christine Mr. Wrong Last updated: 12 March 2011 The Baby Train Brunvand, Jan Harold. The Choking Doberman. New York: W. W. Norton, 1984. ISBN 0-393-30321-7 (pp. 212-213). The Choking Doberman Brunvand, Jan Harold. The Mexican Pet. New York: W. W. Norton, 1986. ISBN 0-393-30542-2 (pp. 12-13). The Mexican Pet Brunvand, Jan Harold. The Vanishing Hitchhiker. New York: W. W. Norton, 1981. ISBN 0-393-95169-3 (pp. 20-22). The Vanishing Hitchhiker Brunvand, Jan Harold. The Study of American Folklore. New York: W. W. Norton, 1998. ISBN 0-393-97223-2 (p. 208). The Study of American Folklore Czubala, Dionizjusz. \"The Death Car; Polish and Russian Examples.\" FOAFTale News. March 1992 (pp. 2-5). de Vos, Gail. Tales, Rumors and Gossip. Englewood: Libraries Unlimited, 1996. ISBN 1-56308-190-3 (pp. 109-112). Tales, Rumors and Gossip Dorson, Richard. American Folklore. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1961 (pp. 250-252). American Folklore Emrich, Duncan. Folklore on the American Land. Boston: Little, Brown, 1972. ISBN 0-31623-721-3 (p. 338). Folklore on the American Land Smith, Paul. The Book of Nasty Legends. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1983. ISBN 0-00-636856-5 (p. 79). The Book of Nasty Legends The Big Book of Urban Legends","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1knW2FvL9qQGDFvxBTg4cmFCmRf0nkPOG","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_97","claim":"'Little People, Big World' Posts About a 'Loss' Are Misleading","posted":"01\/05\/2022","sci_digest":["Strange rumors made the rounds around the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022."],"justification":"On Jan. 4, 2022, a strange Facebook ad appeared that claimed: \"The Sudden Loss That Hit 'Little People, Big World.'\" It led to a lengthy article that claimed to reveal news of a death, \"shocking truth,\" or some sort of sad development about the Roloff family. claimed However, this was all very misleading. For readers unfamiliar with \"Little People, Big World,\" it's a reality TV show that follows the lives of the Roloff family. reality TV show \"Matt and Amy Roloff, both 4 feet tall, face a variety of challenges in raising their four children: twins Jeremy and Zach, who is 2-feet shorter than his brother, and younger siblings Molly and Jacob, who like Jeremy are average height,\" a synopsis on TheTVDB.com reads. \"The family's 34-acre Oregon farm serves as part playground and part moneymaker. As the series ages, Matt and Amy deal with personal strife, embrace their kids getting older and leading lives of their own, become grandparents, and attempt to keep Roloff Farms operational.\" synopsis The show began airing on TLC in 2006 and is often referred to by the acronym, \"LPBW.\" Matt and Amy divorced in 2015. airing on TLC divorced In the Facebook ad about the Roloff family's \"sudden loss,\" the caption contained several grammatical errors. It said: \"Since the allegation were confirmed to the public, the cast of 'Little People, Big World' has ask for some privacy. Here is all the information given to the public so far.\" In other words, the ad appeared to imply that there were recent developments about a death that involved someone on \"LPBW\" or in the Roloff family.  This strange Facebook ad came from a page named P-15897-2.  The ad was posted on a Facebook page with a strange name: P-15897-2. It was described as a \"clothing store.\" However, the truth was that this was nothing more than a quickly-created page that was being used to profit off of tragic and outdated news. It was likely managed from outside of the U.S. One of the photos showed a young Zach Roloff in a hospital bed. The picture was a screenshot from a 2006 episode of \"LPBW\" named \"Zach's Emergency\" where he experienced a \"mysterious illness.\" episode The ad led to a lengthy slideshow-style article on foodisinthehouse.com. Its headline read: \"Little People, Big World: Learn the Shocking Truth About the Roloff Family.\" article However, the Facebook ad and this article were both misleading. The story was nothing more than an extremely long history of the Roloff family. It mentioned several tragic developments. Matt had a brother named Josh who died at the age of 34 in 1999. He had experienced multiple medical problems since his birth, according to a report. Additionally, the story mentioned the August 2021 death of Felix, who was Amy's dog. She posted about his passing on Instagram. This news, which was reported by People.com and others, was around four months old by the time the misleading article was published and the Facebook ad went live. There's no evidence that the family asked \"for privacy\" about either of these two past deaths, as the Facebook ad claimed. report posted reported by People.com The lengthy article also documented two unrelated, sad developments about Dr. Jennifer Arnold, the star of the former TLC series, \"The Little Couple.\" According to Chron.com, the show provided a \"deeper look into the married life of Dr. Jen Arnold and Bill Klein, who happen to be dwarfs.\" According to Chron.com In 2013, Today.com reported that Dr. Arnold was \"diagnosed with stage 3 choriocarcinoma, a rare cancer that began with a September pregnancy loss.\" reported In sum, an unknown person was paying Facebook to display an ad about \"Little People, Big World\" that seemed to indicate there were new and tragic developments. It said that the Roloff family asked \"for privacy\" and hinted with the words \"so far\" that more information was coming about a recent \"loss\" or death. However, this was misleading and appeared to be little more than an attempt to profit from past tragedies from two TLC TV shows. For these reasons, we have rated this claim as \"Outdated.\" attempt to profit Snopes debunks a wide range of content, and online advertisements are no exception. Misleading ads often lead to obscure websites that host lengthy slideshow articles with lots of pages. It's called advertising \"arbitrage.\" The advertiser's goal is to make more money on ads displayed on the slideshow's pages than it cost to show the initial ad that lured them to it. Feel free to submit ads to us, and be sure to include a screenshot of the ad and the link to where the ad leads. submit ads to us","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1lsEtXPa5x_ncSYZDN7fBnIYmSu332UYz","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_98","claim":"Is it advisable to refrain from getting a flu vaccination?","posted":"10\/08\/2016","sci_digest":["Its flu season, and that means a whole new wave of recycled anti-vaccine fearmongering."],"justification":"Every flu season sees an increase in viral web stories making largely unsubstantiated allegations about the health risks of the flu shot that include claims about their scary-sounding ingredients, connections to a variety of diseases (including Alzheimer's), and their supposed lack of efficacy in general: The pharmaceutical industry, medical experts and the mainstream media are candid in telling us that flu vaccines contain strains of the flu virus. What they are less likely to reveal though is the long list of other ingredients that come with the vaccine. It is now a known fact that flu vaccines contain mercury, a heavy metal known to be hazardous for human health. Mercury toxicity can cause depression, memory loss, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory problems, ADD, oral health problems, digestive imbalances and other serious health issues. The article quoted above, which is representative of the text and claims that appear nearly identically in hundreds of Facebook posts, makes a number of claims that need to be investigated on their own merits: identically  Claim: The flu shot makes you sick to begin with.  Flu shots work by introducing dead (inactivated) strains of influenza virus, which trigger your immune system to create antibodies to fight those strains. These antibodies make your body more prepared to fight if should it be exposed to an active strain in the future. Because the strains are inactive, any sickness you develop after the shot is not caused by influenza, according to the Harvard Medical School: according The vaccine is made from an inactivated virus that can't transmit infection. So people who get sick after receiving a flu vaccination were going to get sick anyway. It takes a week or two to get protection from the vaccine. But people assume that because they got sick after getting the vaccine, the shot caused their illness. It is, of course, possible that feelings of sickness come from some of the side effects of the injection, but the vaccine itself is not infecting you in any way. side effects Claim: Flu vaccines contain other dangerous ingredients such as mercury. false Flu shots administered from multi-use vials may contain a preservative called thimerosal, which breaks down into ethylmercury in the body. Mercury is an element and as such it can be found in many different chemical forms. But when people are concerned about mercury toxicity, they are concerned about methylmercury, which is indeed toxic at high levels and could cause some of the problems listed above. may contain methylmercury Ethylmercury, on the other hand, passes through your body quickly, and numerous studies have found it safe for use in vaccines (though there is some evidence that its use could be problematic for infants  a population that CDC does not  recommend for flu shots anyway). Saying ethylmercury is dangerous because is contains mercury is like saying that your table salt is at risk of spontaneous combustion because it contains sodium. passes for infants  recommend spontaneous combustion Thimerosal, additionally, has been used for decades by the anti-vaccine movement to stoke vaccination fear by suggesting it causes by suggesting it causes autism. This link has been discredited over, and over, and over, and over, and over again and is further compromised by the fact that autism rates are still climbing despite the fact that childhood vaccines no longer contain this ingredient. over over over over over climbing contain  Claim: The flu shot can give you Alzheimer's disease. false The leading immunogeneticist Dr. Hugh Fudenberg, whom the article cites as the authority on this claim, had his medical license revoked in 1995 for ethical misconduct and was an outspoken proponent of the widely discredited MMR-autism link. His claim of the link between Alzheimer's and vaccines, though hard to trace, may or may not come from a talk he gave at the 1997 NVIC International Vaccine Conference. The statement has not been backed up by any published peer-reviewed research since then. In fact, a 2001 study found that adults exposed to vaccines were at a lower risk of Alzheimers. revoked in 1995 may or may not study Claim: The very people pushing flu vaccinations are making billions of dollars each year.  Pharmaceutical companies (sometimes) profit from vaccines, but the fact that a company makes a profit is an appeal to emotion and is not evidence to support the claim of a faulty product or of nefarious intent. It also may not be accurate. A recent Atlantic article covered this question extensively, stating: article Not only do pediatricians and doctors often lose money on vaccine administration, it wasn't too long ago that the vaccine industry was struggling with slim profit margins and shortages. The Economist wrote that \"for decades vaccines were a neglected corner of the drugs business, with old technology, little investment and abysmal profit margins. Many firms sold their vaccine divisions to concentrate on more profitable drugs.\" The suggestion of massive profits from flu shots ignores the fact that profits margins are generally much higher for other drugs than for flu vaccines, as well. The same Atlantic article cites one estimate that puts the vaccine market at around $24 billion. This sounds like a large number, but it would, in fact, account for only two to three percent of the pharmaceutical market worldwide. article Claim: There is a lack of real evidence that young children even benefit fromflu shots.  Many anti-vaccine articles parrot the claim that \"51 studies involving 260,000 children showed no benefit compared to a placebo for children under the age of two\". This stems from a 2008 meta-analysis that did indeed conclude that there is less efficacy for children under the age of two, something the CDC already recognizes on their website. However, of the 51 studies analyzed and the 260,000 observations those studies included, only one study (at the time) was performed on children below the age of two using inactive strains (the kind found in flu shots). A later study in 2011 that reviewed over 5,000 research articles concluded that flu shots consistently show highest efficacy in young children (aged 6 months to 7 years), categorically rejecting the claim that there is a lack of real evidence that young children benefit from the shot. 2008 meta-analysis recognizes study Claim: The flu shot makes you more susceptible to pneumonia and other contagious diseases. false People with compromised immune systems are at higher risk of complications from vaccines when those vaccines contain live strains (which, again, the flu shot does not), and some skin reactions are possible immediately following an injection. risk possible However, the notion that the flu shot weakens the immune system is false. According to a review paper in the journal Pediatrics: paper Vaccines may cause temporary suppression of delayed-type hypersensitivity skin reactions or alter certain lymphocyte function tests in vitro. However, the short-lived immunosuppression caused by certain vaccines does not result in an increased risk of infections with other pathogens soon after vaccination. Claim: The flu shot causes vascular disorders such as fever, jaw pain, muscle aches, pain and stiffness in the neck, upper arms, shoulder and hips and headache. MISLEADING While the term vascular disorder is fear-inducing, it merely describes anything having to do with veins and arteries. The flu shot does not, de facto, cause any of these problems, but all the complications listed above are listed by the CDC as possible side effects. It is worth noting, however, that the flu will almost certainly give you some or all of these symptomsand with a much greater intensity than the symptoms resulting from a flu shot. CDC almost certainly give you some or all Claim: Children under the age of 1 are at risk of a neurotoxic breach of the blood-brain barrier.  The blood-brain barrier is the medical term for the chemical and physical adaptations humans and other animals have that prevent pathogens and other chemicals in the body from entering the central nervous system. For this claim about neurotoxic breach be true, an infant would have to have a relatively weaker blood-brain barrier than an adult. The idea that the barrier is weaker in young infants, however, is a long-held but unsubstantiated myth. Numerous studies have refuted the claim, showing that the blood-brain barrier is fully developed in the womb, long before a child is born. blood-brain barrier myth fully developed  Claim: Flu shots carry an increased risk of narcolepsy. false There is a well-documented, though statistically minor, connection between a specific H1N1 flu vaccine (Pandemrix) and narcolepsy. But such reports concerned only that one vaccine, which was produced for a specific flu strain, and have limited relevance to the seasonal flu shot. Pandemrix is available in Europe but not the United States or Canada. well-documented connection not Claim: The flu shot weakens immunological responses.  This claim, from a scientific standpoint, is a repeat of the earlier false claim (above) that suggests your body is more susceptible to infection or disease after a flu shot. Harmful immunological responses is a broad and unhelpful term that, while it may have aided in turning up literally thousands of responses in an academic search, is not really all that surprising as the term would includes the already documented risk of a skin and allergic reactions that come with pretty much any injection. already documented Claim: The flu shot can cause serious neurological disorders. false The neurological disorder specifically associated with flu vaccines is the Guillain-Barr Syndromea terrifying disease that causes nerve damage and sometimes paralysis. A widely cited study on a population of individuals who received the H1N1 vaccine in 1976 showed an increased risk of contracting this disease  whose cause is unknown  compared to those who did not receive the vaccine: Guillain-Barr Syndrome The Institute of Medicine (IOM) conducted a scientific review of this issue in 2003 and found that people who received the 1976 swine influenza vaccine had an increased risk for developing GBS. The increased risk was approximately one additional case of GBS for every 100,000 people who got the swine flu vaccine. Scientists have several theories about the cause, but the exact reason for this link remains unknown. The link between GBS and flu vaccination in other years is unclear, and if there is any risk for GBS after seasonal flu vaccines it is very small, about one in a million. Studies suggest that it is more likely that a person will get GBS after getting the flu than after vaccination. It is important to keep in mind that severe illness and death are associated with flu, and getting vaccinated is the best way to prevent flu infection and its complications. This topic has been heavily researched for decades, and no specific consensus regarding the link or mechanism behind the flu virus and the disease has been established. What has been established, however, is how small the risk is relative to the risks of contracting complications from flu itself. A 2013 study in The Lancet stated that: study The relative and attributable risks of Guillain-Barr syndrome after seasonal influenza vaccination are lower than those after influenza illness. Patients considering immunisation should be fully informed of the risks of Guillain-Barr syndrome from both influenza vaccines and influenza illness. Current iterations of the seasonal flu shot do not have any live strains in them (though the nasal spray includes weakened strains), nor do they have any mercury (in the United States), detergent, antifreeze, or aluminum. They contain, at most, 50 times less formaldehyde than a pear. nasal spray nor aluminum pear  We, of course, are not healthcare providers and cannot make any medical decisions for you. The purpose of this post is to correct misinformation on the Internet, and there are few topics that lend themselves to as much misinformation as vaccines. All healthcare decisions, however, should be made between you and your doctor. Harvard Medical School.  \"10 Flu Myths.\"\r  November 2009. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  \"Possible Side-Effects from Vaccines.\"\r  Accessed 8 October 2016. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  \"Vaccine Excipient & Media Summary.\"\r  Accessed 8 October 2016. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  \"Thimerosal in Vaccines.\"\r  Accessed 8 October 2016. World Health Organization.  \"Statement on Thimerosal.\"\r  July 2006. Dorea, J.G.  \"Low-Dose Mercury Exposure in Early Life: Relevance of Thimerosal to Fetuses, Newborns and Infants.\"\r  Current Medical Chemistry.  2013. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  \"Key Facts About Seasonal Flu Vaccine.\"\r  Accessed 8 October 2016. Verreault, Rene et al.  \"Past Exposure to Vaccines and Subsequent Risk of Alzheimer's Disease.\"\r  CMAJ.  27 November 2001. Gorski, David.  \"Oh, Come On, Superman!: Bill Maher Versus 'Western Medicine.'\"\r  Science Based Medicine.  7 September 2009. Casewatch.  \"Disciplinary Actions Against Herman Hugh Fudenberg, M.D.\"\r  20 April 2005. Pediatrics.  \"Joint Statement of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the United States Public Health Service (USPHS).\"\r  September 1999. Taylor. Luke E. et al.  Vaccines Are Not Associated with Autism: An Evidence-Based Meta-Analysis of Case-Control and Cohort Studies.\"\r  Vaccine.  17 June 2014. Ball, L.K. et al.  An Assessment of Thimerosal Use in Childhood Vaccines.\"\r  Pediatrics.  May 2001. Madsen, Kreesten, M. et al.  A Population-Based Study of Measles, Mumps, and Rubella Vaccination and Autism.\"\r  New England Journal of Medicine.  7 November 2002. Hviid, Anders et al.  Association Between Thimerosal-Containing\rVaccine and Autism.\"\r  New England Journal of Medicine.  October 2003. The National Academies.  \"Immunization Safety Review: Vaccines and Autism.\"\r  2004. Vaccine Knowledge Project.  \"Vaccine Ingredients.\"\r  Accessed 8 October 2016. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  \"Vaccines Adjuvants.\"\r  Accessed 8 October 2016. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  \"Flublok Seasonal Influenza (Flu) Vaccine.\"\r  Accessed 8 October 2016. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  \"Guillain-Barre Syndrome.\"\r  Accessed 8 October 2016. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  \"Narcolepsy Following Pandemrix Influenza Vaccination in Europe.\"\r  Accessed 8 October 2016. Miller, Elizabeth et al.  Risk of Narcolepsy in Children and Young People Receiving As03 Adjuvanted Pandemic A\/h1n1 2009 Influenza Vaccine: Retrospective Analysis.\"\r  BMJ.  26 February 2013. Moretti, Raffella et al.  Blood-Brain Barrier Dysfunction in Disorders of the Developing Brain.\"\r  Frontiers in Neuroscience.  17 February 2015. Volodin, N.N. et al.  Status of the Blood-brain Barrier in Newborn Infants of Various Gestational Ages in the Normal State and in Pathology.\"\r  Pediatriia.  1989. Saunders, Norman R. et al.  The Rights and Wrongs of Blood-brain Barrier Permeability Studies: S Walk Through 100 Years of History.\"\r  Frontiers in Neuroscience.  16 December 2014. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  \"Flu Symptoms & Complications.\"\r  Accessed 8 October 2016. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  \"Key Facts About Seasonal Flu Vaccine.\"\r  Accessed 8 October 2016. Osterholm, Michael T. et al.  Efficacy and Effectiveness of Influenza Vaccines: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.\"\r  The Lancet.  January 2012. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  \"Vaccine Effectiveness  How Well Does the Flu Vaccine Work?\"\r  Accessed 8 October 2016. Jefferson, T. et al.  Vaccines for Preventing Influenza in Healthy Children.\"\r  Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.  16 April 2008. Lam, Bourree.  Vaccines Are Profitable, So What?\"\r  The Atlantic.  10 February 2015.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/us-east-1.tchyn.io\/snopes-production\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Screen-Shot-2016-10-07-at-1.30.49-PM.png"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1LajCTChZw_OZAg-hL64u75r6uw6PghW_"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1xHnOErJDtoz7-amgaNEEYmTRsRotTBhn"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Mgu179o33H7a0AymptjeL_ow2Uc-MY7k"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_99","claim":"Obama Accomplishments","posted":"07\/12\/2016","sci_digest":["An Internet meme touts the economic achievements of United States President Barack Obama."],"justification":"Viral recitations of politicians' achievements and failures have become standard election-year fare on social media, and, like the campaign talking points on which they appear to be based, are long on declarative statements and short on nuance.  One of many such lists devoted to President Barack Obama touts his economic accomplishments in office. While the statements it contains are basically true, it behooves the reader to bear in mind that 1.) it's a short list, and 2.) most of the items benefit, accuracy-wise, from a little added context. \"Biggest job growth in manufacturing since the '90s\" It's accurate, as far as it goes, to say that Obama presided over the largest spurt of manufacturing job growth since the 1990s, but how remarkable is that, really? As illustrated in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics graph below, the six-year period from 2010 to 2016 saw the largest sustained increase in manufacturing jobs since 1998 (more than 800,000 added), but what it also shows is how deep a trough manufacturing labor had fallen into over the previous decade, and how depressed it remains to this day, despite a modicum of improvement.  \"Auto industry breaking sales records\"  Nothing to quibble with here. According to statistics compiled by Autodata, U.S. car sales have increased steadily every year since 2009, and in 2015 set an all-time record of 17.47 million vehicles sold. statistics \"Clean energy production doubled\" Partly true. Certain kinds of \"clean energy\" production have doubled during Obama's tenure in office, but others haven't -- hydroelectric power, for example, which is our largest single source of renewable energy. U.S. Energy Information Agency statistics show that the production of hydroelectricity has actually decreased somewhat since 2010, though we do, in fact, produce twice as much clean energy from other sources such as solar, wind and biomass today (300 million megawatthours) as we did in 2009 (150 million megawatthours). statistics \"Unemployment cut in half\" True. Between 2010 and 2016 the unemployment rate dropped from about 10 percent to about 5 percent, as illustrated in this Bureau of Labor graph:   Which is indeed a 50 percent drop, although, once again, our starting point for comparison is the peak of the Great Recession, when the unemployment rate was at a 20-year high. Perhaps the more impressive statistic is that at 5 percent, the current unemployment rate is below the historical median since 1948 of of 5.5 percent. \"Deficit cut by three-quarters\" True, provided that the starting point for comparison is fiscal year 2009, when Obama's stimulus program pushed the deficit to $1.4 trillion. Given that the 2015 deficit was $439 billion, a drop of about three-quarters from what it was in 2009, the claim holds water. If, however, one compares 2015 to 2008, when the deficit was about $459 billion, the reduction is relatively inconsequential. \"Stock market tripled\" True, and then some. As of August 2015, the S&P 500 was up 220 percent over 2009, Nasdaq was up 313 percent and the Dow was up 185 percent from its 2009 low. up 220 percent \"And he did it all with Republicans obstructing\" What's in question here is not so much whether the Republicans did or did not obstruct  whether you call it \"obstructing\" or \"opposing Obama's liberal agenda,\" they've done so throughout his administration  but to what extent Obama \"did it all.\" It's standard political practice for the incumbent to claim credit for economic good news (and blame opponents for the bad), but how much credit does Obama actually deserve for this list of \"accomplishments\"? On balance, the answer is probably some, but not all. \"After all,\" writes Ben Smith in Politico.com, \"the $18 trillion U.S. economy is a massive beast that rises and falls on tectonic forces well beyond the reach of short-term Washington policy changes.\" writes Some of the early moves by the Obama administration clearly helped get us to where we are right now, especially the government being the spender of last resort after the crisis, said Beth Ann Bovino, chief U.S. economist at Standard & Poors. But the Federal Reserve also played a very big role. And this is also the natural shape of a slow recovery from a deep financial crisis and recession that is finally getting some traction.  Burden, Melissa and Wayland, Michael.  \"Auto Industry Sets All-Time Sales Record in 2015.\"\r The Detroit News.  5 January 2016. Long, Heather. \"Alarmed by Stocks? 5 Charts Break it Down.\"\r CNNMoney.  25 August 2015. Smith, Ben. \"An Obama Boom?\"\r  Politico.com.  9 January 2015. \"Energy in Brief.\"\r U.S. Energy Information Administration. 5 May 2016.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1NnOsfksrfp858kz_FtYOcmTZEF9KyCj5","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1bG4MTMev0caZ41ZGYaYAuacdTvwRKjfQ","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_100","claim":"Facebook\/CNN Car Accident Appeal","posted":"02\/19\/2014","sci_digest":["Are Facebook and CNN contributing money towards the medical care an infant car accident victim every time a message is shared?"],"justification":"Claim:  Facebook and CNN are contributing money towards the medical care an infant car accident victim every time a message is shared.  Example:  [Collected via Facebook, February 2014] This baby got in a terrible care accident And his parents dont have the money to support the surgery so facebook an CNN are willing the pay half the expenses, facebook is donating money for every like, share, comment...1 like - 1 $1 comment - 5$1 share - 10 $  Origins:  As discussed in innumerable articles in this section of our web site, companies do not fund the medical care of sick or injured children by donating money based on the number of times a particular item is forwarded via e-mail, posted or liked on Facebook, spread via text messaging, or otherwise shared online.  The concept that they do is one of the longest-running hoaxes in the history of the Internet. section As is often the case in false entreaties such as this February 2014 example, photographs included with the plea which are intended to tug at viewers' heartstrings and enlist their support have absolutely nothing to do with the text of the message.  In this case the pictured child was not the victim of a \"care [sic] accident,\" but rather an infant with a rare birth defect who died several hours after his birth back in February 2012: died A Mid-South family was forced to prepare themselves for the death of a child born with a rare birth defect. The Walker family checked into the hospital knowing they would not be going home with baby Grayson James Walker. \"At first, I questioned God and wondered why he would choose us for this,\" said Heather Walker. Sixteen weeks into her pregnancy, Heather Walker found out her baby had  a fatal birth defect. \"It's known as Anecephaly, and this is one of the variations of what we call an open neural tube defect,\" said the family's doctor Roy Bors-Koefoed, M.D. \"The risk of Anecephaly is about one in 1,000 in the general population\", added Bors-Koefoed.  They of course gave us the option to terminate,\" said Heather Walker. The Walkers chose to carry Grayson to full term.  Heather Walker said she turned to her faith to prepare herself for the days ahead. \"My husband and I, we started prayer and we knew that God knew since the beginning of time that he had us for this,\" said Heather Walker. \"Honestly, just seeing the strength that she had motivated me to be a better husband and a better father to my kids,\" said Patrick Walker. Fighting through her fears, Heather Walker talked to her children about Grayson and said she wanted to keep the experience joyful. \"As soon as they brought him around to me, all those fears and everything were taken away,\" she said. With the help of non-profit organization, Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep, the Walker family had a photographer capture the hours they had with baby Grayson. By treating his birth like any other special delivery, the Walkers hope to keep Grayson's memory alive forever. \"Yes, I'm going to cry and I'm probably going to lay in my bed some days, but I have that hope that God has got him in his hands and we're going to get to meet him again someday,\" said Heather Walker. \"You know, my son lived almost eight hours, and he's already done in eight hours what I could never do in a hundred lifetimes, and that's awesome,\" said Patrick Walker. The bottom line is that there's no injured little boy in need of good-hearted souls willing to use Facebook's \"share\" feature to pass along the photo and attached information to their social network friends. If you want to make a difference in a sick child's life, the best way is still the old-fashioned one: donate your money or your time, not a text message or Facebook wall post. Last updated:  19 February 2014 ","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1TXhwyl07u9Oh5_lyiraDt_8OBy_AN_vk","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_101","claim":"Has Monica Lewinsky left a significant net worth behind?","posted":"12\/29\/2020","sci_digest":["Online advertisements falsely implied that Monica Lewinsky was dead and claimed that her net worth stunned her family."],"justification":"In late December 2020, a misleading online advertisement appeared, announcing that Monica Lewinsky was dead and that her net worth stunned her family. It read: \"Monica Lewinsky's Net Worth Stuns Her Family At Age 47. Monica Lewinsky Leaves Behind A Net Worth That Will Boggle Your Mind.\" However, this was not true. She is alive, and despite what the ad claimed, there was no indication in the resulting story that her net worth shocked her family. The ad was sponsored by the Therapy Joker website and was hosted on the Yahoo! Gemini advertising service. Readers who clicked the ad were led to a 430-page story with the headline: \"The Biggest Hollywood Celebrities & Their Incredible Net Worth: Can You Guess Who Has The Biggest Bank Account?\" Lewinsky's net worth appeared on page 417, meaning that readers had to click \"Next Page\" 417 times to reach her section: \"Monica Lewinsky: Activist and TV Personality - $500,000.\" Monica Samille Lewinsky is a woman of many skills. This popular American television personality is also a successful fashion designer, activist, and a former intern at the White House. The paparazzi constantly followed her, and she was a regular face in the media during her time at the White House. However, she decided to leave all that behind and pursue a different career. Additionally, she authored the book, \"Monica: Her Story,\" which added to her fame. The London School of Economics and Political Science alumna is now 47 years old and remains a popular television personality. She rents a lavish apartment and enjoys a luxurious lifestyle. Her fleet of cars includes a Mini Cooper and a Cadillac. We hope she has a professional financial advisor to assist her with her banking needs. Currently, the media personality, activist, and fashion designer has retained her fame, and we hope Lewinsky continues to manage the money she has accumulated over the years. The page mentioned nothing about Lewinsky's purported death, nor did it present any information about her family being stunned by her net worth. The misleading advertisement and exceptionally lengthy article reflect a strategy known in the advertising world as \"arbitrage.\" The Therapy Joker website's goal was to make more money from ads displayed on each of the 430 pages than it cost to lure readers with the initial \"Monica Lewinsky's Net Worth Stuns Her Family\" ad. The business and technology blog Margins defined \"arbitrage\" as \"leveraging an inefficient set of systems to make a riskless profit, usually by buying and selling the same asset.\" Margins also referred to it as \"the mythical free lunch that economics tells us does not exist.\" Lewinsky was a White House intern in the mid-1990s who became famous after her affair with former U.S. President Bill Clinton became a public scandal. In December 1998, Clinton was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives. However, the Senate did not vote to convict and remove him from office, allowing him to serve the remainder of his second term in the White House. We previously covered similar misleading net worth stories for Sean Connery, Jaleel White, Richard Gere, Chuck Norris, Clint Eastwood, and Alex Trebek. Snopes debunks a wide range of content, and online advertisements are no exception. Misleading ads often lead to obscure websites that host lengthy slideshow articles with numerous pages. It's called advertising \"arbitrage.\" The advertiser's goal is to make more money on ads displayed on the slideshow's pages than it cost to show the initial ad that lured them to it. Feel free to submit ads to us, and be sure to include a screenshot of the ad and the link to where the ad leads.","issues":["banking"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1cpJv4ANpmDNUNltOUTVUf3w0iUuH8KZF"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_102","claim":"Were Schumer and Pelosi involved in assisting Obama in providing $150 billion to a nation regarded as an adversary of the United States?","posted":"01\/08\/2019","sci_digest":["Two prominent Democratic members of Congress didn't \"help\" bring about something that never took place."],"justification":"As President Donald Trump prepared on 8 January 2019 to deliver a televised speech to the nation making the case for billions of dollars to construct a wall along the roughly 2,000-mile border between the U.S. and Mexico, some social media users circulated an inaccurate meme containing the claim that the preceding Obama administration, with the help of Democratic lawmakers Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, had given Iran $150 billion in cash.   President Trump battled Congress over his request for $5.7 billion to fulfill a 2016 campaign promise to \"build the wall.\" The resulting impasse over budget appropriations for the wall's construction led to a protracted shutdown of the federal government. build the wall impasse shutdown As with many memes, the one above paired two topics that were unrelated to each other, along with a generous helping of inaccuracy. The \"enemy of the U.S.\" referred to Iran, which was never given a $150 billion cash payment by President Barack Obama with the help of Pelosi and Schumer. Instead, billions of dollars worth of Iranian assets were unfrozen as a result of the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated with that country, which had nothing to do with the U.S. federal budget or border wall construction. nuclear deal Trump floated the \"$150 billion\" figure in conjunction with his desired border wall construction in a 12 December 2018 Twitter post: The Democrats and President Obama gave Iran 150 Billion Dollars and got nothing, but they cant give 5 Billion Dollars for National Security and a Wall?  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 12, 2018 December 12, 2018 The $150 billion figure is an estimate of the value of Iranian assets that were unfrozen as a result of Iran's agreeing to the terms of the nuclear agreement reached with seven nations in 2015, including the U.S., an agreement formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. In other words, Iran gained access to assets that already belonged to them, assets that had been frozen in various financial institutions around the world due to sanctions imposed to curb Irans nuclear program. But Iran didn't get $150 billion in cash, nor did they receive any money at all from U.S. taxpayers -- they only regained access to assets that had been frozen in several different countries (not just the U.S.), and the $150 billion figure was merely an upper estimate. agreement Moreover, that $150 billion figure was the highest estimate of the value of Iran's frozen assets, with multiple sources reporting much lower figures. For example, Adam J. Szubin, Acting Under Secretary of Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, supplied written testimony to a U.S. Senate committee in August 2015 stating that U.S. assessment of the total liquid assets Iran would regain control of as a result of the nuclear agreement was \"a little more than $50 billion\": testimony We must also be measured and realistic in understanding what sanctions relief will really mean to Iran. Estimates of total Central Bank of Iran (CBI) foreign exchange assets worldwide are in the range of $100 to $125 billion. Our assessment is that Irans usable liquid assets after sanctions relief will be much lower, at a little more than $50 billion. The other $50-70 billion of total CBI foreign exchange assets are either obligated in illiquid projects (such as over 50 projects with China) that cannot be monetized quickly, if at all, or are composed of outstanding loans to Iranian entities that cannot repay them. These assets would not become accessible following sanctions relief. Nader Habibi, professor of economics of the Middle East at Brandeis University, told us via email his best estimate was that between $30 billion and $50 billion of unfrozen funds were made available to Iran as a result of the deal. On 8 May 2018, President Trump announced that he was pulling the U.S. out of the nuclear deal with Iran, which had been negotiated over the course of two years. Associated Press.  \"Democrats and Obama Did Not Give $150 Billion to Iran.\"\r  14 December 2018. Hirschfeld Davis, Julie.  \"Schumer and Pelosi Tap Themselves to Respond to Trump Speech.\"\r  The New York Times.  8 January 2019. Bozorgmehr, Najmeh.  \"Iran to Keep Most Unfrozen Overseas Assets in Foreign Banks.\"\r  Financial Times.  8 February 2016. Cunningham, Erin, and Bijan Sabbagh.  \"Iran to Negotiate with Europeans, Russia and China About Remaining in Nuclear Deal.\"\r  The Washington Post. 8 May 2018. Dahl, Fredrik.  \"Iran Has $100 Billion Abroad, Can Draw $4.2 Billion: U.S. Official.\"\r  Reuters.  17 January 2014. Habibi, Nader. \" Irans Frozen Funds: How Much Is Really There and How Will They Be Used?\"\r  The Conversation.  11 August 2015.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1I8VOd0xeAY6GVKsbAiBxy0s999iaEYWB"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_103","claim":"Does the data provided in this meme accurately reflect the numerical comparison between Trump and Obama?","posted":"08\/13\/2018","sci_digest":["Donald Trump, Jr. shared a doctored graphic which falsely showed his father with a higher job approval rating than his predecessor, Barack Obama."],"justification":"An image purportedly reproducing a CNN graphic comparing Presidents Trump and Obama \"by the numbers\"\u2014with the former seemingly recording a significantly higher job approval rating than his predecessor\u2014received a viral push on August 8, 2018, when Donald Trump Jr. shared it with his 1.2 million followers on Instagram. However, the image was a doctored version of a graphic that was originally used during a CNN fact-checking segment regarding a tweet posted by President Trump about his approval numbers: \"Presidential approval numbers are very good\u2014strong economy, military, and just about everything else. Better numbers than Obama at this point, by far. We are winning on just about every front, and for that reason, there will not be a Blue Wave, but there might be a Red Wave!\" Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 5, 2018. CNN's John King fact-checked this tweet by comparing Presidents Obama and Trump \"by the numbers\" from around the same point in their presidencies. The image posted by Trump Jr. showed his father with a 50% job approval rating, but the genuine graphic aired by CNN indicated President Trump's approval rating was only 40%. A side-by-side comparison clearly shows how a \"50%\" was digitally edited (quite poorly) in place of the \"40%\" number in the original graphic. The job approval statistics used by CNN for this graphic were taken from Gallup. According to that polling company, which samples presidential approval ratings every week, President Trump had never held a 50% approval rating up to the point of the CNN segment. Donald Trump Jr. later removed the doctored image from his Instagram page. An expanded version of the chart began circulating in September 2018 in the form of a meme shared by Turning Point USA, a conservative group whose stated mission is \"to identify, educate, train, and organize students to promote the principles of freedom, free markets, and limited government.\" Apart from repeating the inaccurate \"50 percent\" approval rating for Trump and substituting year-to-date federal deficit figures with first-year-in-office totals for both Trump and Obama, the Turning Point USA chart faithfully copies the information provided in the August CNN segment. As CNN correspondent John King pointed out in that segment, the numbers reflect favorably on Trump. However, the meme omits important contextual information. First, the figures cited were snapshots of a particular point in each president's administration. They didn't reflect longer-term fluctuations and trends. Second, unlike Trump, Obama entered office in the midst of a devastating economic collapse. Trump inherited an economy that was already strong and growing. It's meaningless to compare the two without taking these factors into account. \n\nUnemployment rate: As stated in the meme, the unemployment rate in July 2018 was 3.9 percent, compared to 9.4 percent at the same point in Obama's first term in office (July 2010). But that number fell during 2011 as the economy began to recover and, apart from minor fluctuations, fell steadily every year thereafter. By December 2016 (Obama's last full month in office), the unemployment rate was down to 4.7 percent and still falling, as illustrated in this U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics graph. \n\nJobs added: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, total non-farm employment in the U.S. grew from 145.7 million in January 2017 to almost 149 million in June 2018\u2014an increase of approximately 3.2 million jobs. The same source reported that by the exact same point in Obama's first term, the economy had lost some 3.5 million jobs since January 2009 (0.6 million more than was claimed by CNN and the Turning Point USA meme). But, again, the recession was underway, and the economy had already shed nearly 3.6 million jobs during the 12 months before Obama took office. The employment rate began to improve in 2011 and did so steadily throughout the rest of Obama's two terms. \n\nFirst-year deficit: The Congressional Budget Office reported in March 2018 that the federal deficit stood at $665 billion (equivalent to 3.5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product) at the end of 2017, Trump's first year in office. At the end of Obama's first year, 2009, the deficit was $1.4 trillion (9.9 percent of GDP, the highest deficit as a share of GDP since 1945). It was mostly attributable to spending on the stimulus package meant to rescue the U.S. economy from the recession. Deficit spending didn't remain that high throughout Obama's tenure, however. In fact, the deficit during each of the last three years of his term of office ($485 billion in 2014, $438 billion in 2015, and $585 billion in 2016) was lower than the 2017 deficit, as well as the projected $833 billion deficit for 2018. \n\nGDP growth: The growth rate of the Gross Domestic Product reflects the health of the economy in terms of the value of all goods and services produced in a given time period. As of the end of the second quarter of 2018, the rate of GDP growth was 4.2 percent (revised upward from 4.1 percent), compared to a rate of 1.6 percent in the second quarter of 2010, Obama's second year in office. The quarterly GDP growth rate can be volatile, however. It reached or surpassed the 4 percent mark on four separate occasions during the Obama administration, including hitting a high point of 5.2 percent in the third quarter of 2014. \n\nChanges in economic indicators are a valid way of evaluating the effectiveness of presidents and their policies, but, as in the examples above, when they are taken out of context and oversimplified, they can be more misleading than enlightening.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1vBTrtFku5PuPtVEn4Wwo4q6TIzaCDOVN"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=14gu3GxGOuZIfTyRGgA0miWBRQMcxYU-a"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1bHZuRcpY3s12zqXsTbwQqAJktbwzd-Gf"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1qWuuxop4TX6wkdEU50808r60woHQ1ziZ"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1P3CGj4lK99vL7sqe76eLM_OfhxofLQWB"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_104","claim":"The video does not depict electric scooter bikes left in a 'graveyard' because of the expensive nature of batteries.","posted":"11\/30\/2022","sci_digest":["Here's how we solved the mystery of what this viral video truly showed."],"justification":"On Nov. 28, 2022, the@Xx17965797N Twitter accounttweeteda video with a misleading caption that claimed the clip showed a sea of lined-up electric scooter bikes that were abandoned because of the high cost of electric vehicle (EV) battery replacement. The tweet read, \"Electric green scooters that have reached end of battery life. Due to the batteries being so expensive to replace, electric scooters are abandoned because disposing of them any other way is dangerous and expensive.\" tweeted This was not true, despite the tens of thousands of combined retweets and likes that the tweet received.  The same video upload from @Xx17965797N was also misleadingly reshared by accounts including@PeterDClack, @JamesMelville, and @MillerForTexas. The former two tweets received thousands of engagements, despite the fact that the information pushed in the original tweet was not true. @PeterDClack @JamesMelville @MillerForTexas In cases like these where a caption is incorrect but the picture or video is real, we issue a fact-check rating of \"Miscaptioned.\" Days before the @Xx17965797N tweet was posted, the@ElevaBrasilES account also misleadingly tweeted that the same video was shot in France. The tweet went up on Nov. 21 with an incorrect caption that read, \"Green energy Cemetery of electric motorcycles in France. Now designated as a 'biohazard zone.'\" (Note: This mention of France reminded us of other rumors we've debunked in the past, in particular about two photosof other car graveyards. The two pictures showed false captions that claimed the cars had been abandoned due to the high cost of battery replacement, just like the video we're looking at in this fact check.) tweeted two photos The oldest upload of the video that we could find came from TikTok user @smartsetting. The video was uploaded on Nov. 7 and by the end of the month had received nearly 5 million views.   Based on watching the video, the scooters appeared to be parked in a parking lot near a basketball court, perhaps in a university complex or public park. Several blurry Chinese characters were visible on the side of the bikes. At the end of the clip, a tall building could be seen on the right-hand side of the frame. Other than those pieces of information, we didn't have much to go on. In order to find the truth behind this video, we first used Adobe Media Encoder to export a JPEG file for each and every frame from the video. The results of this export were 440 individual images from the 14-second video. We then performed numerous reverse image searches with these picture files using Google Images and TinEye.com. These reverse image searches provided several clues as to where other users had reposted the video. However, we did not find any further details from these searches. Next, we tried several searches on Google, Twitter, and YouTube with phrases such as \"electric scooter China\" and \"electric bike graveyard China,\" among other terms. This helped to find several repostsof the video. The searches alsoshowedresults for many of the sites in China that are the final resting placesfor massive stacks of bicycles dumped by bike-sharing companies with failed business models. Perhaps the most striking video we found was titled, \"No Place To PlaceThe Wonders of Shared Bicycle Graveyards in China.\" several reposts showed results sites final resting places failed business models video At one point in our research, we stumbled upon an AFP videofrom 2021 that appeared to show the same yellow color and model of electric scooter bike. The caption for the clip said that it was captured \"outside the city of Shenyang.\" The end of the video showed a stadium with special colors for seating zones. video model After an exhaustive search, we were able to find this same stadium by using the map tools on the Chinese website Baidu.com. Unlike Google Maps, Baidu.com has street-level views of nearby roads. However, this part of our effort wasn't very helpful. It remained unclear if this was the same location where the viral clip was shot. Baidu.com In the end, it was going back to TikTok that helped us find the origins of the video. A search on TikTok for \"electric share bike China\" brought us to this video from @evstevepan. The video showed the same kind of yellow electric scooter bike with a similar logo. A scan of the logo using a mobile phone camera and Google Translate revealed the company name Meituan, which is known as an \"all-encompassing platform for local services.\" this video We then searched the internet for Meituan and electric scooters, which produced plenty of pictures on Shutterstock.com. For a moment, the two large characters on the side of the scooter didn't seem to match those from the viral video. We then horizontally flipped a still-frame from the viral video, which led us to discover that it had been mirrored, meaning that all words and numbers were backward. plenty of pictures All of these developments in our research led us to news articles that helped to show our findings were lining up. In April 2018, news broke that Meituan had purchased the company Mobike for $2.7 billion. According to the story, Mobike is \"a Chinese startup that helped pioneer bike-sharing services worldwide.\" broke But by November of that same year, TechCrunch reported that Meituan would be \"[walking] away from bike-sharing and ride-hailing,\" as there wasn't enough demand from customers for the supply of its bike-sharing venture: reported In April, Meituan entered the bike-sharing fray after it scooped up top player Mobike for $2.7 billion to face off Alibaba-backed Ofo. Over the past few years, Mobike and Ofo were burning through large sums of investor money in a bid to win users from subsidized rides, but both have shown signs of softening their stance recently. Mobike is downsizing its fleets to \"avoid an oversupply\" as the bike-sharing market falters, Meituan's chief financial officer Chen Shaohui said during the earnings call. Ofo has also scaled back by closing down many of its international operations... During its third quarter that ended September 30, Meituan posted a 97.2 percent jump on revenues to 19.1 billion yuan, or $2.75 billion, on the back of strong growth in food delivery transactions. The firm's investments in new initiatives  including ride-hailing and bike-sharing  took a toll as operating losses nearly tripled to 3.45 billion yuan compared to a year ago. Meituan shares plunged as much as 14 percent on Friday, the most since its spectacular listing. Just as so many electric bicycles from bike-sharing companies had piled up across China, so had electric scooters like the ones seen in the viral video. In sum, social media users falsely claimed that a video showed tons of lined-up electric scooter bikes that were abandoned in a \"graveyard\" due to the high cost of EV battery replacement. All evidence pointed to a simple answer: supply and demand. The number of electric scooter bikes and bicycles far outnumbered the number of people who requested to use them (or else they went missing or were stolen), which resulted in downsizing by some companies, and the closure of others.The clip appears to have been shot in China, although its precise location is unclear. far outnumbered went missing or were stolen We reached out to Meituan for comment on Nov. 29 but did not receive a response in time for publication. 25  2022 . ELDORADO, https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/gbI2Bo2xKCc. A Veces Hay Cosas Que Duelen y Desesperan. Lamenta, 2022, https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=OmV5lBEYEMU. @Atomicfact. Twitter, 14 Aug. 2018, https:\/\/twitter.com\/atomicfact\/status\/1029352130086424576. Baidu. https:\/\/map.baidu.com\/. @BBC. \"The Problem of China's Huge Bike Graveyards.\" Twitter, 20 May 2018, https:\/\/twitter.com\/bbc\/status\/998231947359997952. @ElevaBrasilES. Twitter, 21 Nov. 2022, https:\/\/twitter.com\/elevabrasiles\/status\/1594826198831570947. @evstevepan. \"Share Electric Scooter in China #electricscooter #china #vlog.\" TikTok, 25 Sept. 2022, https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@evstevepan\/video\/7147290373868506411. Freer. \"Meituan Electric Shared Bikes on the Street.\" Shutterstock, 19 May 2020, https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/zhongshan-guangdong-chinamay-19-2020meituan-electric-1736816009. Google Images. https:\/\/images.google.com\/. Google Translate. https:\/\/translate.google.com\/. \"Graveyard of the Bikes: Aerial Photos of China's Failed Share-Cycle Scheme Show Mountains of Damaged Bikes.\" The Straits Times via AFP, 21 Apr. 2021, https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/asia\/east-asia\/graveyard-of-the-bikes-chinas-failed-share-cycle-scheme-from-above. \"Graveyard of the Bikes: China's Failed Share-Cycle Scheme from Above.\" Techxplore.com via AFP, 21 Apr. 2021, https:\/\/techxplore.com\/news\/2021-04-graveyard-bikes-china-share-cycle-scheme.html. @JamesMelville. Twitter, 29 Nov. 2022, https:\/\/twitter.com\/jamesmelville\/status\/1597532727338639360. Liao, Rita. \"Meituan, China's 'everything App,' Walks Away from Bike Sharing and Ride Hailing.\" TechCrunch, 23 Nov. 2018, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/11\/23\/meituan-scale-back-ride-hailing-and-bike-sharing\/. @mbrennanchina. Twitter, 4 Dec. 2018, https:\/\/twitter.com\/mbrennanchina\/status\/1069940186786775042. @MillerForTexas. Twitter, 28 Nov. 2022, https:\/\/twitter.com\/millerfortexas\/status\/1597346555111280640. No Place To PlaceThe Wonders of Shared Bicycle Graveyards in China. Guoyong Wu, 2020, https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TDfLWFv3ixk. @PeterDClack. Twitter, 28 Nov. 2022, https:\/\/twitter.com\/peterdclack\/status\/1597371847397761024. Russell, Jon. \"Chinese Bike-Sharing Pioneer Mobike Sold to Ambitious Meituan Dianping for $2.7B.\" TechCrunch, 3 Apr. 2018, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/04\/03\/chinese-bike-sharing-pioneer-mobike-sold-to-ambitious-meituan-dianping-for-2-7b\/. Shared Electric Bikes Roll into Changsha in Central China. CGTN, 2021, https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=DkSUN-FSuNI. Siqi, Ji. \"Taxpayers Foot the Clean-up Bill for China's Bike-Sharing Bust.\" South China Morning Post, 2 Oct. 2020, https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/business\/china-business\/article\/3103908\/what-happens-discarded-bikes-chinas-sharing-boom-taxpayers. Sprawling Bike Graveyard from China's Failed Share-Cycle Scheme. AFP News Agency, 2021, https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9N1Qxs_KOYo. TinEye Reverse Image Search. https:\/\/tineye.com\/. u\/silvertomars. \"A Graveyard for Electric Scooters the Batteries Have Reached the End of Their Life-Time, but Are Too Expensive to Replace and Safely Disposing or Recycling the Batteries Is Also Too Expensive.\" r\/Wallstreetsilver via Reddit.com, 28 Nov. 2022, https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/Wallstreetsilver\/comments\/z7i7ng\/a_graveyard_for_electric_scooters_the_batteries\/. @vegastarr. Twitter, 28 Nov. 2022, https:\/\/twitter.com\/vegastarr\/status\/1597338236472659968. @Xx17965797N.Twitter, 28 Nov. 2022, https:\/\/twitter.com\/xx17965797n\/status\/1597310309139873792. Yan, Alice. \"Chinese Bike-Share Firm Closes after 90 per Cent of Cycles Stolen.\" South China Morning Post, 21 June 2017, https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/china\/society\/article\/2099293\/chinese-bike-share-firm-closes-after-90-cent-cycles-stolen.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1X2kUpBzRWJJ1zatwIOWs8Mk_bVFuKs1W"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1pNkk-n0tokMrdC0vRs_RdtkGCunLkE_f"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1RACcb3XNlOOhPQgnxPJjNidyJCoAUikz"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_105","claim":"Idaho Ministers Forced to Officiate Gay Weddings","posted":"10\/20\/2014","sci_digest":["Rumor: Two Idaho pastors were threatened with arrest for refusing to perform gay weddings."],"justification":" Claim:   Two Idaho pastors were threatened with legal action and arrests for refusing to perform gay weddings.  Example:  [Collected via e-mail, October 2014] Facebook has a Fox News Radio article about a couple, Don and Evelyn Knapp, that own an Idaho wedding chapel and are supposedly facing arrest if they don't perform same sex marriages. Is this for real?  Are officials in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, forcing Christian ministers to perform same sex marriage against their religious beliefs?  What has happened to \"separation of church and state\"?  Does it now only apply to churches preaching against  orruption in government?  Has the First Amendment been rewritten so that the state can now dictate religious beliefs and practices? Origins:  On 18 October 2014, the Christian legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) announced in a press release that they were filing a federal lawsuit and a motion for a temporary restraining order on behalf of pastors Donald and Evelyn Knapp of Couer d'Alene, Idaho. According to the announcement, the move was to prevent the city of Couer d'Alene from \"forcing [the] two ordained Christian ministers to perform wedding ceremonies for same-sex couples.\" The ADF's release stated that Donald and Evelyn Knapp faced the threat of jail or exorbitant fines if they refused to officiate gay weddings: City officials told Donald Knapp that he and his wife Evelyn, both ordained ministers who run Hitching Post Wedding Chapel, are required to perform such ceremonies or face months in jail and\/or thousands of dollars in fines. The city claims its \"non-discrimination\" ordinance requires the Knapps to perform same-sex wedding ceremonies now that the courts have overridden Idaho's voter-approved constitutional amendment that affirmed marriage as the union of a man and a woman. \"The government should not force ordained ministers to act contrary to their faith under threat of jail time and criminal fines,\" said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco. \"Many have denied that pastors would ever be forced to perform ceremonies that are completely at odds with their faith, but that's what is happening here  and it's happened this quickly. The city is on seriously flawed legal ground, and our lawsuit intends to ensure that this couple's freedom to adhere to their own faith as pastors is protected just as the First Amendment intended.\" On 14 October 2014, three days prior to the ADF's press release, the Idaho state government had announced that they would no longer oppose the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples, prompting a number of same-sex couples to obtain licenses and marry in the days immediately following the state's announcement:  The marriages came a day after Gov. Butch Otter and Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, Republicans who had fought to maintain the state's ban on gay marriage, ended their opposition to a ruling from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that ordered the state to begin issuing marriage licenses to gay couples. The localized battle in Idaho received national attention on 20 October 2014, when Fox News opinion columnist Todd Starnes published an article about the ADF's lawsuit on behalf of the Knapps: According to the lawsuit, the wedding chapel is registered with the state as a \"religious corporation\" limited to performing \"one-man-one-woman marriages as defined by the Holy Bible.\" But the chapel is also registered as a for-profit business  not as a church or place of worship  and city officials said that means the owners must comply with a local nondiscrimination ordinance. A Couer dAlene deputy city attorney reportedly said on local television that for-profit wedding chapels could not legally turn away a gay couple without risking a misdemeanor citation, and that the Hitching Post \"would probably be considered a place of public accommodation that would be subject to the ordinance.\" The Knapps maintain that the City Attorneys office made the same assertion in telephone conversations with them, while the city claims they never threatened to take any legal action against the couple.  The difference between churches and businesses is at the heart of the Couer d'Alene ministers' legal dispute, and one eagle-eyed blogger made a compelling discovery in respect to that delineation, noticing that a cached version of theKnapp's \"Hitching Post\" web site described their services as follows: discovery cached The Hitching Post specializes in small, short, intimate, and private weddings for couples who desire a traditional Christian wedding ceremony. We also perform wedding ceremonies of other faiths as well as civil weddings. We believe that every wedding is special and realize how important this day is to those who walk through our doors.  At some point in time around Idaho's issuance of same-sex wedding licenses on 15 October and the ADF's press release on 18 October 2014, the Knapps altered the copy on their web site. As of 20 October 2014, the \"About\" description on the site no longer included references to the civil and non-denominational services that it had displayed just a few days earlier: description The Hitching Post specializes in small, short, intimate, and private weddings for couples who desire a traditional Christian wedding ceremony. We believe that every wedding is special and realize how important this day is to those who walk through our doors. The ordinance under which the Knapps maintained their religious freedoms were restricted [PDF], issued by the city of Couer d'Alene on 4 June 2014, exempted \"religious corporations\" from its provisions: PDF Notwithstanding any other provision herein, nothing in this Chapter is intended to alter or abridge other rights, protections, or privileges secured under state and\/or federal law. This ordinance shall be construed and applied in a manner consistent with First Amendment jurisprudence regarding the freedom of speech and exercise of religion. This chapter does not apply to: Religious corporations, associations, educational institutions, or societies. Although the City of Couer d'Alene agreed that the Hitching Post was exempted from the anti-discrimination ordinance, the Knapps nonetheless forged ahead with a lawsuit against the jurisdiction. In March 2015, Couer d'Alene television station KXLY reported that the Knapps were maintaining that the city ordinance had cost them money, despite the fact that they had closed their business' doors by choice: reported The Hitching Post wants the city to pay them for wages lost during the time they thought the city was going to force them to perform weddings. The Hitching Post made their stance on gay marriage very clear last year when the initial ban was overturned. Last May they said they would close their doors if they were forced to perform same sex marriages. The Hitching Post now wants the city to pay them for the days the chapel shut down even though they did so by choice. The business also says it lost customers and received hate mail because of media attention. However, the city said they have made it clear the Hitching Post is classified as a \"religious organization\" and is exempt, whether it's for profit or not. City spokesperson Keith Erickson wrote in a statement that the city \"never threatened any legal action against the Hitching Post, nor does it intend to do so.\" A  2 April 2015 news article added that the chapel closures cited by the Knapps in their suit against the city included days on which same-sex marriage had not yet been legalized in Idaho:  Boise-based attorney Kirtlan Naylor wrote in the city's legal response, that while the Knapps claim they lost income when they closed the Hitching Post because they would be in violation of the ordinance, they never allege \"that they had any weddings scheduled on those dates, or that anybody came to their business requesting a wedding on those dates.\" \"More so, same-sex marriage was not legal in Idaho on Oct. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 14,\" the motion states. \"Additionally, on Oct. 15, 2014, when same-sex marriage became legal, Plaintiffs would not have been subject to the ordinance because they were exempt. Therefore, they were under no legitimate threat of prosecution which would require them to close their business on that date.\" According to the Hitching Post owners' complaint, the Knapps closed their business due to \"a constant state of fear that they would be arrested and prosecuted if they declined to perform a same-sex ceremony.\" However, the article referenced above also reiterated a city spokesman's statement that officials \"have never threatened to jail them, or take legal action of any kind\" against them. Last updated:  7 July 2015    Starnes, Todd.   \"City Threatens to Arrest Ministers Who Refuse to Perform Same-Sex Weddings.\"   Fox News.  20 October 2014.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1xZEli-rZRBVzWvSoNNmDQbCu1ugsOC7J","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1VmcAY-x0tKfL7bSZHWtik6CVZE_OhMAQ","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_106","claim":"Did Donald Trump Say 'Never Blame Yourself'?","posted":"03\/17\/2020","sci_digest":["This quote has been circulating since at least 2004, but its provenance is still unknown. "],"justification":"On March 13, 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump said during a press conference that he \"didn't take responsibility at all\" for the government's lagging behind other countries in terms of testing for new cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease after it was first detected in the United States (see video here). said during a press conference here This led to some renewed interest in an old quote ostensibly uttered by Trump and supposedly published in a 2005 issue of The Sun:   The alleged quote reads: \"You never blame yourself. You have to blame something else. If you do something bad, never, ever blame yourself.\" We have been unable to verify the authenticity of this quote, nor have we been able to confirm that this image shows a genuine copy of The Sun from Sept. 12, 2005. We reached out to The Sun for comment and will update this article if more information becomes available.  We did find an instance of this quote in a 2004 article from the celebrity news agency WENN that was published on Contact Music. This 2004 story, however, is very light on details and provides no information about where, when, or in what context Trump made the comment. Contact Music The fact that this quote has been online since at least 2004 lends some credence to the idea that it is a genuine comment from Trump. Many of the fake quotes we encounter, for instance, are modern inventions that are only presented, perhaps in a fake newspaper clip, as if they were years old. However, we have been unable to find any other sources for this quote or any verifiable information about when and where it was said. As such, we've rated the truth of this claim as \"Unproven.\"  modern inventions presented newspaper clip Trump has made other statements regarding blame. In October 2017, for instance, Trump was speaking about how his administration wasn't following through on its agenda before he shifted the blame to Congress: shifted the blame \"We're not getting the job done ... And I'm not going to blame myself. I'll be honest: They are not getting the job done.\" Before taking office, Trump expressed a different opinion about \"where the buck stops.\" In November 2013, he posted the following message on Twitter: message   Leadership: Whatever happens, you're responsible. If it doesn't happen, you're responsible.   Blake, Aaron.  \"Trumps Hypocritical Quote on Taking Blame Just About Says it All.\"\r  The Washington Post.  16 October 2017. Smith, David.  \"'I Don't Take Responsibility': Trump Shakes Hands and Spreads Blame Over Coronavirus.\"\r  The Guardian.  13 March 2020.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=17Y82XVhoF8tJeFupIa5O_RMcg8jHmoeu","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1MYy-HMIz7PEtIb-5dtiAyvyFSmryYVCp","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_107","claim":"Did Sen. Cory Booker Put Undocumented People 'Before Seniors and Veterans'?","posted":"02\/12\/2018","sci_digest":["A graphic disseminated dismissive (and entirely fabricated) statements from the New Jersey Democrat."],"justification":"In February 2018, a graphic attempted to blame Sen. Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) for a second brief shutdown of the U.S. federal government within a month with a fabricated statement:   Cory Booker (d) today annouced Senior Citizens, disable military, will have their monthly payments held up Until DACA passes, or hell freezes over if that's what it takes with the looming democrat shut down of government. He added he wasn't elected by \"Those sort of people in the first place\" and credits his win to Dreamers Brave enough to register to vote for him. Further he stated DACA recipients need to be treated as first Class citizens, not as undocumented aliens, while seniors and disable Veterans as well as active duty need to be removed from preferential treatment and learn to pass their privlage onto our most honored Citizens Dreamers. DACA or shut down the government till Dreamers can vote in midterm elections. Besides losing coherence as it goes along in what we can only describe as sheer laziness, the post spreads a number of falsehoods: first of all, both DREAMers (the term for immigrant youths who would have been covered under the proposed DREAM Act) and enrollees in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program cannot vote. Conservatives have consistently insisted  without any proof to back it  that Democrats have benefitted from receiving millions of illegal votes, whether it be from undocumented immigrants or African-Americans. DREAM DACA proof African-Americans. Further, the remarks about \"those sort of people\" and veterans having to \"pass their privlage [sic]\" were fabricated. And while the graphic fretted about a government shutdown, it was brief; President Donald Trump signed a congressional budget agreement early on 9 February 2018, which ensured that the government would continue to function. signed We contacted Booker's office seeking a response to the fabrications in the graphic, but did not receive a response by press time. Walters, Joanna.  \"What is Daca And Who Are the Dreamers?\"\r The Guardian.  14 September 2017. Davis, Susan et al.  \"Trump Signs 2-Year Spending Pact.\"\r NPR.  9 February 2018.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1lswa2fLBuzYpe_u3Gdpsr40uN4Wgb3U4","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_108","claim":"Under Republican Chris Christie, New Jersey had the highest increase in unemployment in the country last year. Nearly 1 in 10 jobless. The worst unemployment in the region. Near the bottom in economic growth, yet Christie protected a tax cut for millionaires but vetoed a minimum wage hike.","posted":"04\/14\/2013","sci_digest":[],"justification":"New Jerseys just about gone to economic hell under Chris Christies leadership, a Democratic group suggests ina new TV ad. Things are so bad here that the state ranks at the top nationwide for unemployment, at the bottom for economic growth and isnt doing a thing to help the middle class, the ad claims. Under Republican Chris Christie, New Jersey had the highest increase in unemployment in the country last year, a narrator states in the ad by One New Jersey. Nearly 1 in 10 jobless. The worst unemployment in the region. Near the bottom in economic growth, yet Christie protected a tax cut for millionaires but vetoed a minimum wage hike. The ad, which is also running on NJ.com, the online home of The Star-Ledger, is largely accurate. Let's review each claim. New Jersey having the worst increase in unemployment is based on the period from December 2011 to December 2012. Lets note that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics measures unemployment data by unemployment rates and the number of unemployed. For that period, New Jersey and New Hampshire had the highest rate increase, at 0.3 percent. New Jerseys rate ticked upward to 9.5 percent from 9.2 percent. New Jersey wasnt the worst, though, when looking at the number of unemployed, said Joseph J. Seneca, an economics professor at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. Pennsylvania had 24,761 unemployed. New Jersey had 21,932. New Jerseys unemployment rate increase was the 10th highest nationwide for the period from February 2012 to this past February, Seneca said. And with New Jerseys unemployment rate hovering above 9 percent since June 2009  the end of the recession  its accurate to claim the state has nearly 1 in 10 people jobless. The state, however, has added more than 120,000 private-sector jobs, according to BLS data, Seneca and the state Republican Party. Next, did we have the worst unemployment in the region? One New Jersey didnt define region specifically so we compared New Jersey with New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Connecticut. New Jerseys unemployment rate was the highest among the five states from December 2011 to December 2012, according to BLS data. The ad also claims New Jersey is near the bottom for economic growth. We previously checked a similar claim by Assemblyman Lou Greenwald (D-Camden). From 2010 to 2011, New Jerseys real gross domestic product  an inflation-adjusted measure of a states economy -- dropped by a half percent, placing us 47th among all states, according to data fromThe Bureau of Economic Analysis. So we were near the bottom, but economic experts told us for the Greenwald claim that national and regional economic conditions  not just Christie -- were factors. Now lets look at whether Christie protected a tax cut for millionaires and vetoed a minimum wage increase. Democrats approved a bill in May 2010 renewing a one-year tax rate increase of 10.75 percent for those with taxable income above $1 million. The rate had expired before Christie became governor.. Christie, who campaigned that he wouldnt raise taxes, vetoed the surcharge -- protecting the rich, some claim -- and Democrats couldnt override it. As for the minimum wage claim, Christie in January vetoed a Democratic proposal raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.50 an hour, with future increases tied to inflation. He instead proposed phasing in a $1 increase over three years and eliminating automatic hikes. The sad truth is New Jersey is falling further behind, and no amount of hype can hide the reality that the middle-class and working families are hurting, One New Jersey spokesman Joshua Henne said in an e-mail. The facts clearly show New Jersey has consistently trailed the rest of America when it comes to jobs and the economy. NJGOP spokesman Ben Sparks pointed to the state's private-sector job growth under Christie. Despite the predictably misleading claims from Barbara Buono's campaign operatives, New Jersey has created over 120,000 private-sector jobs since Governor Christie took office, which stands in stark contrast to the failed two years Barbara Buono spent as Jon Corzine's budget chair, when our state lost 240,000 private-sector jobs, Sparks said in an e-mail. Buono, (D-Middlesex), is challenging Christie in the November gubernatorial election. Our ruling One New Jerseys new ad claims, Under Republican Chris Christie, New Jersey had the highest increase in unemployment in the country last year. Nearly 1 in 10 jobless. The worst unemployment in the region. Near the bottom in economic growth, yet Christie protected a tax cut for millionaires but vetoed a minimum wage hike. Each claim had varying degrees of accuracy. New Jersey and New Hampshire tied for the highest increase in unemployment last year. Nearly 1 in 10 New Jerseyans are jobless, and our states unemployment rate is the worst in a five-state region. The state has been near the bottom in economic growth, even though experts have said thats not entirely Christies fault, and the governor vetoed a minimum wage hike. Christie technically didnt cut the millionaires tax since it expired before he took office, but opinions vary wildly on that claim. We rate the ad Mostly True. To comment on this story, go toNJ.com.","issues":["New Jersey","Economy","Jobs","States"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_109","claim":"Does Marie Yovanovitch Have a Net Worth of $17 Million?","posted":"11\/18\/2019","sci_digest":["An unsubstantiated rumor was circulated in November 2019 in an apparent attempt to discredit the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. "],"justification":"On Nov. 15, 2019, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch testified before the U.S. House Intelligence Committee in the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump. Shortly after, some of Trump's defenders took to social media to discredit her testimony, claiming that the ambassador's net worth far exceeded her salary, insinuating that it was due to illicit means. We have found no evidence to corroborate this claim. Those making the claim have offered a wide range of figures. We also found that this claim did not originate from a credible financial news outlet, such as Forbes, and that the websites publishing this information have provided no evidence. Furthermore, while this claim implies some sort of wrongdoing on her part, no one has offered any information about how she supposedly built her alleged fortune. In other words, this claim appears to have been conjured out of thin air. While one tweet claimed that Yovanovitch has a net worth of $17 million, other social media users have provided differing estimates. One possible explanation for the discrepancies in this claim is that there is no credible evidence for the estimates. Some social media users pointed to articles published on Walikali and Gossipgist to support their assertion that Yovanovitch's net worth far exceeded her salary. However, just like the previously mentioned tweets, these sites offered no evidence to support their estimates. The articles published on these websites provide some basic biographical information about the former ambassador to Ukraine. They do not, however, provide any insight into any business dealings or investments that Yovanovitch may have made that could have resulted in a $17 million net worth. Instead, they simply tacked on their estimate ($6 million in both cases) without making any attempt to justify that figure. We reached out to Walikali and Gossipgist for more information on how they arrived at their estimates and will update this article if more information becomes available. In sum, the claim that Yovanovitch has a net worth of $17 million (or $12 million or $6 million or $3 million) is wholly unsubstantiated. This rumor appears to have been fabricated in an apparent attempt to discredit her U.S. House testimony. Flaherty, Anne. \"5 Key Takeaways From Testimony by Former Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch.\" ABC News. 15 November 2019. McCarthy, Tom; Smith, David. \"Ukraine Ambassador Describes Trump's 'Shocking' Smear Campaign Against Her.\" The Guardian. 15 November 2019.","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1iPBRksFA6a1wDUEUgMxnlWcrQwYFPNU9","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1LqzF3-KUbm9GmnTHbDWSRPeE3by9jVpd","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_110","claim":"Did Congress 'Give Itself a 21% Raise' in 2022?","posted":"03\/16\/2022","sci_digest":["Right-leaning commentators reacted with outrage during a sharp rise in consumer prices. Were they right?"],"justification":"In March 2022, social media users, particularly right-leaning commentators, protested what they characterized as a decision by Congress members to award themselves a 21 percent pay rise while U.S. residents endured inflation and record-high gas prices. For example, former Republican Congressional candidate Buzz Patterson wrote, \"While you are paying record prices at the grocery store and gas pump, our politicians in Congress voted for a 21% pay raise for themselves.\" Donald Trump Jr., the son of and adviser to former President Donald Trump, tweeted, \"What the hell has Congress done to deserve a 21% raise?\" Similar claims were made by various right-leaning commentators. On March 10, the right-wing FrontPage Magazine posted an article with the headline \"Americans Can't Afford Gas, Congress Just Gave Itself a 21% Raise.\" On Facebook, screenshots of that headline went viral. In reality, Congress members did not award themselves a 21 percent pay raise in 2022, but they did vote to increase their operating budgets and expenses by that much. As a result, we're issuing a rating of \"false.\" What those claims actually referred to was something called the Members Representational Allowance (MRA), which the non-partisan Congressional Research Service describes as follows: Members of the House of Representatives have one consolidated allowance, the Members Representational Allowance (MRA), with which to operate their offices. While Representatives have a high degree of flexibility to operate their offices in a way that supports their congressional duties and responsibilities, they must operate within a number of restrictions and regulations. The MRA, the allowance provided to Members of the House of Representatives to operate their D.C. and district offices, may only support Members in their official and representational duties. It may not be used for personal or campaign purposes. The MRA can be used to pay office staff but does not include the salary of House members themselves, which has not changed since 2009 and is $174,000 for a typical member. Usually, representatives spend their MRA on travel, paying staff, printing services, office supplies, and so on. On March 15, President Joe Biden signed into law the massive omnibus spending bill, H.R. 2471. Around halfway through the 2,700-page text of the bill, the following stipulation can be found: Members' Representational Allowances, including members' clerk hire, official expenses of members, and official mail, total $774,400,000. In other words, the collective MRA for the House of Representatives is just over $774 million for the 2022 fiscal year. For the 2021 fiscal year, the MRA was $640 million, which means a year-on-year increase of $134.4 million, or exactly 21 percent, as highlighted by Roll Call. Senators, who also typically have a salary of $174,000, avail themselves of a roughly equivalent allowance called the Senators' Official Personnel and Office Expense Account (SOPOEA). For the record, that too increased in the 2022 omnibus spending bill, from $461 million in 2021 to $486.3 million in 2022\u2014a 5 percent increase.","issues":["inflation"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1sQsw4wxQjRbhrpLHmwXai7h9__Cq-Rav","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=14VBElLX-mGBfF-mGvchvY7fIXQPq48Fy","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1EJ1JPnv0pe8zT-xwnNIiAe6xNpJfNcSD","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_111","claim":"Voice of Experience","posted":"08\/11\/2006","sci_digest":["Native American warns U.S. vice-president about American immigration policy."],"justification":"Legend: A Native American warns the U.S. vice president about American immigration policy. Example: [Collected via e-mail, 2006] Food for Thought ... Recently, someone was browsing through the 40th Anniversary Issue of Reader's Digest (dated Feb. 1962) and came across this reprint from the Washington News. They found it quite interesting considering our current debates! The Quote: \"Vice President Lyndon Johnson received the following message from an Indian (Native American) on a reservation: 'Be careful with your immigration laws. We were careless with ours.'\" Origins: Whenever the debate about U.S. immigration policy flares anew, many debaters quickly rush into one of two camps: those who believe that a flood of illegal immigrants is undermining the American economy and culture, and those who assert that America's foundations were built upon the bedrock of immigration, and that all U.S. residents other than Native Americans are themselves immigrants or the descendants of immigrants. That last point is common fodder for humor, with many jokes playing on the notion of \"Indians\" sagely and sardonically cautioning \"white men\" (or others) to avoid the same dangers they themselves faced from the European settlers who colonized the North American continent. (A familiar anecdote about a subversive greeting provided to NASA officials by a Navajo is a sample of this form.) NASA The example reproduced above was mined from the same vein, a joke that enjoyed brief currency in the American press during the early summer of 1961, primarily through its retelling by Representative E.Y. Berry of South Dakota. In true urban legend fashion, even though the tale was spread by a single source, in just a few weeks' time it was reproduced in multiple versions with differing details. For example, on 2 July 1961, the Washington Post ran it this way: As Rep. E.Y. Berry tells it, Chief Ben Wildhorse, a South Dakota Sioux, came to Washington and was given an audience by the Vice President. The Chief's advice to the Vice President: \"Young man, be careful with your immigration laws. We were careless with ours.\" In this instance, the Native American is identified by name and tribe, but the vice president is referenced only by position. (Most people, as in the Reader's Digest example quoted above, simply filled in the name of the then-current vice president, Lyndon Johnson.) Three weeks later, the Chicago Daily Tribune printed the same item, only in a slightly more elaborate version that didn't name the Indian chief and had the Sioux offering his advice to Lyndon Johnson's predecessor in the vice presidency, Richard Nixon: Rep. E.Y. Berry recalls the time a Sioux Indian chief from South Dakota called on former Vice President Nixon to discuss tribal land matters. As he was leaving the Vice President's office, the chief said he had some advice to impart. \"Be careful with your immigration laws,\" the Indian said, \"unfortunately, we were careless with ours.\" The same story had appeared a month earlier in the Chicago Defender, in yet another version that again identified the Sioux chieftain (but gave him a different name); had him imparting his wisdom to Nixon's predecessor, the late Alben Barkley; and classified the tale as \"an old Indian proverb\": Rep. E.Y. Berry Monday repeated an old Indian proverb for the edification of Congressmen studying immigration problems. Sioux chieftain Ben American Horse, Berry said, once advised the late Vice President Alben W. Barkley to \"be careful with your immigration laws. We were careless with ours.\" Finally, a 1965 version combined elements of both this anecdote and the NASA\/Navajo joke referenced earlier in this article: Many people no doubt remember the aging Sioux Indian Chief Ben American Horse's well-known remark to the late Alben Barkley, Harry Truman's vice president. \"Young man, let me give you a little advice,\" said the chief. \"Be careful with your immigration laws. We were careless with ours.\" A sequel to this, which might have been prompted by the Gemini flights, is now suggested by [South Dakota] Sen. Karl Mundt. A Sioux Indian from South Dakota wrote Mundt wanting to know \"why you white people want to go to the moon. There is no Indian land to take away up there!\" For what it's worth, Ben American Horse was a real Sioux chieftain, and he did visit Washington in 1955, when Alben Barkley was a U.S. senator and Richard Nixon was vice president. However, we couldn't find any contemporaneous news accounts that reported his making (to either man) the \"immigration\" remark attributed to him; all such accounts we turned up dated from 1961 or later, after Barkley was dead and Nixon was out of office. Last updated: 11 August 2006 Sources: Albright, Robert C. \"Lone Sunbeam Pierces Pall of Off-Year Loss.\" The Washington Post. 2 July 1961 (p. E1). Gabbett, Harry. \"Visiting Sioux Chief Pays His Disrespects to Things.\" The Washington Post. 8 March 1955 (p. 27). Trohan, Walter. \"Washington Scrapbook.\" Chicago Daily Tribune. 23 July 1961 (p. 22). Indiana Evening Gazette. \"Litterbug in Trouble with Him.\" 11 September 1965 (p. 8). United Press International. \"Chuckles in the News.\" Chicago Daily Defender. 28 June 1961 (p. 19).","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_112","claim":"Was it Donald Trump who used his own aircraft to transport troops who were stuck?","posted":"10\/22\/2016","sci_digest":["A story that Donald Trump personally sent out an airplane to transport hundreds of stranded U.S. Marines home is based on inaccurate information."],"justification":"In May 2016, syndicated talk radio host Sean Hannity aired an item claiming that Donald Trump had sent a plane to give 200 stranded U.S. Marines a much-needed ride home after Operation Desert Storm in 1991. When Corporal Ryan Stickney and 200 of his fellow Marines prepared to return to their families after Operation Desert Storm in 1991, a logistics error forced them to turn to a surprising source for a ride home: Donald J. Trump. Today, Stickney would like to say \"thank you.\" Stickney, a squad leader in a TOW company of a Marine reserve unit based in Miami, FL, spent approximately six months in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War between 1990 and 1991. Upon his unit's return to the United States, the former Marine says the group spent several weeks decompressing at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina before heading back to Miami. Stickney recalls being told that a mistake had been made within the logistics unit and that an aircraft wasn't available to take the Marines home on their scheduled departure date. This, according to Stickney, is where Donald Trump comes in. \"The way the story was told to us was that Mr. Trump found out about it and sent the airline down to take care of us. And that's all we knew ... I remember asking, 'Who is Donald Trump?' I truly didn't know anything about him,\" the former Marine said. Corporal Stickney snapped a photo to remember the day. The story came up several times during the course of the 2016 presidential campaign (Cpl. Stickney even told it in person at a Trump rally), but skeptics questioned its validity despite a statement from the Trump campaign allegedly confirming it: \"The Trump campaign has confirmed to Hannity.com that Mr. Trump did indeed send his plane to make two trips from North Carolina to Miami, Florida, to transport over 200 Gulf War Marines back home. No further details were provided.\" The few details we do have about Trump's alleged participation don't, in fact, add up. We can confirm, based on military records, that the 209-member Anti-Tank (TOW) Company, part of the 8th Tank Battalion for Operation Desert Shield, deployed to Camp LeJeune, North Carolina, from their home base in Miami on 26 November 1990. We can also confirm that the company deployed from Camp LeJeune to Saudi Arabia on 22 December, served throughout the combat phase of Operation Desert Storm (from 17 January to 28 February 1991), and returned to North Carolina in April. A command chronology of the deployment notes that a \"Cpl. Stickney\" was among those receiving certificates of commendation. We can also confirm, via a 23 April 1991 article from the Sun-Sentinel, that a series of flight delays stalled the company's homecoming to Miami on 22 April, but that they finally did arrive home after being split across two separate flights. Stickney's photograph shows that he arrived on a plane marked \"Trump,\" but it also proves something else: that even if Trump did send the plane, it wasn't his private jet. That Trump didn't send the pictured plane at all was something noted by a sharp-eyed reader, who wrote to us to note: First, that's not Trump's private 727 jet; it's one of the jets in the Trump Shuttle fleet. I wondered if maybe Trump's jet back in those days was painted differently, so I researched his private jet as of April 1991. I found that Trump was deep in the red financially and having to liquidate assets, one of which was his personal 727. The sale of that jet was finalized in the first week of May 1991, making it highly unlikely he was also flying reservists around while discussing the sale at the end of April. The markings of the plane in Stickney's photo match those of the Trump Shuttle fleet, so the question becomes: Did Trump himself send a Trump Shuttle to retrieve the stranded Marines, or was it procured some other way? To arrive at an answer, it's necessary to go into a bit of the history of Trump Shuttle. A July 2015 article in NYC Aviation detailed Trump's short-lived airline industry involvement, beginning with an entirely separate carrier, Eastern Air Shuttle, which he immediately rebranded with his own name. CEO Frank Lorenzo began selling off assets, including the prized Shuttle operation. Donald Trump placed a winning bid for the Shuttle, its aircraft, and landing slots at LaGuardia and National for $380 million, financed through no less than 22 banks. The newly branded Trump Shuttle took to the skies on June 7, 1989. Timing is everything in business, and unfortunately for Trump, he entered the airline game at the wrong time. The U.S. entered an economic recession in the late '80s, leading many corporations to cut back on business travel. In addition, tensions in the Middle East leading up to the first Gulf War caused oil prices to spike. This one-two punch was devastating for the airline industry and led to the demise of several airlines, including Eastern and Pan Am. Given these circumstances, the Trump Shuttle lost money, and with Trump continuing to accumulate debt in his other ventures, it was becoming increasingly difficult to pay back the loans taken to purchase the airline. In September 1990, Trump defaulted on his loan, and control of the airline went back to the banks led by Citibank. Given that the bankers, not Donald Trump, owned Trump Shuttle from September 1990 until it was sold to U.S. Air in 1996, Trump wasn't in a position to send the planes anywhere, much less on a spur-of-the-moment Marine transport mission. So who did? As it turns out, the U.S. military itself chartered the flights\u2014a common practice in the day, according to an 11 August 2016 report by The Washington Post. Lt. Gen. Vernon J. Kondra, now retired, was in charge of all military airlift operations. He said that relying on commercial carriers freed up military cargo aircraft for equipment transport. Kondra's notes on the flight are declassified and available online and show a contract for Trump Shuttle to \"move troops in [the] continental United States\" during the 1990-91 timeframe. There are several references to a 1990-91 contract for Trump Shuttle to carry personnel across the United States, between the East and West Coasts, on a standard LaGuardia-Dover-Charleston-Travis-Chord-Kelly-Dover-LaGuardia run. \"It worked very well, and the crews loved it, and really thought that we'd done something special for them,\" Kondra recalled in the oral history. \"It was a helluva lot better than using 141s [cargo craft], which we could use for something else.\" But Kondra said that the notion that Trump personally arranged to help the stranded soldiers made little sense. \"I certainly was not aware of that. It does not sound reasonable that it would happen like that. It would not fit in with how we did business. I don't even know how he would have known there was a need.\" So the real story underlying the claim that Donald Trump personally sent his jet to pick up stranded soldiers and return them to the U.S. is that the military paid to charter a plane from an airline Trump no longer owned in order to bring those service personnel home.","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ayiBgQj9nbg9Js9-044z28Z65rxBDYlY"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_113","claim":"The University of Wisconsin System budget is the biggest it has ever been.","posted":"05\/25\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"The 2015-16 academic year ended withpomp,circumstance-- and skirmishes between Gov.Scott Walkerand professors in the University of Wisconsin System. Walker, irked byno-confidence votesfaculty are taking against the systems leadership, fired attacks on University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professors (including one we ratedPants on Fire). Several days later, on May 16, 2016, Walker kept up the offensive inan interviewon WTMJ-AM in Milwaukee. We have some of the best schools in the country, no doubt about it, Walker told conservative talk show host Charlie Sykes. But weve got to stop feeding into this national perception that how much you pay in tuition suddenly is a correlation to what the value is. Yeah, you want to have a reasonable level of support for the system; and we do. In fact, by the way, Walker continued, the University of Wisconsin System budget is the biggest it has ever been. The amount of money they get from state government is only a fraction of what they have overall. So, for all this hysteria out there, they have never had more money to spend in the UW System. With the 2015-17 state budget, Walker and his fellow Republicans in the Legislaturecut $250 millionover the two years from the UW System. That was an 11 percent reduction in state support and a big reason for the no-confidence votes. So, we wondered about Walkers claim that UW Systems budget is the biggest its ever been. Hes essentially correct, but with some caveats. Walker was referring to the systems all-funds budget -- which, as the name suggests, is comprehensive. It includes state tax dollars, but also an array of other funds, such as tuition, revenue from enterprises such as dormitories and athletics, federal research dollars and gifts. We asked for budget figures from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau for the entire history of theUW System, which began in 1973-'74. Heres a look at the last six years, when the figures were highest. Year All-funds budget -- actual All-funds budget -- adjusted for inflation 2010-11 $5.591 billion $6.077 billion 2011-12 $5.589 billion $5.889 billion 2012-13 $5.901 billion $6.092 billion 2013-14 $5.997 billion $6.101 billion 2014-15 $6.098 billion $6.105 billion 2015-16 $6.194 billion* $6.059 billion As you might expect, the current all-funds budget (2015-16) is the largest on record. But with an asterisk. Thats because in 2015-16, for the first time, the UW System included unspent tuition money carried over from the previous year in its all-funds budget. If that money wasnt included, the 2015-16 all-funds budget would have been $6.059 billion -- the second-highest ever, behind 2014-15, rather than $6.194 billion. Adjusted for inflation -- a better measure for comparing figures over time -- the 2015-16 all funds budget is slightly smaller than in four of the five previous years, but still near the top. State support Walker made it clear his claim was about total funding for the UW System, and that state money covers only a portion of the systems budget. But its worth noting that, adjusted for inflation, state support of the system -- known as general purpose revenue -- is in a historic decline, according to figures from the fiscal bureau. The highest state support, adjusted for inflation, was in the first year of the system, 1973-74 -- at just under $1.52 billion. That figure hit an all-time low of $1.03 billion in 2015-16. UW System officials often cite the reduction in state support because they have generally have more flexibility in spending state tax dollars than with revenues that are designated for certain purposes. Our rating Walker said: The University of Wisconsin System budget is the biggest it has ever been. The systems 2015-16 all-funds budget -- which includes not only state tax dollars but federal funds, tuition and other income -- is $6.194 billion, the biggest since the system was created in 1973-74. But adjusted for inflation, the 2015-16 all-funds budget is among the biggest, though not the biggest. And the 2015-16 figure includes unspent tuition revenue that hadnt been counted in the all-funds budget in previous years. For a statement that is accurate but needs clarification, our rating is Mostly True.","issues":["Education","State Budget","Taxes","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_114","claim":"Did Jennifer Aniston Criticize Gay Rights Activists Over Iwo Jima Comparisons?","posted":"06\/28\/2015","sci_digest":["It wasn't the actress who wrote that gay rights activists should be ashamed for comparing themselves to those who fought at Iwo Jima."],"justification":"On 27 June 2015, a Facebook post purportedly made by actress Jennifer Aniston, which compared gay rights activists to soldiers, caused a stir on social media. Within a few days, Aniston's supposed Facebook post had been shared more than 200,000 times, with many users vowing to boycott the actress's movies over her alleged viewpoint. However, the post in question was not made by Jennifer Aniston. The \"Jennifer Aniston\" Facebook page is not affiliated in any way with the actress. Similar to other \"like farming\" scams, this page employs sexy photos of Aniston, inspirational quotes, and other shareable content to increase user engagement. The site's purpose, however, has nothing to do with providing visitors with first-hand information about the actress. In fact, most of the links provided on this Facebook page simply point to videos uploaded to YouTube by user Sam00962. The substance of the post attributed to Aniston actually came from \"DV Dan,\" the admin of the Dysfunctional Veterans website, who expressed disappointment that what appeared to be Jennifer Aniston's account was receiving all the attention for a powerful statement stolen from his original post. He stated that when the post was taken by the owner of the Jennifer Aniston account, he commented that he did not appreciate the post being taken from his page without any credit. As the statement was made by him, an actual U.S. Marine veteran, he felt it would have been better to direct that attention to a much higher cause than gossip, such as the ongoing fight faced by the veteran community. The goal of Dysfunctional Veterans, DV Farm, DV Radio, and DV TV is to bring awareness to the estimated 23 veteran suicides a day. Suicide prevention and veteran support need national attention, not the color of a celebrity's dress. He made the post based on how he felt the depiction of the pride flag being raised in that manner disrespected the Marines and Navy Corpsmen who fought, bled, and made the ultimate sacrifice during WWII. The original post had been removed due to constant reporting, and he received messages from veterans who felt offended by the depiction. They were upset not because they did not read his words condemning the picture, but because they saw the image and, like him, knew it was wrong. He reiterated that he has nothing against the LGBT community; however, just as it is their right to publicly call out what they find offensive, it is his right to express what he feels is offensive to the veteran community. While it is also their right to portray art in any fashion, there should have been more respect and consideration given to the men and women who protect those constitutional rights. One may not agree with his views on this issue; however, one should not be hypocritical about how others express their views. Hate can be a two-way street, not one with a one-way sign. He hopes the real Jennifer Aniston will see this message and contact him, as she is gaining a lot of support for his statement. It would be a nice gesture to show her what they do within the DV community to bring both humor and seriousness into veterans' lives through the Dysfunctional Veterans Facebook page. Additionally, it would be great to show her how they work with Battle In Distress to combat the 23-a-day statistic and reduce that number to zero.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1n80_v2u1NYmyMFc-r7FI4XuSAoRoDF_V","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_115","claim":"Were Starbucks Charity Food Donations Left in a Dumpster?","posted":"06\/13\/2022","sci_digest":["We reached out to both Starbucks and Feeding America to ask about a viral tweet that supposedly showed discarded food meant for people in need."],"justification":"On June 11, 2022, former Starbucks employee and self-described union organizer Laila Dalton (@lailaddaltonn) tweeted a picture of a blue garbage dumpster with the caption, \"Food-share bags that Starbucks supposedly donates found in a dumpster in Grand Prairie, Texas.\" Starbucks employee union organizer tweeted Starbucks Texas In order to learn the facts behind the picture, we reached out with several questions for Dalton, Starbucks, and the Feeding America charity. Feeding America partners with Starbucks on what's known as FoodShare, a program that provides food for those in need. We received information from Dalton and Starbucks but are still awaiting a response from Feeding America. Starbucks Feeding America Starbucks Starbucks We have so far found no information that could conclusively identify the items seen in the dumpster in the photograph, nor did we locate details that would explain why the bags were thrown away. During our investigation, we learned that the picture was not recent. We were told that it was not captured behind a Starbucks store, something some users may have believed to be the case after glancing at the photograph. In fact, we received information from a Starbucks company spokesperson who said that local officials who represent Feeding America in Grand Prairie told them that they knew of no issues with recent daily deliveries. They also reiterated the positive impact of its FoodShare program on a national scale. Here's what we know. Starbucks Starbucks Grand Prairie According to the tweet's caption, the picture of the garbage dumpster that supposedly contained Starbucks FoodShare food donations was taken in Grand Prairie, Texas. However, little else could be gathered from just the text and photograph. Starbucks  By email, Dalton told us that she did not take the picture, but said it was captured by an \"anonymous past partner\" around 7 p.m. on Aug. 3, 2021. That made the photograph somewhat close to a year old by the time it was tweeted on June 11, 2022. According to Dalton, the location of the dumpster in the photograph that purportedly contained Starbucks FoodShare program donation bags was said to be at a building occupied by Penske Logistics. We reached out to Penske Logistics to see if the company handles any distribution for Starbucks in the area, or if that role belonged to a different organization located at the same address. We will update this story if we receive a response. Starbucks Starbucks The tweet received well over 200,000 total retweets and likes in just 48 hours. For those unfamiliar with Twitter, this was an extremely massive amount of people engaging with the tweet. The tweet was also shared as a screenshot on Reddit, where it received more than 18,000 points. This was likely enough positive interaction (upvotes) to land the post on the website's front page.  Twitter shared as a screenshot Reddit In 2016, Starbucks partnered with the Feeding America charity on a program called FoodShare. According to a Starbucks company spokesperson with whom we spoke over the phone, the FoodShare program's process begins when refrigerated trucks pick up the unsold food from stores. That food is then delivered so that it can be distributed by Feeding America to people in need. Starbucks FoodShare Starbucks The spokesperson added that the FoodShare program has helped to deliver more than 36.8 million meals nationally to those in need since it started six years earlier. Perhaps more important was that Starbucks said that, regarding the picture of the dumpster, people who represent Feeding America in the Grand Prairie area said that daily deliveries were being received and there were no known issues, as of early June 2022. Starbucks According to a 2021 presentation that's hosted on the Starbucks website, the company donates unsold food from \"100% of its U.S. company-owned Starbucks stores.\" presentation Starbucks  The document also broke down the donation process into three main steps: Donate Food Instead of being thrown away, unsold food is rescued and donated to the Feeding America network of food banks and agencies to get into the hands of those who need it most. Tax Benefit Per the U.S. Enhanced Tax Deduction, companies receive a financial benefit for pounds of food donated, which can be used to fund backhaul logistics for food rescue. Backhaul Logistics Utilizing existing delivery trucks and routes to pickup food donations and return to a central site for consolidation unlocks consistent and efficient food rescue. According to the presentation, the tax benefit received by Starbucks from its FoodShare program is used to self-fund the initiative. Starbucks This story will be updated if we receive any further information about the picture of the dumpster. @lailaddaltonn. Twitter, 11 June 2022, https:\/\/twitter.com\/lailaddaltonn\/status\/1535730614082469888. Scheiber, Noam. U.S. Labor Board Issues a Complaint against Starbucks. The New York Times, 15 Mar. 2022, https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/03\/15\/business\/economy\/starbucks-union-nlrb-arizona.html. spiegel_im_spiegel. Food-Share Bags That Starbucks Supposedly Donates Found in a Dumpster in Grand Prairie, Texas. r\/LateStageCapitalism via Reddit, 12 June 2022, https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/LateStageCapitalism\/comments\/vamg8s\/foodshare_bags_that_starbucks_supposedly_donates\/. Starbucks Coffee Company. Starbucks Food Donation Guide. Apr. 2021, https:\/\/stories.starbucks.com\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Starbucks-US-Food-Donation-Guide.pdf.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1J_GbR_QirBfhUru_ofaGo2CFgR9vbM7l","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_116","claim":"Taking into account inflation, the federal minimum wage is actually worth less than what it was worth 50 years ago.","posted":"05\/22\/2018","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., took to Twitter recently to tout her support for a $15 minimum wage. In the tweet, Smith wrote that one of the proudest things she did as lieutenant governor serving under Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton was helping to raise Minnesota's state minimum wage to $9.50 an hour. \"Now, I'm proud to back a bill to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2024,\" she wrote, referring to a measure introduced by Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Patty Murray, D-Wash. Currently, the federal minimum wage is $7.25, though states can set higher levels if they wish, and a majority do, ranging from a small amount above the federal level to $11.50 in Washington state. In a threaded tweet, Smith provided some historical perspective on the minimum wage: \"The federal minimum wage hasn't been raised in nearly a decade. Taking into account inflation, the federal minimum wage is actually worth less than it was 50 years ago. And prices for everything from milk to prescriptions have skyrocketed.\" We wondered if Smith was correct, so we looked at the data. Back in 1968, the minimum wage was set at $1.60. That is equivalent to $11.76 in today's dollars, which is well above today's minimum wage level and an all-time high when adjusted for inflation. (We used the Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator for this purpose.) Over the last 50 years, the situation in 1968\u2014greater purchasing power for the minimum wage than today\u2014has been common, though not universal. By contrast, we only found seven years in which today's minimum wage is able to buy more than a previous minimum wage could. (Those years were 1989, 1995, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007.) Here's the full chart, with the inflation-adjusted value of the minimum wage shown in red: All told, then, the minimum wage has been worth more than it is today for 86 percent of the time over the past 50 years, and less than today's during 14 percent of that time. Smith said, \"Taking into account inflation, the federal minimum wage is actually worth less than it was 50 years ago.\" Smith's strict comparison with 50 years ago is accurate, and her comparison even holds for most years out of the past 50, suggesting that the year she picked is not an unreasonable choice. We rate the statement True.","issues":["National","Economy"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_117","claim":"Did Winston Churchill Say 'The Fascists of the Future Will Call Themselves Anti-Fascists?'","posted":"08\/07\/2018","sci_digest":["A quote incorrectly attributed to the former British prime minister was spread on social media by Texas Governor Greg Abbott."],"justification":"On 7 August 2018, Texas governor Greg Abbott posted a 9gag.com-branded meme on Twitter which included a statement attributed to former British prime minister Sir Winston Churchill about how \"fascists of the future will call themselves anti-fascists\":   However apt this quote may (or may not) be, it did not originate with Winston Churchill. Abbott deleted his tweet after critics pointed out that fact to him, but he said during a press conference that knowing who originally made the statement was \"irrelevant\" because he believed in its sentiment regardless of who said it: \"What I tweeted was a sentiment that I had. It was irrelevant to me who may or may not have said that in the past. I didn't want to be accused of plagiarism for saying it. If no one else said it, attribute the quote to me because it's what I believe in.\" press conference So who does deserve credit? Similar quotes positing the idea that fascism would come to America disguised by a different name can be traced at least as far back as 1936 (although they weren't attached to Churchill's name until decades later).  On 18 March 1936, for example, the Cincinnati Inquirer reported on words delivered by Norman Thomas, an American Presbyterian minister who was running for president as the Socialist Party of America's candidate, at an informal luncheon: \"Fascism is coming in the United States most probably, but it will not come under that name.\"   A few days later the same newspaper mentioned the same statement in a book review of In the Second Year, a dystopian novel by Storm Jameson set in a fascist Britain. That article added some additional words to the statement and reported that Thomas had been quoting Huey Long, an American politician who had been assassinated the previous year: Norman Thomas said recently in a speech made in Cincinnati \"Fascism is coming in the United States most probably, but it will not come under that name.\" In this statement he was repeating the words of the late Huey Long, but Huey added: \"Of course we'll have it. We'll have it under the guise of anti-fascism.\" No one has yet been able to document Huey Long's having made such a statement, however. Several variations of this quote have appeared in print since Thomas' 1936 remark. In 1938, for instance, Rev. Dr Halford E. Luccock of the Yale Divinity School said that \"When fascism comes to America, and it has already come to some parts, it will not be marked with the swastika and labeled 'Made in Germany ... It will not even be called Fascism ... But will be called by that high-sounding and highly praised name - Americanism.\" Playwright Clare Booth reportedly had a similar take: \"Speaking of Fascism,\" she writes, \"Of all national ways of life, it is, perhaps, the most quickly habit-forming. It is the alcohol and the opium of the political systems; it will rob us eventually of our physical and mental and even moral powers, but it gives us temporary illusion of escape from an inimical world, a lift of the spirit, a feeling of superiority, of power ... also, we are warned (though not loudly, not often enough) when -- or if -- fascism comes in all America she will come so prettily costumed in red, white and blue as to be practically indistinguishable from a music hall's Fourth of July performance 'Rockette,' than which nothing could look more charmingly, happily, uniformly american.  Apparently Churchill's name was spuriously appended to this statement about fascism circa 2010 more than 40 years after his death (and with no supporting evidence). 2010 Timothy Riley of the National Churchill Museum told us that these words do not appear in any of the articles, speeches, or books penned by Churchill: \"Winston Churchill authored over 15 million words  in articles, speeches, books and other writings. There is no evidence that the statesman wrote the words in question.  It is impossible to know if he uttered the words in conversation, but I am not aware of any of Churchills contemporaries who recorded or recalled the statement.\" The Cincinnati Enquirer.  \"Fascism Coming  Under New Name!\"\r  18 February 1936. JYK.  \"This and That.\"\r  The Morning Call.  5 March 1939. McD, J.F.  \"A 'Lively Age' to Come?'\r  The Cincinnati Enquirer.  22 February 1936. McGaughy, Lauren.  \"Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Tweets Fake Winston Churchill Quote About Anti-Fascists.\"\r  The Dallas Morning News.  7 August 2018.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1kfWSMFPcVZU3WIRwvP3J8fV8ztFwaiR-","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1aecNasmOJTtNyQGFXZuWU_HA_y0giEPW","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_118","claim":"Glyphosate Herbicide will Cause Half of All Children to Have Autism by 2025?","posted":"01\/02\/2015","sci_digest":["Unsupported claims assert that one in two children will be autistic by 2025 due to the use of glyphosate (Roundup) on food crops."],"justification":" Claim:   One in two children will be autistic by 2025 due to use of glyphosate on food crops. UNPROVEN Example: [Collected via e-mail, October 2014] I've seen this same article floating around on Facebook and since I work with children with autism, I was hoping to check up on the veracity of this article: Senior MIT Scientist Warns 1 In 2 Children Will Have Autism by 2025  The overuse of Monsanto's Roundup herbicide on our food is causing glyphosate toxicity and it is now being considered as the single most important factor in development of autism and other chronic disease. At a recent panel discussion about GMOs, a senior scientist has stated that one in two children will be autistic by 2025... Origins:  On 23 December 2014, the website Alliance for Natural Health published an article titled \"Half of All Children Will Be Autistic by 2025, Warns Senior Research Scientist at MIT.\" It described a dire  article prognostication made \"at a conference\" in early December by Stephanie Seneff, PhD (whose web biography described her as a \"Senior Research Scientist at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory,\" not an individual specializing in epidemiology.) The precise location, date, and general scope of the December 2014 conference in question was not disclosed in the article, but a reference was made to the general subject of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). biography The headline's reference to looming autism diagnosis spikes was continued in the article's first line: \"Evidence points to glyphosate toxicity from the overuse of Monsanto's Roundup herbicide.\" After describing Seneff's background in computer science, the article continued: At a conference last Thursday, in a special panel discussion about GMOs, she took the audience by surprise when she declared, \"At today's rate, by 2025, one in two children will be autistic.\" She noted that the side effects of autism closely mimic those of glyphosate toxicity, and presented data showing a remarkably consistent correlation between the use of Roundup on crops (and the creation of Roundup-ready GMO crop seeds) with rising rates of autism. Children with autism have biomarkers indicative of excessive glyphosate, including zinc and iron deficiency, low serum sulfate, seizures, and mitochondrial disorder. The article conflated a number of unrelated claims and beliefs about autism and its causes, jumping from pesticides to vaccines and back again in the course of its travels. A USDA report issued in December 2014 about acceptable levels of pesticides (that made no mention at all of autism) was among the cited material: In addition, as we have previously reported, the number of adverse reactions from vaccines can be correlated as well with autism, though Seneff says it doesn't correlate quite as closely as with Roundup. The same correlations between applications of glyphosate and autism show up in deaths from senility. Of course, autism is a complex problem with many potential causes. Dr. Seneff's data, however, is particularly important considering how close the correlation is  and because it is coming from a scientist with impeccable credentials. Earlier this year, she spoke at the Autism One conference and presented many of the same facts; that presentation is available on YouTube. Both the article and Seneff's biography mention work with the group AutismOne, a group of parents (not scientists) who've espoused the fervent belief autism is caused not by genetic factors but environmental contaminants. An About Us page on the AutismOne web site explains: About Us AutismOne is a non-profit charity organization 501(c)(3) started by a small group of parents of children with autism. Parents are and must remain the driving force of our community, the stakes are too high and the issues too sacred to delegate to outside interests. AUTISM IS A PREVENTABLE\/TREATABLE BIOMEDICAL CONDITION. Autism is the result of environmental triggers. Autism is not caused by \"bad\" genes and the epidemic is not the result of \"better\" diagnosis. Children with autism suffer from gut bugs, allergies, heavy metal toxicity, mitochondrial disorders, antioxidant deficiencies, nutritional deficiencies and autoimmune diseases  all of which are treatable. Both Seneff and AutismOne appear to reject the accepted findings of science on the heretofore not fully understood causes of autism, namely in terms of genetics. The claim also deviates from mainstream science on whether autism is truly more prevalent or whether diagnostic criteria and awareness have caused the increase in the number of children diagnosed with the disorder each year. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) explained in a March 2014 autism surveillance summary it was difficult to rule out improved diagnostics as a factor in a perceived increase in autism across populations of children:  explained The global prevalence of autism has increased twentyfold to thirtyfold since the earliest epidemiologic studies were conducted in the late 1960s and early 1970s. At that time, prevalence estimates from European studies were one in 2,500 children in the population, and by the 2000s prevalence estimates from large surveys were 1%-2% of all children. Although the underlying reasons for the apparent prevalence changes are difficult to study empirically, select studies suggest that much of the recent prevalence increase is likely attributable to extrinsic factors such as improved awareness and recognition and changes in diagnostic practice or service availability. The article stated that Seneff made very specific claims at the December 2014 conference: that half of all children will be diagnosed with autism by 2025, and the perceived increase in the prevalence of autism is due to the use of glyphosate (an  herbicide sold by Monsanto under the brand name Roundup) on crops. From  the information in the article, it appeared Seneff's claims rested on somewhat shaky foundations. Regarding autism rates in 2025, the \"50 percent of children\" estimate looks to be a rudimentary extrapolation of an apparent uptick in autism diagnoses in recent years. Particularly if the cause of such an uptick is improvements in screening and access to diagnostics, it's just as likely the rate would plateau or even dip in the near future when considered by itself. No explanation was proffered (in the article, at least) to justify an affirmative belief the prevalence of autism would rise so drastically  (and by that logic we might assume that by 2050, 125 percent of the population will be diagnosed with autism). Even disregarding the sloppy mathematics, the claim's very basis (that glyphosate is the cause of a perceived increase in autism) is unsupported. No mention was made of how glyphosate was isolated and shown to be a cause (or even a factor) in some or any cases of autism in the article. No autism spikes near agricultural facilities were described, nor was any definitive causative link at all cited by the article (and presumably, Seneff) to back up the purported link between glyphosate and autism rates anywhere other than the imaginations of those making the claim. The single link of merit made within the article (to a USDA report) made absolutely no mention of autism at all but was misleadingly arranged to suggest a connection. What the claim seemed to hinge on largely was a correlation\/causation fallacy: Because [unclear activity involving glyphosate] occurred, a corresponding rise in autism diagnoses must be due to that unspecified issue with glyphosate. Claims of a similar nature have been dispelled with graphs like the following that show how difficult (or simple) it is to \"prove\" any one cause correlates with any one effect:   Clearly the graph is tongue-in-cheek, but the sentiment is clear. Without peer-reviewed reproducible research, any number of factors can be blamed for what looks like a rise in autism rates. In actuality, scientists in a number of relevant fields have been working full-time to find real and provable answers to that question.  Whether educated or not, guesswork is only the start of research in epidemiology, and no published research exists to prove (or even suggest) a link between glyphosate and autism. No evidence was presented in the article to provide context for why glyphosate (or GMOs) would be any more likely to account for the presumed increase than other environmental factors, and it appeared the only visible connection between the two was their inclusion on a graph presented at a conference of an indeterminate nature. Last updated:  21 December 2015","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1dO0KQfdu_zrkvrwJVLz_-lALVRFaV5Lx","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1gBX8Oft6le8dEK9R_epJCAxov0elaOTI","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_119","claim":"Faculty salaries at UW System institutions have now fallen more than 18 percent below the national average.","posted":"12\/26\/2012","sci_digest":[],"justification":"The head of the University of Wisconsin System says its high time for employee pay raises after several years of freezes, cuts and furloughs.We will all pay the price in lost talent and sliding reputation unless UW starts closing a pay gap between it and peer institutions nationally, System President Kevin Reilly told the Board of Regents on Dec. 7, 2012. No operation  public or private  can keep its talent if compensation languishes for too long.Reilly, president since 2004, said the gap between our UW employees compensation and that of their peers has widened in recent years, and that gap continues to grow.He added: Indeed, faculty salaries at UW System institutions have now fallen more than 18 percent below the national average.We suspect, with the state budget season fast approaching, that well hear that 18 percent figure again.So lets test it.There are many ways to compare salaries at schools. Reilly chose to roll all the UW campuses into one, which as we shall see has limitations.That said, Reilly made clear that his figure was system-wide, so ultimately well focus on that.We turned tosalary figurescollected annually by theAmerican Association of University Professors, a member organization established to advance academic freedom and shared governance, to define fundamental professional values and standards for higher education, and to ensure higher education's contribution to the common good.The groups figures for instructional faculty pay, gleaned from its surveys of institutions for 2011-12, are widely quoted, notably in salary comparisons compiled and analyzed by the Chronicle of Higher Education.Reilly didnt make clear whether UWs peers include competing private schools, or just public, so well examine both.For 11 of the UW Systems four-year campuses, the AAUP peer group is masters-granting schools. The Madison and Milwaukee campuses are compared to a more select group, doctoral institutions.TheChronicle of Higher Education siteshows that all but one of the UW Systems 13 four-year campuses pay professor salaries that are far below the national median for full professors at public, private and independent institutions of similar type. Madison is the lone exception; average pay for full professors there ($114,690) is merely below the median for doctoral institutions. Figures are for full-time professors.Pay at 11 of the 13 schools for another group of faculty -- assistant professors, which is considered the entry level -- was below or far below the national median. At the other two, it wasabovethe national median -- Madison ($75,860) and Whitewater ($62,178).At the UW Systems 13 two-year campuses, professors of all types collectively are paid far below the national median, the salary figures show. Thetwo-year campusesinclude schools such as such as Rock County, Fox Valley, Waukesha and Barron County.Lets quantify the size of the gap.At the flagship Madison campus, full professors collectively would need a 4 percent to 5 percent raise to reach national averages, depending on whether independent and private schools are included in the comparison, according to calculations we did using the AAUP data.Assistant professors at Madison, by contrast, are 4 percent to 6 percentabovethe national averages.But Madison stands alone as coming close to the national averages in both categories.The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the states only other public doctoral institution, runs 24 percent to 27 percent below national levels for full professors, with average pay of $95,570. Assistant-professor pay there runs 6 percent to 8 percent behind.The other 11 four-year campuses range from 15 percent to 33 percent below average for full professors. Full professor pay at the four-year campuses (not including Madison and Milwaukee) ranged from $67,008 to $75,857.Assistant professor pay at 10 of the 11 fell short by 5 percent to 19 percent (with Whitewater the only school above the median).Those two positions -- full professor and assistant -- dont comprise the entire faculty.Reillys specific claim was not about individual schools, or groups of schools, but that system-wide faculty pay has fallen 18 percent below the national average.We asked AAUPs research director, John Curtis, to calculate a system-wide figure, one that rolls up all the campuses into one amount, and includes all types of full-time faculty, including associate professors, instructors and lecturers.Based on his figures, we found a collective 20 percent faculty pay gap between UW System salaries and those at similar public, private and independent schools.The gap is 18 percent for just the four-year, public Wisconsin campuses (leaving aside the two-year schools).Reillys office told us he, too, relied on the AAUP figures to reach his conclusion. His spokesman, David Giroux, provideddetailed comparisonsthat also factored in a cost-of-living adjustment based on geography. In addition, Reillys approach compared schools with a select peer group rather than all schools of the same general type.The bottom line from the UW-provided data: It reaches very similar conclusions to the analysis by Curtis. There was one major exception. Reillys analysis put UW-Madison professor salaries much further below the median.Our bottom line: Reillys math appears to be on target.Curtis cautioned that a system-wide number may signal a disparity in a broad sense, but really is not very meaningful for addressing pay institution-by-institution because the overall figure combines a wide range of institutions of different types.A system-wide look does not shed light on pay differences by field, either -- history professors vs. engineering professors, etc.Our ratingReilly said faculty salaries at UW System institutions have now fallen more than 18 percent below the national average.The aggregate figure has its limitations as a precise guide for future action, but Reilly scores with this broad comparison, which suggests a significant disparity.We rate his claim True.","issues":["Education","State Budget","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_120","claim":"No, Joe Biden's Nephew Doesn't Own Dominion Voting Systems","posted":"12\/14\/2020","sci_digest":["The claim is just one iteration of a conspiracy theory about Dominion Voting Systems."],"justification":"Voting in the 2020 U.S. Election may be over, but the misinformation keeps on ticking. Never stop fact-checking. Follow our post-election coverage here. here On Dec. 11, 2020, a Twitter user posted a new permutation of a conspiracy theory about Dominion Voting Systems, the technology firm that provided voting systems in multiple U.S. jurisdictions in the November 2020 election, and which has also been the target of a disinformation campaign falsely claiming its systems were used to perpetrate widespread voter fraud. technology firm falsely claiming One of the narratives in the election fraud conspiracy theory holds that voting machines provided by Dominion switched votes from ballots cast for U.S. President Donald Trump to his challenger, Joe Biden, who is now president-elect. Trump has refused to accept his electoral loss, and has perpetuated the lie that Dominion machines were used en masse to flip votes. perpetuated Hence, more than a month after Biden was declared winner of the election, conspiracy theories continued to flourish. In this case, a Twitter user falsely claimed that Dominion is owned by a member of Biden family, namely his nephew. But the tweet in question is nothing but a patchwork of misleading screenshots and assumptions, based on people sharing a common surname. We cropped the user's name out below: falsely claimed   The screenshots in the meme above contain what appear to be the professional biographies of two men, Stephen Owens and R. Kevin Owens, neither of which mentions Dominion. The meme included in the tweet points to President-elect Biden's sister and campaign manager Valerie Biden Owens, with the alleged clincher being that Stephen Owens, a co-founder of Staple Street Capital, an investment firm that owns 75% stake in Dominion, shares a surname. However, \"Owens\" is a common last name, so that hardly serves as proof at all. co-founder owns Valerie and her husband, John T. Owens, have three children, none named Stephen. A spokesperson for Staple Street confirmed in an email to Snopes that Stephen Owens has no relation to the Biden family. three children And although the meme includes mention of R. Kevin Owens, an attorney who is related to Valerie's husband, we see no connection between this person and Dominion. related In other iterations of this conspiracy theory, the voting systems company has been falsely linked to deceased Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, as well as various Democratic politicians, including U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, and the Clinton Foundation, the charitable foundation run by former President Bill and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Hugo Chavez including Trump's own administration has undermined his post-election disinformation blitz by stating the November 2020 election was \"the most secure in American history.\" undermined \"There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised,\" the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which is a component of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said in a Nov. 12, 2020, statement. statement Updated to note that a Staples Street representative confirmed Stephen Owens isn't related to the Bidens.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ExPunrJoAdZD7IpMztqFPheQW_d0vnsi","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_121","claim":"McDonald's Drive-Through Memo","posted":"10\/11\/2009","sci_digest":["Memo from a McDonald's director advocates making a policy of omitting items from customers' drive-through orders."],"justification":" Claim:  Memo from a McDonald's director advocates making a policy of omitting items from customers' drive-through orders.  Example:  [Collected via e-mail, October 2009] Scanned image attached purporting to be a genuine internal McDonalds management letter. The letter is pretty disturbing on a number of fronts. Obviously the idea of deliberately cheating customers is questionable but further to that the revenue figure is wildly incorrect because the only \"saving\" would be in some ingredients which are a very small percentage of the overall cost of the end product. Lastly, of course people will stop coming to the store if they are often short changed. Is McDonalds really the evil empire?    Origins:  This scenario has played out in many a home: It's the end of a long day, everyone's tired and hungry, but nobody has the energy or inclination to cook, or even to go out to a restaurant and sit through a dine-in meal.  Instead, a family member is tapped to head out to the drive-through lane of a local fast food outlet to pick up some chow for everyone.  Unfortunately, upon the designated food retriever's return, the famished family members discover that a careless restaurant employee inadvertently failed to include one or more of the requested items when packaging the order  thereby necessitating that somebody go hungry, share his food, or make another trek to the fast food outlet. (In our household such an occurrence  was known as \"Ericing an order,\" so named in honor of my younger brother, who rarely managed to return from a fast food run with a complete order.) The \"missing drive-through food items\" phenomenon is such a seemingly common one that it has prompted some consumers to occasionally wonder if fast food restaurants don't do it on purpose in order to increase their profit margins  because those restaurants know from experience that many drive-through customers won't discover until they're well away from the point of sale that they didn't receive some of the food they paid for, and by that point they don't have the time, or consider it too much of a hassle, to return to retrieve the missing items.   The image reproduced above plays on those feelings in the form of a purported memo from Robert Trugabe, a Managing Director with McDonald's Australia, which (ironically)  suggests the company increase revenues by making an undocumented practice of regularly and deliberately leaving out food items from every few drive-through orders: We need to discuss the drive through orders as well. If the girls leave one item out of every second or third order, this adds up to several thousand dollars per week revenue. On smaller orders if they leave out the hot apple pie or fires [sic] and larger orders just 1 burger from every third order this totals around $2,118.00 per day. We need to work out if there is a way of making this a procedure without making it documented. (Lest any viewers miss the point, the preceding paragraph is helpfully encircled with a bold black line and accompanied by the written expression \"I KNEW IT!!\" in the sample image.)  The \"McMemo\" was merely a parodical prank, however.  An inquiry about it to McDonald's Australia drew the following response: This memo is a complete fabrication. 'Robert Trugabe' is not a McDonald's Australia employee and never has been. Needless to say the contents of the letter are also completely fabricated. McDonald's practices the highest standards of consumer ethics and would never encourage employees to act in a way that undermines our core customer values. Moreover, the McDonald's Australia web site now carries an alert offering a \"customer update on fabricated letter\": alert The memo in circulation online and via email supposedly written by the Managing Director\/Proprietor of Frewville McDonald's in South Australia is a complete fabrication. 'Robert Trugabe' is not, and never has been, a McDonald's Australia employee. The contents of the letter are also completely fabricated. McDonald's practices the highest standards of consumer ethics and would never encourage employees to act in a way that undermines our core customer values. Additionally, the organizational listing on the McDonald's Australia web site included only one Managing Director, whose name was Catriona Noble, not Robert Trugabe.   organizational listing In case the joke isn't obvious, we note the uncoincidental similarity between the name of the supposed McDonald's official and that of Robert Mugabe, the controversial president of Zimbabwe, as well as the remarkable congruence of their signatures: Robert Mugabe  The originator of the hoax memo was identified as South Australian prankster David Thorne, who said the effort of creating it \"took me five minutes in Photoshop.\"  David Thorne Last updated:  13 July 2014","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1kgJViFnxQTPnOLwiOuhYEciTbG12JL2K","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1GYUSK4SjvE6slF2M9JqwDFPwizQkGmDn","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1JUGt2g-B4aBiq0qX-v8xWyP_OVNLuApj","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_122","claim":"Austin has over 1,000 city employees that make six-figure salaries.","posted":"09\/25\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"UPDATE 6:15 p.m., Sept. 26, 2014:We revised the story below to note that at a Sept. 23, 2014, forum Wiley said almost 1,000 workers have six-figure salaries. This additional information, pointed out by a reader, didn't change our rating of the claim we checked. Rich rich rich! City of Austin employees strike it rich! Sorry. We got carried away by a claim at a forum for Austin City Council candidates thrown by the League of Women Voters and the City of Austin. According to anAustin American-Statesmannews storyposted online Sept. 16, 2014, a council candidate, lawyer Jay Wiley, said the day before theres room in the city budget to staff offices in each of the 10 newly created single-member districts. Wiley, running in District 6 in Northwest Austin, also said at the forum: Weve got, actually, over 1,000 city employees that make six-figure salaries. Does that add up? We failed to reach Wiley to learn the origin of his figure. Meantime, city spokeswoman Melissa Alvarado emailed achartindicating that as of Sept. 1, 2014, 879 workers earned from $100,089 to $304,657. To follow-up queries, Alvarado sent a chart listing 24 vacancies at that time for positions paying $100,000 or more. So, you could say the city had 903 positions paying six figures at the time Wiley spoke. Alvarado said the city then had 11,852 workers, which means its $100,000-plus earners accounted for 7 percent of its workers. Plus, more workers were heading into the six-figure class shortly. To our inquiry, Alvarado said 3.5 percent raises taking effect Sept. 21, 2014, (before the start of the new fiscal year in October) would result in 1,162 employees earning $100,000 or more. At that time, she said, the city expected there to be another 36 open positions paying more than $100,000 each. So at that time, the city projects, 1,198 positions will pay six figures. Alvarado said the city had 12,780 positions budgeted for fiscal 2015. We also looked at which city workers make the most. Peruse that sampling below. Top-Paid Employees City of Austin Sept. 1, 2014 NAME TITLE\/DEPARTMENT SALARY Larry Weis General Manager\/Austin Energy $304,657 Marc Ott City Manager $269,755 Paul Hinchey Medical Director\/EMS System $246,688 Michael McDonald Deputy City Manager $220,126 Cheryl Mele Chief Operating Officer\/Austin Energy $211,494 Kerry Overton Deputy General Manager, Shared Services\/Austin Energy $211,494 Sue Edwards Assistant City Manager $203,860 Robert Goode Assistant City Manager $203,860 Humberto Lumbreras Assistant City Manager $203,860 Anthony Snipes Assistant City Manager $203,860 Reynaldo Arellano Assistant City Manager $200,116 Art Acevedo Police Chief $199,118 Claire Hart Chief Financial Officer $206,003 Elizabeth Little Senior Vice President\/Austin Energy $202,716 Jose Cabanas Rivera Deputy Medical Director, Office of the Medical Director $200,969 Source: Information provided by City of Austin, September 2014. The fullchart is here. After we initially posted this fact check, a reader pointed out thar Wiley said at a Sept. 23, 2014, forum the city has almost 1,000 workers earning six-figure salaries. Our ruling Wiley said more than 1,000 city workers make six-figure salaries. When he spoke, 879 workers earned more than $100,000, meaning he overshot. Then again, raises were about to take effect lifting workers in this pay category to 1,162. We rate the statement Mostly True. MOSTLY TRUE The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.","issues":["City Budget","City Government","Corrections and Updates","Workers","Texas"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_123","claim":"Did CNN Remove 'Larry King Live' Episode Featuring Tara Reade's Mother from Google Play?","posted":"04\/28\/2020","sci_digest":["How many assumptions can one draw from a single screenshot?"],"justification":"In April 2020, a rumor started to circulate that CNN deleted from Google Play an old episode of \"Larry King Live\" that featured the mother of Tara Reade, the woman who accused presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden of sexual assault. accused The conspiratorial website Infowars, for instance, published an article titled \"CNN Removes 'Larry King' Episode with Biden Accuser's Mother From Google Play Archive\" and accused CNN of \"running cover\" for the Biden campaign.  Infowars CNN did not remove this episode from the Google Play streaming service. This false rumor is entirely based on incorrect assumptions made from looking at a single screenshot posted by Twitter user J.L. Hamilton. The image of the Google Play store (see below) showed a \"Larry King Live\" episode for Aug. 10 and Aug. 12, 1993, but not Aug. 11. In a tweet that was later deleted, Hamilton accused CNN of \"actively colluding with the Biden Campaign to cover up evidence of Biden's sexual assault.\" screenshot   The above-displayed screenshot is genuine. If you go to the Google Play store, you will not find an episode of \"Larry King Live\" listed for Aug. 11, 1993. However, the claim that CNN removed the episode quickly falls apart when we take a look at the available information. Google Play Some of the confusion may stem from the fact that Google Play lists shows and episodes on its website that aren't actually available for viewing there. While Google Play lists hundreds of \"Larry King Live\" episodes, for instance, these episodes are not available to view on the service, but users can add them to their \"watch list.\" A Google spokesperson told us that Google does this to gauge viewer interest. As of this writing, if you click on any episode of \"Larry King Live\" you will be greeted with the text: \"This show is currently unavailable.\" This, of course, raises the question: Why would CNN remove an episode from a service where it was already unavailable for viewing?  Furthermore, although Google Play provides a list of episodes, they do not provide a description for each individual episode. The store instead provides a brief biography of Larry King and a short summary of the \"Larry King Live\" show. In other words, even if this episode had been listed, it would have made no mention of Tara Reade, which, again, would give CNN little incentive (if, that is, the unfounded notion that CNN was \"running cover\" for Biden was accurate) to remove the episode.  Shortly after this rumor went viral, Matt Dornic, head of CNN Communications, took to Twitter to state that \"CNN did not remove anything,\" that the network did not have a distribution deal for \"Larry King Live\" with Google Play, and that Google did not source its listing through CNN:   The rumor that CNN was \"running cover\" for the Biden campaign is undercut by the fact that CNN drew attention to this episode during an April 25, 2020 segment. In the accompanying article, CNN wrote: CNN (CNN)Newly surfaced video from 1993 appears to feature the mother of Tara Reade, a woman who accused presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden of sexual assault, calling into a cable TV show to seek advice around the time of the alleged assault. In a \"Larry King Live\" segment that aired on August 11, 1993, on CNN, an unnamed woman calls in to the show with her location identified on the screen as San Luis Obispo, California. The show was about the cutthroat nature of Washington, DC, politics and media. \"Yes, hello. I'm wondering what a staffer would do besides go to the press in Washington?\" she asks. \"My daughter has just left there after working for a prominent senator, and could not get through with her problems at all, and the only thing she could have done was go to the press, and she chose not to do it out of respect for him.\" It isn't clear exactly how Google populates its list of \"Larry King Live\" episodes, but the list is not comprehensive. For instance, the first episode of \"Larry King Live\" aired on CNN back in 1985. The earliest episode listed on Google Play, however, is from 1987 (and features Donald Trump).  1987 We have yet to see any evidence that an Aug. 11, 1993, episode of \"Larry King Live\" was ever listed on Google Play. Since Google Play's \"Larry King Live\" catalog is missing several episodes, it's possible that no episode for this date was ever listed on (and therefore never removed from) Google's streaming service.  Lee, MJ.  \"Biden's Accuser Says Mother Called Into 'Larry King Live' in 1993 for Advice After Alleged Sexual Assault.\"\r  CNN.  25 April 2020. White, Jamie.  \"CNN Removes Larry King' Episode With Biden Accuser's Mother From Google Play Archive.\"\r  Infowars.  26 April 2020. Wulfsohn, Joseph.  \"CNN 'Larry King' Episode Featuring Biden Accuser's Mother Disappears From Google Play Catalog.\"\r  Fox News.  26 April 2020.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1F0Kj6bZvgsyPHQ-jGHfdnL4H4dIhna-k","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1i8jn-2KSIyL9W7x5Z0F2DiX-ay1_Bp4p","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_124","claim":"Are These Photos of Cicada Shell Art Real?","posted":"05\/24\/2021","sci_digest":["When life gives you cicada shells, make statues? "],"justification":"In May 2021, as Brood X cicadas started to emerge after 17 years underground, a set of photographs started to circulate on social media that supposedly showed a series of sculptures constructed with cicada shells: Brood X cicadas circulate on social media   These sculptures were truly made with the shells of cicadas. It should be noted that all of these images are several years old, however, and do not feature Brood X cicada shells.  The image in the top left of the Transformer-esque cicada sculpture was created in 2017 by an art student in Japan who posts on Twitter under the handle @ride_hero_. They wrote on their website that this \"monster\" was truly made of cicada shells. Here's an excerpt from their page (translated via Google): ride_hero_ website It can be said that monsters are familiar to Japanese people. Monsters do not actually exist in this world, they are images. However, because it exists in the world of images, monsters become objects of fear and charm. I was fascinated and fascinated by such a monster. The existence of this monster is unconfirmed, but I imagined the soul as something that always accompanies it as an image. There is a story about whether the soul comes first or the body comes first. Is the body built in the soul? Is the soul drawn to the body? But I think the soul comes first. As a result, the concept of the body emerges relatively when considering the soul. The \"body\" is nothing more than a vessel of the \"soul.\" From here I imagined the soulless body of the existence of corpses and shells. Shells and corpses are not just vessels that have lost their souls. It also means that it is part of the soul's trajectory that the soul was there. One day in October, a third year high school student, I crushed a cicada shell that had fallen in a high school corridor. Seeing the crushed cicada shells, I felt \"mottainai\". [Mottainai is a Japanese term that can be translated to \"What a waste!\"] I don't know why I felt this \"mottainai\", but at that time I felt that I could make something with this cicada shell. From there, I collected cicada shells. The familiar material that I used to make my work was the cicada shell. I'm making a monster out of cicada shells. I decided that the creatures in the image made up of a collection of soul vessels are the best to ask about the soul. This work is a soul drama that resembles the lives of cicadas and is a transfer of a part of my soul. @Ride_Hero_ has posted several additional photos showing the process of making this cicada sculpture. You can see those images here.  those images here The other three images appear to have all been created by another Japanese college student named Tanikurakai. Buzzfeed News talked to Tanikurakai after his cicada sculpture of an Alien Baltan (top right), an arthropod-like alien from the Japanese television series \"Ultraman,\" went viral in 2018.    Tanikurakai told Buzzfeed News that he made this sculpture with about 30 shells from a variety of cicada species. Buzzfeed News reported (translated via Google): Buzzfeed News Mr. Tanikura responded to BuzzFeed's interview that \"I made it with the idea that the beauty of the shell could be used for something . \" He collected about 30 shells in his garden and completed it in about a week. He said that he used three types of cicadas, such as a large bear cicada where he wanted volume, a slender brown cicada where he was too big, and a small and brittle kempfer cicada as an accent on his face.  Tanikura shared other images of cicada sculptures that he made, including the \"Godzilla\" and \"Alien\" sculptures shown in the collage above.  ChinaDaily.com reports that another Japanese artist, Zhang Zhenwu, also creates sculptures from cicada shells. A video of Zhenwu's work can be seen below: ChinaDaily.com reports   ","issues":["lien"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1odgnjXethXppThZYG164ZREGAVmEgfW_","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_125","claim":"George Reeves Superman Death","posted":"05\/09\/1999","sci_digest":["Did the actor who played TV's Superman kill himself by trying to fly like his character?"],"justification":"Claim: The actor who portrayed Superman on television in the 1950s believed he had acquired the character's superpowers and accidentally killed himself by trying to fly. Origins: Tinseltown is full of tragic tales (of varying degrees of truthfulness) about beloved actors who, having succumbed to the illusion of their profession, ultimately became unable to separate their own personalities from those of the characters they portrayed. None of these stories has a more bizarre ending than the one told about George Reeves, TV's Superman, who allegedly met with an accidental death while attempting to duplicate a feat possible only by someone possessed of his character's superpowers. George Reeves (born George Keefer Brewer in 1914) began his Hollywood career in a variety of bit parts in the late 1930s, including a small role in the epic film Gone with the Wind, and worked steadily (if unspectacularly) throughout the 1940s before landing the role that would finally make his name and face familiar in American households: Superman. The popular superhero had been featured in numerous comics, radio shows, and films during the 1940s before he was brought to the small screen in a syndicated television series that began production in 1951 with George Reeves in the title role. The series proved popular when it finally reached local stations in 1952, and additional episodes were filmed from 1953 to 1957. Although the show's budget was quite limited, the series was tremendously popular for a program that did not appear on a network's prime-time schedule, and George Reeves became the living embodiment of Superman to millions of American children. As many actors have discovered over the years, fame sometimes exacts a high price from those who achieve it. Despite being more popular and recognizable than ever, George Reeves became typecast as Superman and was unable to find work when production of The Adventures of Superman series ended in 1957. Despondent and depressed over his inability to secure other acting roles, the 45-year-old Reeves committed suicide on June 16, 1959, shooting himself in the head in the upstairs bedroom of his Beverly Hills home while a party was in progress in the living room below. (Many claims have been made that depict Reeves' death as a murder rather than a suicide. He was allegedly quite upbeat at the time of his death about hearing that the Superman series was going to resume production soon and thus had no reason to kill himself. Rumors also suggested that the husband of a woman with whom Reeves had recently ended a 10-year affair had hired a hitman to kill the actor. None of this speculation has any substantive evidence to back it up, however.) Shortly after Reeves' tragic death, the bizarre story that would further stigmatize his untimely end began to circulate: Reeves, believing he possessed Superman's superpowers, died when he jumped out the window of a multi-story building, expecting that he would fly as his superhero character did rather than plummet to the ground. (Alternate versions of the rumor had Reeves dying after attempting some other demonstration of super strength, such as having bullets or a cannon fired directly at his chest.) Reeves may have been depressed, and he may have been despondent that he was no longer needed for the only role Hollywood seemingly found him suitable for, but he was under no illusion that he was the character he played. The legend about his unusual manner of death likely began as a combination of attempts to rationalize his taking of his own life (\"He was crazy\" providing a more comprehensible explanation for suicide to many than the complex realities do, especially to people familiar only with a victim's public persona and not the details of his private life) and the apocryphal stories of children killing themselves in similar fashion that had already been circulating for several years. (An even more unusual take on this legend had Reeves killing himself because he was despondent over the harm caused to all the kids who had donned Superman capes and jumped from heights, expecting to fly as they had seen Reeves do countless times on the TV show.) We all too often expect our heroes to be larger-than-life in everything, including their deaths. When the facts don't meet our expectations, we manufacture them. George Reeves may not have died a hero, but many of us have been led to believe that he died trying to be one, however misguided that attempt may have been. Last updated: August 8, 2007. Sources: Kashner, Sam. Hollywood Kryptonite. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996. ISBN 0-312-14616-7. Hollywood Kryptonite Mitchell, Sean. \"TV Confidential.\" TV Guide. July 25, 1998 (p. 12). Brooks, Tim and Earle Marsh. Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows. New York: Ballantine Books, 1999. ISBN 0-345-42923-0 (pp. 18-19). Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=16zL4w6xai7QhTh5G1dAcMHmCvJZAwJrm","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_126","claim":"Does This Photograph Show Pipe-Bombing Suspect Cesar Sayoc With a 'Known Democrat,' Proving a Hoax Conspiracy?","posted":"10\/29\/2018","sci_digest":["Eager conspiracy theorists wrenched a photograph of two former soccer teammates out of context, and without factual basis."],"justification":"In October 2018, a series of mail-bombs sent to high-profile Democratic party figures including former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Hillary Clinton prompted intensive news coverage, especially after investigators arrested 56-year-old Florida man Cesar Sayoc, a supporter of President Donald Trump who promoted right-wing conspiracy theories online.  Cesar Sayoc Although none of the 13 homemade bombs detonated or caused any physical injury, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray emphasized that the packages were \"not hoax devices.\" emphasized Along with widespread news coverage, the episode engendered several conspiracy theories, most notably one which held that the bombing campaign was a hoax and a \"false flag\" operation orchestrated not by a right-wing extremist, but rather by liberals hoping to artificially stoke outrage against President Trump and his supporters, to the benefit of Democratic candidates in the November 2018 elections.  Promoters of the \"false flag\" theory claimed that their proof lay in the fact that United States Postal Service workers do not directly deliver mail to the homes of Secret Service protectees like Obama and Clinton, and that the stamps on one of the packages were not postmarked, which purportedly meant the package couldn't have been mailed via USPS, and that the story was therefore a hoax.  deliver stamps On 27 October, another strand to this theory emerged when social media users began sharing a photograph which appeared to show Sayoc posing with another man, named as \"Izzy Hernandez,\" who the viral memes claimed was a \"known Democrat\" donor or supporter. According to conspiracy theorists, this proved that the pipe-bombing suspect was connected with the Democratic party, and that the entire affair was therefore a liberal-orchestrated \"false flag\" operation. On Facebook, Alan Reynolds posted the photograph along with this description: PIPE BOMBER SUSPECT pictured last year with Izzy Hernandez. Sayok [sic] does not appear destitute. In addition, why would a Trump enthusiast attend a banquet and have a photo OP with a Democrat Donor\/Supporter? Facebook keeps trying to take down this photo,,,pls share this ASAP! The following day, the Twitter account @WhoWolfe posted a similar explanation: The fake bomber suspect is pictured here with Izzy Hernandez just last year. He doesn't appear to be destitute. Why would an alleged @realDonaldTrump enthusiast attend a banquet and take pictures in a photo OP with a known Democrat? Facebook has been taking this picture down. That version of the theory was retweeted by the prominent right-wing commentator Ann Coulter: Why do Facebook & Twitter immediately delete accounts of nuts at all? So we can rely on the media to tell us what they've posted? Why not let everyone see? https:\/\/t.co\/qhmvFshdaw https:\/\/t.co\/qhmvFshdaw  Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) October 28, 2018 October 28, 2018   Background The photograph is authentic, and appears to have been taken from Sayoc's Facebook profile before administrators removed it in the aftermath of his arrest. It does indeed show Sayoc posing with Izzy Hernandez, but there is a perfectly simple explanation for the connection between the two men, one which does not require any dark, politically-motivated conspiracy to subvert democracy in the United States -- they played soccer and went to college together.  Israel Abel \"Izzy\" Hernandez is a 2009 inductee into the North Carolina Soccer Hall of Fame, primarily for his accomplishments as a coach, but also as a player. His Hall of Fame profile describes his career as follows: Hall of Fame Izzys record of achievement is long: 9 womens high school state titles & 2 mens state titles & final NSCAA national # 1 ranking of high school teams twice, in 2006 with the girls and in 2007 with the boys & Broughton girls nationally ranked 15 consecutive years & 3 girls youth state championships (twice with the 77 CASL Spartans in U16 and U18 and once with the U18 Durham\/Chapel Hill Triangle Strikers) & 2 boys youth state championships (76 Raleigh Rowdies in U13 and 74 Raleigh Express in U15) & US Youth Soccer Southern Regional champion and National Champion in 1995 with the 77 CASL Spartans, North Carolinas first youth national championship in soccer & NC Soccer Coaches Association regional coach of the year & Broughton Sports Hall of Fame & News and Observer Tar Heel of the Week.  As a young man, he played soccer for Elon College (now Elon University) in North Carolina, and before that, from 1980 to 1982, for Brevard College, a small liberal arts college in Brevard, North Carolina. One of his teammates at Brevard was Cesar Sayoc.  Brevard College's 1981 yearbook shows the two sitting next to each other in the front row of the soccer team photograph, with Hernandez wearing the number 20, and Sayoc wearing the number 12: yearbook photograph   Hernandez and Sayoc were also members of the Brevard College Catholic Club together, in 1981. (Hernandez is circled on the left, Sayoc is circled on the right): Catholic Club   Some 34 years later, Hernandez and Sayoc were photographed together again at a 2 October 2015 event in which their former soccer coach Bob Scarborough was inducted into Brevard College's Athletic Hall of Fame. inducted A photograph posted to Flickr by Brevard College shows Hernandez and Sayoc (second and fourth from left) celebrating with Scarborough (third from left.) posted  Brevard College\/Flickr  In the 2015 photograph, Sayoc and Hernandez are wearing the exact same outfits shown in the photograph that went viral as part of the \"false flag\" conspiracy theory, strongly indicating that the two men were photographed together at no more than a celebration in honor of their former college soccer coach Bob Scarborough.  This also disproves the claim that the photograph showed the two men together \"just last year.\" In fact, the photograph was taken in 2015, not 2017.  In the aftermath of Sayoc's arrest, Scarborough told the Raleigh, North Carolina TV station WRAL that his former player had kept in touch with him over the years, providing intermittent updates on his life and career developments, but that he hadn't heard from him since the October 2015 Hall of Fame induction celebration: WRAL Not only is there no evidence whatsoever that Sayoc and Hernandez are co-conspirators in a liberal plot to generate outrage against President Donald Trump and Republicans by engaging in a mail-bombing hoax, the only piece of evidence cited as proof of that claim actually points firmly in a very different direction. 'A Known Democrat' There is also no evidence to support the second component of this particular strand of the \"false flag\" conspiracy theory -- that Hernandez is a Democratic donor or supporter -- and there is some evidence to contradict it.  As we have shown, Sayoc and Hernandez knew each other from playing soccer together at college in the early 1980s, so even if either or both men were at some point supporters of or contributors to either the Democratic or Republican party, their having been photographed together could easily be explained by something other than a political conspiracy.  Even so, Hernandez does not appear to be a Democrat, at least not in any formal sense. According to records held by the North Carolina State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement, Israel Abel Hernandez is registered in Wake County as an \"unaffiliated voter\" (that is, as an independent.) registered His voting history shows that, aside from general elections, his only participation in a partisan primary came on 15 March 2016, when he cast a ballot in North Carolina's Republican presidential primary. In North Carolina, unaffiliated voters can only vote in one party's primary election, not both.  history primary Despite searching campaign finance records held by both the Federal Election Commission and the North Carolina State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement, we could find no record whatsoever of Hernandez having made any donations to a political candidate or committee of any kind.  We are emphatically not suggesting that Izzy Hernandez's voting history or political affiliation (or lack thereof) is of any particular meaning or relevance. However, the lack of any evidence that he is a Democratic supporter or donor even further undermines the October 2018 meme which took a photograph of two old soccer teammates reunited three decades after their college days, and attempted, without any factual basis, to twist it into a dark and violent political conspiracy. Biesecker, Michael; Braun, Stephen. \"Bomb Suspect: Ex-Stripper With Cash Problems, Trump Devotion.\"\r The Associated Press. 28 October 2018. MacGuill, Dan. \"Does USPS Never Deliver Mail Directly to People Under Secret Service Protection?\"\r Snopes.com. 26 October 2018. Mikkelson, David. \"Do Uncancelled Stamps Prove Mail Bombs Were Not Sent Through USPS?\"\r Snopes.com. 27 October 2018. North Carolina Soccer Hall of Fame. \"Israel 'Izzy' Hernandez.\"\r Unknown publication date. Brevard College. \"The Pertelote.\"\r 1981. Brevard College. \"College Honors Distinguished Alumni, Faculty and Athletes.\"\r October 2015. Sweat, Candace. \"'I Could've Talked Him Out of It: Former Soccer Coach Remembers Mailing Bomb Suspect.\"\r WRAL. 26 October 2018.","issues":["finance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1m8CBY1ZSXmSR1pix4-r4D-ha9OmSVdb7","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1XXt7RniiqFOYO2Nmb-gnjMWVc2g3JIGY","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1qTNprZMYqIGxHODhra5HjjljHmgBuv5x","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_127","claim":"No Evidence BLM Co-Founder Patrisse Cullors Used Donations To Buy House","posted":"04\/14\/2021","sci_digest":["Let's talk about home prices in Los Angeles."],"justification":"On April 7, 2021, the real estate gossip website Dirt reported that Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors had purchased a home in Topanga, an eccentric neighborhood located in the western portion of Los Angeles, for $1.4 million. Dirt reported eccentric Categorized under real estate purchases by \"politicians,\" Dirt's headline reported, \"Black Lives Matter Co-Founder Patrisse Khan-Cullors Lands Topanga Canyon Compound.\" (Cullors is a political activist, but she isn't a \"politician\" in the sense that she holds public office.) The story sparked a tsunami of spinoff articles and commentary with the aggregate effect of creating a cloud of doubt over the finances of the nonprofit organization associated with the Black Lives Matter movement, the peak of which was a claim in a meme that baselessly accused Cullors of using donations to Black Lives Matter to purchase the house:   But Dirt's article, which is the source that all of the stories and posts about the Topanga home purchase are based on, didn't report that Cullors purchased the home with BLM donations. It said the home was sold \"to a corporate entity that public records show is controlled\" by Cullors, but didn't name the corporation. Cullors is a fairly high-profile public figure. Aside from being an activist and organizer, she makes frequent media appearances. She is the co-author of a best-selling book, \"When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir.\" She also signed a deal with Warner Brothers in late 2020 to create programming for the network's various platforms. book deal We sent Dirt an email asking if they would disclose the name of the business entity the home was sold to, but didn't receive a response in time for publication. We haven't been able to independently verify Dirt's report that Cullors purchased the home in Topanga. Her name didn't come up in our own public records search. In an April 2022 investigative report by New York Magazine's Intelligencer outlining a $6 million home purchase by Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLMGN), however, movement leaders appeared to indirectly acknowledge that Cullors had indeed purchased properties, although it doesn't give specifics. In a statement sent to Snopes by email, BLMGNF directly denied the allegation that Cullors had used donation money to buy the Topanga Canyon home, or any other personal property: To be abundantly clear, as a registered 501c3, BLMGNF cannot and did not commit any organizational resources toward the purchase of personal property by any employee or volunteer. Any insinuation or assertion to the contrary is categorically false. Since the organization's inception in 2013, the Foundation said Cullors received compensation totaling $120,000 for work that included serving as spokesperson and engaging in political education. Since 2019, Cullors' role with the Foundation has been voluntary and unpaid. She currently serves as the executive director, per the Foundation's statement. The organization also characterized the narrative as a \"right-wing offensive\" against a high-profile Black activist that \"not only puts Patrisse, her child and her loved ones in harms way, it also continues a tradition of terror by white supremacists against Black activists.\" We'll break down some of the dialogue and reporting around this story, but the important points are these: If it's true that Cullors purchased the Topanga home, no evidence has been presented that proves she did so with donation money. This claim is based on supposition. Important additional context is that while many stories about the home portray it as a lavish purchase, those portrayals are exaggerated. Compared with other properties listed on Dirt, the home reportedly purchased by Cullors is relatively modest. Other posts on the site detail multi-million dollar estates bought by the likes of pop music icon Madonna, tennis champion Serena Williams, and pop star Ariana Grande. Even if it's true that Cullors purchased a single family home in Los Angeles for $1.4 million, we note that because of overall home prices in L.A., that amount doesn't go as far as it would in other areas. Dirt reports that the home in Topanga has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a guest house and sits on just over a quarter of an acre-sized lot. It's not small but to call it a \"mansion\" as Fox News did in an April 13 headline is a stretch. headline Right-leaning Media Research Center tweeted, \"The liberal media wont cover this: [Black Lives Matter] co-founder Patrisse Cullors bought a 1.4 MILLION dollar house near Beverly Hills.\" tweeted Everything in the city of Los Angeles could technically be described as being \"near Beverly Hills\" just as easily as it could be described as being \"near Disneyland.\" The Topanga community is about 20 miles from Beverly Hills. Many of the reports touched on tensions among some activists within the Black Lives Matter movement itself by quoting comments given by Hawk Newsome, a BLM activist in New York, who told the New York Post he thought the nonprofit's finances should be investigated. New York Post Aside from getting record numbers of feet on the street in demonstrations across the country in the spring and summer of 2020, Black Lives Matter organizers told The Associated Press that it brought in $90 million in donations to the nonprofit organization associated with the movement, the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation. told The Post story published on April 10 also reported Cullors went on a \"million dollar real estate buying binge\" and claimed she spent $3.2 million \"snagging four high-end homes.\" published When you read past the headline and leading language, the Post story really describes two modest home purchases, one in South Los Angeles (formerly known as South Central) and the other in Inglewood. Both homes are in working class communities and were purchased for $590,000 and $510,000 respectively. Like most homes in Los Angeles, they have appreciated in value since their most recent purchase date. South Central The Post also reports Cullors' wife bought a home in rural Georgia and that the couple \"eyed\" luxury property in the Bahamas, without purchasing it. Was this a \"buying binge\"? We don't have enough information from the Post story to answer questions like: Were these homes consecutively purchased, lived in and sold? Were other parties involved in the reported purchases? Were they lived in by family members? Did any of the addresses crop up due to errors in public records databases? errors Black Lives Matter was founded in 2013 by three women: Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi. It was originated as a response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman, a Florida neighborhood watch volunteer who shot and killed Black teenager Trayvon Martin. But the phrase and its underlying civil rights cause have been the rallying cry for a national racial justice movement in response to the killing of Black people by police, and racism embedded in the criminal justice system. killing The spring and summer of 2020 saw the movement's biggest demonstrations in its history, with millions of Americans braving the COVID-19 pandemic to take to the streets, touched off by the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. As the movement reached critical mass and thus scored social and political wins, which included major companies affirming their commitment to racial justice and the election of progressive leaders, Black Lives Matter has also been a regular target for right-wing media and commenters. target media commenters Cullors resigned from the foundation in May 2021, stating the move had been in the works for more than a year. She told the Associated Press she was resigning to further focus on a new book and the TV deal with Warner Bros. In late August 2021, Cullors was appointed to the Los Angeles County Arts Commission. told appointed Updated to include Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation statement. Updated to note Cullors left her post with the non-profit organization in May 2021 and was appointed to the L.A. County Arts Commission in August 2021.","issues":["finance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1NiQDyepCFRi2uBaSFBfowq20lDQwYc6e","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_128","claim":"Billions and Billions","posted":"10\/09\/2003","sci_digest":["How much is a billion."],"justification":"Claim:  List demonstrates the concept of \"a billion.\" Multiple  see below. Example:  [Collected via e-mail, 2003] A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into perspective in one of its releases:  A billion seconds ago it was 1959.  A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.  A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate Washington spends it. Origins:  We   don't know the specific origins of this piece illustrating the enormousness represented by the number one billion, but it's reasonably accurate as far as the arithmetic goes.  We collected the example quoted above and first published this article back in 2003, and rather than updating this page annually, we've chosen to keep our comments relative to that year. We have to start out by noting that the definition of \"billion\" is not standardized.  In some places and usages, a billion is a one followed by nine zeros, or one thousand million; in other cases, a billion is a one followed by twelve zeros, or one million million.  In the U.S., the common usage of \"billion\" refers to a one followed by nine zeros (or 1,000,000,000), so that's the standard we employ here. billion  A billion seconds: One billion seconds is about 31.7 years, so going back in time a billion seconds would put us in 1972.  (The discrepancy in the version cited above, which puts the year at 1959, might have come about because the example we collected was compiled or last updated in 1990.)  A billion minutes:  One billion minutes is approximately 1901 years, so travelling back to a time one billion minutes ago would land us in the year A.D. 102.  This date is about seventy years too late to encompass the life of Jesus according to traditional accounts. (The discrepancy of several decades might be the result of someone's faulty arithmetic or historical knowledge, or it could be an indication that this piece originated back in the 1930s.)  A billion hours:  One billion hours ago represents a time a bit over 114,000 years in the past, an era generally classified as the Lower Paleolithic era, or the \"Old Stone Age.\"  A billion days ago: Some versions of this piece include the line \"A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.\"  A billion days is approximately 2.74 million years; the era defined by that time period is generally estimated to be about when the first species of the genus Homo appeared in Africa, having diverged from the Australopithecines. Homo  A billion dollars ago:  If the U.S. federal government were spending a billion dollars every 8 hours and 20 minutes, its total yearly expenditure would be a little more than $1 trillion.  In the last few years, the budgets approved by Congress have been about double that amount, or $2 trillion per year. After Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in August 2005, someone politicized the \"billions\" piece by adding the following coda to it: Some interesting statistics While this thought is still fresh in our brain, let's take a look at New Orleans  It'samazing what you can learn with some simple division ... Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D) is presently asking the Congress for $250 BILLION to rebuild New Orleans. Interesting number, what does it mean? Well, if you are one of 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every  man,  woman, child), you each get $516,528. Or, if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans, your home gets $1,329,787 Or, if you are a family of four, your family gets $2,066,012. Are all your calculators broken in Washington, D.C.? Maybe all of us should just flood their houses, then we can all be on the \"big easy\" street for the rest of our lives, and forget about working, and paying taxes and all that useless stuff! In September 2005, the two U.S. Senators from Louisiana, Mary Landrieu (a Democrat) and David Vitter (a Republican), jointly introduced the Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief and Economic Recovery Act in Congress, a bill that sought a total of $250 billion in federal funds to provide long-term relief and assistance to the people of Louisiana and the Gulf Coast.  Of course, the legislation didn't propose that the entire amount be spent on New Orleans alone, or that the money literally be distributed to New Orleans  residents  the point of the coda was to provide some perspective on how much $250 billion is by presenting it relative to the number of people in the area hardest hit by the hurricane. Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief and Economic Recovery Act In any case, the arithmetic is a little bit off.  Assuming the population and home figures provided to be correct, dividing $250 billion equally among all New Orleans residents would mean:   Each person would receive $515,810.   The money\/home ratio would be $1,328,014.   A family of four would take in an aggregate total of $2,063,240. Last updated:  22 April 2008    Sources:   Grunwald, Michael and Susan B. Glasser.  \"Louisiana Goes After Federal Billions.\"   The Washington Post.  26 September 2005  (p. A1).","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_129","claim":"Should an Empty Toilet Paper Roll or Red Cup Be Placed Under the Toilet Seat at Night?","posted":"07\/20\/2021","sci_digest":["Online advertisements promised what appeared to be a handy bathroom trick."],"justification":"Since at least July 2021, online advertisements have displayed a picture of the cardboard from an empty toilet paper roll or a paper cup propping up a toilet seat. The ads appeared to promise a handy bathroom trick. For example, this ad appeared next to an article on the New York Post website. New York Post  This ad was hosted by the Outbrain advertising network and was perhaps displayed on a large number of websites.  The ad read: \"[Pics] Always Place a Toilet Paper Roll Under the Toilet Seat at Night, Here's Why.\" A variation of the same ad said: \"[Pics] Put A Toilet Paper Roll Under Public Toilet Seat, Here's Why.\" They were sponsored by the Maternity Week and Definition.org websites. Yet another variation of the ad said: \"40 Brilliant Life Hacks Nobody Told You About.\" We also saw one that used a red cup instead of an empty toilet paper roll. \"Always Place A Red Cup Under The Toilet Seat At Your Hotel, Here's Why.\"  Some social media commenters said it might be to warn others that there's no more toilet paper.  Clicking on one of the ads led to a 41-page slideshow article and a headline that read: \"These 40 Brilliant Tricks Will Make Even The Hardest Items To Clean Sparkle.\" The story's first page read as follows: article Ever looked forward to cleaning the house? We didnt think so! But when it absolutely, positively has to be done  when your bathrooms looking a little grubby, for instance  were here to help. These 40 incredible hacks will make sprucing up your home an absolute breeze. And you just wont believe what you can do with a cardboard bathroom tissue roll... On that first page, the story once again teased some grand trick with a cardboard toilet paper roll, perhaps involving a toilet seat and nighttime. The web address (URL) even mentioned the toilet paper trick for what is known as UTM tracking. This meant that the website's creator was tracking whether the ad was successfully getting clicks and bringing in readers. After all, someone was apparently paying to run the ads on the Outbrain advertising network, so it's typically important to figure out if they're worth the investment. The article contained several odd household tricks. One claimed it would be good to put hairbrushes in the dishwasher. Another advised about pouring various liquids down the drain, which we covered in two previous fact checks about dish soap and salt. We also found a questionable oven cleaning tip, plus purported bread uses, which we also covered in the past. hairbrushes in the dishwasher advised dish soap salt oven cleaning tip bread uses covered On page 41, which was the last page, a toilet paper roll trick was finally revealed. However, it had nothing to do with placing it under a toilet seat at night. It simply advised to attach a cardboard roll to a vacuum cleaner hose to reach crevices. page 41 reach crevices  Courtesy: beeanchor\/Imgur.com  The 41-page article never mentioned a word about why to always place a toilet paper roll under a toilet seat at night. It was nothing but clickbait. We clicked \"next page\" 40 times so you don't have to. We looked to home improvement websites such as BobVila.com to see if there was perhaps a legitimate purpose for the toilet paper roll or a red cup going under the seat. However, we found no such tips, tricks, or \"life hacks.\" BobVila.com After this story was published, a reader sent in a tip that said an empty toilet paper roll propping up the seat might be a helpful warning to the next person to enter the stall that there's no toilet paper. We've clicked through thousands of pages in these kinds of strange slideshow articles that come from scammy ads. The subjects have included Tom Selleck, Disneyland, Costco, Alex Trebek's net worth, and around 100 other topics. Check out our entire collection. Each of our stories is presented on a single page. Tom Selleck Disneyland Costco Alex Trebek's net worth our entire collection Snopes debunks a wide range of content, and online advertisements are no exception. Misleading ads often lead to obscure websites that host lengthy slideshow articles with lots of pages. It's called advertising \"arbitrage.\" The advertiser's goal is to make more money on ads displayed on the slideshow's pages than it cost to show the initial ad that lured them to it. Feel free to submit ads to us, and be sure to include a screenshot of the ad and the link to where the ad leads. submit ads to us","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Dpz50ncQlEmr3zSlBW85sNkPV9Z0yWH-","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=13lKk4GZa_frLIUvWApOKP4yuZWUkpYBR","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1eYr92Q9axmwR8KDr3D2Qg6E72KJitRNv","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_130","claim":"Is Five Guys Closing Down All Restaurant Locations in 2024, as Announced in 2023?","posted":"12\/11\/2023","sci_digest":["Reference.com appeared to report via advertising in 2023 that the Five Guys burger chain would be closing up shop in 2024."],"justification":"In December 2023, online advertisements were displayed to YouTube users that showed one or more photos of Five Guys restaurant locations. For example, the caption for one ad read, \"They're Closing Doors In 2024. Restaurant Chains Closing 2024.\"  Also, in Google ads that featured the same photos of Five Guys restaurants, the caption was displayed as follows: \"They're Closing Doors in 2024. It's Time To Say Goodbye, These Fast Food Restaurants Be Closing The Doors.\" Several other variations of these ads were also displayed online.  The ads appeared to claim that Five Guys would be closing all of its locations, going bankrupt or going out of business for other reasons. However, this was false. All of the ads led to an article on Reference.com with the headline, \"These 53 Restaurant Chains Are on the Brink of Disappearing Entirely.\" The article's page source code indicated that the story was perhaps written during or before the year 2020 and was last republished in 2021. In other words, the article that was being advertised in December 2023 was two or more years old. article The article listed 68 different businesses, most that appeared to be American brands. Under each business name were several paragraphs describing whether the companies would be closing some or all of its locations. In other words, the article was fairly long. Nowhere in the apparent 68-slide article was Five Guys mentioned even once. The ads with the photos of Five Guys restaurant locations were false and misleading clickbait that may have originally been created to lure readers to click or scroll through 68 slides for nothing. The reason why these kinds of ads and articles exist is usually something called advertising arbitrage. Advertising arbitrage is a strategy in which an advertiser hopes to make more money on ads displayed in a lengthy article than it would cost to display an initial clickbait ad meant to attract users to the article. In other words, instead of the ads being both attractive and potentially helpful to consumers, they instead mislead users from the start. Advertising arbitrage We reached out to Five Guys by email to ask if they had a statement to share regarding the false and misleading ads and will update this story if we receive a response. Note: If readers would like to report any strange or misleading ads on Snopes, we invite you to contact us. Please include the full link of the website where the questionable ad led to so that we can attempt to investigate and potentially block any such ads. contact us Liles, Jordan. Snopes Tips: How To Avoid Ad Arbitrage Clickbait. Snopes, 2 Jan. 2022, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/articles\/387913\/avoid-ad-arbitrage-clickbait\/.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Cz1yVFuciF3gDtoIXKBeFNITiOPhbYSw","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=13dpzOobvdtPXijAq7fftkvuH5Gk9uxdX","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_131","claim":"Free vehicles will be provided by the Immigration Bill.","posted":"06\/26\/2013","sci_digest":["A 2013 immigration bill provides young people with free cars to transport them to their jobs?"],"justification":" Claim:  A 2013 immigration reform bill provides young people with free cars to transport them to their jobs.   Example:  [Collected via e-mail, June 2013] BREAKING: Immigration bill now includes free cars (at tax payer expense) for young people to help them get to work! LIKE if you agree: The Senate should vote no on this Gang of 8 immigration bill! Call and let them know what you think! (888) 978-3134  Fox News reported that the riders made to the 2013 Immigration bill now in the Senate that Bernie Sanders has added a provision for free cars, motorcycles or scooters for \"young people to use as transportation\" to jobs.  This was reported by  Laura Ingraham on Fox and Friends on June 25, 2013.  Is there any truth to this report.  I can not find a copy of the 1,190 page 2013 immigration bill to read it my self Origins:  In April 2013, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act (\"a bill to provide for comprehensive immigration reform and for other purposes\") was introduced to the U.S. Senate as S.744, sponsored by Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer of New York.  In June 2013 two Republican senators, Bob Corker of Tennessee and John Hoeven of North Dakota, drafted an amendment to that bill (commonly known as the Hoeven-Corker Amendment) in order to, in the words of Senator Corker, \"mandate an unprecedented surge of security at the southern border, implement tough interior enforcement to curb de facto amnesty, and help prevent abuse of federal benefits\": S.744 Hoeven-Corker Amendment \"The Hoeven-Corker amendment takes big and important steps on the immigration issue that matters most: border security,\" Senator Lamar Alexander said. \"It would double the number of agents on the southwest border, construct 700 miles of new or upgraded fencing and spend $3.2 billion on new security technology that was perfected in Iraq and Afghanistan.\" The Hoeven-Corker amendment would add 20,000 border patrol agents, enough to allow putting one agent every 1,000 feet along the U.S. southwest border. The border patrol agents, fencing and security technology plan would have to be in place before anyone under the immigration legislation's \"Registered Provisional Immigrant\" program would be allowed to apply for legal permanent residency, otherwise known as a green card. Democratic-affiliated Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has been outspokenly critical of the potential economic effects of S.744, arguing that the bill would \"allow college students from around the world to take jobs that young Americans would otherwise perform.\"  In response, he drafted a  Youth Jobs Plan that would \"provide $1.5 billion over two years for states and local communities to help find jobs for more than 400,000 16- to 24-year-olds who were hard hit by the Wall Street-caused recession.\"  That job plan was incorporated into the Hoeven-Corker Amendment under a heading of \"TITLE V  JOBS FOR YOUTH.\" Youth Jobs Plan TITLE V The claim that the immigration bill includes a provision granting \"free cars, motorcycles or scooters for young people\" stems from a very broad, speculative interpretation of one sentence in the jobs plan portion of the Hoeven-Corker Amendment which generally directs how the job plan funds should be used: IN GENERAL. The funds made available under this section shall be used  (A) to provide summer employment opportunities for low-income youth, with direct linkages to academic and occupational learning, and may be used to provide supportive services, such as transportation or child care, that is necessary to enable the participation of such youth in the opportunities; and  (B) to provide year-round employment opportunities, which may be combined with other activities authorized under section 129 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 17 2854), to low-income youth. As stated, the bill does not contain a specific provision to provide \"free cars for young people to help them get to work.\"  It includes a clause allowing that youth job program funds may be used to \"provide supportive services, such as transportation\" to low-income youth taking part in summer employment opportunities.  Whether and how that provision would be applied in practice is purely speculative at this point and could vary widely from place to place, potentially ranging anywhere from arranging carpools and subsidizing bus fare to buying, leasing, or renting motor vehicles to be temporarily utilized in ferrying job program participants to work.  But the government isn't going to be buying up cars and turning ownership of them over to young people engaged in summer job programs.       Last updated:  26 June 2013 ","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/www.dzcar.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Cars-For-Sale-600x200.jpg"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_132","claim":"Under Scott Walker, right now, were 46th in the country in terms of new businesses started.","posted":"09\/29\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"In a Milwaukee Public Radio interview on Sept. 22, 2014, Democrat Mary Burke critiqued Gov. Scott Walker's job strategy, saying the Republican governor generally believes that tax breaks given to those at the top and special interests somehow trickle down and create jobs. \"Well, I'm a business person. That's not how jobs get created,\" countered Burke, who formerly served as an executive at Trek Bicycle Corp. and as state Commerce secretary. \"So, it's a flawed model, and I have a very different model that I lay out in my jobs plan, which includes five core strategies on how we're going to do this,\" Burke continued, before making a claim we want to check. \"It means we need to have a more entrepreneurial climate in Wisconsin. That's one of them (her five strategies). Right now, we're 46th in the country in terms of new businesses started.\" Just the other day, we rated a Walker claim that Wisconsin ranks 11th in total business establishment growth, compared with 47th during the years Burke was Commerce secretary. So we wondered whether Burke's claim contradicts that. As we'll see, terminology is key. Different measures Walker referred to business establishments, a term that means a business location, such as a new store, factory, or farm. A single company can have multiple establishments, and new establishments can be opened by existing or new firms. So it's a particular measure. Burke's terminology is different from Walker's and refers to a different measuring stick. In October 2013, days after announcing her candidacy for governor, Burke said Wisconsin was 49th in the United States in new businesses created. We rated her statement Mostly True. Burke cited the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity, an annual study produced by the nonpartisan Kauffman Foundation, a Kansas City-based group that works to foster entrepreneurial activity. Business administration professor Stewart Thornhill, executive director of the Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Michigan, told us it is a widely cited measure. The index uses U.S. Census data to capture the number of new business owners in their first month of significant business activity. In Kauffman's 2013 index, Wisconsin tied with Michigan for 48th among the states in the number of entrepreneurs per 100,000 people, ahead of only Nebraska and Minnesota. So, what's the landscape now? To back Burke's new claim, her campaign cited the 2014 Kauffman index. Here are the states rated lowest in terms of new business owners in their first month of significant business activity: Rank\/State Entrepreneurs per 100,000 people U.S. average 280 (tie) Wisconsin and Washington 170 (tie) Minnesota and Indiana 160 Rhode Island 140 Iowa 110. So, Wisconsin is actually one notch higher than Burke indicated. On one hand, tying for 45th is an improvement from 48th in the 2013 index. On the other hand, Wisconsin's 2014 rate of 170 entrepreneurs per 100,000 people is actually lower than its 2013 rate of 180. (Montana ranked first in both 2013 and 2014, with a 2014 rate of 610 entrepreneurs per 100,000 people.) Walker's response Walker campaign spokeswoman Alleigh Marre pointed out that in our earlier Burke fact-check, the Kauffman Foundation warned that its index isn't meant to provide a precise ranking of states. But its report, in effect, does that by reporting precise ratings and singling out states in the top five highest and lowest groups. Marre also cited other business-creation statistics, including the Walker claim about total business establishment growth. But, again, that is a different measure than the one Burke cites. Our rating Burke said Wisconsin is 46th in the country in terms of new businesses started. Wisconsin actually ties for 45th in the well-known Kauffman index in terms of new business owners in their first month of significant business activity. We rate the statement Mostly True. To comment on this item, go to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's web page.","issues":["Economy","Jobs","Small Business","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_133","claim":"Is This Elon Musk 'Defend Billionaires' Billboard Real?","posted":"06\/11\/2021","sci_digest":["We found no sign of it."],"justification":"In early June 2021, social media users shared a photograph that purportedly showed a billboard displaying a black-and-white image of billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk along with the message, \"Defend billionaires. We're just like you.\" We were unable to find any evidence that this billboard exists in the real world. There are no news reports about it, which would be surprising given that single tweets penned by Musk often spark headlines. Additionally, none of the posts containing the photo included any specific information, such as the location of this alleged billboard. The image appears to be a joke poking fun at Musk and others among the mega-wealthy, a class of people who have been in the news lately for stories critical of wealth inequality and the fact that billionaires are able to avoid paying income taxes. Another red flag is that the image contains what appears to be a picture of Musk that can be easily found on the internet, along with a black background that other social media users have used to create their own billboards. While we are very skeptical that this billboard exists anywhere, without definitive proof we are rating this as \"Unproven\" for now. This would not be the first time, however, that Musk has been trolled via billboard.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1KGADYmU9puUcByNs6H1DjjsoPTHZT3yX","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_134","claim":"50-Foot Megalodon Captured on Video","posted":"10\/05\/2016","sci_digest":["A video of a large sleeper shark in Japan is frequently shared with the false claim that it shows an extinct megalodon."],"justification":"On 4 October 2016, the Facebook page Buzz Channel published a video purportedly showing a 50-foot megaladon (a gigantic species of shark that has been extinct for millions of years) at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of Pacific Ocean:  Absolutely Terrifying #Breaking #50ftShark A 50 foot shark has been found 1 mile down the marina trench. At first, many thought it was a Pacific Sleeper Shark. The issue with that theory is the Pacific Sleeper Shark grow only to 20 feet, the shark featured is 50+ feet long. That measurement is estimated using the length of the cage, which is 10 feet across. Could this be the last remaining Megalodon? Watch and share! Buzz Channel's post was rife with misinformation. This video wasn't \"breaking,\" it didn't show a 50-foot shark, it wasn't filmed in the Mariana Trench, and it absolutely didn't capture an extinct megalodon. The earliest version of this video we could uncover was posted to YouTube in 2008: YouTube  That version of the video stated that the footage captured a 7-meter (22-foot) Pacific sleeper shark off the coast of Japan in the Suruga Bay. While certain details of the video are still unclear (such as the date it was made), the clip's description matches that of a shark filmed off the coast of Japan in 1989: matches In September 1989, a large female Pacific Sleeper  estimated to be 23 feet (7 metres) long  was filmed from the viewing ports of a submersible at a depth of 4,000 feet (1,220 metres) off Saruga Bay, Japan. Here's a comparison of the shark in the video and another sleeper shark:  While the shark in the video is indeed large, it would be considered rather small if it were actually a megalodon. Fossil records of that extinct shark species suggest that it reached a size of nearly 60 feet in length.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1lwYQQoIrBqNr8enbVeK8e85j6OUEDhw5","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_135","claim":"Just one school district in Texas, Austin ISD, is projected to face a loss of over $530 million in local property tax revenue due to the Robin Hood system this year.","posted":"07\/19\/2017","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Texas House Speaker Joe Straus hinted at theTexas Houses derailed push for more state education aidby asserting that absent fresh action, Austin taxpayers can count on ponying up more than half a billion dollars to schools in other places this year. The San Antonio Republican prefaced his Austin-centric claim by rehashing his view that Texas overly relies on property taxes to fund the schools. Property taxes are going up, and more and more of those dollars are going to school districts in other parts of the state through the Robin Hood system, Straus said in anemail blastdistributed two days before the July 2017 special session called by Gov. Greg Abbott. Straus elaborated: School districts are expected to send away $2 billion through Robin Hood in the upcoming year. One district alone -- Austin ISD -- is expected to lose more than $530 million in local property taxes to Robin Hood this year. Is that accurate? Straus was referring to the Robin Hood or recapture facet of state law designed for equalization purposes so districts with rich tax bases share revenue with less property-wealthy districts. In July 2017,  before Straus made his claim, the Texas Education Agencysaid that some $2 billion all told would be redistributedvia the share-the-wealth mechanism in 2017-18. In 2016,we found Truea claim by Travis County state Sen. Kirk Watson that in Austin, the average homeowner is paying about $1,300 to $1,400 just for recapture. That fact-check said the district for 2016-17 would be forwarding more than $400 million for schools elsewhere. Straus cites newspaper Asked how Straus reached the larger $530-million figure, a Straus spokesman, Jason Embry, said by email that Straus relied on a June 19, 2017, Austin American-Statesmannews storyabout the Austin districts board of trustees approving a nearly$1.5 billion budget for 2017-18. The story said the districts recapture payment this year is expected to be $534 million, an increase of 32 percent, or $127.8 million, over 2016-17. It quoted Nicole Conley, the districts chief financial officer, saying the district expects to pay more than $1 billion in recapture payments during the next two years. Austin school districts calculation When we reached out to the district, spokeswoman Cristina Nguyen specified that according to calculations taking into account expected student enrollment and tax collections, Austins estimated payments would total $533,874,730 for the 2017-18 school year. She emailed us the districts calculations,viewable here. Another district spokeswoman, Tiffany Young, sent an email pointing out a May 2017 district chart suggesting its recapture payments could top $800 million by the 2020-21 school year: SOURCE: Document,FY2018 Recommended Budget,Austin Independent School District, May 2017 (web link received by email from Tiffany Young, senior communication specialist, AISD, July 17, 2017) States preliminary analysis We also asked the Texas Education Agency how much the Austin district will be expected to forward in recapture money in 2017-18. By email, Lauren Callahan guided us to an agency estimate, last updated June 21, 2017, of $513,633,317. Thats $20 million less than the districts announced estimate. But Callahan also cautioned that the state figure is preliminary and likely to increase depending on the districts tax rate. Callahan wrote: We use different estimates of local property tax collections as well as different estimates of student counts, both of which affect the estimate of recapture. Our numbers tie together when all final data is reconciled. Our ruling Straus said the Austin district is expected to lose more than $530 million in local property taxes to Robin Hood this year. As of May 2017, the Austin district estimated that in 2017-18 it would flow nearly $534 million in local property tax revenue through the states school finance system, nicknamed Robin Hood, to help equalize school funding across the state. We rate this claim True. TRUE The statement is accurate and theres nothing significant missing. Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.","issues":["Education","State Budget","Texas"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1XYtrbPlw2Q-0AkSzMOJbCXTtZNvoooNh","image_caption":"SOURCE"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_136","claim":"Could voting in North Dakota lead to the forfeiture of hunting permits in other states?","posted":"11\/02\/2018","sci_digest":["An ad promoted by the North Dakota Democratic Party made a dubious claim about voters' losing out-of-state hunting licenses."],"justification":"On 31 October 2018, the Facebook page Hunter Alerts was created, garnering just 40 followers in its first week of existence. So far, the page has been used solely for the distribution of two political advertisements asserting that if you vote in North Dakota, you may forfeit hunting licenses you hold in other states. \"If you want to keep your out-of-state hunting licenses, you may not want to vote in North Dakota,\" the Hunter Alerts advertisements stated. Those ads were promoted by North Dakota's Democratic Party (known as the Democratic-Nonpartisan League, or Democratic-NPL) and linked back to that party's website, which provided a slightly more detailed explanation of the claim: \"You MUST be a resident of North Dakota to vote here. And if you are a resident of North Dakota, you may lose hunting licenses you have in other states. If you want to keep your out-of-state hunting licenses, you may not want to vote in North Dakota's 2018 election.\" This statement, which was misleading for several reasons (enumerated below) and provided with no additional information, citations, or exposition, was characterized by many critics as an attempt to suppress conservative votes in North Dakota because it targets a demographic (i.e., hunters) who traditionally lean conservative. (North Dakota also faces allegations of voter suppression efforts that target the more Democrat-friendly Native American population in that state.) Both the North Dakota Secretary of State and the North Dakota Game and Fish Department (NGFD) have told reporters they do not know what the ad was referring to. An NGFD representative told us via email that they cannot explain [the ad] and have no desire to try to sort it out for [the Democratic-NPL]. We have had no involvement in the post. The most generous interpretation of the Democratic-NPL statement would be that the act of voting in North Dakota, because it requires a state-issued North Dakota ID, means voters would necessarily be forfeiting claims to residency in any other states. Many states offer both resident and non-resident hunting licenses, with the former coming at a cheaper cost but with proof-of-residency requirements. If, as the Democratic-NPL seemed to be arguing, one somehow obtained a resident hunting license in another state but actually lived and voted in North Dakota, that other state could revoke their license if they found out the individual had declared residency somewhere else. Many states stipulate that you can no longer be considered a resident if you register to vote somewhere else, but the requirements to receive a resident hunting license in Wyoming and most other states are retrospective and not prospective. If a hypothetical Wyoming resident switched jobs and moved to North Dakota to work, their Wyoming hunting license would already have been issued, and the State of Wyoming would likely have no idea that person had moved. All that would be required for that individual to become a valid North Dakota voter would be for them to have maintained a residence in the state for 90 consecutive days and to have obtained an ID card or driver's license from North Dakota's Department of Transportation. An additionally misleading aspect of the ad is the suggestion that the act of voting could pose a threat to out-of-state hunting licenses. \"If you want to keep your out-of-state hunting licenses,\" the Democratic-NPL states, \"you may not want to vote in North Dakota's 2018 election\" (our emphasis added). The only population this ad could possibly be relevant to are people who live in North Dakota, have a resident hunting license in another state, and also do not have an up-to-date North Dakota ID or driver's license. By not providing those supporting details, the ad does nothing to correct the false notion that an already legal North Dakota voter (i.e., one already in possession of a state-issued ID) could jeopardize the legality of their theoretical out-of-state hunting licenses by going to the polls. The fact that this ad was released less than a week before the election also speaks poorly of its legitimacy. The argument presented by the Democratic-NPL is based on a highly implausible scenario that assumes state hunting licensure boards are actively and continually communicating with other states' DOT or DMV offices and would relate only (if at all) to a population of people who have claimed to be residents in other states for the purpose of obtaining discounted resident hunting licenses. Even then, it would not be the act of voting that theoretically puts out-of-state licenses at risk, but the act of obtaining the state-issued ID required for voting.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1CoHldwkCh_wxNfM9JRCfilvFft0fwVhS"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_137","claim":"Was American Airlines Given Billions in Federal Assistance Before Terminating 30,000 Employees?","posted":"06\/22\/2021","sci_digest":["A tweet attempted to raise the alarm on the airline's alleged pay discrepancies for rank-and-file workers."],"justification":"In June 2021, as airlines experienced a surge in demand, multiple news outlets reported that American Airlines (AA) was cutting about 1% of its flights in the coming weeks amid bad weather and labor shortages. Reuters reported: \"American Airlines said the incredibly quick ramp up of customer demand also came at a time when bad weather caused multi-hour delays over the last few weeks, disrupting flight and crew work hours. The company said some of its vendors were also struggling with labor shortages, impacting the airline's operations.\" news outlets reported Responding to that latter reason for the cuts, one Twitter user authored the below-displayed tweet that makes several claims about the company's budgeting during the COVID-19 pandemic and allegedly explains why AA was struggling to fill job positions. one Twitter user COVID-19 pandemic   We contacted the tweet's author to learn their process for composing the post, as well as their potential connection to the airline. We have not received a response, but we will update this report when, or if, that changes. Nonetheless, the tweet includes the following claims: Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act Doug Parker But, before we proceed, let us note here: The airline's communication team's statements to news media regarding the upcoming flight cancellations through mid-July (see CNN's story here, CNBC's coverage here, and NBC's article here), including to Snopes, said \"labor shortages [among] some of our vendors\" (emphasis added) were affecting operations. See the statement we received, for example: here here here   That umbrella term, \"vendors,\" could include companies that operate independently but have a contract with American to provide goods or services for its flights, such as aircraft equipment manufacturers or business that sell blankets or pillows for passengers. Snopes asked a company spokesperson what vendors, specifically, faced employment gaps and impacted flights, and he did not answer the question. While the spokesperson shared other comments (which we included in the sections below), he also did not share a response to critics who believed the company should shift around funds, including those provided by the federal government, so that the CEO received less compensation and rank-and-file staff earned higher paychecks. For that reason and others, this fact check does not address that underlying argument of the tweet. Not quite  but the airline company did take advantage of other federal grants and loans. Let us explain that conclusion. Only companies that qualified as a \"small businesses\" (criteria here), or had 500 or fewer employees, were eligible for PPP loans. American, on the other hand, documented about 133,700 full-time employees, ranging from pilots to flight attendants to mechanics, federal regulatory documents showed. here regulatory documents showed Rather, AA utilized the government's Payroll Support Program (PSP), a different financial boost established by the CARES Act that provided $25 billion for various airlines' payroll expenses. Payroll Support Program The U.S. Department of the Treasury distributed the money, in part, based on air carriers' payroll expenses from April 2019 through September 2019, and said it \"must exclusively be used for the continuation of payment of employee wages, salaries, and benefits.\" U.S. Department of the Treasury According to that federal agency's database of recipients and AA spokesperson Matt Miller, American was budgeting with $12.7 billion from the program, as of this writing. The majority of that amount (almost double what was described in the viral tweet) was one-time grant money, while about one-third represented loans that the airline carrier needed to pay back. agency's database 12.7 \"These funds ensured we could keep our team members on payroll throughout the pandemic despite the significant drop-off in demand for air travel,\" wrote Miller in an email to Snopes. Yes, Parker, who is paid almost entirely in stock awards, took home $10.66 million in total compensation in 2020, according to Miller and The Dallas Morning News. (The carrier's headquarters is located in Dallas-Fort Worth, making the Dallas newspaper a primary source of news about it.) The Dallas Morning News That compensation was based on the company's profits in 2019 (so it did not factor in the financial struggle of the pandemic), and was his smallest paycheck since taking the helm. The newspaper reported: \"Parker's compensation has mostly hovered between $11.1 million and $12.3 million a year during his time as CEO, with the exception of 2013 when he made $17.6 million based largely on bonuses he had for merging his former airline, US Airways, with American Airlines.\" CEO Parker gave up his cash salary in 2015 to move to the all-stock compensation plan, along with benefits including flights and life insurance premiums. Miller told us: \"Being paid in stock ensures his compensation is at-risk, based on the results the company achieves, and aligned with our shareholders interests,\" he said. \"Dougs realizable compensation for 2020 was considerably less  approximately $2.9 million, or 23% of the target.\" This is false. While the company did cut some supervisor and support staff jobs, and it was true that its workforce overall declined by about 31,000 positions in 2020, it was erroneous to attribute that decrease exclusively to involuntary layoffs. According to annual reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission obtained by Snopes, AA's payroll indeed shrunk from about 133,700 full-time employees at the end of 2019 to roughly 102,700 such workers. That was a 23% workforce reduction, totaling about 31,000 positions. However, neither those regulatory documents, nor a news story by the Dallas Business Journal about them, said that decrease was because executives enacted widespread layoffs. news story by the Dallas Business Journal It was true American briefly furloughed 19,000 employees in fall 2020 and then brought them back weeks later, after the company secured more PSP funding from the federal government. furloughed 19,000 employees Then, months later, news reports said the company warned 13,000 employees of possible lay offs, pending the country's rate of vaccinations and interest in traveling. As of this writing, however, those worker remained in their jobs, Miller told Snopes. news reports But, as we noted, there were some permanent job losses during the pandemic. The airline cut about 30% of its management and administrative positions, totaling roughly 5,000 jobs, according to news reports and Miller. Those were the only involuntarily layoffs, based on our research. We found no evidence of widespread layoffs for employees who maintain the company's operations or deal with customers, like the tweet implied. Rather, Miller said, the company documented tens of thousands fewer workers in 2020 compared to 2019 because it had expanded its \"early out program.\" A slew of front-line workers agreed to voluntarily terminate their employment to take advantage of severance benefits, or to leave the company for months on end for partial compensation. \"Ultimately our headcount is smaller than it was before the pandemic, but the vast majority of that reduction is from voluntary departures,\" Miller said. \"Any front-line employees who departed the company did so voluntarily via an early out program. The only involuntary departures were on the management side.\" In sum, we rate this multi-pronged claim a \"Mixture\" of true and false information. ","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1PrpAGjgUyvuuHkDYZHv3-8_lzOrfvVCI"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1fqWpSgcIwQfor9u6-XHssxvzMSBSVA_w"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_138","claim":"Did Arizona's Drug Testing Program for Welfare Recipients Catch Just One Person?","posted":"04\/03\/2017","sci_digest":["Reports overstate how many people were tested under a state program for TANF recipients."],"justification":"An image circulated online criticizes Arizona's drug testing program for social assistance for supposedly spending a whopping $3.6 million to test 87,000 welfare recipients but catching only a single violator. The drug test program, administered by the state Department of Economic Services (DES), allows officials to drug test those who receive cash benefits as part of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program if they have \"reasonable cause\" to do so. A January 2017 article by Counter Current News reported that only one person out of 87,000 had been disqualified from the TANF program for failing a drug test under that program, at a cost of $3.6 million to the state. That claim was based on two sources: a March 2012 USA Today editorial stating that 87,000 people \"went through the program\" between 2009 and 2012 with only one testing positive, and an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) report that estimated the cost for each drug test at $42. However, the underlying source material didn't state that 87,000 people had actually been subjected to drug tests in Arizona; that figure reflected the total number of people in the state who were receiving TANF benefits at the time, whether or not they had been tested or presented reasonable cause for testing. An ACLU spokesperson, Alexandra Ringe, told us the organization planned to take down their report that provided the $42 drug test cost figure because the report was outdated. A DES spokesperson, Misty Kaufman, also told us on 23 March 2017 that under the state program, officials ask TANF recipients to submit to drug testing if DES is notified by \"a law enforcement agency, a court, or other governmental entity\" that they could be using drugs. A test may also be requested if recipients indicate in statements that they have used illegal drugs within the previous 30 days. Failing the test does not invoke a monetary fine, but it does disqualify otherwise eligible recipients from claiming cash benefits for a year. Since the program went into effect in November 2009, Kaufman said, 49 people had been flagged for drug testing as of 30 June 2016. Twenty-three of those people actually took the tests, which DES said cost a total of $585, or $25.43 per test. Of those 23 people, two had tested positive for drugs through September 2012, and another four since then. However, only three of the six people who failed the test lost their TANF benefits, as the other three positive results were attributed to prescription medications. According to Kaufman, the three valid disqualifications led to recipients losing a combined $1,816 in benefit monies. Another 26 TANF benefit recipients have declined to take the drug test since the program went into effect, with 20 of them losing benefits in the aggregate sum of $4,155. The benefit period for the other six people had expired before they could incur the cutoff penalty. The National Conference of State Legislatures said in March 2017 that Arizona was one of at least 15 states that passed laws requiring drug tests or drug screenings for people participating in benefit programs. Florida's law, which required that every welfare applicant receive drug testing, was struck down by a federal judge in December 2013, who ruled that it amounted to an illegal search. By that point, 108 of 4,086 people had tested positive for drugs under that state's program. The New York Times noted at the time that the Florida program \"cost more money to carry out than it saved.\" On 15 February 2017, the House passed House Joint Resolution 42, which rolled back a 2016 Labor Department rule limiting state-administered drug tests on unemployment insurance applicants to people seeking jobs in fields that already require drug screenings. That measure passed the U.S. Senate on 14 March 2017 and was presented to President Donald Trump on 21 March 2017.","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Ktb_ajnseF9nolFaxRWdGqHZXO63RgIY","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_139","claim":"Did the Trump Admin Seize COVID-19 Protective Equipment from States?","posted":"04\/24\/2020","sci_digest":["An urgent shortage persists of N95 masks and other supplies in U.S. medical facilities. "],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease. \n\nAs the U.S. federal government and states clashed over how to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020, workers on the frontlines reported widespread shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), including N95 masks and gowns. Hospital and state leaders described a chaotic and highly competitive market for securing supplies from vendors, a disarray that critics of President Donald Trump blamed on his ad-hoc approach to addressing the shortfall. \n\nMeanwhile, several news reports surfaced, claiming federal officials seized PPE shipments from local agencies or stopped deals between vendors and states by offering higher bids. Snopes received numerous inquiries from readers about the validity of these assertions. \n\nTo get to the root of the claims, we first researched the origins of the news reports. From The New York Times to the Boston Globe to The Intelligencer (a blog within New York magazine), several media outlets highlighted the experience of Dr. Andrew W. Artenstein, an infectious disease physician in Springfield, Massachusetts, who said the pandemic forced him into PPE supply-chain work. On April 17, 2020, he published a letter in a peer-reviewed medical journal, The New England Journal of Medicine, about his apparent struggles in obtaining a large shipment of face masks and respirators from a warehouse in a mid-Atlantic state. (He told The New York Times he would not publicize the location of the transaction out of fear of jeopardizing his relationship with the supply vendor.) \n\nThe letter read: \"Before we could send the funds by wire transfer, two Federal Bureau of Investigation agents arrived, showed their badges, and started questioning me. No, this shipment was not headed for resale or the black market. The agents checked my","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1W0iG8VCK2ppKiITL0t3GHLkzsYeYxDM9","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_140","claim":"Harley Skim","posted":"06\/17\/2015","sci_digest":[""],"justification":"FACT CHECK: Is Harley Davidson repossessing paid-up motorcycles belonging to bikers involved in the Waco shootout? Claim: Harley Davidson has been repossessing paid-off motorcycles belonging to owners involved in a biker shootout in Waco, Texas. UNCONFIRMED Example: [Collected via e-mail, June 2015] Just read that Harley Davidson helps Waco PD to repossess motorcycles involved in the Twin Peaks incident even if they were not defaulting on their loan. Say it ain't so!!! Example: On 17 May 2015, several motorcycle clubs convened at a Waco, Texas, location of the Twin Peaks chain of restaurants. Violence erupted amid rival biker factions, leading to shootings that left nine attendees dead and eighteen more injured. A number of controversies stemmed from the deadly incident, such as conflicting eyewitness statements about what took place during the shootout, and one of those controversies involved the fate of motorcycles confiscated by police in the aftermath. Rumors circulated claiming that Harley Davidson and the Waco Police Department were in cahoots to seize and repossess the bikes of those present at the scene, regardless of whether the motorcycles were paid off or their registered owners were current on their payments. On 12 June 2015, the Waco Police Department seemingly addressed this scuttlebutt on their Facebook page, describing a rough inventory of motorcycles impounded and returned to date: We initially impounded 130 motorcycles and 91 other vehicles. As of June 10, 2015, 52 motorcycles and 47 vehicles have been released to the owners. In addition to those, 12 of the motorcycles and 3 of the other vehicles were released to the lienholders due to repossession. On 15 June 2015, a blog post claimed that manufacturer Harley Davidson had taken \"bikes that were paid up and sold them, claiming a default of loan for being involved in criminal activity in California.\" The blog's author pointed to language (either in Harley Davidson Financial Services contracts or a Department of Consumer Affairs guide to Repossession Practices) stipulating that the use of a vehicle during the commission of a crime (or suspected crime) was grounds for forfeiture, regardless of whether the loan was current at the time the vehicle was impounded. This morning, someone told me it happened to them. So I called Harley Davidson Financial Services and asked. I have indeed confirmed that Harley took bikes that were paid up and sold them, claiming a default of loan for being involved in criminal activity. This is a different state, but it's basically the same thing. Read the part in the contracts used by all Harley dealerships and other dealership loans about using the vehicle to engage in criminal activity: In some cases, you may not get your vehicle back at all. The legal owner can accelerate the maturity of your contract if: You provided false or misleading information on the credit application when buying the vehicle. You tried to avoid repossession by hiding the vehicle or taking it out of California. You destroyed, or threatened to destroy, the vehicle, or failed to take care of it. You committed, or threatened to commit, a criminal act of violence against the legal owner or anyone who tried to repossess the vehicle. You used the vehicle, or allowed it to be used, in a crime, and the vehicle was seized by a federal, state, or local authority. In general, police are required by law to provide notice of impounded vehicles to both the registered owners and all lienholders of those vehicles. Also, lienholders must typically provide police with a \"hold harmless\" affidavit and other evidence documenting that they are entitled to possession of a vehicle in order to claim it from police impound. Without additional information, it would be difficult to say definitively whether Harley Davidson Financial Services (HDFS) exercised any claims over bikes impounded after the Waco shootout. We attempted to contact HDFS to inquire about the issue but could reach only representatives waiting to talk to active account holders (not media contacts). It appears, though, that civil asset forfeiture (rather than lienholder repossession) is the likely fate of unreturned bikes impounded by Waco police. Three Waco Tribune articles examined whether motorcycles impounded at the scene would be taken from their owners for good. In an 18 May 2015 piece, the newspaper reported that owners might not be reunited with their motorcycles due to \"civil forfeiture procedures\": Even if the men bond out of jail, they likely won't be riding their motorcycles home. The motorcycles were confiscated as part of the massive law enforcement investigation, and sources say they likely will be seized and forfeited by McLennan County through civil forfeiture procedures and sold at auction. On 24 May 2015, the Waco Tribune published a far lengthier piece on the possibility that some of the bikes would be auctioned off. Titled \"Vehicle forfeiture efforts could be lucrative, but difficult in Twin Peaks shooting,\" that article provided local background regarding civil forfeiture practices for all cases in the district (dating back to at least 1989): It's possible some of the vehicles could be declared illegal contraband associated with a crime, and ownership transferred to the county through a process known as civil forfeiture. The collective value of the vehicles likely exceeds $1 million, assuming typical vehicle values. As of Friday afternoon, McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna had not filed any civil forfeiture notices with the McLennan County district clerk. Reyna declined through a spokesperson to discuss this or any other aspect of the Twin Peaks case. But Reyna is known for his aggressive pursuit of civil forfeiture, and defense attorneys are watching his moves in this case where so much property is at stake and so many owners are in jail. Yet another article published in the Waco Tribune, this one from 12 June 2015, quoted Waco Police Chief Brent Stroman, who provided an update regarding the then-current status of bikes that remained impounded. The paper again reported that some of the vehicles could be seized by police (not Harley Davidson) and sent to auction under extant civil asset forfeiture laws: A total of 130 motorcycles and 91 other vehicles were impounded from the scene that day, Stroman said, a number slightly above the original estimate. Of those, 52 motorcycles and 47 vehicles have been released to the owners, while 12 of the motorcycles and 3 of the other vehicles were released to the lienholders to be repossessed. Stroman said he did not know how many, if any, vehicles would be seized and put up for auction. Ultimately, it appeared to be true that some of the bikes remaining in police impound lots in June 2015 were fated to go to auction regardless of whether owners were current on payments at the time the bikes were seized. However, multiple local newspaper articles that covered the situation in depth described the potential repossessions as being within the scope of the Waco Police Department and not Harley Davidson Financial Services.","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1akK51ZZ4pgqCDGZfdQq3cfXiA8V5OW1H","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1pBU0apST8N0SC3erZBMvQN9ZEwFpCvJI","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_141","claim":"Did Elon Musk Ban User Who Posted Video of Musk Being Booed at Chappelle Show?","posted":"12\/12\/2022","sci_digest":["As the new owner of Twitter, Musk has instituted sweeping changes not entirely popular with users."],"justification":"On Dec. 11, 2022, comedian Dave Chappelle invited new Twitter owner Elon Musk to walk onstage during one of his stand-up performances at the Chase Center in San Francisco. The moment was met with a mix of audience reactions, including boos, cheers, and likely a bit of shouting. The event featured both Chris Rock and Chappelle in a limited, multi-city tour. Hours after the performance ended, video of Musk's moment onstage was made available online. A Twitter user named @CleoPat48937885 posted four tweets with four different videos, according to an archive of the profile. It's unclear if the user recorded the videos, but other tweets on the account showed prior interest in concerts in the San Francisco area, as well as in Chappelle. This may suggest that the user shot the videos with a phone, as they claimed. The clips were later made available on YouTube in two parts. The first tweet from @CleoPat48937885 included the caption, \"Dave Chappelle brought Elon Musk up on stage at the Chase Center. Had to pry the Yondr for this ahaha pt 1.\" The reference to having to \"pry the Yondr\" was about pouches that were supposed to secure phones during the performance. The purpose of Yondr pouches is to lock up phones, disabling the ability for people to take pictures and videos. Such pouches often help to keep stand-up comedy material from leaking out before being eventually released as stronger bits in specials. Prior to the show, the official Chase Center Twitter account described the Yondr pouches in detail. After @CleoPat48937885 uploaded all four video clips in tweets on Twitter, a Reddit user linked to the first tweet in a post on the r\/videos subreddit. Within either minutes or hours, the Twitter account for @CleoPat48937885 disappeared, which meant that the tweets were no longer available. As of Dec. 12, the account did not show a message indicating it was \"suspended,\" as had been seen in past years for accounts that had been suspended. Rather, the page for the account only said, \"This account doesn't exist.\" One Reddit user commented, without citing evidence, \"The fact that Elon suspended the user over it makes it even more worth sharing.\" Many other users across social media made similar claims, suggesting that Musk had suspended or banned @CleoPat48937885, perhaps to bury the existence of the videos. Another user tweeted, \"Elon Musk is deleting accounts that post this video of him being booed for 10 minutes last night at a Dave Chappelle show. He can't delete us all. Retweet while you still can.\" The tweet received tens of thousands of engagements and was still available hours later. We haven't yet uncovered evidence that Musk or anyone else at Twitter suspended or banned @CleoPat48937885. It's possible, but there's no data to support this rumor. Another potential explanation is that the Twitter user saw how the story was gaining traction on blogs and social media and feared that security officials at the Chase Center might be able to identify the user through video footage or other methods. Essentially, we don't know for sure why the account no longer exists. A screenshot of the aforementioned Reddit thread was posted to Twitter with the caption, \"They are blocking Twitter users who post the video.\" However, we found plenty of people who continued to post videos of Musk onstage with Chappelle whose accounts were not suspended. At one point on Dec. 12, the day after the performance, the news was becoming so popular that Chappelle appeared as a trend in the U.S. The trend remained visible on the sidebar of the website and, as of this writing, was not being removed or hidden by the platform.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1RHP6m_BRWgUTfZtKG83PjUpuAosHSL3c","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1tSIsiNQnuYgB3Snt9NS7TQR4ZSjB4cBm","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1bRbSjeADA3Gsvh50tUX8U_fHm61FUb1L","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_142","claim":"Did US $1,000 Bill Feature President Grover Cleveland?","posted":"02\/12\/2022","sci_digest":["The $1,000 bill may not look familiar to most Americans because it hasn't been produced in decades. "],"justification":"In February 2022, a picture showing a curious piece of currency, a $1,000 bill featuring the face of the 22nd and 24th U.S. President Grover Cleveland, was circulated on social media. While thousand-dollar bills may not be a familiar sight to modern audiences, the United States did produce a $1,000 bill featuring Cleveland in 1928 and 1934. This specific bill was first posted to Reddit in August 2020 by a banker, who explained that the bill was brought in to be deposited by a customer. According to the post, the bank teller informed the man that this bill was likely worth much more than $1,000 and encouraged him to sell it to a collector. The post stated, \"Customer brought in a 1934 thousand-dollar bill. After ten years in banking, I finally got to see one in person... I told him I could accept the bill but only at face value. I really tried to steer him to find a collector or someone else because he could get more for it, even in that condition.\" Cleveland first appeared on the $1,000 bill in 1928. Here's a newspaper clipping from 1928 announcing the new currency, which included two larger denominations: a $5,000 bill featuring President James Madison and a $10,000 bill featuring Salmon P. Chase, a former governor, senator, Supreme Court justice, and secretary of the treasury. \n\nSide note: While the $10,000 bill was real, it did not feature the words \"HAIL SATAN\" in small print around its edges, as online rumors claimed in 2017. Cleveland wasn't the first person to be featured on a piece of American currency worth $1,000. The National Museum of American History's Numismatic Collection features a few other legal tender notes in that denomination. For example, a $1,000 note featuring Robert Morris, a financier and founding father known as the \"Financier of the Revolution,\" was produced in 1863. Alexander Hamilton, the first U.S. secretary of the treasury, was also the face of a $1,000 note in 1918. The Cleveland bills were last printed in 1945 and were officially discontinued in 1969 due to a \"lack of use,\" according to the U.S. Department of Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing. While we can't say for sure why these bills fell out of favor, a newspaper article from 1946 described the air of suspicion that surrounded people who paid for things with $1,000 bills. \n\nWhile the reporter in the above-displayed story found that these suspicions were largely exaggerated (he was able to use $1,000 bills without a problem), the $1,000 bill's connection to nefarious activities, justified or not, stretches back to the early 1900s.","issues":["banking"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1YFAP7YUf9WW2ET6kIQGNjxeoyk92BwUe","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/img.newspapers.com\/img\/img?clippingId=94578040&width=700&height=1369&ts=1607535806","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/img.newspapers.com\/img\/img?clippingId=94583750&width=700&height=475&ts=1607535806","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/img.newspapers.com\/img\/img?clippingId=94583897&width=700&height=599&ts=1607535806","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_143","claim":"Does This Photograph Show a Girl Forced Into Child Marriage by Muslims?","posted":"03\/18\/2019","sci_digest":["To all you misguided, uninformed liberal women demonstrating in favor of embracing Islam ...\""],"justification":"Among the many vexing problems with which the world continues to grapple is the issue of child marriage, a matter that predominantly affects girls in less developed countries. As the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) notes, 20 percent of girls worldwide are married before reaching the age of 18, and in some parts of the globe the rate is twice as high: UNFPA Child marriage denies girls the right to choose whom and when to marry -- one of lifes most important decisions. Choosing one's partner is a major decision, one that should be made freely and without fear or coercion. On this, virtually all countries agree. Child marriage is a human rights violation. Despite laws against it, the practice remains widespread: Globally, one in every five girls is married, or in union, before reaching age 18. In the least developed countries, that number doubles  40 per cent of girls are married before age 18, and 12 per cent of girls are married before age 15. Child marriage directly threatens girls health and well-being. Marriage is often followed by pregnancy, even if a girl is not yet physically or mentally ready. In developing countries, nine out of 10 births to adolescent girls occur within a marriage or a union. In these countries, complications from pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death among adolescent girls aged 15 to 19. Girls who are married may also be exposed to sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. When girls marry, they are often forced to drop out of school so they can assume household responsibilities. This is a denial of their right to an education. Girls who leave school have worse health and economic outcomes than those who stay in school, and eventually their children fare worse as well. Unfortunately, social media platforms are full of inaccurate postings on the subject from persons who are not seeking to raise awareness of the child marriage issue, but simply to demonize other religions and cultures. The following is one such example of this phenomenon:  To all you misguided, uninformed liberal women demonstrating in favor of embracing Islam, this young lady is being sold into sexual slavery as a child bride. She is a Christian. She watched her father beheaded and her mother raped. Where is her safe place? the meme asks. However, the blonde girl pictured here was not being sold into sexual slavery as a child bride by Muslims (or anyone else), and no credible reports (outside of the inflammatory meme itself) suggested she was a Christian who had seen her \"father beheaded and her mother raped.\" The image used in the meme originated with a (no longer available) video from 2013 that captured a 7-year-old girl participating in a Quran recital competition, as noted in a Morocco World News article: article The picture shows an ISIS member, seemingly in his thirties, with a seven-year-old, crying girl, who had been interpreted as his bride. The photo sparked widespread condemnation on social media before a video on YouTube proved it to be a hoax. The picture generated several theories. The most popular theory [was] that the young girl had been converted to Islam before being forced to marry the ISIS member appearing in the picture .. The website Arabic Canada solved the mystery surrounding the outrageous picture, by sharing a video of what seems to be a Quran recital competition -- from which the picture was taken -- organized by ISIS in Klassa, a neighborhood in Aleppo, in 2013. The video shows the ISIS member, who was misleadingly presented as the young girls groom, having a small chat with her before she recites verses of the Quran. Feeling embarrassed for making several mistakes during her recitation, Ghada, the young girl, starts crying before the man returns. He then clearly tries to comfort her and boost her spirits. The referenced Arabic Canada website (now defunct) wrote of this picture as follows (roughly translated from Arabic): wrote A seven-year-old girl looks very frightened, while the man standing next to her looks smiling and happy. The text accompanying the photograph claims that the man in the picture forced the girl to marry him. Some versions even went so far as to identify the girl as a Christian who had been forced to convert to Islam and read the Quran. Of course, the picture produced a feeling of disgust in everyone who saw it. Some newspapers wrote articles denouncing the phenomenon of child marriage in Islam. One newspaper of course took the opportunity to refer to the marriage of six-year-old Aisha [the third wife of the prophet Muhammad] and claimed that Islam permitted and encouraged child marriage. third wife The photo is actually a screenshot from a video of a children's recitation contest held in Aleppo in September 2013, and although the organizers of the contest certainly belong to ISIS, the video includes no reference to marriage. The dismay on the girl's face was apparently triggered by her having made a mistake in reciting the Quran. Other screenshots from the video captured the girl looking considerably less distraught:    This isn't to say that child marriage isn't a real problem, or that it and other depredations  such as beheadings and rape  haven't been perpetrated by those associated with ISIS, but the image used in this meme isn't representative of any of those issues. Morocco World News.  \"Truth Behind Alleged Marriage of ISIS Member with 7-Year-Old Girl.\"\r  18 August 2014. United Nations Population Fund.  \"Child Marriage.\"\r  Accessed 18 March 2019. Arabic Canada.  \" :       7 .\"\r  13 August 2014.","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=14MmV6CzDQ00fhIV1PnaHdDs9B0GmwTA2","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1QEfFyQ40dgKkguZ0s3EAsWi-OcxWnqm9","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=18K3XxMapF06gMkT35_bfFvGLJCCPZXJS","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1m4JZXLKG_XCWt8VerE-lGFipbYjU6H5P","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_144","claim":"Facebook Car Giveaway \u2013 A car is being given away on Facebook.","posted":"12\/12\/2014","sci_digest":["You cannot win a new Audi, Mercedes, Range Rover, Camaro, or other car by liking a Facebook page or post and sharing it with friends."],"justification":"In December 2014, several Facebook pages using car brand names such as Audi, Range Rover, Mercedes, and Camaro (among others) posted directives similar to the messages quoted above. The pages claimed that Facebook was giving away cars. Among the cars offered in the giveaways were Audi R8s, Range Rovers, Mercedes-Benz E63 AMGs, and Chevrolet Camaro SS models. Almost all the scams followed the same format: they instructed users to like a separate page, like the original post, and share the post on their own Timeline (thereby validating its legitimacy and enticing others to do the same). Users were eligible to win one of two available vehicles in the winner's choice of color simply by liking a separate Facebook page, liking and sharing a post, and waiting for an inbox message confirming the winners. In April 2016, the scam reappeared, this time with a Range Rover as the car offered in the giveaway. The first clue that the giveaways following this format were not legitimate was the pages to which Facebook users were directed, pages that had been created just days before the giveaway posts began to appear. Not only were the secondary Facebook pages involved always new, but they were also not linked with car companies or other interests one might reasonably expect to offer a car in exchange for social media advertising (such as automobile dealerships, insurance companies, or large retailers). Were a legitimate company to engage in such a high-ticket contest giveaway, the incentive would be exposure; however, no corresponding promotional return on advertising investment was discernible in these Facebook giveaway claims. The tactics were similar to recent scams involving Costco, Kroger, and Amazon gift cards, but the six-figure price tag attached to some of the vehicles involved in the Facebook car giveaway posts proved to be a far more difficult-to-resist enticement for some users, not all of whom questioned whether sharing a page presented any negative consequences should it later turn out to be a prank, hoax, or other false promise. The pages to which users were directed carried all the hallmarks of \"like farming\" operations intended to quickly build and sell popular Facebook pages. Even if the page creators' intent were only to build an audience, users participating in the scam created a larger incentive for employing future fakery of the same description to crowd Facebook feeds. Scammers could also exploit a large audience by mining varying levels of personal data from those who have liked a page of dubious origin. Thus, Facebook users who participate in such fake giveaways not only unwittingly help spammers pollute the social network with scams, but they may also risk being exposed to malware, clickjacking, or other unpleasantries (such as finding their names and identities endorsing a scam, hate page, or other undesirable activity). Giveaways, particularly of high-value merchandise, are generally rare and almost always conducted through brands' official channels or the social media accounts of related large companies.","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1RkI-PBnCOwYuQ4yLXYNlSjlwKLxRdCKX"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_145","claim":"The child tax credit, if we don't do it, there will be no tax relief for working families. How much tax relief working families get under tax reform is entirely dependent on whether or not we put in place an increase to the child tax credit.","posted":"10\/19\/2017","sci_digest":[],"justification":"The Trump administration, along with Senate and House leaders, has revealed a framework for tax legislation that proposes tax cuts for businesses, a reduction in tax brackets, and the elimination of several tax breaks. What the plan means for Americans remains to be determined. However, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., recently stated that the amount of tax relief working families receive under the plan is entirely dependent on one factor: the child tax credit. \"If we don't do it, there will be no tax relief for working families,\" Rubio said on WFLA on Oct. 15. The extent of tax relief working families receive under tax reform hinges on whether we implement an increase to the child tax credit. We wondered whether increasing the child tax credit would be the only way for working families to benefit from the framework. Our findings indicate that the child tax credit is indeed central to the current tax proposal. However, the plan is so tentative that it is premature to assert that it will be the only means through which working families will see relief. Rubio's team sought to support his assertion with a press release that included two charts. Both charts conveyed the same message: to assist working families, a tax plan must increase the child tax credit and make the credit refundable. Thus, in Rubio's view, expanding\u2014not just increasing\u2014the child tax credit is crucial for the prosperity of working families. The Trump-backed tax framework proposes increasing the credit from the current amount of $1,000 and raising the income threshold at which the credit phases out. Experts agree that expanding the child tax credit is one of the central provisions that will shape the impact on middle-income households under the framework. Scott Greenberg, a senior analyst at the Tax Foundation, noted that the existing $1,000 child tax credit is already quite substantial. Parents with children under the age of 17 are eligible for a tax credit of up to $1,000 per child. If they owe more than $1,000 in taxes, the credit reduces their tax liability, or the total amount of tax owed on their income. If parents owe less than $1,000 in taxes, their tax liability is reduced to zero. In its current form, this tax credit is nonrefundable. Greenberg explained that under current law, a married household with two children making $60,000 would owe about $3,733 in individual income taxes before considering the child credit. After accounting for the child credit, the household's individual income tax burden would decrease to about $1,733. (His calculations assume that the household takes the standard deduction and does not claim any other major credits, exclusions, or provisions.) Still, it is not solely about increasing the credit; transforming it into a refundable credit is also important. In 2015, Rubio and Mike Lee, R-Utah, released a tax plan that linked the child tax credit to the payroll tax, which would have increased the refundability rate. At that time, experts were uncertain whether this would benefit low-income families, as it did not include an expansion for them. Another reason for expanding the child tax credit is that the current framework eliminates the personal exemption\u2014that is, the untaxed income associated with the number of dependents on a tax return. This provision disproportionately benefits households with children. To compensate for its elimination, the plan proposes increasing the child tax credit. \"It looks like they'll pay more under the current framework, but that's where the child tax credit comes into play,\" said Elaine Maag, a senior research associate at the Urban Institute. \"It does its magic and wipes away that tax liability.\" It is worth emphasizing that the details of the child tax credit are still a work in progress. Currently, the plan does not specify how much the credit would increase or which income levels would qualify. More broadly, little is known about the thresholds of new income tax brackets, which could significantly affect the distribution of benefits. Based on the limited details available about the basic framework, it is fair to say that the child tax credit is key, according to Edward McCaffrey, a tax law professor at the University of Southern California. Consequently, the credit has emerged as one of the few options available to policymakers seeking to alter the tax burden on middle-income households. Chris Edwards, the director of tax policy studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, criticized the focus on a specific tax break such as the child credit, advocating instead for overall tax simplification. In that context, Edwards stated that policymakers have numerous ways to cut taxes for moderate-income Americans. Meanwhile, Maag pointed to proposals outside the framework that would expand the earned income tax credit. For instance, Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., introduced a significant increase in that credit\u2014a refundable credit aimed at low-income working Americans\u2014that would provide benefits to low- and middle-income families. Rubio asserted that if tax reform efforts do not expand the child tax credit, there will be no tax relief for working families. While this may be somewhat overstated, given that the tax proposal is still in its early stages, experts suggest that based on the initial framework, the child tax credit is one of the few levers that could significantly impact the tax burden for middle-income households.","issues":["Taxes","Florida"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_146","claim":"Is it possible to purchase COVID-19 vaccines on the Dark Web?","posted":"02\/10\/2021","sci_digest":["You can certainly find people claiming to sell them."],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease.  fighting Find out Read Submit Become a Founding Member CDC WHO In December 2020, as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, the FBI and other federal agencies began to warn of fraudsters exploiting interest in the newly released vaccine. INTERPOL, as well, issued an Orange Notice alerting law enforcement to \"potential criminal activity in relation to the falsification, theft and illegal advertising of COVID-19 and flu vaccines.\" approved warn Orange Notice One area where these scams have reportedly proliferated is the so-called dark web. Broadly speaking, the dark web refers to unindexed content on the internet that can not be searched for and that, among other things, contains several anonymous marketplaces and forums that purport to sell a wide range of illicit material. On Feb. 8, 2021, CBS News reported that \"in just the last six weeks, the number of vaccine ads on the dark web has exploded,\" adding that \"the asking prices have doubled or even quadrupled.\" reportedly refers reported For a Dec. 25, 2020, segment on PlanetMoney, NPR spoke to Chad Anderson, a senior security researcher at the cyberthreat intelligence agency Domain Tools. \"We're a cyberthreat intelligence data company,\" he explained, \"so we scan the entire Internet as many times as we can every single day and give insights to customers based upon what we see.\" Back then, he argued the vaccine ads popping up on the dark web were clearly scams. NPR Chad Anderson \"For one thing,\" NPR correspondent Stacey Vanek Smith explained, \"the Pfizer vaccine requires a very intense cold storage chain. The vaccines have to be kept at negative 70 degrees Fahrenheit.\" And also, she added, \"the COVID vaccine ads are mixed in with ads for all kinds of other things, and Chad says that tends to be a red flag.\" At the time of this reporting, the only two FDA-approved vaccines are the Pfizer vaccine and the Moderna vaccine. Both shots are mRNA vaccines, and as such they both require this high level of refrigeration for transport. explained Snopes reached out to Anderson to ask if ads for vaccines on dark web marketplaces still appeared to be scams, as of February 2021. \"Just went and took a look at the last of the 'reputable' markets [on the dark web] and I still don't see any COVID vaccines for sale on there,\" he wrote to us by email, adding that he did see some ads for the largely discredited treatment hydroxychloroquine, but not much else on the COVID-19 front. One problem with the dark web, however, is that there is no requirement for \"reputable behavior\" and few safeguards against predatory behavior. Several media reports have cited a dark web market named Agartha as having ads for COVID-19 vaccines. Indeed it does  several hundred of them, according to a recent analysis by Snopes  but these ads are all comically obvious frauds. One ad listed under \"opiates,\" for instance, asked for \"mutual trust\" in its effort to sell some \"Moderona\" vaccine: media reports   Other ads claim to be able to ship the Pfizer vaccine, which as a reminder requires extreme refrigeration for storage, by FedEx at no additional cost. Many ads, like the one below, don't even specify what vaccine product they purport to sell. Instead, the ad appears to be a bait-and-switch for a seller peddling other drugs ranging from marijuana to fentanyl:   According to DomainTools' Anderson, \"Agartha is considered an entire scam market.\" He added that \"I've never thrown money into my user wallet on there, but I have heard from others that the moment you do it's immediately siphoned off to another wallet that I would assume is the wallet of those running the site.\" CBS News, in its reporting, cited the work of cybersecurity company Check Point. That firm attempted to purchase COVID-19 vaccines from various dark web sellers, even sending a Bitcoin payment to one. \"A few days after the Bitcoin transaction, Check Point received a message from the vendor saying the vaccine had been shipped, CBS reported. \"Then a few days later, that vendor's account completely disappeared from the site.\" They never received any product in return, and the firm concluded that none of the sellers they found actually had any vaccine to sell.  reported Overt fraud aside, a possibility remains that as more easily transportable vaccines are approved and produced, a dark web black market for vaccines could develop. \"As time goes by, and more people get access to legitimate doses, there's always the possibility that some of that real product could make its way onto the dark web,\" CBS reported. \"More providers will lead to looser shipping restrictions,\" Anderson agreed. reported The risks from engaging in these transactions are multifaceted. Outside of a potential loss of money, there are risks of receiving unknown and dangerous drugs instead of a vaccine or having identifying information stolen. \"In addition to the dangers of ordering potentially life-threatening products,\" a December 2020 Interpol news release stated, \"an analysis by the INTERPOLs Cybercrime Unit revealed that of 3,000 websites associated with online pharmacies suspected of selling illicit medicines and medical devices, around 1,700 contained cyber threats, especially phishing and spamming malware.\" In other words, even if these listings were not overt scams, it's not worth the risk. stated Because at this time there are several ads for COVID-19 vaccines on various dark web markets of low repute, but that none of them appear to be legitimate, we rate the claim that the vaccines are for sale as \"false.\"","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1unyBUJzK8B_onuVz7I8eFBKC03fjti14"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1xTK_Lig9BTp-o6z4JPfp6Ygiwib60JWL"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_147","claim":"Must elderly individuals receiving Social Security make payments for Medicare while 'Illegal Immigrants' receive it at no cost?","posted":"06\/19\/2019","sci_digest":["It's a familiar trope on the internet but remains factually challenged."],"justification":"In May and June 2019, a misleading but widely seen meme about immigrants and Medicare benefits continued to circulate on Facebook. Although the trope that undocumented immigrants are cashing in on U.S. government-funded public benefits for free is common, it is generally misleading. Contrary to what the meme asserts, undocumented persons do not qualify to receive Medicare. Additionally, many undocumented persons acquire fake Social Security numbers to work, allowing them to pay billions of dollars into the system without ever reaping those benefits, said Steven Wallace, professor of public health at the University of California, Los Angeles, and associate director of UCLA's Center for Health Policy Research. \"In reality, undocumented immigrants paying into these programs are actually helping to subsidize them,\" Wallace told us by phone. \"So it's the other way around\u2014it's not that they're draining the system. They're actually subsidizing it.\" The impacts of immigration on the economy and public benefits are political flashpoints in a larger national debate. For example, in September 2017, the Trump administration was criticized for rejecting a study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that concluded refugees have an overall positive effect on government revenue. A 2017 study conducted by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine reported that immigration \"has an overall positive impact on the long-run economic growth in the U.S.\" In the short term and at the local and state government levels, new immigrants do have a negative revenue impact largely due to costs associated with educating children, health care, and law enforcement. However, in the long term, they are a net positive on revenue due to the higher incomes of their descendants, who are among the strongest fiscal and economic contributors in the U.S. PBS News Hour reported that \"In general, more people working means more taxes, and that's true overall with undocumented immigrants as well.\" Undocumented immigrants pay an estimated $11.6 billion a year in taxes, according to the Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy. Immigrants are also less likely to take public benefits than the native-born population for two reasons. Those two reasons, according to PBS, are that undocumented persons aren't eligible to receive federal public benefits, and many of those who are authorized to be here aren't eligible because they earn too much money.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1WlzvXpbFBtLeXpvn0TXI4RA9Ot_41LUE"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_148","claim":"Might a Legal Matter Currently under Consideration by the Highest Court Lead to a More Potent Presidential Clemency?","posted":"10\/03\/2018","sci_digest":["Gamble v. United States concerns a felon who was arrested for possession of a firearm. It could also have significant bearing on the Presidents much vaunted pardon power."],"justification":"This article discussed the potential implications of a case that was, at the time of writing, undecided by the Supreme Court. On 17 June 2019 the Supreme Court decided that case, rejecting arguments that could have resulted in a stronger presidential pardon. Far from Kavanaugh's being a deciding vote on the case, the court ruled 7-2 against the notion that Federal and State prosecution for the same crime violates the so-called double jeopardy clause of the Constitution. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Neil M. Gorsuch dissented. decided On 29 November 2015, a motorist named Terance Gamble, who had been convicted of second degree robbery seven years earlier, was pulled over by an Alabama police officer because of a faulty headlight on his vehicle. Upon searching the car, the officer found a handgun, among other items. It is illegal under both Alabama law and United States law for convicted felons to possess firearms, and Gamble was eventually sentenced to one year in prison on that charge by the state of Alabama. Terance Gamble During Gamble's prosecution under Alabama law for possession of a firearm as a felon, the Federal Government also charged him with the same crime. Gambles lawyers argued that this second conviction was a violation of the U.S. Constitutions ban on double jeopardy, which is intended to protect people from being prosecuted for the same crime more than once. The double jeopardy clause is found in Fifth Amendment to the U.S. constitution, which states (in part) that \"No person shall ... be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb. Specifically, the clause has been interpreted to be a prohibition on: interpreted Gamble has been in federal prison since entering a guilty plea on 18 October 2016 that allowed him to appeal his case. In June 2018, the Supreme Court agreed to hear his argument that he has been unconstitutionally punished multiple times for the same crime. While the case is about the constitutionality of a man being charged twice for the same gun possession incident in a narrow sense, the case more broadly has the potential to significantly alter 150 years of Supreme Court precedent. Since the 1850s, the Supreme Court has allowed for one explicit exception to the Constitutions double jeopardy protections: cases of dual sovereignty (or separate sovereigns) which stem from view that the federal government and state governments are distinct entities with occasionally overlapping jurisdictions. (Exceptions to this exception exist which seek to limit double prosecutions at the federal level, but as this case shows they do not always have that effect.) federal level, This separate sovereigns exception to double jeopardy, though built on several previous rulings, was made most explicit in a 1920s bootlegging case, United States v. Lanza, which allowed a man to be charged with bootlegging crimes by both the state of Washington and the federal government. With respect to that case, Chief Justice William Howard Taft argued: United States v. Lanza We have here two sovereignties, deriving power from different sources, capable of dealing with the same subject matter within the same territory. Each may, without interference by the other, enact laws to secure prohibition, with the limitation that no legislation can give validity to acts prohibited by the amendment. Each government, in determining what shall be an offense against its peace and dignity, is exercising its own sovereignty, not that of the other. The separate sovereigns exemption has for much of its history been a controversial precedent which critics maintain is not rooted in the original text of the Constitution but is instead cobbled together from different partially relevant Supreme Court decisions -- decisions rooted in a time when the federal government was less powerful and whose questions never directly sought to address the explicit matter of double punishment for the same crime in state and federal jurisdictions. This argument is reflected in Gambles filing. filing The government argues in this case that the precedent is well-established through myriad Supreme Court cases and consistent with the Founding Fathers' vision of state and federal government duality: The dual-sovereignty principle has been long held, and consistently endorsed by this Court, which has recognized its soundness as a matter of [p]recedent, experience, and reason alike, The Court explained the roots of the principle more than 150 years ago. And in 1959, the Court described a challenge to the dual-sovereignty doctrine as not a new question, having been invoked and rejected in over twenty cases\" ... Each sovereign is entitled to exercis[e] its own sovereignty to determin[e] what shall be an offense against its peace and dignity and prosecute the offender without interference by the other. Under petitioners interpretation of the Double Jeopardy Clause, one sovereigns efforts (successful or not) to enforce its own laws would vitiate the other sovereigns similar law-enforcement prerogatives. But that cannot be squared with the Constitutions bedrock structure of governance. In this case, Gamble has explicitly asked the Supreme Court to rule on a single specific question: Whether the Court should overrule the separate sovereigns exception to the Double Jeopardy Clause. The reason Gamble v. United States is generating buzz from people other than constitutional law scholars is that the separate sovereigns exception also prevents President Trump from pardoning people for state crimes. Under current Supreme Court precedent, a presidential pardon of an individual does not prevent that individual from being prosecuted for the same or similar crimes under state law. Under the dual sovereignty doctrine, Adam J. Adler wrote in the Yale Law Review, as long as two offenses are defined by different jurisdictions, they cannot constitute the same offense. wrote The Congressional Research Service issued an August 2018 report on the potential ramifications of the case, and this report included a discussion of its possible effect on the presidential pardon power: report The Gamble case may nevertheless have significant collateral legal effects ... A win for Gamble could also indirectly strengthen the Presidents pardon power, by precluding a state from prosecuting an already-pardoned defendant who has gone to trial on an overlapping offense. Some pundits have speculated that the reason why certain politicians seem to be in a rush to seat Judge Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court is that is that he has a notably strong view of presidential powers and therefore would be a vote in favor of Gamble and for an expansion of presidential pardon powers -- and the Supreme Court announced they would be hearing this case the day after Justice Kennedys retirement. This temporal proximity has prompted some commenters to opine that the rush might be motivated by a desire to limit the presidents legal liability in the Russia probe and other investigations: strong view day after   While we cannot speculate on the motives of politicians who are supporting Judge Kavanaugh's nomination, The Atlantic reported that prominent political legal scholars agree in a general sense with the view of this cases having importance with regard to President Trumps pardon power: reported Within the context of the Mueller probe, legal observers have seen the dual-sovereignty doctrine as a check on President Donald Trumps power: It could discourage him from trying to shut down the Mueller investigation or pardon anyone caught up in the probe, because the pardon wouldnt be applied to state charges. Under settled law, if Trump were to pardon his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, for example -- he was convicted in federal court on eight counts of tax and bank fraud -- both New York and Virginia state prosecutors could still charge him for any crimes that violated their respective laws ... If the dual-sovereignty doctrine were tossed ... then Trumps pardon could theoretically protect Manafort from state action. If Trump were to shut down the investigation or pardon his associates, the escape hatch, then, is for cases to be farmed out or picked up by state-level attorneys general, who cannot be shut down by Trump and who generally -- but with some existing limits --can charge state crimes even after a federal pardon, explained Elie Honig, a former assistant U.S. attorney in New Jersey. The Atlantic also reported that at least one member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who approved Kavanaugh for a floor vote before the full Senate, Orrin Hatch, has publicly weighed in on the topic (unmotivated, he says, by the implications for the pardon power), filing an Amicus Curiae brief in favor of Gamble which argued that the pervasive federalization of criminal law to cover conduct that traditionally was prosecuted and punished by the states, and that falls within the states core legislative interests, threatens to undermine the protections of the Double Jeopardy Clause unless the dual sovereignty doctrine is overruled in this context. Amicus Curiae Oral arguments for the case have not been scheduled but will occur during this Supreme Court term. If confirmed, Judge Kavanaugh could become a deciding vote in the case. Supreme Court of the United States.  Brief for Petitioner (No. 17-646).\"\r  24 October 2017. Cornell Legal Information Institute.  Double Jeopardy.\"\r  Accessed 3 October 2018. U.S. Department of Justice.  9-2.031 - Dual and Successive Prosecution Policy (\"Petite Policy\").\"\r  Accessed 3 October 2018. Supreme Court of the United States.  United States v. Lanza, 260 U.S. 377.\"\r  11 December 1922. Supreme Court of the United States.  Brief for the United States in Opposition (No. 17-646).\"\r  16 January 2018. Adler, Adam J.  \"Dual Sovereignty, Due Process, and Duplicative Punishment: A New Solution to an Old Problem.\"\r  Yale Law Journal.  November 2014. Hsin, S.  \"When Does Double Prosecution Count as Double Jeopardy?\"\r  Congressional Research Service.  16 August 2018. Kirby, Jen.  \"7 Legal Experts on How Kavanaugh Views Executive Power  And What It Could Mean for Mueller.\"\r  Vox.  11 July 2018. Vazquez, Maegan.  \"Supreme Court Agrees to Hear 'Double Jeopardy' Case in the Fall.\"\r  CNN.  22 June 2018. Bertrand, Natasha.  \"A Supreme Court Case Could Liberate Trump to Pardon His Associates.\"\r  The Atlantic.  25 September 2018 Supreme Court of the United States.  Brief of Senator Orrin Hatch as Amicus Curiae in Support of Petitioner (No. 17-646).\"\r  11 September 2018. Updated [17 June 2019]: Added note that the Supreme Court ruled on this case. ","issues":["liability"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1_dstBwq_DHQ45t0MMT808Wa7-npr000b"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_149","claim":"Power Bull","posted":"10\/20\/2015","sci_digest":[""],"justification":"Claim: The Powerball and Mega Million lottery games are giving away $1 million topeople who share a message on Facebook.  Example: [Collected via e-mail, October 2015] Powerball and mega million to give away 1 million dollars online. Is this true? Origins: In mid-October 2015, social media postings began touting that the Mega Millions and Powerball lottery games were giving away $1 million to people who shared a Facebook message:     These posts were nothing more than variants of the long-running sweepstakes scam, which has previously targeted customers of such entities as Walmart, Home Depot, and Publix. Each of these scams exhibits slight variations, but they all seek to reach a larger audience by requiring people to share thescam with their friends on Facebook. While these charlatans promise that sharing, liking, or commenting on a given Facebook post will make a person a millionaire, what Facebook users who fall for the come-ons are really doing is spreading a malicious scam to more and more potential victims: Walmart Home Depot Publix requiring Don't believe what you see. It's easy to steal the colors, logos and header of an established organization. Scammers can also make links look like they lead to legitimate websites and emails appear to come from a different sender. Legitimate businesses do not ask for credit card numbers or banking information on customer surveys. If they do ask for personal information, like an address or email, be sure there's a link to their privacy policy. Watch out for a reward that's too good to be true. If the survey is real, you may be entered in a drawing to win a gift card or receive a small discount off your next purchase. Few businesses can afford to give away $50 gift cards for completing a few questions. Several state lotteries have warned their players against Facebook scams:    If you want to win the Mega Millions or Powerball lottery games, your best method for achieving that goal is to actually go out and buy a ticket. Of course, some might consider that approach scarcely better than doing nothing, since the odds of winning $1 million in Powerball are less than1 in 11 million. odds   Last updated:15 October 2015 Originally published: 15 October 2015","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1AhmhavbFK8qNkeWqRePDsLlXvcSb3df1","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Bx77uFUiiPB-4sjug0oxOu2FkeXpHCks","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1h8aoOm3Cd6LbaduQ9zz5cKCrANyhDeG2","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1lBSe8p5XEoAVjzrRHt5oPhbqjdzHKAv7","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_150","claim":"Kid Rock Death Hoax","posted":"07\/04\/2017","sci_digest":["A Facebook \"prank\" claimed that musician Kid Rock had passed away in July 2017."],"justification":"A Facebook post resembling a genuine news item reporting that musician Kid Rock had been found dead at his home circulated over the 4th of July weekend in 2017. Although this post looked authentic, it was actually a product of the prank website Channel23News.com. Channel23News.com enables users to \"prank\" their friends by creating and sharing fake news stories. The user provides the headline, a brief text about the fake news item, and an image, and the website formats this content to resemble a genuine news bulletin posted via social media. Create a prank and trick all your friends! Simply create your own prank and then share it on your social network pages! Tips: You must be creative but keep in mind to make it fun. Fake Title: Choose a catchy title for your joke to make your friends curious. Description: Be creative and make your friends curious. Image: Upload one or search for one via Google Images. Although these items resemble real news when shared on social media, readers who click through to visit the underlying article and website are greeted with a \"You Got Owned\" meme and the following disclaimer: We do NOT support FAKE NEWS!!! This is a prank website that is intended for fun. Bullying, violent threats, or posts that violate public order are NOT permitted on this website.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ix-ZiI2tk3GRH3LkHDeYmrYetuaG52zD","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1zQHBOkbtakZE3Zpshym_mkvyr1FL0E_Z","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_151","claim":"McClosure","posted":"11\/04\/2015","sci_digest":["Fake news falsely reports that McDonald's will be closing 17,000 restaurants nationwide due to an increase in the minimum wage."],"justification":"  Claim: The McDonald's fast food chain will be closing 17,000 locations due to an increase in the minimum wage.  Example: [Collected via e-mail, October 2015] Is McDonald's closing 17,000 stores because of the $15.00 minimum wage? Origins: On 28 October 2015, the web site Now 8 News published an article reporting that 17,000 McDonald's locations would be closing by 1 April 2016 due to a recent increase in the minimum wage: The largest chain of fast food restaurants in the world has announced that the minimum wage increase from $8.75 an hour to $15 an hour has caused them to schedule the close 17,000 restaurants in the United States.With already decreasing profits, McDonald says this is the \"straw that broke the camels back.\" The above-quoted story is a piece of fiction. The United States minimum wage, as established by federal law, is still $7.25 per hour (although some cities have approved a gradual raising of their minimum wages to $15 an hour), and McDonald's has not announced that they will be closing 17,000 stores due to any wage increases.Now 8 News is one of many fake news sites that attempts to attract traffic through the frequent publication of false rumors under clickbait headlines. frequent false rumors This isn't the first time that a fake news story has used \"McDonald's response to a$15 minimum wage\" as its basis. The equally disreputableNews Examiner posted a fake news story claiming that the restaurant chain would start using a robotic staff to avoid paying their employees $15 per hour. robotic   Last updated: 4 November 2015 Originally published: 4 November 2015","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1y8TYTsLSyD6NUJ92QlQ-lQrMwMosFmMt","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_152","claim":"Not the Father, But Ordered to Pay $30,000 in Child Support","posted":"01\/29\/2015","sci_digest":["Rumor: A man was ordered to pay $30,000 in support for a child that DNA testing proved was not his."],"justification":" Claim:  A man was ordered to pay $30,000 in support for a child that DNA testing proved was not his. Examples:  [Collected via Twitter, January 2015] We need justice for Carnell Alexander  just one victim of paternity fraud in MI.   Origins:  In January 2015, what appeared to be a child support-related horror story began to circulate on the Internet. According to several news articles (mainly of the \"[news channel] on your side\" variety), Detroit resident Carnell Alexander was  ordered by a court to pay more than $30,000 in support for a child that was provably not his. Moreover, the articles claimed, Alexander's DNA test results had been acknowledged by the court but disregarded in what was clearly a miscarriage of justice.  The claim was substantiated on a few levels: Alexander provided his DNA testing results proving that he did not father the child in question, and many articles offered visual evidence showing the amount ($30,000) owed by the Michigan resident to the state. Alexander's situation has been held up as an example of \"paternity fraud,\" but a number of  aspects have been elided from the retellings of his story, aspects that provide context necessary to understanding how what looks to be a clear-cut case of injustice could have come to pass:  The vast majority of articles about the Carnell Alexander case all stem from one local Detroit news report about the issue, creating the false impression that a number of media outlets have verified the facts of the case rather than simply recycling single-source information.  Significant advances in DNA testing have been developed since Alexander was named the father of the now-adult child in 1987. Due to the relative ease of modern DNA testing, a case such as this one would be extremely unlikely to occur today.  An oft-repeated aspect of the case involves the mention of \"paternity fraud,\" leading many readers to believe that the debt owed by Alexander is to the mother of the child and should therefore be forgiven because DNA test results have proved he was not the father. However, the unusual outcome of the case stemmed not from monies owed to the child's (unnamed) mother, but to monies owed to the state as compensation for welfare benefits obtained by the mother. By all accounts (which link back to an October 2014 news segment and article from Detroit station WXYZ), the child's mother intentionally and wrongly named Alexander as the father of her child in order to obtain state assistance: WXYZ [The mother] was struggling to care for the child. When she applied for state assistance, the case worker told her she had to name the father. \"That was the only way I could get assistance,\" she said. She said she didn't realize the state would go after the father to pay the support given to the child. \"Everything is my fault, that I put him through,\" she said. It was not easy [for him] to get a DNA test. Alexander didn't know where the woman was that had claimed he fathered a child. He only had an 8th-grade education, off-and-on employment at the time, and no money to hire help. He asked the court for help, but the court couldn't help him in the way he was asking. Friend of the Court employees are not allowed to give legal advice.  Alexander explained to the judge and court again and again his situation. He says in hindsight, he didn't understand the formal legal steps necessary to make things right. Eventually he, by chance, ran into someone he knew would know where the woman was, and got a DNA test. It proved what he had been saying all along: the child he had never met was not his. The mother had realized that, and the real father was in the child's life. Alexander took this information to court. The judge was unmoved. \"Case closed. I gotta pay for the baby,\" said Alexander. The case also involved an omission on the part of a process server who claimed to have served Alexander with notice of a pending paternity claim against him early on in the child's life. State records proved that Alexander was incarcerated at the time he was purportedly served notice, and that the individual responsible for serving him mistakenly or intentionally claimed otherwise: The court focused on a summons tied to the paternity case in the late 1980's. The state sent a process server to Alexanders dad's house in Highland Park to let him know about the paternity case. The process server turned a document into the court saying Alexander was delivered the summons, but he refused to sign the summons. \"I wasn't there. I couldn't refuse to sign,\" said Alexander. Michigan Department of Corrections ... records confirm Alexander's story  he did not receive that order at a home in Highland Park. He was in prison for a crime he committed as a young man. However, one article about the case referenced a circumstance unmentioned by other reports, that Alexander had initially agreed to \"admit\" paternity in order to facilitate the mother's approval for welfare services: article But how did Alexander get entangled in a paternity case? Alexander's ex had a baby and didn't know who was the child's father. She reportedly needed state assistance, so the case worker demanded that she name a father for the child.  Alexander, who only went up to the eighth grade education-wise, decided to help his ex so that she could receive state assistance. According to the unnamed woman, she did not realize that the state would go after the child's father for monetary support. The state of Michigan unfortunately does not have paternity fraud laws that protect men.  This last point, if true, could be the crux of the issue: If Alexander in any way agreed to falsely allow the mother to name him as the father on the child's birth certificate, or was aware that she had done so and did not dispute it, it's likely that Michigan viewed him as legally responsible for half the expenses whether his DNA was a match or not. (That  aspect of the case cannot be verified because family court proceedings are not a matter of public record.) Ultimately, the case could hinge  not on whether Alexander was indeed the biological father of the child, but whether he claimed the child as his own as part of an attempt to facilitate his former partner's receipt of welfare (and thus prevented the state from recouping those funds from the child's true biological father).    Last updated:  29 January 2015","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1CCCzYMqVkTjmHtp9QMcq3fALF_eCwNYd","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_153","claim":"Do Photos Show People With a Dead Tiger Shark in Florida's Chassahowitzka River?","posted":"05\/08\/2021","sci_digest":["The harvesting of tiger sharks is prohibited under Florida law.  "],"justification":"In early May 2021, photographs reportedly showing a man holding what appeared to be a tiger shark along the bank of Florida's Chassahowitzka River sparked criticism on social media and launched an investigation by wildlife officials. The pictures were widely reported by both Florida and national media outlets, as well as shared within several groups on Facebook. The Chassahowitzka River is located along the Gulf of Mexico in central Florida. Though some species of shark have been known to swim into brackish waters like estuaries and river mouths, it is uncommon for a saltwater shark to survive in the freshwater of rivers. Marine conservation organization Oceana noted in a blog post that freshwater rivers and lakes are generally unsuitable for species such as great white sharks, tiger sharks, and hammerhead sharks. At the time of writing, it is not yet known where the tiger shark was initially captured or how it wound up in the Chassahowitzka River. Snopes attempted to contact the photographers but did not hear back at the time of publication. In an email to Snopes, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) confirmed that the tiger shark had been caught in state waters in the Gulf of Mexico and was brought to the Chassahowitzka River. The FWC is aware of the incident that took place over the weekend on the Chassahowitzka River involving a tiger shark. The FWC takes this very seriously and is grateful to everyone who reported this incident. Tiger sharks are prohibited from harvest in state waters, wrote FWC Public Information Coordinator Karen Parker. FWC law enforcement officers have investigated this incident and have issued a Notice to Appear to two individuals for taking a prohibited species of shark. The two subjects currently have a Citrus County court date. Both individuals face a charge under 68B-44.004(3)(b), a ruling under the Florida Department of State that prohibits individuals from harvesting or possessing prohibited species from Florida waters. So named for the tiger-like vertical markings along their sides, tiger sharks are considered Near Threatened by The World Conservation Union and are protected from commercial and recreational harvest in Florida state waters. Neither person has been identified by law enforcement officials, but we will update the article as more information becomes available.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1aLM13QU4bJM3ypbMskn-xWgz9PFm7TqH","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_154","claim":"Was President Trump accused of pressuring Qatar to rescue Jared Kushner financially?","posted":"10\/18\/2018","sci_digest":["The president's son-in-law reportedly owes a $1 billion-plus mortgage on a building he purchased on Fifth Avenue in 2007."],"justification":"In October 2018, social media users shared a meme posted by the liberal Facebook page Occupy Democrats reporting a series of events involving Gulf states were the result of President Donald Trump and his son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner \"using American foreign policy to enrich themselves\":   Although the sequence of events referenced in the meme is described accurately according to reputable news reports, the motives, connections, and causality the meme ascribes to those events have not been proved. It is true that Jared Kushner, who is married to President Trump's eldest daughter Ivanka, was in need of over a billion dollars to cover the mortgage on 666 Fifth Avenue, a 41-story Manhattan building he purchased for $1.8 billion in 2007, as the New Yorker reported on 2 March 2018: reported Kushner Companies co-owns 666 Fifth Avenue with another developer, Vornado Realty. In 2007, at Jared Kushners urging, the company paid $1.8 billion for the building -- at the time, the highest price ever paid for a New York office tower. The property occupies a prime spot between Fifty-second and Fifty-third streets, but it was built in 1957 and needed extensive upgrades. It still has many vacancies, and the $1.2 billion mortgage, which reportedly has ballooned to almost $1.5 billion, is due in February, 2019. Right now, it is not entirely clear whether Kushner Companies is in a position to repay or refinance the loan. The company hoped to knock the building down and put up another, twice as tall and far more luxurious, in its place, Bloomberg reported. It sought funds from investors in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, China, South Korea, Israel and France. No investors were announced for the plan, described by many as prohibitively expensive. That same day, The Intercept reported that in April 2017, Kushner's father Charles, who runs the family's real estate firm Kushner Companies, had made a direct appeal for financing to Qatari Finance Minister Ali Sharif Al Emadi, which was followed shortly afterwards by the Saudi-led blockade of Qatar: reported The 30-minute meeting, according to two sources in the financial industry who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the potential transaction, included aides to both parties, and was held at a suite at the St. Regis Hotel in New York. A follow-up meeting was held the next day in a glass-walled conference room at the Kushner property itself, though Al Emadi did not attend the second gathering in person. The failure to broker the deal would be followed only a month later by a Middle Eastern diplomatic row in which Jared Kushner provided critical support to Qatars neighbors. Led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, a group of Middle Eastern countries, with Kushners backing, led a diplomatic assault that culminated in a blockade of Qatar. Kushner, according to reports at the time, subsequently undermined efforts by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to bring an end to the standoff. Middle Eastern diplomatic row subsequently undermined In May 2017, Qatar's Gulf neighbors commenced a blockade of that country, and within days President Trump tweeted his support of the blockage despite the fact that Qatar is home to Al Udeid Air Base, a key U.S. military installation: commenced tweeted During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar - look!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 6, 2017 June 6, 2017  In May 2018, the New York Times reported that the Kushner family was close to reaching a bailout deal for 666 Fifth Avenue with a company possessing Qatari government ties: reported Charles Kushner, head of the Kushner Companies, is in advanced talks with Brookfield Asset Management over a partnership to take control of the 41-story aluminum-clad tower in Midtown Manhattan, 666 Fifth Avenue, according to two real estate executives who have been briefed on the pending deal but were not authorized to discuss it. Brookfield is a publicly traded company, and its real estate arm, Brookfield Property Partners, is partly owned by the Qatari government, through the Qatar Investment Authority. And, the Trump administration around that time reversed course with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo telling the Saudis in April 2018 that it was time to end the blockade against Qatar. telling It's likely the meme gained momentum on social media in October 2018 due to scrutiny over Kushner and Trump's relationship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in light of the gruesome murder of Jamal Kashoggi.  scrutiny Kashoggi, a Saudi national and columnist for the Washington Post, went missing on 2 October 2018 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul seeking documents he needed to get married. According to reports citing Turkish government and U.S. intelligence sources, the Virginia resident never left the consulate, where he was ambushed by Saudi agents, tortured and murdered, and his body dismembered. ambushed Trump has resisted calls by U.S. lawmakers to impose sanctions on Saudi Arabia in retaliation for the journalist's apparent death, comparing global condemnation of the Gulf kingdom to accusations of sexual misconduct leveled against U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Trump told the Associated Press: \"Here we go again with, you know, you're guilty until proven innocent. I don't like that. We just went through that with Justice Kavanaugh and he was innocent all the way as far as I'm concerned.\" calls told Cassidy, John.  \"Jared Kushners Conflicts of Interest Reach a Crisis Point.\"\r  The New Yorker.  2 March 2018. Swisher, Clayton and Ryan Grim.  \"Jared Kushner's Real Estate Firm Sought Money Directly from Qatar Government Weeks Before Blockade.\"\r  The Intercept.  2 March 2018. Bagli, Charles V. and Jesse Drucker.  \"Kushners Near Deal with Qatar-Linked Company for Troubled Tower.\"\r  The New York Times.  17 May 2018. Kirkpatrick, David D. and Carlotta Gall.  \"Audio Offers Gruesome Details of Jamal Khashoggi Killing, Turkish Official Says.\"\r  The New York Times.  17 October 2018.","issues":["finance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1fbpTcxhTq4S3vm1p75q7fFRaOxKPrx-y"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_155","claim":"We ... sold the state airplanes as I had promised.","posted":"03\/08\/2011","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Florida Gov. Rick Scott couldn't help but bring up the sale of the two state airplanes during his first State of the State speech on March 8, 2011. Scott told a joint session of the Legislature that, We ... sold the state airplanes as I had promised. On that, there's no question. On Feb. 11, Scott authorized the sale of two state airplanes to out-of-state buyers.Scott directed the Department of Management Services to accept two bids that were revealed earlier this week, according to apress release. This sale of two state-owned airplanes will net the state of Florida more than $560,000 in savings this fiscal year, and it will eliminate the annual operating and leasing costs of $2.4 million per year.Burdening taxpayers with these ongoing expenses is irresponsible and not a core function for government to meet the state's critical needs, Scott said. The planes are a2000 King Air 350and a2003 Cessna Citation Bravo. TheSt. Petersburg Timesdescribed the buyers on Feb. 12: A Mexican-American oil-field services firm, Transportes Internacionales Tamaulipecos, bid $1.9 million for the Cessna jet, and the nine-passenger King Air prop plane brought a bid of $1.77 million from JNC Aircraft Sales of Washington, D.C. Now, the only question is whether those sales were legal. Powerful Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander has questioned the sale of the planes, saying they first needed the consent of the Legislature. You can read the specifics ofAlexander's claim here. But on the merits of Scott's claim, he's right. The planes are long gone. We rate this statement True.","issues":["State Budget","Florida"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_156","claim":"Cantor's campaign spent more at steakhouses than Brat spent on his entire campaign.","posted":"06\/11\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"This might not quite be the stat heard round the world, but politicos could not resist passing along one factoid that seemed to capture the improbability of House Majority Leader Eric Cantors, R-Va., stunning defeat in his primary race against Dave Brat. Cantor's campaign spent more at steak houses than Brat spent on his entire campaign, said Chuck Todd, host of MSNBCsThe Daily Rundown. Talk about a claim made for headlines and Twitter. Eric Cantor: Burned at the steakhouse, saidRolling Stonemagazine. High steaks politics and Wheres the beef popped up in the twittersphere. Theres no disputing the accuracy of the comparison, which first showed up in theNew York Times. According to campaign finance data collected by the Center for Responsive Politics,Cantor spent $168,000on fundraising events at three Virginia restaurants -- Bobby Vans Grill, Bobby Van's Steakhouse, and Blt Steak. Brat spent a little less than $123,000across the board for his campaign, according to the most recent campaign finance reports, which cover spending up until May 21, 2014. Overall, Cantor outspent Brat more than 40 to 1, according to available records, and still lost by 10 percentage points. Theres good reason for the collective astonishment -- this is a rare event. I can't think of any (case) in which the incumbent's spending advantage was so huge and he still lost, said Gary Jacobson, a political scientist at the University of California San Diego. Another political scientist, John Sides at George Washington University, has a database with about 9,100 House general election contests. Sides tracks which candidate won and which spent the most money. Being outspent was a clear disadvantage. In only 10 percent of races did the candidate who got outspent actually win, Sides said. Now, this concerns general elections, not primary contests like the one Cantor lost, but Sides said the pattern wouldnt change much. Money is a very tangible perk that comes with incumbency. The Center for Responsive Politics calculated the odds of a challenger beating an incumbent going back to 1998. In the best year, 2006, challengers who spent $1 million or less, like Brat, had a 1 percent chance of winning. In every other election, their odds were much worse. Our ruling Todd said that Cantor spent more at steakhouses than Brat did in his entire campaign. The latest campaign finance reports back that up. Cantor spent $168,000 on steakhouse dinnersto Brats $123,000 spent in the overall campaign. We rate the claim True.","issues":["Campaign Finance","PunditFact"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_157","claim":"Is This Joe and Hunter Biden Golfing with the Head of Burisma?","posted":"11\/02\/2020","sci_digest":["President Trump repeatedly asserted that Joe Biden improperly tried to help his sons business interests in Ukraine."],"justification":"In the closing days of the 2020 U.S. presidential campaign, social media users recirculated a photograph that played on campaign-long claims by President Donald Trump and his supporters, suggesting that Democratic nominee Joe Biden used his political influence while vice president to benefit Burisma, one of Ukraine's largest natural gas companies, because Biden's son Hunter was a non-executive director on that company's board. The much-shared photograph purportedly showed Joe and Hunter Biden golfing with the \"Ukraine oil exec paying Hunter $50K a month,\" thereby supposedly contradicting Joe Biden's claims that he had never spoken to his son about the latter's \"overseas business dealings.\" Which \"Ukraine oil exec\" is allegedly pictured isn't specified in the meme, but neither of the men posing with the Bidens is Burisma CEO Taras Burdeinyi or former Ukraine Ecology Minister and Burisma founder Mykola Zlochevsky. In fact, the photograph, taken in the Hamptons in 2014 while Joe Biden was still the U.S. vice president, does not depict the Bidens with any Ukrainian oil executives. It captures the Bidens with Devon Archer, who was a partner with Hunter Biden and Christopher Heinz in the investment management firm Rosemont Seneca Partners, and Ralph Pascucci, a New York investment banker. Although Archer was, like Hunter Biden, a member of the board of Burisma Holdings, neither Archer nor Pascucci is Ukrainian, and neither of those men is or was an \"oil exec paying Hunter $50K a month,\" so this photograph is correctly classified as \"Miscaptioned.\"","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1_YmW9hQ8r_5GsCtp_axllP3m77CMowXW","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_158","claim":"Did John Lennon Anticipate the Election of Donald Trump?","posted":"02\/06\/2017","sci_digest":["A dubious quote played on the unlikely idea of rock stars foretelling the political rise of Donald Trump."],"justification":"One prominent class of rumor associated with the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign was the notion that various prominent people had foretold the unlikely political ascendancy of Donald Trump decades in advance, including everyone from President Ronald Reagan to Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. In early 2017, another example of this class of rumor hit social media, claiming that former Beatle John Lennon had opined in 1981 that \"the only way we are going to get ourselves out of the messes we've created for ourselves is to find strong and independent leaders ... perhaps a businessman.\" The implication of this item was obvious: Lennon had presciently discerned, some thirty-five years in advance, the surprising rise of Donald Trump (a businessman who had never held any public office) to the Republican Party nomination and, ultimately, the White House. However, the notion that John Lennon actually said anything like the statement attributed to him above in 1981 (or at any other time) has several questionable aspects: 1) John Lennon was shot to death in December 1980, so he couldn't have said anything in 1981. 2) Nearly every word of every interview and public statement John Lennon gave during his adult lifetime has been documented and analyzed, yet we found no evidence that this putative quotation of his had been recorded and reproduced anywhere prior to its online appearance in 2017. 3) This statement doesn't even sound like something John Lennon would have said; if there was one group he held greater disdain for than politicians, it was businessmen. When the Beatles were attempting to gain a controlling interest in their publishing company, Northern Songs, in 1969, Lennon famously derailed negotiations at one point by reportedly proclaiming that he was sick of \"being fucked around by men in suits sitting on their fat arses in the City.\" If the former Beatle had proposed looking to someone other than politicians for leadership, his suggested alternative likely would have been anyone other than businessmen.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1pwWqkRpS9wT0zCBYRKUaLr5QcsA3OJT1","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_159","claim":"Did Trump Say 'There's Many Per Capitas'?","posted":"06\/08\/2020","sci_digest":["\"Per capita\" means the average per person and is often used in place of \"per person\" in statistical observances. "],"justification":"During the COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic of Spring 2020, one the familiar features of the daily news cycle was the White House coronavirus task force briefings, at which President Trump frequently spoke and answered questions from the press. Trump regularly boasted at these briefings about how the United States led the world in COVID-19 testing until he finally stomped out of one after being challenged by a reporter to explain why it was important to cast virus testing as if it were a global competition. CNBC reported that: boasted stomped President Donald Trump stormed out of a coronavirus press conference at the White House on Monday after becoming angry with two reporters, one who asked a question about testing, and another who didnt get to ask a question at all. The event in the Rose Garden was meant to give the president a chance to boast about the recent increases in testing, and Trump spoke and answered questions for nearly an hour. At around 5:15 p.m., CBS News White House correspondent Weijia Jiang asked Trump, You have said many times that the U.S. is doing far better than any other country when it comes to testing, to which Trump said, Yes. Jiang, who is Chinese American, continued, Why does that matter? Why is it global competition to you, if every day Americans are still losing their lives, and we are still seeing more cases every day? Theyre losing their lives everywhere in the world, Trump replied, And maybe thats a question you should ask China. Dont ask me. Ask China that question, okay? If you ask them that question, you may get a very unusual answer. As Trump proceeded to call on another reporter, Jiang followed up. Sir, why are you saying that to me, specifically? Im not saying it specifically to anybody, Trump responded, growing visibly irate. Im saying that to anyone who would ask a nasty question like that. Trump's boasts about America's being the world leader in testing led to many debates over the tests' accuracy, particularly in how \"most\" was being reckoned -- was it more accurate to count the gross number of tests being performed (which would generally be higher for countries with larger populations), or to measure the proportion of a country's population that had been tested to date, otherwise known as per capita testing (which is a better gauge of efficiency). CNN reported that: per capita Two giant signs at a White House press conference amplified a claim that President Donald Trump consistently makes: \"AMERICA LEADS THE WORLD IN TESTING\" \"We've prevailed on testing,\" Trump said, standing between the signs. While the US may have performed the most number of coronavirus tests, it's nowhere near the world's leader in testing per capita, multiple studies show. And health experts say the US isn't close to the rate of testing needed to safely reopen the economy. Some critics asserted that, based on responses offered by Trump when questioned about testing rates, that the president didn't even understand what \"per capita\" meant:  The remarks offered in the above meme are accurately reproduced. During a May 20, 2020, meeting with Governor Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas and Governor Laura Kelly of Kansas, Trump reiterated his common pronouncement that increased testing made the U.S. look bad in comparison by revealing a greater number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. than in other countries: meeting increased testing TRUMP: But when you do 14 million tests, youre going to find more cases. If instead of 14 million tests we did 3 million  like, Germany is at about 3 million; South Korea is at 3 million, and theyve done a very good job. Its not a knock, but were at almost 14 million. Were going to be passing 14 million very soon. So youre going to have more tests. If we do 3 million, everyone would say, Oh, were doing great, you know, in terms of cases. Were going to have more cases. If we did 3 million  maybe thats what we shouldve done. I said  if I wouldve done 3 million, theyd say, Oh, they have very few cases. United States is doing well. Were finding a lot of people. By doing testing, youre finding people. So were doing 14, Germany is doing 3, South Korea doing 3, and I think theyre number two and three. So were way ahead of everybody. But when you do that, you have more cases. So a lot of times, the fake news media will say, You know, there are a lot of cases in the United States. Well, if we didnt do testing at a level that nobody has ever dreamt possible, you wouldnt have very many cases. When asked about how U.S. testing compared to that of other countries on a per capita basis, Trump strangely asserted that \"there's many per capitas\" and questioned \"per capita relative to what?\": Q: How does [testing] compare to a per capita basis? Obviously, the United States is much larger than a lot of these European countries. How does our testing compare per capita to those nations? TRUMP: And, you know, when you say per capita, theres many per capitas. Its, like, per capita relative to what? But you can look at just about any category, and were really at the top, meaning positive on a per capita basis, too. Theyve done a great job. Trump appeared to be making the point that whichever metric one used, number of tests or per capita testing rate, the U.S. ranked as the highest in the world (although the latter claim was false). But his proclaiming that \"there's many per capitas\" and questioning what \"per capita relative to what\" was cryptic beyond explanation. latter claim The term per capita literally means \"by heads,\" or \"per person.\" Many different concepts can be measured on a per capita basis (anything from car ownership to hamburger consumption), but such measurements are always relative to one thing (i.e., number of people), as many commenters pointed out: per capita   Woodward, Aylin and Shayanne Gal.  \"Trump Says the US leads the World in Coronavirus Testing, But This Chart Shows How the Country Still Lags Behind in Tests per Capita.\"\r  Business Insider.  12 May 2020. Wilkie, Christina.  \"Trump Abruptly Ends Press Conference After Reporters Challenge Him on Coronavirus Testing.\"\r  CNBC.  11 May 2020. Yan, Holly.  \"Trump Says the US leads the World in Testing. But It's Far Behind in Testing per Capita, Studies Show.\"\r  CNN.  12 May 2020.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1SMH0-Ac34dRAZ0S3y8RqoGyRMyKyvuSk","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_160","claim":"DeGrasse Tyson Robbed 'a Dope Dealer in Harlem'","posted":"12\/26\/2016","sci_digest":["Astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson did not convey a bizarre tale of robbing a drug dealer of LSD when explaining the impetus for his career."],"justification":"In mid-2014 an odd image macro involving celebrity astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson began circulating, supposedly quoting Tyson as attributing his interest in astrological physics to stealing and consuming a large quantity of LSD as a young teenager: image macro circulating Let me tell you a story. When I was 13, I robbed a dope dealer in Harlem. The next day, I took 40 hits of LSD and stared at the sun for hours. That is the moment I knew that I had to become an astrological physicist. The quote was spread widely across social media, with many users wisely questioning whether the comment actually originated with Tyson: questioning  Although the image and its commentary were easily found in social media posts published from mid-2014 onward, what was missing from all of them was links to any credible direct or anecdotal evidence that the quote came from Tyson himself. Such a bizarre comment would certainly have been worthy of publication, but no news outlets ever covered the putative remarks or provided context for them. The words appear to exist only in image macro form. That the purported Neil DeGrasse Tyson quote referenced a notorious 1960s-era urban legend suggested it was an obvious fake.  And concise biographical information published about Tyson's early life states that his interest in science and space began at the age of nine, after he visited the sky theater of the Hayden Planetarium in New York. Neil DeGrasse Tyson urban legend","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=15GGTy9j8tFoYfqAcXQbN8J-uciARKfEz","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_161","claim":"Donald Trump Called Canadians 'Snow Mexicans'","posted":"06\/22\/2016","sci_digest":["A satirical image led many Twitter users to believe Donald Trump had referred to Canadians as \"snow Mexicans.\""],"justification":"In late May 2016, Twitter users were circulating a rumor that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump had derisively referred to Canadians as \"Snow Mexicans\": @ViewFromWise Did you happen to sew his post about Canadians the other day? He called them \"Snow Mexicans\". No lie, total truth. Wow!!! @ViewFromWise  Stephanie Barrett (@imfrog2) May 31, 2016 May 31, 2016  @GaryRayBetz @ViewFromWise Well he recently called Canadians \"Snow Mexicans\". I came across that on Twitter about 2 weeks ago. Wow.  Stephanie Barrett (@imfrog2) June 6, 2016 @GaryRayBetz @ViewFromWise June 6, 2016  Documentation for this rumor eventually appeared in the form of a purported screenshot of a tweet from Donald Trump's official Twitter account bearing a 22 February 2016 date stamp:  However, some elements of that screenshot didn't match Twitter's interface, suggesting it had been fabricated.  Indeed, Donald Trump's Twitter account issued a tweet at the very same time shown on the screenshot (6:31 PM Eastern Standard Time on 22 February 2016), but it had nothing to do with Canadians and made no mention of \"snow Mexicans\": tweet  It is fairly obvious the \"snow Mexicans\" comment was not an authentic Trump tweet, but rather an altered version of a tweet that referenced sending \"illegals\" out of the U.S.  And given the news media's intense coverage of Trump's sometimes incendiary remarks (on Twitter and elsewhere), it's exceedingly unlikely the GOP candidate could have issued such a comment without its having generated widespread media interest. ","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1SZdsmJrGopFodsKMeYuwX2dYT5HIA2q0","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1KELIw4xr6HtHWl1nKy-2daWbbVuuE5no","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_162","claim":"Could a Case Currently Before the Supreme Court Result in a Stronger Presidential Pardon?","posted":"10\/03\/2018","sci_digest":["Gamble v. United States concerns a felon who was arrested for possession of a firearm. It could also have significant bearing on the Presidents much vaunted pardon power."],"justification":"This article discussed the potential implications of a case that was, at the time of writing, undecided by the Supreme Court. On 17 June 2019 the Supreme Court decided that case, rejecting arguments that could have resulted in a stronger presidential pardon. Far from Kavanaugh's being a deciding vote on the case, the court ruled 7-2 against the notion that Federal and State prosecution for the same crime violates the so-called double jeopardy clause of the Constitution. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Neil M. Gorsuch dissented. decided On 29 November 2015, a motorist named Terance Gamble, who had been convicted of second degree robbery seven years earlier, was pulled over by an Alabama police officer because of a faulty headlight on his vehicle. Upon searching the car, the officer found a handgun, among other items. It is illegal under both Alabama law and United States law for convicted felons to possess firearms, and Gamble was eventually sentenced to one year in prison on that charge by the state of Alabama. Terance Gamble During Gamble's prosecution under Alabama law for possession of a firearm as a felon, the Federal Government also charged him with the same crime. Gambles lawyers argued that this second conviction was a violation of the U.S. Constitutions ban on double jeopardy, which is intended to protect people from being prosecuted for the same crime more than once. The double jeopardy clause is found in Fifth Amendment to the U.S. constitution, which states (in part) that \"No person shall ... be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb. Specifically, the clause has been interpreted to be a prohibition on: interpreted Gamble has been in federal prison since entering a guilty plea on 18 October 2016 that allowed him to appeal his case. In June 2018, the Supreme Court agreed to hear his argument that he has been unconstitutionally punished multiple times for the same crime. While the case is about the constitutionality of a man being charged twice for the same gun possession incident in a narrow sense, the case more broadly has the potential to significantly alter 150 years of Supreme Court precedent. Since the 1850s, the Supreme Court has allowed for one explicit exception to the Constitutions double jeopardy protections: cases of dual sovereignty (or separate sovereigns) which stem from view that the federal government and state governments are distinct entities with occasionally overlapping jurisdictions. (Exceptions to this exception exist which seek to limit double prosecutions at the federal level, but as this case shows they do not always have that effect.) federal level, This separate sovereigns exception to double jeopardy, though built on several previous rulings, was made most explicit in a 1920s bootlegging case, United States v. Lanza, which allowed a man to be charged with bootlegging crimes by both the state of Washington and the federal government. With respect to that case, Chief Justice William Howard Taft argued: United States v. Lanza We have here two sovereignties, deriving power from different sources, capable of dealing with the same subject matter within the same territory. Each may, without interference by the other, enact laws to secure prohibition, with the limitation that no legislation can give validity to acts prohibited by the amendment. Each government, in determining what shall be an offense against its peace and dignity, is exercising its own sovereignty, not that of the other. The separate sovereigns exemption has for much of its history been a controversial precedent which critics maintain is not rooted in the original text of the Constitution but is instead cobbled together from different partially relevant Supreme Court decisions -- decisions rooted in a time when the federal government was less powerful and whose questions never directly sought to address the explicit matter of double punishment for the same crime in state and federal jurisdictions. This argument is reflected in Gambles filing. filing The government argues in this case that the precedent is well-established through myriad Supreme Court cases and consistent with the Founding Fathers' vision of state and federal government duality: The dual-sovereignty principle has been long held, and consistently endorsed by this Court, which has recognized its soundness as a matter of [p]recedent, experience, and reason alike, The Court explained the roots of the principle more than 150 years ago. And in 1959, the Court described a challenge to the dual-sovereignty doctrine as not a new question, having been invoked and rejected in over twenty cases\" ... Each sovereign is entitled to exercis[e] its own sovereignty to determin[e] what shall be an offense against its peace and dignity and prosecute the offender without interference by the other. Under petitioners interpretation of the Double Jeopardy Clause, one sovereigns efforts (successful or not) to enforce its own laws would vitiate the other sovereigns similar law-enforcement prerogatives. But that cannot be squared with the Constitutions bedrock structure of governance. In this case, Gamble has explicitly asked the Supreme Court to rule on a single specific question: Whether the Court should overrule the separate sovereigns exception to the Double Jeopardy Clause. The reason Gamble v. United States is generating buzz from people other than constitutional law scholars is that the separate sovereigns exception also prevents President Trump from pardoning people for state crimes. Under current Supreme Court precedent, a presidential pardon of an individual does not prevent that individual from being prosecuted for the same or similar crimes under state law. Under the dual sovereignty doctrine, Adam J. Adler wrote in the Yale Law Review, as long as two offenses are defined by different jurisdictions, they cannot constitute the same offense. wrote The Congressional Research Service issued an August 2018 report on the potential ramifications of the case, and this report included a discussion of its possible effect on the presidential pardon power: report The Gamble case may nevertheless have significant collateral legal effects ... A win for Gamble could also indirectly strengthen the Presidents pardon power, by precluding a state from prosecuting an already-pardoned defendant who has gone to trial on an overlapping offense. Some pundits have speculated that the reason why certain politicians seem to be in a rush to seat Judge Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court is that is that he has a notably strong view of presidential powers and therefore would be a vote in favor of Gamble and for an expansion of presidential pardon powers -- and the Supreme Court announced they would be hearing this case the day after Justice Kennedys retirement. This temporal proximity has prompted some commenters to opine that the rush might be motivated by a desire to limit the presidents legal liability in the Russia probe and other investigations: strong view day after   While we cannot speculate on the motives of politicians who are supporting Judge Kavanaugh's nomination, The Atlantic reported that prominent political legal scholars agree in a general sense with the view of this cases having importance with regard to President Trumps pardon power: reported Within the context of the Mueller probe, legal observers have seen the dual-sovereignty doctrine as a check on President Donald Trumps power: It could discourage him from trying to shut down the Mueller investigation or pardon anyone caught up in the probe, because the pardon wouldnt be applied to state charges. Under settled law, if Trump were to pardon his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, for example -- he was convicted in federal court on eight counts of tax and bank fraud -- both New York and Virginia state prosecutors could still charge him for any crimes that violated their respective laws ... If the dual-sovereignty doctrine were tossed ... then Trumps pardon could theoretically protect Manafort from state action. If Trump were to shut down the investigation or pardon his associates, the escape hatch, then, is for cases to be farmed out or picked up by state-level attorneys general, who cannot be shut down by Trump and who generally -- but with some existing limits --can charge state crimes even after a federal pardon, explained Elie Honig, a former assistant U.S. attorney in New Jersey. The Atlantic also reported that at least one member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who approved Kavanaugh for a floor vote before the full Senate, Orrin Hatch, has publicly weighed in on the topic (unmotivated, he says, by the implications for the pardon power), filing an Amicus Curiae brief in favor of Gamble which argued that the pervasive federalization of criminal law to cover conduct that traditionally was prosecuted and punished by the states, and that falls within the states core legislative interests, threatens to undermine the protections of the Double Jeopardy Clause unless the dual sovereignty doctrine is overruled in this context. Amicus Curiae Oral arguments for the case have not been scheduled but will occur during this Supreme Court term. If confirmed, Judge Kavanaugh could become a deciding vote in the case. Supreme Court of the United States.  Brief for Petitioner (No. 17-646).\"\r  24 October 2017. Cornell Legal Information Institute.  Double Jeopardy.\"\r  Accessed 3 October 2018. U.S. Department of Justice.  9-2.031 - Dual and Successive Prosecution Policy (\"Petite Policy\").\"\r  Accessed 3 October 2018. Supreme Court of the United States.  United States v. Lanza, 260 U.S. 377.\"\r  11 December 1922. Supreme Court of the United States.  Brief for the United States in Opposition (No. 17-646).\"\r  16 January 2018. Adler, Adam J.  \"Dual Sovereignty, Due Process, and Duplicative Punishment: A New Solution to an Old Problem.\"\r  Yale Law Journal.  November 2014. Hsin, S.  \"When Does Double Prosecution Count as Double Jeopardy?\"\r  Congressional Research Service.  16 August 2018. Kirby, Jen.  \"7 Legal Experts on How Kavanaugh Views Executive Power  And What It Could Mean for Mueller.\"\r  Vox.  11 July 2018. Vazquez, Maegan.  \"Supreme Court Agrees to Hear 'Double Jeopardy' Case in the Fall.\"\r  CNN.  22 June 2018. Bertrand, Natasha.  \"A Supreme Court Case Could Liberate Trump to Pardon His Associates.\"\r  The Atlantic.  25 September 2018 Supreme Court of the United States.  Brief of Senator Orrin Hatch as Amicus Curiae in Support of Petitioner (No. 17-646).\"\r  11 September 2018. Updated [17 June 2019]: Added note that the Supreme Court ruled on this case. ","issues":["collateral"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1euQabnjrU--6xrYGupqhmZGEgMPyycxk","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_163","claim":"Hand-Feeding Hummingbirds","posted":"11\/03\/2006","sci_digest":["Photographs show a woman hand-feeding hummingbirds."],"justification":"Claim:  Photographs show a woman hand-feeding hummingbirds.   . Examples:  [Collected via e-mail, 2006] Hand Feeding Hummingbirds Something I have never seen before, nor ever even heard of. This lady lives in a Hummingbird fly zone. As they migrated, about 20 of them were in her yard. Just for a lark, she took the little red dish and filled it with sugar water and these are the results.             (Photographs  2006 Sam & Abigail Alfano) Origins:   Most  of us see hummingbirds as shy, skittish little creatures that dart away if they so much as think someone is looking at them, so the idea that (as pictured above) these tiny birds would willingly come to land and feed on a person's hand seems rather remarkable.  However, training hummingbirds to hand-feed is not as difficult as one might think and can be accomplished with the right approach and a bit of patience. hand-feed The images displayed here were taken from the gallery ofphotographer Sam Alfano of Pine, Louisiana, who snapped pictures of his wife Abigail feeding hummingbirds in September 2006.   As Mrs. Alfano told us: gallery I am Abigail Alfano, Sam's wife, the lady in the photos. Thank you for your interest. We are amazed by how much attention these photos have recieved. If I had any idea that they would have circulated all over the world like they have, I would have worn make-up that morning!!!! :-) Due to the tremendous popularity these pictures achieved after they were circulated (without attribution) via e-mail, Abigail put up a web page identifying herself as the \"Hummingbird Lady\" and providing her and her husband's explanations of the photos' origins and spread across the Internet: web page I am Abigail Alfano, the woman in the photos. My husband, Sam is the photographer. We live in Pine, Louisiana which is approximately 1 1\/2 hours north of New Orleans.This year we had more hummingbirds in our yard than I ever recall. The feeder sits right outside of my window where I drink my morning coffee. I remember watching the birds one morning and telling my husband that I wish I could just hold one! We decided to give it a shot. Over the course of several days, I would simply stand beside the feeder so that they would get used to my presence. Then, I began putting my hands around the feeder so that in order to drink they had to land on my fingers. I was amazed at how quickly they were willing to do this.  The next step was to remove the feeder and place a small red cap on an old milk can in the same area. They eventually found the small replacement and began feeding. The morning the photos were taken, I simply went outside and filled the cap with the sugar water, placed it in the palm of my hand, and sat very very still. Within ten minutes, they were resting in my hands, drinking. It was sheer delight for me! I was even able to move my hands around a bit with the birds on my fingers. They are light as a feather ... and simply beautiful. I can't wait until next year.  On September 14, 2006 my wife Abigail decided she'd like to 'touch' one of the 20 or 30 hummingbirds that were swarming around our feeder at the peak of their migration. With patience and determination she accomplished her goal. I am her husband Sam, and I shot the photos of her hand-feeding hummingbirds in our yard here in near Franklinton, Louisiana.  On September 20th the [Franklinton] Era Leader newspaper published the photos on the front page. We then emailed them to a few of our friends and had no idea they would quickly be forwarded around the world. Many of our friends have called or emailed us saying they were forwarded photos of a lady feeding hummingbirds, and it was Abigail! Had I known the photos would spread like wildfire, I would have put our names on them. Unfortunately, as the Alfanos noted, someone else used one of these images to win a weekly photo contest held by TV station WTVQ in Lexington, Kentucky, submitting the photo and falsely claiming that she was the woman whose hands were pictured therein. Last updated:  3 November 2006  ","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1itSl3WBF4bEfZrlvMskWaUKOIM2nQZBs","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=19A914Hkx6qf2cPPxDX5lpclljSfBqhh3","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1swO6PxJwhSvBA8uRCALha56lkcSraynX","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Ts7F-VVw6Ld0fUZjcdn5L2ddzbQdPE0l","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_164","claim":"Did Nostradamus prophesy that the world would descend into chaos following the reign of a weak leader?","posted":"01\/19\/2021","sci_digest":["Nostradamus has been credited with accurately predicting dozens of historical events."],"justification":"A four-line poem, also known as a quatrain, allegedly written by 16th-century philosopher Michel de Nostradamus, described predictions of a future plague that would fall upon the world. Some assumed that this so-called plague referred to the COVID-19 pandemic, which Snopes has previously debunked. The alleged quatrain went on to describe a feeble man who was set to rule the western world with a jezebel after the plague. According to Snopes readers, renditions of this poem appeared to suggest that this man and jezebel either referred to U.S. President Donald Trump or President-elect Joe Biden, depending on the person sharing the poem. In the end, this foolish ruler will cause the great eagle\u2014presumably the United States\u2014to suffer and fall. The meme below circulated in early 2021. It is unclear where this quatrain originated or who the original poster was. Nostradamus, who was also a French physician, first published Les Proph\u00e9ties in 1555. It is thought that his collection of poems, which are compiled in ten sets of verses of 100 quatrains each, contains mythological and astrological predictions for the future world. In the centuries that followed his original publication, he has remained prominent in modern popular culture, often among internet users who share fabricated predictions falsely attributed to him. Nostradamus is credited with accurately predicting many historical events, according to Rare Books Digest. Although many of his poems are largely vague and could apply to a number of events, some of his predictions do come eerily close to actual occurrences. However, the meme in question does not appear to make that list. A look through The Compleat Works of Nostradamus did not reveal any mention of a jezebel or a feeble man. While the word plague was mentioned more than 30 times in the Nostradamus text, there is no instance where it occurs alongside the same wording as in the meme. Furthermore, it is also important to note that the quatrains written by Nostradamus do not follow chronological order. So, while they may be broken down into what the author considered to be centuries, these do not directly translate to the century in which any prediction was anticipated to occur.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ElL7ZQzsuMClse7IfhIfNhwHzSwhiUcg"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_165","claim":"Did Fred Rogers Invite a Black Police Officer To Join Him In a Pool?","posted":"05\/22\/2021","sci_digest":["At that time, Black people were denied the right to swim in the same pools as white people in different parts of the U.S."],"justification":"Childrens television show host Fred Rogers led the way on breaking many barriers. One famous instance took place on an episode of Mister Rogers Neighborhood, when Rogers, a white man, dipped his feet in a wading pool alongside Francois Clemmons, a Black man. instance The episode, which aired in May 1969, broke color barriers at a time when Black people were barred from using swimming pools around the United States on account of their race. Civil unrest over segregated pools was also ongoing. That year, the Supreme Court ruled that pool access was a property right that could not be limited by race. broke ruled Decades later, the following meme circulated online:    Clemmons, who played Officer Clemmons on the show, was not a real police officer but an actor. During the episode, Clemmons visits Rogers in his neighborhood on a hot day, and Rogers invites him to dip his feet in a wading pool with him. Rogers also offers to share the same towel. The original clip from 1969 can be seen here at the 1:28 mark:    The meme above shows a photograph from when the scene was recreated by Clemmons and Rogers more than two decades after the original pool scene:   Clemmons reflected on the famous scene in an interview with WBUR's \"Here and Now\": interview I thought [that moment] was kind of light. I was expecting something like maybe calling [Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.] up or calling the president up or saying, you know, this is amoral and some kind of curse on these people, and he didn't do that at all. He said, 'Come, come sit with me.' And he said, 'You can share my towel.' My God, those were powerful words. It was transformative to sit there with him, thinking to myself, 'Oh, something wonderful is happening here. This is not what it looks like. It's much bigger.' And many people, as I've traveled around the country, share with me what that particular moment meant to them, because he was telling them, 'You cannot be a racist.' And one guy or more than that, but one particularly I'll never forget, said to me, When that program came on, we were actually discussing the fact that black people were inferior. And Mister Rogers cut right through it, he said. And he said essentially that scene ended that argument. Given that the scene took place and broke color barriers during a time when seeing a Black person in a pool with a white person was a civil rights issue, but Clemmons himself was not a real police officer, we rate this claim as true. ","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1NeFzk7_RYYPHkyFkvfcy9BTbfpawkHRr","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_166","claim":"Illegal immigrants mow the grass around the (Texas) Capitol.","posted":"11\/27\/2015","sci_digest":[],"justification":" Commenting on Gov. Greg Abbott pressing sheriffs to detain individuals living in the country without legal authorization, a reader brought up workers who groom the grounds of the Texas Capitol. Illegal immigrants mow the grass around the Capitol,said a Facebook commentposted Nov. 10, 2015, in reaction to theAustin American-Statesmans summary of the papers Nov. 5, 2015,news storyabout Abbott telling Texas sheriffs he might withhold criminal justice grant aid if they dont fully comply with federal requests for detaining criminal immigrants held in their jails. The newspaper published that comment, among others, prompting us to wonder: Do undocumented workers really mow the Capitol lawn? We attempted to reach the commenter to see how he reached his conclusion and didnt hear back. Nationally, according to a July 2015web postby the Pew Research Center, undocumented immigrants make up 5.1 percent of the nations labor force. In the U.S. labor force, the post says, there were 8.1 million unauthorized immigrants either working or looking for work in 2012. Among the states, Nevada (10%), California (9%), Texas (9%) and New Jersey (8%) had the highest shares of unauthorized immigrants in their labor forces. Closer to home, we reached the State Preservation Board, which manages the Capitol and nearby state facilities. By email, spokesman Chris Currens said the board contracts with a private company to care for the grounds and that company is required to use the onlinefederal E-Verify system, authorized by Congress in 1996, which enables users to determine whether employees are citizens or have a required visa to work legally here. In short,the government says, employers submit information taken from a new hire's Form I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification Form) through E-Verify to the Social Security Administration and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to determine whether the information matches government records and whether the new hire is authorized to work in the United States. U.S. employers submit the Form I-9 for each employee; on the form, an employee must attest to his or her employment authorization. In addition, agovernment summarysays, the employee must present his or her employer with acceptable documents showing who they are and that theyre eligible to work in the country. Documents that fit the description, according to the form, include passports and permanent resident or alien registration cards. A note: E-Verify may be a flawed method of weeding out ineligible workers. In a July 2015report,the Cato Institute pointed out that a government-commissioned analysis estimated that 54 percent of unauthorized workers submitted to E-Verify were incorrectly found to be work authorized because of rampant document fraud. The citedWestat report, published in 2009, elaborated: This finding is not surprising, given that since the inception of E-Verify it has been clear that many unauthorized workers obtain employment by committing identity fraud that cannot be detected by E-Verify. An upshot,Alex Nowrastehof Cato told us by phone, is that even if workers cleared E-Verify, that doesnt mean theyre legal. Back to Texas: In December 2014, then-Gov. Rick Perry ordered agencies to use E-Verify. Perry told reporters then that 17 agencies already employed the system. Currens told us the State Preservation Board initially placed a clause requiring contractors to use E-Verify in April 2009 and grounds contracts have included the clause ever since. Also, Currens noted, each contract requires the contractor to certify that each employee is in compliance with federal immigration laws. The current Capitol groundskeeping contract, which is withClean Scapes, an Austin company, requires the contractor to subject employees to pre-employment and annual criminal background checks. The company also must obtain photocopies of the workers drivers license or state-issued photo identification and Social Security card or Resident Alien work visa\/identification card. And the company  must provide documentation showing that this request has been met for all employees working on preservation-board-overseen properties. We asked the agency for the latest documentation. By email, Currens sent anundated noticeto the board from Marilu Sanchez, a Clean Scapes human resources specialist, stating the company had run E-Verify for six employees, each one listed by name. Currens said the notice was submitted to cover the workers at the Capitol in the fiscal year that ended Aug. 31, 2015. By phone, Carmen Zayas, a Clean Scapes vice president, said the landscaping company has long checked all its workers through the E-Verify system. People are always going to make assumptions about the landscaping industry employing immigrants without legal permission to live here, Zayas said. We take that process as seriously as anyone can. By email, Currens told us the board is confident that the groundskeeping workers have proper legal status. Our ruling A Facebook comment published in theAmerican-Statesmansaid: Illegal immigrants mow the grass around the (Texas) Capitol. If so, such immigrants have fooled the federal E-Verify system and the agency that oversees the Capitol grounds. We rate the claim False. FALSE The statement is not accurate. Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.","issues":["Immigration","Economy","Jobs","Texas"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1mIz0tSJ1loxopksH5JnTps7K-f7nY15V","image_caption":"Austin American-Statesman"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_167","claim":"Codex Alimentarius","posted":"02\/15\/2005","sci_digest":["Are American consumers at risk of losing their right to purchase and use vitamins, minerals, and dietary supplements?"],"justification":"Claim:  The 'Codex Alimentarius' will eliminate U.S. consumers' rights to purchase and use vitamins, minerals, and dietary supplements.     : In June 2005 the U.S. was forced to accept Codex Alimentarius regulation of vitamins, minerals, and dietary supplements.  OUTDATED: Bills proposing the regulation of dietary supplements are currently before Congress.  : In June 2010, President Obama signed Codex Alimentarius regulations into law by Executive Order. Examples:  [Collected via e-mail, 2005] Your right to choose your vitamin, mineral and other supplements may end in June of this year (2005). After that U.S. supplements will be defined and controlled by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The CODEX ALIMENTARIUS (Food Code) is setting the supplement standards for all countries in the WTO. They will be enforced by the WTO and will over ride U.S. laws. The U.S. President and Congress agreed to this take-over when the WTO Treaty was signed. Violations are punished by WTO trade sanctions. CODEX drastically restricts vitamins, minerals, herbs and other supplements. CODEX met secretly in November, 2004 and finalized \"Step 8 (the final stage)\" to begin implementation in June, 2005. The CODE includes:(1) No supplement can be sold for preventive or therapeutic use.(2) Any potency higher than RDA (minimal strength) is a \"drug\" requiring a prescription and must be produced by drug companies. Over 5000 safe items now in health stores will be banned, terminating health stores as we now know them.(3) CODEX regulations become binding internationally.(4) New supplements are banned unless given very expensive CODEX testing and approval. CODEX now applies to Norway and Germany, among others, where zinc tablets rose from $4 per bottle to $52. Echinacea (an ancient immune-enhancement herb) rose from $14 to $153 (both examples are now allowed by prescription only). They are now \"drugs\". Vitamin C above 200 mg, niacin above 32 mg, vitamin B6 above 4 mg  all are banned over-the-counter as drugs. No amino acids (arginine, lysine, carnitine, etc. = essential amino acids!), essential fatty acids (omegas 3, 6, 9, etc.), or other essential supplements such as DMEA, DHEA, CoQ10, MSM, beta-carotene, etc. are allowed. The CODEX rules are not based on real science. They are made by a few people meeting in secret (see web sites below), not necessarily scientists. In 1993 the FDA and drug corporations tried to put all supplements under restriction and prescription. But over 4 million Americans told Congress and the President to protect their freedom of choice on health supplements. The DSHEA Law was passed in 1994, which does so. But this will be over ruled by CODEX and the World Trade Organization. Virtually nothing about it has been in the media. What the drug corporations have failed to do through Congress they have gotten by sneak attack through CODEX with the help of a silent media. What can be done at this late hour? (1) Spread the word as much as possible. Inform yourselves fully at https:\/\/www.ahha.org, www.iahf.com and www.alliance-natural-health.org.(2) Oppose bills S. 722 and H.R. 3377. These support the CODEX restrictions with U.S. laws, changing the DSHEA law.(3) Support H.R. 1146 which would restore the sovereignty of the U.S. Constitution over CODEX, etc.(4) Express your wishes to the President, Senators and Representatives (They got us into this!) ASAP.(5) Contact multi-level health marketing groups that can get their members to inform the government.(6) Send donations, however small, to the British Alliance for Natural Health (see web site above). It has succeeded in challenging the CODEX directives in World Court later this month or next. They need helpfinancially, having carried the fight effectively for everyone. CODEX and the FDA wish to protect us by controlling supplements in the same way they do prescription drugs. A study of the latter by three medical scientists was reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, April 15, 1998  Vol. 279, No.15, p. 1200 \"Incidence of Adverse Drug Reactions (ADR's) was found to beextremely high.\" Covering 30 years (1966 to 1996) it was found that in the U.S. an average of 106,000 hospitalized patients per year (290 per day) die from ADR's and 2,200,000 need more hospitalization for recovery. These were FDA approved drugs, properly administered by competent professionals in hospitals  none were considered malpractice. This is the number four cause of death in the U.S. When combined, these account for 7% of all hospitalized patients. This is equivalent to a 9-11 attack every ten days. There are very few fatalities from supplements or the news would be on every front page. There is no need for more FDA control of supplements than is already in place, which is substantial. Instead of drastically restricting supplements, why doesn't the FDA better control and restrict the extremely dangerous pharmaceutical drugs which are now killing us at the rate of a major airline crash per day? Wallace G. Heath, Ph.D.1145 Marine Drive Bellingham, WA 98225www.pulseplus@earthlink.net Origins:  This e-mailed alert began circulating on the Internet in January 2005. Although the call to arms is worded in such a way as to convince those who receive that their right to purchase vitamins, minerals, and dietary supplements in the U.S. is about to be lost to them unless they act decisively in defense of it, it is outdated and the facts of what is being considered by American lawmakers and why are radically dissimilar from the red cape being waved.  First of all, this is another case of an issue that is now largely moot due to outdated information. Back in 2003, two versions of a bill that proposed the regulation of dietary supplements (S. 722, the \"Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2003,\" and H.R. 3377, the \"Dietary Supplement Access and Awareness Act\") were introduced to Congress.  Neither of these bills was ever voted upon, much less passed.  They both expired with the end of the 108th Congress in 2004 and have not been reintroduced to the currently sitting 109th Congress. S. 722 H.R. 3377 Moreover, neither of these items of potential legislation was forced on the U.S. by an outside regulatory body, nor did they say anything about restricting the American public's access to vitamins and minerals. Their sole target was dietary supplements, a class of products that has been unregulated since 1994, when Congress passed legislation that exempted them from federal regulation. Claims that your right to take vitamins and minerals is about to be impaired or that you will require doctors' prescriptions to obtain such products should be regarded as attempts at rabble-rousing, deliberate moves to spur you into action against one thing by convincing you that something very different and far closer to your heart is at stake. Vitamins and minerals are not under the gun. Dietary supplements are. And no outside regulatory body is behind this move: the proposed legislation is the work of American lawmakers looking to safeguard the public from the unscrupulous and the hazardous. If you take nothing else from this article, take the preceding three sentences. Despite their presence on store shelves, not all dietary supplements are safe for consumers to use, let alone are beneficial to their health. Products can be 100% natural yet deliver a deadly payload, as have some in the past. Lacking regulation of such ingestibles, there is no protection afforded consumers, and  authoritative-looking labels are no guarantee that what is being vended in those bottles they envelop is not harmful. Under current law, dangerous supplements get onto the market and stay there, with serious physical harm resulting among those who use them, as was the case with ephedra, which caused strokes, heart attacks, and upwards of 150 deaths before the Food and Drug Administration was finally able to get it out of the stores. In 2004, according to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, almost one in five Americans (19%) reported using a supplement, which means the pool of folks at risk is great. Yet the incentives are there for the dietary supplement industry to keep on doing what it has been doing: in 2002, it reported $18.7 billion in sales. With so much profit at stake, there is little desire on the part of manufacturers to police themselves or their products all that carefully.  It's not just about inherently dangerous substances being sold to the unwary as the latest miracle answer for what ails them  even when dietary supplements contain nothing obviously harmful, the current lack of regulation results in improperly manufactured or contaminated products reaching the public. Quality control is missing. Absent regulation, consumers have little reason to trust they are getting the dosage they believe they are taking. ConsumerLab.com, an independent laboratory that tests dietary supplements, found that some name-brand products contain only small quantities of the active ingredient on their label. \"Some have none, some have 80 percent, some have 20 percent,\" Dr. Tod Cooperman, president of the lab, told ABC News. Also, some contaminated supplements reach the market and thus fall into the hands of unknowing consumers. In December 2004, pesticide was found in ginseng being vended on the East Coast, and heavy metals such as mercury and arsenic were discovered in herbal supplements. Two bills put before Congress in 2003 looked to regulate dietary nostrums by imposing quality and safety standards on them, and giving the FDA the ability to take them off the market before a great number of folks have been harmed by them. In March 2003, Senator Richard Durbin introduced bill S. 722, the \"Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2003\" in the U.S. Senate. The purpose of this legislation was to \"protect consumers from dangerous dietary supplements such as ephedra and other stimulants by requiring manufacturers to submit proof that their product is safe prior to bringing it to market.\" The bill would require manufacturers of the most dangerous types of dietary supplements (stimulants) to submit proof of their products' safety prior to bringing them to market. The bill also expands the FDA's authority to require from any dietary supplement maker proof of its product's safety if that agency has received information suggesting the product is causing death or other serious adverse health effects. It would also require manufacturers to report serious adverse health events (e.g.; heart attack, seizure, stroke, death), to the FDA no later than 15 calendar days after they learn of them. The bill also looks to close a loophole in current law that, according to Senator Durbin, \"has been exploited by many dietary supplement manufacturers, allowing anabolic steroids to be sold widely as dietary supplements\" by clarifying that anabolic steroids are not dietary supplements and are subject to regulation that restricts their availability under the Controlled Substances Act. S. 722 In October 2003, Representatives Susan Davis (D-CA), Henry Waxman (D-CA) and John Dingell (DMI) introduced bill H.R. 3377, the \"Dietary Supplement Access and Awareness Act\" in the U.S. House of Representatives. This legislation would increase the FDA's authority over dietary supplements, enabling that agency to monitor the health risks of dietary supplements and take appropriate action if problems develop. The proposed law was not intended to have any impact on the regulation of vitamins and minerals, which are specifically excluded from the bill. In addition, for dietary supplements that contain herbs, amino acids, and other botanicals, the bill will ensure that FDA has basic information about who makes them and the products' ingredients. It would also require dietary supplement manufacturers to provide FDA with information about all adverse events, so that the agency could spot warning signs and investigate if necessary. It further allows the FDA to prohibit sales to minors of supplements that may cause significant harm to children. Finally, it allows the FDA to demand safety information from a manufacturer if the FDA has evidence that a particular supplement may pose serious risks.  H.R. 3377 Getting back to the e-mail's claim that a foreign regulatory body is behind all this, we address the claim that: Your right to choose your vitamin, mineral and other supplements may end in June of this year (2005). After that U.S. supplements will be defined and controlled by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The Codex Alimentarius Commission was created in 1962 by two United Nations organizations, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization. It is the body of government representatives and non-governmental organizations charged by the United Nations with establishing a reference for  international guidelines on food law.  However, it has no power to force its will on any nation. Codex standards are voluntary; no country is obligated to adopt them. In November 2004, the Codex Alimentarius Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU) reached agreement on the definitions and regulatory guidelines for the worldwide use of vitamins and minerals in food supplements and presented its \"Guidelines for Vitamin and Mineral Food Supplements\" to the Codex annual meeting in Rome in July 2005.  The Codex guidelines form a reference point that may be used in cases of international trade disputes in the area of food supplements. That, in a nutshell, is the extent of its teeth. Guidelines for Vitamin and Mineral Food Supplements In the latter half of 2010, erroneous claims began to circulate claiming that President Obama had signed Codex Alimentarius regulations into law via Executive Order.  In fact, the referenced order simply  in accordance with recently passed health care reform legislation (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act)  established the National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council within the Department of Health and Human Services in order to provide federal coordination and leadership of \"prevention, wellness, and health promotion practices, the public health system, and integrative health care in the U.S.\"  The council so established has no specific power or mandate to regulate the sales of vitamins, minerals, and dietary supplements. Executive Order Barbara \"vitaminimized\" Mikkelson Additional information:      Codex Alimentarius  (World Health Organization)  Last updated:  15 August 2010    Sumner Burstyn, Barbara.  \"Conventional Medicine Far Riskier Than Supplements.\"   The New Zealand Herald.  16 July 2003.    Community Pharmacy.  \"Ruled Maximum Levels for Vitamins and Minerals.\"   12 August 2004.  (p. 5).    Europe Agri.  \"International Agreement Reached on Guidelines for Vitamins and Minerals.\"   16 November 2004.    Lincoln Journal Star.  \"Regulation Needed for Supplements.\"   31 January 2005.  (p. B4).    Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.  \"Judge Allows FDA Ban of Dietary Supplement.\"   13 April 2004.  (p. A6).    Nutraceuticals World.  \"Reps. Davis, Waxman & Dingell Introduce Legislation.\"   December 2003.  Vol. 6, No. 12, p. 8.    Nutraceuticals World.  \"Senator Durbin Introduces Bill to Amend DSHEA.\"   May 2003.  Vol. 6, No. 5, p. 8.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1YtdBq7LnFnKEnwugvvU0bc8JlGhB15Mx","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_168","claim":"Bozeman Town Hall Meeting","posted":"08\/23\/2009","sci_digest":["Account describes President Obama's August 2009 town hall meeting in Montana?"],"justification":"Claim:  Account describes President Obama's August 2009 town hall meeting in Montana.  Example:  [Collected via e-mail, August 2009] By now you have probably heard that President Obama came to Montana last Friday. However, there are many things that the major news has not covered. I feel that since Bill and I live here and we were at the airport on Friday I should share some facts with you. Whatever you decide to do with the information is up to you. If you chose to share this email with others I do ask that you DELETE my email address before you forward this on. On Wednesday, August 5th it was announced locally that the President would be coming here. There are many groups here that are against his healthcare and huge spending so those groups began talking and deciding on what they were going to do. The White House would not release ANY details other than the date. On about Tuesday Bill found out that they would be holding the \"Town Hall\" at the airport. (This is only because Bill knows EVERYONE at the airport) Our airport is actually located outside of Belgrade (tiny town) in a very remote location. Nothing is around there. They chose to use a hangar that is the most remotely located hangar. You could not pick a more remote location, and you can not get to it easily. It is totally secluded from the public. FYI: We have many areas in Belgrade and Bozeman which could have held a large amount of folks with sufficient parking. (gymnasiums\/auditoriums). All of which have chairs and tables, and would not have to be SHIPPED IN!! $$$$$ During the week, cargo by the TONS was being shipped in constantly. Airport employees could not believe how it just kept coming. Though it was our President coming several expressed how excessive it was, especially during a recession.  $$$$$     Late Tuesday\/early Wednesday the 12th,  they said that tickets would be handed out on Thursday 9am at two locations and the president would be arriving around 12:30 Friday. Thursday morning about 600 tickets were passed out. However, 1500 were printed at a Local printing shop per White House request. Hmmmm..... 900 tickets just DISAPPEARED. This same morning someone called into the radio from the local UPS branch and said that THOUSANDS of Dollars of Lobster were shipped in for Obama. Montana  has some of the best beef in the nation!!! And it would have been really wonderful to help out the local economy. Anyone heard of the Recession?? Just think... with all of the traveling the White House is doing. $$$$$ One can only imagine what else we are paying for. On Friday Bill and I got out to the airport about 10:45am. The groups that wanted to protest Obama's spending and healthcare had gotten a permit to protest and that area was roped off. But that was not to be. A large bus carrying SEIU (Service Employees International Union) members drove up onto the area (illegal)and unloaded right there. It was quite a commotion and there were specifically 2 SEIU men trying to make trouble and start a fight. Police did get involved and arrested the one man but they said they did not have the manpower to remove the SEIU crowd.   The SEIU crowd was very organized and young. About 99% were under the age of 30 and they were not locals! They had bullhorns and PROFESSIONALLY made signs. Some even wore preprinted T-shirts. Oh, and Planned Parenthood folks were with them... professing abortion rights with their T-shirts and preprinted signs.  (BTW, all these folks did have a permit to protest in ANOTHER area) Those against healthcare\/spending moved away from the SEIU crowd to avoid confrontation. They were orderly and respectful. Even though SEIU kept coming over and walking through, continuing to be very intimidating and aggressive at the direction of the one SEIU man.  So we had Montana folks from ALL OVER the state with their homemade signs and their DOGS with homemade signs. We had cowboys, nurses, doctors you name it. There was even a guy from Texas who had been driving through. He found out about the occasion, went to the store, made a sign, and came to protest. If you are wondering about the press.... Well, all of the major networks were over by that remote hangar I mentioned. They were conveniently parked on the other side of the buildings FAR away. None of these crowds were even visible to them. I have my doubts that they knew anything about the crowds.  We did have some local news media around us from this state and Idaho. Speaking of the local media... they were invited. However, all questions were to be turned into the White House in advance of the event. Wouldn't want anyone to have to think off the top of their head. It was very obvious that it was meant to be totally controlled by the White House. Everything was orchestrated down to the last detail to make it appear that Montana is just crazy for Obama and government healthcare. Even those people that talked about their insurance woes..... the White House called our local HRDC (Human Resource and Development Committee) and asked for names. Then the White House asked those folks to come. Smoke and mirrors... EVERYTHING was staged!!!!!!!!!!!  I am very dismayed about what I learned about our current White House. The amount of control and manipulation was unbelievable. I felt I was not living in the United States of America, more like the USSR!! I was physically nauseous. Bill and I have been around when Presidents or Heads of State visit. It has NEVER been like this. I am truly very frightened for our country. America needs your prayers and your voices. If you care about our country please get involved. Know the issues. And let Congress hear your voices again and again!! If they are willing to put forth so much effort to BULLY a small town one can only imagine what is going on in Washington DC. Scary!!   KathyBozeman, Montana Origins:  On Friday, 14 August 2009, President Obama held a town hall meeting in Bozeman, Montana, to discuss his proposed health care reforms. That town hall meeting was one of three that week, the other two being held in Portsmouth, New Hampshire (Aug. 11), and Grand Junction, Colorado (Aug. 15). At this time, the author of the e-mailed account purporting to have been written by someone who attended the town hall meeting in Bozeman is unknown. Some versions are signed \"Kathy\" and mention that the writer's husband's name is Bill, but others are signed \"Sue\" and identify the husband as Joe. Some additionally describe the husband as a former Navy pilot and Delta Airlines captain. Many are prefaced by claims that the author is a friend who lives in Montana, or that she is the wife of a cousin.  Puzzlingly, though we combed through the hundreds of copies of this piece we received, none of those e-mail forwards provided a surname for Kathy\/Bill or Sue\/Joe (although a concatenation of the name and location listed at the end has misled some to believe the writer is named Kathy Bozeman). In just about every other case we've tackled where e-mailed eyewitness accounts have gone viral, at least a handful of the earliest forwards provided clues to the surname of the sender, if not the sender's actual name.  Questions of authorship aside, the account asserts four primary criticisms: That thousands of dollars worth of lobster was shipped in for the President, that the majority of tickets for the event were not distributed to the town's citizens but instead were used to pack the hall with Obama supporters, that the media did not cover the protests taking place outside the meeting, and that there was a dust-up between two groups of protesters, resulting in the arrest of one person. Let's start with the lobsters. The whole of that claim arises from the e-mail, which states: \"This same morning someone called into the radio from the local UPS branch and said that THOUSANDS of Dollars of Lobster were shipped in for Obama.\"  We looked at numerous news accounts about the event (far, far more than are listed in the Sources section at the end of this article) and failed to find any mention of lobsters (shipped in or otherwise) in any of them, or of staffers and\/or town hall attendees chowing down on lobster dinners.  Regarding the distribution of tickets for the event, most press accounts seem to agree there were 1,300 ticket-holders in attendance at the Bozeman town hall meeting held in a hangar at the airport. Many news articles mention 700 tickets having been handed out (a limit of two to a family) at Bozeman's city hall, and some mention an additional 150 having been distributed on the same basis at the city hall in the nearby small town of Belgrade.  According to the Big Sky Weekly, for example: \"The vast majority of tickets were general admission (split roughly 80\/20 between Bozeman and Belgrade respectively, based on their populations). Tickets were limited to two per person and were distributed on a first-come, first-served basis at Bozeman City Hall and Belgrade City Hall. The remaining tickets were distributed by the White House to elected officials and community leaders.\"  If the reported attendance figures are accurate, they would suggest that about 450 tickets were given out through means other than first-come, first-served public distribution, more than the \"few\" mentioned in other press accounts (e.g., \"A few tickets were distributed by the White House to elected officials, community leaders and local supporters\" [Associated Press] and \"the state's two Democratic U.S. senators each ... said they had a 'handful' of tickets to hand out to friends and supporters\" [Billings Gazette]), but less than the \"majority\" claimed in the e-mail.  (While the e-mail asserts 1,500 tickets were printed, press accounts agree there were 1,300 ticket-holding attendees. It's worth noting that organizers of events for which no admission fees are charged often print extra tickets to allow for factors such as spoilage, changes in venue capacity, no-shows, etc.). Away from the hangar that housed the meeting, rallies hosted by various groups were held. Some of these protests were well organized, with supporters having been bused in and armed with professionally-rendered signs, and others weren't. They were not ignored by the press, though (e.g., a Billings Gazette article covered the protests, as did television station KULR in the video linked below), albeit the focus of the journalists in attendance that day was upon the questions being put to the President in the meeting and how he was handling them rather than whatever those not actually part of the town hall meeting were getting up to in a nearby field: article  As to how the protesters behaved, various groups shook signs and shouted at one another. There were no reports of violence, although police did arrest one man for disorderly conduct. The unnamed man was released later that afternoon. Regarding the e-mail's suggestion that law enforcement was ineffective in controlling the protesters (\"Police did get involved and arrested the one man but they said they did not have the manpower to remove the SEIU crowd\"), at the end of the video linked to above, KULR reporter Nick Lough (who was on the scene during the demonstrations) says: \"Bozeman police, the Gallatin County Sheriff's Department, and the Montana Highway Patrol were all within a few yards of the protesters just to make sure nothing grew too out of control.\" Barbara \"controlled response\" Mikkelson Last updated:  23 August 2009    Dennison, Mike.  \"Crowd Gathers Early for Obama Montana Visit.\"   Billings Gazette.  14 August 2009.    Johnson, Charles.  \"Demonstrators Have Field Day Near Airport.\"   Billings Gazette.  14 August 2009.    Lough, Nick.  \"Demonstrators Outside Obama Town Hall.\"   KULR-TV [Billings, MT].  14 August 2009.    Mayrer, Jessica.  \"Civil Discourse.\"   Bozeman Daily Chronicle.  15 August 2009.    Person, Daniel.  \"Obama to Talk Health Care at Airport Friday.\"   Bozeman Daily Chronicle.  12 August 2009.    Schontzler, Gail.  \"Its Showtime.\"   Bozeman Daily Chronicle.  14 August 2009.    Sidoti, Liz.  \"Civil Exchanges at Obama's Health Care Forum.\"   The Star-Ledger.  15 August 2009  (p. A3).    Associated Press.  \"Good Manners in Obama's Montana Audience.\"   14 August 2009.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_169","claim":"Were 'Black People in Birmingham' Caught Voting Multiple Times With Fake IDs?","posted":"12\/13\/2017","sci_digest":["A so-called \"satire\" site published a story falsely claiming black voters committed fraud in Alabama's special election."],"justification":"On 13 December 2017, a self-described \"satire\" site posted a story falsely reporting that black voters in Alabama had committed fraud by voting multiple times during a special election the night before, in which Democratic candidate Doug Jones beat Republican Roy Moore in a closely-watched and hotly-contested fight for the Senate seat left vacant by United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions. story election The web site called ReaganWasRight.com reported: The FEC has announced that it may have to recommend invalidating more than 60K votes from the Birmingham area to the Alabama Secretary of State. according to police logs, poll watchers and a watchdog group from the Heritage Foundation, dozens of people were caught voting multiple times with fake IDs and fake voter registrations. The problem came to light as one poll watcher witnessed the same two men, who were obviously twins, return to the polls wearing different hats to vote at least four times. When confronted, the two men pushed their way through the crowd and ran. Nothing about this story is true  if readers scroll to the bottom of the page it bears a label declaring itself \"satire,\" although whether one finds its content funny is, of course, subjective:   network The article in question is a compilation of slopped-together information that has no bearing in reality. The Federal Election Commission oversees campaign finance, but it has no role to play in voting, voter access, or ballots. The \"quote\" supposedly taken from a Breitbart.com report is falsified. According to the Alabama Secretary of State's office (which does oversee voting and ballots), there have been no reports of widespread voter fraud. In late October 2017, Blair apologized for another racially-charged story posted on Freedum Junkshun, which falsely reported U.S. Army Sgt. La David Johnson, the \"black soldier\" who was killed in action along with three others when their patrol was ambushed in Niger, was a deserter. apologized story ReaganWasRight.com.\"BREAKING: Black People In Birmingham Caught Voting Multiple Times With Fake IDs.\"\r13 December 2017. Gillin, Joshua.\"If You're Fooled by Fake News, This Man Probably Wrote It.\"\rPolitiFact.31 May 2017. Silverman, Craig, and Lytvynenko, Jane.\"How a Liberal Troll Became Spammers Favorite Fake News Source.\"\rBuzzfeed News.9 March 2017. Leonhardt, David.\"Voter Fraud in Alabama.\"\rThe New York Times.12 December 2017.","issues":["finance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1JbxcKW_gWw6ap3y4CYZNTKfBEnjHxA97","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_170","claim":"Electronic Pickpocketing","posted":"12\/08\/2010","sci_digest":["Card-skimming thieves can read information from RFID-enabled credit cards carried in pockets and purses?"],"justification":"Scam: Card-skimming thieves can make fraudulent purchases with information read from RFID-enabled credit cards carried in pockets and purses. Examples: [Collected via e-mail, December 2010] I just received an email concerning \"Credit Card Pickpocketing.\" It was broadcast by Memphis WREG TV. [Collected via e-mail, October 2012] PLEASE WATCH THIS VIDEO. I read about this a couple of weeks ago and then checked my cards for the little \"WiFi Signal Icon\" on each one. I found none with that signal on them, but I was determined to watch for it when my cards came in on renewals. Well, yesterday I got my CHASE SLATE card, AND THERE IT WAS! It was my first time seeing it. I won't activate that card after seeing this. I guess I'll go to the bank and see if I can replace it with a non-WiFi (Radio Frequency Card)...? I thought all my contacts ought to see this if you haven't already seen this demo... wow! Origins: In December 2010, Memphis television station WREG aired an \"Electronic Pickpocketing\" piece on the potential risks posed by \"contactless\" credit\/debit\/ATM cards containing embedded RFID (radio frequency identification technology) chips. Such chips encode basic information (e.g., account numbers, expiration dates) that can be picked up by point-of-sale RFID readers, eliminating the need for cards to be physically handled or swiped. One possible drawback to this technology is that unauthorized persons might use RFID readers of their own to surreptitiously glean that same information, as demonstrated in WREG's report, which featured Walt Augustinowicz of Identity Stronghold using a card reader and a netbook computer to engage in card \"skimming,\" picking up account information off RFID-enabled cards carried in the pockets and purses of random passers-by on the street. A few days after it broadcast the original \"Electronic Pickpocketing\" story, WREG reported that the piece had gone viral, racking up 1.2 million views in just three days. Despite all the publicity WREG's report garnered, the concept of RFID-enabled credit card theft was hardly a new one. Various news, technical, and security outlets have been reporting (and demonstrating) for several years the potential risk that information transmitted wirelessly by RFID-enabled cards might be picked up by eavesdropping thieves using relatively cheap equipment. But although (as demonstrated in WREG's piece) it's certainly possible for interlopers to read pieces of information from some contactless cards under certain circumstances, the extent to which this activity might be used to facilitate theft is currently difficult to gauge. As the WREG report noted, representatives from the Identity Theft Resource Center said, \"they've never seen a case of RFID skimming used to steal information,\" but it would also be difficult (if not impossible) for skimming victims to identify exactly how their card information had been stolen. Nonetheless, other analysts have offered reasons why they believe card skimming may not be nearly as much of a threat as some reports have made it sound: The data streams emitted by contactless cards don't include such information as PINs and CVV (Card Verification Value) security codes or, in newer cards, customer names, and without those pieces of information, a card skimmer should not be able to utilize the stolen card numbers to print counterfeit cards or engage in Card Not Present (CNP) transactions. None of the cards transmits the additional number on the front or back, known as the card validation code, that some businesses require for online purchases.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1KVoEcRJ44rKTWJxs2AFtQcaQ-1U7sVkI","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_171","claim":"Was Mike Pence in favor of 'Gay Conversion' Therapy?","posted":"10\/26\/2016","sci_digest":["While running for Congress, Indiana governor Mike Pence called for state funding for \"institutions\" working to enable people to \"change their sexual behavior.\""],"justification":"In October 2016, an image appeared on social media accusing Indiana's governor (and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's running mate) Mike Pence of supporting \"gay conversion\" therapy, particularly the use of electric shocks as part of the practice:  The allegation dates back to 2000, when Pence was running for Congress. His campaign web site at the time touted his call to add a stipulation to the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act, a 1990 law providing funding for HIV\/AIDS treatment for patients living with the disease lacking either the income or the necessary insurance to pay for it on their own: campaign HIV\/AIDS treatment Congress should support the reauthorization of the Ryan White Care Act only after completion of an audit to ensure that federal dollars were no longer being given to organizations that celebrate and encourage the types of behaviors that facilitate the spreading of the HIV virus. Resources should be directed toward those institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior. Although he didn't say so outright, the position has been widely interpreted as signaling Pence's support for \"gay conversion\" therapy, which seeks to \"cure\" patients of being attracted to members of the same sex. According to the American Psychological Association, electric shocks were one of the techniques used to address homosexuality through \"aversion therapy\" prior to the group's decision in 1973 to stop classifying it as a mental disorder. By the time Pence made his statement regarding the Ryan White CARE Act, that group and several others, including the American Psychiatric Association, had rejected the practice: American Psychological Association, American Psychiatric Association, Psychotherapeutic modalities to convert or repair homosexuality are based on developmental theories whose scientific validity is questionable. Furthermore, anecdotal reports of cures are counterbalanced by anecdotal claims of psychological harm. In the last four decades, reparative therapists have not produced any rigorous scientific research to substantiate their claims of cure. Until there is such research available, [the American Psychiatric Association] recommends that ethical practitioners refrain from attempts to changeindividuals sexual orientation, keeping in mind the medical dictum to first, do no harm. The potential risks of reparative therapy are great, including depression, anxiety and self-destructive behavior, since therapist alignment with societal prejudices against homosexuality may reinforce self-hatred already experienced by the patient.Many patients who have undergone reparative therapy relate that they were inaccurately told that homosexuals are lonely, unhappy individuals who never achieve acceptance or satisfaction. The possibility that the person might achieve happiness and satisfying interpersonal relationships as a gay man or lesbian is not presented, nor are alternative approaches to dealing with the effects of societal stigmatization discussed. \"Conversion therapy\" has been banned by law in five states (California, Illinois, New Jersey, Oregon, and Vermont) as well as in Washington, D.C. We contacted Pence's office seeking comment on his stance regarding the issue but did not receive a response. Republicans were hit with a similar accusation in July 2016, when their national platform included the phrase \"We support the right of parents to determine the proper medical treatment and therapy for their minor children.\" accusation platform When asked whether that statement represented support for \"conversion therapy,\" Republican National Committee chair Reince Priebus replied that \"It's not in the platform.\" replied","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=16wsAR1_4GKMdbz0YFmIiZe_6HL1tb1cZ"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_172","claim":"Chain Letters","posted":"05\/05\/2005","sci_digest":["A discussion of the history and various types of chain letters."],"justification":"Topic:  A discussion of the history and various types of chain letters. Origins:  The practice of circulating letters to other parties beyond their original recipients has existed for centuries, so pinpointing the exact origin of chain letters is problematic. While all manner of written materials (letters, speeches, eye-witness accounts, polemics, recipes, cures, prayers) have in the past been circulated to ever-widening circles of recipients, the first full-fledged chain letter recorded by Daniel W. VanArsdale in his massive archive of the genre is dated 1888. If we accept that a true chain letter must contain within its text an explicit instruction to the reader to make copies of the mailing and put them into the hands of a specified number of new recipients, that 1888 date is a defensible notch on the timeline of  first archive  history to point to as the moment of origin. If, however, we're willing to settle for an implied instruction topass the item to others for their benefit, protection, or well-being, certain written communications dating to the Middle Ages could fairly be considered the first of this sort. In them, their writers set down what they believed to be useful cures, on the understanding that such missives were to be recopied by those who received them then distributed to those people's loved ones, who in turn would themselves recopy these wisdoms to hand to their nearest and dearest. These letters were also sold by peddlers and fortune tellers. The cures detailed therein were typically combinations of recipes for simple nostrums and special prayers to be recited as the concoctions were mixed or administered. Our modern world sees chain letters of a variety of descriptions circulated by surface mail, fax machine, and in e-mail. While folk cures and accompanying prayers have dropped from favor (as medical information and resources became easier to access, such intelligences became less vital), other sorts of \"Send this to five of your friends!\" mailings emerged to fill this gap.  Contemporary chain letters fall into five broad categories:  Money-generating (aka pyramid or Ponzi schemes) Luck-generation (or ill luck avoidance)  Altruistic Something for nothing Humor Money-generating (pyramid or Ponzi scheme) chain letters hold out the promise of untold riches to those gulled into participating in their circulation. In their most common form, recipients are instructed to send a token set dollar figure ($5, for example) to the name at the top of the group's roll call, strike that name and address from the list of those involved, add their own to the base of the register, recopy the amended letter, and mail it to five of their acquaintances. If all goes according to plan, their small investment will reap them a fortune once their names percolate to the top of the list. (Pyramid schemes exist in many forms and go by many names. Deserving of particular mention are \"gifting circles\" or \"gifting clubs\" wherein folks pay substantial chunks of cash [$5,000, for example] to be included on a chart of like-minded investors, the object being that as new people are added behind them, they will move higher on the diagram one tier at a time until ultimately they occupy the top spot, at which moment they will receive the pool of money accumulated behind them.  Such endeavors have operated under the names of \"Elite Activity,\" \"Women Empowering Women,\" \"The Dinner Club,\" \"Spirit of Giving\" and so many more that we couldn't possibly ever list them all.) So much can go wrong with pyramid contrivances that their pitfalls hardly needs explaining. First, for pyramid investments to work, the world would need an endless supply of people, each of them with money in hand and determined to participate in the process. Because each level of the pyramid increases exponentially the throng of investors involved, the numbers soon lose meaning. For instance, suppose the money-generating come-on you received in the mail displayed five names. If everyone in the chain had followed instructions and mailed it to five of their friends, by the time it reached you it had already been through 3,905 pairs of hands, and that only provided the first person listed was the one who began the progression. Add one more level (either from having a sixth name on the roll or through one of the names having already been moved off from the top), and the number involved jumps to 19,530. Add two, and it reaches 97,655. Second, not everyone is honest, so there will always be those who will simply insert their names near the top of the roll rather than at its base. Names added honestly, therefore, will fail to move up past this ever-changing invisible ceiling (as new people enter the chain, they too will try this trick). Also, that someone receives the circular and passes it along to five acquaintances does not necessarily mean he sent his requisite sum to the name heading the roster.  However, the biggest argument against money-generating chain letters is their illegality. Missives that request money or other items of value and promise substantial returns to the participants are against the law. Sending them through the mail (or delivering them in person or by computer, but mailing money to participate) violates Title 18, United States Code, Section 1302, of the Postal Lottery Statute.  At various times the unscrupulous have tried to circumvent the aspects of money-generating chain letters that render them illegal. One common attempt is the inclusion of the additional step of having participants send recipe cards or other relatively-worthless small items along with the cash, thereby transforming the process into a legitimate enterprise wherein those particular trifles are being vended. Another is to go the opposite way, that is, label all monies involved as \"gifts\" (see section above about gifting clubs). Yet another is to process as much of the proposition as possible via non-postal routes. However, no matter what technology or plausible-sounding subterfuge (e.g.; sale of credit reports or mailing lists) is used, if at any point anything passes by surface mail, the entire maneuver becomes illegal. Says the USPS: USPS Recently, high-tech chain letters have begun surfacing. They may be disseminated over the Internet, or may require the copying and mailing of computer disks rather than paper. Regardless of what technology is used to advance the scheme, if the mail is used at any step along the way, it is still illegal. An example of a \"money generating\" chain letter: [Collected via surface mail, 1975] DO YOU NEED $8,000? ? ? ? ? ?Let Bill Nelson tell you how I have run one of these promotion letters  four times in the past year. The First time I received $7,000 in cash and around $7,800 the other three. It this letter is continued as it should be, everyone profits!  Yes, and don't worry about financing or paying money back.  After the first time, you'll see what I mean, and next time you will be more eager and glad.  Now, let me give you the complete story and details.  Please forward them and in about 30 days you will be $8,000 richer.  This letter will pay up to $8,000 because there are only four names at all times.  Three moves and you are in a position to receive one dollar from each participant.  This chain letter was initiated by William Neham from Nashville, Tennessee, for the purpose of investment capital.  But, now this has been expanded.  Your participation is one dollar to the first person or firm in the Number One position below, while omitting the name to whom you sent the dollar.  Then, move the list of names up one place and place your name at the bottom.  Mail a copy of this letter to 20 new prospects.  MAIL YOUR LETTERS within 48 HOURS AND DO NOT BREAK THE CHAIN.  When your name reaches the Number One position, it will be your turn to collect the fees. They will be sent to you by 8,000 persons like yourself.  Please DO NOT BREAK THE CHAIN BECAUSE IT REALLY WORKS!!  In fact, I guarantee it, provided you do not break the chain and follow the simple rules above.  Try it and see.  You are investing ONLY, ONE DOLLAR, and that is all you can lose.  Be sure to copy this letter completely. Don't leave any of it out.  Send your report to Imperial Sales Company, 3096 Ivey Avenue, Knoxville, Tennessee 37914.  Let us know when your fee was sent and how much you received within nine days.  We have at the present time almost 100% return to the people carrying out this letter promotion.  The majority received $7,800.  If four names should be listed on your promotion, the one in Number One position is omitted, after you send him your one dollar. Then, put your name and address in the Number Four position.  $8,000 is capital absolutely free!  Send letters only to people who have secretaries or whom you personally consider \"Doers.\" Look  20 times 20 times 20 equals 8,000!!!!. While money-generating chain letters flourish in both the off- and online worlds, \"Make Money Fast!\" hustles have become so much a part of online culture that they have spawned any number of parodies. This next example is one such howler we particularly treasure: [Collected on the Internet, 1998] MAKE CLUBS FAST Recent evidence has come to light that suggests that pyramid style chain letters may have pre-dated Dave Rhodes by a considerable margin. Palaentologists recently deciphered the following, painted on a cave wall on the slopes of Kilimanjaro. MAKE SPIKY CLUBS FAST!!! Hello, not-tribe-member. Urk name Urk. Many moons ago, Urk in bad way. Urk kicked out of cave by Thag. Thag bigger than Urk, Thag take Urk spiky club, Urka (Urk wo-man). Urk not able kill deer, must eat leaves, berries. Urk flee from wolves. Today, Urk big chief. Urk have best cave, many wives, many spiky clubs. Urk tell how. WHAT DO: make one spiky club and take to cave places below. Add own cave place to bottom of list, take cave place off top. Put new message on walls many caves. Wait. Many clubs soon come! This not crime! Urk ask shaman, gods say okay. HERE LIST: 1) UrkFirst caveOlduvai Gorge few) Thag (not that Thag, other Thag)old dead treeby lake shaped like mammoth few) Ogbig rock with overhangnear pig game trail Many) Zogriver caveswhere river meet big water Urk hope not-tribe-member do what Urk say do. That only way it work. While Urk and his quest for spiky clubs leaves a smile on our faces, the second sort of chain letters provokes the opposite response: a worried frown. Even the most rational and level-headed can't help but feel a bit uneasy when they drop luck-generation chain letters into the nearest trash bin. This type of imploration, which promises good luck even as it threatens ill fortune to rain down on the heads of those who fail to speed it on its way, tends to follow a standard outline. (Not all chain letters of this ilk scrupulously adhere to this formula; certain elements may be omitted in some of the entreaties you encounter.)  Invocation:  The letter begins with an admonition to pray, trust the Lord, or kiss someone as an expression of love.  Origins:  A description of the person who began the letter (a priest, a saint, a sea captain, a doctor) and where (Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands) is given. Often included is a claim of the letter's having been around the world a stated number of times.  Success Story:  Accounts of the happy circumstances of a few people who followed instructions to send the letter on its way are given, with their rewards (financial windfall, sudden luck in matters of romance, miraculous recovery from illness) described in glowing detail.  Punishment Story:  Accounts are given of the setbacks or tragedies (job loss, broken heart, injury or death) that befell a few people who ignored the letter or threw it away.  Instruction and Promise:  The recipient is told how many copies of the letter to distribute and is reassured that good luck will swiftly follow. An example of a contemporary \"luck generation\" chain letter sent by e-mail.  [Collected on the Internet, 2000] CASE 1:  Kelly Sedey had one wish, for her boyfriend of three years, David Marsden, to propose to her.  Then one day when she was out to lunch David proposed!  She accepted, but then had to leave because she had a meeting in 20 min.  When she got to her office, she noticed on her computer she had e-mail.  She checked it, the usual stuff from her friends, but then she saw one that she had never gotten before. was this letter.  She *simply deleted it without even reading it all. BIG MISTAKE!  Later that evening, she received a phone call from the police. It was about DAVID!  He had been in an accident with an 18 wheeler.  He didn't survive. CASE 2:  Take Katie Robbenson. She received this letter and being the believer that she was, she sent it to a few of her friends but didn't have enough e-mail addresses to send out the full 10 that you must. Three days later, Katie went to a masquerade ball. Later that night when she left to get to her car to go home, she was killed on the spot by a hit-and-run drunk driver. CASE 3:  Richard S. Willis sent this letter out within 45 minutes of reading it.  Not even 4 hours later walking along the street to his new job interveiw with a really big company, when he ran into Cynthia Bell, his secret love for 5 years.  Cynthia came up to him and told him of her passionate crush on him that she had had on him for 2 years.  Three days later, he proposed to her and they got married.  Cynthia and Richard are Still married with three children, happy as ever! This is the letter: You must send this on in 3 hours after reading the letter to 10 different people.  If you do this, you will receive unbeleveably good luck in love.  The person that you are most attracted to will soon return your feelings. If you do not, bad luck will rear it's ugly head at you. THIS IS NOT A JOKE!  You have read the warnings, seen the cases, and the consiquences.  You MUST send this on or face dreadfuly bad luck. *NOTE*  The more people that you send this to, the better luck you will have. P.S.  I did not make this up,someone sent it to me and I am passing it on!  You Send it by clicking forward on the side The avoidance of ill luck features in numerous chain letters, especially the \"crazed killer\" sort prized by prepubescent girls who delight in forwarding \"a crazed killer or vengeful spirit will come for you if you don't forward this message to others\" tales. These next examples were sent by text message via cell phone: [Collected via e-mail, September 2009] A picture of a girl with a graduation cap on the caption read: \"Hi, my name is Alexis, I am 7 years old about 1 year ago me and my dad got into a big fight, he slit my throat and threw me down the sewer.  There was this girl named Alissia and she got the same text message you are getting now and she just erased it and didn't think about it.  Later on, around midnight, she heard laughing coming from her bathroom and she quickly sent that message to 10 people.  Later on that night, her parents heard laughing and cutting.  When they came it to check in the bathroom, Alissia's blood was everywhere.  Now that you have read this message about Alissia's death, I must kill you too unless you send this message to 10 people  no send backs.  I'll be waiting for you at midnight if you don't do this.  don't ignore this. once a little girl was so obsessed with taking pictures of herself and one day she took a picture of herself and when she looked at herself she thought something wasn't right. she heard a girl laughing and turned... this was the last picture she took before she went missing. they found her in the backyard with scratches and blood everywhere... one girl named Aliie dint belive this and deleted it. that night she heard laughing and went and forwarded this message, but it was too late. an hour later her parents found her in the bathtub covered in blood. fwd this to ten ppl or she will be waiting under your bed at 12 tonight. if you don't belive it, then save the pictures and zoom in to the right bottom corner. NO SEND BACK!!!!Piggy back 09 Altruistic chain letters are those that present themselves as seeking benefit for others rather than the financial enrichment or improvement of luck of their recipients\/forwarders. Into this category fall prayers for the suffering and collections made on behalf of charitable groups or the needy themselves. While this form of the genre might indeed be the oldest (according to Daniel W. VanArsdale, the first full-fledged chain letter was of this sort; it called for the donation of dimes to \"poor whites in the region of the Cumberlands\"), the Internet has added new expressions of it. Many \"dying child\" hoaxes circulate online, each of them asserting every forward of their supplications will result in  benefactors (either named charities or corporations or unnamed millionaires) directing set sums towards the care of the stricken youngsters. While these lack the specificity of \"Send this to four people\" instructions (they instead direct recipients to \"Forward this to everyone you know\"), the languishing children are imaginary, and the forwarders add nothing of themselves to the mix (neither prayers nor donations), they are a close enough fit with the altruistic class of chain letters to be considered a legitimate variant.  first dying child Closer yet are the myriad prayer requests (e.g., the Delaney Parrish appeal) that have sprung to life on the Internet. While the \"Send this to ten people\" command is still absent (\"Send to as many as you can\" and its ilk being used instead), the people being pled for often do exist, with their travails often as described, and those moved to keep the chain going are adding something of themselves (their petitions to God) to the process.  Delaney Parrish Similarly, various appeals of the \"dying child intent upon collecting specific items\" nature (e.g.; the Craig Shergold appeal for business cards) are also close fits.  While not all entreaties of this sort are on the up-and-up, a fair number are  the children and their situations are real, as are their requests. Those participating in these chains not only pass along the requests to their circles of acquaintance but also themselves donate the items requested and transport them to the youngsters.  Craig Shergold Moving to the \"something for nothing\" category, we find online appeals aimed at augmenting the bank accounts or wardrobes of their participants, bringing them fame, or entertaining them. Of the first sort, the granddaddy of them all is the e-mail tracking hoax: Bill Gates is testing an e-mail tracking program and for taking part by forwarding his note you will receive $1,000. (Or Disney will reward you with a trip for two to Disney World. Or Nike will give you free shoes. Or Veuve-Clicquot will bless you with some gratis champagne. Or Applebees will treat you to a dinner for you and your date. Or, well, the list is endless.) These differ from \"money-generating\" chain letters in one important way: those involved do not themselves send any of their own money or possessions to anyone else, they merely forward the leg-pulls in the expectation that by doing so the promised goodies will come their way. e-mail tracking A less mercenary example of a \"something for nothing\" chain letter that plays upon the urge to seek fame rather than fortune is the Guinness World Book of Records hoax which states as its goal the establishment of a world record. For years, children have been gulled into participating in these mailings by the promise of their names being listed in that fabled book if the chain is kept alive long enough for a record to be set. More recently a snail mail version has supplemented the e-mail jape of the same design, so the hoax exists in both the offline and online worlds.  Guinness \"Something for nothing\" e-mail chain letters that hold out as the forwarders' reward the promise of entertainment are a form of practical joke of the \"Made you look foolish\" variety. Potential victims are told their sending these e-mails to the requisite number of new people (as spelled out in proposition) will cause them to receive the next installments of intriguing stories they have become caught up in reading or their computers to spontaneously begin playing either humorous animated clips (e.g. Ronald McDonald beating up the Taco Bell dog) or videos of lusted-after celebrities caught off-guard doing naughty things. But of course the promised carrots never arrive; the next chapters of novelettes fail to mail themselves and videos don't spring to life. We detail a great many such hokey come-ons in our Clip Artless article. Clip Artless We now come to the final category of chain letter: Humor. Though these offerings mimic the form taken by their money-generating cousins, those who receive them don't mistake them for anything other than jokes. These mailings are solely meant to provoke rueful smiles or outright guffaws among those they are happily flung to; they are not intended to prompt recipients to actually mail off the items or persons described in hopes of getting back a great many more of like nature. For instance, one well-known humor chain letter instructs dissatisfied wives to bundle up their good-for-nothing husbands and mail them to the woman whose name appears at the head of the list; when the senders' names arise to the top spot they are guaranteed to receive thousands of similarly-discarded spouses, some of which might prove worth keeping (the implication being that most will not). Yet don't break the chain, admonishes the letter  one woman who did got her own husband back! husbands Barbara \"return to sender\" Mikkelson Additional information:      Ponzi Schemes  (Securities and Exchange Commission)      Pyramid Schemes  (Securities and Exchange Commission)      Gifting Clubs  (Federal Trade Commission)  Last updated:  27 September 2009    Sources:   Degh, Linda.  Legend and Belief.   London: Souvenir Press, 1978.  0-285-63396-1  (pp. 189-193).    Waring, Philippa.  A Dictionary of Omens and Superstitions.   Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2001.  0-253-33929-4  (p. 52).","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=17u_VEoaFfk1XKXjvbcsU6-dl7XVk1Dj5","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_173","claim":"Bernie Sanders, FDR, and Contested Conventions","posted":"07\/13\/2016","sci_digest":["After Bernie Sanders endorsed Hillary Clinton, rumors circulated holding that the endorsement was coerced and that FDR won the nomination under similar circumstances in 1932."],"justification":"On 12 July 2016, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders formally endorsed rival Hillary Clinton at a New Hampshire event, causing consternation among supporters who were confident he still planned to take his candidacy for the nomination to the convention in Philadelphia later that month. A number of interlinked rumors appeared on social media following the Clinton\/Sanders event, roughly outlining a larger general claim. According to many social media users, Sanders' pre-convention endorsement was a requirement under Democratic National Committee (DNC) rules as a condition of bringing his delegates to the convention, just as Franklin Delano Roosevelt had similarly been forced to endorse an opponent before going on to win at a contested convention: The afternoon of the endorsement, a Sanders delegate (later identified as Ashley Wolthuis of Utah) made comments suggesting Sanders was forced to publicly endorse Clinton under threat of punitive platform changes: identified I have contacts within both campaigns. Heres what I was told yesterday and today. Clintons campaign threatened to vote down every concession made to Bernie on the platform if he did not endorse her prior to the convention. Knowing that Superdelegates were not going to switch to his side without something major happening, the best he could do was hold on to the progressive concessions he won for US on the platform. He could not, in good consciousness let the GOP and Trump win, especially when we have a potential half of the Supreme Court Justices that will be replaced within the next 4-8 years. He was looking out for the future of our movement and our nation in this very hard decision he made. This post is not to tell you to vote for Hillary, or to not leave the Democratic Party, etc. this was just to throw a little light on why Bernie did what he felt he HAD to do, rather than what he wanted to do. A sign of a great leader is someone who makes the hard decision to sacrifice themselves for the people and movement behind him. He is counting on us to continue the fight. Contacted later in the day by phone, Wolthuis clarified her comments about the use of force and Sanders' endorsement of Clinton: [A]fter reaching out to many of the people who had either posted or tweeted this statement, I tracked down the original source, Ashley Wolthuis, a Sanders delegate from Utah, who was kind enough to return my \"cold call\" to her cell phone. Here is what she told me. The basic thrust of the post shown above is accurate, she said, but the use of the term that Bernie was \"threatened\" she explained was overblown. She did indeed have conversations with various delegates associated with both campaigns, and she said it was \"common knowledge\" among most delegates that the Clinton campaign was insisting on Bernie making an endorsement prior to the convention if the more progressive parts of the platform would be retained. The talk among her the those with whom she associated, both Clinton and Sanders supporters, was that Bernie understood Hillary needed Sanders' supporters and that was the only reason she made any concessions at all regarding the positions on the DNC platform for which the Sanders campaign fought. Wolthuis also referenced a Washington Post article published after Sanders' 12 July 2016 comments, surmising that Sanders in part intended to tack Clinton to promises of a progressive platform: article The speech today was, ostensibly, an endorsement of Clinton's presidential campaign ... But, really, it wasn't. Yes, I know that's how it was billed by the Clinton and Sanders camps. And, yes, he did say this: \"I have come here to make it as clear as possible as to why I am endorsing Hillary Clinton and why she must become our next president.\" (It was the only time that Sanders used the words \"endorse\" or \"endorsing\" in a speech that ran 2,161 words. You can read the whole thing here.) But, surely, Sanders was simply touting his successes as a way of winding up to the big moment when he acknowledged  even subtly  that Clinton's more moderate, cautious and pragmatic definition of \"Democrat\" had trumped (ahem) his more liberal, populist one? ... Nope! Not really. What followed in the speech was a laundry list of Sanders's talking points and policies supplemented with the phrases \"Hillary believes\" or \"Hillary understands\" or \"Hillary knows\" stuck in front of them ... On and on it went, Sanders touting a much-beloved policy of his and then noting that Clinton agreed with it. We reviewed the oft-cited DNC 2016 rules [PDF] but were unable to locate any specific verbiage mandating that any candidate endorse any other candidate in order to fully participate in the convention. It is possible (but not necessarily likely) that the endorsement was an agreed upon concession made outside formal rules or quietly between the campaigns. Confusion over the meaning of Sanders' endorsement was exacerbated following the release of the contents of a conference call he held with his nearly 1,900 pledged delegates hours after his public appearance alongside Clinton: PDF   During the 38-minute long call, Sanders maintained the campaign won 22 states and lost several more \"by a hair,\" stating that a majority of voters under 45 from all demographics overwhelmingly voted for him in primaries and caucuses. Sanders held that the \"superdelegate issue\" impeded his campaign, noting that Clinton earned 2,205 pledged delegates to his 1,845 and that she received \"a hell of a lot\" more superdelegate support:  In a portion of the call regarding his endorsement of Clinton, Sanders did not say that doing so was a condition of bringing his delegates to the convention. He did, however, discuss ongoing negotiations between the campaigns to ensure that planks of Sanders' campaign were adopted and Clinton was \"on record\" making such agreements. Compromises cited by Sanders included the candidates' differing plans on college tuition and single payer healthcare (including dental and mental health coverage) expansions for millions of Americans. In a significant portion of the call Sanders addressed questions about delegates' traveling to Philadelphia for the convention, asserting the campaign \"[needs its delegates] to vote for Bernie Sanders for President, and [his] hope is we can get 1,900 votes on the first ballot.\" Sanders addressed rumors of challenges to credentials without further detail, presumably referencing concerns that Sanders delegates would face opposition at the convention. The senator stated he didn't believe the rumors had merit, adding that the campaign would arrive with \"a bunch of lawyers\" in Philadelphia and \"make sure every [delegate takes their] seat.\" Sanders also addressed questions about whether he had been offered a \"significant role\" in a potential Clinton administration, to which he said \"no.\" Towards the end of the call, Sanders stated that his campaign was not suspended, but that he expected Clinton to emerge as the nominee following the convention. Overall, the conference call represented the most in-depth look regarding Sanders' motivation in endorsing Clinton prior to the convention. No portion of the call hinted or suggested that his endorsement was due to tacit threats or coercion with respect to negotiated agreements between the campaigns. A second portion of the rumor held that Sanders was heading into a contested convention having endorsed his rival, just like FDR before him. Rumors to that effect didn't specify when or under which circumstances Roosevelt made such an endorsement before going on to win the nomination (if a year was cited for this occurrence, it was typically 1932). A 2007 New York Times article about FDR's 1932 convention win did demonstrate many parallels to the contest between Clinton and Sanders: article In 1932, the leadership of the Democratic National Committee was firmly in the hands of Al Smith loyalists. Convention rules required a two-thirds majority for nomination, and the partys last three presidential candidates  James Cox of Ohio, the Wall Street lawyer John W. Davis and Al Smith  in addition to House Speaker John Garner and Senate minority leader Joe Robinson, were on record supporting the stand-aside economic policies of the Hoover administration and the ill-conceived and exorbitant Smoot-Hawley tariffs on imported goods. Roosevelt was an outsider. Serving his second term as governor of New York, he could not even count on the solid support of the Empire States delegation at the convention ... all of F.D.R.s rivals were from the pro-business, hard-money, establishment wing of the Democratic Party and decried the possibility of government intervention to revive the economy. Let natural forces take their course, as free and untrammeled as possible, said Governor Ritchie. Modern society, acting through its government, said F.D.R., owes the definite obligation to prevent the starvation or dire want of any of its fellow men and women who try to maintain themselves but cannot. The conservative wing of the Democratic party was aghast. I will take off my coat and fight to the end against any candidate who persists in any demagogic appeal ... setting class against class and rich against poor, rasped Al Smith. However, a substantial difference existed between Roosevelt in 1932 and Sanders in 2016. In addition to facing a three-way runoff requiring a two-thirds majority, Roosevelt (unlike Sanders) went into the convention with a majority of delegates (but no superdelegates, as that concept was not introduced until 1984): superdelegates 1984 When the convention opened on June 27, Roosevelt held a clear majority of delegates but was still 100 votes shy of the two-thirds required for nomination. If the establishment forces could deny F.D.R. a first-ballot victory, they might deadlock the convention and force a compromise choice. The Democratic partys two-thirds rule was the nemesis of presidential front-runners, and in the eyes of the partys old guard, Roosevelt was ripe for a fall. Nevertheless, F.D.R.s majority gave him control of the convention. His candidate for presiding officer, Sen. Thomas Walsh of Montana, was elected, and the credentials of three pro-Roosevelt delegations (Louisiana, Minnesota and the Virgin Islands) were accepted. No portion of that article mentioned Roosevelt \"endorsing\" his rival, merely tensions between \"establishment\" Democrats and an \"outsider\" candidate. Another article described aspects of the nominating process with which Clinton had more in common with Roosevelt than Sanders did: The vote was split enough to guarantee a brokered convention; FDRs camp arrived in Chicago with a majority of delegates but not enough to guarantee him the nomination. Given FDR's majority of delegates and votes, it was exceedingly unlikely he at any point endorsed either of his rival candidates (of whom there were two). Moreover, journalism and political news operated far differently in 1932 than 2016, making an \"endorsement\" tendered by FDR for a rival far less relevant than in the era of social media. It was true Sanders in some respects evoked Roosevelt's position at the contested convention of 1932, but the material difference between Sanders in 2016 and FDR in 1932 boiled down to a majority of delegates. (We contacted archivists at the FDR Presidential Library & Museum for confirmation that Roosevelt did or did not endorse a candidate in 1932 prior to winning what was a hotly contested convention. An individual with whom we spoke indicated that detailed information was not to hand, adding that an archivist would look into the claim and respond to our query.) In short, it isn't precisely clear why Sanders opted to endorse Clinton weeks before the convention without suspending his campaign. Many Sanders supporters maintained that the DNC or Clinton campaign threatened to rescind platform promises had Sanders not endorsed, but the senator made no such claim himself in a 12 July 2016 delegate conference call. During that call, Sanders did urge all delegates to appear in Philadelphia and vote for him on the first ballot. As for claims that Sanders (like FDR before him) was heading into a contested convention after endorsing a rival, there was scant truth to that claim. FDR headed into the convention with a majority of pledged delegates, prior to the advent of superdelegates. While FDR needed a hard-won two-thirds majority to seize his nomination, he also started with more delegates than his competitors. And the process of formally endorsing a rival didn't appear to be exceptionally relevant (if at all common) in the 1932 presidential nominating process.  Cillizza, Chris.  \"Heres What Bernie Sanderss Hillary Clinton Endorsement Is Really About.\"\r  Washington Post.  12 July 2016. Onion, Rebecca.  \"The Art of The New Deal.\"\r  Slate.  31 March 2016. Smith, Jean Edward.  \"F.D.R.s Rough Road to Nomination.\"\r  The New York Times.  14 May 2007. Caucus99Percent.  \"Last Night I Spoke to Ashley Wolthuis, Bernie Delegate Behind Claim Sanders Was Coerced to Endorse Hillary.\"\r  13 July 2016.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1dctTv55p8YYSDyaYTsjIfxEvsjVPH21Q","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_174","claim":"Coca-Cola Isn't Selling a 'Share a Coke with the KKK' Bottle","posted":"03\/02\/2016","sci_digest":["Artwork from an online protest asking Coca-Cola not to sponsor the 2016 Republican National Convention led some to believe that the company actually sold a \"KKK\" bottle."],"justification":"In March 2016, photos showing a bottle of Coca-Cola with the words \"share a Coke with the KKK\" written on its label started circulating online. This is not a real product sold by Coca-Cola. While the \"Share a Coke\" campaign allows Coca-Cola drinkers to personalize their cans, some words or phrases (such as \"KKK\") are not available. The image showing the \"KKK\" bottle was created for an online petition on the website Color Of Change, asking the company to pull its sponsorship of the Republican National Convention due to Donald Trump's failure to condemn the KKK in an interview. Even with Trump refusing to disavow the support of the Ku Klux Klan this weekend and declaring All Lives Matter at a rally, Coca-Cola and other companies still have not canceled their sponsorship of the RNC. How can Coca-Cola, a company that heavily markets to and profits from Black people, fund a platform for a presidential nominee that is being bolstered into office by former Grand Wizard David Duke, the KKK, and other white supremacists? The petition presupposes that Coca-Cola will be sponsoring the 2016 Republican National Convention and that Coca-Cola would be effectively endorsing the Ku Klux Klan by sponsoring the RNC. On 23 February 2016, representatives from the advocacy groups ColorofChange, Americas Voice, CREDO Action, Million Hoodies, MoveOn, and Presente.org admitted as much in an open letter to Coca-Cola and other alleged sponsors of the 2016 RNC. Based on your corporate sponsorship of the 2012 Republican National Convention, we have reason to believe that your company is planning to again sponsor the RNC this year. We believe it is a sign of strong corporate leadership for you and your company to refrain from sponsoring Donald Trump's hateful and divisive rhetoric. While Coca-Cola did sponsor the Republican National Convention in 2012, the company also sponsored the Democratic National Convention that year. Many of the sponsors of the Democratic convention were also sponsors of the host committee in Tampa for the previous week's Republican National Convention. \"The Coca-Cola Company believes we have a role to play in the political process and that includes helping to make the political conventions a success,\" said Coca-Cola spokeswoman Nancy Bailey.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1XYCXhBPURUYi5NxqW2ZizwkIlDFt-BER","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ljoBOkPCbZ95k208gqUdY2xOspKytu4l","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_175","claim":"Did an Exorcism Save a House from Destruction During a Hurricane?","posted":"05\/03\/2018","sci_digest":["A viral meme fabricated supernatural involvement in an already remarkable hurricane survival story."],"justification":"In September 2008, Hurricane Ike made landfall in Galveston, Texas, the site of the deadliest hurricane in American history 108 years earlier, causing multiple deaths and an estimated $30 billion in property damage throughout Texas, Louisiana, and Florida. Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to evacuate their homes before and during the storm. According to the National Hurricane Center, the Bolivar Peninsula suffered the worst devastation and most destructive storm surges in the United States. That narrow stretch of land between Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico was also the site of one of the iconic images to emerge in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike: the \"Last House Standing.\" Associated Press photographer David J. Phillip took a series of photographs of the house that were captioned as picturing \"a beachfront home stand[ing] among the debris in Gilchrist, Texas on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008 after Hurricane Ike hit the area.\" Another view of the same house was provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Over the intervening years, the remarkable image became the subject of a viral meme which claimed that supernatural forces, rather than pure chance, were responsible for the house's escape from destruction. For example, in May 2018, the \"Scary Facts\" Facebook page shared this meme. The beachfront home, which stood surrounded by debris from neighboring properties, belonged to then 53-year-old cost analyst Pam Adams and her husband Warren, a 63-year-old retired electrical designer and U.S. Marine veteran. In 2005, Hurricane Rita had destroyed the couple's home in Gilchrist, so they rebuilt a house on the same site. The real reason the house survived the hurricane was more prosaic. In a 2008 interview with the Houston Chronicle, Warren Adams suggested elevation played a key role: \"It was built to Galveston County code,\" he said, \"which anticipates 130-mile-per-hour winds on the seaward side of the county. But the elevation may have helped. I built high, in part, to get a break on flood insurance.\" The home sits 15 feet above ground. \"The piece of land my house is sitting on was probably one of the highest above sea level in the area, about 8 or 9 feet above sea level before we even started the house,\" he said. \"I think the house is about 16 inches higher than it needs to be.\" Although the structure remained standing, the interior did not survive unscathed, as CNN reported that \"Everything was waterlogged and covered in mud. [Pam] Adams said they had to throw clothing, furniture, and other destroyed possessions out their windows to stop mold from growing.\" For a time after the storm, the Adamses resided in an apartment in Baytown, Texas, and seriously considered abandoning Bolivar Peninsula and moving on. But in the end, they stayed put and rebuilt the house again, along with some (though not all) of their neighbors. In a blog post, Pam Adams later explained the couple's decision to stay: \"One day, I was driving down Hwy. 87 towards my home, and the sunset shining under my home caused me to pull over and just sit and look at her. I knew at that moment that I could not walk away. The feeling I had was that this picture was the most beautiful, heartfelt sight that I\u2019d ever seen. My crippled home sat engulfed in the sunset on the Gulf. Somehow, I knew at that moment that we could not walk away from her. She didn\u2019t float away from us or get blown to pieces, so we had to roll up our sleeves and give it one more try to live by the water.\" The Last House Standing was inhabitable again within a year, and in 2010 Pam Adams even opened a bar and restaurant nearby called FantaSea BBQ & Grill. (Warren Adams died in 2016 at the age of 71.) The survival of the Adams home amid the devastation Hurricane Ike caused on the Bolivar Peninsula was truly remarkable, and aerial photographs of it standing alone in the immediate aftermath of the storm have proven iconic. But an exorcism supposedly performed in 1988, a full eighteen years before the house was built, had nothing to do with any of it.","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1w5X73XlmAaQI4xhqHcZmlP-ohM3WoBQi","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=11KKp8IWHlrX8b2csJeBSwuSCTtV2t80k","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_176","claim":"Increase the height of the pie!","posted":"02\/26\/2003","sci_digest":["Is the 'Make the Pie Higher' poem composed of actual quotes from George W. Bush?"],"justification":"Claim:  \"Make the Pie Higher!\" poem is composed of actual quotes from George W. Bush.   Example:  [Collected on the Internet, 2002] MAKE THE PIE HIGHERby George W. Bush  I think we all agree, the past is over.This is still a dangerous world.It's a world of madmen and uncertaintyand potential mental losses.  Rarely is the question askedIs our children learning?Will the highways of the Internet become more few?How many hands have I shaked?  They misunderestimate me.I am a pitbull on the pantleg of opportunity.I know that the human being and the fish can coexist.Families is where our nation finds hope, where our wings take dream.  Put food on your family!Knock down the tollbooth!Vulcanize society!Make the pie higher! Make the pie higher! Origins:  We certainly didn't need to write a piece to inform the world that, like his father, President George W. Bush is not a strong public speaker.  Particularly when speaking   extemporaneously, he often uses words similar in sound but different in meaning to what he intends tosay (e.g., \"vulcanize\" for \"Balkanize\") or uses incorrect forms of words (e.g., \"resignate\" for \"resonate\"), garbles familiar phrases by transposing words (e.g., \"where wings take dream\"), and makes a variety of grammatical mistakes (e.g., \"how many hands have I shaked\").  The point here was not to rehash the numerous lists of \"Bushisms\" to be found in a variety of media, but to perform a sort of investigative experiment into the accuracy of information transmission in the Internet age. A common phenomenon in the world of the printed word is that once a public figure  whether he be an athlete such a Yogi Berra, an entertainment figure such as Samuel Goldwyn, or a politician such as Dan Quayle  acquires a reputation for spouting malapropisms, people quickly begin to put words into his mouth. All sorts of humorous misuses of words and phrases that sound like something that person might have said are soon attributed to him as something he \"really said\"; newspapers run the erroneous quotes without verification and are later cited as documented proof of their veracity, thereby enshrining apocrypha as  fact. Only when someone undertakes the chore of trying to track the quotes back to their sources are the misattributions discovered, usually far too late to dislodge them from the public consciousness. So, we thought we'd tackle a project to see whether the increased availability of information in the Internet age has had any effect on this phenomenon; whether quotes are less likely to be misattributed when nearly every utterance of a public figure as prominent as a presidential candidate is recorded and stored in one form or another.  As a test example, we chose the \"Make the Pie Higher!\" piece reproduced above (generally credited to \"Washington Post writer Richard Thompson,\" a satirist and illustrator who produces the \"Richard's Poor Almanac\" feature appearing in the Post's Sunday edition) and attempted to trace every statement listed therein to its source to determine how many of them were actually uttered by George W. Bush.  Our standard was that in order to consider a statement to be a genuine \"Bushism\" we had to find at least one major newspaper article that quoted the actual words spoken (rather than paraphrasing them), included specific information about when and where the statement was made, and was printed within a few days of the event at which the statement was offered. In this statistically insignificant non-random sample of one, we found that yes, the accuracy of quote transmission was remarkably high: All but a couple of the items in this piece could be reliably traced back to the mouth of George W. Bush. Here are the results:  \"I think we all agree, the past is over.\" In March 2000, Texas governor George W. Bush locked up the Republican presidential nomination, beating out his chief rival, Senator John McCain of Arizona, in a rancorous primary campaign marked by personal attacks and charges of dirty tactics on the part of both sides.  Two months later Senator McCain somewhat reluctantly endorsed Governor Bush for president during a joint appearance at the Westin William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh, where both men tried their best (somewhat unconvincingly) to assure the press that they had put their differences behind them: Both sides swapped charges of dirty campaign tactics. McCain aides accused Bush supporters of personal attacks, and Mr. Bush denounced McCain forces for suggesting that the governor was guilty of anti-Catholic bigotry. On Tuesday, the pair told some 200 journalists that they had discussed policy, not personal history. \"There's no point,\" Mr. McCain said. \"I hold no rancor. Others will be the judge of this campaign, not me.\"  Mr. Bush said the McCain challenge toughened him for the fall campaign against Mr. Gore.  \"We had a tough primary,\" Mr. Bush said. \"I told him point blank: 'You made me a better candidate.'\"  Later, on his campaign plane, the governor described the discussion as \"very cordial, very frank, very open.\" He added: \"I think we agree, the past is over.\"1 \"This is still a dangerous world. It's a world of madmen and uncertainty and potential mental losses.\" On the campaign trail in South Carolina while pursuing the Republican nomination in January 2000, Governor Bush spoke before 2,000 loyal Republicans at a well-attended oyster roast held on a plantation outside Charleston and mystified his audience when, during his discourse on the need for a strengthened U.S. military, he made reference not to \"mental\" losses (which itself would have sounded odd in the given context), but to \"mential\" (pronounced \"men-shul\") losses: During his visit to South Carolina this week, the first Bushism exploded as the governor painted a passionate picture of the military dangers facing the US, and the pressing need for protection against rogue missile launches. \"This is still a dangerous world,\" he told more than 2,000 supporters at an oyster roast. \"It's a world of madmen and uncertainty and potential mential losses.\" Bush's spokespeople could not immediately explain what a mential loss was, but it seemed only distantly related to missile launches.2 \"Rarely is the question asked, 'Is our children learning?'\" During that same South Carolina campaign swing in January 2000, Governor Bush committed another grammatical mix-up while wrangling a sentence containing both singular and plural subjects, this example occurring (with a modicum of irony) during the portion of his stump speech dealing with education: That's not to say Bush hasn't had his share of flubs. Part of his stump speech focuses on education. On Tuesday, talking to a crowd of several hundred at a cavernous civic center in Florence, S.C., Bush decried those who ignore educational programs that produce no results  inadvertently revealing a temporary shortcoming in his own grammar skills.  \"What's not fine is rarely is the question asked, are, is our children learning?\" Bush said.3 \"Will the highways of the Internet become more few?\" During his January 2000 push to win the first primary election of the campaign, held in New Hampshire, Governor Bush was asked to comment on the recently announced merger of media giants Time Warner and AOL, and he addressed concerns over its potential monopolistic effects with some unusual phrasing: When asked about the Time Warner\/America Online merger, the candidate took an unexpected detour on the information superhighway. The key question in considering the merger, Bush said, is \"will the highways to the Internet become more few?\"4 \"How many hands have I shaked?\" By October 1999 Republicans were noting Governor Bush's relatively rare appearances in New Hampshire and were beginning to question whether he had assumed he had the nomination sewn up and could afford to take the February 2000 New Hampshire primary for granted.   When reporters persistently questioned him about that possibility on 22 October 1999, during his first campaign swing through New Hampshire since early September, Governor Bush expressed the notion that the important factor was not the number of appearances he made, but the number of people he reached during those appearances: Asked repeatedly today about why he had not been around more, Mr. Bush at one point interrupted a reporter's question to say, \"The important question is, How many hands have I shaked.\"5 \"They misunderestimate me.\" The misuse of 'misunderestimate' for 'underestimate' seems to be one of  George W. Bush's more common elocutionary mistakes.  We can't pin down exactly when he used 'misunderestimate' for the first time in a public statement as a presidential candidate; the earliest print reference we could find appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times on 13 November 2000, but it didn't detail where and when he said it.  Nonetheless,  Bush was still using the word (and catching himself at it) after his inauguration as President, as demonstrated by this excerpt from a 29 March 2001 news conference: Look, it is in our nation's best interests to have long-term tax relief, and that has been my focus all along. I'm confident we can have it, get it done. I believe not only can we get long-term tax relief in place. Since our country is running some surpluses in spite of the dire predictions about cash flow, I believe we have an opportunity to fashion an immediate stimulus package, as well. The two ought to go hand in hand. Those who think that they can say, \"We're only going to have a stimulus package, but let's forget tax relief,\" misunderestimate ...  or, excuse me,  underestimate  just making sure you were paying attention  underestimate our administration's resolve to get this done ...6 \"I am a pitbull on the pantleg of opportunity.\" This line is a retrospective statement Bush uttered during an interview about his involvement in a partnershipthat bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in 1989: George W. Bush has frequently claimed to have cobbled together the deal to buy the Rangers in 1989. \"I was like a pit bull on the pant leg of opportunity,\" Mr. Bush said in a long interview about his past. \"And I just grabbed on to it. I was going to put the deal together. And I did.\" The initiative, Mr. Bush acknowledges, came from Bill DeWitt, a businessman and friend of the family. Mr. DeWitt had heard that the Rangers were on the market and wanted to recruit Mr. Bush as a partner to buy the team.15 \"I know that the human being and the fish can coexist.\" On Friday, 29 September 2000, Governor Bush was on the stump in Saginaw, Michigan, and deviated from his prepared speech to reassure the business community that he would not support the tearing down of energy-producing dams merely to protect threatened fish species, an issue he had recently covered while campaigning in the Pacific Northwest:    Friday, feeling the need to explain his statement during a speech on energy policy that he intended to maintain dams in the Pacific Northwest, he departed from his text and added, \"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully.\" He did not elaborate.7 Mark Crispin Miller noted in The Bush Dyslexicon that: This remark is striking not because it's silly but because it casts a threatened creature as a national enemy.  A relic of the Cold War, the phrase \"peaceful coexistence\" was a predtente Soviet coinage, meant to pitch conciliation between the world's two rival superpowers. \"Families is where our nation finds hope, where our wings take dream.\" Swinging through Wisconsin in mid-October 2000 en route to a debate with Democratic presidential challenger Al Gore, Governor Bush was discussing the importance of tax cuts to American families when he transposed a couple of words in a well-worn phrase: The Texas governor and GOP presidential nominee tangles up words often enough that he sometimes jokes about it, and the phenomenon has acquired a name  Bushism. On the campaign trail Wednesday, he let one fly: \"Families is where our nation finds hope,\" he said, \"where wings take dream.\"8 \"Put food on your family!\" On 27 January 2000, speaking in Nashua just a few days before the New Hampshire primary, Governor Bush was trying to illustrate the economic plight of single working mothers and again transposed (and omitted) a few words in the familiar reference to putting food on the table for one's family: At a breakfast meeting with the Nashua Chamber of Commerce, Bush illustrated his brand of compassionate conservatism by urging his listeners to put themselves in the role of a single mother \"working hard to put food on your family.\"4 Since these words are difficult to quote in the context in which they were offered, they were soon being rendered as the pithier \"I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family.\" \"Knock down the tollbooth!\" Governor Bush's misuse of 'tollbooth' for 'roadblock,' in reference to eliminating tax obstacles that prevent the working poor from joining the middle class, comes from his New Hampshire campaign appearances in January 2000, but contemporary reports don't seem to agree on the exact words he used  perhaps there was more than one such incident: Things must be good here, because the mere mention of tax cuts is not enough to get the crowd cheering. What they like is when Bush worries about the working poor; they applaud vigorously when he complains that a single mother making $22,000 is being penalized by the tax system. \"It's not fair!\" Bush exclaims. \"It's a tollbooth on the road to the middle class, and I intend not only to reduce the fees but to knock the tollbooth down.\"9  \"The hardest job in America is to be a single mom, making $20,000 a year,\" Bush declared at a recent Rotary Club lunch where he promised that as president, he would reduce the struggling woman's marginal income-tax rate and \"knock down her tollbooth to the middle class.\"10   Last weekend, fire marshals were actually turning people away from political rallies. At a high school near Nashua, you could see folks forlornly peeking in the windows, yearning to be let inside to hear George W. Bush call for \"a law that provides liability to teachers who enforce discipline in the schools.\" All the candidates are tired, but Mr. Bush's speeches are getting particularly unintelligible  at the same high school, he announced, \"I think we need not only to eliminate the tollbooth to the middle class, I think we should knock down the tollbooth.\" 11 \"Vulcanize society! \" At the very beginning of the 2000 presidential campaign, Ken Herman reported in a front-page story appearing in the 23 March 1999 edition of the Austin American-Statesman that Governor Bush had expressed his disdain for racial quotas as programs that \"vulcanize\" society: Sometimes this smooth operator is anything but. This was evident in a March 23 piece by Ken Herman, the Austin American-Statesman's chief Bush watcher, who wrote about the governor's \"2-step around hot topics.\" Mr. Bush says he's against \"hard quotas, quotas that basically delineate based on whatever. However, they delineate, quotas, I think, vulcanize society.\"12 In this instance Governor Bush of course meant to say 'Balkanize' (to divide a group into small, often hostile units) rather than 'vulcanize' (to improve the strength of rubber by combining it with sulfur in the presence of heat and pressure).  However, the issue was muddied a few days later when the American-Statesman reversed itself and issued a correction:  A front-page story Tuesday inaccurately quoted Gov. George W. Bush's position on quotas in college admissions and the awarding of state contracts. The story said Bush believes quotas \"vulcanize society.\" Bush actually said he believes quotas \"Balkanize society.\"13 Whether the reporter misquoted Governor Bush or whether Governor Bush really did say 'vulcanize' and the American-Statesman later printed an amended quote at the behest of his office is something we can't determine. \"Make the pie higher!\" This final item (a misstatement of the concept of putting more money into the hands of Americans by reducing taxes to grow the economy and enlarge the economic \"pie\" that everyone shares  i.e., making the pie \"bigger\" rather than \"higher\") is the phrase perhaps most often cited as an example of \"Bushisms,\" so much so that it was used for the title of the poem quoted at the head of this page.  And it is a real quote, something Bush said during the course of a 15 February 2000 Republican debate (moderated by CNN host Larry King) in Columbia, South Carolina, between Texas Governor George W. Bush, Senator John McCain of Arizona, and former Reagan administration official Ambassador Alan Keyes: The difference between our plans is, I know whose money it is we're dealing with. We're dealing with the government  we're dealing with the people's money, not the government's money. And I want to give people their money back.  And if you're going to have a tax cut, everybody ought to have a tax cut. This kind of Washington, D.C., view about targeted tax cuts is tax cuts driven by polls and focus groups. If you pay taxes in America, you ought to get a tax cut.  Under my plan, if you're a family of four in South Carolina, making $50,000, you get 50-percent tax cut. I've reduced the lower rate from 15 percent to 10 percent, which does this  and this is important. There are people on the outskirts of poverty, like single moms who are working the toughest job in America. If she has two kids, and making $22,000, for every additional dollar she earns, she pays a higher marginal rate on her taxes than someone making $200,000.  You bet I cut the taxes at the top. That encourages entrepreneurship. What we Republicans should stand for is growth in the economy. We ought to make the pie higher. This one initially posed something of a mystery to us, because transcripts of the debate prepared by the Federal Document Clearing House and CNN attribute the block of text quoted above to Senator John McCain, not Governor Bush.  However, the immediately preceding question had clearly been posed to Governor Bush, and newspaper accounts the following morning noted the \"make the pie higher\" comment as something uttered by Governor Bush: Bush, shedding his sometimes goofy demeanor, was as animated and forceful as he has been in any debate, punching the air with his fist to underscore his words. He scored points among the party faithful in calling for an end to the Clinton era in Washington  one of the money lines of the night. On taxes and bringing prosperity to struggling working mothers, however, Bush mangled one metaphor: \"We ought to make the pie higher.\"14 Moreover, at a Radio\/TV correspondents' dinner in Washington, D.C., a few weeks later, Governor Bush made humorous use of the item with no indication that the words weren't his own: Now most people would say in speaking of the economy, \"We ought to make the pie bigger.\" I, however, am on record saying, \"We ought to make the pie higher.\" As frivolous as this experiment may have been, let's hope it's a harbinger of more accurate information to come. Last updated:  21 July 2008    Sources:    7.  Allen, Mike.  \"Bush's Gaffes Are Back As Debates Near.\"   The Washington Post.  1 October 2000  (p. A8).    11.  Collins, Gail.  \"Savor the Moment.\"   The New York Times.  1 February 2000  (p. A21).     5.  Henneberger, Melinda.  \"New Hampshire Warns Bush, 'Don't Be a Stranger Hee-ahh'\"   The New York Times.  23 October 1999  (p. A12).    12.  Hunt, Albert R.  \"George W. Can Run But He Can't Hide.\"   The Wall Street Journal.  1 April 1999  (p. A23).     4.  Hutcheson, Ron.  \"Candidate George W. Bush Sometimes Mangles Words.\"   Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  29 January 2000  (p. A8).        Ivins, Molly.  Shrub: The Short But Happy Political Life of George W. Bush.   New York: Random House, 2000.  ISBN 0-375-50399-4  (p. 19). Shrub: The Short But Happy Political Life of George W. Bush     1.  Jackson, David and Wayne Slater.  \"Subdued McCain Endorses Bush.\"   The Dallas Morning News.  10 May 2000.    16.  Kristof, Nicholas D.  \"The 2000 Campaign: Breaking Into Baseball.\"   The New York Times.  24 September 2000.    10.  Leonard, Mary.  \"Fight Intensifies for Votes of Women.\"   The Boston Globe.  22 January 2000  (p. A1).     8.  Mason, Julie.  \"Campaign Notebook.\"   The Houston Chronicle.  19 October 2000  (p. A38).    14.  Miga, Andrew.  \"Tight S. Carolina Race Fuels Contentious Debate.\"   The Boston Globe.  16 February 2000  (p. 27).        Miller, Mark Crispin.  The Bush Dyslexicon: Observations on a National Disorder.   New York: W.W. Norton, 2001.  ISBN 0-393-04183-2. The Bush Dyslexicon: Observations on a National Disorder     3.  Miller, T. Christian.  \"With a Grin, Bush Answers Early Charges of Aloofness.\"   Los Angeles Times.  14 January 2000  (p. 20).        Smith, Zay N.  \"A Small Comfort Amid Election Snafus, Quarrels.\"   Chicago Sun-Times.  13 November 2000  (p. 26).     9.  Von Drehle, David.  \"12 Hours, 4 Contenders, Many Parallels.\"   The Washington Post.  15 January 2000  (p. A1).    13.  Austin American-Statesman.  \"Corrections.\"   25 March 1999  (p. A2).     2.  The Financial Times.  \"Bushed Again.\"   14 January 2000.     6.  The New York Times.  \"In Bush's Words: 'Both Sides Must Take Important Steps' in the Mideast.\"   30 March 2001  (p. A12).","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1W3J3_uyRTOqTDj_Gchd45OAx7JCiwIHi"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_177","claim":"Robbers Throwing Eggs at Car Windshields?","posted":"12\/07\/2009","sci_digest":["Facebook alerts about robbers' flinging eggs at cars to impair drivers' vision and force them to stop are greatly exaggerated."],"justification":"Breathless e-mailed warnings about the (usually false) latest ways in which thieves are purported to be getting motorists to pull over so they can be preyed upon are nothing new: a few we've previously documented include claims that gangs of robbers were placing tire-puncturing spikes in shopping mall parking lots, or affixing plastic baskets to the undersides of targeted vehicles (thereby prompting drivers to stop to investigate the noise), pouring sugar into gas tanks, festooning cars' windshields with flyers, and even acting drunk or as if they'd been struck by other cars.  spikes baskets sugar flyers drunk Our first sightings of a warning about eggs being thrown at windshields came in October 2009: Please take this seriously! If you are driving at night and are attacked with eggs, do not operate the wiper and  spray and water. Because eggs mixed with water become milky and block your vision up to 92.5% Then you are forced to stop at the road side and become a victim of robbers. This is a new technique used by robbers in Johor Bahru. Please inform your friends and relatives!!  If you are driving at night and eggs are thrown at your windshield. Do not operate the wiper and spray any water because eggs mixed with water become milky and block your vision up to 92.5% so you are forced to stop at the roadside and become a victim of robbers.  This is a new technique used by robbers.  Please inform your friends and relatives. This also happens on interstates near exits. That earlier version, while it also asserted the claim of water mixed with raw egg's obscuring a windshield and bruited the (absurdly precise) 92.5% figure, differed from what has become the canonical form of the warning in that it stated motorists so attacked would become prey to \"robbers\/carnappers\" and recommended those so assaulted instead drive to \"a well lit place w\/ many people or nearest police station\" rather than stop. Later forms of the e-mail added further flourishes, such as \"used by robbers\" morphing into \"used by robbers in Johor Bahru\" (the capital city of Johor in southern Malaysia), the addition of the claim that these attacks \"happens on interstates near exits,\" and most commonly the inclusion of a new paragraph that blamed matters on a flagging economy: \"Folks are becoming more and more cruel daily. But this is just the beginning of pangs of distress. With the decline in economy and job losses, we can expect anything. Just can't be too careful these days.\" Though we've queried our police contacts and scoured news reports looking for accounts of robberies and carjackings effected by disabling target  vehicles by pelting them with raw eggs, we haven't been able to document any such occurrences in the U.S.  (In all the years we've been tracking this legend, the most we've turned up is a single unverified account.)Rather, we did locate news stories about police cars so pelted, with the officers retaliating by giving chase to the miscreants who'd thrown eggs at them. In various news accounts we found, officers not only were able to see well enough through their poultrified windows to go after the bad guys, they also succeeded in running them to ground and bringing them to justice. Most tellingly, such accounts made no mention of the officers' experiencing difficulty in seeing well enough through their egged windshields to give chase. unverified While a mixture of raw egg and water vigorously stirred together in a glass will produce a somewhat milky-looking liquid (which might be the source of this tale), there's nothing about the interaction of egg and water that renders the resulting combination into a substance guaranteed to completely block a driver's vision. Egg alone or egg-and-water solutions are thin liquids and so are relatively easy to see through, with the vehicle's wipers generally sweeping away the worst of the mess fairly easily, as demonstrated in the following video: It would take a number of extremely well-placed eggs (a hen's typical offerings aren't that big) to splat a windshield so thoroughly as to completely impair the driver's view and force him to stop immediately. Unless the visibility conditions were already poor, a motorist with a splattered windshield would generally still be able to see well enough to continue driving out of range of the egg-throwing hooligans to a safe stopping place. Certainly miscreants have long engaged in the practice of launching objects (rocks, eggs, firecrackers, paintballs) at moving cars in order to startle motorists into stopping and getting out of their automobiles (typically as a prank, but sometimes as a means of setting up the theft of a vehicle and\/or the driver's possessions), but that information is neither new nor shocking. <!--<FONT COLOR=>Variations:  A March 2010 version combined the \"eggs baby  A November 2012 version included a photograph of a car's windshield that had some sort of white spatter upon it that looked to us to be white paint: Fernandez, Lisa.  \"Off-Duty San Jose Cop Stops Three Men for Vandalizing His Car in Fremont.\"\r  San Jose Mercury News.  1 November 2007.\r Hoober, John.  \"Egg Tossed at Cruiser Leads to Chase, Crash.\"\r  Lancaster New Era.  3 December 2008  (p. A1).\r","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_178","claim":"The Freezing Homeless Child! (Social Experiment)","posted":"02\/27\/2015","sci_digest":["Rumor: Video depicts New York City pedestrians callously ignoring a freezing, homeless child."],"justification":"Claim: New York City pedestrians ignored a freezing, homeless child for two hours. Example: [Collected via Twitter, February 2015] You'll never guess who finally helped this homeless child freezing on the NYC streets. WOW Origins: On 23 February 2015, a video titled \"The Freezing Homeless Child! (Social Experiment)\" was published to YouTube by OckTV. The clip rapidly spread on blogs and social networks under clickbait titles such as \"The homeless child was freezing to death while no one approached him. I never thought this guy would be the only one!\" Within days, the video had been shared millions of times. While the footage tugged at many heartstrings, its creators were somewhat upfront about its staged nature. Dubbing the video a \"social experiment,\" its publishers admitted that the child was neither legitimately homeless nor freezing in a manner that was anything more than incidental and deliberate. They claimed the \"social experiment\" (a term often used to excuse a number of unpleasant or deceitful behaviors through the premise of illustrating a point) was designed to prove that the citizens of New York City would not be moved by the child's hypothetical plight, even in unusually cold weather. Several aspects of the story were shaky, implausible, or simply far too scripted. First, the viral video producers claimed that the child was exposed for two full hours in what appeared to be a busy area of midtown Manhattan in broad daylight, wearing only a thin t-shirt and shivering violently. However, the New York Police Department aggressively monitors the streets of the city for at-risk homeless individuals. Such measures are stepped up in adverse weather conditions, and the scenario strains credulity when mitigating factors are examined: a minor child, lacking a jacket in extreme cold, left alone on the street in Manhattan's busiest district. A webpage for NYC.gov explains the precautions undertaken by the city in such circumstances: The Department of Homeless Services (DHS) continues to use its Cold Weather Emergency Procedure, called Code Blue, to protect unsheltered homeless people, who are more at risk for exposure deaths during the cold winter months. During Code Blue conditions, DHS doubles its outreach efforts. Community members who identify someone on the street they believe needs assistance should call 311 and ask for the Mobile Outreach Response Team; in any emergency, community members should call 911. The Department of Homeless Services will send an outreach team to the location to assess the individual's condition and take appropriate action. The second shaky factor was the other content published by OckTV prior to their \"freezing, homeless child stunt\": all were clearly manufactured for maximum social media interest, and their focus was neither charitable nor honest. (The words \"prank\" and \"social experiment\" appeared frequently in connection with that work.) In the same vein, the video's conclusion involved a fellow homeless person stepping up to help where no one else would. (The man was then purportedly awarded $500 for his convenient-to-the-narrative compassion.) The third factor was that the video was tied to an IndieGogo page purportedly created to raise funds to provide clothing for New York City's homeless population. That page was operated by OckTV and lacked any specific detail about how the funds raised would be managed, accounted for, or meaningfully used to assist homeless individuals in New York. While the campaign could have been legitimate, it was slated to close on 27 March 2015, well past the brunt of winter's unpleasantness in the city. No explanation was given on the page regarding whether the funds collected would be held until the next winter rolled around or repurposed to otherwise assist homeless people at the conclusion of the campaign. So while the video depicted a child on the streets of New York City in what looked to be very cold weather, little else about it was honest or straightforward. There are a number of legitimate, vetted charities in New York City dedicated to assisting vulnerable and needy people, and those moved by the video's staged events would do better to donate to one of them. Last updated: 27 February 2015","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/i.imgur.com\/Ehp1gsk.jpg","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_179","claim":"Did Failed Constitutional Amendments Include Ban on Divorce, 'United States of the Earth'?","posted":"10\/29\/2021","sci_digest":["Since 1789, there have been more than 11,000 proposals to change the U.S. Constitution. Some 99.75% of them were left to gather dust. "],"justification":"In October 2021, a list of what appeared to be failed, and in some cases rather bizarre, historical proposals to amend the U.S. Constitution proved popular on the online forum Reddit. An Oct. 20 post bore the headline \"A list of American amendments that were never approved\" and consisted of a photograph of a page from a book containing the following text: The following is a very limited list of some of the proposed amendments that never left the halls of Congress: 1876 An attempt to abolish the United States Senate; 1876 The forbidding of religious leaders from occupying a governmental office or receiving federal funding; 1878 An Executive Council of Three to replace the office of President; 1893 Renaming this nation the United States of the Earth; 1893 Abolishing the United States Army and Navy; 1894 Acknowledging that the Constitution recognizes God and Jesus Christ as the supreme authorities in human affairs; 1912 Making marriage between races illegal; 1914 Finding divorce to be illegal; 1916 All acts of war should be put to a national vote. Anyone voting yes had to register as a volunteer for service in the United States Army; 1933 An attempt to limit personal wealth to $1 million; 1936 An attempt to allow the American people to vote on whether or not the United States should go to war; 1938 The forbidding of drunkenness in the United States and all of its territories; 1947 The income tax maximum for an individual should not exceed 25%; 1948 The right of citizens to segregate themselves from others; 1971 American citizens should have the inalienable right to an environment free of pollution. On the whole, the list presented 15 proposed amendments with a very high degree of accuracy. Most were entirely accurate, a few were accurate in their substance, with some relatively insignificant disclaimers necessary, and only one involved a degree of misrepresentation. The source of the list was \"The U.S. Constitution and Fascinating Facts About It,\" a book that has been printed and updated by Oak Hill Publishing since the early 1990s. As the book suggests, the 15 proposals on the list represent a very tiny fraction of all the failed proposals to amend the U.S. Constitution over the years. According to the U.S. Senate historian, more than 11,000 amendments have been proposed since 1789. Of those, only 27 have come into effect, while six others gained the two-thirds majority required in both houses of Congress but failed to be ratified by three-quarters of state legislatures. The following is a breakdown of the details and context associated with each of the 15 failed amendments included in the list, presented in chronological order. \n\n1876: An attempt to abolish the United States Senate. In April 1876, U.S. Rep. Sobieski Ross, R-Pennsylvania, presented two \"memorials\" (petitions) on behalf of 22 residents of Potter County in northern Pennsylvania, near the border with upstate New York. One called for the \"abolition of the presidency,\" and the other called for the \"abolition of the United States Senate.\" The proposed amendments were forwarded to the House Judiciary Committee but do not appear to have advanced from there. \n\nIn April 1911, U.S. Rep. Victor Berger, a Socialist from Wisconsin, introduced his own proposal to amend the Constitution by abolishing the Senate. The resolution read, in part: Whereas the Senate in particular has become an obstructive and useless body, a menace to the liberties of the people, and an obstacle to social growth... All legislative powers shall be vested in the House of Representatives. Its enactments, subject to referendum, shall be the supreme law, and the President shall have no power to veto them, nor shall any court have the power to invalidate them. Berger's proposal never made it out of committee, but shortly afterward, the Senate passed a separate resolution that would go on to become the 17th Amendment, which provided for direct popular elections to the U.S. Senate and replaced the existing method whereby state legislatures selected the members of the upper chamber. \n\n1876: \"The forbidding of religious leaders from occupying a governmental office or receiving federal funding.\" This appears to be a reference to the Blaine Amendments, a series of proposals between 1875 and 1876, the first of which was made by James Blaine, a Maine Republican who was a member of the House and then the Senate during that period. Blaine's December 1875 proposal prohibited states from allowing religious groups or schools to receive taxpayer dollars, as follows: No State shall make any law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, and no money raised by taxation in any State for the support of public schools, or derived from any public fund therefor, nor any public lands devoted thereto, shall ever be under the control of any religious sect or denomination; nor shall any funds so raised, or lands so used, be divided among any religious sects or denominations. However, it did not address the eligibility of \"religious leaders\" to hold office, and its restrictions relating to public funding were limited to the states rather than including federal funding. A subsequent Republican revision of Blaine's proposal in 1876 did expand the funding restrictions to the federal level but did not involve barring religious leaders from holding office. \n\n1878: \"An Executive Council of Three to replace the office of President.\" In the spring of 1878, U.S. Rep. Milton Southard, D-Ohio, introduced a proposal to replace the existing office of the president with a new \"Supreme Executive Council of three.\" The triumvirate was to be chosen by \"qualified electors\" of the states and taken from three would-be new districts: the Western states, the Eastern and Middle states, and the Southern states. The original proposal can be found here. The exact stage at which the proposed amendment failed is not clear. \n\n1893: \"Renaming this nation the 'United States of the Earth'\" and \"Abolishing the United States Army and Navy.\" Based on a news report from the spring of 1893 and a 1987 New York Times article, both these measures were included in a proposed constitutional amendment put forward in February 1893 by U.S. Rep. Lucas Militiades Miller, D-Wisconsin. However, Miller may have made the proposals at the request of James Seldon Cowen, a Virginia inventor with eclectic interests and theories, who advanced detailed proposals for renaming the country, as well as abolishing the Army, Navy, and their \"schools of organized murder,\" in a book published the previous year. \n\n1894: \"Acknowledging that the Constitution recognizes God and Jesus Christ as the supreme authorities in human affairs.\" In 1894, U.S. Sen. William Frye, R-Maine, introduced a proposal to amend the preamble to the Constitution and explicitly assert the Christianity of the United States. After the words \"We the people of the United States,\" and before \"in order to form a more perfect union,\" Frye proposed to add the following: ...devoutly acknowledging the supreme authority and just government of God in all the affairs of men and nations, and grateful to Him for our civil and religious liberty; and encouraged by the assurances of His word, invoke His guidance, as a Christian nation, according to His appointed way, through Jesus Christ. \n\n1912: \"Making marriage between races illegal.\" In December 1912, U.S. Rep. Seaborn Roddenberry, D-Georgia, introduced a proposal to prohibit interracial marriage by way of constitutional amendment. Roddenberry, a white supremacist and racist extremist even by the standards of the early 20th century, explicitly cited his own revulsion at the recent high-profile marriage between Jack Johnson, the Black heavyweight boxer, and Lucille Cameron, a white woman, as the catalyst for his crusade against \"miscegenation,\" as interracial relationships were at that time widely described. In support of his cause, Roddenberry described interracial marriage as being \"repulsive and averse to every sentiment of pure American spirit,\" according to a contemporaneous news report that contains some exceptionally offensive racist language. Roddenberry's proposed amendment did not make it past the House Judiciary Committee, but several states subsequently introduced laws banning interracial marriage until 1967, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Loving vs. Virginia that any and all laws prohibiting or restricting marriage based on racial considerations were in violation of the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection clause. \n\n1914: \"Finding divorce to be illegal.\" In February 1914, U.S. Sen. Joseph Ransdell, D-Louisiana, proposed a constitutional amendment to outlaw divorce in the United States, arguing that the increased prevalence of divorce posed a threat to \"the home,\" which he described as \"the chief bulwark of society.\" He added, \"The remedy by constitutional prohibition is drastic, but the malady is so fatal that nothing short of it will prove efficacious. In the United States, divorce is spreading with alarming rapidity. It has permeated every walk of life and is prevalent among every class of people.\" The proposal did not make it out of committee. \n\n1916: \"All acts of war should be put to a national vote. Anyone voting yes had to register as a volunteer for service in the United States Army.\" Several sources refer to a 1916 petition, signed by a group of Nebraska residents, which proposed to amend the constitution by requiring a referendum in order to declare war. A 1987 New York Times article reported that \"the petition proposed that all those who voted in favor of the United States entering World War I be willing to enlist.\" Several sources have not yet tracked down that 1916 petition, but its description in the 1987 Times article was based on the account of a National Archives curator and can be relied upon as accurate. We were able to locate a proposal brought before the House in February 1916 by U.S. Rep. Denver Church, D-California, who similarly called for a popular vote before any declaration of war. However, it's not clear if this was separate from the \"Nebraska\" proposal or one and the same. \n\n1933: \"An attempt to limit personal wealth to $1 million.\" On May 9, 1933, U.S. Rep. Wesley Lloyd, D-Washington, proposed House Joint Resolution 178, which called for a constitutional amendment allowing Congress to set \"the maximum amount of wealth allowed to any one individual\" at a ceiling of \"1,000,000 gold dollars.\" It's not clear at what stage the proposal died, but it does not appear to have reached a vote in either house. \n\n1936: \"An attempt to allow the American people to vote on whether or not the United States should go to war.\" Since the 1910s, several members of Congress advocated for the introduction of referendums as a prerequisite for the United States' entering a war. Most notably, between 1935 and 1936, U.S. Rep. Louis Ludlow, D-Indiana, embarked on what one historian described as a \"war referendum crusade.\" In January 1935, he introduced a resolution in the House calling for a constitutional amendment that would require that, \"except in the event of attack or invasion,\" any Congressional resolution to go to war must be put to a popular referendum and would not come into effect unless backed by a majority of voters. The resolution was debated in the House Judiciary Committee, where it remained during 1935 and 1936 but advanced no further. \n\n1938: \"The forbidding of drunkenness in the United States and all of its territories.\" In April 1938, U.S. Rep. Gomer Griffith Smith, D-Oklahoma, introduced House Joint Resolution 661, a proposed constitutional amendment that stated: \"Drunkenness in the United States and all Territories thereof is hereby prohibited.\" The proposal was considered by the House Judiciary Committee but appears to have gone no further. In a copy of the resolution provided to the committee and now held by the National Archives, an unknown individual added a handwritten note ironically suggesting an additional section: \"That period of time, commonly known as Saturday night, is hereby stricken from the calendars of the United States, and abolished.\" \n\n1947: \"The income tax maximum for an individual should not exceed 25%.\" This one appears to be referring to one of two tax-related proposed constitutional amendments put forward in 1947 by U.S. Rep. Noah Mason, R-Illinois. We haven't yet been able to locate the exact wording of those proposals, but we know that a subsequent compendium of proposed constitutional amendments, compiled by the U.S. Senate Library, described House Joint Resolutions 24 and 256 as both being \"relative to taxes on incomes, inheritances, and gifts.\" We also know that in the previous Congress, in 1945, Mason\u2014a Welsh-born conservative Republican\u2014had proposed House Joint Resolution 88, which the same compendium described as proposing to \"repeal the Sixteenth Amendment,\" which allowed Congress to levy a federal income tax without having to distribute those monies among the states, as well as limiting \"income, gift, and inheritance tax to 25 percent.\" It is therefore highly likely that Mason's subsequent proposals in 1947 called for substantially the same outcome. \n\n1948: \"The right of citizens to segregate themselves from others.\" In May 1948, U.S. Rep. Oren Harris, D-Arkansas, introduced a proposal to amend the Constitution as follows: \"The right of any number of citizens to voluntarily segregate themselves from others for any lawful purpose shall not be denied.\" Harris, who opposed racial desegregation, was explicitly responding to the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision in Shelley vs. Kraemer, which had been published just days earlier. In that opinion, the Court had ruled that racially restrictive covenants\u2014which were relatively common at that time and prohibited homeowners in historically white neighborhoods from selling their houses to non-white buyers\u2014violated the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment. Harris's proposal languished in the House Judiciary Committee. \n\n1971: \"American citizens should have the inalienable right to an environment free of pollution.\" In 1968, U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson, D-Wisconsin, proposed a constitutional amendment that stated simply, \"Every person has the inalienable right to a decent environment. The United States and every state shall guarantee this right.\" Nelson, a progressive Democrat, environmentalist, and co-founder of Earth Day, proposed the same amendment again in January 1970, explaining: \"In its degradation of the quality of American life, in its danger to the future of man himself, I believe the environmental crisis is the greatest single threat to our pursuit of those inalienable rights\u2014life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness\u2014which we have recognized as a society.\" Although that resolution was first introduced in 1970, the 91st Congress lasted until early 1971, so it's reasonable to date it to that year, although 1970 would probably be more suitable.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1dUhXBccHJmipPl3AWUSOQnyCMtNJOtKU","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_180","claim":"Paper Shredder Danger","posted":"08\/17\/2006","sci_digest":["Household paper shredders can pose a danger to children and pets."],"justification":"Claim: Household paper shredders can pose a danger to children and pets. Example:  [Collected via e-mail, 2006] This one comes from a well respected Borzoi person, and veterinarian, Elizabeth A Coney, DVM of Kentucky. She wrote: Now - for every one of you that has a home paper shredder with an \"auto on\" feature, I want you to go turn it off and unplug the paper shredder right now. Because night before last I was presented with a paper shredder containing most of the tongue, ripped out by the base, and a very pretty sweet 1 1\/2 year old lab cross whose owners euthanized her. She always watched the paper go into the shredder, she thought it fascinating. The \"auto on\" feature means the shredder sits there waiting for something to get placed into it. Like an inquisitive tongue. I told them, \"Dogs can do fine without a tongue, they have to learn to drink and eat differently\", but the owners didn't want to go there. The look in her eyes said, \"I'm sorry, I guess I wasn't supposed to do that, it's all my fault\". We all cried.  I cried when I read this, myself. In subsequent posts Beth says she has learned that dogs who have lost more than half their tongues *don't* do as well as she had been taught. According to the veterinary literature it is also possible for animals to be injured other places than tongues  a Basset lost an ear, a long-haired cat most of the skin on its side, a kitten a foot, etc. She didn't mention any human injuries, but I can't imagine that a toddler would be immune from either curiosity or injury. Please be vigilant!! This is not the 1st time I have heard of this happening. Origins:  While Barbara and I were away from home for a few days recently, we received a playful e-mail message from our petsitter informing us that our house was \"haunted.\"  She'd  dropped by to tend to our cats, she said, when suddenly she heard the sound of a paper shredder running in Barbara's office.  Nobody else was in the house, and she quickly ruled out the possibility that one of our kittens had accidentally started the shredder because they were all dancing around her feet in the kitchen at the time, impatiently waiting to be fed. The incident was even more puzzling because we're pretty careful about always leaving our shredder in the \"Off\" setting when we're not using it, and even when the device is powered on, it doesn't activate until a piece of paper is fed into it.  We never did solve the mystery, although we're pretty sure it's not related to a haunting. In any case, the experience reminded us that we (like many other people) now have in our home a variety of machines that once were typically found only in business offices. Although some people manage to find ways to injure themselves with just about anything (even something as seemingly innocuous as a fax machine), paper shredders can pose an especial hazard  they're made to destroy documents rather than generate them, and (due in large part to concerns about identity theft) more and more of them are being purchased for home use, where their shredding blades represent a risk not just to careless adults, but to curious children and inquisitive pets as well.  In 2005, for example, the Spokesman Review reported: [T]he U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says shredders  $350 million worth were sold [in 2004] and many wound up in homes  pose a growing threat of injury to children, particularly toddlers. The agency received 31 reports involving finger amputations and other finger injuries from paper shredders from January 2000 to December 2003. It isn't difficult to find harrowing reports of children being seriously injured through sticking their fingers into shredders, such as the following account from Consumer Reports: Lisa Broadfoot's son, Talan, was helping her shred documents, when suddenly his little fingers got sucked in. \"He screamed and then was begging me to get his hands out of this machine, 'Please Mommy, Please Mommy, get my hand out.' [He was] just screaming and crying and begging,\" Broadfoot said. Lisa rushed Talan to the hospital with the shredder still attached. \"They started cutting the blades because there was no other way to get his fingers undone,\" she said. \"It was like he could feel it. He just started screaming again and I'm holding him and trying to explain to him that it's going to be OK. It's going to be OK.\" Talan ended up losing three of his fingers. In March 2006, TV's Inside Edition reported a similar case of injury to a child: When you meet Hallie Mouritsen, you cant tell that there's anything wrong with this beautiful five year-old girl.  But if you look closer at Hallie's left hand, her fingers are cut off at the knuckle.  The doctor described them as being \"crushed, mutilated and non-viable.\" How did it happen?  Hallie was feeding paper into a shredder in her home when her fingers got caught in its powerful blades. According to her father, Matt, \"it grabbed her fingers and just began pulling.\" And Hallie's not the only one.  The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has issued a safety alert after receiving 50 reports of injuries from paper shredders since 2000, most involving children younger than five.  Mr. Mouritsen is an accounting professor in Salt Lake City, Utah who often works at home. He says he had just opened the shredder for the first time and after using it, left the room briefly. Hallie, who was just two, went into the room with her older sister. \"The next thing I know, while I'm making dinner, my five year-old is yelling, she's stuck, she's stuck!\" he told Inside Edition's Investigative Reporter Matt Meagher. Hallie's wounds took months to heal.  Her dad still chokes up remembering Hallie's reaction the day the bandages came off.  \"She went like this with her hand\" (hiding his left hand). \"She couldn't even look at it. She asks us to this day, when are my fingers going to grow back?\" Among household pets, dogs are particularly at risk from shredders, as they have a tendency to lick things, and many breeds have long, floppy ears that can get caught in shredder openers.   The Spokesman Review published an account of an incident in which a puppy suffered injuries from a paper shredder so severe that she was euthanized afterwards (and her owner lost a portion of one finger trying to rescue her): Adam Forney doesn't even own a paper shredder. And he probably never will. The 22-year-old was sitting on his couch in his south Spokane home watching television when his 7-month-old puppy licked the top of his roommate's shredder and the dog's tongue was sucked into the shredding mechanism. \"I ran into the room ... she was pulling so hard and the thing was dragging ... then she just ripped away,\" Forney said. \"I will never forget the sound it made when she pulled away.\" In the chaos of trying to help his injured dog, Forney's pinky finger was bitten off at the first joint, and another finger was fractured by the bite. \"I grabbed her head to try and get her to calm down, and she bit me,\" Forney said. \"She ran out of the room and I just lost it. It looked like a murder scene in my house ... there was so much blood.\" Forney went to the emergency room, and his mixed-breed dog, Alice Lane, went to a local pet emergency clinic, where she was euthanized. Inside Edition offered a similar tale of a young dog's catching his tongue in a shredder: A number of pets have also been injured by shredders. For one dog owner, it was a horrifying experience.  Sandra Clarke of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina told us when she was at home working on March 1st, her curious puppy, Cross, caught his tongue in a shredder.  According to Sandra, it was not a pretty sight.  \"It looked like hamburger meat.  It was shredded up about an inch.  There was blood everywhere.\" A large part of the problem is that since shredders were originally designed as business equipment for offices (where they would presumably be   used only by adults), many models did not have the kinds of safeguards built into them to provide adequate protection in household environments, where children and animals abound.  Although consumer safety groups are working to get manufacturers and lawmakers to adopt more stringent safety standards for shredders (such as making paper slots thinner and placing blades farther away from openings), the adoption of new standards takes time, and plenty of the machines already have been purchased for home use.   Some veterinarians maintain that serious shredder accidents involving animals are rare, but the frequency of occurrence is difficult to estimate since there has not been any systematic effort to keep track of such injuries.  Regardless, the subject merits attention since the potential for accidents (involving both people and pets) will likely continue to grow as more and more shredders make their way into households, and the likelihood of injury can be mostly eliminated by following a few simple precautions:  Try to place your shredder where it is not accessible to children or pets.   Turn off (or unplug) your shredder when you are not using it.   Never allow children to operate your shredder, even with adult supervision.  Keep your hands and fingers as far from the shredder opening as possible when feeding material into it.   Be careful to secure or remove ties, necklaces, bracelets, loose-fitting clothing, and long hair before using your shredder.  Avoid putting thicker material (such as food wrappers, product packaging, and padded envelopes) through your shredder.        Paper Shredder Dangers to Kids, Pets   (KGO-TV)        Paper Shredders Can Be a Danger to Children and Pets   (Inside Edition)      Leaming, Sara.  \"Paper Shredder Leads to Nightmare.\"   The [Spokane] Spokesman Review.  2 March 2005.    Inside Edition.  \"Paper Shredders Can Be a Danger to Children and Pets.\"   30 March 2006.    Internet Broadcasting Systems.  \"Paper Shredders Can Be Dangerous Risk Around Home.\"   WRAL.com.  10 April 2006.","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_181","claim":"Was a Breonna Taylor Statue Smashed in Oakland?","posted":"12\/29\/2020","sci_digest":["The ceramic bust bore a plaque reading, \"Say her name: Breonna Taylor.\""],"justification":"In December 2020, roughly nine months after Louisville police fatally shot Breonna Taylor in her apartment during a botched drug raid, a ceramic artist erected a statue memorializing the 26-year-old Black woman in downtown Oakland, California. However, shortly after the bust's installation near City Hall, reports surfaced online alleging that a person or group had smashed the sculpture into several pieces. The reports were true. About two weeks after sculptor Leo Carson of the Bay Area placed the sculpture in the downtown plaza to support the Black Lives Matter movement, the ceramic memorial was found significantly damaged on December 26, and the Oakland Police Department was investigating the vandalism, according to news reports and Carson's posts online. In an Instagram post and on a GoFundMe page created to fundraise for a new statue, Carson called the damage \"an act of racist aggression.\" The artist's GoFundMe page, titled \"Rebuild the Breonna Taylor Sculpture in DT Oakland,\" stated: \"After spending months creating this artwork, it was incredible to see the community and neighbors taking photos and enjoying it. Now I am devastated and enraged to see it in pieces. This was an act of racist aggression, and we need to show them we will not stand for it.\" The police department had not identified any suspects or a possible motive for the destruction as of this writing. Sharing a news story and Carson's online fundraiser, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf denounced the vandalism in a December 28 tweet, writing: \"It's a vicious attack against the light + justice sought in Breonna Taylor's name. We will keep moving forward; Oakland will not tolerate acts of hatred.\" At the time of this report, Carson's online fundraiser had surpassed its goal of $5,000 for a new bronze statue \"to prevent further damage\" and claimed to donate the excess funds to Taylor's family.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1DIT0Je5ptdVUkZeVA_a0V6jeO5aH-qO7","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1RZhQ4Fkqx5a6f5vzJ8IeTSVLIU9aDPzU","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_182","claim":"Corporate Angel Network Origin","posted":"04\/22\/2001","sci_digest":["Was the Corporate Angel Network started by Coca-Cola and the Blue Angels?"],"justification":"The Corporate Angel Network, an organization that coordinates free air travel for cancer patients, began when Coca-Cola executives arranged for the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels to fly a liver from San Diego to Houston in time for transplant into a little girl. Example: On November 1, 1986, a Coca-Cola corporate jet arrived at Elisabeth City, North Carolina, carrying the CEO and several members of the Board of Directors. At the same time, a Coast Guard Falcon 20 jet was about to take off, headed to Memphis, Tennessee, to pick up a little girl named Crystal Grant and carry her to Good Samaritans Children's Hospital in Houston, Texas, for a liver transplant. As the Coast Guard Falcon 20 jet began its takeoff, it blew both front tires, causing the jet to veer off the runway and run into a fence line. The pilots of the Coca-Cola plane watched the events unfold and slowly began to hear reports over their cockpit radio about the other jet's mercy mission. The CEO and his passengers witnessed the scene and asked the pilots what was happening. Once the CEO learned of the situation, he requested to be taken to the Coast Guard Station to speak with the Station Commander. Once there, he asked the Commander if there was anything he could offer or do. The Commander replied, in a frustrated voice, \"Yeah, can you make miracles happen? We need a jet, and we need one fast.\" The CEO smiled and said, \"You've got one,\" pointing to his company jet. Within two hours, the Coca-Cola jet was on its way to Memphis, and the situation seemed under control. However, unknown to them, a similar scene was playing out in San Diego, where the donor organ was being prepared for transport to Houston. The aircraft lined up to take it to Houston had lost its ability to pressurize its cabin, and a similar scramble was underway to find a replacement. Calls went out, and everyone in San Diego made excuses\u2014from corporate CEOs to airline managers\u2014as to why they could not help. Word of the dilemma made its way to Elisabeth City. The situation was reaching its last window of opportunity for the surgeons. Time was becoming an enemy. Again, the CEO of Coca-Cola was called to help. He jumped on the phone and contacted his pilots, who were now in Houston. They told him there was no way they could go from Houston to San Diego, retrieve the organ, and then return to Houston in time for the operation. The CEO began to consider what would be speedy enough to retrieve it in time. The answer came to him like a miracle. A call was placed to the Governor of Georgia, who in turn contacted the Governor of California requesting help. On that day, sitting on the ramp at the Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego, were eight brand new F-18 Fighters wearing the colors of the \"Blue Angels.\" They were waiting for their debut at an air show on November 6th. It took four phone calls to reach the Air Station Commander and two more to reach the Commander of the \"Blue Angels.\" In less than an hour, Navy Lt. Tony Less, in Blue Angel No. 8, was geared up and eastbound. His precious cargo was in the rear seat, securely strapped in place by four dress belts. In Houston, neither the family nor anyone else knew what events had been unfolding. Without the family or anyone else knowing, the local media had interviewed little Crystal moments before she was placed into the prepping room for her surgery. A reporter asked her if she was scared. Crystal said, \"No, I'm not worried. My mommy told me that my Angel would watch over me.\" It was indeed an ironic statement. At that moment, Blue Angel No. 8 was disengaging from an Air National Guard refueling tanker over New Mexico and making a mad dash for Houston. The clock was still ticking, and each movement of the hand worked against the surgeons. With only 90 minutes to spare, Angel No. 8 landed on Houston's Hobby Runway 4L and rolled to a stop surrounded by police cars and an ambulance to rush the organ to the hospital. The transplant was successful, and Crystal returned home to Memphis in time for Thanksgiving. The CEO of Coca-Cola lobbied Fortune 100 companies to create the \"Corporate Angel Network,\" inspired by the event involving Coca-Cola and the Blue Angels. To this day, Blue Angel No. 8 bears a small silhouette of an Angel praying on the canopy rail with the name \"Crystal\" written underneath. A little over a month after the surgery, the \"Blues\" made a planned detour to Memphis to say hello to a little girl named Crystal. On that day, December 18, 1986, Crystal met her Angel, the Angel who saved her life. Today, Crystal Grant is 24, and every year she is personally invited by the Blue Angels to attend a show near her home in Memphis as the guest of honor. Origins: Glurge involving specific, identifiable people and events is usually based upon a kernel of truth, even if that kernel is surrounded by layers of fiction, embellishment, and exaggeration. This one, however, despite referencing names, dates, and places, is devoid of anything resembling the truth. The Corporate Angel Network is a real organization, and the Blue Angels are indeed the U.S. Navy's famous flight demonstration squadron, but after mentioning them, this piece diverges from reality. The Corporate Angel Network works with a network of hundreds of companies to make available empty seats on regular business flights of corporation-owned airplanes to cancer patients traveling to or from treatment centers (a service provided without regard to a patient's financial status), and so far, they have arranged over 13,000 such flights. However, none of the details provided here about its origins align with the truth. The founding of the Corporate Angel Network had nothing to do with the CEO of Coca-Cola (in 1986, that position was held by Roberto Goizueta) \"lobbying Fortune 100 companies,\" nor did it involve the participation of (or derive its name from) the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels squadron. The Corporate Angel Network was started in 1981 by Priscilla Blum of Greenwich, Conn., and Jay Weinberg of Armonk, N.Y., both of whom are recovered cancer patients. The idea of matching cancer patients with corporate shuttle flights began with Pat, who has been flying her Piper Comanche from Westchester for more than 30 years. Time and again, she saw corporate planes take off or land with only the pilot and one or two passengers aboard. Many were small planes, but others were Lear jets and Beechcrafts capable of seating as many as 10. She contacted Weinberg, a friend and fellow volunteer for the American Cancer Society, who was working with patients at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan. From their conversation in the fall of 1981, the \"Corporate Angel Network\" was born. \"The name seemed appropriate,\" Weinberg recalled. \"We would be using corporate aircraft, and we would be flying missions of mercy.\" The Corporate Angel Network's first beneficiary was not a little girl from Memphis for whom a donor liver was flown from San Diego to Houston on a U.S. Navy F\/A-18 in time for transplant, but a Detroit man who traveled to New York on a corporate jet for ongoing cancer treatment. The first passenger was 18-year-old Michael Burnett of Detroit, a patient at Sloan-Kettering who had just lost a leg to cancer. Burnett wanted to spend the Christmas holiday with family and friends in Detroit, but he needed to return to New York to continue his treatment. Safe Flight Instrument Corp. was sending one of its planes from New York to Detroit on Dec. 22. Leonard Greene, Safe Flight's chief executive officer, had lost his second wife to cancer. Greene didn't hesitate. This piece also oddly omits the names of many of its participants (the CEO of Coca-Cola, a Coast Guard station commander, a U.S. Navy air station commander, and the governors of Georgia and California are all identified as key players in this drama, yet none of them is identified by anything other than his title), and the two names that are mentioned don't correspond with available information. No locatable news story mentions anything about a girl named Crystal Grant in connection with either the Blue Angels or a liver transplant, and although an officer named Tony Less was indeed the Blue Angels' Commander at one time, he served with the squadron in 1974-75, far too early to have been involved in the Corporate Angel Network's 1981 founding (or the fictional 1986 flight described here). Additionally, the \"fact\" that \"to this day Blue Angel No. 8 wears a small silhouette of an Angel praying on the canopy rail and the name 'Crystal' written underneath\" is news to the U.S. Navy. Although eight pilots comprise the squadron, only six jets and six pilots are used during demonstrations. The Blue Angels maintain an additional pair of two-seat jets used for publicity footage and rides for VIPs, as well as three spare jets, but none of the planes bears any artwork or writing other than the standard markings on its exterior. The Corporate Angel Network has accomplished a great deal of good for cancer patients thanks to the contributions of hundreds of companies, all of whom should be applauded for their generosity, but let's not allow sappy glurge about Coca-Cola executives and the Blue Angels to overshadow the honors due to the two people whose imagination and perseverance made the Corporate Angel Network a reality in the first place: Priscilla Blum and Jay Weinberg. Corporate \"angels\" do indeed help cancer patients. And little Internet devils create glurge.","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1PlpQvkfTQsPX7d6kl7rmM-qIGLHNTUKN","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_183","claim":"Is Pepsi Giving Away Mini Fridges for its 100th Anniversary?","posted":"03\/08\/2021","sci_digest":["This \"100th anniversary\" scam is about 45 years early. "],"justification":"In March 2021, a Pepsi.com Facebook page with no affiliation to the official Pepsi Facebook page posted a message claiming that the company was giving away mini fridges in honor of its 100th anniversary. This is not a genuine giveaway from Pepsi. For one, this picture comes from the \"Pepsi.com\" Facebook page, which was created in March 2021 and is not affiliated with PepsiCo. The company's real Facebook page can be found here. When this scam was brought to Pepsi's attention, a representative wrote on Facebook: \"Thanks for bringing this to our attention. This is not a legitimate promotion.\" It should also be noted that PepsiCo was founded in 1965. In other words, this \"100th anniversary\" giveaway is about 45 years early. (If we count from the invention of the soft drink Pepsi-Cola, which has been around since 1898, this anniversary scam is 20 years late.) The above-displayed image represents a common Facebook scam. While users are promised a free gift (such as a vacation, a grocery coupon, or, in this case, a mini fridge), they often have to provide personal information in order to \"claim\" the prize. There is, however, no prize to claim. We've had many occasions to alert readers to this kind of fraud: these types of viral coupon scams often involve websites and social media pages set up to mimic those of legitimate companies. Users who respond to those fake offers are required to share a website link or social media post in order to spread the scam more widely and lure in additional victims. Then, those users are presented with a survey that extracts personal information such as email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, and sometimes even credit card numbers. Finally, those who want to claim their free gift cards or coupons eventually learn they must first sign up to purchase a number of costly goods, services, or subscriptions. The Better Business Bureau offers consumers several general tips to avoid getting scammed.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1PxrvEKKc7wT38yyXv4lJx61CkA5SYzz5","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_184","claim":"Under Scott Walker, average wages, when adjusted for inflation, are lower today than they were under Jim Doyle.","posted":"11\/17\/2017","sci_digest":[],"justification":"The day before Gov.Scott Walkermade his re-election run official, Matt Flynn issued a pre-emptive strike, comparing the two-term Republican unfavorably to another two-term Wisconsin governor, DemocratJim Doyle. Scott Walkers time is up, was how Flynn, a Democrat running in the 2018 race for governor, began his Nov. 4, 2017news release. Average wages, when adjusted for inflation, are lower today than they were under Jim Doyle. Walker, who has been governor since 2011, hasusedanumberof economicstatisticsto argue that things are better than they were underDoyle, who served from 2003 through 2010. So, lets see how the claim from Flynn, a lawyer and former chairman of the state Democratic Party, stands up. Under Walker, are average wages lower in Wisconsin than they were under Doyle? The claim alludes to Walker bearing some responsibility, but doesnt directly blame him. And governors play an important but limited role in wages. Flynns evidence To back Flynns claim, his campaign cited two sets of statistics, both adjusted for inflation. 1.Under Walker in 2016, the median hourly wage was$17.43-- 5 cents lower than in 2009 under Doyle, before the full effects of the Great Recession set in. The figures are from the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment Statistics, which are estimates based on data collected from employers in all industry sectors in Wisconsin. But Doyle served another full year. The figure for 2010 was $17.37 -- 6 cents lower than in 2016 under Walker. More importantly, the Bureau of Labor Statisticswarns againstusing this particular set of data to make comparisons over time. So, were discounting this point. 2.The median hourly wageeclipsed $18in 2003, 2005 and 2010 under Doyle -- but through 2016, had not reached that level under Walker. The figure in 2010, Doyles last full year in office, was $18.10, higher than the latest inflation-adjusted figure for Walker, $17.96 in 2016. Thats according to a 2017 report by COWS, formerly known as the Center on Wisconsin Strategy, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The report cites statistics produced by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. The Washington, D.C.-based institute says it usedCurrent Population Surveydata, produced jointly by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau, that are good for comparisons over time. So, the second statistic tends to support Flynns claim -- although both statistics he cites are formedianwages, rather thanaverage. While average is the term Flynn used, many people use that word even when referring to median. Some economists recommend using the median, since it is a midpoint -- half of people earned wages below that point and half were above. In contrast, the average can be greatly influenced by extremes; for example, it will be pulled higher if there are many people earning very high incomes. Our numbers We produced our own inflation-adjusted numbers foraveragewages, the term Flynn used, with data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that can be used for comparisons over time. The average weekly wage in Wisconsin in 2016 was $885 -- higher than every year under Doyle -- according to the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. The QCEW figurescome from quarterly countsof employment and wages reported by employers covering more than 95 percent of U.S. jobs. By another measure, for only the private sector, the average weekly wage in August 2017 was $827 -- higher than the August figure for every year under Doyle dating back to 2007 -- according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Employment Statistics figures. (Figures before 2007 are not available). So, the average wage under Walker is higher than when Doyle left office in 2010. Our rating Flynn says that under Walker, average wages, when adjusted for inflation, are lower today than they were under Jim Doyle. Adjusting for inflation, theaveragewage is higher under Walker than it was when Doyle left office in 2010. But sometimes people use the more common term average when theyre actually referring to themedian-- which some economists say is a better measure for wages because an average can be distorted by people who earn very high wages. The median wage was higher when Doyle left office than it is under Walker. Flynns statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details -- our definition of Half True.","issues":["Economy","Income","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1paacrNEX-FV9G2tXnXdmNCfBS6NunoMp","image_caption":"median"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=16oODnF57c-88cQtQ4ZPS4iSrmT_Q_7GF","image_caption":"average"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_185","claim":"Did Biden Say Poor Kids Are 'Just as Talented as White Kids'?","posted":"02\/21\/2020","sci_digest":["An example of what candidates should avoid, especially if their record on race has already come under intense scrutiny."],"justification":"The one thing an already gaffe-prone politician running for high office most wants to avoid is saying something impolitic about race. But that's exactly what happened to former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on the presidential campaign trail, according to one quote meme: gaffe-prone  In this case the meme is accurate. While speaking at a town hall event in Des Moines, Iowa, hosted by the Asian & Latino Coalition on Aug. 8, 2019, Biden let slip with a statement that poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids, thereby implying that economically disadvantaged persons are all non-white. The unfortunate remark by Biden was reported on by The New York Times and captured on video: reported Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. raised eyebrows during a speech in Iowa when he said that poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids, an apparent gaffe for a Democratic presidential candidate whose record on race has come under intense scrutiny during the primary. Mr. Biden was speaking on education and the need to challenge students at a town hall hosted by the Asian & Latino Coalition in Des Moines when he made the remark, and then quickly sought to recover from it. We should challenge students in these schools, Mr. Biden said. We have this notion that somehow if youre poor, you cannot do it. Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids. He paused, then added: Wealthy kids, black kids, Asian kids  no I really mean it, but think how we think about it.  Kate Bedingfield, Bidens deputy campaign manager, later issued a statement asserting that the candidate \"misspoke\": Vice President Biden misspoke and immediately corrected himself during a refrain he often uses to make the point that all children deserve a fair shot, and children born into lower-income circumstances are just as smart as those born to wealthy parents, Ms. Bedingfield said. Joe Biden has spent his life fighting for civil rights and the dignity of all people. Stevens, Matt.  \"Joe Biden Says Poor Kids Are Just as Bright as White Kids.\"\r  The New York Times.  9 August 2019.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1hvT8KVt0nX4ETB_7RbPttqR7UVwk0imZ","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_186","claim":"'Buy SpaceX Stock Before It Goes Public' Posts Are a Scam","posted":"10\/10\/2022","sci_digest":["The scam was being promoted in Facebook ads and perhaps also on Instagram by an account that showed signs of originating in Vietnam."],"justification":"On Oct. 10, 2022, a paid ad on Facebook promoted a fake investment opportunity with the words, \"How To Buy SpaceX Stock Before It Goes Public.\" The ad showed a picture of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and directed users to chat with a person on Messenger, who then told users to visit a WhatsApp group chat named \"Stock Learning Group 28.\" But none of this was legitimate. It was all a scam to steal users' money. Stock Learning Group 28  The full scam post that promised a way to \"buy SpaceX stock before it goes public\" read as follows: Bullish on the future of space travel? See how to invest in SpaceX before it goes Public! We help you pre-buy stocks in the latest up-and-coming companies, before most retail investors. Getting in on the best companies before they go public is how you can get the returns like recent IPOs such as: AirBnB - 130% return in 7 months.Palantir - 226% return in 10 months.Snowflake - 331% return in 10 months. We do one thing very well.....get you access to the most popular companies before the public market has a chance. Click the Learn More button now and well show you how to invest in SpaceX before the public  This post appeared to follow the same playbook we had seen before with numerous crypto scams. In those scams, users were also led from one social media platform to another, where they were told that their money would be invested in a special crypto opportunity. However, it was all a lie. Just like the scam post about SpaceX, some of the crypto scams featured photos of Musk as a way of trying to create trust. crypto scams featured photos of Musk The Facebook account that hosted the ads showed up as a personal profile and not a page. It was named Tut Pro 1 38801324. The profile picture showed an image that said \"Half Price Books,\" a company that had absolutely nothing to do with the scam. We asked the account about the strange profile photo. They responded, \"This event is sponsored by Mr. Nino, a senior stock analyst. Join Mr. Nino's stock research group now and receive a stock book when you join the group.\" The crypto scams we covered in the past also claimed to feature a specialist who could help deliver on the scam's promise. In the crypto scams, the scammers called this person \"the teacher.\" We asked the user if this \"Mr. Nino\" was \"the teacher.\" The account responded, \"Yes.\" If the strange account name weren't enough of a red flag, the profile also once featured two seemingly random pictures of young girls. According to TinEye.com, a handy reverse image search website, at least one of the photos was traced to websites that were managed in Vietnam. This may have indicated that the scam was being operated from Southeast Asia. TinEye.com reverse image search As for the reality of SpaceX going public in the future, CNBC previously reported that Musk told employees the company was not likely to go public until 2025 or later. reported Evon, Dan. Snopes Tips: A Guide To Performing Reverse Image Searches. Snopes.com, 22 Mar. 2022, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/articles\/400681\/how-to-perform-reverse-image-searches\/. Sheetz, Michael. Elon Musk Says an IPO of SpaceXs Starlink Satellite Internet Business Is Still 3 or 4 Years Away. CNBC, 7 June 2022, https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/06\/07\/spacex-starlink-ipo-elon-musk-says-offering-is-3-or-4-years-away.html. TinEye Reverse Image Search. https:\/\/tineye.com\/. Tut Pro 1 38801324. Facebook, https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=100084130714561. On Oct. 18, 2022, we added a note that said a real company named Half Price Books had nothing to do with the scam.","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=12_43eOjD4AvauOb7f5Y87U07iitvmKEI","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ttih6o_D5Yl-E7qMsKh83nBXq8RD9CEA","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_187","claim":"Does a Map Shared Online Depict All Churches 'Destroyed' in France in the Last 4 Years?","posted":"04\/18\/2019","sci_digest":["A 2019 fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris sparked interest in the condition of France's other churches. "],"justification":"On 15 April 2019, as firefighters rushed to save the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris from a fire, a slew of bad actors started to spread an unfounded narrative that blamed the fire on Muslims and connected the incident, which is being investigated as an accident by authorities, to churches that had been recently vandalized in France.  unfounded narrative connected accident The Facebook page 1776TV.com, for instance, shared a map that supposedly showed churches \"destroyed\" in France over the last four years: shared   This map comes from the christianophobie.fr, a website dedicated to tracking acts of \"Christianophobia\" in France and the rest of the world. While this image is often shared as if it shows all of the churches that were \"destroyed\" in France, this map actually documents a wide range of nefarious activity, such as vandalism, theft, and arson, that occurred at both churches and cemeteries over an apparent span of two years (not four), covering 2017 and 2018. christianophobie.fr It should also be noted that while this map does document some relatively serious crimes, such as arson or the toppling of church statues, many of these pins correspond to graffiti-related incidents. We also found one pin related to a person's simply interrupting a church service. This map does not show churches that have been destroyed in France. However, it does correspond with what French authorities have reported concerning vandalism at places of worship in the country. Newsweek reported in March 2019 that France had seen a \"spate of attacks\" against Catholic churches: Newsweek France has seen a spate of attacks against Catholic churches since the start of the year, vandalism that has included arson and desecration. Vandals have smashed statues, knocked down tabernacles, scattered or destroyed the Eucharist and torn down crosses, sparking fears of a rise in anti-Catholic sentiment in the country. In March 2019, France's central criminal intelligence service, SCRC, reported that there were approximately 875 acts of vandalism against Catholic churches in 2018. The Ministry of the Interior came to a similar conclusion. Ministry of the Interior The Ministry of the Interior released a report in February 2019 that tallied the number of acts of degradation (or vandalism) against various religious establishments. The Ministry found that there were 1,063 anti-Christian acts in 2018 (approximately 700 of which related to property crimes and 100 of which related to violent acts), 541 anti-semitic acts (81 of which were related to violence, 102 related to property crimes), and 100 anti-Muslim acts. The Ministry stated that one reason churches were targeted more frequently than the places of worship of other religions was that France simply had more churches. France is home to approximately 40,000 churches: stated 40,000 churches \"The ministry also said that the large number of degrades to Christian sites was partly explained by the higher number of churches compared to the places of worship of the other two religions.\" The Ministry noted that attacks on Muslims were at their lowest levels since 2010, attacks on Christians were at the same level as the previous year, and that attacks on the Jewish community rose in 2018. Christophe Castaner, minister of the interior, condemned acts of hate against all religious people and places of worship.  \"Hate has no place in the Republic. We are determined to protect all French people, to protect secularism, the freedom not to believe, as to believe in respect, in complete safety. These numbers show that we must not let our guard down. Anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, anti-Christian, racist, xenophobic: there is no small attack, no small insult. Nothing will be tolerated: every culprit will have to be found and judged.\" Chamberlain, Samuel.  \"Notre Dame Cathedral Fire Being Investigated as Accident For Now, Prosecutors Say.\"\r  Fox News.  16 April 2019.\r\rSamuel Chamberlain By Samuel Chamberlain | Fox News Tharoor, Ishaan.  \"The Notre Dame Fire Ignites the Wests Far Right.\"\r  Washington Post.  17 April 2019. Lytvynenko, Jane; Silverman, Craig.  \"A Timeline of How the Notre Dame Fire Was Turned Into an Anti-Muslim Narrative.\"\r  Buzzfeed.  16 April 2019. McPartland, Ben.  \"'Turn France's Empty Churches into Mosques'.\"\r  The Local.  15 June 2015. Ministry of the Interior.  \"Fight Against Hatred, Discrimination, Racism and Anti-Semitism.\"\r  12 February 2019. CheckNews.  \"Is it True That 875 Churches Were Vandalized in France in One Year?\"\r  18 April 2019.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1u_LMxH7gi0MZiYC_aSOa93l7ARvDqpKF","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_188","claim":"Was Michael Flynn's credit cards from Chase terminated because of concerns regarding reputation?","posted":"08\/30\/2021","sci_digest":["Flynn shared the image on Telegram, and claimed that \"Chase Bank has gone full blown woke!\""],"justification":"In late August 2021, an image began circulating on social media that supposedly showed a letter issued by Chase Bank informing retired Gen. Michael Flynn that his credit cards had been canceled due to a \"reputational risk.\" This is a genuine letter sent from Chase to a member of the Flynn family. The first name on this letter has been redacted, so we cannot say with certainty that it was addressed to Gen. Flynn. A spokesperson for Chase confirmed to us that this letter was real but added that it was sent by mistake and that this person's credit cards would not actually be closed. The spokesperson stated, \"We've contacted our customer to let her know that we made an error and we apologized for any inconvenience this caused.\" The use of the pronoun \"her\" leads us to believe that this letter may not have been sent to Flynn himself but to another member of his family. The spokesperson did not elaborate. Many people encountered this letter as it circulated on Twitter by third-party accounts. Since this letter was not shared on the platform under Flynn's own handle (Flynn has been banned from Twitter since January 2021), it left people wondering if it was authentic. Disinformation researcher Jim Stewartson detailed the origins of the letter in a Twitter thread. According to Stewartson, this letter was originally shared on Telegram by QAnon influencer and recently elected South Carolina GOP official Tracy Diaz (@tracybeanz). The letter was deleted shortly after it was posted, along with a message stating that there had been a \"miscommunication\" about making the letter public. However, the image continued to circulate, and eventually, Flynn posted two messages on Telegram that seemingly confirmed the authenticity of the letter. We archived @RealGenFlynn's Telegram posts here and here. On Aug. 30, 2021, Flynn posted an update on the situation, thanking his followers for their support and praying that \"Chase Bank and all their cancel culture partners think twice about what they are doing to destroy the fabric of our constitution.\" Banks assess a number of risk factors when deciding whether or not to do business with someone. For example, if a person has a criminal history of fraud, they may find it difficult to obtain a credit card. Banks also consider reputational risk, or the impact that doing business with a person or company may have on the bank's reputation. Here's how the German multinational investment bank Deutsche Bank explains its approach to \"reputational risk.\" The reputation of Deutsche Bank is founded on trust from its employees, clients, shareholders, regulators, and the public in general. Isolated events can undermine that trust and negatively impact Deutsche Bank's reputation, making it of the utmost importance to protect it, a responsibility that falls to every employee of the bank. Reputational risk at Deutsche Bank is defined as the risk of possible damage to the bank's brand and reputation, and the associated risk to earnings, capital, or liquidity arising from any association, action, or inaction that could be perceived by stakeholders as inappropriate, unethical, or inconsistent with the bank's values and beliefs. Reputational risk is governed by the Reputational Risk Framework, which was established to provide consistent standards for the identification, assessment, and management of reputational risk issues. Assuming this letter is real, it's possible that Chase deemed Flynn a \"reputational risk\" because he pled guilty to lying to federal officials about his contacts with a Russian ambassador in 2017 (Flynn was later pardoned by former U.S. President Donald Trump), his statements in support of the QAnon conspiracy theory, or, more recently, his comments in June 2021 that seemingly encouraged people to stage a violent coup to overthrow the U.S. government. Flynn later released a statement saying that he has never advocated for a coup. It's also possible that Chase deemed Flynn a \"reputational risk\" due to questionable financial transactions. In 2017, for example, it was reported that Flynn's consulting firm received more than $500,000 from the Turkish government while Flynn was serving as Trump's national security adviser. The New York Times reported: \"The candidate he was advising last fall was running on a platform of America First. The client he was working for last fall was paying him more than $500,000 to put Turkey first. Michael T. Flynn, who went from the campaign","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1WLDkIwm7YFU4ghexF_yq1KNccv5lwM1u"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1RgXNqtgJqYBtaMoE4egIs9HUDz8ZFnj9"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_189","claim":"The only time over the last 25 years when the states unemployment rate exceeded the U.S. average was when (Mary) Burke was commerce secretary.","posted":"02\/14\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Republicans havemade it clearthat between now and the November 2014 gubernatorial election, they will bereminding votersabout Democratic former Gov. Jim Doyle -- who has been out of office, and largely out of sight, for more than three years. They are casting Doyle as an ineffectual, or worse, chief executive and tying him to Gov. Scott Walker's main challenger, Democrat Mary Burke. On Feb. 4, 2014, the state Republican Party issued anews releaseattacking Burke, who served as state commerce secretary during part of Doyle's tenure, for not having proposed a jobs plan. Among other things, the party said Doyle-Burke policies led to the loss of 133,000 jobs, a claim previously made by Walker that we ratedMostly False. Walker had said Burke implemented the policies of Doyle and those policies saw the state lose more than 133,000 jobs. The number was right but other factors, namely the Great Recession, were primarily to blame. Another line in the state GOP's news release also referenced Burke, albeit more benignly, in making this claim: The only time over the last 25 years when the states unemployment rate exceeded the U.S. average was when Burke was commerce secretary. Lets take a look. The numbers Asked for evidence to back its claim, the Republican Party referred us to monthly unemployment rates forWisconsinandthe U.S.from 1988 through 2013. They are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the federal government's official job counter. More specifically, the party cited 15 months in 2006 and 2007 when Wisconsins unemployment rate exceeded the national rate. That was in May, June, September, October, November and December of 2006; and the first nine months of 2007. Burke was commerce secretary during all 15 months, having served in the post from Feb. 7, 2005 to Nov. 2, 2007. And BLS statistics confirmed that the only times since 1988 that the Wisconsin unemployment rate exceeded the U.S. rate were those 15 months. It's worth noting that although state unemployment rates exceeded U.S. rates during that period, the rates were under 5 percent whereas they are now above 6 percent. And the difference between the Wisconsin and U.S. unemployment rates was relatively small in the period cited by the GOP. For example, in May 2006, the state unemployment rate was 4.7 percent and the national rate was 4.6 percent. The largest difference was 0.4 percent -- the state rate was 4.8 percent in May 2007, while the national rate was 4.4 percent. The Republican Party did not have evidence to back the other part of its claim, which links the higher state unemployment rates to Burke. Other factors Marquette University economist Abdur Chowdhury told us that state government policies, such as providing business incentives, can affect unemployment and that Burke clearly was part of the team that developed policies in the Doyle administration. But many factors, particularly trends in the national economy, affect unemployment rates in the states. I wouldn't give Mary Burke full credit for any job that was created and she should not be solely blamed for the loss of any job, Chowdhury said. Indeed, when Burke cited her work as commerce secretary and said in October 2013 that when she left the job in 2007, Wisconsin had 84,000 more jobs than it does today, we rated her statementHalf True. The numerical part was on target, but Burke overstated the credit that she and Doyle deserved. In this case, the state GOP notes higher unemployment rates while Burke was in the commerce job, but doesnt directly blame her or her policies for the higher rates. Our rating The Wisconsin GOP said: The only time over the last 25 years when the states unemployment rate exceeded the U.S. average was when Burke was state commerce secretary. The statistic is accurate and the claim only indirectly blames Burke. We rate it Mostly True. To comment on this item, go to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinelsweb page. Follow us onTwitterandFacebook.","issues":["Candidate Biography","Economy","Jobs","Labor","State Budget","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_190","claim":"Red Skelton Pledge of Allegiance","posted":"06\/28\/2002","sci_digest":["Red Skelton laments in 1969 that the Pledge of Allegiance might someday be considered a 'prayer' and eliminated from public schools?"],"justification":"In 1969, comic Red Skelton lamented on his weekly television show that the Pledge of Allegiance might someday be considered a \"prayer\" and eliminated from public schools. The Pledge of Allegiance: I: Me, an individual, a committee of one. PLEDGE: Dedicate all of my worldly goods to give without self-pity. ALLEGIANCE: My love and my devotion. TO THE FLAG: Our standard, Old Glory, a symbol of freedom. Wherever she waves, there's respect because your loyalty has given her a dignity that shouts freedom is everybody's job. UNITED: That means that we have all come together. STATES: Individual communities that have united into 48 great states. Forty-eight individual communities with pride, dignity, and purpose; all divided by imaginary boundaries yet united for a common purpose, and that's love for country. AND TO THE REPUBLIC: A state in which sovereign power is invested in representatives chosen by the people to govern. And government is the people, and it's from the people to the leaders, not from the leaders to the people. FOR WHICH IT STANDS, ONE NATION: One nation, meaning \"so blessed by God.\" INDIVISIBLE: Incapable of being divided. WITH LIBERTY: Which is freedom, the right of power to live one's own life without threats, fear, or some sort of retaliation. AND JUSTICE: The principle or quality of dealing fairly with others. FOR ALL: For all, which means, boys and girls, it's as much your country as it is mine. And now, boys and girls, let me hear you recite the Pledge of Allegiance: \"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands: one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.\" Since I was a small boy, two states have been added to our country, and two words have been added to the Pledge of Allegiance: \"under God.\" Wouldn't it be a pity if someone said that is a prayer, and that would be eliminated from schools too? \n\nRed Skelton, a veteran comic who successfully plied his trade as a sentimental clown figure in vaudeville and radio, delighted television audiences for twenty years playing characters he had perfected on radio: Clem Kadiddlehopper, Freddie the Freeloader, and the Mean Widdle Kid on his weekly variety television program, \"The Red Skelton Show.\" On 14 January 1969, Skelton offered his television audience his reminiscence of an incident from his schoolboy days in Indiana. Mr. Lasswell, Skelton's teacher, felt his students had come to regard the Pledge of Allegiance as a daily drudgery to be recited by rote; they had lost any sense of the meaning of the words they were speaking. As Skelton related the story, Mr. Lasswell told his class: \"I've been listening to you boys and girls recite the Pledge of Allegiance all semester, and it seems as though it's becoming monotonous to you. If I may, may I recite it and try to explain to you the meaning of each word?\" Skelton then delivered to his audience (accompanied by a background of string music) a stirring version of the explanation provided to his school class by their teacher so many years earlier (and a recitation of the pledge itself), as quoted above. Skelton's explication and rendition of the Pledge of Allegiance proved to be quite popular and widely acclaimed, and in response to public demand, it was issued in print and pressed into records. \n\nBut in 1969, the Supreme Court decisions that eliminated compulsory prayer and Bible reading in public schools as unconstitutional, Abington School District v. Schempp and Murray v. Curlett, were still fairly recent (having been handed down in 1963), and protests over American military involvement in Vietnam had rendered the American flag as much a symbol of divisiveness as of unity. Skelton, a soft-spoken, sentimental personality who ended every program with the invocation \"Good night, and may God bless,\" added a coda to Mr. Lasswell's explanation, lamenting the thought that the 1954 insertion of the words \"under God\" to the Pledge of Allegiance might someday cause it to be considered a \"prayer\" (and thereby eliminated from public schools as well). Given the recent appeals court ruling that teacher-led recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools is unconstitutional, Red Skelton's words now strike many as remarkably prescient (and perhaps more prophetic than even he imagined). \n\nSkelton performed a similar explication of the Canadian national anthem, \"O Canada,\" during a visit to that country in 1990: \"O Canada\": I see mountains and valleys and rivers and trees; it is truly Mother Nature's warehouse. \"Our home and native land\": A place where families live with dignity on rich soil that shares food and beauty. \"Patriot\": Patriotism, a pride, a privilege to say, I, me, an individual, a committee of one, and dedicate all my worldly goods, to give without self-pity. \"Love in all thy sons command\": That powerful youth that gives all their love and devotion, holding the standard with the Maple Leaf high in the air; for it is a symbol of courage, and wherever she waves, she shouts \"Freedom is everybody's job.\" \"With glowing hearts we see thee rise\": A warmth that incubates incentive; wisdom that feeds beyond superstition and ignorance. \"The true north strong\": She is that compass needle that points to inspiring reality, and the courage to struggle on, to find a dream and make it come true. \"And free\": That right of power for one to live his own life without fear, stress, or any sort of retaliation. \"And stand on guard, O Canada\": Not that we want to flaunt our strength, but to be capable of facing the strongest should that enemy appear. \"We stand on guard for thee\": We protect all doctrines and share thy spirit of logic and reasoning. \"O Canada, glorious and free!\": That means justice, the principle and qualities of dealing fairly with others. \"O Canada, we stand on guard for thee\": So we can stand proud and say to our neighbor, \"This is as much my country as it is yours.\" \n\nBoth of these items are reminiscent of a Christmas segment from the \"Amos 'n' Andy\" radio program, one which first aired in 1930 and was repeated annually (and was filmed for the 1952 Christmas Day episode of the short-lived \"Amos 'n' Andy\" television series). As Amos' daughter Arbadella lies in her bed on Christmas Eve, her father tenderly explains the meaning of the Lord's Prayer to her: ARABDELLA: I've been saying the Lord's Prayer with Mommie. What does the Lord's Prayer mean, Daddy? AMOS: The Lord's Prayer? Well, darlin', I'll 'splain it to you. It means an awful lot, and with the world like it is today, it seems to have bigger meaning than ever before. ARABDELLA: But what does the Lord's Prayer really mean, Daddy? AMOS: Now, you lay down, and you listen. The first line of the Lord's Prayer is this: \"Our Father which art in Heaven\"\u2014that means Father of all that is good\u2014where no wrong can dwell. Then it says, \"Hallow'd be Thy name\"\u2014that means, darlin', that we should love an' respect all that is good. Then it says, \"Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven\"\u2014that means, darlin', as we clean our hearts with love, the good, the true, and the beautiful, then Earth where we are now will be like Heaven. ARABDELLA: That would be wonderful, Daddy. AMOS: Then it says, \"Give us this day our daily bread\"\u2014that means to feed our hearts an' minds with kindness, with love an' courage, which will make us strong for our daily task. Then after that, the line of the Lord's Prayer is, \"An' forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors\"\u2014you 'member the Golden Rule? ARABDELLA: Yes, Daddy. AMOS: Well, that means we mus' keep the Golden Rule and do unto others as we would want them to do unto us. And then it says, \"and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil\"\u2014that means, my darlin', to ask God to help us do, an' see, an' think right, so that we will neither be led nor tempted by anything that is bad. \"For thine is the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory forever. Amen.\" That means, darlin', that all the world an' everything that's in it belongs to God's kingdom\u2014everything\u2014Mommie, your Daddy, your little brother and sister, your gran'ma\u2014you an' everybody\u2014and, as we know that, an' act as if we know it, that, my darlin' daughter, is the real spirit of Christmas. \n\nThe Pledge of Allegiance ((The Red Skelton Show 14 January 1969)) Last updated: 9 March 2007. Sources: Andrews, Bart. Holy Mackeral! The Amos 'n' Andy Story. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1986. ISBN 0-525-24354-2 (pp. 97-98).","issues":["debt"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1AtG-bPdeV5PkSKfGvfV_tnuUcsj7tXCp","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_191","claim":"There is a rumor circulating that Osama bin Laden is the owner of Snapple.","posted":"10\/18\/2001","sci_digest":["Does Osama bin Laden own Snapple?"],"justification":"Claim:  Osama bin Laden owns Snapple.  Origins:  Snapple, the popular beverage company begun in 1972, has been a target of spurious \"owned by someone evil\" rumors since 1992. Those earlier (and entirely baseless) rumors linked the company with the Ku Klux Klan, not an Arab terrorist. (The KKK-Snapple connection was but one of many similar slanders tying a number of innocent businesses to the KKK  that particularrumored association was far from unique to Snapple.) rumored association But   times change, and so do those whom society views as the evildoers of the hour. Though the KKK is as odious as ever, its particular brand of detestability has been eclipsed by that of the terrorists cowering in the mountains of Afghanistan. One of the many rumors born in the aftermath of the September 11 attack on America links Snapple with Osama bin Laden and calls for a grassroots boycott of this company's line of products. Although bombs seem the obvious way to go after those who perpetrated the terrorist attacks on America, the real key to their undoing may well be economic. But that's not nearly as visceral a solution as going into Afghanistan with a war cry and guns blazing, and it's not one which the average person can participate in or support in a tangible way, and so rumors like the one tying Snapple to Osama bin Laden help fill the void.  The typical American wants to experience the sense of vindication that comes from toppling this manifestation of evil, and so calls to boycott companies which are rumored to be filling the war chests of bin Laden and his cronies therefore fall on highly receptive ears  many want to feel they're part of the struggle, but the very nature of the battle denies them that opportunity. Becoming part of an economic boycott would restore at least a part of that yearning for participation. That type of rumor, though highly welcome, often outruns the facts. That is the case with the call to spurn Snapple: In a lengthy Snapple press release, CEO Michael Weinstein wrote: press release Snapple has never had  and does not now  have any direct or indirect relationship of any kind whatsoever with Osama bin Laden or any other terrorist group or supporter. That same press release contains the likely reason behind this particular blossoming of the \"allied with evil\" rumor: If the source of these rumors is over our terminated relationship with a Saudi Arabian food distributorship, let me clarify this once and for all. Some of our products  along with products from other respected American beverage and food companies  were distributed by a company that had an investment from The Saudi Binladin Group. Snapple has never had any reason to believe, nor do we now, that this company had any relationship of any kind with terrorists. Nonetheless, several weeks ago, we terminated our relationship with this distributorship. Those unfamiliar with the Binladin Group might conclude from its name that it is Osama bin Laden's corporate presence. In truth, the Binladin Group is one of the many corporate entities owned or participated in by any number of Osama bin Laden's relatives, many of whom spell their surnames as Binladin. The infamous terrorist hails from a family that is both very large and incredibly wealthy. Osama has 54 siblings, and untangling the web of the family's finances and business associations is nearly an impossible task. Though it cannot absolutely be ruled out some of the income flowing into any of these entities reaches Osama bin Laden, it is widely understood that he is the family's black sheep and that many members of this wide-reaching and far-flung assembly of relatives have utterly disowned him.  Osama's half-brother, 35-year-old Abdullah Mohammed Binladin, the only member of the family to speak publicly about their notorious relative since September 11, said: \"I affirm that the Binladin family and the Saudi Binladin Group have no relationship whatsoever with Osama or any of his activities. He shares no legal or beneficial interests with them or their assets or properties, and he is not directly or indirectly funded by them.\"  As to who does own Snapple, it's now part of Cadbury Schweppes, a large UK corporation famous primarily for chocolate and carbonated beverages. Cadbury Schweppes is a publicly traded company on the London Exchange. It is therefore not owned by any one person, but by  thousands. Snapple originated as Unadulterated Food Corporation in 1972 and was little more than a hobby enterprise begun by Leonard Marsh, Hyman Golden, and Arnold Greenberg, who at the time were selling juices to health food stores. The first of its famed teas wasn't introduced until 1987, and the success of that line changed the company. The concern was acquired by Quaker [Oats] in 1994, sold to Triarc in 1997, and sold again to Cadbury Schweppes in 2000.  Untangling the web of who owns what will be one of the biggest tasks those charged with fighting terrorism on the economic front will face in the years to come. It is more than likely the effort will prove that at least some of the terrorists or those who provide their funding have holdings in a variety of American companies that are innocently unaware of the details of each of their minor shareholders' private lives. (The international world of finance being what it is, a diversified portfolio is a must, and that holds true for terrorists as well as for the law-abiding.) That will not mean that those companies whose shares turn up in the wrong hands support terrorism; merely that one of the nasties bought a bit of stock without their knowing who he really was. When such holdings come to light, there will be an outcry against those companies as those looking for someone to direct their anger towards will at least momentarily feel they've found someone deserving of their ire. They'll be wrong, but that will probably do little to stem the tide of criticism they'll unleash. Barbara \"who let the dogs out?\" Mikkelson Last updated:  21 April 2008    Sources:  Dobbs, Michael and John Ward Anderson.  \"A Fugitive's Splintered Family Tree.\"  The Washington Post.  30 September 2001  (p. A1).   Dunley, Ruth.  \"Osama's 'The Black Sheep,' Brother Says.\"  The Ottawa Citizen.  8 October 2001  (p. A6).","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=17jGlcpgZTxO39YXUla25hOJEGkHDhvWX"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_192","claim":"Gordon Sinclair 'The Americans'","posted":"09\/17\/2001","sci_digest":["Did Canadian radio commentator Gordon Sinclair deliver a stirring pro-American editorial?"],"justification":"Good reading from a Toronto newspaper's editorial page! Recently, only partial news coverage was given to a remarkable editorial broadcast from Toronto by Gordon Sinclair, a Canadian television commentator. What follows is the full text of his trenchant remarks as printed in the Congressional Record: This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least appreciated people on all the earth. Germany, Japan, and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans, who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts. None of these countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States. When the franc was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up, and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it. When distant cities are hit by earthquakes, it is the United States that hurries in to help. This spring, 59 American communities were flattened by tornadoes. Nobody helped. The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent, warmongering Americans. I'd like to see just one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplane. Does any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tristar, or the Douglas DC-10? If so, why don't they fly them? Why do all the international lines except Russia fly American planes? Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or woman on the moon? You talk about Japanese technocracy, and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy, and you get automobiles. You talk about American technocracy, and you find men on the moon\u2014not once, but several times\u2014and safely home again. You talk about scandals, and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everybody to look at. Even their draft dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, and most of them, unless they are breaking Canadian laws, are getting American dollars from ma and pa at home to spend here. When the railways of France, Germany, and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are still broke. I can name you 5,000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble. Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake. Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I'm one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them get kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles. I hope Canada is not one of those. On 5 June 1973, Canadian radio commentator Gordon Sinclair decided he'd had enough of the stream of criticism and negative press recently directed at the United States of America by foreign journalists (primarily over America's long military involvement in Vietnam, which had ended with the signing of the Paris Peace Accords six months earlier). When he arrived at radio station CFRB in Toronto that morning, he spent twenty minutes dashing off a two-page editorial defending the USA against its carping critics, which he then delivered in a defiant, indignant tone during his \"Let's Be Personal\" spot at 11:45 AM that day. The unusualness of any foreign correspondent\u2014even one from a country with such close ties to the U.S. as Canada\u2014delivering such a caustic commentary about those who would dare to criticize the U.S. is best demonstrated by the fact that even more than thirty years later, a generation of Americans too young to remember Sinclair's broadcast doubt that this piece (which has been circulating on the Internet in the slightly altered form quoted above as something \"recently\" printed in a Toronto newspaper) is genuine. It is real, and it received a great deal of attention in its day. After Sinclair's editorial was rebroadcast by a few American radio stations, it spread like wildfire all over the country. It was played again and again (often superimposed over a piece of inspirational music such as \"Battle Hymn of the Republic\" or \"Bridge Over Troubled Water\"), read into the Congressional Record multiple times, and finally released on a record (titled \"The Americans\"), with all royalties donated to the American Red Cross. (A radio broadcaster in the Windsor\/Detroit area named Byron MacGregor recorded and released a version of the piece as well.) It gained additional currency when it was dusted off and circulated anew in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. in 2001. Sinclair passed away in 1984, but he will long be remembered on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border for his contributions to journalism and for his loudly proclaiming a friendship that few at the time were willing to embrace.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=16qEKVf2T0QXx3nM3Bn8CP82ADt_sewBG","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_193","claim":"Rebel Wilson Did Not Endorse ACV Keto Weight Loss Gummies","posted":"07\/20\/2022","sci_digest":["Unfortunately, fake celebrity endorsements for these kinds of products are nothing new."],"justification":"In July 2022, scammers used actor Rebel Wilson's image and likeness without her authorization, adding her to their fraudulent roster of celebrities who supposedly endorsed CBD gummies, apple cider vinegar (ACV) keto gummies, and weight loss diet pills. One specific product that Wilson supposedly endorsed was Simpli Health ACV+Keto Gummies, according to a number of fake \"reviews\" that appeared in Google News search results. In reality, these \"reviews\" were paid sponsored content articles. Wilson never endorsed any of these products, nor did several other celebrities whose names were found alongside hers. \n\nSometime during July, Wilson appeared in a fake article on feronia4.top\/chensang3365, a website that scammers designed to look just like People.com. The scammers simply copied the design of People.com in an effort to fool potential victims into believing it was a legitimate news website. The fake People.com article featured the headline, \"Oprah Winfrey Considers Break from Fame to Focus on New Business Venture that's Helped Her and Millions of Women Melt Body Fat and Get Ripped in Weeks.\" It falsely claimed that Winfrey and Wilson had endorsed either CBD gummies or apple cider vinegar keto gummies. \n\nFarther down in the fake article, there was an Instagram picture comparison that Wilson supposedly posted on Dec. 24, 2020. However, the caption had been doctored. In the post, she supposedly said, \"ACV is the REAL DEAL!\" Wilson never made this post, nor did she ever say that apple cider vinegar contributed to her weight loss. The same fake People.com article created by scammers falsely claimed that Kelly Osbourne, Rachael Ray, Melissa McCarthy, Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton, and Wendy Williams also endorsed apple cider vinegar keto gummies. \n\nWomen's Health previously reported on Wilson's real weight loss journey. One reason she decided to lose 80 pounds was to improve her chances of fertility. According to the story, she attributed her weight loss to exercise and a high-protein diet, not apple cider vinegar, CBD, or keto gummies. She also once posted to her Instagram Stories that she \"NEVER endorsed any diet pills or magic weight loss pills,\" stating that she didn't \"want anyone to get scammed.\" \n\nIn sum, Wilson never endorsed Simpli Health ACV Keto Gummies or any other similar CBD, keto, or apple cider vinegar products.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1hlhTGjc1dZyOa-0gC3iZK2b3VL98C1uR","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1j15AkU_auE6g2I65cm537NaGEl6zjNy7","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_194","claim":"Risk analysts listed Donald Trump, a Donald Trump presidency, as one of the top threats facing the global economy, ahead of terrorism.","posted":"06\/27\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Hillary Clinton, riding a bump in the polls, kept the heat on Donald Trump during a speech in Cincinnati that marked the first time she had campaigned alongside Elizabeth Warren, a favorite of the progressive wing of her party. Risk analysts listed Donald Trump, a Donald Trump presidency, as one of the top threats facing the global economy, ahead of terrorism, Clinton said during thespeechon June 27, 2016. We dont take a position on whether Trump actuallyisone of the top threats facing the global economy. But we thought wed check to see whether Clinton has solid evidence that professional risk analysts have made that argument. So is Clinton right about how analysts have rated Trump? Basically, yes. When we asked the Clinton campaign what she was referring to, they pointed us to the periodic rankings of global risk published by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The Economist Intelligence Unit -- an affiliate ofThe Economist, the London-based newsweekly -- is aresearch and analysisfirm that supplies clients, including businesses, with information about opportunities and risks around the world. The firmmade headlines in March 2016when it listed the possibility of a Trump presidency as one of the biggest threats to companies capacity to operate at target profitability. The rankings are based on qualitative judgments of a how powerfully an event could affect the world and how likely it is to happen, the firm says. In its March ratings, the firm rated the risks from a Trump presidency as 12 on a 25-point scale. That ranked Trump sixth among the 10-item list of biggest threats, tied with the rising threat of jihadi terrorism destabilising the global economy. But the Trump threat level increased in theJuly 2016 rankings. A Trump presidency now ranks as the third-biggest global threat, with an increased score of 16 on the 25-point scale. In the meantime, the risk from jihadi terrorism has remained constant with a score of 12. In the July ratings, the only higher scores were 20 for China experiences a hard landing and, in a tie with Trump, a 16 for currency volatility and persistent commodity prices weakness. Specifically, the firm wrote that although we do not expect Mr. Trump to defeat his most likely Democratic contender, Hillary Clinton, there are risks to this forecast, especially in the event of a terrorist attack on U.S. soil or a sudden economic downturn. The writeup cited his hostility to free trade, his hard line on Muslims, his militaristic tendencies, his skepticism toward NATO, and his indifference to nuclear proliferation in Asia. The firm had never rated a pending candidacy to be a geopolitical risk to the United States and the world,an official told Politico. We checked with Robert Powell, the Economist Intelligence Units New York-based global risk briefing manager, to see whether he thought Clintons phrasing was accurate, and he said it was. Her quote does accurately describe our global risk scenarios, Powell told PolitiFact. Despite the high likelihood of more terrorist attacks, the impact on the global economy tends to be relatively slight -- indeed, most global stock markets rose on the day of the Brussels attacks, for instance. However, given that the U.S. economy is the biggest in the world, we believe a Trump presidency would have a major impact on the entire global economy. Clinton said risk analysts -- plural -- had determined Trump to be a threat, but we were unable to find any equivalent of the Economist Intelligence Unit report. (Clinton campaign spokesman Josh Schwerin said that analysts was intended to refer to the multiple analysts within the Economist Intelligence Unit who came up with the ratings.) But we did find another major economic report that painted a grim picture of what could happen to the economy if Trump wins. On June 17, Moodys Analytics, an economic research and data-services firm,published its projectionsof what could happen to the economy under Trump-backed policies on taxes, government spending, immigration and international trade. (We fact-checked thepolitical backgroundof one of the Moody's authors in another report.) Four basic conclusions regarding the impact of Mr. Trumps economic proposals can be reached, the Moodys team wrote. One, they will result in a less global U.S. economy; two, they will lead to larger government deficits and more debt; three, they will largely benefit very high-income households; and four, they will result in a weaker U.S. economy, with fewer jobs and higher unemployment. Our ruling Clinton said, Risk analysts listed Donald Trump, a Donald Trump presidency, as one of the top threats facing the global economy, ahead of terrorism. The analysts at one firm, the Economist Intelligence Unit, have declared the possibility of Trumps election to be the third-greatest global risk in its current rankings, a risk level that has only grown since the firm began including Trump in its rankings in March. And Clinton has accurately noted that the risk factor given to a Trump presidency is higher than the rating for Islamic terrorism on the firms list. We rate the statement True. https:\/\/www.sharethefacts.co\/share\/99685807-e596-4fa7-ad2e-de8cc4063c57","issues":["National","Economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1iamS6vdxs5mb6wf28_j_3mERXOhlngmf","image_caption":"is"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_195","claim":"Deceptive offer of complimentary products in celebration of company's anniversary","posted":"02\/07\/2016","sci_digest":["Businesses are not celebrating their anniversaries by giving away free product to Facebook users who share and like a page.  Those offers are a form of online scam."],"justification":"Scammers and malware purveyors are always looking for ways to entice online users into following web links that will lead those victims into the traps set for them, and offers of free products are prime bait in that pursuit of prey. One common method such predators use is establishing fake Facebook accounts mimicking those of well-known vendors of consumer products (typically of the edible variety, such as Starbucks, Taco Bell, McDonald's, KFC, Wendy's, Burger King, Whole Foods, Safeway, Food Lion, and Little Caesars) and posting bogus offers for \"lifetime passes\" or other dispensations of free product as part of a supposed company anniversary or birthday celebration (e.g., \"Starbucks is giving away free lifetimes in celebration of the brand's 44th anniversary\"). The primary type of free product fraud is the \"sweepstakes scam,\" which is intended to lure victims into completing numerous surveys, disclosing a good deal of personal information, and then agreeing to sign up for costly, difficult-to-cancel \"Reward Offers\" hidden in the fine print. The scammers spread links via e-mail and Facebook that purport to offer free product to those who follow those links. These web pages (which are not operated or sponsored by the companies they reference) typically ask the unwary to click what appear to be Facebook \"share\" buttons and post comments to the scammer's site (which is really a ruse to dupe users into spreading the scam by sharing it with all of their Facebook friends). Those who follow such instructions are then led into a set of pages prompting them to input a fair amount of personal information (including name, age, address, and phone numbers), complete a lengthy series of surveys, and finally sign up (and commit to paying) for at least two \"Reward Offers\" (e.g., Netflix subscriptions, credit report monitoring services, prepaid credit cards): Pursuant to the Terms & Conditions, you are required to complete 2 of the Reward Offers from the above. You will need to meet all of the terms and conditions to qualify for the shipment of the reward. For credit card offers, you must activate your card by making a purchase, transferring a balance, or making a cash advance. For loan offers you must close and fund the loan. For home security and satellite tv offers you must have the product installed. You may not cancel your participation in more than a total of 2 Reward Offers within 30 days of any Reward Offer Sign-Up Date as outlined in the Terms & Conditions (the Cancellation Limit). Not only that, but the fine print on the \"free\" product offers typically states that by accepting its terms, the user agrees to receive telemarketing phone calls and text messages from a variety of different companies:   Similar phony free product lures are used to spread malware. In those versions of the scam, those who attempt to reach the URL provided for the purpose of claiming the free products are instead victimized by a Facebook \"lifejacking\" attack, a malicious script that takes over a user's Facebook profile without their knowledge and propagates itself to their friends' accounts as well. lifejacking In short, those who seek \"free\" merchandise generally end up paying a dear cost for it.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1FlKdiNUszu5jGLwaAbaLMceG4xUqp4Ez"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_196","claim":"Says the 2011-13 state budget eliminates the structural deficit for the first time in decades.","posted":"07\/03\/2011","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Republicans who control the state Legislature are touting their just-completed work on the 2011-2013 state budget.State Sen. Alberta Darling, a co-chairwoman of the legislatures Joint Finance Committee, has been especially vocal about the virtues of the $66 billion spending plan. As one of nine senators facing recall elections over their actions on the separate collective bargaining bill, shes also been the target of criticism for her votes.I think this budget really does put us in the right direction -- phenomenally, Darling said in a June 20, 2011, meeting with Journal Sentinel editors and reporters. Its phenomenal whats been accomplished in terms of debt and deficit reform and restructuring.Darling added: Were in the black for the first time in decades.To be clear, the budget has to be in the black every year when it is passed. The state constitution says it must be balanced. Darling was talking about the structural deficit, which is a relatively new way of measuring the states future fiscal health.The structural deficit measures the future imbalance between spending and tax revenue as laid out in state law. So you can have a balanced budget, but one built upon assumptions that are projected to result in a deficit later on.Weve been hearing about that problem for years.Darling, Walker and others argue their predecessors made the state budgets balance by using one-time maneuvers -- such including the states share of federal tobacco settlement money, and diversions of funds for transportation and medical malpractice insurance.All these approaches only delayed the day of fiscal reckoning to make the budget balance, leading to the structural deficit, said Walker, in themessageaccompanying his budget introduction.So, is Darling right?Did Walker and the Legislature resolve -- for the first time in decades -- the underlying problems, as well as balance spending for the two-year period that begins July 1?The size of the structural deficit is determined by the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, considered by both parties to be a neutral scorekeeper on budget matters. The agency started doing the projections with the 1997-99 budget.The agency takes a look at the budget as proposed, amended and passed, said agency director Robert Lang. He begins his estimates with a baseline -- the second year of the current budget, which is adjusted based on previously approved law changes or legal commitments. The new budget is then factored in.It takes out speculation, Lang said of the structural deficit estimates. It puts out a marker based on current revenues and projections.Agency reports show for the past 14 years show the highest structural deficit was $2.8 billion for the 2003-05 budget, and the lowest was $1.49 billion for the 2007-09 budget.Areportissued June 13, 2011, said the 2011-13 budget as approved by the Joint Finance Committee would result in a $306 million surplus. The Legislature changed very little of the committees work. Langs office will evaluate the budget again now that Walkers vetoes are completed and the budget signed.Here was Langs assessment based on the earlier action: Weve had structural deficits since I started doing this, and now theres a structural surplus.So Darlings right on that account: the budget has a structural surplus and not a deficit.The budget does include the changes in pension and insurance payments state workers -- a law enacted before the budget was considered that did not take effect until after it passed -- that helped reduce the budget gap. Those changes are viewed as permanent, not one-time fixes, Lang said.Langs office has only 14 years of records covering a total of nine budgets, including the most recent one. No budget in this time frame showed a surplus, until the current one.In making her statement, Darling said the structural deficit was fixed for the first time in decades. When we talked to her, she said she misspoke when she said decades.As aide Bob Delaporte said: The point was that its in the black for the first time in a long time.Fair enough.Since the structural deficit was not measured before 1997-99, we cant say just when the structural deficits began.Whats the bottom line?In talking about the structural deficit, Darling claimed lawmakers delivered a budget in the black for the first time in decades. The budget lawmakers sent to Walker is projected to have a $306 million surplus. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau report on structural deficits says theres not been a budget with a structural surplus dating back to when it started recording such things 14 years ago. Darling may have overstated how far back the problem goes, but no one knows for certain and that does not change the underlying point of her statement.We rate her statement Mostly True.","issues":["State Budget","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_197","claim":"Is there a provision in Biden's climate plan that involves reducing our red meat consumption by 90%?","posted":"04\/25\/2021","sci_digest":["One way to smear a plan that is light on details is to make up your own objectionable details to tweet about."],"justification":"On April 22, 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden gave remarks at the \"Virtual Leaders Summit on Climate\" in which he framed a nationwide effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions as an opportunity for \"millions of good-paying, middle-class, union jobs.\" By investing in these new jobs, Biden said, he hopes the United States can cut its greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030:  Joe Biden remarks The United States isnt waiting. We are resolving to take action  not only the  our federal government, but our cities and our states all across our country; small businesses, large businesses, large corporations; American workers in every field. I see an opportunity to create millions of good-paying, middle-class, union jobs. I see line workers laying thousands of miles of transmission lines for a clean, modern, resilient grid. I see workers capping hundreds of thousands of abandoned oil and gas wells that need to be cleaned up, and abandoned coal mines that need to be reclaimed, putting a stop to the methane leaks and protecting the health of our communities. I see auto workers building the next generation of electric vehicles, and electricians installing nationwide for 500,000 charging stations along our highways. I see  engineers and the construction workers building new carbon capture and green hydrogen plants to forge cleaner steel and cement and produce clean power. I see farmers deploying cutting-edge tools to make soil of our  of our Heartland the next frontier in carbon innovation. By maintaining those investments and putting these people to work, the United States sets out on the road to cut greenhouse gases in half  in half by the end of this decade. Thats where were headed as a nation, and thats what we can do if we take action to build an economy thats not only more prosperous, but healthier, fairer, and cleaner for the entire planet. At no point in this speech did Biden announce any initiative to impose a limit on red meat consumption. At no point in his presidency has Biden suggested policies aimed at limiting red meat consumption. Despite these facts, right-wing news outlets and politicians began aggressively repeating the claim that Biden's plan included \"cutting 90% of red meat from our diets by 2030.\" This false notion stems from the British tabloid the Daily Mail, which  in lieu of actual details the Biden administration has not yet provided  took it upon themselves to speculate about what terrible things \"could\" be theoretically included in the plan: to speculate   The Daily Mail cited a report published by the University of Michigan Center for Sustainable Systems that looked, in extremely simplified terms, how much of a reduction would result from various dietary changes. As reported by the Center for Biological Diversity, the researchers concluded: reported That replacing half of all animal-based foods with plant-based alternatives would reduce diet-related emissions by 35%. And if half of all animal-based foods were replaced with plant-based alternatives and beef consumption fell by 90%, dietary emissions would drop by 51%. If American diets remain unchanged, emissions associated with producing the food we eat will climb 9% by 2030. The University of Michigan exercise is, in their words, \"reliant on a number of simplifying assumptions\" and designed to show the impact of various diet change scenarios on climate. It is not, in any way, a policy suggestion or proposal. As you may recall, the Biden announcement was about green jobs and did not once mention initiatives to change the diet of Americans. Despite this, Biden's critics used the Daily Mail's baseless speculation as if it were actual scientific analysis of a plan whose details Biden has not yet released. their words Former Fox News pundit Todd Starnes argued on his show that the January 2020 Michigan study was actually an analysis of a Biden plan that, at the time of this reporting in April 2021, has not been released: argued   The claim that Biden's plan includes this 90% red meat reduction is often paired with a Fox News screen capture: often paired   As it is clear by the citation, this information comes from the same University of Michigan study the Daily Mail relied on to speculate about potential paths to carbon emission reductions. It is not, as suggested, a \"requirement\" for Biden's climate plan. Fox's reporting made it all the way to the halls of Congress. On April 24, 2021, Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., asserted in a viral tweet that the Daily Mail's speculation was an actual policy proposal by Biden: viral tweet   Because the Daily Mail is a British tabloid and not involved in American climate policy discussions, and because Biden's plan has not yet been released, claims that it includes a policy that requires a 90% reduction in red meat are ","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1GUvt1b5Rapd_iXPlHYizrdhrw83uRcZk"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1xxl4cYSlEWMZFEw5FQtxN3c6R7VMW8LZ"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1u7so-ilHYb2HpmvLeX2goRFsr45aRGo4"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1-1PonxJn8Y7MWSnjYWOhZPz7sKqXrZ_p"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_198","claim":"Did Laphonza Butler, Feinstein's Senate Replacement, Work for Uber and Airbnb?","posted":"10\/02\/2023","sci_digest":["Butler has been active in Democratic party politics for many years."],"justification":"Following the death of Democratic U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein of California on September 29, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced he would replace her with longtime political operative Laphonza Butler. At the time of his announcement, Butler was president of Emily's List, a political action committee (PAC) aimed at electing pro-choice female Democratic candidates to office. Active in Democratic politics for years, she was a senior adviser to Kamala Harris's 2020 presidential primary campaign and a partner at the firm SCRB Strategies, a well-known political and business consulting group that handled Harris's campaign, Newsom's fight against recall efforts, and several other high-profile Democratic causes. Prior to her consulting work, she was the president of the largest labor union in California, a healthcare and homecare workers union, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 2015. With this background, claims went viral after Newsom's announcement that Butler had advised Uber during its fight against labor protections for drivers and had worked on political issues for the vacation rental company Airbnb. Both assertions are factual. As journalist Lee Fang reported, Uber paid SCRB at least $183,000 during the time Butler worked for the firm, which is now named Bearclaw Strategies. Back in 2019, Bloomberg labor reporter Josh Eidelson reported on Butler's work for Uber, specifically writing: \"One asset for Uber is Laphonza Butler. She was president of one of the SEIU's largest local unions until last year and is now a partner at SCRB Strategies, a California-based business and political consulting firm. There, Butler has advised and represented Uber in its dealings with organized labor on employment issues and also serves as an adviser to the presidential campaign of Kamala Harris, the Democratic senator from California.\" An Uber spokesman said Butler brings a valuable perspective to the company's efforts to improve work for drivers, and a spokesman for Harris declined to comment. Butler and her firm did not respond to requests for comment. It is also public knowledge that Butler left SCRB Strategies to work in the policy arm of Airbnb in September 2020, taking the title \"North American Policy Director.\" As reported by Politico in 2020: \"Laphonza Butler, a partner at a leading California political consulting firm that has helped guide the campaigns of Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom, and Jerry Brown, is leaving to join the vacation rental company Airbnb, she confirmed to POLITICO.\" In that role, she advocated policy positions favorable to Airbnb to the U.S. Congress. She was the author, for example, of a letter to congressional leaders advocating Airbnb's \"strong support for the necessary federal funding to implement sustainable, long-term policy solutions for broadband deployment throughout our country in order to provide more opportunity in every city, state, and territory of the United States.\" Because both Uber and Airbnb have publicly confirmed that Butler worked with them, and in the case of the latter, was directly employed by the company, we rate the claim as factual.","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1gcdGFsPOFnRIUHmx6S7tNU-j41Ls_g-z","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_199","claim":"Did Bannon Say He'd Put Fauci's and FBI Director Wray's 'Heads on Pikes'?","posted":"11\/06\/2020","sci_digest":["The podcaster and Breitbart executive has been described as a \"Trump loyalist.\" "],"justification":"Voting in the 2020 U.S. Election may be over, but misinformation continues to spread. Never stop fact-checking. Follow our post-election coverage here. While tensions mounted over the presidential election results in early November 2020, former U.S. President Donald Trump's campaign adviser Steve Bannon called for a second Trump term to begin with some firings. During the Nov. 5, 2020, edition of the Breitbart News executives podcast, \"War Room Pandemic,\" Bannon made jabs at National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Dr. Anthony Fauci and FBI Director Christopher Wray, appearing to endorse violence against them when he said the following: \"Second term kicks off with firing Wray, firing Fauci. Now I actually want to go a step farther, but I realize the president is a kind-hearted man and a good man. I'd actually like to go back to the old times of Tudor England; I'd put the heads on pikes, right? I'd put them at the two corners of the White House as a warning to federal bureaucrats. You either get with the program or you're gone\u2014time to stop playing games.\" By the following day, the video had been deleted from all of Bannon's official platforms, but it was still circulating on social media, including a snippet shared on Twitter. A longer version of the podcast video was shared by Media Matters, a web-based, not-for-profit research and information center dedicated to monitoring misinformation in U.S. media. (The video has been archived here for reference.) A Twitter spokesperson confirmed to Snopes in an email sent Nov. 6 that, \"the @WarRoomPandemic account has been permanently suspended for violating the Twitter Rules, specifically our policy on the glorification of violence.\" The platform added that statements made by Bannon went against policies addressing clear threats of violence, abuse and harassment, and hateful conduct. As of Nov. 6, Bannon's official Facebook page and YouTube channel were both still available online, though it appeared that the video in question had since been deleted. Snopes sent emails to YouTube and Facebook for further comment but did not receive a response at the time of publication. We will update the article accordingly if we hear back. Bannon and some of his followers have been described as Trump loyalists, and it was not uncommon for such groups to target those whom the president had expressed dislike toward. While testifying in front of the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee on Sept. 17, Wray stated that the FBI had not seen, to date, a coordinated national voter fraud effort in a major election. \"We have certainly investigated\u2014if I may finish\u2014we've certainly investigated voter fraud committed by mail. It's typically been at the local level.\" When Wray appeared to question and cast doubt on Trump's claims that mail-in ballots would lead to fraud in the 2020 general election, the administration publicly went after the former attorney. The Washington Post reported on Oct. 21 that Trump and his advisers had repeatedly discussed whether to fire Wray after Election Day because of his inability to produce incriminating evidence against Democratic candidate Joe Biden. In an Oct. 8 interview with Fox Business, Trump stated that Wray was disappointing in that he didn't see the voting ballots as a problem. Trump has also publicly expressed dismay at the actions of Fauci, who has spearheaded the COVID-19 pandemic response since March. In an editorial published by The Hill, opinion contributor Gregory Wallance wrote that Fauci gets in the way of Trump's economic revival strategy following unprecedented nationwide business closures by telling Americans the truth about the pandemic. Since the onset of the pandemic, Fauci has warned that the worst is yet to come and urged local leaders to continue to heed the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, despite what the president said. During a campaign rally in Arizona in October, Trump made fun of Fauci, adding that he was a wonderful man but had a bad arm (around the 15-minute mark). \"I saved thousands of lives,\" he admitted two months later. \"And Dr. Fauci said, 'Don't put on masks.' You see the thing. And now, he says put on masks, and they say he's a wonderful guy, and he is a wonderful guy. I like him. He just happens to have a very bad arm. He has a bad arm, but he's a good guy. He is a good guy. A lot of our people don't like him. I like him. You have to understand him. He's a promoter. What can he do? And it's a choice between the American dream or a totally socialist nightmare. That's what you'll have. You'll be a socialist country. And I said, 'Our country will never be a socialist country. We're not going to let it happen. It'll be destroyed.'\"","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1HaZfWF59WqJ8vaofFcXTNBVcTaxrPKG5","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_200","claim":"Womens unemployment has been lower under President Trump than its been in nearly 70 years.","posted":"09\/26\/2019","sci_digest":[],"justification":"The West Virginia Republican Party recently tweeted praise for President Donald Trump's handling of the economy, particularly as it relates to women. On Aug. 27, the state party tweeted, \"Women's unemployment has been lower under President Trump than it's been in nearly 70 years. #WVGOP #WomenforTrump #WV4Trump.\" Is that correct? We took a closer look. (The West Virginia Republican Party did not respond to an inquiry for this article.) According to the Federal Reserve Economic Data website, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the unemployment rate for women was 3.7% in July 2019, the latest data available at the time of the party's tweet. In August 2019, the rate ticked down slightly to 3.6%; the best showing came in April, with a rate of 3.4%. Here's a chart showing the full run of data for women's unemployment. The data shows one period with a lower unemployment rate for women: a 12-month period in 1952 and 1953. That's about 66 years ago, which qualifies as nearly 70 years ago. Brian Lego, an economist at West Virginia University, told PolitiFact that the Korean War in the early 1950s created some labor market distortions. Because the military draft pulled men out of the labor market, temporary jobs opened up for women. It's important to note that presidents don't deserve either full credit or full blame for the unemployment rate during their tenure. The president is not all-powerful on economic matters; broader factors, from the business cycle to changes in technology to demographic shifts, play major roles. In fact, the unemployment rate for women has been falling since 2010, when President Barack Obama was in office. The unemployment rate for women fell from 8.7% in October 2010 to 4.7% when Obama left office in January 2017\u2014a decline of four percentage points, or almost half. Since Trump entered the White House, women's unemployment has fallen by one point, or almost one-fifth. The West Virginia Republican Party stated, \"Women's unemployment has been lower under President Trump than it's been in nearly 70 years.\" The actual number is 66 years, which qualifies as nearly 70. However, it's important to note that presidents don't deserve full credit or blame for such statistical changes during their tenure. The statement is accurate but needs additional context, so we rate it Mostly True.","issues":["West Virginia","Economy","Jobs"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_201","claim":"Did Ari Fleischer Compare Showing ID to Get Vaccinated to Voter ID Laws?","posted":"03\/11\/2021","sci_digest":["The former White House press secretary's apples-to-oranges tweet compared two unrelated things."],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease.  fighting Find out Read Submit Become a Founding Member CDC WHO In early March 2021, Ari Fleischer, a media commentator who served as White House press secretary for former U.S. President George W. Bush, said on Twitter that New York's requirement that residents show ID before getting a COVID-19 vaccine was just as \"sensible\" as requiring people to show identification to vote . said a COVID-19 vaccine  hurdles require We can verify that Fleischer's tweet is real, while also pointing out that Fleischer is attempting to create an equivalency between two different issues when none exists. The state of New York is vaccinating residents in a phased rollout because of limited vaccine supply. Therefore, residents must make appointments to receive their shots and provide documentation showing that they are the person with the appointment, and that they are eligible for the vaccine during a given phase, based on factors like age and and type of employment. The elderly, along with essential workers and health care employees, have been prioritized. phased Voting, on the other hand, is a completely different issue. Voting is a constitutional right that forms the basis of the U.S. system of government. Unlike COVID-19 vaccines, access to voting isn't limited on the supply side so much as it is controlled by legislators who have the power to either make the process easier or more difficult. Access to voting, especially for demographic groups that have been historically excluded from it, has been an ongoing flashpoint in American politics. The issue gained new urgency in the wake of the November 2020 election, when a disinformation campaign pushed by former President Donald Trump falsely alleging widespread voter fraud incited a deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Since then, Trump's fellow Republican legislators in many states have rushed to create new requirements for voters. Although they argue such laws are necessary to prevent voter fraud, critics point out such fraud is rare. rushed rare Advocates for expanded voter access argue that voter ID laws are a voter suppression tactic because, as the American Civil Liberties Union states: states Many Americans do not have one of the forms of identification states [deem] acceptable for voting. These voters are disproportionately low-income, racial and ethnic minorities, the elderly, and people with disabilities. Such voters more frequently have difficulty obtaining ID, because they cannot afford or cannot obtain the underlying documents that are a prerequisite to obtaining government-issued photo ID card.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1-23WBpfu6XtHtqAVlrkguqjXQSxiPtBN","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_202","claim":"Girls' Life vs. Boys' Life Magazine Covers","posted":"09\/14\/2016","sci_digest":["A side-by-side comparison of a magazine for girls and another for boys appears to reveal a major divide in the way the media socialize each, but there was more to the story."],"justification":"In September 2016, the magazines Boys' Life and Girls' Life put out their usual issues, with wildly disparate cover images and content listings. Pictures of the two covers were shared side by side in an image that went viral as a purported example of the divergent ways in which girls' and boys' interests are represented in the United States: A graphic artist designed her own cover based on the message she thought Girls' Life should convey: cover   However, the original photograph of the covers  while real  is misleading for a number of reasons, mostly contextual. The Girls' Life cover is a sample size of one. While this particular cover appears to encourage teens and tweens to focus on their looks at the expense of everything else (and to tacitly say that being pretty is the only important thing) at first glance, a closer look at the magazine's web site quickly shows that previous issues bore covers focusing on stories about body acceptance, getting jobs, and dealing with bullies (and how not to be one) tucked amid pieces on fashion and celebrity gossip. body acceptance getting jobs bullies Digging deeper into the web site also unearths articles about other (and not at all trivial) topics, with titles such as \"Nosy parents? Try this to set boundaries\" (listen, communicate, compromise), \"September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month\", and \"5 books that will help you succeed this school year\".  boundaries Month succeed But if that's not the point (and if you consider the cover the most important part of the magazine), a look at some of the other covers shows a more balanced approach to the hormonally fraught life of the average ten- to sixteen-year-old girl, with headlines showing articles about how to study better in school, how to handle friendships, how to create things, how to boost self-esteem, and book reviews and recommendations. It also is important to consider that Boys' Life magazine is not a general boys' interest publication but rather the official trade magazine of the Boy Scouts of America, whose official oath is: magazine On my honor I will do my bestTo do my duty to God and my countryand to obey the Scout Law;To help other people at all times;To keep myself physically strong,mentally awake, and morally straight. To clarify, Boys' Life is a magazine that functions as a way to further the very specific (and positive) Boy Scouts' message to boys. It is not a usual newsstand magazine, and despite appearances, it is not affiliated with  Girls' Life  which has a similar name, and is a magazine, but is not affiliated with the Girl Scouts or any other similar organization. Girls' Life states its mission as follows:  message mission GL readers get real, honest advice. Parents can trust GL to guide their girls through the growing-up yearswithout making them grow up too fast. Karen Bokram is the founding editor and publisher of Girls' Life magazine. She told us that the outcry seems to stem from adults placing their own expectations and pressure on young people. She says that by the time girls are reading her magazine, they're already receiving mixed messages about what they're supposed to be (and with additional pressure from their peers to fit in), which is in part what her magazine is trying to help them navigate: I put this stuff in there, and once I point it out, people say  okay fine, you have a lot of high quality content, but you still should have it on the cover! And I'm like, okay, so we're shaming girls for having interests that aren't aligned with what you think they should be interested in? So getting good grades and making friends  which is on my cover  isn't within your wheelhouse?  While there is undoubtedly a conversation to be had about the gender binary, sexism, and the difference in expectations faced by young people based on their sex and outward appearance, this photograph of the two covers side by side does not illustrate those issues as clearly as it might seem to at first glance. ","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=15ORD8SyR7-_0uZc8FdNjrUhQ83c2tZbR","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_203","claim":"Facebook Posts About Homeland Security Memos and 'Hacked' Cellphones Are Misleading","posted":"03\/28\/2022","sci_digest":["\"Don't know if this is true but better safe than sorry,\" one Facebook user posted."],"justification":"In late March 2022, we examined two viral and false Facebook posts that were copied and pasted by countless users. One of the posts, which was also purportedly received as a text message alert, claimed that \"cellphones are being hacked\" to steal banking information. The misleading copypasta post stated that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned U.S. citizens to \"keep your fuel topped off,\" gather cash and food, and plan for the uncertainties surrounding the potential global impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The first message appeared to warn of a potential Russian cyberattack and read as follows: \"Please be aware, Just received this: ALERT Cellphones Are Being Hacked! You get called and get asked if you've been vaccinated or not. Then you're told to press 1 or 2 as an answer, and boom, all your banking information is accessed. People are losing money. Please alert them not to respond! Also, Homeland Security says that because of what's going on with Ukraine, keep your fuel topped off and store up some cash in case ATMs get hacked and credit card systems are unavailable. We know it's possible since the fuel lines were hacked once before recently. So glad God provides for His own. Just do our part and keep praying. PASS it on.\" The second viral message did not mention cellphones but retained the Homeland Security part. It added lines about keeping \"basic food,\" \"emergency preparedness supplies,\" and a \"family emergency plan\" ready: \"SHARING #ShareThis: Received this as a text this morning from the Office of Homeland Security that encouraged us to take the following precautions: - Have basic food and emergency preparedness supplies available. - Have some cash on hand in case ATMs or credit card readers are unavailable. - Do not allow your vehicles to get low on fuel. - Ensure that you have a family emergency plan.\" They said, \"We have no information to suggest a specific credible cyber threat against the U.S. Homeland,\" but stressed, \"It is our responsibility to be prepared\" because \"Russia has significant offensive cyber capabilities.\" They added, \"We are mindful of the potential for the Russian government to consider escalating its destabilizing actions in ways that may impact others outside of Ukraine.\" There is some truth to these two viral posts; however, they are also quite misleading. We have been publishing debunkings of similarly scary-sounding yet harmless Facebook posts for many years. As for the first post, we found no evidence that pressing a single digit on a mobile phone after receiving a call could release \"all your banking information\" to be \"hacked\" and stolen. Such a result, if it were to happen, would amount to some kind of fantasy or magic that is not possible in reality. Regarding the U.S. Department of Homeland Security claims in both posts, these were also fairly misleading. Homeland Security did not issue a memo or any guidance to all U.S. citizens to \"keep your fuel topped off\" or to \"store up some cash\" due to the war in Ukraine. The quotes at the end of the second post came from an interview with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and a letter from the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). The partial truth of these posts was that CISA did issue some guidance to federal agencies and organizations to be prepared for a cyberattack during the conflict in Ukraine. An initiative, dubbed \"Shields Up,\" specifically provided recommendations for agencies and organizations, not all citizens, to enhance security and \"plan for the worst.\" The Hill reported that this guidance for federal employees and workers at organizations did include keeping fuel topped off and having extra food, cash, and other supplies ready as part of a \"personal and professional preparedness\" plan. However, again, this wasn't meant for all U.S. citizens. On the website Ready.gov, which is officially operated by Homeland Security, the department published a page for all citizens about how to be prepared for a cyberattack. Nowhere on the page did it mention anything about storing up \"basic food,\" \"emergency preparedness supplies,\" or a \"family emergency plan.\" (Some of these components are mentioned for other disasters, such as the event of a nuclear explosion, however.) KHOU previously published a debunking of the first viral post that mentioned, \"cellphones are being hacked.\" The outlet reported that it had received the following statement from a spokesperson for the department: \"The Department of Homeland Security did not send this text message alert.\" We reached out to the department to independently confirm the statement sent to KHOU and to find out if it had anything else to add. This story will be updated if we receive further information.","issues":["banking"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1YMsX7GdF67ewWlXNEVLcldnMQoiH1121","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=14WfxLUj_W9B4OBFx7r7kp1MfvGSJ-YUL","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_204","claim":"Georgia has the lowest minimum wage in the country.","posted":"02\/05\/2018","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Stacey Evans, a Democrat running to be Georgia's next governor, claims that workers are at an economic disadvantage in part because of the state's minimum wage. \"I want Georgia to be the best place to work, live, and raise a family. Right now, it isn't,\" Evans said on her campaign website. Georgia ranks 40th in income inequality, 40th in high school graduation, and has the lowest minimum wage in the country. We wondered if Georgia indeed has the lowest minimum wage in the nation. It does, but it is not alone (tied with Wyoming), and most hourly wage employees are paid above the state's minimum wage: at least $7.25, which is also the federal minimum wage. Georgia's state law sets the minimum wage at $5.15 per hour, but the federal Fair Labor Standards Act still applies, meaning most employees are covered under the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Wyoming, which also has a $5.15 minimum wage, states that when the federal minimum wage is higher than the state\u2019s, the federal minimum wage applies to most workers. Like Georgia, Wyoming has a $5.15 minimum wage, the lowest in the country. While many Georgians are thankfully protected by a federal wage floor, many are not, said Adam Ney, research director for the Evans campaign. The fact remains that Georgia has the lowest minimum wage in the country, and we must increase it because everyone deserves a fair day's pay for a hard day's work. Who doesn't receive the federal minimum wage? There are exemptions in the law for certain farm workers, seasonal workers, health aides, and workers who receive tips. In 2016, Georgia had about 2.3 million workers paid hourly rates, and 51,000 of them (or 2.2 percent) were paid below the federal minimum wage, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. An estimated 90,000, or 3.9 percent, were paid at or below the federal minimum wage. Overall, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina had the highest percentages of hourly paid workers earning at or below the federal minimum wage, at about 5 percent, BLS reported. Georgia is one of seven states that have either a lower state minimum wage than the federal standard or no state minimum wage at all, said Wesley Tharpe, research director at the left-leaning think tank Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. In practice, the vast majority of workers in every state are subject to the federal requirement of $7.25 an hour, Tharpe said. Tipped workers, including servers, are also paid a lower hourly rate in most states, including Georgia, Tharpe noted. Some evidence suggests their tips do not always sum to meet the required $7.25 federal rate, he added. Evans stated that Georgia has the lowest minimum wage in the country. Georgia's minimum wage of $5.15 per hour is the lowest in the nation, but Wyoming also has the same minimum wage. Additionally, most of Georgia's workers paid hourly rates earn the federal minimum of $7.25. Evans' statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. We rate it Mostly True.","issues":["Georgia","Economy","Jobs"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_205","claim":"Did a Grieving Girl's Letter to God Get a Response?","posted":"03\/11\/2007","sci_digest":["\"Dear God, Will you please take special care of our dog, Abbey?\" "],"justification":"Since October 2006 this story has come to us under a variety of titles, including \"Going Postal,\" \"Angels at the Post Office,\" \"Angels Turn Up In Unexpected Places,\" and \"This is a US Postal Service Story.\" Example: Some of you may know that our 14 year old dog, Abbey, died last month (8\/23). The day after she died, my 4 year old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. She dictated and I wrote: Dear God,Will you please take special care of our dog, Abbey? She died yesterday and is heaven. We miss her very much. We are happy that you let us have her as our dog even though she got sick. I hope that you will play with her. She likes to play with balls and swim before she got sick. I am sending some pictures of her so that when you see her in heaven you will know she is our special dog. But I really do miss her. Love,Meredith Claire P.S.: Mommy wrote the words after Mer told them to her We put that in an envelope with 2 pictures of Abbey, and addressed it to God\/Heaven. We put our return address on it. Then Mer stuck some stamps on the front (because, as she said, it may take lots of stamps to get a letter all the way to heaven) and that afternoon I let her drop it into the letter box at the post office. For a few days, she would ask if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had. Yesterday, for Labor Day, we took the kids to Austin to a natural history museum. When we got back, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch. Curious, I went to look at it. It had a gold star card on the front and said \"To: Mer\" in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith took it in and opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers, When a Pet Dies. Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God, in its opened envelope (which was marked 'Return to Sender: Insufficient address'). On the opposite page, one of the pictures of Abbey was taped under the words \"For Meredith.\" We turned to the back cover, and there was the other picture of Abbey, and this handwritten note on pink paper: Dear Mer,I know that you will be happy to know that Abbey arrived safely and soundly in Heaven! Having the pictures you sent to me was such a big help. I recognized Abbey right away. You know, Meredith, she isn't sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me  just like she stays in your heart  young and running and playing. Abbey loved being your dog, you know. Since we don't need our bodies in heaven, I don't have any pockets!  so I can't keep your beautiful letter. I am sending it to you with the pictures so that you will have this book to keep and remember Abbey. One of my angels is taking care of this for me. I hope the little book helps. Thank you for the beautiful letter. Thank your mother for sending it. What a wonderful mother you have! I picked her especially for you. I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much. By the way, I am in heaven and wherever there is love. Love,God, and the special angel who wrote this after God told her the words. As a parent and a pet lover, this is one of the kindest things that I've ever experienced. I have no way to know who sent it, but there is some very kind soul working in the dead letter office. Just wanted to share this act of compassion :) dear friend  hope you enjoy it as much as I did According to Cary Clack of the San Antonio Express-News, the tale is real. In mid-August 2006, the San Antonio family of Greg and Joy Scrivener and their three children suffered the loss of Abbey, their 14-year-old black and white dog. Driven by concern for their pet's future welfare, 4-year-old Meredith, the Scriveners' middle child, dictated the note quoted above to her mother, then enclosed it and two photos of the family dog in an envelope addressed \"To: God in Heaven.\" This envelope, bearing the family's return address, was dropped into a mailbox at the Brook Hollow post office. Two weeks later, the Scriveners found on their front porch a package wrapped in gold-colored paper and addressed \"To: Mer.\" In the parcel, along with the letter from \"God\" quoted above, was a book by Fred Rogers (of TV's Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood fame), When a Pet Dies (a book that \"helps children share feelings of the loss of a pet while offering reassurance that grieving is a natural, healing thing to do\"). When a Pet Dies According to her mother, Meredith was comforted by the book and letter and was unastounded that God saw fit to write back. \"She wasn't surprised because she had such faith that her letter was going to get to God.\" (The oldest of the Scrivener children, 6-year-old Andy, was impressed, though: He \"thought it was pretty special his sister got a book from the angel,\" says his mum.) While Mrs. Scrivener considered asking at the post office about the package, she decided against it. \"I kind of like not knowing,\" she said. \"I don't know who took the time to do it, but it was an angel. We all think about doing these things, but no one takes the time to do it.\" However, even true tales become subject to embellishment when circulated on the Internet. Often accompanying the online version is a photograph of a little blonde girl hugging a black Labrador retriever, yet it is not a photo of the actual child and dog from the story. Instead, some unknown person in search of a \"little girl and her dog\" picture copied it from a web site belonging to an unrelated family. The child in the misattributed photo's actual name is Isabelle and the dog's name is Sara: photograph  Clack, Cary.  \"Angel Mails Solace, Affirms a Girl's Faith.\"\r  San Antonio Express-News.  22 October 2006  (Life; p. 1).","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Ekl1qNq5CiWB72G_4ybtYGsfERN3eOh6","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_206","claim":"Obamacare Architect Jonathan Gruber Hails American 'Stupidity'","posted":"11\/10\/2014","sci_digest":["'Obamacare architect' Jonathan Gruber recently said that Obamacare only passed due to the 'stupidity' of the American voter and a lack of 'transparency,' and video footage of his remarks was deleted f"],"justification":"Jonathan Gruber stated that Obamacare only passed due to the \"stupidity\" of the American voter and a lack of \"transparency.\" In November 2014, a 52-second excerpt from a video of a 2013 conference featuring Jonathan Gruber, a consultant who served as a technical advisor to the Obama administration and Congress during the creation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (also known as the ACA or \"Obamacare\"), began to circulate on the internet. Gruber made the remarks captured in that excerpt during the 24th Annual Health Economics Conference at the University of Pennsylvania's Leonard Davis Institute (LDI) of Health Economics in October 2013. His comments became controversial when the video of the conference was posted online thirteen months after the LDI panel on health economics took place. Gruber, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor of economics, was speaking at a panel titled \"The Role of Economics in Shaping the ACA and How Economics Can Inform Inevitable Mid-Course Corrections.\" The footage from which the comments originated ran for nearly an hour and covered issues related to Obamacare, such as its classification as a tax, subsidies, and how the bill came into law. Gruber's controversial remarks occur around the 18-minute mark in the video shown below. During the portion of the video in question, Gruber said: \"This bill was written in a tortured way to make sure [the Congressional Budget Office] did not score the mandate as taxes. If CBO scored the mandate as taxes, the bill dies. OK? So it's written to do that. In terms of risk-rated subsidies, if you had a law which said healthy people are going to pay in, you made explicit that healthy people pay in and sick people get money, it would not have passed. OK? Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage. And basically, call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever, but basically that was really, really critical to get the thing to pass. Look, I wish we could make it all transparent, but I'd rather have this law than not.\" After the video of the conference was put online, Gruber elaborated on what he meant by his attention-grabbing remarks and apologized for them, saying that he \"spoke inappropriately.\" Gruber's comments were part of a broader public conversation between him and economist Mark Pauly on the economics of health care reform. Gruber was responding to a remark by Pauly about financing transparency in the law and the politics surrounding the ACA's individual mandate. He stated that the political process resulted in inefficiencies in the law that should be corrected. \"In terms of risk-rated subsidies, if you had a law which explicitly said that healthy people pay in and sick people get money, it would not have passed,\" he said. \"You can't do it politically; you just literally cannot do it. It's not only transparent financing but also transparent spending.\" In the video, Gruber appeared to be speaking specifically about the political environment in 2010 and its impact on the law's funding mechanisms. He took a critical stance on some of those outcomes, calling them \"irrational.\" \"I wish Mark was right and we could make it all transparent, but I'd rather have this law than not,\" Gruber said. \"That involves trade-offs that we don't prefer as economists but are realistic.\" Gruber apologized for his comments during an on-air interview with MSNBC's Ronan Farrow. \"The comments in the video were made at an academic conference,\" Gruber said. \"I was speaking off the cuff, and I basically spoke inappropriately, and I regret having made those comments.\" Although Gruber apologized for the language he used, he stated that the larger point he was trying to make centered on the political pressures that shaped the law. He added that those pressures \"led to an incomplete law with some typos.\" \"It would have made more sense to do Obamacare the way we did in Massachusetts, which would be to just give people money to offset the cost of their health insurance,\" Gruber said. \"That was politically infeasible, and so instead it was done through the tax code.\" The full video of the 2013 Health Economics Conference was published by PennLDI on YouTube, and when the excerpt video of Gruber's remarks began to circulate online, many viewers assumed the comments to be recent (they were not). Others maintained that PennLDI then removed the clip from the Internet due to the political controversy. On this point, several Twitter users posted screenshots of a YouTube error page that indicated the source video had been (at least briefly) removed by the University after Gruber's remarks became a focus of attention. However, it isn't yet clear whether the PennLDI video was deliberately pulled from the Internet due to the political controversy it created or whether it was made unavailable at some point after it was initially posted for unrelated reasons (e.g., error, copyright issues, technical problems). It appears the comments made by Gruber entered the stream of social media hot topics when they were spotted and excerpted from the longer PennLDI video by Philadelphia investment adviser Rich Weinstein, who then posted them to the YouTube channel of the American Commitment 501(c)(4) (i.e., a politically active nonprofit organization). Phil Kerpen tweeted: \"My wife texts to say the latest Gruber video we posted is lighting up her Facebook feed... excellent...\" The claim that the University of Pennsylvania deliberately tried to scrub the clip from the Internet may also have stemmed from Kerpen or the PAC: \"Um, hey, University of Pennsylvania: Pulling the Gruber video now really doesn't help your cause.\"","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1vRS6glCuYASDfYXvSnCFjtu33I_lUhNT","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=14sygFDF-_ww1_SqpCQG7EohDhPYfKKzY","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_207","claim":"No, retired NFL quarterback John Elway is not experiencing financial difficulties.","posted":"01\/05\/2022","sci_digest":["The misinformation stemmed from an online advertisement that was being paid for by unknown persons."],"justification":"In January 2022, an online advertisement displayed a picture of former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway alongside the words, \"Iconic NFL Players Who Went Broke.\" The ad was misleading clickbait, leading to a slideshow article on MoneyWise.com that again featured the same photograph of Elway. The headline read, \"These Iconic NFL Players Lost It All.\" It wasn't until the last page of the lengthy article that Elway was mentioned; however, it said nothing about him running out of money or going \"broke.\" Instead, it referenced that, in 2010, Elway fell victim to a Ponzi scheme orchestrated by a hedge fund manager named Sean Michael Mueller. The Associated Press reported that \"he and a business partner gave Mueller $15 million,\" and that Mueller was later sentenced to 40 years in prison. The last page of the MoneyWise.com article also mentioned an ABC News article from 2016, which reported that Elway missed out on a potentially huge investment opportunity in 1998. Had he signed a deal with the Broncos to buy an ownership stake in the team, his investment might have been worth around $388 million by 2015, potentially yielding a \"646 percent return on the 1998 investment, adjusted for inflation.\" As of early 2022, the former NFL great was employed as the president of football operations for the Broncos and had previously held the title of the team's general manager. There was no evidence that Elway was broke, nor did the lengthy MoneyWise.com article mention any such thing. Snopes debunks a wide range of content, and online advertisements are no exception. Misleading ads often lead to obscure websites that host lengthy slideshow articles with numerous pages. This practice is known as advertising \"arbitrage.\" The advertiser's goal is to earn more money from ads displayed on the slideshow's pages than it cost to show the initial ad that attracted viewers.","issues":["inflation"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1dc_BaUDwj1p6dbrqsJkYkE_gZE2jaHOe"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_208","claim":"Do These Photos Show Store Returns Full of Donated Toys?","posted":"12\/16\/2014","sci_digest":["Pictures supposedly document toys from Christmas drives for the needy that were exchanged at Walmart in order to purchase beer and cigarettes."],"justification":"On 14 December 2014, photographs were posted by a Facebook user along with accompanying text suggesting the pictures depicted shopping carts full of donated toys that had been returned to a Walmart store in exchange for beer and cigarettes. The user recounted, \"As I was leaving Wal-Mart at 6:30 am this morning, I asked the returns clerk if someone had purchased these. She responded that those were yesterday's returns. I then asked, 'Were these gifts?' She replied that most likely all of them were gifts from organizations or toy runs. I was sick to my stomach with her next response: 'Folks return them, get a gift card, and then buy beer and cigarettes.' Be aware of your blessings to others in need. Make sure that the organization or individual is truly getting and keeping the gift, especially for children. These pictures are from one day of returns, and the clerk said that most of the time there are more. Be blessed, friends.\" \n\nThat claim predictably caused outrage among Facebook users, with many commenters stating that the situation as described confirmed their suspicions about the poor and needy. However, a number of factors suggested the claim might not be true and could therefore negatively impact initiatives to ensure children living in poverty had access to much-needed toy donations at Christmastime. First and foremost, the post presented only a single Walmart shopper's account in assessing what the images depicted. The man said he confirmed with the cashier that the items were toy returns, but whether such a conversation even took place is not independently verifiable. \n\nThen there's the matter of how retail systems are organized, particularly during the holiday season. Sorting merchandise into carts for restocking on shelves is common practice, and such sorting includes not just returns but also items moved by customers from one part of the store to another or abandoned at checkout aisles. Such items are generally sorted by department, so busy stores are likely to be stuck with several carts per department at the end of a shift or the start of a day. Items moved or abandoned at checkout that require refrigeration would be a top priority, while items such as clothing and toys would command less urgency. Therefore, pictures of carts full of toy department items could create the false impression of a disproportionate number of returns to that department, when it's entirely possible that carts full of items from other departments were just as plentiful but were left out of the frame of the photographs or had already been returned to their shelves. \n\nEven if we were to take the tale at face value, it's still hard to accept because for the cashier's claim about beer and cigarettes to be credible, we would have to assume she was in the habit of tracking customers after they returned items, carefully observing what they purchased with gift cards or store credits. There is also the matter of the origin of the toys. Although toys received through programs for the needy are certainly returned to stores from time to time, there's simply no way to discern which toys seen in random photographs might have been received as standard gifts from family members or friends, which toys might have been donated via Christmas drives for the needy, and which toys might have been returned simply because they proved to be unwanted or duplicate items. No explanation was provided in the Facebook post as to why the toys in the cart were assumed to have been donated rather than purchased or gifted. \n\nIn fact, the store in question, a Walmart on Bleachery Boulevard in Asheville, North Carolina, verified that although the photographs were indeed taken at that store, \"The claim that the toys are all returns is 100 percent not true,\" and \"most of the toys are items left around the store that need to be restocked,\" according to a report by Asheville television station WLOS. The Facebook post claims donated gifts from organizations or toy runs were being returned to Walmart. The Facebook user says a store clerk told him folks returned the toys to \"buy beer and cigarettes.\" Bill Murdock, CEO of Eblen Charities, has his doubts. \"Sometimes these things kind of get out of hand. You know, somebody will make a comment or assume something, and then all of a sudden it becomes the truth, whether it's the truth or not,\" Murdock said. \n\nIn an effort to reduce the chances someone will return one of the donated toys to a local store, Eblen Charities representatives have started marking over the barcodes. Whether or not the story were in any way reflective of factual circumstances, it would be a shame for such a claim to negatively impact much-needed toy drives right before Christmas. The tale closely matches much of the argument against food stamps and other forms of assistance for the needy and has the potential to damage efforts to supply children in need with toys at Christmas. According to Toys for Tots, demand for toys has outpaced supply in recent years, and while the scope of the program is very large, the organization is unable to fulfill all the requests it receives. Many of the gifts they provide, such as books, games, and sports equipment, make a significant contribution to the educational, social, and recreational interests of these children. The program is also of immense assistance to parents who, during the holiday season, are unable to provide needed gifts for their children. The Marine Corps fulfilled the holiday hopes and dreams of nearly 7 million less fortunate children in each of the past ten years. While that may be a lot of children, we unfortunately ran out of gifts long before they ran out of children. \n\nTo make a credit card contribution or to find out more about the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, please visit their website at www.toysfortots.org or call the foundation at (703) 640-9433. The author urged people to verify whether toys are truly being parceled out to kids in genuine need, but most toy drives are partially or wholly anonymous in order to protect the privacy of recipients, and therefore such endeavors aren't possible without intruding upon those who receive items from those drives. In the absence of stronger evidence, there is little reason to believe the claim presented here was true, accurate, or representative of how toy drives actually operate.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=12owdT569wVkcDhbbpH3zMYkrYsvWNS8W","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1bsg0KXvg2vWc_bG3t0sQaDZE2GqU4Ve9","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Q0ogmUmOGzg1HnyYZGRRWjl2W2Wr4Y-0","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_209","claim":"Does the term 'Bar' in the phrase 'Bar Exam' suggest a confidential plot among lawyers?","posted":"01\/23\/2018","sci_digest":["A \"sovereign citizen\" conspiracy theory about the licensing of lawyers is riddled with bad logic and historical inaccuracies."],"justification":"One of the more unusual and complicated theories associated with the sovereign citizen and tax protester movements is the belief that lawyers who are members of bar associations in the United States are, in fact, agents of the British crown and do not have legitimate status in American courts. This theory is partly informed by a false but widely repeated claim that the word \"bar\" in this context is an acronym for \"British Accreditation Register\":  Here's how the elaborate and confusing theory is outlined in an anonymously-authored essay called \"Hiding Behind the Bar,\" which has been republished and shared in tax protester and sovereign citizen circles for more than a decade: essay During the middle 1600's, the Crown of England established a formal registry in London where barristers [lawyers] were ordered by the Crown to be accredited. The establishment of this first International Bar Association allowed barrister-lawyers from all nations to be formally recognized and accredited by the only recognized accreditation society. From this, the acronym BAR was established denoting (informally) the British Accredited Registry, whose members became a powerful and integral force within the International Bar Association (IBA). Although this has been denied repeatedly as to its existence, the acronym BAR stood for the British barrister-lawyers who were members of the larger IBA. Almost every part of this is factually inaccurate. For one thing, the International Bar Association was founded in 1947, not in the 1600s. Second, we could find no evidence of the existence of a professional association for lawyers called the \"British Accredited Registry,\" either in 2018 or at any previous time in history. 1947 A History of the American Bar, a 1911 book by the Pulitzer Prize-winning legal scholar Charles Warren, contains no mention of any \"British Accredited Registry\" or \"British Accreditation Registry\" (with \"accredited\" and \"accreditation\" being used variously in different versions of this conspiracy theory). It would also make little sense for a group of lawyers in 17th century England to form a group describing itself as \"British.\" Great Britain (composed of England, Wales and Scotland) does not have, and has never had, a unified courts system, instead being separated into two systems: England and Wales and Scotland. In fact, Great Britain itself was not even formally created until 1707, when the Acts of Union joined the Kingdom of Scotland with the Kingdom of England (which included Wales). book accreditation England and Wales Acts of Union But more broadly, this theory offers a confused summary of the history of \"the bar.\" In the Middle Ages, lawyers in London established four \"Inns of Court\": Lincoln's Inn, the Inner Temple, the Middle Temple, and Gray's Inn. These were physical buildings but, more figuratively, they were also the professional associations for lawyers working in the more important English courts. A \"barrister\" was a legal expert or advocate who has been \"called to the bar.\" This is a metonymic phrase which is rooted in the physical barrier that was present in a courtroom, to separate fully qualified lawyers entitled to plead cases before a judge from (roughly speaking) trainee lawyers and members of the public. In modern times, this physical barrier generally separates participants in a trial (such as lawyers, clerks, defendants, the jury, and the judge) from the gallery in which members of the public and the news media sit. established metonymic So someone who has been \"called to the bar\" has been given the right to advocate before a judge and is thereby known as a \"barrister.\" A \"bar association\" is, roughly speaking, a professional association for lawyers, akin to a guild. In some jurisdictions, bar associations are limited to barristers (as opposed to solicitors, a different type of lawyer); whereas in others, they are open to all members of the legal profession. In some jurisdictions a bar association is the body that licenses and regulates legal professionals, and in others it is merely a professional association. The \"BAR\" conspiracy theory essay goes on to say: When America was still a chartered group of British colonies under patent  established in what was formally named the British Crown territory of New England  the first British Accredited Registry (BAR) was established in Boston during 1761 to attempt to allow only accredited barrister-lawyers access to the British courts of New England. This was the first attempt to control who could represent defendants in the court at or within the bar in America. Today, each corporate STATE in America has it's [sic] own BAR Association, i.e. The Florida Bar or the California Bar, that licenses government officer attorneys, NOT lawyers. In reality, the U.S. courts only allow their officer attorneys to freely enter within the bar while prohibiting those learned of the law  lawyers  to do so. They prevent advocates, lawyers, counselors, barristers and solicitors from entering through the outer bar. Only licensed BAR Attorneys are permitted to freely enter within the bar separating the people from the bench because all BAR Attorneys are officers of the court itself. Does that tell you anything? A 1930 essay published in the Cornell Law Review (page 393) refers to a bar association's having been established in Boston in 1761, but remember that a bar association is no more than a kind of guild for lawyers. \"Bar\" is not an acronym for \"British Accredited Registry,\" because that acronym is a fabrication. As with many sovereign citizen theories, the essay builds on the shaky foundations of an inaccurate account of the history of bar associations in the United States and draws confused conclusions about the function and legal status of lawyers. page 393 Many of these claims are based on the etymology of certain words, rather than their modern meaning. For example, the author of the essay referenced above presents the origins of the word \"attorney,\" citing Webster's 1828 dictionary definition, as: \"In the feudal law, to turn, or transfer homage and service from one lord to another.\" That essay also proclaims: Here's where the whole word game gets really tricky. In each State, every licensed BAR Attorney calls himself an Attorney at Law. Look at the definitions above and see for yourself that an Attorney at Law is nothing more than an attorney  one who transfers allegiance and property to the ruling land owner. That passage is false. Whatever the older origins of the word \"attorney\" might be, the modern definition of that word is much broader. Merriam-Webster defines an attorney as simply \"one who is legally appointed to transact business on another's behalf.\" In common American parlance, \"attorney\" is used interchangeably with \"lawyer.\" defines This fixation on word origins leads to something like a game of Telephone in the logic of the conspiracy theory, with false conclusions being drawn from inaccurate or incomplete premises. Here are more examples, summarized from the essay: The historical origins of the word \"esquire\" did have to do with the transfer of property between feudal land-owners, but that was hundreds of years ago. This argument is roughly analogous to claiming that because the title \"Ph.D\" derives from the Latin \"philosophiae doctor\" (\"doctor of philosophy\"), microbiologists with Ph.D at the end of their names have no legal right to conduct scientific research because they are actually philosophers and not scientists. \"A BAR [British Accredited Registry] licensed Attorney is not an advocate,\" the theory goes on to falsely claim, \"so how can he do anything other than what his real purpose is?\": He can't plead on your behalf because that would be a conflict of interest. He can't represent the crown (ruling government) as an official officer at the same time he is allegedly representing a defendant. His sworn duty as a BAR Attorney is to transfer your ownership, rights, titles, and allegiance to the land owner. When you hire a BAR Attorney to represent you in their courts, you have hired an officer of that court whose sole purpose and occupation is to transfer what you have to the creator and authority of that court.  It's not clear what the origins of the the fabricated acronym are, but \"British Accredited Registry\" was invoked as early as 2001 by Austin Gary Cooper, a long-time \"sovereign citizen\" activist. In 2003, a U.S. District Court in Colorado barred Cooper and his wife Martha Cooper from selling advice on how to avoid paying federal income tax after the couple set up groups called \"Taking Back America\" and the \"Ten Foundation,\" which advised their paying customers that they could renounce their United States citizenship, call themselves \"American citizens\" instead, and escape their tax obligations. In 2006, Cooper was given a six-month prison sentence for criminal contempt after failing to comply with that court order, which obliged him to hand over the names of his customers, among other requirements. During court proceedings, Cooper accused the judge of treason and called him a \"Nazi bastard\" and a \"British Accredited Registry\" lawyer, saying: \"You people are going to destroy our country. British accredited registry bar association, you're going to destroy our country ...\" 2001 barred sentence proceedings In 2017, prosecutors in Tennessee charged Cooper, who is now 69 years old, with 10 counts of forgery and filing a fraudulent lien. The case was ongoing as of January 2018. charged ongoing Warren, Charles.  \"A History of the American Bar.\"\r   Little, Brown and Company, 1911. U.K. Parliament.  \"Act of Union 1707.\"\r  U.K. Parliament.  Unknown publication date. Wickser, Philip J.  \"Bar Associations.\"\r  Cornell Law Review  (Vol. 15.3, April 1930). Babcock, Chief Judge Lewis T.  \"Permanent Injunction Order, U.S.A v. Austin Gary Cooper et al.\"\r  U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.  20 November 2003. Morlin, Bill.  \"Ten Sovereign Citizens Face 320 Felonies in Tennessee.\"\r  Southern Poverty Law Center.  28 March 2017.","issues":["lien"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1mJwoUmgQBAk8Wd9oc0XNLG7ww437HbvN"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_210","claim":"Obamacare permits mandatory home visits.","posted":"08\/27\/2013","sci_digest":["Does a provision of Obamacare allow federal agents to conduct forced home inspections?"],"justification":" Claim:  A provision of Obamacare allows federal agents to conduct forced home inspections and remove children from the custody of their parents.  Examples:  [Green, September 2013] Grassfire's Liberty News team is reporting on a little-known aspect of ObamaCare  FORCED HOME INSPECTIONS. Simply put, provisions of ObamaCare allow federal agents to activate forced home inspections. The inspections are being sold as a simple act to ensure eligibility, but upon digging deeper we find the agents will have broad authority in using the new tool to clamp down on privacy and violate American rights. Homeschool your kids? Smoke a cigar from time to time? Have a member who was at one time active duty military? ObamaCare enables agents to force a home inspection upon you. And no state will be off limits to the ObamaCare inspections.  [Collected via e-mail, October 2013] DID YOU KNOW... Even your children belong to the government. Under Obamacare, on October1, 2013, CPS field agents, armed with a manual published by Human Healthand Services and codified under Obamacare will begin operating under thepower granted to them by Obamacare. Subsequently, they will be able toconduct forced home visits without a warrant. Things such as a (yetundefined) bad grade, missing more than 5 days in school in any one month,can get a parent to be declared guilty of educational neglect. Having agun or beer in your house can get your children removed from your custody.Even the traditional act of grounding your child for misbehavior will getyou declared to be guilty of \"isolation neglect\" and subject your childfor removal from your authority and your home. If you are a parent and youhave not heard of this provision of Obamacare, I would suggest you readthe 110 page manual that was created by the United Nations. This is theHHS\/CPS field manual that goes into effect this week! Origins:  This alarmist warning about a provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act [PPACA] (commonly known as \"Obamacare\") supposedly authorizing federal agents to undertake \"forced home inspections\" under the guise of ensuring eligibility began in August 2013 as a blog post that was picked up and uncritically spread via other blogs and web sites.  The original entry claimed, in part, that: blog post According to an Obamacare provision millions of Americans will be targeted. The Health and Human Services' website states that your family will be targeted if you fall under the \"high-risk\" categories below:  Families where mom is not yet 21. Families where someone is a tobacco user. Families where children have low student achievement, developmental delays, or disabilities. Families with individuals who are serving or formerly served in the armed forces, including such families that have members of the armed forces who have had multiple deployments outside the United States. There is no reference to Medicaid being the determinant for a family to be \"eligible.\" In 2011, the HHS announced $224 million will be given to support evidence-based home visiting programs to \"help parents and children.\" Individuals from the state will implement these leveraging strategies to \"enhance program sustainability.\" Constitutional attorney and author Kent Masterson Brown states, \"This is not a 'voluntary' program. The eligible entity receiving the grant for performing the home visits is to identify the individuals to be visited and intervene so as to meet the improvement benchmarks. A homeschooling family, for instance, may be subject to 'intervention' in 'school readiness' and 'social-emotional developmental indicators.' A farm family may be subject to 'intervention' in order to 'prevent child injuries' The sky is the limit.\" No provision of the PPACA authorizes federal agents to undertake \"forced home inspections.\"  What this item (erroneously) references is the PPACA's creation of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV), which \"facilitates collaboration and partnership at the federal, state, and community levels to improve health and MIECHV development outcomes for at-risk children through evidence-based home visiting programs\" by awarding development grants to states that \"currently have modest home visiting programs and want to build on existing efforts.\" The grant program is intended to assist states (not the federal government) in conducting voluntary in-home visits to high-risk households with children younger than the age of five to help match those families with government services related to issues such as maternal and child health, child development, school readiness, economic self-sufficiency, and child abuse prevention.  (These home visiting programs are not something new created by Obamacare; there were  extant home visiting programs in nearly every state prior to the passage of the PPACA.) extant  As noted in a September 2011 press release from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): press release \"Home visiting programs play a critical role in the nation's efforts to help children get off to a strong start. Parenting is a tough job, and helping parents succeed pays big dividends in a child's well-being and healthy development,\" said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.  Both the formula and competitive grants will be used by state agencies to support home visiting programs that bring nurses, social workers, or other health care professionals to meet with at-risk families that agree to meet with them in their homes.  They work with families to evaluate their circumstances, help parents gain the skills they need to succeed in promoting healthy development in their children, and connect families to the kinds of help that can make a real difference in a child's health, development, and ability to learn.  Research has shown that home visiting programs can improve outcomes for children and families, including improving maternal and child health, reducing child maltreatment, increasing parental employment, and improving the rate at which children reach developmental milestones. HHS undertook an exhaustive review of the research evidence on different home visiting programs to identify the models that have been shown to work. The PPACA defines high-risk households as: Low-income eligible families. Eligible families who are pregnant women who have not attained age 21. Eligible families that have a history of child abuse or neglect or have had interactions with child welfare services. Eligible families that have a history of substance abuse or need substance abuse treatment. Eligible families that have users of tobacco products in the home. Eligible families that are or have children with low student achievement. Eligible families with children with developmental delays or disabilities. Eligible families who, or that include individuals who, are serving or formerly served in the Armed Forces,including such families that have members of the Armed Forces who have had multiple deployments outside of theUnited States. However, nothing in the PPACA authorizes federal or state agents to \"target\" and conduct forced inspections at such households.  The PPACA requires that MIECHV grant recipients give priority to such households (because that's where the return on money spent is highest), but as stated in the press release quoted above, the MIECHV grant program brings \"nurses, social workers, or other health care professionals to meet with at-risk families that agree to meet with them in their homes.  Likewise, the relevant section (p. 251) of the PPACA specifically states that MIECHV grant recipients must provide \"assurances that the entity will establish procedures to ensure that the participation of each eligible family in the program is voluntary.\"  PPACA Last updated:  5 October 2013 ","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/beatyinsurance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/insurance-quote.jpg"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_211","claim":"Warning Concerning Obamacare","posted":"10\/03\/2013","sci_digest":["Item describes penalties for non-compliance with the PPACA individual health insurance mandate."],"justification":" Claim:  Item describes penalties for non-compliance with the PPACA individual health insurance mandate. MOSTLY  Example:  [Collected via e-mail, October 2013] WARNING CONCERNING OBAMACARE ----Immediate Attention Required PLEASE ----- If you do not have to sign up with Obamacare on their website PLEASE DON'T! Once you see the cost of premiums and yearly deductible and choose to opt out from that point they will within a few hours email you stating your actual fees in which now they will by any means collect. REAL EXAMPLE ---- Please Read & Please Forward ASAP!!! A comment posted on the Affordable Care Act\/Obamacare FB page: I actually made it through this morning at 8:00 A.M. I have a preexisting condition (Type 1 Diabetes) and my income base was 45K-55K annually I chose tier 2 \"Silver Plan\" and my monthly premiums came out to $597.00 with $13,988 yearly deductible!!! There is NO POSSIBLE way that I can afford this so I \"opt-out\" and chose to continue along with no insurance. I received an email tonight at 5:00 P.M. informing me that my fine would be $4,037 and could be attached to my yearly income tax return. Then you make it to the \"REPERCUSSIONS PORTION\" for \"non-payment\" of yearly fine. First, your drivers license will be suspended until paid, and if you go 24 consecutive months with \"Non-Payment\" and you happen to be a home owner, you will have a federal tax lien placed on your home. You can agree to give your bank information so that they can easy \"Automatically withdraw\" your \"penalties\" weekly, bi-weekly or monthly! This by no means is \"Free\" or even \"Affordable.\" Origins:  One of the key (and most controversial) provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), commonly known as \"Obamacare,\" is its establishment of an individual mandate to buy health insurance.  Beginning in 2014, U.S. citizens and legal residents are required to either have PPACA-qualifying health insurance coverage (public or private) or pay a penalty for not carrying insurance.  Shortly after the opening of PPACA-created state- and federal-run insurance exchange marketplaces on 1 October 2013, which consumers could use to shop online for qualifying  insurance plans, the item reproduced above began circulating on the Internet.  This item claimed that after a consumer priced an insurance plan on one of the exchanges and found it to be unsuitably non-affordable (and so declined to enroll in it), he received a notice stating that he would be fined over $4,000 and have his driver's license suspended, and if he failed to pay the fine within two years the a federal tax lien would be placed on his home. Without knowing more details about the person referenced in this item, it's difficult to accurately assess whether the figures quoted for insurance coverage ($597.00 per month with a $13,988 yearly deductible) are completely accurate.   However, the PPACA sets annual limits on out-of-pocket expenses at $6,350 for individuals and $12,700 for families on plans offered through the state-based exchanges, so a yearly deductible of nearly $14,000 for someone shopping for coverage through an insurance exchange isn't a plausible offering. The penalty for failing to carry qualifying health insurance coverage varies with household size, income, and year.  In general, the penalties for non-compliance will be assessed as follows: For individuals (whichever is greater): 2014    $95 or 1% of income above tax filing threshold2015    $325 or 2% of income above tax filing threshold2016    $695 or 2.5% of income above tax filing threshold  For families (whichever is greater):  2014    $285 or 1% of income above tax filing threshold2015    $975 or 2% of income above tax filing threshold2016    $2085 or 2.5% of income above tax filing threshold The $4,037 fine claimed in this item doesn't jibe with those figures.  Since the non-compliance penalty for an individual in 2014 is $95 or 1% of income above the tax filing threshold (whichever is greater), that individual would have to earn a yearly income of $403,700 (above the tax filing threshold) in order to incur a fine of that magnitude for a single year  an income level which is far larger than the $45,000-$55,000 range claimed in this item.   Even adding together all the potential fines for three straight years of non-compliance beginning in 2014 produces a figure in the $3,000 range, not one over $4,000.  (The figures could be higher under a scenario in which multiple persons in the same household were non-compliant, but the item quoted above references only an individual.) According to a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report on the PPACA Penalty Provision and the Internal Revenue Service, collection of the penalty for failure to maintain qualifying health insurance coverage may include the IRS' withholding money from federal income tax refunds and obtaining liens against the taxpayer's property, but the PPACA does not allow for criminal prosecution or the seizure of bank accounts or other property: report   The Internal Revenue Code (IRC) limits the means the IRS may employ to collect the penalty established in the [PPACA]. First, the taxpayer is protected from either criminal prosecution or penalty for failure to pay the penalty. Second, the IRS is prohibited from either filing a notice of federal tax lien (NFTL) or levying any property in an effort to collect the penalty. There is no prohibition, however, on establishing a statutory lien against the taxpayers property. No additional limits are placed on the IRS using correspondence or phone calls, either through its own employees or through private collection agencies, in an effort to collect the amount owed. Additionally, no restriction was placed on the IRS's ability to use the refund offset as a means of collecting the amount due. Those who are required to pay the penalty for failure to maintain minimum coverage but choose not to do so will be subject to increases in the amount owed due to interest and late payment penalties imposed on the penalty after it has been assessed by the IRS.  A taxpayer who chooses not to pay the required penalty may ultimately forfeit more than the amount of the penalty if that taxpayer is ever in the position of having an overpayment to the IRS for any reason, since the refund offset applies not only to overpayments shown on original tax returns, but also to any subsequent adjustments, for example an audit by the IRS that results in an overpayment. Further, as explained above, it is possible that the IRS could present its claim when property is being sold and collect both the original penalty amount along with accrued interest and applicable penalties. (Note that a \"lien\" and a \"levy\" are two different things.  A lien is a claim against property that does not involve the right to seize property, while a levy is a seizure of property. A lien does not allow the lienholder to sell another's property, but when property subject to the lien is sold, the lien establishes the right to receive proceeds from the sale of the property before they are distributed to the seller.)  In short, failure to pay the PPACA non-compliance penalty might result in the IRS' sending you warning letters and deducting the penalty amount from your future tax refunds  (if you have any), but not throwing you in jail, forcibly taking money from your bank account, or seizing your house or other property.  We have also found no provision of the PPACA or IRS code that would allow the federal government to suspend an individual's driver's license as a penalty for non-compliance with the individual mandate provision of the PPACA. Last updated:  4 October 2013 ","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1jElIlD9pjZ1ZZ0v0J2H6Nrn-jKcGQImS","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_212","claim":"Is Katie Couric Married to Matt Lauer?","posted":"02\/20\/2021","sci_digest":["A number of misleading online advertisements appeared to claim that long-time journalist Couric was married to the former NBC News personality."],"justification":"In February 2021, online advertisements appeared to falsely claim that Matt Lauer was long-time journalist Katie Couric's husband. Couric and Lauer previously worked together on the \"Today\" show on NBC. She left the program in 2006. In November 2017, Lauer was fired from his NBC job as a co-anchor on \"Today\" for \"inappropriate sexual behavior.\" fired The misleading ads pictured Couric and Lauer together with various texts. For example, one of the ads read: \"[Photos] Meet The Man Katie Couric Is Romantically Involved With In 2021.\"   Another ad said something similar: \"[Photos] Meet Katie Couric's Husband.\"  Both ads were misleading clickbait that led to lengthy slideshow articles. The first one took readers to the Sport Pirate website. Couric and her real husband, John Molner, appeared after more than 80 pages. real husband appeared The second ad went to the Refinance Gold website. It took 266 clicks to reach the page with Couric and Molner: American TV royalty and CBS Evening News host Katie Couric lost her first husband, Jay Monahan in 1998, as he passed away from colon cancer. But she did find love again with John Molner. Apparently, she asked her friend to set her up with a doctor, but they though [sic] that she would be a better match with their banker firmed, John. In 2012, Molner finally called Katie to set up a date and they fell for each other. The couple has been happily married since 2014, and have a blended family now, as each of them have two kids from their previous marriage. Lauer never showed up in either story. The strange inclusion of Lauer appeared to simply be a strategy by the advertisers to draw in readers with a misleading picture. It's true that Couric's first husband, Jay Monahan, died of colon cancer in 1998. He was 42 years old. Over the years, she posted remembrances on social media: died  She left NBC in 2006 to host the \"CBS Evening News.\" At CBS News, she also contributed as a correspondent on \"60 Minutes.\" She later worked for ABC News and Yahoo! News. In 2014, Couric announced on Twitter that she and John Molner had married: announced  In the past, Couric and her current husband hosted a cooking show called \"Full Plate.\" As of February 2021, she was hosting the podcast, \"Next Question with Katie Couric.\" hosted podcast Snopes debunks a wide range of content, and online advertisements are no exception. Misleading ads often lead to obscure websites that host lengthy slideshow articles with lots of pages. It's called advertising \"arbitrage.\" The advertiser's goal is to make more money on ads displayed on the slideshow's pages than it cost to show the initial ad that lured them to it. Feel free to submit ads to us, and be sure to include a screenshot of the ad and the link to where the ad leads. submit ads to us","issues":["finance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1lx-OsZw3iNv1vAi-neB7KYqxkW0R2eSl","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1FZp_h8jmufiX7enKqZ73Ghf-9QF6i6iq","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_213","claim":"HIV-Infected Needle Attacks","posted":"03\/01\/1998","sci_digest":["Decades-old rumor holds that madmen are jabbing unsuspecting moviegoers with HIV-infected needles."],"justification":"In June 2018, the Feedy TV web site published an article headlined \"HIV Infected Needles Found in Public: Take Only 2 Minutes of Your Time to Save Your Life.\" The text of the article recounted supposedly recent incidents of unsuspecting persons being jabbed with HIV-infected needles left in movie theater seats in various cities: article Recently, a girl who went to the movies, sat down in one of the theater seats, and felt a stabbing pain. She quickly stood up and found the needle of a medical syringe sticking out of the seat. There was also a note that said, You have been infected with HIV. The Centers for Disease Control reports that similar events have taken place in several other cities recently. All of the needles tested HAVE been positive for HIV. The CDC also reports that needles have been found in the coin return areas of pay phones and soda machines. This article was nothing more than a modern recounting of an urban legend about \"AIDS terrorists\" randomly pricking victims with HIV-infected needles in theaters and other public places, a legend that first hit the Internet two decades ago: [Collected on the Internet, 1998] Warning - MUST READ Be careful the next time you go to a cinema. These people could be anywhere!! An experience of a friend of my brother's wife left me speechless. Please do send this out to everyone you know. This incident occurred in Bombay's Metro cinema (Among the best in town). They were a group of 6-7 College girls & they went to the theater to see a movie. During the show one of the girls felt a slight pinprick but did not pay much attention to it. After sometime that place began to itch. So she scratched herself and then saw a bit of blood on her hands. She assumed that she had caused it. At the end of the show, her friend noticed a sticker on her dress and read the caption. It read \"Welcome to the world of AIDS\". She tried to pass it off as a practical joke but when she went for a blood test a couple of weeks later (just to be sure), she found herself HIV Positive. When she complained to the cops, they mentioned that her story was one of the many such cases they had received. It seems the operator uses a syringe to transfer a bit of his\/her infected blood to the person sitting ahead of him\/her. A horrible experience for the victim as also the family & friends. The WORST bit is that the person who does it gains NOTHING where as the victim loses EVERYTHING. So, be careful . [Collected on the Internet, 1998] PLEASE CHECK YOUR CHAIRS WHEN GOING TO THE MOVIE THEATRES!!!! An incident occured when a friend's co-worker went to sit in a chair and something was poking her. She then got up and found that it was a needle with a little note at the end. It said, \"Welcome to the real world, you're \"HIV POSITIVE\". Doctors tested the needle and it was HIV POSITIVE. We don't know which theatre this happened at, but it happened in Hawaii. \"BE CAUTIOUS WHEN GOING TO THE MOVIES!\" IF YOU MUST GO TO THE MOVIES, PLEASE, PLEASE CHECK!!!!! One of the safest way is NOT sticking your hands between the seats, but moving the seat part way up and down a few times and REALLY LOOK!!!!!!! Most of us just plop down into the seats. [Collected on the Internet, 2001] PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY! IT MIGHT SAFE YOUR LIFE! This is happening in Montreal. A couple of weeks ago, in a movie theater, a person sat on something sharp in one of the seats. When she stood up to see what it was, a needle was found poking through the seat with an attached note saying, \"You have been infected with HIV.\" The Centers for Disease Control reports similar events have taken place in several other cities recently. All of the needles tested HAVE been positive for HIV. The CDC also reports that needles have been found in the coin return areas of pay phones and soda machines. Everyone is asked to use extreme caution when confronted with these types of situations. All public chairs should be thoroughly but safely inspected prior to any use. A thorough visual inspection is considered a bare minimum. Furthermore, they ask that everyone notify their family members and friends of the potential dangers, as well. Thank you. The previous information was sent from the Regina City Police Department to all of the local governments in the Saskatchewan area and was interdepartmentally dispersed. We were asked to pass this to as many people as possible. This is very important! Just think you could save somebody's life, just by passing this on. Please take a Couple of seconds of your time and pass this on. Thank you for your precious time and consideration! [Collected on the Internet, 2002] HIV Warning A few weeks ago in a movie theater in Melbourne a person sat on something that was poking out of one of the seats. When she got up to see what it was she found a needle sticking out of the seat with a note attached saying... \"You have just been infected by HIV\". The Disease Control Centre in Melbourne reports many similar incidents have occurred in many other Australian cities recently. All tested needles ARE HIV Positive. The Centre also reports that needles have been found in the cash dispensers in ATMs. We ask everyone to use extreme caution when faced with this kind of situation. All public chairs\/seats should be inspected with vigilance and caution before use. 17 people have been tested positive in the Western suburbs alone in the last 2 months!!! A careful visual inspection should be enough. In addition they ask that each of you pass this message along to all members of your family and your friends of the potential danger. We all have to be careful at public places! This is very important. Just think about saving a life of someone even you don't know by forwarding this message. Please, take a few seconds of your time to pass it along. In all the time since this rumor's initial appearance time we've turned up no confirmed AIDS-laden needle attacks on moviegoers have been reported in Bombay, Hawaii, Dallas, Paris, or anywhere else in the world. We know of only two related incidents, neither of which proved to involve any deliberate intent to infect an innocent victim with HIV: A Louisiana man sat on a needle in a theater in Baton Rouge in December, 1996, and sued the facility over the incident, but there was no note welcoming him to the world of AIDS or any indication of his contracting any infection. An October 2005 report from Athens, Georgia, involved a woman who said she sat upon a needle that had been duct-taped to a movie theater seat, but since then she also has evidenced no symptoms of HIV infection. (In the latter case, although the syringe contained a substance that appeared to be dried blood, it was too small a sample for police to be able to determine what it was or whether it carried a disease.) One of the many versions of this warning claims to be one circulated by the Dallas Police Department. Not only didn't that institution originate the warning, but since its appearance officers there have been kept busy fielding inquiries about this hoax: \"It's all false,\" said Sgt. Jim Chandler, a Dallas police spokesman. \"This has not happened, and we would ask people to stop forwarding this message to their friends because it's creating situations where police departments and emergency personnel are having to respond to inquiries to a situation that has not happened.\" What we have here is an urban legend trading on our fears of catching AIDS. Cautionary tales about hapless bystanders contracting an infectious disease became all the rage in the 1990s. Another such scare has to do with addicts leaving HIV-contaminated needles in the coin returns of pay phones. See our \"Slots of Fun\" page for more about this related legend. Slots of Fun This particular pin prick story is a version of the better known \"AIDS Mary\" legend. (In \"AIDS Mary,\" the \"Welcome to the world of AIDS\" communication is typically imparted either through a gift emblazoned with that message being left for the victim or found scrawled in lipstick on the bathroom mirror.) AIDS Mary AIDS Mary has been scaring the bejeebers out of us at least since the early 1980s. The pin prick legend, however, isn't all that new either, with the HIV version of it having its roots in an 1989 incident in New York City. The legend in its current incarnation (teenage girls in darkened theaters jabbed with needles) dates back to a much older non-HIV story, one rampant in the New Orleans area in the 1930s. Toothsome young girls were told to beware of Needle Men. Young ladies were strictly instructed to sit at the end of the aisle in moviehouses, not in the middle, lest they attract the attention of white slavers working in pairs who would sit down beside the girl, one on each side, inject her with morphine, and carry her out of the theatre and into a life of shame. The New Orleans Needle Men rumor circulated in another form besides the \"white slavers after young girls\"  others feared these syringe-armed fiends were in fact medical students harvesting cadavers for dissection. Women jabbed by them would quickly succumb to the poison contained in those needles, with their lifeless bodies soon afterwards delivered to a local teaching hospital. Such deadly attacks were said to take place in theaters, but also on the street. Though \"Needle Man\" scares rippled through New Orleans at various times in the 1920s and 1930s, each time sending women into hysterics, there was never any credible reason to believe such men existed. Women weren't disappearing at a furious rate, nor were gals who'd fallen into lives of prostitution afterwards asserting they'd been overcome via injection and abducted. A slightly different yet inexplicably more frightening version of the pin prick legend began circulating in the early spring of 1998. According to it, young people partying in clubs or at raves run the risk of being jabbed with an HIV-loaded needle and then afterwards finding a \"Welcome to reality  you now have AIDS\" message stuffed into a pocket or affixed to them by way of a sticker. This warning has so far circulated in Philadelphia, New York City, San Diego, Oakland, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Mexico, Australia, Ecuador, and Germany, each time passed along as something that had already happened to others locally: Do you any of you guys like to go clubbing? Well you might want to think twice after this message. Just in case you don't already know, there is a certain group of people with stickers that say \"Welcome to our world.\" Once this sticker is stuck on you, you contract the AIDS virus because it is filled with tiny needles carrying the infected blood. This has been happening at many dance clubs (even DV8 and Beatbox) and raves. Being cautious is not enough because the person just chooses anyone, and I mean anyone, as his\/her victim. So you could just be dancing the night away and not even realize the sticker had been stuck on you. It sounds too demented to be true, but it's the truth. In fact my sister's friend knows someone who just recently contracted the virus in this manner. The world isn't safe anymore. Please pass this on to everyone and anyone you know. Wherever this rumor goes, it has a significant impact on the local bar scene. In August 1998 one popular Toronto nightclub estimated its business to be down by 50%. In March 1998 a popular dance club in San Diego was similarly affected when the story swept through there. People hear this story and stay away in droves. Police in each of these cities have investigated the rumors and found nothing. The clubs named in the rumors similarly report they know nothing of any attacks. Okay, so this isn't happening in movie houses, at popular dance clubs or at raves. Where did this HIV-loaded needle story come from? Keep in mind that although there have at various times been random attacks with needles, none have resulted in infection being passed to victims. That part is myth. Now for the truth of it: For a few weeks in the fall of 1989, a group of Black teenagers (mostly girls) scared the pants off the denizens of New York City by running about jabbing pins into the necks of 41 random white females. Media coverage escalated the general public's fears as it was repeatedly stated the pins were tainted with AIDS. Within a week the kids responsible were found and arrested, and it was at that time police discovered there was no basis to the reports of the AIDS virus being part of these attacks. The hooligans responsible admitted it was just a fun game to them, run up to a white woman, stick her with a pin, see her reaction, then run off. Possibly inspired by the 1989 panic in New York City, for three weeks in 1990 a Black man terrorized white and hispanic women in that city by hitting them in the legs and buttocks with dart-like missiles fired from a homemade blowgun. More than 50 women were hit in this fashion before the man responsible was caught. When asked why the attacks, the assailant made a rambling statement to the effect that short skirts were immoral and \"people from the islands shoot women who wear provocative clothing with darts to punish them ... they also throw them sometimes into volcanoes.\" (Good thing this nut didn't live in Las Vegas, else the volcano at the Mirage would have been standing room only.) Kids have since gotten the idea this is a cool game to play. In 1995 a 13-year-old boy brought a hypodermic syringe to Mount Pleasant Area Secondary School (Pennsylvania) and proceeded to jab 28 classmates with it. The boy was charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment and possession of a weapon on school property and was turned over to juvenile authorities pending a hearing. In 1997 two teenage lads at Exeter-West Greenwich (Rhode Island) jabbed 32 other students with a medical lancet. Meant to be a \"playful prank\" (stabbing someone with anything isn't considered playful in my book), the state Health Department took the matter very seriously, ordering blood tests and vaccinations against Hepatitis B for all the victims. The boys responsible were suspended and criminal charges were brought against them. Earlier in 1997, 18 Lecanto Middle School (Florida) pupils were attacked by five schoolmates wielding lancets. The perpetrators were suspended for ten days and medical tests were run on their victims. Again, it was only a meanspirited prank  no viruses were communicated in the attacks. Robberies have been carried out by syringe-wielding robbers who claim to be armed with the AIDS virus and willing to stick anyone who gets in their way with the infected needle. It has to be stressed that though various robbers and muggers have claimed to have been so armed, thus far this has never proved out to be anything more than an empty threat. All syringes so employed have tested out as perfectly clean. Even so, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that claiming to be armed with an AIDS-tainted needle would generate a lot of cooperation from the people you're trying to rob. Expect to see this \"weapon\" become even more common as time marches on. It's not all sweetness and light, however. On 20 May 1999, WBFF\/WNUV of Baltimore, Maryland, reported on a midday attack upon an unnamed Towson, Maryland, woman. She had been checking her oil at a gas station when she was approached by a man who asked her for money. The victim described what happened next: I said I didn't have any money. I said I only had a dollar. He said that would do. He put one arm around me and kissed my cheek, he put another arm around me and stabbed me with a needle, and said welcome to reality you have HIV. The victim's description led police to a panhandler known to frequent the area. He was found with a syringe on him. (Click here to read WBFF's report about this incident.) here In January 2000, the attacker earned a three-year prison sentence for his crime. The victim is not HIV-positive. There has been at least one verified HIV-positive syringe attack of the non-random variety. It happened in Australia in 1990, with the victim being a prison guard at Sydney's Long Bay Jail. Gary Pearce opened a security gate for an inmate known to be HIV-positive and in doing so turned his back for a second. He felt a jab in his buttock. He turned to knock a blood-filled syringe away just as the inmate, Graham Farlow, shouted \"AIDS\" and ran off. Pearce rushed to a nearby office where the wound was sterilised. To no avail however. Despite the 1-in-200 chance that a stick injury from an HIV-infected needle would produce a positive result, he tested HIV positive two months after the attack. Pearce died on 30 August 1997 of an AIDS-related illness. Farlow had died in 1991. This attack plus a spate of supposedly HIV-loaded needle robberies (the robberies at needlepoint were real, but the HIV part was never proved), prompted the Australian government to introduce legislation covering such offenses. Since the victim didn't die within a year and a day of the pricking, the attacker couldn't be charged with murder under the old laws. That changed in 1990. Now robbers using syringes filled with HIV-infected blood as weapons face up to 25 years in jail in New South Wales state. British police would like to have something a lot closer to what the Australian legal system provides for. In 1994 they unsuccessfully called for a crackdown on HIV-loaded needle threats, claiming the harm done to victims necessitated both harsher penalties than currently legally available and voicing the need to be able to charge someone in possession of a syringe with carrying an offensive weapon. At present, the psychological damage caused by the threat to inject someone with an HIV-infected syringe is classed in Britain as actual bodily harm, and an attacker can be charged with grievous bodily harm if an injury is sustained. Is that really enough, or are the British police right that this doesn't go far enough? The AIDS pinprick legend's popularity stems from our fear of contracting AIDS. Even if we take pains to avoid engaging in high risk activities or strive to do so in as safe a fashion as possible, we're all too aware we're still vulnerable, and this legend speaks to that awareness. Though in the early days of this disease, the average citizen felt perfectly safe from its ravages, AIDS is now no longer perceived as something only other people will catch. It's now seen as a danger to all of us. This sense of being at risk, coupled with ongoing fears of the madmen who walk among us, has given birth to this bit of scarelore. Credibility is further supplied by news stories about kids jokingly stabbing classmates with needles and robbers threatening victims with \"loaded\" syringes. Mix a bit of truth into an existing bit of scarelore, and it becomes powerful medicine indeed. The typical college girl victim is a metaphor for us. By casting the one pinpricked as one of tender years, the undeserving nature of the victim is underscored. She's seen as both young and untouched by the world, therefore completely undeserving of this terrible fate. (As, by implication, are we.) Her gender also comes into play as \"college girl\" is a shortform in the world of urban legends for sexual and social innocence. Her fatal infection is made to appear doubly tragic in that it doesn't seem to us, the audience, she would otherwise have come in contact with this illness. Indeed, no more \"innocent\" a mythical victim could be created. She's a lot like us, in other words. The terrifying aspect of this bit of scarelore is we see ourselves in her place. <!--Additional information:  In March 2008, police reported that someone had been embedding used hypodermic needles in park benches in New Waterford, Nova Scotia, but there was as yet no determination whether the needles posed any risk of spreading infectious diseases. In February 2009, three people in Vancouver, Washington, were pricked by syringes taped in public places, one to the handset of a pay phone, two to doorknobs. Additional information:   -->   Anderson, Kendall.  \"Dallas Police Say E-Mail Warning Is Hoax.\"\r  The Dallas Morning News.  26 February 1999  (p. A37).   Botkin, B.A.  Sidewalks of America.\r  Indianapolis\/New York: Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1954  (pp. 195-196).   Bradshaw, Nick.  \"Hidden Syringe Needles Taped to Doorknobs and Phone Injure Three.\"\r  KGW News Channel 8 [Portland, Oregon].  20 February 2009.   de Vos, Gail.  Tales, Rumors and Gossip.\r  Englewood: Libraries Unlimited, 1996.  ISBN 1-56308-190-3  (pp. 58-59).   Ellis, Bill.  \"Needling Whitey.\"  FOAFTale News.\r December 1989  (pp. 5-6).   Ellis, Bill.  \"Mystery Assailants.\"\r  FOAFTale News.  October 1990  (p. 9).   Emery, C. Eugene.  \"Superintendent Mulls Penalty for 'Jabbers.'\"\r  The Providence Journal-Bulletin.  24 December 1997  (p. C2).   Hoffman, Ernie.  \"Boy Held in Attacks with Syringe at School.\"\r  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  20 January 1995  (p. A1).   Johnson, Joe.  \"Contents of Syringe Being Tested.\"\r  Athens Banner-Herald.  4 October 2005.   Lowe, Peggy.  \"Police Dismiss Needle-Scare Letter.\"\r  The Denver Post.  25 February 1999  (p. B1).   Milliken, Robert.  \"Sydney Warders Strike Over HIV Needle Attacks.\"\r  The [London] Independent.  17 September 1990  (p. 14).   Pack, William.  \"Man Sues After Sitting on Needle at BR Theatre.\"\r  The [Baton Rouge] Advocate.  6 May 1997  (p. A11).   Rayner, Ben.  \"Clubs Suffer As Needle Rumour Persists.\"\r  The Toronto Star.  17 August 1998.   Rowe, Peter.  \"Finding Truth in Needle Tale Is Hit or Myth.\"\r  The San Diego Union-Tribune.  26 March 1998  (p. E1).   Thalji, Jamal.  \"Pupils Are Injured by Needle on Bus.\"\r  St. Petersburg Times.  1 February 1997  (p. 1).   Associated Press.  \"Woman Pricked By Needle at Athens Theater.\"\r  5 October 2005.   Associated Press.  \"Police: Woman Pricked with Needle Shows No Illness.\"\r  AccessNorthGa.com.  9 March 2006.   The Reuter Library Report.  \"HIV-Positive Prisoner Charged with Wounding After Needle Attack.\"\r  24 July 1990.   The Reuter Library Report.  \"Infected Syringe Attacks Could Cost 25 Years in Australian Jail.\"\r  28 November 1990.   The [India] Statesman  \"AIDS Rumours Don't Stand the Test of Skepticism.\"\r  30 July 1998.   Sunday Telegraph.  \"'Your Money or My AIDS Blood.'\"\r  6 November 1994  (p. 5).   United Press International.  \"AIDS Bandit Charged with Robbery, Assault.\"\r  26 March 1992.","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_214","claim":"No, This Alaska Airlines 'Anniversary Offer' Is Not Real","posted":"02\/18\/2020","sci_digest":["The airline is not celebrating its anniversary in February 2020 with a ticket giveaway. "],"justification":"In February 2020, a variation of a familiar scam circulated on Facebook. The dubious website airalaskaoffer.com offered users a \"chance to get 2 free tickets of Alaska Air.\" To enter, users had to complete survey questions.   Alaska Airlines was quick to call out the scam on its Facebook page, offering advice on how to spot real offers: call out advice  As if the poor writing on the bogus offer weren't enough of a red flag, we've seen numerous scams like this one before. Save the company name, it was practically a carbon copy of previous anniversary scams. As we previously reported: this one before These web pages (which are not operated or sponsored by the companies they reference) typically ask the unwary to click what appear to be Facebook share buttons and post comments to the scammers site (which is really a ruse to dupe users into spreading the scam by sharing it with all of their Facebook friends). Those who follow such instructions are then led into a set of pages prompting them to input a fair amount of personal information (including name, age, address, and phone numbers), complete a lengthy series of surveys, and finally sign up (and commit to paying) for at least two Reward Offers (e.g., Netflix subscriptions, credit report monitoring services, prepaid credit cards).","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=19gahaPLjZJ9dQG6mt4ly_gVls5QJ_UZo","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1nwaelNaubF4Rcox4wMyBSJ4LaHqFrABJ","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_215","claim":"Real, Vintage Photo of a Giant Irish Dog?","posted":"09\/12\/2023","sci_digest":["\"That's impressive photoshopping for 1902,\" one Reddit user commented.\r\r"],"justification":"The Irish wolfhound, renowned for its large size, is a breed that has captured the hearts of many dog enthusiasts around the world. In September 2023, a photograph allegedly captured in 1902 and depicting what appeared to be such a wolfhound, but was sometimes referred to as the \"last giant Irish Greyhound,\" went viral on social media. (It is important to note that there is no \"Irish Greyhound\" breed; however, greyhounds exist and can be found, among other places, at Ireland's famous racing competitions.) Although some users claimed the image in question was generated by AI, others were amazed at the dog's size. For instance, the image was posted on the AI Generated Nonsense Facebook page with the caption, \"The last giant Irish greyhound.\" We used Google reverse image search to track down the source of the image. One post from September 3, 2023, shared on 9GAG, an online platform and social media website, read, \"A good boy, the last giant Irish wolfhound in 1902.\" However, in the comments section, we found a remark from the author's account that admitted the picture was created with Midjourney, a generative artificial intelligence (AI) program: \"Hi, I'm op, I put in the tag AI. I made this with Midjourney.\" We then discovered that the image was originally posted on August 31, 2023, on the Facebook group Cursed AI, by Antoine Jo. The group's name and description also indicated that the picture was AI-generated: \"Beware, these creations may haunt your dreams and unravel your sanity. Step into the eerie world of AI-generated cursed art, where machines possess the power to create twisted and terrifying masterpieces. Join our community of art lovers with a taste for the strange and share your twisted creations. These disturbingly beautiful images crafted by AI will leave you questioning the very nature of technology and its place in our world. Enter at your own risk.\" Moreover, AI or Not and Illuminarty tools confirmed our findings. If you don't want to be misled by AI-generated images and videos, you should read our tips here.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Gzg4vVSkSAg3ZegVgqcnBbY8xG2s7tPz","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_216","claim":"Great White Sharks Spotted in Mississippi River?","posted":"10\/25\/2016","sci_digest":["A photograph purporting to show two great white sharks swimming in the Mississippi River depicts bull sharks, not great whites, and was taken in Costa Rica."],"justification":"On 26 October 2016, the web site React365 published a photograph purportedly supposedly showing two great white sharks in the Mississippi River near St. Louis.  The same site later posted the same photograph again, this time claiming the pictured sharks had made \"their way up the Mississippi River and in to the Illinois River somehow\": same photograph   While it is not entirely impossible, it is incredibly uncommon for salt water dwelling creatures to stay for lengthy periods of time in fresh water. However, two Great White Sharks have managed to survive the trip and make their way up the Mississippi River and in to the Illinois River somehow. Believed to have started as a mating couple, the two are assumed to have swam the 1250 mile journey to the Chicago suburb River from the mouth of the Mississippi River that is also connected to the Gulf Of Mexico perhaps ending up at their current location as a recent influx of Asian Carp would be a great feeding ground for the apex predators. Officials in Morris have contacted the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and will likely have a team in the river soon to capture the two lost sharks. But this photograph does not show two great white sharks, nor was it taken in the Mississippi River (much less near St. Louis) or the Illinois River. This photograph has been circulating since at least 2008, when it was posted to Flickr along with the caption \"Bull Shark  Rio Sirena River Mouth.\" A bull shark would indeed be more likely spotted in the Sirena River (which is located in Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica) than a great white shark would be in the Mississippi River near St. Louis.  Flickr Corcovado National Park React365 is one of the many web sites that allows users to create fake (but convincing-looking) news in order to, in its own words, \"prank\" others: \"Create your false news and prank your friends. Share them on social networks! What are you waiting for?\" This isn't the first time that this particular shark photograph has been shared with a fake backstory. In 2013, RFKDNews used the same image alongside a report that six people in Illinois jad been eaten by \"river sharks\" after their hot air balloon popped. (They weren't.) image The National Oceanic and Atmospheric administration provides a guide to identifying sharks based on their dorsal fins. White sharks, also called great whites, have dorsal fins with a more ragged edge and are darker in color than bull sharks: guide White shark  Bull shark  Great whites rarely attack from the surface, preferring instead to grab their prey from underneath. Bull sharks tend to butt potential prey with their heads in order to stun it before they bite. surface butt  ","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1xR9Mb54ga51HI754nTKVhxgdi5Sc3kRP","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1x6X1MMhCArFGxOmhpbDlUikP4yWArDxj","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Gz3o-nZBlf10toYoNvqc19uwxV6rqaWw","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_217","claim":"Was there a $102 billion decrease in the National Debt following Donald Trump's Inauguration?","posted":"08\/14\/2017","sci_digest":["A conservative web site accurately described a remarkable decline in the debt during the first half of 2017 but offered no evidence that the President was responsible for it."],"justification":"On 30 July 2017, the conservative Truth Division web site reported that the United States' national debt had fallen to a \"surprising\" extent in the seven months since the inauguration of President Donald Trump: Truth Division President Donald Trump and his administration are undoing the governments rampant spending that occurred under former President Obamas watch.  According the U.S. Treasurys direct record, a surprising amount of money has been saved over the course of seven months. On January 20th, the day Trump was inaugurated, the total debt was $19,947,304,555,212.49. On July 30th, seven short months later, its at $19,844,938,940,351.37. Overall the debt has decreased by $102,365,614,861.12. We have checked these numbers and set them in context, and found that the national debt did indeed fall by $102 billion between 20 January and the end of July 2017. This decline is also historically remarkable, in both absolute and percentage terms. This six-month fall in the national debt is also significant when measured against the size of the overall economy. National debt  the basics  The national debt is, in brief, the total value of what the federal government owes, and is made up of accumulated annual deficits (when the government spends more than it receives in taxes and other income). It is made up of \"public debt\" and \"intragovernmental holdings.\" Public debt is, essentially, debt held by sources outside the central government. Intragovernmental holdings are debts between agencies within the federal government, in the form of government trust funds, such as Social Security trust funds.  National debt  the numbers According to figures published by the Treasury Department's Bureau of Fiscal Services on the TreasuryDirect web site, the national debt was $19.84 trillion on 27 July 2017 (not 30 July, as stated by Truth Division. On 20 January, it was $19.95 trillion. TreasuryDirect That shows a fall of $102.37 billion, or 0.51 percent, over a period of 131 business days. To set that in context, we analyzed national debt data stretching back to 12 July 1993, and examined every 131-day period in the last 24 years. You can download a spreadsheet containing all the relevant data here. here Debt-to-GDP ratio The national debt, however, is best viewed with reference to the overall economy. If two countries have about the same national debt, the one with the smaller economy will likely be more constrained in its spending, whereas the larger economy  despite having the same level of debt  will be less affected in terms of economic and fiscal policy. A good way of checking this is to compare the size of the debt to the size of the economy, measured as GDP (gross domestic product). GDP is the combined market value of all goods and services produced in a given jurisdiction (in this case, the United States). This comparison between the size of the national debt and the size of the economy is known as the debt-to-GDP ratio.  While the Treasury Department publishes the national debt for every business day, GDP is only published on a quarterly basis (once every three months). In order to compare the debt-to-GDP ratio on 27 July with the same figure on Inauguration Day, we have to get a little bit creative.  For example, we know that the United States GDP was $18.9 trillion at the end of December 2016 (the end of the fourth quarter), according to figures published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.  Bureau of Economic Analysis We also know that the national debt on 30 December 2016 was $19.98 trillion, so the estimated debt-to-GDP ratio on that date was 105.67 percent. In other words, the debts of the United States federal government were 5.67 percent bigger than the size of the Unites States economy (when measured by GDP). At the end of the first quarter of 2017 (the end of March), GDP was $19.06 trillion. And we know that on 31 March, the national debt was $19.85 trillion, meaning the debt-to-GDP ratio was 104.14 percent  a healthier number than at the end of December. But to estimate GDP for all the days in between 30 December and 31 March (including 20 January, Inauguration Day) we have to cheat a little bit. You can read more about our methodology by downloading this spreadsheet, but here's what our estimates revealed: Causes The Truth Division, a conservative, openly pro-Trump web site, clearly attributes this decline in the national debt to the president, claiming he and his administration are \"undoing the government's rampant spending\" and \"keeping his promises regarding fiscal responsibility\". However, the article does not cite any examples of actions taken by Donald Trump which would support this conclusion.  Jared Bernstein, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and former economic adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, dismissed any claims that President Trump is responsible:  Trump hasn't legislated anything that would have any impact on the fiscal accounts, so it simply doesn't make sense on the face it.  Instead, Bernstein told us, the cause of the drop in the debt is simple  the federal debt ceiling that has been in place since March 2017. If you look at a plot of the total debt right now, it's holding steady at the limit, because to go over the limit is unconstitutional. So you either have to engage in extraordinary measures or eventually default, and the latter is unimaginable so right now Treasury is engaged in the former. That is, they are delaying or suspending various payments that need to be made, particularly within some of their intra-governmental accounts... By those measures, they can hold the national debt where it is for a certain amount of time.  Eventually, Bernstein says, the debt ceiling will have to be lifted, and the payments that had been delayed will cause the national debt to increase once again.  That pattern can be seen in this chart, which shows the national debt from January 2011 up to the end of July 2017. There are four flat lines showing four periods during which the debt ceiling was frozen: from May to August 2011; May to October 2013; March to October 2015; and the ongoing period since March 2017.  2011 2013 2015   Conclusion The Truth Division article accurately describes the extent to which the national debt fell between the inauguration of Donald Trump in January 2017 and the end of July of the same year. And it rightly describes this fall as \"surprising\", since it ranks among the very largest 131-day declines in the national debt since July 1993, both in absolute and percentage terms.  Similarly, the decline in both components of the national debt  public debt and intragovernmental holdings  was highly significant between 20 January and 27 July 2017, both in absolute and percentage terms, and as we have shown, the national debt has fallen by an estimated 2.25 percent since Inauguration Day  even when measured against the size of the overall Unites States economy. Whether or not any actions or decisions made by Donald Trump have caused or contributed to these historically remarkable declines in the debt is a question that goes beyond the scope of this particular fact check. Unfortunately, the  national debt resumed its upward march in August 2017 and by mid-August 2018 stood at about $21.3 trillion (up $1.4 trillion since Inauguration Day), so the early 2017 drop has not proved to be a long-term trend. national debt A spreadsheet containing all the data relevant to this article can be downloaded here. here Bureau of Fiscal Services.  \"Frequently Asked Questions About the Public Debt\".\r TreasuryDirect.gov.  1 April 2016.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1H8TnVb2Kybl_q6bdqrG1pTi88A1Zh7CB"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_218","claim":"Did Biden Say People Making Less Than $400K 'Will Not Pay a Single Penny in Taxes'?","posted":"05\/04\/2021","sci_digest":["The Biden administration's tax plan will not raise taxes on people making less than $400,000, but those people will still have to pay taxes. "],"justification":"In May 2021, a video started to circulate that supposedly showed U.S. President Joe Biden saying that people making less than $400,000 won't have to pay a single penny in taxes.  Joe Biden  This is a genuine clip showing a portion of the remarks Biden delivered during a visit to Tidewater Community College in Portsmouth, Virginia, on May 3, 2021. While the president said that people making under $400,000 would not pay a single penny in taxes during these remarks, that is not what is outlined in the Biden administration's tax plan. Biden misspoke here. A more accurate way of representing his tax plan would have been to say that people making under $400,000 would not see their taxes \"raised\" by a single penny.  remarks Biden delivered Here's how Fox News reported on this gaffe: Fox News reported President Biden reiterated his pledge that no American earning less than $400,000 would not pay \"a single penny\" in additional taxes with a slight twist on Monday, after he proposed several tax increases to fund two sweeping spending plans. Biden appeared to mistakenly leave out a key word during his speech at Tidewater Community College  instead saying that no one earning under his specified threshold would pay any taxes. Biden repeatedly promised during his 2020 presidential campaign that people making less than $400,000 \"wont pay a penny more in taxes.\"  repeatedly promised 2020 presidential campaign   This campaign promise was included in Biden's proposal for the American Families Plan that was released in April 2021: released in April 2021 In all, the American Families Plan includes $1.8 trillion in investments and tax credits for American families and children over ten years. It consists of about $1 trillion in investments and $800 billion in tax cuts for American families and workers. Alongside the American Families Plan, the President will be proposing a set of measures to make sure that the wealthiest Americans pay their share in taxes, while ensuring that no one making $400,000 per year or less will see their taxes go up. When combined with President Bidens American Jobs Plan, this legislation will be fully paid for over 15 years, and will reduce deficits over the long term. Biden has repeatedly promised that people making less than $400,000 would not see their taxes raised under his plan. Although a video that showed him saying that people making less than a $400,000 won't \"pay a single penny in taxes\" is real, the president clearly misspoke during this portion of his speech. ","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1JogWSDRvg-cBj1cFH9FXNWi4Vs0C8_4f","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_219","claim":"Did Sean Spicer Tweet 'Today Is Dday' On Pearl Harbor Day?","posted":"12\/07\/2022","sci_digest":["While both events are historic, they did not occur, nor are they celebrated, on the same day. "],"justification":"On the morning of Dec. 7, 2022, former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer tweeted \"Today is Dday. It only lives in infamy if we remember and share the story of sacrifice with the next generation.\"  Right off the bat, the tweet runs into shaky ground: For starters, Dec. 7 is not D-Day. Further, The historical allusion \"lives in infamy\" is misplaced when attributed to D-Day. not D-Day Dec. 7 is Pearl Harbor Day, which commemorates the Japanese attack on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in 1941. In describing that attack, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt famously referred to Dec. 7 as \"a date which will live in infamy in the United States of America.\" D-Day, the Allied invasion of Western Europe, occurred on June 6, 1944. describing Several accounts on Twitter shared screenshots of the tweet, which Spicer deleted after being corrected. His apology confirms he did send the tweet in question: screenshots apology  For that reason, the claim is True.  Home | D-Day | June 6, 1944 | The United States Army. https:\/\/www.army.mil\/d-day\/index.html. Accessed 7 Dec. 2022. \"Sorry. Apologies.\" Twitter, https:\/\/twitter.com\/seanspicer\/status\/1600528997342793730. Accessed 7 Dec. 2022. \"Speech by Franklin D. Roosevelt, New York (Transcript).\" Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, https:\/\/www.loc.gov\/resource\/afc1986022.afc1986022_ms2201\/?st=text. Accessed 7 Dec. 2022.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1dnT9HNacsp6zBmDkzLajgVPEGtV4umA8","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_220","claim":"Says\nWith nearly 75 percent of Americans supportive of the construction of the pipeline, Schrader needs to explain to Oregon families why he voted against this needed project.","posted":"06\/01\/2013","sci_digest":[],"justification":"The communications office of theNational Republican Congressional Committeeisnt letting up on Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore. Its recently peppered him with criticism over the sequester and President Barack Obamas health care overhaul. This time, the issue is construction of a controversial pipeline that would carry crude oil from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast for refinement. A May 23, 2013, press release targeted Schrader for voting againstH.R. 3, a bill that would allow TransCanada tostart building the Keystone XL Pipelinewithout approval from President Barack Obama. Specifically, the legislation skips further environmental review and removes barriers to construction. With nearly 75 percent of Americans supportive of the construction of the pipeline, Schrader needs to explain to Oregon families why he voted against this needed project, the release states. Three-quarters of Americans want this project to happen? We know surveys can sometimes use scurrilous, squirrelly language, so we thought wed take a look-see. Plus, while Schrader is a veterinarian who loves animals, the man is no tree-hugging environmentalist. Does he oppose construction? Lets tackle the 75 percent statistic first. The NRCC relies on a survey conducted byNanos Researchthat was the subject of an April 2013 news report in the Wall Street Journal. Heres the survey question: Based on what you have heard about the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline between Canada and the U.S., do you support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose or oppose the US\/Canadian government approving the project? Of Americans, 52 percent said they support the project and 22 percent said they somewhat support it. Nanos, a respected independent polling firm, isnt the only one to find that a majority of respondents in the United States support construction. An April 2013Pew Research poll found 66 percent in favorwith 23 percent opposed. The poll found broader support among Republicans and independents; Democrats are more divided. We checked with Daniel Kessler, amedia campaigner with 350.org, which opposes Keystone. The Nanos polling question looked sound to him, although he wanted to remind readers thatother surveys show high support for clean energy alternativesand efforts to combat global warming. Now, lets address the second part of the statement. As we stated earlier, H.R. 3 eliminates the need for White House approval to start the project. Its undisputed that Schrader voted against the bill. Nineteen House Democrats joined majority Republicans to send the bill to the Senate, where it sits. No House Democrat from Oregon voted for the legislation. In fact, theNRCC targeted a number of Democrats with the same press release, including Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore.  A spokesman for Schrader said the congressman supports construction in principle, just not the way Republicans are going about it. To say that he does not support the construction on the pipeline is false, wrote spokesman Cody Tucker in an email to PolitiFact Oregon. Annie Clark with the NRCC disagrees. She cited four other times where Schrader voted against construction. Schrader voted against constructing or expediting construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline every chance he had, she wrote to PolitiFact Oregon. We checked his other votes. The legislation sought to force Obama to act or bypassed him altogether in approving Keystone. Loads of House Democrats voted against the bills. Schrader did voteagainst H.R. 3,which eliminates further regulatory hurdles, eliminates presidential input and essentially gives congressional go-ahead for construction. This statement by itself we would rate Half True. It is partially accurate in that Schrader did vote against the legislation, which authorizes the project. But it is missing significant details in that Schrader supports construction in principle, just not this particular way to get there. Had the NRCC said that Schrader voted against the bill -- as opposed to the project -- the statement would be True. The NRCC is accurate in citing that nearly 75 percent of Americans support construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. The Nanos survey is solid, as is a Pew Research poll that showed two-thirds support. With the polling part True and the project part Half True, that brings our ruling to Mostly True for this two-part statement. (If you want to leave a comment, go to http:\/\/www.oregonlive.com\/politics\/index.ssf\/2013\/06\/did_kurt_schrader_vote_against.html#incart_m-rpt-2)","issues":["Environment","Oregon","Climate Change","Congress","Economy","Energy","Regulation","Voting Record"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_221","claim":"Does This Satellite Pic Show Diwali Celebration From Space?","posted":"11\/04\/2021","sci_digest":["The festival of lights does not produce this much light. "],"justification":"In November 2021, a photograph from space supposedly showing Diwali, a \"festival of lights\" celebrated by millions of Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists across India, was circulated on social media. The image on the right does not accurately depict how India looks from space during Diwali. According to NASA, this image was created by combining a series of images over multiple years in an attempt to illustrate population growth. NASA states that an image claiming to show the region lit for Diwali has been circulating on social media and the Internet in recent years. In fact, it does not show what it claims. That image, based on data from the Operational Linescan System flown on U.S. Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites, is a color composite created in 2003 by NOAA scientist Chris Elvidge to highlight population growth over time. In that image, white areas represent city lights that were visible prior to 1992, while blue, green, and red shades indicate city lights that became visible in 1992, 1998, and 2003, respectively. NASA adds that while Diwali is certainly a sight to behold from the surface of the Earth, the light produced during the festival is not sufficient to be visible from space with normal satellite imagery. In reality, any extra light produced during Diwali is so subtle that it is likely imperceptible when observed from space. However, infrared cameras can detect the light produced during Diwali. In 2012, NASA's Suomi NPP satellite took an infrared image of South Asia during Diwali. The NASA History Office re-shared this image in 2021 in celebration of the holiday: Fake Image of Diwali Still Circulating | Earth | EarthSky. 6 Nov. 2018, https:\/\/earthsky.org\/earth\/fake-image-of-india-during-diwali-versus-the-real-thing\/. NGDC\/STP - Defense Meteorological Satellite Program, Boulder. 28 Feb. 2006, https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20060228074509\/https:\/\/www.ngdc.noaa.gov\/dmsp\/interest\/india.html. Seen the Viral NASA Diwali Photo Again This Year? Here\u2019s All You Need to Know about It. DNA India, 5 Nov. 2021, https:\/\/www.dnaindia.com\/viral\/report-seen-the-viral-nasa-diwali-photo-again-this-year-here-s-all-you-need-to-know-about-it-2918456. South Asian Night Lights. 15 Nov. 2012, https:\/\/earthobservatory.nasa.gov\/images\/79682\/south-asian-night-lights.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1a1bH8uuuM-OpvJUdQNpyWk0cY9VFSttw","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_222","claim":"Says Scott Walker enacted the biggest cuts to education in our states history.","posted":"02\/19\/2012","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Democrats searching for the right combination of punches to drive Scott Walker from office have focused on joblessness, schools, tax fairness and leadership style.One of the jabs they throw repeatedly centers on cuts Walkers 2011-13 budget made in state aid to local school districts.Kathleen Falk, the best-known Democrat so far in the likely 2012 gubernatorial recall election, tried to land a roundhouse right as she becamethe first announced candidate.The former Dane County executive told a Feb. 8, 2012 audience in La Crosse that Walker has divided us instead of united us.He's done it with the wrong choices,Falk said, according to a WXOW-TV online story. He gave big tax breaks for a few and then made the biggest cuts to education in our state's history.The states history covers a long time.Are Walkers cuts truly the largest ever?We have already looked at several statements about Walkers education budget.We gave state Rep. Jennifer Shilling, D-La Crosse, aMostly Falsefor saying Walkers property tax freeze would cost schools $1.6 billion in revenue. It was about half that, according to the most common accounting.We labeledMostly Falsea claim from Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller that Wisconsin enacted the most drastic cuts to K-12 public schools of any state in the nation. At the time, the study he cited looked at only 24 states, not all 50.Now we have Falks claim.It is bold, but it actually is narrowly drawn, referring specifically to cuts in state aid -- a number easy to track and measure.Asked for backup, Falks campaign said she was referring not just to state aid to local schools, but cuts in state funding to the university system and technical colleges. And she meant the biggest cut ever in raw dollars, according to campaign spokesman Scot Ross.To be sure, Walker made two other moves that affected school budgets: A virtual freeze on schools ability to increase property taxes to make up for lost aid, and collective bargaining limits that allowed many districts to cut costs by imposing larger contributions from workers towards health insurance and pensions.But Falks statement was not about net impact, just the state funding side of the equation.Falks campaign did not provide a total of the education cuts, nor provide any history of funding cuts other than to say they had found none bigger.We did the math and found $792 million in aid cuts to school districts, $250 million in reduced aid to the university system and $71.6 million from the tech colleges.Total: $1.11 billion.Looking at it in terms of raw dollars limits the usefulness of any comparison, given inflation. That said, lets look back.Local schoolsWalkers budget was not the first to cut education aid, though any cut is rare.Facing a massive projected shortfall, lawmakers and then-Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat, approved cutting $284 million from aid to school districts in the 2009-11 budget.The cut under Doyle was the first ever, according to Todd Berry, president of the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, a nonpartisan research group that tracks the history of aid changes.We couldnt confirm that, but went back to the mid 1980s and found no evidence of a cut. If there was one earlier than that, it couldnt rival Walkers -- unless a previous governor cut 100 percent of the school aid budget, which was much smaller then.Walkers $792 million cut was much larger in raw dollars than the $284 million cut in 2009, and as a percentage -- 7.4 percent vs. 2.6 percent.In the first year under Walkers budget, nearly all districts lost aid, and the median decrease was 9.9 percent, according to the state Department of Public Instruction.University systemDoyle and Walker cut identical amounts -- $250 million -- from the base budget of the UW system. The cut under Doyle was in 2003-05.The cut under Doyle was a bigger percentage cut than Walkers because the university systems biennial budget from state taxes grew from about $2 billion to $2.3 billion between 2003 to 2011.On the other hand, Walkers cut was deeper if you factor all the budget adjustments to the state-tax-supported portion of UWs budget, according to Dave Loppnow, an education funding expert at the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau.For instance, UW got more state funding for things like rising fuel and utility costs, offsetting some of the $250 million funding cut. By this measure, it was about an 8 percent reduction by Doyle, and 9 percent under Walker.Loppnow said the $250 million base-budget cuts under both governors were the largest ever in raw dollars.Tech schoolsWalker proposed, and the Republican-controlled Legislature passed, a 30 percent cut in general aid to the states technical college system. That amounted to $71.6 million over two years.The tech college system found records dating to 1991 that showed only one other general aid cut  -- a 0.5 percent trim in 2007.As we noted in arecent item, that general aid is only 12 percent of the tech systems funding, which relies heavily on property taxes.So, in the big picture, there have been very few instances of cuts to education, with all of them coming in recent years as deficits mounted.What makes the Walker cuts stand out is the combination -- in the same budget -- of reductions across the three levels of education: kindergarten-12th grade; tech colleges; and the universities.In 2003-05, when the UW took a hit, Doyle and lawmakers boosted the K-12 budget by 1 percent, or $115 million. And the tech colleges general state aid was not reduced.As we noted, there were many other changes in the budget.Notably, Walker sharply curtailed collective bargaining rights for public employees, including university and local school employees.That allowed local school districts to save at least $200 million in pension costs because most districts put in place a pension change made possible by the budget, according toLegislative Fiscal Bureau estimates, school officials and our calculations.The savings to districts from changes to health insurance premiums were significant in some cases, but vary widely by district; no statewide cost savings estimate is available.But some districts, due to existing union contracts and other reasons, were not able to benefit from the health insurance changes. That underlines an element essential aspect of Falks statement: The state controls its aid, but not what is done at the local level.Our conclusionFalk claimed Walkers cuts in state support to local schools, tech colleges and public universities amount to the largest in state history.We found previous cuts in those areas, but not in all three in the same year, and not nearly as deep when you roll them all together as has Falk.We rate her statement True.","issues":["Education","State Budget","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_223","claim":"Cheez-It Crackers and TBHQ","posted":"08\/25\/2016","sci_digest":["Cheez-It brand crackers contain the synthetic preservative TBHQ, but the latter is not \"created from butane,\" nor is it \"toxic.\""],"justification":"On 24 August 2016, the discredited food alarmist known as \"Food Babe\" posted an image showing the ingredient list on a box of Cheez-It brand snack crackers, along with the claim that the product contains TBHQ, a \"toxic synthetic preservative created from butane\": discredited Food Babe  Are you buying these? You cant get much more toxic than TBHQ. This synthetic preservative is created from butane (a very toxic gas) and has been linked to vision disturbances, liver enlargement, childhood behavioral problems, and stomach cancer in animal studies. New research coming out of Michigan State University links it to the rise in food allergies, which has prompted more research. Although the FDA allows this in America, this additive is banned for use in food in other countries including Japan, and is on the Center For Science in The Public Interests list as one of the worst additives to be avoided in our food. Please share! #FoodBabeArmy TBHQ, tertiary butylhydroquinone, is a synthetic antioxidant that is commonly used as a food preservative. Although TBHQ does contain a butyl moiety, this does not mean that the preservative is \"created from butane\" (which is commonly used as lighter fluid). In response to a similar claim made in 2007 about McDonald's Chicken McNuggets, the ScienceBlogs web site explained TBHQ's relationship to butane: ScienceBlogs TBHQ contains a butyl moiety (a tert-butyl moiety, more accurately), but so does butter, which contains esters of the blameless butyrate (when degraded to free butyrate, its the origin of the smell of rancid butter, esterified, as in fresh butter, its not a problem). Butter is not lighter fluid, nor is TBHQ. A butyl group does not butane make. Its worth noting that preservatives might not be entirely benign (you also encounter BHT and BHA, your cereal boxs cardboard is probably impregnated with one of these). However, none of these are lighter fluid by a long shot. While it's true that TBHQ has been banned in Japan, it is not \"toxic,\" as the FDA and the European Food Safety Authority both classify TBHQ as a safe food additive in the small amounts present in foods such as Cheez-It snack crackers. FDA European Food Safety Authority In response to the message posted by \"Food Babe,\" Cheez-It stated on their Facebook page that they have been testing natural alternatives to TBHQ:  While synthetic preservatives may not be the healthiest of options, TBHQ is not \"created from butane,\" it is not \"toxic, nor is it been deemed by the FDA to be dangerous to consume in moderate quantities.  ","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1qqdYojn2YxYd05Gk69_Nxu2SvRDCeusC","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1FGW95_PjC48OukmwFFJQ3140PI2nLP1S","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_224","claim":"All of Donald Trump's achievements within a mere four months?","posted":"05\/24\/2017","sci_digest":["We looked into the accuracy of a viral list touting President Trump's accomplishments during his first four months in office."],"justification":"In May 2017, a Reddit user posted a graphic that purported to list all of President Trump's accomplishments during his first four months in office. It was then widely shared on social media: Reddit TRUMP ACCOMPLISHMENTS ..Retweet the hell out of this to annoy @ABC @CBS @cnn @cnbc @MSNBC @nbc @nytimes @washingtonpost #dishonestmedia. Small Biz for Trump (@SmallBiz4Trump) May 15, 2017. Creating homebrew visual aids touting the accomplishments (or failures) of top politicians is a popular online pastime, not least because it's a cheap and easy way to propagandize, and because there are no pesky standards of fairness and accuracy to meet. As we've noted with regard to previous specimens (for example, a late-2016 meme touting the alleged economic achievements of President Obama), the graphic format lends itself to the display of cherry-picked facts to make a simplistic case with no semblance of context or nuance. In this case, the claim is that, despite all the carping in the mainstream press about \"chaos\" and \"ineptitude\" in the Oval Office, President Trump has actually accomplished quite a lot during his first four months as chief executive, and thus you will not find mention of major campaign promises Trump has had difficulty keeping so far, such as instituting a Muslim immigration ban and building a wall on the Mexican border. Also, since it's very much a partisan case being made, there will be disagreement over what constitutes an \"accomplishment.\" Some feats, such as reducing unemployment, are uncontroversial, while others, such as dismantling entire government agencies, aren't likely to be regarded as accomplishments by those who find the functions of those agencies critical. Here are the claims: 4.4 percent - lowest since May 2007. As reported in the Washington Post, government data released on May 5, 2017, indicated that the national unemployment rate hit a new low in April: The U.S. job market rebounded strongly last month, and the unemployment rate fell to the lowest level seen in a decade, government data released Friday morning showed, calming fears that had bubbled up in the past month about the state of the economy. Employers added 211,000 jobs in April as the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.4 percent, the lowest level since May 2007. It bears pointing out that the jobless rate had already been on a steady decline since 2010. Further, unemployment hit a previous nine-year low of 4.6 percent in December 2016 when President Obama was still in office. It climbed back up to 4.8 percent in January, dipped to 4.7 percent in February, and to 4.5 percent in March 2017. To what degree short-term improvements in the economy since January can be attributed to a new chief executive whose economic policies remain nascent is perennially up for debate, though according to The New York Times' senior economic correspondent Neil Irwin, a \"Trump effect\" that is buoying corporate hiring policies after the election cannot be ruled out. So does Mr. Trump deserve any credit for solid economic results? If you think the economy is driven by concrete, specific policies around taxes, spending, monetary policy, and regulation, the answer is no. If you think that what really matters is the mood in the executive suite, then just maybe. This is a mostly accurate, partial list of corporations that have announced investments in American facilities and\/or jobs since the election of Donald Trump. With the exception of Bayer AG (which announced $8 billion in new investments, not $1 billion as claimed), the dollar amounts match those cited in press reports between January and April 2017 (sources: Softbank, Exxon Mobil Corp., Hyundai-Kia, Apple, Fiat Chrysler, General Motors, Bayer AG, Toyota, LG Electronics). It's not necessarily accurate to characterize all of these commitments as \"accomplishments\" of President Trump, however. As CBS Moneywatch's Irina Ivanova reported in January 2017: Few of the jobs companies are promising to create in the U.S. can be attributed to a sudden renewed commitment to USA Inc. inspired by Trump's America First policies. Indeed, the businesses Trump has been quick to praise have been careful not to characterize their recent hiring announcements as new. And as usual with corporate investments of this scale, such plans are typically months or even years in the making, suggesting they long predate the presidential election. For example, Fiat Chrysler said their promise of a $1 billion investment in Michigan and Ohio plants, projected to create 2,000 jobs, was the \"second phase\" of an industrialization plan announced in 2016. GM's $1 billion investment was \"several years in the making,\" according to sources cited by CBS. The largest of all the announced commitments, SoftBank's pledge of $50 billion, was also in the works long before Trump won the election: Another widely publicized corporate initiative that Trump trumpeted\u2014a promise by SoftBank to create 50,000 high-tech jobs in the U.S.\u2014was the result of a tech fund the company announced on October 14, three weeks before the election. Given the massive tech industry in the U.S., economists say much of the planned $50 billion investment would have found its way to the states regardless of who occupied the White House. You don't just decide overnight to invest $3 billion, said Nathan Jensen, a professor at the University of Texas who studies interactions between government and corporations. Bayer AG's commitment to an $8 billion investment and the creation of 3,000 U.S. jobs was announced by the Trump transition team after the president-elect met in January 2017 with the CEOs of Bayer AG and Monsanto, who are planning a merger. Transition spokesman Sean Spicer credited Trump's negotiating skills for the pledge, but some analysts were skeptical that the companies had actually promised anything that wasn't already on the table when plans for the merger were first revealed in September 2016: Bayer and Monsanto said in a joint statement after Spicer's remarks that the \"combined company expects to spend approximately $16 billion in R&D in agriculture over the next six years with at least half of this investment made in the United States.\" That amounts to about $2.7 billion a year, which roughly equates to what the combined companies already spend in that area globally, [Wall Street analyst Jeremy] Redenius said. As for the U.S. breakdown, he estimates it's likely close to half already; Monsanto spends $1.5 billion a year, the majority of which is in the U.S., he said, and Bayer already invests in R&D here as well. \"Not an increase, but not substantially cutting,\" he said of the global figure. The merger, which awaits U.S. regulatory approval, is not likely to be completed until 2018, CNBC reported. It is true that the U.S. Treasury reported a $182 billion budget surplus in April 2017, the largest April surplus since 2001 (and the second-largest in history), according to MarketWatch. It's unclear exactly how that surplus is attributable to President Trump, however. April is typically a surplus month because of tax receipts. In addition, citing a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) review as its source, the Associated Press reported that the April 2017 surplus was \"inflated\" because of a tax deadline change allowing corporations to pay federal taxes in April that in previous years were paid in March. It remains to be seen what effect Trump's policies will have on the budget deficit for 2017 as a whole (the fiscal year ends on September 30). The CBO projects a 4.6 percent drop in the deficit from what it was in 2016, but that is based on laws and policies already in effect when Trump took office. The stock market can be fickle. As of April 29, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 20,940.51, 6.12 percent higher than when Trump took office\u2014positive movement, unquestionably. That number had risen to 20,981.94 by May 16, then plummeted 372 points the next day as the market was shaken by news that Trump had shared classified information with Russian diplomats in the White House and attempted to divert FBI Director James Comey from an investigation of Trump's alleged ties to Russia before he fired him. It's true that the Consumer Confidence Index, a metric assessing how ordinary consumers feel about the strength of the economy, hit 125.6 in March 2017, its highest point since 2000. It is also true that it fell five points to 120.3 the following month. Even so, it showed that consumers (as of April) had more confidence in the economy under Trump than under Obama, during whose administration the index never exceeded 113.7 (although it did manage to rise to that point after bottoming out in 2009 at 25). As of May 17, 2017, President Trump had signed 34 bills passed by Congress, a comparatively high number in such a short period of time (since Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who signed 76 pieces of legislation in his first 100 days, only Harry Truman, at 55, signed more). That's not to say that all of the legislation signed by Trump between January and May 2017 was necessarily noteworthy, however. One bill changed the name of a Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic in Pago Pago, American Samoa; another renamed a VA health center in Pennsylvania; another approved the location of a memorial honoring Desert Storm and Desert Shield veterans; three appointed citizen regents to the board of the Smithsonian Institution. Nor should it be assumed that Trump's signing of a given bill meant he or his administration was actively involved in its passage. Thirteen such bills nullifying federal regulations enacted during the Obama administration (such as H.J. Res. 69, reversing a U.S. Fish and Wildlife rule pertaining to Alaska's National Wildlife Refuges and S.J. Res. 34, reversing FCC Internet privacy rules) were rushed through Congress and quickly signed because they made use of the Congressional Review Act of 1996, which imposes a 60-day limit on the time allowed to overrule previously passed laws. This is true. Gorsuch was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 7, 2017. This is true. Trump fulfilled a campaign promise by signing an executive order withdrawing the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership international trade agreement on January 23, 2017, one day after announcing he would renegotiate it. Despite President Obama's fervent support for the deal, many groups, including labor unions, were critical of the TPP, and CNN reported that its chances of approval by Congress were already \"bleak.\" The number of illegal border crossings from Mexico into the U.S. in February 2017 were indeed down 40 percent from the previous month, according to statistics provided by the Department of Homeland Security, and that downward trend, which had actually started the previous November, continued in March and April 2017. It's true that in March 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded a $100 million grant to the state of Michigan to upgrade the drinking water infrastructure in Flint, which experienced a lead pollution crisis potentially affecting as many as 100,000 people beginning in 2014. There has been some dispute, however, over whether this ought to be labeled a \"Trump accomplishment\" or an \"Obama accomplishment.\" As we noted in a previous article, funding for the grant came from a bill signed by President Obama in 2016, though the monies weren't officially awarded until after he left office, hence some prefer to credit it to Trump. Although President Trump pledged to \"strengthen\" overseas relationships going into office and he had already met with several important foreign leaders by mid-May 2017, it is too soon to tell to what degree his promise will bear fruit. The president-elect got off to a rocky start with China in December by accepting a congratulatory call from the leader of Taiwan, which China views as a province, not an independent nation, and with which the U.S. does not have diplomatic relations. China lodged a formal complaint. In April, Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, with whom he said he made \"tremendous progress\" but no breakthroughs. A trade deal negotiated by the Trump administration with China in May was rated \"pretty good\" by The Wall Street Journal. Japanese Prime Minister Abe, who has met twice with Trump, issued a joint statement with him reaffirming the \"unshakable alliance\" between the U.S. and Japan. That is despite Trump having called Japan a \"currency manipulator\" during the presidential campaign and pulling out of the TPP, which Abe supported. Whether the \"very, very good chemistry\" Trump says he has with Abe will improve the relationship between the two countries over the long haul remains to be seen. U.S.-Russia relations have been strained for many years, a situation not improved by Russia's attempts to meddle in the U.S. presidential election, nor by the fact that Trump associates are under investigation for possible collusion in that effort. A U.S. missile strike by Trump against Syria, with whose government Russia is closely allied, was strongly condemned by Russian leaders, who warned there could be \"extremely serious\" consequences. British Prime Minister Theresa May was the first foreign leader to visit the Trump White House, and their cordial meeting was portrayed by both countries as a renewal of the \"special relationship\" between the U.S. and the U.K. According to the BBC, Obama was seen by many Britons as more interested in the European Union as a whole than in the U.K. itself, while Trump, who was in favor of Brexit, is perceived as the opposite. President Trump has employed what the Washington Post calls \"hard-line rhetoric\" against North Korea, including threats of force, in hopes of squelching that country's increasing militarism, a strategy some experts dismiss as \"macho posturing\" that could escalate into a Cuban Missile Crisis-like confrontation. In April 2017, Trump ordered U.S. missile strikes against an air base in Syria in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack on civilians by the Syrian government, which has been known to brutalize its own people during the ongoing civil war there. Trump's gesture came up short, however, in that the Syrian Air Force was able to launch a new attack against rebel forces from that same base just hours later. In April 2017, President Trump negotiated the release of U.S. citizen Aya Hijazi, her Egyptian husband, and four other humanitarian workers from a prison in Cairo, Egypt, where they had been locked up since 2014, without evidence or trial, on charges of child abuse and trafficking. Although it is true that President Trump signed an executive order on March 13, 2017, directing the heads of executive branch departments to eliminate all \"unnecessary\" agencies and reorganize those that remain to improve their \"efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability,\" the order gave said department heads six months from the date of signing to come up with suggestions for this process, so not much fat has been trimmed thus far despite the groundwork being laid. Regarding efforts to \"reign in\" the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a CNN report confirms that's been among Trump's top priorities from the start: President Donald Trump made a campaign trail promise to eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency\u2014a department once looked to as an important national force tackling climate change\u2014and during his first 100 days in office has held true to his word, taking swift strides towards dismantling the agency and rolling back regulations. Alongside EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, a former Oklahoma attorney general who once worked tangentially with the fossil fuel industry to oppose Obama-era regulations, the Trump administration has so far issued a flurry of EPA-focused executive orders, proposed employee buyouts, handed down a social media gag order, and is proposing significant cuts to the EPA budget. The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), a small business advocacy group, has hailed Trump's commitment to cutting \"burdensome regulations,\" while environmental protection groups see it as a threat to public health and the future of the planet. The controversial Dakota Access Pipeline project, halted under President Obama, was revived by President Trump and will begin commercial operations on June 1, 2017. Trump also issued an executive order directing a review of lands designated as national monuments: Specifically, the review will consider all national monument designations of federal public lands since 1996 that are 100,000 acres or larger. Mr. Trump singled out former President Barack Obama's egregious use of federal power in using the Antiquities Act to unilaterally place swaths of American land and water under federal control, adding, it's time we ended this abusive practice. As with many of the other items discussed above, whether or not one regards this as an \"accomplishment\" (as opposed, say, to a travesty) will depend almost entirely on one's political views going in.","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1vJuHtD_abiqV9jt3oBbNCiaxsgeJ1SHz"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_225","claim":"Did Pastor Dave Barnhart Say, 'The Unborn Are a Convenient Group of People to Advocate For'?","posted":"05\/04\/2022","sci_digest":["This quote went viral in May 2022 as many feared that Roe v. Wade would be overturned in the U.S. "],"justification":"In May 2022, after the leak of a Supreme Court draft opinion showed that the justices were set to overturn Roe v. Wade, a piece of text supposedly written by a pastor named Dave Barnhart about how the \"the unborn are a convenient group of people to advocate for\" was widely circulated on social media: the leak of a Supreme Court draft opinion widely circulated  This message was truly written by the pastor. Barnhart, who is a pastor at Saint Junia United Methodist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, first posted this message to his Facebook page in 2018. At the time, Alabama politicians were in the process of passing an amendment to the state's constitution that would \"recognize the rights of the unborn\" in order to ensure that \"state funds [would] not go to funding abortion care,\" according to AL.com. was truly written posted this message to his Facebook page in 2018 according to AL.com The full text of Barnhart's Facebook post read:  \"The unborn\" are a convenient group of people to advocate for. They never make demands of you; they are morally uncomplicated, unlike the incarcerated, addicted, or the chronically poor; they don't resent your condescension or complain that you are not politically correct; unlike widows, they don't ask you to question patriarchy; unlike orphans, they don't need money, education, or childcare; unlike aliens, they don't bring all that racial, cultural, and religious baggage that you dislike; they allow you to feel good about yourself without any work at creating or maintaining relationships; and when they are born, you can forget about them, because they cease to be unborn. It's almost as if, by being born, they have died to you. You can love the unborn and advocate for them without substantially challenging your own wealth, power, or privilege, without re-imagining social structures, apologizing, or making reparations to anyone. They are, in short, the perfect people to love if you want to claim you love Jesus but actually dislike people who breathe. Prisoners? Immigrants? The sick? The poor? Widows? Orphans? All the groups that are specifically mentioned in the Bible? They all get thrown under the bus for the unborn. Some of the most popular iterations of this quote introduced Barnhart as a \"traditional Christian\" pastor. Other versions introduced Barnhart as a \"Methodist pastor\" or simply a \"pastor.\" Barnhart operates a network of house churches called the Saint Junia United Methodist Church. Saint Junia United Methodist Church describes itself on its Facebook page as a \"a diverse community of sinners, saints, and skeptics who join God in the renewal of all things.\" Methodist pastor pastor Facebook page","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=10l5PVQCLk4Xq8mRw05IeYjolDAaCXsgQ","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_226","claim":"Oprah Ten Percent Tip Advice","posted":"11\/04\/2009","sci_digest":["Does Oprah Winfrey say restaurant goers should tip ten percent?"],"justification":"Claim:  Oprah Winfrey said that restaurant customers need not tip their servers more than 10%..  Example:  [Collected via e-mail, November 2009] Did Oprah Winfrey state that, in this economy, tipping 10% is acceptable? Origins:  Leaving a relatively substantial monetary tip for the waitstaff at the conclusion of a restaurant meal is the custom in some countries, including the U.S. and Canada. A gratuity amounting to 15% to 20% of the bill is now considered the standard or minimum tip, with even more left in recognition of superlative service. It is therefore little cause for surprise that any cultural icon's public voicing of an opinion that folks should leave no more than a 10% tip would raise the hackles of many in the service industry.  And so it was with the belief that Oprah Winfrey, beloved television talk show host, had instructed members of her audience to not leave more than a 10% tip when dining in restaurants, with such rumor often coupled with a further assertion that this advice was offered in recognition of the recession's having hit everyone hard. Such belief that Oprah had said it fit  well with a widely-held stereotype that African American customers tip less than do other restaurant patrons. In September 2009 a page on the social networking site Facebook raised the false \"Oprah said not to tip more than 10%\" claim. Titled \"1 Million Servers Strong Against Oprah's Comments,\" the group stated as its purpose:  Against Oprah Winfrey has recently stated on her TV show that it is acceptable to tip servers 10% in our current economy. This group is being put together to show Oprah that her comments have a crippling affect on servers all over the world. As of 4 November 2009, \"1 Million Servers Strong Against Oprah's Comments\" has 37,228 members. Yet the claim that has inflamed so many is false. There is no evidence in support of the assertion that Oprah Winfrey recommended her audience tip waitstaff 10%, in response to economic recession or otherwise, on her television show or in her magazine. No one has yet to turn up a video clip from her show of her supposed  tipping advice or produce a copy of an article from  O, The Oprah Magazine in which such counsel was allegedly given.  Instead, material from both those venues state that restaurant goers should tip at least 15%. While we've yet to locate a video clip or news report of Oprah herself instructing the audience to pony up with 15% or better, there are examples of invited guests on her show or columnists in her magazine saying exactly that. In the \"Ending Rudeness\" segment of The Oprah Winfrey Show (which aired on 9 September 2008), Steven Dublanica, author of Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip  Confessions of a Cynical Waiter, sat beside Oprah and, with her nodding in agreement, offered this bit of advice for restaurant goers: Rudeness Don't tip less than 15 percent Waiters are paid wages well below the minimum wage  as little as $2.15 an hour in some states  with the expectation that they will earn the majority of their income through tips. In addition, some restaurants require waiters to pay around 20 to 30 percent of their tips to food runners, hostesses and bartenders.  \"If you don't tip, then that person doesn't get paid,\" Steven says. \"Literally.\" Of the \"10 Do's and Don'ts of Restaurant Etiquette\" proffered by The Oprah Winfrey Show via oprah.com, its official web site, the first is \"Tip 15 percent or more.\" first Likewise, the \"Guide to Tipping\" published in the December 2002 issue of  O, The Oprah Magazine says:  Guide to Tipping Normally, 15 to 20 percent of the total bill  20 percent for a first-class place. Note that people tip more in urban areas. According to the Zagat Survey, the average gratuity in city restaurants across the United States is about 18 percent. In response to the rumor, HarpoBear (moderator of oprah.com's message board) posted a clarificationon 8 June 2009 (and repeated periodically since then) that said: posted We'd like to respond to the concerns raised about Oprah's thoughts on tipping. The truth is that Oprah has never said that people should tip less during the recession. She believes in generously compensating waiters and waitresses. While a November 2009 Facebook page marked a resurgence of the Oprah rumor, it wasn't the first time the claim had been bruited on that venue: In December 2008 a now defunct Facebook group titled \"No, Oprah, it's not OK to tip 10%\" repeated the gossip. The rumor comes in two forms: that Oprah herself directed her audience never to tip more than 10% or (far less frequently) that one of her guests did. One name that has been mentioned as the identity of the guest who gave such advice is financial guru Suze Orman, as in this 19 September 2009 blog entry:  Suze Orman blog entry It has been brought to my attention that Suze Orman went onto the Oprah Winfrey show some time ago to give some sound financial advice to all the Oprah-ites who bow down to the feet of the great and powerful O. [...] She said that when it comes time to tip you should just leave 10% instead of 15%. Barbara \"the ten percent dissolution\" Mikkelson Last updated:  11 November 2009    Day Owen, Sarah.  \"Servers at Restaurants See Dropoff in Gratuities.\"   Augusta Chronicle.  19 December 2008.    Ellen, Daryn.  \"Guide to Tipping.\"   O, The Oprah Magazine.  December 2002.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_227","claim":"Thank you, Kalat.","posted":"01\/16\/2004","sci_digest":["Does a photograph show a statue of a U.S. soldier crafted by an Iraqi sculptor?"],"justification":"The sculpture pictured below is real, and it was indeed crafted by an Iraqi sculptor from bronze recovered by melting down statues of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, but the accompanying explanatory text is quite misleading: The Iraqi sculptor was not \"forced by Saddam Hussein to make the many hundreds of bronze busts of Saddam,\" he did not produce the memorial shown because he was \"so grateful that the Americans liberated his country,\" and the monument was not his idea. Members of the U.S. Army paid the sculptor, who had previously worked on a few other Saddam statues, to create the work pictured according to a design of their choosing: Example: [Collected via e-mail, 2004] This picture of the statue was made by an Iraqi artist named Kalat, who for years was forced by Saddam Hussein to make the many hundreds of bronze busts of Saddam that dotted Baghdad. This artist was so grateful that the Americans liberated his country, he melted 3 of the fallen Saddam heads and made a memorial statue dedicated to the American soldiers and their fallen comrades. Kalat worked on this night and day for several months. To the left of the kneeling soldier is a small Iraqi girl giving the soldier comfort as he mourns the loss of his comrade in arms. It is currently on display outside the palace that is now home to the 4th Infantry division. It will eventually be shipped and shown at the memorial museum in Fort Hood, Texas.  As part of the U.S. Army's Task Force Ironhorse, the 4th Infantry Division was deployed in Iraq for most of 2003, participated in the capture of Saddam Hussein in December 2003, and saw many of their comrades killed and wounded in the violence that followed the end of major combat operations. In mid-2003, while the 4th Infantry Division was headquartered in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown, Command Sgt. Maj. Charles Fuss, the division's top noncommissioned officer, headed up a project to commemorate the unit's dead and conceived of a memorial featuring the figure of a forlorn soldier kneeling to mourn before empty helmet, boots, and rifle  an array of objects that traditionally represents a fallen compatriot: Task Force Ironhorse 4th Infantry    Needing a sculptor to carry out his vision, Sgt. Maj. Fuss and other Americans asked around for local talent, and an Iraqi contractor recommended a 27-year-old artist named Khalid Alussy to them. As it turned out, Mr. Alussy was one of several artisans who had worked on a pair of 50-foot bronze statues of Saddam Hussein on horseback that flanked the gateway on the main road into the presidential palace compound in Tikrit, the site of the 4th Infantry Division's temporary headquarters. Commissioned by 4th Infantry Division officers to fashion the memorial conceptualized by Sgt. Maj. Fuss, Khalid Alussy (whose first name is also rendered in English as 'Kalat') took the assignment not out love for Americans, but because he needed the money: The officers didn't question Mr. Alussy further about his political views. Had they pressed him, they might have learned that he's harshly critical of the U.S. and bitter over an American rocket attack during the war that killed his uncle. In an interview, he says he thinks the war was fought for oil and holds the U.S. responsible for the violence and unemployment that have plagued Iraq since.\"I made the statues of Saddam  even though I didn't want to  because I needed money for my family and to finish my education,\" he says, reclining in a room decorated with several of his paintings. \"And I decided to make statues for the Americans for the exact same reasons.\" Mr. Alussy's initial asking price was far higher than the officers had expected. He blamed the steep price of bronze. So the Americans decided to recycle the bronze Hussein-on-horseback twins. \"We figured we were going to blow them up anyway, so why not take the bronze and use it for our own statues?\" recalls Sgt. Fuss. \"That way we could take something that honored Saddam and use it to remember all of those we lost getting rid of him.\" Without having to supply the metal, Mr. Alussy agreed to do the job for $8,000. By comparison, the former regime paid him the equivalent of several hundred dollars for his work on the Hussein statues. To finance the project, Sgt. Fuss publicized it in the task force's internal newspaper and asked officers to get soldiers to contribute $1 each. Within weeks, he raised $30,000.1 In July 2003, Army engineers blew up the two Saddam statues, cut them into pieces, melted them down, and delivered them to Mr. Alussy's house. (The delivery was done furtively in case Mr. Alussy's neighbors proved to be less than thrilled about his being in the employ of the American military.) Using a photograph of 1st Sgt. Glen Simpson as a model for the depiction of the kneeling soldier, Mr. Alussy began his work on the monument; near the end, another segment was added to his task: As the work neared completion, Sgt. Fuss and the division's commander, Maj. Gen. Ray Odierno, decided it needed a clearer connection to Iraq. The general suggested adding a small child to symbolize Iraq's new future, Sgt. Fuss says. When they told the artist they wanted another statue, Mr. Alussy demanded $10,000 more. \"He learned capitalism real fast,\" Sgt. Fuss says.1 After four months' worth of night and weekend labor, Mr. Alussy completed his assignment, and the statues were installed in an entranceway inside the 4th Infantry Division's headquarters in Tikrit. In February 2004 the statues were flown to the 4th Infantry Division Museum at the unit's home base of Fort Hood, Texas. Museum Fort Hood Somewhere along the line, this coda was added to the original e-mail: Do you know why we don't hear about this in the news? Because it is heart warming and praise worthy. The media avoids it because it does not have the shock effect that a flashed breast or controversy of politics does. But we can do something about it. We can pass this along to as many people as we can in honor of all our brave military who are making a difference. As Steve Blow of the Dallas Morning News pointed out in a later column, the Kalat story and photo ran in that paper on 27 March 2004 and was afterwards picked up and reprinted by newspapers all over the U.S. Additional information:   <!-- Original changelog: Last updated:  25 February 200616 January 2004 Updated: 16 February 2004 11 June 2004 - updated 17 October 2005 - added info about media reporting of story 25 February 2006: reformatted 16 December 2009 - updated Add'l Info links -->   Blow, Steve.  \"Sometimes, Facts Get in Way of Media-Bashing.\"\r  The Dallas Morning News.  23 January 2005  (p. B1).   1.  Dreazen, Yochi J.  \"In This Monument to Dead, the Medium Really Is the Message.\"\r  The Wall Street Journal.  8 March 2004  (p. A1).   Kibbey, Spc. Benjamin R.  \"Changing Faces: Statue Honors Fallen Heroes.\"\r  Army News Service.  6 January 2004.   Miles, Donna.  \"Memorial to Honor Fallen Task Force Ironhorse Troops.\"\r  American Forces Press Service.  20 February 2004.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1zB7n8GYVskcOaLkQnlzJUh7cU1EG_Izr"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=11mmsDa1dQqW0-pwJlvo1u4uW-dSITjJx"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_228","claim":"Are Electric Vehicles and Batteries Bad for the Environment?","posted":"03\/28\/2022","sci_digest":["We broke the viral Facebook post down claim by claim."],"justification":"In mid-March 2022, a widely circulated meme was sent to our editorial team for investigation, which we determined contains a mixture of true, false, and unproven claims. In a nutshell, the post argued that eco-friendly electric vehicles (EVs) were bad for the environment, and presented several vague, unsupported facts in an attempt to bolster the argument.  The Facebook post we received appeared to have started circulating online on March 12, 2022. The fact-checking website Lead Stories located a complete version of the post, which we have archived.  Lead Stories complete version archived   The entirety of the post is too long to share here, but we have broken out its primary claims below. For help evaluating them, we spoke with Elena Krieger, director of research at PSE Healthy Energy, a multidisciplinary research and policy institute focused on the adoption of evidence-based energy policy. entirety of the post Elena Krieger It is true that batteries store electricity produced elsewhere, but what that electricity is generated by depends on the electric grid that the battery is connected to. (For more background on this, read \"Energy Storage: How It Works and Its Role in an Equitable Clean Energy Future,\" by the Union of Concerned Scientists.)  Energy Storage: California has specifically designed its Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) to encourage charging at times when grid emissions are low, pointed out Krieger. As Jeff St. John wrote in an article for Green Tech Media, the goal of projects like SGIP are to incentivize power-producing technologies that contribute less to greenhouse gas emissions, such as solar or wind, than fossil fuels do. There are controversies with the technology, such as concerns that natural-gas-fueled generators used werent reducing the consumption of fossil fuels. SGIP encourage charging Green Tech Media Battery facilities also allow for power from renewable sources to be produced when the wind is blowing windmills or the sun is shining on solar panels before being stored for later use during times of high consumption. allow An electric vehicle has zero tailpipe emissions, noted Krieger. However, emissions from both greenhouse gases and health-damaging air pollutants throughout the course of the vehicles use depend on how and where the vehicle is produced, what electricity is used to charge the vehicle, and how the vehicle is disposed of. Union of Concerned Scientists analyzed data from 2018 and affirmed that EVs produce significantly fewer emissions than gasoline: affirmed Based on where EVs have been sold, driving the average EV produces global warming pollution equal to a gasoline vehicle that gets 88 miles per gallon (mpg) fuel economy. Thats significantly better than the most efficient gasoline car (58 mpg) and far cleaner than the average new gasoline car (31 mpg) or truck (21 mpg) sold in the US. And our estimate for EV emissions is almost 10 percent lower than our previous estimate two years ago. Now 94 percent of people in the US live where driving an EV produces less emissions than using a 50 mpg gasoline car. almost 10 percent lower than our previous estimate two years ago Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EPA) show that 22% of electricity generated in the U.S. was from coal plants in 2021, up from 19% the year before, so the first part of this statement is incorrect, explained Krieger. Data The second part implies that the generation is proportional to vehicle charging. This assumption may be invalid for two reasons: 1) EV adoption is very high in places like California, which has minimal coal in its power mix, and 2) it depends on when the vehicles are charged, and which power plants dominate at the time the vehicles are charged. It is true that there are rechargeable and single-use batteries, both of which contain toxic materials of varying degrees. No technology is zero impact, but some battery chemistries use fewer toxic materials than others. For example, Tesla is phasing out cobalt from its batteries, albeit likely due to outside pressure, because cobalt is often mined by children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). More on that below, explained Krieger.  phasing out It is estimated that more than 70% of the worlds cobalt is produced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Foreign-owned firms, primarily Chinese, account for about 60% of global cobalt demand to be used in the rechargeable battery industry to be used in cars and electronic devices. Cobalt mining does come with environmental complications that may outweigh its use in rechargeable electronics. The nonpartisan research group Wilson Center reports that quick cobalt extraction contributes to global warming, while mining operations generate incredibly high carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide emissions, both of which can contribute to the greenhouse effect. 60% of global cobalt reports contribute to the greenhouse effect Human rights groups have documented severe human rights issues in mining operations, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. It is estimated that of the 255,000 Congolese mining for cobalt, 40,000 are children. Council on Foreign Relations estimated Cobalt increases battery life and has been a popular choice for EV batteries, but the U.S. Geological Survey notes that the mineral is also used in a plethora of other goods, including airbags, petroleum and chemical industries, paints, varnishes, dyes, and magnets, among many other goods and processes.  popular choice notes Snopes spoke with Brandon Baxley, an LA-based engineer and physicists, who said that Einsteins formula is not the best concept to apply in this case.  Einsteins formula is more about how much total possible energy can be extracted from mass like, for example, in a nuclear explosion. It isnt relevant to something like this, said Baxley. If [the original poster] is referencing Einsteins formula, that means they arent entirely clear on the physics of the theory.  However, that doesnt mean the argument is entirely incorrect. Baxley noted that in this case, the theory of kinetic energy is a more appropriate concept. This follows that it would take the same amount of energy to move two vehicles of equal weight regardless of whether they are powered by gas or electricity  Over the last four decades, the average weight of a vehicle in the U.S. has increased from about 3,200 pounds to nearly 4,200 pounds for a variety of reasons, one of which is due to heavier battery packs in electric vehicles, according to a 2020 report by the EPA. Heavier vehicles require more energy to move than lower-weighted vehicles, but weight is just one component in addition to other factors like velocity and speed.  EPA I assume nickel-metal oxide is meant to refer to nickel-metal hydride, which is common in older Priuses. Nickel-cadmium batteries were common for small electronics but aren't used in cars or laptops or anything and are less common now. Lead-acid batteries, such as those used to start most cars, are also rechargeable. Nearly all lead-acid batteries are recycled, although it's worth noting these facilities aren't always safely managed, explained Kireger. Nearly all See, for example, the Excide plant in LA that was polluting a largely low-income Latino community for decades. Lithium-ion batteries are currently recycled at a low rate, largely because it is cheaper to make new batteries than recycle old ones, although there are a lot of start-ups working in this space (e.g. Redwood Materials, founded by former Tesla CTO). This is an area that needs additional funding, research, and regulations. polluting Redwood Materials Krieger explained that many batteries self-discharge at some rate (some higher than others), meaning that if a battery is left unused for a long period of time, it will likely have a lower state of charge over time. She furthered:  The \"ruined flashlight\" sounds like some kind of side-reaction occurred over time, likely producing materials that put stress on the battery and caused it to rupture, leaking out battery acid that damaged the surrounding casement. In terms of batteries being \"run down,\" typically a battery is considered \"dead\" when it hits some threshold where the voltage of the battery drops below a certain level. The poster is correct that you could theoretically drain a battery even more if you hooked it up to a circuit. The battery isn't exactly \"leaking\" electricity to the outside. It is likely undergoing additional electrochemical reactions that, ideally, wouldn't occur. I think what typically comes out is the electrolyte, not the electrode materials, since the electrolyte is more likely to be a liquid. You certainly shouldn't touch the electrolyte. It's often acidic. In Oakland, at least, you're not supposed to throw batteries in trash; you're supposed to put them in a separate bag on your trash can so that the hazardous waste can be managed properly and not just thrown in a landfill. I do agree that you shouldn't just throw a lithium-ion battery in a landfill. Ideally, we learn low-energy and cost-effective ways to recycle them all. Lead-acid batteries, as noted, are usually recycled, and I think that is promising for our ability to manage the future lithium-ion battery waste stream.  Getty Images  This point is part of the continued debate over whether renewable energies like solar panels and wind turbines can be considered green as they require extractive resources to build, many of which can be harmful to human health.  debate  solar panels Silicon derived from quartz is the primary material used in the production of solar cells, a process that produces greenhouse gas emissions and requires manufacturers to handle toxic chemicals. Solar panels can also be sourced and made from a variety of materials, including silicon-based panels, gallium arsenide, cadmium-telluride (often referred to as \"thin film\", etc.  primary material These aren't usually all made at once (except in relatively rare multi-junction cells); instead, most manufacturers make silicon cells, and some others use other semiconductors such as cadmium telluride. Some parts of these are recycled, some aren't. The production process, like any materials processing, does need to be conducted in a way that protects environmental and human health, said Kreiger.  recycled The EPA notes that many of the materials are easily recyclable, including glass (about 75% of a solar panel), the aluminum frame, copper wire, and plastic junction box. Toxic chemicals, including cadmium, may also be present in solar panels that can make recycling more difficult. Even so, at least one U.S. manufacturer runs dedicated recycling facilities that recover semiconductor material like cadmium and tellurium.  notes The cited windmill is also slightly off and depends on the size and model the a turbine in question. For example, the Haliade-X turbine, which is among the largest in production, caps out to just over 900 tons. Wind turbines last an average of 25 years and about 85% of component materials  including steel, copper wire, electronics, and gearing  can be recycled, according to an article published by the Union of Concerned Scientists. As of this writing, it is true that used blades cannot be recycled. It is also true that windmills are energy intensive and that the blades are largely not recyclable. As we have previously reported, some windmills may not recoup their energy-construction costs, but it is untrue to say that no windmills will generate as much energy as was invested in building them. In some cases, a well-situated windmill could pay back the energy costs in under three years.  Haliade-X turbine 900 tons article cannot be recycled blades are largely not recyclable may not recoup their energy-construction costs generate well-situated windmill The question is: how long must a windmill generate energy before it creates more energy than it took to build it? At a good wind site, the energy payback day could be in three years or less; in a poor location, energy payback may be never, wrote earth scientist David Hughes in his 2009 book, Carbon Shift: How Peak Oil and the Climate Crisis Will Change Canada (and Our Lives).  Data in the meme appears to be quoted from the Tesla website (900 pounds, 6,831 cells; this is old and likely varies by model). As Krieger notes, its difficult to generalize the weight and amount of materials in any given EV as each manufacturer uses a different chemistry and the chemistries are constantly changing. website A 2021 article published in Nature suggested that many EV batteries contain eight kilograms of lithium, 35 kilograms of nickel, 20 kilograms of manganese, and 14 kilograms of cobalt  but many companies are moving away from cobalt or advancing various technologies and the usage of certain materials. Nature  An aerial view of Moss Landing in California with the power plant pictured in the center. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Digital Visual Library  U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Digital Visual Library It appears that the original poster is referencing the Moss Landing battery project that replaced an old gas plant. Currently, it measures 400 megawatts, and operators are considering doubling it. Exactly what that expansion looks like remains to be determined.  battery project that While some of the power charging this facility might come from solar and wind, there's no guarantee it will do so. It just charges and discharges from the grid. It might charge more with solar, since we're starting to see a surplus in the middle of the day, and it might help integrate wind power, and it might do other things like help limit the need for gas plants to ramp up quickly to meet the evening peak, explained Krieger. In short, the post claiming that EVs are no better for the environment than other energy sources is a form of copypasta in which social media users copy and paste content without verifying the claims made within it. A look through social media confirmed that the uncited facts had been reposted numerous times. While there are elements of truth to the post, it largely overgeneralizes the science behind batteries and EVs and does not list sources to verify the claims. As such, we have rated this claim as a Mixture.  copypasta A Bit About Batteries. 30 Nov. 2006, https:\/\/www.tesla.com\/pt_PT\/blog\/bit-about-batteries. Are Electric Vehicles Really Better for the Climate? Yes. Heres Why. The Equation, 11 Feb. 2020, https:\/\/blog.ucsusa.org\/dave-reichmuth\/are-electric-vehicles-really-better-for-the-climate-yes-heres-why\/. Are Solar Panels Toxic or Bad For the Environment? | EnergySage. Solar News, 1 Feb. 2018, https:\/\/news.energysage.com\/solar-panels-toxic-environment\/. Are Windmill Turbine Blades Buried in Wyoming Landfill? Snopes.Com, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/wind-turbine-blades-landfills\/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Author: Elena Krieger, PhD. PSE | Physicians, Scientists, and Engineers for Healthy Energy, https:\/\/www.psehealthyenergy.org\/about\/staff\/elena-krieger\/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Calma, Justine. Tesla to Make EV Battery Cathodes without Cobalt. The Verge, 22 Sept. 2020, https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2020\/9\/22\/21451670\/tesla-cobalt-free-cathodes-mining-battery-nickel-ev-cost. Castelvecchi, Davide. Electric Cars and Batteries: How Will the World Produce Enough? Nature, vol. 596, no. 7872, Aug. 2021, pp. 33639. www.nature.com, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/d41586-021-02222-1. Cobalt Use in Batteries - Google Search. https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=cobalt+use+in+batteries&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS910US910&oq=cobalt+use+in+batteries&aqs=chrome.0.0i512j0i22i30l5.2996j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Copypasta. Snopes.com, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/collections\/copypasta\/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Could Anti-Solar Panels Use Deep Space to Generate Power at Night? Snopes.Com, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/anti-solar-panels-night-power\/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Cutting the Carbon From Californias Self-Generation Incentive Program | GTM Squared. https:\/\/www.greentechmedia.com\/squared\/dispatches-from-the-grid-edge\/cutting-the-carbon-from-californias-self-generation-incentive-program. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Did California Tell Residents Not To Charge Electric Cars Due to Power Shortage? Snopes.Com, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/california-electric-cars-charge\/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Did Total Collapse in Wind and Solar Energy Leave Germany in Need of Coal-Fired Power? Snopes.Com, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/total-collapse-wind-solar-germany\/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Do Windmills Consume More Energy to Build Than They Ever Produce? Snopes.Com, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/wind-idiot-power\/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Does Antarctica Have Functioning Wind Turbines? Snopes.Com, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/wind-turbines-antarctica\/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Electricity Data Browser. https:\/\/www.eia.gov\/electricity\/data\/browser\/#\/topic\/0?agg=2,0,1&fuel=vtvv&geo=g&sec=g&linechart=ELEC.GEN.ALL-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.COW-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.NG-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.NUC-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.HYC-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.WND-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.TSN-US-99.A&columnchart=ELEC.GEN.ALL-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.COW-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.NG-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.NUC-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.HYC-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.WND-US-99.A&map=ELEC.GEN.ALL-US-99.A&freq=A&ctype=linechart&ltype=pin&rtype=s&maptype=0&rse=0&pin=. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Expansion Plan to Take Worlds Biggest Battery Storage Project to 3GWh Capacity. Energy Storage News, 25 Jan. 2022, https:\/\/www.energy-storage.news\/expansion-plan-to-take-worlds-biggest-battery-storage-project-to-3gwh-capacity\/. Fact Check: Electric Vehicles DO Pollute -- But Engineers Are Reducing Impacts | Lead Stories. https:\/\/leadstories.com\/hoax-alert\/2022\/03\/fact-check-electric-vehicles-do-pollute-but-engineers-are-reducing-impacts.html. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Gaines, Linda. The Future of Automotive Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling: Charting a Sustainable Course. Sustainable Materials and Technologies, vol. 12, Dec. 2014, pp. 27. ScienceDirect, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.susmat.2014.10.001. Governor Proposes $454 Million to Clean up Exide Battery Recycling Plant. Daily News, 18 May 2021, https:\/\/www.dailynews.com\/2021\/05\/17\/governor-proposes-454-million-to-clean-up-exide-battery-recycling-plant. Gulley, Andrew L., et al. Chinas Domestic and Foreign Influence in the Global Cobalt Supply Chain. Resources Policy, vol. 62, Aug. 2019, pp. 31723. DOI.org (Crossref), https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.resourpol.2019.03.015. How Energy Storage Works | Union of Concerned Scientists. https:\/\/www.ucsusa.org\/resources\/how-energy-storage-works. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Katz, Cheryl. The Batteries That Could Make Fossil Fuels Obsolete. https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/future\/article\/20201217-renewable-power-the-worlds-largest-battery. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. New Data Show Electric Vehicles Continue to Get Cleaner. The Equation, 8 Mar. 2018, https:\/\/blog.ucsusa.org\/dave-reichmuth\/new-data-show-electric-vehicles-continue-to-get-cleaner\/. Redwood Materials. Redwood Materials, https:\/\/www.redwoodmaterials.com. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Self-Generation Incentive Program. https:\/\/www.cpuc.ca.gov\/industries-and-topics\/electrical-energy\/demand-side-management\/self-generation-incentive-program. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. The DRC Mining Industry: Child Labor and Formalization of Small-Scale Mining | Wilson Center. https:\/\/www.wilsoncenter.org\/blog-post\/drc-mining-industry-child-labor-and-formalization-small-scale-mining. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. https:\/\/www.wilsoncenter.org\/blog-post\/drc-mining-industry-child-labor-and-formalization-small-scale-mining. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. The Greenhouse Effect | Center for Science Education. https:\/\/scied.ucar.edu\/learning-zone\/how-climate-works\/greenhouse-effect. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. US EPA, OLEM. Solar Panel Recycling. 23 Aug. 2021, https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/hw\/solar-panel-recycling. Vries, Eize de. Haliade-X Uncovered: GE Aims for 14MW. https:\/\/www.windpowermonthly.com\/article\/1577816?utm_source=website&utm_medium=social. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Haliade-X Uncovered: GE Aims for 14MW. https:\/\/www.windpowermonthly.com\/article\/1577816?utm_source=website&utm_medium=social. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Were Frozen Wind Turbines in Texas a Major Factor in Power Outages? Snopes.Com, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/wind-turbines-texas-power-outages\/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Why Cobalt Mining in the DRC Needs Urgent Attention. Council on Foreign Relations, https:\/\/www.cfr.org\/blog\/why-cobalt-mining-drc-needs-urgent-attention. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Wind Turbine Blades Dont Have To End Up In Landfills. The Equation, 30 Oct. 2020, https:\/\/blog.ucsusa.org\/james-gignac\/wind-turbine-blades-recycling\/.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1qQUliTEGMknW2hAfBpH7Kt9WSEsTikvq","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1bsRTcChr3Aa0v9wXZTlDNLmVSVW7SgFh","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1QSPAk5b3IjWpkEiPJQO3icrKYfp184au","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_229","claim":"Did Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Other Tech Billionaire Parents Advocate Limiting Children's Technology Use?","posted":"08\/30\/2018","sci_digest":["A number of tech billionaires seemingly agree on at least one piece of parenting advice: Limit your children's use of technology."],"justification":"In August 2018, a number of social media users came across an image offering a purported newspaper clipping of an article entitled \"Tech Billionaire Parenting\" and wondered if the article, as well as the information contained within it, was genuine: image   This image presents a slightly paraphrased version of an article written by Alice Thomson entitled \"Help Kids to Kick Social Media Addiction\" which was published in The Times of London in March 2018, the original text of which read as follows: The Times The philanthropist Melinda Gates told me the same. Her children dont have smartphones and only use a computer in the kitchen. Her husband Bill, the Microsoft co-founder, spends hours in his office reading books while everyone else is refreshing their homepage. The most sought-after private school in Silicon Valley, the Waldorf School of the Peninsula, bans technical devices for the under-11s and teaches the children of eBay, Apple, Uber and Google staff to make go-karts, knit and cook. Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg wants his daughters to read Dr Seuss books and play outside rather than use Messenger Kids. Steve Jobss children had strict limits on how much technology they used at home. Its astonishing if you think about it: the more money you make out of the tech industry, the more you appear to shield your family from its effects. The general theme of this article, that several prominent tech billionaires advocated limiting their children's use of technology, is accurate and supported by various interviews and articles. Our only quibble is with the claim that Bill and Melinda Gates' children don't currently have smartphones. As far as we can tell, the Microsoft moguls didn't allow their children to possess smartphones of their own until they reached the age of 14, but as of this writing Jennifer, Rory, and Phoebe Gates are all now over the age of 14. In a June 2018 interview with The Mirror, Bill Gates explained some of his parental rules when it came to technology use by his children: The Mirror We often set a time after which there is no screen time and in their case that helps them get to sleep at a reasonable hour. Youre always looking at how it can be used in a great way  homework and staying in touch with friends  and also where it has gotten to excess. We dont have cellphones at the table when we are having a meal, we didnt give our kids cellphones until they were 14 and they complained other kids got them earlier. Melinda Gates also penned an op-ed for the Washington Post in August 2017 in which she warned about putting a computer in a child's pocket at too early of an age. Gates seemed to acknowledge that her children had cellphones at the time but said that she \"probably would have waited longer\" if she had the chance to do it again: Washington Post Still, as a mother who wants to make sure her children are safe and happy, I worry. And I think back to how I might have done things differently. Parents should decide for themselves what works for their family, but I probably would have waited longer before putting a computer in my childrens pockets. Phones and apps arent good or bad by themselves, but for adolescents who dont yet have the emotional tools to navigate lifes complications and confusions, they can exacerbate the difficulties of growing up: learning how to be kind, coping with feelings of exclusion, taking advantage of freedom while exercising self-control. Its more important than ever to teach empathy from the very beginning, because our kids are going to need it. As for the remainder of the text at the head of this page, it appears wholly accurate. A number of Silicon Valley parents truly do send their children to the Waldorf School of the Peninsula, where an emphasis is placed on pen and paper rather than digital screens. News outlets such as the New York Times and the Guardian have reported on that school's technology policy in relation to the student body's connection to Silicon Valley: New York Times Guardian The chief technology officer of eBay sends his children to a nine-classroom school here. So do employees of Silicon Valley giants like Google, Apple, Yahoo and Hewlett-Packard. But the schools chief teaching tools are anything but high-tech: pens and paper, knitting needles and, occasionally, mud. Not a computer to be found. No screens at all. They are not allowed in the classroom, and the school even frowns on their use at home. Schools nationwide have rushed to supply their classrooms with computers, and many policy makers say it is foolish to do otherwise. But the contrarian point of view can be found at the epicenter of the tech economy, where some parents and educators have a message: computers and schools dont mix. This is the Waldorf School of the Peninsula, one of around 160 Waldorf schools in the country that subscribe to a teaching philosophy focused on physical activity and learning through creative, hands-on tasks. Those who endorse this approach say computers inhibit creative thinking, movement, human interaction and attention spans. The web site for the Waldorf School of the Peninsula also includes a page in which they describe their \"Media & Technology Philosophy\": page Waldorf educators believe it is far more important for students to interact with one another and their teachers, and work with real materials than to interface with electronic media or technology. By exploring the world of ideas, participating in the arts, music, movement and practical activities, children develop healthy, robust bodies, balanced and well-integrated brains, confidence in their real-world practical skills and strong executive-function capabilities. In the high school curriculum, Waldorf embraces technology in ways that enhance the learning process, by using it as a tool, rather than replace the role of the teacher. Students quickly master technology, and many Waldorf graduates have gone on to successful careers in the computer industry. The claim that \"Steve Jobss children had strict limits on how much technology they used at home\" is supported by a 2014 New York Times article which labeled the Apple founder a low-tech parent: article [N]othing shocked me more than something Mr. Jobs said to me in late 2010 after he had finished chewing me out for something I had written about an iPad shortcoming. So, your kids must love the iPad? I asked Mr. Jobs, trying to change the subject. The companys first tablet was just hitting the shelves. They havent used it, he told me. We limit how much technology our kids use at home. Im sure I responded with a gasp and dumbfounded silence. I had imagined the Jobss household was like a nerds paradise: that the walls were giant touch screens, the dining table was made from tiles of iPads and that iPods were handed out to guests like chocolates on a pillow. Nope, Mr. Jobs told me, not even close. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's reported desire to have his daughter read Dr. Seuss and play outside comes from an open letter he wrote after the birth of his second daughter in August 2017: letter But rather than write about growing up, we want to talk about childhood. The world can be a serious place. Thats why its important to make time to go outside and play. You will be busy when youre older, so I hope you take time to smell all the flowers and put all the leaves you want in your bucket now. I hope you read your favorite Dr. Seuss books so many times you start inventing your own stories about the Vipper of Vipp. I hope you ride the carousel with Max until youve tamed every color horse. I hope you run as many laps around our living room and yard as you want. And then I hope you take a lot of naps. I hope youre a great sleeper. And I hope even in your dreams you can feel how much we love you. Gates, Melinda.  \"Melinda Gates: I Spent My Career in Technology. I Wasnt Prepared for Its Effect on My Kids.\"\r  The Washington Post.  24 August 2017. Richtel, Matt.  \"A Silicon Valley School That Doesn't Compute.\"\r  The New York Times.  22 October 2011. Bilton, Nick.  \"Steve Jobs Was a Low-Tech Parent.\"\r  The New York Times.  10 September 2014. Jenkin, Matthew.  \"Tablets Out, Imagination In: The Schools That Shun Technology.\"\r  The Guardian.  2 December 2015. Abramson, Alana.  \"'Childhood Is Magical.' Read the Letter Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan Wrote to Their Baby Daughter.\"\r  Fortune.  28 August 2017. Stillman, Jessica.  \"Why Steve Jobs and Bill Gates Both Severely Limited Their Kids' Tech Use.\"\r  Inc.  29 October 2017.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1c5EGZkHxVuZNndx1EXsIZzEozN2r0A5_","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_230","claim":"It costs nearly five times as much in California to build and maintain a mile of road as it does in the rest of the nation.","posted":"11\/01\/2017","sci_digest":[],"justification":"It's not cheap to build anything in California. Land and labor are expensive, and the state has some of the strictest environmental permitting rules anywhere. These factors all drive up the cost of building homes, stores, and even roads. Republican candidate for governor John Cox has pledged that, if elected, he'll hack through California's thicket of regulations in an effort to reduce expenses. Specifically, Cox wants to reform the California Department of Transportation, or Caltrans, an agency he has described as overstaffed and wasteful. Recently, he claimed Caltrans spends an exorbitant amount to build and maintain each mile of roadway compared with other states. It costs nearly five times as much in California to build and maintain a mile of road as it does in the rest of the nation, Cox said in an interview published on the Political Vanguard website on Oct. 19, 2017. Cox made a similar claim in a San Francisco Chronicle op-ed on Oct. 18, 2017: California spends 4.7 times the national average for every mile of roadway we build and maintain, according to the Competitive Enterprise Institute. CEI is a libertarian think tank that sourced the statistic to the Reason Foundation, another free-market think tank. Following both statements, Cox went on to advocate for greater reliance on private construction to reduce expenses. There\u2019s a debate about why it\u2019s so expensive to build roads in California, but we\u2019re not fact-checking that debate. Instead, we\u2019re zeroing in on Cox\u2019s specific claims that California's road spending is nearly five times per mile compared with other states. Background on John Cox On his campaign website, Cox describes himself as a Jack Kemp-style Republican who grew up on Chicago's South Side. Today, he's a San Diego businessman who founded an organization that repairs the homes of low-income seniors and individuals with disabilities. His priorities, as listed on his website, include lowering California's taxes and fighting the influence of special interests. Cox is the chairman of Give Voters a Voice, an effort to repeal California's recent gas tax increase, which was signed into law this year to raise money for road repairs. The increase includes a 12-cent per gallon gasoline tax increase, which went into effect this week. Our research We asked Cox\u2019s campaign for evidence supporting his claims. It pointed to recent reports by the Reason Foundation, which studies transportation spending. In 2013, the foundation published its 20th Annual Report on the Performance of State Highway Systems. That report shows California spent nearly $680,000 per mile in 2009 on roadways. That was 4.7 times as much as the national average of approximately $144,000 per mile spent in other states. That matches Cox\u2019s claim of nearly five times as much. But our research shows, and Cox\u2019s campaign has acknowledged, the information from 2009 is outdated. An updated 2016 Reason Foundation study shows California spent about $420,000 per mile in 2013 compared with the national average spending of about $160,000 per mile in the same year. That data places California's spending at about 2.5 times the national average, far less than Cox\u2019s claims. We asked Cox\u2019s staff about the discrepancy. David Kersten, a policy analyst with the campaign, said the candidate didn\u2019t have the most up-to-date figures. When he wrote that (San Francisco Chronicle) op-ed, he didn\u2019t have that new number, Kersten told us in an interview. Everybody was using the older report. Matt Shupe, Cox\u2019s campaign spokesman, said he and Kersten would update Cox on the new figure and use it in future statements. High admin costs Cox\u2019s staff noted that one category of California's road spending, administrative costs, totals nearly five times as much as the national average, even in the 2016 report. We checked, and the report does show that, though Cox\u2019s staffers acknowledged that\u2019s not the same statement the candidate made in the op-ed or in his Political Vanguard interview and at the center of this fact check. Caltrans, the agency targeted by Cox, disagrees with the methodology of the Reason Foundation studies. A Caltrans spokesman said much of the study's roadway data is from local streets and roads not built or maintained by the state. The spokesman also noted that California's state roadways are larger and more congested than in other states, making them more expensive to build and maintain. Representatives for the Reason Foundation did not respond to our interview requests. Our ruling Republican candidate for governor John Cox recently claimed it costs nearly five times as much in California to build and maintain a mile of road as it does in the rest of the nation. A study using 2009 data shows California spent 4.7 times as much per mile as the national average on roads. Updated data from 2013 shows the state's spending is still far above the national average at about 2.5 times the cost per mile, but far lower than Cox\u2019s figure. Cox\u2019s campaign staff told us the candidate relied on outdated information and would be updating this figure in future statements. While the candidate's larger point about higher road spending in California appears to be correct, his specific claim about it being nearly five times as much per mile is outdated and wrong. We rate it False. FALSE The statement is not accurate. Click here for more on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check. Governor's race John Cox is among several candidates competing to succeed Jerry Brown in the 2018 California governor's race. Others include Republican state Assemblyman Travis Allen, Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, California Treasurer John Chiang, Delaine Eastin, the state's former superintendent for public instruction, and Gavin Newsom, the state's current lieutenant governor. PolitiFact California is fact-checking claims in this race. See our Tracking The Truth governor's race fact-checks here. Tracking the Truth: Hear a claim you want fact-checked? Email us at [email protected], tweet us @CAPolitiFact, or contact us on Facebook.","issues":["State Budget","States","The 2018 California Governor's Race","Transportation","California"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1KVPgxFg0c6tZtiYtVa1iI1JJjvQo9OvJ","image_caption":"San Francisco Chronicle"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_231","claim":"Is This Viral List of U.S. Government Emergency Aid Sent to Puerto Rico Accurate?","posted":"10\/02\/2017","sci_digest":["Some social media posts defending the Trump administration's relief efforts in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria strayed into fictional territory."],"justification":"In the wake of public criticism of the Trump administration's response to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in late 2017, which was deemed \"inadequate\" among other things, a post widely shared via social media endeavored to make the opposite case, namely that President Trump deployed a massive amount of government assets to address the disaster. President Trump has dispatched 140 helicopters, 28 ships, 6 Army field hospitals, 3 Navy Seabee Battalions, 5 US Army Combat Engineer Battalions, 3 Civil Affairs battalions, and 2 Nuclear Submarines capable of generating 2.8 Gigawatts of power, and released 300,000 tons of food, medical supplies, and water from military stocks. We were unable to trace the figures to any official source, nor do we know who compiled them. However, based on actual facts and figures shared by FEMA and the Department of Defense (DoD), we can say that the stated numbers range from inflated to downright fictional. \n\nRegarding the claim of 140 helicopters, based on statements from the United States Department of Defense, dozens of helicopters have been deployed to Puerto Rico, though the actual number is far less than 140. On 27 September, the same day the meme began circulating, the DoD announced an \"acceleration\" of Puerto Rico relief efforts, including the deployment of the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp, whose complement of rotary-wing aircraft would bring the total number of helicopters in use there to 52. \n\nAs for the claim of 28 ships, by our count, using figures released by the DoD and U.S. Coast Guard, the total number of U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships deployed to Puerto Rico is 18, though an unknown number of non-military ships are also in use. Counting the USNS Comfort, a 1,000-bed hospital ship scheduled to dock in the disaster zone on 4 October, the arrival of the USS Wasp will bring the total number of U.S. Navy ships deployed to five, including the USS Kearsarge and USS Oak Hill, both conducting search and rescue flights, aerial damage assessments, logistics support, and route clearance on and around the island, as well as the SS Wright, tasked with delivering 1.1 million meals and one million liters of water. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, 13 of its cutters have been performing search and rescue missions and delivering supplies. An unspecified number of commercial ships are also participating in the aid effort. \n\nRegarding the claim of 6 Army field hospitals, we have found no evidence, either in press reports or statements from DoD or FEMA, that Army field hospitals are in use in Puerto Rico. However, that doesn't mean no medical help is being supplied. Emergency medical services are being provided not by Army field hospitals, but by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) personnel assigned to support the efforts of doctors at fully or partially functional hospitals around Puerto Rico, as well as five \"federal medical stations\" set up near those facilities. \n\nThe claim of 3 Navy Seabee Battalions, 5 US Army Combat Engineer Battalions, and 3 Civil Affairs battalions is true. According to press reports, there are Seabees and members of the Army Corps of Engineers now on the ground in Puerto Rico, but we've seen no announcements supporting the numbers specified above. Although DoD officials have not released a breakdown of the various military forces thus far deployed to Puerto Rico, Gov. Ricardo Rossello stated that there were roughly 7,200 U.S. military personnel on the ground as of 2 October, according to a DoD press release, in addition to an estimated 3,000 non-military federal employees, for a total of more than 10,000 government workers involved in relief efforts. \n\nThe claim of 2 Nuclear Submarines is false. It is not the case that two nuclear submarines were sent to provide emergency electricity to Puerto Ricans. A reported 95 percent of the island's 3.4 million inhabitants were still without power as of 2 October, according to local officials. FEMA reported distributing and setting up more than 300 emergency generators since the disaster, but most of that effort was devoted to restoring power to hospitals and other critical facilities. Using nuclear submarines to supply emergency power in disaster areas has been proposed but never tried. In 1982, the USS Indianapolis was deployed to Kauai, Hawaii, in the aftermath of Hurricane Iwa, a solution both Navy and civilian officials said would have been technically feasible, though the plan was ultimately abandoned in favor of using a portable generator to \"jump start\" the island's main power plant. No such \"nuclear option\" has been proposed in the case of Puerto Rico. \n\nThe claim of deploying 300,000 tons of food, medical supplies, and water is true. We have not found the above (or any) overall total tonnage stated in any official sources, but vast amounts of food and supplies have either arrived or are on their way to Puerto Rico. According to FEMA, more than two million meals and 2.5 million liters of water have reached the island and been distributed, along with medical equipment, generators, gasoline, and other supplies, with more coming. For more information, see FEMA's daily-updated overview of federal government efforts on behalf of the citizens of Puerto Rico.","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1SHq2Y371SccGpwmf-Zmh-M8p0v8GIuJ5","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_232","claim":"Since that famous day in February where the governor campaigned with Barack Obama on behalf of the stimulus program, 211,000 Floridians have lost their jobs.","posted":"03\/28\/2010","sci_digest":[],"justification":"You knew it wouldn't take long for the hug to get some love during Sunday's debate between Republicans Marco Rubio and Charlie Crist. Minutes into the 40-minute Florida Senate Showdown, Rubio made a case that he'll stand up to President Barack Obama's agenda and Crist won't.Everyone knows that you won't stand up to the Obama agenda because just a year ago you were campaigning for it, the former House speaker said, referring to Feb. 10, 2009, when Crist embraced the president at a Fort Myers campaign event for the federal stimulus package.We've fact-checked several claims about Crist's support for the stimulus. Indeed, he earned a Pants on Fire rating for sayinghe didn't endorse it.So it was a Rubio comment later in the program that drew our attention.FOX News Sundayhost Chris Wallace asked Rubio, Why is $8 billion and 87,000 jobs bad for a state that has 12 percent unemployment?Well ... if it's bad for America, it can't possibly be good for your state, Rubio said. Let me tell you why the stimulus has failed. The stimulus has failed because since that famous day in February where the governor campaigned with Barack Obama on behalf of the stimulus program, 211,000 Floridians have lost their jobs.211,000 is a big number, so we wanted to check Rubio's facts.Conveniently, the state'sAgency for Workforce Innovationreleased areporton state employment figures just two days before the debate. In it, Florida's record 12.2 percent unemployment rate is announced, along with many statistics on the state's jobs picture, including year-over-year numbers from February 2009, the month Crist campaigned with Obama.The report shows Florida had 8,356,000 jobs in February 2009 and 8,125,000 in February 2010, the difference being 231,000. These are the seasonally adjusted numbers for the civilian population.However, if you look at seasonally adjusted nonagricultural employment --- a less-inclusive number --- you see the basis for Rubio's claim. There the job loss in a year's time is 211,500.It's the latter number that the Rubio campaign points to. Spokesman Alberto Martinez also shared a report from House Way and Means Republicans that seeks to highlight the stimulus as a job-killer, rather than a job creator, where Florida is said to have lost 240,400 jobs since the stimulus passed.Like any statistics, these are easily sliced and diced to make the key point. But Rubio is very close to the precise number, and in fact, he underestimates it slightly when his point is that Florida has lost a lot of jobs. So we rule this one True.","issues":["Economy","Stimulus","Florida"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_233","claim":"Foreign Room Service","posted":"02\/03\/2003","sci_digest":["Pronunciation problems plague exchange between traveler and room service in Far East hotel."],"justification":"Claim: Pronunciation problems plague exchanges between travelers and room service in Far East hotels. Example: [Collected via e-mail, 2003] This exchange between an English-speaking traveler and a member of the hotel staff in a Far East hotel was recorded in the \"Far-East Economic Review\" about five years ago. It may take you a while to fathom it all, but do try. Once you know what it is supposed to be, it really is hilarious! Room Service: Morny. Rune-sore-bees. Hotel Guest: Oh, sorry. I thought I dialed Room Service. Room Service: Rye, rune-sore-bees. Morny. Djewish to odor sunteen? Hotel Guest: Uh... yes. I'd like some bacon and eggs. Room Service: Ow July den? Hotel Guest: What? Room Service: Aches. Ow July den? Pry, boy, pooch...? Hotel Guest: Oh, the eggs! How do I like them? Sorry. Scrambled, please. Room Service: Ow July dee baycome? Crease? Hotel Guest: Crisp will be fine. Room Service: Hokay. An Santos? Hotel Guest: What? Room Service: Santos. July Santos? Hotel Guest: Ugh. I don't know... I don't think so. Room Service: No. Judo one toes? Hotel Guest: Look, I feel really bad about this, but I don't know what \"judo one toes\" means. I'm sorry. Room Service: Toes! Toes! Why djew Don Juan toes? Ow bow eenglish mopping we bother? Hotel Guest: English muffin! I've got it! You were saying toast! Fine. An English muffin will be fine. Room Service: We bother? Hotel Guest: No. Just put the butter on the side. Room Service: Wad? Hotel Guest: I'm sorry. I meant butter. Butter on the side. Room Service: Copy? Hotel Guest: I feel terrible about this but... Room Service: Copy. Copy, tea, mill... Hotel Guest: Coffee! Yes, coffee please. And that's all. Room Service: One Minnie. Ass rune torino fee, strangle aches, crease baycome, tossy cenglish mopping we bother honey sigh, and copy. Rye? Hotel Guest: Whatever you say. Room Service: Hokay. Tendjewberrymud. Hotel Guest: You're welcome. Origins: We've been seeing this exchange circulate on the Internet for several years, almost always baldly presented as a \"this really happened!\" tale, one replete with small touches indicating the action took place in a Far East hotel or that this account appeared as a news item in one periodical or another. Once again, a funny story penned by celebrated comic Shelley Berman has been dressed up to position it as a slice of real life. As Mr. Berman says on his website: \"The above dialogue never actually took place in any hotel anywhere in the world. It is an intentionally composed humorous fiction.\" If the name of Shelley Berman seems hauntingly familiar, it's likely because another of his works has also been bruited about the online world, the hilarious \"Hotel Soap.\" Hotel Soap Barbara \"room service with a smile\" Mikkelson Last updated: 17 December 2005 Sources: Berman, Shelley. A Hotel Is a Place. Los Angeles: Price\/Stern\/Sloan, 1972. ISBN 0-8431-10211-X. Berman, Shelley. A Hotel Is a Funny Place. Los Angeles: Price\/Stern\/Sloan, 1985. ISBN 0-8431-1418-5.","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1jjSOBu3fyaRxynNIZzX7l50zJLqzWlAf","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_234","claim":"Do Male Penguins Make 'Pebble Proposals' to Their Mates?","posted":"06\/01\/2016","sci_digest":["A social media factoid about penguin courtship and the \"perfect pebble\" does not quite reflect the birds' actual mating habits."],"justification":"A popular \"Did you know?\"-style assertion holds that penguin mating rituals closely mimic human courtship, in that the male's finding just the right symbolic gift to present to his female of choice is of the utmost importance: When a male penguin falls in love with a female penguin, he searches the entire beach to find the perfect pebble to present her. When he finally finds it, he waddles over to her and places the pebble right in front of her. It is like a proposal.  According to the story (which can be found on multiple amusing, if not very credible, fact-based social media accounts as well in the 2007 film Good Luck, Chuck), when male penguins fall in love, they search an entire beach for the \"perfect pebble.\" (No specific criteria determine what makes a pebble \"perfect\" by penguin standards, such as size or color.) After evaluating every pebble on the beach, the courting male penguin then lays the prize at the feet of his selected mate, a rite that is typically framed as an avian version of the human custom of engagement rings. Marine life theme park franchise SeaWorld maintains a virtual exhibit on penguins, part of which chronicles their mating habits. While pebbles do get a mention in that exhibit, it does not describe the stones' supposed perfection as having much to do with the process of wooing a mate: exhibit [Adlie penguins] build nests of small stones that they use to line depressions in the ground. Some chinstrap and gentoos also construct nests out of stones. The stones help keep the eggs above the surface when the rookery floods from melting snow. Adlie, gentoo, and chinstrap penguins are known to take stones from other nests. A penguin returning to the nest sometimes brings its mate a stone as a courtship gesture ... One medium-sized gentoo nest was composed of 1,700 pebbles and 70 molted tail feathers. According to SeaWorld, stones and pebbles are about as romantic as stucco or siding to various species of penguin, although they do seem to serve occasionally as practical gifts. Antarctic researcher Guillaume Dargaud (who says that he \"lived with penguins for more than a year\" but is \"no substitute for a real ornithologist\") addressed the rumor on his comprehensive page devoted to Adlie and Emperor penguins. Dargaud dismissed the rumor as a myth attached to the nest-building habits of Adlie penguins, opining that the collection of pebbles runs coincident with the mating process, but that any pebble would suffice for the purposes of mate evaluation: addressed Q: I heard that when Adelie penguins are choosing a mate the male searches for the perfect pebble and presents it to the one he wants as his mate. A: It's a myth based on the fact that Adelie penguins build nests out of pebbles. And they build the nest while they do the courting, so it's actually partly true. I guess a penguin who doesn't bring any pebble wouldn't stand a chance, but any pebble will do and both mates bring them in! We also contacted penguin expert Dyan DeNapoli for further clarification on the penguin pebble presentation rumor. DeNapoli explained that stones can play a role in the mating rites of penguins, but typically penguins aren't partial about what types of pebbles end up in their collections: Some, but not all, penguin species collect rocks for their nests. Of those that do, the purpose of the rock collecting is to build an elevated nest so the eggs and\/or chicks wont get wet or drown when it rains or when the snows melt. Some penguin species collect twigs and other plant materials, and the two largest penguin species  the King and the Emperor  dont build any nest at all. They carry and incubate their single egg on top of their feet. As for the searching the beach for the perfect rock, some penguins do seem to be selective in choosing rocks, and will trot off some distance in search of the right one. Other penguins, however, are quite content stealing rocks at random from neighboring nests. Theyre not usually very selective  its done very quickly before the neighbor returns to their nest. In most instances, the males arrives at the breeding colony before the females, and begin building their nests. Once the females have arrived though, both birds will often still do some nest building and maintenance. And there does seem to be a bonding aspect of presenting the rock to the mate  it is often accompanied by head bowing and shaking, as well as vocalizing  which are all bonding behaviors. DeNapoli confirmed that rocks are frequently gifted to mates but again didn't mention the lengthy \"perfect rock\" search central to the penguin courtship rumor. Courtship has been observed in penguins, but typically pebble presentation is not a significant part of it: \"Once a female chooses her mate, the pair will go through an important courtship ritual, in which the penguins bow, preen and call to each other. The ritual helps the birds get to know one another, and learn their respective calls so that they can always find each other.\" observed A 2013 Slate animal blog post examined whether the same Adlie penguins were some of the animal kingdom's most egregious sexual deviants, an observation similarly made through the lens of comparison with human habits: examined Shocking behavior isnt the sole province of marine mammals. One naturalist was so thoroughly disgusted with the sexual behaviors of Adlie penguins that his observations were hidden from view for almost a century. Known as Pygoscelis adeliae to scientists ... the Adlie penguin was one of the subjects that caught the attention of scientist George Murray Levick while he ventured to the South Pole with the 1910-13 Scott Antarctic Expedition ... the species shocked and horrified Levick so much so that his four-page report Sexual Habits of the Adlie Penguin was purposefully omitted from the official expedition findings and distributed only to a small group of researchers considered learned and discreet enough to handle the graphic content. While visiting Adlie penguins rookeries, Levick was shocked by the activities of what he called hooligan cocks. Males accosted and copulated with other males, females that were injured, chicks that had tumbled from their nests, and corpses. In desperation, some male Adlie penguins tried to mate with the ground until they ejaculated. Levick recorded these behaviors as aberrations from the norm of nature. There seems to be no crime too low for these penguins, he confided to his journal. Later researchers rediscovered what Levick had seen. Rather than being deviant, the behaviors were a regular part of penguin life, triggered by males associating a rather flexible interpretation of a females mating posture with receptiveness. As Natural History Museum, London ornithologist Douglas Russell and colleagues reported in a preface to Levicks belatedly-released report, this behavior is so ingrained that when a researcher set out a dead penguin that had been frozen in such a position, many males found the corpse irresistible. In a bit of weird field work, the same researcher found that just the frozen head of the penguin, with self-adhesive white Os for eye rings, propped upright on wire with a large rock for a body, was sufficient stimulus for males to copulate and deposit sperm on the rock. As Douglas and colleagues stressed in their preface to Levicks report, though, the behavior [displayed by hooligan males] is clearly not analogous to necrophilia in the human context. That fact can easily be lost when one is appalled by an animal acting out a human taboo. Levick was aghast because he viewed the penguins in human terms, as little gents and dames dressed to the nines, and applied sentiments about proper human behavior to the penguins (and vice versa). For if such awful displays occurred in nature, what might that say about our own actions? Slate's rehash wasn't the only less-than-romantic take on penguins' sex lives. A 1998 BBC article suggested that not all penguin partner pebble exchanges were quite so romantic: article Penguins are turning to prostitution. But instead of doing it for money, Antarctic dolly-birds are turning tricks to get rocks off their menfolk ... Stones are essential for penguins to build their nests. A shortage has led to the unorthodox tactics. \"Stones are the valuable currency in penguin terms,\" said Dr Fiona Hunter, a researcher in the Zoology Department at Cambridge University, who has spent five years observing the birds' mating patterns ... Prostitution is described as the world's oldest profession. But Dr Hunter is convinced it is the first time it has been seen in animals. All of the female penguins Dr Hunter observed trading sex for stones had partners ... Penguins stick to the same mate, she said, but none of the males twigged what was happening. \"There was no suspicion on the part of the males. Females quite often go off on their own to collect stones, so as far as the males are concerned there is no reason to suspect ... It tends to be females targeting single males, otherwise the partner female would beat the intruder up.\" On some occasions the prostitute penguins trick the males. They carry out the elaborate courtship ritual, which usually leads to mating. Having bagged their stone, they would then run off [Hunter] said she does not think the female penguins are doing it just for the stones. \"The female only takes one or two stones ... It takes hundreds to build the nest to get their eggs off the ground. I think what they are doing is having copulation for another reason and just taking the stones as well. We don't know exactly why, but they are using the males.\" It's human nature to anthropomorphize animals, and penguins are no exception. However, while penguins courtships are perhaps less human than once thought, they are no less interesting for it. Penguins are often observed deviating from expected sexual norms and even purportedly trade pebbles for sexual favors, but the primary purpose of exchanging pebbles and stones between penguins involves physical construction of a nest and not \"romance.\" And while female penguins may occasionally be picky about the nest-construction usefulness of certain proffered pebbles, that doesn't mean males regularly traverse entire beaches to ensure finding unspecified \"perfect pebbles\" for their beloved lady-penguins. Castro, Joseph.  \"Animal Sex: How Penguins Do It.\"\r  Live Science.  1 November 2013. Dargaud, Guillaume.  \"The Penguins FAQ.\"\r  Guillaume Dargaud.  23 June 2014. McKee, Maggie.  \"Mating in a Material World.\"\r  National Wildlife.  1 February 2005. Switek, Brian.  \"Sea Otters Are Jerks. So Are Dolphins, Penguins, And Other Adorable Animals.\"\r  Slate.  28 October 2013. BBC News.  \"Pick Up A Penguin.\"\r  26 February 1998. SeaWorld Animal InfoBooks.  \"Penguins: Reproduction.\"\r  Accessed 1 June 2016.","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1kM1icZwWv0v0S5ssGL9Fq_w26sIjlPD1","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_235","claim":"It has been reported that Governor John Kasich, a Republican candidate for president, has been out of state for a total of 177 days and has utilized $350,000 of taxpayer funds for his campaign expenses.","posted":"04\/19\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"In recent weeks, the national media has poked fun at John Kasich for chomping through Italian subs and pasta in the Bronx and eating pizza in Queens with a knife and fork. Back home, Ohio Democrats discussed something else: the governor's out-of-state travel and what it costs taxpayers in the only state he has won. The Ohio Democratic Party posted a graphic on its Facebook page on April 8, 2016, to bolster its complaint. Kasich's costly campaign, the image states, entails 177 days spent out of state and a tab of $350,000 for taxpayers. How did they calculate the days and dollars? We decided to look into it. The party's communications director, Kirstin Alvanitakis, pointed us to a March 26 Columbus Dispatch story reporting that Kasich has been out of state for at least 177 days as he pursued the presidency. The Dispatch tally includes days he spent exploring the bid before his official announcement on July 21, 2015. An Associated Press story contains the $350,000 figure. By law, a special unit within the state department of public safety is assigned to protect the governor, and nine state troopers guard him 24\/7. So when he goes to Mike's Deli, so do they. State funds from the public safety department's non-highway program, which includes the governor's security detail, are likely paying for rental cars, hotel rooms, flights, fuel, per diems, and overtime while Kasich crisscrosses the country chasing delegates. However, the Dispatch story describes how cagey state agencies are being with these specifics. Information that was public in the years before Kasich's run is now shielded. On payroll records, the governor's detail was previously listed as the executive protection unit. Officials told the Dispatch that this designation has been dropped to shield the troopers' identities. \"To ensure safety and security, we do not discuss any of the resources used as part of the executive security detail,\" is the response repeated by agency spokespersons and the governor's campaign staff alike. The Associated Press used another tool to approximate the cost: an interactive, searchable checkbook of state spending hosted on the website of Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel, part of his nationally recognized transparency initiative. We used the Ohio Checkbook to drill down into the data, which has been updated since the AP checked. Isolating the travel costs of the non-highway program, which currently shows expenditures from July 1, 2015, through February 2, 2016, the total now comes to $403,638. This chart shows how disproportionate the travel spending has been in 2016 so far compared to prior years. Most of the transactions shown through the Ohio Checkbook lack details (General Travel Expenses is a recurring line item), but there are some expenditures that coincide with Kasich's campaign stops. For instance, a batch of hotel rooms was booked over a series of days in December at the Wynn Las Vegas, the Renaissance Des Moines, the Doubletree Salt Lake City, and the Hampton Inn of Waterloo, all around the time last December when Kasich bounced from a debate in Nevada to a town hall in Iowa, to a fundraiser in Utah, and back to Iowa. It's not a staggering total, though some taxpayers might argue that $403,638 could be better spent on other state services. Kasich has dismissed any suggestions that he should drop out of the race before the Republican National Convention in July, which means the total taxpayer share from his campaign travel could continue to swell. (The average monthly spending from this fund in fiscal year 2016 is about $57,663. By comparison, $57,562 was the total spent in all of fiscal year 2014.) Other governors who ran for president have also left taxpayers with hefty bills. Chris Christie's security detail cost New Jersey taxpayers an estimated $614,000. Bobby Jindal racked up $400,000 in Louisiana during his considerably shorter run through November 2015. Wisconsin taxpayers paid Scott Walker's security team $577,000 in overtime alone before he dropped out in September 2015. Walker reimbursed about $260,000 to the state for expenses his campaign incurred. So far, the Kasich campaign has refused to disclose details about his security detail or its resources, or whether he similarly intends to give taxpayers a refund. We did not hear a response from Kasich's campaign or spokesman Rob Nichols. Our ruling: The Ohio Democratic Party stated that in 177 days on the campaign trail, Kasich's security detail cost taxpayers $350,000. Our analysis confirmed that $350,000 is most likely a conservative estimate. At the current rate, the total could be twice that by the RNC in July. Since neither state officials nor Kasich's camp will confirm any details on the governor's security, we have to rely on what we learned from the treasurer's open records data. We rate this claim True.","issues":["Ohio","Campaign Finance","Taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1UrCES4qsOKdiakn4H3OPm93DRanr7KlC","image_caption":"Columbus Dispatch"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1bZCqvCNUvZX7wSP8_ge-ORONEds51nXD","image_caption":"Dispatch"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_236","claim":"Fifty-one percent of our taxes are paid by 2% of New Yorkers.","posted":"01\/24\/2023","sci_digest":["The 2% of New York City tax filers with the highest incomes pay half of all of the citys collections of personal income taxes., There is no data to show how much these rich New Yorkers pay in other taxes, such as real estate or sales taxes., Personal income taxes represent 22% of city tax collections."],"justification":"On the Cats Roundtable, a radio show and podcast with businessman and political donor John Catsimatidis, New York City Mayor Eric Adams made a claim about the richest New Yorkers contributions to city coffers. Fifty-one percent of our taxes are paid by 2% of New Yorkers, Adams said. We must understand the role that high-income New Yorkers play in this city. And when I hear people totally attempting to say they dont play a significant role, that is just wrong, they do. Is Adams right? We reached out to his press secretary, Fabien Levy, who said Adams was talking specifically about personal income taxes. During the interview,Adams was not so precise.The mayor, however, has made that qualification when making this claim before, such as when he was running for officein 2021. This is what he said at afundraising appearance in October 2021: Yeah, were over 8 million people. But do you know 65,000 pay 51 percent of our income taxes? Levy provided previously unreleased data from the Mayors Office of Management and Budget, which showed that in 2020, the top 2.5% of city taxpayers, when ranked by income, paid 51.6% of the citys personal income tax collections. According to areportreleased in December 2022 from the citys Independent Budget Office, a publicly funded organization that provides nonpartisan information about city finances, in 2020, filers with annual gross income of $500,000 or more, representing 1.6% of all filers, paid 49.2% of the citys personal income taxes. Independent Budget Office Communications Director Elizabeth Brown confirmed the office estimated Adams claim to be true, but only as it pertains to personal income tax collections -- not all tax collections. We dont break out the groups the same exact way the mayor spoke about them, but we believe his numbers are more or less accurate, Brown said. Personal income taxes are a fraction of what the city collects in taxes. According to thecitys January 2023 financial plan, personal income and the pass-through entity tax (an optional tax for partnerships and S corporations, such as limited liability corporations) represent 22% of the citys collections. Property taxes constitute 46% of the collections, while sales and use taxes represent 13%. Lucy Dadayan, an expert in state and local finances at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center at the Urban Institute, said that its not surprising that a small fraction of earners pay nearly half of the citys income taxes. Thats because about 2.1% of New York citys earners take home around 43% of New York Citys income, she said. This data point is nearly exact to data provided by the city from the Office of Management and Budget. The available data doesnt show how much the top 2% of city earners pay on property, sales, or other taxes, Dadayan said. But their contributions to other tax categories are significant, said Nicole Gelinas, a senior fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute who frequently writes about city finances. According to the city, office buildings are 21% of the property tax levy, the citys single biggest tax, for example, and the reason the office valuations are high is because of their wealthy occupants, Gelinas said. Wealthier people also consume more in goods and services than middle-class and poorer people, and thus pay higher sales taxes, she said. Adams claimed that 51% of city taxes are paid by 2% of New Yorkers. If he had specified income taxes in his statement, we would have given a True ruling. The budget analysts who study the numbers confirm as much. The mayor was talking about personal income taxes, his spokesperson said. But someone listening to Adams interview would not necessarily have known that because Adams did not offer that qualification. Given his past similar statements in which he specified it was income taxes he was talking about, we do not see this as a case in which he was trying to mislead the audience. But because his statement on the radio show was accurate but needed clarification, we rate his statement as Mostly True.","issues":["City Budget","Taxes","New York"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_237","claim":"Will Trump's name be included on COVID-19 stimulus checks?","posted":"04\/15\/2020","sci_digest":["While the unprecedented move could potentially delay these payments, U.S. Treasury officials insist the checks \"are scheduled to go out on time and exactly as planned.\""],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease. \n\nIn April 2020, millions of Americans who lost income due to circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic were waiting for promised relief payments from the United States government. So when news broke that U.S. President Donald Trump was making the \"unprecedented\" move of having his name added to these stimulus checks\u2014a decision that could potentially delay their arrival by several days\u2014many citizens took to social media to voice their displeasure. \n\nTrump's name is indeed being added to the COVID-19 stimulus checks, otherwise known as Economic Impact Payments. As of this writing, however, officials at the U.S. Treasury Department insist this will not result in any delays. The Washington Post first reported on Trump's decision on April 14, 2020. According to the news outlet, Trump's name is expected to appear in the memo line of the check, not as the payment's official signatory, and this will be the \"first time that a president's name appears on an IRS disbursement.\" The Treasury Department has ordered President","issues":["dividend"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=11yf7hI63hwqWZURidQGfEPOuXIFBiuFo"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_238","claim":"Crazed Woman Cuts Off Man's Penis for Not Making Eye Contact During Sex","posted":"09\/07\/2016","sci_digest":["A fake news article reported that an Arizona woman named Shania Jones was arrested for cutting off the tip of her partner's penis."],"justification":"On 6 September 2016, the Thug Life Videos web site published an article reporting that an Arizona woman named Shania Jones was arrested for cutting off the tip of her partner's penis after he refused to look at her during sex:  A woman in Scottsdale, Arizona, has been arrested after she cut off her partners penis in a fit of fury. Shania Jones, 34, told detectives that she was sick of the man  who has been named locally as Bruce Fox  refusing to make eye contact with her during sex. Fox is currently in intensive care at Scottsdale Liberty Hospital, where he is expected to make a recovery. There was no truth to this report.  Thug Life Videos is an entertainment web site that frequently publishes \"satire\" (i.e., fake news) articles, as noted in their disclaimer: \"As well as more serious content, we sometimes share the odd satire stories for your entertainment.\" In addition to this story's dubious source, the image accompanying the article was merely a doctored version of a mug shot taken in 2013 by the Ada County Sheriff's Department in Idaho of a woman who was arrested for shoplifting: mug shot  ","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1En-sGhc0I1gK4z6mn0vR412MRRTVoTLk","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1QmvbzzBWieCi8cB66obtLLxNDYxhhkUG","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_239","claim":"Miracle Cars Fraud","posted":"04\/25\/2008","sci_digest":["The 'miracle cars' fraud."],"justification":"Scam:  Thousands of people were scammed out of millions of dollars in a \"miracle cars\" fraud.  Origins:  Affinity fraud is a type of scam wherein members of a close-knit group are exploited via a con artist's presenting himself as one of their own kind. Such grifts work on the principle that people who are like us  folks of our particular ethnicity or religion, who hail from our hometowns, who attend the same church (or club, or school), who live in the same neighborhood, or who have weathered similar hardships and setbacks to those we have endured  can be trusted. They talk our talk and walk our walk, and since we ourselves are honest people, we assume by extension that people who are so much like us must be just as trustworthy. The nature of the bond itself matters not; what matters is the victims' being led to believe they have a great deal in common with those who are about to cheat them out of their life savings. Affinity fraud The \"Miracle Cars\" scam that ran between 1998 and 2002 is a good example of affinity fraud. Before it finished running its course, thousands of churchgoers had been convinced to part ways with millions of dollars, all because they trusted as one of their own the person they handed their money to. In 1998, rumors began to circulate among congregations in California that a wealthy man named John Bowers had died a few years earlier, leaving behind a $400 million estate. Part of that estate reportedly included a huge inventory of vehicles that the estate's beneficiary, Bowers' adopted son Robert Gomez, had been instructed to sell at bargain prices to Christians who acted in accordance with the Bible's teachings. The proceeds of those sales were to be used to defray the estate tax on the inherited fortune. These rumors were started by Robert Gomez, who announced the deal from the pulpit of a church in one of Los Angeles' poorest areas, and the rumors were supported by James Nichols, Gomez's roommate, whose family had long been associated with the church where the pitch was made. For as little as $1,000 each, those of strong religious faith could acquire good, reliable cars  all they had to do was pick a vehicle they wanted off the handwritten list being circulated, pay the money requested, and wait for the estate to settle before receiving their cars. Those who chose to buy were given \"contracts\" in exchange for their checks, cash, or money orders, but those contracts did not include mention of the vehicles' identification numbers (VINs), that information supposedly withheld under a gag order issued by the judge probating the will.  The list of available vehicles was mouthwatering: one could have a practically brand new Toyota Camry for $1,000, a Lexus for $3,000, or a Cadillac Escalade for $6,500. News of this windfall fell on highly receptive ears, many of them belonging to folks of limited means who had up until then been making do with unreliable transportation (or none at all). But thanks to this dead millionaire's generosity, in due time they would be able to get to their doctors' appointments and tend to ailing relatives across town all on their own. A little time, a little money, and a whole lot of faith would set them on their way to vehicular-assisted freedom. Word about the purported deals circulated through grass-roots Christian networks across the nation, then escaped into the secular world. As the scam rolled along, Gomez and Nichols hired two women, Corinne Conway and Gwendolyn Baker, to talk up the cars and to embroil further congregations in the scam. Churchgoers were told that God wanted to reward them and that all they needed was to believe. Congregations in various communities were worked into buying frenzies by these practiced pitchwomen, who presented themselves as fellow believers out to share good news with their brethren. Duped members of the clergy also preached the good news of the discounted cars  from their pulpits, adding another patina of credibility to the  pitch. As time went on and no cars appeared, faith in the scheme was maintained in a variety of ways. First, there was always the handy explanation that the cars were still tied up in the legal wranglings attendant to the disposition of a large estate. Court delays were therefore to be expected. Lack of information about the vehicles themselves (such as their VINs or the location where they were being housed) was explained as having to do with a gag order placed on the matter by the judge probating the will. And those who grew tired of waiting for their \"miracle cars\" and demanded their money back, got it  they were issued full refunds, acts that worked to frame the entire proposition as being on the up-and-up. After all, if one knew of a doubter who'd gotten his money back, didn't that prove that the people behind the \"miracle cars\" proposition were to be trusted? Yet all that belief to the contrary, it was a scam. There never were any cars to be had, either by those of strong faith or otherwise. There was also no deceased millionaire named John Bowers. By the time the fraud was uncovered and halted, believers across the nation had shelled out more than $20 million for vehicles that didn't exist, all on the strength of what they heard through their local churches. In all, 7000+ vehicles were \"sold\" during the run of the fraud, the list of available cars always expanding to include more vehicles for those determined to have them.  The two men who ran the con, James Nichols and Robert Gomez, received sentences of 24 years and 22 years respectively, while the two women they recruited, Corinne Conway and Gwendolyn Baker, received sentences of 14 months and 5 years respectively. All four were ordered to make restitution to their victims, but even after all their cash and assets were rounded up millions of dollars remained unaccounted for. On 17 March 2008, the U.S. Attorney's Office posted a notice for the victims of the Miracle Cars scam, advising them that it was ready to begin mailing restitution checks to those duped by the fraud. Victims can expect refunds in the amount of approximately 6% of their total losses.  Most cons run on the basis of blinding potential victims to the underlying fraud by placing before them tantalizing mental images of great riches or extraordinary windfalls that are about to be theirs. The \"miracle cars\" scam had that in its promise of barely-used automobiles to be had for a mere pittance. Yet what truly caused this fraud to succeed was its \"affinity\" element:  the victims were especially trusting thanks to their reliance on the presumed commonality between them and those running the con. Themselves good Christians, they believed those who were telling them about the cars were also good Christians  they did not doubt that the cars existed or that there was a deceased millionaire who had left instructions that his fleet of vehicles was to be handed over to fellow Christians for a nominal fee.  In affinity scams, con artists sometimes provide returns to leaders of the targeted group first, then use those trusted individuals' names as proof of their own integrity. While no one at any level of the fraud received one of the \"miracle cars,\" church leaders were duped into participating in the con through their own belief in the promised windfall, and a number of pastors stood before their flocks to share with their congregations the good news about the discounted vehicles. This phenomenon is part and parcel of an affinity scam: before anyone involved catches wise to the game being run, those being victimized enthusiastically recruit friends and relatives to share in the wealth, thereby themselves becoming unwitting agents of con men. \"Miracle cars\" victims not only had to overcome their reluctance to admit (even to themselves) that they might be getting taken, they also had to grapple with their own faith in God. Those running the game had the ones they were fleecing convinced that giving up on their \"investment\" was tantamount to turning their backs on God. He had a grand plan for them, and opting out of it would have demonstrated weakness in their faith, so they therefore chose to continue to believe. Barbara \"lambs to the financial slaughter\" Mikkelson Additional information:        'Miracle Cars' Scheme Targeted Churches, Religious Groups   (United States Attorney's Office, Western District of Missouri)  Last updated:  28 April 2008   Sources:   Harris, Sheryl.  \"Scam Artists Get Close to Victims.\"   Plain Dealer.  15 June 2006  (p. C5).    Logan, Casey.  \"God's Little Acura.\"   The Pitch [Kansas City].  16 January 2003.    Tubbs, Sharon.  \"Duped by Faith?\"   St. Petersburg Times.  26 July 2002  (p. D1).    Associated Press.  \"Government Alleges Four Offered Discount Cars to People of Faith.\"   8 July 2002.    Associated Press.  \"Two Women Sentenced to Federal Prison Terms for Roles in Miracle Car Scheme.\"   23 October 2003.    Associated Press.  \"Man Must Pay Back $12.5 million, Serve 24 Years in Car Sales Scam.\"   4 December 2003.    Associated Press.  \"Final Man Sentenced in Miracle Cars Scheme.\"   11 December 2003.    Associated Press.  \"Prosecutors Don't Want Convict to Benefit from Role in Miracle Cars Scheme.\"   24 September 2005.","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_240","claim":"Ronald Reagan Went Golfing After 1983 Beirut Attack","posted":"03\/25\/2016","sci_digest":["A meme falsely claims that Ronald Reagan continued his vacation after the 1983 terrorist attack on a U.S. Marines barrack in Beirut."],"justification":"Memesclaiming that former President Ronald Reagan continued his golf vacation after nearly300 people were killed in an attack in Beirut in 1983 are frequently circulatedon Facebook:      The above-displayed memes have been circulating for several years, but they regained popularity in March 2016 as President Obama was criticized for remaining in Cuba (where he was making a state visit) after 31 people were killed during terrorist bombings in Brussels, Belgium. criticized While these images correctly reflect that Ronald Reagan was on vacation when a suicide bomber crashed a truck full of explosives into an airport building that was being used as barracks for U.S. Marines in Beirut, Lebanon, on 23 October 1983 (killing 241 American servicemen), the former president did not continue his golf vacation after receiving the news.The first image showing Reagan on the golf course was taken the day before the bombing, not the day after: before President Reagan playing golf at the Augusta National Golf Club. 10\/22\/83. An article published by theNew York Timesthe day after the attack also noted that Reagan cut his vacation short to return to the White House: noted \"There are no words that can express our sorrow and grief over the loss of those splendid young men and the injury to so many others,'' the President said gravely this morning, standing in the rain outside the White House after a hurried return from a golfing weekend in Augusta, Ga. The second photo displayed abovewas also taken the day before the Beirut bombings: before President Ronald Reagan, clad in pajamas and bathrobe, talking on telephone to Robert McFarlane and Secretary of State George Shultz, re urgent request from five members of Eastern Carribbean States on the situation in Grenada. However, the former president wasn't always necessarily quickto react after deadlyinternational incidents. After a Korean airliner was shot down by the Soviet Union on 1 September 1983, President Reagan remained at his ranch in Santa Barbara: remained At this point, (White House spokesman Larry Speakes) Speakes was interrupted and asked if Reagan was going back to Washington. He ignored the question and read a statement on the Middle East. Asked again if Reagan was going back to Washington, Speakes answered, \"There are no plans for the president to return to Washington earlier than anticipated.\" Speakes walked away from the podium and then came back to take questions. He announced, as he does every day in California, what Reagan intended to do that day: \"The president, as usual, is planning at horseback ride this morning and will generally work around the ranch in the afternoon. The weather there is as it is here, sunny and warm.\" Thesememes are based on an assumption that a U.S. president has to react immediately to breaking news of a violent incident or crisis by returning to the nation's capital, even when such an action does not facilitate the handling of the situation. When President Obama was criticized in 2014 for his reaction toMalaysian Airlines Flight 17 being shot down (reportedly by pro-Russian insurgents), reporter ChrisWallace noted that sometimes, \"the best thing presidents can do is nothing\": criticized I know there's like an immediate reaction, that you want to say he should have run back to Washington and gone back to the Situation Room. I know that a lot of folks at Fox here are saying that. As somebody who covered the White House and saw for six years Ronald Reagan in various situations, sometimes the best thing presidents can do is nothing, to continue on. If he had gone back to Washington and gone to the situation room  first of all, there's not much he can do, we're not in control of the situation. And it would have dialed it up. I was covering Ronald Reagan at that time [i.e., when the Korean airliner was shot down].He was in Santa Barbara at his ranch when that happened, and quite frankly he didn't want to leave. And his advisers realized how terrible this looked, and eventually persuaded him he had to fly back to Washington and had to give this speech to the nation, but it did take him four days.  ","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1YkVBiLjc2zQX-Cd8HjDlGKW0OpbtQ3pC","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1P9Xvqqz5bq_LTWO3Du31LTDyKp6w6spS","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_241","claim":"Says Rep. Jim Weidner proposed a bill taking away health care for 80,000 of Oregon's children.","posted":"10\/08\/2010","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Forget taking candy away from children. Blue Oregon, a liberal political website, is accusing one Republican candidate of trying to take health care away from 80,000 of Oregon's youth. In a post looking for political contributions, Kari Chisholm of Blue Oregon describes the race in House District 24 as follows: Susan Sokol Blosser (the Democrat) is one of the founders of Oregon's world-renowned wine industry, where she is a leader in environmental sustainability. Her opponent, Rep. Jim Weidner, proposed a bill that would take away health care for 80,000 of Oregon's children. Ouch. Not exactly the sort of thing that wins you votes. Naturally, PolitiFact Oregon wondered if Weidner, who has four kids himself, really has it out for Oregon's children. The claim on Blue Oregon was in reference to House Bill 3603, a bill that Weidner sponsored during the February 2010 special session. The bill, according to the summary, repeals the health insurance premium assessment. That was nice and vague, so we did some more sleuthing and ended up with the staff measure summary for House Bill 2116. Why House Bill 2116? Well, that was the bill that, in part, instituted the health insurance premium assessment or, to put it in comprehensible English, a 1 percent tax on health insurance premiums paid by the insurance companies but passed on to the customers. According to the staff measure summary, that 1 percent tax would be used to provide funding for health care for 80,000 children during the 2009-2011 biennium through Oregon Healthy Kids. Those 80,000 were in addition to the children already covered by the state-run plan. So, it seems, Weidner does want to eliminate a tax that is being used to provide health care to children. We checked in with Weidner to see if he could explain his position. As it turns out, he's not so much against health care for children as he is against the 1 percent tax. He says the tax disproportionately hurts small businesses. Weidner sponsored the bill, he says, because he wanted to bring attention to this and other issues. He knew the bill wasn't going to go anywhere. Before we settled on a ruling, we wanted to check one other thing: Even if Weidner's bill had gone through, are there really 80,000 children who would lose health insurance? We called Oregon Healthy Kids to find out. As it happens, since the bill passed, about 57,000 children have been enrolled in the program, according to Cathy Kaufmann, manager of the Healthy Kids Office. That's as of August. Kaufmann expects that the full 80,000 will be enrolled before the end of the 2009-2011 biennium. So where does that leave us? Well, while we're feeling pretty confident that Weidner isn't anti-health care for kids, he did, as the website alleges, propose a bill that would have eliminated the funding for health care for 80,000 children. Whether he thought it would pass or not doesn't much change things. And some context about how he was really targeting a tax would have been nice. Still, we rate this claim True.","issues":["Oregon","Health Care","Taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_242","claim":"Did Jacques Attali Encourage Pandemic-Driven Euthanasia?","posted":"05\/11\/2021","sci_digest":["Misinformation is a universal language. "],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease.  fighting Find out Read Submit Become a Founding Member CDC WHO In May 2021, many English-language social media users encountered a quote ostensibly written by Jacques Attali, a French economist who served as a counselor to President Franois Mitterrand from 1981 to 1991, in which he supported the mass killings of the \"old\" and \"stupid\" via a global pandemic: encountered      This quote, which seems to suggest that a human-made pandemic would kill old people while a nefarious vaccination would kill stupid people, was not written by Attali.  This quote (reproduced below) does not appear anywhere in Attali's memoir \"Verbatim,\" which reproduces various conversations between Mitterrand and other world leaders. In fact, we found no mention of a pandemic in this book.  The future will be about finding a way to reduce the population ... of course, we will not be able to execute people or build camps. We get rid of them by making them believe it is for their own good... we will find or cause something, a pandemic targeting certain people, a real economic crisis or not, a virus affecting the old or the elderly, it doesn't matter, the weak and the fearful will succumb to it. The stupid will believe in it and ask to be treated. We will have taken care of having panned the treatment, a treatment that will be the solution. The selection of idiots will therefore be done by itself. They will go to the slaughterhouse alone. This is not the first time Attali has been accused of supporting euthanasia, and it is not the first time that a false, misleading, or misattributed quote has been offered as evidence for this accusation.  CheckNews, the fact-checking arm of the French newspaper Liberation, wrote about a similar fake quote that was circulated in 2017. That fake quote supposedly came from an interview published by journalist Michel Salomon in his 1981 book \"l'Avenir de La Vie\" or \"The Future of Life.\"  In that case, the viral Facebook text included a few brief sentences from Attali's interview, but the majority of the passage (including the parts about a pandemic) were fabricated. Check News wrote: Facebook text wrote This call for the reduction of the world population is apocryphal. Only two sentences are authentic and indeed emanate from Jacques Attali: the one on the cost of the sixty-year-olds to the society cited above [\"But as soon as we pass 60\/65 years, man lives longer than he produces and then costs society more\"], and another according to which \"it is much better that the human machine stops suddenly rather than deteriorating. gradually\". They appear in a 1981 interview book, l'Avenir de la vie (Seghers editions) in which Jacques Attali is interviewed by journalist Michel Salomon. However, the economist does not plead for generalized euthanasia. Rather, he speaks out against an infinite lengthening of the life, after having exposed some thoughts on the interest of the leaders and the companies in that people live long, according to their state of health. The AFP also examined this quote in an article published in May 2021. The AFP noted that Attali was asked during his interview with Salomon about whether it would be \"possible and desirable to live 120 years.\" Attali gave a lengthy answer to the question and while he concluded that euthanasia may be a tool of future societies, he does not advocate for the killing of the elderly. In fact, in 1984 Attali won a defamation case against a medical journal that accused him of supporting euthanasia for the elderly.  AFP also examined AFP defamation case against a medical journal Attali told the AFP that the viral FB posts are \"totally made up\" and \"nowhere close to the initial text.\" In summation: Attali has spoken about the possibility of euthanasia becoming a tool for future societies, but he has not advocated the mass killing of elderly people. Misleading, out-of-context, and fabricated quotes related to this issue have been misattributed to Attali since the 1980s. In 2021, a modern twist was added to these misleading euthanasia quotes as social media users inserted language related to a pandemic. ","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1mpHWO1K4UV8mmxzooXpN54vBvl9Dp0tq","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_243","claim":"Is the performance of the Dow Jones worse during Republican presidencies?","posted":"02\/08\/2018","sci_digest":["A Facebook meme purporting to prove that the Dow suffers under Republican presidencies ignores key data. "],"justification":"After the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost a historic 1,175 points in a single day in February 2018, the left-wing Facebook page Occupy Democrats was keen to point out a trend. In a meme posted on February 6, the page listed what it called the \"Biggest One-Day Drops in Dow Jones History,\" along with the name of the U.S. president in office at the time of each point drop. According to the meme, each of the largest drops occurred during the presidencies of Donald Trump and George W. Bush\u2014both Republicans. The meme concluded: \"Share this for your friends who STILL think Republicans are GOOD for the economy!\" \n\nThe meme correctly lists the seven biggest one-day point drops in Dow Jones history, which all took place during the tenure of two Republican presidents, though it leaves out the eighth, ninth, and tenth, which occurred with Democrats Bill Clinton and Barack Obama in the White House. The main problem with the meme, however, is that its conclusion (that the numbers show which president is good for the economy) overstates the influence of a president\u2014compared to macroeconomic and geopolitical forces\u2014on stock market trends. In fact, one-day losses and gains can sometimes happen despite the policies and efforts of the person in the Oval Office. For example, many commentators attributed the September 29, 2008, points drop\u2014the second-biggest ever\u2014to the U.S. House of Representatives' failure to pass a $700 billion bank bailout bill, which President George W. Bush had pushed for. \n\nEven if one simply wanted to examine during which presidencies the Dow suffered the largest single-day losses, looking at the largest point drops wouldn't be the way to do it. As the stock market has grown in value over the last century, large point drops have become more common, even if their impact on the overall market value isn't particularly great. To get a clearer picture of the impact of these drops, one would have to measure the drop in percentage terms rather than points. \n\nFive of the ten events with the biggest one-day percentage losses took place during the era of the Great Depression, and all but one occurred during the tenure of Republican presidents. However, if one were to insist on linking the occupant of the White House to the performance of the stock market, a better way to do it would be to track the average performance of the Dow Jones over the entire course of a presidency, rather than looking at one-day outliers in isolation. \n\nTo illustrate this, we looked at the average performance of the Dow over the course of the last nine presidential terms. We used Yahoo! Finance data for this, which only goes back as far as January 29, 1985, so we're missing figures for the first week or so of Ronald Reagan's second administration. \n\nSo while Donald Trump's presidency did see the largest one-day points drop in Dow Jones history, it has also seen the biggest average one-day percentage growth since 1985. However, this is based on only 12 months of data, and the next three years could see that 0.09 percent growth rate drop. The biggest average daily percentage growth over the course of a four-year presidency was 0.08 percent, during Bill Clinton's first administration between 1993 and 1997.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1noSQ1EZslmrU5d6R_ei_3RO0iDjfi9tj"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_244","claim":"Says Rick Scott changed his promise from700,000 jobs created on top of what normal growth would be to just 700,000 jobs.","posted":"10\/14\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"What's 700,000 jobs, give or take 1 million? That's the question a new ad from the Charlie Crist campaign hopes to answer for Florida voters. He made a promise, the ad says, showing video of Gov. Rick Scott from the 2010 campaign for governor. \"Hold me accountable for delivering on the campaign promises I make,\" Scott says. The ad then shows Scott promising to create 700,000 jobs on top of what normal growth would be. Later, in reaction to a reporter's question on that metric, Scott said, \"No.\" The ad is paid for by the Florida Democratic Party, but the Crist campaign approved it and promoted it to the media. So we're rating it as coming from the Crist campaign. Since 2010, PolitiFact Florida has been tracking Scott's promise to create 700,000 jobs over seven years, so this controversy is very familiar to us. But if you're just tuning in now, we'll start the story from the beginning. Because of the state's housing-driven economy, Florida took a tremendous hit during the financial crash of 2008. By 2010, state economists said that the bottom had hit and Florida would gradually recover. That July, economists predicted that Florida would gradually recover, adding 1 million jobs by 2017\u2014no matter who was governor. On July 21, 2010, Scott unveiled his now-famous 7-7-7 plan, promising to create 700,000 new jobs in seven years (actually, the plan was written to create 661,914 jobs, but the Scott campaign rounded up for effect). The jobs would flow from his pro-business, anti-regulation, anti-tax agenda. During the campaign, Scott said that the jobs would come on top of natural growth. \"Our plan is seven steps to 700,000 jobs, and that plan is on top of what normal growth would be,\" Scott said during a 2010 debate hosted by Leadership Florida and the Florida Press Association on Oct. 20. (This is the video shown in the Crist ad.) Accounting for normal growth would make the target 1.7 million jobs over seven years. A few months after Scott took office in 2011, though, he started backtracking. First, his staff and then Scott himself announced that they would be counting new jobs toward a goal of 700,000, period, not 700,000 on top of natural growth. When an Associated Press reporter reminded Scott in August 2011 that his original promise was 700,000 jobs on top of natural growth, Scott said, \"No, that's not true.\" Members of the Sun Sentinel editorial board asked Scott in September 2011 if that was his promise\u2014\"Your pledge was for 700,000 in addition to normal growth, wasn't it?\"\u2014and Scott said no. At the time, PolitiFact Florida rated Scott's new position a Full Flop on our Flip-O-Meter. Scott seems to be sticking to his new metric. In May 2013, Scott said the state was already almost halfway to our 2010 goal of creating 700,000 new jobs in seven years when approximately 302,500 net jobs had been created since December 2010. We rated the claim that he was halfway to his 2010 goal as Mostly False, noting that he still had a way to go to make it to 1.7 million jobs created. His jobs promise, which we track on our Scott-O-Meter, is rated In the Works, because Scott promised the jobs would be created over seven years, and he still has three more years to go. The seven-year yardstick is ignored in Crist's latest ad. Our ruling: Crist's ad says that Scott changed his 2010 promise of 700,000 jobs created on top of what normal growth would be to just 700,000 jobs. That's a difference of 1 million jobs, as had been projected by economists. The ad provides a concise but accurate summary of Scott's 2010 pledge and then his public statements that modified the terms. We rate the ad's statement True.","issues":["Economy","Jobs","Florida"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_245","claim":"Bay Area liberals have given more to Jon Ossoff's campaign than people in Georgia.","posted":"05\/26\/2017","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Both sides have launched attack ads in the race for Georgias 6th Congressional District. Recently, Democrats accused Republican Karen Handel of wallowing in administrative bloat. (We rated thatMostly False). Now, the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with House Speaker Paul Ryan,has an adthat paints Democrat Jon Ossoff as beholden more to people in California than voters in Georgia. It is running in the Atlanta area as part of the super PACs $6.7 million independent expenditure. Shot against iconic backdrops of San Francisco, actors, each one the most stereotypical of left coast stereotypes, speak cheerfully about Ossoff. A young woman with a floppy hat and a big Cut the military now button says, Theres a reason Bay Area liberals have contributed more to Jon Ossoffs campaign than people in Georgia. Hes one of us. Another young woman stands in front of the Golden Gate Bridge and says San Francisco hearts Ossoff. With a coy toss of her ponytails, she makes a heart with her hands and presses them to her chest. Set aside the political snark and you have this factual claim: San Francisco Bay Area liberals have given more to Jon Ossoff's campaign than people in Georgia. Is it so? The Congressional Leadership Fund said they got their information from theMercury News, a prominent local paper. AnApril 12article said, Ossoff reported 2,628 individual donations from people living in the nine Bay Area counties, significantly more than from all of Georgia  although of a smaller total value. Heres how the numbers shook out at the end of March when the data behind the article was collected. (The dollar total for Bay Area residents wasnt in the article. We calculated it based on the same data.) State Number of donors Dollars (through March 31, 2017) Georgia 1,578 $600,141 California 5,822 $547,857 Bay Area 2,628 $290,229 (PolitiFact calculation) So first off, the article doesnt back up what the ad said, that people in the Bay Area gave more to Ossoff than people in Georgia. In fact, as the original article noted, Georgians gave more money to Ossoff than people from California. As for people in the Bay Area, we found that they gave half as much compared to voters in Georgia. (More people from the Bay Area contributed than from Georgia, but thats not what the ad claimed.) Of course, its also important to note that the ad relies on information that is now nearly two months old. In truth, theres only so much more to learn. The last public report was on April 16. With help from staff at the Center for Responsive Politics, we updated the totals. Georgia remained in the lead, by about $640,000 compared to about $321,000 from the Bay area. Its also worth noting that donations under $200 are not required to be itemized under Federal Election Commission rules, meaning we dont know where those donors live. That accounts for about two-thirds of Ossoffs donations through the end of March. The Conservative Leadership Fund is running an ad that says Bay Area liberals have given more to Jon Ossoff's campaign than people in Georgia. In fact, based on data available through mid April, people in Georgia have given Ossoff twice as much money as people in the Bay Area. The one trace of accuracy is that Bay Area donors outnumber Ossoffs Georgia donors, but the ad failed to describe the donations in those terms. We rate this claim False.","issues":["Georgia","Campaign Finance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1lUy6g42eyHlopyZE_H1dj4SvYpzsGep_","image_caption":"Mercury News"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_246","claim":"Is California introducing a 5-cent charge on text messages to support providing free phones for immigrants?","posted":"12\/17\/2018","sci_digest":["The purpose of a proposal by California state officials was quickly misrepresented in online posts."],"justification":"California officials proposed a new surcharge on cell phone users' monthly bills in November 2018, a move that was misrepresented by some social media users as a \"text tax\" and targeted for expressions of anti-immigrant sentiment. The California Public Utilities Commission's (CPUC) proposal would have instituted a surcharge on text messaging services to be included in cell phone users' monthly service bills. The commission's plan called for the revenues generated to be used to fund public-purpose programs that provide phone service for lower-income residents as well as for deaf and disabled individuals. However, the proposal did not call for a \"5-cent tax\" per text message. Rather, the tax would have been based on a percentage of a cell phone user's monthly bills, costing around $1.40 per $20 of texting charges. The surcharge would have been similar to existing taxes, as KGO-TV reported. For example, you pay about 3.75 percent for Universal Lifeline Telephone Service, which funds discounts for low-income customers, and 0.40 percent for the Deaf and Disabled Telecommunications Program, which funds free specialized equipment for customers who need it. The CPUC stated it needed the \"text tax\" because revenue that funds those programs was down, as people were making fewer calls and texting more. Regardless, some social media users accused the CPUC of seeking to financially benefit individuals they deemed undesirable, such as \"drug addicts\" and \"illegals.\" The commission had originally planned to vote on the issue on January 10, 2019, but the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) intervened on December 12, 2018, ruling that both Short Message Service (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) should be regulated as \"information services\" akin to email and not as telecommunication services. The FCC's 3-1 decision meant that text messages would fall under the purview of the federal Telecommunications Act, which limits state jurisdiction over them. Five days later, the CPUC announced that the proposal for the surcharge had been withdrawn from their docket.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=17HjJ_cOG5hfcKoHkkym6fv76wvJD7TEN"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_247","claim":"Oprah's advice regarding a ten percent tip.","posted":"11\/04\/2009","sci_digest":["Does Oprah Winfrey say restaurant goers should tip ten percent?"],"justification":"Claim:  Oprah Winfrey said that restaurant customers need not tip their servers more than 10%..  Example:  [Collected via e-mail, November 2009] Did Oprah Winfrey state that, in this economy, tipping 10% is acceptable? Origins:  Leaving a relatively substantial monetary tip for the waitstaff at the conclusion of a restaurant meal is the custom in some countries, including the U.S. and Canada. A gratuity amounting to 15% to 20% of the bill is now considered the standard or minimum tip, with even more left in recognition of superlative service. It is therefore little cause for surprise that any cultural icon's public voicing of an opinion that folks should leave no more than a 10% tip would raise the hackles of many in the service industry.  And so it was with the belief that Oprah Winfrey, beloved television talk show host, had instructed members of her audience to not leave more than a 10% tip when dining in restaurants, with such rumor often coupled with a further assertion that this advice was offered in recognition of the recession's having hit everyone hard. Such belief that Oprah had said it fit  well with a widely-held stereotype that African American customers tip less than do other restaurant patrons. In September 2009 a page on the social networking site Facebook raised the false \"Oprah said not to tip more than 10%\" claim. Titled \"1 Million Servers Strong Against Oprah's Comments,\" the group stated as its purpose:  Against Oprah Winfrey has recently stated on her TV show that it is acceptable to tip servers 10% in our current economy. This group is being put together to show Oprah that her comments have a crippling affect on servers all over the world. As of 4 November 2009, \"1 Million Servers Strong Against Oprah's Comments\" has 37,228 members. Yet the claim that has inflamed so many is false. There is no evidence in support of the assertion that Oprah Winfrey recommended her audience tip waitstaff 10%, in response to economic recession or otherwise, on her television show or in her magazine. No one has yet to turn up a video clip from her show of her supposed  tipping advice or produce a copy of an article from  O, The Oprah Magazine in which such counsel was allegedly given.  Instead, material from both those venues state that restaurant goers should tip at least 15%. While we've yet to locate a video clip or news report of Oprah herself instructing the audience to pony up with 15% or better, there are examples of invited guests on her show or columnists in her magazine saying exactly that. In the \"Ending Rudeness\" segment of The Oprah Winfrey Show (which aired on 9 September 2008), Steven Dublanica, author of Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip  Confessions of a Cynical Waiter, sat beside Oprah and, with her nodding in agreement, offered this bit of advice for restaurant goers: Rudeness Don't tip less than 15 percent Waiters are paid wages well below the minimum wage  as little as $2.15 an hour in some states  with the expectation that they will earn the majority of their income through tips. In addition, some restaurants require waiters to pay around 20 to 30 percent of their tips to food runners, hostesses and bartenders.  \"If you don't tip, then that person doesn't get paid,\" Steven says. \"Literally.\" Of the \"10 Do's and Don'ts of Restaurant Etiquette\" proffered by The Oprah Winfrey Show via oprah.com, its official web site, the first is \"Tip 15 percent or more.\" first Likewise, the \"Guide to Tipping\" published in the December 2002 issue of  O, The Oprah Magazine says:  Guide to Tipping Normally, 15 to 20 percent of the total bill  20 percent for a first-class place. Note that people tip more in urban areas. According to the Zagat Survey, the average gratuity in city restaurants across the United States is about 18 percent. In response to the rumor, HarpoBear (moderator of oprah.com's message board) posted a clarificationon 8 June 2009 (and repeated periodically since then) that said: posted We'd like to respond to the concerns raised about Oprah's thoughts on tipping. The truth is that Oprah has never said that people should tip less during the recession. She believes in generously compensating waiters and waitresses. While a November 2009 Facebook page marked a resurgence of the Oprah rumor, it wasn't the first time the claim had been bruited on that venue: In December 2008 a now defunct Facebook group titled \"No, Oprah, it's not OK to tip 10%\" repeated the gossip. The rumor comes in two forms: that Oprah herself directed her audience never to tip more than 10% or (far less frequently) that one of her guests did. One name that has been mentioned as the identity of the guest who gave such advice is financial guru Suze Orman, as in this 19 September 2009 blog entry:  Suze Orman blog entry It has been brought to my attention that Suze Orman went onto the Oprah Winfrey show some time ago to give some sound financial advice to all the Oprah-ites who bow down to the feet of the great and powerful O. [...] She said that when it comes time to tip you should just leave 10% instead of 15%. Barbara \"the ten percent dissolution\" Mikkelson Last updated:  11 November 2009    Day Owen, Sarah.  \"Servers at Restaurants See Dropoff in Gratuities.\"   Augusta Chronicle.  19 December 2008.    Ellen, Daryn.  \"Guide to Tipping.\"   O, The Oprah Magazine.  December 2002.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_248","claim":"Has Trump suggested alterations to SSI that might result in the termination of disability benefits for numerous individuals?","posted":"12\/18\/2019","sci_digest":["Activists and Congressional Democrats encouraged the public to voice their opposition to the proposals, which were published in November 2019."],"justification":"In December 2019, readers asked us about reports claiming that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump had proposed changes to the way Social Security disability payments are made, which could cause thousands, even hundreds of thousands, to lose their benefits. On Dec. 12, the Philadelphia Inquirer and Chicago Tribune posted an article with the headline \"Trump Administration Proposes Social Security Rule Changes That Could Cut Off Thousands of Disabled Recipients.\" The article reported: \"The Trump administration is proposing changes to Social Security that could terminate disability payments to hundreds of thousands of Americans, particularly older people and children. The new rule would change aspects of disability reviews\u2014the methods by which the Social Security Administration determines whether a person continues to qualify for benefits. Few recipients are aware of the proposal, which is open for public comment through January.\" The left-leaning website Common Dreams published an article with the headline \"'A National Disgrace': Trump Proposes Social Security Change That Could End Disability Benefits for Hundreds of Thousands.\" That story reported: \"Activists are working to raise public awareness and outrage over a little-noticed Trump administration proposal that could strip life-saving disability benefits from hundreds of thousands of people by further complicating the way the Social Security Administration determines who is eligible for payments.\" On the face of it, the changes proposed by the Trump administration would not directly or immediately strip disability benefits from thousands of would-be recipients; rather, the changes would introduce more (and more frequent) eligibility reviews for those who wish to receive them. However, some critics have argued that these increased bureaucratic requirements would overburden some would-be recipients, particularly the most vulnerable, and would ultimately (albeit indirectly) result in thousands losing disability benefits. The Social Security Administration distributes disability benefits in two principal ways: Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), which typically provides benefits to people based on their previous Social Security tax contributions and work history, and is paid out of the Social Security insurance fund; and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), which typically provides benefits to people based on their disability status and inability to work, and is paid out of general tax coffers. In order to prevent potential abuse and waste in the system, the Social Security Administration conducts \"continuing disability reviews,\" essentially investigating whether each recipient still has a disabling condition, and if so, which kind. Those reviews take place more or less frequently, depending on the nature of each individual's disability, which is broken into three \"medical diary categories.\" In November, the Social Security Administration published its proposals to make several changes to the review system. The most significant proposal was to add a fourth medical diary category, \"Medical Improvement Likely.\" Recipients placed in that category would undergo a review every two years. According to a document accompanying the proposals, the decision to introduce the fourth category was made, in part, because the administration saw a pattern whereby some in the \"Medical Improvement Expected\" category were being prematurely subjected to re-evaluation, after six to 18 months, before a medical improvement had the chance to take hold, and some in the \"Medical Improvement Possible\" category had successfully treated their impairment comfortably within the three-year review interval. The introduction of the new category would therefore mean the bureaucratic burden on some recipients would actually be lessened, since they would be subject to review less frequently, though it would also mean others would be subject to more frequent reviews. On the whole, the administration has estimated that, between 2020 and 2029, the new category would tend to require more frequent reviews for those currently in the \"Medical Improvement Possible\" category, rather than less frequent reviews for those currently in the \"Medical Improvement Expected\" category. The administration expects the introduction of the \"Medical Improvement Likely\" category to lead to an 18 percent increase in the total number of reviews undertaken over the next decade. This would lead to an increased upfront cost in administering the disability benefits programs and an increased aggregate bureaucratic burden on recipients (even if some individual recipients would actually undergo reviews less frequently). Greater scrutiny of individual cases and enhanced enforcement of eligibility criteria results in some recipients no longer being deemed eligible and no longer receiving either SSDI or SSI, which saves money for the Social Security insurance fund and the Treasury, respectively. For the 2015 fiscal year, for example, the Social Security Administration calculated a 19.9:1 return on investment rate for disability benefits enforcement\u2014meaning that for every $1 spent on performing reviews, the government would save $19.90 on disability benefits that would otherwise have been paid, over the course of a lifetime, to recipients who are now deemed ineligible. To be specific, the administration estimated that the $717 million spent on reviews in 2015 would ultimately save $14.3 billion in lifetime disability benefit payments. The introduction of the Trump administration's proposals is highly likely to ultimately lead to thousands of disability benefits recipients no longer receiving those benefits, both because some will be overburdened by the bureaucratic demands of more frequent reviews and because some recipients whose medical status no longer meets the eligibility criteria will have that ineligibility discovered sooner. A considerable measure of truth, therefore, exists in the reports published by the Philadelphia Inquirer and Common Dreams. However, those articles failed to mention an important component of the administration's proposals: they would not change how a recipient's eligibility is determined, only how often that determination takes place. As the proposal stated: \"We are not changing the Medical Improvement Review Standard that we use to determine whether a person continues to meet the disability requirements of the Act.\" This means that, while the proposed increase in the number and frequency of reviews was highly likely to ultimately cause thousands to lose their benefits, that loss of benefits would not be arbitrary or based on the application of a new and different standard for determining whether someone's health has improved. The standards and criteria for assessing whether an improvement has taken place would remain the same as currently exist, and only the frequency of those reviews would change. In other words, some recipients would be subject to more frequent reviews, but if those more frequent reviews result in a finding that the recipient still has a qualifying disability or impairment\u2014based on the same criteria as currently apply\u2014the recipient would continue to receive disability benefits. It could be that, as some critics have argued, the proposal represents an elegant way for the administration to save money by removing thousands from the recipient rolls without having to change eligibility criteria\u2014the latter a move that would be more likely to cause public outrage or political opposition. However, on its face at least, the proposal involves enhanced enforcement of existing eligibility standards and criteria. That's an important distinction and a significant omission from news articles that reported, with some justification, that the Trump administration had proposed changes to Social Security disability benefits that would cause thousands to be stripped of those benefits.","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1TzqNNaim5_oPkZjelXc-4_b0PidJEeXS"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_249","claim":"Rhode Island spends 52 percent more per capita on human service programs than the national average.","posted":"07\/08\/2011","sci_digest":[],"justification":"If you're strapped for cash, as Rhode Island certainly is, you're always looking for a way to cut expenses.One area often targeted by pundits, because it makes up such a large share of the state budget, is spending on human services such as Medicaid, which provides health care to low-income people.In April, we looked at one aspect of that portion of the budget, giving aHalf Trueto a statement by Rhode Island Tea Party founder Colleen Conley that Rhode Island has the most generous welfare benefits in New England. (We found that every New England state, except Maine, pays more to its welfare recipients. )During the June 26 broadcast of10 News Conference, Gary Sasse, former director of the Rhode Island Department of Administration and the business-backed Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council, made a related comparison, saying that the state gives out far more benefits than the national average.Speaking of what is now the 2012 state budget, Sasse said that of the $200-million increase [in overall spending], 90 percent is to support human service programs. We spend 52 percent more per capita on human service programs than the national average.When reporter Bill Rappleye asked for specific numbers, Sasse said, Well, we spend about $9,300 per capita on Medicaid programs, and that's soup to nuts, that's everything from RIte Care to nursing homes. The average for the country is about $6,100. There's a $3,000 difference.So the question on human services is not necessarily cutting back on eligibility, but looking at what optional services we provide. We provide about $60 [million] -- probably more than that, probably about $70 million -- in optional Medicaid services that many other states don't provide.We asked Sasse for the source of his assertion that Rhode Island spends $1.52 for every $1 spent nationally.He gave us two.The first is aFeb. 10 presentation developed by the House Finance Committee, which reported that in 2008, a total of $294 billion was spent nationally on Medicaid recipients. That averages out to $6,120 per recipient (19.4 percent of the money went to children, 13.5 percent went to adults, 43 percent was for the disabled and 24.1 percent was spent on the aged).In Rhode Island that year, the state spent $1.7 billion (about 52 percent of it federal funds) or $9,341 per recipient, with children and adults getting less (13.5 percent and 10.1 percent respectively) and the disabled getting a lot more (51.4 percent). House spokesman Larry Berman said the source of those numbers was theHenry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, which collects state and federal spending data.The per-enrollee spending is 52.6 percent higher in Rhode Island than the United States. Sasse said that's where his 52 percent statement came from.But what about the per capita spending?Sasse said in an interview that when he said per capita, the population he was referring to was enrollees. However, we believe most people who hear the term will think it's based on the population in Rhode Island.Would the number be different if calculated using the general population?As a second source, he referred us to RIPEC's 2010 How Rhode Island Compares report. It's based onU.S. Census datafrom 2008 and looks at the cost of public welfare -- Medicaid and cash payments to the poor -- on the basis of state population. That report says public welfare costs were $2,036 per Rhode Island resident, which is 51.8 percent more than the $1,341 spent per capita nationally.If you just look at RIPEC's Medicaid numbers, as the House Finance Committee staff report did, per capita spending in Rhode Island is actually 55.8 percent more than the national average, a bit higher than Sasse said.Why does Rhode Island spend so much more?We have very high residential care costs, said Sasse, a factor others have noted.In addition, Rhode Island covers some services regarded as optional by the federal government, such as adult daycare, assisted living for the elderly and hospice care for the dying.Sasse offered no specific suggestions about what to cut. He said that's for the politicians to decide; he's just looking at the basic numbers.Fred Sneesby, spokesman for the state Department of Human Services, said in April after we published our earlier item that it's important to consider other fiscally meaningful differences among states; for example, the percentage of disabled and elderly in Rhode Island is significantly higher than in neighboring states as well as the national average.He pointed us to section of the Kaiser website, StateHealthFacts.org, showing that since the 2004 fiscal year, the state's growth inMedicaid spending has been significantly less than the U.S. average. He also said that eligibility for Rhode Island programs isas strict -- if not stricter-- than Massachusetts and Connecticut.To sum up, Sasse said Rhode Islands per capita human services spending -- by his definition, Medicaid spending per enrollee --  is 52 percent higher than the national average. By that definition, hes correct.Hes also correct in the more common use of per capita -- spending by population.So we rate his claimTrue.As often happens, our research on this item raised questions that go beyond the statement we evaluated. Chief among them: How concerned should we be that Rhode Island spends more than the national average?Advocacy groups rarely address the question directly when they offer their reports and statistics.The 52-percent figure could mean that the state is being overly generous with its benefits.Or it could mean that the characteristics of Rhode Island's population require us to spend more to give the same level of service that other states provide.Or it could mean that the national average is depressed by states that are declining to provide some of the optional services, such as hospice care for the poor, that some Rhode Islanders might regard as anything but optional.Such context would help voters and their leaders make intelligent decisions about where to attack the problem. It would also help them ensure that our money is being spent wisely on the services we want to offer. (Get updates fromPolitiFactRI on Twitter. To comment or offer your ruling, visit us on ourPolitiFact Rhode Island Facebookpage.)","issues":["Rhode Island","Children","Families","Health Care","Medicaid","Poverty","State Budget","Taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_250","claim":"Says a newannual report shows that West Virginias tourism industry has grown for the second consecutive year, reversing years of decline and outpacing national growth by 58 percent.","posted":"12\/17\/2019","sci_digest":[],"justification":"West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice took to Facebook in October to tout gains in his state's tourism industry. \"When I took office, I made tourism a top priority because I knew it had all the potential in the world,\" Justice wrote in his post. \"Today I am proud to announce that West Virginia's tourism industry has grown for the second consecutive year, reversing years of decline and outpacing national growth by 58%! Way to go, West Virginia Tourism!\" The post linked to a press release that provided additional details and cited a study conducted by Dean Runyan Associates, an economic consulting firm that has examined the state's tourism industry annually since 2000. A year ago, we fact-checked how well Justice described the previous year's statistics and rated it Mostly True because Justice glossed over some of the report's negative findings. How about this year? Let's take a look, point by point. (Justice's office did not respond to inquiries for this article.) This is accurate. The report found that overall spending on tourism in West Virginia grew from $4.14 billion in 2016 to $4.28 billion in 2017 to $4.55 billion in 2018. That's an increase in the most recent year of 6.5%, easily exceeding the rate of inflation. Spending also grew for the second straight year if you set aside gambling revenue. It rose from $3.48 billion in 2016 to $3.63 billion in 2017 to $3.91 billion in 2018. That's an increase in the most recent year of 7.5%. This also exceeded the rate of inflation. This is accurate, too. According to the data in the report, the rise over the past two years came after four consecutive annual declines, as this chart shows: The report also provides data for the national tourism market that's comparable to the West Virginia numbers. According to the report, spending was $980 billion in 2018, a 4.1% increase over 2017. (These figures are not adjusted for inflation, but neither is the West Virginia figure, so the national and state figures can be compared equitably.) Justice's 58% figure appears to come from comparing the most recent one-year increase in West Virginia (6.5%) with the most recent one-year increase nationally (4.1%). The West Virginia percentage increase is 58.5% bigger than the national increase. Justice said, \"West Virginia's tourism industry has grown for the second consecutive year, reversing years of decline and outpacing national growth by 58 percent.\" These numbers align with the findings of a longstanding annual study of the West Virginia and national tourism economies. We rate the statement True.","issues":["West Virginia","Economy","Tourism"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_251","claim":"Is Stacey Abrams in debt of over $50,000 in unpaid taxes?","posted":"10\/25\/2018","sci_digest":["A graphic criticizing the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial candidate was not inaccurate, but neither was it a \"gotcha\" moment."],"justification":"A graphic circulated online about 2018 Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams owing a large sum in back taxes was technically accurate, but it omitted several key details in an attempt to frame her as irresponsible or dishonest. The meme showed a photograph of Abrams along with a caption reading, \"This is Stacy [sic] Abrams, the Democrat on the ticket for Georgia governor. She owes the IRS $50,000 in back taxes.\" Abrams publicly revealed that she owed a $54,000 debt to the Internal Revenue Service when she released her personal financial disclosure documents in March 2018. However, although she is in debt, she is not delinquent in her taxes, as documents show she is on a payment plan after deferring payments for the tax years 2015 and 2016. The candidate elaborated on her situation in an op-ed published by Fortune magazine on April 24, 2018, stating that even though she earned $95,000 a year at her first job after graduating college, the cost of her education left her with more than $100,000 in debt before she had to take on additional financial responsibilities. She wrote, \"I'd love to say that was the end of my financial troubles, but life had other plans. In 2006, my youngest brother and his girlfriend had a child they could not care for due to their drug addictions. Instead, my parents took custody when my niece was five days old. Underpaid, raising an infant, and battling their own illnesses, my parents' bills piled up. I took on much of the financial responsibility to support them, and even today I remain their main source of financial support. Paying the bills for two households has taken its toll. Nearly twenty years after graduating, I am still paying down student loans and am on a payment plan to settle my debt to the IRS. I have made money mistakes, but I have never ignored my responsibilities; I will meet my obligations\u2014however slowly but surely.\" Abrams' opponent in the 2018 gubernatorial race (which she lost), Republican Brian Kemp, was reportedly also in heavy debt. He was sued by an investment company in June 2018 after allegedly failing to repay a $500,000 loan he guaranteed for an agricultural company in which he invested, Hart AgStrong LLC. Kemp has claimed that he is not responsible for paying the loan, but the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in September 2018 that, according to court documents, Kemp also promised to cover around $10 million in other loans for the company.","issues":["debt"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1jWLmaqtBtK66ww4zYbua2OhlM-RQXwb1"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_252","claim":"Did US Women's Soccer Team Turn Backs on Vet Playing National Anthem?","posted":"07\/06\/2021","sci_digest":["Several members of the U.S. women soccer team signed a ball for the 98-year-old veteran after the match. "],"justification":"On July 5, 2021, the U.S. women's soccer team defeated Mexico 4-0 in their final match before the Olympic Games. While many cheered America's accomplishment, conservative commentators began sharing a video along with the claim that the team had \"disrespected\" the 98-year-old World War II veteran, Pete DuPr, who performed the national anthem on his harmonica. The controversy was somewhat unclear from the start. Dinesh D'Souza, for instance, claimed that the players had turned their backs on the veteran during the performance, while Richard Grenell, former acting director of U.S. national intelligence, asserted that they turned their backs on the flag. Both of these messages, along with the articles, videos, and additional tweets promoting this claim, mischaracterized the actions of the U.S. women's soccer team. While the video does appear to show some awkward positioning\u2014some players were facing forward while others were facing to the side\u2014this was not a protest or a gesture of disrespect against the flag or the veteran. When DuPr began his performance, some players opted to face him, while others turned to face an American flag at the end of the stadium. When you watch the video, pay attention to the direction the audience members were facing behind DuPr. Many of them were angled away from the harmonica-playing veteran and toward a flag at the end of the stadium, which is the same direction the players were facing. As the flag is somewhat difficult to see in the video, here's a photograph from sports reporter Jeff Kassouf that shows its location for reference. Here's a video of DuPr's performance of the national anthem from ESPN. Many of the people claiming that the U.S. team \"disrespected\" this veteran or the flag noted that the Mexican team was facing forward. It's worth mentioning that the members of Mexico's soccer team were facing their flag (in the same direction as the U.S. players) when the national anthem of Mexico was played. The assertion that the U.S. soccer team disrespected this veteran is also contradicted by the fact that the players signed a ball for DuPr after his performance. Meghan Rapinoe, for example, who can be seen in the video facing toward the flag, not DuPr, is glimpsed in this video signing a ball for the veteran. Some U.S. soccer players, such as midfielder Carli Lloyd, have also disputed this claim on social media. The U.S. soccer team also posted a statement on Twitter. The assertion that the U.S. women's soccer team was protesting during veteran DuPr's national anthem performance is not true. The players did not turn away from this veteran; they turned toward the U.S. flag.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=112hnzhy7V8W560_jIrBT5MOJymNPAWDO","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_253","claim":"Hillary Clinton reduced her tax payment by giving $1 million to herself through the Clinton Foundation.","posted":"10\/01\/2016","sci_digest":["Accusations that Hillary Clinton padded her own pockets by deducting charitable donations to the Clinton Foundation appear to be baseless."],"justification":"An Internet meme circulating during the final weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign purported to reveal financial trickery on the part of Democratic contender Hillary Clinton, who allegedly deducted $1 million from her 2015 income tax return after donating it \"to herself\" via contributions to the Clinton Foundation. Assuming that this information came from the candidate's 2015 tax filing (released to the public earlier this year), we went to verify the accuracy of the claims. Our findings were as follows: 1. The return was a joint filing for both Hillary and William J. Clinton. 2. Their shared charitable donations totaled $1,042,000: $42,000 to Desert Classic Charities and $1 million to the Clinton Family Foundation. 3. Declaring an amount, say $1 million, as a charitable donation only reduces your taxable income; it doesn't mean your \"tax bill\" is reduced by that amount. 4. The Clinton Family Foundation is a separate entity from the Clinton Foundation. Inside Philanthropy describes the Clinton Family Foundation as \"a traditional private foundation that serves as the vehicle for the couple's personal charitable giving.\" It has neither staff nor offices. 5. According to Inside Philanthropy, the Clinton Family Foundation regularly disburses contributions to numerous different charities (one of which is, in fact, the Clinton Foundation). Digging into the Clinton Family Foundation's 2014 tax return reveals that they made around $3.8 million in grantmaking and held some $5.3 million in assets. Of total grantmaking in 2014, $1.8 million went to the Clinton Foundation, just under half of total giving. However, in 2013, the Clintons gave $1.8 million through their personal foundation, with only around a fifth of that money going to the Clinton Foundation, around the same share as in 2012. So where have all the other gifts gone? The short answer is to many different places. In 2014, the Clintons donated money to 70 nonprofits through their foundation. The picture looked similar the year before, with many grants falling in the range of $5,000 to $25,000. Recipients of the Clintons' generosity via the Clinton Family Foundation in 2014 ranged from the School of American Ballet to the Arkansas Children's Hospital Foundation to Wellesley College to the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity. The foundation's 2015 tax filing has not yet been made public, so we don't have an accounting of the organizations to which the $1 million contributed by the Clintons that year was disbursed. Regarding the apparent assumption that any monies donated to the Clinton Foundation simply end up in the Clintons' own pockets, we refer readers, once again, to Inside Philanthropy, which describes the actual work the foundation does, and to the charity rating service Charity Navigator, which gives the Clinton Foundation an overall score of 94.74 points out of 100 in terms of its financials, accountability, and transparency.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1j_0vjV0eTrCdkNxZnq71iEGSWFpqf7G2"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_254","claim":"Did Jared Kushner remove tweets after reports emerged about Trump's taxes?","posted":"09\/28\/2020","sci_digest":["It's decidedly difficult to remove something that never existed. "],"justification":"Voting in the 2020 U.S. Election may be over, but misinformation continues to spread. It is essential to keep fact-checking. Follow our post-election coverage here. On Sept. 27, 2020, The New York Times published a report after obtaining several years of U.S. President Donald Trump's tax returns. As news broke that Trump had paid just $750 in federal income tax in 2016 and 2017, and had not paid federal income taxes in 10 of the past 15 years, in addition to taking an approximate $70,000 deduction for hairstyling during \"The Apprentice,\" and that he has more than $300 million worth of loans coming due, a rumor began to circulate on social media that White House senior adviser Jared Kushner had quietly deleted all of his tweets from his Twitter account. This rumor is false. Kushner did not delete all of his tweets following the NYT article about Trump's taxes. The tweet displayed above contains a genuine screenshot of the @JaredKushner Twitter account. This account has been online since 2009, but it has been used sparingly by its owner. Archived pages show that this account posted three messages back in March 2011, none of which were related to taxes, and then remained inactive for at least three years. The few messages that were posted to this account were deleted sometime between 2014 and 2016, and no new messages have been posted since then. In other words, Kushner did not wipe his Twitter account clean on the evening of Sept. 27 after the NYT published a story about his father-in-law's taxes. This account rarely posts tweets, and the three tweets that were shared to the account in 2011 (again, none of which were related to taxes) were deleted years ago. This isn't the first time that someone has stumbled across Kushner's Twitter account in the aftermath of a controversy, noticed that it was barren, and then incorrectly assumed that Kushner had recently scrubbed it clean. In October 2017, shortly after Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III revealed charges against former Trump presidential campaign chair Paul Manafort and two other campaign officials, social media users noted that Kushner's Twitter account was suspiciously void of content and falsely claimed that he had recently deleted all of his tweets. A few months later, when it was reported that Mueller may have interviewed Kushner in the course of his investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election, this false rumor circulated on social media again. The @JaredKushner account has been devoid of content since at least 2016. Claims that he recently deleted his tweets in the wake of breaking news stories are false.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Q2BDLYmOfKFHxsM_dzsgVMsXmD9twV74"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ach6ZzA07BEjy5ktBaccJfSAXRuB7rFc"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_255","claim":"Do the majority of cruise ships operate under foreign flags?","posted":"03\/23\/2020","sci_digest":["The economic strain of the COVID-19 pandemic prompted some to point fingers at companies perceived to be skirting the rules."],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease. \n\nAs the COVID-19 pandemic threatened to shut down businesses across America in March 2020, the U.S. government faced the difficult task of deciding which industries should receive economic assistance to stay afloat. Public sentiment in some quarters was strongly against government bailouts for businesses such as airlines and cruise companies, on the grounds that many major operators had spent billions of dollars in profits buying back their own stock rather than paying down their debts. In USA Today, John M. Griffin and James M. Griffin wrote: \"Start with the airlines. Rather than using their profits from the past five years to pay off debts and save for a rainy day, the big four\u2014American, United, Delta, and Southwest\u2014grew their combined liabilities to $166 billion, all while spending $39 billion on share repurchases. That number, which is only from the big four, is almost 80% of what they are asking for now from U.S. taxpayers.\" Similarly, the three largest cruise companies\u2014Carnival, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean\u2014have liabilities of $47.5 billion and engaged in share repurchases of $8 billion. Had these companies paid down their liabilities instead of using stock repurchases to inflate their stock prices, they would have been far better prepared to weather this emergency. Of course, higher share prices made their stock options more valuable, allowing top airline executives to pay themselves $666 million in compensation over the five-year period, while top cruise executives managed to earn $448 million. Now, taxpayers are unwillingly being called upon to bail out their extravagant behavior. \n\nA widely circulated meme on social media offered another reason why cruise lines were supposedly unworthy of government bailouts: although they might be headquartered in the U.S., their ships are foreign-flagged to evade U.S. law. That nearly every major cruise line registers their ships somewhere outside the U.S. is hardly disputable. As a 2011 news report noted, only a single major cruise ship at the time was U.S.-flagged: \"Only one major cruise ship\u2014NCL America's Pride of America\u2014is registered in the United States, according to data from CyberCruises.com.\" Most of the big boats fly Bahamian flags, but other popular registries include Panama, Bermuda, Italy, Malta, and the Netherlands. In fact, according to the Cruise Lines International Association, 90% of commercial vessels calling on U.S. ports fly foreign flags. The three cruise lines mentioned in the meme\u2014Disney, Celebrity, and Carnival\u2014do indeed engage in this practice. It's not difficult to verify that Disney cruise ships are registered in the Bahamas, Celebrity ships in Malta, and Carnival ships in Panama. \n\nOf course, the cruise industry and its critics offer differing reasons for why cruise ships are flagged in countries other than the U.S. The Cruise Lines International Association maintains there are reasons for such policies: \"There are many factors that determine where a cruise ship\u2014or for that matter, any maritime vessel\u2014is flagged. Those determinations are made by individual cruise lines and other ship operators based on varying factors including the capabilities of the flag to deliver the services needed; representation and reputation of the flag in the international shipping community; the performance of the flag state, which dictates how a ship is prioritized by port states; the pool of seafarers able to meet the needs of the flag; and the flag's fees, charges, and taxes,\" the association said by e-mail. This can be viewed as a robust free-market debate. Some maintain that burdensome U.S. regulations have forced cruise operators to plant their flags elsewhere, while others argue that these corporations seek to attract American dollars while skirting American safety and consumer protection laws. \n\nOn the other hand, an academic paper by Caitlin E. Burke of the University of Florida about \"Legal Issues Relevant to Cruise Ships\" made no bones about observing that reflagging of ships has long been used as a means of avoiding U.S. federal taxes, labor and safety laws, environmental laws, lawsuits, criminal investigations, and other regulations. Aside from the majority of revenue generated by U.S. passengers, cruise lines are independent of the U.S. economy. Even though nearly 75 percent of passengers are U.S. citizens, cruise line corporations and their ships are not traditionally American-owned or registered. Cruise line companies are not concerned about increasing minimum wage, rising insurance premiums, or higher corporate taxes. Cruise lines escape federal taxes and labor laws by registering their corporations and vessels in foreign countries such as Panama, Liberia, and the Bahamas. In fact, employees of cruise lines are often mistreated due to lax labor laws, and worst of all, employees find little to no recourse for pursuing litigation. Likewise, a U.S. citizen passenger faces the same predicament. A vessel's country of registration is commonly referred to as the \"flag of convenience\" (FOC). Flagging a ship under a foreign flag for the convenience of the cruise line is nothing new, nor is it rare. The majority of cruise ships today are registered in Panama, Liberia, or the Bahamas. It is important to pay close attention, as many vessels within the same fleet are often registered in different countries. For example, Carnival Corporation has flagged their cruise vessel Celebration under Panama and Destiny under the Bahamas. Cruise lines often avoid drawing attention to the FOC by using the term \"headquartered in Miami, Florida.\" While the majority of these cruise lines have their headquarters in Miami, they are not registered in the U.S. Thus, U.S. laws do not apply, and passengers are at the mercy of maritime law. \n\nThe practice of ship reflagging is common and regular. Whether cruise lines headquartered in the U.S. but operating ships registered in foreign countries \"deserve\" government bailouts in a time of pandemic is a subjective issue with no definitive answer, but certainly some critics have argued that they do not. Even in a crisis, companies with prudent balance sheets will survive and, in time, thrive. Despite what politicians might tell you, the airplanes and ships of imprudent companies are physical property that will not suddenly disappear. They will fly or sail again under the same or a different name, but hopefully with cheaper prices, better service, and different executives. Like a college student sleeping off a hangover, a crisis is a time to sober up by removing debt from the system. It's not time for another drink.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1_dX2dJhUJi5xNLD76pkyeC66mdalKSgU"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_256","claim":"Does the United States Deport Military Veterans?","posted":"02\/07\/2016","sci_digest":["Honorably-discharged veterans of the U.S. military have, under certain circumstances, either received deportation orders or been deported."],"justification":"Immigration is a sensitive and contentious issue, especially in the United States during an election year. Thus, when stories began to emerge in 2016 about a group of U.S. military veterans living in Mexico after being deported from the United States, it seemed natural to question what appeared to be a significant political challenge. Deported veterans do exist, although no one\u2014not even the Department of Homeland Security\u2014knows how many there are. Their plight has gradually entered mainstream American consciousness, largely due to the efforts of committed activists in Tijuana. \"The Bunker,\" also known as the Deported Veterans Support House, is located in a small cinderblock building tucked away on a side street in Tijuana, Mexico. It is frequented by veterans from every branch of the U.S. military, who have fought in conflicts ranging from Vietnam to Afghanistan. Former Army paratrooper Hector Barajas, 39, opened The Bunker to serve as a gathering place and refuge for veterans who, like him, had been deported. \"I started The Bunker because there was a need,\" Barajas explained. Since his deportation, he has met others like him living in Tijuana and discovered that they reside throughout Mexico and beyond. He noted that there are hundreds of deported military veterans living in at least twenty countries. Over time, The Bunker has evolved from a refuge into a cause: \"Our vision is to end the deportations of deported veterans, repatriate those who have already been deported, and offer support until they can return home.\" We should honor our deported veterans by allowing them to return to their families and providing them with any benefits for which they are eligible. It may come as a surprise to learn that serving in the U.S. military does not automatically confer citizenship. While military service can facilitate the path to citizenship, it requires the aspiring citizen to be aware of the necessary steps and to complete them within a specific timeframe. Unfortunately, many enlistees mistakenly assume they have fulfilled all requirements for citizenship, believing that after their honorable discharge, they simply need to wait. Additionally, bureaucratic errors can complicate matters. One man was deported after he was unable to attend a hearing because he was in the hospital for surgery at the time. Others follow the correct procedures, filing their paperwork and attending their meetings, yet still face deportation, often without clear explanations. Once outside the U.S., they retain a legal right to VA benefits such as healthcare and any funds they may be entitled to, but they have no means of returning to the United States to access that assistance, and there are no satellite offices abroad to help them. Because these veterans are either in the U.S. on green cards or without documentation after their discharges, they can be deported with cause or for no reason at all. Past and present members of the armed forces are supposed to receive special consideration during deportation hearings, but these guidelines are inconsistently applied. Some of these veterans have spent time in prison for assault or drug offenses, complicating their situations politically. Elected officials and candidates who might typically advocate for military rights often remain silent when confronted with the realities of undocumented soldiers. Sympathy for those wounded on the battlefield under the American flag can wane when it is revealed that they entered the country without documentation years prior. Miguel Perez, a U.S. Army veteran, falls into this category. The 39-year-old Illinois man, who served two tours in Afghanistan and has been in the U.S. since he was eight, was convicted of a drug trafficking offense in 2008. The green card holder had served half of a 15-year prison sentence when Immigration, Customs, and Enforcement initiated deportation proceedings against him. After losing an appeal, Perez was deported in March 2018. He was flown from Gary, Indiana, to Brownsville, Texas, where officers escorted him across the border and handed him over to Mexican authorities, according to ICE officials. Perez appeared shocked by his treatment during his final moments on U.S. soil. An ICE agent, who identified himself as a fellow veteran, told Perez they would \"fix this\" while leading him to a gate. \"When we got there, he just closed the gate behind me and said, 'OK, we're done here,'\" Perez recounted. \"He said, 'You see those green lights? You go that way, and when you get there, just ask for help.'\" Perez recalls thinking, \"Really? This is it?\" The veteran said he immediately contemplated suicide but ultimately felt compelled to keep walking and continue the fight to raise awareness about how he and other undocumented veterans are treated by the U.S. Unless something changes for them, the only way most deported veterans will be able to return to the United States is by dying. By law, all military veterans (except those who have been dishonorably discharged) are entitled to burial in a national cemetery, and immigration laws do not apply to corpses. On April 20, 2016, lawmakers introduced a bill to readmit military veterans who were deported and who had not previously been convicted of serious crimes. The bill would also prevent the future removal of military veterans from the U.S. On April 13, 2018, Hector Barajas, the deported veteran who was among the first to highlight their plight, received his American citizenship, potentially paving the way for hundreds of other former U.S. military members.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1s8XmrOYGqXvxVwmu3Rrztt4IxV1AHcMA","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=19sBPcr7w2ge7ytIsdvILdc-sEcyuQx0s","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_257","claim":"Is this a Photograph of Worthless Money in the Gutters of Venezuela?","posted":"04\/05\/2019","sci_digest":["The disastrous economic situation in Venezuela can't be summed up in a single image. "],"justification":"In late March 2019, a photograph supposedly showing piles of \"worthless\" currency thrown into gutters in Venezuela circulated on social media, attached to comments blaming socialism for the phenomenon behind the striking visual. One popular posting on Facebook was captioned, \"This is a street in Venezuela. That's money in the gutter. It's worthless. Welcome to socialism.\": Facebook   This is a genuine photograph of worthless money dumped in the gutter of a Venezuelan street. However, the accompanying caption presents an oversimplification of the series of events that led to this currency's worthlessness and its discarding by Venezuelan residents. The economic collapse in Venezuela that began in 2013 is a complex matter which can't be attributed to any single factor. News outlets such as Bloomberg, the New York Times, and Fox News have cited a wide range of issues that led to the country's current economic crisis, including plunging oil prices, government corruption, political unrest, and socialist policies. That brew of unfavorable economic conditions has spawned massive hyperinflation which has greatly devalued Venezuela's currency, as the Washington Post reported in January 2018: Bloomberg New York Times Fox News reported Hyperinflation is disorienting. Five or six years ago, 500 bolivars wouldve bought you a meal for two with wine at the best restaurant in Caracas. As late as early last year, they wouldve bought you at least a cup of coffee. At the end of 2016, they still bought you a cup of caf con leche, at least. Today, they buy you essentially nothing ... well, except for 132 gallons of the worlds most extravagantly subsidized gasoline. Although hyperinflation has indeed caused the bolivar to become all but worthless, the caption on this viral photograph is a bit misleading. The money shown lying in the gutter in this picture is Venezuela's old currency, the Bolvar Fuerte, which was replaced by a new form of currency, the Bolivar Soberano, in August 2018.  When the Bolivar Soberano was introduced, Bolvar Fuerte currency in amounts less than 1,000 ceased to be legal tender, and Bolivar Fuerte currency in all amounts was completely withdrawn on 5 December 2018.   Hence the discarded money seen here was literally worthless not because it had no value, because it had been completely replaced by a newer currency and was no longer legal tender. Here's an excerpt from a CNN report about the switch in currencies: CNN Venezuela issued a new currency in an attempt to bolster its crumbling economy as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that inflation could hit one million percent this year. The move, part of a dramatic raft of measures aimed at halting runaway hyperinflation, comes as thousands of Venezuelans continue to flee across the border into neighboring countries amid food and medicine shortages, political turmoil and soaring crime rates. In a tweet posted following the unveiling of Venezuela's new currency, the country's president Nicolas Maduro hailed the recovery package as a \"revolutionary formula.\" The new \"Bolivar Soberano\" currency is worth 100,000 \"old\" Bolivares. \"We found the revolutionary formula that puts work in the center of the general re-adjustment of society, based on the production of goods and the value of salary. With that, we're gonna put to rest forever the perverse model that dollarized the prices in the country,\" tweeted Venezuela's 55-year-old leader. \"I call on the people to defend -- conscientiously -- the adjustment of the prices on street,\" Maduro later said in another tweet. A bank holiday was declared, with banks remaining closed as the new currency took effect. The rebranded currency, which has five fewer zeroes than the country's previous currency and will be pegged to a cryptocurrency called the Petro, is intended to simplify transactions. The viral photograph was likely taken on 11 March 2019 and showed the aftermath of looting at a bank in the town of Merida. Local news outlet Maduradas.com compiled several other photographs of the incident and reported that the perpetrators had discarded the old money on the streets and even lit some of it on fire (translated via Google): Maduradas.com TERRIBLE! Encapuchados saquearon banco Bicentenario en Mrida y esparcieron bolvares del viejo cono monetario por las calles (+Fotos) Este lunes 11 de marzo, encapuchados saquearon la agencia del banco Bicentenario en la avenida 3, de Glorias Patrias, en el estado Mrida. El hecho fue confirmado por el diputado de la Asamblea Nacional Williams Dvila, as como por el corresponsal de El Nacional en el estado Mrida, Leonardo Len. A travs de la red social Twitter, informaron que los ciudadanos esparcieron montones de billetes de viejo cono monetario en las calles, los cuales despus fueron incendiados. TERRIBLE! Hooded (vandals) sacked the bank Bicentenario in Merida and scattered bolivars of the old currency through the streets (+ Photos) On Monday, March 11, hooded (vandals) sacked the Bicentenario bank agency on Avenue 3, Glorias Patrias, in the state of Merida. The fact was confirmed by the deputy of the National Assembly Williams Dvila, as well as by the correspondent of El Nacional in the state of Mrida, Leonardo Len. Through the social network Twitter, they reported that citizens scattered piles of old money bills in the streets, which were then set on fire. Venezuelan journalists and social media users shared several other photographs of the scene: Ayer se produjo el saqueo de un banco bicentenario en la ciudad de Mrida, en las cercanas de la plaza Glorias Patrias. Los saqueadores incendiaron una pila de bolvares adems de dejar muchos billetes por el suelo. pic.twitter.com\/7gmL7FqMYo pic.twitter.com\/7gmL7FqMYo  Descifrando la Guerra (@descifraguerra) March 12, 2019 March 12, 2019  TERRIBLE! Encapuchados saquearon banco Bicentenario en Mrida y esparcieron bolvares del viejo cono monetario por las calles https:\/\/t.co\/6U3kFuMHn5 #LiberenALuisCarlos,#12Mar,#solidarioservicios pic.twitter.com\/QT0fP9ifaF https:\/\/t.co\/6U3kFuMHn5 #LiberenALuisCarlos #12Mar #solidarioservicios pic.twitter.com\/QT0fP9ifaF  EntornoInteligente (@ENTORNOi) March 12, 2019 March 12, 2019  #MeridaBanco Bicentenario en Merida fue robado, slo haban billetes del viejo cono monetario que terminaron tapizando las calles del centro de la ciudadVenezuela es realismo magico y tragicoSarai Suarez pic.twitter.com\/lIeo2mpw70 #Merida pic.twitter.com\/lIeo2mpw70  Nellie B. Izarza ? ???? (@myteks) March 12, 2019 March 12, 2019  In short, the \"money in gutters\" image shown above captured an older and now invalid form of currency that was tossed aside after the looting of a bank, and not usable currency discarded by citizens because it had been made next to worthless due to \"socialism.\" Sterling, Joe.  \"Venezuela Issues New Currency, Amid Hyperinflation and Social Turmoil.\"\r  CNN.  23 August 2018. Toro, Franciso.  \"In Venezuela, Money Has Stopped Working.\"\r  The Washington Post.  17 January 2018. Llorente, Elizabeth.  \"Caracas, Once a Thriving Metropolis, Is Struggling as Country Plunges Further Into Chaos.\"\r  Fox News.  4 April 2019. The New York Times.  \"The Crisis in Venezuela Was Years in the Making. Heres How It Happened.\"\r  23 January 2019. Martin, Eric and Patricia Laya.  \"What Broke Venezuela's Economy and What Could Fix It.\"\r  Bloomberg.  9 March 2019. Maduradas.com.  \"TERRIBLE! Encapuchados Saquearon Banco Bicentenario en Mrida y Esparcieron Bolvares Del Viejo Cono Monetario Por Las Calles (+Fotos).\"\r  12 March 2019. El Nacional.  \"Billetes Inferiores a 1.000 Bolvares No Tendrn Valor a Partir del 20A.\"\r  14 August 2018. 2001.com.ve.  \"Bolvar Fuerte Circular Hasta el Mircoles 5 de Diciembre.\"\r  Accessed 5 April 2019.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1v493njsoZIIt8UpAvF8S3UDvrLIQVlbO","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_258","claim":"41 cents out of every dollar (the U.S. spends) is borrowed from places like China.","posted":"11\/16\/2011","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Imagine America as a sweaty, scruffy, cigarette-smoking dude -- with a drug problem.That vision comes to life in anew political ad: America could learn a lot from a drug addict, says Addicted Dude. Even though this countrys $14  trillion in debt, Washington raised the debt ceiling 10 times in the last 10 years. Each time  its like another hit  another spending hit. But youre the junkies.41 cents out of every dollar you spend is borrowed from places like China. So China is like your dealer, and your addiction and your dealer control your life. To borrow less, you need to spend less. Yeah  Washington could learn a lot from a drug addict.The ad was paid for by the Public Notice Research & Education Fund, a sister organization to Public Notice. In apress release, Public Notice said it was airing the ads in hopes that the super committee in Congress working on a new budget would adopt more spending cuts.Public Notice says its mission is to increase the publics awareness and understanding of the economic issues that affect their daily lives, communities, and children and grandchildren. That sounded rather generic to us, and we wanted to know more about Public Notice. However, as a 501(c)(4), Public Notice isnot requiredto disclose its donors. Public Notices executive director, Gretchen Hamel, is a former spokesman for the  House Republican Conference.We decided to fact-check the ads claim that 41 cents out of every dollar you spend is borrowed from places like China.To check this item, we turned to two government agencies that monitor the economy.We consulted the most recent report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office to see if 41 cents of every dollar is borrowed.The numbers show that for fiscal year 2011 (which ended Sept. 30, 2011), the federal government took in $2.3 trillion and spent $3.6 trillion. So the shortfall between receipts and outlays was about $1.3 trillion. That means about 36 cents of every dollar spent was borrowed.Thats pretty close to the 41 percent the ad cited. When we contacted Public Notice, they told us they took their numbers from an earlier report published in June 2011 that included numbers for fiscal year 2010. The numbers we used were for fiscal year 2011 and published Nov. 7, 2011.Next, for the sake of thoroughness, we checked how much U.S. debt is held by China. China is the number one foreign country holding U.S. debt, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.China holds $1.15 trillion in U.S. debt, followed by Japan with $957 billion; the United Kingdom with $422 billion; and a group of oil-exporting countries that collectively hold $230 billion. (See the entire list. )So is Addicted Dude a good analogy for our budget situation? If China is our drug dealer, Chinas offering us the good stuff at an extremely low mark-up -- interest rates on U.S. Treasuries are near rock-bottom right now. On the other hand ...thats how they get you hooked.So well leave it up to you to decide whether the metaphor is apt.The ad from Public Notice says, 41 cents out of every dollar you spend is borrowed from places like China. China is indeed the country that holds the most U.S. debt. But the most recent numbers on U.S. debt put the borrowed amount slightly lower, at 36 cents on the dollar. So we rate this statement Mostly True.","issues":["National","Economy","Federal Budget","Message Machine 2012"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_259","claim":"SCAM ALERT: Tim Hortons 57th Anniversary Giveaway","posted":"03\/24\/2021","sci_digest":["A copypasta offer appeared too good to be true."],"justification":"In late March 2021, Facebook users shared a copypasta meme promising that Tim Hortons, a Canadian fast food chain, would give away a hamper full of \"surprises that will make your heart flutter\" and a $60 dollar gift card in commemoration of the company's 57th anniversary. All users had to share the post and comment on it. Here's an example of the post, with the user's name cropped out for privacy:   \"Tim Hortons is going to celebrate its 57th anniversary on March 24, 2021, and In order to help our loyal customers every single person who has shared & commented before 5PM Wednesday will be sent one of these hampers containing a $60 gift-card plus surprises that will make your heart flutter!\" Tim Hortons does offer occasional promotions on its official Facebook page, but those promotions don't involve prompting customers to share posts or comment on posts. Facebook page The post pictured above isn't a legitimate offer from Tim Hortons. It's a type of scam the Better Business Bureau calls \"like farming.\" The purpose of this type of scam is as follows, according to the BBB: like farming As with many scams, like-farming has several different aims. When scammers ask you to register in order to win something or claim an offer, this is a way to steal your personal information. Other versions can be more complex. Often, the post itself is initially harmless  albeit completely fictional. But when the scammer collects enough likes and shares, they will edit the post and could add something malicious, such as a link to a website that downloads malware to your machine. Other times, once scammers reach their target number of likes, they strip the pages original content and use it to promote spammy products. They may also resell the page on the black market. These buyers can use it to spam followers or harvest the information Facebook provides.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1pjrueg6zZsAMZG9VDfuvg9AWSqhr3a11","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_260","claim":"Deceptive Scheme Involving Complimentary Cedar Point Tickets","posted":"07\/11\/2019","sci_digest":["Cedar Point amusement park warned Facebook users that a digital coupon for free tickets was a scam."],"justification":"In July 2019, Facebook users began encountering posts offering four free tickets to the Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio, billed as \"The Roller Coaster Capital of the World,\" in honor of the park's supposed 50th anniversary. Cedar Point, which has actually been operating since 1870 and is thus far more than 50 years old, is not offering free digital ticket vouchers via social media; such posts are just another iteration of the Company Anniversary Free Product Scams that have plagued the internet for years. The company's official Facebook page posted a warning to inform customers that the free ticket offer was a scam and that any legitimate promotions from Cedar Point would be posted through their official social channels or a reputable partner. A Better Business Bureau article provides customers with tips on avoiding survey and coupon scams operating in this fashion: Don't believe what you see. It's easy to steal the colors, logos, and headers of an established organization. Scammers can also make links look like they lead to legitimate websites and emails appear to come from a different sender. Legitimate businesses do not ask for credit card numbers or banking information on customer surveys. If they do ask for personal information, like an address or email, be sure there's a link to their privacy policy. When in doubt, do a quick web search. If the survey is a scam, you may find alerts or complaints from other consumers. The organization's real website may have further information. Watch out for rewards that are too good to be true. If the survey is real, you may be entered in a drawing to win a gift card or receive a small discount off your next purchase. Few businesses can afford to give away $50 gift cards for completing a few questions.","issues":["banking"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1PEIzLp_yLfvXURwMeOV1S0SvmMIZbHVg"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_261","claim":"Certainly! Here is a paraphrased version of the sentence: The IRS requested that taxpayers declare stolen goods and income obtained illegally.","posted":"12\/30\/2021","sci_digest":["But there's a loophole to get out of declaring on stolen goods. "],"justification":"Criminals, beware. Just because you got away with an illegal activity doesn't mean the IRS isn't going to come after your earnings. That's because just ahead of the 2021 tax season, the IRS released guidelines that required taxpayers to claim items they have stolen, as well as earnings from illegal activities. The claim made headlines in publications that joked potential criminals were running out of time to return stolen goods to avoid paying taxes on them. It went viral when the financial Twitter account @litquidity took to social media to remind taxpayers that tax season is around the corner. And it's true. Publication 17, which contains the IRS's general rules for filing federal income tax returns, lists illegal activities under \"other income,\" categorized as self-employment activity, which must be reported to the federal tax agency. \"Income from illegal activities, such as money from dealing illegal drugs, must be included in your income on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 8z, or on Schedule C (Form 1040) if from your self-employment activity,\" read the 2021 IRS guidelines. The guidelines also require that those who steal property must report the fair market value as income in the year that the item was stolen. Of course, one can avoid paying taxes on such items as long as the person returns them to the individual they were stolen from in the first place. The handy regulations also list how to report embezzled funds, note that bribes are considered nondeductible expenses, and state that kickbacks, side commissions, and push money must also be included in Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 8z, or on Schedule C (Form 1040) if from self-employment activity. It's not just items or earnings obtained through illegal activities. That watch you found in the gym locker room? Yep, it's taxable. If you find and keep property that doesn't belong to you that has been lost or abandoned (treasure trove), it's taxable to you at its fair market value in the first year it's your undisputed possession, noted the IRS. Snopes spoke with an accountant who said that while the reporting requirements themselves aren't new, there was previously a separate form specifically for reporting illegal activity income. It's unclear to what extent people actually used the form in the past. It's not exactly clear whether law enforcement will be given information about individuals who report income from illegal activities. What is clear is that anyone under the age of 65 who made more than $12,550 in 2021 is required to file by April 18, 2022.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1_oNgxBOLN1-PXsn9MANI1SRnh2_dBrU3"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=17UCl0qYJbx2m0kkuscFysLwV7CiZWc1Q"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_262","claim":"Is this surprising monetary gift from an unknown person genuine?","posted":"04\/02\/2020","sci_digest":["Someone you dont know sends you a check, then asks you to deposit it and send some of the money to another party. But the check is counterfeit."],"justification":"In March 2020, the prospect of the U.S. government's sending out $1,200 stimulus checks to individual taxpayers as part of a $2 trillion emergency economic package to address the COVID-19 pandemic created a prime opportunity for grifters who engage in scams that involve luring victims by mailing checks to them. In particular, a several-year-old check-scam warning was widely recirculated via social media. Such warnings served a useful purpose in alerting many viewers to be wary of receiving checks in the mail from unexpected sources. However, they also poorly served audiences by misstating how the underlying scams connected with those checks work. It is not the case, as claimed in the warning reproduced above and in the following news clip, that the scammers who mail out these checks \"do this in hopes of getting your account information when you deposit the check,\" and then using that information to clean out your bank account. A little common sense would be relevant here: If simply depositing a check provided the sender of that check with the means to obtain your personal banking information and drain your bank account, it would be unsafe for any bank customer to ever deposit any check. Clearly, that is not the case, as millions of people maintain checking accounts without regularly falling victim to scammers. All such check scams have two essential components: 1) Scammers mail out counterfeit checks (often made out in the names of real organizations) to lure their victims into believing they are receiving money. 2) Scammers instruct their victims to send back some of the funds they supposedly received from depositing the fake checks (usually via wire transfer, Western Union, PayPal, or gift cards). The scammers count on the fact that funds from deposited checks are often made available to bank customers before the banks can confirm that the checks are authentic and have cleared. The victims of these scams, mistakenly believing they have received \"free money\" once they have deposited their fake checks, are then usually receptive to sending some of that money back to the scammers for some legitimate-sounding purpose. But by the time the victims' banks discover the deposited checks were bad, the scammers already have the money their victims forwarded to them, and the victims are stuck paying all of those funds back to their banks. The person running the scam convinces a victim to cash a check and then send, via wire transfer, a portion of the money to another location. The portion kept by the victim can be called payment for a job, part of a commission, or a prize. However, the check turns out to be a very convincing fake. Banks in the United States are required to make funds available within a few days, but it can take weeks for a fraudulent check to be discovered. This means the wire transfers will happen long before the bank or the victim discovers that the initial check was fake. This scheme is effective because many consumers aren't fully aware of how the check-clearance process works. Unfortunately, the term \"clear\" sometimes gets used prematurely. An item has cleared only after your bank receives funds from the check writer's bank. Bank employees might tell you that a check has cleared, and your bank's computer systems might show that you have those funds available for withdrawal, but that doesn't necessarily mean you can spend the money risk-free. In many cases, when a bank employee tells you an item cleared, they are saying you can spend that money with your debit card, withdraw cash from an ATM, or set up a payment online. Most of the time, this informal terminology is fine because funds typically arrive as expected. Most of the confusion around checks comes from bank policies and federal laws that allow you to spend money before a check really clears. Banks are required to make a portion of your deposit available quickly\u2014usually the first $200 or, on certain official checks, $5,000\u2014and they might need to release the remaining funds after several business days. But that policy might prematurely provide access to the money. It does not mean the funds successfully arrived from the check writer's bank. If a check bounces, the bank reverses the deposit to your account\u2014even if you already spent some or all of the money from that deposit. If you don't have enough money in your account to cover the reversal, you end up with a negative account balance, and you could start bouncing other payments and racking up fees. Ultimately, you are responsible for deposits you make to your account, and you're the one at risk. The lures that scammers use to dupe their victims into sending them the illusory proceeds from the depositing of counterfeit checks are many and varied: o Mystery Shopping Scam: Scammers engage victims to act as \"mystery shoppers\" by making purchases from various vendors in order to rate their service. The scammers then send out counterfeit checks to their victims, instructing them to keep a portion of the funds to cover the costs of purchasing and returning the goods and to compensate them for their time, then wire back the rest of the money. o Reshipping Scam: Scammers engage job-seekers to act as work-at-home re-shippers, receiving (possibly stolen) goods and sending them on to other locations. Then the counterfeit checks those re-shippers are sent to compensate them for their efforts and to reimburse them for the shipping charges they incurred bounce, and they're left holding the bag. o Payment-Processing Scam: Scammers hire job-seekers to work as payment processors. The victims are instructed to open business accounts in their own name, deposit (counterfeit) checks sent to them into those accounts, then disburse the deposited funds as directed by the scammers. When the business account overdraws because the deposited checks are fake and bounce, the victim is on the hook for making restitution to the bank. o Windfall Scam: Scammers send out counterfeit checks that they declare are the proceeds from an inheritance, lottery win, or some other type of prize giveaway. Recipients are instructed to deposit the checks and return a share of the money to cover processing fees, shipping and handling charges, legal fees, taxes, or other charges. o Online Sales Overpayment Scam: Scammers agree to purchase items that have been advertised for sale or auction online, then send out counterfeit checks for greater than the sale price and ask the victims to refund the overpayments. o Rental Scams: Scammers respond to ads seeking roommates or tenants, send a check to cover the rent plus a little extra, then ask that the overpayment be forwarded to another party to cover moving expenses. As the U.S. Federal Trade Commission succinctly describes such scams: Fake checks drive many types of scams like those involving phony prize wins, fake jobs, mystery shoppers, online classified ad sales, and others. In a fake check scam, a person you don't know asks you to deposit a check\u2014sometimes for several thousand dollars and usually for more than what you are owed\u2014and wire some of the money back to that person. The scammers always have a good story to explain the overpayment\u2014they're stuck out of the country, they need you to cover taxes or fees, you need to buy supplies, or something else. But by the time your bank discovers you've deposited a bad check, the scammer already has the money you sent, and you're stuck paying the rest of the check back to the bank. The best way to avoid falling victim to such scams is not to cash or deposit checks for people you do not know, not to wire money to people you do not know, and not to spend funds from large checks you have deposited until you have verified with your bank that those checks have fully cleared.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1xbvu6QZqr3-b9xIKe9iFBsTKKdQdIde_"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_263","claim":"Seattle Chase Wheedle","posted":"07\/17\/2015","sci_digest":[""],"justification":"FACT CHECK: Is the city of Seattle forcing local businesses to comply with Sharia law?  Claim: The mayor of Seattle has \"launched\" a new \"rule\" forcing businesses to comply with Sharia law.   false WHAT'S   Seattle is exploring options to make home loans accessible to Muslims who are unable to participate in standard mortgage programs due to religious proscriptions.     WHAT'S   Seattle businesses are being forced to comply with tenets of sharia law. Examples: Seattle Mayor Planning to Force Banks to Give Sharia Compliant Homes Loans to Local Muslims https:\/\/t.co\/QSKZ1XqzMB https:\/\/t.co\/QSKZ1XqzMB  Warner Todd Huston (@warnerthuston) July 17, 2015 July 17, 2015   Seattle's Liberal Mayor Caves To Muslims Following Sharia Law - BuzzPo https:\/\/t.co\/A3m76OJz7r https:\/\/t.co\/A3m76OJz7r  EMERSON E.RODRIGUES (@EMERSON_NALITA) July 17, 2015 July 17, 2015   Mayor, no Sharia law applies in America!! Stop this unconstitutional junk. https:\/\/t.co\/fx7VENmVQx https:\/\/t.co\/fx7VENmVQx  Bunch (@bunch1243) July 17, 2015 July 17, 2015   Origins:On 17 July 2015, the unreliable web site Conservative Tribune published an article titled \"ALERT: Seattle Mayor Launches Rules to Force Local Businesses to Comply With SHARIAH LAW\" claiming that: article In one major American city, new rules may force banks to comply with Shariah law on lending and interest. One of the major tenets of Shariah law is that Muslims cannot pay interest on loans. In countries with large Muslim populations, theres something known as Islamic banking, which manages to get around this through various machinations. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray wants to see that change, and hes apparently willing to force banks into Shariah-compliant lending if necessary. This means that, if it passes, Seattle will be the first city in America to mandate that its banks allow access to Shariah-compliant financing.  That claim was sourced to the TeaParty.org site's article \"Seattle Mayor Offers Plan for Sharia-Compliant Housing Rules,\" which offered the following visual: article That article was a word-for-word copy of a Puget Sound Business Journal article about a potential plan by the mayor of Seattle to help Muslims obtain home loans to buy houses.  Quoting both Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Seattle-area Chapter Executive Director Arsalan Bukhari, the article explained that the city was examining housing options available to home-buying Muslims who are prohibited from participating in the traditional American housing market due to religious restrictions that prohibit them from obtaining standard home loans (despite their having desirable credit profiles): article   For some Muslims, it can be hard to buy a house, and Mayor Ed Murray plans to do something about it. Murray's housing committee released its recommendations for ways the city can increase housing in the city. Most ideas were what you'd expect, including increasing the city's housing levy and implementing new rules and regulations to foster development of market-rate and lower-income housing. One suggestion would help followers of Sharia law buy houses. That's virtually impossible now because Sharia law prohibits payment of interest on loans. The 28-member committee recommended the city convene lenders and community leaders to explore options for increasing access to Sharia-compliant loan products. More and more lenders are offering Sharia-compliant financing. The sector has grown to more than $1.6 trillion in assets worldwide over the past three decades, and analysts see potential for continued growth as the number of Muslims in the United States and Europe grows. Based on what he called \"rough anecdotal evidence,\" Bukhari estimated a couple hundred people aren't borrowing money for houses due to their religion. He said this includes even high-wage earners, such as the more than 1,000 Muslims who work for Microsoft and more than 500 Amazon.com  employees. They could easily qualify for home loans but opt not to apply \"simply because they don't want to pay interest,\" Bukhari said. \"We will work to develop new tools for Muslims who are prevented from using conventional mortgage products due to their religious beliefs,\" Murray said. The overall topic of Seattle-area Muslims and banking products was also addressed in another Puget Sound Business Journal article about retirement plans. According to that piece, CEO Thom Poulson of Falah Capital is working to facilitate opportunities for Muslim tech workers to access products such as 401(k)s and mortgages previously inaccessible to them due to religious barriers: article   It's estimated that more than 1,000 Muslims in the Puget Sound region work for Microsoft, and for those who closely follow their faith, it can be difficult to participate in the company's retirement plan. That's because Sharia law forbids them from investing in funds with holdings in companies that peddle pornography, alcohol and other vices. It's almost impossible for retirement funds to guarantee all their investments are free from those kinds of businesses. This has become an issue for workers at other tech companies, too. \"You have people who aren't getting the full benefits of their employer's offering,\" said Thom Polson, CEO of a new Seattle company, Falah Capital LLC, which works with Muslims to ensure they're investing while staying true to their beliefs. In partnership with Seattle-based Russell Investments and IdealRatings of San Francisco, Falah set up its first Islamic exchange traded fund (ETF) last fall. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker \"FIA,\" the Russell-IdealRatings Islamic US Large Cap Index, the ETF is the first of its kind on the exchange. Polson said a large percentage of the Muslims who work at tech firms are not using their 401(k) plans because they're not Sharia-compliant. \"All of our advisory business is about addressing these needs,\" Polson said, adding his company is working with clients from the Muslim Association of the Puget Sound. The association has a large community center with a mosque in Redmond near Microsoft's headquarters. Next up for Fallah is a possible foray into home mortgages so clients can buy houses without taking out interest-bearing loans, which is against Sharia law. As part Seattle Mayor Ed Murray's landmark housing initiative, the city plans to work with lenders to help observant Muslims buy homes.   What these articles address are efforts to help businesses  service a significant portion of the local Seattle-area working population who are unable to utilize those business' current offerings  due to religious limitations, not to force businesses to comply with tenets of sharia law.  Mayor Murray's 13 July 2015 \"Action Plan to Address Seattles Affordability Crisis\" merely included a policy point of \"explor[ing] the best options for increasing access to Sharia-compliant loan products,\" not mandating that any local businesses offer such products: Action Plan  Support the Community in Finding Housing Tools for Sharia-Compliant Lending: For our low- and moderate-income Muslim neighbors who follow Sharia law  which prohibits the payment of interest or fees for loans of money  there are limited options for financing a home. Some Muslims are unable to use conventional mortgage products due to religious convictions. The City will convene lenders, housing nonprofits and community leaders to explore the best options for increasing access to Sharia-compliant loan products to help these residents become homeowners in Seattle.   Last updated: 17 July 2015 Originally published:  17 July 2015","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1u1aRxp90_2IUSVg2RgtruTpFU4gQJ1Jv","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1nn1afcowtX10uObFSAdHRn_3KckWiKCN","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_264","claim":"Was Brooke Shields Photographed Nude at 10 Years Old?","posted":"03\/12\/2019","sci_digest":["Nude photographs of the American actress have been the source of controversy for decades. "],"justification":"In 1975, photographer Garry Gross took several nude photographs of a 10-year-old Brooke Shields that were later published in a Playboy publication called Sugar and Spice. This series of photographs has been the source for controversy for decades. But many internet users were blissfully unaware of the images until one appeared in a meme featuring a photograph of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner and passed around on social media:   The girl in the background of this meme is indeed a naked 10-year-old Shields, and the photograph was truly published by Playboy. Although this meme may have given some viewers the impression that the image appeared in Playboy magazine itself, the picture was actually featured in the Playboy Press publication Sugar and Spice. The above-displayed photograph is one of many that Gross took with the consent of Shields' mother, Teri Shields, in 1975. In 1981, with Sugar and Spice out of print and Shields' profile on the rise, Shields sued Gross, arguing that the photographer should not be allowed to continue to profit from the images, and that the photographs would cause her irreparable harm.  sued The lawsuit was dismissed in a 4-3 decision by the New York State Supreme Court. Justice Edward Greenfield stated that the pictures were \"not erotic or pornographic\" except to \"possibly perverse minds,\" and that while the images might cause Shields personal embarrassment, they did not constitute \"irreparable harm\" as Shields' profile had risen in the years since the photographs were taken. decision Greenfield also criticized Shields' mother for trying to \"have it both ways,\" saying the actress had starred in provocative roles in movies such as Blue Lagoon and Pretty Baby:  Wed, Nov 11, 1981  6  The News Leader (Staunton, Staunton, Virginia, United States of America)  Newspapers.com  Wed, Nov 11, 1981  6  The News Leader (Staunton, Staunton, Virginia, United States of America)  Newspapers.com Here's an excerpt from a contemporaneous article published by the Washington Post: Washington Post Washington Post: It was Mom who decided six years ago to let Gross take pictures of her nude daughter for a book, published the next year by Playboy Press, called \"Sugar and Spice.\" Then a funny thing happened to little Brooke: she burst out of her cocoon and turned into a great big star, just like that. Suddenly the pictures acquired a new and alluring value; and suddenly Brooke and Mom decided that, with the book out of print, Gross had no business peddling the pictures anywhere else, even though Mom had signed a release for them. So they went to court, where Justice Greenfield ruled against them. He said that the pictures were \"not erotic or pornographic\" and that Brooke would not suffer irreparable damage if they were republished; he ruled that Gross had not violated the terms of the release. And so long as he was at it, Justice Greenfield delivered himself of a tidy lecture on the subject of stage motherhood. He described Teri Shields as \"a concerned mother\"; he said she lived not merely \"for\" her daughter but also \"through\" her. He said that her behavior was \"maternally protective and exploitative,\" that she wanted \"to have it both ways\" by representing Brooke as \"sexually provocative and exciting while attempting to preserve her innocence.\" An appellate court overturned the decision, but in 1983 the original verdict was upheld. upheld This wasn't the only time these nude images of Shields were at the center of a controversy. In 2009, artist Richard Prince, known for \"reproduction\" photography, used one of Gross' images of Shields for an artwork entitled \"Spiritual America.\" The photograph was set to be displayed at the Tate Modern Gallery, but it was removed after Scotland Yard suggested that it might violate London's obscenity laws. violate Associated Press.  \"Judge Lambasts Actress' Mother.\"\r  11 November 1981. Higgins, Charlotte and Vikram Dodd.  \"Tate Modern Removes Naked Brooke Shields Picture After Police Visit.\"\r  The Guardian.  30 September 2009. Yardley, Jonathan.  \"Sugar and Spice and Not Nice.\"\r  The Washington Post.  16 November 1981. Gambardello, Joseph.  \"Judge Scolds Brooke Shields' Mother for Exploiting Daughter.\"\r  UPI.  11 November 1981. Turner, Christopher  \"Sugar and Spice and All Things Not So Nice.\"\r  The Guardian.  2 October 2009.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1BqYvWAmiLDfEjGjVcn8-2Jb1q8Big9X8","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/img.newspapers.com\/img\/img?id=288423607&width=700&height=1246&crop=2461_262_1231_2601&rotation=0&brightness=0&contrast=0&invert=0&ts=1552420630&h=8f13220a08b7a44090dc7a4126833812","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_265","claim":"Did Oprah Winfrey Suffer a 'Tragedy' and Endorse Keto Weight Loss Gummies?","posted":"05\/12\/2022","sci_digest":["We looked into text messages that appeared to claim that Oprah Winfrey had died, displaying the message, \"Fans react to the Oprah tragedy.\""],"justification":"There's no evidence that Oprah Winfrey suffered a \"tragedy\" or died in early May 2022, nor did she endorse keto weight loss gummies. These claims, one of which resembled a death hoax, originated from misleading text messages sent to an unknown number of recipients. Scammers sent the text messages with the words, \"Fans react to the Oprah tragedy.\" The texts also included a link: Scammers Oprah. We don't recommend trusting text messages like these. Upon clicking the link, we were led to a fraudulent page that was purposely designed to mimic a Time magazine article. In reality, Time.com had nothing to do with the page. This bore similarities to another keto scam that used the image and likeness of \"The Price Is Right\" host Drew Carey, which we previously reported on days before publishing this story. The fake Time.com article mentioned nothing of Winfrey having died or suffered a tragedy, as the text messages were nothing more than misleading clickbait. The article falsely claimed Winfrey had personally endorsed keto weight loss gummies such as Keto Start ACV, Gemini Keto, Kwazi Keto Gummies, Slim Mediq Keto Gummies, Trim Life Keto + ACV Gummies, and perhaps others. It used both her image and likeness to sell the products. Winfrey did not endorse any of these keto weight loss gummy products, nor did she die or suffer a tragedy in early May 2022. We noticed that the product name changed in the article when we refreshed. This perhaps indicated that the product name was rotated on a timed basis or that specific product names showed up in specific locations, depending on the user's IP address. Essentially, the fake Winfrey endorsement was used for more than one keto gummies product. The articles on genuinesmother.com and newsurvey22offer.com began as follows: Oprah Launches First-Ever \"Weight Loss Gummy\" in Partnership with Weight Watchers After Being Forced to Lose 60 LBS in Just Weeks (Time) - In an insightful 1-on-1 interview, one of the world's most prominent talk show hosts reveals how she forced Weight Watchers to create a transformational weight loss product the world has never seen before. Gifted host and business genius Oprah Winfrey made headlines after bringing the first-ever \"Weight Loss Gummy\" to the market on live TV last week in memory of her heart failure just last year. Ever since Oprah was forced to lose 60 lbs due to her heart failure risk, Winfrey and her team have been working alongside the team at Weight Watchers to develop a better weight loss product that helps people quickly lose weight and keep it off for good. Despite what's mentioned in the article, we found no evidence that Winfrey had suffered heart failure in 2021, nor did we find any data on Weight Watchers supposedly creating keto weight loss gummies. Both of these claims appeared to have been fabricated. The article went on to make the baseless claim that the long-running program \"The Oprah Winfrey Show\" had been \"canceled because the producers were not happy with\" her \"weight and appearance.\" It also claimed that Winfrey appeared on \"The Ellen DeGeneres Show\" to promote the keto weight loss gummies that had supposedly been created by Weight Watchers. This was also false. The end of the page claimed that Winfrey herself was offering a \"free\" bottle of keto weight loss gummies to readers, whether that product be Keto Start ACV, Gemini Keto, Kwazi Keto Gummies, Slim Mediq Keto Gummies, Trim Life Keto + ACV Gummies, or another one. The article stated, \"The only thing you'll need to pay for is the shipping rate, which is less than $6!\" However, we read through the terms and conditions pages for the various products, which were not easy to find. The fine print stated that purchasing a \"free\" bottle of the keto weight loss gummies enrolled customers in a \"trial,\" \"program,\" or \"subscription\" that would eventually charge the full cost on a monthly basis. One product's terms and conditions page stated the charges would occur \"every 30 days after the initial purchase.\" In order to cancel a recurring order, customers would first need to contact the company to initiate the process. However, that might be a problem for anyone who opted for a \"free\" bottle of Kwazi Keto Gummies. In the terms and conditions for that specific product, it listed no phone number. The contact page on the Kwazi Keto Gummies website showed only this email address: care@buykwazi.com. Even worse, the area that was supposed to show the return shipping address was left blank, making it more difficult for people to get their money back: A package won't get very far without a shipping address. We contacted Kwazi Keto Gummies to ask about the absence of the phone number and shipping address. Within minutes, the page with the fake Time.com article that used Winfrey's image and likeness changed to a fake keto endorsement from the cast of \"Shark Tank,\" which we reported on before. It then switched to another scam page that claimed singer-songwriter Adele Adkins, better known simply as Adele, had also endorsed keto weight loss gummies. All of this was false. In sum, there's no evidence that Winfrey suffered a \"tragedy\" or died in early May 2022, nor did she endorse keto weight loss gummies that had been created by Weight Watchers. All of this was misleading and false.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1a20uOW8DQRIzg76cJSuRQHLbq192lIt2","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1htHgh0Rfp5Hx1mWRAZCnpnbVV1hXIZr5","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1nXY3HD6_IyHE1oWn8dSoBMQro1z4wpvJ","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_266","claim":"The federal government is spending 25 percent of our entire economy versus 100 years ago we spent only 2 percent.","posted":"07\/31\/2011","sci_digest":[],"justification":"As the debt-ceiling crisis deepened, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, lambasted Democrats for failing to put together a public plan to bring down federal spending.Johnson, in anappearance on CNBCs Squawk Box, argued constitutional limits on government spending were the only way to keep politicians hands off the pocketbooks of their constituents. To illustrate his point, the freshman Republican reached way back into the history books.Well increase the debt ceiling, give the president what he wants, and all were saying is, Lets pass a constitutional limitation to the size of government, which by the way is the root cause of the problem, Johnson said. The federal government is spending 25 percent of our entire economy versus 100 years ago, we spent only 2 percent. The problem is the size, the scope, all the regulations and the cost of government.PolitiFact National has tested the current end of this claim andfound it True. But the back end is new territory.Has the federal governments share of the nations economy really jumped twelvefold in a century?A frequently cited source on the history of federal spending is the White House Office of Management and Budget.Itswebsite showsthe federal share of gross domestic product -- the GDP, essentially our total economic output for a year -- was 25 percent in 2009, 23.8 percent  in 2010 and is estimated at 25.3 percent for 2011.In 1930, by contrast, the federal government made up just 3.4 percent of the economy.There are many reasons for the change -- ones that go beyond year-to-year growth in spending for existing programs.Before the 1930s, the federal government was basically the post office, veterans benefits, a small defense department and national-debt payments, according to anofficial government summaryand experts we consulted. Local government was dominant.World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam pushed up the federal role considerably, and when that spending waned, it was more than offset as the country aged into Social Security and the Great Society programs --  including Medicare and Medicaid --  took off.The federal share of the economy went up and down in the 1980s and 1990s, amid recessions, higher debt interest payments, higher health care spending and tax cuts. Homeland security and military spending in Iraq and Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks pushed the number up, as did the recession that began in 2007.The largest part of the growth since the 1950s, the Office of Management and Budget reports, came from a category that includes Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance, deposit insurance, and means-tested entitlements such as Medicaid, food stamps, Supplemental Security Income, the refundable portions of the Earned Income and Child Tax Credits.A big part of the difference is that as the U.S. got richer, a lot more services were demanded, and a whole layer of protections unknown in 1910 got assumed by the government, said Gary Burtless, a Brookings Institution economist.As we noted, the current numbers cited by Johnson are accurate.But what about 100 years ago?The OMB calculations on the federal share of the economy go back only to 1930, because GDP was not calculated before then.But earlier spending numbers are readily available, and several researchers have produced calculations dating back to the early 1900s. They use U.S. Census Bureau data that measured the economy in a different way, but produce comparable numbers, according to the economists we consulted.Johnsons staff pointed us to 1902. We also looked at other years in that first decade of the century, to see if they were consistent with the year in question.Economists Robert Gordon at Northwestern University andRandall Holcombeat Florida State University independently calculated a federal share right around 2 percent in that time period.Our calculations produced a similar result.So Johnsons numerical claim is on target.At the advice of our experts, though, we took one more step: We looked at what the combined local-state-federal share was a century ago compared to today.If local government was predominant and the federal government minuscule in earlier times, is it possible that all government spending combined took up the same share of the economy as today?No, we found.Holcombe said the total government share has gone up markedly, though not on the order of the twelvefold increase in the federal-only share.Gordon confirms that.Lets tally this up.Johnson turned the clock way back in criticizing the size of the federal government. He claimed it took up just 2 percent of the economy a century ago, but 25 percent today. Johnsons reference hearkens back to an entirely different era in American governance -- and its not clear just how far back in time on a percentage basis Johnson thinks we should go.But based on widely available, and generally accepted, historical data, he accurately described the dramatic rise of Washington, D.C., in our economic lives over the last 100 years.We rate his statement True.","issues":["Deficit","Federal Budget","Taxes","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_267","claim":"Only 12% of legal immigrants are selected based on skill or based on merit. In countries like Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and others, that number is closer to 60, and even 70 and 75% in some cases.","posted":"05\/24\/2019","sci_digest":[],"justification":"As he proposed more changes to legal immigration, President Donald Trump said the United States lags other countries that admit a higher rate of migrants based on education or training. Most of the 1 million green cards awarded each year are based on a family connection to someone in the United States. Now, Trump wants to flip this so that most permits are based on skills and merit. Only 12% of legal immigrants are selected based on skill or based on merit,Trump saidMay 16. In countries like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and others, that number is closer to 60, and even 70 and 75% in some cases. We decided to fact-check his international comparison. The numbers mostly check out for the United States, and they are at least close for the other three countries. But context is needed, and its unclear what countries meet the high of 75% he mentioned. The White House press office did not answer our questions. A key thing to remember is that population sizes for these four countries are very different. Estimated 2017 population: United States: 326 million Canada: 37 million Australia: 25 million New Zealand: 5 million The number of people granted permanent residence includes new arrivals and those already in a country who adjust their status. Countries also use different terminology, migration categories and criteria. The term merit, for example, isnt widely used outside of U.S. discussions and could suggest that migrants who get green cards through other avenues  such as refugees or family members of U.S. citizens  dont merit the status. Migrants who get a green card through family links or other streams might have professional degrees and other skills, even if thats not the basis for their admission. Family-based immigration, as a share of their respective population, is similar in Australia, Canada and the United States,studiessay. But the United States does have a significantly lower rate of employment-based immigration. About 1.1 millionpeople became permanent residents in fiscal year 2017. About 138,000 people, or 12%, did so under an employment-based category. (Other categories include refugees and relatives of U.S. citizens.) The employment-based category included multinational executives, skilled workers and professors. A small share of those green cards went to needed unskilled workers. And more than half of the recipients were spouses and children of the primary applicants. In 2017, Canada admittedclose to 286,500permanent residents; about 159,300, or 56%, were under the economic class category. This category includes caregivers, entrepreneurs and other skilled workers. The number reflects applicants and immediate family members. Family members represent about half of the economic category in recent years, according to a nonpartisan Migration Policy Instituteanalysis. AustraliasMigration Programgrantedaround 180,200permanent residences in fiscal year 2016-17. About 124,000, or 68%, were under the skill stream designation. Less than half were the primary applicants. (Overall, Australia granted about 207,200 permanent residences that includes individuals granted residence under other programs, including humanitarian. The skill stream category is about 60% of that 207,200.) The skill stream category included points-tested skilled migrants, entrepreneurs, and workers sponsored by employers. New Zealand approved residence forclose to 48,000people in the 2016-17 fiscal year. About 29,000, or 60%, were under the skilled\/business stream. New Zealands skilled\/business category covers entrepreneurs, people with exceptional talents, technicians and trade workers. The majority of approvals were for the skilled migrant subcategory, and about half were the primary applicants. So none of the other countries Trump mentioned quite reach job-based admissions of 70 or 75%, as he said. His main point, though, is that the United States rate is much smaller. But that doesnt mean that Canada and Australia are more stingy on family immigration, said Daniel Griswold, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University who hasstudiedthose immigration systems. Rather, its a reflection that they are far more open to employment-based immigration. The Migration Policy Institute also looked into family-migration policies in the United States, Canada, and Australia (not New Zealand.) If dependent family members who get green cards under the economic categories are reclassified as family migrants, then family admissions become the largest category in Canada, MPI said. While analyses of family migration tend to focus narrowly on migrants recorded as entering through family-sponsored channels, this is only part of the picture, MPI said. Taking the dependents of migrants who enter a country through other visa categories into consideration reveals more fully the centrality of family migration in many countries. Trump said, Only 12% of legal immigrants are selected based on skill or based on merit. In countries like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and others, that number is closer to 60, and even 70 and 75% in some cases. In the United States, about 12% of immigrants get employment-based lawful permanent residence. In Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, residence for similar immigration categories range from 56% to 68%. For all countries, those percentages include professionals family members. If the accompanying family members are reclassified as family migrants, then Canadas family migration is greater than the economic share, a study said. Relative to its population size, the United States takes in roughly the same rate of family migrants as do Canada and Australia. Trumps statement is accurate but needs clarification. We rate it Mostly True.","issues":["Immigration","National","Corrections and Updates","Economy","Homeland Security","Jobs"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_268","claim":"No, Walmart Is Not Offering a Free $50 'Anniversary' Coupon on Facebook","posted":"12\/03\/2019","sci_digest":["Yet another \"free coupon\" scam attempted to lure social media users with bogus promises."],"justification":"In March 2020, Facebook posts offering free coupons supposedly worth $50 in merchandise from Walmart began circulating with the claim that the company was celebrating its anniversary:  Users who clicked on the offer were taken to an external website where they were instructed to answer survey questions in order to receive their coupon:  After completing the questionnaire, however, users are then required to click a button to share the \"offer\" with all their Facebook friends before they can retrieve their coupon. Those who comply by spamming their friends are then allowed to click a \"Receive the Coupon\" button. However, there is no actual coupon to receive. Like innumerable other \"free merchandise\" offers on Facebook (including previous examples targeting Walmart customers), this one is a scam. We've had many occasions to alert readers to this kind of fraud: other free merchandise offers targeting These types of viral coupon scams often involve websites and social media pages set up to mimic those of legitimate companies. Users who respond to those fake offers are required to share a website link or social media post in order to spread the scam more widely and lure in additional victims. Then those users are presented with a survey that extracts personal information such as email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, and even sometimes credit card numbers. Finally, those who want to claim their free gift cards or coupons eventually learn they must first sign up to purchase a number of costly goods, services, or subscriptions. The Better Business Bureau offers consumers several general tips to avoid getting scammed: offers consumers Better Business Bureau.  Scam Alert: Giveaway Scam Poses as Facebook.\r  14 April 2017.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1rpVZlmuTxbfhAECBIAP-qllsqJQEl69l","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1vsgTivyJCGALltCvoU2DP_hTjRBxImyS","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_269","claim":"Did George Santos Flash the White Power Sign When Voting for McCarthy?","posted":"01\/09\/2023","sci_digest":["The embattled representative from New York had admitted to lying on the campaign trail."],"justification":"As U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy suffered numerousvote losses before being elected House speaker by a deeply divided Republican party, many noticed a particular moment with Rep. GeorgeSantos, whowas already under fire for fabricating much of his life story while campaigning for office. On Jan. 5, 2023, on the third day of voting for House speaker, Santos was seen flashing a signal with his left hand that many interpreted as being the \"white power\" sign. numerous Santos under fire  A number of our readers sent us messages asking if Santos indeed flashed the \"white power\" signal, which looks like an \"Okay\" sign defined by the forefinger and thumb making a circle shape with the remaining three fingers splayed out. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the sign was adopted \"first by white nationalists, and then by 4chan trolls intent on 'triggering the libs'.\" Numerous alt-right figures have adopted this symbol over the years, but there are also many instances where innocuous hand gestures were incorrectly interpreted in this way. We have debunked such instances, as well. Southern Poverty Law Center debunked So did Santos intend to use such a symbol? In the C-SPAN video below he is standing with his arms folded, and when it is his turn to vote, he raises his right hand to vote for McCarthy, his left still folded under his chest with the sign visible (watch the5:53:30 mark).It appeared on numerous re-watches that he could conceivably have just been holding his left hand that way, and ended up waving his right hand instead of the left. He walked away very quickly after voting, putting both his hands down to his sides.  Voting for House speaker took around four days and numerous attempts, during which time Santos signaled his support more than once. The photograph below shows Santos casting his vote on Jan. 4, 2023, where he is not using the symbol. Jan. 4, 2023 (Win McNamee\/Getty Images) On Jan. 5, 2023, he was seen casting his vote again, this time with his left hand making an \"Okay\" sign. Jan. 5, 2023 (Win McNamee\/Getty Images) In both instances, he is clearly intending to cast a vote. In the second instance, we do not know for certain if he is making a white power signal with his left hand. We have reached out to a member of his team, but so far Santos has madeno comment on this. made This did not stop Democrats from criticizing him for making the hand gesture. U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres, also from New York, said: Democrats said    MSNBC host Joy Reid addressed this with the right-leaning media outlet The Bulwark's Tim Miller, saying that Santos appeared to \"throw the white-power sign.\" addressed Miller in turn responded \"[...]he might have been holding his fingers together. There's plenty of bad things about George Santos without me reading into his body language.\" After McCarthy was finally elected as House speaker on Jan. 7, 2023, Santos was also sworn into office. In a statement, Santos said: \"Now is the time to put political differences aside, stop the finger pointing, and start delivering results. The work of Congress is not about my personal life, this is about delivering results for my constituents, finding bipartisan solutions, and reversing abysmal policies that have caused some of the worst inflation and crime in our nation's history.\" said We cannot determine Santos' intentions without hearing from Santos directly, and even then he has shown in the past that his word cannot fully be trusted. As such we rate this claim as \"Unproven.\" Evon, Dan. \"Do Pics Show Blackburn Flashing 'White Power Sign' in US Senate?\" Snopes, 11 Apr. 2022, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/blackburn-white-power\/.Accessed 9 Jan. 2023. \"George Santos Sworn into Office after Selection of House Speaker.\" News 12 - The Bronx, 7 Jan. 2023. https:\/\/bronx.news12.com\/george-santos-sworn-into-office-after-selection-of-house-speaker. Accessed 9 Jan. 2023. Ibrahim, Nur. \"Did George Santos' Website Incorrectly Announce He Was Sworn in to US House?\" Snopes, 4 Jan. 2023, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/george-santos-sworn-into-house-error\/.Accessed 9 Jan. 2023. \"Is That an OK Sign? A White Power Symbol? Or Just a Right-Wing Troll?\" Southern Poverty Law Center, https:\/\/www.splcenter.org\/hatewatch\/2018\/09\/18\/ok-sign-white-power-symbol-or-just-right-wing-troll. Accessed 9 Jan. 2023. Shoaib, Alia. \"George Santos Accused of Flashing White-Power Symbol during House Speaker Vote.\" Business Insider, https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/george-santos-white-power-symbol-speaker-vote-2023-1. Accessed 9 Jan. 2023. Sprunt, Barbara, and Susan Davis. \"Kevin McCarthy Is Elected House Speaker after 15 Votes and Days of Negotiations.\" NPR, 7 Jan. 2023. NPR, https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2023\/01\/06\/1147470516\/kevin-mccarthy-speaker-of-the-house-vote.Accessed 9 Jan. 2023. \"U.S. Rep.- Elect George Santos Casts His Vote in the House Chamber...\" Getty Images, https:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/news-photo\/rep-elect-george-santos-casts-his-vote-in-the-house-chamber-news-photo\/1454230622. Accessed 9 Jan. 2023. \"U.S. Rep.-Elect George Santos Cast His Vote in the House Chamber...\" Getty Images, https:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/news-photo\/rep-elect-george-santos-cast-his-vote-in-the-house-chamber-news-photo\/1454474088. Accessed 9 Jan. 2023.","issues":["inflation"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1uvQNMpOSNBFce_wTT2ZEx_WztAqd5kY_","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1wHYJy-VyO5cuqV_8htQBgCsrM3HNpHmB","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_270","claim":"Were 30,000 cows lost to death during a winter storm due to freezing temperatures?","posted":"01\/11\/2017","sci_digest":["A story that thousands of cattle were left dead after a winter storm was from 2015, not 2017."],"justification":"In January 2017, a photograph purportedly showing a group of cows that had apparently frozen solid was circulated on Facebook along with the claim that 30,000 animals had just died in a winter storm. Both the photograph displayed here and its accompanying claim are legitimate. However, while this meme reappeared (and was mistaken for current) in January 2017, this graphic actually references a winter storm that occurred at the end of December 2015. Weather.com reported that more than 15,000 cows died during Winter Storm Goliath in Texas, while another 20,000 froze to death in New Mexico. Dairy producers in Texas and New Mexico have estimated that the number of animals that died during the recent Winter Storm Goliath will climb to more than 30,000. The winds are believed to be the cause of many of the animals' deaths. They created drifts as high as 14 feet and pushed animals into fenced corners where they suffocated, according to The Associated Press. \"As Winter Storm Goliath wrapped up over the southern Plains, strong winds were associated with the storm's tightening pressure gradient,\" said Weather.com meteorologist Quincy Vagell. \"When combined with snow, the winds were strong enough to create dangerous blizzard conditions.\" Executive director of the Texas Association of Dairymen Darren Turley said that an estimated 15,000 mature dairy cows died between Lubbock, Muleshoe, and Friona, the primary impact area of the storm, AP also reports. This region includes the home of half the state's top 10 milk-producing counties, which provide 40 percent of Texas milk. According to an agent with New Mexico State University's extension service, the state lost an estimated 20,000 cows. \"Like all agriculture, dairy producers always operate at the mercy of Mother Nature,\" said Turley. \"With Goliath, she dealt a particularly harsh and costly blow to the area's dairy producers, from the death of thousands of livestock they spend so much time caring for to a loss of milk production both over the weekend and in the future.\" The photograph is also real, although we were not able to determine a definite source. An uncropped version of the image was published by Tri-State Livestock News shortly after the storm, which showed a group of frozen (or near-frozen) cattle on the side of the road. The other part of the meme heavily implied that the cows froze to death out of neglect because nobody \"felt the need\" to bring them inside in the cold weather. The truth is, of course, more complicated. A January 5, 2016 report from the Houston Chronicle detailed efforts farmers undertook to protect their cattle from the freak storm. More than one foot of snow on December 27 surprised ranchers and dairy farmers in a region accustomed to a few inches of precipitation each winter. Unlike their northern peers, Texas cattle raisers rarely own four-walled barns designed to keep cattle warm, often opting instead for open structures meant to keep Texas cattle cool during the long, hot summers. Forecast warnings of a \"historic blizzard\" came too late. Voinis said some cattle raisers had tried to build shelters with hay bales and machinery, to little avail. Some cattle were buried in snowdrifts formed by gale-force winds. Others froze to death in the open, died of frostbite in later days, or just disappeared. Initial loss estimates increased greatly in the days following the storm. A similar story unfolded in New Mexico, which was swept by the same storm. Meteorologists sounded the first warnings about the storm some eight days before it hit on Dec. 26. Farmers prepared as best they could\u2014putting down extra bedding behind windbreaks, placing extra bales of hay in front of calf bungalows, and in places where snow typically accumulates. But as the blizzard raged on, cows that had sought shelter behind windbreakers were buried alive by drifting snow. Others froze to death in open fields. Calves that had been nestled inside hutches went hungry because no one could reach them. Farmers who tried to rescue their animals became disoriented and lost on their own land. \"We did the best we could for our animals,\" Ms. Beckerink said. \"But as the storm worsened, saving them meant risking the lives of her workers\u2014a horrifying decision to make.\" The deaths of the cattle dramatically affected the livelihoods of farmers in both states. It is extremely unlikely that any farmer (dependent on their animals for money and food) would cavalierly leave their main source of income and food out in the snow to freeze to death, despite what this meme implies.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1bqVa-63I_iufx37mXBqSJ4W6ekkMDQWn"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=140e23PjxnKoxfKxDaQ81L8hANnCGkiua"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_271","claim":"No, Trump Isn't 'Tactically' Implementing Voter Interference Sanctions","posted":"12\/15\/2020","sci_digest":["A fear mongering copypasta meme made its way around social media, raising anxiety."],"justification":"Voting in the 2020 U.S. Election may be over, but the misinformation keeps on ticking. Never stop fact-checking. Follow our post-election coverage here. here In mid-December 2020, a copy-pasted (\"copypasta\") meme spread on social media platforms warning \"patriots\" that U.S. President Donald Trump was about to \"tactically\" implement elements of an executive order on election security signed in 2018, telling them to have weapons \"at the ready\":   copypasta The incendiary meme appears to reference an executive order signed by Trump on Sept. 12, 2018, ahead of the midterm elections. The meme claimed that Trump was to implement parts of the order at some point between Dec. 18 and Dec. 24, 2020. executive order Here is a portion of the text: This will freeze the money and assets of people and entities to include Facebook, Twitter, the Fake News Corp, AND Chinese U.S. financial accounts. Be prepared to assist the National Guard and the military commands in defense of Our nation. Make sure that you have your weapons at the ready. But DO NOT interfere with the operations of the military. During this time, local law enforcement will have no authority. So, assemble small Patriot teams to patrol and secure your own and surrounding neighbors Trump's 2018 executive order has nothing to do with military or National Guard deployment domestically, nor does it mention the broad suspension of financial assets of social media platforms and \"Chinese U.S. financial accounts.\" The meme appears to actually be referencing extreme calls by some of Trump's supporters, echoing his false claims that the November 2020 election was beset by mass-scale fraud and advocating that Trump impose martial law in response. extreme calls The 2018 executive order  signed less than a month before the 2018 midterm elections  was meant as a deterrent against foreign election interference. The order stated that the Trump administration was ready to implement sanctions against any foreign entity that interfered in the election process. stated It's noteworthy that the order was signed ahead of the first national election since 2016, during which the Russian government interfered in an effort to sow chaos in the U.S. and help Trump's electoral efforts. Trump was under political pressure at that time to stem similar interference in 2018. effort pressure Notably, Facebook and Twitter are American companies, not foreign entities. It's unclear to us what exactly \"Fake News Corp\" refers to, but unsurprisingly, no such company exists. Sanctions can't be imposed on a fictional entity. The 2018 executive order relies on various department heads to make determinations about foreign election interference and potential sanctions  in other words, it doesn't give Trump unilateral authority to take action. For example, it gives the director of national intelligence 45 days to determine whether foreign interference in an election had occurred, at which point the assessment must be delivered to \"the President, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Homeland Security.\" After further consultation between these department heads, the executive order then leaves the secretary of treasury, who is currently Steve Mnuchin, to lead in the implementation of economic sanctions. The departments of Treasury and State would then assess whether additional sanctions were necessary and present their findings to the White House. The copypasta meme appears to be inflammatory fear mongering that plays on a disinformation campaign carried out by Trump and his supporters that the election was stolen by way of a massive-fraud conspiracy. Trump's own U.S. Department of Homeland Security debunked this conspiracy theory by stating that the November 2020 election was in fact \"the most secure in American history.\" stating","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1UDZ4F_eWUgmdfxCz5BM8emXWuNPx3LtU","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_272","claim":"Do an iPhone's 'Journaling Suggestions' Settings Reveal Your Name and Location to Strangers?","posted":"03\/01\/2024","sci_digest":["A viral warning was shared on Facebook in early 2024 that said a relatively new app named Journal posed a possible criminal threat to iPhone users."],"justification":"On Dec. 11, 2023, Apple released its iOS 17.2 update for iPhone devices. This fresh software update introduced a new private diary app called Journal. As often happens with new or updated electronic devices and features, the launch prompted unfounded rumors warning that the app posed serious privacy and\/or security hazards to users. \"Journal, a new iPhone app available today, helps users reflect and practice gratitude through journaling, which has been shown to improve well-being,\" the company's announcement read. \"With Journal, users can capture and write about everyday moments and special events in their lives, and include photos, videos, audio recordings, locations, and more to create rich memories. On-device machine learning provides private, personalized suggestions to inspire journal entries, and customizable notifications help users develop their writing habits.\" On Jan. 2, 2024, the official YouTube channel for Apple Support posted a video showing how iPhone users can easily get started with the new app. Included with the Journal app is the ability to receive suggestions for entries that could possibly be written about, as the video mentions. For users who have installed iOS 17.2 or later, those suggestion types are listed under Settings > Privacy and Security > Journaling Suggestions. They include Activity (your workouts and exercise), Media (podcasts and music you listen to), Contacts (people you message and call), Photos (library, memories, and shared photos), and Significant Locations (places where you spend time). These five settings are enabled by default. Users who write their private entries in Journal can also receive suggestions associated with people who were nearby during the day. Two such settings are Prefer Suggestions with Others, which includes \"moments you share with your contacts or large groups,\" and Discoverable by Others, which is described as \"[allowing] others to detect you are nearby to help prioritize their suggestions.\" These two settings are also enabled by default. Regarding the latter setting, Discoverable by Others, in February 2024, it became the subject of a viral Facebook rumor. A search of Facebook for the words \"Journaling Suggestions\" found no shortage of scared users warning their friends of the purported threat posed by the privacy setting. Those users commonly shared an image that displayed the following text: ALERT. If you have an iPhone, this is important! After my latest update, there was a new feature downloaded called \"Journaling,\" and it's under \"Settings,\" \"Privacy and Security,\" and then scroll all the way down to find a new \"feature\" called \"Journaling Suggestions.\" Look for the \"DISCOVERABLE BY OTHERS\" toggle. I bet it's toggled to ON, and it lets anyone near you know your FULL NAME and EXACTLY where you're geo-located. Go toggle that OFF!! I'm typing all of this. This is messed up big time. Share with your friends if they have iPhones. Very scary stuff!! PSA ... CHECK YOUR IPHONES. However, this Facebook rumor was false. This was nothing more than the latest rumor about iPhone privacy settings, leading a long stream of commenters to say that they're going to turn the setting off \"just to be safe.\" Just two inches above the same Discoverable by Others toggle that so many users were choosing to manually disable, Apple included a link that led to more information on a page named \"Journaling Suggestions & Privacy.\" On that page, Apple specified that suggestions for the Journal app use Bluetooth, a short-range communication method. Also, the technology \"[detects] the number of devices and contacts around you without storing which of these specific contacts were around.\" In other words, there was no indication that strangers would be allowed to see a name or track a person's location. The page read as follows: Nearby People Journaling Suggestions may also use contextual information to determine which suggestions may be more meaningful or relevant to you. Journaling Suggestions uses Bluetooth to detect the number of devices and contacts around you without storing which of these specific contacts were around. This information is used to improve and prioritize your suggestions. It is stored on the device and is not shared with Apple. You can choose not to allow Journaling Suggestions to use the number of devices and contacts around you to prioritize your suggestions by going to Settings > Privacy & Security > Journaling Suggestions, then tapping to turn off Prefer Suggestions with Others. You can also control whether your contacts include you in their number of nearby contacts by going to Settings > Privacy & Security > Journaling Suggestions, then tapping to turn off Discoverable by Others. If you disable Discoverable by Others and choose not to be included in your contacts' counts, Prefer Suggestions with Others will also be disabled, and Journaling Suggestions will not detect how many devices and contacts are around you to improve or prioritize your suggestions. Snopes emailed Apple to ask about this rumor and will update this story if we receive a response. For further reading, we previously reported about a very similar social media scare that also involved iPhones, privacy, and a misunderstood feature.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=158rIHRGqhuMy7c-w-fGjgT-8K0057I53","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1sUenprSHrX8zj9uLpVJCyPR6_fEk6zIY","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_273","claim":"Could Trump Defy Popular Vote By Halting Voter Certification?","posted":"11\/19\/2020","sci_digest":["Here's why the country is focusing on the usually mundane certification process in key battleground states."],"justification":"Voting in the 2020 U.S. Election may be over, but the misinformation keeps on ticking. Never stop fact-checking. Follow our post-election coverage here. here In mid-November 2020, after U.S. Democrat Joe Biden secured the majority of the country's electoral votes in the presidential race against President Donald Trump, an email from the sitting president's campaign to supporters implied that the country's constitutionally mandated elections process allowed time for Trump to defy the outcome of the popular vote. (Read more fact checks like this one here.) Joe Biden Donald Trump here \"Joe Biden has NOT been certified as the winner of any states, let alone any highly contested states headed for mandatory recounts, or any states where our campaign has valid and legitimate legal challenges that could determine the ultimate victor,\" read a Nov. 13 Trump fundraising email obtained by Snopes.   The email alleged that states had not certified results of the 2020 election and Trump's political enemies were wrongfully trying to convince Americans that a Biden presidency was inevitable when it wasn't. when it wasn't The claim was two-pronged: Key battleground states had not certified results of the popular vote, and because of that Trump had a chance to defy its outcome. First, let's define what step in the country's election process  which functions under the Constitution, federal statutes, and state laws  to which the campaign was referring. step Every four years in America, people submit ballots in a popular vote for the president. Most states grant counties the authority to administer those elections via a board of electors, an election official or officials, or both. Those local jurisdictions operate under varying timelines for processing votes. As they begin to publish unofficial voter tallies via secretary of state websites or other government-run databases on election night, statisticians compare the sum of votes counted to the difference in totals between the losing and winning candidate. When there appears to be no statistical chance for a losing candidate to overcome the competitor in a state, journalists \"call\" the race and project a winner there. As a result, that candidate receives that state's total number of electoral votes. electoral votes In the Trump-Biden contest, the news media did not announce a winner in several states until days after polls closed, in part, due to an unprecedented surge in mail-in voting and states' varying rules for when they can start processing those ballots. See National Public Radio's graphic showing deadlines below, based on data from state elections offices, the National League for State Legislatures, and Ballotpedia: National Public Radio's   On Nov. 7, however, Biden secured the majority of the country's electoral votes (again, based on unofficial voter tallies), and was announced the 46th President of the United States. Historically, it is that point in the election process  when ballots haven't been certified at the county or state level  that a losing candidate concedes defeat. That acknowledgment, while not constitutionally required, has come to represent a losing candidates' willingness to help the winner transition's into the White House. It also serves to help the losing candidate's supporters accept the election's outcome. concedes defeat Cue the above-mentioned claim about Trump having a chance at another term and that the election's \"ultimate victor\" was yet to be decided. The Associated Press reported: reported Certifying results is a routine yet important step after local election officials have tallied votes, reviewed procedures, checked to ensure votes were counted correctly and investigated discrepancies. Typically, this certification is done by a local board of elections and then, later, the results are certified at the state level. But as Trump has refused to concede to Biden and continues to spread false claims of victory, this mundane process is taking on new significance. Under state and federal laws, the process of cementing voter tallies continues regardless of a candidate's acceptance of the popular vote. First, local election boards certify ballots at a precinct level. After that, state executive authorities seal state's results via a \"Certificate of Ascertainment\"  a document that lists the names of the state's chosen electors who will cast official votes for president through the Electoral College. (State legislatures decide how to appoint electors and their necessary qualifications.) appoint electors Deadlines for completing certifications vary state by state under local laws. According to MIT Technology Review, such dates for battleground states were: MIT Technology Review, Georgias certification deadline is November 20. Pennsylvania counties must submit certification by November 23. Michigans certification deadline is November 23.Nevadas certification deadline is November 24. Arizonas certification deadline is November 30.Wisconsins certification deadline is December 1. Once completed, governors submit their \"Certificate of Ascertainment\" to the U.S. Archivist. The electors listed on the document then meet at state capitals to formally cast their votes for president and vice president on the Monday after the second Wednesday in December, per guidelines outlined in the Constitution. In 2020, thats Dec. 14. formally cast their votes In other words, it was accurate to state, as of mid-November, several battleground states had not certified results of the popular vote, including Georgia, where the state's Republican secretary of state ordered a manual recount of ballots and Biden led by a slim margin of 0.3 percentage points. Georgia However, less clear was whether that fact meant Trump had a chance to overturn Biden's victory. Via lawsuits and campaign messages to supporters, like the above-displayed fundraising email, the Trump campaign was trying to convince Americans that governments should hold off on certifying ballots because widespread voter fraud tainted the numbers, even though no evidence showed that was true. voter fraud Matt Morgan, the Trump campaigns general counsel, said the push to try to delay or stop voter certification in battleground states aimed to give the campaign more time to get a handle on voter tallies and whether it would have the right to automatic recounts, according to The Associated Press. battleground states Additionally, some Trump allies wanted to slow down the process to give GOP-controlled legislatures an opportunity to pick a slate of electors who would overturn Biden's victory through the Electoral College or send the election to the U.S. House of Representatives. (Read here for how Congress would decide the outcome of the 2020 election, pending what happens with the Electoral College.) here As of this writing, two Republican election officials in Michigan's Wayne County had refused to certify results of the popular vote, citing the unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud, and then reversed course on Nov. 17. GOP officials in Arizona were also trying to pressure county officials to delay the process, per news reports. Simultaneously, Trump allies in Michigan and Nevada pushed lawsuits attempting to stop voter certification. Michigan's Wayne County per news reports University of Kentucky Law Professor Joshua Douglas told The Associated Press there was no precedent for such an effort to delay or undermine the typically sleepy step in the country's presidential elections. It would be the end of democracy as we know it, Douglas said. This is just not a thing that can happen. We should note here: The emails from Trump's campaign about states certifying voting results asked supporters to chip in to a so-called \"Official Election Defense Fund\" or \"Election Defense Task Force,\" both of which the campaign framed as costly initiatives involving ballot recounts or various lawsuits to challenge Biden's win. But according to Brendan Fischer, director of the federal reform program at Campaign Legal Center, the average donor's money was not covering those expenses. Rather, people were giving their money to the Trump Make America Great Again Committee, where contributions are divided between Trump's committees and the Republican National Committee.  Brendan Fischer Republican National Committee \"Small donors who give to Trump thinking they are financing an 'official election defense fund' are in fact helping pay down the Trump campaigns debt or funding his post-presidential political operation,\" Fischer tweeted. tweeted In sum, while it was true to claim states had not certified results of the popular vote, the resulting success of the Trump campaign's efforts to intervene in that typically procedural step remained unknown at the time of this writing, and it was erroneous to claim that a winner of the election had not been named. For those reasons, we rate the allegation in the fundraising email a \"mixture\" of accurate, undetermined, and false information.","issues":["debt"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=16VP4mCN16kLxwMEQt6q6hWYpT7rDrJXt","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1XnwspcP0Ga97UBicvocpv9gaU6ULkQJx","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_274","claim":"A tax on soda and juice drinks would disproportionately increase taxes on low-income families in Philadelphia.","posted":"04\/25\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Jim Kenneys proposed soda tax went national last week. Hillary Clinton led off what became a back-and-forth political battle byvoicing her supportfor the tax at a forum in Philadelphia. Bernie Sanderschimed inlater to call the tax regressive. Kenneyfired backin an editorial onHuffington Postthat his proposal, which would levy a three cent per ounce tax on distributors, was a corporate tax and said Sanders was siding with beverage corporations. Then Sanders responded with an editorial of his own, inPhilly Mag. He basically gave an elongated version of what he said earlier in the week, which was, A tax on soda and juice drinks would disproportionately increase taxes on low-income families in Philadelphia. Is Sanders correct? Or was this political grandstanding? Berkeley, Calif., remains the lone American city to enact a sugary drink tax. It taxes the distributors of sodas and similar beverages like sports drinks 1 cent per ounce. Studies have shown some of the cost of tax has been passed on to consumers.A Cornell studyfound about 25 percent of it was passed on, anda University of California-Berkeley studyfound the amount to be between about 50 to 70 percent, depending on the type of beverage. The prices of soft drinks were more likely to go up at supermarkets than chain drug stores. Carl Davis, the research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, toldBilly Pennlast month soda taxes like the one proposed by Philadelphia are imperfect: The first thing you realize is that it is regressive. Its going to hit lower and more moderate income families more heavily than higher-income families. William Shughart, a Utah State University professor and sin tax expert,explainedtaxes like the one proposed by Kenney disproportionately affect lower income residents because a greater amount of their income is used on food and drinks. Warren Gunnels, senior policy advisor for Sanders, said in an email, It would make much more sense to finance universal pre-school in Philadelphia by raising taxes on its wealthiest residents, who currently benefit from flat state and city tax rates. Right now wealthy Philadelphianspaystate income tax of 3.07 percent, an unemployment tax of 0.07 percent, and a city income tax of 3.92 percent. Thats a total state and local tax burden of 7.06 percent. By contrast, New York Citys wealthiest residents pay a top rate of 12.6 percent. Such a plan would be easier said than done, according to Kenneys administration. Because of the uniformity clause, its constitutionally impermissible right now in Pennsylvania to raise the income tax rate only for wealthy individuals, said Lauren Hitt, Kenneys communications director. The Republican controlled state legislature would have to change the constitution and were not holding our breath on that one. Our kids need Pre-K now. Kenney has said the tax is not regressive because he believes the money will stay in the neighborhoods. His finance director, Rob Dubow,saidmost consumers of sugary drinks are in poor neighborhoods. When Dubow suggested distributors would absorb some of the tax, City Council president Darrell Clarkeresponded, Fundamentally, I dont believe that. Our ruling Sanders said Kenneys proposed soda tax would disproportionately increase taxes for low income families. In the only other instance of a soda tax in the United States, studies have shown somewhere between 25 and 70 percent of the cost of the tax gets passed to consumers. Tax experts say if this tax reaches the consumer level it would affect low income residents to a greater extent. We rule the claim True. https:\/\/www.sharethefacts.co\/share\/19db2be2-02d7-4cfd-baa1-423db2d4d80f","issues":["Taxes","Pennsylvania"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_275","claim":"Facebook car giveaway can be rephrased as \"Car giveaway promotion on Facebook\"","posted":"12\/12\/2014","sci_digest":["You cannot win a new Audi, Mercedes, Range Rover, Camaro, or other car by liking a Facebook page or post and sharing it with friends."],"justification":"In December 2014, several Facebook pages using car brand names such as Audi, Range Rover, Mercedes, and Camaro (among others) posted directives similar to the messages quoted above. The pages claimed that Facebook was giving away cars. Among the cars offered in the giveaways were Audi R8s, Range Rovers, Mercedes-Benz E63 AMGs, and Chevrolet Camaro SS models. Almost all the scams followed the same format: they instructed users to like a separate page, like the original post, and share the post on their own Timeline (thereby validating its legitimacy and enticing others to do the same). Users were eligible to win one of two available vehicles in the winner's choice of color simply by liking a separate Facebook page, liking and sharing a post, and waiting for an inbox message confirming the winners. In April 2016, the scam reappeared, this time with a Range Rover as the car offered in the giveaway. The first clue that the giveaways following this format were not legitimate was the pages to which Facebook users were directed, pages that had been created just days before the giveaway posts began to appear. Not only were the secondary Facebook pages involved always new, but they were also not linked with car companies or other interests one might reasonably expect to offer a car in exchange for social media advertising (such as automobile dealerships, insurance companies, or large retailers). Were a legitimate company to engage in such a high-ticket contest giveaway, the incentive would be exposure; however, no corresponding promotional return on advertising investment was discernible in these Facebook giveaway claims. The tactics were similar to recent scams involving Costco, Kroger, and Amazon gift cards, but the six-figure price tag attached to some of the vehicles involved in the Facebook car giveaway posts proved to be a far more difficult-to-resist enticement for some users, not all of whom questioned whether sharing a page presented any negative consequences should it later turn out to be a prank, hoax, or other false promise. The pages to which users were directed carried all the hallmarks of \"like farming\" operations intended to quickly build and sell popular Facebook pages. Even if the page creators' intent were only to build an audience, users participating in the scam created a larger incentive for employing future fakery of the same description to crowd Facebook feeds. Scammers could also exploit a large audience by mining varying levels of personal data from those who have liked a page of dubious origin. Thus, Facebook users who participate in such fake giveaways not only unwittingly help spammers pollute the social network with scams, but they may also risk being exposed to malware, clickjacking, or other unpleasantries (such as finding their names and identities endorsing a scam, hate page, or other undesirable activity). Giveaways, particularly of high-value merchandise, are generally rare and almost always conducted through brands' official channels or the social media accounts of related large companies.","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Y7z5-r3362BmO3v0z2ibfBXlfBjIrKKg"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_276","claim":"After viewing this video, you will not choose to use Head and Shoulders shampoo.","posted":"06\/25\/2014","sci_digest":["Scam bait video purportedly shows the deleterious results of using Head and Shoulders shampoo."],"justification":"In June 2014, Facebook users began seeing posts pointing to a purported video clip entitled \"You Will Not Use Head & Shoulders Shampoo After Watching This Video,\" which supposedly graphically illustrated the deleterious effects of using that popular brand of shampoo. Later versions substituted Dove brand shampoo for Head & Shoulders. The static image accompanying the posts was the one displayed above, which allegedly depicts some form of bizarre injury or infection that befalls a user of that brand of shampoo. The image itself is a hoax, a fabrication that imitates a notorious fake photograph of a supposed 'breast rash caused by South American larvae' (created by merging a picture of a lotus seed pod with a picture of a human shoulder) that has been circulating on the Internet since 2003 and was earlier used as the subject of a Twitter joke: breast rash lotus seed pod. The referenced video does not exist, and the purpose of the hoax was to serve as a lure, leading users to yet another survey scam. Those who clicked through on the teaser link hoping to view the Head & Shoulders video were instead taken to a screen that forced them to first share the link with others on Facebook and\/or verify their age by completing a survey that promised a $100 VISA Gift Card for its completion. Of course, getting that \"free\" $100 gift card required, as explained in tiny type at the bottom of the survey page, that participants first sign up for several different offers, each of which required them to purchase something, subscribe to something, or apply (and be accepted for) a credit card or loan. Incentives are split into two tiers: Tier 1 incentives with a value of $100 or less and Tier 2 incentives with a value of more than $100. To qualify for a Tier 1 incentive, you must complete 2 Silver, 2 Gold, and 1 Platinum offer. To qualify for a Tier 2 incentive, you must complete 2 Silver, 2 Gold, and 6 Platinum offers. You must complete all offers within 30 days from when you complete your first offer. Completion of offers usually requires a purchase, subscription, or filing a credit application and being accepted for a financial product such as a credit card or consumer loan. The best way to handle such scamming come-ons is to give them a wide berth: do not click through on associated links, don't share those links on Facebook, and do not participate in any related surveys.","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/msgboard.snopes.com\/images\/headold.jpg"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/msgboard.snopes.com\/images\/head5.jpg"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/msgboard.snopes.com\/images\/ageverify.jpg"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_277","claim":"Did a KGB Agent Confirm That the Sex Pistols Were Backed by the USSR to Destabilize the West?","posted":"05\/10\/2017","sci_digest":["A Facebook page for punk fans recirculated an old (and fake) story that the Sex Pistols were a KGB plot to foment dissent in the West."],"justification":"On 9 May 2017, the Facebook page \"The Church of PUNK\" shared an article reporting that a KGB agent admitted the band the Sex Pistols was an operation backed by the former Soviet Union to destabilize Western democracy. The April 2015 article reported that at the time it was published, a former KGB agent had just disclosed the punk rock plot. Alexandrei Varennikovic Voloshin, a retired KGB agent, admitted this week on National Russian Television (NTV) that the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was behind the creation of the 1970s punk scene and financed major punk bands such as the Sex Pistols, the Clash, and the Ramones. The USSR government at the time spent hundreds of millions of rubles on this covert operation, which was destined to create utter chaos and pervert Western youth with nihilist, anti-establishment, and anti-American ideologies, as he explained in an hour-long interview broadcast on national television. There is no truth to this story; World News Daily Report states on its own disclaimer page that all of the content on the site is fictional. WNDR assumes, however, all responsibility for the satirical nature of its articles and for the fictional nature of their content. All characters appearing in the articles on this website, even those based on real people, are entirely fictional, and any resemblance between them and any persons, living, dead, or undead, is purely coincidental.","issues":["finance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1rWEHpNCleH2dNUxf3cMFLSZzu-rcZgoG","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_278","claim":"Did White Supremacists Shoot at Rep. Cori Bush and Ferguson Protesters?","posted":"11\/18\/2021","sci_digest":["The Missouri Congresswoman's claims about an alleged 2015 incident were met with considerable skepticism, in November 2021. "],"justification":"In November 2021, Democratic Congresswoman Cori Bush raised eyebrows when she made the startling claim that, during protests in Ferguson, Missouri, back in 2015, white supremacists shot at her and her fellow anti-racism demonstrators, with impunity. Bush came to prominence as a pastor and community leader during the 2014-2015 unrest in St. Louis and Ferguson, following the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old Black man. She went on to be elected as the first Black congresswoman from Missouri in 2020.  On Nov. 15, she tweeted out her reflections on the ongoing trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, an 18-year-old Illinois man charged with several counts, including murder, for his role in the shooting deaths of two men during civil unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August 2020. tweeted out ongoing trial of Kyle Rittenhouse Bush wrote: When we marched in Ferguson, white supremacists would hide behind a hill near where Michael Brown Jr. was murdered and shoot at us. They never faced consequences. If Kyle Rittenhouse gets acquitted, it tells them that even 7 years later they still can get away with it.   Bush's claim was a remarkable one, and suggested that white supremacists were effectively given license to shoot at Black protesters in Ferguson, and never brought to justice for what would be very serious violent crimes. It was also one that could not be quickly or readily corroborated, which prompted significant skepticism about its veracity. Ferguson Police Chief Frank McCall no doubt added to that skepticism when he told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he was not aware of any such incident having taken place.  significant skepticism told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch The congresswoman's claim was not fabricated out of thin air, but rather related to a specific alleged incident in January 2015. However, we have not yet been able to obtain evidence that supports her core claim, namely that known white supremacists did indeed shoot at protesters, in their capacity as protesters. Moreover, a key figure in the alleged events of that day told Snopes she never saw any individual responsible for the shooting (and therefore could not corroborate the claim that they were white supremacists), and also did not recall having seen Bush at the time.  In the absence of concrete evidence which clearly establishes the accuracy or inaccuracy of Bush's claims, we are issuing a rating of \"Unproven.\" If solid evidence becomes available, we will update this fact check accordingly.  Snopes sent a list of detailed questions to Bush's congressional staff: requesting evidence in support of her claims; asking whether she or others had reported any purported incidents to law enforcement or non-profit organizations; and seeking clarification on the number of incidents in question. In her tweet, Bush used the past continuous tense \"white supremacists would hide behind,\" which suggested a series of events. Similarly, in a Congressional speech in February 2021, when reflecting upon her experience of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Bush said \"I feel like I'm back. I feel like this was one of the days out there on the streets, when the white supremacists would show up and start shooting at us...\" [Emphasis is added] Bush said In response, we received an email from Anna Bahr, a progressive political consultant from the firm Left Flank. Bahr directed us to social media posts about an alleged shooting incident at an apartment complex in Ferguson, on Jan. 19, 2015, as well as the following statement: social media posts While on the frontlines of the Ferguson Uprising, Congresswoman Bush and other activists were shot at by white supremacist vigilantes. The question we need to ask is why white supremacists feel empowered to open-carry rifles, incite violence, and put Black lives at risk across our country. The following is a summary of the claims that have been made about that supposed shooting incident, which allegedly took place at or outside Canfield Green  now known as Pleasant View Gardens  an apartment complex located just feet from where Brown was shot dead in August 2014.  now known as Pleasant View Gardens short news article on a hill Ayanna Delaine Barney, claimed went to hospital In the face of vocal online skepticism about Bush's account, in November 2021, St. Louis activist Ohun Ashe defended the congresswoman's claims, writing on Twitter: \"This is TRUE! I vividly remember hiding under porches in Canfield as shots were fired at us. No one came to help us. Ferguson police would be nearby. We would come from under porches using cars as shields in between gun shots to make it out.\" writing on Twitter Ashe's use of the past continuous tense  \"We would come from under porches\"  again suggested a series of events, rather than just one. Snopes emailed her a list of detailed questions, in an effort to clarify this and other issues, but we did not receive a response. We also contacted the woman with the Facebook username Meechie Jordan, in an effort to obtain additional relevant evidence connected to the Canfield Green incident, her own hospitalization, the bullet she purportedly handed over to Ferguson police as evidence, the potential role of white supremacists in the incident, and the purported presence of Bush. We did not receive a response.  One significant figure in the alleged events of Jan. 19, 2015, who did speak with Snopes was Ayanna Delaine Barney  the woman who owns the car that was damaged during the incident, allegedly as a result of shots fired in the direction of a group of protestors.  damaged during the incident Barney told Snopes she had never reported the incident to any law enforcement agency, and did not believe anyone else had either. Asked whether she could discern the race or possible white supremacist affiliations of the alleged shooters, Barney told Snopes she never saw any shooter, in part because it was dark out at the time of the incident. She also said she had no recollection of Bush's having been present during the events in question.  Barney added that she was still at a loss as to why the alleged shooting incident took place, but she noted that some who were present at the time have since speculated that it may have resulted from a feud between protesters that spiraled out of control. We have found no evidence to support that hypothesis, but it does indicate that Bush's white supremacists claim was not universally accepted among those present at the incident on Jan. 19, 2015. We sent follow-up questions to Bush's acting spokesperson Bahr, noting the absence of evidence to support the Congresswoman's claim that white supremacists were behind the shooting, and that she was present for it, and requesting such evidence. We did not receive a response to those follow-up questions, in time for publication. Armed right-wing groups such as the Oath Keepers, were conspicuously present during the protests and unrest in Ferguson during 2014 and 2015. Indeed, Bush herself made a contemporaneous note of their presence, describing an uneasy encounter she had with heavily-armed, white Oath Keepers, during an interview in August 2015 (begins around 51 minutes). However, we have not yet been able to obtain concrete evidence about the race or ideological affiliation of the alleged shooters from the Jan. 19, 2015 incident, and Bush did not provide any such evidence.  Oath Keepers begins around 51 minutes Snopes sent Ferguson police a list of detailed questions about their investigation into the purported Jan. 19, 2015 incident at Canfield Green apartments. A spokesperson for Chief Frank McCall told Snopes the department was conducting internal research on foot of our request. However, after we made repeated attempts to obtain a substantive response from police, Ferguson City Manager Eric Osterberg told Snopes both the city and its police department was declining to comment on Bush's claims. Several individuals posted online about an alleged shooting incident at the Canfield Green apartments in Ferguson, on Jan. 19, 2015. A small number of photographs suggest, but don't definitively demonstrate, that a shooting incident of some kind did take place on that date, and may have caused damage to a car, as well as grazing a bystander. However, we could find no evidence that a police investigation ever took place, and therefore no sense of what the conclusions of any such investigation were. Bush very prominently claimed that the incident consisted of white supremacists shooting at anti-racist protesters, but has so far provided no evidence to support that characterization, and such evidence was not available from other public sources. Bush may or may not have accurately described and characterized an incident on Jan. 19, 2015. As of now, the evidence available does not allow us to make a determination either way. Until or unless that changes, we are issuing a rating of \"Unproven.\" Bogan, Jesse. New Owners of Canfield Green Apartments in Ferguson Say a Pleasant View Is Coming. STLtoday.Com, https:\/\/www.stltoday.com\/news\/local\/metro\/new-owners-of-canfield-green-apartments-in-ferguson-say-a-pleasant-view-is-coming\/article_0a1b5c3d-40d1-56de-8e37-1228d9faf8ef.html. Accessed 18 Nov. 2021.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=13Tho0jJP8rBcrY9AmYUusVXT_nintSRH","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_279","claim":"Is an 'Underrated' Denzel Washington Movie 'Dominating Netflix'?","posted":"04\/20\/2021","sci_digest":["A strange story referenced the famous Hollywood film star and \"The Equalizer 2,\" a 2018 movie that's not available on Netflix in the U.S."],"justification":"In April 2021, American readers may have been intrigued to see a curious article about Denzel Washington and Netflix. The headline from the We Got This Covered website read, \"An Underrated Denzel Washington Movie Has Been Dominating Netflix All Week.\"  Mysterious and sometimes misleading content might be what a lot of Google Discover users are shown these days.  Some readers may have noticed the article in their Google Discover feed. For those unfamiliar with Google Discover, it's a free and personalized news feed that displays content that Google thinks each user might find interesting and relevant. The headline likely led American readers to believe that the \"underrated\" film was available to stream in the U.S. After all, Netflix's headquarters are located in Los Gatos, California. This was all somewhat misleading. The source referenced by the We Got This Covered article did not show that the movie in question, \"The Equalizer 2,\" was \"dominating\" Netflix. Instead, FlixPatrol.com indicated that the film barely made the top 10 worldwide movies on Netflix during week 16 of 2021. week 16 of 2021 Further, not included in the Google Discover card for the story was one important tidbit: \"The Equalizer 2\" was not available to be streamed by Netflix users in the U.S. According to an unofficial website that tracks Netflix availability by country, \"The Equalizer 2\" was only available on the streaming service in Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Hungary, Israel, Japan, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. unofficial website This was not the first time that the We Got This Covered website published a misleading article about a famous actor and Netflix. In February 2021, the same website also claimed: \"Tom Hanks New Movie Has Been Dominating Netflix All Week.\" The film in question was the 2020 flick \"News of the World.\" claimed As with \"The Equalizer 2,\" \"News of the World\" wasn't exactly \"dominating Netflix,\" nor was it available for streaming in the U.S. \"The Equalizer 2\" was originally released in 2018. It received a 51% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 50 out of 100 on Metacritic. 51% critic rating a score of 50  The film reunited director Antoine Fuqua with Washington after they had previously worked together on 2001's \"Training Day,\" a film that is available on Netflix in the U.S. The synopsis for \"The Equalizer 2\" read: \"Denzel Washington returns to one of his signature roles in the first sequel of his career. Robert McCall serves an unflinching justice for the exploited and oppressed  but how far will he go when that is someone he loves?\" As of April 2021, no plans had been announced by Netflix to bring \"The Equalizer 2\" to American audiences. However, it's available to rent for $3.99 on YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, and a number of other streaming services. YouTube Amazon Prime Video In sum, a movie starring the actor was not \"dominating Netflix,\" nor was it even available in the U.S.","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Vtuglx2ncNsPTkaIzap6K2xXPoBoqfP1","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_280","claim":"Are Most Cruise Ships Registered Under Foreign Flags?","posted":"03\/23\/2020","sci_digest":["The economic strain of the COVID-19 pandemic prompted some to point fingers at companies perceived to be skirting the rules."],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease. \n\nAs the COVID-19 pandemic threatened to shut down businesses across America in March 2020, the U.S. government faced the difficult task of deciding which industries should receive economic assistance to stay afloat. Public sentiment in some quarters was strongly against government bailouts for businesses such as airlines and cruise companies, on the grounds that many major operators had spent billions of dollars in profits buying back their own stock rather than paying down their debts. In USA Today, John M. Griffin and James M. Griffin wrote: \"Start with the airlines. Rather than using their profits from the past five years to pay off debts and save for a rainy day, the big four\u2014American, United, Delta, and Southwest\u2014grew their combined liabilities to $166 billion, all while spending $39 billion on share repurchases.\" That amount, which is only from the big four, is almost 80% of what they are now asking for from U.S. taxpayers. Similarly, the three largest cruise companies\u2014Carnival, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean\u2014have liabilities of $47.5 billion and engaged in share repurchases of $8 billion. Had these companies paid down their liabilities instead of using stock repurchases to inflate their stock prices, they would have been far better prepared to weather this emergency. Of course, higher share prices made their stock options more valuable, allowing top airline executives to pay themselves $666 million in compensation over the five-year period, while top cruise executives managed to earn $448 million. Now, taxpayers are unwillingly being called upon to bail out their extravagant behavior. \n\nA widely circulated meme on social media offered another reason why cruise lines were supposedly unworthy of government bailouts: although they might be headquartered in the U.S., their ships are foreign-flagged to evade U.S. law. That nearly every major cruise line registers its ships somewhere outside the U.S. is hardly disputable. As a 2011 news report noted, only a single major cruise ship at the time was U.S.-flagged: \"Only one major cruise ship\u2014NCL America's Pride of America\u2014is registered in the United States, according to data from CyberCruises.com.\" Most of the big boats fly Bahamian flags, but other popular registries include Panama, Bermuda, Italy, Malta, and the Netherlands. In fact, according to the Cruise Lines International Association, 90% of commercial vessels calling on U.S. ports fly foreign flags. The three cruise lines mentioned in the meme\u2014Disney, Celebrity, and Carnival\u2014do indeed engage in this practice. It's not difficult to verify that Disney cruise ships are registered in the Bahamas, Celebrity ships in Malta, and Carnival ships in Panama. \n\nOf course, the cruise industry and its critics offer differing reasons for why cruise ships are flagged in countries other than the U.S. The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) maintains there are valid reasons for such policies: \"There are many factors that determine where a cruise ship\u2014or for that matter, any maritime vessel\u2014is flagged. Those determinations are made by individual cruise lines and other ship operators based on varying factors including the capabilities of the flag to deliver the services needed; representation and reputation of the flag in the international shipping community; the performance of the flag state, which dictates how a ship is prioritized by port states; the pool of seafarers able to meet the needs of the flag; and the flag's fees, charges, and taxes,\" the association stated in an email. This can be viewed as a robust free-market debate. Some maintain that burdensome U.S. regulations have forced cruise operators to plant their flags elsewhere, while others argue that these corporations seek to attract American dollars while skirting American safety and consumer protection laws. \n\nOn the other hand, an academic paper by Caitlin E. Burke of the University of Florida about \"Legal Issues Relevant to Cruise Ships\" observed that reflagging of ships has long been used as a means of avoiding U.S. federal taxes, labor and safety laws, environmental laws, lawsuits, criminal investigations, and other regulations. Aside from the majority of revenue generated by U.S. passengers, cruise lines are independent of the U.S. economy. Even though nearly 75 percent of passengers are U.S. citizens, cruise line corporations and their ships are not traditionally American-owned or registered. Cruise line companies are not concerned about increasing minimum wage, rising insurance premiums, or higher corporate taxes. They escape federal taxes and labor laws by registering their corporations and vessels in foreign countries such as Panama, Liberia, and the Bahamas. In fact, employees of cruise lines are often mistreated due to lax labor laws, and worst of all, they find little to no recourse for pursuing litigation. Likewise, a U.S. citizen passenger faces the same predicament. A vessel's country of registration is commonly referred to as the \"flag of convenience\" (FOC). Flagging a ship under a foreign flag for the convenience of the cruise line is nothing new, nor is it rare. The majority of cruise ships today are registered in Panama, Liberia, or the Bahamas. It is important to pay close attention, as many vessels within the same fleet are often registered in different countries. For example, Carnival Corporation has flagged its cruise vessel Celebration under Panama and Destiny under the Bahamas. Cruise lines often avoid drawing attention to the FOC by using the term \"headquartered in Miami, Florida.\" While the majority of these cruise lines have their headquarters in Miami, they are not registered in the U.S. Thus, U.S. laws do not apply, and passengers are at the mercy of maritime law. \n\nThe practice of ship-reflagging is common and regular. Whether cruise lines headquartered in the U.S. but operating ships registered in foreign countries \"deserve\" government bailouts in a time of pandemic is a subjective issue with no definitive answer, but certainly some critics have argued that they do not. Even in a crisis, companies with prudent balance sheets will survive and, in time, thrive. Despite what politicians might tell you, the airplanes and ships of imprudent companies are physical property that will not suddenly disappear. They will fly or sail again under the same or a different name, but hopefully with cheaper prices, better service, and different executives. Like a college student sleeping off a hangover, a crisis is a time to sober up by removing debt from the system. It's not time for another drink.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=169TLzmJi-rsds8tfDchYidyh8D4hiL5M","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_281","claim":"Did Christian Crowdfunding Campaign Raise Money for Kyle Rittenhouse?","posted":"09\/01\/2020","sci_digest":["Rittenhouse, 17, is accused of killing two people at a protest against police brutality in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Aug. 25, 2020."],"justification":"After Illinois teen Kyle Rittenhouse was charged with fatally shooting two people and wounding another during a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Aug. 25, 2020, Snopes received numerous inquiries from readers wondering if a self-described Christian crowdfunding website was hosting a fundraiser to help pay Rittenhouse's legal defense. The killings occurred during a chaotic confrontation between people protesting the Aug. 23 police shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake, and armed vigilantes who claimed to be patrolling the lakeside city to prevent looting and property destruction. Rittenhouse, 17, was captured in video footage carrying a military-style rifle, marching alongside members of the latter group, and putting his hands up after shots were fired. Authorities arrested him on Aug. 26 in connection with the deaths in Antioch, Illinois, where he was being held without bail and awaiting his next court hearing on Sept. 25. The charges against Rittenhouse included first-degree intentional homicide, which carries a life sentence. The Chicago Tribune reported that Rittenhouse's case immediately became a popular cause in conservative circles, where pundits began defending the teenager before he had even been charged. At least two defense funds have been launched in his name in recent days, though it is unclear if the Rittenhouse family supports either of those efforts. That brings us to the question from Snopes readers: Was a website that brands itself as Christian called GiveSendGo hosting an apparent online fundraiser to help Rittenhouse pay court costs? First, we searched several crowdfunding sites for online campaigns with a similar stated goal: to raise money to help Rittenhouse or his family fight criminal charges against him. None appeared on GoFundMe as of this report. Several crowdfunding pages, however, were active and allegedly supporting Rittenhouse's case on Fundly. Additionally, a conservative student group at Arizona State University pledged to donate half of its future fundraising dollars to the cause. \"[Rittenhouse] does not deserve to have his entire life destroyed because of the actions of violent anarchists during a lawless riot,\" the college group tweeted. Next, we considered crowdfunding platforms that describe themselves as Christian and researched GiveSendGo at readers' requests. According to the website, which describes itself as the \"#1 Free Christian Crowdfunding Site,\" users can organize and run crowdsourcing campaigns for free by using personalized logins and donate to GiveSendGo directly. The website's \"About Us\" page stated: GiveSendGo is meant to give Christians the opportunity to be supported by the body of Christ. A place for the body of Christ to get out from their comfortable pews and support people in God's family that they might not have ever known about. Based on that evidence, it was accurate to claim GiveSendGo describes itself as a website that promotes Christianity. Then we looked for proof of pages supporting Rittenhouse on the platform. A keyword search for \"Kyle Rittenhouse\" uncovered several pages, including a fundraiser titled \"Raise Money For Kyle Rittenhouse Legal Defense\" that had raised more than $314,000 as of this report. It was the most popular and active GiveSendGo campaign created to help the teen or his family. The page included the following description: Kyle Rittenhouse just defended himself from a brutal attack by multiple members of the far-leftist group ANTIFA; the experience was undoubtedly a brutal one, as he was forced to take two lives to defend his own. Now, Kyle is being unfairly charged with murder by a DA who seems determined only to capitalize on the political angle of the situation. The situation was clearly self-defense, and Kyle and his family will undoubtedly need money to pay for the legal fees. Let's give back to someone who bravely tried to defend his community. On Aug. 28, 2020, the page's organizers, \"Friends of the Rittenhouse family\" of Atlanta, Georgia, wrote an update to the page in which they claimed they had spoken with Rittenhouse's mother and legal team and that party was raising money via multiple methods. The organizers of the GiveSendGo campaign pledged: \"All of the money donated ... will go to Kyle's defense, as it is likely to be an expensive and protracted affair.\" No specific details on the GiveSendGo page's organizers were known, including how or under what circumstances they started the alleged fundraiser. Anyone can establish a campaign on the site; donors are encouraged to report pages that appear suspicious or fraudulent, and there was no evidence to confirm or deny that the organizers of the campaign for Rittenhouse were indeed giving the payments to help his legal defense, aside from the above-described pledge from them. That update also read: Kyle is reportedly in good spirits, and I'm told that the incredible support shown by you good people is what's keeping him going. This young man has reinvigorated the faith of many that this country and its founding principles are indeed founded upon the rock, not built upon the sand. However, a city upon a hill cannot be hid; Kyle now faces the wrath of those who would see us stripped of our God-given rights and reduced to servitude. He is in dire need of our help. The GiveSendGo page collected more than 7,330 donations as of this report, some of which included messages of support for Rittenhouse. \"This young man is a hero. Give him a medal and make him a millionaire. Every patriot can spare him a few bucks,\" said an anonymous donor who contributed $10, per the page. Another donor said: Based on those findings, yes, a self-described Christian crowdfunding website, GiveSendGo, was hosting a campaign to help Rittenhouse. We reached out to the website's administrators to learn under what terms it hosts campaigns on its platform. Jacob Wells, a co-founder of the site, told us via email: GiveSendGo allows campaigns from all kinds of different people and political\/religious ideologies. Just because we are Christians does not mean every campaign on our site has to be one or that we agree with its campaign premise. We will withhold judgment and leave that for the courts and God. Our judicial system works on the principle of innocence until proven guilty. As a veteran-owned platform, we recognize the freedoms we have in the USA came at a very high price, and we will not just trample on them to satisfy political correctness. Additionally, he said site administrators were conducting a review of the page involving Rittenhouse to make sure it follows site guidelines, though they \"currently believe the campaign is eligible like any other campaigns because it does not violate our terms of service.\" On Aug. 27, the crowdfunding site posted the following statement to Twitter: The campaign stoked controversy online among people who believed it wrongfully celebrated the actions of an alleged killer and should be removed from the crowdfunding website. Referring to Blake, who was paralyzed from the waist down after a white police officer shot at his back multiple times on Aug. 23, one Facebook user alleged: In response to those critics, Wells told Snopes: We recognize that we live in a world of diverse ideas and opinions and that part of our strength is in that diversity. We will respond with grace to those that disagree with us. We will give grace to ourselves to not always get it right as we learn and grow. Finally, we will give grace to the campaign owner, those that support the campaign, and Kyle as he walks out the ramifications of his actions. In sum, given how GiveSendGo describes itself as the \"#1 Free Christian Crowdfunding Site,\" as well as evidence of listed donations on a webpage that says it will give all contributions to help fund Rittenhouse's legal defense, we rate this claim as true.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1L-O7TQakpKUDk7eW0YEJQjr_8xkNOTiY","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=13kBZ9jFR5GwPA0DyoXM5H0aqv69BAzuS","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1p7zF861vYmzT-AZNNaf8g0t_ZXae0FCn","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1xnz7hZXZ0K8JGCBTA2-AFE5VddCHsEOk","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1g07MnHKFzqZJ5od9mTYotmE53ClNe-l-","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_282","claim":"Do These Photographs Show a Tiger Nursing Piglets?","posted":"06\/01\/2006","sci_digest":["Photos purportedly show a mother tiger at a California zoo who nursed a group of piglets after her own cubs died."],"justification":"As often happens, an item about a tiger nursing piglets appears to be a case in which someone came across some unusual photographs with no explanatory context and decided to create their own background story. The pictures are real, but the accompanying explanation about a mother tiger in California being given piglets to help her through a depression stemming from the loss of her own cubs is nothing but fiction. In a zoo in California, a mother tiger gave birth to a rare set of triplet tiger cubs. Unfortunately, due to complications during the pregnancy, the cubs were born prematurely and, due to their tiny size, died shortly after birth. After recovering from the delivery, the mother tiger suddenly began to decline in health, although physically she appeared fine. The veterinarians believed that the loss of her litter had caused the tigress to fall into a depression. They decided that if the tigress could surrogate another mother's cubs, perhaps she would improve. After checking with many other zoos across the country, the disappointing news was that there were no tiger cubs of the right age to introduce to the mourning mother. The veterinarians decided to try something that had never been attempted in a zoo environment. Sometimes a mother of one species will take on the care of a different species. The only \"orphans\" that could be found quickly were a litter of wiener pigs. The zookeepers and vets wrapped the piglets in tiger skin and placed the babies around the mother tiger. Would they become cubs or pork chops? These pictures were actually taken in 2004, not in California, but at the Sriracha Tiger Zoo in Chonburi, Thailand. Although the Sriracha Tiger Zoo hosted one of the world's most successful tiger breeding programs, unlike most western zoos, it also offered circus- and carnival-like shows, exhibits, and interactions, including (as evidenced here) the mixture of adults and young of quite different species in the same enclosures, as described by the AWI Quarterly, a publication of the Animal Welfare Institute. The Sriracha Tiger Zoo, an hour outside of Bangkok, Thailand, is truly an amazing place. Boasting more than 400 tigers, a handful of Asian elephants, piles of crocodiles, camels, snakes, and other exotic animals, the zoo has some intriguing yet troubling exhibits. In one glass room, a farrowing crate entombed a pig who, lying on her side, nourished both her piglets and tiger cubs. Across the hall, another glass room housed a female tiger who fed piglets adorned in tiger-print costumes. This incongruous display was replicated elsewhere, where enclosures housed tigers, pigs, and dogs together. In another area, a visitor could feed milk to a young tiger resting on his or her lap\u2014a young tiger still in possession of his claws. There was a tiger circus, not dissimilar from a circus anywhere else: tigers leaping through rings of fire, walking across a double tightrope, parading around the ring on hind legs, and riding around on the back of a horse. The mixture of tigers and piglets depicted in these images, therefore, was not something undertaken for functional reasons, but rather as a common form of visual entertainment provided by the zoo for the amusement of its visitors. According to the Pattaya Mail, these tiger-pig nursing relationships have also been reciprocated to the extent that the mother tiger shown suckling piglets was herself nursed by a sow. Visitors recently witnessed some bizarre feeding habits of the zoo's most famous inhabitants. A two-year-old female pig named Benjamaj is a blended pedigree of parents, Land-Less and Las-White, that were imported from Norway. Benjamaj is a kind and maternal pig. She has taken four baby tigers under her care and, along with three tiny piglets, is nursing the tigers as though she were their mother. She loves those cats, and they love her back. Unbelieving, wide-eyed tourists pressed their noses up to the cage to get a better look. As they moved on to the next cage, they were in for another surprise, as there, a great Royal Bengal tigress was lolling on her side and suckling six tiny piglets. 'Momma' tiger Saimai is two years old and, as a baby, was suckled by a pig until she was four months old. This democratic start in life allowed her to form a loving relationship with other pigs and even a dog. Food in the wild, maybe, but at the zoo, tourists who witness these amazing scenes come away with food for thought. Although these pictures might appear charming and innocent, the AWI noted back in 2004 that there may be a darker side to the Sriracha Tiger Zoo, as press reports stated that Sriracha was under investigation for illegally breeding protected wildlife for commercial export and had been implicated in the sale of a hundred tigers to China (where there is strong demand for tiger body parts for use in traditional Chinese medicines). The AWI also noted that in late 2004, the zoo was closed for a month when between 80 and 100 tigers died or were euthanized due to an avian influenza (probably spread via the raw chicken carcasses fed to the tigers) that swept through the facility.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=16o-sfXzGf1ZxTNnW3jLer-WkE-KiqslU","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1LwEgM2Jytfz8EMrxymU4pyQej83OYmLB","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_283","claim":"No, Red Cross Is Not Offering Coronavirus Home Tests","posted":"03\/18\/2020","sci_digest":["Scams involving the disaster relief organization are unfortunately not new."],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease.  fighting Find out Read Submit Become a Founding Member CDC WHO In mid-March 2020, social media users posted a message cautioning that scammers were victimizing elderly people amid the COVID-19 pandemic by impersonating Red Cross volunteers:  A variation of this meme contained a similar warning, along with an image of people clad in white biohazard suits. (We cropped the image out for the sake of privacy.)   This is indeed a scam. Red Cross chapters have warned of criminals exploiting the coronavirus disease in various ways, which has sickened and killed thousands globally and isolated people in their homes worldwide. In a statement emailed to Snopes, a Red Cross spokesperson said: The American Red Cross has seen widespread reports of this scam across the United States, along with other countries, on social media platforms. We would like to emphasize that this rumor is not true. The Red Cross is not going to people's homes to offer coronavirus tests. If someone comes to your house claiming that they work for the Red Cross and that they're authorized to do coronavirus testing, do not allow them in your home. Our most important guidance is for people to please be safe. Should such an incident occur, we ask that you call the police as soon as possible. The Oklahoma chapter, for example, advised the public to be wary of scammers impersonating Red Cross volunteers offering coronavirus testing door-to-door: advised A similar warning was issued by the British Red Cross Northwest Branch. \"We would like to make it clear that the Red Cross is not conducting coronavirus tests in Northern Ireland or anywhere else in the UK,\" the statement said.  warning Likewise, the Canadian Red Cross issued an alert that scammers impersonating the organization were exploiting the pandemic by sending out text messages offering to sell or give away protective masks.Unfortunately, scams like these are not new. In a rather cruel variation of this scam during the coronavirus pandemic, a message posted to social media falsely claimed that if you lacked health insurance to pay for a coronavirus diagnostic test, you could donate blood as an alternative because donors must have a blood test. alert  like these variation The U.S. government has since taken steps to roll out widespread testing for the coronavirus disease at no cost to patients. steps Updated with statement from Red Cross and variation of the meme.","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=13ALUbwz9fsdXEiyyh6iZ4JaLnzvimkGo","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1kGIb3FAccev-Rg5U6N_ggH6gia-Rm-Ru","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1S7aVeejCGr75OPujSjf1YquYDKJ5LqdB","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1w1_VPWF-Y92miF5MIAAFhg2A0H9Tp2lA","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_284","claim":"Pet Blamed for Mishap","posted":"05\/16\/2000","sci_digest":["Accident in the kitchen is blamed on pet."],"justification":"Claim: A destructive act is conveniently blamed on a household pet. LEGEND Examples: [Brunvand, 1993] Their mother had baked a Dutch apple pie for a special event. She left it on the kitchen table to cool while she ran an errand, warning the boys not to touch it. However, the pie smelled wonderful, and the boys couldn't resist taking a tiny bite. One bite became several, until a major chunk of the pie had been eaten. They then heard their mother's car pull into the garage, and they knew they were trapped unless they could quickly cover up their crime. The future lawyer had a brilliant idea. He grabbed the family cat and shoved its face into the pie, smearing its whiskers with gooey filling and crumbs. When his mother walked in, she looked at the cat and saw what she interpreted as guilt written all over its face. She immediately grabbed the cat and threw it out the back door into a stream that ran behind the house. [Brunvand, 1989] I recently heard about a friend of a friend, what you call a FOAF, who is an interior decorator with a thriving business on Chicago's wealthy North Shore. He had just finished painting an elegant home in Wilmette and was going around with a can of touch-up paint, making sure everything was perfect. After finishing the last brush stroke, he stepped back to admire his work and accidentally kicked the paint can over onto the priceless Oriental rug. What to do? At that moment, the client's yappy, snappy, obnoxious toy poodle, Fifi, trotted into the room. Thinking quickly, the decorator scooped her up and dropped her into the puddle of paint, exclaiming loudly, \"Fifi! Bad Dog! What have you done?\" [Collected on the Internet, 2002] A husband breaks a purple vase that belongs to his wife. She thinks the dog did it and hates the dog. In her husband's absence, she kills the dog and buries it in the backyard. The story ends with the husband confessing that he, not the dog, broke the vase, and the wife, who is contemplating the mound behind the rose bushes in the garden, doesn't know what to say. Origins: Shoving a hapless pet into the incriminating mess is a traditional way of shifting blame. One of Brunvand's readers recalls hearing the spilled paint story in 1929, so this one has been with us for a while. Although pets can (and have!) spilled cans of paint, it's not reasonable to assume any self-respecting cat would have an interest in Dutch apple pie. A more believable way of presenting the story would be to change the food item to a torti\u00e8re, a renowned French-Canadian meat pie. (Though torti\u00e8re is good eating any time, it's a traditional Christmas Eve food in Quebecois households, often served at \"Le R\u00e9veillon,\" the meal following Midnight Mass.) Another legend, one about kinky teen sex, employs the scapegoated pet theme. In \"Stain Feign,\" teenagers who decide to engage in anal sex on the family's brand new white sofa rush out afterwards to buy a puppy to have something to blame for the mess. Stain Feign Barbara \"canine one one\" Mikkelson Sightings: Our \"blamed pet\" legend shows up in a 1972 Toni Morrison novel, Bluest Eye, in a scene involving two children, a cat, and a berry cobbler. Last updated: 1 August 2011 The Baby Train Brunvand, Jan Harold. Curses! Broiled Again! New York: W. W. Norton, 1989. ISBN 0-393-30711-5 (pp. 132-134). Curses! Broiled Again! Brunvand, Jan Harold. Too Good to Be. New York: W. W. Norton, 1999. ISBN 0-393-04734-2 (pp. 61-63). Too Good to Be The Big Book of Urban Legends","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1fYY9xlcDHXwliaqpWE9T0D5jRrzDDBfP","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_285","claim":"Is This 'Gatorboarding' Photo Real?","posted":"06\/12\/2015","sci_digest":["A viral photograph purportedly captured a raccoon riding an alligator like a surfboard."],"justification":"On 14 June 2015, a number of Florida news outlets published a seemingly remarkable photograph, sent to them by a man named Richard Jones, showing a raccoon riding the back of an alligator like a surfboard: published  The peculiar sight may have been endearing, but it also left many viewers questioning the image's authenticity. Photographer Richard Jones's explanation of how he snapped the image was that he was walking with his son along the Oaklawaha River in the Ocala National Forest when they came across a raccoon. Their appearance startled the creature, he said, which sought the safety of the water, where it hopped onto the back of an alligator. The raccoon was only \"riding\" the alligator for a short while, Jones said, as the gator quickly slipped underwater and the raccoon scurried back onto land:  Had a wonderful morning with the family in Ocala National forest and took an equally wonderful photo! We were walking along the Oaklawaha river watching some gators warm up in the morning. My son went through some palm fronds to catch a different angle and frightened a raccoon. It must have been asleep because it stumbled toward the water and hoped on top of the gator we were watching. I snapped a lucky picture right when the gator slipped into the water and before the raccoon jumped off and scurried away. Without the context you'd think the raccoon was hitching a ride across the river. Pretty amazing. Definitely the photo of a lifetime. Included a second one my wife took or the area. You have my permission to share the photo and use the photo in any way. I don't want anything in return. Just thought other people might enjoy it. However, not everyone took the photograph at face value. The Florida Times-Union published it but included a disclaimer stating that they hadn't confirmed its authenticity:   published The photo of the gator with raccoon in tow seems to have gone viral on social media, and the story has been picked up by several other media outlets. And although we haven't been able to confirm the authenticity of these images, this was too good of a story to leave our viewers out of the loop. DISCLAIMER: Mr. Jones did not leave a phone number in his email so that we could confirm the authenticity of the image. We did try to contact him via his email address and we also requested he phone us. At the time this story was posted, we still have not received a call or email from Mr. Jones.   The Ocala Star Banner was more skeptical, opting not to publish the photograph due to questions about its authenticity and a lack of response from the submitter:Until now, the Star-Banner has declined to publish the photo because we still have questions about its authenticity. We have reached out to the photographer, a man named Rich Jones, but [have] not heard back from him. Heres a summary of our concerns: +Scope: The raccoon seems out of proportion -- too big -- compared with the alligator. +Feet: Even zooming in, you cant tell whether the raccoon has feet. +Tail: Dont raccoons usually have longer, fluffier tails? +Posture: That is an unusual pose for a raccoon. It almost looks like a taxidermy piece. +Gator: The alligators eye has an odd color, shape and placement. Its body seems rubber-like. +Mask: The raccoons mask seems like an add-on. When a photographer in London captured a somewhat comparable image of an animal \"riding\" another animal in February 2015  a rather amazing picture of a weasel hitchhiking on the back of a woodpecker in flight  a small army of photoshop experts also declared that picture to be fake for similar reasons. But in that case the photographer made himself available for interviews, and the consensus remains that that photograph was real. captured consensus While Jones didn't come forward with more information about the image, a performance artist who goes by the name \"Zardulu\" did. In December 2016, Zardulu told the Washington Post that she was responsible for a number of social media hoaxes, including this photograph of the raccoon riding an alligator: Washington Post In 2015, there was an incredible viral photograph, a lucky shot, that showed a raccoon perched on the back of a swimming alligator. A man named Richard Jones told the local news that hed snapped the picture himself, and a lot of Florida news outlets ran with it. The story spread to larger publications. It went viral. There were plenty of doubters, of course. But also many believers, people who would prefer to live in a world where a raccoon could use a predator as a ferry. And that preference is exactly what Zardulu understands so well. I staged the raccoon and the alligator, Zardulu said. The animals are taxidermied; she sprayed each with a commercial product used to waterproof leather to protect them from the water. Zardulu showed us photographs of the setup, and some of herself, in costume, clutching the animals:   Weber, Greta.  \"Raccoon Rides Alligator in Florida  Is It for Real?\"\r  National Geographic.  16 June 2015.\r\r\r Ohlheiser, Abby.  \"She Staged a Viral Story. You Fell for Her Hoax. She Thinks Thats Beautiful.\"\r  The Washington Post.  14 December 2016. WFTV.  \"Man Snaps Picture of Raccoon on Top of Gator in Ocala National Forest.\"\r  14 June 2015.\r","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1VzjEoOqHvEzoLrbn2Yxcz5EbW8gExQ9D","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1UfGAcgLxld1kwCoVZ9tDiVoEb0baDBLm","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_286","claim":"Did George Washington Say 'Firearms Stand Next in Importance to the Constitution Itself'?","posted":"04\/26\/2019","sci_digest":["Always good to do some research before attributing quotes to famous historical figures."],"justification":"On 20 April 2019, the verified Facebook page belonging to the non-profit organization Turning Point USA posted a meme containing a statement falsely attributed to George Washington. The statement attributed to the first U.S. president reads, \"Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. Firearms are the American people's liberty teeth and keystone under independence.\" Much like the cherry tree legend about him, the quote appears to be a fabrication. The statement, often referred to as the \"liberty teeth\" quote, is listed by Mount Vernon (Washington's historical estate) under \"spurious quotations\" attributed to Washington. It \"does not show up in any of Washington's writings, nor does any closely related quote,\" according to the estate. Nevertheless, the quote is frequently cited. In 2013, the progressive media watchdog organization Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) noted that it was employed in a Playboy magazine article as far back as 1995, which led to a subsequent retraction. The quote was also one of several erroneous ones included in the language of a Washington state bill dubbed the \"firearms civil rights act\" in 2016. One of the most famous myths about the first president is probably the story of the cherry tree. In the story, a young Washington takes a hatchet to a cherry tree. When confronted about it by his father, the boy says, \"I cannot tell a lie\" and confesses. Although the tale is meant to demonstrate the virtue of honesty, it is an invention of biographer Mason Locke Weems. The Mount Vernon estate notes that \"Weems' biography, The Life of Washington, was first published in 1800 and was an instant bestseller. However, the cherry tree myth did not appear until the book's fifth edition was published in 1806.\"","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=13iXNnRhkTphh3hVPHsXCn2416xBCeUWf","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_287","claim":"We have the lowest corporate tax rate since 1968.","posted":"01\/18\/2020","sci_digest":[],"justification":"In Gov. Andrew Cuomos 10th State of the State address last week, he claimed that under his administration, We have the lowest corporate tax rate since 1968. New Yorks business climate has for years been thesubject of criticismfrom business groups and conservative lawmakers, so we wondered about this claim. We approached Cuomos office, where spokesman Jason Conwall provided us with historical tax data. The Department of Taxation and Finance maintains this data, and atabletitled History of Corporate Tax Rates in New York State, 1917-2009, shows that between 1968 and 1970, the corporate tax rate, also known as the corporation franchise tax, was 7 percent. The rate did not fall below 7 percent in later years, and in the final year, 2009, the rate was 7.1 percent. Since 2009, the rate changed once, when it was lowered to 6.5 percent, Conwall said. The 6.5 percent ratetook effect on Jan. 1, 2016. Historically, New York has had separate rates for banks and insurance companies. The bank tax wasmergedinto the corporate tax system in 2015. We reached out to observers of the states tax policies for context and to check for any conflicting data. The Tax Foundation, a national organization, studies federal and state tax policy and advocated for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act supported by President Trump and congressional Republicans. The Tax Foundation confirmed Cuomos claim. New York saw remarkable improvement in both its corporate rate - bringing it down to 6.5 percent - and structure - cutting four corporate bases down to three - through tax reform in 2014, said policy analyst Janelle Cammenga. The Tax Foundation advocates for simpler tax codes, and Cammenga noted that New Yorks complex individual income tax code affects so-called pass-through businesses, such as partnerships, sole-proprietorships, and limited liability companies. E.J. McMahon, founder and research director at the conservative Empire Center, also confirmed Cuomos claim. McMahon added that in the 12-county region in downstate New York served by the Metropolitan Transit Authority, a surcharge brings the tax rate to 8.34 percent there. But even with the surcharge, its still the lowest rate since 1970, McMahon said. At the left-leaning Fiscal Policy Institute, executive director Ron Deutsch confirmed Cuomos claim. Dave Friedfel, director of state studies at the Citizens Budget Commission, a nonpartisan research and advocacy organization in Albany and New York City, said that readers should be aware that companies in New York pay more than just the corporate franchise tax. In addition to the MTA surcharge,set by the state, New York City imposes a 8.85 percent corporate franchise tax. Overall, its good that New York States corporate franchise tax rates are lower than they were and arecompetitive nationwide, but its just a small part of the taxes paid by businesses in New York, Friedfel said. Cuomo claims that under his administration, New York has the lowest corporate tax rate since 1968. Though there are other taxes levied on businesses in New York, experts from the left and the right agree with Cuomo's assertion. We rate Cuomos statement True.","issues":["Taxes","New York"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_288","claim":"Dynamic Pet Products Real Ham Bone","posted":"03\/09\/2015","sci_digest":["Rumor: Dynamic Pet Products Real Ham Bone have caused several dogs to fall ill and die."],"justification":"Claim: Dynamic Pet Products Real Ham Bone has caused several dogs to fall ill and die. UNPROVEN Example: [Collected via Facebook, March 2015] I started this Facebook page in 2010. I lost my beautiful Black Labrador retriever on 3\/8\/2010. He ate one of these bones, and it broke into sharp shards that punctured his bowel. I took the rest back to Sam's Club, and the manager said he wouldn't sell them anymore. Sadly, that is not true. The FDA investigation is supposedly ongoing, but I hear that since it's a pet \"treat,\" they won't or can't do anything. It is heartbreaking to know that people are still losing their pets, five years and counting since I lost Sammie. Hopefully, someday these heartless individuals will stop prioritizing profit over safety and cease making them. RIP Sammie. I purchased a Real Ham Bone made by Dynamic Pet Products from Wal-Mart on Sunday, 3\/1\/15. I gave it to Fred, our Basset Hound; he chewed on it and ingested some. By Monday morning, 3\/2\/15, he was vomiting and having severe diarrhea. By the afternoon, he was bleeding from his rectum, and we rushed him to the vet. He was put in intensive care, and we were told he was so sick that the vet recommended we put him to sleep. I will never forgive myself for buying him that deadly treat. Please share this so others don't make the same mistake I did. DYNAMIC PET PRODUCTS (in Missouri) knows they've killed dozens of dogs, yet they still sell them at major retail companies like Sam's Club and Wal-Mart. Origins: On 4 March 2015, Facebook user Khristie Collins-Reed published the above-displayed photographs to Facebook following the death of her family's Basset Hound, Fred. Both on Facebook and in an interview with a local news station, members of her family stated that Fred had received a Dynamic Pet Products Real Ham Bone on 1 March 2015 and died the following day. The family's story was not the first complaint lodged about Dynamic Pet Products Real Ham Bone. Several negative reviews had been published on consumer complaint sites over the years, alleging problems similar to those reported by Reed's family. (Additional warnings have circulated among animal lovers on social media sites about canine jerky treats and other forms of pet chew treats.) As early as 2010, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had investigated Dynamic Pet Products Real Ham Bone following consumer complaints. At that time, a disclaimer about the product displayed on the manufacturer's website stated: \"Not recommended for aggressive chewers; we recommend they eat a Beef Bone. As with all natural bones, we recommend supervision during eating.\" The FDA did not issue a specific warning about Dynamic Pet Products Real Ham Bone at that time, but the agency did issue a general warning against bones as chew toys in 2010. According to the FDA, rectal bleeding, intestinal blockage, and broken teeth were among the adverse outcomes linked to bones. \"Some people think it's safe to give dogs large bones, like those from a ham or a roast,\" says Carmela Stamper, D.V.M., a veterinarian in the Center for Veterinary Medicine at the Food and Drug Administration. \"Bones are unsafe no matter what their size. Giving your dog a bone may make your pet a candidate for a trip to your veterinarian's office later, possible emergency surgery, or even death.\" \"Make sure you throw out bones from your own meals in a way that your dog can't get to them,\" adds Stamper, who suggests taking the trash out right away or putting the bones up high and out of your dog's reach until you have a chance to dispose of them. \"And pay attention to where your dog's nose is when you walk him around the neighborhood; steer him away from any objects lying in the grass.\" Veterinarians who treated Fred before his death in March 2015 said they weren't sure whether Dynamic Pet Products Real Ham Bone was to blame. Fred was in such bad shape when they took him to California Veterinary Specialists in Carlsbad that the family said their goodbyes and put him down. The veterinarians stated they did not have a definitive answer about what made Fred ill because the family could not afford to run the tests. The family seems certain the bone broke apart and damaged Fred's insides. Dynamic Pet Products released a statement in response to the claims, advising dog owners to supervise pets with any treats or snacks. According to the FDA, bones are generally unsafe for dogs and should not be given as treats. Last updated: 9 March 2015 Von Lunen, Jacques. \"FDA Looks Into Maker of Real Ham Bones Treats for Dogs After Complaints.\" Oregon Live. 15 March 2010.","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/i.imgur.com\/jWtcOA1.jpg","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/i.imgur.com\/svY2TUj.jpg","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_289","claim":"Says enrolling a student in a subsidized lunch program triggers an at risk designation, resulting in an extra $6,000 to $7,000 of state school aid per student.","posted":"08\/25\/2011","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Taxpayers are picking up the tab for more than just lunch in Elizabeth schools, according to state Sen. Michael Doherty.A story inThe Sunday Star-Ledgerrevealed three officials from the Union County school district allegedly enrolled their children in a subsidized lunch program, even though they earn too much to qualify for it. Doherty (R-Warren), one of several New Jersey officials who called for an investigation into the matter, wrote a letter to acting state Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf saying hes worried the program opens another avenue for abuse.This year, when you appeared before the Senate Budget Committee, I informed you about the potential for abuse of the free and reduced price lunch program, and how enrolling a student in the program triggers an At Risk designation, which results in an additional $6,000-7,000 of state school aid for a student, Doherty wrote to Cerf in an Aug. 22 letter. This additional school aid, which can exceed hundreds of millions of dollars, is collected from taxpayers throughout the state.PolitiFact New Jersey found Doherty is mostly right: when a student is enrolled in the federally supported lunch program, they are designated as at risk. But his claim that each at-risk student brings in up to $7,000 in additional state aid needs clarification.Well first explain how an at-risk designation translates into increased per-pupil spending.The School Funding Reform Act of 2008 set up the formula that calculates how state education spending is determined for New Jersey school districts. The formula sets a minimum amount that the state believes must be spent on a student to provide a thorough and efficient education.The base amount can increase depending on a variety of factors, including whether a student is considered at risk. At-risk students include those who qualify for a free or reduce-price lunch, according to state law.An at-risk student is weighted differently in the formula, increasing the amount of funds the state believes should be spent to educate that child.So, weve determined Doherty is correct about the at-risk designation. But what about his claim that for each at-risk student, a school district receives up to $7,000 more in state aid?The state auditor released a report in June, which said: The Department of Education's state formula aid per the School Funding Reform Act of 2008 is increased to a school district by between $4,700 and $5,700 for each student eligible for the school lunch program.Stephen Eells, the state auditor, said his department calculated the aid figures based on the minimum per-pupil spending amount set by the state -- and then rounded the figures.So, a student in a school district where less than 20 percent of the population is considered at-risk receives about $4,700 more in aid. For districts, like Elizabeth, where more than 60 percent of the student population is considered at risk a student brings in nearly $5,700 in more aid, per Eells calculation. Other districts fall somewhere within that range, Eells said.Justin Barra, a spokesman for the state education department, said the education department doesnt calculate specific costs for at-risk pupils because it is just one of many factors. But, he said in an email that the state estimates that no district receives more than $6,000 per at-risk student, with a significant number much lower than that, and some receiving no funding at all.Doherty told us his figures were in reference to districts like Elizabeth, but he doesnt make that clear in his letter.Still, his numbers arent far off from the state auditors figures for a district with a student population that includes more than 60 percent of at-risk students.Here's the difference. Doherty included money for security aid, which is increased from a base amount of $70 per student to up to more than $400 per at-risk student, according to the state funding formula.Doherty also included at-risk students who are bilingual, a designation that further increases per-pupil spending by his calculations to nearly $7,000.The rulingDoherty said school districts receive an additional $6,000 to $7,000 in state aid for every student enrolled in a free or reduced-price lunch program.Doherty was right that more education funding is allocated for students who receive a subsidized lunch. Though the amount of that funding varies by district, we think Dohertys statement is on point.We rate his claim Mostly True. To comment on this ruling, go toNJ.com.","issues":["New Jersey","Education","State Budget"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_290","claim":"Research conducted by Komen and the salary earned by the CEO.","posted":"10\/14\/2014","sci_digest":["Online criticism claims the Susan G. Komen breast cancer organization only gives 20% of their donations to cancer research and pays their CEO $684,000 per year."],"justification":" When Susan Goodman Komen died of breast cancer at the age of 33 in 1980, her younger sister, Nancy Goodman Brinker promised she would do whatever she could to help end that disease.  Brinker fulfilled that promise by founding The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation (later known as Susan G. Komen for the Cure, then just Susan G. Komen) in 1982, a group that has since become the largest and most well known breast cancer organization in the United States: breast cancer Brinker fulfilled a promise to her sister that she would do everything she could to help eradicate the disease  a disease that Brinker also was diagnosed with and successfully fought. \"At that time, there was a stigma and shame around breast cancer,\" Brinker said. \"You didn't talk about it. There were no 800-numbers, no Internet. Our government didn't spend much on breast cancer research. There were few major cancer centers with expertise about breast cancer. That's the world we faced when Suzy was diagnosed. It's a world I watched her suffer in, and it's a world she wanted us to change.\" In 2012, Komen founder and CEO Nancy Brinker became the focus of controversy when she announced Komen would be pulling the grants the organization had been providing to Planned Parenthood for breast cancer screenings, then quickly reversed that decision.  Several months later Brinker announced she would be stepping down as Komen's CEO, but the following year she was again the focus of controversy when news outlets reported that not only did she still hold her CEO position, but she had received a hefty raise to boot that brought her annual compensation up to $684,000 per year: In early 2012, Komen announced it was pulling its grants for breast-cancer screenings from Planned Parenthood, drawing an immediate backlash from Komen supporters and abortion rights advocates. Within days, Nancy Brinker, the groups founder and CEO, reversed the decision to defund the organization. Then, in August, Brinker announced that she would be stepping down. But 10 months later, Brinker still holds her position and tax documents reveal that she received a 64 percent raise and now makes $684,000 a year, according to the charitys latest available tax filing.  Komen says the raise came in November 2010, prior to last year's controversy. Ken Berger, president and CEO of Charity Navigator, which evaluates and rates charities, called Brinker's salary \"extremely high.\" \"This pay package is way outside the norm,\" he said. \"It's about a quarter of a million dollars more than what we see for charities of this size. This is more than the head of the Red Cross is making, for an organization that is one-tenth the size of the Red Cross.\"  The American Red Cross had revenue of about $3.4 billion, while Komens was about $340 million last year.  Red Cross CEO Gail McGovern makes $500,000, according to the most recent financial documents available for the charity. Charity Navigator's last compensation figure for Nancy Brinker was $560,896 per year, which at the time put her below Komen president Elizabeth Thompson's reported annual compensation of $606,461.   In June 2013, Komen finally announced that Brinker would be stepping down as president and CEO of that organization and named Judith A. Salerno, M.D. as her successor.  In June 2015, Brinker reportedly resigned from her paid position to assume an unpaid role role as a top volunteer with Komen. Dr. Salerno's most recently reported compensation (in August 2017) was $479,858, while Nancy Brinker was still listed as a \"founder\" receiving a salary of $397,093. compensation announced unpaid In September 2017, Paula Schneider took over as president and CEO of Komen, with compensation of $137,155 reported as of the end of the fiscal year in March 2018. Paula Schneider The reference to Komen's applying only 20% of donated money to breast cancer research likely comes from a pie chart displayed in the \"Use of Funds\" section of Wikipedia's article about Susan G. Komen for the Cure, which showed Komen's 2009-2010 Expenses: Use of Funds  While it may have been true that breast cancer research comprised only a 21% share of Komen's program expenses (Charity Navigator puts the figure at 28.8% as of March 2018), citing that figure as a criticism of the organization reflects a common misbelief that groups dedicated to addressing particular diseases (e.g., the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the ALS Association) exist solely or primarily to fund and direct research into curing and\/or preventing those diseases.  This perception is inaccurate: Komen and other groups like it have goals that include delivering a wide array of services to the communities they support beyond the funding of research, such as funding educational awareness and outreach programs, providing screening and diagnostic procedures, and arranging medical treatment and home care for persons currently living with those diseases.  A more relevant metric for assessing a charity's overall financial effectiveness is the percentage of the organization's budget that is actually spent on all the programs and services the charity delivers, and in this area the Charity Navigator charity evaluation site gives  Komen an 80.3 rating (as well as a 96.0 rating for Accountability & Transparency).  Charity Navigator does rank many other breast cancer charities higher than Susan G. Komen for the Cure, however. Komen breast cancer Regarding the seemingly excessively high level of CEO salaries at some charities, Charity Navigator advises that: advises While there are certainly some charities that overpay their leaders, Charity Navigator's data shows that those organizations are the minority. Among the charities we've evaluated (those being mid to large-sized charities), the typical CEO's annual compensation is in the low to mid six figures. Before you make any judgments about salaries higher or lower than that range, we encourage you to keep in mind that these charities are complex organizations, with multi-million dollar budgets, hundreds of employees, and thousands of constituents. These leaders could inevitably make much more running similarly sized for-profit firms. Furthermore, when making your decision it is important to consider that it takes a certain level of professionalism to effectively run a charity and charities must offer a competitive salary if they want to attract and retain that level of leadership.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1K7GZEibXjytp3ZMh3i8X1h57oCOKFWqS"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1TX1P-88E6vczAzZ-IQWFgI1du1Y5UyQx"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_291","claim":"No, Obama Didn't Tweet This About Trump's Birth Certificate","posted":"04\/04\/2022","sci_digest":["The tweet went viral. Of course."],"justification":"A fake tweet, mocked up to look like it was written by former U.S. President Barack Obama, went viral, likely because if it were real, it would have represented quite a clap back. The image, posted on March 31, 2022, is a screenshot of what looks like Obama's verified Twitter account, featuring a tweet that states, \"I think most Americans would agree that I'm a level-headed individual, not a man who's prone to indulging in conspiracy theories. I've certainly had a fair number directed at me. But has anyone checked to make sure Donald Trump doesn't have a Russian birth certificate?\" The tweet also plays on news stories that emerged after Trump took office, reporting that his campaign had received help from the Russian government. When Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Trump referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin's military strategy as \"genius.\" The Obama tweet doesn't appear on his Twitter timeline, nor does it show up on PolitiWoops, a database of deleted tweets by political figures operated by the non-profit news organization ProPublica.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=17a4Ulo85opiJ8xFc5OAzqdZUNOPv7YSF","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_292","claim":"No, This Is Not a Phone Number for Tracking Your Coronavirus Stimulus Payments","posted":"04\/03\/2020","sci_digest":["The IRS has not announced if Americans will be able to track the status of their stimulus payments as they do federal income tax refunds."],"justification":"Some April Fools' Day jokes outlive their marginal and ephemeral usefulness and continue to be spread as valid bits of information long after April 1 has come and gone. One example of this occurred in 2020 when a joke about a toll-free phone number that could be used to track the status of $1,200 economic stimulus payments being sent to U.S. taxpayers continued to circulate via social media. The federal government had not yet announced an automated system for tracking stimulus payments. Individuals who called the number shown above may end up \"stimulated,\" but not in an economic sense\u2014it connects callers with a phone sex line. The IRS reportedly began issuing stimulus payments via direct deposit starting on April 9. Taxpayers who receive paper checks (because the IRS does not have their bank account information on file) may receive their payments anywhere between April 24 and September 11, depending on their adjusted gross income.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=13av0zaLL3v9eG1CF3rDonK_jR4FwGA21","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_293","claim":"Is Disney World Lowering the Drinking Age to 18?","posted":"08\/22\/2022","sci_digest":["A rumor said that Disney World was \"battling the Florida government in court\" to get a drinking age exemption for anyone age 18 or older."],"justification":"On Aug. 20, 2022, a Disney blog known as The Mouse Trap published an article and TikTok video that both said Walt Disney World Resort was \"lobbying to lower the drinking age to 18.\" However, this was nothing more than a bit of fun and satirical Disney fiction. The video from TikTok user @mousetrapnews was viewed nearly 3 million time in just two days. The account is affiliated with The Mouse Trap blog: video   The news was reported by its narrator as follows: Disney World is lobbying to lower the drinking age to 18. Disney World is battling the Florida government in court to get a resort exemption. The exemption would allow anyone 18 and older to drink on property. This is clearly an attempt to generate more money for the Disney company. For the full story, click the link in our bio or visit mousetrapnews.com. A comment was later added to the video by @mousetrapnews that said, \"If you were thirsting for some fake Disney news, you got it! But you should still follow us and read the story! It's a solid read, we promise.\"    This comment appeared under the satirical video from @mousetrapnews. The article on the blog for The Mouse Trap began with a history lesson about former U.S. President Ronald Reagan and the 1984 National Minimum Drinking Age Act. The story then shifted to the supposed Disney World drinking age news, laying out the satire like this: article former U.S. President Ronald Reagan the 1984 National Minimum Drinking Age Act Disney World Drinking Age at Disney World May be Lowered to 18 ... Disney World is looking to defy the minimum drinking age act. The Walt Disney Company is currently battling the state of Florida in the courts over the minimum drinking age. Disney is attempting to lower the minimum drinking age on Disney property to 18. They are clearly doing this to increase their revenue at EPCOT and across Disney World. We all know how popular drinks are at EPCOT. Whether you are having a few different concoctions or drinking around the world, alcoholic drinks are a big part of the EPCOT culture. The Mouse Trap blog's About page advised readers to keep their \"hands, arms, feet, and legs inside the vehicle at all times,\" a nod to the instructions given to park guests when loading into Disney's many rides: About page The Mouse Trap is the world's best satire site. We write fake storiesabout Disney Parks stuff. From Disney park announcements to Disney hotel and resort news to made up Disney partnerships,you can be assured that anything you read here is not true, real, or accurate, but it is fun. So technically our sloganThe Moused Trusted Name in Disney Newsisn't true, but we thought it was creative and funny, so we are running with it. The Mouse Trapwas created on a whim to have some fun and write stories about Disney we wish were true.Some Disney sites write deceptive stories for clicks. We write 100% made up stories for your enjoyment. We also hope that Disney sees how much people like some of our stories and decide to actually make one of our stories a reality! While you read our articles, be sure to keep your hands, arms, feet, and legs inside the vehicle at all times and remember these are strictly fictional for your enjoyment. Pleaseshare any articles you enjoy reading with your Disney friends and on social media to help us grow and continue to put out fun articles! In sum, no, Disney World isn't lowering the drinking age inside its parks to age 18, nor is Disneyland or any other Disney parks around the world. This was nothing more than a story created for fun on a satire blog. Disney World \"Drinking Age at Disney World May Be Lowered to 18.\" The Mouse Trap, 20 Aug. 2022, https:\/\/www.mousetrapnews.com\/post\/drinking-age. @mousetrapnews. TikTok, 20 Aug. 2022, https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@mousetrapnews\/video\/7134076416190139690. \"The 1984 National Minimum Drinking Age Act.\" APIS - Alcohol Policy Information System, https:\/\/alcoholpolicy.niaaa.nih.gov\/the-1984-national-minimum-drinking-age-act.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1nY49MTPBcfRbuWVghwDNpLgEt5iawCTT","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_294","claim":"Did Trump Criticize Governors for Backing off Ebola Quarantines in 2014?","posted":"04\/22\/2020","sci_digest":["A very old tweet got new life during the COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic."],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease. \n\nIn March 2020, cities across the United States began implementing various orders to \"shelter in place,\" \"stay at home,\" or \"self-quarantine\" in an attempt to stop the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new strain of coronavirus that emerged in 2019. While these measures appeared to help \"flatten the curve\" of cases, they also caused a dramatic economic downturn and led millions of people to lose their jobs. \n\nIn mid-April 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump and the White House started working on a plan to \"re-open America.\" Around the same time, cities such as Lansing, Michigan, began to see small anti-quarantine protests that Trump verbally supported on his social media account, tweeting \"LIBERATE MICHIGAN!\" and \"LIBERATE MINNESOTA!\" and \"LIBERATE VIRGINIA and save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege.\" As Trump worked toward easing social distancing measures and restarting the economy\u2014a decision that worried many health experts\u2014an old tweet began to recirculate on social media, supposedly showing him criticizing governors for relaxing quarantine rules during the Ebola outbreak in 2014. \n\nThis is a genuine tweet from Trump. It is still available on his Twitter timeline. An archived version of this tweet can be seen here. Trump's old tweets are frequently shared on social media along with the message \"There's a tweet for everything,\" a phrase meant to encapsulate the idea that for every current Trump statement, there is an equal and opposite statement from another time. While many of the \"there's-a-tweet-for-everything\" messages point to genuine and seemingly contradictory tweets from the president's past, we've also encountered quite a few fake tweets supposedly sent from Trump. \n\nIt should also be noted that the quarantines in 2014 during the Ebola outbreak were much different from the quarantines put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2014, no state-wide \"shelter-in-place\" orders existed. Rather, a handful of states required people who had come in contact with someone infected with Ebola to quarantine for 21 days. \n\nTrump, who was the host of the television show \"The Apprentice\" during the Ebola outbreak, frequently criticized President Barack Obama during that epidemic. On Oct. 23, 2014, for instance, he said it was \"Obama's fault\" after a case of Ebola was confirmed in New York. Conversely, in March 2020, Trump said, \"I don't take any responsibility\" when he was asked about a lack of testing to deal with the spread of COVID-19. Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone saw more than 11,000 die from Ebola between 2014 and 2016. In the United States, two people died from the disease.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1wJfk2qg4YxmUIZY96HfiLIj-dNPUtuvM","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=11EgsuYV3qHDsfbJyi7-v--M_G4cFC03U","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_295","claim":"Barack Obama: 'Hillary Clinton Isn't Qualified to Be President'","posted":"07\/29\/2016","sci_digest":["A 2008 Obama campaign ad stated that Hillary Clinton 'will say anything and do nothing,'  but Obama didn't say that she was not qualified to be president."],"justification":"In July 2016 an image featuring quotes attributed to Barack Obama, uttered in 2008 about his then political opponent Hillary Clinton, was circulated on social media just as Clinton was claiming the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination:  The first half of the quote reproduced in the image, at least, can be loosely attributed to Barack Obama. Although he didn't actually say those words, the phrase \"she will say anything and change nothing\" was part of a voiceover narration used in a radio spot approved by Obama during the 2008 Democratic primaries:  Obama: \"Im Barack Obama, running for president and I approve this message.\" Announcer: \"Its whats wrong with politics today. Hillary Clinton will say anything to get elected. Now shes making false attacks on Barack Obama. \"The Washington Post says Clinton isnt telling the truth. Obama 'did not say that he liked the ideas of Republicans.' In fact, Obamas led the fight to raise the minimum wage, close corporate tax loopholes and cut taxes for the middle class. \"But it was Hillary Clinton, in an interview with Tom Brokaw, who quote 'paid tribute' to Ronald Reagans economic and foreign policy. She championed NAFTA  even though it has cost South Carolina thousands of jobs. And worst of all, it was Hillary Clinton who voted for George Bushs war in Iraq. \"Hillary Clinton. Shell say anything, and change nothing. Its time to turn the page. Paid for by Obama for America.\" Although this radio attack ad focused on Clinton's trustworthiness, the phrase \"Hillary can't be trusted and isn't qualified to be president\" did not appear in it, and we found no record of Barack Obama's having otherwise uttered or used this phrase during the 2008 campaign. Such a charge would also have been problematic for the young Illinois senator to have made during the  2008 election, as back then Obama was seen as the more unqualified and inexperienced candidate compared to Hillary Clinton. unqualified Interestingly, when ABC News covered this ad in 2008, they presciently wrote that it was \"so harsh\" that they wouldn't be surprised if the GOP eventually used it against Hillary Clinton: covered The ad is so harsh, in fact, I wouldn't be surprised to see whomever the GOP nominee ends up being using it in his ads against Clinton, should she become the Democratic nominee.  James, Michael.  \"Obama: Hillary Will 'Say Anything and Change Nothing'.\"\r  ABC News.  25 January 2008.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=13W0eqn8QtVX_SjQhCUV87gfiTnQWk-xZ","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_296","claim":"Did Billboards Displayed in the U.S. Promote the Hijab?","posted":"02\/27\/2019","sci_digest":["A billboard campaign aimed at dispelling rumors about Muslims has prompted Islamaphobic reactions on social media. "],"justification":"In February 2019, a photograph supposedly showing a billboard in Dallas, Texas, featuring a hijab-wearing woman circulated on social media along with an Islamaphobic comment stating that the \"enemy is here\":   This is a genuine photograph of a billboard seen in the U.S. While we haven't been able to pinpoint the source of this specific image, billboards featuring an image of a hijab-wearing woman were displayed in several major cities in the United States in 2019, including Dallas, Texas. Dallas The Islamic Circle of North America, a grassroots organization in the American Muslim community, and GainPeace, a non-profit organization whose main goal is to educate the general public about Islam, teamed up in February 2019 to create this billboard campaign with the purpose of supporting women who wear hijabs and dispeling rumors about Islam for the general public: Islamic Circle of North America GainPeace purpose A local Islamic group launched a billboard campaign to educate people about the hijab, the headscarf thats often worn by Muslim women. The billboards are the first of their kind in the country, designed by a group called GainPeace, which encourages non-Muslims to call the organization and ask questions to gain a better understanding of why women wear the hijab. The billboards draw a similarity to the Christian religion where Mary is considered the mother of Jesus. She also wore a hijab ... Wearing the hijab is 100 percent my choice. As contrary to the popular belief, hijab in no way oppresses us. In fact, it indicates the opposite as hijab symbolizes the power to women, and not inferiority, Sara Ahmed, GainPeace volunteer, said. Hijab is a simple yet powerful reminder of strength. I stand here today so that generations tomorrow do not feel deprived or threatened by their choice of dress. So that they may have the courage to stand by their beliefs, and so that this piece of cloth does not label them or categorize them with an unwanted label, Kiran Malik, GainPeace volunteer, said. Ruman Sadiq, an outreach volunteer with the Dallas Chapter of the Islamic Circle of North America, said that the billboards had already generated a conversation in the city, and that while she received at least one call from a woman who was upset about the billboards, the call ended on a positive note: The groups want to show that the hijab is a sign of empowerment and that women of other religions also cover their heads. They point to Mary, the mother of Jesus, who wore a veil, and nuns. It is also a form of liberation from strangers who dictate how women should dress in the society to be successful, Sadiq said. Its to free us ourselves from being judged by our physical beauty, but rather our intellect and our character. Its to preserve our modesty. The billboard is already drawing attention and phone calls. Sadiq talked about an hour-long phone call the group received from an angry caller, who was upset about the billboard. It was a 62-minute dialogue that we had with her and it ended on a very positive note, Sadiq said. She was very happy to clarify the misconceptions she had about the veil. Here's a news report from the Chicago television station WGN about a similar billboard in that area:  While the image of this billboard was frequently circulated on social media with comments about the \"enemy is here,\" the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism pointed out that domestic right-wing extremists had accounted for far more deaths in the United States than Islamic extremists over the previous decade: Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism ADLs Center on Extremism, which has aggregated data going back to 1970, shows that over the last decade, a total of 73.3 percent of all extremist-related fatalities can be linked to domestic right-wing extremists, while 23.4 percent can be attributed to Islamic extremists. The remaining 3.2 percent were carried out by extremists who did not fall into either category. Anti-Defamation League.  \"Right-Wing Extremism Linked to Every 2018 Extremist Murder in the U.S., ADL Finds.\"\r  23 January 2019. Chavez, Stella.  \"Islamic Group Launches Hijab Billboard Campaign.\"\r  KERA News.  19 February 2019.\r Chavez, Stella.  \"Billboard Campaign in Dallas Aims to Dispel Misconceptions About Islam and the Hijab.\"\r  KERA News.  22 February 2019.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1CVoH-71zJ5qKNji6nZDhMw1vQf373egI","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_297","claim":"FDIC: Notice of Bank Failure","posted":"10\/28\/2009","sci_digest":["Is the FDIC sending out e-mail notices about accounts in failed banks?"],"justification":"Virus:  FDIC notice of bank failure. REAL VIRUS Example:  [Collected via e-mail, October 2009] FDIC has officially named your bank a failed bank You have received this message because you are a holder of a FDIC-insuredbank account. Recently FDIC has officially named the bank you have opened your accountwith as a failed bank, thus, taking control of its assets. You need to visit the official FDIC website and perform the followingsteps to check your Deposit Insurance Coverage:  Visit FDIC website: https:\/\/www.fdic.gov\/  https:\/\/www.fdic.gov\/  Download and open your personal FDIC Insurance File to check your Deposit Insurance Coverage Origins:  In October 2009, Internet users began receiving e-mails purporting to have come from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the agency that insures deposits in U.S. bank accounts.  These messages claimed that the recipients were holders of FDIC-insured bank accounts in failed banks and instructed them to click on a link to the FDIC web site in order download a file which would allow them to check their \"Deposit Insurance Coverage.\"   However, the link embedded in the e-mail led not to the real FDIC web site, but to a spoof web site.  Attempting to download the proffered file from that site could initiate the installation of malware on the user's computer (presumably to collect sensitive personal information):  The real FDIC  put up an alert to warn consumers about this fraudulent mailing: alert The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has received numerous reports of a fraudulent e-mail that has the appearance of being sent from the FDIC. The subject line of the e-mail states: \"check your Bank Deposit Insurance Coverage.\" The e-mail tells recipients that, \"You have received this message because you are a holder of a FDIC-insured bank account. Recently FDIC has officially named the bank you have opened your account with as a failed bank, thus, taking  control of its assets.\" The e-mail then asks recipients to \"visit the official FDIC website and perform the following steps to check your Deposit Insurance Coverage\" (a fraudulent link is provided). It then instructs recipients to \"download and open your personal FDIC Insurance File to check your Deposit Insurance Coverage.\" This e-mail and associated Web site are fraudulent. Recipients should consider the intent of this e-mail as an attempt to collect personal or confidential information, some of which may be used to gain unauthorized access to on-line banking services or to conduct identity theft. The FDIC does not issue unsolicited e-mails to consumers. Financial institutions and consumers should NOT follow the link in the fraudulent e-mail. Last updated:  28 October 2009 ","issues":["banking"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1RXvbFqDZ9IrLO7eVdYD6aIQXcU794Q36","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_298","claim":"Worm Meat Used in McDonald's Hamburgers?","posted":"07\/04\/1999","sci_digest":["Does McDonald's use worm meat as filler in their hamburgers?"],"justification":"A decades-old, remarkably persistent rumor periodically rears its head on social media:  The fact that McDonald's uses cow eyeballs and worm fillers does not stop them from legally using the claim that they served 100% beef. McDonald's has assured its consumers that its product contains 100% beef. They are allowed to do this because McDonalds buys their \"beef\" from a company called \"100% Beef Company\", making it possible for McDonald's to call beef byproducts and soy products \"100% beef\". McDonalds then ships the beef to their grinding facility in Oak Brook, Illinois where they then take the ground worm filler and add it to their 100% beef patties. McDonalds serves billions of people around the world every year. This allows them to produce a higher profit margin by increasing the amount of patties that can be made, by increasing their product load with the worm filler. The worm filler is ground and packaged in a facility next to McDonalds corporate headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois. The employees must sign a confidentiality waiver to never discuss the ingredients of the McDonalds food products or face termination and legal repercussions. However many employees have stepped up over the years with the truth and have created a huge controversy over the quality of food that the company produces. McDonalds has also been accused of using mutant laboratory meat, and pig fat their milkshakes and ice cream. Considering that one quarter of Americans eat McDonalds every single day, although nutritionists recommend you do so only once a month, they are doing so unaware of the products they are putting into their body. If everybody truly knew what they were consuming, they definitely would not be eating this. Rumors don't rely upon common sense. It's the \"yuck!\" factor that gets us, and so the earthworm additive rumor has long bedeviled McDonald's. As chronicled by Fredrick Koenig, the McDonald's \"worm burger\" rumor began in the American South in the late summer of 1978 as a tale primarily told about the Wendy's and driven by (false) reports that an investigative television news magazine program had broken the story; then, in typical urban legend fashion, the rumor quickly focused on the most prominent exemplar in that marketplace, the giant McDonald's fast food chain: Toward the end of the summer of 1978, my mother-in-law said she had heard a new rumor about a hamburger chain: A story going around Chattanooga, Tennesse, alleged that Wendy's put red worms in their hamburgers! Contamination rumors are fairly common occurrences in the food and beverage industries. They often sound silly and seem merely bothersome, but they can be devastating, as Wendy's well knew. The first inquiring phone call was made to Wendy's on August 15th. The caller said that the worm story had appeared on the television program 20\/20. As the calls poured in, however, the name of the television program involved changed from week to week. Sometimes it was 20\/20, sometimes 60 Minutes. Very early in this rumor series, a woman called Wendy's main office to say that her husband saw a program (20\/20) on which appeared representatives from Wendy's and McDonald's hamburger chains. The Wendy's people, she said, admitted to putting worms in their hamburgers, but the McDonald's spokesmen were noncommittal. Wendy's was the main target of the worm rumor, with McDonald's, Burger Chef, and Burger King named from time to time. After Labor Day, the Wendy's worm rumors became even stronger in the Chattanooga area and included adjoining parts of Georgia. One whole section of Atlanta was affected. In desperation, Wendy's Chattanooga people demanded that the head office do something. Steve Samons of Wendy's decided to go public, while Doug Timberlake of McDonald's opted to \"lie in the weeds\" and see how Wendy's made out. A television newx conference was scheduled for September 15th. It was to feature a representative of the government meat inspection office in that region who would point out that nothing was added to the ground beef at Wendy's or at any other fast-food chain. For some reason, he did not show up, so the production became exclusively Wendy's, who denied all and made statements to exonerate themselves. After that effort, they were never again part of the rumor scene. From then on the rumor involved McDonald's. It spread out from Chattanooga and for a while seemed to follow Interstate 75, over to Atlanta, up to Ohio. Doug Timberlake said that when it reached Indiana and Ohio, it really flared up. McDonald's response was to deal with the rumor locally, denying it immediately, getting names and sending out letters, and passing out literature. It just so happened that McDonald's had an illustrated promotion press kit, featuring the high quality of ingredients that went into their burgers  \"Nothing but 100% pure United States Government-inspected ground beef,\" and so forth. These materials were distributed to franchise owners in the affected areas and guidelines were laid down. If the literature did not seem to quell the rumors, it was recommended that they start a small, local advertising campaign stressing quality of products, with no specific mention of the rumor. If that failed to work, they were told to go to the local press as a last resort. In no case, however, were they to use the word worm. Managers who called to ask questions were told what to do \"just in case.\" Then things turned scorching hot in Ohio, Tennessee, and Georgia. It wasn't even necessary for a person to find the rumor credible in order for it to affect his behavior. Just the thought in the back of one's mind of worms in hamburgers was enough to steer one to a pizza parlor. As Doug Timberlake said, \"The rumor was hitting at the bottom line. It was seriously affecting sales in certain areas, and these kinds of losses could not be sustained for a very long period. The affected franchises were hurting; their operations were getting badly mauled.\" It was decided to hold a press conference in Atlanta. Timberlake was aware that \"going public\" would make many people aware of the rumor who had never heard it before. Public relations people often are leery of talking directly about a rumor problem or referring to rumors even indirectly, because they believe that such tactics spread rumor even more. On the other hand, an emphatic public statement possibly could immunize people from the effects of the rumor when they did hear it, as well as set the record straight for those who had already heard it. On November 23rd a national press conference was held in Atlanta in which the rumor about \"protein additives\" was denied. The \"100% U.S. Government-inspected beef\" position was re-asserted, and of course the word \"worm\" was never mentioned. A follow-up nationwide advertising campaign was launched in which color photographs of the product, with captions, celebrated its pure, uncontaminated ingredients. The \"extinguishers\" went into effect, and shortly thereafter the rumor was quenched. The experience of one owner of four McDonald's franchises in Atlanta, Georgia, was typical. Back in 1978, he saw his sales plunge by 30 percent and consequently had to lay off about a third of his employees. Corporate rumors aren't victimless. As McDonald's CEO Ray Kroc noted at the time, the rumor didn't even make sense from a financial standpoint: Rather than saving the company money, the idea of using of worm meat as a \"cheap filler\" was nonsensical because worms were much more expensive than beef: In April 2014 and again in November 2017, the \"worm burger\" rumors were revived when the faux news site Daily Buzz Live published an article (reproduced above) recycling that and several other old McDonald's-related urban legends, accompanied by an unrelated photograph of ground beef mixed with pats of frozen butter that coincidentally resemble worms. For the record, not only is the worm additive rumor untrue, but McDonald's also does not purchase and use cow eyeballs, skirt the law by buying adulterated meat from a company misleadingly named \"100% Beef,\" or put yucky stuff like styrofoam balls and feathers in their milkshakes. article photograph cow eyeballs 100% Beef milkshakes Brown, Craig.  \"... and Moreover.\"\r The [London] Times.  30 April 1992  (Features). Brunvand, Jan Harold.\r The Vanishing Hitchhiker.  New York: W. W. Norton, 1981.  ISBN 0-393-95169-3  (p. 90). De Vos, Gail.\r Tales, Rumors and Gossip.  Englewood: Libraries Unlimited, 1996.  ISBN 1-56308-190-3  (p. 152). Koenig, Fredrick.\r Rumor in the Marketplace.  Dover, MA: Auburn House, 1985.  ISBN 0-86569-117-7  (pp. 14-17). Morgan, Hal and Kerry Tucker.\r Rumor!  New York: Penguin Books, 1984.  ISBN 0-14-007036-2  (pp. 70-71). Newsweek.\r  \"A Wormburger Scare.\"  27 November 1978  (p. 90).   The Big Book of Urban Legends.  New York: Paradox Press, 1994.  ISBN 1-56389-165-4  (p. 174).","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1dCux8xg803BJe3KZkmSGty31HgwKN0c_","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_299","claim":"Says TriMet's own analysis shows that YouthPass does not actually add to the transit agency's costs.","posted":"06\/27\/2012","sci_digest":[],"justification":"The TriMet Board recently adopted a budget that does not include free transit passes for Portland high school students. This week, Portland Mayor Sam Adams responded with a significant fee increase on TriMet benches and shelters to provide the free passes. The YouthPass program is important to Adams, who argues that transit access is critical for keeping teenagers in school and connected. In a statement released Tuesday, the mayor contended that providing passes for roughly 13,000 Portland Public Schools high school students does not add to the transit agency's operating costs. In fact, TriMet's own analysis shows that YouthPass does not actually increase the transit agency's costs. No new buses, MAX trips, additional routes, or drivers are needed to accommodate YouthPass riders, he said. TriMet's own analysis raised questions that needed to be checked. PolitiFact Oregon contacted Caryn Brooks, the mayor's spokeswoman. She found an October 25, 2011 memo from an ECONorthwest economist to Claire Potter, TriMet's director of financial analysis. The memo, commissioned by TriMet, explains the economic impact on the transit agency should it provide the passes without state support. \n\nSome quick background: Portland Public Schools has long provided free transit passes for low-income students. The concept was expanded under Adams in fall 2009 to include all PPS students. The state of Oregon funded most of the $3.4 million program through a business energy tax credit, while Portland Public Schools contributed $800,000. The arrangement ended in December 2011, at which point the City of Portland, Portland Public Schools, and TriMet devised a plan to keep it running through the school year. \n\nHere is the part of the ECONorthwest report that the mayor highlights: The provision of free passes to PPS students likely did not affect TriMet's operating costs in a significant way. Discontinuing the provision of free passes is unlikely to result in operating cost savings. In other words, the report states the agency saves no money if it stops providing free rides. Adams is correct about that. \n\nHowever, the analysis also shows that TriMet stands to lose a potential $1.9 million in fare revenue from students in 2012-13, based on a monthly pass price of $27, wrote TriMet spokeswoman Mary Fetsch in an email. The price is scheduled to increase to $30 a month in September. The additional cost is not what TriMet is concerned about; it is the lost passenger revenue, estimated to be around $2 million, Fetsch said. She is correct that the analysis focuses on the potential impact on TriMet's revenue stream. Adams is aware of this, as he has proposed an 8000 percent increase in shelter and bench fees to extract $2 million from TriMet, which he would then use to reimburse the agency for the cost of the student passes. \n\nThe mayor's statement is accurate, but it requires additional context. Providing free student passes will not increase TriMet's operating costs in terms of more drivers or bus routes, but it will deprive the transit agency of revenue that was previously provided by other public agencies. We rate his statement Mostly True.","issues":["Oregon","City Budget","Transportation"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_300","claim":"Were These Children Separated From Their Parents Under Obama?","posted":"06\/21\/2018","sci_digest":["A 2014 photograph of unaccompanied minor immigrants is misleadingly being described as showing children separated from their parents by the Obama administration."],"justification":"During the ongoing national debate over a novel policy of separating families at the border, a photograph circulated, originally from Joshua Feuerstein, a self-styled \"American evangelist, Internet and social media personality,\" who last made headlines in 2015 when he manufactured a so-called \"Christmas cup controversy.\" The photograph purportedly depicted a room full of immigrant children that former President Barack Obama had supposedly removed from their parents' custody. The attached text read: \"As you stare at this picture of innocent children being separated from their parents at the border and feel your hatred toward President Trump start to boil over from the bowels of your soul... I'd just like to point out it was taken in 2014... when Obama was President! #share\" Some versions were shared with no accompanying text, inviting readers to project their own interpretations onto the image. Images of this type, dated to the Obama administration, were often described as having been ignored at the time they were originally taken. However, this image did appear in anti-immigration memes from 2014 and 2015, such as one framing the photograph as evidence that the Obama administration (described here as a \"cabal\") was encouraging (\"seducing\") immigrant (\"illegal alien\") children to come to the United States. The meme's text read: \"INSIDE AN OBAMA APPROVED REFUGEE CAMP 140,000 Illegal Alien Children Seduced into coming to America By the Obama Cabal. MORE COMING NEXT YEAR TOO Hey Obama... Why not use the FEMA CAMPS?? Or are those being prepped for Patriot Resistance Fighters!!\" The first iteration we could find of that image was alongside a June 5, 2014, post published by Breitbart. Although Breitbart shared the photograph on Facebook on June 21, 2018, the outlet did not include a link to its earlier reporting. In its original article, the children were described as \"unaccompanied,\" indicating that they came without their parents, not that they were separated from their families by American authorities. Breitbart Texas obtained internal federal government photos depicting the conditions of foreign children warehoused by authorities on U.S. soil on Wednesday night. Thousands of illegal immigrants have overrun U.S. border security and their processing centers in Texas along the U.S.\/Mexico border. Unaccompanied minors, including young girls under the age of 12, are making the dangerous journey from Central America and Mexico, through cartel-controlled territories, and across the porous border onto U.S. soil. The photograph was subsequently disseminated by numerous websites and news outlets. National Review's \"Immigration Bedlam\" reported that some 6,775 unaccompanied alien children (UAC) crossed the U.S.-Mexican border in 2011, according to the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement. ORR expects 60,000 UACs this year, and this number could reach 130,000 in 2015. Detaining them for $252 each per day will cost taxpayers $453.6 million per month this year and could cost $982.8 million per month next year. The image and events surrounding it were widely reported for several months, appearing in the Houston Chronicle, Splinter News, the Los Angeles Times, Mashable, and Reuters, among others. Stories during that time specifically reiterated that the photographs showed unaccompanied minor children in the custody of United States Customs and Border Protection and temporarily housed at a Texas Air Force base. The photos have a timestamp of May 27, 2014. A spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection stated that the agency has not officially released any photos at this time in order to protect the rights and privacy of unaccompanied minors in their care. A temporary shelter at Joint Base San Antonio Lackland has housed and provided services to 1,820 unaccompanied minors from Central America since May 18, as reported by San Antonio Express-News reporter Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje. The immigration surge is said to be a result of children fleeing poverty and violence in their home countries. Although the photograph is real, it does not show children separated from their parents by the Obama administration. In June 2014, the image was published as part of numerous news stories and occasionally alongside editorial pieces objecting to the presence of unaccompanied minor children. The image did not develop a different backstory until June 2018, during a controversy that specifically involved family separation at the behest of the Trump administration.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1MimwJE5pBTobKLm4I_T3QTiA5RSFJyaQ","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_301","claim":"Says our unemployment insurance trust fund is broke. We're over a billion dollars in debt to the federal government.","posted":"12\/11\/2011","sci_digest":[],"justification":"New Jersey has gone into debt to cover unemployment benefits for people who lost their jobs in the Garden State. Assemblyman Jay Webber (R-Morris) made this argument in a recent NJToday interview regarding his opposition to proposed legislation aimed at providing unemployment benefits to certain individuals whose work hours have been reduced. \"It might be a good idea. The problem I have is that our unemployment insurance trust fund is broke,\" Webber said during the Nov. 28 interview. \"We're over a billion dollars in debt to the federal government, and what this bill does is create another stream of income out of the fund.\" PolitiFact New Jersey found that Webber is correct. After more than two and a half years of borrowing money to cover unemployment benefits, New Jersey still owed about $1.3 billion to the federal government as of Dec. 6, according to federal and state officials. Kerri Gatling, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development, stated that the state expects to pay off the loan in late 2013. \"There is currently a negative fund balance resulting from the severe economic downturn, whereby unemployment insurance benefit payments exceed contributions to the fund,\" Gatling said in an email. Webber emphasized that the fund must be protected and its solvency ensured. \"Regardless of how we got there, now we've got to fix it,\" Webber said. \n\nHere's how we got into so much debt: New Jersey's unemployment insurance trust fund is made up of payroll taxes paid by employers and employees. The fund is used to pay unemployment benefits to people who worked in New Jersey. The idea behind such trust funds is to build up reserves when the economy is performing well in order to pay unemployment benefits during economic downturns. However, state officials repeatedly diverted money from the trust fund to cover charity care payments to hospitals, ultimately reaching a total of about $4.6 billion in funds by 2005, according to the state's nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services. As more people lost their jobs during the recent recession and sought unemployment benefits, the trust fund was depleted by March 2009, and the state began borrowing from the federal government to cover the payments, according to OLS. The borrowing peaked in April 2011, when New Jersey owed $2.1 billion for the loan, Gatling said. On Sept. 30, New Jersey paid nearly $48 million to the federal government to cover interest on the loan, she said. The state anticipates an interest payment of between roughly $55 million and $60 million to be made in September 2012, Gatling said. \"As we minimize the interest expense, we take excess funds and pay the loan balance,\" Gatling said. Payroll taxes are used to pay benefits and pay the loan balance. In November 2010, New Jersey voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment prohibiting the diversion of money from the unemployment insurance trust fund and other benefit funds for any other purposes. \n\nBut New Jersey isn't the only state that owes the federal government money to cover unemployment benefits. As of Dec. 6, 27 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands owed a total of roughly $38.3 billion in principal alone, including New Jersey's roughly $1.3 billion, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. California owes the most, about $9.4 billion, according to the department. \n\nWebber claimed in a television interview that New Jersey's unemployment insurance trust fund is broke. \"We're over a billion dollars in debt to the federal government.\" The assemblyman's statement is accurate. New Jersey currently owes more than $1 billion to the federal government for money borrowed to pay unemployment benefits. We rate the statement True. To comment on this ruling, go to NJ.com.","issues":["New Jersey","Jobs","State Budget"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_302","claim":"Women have come through the recession worse off than men  the numbers bear that out. We went from a 7 percent unemployment rate for women when he (President Barack Obama) was elected to an 8.1 percent now.","posted":"06\/04\/2012","sci_digest":[],"justification":"The recession and its aftereffects have been hard on millions of people across the country.But its been especially hard on women, according to state Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande (R-Monmouth).Women have come through the recession worse off than men  the numbers bear that out, Casagrande said to My9TVs Brenda Blackmon on the April 29 New Jersey Now program. We went from a 7 percent unemployment rate for women when he (President Barack Obama) was elected to an 8.1 percent now.Casagrande is correct about most of her data, PolitiFact New Jersey found.Obama was elected in November 2008 and took office on Jan. 20, 2009. Anita Velardo, Casagrandes communications director, said in an e-mail that Casagrandes statistic referred to the period from January 2009 to March 2012. But since Casagrande said elected, well look at the unemployment rate for both periods.From November 2008 to March 2012, unemployment among women rose to 8.1 percent from 6.2 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. For men, the rate climbed to 8.3 percent from 7.4 percent.From January 2009 to March 2012, unemployment for women rose from 7 percent to 8.1 percent. The rate for men, however, decreased from 8.6 percent to 8.3 percent. Thats because the male-dominated industries that lost jobs prior to January 2009 were starting to rebound.Now lets look at data for the recession, which the nonprofit National Bureau of Economic Research said occurred from December 2007 to June 2009.During the recession, unemployment among women spiked from 4.9 percent to 8.3 percent. For men, the rate more than doubled, from 5.1 percent to 10.6 percent.Mens unemployment was higher than women during the recession, but women have had a tougher time getting work and living day-to-day during the ongoing economic recovery, according to a September 2011 report, Women and Men Living on the Edge: Economic Insecurity After the Great Recession, prepared by the Institute For Womens Policy Research and funded by the Rockefeller Foundation.Economic and labor experts we talked with supported Casagrandes claim.Male-dominated fields such as construction and manufacturing often are hit first in recessions and tend to rebound first during an economic recovery, according to Elisabeth Jacobs, a Governance Studies fellow at the Brookings Institution; Gary Burtless, a senior fellow in Economic Studies at Brookings; and Harry Holzer, a professor of Public Policy at Georgetown University. Female-dominated fields such as education, public sector jobs and retail often are hit later and rebound slower, they said.In terms of lost jobs, men suffered worse than women and have seen a bigger drop in their employment rate, said Burtless, who contributed $750 to Obamas campaign in 2011 but also was an adviser on aspects of labor policy to the presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). In terms of the number of adults who are still looking for work, womens situation looks (proportionately) a bit worse than that of men.The recovery has progressed more slowly for women than for men, and the unemployment rate for women is indeed higher today than it was when President Obama was elected president, Jacobs said in an e-mail.But is Obama to blame?Our colleagues at PolitiFact.com addressed this issue in April after Mitt Romneys campaign claimed women were hit hard by job losses under Obama. Their report showed that women have had a more difficult jobs recovery than men, but Obama cannot bear all the blame, just as he couldnt take the credit if jobs were booming when he took office.Our rulingCasagrande said, women have come through the recession worse off than men  the numbers bear that out. We went from a 7 percent unemployment rate for women when he was elected to an 8.1 percent now. Labor statistics show and some experts told us that while men took the brunt of job loss during the recession, the industries they dominate  construction and manufacturing  tend to bounce back first during economic recovery. Women often are affected much later than men during a recession, meaning they are more likely to have a slower rate of gaining employment. Casagrandes timeframe is off slightly for the statistic she cited, and Obama cant be held completely responsible for the slow recovery among women. We rate Casagrandes statement Mostly True. To comment on this story, go toNJ.com.","issues":["New Jersey","Economy","Jobs"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_303","claim":"Was Trump's SAG-AFTRA Letter Signed 'President Donald J. Trump'?","posted":"02\/05\/2021","sci_digest":["Using the title of President in a signature does not appear to be out of the ordinary among former presidents."],"justification":"In a letter shared by the joint labor union Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) on Feb. 4, 2021, former U.S. President Donald Trump resigned as a member of the union. Trumps resignation came just as the union leadership was moving to expel Trump in the wake of his alleged provocation of a mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. shared resignation The letterhead appeared to carry the logo for what was called the Office of the Former President, created by Trumps team in Palm Beach, Florida, to serve as the official outlet for Trumps statements and to share his future plans. Office of the Former President However, now, the stationery on which the letter was submitted says Office of Donald J. Trump. The letter was shared on SAG-AFTRAs website, along with the union's response to Trump, which was a simple, Thank you. website response As seen in the document, the end of the letter is indeed signed with President Donald J. Trump.   In the letter, Trump cited his own acting experience and contributions to television: Im very proud of my work on movies such as Home Alone 2, Zoolander and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps; and television shows including The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Saturday Night Live, and of course, one of the most successful shows in television history, The Apprentice  to name just a few! Ive also greatly helped the cable news television business (said to be a dying platform with not much time left until I got involved in politics), and created thousands of jobs at networks such as MSDNC and Fake News CNN, among many others. He concluded with a criticism of the unions actions: Your organization has done little for its members, and nothing for me  besides collecting dues and promoting dangerous un-American policies and ideas  as evident by your massive unemployment rates and lawsuits from celebrated actors, who even recorded a video asking, Why isnt the union fighting for me? These, however, are policy failures. Your disciplinary failures are even more egregious. I no longer wish to be associated with your union. Professor and author Seth Abramson pointed out how signing the letter this way is troubling, given that Trump is on trial for inciting the riots:  However, signing a letter as President does not appear to be out of the ordinary. Former President Barack Obama's statements are also released under \"President Obama.\" Former presidents are still addressed as President [insert name] or Mr. President. All U.S. presidents retain their titles for life. statements addressed Given that the official letter was shared by SAG-AFTRA, along with Trumps signature, we rate this claim as True.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1widtmojWGFLS8LHCnxtv9t_QJAkeDRv6","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_304","claim":"Was Donald Trump's Grandfather's Wealth Accumulated through the Prostitution Business?","posted":"12\/02\/2015","sci_digest":["A meme claimed Frederick Trump was a pimp and drug dealer who made his fortune running a brothel and opium den."],"justification":"In November 2015, the biography of Frederick Trump, Donald Trump's grandfather, was condensed into two paragraphs and then circulated on the internet via a meme. While some of the information included in the meme is accurate, much of it is either exaggerated or incomplete. This particular rumor centers on the idea that Frederick Trump made his fortune through brothels and opium dens. While there is anecdotal evidence that Trump dabbled in prostitution, there is no proof that this constituted the bulk of his fortune. In Gwenda Blair's 2000 book, The Trumps: Three Generations of Builders and a Presidential Candidate, she describes how Frederick Trump opened a series of restaurants and hotels during the Klondike Gold Rush in the 1890s. One of those hotels, The Arctic Restaurant and Hotel, was described as decadent and far superior to other restaurants in the area. In the larder were salmon and an extraordinary variety of meats, including duck, ptarmigan, grouse, goose, and swan, as well as caribou, moose, goat, sheep, rabbit, and squirrel. Incredibly, the New Arctic served fresh fruit: red currants, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and even cranberries. A small oasis of luxury, the Arctic's menu was a vast improvement over what the two restaurateurs had been able to offer on the trail. An anonymous letter to the Yukon, however, claimed that The Arctic Restaurant and Hotel was also known for prostitution: \"I would advise respectable women traveling alone, or with an escort, to be careful in their selection of hotels at Bennett,\" he wrote. \"For single men, the Arctic has excellent accommodations as well as the best restaurant in Bennett, but I would not advise respectable women to go there to sleep as they are liable to hear that which would be repugnant to their feelings and uttered, too, by the depraved of their own sex.\" While it's unclear if Frederick Trump directly profited from prostitution at his hotel (or whether it even occurred there), it should be noted that the world's oldest profession was relatively commonplace during the Gold Rush. The meme also claims that Frederick Trump decided to return to Germany when police started cracking down on \"his criminal rackets.\" Again, this is based on little more than a morsel of truth and does not tell the whole story. In 1901, Trump sold his assets and returned to Germany. While one could argue that Trump made the decision because he believed that police were going to start enforcing prostitution laws, that is only one factor that led to Trump's departure for Germany; Frederick Trump saw that it was time to leave. If Major Wood actually enforced the laws regarding prostitution, gambling, and liquor, hotels and restaurants would be far less profitable. Not only that, the economic boom was bound to be short-lived. There was not nearly enough solid economic development to absorb these newcomers in any long-term way; when the placer deposits were emptied, they would go back home. Without the umbrella of gold, other local industries would not be strong enough to sustain themselves and compete with cheaper sources farther south. The boom was over, Frederick Trump realized. He left just in time. He avoided the uproar when his erstwhile partner hit the skids, and he escaped the economic decline that would soon sweep over White Horse. Once again, in a situation that created many losers, he managed to emerge a winner. He had made money; perhaps even more unusually in the Yukon, he had also kept it and departed from White Horse with a substantial nest egg. He had accomplished his goal of making and saving enough money to marry. But he had no intention of doing so in America. For this important moment, he would have to return to Germany. While the meme exaggerated Trump's involvement in \"criminal rackets,\" it did correctly state that Trump returned to the United States after the German government determined that he had originally left Germany in 1885 to avoid taxes and the army. In summation, Donald Trump's grandfather Frederick Trump was a German immigrant who made his fortune by opening several restaurants and hotels in Seattle and British Columbia during the Yukon Gold Rush. While some of these hotels may have been used for prostitution, gambling, or other seedy activities common on the trail, it is incorrect to say that Trump built his fortune on illegal activities.","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=13XoeXG9SCQz-NpBhlrehkwR8YVZDDjur"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_305","claim":"The IRS doesn't have to prove something against you ... you've got the burden of proof.","posted":"05\/22\/2013","sci_digest":[],"justification":"The Internal Revenue Service has been on the defensive since the news broke that the agency has been giving extra scrutiny to conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status. Among the lawmakers expressing concern about the IRS was Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va. In a May 17, 2013, interview, Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson asked Forbes, What's your No. 1 concern about the IRS being in charge of Obamacare? (Carlson was wrong about the agency's role. It is not in charge, as we addressed with ourrecent fact-check of Michele Bachmann.) Forbes responded, Well, Gretchen, first of all, it is the power that the IRS has that's different than any other agency, any other department. The IRS doesn't have to prove something against you. They can walk in and you've got the burden of proof. The idea that the burden of proof rests on the accuser is a bedrock principle of justice around the world. While neither of the terms burden of proof or presumption of innocence appears in the U.S Constitution, an accusers burden of proving that someone has committed a criminal act goes back to ancient times. In 1895, when the Supreme Court issued a resounding defense of the concept in the caseCoffin vs. United States, it cited sources as varied as the Bible, Sparta, Athens and Rome. The principle that there is a presumption of innocence in favor of the accused is the undoubted law, axiomatic and elementary, and its enforcement lies at the foundation of the administration of our criminal law, the court wrote. So we wondered whether its really the case that the IRS doesn't have to prove something against you. You've got the burden of proof. The ways in which Forbes is correct Saving receipts and canceled checks in case the IRS calls is all too familiar to many taxpayers. And generally speaking -- beyond some exceptions that well outline below -- the burden of supplying information is indeed on the taxpayer when he or she is told by the IRS that they underpaid their taxes or when they face an IRS audit. This is a traditional rule, going back a long way, said David Weisbach, a University of Chicago law professor who worked earlier in his career as an attorney-advisor in the Department of Treasurys Office of the Tax Legislative Counsel. The IRS lays out the specifics on aWeb pagetitled Burden of Proof. The responsibility to prove entries, deductions, and statements made on your tax returns is known as the burden of proof, it says. You must be able to prove  certain elements of expenses to deduct them. Generally, taxpayers meet their burden of proof by having the information and receipts  for the expenses. You should keep adequate records to prove your expenses or have sufficient evidence that will support your own statement. You generally must have documentary evidence, such as receipts, canceled checks, or bills, to support your expenses. In other words, the IRS is presumed to be correct unless the taxpayer produces credible evidence to counter the agencys finding, said Timothy Jacobs, a partner specializing in tax law at the firm Hunton & Williams. Its worth noting that as frustrating as this burden may be, the alternative is even worse, said Neil H. Buchanan, a law professor at George Washington University. If the IRS had the burden to produce evidence, it would have to be given access to individuals' private files, in order to find that evidence, he said. Is that what we really want the IRS to be doing? So, for the most common interactions with the IRS, the burden of proof is indeed on the taxpayer. The exceptions to the rule There are a few exceptions to this rule. The most notable, since the penalties are so severe, are for tax-related criminal cases and civil fraud cases. In these types of cases, the burden of proof is essentially the same as it is for any other criminal case: The government, not the taxpayer, has to prove their case. If the government wants to convict you of murder, it has to show that you intentionally killed someone, said Kermit Roosevelt, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania. And if the IRS takes you to court, he said, it has to show that you owe a certain amount of taxes and didnt pay it. Technically, Forbes was referring to the burden of production, which is the burden of providing supporting evidence, rather than the burden of proof, which typically refers to the burden of proving a case in court, Buchanan said. Still, the IRS uses the term burden of proof on the Web page that spells out what people have to provide to justify their deductions. So how common are the exceptions? Tax experts said criminal and civil-fraud cases are rare today when compared to ordinary tax-liability cases. Essentially all tax cases are normal, non-fraudulent adjustments, Weisbach said. This ratio of cases suggests that Forbes claim is largely accurate. Nothing the congressman said on the burden of proof would strike me as outside of the norm or the general rule if I or any other tax litigator heard it in everyday conversation, Jacobs said. Our ruling Forbes said the IRS doesn't have to prove something against you. They can walk in and you've got the burden of proof. Hes correct for most tax disputes. As long as no criminal or fraud charges are being tried, and as long as the case is taken up administratively rather than in court, the burden of justifying a taxpayers calculations falls upon the taxpayer. But in the relatively small number of criminal or civil fraud cases, the burden is on the government, just as it is in other types of prosecutions. On balance, we rate Forbes claim Mostly True.","issues":["National","Legal Issues","Taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_306","claim":"The lawyer who brought the case against NationsBank said publicly that Alex Sink had nothing to do with the case, had nothing to do with the situation and didn't know about the problems.","posted":"10\/26\/2010","sci_digest":[],"justification":"In their third and final gubernatorial debate on Oct. 25, 2010, Rick Scott and Alex Sink traded accusations that each had been party to fraud. Sink again criticized Scott for his time running Columbia\/HCA, highlighting the hospital company's convictions and $1.7 billion in fines for defrauding Medicare and Medicaid. This time, however, Scott countered with allegations that Sink was the president of NationsBank operations in Florida when that company was accused of fraud and forced to pay government fines and settle a class-action lawsuit. Unlike Scott, Sink claimed she had what amounted to a get-out-of-jail-free card. \"That case, the lawyer who brought that case -- it was a class-action case against another company -- has even said publicly that Alex Sink had nothing to do with the case, had nothing to do with the situation, and didn't know about the problems,\" Sink told CNN's John King and the St. Petersburg Times' Adam C. Smith, the debate's moderators. \"What more can I say?\" In a separate item, we dealt with Scott's accusations. You can read that item here. In this fact check, we'll explore Sink's rebuttal. \n\nSome quick background about the case: In 1994, while Sink was president of NationsBank's Florida operations, a stockbroker with the bank's subsidiary, NationsSecurities, came forward with what he described as an orchestrated nationwide scheme to persuade bank customers to move investments from safe, federally insured accounts to riskier brokerage and mutual funds. NationsSecurities broker David Cray, who worked in Florida, stated that the bank intentionally blurred the lines between its traditional banking business and its securities business, misleading customers into thinking those securities investments were protected by the bank or the federal government. The scheme permeated the entire bank, Cray and later others said. Brokers were given sales scripts to convince bank customers to move their money into riskier securities. NationsSecurities branch managers encouraged employees to use fear to sell securities. In one orientation sales meeting, a manager suggested that a broker could ask customers: \"Is this your risky money or safe money? If this is risky, I know a guy at Merrill or Dean Witter.\" NationsBank assisted NationsSecurities by providing brokers with lists of customers who had Certificates of Deposit about to mature. The bank and stockbrokers pushed the mutual funds because they received more lucrative fees, Cray said. \n\nThe allegations led to a class-action lawsuit from investors who lost money by unknowingly making risky investments, which ultimately resulted in losses. The Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission also began investigations. Eventually, NationsBank and NationsSecurities settled the investigations, agreeing to pay $8.1 million to investors in 2002, along with civil fines to the federal government of $6.75 million in 2000, $6.4 million in 2002, and $4 million to the SEC in 1998. No criminal charges were ever filed. Sink asserts that the lawyer who initiated the case, Jonathan Alpert of Tampa, has stated that she had nothing to do with the scheme. \n\nHere's what Alpert told the St. Petersburg Times and Miami Herald in October when previously asked about Sink's role in selling the risky investments: \"Alex Sink could've done nothing about it. It was run out of Charlotte,\" referring to NationsBank's headquarters. \"I know she knew what was going on\u2014that investments were being sold in the bank\u2014but that's it. And she was powerless to stop it, anyway. I had emails where the state presidents were being told what to do, that they had to help the securities people. They would dig into customers' bank accounts to identify people who had enough money to buy securities. Charlotte said: 'This is what's going to happen in your bank lobbies and this is the way it's going to be.' They didn't say you're going to do A, B, C, and D; they would say the bank cooperates fully with NationsSecurities,\" Alpert said. \"If Alex Sink were involved in it, it would be a wonderful story for the gubernatorial election. But she didn't know anything about it.\" Alpert, who said he voted for Sink, acknowledged that she likely knew that riskier investments were being sold in the bank, but he believed she was probably not aware of how brokers were manipulating customers to close the sales. Sink has previously stated that she had no authority or control over the securities sales. \"There were very, very strict firewalls between any kind of securities and brokerage operations and operations of commercial banking,\" she said. Those firewalls, Sink explained, were the result of the Depression-era Glass-Steagall law that separated commercial and investment banking (the act was repealed in 1999). However, this did not prevent Sink from finding out what was happening in her bank, noted Yale University finance expert Jonathan Macey. \"She's the state bank president,\" he said. \"She has the authority and perhaps the responsibility to know what's going on in her lobby.\" \n\nThe original whistleblower in the case, former NationsSecurities broker Cray, stated, \"I would tend not to point the finger at Alex Sink for this.\" This brings us back to her statement. At the CNN\/St. Petersburg Times debate, Sink said that the lawyer who brought the case against NationsBank publicly stated that Alex Sink had nothing to do with the case, had nothing to do with the situation, and didn't know about the problems. We believe Sink is mostly quoting the lawyer in the NationsBank case, Jonathan Alpert, accurately. Alpert stated that Sink wasn't involved in the deceptive selling of riskier investments through NationsSecurities and didn't know anything about the deceptive practices being employed. The companies NationsBank and NationsSecurities were managed separately. However, Sink did know that securities were being sold in her banks and was in a position to voice questions or concerns about the practice if she sensed anything was being handled inappropriately. This connection is enough for us to rate this claim as Mostly True.","issues":["Candidate Biography","Ethics","Financial Regulation","Legal Issues","Florida"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_307","claim":"Has No Presidential Candidate 'Won Iowa, Florida and Ohio' and Still Lost?","posted":"12\/10\/2020","sci_digest":["U.S. President Donald Trump demonstrated in December 2020 that one can move the goal posts and still lose the argument."],"justification":"Voting in the 2020 U.S. Election may be over, but misinformation continues to spread. Never stop fact-checking. Follow our post-election coverage here. In December 2020, as states certified their election results and confirmed that Democratic candidate Joe Biden had won the U.S. presidential election, President Donald Trump continued to push baseless claims that the election was \"rigged,\" \"stolen,\" or marred by widespread voter fraud. On Dec. 9, Trump furthered this false narrative by claiming on social media that his election loss was an historic oddity in that no other candidate had won the states of Florida and Ohio but still lost the general election. As we pointed out in an article at the time, Trump was wrong. Precedent did exist for a candidate losing an election while winning both Florida and Ohio, namely Richard Nixon in 1960, who\u2014despite capturing those two key states\u2014was defeated by Democratic candidate John F. Kennedy. The following day, Trump doubled down on his erroneous claim, moving the goalposts by asserting that no previous presidential candidate had won the states of Ohio, Florida, and Iowa and \"even come close to losing an election\"\u2014as Trump himself did in 2020. But Trump was wrong again, for the very same reason. Nixon won all three of those states in the 1960 general election but nevertheless lost the presidency to Kennedy. Like Nixon 60 years earlier, Trump won Florida, Ohio, and Iowa during the 2020 election, but he fell short of the 270 electoral college votes required to secure the presidency. Trump's electoral college total of 232 votes was slightly better than Nixon's 219, but it simply wasn't enough compared to Biden's 306.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=10qk8SEKWv8RzfBhui7vr_UOEzDQGKzvq","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_308","claim":"Was it Denzel Washington who said, \"Simply because you do not post it on social media does not imply that you are not working on significant goals\"?","posted":"04\/19\/2022","sci_digest":["We looked for the origins of a quote about social media that's been credited to the actor in tweets, memes, and on websites that collect famous quotes."],"justification":"On April 17, 2022, the Anxiety Freedom Today Facebook page shared a post with a quote credited to movie actor Denzel Washington, which included the words, \"Just because you don't share it on social media doesn't mean you're not up to big things. Live it and stay low-key. Privacy is everything.\" It was somewhat ironic that the post about the state of social media led many users to respond with the words, \"So true!\" Washington has previously discussed the subject of social media, and it is entirely possible that he might agree with the sentiment of this quote. However, there is no record of him ever saying these words. The quote was misattributed, meaning it originally came from someone else. The quote appeared to have originated in a 2016 tweet from author Idil Ahmed on the @idillionaire Twitter account. This was not the first time this sort of thought was expressed, but it was the first record of these exact words that we could find. It wasn't until 2018, two years after @idillionaire's tweet was created, that Washington's name first appeared with the quote. A fake tweet screenshot began circulating that purportedly came from the @Denzel Twitter account; however, that account doesn't exist. This isn't a real tweet. It was likely created using a fake tweet generator website. Additionally, it could be argued that if Washington were to join Twitter, he probably wouldn't use this profile picture. As of April 2022, Washington did not appear to have an official Twitter account. An account named @OfficialDenzel was active on Twitter in the past, but it is not verified by the social media platform, and it's unclear if it has any affiliation with the actor. After the quote about social media appeared in the fake tweet screenshot with Washington's name and face, it was shared as text and in memes. From these posts and memes, the quote then spread to websites that collect quotes from famous people. For example, Goodreads.com has a page dedicated to the misattributed quote, even though Washington never said those words. Over the years, we have found that these kinds of websites that collect quotes aren't reliable sources of information, no matter how high they rank in Google search results. Again, there is no record of Washington ever saying, \"Just because you don't share it on social media, doesn't mean you're not up to big things. Live it and stay low-key. Privacy is everything.\" However, he has previously shared his thoughts on the state of social media. For example, he once spoke to CBN News about the subject in a Facebook video from November 2017. In the video, Washington said the following about the potentially negative effects of social media: \"Turn it off. That's what I'd say. It's hard for young people now because they're addicted. If you don't think you're addicted, and I'm talking about anyone, from the highest to the lowest. If you don't think you're addicted, then see if you can turn it off for a week. It got quiet in here, didn't it? Didn't it get real quiet? It's a tool, so we should use it. God has blessed us with free will. Now it's free will magnified. Free will on steroids. You're free to go in any direction you want. It will allow you, and it's not the enemy. It's just a reflection of our own free will. And we all want to be liked. But now we want to be liked by 16 million. And now, some of us will do anything to be liked. We used to do anything to be liked, but it was by the person in front of you. Now it's to be liked by 16 million people that you don't know. We have to ask ourselves what is the long-term, if not the short-term, effect of too much information.\" The video, which was also reposted elsewhere, resulted in various users replying (again, on social media) about the effects of social media with the words, \"So true!\" Washington also spoke about the subject in a YouTube video that was posted in 2017. In summary, while it's true that Washington has spoken before about the potential dangers of social media, there is no record of him ever saying the following quote: \"Just because you don't share it on social media doesn't mean you are not up to big things. Live it and stay low-key. Privacy is everything.\" As a parting thought, we also noticed that the quote was being misattributed with Washington's name on Reddit. At the bottom of the page, the very last comment appeared to receive no attention or upvotes. However, it made a strong point through the use of humor.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=124Rxq2_oTKfi6SQliT4tjiUDKta4Onl_"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1kEc_p4HvE8ioZMSRZtKDASwSs2syC9G4"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_309","claim":"Is the 2020 Election 'Far From Over'?","posted":"11\/20\/2020","sci_digest":["Even as Joe Biden had secured the majority of electoral votes in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, President Donald Trump refused to concede."],"justification":"Voting in the 2020 U.S. Election may be over, but the misinformation keeps on ticking. Never stop fact-checking. Follow our post-election coverage here. here In mid-November 2020, after all major news organizations declared former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden the winner of the presidential election, President Donald Trump's campaign claimed in a series of fundraising emails that the election was \"far from over,\" and that supporters should not believe messages to the contrary. (Read more fact checks like this one here.) Joe Biden Donald Trump here In other words, the emails claimed either Biden or Trump could serve as the country's 46th president come Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, 2021  even though Biden won key battleground states, including Michigan and Pennsylvania, by comfortable vote margins and exceeded the 270 Electoral College votes required to win the presidency.   The emails  like the president's tweets that falsely claimed he had won or denied Biden's victory  were part of an aggressive disinformation campaign attempting to attack the integrity of America's democratic process and convince supporters that Trump had a significant chance to serve another term. falsely claimed he had won \"Joe Biden only won in the eyes of the FAKE NEWS MEDIA. I concede NOTHING. We have a long way to go  this was a flawed ELECTION,\" said a Nov. 19 campaign email obtained by Snopes.   To unpack the underlying claim  that American elections provide losing candidates an opportunity to defy the outcome of the popular vote  let's first lay out the country's steps for presidential elections under the Constitution, federal statutes, and state laws. Every four years, when Americans cast ballots in presidential elections, they are participating in the countrys popular vote. That happened Nov. 3 in the Trump-Biden race. Days later on Nov. 7, Biden was announced the winner of the popular vote based on the number of votes counted so far compared to the margin of votes between him and Trump in key battleground states. (Read why and how journalists make that determination in presidential races here.) here Typically, at that point in an election, the losing candidate acknowledges defeat by conceding to his opponent and addressing supporters in a speech. But Trump not only did not do that, he and his allies went a step further by spewing the unfounded conspiracy theory that any person or group who acknowledged Biden's victory was working to undermine the president. defeat by conceding Whether a candidate accepts the outcome of the popular vote or not, state officials at polling sites nationwide continue to count remaining ballots over the course of days or weeks, according to their respective rules. That process, which historically is a procedural step to cement the outcome of the popular vote, requires governors to prepare whats called a Certificate of Ascertainment that lists their state's slate of electors. For example, Biden won the popular vote in Minnesota, so that's state's certificate would list 10 Democratic electors who pledged to vote for Biden through the Electoral College. popular vote electors Likewise, if, hypothetically, Trump had won the Midwestern state, the state's certificate would list a different group of 10 people  electors who pledged to vote for the Republican candidate. All of this said, electors meet at state capitals in early December, weeks after Election Day, to formally cast votes for president and vice president, per guidelines outlined in the Constitution. No constitutional provision, nor any federal law, requires electors to vote according to the results of the popular vote; however, the majority of states and the District of Columbia have their own laws governing the Electoral College and aim to keep electors from defying the popular vote. Here are specific deadlines for those above-described steps in presidential elections, per The Associated Press: The Associated Press Dec. 8 is the deadline for resolving election disputes at the state level. All state recounts and court contests over presidential election results are to be completed by this date. Dec. 14: Electors vote by paper ballot in their respective states and the District of Columbia. Thirty-three states and D.C. have laws or party regulations requiring electors to vote the same way the popular vote goes in the state, and in some states, electors can even be replaced or subjected to penalties, according to the Congressional Research Service. Dec. 23: The certificates must be delivered to the designated officials. If they are not delivered, the law provides alternative avenues for getting the results to Washington. Jan. 6, 2021: The House and Senate hold a joint session to count the electoral votes. If one ticket has received 270 or more electoral votes, the president of the Senate, currently Vice President Mike Pence, announces the results. So, in short, a presidential election doesn't end on Election Day, nor when a candidate is projected the winner by news media. Rather, presidential elections officially conclude the following year, in January. But it's a false interpretation of state and federal laws governing presidential elections to consider those continuing steps after polls close on Election Day  when states certify results or choose electors, or the Electoral College votes for president  as opportunities to defy the popular vote. Per analysis of the guidelines by constitutional experts and election academics, the post-election day procedures mainly serve to cement what voters decided at the county and state level. We should note here: The emails from Trump's campaign alleging the election was \"far from over\" asked supporters to chip in to a so-called \"Official Election Defense Fund\" or \"Election Defense Task Force,\" both of which the campaign framed as costly initiatives involving ballot recounts or various lawsuits to challenge Biden's win. But according to Brendan Fischer, director of the federal reform program at Campaign Legal Center, the average donor's money was not covering those expenses.  Brendan Fischer \"Small donors who give to Trump thinking they are financing an 'official election defense fund' are in fact helping pay down the Trump campaigns debt or funding his post-presidential political operation,\" Fischer tweeted. tweeted In sum, it was accurate to claim the 2020 presidential election was incomplete as of mid-November. However, it was false to categorize the remaining procedures as reasonable opportunities for Trump to overturn Biden's victory. For those reasons, we rate this claim \"false.\"","issues":["debt"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1daz0FsqdSQi05rVpx_1jFH32F88sV5xd","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1mzMHmeAFD-5NLn3dACJNMs4YFiKDJLWk","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_310","claim":"Are Costco shutting down stores throughout the country?","posted":"02\/10\/2021","sci_digest":["A misleading online advertisement purported to break big business news about Costco Wholesale."],"justification":"On Feb. 10, 2021, an online advertisement appeared announcing significant news about Costco Wholesale. The ad was displayed on various websites via the Outbrain advertising network. It featured a picture of a Costco store and read: \"[Pics] Say Goodbye: Stores Closing In 2020 Across The Nation.\" The outdated ad mentioned the year 2020, likely indicating that it had been displayed prior to the new year and had not yet been disabled. Readers who clicked the ad were led to a lengthy slideshow article on the Housecoast website, which spanned more than 50 pages and appeared to have been originally published on Feb. 10, 2020. Companies such as Lowe's, Kohl's, JCPenney, and Macy's made the list. While several of the stores in the article had experienced financial troubles, many of them had not yet closed. Costco never appeared in the story. The clickbait ad led readers to believe that Costco would be closing its stores, which was false. The story itself was poorly written and contained numerous grammatical errors. When e-commerce started expanding in the last few years, \"brick and mortar\" stores began to face the brunt of the economic crisis. In the years leading up to 2020, many major stores closed their physical locations, including international outlets. This was a significant blow to the business of commerce, as the closing rate had been growing rapidly and was projected to worsen in 2020. We compiled a list of stores that noted they would be closing their doors in 2020; for some, this meant closing all their outlets. On Dec. 10, 2020, Costco Wholesale released its fiscal year 2020 financial results, which were strong. There was no indication that Costco would be closing stores: net sales for fiscal 2020 totaled $163 billion, an increase of 9%, with a comparable sales increase of 8%. Net income was $4 billion, or $9.02 per diluted share, also an increase of 9%. Additionally, the company surpassed 100 million members worldwide, contributing to membership revenue of $3.54 billion. Costco.com played a vital role in meeting members' needs, especially for those choosing or required to stay at home. Our e-commerce business saw a 50% increase in sales, particularly in same-day and 2-day grocery deliveries, prescription medications, electronics, and office supplies. Additional strong sales were observed in apparel, appliances, health and beauty products, and home furnishings. Our depots responded to unprecedented volume by shifting certain operations to 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As circumstances allowed, expansion in fiscal 2020 continued with the opening of 13 new warehouses. In fiscal 2021, we expect to open 20 new buildings. In summary, a misleading ad suggested that Costco was closing its stores, but the resulting story never mentioned Costco even once. In the past, the Housecoast website published a similar misleading ad about CNN Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins. Snopes debunks a wide range of content, and online advertisements are no exception. Misleading ads often lead to obscure websites that host lengthy slideshow articles with numerous pages. This practice is known as advertising \"arbitrage.\" The advertiser's goal is to earn more money from ads displayed on the slideshow's pages than it cost to show the initial ad that attracted viewers.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1wMTgRTLnFPUEE63IEjSpSIuQW-4tFb3e"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_311","claim":"Fannie Mae is relaxing credit requirements to support mortgage lending.","posted":"10\/02\/2008","sci_digest":["E-mail reproduces a 1999 newspaper article warning about potential troubles with Fannie Mae?"],"justification":"E-mail reproduces a 1999 newspaper article warning about potential troubles with Fannie Mae. Example: [Collected via e-mail, September 2008] Right out of the pages of the NY Times!!! And look at the date..!!! September 30, 1999 Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending. In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers, the Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders. The action, which will begin as a pilot program involving 24 banks in 15 markets, including the New York metropolitan region, will encourage those banks to extend home mortgages to individuals whose credit is generally not good enough to qualify for conventional loans. Fannie Mae officials say they hope to make it a nationwide program by next spring. [Rest of article here.] Origins: In any crisis, one of the most common reactions is to ponder the question, \"How did we get into this mess?\" People begin to search for explanations about who was responsible for bringing about the current state of affairs, who had the ability to head it off (but failed to act or was thwarted), and who foresaw the looming danger (but declined to speak up or was ignored). With the United States currently in the throes of an economic crisis, one symptom of which was the September 2008 government takeover of the foundering Federal National Mortgage Association (commonly known as Fannie Mae), a nine-year-old warning about the home mortgage underwriter's vulnerability to economic problems that could require government rescue was bound to pique public interest. On September 30, 1999, the New York Times published an article entitled \"Fannie Mae Eases Credit to Aid Mortgage Lending\" by Steven A. Holmes. The complete text of the article is available online, but in a nutshell, the Times reported that Fannie Mae was easing its credit requirements for home mortgage loans in response to increasing pressure from a variety of groups: Clinton administration officials who wanted Fannie Mae \"to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate-income people\" (particularly minority groups); stockholders who wanted Fannie Mae \"to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits\"; and banks, thrift institutions, and mortgage companies (from whom Fannie Mae purchases loans) who wanted the company to facilitate \"more loans to subprime borrowers.\" In light of recent events, what caught the attention of most readers was a couple of paragraphs in the middle of the article cautioning about the possible consequences of Fannie Mae's loosening its credit requirements: In moving, even tentatively, into this new area of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times. But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980s. \"From the perspective of many people, including me, this is another thrift industry growing up around us,\" said Peter Wallison, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. \"If they fail, the government will have to step up and bail them out the way it stepped up and bailed out the thrift industry.\" Another New York Times article that has attained a significant amount of retrospective interest is an September 11, 2003 article entitled \"New Agency Proposed to Oversee Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae\" by Stephen Labaton, which reported on the efforts of the Bush administration to create a new regulatory agency to assume oversight of those mortgage lenders: The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago. Under the plan, disclosed at a Congressional hearing today, a new agency would be created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that are the two largest players in the mortgage lending industry. The new agency would have the authority, which now rests with Congress, to set one of the two capital-reserve requirements for the companies. It would exercise authority over any new lines of business and would determine whether the two are adequately managing the risks of their ballooning portfolios. The plan is an acknowledgment by the administration that oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which together have issued more than $1.5 trillion in outstanding debt, is broken. A report by outside investigators in July concluded that Freddie Mac manipulated its accounting to mislead investors, and critics have said Fannie Mae does not adequately hedge against rising interest rates. Of especial interest to current readers were the following paragraphs about Congressional resistance to the Bush administration's regulatory proposal: Significant details must still be worked out before Congress can approve a bill. Among the groups denouncing the proposal today were the National Association of Home Builders and Congressional Democrats who fear that tighter regulation of the companies could sharply reduce their commitment to financing low-income and affordable housing. \"These two entities\u2014Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac\u2014are not facing any kind of financial crisis,\" said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. \"The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.\" Last updated: October 2, 2008. Sources: Holmes, Steven A. \"Fannie Mae Eases Credit to Aid Mortgage Lending.\" The New York Times. September 30, 1999. Labaton, Stephen. \"New Agency Proposed to Oversee Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.\" The New York Times. September 11, 2003.","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_312","claim":"Did Kurt Cobain Say of 'Nevermind' Album Cover, 'If You're Offended by This You Must Be a Closet Pedophile'?","posted":"08\/25\/2021","sci_digest":["Come as you are as long as you're not naked. "],"justification":"In 1991, as the cover art for Nirvana's second studio album  a now iconic photograph of a naked baby in a pool swimming after a dollar on a fishing hook  was being prepared, there was some discussion about censoring the image by airbrushing out the nudity. Late front man Kurt Cobain reportedly replied by saying that they could censor it by placing a sticker over the baby's genitals along with the statement: \"If you're offended by this you must be a closet pedophile.\" This quote resurfaced in August 2021 when the model who portrayed the baby, Spencer Elden, filed a lawsuit against the band claiming that he was exploited and that the artwork bordered on child pornography.  resurfaced filed a lawsuit against the band   This is a genuine quote from Cobain.  Art Director Robert Fisher was one of the first to suggest that the baby's genitalia could be censored if anyone thought that it would be problematic. A photograph showing early concept art for the album's cover includes two written comments by Fisher.  Fisher wrote: \"If anyone has a problem with his dick we can remove it.\"  Image via cait22888 on Flickr  Flickr Cobain responded to Fisher's comments by saying that they could censor the nudity with a sticker, reading \"If you're offended by this, you must be a closet pedophile.\" This incident is recalled in a passage from Michael Azerrad's book \"Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana.\" Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana. The only thing was, the baby's penis was quit visible. \"If there's a problem with his dick,\" Fisher said, \"we can cut it off.\" Some people in the Geffen\/DGC sales department did worry that the traditionally conservative chain stores might object to the penis and Fisher even went so far as to begin preparing cover with the penis airbushed out. Kurt had anticipated some outcry as well, and has already composed some copy to put on a sticker over the problematic member. It read, \"If you're offended by this, you must be a closet pedophile.\" Cobain recounted his version of these events during an interview for \"Hot Metal\" with journalist Robyn Doreian in 1991. In Cobain's version, he doesn't quite take credit for the idea, instead saying that \"we prepared\" to deal with censorship issues with a sticker.  interview As with most artists signed to the Geffen label, Nirvana have complete artistic control over everyting they do. \"I designed out T-shirts, and we have had control over things like how long we tour and who we tour with, and we had control over what songs we recorded.\" Whilst on the subject of the aesthetically pleasing cover of Nevermind, I enquire as to whether the boy is actually a photo of Kurt as a little tacker. \"No, it's not,\" he remarks drly. Has there been any trouble from censorship groups such as the PMRC for blatantly displaying a willy on the cover? \"No, surprisingly not. We prepared to alleviate that problem if anyone were to freak out about it by putting a sticker on it saying, \"if you are offended by this, you must be a closet pedophile.'\" The sticker wasn't needed in the end as the album was released without any alterations to the baby's body. But now, just over 30 years after the album's release, the band is being sued, as Elden alleges that the picture violates child pornography laws.  Elden alleges Sources:","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1qj-bKHJdXAXZj_rFaK7GH6KKS9KL71nA","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1iGSgWujC1wbthtx5BP5YbmAHtRWyw5rt","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_313","claim":"Charge Your Phone Using Body Electricity","posted":"03\/27\/2015","sci_digest":["Rumor: You can recharge your cell phone using body electricity."],"justification":" Claim:  You can recharge your cell phone using body electricity.  Example:  [Collected via e-mail, March 2015] Is there any truth to this video?  i.e. you can charge your phoneusing body electricity?  Seems just too simple:  Origins:  According to the video displayed above (titled \"Charge Your Phone with Body Electricity!\"), the perpetual modern dilemma of how to ensure your cell phone is always charged or charging can be solved with just two silver coins, a piece of paper, a paper clip, and your hot, sweaty body. In terms of appealing propositions, this one features the advantages of frugality,  ease of use, and the enticing tempt of never suffering a temporarily bricked device again. Mobile users can be spared the shame of ever having to ask  virtual strangers for loans of their charger cords, if they can put aside the notion that body-charging a cell phone phone is a fairly awkward public proposition. Whether the human body can charge electronic devices (such as phones, or pacemakers, or hearing aids) is not a subject that lies entirely within the realm of science fiction. A September 2014 Newsweek article tackled the potential offered by body-based device charging, but with the caveat that the technology was nowhere near accessible just yet: Newsweek Of course, with all due respect to Voix's cool invention, talk is cheap. Piezoelectrics energy harvesters haven't yet made a dent in the real world, for the most part. On the other hand, all of the researchers and industry reps interviewed for this story agree that piezoelectrics is very much poised to become a real commercial forceperhaps within the next three to five years. The gait-powered backpacks and knee braces look likely to break through even sooner. It is perhaps telling that these two last products don't use piezoelectrics and produce somewhere around 1,000 times more electricity. But as electronic devices continue to shrink and need less juice to work, and piezoelectronic ones are tweaked to produce more power, the technologies will likely meet in the middle. While you one day might be able to harness body-generated power to charge a phone, no useful manner of doing so existed when the video in question was posted online. Moreover, its extraordinary claims about harnessing body-generated power to recharge cell phones were not proved within the video; viewers were simply informed that the trick worked without being presented with any corroborating evidence that the phone shown in the video hadn't been charged in some other fashion. Some viewers attempted to replicate the feat shown in the impressive clip with multiple devices, only to come up short:    A Quora user also opined that the body electricity claim didn't wash in terms of the mechanical process of recharging cell phones: This particular video is pure rubbish.  There are 4 contacts in a USB connector, only one of them is power.  You do not make a capacitor with a piece of paper and two \"silver\" coins, and anyway a capacitor is not what you need.  And you can get a few tenths of a volt if your skin is damp and if you used two different metallic coins, but that is less than a tenth of the voltage you need and less than a thousandth of the current required.  So it's wrong on so many levels it's funny. Whether or not phones could eventually be charged using body electricity, there's no evidence the video shown here managed that feat. No corroborating videos of people charging phones in such a manner have turned up, and multiple viwers have reported that the steps outlined in the video did not work to successfully recharge any cell phone.  Last updated:  27 March 2015","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/i.imgur.com\/bY8Wkz6.jpg","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_314","claim":"No, Pfizer Does Not Own Neil Young's Music Catalog","posted":"02\/04\/2022","sci_digest":["Conspiracy theorists reached new lows in attempting to discredit Young's vocal opposition to vaccine skepticism. "],"justification":"In early 2022, folk-rock legend Neil Young found himself the target of a laughable conspiracy theory after he spoke out against COVID-19-related misinformation. On Jan. 24, Young wrote that he wanted his music removed from the streaming platform Spotify, unless the company ended its agreement to host Joe Rogan's podcast, which has on several occasions provided a forum for potentially harmful misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines. In response, Spotify removed Young's back catalog from its library, rather than cutting ties with Rogan.  wrote misinformation removed In the midst of that controversy, vaccine skeptics and COVID-19 conspiracy theorists shared a ludicrous conspiracy theory claiming that the pharmaceutical company Pfizer  which produces a widely-used COVID-19 vaccine  either owned the rights to Young's music catalog or, through a chain of connections, held sway over the rock star and influenced, or even ordered, his pro-vaccination stance.  For example, some social media users posted a meme with the text, \"When you realize Neil Young's music catalogue is owned by Pfizer\": posted meme   Others did not explicitly claim that Pfizer itself owned some or all of Young's catalog, but did suggest that the company held sway over him, by way of a series of connections, and that therefore Young's opposition to Rogan and his criticism of vaccine misinformation should be dismissed as the result of corruption and self-compromise, rather than a principled stance.  did suggest series connections On social media, a conspiracy theorist who uses the moniker An0maly outlined the theory in helpful detail, starting with the observation that in January 2021, Young reportedly sold half of his catalog to a U.K.-based investment fund called Hipgnosis, for around $150 million. An0maly continued: outlined the theory So, 50% to UK investment fund Hipgnosis. In October of 2021, Blackstone and Hipgnosis Song Management launched [a] \"$1 billion partnership to invest in songs, recorded music, music IP and royalties.\" Interesting. Blackstone is \"an American alternative investment management company\" who, interestingly enough, in 2020 announced the appointment of \"Jeffrey B. Kindler, former chairman and CEO of Pfizer, as [a] senior adviser.\" Now I don't know the answer to this, but did Neil Young independently make the decision to try and blackball Joe Rogan for questioning big pharma and the government narrative? Or was it a team decision with a multi-billion-dollar investment firm who also owns a big chunk of his music? The first point to note here is that, even among those promulgating the Young-Pfizer theory, it is not seriously suggested that Pfizer itself  which is, after all, a pharmaceutical company  owns the rights to any of Young's music. That claim can be dismissed.  Before assessing the logic behind the theory, and its coherence, it's worth briefly evaluating the accuracy of each of its components. First, it appears to be true that, in January 2021, Young sold half of his songs to Hipgnosis. In a news release, Hipgnosis wrote: \"...The Company has acquired 50% of Neil Youngs worldwide copyright and income interests in his entire song catalogue comprising 1,180 songs.\" news release Secondly, it is also true that in October 2021, Blackstone bought an ownership stake in Hipgnosis, as demonstrated in news releases published by both companies. Finally, it is also true that in August 2020, Blackstone hired Jeff Kindler as a senior advisor, and that Kindler used to be the chairman and CEO of Pfizer.  both companies hired Jeff Kindler used to be However, rather than having uncovered a web of corruption, those pushing the Young-Pfizer story were engaging in the classic conspiracy theorist's fallacy of finding whatever possible connection they can between two separate entities (in this case, Young and Pfizer) without first testing the logical or chronological basis of that putative link. In other words, \"connecting the dots\" by whatever means available, rather than uncovering an actual, organic conspiracy.  Let's look at the sequence of events. Kindler left Pfizer in 2010  a full decade before he joined Blackstone, and before the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic prompted Pfizer to develop a vaccine along with its German partner BioNTech. left Pfizer in 2010 Blackstone is a publicly traded company, meaning it has a fiduciary duty to its shareholders, and Kindler, in turn, has a professional obligation to provide sound business and strategic advice to Blackstone. Aside from presenting no concrete evidence whatsoever, those pushing the Young-Pfizer conspiracy theory appear to be asking readers to believe, despite these circumstances, one of two explanations: publicly traded company As outlandish as these scenarios are, they are premised on even shakier assumptions: for example, that Kindler was even consulted on the Blackstone-Hipgnosis deal; or that if he was, he was in favor of it; and that Young has any remaining financial or commercial obligations to Hipgnosis and\/or Blackstone after the sale of half his music  after all, if that deal is already done, what is the supposed basis of Hipgnosis or Blackstone's putative leverage over Young? It's not necessary to list, in excruciating detail, each of the known factual and logical flaws associated with the Young-Pfizer conspiracy theory. The claim that the pharmaceutical company \"owned Young's music catalog\" was patently false, and the theory of a fantastical web of corruption, with Kindler at its centre, was presented without any concrete evidence and, perhaps more importantly, made no sense whatsoever. ","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=16Dx9-7VLLwNlUe291u-K6byqHYtH8eQn","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_315","claim":"Did Joe Biden Use the N-Word in a Recorded Speech?","posted":"02\/25\/2021","sci_digest":["Social media posts claimed he used the racial slur in a speech about international security."],"justification":"In late February 2021, several social media users alleged U.S. President Joe Biden used the N-word while addressing world leaders at a virtual event to discuss international security policies. As part of the Munich Security Conference, an annual event that convenes hundreds of policy makers from across the world, Biden spoke on camera for roughly 20 minutes on Feb. 19, describing his administration's desire to be on good terms with the European Union. Approximately three-quarters of the way into his remarks, social media users alleged he uttered the racial slur referring to Black people. Some people accused the president of saying the N-word accidentally, while others raised the possibility that he intentionally made the alleged racist comment. accidentally intentionally One conservative commentator pointed to closed captioning on recordings of the speech on YouTube as alleged evidence of the president indeed saying the word, despite the fact the video platform's captioning system runs on computer-generated, speech-recognition software that is known for error and not necessarily a true indication of what someone said. conservative commentator known for error   To investigate the legitimacy of the underlying allegation  whether the president at any point during the virtual Munich Security Conference event used the N-word for whatever reason  we obtained an official White House transcript, as well as a video recording via C-SPAN, of Biden's speech. White House transcript C-SPAN Considering that the social media posts made use of brief video clips of his alleged comments around the 16-minute mark in the C-Span footage, we focused on that portion of his remarks, specifically. At that point, he said, according to the transcript and video footage: \"Look, the range of challenges Europe and the United States must take on together is broad and complex. And Im eager to hear  Im eager to hear  Im eager to hear next from my good friends and outstanding leaders, Chancellor Merkel, about her thoughts on the way forward together.\" While saying \"I'm eager to hear,\" Biden stuttered, repeating the phrase three times. On the third time, the consonant \"mmmm\" in the word \"I'm\" blended with the next word, \"eager,\" to make a \"mnnm-eager\" sound. That was the source of the social media posts' allegations, despite the fact that the hypothetical insertion of the N-word there would be abrupt and confusing, contextually speaking, no matter what the speaker's reason for saying it. A more plausible reason for the president's phrasing in that moment was his speech disorder. On several occasions, Biden has openly discussed his struggle with stuttering over the course of his life. It is a speech impediment and neurological disorder that may result in repetitions (D-d-d-dog), prolongations (Mmmmmmilk), or blocks (an absence of sound), according to the non-profit National Stuttering Association. The instance Munich Security Conference appeared to be a combination of repeating and prolonging phonetic sounds. discussed his struggle non-profit National Stuttering Association In other words, the claim is false  Biden did not use the N-word in that moment, nor at any other time during the virtual speech. The February 2021 posts were not the first to twist Biden's words to accuse him of using the racial slur. During a 1985 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing  when the president was a senator representing Delaware  Biden read out loud portions of a memo by Louisiana legislators that included the N-word, and supporters of former President Donald Trump attempted to frame that moment of Biden reciting other people's words as an example of his alleged racism. See our fact check into the claim here. here","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1a5u--zs4v3IMv2BYSnoK5oGrYKXVA1Aj","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_316","claim":"Tagg Romney Owns Ohio Voting Machines?","posted":"10\/23\/2012","sci_digest":["Mitt Romney's son Tagg owns an interest in a company that manufactures voting machines?"],"justification":"Claim:  Mitt Romney's son Tagg owns a company that manufactures voting machines.  Example:  [Collected via e-mail, October  2012] Is it true that Tagg Romney, son of Mitt Romney, buys voting machines through Bain Capitol?  Tagg Romney, the son of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, has purchased electronic voting machines that will be used in the 2012 elections in Ohio, Texas, Oklahoma, Washington and Colorado. Through a closely held equity fund called Solamere, Mitt Romney and his wife, son and brother are major investors in an investment firm called H.I.G. Capital. H.I.G. in turn holds a majority share and three out of five board members in Hart Intercivic, a company that owns the notoriously faulty electronic voting machines that will count the ballots in swing state Ohio November 7. Hart machines will also be used elsewhere in the United States. In other words, a candidate for the presidency of the United States, and his brother, wife and son, have a straight-line financial interest in the voting machines that could decide this fall's election. These machines cannot be monitored by the public. But they will help decide who \"owns\" the White House.  Origins:  This somewhat tangled tale of intrigue has Tagg Romney, the son of Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, as owner of a company that manufactures voting machines which will be used in the upcoming presidential election through the following chain:  After his father's 2008 presidential campaign ended, Mitt Romney's son, Tagg Romney, started Solamere Capital, a private equity fund, along with Spencer Zwick, the Romney campaign's top fund raiser, and a third partner, Eric Scheuermann.   Tagg Romney's parents, Mitt and Ann Romney, contributed $10 million to the firm's first fund.  Solamere Capital  According to the New York Times,  \"unlike many private equity funds that specialize in scouting out companies to invest in directly, Solamere is a 'fund of funds' that invests in 22 other private equity funds,\" and one of the equity firms with which Solamere Capital has partnered is H.I.G. Capital.   In 2011, H.I.G. Capital made a controlling investment in Hart InterCivic, a national provider of \"election voting systems, election management products and services\" used in hundreds of voting jurisdictions in several states, including a high-population county in the key swing state of Ohio. investment jurisdictions  Therefore, Tagg Romney allegedly holds a significant ownership interest in the manufacturer of voting machines that will be used in an election determining whether his father will become President of the United States. However, according to a Solamere spokesman quoted by the Weekly Standard, although Solamere has some shared investments with H.I.G. Capital, the latter firm's investment in Hart Intercivic is not one of them: \"Not only does Solamere have no direct or indirect interest in this company [Hart Intercivic], Solamere and its partners have no ownership in this company, nor do they have any ownership in nor have made any investments in the fund that invested in the voting machine company,\" the spokesman said. So while Solamere does partner with HIG on investments, none of those investments involve Hart Intercivic. HIG may be simultaneously managing investments with both companies, but the investments are kept separate, as required by law. Put simply, Tagg Romney is not an \"investor in a voting machine company.\" An H.I.G. spokesman quoted by the Huffington Post also said Solamere itself has no investment in the H.I.G. Capital fund that is invested in Hart Intercivic: [Charles] Sipkins [said] that there is no connection at all between Solamere and Hart Intercivic. \"Solamere has invested in a certain H.I.G. Capital fund. Solamere has no interest in the specific H.I.G. fund that invested in Hart Intercivic.\" He added that Solamere's total investment in H.I.G. represents 0.05 percent of H.I.G.'s total assets. It is true that H.I.G. Capital's co-founder, Anthony Tamer, and several of H.I.G.'s managing directors once worked at Bain & Company (whose CEO was Mitt Romney); that Anthony Tamer and his wife are donors to the Romney campaign; and that H.I.G. Capital is the sixth-largest financial contributor to Romney fundraising  contributor committees; and it is true that Tagg Romney's firm, Solamere, has investments in other H.I.G. funds that are run by partners who are former Romney colleagues and current Romney fundraisers, and those partners also manage the fund invested in Hart Intercivic.  That close a connection between the Romney family,  Romney campaign contributors, and a provider of voting systems may raise some eyebrows, but it doesn't establish any direct ownership link between Tagg Romney and a provider of voting systems. Additionally, the potential for vote-tampering in Ohio through manipulation of Hart Intercivic's equipment is quite low.  As the Cleveland Plain-Dealer reported, the pieces of Hart InterCivic equipment to be used in Ohio aren't electronic voting machines that record voters' selections directly through touch screens  they are merely standalone scanners that tabulate paper ballots, so any close or suspect results could be confirmed through a recount: Elections officials in Ohio's Hamilton and Williams counties  the only two of Ohio's 88 counties that use equipment made by Hart InterCivic  as well as company representatives say there's no way such meddling could occur. Both counties use a paper balloting system in which results are tallied by scanners made by Hart InterCivic. All programming of the machines, diagnostic testing, and vote tabulation is done by elections staff in each county and no vote tabulation is done over the Internet, county election board representatives say. The paper ballots are there as backup and can be recounted with Democratic and Republican party representatives on hand. \"There is no truth to the idea that anyone could get into our system and tamper with the results,\" said Hamilton County elections board deputy director Sally Krisel. Steven Rosenfeld also noted on AlterNet that: AlterNet Even if an investment (which is fairly hands-off) led to some sort of manipulative scanning (which is far-fetched) that wasn't caught in pre-election audit testing (even more far-fetched), the problem with this theory is that any significant deviation from the expected turnout models and exit polls (and pre-election polls) will lead to an examination and audit of the paper ballots. Any real deviation would not just be noticed; it would be quarantined and examined. If you're planning to steal an election, leaving a paper trail is not how to do it. This is a guilt-by-association theory. Too many eyes are on every step of the voting process this year. It's not 2004. And the machines in question are no better or worse than optical scan systems from other manufacturers, Ohio's former Democratic secretary of state found in independent testing. In contrast, other electronic voting machines used across Ohio don't leave as extensive a record of actual balloting as the optical scan systems, as they rely on cash register-like tape rolls to record every vote. Last updated:  27 October 2012    Eaton, Sabrina.  \"Elections Boards Deny That Mitt Romney Backers Could Tamper with Results.\"   The Cleveland Plain-Dealer.  24 October 2012.    Fang, Lee.  \"Tagg Team: The Romney Family Recipe for Crony Capitalism.\"   The Nation.  29 October 2012.    Froomkin, Dan.  \"Pro-Romney Firm's Purchase of Voting Machine Company Raises Alarms.\"   The Huffington Post.  23 October 2012.    Luo, Michael and Julie Creswell.  \"Ties to Romney '08 Helped Fuel an Equity Firm.\"   The New York Times.  30 April 2012.    Rosenfeld, Stephen.  \"5 Reasons Karl Rove Is NOT Going to Electronically Steal This Election.\"   AlterNet.  27 October 2012.    Warren, Michael.  \"Tagg Romney Is Not an 'Investor in a Voting Machine Company'.\"   The Weekly Standard.  23 October 2012.","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_317","claim":"Does Video Show 'US Military Sending Huge Planes Full of Heavy-Duty Equipment to Israel' in 2023?","posted":"10\/11\/2023","sci_digest":["The video was shared in an X post days following Hamas' surprise terrorist attack on Israel in October 2023."],"justification":"On Oct. 11, 2023, a user on X named Matt Wallace (@MattWallace888) posted a video with a caption that claimed it showed the U.S. military \"sending huge planes full of heavy-duty equipment to Israel,\" apparently to be used in its war against Hamas. However, the video in the post contained clips that were at least four years old. In other words, the video had nothing to do with the Israel-Hamas war. As we previously reported, the account bearing Wallace's name is known for spreading baseless conspiracy theories following massive tragic events. He has even bragged about making money on X by promoting such false rumors. He was warned not to post this video from Maui, Hawaii, which, it turns out, is actually an explosion in Macul, Chile, from May. It received 20,000 retweets, 54,000 likes, and 10 million views before being Community Noted. The video in question showed a C-5M Super Galaxy taxiing and taking off from a runway. During the taxiing process, several aircraft, possibly CV-22 Ospreys and other helicopters, were visible on the ground. The video consisted of three clips in total. We traced the first and third clips to a YouTube video that was uploaded on Oct. 5, 2019. It appeared to have been recorded the day before it was uploaded. The number on the side of the airplane appeared to be \"7030.\" The second clip in the video showed an airplane with the number \"7045.\" That clip was at least months old, according to another YouTube video that displayed the exact same shot at the 4:42 mark. In other words, Wallace's video showed two different aircraft. In Wallace's upload of these clips, the shots were mirrored horizontally. This mirroring made the words and numbers appear backward. Sometimes, misinformation and disinformation purveyors mirror images and videos to try to avoid reverse-image search detection. We reached out to Wallace to ask if he was aware that the video was old. We also inquired whether he was the person who horizontally mirrored the shots. This story will be updated if we receive answers to our questions. While the video itself was unrelated to the war, the rest of Wallace's post contained genuine reporting from The Associated Press that was published days after Hamas' surprise terrorist attack in Israel. That story read as follows: A plane carrying advanced armaments designed to facilitate significant military operations landed Tuesday evening at the Nevatim Airbase in southern Israel, the Israel Defense Forces said. We are grateful for the U.S. backing and assistance to the IDF and to the State of Israel in general during this challenging period. Our common enemies know that the cooperation between our militaries is stronger than ever and is a key part in ensuring regional security and stability, the IDF said in a statement. Further, on Oct. 10, the U.S. Department of Defense published specifics of the kind of equipment being sent to Israel: [U.S. President Joe] Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today, and Biden assured him that the U.S. response to the events will be swift, decisive, and overwhelming. \"My team has been in near constant communication with our Israeli partners and partners all across the region and the world from the moment this crisis began,\" the president said. \"We're surging additional military assistance, including ammunition and interceptors to replenish Iron Dome. We are going to make sure that Israel does not run out of these critical assets to defend its cities and its citizens.\" For more details about the war, including the most recent death toll figures, we recommend referencing live updates from ABC News, The New York Times, and The AP.","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1T1860PYIUtz2SHq1IxoUCzltRqlD7B1B","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_318","claim":"As Jim Doyles Commerce secretary, Mary Burke spent $12.5 million dollars to buy a vacant lot for a company that said it had no plans to create jobs in Wisconsin and had laid off 800 workers.","posted":"07\/10\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"In his latest TV ad, Gov. Scott Walker rips challenger Mary Burkes attempt to attract a giant Illinois-based company to add thousands of jobs in Wisconsin when Burke ran the state Commerce Department under Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle. As Jim Doyles Commerce secretary, Mary Burke spent $12.5 million dollars to buy a vacant lot for a company that said it had no plans to create jobs in Wisconsin,the adsays. In fact, the same company had already laid off over 800 workers when Burke closed the deal. The ads kicker: Mary Burke says shell work to create jobs and spend our tax money wisely. But her record as Jim Doyles Commerce secretary tells a different story. Is Walker right about his likely Democratic opponent in the November 2014 election? Did Burke really authorize an aid package for a company that said it had no plans to create jobs here -- after massive layoffs at the firm? The Burke campaign reacted to the ad by saying: Everyone from local officials to the local chamber of commerce to Walker's own administration agrees that this was and is a good deal from an economic development standpoint. The grant contained strong protections for taxpayers if job creation goals were not met or infrastructure was not developed for economic development. Lets dig into what happened. The ad focuses on a major move by Doyle and Burke in the spring of the 2006 election year. In March 2006, they announced a $12.5 million forgivable loan funded through federal community block grant funds, the largest such award in Commerce Department history. It was to support development of 500 acres acquired in Kenosha County by global pharmaceutical maker Abbott Laboratories Inc. Abbott, a major employer of Wisconsin residents based just 15 miles south of Kenosha County, had purchased parcels of land on the Wisconsin side since June 2005 for possible expansion. Doyle and Burke sought to augment that purchase with another 40 acres paid for with the $12.5 million state award. They and local officials wanted to get the land in order to block plans for a truck stop they thought could impede development in the area. Judging by the comments of Doyle and Burke at the time -- she had full confidence 2,400 jobs would result; he welcomed the company to Wisconsin -- youd have thought Abbott had already announced its expansion in early 2006. But theJournal Sentinel reported Wednesdaythat not only did no jobs materialize, federal officials in 2013 demanded the money back. Eight years after the 2006 deal, Abbott has not developed the Kenosha County land. Abbott showed interest Did it have no plans to create jobs, as the Walker ad claims? In one sense, Abbott clearly had shown an interest in possible expansion in Wisconsin, as evidenced by the land purchases made with its own funds. The possibility was real enough for local officials in Kenosha County to actively work on working on paving the way for the firm. The company paid out $35 million for those parcels. But that solid interest fell short of an actual plan to build and start hiring. (The company, we should note, also signed a development agreement with the Village of Pleasant Prairie to develop that land. But that was a year after Burkes agency made the award). The company didnt stand alongside state officials when Doyle announced the loan in 2006. And officials said precious little about their intentions at that time. Heres a look back: Chicago Tribune story, Feb. 14, 2006:  Abbott has acquired approximately 500 acres of land in Pleasant Prairie, Wis., in anticipation of future growth and expansion, a company spokesman said. No specific plans are in place at this time for development of the property. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story, March 3, 2006:  Abbott spokesman Jonathan Hamilton said the Wisconsin site is for future growth, without any specific plans at this time. Commerce Department newsletter, April 2006: Abbott has purchased this land in Wisconsin in anticipation of future growth and expansion, said Dale Johnson, the companys divisional vice president for State Government Affairs. We are pleased to have worked with the Governor, his staff, the Village of Pleasant Prairie and the Kenosha Area Business Alliance. Those comments made clear the company was preparing for possible expansion in Wisconsin, but had no specific plan at the moment. Feds object One media story, in the Chicago Tribune in February 2006, speculated that Abbotts Wisconsin land buys might be leverage for the company on various issues it had before Illinois lawmakers. With the uncertain timetable in mind, the Commerce Departments aid deal was long term. If in 10 years, at least 2,400 jobs were created by Abbott in Wisconsin, the loan -- actually made to the village of Pleasant Prairie, which passed the funds to Abbott -- would not have to be repaid. In theory, that means there is still time to make the expansion happen with help from the loan. But the US Housing and Urban Development office in Milwaukee demanded the $12.3 million back in 2013 saying the development project was ineligible for the block grant dollars the state had used. The reasons the federal agency cited in its decision are relevant to judging whether Abbott stated any plans to create jobs in Wisconsin. A letter from HUD to the state in August 2013 concluded that the Commerce Department had no written commitment from Abbott to develop the property or create jobs. State officials agreed to that deal at the time. The federal agency declared that Commerce participated in a speculative land banking venture without ensuring that the funded activity would be eligible. Even years later, the specific proposed use of the acquired land has not yet been identified, HUDs Sernorma Mitchell wrote to state Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch. Those comments from HUD help Walkers case. Finally, the Walker ad also mentions layoffs, citing Chicago newspaper stories. Media in Illinois reported that Abbott cut at least that many jobs in Illinois in 2005 and early 2006. Our rating Walkers ad said: As Jim Doyles Commerce secretary, Mary Burke spent $12.5 million dollars to buy a vacant lot for a company that said it had no plans to create jobs in Wisconsin and had laid off 800 workers. Theres a hint of mischief in the ads language in that it can be heard to mean that Burke was so incompetent she gave money to a firm with zero interest in a Wisconsin operation. That idea is off base. But as we say at PolitiFact, words matter, and the ads claim closely mirrors what company officials said at the time of the award. And HUD officials found that even seven years later, no specific use for the land was proposed. We rate Walkers claim Mostly True.","issues":["Jobs","State Budget","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_319","claim":"Is Taco Bell Roy Moore's Main Financial Backer?","posted":"11\/29\/2017","sci_digest":["A social media rumor calling for a boycott of Taco Bell inaccurately claims that either the chain or its owner is the main financial backer of the embattled politician."],"justification":"In November 2017, calls for a boycott of Taco Bell spread on Facebook, claiming that the fast food chain was the financing the Senate run of embattled Alabama politician Roy Moore: Roy Moore   One group post read: group post After finding out that Taco Bell's a major supporter for Roy Moore, I Googled their corporate office contact info and created a screenshot of it. Feel free to call, fax, tweet and email them that you're going to boycott their restaurants until they withdraw their support for this pedophile. A 27 November 2017 Daily Beast article reported that newly accessed records had revealed that one of Moore's donors is a businessman named Peter Nicholas. According to reports, an unknown number of Taco Bell franchises are among Nicholas' ventures: article Newly released documents show Illinois businessman Richard Uihlein is the moneyman behind a group seeking to send Moore to the Senate The chief financier of a leading pro-Roy Moore super PAC is a deep-pocketed Republican businessman who dropped eight figures on 2016 races alone and is looking to continue propping up the partys most conservative candidates. Illinois businessman Richard Uihlein provided $100,000 to the group, Proven Conservatives PAC, since September, according to a new filing with the Federal Election Commission, making him by far the groups top donor. That money, which hadnt been previously disclosed, has financed a host of ads boosting Moores candidacy in the face of widespread sexual assault and harassment allegations. The group has also run ads attacking Moores primary opponent, Sen. Luther Strange (R-AL), and his Democratic general election rival Doug Jones. Proven Conservative PAC officially formed in late August, as the Alabama Senate primary contest heated up. The only major financial support it had previously reported came from a company owned by the family of Alabama timber executive Guice Slawson. In addition to Uihlein, Proven Conservative received money in September from Peter Nicholas, a Florida-based businessman whose chain of Taco Bell franchises has also donated to the campaign of Omar Navarro, a quixotic Republican challenger to California Democrat Rep. Maxine Waters. Taco Bell is under the ownership of parent company Yum! Brands, which does donate to political candidates but which does not appear to have donated to Moore's campaign: Yum! Brands donated   Nicholas is not the owner of either Taco Bell or Yum! Brands; according to reports, he only owns Taco Bell franchises in Florida. How many and which franchises is not immediately apparent, but the majority of Taco Bells are neither owned nor operated by Nicholas. Calls for a boycott or an appeal to the chain's corporate offices appear to be misguided. franchises Markay, Lachlan.  \"Roy Moore Super PAC Financier Finally Revealed.\"\r  The Daily Beast.  27 November 2017.","issues":["finance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1HHllSK5l-TF3MpKnlFfGUcDdJoxgJF7y","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1FB6B_8TQsRFNtfh3heOt1zF6hXWxMDoS","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_320","claim":"Did Trump Propose SSI Changes That Could End Disability Benefits for Thousands?","posted":"12\/18\/2019","sci_digest":["Activists and Congressional Democrats encouraged the public to voice their opposition to the proposals, which were published in November 2019."],"justification":"In December 2019, readers asked us about reports claiming that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump had proposed changes to the way Social Security disability payments are made, which could cause thousands, even hundreds of thousands, to lose their benefits. On Dec. 12, the Philadelphia Inquirer and Chicago Tribune posted an article with the headline \"Trump Administration Proposes Social Security Rule Changes That Could Cut Off Thousands of Disabled Recipients.\" The article reported: \"The Trump administration is proposing changes to Social Security that could terminate disability payments to hundreds of thousands of Americans, particularly older people and children. The new rule would change aspects of disability reviews\u2014the methods by which the Social Security Administration determines whether a person continues to qualify for benefits. Few recipients are aware of the proposal, which is open for public comment through January.\" The left-leaning website Common Dreams published an article with the headline \"'A National Disgrace': Trump Proposes Social Security Change That Could End Disability Benefits for Hundreds of Thousands.\" That story reported: \"Activists are working to raise public awareness and outrage over a little-noticed Trump administration proposal that could strip life-saving disability benefits from hundreds of thousands of people by further complicating the way the Social Security Administration determines who is eligible for payments.\" On the face of it, the changes proposed by the Trump administration would not directly or immediately strip disability benefits from thousands of would-be recipients; rather, the changes would introduce more (and more frequent) eligibility reviews for those who wish to receive them. However, some critics have argued that these increased bureaucratic requirements would overburden some would-be recipients, particularly the most vulnerable, and would ultimately (albeit indirectly) result in thousands losing disability benefits. The Social Security Administration distributes disability benefits in two principal ways: Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), which typically provides benefits to people based on their previous Social Security tax contributions and work history, and is paid out of the Social Security insurance fund; and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), which typically provides benefits to people based on their disability status and inability to work, and is paid out of general tax coffers. In order to prevent potential abuse and waste in the system, the Social Security Administration conducts \"continuing disability reviews,\" essentially investigating whether each recipient still has a disabling condition, and if so, which kind. Those reviews take place more or less frequently, depending on the nature of each individual's disability, which is broken into three \"medical diary categories.\" In November, the Social Security Administration published its proposals to make several changes to the review system. The most significant proposal was to add a fourth medical diary category, \"Medical Improvement Likely.\" Recipients placed in that category would undergo a review every two years. According to a document accompanying the proposals, the decision to introduce the fourth category was made, in part, because the administration saw a pattern whereby some in the \"Medical Improvement Expected\" category were being prematurely subjected to re-evaluation, after six to 18 months, before a medical improvement had the chance to take hold, and some in the \"Medical Improvement Possible\" category had successfully treated their impairment comfortably within the three-year review interval. The introduction of the new category would therefore mean the bureaucratic burden on some recipients would actually be lessened, since they would be subject to review less frequently, though it would also mean others would be subject to more frequent reviews. On the whole, the administration has estimated that, between 2020 and 2029, the new category would tend to require more frequent reviews for those currently in the \"Medical Improvement Possible\" category, rather than less frequent reviews for those currently in the \"Medical Improvement Expected\" category. The administration expects the introduction of the \"Medical Improvement Likely\" category to lead to an 18 percent increase in the total number of reviews undertaken over the next decade. This would lead to an increased upfront cost in administering the disability benefits programs and an increased aggregate bureaucratic burden on recipients (even if some individual recipients would actually undergo reviews less frequently). Greater scrutiny of individual cases and enhanced enforcement of eligibility criteria results in some recipients no longer being deemed eligible and no longer receiving either SSDI or SSI, which saves money for the Social Security insurance fund and the Treasury, respectively. For the 2015 fiscal year, for example, the Social Security Administration calculated a 19.9:1 return on investment rate for disability benefits enforcement\u2014meaning that for every $1 spent on performing reviews, the government would save $19.90 on disability benefits that would otherwise have been paid, over the course of a lifetime, to recipients who are now deemed ineligible. To be specific, the administration estimated that the $717 million spent on reviews in 2015 would ultimately save $14.3 billion in lifetime disability benefit payments. The introduction of the Trump administration's proposals is highly likely to ultimately lead to thousands of disability benefits recipients no longer receiving those benefits, both because some will be overburdened by the bureaucratic demands of more frequent reviews and because some recipients whose medical status no longer meets the eligibility criteria will have that ineligibility discovered sooner. A considerable measure of truth, therefore, exists in the reports published by the Philadelphia Inquirer and Common Dreams. However, those articles failed to mention an important component of the administration's proposals: they would not change how a recipient's eligibility is determined, only how often that determination takes place. As the proposal stated: \"We are not changing the Medical Improvement Review Standard that we use to determine whether a person continues to meet the disability requirements of the Act.\" This means that, while the proposed increase in the number and frequency of reviews was highly likely to ultimately cause thousands to lose their benefits, that loss of benefits would not be arbitrary or based on the application of a new and different standard for determining whether someone's health has improved. The standards and criteria for assessing whether an improvement has taken place would remain the same as currently exist, and only the frequency of those reviews would change. In other words, some recipients would be subject to more frequent reviews, but if those more frequent reviews result in a finding that the recipient still has a qualifying disability or impairment\u2014based on the same criteria as currently apply\u2014the recipient would continue to receive disability benefits. It could be that, as some critics have argued, the proposal represents an elegant way for the administration to save money by removing thousands from the recipient rolls without having to change eligibility criteria\u2014the latter a move that would be more likely to cause public outrage or political opposition. However, on its face at least, the proposal involves enhanced enforcement of existing eligibility standards and criteria. That's an important distinction and a significant omission from news articles that reported, with some justification, that the Trump administration had proposed changes to Social Security disability benefits that would cause thousands to be stripped of those benefits.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1IvU64mATgi4m2r738KR3idVQNDZ_zgIA","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_321","claim":"We have become an energy exporter for the first time ever just recently.","posted":"08\/23\/2017","sci_digest":[],"justification":"In a 75-minute rally speech that revisited his response to the Charlottesville, Va., unrest and scolded the national media, President Donald Trump slid in a note of pride about the United States balance of trade in energy. We're going to do an infrastructure bill, Trump said. We will build gleaming new roads, bridges, highways, railways, waterways, all across our beautiful land. Our greatest creations, our most incredible buildings, our most beautiful works of art are just waiting to be brought to life. American hands will build this future. American energy will power this future. We have become an energy exporter for the first time ever just recently. Was he correct to say that the United States has become an energy exporter for the first time ever just recently? Short answer: No. But to get to the short answer, you have to wade through several possible interpretations of what Trump meant. (The White House did not clarify his meaning for us.) One way to read Trumps statement is to take it literally -- that the United States only recently began to export energy. This is flat wrong. We have been exporting coal, natural gas, electricity, refined products and energy technologies for a very long time, said Paul Sullivan, a professor at National Defense University and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University who specializes in energy security issues. We were once, during the time of JD Rockefeller, the world's near monopoly on kerosene. Liquefied natural gas exports from Alaska to Japan have been around for a long time. Piped gas to Mexico and Canada are normal events. We have a massive electricity trade with Canada. Trump might have meant that the United States had only recently become anetexporter of energy -- meaning the total of all U.S. energy exports recently overtook the total of all U.S. energy imports. This is less wrong, but still not accurate. This has been falling, but we are still a huge net energy importer, said Jason Bordoff, who directs Columbia Universitys Center on Global Energy Policy. In its most recent projections, the federal Energy Information Administrationconcludedthat the United States would become a net energy exporteraround 2026, depending on the course of future patterns of global supply, demand and pricing. Whats clear is that the United States has not yet become a net exporter of energy, as Trumps past-tense remark indicated. If that day comes in 2026 -- and it may or may not -- that would be two years after Trump finishes a possible second term. Perhaps rather than energy, Trump meant to say crude oil. If this is what Trump meant, the statement would still be problematic. It wouldnt be the first time ever. And the relevant change was signed under his predecessor, President Barack Obama. On Dec. 18, 2015, the United Statesenacted legislationto repeal a ban on most crude-oil exports that had been in place since the energy-crisis days of 1975. (Exports of refined petroleum were not blocked by the law, just crude.) Heres a chart showing U.S. crude-oil exports going back to the 1980s. (The years between 1975 and 2015 show some export activity because trade with some countries, such as Canada, was exempt from the law.) The rapid rise in crude-oil exports near the end of the chart reflects the lifting of the export-restriction law. Its possible to substitute any number of energy subcategories into Trumps remark to see whether they make the statement more accurate. Some do, some dont. The United States has been a net coal exporter for many years. It has been a net exporter of refined petroleum products sincearound 2011. So neither of those would make Trump correct. Natural gas is a more promising option. The United States is not yet a net exporter of natural gas, but the difference between imports and exports has narrowed for nine consecutive years,according to EIA, falling to its smallest gap ever in 2016. And the agencyprojectsthat the United States will become a net exporter of natural gas once the 2017 numbers are tallied up. Energy experts say that this is a significant development, though one that Trump can take little credit for. It has been a trend that was activated by the U.S. shale boom and made possible by the Obama administration's policy on liquefied natural gas exports, said Anna Mikulska, a fellow with Rice Universitys Center for Energy Studies. Ironically, Bordoff added, a different Trump policy goal --reviewing Obama-era increases in fuel-efficiency standards for vehicles-- could make it harder for the United States to become a net exporter of energy, the very thing he applauded in Phoenix. Trumps stated intention to ease fuel economy standards actually undermines the goal of becoming a net energy exporter, because it means the U.S. will be consuming more oil than we would otherwise, he said. The EIA projections assume the planned increases in fuel economy go into effect, so the EIA projection of when we become a net exporter of energy would be pushed further out if we weaken fuel economy standards. Trump said that we have become an energy exporter for the first time ever just recently. This statement is problematic regardless of how you interpret his statement -- gross energy exports, net energy exports, gross crude-oil exports, and net natural gas exports. The closest he would come to being accurate is if he were referring to net natural gas exports, but even there, it hasnt happened yet, contrary to what his past-tense statement indicates. We rate the statement False.","issues":["National","Energy","Trade"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1d0sc1wo4LqzNMUeIWX4HdeocXX8bQ56l","image_caption":"net"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Cjg-ppup54QVw7ko2ef-jORORfqeGovN","image_caption":"net"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_322","claim":"Was Deutsche Bank a source of funding for Auschwitz, Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, and ISIS?","posted":"11\/13\/2020","sci_digest":["The suggestion that working from home is a \"privilege\" led some on social media to dig into the bank's past."],"justification":"On Nov. 11, 2020, Bloomberg reported that strategists at Deutsche Bank, one of the largest financial institutions in the world, recommended levying a tax against people who plan to continue working from home, arguing that \"remote workers should pay a tax for the privilege. At least on Twitter, this was a poorly received take. One particularly viral response alleged that the bank \"funded Auschwitz, Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein and ISIS.\" reported response     As we show below, the tweet is a largely accurate recounting of history, though the assertion that the bank funded ISIS overstates what is publicly known at this time. In 1999, during negotiations to merge with the New York-based Bankers Trust, the Germany-based Deutsche Bank disclosed that it had helped finance the construction of the Nazi death camp Auschwitz. As reported by Reuters at the time, Deutsche Bank's historian, Manfred Pohl, described the bank's loans to companies involved in multiple aspects of Auschwitz, including loans for construction of the camp and its incineration units, as well as to a company involved in the production of the deadly Zyklon-B gas, which the Nazis used to murder millions: reported Manfred Pohl, head of Deutsche Banks historical institute, said newly uncovered documents showed the bank had links with firms that built the camp in Poland. It also had credit links to one company that made incineration units and funded another whose subsidiary made the Zyklon-B gas used in the camp. On examination of credit records, we determined that branches . had credit links to local companies which were active at the construction site . in Auschwitz, Pohl said at a media briefing in Frankfurt. Pohl told reporters that the existence of these loans would have been known to high-ranking managers of the bank. \"It is clear that this was known as high up at the main office in Katowice. It is not certain whether it was known in Berlin,\" Pohl said, though he added these loans would have had to be approved in Berlin to go ahead. Deutsche Bank has had a relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump since 1998. As reported in The New York Times, \"Over the course of two decades, the bank lent him more than $2 billion  so much that by the time he was elected, Deutsche Bank was by far his biggest creditor.\" Speaking to Reuters in November 2020, one bank official said that the Trump Organization currently has around $340 million in outstanding debt from the bank: reported Reuters Deutsche Bank has about $340 million in loans outstanding to the Trump Organization, the presidents umbrella group that is currently overseen by his two sons, according to filings made by Trump to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics in July and a senior source within the bank. The three loans, which are against Trump properties and start coming due in two years, are current on payments and personally guaranteed by the president, according to two bank officials. According to that Reuters report, the bank is looking to distance itself from the president moving forward. Their relationship with Trump \"cemented Deutsche Banks reputation as a reckless institution willing to do business with clients nobody else would touch,\" they wrote. \"It has made the company a magnet for prosecutors, regulators and lawmakers hoping to penetrate the presidents opaque financial affairs.\" Regardless, Trump's history with Deutsche Bank is factual and well known. Reuters According to a 2019 report by the New York State Department of Financial Services, \"the relationship between Deutsche Bank and Mr. Epstein officially began on August 19, 2013\" and eventually involved his opening and funding \"more than 40 accounts at the Bank.\" 2019 report Controversially, they entered into business with Epstein after his 2008 arrest for the solicitation of a minor and after other media revelations about Epstein's alleged trafficking of underage women for sex. Some of these Deutsche Bank accounts were involved in suspicious transactions including, according to The New York Times, \"suspiciously large cash withdrawals and 120 wire transfers totaling $2.65 million to women with Eastern European surnames and people who had been publicly identified as Mr. Epsteins co-conspirators.\" according In July 2020, Deutsche Bank agreed to pay $150 million to the New York State Department of Financial Services \"to settle allegations that it maintained weak internal controls, including processing hundreds of transactions for Jeffrey Epstein despite the billionaires troubled history.\" The bank has since apologized for its association with Epstein. apologized In the banking world, Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) are notifications made by financial institutions to the United States government about potentially suspicious or illegal activity. A transaction labeled suspicious in these reports does not necessarily indicate illegal activity, however. SARs issued about transactions involving Deutsche Bank have been used to link them to ISIS in multiple investigations. made In December 2017, BuzzFeed News reported on SARs showing that Deutsche Bank had been engaged in business with a corrupt Cyprus bank named FBME that \"served as a major conduit to terrorism, organized crime, and chemical weapons.\" The SARs revealed that \"Deutsche processed hundreds of millions of dollars of suspicious transactions for FBME clients  including a Kremlin-linked network of Russian slush funds funneling money to financiers of the Syrian regime and a businessman trading oil with ISIS.\" The reports do not indicate, however, that Deutsche Bank knowingly participated in illegal activity. reported In September 2020, the existence of an even larger trove of SARs obtained by BuzzFeed News and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) was announced. The collaboration  a project named the FinCEN files  led to hundreds of stories in newsrooms across the world. One story, published by Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ), identified further transactions that could point to a potential involvement of Deutsche Bank in the movement of funds to, from, and within ISIS held territory. FinCEN files story The files, ARIJ said, \"reveal suspicious money transfers of at least $4 billion flagged by Deutsche Banks US branches and Bank of America to a number of Iraqi banks between June 15, 2014 and June 30, 2015.\" Though the files do not indicate which bank branches were used, they reported, \"the transactions were sent and received during the height of the Islamic States reign and its control over several Iraqi bank branches.\" The report notes that \"many of the banks in northern Iraq were in areas of IS [Islamic State] influence, and such transfers could be the proceeds of the illicit oil and gas trade that the organisation largely relied on in its areas of control.\" said While suggestive of an at least unwitting role for Deutsche Bank in ISIS related finances, these reports are not strong enough evidence to support the statement that Deutsche Bank \"funds\" ISIS. Because there is some truth to the ISIS claim, and because the other assertions are true, we rank the overall claim made in the viral tweet as \"true.\"","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1IrwvBQuciylonEs2U5JBi5HKq5Wv9-Fn"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_323","claim":"Does Prince Harry Say His Father Traumatized Him By Playing 'Got Your Nose'?","posted":"01\/16\/2023","sci_digest":["Following the release of Prince Harry's memoir \"Spare,\" the \"I've got your nose\" gag got royal infamy."],"justification":"On Jan. 14, 2023, media personality Megyn Kelly posted a meme to her Twitter account about Prince Harry and King Charles III that was originally created as a joke, but some onlookers appeared to take it seriously. posted Prince Harry and King Charles III  (Screenshot, @megynkelly Twitter page) The tweet contained an image of Harry and a fake quote about his father, Charles, supposedly from his memoir, \"Spare,\" which published in January 2023. \"When I was a child my father grabbed my nose then pulled away with his thumb between his fingers saying 'I've got you're [sic] nose' I thought I had been badly disfigured, the torment I suffered haunts me to this day,\" the fake quote says. Author Sherry Morris appeared to take the tweet at face value, and the meme appeared in Snopes' inbox of tips from readers for fact-checking: appeared to take the tweet Snopes' inbox of tips  \"My dad did that. It was funny. I understood he didn't really have my nose. Good grief I hope his father didn't ask him to pull his finger,\" Morris tweeted. A couple of things point to the quote being fake and not having come from a published book, namely the misspelling of \"your\" and the bad punctuation. The image also contains a watermark that says \"Belfast Mafia,\" which is a Facebook account that posts satirical and humorous memes. The account first shared the meme on Jan. 10. Facebook account shared the meme on Jan. 10 It wasn't the only meme of its kind by Belfast Mafia. Using the same image of Harry, the page made asimilarpiece of satirewith a fake quote about him supposedly being traumatized by his older brother William reaching behind him and tapping him on the shoulder. similar [See also on Snopes:Did the BBC Describe Prince Harry's Book as 'Weirdest Book' Written by a Royal?] Did the BBC Describe Prince Harry's Book as 'Weirdest Book' Written by a Royal? Palma, Bethania. \"Did the BBC Describe Prince Harry's Book as 'Weirdest Book' Written by a Royal?\" Snopes, 13 Jan. 2023, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/did-the-bbc-describe-prince-harrys-book-as-weirdest-book-written-by-a-royal\/. \"Prince Harry's Spare Becomes Fastest-Selling Non-Fiction Book Ever.\" Guinness World Records, 13 Jan. 2023, https:\/\/www.guinnessworldrecords.com\/news\/2023\/1\/prince-harrys-spare-becomes-fastest-selling-non-fiction-book-ever-732915.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1zInG_n0q3YO9uXLswIGaPgQj49kPRPY3","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_324","claim":"Did Officials in Georgia Stop a Bus Filled with Black Seniors Going to Vote?","posted":"10\/19\/2018","sci_digest":["Activists have accused Jefferson County officials of racially-motivated voter suppression, but officials claim they were enforcing a ban on \"political activities\" at a Louisville senior center."],"justification":"Officials in Jefferson County, Georgia, faced allegations of racially-motivated voter suppression in October 2018 in response to an incident in which a voter registration group was ordered to return a group of African-American seniors to a county-run senior center, after those seniors boarded a bus to cast ballots during early voting for the November elections. The liberal web site ThinkProgress reported of the incident that: reported Seniors in rural Georgia were dancing in the street, preparing to board Black Voters Matters bus to cast their ballots Monday, the first day of the states early voting period. But the county administrator ordered the senior center to take the 40 or so elderly African Americans off the bus  an act organizers described as live voter suppression. In a Facebook video about the incident, which took place on 15 October, the group's co-founders LaTosha Brown and Cliff Albright characterized the county's decision as racially-motivated voter suppression, with Albright saying: Somebody called the County Commission to complain because they saw all these black folks get on this big black bus -- it's the blackest bus in America -- somebody drove past, saw that, got nervous, got mad, called the County Commission's office, which then called the center. And the bottom line was, all the folks who had just got on the bus -- and the bus was full, this is a 50-passenger bus full of folks -- had to come off the bus. There's not a candidate on this bus, there's not a party symbol on this bus, but I'm going to tell you what is on this bus -- a whole bunch of black fists in the air with the word \"power\" underneath it. That's what scared them and made them say \"Those folks have to come off that bus.\" However, Jefferson County administrator Adam Brett insisted that the event constituted \"political activity,\" something that the county purportedly does not allow on county property or at county-sponsored events. Jefferson County Democrats Chair Diane Evans was on the bus in question and helped organize the visit to the senior center in the first place, as revealed in email correspondence published by Augusta television station WJBF. WJBF Furthermore, Brett said he had not \"vetted\" Black Voters Matter, and that allowing the senior citizens to leave with an unfamiliar outside group could have been a \"liability\" for the county, which operates the senior center in Louisville and also organizes its own chartered buses for seniors to get to polling stations. said In a statement sent to us, Brett wrote: The Jefferson County Board of Commissioners has a practice of not allowing political activities during normal business hours on County property or at County sponsored activities. On October 15th, the Senior Center staff declined to allow a third party and unknown bus operator to pick County residents on County property for political purposes. The Senior Center staff routinely arrange Jefferson County Public Transit to transport senior citizens to vote. In an email, Albright rejected Brett's \"liability\" argument, calling it \"paternalistic\" and pointing out that the Louisville senior center is an activities center, not a residential center: Seniors can come [and] go when they please and with whomever they choose to leave with. If they want to leave with a family member, an Uber driver, or an organization they trust, that is their own choice. These are grown adults who decided who they wanted to leave with, and despite Mr. Bretts paternalistic need to feel comfortable with that decision, he has no control over those choices, nor liability [for them]. We asked Brett what the legal basis was for his order (carried out by staff at the senior center) not to \"allow\" the seniors to travel to the polling station with Black Voters Matter and requested that he clarify Jefferson County's legal authority and liabilities relating to people who use the senior center. We did not receive a response to those questions. Albright told us that staff at the senior center had given advance permission for Black Voters Matter to visit the center and hold an event there, but not for them to escort seniors to polling stations. However, he maintained this was because the group had not initially planned to take the bus trip, which he said the seniors themselves had asked for, spontaneously: The seniors requested to ride the bus to go vote after they saw it and were excited. The center director approved\/supported the request, which is why the seniors even got on the bus. It was not until the county administrator called the center director that it became a problem. Albright also questioned the sincerity of Brett's invocation of county policy on \"political activities,\" pointing out that Jody Hice, a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives, is scheduled to host an event at the senior center on 27 October. (Albright emphasized that he thought the event in question was very worthy and should be allowed to take place at the center, but he saw it as an example of a double standard.) scheduled In fact, on the same day that the seniors were prevented from travelling with Black Voters Matter to a polling station, the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners actually promoted Congressman Hice's event at the senior center on their Facebook page, in a post that was taken word-for-word from Hice's earlier press release: press release   We asked Brett to explain why the county had forbidden an event in which a bus carrying a local Democratic party official -- but no elected politician or candidate -- was to escort seniors to a polling station away from the center itself, but allowed a sitting Republican Congressman, who is actively campaigning for re-election, to host an event in the center itself. We also asked why the Board of Commissioners had promoted that event. We did not receive a response to those questions. re-election In a separate Facebook post, the Board of Commissioners explained that the bus trip had been forbidden because it \"was led by the President of the Jefferson County Democratic Party [Diane Evans] and as such was considered a political event.\" However, the Black Voters Matter's visit had been organized with the assistance of Evans, and yet it was still allowed to take place. post We asked Brett why the Black Voters Matter visit was allowed to go ahead despite the involvement of Evans, but the bus trip was not, and asked whether he had considered requesting that Evans disembark the bus (given that her involvement was purportedly the source of the county's objections) rather than ordering the seniors to return to the center. Again, we did not receive a response to these questions. Conclusion It is true that on 15 October 2018, staff at the Jefferson County senior center in Louisville enacted the instructions of County Administrator Adam Brett by insisting that a group of seniors return to the center after they voluntarily boarded a bus operated on behalf of Black Voters Matter, a voter registration group. The leaders of that group characterized the incident as racially-motivated voter suppression, but Brett insisted otherwise, stating that the reasons for his order were twofold: the involvement of Jefferson County Democrats Chair Diane Evans meant that the bus trip constituted \"political activity,\" something the county could not allow, and county officials had not vetted Black Voters Matter or the bus operator, creating a potential liability for the county which Brett was unwilling to assume. However, it must be acknowledged that significant problems exist with the coherence of the twofold rationale outlined by Brett. First, it is not clear that Jefferson County actually has any legal liability for anything that happens to those who use the center once they have left the center. Likewise, it's not clear that Brett had any legal authority to \"not allow\" seniors to travel to the polling station or Black Voters Matter to escort them there. Second, the consistency with which Jefferson County enforces their prohibition on \"political activities\" at the senior center is questionable. On the one hand, Brett forbade the bus trip to the polling station on this basis due to the involvement of a local Democratic official, even though the bus trip would have taken the seniors away from the senior center, and even though the county allowed a visit to the senior center which had been organized with the help of that same Democratic official. But Jefferson County's Board of Commissioners also sanctioned a forthcoming event to be hosted by Jody Hice, a sitting Republican Congressman and active election candidate, which is scheduled to take place in the center itself, and the Board of Commissioners has promoted that event on Facebook in a post taken word-for-word from Hice's earlier press release. Lerner, Kira.& nbsp; \"'This Is Live Voter Suppression': Black Voters Matter Blocked grom Taking Seniors to Vote.\"\r  ThinkProgress.  15 October 2018. DuBose, Renetta.  \"Jefferson County: 'It Was Miscommunication, Not Voter Suppression.'\"\r  WJBF-TV.  17 October 2018. Hice, Jody.  \"Press Release -- Hice to Host Helping Our Heroes Veterans' Event.\"\r  U.S. Representative Jody Hice.  10 October 2018. The New York Times.  \"Georgia Primary Election Results: 10th House District.\"\r  29 May 2018. Correction [22 October 2018]: In some instances, this article previously referred to the Chairperson of the Jefferson County Democrats as Diane Davis. She is Diane Evans.","issues":["liability"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1yD5lBLhghGxAonjpK4TkEU-czyGDoRK-","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_325","claim":"Judge David Kithil's opinion on the Affordable Care Act","posted":"12\/02\/2009","sci_digest":["Letter from Judge David Kithil provides line-item criticism of health care reform legislation."],"justification":" Claim:  Letter from Judge David Kithil provides accurate line item criticisms of \"Obamacare\" health care reform legislation.  Examples:  [Collected via e-mail, November 2009] I have reviewed selected sections of the bill and find it unbelievable that our Congress, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, could come up with a bill loaded with so many wrong-headed elements. We do need to reform the health insurance system in America in order to make coverage affordable and available to everyone. But, how many of us believe our federal government can manage a new program any better than the bankrupt Medicare program or the underfunded Social Security program? Both Republicans and Democrats are equally responsible for the financial mess of those two programs. I am opposed to HB 3200 for a number of reasons. To start with, it is estimated that a federal bureaucracy of more than 150,000 new employees will be required to administer HB3200. That is an unacceptable expansion of a government that is already too intrusive in our lives. If we are going to hire 150,000 new employees, let's put them to work protecting our borders, fighting the massive drug problem and putting more law enforcement\/firefighters out there.\" Other problems I have with this bill include: Page 50\/section 152: The bill will provide insurance to all non-U.S. residents, even if they are here illegally. Page 58 and 59: The government will have real-time access to an individual's bank account and will have the authority to make electronic fund transfers from those accounts. Page 65\/section 164: The plan will be subsidized (by the government) for all union members, union retirees and for community organizations (such as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now - ACORN). Page 203\/line 14-15: The tax imposed under this section will not be treated as a tax. (How could anybody in their right mind come up with that?) Page 241 and 253: Doctors will all be paid the same regardless of specialty, and the government will set all doctors' fees. Page 272. section 1145: Cancer hospital will ration care according to the patient's age. Page 317 and 321: The government will impose a prohibition on hospital expansion; however, communities may petition for an exception. Page 425, line 4-12: The government mandates advance-care planning consultations. Those on Social Security will be required to attend an \"end-of-life planning\" seminar every five years. Page 429, line 13-25: The government will specify which doctors can write an end-of-life order. Finally, it is specifically stated this bill will not apply to members of Congress. Members of Congress are already exempt from the Social Security system and have a well-funded private plan that covers their retirement needs. If they were on our Social Security plan, I believe they would find a very quick \"fix\" to make the plan financially sound for the future.\" Honorable David Kithil Marble Falls, Texas.  Origins:  A number of similar pieces presenting lists of line item criticisms of a pending health care reform bill (H.R. 3200) began circulating on the Internet in mid-2009, and they continue to circulate widely three years later as arguments to oppose the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), commonly known as \"Obamacare.\" The versions of this item that continue to be spread via e-mail forwards and online postings are wrong in nearly every particular, however:  Although this list is commonly attributed as originating with a letter sent to Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana by Dr. Stephen E. Fraser, an Indianapolis anesthesiologist, or as a letter sent to the River Cities Tribune by David Kithil, a former county judge in Marble Falls, Texas, it is actually the work of Peter Fleckenstein, who issued Peter Fleckenstein the list as a series of Tweets and posted it to his blog in July 2009.  The bill referenced in this list, America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 (H.R. 3200), was never passed by Congress.  A   completely different bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590), became the basis for what is now known as \"Obamacare.\"  Many of the entries in the list are therefore irrelevant and outdated, as they address aspects of health care reform legislation that were never enacted by Congress (particularly the \"public option\" for a government insurance plan). H.R. 3200 H.R. 3590  Virtually every statement included in this list is exaggerated, misleading, inaccurate, or outright erroneous, as detailed below:    The bill will provide insurance to all non-U.S. residents, even if they are here illegally. This is false.  The PPACA, as enacted, doesn't \"provide insurance\" to anyone  it institutes some regulations on the insurance industry to make medical insurance more broadly available and affordable to Americans, and it requires that Americans enroll in PPACA-qualified medical plans or pay a penalty, but everyone is still responsible for obtaining (and paying for) their own insurance coverage.   Moreover, the section of the unpassed HB 3200 bill referenced in the above statement is 152. PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION IN HEALTH CARE, which simply states that \"[e]xcept as otherwise explicitly permitted by this Act and by subsequent regulations consistent with this Act, all health care and related services (including insurance coverage and public health activities) covered by this Act shall be provided without regard to personal characteristics extraneous to the provision of high quality health care or related services.\"  It doesn't explicity grant or authorize government funds for providing illegal immigrants with health care or health insurance, and another section of the bill specifically states that  \"Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States.\"  The government will have real-time access to an individual's bank account and will have the authority to make electronic fund transfers from those accounts. This is false. The section of HB 3200 referenced here does nothing more than attempt to provide a framework for simplifying the use of electronic payments for health services, emulating the way that many consumers currently use to make a variety of other payments (e.g., utilities, mortgages, credit card balances).   The bill simply calls for the secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to set standards for electronic administrative transactions that would \"enable electronic funds transfers, in order to allow automated reconciliation with the related health care payment and remittance advice.\"  Nothing in this section grants the government \"real-time access to an individual's bank account\" or the \"authority to make electronic fund transfers from those accounts.\"  The bill doesn't even require that consumers use an electronic payment system  it simply seeks to make that an option for those who want to use it.   The plan will be subsidized (by the government) for all union members, union retirees and for community organizations (such as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now - ACORN). This statement is misleading, as the section of HB 3200 referenced here is SEC. 164. REINSURANCE PROGRAM FOR RETIREES, which addresses \"retirees and ... spouses, surviving spouses and dependents of such retirees\" who are covered by \"employment-based [health benefit] plans.\"  It does not specifically provide for subsidizing health insurance for \"all union members, union retirees and community organizations\"; it sets up a new federal reinsurance plan for any retirees and their spouses who are covered by any employer plan, not just those who are covered under plans run by unions or community groups.  The reinsurance would be available to any \"group health benefits plan that ... is maintained by one or more employers, former employers or employee associations.\"  The tax imposed under this section will not be treated as a tax. (How could anybody in their right mind come up with that?) This statement misleadingly tries to make HB 3200 sound ridiculous by deliberately eliding the end of the statement it quotes.  What the bill actually says is that\"The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax imposed by this chapter for purposes of determining the amount of any credit under this chapter or for purposes of section 55.\"  Section 55 is a reference to the Alternative Minimum Tax, and the purpose of this portion of the bill is to mitigate the effects that new health care-related taxes would have on persons making over $350,000 a year.   Doctors will all be paid the same regardless of specialty, and the government will set all doctors' fees. This is false. The section of the bill referenced here is an updating of the physician fee schedule for Medicare services, which neither states that \"all doctors will be paid the same regardless of specialty\" nor that the \"government will set all doctors' fees.\"  All this section does is slightly revise the formula used for determining how much doctors are reimbursed for providing Medicare services, depending upon which of two categories those services fall under.   Cancer hospital will ration care according to the patient's age. This is false. The section referenced here is one which does nothing more than call for a study to determine whether certain classes of hospitals incur higher costs than other hospitals for the cancer-related care they deliver, with the aim of providing \"an appropriate adjustment [in payments] \"to reflect those higher costs.\" This section in no way \"rations care\" provided by \"cancer hospitals\" based on a patient's age (or any other factor); it simply seeks to pay some hospitals more to compensate for their higher costs in treating cancer patients.  The government will impose a prohibition on hospital expansion; however, communities may petition for an exception. This is mostly false. As noted by FactCheck, forbids hospital expansion \"only for rural, doctor-owned hospitals that have been given a waiver from the general prohibition on self-referral. It does not apply to hospitals in general. The bill provides for exceptions to even this limited expansion ban.\"   The government mandates advance-care planning consultations. Those on Social Security will be required to attend an \"end-of-life planning\" seminar every five years. This is false. This statement references a much-distorted portion of the bill that would allow for Medicare to cover voluntary counseling sessions for seniors with their doctors to discuss aspects of end-of-life care such as hospice care, DNR orders, life-sustaining treatments, living wills, and the like (a form of counseling not previously covered by Medicare).  Nothing about such counseling sessions would be mandatory, for Social Security recipients or anyone else.   The government will specify which doctors can write an end-of-life order. This is false. The bill does not \"specify which doctors can write an end-of-life order.\"  It merely defines an \"end-of-life order\" (i.e., an order for life-sustaining treatment) as a document \"signed and dated by a physician [that] effectively communicates the individual's preferences regarding life sustaining treatment.\"  It is specifically stated this bill will not apply to members of Congress. This is false. HB 3200 did not contain a provision stating that it would \"not apply to members of Congress.\"  The bill likely would have had little or no effect on members of Congress because they belong to a class of federal worker who have the benefit of choosing from a variety of subsidized insurance plans offered through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, but the same requirements for obtaining and having health insurance would have applied to them just as much to other citizens.  The version of the PPACA that was actually passed did indeed require lawmakers to give up the insurance coverage previously provided to them through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and instead purchase health insurance through the online exchanges that the law created.  Variations:  A later version of this piece was prefaced with the false claim that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act limits the amount of Medicare coverage provided to those over the age of 75 or 76.  This claim is covered in a separate article on this site: separate PLEASE PASS THIS OUTRAGE TO EVERYONE ON YOUR LIST!!! THIS should be readby everyone, especially important to those over 75.......If you areyounger, then it applies to your parents. Your hospital Medicare admittance has just change under Obama Care. Youmust be admitted by your primary Physician in order for Medicare to payfor it! If you are admitted by an emergency room doctor it is treated asoutpatient care where hospital costs are not covered. This is only the tipof the iceberg for Obama Care. Just wait to see what happens in 2013 &2014! Age 76 Today, I went to the Dr. for my monthly B12 shot that I have beengetting for a number of years. The nurse came and got me, got out theneedle filled and ready to go then looked at the computer and got veryquiet and asked if I was prepared to pay for it. I said no that myinsurance takes care of it. She said, that Medicare had turned it down and went to talk to my Dr.about it. 15 minutes later she came back and said, she was sorry but theyhad tried everything they could but Medicare is beginning to turn manythings away for seniors because of the projected Obama Care coming in. Shewas brushing at tears and said, \"Someday they too will get old\", I am sovery sorry!! Please for the sake of many good people ... be informed please.YOU ARE NOT GOING TO LIKE THIS. Last updated:  11 March 2014 ","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=12lNMz2upDDqSckiUWj-pbVzZ-hYUKF4f"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_326","claim":"Is COVID-19 Being Spread Through Gas Pumps?","posted":"03\/22\/2020","sci_digest":["Gas pump handles are one of many common objects that could be contaminated, so consumers should take reasonable precautions to avoid exposure."],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease. \n\nIn March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, social media users began sharing warnings about the virus allegedly \"spreading quickly from gas pumps.\" Such warnings cautioned readers to use gloves or paper towels while pumping gas and to discard them immediately afterward. One particular version of this warning attributed the advice to \"Galway Hospital\" in Ireland. \n\nIn early August 2021, Snopes readers sent our team a new iteration of the claim with slightly different language that seemed to have been updated in response to the then-rampant Delta variant: \"The hospital sent a message this morning that the Covid-19\/delta mutant virus seems to be spreading rapidly through gasoline pumps, asking everyone to wear gloves or use paper towels when refueling and handling\u2014please share. Please send it to everyone in your contact list. Don't keep this information to yourself. Make it available to all your family and friends.\" \n\nAs with many coronavirus-related pieces of advice, this is somewhat of a mixed bag. We're not aware of any credible reports of COVID-19 being spread via gas pump handles, which would likely be difficult to determine as the specific source of any particular infection. It is true that surface contact is one of the means of transmission of the novel coronavirus, and since gas pumps are objects that are typically handled by many different people throughout the day\u2014often without being regularly cleaned between uses, especially in areas where self-service is the norm\u2014they are a potential route for the virus to spread from person to person. \n\nThe CDC issued new guidance for employees at transit stations in June 2021 in response to growing concerns about SARS-CoV-2 variants. The virus mainly spreads from person to person through respiratory droplets emitted when a person coughs, sneezes, or talks. It can also be spread by touching a surface that has the virus on it and then touching the face, mouth, nose, or eyes. In May 2020, the CDC shared an instructional Facebook post to inform consumers on how to safely pump gas. In the post, the agency recommended using disinfecting wipes on handles and buttons before touching them, using hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol after pumping and paying, and washing hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and water upon arriving at the destination. \n\nLike door handles, grocery carts, and ATMs, many people touch gas pumps throughout the day. The chance of COVID-19 exposure at the gas pump is low, especially if CDC-recommended practices are followed, wrote the American Petroleum Institute (API) in a one-page statement. Research conducted by a collaboration of scientific institutions, including the National Institutes of Health and Princeton University, found that the virus can survive up to three days on some surfaces. But as API pointed out, several events would need to happen for the virus to spread from a pump to a person. \n\nFirst, a person with COVID-19, with or without symptoms, would have to emit respiratory droplets containing the virus within six feet of a pump or touch it with contaminated hands. The virus would then need to survive long enough for a non-COVID-19 individual to touch the surface in a way that the virus would be transferred to their hands. Lastly, the healthy individual would then have to touch their eyes, nose, or mouth. While it is entirely possible to encounter SARS-CoV-2 by touching a gas pump, surface-to-surface transmission is not thought to be the primary means of spreading the virus. At this time, we are not aware of any studies that support the claim that the virus can be transmitted via contact with a gas pump, wrote API. However, the level of risk associated with contracting the virus from a gas pump is no different than the risk associated with touching other common surfaces like grocery store carts or door handles. \n\nBut how much risk pumping gas poses relative to other ordinary day-to-day activities is difficult to determine. Consumer Reports, for example, offered advice in 2020 that was consistent with what was expressed in some social media warnings: \"For many, the occasional trip to the gas station is inevitable, as is touching the pump handle and payment keypad. Pump handles and credit card keypads, which are high-touch areas, could have the virus present, which experts say can stay alive for hours or even days on hard surfaces. There are a few things you can do that will help you stay safe when you have to pump gas.\" \n\nConsider carrying some disposable nitrile or latex gloves in your car to use when gripping the pump handle. Short of that, you can try to use paper towels that are sometimes available at the pump or have some with you to cover your hands when you grip the handle. Invert the gloves and throw them away, along with any paper towels you might have used. Use hand sanitizer to ensure your hands are clean after you're done and before you get back into your car. \n\nIn response to the 2020 social media posts, the Irish Petroleum Industry Association told TheJournal.ie the following: \"Our members are implementing enhanced hygiene protocols in our service station shops. In line with HSE [Health and Safety Executive] advice, our workers regularly wash and sanitize their hands and the areas customers interact with, such as fuel nozzles, credit card PIN pads, door handles, and food areas. We are aware of messages being shared on social media and wanted to inform customers that pump handles are no more or less prone to the spread of infection than any other hard surface and to outline the significant steps we are taking to combat the spread of COVID-19 and keep our valued customers safe.\" \n\nGas pumps could be considered somewhat more of a concern because consumers typically touch other surfaces\u2014such as the door handles and interiors of their vehicles\u2014immediately afterward, potentially creating another pathway of contamination for themselves or others. However, gas pumps are just one of many objects that multiple people commonly handle in a similar fashion throughout the day, including ATMs, payment processing systems, shopping cart handles, and currency, all of which pose varying degrees of risk. \n\nPreston, Benjamin. \"How to Protect Yourself Against Coronavirus When Pumping Gas.\" Consumer Reports. 21 March 2020. Grey, Jess. \"How to Clean and Disinfect Yourself, Your Home, and Your Stuff.\" Wired. 19 March 2020. National Institutes of Health. \"New Coronavirus Stable for Hours on Surfaces.\" 17 March 2020. The Journal.ie. \"Debunked: No, 'Galway Hospital' Hasn't Circulated a Message Telling People to Wear Gloves at Petrol Pumps.\" 20 March 2020. Update [Aug. 5, 2021]: This article was updated to include a new iteration of the claim that circulated in response to the Delta variant, as well as to include new guidance issued by the CDC.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1fabafJbiPHfu8ZF_2fEdyJBtBa3lA-5d","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1NB_PGjlvwq7bjIfsjYbV8wsLT0evTR2w","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_327","claim":"Did Trey Gowdy Praise '2000 Mules'?","posted":"05\/12\/2022","sci_digest":["According to a viral meme, Gowdy attended a viewing of the film purporting to prove the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort."],"justification":"In May 2022, a fake quote was attributed to former congressman Trey Gowdy in an attempt to hype the film \"2000 Mules\" on social media:    This is not a genuine quote from Gowdy. It doesn't appear on Gowdy's social media feeds, nor does it appear in any genuine news articles about \"2000 Mules\" or Gowdy.  Gowdy confirmed to The Associated Press that this quote is fake and that he had never seen or even heard of the film: Both assertions are completely false. Never said it. Didnt attend. Never heard of the movie much less seen the movie. So, its false at every level. confirmed to The Associated Press \"2000 Mules\" is a documentary released in May 2022 by Dinesh D'Souza, a right-wing political commentator who received a pardon from former U.S. President Donald Trump after pleading guilty to violating campaign finance laws in 2014. The film attempts to further the discredited premise that the 2020 election was marred by widespread voter fraud.  pardon from former U.S. President Donald Trump A number of news organizations looked into the movie's claims and found them to be sorely lacking. The Washington Post said the film offered the \"least convincing election-fraud theory yet.\" The Associated Press wrote that there were \"gaping holes\" in the film's claims, and the Denver Post wrote that the film used \"faulty assumptions, anonymous accounts and improper analysis of cellphone location data.\" Washington Post said the film Associated Press wrote Denver Post wrote The movie has received little to no attention from mainstream conservative media outlets.  mainstream conservative media outlets Analysis | 2000 Mules Offers the Least Convincing Election-Fraud Theory Yet. Washington Post. www.washingtonpost.com, https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2022\/05\/11\/2000-mules-offers-least-convincing-election-fraud-theory-yet\/. Accessed 12 May 2022. PolitiFact - The Faulty Premise of the 2,000 Mules Trailer about Voting by Mail in the 2020 Election. Politifact, https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/article\/2022\/may\/04\/faulty-premise-2000-mules-trailer-about-voting-mai\/. Accessed 12 May 2022. Press, Ali Swenson |. The Associated. Fact-Checking 2000 Mules, the Movie Alleging Ballot Fraud. The Denver Post, 8 May 2022, https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2022\/05\/08\/2000-mules-fact-check\/. Staten, Adam. Dinesh DSouza Slams Tucker Carlson, Newsmax over New Documentary Coverage. Newsweek, 9 May 2022, https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/dinesh-dsouza-slams-tucker-carlson-newsmax-over-new-documentary-coverage-1704863.","issues":["finance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1pyOllKDRjbtNeNs79ttLhUPquQ7lOVZW","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_328","claim":"Did President Trump Say \u201cEverybody Would Be Very Poor\u201d If He Were Impeached?","posted":"08\/30\/2018","sci_digest":["The chief executive asserted that if the country were deprived of his thinking, markets would crash and everyone would be poor as a result."],"justification":"On 23 August 2018, amid news of the plea deal involving Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen and the conviction of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort on eight counts of financial crimes, President Trump sat down with Fox and Friends' Ainsley Earhardt for an interview. The topic of impeachment was broached by the President himself, who ruminated, \"I don't know how you can impeach somebody who's done a great job.\" His follow-up to that remark quickly became the subject of online memes. Indeed, President Trump suggested that removing him from office would have catastrophic financial ramifications for the U.S. financial markets and for all Americans, as the country's economy could not survive being stripped of his \"thinking.\" That same day, CNBC reported that the market \"had little reaction so far to Trump's renewed legal troubles,\" adding that \"traders say the market ... expects Trump to avoid impeachment unless the special counsel investigation can tie the president directly to collusion with Russia to sway the 2016 election,\" reported Melloy, John. \"Trump Says the Stock Market Would Crash If He Were Impeached: 'Everybody Would Be Very Poor'.\" CNBC. 23 August 2018.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=19uvpP-VylN7uaaZJL--mkrFAiUeAErkA","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_329","claim":"Russian Forces to Provide Security at U.S. Events","posted":"07\/02\/2013","sci_digest":["Will Russian forces be providing security at large events in the U.S.?"],"justification":"Claim:  Russian forces will be providing security at large events in the U.S.   Examples:  [Collected via e-mail, July 2013] I have been told that some sort of deal between the Obama administration and the Russian govt. would allow Russian military forces to act as security, on American soil, during large, special events (such as Super Bowl) or in the case of national emergencies.  Any truth here?  I already know how the Constitution treats such things.  Now days, it doesn't seem to matter tho.  Has FEMA struck an agreement with Russia that will provide for the Russian Military to provide crowd control at U.S. events on American Soil?  This was reported as true in a post I saw on FB and reported that these soldiers would be able to fire on and kill Americans on U.S. soil. Origins:  On 26 June 2013, Russia announced an agreement between the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry  to share information and observation opportunities with first responders and emergency managers from each other's countries during joint rescue operations: announced The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry and the USA Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are going to exchange experts during joint rescue operations in major disasters. This is provided by a protocol of the fourth meeting of the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential  Commission Working Group on Emergency Situations and seventeenth meeting of Joint U.S.-Russia Cooperation Committee on Emergency Situations, which took place in Washington on 25 June. The document provides for expert cooperation in disaster response operations and to study the latest practices. In addition, the parties approved of U.S.-Russian cooperation in this field in 2013-2014, which envisages exchange of experience including in monitoring and forecasting emergency situations, training of rescuers, development of mine-rescuing and provision of security at mass events. At the end of the meeting the parties expressed their satisfaction with the level of cooperation between the Russian Federation and the United States in the area of emergency prevention and response and agreed to develop it in order to respond efficiently to all kinds of disasters. The conspiracy site Infowars then spun this announcement into a claim that Russian military forces would be providing security for large events in the United States such as the Super Bowl and presidential inaugurations: Infowars As part of a deal signed last week in Washington DC between the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry and FEMA, Russian officials will provide \"security at mass events\" in the United States, a scenario that wont sit well with Americans wary of foreign assets operating on US soil. According to a press release by the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Civil Defense and Emergencies, US and Russian officials met on June 25 at the 17th Joint U.S.-Russia Cooperation Committee on Emergency Situations. In addition to agreeing with FEMA to \"exchange experts during joint rescue operations in major disasters,\" the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry will also be providing \"security at mass events\" in the United States. This suggests that events designated as \"National Special Security Events\" by the Department of Homeland Security, which include the Super Bowl, international summits such as the G8 and presidential inaugurations, will now rely partly on Russian authorities to provide security. However, the Infowars article was an alarmist, far-fetched interpretation of the original announcement, which said nothing about Russia's providing security for events taking place within the U.S.  The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry announcement merely noted that \"provision of security at mass events\" was one of the areas of interest which the two countries hoped to study and learn about from each other as part of their joint agreement. FEMA and the Russian news agency RIA Novosti quickly debunked Infowars' unsupported assumption, stating plainly that the U.S. and Russia would not be deploying security guards or military forces in each other's countries: The top US emergency response agency moved to quell a flurry of Internet-driven speculation that Russian security teams could be deployed at large public events in the United States, saying the two countries will not swap security guards or soldiers under a long-running partnership agreement. There will be \"no exchange of security or military personnel\" under a recently renewed partnership between the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Russias Emergency Situations Ministry, a FEMA spokesman told RIA Novosti. \"The agreement continues information-sharing meetings and observation opportunities with first responders and emergency managers,\" the spokesman said. Picking up on an Emergency Situations Ministry statement declaring that partnership agreement \"envisages the exchange of experience\" in \"the provision of security at mass events,\" numerous websites suspicious of the US governments encroachment on its citizens' rights suggested the deal means Russian security guards could be deployed at major public gatherings. The libertarian website Infowars.com, run by radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, proposed these events could include US presidential inaugurations and the Super Bowl. The FEMA spokesman said that while the US agency will not exchange security or military personnel with its Russian counterpart, the two sides \"agreed to an exchange of emergency management experts to share best practices  a continuation of a 17 year partnership.\" Last updated:   2 July 2013","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/oathkeepers.org\/oath\/wp-content\/uploads\/Russian_army_march1.jpg","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_330","claim":"Is the 'Inventor of Autocorrect Died' Sign Real?","posted":"07\/08\/2022","sci_digest":["The funnel will be held tomato. Rest in peas."],"justification":"In July 2022, a user of Snopes' Facebook tip group asked us if a viral photograph of a sign reading \"The inventor of autocorrect has died the funnel will be held tomato\" was real or if it had been digitally edited.  Snopes' Facebook tip group  The skepticism surrounding this sign is certainly understandable. After all, we've covered dozens of other photos featuring digitally altered verbiage on signs.  covered dozens other photos featuring digitally altered verbiage signs This picture shows a sign in the parking lot of a National Vacuum store in Gainesville, Florida. Here's a screenshot from Google Streeview that shows the sign at a similar angle.  National Vacuum store in Gainesville, Florida  This store regularly uses its sign to display humorous messages. Using Google Street View, we were able to find several other sign displays outside this store stretching back to 2007. While we didn't find an image of the \"founder of autocorrect\" sign, we did find a number of similar idioms, such as \"It's Spring! We're so excited we wet our plants,\" \"talk is cheap until you hire a lawyer,\" and \"I can tell people are judgmental just by looking at them.\"  We reached out to National Vacuum for comment and they confirmed that the message \"the inventor of autocorrect has died. The funnel will be held tomato\" had previously been displayed on their sign. A spokesperson said: \"Yes, we have used this sign message in the past.\" Who invented autocorrect? Did they die? Will the funnel be held tomato?  The history of autocorrect can be traced back to the early 1990s, when Microsoft implemented a new feature in their word processing program, Word 6.0. There have been numerous improvements and iterations of this idea since then, so there isn't really a single \"inventor\" of the feature. According to Wired, the \"closest thing [autocorrect] has to an individual creator\" would be Dean Hachamovitch, who worked on the feature for Microsoft in 1993. According to Wired When Hachamovitch first joined Microsoft, he was given a job on the Word team. This was back in the early '90s. Word processing was at a crossroads, split into factions. On one side were the people who wanted adornments and frillsimproved desktop publishing, color separation, and the like. On the other side was the functionality gang, with whom Hachamovitch threw in his lot. This camp simply wanted to help people get out of their own way. As Hachamovitch saw it, the main thing that people do on a word processor is typeand typing, in his estimation, is a matter of a little bit of creativity and a whole lot of scutwork. He could improve the typing experience by delivering us from scut. His aim was to make our typing sleek and invisible, smooth as speaking from a teleprompter. Ken Kocienda also deserves partial credit for inventing autocorrect, as he developed the feature for the original iPhone.  developed the feature for the original iPhone As of this writing, Hachamovitch and Kocienda are both still with us. Engber, Daniel. Who Made That Autocorrect? The New York Times, 6 June 2014. NYTimes.com, https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/06\/08\/magazine\/who-made-that-autocorrect.html. Lewis-Kraus, Gideon. The Fasinatng Fascinating History of Autocorrect. Wired. www.wired.com, https:\/\/www.wired.com\/2014\/07\/history-of-autocorrect\/. Accessed 8 July 2022. Stern, Joanna. Autocorrect Explained: Why Your IPhone Adds Annoying Typos While Fixing Others. Wall Street Journal, 27 Apr. 2022. www.wsj.com, https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/autocorrect-explained-why-your-iphone-adds-annoying-typos-while-fixing-others-11651051891. Update [July 12, 2022]: Status changed to \"True\" based on new information.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1HuRqYmFQ8vvnteYm12gi7s7vx2f2uOaT","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1eC_nKKCu0nDYPDDbXWinyPYG5HGCXwPe","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=172jDLj1B_3zLcmi8tUdaCuVZT4DgwxwN","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_331","claim":"Pelosis new coronavirus bill allows illegals to receive billions in relief funds in past, current, and future payments.","posted":"05\/18\/2020","sci_digest":["The HEROES Act, a proposal backed by Pelosi, would allow tax-paying immigrants who are in the country illegally to receive emergency relief funds during the coronavirus pandemic.","The help would also extend to their family members who are U.S. citizens and green-card holders., Immigrants in the country illegally who pay taxes using an ITIN would also retroactively become eligible for a payment under the CARES Act enacted in late March., A tax policy group estimated that if the HEROES Act became law as written, about $16.4 billion would go toward households of ITIN filers or of mixed status."],"justification":"House Democrats are advocating legislation that would send Americans a new round of checks to help with financial problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic. A Facebook post says that under their proposal, immigrants in the country illegally also stand to benefit, getting billions of dollars. Pelosis new coronavirus bill allows illegals to receive billions in relief funds in past, current, and future payments, said text over a photo of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi holding a gavel, with a crowd of people, purportedly immigrants, in the background. The caption on the May 12Facebook postsaidthe payments would not just be a one-time check, they would give them past, current any future payments of YOUR money as 33 million Americans are unemployed. The post is from We Build The Wall, Inc., a group that's raising money to build sections of barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border. The post was flagged as part of Facebooks efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about ourpartnership with Facebook.) Pelosi does support a bill that would allow immigrants who are in the country illegally and who pay taxes to get coronavirus emergency aid from the federal government. But the Facebook post needs clarification and additional information. The Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act, or theHEROES Act, was introduced May 12 and passed the House May 15,208-199, with only one Republican vote. Among thekey provisionsof the roughly $3 trillion bill, it gives nearly $1 trillion to state and local governments, creates a $200 billion hazard-pay fund for essential workers, and provides $75 billion to support coronavirus testing, contact tracing and patient isolation. The bill also offers a new round of direct payments to families  $1,200 per person and up to $6,000 per household. The payments would go out to people who filed tax returns for 2018 or 2019 (and to some who didnt), with the total amount based on income. For instance, a single person who earned less than $75,000 would get $1,200; those who earned $75,000 or more would receive less. The proposal seeks to augment the financial assistance that started mid-April when one-time checks were sent under theCoronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act. Under the CARES Act, however, U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents were ineligible for a check if they filed a joint tax return with a spouse who used anIndividual Taxpayer Identification Number, or ITIN. ITINs are issued by the IRS to people who dont have a Social Security number, including immigrants in the country illegally, so they can use it to pay federal income taxes. (Some international students and researchers and their spouses also use ITINs.) The IRS in 2014saidITIN filers pay over $9 billion in annual payroll taxes. RELATED:Claim about stimulus check eligibility for Americans married to immigrants missing context Pelosi and other House Democrats havesaidthat mixed-status families should not have been left out of the CARES Act. So the proposed HEROES Act includes them in its aid package, and retroactively makes ITIN filers eligible for the CARES Act payment as well. The left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, using IRS data,estimatedthat this provision would benefit more than 4.3 million adults and 3.5 million children in households of ITIN filers or of mixed immigration status, paying them a total $16.4 billion ($7 billion under the CARES Act and $9.4 billion under the HEROES Act). The beneficiary figures include ITIN filers as well as their spouses and children who are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents. Meg Wiehe, deputy executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said it was difficult to discern from the IRS data exactly how many prospective beneficiaries are immigrants in the U.S. illegally. Julia Gelatt, senior policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, said a lot of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents can get support through unemployment insurance, stimulus payments, food stamps and other public benefits. ITINs are used for federal tax reporting, but they do not provide legal immigration status, and immigrants in the country illegally are generallyineligiblefor federal public benefits, such as food stamps. The goal of the HEROES Act, as it relates to unauthorized immigrants and their family members, is to help people who are struggling financially and who have no access to other financial support, Gelatt said. The HEROES Act financial assistance isnt exclusive to ITIN filers; U.S. citizens and green-card holders who file taxes using a Social Security number would also benefit, with the same aid amounts and income thresholds. The payments to all eligible people are estimated to costmore than $400 billion. A Facebook post said, Pelosis new coronavirus bill allows illegals to receive billions in relief funds in past, current, and future payments. The HEROES Act, a proposal backed by Pelosi, would allow immigrants who are in the country illegally and who pay taxes to receive federal relief funds during the coronavirus pandemic. Immigrants who pay taxes using an ITIN would be eligible for an aid payment under the HEROES Act, and retroactively under the CARES Act, which corresponds to the current and past payments cited in the post. Its unclear what is meant by future payment. We contacted We Build the Wall for comment, but did not hear back. A tax policy group estimated that if the HEROES Act became law as written, about $16.4 billion would go to households of ITIN filers or of mixed status. Beneficiaries would include U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents who live in a household with an ITIN filer. The post is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. We rate it Mostly True.","issues":["Immigration","Economy","Facebook Fact-checks","Coronavirus"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_332","claim":"\"Is Marlboro distributing free cartons of cigarettes on Facebook?\"","posted":"10\/23\/2015","sci_digest":["The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009 prohibits tobacco companies from giving away free samples of cigarettes."],"justification":"In October 2015, links began circulating on Facebook promising users a free carton of Marlboro cigarettes to celebrate the brand's 100th anniversary. The embedded links involved a variety of URLs, some of which included entirely unrelated scam-bait terms like \"iTunes\" and \"Apple.\" Users who clicked through to claim their purported free carton of Marlboros were routed to a page reading, \"Marlboro is Giving FREE Carton of Cigarettes to Celebrate 100th Anniversary (150 Cartons Remaining),\" which cloned the style of Facebook-based content but was hosted on a non-Facebook URL. As noted, the URLs visible in the posts didn't point to any credible domains or any sites linked to Altria, the brand's parent company. Marlboro didn't appear to maintain any social media accounts, and the brand's official website was locked to registered users only. While no official refutations were issued, it seemed safe to assume that cigarette brands largely refrained from participating on Facebook or creating promotions that could land them afoul of strict tobacco advertising laws. By now, most social media users are familiar with survey scams; Kohl's, Costco, Home Depot, Lowe's, Kroger, Best Buy, Macy's, Olive Garden, Publix, Target, and Walmart are among the retailers used as bait by scammers seeking personal information and valuable page likes from Facebook users. A July 2014 article from the Better Business Bureau illustrated how individuals might spot and avoid bad actors utilizing the reputations of brands on social media: Don't believe what you see. It's easy to steal the colors, logos, and headers of an established organization. Scammers can also make links look like they lead to legitimate websites and emails appear to come from a different sender. Legitimate businesses do not ask for credit card numbers or banking information on customer surveys. If they do ask for personal information, like an address or email, be sure there's a link to their privacy policy. When in doubt, do a quick web search. If the survey is a scam, you may find alerts or complaints from other consumers. The organization's real website may have further information. Watch out for a reward that's too good to be true. If the survey is real, you may be entered in a drawing to win a gift card or receive a small discount off your next purchase. Few businesses can afford to give away $50 gift cards for completing a few questions. While Marlboro occasionally sends coupons to registered customers, tobacco advertising and promotion are heavily restricted, including a prohibition on free samples, and are highly unlikely to ever occur on social media in the manner posited above.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=12pomAKgP-iwqEzzF7kiH-cY2RuFKMkrd"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1_2w37_gnH73QerqcA9Pv_aWdB7vjqhrC"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_333","claim":"Does a rise in Arctic and Greenland ice levels suggest that global warming is not as certain as previously thought?","posted":"10\/04\/2017","sci_digest":["Single data points presented without context do not interfere with the scientific consensus on climate change."],"justification":"On 1 October 2017, pseudoscientific alternative health website NaturalNews.com, which is geared primarily toward supplement enthusiasts with a discerning taste for deep state conspiracy theories, posted an article (\"Dont Look Now, But Arctic Sea Ice Mass Has Grown Almost 40% Since 2012\") that attempts to cast doubt on the scientific veracity of global warming by first presenting the following grotesque caricature of a straw man argument: article straw man One of the most popular pieces of \"evidence\" that climate alarmists just love to bring up to prove the global warming narrative is the \"all the ice is melting in the Arctic and the polar bears are dying\" line. Weve all seen the documentaries where a polar bear is desperately clinging to a tiny piece of ice and you just know hes going to die soon. They article then presents two observations that make the generally factual point that there has been relatively more sea ice in the Arctic and glacial ice on Greenland in 2017 than there have been at specific times in the recent past: The latest figures from the National Snow and Ice Data Center, located at the University of Colorado, show that sea ice extent has increased by 40 percent since 2012. [...] [The Danish Polar Portal reports that]: If we rank the annual surface mass balance since 1981 from low to high, the lowest on record was 2011-2012 (38 Gt) and this year is the 5th highest out of the 37 year record. Danish Polar Portal To be clear, the primary data scientists use to document global warming are records of Earth's temperature over time, not doomed polar bear imagery. Zeke Hausfather, a research scientist for the independent, nongovernmental Berkeley Earth research group told us in an e-mail that, in this area, pretty much \"all groups who provide estimates\" of global temperature unequivocally point to nearly uninterrupted temperature rises since the 1970s, as shown in this comparison of various estimates produced by the climate and energy policy website Carbon Brief: Zeke Hausfather produced   \"People interested in global warming are best-served looking at actual global temperatures,\" Hausfather said. While this temperature trend is uncontroversial and clear, the climate system as a whole is a complex beast with numerous entangled parts. The basic approach to writing a blog post that \"debunks\" the concept of global warming is to highlight without explanation various parts of that system at a single point in time. NaturalNews.com is no exception to that basic strategy here. Arctic Sea Ice Natural News cites a climate change denial blog called ClimateDepot.com as evidence of the claim that sea ice has grown 40 percent since 2012. In reality, the claim made by this website was more specific and less useful. In a post dated 18 September 2017, Climate Depot stated: stated Arctic sea ice extent is up 40% from this date five years ago. \"Sea ice extent\" is one of many different metrics used to characterize the presence of sea ice, and is generally defined as \"the area of ocean [based on pixels in satellite imagery] where at least 15 percent of the surface is frozen\". On the day of 17 September 2017, sea ice extent was indeed higher than it was on 17 September 2012: defined   This does not mean, however, that sea ice has grown almost 40 percent since 2012, nor does it mean that the overall trend in arctic sea ice is toward growth  it hasn't and it isn't. The issue here is that sea ice extent is quite variable from year to year, and thus looking at two discrete points is a fairly useless exercise without the full context. \"We don't expect it to monotonically decrease every year,\" Hausfather told us.  This chart (using data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center) shows September sea ice extent compared against the same average used in the maps cited by Climate Depot, showing both this aforementioned variability but also an overall trend of reduced ice extent. Note that the year 2012 was no random year to select for comparison; it is actually the record lowest year in terms of Arctic sea ice extent  making anything compared to it necessarily higher: from   The overall trend of declining sea ice is even clearer when you look at a different measure: sea ice volume (presented by the Polar Science Center, below). Not only do such records show a clear negative trend, they also show just how anomalous 2012 was as a data point: Polar Science Center   In reality, 2017 was the eighth lowest year on record for Arctic sea ice extent since satellite measurements began in 1978. But in no world but the pseudo-scientific fringe internet would the concept of global warming rely on every single year breaking the previous year's record for sea ice minimum. eighth Tom Karl, the former director of NOAAs National Centers for Environmental Information, told us that 2017's sea ice extent was still much lower than the 1980-2010 average (by two standard deviations), and that, despite claims to the contrary, \"one can't look at a trend over 5 years and say much about the impact of global warming as other factors are also important on these short time scales.\" director Glacial Ice on Greenland The NaturalNews.com approach for glacial ice on Greenland was similarly lacking scale and context. The main source for these arguments was a completely legitimate end-of-year report put out by the Danish Polar Portal, a website run by the Danish Meteorological Institute. In that report, the organization makes this factual statement: report Heavy snow and rain in winter with a relatively short and intermittent summer melt season have left the Greenland ice sheet with more ice than has been usual over the last twenty years  in fact we have to go back to the 1980s and 90s to see a year similar to this one in terms of snow fall and ice melt. This statement, and the figures presented by NaturalNews.com, are referring to a metric known as Surface Mass Balance (SMB), which Polar Portal describes: describes Each year glaciers gain ice from snow and freezing rain and lose ice by melt that runs off. Adding these together gives the surface mass budget (SMB) in Greenland, the ice sheet typically gains mass from around September to May and loses more mass than it gains in the ablation [melting] season of June, July and August. Importantly, however, this measurement only presents half the picture in terms of how much mass is being lost from year to year from Greenland's glaciers. That's because it does not include the rather significant portion of ice that breaks  or calves  off into the ocean to melt elsewhere. On average this accounts for about 500 Gt [gigatons] of further ice loss. This, as stated in the Polar Portal post, nearly matches the estimated gain in SMB reported by Natural News, effectively canceling it out. In a post on Carbon Brief, analysts with the Danish Meteorological Society put this years measurement in context: post While the Greenland ice sheet has seen a neutral, or small positive, change in ice for this year, it should be noted that Greenland has lost approximately 3,600bn tonnes of ice since 2002. Like the record of Arctic sea ice earlier, when put in the context of the entire trend of Greenland's ice mass over time (presented by Polar Portal below), 2017's measurement does nothing to change larger and completely unambiguous trends of overall melting: Polar Portal    Further, in the case of Greenland's ice sheet, there is not much of a mystery surrounding the lackluster amount of melting this year; a massive storm  the remnants of Hurricane Nicole  parked itself atop the continent, dumping a large amount of snow on the ice-covered continent: Hurricane Nicole dumping Heavy rain and snow in October in especially eastern Greenland gave record totals of precipitation in the main east coast town of Tasiilaq as the remnants of former hurricane Nicole passed by and, much as with Harvey in Houston this year, got lodged over eastern Greenland for some days. However, after Nicoles extreme precipitation, the rest of the winter was actually pretty average in terms of the amount of snow that fell. Because neither the higher-than-2012 arctic sea ice from 17 September 2017 nor the neutral amount of ice loss in Greenland in 2017 do anything to disrupt the overall trends of decreasing ice, and because climatological science does not require (nor does it expect) ice or temperature records to be broken every single year, we rank the claim that these observations are reasons to doubt the tenets of climate change as false. Watson, Tracey.  \"Dont Look Now, but Arctic Sea Ice Mass Has Grown Almost 40% Since 2012.\"\r  Natural News.  1 October 2017. Mottram, Ruth, et al.  \"Guest Post: How the Greenland Ice Sheet Fared in 2017.\"\r  Carbon Brief.  1 September 2017. Polar Portal.  \"End of the SMB Season Summary 2017.\"\r  12 September 2017. Morano, Marc.  \"Massive Arctic Ice Gain (Up 40%) Since Low Point of 2012.\r  Climate Depot.  19 September 2012. Hausfather, Zeke.  \"State of the Climate: Warm Temperatures and Low Sea Ice Mark First Half of 2017.\"\r  Carbon Brief.  21 July 2017. National Snow and Ice Data Center.  \"Arctic Sea Ice at Minimum Extent.\"\r  19 September 2017. Polar Science Center.  \"PIOMAS Arctic Sea Ice Volume Reanalysis.\"\r  Accessed 4 October 2017. NASA.  \"End-of-Summer Arctic Sea Ice Extent Is Eighth Lowest on Record.\"\r  19 September 2017. NASA.  \"NASA Sees Tropical Storm Nicole Going Extra-Tropical.\"\r  18 October 2016.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1UHvvBx5cr4JOu2UGwfhOApaZbTkQq53k"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1yOK9_kI3viGHg6JwA5MiAK7G5gv2Ocuo"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1T8IGg_aXBYWFizt3XnB34FXxpMQw_lSf"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1rc10SIkUL4qdiuKkBe-5wm0P8kpufub5"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1RkbGIJD9Y9VfPiYXoHEydH07EL37rShd"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_334","claim":"Was the NYC Veterans Day Parade in 1995 rescued by Donald Trump?","posted":"11\/13\/2019","sci_digest":["Trump reportedly donated $200,000 and helped raise another $500,000 for the \"Nation's Parade.\""],"justification":"A story from 1995 resurfaced around Veterans Day 2019, reporting that then-private citizen and real estate mogul Donald Trump had \"saved\" the Veterans Day parade that year in New York City when organizers ran out of money. On Nov. 6, 2019, for example, the Daily Caller News Foundation website published a story bearing the headline, \"The 1995 NYC Veterans Day Parade Had $1.21 In The Bank. Then Donald Trump Stepped In.\" A meme circulating on Facebook similarly described Trump's intervention:This claim apparently originated with Trump himself, or at least it was touted on his campaign website in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election. The website at the time stated: headline  campaign website Mr. Trump has long been a devoted supporter of veteran causes. In 1995, the fiftieth anniversary of World War II, only 100 spectators watched New York Citys Veteran Day Parade. It was an insult to all veterans. Approached by Mayor Rudy Giuliani and the chief of New York Citys FBI office, Mr. Trump agreed to lead as Grand Marshall a second parade later that year. Mr. Trump made a $1 million matching donation to finance the Nations Day Parade. On Saturday, November 11th, over 1.4 million watched as Mr. Trump marched down Fifth Avenue with more than 25,000 veterans, some dressed in their vintage uniforms. A month later, Mr. Trump was honored in the Pentagon during a lunch with the Secretary of Defense and the entire Joint Chiefs of Staff. First off, Trump's website contained some confusing pieces of misinformation: The Veterans Day parade in New York City went by the name the \"Nation's Parade.\" The poorly attended parade \"with only 100 spectators\" occurred in 1994, not 1995 (The New York Times reported police did not give a crowd estimate). Only one Veteran's Day parade took place in the city in 1995  the Nation's Parade on Nov. 11. That event was slated by the U.S. Defense Department as representing \"the official close of the 50th anniversary of World War II.\" reported We contacted the United War Veterans of New York (UWNY), which organized the Nation's Parade in 1995, to ask about claims that Trump's intervention saved the event from cancellation, and we were referred by spokesman Pat Smith to a Nov. 10, 1995, New York Times article about the event. Smith told us that Trump did make a financial contribution toward the parade, but also said UWNY is a small, volunteer-staffed group that doesn't keep records that could answer questions in detail about an event that occurred more than two decades ago. article  The 1995 Times article reported that Trump did make a financial contribution, but that he tried to make it in exchange for being named the parade's grand marshal even though he is not a veteran. The Times reported Trump gave $200,000, not $1 million: By mid-August, organizers had a bank account of exactly $1.21. A request to airlines to donate blankets for aging veterans was turned down because logos might not be visible on television. Then Donald Trump, a nonveteran, agreed to throw in $200,000 as well as raise money from his friends, in exchange for being named grand marshal. Since then, money has come in, though not enough to meet the original budget, which was reduced from $2.9 million to $2.4 million. Fireworks were just one of many cuts. In May 2016, CNN spoke to Vincent McGowan, the president emeritus of UWNY who organized the parade in 1995. McGowan said that Trump's contribution was \"somewhere between $325,000 and $375,000,\" but McGowan also said Trump's donation did save the event. McGowan also said Trump was never the grand marshal because that honor was only given to military veterans. CNN In a follow-up story, the Times in 1995 reported that organizers had agreed to make Trump the parade's grand marshal, a move that had angered some veterans, while others expressed appreciation for his \"crucial\" financial assistance: reported Also in the reviewing stand was the developer Donald Trump, who provided the only note of controversy in an otherwise positive day. Many veterans were angry that organizers had agreed to name Mr. Trump, who is not a veteran, as grand marshal in exchange for his contribution of $200,000 and help in raising additional funds. Another story, dated Nov. 11, 1995, from the news service UPI, reported that Trump contributed $200,000 and raised another $300,000 for the parade, which was viewed by parade Director Tom Fox as having been key: UPI Police estimated 500,000 people attended the largest military parade ever held in New York. Organizers, who placed the turnout at closer to a million, said the parade would not have been a success if it hadn't been for real estate developer Donald Trump, who contributed $200,000 and raised another $300,000. \"Donald Trump saved the parade,\" said parade director Tom Fox, himself a Vietnam veteran. \"We had asked for donations from 200 corporations, and none of them came through,\" he said. \"This donation is the single most important thing I've ever done,\" said a beaming Trump. \"This is more important than all of my buildings and my casinos. This is my way of saying thank you to all the men and women in the armed services who have made it possible for me to become a success. Without them freedom and liberty would be gone.\" In sum, we are rating this claim \"True\" because two individuals involved with the planning of the 1995 parade stated on two separate occasions that Trump's efforts and donation did indeed enable the event to take place. Still unclear are the origins of other sources of funding. Martin, Douglas.\"Veterans Day Parade Tries for a Comeback.\"\rThe New York Times.10 November 1995. Fitzpatrick, David and Curt Devine.\"Trump Will Give $1 Million to Marine Charity, but There Are Other Discrepancies.\"\rCNN.25 May 2016. McFadden, Robert D. \"On Parade To the Beat of History.\"\rThe New York Times.12 November 1995. UPI.\"More Than 500,000 Watch Nation's Parade.\"\r11 November 1995.","issues":["finance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=17Ur6JaK9N31LwTk_FrU4fF2M1AW3Jh9Q"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_335","claim":"\"Did someone send a uterus to the Supreme Court? A viral TikTok rumor explores the possibility.\"","posted":"06\/30\/2022","sci_digest":["Some people definitely fantasized about committing such an act after Roe v. Wade was overturned. "],"justification":"In June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, ending 50 years of constitutionally protected abortion rights. While many people took to the streets to protest the ruling, others used social media to share fantasy scenarios of protesting by other means. On TikTok, for example, some users fantasized about mailing their uterus to the Supreme Court as an act of protest. While the video described a potential future action (\"I need to mail\" vs. \"I mailed\"), other TikTok users shared videos claiming that someone had indeed followed through with this action. Although several TikTok users asserted that someone literally sent their uterus to the Supreme Court, there is no actual evidence that this occurred. Protests against the Supreme Court in the wake of the Roe v. Wade ruling garnered significant coverage from mainstream media outlets. If someone truly had one of their organs removed, placed it in a box, and sent it to the Supreme Court, there would certainly be news coverage of the incident. However, no credible news outlets have reported any such events. While there are numerous videos on TikTok making this claim, none contain images of the alleged package or the identity of the supposed sender. In fact, most of the TikTok videos we viewed involve imagining what it would be like for an employee of the Supreme Court to open such a package. The notion that someone mailed their uterus to the Supreme Court is part of a larger trend on TikTok, where users claim that extreme actions were taken to protest the abortion ruling. For instance, another series of videos claimed (without evidence) that several Supreme Court justices had their credit card numbers leaked. Social media users also claimed (without evidence) that the IP addresses of the justices had been leaked.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1KRZvbDeEamfJ5BubyCM6U1XAj6mKsio3"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_336","claim":"Alabama Mother's Terrifying Experience with the Affordable Care Act","posted":"01\/02\/2014","sci_digest":["Alabama mom's Obamacare horror story gives America a glimpse of government run healthcare."],"justification":" Claim:  Alabama mom's Obamacare horror story gives America a glimpse of government run healthcare. CORRECTLY ATTRIBUTED Example:  [Collected on the Internet, December 2013] My family's journey with securing our new insurance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) started on October 1, 2013.   I have decided to write this letter to let the American people know what it has been like for us.   We are a family of four, with two little boys' ages seven years old and three years old.   My husband and I have had full time jobs for 6 years and 13 years respectively.  We have been with the same two companies for those years.  We are a middle class family; we own our three bedroom two bath house, we own two cars, and previously provided our own insurance for the four of us.  We have coverage through Individual Blue from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama until 12\/31\/13. Our premiums have been $380.00 a month, which also included dental coverage for all four of us.  On October, 1, 2013 we received our letters like other Alabamians about our new premiums and plans for 2014 from Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) of Alabama.  When I opened our letter to say I had sticker shock was an understatement.  Our premiums for the Blue Saver Silver would now be $753.26. This included the ACA tax but did not include the additional $75.00 we would need to pay in order to keep dental for me and my husband.  So we would need to pay total $828.26 to keep health and dental insurance for the four of us.  This payment is roughly $64.00 less than what we pay for our mortgage each month.  I was outraged that anyone thought we could afford this.  Sure we have some savings, but with that price tag we would whittle it down to almost nothing very quickly.  I consider savings as a rainy day fund, a start to saving for the kids college, our retirement, etc.  I never dreamed in a million years we would need to use it to pay our insurance premiums each month  how in the world could this help the economy too?  [Rest of article here.] here Origins:  The item referenced above, an open detailing one Alabama woman's extreme difficulty and frustration in obtaining ACA-compliant health insurance coverage for her family (including her 7-year-old son with ADHD) was posted under the name of Karri Kinder on 23 December 2013 as the sole entry in a blog and was republished (without additional comment) by the Independent Journal Review on 31 December 2013. blog republished Certainly her experience is not unique in kind, as many residents of Alabama covered by Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) of Alabama (an insurer who has an 88% share of the state's health insurance market) found out at the end of 2013 that they would be paying much higher premiums for ACA-compliant coverage through BCBS: Doug Hoffman, who works statewide to help people sign up for benefits through the Affordable Care Act, just received a Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama notice in the mail to find health insurance rates for his family have doubled. And  he's mad  at Blue Cross. \"I just got my benefits renewal from Blue Cross for next year and they doubled my rate!\" he wrote AL.com in an email. \"I was paying $675 for a family premium (2 adults, one 22 yo dependent) with a $1,500 deducible. The new rate for a comparable plan is $1,360 with a $3,000 deductible. Basically they have doubled my costs.\" \"It appears as though Blue Cross is taking advantage of the ACA by hiking rates big time,\" said Hoffman, who is based in Birmingham with Enroll Alabama. Others, who have received the notices from the state's dominant health insurer are mad as well  at Obamacare. \"Obama thinks that he is making insurance affordable,\" wrote one reader to the Mobile Press Register Sound Off feature. \"I just got a letter from my Blue Cross Blue Shield that if I want to keep their insurance it's going to cost me $300 more a month. I already pay $300 a month now and they're wanting right at $600 a month for this Affordable Care Act.\" Blue Cross posted an explanation for the rate hikes to its Facebook page, maintaining that several reasons are behind the increased premiums: more taxes and fees, a requirement to rate family members individually, and the elimination of health underwriting and waiting periods for preexisting conditions: explanation The new law requires all health insurance companies in the individual and small group markets to use a consistent rating method called \"member level rating.\" For the individual market, this means each person on an insurance policy will now be rated based on age, whether he or she uses tobacco, and the county in which the policy holder lives. In the past Blue Cross was able to offer one family premium, no matter the size.  For family plans, most family members will now be rated individually. Once each person has been rated, the amounts are added together to get a family's premium cost. For children age 20 and younger, the oldest three children will be individually rated and included in the family premium amount.   As a result, larger families may experience higher premiums. As Mike Oliver noted in an article for AL.com, the elimination of health underwriting may have a substantial effect on health insurance premiums in that state: article \"Alabama has allowed medical underwriting  you're going to be quoted a high premium if you have something wrong with you,\" said Michael Morrisey, director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Lister Hill Center for Health Policy. \"The Affordable Care Act abolishes medical underwriting.\" This means that those with expensive health problems will likely now jump in and buy coverage because it will be less expensive for them  or if they already have coverage  their rates will go down. But that also means rates will go up for everyone else as the insurer spreads that new cost around. \"The thing that happens when you eliminate underwriting is that you lump dissimilar people together,\" Morrisey said. \"When you combine groups, one group is better off and the other group is worse off\"  in terms of premium prices. As a policy, the elimination of medical underwriting and preexisting condition clauses helps broaden access to health care coverage and that was the aim of its inclusion in the Affordable Care Act. Reformers say it eliminates insurers from \"cherry-picking\" and reduces uncompensated care. Karri Kinder subsequently posted followups to her original blog entry about her insurance issue, the update of 4 January 2014 stating that: Karri Kinder blog entry I do have some good news.  Because I decided to write my letter and speak out, people stepped up and helped us.  We were contacted on January 1, 2014 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  I was told by the woman I spoke with that she had read my letter and wanted to get her team involved and see what they could do to help us.  I recounted to her what was happening and that I had been advised to go ahead and sign me and my husband up for a plan on healthcare.gov.  We went with a lower cost plan because it was going to just be the two of us.  We had no idea what it was going to cost for the children once we got some answers.  So we went with BCBS Blue Value Saver plan.  The cost of the plan is $459.19.  We qualified for $255.00 in subsidies so the final cost of the plan to us is $204.19 each month.  I told the lady that I would cancel that plan if I needed to.  What we wanted was to have all of us on one plan like we always have been.  She said, \"If the kids qualify for All Kids then I am pretty sure they have to go that route or you will have to buy them a plan at the normal rate.\"  So again we were told more than likely we will have to go through All Kids.  She took the rest of our information down and said she was getting her team to work on it and would either call us back or All Kids would contact us. Last updated:  4 January 2014    Oliver, Mike.   \"Blue Cross in Alabama: We Didn't 'Cancel' Health Policies.\"   AL.com.  2 December 2013.    Walsh, Alex.   \"Obamacare, Big Blue, and You.\"   AL.com.  31 December 2013.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Wb_CWPDlE4S8RgQoEC2q3-6_QI-qjWn6"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_337","claim":"Was an excess of $90 billion paid by U.S. taxpayers under Trump's tax legislation?","posted":"06\/11\/2019","sci_digest":["The IRS collected $93 billion more from taxpayers in fiscal year 2018 than 2017, but that doesn't mean it's a harbinger of things to come."],"justification":"On 4 June 2019, Yahoo! Finance reported that as a result of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) enacted by the Trump administration, \"the IRS pulled in an additional $93 billion for 2018 from taxpayers on individual income taxes than it did for 2017.\" With the tax law being a hot partisan topic, many readers who saw the headline online asked us whether it was true. In that article, Yahoo! Finance stated that the IRS collected $1.97 trillion in gross collections (the amount before refunds) for 2018, compared to roughly $1.87 trillion for 2017. Refunds did increase this year, but not by much; the IRS refunded about $398 billion to taxpayers for 2018, while for 2017, it was roughly $386 billion. After refunds, the IRS collected about $93 billion more from individual American taxpayers than it did in 2017. Interestingly, that number is close to the tax break amount that corporations received from the TCJA in 2018. Last year, big businesses paid $91 billion less in taxes than they had in 2017, prior to the new law's passage. The numbers reported by Yahoo! Finance are accurate, cited from figures published by the IRS in its 2018 Data Book. Collections data for fiscal years 2017 and 2018 can be viewed in the following table, while 2017 refund data can be downloaded by clicking here: Data Book here. However, it's still too early to tease out the long-term effects of the new tax law from 2018 data, according to Matthew Gardner, senior fellow and corporate tax expert at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a non-partisan nonprofit organization that researches tax policy. Republicans had wanted to tell the story about new tax cuts fueling economic growth that would offset lost revenue, while Democrats had been eager to frame the new law as a gift to the country's wealthiest individuals and large corporations at the expense of average Americans. As Yahoo! Finance reporter Kristin Myer pointed out on the news outlet's show \"The First Trade,\" it appeared that taxpayers had \"filled the gap\" left by corporate tax cuts in 2018. \"I would absolutely agree that if you look at the tax bill as written, unambiguously this is a shift away from taxing corporations toward taxing individuals,\" Gardner said. Gardner is a critic of the TCJA because it cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent without fixing loopholes that corporations have long exploited. \"We needed corporate tax reform, and we didn't get it. We just got corporate tax cuts,\" Gardner told us. However, irregularities that occurred in both fiscal years 2017 and 2018 can paint a misleading picture of the long-term impact of the TCJA. Among other reasons, 2017 tax filings were artificially depressed because the IRS granted filing extensions to victims of natural disasters such as Hurricane Harvey in Texas. Conversely, filings were up in 2018 when those delayed tax returns were finally submitted. Furthermore, the law went into effect on 1 January 2018, meaning it wasn't in force for the entirety of the fiscal year, which starts in October. \"I wouldn't take these fiscal year 18 data very seriously as an indicator of what the tax cuts are doing in any sense,\" Gardner said. \"No one should expect to fully see those effects emerge in the 2018 fiscal year. We have to wait until next year to really get a look at the impact on collections.\" Politicians on both sides of the aisle were anxious to see how the new law would affect tax refunds because, as Bloomberg reported, \"Getting a tax refund is a springtime tradition that Americans love as much as Easter candy.\" As Yahoo! observed, \"In the end, many Americans saw modest increases in their paychecks throughout the year, but didn't notice. Instead, as people filed, many bemoaned getting smaller-than-anticipated refunds or even being hit with a 'surprise' tax bill.\" Democratic lawmakers seized on the lower refunds, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) stating, according to Yahoo!, that \"Many Americans depend on their tax refund to pay bills and make ends meet, but this tax season, working families will see smaller than expected returns and surprise tax bills -- because the Trump administration used smoke and mirrors in a shallow attempt to exaggerate the impact of their tax law on middle-class families for political reasons.\"","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=10zjg_w99eJhzZr2N_SOd66K8KVXmToM_"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_338","claim":"Was a banknote featuring Karl Marx issued in Germany?","posted":"03\/20\/2018","sci_digest":["A photograph showing a young woman holding a Karl Marx bill (worth 0) is real, but it is a souvenir note rather than a genuine article of currency."],"justification":"In March 2018, an image showing a young woman holding what appeared to be an official piece of European currency featuring the face of German philosopher and Communist Manifesto co-author Karl Marx started making its way around the Internet: Communist Manifesto Karl Marx Internet   \"Zero Euros\" are a popular souvenir item in Europe. Richard Faille started producing the realistic currency (which is authorized by the European Central Bank) in 2015, with the help of an official banknote printer called Oberthur Fiduciaire. Faille's operation expanded over the years and now Zero Euro notes are available in a number of European countries and commemorate a variety of topics, such as anniversaries, historical locations, city events, and notable individuals:  authorized 2015 commemorate The Zero Euro is a souvenir banknote with authorized printing by the European Central Bank (ECB) and is on queue to be a popular in 2017 banknote collector markets. Its origins stem from France in 2015 after Richard Faille, creator of popular French currency souvenirs, decided to create euros that promote tourism. The banknotes are printed at a private fiduciary facility and they share many of the same characteristics of a real Euro except that they are marked as 0, hence the name, and are tested to ensure they cannot enter circulation as legitimate financial currency. The front of all zero euros is the same and it includes a white zero followed by the Euro sign to denominate no financial value. Then (from left to right) Brandenburg Gate, Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, the Colosseum, Sagrada Familia, Manneken Pis and the Mona Lisa. The pictured item is a souvenir that was produced by a tourism company in Trier, the German town where Marx was born, in honor of what would have been the author's 200th birthday in May 2018. The bill can be purchased for 3: bill On 5 May 2018 the city of Trier celebrates the 200th birthday of its famous son Karl Marx and on this occasion we have a bill from Trier Tourismus und Marketing GmbH. Norbert Kthler, the Managing Director of Trier Tourism and Marketing, acknowledged the humor in putting Marx on a worthless piece of currency: acknowledged Norbert Kthler, Geschftsfhrer der ttm, sagt zu dem Null-Euro-Schein: Das Souvenir setzt sich spielerisch mit der Marxschen Kapitalismuskritik auseinander. Und natrlich passen die Null-Euro-Scheine auch hervorragend zu Marx als Geldscheinmotiv. Norbert Kthler, Managing Director of TTM, says about the Zero Euro note: \"The souvenir playfully deals with Marx's critique of capitalism. And of course, zero-euro bills also fit perfectly with the Marx motif.\" Satirical web site the Sacramento Brie also used an altered version of this image in an article that facetiously claimed that the zero value Marx bill was being used in Venezuela to boost the country's economy. Sacramento Brie Numis Magazine.  \"Zero Euro Banknote Creator Richard FAILLE Strikes Again!\"\r  25 June 2017. Lokalo.de.  \"'Das Geld Wird Abgeschafft!'  Trier Bietet Zum 200. Geburtstag Von Karl Marx Einen Null-Euro-Schein An.\"\r  17 March 2018.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1m7C9pVdsw05QvbNfnKVsItPA64Em8QbR"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_339","claim":"Sweaters for Penguins","posted":"05\/25\/2001","sci_digest":["Rumor: Wildlife organizations have issued a plea for crafters to knit sweaters for oil-soaked penguins."],"justification":" Claim:  Crafters have been asked to knit sweaters for oil-soaked penguins.  Example:  [Collected via Facebook, March 2014]    Origins:  When an ocean-going tanker goes down at sea, loosing crude oil into the ocean, the immediate and long-term effects on the environment are often catastrophic. Equally as dangerous is the illegal practice of passing ships' dumping fuel oil into the water rather than properly disposing of it in port. In the case of the \"little penguins\" (previously known as \"fairy penguins\")  who live on Phillip Island near Melbourne, Australia, such accidents and illegal activities have threatened the entire population of penguins.  Cleaning the animals by hand with warm water and a mild detergent then returning them to their natural habitat has been found to be an effective means of dealing with the danger posed by oil spills, but there's a snag in the plan: Often the little penguins are far too ill to be bathed right away, and the scrubbing can be quite stressful. One solution proffered several years ago was to slip the oil-coated birds into wool sweaters to prevent them from preening themselves and possibly swallowing toxic petroleum-based oil as they regained needed strength, and to keep them warm until their bodies were once again producing the natural oils (removed by the cleaning) necessary to their insulation. But where would get such penguin attire? Appeals were made to the knitting public to place their time, skill, and leftover yarn into the service of animals in need. A New Year's Day 2000 spill of 260 gallons of fuel oil off the southern tip of Australia prompted an appeal that resulted in piles of sweaters (\"jumpers,\" in Australia) being sent to aid the damaged little birds, many crafted by the capable hands of American knitters. To be better prepared for the next such environmental crisis, in 2001, the Tasmanian Conservation Trust and State Library ran the knit-for-a-penguin campaign. They hoped to build a stockpile of 100 sweaters. They got more than they bargained for. The original result was an oversubscription of this entreaty for aid, with the appeal threatening to escalate into a \"Sorcerer's Apprentice\" situation. One thousand sweaters were quickly received, with more arriving all the time. The organizers originally wanted to conclude this part of its Oil Spill Response Program, but then rethought that   action, deciding to ask the knitting public for an additional two thousand penguin sweaters. However, despite those good intentions, other wildlife officials have stated in connection with similar efforts that knitting garments for penguins accomplishes little  (other than fulfilling an instinctive human need to help), as penguins don't really benefit from wearing vests and sweaters, and many items crafted for that purpose have simply accumulated in unused piles: Hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of sweaters have been lovingly knitted and donated to help the little blue penguins coated with oil stay warm  but the outfits won't be used. The countless hours spent by people selecting colours, designing patterns and knitting the costumes has only resulted in idle piles of the woollen outfits, unused and unlikely to be used. A Maritime New Zealand spokesman for the oiled wildlife centre in Tauranga said they had received a box of the handmade sweaters and that should be more than enough. \"The vets have expressed appreciation [but] they haven't used any,\" he said. \"They haven't been required and I just don't know that they will be used at all.\" A keeper at Auckland Zoo said the idea of making the little birds wear the jerseys might cause them extra stress. She said the cleaning process strips the birds of their natural oil and can make them cold but the facilities at the centre were set up to cater for this. \"They are getting washed and rinsed and then they go into a warmed tent under heat lamps.\" Miss Clark said she had never seen a vest on a penguin and she wondered how much the birds would appreciate the costuming. \"Putting something like that on a penguin, it's probably only going to stress it out even more than they already are. These are wild penguins, they haven't had any interaction with humans. There's already enough stress on a bird without trying to put a sweater on it,\" she said. Maree Buscke of Skeinz.com, which helped to organise the knitting scrum, said the sweaters were a way for people to help, even if they weren't going to be used. She was still receiving sweaters from knitters, she said, plus turning down more offers to help. The blog of the International Bird Rescue organization similarly states that sweaters \"are not considered a useful tool for the rehabilitation of oiled birds, primarily penguins\": International Bird Rescue To help the birds stay warm and limit the amount of preening, we only have to do one thing  house birds in a warm, ventilated area. When birds are warm, they reduce their preening because they're comfortable. When they're cold, they're stimulated to preen in an attempt to correct the loss of body heat. Our research and experience over the course of hundreds of spills has shown us that when we keep them warm while they are still oiled, birds do well. There's also another hazard to the sweater concept: Any handling or wearing of anything foreign to them contributes to the penguins' stress. Reducing stress is our biggest challenge in an oil spill. Sweaters can be cumbersome, and require a secure fit to ensure that the bird will not become entangled. When birds are kept in warm rooms without sweaters, their stress is reduced, because they do not need to be monitored or handled. In the Treasure oil spill in 2000 in Cape Town, South Africa, International Bird Rescue worked with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and the South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) to rehabilitate over 20,000 oiled African Penguins; we successfully released 95% of them. In every oil spill where we have cared for penguins, International Bird Rescue has had at least an 80% release rate, and none of these birds wore sweaters. Our colleagues from around the world agree that penguin sweaters are adorable and offer an avenue for concerned people to contribute, but they are not considered a useful tool for the rehabilitation of oiled birds, primarily penguins. In 2014 another Internet-circulated call went out for volunteers to knit jumpers for penguins in case of an oil spill emergency, a plea said to have been issued at the behest of the Australia-based Penguin Foundation.  But while that organization notes on its web site they do use penguin pullovers, they \"do not urgently require little penguin jumpers for rehabilitation\" and they already \"have a good supply of these [jumpers]\": Penguin Foundation web site We have a good stockpile of jumpers suitable for rehabilitation purposes which we also distribute to other wildlife rescue centres where need be. Little penguin jumpers are also used as an educational tool to teach students and others about the devastating effects marine and coastal pollution has on marine wildlife and the environment.  Please know that we do not urgently require little penguin jumpers for rehabilitation, we have a good supply of these which we use on any rescued oiled penguins and in the event of an oil spill, these jumpers are also sent to other wildlife rescue centres if required. Concerned animal lovers may still offer their time and effort to craft garments for penguins nonetheless, but it's highly unlikely they will ever be worn by any of those birds  instead they'll probably be sold to raise funds for ongoing conservation efforts, and volunteers who want to help might do better to simply donate money directly to wildlife organizations that help protect penguins rather than expending their time and effort at making clothing for those critters: Q. What'll happen if I knit a penguin sweater?  A. Odds are it'll be used to dress a toy, not a real penguin. When charities got inundated with sweaters last time, several started using the extra sweaters as fundraisers  they use them on stuffed toy penguins, and the sales of those benefit the charity. That's what's happening here. The money raised helps wildlife conservation. The Penguin Foundation also uses the sweaters in its educational programs. Q. Bottom line: Should I knit a penguin sweater or not? A. Your call. There's no wrong answer. It's an easy project, it'll definitely help penguins and it's a fun way to introduce children and rookie knitters to the joys of charity knitting. So if you really want to knit a penguin sweater, go to it  but bear in mind that the cost of shipping it\/them to Australia won't be cheap, and if you want to help the birds, you might just want to donate funds directly to the Penguin Foundation. Barbara \"fashion plated\" Mikkelson Additional information:        Caring for Sick and Injured Little Penguins    (Penguin Foundation)    Last updated:  11 February 2015    Brown, Simon Leo.  \"Knitters Wanted for Penguin Pullovers.\"   ABC Melbourne.  6 March 2014.    Frederick, Chuck.  \"North Shore Women Knit Sweaters for Birds.\"   Duluth News Tribune.  7 June 2000.    Mooney, Mary.  \"Penguin Sweaters: Separating Fact from Fiction.\"   The Oregonian.  6 March 2014.    AAP Newsfeed.  \"TAS: Penguin Jumper Glut.\"   17 May 2001.    Associated Press.  \"Guild Knits Sweaters for Miniature Penguins.\"   [Dubuque] Telegraph Herald.  11 April 2000  (p. A1).    The Age.  \"Penguins Get Knits.\"   18 May 2001.    Omaha World-Herald.  \"Knitter Helps Save Penguins.\"   9 February 2001  (p. 17).","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Vdm0Sh1HOm3N4qJOdwxJsvz6HfPgTdwW","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Q0zYrdsReRbVUth83suNA9cd5vAq-RXR","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1j9tybwoKz59OcH-uxwpex2rWx74LSlmM","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_340","claim":"Did Nostradamus Predict Charles Would Abdicate, Leave Harry the Throne?","posted":"09\/15\/2022","sci_digest":["Claiming 16th-century French astrologer Nostradamus predicted various world events is a never-ending pastime for some."],"justification":"In the wake of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8, 2022, various hoaxes and misinformation circulated online. These included a misleading claim that the supposed source of many prophecies, Nostradamus, foresaw the year Elizabeth would die and that her heir, King Charles III, would abdicate, leaving an unexpected royal on the throne. Nostradamus is the commonly used name of Michel de Nostredame, a 16th-century Frenchman best known in the modern era for being referenced during global news events, with enthusiasts claiming he predicted them with uncanny accuracy. For example, Nostradamus was falsely credited with predicting the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the U.S. and the 2003 Columbia space shuttle disaster. In the case of misinformation spreading in September 2022, some claimed he accurately predicted the year in which Elizabeth would die and that he foresaw the crowning of Prince Harry as king. Neither is true, as we will explain. \"A shocking new interpretation of the prophecies of Nostradamus says that King Charles's reign could be very short, with the bombshell suggestion that Prince Harry could take the throne,\" reported the U.K. tabloid The Daily Star. Meanwhile, many shared on social media a screenshot from the 2005 book, \"Nostradamus: The Complete Prophecies for the Future,\" by British author Mario Reading. We point to the words \"new interpretation\" in the Daily Star's article because it's the operative phrase. The source of the rumor is simply Reading's interpretation of material written by Nostradamus, as seen in the screenshot from his book above. Nostradamus made no predictions specific to British royalty in 2022. The idea that Harry, the second son of then-Prince Charles and Princess Diana, would leapfrog over his older brother William and become king can be seen at the bottom of the page in the image above. The reason it drew so much attention was that Reading, who died in 2017, appears to have accurately speculated about what year Elizabeth would die. The preamble is that Queen Elizabeth II will die, circa 2022, at the age of around ninety-six, five years short of her mother's lifespan, Reading wrote. But Reading also erroneously predicted, based on Nostradamus's writings, that when Charles took the throne, the Commonwealth\u2014an international association made up of nations like Canada and Jamaica, most of which were once under British rule\u2014would no longer exist. That is not the case. Reading went on to interpret Nostradamus as predicting that when Charles took the throne, the pressure on him, together with his advanced age and opposition from some Brits who were angered by his 1996 divorce from Diana, would be overwhelming. This would lead him to vacate his role. Reading claimed Nostradamus \"makes it very clear\" that the man to replace Charles will be an unexpected one. Reading guesses that this means William won't take the throne, for whatever reason, and that the next in line would be Harry. This was all speculation, however. Reading included the writing of Nostradamus (called a quatrain) at the top of his chapter. But Nostradamus's writing is vague and makes no mention of a specific country or ruler. Because the actual writing of Nostradamus is vague, we cannot say he predicted the circumstances around Elizabeth's death, and we can hardly say he foresaw events that haven't yet happened (and may well never happen). At the very best, we can say that British author Mario Reading accurately guessed the year that Queen Elizabeth II would die. A note of context: Europe's kings and queens during the life of Nostradamus were contextually very different from the U.K.'s modern royals. If King Charles III \"abdicates,\" it wouldn't exactly spark a bloody power grab, as illustrated by the gory HBO series \"Game of Thrones,\" which is loosely based on medieval power struggles. Modern-day royalty in the U.K. is more of a formality than an actual seat of power. It would be an intrigue, no doubt, but would probably have little consequence in the daily lives of U.K. citizens.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=15Csqw5_WKKP10dhGiMsuM6iOJpY8uP6I","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1CvABPmdvkeybO6lj9BX8t_VCd83DP9gj","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_341","claim":"Is this a picture of Bill Clinton with Jeffrey Epstein?","posted":"07\/22\/2019","sci_digest":["Convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein had relationships with a number of high-profile people, including politicians. "],"justification":"On July 10, 2019, we examined a claim that Google was \"scrubbing\" its search results of any pictures showing President Bill Clinton together with convicted sex offender and billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein. While this rumor was false (Google's search results were not notably different from those of Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, Yandex, or Bing), we were left with one unanswered question: Are there any photos of Epstein and Clinton? After all, Clinton flew on Epstein's private plane, a convicted sex offender who was arrested again in July 2019 on new charges related to child sex prostitution. The two were also both present at a \"small dinner party\" in 1995 hosted by Revlon mogul Ron Perelman to raise funds for the Democratic National Convention. It seems reasonable to believe that someone at some point took a photograph of these two well-known public figures together. On July 22, 2019, Josh Rosner, the managing director of independent research consultancy Graham Fisher & Co, alerted us to his tweet containing a photograph of Epstein and Clinton that was published in a 2003 issue of Vanity Fair: Josh Rosner published, \"Disturbing! The #press wiped all pictures of @BillClinton & #JeffreyEpstein from the #internet. Even @VanityFair, which published this image in '03 from their #sex(?) trip to Brunei, scrubbed it.\" Again, no evidence exists that this image was \"wiped\" from the Internet. In fact, this image is available online in Vanity Fair's digital archive (subscription required). This photograph was published in a March 2003 article by Vicky Ward entitled, \"The Talented Mr. Epstein.\" The photograph's caption reads: \"Epstein with President Clinton in Brunei, 2002.\" One possible explanation for why this photograph doesn't appear in search engines is that Vanity Fair didn't publish it as a standalone image. Rather, it is embedded in a digital copy of the March 2003 edition of the magazine. While we're not in the business of offering predictions, we would bet that this image will start finding its way into Google Images and other image-based search engines in the near future, especially if more outlets pick up and publish stories including this image. Clinton is mentioned three other times in the Vanity Fair story; each iteration is reproduced below (emphasis ours): \"Lately, Jeffrey Epstein's high-flying style has been drawing oohs and aahs: the bachelor financier lives in New York's largest private residence, claims to take only billionaires as clients, and flies celebrities including Bill Clinton and Kevin Spacey on his Boeing 727. But pierce his air of mystery and the picture changes. Vicky Ward explores Epstein's investment career, his ties to retail magnate Leslie Wexner, and his complicated past. In addition to the town house, Epstein lives in what is reputed to be the largest private dwelling in New Mexico, on an $18 million, 7,500-acre ranch which he named 'Zorro.' 'It makes the town house look like a shack,' Epstein has said. He also owns Little St. James, a 70-acre island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where the main house is currently being renovated by Edward Tuttle, a designer of the Aman resorts. There is also a $6.8 million house in Palm Beach, Florida, and a fleet of aircraft: a Gulfstream IV, a helicopter, and a Boeing 727, replete with trading room, on which Epstein recently flew President Clinton, actors Chris Tucker and Kevin Spacey, supermarket magnate Ron Burkle, Lew Wasserman's grandson, Casey Wasserman, and a few others, on a mission to explore the problems of AIDS and economic development in Africa. Epstein is known about town as a man who loves women\u2014lots of them, mostly young. Model types have been heard saying they are full of gratitude to Epstein for flying them around, and he is a familiar face to many of the Victoria's Secret girls. One young woman recalls being summoned by Ghislaine Maxwell to a concert at Epstein's town house, where the women seemed to outnumber the men by far. 'These were not women you'd see at Upper East Side dinners,' the woman recalls. 'Many seemed foreign and dressed a little bizarrely.' This same guest also attended a cocktail party thrown by Maxwell that Prince Andrew attended, which was filled, she says, with young Russian models. 'Some of the guests were horrified,' the woman says. 'He's reckless,' says a former business associate, 'and he's gotten more so. Money does that to you. He's breaking the oath he made to himself\u2014that he would never do anything that would expose him in the media. Right now, in the wake of the publicity following his trip with Clinton, he must be in a very difficult place.' In 2002, around the time that this photograph was taken, Clinton told New York Magazine via a spokesperson that, 'Jeffrey is both a highly successful financier and a committed philanthropist with a keen sense of global markets and an in-depth knowledge of twenty-first-century science. I especially appreciated his insights and generosity during the recent trip to Africa to work on democratization, empowering the poor, citizen service, and combating H.I.V.\/AIDS.' Clinton once had a relationship with Epstein and even took multiple trips on his private plane. However, the former president said that he hasn't had contact with Epstein for a decade and knows nothing about the crimes the latter has been accused or convicted of. Clinton, of course, isn't the only high-profile politician connected to Epstein. U.S. President Donald Trump has also been photographed with Epstein.","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1fBCdbTpOhzBslvnpEw8pTN3eoLcm9Jpr"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_342","claim":"Gwyneth Paltrow Tried to Survive a Week on Food Stamps and She Died","posted":"06\/08\/2015","sci_digest":["Rumor: Actress Gwyneth Paltrow starved to death trying to live off of food stamps for a week."],"justification":"On 8 June 2015, the satirical website Clickhole published an article reporting that actress Gwyneth Paltrow had starved to death after trying to live off food stamps for one week. Yep, the star of Shakespeare In Love and Iron Man attempted to feed herself on just $29 for an entire week to demonstrate how desperate things are for the nation\u2019s working poor. After spending her entire budget on barely enough food to create two healthy, well-balanced meals and a couple of snacks, Paltrow slowly starved over the next four days. Clickhole published their satirical article a few months after Paltrow announced that she wanted to \"raise awareness and money for the Food Bank for New York City by trying to live on $29 for the week.\" While it's true that the actress had a difficult time living on the same grocery budget as low-income families utilizing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as \"food stamps,\" Paltrow did not \"starve to death\" as a result. Clickhole, an offshoot of The Onion, is a satirical website that parodies \"clickbait\" sites such as Upworthy and BuzzFeed. Last updated: 8 June 2015.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1drnG_UqwM_K9bOKW3x94YvYiuN636A5L","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1V4d7AVULwDR8183Wo1YWzpLpEmYShjnw","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_343","claim":"Did 'Liberals' Set Up a GoFundMe Campaign for Murder Suspect Cristhian Rivera?","posted":"08\/24\/2018","sci_digest":["A hyperpartisan Facebook page spread a fake and inflammatory meme after the death of Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts."],"justification":"In August 2018, police in Iowa charged 24-year-old Cristhian Rivera with the murder of Mollie Tibbetts, a 20-year-old college student who had gone missing while jogging more than a month earlier.  charged The investigation into the disappearance of Tibbetts had been closely followed on a national level for weeks, but the arrest of Rivera, who authorities say is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, prompted some commentators -- led by President Donald Trump -- to bring her death into the realm of politics.  In a short video posted to Twitter, Trump used the murder of Tibbetts to advance his immigration policies, including the long-touted construction of a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico: pic.twitter.com\/wYCNmkkaNR pic.twitter.com\/wYCNmkkaNR  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 22, 2018 August 22, 2018  The politicization of Tibbetts' death continued in the days following the arrest of Rivera, whom authorities in Iowa say led them to her remains and has confessed to the murder. On 23 August, the right-wing junk news Facebook page \"Uncle Sam's Misguided Children\" posted a widely-shared meme which claimed that \"liberals\" had started a GoFundMe campaign to collectively raise $5,000,000 for Rivera's bail. It contained what was presented as a screenshot from the GoFundMe website, along with the introductory message: \"Liberals raising the bail money for a murder [sic] just #WalkAway.\" meme \"Uncle Sam's Misguided Children\" added: \"Is this for real? Are Democrats raising money for this [piece of shit]?\"   #WalkAway is an online campaign which purports to represent individuals who have left the Democratic party, supposedly in dismay at left-wing policies and vehement criticism or disparagement of President Donald Trump. A Twitter tracking tool called Hamilton68, which is run by the Alliance for Securing Democracy, has found that Russian bot networks have boosted the spread of the #WalkAway hashtag.  campaign Russian bot networks The meme was also promoted in several widely-shared tweets, including one posted by the self-described \"investigative journalist\" Laura Loomer, who has a track record of fabricating and perpetuating conspiracy theories: tweets track record Soooooooo@jihadwatchRS cant have a @gofundme for his journalism, but #MollieTibbettss illegal immigrant murderer can? ? @jihadwatchRS @gofundme #MollieTibbetts We need a very powerful lawyer of group of lawyers to sue these tech companies for violation of public accommodation laws. This is absolutely absurd. pic.twitter.com\/dnEOoQcGNv pic.twitter.com\/dnEOoQcGNv  Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) August 23, 2018 August 23, 2018  The meme's central claim is false. Nobody (liberal or otherwise) has set up a GoFundMe campaign to raise Rivera's bail (which is, in fact, $5,000,000.) The meme features some sloppy image editing, for example the jarring difference in font between \"$117,504\" and \"of 5,000,000 to make bail.\"  bail   It also contains mistakes. On the actual GoFundMe website, the feature which shows how much money a campaign has raised always follows the same format: \"$9,999 of $99,999 goal,\" as shown in the example below:   In the GoFundMe mobile app, the same feature is slightly different, always following the format \"$9,999 raised of $99,999 goal.\" Neither the website or app display this meter with a description of the campaign (such as \"to make bail\") affixed to the end, and they always include dollar signs before every amount (which is not the case in the fake \"Cristhian Rivera\" meme.) format As well being crudely doctored, the \"Uncle Sam's Misguided Children\" meme does not follow either of these formats, which establishes that it is a fake.  No campaign relating to Cristhian Rivera's bail existed on GoFundMe as of 24 August 2018, as a quick search of the website shows. (Neither did any such campaign exist under \"Christian Rivera,\" as the suspect's name is sometimes misspelled, or \"Cristhian Bahena Rivera,\" his full name.) Furthermore, no such campaign had ever existed. search exist Bahena When a campaign is removed from GoFundMe, it remains discoverable on search engines. For example, in August 2018 GoFundMe deleted a potentially fraudulent campaign purporting to raise funds for medical care for a Trump supporter supposedly attacked with a brick in Arizona. Performing a Google search for the title of the campaign (\"Darrell's medical bills\") still yields a residual URL for that campaign: campaign     \"Uncle Sam's Misguided Children\" is a hyperpartisan Facebook page which frequently posts misleading or fake content and memes, some of which we have debunked previously.  debunked A separate campaign relating to Rivera (but not mentioning his bail) was launched on 22 August. It, too, used his mugshot but it was titled \"Iowa billboard\" and aimed to purchase a billboard which would show Rivera's photograph along with the slogan \"Vote Democrat: No border. No wall. Just death for you all.\" campaign Foley, Ryan. \"Authorities: Iowa Student Killed by Mexican in US Illegally.\"\r The Associated Press. 22 August 2018. Palma, Bethania. \"Did the #WalkAway Campaign Use Stock Photographs for People It Claimed Left the Democratic Party?\"\r Snopes.com. 25 July 2018. O., Caroline. \"Pro-Trump and Russian-Linked Twitter Accounts Are Posing as Ex-Democrats In New Astroturfed Movement.\"\r ArcDigital. 5 July 2018. Palma, Bethania. \"Conspiracy Theories Immediately Appear After Santa Fe School Shooting.\"\r Snopes.com. 18 May 2018. KNXV Phoenix. \"Video -- Valley GoFundMe Page Taken Down.\"\r KNXV\/MSN. 23 August 2018.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1-L0bCppC-Enx20Py0tkrrL2krVgJXSkQ","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Hcn0vyuVCFWaJc6SDWTqB-UUNbyBsEsS","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1oZ9YrsYdH4b4YXzgm--6Lo-Oc3QRq7yI","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1LOkWHEZDaih9k8tsGeE7tOg-Gpma2APf","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1aakLJVWmGS3LfOJ9r8bq8YXr0gX2s2wa","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_344","claim":"Caroline Kennedy on Barack Obama","posted":"08\/08\/2012","sci_digest":["Caroline Kennedy said she can't stand President Obama's voice and that he's a liar?"],"justification":"Claim:  Caroline Kennedy said that she can't stand President Obama's voice and that he's a liar. Example:  [Collected via e-mail, August 2012] Just saw on Facebook a photo of Caroline Kennedy quoting that she just can't stand to listen to President Obama's voice and that he is a liar. True?    Origins:  The quote attributed to Caroline Kennedy (daughter of President John F. Kennedy) referenced above originated with Edward Klein's 2012 book The Amateur: Barack Obama in the White House.  It appeared in the following passage, which talked about Caroline Kennedy  who had been a strong supporter of Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign  becoming disenchanted with the Obamas for making \"catty\" remarks about her family and for not being more liberal in political policy-making:  \"Through these [spies that the Kennedy family has in the Obama administration] and other people, Caroline heard back that there was a lot of nasty shit being said about the Kennedys by the president and Michelle,\" [a] family member [said]. \"There were catty remarks about how badly the Kennedy women dressed, and how their houses were shabby and threadbare. Caroline got the impression that most of this negativity was coming from Michelle, who didn't want the Kennedys to be part of the administration for fear that they would have too much influence over the president.\" \"Gradually, Caroline began to change her tune and side with Bobby and Kathleen [Kennedy Townsend] against the Obamas. Unlike Jackie, who was completely apolitical, Caroline is a liberal with a capital L. When Obama didn't raise taxes to balance the  budget, Caroline marked him down. In her eyes, he's a mess because he doesn't follow the liberal bible on politics. More important, Caroline discovered that the Obamas didn't give a damn about her support.  For instance, she was not invited to the state dinners at the White House hosted by the Obamas, or to the president's forty-ninth birth celebration in Chicago. \"It really annoyed Caroline when comparisons were made by the media between Michelle [Obama] and Jackie [Kennedy]. Caroline had a word for such comparisons; she called them 'odious.' She really got annoyed. And when she began to fall out of love with the Obamas, love was replaced by outright scorn. Now she says things about Obama like, 'I can't stand to hear his voice any more. He's a liar and worse.'\" However verifying exactly what Caroline Kennedy might have said is difficult because the quote offered in this passage is second-hand rather than direct (i.e., it's someone else talking about what she said, not a direct statement from Caroline Kennedy herself) and because the source of the statement is anonymous (beyond the description of his or her being a \"member of the Kennedy clan\"). Caroline Kennedy herself has neither confirmed nor denied that she made the remarks attributed to her, but even after their publication she has continued to publicly express support for the Obamas, such as issuing a message to wish President Obama a Happy Father's Day, campaigning in New Hampshire for the President's re-election, and making plans to attend the Democratic National Convention. message campaigning attend Last updated:  19 August 2012 ","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ZNSvHOCLzhB-XZKMn_HjsbrPOPxcmPjf","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_345","claim":"Ford is moving all of their small-car production to Mexico.","posted":"10\/23\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"One of Donald Trump's signature issues in his 2016 presidential bid has been stopping the outflow of American jobs to other countries. During a visit to Delaware, Ohio, he cited a recent example of a major American company moving some of its work out of the United States. \"Companies like Carrier are firing their workers and moving to Mexico,\" Trump said. \"Ford is moving all of their small-car production to Mexico.\" When I'm president, if a company wants to fire its workers and leave for Mexico or other countries, then we will charge them a 35 percent tax when they want to ship their products back into the United States. Is it really true that Ford is moving all of their small-car production to Mexico? Let's take a closer look. On Sept. 14, 2016, Ford CEO Mark Fields announced at an event with Wall Street analysts that the company would migrate all of its small-car production to Mexico and out of the United States over the next two to three years, according to Reuters. Ford had already announced that it would be investing $1.6 billion in Mexico for small-car production starting in 2018. During contract talks in 2015, Ford confirmed that it would move Focus and C-Max production out of its Wayne, Mich., plant in 2018. The United Auto Workers Union said at the time that Ford planned to build the next Focus in Mexico, Reuters reported. The Focus and the C-Max are considered small cars. The company cited declining interest among U.S. consumers for smaller cars and growing sales for bigger vehicles in an era of low gasoline prices. It also cited Mexican labor costs that are about 40 percent lower than those in the United States. \"That's what it takes to compete in that (small car) segment,\" Fields told CNN. So Trump is right that the company is moving all small-car production in North America to Mexico. However, he overlooked a salient point\u2014that both the company and the United Auto Workers do not expect any jobs to be lost at the Wayne plant. Instead of building small cars, the Wayne facility will transition to producing SUVs and pickup trucks that are more popular in the United States. \"Our U.S. workforce at that plant will be making those new vehicles,\" said Ford spokeswoman Christin Tinsworth Baker. In the past five years, Ford has invested $12 billion in U.S. plants and created nearly 28,000 U.S. jobs, Baker said. In all, the company has 85,000 U.S. employees. In a September interview with Fox News, Trump mischaracterized the changes at Ford, saying the company planned to fire all its employees in the United States and move to Mexico. The company aggressively countered that allegation. In an interview with CNN, Fields was asked whether the company would cut any U.S. jobs as part of the relocation of work to Mexico. He said, \"Absolutely not. Zero. Not one job will be lost. Most of our investment is here in the U.S. And that's the way it will continue to be.\" In his speech in Ohio, however, Trump stuck closer to the facts. Our ruling: Trump said that Ford is moving all of their small-car production to Mexico. That's correct as far as it goes, but framing it that way ignores an important qualifier\u2014that no U.S. jobs will be lost in the transition. The company says that workers at the Ford plant in question will instead make SUVs and pickups. We rate the statement Mostly True.","issues":["National","Corporations","Trade","Workers"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_346","claim":"Probation for Child Rape Vs. Prison for Stealing Ribs?","posted":"12\/13\/2017","sci_digest":["A Facebook meme accurately presents the basic facts of two very different but equally controversial cases."],"justification":"Racial disparity in sentencing has long been a subject of controversy in the United States, and a meme posted to Facebook in November 2017 appeared to capture a particularly egregious example.  On 20 November 2017, the Army Anonymous page posted a graphic showing two mugshots of two different men  one white, one black  with the following text: posted A billionaire raped his own 3-year-old daughter  got probation.A homeless man stole $35 rack of ribs  was sentenced to 50 years in prison.     While the two crimes in these examples are very different, statistics show that there exists a marked discrepancy in the sentences given to white and black people, even if they're convicted of the same or similar crimes. The Sentencing Project, a non-profit group that campaigns for fairness and equality in the criminal justice system, outlines how these racial disparities work: outlines Once arrested, people of color are also likely to be charged more harshly than whites; once charged, they are more likely to be convicted; and once convicted, they are more likely to face stiff sentences  all after accounting for relevant legal differences such as crime severity and criminal history. The type of crimes that black people are more commonly convicted of are also crimes that are more likely to carry harsher sentences, the group explains. And while the basic facts outlined in this meme are mostly accurate and follow a deeply unfortunate trend, it's worth giving some context for both cases.  The man shown on the left of the meme is Robert H. Richards, the wealthy great-grandson of Irenee du Pont, and an heir to the Du Pont chemical fortune.  In February 2009, Delaware Superior Court judge Jan Jurden gave Richards an eight-year sentence for raping his three-year-old daughter. Richards had initially been charged with second degree rape but later pleaded guilty to fourth degree rape, of which he was convicted.  Richards Judge Jurden suspended the eight-year jail sentence, imposing probation on Richards and ordering him to perform 50 hours of community service, avoid all contact with children under the age of 16, and undergo sex offender treatment and mental health evaluations.  In her sentence order, Jurden noted that Richards had \"significant treatment needs\" and \"would not fare well in [a] Level 5 setting\" (i.e. jail.) sentence order The News Journal in Delaware reported in 2014 that Richards' ex-wife had accused him of also sexually abusing their son, when the boy was 19 months old. Tracy Richards' lawsuit against her ex-husband was settled out of court.  reported The man shown on the right of the meme is Willie Smith Ward. In May 2013, a jury in Waco, Texas convicted him of robbery after he stole a rack of ribs from a grocery store, two years earlier. A clerk at the grocery store had told the court Ward threatened him and told him he had a knife in his possession.  convicted We found no record of Ward having an address at the time of the robbery in 2011, or his conviction two years later, but we also did not find find evidence that he was homeless.  According to the Waco Tribune, Ward had five previous felony convictions including burglary, aggravated assault and attempted robbery, and four previous misdemeanor convictions. Under Texas' \"habitual offender\" law, the jury took Ward's criminal history into account, and enhanced the sentence for his robbery conviction to 50 years. Waco Tribune habitual offender According to prison records, Ward was denied parole in January 2017, and is still incarcerated at the William G. McConnell Unit state prison in Beeville, Texas. His next parole hearing is set for January 2019. records denied Ward is scheduled for release in September 2061, by which time he would be 91 years old.  Conlon, Kevin; Gallman, Stephanie. \"Du Pont Heir Convicted of Raping Daughter Spared Prison.\"\r CNN. 2 April 2014. Delaware Superior Court. \"State of Delaware v. Robert H. Richards - Sentence Order.\"\r Delaware Superior Court. 6 February 2009. Barrish, Cris. \"Du Pont Heir, Ex-Wife Settle Child Sex Abuse Suit.\"\r The News Journal (Wilmington). 27 June 2014. CBS News Crimesider. \"Willie Smith Ward, Texas Man, Gets 50 Years in Prison for Stealing Rack of Ribs.\"\r CBS News Crimesider. 3 June 2013. Witherspoon, Tommy. \"Theft of Ribs Gets Five-Time Felon 50 Years in Prison.\"\r Waco Tribune. 30 May 2013. Locke, Shannon. \"Understanding the Texas Habitual Offender Law.\"\r The Locke Law Group. 19 April 2017. Ghandnoosh, Nazgol. \"Black Lives Matter: Eliminating Racial Inequity in the Criminal Justice System.\"\r The Sentencing Project. 3 February 2015.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1yCeyK7R0L_UjkdnYnAPYa3W0ULdhcCSG","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_347","claim":"The (Russian) ruble is already going down.","posted":"03\/02\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"American and European leaders find themselves scrambling to respond to Russias deployment of troops in the Crimean Peninsula of Ukraine. With military action on no ones wish-list, diplomacy and economic sanctions are the only moves effectively in play. Secretary of State John Kerry said on CBSFace the Nationthat he had been on the phone with his counterparts among the G-8 nations. Every single one of them are prepared to go to the hilt in order to isolate Russia with respect to this invasion, Kerry said. Theyre prepared to put sanctions in place, theyre prepared to isolate Russia economically, the ruble is already going down. Russia has major economic challenges. This fact-check zeros in on the value of the Russian ruble. It has declined but partly because thats what the Russians wanted. A big drop In the early part of 2013, the ruble was worth 3.3 U.S. cents. Today, its value has tumbled by 15 percent, to 2.8 cents. A little less than half of that fall came in January as the situation in Ukraine deteriorated. Heres the picture over the past year, taken from the currency exchange serviceXE.com:   There is no question that the violence and political turmoil in Ukraine took a toll on the ruble. Russian banks have about $28 billion in loans in the country. Before the Russian troops moved in, investors were already worried. Last week,two of the largest banks in Russiasaid they would suspend any new lending in Ukraine. But the rubles decline has deeper roots. In 2010, the Russian Central Bank announced it wanted to get out of the business of setting the rubles value on the international market. It had in mind a gradual glide path for the currencys fall, andin October, it gave the ruble even more leewayto drop further. The countrys economy grew less than 2 percent last year, and it has struggled to keep inflation in check. The ruble got pretty over-valued in the big energy boom from 2001-08, said Mark Adomanis, a management consultant and contributor to Forbes. That hurt Russian manufacturing and letting the ruble fall potentially could help. With a weaker ruble Russian goods become more competitive on international markets, Adomanis said. That said, a free fall is not what the Russian Central Bank has in mind. In January,the bank signaled that it would stepin to prop up the ruble. But the overall policy remains the same. Our ruling Kerry said the ruble is going down, and it is. The Russian currency has lost about 15 percent of its value against the dollar since early 2013. It is not all because of the situation in Ukraine, however, a fact that viewers may not have picked up on by hearing Kerry's statement. The currencys decline is also part of Russian policy to reduce inflation and make domestic manufacturers more competitive. Theres a little more going on here than Kerrys statement would suggest. We rate his claim Mostly True.","issues":["National","Economy","Foreign Policy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/kGJMlPV8libfb_Bf0JjGj52aAYDUAh1fMF1RgiQbwL2Tejf_QCCPpcrLzInQdteneuIPsCRbwPGxuIKICNkG0caq-IB38t6PuD2I-cqO71aNc0EPTcMf70tTkw","image_caption":"Face the Nation"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_348","claim":"Has Trump suggested modifications to SSI that might result in the termination of disability benefits for numerous individuals?","posted":"12\/18\/2019","sci_digest":["Activists and Congressional Democrats encouraged the public to voice their opposition to the proposals, which were published in November 2019."],"justification":"In December 2019, readers asked us about reports claiming that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump had proposed changes to the way Social Security disability payments are made, which could cause thousands, even hundreds of thousands, to lose their benefits. On Dec. 12, the Philadelphia Inquirer and Chicago Tribune posted an article with the headline \"Trump Administration Proposes Social Security Rule Changes That Could Cut Off Thousands of Disabled Recipients.\" The article reported: \"The Trump administration is proposing changes to Social Security that could terminate disability payments to hundreds of thousands of Americans, particularly older people and children. The new rule would change aspects of disability reviews\u2014the methods by which the Social Security Administration determines whether a person continues to qualify for benefits. Few recipients are aware of the proposal, which is open for public comment through January.\" The left-leaning website Common Dreams published an article with the headline \"'A National Disgrace': Trump Proposes Social Security Change That Could End Disability Benefits for Hundreds of Thousands.\" That story reported: \"Activists are working to raise public awareness and outrage over a little-noticed Trump administration proposal that could strip life-saving disability benefits from hundreds of thousands of people by further complicating the way the Social Security Administration determines who is eligible for payments.\" On the face of it, the changes proposed by the Trump administration would not directly or immediately strip disability benefits from thousands of would-be recipients; rather, the changes would introduce more (and more frequent) eligibility reviews for those who wish to receive them. However, some critics have argued that these increased bureaucratic requirements would overburden some would-be recipients, particularly the most vulnerable, and would ultimately (albeit indirectly) result in thousands losing disability benefits. The Social Security Administration distributes disability benefits in two principal ways: Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), which typically provides benefits to people based on their previous Social Security tax contributions and work history, and is paid out of the Social Security insurance fund; and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), which typically provides benefits to people based on their disability status and inability to work, and is paid out of general tax coffers. In order to prevent potential abuse and waste in the system, the Social Security Administration conducts \"continuing disability reviews,\" essentially investigating whether each recipient still has a disabling condition, and if so, which kind. Those reviews take place more or less frequently, depending on the nature of each individual's disability, which is broken into three \"medical diary categories.\" In November, the Social Security Administration published its proposals to make several changes to the review system. The most significant proposal was to add a fourth medical diary category, \"Medical Improvement Likely.\" Recipients placed in that category would undergo a review every two years. According to a document accompanying the proposals, the decision to introduce the fourth category was made, in part, because the administration saw a pattern whereby some in the \"Medical Improvement Expected\" category were being prematurely subjected to re-evaluation, after six to 18 months, before a medical improvement had the chance to take hold, and some in the \"Medical Improvement Possible\" category had successfully treated their impairment comfortably within the three-year review interval. The introduction of the new category would therefore mean the bureaucratic burden on some recipients would actually be lessened, since they would be subject to review less frequently, though it would also mean others would be subject to more frequent reviews. On the whole, the administration has estimated that, between 2020 and 2029, the new category would tend to require more frequent reviews for those currently in the \"Medical Improvement Possible\" category, rather than less frequent reviews for those currently in the \"Medical Improvement Expected\" category. The administration expects the introduction of the \"Medical Improvement Likely\" category to lead to an 18 percent increase in the total number of reviews undertaken over the next decade. This would lead to an increased upfront cost in administering the disability benefits programs and an increased aggregate bureaucratic burden on recipients (even if some individual recipients would actually undergo reviews less frequently). Greater scrutiny of individual cases and enhanced enforcement of eligibility criteria results in some recipients no longer being deemed eligible and no longer receiving either SSDI or SSI, which saves money for the Social Security insurance fund and the Treasury, respectively. For the 2015 fiscal year, for example, the Social Security Administration calculated a 19.9:1 return on investment rate for disability benefits enforcement\u2014meaning that for every $1 spent on performing reviews, the government would save $19.90 on disability benefits that would otherwise have been paid, over the course of a lifetime, to recipients who are now deemed ineligible. To be specific, the administration estimated that the $717 million spent on reviews in 2015 would ultimately save $14.3 billion in lifetime disability benefit payments. The introduction of the Trump administration's proposals is highly likely to ultimately lead to thousands of disability benefits recipients no longer receiving those benefits, both because some will be overburdened by the bureaucratic demands of more frequent reviews and because some recipients whose medical status no longer meets the eligibility criteria will have that ineligibility discovered sooner. A considerable measure of truth, therefore, exists in the reports published by the Philadelphia Inquirer and Common Dreams. However, those articles failed to mention an important component of the administration's proposals: they would not change how a recipient's eligibility is determined, only how often that determination takes place. As the proposal stated: \"We are not changing the Medical Improvement Review Standard that we use to determine whether a person continues to meet the disability requirements of the Act.\" This means that while the proposed increase in the number and frequency of reviews was highly likely to ultimately cause thousands to lose their benefits, that loss of benefits would not be arbitrary or based on the application of a new and different standard for determining whether someone's health has improved. The standards and criteria for assessing whether an improvement has taken place would remain the same as currently exist, and only the frequency of those reviews would change. In other words, some recipients would be subject to more frequent reviews, but if those more frequent reviews result in a finding that the recipient still has a qualifying disability or impairment\u2014based on the same criteria as currently apply\u2014the recipient would continue to receive disability benefits. It could be that, as some critics have argued, the proposal represents an elegant way for the administration to save money by removing thousands from the recipient rolls without having to change eligibility criteria\u2014the latter a move that would be more likely to cause public outrage or political opposition. However, on its face at least, the proposal involves enhanced enforcement of existing eligibility standards and criteria. That's an important distinction and a significant omission from news articles that reported, with some justification, that the Trump administration had proposed changes to Social Security disability benefits that would cause thousands to be stripped of those benefits.","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1iA1w_6RFQq-Sn8pJWk29RPi1vrBTW-88"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_349","claim":"Did WSJ Op-Ed by Biden in '92 Claim He Wanted to 'Destroy National Sovereignty'?","posted":"09\/08\/2021","sci_digest":["The essay was titled \"How I Learned to Love the New World Order.\""],"justification":"As the Taliban took over Afghanistan, U.S. President Joe Biden pulled American troops out in August 2021, with the last military plane departing at the end of the month, marking the end of a two-decade-long presence in the country.  pulled  Biden has faced plenty of criticism for the rushed departure particularly from right-wing voices, and the internet pulled out an old article he wrote for The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), titled \"How I Learned to Love the New World Order, to bolster arguments against him. According to numerous posts like this one, the essay was arguing for the destruction of national sovereignty and the establishment of a one world government.  one Some claimed that because of the headline, Biden supported a New World Order, which advocates for one world government. This stems from the New World Order (NWO) conspiracy theory, which claims that a secret group of global elites is seeking to establish an all-powerful, authoritarian, one-world government.  New World Order   The essay was indeed published by The Wall Street Journal on April 23, 1992. We found a copy in the archives of the New York Public Library. The full version can be seen below: New York Public Librar   Biden wrote the essay in response to a Wall Street Journal editorial that claimed he was in favor of neo-isolationism. To be clear, in Biden's essay, he was not talking about the NWO conspiracy theory. He argued that the Pentagons strategy of making America a Globocop would render it a hollow superpower.  The highlights made in the blog post above about his essay do not support the argument that Biden wants to destroy national sovereignty. In the article Biden argues for Americans to pull back on military intervention and build up economic might: Bristling with weapons, we would continue our economic decline, while rising industrial and financial giants in Europe and Asia viewed our military pretensions with indifference or contempt. The essay also addresses Americas role as a Globocop, arguing that Power also emanates from [...] the economic leverage to wield diplomatic clout, and not from the barrel of a gun. Biden argues in favor of multilateral military action by breathing life into the U.N. Charter. He envisions \"a permanent commitment of forces, for use by the Security Council. That means a presumption of collective action  but with a U.S. veto. He concluded: We must get lean militarily, revitalize American economic strength, and exercise a diplomatic leadership that puts new muscle into institutions of collective security.  The blog post makes another claim: that Biden wrote the WSJ article many years before writing the Patriot Act, a counterterrorism bill that increased surveillance capabilities by U.S. law enforcement after 9\/11. This is partially true, because Biden did support the Patriot Act and claimed he was responsible for authoring earlier versions of counterterrorism legislation that featured prominently in it. Biden introduced and authored the Omnibus Counterterrorism Act of 1995, which he argued provided one source of inspiration for the 2001 Patriot Act.  counterterrorism claimed In October 2001, he said in a Senate speech supporting the Patriot Act: It allows law enforcement to keep up with the modern technology these terrorists are using. The bill contains several provisions which are identical or nearly identical to those I previously proposed.  Senate speech The Patriot Act was criticized by civil rights advocates and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) who said it turned regular citizens into suspects, and resulted in a loss of privacy. While civil rights experts have criticized his support for the law, that criticism does not suggest that Biden is trying to build a one world government.  American Civil Liberties Union While the WSJ did publish this essay by Biden, the article did not make the arguments that critical blog posts on social media are claiming. As such, we rate this claim as False. Sources: Afghanistan: Last US Military Flight Departs Ending Americas Longest War. BBC News, 31 Aug. 2021. www.bbc.com, https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-asia-58390085. Accessed 8 Sept. 2021. \"How I Learned to Love the New World Order.\" Wall Street Journal (1923-), Apr 23, 1992, pp. 1. ProQuest, https:\/\/ezproxy.nypl.org\/login?url=https:\/\/www-proquest-com.i.ezproxy.nypl.org\/historical-newspapers\/how-i-learned-love-new-world-order\/docview\/135656899\/se-2?accountid=35635. Accessed 8 Sept. 2021. Hsu, Hua. 50 Years of Conspiracy Theories - New World Order -- New York Magazine - Nymag. New York Magazine, https:\/\/nymag.com\/news\/features\/conspiracy-theories\/new-world-order\/. Accessed 8 Sept. 2021. Senate Approves USA PATRIOT Anti-Terrorism Legislation. https:\/\/sgp.fas.org\/congress\/2001\/s102501.html. Accessed 8 Sept. 2021. Surveillance Under the Patriot Act. American Civil Liberties Union, https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/issues\/national-security\/privacy-and-surveillance\/surveillance-under-patriot-act. Accessed 8 Sept. 2021. Ungurean, Geri. JOE BIDEN Proclaimed How He Learned to Love the NEW WORLD ORDER in a Wall Street Piece from 1992: Article Is Clearly Shown in This WP Piece. Absolute Truth from the Word of God, 30 Aug. 2021, https:\/\/grandmageri422.me\/2021\/08\/30\/joe-biden-how-i-learned-to-love-the-new-world-order\/. Accessed 8 Sept. 2021.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1kOR1x47R1fVpB5d_14TS-igHGQ8u8Wqc","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1xht9jOpO0mpVvl02pvEf5qz-jQF3zCgP","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_350","claim":"Do Oreo Cookies Have a Hidden Meaning?","posted":"01\/04\/2017","sci_digest":["The meaning of the ornate design stamped on Oreo cookies is a riddle wrapped in an enigma between two chocolate wafers and a delicious cream filling."],"justification":"We do not know who first paused to ponder the ornate design of an Oreo cookie before eating it, but the decorative embossed pattern is considered integral to the Oreo experience and has inspired praise from such highfalutin sources as American architectural critic Paul Goldberger, who enthused on the occasion of its 75th birthday that the cookie's form \"leaps across stylistic boundaries\" to epitomize modernism: enthused The way in which the two chocolate wafers appear to float, held together only by a recessed inner layer of cream filling, seems to epitomize the modernist esthetic, while the richly decorated chocolate wafers are a celebration of the role of ornament. So, like a building that mixes sleek glass and gargoyles, this cookie does nothing less than transcend the gulf separating modernism and traditionalism. The ornamental pattern of the wafer itself, however, is the Oreo's visual signature. Stamped out by brass rollers passing over sheets of chocolate dough, the pattern consists of a series of four-leaf clovers around the word ''OREO,'' which is set within the traditional trademark of Nabisco, its manufacturer  that trademark being a horizontal oval with what looks like a television antenna extending up from it. Around the clovers, a broken line forms a broken circle. Beyond that, the outer edge of the cookie is slightly ridged, serving both as a visual frame for the ornamental center and as a means of grasping the cookie with comparative ease. While the cookie-in-itself may not be difficult to grasp, some find that the meaning of its elaborate embossed design nonetheless remains elusive. There is no official explanation of what the ring of four-leaf flowers, the segmented line with intermittent dots encircling it, the television antenna-like structure atop the name \"OREO,\" or the 90 evenly-spaced pillars adorning its outer rim are supposed to stand for (if anything). And despite there being no good reason to assume the pattern is anything other than decorative, there are those for whom the Oreo cookie's design represents a deep, dark mystery to be plumbed. Do the symbols communicate a hidden message? mystery An interesting theory summarized in a 2014 Reddit post links the \"symbology\" of the Oreo to the medieval Knights Templar and the fraternal order of Freemasonry, two organizations often implicated in grand-scale conspiracy theories: post Knights Templar Freemasonry The symbol around the word Oreo on the center of the cookie was designed from the Knights Templar Cross of Lorraine, which is a symbol of quality. The \"flowers\" on the Oreo were rendered using the Knights Templar Cross Patte. The dots, flowers and dashes represent the 3 degrees of Ancient Craft Freemasonry. The arranging of the dots around the cookie were strategically placed to form the 5 Pointed Star; the symbol of the Order of the Eastern Star. All of these symbols are still used throughout the Masonic bodies, including the Eastern Star, Knights Templar and the Scottish Rite. Think it's just a coincidence? The inventor, who rapidly climbed from the mail room to design executive and was responsible for today's look of the Oreo, was a Freemason. There's a lot to unpack there, but we'll forego the factual claims for a moment to address the burning question on the lips of anyone unaccustomed to swimming in the murky waters of conspiracism: So what? If, in fact, the Oreo's designer was a Freemason, so what? If, in fact, there are esoteric symbols on the cookies, so what? If the presence of those symbols isn't coincidental, what are we supposed to make of that? What's the point of putting them on a cookie? To be frank, there are probably no rational answers to those questions, nor is it likely that all conspiracy theorists would offer up the same ones. These are folks who claim to find similar symbolism everywhere, including in classical art, popular media, religious texts, corporate logos, and on ordinary currency. They regard such symbols as emblems of a secretive, all-powerful organization  call it Freemasonry, the Order of Solomon's Temple (aka the Knights Templar), the Illuminati, or the New World Order  that has conspired behind the scenes to rule every nation on the planet, like puppet-masters, for centuries. Beyond absolute world domination, it's unclear what the secret society's underlying raison d'tre is supposed to be. Some say it's religious (a Jewish or Catholic conspiracy), others say it's occult or Satanic (e.g., a conspiracy to install the Antichrist), others say it's political (e.g., Communism), and still others promote the notion that an evil race of humanoid reptiles is behind it all. So, why, if it's such a super-secret conspiracy, are graphic symbols of this organization to be found everywhere, including on cookies? The various reasons ventured by conspiracy theorists include the following: As you ponder the above, also consider this: Oreos are the largest-selling packaged cookie in the entire world, with $2.9 billion in sales annually in more than 100 different countries. Mondelez International, the parent company of Nabisco, which manufactures Oreos, reports that more than 40 billion of the cookies are baked and consumed every year. Whether it's for the purpose of mind control, covert communication, or mass Satanic conversion, their consumer reach is beyond compare. Indeed, if world domination is one's goal, it's hard to escape the conclusion that Oreos are, in fact, indispensable for that purpose. sales Unless, of course, the \"symbolism\" with which they're embossed is, and always has been, nothing more than a decorative pattern. It's time to take a closer look. The practice of molding or stamping decorative imagery on cookies (or biscuits, as they are also called) is quite old. In its simplest form, a method called \"docking,\" the dough is perforated with small holes to prevent it from puffing during baking. At its most complex, the technique entails \"embossing\" the surfaces of baked goods with intricate designs for aesthetic or ceremonial purposes. Innovations brought about during the industrial revolution ensured a future in which cookies would be mass-produced by the billions: designs The turn of the 19th century saw the birth of the industrial biscuit, and, with it, the marriage of these two morphologies  docking and decorating  into an automated production line. In the late 1890s, two cousins, both called Thomas Vicars, designed the first embossing and cutting machine, capable of punching holes, stamping decorations, and cutting out up to 80 biscuits per minute from a moving sheet of dough. The dies were necessarily hand carved until engraving machines were introduced in the early 1900s... But the true golden age of biscuit engineering did not dawn until the invention of the rotary molder in the late 1920s. first embossing and cutting machine This technology, albeit updated with variable speed controls, advanced non-stick coatings, and quality sensors, is still used to make Oreos and most other thick embossed biscuits today. The cookie dough is forced into negative molds, which imprint patterns, brand names, and docker holes. A scraping knife (\"D\" in the diagram above) scrapes off any excess dough to give a flat bottom, and the formed biscuits peel away onto a conveyor belt to be baked. In 1908, one of the new industrial-scale baked goods companies created to profit from these rapidly improving production capabilities, Sunshine Biscuits, introduced a product called Hydrox, a creme-filled chocolate sandwich cookie with an embossed design on the top and bottom. It was a sensation, and four years later inspired Sunshine's biggest competitor, the National Biscuit Company (Nabisco), to launch a knock-off: the Oreo (many assume that the Oreo came first and Hydrox was a copycat, but the reverse was true). reverse The first thing to know about the Oreo's design, then, is that it was modeled after that of another product, Hydrox, which also had an embossed pattern on its face. pattern The second thing to know is that the design evolved over time. The pattern we're familiar with today was implemented in 1952, and is a more complex version of the two designs that came before. \"Interestingly, when the Oreo was first introduced by Nabisco in 1912,\" writes Nicola Twilley in The Atlantic, \"it used a much more organic wreath for its emboss, later augmented with two pairs of turtledoves in a 1924 redesign.\" writes   The third thing to know is that we've established the identity of the person who came up with the current design, a longtime Nabisco engineer named William A. Turnier, and although no one ever had a chance to interview him and inquire as to the meaning of the various elements in the pattern, his son has been quite forthcoming about his father's thinking. Remember the rumor quoted above about the Oreo's designer being a Freemason? Not so, says Bill Turnier of his father, who he claims scoffed when people asked serious questions about the design: forthcoming \"I read something on the Internet about some speculation about Masonic designs, et cetera,\" Bill Turnier told me. \"But my father was not a Mason. His father was, but he had no big enthusiasm for it. Some of this Masonic stuff, I can't imagine the people who get into that and the numerological significance.\" Nonetheless, cookie enthusiasts and numerologists often called his father. \"Someone wanted to know the significance of there being 90 notches around the edge,\" Bill Turnier says. \"I think there's 90, and my dad's like, 'I don't know, is that how many there are? I bet I put my compass down and kicked every fourth degree.'\" Bill Turnier recalls that his father also fielded complaints about the four-leafed flower. \"Somebody called him up when he was 65 and said there were no flowers with four petals on them. My dad couldn't care.\" (There are, for the record, plenty of flowers, including the Western Wallflower and varieties of primroses, which bear four petals.) Turnier's ring of four-petaled flowers was a stylized update of the \"more organic\" floral patterns used on earlier versions of the cookie. Claiming the shape is actually a version of the \"Knights Templar Cross Patte\" does not make it so. Nor does a similarity between the \"antenna\" shape over the name \"OREO\" and the traditional Cross of Lorraine (which has also been identified with the Knights Templar in historical imagery) force one to conclude that it had a conspiratorial origin. The oval and cross in the center of the pattern is actually a variant of the Nabisco logo, which, according to the web site of the Bernhardt Fudyma Design Group, has been in use since 1900: Cross Cross logo since At the end of the 19th century, the newly formed National Biscuit Company took its first step toward the creation of what would become one of the world's most recognized logos. Adolphus Green, the baking giant's first chairman, took charge of developing an entirely new brand-name cracker to be sold in a package specially designed to preserve its crispness. A symbol for this product, and the company itself, was needed for use on the package and in advertising. Mr. Green found a simple design  an oval crowned by a double-barreled cross  while looking through his collection of rare books. During the 15th century this design was used as a pressmark by the society of Printers in Venice. Prior to that, in the early Christian era, the mark symbolized the triumph of the spiritual over the worldly. Framed in the octagonal shape of the new 'Uneeda Buiscuit' and filled with the word 'In-er Seal' (the name given to the unique wax-paper-lined package), it became the company's first official trademark in 1900. During the next five decades, the oval enclosed various combinations of the company's initials, the Uneeda brand name and, finally, the current acronym 'Nabisco'.   While the notion that the world's top-selling cookie is somehow a vehicle for powerful secret entities to exercise world domination makes for an exciting story, such evidence as there is suggests that, like so many other staples of modern life, the only real motive behind its invention was the desire to manufacture a good product and sell it at a profit. Sometimes (as Sigmund Freud ought to have said, but didn't), a cookie is just a cookie. Goldberger, Paul.  \"Oreo, at 75, the World's Favorite Cookie; Machine Imagery, Homey Decoration.\" The New York Times.  4 June 1988. Gruber, Hermann.  \"Masonry (Freemasonry).\" The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. Lukas, Paul.  \"Oreos to Hydrox: Resistance Is Futile.\" Fortune.  15 March 1999. Moeller, C.  \"The Knights Templars.\"  The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. Twilley, Nicola.  \"Who Invented the Oreo? The Unsung Heroes of Cookie Design.\" The Atlantic.  13 June 2011. Wallace, Emily.  \"The Story of William A. Turnier, the Man Who Designed the Oreo Cookie.\" Indy Week.  24 August 2011. BFDG.  \"Thinking About Brands in Transition.\" Undated. Mondelez International.  \"A Global Taste of the World's Favorite Cookie.\" 2016. RetroLand.  \"Hydrox.\" 2011.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1tjSMdNaVxhiBzFHcd3rK9TKhUYZa0gFT","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1RDUUC6eds7Yrq_G20URRHe4O2iUmSenG","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_351","claim":"Has No Presidential Candidate 'Won Both Ohio and Florida and Lost'?","posted":"12\/09\/2020","sci_digest":["There's no law that requires a candidate to win both Ohio and Florida in order to become president of the United States. "],"justification":"Voting in the 2020 U.S. Election may be over, but misinformation continues to spread. Never stop fact-checking. Follow our post-election coverage here. In December 2020, as states certified their election results and confirmed that Democratic candidate Joe Biden had won the U.S. presidential election, President Donald Trump continued to push baseless claims that the election was \"rigged,\" \"stolen,\" or marred by widespread voter fraud. On Dec. 9, Trump furthered this false narrative by claiming on social media that his election loss was an historic oddity due to voter fraud. This claim is factually inaccurate. Precedent exists for a candidate losing an election while winning both Florida and Ohio. In 1960, Republican candidate Richard Nixon received more votes than his Democratic opponent, John F. Kennedy, in both Ohio and Florida, but still ended up losing the election. Nixon only managed to secure a total of 219 electoral college votes, while Kennedy won the election with 303 electoral college votes. Winning in both Ohio and Florida may increase a person's chances of winning a presidential election, but it is in no way required to do so. In order to secure the presidency, a candidate must win 270 electoral college votes. Like Nixon, Trump won both Florida and Ohio during the 2020 election, but he fell short of the 270 electoral college votes required to secure the presidency. Trump's electoral college results were slightly better than Nixon's at 232 electoral college votes, but they simply weren't enough compared to Biden's 306.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1BIE7-Ai2V4jZT4Z-_POkhfSBVaxjnZPN","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1bjW7LmBLy5p31mNEeR6WbULvo13Ss1Vs","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_352","claim":"Is it true that Biden's Climate Plan proposes reducing red meat consumption by 90%?","posted":"04\/25\/2021","sci_digest":["One way to smear a plan that is light on details is to make up your own objectionable details to tweet about."],"justification":"On April 22, 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden gave remarks at the \"Virtual Leaders Summit on Climate\" in which he framed a nationwide effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions as an opportunity for \"millions of good-paying, middle-class, union jobs.\" By investing in these new jobs, Biden said, he hopes the United States can cut its greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030:  Joe Biden remarks The United States isnt waiting. We are resolving to take action  not only the  our federal government, but our cities and our states all across our country; small businesses, large businesses, large corporations; American workers in every field. I see an opportunity to create millions of good-paying, middle-class, union jobs. I see line workers laying thousands of miles of transmission lines for a clean, modern, resilient grid. I see workers capping hundreds of thousands of abandoned oil and gas wells that need to be cleaned up, and abandoned coal mines that need to be reclaimed, putting a stop to the methane leaks and protecting the health of our communities. I see auto workers building the next generation of electric vehicles, and electricians installing nationwide for 500,000 charging stations along our highways. I see  engineers and the construction workers building new carbon capture and green hydrogen plants to forge cleaner steel and cement and produce clean power. I see farmers deploying cutting-edge tools to make soil of our  of our Heartland the next frontier in carbon innovation. By maintaining those investments and putting these people to work, the United States sets out on the road to cut greenhouse gases in half  in half by the end of this decade. Thats where were headed as a nation, and thats what we can do if we take action to build an economy thats not only more prosperous, but healthier, fairer, and cleaner for the entire planet. At no point in this speech did Biden announce any initiative to impose a limit on red meat consumption. At no point in his presidency has Biden suggested policies aimed at limiting red meat consumption. Despite these facts, right-wing news outlets and politicians began aggressively repeating the claim that Biden's plan included \"cutting 90% of red meat from our diets by 2030.\" This false notion stems from the British tabloid the Daily Mail, which  in lieu of actual details the Biden administration has not yet provided  took it upon themselves to speculate about what terrible things \"could\" be theoretically included in the plan: to speculate   The Daily Mail cited a report published by the University of Michigan Center for Sustainable Systems that looked, in extremely simplified terms, how much of a reduction would result from various dietary changes. As reported by the Center for Biological Diversity, the researchers concluded: reported That replacing half of all animal-based foods with plant-based alternatives would reduce diet-related emissions by 35%. And if half of all animal-based foods were replaced with plant-based alternatives and beef consumption fell by 90%, dietary emissions would drop by 51%. If American diets remain unchanged, emissions associated with producing the food we eat will climb 9% by 2030. The University of Michigan exercise is, in their words, \"reliant on a number of simplifying assumptions\" and designed to show the impact of various diet change scenarios on climate. It is not, in any way, a policy suggestion or proposal. As you may recall, the Biden announcement was about green jobs and did not once mention initiatives to change the diet of Americans. Despite this, Biden's critics used the Daily Mail's baseless speculation as if it were actual scientific analysis of a plan whose details Biden has not yet released. their words Former Fox News pundit Todd Starnes argued on his show that the January 2020 Michigan study was actually an analysis of a Biden plan that, at the time of this reporting in April 2021, has not been released: argued   The claim that Biden's plan includes this 90% red meat reduction is often paired with a Fox News screen capture: often paired   As it is clear by the citation, this information comes from the same University of Michigan study the Daily Mail relied on to speculate about potential paths to carbon emission reductions. It is not, as suggested, a \"requirement\" for Biden's climate plan. Fox's reporting made it all the way to the halls of Congress. On April 24, 2021, Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., asserted in a viral tweet that the Daily Mail's speculation was an actual policy proposal by Biden: viral tweet   Because the Daily Mail is a British tabloid and not involved in American climate policy discussions, and because Biden's plan has not yet been released, claims that it includes a policy that requires a 90% reduction in red meat are ","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=195MG4AcZ_LX0_-o7b3sxfnAD11aVvaYZ"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1xq8n1Rp5sgffv9ZKs6AGFAYioQ3oQsuB"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1z_MOPYO-jgVqihIfVS1iPJ1jrWToApIA"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1MWGd3rOdwOC6sito6X6G40DvgrQu9iuS"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_353","claim":"FEMA Failer","posted":"07\/21\/2015","sci_digest":[""],"justification":"FACT CHECK: Has FEMA warned Americans that a catastrophic natural disaster will devastate the Pacific Northwest in 2015?      Claim:  FEMA confirmed that a massive natural disaster will level the Pacific Northwest in 2015.   Example:   [Collected via Twitter and e-mail, July 2015] There is convincing footage that a huge earthquake is set to hit  the Pacific Northwest soon and that FEMA is preparing for it. Many of the  details were supposedly printed in the New Yorker magazine. US emergency agency (FEMA) prepare for mega-quake in Pacific Northwest, estimated to kill at least 13,000 people... https:\/\/t.co\/xf8VGZ8s6T https:\/\/t.co\/xf8VGZ8s6T  PacificGuardians (@FatuTauafiafi) July 18, 2015 July 18, 2015   FEMA AttendeeWarnsOfComingEvent Bank Holiday, Social Unrest And Martial Law! Scientist Warn https:\/\/t.co\/VKoglRrAkJ pic.twitter.com\/7RqAJizi17 https:\/\/t.co\/VKoglRrAkJ pic.twitter.com\/7RqAJizi17  Tamra (@emortal_the) July 18, 2015 July 18, 2015   FEMA Meeting Attendee Warns Of Coming \"Event\" - Bank Scientists Warn Of \"Worst Natural Disaster In History Of Nation\" https:\/\/t.co\/Nx0u7zKQPY https:\/\/t.co\/Nx0u7zKQPY  ICU (@constancevaugh1) July 19, 2015 July 19, 2015   Origins:  During the summer of 2015, doomsday prophecies seemed to become relatively fashionable; in addition to the ongoing conspiracy jambalaya of Jade Helm 15, rumors of a giant comet also captivated the purveyors and viewers of caterwauling YouTube videos. (Martial law and FEMA death camps were rumored to be invariable components of your apocalypse of choice.) Jade Helm 15 giant comet Martial law FEMA death camps invariable Many (ostensibly unrelated) things fueled the multiple, ambient conspiracies; among them was a 20 July 2015 piece in The New Yorker titled \"The Really Big One,\" subtitled \"An earthquake will destroy a sizable portion of the coastal Northwest[, the] question is when.\" That article focused on the Cascadia subduction zone, a convergent plate boundary spanning Vancouver Island to Northern California, and one of its most frequently quoted portions stated: piece Just north of the San Andreas, however, lies another fault line. Known as the Cascadia subduction zone, it runs for seven hundred miles off the coast of the Pacific Northwest, beginning near Cape Mendocino, California, continuing along Oregon and Washington, and terminating around Vancouver Island, Canada. When the next very big earthquake hits, the northwest edge of the continent, from California to Canada and the continental shelf to the Cascades, will drop by as much as six feet and rebound thirty to a hundred feet to the westlosing, within minutes, all the elevation and compression it has gained over centuries. Some of that shift will take place beneath the ocean, displacing a colossal quantity of seawater. The water will surge upward into a huge hill, then promptly collapse. One side will rush west, toward Japan. The other side will rush east, in a seven-hundred-mile liquid wall that will reach the Northwest coast, on average, fifteen minutes after the earthquake begins. By the time the shaking has ceased and the tsunami has receded, the region will be unrecognizable. Kenneth Murphy, who directs FEMAs Region X, the division responsible for Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska, says, Our operating assumption is that everything west of Interstate 5 will be toast. Inarguably, the prognostications were grim and the tone suggested a sooner-rather-than-later timeline: In fact, the science is robust, and one of the chief scientists behind it is Chris Goldfinger. Thanks to work done by him and his colleagues, we now know that the odds of the big Cascadia earthquake happening in the next fifty years are roughly one in three. The odds of the very big one are roughly one in ten. Even those numbers do not fully reflect the dangeror, more to the point, how unprepared the Pacific Northwest is to face it. The truly worrisome figures in this story are these: Thirty years ago, no one knew that the Cascadia subduction zone had ever produced a major earthquake. Forty-five years ago, no one even knew it existed. Naturally, the article's alarming claims moved swiftly across social media sites and blogs (particularly those with a primary interest in apocalyptic scenarios and looming martial law). On 18 July 2015 the unreliable web site All News PipeLine published an article titled \"FEMA Meeting Attendee Warns Of Coming 'Event' - Bank Holiday, Social Unrest And Martial Law! Scientists Warn Of 'Worst Natural Disaster In History Of Nation,'\" followed by an article (published to the website of Facebook page \"Operation Jade Helm and Beyond\") titled \"FEMA Warns Of Mega Natural Disaster Expected To Hit The U.S. Northwest!!! Martial Law Not Far Behind...\" article website Facebook page The latter article primarily rewrote the former, but added that \"FEMA has outlined some of what they expect to happen here\" and that \"[t]his is expected to happen in the next 6 months or so in the Pacific Northwest.\" All News PipeLine's article linked to the website of conspiracy theorist Steve Quayle. In a 17 July 2015 \"alert,\" Quayle seized upon interest in The New Yorker's predictions and built upon it with a claim that he received additional information from an unknown source linked to FEMA: Steve Quayle I have a long time friend, who is in law enforcement in one of the Jade Helm states. He is totally logical and factual (sheeple) while I think more out of the box. I have tried to help him see whats going on, but he always calls me a nutjob with too much time on my hands. I just got a phone call from him, he has been attending FEMA Training, and he is now having a meltdown after what they learned. The FEMA team revealed: -There is going to be an \"Event\" within the next 6 months.  -The nature of the \"Event\" is believed to be a Natural Disaster, such as a Solar Flare, but could be something else.    As the excerpted portion illustrates, Quayle purportedly spoke to a \"friend who is in law enforcement\" (that we'll presume exists for the purposes of this discussion) and not anyone directly affiliated with FEMA. Moreover, the \"event\" his friend described is either a natural disaster or not a natural disaster (and in no way necessarily linked to the July 2015 article published in The New Yorker). From there, other websites conflated the article about the Cascadia subduction zone and a vague claim from a fellow who hawks conspiracy and doomsday stories for a living. Quayle's claim didn't even hint at then-ongoing discussion of a possible future earthquake affecting the Pacific Northwest, it simply also referenced a natural disaster (or something else entirely). It's true that the subject of a West Coast faultline was featured in an article in The New Yorker, and it's even true that FEMA Region X Kenneth Murphy surmised that in the event of such a calamity much of the Pacific Northwest \"would be toast.\" However, Murphy's comments were clearly not made on the basis of information pertaining to the certainty of any such looming disaster, and are akin to observing that if a tree fell on your car it would likely sustain serious damage. In the complete context of Murphy's remarks, he clearly referenced a \"what if\" scenario and not a current situation for which FEMA was actively preparing. FEMA has not issued any warnings about seismic activity or any other natural dangers that line up with the claims in the linked articles. And while geologist Chris Goldfinger discussed the possibility of a \"mega-quake\" in a July 2015 article, neither Goldfinger nor any other entity stated with certainty that such an event would occur in 2015 or any other point in the near future. In fact, research (on which Goldfinger worked) completed in 2012 determined that there is a \"40 percent chance of a major earthquake in the [affected] region during the next 50 years.\" Chris Goldfinger Last updated:  21July 2015 Originally published: 21July 2015","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_354","claim":"Did Fox News address the topic of the 'War on Christmas' while other networks reported on Michael Cohen's admissions of guilt?","posted":"08\/22\/2018","sci_digest":["Liberals and Fox News have ruined Festivus for everyone!"],"justification":"On August 21, 2018, President Donald Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to eight criminal charges, including multiple counts of tax evasion and violations of federal campaign finance laws. Cohen also appeared to implicate his former client in possible criminal wrongdoing, alleging that Trump, while a candidate, directed Cohen to pay hush money to two women who claimed to have had affairs with the future president. Those bombshell revelations came on the same afternoon that a jury in Virginia convicted President Trump's former 2016 presidential campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, on eight counts of banking fraud and filing false tax returns, while failing to agree on a verdict for ten other charges. Both the Manafort and Cohen cases arose from investigative work undertaken as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe into potential Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and the possibility of Russian collusion with the Trump campaign. Understandably, much of the news media in the United States gave these major developments extensive coverage that day, in print, online, and on the major television news networks. Some observers accused the conservative-leaning Fox News of downplaying the Cohen and Manafort stories or of deliberately focusing on other issues of lesser importance. Elements of this criticism were accurate and proportionate in pointing out the striking differences between how most TV news networks reported on the developments and how Fox News covered them. However, one viral Twitter post appeared to contain a screenshot of Fox News contributor Tomi Lahren discussing the 'War on Christmas,' while other networks covered Cohen's guilty pleas. The chyron in the image read, \"TOMI: OBAMA CREATED FESTIVUS TO DESTROY CHRISTMAS.\" CNN: Michael Cohen to plead guilty. ABC: Michael Cohen to plead guilty. NBC: Michael Cohen to plead guilty. FOX News: pic.twitter.com\/JR4uAnyCQn pic.twitter.com\/JR4uAnyCQn Diane N. Sevenay (@Diane_7A) August 21, 2018. That tweet was then reposted on Facebook by the left-wing page \"The Other 98%\": The image is fake and is an old meme that first appeared in December 2017. Congrats, @BarackObama, on apparently creating Seinfeld pic.twitter.com\/5g2t7eYDHj @BarackObama pic.twitter.com\/5g2t7eYDHj jordan (@JordanUhl) December 24, 2017. Lahren herself publicly dismissed the meme: \"Does it not bother you to circulate a photoshopped piece of FAKE NEWS? Classy.\" https:\/\/t.co\/hvwdgwPkd2 https:\/\/t.co\/hvwdgwPkd2 Tomi Lahren (@TomiLahren) December 24, 2017. The meme does indeed consist of a screenshot of a real Fox News appearance that Lahren made in August 2017, but with the original chyron digitally edited and replaced with something different and non-relevant: .@TomiLahren: \"How about when the mainstream media stops covering Russia day in and day out, maybe we can drop the Hillary email scandal.\" pic.twitter.com\/OwfYWfuhDD @TomiLahren pic.twitter.com\/OwfYWfuhDD Fox News (@FoxNews) August 31, 2017. It's not clear whether those who posted the edited image in the context of Cohen and Manafort's legal troubles in August 2018 intended to engage in satire or to trick other internet users into believing Lahren really discussed Festivus on that day. Diane Sevenay, whose viral tweet was reposted by \"The Other 98%,\" is a comedy writer. As reported by Mashable, a satirical Fox\/Cohen news coverage meme emerged on August 21, with Twitter users taking turns to parody Fox News' content on the day of Cohen's guilty pleas: Mashable CNN - Cohen plea deal MSNBC - Cohen plea deal Fox News - Are cats becoming too tall? Fred Delicious (@Fred_Delicious) August 21, 2018. CNN: Manafort guilty on 8 counts NYT: Manafort guilty of fraud AP: Cohen pleads guilty Fox News: Were the lobsters on the Titanic happy that it sank? #1 Rachel (@rachel) August 21, 2018. Another widely shared screenshot purported to show Fox News reframing the conviction of Manafort by only mentioning, in a mobile news alert, the fact that a mistrial was declared on ten of the charges against him, while other news organizations reported his being found guilty on eight charges. The image, posted to Facebook by the \"Angry Americans\" page, is authentic but very misleading. Another screenshot shows that Fox News first sent out an alert that read, \"Jury finds Manafort guilty on eight counts in fraud trial,\" before following up with a second one about the mistrial on the ten other charges: Same topic. Different perspectives. ?? #Manafort pic.twitter.com\/r2ZUgFSxDS #Manafort pic.twitter.com\/r2ZUgFSxDS Push the Push (@pushthepush) August 21, 2018. Neumeister, Larry and Tom Hays. \"Cohen Pleads Guilty, Implicates Trump in Hush-Money Scheme.\" Associated Press. August 22, 2018. Barakat, Matthew et al. \"Ex-Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort Guilty of 8 Charges.\" Associated Press. August 22, 2018. Stanley-Becker, Isaac. \"In Trump's Right-Wing Media Universe, It Was a Day Like Any Other.\" The Washington Post. August 22, 2018. Sung, Morgan. \"What Was Fox News Covering While Manafort and Cohen Were in Court? This Hilarious Meme Has Some Answers.\" Mashable. August 21, 2018.","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1uLDyCFBkBGGzXkb_osbd3FBnCvgN_o8X"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_355","claim":"Does Lyft Provide Free Rides to Job Interviews?","posted":"02\/12\/2021","sci_digest":["In early 2021, social media users enthusiastically shared a post about the ride-hailing company with the encouraging sign-off, \"If you need help, here's help.\" "],"justification":"In February 2021, social media users enthusiastically shared a tweet that outlined a program purportedly run by the ride-hailing company Lyft, which allows users to avail themselves of a free ride to a job interview if they need it. The tweet, attributed to Twitter user @ThaOriginalKaee, read as follows: \"So Lyft has a new program that will pick you up and take you to a job interview for free, and if you get hired, they will give you up to three weeks of free rides until you get paid. There have been times in my life this would have been a game changer. If you need help, here's help.\" That Twitter account has since been suspended, but the tweet was authentic, based on several screenshots showing various \"retweet\" and \"like\" counts. The tweet was also originally published in October 2019. For reasons that are not clear, it enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in January and February 2021, as illustrated by the following screenshot, which shows just a selection of Facebook posts from the first two months of the year. The post was largely accurate. Lyft does indeed run an initiative called the \"Jobs Access Program\" that gives some users the opportunity to get free rides to job interviews and training, and if they become employed, free transportation to and from their new job for the first three weeks. However, the service is not available to everyone. Lyft runs the Jobs Access Program in just 20 cities across the United States and Canada, and it is primarily targeted at individuals who have historically experienced difficulties in gaining employment, such as veterans and persons with disabilities. In February 2021, many social media users shared @ThaOriginalKaee's viral tweet, which described the initiative as \"new.\" However, most screenshots of that tweet had the date cut off, meaning many readers mistakenly understood Lyft's initiative to be a new one. While that was true at the time the tweet was originally published in October 2019, it wasn't \"new\" in 2021. Lyft launched the Jobs Access Program in October 2019, announcing it had partnered with non-profit groups including United Way, Goodwill, the National Down Syndrome Society, and the USO (United Service Organizations). The news release associated with the launch explained the initiative as follows: \"We're excited to announce Lyft's Jobs Access Program, a new initiative that aims to close short-term transportation gaps related to employment access and job training. For the unemployed, reliable transportation to a job interview or to the first few weeks of work can mean the difference between successful, long-term employment and lost opportunities. So we've partnered with several leading national and local organizations dedicated to workforce development in order to deliver free or discounted rides to people making their way through the employment pipeline. Lyft's Jobs Access Program will focus on three key interventions in the employment pipeline that are critical to individual success, and where transportation can play a major role: We are focused on communities that stand to benefit most from short-term transportation support, ranging from veterans to individuals with disabilities.\" At the time the initiative was launched, Lyft stated that it was available in 35 cities. However, the company's website now lists only 20 cities and states in which the Jobs Access Program is operational. As of February 2021, they are: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New Jersey, New York, Oakland, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Tacoma, Toronto, Ottawa, and Washington, D.C. In December 2020, Lyft stated that in the 14 months since it was launched, the Jobs Access Program had facilitated more than 30,000 free rides for individuals. While it wasn't immediately clear what exact criteria and restrictions applied to the way in which United Way, Goodwill, and other charities distribute free ride credits to applicants, the program is clearly designed to prioritize individuals with the most acute need for assistance in accessing transportation in order to enter or re-enter the workforce. There is also an application process, whereby would-be users submit their name, contact details, and some basic information about themselves, and according to Lyft's website, can expect to receive a response within a week. So a program does exist whereby Lyft, in partnership with several non-profit organizations, provides free rides to and from job interviews, training, and for the first three weeks of a beneficiary's new employment. However, the initiative has several limitations: it's restricted to 20 cities in the United States and Canada, targeted to communities and individuals who have historically experienced difficulty in finding employment, and involves a relatively slow application process, meaning a user can't simply open up the Lyft app on their phone and spontaneously demand a free ride to a job interview on an ad hoc basis. Taking these facts into consideration, we are issuing a rating of \"true.\"","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1PDNyS0IFvBmhTOmf8u01jtS07xGJdb9B","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1L0OxPxQG9uSD5oYT0C1kfrs0-EsHOYMc","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_356","claim":"Is this Santorini Holidays Vacation Giveaway in Greece Legit?","posted":"04\/16\/2019","sci_digest":["If a free vacation offer seems too good to be true, it probably is. "],"justification":"On 9 April 2019, the \"Santorini Holidays\" Facebook page posted a set of picturesque images and claimed that any social media user who commented and shared the post would have a chance to win an all-expenses paid vacation to the \"Grand Opening Celebration\" of this new hotel in Greece: Facebook picturesque The Facebook message reads: \"We're going to celebrate our Grand Opening by doing something special for you. We're going to be rewarding someone who has shared then commented by April 16th with a 7 night holiday for 4 people in this 2 Bedroom 5 star hotel. You will have a year to use the holiday. No need to worry about flights & travel, it's all included.\"  This Facebook post contains all of the hallmarks of a like-farming scam, and none of the information (such as the name of the new hotel) that would be included in a genuine giveaway.  This genre of scam relies on the promise of a big giveaway (we've previously covered similar scams giving away everything from gift cards, to cars, to cash to airline tickets) in order to generate likes, shares, and comments. This can drive up the value of the page, which can then be sold to a third-party or used to sell advertisements. gift cards cars cash airline tickets You can read more about like-farming scams here. For the moment, let's address some of the red flags that give away the fact that this is a giveaway scam.  here For starters, this post provides no basic information about this alleged hotel. Despite reporting that the vacation would take place during the \"Grand Opening,\" this message does not contain the address of the hotel, a phone number, or even the property's name. We looked for a hotel named \"Santorini Holidays\" on the Greek island but found no matches.  When we performed a reverse-image search on the photos, we found they came from a variety of sources, such as stock photography websites, travel blogs, and online booking platforms. These photographs also show a variety of properties. For instance, the image of the oval, blue pool was taken at the Volcano View Villas Hotel and the images of the bathroom interior come from the Chromata, both in Greece. Neither of these hotels is having a \"grand opening\" this weekend.  Volcano View Villas Hotel  Chromata,  The Facebook page itself is also suspicious. For example, this page claims in its \"About\" section (left) to have been established in April 2014, but Facebook's Page Transparency blurb (right) states that it was actually created in March 2019:   In short, social media users who share and comment on the Santorini Holidays Facebook page's \"Grand Opening Celebration\" giveaway post should not expect to win an all-inclusive vacation to Greece.  GreekTravel.com.  \"Where to Stay in Santorini.\"\r  Retrieved 15 April 2019.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1I5t2PQhyvm3gUll1Ki75mVC6y-0NIUYE","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1VgyfI5touLjQ3Rl5b1jEY61JhkVgd_5A","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_357","claim":"Are US Truckers Planning a Nationwide Strike Over Thanksgiving?","posted":"11\/13\/2020","sci_digest":["Organizing large-scale strikes ranges from difficult to nearly impossible for the trucking industry in its current form. "],"justification":"In the aftermath of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election, many individuals spoke up online to support current President Donald Trump, including groups of truckers. Members of the private Facebook group Stop the Tires 2020 called for a nationwide truckers' shutdown to protest, among other things, Biden's environmental policies, which include a transition to renewable energy sources. The group, which had grown to more than 68,000 members since its founding on Nov. 6, 2020, planned a strike for Nov. 11, 2020, Veterans Day, and if that was ineffective, would continue the strike from Nov. 26 to 29, 2020, during the Thanksgiving holidays. According to a post from one of the group's administrators, TikTok videos of individuals stating they were truckers and describing their plans to strike on the aforementioned dates also went viral. Snopes readers asked us if such strikes were indeed taking place and if they would impact the delivery of basic food and necessities. We learned that a number of truckers claimed to have participated in the Veterans Day strike. However, the actual effectiveness of the past strikes, as well as the upcoming ones, is yet to be determined. Before examining the nature and effectiveness of these strikes, we had to determine whether nationwide and industry-wide strikes were even likely for U.S.-based truckers. The answer is complicated. A report from Business Insider looked at laws from the administration of President Jimmy Carter in the late 1970s that resulted in a decline in wages and the eventual decline in union membership in the trucking industry. Deregulation laws were justified because they reportedly saved consumers money, but at the cost of truckers' wages and working conditions. Hourly wages for heavy and trailer-truck drivers have steadily gone down since then. Unions also lost much of their power and membership. A few decades ago, large numbers of truckers were unionized and carried out successful strikes in the '70s. The Teamsters, a labor union that once boasted more than 2 million truckers as members, now has around 75,000 members. With more independent truckers and companies, it is considered extremely challenging to rally that many truckers together, as they have neither the time nor resources. For instance, in April 2019, tens of thousands of truck drivers planned a work stoppage in a much-hyped Black Smoke Matters protest, but ultimately only a small number of people in different locations participated. On Nov. 11, and even after that date had passed, dozens of members of Stop the Tires 2020 posted pictures in the private group claiming they were participating in a strike by refusing to drive. However, there was little evidence that these stoppages had any impact. WWJ Newsradio 950, Detroit's local station, reported on Nov. 11 that so far, the call for a one-day strike seemed to be all talk, as the trucking industry was humming along. Truckers interviewed by the station were not participating but stated that the strikers' concerns made sense and should be taken seriously. Larry Fuentes, the manager of a large logistics company in metro Detroit, told WWJ that his truckers had not joined the strike, but \"I can have some understanding of what they're coming for. Their livelihoods are at stake.\" He added that a strike would devastate the industry. Samuel Ford, a truck driver from Brownstown, Mich., mentioned that he hasn't joined the strike, but the drivers in the strike group have a point. \"Truckers are very often overlooked ... But they do have a very significant say-so over how this country is run,\" he said. Not all truckers are part of these particular anti-Biden strikes. After the election results were announced on Nov. 7, 2020, the American Trucking Associations released a statement congratulating Biden and calling for more infrastructure investment. Other groups that claimed to strike said they were not defending any one political party but wanted to improve their working conditions and wages. Over the summer, truckers also organized to protest decreased freight rates and working conditions during the pandemic. Indeed, before the elections, the truckers running the supply chain for United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI), which supplies Whole Foods and other grocery stores in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, threatened to strike over what they said was UNFI's failure to comply with COVID-19 safety guidelines. The truckers, represented by Teamsters, along with workers at distribution centers in California, claimed the company was not providing workers with adequate protective equipment, including face masks, and disinfecting and cleaning workspaces. However, they reached an agreement with the company by early November. As of this writing, the strikes planned for late November have yet to happen, and their effectiveness is still to be determined. We will keep an eye on the events and post an update once we have more information. UPDATE Nov. 18, 2020: Stop the Tires 2020 creator Jeremy Rewoldt called off the Thanksgiving holiday work stoppage, saying, \"Now is not the time.\" In an appearance on a video blog, he admitted that he had previously made an \"emotion-based decision based on a presumed result of the election that hasn't been certified yet.\" He added that the administrative team had fractured over disagreements around the purpose of their Facebook group, and he posted on the page: \"When this group was made, the intentions were to talk and BS amongst a few, if not a couple hundred, people, my friends and others included. What I thought was going to be a few hundred turned into 75K people who I now had to voice for.\" The group's profile image on Nov. 18 said \"Delayed.\"","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ADT-mzE8XO3XHpH7pTolsUydtqP9cKUO","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1VzrusuULOewluhoJnqhFItpxkkcvt_IA","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1zYoFQ8DbQ-ppFvTHjrDGObHxCDFlFaiH","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Gu8iJ-kAdVFsg5BDBWsT2_f-eY4DLpU-","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1p9Bl4vleJmEZ_UzBPzGS996rwf1bXZ6w","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_358","claim":"South Florida ranks No. 1 in the gap between wages and housing.","posted":"03\/23\/2017","sci_digest":[],"justification":"South Floridas housing market spans the gamut of tony gated oceanfront mansions for millionaires and some downtrodden neighborhoods. Thats not unusual for a major urban area. But is it worse in South Florida than elsewhere in the nation? Habitat for Humanity painted a stark picture about the cost of housing in South Florida in a press release announcing that President Donald Trumps Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, retiredDr. Ben Carson, will visit the site of a futureaffordable housing developmentin Broward County on March 24. Studies indicate that while Broward County is the most cost-burdened housing market in the nation, South Florida ranks No. 1 in the gap between wages and housing, said the affordable home-building organization that partners with volunteers. We will focus on whether South Florida ranks No. 1 in the gap between wages and housing. The phrasecost-burdenedrefers to households that spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing. People who spend more than 50 percent are considered severely cost-burdened. South Florida housing market Habitat for Humanity cited a few different reports about the lack of affordable housing in South Florida. A keyreportincluded information from the Center for Neighborhood Technology along with the Center for Housing Policy, a division of the National Housing Conference. The 2012 report outlined the struggle for moderate-income families to afford housing in the 25 largest metro areas. Researchers examined data between 2006-10 from the American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The report found that housing and transportation costs rose faster than income nationally, although the disparity was greater in some metro areas than others.And South Florida topped that list. In the Miami metro area, 40 percent of income for a moderate-income household was spent on housing, more than any other metro area in the study. (TheMiami metropolitan statistical areawas defined by the federal government at the time as stretching from Miami-Dade County, through Broward and north up to West Palm Beach.) It was followed by the Riverside, Calif., metro area and the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area. More recent research shows that the Miami metro area continues to lag behind in affordable housing, said Janet Viveiros, acting director of research at the National Housing Conference. Low- and moderate-income households, even those who are working, still face serious challenges in accessing affordable homeownership or renting in the Miami metro area, she said. The organizations Housing Landscape report based on data from 2011-2014 found that 35.8 percent of low- and moderate-income working households in the Miami area spent more than half their income on housing. That was only exceeded -- slightly -- by the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, Calif., area, which had 36.4 percent of those households spending that much on housing. (This report covered the 50 largest metro areas.) Astudyby the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies in 2015 foundMiamihad the largest share of cost-burdened renters of any major metro in the country. AnNYU Furman Center\/CapitalOnereport in 2016 reached a similar conclusion. While metro areas with higher rents also had higher incomes, Miami pops out as a troubling exceptiona high-cost city without high incomes. Anne Ray, a researcher at the University of Floridas Shimberg Center for Housing Studies, said that data continues to show that Miami housing costs are unattainable for low-income people. Rent is very high and the median income is much lower, particularly in Miami-Dade, than other expensive markets, Ray said. Our ruling Habitat for Humanity says, South Florida ranks No. 1 in the gap between wages and housing. Studies have repeatedly shown that South Florida tops the list in the gap between wages and housing. Although there are other metro areas with similarly expensive housing, wages lag behind in South Florida. We rate this claim True.","issues":["Housing","Income","Poverty","Florida"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_359","claim":"Tomaselli Letter","posted":"02\/26\/2002","sci_digest":["Texas doctor pens opinion piece about the treatment of prisoners captured in Afghanistan."],"justification":"I was just reading Yahoo News and the San Antonio Express newspaper. You know what upsets me? People with absolutely nothing to do with their lives complain about how the U.S. is treating the prisoners or \"detainees\" from Afghanistan. They see a picture on the news or the Internet of someone who is shackled and blindfolded, walking with two armed guards behind razor wire. This picture leads them to believe that these individuals are being treated unfairly. Here is what I see: I see a thin, sickly-looking person who, under severe mental duress from being bombed, was cleaned up, given a haircut to prevent infestation of parasites, and provided with new clothes and shoes. I see a person who is given three nutritious meals per day and a bed to sleep in a tropical climate, not the cold desert floor of Afghanistan, where they would be eating worms, bugs, and goat. I see a person who will be able to receive relief from their pains and illnesses without paying a dime for medical expenses. They will get rest, education, and their mental stress levels will drop tremendously because they have been taken out of a combat area and will not be shot at again. I see these people blindfolded and shackled behind razor wire. I have the intellectual ability to understand why they are in this situation. For those who do not have this ability, let me explain: They are blindfolded to protect our U.S. soldiers from further harm. These individuals cannot plan to destroy something if they cannot see it. They are shackled because they have proven they will easily give up their lives to kill just one American. We are protecting their lives as well as our own. The razor wire serves as a mental deterrent, much like the little alarm company warning signs that many of you have on your homes, even if you do not have an actual alarm system. You would think many times before attempting to cross that razor wire. For those of you thinking about how bad these poor detainees have it under such strict guard, you need to reflect more on other aspects of your life. I was born on September 11, 1966, and every birthday I have from now on will never be a happy one. Why, you ask? Because as I am out somewhere trying to enjoy a nice dinner, someone will have a candle or a ribbon or something, crying about the anniversary of a national tragedy. Then I will think about how insignificant my one little birthday actually is compared to everything else that happened on that day. It boggles my mind that there are people in this world, in leadership positions, heads of companies, who actually think we are doing something wrong when it comes to protecting our nation and our people. These same individuals will be the first to complain about something that happens to them when they are vacationing outside this country. They will ask why the U.S. does not do anything about their misfortune. These are the same people who complain about taxes and how bad their lives are. If you receive this email, please pass it on to everyone in your address book. I am not afraid or ashamed to speak my piece. I am an American; my father fought for this country and was willing to die for it. Dr. Steven Tomaselli Uvalde, Texas United States of America","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_360","claim":"Are US Election Results Required To Be Certified on Election Night?","posted":"10\/27\/2020","sci_digest":["While the media frequently \"calls\" election races on election night, states have several days (or even weeks) to certify their election results. "],"justification":"Voting in the 2020 U.S. Election may be over, but the misinformation keeps on ticking. Never stop fact-checking. Follow our post-election coverage here. here On Oct. 26, 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump posted a message on Twitter stating that we \"must have final [vote] total\" of the presidential election on Nov. 3, 2020. This tweet was subsequently flagged by Twitter for spreading content that could damage the integrity of the country's elections:  message This is not the first time that Trump has called for the winner of the election to be declared on Nov. 3. On Oct. 27, Trump said:  said \"It would be very very proper and very nice if a winner were declared on November 3rd, instead of counting ballots for two weeks, which is totally inappropriate and I don't believe that that's by our laws. I don't believe that. So we'll see what happens.\" The laws of the United States do not say that the winner of a presidential election must be declared or certified on the same night as the election. In fact, the election process in the United States extends for several weeks after the final votes are cast on Nov. 3.  Ellen Weintraub, the commissioner of the Federal Election Commission, responded to the president's comments on Twitter, writing: writing An election is not a reality show with a big reveal at the end. All we get on Election Night are projections from TV networks. We *never* have official results on Election Night. Counting ballots  all of 'em  is the appropriate, proper, and very legal way to determine who won. While Americans may be used to seeing newscasters call the results of a presidential election on election night, states don't typically certify their election results for several days (and in some cases weeks) after the election. When a newscaster \"calls\" a race on election night, this is actually a \"projection\"  an estimate based on the amount of votes cast so far  and not a legally sanctioned election result. projection Here's an excerpt from an article published by Pew Research concerning American's skewed expectations for election night: Pew Research On Nov. 3, millions of Americans will trek to their local polling places to cast their ballots for the next president. That evening, after the polls close, theyll settle down in front of their televisions to watch the returns roll in from across the country. Sometime that night or early the next morning, the networks and wire services will call the race, and Americans will know whether President Donald Trump has won a second term or been ousted by former Vice President Joe Biden. Just about every statement in the previous paragraph is false, misleading or at best lacking important context. Over the years, Americans have gotten used to their election nights coming off like a well-produced game show, with the big reveal coming before bedtime (a few exceptions like the 2000 election notwithstanding). In truth, theyve never been quite as simple or straightforward as they appeared. And this year, which has already upended so much of what Americans took for granted, seems poised to expose some of the wheezy 18th- and 19th-century mechanisms that still shape the way a president is elected in the 21st century. While Nov. 3 marks the end of voting, it is far from the end of the election process. In the following days and weeks (it varies by states), all of the ballots will be counted and certified. This year, the process might take an especially long time due to an expected increase in voter turnout, as well as a surge in mail-in ballots due to the COVID-19 pandemic. expected increase in voter turnout, mail-in ballots Many states continue to receive and count mail-in ballots for several days after election day as long as those ballots were postmarked on or prior to Nov. 3. In Mississippi, for instance, absentee ballots will be accepted \"five business days after Election Day if postmarked on or before Election Day.\" In Illinois, ballots that were postmarked on or before election day will be counted as long as they arrive within 14 days. In other words, we won't know the official total vote count on Nov. 3 because some states won't even be finished receiving ballots by this date.  receive and count mail-in ballots for several days And counting ballots is only part of the process.  The President of the United States is not elected by the popular vote. Rather, once each state counts and certifies all of its votes, governors prepare a \"Certificate of Ascertainment\" that lists the state's Electoral College electors. These electors cast their votes for president, which are then counted and certified by Congress.  not elected by the popular vote The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), an independent government agency tasked with preserving historical records, is responsible for transmitting the votes of the Electoral College to Congress. In NARA's guide to the 2020 election, they outline a timeline that stretches from June (when preparations begin) to Nov. 3 (when the election takes place) to mid-November (when governors prepare a \"Certificate of Ascertainment\" listing the state's electors) to Dec. 14 (when members of the Electoral College cast their votes) to Jan. 6 (when the vote is counted in Congress) to Jan. 20 (when a president is inaugurated). Review NARA's full timeline in this document. document In short, tallying the vote this year is expected to take longer than usual due to increased voter turnout and a surge in mail-in ballots. While it is possible that one candidate will win enough votes on election night that newscasters will be able to say with reasonable certainty who will win the election, these news reports are not the official legal method in which a presidential election is certified. States will spend days (or weeks) counting ballots in the days after the election, governors will then certify those results and list their electors, members of the electoral college will then cast their votes, and then Congress will certify those results.  Berman, Russell.  \"The November Surprise.\"\r  The Atlantic.  7 October 2020. CNN.  \"How Does CNN Make Election Projections?.\"\r  2008. Desilver, Drew.  \"Mail-in Voting Became Much More Common in 2020 Primaries as COVID-19 Spread.\"\r  Pew Research Center.  13 October 2020. Desilver, Drew.  \"Election Night Marks the End of One Phase of Campaign 2020  and The Start of Another.\"\r  Pew Research Center.  22 October 2020. United States House of Representatives.  \"Electoral College Fast Facts.\"\r  Retrieved 27 October 2020. Robertson, Helena, Kirk, Ashley, and Hulley-Jones, Frank.  \"Electoral College Explained: How Biden Faces an Uphill Battle in the US Election.\"\r  The Guardian.  27 October 2020.","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1D_952KMTm6H4okxND5mVCCBccAqR9f8E","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_361","claim":"The Debt Free America Act, also known as H.R. 4646, is legislation aimed at eliminating the national debt.","posted":"07\/27\/2010","sci_digest":["Is the Obama administration proposing a 1% tax on debit card usage and\/or banking transactions?"],"justification":" Claim:  The Obama administration is proposing a 1% tax on debit card usage and\/or banking transactions.  Examples:  [Collected via e-mail, July 2010] The Transaction Tax!  WHAT THE HELL IS THIS??President Obama's finance team and Nancy Pelosi are recommending a 1% transaction tax on all financial transactions.The bill is HR-4646 introduced by US Rep Peter deFazio D-Oregon and US Senator Tom Harkin D-Iowa.Their plan is to sneak it in after the November election to keep it under the radar.See what Nancy has to say about this wonderful idea!https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/24dn5udIt's only 1%! This is a 1% tax  on all transactions to or from any financial institution i.e. Banks, Credit  Unions, Mutual funds,  Brokers, etc.Any deposit you make will have a 1% tax charged.Any withdrawal you make, 1% tax.Any transfer within your account, a transfer to or from savings and checking, will have a 1% tax charged.Any ATM transaction, withdrawal or deposit, 1% tax.If your pay check or your Social Security is direct deposited, 1% tax.If you carry a check to your bank to deposit, 1% tax.If you take cash in to deposit, 1% tax.If you receive any income from a bond or a dividend from stock, 1% tax.Any Real Estate Transaction, 1% tax.This is from the man who promised that if you make under $250,000 per year, you will not see one penny of new tax! Remember, he is completely honest and trustworthy.Keep your eyes and ears open.   https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/24dn5ud Folks, Nancy says this would be a minimal tax on the people, but 1 percent every time you pay a bill or make a deposit is not minimal. This would no doubt tax investment  transactions as well as bank account transactions.This woman is nuts!!!If you know someone in California get this to them!  While at the checkout of Wal-mart in Greeneville, TN I heard that in the future the government may be planning to place a 1% tax on people using debit cards at the check out.  I have heard discussion and seen on emails the fear that the Obama administration is going to pass a 'banking tax' that will take 1% of each deposit and 1% of every transaction out of a bank account. Summary:  The Obama administration has not proposed or recommended placing a 1% tax on all financial transactions.  The idea of the 1% transaction tax stemmed from a bill repeatedly introduced by a single congressman which had no support from any other member of Congress and no chance of passing. Origins:  Some members of Congress have what might be termed \"hobby horse\" issues: concepts about which they introduce legislation in Congress after Congress although their bills not only never come close to passing, but never even clear committee to be put to  votes in the first place.  The hobby horse of Representative Chaka Fattah of Pennsylvania is the notion of eliminating all federal taxes on individuals and corporations and replacing them with a revenue-generating system based on transaction fees (a concept he originally called the \"Transform America Transaction Fee\" and later referred to as the \"Debt Free America Act\"). Chaka Fattah Transform America Transaction Fee In 2004 Rep. Fattah presented a bill calling on Congress to fund a study regarding the replacement of the federal tax code with a transaction fee-basedsystem (H.R. 3759), he introduced a similar bill in 2005 (H.R. 1601), again in 2007 (H.R. 2130), and again in 2009 (H.R. 1703).  None of these bills was ever put to a vote, and only one of them had so much as a single co-sponsor. H.R. 3759 H.R. 1601 (H.R. 2130), (H.R. 1703) In 2010, Rep. Fattah moved beyond proposing studies and submitted the Debt Free America Act (H.R. 4646), a bill calling for the implementation of  a scheme to pay down the national debt and eliminate federal income tax on individuals by imposing a 1% fee on specified financial transactions: H.R. 4646 pay down One idea for raising taxes to pay down the debt is the bill introduced this February [2010] by Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.). His \"Debt Free America Act\" (H.R. 4646) would impose a 1 percent \"transaction tax\" on every financial transaction  whether paid by cash, credit card or any form of financial transfer, the only exception being transactions involving the purchase or sale of stock. Theoretically, everyone would pay one cent on the dollar for every such transaction in America every day  whether $3 million on a $300 million business acquisition, $300 on the purchase of a $30,000 car, or $5 on a $500 ATM withdrawal. Specifically, the text of the bill stated that: The purpose of [the transaction fee] is to establish a fee on most transactions. Such [a] fee:  is different than a sales tax in that a sales tax is charged only on sales to the final consumer, [while] the transaction fee would apply to intermediate users as well as end users   is different than a value added tax (VAT), commonly used in European and other countries, in that a VAT is imposed only on a portion of a transaction's value (roughly the difference between an item's selling price and its cost), [while] the transaction fee would apply to the entire amount of the transaction  is intended to raise sufficient revenue to eliminate the national debt, which was $10.6 trillion in January 2009, during a period of 7 years, and to phase out the income tax on individuals. [This bill would] impose on every specified transaction a fee in an amount equal to 1 percent of the amount of such transaction. The term 'specified transaction' means any transaction that uses a payment instrument, including any check, cash, credit card, transfer of stock, bonds, or other financial instrument. The term 'transaction' includes retail and wholesale sales, purchases of intermediate goods, and financial and intangible transactions. Persons become liable for the fee at the moment the person exercises control over a piece of property or service, regardless of the payment method. (The bill provided for individuals earning $125,000 or less to receive a credit equal to 1% of their income against the tax, and it gave the Treasury Department discretion to exempt certain transactions on which lower-income people disproportionately relied.) Like Rep. Fattah's other Congressional efforts along these lines, his Debt Free America Act had no sponsors other than himself,  languished in committee after being introduced, had no realistic chance of being passed. Thus, although e-mailed warnings about a \"1% transaction tax\" do reference a once-real piece of proposed legislation, the amount of attention those warnings garnered vastly, vastly outstripped any real possibility that such legislation would actually be enacted. Moreover, some of the additional details contained with such e-mailed warnings were erroneous:  Neither \"President Obama's finance team\" nor Nancy Pelosi is \"recommending a 1% transaction tax.\"  The proposal for the  Debt Free America Act was purely the effort of a single congressman, with no outside support.  Neither Representative Peter DeFazio of Oregon nor Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa introduced the Debt Free America Act, co-sponsored it, or publicly supported it.  The included link that supposedly showed Nancy Pelosi endorsing the Debt Free America Act antedated the introduction of that bill to Congress; her comments actually referred to a different, earlier transaction tax proposed in December 2009 by Rep. Peter DeFazio.  That bill, known as the \"Let Wall Street Pay for the Restoration of Main Street Act\" (H.R. 4191), called for the funding of investment in middle class jobs by levying small percentage value taxes on the buying and selling of stocks, futures, swaps, options and other securities. (Although Rep. DeFazio's bill had 31 co-sponsors, it too languished in committee without being brought to a vote.) proposed H.R. 4191  Later versions of this item opened with the statement that \"ON JANUARY 1ST 2012, THE GOVERNMENT IS REQUIRING EVERYONE TO HAVE DIRECT DEPOSIT FOR SS CHECKS. WONDER WHY?\"  The Social Security program did switch over to an electronic payments system as of 1 March 2013 that provided recipients with the options of receiving their benefits payments either through direct deposit to a bank account or via the reloading of a debit card, but that change had nothing to do with the Congressional bill discussed above. Rep. Fattah reintroduced his Debt Free America Act (as H.R. 1125) to the 112th Congress on 16 March 2011. Like Rep. Fattah's previous efforts along these lines, Govtrack.us tagged it with the prognosis \"This bill has a 0% chance of being enacted.\" H.R. 1125 Govtrack.us Last updated:  22 October 2013 ","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1lAB7TS7QRxBDMzAatimelHBdb5RCpYo4"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_362","claim":"Does 'ABA' Letter Prove Anyone Making COVID-19 Masks Can Be Sued?","posted":"08\/04\/2020","sci_digest":["A letter falsely attributed to the Ohio State Bar Association made some questionable claims. "],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease.  fighting Find out Read Submit Become a Founding Member CDC WHO As Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced a statewide mask mandate starting July 23, 2020, amidst a rise in COVID-19 cases in the region, online rumors suggested any mask manufacturers, including those selling masks from home, were at risk of facing lawsuits.  announced rise Snopes readers alerted us to the circulation of the above-displayed letter purportedly from the Ohio State Bar Association (OSBA), printed on an American Bar Association (ABA) letterhead. Dated July 19, 2020, the letter claimed that under \"Ohio Consumer Laws\" individuals could bring a lawsuit against establishments selling or manufacturing masks without licenses or warning labels, including those selling out of their homes, especially if wearers got lung damage. The letter, full of grammatical errors and deprived of punctuation, stated: Under Ohio Consumer Laws you can now bring lawsuit against any retail establishment selling or manufacturing Face Masks or Facial Coverings for the purpose virus protection You can now file lawsuits against anyone selling a facial covering that has not been Medically Approved to filter contagious diseases. This includes any Homemade or Factory made mask With the rise in lung damage caused by pleurisy you can Legally sue for Medical Damages and or selling a Medical Device without license Any mask sold without proper warning labeling sewn into the fabric will be considered in violation, you can also file a mislabeled or not FDA approved lawsuit You can also pursue anyone selling face masks out of their homeYou can also bring suit if selling a medical device without licenseYou can also bring suit for Illegal Monetary Sales and failure to disclose income under IRS 254-70994USYou can also now bring suit against any small business that knowingly sells a defective face covering that causes lung damage We believe these lawsuits will be very lucrative moving forward We learned that the letter attribution was fake and its contents were suspect. In a statement on their Facebook page, the OSBA said they did not issue a letter and readers should be wary of its contents: statement   We reached out to the OSBA who would not comment on the contents of the letter because as an organization they refrain from giving legal advice.  Snopes also reached out to the Ohio attorney generals office about the information in the letter. A representative confirmed that under Ohio law consumers can bring lawsuits against suppliers for unfair and deceptive practices, but much of what constitutes a violation relies on court interpretation. According to the Ohio Revised Code, such deceptive practices include: Ohio Revised Code That the subject of a consumer transaction has sponsorship, approval, performance characteristics, accessories, uses, or benefits that it does not have; That the subject of a consumer transaction is of a particular standard, quality, grade, style, prescription, or model, if it is not [...] It is likely that this applies to any mask manufacturers that make deceptive promises about the quality of their product(s) and the level of protection the product(s) provide. DeWine and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended the use of homemade and non-medical grade masks in addition to practicing social distancing. The CDC stated that surgical masks or respirators are critical supplies that should continue to be reserved for healthcare workers. The Ohio state and federal governments have shared recommendations for do-it-yourself (DIY) or homemade masks without any requirement for a license or warning labels. Consumer protection laws may apply to people selling these homemade masks without affixed labels, but the actual legal implications remain unclear given government recommendations.  DeWine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Ohio The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) regulates masks used for medical purposes only. In April 2020, when health care providers in the U.S. reportedly did not have access to enough personal protective equipment, including masks, the FDA issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for face masks used by the general public and in health care settings during the COVID-19 public health emergency. In short, this EUA required that face masks should be labeled accurately and their use not be misrepresented. Authorized masks were to meet the following requirements:  Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) 1. The product is labeled accurately to describe the product as a face mask and includes a list of the body contacting materials (which does not include any drugs or biologics); 2. The product is labeled accurately so that it does not claim to be intended for use as a surgical mask or to provide liquid barrier protection; 3. The product labeling includes recommendations against use in a clinical setting where the infection risk level through inhalation exposure is high; 4. The product is not labeled in such a manner that would misrepresent the products intended use; for example, the labeling must not state or imply that the product is intended for antimicrobial or antiviral protection or related uses or is for use such as infection prevention or reduction; 5. The product is not labeled as a respiratory protective device, and therefore should not be used for particulate filtration; and 6. The product is not labeled for use in high risk aerosol generating procedures. In sum, although the above-displayed letter was fake, it is possible that consumer protection laws that apply to all kinds of manufacturers would also apply to mask manufacturing, even though its interpretation in situations involving homemade masks is unclear. We thus rate this claim as false. Codes.Ohio.gov.  \"Chapter 109:4-3 Deceptive Acts or Trade Practices in Connection with Consumer Transactions.\"\r Accessed 3 August 2020 FDA.gov. \"To: Manufacturers of Face Masks; Health Care Personnel; Hospital Purchasing Departments and Distributors; and Any Other Stakeholders.\"\r  24 April 2020.  Ingles, Jo.  \"Coronavirus in Ohio: Ohioans Advised To Wear Homemade Masks in Public.\"\r  WOSU.  6 April 2020. Morello, Carol.  \"Coronavirus Cases on the Rise in the Midwest as They Ebb in the Sun Belt.\"\r  The Washington Post.  28 July 2020. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. \"Considerations for Wearing Masks.\"\r  16 July 2020. Waldrop, Theresa.  \"Ohio Governor Orders Statewide Mask Mandate as of Thursday.\"\r CNN. 22 July 2020.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1XoaTekZaB-BKtau5oQn09gOlsapsE0wk","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_363","claim":"Canadian middle class incomes are now higher than in the United States. They are working fewer hours for more pay,  living longer on average, and facing less income inequality.","posted":"05\/20\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"The next presidential election may still be two and a half years away, but the presumptive Democratic frontrunner, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, is all over the news. On May 16, 2014, in a speech at the New America Foundation, a moderate-to-liberal think tank, Clinton compared the United States and Canada on several measures of well-being. Clinton found the United States wanting. Canadian middle class incomes are now higher than in the United States, Clinton said. They are working fewer hours for more pay, enjoying a stronger safety net, living longer on average, and facing less income inequality. Well set aside the claim about the safety net, since thats tricky to measure statistically. But the other claims are ripe for a closer look. So well take them in order. (Clintons camp did not respond to our inquiry.) Canadian middle-class incomes are now higher than in the United States This is the trickiest of the measurements Clinton mentioned, for a couple reasons. First, theres no universally recognized definition of middle class in the available data. Second, theres more than one way to measure the data. Some measurements take a nations economic output as a whole and divide it by the population, whereas others sample individual people or households to find out how much they make, then find the midpoint. Clinton has support fromNew York Timesarticlethat looked at data from the Luxembourg Income Study database, which is based on surveys going back 35 years. The study surveyed people in various countries, asked them what they earned, then used a median to determine the mid-range income level. TheNew York Timesconcluded that median income in Canada pulled into a tie with median United States income in 2010 and has most likely surpassed it since then, due to studies conducted by other groups since 2010 suggest that pay in Canada has risen faster than pay in the United States. On the other hand, if you look at gross domestic product per capita --  the total amount of economic activity divided by population -- the United States tops Canada, and not by a trivial amount. In 2012, GDP per capita in theUnited Stateswas $51,689, compared to $41,559 forCanada, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. (These figures, as with all other money figures in this article, have been converted to U.S. dollars, so that they can be compared.) But this method has drawbacks. Because it represents an average across the entire economy, the final results tend to over-represent the income that flows to the wealthy. So its not ideal for measuring the middle class. Munroe Eagles, director of Canadian studies at the State University of New York-Buffalo, and Ross Burkhart, co-director of the Canadian Studies Program at Boise State University, told PolitiFact that using the Luxembourg Income Study is at least as good a measurement for Clintons claim as the other figures, if not better. They are working fewer hours for more pay than Americans OECD data for the average number of hours worked annually per employed person shows that Clinton is correct. In theUnited Statesin 2012, workers spent 1,790 hours per year on the job, compared to 1,710 hours per year inCanada. One could say that Americans are working harder and producing more goods and services, but Clintons point was that Canadians have greater opportunities for leisure, and on that point, the statistics support her point. As for getting more pay, OECD statistics for 2012 show that the average annual wages for workers in Canada were $58,376, compared to $55,048 in the United States. This measures the average wages earned by a full-time, full-year employee. These statistics support Clintons claim. Canadians are living longer OECD data for life expectancy at birth shows that in 2011,Canadianscould expect to live 81 years, while in 2009, the most recent year available,Americanscould expect to live 78.7 years. So Clintons right on this one, too. Theres less income inequality in Canada The primary statistic used for gauging income inequality is the Ginicoefficient. Gini coefficients range from 0, or perfect equality, to 1, or perfect inequality. According to the OECD, the Gini coefficient for Canada in 2010 was .320, compared to .380 in the United States. That means Canada is modestly more equal than the United States is, which is what Clinton had claimed. Overall, the five comparisons Clinton made are reasonable and arent cherry-picked or subject to statistical quirks, Burkhart said. It's fair, in my understanding of the Canadian and U.S. economies, for Ms. Clinton to make the kinds of comparisons that Ms. Clinton has made, Burkhart said. Our ruling Clinton said that Canadian middle class incomes are now higher than in the United States. They are working fewer hours for more pay,  living longer on average, and facing less income inequality. Shes indisputably correct on four of these five measures, and the data is more mixed on the fifth. On balance, we rate her claim Mostly True.","issues":["National","Health Care","Income","Labor"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_364","claim":"Candidates for governor routinely disclose their spouses tax returns.","posted":"06\/26\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"A new ad by Gov. Rick Scott's campaign has a simple message: Scott and his wife, Ann, have shown Florida their tax returns, so it's only fair that former Gov. Charlie Crist and his wife, Carole, show theirs. In the ad released on June 25, titled \"What's He Hiding,\" Scott's political group, Let's Get To Work, demands that Crist release not only his tax returns but also Carole's. The ad states that the Scotts have released tax returns both in 2010 and for this year's election. However, the ad claims that millionaire Charlie Crist refuses to release his spouse's tax returns. Candidates for governor routinely disclose those returns; Alex Sink and Rick Scott both did so four years ago. Crist has said he won't be releasing his wife's tax returns, arguing that Scott was out of bounds for making the request and should apologize. PolitiFact Florida wondered, however, if spouses truly do routinely disclose their tax returns. Here\u2019s our disclosure: It depends on what you consider routine. The practice of gubernatorial candidates themselves disclosing tax returns goes back a long time, but for this check, we'll go as far back as Reubin Askew, who became governor in 1971 and released several years' worth. Florida elected officials are required by law to file an annual statement showing their assets and liabilities. They are not required to release tax returns, but candidates for governor have traditionally done so. We should note that this generally applies to general election candidates, and not always to primary candidates. For example, Bill McCollum did not release his returns in 2010 while running in the primary against Rick Scott. As for whether spouses disclose their finances, that's an interesting history. Most candidates have filed jointly with their spouses. Jeb Bush and his wife, Columba, released several years' worth of joint returns during Bush's years in office, and Rick and Ann Scott filed jointly. It wasn't until 2002, when Democrat Bill McBride ran against Bush, that the issue of a spouse filing separately arose. McBride's wife, Alex Sink, began to file separately from her husband specifically because he was running for governor, but in 2002, she released two years of tax returns under pressure from the Bush campaign. Sink had retired as president of Bank of America's Florida operations in 2000. McBride, a lawyer who worked at the Tampa firm Holland & Knight for many years, returned the favor in 2010 and released his returns when his wife ran for governor against Rick Scott (McBride died in 2012). Crist was a solo filer when he ran for governor in 2006 because he was single. He didn't marry Carole Crist until 2008. He has stated that they continue to file separately because he was a single guy for a long time. \"She's got her own business, and it's her business.\" Carole Crist is an owner of a family Halloween costume and novelty business, Franco-American Novelty Co., and has created a second company, Goddessey. Crist, a lawyer by trade like McBride, announced the release of three years of tax returns as the ad began airing. The next day, he released returns going back to 2001, with promises to release more, going back to 1991. Candidates releasing their spouses' separate returns has become more of an issue in the last couple of decades as more women become entrepreneurs independently of their spouses. Susan McManus, a University of South Florida political science professor, says the expectation of disclosing separate returns really took off when Walter Mondale chose Geraldine Ferraro as his Democratic running mate during the 1984 presidential campaign. Ferraro faced many questions from political opponents and the media about her husband John Zaccaro's real estate company. They ultimately released the returns, and Ferraro admitted she was an officer in the company, albeit without the authority to sign company checks. In recent years, the same expectation has arisen in presidential campaigns; Sen. John McCain's millionaire wife, Cindy, eventually released two years of individual tax returns during the 2008 presidential campaign amid Democratic pressure. But those are examples from presidential politics. In Florida, the question is whether two instances\u2014by the same couple, McBride and Sink\u2014over the last 12 years constitute spouses' tax returns being released routinely, as Scott alleges. It's only recently that we've seen candidates' spouses filing separate returns. How you feel about it as a voter likely depends on your perspective regarding the race and the candidates, McManus said. The interesting thing in this case is that attitudes about this are changing, she noted. In the future, we're likely to see everyone routinely releasing everything. Our ruling: Scott said candidates for governor routinely disclose spouses' tax returns. It is routine when candidates file joint returns with their spouses. It's only recently that gubernatorial candidates and their spouses have started filing separate tax returns, though. When spouses file separately, there are two instances to consider: first, Alex Sink, and then her husband Bill McBride, disclosed individual returns for their spouses' respective gubernatorial runs in 2002 and 2010. So the trend of spouses who file separately is a new one, but one way or the other, spouses' returns have been released over the years. We rate the statement Mostly True.","issues":["Campaign Finance","Elections","Florida"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_365","claim":"Did Trump Call USPS 'Most Corrupt and Anti-American Way of Voting'?","posted":"08\/10\/2020","sci_digest":["The U.S. president has expressed many (and varied) feelings about mail-in voting."],"justification":"In early August 2020, Snopes readers asked whether the following meme shared across social media accurately quoted U.S. President Donald Trump commenting on the United States Postal Service and voting by mail. This quote appears to be fabricated. Although the meme's text states that Trump made the remark on a talk radio show hosted by Fox News personality Sean Hannity on July 30, 2020, Trump was not a guest on Hannity's AM radio talk show that day. It is true that Trump has repeatedly disparaged mail-in voting, falsely stating that voting by mail leads to rampant election fraud (except in Florida). He even appeared to suggest in a tweet, which prompted widespread backlash, that the November 2020 election should be delayed because the widespread use of mail-in ballots during the ongoing pandemic would compromise the results. Some concern has also been expressed that Trump has reduced the effectiveness of the Postal Service with budget cuts, as The New York Times reported: \"Fueled by animus for Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, and surrounded by advisers who have long called for privatizing the post office, Mr. Trump and his appointees have begun taking cost-cutting steps that appear to have led to slower and less reliable delivery.\" However, we found no evidence that Trump made the remark in the meme displayed above. It wasn't posted to his Twitter account or recorded in any statements transcribed by the White House. And Trump was not a guest on the Hannity show on July 30, 2020, so he didn't make the remark there, as suggested by the meme. These words appear to be someone else's paraphrase of what they assumed Trump was thinking or planning. We therefore rate this claim as false.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=12BAF6wEMg2WXuQtZGT-eABIll1jfTHHS","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_366","claim":"Manufacturing wages today in America on a per-hour basis are actually a bit lower than average wages in the economy as a whole.","posted":"03\/30\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Former car czar Steven Rattner, who actually hates the nickname he earned overseeing the auto bailout, is pushing back against proclamations of a flourishing American manufacturing industry. Again. Rattner wrote an eye-catching New York Times op-ed in January, calling the industry's post-recession job gains a trickle and arguing that we need to get real about the so-called renaissance, partly because wages for auto workers and manufacturers have dropped far more than those of the average private-sector worker since the end of the recession in June 2009. He revisited some of those points in a March 30, 2014, appearance on ABC's This Week, which took a break from coverage of Russia and the missing Malaysian plane to examine the state of Made in the USA. \"We certainly want these kinds of advanced manufacturing jobs. But remember this: manufacturing wages today in America, on a per-hour basis, are actually a bit lower than average wages in the economy as a whole,\" he said. \"And what I mean by that is there are lots of really good high-paying jobs in sectors like education, IT, health care, and service sectors that are not just entry-level jobs; they are really high-paying jobs, and this is our competitive advantage.\" Manufacturing jobs are typically seen as a source of higher pay for people who don't earn college degrees, and President Barack Obama emphasized them in his State of the Union address. So PunditFact wondered if Rattner is right: Are per-hour wages in manufacturing a little lower than average wages for the rest of the American economy? Rattner pointed to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data for average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory employees in the private sector, which make up about four-fifths of total private-sector employment. The most recent data for February 2014 shows the average hourly private-sector wage was $20.50. The manufacturing industry average was, as Rattner said, a bit lower at $19.43. Hourly wages are almost $3 higher for employees who produce durable goods, such as cars, phones, and computers, than for those who make nondurable goods, like food, gas, and clothes. Weekly wages tell a different story, with manufacturers earning almost $122 more a week than the total worker average in February. The reason for the discrepancy between hourly and weekly wages is simple: manufacturers work more hours. \"Anyone can work more hours and make more money,\" Rattner said. \"But manufacturers also earn more money an hour when you factor in supervisors.\" BLS data for February show average hourly earnings of $24.31 for all private-sector employees and $24.72 for manufacturing employees\u2014the opposite of what Rattner said. Which dataset is better? The question can incite an economist's quarrel. Dean Baker, a liberal economist and co-director of the Center for Economic Policy Research, took issue with isolating a dataset that excludes supervisors, saying analysts see the distinction as arbitrary and are increasingly using the whole workforce for their research. The manufacturing industry has a lower percentage of production employees (70.1 percent) than the average for the private-sector workforce (82.7 percent), which accounts for the higher pay when using Rattner's measure, Baker said. Rattner argues that viewing the data his way is more representative of typical workers' earnings without being influenced by the top of the pay scale. Another liberal economist and former Obama administration adviser, Jared Bernstein of the Center for Budget Policies and Priorities, faulted Rattner for excluding benefits on top of wages. \"Manufacturing workers often have benefits,\" he said. Another BLS source for wage data (yes, there are a lot of them) shows that when looking at total compensation (wages plus benefits), manufacturing workers earn $35.14 an hour, which is higher than the $28.44 average for careers in the service-providing industry and $29.63 for all private-sector workers in December 2013. \"Since it's widely believed that workers trade off benefit pay for lower wages, it's a mistake to just consider wages in this sort of comparison when you're dealing with an industry that pays benefits (as opposed to, say, fast food),\" Bernstein said. Matthew Lavoie, a spokesman for the National Association of Manufacturers, said 97 percent of the group's 12,000 members provide health insurance. Rattner conceded that manufacturers earn more than service-industry workers when benefits are included in his New York Times column. In our interview with Rattner, he anticipated these objections to his claim. \"But my point remains the same: the perception that manufacturing jobs are better jobs is out of date,\" Rattner wrote. Note also that over the past year, per-hour wages for all industries rose by 50 cents per hour, but in manufacturing, they rose by only 21 cents per hour. The trend is not manufacturing's friend, as my NYT piece pointed out. Our ruling: Rattner was careful on This Week to single out data for per-hour wages when he argued that manufacturers are not paid as much as the rest of the workforce. His claim relies on the most recent data for production workers in the manufacturing industry, who earn about $1 less than the average of their private-sector counterparts. However, factoring in supervisors shows that manufacturers make 41 cents more per hour. Adding benefits gives manufacturers more of an edge. We won't take sides and say what dataset we think is best. What we can say is that Rattner makes an accurate point by one measure. On balance, we rate the claim Mostly True.","issues":["Economy","Jobs","Poverty","PunditFact"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_367","claim":"Fannie Mae Eases Credit to Aid Mortgage Lending","posted":"10\/02\/2008","sci_digest":["E-mail reproduces a 1999 newspaper article warning about potential troubles with Fannie Mae?"],"justification":"E-mail reproduces a 1999 newspaper article warning about potential troubles with Fannie Mae. Example: [Collected via e-mail, September 2008] Right out of the pages of the NY Times!!! And look at the date..!!! September 30, 1999 Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending. In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers, the Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders. The action, which will begin as a pilot program involving 24 banks in 15 markets, including the New York metropolitan region, will encourage those banks to extend home mortgages to individuals whose credit is generally not good enough to qualify for conventional loans. Fannie Mae officials say they hope to make it a nationwide program by next spring. [Rest of article here.] Origins: In any crisis, one of the most common reactions is to ponder the question, \"How did we get into this mess?\" People begin to search for explanations about who was responsible for bringing about the current state of affairs, who had the ability to head it off (but failed to act or was thwarted), and who foresaw the looming danger (but declined to speak up or was ignored). With the United States currently in the throes of an economic crisis, one symptom of which was the September 2008 government takeover of the foundering Federal National Mortgage Association (commonly known as Fannie Mae), a nine-year-old warning about the home mortgage underwriter's vulnerability to economic problems that could require government rescue was bound to pique public interest. On September 30, 1999, the New York Times published an article entitled \"Fannie Mae Eases Credit to Aid Mortgage Lending\" by Steven A. Holmes. The complete text of the article is available online, but in a nutshell, the Times reported that Fannie Mae was easing its credit requirements for home mortgage loans in response to increasing pressure from a variety of groups: Clinton administration officials who wanted Fannie Mae \"to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate-income people\" (particularly minority groups); stockholders who wanted Fannie Mae \"to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits\"; and banks, thrift institutions, and mortgage companies (from whom Fannie Mae purchases loans) who wanted the company to facilitate \"more loans to subprime borrowers.\" In light of recent events, what caught the attention of most readers was a couple of paragraphs in the middle of the article cautioning about the possible consequences of Fannie Mae's loosening its credit requirements: In moving, even tentatively, into this new area of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times. But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980s. \"From the perspective of many people, including me, this is another thrift industry growing up around us,\" said Peter Wallison, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. \"If they fail, the government will have to step up and bail them out the way it stepped up and bailed out the thrift industry.\" Another New York Times article that has attained a significant amount of retrospective interest is an September 11, 2003 article entitled \"New Agency Proposed to Oversee Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae\" by Stephen Labaton, which reported on the efforts of the Bush administration to create a new regulatory agency to assume oversight of those mortgage lenders: The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago. Under the plan, disclosed at a Congressional hearing today, a new agency would be created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that are the two largest players in the mortgage lending industry. The new agency would have the authority, which now rests with Congress, to set one of the two capital-reserve requirements for the companies. It would exercise authority over any new lines of business and would determine whether the two are adequately managing the risks of their ballooning portfolios. The plan is an acknowledgment by the administration that oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac\u2014which together have issued more than $1.5 trillion in outstanding debt\u2014is broken. A report by outside investigators in July concluded that Freddie Mac manipulated its accounting to mislead investors, and critics have said Fannie Mae does not adequately hedge against rising interest rates. Of especial interest to current readers were the following paragraphs about Congressional resistance to the Bush administration's regulatory proposal: Significant details must still be worked out before Congress can approve a bill. Among the groups denouncing the proposal today were the National Association of Home Builders and Congressional Democrats who fear that tighter regulation of the companies could sharply reduce their commitment to financing low-income and affordable housing. \"These two entities\u2014Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac\u2014are not facing any kind of financial crisis,\" said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. \"The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.\" Last updated: October 2, 2008. Sources: Holmes, Steven A. \"Fannie Mae Eases Credit to Aid Mortgage Lending.\" The New York Times. September 30, 1999. Labaton, Stephen. \"New Agency Proposed to Oversee Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.\" The New York Times. September 11, 2003.","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_368","claim":"Does a Meme Accurately Describe 'Why It's a Big Deal Kamala Harris is VP'?","posted":"01\/27\/2021","sci_digest":["Harris made history several times over when she was sworn in as U.S. vice president on Jan. 20, 2021."],"justification":"Voting in the 2020 U.S. Election may be over, but the misinformation keeps on ticking. Never stop fact-checking. Follow our post-election coverage here. here On Inauguration Day, Kamala Harris made history several times over. In being sworn in on Jan. 20, 2021, the outgoing California senator became the first Black person, first woman, and first person of South Asian heritage to be elevated to the vice presidency.  Inauguration Day The historic nature of her achievement was placed in stark context in a viral meme that showed Harris, whose parents immigrated to the United States from India and Jamaica, respectively, juxtaposed with a long list of official portraits of white men. (Charles Curtis, who served with Herbert Hoover from 1929 to 1933, had some Native American heritage and was therefore the first person of color to hold the office of vice president). Charles Curtis The meme also highlighted several purported landmarks in the slow progress of women's rights and racial desegregation in the United States, as follows: Dont understand why its a big deal that Kamala Harris is VP? Until Red box? She would have been enslaved. Until Blue box? She couldnt vote. Until Yellow box? She had to attend a segregated school. Until Green one? She couldnt have her own bank account.   The following screenshot shows a selection of instances of the meme on Facebook and demonstrates its popularity on social media in January 2021: popularity   The vice presidents highlighted in various colors were as follows (along with the dates of their tenure as vice president): Red: Andrew Johnson, March 4 to April 15,1865 Andrew Johnson Blue: Calvin Coolidge, March 4, 1921, to Aug. 3, 1923 Calvin Coolidge Yellow: Richard Nixon, Jan. 20, 1953, to Jan. 20, 1961 Richard Nixon Green: Spiro Agnew, Jan. 20, 1969, to Oct. 10, 1973 Spiro Agnew The claims made in the meme were therefore that: until Johnson's tenure as vice president (in 1865), Harris would have been enslaved due to her racial heritage; until Coolidge's tenure as vice president (1921 to 1923), she would have been denied the right to vote due to her gender; until Nixon's tenure as vice president (1953 to 1961), she would have been forced to attend a segregated school due to her racial heritage; and until Agnew's tenure as vice president (1969 to 1973), she would have been denied the right to her own bank account, due to her status as a married woman.  On the whole, the claims contained a high degree of historical accuracy, though in some cases they over-simplified certain discriminatory practices and made some relatively minor errors in identifying the vice president in office during certain major reforms. As a result, we're issuing a rating of \"true.\" The following is our assessment of each of those claims.   The creator of the meme appears to have chosen the year 1865, and therefore the tenure of Johnson, because that is the year in which the 13th Amendment, which outlawed slavery, was passed. The text of the amendment reads as follows:  text Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Congress passed the amendment in January 1865, while Johnson was vice president-elect to President-elect Abraham Lincoln, but it was not ratified by the states until December 1865, by which time Johnson had ascended to the presidency after Lincoln's assassination, leaving the vice presidency vacant for the duration of his presidency. So the sequence of events is a bit muddled, but it is certainly reasonable to place the 13th Amendment, and the abolition of slavery, during the Johnson era.  Until the passing of the 13th Amendment, Black people in the United States lacked legal protection against enslavement. That doesn't mean that all Black people before 1865 were slaves, but the vast majority were. Based on figures included in the 1860 U.S. Census (page 14), some 89% of Black people in the country at that time were slaves. page 14 Slavery was far more prevalent in the southern states, but on average, a Black woman in the U.S. shortly before the 13th Amendment had close to a 90% likelihood of being enslaved. From a human rights perspective, Black people had no legal or constitutional protection from slavery, which is likely the thrust of the point made in the meme.   The 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, was passed by Congress in June 1919 and ratified by the states in August 1920. The text of the amendment read: text The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. On both those dates, Thomas Riley Marshall was vice president, under President Woodrow Wilson. So the meme was incorrect in stating that women could not vote until the vice presidency of Calvin Coolidge. In fact, women voted for the first time in the November 1920 election, which saw Warren Harding and his running mate Coolidge elected president and vice president, respectively.  Thomas Riley Marshall That inaccuracy does not impinge upon the truth of the broader point being made in the meme, namely that Harris, as a woman, would not have been able to vote in the United States until the early 1920s. However, the meme does miss an important additional barrier to voting rights that Harris, as a Black woman, could have faced even after the passage of the 19th Amendment.  While the 15th Amendment in principle gave Black men the right to vote, and the 19th Amendment gave all women the right to vote, states continued to discriminate against Black voters by imposing obstacles such as poll taxes, literacy tests, and \"grandfather clauses\"  all of which were designed to suppress Black voters. 15th Amendment obstacles It wasn't until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that such practices were prohibited by federal law, although many activists argue that present-day voter-ID rules continue the legacy of electoral restrictions that have a disproportionate impact on voters of color. Voting Rights Act argue   The creator of the meme appears to have selected the vice presidency of Nixon (1953 to 1961) because that was the period during which the U.S. Supreme Court declared racial segregation in public schools constituted a violation of the Equal Protection clause in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, in the landmark 1954 ruling in Brown vs. the Board of Education. In a follow-up ruling in 1955, the court ordered school districts to arrange for the desegregation of public schools \"with all deliberate speed.\"  declared follow-up ruling Most, though not all, schools were racially segregated in the 19th and early-20th centuries in the United States. So a Black student, such as Harris, would very likely have been forced to \"attend a segregated school,\" as the meme claims. Brown vs. the Board of Education marked the beginning of the end of school segregation, but it did not bring about integration overnight. Over the course of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, state lawmakers and local authorities fought protracted and often bitter battles to resist the Supreme Court's clear mandate. battles So while the meme was right to point out that Black students would be very likely forced to attend segregated schools before the decision in Brown vs. the Board of Education, it's also the case that many Black students were forced to attend segregated schools for many years after the ruling, as well. What changed in 1954 was that the nation's highest court clearly declared that system of racial segregation to be unconstitutional.   The meme appears to refer to the enactment of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) in the early 1970s, which made it illegal for financial services companies to discriminate against customers on the basis of anything other than their creditworthiness. The legislation stated that: stated It shall be unlawful for any creditor to discriminate against any applicant, with respect to any aspect of a credit transaction(1) on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex or marital status, or age (provided the applicant has the capacity to contract)... However, the law wasn't enacted until October 1974, when the office of vice president was vacant. Spiro Agnew resigned in late 1973, after he was charged with bribery and tax fraud, and his replacement, Gerald Ford, ascended to the presidency in August 1974, after Nixon resigned. So the meme is again mistaken on the precise sequence of events. While Agnew was vice president, banks could (and did) legally deny credit to a woman on the basis of extraneous considerations such as her marital status, her husband's income and credit history, and so on. and did The meme also somewhat overstated the restrictions in place before 1974. Women, including married women, could open their own bank accounts before the ECOA was passed, but often faced difficulty and discrimination in doing so. It was particularly difficult for women to obtain a line of credit or a credit card, in her own name. In 1972, the National Commission on Consumer Finance published a report that found the following common discriminatory practices in lending: report What the ECOA changed in 1974, and what the meme appears to allude to, is that banks and lenders could no longer legally engage in such discriminatory practices. ","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1X0nsL2FgWu5-krh1f_5oSPD1yFLflq5T","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1fUCbzQmLc4aJn_oN_YyksMYIx2vtbZBs","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_369","claim":"Fraudulent scheme regarding refrigerators and ovens at Target and Walmart gains traction on Facebook.","posted":"08\/16\/2022","sci_digest":["We strongly recommend sharing this article with any family members or friends who might be susceptible to falling for this potentially dangerous scam."],"justification":"On Aug. 16, 2022, we received mail from our readers that asked if Facebook pages named Target Fans and Walmart Fans were legitimately giving away or donating hundreds of refrigerators and ovens. The truth was that these pages were nothing more than the first step of potentially dangerous survey scams. The scammers appeared to be based in Indonesia. The posts showed pictures of refrigerators and ovens (ranges) with the caption, \"We are happy to announce that we will be donating 670 refrigerators and cookers which cannot be sold due to a few scratches and minor damage, all machines are in working order, so we will send them randomly to someone who writes 'DONE' before August 19th!\"  A search of Facebook for the words Target Fans and the lowercase and special characters ??????? ???? showed dozens of pages that were hosting the survey scams. Target Fans ??????? ???? Survey scams like the one for the Target refrigerators giveaway are a specific kind of ruse. They promise big prizes up front, but then lead to a seemingly endless number of surveys with other tantalizing prizing promises, such as a $750 transfer via the mobile finance app, Cash App. Usually, the scammers who created the Facebook posts are hoping that users sign up for accounts on various websites that might land them small amounts of commission. Target At the same time, survey scams can also be quite dangerous, reported AARP.org: reported AARP.org Amid questions about the supposed subject, sham surveys solicit personal or financial information, such as a credit card number to pay a shipping fee for your prize  something a legit survey will not do. They might trick you into signing up for a free trial offer thats actually a costly subscription for a dietary supplement or other product. Clicking on the link might also launch malware that can scrape sensitive data from your device. Either way, the scammers get information they can use for identity theft or sell on to other bad actors. Some major retailers, including Amazon and Walmart, do offer gift cards as prizes for customers who complete online surveys about their shopping experience, but those companies say they will never ask participants to provide sensitive data. We strongly advise readers to never click any links in offers that seem too good to be true. Also, we recommend sharing our article with family members or friends who might be susceptible to falling for this kind of a Target or Walmart Facebook scam. In sum, no, Target and Walmart weren't giving away or donating refrigerators or ovens on Facebook on pages named Target Fans and Walmart Fans. Walmart Facebook Source: Beware of Survey Scams That Require Personal Information. AARP, https:\/\/www.aarp.org\/money\/scams-fraud\/info-2021\/survey.html.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1mKQzf3sjQRVPdxBS4323fSbPgpiXiv48"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_370","claim":"Under Mayor Tom Barrett, the number of Milwaukee police officers has not increased.","posted":"08\/18\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Milwaukee Ald. Bob Donovan, a candidate for mayor in 2016, worries that upcoming retirements could further reduce what he sees as an undersized police force under Mayor Tom Barrett. Inhis state of the city speech Feb. 24, 2014, Barrett noted he had added 120 new officers in his 2014 budget. Donovan hit on that number when interviewed in the wake of his mayoral announcement. The reality is the number of officers has not increased, Donovan said during a July 29, 2014 appearance on theCharlie Sykes show on WTMJ-AM. Now the mayor will continue to say were hiring 120 cops this year. That doesnt take into consideration the fact that weve had 150 retirements, or that we havent filled positions going way back. When we asked Donovan about the comment, he did not cite hard numbers, but told us he figures unfilled positions and retirements have outstripped the addition of recruits over the 10 years Barrett has been in office. Is Donovan  right? Has police strength -- at least by the numbers -- been flat or gone down on Barretts watch? To answer that question, we turned to the citys Fire and Police Commission, which issues an annual report that details the size of the overall force. To be sure, the actual number of bodies on the force on any given date is constantly changing, since retirement dates vary while recruit classes mean a wave of new bodies joins the force at once. The Fire and Police Commissionreports, available online, are as close to an official tally of police strength as we found. They list, by race and gender, the number of persons on the Police Department payroll as of the last pay period of each year. The latest covers 2012, so we obtained figures for 2013 and so far in 2014 directly from the commission. We used 2004 as the pre-Barrett baseline for our comparisons, because Barrett didnt take office until spring 2004 and therefore did not propose the budget for that year. All figures factor in retirements, terminations and new hires. Police officers At the end of 2004, 1,402 police officers were on the payroll. That number fell to 1,357 by the end of 2013, a 3 percent drop. By that measure -- the one the public sees -- Donovan is correct that officer strength has not increased. Barrett administration officials note it can be misleading to look only at strength of force at any one point in time. A new class of officer recruits came on line in late 2004, boosting the number, they said. A comparison of pay period one in 2004 to the same period in 2014, for example, actually shows a small increase in officer strength. A better measure than point in time comparisons, they said, is average strength across the whole year. That was 1,349 in 2004, they said, and based on the first half of 2014 its 1,341 now -- a smaller decline. Still, that approach does not change the accuracy of Donovans claim. Total sworn officers City officials often will refer to this larger figure when discussing officer strength, and Donovan did as well when we contacted him. It includes not only patrol officers but detectives, supervisors, various technicians and specialists as well as the police chief and the top command staff. At the end of 2004, the figures show 2,006 sworn officers were on board. That number fell to 1,828 by late 2013 and to 1,875 by mid-July 2014. Earlier in 2004, according to Barretts budget staff, the figure was 1,932. And Barretts office released figures using the average strength throughout the year that show a smaller drop in overall sworn strength. Again, those figures change the angle of descent, but not the downward direction of the trend. Within those numbers, the detective ranks fell by more than one fourth. So by this broader measure, Donovan is on target again. Ten-year trend The staff strength figures from the Fire and Police Commission show that the police officer ranks grew early in Barretts tenure, but have slipped gradually with one exception since then. Year 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 P.O.s* 1,402 1,362 1,390 1,441 1,406 1,392 1,362 1,348 1,384 1,357 1,345** As for the broader sworn ranks, a similar trend is evident. By way of explaining the lack of growth in the police force, Barrett chief of staff Patrick Curley and city budget officials said state shared-revenue aid to Milwaukee has dropped by $25 million since 2004 while the police budget is $65 million higher. They said the department under Chief Edward Flynn has re-deployed officers from administrative tasks to community policing. That was accomplished by hiring more civilians to do those desk jobs, they said. Efficiencies have helped avoid layoffs seen in some big cities, Barrett spokeswoman Jodie Tabak said. The Barrett officials told PolitiFact Wisconsin that our inquiry for this fact check led the mayor to quickly unveil aproposal to add 15 more officers to a training classthat will graduate in April 2015. It already had been under consideration to announce later this year, they said. The mayor will propose his 2015 budget in September. Our rating Donovan said the number of Milwaukee police officers has not increased under Mayor Tom Barrett. Donovans claim is on target because reports from the citys Fire and Police Commission indicate a decline in the number of officers since 2004. And other measuring sticks offered by Barretts office show the same trend. We rate Donovans claim True.","issues":["City Budget","Crime","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_371","claim":"A college loan is the sole type of loan in the United States that cannot be refinanced when interest rates decrease.","posted":"04\/06\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Former President Bill Clinton raised a hot-button issue while campaigning for his wife in Los Angeles this week: America's mounting student loan debt. Student debt in the United States has reached $1.3 trillion, trailing only the amount Americans owe on their mortgages. It is often blamed for preventing young people from buying houses and cars, which fuels the country's economy. Undergraduates in the class of 2015 graduated with an average of $35,000 in student loan debt, the highest in history, according to Edvisors.com, a financial aid website. If elected president in November, Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton would remove a unique barrier related to college loans, the former president claimed. A college loan is the only loan in the United States that you cannot refinance when interest rates go down, Bill Clinton said, speaking at a recent campaign rally at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College. We wondered: Is refinancing really off-limits for all college loans? With student loan debt being such a significant issue this election year, we decided to check the facts. Past efforts at change Both Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, have pledged to allow student loans to be refinanced. However, they weren't the first to call for this change. In June 2014, Senate Republicans rejected legislation by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., that would have allowed student borrowers to refinance their federal loan debt. Homeowners are refinancing. Small businesses are refinancing. We just want young people who got an education to have their shot, Warren was quoted as saying in a Washington Post news article at the time. Republicans argued that they were not convinced the legislation would have resulted in lower borrowing costs and labeled it an election stunt. The bill would have allowed people with federal and private loans issued prior to 2010 to refinance at 3.86 percent, the article stated. It added that the Obama administration estimated that the bill could have helped 25 million borrowers save $2,000 each over the lifetime of their loans, totaling $50 billion. Former President Bill Clinton speaks during a campaign stop for his wife, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016, at the West End Community Development Center in Greenville, S.C. (AP Photo\/Paul Sancya) Our research As they campaigned across the country, Hillary Clinton and Sen. Sanders have each pledged to allow for the refinancing of college loan debt. What they, and apparently Bill Clinton, are discussing is refinancing federally backed student loans, which account for about 90 percent of all student borrowing. We turned to the nonprofit college planning group American Student Assistance for some advice. They and other groups say federal student loans can be refinanced into private loans. However, doing so can remove federal protections such as fixed interest rates and the ability to pause repayments. Additionally, private student loans can be refinanced into new lower-interest private loans. But there is no provision in federal law allowing the refinancing of a federal loan into another, lower-interest federal loan. There is no federal refinancing. Congress sets the interest rate for federal student loans, and most of these rates are fixed by law, regardless of how solid your credit or income becomes post-graduation, American Student Assistance advises potential borrowers. PolitiFact Texas examined a similar claim in 2014 and rated it Mostly True. They spoke with Heather Jarvis, a North Carolina attorney specializing in student loan law, who told them that some graduates may be able to refinance student loans at lower rates through private lenders. However, she noted that this would only occur in cases where borrowers have substantial income. Jarvis added that refinancing federal loans with a private loan is risky. The borrower gives up important protections that accompany federal loans (like flexible repayment and discharge provisions). Students repaying federally backed loans, Jarvis said, are effectively barred from refinancing opportunities because federal law makes no provision for the government to make such offers. Asked about the former president's statement, Bill Clinton's press secretary said in an email that it's very safe to say that the vast majority of students with debt have federal debt. She pointed to statistics from the College Board showing that federal loans account for about 90 percent of student borrowing. She mentioned that a small percentage of borrowers can refinance a federal student loan by converting it into a private loan. Our ruling Former President Bill Clinton stated at a recent campaign rally in Los Angeles: A college loan is the only loan in the United States that you cannot refinance when interest rates go down. Borrowers of federally backed student loans, which account for about 90 percent of student loans, cannot refinance those into lower-interest federal loans. Congress sets the interest rate on these loans, and there is no provision in federal law that allows for them to be refinanced. Depending on factors such as income, some borrowers can refinance their federal loans into lower-interest private loans, though they risk losing their federal loan protections. Clinton most likely was referring only to federally backed loans when he made his statement, but a clarification about private loans would have been helpful. We rated his claim Mostly True. MOSTLY TRUE The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. Click here for more on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.","issues":["Debt","Economy","Education","California"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1UrYeZFO_hM3DvDWbFIzPvTusbCRO4dtb","image_caption":"Former President Bill Clinton speaks during a campaign stop for his wife, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016, at the West End Community Development Center in Greenville, S.C. (AP Photo\/Paul Sancya)"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_372","claim":"Did a Pico Jackfruit Snake Bite Cause a Gruesome Hand Injury?","posted":"08\/15\/2019","sci_digest":["Source: A finger or entire hand may have to be amputated three to four days after the bite.\""],"justification":"A set of gruesome photographs supposedly showing the aftermath of a \"pico jackfruit snake\" bite is frequently shared online. We'll be posting these photographs below. As they show a severe hand injury, this article may not suitable for all viewers. The photographs first went viral in August 2017 after they were posted to the Facebook group Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in New York. The first photograph in the set shows what appears to be a small cut on a person's thumb. Subsequent photographs show the injury worsening, due to the snake's venomous bite, until eventually the thumb is amputated. Again, the following photographs may not be suitable for all viewers:   We haven't been able to uncover too many specifics about these photographs, such as where they were taken or the identity of the snake-bit victim. When these images first started circulating on Facebook in 2017 (the original post has since been deleted), the snake was identified as a \"sharp-nosed viper,\" not a \"pico jackfruit snake.\"  In fact, we found no snake by the latter's name. It likely refers to a bushmaster snake, another genus of venomous pit-vipers, which is known by a variety of names across South America, such as the pineapple snake, the silent rattlesnake, and the stinging jackfruit.  Regardless of the specific species of snake, these photographs appear to provide a genuine look at the painful aftermath of a venomous snakebite. News.com.au talked to Brian Fry, an associate professor in the school of biological sciences at the University of Queensland, when these images first went viral:  News.com.au That type of snake [Sharp-nosed viper] has a venom that is extremely tissue destroying, Dr Fry told news.com.au. The reason for this is that they kill their prey by haemorrhagic shock, where some parts of the venom damage the blood vessel walls, while other parts destroy the ability of the blood to clot, leading to a state of massive internal bleeding in a prey animal. As Associate Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Queensland, Dr Fry said because it is a Chinese snake; antivenom for a bite like this might be hard to come by in remote areas. If it was in a private collection somewhere, they probably didnt have it and likely none of the nearby zoos would either, he explained. Thus, theyd have to suffer through the full effects. While we haven't been able to find much information about this specific set of photographs, we have found other snake-bite cases that resulted in similar injuries. A 2015 article from the BBC explained some of the science behind deadly venomous snake bites: cases resulted similar injuries BBC Snake venom is made up of several hundred proteins which all have a slightly different toxic effect on the human body. One snake's poison may not be like another's, even if they are from the same species. But, on the whole, there are two main ways snakes make us suffer  by attacking the circulatory system (ie. the blood) and\/or the nervous system. Haemotoxic venom goes for the bloodstream. It can trigger lots of tiny blood clots and then when the venom punches holes in blood vessels causing them to leak, there is nothing left to stem the flow and the patient bleeds to death. Other venoms can increase blood pressure, decrease blood pressure, prevent bleeding or create it. They are all bad news. Neurotoxic venom tends to act more quickly, attacking the nervous system and stopping nerve signals getting through to the muscles. This means paralysis, starting at the head, moving down the body until, if untreated, the diaphragm is paralysed and the patient can't breathe. A classic sign of this is ptosis, when people can't keep their eyes open. Around the area of the bite, necrosis can set in. That happens when the venom destroys nearby muscles, tissues and cells. Long-term, this can lead to amputations, the loss of the use of a limb or the need for multiple skin grafts. In sum, the above photographs most likely show the gruesome aftermath of a snake bite, but because we were unable to uncover specific details about the pictures, we've rated this claim \"Unproven.\" Brown, Vanessa.  \"Horror Snake Bite Causes Victims Thumb to Turn Black Before Being Amputated\"\r  News.com.au.  15 August 2017. Weisberger, Mindy.  \"What Should You Do If You're Bitten by a Venomous Snake?\"\r  Live Science.  2 June 2019. BBC.  \"The amazing science behind fatal snake bites.\"\r  13 September 2015.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ZNtp8qcmXQv7bwSFMHy8eGhvcRtNoeRL","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_373","claim":"Home Depot Facebook Coupon Scam","posted":"05\/08\/2015","sci_digest":["Rumor: Home Depot is giving out coupons to Facebook users."],"justification":"In May 2015, a fraudulent offer for $200 Home Depot coupons began circulating on Facebook. The message contained a link that redirected bargain hunters to a website adorned with Home Depot's logo, which had nothing to do with the real Home Depot. The $200 Home Depot coupon scam is very similar to other schemes that targeted Costco, Amazon, and Kroger shoppers. While each scam has slight variations, they all feature three main components. First, they require people to like or share the message on Facebook in an attempt to spread the scam across the Internet. Second, they direct people to complete a survey that extracts personal information such as email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, and credit card numbers. Lastly, these scams never end with \"free\" rewards, because users must first agree to sign up for several costly, difficult-to-cancel \"Reward Offers\" hidden in the fine print to claim their coupons. In April 2017, another Facebook coupon scam targeted Home Depot. In that iteration, the chain was purportedly doling out $50 coupons \"to celebrate Mother's Day,\" and links directed users to www.homedepot.com-grabitnow.us (a URL clearly unaffiliated with the legitimate Home Depot website). Home Depot did not address the 2017 Facebook coupon scam on their social media channels as of April 24, 2017, but it was nevertheless clearly not a legitimate promotion affiliated with the chain. The Better Business Bureau provided these three tips to identify scams on Facebook: Don't believe what you see. It's easy to steal the colors, logos, and headers of an established organization. Scammers can also make links look like they lead to legitimate websites and emails appear to come from a different sender. Legitimate businesses do not ask for credit card numbers or banking information on customer surveys. If they do ask for personal information, like an address or email, be sure there's a link to their privacy policy. Watch out for rewards that are too good to be true. If the survey is real, you may be entered in a drawing to win a gift card or receive a small discount off your next purchase. Few businesses can afford to give away $50 gift cards for completing a few questions.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1apSqKp9sPteYcULdv17CbowwOYEfOB0I","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1vyV4pPG9tnSRL0ct7_TQoDHYITXRC-Jp","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_374","claim":"Did Justice Burger Call Gun Lobby's Take on 2nd Amendment a Fraud on the American Public?","posted":"05\/26\/2022","sci_digest":["Warren Burger was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Richard Nixon in 1969. "],"justification":"In the days following a mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 children and two adults dead, a quote from former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Warren Burger started circulating on social media. Burger, who was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1969 by then-President Richard Nixon and retired in 1986, supposedly said: The Gun Lobbys interpretation of the Second Amendment is one of the greatest pieces of fraud, I repeat the word fraud, on the American People by special interest groups that I have ever seen in my lifetime. The real purpose of the Second Amendment was to ensure that state armies  the militia  would be maintained for the defense of the state. The very language of the Second Amendment refutes any argument that it was intended to guarantee every citizen an unfettered right to any kind of weapon he or she desires.  While these words truly originated with the conservative justice, the above-displayed meme cobbles together three different passages that Burger either wrote or spoke at different times.  The first part of this meme  \"The gun lobby's interpretation of the Second Amendment is one of the greatest pieces of fraud, I repeat the word fraud, on the American People by special interest groups that I have seen in my lifetime\"  comes from an interview Burger gave to PBS News in 1991.   The second part of this meme  \"the real purpose of the Second Amendment was to ensure that state armies, the militia, would be maintained for the defense of the state\"  and the third part  \"The very language of the Second Amendment refutes any argument that it was intended to guarantee every citizen an unfettered right to any kind of weapon he or she desires\"  comes from an articles Burger wrote for The Associated Press about the Bill of Rights in 1991.   11 Dec 1991, Wed Record Searchlight (Redding, California) Newspapers.com  11 Dec 1991, Wed Record Searchlight (Redding, California) Newspapers.com Th \"real purpose\" quote can be seen in the article's fifth paragraph. The \"very language\" portion comes a two paragraphs later. Biskupic, Joan. Guns: A Second (Amendment) Look. Washington Post, https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-srv\/national\/longterm\/supcourt\/stories\/courtguns051095.htm. Accessed 26 May 2022. Burger, Warren. Government Has Right to Regulate Guns. Associated Press, 11 Dec. 1991, p. 13. newspapers.com, https:\/\/www.newspapers.com\/clip\/102574603\/record-searchlight\/. How the NRA Rewrote the Second Amendment | Brennan Center for Justice. https:\/\/www.brennancenter.org\/our-work\/research-reports\/how-nra-rewrote-second-amendment. Accessed 26 May 2022. Second Amendment Does Not Guarantee the Right To Own a Gun (From Gun Control, P 99-102, 1992, Charles P Cozic, Ed. -- See NCJ-160164) | Office of Justice Programs. https:\/\/www.ojp.gov\/ncjrs\/virtual-library\/abstracts\/second-amendment-does-not-guarantee-right-own-gun-gun-control-p-99. Accessed 26 May 2022. Warren Burger and NRA: Gun Lobbys Big Fraud on Second Amendment. The Milwaukee Independent, 4 Oct. 2017, https:\/\/www.milwaukeeindependent.com\/syndicated\/warren-burger-and-nra-gun-lobbys-big-fraud-on-second-amendment\/.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1x5ftDx2Ww_v_koa8HaCxE1SrkiD6vloA","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/img.newspapers.com\/img\/img?clippingId=102574603&width=700&height=863&ts=1607535806","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_375","claim":"Of the 14 wealthy OECD countries with a wealth tax in 1996, 10 have since then abandoned it.","posted":"05\/10\/2019","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Elizabeth Warren pins a lot of hopes on her ultra-millionaire tax. The Democratic presidential candidate would like to impose a 2% levy on assets exceeding the $50 million mark and 3% on those over $1 billion. The revenues would fund her plans for universal child care, student debt forgiveness, and other programs she has in mind. In a Fox News op-ed, an analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation noted that a wealth tax isn't a new idea. Joel Griffith stated that many European nations have tried it and subsequently scrapped it. Of the 14 wealthy countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) with a wealth tax in 1996, 10 have since abandoned it, Griffith wrote on April 28. We found different numbers, but there has been a turn away from wealth taxes. With Warren's plan on the table, the European experience is worth exploring. Griffith obtained his numbers from an article on the website of the Tax Foundation, a group concerned about how taxes distort business decisions. The foundation's analysis drew on data from the OECD, a Paris-based international body with roots in the post-war recovery of Europe. The OECD data shows that 13 countries collected revenues from net wealth taxes in 1996, measured in local currency, but it shows 14 when measured as a percentage of GDP. We can't account for the difference. There's another twist: one of those countries is Austria, which ended its wealth tax in 1994. So the actual count that year was either 12 or 13. (It's only slightly off from what Griffith wrote, but we care about these details.) Tallying the countries that have a wealth tax today is even trickier, largely because definitions vary. We found room for debate over what constitutes a wealth tax. All wealth taxes tax things that are owned, not money earned, but they vary in a couple of key respects. They might target the wealthy (Norway's tax, for example, affects net worth above 1.48 million Norwegian Kroner) or a broader swath of residents. Some tax all assets, while others\u2014such as Belgium with stocks and bonds, or France with real estate\u2014focus only on specific assets. A 2018 report from the respected German-based think tank Ifo Institute for Economic Research counted just three countries with a wealth tax: Switzerland, Norway, and Spain. However, the authors noted that Italy and the Netherlands also tax wealth in limited ways, and France swapped a broad wealth tax for a narrow one on real estate wealth that kicks in on property worth at least 1.3 million Euros. The international accounting firm Ernst and Young affirmed that Italy does have a wealth tax. Another accounting firm, KPMG, reported in 2018 that Belgium added a wealth tax when it imposed a tax on securities, such as stocks and bonds. To complicate matters further, some OECD countries have dropped, added, or changed their wealth taxes since 1996. The Tax Foundation article Griffith relied on stated that today, six OECD countries have wealth taxes in one form or another. (One of its charts showed four, but that stopped counting in 2017.) How to sort this out? By the strictest definition, today only three wealthy OECD countries have a wealth tax. With a looser standard, as many as seven do. (Some tallies include Hungary, but it might not count as a wealthy country, as the claim states.) The general reason European countries dropped their wealth taxes was that they were more trouble than they were worth. In Germany, the tax was found unconstitutional, but it wasn't raising that much money anyway. A review of the wealth tax option by the European Commission stated that in the past, determining the value of assets was challenging and cheating was easier. Opportunities for avoidance and evasion reduce the capacity of wealth taxes to generate revenue, contributing to the perception that wealth taxes produce little net benefit, the report said. Decisions to repeal net wealth taxes have often been justified by efficiency and administrative concerns, OECD analysts wrote in a 2018 report. The revenues collected from net wealth taxes have also, with a few exceptions, been very low. Switzerland reaps far more than other nations, taking in revenues equal to 1% of GDP, while Norway brings in 0.4% and Spain 0.2%. Of the countries that eliminated a wealth tax, Denmark was typical; in 1996, the tax brought in just 0.1% of GDP. The earlier taxes also tended to reach down into the middle class, not just the uber-rich, making their repeal politically popular. For some, the European experience casts a deep shadow over Warren's proposal. Wojciech Kopczuk, an economist at Columbia University, warned that valuing assets is tough, regardless of the plan's focus on the very rich. Kopczuk stated that this does not resolve administrative problems, which are as daunting in the United States as in Europe. On the other hand, he added that a tax starting at $50 million could hold popular support. There is also a difference in overall tax regimes. The OECD analysts noted that the arguments for and against a wealth tax depend on all the other tax laws in a given country. In that light, Reuven Avi-Yonah, director of the international tax program at the University of Michigan Law School, stated that Europe is not at all like America. Income tax rates and sometimes inheritance taxes are higher in Europe, which means there is less need to tax the rich through a wealth tax. We have previously examined the debate over whether Warren's plan would raise as much as she hopes. Warren's campaign staff told us that they have learned lessons from Europe, arguing that focusing on the 76,000 wealthiest people and taxing all assets with no complicating exceptions would lighten the administrative burden. There are also indications that Europe is taking a second look at wealth taxes. Both the OECD and the European Commission have noted a renewed interest in wealth taxation. Griffith stated that of the 14 wealthy OECD countries with a wealth tax in 1996, 10 have since abandoned it. We found there are different ways to consider wealth taxes, and Griffith used the strictest one based on dated information. We determined that either 12 or 13 countries had a wealth tax in 1996, and nine have ended their taxes since then. Today, six or seven European nations have some form of wealth tax, either broad or narrow. The meaning of the European experience from two decades ago is debatable, but that is not the basis for our ruling. We looked only at the countries and their tax laws. The numbers in the statement are off. European countries did move away from wealth taxes, but not quite to the extent stated in the op-ed. We rate this claim Mostly True.","issues":["Taxes","PunditFact"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_376","claim":"Macy's Drops SodaStream Over Israeli Controversy?","posted":"10\/24\/2014","sci_digest":["Did Macy's remove SodaStream products from their stores because the products are made in disputed territory in Israel?"],"justification":"Claim: Macy's removed SodaStream products from its stores because the products are made in disputed territory in Israel. PROBABLY Example: [Collected via e-mail, October 2014] Bowing to pressure from left-wing pro-Palestinian activists, Macy's has decided to scrub Israeli-made SodaStream products from its shelves. Origins: In October 2014, a rumor began to circulate that retailer Macy's had \"caved\" to activist pressure and removed SodaStream products from its retail outlets and online storefront. Claims stated that the removal of SodaStream products from Macy's stores came under pressure from activist groups who objected to the manufacture of the products in disputed territory in Israel. The rumor's first major appearance came on 7 October 2014, in a larger Wall Street Journal article about SodaStream's declining revenue. In the article, an analyst stated that Macy's had stopped carrying SodaStream but did not cite a specific reason for the retailer's decision. SodaStream released only its revenue expectations of $125 million and its projected operating income of $8.5 million. Those numbers shocked even the more bearish investors and analysts. Jim Charnier, an analyst at Monness Crespi Hardt, said he had been expecting a poor quarter because he learned early in September that Macy's Inc. had stopped carrying SodaStream and saw other negative figures from the market. Yet he said that the company's estimated revenue of $125 million and operating income of $8.5 million are still far below his expectations, as it shows that revenue in the U.S. could have dropped by more than 50%. Macy's did not immediately return requests for comment. While the quote in context seems to imply that poor sales influenced Macy's decision to sever its relationship with SodaStream, it was not backed by any comment from Macy's or SodaStream about why products made by the latter company were being discontinued by the retailer. SodaStream's CEO commented on tepid earnings reports and suggested in May 2014 that a weak holiday sales season and excess inventory (not political sentiment) had adversely impacted the brand's revenues. CEO Daniel Birnbaum blamed the 28% drop in U.S. sales on a weak holiday season, creating excess retailer inventory. SodaStream's guidance for the year wasn't as bad as the company sees revenue growth of 15% for the year, but just a 3% improvement in net income. Both projections were better than analyst estimates but are reflective of SodaStream's growing pains. As of 24 October 2014, Macy's website still displays an active product page for SodaStream, but none of the categories are populated with products available for sale. However, skincare company Ahava has also been the target of boycotts and calls for action for similar reasons, and Macy's has not discontinued the sale of that brand. If Macy's dropped SodaStream to placate pro-Palestinian interests in a public relations move, it's highly unlikely the retailer would choose not to confirm its action. It is far more likely that the overall weak market for home soda-making equipment influenced Macy's decision to temporarily or permanently discontinue sales of SodaStream products. Neither company has yet officially commented on the status of Macy's business relationship with SodaStream. Last updated: 24 October 2014 Farrell, Maureen. \"SodaStream Losing a Lot of Its Pop.\" The Wall Street Journal. 7 October 2014.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1MCPdO-eZ5quCG7lAo4l5_tdbKLVlZIsD","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_377","claim":"What Does a Blobfish Look Like in Its Natural Environment?","posted":"04\/28\/2021","sci_digest":["The \"world's ugliest fish\" isn't as ugly in its natural environment. "],"justification":"The blobfish is often regarded as the \"world's ugliest fish\" (it was even \"awarded\" this title during a British Science Festival in 2013) in large part because most people encounter this deep-water dwelling creature after it's been hastily pulled to the surface in a fishing net. The change in pressure between the blobfish's natural environment (a depth of about 3,000 feet) and the open air has a dramatic effect on the fish's body, and causes this deep-water creature to resemble, well, a blob. British Science Festival in 2013   The non-profit environmental group Ocean Conservancy writes: There are several species of blobfish in the family Psychrolutidae, all of which are deep sea dwellers that make their homes between 2,000 and 4,000 feet below sea level. At these depths, the pressure is up to 120 times greater than at the surface, forcing blobfish to adapt. They don't have much bone or muscle, allowing the pressure of the deep sea to provide their with body structural support. When brought to the surface, the blobfish decompresses, giving it the iconic gelatinous look that we all know and love.  In its natural habitat, however, the blobfish is much less blobby. In April 2021, an image started circulating on social media that supposedly showed a blobfish in its natural habitat:   This is a genuine picture of a blobfish that was taken circa 2017 at anaquarium in Japan. While this may not be the blobfish's natural habitat, it does show a living blobfish underwater. circa 2017 In 2020, the Aquamarine Fukushima aquarium caught another bobflish that was put on display. There are several photographs and videos of this blobfish, which which they lovingly named Bob, on the aquariums social media accounts: Aquamarine Fukushima aquarium   Here's another video of Bob the Blob feeding:  The aquarium writes: The fish (Psychrolutes phrictus) is called blobfish or blob sculpin in English. Because the fish is grotesque appearance when it is caught as by catch in bottom trawling nets. But the living blobfish (we call Bob) is so cute with a big head, small eyes and many small fleshy threads like mustache. Bob started eating sweet shrimp (Pandalus eous). We believe that Bob will live long. Come see cute Bob! For a true look at a blobfish in its natural environment, here's a video taken by the E\/V Nautilus research vessel off the California coast in 2016: ","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1MT5FPuEeKE8Ej8orFsgrSCdvzOljAnIJ","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1HCnHY1eLuc_LLMwjeFhCVhHJTH825iWG","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_378","claim":"Can the 'FireChat' App Send Messages Without an Internet Connection?","posted":"09\/07\/2017","sci_digest":["The app works as advertised, but it does have some distance limitations."],"justification":"As a series of hurricanes made landfall in August and September 2017, those living in the affected areas have been searching for a communication tool that would enable them to send messages in the event of a service outage. An app called \"FireChat\" is one of the most widely suggested tools, due to its purported ability to send messages without an internet connection:   web site When no Internet connection or cellular networks are available, FireChat uses the radios inside our phones to connect them directly with one another. In that case (which is also called \"offline\" or off-the-grid), messages will travel up to 70 meters (210 feet) from one phone to the next. If there are more than two devices, they will form a network and messages will bounce from one device to the next, thus extending the range of the network. The more people use FireChat, the better the network gets for everybody. This is why FireChat works really well for very large groups of people. In other words, FireChat wouldn't be able to send a text message from Miami, Florida to Seattle, Washington (a distance of more than 3,000 miles) unless an unbroken chain of tens of thousands of FireChat users spanned that distance. However, it can be used to send messages within a community of FireChat users without the Internet: used What's unique about FireChat is that it also works when there is no Internet connection or cellular phone coverage. It even works on a plane. When your community gets together, it creates your own free communication network and doesnt rely on traditional networks. You don't have to do anything special: just keep FireChat on your smartphone and keep Bluetooth and WiFi on (yes, even if there is no Internet access). This is game-changing since you can create local communication networks at zero cost and also stay connected during sports games, rallies, music festivals, and in emergency situations.  The MIT Technology Review explained more about how the app works in an article that was published shortly after FireChat's initial release in 2014: explained FireChat makes use of a feature Apple introduced in the latest version of its iOS mobile software, iOS7, called multipeer connectivity. This feature allows phones to connect to one another directly using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi as an alternative to the Internet. If youre using FireChat, its nearby chat room lets you exchange messages with other users within 100 feet without sending data via your cellular provider. Micha Benoliel, CEO and cofounder of startup Open Garden, which made FireChat, says the app shows how smartphones can be set free from cellular networks. He hopes to enable many more Internet-optional apps with the upcoming release of software tools that will help developers build FireChat-style apps for iPhone, or for Android, Mac, and Windows devices. This approach is very interesting for multiplayer gaming and all kinds of communication apps, says Benoliel. Christophe Daligault, the vice president of sales and marketing for the app, told NPR that it works on a \"mesh\" network: NPR  Mesh networks can be used to set up temporary networks in disaster zones, and even to spread the Internet to remote areas beyond the reach of existing wireless networks and cables. That's the technology that Google and Facebook are counting on for their plans of spreading the Internet across the globe with balloons and drones.  [...] \"Once you build a mesh network ... now you have a network that is resilient, self-healing, cannot be controlled by any central organization, cannot be shut down and is always working,\" Daligault says. \"I think that solves many other drawbacks or challenges of the mobile broadband Internet today.\" He says none of this would be possible without the rapid spread of smartphones, because that means no extra hardware is needed. \"Each [phone] becomes a router and in a sense you're growing the Internet  everyone who joins the mesh network creates an extension of the Internet,\" Daligault says. \"In a year or two from now, I think people won't even remember that you had to be on Wi-Fi or get a cell signal to be able to communicate.\" The FireChat app can send messages without Internet service as stated. However, the app does some have limitations. Potential users, especially those searching for an emergency communication tool to use during a natural disaster, should visit the FireChat home page to make sure that they understand how the app works: FireChat The messaging app Zello was also widely suggested for emergency communications in September 2017. Although there are several benefits to that particular app during an emergency (it is billed as a \"walkie-talkie\" app), Zello does not work without the internet.  Zello Toor, Amar.  \"This App Lets Rescue Workers Send Offline Alerts When Disaster Strikes\"\r  The Verge.  19 May 2016. Yu, Alan.  \"How One App Might Be A Step Toward Internet Everywhere.\"\r  NPR.  7 April 2014. Simonite, Tom.  \"The Latest Chat App for iPhone Needs No Internet Connection.\"\r  MIT Technology Review.  28 March 2014.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1NAdoPWWdJh53cENNJD0rjNZ-vpSrId3H","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_379","claim":"Austin mayoral candidate Mike Martinez takes corporate money.","posted":"08\/07\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"A supporter of an Austin mayoral candidate declared that another candidate accepts corporate donations--which would be illegal, he did not add. In a July 29, 2014, Facebook post, Eugene Sepulveda of Austin, treasurer for attorney Steve Adlers mayoral campaign, declared Adler isnt taking corp money, PAC money or bundled contributions, meaning money gathered from multiple sources by a single person. Commenting below Sepulvedas post, Austin political consultant Mark Littlefield, who supports City Council member Mike Martinez for mayor, asked: Are other candidates taking corporate money? Sepulveda replied: Mike Martinez takes corporate money. Steve wont. A Martinez backer, Jose Velasquez, asked us to check Sepulvedas claim. We wondered first if perhaps laws have changed dramatically so that Texas candidates may accept corporate donations. Not so, we were reminded, in that Texas adopted its ban on corporate donations to candidates more than a century ago. A September 2013 Texas Ethics Commissionguide for candidates for local officespecified that state law bars contributions to candidates for state and local office from labor unions and most corporations. More recently, Austin lawyer Tim Sorrells, the commissions former general counsel, advised candidates for city office in an April 2, 2014,blog post: In Texas, it is still a felony of the third degree for a corporation or labor organization to contribute directly to a candidate or a candidate committee. We asked Sepulveda, a social entreprenuer and philanthropist, to elaborate on his Facebook statement. By email, he told us: I should have said Mike was taking money from business entities. I was referring to his acceptance of contributions from LLCs as well as PACs and bundlers. LLCs are Limited Liability Companies. My bad for not being more specific, Sepulveda wrote. In another email, he said that when Velasquez asked him about the corporate claim, I used the term corporate generically, even referring him to the documents filed with the city clerk. If I'd been trying to mislead anyone, I certainly wouldn't have pointed them to the candidate-filed reports. Sepulveda, who said he made his Facebook comments as an Adler supporter and not as a spokesman for Adlers campaign, elaborated that according to a campaign-finance filing, Martinez fielded contributions from 13 businesses, which we confirmed from Martinezs July 15, 2014,campaign finance report, which showed the cited contributions ranging from $50 to $350. We noticed the business contributors included several limited liability companies, which prompted us to ask an election-law expert,Trey Trainorof Austin, if such companies can legally give to candidates for local office. By phone, Trainor said LLCs may legally make donations so long as none of their members are corporations. Also by phone, Austin lawyer Ed Shack, who said he has helped Adlers campaign, said the same. Martinez campaign spokesman Nick Hudson told us the campaign earlier confirmed from state records and by contacting each contributor that none of the LLCs giving to Martinezs effort had corporate members. Hudson agreed it would be illegal for Martinez to accept corporate donations. Meanwhile, Sepulveda replied to us that he had since posted a comment on Facebook, below his original claim, stating he should have said Martinez accepted donations from business entities including LLCs rather than corporations. It appeared the afternoon of Aug. 4, 2014. Our ruling Sepulveda said on Facebook that Martinez takes corporate donations. Thats not so. In fact, corporate donations remain forbidden and accepting such could lead to a felony charge. However, any candidate may field contributions from PACs and LLCs (so long as a donor LLC has no corporate members). This advocates claim, which he clarified on Facebook six days later, shakes out as incorrect and ridiculous. Pants on Fire! PANTS ON FIRE The statement is not accurate and makes a ridiculous claim. Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.","issues":["Campaign Finance","Candidate Biography","City Government","Corporations","Texas"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=12oqw6x03-1UW3_W7uvfZh1Xbx3Z4xb9_","image_caption":"PANTS ON FIRE"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1XaLdZszaoZQYsjmSm_WS6OK-nzM2SRbA","image_caption":" The statement is not accurate and makes a ridiculous claim."}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_380","claim":"Over the course of one four-year term, it costs taxpayers more than $1 million simply to operate the governors mansion.","posted":"11\/21\/2010","sci_digest":[],"justification":"The governors mansion -- a kingly abode for the governor and his family, right?Dont think like a peasant. It isso much more.Executive residences, as the National Governors Associationcalls them, are regarded as an important symbol of the states culture and heritage. As state treasures, executive residences provide an appropriate setting for official state entertaining and are often highly valued as a venue for community functions.Oh.The NGA goes on:Given the critical role executive residences play in official state and cultural activities, considerable care is required in managing, staffing and maintaining the executive residence.Gee, sounds like that could get kinda expensive. Just how much does it cost taxpayers to run the Wisconsin governors mansion -- ahem,executive residence?Too much, says state Sen.Bob Wirch, a Democrat from Pleasant Prairie in Kenosha County. Echoingacallhe made in 2002, when Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle was elected, Wirch wants Republican Governor-elect Scott Walker to sell or lease the 34-room manor.Over the course of one four-year term, Wirch claimed in anewsreleaseNov. 15, 2010, it costs taxpayers more than $1 million simply to operate.Wirch also noted Walkers owncall tocitizensfor ideas on how to make state government run more efficiently. After all, with astructural deficit, lost revenue because of a state Supreme Courtdecisionand other issues, the new governor faces a projected shortfall of$3billionfor the 2011-13 budget.It is hard to set a good example, Wirch said in his statement, if you are living in a mansion.Walker, who will beinauguratedJan. 3, 2011, plans to move with his family from Wauwatosa into the residence, said his spokesman, Cullen Werwie.He said Walker has no comment on Wirchs recommendation to sell or lease the mansion, which is perched on the shores of Lake Mendota.The homes replacement value is $1.63 million, according to the state Department of Administration. But Wirch believes that with its 3.7 acres of land, the estate is worth more than $2.5 million.Perhaps, like us, youve never been to the mansion (although you can see it inpictures).Well, according to the Department of Administration, the state Historical Society and the office of first lady Jessica Doyle, it: Nice. So, who takes care of it?Seven employees, according to Vicki Heymann, the mansions residence director. Full-timers include Heymann, a chef, a gardener and a facilities maintenance specialist. The part-timers are a housekeeper, a laundress and flower arranger, and the head of the waitstaff, who has worked at the mansion for more than 32 years.OK, now lets get to Wirchs claim that operating the mansion costs more than $1 million during a four-year term.Wirchs office said the state Legislative Fiscal Bureau put the operating costs at $265,000 per year. That would come to $1.06 million over four years.The senators per-year number is a touch high, but his four-year figure of more than $1 million is on target.The fiscal bureau told PolitiFact Wisconsin that the mansions operating expenses are budgeted at $262,500 in 2009-10 and the same amount for 2010-11, nearly all of which is salaries. Thats a total of $1.05 million over four years.In fact, actual expenditures are running higher, according to the state Department of Administration. They were $290,462 in 2008-09 and $273,340 in 2009-10. If that were carried out over four years, the total would be $1.13 million.Wisconsin is one of 44 states that provided a governors residence as of 2004, according to the most recentsurveydone by the National Governors Association.Heres how three of the other six treat their governors: OK, lets bring all this mansion talk home.In calling on Governor-elect Scott Walker to save taxpayer dollars, state Sen. Bob Wirch said selling or leasing the governors mansion would enable the state to cut more than $1 million over four years on the cost of operating the mansion. Based on the latest budget and expenditure figures, the operating costs do exceed $1 million over four years.We rate Wirchs statement True.","issues":["State Budget","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_381","claim":"Is Macaulay Quote About 'Dominating' India with English Culture Real?","posted":"10\/11\/2022","sci_digest":["A reader emailed us and said they spotted the quote meme on WhatsApp."],"justification":"On Oct. 11, 2022, we received an email from a reader who said they spotted a questionable quote meme on WhatsApp. The quote was titled \"My India in 1835\" and was credited to \"Lord Macaulay,\" whose full name was Thomas Babington Macaulay. We found no historical records to confirm that Macaulay ever said the exact words quoted in the meme. At the same time, the quote may have been somewhat of a paraphrase, as Macaulay did express his thoughts on how best to educate the Indian populace in other words.  WhatsApp Macaulay was an English politician, author, and historian who lived from 1800-1859. According to Britannica.com, he was perhaps best known for writing a five-volume work, \"The History of England from the Accession of James the Second.\" Britannica.com The History of England from the Accession of James the Second The fake quote reads as follows (with the words \"ancient education system\" being bolded in the meme): My India in 1835Read Carefully \"I have travelled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such caliber, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage and therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their self esteem, their native culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation.\" Lord Macaulay's Address to the British Parliament on 2nd Feb. 1835 In order to establish whether or not the quote was real, we first looked to Google Books. The Google Books website allows anyone to search the text of just about every book in the world for free. Google Books We searched for various portions of the exact quote, placing quotation marks around the words. However, the only results we found were in recent books that were written in the 21st century. A prominent quote from 1835 would not magically make its first appearance in literature nearly two centuries later. The quote was likely at least partially born on the internet and took on a life of its own, somehow finding its way from the web into recent books. After the Google Books search, we stumbled upon a helpful fact check by Agence France-Presse (AFP). In the AFP story, they reported on the same quote, except the word \"India\" had been replaced with \"Africa.\" It's unclear which version of the quote came first, but it was likely the one naming India. Nevertheless, AFP concluded the attribution of the quote to Macaulay is incorrect. Agence France-Presse (AFP) replaced with \"Africa.\" The AFP fact check pointed out that the man pictured in the quote meme bore a striking resemblance to \"a portrait ofBritish army officer Sir Henry John William Benti[n]ck,\" not Macaulay. It also mentioned that Macaulay had expressed his views on the benefits of English-language education in India in an 1835 document, \"Minute on Education\": portrait Minute on Education Authorship of the speech has also been attributed to Lord William Benti[n]ck -- not to be confused with Sir Henry John William Benti[n]ck -- who was a contemporary of Macaulay's and served as Governor-General of British India. attributed to Lord William Benti[n]ck Macaulay's Minute on Education in 1835, which promoted the superiority of Western education, was supported by Lord William Benti[n]ck. In the document, Macaulay talks of creating a class of persons Indian in blood and colour, but English in tastes, in opinions, in morals and in intellect. In \"Minute on Education,\" Macaulay argued that teaching in the English language was necessary to improve education in India. In his opinion, the languages spoken at the time by the people of India were a roadblock to effectively funds allotted by Parliament to improve the country's education. \"We have to educate a people who cannot at present be educated by means of their mother-tongue,\" he said.  The following passage is from Macaulay's \"Minute on Education,\" which included the \"blood and color\" quote that appeared in the AFP report: In one point I fully agree with the gentlemen to whose general views I am opposed. I feel with them that it is impossible for us, with our limited means, to attempt to educate the body of the people. We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern, -- a class of persons Indian in blood and color, but English in tastes, in opinions, in morals and in intellect. To that class we may leave it to refine the vernacular dialects of the country, to enrich those dialects with terms of science borrowed from the Western nomenclature, and to render them by degrees fit vehicles for conveying knowledge to the great mass of the population. India gained independence from British rule in 1947. gained independence In sum, there's no record of Macaulay uttering the exact words cited in the quote meme in regard to \"dominating\" India in the 1835, though he did express thoughts in writing on the subject of Indian education at the time, including his conviction that the education of Indians should be conducted in English, not Indians' native languages. Fenton, Roger. Sir Henry John William Bentinck. National Portrait Gallery, London, 1855, https:\/\/www.npg.org.uk\/collections\/search\/portrait\/mw157047\/Sir-Henry-John-William-Bentinck. Google Books. https:\/\/books.google.com\/. India Independence Day (1947). United States Census Bureau, 15 Aug. 2022, https:\/\/www.census.gov\/newsroom\/stories\/india-independence-day.html. Knowles, Michael David. Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron Macaulay | English Politician and Author. Britannica, https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Thomas-Babington-Macaulay-Baron-Macaulay. Macaulay, Thomas. The History of England from the Accession of James the Second. Penguin Books Limited, 1848. Macaulay, Thomas Babington. Minute on Education. Columbia University in the City of New York, 1835, https:\/\/www.columbia.edu\/. Malawi Government. Facebook, https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/malawigovernment\/. Mitra, Anirban. The Infamous Macaulay Speech That Never Was. The Wire, 19 Feb. 2017, https:\/\/thewire.in\/history\/macaulays-speech-never-delivered. Saint-Cricq, Thomas, and Charlotte Mason. Lord Macaulay Never Gave This Speech to UK Parliament. Agence France-Presse (AFP), 25 Feb. 2020, https:\/\/factcheck.afp.com\/lord-macaulay-never-gave-speech-uk-parliament.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Fs1qn29irhZ8YLNTWjq7EpOFSFKoPN1b","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_382","claim":"Is Charles Barkley Leaving TNT's 'Inside the NBA'?","posted":"06\/13\/2023","sci_digest":["The headline of an online article read, \"TNT Has Pointed The Finger At Charless Wife, Maureen Blumhardt, For The Analyst's Unexpected Resignation.\""],"justification":"On June 13, 2023, one day after the Denver Nuggets had won their first NBA title, we looked into a claim that was made in an online article that said former NBA star Charles Barkley was leaving the TNT TV show, \"Inside the NBA.\" won According to the story, Barkley had either resigned or his contract with TNT was \"abruptly terminated.\" The headline of the article read, \"TNT Has Pointed The Finger At Charles's Wife, Maureen Blumhardt, For The Analyst's Unexpected Resignation.\" However, this rumor was false. The made-up story was published on an unknown date prior to June 13 in order to push a scam involving the promotion of purported keto weight loss gummies. The article showed a logo for an apparently made-up news organization named, \"Breaking News Alerts (BNA).\" It wasposted to the dubious website top-magazine-trending.com and began as follows: She's famously known as Charles Barkley's wife, but Maureen Blumhardt has proven she's a savvy businesswoman in her own right - and Charles Barkley is in DEEP trouble for it. Maureen Blumhardt, most famously known as the 59-year-old wife of Charles Barkley, has shocked the entire world after being revealed as the sole reason for her husband's departure from his hit TV show 'Inside The NBA'. Why? Because she failed to disclose her massive weight loss company to TNT (while making regular appearances on the show), which is actually a HUGE competitor to the show's sponsor 'Weight Watchers'. Maureen's product is one tenth of the price and twice as effective as their competing product, which has Weight Watchers threatening to pull advertising from the network completely. Charles Barkley's contract was abruptly terminated. Lucky for them, Maureen's product has been incredibly successful and is taking over the weight loss world by storm - and her net worth is even more than his! The product is called Quickshot Keto Gummies and it has taken the world by storm. Quickshot Keto Gummies is repeatedly selling out within minutes and Maureen says her number one struggle as CEO is sourcing enough products to be able to adequately service the demand. We were unable to obtain a working link to the article to include in our fact check. The reason for this was that scammers employ tactics to make their articles hidden unless they've been accessed via specific ads. When users click on those specific ads, the ads act like a key to open a door, unlocking the article to display on their screens. The top of the article falsely claimed that the news had been shared by CBS News, ABC, NBC, and Fox. The scam also misleadingly said that celebrities including Jennifer Aniston, Ellen DeGeneres, Kim Kardashian, Charlize Theron, and Sandra Bullock all joined with Barkley and his wife, Maureen Blumhardt, to endorse keto weight loss gummies, even though they had nothing to do with the products. The image and likeness of each of these famous people were used without permission. Barkley The article played on the oldmeme of unnamed doctors being mad about something. Remember old ads with the line, \"Doctors Hate Him\"? The story said that Blumhardt had made doctors \"angry\" and \"furious\" by revealing something about keto weight loss gummies. Again, this was completely made up. meme CBD and keto gummies scams often claim that people will be able to magically lose weight with the products, and that no diet or exercise would be required. In the past, many of the websites where the supposed weight loss gummies could be purchased enrolled customers in subscription charges of hundreds of dollars per month. They also sometimes didn't display phone numbers for customer service, something that may have been done on purpose in order to make it more difficult for customers to find a way to cancel a monthly subscription. If any readers were victimized by these scams, we recommend contacting your credit card company to tell them what happened. You also can report fraudulent activity to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). report fraudulent activity For more details on how these sorts of keto weight loss gummies scams work, we encourage readers to look through some of our past articles on the subject. some of our past articles on the subject \"One Weird Trick \/ Doctors Hate Him.\"Know Your Meme, 10 Mar. 2020, https:\/\/knowyourmeme.com\/memes\/one-weird-trick-doctors-hate-him. Pells, Eddie. \"Nuggets Take Home 1st NBA Title in Rugged 94-89 Win over Heat.\" The Associated Press, 13 June 2023, https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/nuggets-heat-nba-finals-jokic-99c0f25e6e468a97f8c86330f988933d.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1w9rMU837FdIFqJIIwtvMOl74jYYpmaxq","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_383","claim":"Did Biden Call for an 'End to Shareholder Capitalism'?","posted":"08\/06\/2020","sci_digest":["Fear-mongering Facebook memes misrepresented the position articulated by the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee in a speech in July 2020."],"justification":"In the summer of 2020, multiple readers asked Snopes to investigate claims that former U.S. Vice President and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden had called for an end to \"shareholder capitalism.\" In July and August, Facebook users shared posts that contained the following text: \"Biden wants to end Shareholder Capitalism...that's your 401[k]...your pensions...your retirement...are you voting for that?\" Another social media meme suggested that Biden's proposals would result in the destruction or liquidation of 401(k) pension savings. Those memes did not accurately reflect remarks made by Biden in July 2020 on the subject of \"shareholder capitalism.\" At a July 9 event in Dunmore, Pennsylvania, Biden delivered a relatively conventional stump speech, touching on several familiar themes: his working-class upbringing in nearby Scranton, the values he inherited from his family, and his vision for an American economy that, according to him, places less emphasis on corporate profit and greater emphasis on rewarding hard work and smaller-scale entrepreneurship, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, which devastated some smaller businesses and left millions unemployed. As part of this broader \"Wall Street versus Main Street\" theme, Biden said the following (emphasis added): \"Enough is enough, it's time to reverse the priorities in this country. It's time to help small businesses, middle-class folks, manage their way through a pandemic, and let's help millions of would-be entrepreneurs get out from under their debts so they can start businesses. And it's time corporate America paid their fair share of taxes...The days of Amazon paying nothing in federal income tax will be over. Let's make sure that workers have power and a voice. It's way past time to put an end to the era of shareholder capitalism\u2014the idea that the only responsibility a corporation has is to its shareholders. That's simply not true; it's an absolute farce. They have a responsibility to their workers, their community, and their country. That isn't a new or radical notion. These are basic values and principles that helped build this nation in the first instance. Now the challenge is to take these fundamental values and apply them to the new economy we have to build in the years ahead...\" Biden did not propose dissolving the stock market, prohibiting the public trading of companies, or shareholder investment and dividends. In saying, \"It's way past time to put an end to the era of shareholder capitalism,\" Biden was taking a position in a long-running ethical debate between \"shareholder\" and \"stakeholder\" theories. One academic has helpfully summed up that philosophical conflict as follows: Shareholder theory asserts that shareholders advance capital to a company's managers, who are supposed to spend corporate funds only in ways that have been authorized by the shareholders. As Milton Friedman wrote, \"There is one and only one social responsibility of business\u2014to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it engages in open and free competition, without deception or fraud.\" On the other hand, stakeholder theory asserts that managers have a duty to both the corporation's shareholders and \"individuals and constituencies that contribute, either voluntarily or involuntarily, to [a company's] wealth-creating capacity and activities, and who are therefore its potential beneficiaries and\/or risk bearers.\" Although there is some debate regarding which stakeholders deserve consideration, a widely accepted interpretation refers to shareholders, customers, employees, suppliers, and the local community. In the short video below, philosopher and professor of business administration R. Edward Freeman\u2014arguably the primary advocate for stakeholder theory\u2014outlines the approach: Biden characterized the era of shareholder capitalism as one in which the following idea holds sway: \"[that] the only responsibility a corporation has is to its shareholders.\" His rejection of that principle was classic stakeholder theory: \"That's simply not true; it's an absolute farce. They [companies] have a responsibility to their workers, their community, and their country.\" We asked the Biden campaign for details on any specific proposals the former vice president had or how exactly he envisioned an end to \"the era of shareholder capitalism,\" but we did not receive a response in time for publication. Although those details were not available, it's clear that Biden was not calling for the abolition of shareholding itself. Rather, he proposed bringing an end to the era of shareholder capitalism, meaning an end to the predominance of that particular ethical approach and a new gravitation towards the stakeholder-driven approach\u2014a position that, whether or not one agrees with its tenets, has in recent years become orthodox among progressives, within the Democratic Party, and even among business leaders themselves. In 2019, for example, the Business Roundtable\u2014an influential group of chief executive officers of some of the largest companies in the United States\u2014executed a high-profile shift in its approach, writing: \"Since 1978, Business Roundtable has periodically issued Principles of Corporate Governance that include language on the purpose of a corporation. Each version of that document issued since 1997 has stated that corporations exist principally to serve their shareholders. It has become clear that this language on corporate purpose does not accurately describe the ways in which we and our fellow CEOs endeavor every day to create value for all our stakeholders, whose long-term interests are inseparable.\" What Biden called for in his Dunmore speech was therefore, as he rightly said, not a \"new or radical notion.\" It was not an end to the stock market nor the ability of individuals to buy and sell shares, and therefore it was not a proposal that would cause pensions to evaporate, as several Facebook memes falsely claimed.","issues":["debt"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=156UvNegYgQzYdqSO7gsuCQFlD6kmGXdD","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1UTniyHzAB8jSVpyZirsWpnAQMU6cA_dl","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_384","claim":"Was Uterus Mailed to Supreme Court? TikTok Fantasy Goes Viral","posted":"06\/30\/2022","sci_digest":["Some people definitely fantasized about committing such an act after Roe v. Wade was overturned. "],"justification":"In June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, ending 50 years of constitutionally protected abortion rights. While many people took to the streets to protest the ruling, others used social media to share fantasy scenarios of protesting by other means. On TikTok, for example, some users fantasized about mailing their uterus to the Supreme Court as an act of protest. While the video described a potential future action (\"I need to mail\" vs. \"I mailed\"), other TikTok users shared videos claiming that someone had indeed followed through with this action. Although several TikTok users asserted that someone literally sent their uterus to the Supreme Court, there is no actual evidence that this occurred. Protests against the Supreme Court in the wake of the Roe v. Wade ruling garnered significant coverage from mainstream media outlets. If someone truly had one of their organs removed, placed it in a box, and sent it to the Supreme Court, there would certainly be news coverage of the incident. However, no credible news outlets have reported any such events. While there are numerous videos on TikTok making this claim, none contain images of the alleged package or the identity of the supposed sender. In fact, most of the TikTok videos we viewed involve imagining what it would be like for an employee of the Supreme Court to open such a package. The notion that someone mailed their uterus to the Supreme Court is part of a larger trend on TikTok, where users claim that extreme actions were taken to protest the abortion ruling. For instance, another series of videos claimed (without evidence) that several Supreme Court justices had their credit card numbers leaked. Social media users also claimed (without evidence) that the IP addresses of the justices had been leaked.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1eJ1xTBmb_ZjRCi5Icdy7PGywj0esHqiR","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_385","claim":"Is this Bill Clinton pictured alongside Jeffrey Epstein?","posted":"07\/22\/2019","sci_digest":["Convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein had relationships with a number of high-profile people, including politicians. "],"justification":"On July 10, 2019, we examined a claim that Google was \"scrubbing\" its search results of any pictures showing President Bill Clinton together with convicted sex offender and billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein. While this rumor was false (Google's search results were not notably different from those of Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, Yandex, or Bing), we were left with one unanswered question: Are there any photos of Epstein and Clinton? After all, Clinton flew on Epstein's private plane, a convicted sex offender who was arrested again in July 2019 on new charges related to child sex prostitution. The two were also both present at a \"small dinner party\" in 1995 hosted by Revlon mogul Ron Perelman to raise funds for the Democratic National Convention. It seems reasonable to believe that someone at some point took a photograph of these two well-known public figures together. On July 22, 2019, Josh Rosner, the managing director of independent research consultancy Graham Fisher & Co, alerted us to his tweet containing a photograph of Epstein and Clinton that was published in a 2003 issue of Vanity Fair: Josh Rosner published, \"Disturbing! The #press wiped all pictures of @BillClinton & #JeffreyEpstein from the #internet. Even @VanityFair, which published this image in '03 from their #sex(?) trip to Brunei, scrubbed it.\" Again, no evidence exists that this image was \"wiped\" from the Internet. In fact, this image is available online in Vanity Fair's digital archive (subscription required). This photograph was published in a March 2003 article by Vicky Ward entitled, \"The Talented Mr. Epstein.\" The photograph's caption reads: \"Epstein with President Clinton in Brunei, 2002.\" One possible explanation for why this photograph doesn't appear in search engines is that Vanity Fair didn't publish it as a standalone image. Rather, it is embedded in a digital copy of the March 2003 edition of the magazine. While we're not in the business of offering predictions, we would bet that this image will start finding its way into Google Images and other image-based search engines in the near future, especially if more outlets pick up and publish stories including this image. Clinton is mentioned three other times in the Vanity Fair story; each iteration is reproduced below (emphasis ours): \"Lately, Jeffrey Epstein's high-flying style has been drawing oohs and aahs: the bachelor financier lives in New York's largest private residence, claims to take only billionaires as clients, and flies celebrities including Bill Clinton and Kevin Spacey on his Boeing 727. But pierce his air of mystery and the picture changes. Vicky Ward explores Epstein's investment career, his ties to retail magnate Leslie Wexner, and his complicated past. In addition to the town house, Epstein lives in what is reputed to be the largest private dwelling in New Mexico, on an $18 million, 7,500-acre ranch which he named 'Zorro.' 'It makes the town house look like a shack,' Epstein has said. He also owns Little St. James, a 70-acre island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where the main house is currently being renovated by Edward Tuttle, a designer of the Aman resorts. There is also a $6.8 million house in Palm Beach, Florida, and a fleet of aircraft: a Gulfstream IV, a helicopter, and a Boeing 727, replete with trading room, on which Epstein recently flew President Clinton, actors Chris Tucker and Kevin Spacey, supermarket magnate Ron Burkle, Lew Wasserman's grandson, Casey Wasserman, and a few others, on a mission to explore the problems of AIDS and economic development in Africa. Epstein is known about town as a man who loves women\u2014lots of them, mostly young. Model types have been heard saying they are full of gratitude to Epstein for flying them around, and he is a familiar face to many of the Victoria's Secret girls. One young woman recalls being summoned by Ghislaine Maxwell to a concert at Epstein's town house, where the women seemed to outnumber the men by far. 'These were not women you'd see at Upper East Side dinners,' the woman recalls. 'Many seemed foreign and dressed a little bizarrely.' This same guest also attended a cocktail party thrown by Maxwell that Prince Andrew attended, which was filled, she says, with young Russian models. 'Some of the guests were horrified,' the woman says. 'He's reckless,' says a former business associate, 'and he's gotten more so. Money does that to you. He's breaking the oath he made to himself\u2014that he would never do anything that would expose him in the media. Right now, in the wake of the publicity following his trip with Clinton, he must be in a very difficult place.' In 2002, around the time that this photograph was taken, Clinton told New York Magazine via a spokesperson that, 'Jeffrey is both a highly successful financier and a committed philanthropist with a keen sense of global markets and an in-depth knowledge of twenty-first-century science. I especially appreciated his insights and generosity during the recent trip to Africa to work on democratization, empowering the poor, citizen service, and combating H.I.V.\/AIDS.' Clinton once had a relationship with Epstein and even took multiple trips on his private plane. However, the former president said that he hasn't had contact with Epstein for a decade and knows nothing about the crimes the latter has been accused or convicted of. Clinton, of course, isn't the only high-profile politician connected to Epstein. U.S. President Donald Trump has also been photographed with Epstein.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1VQLv9Mtnuy9uGn1Gpf8aTpU_jszDSnxx"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_386","claim":"Inflation has been caused by the global economies shutting down all at once, reopening all at once. And  the U.S. economy is recovering at a far faster pace than any other country in the OECD.","posted":"02\/16\/2022","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Americans are facing conflicting signals on the economy. The economy is growing rapidly, unemployment is low, and wages are rising. But inflation  a broad pattern of rising consumer prices  is at a four-decade high, and for many voters, that fact seems to be crowding out any other economic news. During a Feb. 13 roundtable discussion on ABCs This Week, panelists addressed Americans concerns about inflation. Patrick Gaspard  who served in President Barack Obamas administration and is now president and CEO of the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank  blamed the coronavirus pandemic for inflation. We all know that inflation has been caused by the global economies shutting down all at once, reopening all at once, Gaspard said. And the fact of the matter is  that the U.S. economy is recovering at a far faster pace than any other country in the OECD. That is an absolute fact. (The OECD is the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, a group of38 advanced, industrialized nations.) A look at cross-national data shows that economic growth in the United States has indeed outpaced that of the other large, comparable economies, and experts agree that this rapid growth has been a factor in the United States currently high inflation rate. But rapid economic growth is not the only reason why the U.S. is experiencing high inflation. As evidence for his claim, Gaspards office pointed to areportdated Feb. 7 by the OECD. The report found that the United States was the only member of the Group of Seven industrial economies that had seen its inflation-adjusted gross domestic product rise above its pre-pandemic level. The other six nations in the G-7  Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom  all had yet to reach the GDP levels they had in the fourth quarter of 2019. (Gross domestic product is the sum of all economic activity in a country and is often used as the primary metric for economic growth.) This supports Gaspards comment on This Week. Other calculations further back up his assertion about robust U.S. growth. If you strip the inflation adjustment from GDP growth, to enable a cleaner comparison of GDP to inflation, the United States GDP growthranked fifthamong the nations that belong to the Group of 20 (a wider group of large economies than the G-7). In this measurement, the U.S. trailed only Turkey, India, China and South Korea. Notably, the United States growth rate exceeded that of each of its fellow G-7 members, whose economies are most similar to that of the U.S. Meanwhile, in arecent paper, Brookings Institution senior fellow Gian Maria Milesi Ferretti found much the same pattern. He compared how countries current GDP levels compared with projections made before the pandemic. The United States finished at the top of the heap in his analysis as well. There is also something to Gaspards contention that rapid economic growth and inflation are connected. When we looked at the latest annual inflation rates for the G-7 nations, we found that the U.S. had the highest inflation. However, the correlation between rapid growth and high inflation isnt perfect. Germany and Canada had the second- and third-highest inflation rates, respectively, but their economic growth barely edged into positive territory when factoring in the pandemic. And the United Kingdom and France nearly matched the U.S.s GDP growth rates but have experienced more modest inflation. Overall, Gaspards focus on rapid GDP growth as a driver of inflation is reasonable, experts said  but they added that the causes of inflation are more complicated. The current inflation is not monocausal or easily understood, said James Feyrer, a Dartmouth College economist. Ferretti said that some global factors affecting inflation are clearly at play, including higher energy prices and disruption of supply chains. Lower rates of labor force participation in the U.S., stemming heavily from pandemic factors such as a shortage of child care options, also played a role. In fact, one of the factors driving rapid growth in the U.S.  generous fiscal support from the federal government  is something that Biden did have control over. Stimulus payments and other financial support from the federal government put more money into Americans hands, driving up demand for goods amid international supply-chain challenges driven by the pandemic. Many countries adopted expansionary policies, but on the fiscal side, the U.S. really stands out, Ferretti said. With very large support to private incomes, U.S. consumption has been very strong, particularly for goods. This has clearly helped the speed of the recovery. But a combination of strong demand and labor shortages, he said, has resulted in higher inflationary pressures than in other advanced economies. In other words, where inflation is concerned, Biden isnt entirely a victim of global forces. His policies were a factor as well. Gaspard said that inflation has been caused by the global economies shutting down all at once, reopening all at once. And  the U.S. economy is recovering at a far faster pace than any other country in the OECD. The U.S. has experienced faster economic growth than most of its most direct global competitors, and experts agree that this has contributed to inflationary pressures. While many of these inflationary pressures are traceable to global factors related to the pandemic, some have flowed from the fiscal choices made by the Biden administration. We rate the statement Mostly True.","issues":["Economy","PunditFact","Coronavirus"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_387","claim":"Did Dakota Territory divide into two states in order to gain additional Republican Senators?","posted":"04\/23\/2021","sci_digest":["It depends on who you ask."],"justification":"Amid discussions of statehood for Washington, D.C., in late April 2021, a meme spread on social media positing that the Dakota territory was split into the states now known as North and South Dakota in the late 1800s for the purpose of giving the Republican Party more political power, namely more senators and electors. One example is a meme from U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif.:   The meme read, \"Congress split the Dakota territory in half in 1889 to admit two new states with 4 Republican senators. So spare us the fake outrage over DC statehood.\" The text was taken from a tweet posted by journalist Ari Berman on April 22. tweet The meme generally responds to congressional Republicans who have stated that allowing D.C., a heavily Democratic region, to become a state will shift the balance of political power in Congress. Noting the racial demographics of D.C. versus other states, some Democrats have accused Republicans of stonewalling D.C. statehood because of racism. stated racial demographics accused It also characterizes current Republican opposition to D.C. statehood as hypocritical, noting that the national Republican party has benefited historically from addition of new states with Republican populations. Writing for The Atlantic in 2019, Boston College historian Heather Cox Richardson wrote: The Atlantic The number of states in the union has been fixed at 50 for so long, few Americans realize that throughout most of our history, the addition of new states from time to time was a normal part of political life. New states were supposed to join the union when they reached a certain population, but in the late 19th century, population mattered a great deal less than partisanship. While McConnell is right to suspect that admitting Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia now would shift the balance in Congress toward the Democrats, the Republican Party has historically taken far more effective advantage of the addition of new states. In 1889 and 1890, Congress added North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, and Wyomingthe largest admission of states since the original 13. This addition of 12 new senators and 18 new electors to the Electoral College was a deliberate strategy of late-19th-century Republicans to stay in power after their swing toward Big Business cost them a popular majority. The strategy paid dividends deep into the future; indeed, the admission of so many rural states back then helps to explain GOP control of the Senate today, 130 years later. Like most things viewed through the lens of history, the reasons North and South Dakota exist as two separate states are complicated by changing context. Business interests, local efforts, and national political wrangling all played a role, but without a doubt, adding North and South Dakota to the growing union of states had the effect of benefiting the national Republican party politically, and they didn't hide that motivation. But comparing the statehood process for North and South Dakota to current advocation for Washington, D.C. statehood is comparing apples to oranges, said Michael Card, associate professor of political science at the University of South Dakota.  That period in American history was drastically different to the current circumstances in many ways  namely, at that time, a large number of states were in the process of being added into the Union. One of the major factors in deciding statehood was population counts of non-indigenous American settlers. That figure was set at 60,000 in 1787. set at 60,000 Another contextual difference was that the nature of the political parties have evolved over time, meaning the Republicans and Democrats of today are not representative of the parties with those names from the late 19th century in many ways. Many of the non-indigenous settlers in the southern part of what was then Dakota territory were Union veterans of the Civil War and their families, who were Republicans. Many likely moved far away from the battlefields in the American South in an effort to get away from traumatic memories, Card noted. Scandinavian and Canadian immigrants tended to settle in the north. As USA Today pointed out, \"the Republican Party was much more concerned with protecting African Americans and their voting rights from its founding through the early 20th century. In the mid-20th century, both parties' stances on racial equity began to switch.\" That switch came after Democratic legislators passed voting and civil rights legislation i the 1960s. pointed out Another important point of context the population counts in North and South Dakota justified statehood and that Democrats, who were at that time were in control of national government and aware of the territory's Republican leanings, had slowed the statehood process, in hopes of gaining a political toehold in the region. slowed the statehood But they couldn't stall forever. According to historian Elwyn B. Robinson in the book \"History of North Dakota,\" there were 190,983 inhabitants in North Dakota in 1890, while there were 348,600 in South Dakota. And in the end, it was Democrats in Congress and Democratic U.S. President Grover Cleveland who relented, signing legislation granting statehood to North and South Dakota, along with Montana and Washington. In \"History of North Dakota,\" Robinson noted that local advocacy also came into play when it came to the creation of the two states. At the local level, there was an internal push for statehood from a small group of influential men who were unhappy with the outside control that came with Dakota being a territory, and who wanted political equality of status.  History of North Dakota Statehood was a quiet revolution, accomplished by less than two hundred men. The first leaders were Yankton politicians, but all came from southern Dakota and all were Republicans. With few exceptions, they were conservative, middle-class business and professional menbankers, lawyers, ministers, railroad employees, and newspaper editors. They were of the older American stock and came from New England, New York, or the states of the Old Northwest. They were Republicans because Dakota was a one-party regiona result of the long years of territorial status when the Republican party had control of the United States government. The idea of splitting the northern region off from the southern one started with this group, but not because of political power in Washington, D.C., Robinson wrote: \"From the beginning the Yankton leaders, a small oligarchy with much influence, planned for the division of the territory at the forty-sixth parallel. Division seemed natural. The railroads ran east and west, so that southern and northern Dakota had little contact with each other.\" When Robinson described the decision to ultimately split the territory into two when admitting it into the Union though, he noted that it was pushed hard by the Republican Indiana senator who would become the 23rd U.S. president, Benjamin Harrison: Finally, the program of division, with southern Dakota becoming a state and northern Dakota a territory, was dropped in favor of a bill to admit two states. Senator Benjamin Harrison of Indiana pushed it hard and the large population of Dakota (in 1890, North Dakota alone had 190,983 inhabitants and South Dakota 348,600) made further denial seem unjust and irresponsible. In the presidential campaign of 1888 the Republican platform called for admission of two states. Ordway and the Dakota Democrats finally dropped their single-state bill. Both Republicans and Democrats voted for the Omnibus Bill of February 22, 1889, authorizing the framing of constitutions in North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington. When the bill finally passed the House of Representatives, some of the members threw books and papers into the air in celebration and there was a general handshaking of congratulation. A step toward equality of status had been taken. Updated rating to \"Mixture\" and added additional context.","issues":["dividend"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1yd7P13OwIfQ0EGB-Px58BE-gPz1vNUdR"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_388","claim":"Robert McCulloch Sold Fundraising T-Shirts for Darren Wilson?","posted":"11\/26\/2014","sci_digest":["Did St. Louis prosecutor Robert McCulloch sell t-shirts to raise money for the defense of Officer Darren Wilson?"],"justification":"St. Louis prosecutor Robert McCulloch was the president of Backstoppers, an organization aimed at supporting the families of first responders in crisis, during the controversy in Ferguson. Backstoppers sold \"I support Ofc. Darren Wilson\" shirts to raise money for the policeman's defense fund. On 24 November 2014, St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch announced in a lengthy press conference that a grand jury had declined to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Ferguson teenager Michael Brown. The decision was both controversial and widely criticized, intensifying existing concerns regarding McCulloch's perceived partiality toward law enforcement officers. McCulloch is the president of the board of Backstoppers, a local organization that supports the families of first responders, particularly those killed in the line of duty. A Washington Post opinion column published following the press conference criticized McCulloch's role in the Mike Brown case concerning his personal and professional history. When asked whether he had any regrets about the way he handled the case, McCulloch replied, \"No, not at all.\" This response was not surprising, given McCulloch's history. The fact that his father, a police officer, was killed by a black suspect does not by itself disqualify him, but his record should have: not a single prosecution of a shooting by police in his 23 years on the job. Four times he presented evidence to a grand jury in such cases and did not secure an indictment; now he can add a fifth. The points made by the columnist were not unique; they aligned with rumors that began circulating in St. Louis in the weeks following Brown's death. According to claims that started around 15 September 2014, McCulloch's partiality extended beyond his charitable work and record of not prosecuting officers. Several blog posts from mid-September 2014 focused on an Internet fundraising effort using the website Teespring.com. Individuals interested in the case noticed an online T-shirt fundraiser selling shirts that read \"I support Ofc. Darren Wilson\" (with \"PRO POLICE\" printed on the back), which suggested a connection between Wilson's defense and McCulloch's organization. The shirt's description explained: \"I SUPPORT OFFICER D. WILSON\" is an officer-inspired design to show support for Officer Darren Wilson of the Ferguson Police Department in Missouri. Donations from purchases will be divided between a fund set up for Officer Wilson at gofundme.com and The BackStoppers Inc. organization, which can be visited at backstoppers.org for more information. A post on 14 September 2014 included a board member list that did not reflect McCulloch's move from Vice President to President of the organization. The controversy reached the St. Louis Post-Dispatch by 15 September 2014, at which time the newspaper spoke with Backstoppers' executive director, Ron Battelle. Battelle told the outlet that Backstoppers had not initiated the fundraiser, was not affiliated with it in any way, did not know who was responsible for selling the shirts, and that should any money be offered from the proceeds to Backstoppers, the group would reject the funds. The controversy subsided but resurfaced on 25 November 2014 in the wake of McCulloch's statement to the press on 24 November 2014. A Facebook user shared an image questioning Backstoppers' connection to the shirts. In response, Backstoppers issued a statement via Facebook, reiterating that the fundraiser was not connected with their organization: \"Contrary to recent posts on social media, The BackStoppers is not participating in or has benefited from any fundraising activity involving the Ferguson matter. We scrutinize our contributions, and if we receive funds involving the Ferguson matter, those funds would be rejected by the Board of Directors. Our mission is to provide assistance to families of police, fire, and EMS officers who die in the line of duty. We are currently helping 66 families, which includes 64 children. This is and always will be our first priority! We greatly appreciate the support of the St. Louis community! Thank you!\" Ultimately, only nineteen \"I support Ofc. Darren Wilson\" shirts were sold during the initial Teespring campaign. It is unclear who created the fundraiser or how the proceeds were distributed, but any party is free to raise funds for any other party, and someone's pledging half their proceeds to Backstoppers does not indicate that Backstoppers was necessarily involved with or even aware of the fundraising effort.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1quHRQICxWuUEuEKxEvFw5SfMBO5PojOy","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ZmTdG6yswNpCtgBdZWokpi5CP-swv5uG","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1SdaUZ7bY2xYJzHBeNv94bkw4yvsQAMbQ","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_389","claim":"The Fall of the Athenian Republic","posted":"01\/28\/2004","sci_digest":["Law professor's analysis demonstrates that the results of the last presidential election correspond to a prediction about the downfall of democracy."],"justification":"The item below began circulating on the Internet shortly after the 2000 U.S. presidential election, reappeared briefly after the 2004 presidential election, saw a strong resurgence in a modified form that replaced the names \"Bush\" and \"Gore\" with \"McCain\" and \"Obama\" after the 2008 presidential election, and was circulated again after the 2012 election in a shortened version with the names \"Obama\" and \"Romney\" replacing the original's \"Bush\" and \"Gore\": [Collected via e-mail, December 2000] At about the time our original 13 states adopted their new constitution in the year 1787, Alexander Tyler (a Scottish history professor at The University of Edinburgh [sic]) had this to say about \"The Fall of The Athenian Republic\" some 2,000 years prior: \"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist until voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, resulting in every democracy finally collapsing due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.\" \"The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence: From Bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to complacency; From complacency to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.\" Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the most recent presidential election: Population of counties won by: Gore = 127 million Bush = 143 million Square miles of land won by: Gore = 580,000 Bush = 2,427,000 States won by: Gore = 19 Bush = 29 Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Gore = 13.2 Bush = 2.1 Professor Olson adds: \"In aggregate, the map of the territory Bush won was mostly the land owned by the tax-paying citizens of this great country. Gore's territory encompassed those citizens living in government-owned tenements and living off government welfare...\" Olson believes the U.S. is now somewhere between the \"apathy\" and \"complacency\" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some 40 percent of the nation's population already having reached the \"governmental dependency\" phase. [Collected June 2013] Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the last presidential election: Number of States won by: Obama: 19 Romney: 29 Square miles of land won by: Obama: 580,000 Romney: 2,427,000 Population of counties won by: Obama: 127 million Romney: 143 million Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Obama: 13.2 Romney: 2.1 Professor Olson adds: \"In aggregate, the map of the territory Romney won was mostly the land owned by the tax-paying citizens of the country. Obama's territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in low-income tenements and living off various forms of government welfare...\" Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the \"complacency\" and \"apathy\" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population already having reached the \"governmental dependency\" phase. If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal invaders called illegals - and they vote - then we can say goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years. If you are in favor of this, then by all means, delete this message. If you are not, then pass this along to help everyone realize just how much is at stake, knowing that apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom. What follows is our analysis of the statements included in the original piece as it initially appeared in 2000: I really enjoyed one recent message that was circulated extremely widely, at least among conservatives. It gave several interesting \"facts\" supposedly compiled by statisticians and political scientists about the counties across the nation that voted for George Bush and the ones that voted for Al Gore in the recent election. Supposedly, the people in the counties for Bush had more education, more income, ad infinitum, than the counties for Gore. I didn't have time to check them all out, but I was curious about one item in particular... the contention that the murder rate in the Gore counties was about a billion times higher than in the Bush counties. This was attributed to Professor Joseph Olson at the Hamline University School of Law. I had never heard of such a university, but went online and found it. And Prof. Olson does exist. \"Now I'm getting somewhere,\" I thought. But in response to my e-mail, Olson said the \"research\" was attributed to him erroneously. He said it came from Sheriff Jay Printz in Montana. I e-mailed Sheriff Printz, and guess what? He didn't do the research either and didn't remember who had e-mailed it to him. In other words, he got the same legend e-mailed to him and passed it on to Olson without checking it out, and when Olson passed it on, someone thought it sounded better if a law professor had done the research, and so it grew. Who knows where it originally came from, but it's just not true. By calculating the murder rate for each county and then taking the averages, we found a murder rate (defined as the number of murders per 100,000 residents) of about 5.2 for the average Gore county and 3.3 for the average Bush county. But since people, rather than counties, commit murders, a more appropriate approach was to calculate the total number of murders in the counties won by each candidate and divide that figure by the total number of residents in those counties. This more appropriate method yielded the following average murder rates in counties won by each candidate: Gore: 6.5 Bush: 4.1 There is a distinct difference between these two numbers, but it is nowhere near as large as the quoted email message states (i.e., 13.2 for Gore vs. 2.1 for Bush). In the 2000 U.S. presidential election, George W. Bush won most of the states that are net beneficiaries of federal spending programs, while Al Gore won most of the states that are net contributors to federal spending. The information in that study corresponds to a chart prepared by the Tax Foundation for fiscal year 2005 that ranks states according to federal spending per dollar of taxes paid.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1-XEZ-JFO-YUMFVa_tIgGO1K6ux6Z241T","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_390","claim":"Something of Historic Proportions Is Happening","posted":"02\/24\/2009","sci_digest":["Historian David Kaiser or Timothy Wood penned an article cautioning that 'Something of historic proportions is happening'?"],"justification":"For the past thirty years, I have been a historian of international and domestic politics, as well as an authority on some of the more famous criminal cases in American history. For the past four years, I have been commenting on current events. I am a student of history. Professionally, I have written 15 books in six languages and have studied it all my life. I think there is something monumentally large afoot, and I do not believe it is just a banking crisis, a mortgage crisis, or a credit crisis. Yes, these exist, but they are merely single facets of a very large gemstone that is only now coming into sharper focus. I can sense it because I know how it feels, smells, looks, and how people react to it. Yes, a perfect storm may be brewing, but there is something happening within our country that has been evolving for about ten to fifteen years. The pace has dramatically quickened in the past two. We demand and then codify into law the requirement that our banks make massive loans to people we know they can never pay back. Why? We learned just days ago that the Federal Reserve, which has little or no real oversight by anyone, has \"loaned\" two trillion dollars (that is $2,000,000,000,000) over the past few months but will not tell us to whom or why or disclose the terms. That is our money\u2014yours and mine. And that is three times the 700 billion we all argued about so strenuously just this past September. Who has this money? Why do they have it? Why are the terms unavailable to us? Who asked for it? Who authorized it? I thought this was a government of \"we the people,\" who loaned our powers to our elected leaders. Apparently not. We have spent two or more decades intentionally de-industrializing our economy. Why? We have intentionally dumbed down our schools, ignored our history, and no longer teach our founding documents, why we are exceptional, and why we are worth preserving. Students, by and large, cannot write, think critically, read, or articulate. Parents are not revolting, teachers are not picketing, and school boards continue to back mediocrity. Why? We have now established the precedent of protesting every close election (now violently in California over a proposition that is so controversial that it wants marriage to remain between one man and one woman. Did you ever think such a thing possible just a decade ago?). We have corrupted our sacred political process by allowing unelected judges to write laws that radically change our way of life, and then mainstream Marxist groups like ACORN and others to turn our voting system into a banana republic. To what purpose? Now our mortgage industry is collapsing, housing prices are in free fall, major industries are failing, our banking system is on the verge of collapse, social security is nearly bankrupt, as is Medicare and our entire government. Our education system is worse than a joke (I teach college and know precisely what I am talking about). The list is staggering in its length, breadth, and depth. It is potentially 1929 times ten. And we are at war with an enemy we cannot name for fear of offending people of the same religion, who cannot wait to slit the throats of your children if they have the opportunity to do so. And now we have elected a man no one knows anything about, who has never run so much as a Dairy Queen, let alone a town as big as Wasilla, Alaska. All of his associations and alliances are with real radicals in their chosen fields of employment, and everything we learn about him, drip by drip, is unsettling if not downright scary. Surely you have heard him speak about his idea to create and fund a mandatory civilian defense force stronger than our military for use inside our borders? No? Oh, of course. The media would never play that for you over and over and then demand he answer it. Sarah Palin's pregnant daughter and $150,000 wardrobe are more important. Mr. Obama's winning platform can be boiled down to one word: change. Why? I have never been so afraid for my country and for my children as I am now. This man campaigned on bringing people together, something he has never, ever done in his professional life. In my assessment, Obama will divide us along philosophical lines, push us apart, and then try to realign the pieces into a new and different power structure. Change is indeed coming. And when it comes, you will never see the same nation again. And that is only the beginning. I thought I would never be able to experience what the ordinary, moral German felt in the mid-1930s. In those times, the savior was a former smooth-talking rabble-rouser from the streets, about whom the average German knew next to nothing. What they did know was that he was associated with groups that shouted, shoved, and pushed around people with whom they disagreed; he edged his way onto the political stage through great oratory and promises. Economic times were tough, people were losing jobs, and he was a great speaker. And he smiled and waved a lot. People, even newspapers, were afraid to speak out for fear that his \"brown shirts\" would bully them into submission. And then, he was duly elected to office, a full-throttled economic crisis at hand. Slowly but surely, he seized the controls of government power, department by department, person by person, bureaucracy by bureaucracy. The kids joined a Youth Movement in his name, where they were taught what to think. How did he get the people on his side? He did it by promising jobs to the jobless, money to the moneyless, and goodies for the military-industrial complex. He did it by indoctrinating the children, advocating gun control, health care for all, better wages, better jobs, and promising to re-instill pride once again in the country, across Europe, and across the world. He did it with a compliant media\u2014did you know that? And he did this all in the name of justice and change. And the people surely got what they voted for. Read your history books. Many people objected in 1933 and were shouted down, called names, laughed at, and made fun of. When Winston Churchill pointed out the obvious in the late 1930s while seated in the House of Lords in England (he was not yet Prime Minister), he was booed into his seat and called a crazy troublemaker. He was right, though. Don't forget that Germany was the most educated, cultured country in Europe. It was full of music, art, museums, hospitals, laboratories, and universities. And in less than six years\u2014a shorter time span than just two terms of the U.S. presidency\u2014it was rounding up its own citizens, killing others, abrogating its laws, turning children against parents, and neighbors against neighbors. All with the best of intentions, of course. The road to Hell is paved with them. As a practical thinker, one not overly prone to emotional decisions, I have a choice: I can either believe what the objective pieces of evidence tell me (even if they make me cringe with disgust); I can believe what history is shouting to me from across the chasm of seven decades; or I can hope I am wrong by closing my eyes, having another latte, and ignoring what is transpiring around me. Some people scoff at me, others laugh, or think I am foolish, naive, or both. Perhaps I am. But I have never been afraid to look people in the eye and tell them exactly what I believe and why I believe it. I pray I am wrong. I do not think I am.","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_391","claim":"Was Cesar Sayoc a Lifelong Democrat Who \u201cRecently\u201d Covered His Van in Trump Stickers?","posted":"11\/06\/2018","sci_digest":["The mail bombing suspect had never been a registered Democrat, and his van had been home to pro-Trump material for years."],"justification":"Following the arrest of Cesar Sayoc on charges that he sent mail bombs to prominent Democrats and anti-Trump media figures, the pro-Trump conspiracy contingent attempted to paint the suspect as a Democrat who posed as a Republican  innuendo suggesting that Sayocs true goals were to inflict political damage on President Donald Trump and his agenda. Representative of this claim was a 26 October 2018 Facebook meme that labeled Sayoc as a Democrat posing as a Republican and asserted he had recently put his infamous pro-Trump stickers on his van, describing those (false) claims as suspicious: meme   No evidence documents that Sayoc was a \"lifelong Democrat\"  all signs point to his being relatively apolitical until 2015, although it appeared he attempted to register as a Republican twice in October 2012. And Sayocs van had sported pro-Trump stickers since at least 2017, and it had contained pro-Trump material since at least 2015. appeared Although news reports have stated that Sayocs relatives are Democrats, Cesar Sayoc has never been registered as a Democrat. His only known voter registration listed his political affiliation as the Florida Republican Party, and it was filed two weeks before Trump won that states GOP primary. Additionally a public records request yielded documents indicating that Sayoc had attempted to register as a Republican twice in October 2012 but failed to complete his application in both cases: reports documents Records from the Miami-Dade County Elections Department show that on two occasions in October 2012  Oct. 9 and Oct. 26  Sayoc initiated, but didnt complete, new voter registration applications. Both times, he checked the box next to \"Republican Party\" as his party affiliation. On Oct. 9, 2012, he checked the box that said his was a \"new registration,\" but it appears he left blank the answer to a question about whether hed ever been \"adjudicated mentally incapacitated with respect to voting.\" On Oct. 26, 2012, he didnt check any of the boxes indicating the reason behind his registration application (i.e. new registration, address change, name change, party change, etc.) Near the top of that form, someone scribbled, \"INCOMP,\" indicating it was incomplete. According to news reports, most people who interacted with Sayoc prior to 2015 stated he did not appear to be overtly political. Ronald Lowy, a lawyer for the Sayoc family who represented Cesar during a 2002 case in which he threatened to bomb an electric company over a bill he disputed, told the New York Times that Sayoc seemed to have no outspoken partisan views during the 2002 case. told Daniel Lurvey represented Sayoc against theft charges in 2013 and 2014, and he told the Washington Examiner that he could not recall Sayoc's ever discussing politics. Instead, it appears that Sayocs chief interests during this time were bodybuilding and wrestling. told The pattern appeared to have changed by 2015. Sayoc showed up at a Brevard College alumni event for his soccer team that year, where former team members stated that he quickly made clear he was a fanatical supporter of Mr. Trump, and bombarded them with racist and misogynist conspiracy theories. Since that time, Sayoc had been an outspoken and fanatical supporter of Donald Trump and an equally outspoken opponent of Democrats online: stated On Twitter and Facebook, he railed against former President Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey with misspelled racial epithets, threatened former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and praised President Trump and conservative causes. His social-media feeds were an electronic version of the white van carted away by law-enforcement officials on Friday morning, which was covered in stickers praising Mr. Trump, condemning liberals and putting cross hairs over an image of Hillary Clinton. In 2015, as part of a likely effort to make a false insurance claim, Sayoc reported to police that $45,000 worth of suits and costumes he needed for his business were stolen from his van. According to the New York Times, the police report noted that of the 139 pieces he said were taken, 11 were the presidents clothing brand. police report It is unclear exactly when the outside of Sayoc's van was first festooned with pro-Trump political stickers, but the van had been a common sighting in the South Florida region since at least New Year's Eve of 2017, as reported by the Sun Sentinel: reported I saw this van dozens of times. It always struck me, always unsettled me. It appeared that somebody at times was in the van, though it was hard to tell because of the windows, said David Cypkin, a documentary film producer who co-produced 2006s Cocaine Cowboys\" ... Cypkin encountered the van regularly when he lived near the Shoppes at the Waterways in Aventura, where it was regularly parked. Cypkin believed someone could be living in the van, and finally, on the morning of New Years Eve 2017, he snapped a few quick pictures so he could get a better look at some of the stickers later. I had seen it there at least a year, Cypkin said. Assertions that Cesar Sayoc had lifelong Democratic political leanings or that his van was covered in stickers only immediately before his mail-bombing attempts do not hold up to any level of scrutiny. ORourke, Ciara.  \"Pipe Bomb Suspect's Florida Voting Records Show Only Republican Affiliation.\" \r  PolitiFact.  5 November 2018. Healy, Jack et al.  \"Cesar Sayoc, Mail Bombing Suspect, Found an Identity in Political Rage and Resentment.\" \r  The New York Times.  27 October 2018. Nelson, Steven.  \"Mail Bomb Suspect Cesar Sayoc Was a 'Big Muscle Head' Stripper, Says Former Boss.\" \r  Washington Examiner.  26 October 2018. Sweeney, Dan.  \"'I Thought He Looked Like a Shooter': Why People Took Pictures of Cesar Sayoc's Van.\" \r  Sun Sentinel.  26 October 2018.\r","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1e-VYdlZKioVyd1jL0kd1HqMHcAtCBAIY","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_392","claim":"Reynolds Wrap","posted":"08\/17\/2001","sci_digest":["About the sexual trials of Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson, and Mel Reynolds."],"justification":" Claim:  An ex-congressman who had sex with a subordinate won clemency from a president who had sex with a subordinate, then was hired by a clergyman who had sex with a subordinate. Example:  [Collected on the Internet, 2001] Jessie Jackson has added former Chicago democratic congressman Mel Reynolds to the Rainbow\/PUSH Coalition's payroll. Reynolds was among the 176 criminals excused in President Clinton's last-minute forgiveness spree. Reynolds received a commutation of his six-and-a-half-year federal sentence for 15 convictions of wire fraud, bank fraud & lies to the Federal Election Commission. He is more notorious; however, for concurrently serving five years for sleeping with an underage campaign volunteer. This is a first in American politics: An ex-congressman who had sex with a subordinate won clemency from a president who had sex with a subordinate, then was hired by a clergyman who had sex with a subordinate. His new job? Youth counselor. Origins:   We can't say with absolute certainty that what's described above is \"a first in American politics,\" since the sexual peccadilloes of American politicians were not always as widely publicized as they are now, but the gist of the piece is true (although it originally circulated back in 2001, so it now references events that occurred many years ago and not just recently):  1995-1997: President Bill Clinton's involvement with Monica Lewinsky, then a 21-year-old unpaid White House intern working in the office of Leon Panetta, Clinton's Chief of Staff, is quite familiar to anyone who follows American politics. Monica Lewinsky  January 2001: The National Enquirer revealed that Jesse Jackson had been carrying on a four-year  affair with Karin L. Stanford, a 39-year-old former aide with his Rainbow\/PUSH Coalition staff, and that Jackson had fathered the child Stanford bore in May 1999.  (Jackson has been married to Jacqueline Brown since 1962.) Karin L. Stanford  January 2001: Just before leaving office, President Clinton (at the urging of Jesse Jackson, among others) commuted the sentence of former Illinois congressman Mel Reynolds, who had spent 30 months in a state prison for statutory rape (i.e., having sex with a 16-year-old campaign volunteer) and was serving a five-year sentence in federal prison for lying to obtain loans and illegally diverting campaign money for personal use. Mel Reynolds  January 2001: The Chicago Sun-Times reported that former congressman Mel Reynolds would be working as the community development director of Salem Baptist Church in south-side Chicago, and as a consultant for Jesse Jackson's Rainbow\/PUSH Coalition, trying to decrease the number of young African-Americans going to prison. (Reynolds' position would be more accurately characterized as that of an advisor on prison reform rather than a \"Youth counselor,\" however.) reported Rainbow\/PUSH In February 2014, Mel Reynolds was arrested in Zimbabwe for violating immigration laws and possessing pornographic material and was later deported to South Africa.  In June 2015, Reynolds was indicted on charges of failing to file income tax returns from 2009 through 2012. arrested indicted   Last updated:  26 June 2015    Page, Susan.  \"Who Gets a Pardon? It Depends on Who Asks.\"   USA Today.  20 March 2001  (p. A7).     Page, Susan and Mimi Hall.  \"Pardon Drama Casts Wide Net.\"   USA Today.  23 Feburary 2001  (p. A7).     Sneed, Michael.  \"Reynolds Might Be Really Enjoying the Ride.\"   Chicago Sun-Times.  25 February 2001  (p. 12).     Associated Press.  \"Celeb Pardon Push.\"    Chicago Sun-Times.  \"Farrakhan Back from the Brink.\"","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1DoN-gARk6vPaKTxfCHPgwOtfAbiqaOOD"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_393","claim":": Barefoot Cellars is Giving Away Free Cases of Wine","posted":"10\/25\/2015","sci_digest":["Barefoot Cellars isn't giving away free cases of wine for their 50th anniversary.  It's a survey scam."],"justification":"Claim: Barefoot Cellars is giving away a limited number of free cases of wine to Facebook users who like and share a post. Origins: In October 2015, links began circulating on Facebook promising users a free case of Barefoot Cellars wine as a celebration of the brand's 50th anniversary. The embedded links involved a variety of URLs, some of which included entirely unrelated scam-bait terms like \"iTunes\" and \"Apple.\" Users who clicked through to claim their purported free case of Barefoot wine were routed to a page reading \"Barefoot Wine is Giving FREE Cases of Wine to Celebrate 50th Anniversary (230 Left),\" which cloned the style of Facebook-based content but was hosted on a non-Facebook URL. As noted, the URLs visible in the posts didn't point to any credible domains or sites linked to Barefoot Cellars. By now, most social media users are familiar with survey scams: Kohl's, Costco, Home Depot, Lowe's, Kroger, Best Buy, Macy's, Olive Garden, Publix, Target, and Walmart are among the retailers used as bait by scammers seeking personal information and valuable page likes from Facebook users. A July 2014 article from the Better Business Bureau illustrated how individuals might spot and avoid bad actors utilizing the reputations of brands on social media. Don't believe what you see. It's easy to steal the colors, logos, and headers of an established organization. Scammers can also make links look like they lead to legitimate websites and emails appear to come from a different sender. Legitimate businesses do not ask for credit card numbers or banking information on customer surveys. If they do ask for personal information, like an address or email, be sure there's a link to their privacy policy. When in doubt, do a quick web search. If the survey is a scam, you may find alerts or complaints from other consumers. The organization's real website may have further information. Watch out for a reward that's too good to be true. If the survey is real, you may be entered in a drawing to win a gift card or receive a small discount off your next purchase. Few businesses can afford to give away $50 gift cards for completing a few questions. Last updated: 25 October 2015 Originally published: 25 October 2015.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Gvloj9NG04wfoe1lJZb2Ud0Oxso0xvDj","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1u3hqCJzjEuAlOTq8_dhFwNaWiXXwS3yA","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_394","claim":"Quotations from Hillary Clinton with Marxist ideologies.","posted":"09\/02\/2007","sci_digest":["A quiz about list of various statements supposedly made by Hillary Clinton."],"justification":" Claim:  List reproduces various \"Marxist\" statements made by Hillary Clinton.  Example:  [Collected via e-mail, August 2007] A little history lesson:   If you don't know the answer make your best guess  Answer all the questions before looking at the answers. Who said it? 1) \"We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.\" A.  Karl MarxB.  Adolph HitlerC.  Joseph StalinD.  None of the above 2) \"It's time for a new beginning, for an end to government of the few, by the few, and for the few and to replace it with shared responsibility for shared prosperity.\" A.  LeninB.  MussoliniC.  Idi AminD.  None of the Above 3) \"(We) ... can't just let business as usual go on, and that means something has to be taken away from some people.\" A.  Nikita KhrushevB.  Josef GoebbelsC.  Boris YeltsinD.  None of the above 4) \"We have to build a political consensus and that requires people to give up a little bit of their own ... in order to create this common ground.\" A.  Mao Tse DungB.  Hugo ChavezC.  Kim Jong IlD  None of the above 5) \"I certainly think the free-market has failed.\" A.  Karl MarxB.  LeninC.  MolotovD.  None of the above 6) \"I think it's time to send a clear message to what has become the most profitable sector in (the) entire economy that they are being watched.\" A.  PinochetB.  MilosevicC.  Saddam HusseinD.  None of the above Answers: (1) D.  None of the above.  Statement was made by Hillary Clinton  6\/29\/2004(2) D.  None of the above.  Statement was made by Hillary Clinton  5\/29\/2007(3) D.  None of the above.  Statement was made by Hillary Clinton  6\/4\/2007(4) D.  None of the above.  Statement was made by Hillary Clinton  6\/4\/2007(5) D.  None of the above.  Statement was made by Hillary Clinton  6\/4\/2007(6) D.  None of the above.  Statement was made by Hillary Clinton  9\/2\/2005 Be afraid.  Be very, very afraid and voteAnybody (woman) that would vote for her just because they think it's time for a female president has got to be out of their lunatic mind! Origins:  This list of purported \"Marxist\" quotes by former first lady, senator, presidential candidate, and secretary of state Hillary Clinton is (like many collections of utterances from various political figures) difficult to rate as strictly \"true\" or \"false\": She did make the statements reported above, but they have all been stripped of any explanatory context, and some of them had portions elided, creating potentially misleading impressions about the nature of those statements.  Below we verify the source and complete wording of each statement on this list and provide the context in which it was made.  (All of these entries  date from between 2004 and 2007, during which time Hillary Clinton represented the state of New York in the U.S. Senate.)  \"We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.\" This statement by Senator Hillary Clinton was not (as commonly assumed) addressed to the general public, but rather to a group of relatively well-to-do Democrats attending a June 2004 fundraiser for California senator Barbara Boxer.  Her statement specifically referred to a desire to repeal tax cuts that had recently been enacted by the Bush administration, cuts which many Democrats had criticized as favoring the wealthy: tax cuts Headlining an appearance with other Democratic women senators on behalf of Sen. Barbara Boxer, who is up for re-election this year, Hillary Clinton told several hundred supporters  some of whom had ponied up as much as $10,000 to attend  to expect to lose some of the tax cuts passed by President Bush if Democrats win the White House and control of Congress. \"Many of you are well enough off that ... the tax cuts may have helped you,\" Sen. Clinton said. \"We're saying that for America to get back on track, we're probably going to cut that short and not give it to you. We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.\"  \"It's time for a new beginning, for an end to government of the few, by the few, and for the few ... And to replace it with shared responsibility for shared prosperity.\" This entry is a pieced-together passage from a 29 May 2007 economic policy speech given by Senator Clinton on the subject of \"Modern Progressive Vision: Shared Prosperity.\"   The supposedly \"Marxist\" nature of this statement is undercut when the sentences that immediately followed it (affirming support for a free market economy) are included for context: speech It's time for a new beginning, for an end to government of the few, by the few and for the few, time to reject the idea of an \"on your own\" society and to replace it with shared responsibility for shared prosperity. I prefer a \"we're all in it together\" society. Now, there is no greater force for economic growth than free markets, but markets work best with rules that promote our values, protect our workers and give all people a chance to succeed.  When we get our priorities in order and make the smart investments we need, the markets work well.  \"(We) ... can't just let business as usual go on, and that means something has to be taken away from some people.\" \"We have to build a political consensus and that requires people to give up a little bit of their own in order to create this common ground.\" \"I certainly think the free-market has failed.\" The above three statements are all out-of-context passages taken from a 4 June 2007 CNN \"Presidential Forum\" conducted with three Democratic presidential hopefuls, senators John Edwards, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton.  The second statement was part of a straightforward expression of the need to for people to reach a consensus (through metaphorically giving up some of their political \"turf,\" not literally giving up their possessions) on how to proceed in order to tackle an issue such as universal health insurance, while the first statement is another pieced-together quote that omits the contextual references to the issues of health care, dependence on foreign oil, and climate change:  Presidential Forum We can set the vision. We can even work to articulate the goal. But the pathway is extraordinarily complicated because of how we live today andhow we think of ourselves in relation to our fellow citizens. Take health care. I think we could get almost unanimous agreement that having more than 45 million uninsured people, nine million of whom are children, is a moral wrong in America. And I think we could reach that agreement, and then we would have to start doing the hard work of deciding what we were going to do to make sure that they were not uninsured, because an uninsured person who goes to the hospital is more likely to die than an insured person. I mean, that is a fact. So, what do we do? We have to build a political consensus. And that requires people giving up a little bit of their own turf, in order to create this common ground. The same with energy  you know, we can't keep talking about our dependence on foreign oil, and the need to deal with global warming, and the challenge that it poses to our climate and to God's creation, and just let business as usual go on. And that means something has to be taken away from some people. The third statement was part of a passage in which Senator Clinton listed a number of entities (including churches, schools, and the government, as well as the free market) that she felt had failed in helping young people to make responsible decisions (particularly in reference to abortion): Q: Could you see yourself, with millions of voters in a pro-life camp, creating a common ground, with the goal ultimately in mind of reducing the decisions for abortion to zero? A: Yes. Yes. And that is what I have tried to both talk about and reach out about over the last many years, going back, really, at least 15 years, in talking about abortion being safe, legal, and rare. And, by rare, I mean rare. And it's been a challenge, because the pro-life and the pro-choice communities have not really been willing to find much common ground. And I think that is a great failing on all of our parts, because, for me there are many opportunities to assist young people to make responsible decisions. There is a tremendous educational and public outreach that could be done through churches, through schools, through so much else. But I think it has to be done with an understanding of reaching people where they are today. We have so many young people who are tremendously influenced by the media culture and by the celebrity culture, and who have a very difficult time trying to sort out the right decisions to make. And I personally believe that the adult society has failed those people. I mean, I think that we have failed them in our churches, our schools, our government. And I certainly think the, you know, free market has failed. We have all failed. We have left too many children to sort of fend for themselves morally.  \"I think it's time to send a clear message to what has become the most profitable sector in (the) entire economy that they are being watched.\" This passage was taken from a 2 September 2005 appearance by Senator Clinton in front of constituents in Elmira Heights, New York, where (in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina) she expressed her opinion about the need for federal regulatory oversight of the oil industry in order to curb high gasoline prices and U.S. dependence on foreign oil: The anxiety and anger felt by motorists was evident at nearly every turn in her travels throughout the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York. She made clear she shared the concern. \"I think it's time to send a clear message to what has become the most profitable sector in our entire economy that they're being watched,\" she said in explaining her call for an inquiry by the Federal Trade Commission. \"I think human nature left to itself is going to push the limit as far as possible, and that's what you need a government regulatory system for: to keep an eye on people to make the rules of the game fair, to make a level playing field and not give anybody some kind of undue advantage.\" Clinton criticized the new energy bill, which she opposed, as inadequate to solve the country's long-term energy problem. She said the United States has regressed over the past three decades, since the first oil shocks of the early 1970s. \"We've had 30 years to do some things we haven't done,\" she said. \"In fact we've gotten, we've gone backwards in many respects. \"I am tired of being at the mercy of people in the Middle East and elsewhere, and I'm tired frankly of being at the mercy of these large oil companies,\" Clinton said.   Last updated:  30 March 2015    Fouhy, Beth.  \"San Francisco Rolls Out the Red Carpet for the Clintons.\"   Associated Press.  29 June 2004.    CNN.  \"The Situation Room: Sojourners Presidential Forum.\"   4 June 2007.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1NQArIZe1G4tkv6g4ilMXCxuK-ZzApirX"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_395","claim":"Was a $3.7 Million Grant Given to the Wuhan Laboratory by the Obama Administration?","posted":"04\/24\/2020","sci_digest":["While it isn't unusual to see international cooperation in the field of virology, this claim stretches the truth. "],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease. \n\nIn April 2020, reports started to circulate that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) had provided the Wuhan Institute of Virology with a $3.7 million grant in 2015, while former U.S. President Obama was still in office. These reports were often accompanied by the evidence-free suggestion that the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 had \"escaped\" from this lab, along with the insinuation that, since this lab reportedly received funding from the Obama administration, the pandemic was therefore Obama's fault. \n\nThis claim received widespread attention on April 17 when a reporter from the conservative outlet Newsmax asked President Donald Trump about it during a White House press briefing. Newsmax reporter Emerald Robinson asked: \"Thank you, Mr. President. U.S. Intelligence is saying this week that the coronavirus likely came from a level 4 lab in Wuhan. There's also another report that the NIH under the Obama administration in 2015 gave that lab $3.7 million in a grant. Why would the U.S. give a grant like that to China?\" Trump responded: \"The Obama administration gave them a grant of $3.7 million. I've been hearing about that. And we've instructed that if any grants are going to that area we're looking at it, literally about an hour ago, also early in the morning, we will end that grant very quickly. But it was granted quite a while ago. They were granted a substantial amount of money.\" \n\nThere's a lot to unpack there, so let's start with the basic claim: Did the Obama administration grant $3.7 million to the Wuhan Institute of Virology? Between 2014 and 2019, the EcoHealth Alliance was awarded a series of grants totaling approximately $3.7 million by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (a division of the National Institutes of Health) to study the \"risk of future coronavirus (CoV) emergence from wildlife using in-depth field investigations across the human-wildlife interface in China.\" Only a portion of this money has been used to fund research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology; approximately $700,000 of this grant money was awarded under the Trump administration. Despite having a grain of truth at its core, the claim that the Obama administration gave a $3.7 million grant to the Wuhan Institute of Virology is therefore misleading at best. \n\nIt first gained prominence on April 11, 2020, following an article published in the Daily Mail. The British tabloid claimed that it had obtained documents showing that coronavirus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology had been funded by a $3.7 million grant from the U.S. government: \"Documents obtained by The Mail on Sunday show the Wuhan Institute of Virology undertook coronavirus experiments on mammals captured more than 1,000 miles away in Yunnan, funded by a $3.7 million grant from the US government.\" The Daily Mail did not provide links or screenshots to these documents. They did, however, write that this money funded a research paper published in November 2017 entitled: \"Discovery of a rich gene pool of bat SARS-related coronaviruses provides new insights into the origin of SARS coronavirus.\" This is the title of a genuine paper published by researchers from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. It's also true that this paper was partially funded by money granted by the National Institutes of Health. However, when we followed up using the grant number listed in the funding section of the paper (NIAID R01AI110964), we found that the NIH did not directly issue this series of grants to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. \n\nThe Department of Health and Human Services' Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) shows that NIAID R01AI110964 was awarded to the EcoHealth Alliance for \"understanding the risk of bat coronavirus emergence.\" Between 2014 and 2019, this global environmental health nonprofit organization received a total of $3.7 million from NIH. While a portion of these grants funded research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, this lab did not receive all $3.7 million. Under award number NIAID R01AI110964, NIH also funded studies produced by institutions in the United States, Australia, and Singapore, and the work involving the Wuhan Institute of Virology was an international collaboration with the New York-based EcoHealth Alliance. \n\nFurthermore, while these funds were originally appropriated by the NIH in 2014 during the Obama administration, the most recent payment, in 2019, was authorized by the Trump administration. The payments record from the Department of Health and Human Services shows that the EcoHealth Alliance filed \"Noncompeting Continuation\" applications in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018. In 2019, however, the organization filed a renewal application (previously called a \"competing continuation\"). This renewal application was awarded by the NIH under Trump's administration. Here's how NIH defines these two different types of grant applications: \n\nRenewal: Initial request for additional funding for a period subsequent to that provided by a current award. Renewal applications compete for funding with all other peer-reviewed applications and must be developed as fully as though the applicant is applying for the first time. (Previously referred to as \"competing continuation.\") \n\nNoncompeting Continuation: Request or award for a subsequent budget period within a previously approved project for which a recipient does not have to compete with other applications. \n\nAlthough the initial grant was approved under the Obama administration in 2014, EcoHealth Alliance's renewal application was approved by the Trump administration in 2019. It should also be noted that these grants were not awarded to fund a laboratory. They were awarded to fund research into how bat coronaviruses could emerge and spread to human populations. The purpose of this kind of research, spurred into action by the 2002 SARS outbreak, is to understand the process of how coronaviruses become transmissible to humans. That earlier outbreak was also caused by a coronavirus linked to bats. \n\nIs it unusual for the United States to fund research in other countries? In short, no. While this claim is often circulated as if the Obama administration did something unusual, or even nefarious, by awarding a series of grants that would subsequently fund research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the United States routinely provides funding to international research organizations. In fact, records show that the NIH has provided approximately $2.5 million in additional funding to various organizations in China (including Wuhan University) in 2018 and 2019, under the Trump administration. In 2007, while George W. Bush was president, NIH provided more than $2 million to various research centers across China. \n\nFurthermore, international organizations often come together to solve problems that could impact the global population, such as pandemics. In 2003, for instance, the World Health Organization (WHO) called on countries around the world to develop a diagnostic test for SARS. On 17 March 2003, WHO called upon 11 laboratories in 9 countries to join a collaborative multi-center research project on SARS diagnosis. This network takes advantage of modern communication technologies (e-mail; secure website) to share outcomes of investigations of clinical samples from SARS cases in real time. Daily assessment of research results supports immediate refinement of investigative strategies and permits instant validation of laboratory findings. Network members share on the secure WHO website electron microscopic pictures of viruses, sequences of genetic material for virus identification and characterization, virus isolates, and various samples from patients and post-mortem tissues. Samples from one and the same patient can be analyzed in parallel in several laboratories, and results shared in real time. This network joins the intellectual resources of leading laboratories worldwide for a common goal: the detection of the SARS agent and the development of a diagnostic test. \n\nThe COVID-19 pandemic has spurred a similar call to action. While political leaders have locked their borders, scientists have been shattering theirs, creating a global collaboration unlike any in history. Never before, researchers say, have so many experts in so many countries focused simultaneously on a single topic and with such urgency. Nearly all other research has ground to a halt.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1gaGlNSk6-QVfeMxhhaoo0nblKpNXg31G"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_396","claim":"The Unzipped Mechanic","posted":"02\/28\/2004","sci_digest":["Woman mistakenly unzips pants mechanic working under car."],"justification":"A wife returns home from shopping and spots a pair of legs sticking out from under the car in their driveway. Thinking that her husband is working on the car again, she playfully bends down and pulls down his pants zipper before cheerfully strolling into the house. As she walks through the living room, she sees her husband sitting in a chair watching TV. Startled, she asks her husband who is under the car; when her husband informs her that it's his mechanic, she faints. \n\nBe careful what you wear (or don't wear) when working under your vehicle, especially in public. From the Sydney Morning Herald, Australia, comes the story of a central west couple who drove their car to K-Mart, only to have it break down in the parking lot. The man told his wife to carry on with the shopping while he fixed the car there in the lot. The wife returned later to see a small group of people near the car. On closer inspection, she saw a pair of male legs protruding from under the chassis. Although the man was in shorts, his lack of underpants turned private parts into glaringly public ones. Unable to stand the embarrassment, she dutifully stepped forward, quickly put her hand up his shorts, and tucked everything back into place. When she regained her feet, she looked across the hood and found herself staring at her husband, who was standing idly by. The mechanic, however, had to be treated by the paramedics and received three stitches in his forehead. \n\nFrom the Northwest Florida Daily News comes the story of a Crestview couple who drove their car to Wal-Mart, only to have it break down in the parking lot. The man told his wife to carry on with the shopping while he fixed the car in the lot. The wife returned later to see a small group of people near the car. On closer inspection, she saw a pair of male legs protruding from under the chassis. Although the man was in shorts, his lack of underpants turned private parts into glaringly public ones. Unable to stand the embarrassment, she dutifully stepped forward, quickly put her hand up his shorts, and tucked everything back into place. When she got back on her feet, she looked across the hood and found herself staring at her husband, who was standing idly by. The mechanic, however, had to be treated by the paramedics and received three stitches in his forehead. \n\nSome versions of the legend feature a plumber working under a sink in place of the auto mechanic under the car. When the wife unzips the plumber's pants, he sits up and hits his head on the pipes, knocking himself cold. \n\nSome readers recall having heard this legend as far back as the late 1950s, a variation on a common theme of a wife's playful licentiousness resulting in her great embarrassment. Unlike other versions, however, there is no suggestion of moral censure in this telling of the legend: the ubiquitous fondled minister has been replaced by an auto mechanic, and the wife suffers no painful humiliation. In fact, the only one who comes to any harm is the innocent and unwitting mechanic who ends up with a bump on his head. \n\nAn early sighting of the legend features the \"dropped stretcher\" motif, which appears in other urban legends, notably the Hind-Lick Maneuver (dog cold-noses naked man working under sink), Blew Moon (wife spritzes hairspray into toilet in an attempt to kill a bug; husband who afterwards lights a cigarette while on the throne blows himself up), and Frame Job (lady becomes stuck to a freshly painted toilet seat). \n\nA lady who had been after her husband for months to install a garbage disposal under the kitchen sink finally trapped him one Saturday afternoon, and he glumly got to work with his wrenches. Not wishing to listen to his colorful vocabulary as he banged his thumbs, she went out shopping. While downtown, she ran into some girlfriends and had a few cocktails, so she was feeling very friendly when she returned home. There was good old George still under the sink, working away, legs sticking out into the kitchen. So she bent down, reached under, and gave him a rudely familiar tweak. \"Hi, honey,\" she said. There was a howl of surprise from under the sink as the man raised up and smacked his forehead against the disposal. It was the plumber! Her husband had given up on the job. The plumber crawled out, his forehead all bloody, and the wife ran to the phone for an ambulance. The husband helped the attendant load the poor plumber onto a stretcher. \"How'd it happen?\" asked the attendant as they were carrying the man out. When the husband told him, the attendant began laughing so hard he let go of the stretcher, and the plumber plunged to the sidewalk, breaking his arm. Imagine explaining that one to the insurance company.","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1DGVSW6-KY-xZ5kbs_y6tIWTYKyr44ssi","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_397","claim":"Is This Video of a 'Praying Hands' Cloud Formation Real?","posted":"01\/22\/2023","sci_digest":["Photoshop works in mysterious ways."],"justification":"It's not uncommon for the human eye to pick out familiar shapes among clouds in the sky, nor for the human mind to experience, however briefly, the sensation that such a resemblance is more than just coincidental. There's a name for this general phenomenon: pareidolia. It's also not uncommon, especially in this era of digital image manipulation and virality, for human beings to fabricate \"eerie\" photographs along the same lines to share on social media. There's also a name for this general phenomenon: hoaxes. A perfect example of the latter came to Snopes' attention in January 2023, in the form of a YouTube video (originally posted on TikTok) supposedly showing a cloud formation in the shape of shockingly detailed \"praying hands.\" Interestingly, in addition to the above video captioned \"A strange cloud in the sky of America,\" a very similar video can be found elsewhere on YouTube with the caption, \"The cloud appeared in the sky of Ukraine during the war.\" Here is a comparison between the two \"cloud formations\": (YouTube screenshots) Note how artificial the \"cloud hands\" appear in both of these videos. Note, too, how similar they are to each other, as if they were both modeled after the same source image. We found other specimens with the same similarities. Clearly, these videos and photographs were the products of digital editing, not miraculous meteorological events. What source image might they have been modeled after? Our vote goes to this drawing of praying hands by the German artist Albrecht Durer, dating from about 1500: Praying hands by the German artist Albrecht Durer (1471-1528), circa 1500. (Hulton Archive\/Getty Images) Definition of PAREIDOLIA. https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/pareidolia. Accessed 18 Jan. 2023. \"Praying Hands by the German Artist Albrecht Durer, circa 1500.\" Getty Images, https:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/news-photo\/praying-hands-by-the-german-artist-albrecht-durer-circa-news-photo\/2635952. Accessed 18 Jan. 2023.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1qg7sWJ-ol943c2SWLwK6RfI3QU737K50","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=12xg1kDKPFmbTpw9z9zK3jJ10OjnyVCvw","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_398","claim":"Russian troops will offer protection at American events.","posted":"07\/02\/2013","sci_digest":["Will Russian forces be providing security at large events in the U.S.?"],"justification":"Claim:  Russian forces will be providing security at large events in the U.S.   Examples:  [Collected via e-mail, July 2013] I have been told that some sort of deal between the Obama administration and the Russian govt. would allow Russian military forces to act as security, on American soil, during large, special events (such as Super Bowl) or in the case of national emergencies.  Any truth here?  I already know how the Constitution treats such things.  Now days, it doesn't seem to matter tho.  Has FEMA struck an agreement with Russia that will provide for the Russian Military to provide crowd control at U.S. events on American Soil?  This was reported as true in a post I saw on FB and reported that these soldiers would be able to fire on and kill Americans on U.S. soil. Origins:  On 26 June 2013, Russia announced an agreement between the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry  to share information and observation opportunities with first responders and emergency managers from each other's countries during joint rescue operations: announced The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry and the USA Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are going to exchange experts during joint rescue operations in major disasters. This is provided by a protocol of the fourth meeting of the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential  Commission Working Group on Emergency Situations and seventeenth meeting of Joint U.S.-Russia Cooperation Committee on Emergency Situations, which took place in Washington on 25 June. The document provides for expert cooperation in disaster response operations and to study the latest practices. In addition, the parties approved of U.S.-Russian cooperation in this field in 2013-2014, which envisages exchange of experience including in monitoring and forecasting emergency situations, training of rescuers, development of mine-rescuing and provision of security at mass events. At the end of the meeting the parties expressed their satisfaction with the level of cooperation between the Russian Federation and the United States in the area of emergency prevention and response and agreed to develop it in order to respond efficiently to all kinds of disasters. The conspiracy site Infowars then spun this announcement into a claim that Russian military forces would be providing security for large events in the United States such as the Super Bowl and presidential inaugurations: Infowars As part of a deal signed last week in Washington DC between the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry and FEMA, Russian officials will provide \"security at mass events\" in the United States, a scenario that wont sit well with Americans wary of foreign assets operating on US soil. According to a press release by the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Civil Defense and Emergencies, US and Russian officials met on June 25 at the 17th Joint U.S.-Russia Cooperation Committee on Emergency Situations. In addition to agreeing with FEMA to \"exchange experts during joint rescue operations in major disasters,\" the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry will also be providing \"security at mass events\" in the United States. This suggests that events designated as \"National Special Security Events\" by the Department of Homeland Security, which include the Super Bowl, international summits such as the G8 and presidential inaugurations, will now rely partly on Russian authorities to provide security. However, the Infowars article was an alarmist, far-fetched interpretation of the original announcement, which said nothing about Russia's providing security for events taking place within the U.S.  The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry announcement merely noted that \"provision of security at mass events\" was one of the areas of interest which the two countries hoped to study and learn about from each other as part of their joint agreement. FEMA and the Russian news agency RIA Novosti quickly debunked Infowars' unsupported assumption, stating plainly that the U.S. and Russia would not be deploying security guards or military forces in each other's countries: The top US emergency response agency moved to quell a flurry of Internet-driven speculation that Russian security teams could be deployed at large public events in the United States, saying the two countries will not swap security guards or soldiers under a long-running partnership agreement. There will be \"no exchange of security or military personnel\" under a recently renewed partnership between the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Russias Emergency Situations Ministry, a FEMA spokesman told RIA Novosti. \"The agreement continues information-sharing meetings and observation opportunities with first responders and emergency managers,\" the spokesman said. Picking up on an Emergency Situations Ministry statement declaring that partnership agreement \"envisages the exchange of experience\" in \"the provision of security at mass events,\" numerous websites suspicious of the US governments encroachment on its citizens' rights suggested the deal means Russian security guards could be deployed at major public gatherings. The libertarian website Infowars.com, run by radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, proposed these events could include US presidential inaugurations and the Super Bowl. The FEMA spokesman said that while the US agency will not exchange security or military personnel with its Russian counterpart, the two sides \"agreed to an exchange of emergency management experts to share best practices  a continuation of a 17 year partnership.\" Last updated:   2 July 2013","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/oathkeepers.org\/oath\/wp-content\/uploads\/Russian_army_march1.jpg"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_399","claim":"Californias prisons budgetin 1970 was about 3 percent of the general fund. Now, its 8.9 percent, about $12 billion.","posted":"01\/25\/2018","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown reeled off statistics on Californias prison spending during his final State of the State Address after a total of 16 years as governor. Brown, who has followed a federal court order to reduce the states prison overcrowding, warned legislators at the state Capitol not to simply pass more crime laws but instead consider a holistic approach to criminal justice. He suggested California has gone too far on prison spending since 1970. The corrections budget then was about 3 percent of the general fund. Now, its 8.9 percent, about $12 billion, Brown said. Was the governor right? Has Californias prison spending nearly tripled as a share of the states general fund budget since 1970? We set out on a fact check. Our research Californias1970-71 fiscal year budget, produced under then Gov. Ronald Reagan, backs up the first part of Browns claim. It lists the corrections department as 2.8 percent, or nearly $40 million, of the states $1.4 billion general fund budget that year. California's 1970-71 fiscal year budget. Browns 2018-19 budget proposal, meanwhile, also supports the claim. It shows the state expects to spend 9 percent, or nearly $12 billion, of its $132 billion general fund on the corrections department. Thats up about $1 billion from prison spending two years ago. Franklin Zimring, a UC Berkeley criminal justice professor, called Browns claim about the increased share of prison spending absolutely true. Californias prison population exploded from 1980 through the late 1990s and prison building metastasized in the state, Zimring said. We went from a little over 24,000 prisoners in California prisons to over 170,000 prisoners in 2010 and 2011. Zimring attributed the increase to the states booming population during that period, tough sentencing laws, particularly 1994sThree Strikeslaw, and the national focus on drug crimes. Fewer inmates, higher costs California has sharply cut its prison population following a 2009 U.S. Supreme Court order for California to reduce prison overcrowding. The population reached a peak of163,000 inmatesin 2006, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. The state estimates it will house an average of about 119,000 prisoners this year. But as the inmate numbers have dropped, state corrections spending has continued to rise. Thats, in part, because California has the highest per capita inmate cost in the nation, at an estimated $80,000 annually for 2018-19, as we examined in arecent fact check. Theres been no corresponding reduction in prison staff as inmate numbers have fallen, causing per capita costs to spike. At the same time, prison staffing costs have increased. Jeffrey Callison, a state prisons spokesman, told us the conditions of the court order prevent California from closing prisons even as the inmate population is reduced. So long as the order is in effect we cannot close prisons because to do so would reduce our capacity, thereby pushing us back above 137.5 percent level of prison crowding, Callison said in an email. That level is tied to prison capacity and defined by the court, he said. Our ruling Gov. Jerry Brown recently claimed Californias corrections budget in 1970 was about 3 percent of the general fund. Now, its 8.9 percent, about $12 billion. Californias1970-71 fiscal year budgetsupports the first part of Browns claim, listing prison system spending as 2.8 percent of that years general fund. Browns budget proposal for this fiscal year, meanwhile, shows the corrections department is now estimated to be 9 percent of the general fund, or $12 billion. A UC Berkeley criminal justice professor told us the governors spending claim rings true, noting the states prison population exploded during the 1980s and 1990s, driven by the states overall population boom, strict criminal sentencing laws and a national focus on drug crimes. The governors numbers are on the mark and theres nothing significant missing from his statement. We rate Browns claim True. TRUE The statement is accurate and theres nothing significant missing. Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.","issues":["Criminal Justice","State Budget","California"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1TrmNoTrXFBzFmlaVO22hmJrH1mq04ONV","image_caption":"California's 1970-71 fiscal year budget."}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_400","claim":"Stick Stiffed","posted":"01\/10\/1998","sci_digest":["Girl impales herself on gearshift lever after being slipped some Spanish Fly by her boyfriend."],"justification":"After a young man slips his date an aphrodisiac and leaves her alone in the car, he returns to find that she has impaled herself on the stick shift handle in a sexual frenzy. A friend at work says that when she was in high school, a story circulated about a boy who wanted to sleep with his girlfriend, but she was unwilling. After he complained to his friends about this situation, someone suggested he try Spanish fly. He agreed and obtained some. They went to a drive-in movie, and he slipped the Spanish fly into her drink. A while passed, and nothing happened, so he got out to go to the bathroom. While he was out of the car, she, in a fit of sexual frustration, impaled herself on the gearshift. Variations in the story include different locations where the boy takes his date, usually either a drive-in movie or a secluded parking spot. The reason the boy leaves his date alone for a few minutes also varies, generally either to go to the bathroom or to visit the drive-in's snack bar. Sometimes one (or both) of the participants is a well-known community member. The legend that Spanish fly (or cantharides, a substance made from dried beetle remains) is a powerful aphrodisiac has been around for hundreds of years. The substance irritates the urogenital tract and produces an itching sensation in sensitive membranes, a feeling that allegedly increases a woman's desire for intercourse. However, no medical or scientific test has ever shown Spanish fly to be deserving of its reputation as an aphrodisiac, and its indiscriminate use can result in serious medical problems. The legend of the girl and the gearshift lever has been circulating since at least the early 1950s and has probably existed as long as automobiles have been around. The legend combines the male fantasy of a \"love potion\" that turns any female into a willing sexual partner with a sort of medical \"sorcerer's apprentice\" horror story about the perils of the uninitiated attempting to cast powerful spells they can't control. Perhaps the latter point plays on the adolescent male fear of the (perceived) strength and irrationality of the female sex drive; the idea that even a \"nice\" girl is really a ravenous sexual beast just waiting to be awakened, and that if you do arouse this primal lust, it will be more than you can handle. Female hypersexuality is a common feature of adolescent sex legends. There may also be an element of the sexist \"can't leave 'em alone for a minute\" in the fact that the boy leaves, then comes back to find his girlfriend sexually active. The unfortunate young man then experiences the ultimate American male nightmare: being cuckolded by his own automobile.","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1kAEB-iMqQatBgd2BCrEnAdwlTGd1NtM-","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_401","claim":"Can Trump Designate Antifa as a 'Terrorist Organization'?","posted":"06\/03\/2020","sci_digest":["Trump's tweet reacting to protests against the killing of George Floyd appears to blame anti-fascist organizations for the agitation."],"justification":"U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted on May 31, 2020, that the United States would be designating \"ANTIFA\" as a \"Terrorist Organization.\" Trump's tweet appeared in response to growing protests after the killing of George Floyd, a black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck on May 25:   Trump and several top officials, including U.S. Attorney General William Barr, have been blaming, without evidence, antifa and other groups they call \"agitators\" for the protests that have taken over cities across the United States. Barr also said in a statement that \"The violence instigated and carried out by Antifa and other similar groups in connection with the rioting is domestic terrorism and will be treated accordingly.\" blaming statement But the United States currently does not have a process for designating domestic groups as terrorist organizations, which makes Trump's ability to enforce such a designation highly unlikely. Antifa, short for anti-fascist, is an amorphous movement of people who are opposed to fascism. They do not comprise an organized group, do not have a visible leadership, and acknowledge that they are secretive, so it is impossible to know how many people even count themselves as members. Anti-fascists lean strongly toward the left of the political spectrum, and many of them refer to themselves as socialists, anarchists, communists, or anti-capitalists. The positions of various antifa groups can also be difficult to define, but many of them support oppressed community members and protest against amassing of wealth by corporations. anti-fascist,  comprise refer positions Some antifa movements date their origins to the battle against European fascism in the 1920s and '30s. The BBC cited Mark Bray, the author of \"Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook,\" as an authority in noting that \"[Bray] says the modern American Antifa movement began in the 1980s with a group called Anti-Racist Action. Its members confronted neo-Nazi skinheads at punk gigs in the American Midwest and elsewhere. By the early 2000s the Antifa movement was mostly dormant -- until the rise of Donald Trump and the alt-right.\" Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook Antifa groups are not monolithic and employ a range of tactics. Many condemn the use of violence, but according to BBC News, some groups engage in aggressive confrontations, especially with far-right groups on the streets. Extreme factions have carried pepper spray, bricks, knives, and chains with them. BBC News Trump claimed members of the movement were responsible for acts of vandalism during the May and June 2020 protests against police brutality in the U.S., but in at least one case a white supremacist group was found to have posed as antifa on Twitter. Groups associated with both right and left, not just antifa, are being accused of inciting violence and looting during the protests. In most cases it is difficult to ascertain that antifa is solely responsible for the lawless activities occurring at some protests, and the culprits are still being investigated, as Keith Ellison, Minnesota's attorney general, observed on NBC's \"Meet the Press\": posed as antifa associated \"The truth is, nobody really knows ...Theres been a lot of videotape taken by demonstrators of people who are very suspicious, who really did start breaking windows ... There have been other photographs of cars with no license plates. Very suspicious behavior. It would all have to be investigated, he said. Without any official structure to the group, or much evidence linking antifa to specific acts of violence, it would be difficult to prove that that body of activists is behind anything, Faiza Patel, director of the Brennan Center for Justice's Liberty and National Security program, said: \"As far as we know, antifa doesnt have bank accounts or assets or infrastructure ... Also there havent been any deaths attributed to anti-fascist violence, and one of the hallmarks of foreign terrorist organizations  a designation the U.S. government does make  is the acknowledgement of attacks that involve many fatalities.\" said Trump's ability to designate anti-fascists as a terrorist group is also highly suspect given that only foreign groups can be labeled as \"terrorist\" organizations under U.S. law, and \"domestic terrorism\" is not currently a federal crime in the U.S., according to the New York Times: foreign groups domestic terrorism A federal law defines terrorism as crimes of violence that are intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population or government policy. But it distinguishes between international terrorism, which must have a foreign or transnational nexus, and domestic terrorism, which occurs primarily on American soil. Acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries is a federal crime, giving the F.B.I. and federal prosecutors jurisdiction to take the lead. There is no equivalent crime of domestic terrorism, so law enforcement officials deal with such offenses using other laws that do not have terrorism in their labels, such as the state-level crime of murder. A 2017 report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) on domestic terrorism similarly stated that: 2017 report The federal government does not generate an official and public list of domestic terrorist organizations or individuals. The development of such a list may be precluded by civil liberties concerns (i.e., inclusion in a publicly available list may impinge on a groups exercise of free speech or its other constitutionally protected activities). However, a lack of official lists or processes to designate groups or individuals as domestic terrorists makes it difficult to assess domestic terrorism trends and evaluate federal efforts to counter such threats. In 2011, an unnamed [Department of Homeland Security] official cited in a news report stated that unlike international terrorism, there are no designated domestic terrorist groups. Subsequently, all the legal actions of an identified extremist group leading up to an act of violence are constitutionally protected and not reported on by DHS. The CRS report also noted that although the U.S. does not officially designate domestic terror organizations, it does record individual terrorists and threats in its Terrorist Screening Database: While the government does not provide an official and public list of domestic terrorist organizations, it does include domestic terrorists (along with international terrorists) in its Terrorist Screening Database, commonly known as the Terrorist Watchlist ... While not naming specific groups, DOJ and the FBI have openly delineated domestic terrorist threats. DOJ has identified domestic terrorism threats to include criminal activity by animal rights extremists, ecoterrorists, anarchists, antigovernment extremists such as sovereign citizens and unauthorized militias, black separatists, white supremacists, and abortion extremists. In an interview with Snopes, Patel said that a number of different crimes can be designated as acts of terrorism: There is no single crime of either domestic or international terrorism. But both types of terrorism can be prosecuted under a number of statutes which constitute crimes of terrorism. The crime of hijacking an airplane, for example, is an act of terrorism. In fact, the government has available 51 different criminal statutes which can be applied domestic terrorism. It does not  and should not  have the ability to designate a domestic organization. This would allow the government to target political activity as terrorism, which is exactly what the White House and the Justice Department are trying to do by threatening to go after protestors under the guise of targeting Antifa. The State Department makes a list of designated \"Foreign Terrorist Organizations\" (FTO) available on their website. According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), enforcing the terrorist designation for FTOs involves blocking assets, prosecuting individuals, and imposing immigration restrictions on FTOs, their members, and their supporters. Foreign Terrorist Organizations Government Accountability Office Patel added that the Secretary of State can designate foreign terrorist groups, but this triggers a range of consequences: \"most important of which is the ability to prosecute anyone who provides the group with material support, no matter how minimal. In addition property and assets of persons linked to terrorism can be blocked, but only under a law that requires a connection to a mainly foreign threat.\" Thus, as a large, decentralized entity with no infrastructure or assets that we know of, designating and targeting antifa as a domestic terrorist organization could, according to some experts, create a dangerous scenario, as Patel told us: If persons who identified as 'Antifa' suspected of committing crimes that violate any of the federal crimes of terrorism or other criminal they could of course be properly investigated and prosecuted. The FBI has more than ample authority to investigate individuals they suspect of being engaged in criminal activity. The problem is the FBI's rules are so loose they can also investigate people who are not suspected of criminal activity, so these powers are easily abused. The FBI has a long history of investigating environmentalists and anti-war activists and recently fabricated a new terrorist threat of black identity extremists and it would be altogether surprising if they didnt spy on the protestors. The paucity of evidence directly connecting antifa to acts violence during protests, combined with the structureless nature of the group and the fact that the U.S. currently has no legal process for designating domestic terrorist organizations, leads us to rate this claim as  Al Jazeera.  \"Trump Says US Will Designate Antifa 'Terrorist Organisation.'\"\r  31 May 2020. BBC Radio 4.  \"Seven Things You Need to Know About Antifa.\"\r  26 October 2017. Bogel-Burroughs, Nicholas and Sandra E. Garcia.  \"What Is Antifa, The Movement Trump Wants to Declare a Terror Group?\"\r  The New York Times.  2 June 2020. Congressional Research Service.  \"Domestic Terrorism: An Overview.\"\r  21 August 2017. Hoffman, Jason, and Evan Perez.  \"Trump Tweets Antifa Will Be Labeled a Terrorist Organization But Experts Believe That's Unconstitutional.\"\r  CNN.  31 May 2020. MacFarquhar, Neil.  \"Many Claim Extremists Are Sparking Protest Violence. But Which Extremists?\"\r  The New York Times.  31 May 2020. Robertson, Lori.  \"Trump Cant Designate Antifa  Or Any Movement  Domestic Terrorist Organization.\"\r  FactCheck.org.  1 June 2020. Savage, Charlie.  \"What Could a Domestic Terrorism Law Do?\"\r &nbsp ;The New York Times.  7 August 2019. The United States Department of Justice.  \"Attorney General William P. Barr's Statement on Riots and Domestic Terrorism.\"\r  31 May 2020. United States Government Accountability Office.  \"COMBATING TERRORISM: Foreign Terrorist Organization Designation Process and U.S. Agency Enforcement Actions.\"\r  June 2015. U.S. Department of State.  \"Foreign Terrorist Organizations.\"\r  Accessed 02 June 2020.","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=150670iRZ2GWEAPsCBPS0c18ulhbVO1zU","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_402","claim":"Did Brett Kavanaugh Rule That Employers Can Accept Polygraph Tests as 'Gospel'?","posted":"10\/02\/2018","sci_digest":["A 2016 appeal for which Kavanaugh wrote the decision has no bearing on the use of polygraph tests by employers."],"justification":"One of the many elements of the contentious U.S. Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in the autumn of 2018 was the disclosure that the woman who had accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her back in 1982, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, had taken and passed a polygraph examination. This aspect of the confirmation brouhaha prompted debates about whether Judge Kavanaugh should similarly subject himself to a polygraph examination and about the reliability of such tests in general. Kavanaugh responded to a question about whether he would take such a test by saying that he would do whatever the Judiciary Committee asked him to do, while pointing out that polygraph examinations are inadmissible in federal court because they are \"unreliable.\" One of the pieces of evidence enlisted in support of one side of those debates was a claim that Judge Kavanaugh had once supposedly ruled in a case that \"polygraphs can be accepted as gospel by employers in making hiring decisions.\" The case referred to here was Sack v. Department of Defense. The underlying lawsuit was filed by Kathryn Sack, a Ph.D. student at the University of Virginia, who was appealing the Department of Defense's (DOD) denial of her Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for various DOD reports about the government's use of polygraph examinations and related documents, which she wanted to use for her dissertation on polygraph bias. In order to justify their denial of Sack's requests, the DOD had to show that the records and information sought by her were \"compiled for law enforcement purposes\" and that their production would \"disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations\" and reasonably \"risk circumvention of the law,\" thereby meeting the standards of FOIA Exemption 7E. The court sided with the DOD in denying Sack's FOIA requests, holding that FOIA Exemption 7E should apply. In Kavanaugh's opinion for the court, he noted that \"the reports about polygraph use were compiled for law enforcement purposes\" because law enforcement agencies use them for functions such as \"test[ing] the credibility of witnesses and criminal defendants\" and \"screen[ing] applicants for security clearances,\" and therefore \"the reports help ensure that law enforcement officers optimally use an important law enforcement tool.\" Kavanaugh also noted that the reports requested by Sack identify deficiencies in law enforcement agencies' polygraph programs, and therefore releasing those reports could allow criminal suspects and others to subvert polygraph examinations. Nothing in Judge Kavanaugh's opinion addressed whether \"polygraphs can be accepted as gospel by employers in making hiring decisions.\" He merely observed, for the purposes of a very specific legal ruling, that the federal government sometimes uses polygraph tests for the purposes of screening applicants; he offered no judgment or opinion about their reliability or how they should or could be regarded by employers.","issues":["liability"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1iXdKw9_kn2N-0dMrrW2n8X97JhxCXQHD","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_403","claim":"Was Dakota Territory Split Into 2 States To Get More Republican Senators?","posted":"04\/23\/2021","sci_digest":["It depends on who you ask."],"justification":"Amid discussions of statehood for Washington, D.C., in late April 2021, a meme spread on social media positing that the Dakota territory was split into the states now known as North and South Dakota in the late 1800s for the purpose of giving the Republican Party more political power, namely more senators and electors. One example is a meme from U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif.:   The meme read, \"Congress split the Dakota territory in half in 1889 to admit two new states with 4 Republican senators. So spare us the fake outrage over DC statehood.\" The text was taken from a tweet posted by journalist Ari Berman on April 22. tweet The meme generally responds to congressional Republicans who have stated that allowing D.C., a heavily Democratic region, to become a state will shift the balance of political power in Congress. Noting the racial demographics of D.C. versus other states, some Democrats have accused Republicans of stonewalling D.C. statehood because of racism. stated racial demographics accused It also characterizes current Republican opposition to D.C. statehood as hypocritical, noting that the national Republican party has benefited historically from addition of new states with Republican populations. Writing for The Atlantic in 2019, Boston College historian Heather Cox Richardson wrote: The Atlantic The number of states in the union has been fixed at 50 for so long, few Americans realize that throughout most of our history, the addition of new states from time to time was a normal part of political life. New states were supposed to join the union when they reached a certain population, but in the late 19th century, population mattered a great deal less than partisanship. While McConnell is right to suspect that admitting Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia now would shift the balance in Congress toward the Democrats, the Republican Party has historically taken far more effective advantage of the addition of new states. In 1889 and 1890, Congress added North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, and Wyomingthe largest admission of states since the original 13. This addition of 12 new senators and 18 new electors to the Electoral College was a deliberate strategy of late-19th-century Republicans to stay in power after their swing toward Big Business cost them a popular majority. The strategy paid dividends deep into the future; indeed, the admission of so many rural states back then helps to explain GOP control of the Senate today, 130 years later. Like most things viewed through the lens of history, the reasons North and South Dakota exist as two separate states are complicated by changing context. Business interests, local efforts, and national political wrangling all played a role, but without a doubt, adding North and South Dakota to the growing union of states had the effect of benefiting the national Republican party politically, and they didn't hide that motivation. But comparing the statehood process for North and South Dakota to current advocation for Washington, D.C. statehood is comparing apples to oranges, said Michael Card, associate professor of political science at the University of South Dakota.  That period in American history was drastically different to the current circumstances in many ways  namely, at that time, a large number of states were in the process of being added into the Union. One of the major factors in deciding statehood was population counts of non-indigenous American settlers. That figure was set at 60,000 in 1787. set at 60,000 Another contextual difference was that the nature of the political parties have evolved over time, meaning the Republicans and Democrats of today are not representative of the parties with those names from the late 19th century in many ways. Many of the non-indigenous settlers in the southern part of what was then Dakota territory were Union veterans of the Civil War and their families, who were Republicans. Many likely moved far away from the battlefields in the American South in an effort to get away from traumatic memories, Card noted. Scandinavian and Canadian immigrants tended to settle in the north. As USA Today pointed out, \"the Republican Party was much more concerned with protecting African Americans and their voting rights from its founding through the early 20th century. In the mid-20th century, both parties' stances on racial equity began to switch.\" That switch came after Democratic legislators passed voting and civil rights legislation i the 1960s. pointed out Another important point of context the population counts in North and South Dakota justified statehood and that Democrats, who were at that time were in control of national government and aware of the territory's Republican leanings, had slowed the statehood process, in hopes of gaining a political toehold in the region. slowed the statehood But they couldn't stall forever. According to historian Elwyn B. Robinson in the book \"History of North Dakota,\" there were 190,983 inhabitants in North Dakota in 1890, while there were 348,600 in South Dakota. And in the end, it was Democrats in Congress and Democratic U.S. President Grover Cleveland who relented, signing legislation granting statehood to North and South Dakota, along with Montana and Washington. In \"History of North Dakota,\" Robinson noted that local advocacy also came into play when it came to the creation of the two states. At the local level, there was an internal push for statehood from a small group of influential men who were unhappy with the outside control that came with Dakota being a territory, and who wanted political equality of status.  History of North Dakota Statehood was a quiet revolution, accomplished by less than two hundred men. The first leaders were Yankton politicians, but all came from southern Dakota and all were Republicans. With few exceptions, they were conservative, middle-class business and professional menbankers, lawyers, ministers, railroad employees, and newspaper editors. They were of the older American stock and came from New England, New York, or the states of the Old Northwest. They were Republicans because Dakota was a one-party regiona result of the long years of territorial status when the Republican party had control of the United States government. The idea of splitting the northern region off from the southern one started with this group, but not because of political power in Washington, D.C., Robinson wrote: \"From the beginning the Yankton leaders, a small oligarchy with much influence, planned for the division of the territory at the forty-sixth parallel. Division seemed natural. The railroads ran east and west, so that southern and northern Dakota had little contact with each other.\" When Robinson described the decision to ultimately split the territory into two when admitting it into the Union though, he noted that it was pushed hard by the Republican Indiana senator who would become the 23rd U.S. president, Benjamin Harrison: Finally, the program of division, with southern Dakota becoming a state and northern Dakota a territory, was dropped in favor of a bill to admit two states. Senator Benjamin Harrison of Indiana pushed it hard and the large population of Dakota (in 1890, North Dakota alone had 190,983 inhabitants and South Dakota 348,600) made further denial seem unjust and irresponsible. In the presidential campaign of 1888 the Republican platform called for admission of two states. Ordway and the Dakota Democrats finally dropped their single-state bill. Both Republicans and Democrats voted for the Omnibus Bill of February 22, 1889, authorizing the framing of constitutions in North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington. When the bill finally passed the House of Representatives, some of the members threw books and papers into the air in celebration and there was a general handshaking of congratulation. A step toward equality of status had been taken. Updated rating to \"Mixture\" and added additional context.","issues":["dividend"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1_OqFOqHurGqmkKAzwDEpDvoervFuuYVi","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_404","claim":"Osama bin Laden Owns Snapple Rumor","posted":"10\/18\/2001","sci_digest":["Does Osama bin Laden own Snapple?"],"justification":"Claim:  Osama bin Laden owns Snapple.   . Origins:  Snapple, the popular beverage company begun in 1972, has been a target of spurious \"owned by someone evil\" rumors since 1992. Those earlier (and entirely baseless) rumors linked the company with the Ku Klux Klan, not an Arab terrorist. (The KKK-Snapple connection was but one of many similar slanders tying a number of innocent businesses to the KKK  that particularrumored association was far from unique to Snapple.) rumored association But   times change, and so do those whom society views as the evildoers of the hour. Though the KKK is as odious as ever, its particular brand of detestability has been eclipsed by that of the terrorists cowering in the mountains of Afghanistan. One of the many rumors born in the aftermath of the September 11 attack on America links Snapple with Osama bin Laden and calls for a grassroots boycott of this company's line of products. Although bombs seem the obvious way to go after those who perpetrated the terrorist attacks on America, the real key to their undoing may well be economic. But that's not nearly as visceral a solution as going into Afghanistan with a war cry and guns blazing, and it's not one which the average person can participate in or support in a tangible way, and so rumors like the one tying Snapple to Osama bin Laden help fill the void.  The typical American wants to experience the sense of vindication that comes from toppling this manifestation of evil, and so calls to boycott companies which are rumored to be filling the war chests of bin Laden and his cronies therefore fall on highly receptive ears  many want to feel they're part of the struggle, but the very nature of the battle denies them that opportunity. Becoming part of an economic boycott would restore at least a part of that yearning for participation. That type of rumor, though highly welcome, often outruns the facts. That is the case with the call to spurn Snapple: In a lengthy Snapple press release, CEO Michael Weinstein wrote: press release Snapple has never had  and does not now  have any direct or indirect relationship of any kind whatsoever with Osama bin Laden or any other terrorist group or supporter. That same press release contains the likely reason behind this particular blossoming of the \"allied with evil\" rumor: If the source of these rumors is over our terminated relationship with a Saudi Arabian food distributorship, let me clarify this once and for all. Some of our products  along with products from other respected American beverage and food companies  were distributed by a company that had an investment from The Saudi Binladin Group. Snapple has never had any reason to believe, nor do we now, that this company had any relationship of any kind with terrorists. Nonetheless, several weeks ago, we terminated our relationship with this distributorship. Those unfamiliar with the Binladin Group might conclude from its name that it is Osama bin Laden's corporate presence. In truth, the Binladin Group is one of the many corporate entities owned or participated in by any number of Osama bin Laden's relatives, many of whom spell their surnames as Binladin. The infamous terrorist hails from a family that is both very large and incredibly wealthy. Osama has 54 siblings, and untangling the web of the family's finances and business associations is nearly an impossible task. Though it cannot absolutely be ruled out some of the income flowing into any of these entities reaches Osama bin Laden, it is widely understood that he is the family's black sheep and that many members of this wide-reaching and far-flung assembly of relatives have utterly disowned him.  Osama's half-brother, 35-year-old Abdullah Mohammed Binladin, the only member of the family to speak publicly about their notorious relative since September 11, said: \"I affirm that the Binladin family and the Saudi Binladin Group have no relationship whatsoever with Osama or any of his activities. He shares no legal or beneficial interests with them or their assets or properties, and he is not directly or indirectly funded by them.\"  As to who does own Snapple, it's now part of Cadbury Schweppes, a large UK corporation famous primarily for chocolate and carbonated beverages. Cadbury Schweppes is a publicly traded company on the London Exchange. It is therefore not owned by any one person, but by  thousands. Snapple originated as Unadulterated Food Corporation in 1972 and was little more than a hobby enterprise begun by Leonard Marsh, Hyman Golden, and Arnold Greenberg, who at the time were selling juices to health food stores. The first of its famed teas wasn't introduced until 1987, and the success of that line changed the company. The concern was acquired by Quaker [Oats] in 1994, sold to Triarc in 1997, and sold again to Cadbury Schweppes in 2000.  Untangling the web of who owns what will be one of the biggest tasks those charged with fighting terrorism on the economic front will face in the years to come. It is more than likely the effort will prove that at least some of the terrorists or those who provide their funding have holdings in a variety of American companies that are innocently unaware of the details of each of their minor shareholders' private lives. (The international world of finance being what it is, a diversified portfolio is a must, and that holds true for terrorists as well as for the law-abiding.) That will not mean that those companies whose shares turn up in the wrong hands support terrorism; merely that one of the nasties bought a bit of stock without their knowing who he really was. When such holdings come to light, there will be an outcry against those companies as those looking for someone to direct their anger towards will at least momentarily feel they've found someone deserving of their ire. They'll be wrong, but that will probably do little to stem the tide of criticism they'll unleash. Barbara \"who let the dogs out?\" Mikkelson Last updated:  21 April 2008    Sources:  Dobbs, Michael and John Ward Anderson.  \"A Fugitive's Splintered Family Tree.\"  The Washington Post.  30 September 2001  (p. A1).   Dunley, Ruth.  \"Osama's 'The Black Sheep,' Brother Says.\"  The Ottawa Citizen.  8 October 2001  (p. A6).","issues":["finance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1wQKyC4VR9_a23agVIZdOXcjZqFpPm6OL","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_405","claim":"The tax on job creating businesses is 35 percent in the United States, second worst in the entire world.","posted":"06\/18\/2011","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Republican Senate candidate George Allen recently complained that corporate taxes are too high and discourage economic expansion. The tax on job-creating businesses in the United States is 35 percent, the second worst in the entire world, he said during a June 14 news conference at which he unveiled his Blueprint for America's Comeback. We wondered if the U.S. really is No. 2 in the world when it comes to high corporate taxes and asked for the source of Allen's information. Katie Wright, spokeswoman for Allen's campaign, pointed to a March 8, 2011, report from the right-leaning Tax Foundation. It indeed showed that the U.S. had the second highest total corporate tax rate among industrialized and emerging nations. Only Japan placed higher levies on business profits. But taxes are a complicated subject, and Allen's claim needs elaboration. Eric Toder, co-director of the Urban Institute-Brookings Tax Policy Center, noted that most corporate income is taxed at the top U.S. federal rate of 35 percent, which Allen cited. The tax applies to American companies doing business here and abroad, as well as to profits earned in the U.S. by affiliates of foreign companies. Allen understates his argument when he says the 35 percent federal corporate tax rate is the second highest in the world. Actually, it outstrips Japan and is the highest national rate among nearly three dozen industrialized democracies, according to 2011 data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. But national tax rates on companies don't tell the whole story. When looking at how the U.S. corporate tax liability compares to other countries, analysts usually examine a combination of federal and state corporate income tax rates. By that measure, the combined average corporate tax rate in the U.S. is 39.2 percent this year, according to the OECD. Among industrialized democracies, only Japan's combined corporate rate of 39.5 percent is higher. Japan had planned to lower its corporate tax rate by 5 percent on April 1, but it delayed making the cut after a disastrous earthquake and tsunami struck in March. The OECD report only discusses statutory corporate tax rates. It does not address deductions and credits companies can claim in various countries to lower their liabilities. These loopholes produce an effective tax rate\u2014the percentage of profits companies actually pay in levies. The World Bank published a report last November containing the effective corporate tax rates of 183 nations. The U.S. had an effective corporate tax rate of 27.6 percent, according to the study, which is still relatively high. Among larger international economies, only Japan, New Zealand, and Thailand had higher effective tax rates on corporate profits. Allen, during his news conference, said he would like to lower the 35 percent national corporate tax rate to 20 percent and eliminate loopholes. Let's sum up: Allen said the U.S. corporate income tax of 35 percent is the second highest in the world. The national rate of 35 percent is actually the highest among democratic industrial nations. The U.S. combined corporate tax rate\u2014the average total of state and national levies on business profits\u2014is 39.2 and ranks second among industrialized democracies. So Allen is a smidgen off on tax rates, rankings, and definitions. We rate his claim Mostly True.","issues":["Corporations","Economy","Jobs","Taxes","Virginia"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_406","claim":"The U.S. governments inaction over buffalo killing that harmed Native American populations in the 1800s shows it is now is creating food shortages so that Americans are more dependent on the government.","posted":"05\/19\/2022","sci_digest":["Millions of buffalo were killed by hunters in the late 1800s.","By 1873, welcoming the extinction of the buffalo to suppress Indigenous peoples had become de facto government policy, according to Andrew Isenberg, a professor of American History at the University of Kansas., Ukraine and Russia are key exporters of agricultural products such as wheat and barley, which has caused concern about future food shortages in some parts of the world., The U.S. is experiencing a baby formula shortage because of a large recall, pandemic-related supply chain issues, and the highly concentrated nature of the formula market.","There is no evidence the shortage was intentionally created by the government."],"justification":"Concerns about the countrys food supply are weighing heavily on many Americans as baby formula is hard to find and international conflict threatens commodities like wheat in some parts of the world. A social media post invoking those fears harks back to U.S. history to suggest that the government is purposely creating food shortages. In 1873 the U.S. government killed 1.5 million buffalo to starve Native Americans so they would become more dependent on the government, read one such May 11post. Fast forward to today, and the government is creating food shortages to achieve exactly the SAME goal! It was flagged as part of Facebooks efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more aboutour partnership with Facebook.) The post has a point about why so many buffalo were killed in the late 1800s, but it makes an unfounded comparison: Theres no evidence the U.S. government is currently creating food shortages. In the mid-1800s, more than 30 million buffalo roamed the plains; by the end of the 19th century, only afew hundredremained. The rapid population decline was due to overhunting, which was welcomed by U.S. officials as a way toforceNative Americans in the Great Plains region tosettle on reservations. Andrew Isenberg, an American history professor at the University of Kansas and theauthorof The Destruction of the Bison, said white hunters in the late 1800s likely killed far more than the 1.5 million buffalo mentioned in the post  a fact federal authorities knew. The U.S. federal government did not actively destroy bison in order to starve Indigenous people in the Great Plains into submission, he said. But the federal government stood by and refused to prevent the wasteful destruction of bison by private white hunters and then welcomed the result of the near extinction of the species: Indigenous peoples surrender to the reservation system. Bison skulls await industrial processing in Michigan in 1892. (Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library and Wikimedia Commons) Gen. William Sherman, who commanded the U.S. Army in the region, negotiated treaties with groups of Indigenous peoples in the Great Plains in the late 1860s, Isenberg said. The U.S. agreed to allow Native Americans to occupy large parts of the Great Plains so long as the buffalo may range thereon in such numbers as to justify the chase. Not long after those treaties were negotiated, Isenberg said, Sherman wrote a letter saying, it will not be long before all of the buffalos are extinct near and between the railroads. By 1873, welcoming the extinction of buffalo to suppress Indigenous peoples had become de facto government policy, Isenberg said. In an 1872 report, Interior Secretary Columbus Delanowrotethat the buffalos disappearance must operate largely in favor of our efforts to confine the Indians to smaller areas, and compel them to abandon their nomadic customs, and establish themselves in permanent homes. Although the decimation of the buffalo population was ultimately the work of private hunters, the idea that destroying bison was a way to force the surrender of Indigenous people in the Great Plains was quite overt, Isenberg said. While there is concern about global food shortages because of the war in Ukraine, experts told PolitiFact in April that the U.S. isless vulnerableto food shortages than poorer nations that rely largely on imports. The U.S. food system has a good level of self-sufficiency, so currently, it is hard to imagine empty shelves in grocery stores, said Ohio State University agricultural economist Seungki Lee. And though claims have surfaced suggesting the U.S. government isintentionallycreatingfood shortages, we have found there is no evidence to back that up. A number of factors havecontributed tothe U.S. baby formula shortage, including arecallby a major U.S. manufacturer, existing supply chainissuesassociated with the COVID-19 pandemic and thehighlyconcentratednature of the formula market. View of almost empty baby formula shelves at a Duane Reade in New York City on May 11, 2022. (AP) A post claimed that the U.S. governments inaction over buffalo killing that harmed Native American populations in the 1800s shows it is now is creating food shortages so that Americans are more dependent on the government. Millions of buffalo were killed by hunters in the late 1800s as part of a de facto government policy meant to force Native Americans in the Great Plains to abandon their customs and accept the reservation system. This racist history, however, does not prove that the U.S. government is currently creating food shortages to force government dependence. We found no evidence to support that claim. We rate this claim False. RELATED:Ask PolitiFact: What can parents do if they cant find baby formula in stores?","issues":["Environment","Economy","Food","History","Welfare","Facebook Fact-checks"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1kG9bhv84uiyDA2L77gv6vUbf_uS4mJrx","image_caption":"Bison skulls await industrial processing in Michigan in 1892. (Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library and Wikimedia Commons)"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=14edWMz3F20qlM3fekDTnYabPhL4vjdwM","image_caption":"View of almost empty baby formula shelves at a Duane Reade in New York City on May 11, 2022. (AP)"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_407","claim":"Was Kamala Harris involved in the release of 'violent rioters' during the George Floyd protests?","posted":"02\/16\/2021","sci_digest":["The claim appeared to stem from a June 2020 tweet from Harris."],"justification":"On Aug. 11, 2020, then-U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden selected California U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris as his Democratic running mate in the race against Republican incumbents Donald Trump and Mike Pence. Joe Biden Kamala Harris Donald Trump Mike Pence Following that announcement, Trump and his supporters attempted to call attention to what they framed as immoral judgment by Harris  the Trump campaign alleged she wrongly encouraged Americans to help people who were arrested during protests over the police in-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. George Floyd For example, in an Aug. 17 speech to supporters in Mankato, Minnesota (which is about 80 miles southwest of Minneapolis), Trump said, according to a Factba.se transcription of the event: Factba.se transcription Kamala Harris encouraged Americans to donate to the so-called Minnesota Freedom Fund  do you know that is?  which bailed out the rioters, looters, assaulters, and anarchists from jail. And Biden's staff did the same thing; they donated a lot of their money to get them out of jail so that everyone was right back on the streets. Think of that: This is what is running for office.  Less than two weeks later, U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas, doubled down on the president's claim, alleging in a tweet: \"Kamala Harris helped violent rioters in Minnesota get out of jail to do more damage.\" Sen. Tom Cotton tweet   Around the same time, at least one conservative website purported in a headline that Harris donated to the Minnesota Freedom Fund (MFF), which indeed gives cash to people who cannot afford bail so they don't have to wait in jail until court hearings, or agree to high-interest loans. one conservative website Over the course of months, numerous Snopes readers contacted us to investigate whether Harris had actually given money to the Minnesota-based organization, and, if so, whether those contributions allowed for any of the roughly 170 people who were arrested during protests to get out of jail and commit more crimes. First, let us identify what appeared to be the basis of those assertions. Following Floyd's death, supporters of the civil rights movement nationwide (including many celebrities) donated more than $30 million to MFF, according to the nonprofit and news reports. High-profile donors used social media to promote their contributions, and Harris, on June 1, used her official accounts as a vice presidential candidate to express her support for the fundraising effort.  including many celebrities more than $30 million accounts \"If you're able to, chip in now to the @MNFreedomFund to help post bail for those protesting on the ground in Minnesota,\" she wrote on Facebook and Twitter, including links to an MFF donation page on the left-leaning fundraising site, ActBlue. @MNFreedomFund   In other words, while it was true Harris publicly expressed support for the nonprofit and encouraged others to donate to it in summer 2020, she did not say on social media  or via any other public statement  that she herself donated money to the organization. Next, we analyzed how Harris' 2020 campaign spent money and if, or to what extent, it helped the nonprofit, despite the fact she had not publicly declared the possible financial tie in a speech, interview, or on social media. Based on campaign filings compiled by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and Center for Responsive Politics, no expenditure receipt listed \"Minnesota Freedom Fund\"  debunking the possible claim that she used campaign money to help the nonprofit. Federal Election Commission Center for Responsive Politics Snopes reached out to MFF, asking if Harris at any point donated money and, if so, for the contribution's details. Greg Lewin, the organization's interim executive director, responded to us via email: \"No, we have nothing in our records indicating a donation from Vice President Harris.\" We also reached out to Harris' press secretary, Symone Sanders, to comment on critics' accusations, but we have not heard back. We will update this report when or if we do. (As part of a wide-sweeping proposal to reform the country's criminal justice system, the Biden-Harris administration has pledged to eliminate the country's cash-bail system.) has pledged Now, let us move to the latter claim regarding the people who MFF helped during the protests, in light of Harris' June 1 posts praising the organization's work. Established in 2016, MFF is among the many nonprofits that attempt to counteract inequities in the country's cash-bail system by paying detainees' criminal and immigration bonds. Then, when those people attend court proceedings to determine the outcome of their case  or whether they indeed broke the law prior to their arrest  they must return the full value of the cash bail to the Minnesota-based nonprofit. The MFF website states: inequities states Weve never made decisions based simply on pretrial charge  and we wont now. [...] We have always prioritized those who are unable to pay for freedom and face the greatest level of danger and marginalization. We will continue to center and prioritize the following groups in our bail payment: BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) Those experiencing homelessness  People arrested who live in Minnesota Those who have been detained while fighting for justice  Nearly half the people we pay bail for have had their case completely dismissed, suggesting there was never a case for the arrest or charge to begin with. Therefore, if a judge has decided that someone can be released so long as they can afford the price, we will pay that fee if we can afford it. Like in dozens of U.S. cities where people protested Floyds death, peaceful marches during the day between May 26 and early June set the stage for vandalism and destruction at night. However, the overwhelming majority of people who were arrested during the large gatherings  whether chaotic or peaceful  did not need the MFF's help. Citing accounting by the American Bail Coalition (a trade group of insurance companies who profit from underwriting bail bonds) and Hennepin County jail records, The Washington Post reported in September that all but three of the 170 people arrested during the protests were released from jail within a week. Of the 167 released, only 10 had to put up a monetary bond to be released, and, in most cases, the amounts were nominal, such as $78 or $100. In fact, 92 percent of those arrested did not have to pay bail  and 29 percent of those arrested did not face charges, the news outlet reported. American Bail Coalition The Washington Post \"We have paid all the protest bails that have come our way,\" the MFF website said. \"[Many] of the people who were arrested during the uprising werent detained and instead were given citations then released, have been released with no bail, or held with no bail.\" said However, among the small group of people who did receive direct bail assistance from the nonprofit, one man was arrested on suspicion of shooting at police with an AK-47-style mini Draco pistol in the early hours of May 30, as well as a woman who allegedly stole from a cell phone store in a Minneapolis suburb and other businesses the day prior, according to The Washington Post and other news reports. As of September, the nonprofit paid $75,000 in cash to help the former suspect and $750 to assist the latter. AK-47-style mini Draco pistol woman The Washington Post news reports Additionally, a 32-year-old man whom MFF bailed out on an assault charge in July  a case that was unrelated to the protests  was charged with committing third-degree assault the following month, leaving the victim with a traumatic brain injury and a fractured skull, according to news reports. Lewin said in a statement afterward that the organization needs to \"strengthen our internal procedures\" to ensure its clients stay out of the criminal justice system after their first go-around. news reports statement In sum, while Harris indeed expressed public support for MFF following Floyd's death, it was false to claim she donated money to the organization, or that it helped protesters \"get out of jail and do more damage,\" like Cotton alleged. Rather, no evidence existed to show the handful of people who received direct bail assistance for arrests related to the demonstrations committed more crimes after their initial detainment. For those reasons, we rate this claim \"false.\"","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1T1mP12vf7YO4vBFsenuqUrolrcE0_7eJ"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ZMCJv7PZxLM5lAFk1DAYJyv3OOoi2my8"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_408","claim":"Did executive Jeff Rothschild from Facebook express the need for a third world war?","posted":"05\/18\/2018","sci_digest":["The former Facebook vice president supposedly advocates solving global problems by exterminating 90 percent of the human population."],"justification":"Jeffrey J. Rothschild, an American businessman now in his mid-sixties, is a successful engineer, entrepreneur, and former Facebook vice president whose net worth, according to Forbes, exceeds $3 billion. He is also, if online conspiracy theorists are to be believed, a thought leader in a CIA-backed New World Order plot to exterminate most of the world's population and enslave the survivors. In Internet memes circulating since 2013, Rothschild is quoted as saying a third world war will be required to accomplish these goals. Much as it may disappoint anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists, however, Forbes states that despite his great personal wealth, Jeff Rothschild isn't related to the esteemed banking family whose patriarch was Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744-1812) of Frankfurt, Germany. Jeff Rothschild's father, William B. Rothschild, inherited a rubber import business from his father, Marcus Rothschild, whose name appears nowhere in the Mayer Rothschild family tree. Although Jeff Rothschild did speak at a conference of Chinese and American entrepreneurs and investors in January 2013 (at which the above photo was taken), the event took place in Santa Clara, California (not China), and there is no record of him saying anything about a New World Order, a third world war, or a globalized feudal system. Nor have we been able to find such references in any other public statements made by Jeff Rothschild over the past two decades. This utter lack of evidence hasn't stopped anyone from promulgating these falsehoods, however. We came across a similar quote shared by someone using the Twitter handle \"truther monkey\" in 2014: \"Jeff Rothschild gave this speech recently in China to some of the world's richest people ... please share .. pic.twitter.com\/dPCqyyo8KT.\" Though their precise points of origin are uncertain, we traced both quotes to a 3 August 2013 post on a now-defunct \"underground anarchist\" blog called Anarchadia. Crucially, the anonymous author of the post cited no sources authenticating the statements. \"Where is the evidence he actually said these things?\" asked someone in the comments section of the page. \"Where is the evidence he didn't?\" was the response\u2014a low evidentiary bar indeed. As is the case in so much conspiratorial discourse, the very existence of the quotes, if real, would be self-contradictory anyway. By definition, the Illuminati conduct their business in absolute secrecy, yet we find them, time and time again (going all the way back to the fictitious 1903 Protocols of the Elders of Zion), allegedly revealing their entire subversive agenda in public. If that's as secretive as they can be, we have nothing to fear from our supposed Illuminati overlords.","issues":["banking"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1K2I71SV28aMKHPhVJbHCJ_S1ovs5TPuA"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_409","claim":"The Central Valley and Inland Empire in California are currently seeing significant increases in employment opportunities.","posted":"04\/04\/2017","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Gov. Jerry Brown frequently touts California's overall job growth when telling what he has called the state's comeback story. He claimed recently on NBC's Meet the Press that California has added 2.1 million jobs in the last six or seven years. We checked the numbers and rated that claim True. Later in the same interview, the show's host, Chuck Todd, asked Brown about inland California's struggles, leading to another claim that caught our attention: Chuck Todd: \"But there are parts of your state that are struggling. You have rural counties, ones that don't touch the ocean, struggling. Housing prices are up there, while jobs don't go there.\" Gov. Brown: \"The Inland Empire, the Central Valley, they have a harder time. But they, too, are experiencing tremendous job growth.\" Brown makes his jobs claim at about the 2:05 minute mark in the video above. California's job growth is normally associated with coastal hubs like Silicon Valley and San Francisco. So, we wondered whether Brown had his facts right when he said these inland regions had really experienced tremendous job growth, too. We set out on a fact-check. Inland Empire: Home to about 4.5 million people, Riverside and San Bernardino counties make up what's known as the Inland Empire, a sprawling set of communities east of Los Angeles. The economists we spoke with say Brown's case for tremendous job growth here is a strong one. The region's 3.2 percent job growth rate was the fastest among the state's large metro areas from February 2016 through February 2017, said John Husing, chief economist for the Inland Empire Economic Partnership. During that year, it added 47,500 jobs, which was more than the 35,700 created in the Santa Clara metro area, considered the heart of Silicon Valley, Husing said. \"This area is a real growth engine,\" he added, listing construction, logistics, and transportation among the growing sectors. Over the past five years, as the region has recovered from the Great Recession, it added jobs at a rate of 22.3 percent. That trailed only the San Francisco-Redwood City-South San Francisco metro area's 22.7 percent rate among large metros. A spokesman for the Brown Administration cited the same statistics backing up the governor's claim. Colin Strange of the San Bernardino Area Chamber of Commerce said San Bernardino is seeing job growth, but mainly in blue-collar jobs that pay about $15 per hour, including forklift operators and truck drivers. Husing, who has studied the region's wages, said the Inland Empire has a lower share of high-paying administrative jobs compared with the state as a whole. He said, however, that the region is outperforming the state in its share of middle-class jobs that pay between $45,000 and $60,000. Central Valley: The Central Valley stretches about 450 miles from Bakersfield north to Redding. It includes urban cities like Sacramento, Stockton, Modesto, and Fresno, vast farmland, and a diverse economy, making job growth trends for the overall region more complex. A report by Stanislaus State University in the Central Valley city of Turlock offers some help. That report shows the 8-county San Joaquin Valley, which makes up the central and southern portions of the Central Valley, experienced a 1.56 percent job growth rate in 2016; a 1.86 percent rate in 2015; and 1.80 percent in 2014. Those averages trailed the state's overall job growth average, which measured 3 percent in 2015 and about 2 percent last year. But it beat the 8-county region's 1.23 percent historical average job growth rate. SOURCE: Stanislaus State University, College of Business Administration, 2016 Business Forecast Report, Volume VI, Issue 1. Within its own limits, the Valley has consistently grown. But it hasn't been a home run, Gokce Soydemir, an economics professor at Stanislaus State, said of job growth in that portion of the Central Valley. Jeffrey Michael, director of the University of Pacific's Center for Business and Policy Research in Stockton, added by email: \"Central Valley areas have also done very well in recent years with the exception of Bakersfield, where recent economic fluctuations are tightly connected to the oil industry.\" Bakersfield's job growth rate was flat, at 0.1 percent, over the past year. Meanwhile, Sacramento, the biggest metro area in the northern portion of the Central Valley, saw 1.8 percent growth over the past year, close to the statewide average. Our ruling: Gov. Jerry Brown recently claimed California's Central Valley and Inland Empire are experiencing tremendous job growth. Economists say Brown is right about the Inland Empire. That region experienced the fastest job growth rate among the state's large metro areas over the past year and added more jobs than the Santa Clara metro area, the heart of Silicon Valley, during that period. Job growth in the Central Valley, while it has outperformed its historical benchmark in much of the diverse region, hasn't kept up with the overall state average. The governor's argument here needs this key clarification. In the end, we rate his overall claim Mostly True. MOSTLY TRUE: The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. Click here for more on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.","issues":["Economy","Jobs","California"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1g4smUaWBjwFzwIp__ETBsPUfSjD7UJAh","image_caption":"Meet the Press"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1B6t6-buW20NWMrsX9k-7y3DnOfMJLd-E","image_caption":"Chuck Todd:But there are parts of your state that are struggling. You have rural counties, ones that dont touch the ocean, struggling. Housing prices are up there, while jobs dont go there."}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_410","claim":"What is the reason behind the low cost of Charles Shaw wine?","posted":"01\/02\/2003","sci_digest":["Was Charles Shaw wine sold so cheaply because airlines could no longer use corkscrews after 9\/11?"],"justification":" Claim:  Charles Shaw wine was sold cheaply because airlines could no longer use corkscrews after 9\/11 and dumped their stocks of wine.  Origins:  We tend to equate quality with cost, so the appearance of an underpriced wine of surprising virtue is bound to spark its share of interesting backstories.  We view wine as a luxury item, and since we reject the intellectual construct that such an item can be both good and inexpensive, we instead seize upon plausible-sounding (but apocryphal) tales to explain the disparity between cheapness and quality.  Good wine must be expensive, and if a good wine is being vended at a bargain price, there must be a calamitous reason for this fortuity. In early 2002, rumors of airlines dumping their Merlot (and the like) were launched from this springboard. As the Los Angeles Times noted in a 2002 article about the burgeoning sales of Charles Shaw label wines: The morning after a friend served Anna McNeal a glass of Charles Shaw Merlot, she made a beeline to the Mid-Wilshire Trader Joe's to stock up on the wine selling at an astonishing $1.99 a bottle. \"I had to come and get a case,\" she said in a checkout line with half a dozen other shoppers who had somehow heard of the mysterious \"Napa\" wine. Since it was introduced in February, Charles Shaw wine has gained a cult-like following in Southern California, with wine drinkers backing their cars up to the loading dock of the Los Angeles-based discounter to lay in a supply of the Trader Joe's exclusive. \"It's selling like crazy,\" said Jon Fredrikson, a wine consultant based in San Mateo County. \"A great story for consumers.\" Why was such a popular wine (Charles Shaw was one of the top 20 brands in the U.S.) being sold so cheaply?  As usual, consumers  collectively created several inventive urban legend-like explanations for this seemingly inexplicable phenomenon:  Security regulations enacted after the September 11 terrorist attacks prohibited the carrying or use of corkscrews on commercial flights, so several airlines dumped their large stocks of wine on the market, thereby depressing prices.  Financially-distressed United Airlines attempted to raise some quick cash by selling its food service stocks, including an ample supply of Charles Shaw wine.  Charles Shaw himself, engaged in a bitter divorce struggle, attempted to reduce the value of his winery's assets by flooding the market with cheap wine. Also as usual, the real explanation why many wine brands (not just Charles Shaw) could be had so cheaply at the time (2001) was a mundane one: the market was experiencing a wine glut.   The wine boom of the 1990s led vineyards to increase production, but a downturn in the U.S. economy   and the effects of September 11 resulted in a greatly lessened demand (particularly in the restaurant industry), creating such an oversupply that many wines were selling for less than the cost of production. Some vintners in northern California were even allowing their grapes to wither on the vine because the cost of picking them exceeded their market value. The Charles Shaw label (known in local slang as \"Two-Buck Chuck\") was the focus of those \"cheap wine\" rumors because it bore a prestigious Napa label, even though it sold for less than $2 per bottle.  The catch was that it's made with cheaper grapes from California's Central Valley rather than more desirable grapes from the Napa Valley, but because the label's parent company does own a winery and bottling facility in Napa, it is allowed to put \"Napa\" on the Charles Shaw label (which only indicates that the wine is \"bottled and cellared\" in Napa) even if the grapes used in the wine actually come from some other part of California: Napa Valley [W]ine industry experts say that despite the classy Napa label, there probably isn't a hint of those pricey grapes in a bottle of Charles Shaw Merlot, Chardonnay or Cabernet Sauvignon.  Even with the depressed market, grapes from Napa sell for around $2,000 a ton, said Brian Sudano of Beverage Marketing Corp. To make money on a $2 bottle, he added, a vintner would have to buy grapes for around $200 a ton  the price of less desirable Central Valley grapes. This summer the market price for those grapes hit a low of $60 a ton. Swimming in excess wine, [Bronco Wine Co. head] Franzia revived the Charles Shaw label, believing it would be more cost-effective to dump his wine on the consumer market than to pour it on the ground. Taking advantage of the depressed wine grape market, he also bought up excess stock from other Central Valley vintners, according to several wine industry sources. \"Franzia was able to take advantage of distress sales by other vineyards, said [wine consultant Jon] Fredrikson. \"And he's got the high-speed production lines to do it and still make money.\" The Bronco Wine Co. produces a variety of low-cost wines, and its president, Fred Franzia, has earned the enmity of plenty of other Wine Country  citizens: Franzia was forced to step down as Bronco's president for five years after Bronco was fined $3 million in 1993  for misidentifying grape varietals on its labels, and other Napa vintners have long been disputing Bronco's use of \"Napa\" in the names of wines, such as their \"Napa Ridge\" variety, made from grapes grown elsewhere (but so far the courts have sided with Bronco).   That enmity was famously (albeit accurately) expressed in 2011 by Chris Knox, a self-described vintner who once caustically asserted on Quora, in a since deleted response to an inquiry about why Trader Joe's wine (and the Charles Shaw blend in particular) was sold so cheaply, that those wines were inexpensive to buy because they were ... well, made cheaply: asserted The basic gist of it all is that Two Buck Chuck is owned by Bronco Wines, which is owned by Fred Franzia, a trash-mouthed, unapologetic downright crude and shrewd business man who sees it as his mission to pretty much remove any shred of pretentiousness (and dare I say integrity and quality along with it) from the wine world.   He started by buying the then failing Charles Shaw label years ago along with massive amounts of bulk wine in the 90's for pennies on the dollar and a staggering 35,000 acres of land in the very cheap San Joaquin Valley which he then planted to vines.  That gives his Bronco Wines the prestige of holding the most acreage of vines of any American winery, even surpassing Mondavi and Gallo. A few things to keep in mind about his vineyards: one is that they are located in what is known as the Central Valley in the California wine world which is notoriously flat and quite hot producing massive yields of overripe grapes.  The other thing is that Fred Franzia is no dummy  he planted those vineyards in such a way as the rows run north-south, giving the vines maximum sun exposure and he made the rows as long as he possibly could, minimizing the number of turns his tractors would need to make.  And third, these aren't hand-picked vineyards ... they are all machine harvested.  And that means these large tractors with huge claws go down the rows of vineyards grabbing the grapes and depositing them in its huge receptacle.  And it not only grabs ripe grapes, but unripe and down right rotten ones as well and throws them all together.  Add to that leaves, stems and any rodents, birds, or insects that may have made those vines their home  they all get thrown into the bin as well.  And guess what?  You think there's going to be any sorting when that truck arrives at the winery (or should I say processing facility)?  Nope.  Everything, and I do mean everything (including all those unripe grapes, rotten grapes, leaves, stems, birds, rodents, and insects) gets tossed into the crusher and transferred to large tanks to ferment.  So think about all the animal blood and parts that may have made their way into your wine next time you crack open that bottle of Two Buck Chuck!  Hardly even seems worth the $2 does it? If you were to taste that wine right after it was made, I guarantee you it would be undrinkable.  They will then manipulate the finished wine in whatever way necessary, including adding sugar or unfermented grape juice if needed to make the wine palatable.  And then the wine goes into bottling, packaging and shipping facilities, all of which Fred Franzia owns himself.  They then get put on trucks (also owned by Fred Franzia) and shipped to Trader Joe's.  The only part of the process Fred doesn't own is Trader Joe's itself and I'm sure if he got his way, he'd include that in his empire as well. So the summary is this  to make $2 wine one must compromise all sense of integrity and quality, own tens of thousands of acres of vineyards in the worst possible wine region possible where land is incredibly cheap and yields are exceptionally high, use machines to execute every part of a homogenized system that substitutes manipulation for hand crafted quality, and own every step of the winemaking process including bottling, packaging and distribution, all while giving the finger to the entire wine industry and plowing down anyone who gets in your way. According to a CNBC report on the controversy engendered when Knox's comments were widely republished three years later: Franzia does use mechanized harvesting, as do an increasing number of grape growers. He insists the machines shake loose everything but the grapes, and there are other methods along the way to filter out leaves, twigs and animal residue. \"We're in the grape-picking business,\" he said. \"We're looking for quality wines and quality grapes. We're not looking for animals.\" Some animal matter does end up in winemaking, as it does in almost all agricultural products. \"If you worry about things like that, you shouldn't eat anything, you shouldn't drink anything,\" Franzia said. \"When the wine's fermenting, they're going to eliminate anything that's possibly there.\" But what about this mysterious \"Charles Shaw\"?  Was he a real person? Indeed he was.  Shaw, a Stanford Business School graduate, bought a Napa winery with his wife, Lucy, in 1974 and began to produce Charles Shaw Beaujolais.  However, after the Shaws divorced in 1991, they sold the winery. The Charles Shaw label possessed a good reputation, though, and Bronco Wine Co., a mass-market wine conglomerate located in the Central Valley's Stanislaus County, bought it up and revived it in 2002 for sales of a line of inexpensive wines through the Trader Joe's chain of grocery stores. Trader Joe's Additional information:        Charles Shaw   (Interbrand)   Last updated:  15 August 2014    Brown, Corie.  \"Hard Times at the Winery? Not for Everyone.\"   Los Angeles Times.  26 February 2003  (p. F1).    Emert, Carol.  \"Wine Drinkers Gaga Over 'Two-Buck Chuck'.\"   San Francisco Chronicle.  26 December 2002.    Moran, Tim.  \"$1.99 Wine Is Hottest Deal in Dodge.\"   The Modesto Bee.  25 December 2002.    Wells, Jane.  \"The Really Big Ruckus Over 'Two Buck Chuck.'\"   CNBC.  14 August 2014.","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1dyodzj4NTv8Jh6pDkG4oTnFb2mdhWORr"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1_ixVCfjZUixyW41lJAsXpxN6vvU6aMJP"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_411","claim":"Did Amazon's Alexa Order Unwanted Dollhouses for a Little Girl and TV Viewers?","posted":"02\/06\/2017","sci_digest":["Claims that Amazon's digital assistant went rogue, ordering dollhouses for a little girl and hundreds of TV viewers, are questionable."],"justification":"In early 2017, several news outlets reported a story about the owners of Amazon's Alexa digital assistant device being \"left out of pocket\" after a 6-year-old girl named Brooke Neitzel inadvertently triggered it to place an order for an expensive dollhouse. A news report on the incident sparked a wave of automated, unwanted dollhouse orders. In January 2017, it was reported that an Amazon Echo in Dallas, Texas, had ordered a $170 dollhouse after six-year-old Brooke Neitzel asked, \"Can you play dollhouse with me and get me a dollhouse?\" Although the little girl apparently meant it as a rhetorical question, the device interpreted it as a command and ordered a KidKraft Sparkle mansion dollhouse, as well as four pounds of sugar cookies. To make matters worse, many Amazon Echoes seemingly picked up on TV anchor Jim Patton's words in the report: \"I love the little girl saying 'Alexa ordered me a dollhouse.'\" Viewers at home were left stunned when their own Amazon Echoes picked up the voice requests in the report and ordered dollhouses too. As voice-command purchasing is enabled by default on Alexa devices, viewers found that the device mistook the show for their command and bought the toy. According to that report, a Texas kindergartner's request for Alexa to \"play dollhouse\" with her and \"get [her] a dollhouse\" resulted in her family being charged for an order of a top-dollar toy. When the family's tale was reported by a San Diego news station, \"stunned\" viewers also became recipients of unwanted dollhouses simply because an anchor repeated the same phrase, which their own Amazon Echo\/Alexa devices picked up on and transformed into orders. In one interview, Neitzel's mother, Megan, provided the Alexa log showing that her daughter had asked the device, \"Can you play dollhouse with me and get me a dollhouse?\" However, the embedded video of the log suggested that instead of confirming a dollhouse order, Alexa had responded, \"Sorry, I couldn't find the answer to your question.\" We attempted to replicate the circumstances of the purported inadvertent order and were unable to do so. When asked, \"Can you play dollhouse with me and get me a dollhouse?\" our Alexa responded with, \"Now shuffling songs by Bauhaus.\" Asking, \"Alexa, can you get me a dollhouse?\" returned, \"Hmm ... I'm not sure what you meant by that question.\" \"Alexa, can you play dollhouse with me?\" returned, \"Here's a sample of 'Dollhouse Sounds' by Dollhouse Incorporated.\" \"Alexa, can you get me a dollhouse?\" was answered with, \"I wasn't able to understand the question I heard.\" No permutation of \"Can you play dollhouse with me and get me a dollhouse?\" resulted in a prompt to confirm a dollhouse order in any of our experiments conducted with two separate Alexa-enabled devices. The only potential purchase-triggering word appeared to be \"order,\" after which it was necessary to confirm or decline the transaction (which we did at least three times without accidentally ordering any dollhouses). An Amazon spokesperson told us in response to our inquiry that ordering items through Alexa is a multi-step process that requires confirmation: You must ask Alexa to order a product and then confirm the purchase with a \"yes\" response. If you accidentally asked Alexa to order something, simply say \"no\" when asked to confirm. You can also manage your shopping settings in the Alexa app, such as turning off voice purchasing or requiring a confirmation code before every order. Additionally, orders you place for physical products are eligible for free returns. This aligns with our own experience: we couldn't induce Alexa to order anything without it first showing us the item, displaying a price, and asking us for verbal confirmation. We also couldn't get Alexa to order two items at once, as supposedly happened with the dollhouse and cookies; Alexa always processed multiple items separately, no matter how we tried to join them, displaying a price and requiring verbal confirmation for each item. We could find no confirmation (outside of anecdotal repetition) that a spate of unwanted dollhouse orders followed in the wake of San Diego newscaster Jim Patton's report on the story. Perhaps the television audio of that newscast might have woken up some viewers' Alexas, but those viewers would still have had to confirm any potential dollhouse purchases by responding \"yes\" to Alexa's request for purchase confirmation. We have yet to locate any of the \"viewers at home left stunned\" as their Alexa devices foisted undesired $165 toys upon them.","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1__Q1MU_2B_J7qWAbEIz4KLrzAR14jg3V","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_412","claim":"In just 17 years, spending for Social Security, federal health care and interest on the debt will exceed ALL tax revenue!","posted":"06\/16\/2015","sci_digest":[],"justification":"The day of financial reckoning is near, says U.S. Rep. Dave Brat. In just 17 years, spending for Social Security, federal health care, and interest on the debt will exceed all tax revenue, Brat, R-7th, wrote in a May 29 Facebook post. This would mean no money for defense or domestic programs unless Uncle Sam wanted to put these items on his already overburdened credit card. Continuing down this path of rampant federal spending and debt expansion is not an option, Brat wrote. It will push us ever closer to a fiscal crisis. Getting our spending under control and working to balance our budget must begin now. We wondered whether the 17-year warning\u2014also being sounded by the Republican leadership on the House Budget Committee, on which Brat serves\u2014is accurate. Brian Gottstein, a spokesman for Brat, said the claim is based on figures published by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office in its 2014 Long-Term Budget Outlook, issued last July. It contains two scenarios that could occur if Congress doesn't take strong action to reduce deficits. The first assumes that all the major U.S. budget laws in July 2014 will remain in effect. That means Congress will continue sequestration, which sets limits on defense and domestic spending, allows a buffet of popular tax cuts to expire as scheduled, and doesn't adjust tax brackets to soften inflationary increases in workers' earnings. Under these assumptions, the CBO says spending on Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, and debt interest will top tax revenues in 2044. As bleak as that might seem, there\u2019s an alternative scenario that\u2019s even gloomier. This is the one Brat embraces. It essentially assumes that Congress will lack the courage to continue unpopular budget policies and, as a result, spending will go up while many taxes will go down. The alternative scenario supposes that Congress will abandon sequestration and continue to extend tax cuts that are scheduled to expire\u2014most notably tax breaks on research and development, first-year capital investment costs, and income gained through foreign corporations in nations with high tax rates. Under these assumptions, the CBO says spending on Social Security, federal health care, and debt interest would exceed taxes in 2031. That\u2019s 16 years from now. Is it fair for Brat to focus on the worst scenario? Two analysts told us yes, noting Congress already has a history of relenting on deficit-reducing policies. For example, Congress voted in 2013 to permanently extend the bulk of income tax cuts that were approved during the presidency of George W. Bush. The cuts were originally slated to expire in 2010. The alternative fiscal scenario understands how some of the tough choices Congress needs to make conflict with promises members have made to their constituents, said Eugene Steuerle, an economist at the Urban Institute. Most people who would have to choose between the two scenarios would say Congress would most likely use the alternative one. Marc Goldwein, senior vice president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, called Brat's statement credible. A major point in the CBO report is that the day of reckoning is avoidable if Congress can break its standoff between Republicans, including Brat, who oppose tax increases, and Democrats who oppose cuts to entitlement programs. The report states that to put the federal budget on a sustainable path for the long term, lawmakers would have to make significant changes to tax and spending policies: reducing spending for large benefit programs below the projected levels, allowing revenues to rise more than they would under current law, or adopting some combination of those approaches. Our ruling: Brat says that under the current U.S. path, in just 17 years, spending for Social Security, federal health care, and interest on the federal debt will exceed all tax revenue. A CBO report concludes that, in a worst-case scenario in which Congress resumes its old habits of cutting taxes and raising spending, this could happen in 2031\u201416 years from now. Under a somewhat rosier scenario, in which current budget policies are kept in effect, the U.S. would hit bottom in 2044. Brat's focus on the bleaker outlook is defensible because Congress this century has not shown great fiscal discipline. We are dealing with scenarios, however, and Brat's statement would have been more accurate if he had acknowledged from the outset that the U.S. could run out of tax money for many major programs instead of saying it will. No doubt, however, the U.S. is on a risky fiscal path. We rate Brat's statement Mostly True.","issues":["Debt","Federal Budget","Taxes","Virginia"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_413","claim":"Was a Fire Department of New York firefighter's helmet that was worn on September 11th taken without permission?","posted":"04\/12\/2019","sci_digest":["Firefighter Michael O'Connell has received two replica helmets and numerous messages of support since his 2015 plea went viral, but his original helmet has not been returned. "],"justification":"On June 2, 2015, New York firefighter Michael O'Connell took to Facebook to ask social media users for help in locating a helmet that had been stolen from his house a few years earlier. O'Connell posted a photograph of his son with the helmet and explained that he had worn it throughout his FDNY career, including during 9\/11 and its aftermath. He wrote, \"This was my FDNY helmet I wore my entire career, including 9\/11\/01. It was stolen from my home a while back. I know it's a long shot, but if enough people share, maybe it turns up or is sent back so I can keep it in my family! Thanks!\" The NYC Wire Fire Facebook page helped spread O'Connell's message by resharing his post with the caption, \"In case anyone comes across this ... maybe the thief is stupid enough to try to sell it on eBay.\" Within a week, the message reportedly reached more than 8 million people and had been reshared hundreds of thousands of times. Unfortunately, despite the wide dissemination of this Facebook post, it did not result in the return of O'Connell's FDNY helmet. On June 24, 2015, a few weeks after the Facebook post went viral, AM New York reported that while O'Connell had not been reunited with his helmet, he did receive an outpouring of support from the community and two replica helmets from \"good Samaritans hoping to soothe the sting\" of his loss. Retired firefighter Michael O'Connell's social media campaign to retrieve his stolen FDNY helmet had garnered him the next best thing\u2014two replicas, thanks to some good Samaritans. \"There are still amazing people in this world!\" O'Connell said. O'Connell, 39, recently turned to Facebook to track down the significant memento that he wore at Ground Zero following 9\/11 and hoped to leave to his three children. What came back instead were two painstakingly created replica helmets from good Samaritans hoping to soothe the sting of his loss and an avalanche of human kindness and compassion. \"I'm taking the good out of this story, not the bad,\" said O'Connell, who was forced to retire from the FDNY after being diagnosed with sarcoidosis, an inflammatory disease that attacks the lungs and lymphatic system, in 2007. \"We live in an amazing world. So many people are willing to help. I hope people recognize this more than all the hate out there,\" he said. Although this FDNY firefighter's message was originally posted in June 2015, social media users have continued to share his plea on Facebook over the ensuing years. In April 2019, for example, a screenshot of O'Connell's message that was posted by the Ramsey, New Jersey Volunteer Fire Department racked up more than 600,000 shares. When viewers learned that this message was nearly four years old by the time they encountered it in April 2019, they were left wondering if O'Connell had ever been reunited with his firefighter helmet. Unfortunately, that was not the case. O'Connell told us in April 2019, \"I appreciate everyone's support in this matter. Unfortunately, my helmet was never returned! Hoping that it will make its way back home one day as I am a retired firefighter who has fallen sick due to my work on September 11th, and this was the helmet that I wore that day and throughout my career!\"","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1CPcP5GNMsr_Ry0Cx2GJ0P5dZluhoT0FX"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_414","claim":"Did a 'Hopi Indian Chief' Write a Lockdown-Era Message About 'Resistance'?","posted":"11\/04\/2021","sci_digest":["Check your source's sources' sources. "],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease. \n\nIn October and November 2021, Snopes readers asked us to verify the authenticity and provenance of a message widely shared on social media throughout 2020 and 2021, heavily promoted by those opposed to COVID-19 lockdowns. According to almost all the posts in question, the message originally came from a \"Hopi Indian Chief\" named \"White Eagle.\" The message was permeated with the language of New Age spirituality and typically began by likening \"the moment humanity is going through now\" to a \"portal\" or a \"hole,\" encouraging readers to engage in \"resistance through joy.\" \n\nDespite extensive research, we have not yet been able to find evidence to corroborate the claim that the message originated with a prominent Hopi named \"White Eagle,\" or indeed of any other name. Furthermore, there are good reasons to doubt that widespread attribution, as the earliest versions of the message we found were published by a Brazilian \"medium\" who engages in pseudoscientific practices like \"reincarnation psychotherapy\" and proponents of a Brazilian religious movement entirely different from the cultural context of the Hopi tribe in Arizona. For now, we are issuing a rating of \"Unproven.\" If definitive evidence becomes available, we will update this fact check accordingly. The message was posted and reposted multiple times in 2020 and 2021, with occasional minor tweaks, but was almost always attributed to \"White Eagle,\" who was typically described as a \"Hopi Indian Chief.\" \n\nIn some cases, social media posts featured photographs of what appeared to be an elderly man, while others contained a picture of an elderly woman, presenting two mutually exclusive claims regarding the gender of \"White Eagle,\" which suggests that the attribution might be dubious. In another prominent early version of the message, posted in French on March 28, 2020, the photograph used was actually taken in 1904, meaning it could not possibly show anyone alive in the age of online memes or COVID-19. \n\nIn June 2020, \"Bird Clan Messenger,\" a Canadian blog that espouses \"indigenous wisdom\" and alternative medicine, as well as opposing COVID-19 mitigation measures like lockdowns and vaccine passports, attributed the \"portal and hole\" message to Joseph White Eagle, whom the site described as \"a Cree spiritual leader and teacher of traditional Native wisdom.\" However, that blog post was later deleted, and Joseph White Eagle posted on Facebook in September 2021, explicitly denying he had authored the message, adding: \"Somebody first gave credit to a fictitious Hopi Chief White Eagle, and when they found he does not exist, they started giving me credit for this message.\" \n\nOn March 28, 2020, artist and new-age spiritualist Alex Grey included the message in an Instagram Live broadcast, describing it as \"Channeled from White Eagle in daime church \/ Message from Caboclo guia Branca,\" and dating it to March 16, 2020. In this context, \"Daime\" likely refers to \"Santo Daime,\" a religious movement that emerged from Brazil in the early 20th century and encompasses elements of various other religions, as well as using the psychedelic drink ayahuasca in rituals. Grey's reference to \"Caboclo guia Branca\" directed our research to an even earlier social media post containing the message\u2014a March 19, 2020, Instagram post by Jefferson Orlando, a Brazilian \"reincarnation psychotherapist,\" which bore the headline \"Mensagem do Caboclo guia Branca\" (\"message from White Eagle\"). When translated from Portuguese, the message was clearly the same one later attributed to a \"Hopi Chief\" named White Eagle and shared widely in English on social media. \n\nIt's not clear whether \"White Eagle\" is purported to be an actual, living person, a persona adopted by Orlando, or a long-deceased figure whose voice and message Orlando putatively \"channeled.\" Snopes asked Orlando for clarification about the origins of the message, but we did not receive a response. Also on March 19, 2020, a popular Facebook page that celebrates the Umbanda faith\u2014like Santo Daime, Umbanda is a Brazilian religious movement that borrows from other religious practices\u2014also posted the same message as Orlando, in Portuguese. \n\nIt's not clear whether \"Sabedoria de Umbanda\" (\"Umbanda Wisdom\") or Orlando published their post first, and what the ultimate source of the message was. We were unable to find any reference to the \"portal and hole\" message dated before March 19, and the \"Hopi\" attribution appears to have only emerged several days later. The earliest available instances of the message emerged from Brazilian religious movements, by way of new-age spirituality and pseudoscientific paranormal psychology\u2014vastly different cultural milieus from the traditions of the Hopi people. This strongly suggests that the claim that a \"Hopi Chief White Eagle\" authored the message is unfounded. However, we cannot definitively rule out the possibility that the March 19 Brazilian posts were, themselves, borrowed from Hopi culture in some way, with the chain of cross-germination no longer available due to social media posts having been deleted.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1fpcb0VDVxMCzf_Y4YECAbTa7nObIAgqe","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1hiyqNVOPUuTNLy3mZy00PNk_FumsjZ5P","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1nnpTVEZRnyJY8eiao8wh-pRw6_0_o7Rk","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_415","claim":"Were This Fawn and Bobcat Found Huddled Together After a California Wildfire?","posted":"11\/16\/2018","sci_digest":["Natural disasters do sometimes make for strange bedfellows."],"justification":"As California dealt with the deadliest wildfire in the state's history in November 2018, a number of social media users encountered an image that supposedly showed a \"fawn and bobcat cub found under a desk in office build after California forest fire rolled through\": showed   Although this photograph was often presented as if it were taken during the deadly Camp Fire in November 2018, it was actually several years old by that time. Furthermore, the claim that the fawn and bobcat were \"found\" under a desk during a fire isn't exactly accurate. This photograph was taken in May 2009 at a facility run by the non-profit Animal Rescue Team during the Jesusita wildfire near Santa Barbara, California. Julia Di Sieno, the co-founder and Director of Animal Rescue Team, said that the bobcat and the fawn were rescued at different times and locations. In other words, they were not \"found\" huddled together under a desk during the fire. Discovery.com reported that while animals of different species are typically kept in separate areas, rescue workers were swamped in the aftermath of the fire and didn't have many options for housing these animals: reported Di Sieno helped rescue the bobcat kitten in the photo a week before, near Arnold Schwarzeneggers Ranch, where it was dehydrated and near death. Di Sieno nurtured it back to health. They rescued the fawn during last week's wildfire. Although wild animals, especially of separate species, are never placed together due to regulations, in this emergency situation, they had no choice. During the mayhem of the fire, they were forced to put animals anywhere they could, since they had run out of crates large enough for the fawn. The kitten ran to the fawn, and it was instant bonding. Most wildlife knows instinctively to flee fires - to fly away, burrow, or run - but some dont make it out in time. Rescue workers walk near the fire line with nets, searching for any injured animals or young separated from their parents. Burn victims go to the local care hospital, says Di Sieno. We rescued bunnies, squirrels, two fawns. Weve rescued I dont know how many geese, chickens ducks, cats, birds, turkeys, and a baby owl and a baby raptor. Discovery.com.  \"Jesusita Wildfire Animal Rescue.\"\r  18 May 2009. ","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1FoZ4nRHmRb-Ao6RUkBYNGom3QDalajQe","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_416","claim":"Did the Oscars Not Offer Closed Captions Until 2021?","posted":"03\/28\/2022","sci_digest":["A viral tweet claimed that the Academy Awards live broadcast didn't offer any closed captioning until well into the 21st century."],"justification":"Following the 94th Academy Awards ceremony on March 27, 2022, a false tweet from Twitter user @fondasbian was posted with a decades-old video of actor Jane Fonda with the caption, \"The Oscars only started providing closed captions in 2021.\" false tweet Twitter Jane Fonda Oscars While this misleading message was somewhat overshadowed by an incident involving comedian Chris Rock and actor Will Smith, that didn't stop the tweet from receiving tens of thousands of combined retweets and likes. Those shares only served to boost the false claim. an incident Chris Rock Will Smith The tweet in question claimed: \"Jane Fonda signed her best actress speech in 1979 because the Oscars wouldn't offer closed captions. The Oscars only started providing closed captions in 2021.\" Jane Fonda Oscars Oscars   In the brief 30-second video from the 51st Academy Awards in 1979, Fonda did sign part of her acceptance speech for the hearing-impaired. She was accepting an award for best actress for her role in the 1978 film, \"Coming Home.\" One of the main characters in the film is a disabled veteran. He was portrayed by actor Jon Voight. Fonda disabled veteran Jon Voight The full speech was uploaded to the official Oscars YouTube channel: the official Oscars YouTube channel https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=vL_73XeE8fo&t=157sThe portion included in the tweet is bolded below: I'm so happy. I wanted to win very much because I'm so proud of \"Coming Home,\" and I want many people to see the movie. I'm signing part of what I'm saying tonight because while we were making the movie we all became more aware of the problems of the handicapped. Over 14 million people are deaf. They are the invisible handicapped and can't share this evening. So this is my way of acknowledging them. The tweet in question claimed that the Oscars first started providing closed captions in 2021. In truth, the Oscars had been providing closed captioning for decades. Oscars Oscars On March 27, 1982, Wisconsin's Leader-Telegram newspaper published that a brand new way of providing captions during live television would be debuting at that year's Oscars: Leader-Telegram published Oscars A new method for providing closed captioning for hearing-impaired viewers will be unveiled by the National Captioning Institute during ABC-TV coverage of the 54th annual Academy Awards presentations March 29. Called Real Time, the method is a form of electronic computerized shorthand which will allow hearing-impaired viewers to receive closed captions throughout the entire telecast, including acceptance speeches the moment they are spoken. NCI spokesman John E. D. Ball said Real Time involves a courtroom style stenotype machine and a computer capable of transmitting phonetic symbols into words. Twitter user @bubbaprog pointed out that the March 27 tweet from @fondasbian was misleading. \"This tweet has 5,000 retweets and it's completely false,\" @bubbaprog tweeted. \"The Academy Awards were literally the first live program to utilize closed-captioning in 1982 and have been captioned ever since.\" pointed out tweeted It's true that the Oscars had featured closed captions during every ceremony since 1982. However, while the Academy Awards were the first program to utilize closed captions during a live broadcast, similar technology for prerecorded programs (not live) had already been partially implemented two years before. Oscars On March 16, 1980, the Chicago Tribune newspaper published that NBC, ABC, and PBS announced they would begin to \"inaugurate a new service designed to enlarge the world of prime-time TV for Americans with impaired hearing.\" Chicago Tribune published According to the article, programs that received the first closed captions on American television were the \"Wonderful World of Disney,\" ABC's \"Sunday Night Movie,\" \"Eight Is Enough,\" \"Barney Miller,\" \"Masterpiece Theater,\" \"Once Upon a Classic,\" and \"Mystery Theater.\" In sum, no, the Oscars did not wait until 2021 to start providing closed captions. The Academy Award ceremonies had been broadcast with closed captions since 1982 and were the first live program to utilize the technology. Oscars","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=13Sq00QFGBcpJFzsTbcTXZ57mIqmBX06u","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_417","claim":"Americans now spend 100 days out of the year working for government before we even start working for ourselves.","posted":"04\/16\/2010","sci_digest":[],"justification":"On April 14, 2010, former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin addressed a tea party event in Boston and attempted to characterize the scale of the tax burden in the United States. \"Americans now spend 100 days out of the year working for government before we even start working for ourselves,\" she said. By making her point this way, Palin was using a yardstick that receives both attention and criticism every April 15, the day federal tax returns are due. So we thought it would be a good time to look once again at the skirmishing over Tax Freedom Day. (We last studied the question more than two years ago when Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee cited a similar statistic.) Tax Freedom Day is the date when Americans have earned enough money to pay this year's tax obligations at the federal, state, and local levels, according to the Tax Foundation, the Washington, D.C.-based group that has calculated it for decades and also determined it retroactively back to 1900. The foundation calculates Tax Freedom Day by taking the amount of tax revenue collected and dividing it by national income created, producing an average tax burden for the U.S. economy as a whole. That percentage is then multiplied by 365 to calculate the number of days over the course of a year it would take to pay off the entire tax burden. (The calculation counts every day of the year, not adjusting for weekends, holidays, or leap years.) To determine tax revenue, the foundation adds together individual income taxes paid at every governmental level; payroll taxes, the federal levies that fund Social Security and Medicare; sales and excise taxes, which are typically collected at the state and local level; corporate income taxes; property taxes; and other miscellaneous taxes such as those for car licenses, energy or mineral production, and estates. The Tax Foundation also offers state-specific Tax Freedom Days. These range from 85 for Alaska (Palin's home state) and Louisiana to 117 for higher-tax Connecticut. But the national average is 99. If we measure Palin by how closely her figure tracks with the current Tax Freedom Day statistic, she scores well. She rounded up from 99 to 100\u2014close enough in our book\u2014and she used the national average rather than any state figure, which is appropriate. Still, before giving Palin the Truth-O-Meter seal of approval, we need to determine whether she described the number's meaning accurately. This requires delving into the annual debate over how useful the Tax Freedom Day concept is. The Tax Foundation's loyal antagonist in this annual battle is the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. CBPP doesn't suggest that Tax Freedom Day is a bad statistic; it acknowledges that it's a perfectly fine tool if you need to compare the level of taxation in different countries or measure how the tax burden has changed over time. However, CBPP does cite a number of complaints. We're ignoring a bunch that aren't addressed by Palin's comment, such as concerns over how the state-by-state tax burdens are calculated. The one criticism by CBPP that we do think is relevant to Palin's comment is the argument that Tax Freedom Day ignores differences in how much Americans of different income levels pay in taxes. The Tax Foundation's number represents an average tax burden for the economy as a whole. But CBPP argues that the foundation's number is not a good measure of what a typical taxpayer pays. To explain the difference, CBPP offers the following example: Suppose four families with incomes of $50,000 each pay $2,500 in taxes\u20145 percent of their income\u2014while one wealthy family with an income of $300,000 pays $90,000 in taxes\u201430 percent of its income. Total income among these five families is $500,000, and the total amount paid in taxes is $100,000. Thus, 20 percent of the total income of the five families goes to pay taxes. However, the 20 percent figure is highly misleading as an indicator of the typical tax burden for families in this group, since four of the five families have tax rates just one-fourth of that amount. This is obviously an extreme case, and William Ahern, the Tax Foundation's director of policy and communications, countered that in the real world of taxation, the differences between taking a strict average (as the Tax Foundation does) and using a median figure (which would more closely reflect patterns of income distribution) aren't that great. CBPP cites research showing that the difference is significant. CBPP argues that there's enough income inequality in the United States and enough progressivity in the tax code to undermine the usefulness of Tax Freedom Day calculations. That's because a sizable majority of taxpayers must work significantly fewer days to pay off their tax bill, while a minority must work significantly more days. Any attempt to suggest that Tax Freedom Day represents the experience of a typical American\u2014as opposed to one on the higher end of the income spectrum\u2014may be problematic. The good news for the Truth-O-Meter is that we don't have to resolve this dispute in order to rate Palin's comment; we only need to ensure that she accurately described the statistic she was using. The bad news in this particular case is that Palin's phrasing is a bit elliptical, making it difficult to parse her words. Palin said, \"Americans now spend 100 days out of the year working for government before we even start working for ourselves.\" That's pretty close to what the Tax Foundation said in its own release\u2014Americans will work well over three months of the year\u2014from Jan. 1 to April 9\u2014before they have earned enough money to pay this year's tax obligations at the federal, state, and local levels. Both Palin and the Tax Foundation avoid saying that Tax Freedom Day represents the experience of a typical American, which would have been a more problematic phrasing. Our graduated tax system, which is weighted more heavily on the wealthy, means that the average amount paid is skewed upward by a smaller number of wealthy people who pay a lot. In other words, there are many more people who would fall under the 100-day threshold mentioned by Palin than over it. We think listeners take Palin as referring to what a typical American pays in taxes since she didn't specify otherwise. Leaving that impression in listeners' minds, we knock her statement down to Mostly True.","issues":["National","Taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_418","claim":"Joyce Meyer Keto Gummies Weight Loss Reviews Promoted in 'Tragedy' Clickbait Ad Scam","posted":"08\/11\/2023","sci_digest":["The Christian author and president of Joyce Meyer Ministries has never endorsed any CBD or keto gummies for weight loss."],"justification":"Since at least 2022, scammers have improperly used the image and likeness of Christian author Joyce Meyer to promote fake reviews for keto weight loss gummies. Meyer, the president of Joyce Meyer Ministries, has never had anything to do with keto gummies, CBD gummies, or any other kinds of gummies that promote weight loss. Joyce Meyer Ministries On a similar note, in 2021, the Joyce Meyer Ministries Facebook page warned followers to not fall victim to another scam that falsely claimed she had endorsed CBD oil. warned followers This scam involving Meyer and keto weight loss gummies reviews was similar to other scams we had researched and written about before, including ones that improperly used the image and likeness of entertainment icon Oprah Winfrey, author and Food Network TV host Ree Drummond (\"The Pioneer Woman\"), and the cast of \"Shark Tank.\" other scams we had researched and written about before Oprah Winfrey Ree Drummond Shark Tank The scam with Meyer's name and face began with a misleading clickbait ad that claimed, \"The Tragedy of Joyce Meyer Is Just Pure Heartbreak. Joyce Meyer Breaks the Silence Today.\"  However, there was no \"tragedy\" or breaking of any \"silence.\" Scammers simply included this false claim to entice users to click. The link in the ad redirected through adsoniris.com to dietinsiderguide.com. On dietinsiderguide.com, a scam website, we found an article that was designed by scammers to fool readers into believing they were looking at a news story published by Fox News. However, again, the article was hosted ondietinsiderguide.com, not foxnews.com. article The headline of the article read, \"Weight Loss Industry in Outrage Over Joyce Meyer's Latest Business Venture that's Helping Millions of Women Melt Body Fat and Get Ripped in Just Weeks!\"  The scammy articlfalsely claimed that Meyer had endorsed several different keto gummies products. Product names that we saw mentioned with Meyer's name on Aug. 11 included Good Keto BHB Gummies, Keto Fusion ACV Gummies, and Keto Bites ACV Gummies. Scammers who promote keto weight loss gummies often rotate brand new product names every day or every few days, so these three products will likely be swapped out for others in the days to come. (Note: \"ACV\" stands for apple cider vinegar.) Upon clicking on one of the many links in the scam article, we were led to a page where the products could be ordered. That final page asked for personal information and a credit-card number. It also claimed that keto weight loss gummies can help people \"melt fat fast\" with \"no diet or exercise.\" With these so-called \"miracle\" products, we offer this advice about online offers: If something seems too good to be true, it probably is. If any readers fell victim to this scam, we recommend alerting your credit card company to see if a refund is a possibility and to ask if future charges from the seller can be blocked. These keto weight loss gummies scams and their fake reviews rope customers into pricey monthly subscriptions that, if not stopped, can cost thousands of dollars per year. Finally, know this: According to what readers have repeatedly told Snopes, packages of keto weight loss gummies often feature a return-address label for P.O. boxes in Smyrna, Tennessee, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Tampa, Florida. However, it's unclear if the P.O. box numbers even exist, as we've received reports from readers that the one in Smyrna might not be real. Note:Another scam headlineused by CBD gummies scammers in the past claimed, \"Joyce Meyer's Dementia Reversing Solution Sparks Huge Lawsuit Pressure from Big Pharma, She Finally Fights Back On Air.\" This headline can also be filed under the \"too good to be true\" advice. Another scam headline \"About Us: Board of Directors | Joyce Meyer.\" Joyce Meyer Ministries, https:\/\/joycemeyer.org\/about\/board-of-directors\/joyce-meyer. Liles, Jordan. \"Did Oprah Winfrey Suffer a 'Tragedy' and Endorse Keto Weight Loss Gummies?\" Snopes, 12 May 2022, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/oprah-winfrey-tragedy-keto-gummies\/. ---. \"Is Ree Drummond Leaving Food Network to Sell Keto Gummies?\" Snopes, 15 May 2023, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/ree-drummond-leave-food-network-keto-gummies\/. ---. \"'Shark Tank' Keto Gummies Weight Loss Reviews Are a Scam.\" Snopes, 14 Mar. 2023, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/shark-tank-keto-gummies-weight-loss-reviews\/.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1mV-bgAcwMfGgD7dFkWQW-oqwVPIHEL2e","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1rnHvxnwx8173LY8vuEl3KHCUdCX4GPYr","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_419","claim":"Pizza Hut 58th Anniversary Freebie Scam","posted":"10\/04\/2017","sci_digest":["Pizza Hut is not giving three pizzas away to contest entrants in celebration of their 58th anniversary."],"justification":"In October 2017, multiple versions of a dubious post titled \"Pizza Hut is giving 3 FREE Large Pizza Coupons on their 58th Anniversary\" circulated on Facebook. The link led to suspicious domains, including pizzahutfree.us, pizzahut.com-freezones.us, and massiveoffers.xyz\/p\/, none of which followed the proper formatting for a pizzahut.com subdomain, which is \"link.pizzahut.com.\" Those who clicked through found a page that looked somewhat legitimate but showed signs of being a common survey scam. Users were first asked a series of questions. The page followed a typical scammer template, appropriating Pizza Hut's logo and Facebook's visual interface, but clumsily boasted that entrants had \"a chance to get [a] Papa [John's] Coupon.\" Any interaction with the prompts (again mentioning Papa John's 58th anniversary, not Pizza Hut's) led to a screen encouraging potential victims to spread the scam further on Facebook. Underneath the \"Congratulations\" interface was a series of what appeared to be comments from real Facebook users who had successfully redeemed the purported coupon. All of the profiles featured individuals with jobs displayed as \"MD, at the Hospital.\" Pizza Hut addressed a previous flood of customer queries on their Facebook wall during a similar scam in May 2016. Facebook users continue to regularly encounter survey scams (often the \"anniversary\" version) on the social network. A July 2014 article from the Better Business Bureau advised users on how not to fall prey: \"","issues":["banking"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1wYp9ci2oVnSJOVgD73A6PTc9Lss6dAdq","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1PNb1HmUxLIMoNpRgGnG-Wxom8ic1gcTQ","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1IDt6aHD3QwQ1Sp9WOkyhD_UJSsVilaFb","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_420","claim":"More businesses are closing than are opening for the first time in our nation's history.","posted":"07\/10\/2015","sci_digest":[],"justification":"An Orlando businessman vying for Marco Rubios soon-to-be-vacated Senate seat announced his candidacy by saying fresh blood is needed to change the worst economic climate the countrys ever faced. It's time to restore America's prominence both here at home and abroad, Todd Wilcox, a former Green Beret and CIA veteran, said in a statementannouncing his candidacyon July 8, 2015. The economy is growing at a dismal rate. More businesses are closing than are opening for the first time in our nation's history. The recent recession obviously has been an economic low point, but are the number of new businesses being eclipsed by the number of businesses closing for the first time ever? Well, its certainly true for as long as the government has been tracking that statistic. Beyond that is anyones guess. Wilcox, a Republican, told PolitiFact he was citing aMay 2014 storyfrom theWashington Posts Wonkblog that said as much. The story was about a Brookings Institution study released that month called Declining Business Dynamism in the United States: A Look at States and Metros, which examined business creation and destruction in the U.S. since 1978. The report said that business failures had held steady over most of that period, while business entries had steadily declined. Starting in 2008, the two points intersected for the first time in their 35-year history of the U.S. Census BureausBusiness Dynamics Statisticsdata. The trend continued through 2011, the last year of available data in the study.The studys authors said they couldnt speak to the causes for this trend, which they called noteworthy and disturbing. But they noted that it is clear that these trends fit into a larger narrative of business consolidation occurring in the U.S. economy -- whatever the reason, older and larger businesses are doing better relative to younger and smaller ones. Where Wilcoxs claim falters is that the data isnt for the entire 239-year history of the United States, but just the 35 years examined in the study. The Business Dynamics Statistics database only has figures from 1976 to 2012. What truly happened prior to that is largely anyones guess, economists told PolitiFact. I am not aware of any standard measures before then. I suspect that other measures do exist, but I doubt that they are systematically measured, year in and year out, UCLA economics professor Lee Ohanian said. While its possible there have been other periods of history where a similar trend has occurred, such as during the Great Depression, there is no dependable source of data measuring it, they said. Its somewhere between plausible and impossible to prove, said Robert Litman, one of the authors of the Brookings study. He suggested it would be more accurate to say that for the first time since the government began tracking these things, fails have exceeded starts. Our ruling Wilcox said, More businesses are closing than are opening for the first time in our nation's history. Hes right that more firms are now closing up shop than starting up, a trend that started in 2008. But the stat hes citing is from a study of a 35-year period from 1978 to 2011, not all of American history. The Census Bureau database used for that study has only been measuring entries and exits since the 1970s. Economists, including the studys author, told us Wilcox overreached a bit, because this trend may have happened before. There are no dependable sources of information to prove this is the first time this has occurred. The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context. We rate it Half True.","issues":["Economy","Florida"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1u2MyXKiFOMb7PXATS8T0g7JOYJJ8GfbD","image_caption":"Washington Post"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_421","claim":"Did Jared Kushner remove tweets following the emergence of news about Trump's taxes?","posted":"09\/28\/2020","sci_digest":["It's decidedly difficult to remove something that never existed. "],"justification":"Voting in the 2020 U.S. Election may be over, but misinformation continues to spread. It is essential to keep fact-checking. Follow our post-election coverage here. On Sept. 27, 2020, The New York Times published a report after obtaining several years of U.S. President Donald Trump's tax returns. As news broke that Trump had paid just $750 in federal income tax in 2016 and 2017, and had not paid federal income taxes in 10 of the past 15 years, in addition to taking an approximate $70,000 deduction for hairstyling during \"The Apprentice,\" and that he has more than $300 million worth of loans coming due, a rumor began to circulate on social media that White House senior adviser Jared Kushner had quietly deleted all of his tweets from his Twitter account. This rumor is false. Kushner did not delete all of his tweets following the NYT article about Trump's taxes. The tweet displayed above contains a genuine screenshot of the @JaredKushner Twitter account. This account has been online since 2009, but it has been used sparingly by its owner. Archived pages show that this account posted three messages back in March 2011, none of which were related to taxes, and then remained inactive for at least three years. The few messages that were posted to this account were deleted sometime between 2014 and 2016, and no new messages have been posted since then. In other words, Kushner did not wipe his Twitter account clean on the evening of Sept. 27 after the NYT published a story about his father-in-law's taxes. This account rarely posts tweets, and the three tweets that were shared to the account in 2011 (again, none of which were related to taxes) were deleted years ago. This isn't the first time that someone has stumbled across Kushner's Twitter account in the aftermath of a controversy, noticed that it was barren, and then incorrectly assumed that Kushner had recently scrubbed it clean. In October 2017, shortly after Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III revealed charges against former Trump presidential campaign chair Paul Manafort and two other campaign officials, social media users noted that Kushner's Twitter account was suspiciously void of content and falsely claimed that he had recently deleted all of his tweets. A few months later, when it was reported that Mueller may have interviewed Kushner in the course of his investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election, this false rumor circulated on social media again. The @JaredKushner account has been devoid of content since at least 2016. Claims that he recently deleted his tweets in the wake of breaking news stories are false.","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1xuBvLGCA_OhEPR-y1k7R9ffj__rUyYCy"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1MT9-ue6ZCcaqSLf7z61XNjGKp4vdbhJx"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_422","claim":"Our median household income in 2013 was the highest in the nation.","posted":"02\/13\/2015","sci_digest":[],"justification":"For all its troubles, New Hampshire is actually pretty lucky, or so reports would say. Just ask Gov. Maggie Hassan. In her second inaugural speech in January and in her budget address on Thursday, Feb. 12, Hassan, a Democrat, made a point of drawing attention to New Hampshire's rosy reputation. \"Our country's economy continues to strengthen, and in many respects, New Hampshire remains ahead of the curve,\" Hassan said, ticking off a number of economic statistics. One was that our median household income in 2013 was the highest in the nation. In both speeches, Hassan pointed out that statistics don't always tell the whole story, saying that some working-class families in the state continue to struggle. Still, was New Hampshire really at the top of the nation in 2013 in terms of household income? PolitiFact New Hampshire decided to check it out. The statistic Hassan cited came from data collected and compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau. Specifically, her staff pointed to a set of data released in September 2014 that summed up the latest findings from the Current Population Survey's Annual Social and Economic Supplement. While the census conducts a population count every 10 years, it also compiles other types of data\u2014on income, for example\u2014through other surveys that occur more frequently. In this case, the data was collected over a period of three months in 2013: February, March, and April. According to the census data, New Hampshire's median household income was $71,322 in 2013, which was not only higher than the national median but also higher than any other state. As with any survey, there are some limitations to consider. One factor concerns how the data was calculated. To determine income, the census asks people to report the money they received during the previous year from multiple sources, including earnings, unemployment compensation, workers' compensation, public assistance, and more. The census also notes that money income does not reflect the fact that some families receive part of their income in the form of noncash benefits, such as food stamps. As noted by Drew Desilver for Pew Research Center, some economists say that income data have too many flaws to be the primary measure of inequality. For one thing, Desilver said, most income-inequality measures use income before taxes and transfer payments (such as Social Security, food stamps, and unemployment benefits), which act to reduce inequality. Some researchers, Desilver notes, have instead suggested that other measures\u2014someone's consumption, for example\u2014would be a better way to measure someone's economic well-being. Another factor to consider is the timing of the data. Using other census data that looks beyond just 2013, the year Hassan cited, shows that New Hampshire loses its top spot to Virginia when 2012 and 2014 information is considered. Our ruling: Gov. Maggie Hassan said New Hampshire's median household income in 2013 was the highest in the nation. Looking at U.S. Census data only for that year, Hassan is correct. For other recent periods, however, New Hampshire ranks just below the top. In the meantime, census data is widely trusted, but other calculation methods may have produced different results. However, Hassan was correct in qualifying that statement by suggesting that the survey might not tell the whole story. The claim is accurate but needs clarification or additional information, so we rate the claim Mostly True.","issues":["New Hampshire","Census","Economy","Families"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_423","claim":"What Happens When You Cross the United States Border Illegally?","posted":"01\/16\/2018","sci_digest":["A viral Facebook post comparing U.S. immigration policy to that of North Korea and Afghanistan gets most of the facts wrong."],"justification":"A nine-year-old viral Facebook post that portrays the United States as soft on illegal immigration experienced a resurgence in early 2018, likely due to ongoing negotiations between President Donald Trump and Congressional Democrats regarding the fate of immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children by their undocumented parents and who have previously been allowed to stay in the United States under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The wording of the post, which was turned into a meme, has been repeated since at least 2009 and has been adapted for Australian and Canadian audiences over the years. There have been small variations here and there, but it typically goes something like this: Undocumented immigrants do have some rights and entitlements, but the meme vastly overstates these entitlements and omits the many burdens and disadvantages placed on these immigrants, including the constant possibility of arrest and deportation. Adults who enter the United States illegally are not provided with a job. In fact, it's illegal to knowingly hire any immigrant who isn't authorized to work in the country (whether they entered the United States illegally or overstayed a visa after entering legally). Of course, that doesn't stop the practice from happening, and according to a 2017 analysis by the Pew Research Institute, there were around 8 million unauthorized immigrants working or looking for work in the United States in 2014. This depends on where you live. As of January 2018, there are 12 states (and the District of Columbia) that allow immigrants without legal status to obtain a driver's license. Some of the states where unauthorized immigrants can drive (California, New Jersey, Illinois) have relatively high undocumented populations. An immigrant who does not have legal status in the United States is not eligible for food stamps (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), although their children might be. Indeed, undocumented immigrants do not receive most kinds of welfare benefits, even though they do pay taxes. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a non-partisan think tank, undocumented immigrants collectively contribute almost $12 billion per year in state and local sales, income, and property taxes. Generally speaking, undocumented immigrants are not eligible for federal housing benefits like public housing, rental assistance, and vouchers. However, as a 2015 Congressional Research Service report outlines, some undocumented immigrants may live in a household with citizens or qualified immigrants and thereby indirectly benefit from some public housing assistance (although the level of that assistance is reduced on a pro rata basis due to the presence of that undocumented immigrant). Undocumented immigrants are eligible for emergency assistance such as homeless accommodation and domestic violence shelters. It is possible for an undocumented immigrant to own a home, either by buying it outright with cash or by using something called an individual tax identification number (ITIN) mortgage. This allows non-citizens (including undocumented immigrants) to bypass the usual requirement of having a social security number to take out a mortgage. Some 31 percent of undocumented immigrants live in a home that is owned by at least one of its residents (as opposed to rented), according to a Migration Policy Institute analysis of data from the United States Census Bureau's 2014 American Community Survey. Undocumented immigrants are not eligible to enroll in Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) Health Insurance Marketplace, significantly curtailing the affordable health insurance and health care available to them. However, six states and the District of Columbia have rules that allow undocumented immigrant children to avail themselves of Medicaid benefits, and undocumented immigrants are also entitled to emergency medical care. According to a 2017 Kaiser Family Foundation analysis, non-elderly undocumented immigrants are four times more likely than United States citizens to be uninsured, and fears about immigration enforcement and detection often cause undocumented immigrants to forgo preventive healthcare, leading to worse outcomes. It's not entirely clear what the creator of this meme means by \"child benefits,\" but let's take a look. Undocumented immigrant taxpayers (using an ITIN rather than a social security number) can avail themselves of a child tax credit. Low-income undocumented immigrants are also eligible for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), which provides food and infant formula assistance, as well as nutritional and immunization assessments. Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), a federal program that provides financial help to low-income families and pregnant women. In 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states are constitutionally barred from denying children a public school education based on their immigration status. As a result, undocumented immigrant children can attend public schools for free, like any other children. While attending public schools, undocumented children can benefit from federal nutrition services like the School Breakfast Program and National School Lunch Program. Only two states (Alabama and South Carolina) do not allow undocumented immigrants to attend public colleges and other third-level institutions, and three others (Arizona, Georgia, and Indiana) do not allow them to pay lower in-state tuition rates, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Undocumented students are not allowed to receive federal financial aid for higher education, but they might be able to get state aid or private scholarships. This is completely false. Undocumented immigrants pay taxes, and there is no provision in law at the federal or state level that grants them any kind of \"tax holiday.\"","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=14-ifrIIKSuiOXYaKjp769DR4SBEfCzvZ","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_424","claim":"\"Trump wishes his political adversaries to suffer in hell in a Christmas Day 2023 message.\"","posted":"12\/27\/2023","sci_digest":["Readers asked Snopes if it was true that the former U.S. president had ended a Christmas message with the words, \"May they rot in hell.\""],"justification":"On Dec. 27, 2023, readers emailed Snopes to ask if it was true that former U.S. President Donald Trump had written a post on Christmas Day that included the words, \"May they rot in hell.\" A check of Trump's posts on his social media platform, Truth Social, showed dozens of new posts (\"Truths\") and reposts (\"Retruths\") in the previous two days. Buried below all of the more recent shared posts was a \"trending\" post in which Trump had offered a \"Merry Christmas\" message on Dec. 25. That post truly did include the words, \"May they rot in hell,\" which appeared in all capital letters. The imprecation was aimed at so-called \"thugs\" Trump claimed were \"looking to destroy our once great USA.\"  The full post (archived) read as follows: post archived Merry Christmas to all, including Crooked Joe Bidens ONLY HOPE, Deranged Jack Smith, the out of control Lunatic who just hired outside attorneys, fresh from the SWAMP (unprecedented!), to help him with his poorly executed WITCH HUNT against TRUMP and MAGA. Included also are World Leaders, both good and bad, but none of which are as evil and sick as the THUGS we have inside our Country who, with their Open Borders, INFLATION, Afghanistan Surrender, Green New Scam, High Taxes, No Energy Independence, Woke Military, Russia\/Ukraine, Israel\/Iran, All Electric Car Lunacy, and so much more, are looking to destroy our once great USA. MAY THEY ROT IN HELL. AGAIN, MERRY CHRISTMAS! Snopes has previously published a wealth of reporting about claims mentioned in the above post: \"open borders,\" worldwide inflation, the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Green New Deal, U.S. President Joe Biden's plans for taxes, Biden's record on energy independence, the idea of the U.S. military being \"woke,\" Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the war in Israel and Gaza and electric-powered vehicles. open borders worldwide inflation U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan Green New Deal taxes energy independence woke Russia's invasion of Ukraine war in Israel and Gaza electric-powered vehicles On the same day that Trump posted his Christmas message on Truth Social, a Biden-Harris campaign spokesperson named Seth Schuster responded by calling it an \"erratic Christmas Day rant,\" according to reporting from Washington Examiner. Washington Examiner We reached out to the Trump campaign by email to ask about the statement and will update this story if we receive a response. In addition to the Truth Social post on Christmas Day, Trump also released a video message on Christmas Eve that did not include the words, \"May they rot in hell.\" Rather, the video simply showed Trump offering positive, forward-looking sentiments about Christmas, U.S. military servicemembers and the upcoming 2024 U.S. presidential election.  Dapcevich, Madison. Does Biden Support the Green New Deal? Snopes, 1 Oct. 2020, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/does-biden-support-green-new-deal\/. Datoc, Christian. MSN.MSN.Com, Washington Examiner, 26 Dec. 2023, https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/news\/politics\/biden-campaign-rebukes-trump-s-rot-in-hell-christmas-wish\/ar-AA1m43Pg. Electric Vehicles Archives | Snopes.com. https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/tag\/electric-vehicles\/. Huberman, Bond. About That Biden Tax Plan Meme. Snopes, 29 Oct. 2020, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/collections\/about-that-biden-tax-plan-meme\/. Ibrahim, Nur. Do Democrats Want Open Borders? Snopes, 17 June 2022, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/news\/2022\/06\/17\/do-democrats-want-open-borders\/. Inflation Is Spiking Around the World  Not Just in US. Snopes via The Conversation, 1 Aug. 2022, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/news\/2022\/08\/01\/inflation-us-world\/. Israel Hamas War Archives | Snopes.com. https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/tag\/israel-hamas_war\/. Kasprak, Alex. Did Biden Set US Back 50 Years on Energy Independence Progress? Snopes, 15 Feb. 2021, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/biden-energy-independence\/. Liles, Jordan. Did the Trump Admin Agree to Free 5,000 Taliban Prisoners? Snopes, 12 Dec. 2022, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/trump-5000-taliban-prisoners\/. Palma, Bethania. Top General Blasts Rep. Matt Gaetz for Offensive Comment About Military Being Woke. Snopes, 24 June 2021, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/news\/2021\/06\/24\/matt-gaetz-mark-milley-woke\/. Ukraine War Archives | Snopes.com. https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/tag\/russia-ukraine\/.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1_wui3C1G3xBKJAJOic7JAtyn5VrwTZAb"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_425","claim":"Are These 'Human Sleeves' Real?","posted":"12\/10\/2021","sci_digest":["These \"human sleeves\" were made for marketing purposes, not cloning. "],"justification":"In December 2021, a video circulated on social media that supposedly showed a \"human sleeve,\" an artificial replacement body that would allow a person to \"live\" for eternity by using their stored consciousness. The conspiratorial website \"Before Its News,\" for example, shared this video, claiming it showed a \"whistleblower's\" video of clones in Hollywood. However, the video, which can be viewed below, does not show a \"human sleeve\" or a clone. Instead, it features a marketing display for the show \"Altered Carbon.\" A posting of the \"human sleeve\" video went viral after it was shared on TikTok in October. This video shows a booth at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. While the presenters at this booth acted as if they were showcasing new cloning technology, it was really just a marketing ploy by Netflix for their new show \"Altered Carbon.\" The Wrap reported at the time: \"Wandering through the seemingly never-ending Las Vegas Convention Center on Tuesday, it was hard to miss the crowd gathered around the PsychaSec display. Hosts draped in all white were showing off two artificial bodies that, in a few years, humans could pay to trade their own subpar bodies for. At the same time, the host touted the company's ability to plant chips into a person's head and download every experience and memory they\u2019ve had. Sounds pretty trippy, right? Unfortunately, PsychaSec isn't real. But even the CIA would have had a hard time getting the booth hosts to admit it... I pulled aside another tall, attractive young host and told her to just give me the truth: this is just a cool ad for Netflix. She kept smiling and towed the 'it'll be out in a few years' line. I then pointed out that gullible people, like me, were walking away confused because they were displayed next to real products and wouldn't acknowledge Netflix at all. Finally, I got her to give me a wink, confirming it's all a put-on. Thank you. Here's another video of this \"Altered Carbon\" advertisement that features the same two \"human sleeves.\" In Engadget's write-up of the event, they also noted that Netflix's \"Psychasec\" booth may have been a little too convincing: \"Venture beyond tech whales like Samsung and Sony, beyond the rows of smart speakers and giant TVs, and you'll discover that there are weirder things to be found at CES. That might be why Netflix's Trojan horse public relations move, establishing a fictional vendor booth deep within the Las Vegas Convention Center, worked a little too well. Well, I cheated. I was already briefed (through a press release) that 'Psychasec' wasn't a genuine CES exhibitor, despite this full-fledged stall you see here. Nope, this is a fictional company from Altered Carbon, the next big-budget sci-fi series from Netflix, which seems to borrow heavily from Blade Runner, at least in visual delivery. The video of \"human sleeves\" does not show any real cloning technology. This video actually features a marketing stunt by Netflix for the series \"Altered Carbon\" that was put on display at CES in 2018.\" Burch, Sean. Netflix Really Wants You To Believe #PsychaSec Is Real. https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/ces2018-netflix-really-wants-you-to-believe-psychasec-is-real\/. Accessed 10 Dec. 2021. Johnson, Lauren. The Most Disturbing Booth at CES Is Actually an Ad for Netflix's New Sci-Fi Show. https:\/\/www.adweek.com\/performance-marketing\/the-most-disturbing-booth-at-ces-is-actually-an-ad-for-netflixs-new-sci-fi-show\/. Accessed 10 Dec. 2021. Netflix Hid a Fake Biotech Booth in the Middle of CES. Engadget, https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/2018-01-10-netflix-fake-ces-2018-altered-carbon.html. Accessed 10 Dec. 2021.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1as99hMhqik25g3mTxLM_E8HofhyIanJu","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_426","claim":"Trade agreements like NAFTA and permanent normal trade relations with China, which forced American workers to compete against people making pennies an hour, has resulted in the loss of 160,000 jobs here in Michigan.","posted":"03\/10\/2020","sci_digest":["Competition from China cost thousands of manufacturing jobs in the Midwest and the South., Exact numbers are hard to estimate, but independent researchers overall find significant job losses in Michigan linked to trade with Mexico and China., The Midwest fared worse, while the West and East coasts did better."],"justification":"Having lost his early lead in the delegate count to Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has a lot riding on his appeal to blue-collar workers. Speaking days ahead of the Michigan primary on NBC's Meet the Press, Sanders said his opposition to major trade deals marked a sharp difference between him and Biden, the former Delaware senator and vice president. Trade agreements like NAFTA and permanent normal trade relations with China, which forced American workers to compete against people making pennies an hour, have resulted in the loss of 160,000 jobs here in Michigan, Sanders said from Grand Rapids on March 8. \"I helped lead the effort, as you may recall, against these disastrous trade agreements. I worked with the unions, not with the CEOs of large corporations. On the other hand, Joe Biden strongly supported these agreements. While he voiced some reservations at the time, Biden voted for both bills: the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993 and normalization of trade with China in 2000.\" In this fact-check, we look at whether the two agreements cost Michigan 160,000 jobs. Teasing out the impact of trade deals can be difficult. There\u2019s a lot going on in the economy regardless of tariff agreements, including the 2008-09 financial crisis that plunged two of Detroit's hometown auto companies into bankruptcy. But overall, studies back up Sanders' claim. Sanders' point hinges on trade with two countries, Mexico and China. However, of the two, U.S. trade with China was much larger, and with that came a bigger impact. The studies Sanders relied on estimated Michigan's job losses at nearly 44,000 (as of 2010) due to NAFTA and about 112,000 due to China (as of 2018). When you add them together, you get 156,000, which is essentially Sanders' number. First, focusing just on China, the latest research by a group of economists from four universities offers a broad picture of what took place after 2000 when the United States granted it permanent normal trade status. The group's study doesn't put a number on Michigan's losses, but it does highlight its struggles. Interestingly, the study found that the ultimate effect on jobs nationwide was neutral, neither a gain nor a loss. However, among regions of the country, the upheaval was substantial. Both the type of jobs and the location of jobs shifted. \"Chinese competition reallocated employment from manufacturing to services, and from the U.S. heartland to the coasts,\" the report said. A Midwest state like Michigan was on the losing end of the deal. This research delved into the level of individual companies and found that large multinational companies offshored manufacturing jobs and expanded service jobs in areas such as research and management in the U.S. The study also found that the China effect disappeared after 2007. \"We find strong employment impacts from 2000 to 2007, but nothing since from 2008 to 2015,\" the authors wrote. Sanders is correct that both NAFTA and permanent normal trade relations with China exposed Michigan to competition from factories that paid their workers much less and spent less on worker safety and environmental protection. However, the manufacturing employment numbers reveal one of the challenges in drawing quick conclusions about the impact of the two trade deals. The job numbers show different paths after the passage of each trade agreement. (Passage of trade bills is marked in red.) After NAFTA, the number of manufacturing jobs rose to 888,000. After the China deal, the number fell to 638,000 (as of 2006 and before the Great Recession), a decline of 250,000 jobs. The raw numbers support the idea that the China impact was significant. For NAFTA, the analysis is more complicated. Economist Susan Houseman at the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research in Kalamazoo, Mich., said those rising manufacturing job numbers after NAFTA passed don't tell the whole story. She stated that the studies Sanders used are valid. \"The country was experiencing record job growth in the 1990s, so you wouldn't necessarily expect the number of manufacturing jobs to fall,\" Houseman said. \"Rather, you might expect them to grow more slowly.\" The fraction of all jobs that were in manufacturing did fall by one percentage point between 1993 and 2000, suggesting that NAFTA did more for sectors other than manufacturing. Houseman also noted that the NAFTA impacts would play out over time, as companies built new plants in Mexico, something that could not happen overnight. The analysis Sanders relied on came from economist Robert Scott at the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. For NAFTA, Scott took the rising U.S.-Mexico trade deficit and teased out how that translated into job effects at the state level. Between 1993 and 2010, accounting for the Great Recession, Scott found a loss of 43,600 jobs in Michigan. Houseman stated that this is a conservative figure. \"The types of calculations in this, if anything, may understate job losses,\" she said. \"I don't believe there is any basis for calling Sanders' claim of job losses for Michigan wrong.\" The primary caveat for Scott's estimate is that it's for 2010, which is a decade ago. Michigan's manufacturing sector has recovered a bit since then. However, for workers who lost their jobs during the first decade of the 2000s, the disruption was real. Even after rebounding, manufacturing remains well short of where it stood before NAFTA. Multiple studies also lend weight to Scott's overall findings of the impact on the Midwest from trade with China. Research by economists Justin Pierce at the Federal Reserve and Peter Schott at Yale University suggests that over 1 million jobs nationwide have been lost due to trade with China. Some economists argue that productivity gains played a major role in displacing manufacturing jobs, but recent work casts doubt on how productivity has been calculated. Studies of the impact of automation find that it has been significant, but much less than competition from China. The latest studies go to great lengths to filter out the various factors that have shaped jobs in states like Michigan, and the trade deals emerge as a potent force. While precision is challenging, one economist stated that if anything, those studies underestimate the job loss due to trade. We found four studies that concluded that both trade agreements hurt the manufacturing sector in Midwest states like Michigan. We rate this claim Mostly True.","issues":["National","Jobs","Trade"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_427","claim":"An approximate $5.3 million in economic losses occurred due to just a few hours of border closure. The potential economic impact could escalate to millions or even billions of dollars if the rhetoric of shutting down the border persists without taking into account its implications.","posted":"12\/03\/2018","sci_digest":[],"justification":"During a recent visit to the U.S.-Mexico border, Californias Democratic Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom claimed the Trump administrations temporary border closure last month cost $5.3 million in economic loss in the area and that future shutdowns could run into the billions of dollars. U.S. border officials on Nov. 25 stopped all traffic for several hours at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, which serves as the gateway between Tijuana and San Diego. Its the busiest land border crossing in the United States and among the busiest in the world. The six-hour shutdown happened as migrants from Central America protested just south of the crossing. A group later rushed a border fence and were met with tear gas fired by U.S. border agents, who said some threw rocks at them. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said in astatementthe same day that her agency will not hesitate to shut down ports of entry for security and public safety reasons, and would not tolerate this type of lawlessness. Days after the closure, heres what Newsom claimed at apress conferenceheld near the San Ysidro crossing: Every time, with respect, that there is a flippant comment about shutting down the border, it impacts the economy and the lives of hundreds of thousands if not millions of people that are reliant on that trade and commerce on a daily basis. [There was] an estimated $5.3 million of economic loss just for a few hours of shutting down the border. Youre talking about millions and millions of dollars  billions of dollars of economic consequence, if we continue with this rhetoric around shutting down the border without considering what that means. As the debate over the shutdown lingers, we wanted to know whether Newsom got his figures right about its economic impact. We set out on a fact check. U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents attend operational readiness exercises at the San Ysidro port of entry on the U.S.-Mexico border in November 2018. (AP Photo\/Ramon Espinosa) Our research An average of 90,000 people legally pass north through the San Ysidro crossing each day, 70,000 in cars and 20,000 by foot. Many work, go to school or shop in the community of San Ysidro, which is the southernmost portion of San Diego, and points north, serving as an economic engine for the region. Californias other border crossings include Otay Mesa, about 11 miles east, along with Tecate, an hours drive east, and two in Calexico in Imperial County. For the specific dollar loss from the Nov. 25 closure, Newsom appears to have relied on an estimate from Jason Wells, executive director of the San Ysidro Chamber of Commerce. In an interview with PolitiFact California, Wells said the $5.3 million loss figure is an estimate based on an average day of sales for the 650 businesses in the area during the Nov. 20 to Jan. 6 holiday period. The area is home to outlet malls, money exchanges and many immigration and tax services, all a short distance from the border. Wells said it draws between 97 and 99 percent of its customers from Mexico. The threat of violence at the border led owners of The Las Americas Premium Outlets, a shopping center next to the port of entry, for example, to shut down the mall that day. Wells said some businesses in the area believe the $5.3 million figure is conservative, given the shutdown happened the Sunday after Black Friday. He added that approximately 75 percent of the areas businesses closed within about 90 minutes of the 11:30 a.m. closure of the border crossing. Just in that one Sunday alone, because of the Christmas and holiday season and so forth, we lost $5.3 million. Just in that one day, Wells added on theSan Diego Union-Tribunespodcast,The Conversation. Tijuana itself lost another $6.9 million. So, just between Tijuana and San Ysidro [there] was $12.2 million lost in one day. And thats not even counting Chula Vista, National City, San Diego, LA, all those areas that were affected by the closure. Lynn Reaser, chief economist at San Diegos Point Loma Nazarene University, said at least some of the economic loss was probably recovered. At this point, the impact on San Ysidro may have been primarily temporary during the relatively brief stoppage, Reaser said in an email. Shoppers appeared to have returned to stores at the Las Americas Premium Outlet, which means that sales could have been primarily delayed. Of course, if border closings start recurring, the picture could become much more grave. Wells said its our hope and prayers that the $5.3 million was made up by shoppers who returned to San Ysidro. Newsom didnt say anything about the potential recovery of this loss, but was generally on the mark. We also examined his claim that future shutdowns could cause billions, a figure thats a bit more difficult to assess. Billions in losses? Extended border closings and delays could mount to billions of dollars in economic losses over the coming months, Paola Avila, a vice president at the San Diego Chamber of Commerce, told Bloomberg in a recentarticle. The uncertainty of border closures occurring at any time is a substantial economic threat for our region, she said. Our economies are inextricably linked. We produce together, we work together, we have families together, we have an integrated supply chain worth $2.5 billion. Jerry Sanders, the former Republican mayor of San Diego and current head of the citys regional Chamber of Commerce, echoed those sentiments in aNew York Timesarticle. If people are staying home because they are worried, the economic impact is obviously huge  we have 73 million crossings a year and we know that the regions $255 billion gross regional product depends on cross-border commerce, Sanders told the paper. Newsoms spokesman said the news reports supported the claim. Our ruling California Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom claimed there was an estimated $5.3 million in economic loss from the temporary closure of the San Ysidro border crossing that separates San Diego and Tijuana on Nov. 25. He added billions of dollars are potentially at stake should future closures take place. Newsoms $5.3 million figure was supported by the head of the San Ysidro Chamber of Commerce, which represents hundreds of businesses on the U.S. side of the border. A leading economist in the region said San Ysidro is likely to recover at least some of that loss when shoppers who delayed their visits return, as long as there arent additional border closures. Newsom can also point to warnings from business groups about billions of dollars potentially being lost in future shutdowns. San Diegos regional chamber of commerce, including the citys former Republican mayor, said future closures could threaten the billions of dollars in economic activity that flows through the international gateway. This portion of Newsoms claim, however, assumes a worst-case scenario of a prolonged weeks- or months-long closure. While President Trump has threatened to close the border, theres been no evidence that his administration is seeking an extended shutdown. We found Newsoms overall statement was accurate but could use some clarifications. We rated it Mostly True. MOSTLY TRUE The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information.","issues":["Immigration","Economy","Public Safety","California"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/static.politifact.com\/politifact\/photos\/border_closure_san_ysidro_AP_1.jpg","image_caption":"Every time, with respect, that there is a flippant comment about shutting down the border, it impacts the economy and the lives of hundreds of thousands if not millions of people that are reliant on that trade and commerce on a daily basis.  [There was] an estimated $5.3 million of economic loss just for a few hours of shutting down the border."}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_428","claim":"Did Native Americans Shoot Down an Airplane with Arrows?","posted":"05\/04\/2017","sci_digest":["Social media posts claim this plane was shot down by \"natives\" protesting an oil pipeline in North Dakota."],"justification":"A photograph purportedly showing an airplane with dozens of wooden arrows stuck into its underside is frequently shared online, accompanied by various fabricated backstories. One such story claims that Greenpeace supplied the arrows as a more environmentally friendly alternative to bullets, as the natives protest against the pipelines being built. In April 2014, the website Fellowship of the Minds shared the same image, asserting that it depicted President Obama's plane after he undertook a flight over a reservation in Oklahoma. However, this photograph does not show a plane that was attacked by Native Americans. Instead, it captures an installation created by the art collective Los Carpinteros. The piece, entitled Avio (Plane), was displayed at the Faena Art Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in May 2012. Through an economy of improvisation and precariousness, the artists' work utilizes industrial objects to ironically challenge the notions of civilization and the mechanisms of perception by juxtaposing affluent Western society against a rationed society with minimal consumption. An imposing Piper Comanche aircraft pierced by wooden arrows makes up Avio, a large-scale installation that alludes to the development and conquest of space, symbolizing the cultural shock caused by technological progress in various civilizations. Stolz, George. \"Los Carpinteros: Seeing Double.\" Art News. 24 June 2013. Hosmer, Katie. \"Hundreds of Wooden Arrows Pierce Airplane from Below.\" My Modern Met. 24 June 2013.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1w5Rsq-H_s-uccyarBxQdWiQ-h9VJR0Sc","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1alwSSKkfCCBE6AQo5fZGIkGwDRR__eSr","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_429","claim":"Says Hillary Clinton supported North American Free Trade Agreement), and she supported Chinas entrance into the World Trade Organization. She supported the job-killing trade deal with South Korea. She supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership.","posted":"07\/21\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"At the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Donald Trump repeated his months-long criticism of Hillary Clintons past support of free trade deals, a position in stark contrast to his own. (Trump says his superior negotiating skills will result in better deals.) She supported (the North American Free Trade Agreement), and she supported Chinas entrance into the World Trade Organization  another one of her husbands colossal mistakes. She supported the job-killing trade deal with South Korea. She supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership. This is largely accurate, but its worth noting that Clinton no longer supports NAFTA or TPP, nor is it clear that the South Korean deal is a job-killer. Lets go through Clintons position on these deals one by one. NAFTA As first lady, Clintonspoke favorablyof NAFTA  the North American Free Trade Agreement  signed by President Bill Clinton. I think everybody is in favor of free and fair trade. I think NAFTA is proving its worth, said Clinton, according to a 1996 Associated Press report. Creating a free trade zone in North America  the largest free trade zone in the world  would expand U.S. exports, create jobs and ensure that our economy was reaping the benefits, not the burdens, of globalization, shewrotein her 2003 memoir,Living History, which the Trump campaign cited in a press release. Although unpopular with labor unions, expanding trade opportunities was an important administration goal. But a few years later, shechanged her position on the dealduring her first White House bid. In 2007, she called NAFTA a mistake and said it hurt a lot of American workers. Why the change of heart? According to the 2008 Clinton camp, she was always skeptical of the deal. But the first lady was not supposed to deviate from the position of the administration, Robert Shapiro, the undersecretary of commerce under Bill Clinton,toldthe Huffington Post. Chinas inclusion in the WTO While campaigning for Senate in 2000, Clinton voiced reservations about Chinas entrance into the WTO, but was supportive overall. Heres what she said at aCNN forumin April of that year, which was cited by the Trump campaign: I share the concerns that many of my supporters in organized labor have expressed to me, because I do think we have to make sure that we improve labor rights, we improve environmental standards in our bilateral and our multilateral trade agreements. But on balance, I've looked at this, I've studied it, I think it is in the interests of America and American workers that we provide the option for China to go into the WTO. Right now, we are trading with China. We have a huge trade deficit with China. The agreement that has been negotiated between our two countries would open their markets to us in a way that they are not yet open, and in fact, for many large manufactured products, like automobiles, we would have the first chance to really get in and compete in that marketplace. (According to news reports from 1999, then-Reform Party member Trump opposed the United States inclusion in the WTO, period.) China became a member of the WTO in December 2001, with the support of President George W. Bush. Since then, Clinton hasnt reversed her position, as far as we can tell, but hasadvocatedfor using the WTO to bring trade cases against China. (This is alsoTrumps current position.) Deal with South Korea During her 2008 presidential run, Clinton opposed a pending free trade deal with South Korea (as well as other deals with Colombia and Panama). While I value the strong relationship the United States enjoys with South Korea, I believe that this agreement is inherently unfair, shetoldthe AFL-CIO in June 2007. The South Korean agreement does not create a level playing field for American carmakers, she said in a November 2007campaign statement. But as secretary of state, she supported the deal advocated by the administration. At an April 2011 gathering of business leaders in Seoul, Clintonsaidthe deal was profoundly in America's strategic interest and a priority for me, for President Obama and for the entire administration. (In 2008, Obama alsowas against the deal.) When the deal entered into force in March 2012, Clintontoutedit as a historic milestone that will provide a significant economic boost to both of our economies and strengthen the U.S. partnership with a key ally in a strategically important region. Does this deal kill jobs, as Trump says? The jury is still out. On one hand, the Economic Policy Institute, a labor-focused think tank, which Trump has cited, has found that the South Korean deal cost about60,000U.S. jobs. On the other, the Obama administration hasarguedthe deal actually creates jobs. Our friends at theWashington PostFact-Checker, meanwhile, looked at the the evidence andfoundboth estimates of job losses and job gains are fishy. An independentanalysisby economists at Tufts University and the University of Michigan projected a decline in manufacturing and service jobs and an increase in agriculture and food, beverage and tobacco jobs. But overall, the net impact on employment would be zero. TPP As wevedetailedquiteextensively, Clinton once hailed TPP as setting the gold standard in trade agreements during her time in the Obama administration, but she came out in opposition during her 2016 bid. Though shes always said the details needed to be hammered out, her comments about the deal were largely supportive from 2010 to 2013. Here are some of the words she used to describe TPP: exciting, innovative, ambitious, groundbreaking, cutting-edge, high quality, high standard and gold standard. In October 2015, Clinton flip-flopped and opposed it, telling PBS, I dont believe its going to meet the high bar I have set. Our ruling Trump said Clinton supported NAFTA, and she supported Chinas entrance into the World Trade Organization. She supported the job-killing trade deal with South Korea. She has supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Trump is right that Clinton once supported NAFTA and TPP and has yet to revoke her support for Chinas inclusion in the WTO or the deal with South Korea. But there are caveats. Clinton no longer supports NAFTA or TPP, and its not entirely clear that trade with South Korea has killed jobs. Trumps statement is accurate because its carefully phrased, but it needs additional context. We rate it Mostly True. https:\/\/www.sharethefacts.co\/share\/68c1a4d5-56ad-4a84-87b6-564b5037df5b","issues":["National","Candidate Biography","Trade"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_430","claim":"I'll Care If ...","posted":"08\/24\/2005","sci_digest":["Did a Canadian housewife pen the 'I'll care if...' polemic?"],"justification":"Claim:  A Canadian housewife penned the 'I'll care if .\" polemic.     Examples: Could not have said this any better myself! especially today  The lady that wrote this letter is Pam Foster of Pamela Foster and Associates in Atlanta. She's been in business since 1980 doing interior design and home planning. She recently wrote a letter to a family member serving in Iraq. Read it! ===================== WHAT'S ALL THE FUSS? \"Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we? Was it or was it not started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001? Were people from all over the world, mostly Americans, not brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan, across the Potomac from our nation's capitol and in a field in Pennsylvania? Did nearly three thousand men, women and children die a horrible, burning or crushing death that day, or didn't they? And I'm supposed to care that a copy of the Koran was \"desecrated\" when an overworked American soldier kicked it or got it wet? Well, I don't. I don't care at all! I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 9\/11. I'll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere possession of which is a crime in Saudi Arabia. I'll care when Abu Musab al-Zarqawi tells the world he is sorry for hacking off Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through his gurgling, slashed throat. I'll care when the cowardly so-called \"insurgents\" in Iraq come out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques. I'll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search of nirvana care about the innocent children within range of their suicide bombs. I'll care when the American media stops pretending that their First Amendment liberties are somehow derived from international law instead of the United States Constitution's Bill of Rights. I'll care when Clinton-appointed judges stop ordering my government to release photos of the abuses at Abu Ghraib, which are sure to set off the Islamic extremists just as Newsweek's lies did a few weeks ago. In the meantime, when I hear a story about a brave marine roughing up an Iraqi terrorist to obtain information, know this: I don't care. When I see a fuzzy photo of a pile of naked Iraqi prisoners who have been humiliated in what amounts to a college hazing incident, rest assured that I don't care. When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank that I don't care. When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran and a prayer mat, and fed \"special\" food that is paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being \"mishandled,\" you can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts that I don't care. And oh, by the way, I've noticed that sometimes it's spelled \"Koran\" and other times \"Quran.\" Well, Jimmy Crack Corn and  you guessed it  I don't care!\" I don't give a sheet either about those sheet heads!!!!! [Collected via e-mail, December 2010] British Housewife Speaks Out Thought you might like to read this letter to the editor of a British national newspaper. Ever notice how some people just seem to know how to write a letter?. Here is a woman who should run for Prime Minister! Written by a housewife, to her daily newspaper. This is one ticked off lady. 'Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we? Was it or was it not started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores in July 2002, and in New York on 11 Sept 2001, and have continually threatened to do so since? Were people from all over the world, not brutally murdered that day in London , and in downtown Manhattan , and in a field in Pennsylvania? Did nearly three thousand men, women and children die a horrible, burning or crushing death that day, or didn't they? And I'm supposed to care that a few Taliban were claiming to be tortured by a justice system of the nation they come from and are fighting against in a brutal insurgency. I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 9\/11 and 7\/7. I'll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere belief of which is a crimepunishable by beheading in Afghanistan I'll care when these thugs tell the world they are sorry for hacking off Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through his gurgling slashed throat. I'll care when the cowardly so-called 'insurgents' in Afghanistan come out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques and behind women and children. I'll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search of Nirvana care about the innocent children within range of their suicide bombs. I'll care when the British media stops pretending that their freedom of speech on stories is more important than the lives of the soldiers on the ground or their families waiting at home to hear about them when something happens. In the meantime, when I hear a story about a British soldier roughing up an Insurgent terrorist to obtain information, know this: I don't care. When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take this to the bank: I don't care. When I hear that a prisoner - who was issued a Koran and a prayer mat, and 'fed special food' that is paid for by my taxes - is complaining that his holy book is being 'mishandled,' you can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts: I don't care. And oh, by the way, I've noticed that sometimes it's spelled 'Koran' and other times 'Quran.' Well, believe me!! you guessed it ...... I don't care!! If you agree with this viewpoint, pass this on to all your E-mail friends. Sooner or later, it'll get to the people responsible for this ridiculous behaviour! If you don't agree, then by all means hit the delete button. Should you choose the latter, then please don't complain when more atrocities committed by radical Muslims happen here in our great country! And may I add: 'Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. Our soldiers don't have that problem.' I have another quote that I would like to add, AND.......I hope you forward all this. Only five defining forces have ever offered to die for you: 1. Jesus Christ 2. The British Soldier. 3. The Canadian Soldier. 4. The US Soldier, and 5. The Australian Soldier One died for your soul, the other 4 for your freedom. YOU MIGHT WANT TO PASS THIS ON, AS MANY SEEM TO FORGET ABOUT ALL OF THEM. AMEN Origins:  Although the first example quoted above has come to be attributed to a Pam Foster who resides in Atlanta and the second to an unnamed British housewife, the article is actually the work of Doug Patton, a freelance columnist and political speechwriter who lives near Omaha, Nebraska. The first e-mail-circulated version left off his two opening paragraphs and added a closing \"I don't give a sheet either about those sheet heads!\" statement that wasn't in his original, but it is otherwise a faithful copy of his article, which was first published on the gopusa.com web site on 6 June 2005 under the title \"Ask Me if I Care About 'Mishandling' of Koran\" and which has since been reproduced on a number of other web sites. Doug Patton published Pamela Foster said this of how her name came to be associated with Doug Patton's article:     The item has subsequently come to be attributed to a variety of unnamed housewives, each of whom supposedly wrote the bit as a letter to the editor of her local paper. A version appeared in March 2007 that attributed the piece to one of them in New Jersey was prefaced \"Here is a woman who should run for President!\" The text of the original \"I'll care if\" polemic was shortened a little, and tacked onto the end was the bit about defining forces \"which have ever offered to die for you\" that also appears in two other Internet-circulated items: A variant of a 2005 piece about complaints made about the noise of a military fly-over in New Mexico and reaction to same, and a version of a pithy quote attributed to British Prime Minister Tony Blair. fly-over Tony Blair In March 2008, the (shortened) item once again circulated, that time attributed to an unnamed (\"pissed off\") housewife in the Canadian province of New Brunswick, with the forward prefaced with a \"Here is a woman who should run for Prime Minister!\"and the remainder of the original piece suitably altered to replace American references with Canadian ones. The \"defining forces which have ever offered to die for you\" enumeration was expanded from the previous twosome of \"Jesus Christ and the American G.I.\" into a list of five: Jesus Christ, the Canadian soldier, the British soldier, the Dutch soldier, and the American soldier. In July 2010 the unnamed housewife was relocated yet again, that time to Britain, and again proclaimed as \"Here is a woman who should run for Prime Minister!\" Textual changes were once again made in the piece to replace American (or Canadian) references with British ones, and the \"who will die for you\" list was updated thusly: Jesus Christ, the British soldier, the Canadian soldier, the US soldier, and the Australian soldier. We're betting the unnamed housewife will next show up in Australia. Last updated:  7 August 2013 <!-- Sources:    Voight, Jon.   \"An Open Letter to President Obama from Jon Voight.\"   The Washington Times.  22 June 2010.-->","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1fqoHLXg6SIeZ39TC-bJ1lqK8j6eHvqWl","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_431","claim":"Boeing 797 can be expressed as \"the Boeing 797 aircraft.\"","posted":"01\/16\/2008","sci_digest":["Viral image dating from 2006 purports to show a new Boeing \"797\" blended-wing airliner."],"justification":"Although Boeing may someday introduce a commercial airliner designated with the number 797, and although the company's Phantom Works (advanced research and development) unit may have researched the potential of blended-wing-body (BWB) aircraft design for military applications, Boeing is not currently developing a blended-wing aircraft for commercial use, nor does the image displayed below represent any aircraft (or prototype thereof) designed or produced by that company: Phantom Works researched BWB   Boeing to take on Airbus with (1000 seat) giant 797 Blended Wing plane Boeing is preparing a 1000 passenger jet that could reshape the Air travel industry for the next 100 years. The radical Blended Wing design has been developed by Boeing in cooperation with the NASA Langley Research Centre.The mammoth plane will have a wing span of 265 feet compared to the 747s 211 feet,and is designed to fit within the newly created terminals used for the 555 seat Airbus A380, which is 262 feet wide.The new 797 is in direct response to the Airbus A380 which has racked up 159 orders, but has not yet flown any passengers. Boeing decide to kill its 747X stretched super jumbo in 2003 after little interest was shown by airline companies, but has continued to develop the ultimate Airbus crusher 797 for years at its Phantom Works research facility in Long Beach, Calif. The Airbus A380 has been in the works since 1999 and has accumulated $13 billion in development costs, which gives Boeing a huge advantage now that Airbus has committed to the older style tubular aircraft for decades to come. There are several big advantages to the blended wing design, the most important being the lift to drag ratio which is expected to increase by an amazing 50%, with overall weight reduced by 25%, making it an estimated 33% more efficient than the A380, and making Airbuss $13 billion dollar investment look pretty shaky. High body rigidity is another key factor in blended wing aircraft, It reduces turbulence and creates less stress on the air frame which adds to efficiency, giving the 797 a tremendous 8800 nautical mile range with its 1000 passengers flying comfortably at mach .88 or 654 mph (+-1046km\/h) cruising speed another advantage over the Airbus tube-and-wing designed A380s 570 mph (912 km\/h)The exact date for introduction is unclear, yet the battle lines are clearly drawn in the high-stakes war for civilian air supremacy. This image is a conceptual picture from a Popular Science article about the future of aviation (one which proved so popular that it was made available for purchase in poster form) and has been circulated since at least early 1996 in fictitious articles proclaiming it to be Boeing's response to competition from the Airbus A380 in the commercial airliner business. articles A Boeing company blog produced by Randy Baseler, former vice president of marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, tackled this subject back in November 2006: tackled From Boulder, Colorado, Walter brings up a topic we frequently get questioned about: the \"blended wing\" concept. Earlier this year an image of a blended wing \"797\" made the rounds of the Internet, and got speculation swirling that Boeing has this in the works. Is there any truth to the emails showing a blended wing 1,000-passenger concept that is dubbed a Boeing 797? Makes sense that the airline industry would head this direction some day, but it just sounds too good to be true! Yes, too good to be true, indeed, Walter. Someone was having a bit of fun with PhotoShop perhaps. Boeing is not planning to build a 1,000 passenger commercial airplane dubbed the \"797,\" based on the blended wing body (BWB) concept or any other futuristic concept. It's certainly not in our commercial market forecast, which goes out for 20 years. We think the commercial airplane market favors point-to-point routes, and we're developing the 787 as the perfect match to help meet that demand. Glen, from Warrington, Pennsylvania brings up the same subject: Is there a blended wing in the works? Are there floor plans of it? No, not for a commercial airplane. But having said that, I should point out that Boeing Phantom Works, the company's advanced research and development group, tells me it is conducting research on the BWB concept with NASA and the U.S. Air Force. They're working to better understand what they describe as the BWB's \"fundamental edge-of-the-envelope flight dynamics\" and structural characteristics. The Air Force is interested in the BWB concept for its potential as a flexible, long-range, high-capacity military aircraft. As part of the research, Phantom Works has built a scale model for wind-tunnel testing of the concept's low-speed flying characteristics. There also are plans to flight-test the scale model next year. In 2017, Boeing released a teaser image at the Paris Air Show hyping a medium-range, \"middle-market airplane\" under development that industry observers unofficially christened \"Boeing 797,\" but that was neither the real name of the aircraft nor did the visualization include a blended-wing design. image Baseler, Randy.  \"Air Mail.\"\r  Randy's Journal.  1 November 2006. Ostrower, Jon.  \"World Gets First Peek at Boeing '797.'\"\r  CNN Money.  20 June 2017. Boeing.  \"Boeing to Begin Ground Testing of X-48B Blended Wing Body Concept.\"\r 27 October 2006. NewTechSpy.  \"Boeing to Take on Airbus with (1,000 Seat) Giant 797 Blended Wing Plane.\"\r  24 April 2006.","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1NWbWOrr03ppYx5QUcRw2jQ2dWOCK7g8_"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_432","claim":"Rowan Atkinson Death Hoax","posted":"07\/14\/2016","sci_digest":["A frequently recirculated Facebook hoax has convinced many people that actor Rowan Atkinson (\"Mr. Bean\") either committed suicide or died in a car accident, but he is alive and well."],"justification":"Another celebrity death hoax reared its head in July 2016, then again in March 2017, and yet again in July 2018, as posts circulated on Facebook sharing the news that British actor and comedian Rowan Atkinson, best known for playing the character Mr. Bean on television and in movies, was dead, having committed suicide or died in a traffic accident at age 58. Clue #1 that the information is false: In the viral graphic, Atkinson's birth year was given as 1995. If true, that would put him in his twenties. Clue #2 that the information is false: In the viral graphic, Atkinson's age was given as 58. In reality, he was 62 at the time (as of 2017), having been born in 1955. Clue #3 that the information is false: Nowhere in any legitimate media has it been reported that Rowan Atkinson passed away. In fact, Atkinson was currently starring in the third installment of the Johnny English comedy film series, set to be released in October 2018. The errors and inconsistencies in the hoax reports of his death are attributable to the fact that a virtually identical hoax has circulated before and has been repurposed, with little or no attention to detail, in 2016 and thereafter. The most important thing to know about it is that the hoax is also a \"clickjacking\" scam. If you click on the blurb expecting to see a video or get more information, what you will find instead is that you have been redirected to another website that will attempt to get you to share your personal info, request access to your Facebook account, demand that you fill out a survey before proceeding, or all of the above.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1r9ddEHvyMZMtC_3_J6xvzEY7W-MyGViB","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=14sjHVYyF3Vn573Hgzxp1CwpFeGol0E1z","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_433","claim":"Yep, This Is a Real (and Stunning) Image of the Sun","posted":"12\/12\/2023","sci_digest":["\"The Sun is NOT ok right now  read one social media post."],"justification":"An image post shared to X on Dec. 3, 2023, that had garnered more than 2 million views as of this publication claims to depict the sun in pretty astonishing form. post  (Screengrab\/X) The image above was captured by NASAs Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) on Dec. 2, 2023, through the projects Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA), which captures an image of the sun every .75 seconds.  Solar Dynamics Observatory Because the image is genuine, we have rated the claim as True.  However, the picture does not depict something abnormal, or NOT ok, as the above post suggested. Rather, the image showed a coronal hole, a large area of the suns corona  the outermost part of the suns atmosphere  that is less dense and cooler than its surrounding area, resulting in a dark-colored gap in imaging data.  Coronal holes are normal and can develop at any time and location on the sun, according to NASA. Solar winds near coronal holes can escape more readily into space, which results in relatively high-speed wind streams. Coronal holes do have the potential for escalated geomagnetic activity and possible solar storms, so forecasters analyze and track their activity closely.  NASA  (NASA) Snopes traced the image above using credit information that was visible along the bottom of the picture. It read, SDO\/AIA- 193 2023-12-02 02:49:16.  SDO is an institution self-described as being designed to help us understand the Suns influence on Earth and Near-Earth space by studying the solar atmosphere on small scales of space and time. SDO was launched on Feb. 11, 2010.  To find the original publication of the solar image, we searched the SDO data archives using the parameters shown and found a movie version of the image made up of 500 frames, including the one featured above. Those still images have been archived here. data archives movie version here AIA is one of three experiments launched as part of SDO to perform several measurements that characterize how and why the sun varies. Together, the three instruments observe the sun simultaneously, collecting measurements to better characterize the processes of the sun to:  one of three experiments perform several measurements In the first decade of its use, SDO captured over 20 million gigabytes of data. Below is a time-lapse compilation of 10 years' worth of data published by NASA Goddard in 2022 for the 10th anniversary of the SDO deployment:   Coronal Holes | NOAA \/ NWS Space Weather Prediction Center. https:\/\/www.swpc.noaa.gov\/phenomena\/coronal-holes. Accessed 9 Dec. 2023. Https:\/\/Twitter.Com\/DrBrianKeating\/Status\/1731372205093925042. X (Formerly Twitter), https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrBrianKeating\/status\/1731372205093925042. Accessed 9 Dec. 2023. SDO | Solar Dynamics Observatory. https:\/\/sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov\/. Accessed 9 Dec. 2023. https:\/\/sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov\/data\/aiahmi\/. Accessed 9 Dec. 2023. https:\/\/sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov\/mission\/instruments.php. Accessed 9 Dec. 2023. https:\/\/www.spaceweather.com\/archive.php?day=03&month=12&view=1&year=2023. Accessed 9 Dec. 2023.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1fFv15yUB5O5qgzoe2HL6XdVN3mmJnSJu","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1cG0S6XxLaWqfTL7XkBazdkmW8qOb2YMu","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_434","claim":"Is there a plan by Biden and the Democrats to 'monitor' bank and Cash App accounts?","posted":"12\/21\/2021","sci_digest":["Social media posts mischaracterized how the American Rescue Plan will affect users of cash apps like Venmo."],"justification":"Various social media posts circulating in late December 2021 claimed that thanks to coronavirus stimulus legislation known as the American Rescue Plan, U.S. President Joe Biden's administration and Democratic legislators would begin \"spying\" or \"snooping\" on users of cash apps like PayPal and Venmo. Here is an example of one such post: example   The truth is, unsurprisingly, more nuanced, but the bottom line is that, contrary to what the above Twitter posts state, the effect of the legislation in question isn't that the Biden administration or Democrats will be \"tapping into\" or \"spying on\" bank or cash app accounts. This is a misleading characterization. What the legislation does is significantly lower the threshold for reporting taxable transactions made using cash apps like Venmo, PayPal, or Zelle for goods and services to the IRS. And when you reach that threshold, the app companies will then be required to send a tax form called a 1099-K to both you and the IRS. A 1099-K is, according to PayPal, an \"informational tax form that is used to report goods and services payments received by a business or individual in the calendar year.\" PayPal As of this writing, the current threshold for such reporting is $20,000 and 200 payments in goods and services. Come Jan. 1, 2022, that reporting threshold will drop down to $600. threshold This could have a significant impact on platform users' tax returns. Here's how Bloomberg Tax described how users might experience the change: Bloomberg Tax For example, a model train collector may have paid $5,000 for model train pieces over several years that they now sell for $8,000, and the marketplace that introduced the seller to the buyer and through which the sale took place may charge the seller a total fee of $800. It may cost the model train seller $200 in postage to send the pieces to its buyers. The Form 1099-K that the seller will receive from the TPSO will report $8,000 in gross proceeds paid. However, the sellers taxable gain from that sale would only be $2,000. As a result, collectors and other online sellers will need to keep extensive records of their expenses going forward to avoid over-reporting of income and overpayment of tax. Also, consider the alternativea teenager who walks dogs to earn extra money. If their income in 2022 exceeds $600, their expenses may be limited to the fees charged by the website that connects them to pet owners, but they will owe income taxand possibly self-employment taxon the income they earn. According to PayPal, which owns Venmo, the change doesn't affect people who use the apps for personal transactions, like paying a friend back for your share of dinner, gifts, or chipping in for trips. PayPal also states that its app allows users to categorize their own transactions as personal versus rendering payment for \"goods and services.\" PayPal Business Users on Cash Apps Will Begin Receiving Tax Forms. Heres What You Need to Know. WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather, 14 Oct. 2021, https:\/\/www.wjhl.com\/news\/business-users-on-cash-apps-to-begin-receiving-tax-forms-what-you-need-to-know\/. Pflieger, Deborah. \"New Form 1099 Reporting Coming in 2022,\" Bloomberg Tax, 15 Dec. 2021, https:\/\/news.bloombergtax.com\/tax-insights-and-commentary\/new-form-1099-reporting-coming-in-2022. New U.S. Tax Reporting Requirements: Your Questions Answered. PayPal Newsroom, 4 Nov. 2021, https:\/\/newsroom.paypal-corp.com\/2021-11-04-New-US-Tax-Reporting-Requirements-Your-Questions-Answered. \"PayPal and Venmo Taxes: What You Need to Know About P2P Platforms.\" TurboTax, 27 Nov. 2021, https:\/\/turbotax.intuit.com\/tax-tips\/self-employment-taxes\/paypal-and-venmo-taxes-what-you-need-to-know-about-p2p-platforms\/L5DNjOUM1.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Sn6v9ZK7b5q2falG8SQZq5RPRe6tsTd4"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_435","claim":"Was a GoFundMe Page Established for Brett Kavanaugh?","posted":"10\/05\/2018","sci_digest":["Several GoFundMe accounts were opened in the Supreme Court nominee's name during his Senate confirmation hearings, raising more than $600,000 in donations."],"justification":"The fate of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh hung in the balance in early October 2018 as the Senate Judiciary Committee awaited the results of an FBI investigation into allegations that he had committed a sexual assault some 30 years prior\u2014allegations that Kavanaugh angrily denied during his Senate testimony. The Senate was already sharply divided along party lines regarding the urgency of pushing ahead with the confirmation, with Democrats demanding a full and unimpeded investigation into the charges and Republicans accusing the Democrats of resorting to delaying tactics and attempting to destroy Kavanaugh's reputation. Public opinion was also divided, with 45 percent of Americans saying they believed Kavanaugh's accuser, Professor Christine Blasey Ford, and 33 percent saying they believed Kavanaugh, according to an opinion poll taken four days after their testimonies. This clash of opinions played out on social media, where uncivil debates raged as each faction claimed the moral high ground and accused the other of lies and hypocrisy. A meme shared on October 1 took aim at Kavanaugh by calling out a GoFundMe account supposedly established in his and his family's name. The implication, of course, was that as a presumably wealthy and privileged member of the Washington elite, Judge Kavanaugh didn't need a fundraising account. Other social media users made the same point: \"Yes, a GoFundMe page has raised over $100,000 for poor Brett Kavanaugh. That's right, some people think he needs money even though he has a job, government bodyguards, and will either soon be a Supreme Court justice or he will get a six-figure book deal.\" Whether or not it addressed an actual financial need on his part (press reports suggest that Kavanaugh, though by no means poor, is less well off than several current members of the Supreme Court), a number of Kavanaugh supporters did launch GoFundMe accounts in his name in late September and early October. The most successful of these had raised more than $600,000 by October 5. It was opened by John Hawkins of North Carolina, who runs a partisan news and opinion website called Right Wing News. In an introductory note on the GoFundMe page, Hawkins explained the thinking behind it as follows: \"Like many decent people from both parties, I have been disgusted by the unsubstantiated 36-year-old smears aimed at Brett Kavanaugh. We live in a country where 'innocent until proven guilty' is supposed to mean something; yet Brett Kavanaugh's reputation is being dragged through the mud while his family is facing non-stop death threats. This is a horrible way to treat a good man who has dedicated his life to public service. So many unethical people are giving unprovable 36-year-old accusations the same weight as six FBI background checks, hundreds of hours of hearings, and testimony under oath. It is disgraceful. What I'd like to do is raise money for Brett Kavanaugh's family to use for security or however they see fit. All of the money collected will go to Brett Kavanaugh's family or, alternately, if they refuse to accept it, to a charity of their choice. I have already reached out to a contact who should be able to put me in touch with Brett Kavanaugh's family. If he can't do it, I have plenty of other contacts who should be able to make it happen. I will update this page after I have talked with his family. I hope you will show your support for a good man who has been treated very, very badly.\" Hawkins posted updates chronicling his efforts to get in touch with the Kavanaugh family to discuss disbursing the funds. After many unsuccessful attempts, he finally spoke to one of the judge's staffers, who told him that although the family was aware of the GoFundMe account and \"extremely appreciative\" of the donations, it would be a while before they could address the question of whether or not Kavanaugh, as a political appointee, could accept the money. On October 30, Hawkins posted an update that included an \"official statement\" from Kavanaugh's representatives saying he would not accept the funds: \"Justice Kavanaugh did not authorize the use of his name to raise funds in connection with the GoFundMe campaign. He was not able to do so for judicial ethics reasons. Judicial ethics rules caution judges against permitting the use of the prestige of judicial office for fundraising purposes. Justice Kavanaugh will not accept any proceeds from the campaign, nor will he direct that any proceeds from the campaign be provided to any third party. Although he appreciates the sentiment, Justice Kavanaugh requests that you discontinue the use of his name for any fundraising purpose.\" GoFundMe accounts were also started for Kavanaugh's accuser, Christine Blasey Ford. The most successful of those had accumulated more than $540,000 in donations as of October 5. A note from Ford posted on the GoFundMe page expressed her appreciation to all those contributing: \"I feel like all of you who have made a contribution are on this journey with me, which is very heartening. And some journey it has been and continues to be. We have already had to move four times, our movements are limited even with security, and the threats are ongoing. Thanks to you, I am able to feel safe, my family can be together, and my children can continue to go to school.\" On November 21, Ford announced the closure of the GoFundMe account, pledging to donate any unused funds to trauma survivors: \"The funds you have sent through GoFundMe have been a godsend. Your donations have allowed us to take reasonable steps to protect ourselves against frightening threats, including physical protection and security for me and my family, and to enhance the security for our home. We used your generous contributions to pay for a security service, which began on September 19 and has recently begun to taper off; a home security system; housing and security costs incurred in Washington, D.C.; and local housing for part of the time we have been displaced. Part of the time we have been able to stay with our security team in a residence generously loaned to us. With immense gratitude, I am closing this account to further contributions. All funds unused after completion of security expenditures will be donated to organizations that support trauma survivors. I am currently researching organizations where the funds can best be used. We will use this space to let you know when that process is complete.\"","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1cwLHbZjPeWOHjZF397037t8euEegwWG2","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_436","claim":"These guys are now pretty much living up to the @BruceRauner standard. And falling dismally short of the @MittRomney standard. Even Romney released his full tax returns.","posted":"12\/04\/2017","sci_digest":[],"justification":"After Democratic gubernatorial candidates J.B. Pritzker and Chris Kennedy released only summaries of their income tax returns on Nov. 27, rival Daniel Biss wasted no time criticizing them for what they did not make public. As Gov. Bruce Rauner has done since first becoming a candidate in 2013, Pritzker and Kennedy released their federal and state 1040 forms, which reveal only basic details of their tax situations. The substance of returns, especially for wealthy taxpayers like Pritzker, Kennedy, and Rauner, lies in an array of schedules and attachments to those 1040s that illustrate how they made their money, managed their wealth, donated to charity, and reduced their tax burdens by leveraging breaks often used by the wealthy. Neither Pritzker, Kennedy, nor Rauner has been willing to share such revealing information with voters. These candidates are now essentially living up to the @BruceRauner standard while falling dismally short of the @MittRomney standard. \"Even Romney released his full tax returns,\" Biss said in one of many tweets he issued on the topic that day. In April, Biss, a Democratic state senator from Evanston, released five years' worth of full tax returns, including Form 1040 cover sheets and attachments detailing deductions, supplemental income, and credits. They showed Biss and his wife, Karin Steinbrueck, with quite modest income, averaging just under $55,000 per year over the five years covered in the returns. Biss spent more than seven months criticizing his wealthy competitors for their delays before they released their returns. With nominating petitions now filed for the March 20 Democratic primary and election season in full swing, the Rauner and Romney comparisons are likely to become a tool with which Biss will repeatedly challenge his far wealthier opponents. We decided to look into Biss's Twitter claim both to check its accuracy and to examine the history of candidate tax disclosure. The Bruce Rauner standard that Biss, currently a state senator, cites refers to the tax disclosures Rauner has made annually since he first became a candidate for governor in 2013. Though Illinois law does not require candidates or officeholders to make public any income tax information, Rauner released three years' worth of federal and state 1040 forms when he filed his nominating petitions in November 2013. They showed Rauner and his wife, Diana, had income of $27.2 million in 2010, $28.2 million in 2011, and $53.4 million in 2012. Their effective tax rates in those years were 16.9 percent, 21.5 percent, and 19 percent, respectively. Rauner has continued to release the 1040 forms since then. His 2013 returns, released a month before the 2014 election, showed income of $60.15 million and a 24-percent tax rate. In 2014, the Rauners reported income of $57.5 million and a 26-percent tax rate. Rauner's income ballooned during his first two years as governor. In 2015, he reported income of $188 million, followed by $91 million in 2016, with tax rates of 26 and 25, respectively. However, because Rauner has not released the schedules and attachments that detail how his income was derived, the 1040 forms provide little insight into where his money comes from and how he manages it. Pritzker essentially matched Rauner's limited disclosure when the Democrat filed his nominating petitions on Nov. 27, but Kennedy did even less. Pritzker released summaries of his last three years of taxes, showing adjusted gross income of $14,950,446 in 2016, $9,974,627 in 2015, and $3,137,655 in 2014. His effective tax rates were 27.7 percent (2016), 24.3 percent (2015), and 37.3 percent (2014). Kennedy confined his release of 1040 information to 2016 returns only. For that year, he reported adjusted gross income of $1,242,805 and an effective tax rate of 14 percent. The financial picture for Kennedy and Pritzker, at least, is further obscured by their decisions not to release details about trusts they also benefit from, which are kept separate from the information reported on their personal tax returns. Like Rauner, Pritzker and Kennedy derived their income from interest, dividends, and capital gains, not from wages. Candidates in Illinois are also required to file statements of economic interest that detail entities in which they have ownership interests or derive income, and all the Democrats, as well as Rauner, have complied. However, the informational value of such reports is quite limited, with disclosures confined to the names of business interests and not the value of individual investments or the income they produce. Biss also accuses his Democratic counterparts of falling dismally short of the example set by 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who, like Rauner, is a longtime private equity investor whose wealth became an issue in his unsuccessful attempt to unseat then-President Barack Obama. Romney released complete income taxes for 2010 and 2011, including hundreds of pages of schedules and explanatory material that allowed public insight into the management of his fortune. They showed Romney paid a relatively low tax rate of 14.7 percent on a total of $42.6 million in income for the two years combined and that he held considerable assets in offshore tax havens, including Luxembourg, Ireland, and the Cayman Islands. In an election in which income inequality had become a major issue, this provided Obama's campaign with ammunition to portray the former Massachusetts governor as out of touch with the vast majority of Americans. Romney was following what had become standard procedure for presidents and major presidential candidates of both parties following the scandal-plagued administration of Richard Nixon, said Joseph Thorndike, director of the Tax History Project, which tracks presidential tax releases. Obama also routinely released full returns annually, both as a presidential contender and as president. Obama's successor, Donald Trump, is the first U.S. president since Nixon, who resigned from office in 1974, to not release any information about personal taxes. A proliferation of wealthy political candidates coming off successful business careers in Illinois and elsewhere likely portends an era of increasing opaqueness regarding tax disclosure, Thorndike speculated. \"I don't know that 1040s are really all that useful without the rest of the supporting materials,\" Thorndike said. \"I suppose that they're better than nothing, except that I think you encourage further disclosures of just the 1040s.\" Governors' roles in administering state taxes should heighten public pressure to release full returns, Thorndike said. \"These candidates, if they win election, are going to be in charge of collecting taxes from everyone else, and it seems reasonable to me that voters want to know how they conducted themselves and whether they've been living up to their civic duty in the way that everyone else is supposed to,\" he said. Lawrence Noble, senior director of the D.C.-based Campaign Legal Center, said the current push in Washington for a sweeping federal overhaul only underscores the shortcomings of the limited tax disclosure practiced by Rauner, Pritzker, and Kennedy. All derive the bulk of their income from investments and are likely to reap significant financial benefits from the current GOP push in Washington to overhaul the federal tax system, which most analysts have concluded is tilted toward tax breaks for the wealthy. How much any of the well-to-do Illinois candidates stand to benefit is impossible to gauge without more information than is disclosed in 1040 forms. \"Where they have their investments, how much they have, and how various pieces of legislation will affect them is important,\" said Noble, a former general counsel of the Federal Election Commission. \"And one of the ways you can tell that is by their taxes, and often it's the only way you can tell unless you're just going to take their word for it.\" Biss sarcastically said his fellow Democratic gubernatorial candidates are living up to the standard for releasing tax information set by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. He also said they fell short of the example set by 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Like Rauner, J.B. Pritzker and Chris Kennedy released only their federal and state 1040 forms, which provide only the most basic information on income and taxes paid. Romney, however, released two years' worth of full returns, including hundreds of pages of detail, when he was running for president in 2012. There is no law in Illinois requiring gubernatorial candidates or governors to release any tax information whatsoever, and Biss is clearly engaging in some campaign hyperbole when he refers to a Rauner standard and a Romney standard. That said, we find the essence of his statements to be true.","issues":["Campaign Finance","Elections","Ethics","Transparency","Taxes","Illinois"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_437","claim":"Home Cash Success Scam","posted":"07\/24\/2009","sci_digest":["Online income system scam offers work from home posting links on Google."],"justification":"Scam:  Advertisers offer kits that enable home workers to make money posting links on the Internet. Example:   If you live in Canada or the US and you have been wanting to work from home, you might be in luck. Google has now released a new 'Work From Home Program' that will allow Americans to work for the titan from the comfort of their own homes. To thousands of North Americans this means that they will soon have a safe and bright future working for one of the fastest growing companies in the world. In the middle of this recession this country and the world is going through, Google has been thriving and reporting profits consistently every quarter.  Completely innovating the Search Engine industry in the late 1990's, Google has had a history of development and innovation, and another one is about to come.  Google has now opened it's doors and will be hiring everyday people to work from the comfort of their own homes posting links. The way this works is Google will allow people to signup and receive a package which will contain all the step by step instructions to get setup from home. This will allow Google to hire talent in places like Canada that would otherwise be unreachable and compensate them based on results on a long term basis. What you need: A Computer, an Internet Connection and the desire to make a living working from home. No special skills are required other than knowing how to use a computer and navigate the internet.  Mary, a mother from Toronto, who worked with Google in the experimental parts of this program, is thriving, in the middle of an economic recession, working in the comfort of her own home with Google. From her website: 'I get paid about $25 USD for every link I post on Google and I get paid every week... I make around $5500 USD a month right now' Google has now officially released their new 'work from home' system out to the public. There will be thousand of spots available that are expected to go very soon in the next few days.  The way this works is very simple, Google says.  First you will need to apply for their work from home kits. Google has release a limited amount of kits, all distributed through local websites in your area throughout US and Canada, which will cost $2 of shipping and handling to the public.  Google says this charge is made to cover shipping costs but also to separate the people that are serious about working with them through this program.  Once you have ordered your kit (if you are one of the lucky few to get availability in your area) then you will receive a package that will contain all the instructions you need to start working from home for the online titan. This kit will show you all you need to know, Google says. You will be performing simple and straightforward tasks such as posting links. 'Anybody with basic computer skills will be able to perform these tasks' adding to that they say that 'We understand the psychology of working from home and we want to give our employees tasks that are simple and easy, and reward them generously in order to keep them motivated.' Is this worth quitting your job? If you're lucky enough to receive a kit, you might not even have to.  'We start off our work from home program only requiring 1-2 hours a day of work, earning a great income from the start. This way our work from home employees will see the benefit and start devoting more and more time each day and their salaries will increase accordingly' Google reports. Although they are going very fast since their release earlier today, thousands of positions are still available at the time of this writing.  To apply for a job working from home for Google here are the three steps: Step 1: Get the Google Work From Home Kit, only pay the $2.95 for shipping. (The shipping cost allows Google to screen for serious people).  Step 2: Follow the directions on your package and set up a Google account. Then they will give you the website links to post. Start posting those links. Google tracks everything. Step 3: Google will send out your checks weekly. Or you can start to have them wire directly into your checking account. (Your first checks will be about $750 to $1,500 a week. Then it goes up from there. Depends on how many links you posted online.) Variations:  In December 2009 we began encountering a Yahoo version of the scam, which was the same as the Google scam discussed below, just with Yahoo's name inserted in place of Google's. Origins:  Those searching for employment opportunities that will allow them to work from home are all too often the very people who can least afford to be defrauded. Although many folks daydream about earning livable incomes from the comfort of their dens rather than having to make the trek to their offices each day, they do not as a general rule of thumb search for such job openings with the same fervor as do the elderly, the physically challenged, or parents committed to remaining at home with their preschool children. Members of those groups hunt for work-at-home opportunities because laboring in more traditional job settings is impossible for them. Because genuine offers of work of this nature are few and far between, with the need to secure a steady income becoming more of a pressing issue with each passing non-employed day, those folks are at far greater risk of being victimized by such schemes; their desperation leads them to be gulled by pie-in-the-sky promises and mollified by the wild backstories that go with them, while the financially better off  are more likely to remain convinced something is very wrong with the offer of mucho bucks in exchange for only a few hours'labor performed from home each week by persons possessed of no special training or skills. From 2009 onwards, a proliferation of seeming newspaper articles touting \"Google Job Opportunities,\" \"Google Money Master,\" \"Easy Google Profit,\" \"Google Cash Kit,\" \"Google Fortune Kit,\" \"Home Cash System,\" \"Six Figure Program\" and the like began popping up on the Internet. Such come-ons are typically emblazoned with \"As seen on\" taglines followed by an impressive array of logos, including those of ABC, AOL, CNN, MSNBC, and USA Today.Often these come-ons include what appear to be tearsheets from legitimate-looking publications, such as the New York Tribune and Los Angeles Tribune. As for the publications supposedly reporting these stories, while there was a New York Tribune long ago, in 1924 it merged with the New York Herald to form the New York Herald Tribune. (Even that newspaper is no longer around; it went out of business in 1967.) As for the ostensible Los Angeles Tribune, that paper is wholly fictional; it existed only in the television show Lou Grant. Web pages purporting to be personal reports of riches reaped through these programs have also popped up, such as the now defunctBryansMoneyBlog.com. They too were the same sort of come-on. While the promise of vast riches to be gained through working from home is held out to those seeking an answer to their financial problems, that promise is but the worm used to entice the fish into biting down on the hook. Those who sign up for such kits will not soon find themselves on Easy Street; instead, they will find their bank accounts tapped to the tune of approximately $80 a month. While prospective job seekers are told they need to pay a $2 charge for kits that supposedly contain the step-by-step instructions on how to begin working from home (often explained as Google's way of sifting the serious from non-serious candidates), a closer examination of the Terms and Conditions associated with the programs applicants are signing up for reveals they are instead authorizing monthly charges either to their bank accounts or credit cards, usually to the tune of about $80 a month. Those who attempt to cancel these charges find the task a difficult one, in that only rarely does anyone at the phone number supplied for that purpose actually come onto that line. Those still not convinced they haven't just found the answer to their prayers are invited to closely examine the various web page come-ons. Usually, buried at the bottom of the page in fine print is a statement to the effect that \"Google is in no way associated with this website.\" Barbara \"web slight of hand\" Mikkelson How to Avoid Falling Victim to 'Work From Home' Scams: Don't pay a company to hire you, not even if such payment is presented as your buying necessary training materials, obtaining required certification, or registering with databases of available workers. Remember, if the process involves your sending your \"employers\" money, it's probably a scam.  If you have questions about the legitimacy of a job listing, contact your Better Business Bureau, your state or local consumer agency, or the Federal Trade Commission.   Examine your credit card and bank account statements every month, keeping an eye peeled for unauthorized charges. Immediately challenge items you did not approve. Additional information:        Suspicious sites and what to look for   (Google)        How to steer clear of money scams   (Official Google blog)   Last updated:  15 December 2009    Sources:   Buck, Claudia.  \"Employment Work-at-Home Deals Often Are Just Scams.\"   The Houston Chronicle.  30 March 2009  (p. B8).     Turner, Tracy.  \"Scammers Tweeting Their Way to Easy Prey.\"   The Columbus Dispatch.  12 July 2009  (p. D1).     Weeks, Carly.  \"As the Economy Tanks, Scams Thrive.\"   The Globe and Mail.  9 March 2009  (p. L1).  ","issues":["income"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_438","claim":"Should You Text 'Count Me' to 89800 to Support the Women's March?","posted":"01\/23\/2017","sci_digest":["A third-party organization has urged Women's March participants to text \"COUNT ME\" to 89800 to be tallied, but the event's organizers have not endorsed the effort."],"justification":"The Women's March on Washington event that took place on January 21, 2017, far exceeded the expectations of its organizers, drawing approximately 500,000 participants in Washington, D.C., and perhaps two million more in other cities across the U.S. and around the world. Not long after the marches concluded, word spread that march organizers were asking attendees to text \"COUNT ME\" to 89800 in order for their presence at the event to be tallied: \"If you participated in a #WomensMarch in any city anywhere, or even virtually, text COUNT ME to 89800!\" Various versions of the exhortation were shared by celebrities as well as satellite Women's March events, some of which were subsequently deleted. Adding to the confusion was a tweet published and then deleted by the official Women's March account, disavowing the \"text 89800\" message. The Seattle Privacy Coalition took note of the viral message and expressed reservations about its legitimacy: \"Please don't text to 89800 or any other number to confirm your participation in Womxn's March or any other.\" That tweet linked to marketing communications company TxtWire's \"89800 Mobile Terms & Conditions\" page, which is the most detailed information we've been able to locate about the texting 89800 program so far. The program sends subscribers alerts regarding promotions, coupons, and time-sensitive deals from local businesses. To opt-in, text DEALMEIN to 89800. Eight messages per month. Message and data rates may apply. To opt-out, text STOP to 89800. An opt-out confirmation message will be sent back to you. To request support, text HELP to 89800 or email us at support@txtwire.com. The effort appears to be spearheaded by the It's Time Network, a group professing to be an \"inclusive community of people and organizations working collaboratively to accelerate the full empowerment of women and girls in order to achieve gender equity, evolve democracy, and build fair economies that regenerate the Earth.\" That organization began promoting the \"text 89800\" initiative on January 21, 2017: \"Calling all marchers! Text COUNT ME to 89800 to be counted as a #WomensMarch participant & share with friends.\" In a subsequent series of tweets, the group acknowledged that the effort was undertaken independently by the It's Time Network and not specifically by Women's March organizers: \"We organized the count in support of march organizers. Please find more information here.\" \"All data will be given to march organizers -- we set the count up as a service to support their efforts.\" \"That was not our intention & we apologize for the confusion. We set up the count in support of march organizers' efforts.\" We have been unable to locate any march organizers officially endorsing the \"text COUNT ME to 89800\" message campaign. Although some satellite marches retweeted information about the program, details such as who was attempting to collect a headcount and for what purposes remained unclear. We have contacted the official Women's March via email and social media to inquire about the text campaign but have not yet received a response.","issues":["equity"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=14ILrvgswRFWYcxZo1Yh8iSxNLJQrUE7h","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Oe_GtStgxMBZN1xuoN6V-Sg0O9pwOrdA","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_439","claim":"Does Health Insurance under the Affordable Care Act cost hundreds to thousands of dollars every month?","posted":"10\/27\/2016","sci_digest":["ACA costs are going up in 2017, but premium payments depend largely on the individual's income level."],"justification":"On 24 October 2016, health insurance broker Tyler McClosky created a phenomenon on Facebook when he posted a screen shot of what it would cost for a family of four with a total household income of $98,000 in Lee County, Florida, to buy insurance on the Affordable Care Act's marketplace: We were able to recreate McClosky's viral post using the shopping tool at healthcare.gov and the same data he entered (two non-smoking parents with a combined income of $98,000 and two 8-year-old children in Lee County, Florida): tool   But data sent by a Department of Health and Human Services official pointed out that 81 percent of families of that size on an Obamacare plan have household incomes of less than $48,000. So the average family currently subscribing to Obamacare would not be paying nearly as much as the image above depicts in their out-of-pocket premium costs. We entered the same data but changed the income to $48,000 here:   McClosky created the post on 24 October 2016, the same day a report by the Department of Health and Human Services was released detailing an average 25 percent increase in costs to the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) customers: customers Across states using the HealthCare.gov platform, the median increase in the second-lowest cost silver plan premium is 16 percent, while the average increase is 25 percent. This figure varies based on locale. For instance, a table compiled by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that people in Phoenix, Arizona will have a 145 percent premium increase, but a tax subsidy will mean a 40-year-old, non-smoking Phoenix resident with a $30,000 annual income will not have to pay any more than last year (which is roughly $207 a month, depending on the plan selected). table According to data sent by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), a majority of consumers covered by the ACA (85 percent) qualify for tax credits that keep pace with premium increases, so many won't see much of an impact on their out-of-pocket costs. data But McClosky was addressing people whose income disqualifies them from that assistance. He told us he used the $98,000 annual income as an example because that is the threshold at which households of four with two children do not qualify for tax credit assistance (you qualify if you make up to 400 percent of the federal poverty line). He said he created the post because he wanted to raise awareness about what it costs to insure a family in which each adult is making an annual salary of $44,000, and neither has access to employer-based health care  a fairly common situation in the United States. His concern, he said, is that only consumers who qualify for a tax subsidy can afford insurance under ACA. If their incomes are too high to qualify for assistance, they may simply go without. While the number of uninsured Americans dropped under ACA, as of 2015, 28.5 million people still lack coverage. Per the Kaiser Family Foundation: Even under the ACA, many uninsured people cite the high cost of insurance as the main reason they lack coverage. In 2015, 46% of uninsured adults said that they tried to get coverage but did not because it was too expensive. Many people do not have access to coverage through a job, and some people, particularly poor adults in states that did not expand Medicaid, remain ineligible for financial assistance for coverage. Some people who are eligible for financial assistance under the ACA may not know they can get help, and others may still find the cost of coverage prohibitive. In addition, undocumented immigrants are ineligible for Medicaid or Marketplace coverage. Eric Seiber, associate professor of health services management and policy at Ohio State, said that the health care system in the United States is the most expensive in the world, and costs have steadily increased over the years. Despite its name, the Affordable Care Act doesn't actually address the cost of health care itself: The ACA is not health care reform. Its health insurance reform. It really doesnt do that much about affordable care or patient protection beyond the subsidies and Medicaid. People's perception that their wages have been flat is an effect of compensation increases going to cover rising healthcare costs instead of into their paychecks, Seiber said. McClosky, who sells health and life insurance plans in Florida, said that the Affordable Care Act has had the effect of diminishing competition among carriers. For instance, Lee County residents can only purchase Blue Cross Blue Shield. Prices in Miami-Dade are lower than in Lee County, because there are more carriers competing with each other. McClosky says insurance carriers have been squeezed by part of the mandate which requires them to spend 80 to 85 percent on claim payouts and health care quality improvement. He pointed to Assurant, a 123-yea-old insurer that specialized in individual and small business plans. They could not survive under the ACA and filed for bankruptcy in 2015. Health care is a source of roiling political debate for years. While the cost of health plans under Obamacare will go up an average 25 percent as of 1 November 2016, the majority of consumers won't experience much change in their out-of-pocket costs when open enrollment starts for 2017, because the tax credits will buffer that increase. Further, as the New York Times pointed out, many Americans are shielded from the immediate costs of health care by employer-based insurance or the public programs: pointed out These increases really matter only for those who buy their own insurance. Most people are unaffected by the rate increases because they get their insurance through an employer or are covered through government programs like Medicare, Medicaid or the Department of Veterans Affairs. Only a small fraction of Americans who have insurance buy individual policies. There are about 10 million people in the Obamacare markets and around an additional seven million who buy health plans outside the marketplace, according to Obama administration estimates. The published rate increases apply only to people who shop in the markets, but premiums are expected to go up sharply for the other plans as well. However, as McClosky's post makes clear, whether people notice it or not, American health care costs are high  and not everyone can qualify for available assistance. Kaiser Family Foundation. \"2017 Premium Changes and Insurer Participation in the Affordable Care Acts Health Insurance Marketplaces.\"\r25 October 2016. ASPE Research Brief. \"Health plan choice and premiums in the 2017 health insurance marketplace.\"\r24 October 2016. Abelson, Reed, and Sanger-Katz, Margaret. \"A Quick Guide to Rising Obamacare Rates.\"\rThe New York Times. 25 October 2016. Boulton, Guy. \"Milwaukee-based Assurant Health to be sold off or shut down.\"\rMilwaukee Journal Sentinel. 28 April 2015.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1lV4ra9OG2njZMnkBt4dZCpbuY95j_NWG"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1E3tS18FJFkykT4j0lGKBBF9EdMlMRXud"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_440","claim":"Southwest Airlines Email Phishing Scam Says 'Congrats,' Claims You've Received 'Reward'","posted":"08\/12\/2022","sci_digest":["Never click links in phishing emails."],"justification":"On Aug. 12, 2022, we reviewed a phishing scam that was sent as an email in which scammers pretended to be offering a \"reward\" from Southwest Airlines. The subject line read, \"RE: __Link, Congrats! You've received a Southwest Airline reward You have been accepted!\" Meanwhile, the body of the email claimed, \"You've received an [sic] Southwest Airline reward.\" This was not a legitimate message from the company. The link included with the email was dangerous and should never be clicked. The email address in the message showed, \"support@1785962.qaiecg5.com via nam10-bn7-obe.outbound.protection.outlook.com.\" This was not an official Southwest Airlines email address. Further, the message used the word \"an\" instead of \"a\" before the word \"Southwest,\" and  also mistakenly used the singular word \"Airline\" instead of \"Airlines.\" All of these were red flags that this fake Southwest Airlines email was a scam, as it would be out of character for a large company to make so many grammatical mistakes. Southwest Airlines scam  We plugged the link into the malicious URL scanner on ipqualityscore.com. The scan said that the link was \"not safe,\" contained \"suspicious activity,\" hosted malware, and was a 97 out of 100 on the risk scale, which indicated that it was \"very risky.\" The scan also confirmed it was a phishing link. ipqualityscore.com We strongly advise against clicking any links or calling phone numbers that are mentioned in these kinds of phishing emails. If readers are suspicious that an email or text message is part of a phishing scam, simply close out of the message and contact the company that was referenced by reaching out through an official phone number, email address, live chat, or support website. If you need to contact a company to ask about a potential phishing scam, ensure that you're on the official website for the company by checking your web browser's address bar, which is located at the top of your screen. Scammers sometimes attempt to spoof company websites. For example, instead of southwest.com, which is the official website for Southwest Airlines, scammers might pretend to be the company's support team by registering a fake website such as southwest-rewards-support.com, for example. Don't trust it. southwest.com If any readers did click a link in the Southwest Airlines scam email or any other sort of phishing message, we recommend changing your email password and enabling two-factor authentication. A search of Google for your email provider and the words \"two-factor authentication\" should take you to a page that will instruct you on how to set that up. If it is believed that scammers accessed sensitive personal and financial data, it's advised to immediately call your bank and credit card companies to alert them to the matter. They should be able to provide advice on next steps to take in order to secure your accounts.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ilY-SABE1hMAHJL2uavbwHgR3WT2AzJV","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_441","claim":"Halting or suspending salary increases for members of the armed forces.","posted":"11\/22\/2010","sci_digest":["President Obama plans to freeze the pay of active duty military personnel?"],"justification":"Claim: President Obama plans to implement a pay freeze for active duty military personnel in 2011. Example: [Collected via e-mail, November 2010] On Facebook, there is the following message \"reposted\" by a friend, and who knows how far it has circulated: \"Dear Mr. President, I hear you would like to freeze pay rates for active duty starting next year. Would you also consider cutting your own pay to save more money for our country? While you're at it, let's cut congressmen's pay too. If the people who risk their lives don't get an increase in pay, why would we continue raising pay for those who take no risks and reap the benefits? Repost if you agree!\" Origins: At the time this item was circulating via Facebook postings in November 2010, it was not true that President Obama had announced an intention to freeze the pay of active duty military personnel starting in 2011. (In fact, President Obama's fiscal 2011 budget proposal, submitted in February 2010, called for a 1.4% military pay increase for the following year.) The November 2010 circulation of this item was prompted by a draft report prepared by the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (NCFRR), a bipartisan body created by President Obama \"to address our nation's fiscal challenges.\" Among the 58 recommendations included in that draft report, released in November 2010, was a recommendation for a three-year freeze on basic non-combat military pay and allowances. Regular Military Compensation (excluding combat pay) for military personnel, which includes basic pay, basic allowances for housing and subsistence, and federal income tax advantages that accompany the allowances, is expected to grow by $9.2 billion from 2011 to 2015. A three-year freeze at 2011 levels for these compensation categories would save the federal government $7.6 billion in compensation and tax expenditures, as well as another $1.6 billion in reduced retirement accrual, totaling $9.2 billion in discretionary savings by 2015. However, as noted above, the NCFRR's report was merely a draft, and a military pay freeze was just one of several dozen potential items offered to achieve the goal of saving $200 billion in federal expenditures through 2015. Any such proposal, even if considered, would still have to overcome several hurdles before being enacted, including approval by 14 of the 18 commissioners who comprise the NCFRR and subsequent approval by both the Senate and the House of Representatives. In December 2010, Congress approved President Obama's recommended 1.4% pay increase for military personnel, while President Obama announced that he would freeze for two years the salaries of all other federal government workers. As for presidential compensation (which is currently set at $400,000 per year, with a $50,000 expense allowance), the salary of the President of the United States is established by Congress, so a president cannot technically \"cut his own pay\" (although he might opt to decline some or all of his salary or donate it to charity). Members of Congress could vote to decrease their salaries (which are currently set at $174,000 per year), although they have already voted to decline their cost-of-living pay increases in 2009 and again in 2010. Last updated: 13 January 2011 Pincus, Walter. \"House Approves Defense Bill with Lower Pay Raise for Military.\" The Washington Post. 18 December 2010. Vinch, Chuck. \"Panel Calls for 3-Year Freeze on Military Pay.\" Army Times. 11 November 2010.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_442","claim":"Says Milken Institute rated San Antonio as nations top-performing local economy.","posted":"09\/04\/2012","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Second-term San Antonio Mayor Julin Castro did not shy from celebrating his hometown during his keynote address to the Democratic National Convention. Addressing the delegates assembled in Charlotte, N.C., Castro said that San Antonio residents recognize the value of investing in pre-Kindergarten and student college loans. We're investing in young minds today to be competitive in the global economy tomorow, Castro said. And it's paying off. Last year the Milken Institute ranked San Antonio as the nation's top-performing local economy. Castro made the same claim in his keynote at the Texas Democratic Party convention. In that June 8, 2012, speech -- which weve previously dipped intotwice-- Julin Castro said his citys investments in infrastructure and education paid off late last year when San Antonio was ranked as the top-performing local economy by the Milken Institute.Indeed, we confirmed, San Antonio topped Milkens2011 listof the nations best-performing large metropolitan areas, rocketing up from 14th place the year before. Its rise is part of a recent trend in which Texas cities have dominated the list as the nation recovers from the2007-09recession.The economic think tanks annual list, which Milken spokesman Conrad Kiechel told us by phone has been issued in its current form for more than a decade, was described in a Dec. 30, 2011,Texas Tribunenews storyas a ranking that measures American metropolitan areas based on their ability to create and sustain jobs.Milkens2011 reporton the best-performing cities says the index gives priority to job and pay gains, then some weight to several technology measures in relation to national averages: the local growth in high-tech gross domestic product, the concentration of tech industries and how many of 25 specific tech industries are concentrated there. Some measures are weighed across five-year spans, to flatten out extreme swings, and the most recent year, to capture recent momentum. In recent years, theTribunesaid, companies have flocked to San Antonio, making it an economic center rivaling Houston and Dallas. In contrast to those cities, though, San Antonio has attracted high-wage jobs, capitalizing on its booming medical research industry.TheTribunestory said InCube and Medtronic were the latest bioscience companies to move to San Antonio, which was already home to global headquarters for Valero Energy, Clear Channel Communications, USAA insurers and the H-E-B grocery chain.TheSan Antonio Express-Newscredited the citys rise to reasons including military base realignment, drilling in the Eagle Ford Shale and the growth of health care in aDec. 16, 2011, news story.Texas cities held four of the top five spots on Milkens 2011 big-cities list, with Austin\/Round Rock at fourth. Back in 2008, Austin was Texas only top-five city, but the state claimed most of those slots in 2009, 2010 and 2011. The other chart-toppers for 2011 were No. 2, El Paso; No. 3, Fort Collins\/Loveland, Colo.; and No. 5, Killeen\/Temple\/Fort Hood.Texas rise in the ranks, theExpress-Newswrote, came partly because of downturns in other parts of the country. The story quoted research economist James Gaines of Texas A&M Universitys Real Estate Center: Our growth rate and advancement isn't all that wonderful. We've managed to stay flat or have very small positives. But because everybody has so many negatives, we look so much better.APhiladelphia Inquirercolumnist interviewed Milkens chief research officer, Ross DeVol, and wroteDec. 16, 2011that Technology and energy explain why nine Texas cities placed in the top 25 of the 2011 Milken ranking.Our rulingSan Antonio hasnt just been holding steady in the economic downturn; its been gaining ground, even compared to other Texas cities. Castros statement rates True.","issues":["Economy","Texas"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_443","claim":"Was the individual who created the 'Bernie Mittens' forced to shut down their business due to taxation?","posted":"01\/29\/2021","sci_digest":["That would be ironic considering the progressive senator's unabashed proposals to impose new taxes."],"justification":"As memes of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders wearing hand-crafted mittens at Joe Biden's presidential inauguration plastered the Internet in early 2021, rumors surfaced alleging that the creator of the mittens had stopped selling recycled wool products because of high federal taxes. Snopes received numerous inquiries to investigate the validity of the claim, which attempted to expose the hypocrisy of people who support the Vermont senator's goals of imposing new taxes to pay for various proposals, including free universal health care. Here's some background: Jen Ellis, a Vermont elementary school teacher, said she made the mittens out of discarded wool sweaters and gifted them to the senator after he lost the Democratic presidential nomination to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race. \"I sent him these mittens kind of as a shoutout to who he is, and I put a note in that said something to the effect of, 'I hope you run again,'\" she told Slate. The viral image of Sanders wearing Ellis' gift and sitting with his arms and legs crossed made the teacher famous by the viral standards of 2021. She gave multiple interviews to news outlets including NPR and Slate in which she discussed her support for Sanders and her reaction to the memes; social media users and other websites republished those comments, in part to harness the virality of the moment. Among the latter group was The Federalist, an online hub of articles with a conservative bent. Two days after the inauguration, the website published a page with the headline, \"Woman Behind Bernie Sanders' Iconic Mittens Quit Making Them Because High Taxes Killed Her Business,\" reading: \"The Vermont school teacher who made Bernie Sanders' mittens, featured in the most recent viral meme, said she had to stop making them after the federal government taxed her too much.\" To support the claim, The Federalist cited a portion of Ellis' interview with Slate. According to a transcribed version of that conversation, which Slate published on Jan. 21, the elementary school teacher indeed told writer Rachelle Hampton: \"Speaking of bittersweet, you supported Bernie. How did you feel about watching Biden be sworn in as president?\" Ellis responded, \"Oh my gosh, I cried. I'm 42 and I've waited four decades of my life to see a woman be vice president. I wish that she was president, although I think Biden is pretty great. [...] And then there was this little side nagging thing of every five minutes I was getting several hundred more emails about the mittens. A year ago, when Bernie was on the campaign trail, he was wearing those mittens and Twitter buzzed about it then. I'm not really on Twitter\u2014I have an account, but I don't really participate\u2014but a lot of my younger colleagues do, and they were like, 'You've gotta check this out.' [...] So I put it out there that I made the mittens, they were a gift, and they're not knitted, they're sewn from repurposed and up-cycled sweaters. At that time, I had 30 or 40 mittens for sale, and being a little na\u00efve about Twitter, I put my Gmail account on that, which someone picked up yesterday and retweeted it. People have been contacting me thinking that they can get mittens, and actually they can't. I don't have any more, and I don't have much of a mitten business anymore because it really wasn't worth it. Independent crafters get really taken for a ride by the federal government. We get taxed to the nth degree, and it wasn't really worth it pursuing that as a business, even as a side hustle. I mostly just make them as gifts.\" In other words, Ellis said she did not \"have much of a mitten business anymore,\" or that she previously sold the handmade items for a price and then mostly stopped. She implied that federal taxes were a leading factor in her decision to make that change. On Jan. 20, as social media lit up with the memes following the inauguration, she confirmed on Twitter that she was not selling mittens like the senator's. Snopes reached out to Ellis to learn more about her history of trying to sell mittens for profit and paying federal taxes as a self-described independent crafter. We have not yet received a response, but we'll update this report when or if we do. All of that said, the size of Ellis' former business was unknown, as well as how long or via what methods she sold the handmade mittens. U.S. tax code requires all independent contractors\u2014no matter if they use online marketplaces such as Etsy to sell handmade products\u2014to pay local and federal taxes based on net profits. Also, we should note here: Sanders' proposed changes to the country's tax system would repeal aspects of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act so that taxpayers who earn between about $9,500 and $250,000 would pay about 4% more, and taxes on the country's top earners would generate the majority of revenue. Additionally, he wants to impose a new payroll tax on businesses that earn more than $2 million annually, a change that intends to protect ventures like Ellis' from paying more. So while it was true that taxes played a role in Ellis' decision to stop charging people money for mittens prior to her viral fame, it was false to claim that she \"quit\" making them altogether, as The Federalist headline alleged. Between Jan. 23 and 24, she said in a series of tweets that she made three more pairs of \"Bernie mittens,\" two of which she donated to Passion 4 Paws Vermont and Outright Vermont for fundraising, and one that she was auctioning off to benefit her daughter's college fund. After that, Sanders' official campaign began selling merchandise with the senator's meme-worthy image that Ellis made possible. The so-called \"Chairman Sanders\" sweatshirts, T-shirts, stickers, etc., helped raise $1.8 million for charitable organizations in Vermont over the course of five days, The Associated Press reported. On Jan. 24, Ellis tweeted that the senator called her to tell her that \"the mitten frenzy\" had raised \"an enormous amount of money\" for the charities. Besides that evidence, it was unclear how, or to what extent, the teacher was involved in the making or selling of the campaign-official products featuring her mittens. As further proof to debunk claims that she had ceased all mitten-making, the teacher on Jan. 27 announced that she had partnered with entities including Darn Tough Socks to make socks inspired by the viral mittens, and the following day she said she was in the process of another project \"to get Bernie Mittens for ALL.\" \"I'm not opening a mitten factory or quitting my job as a second-grade teacher! However, I am going to choose a new adventure on the side,\" Ellis said on her official website and GoFundMe page. \"Never fear\u2014I will make more mittens, but I won't be selling them for myself. I will be donating them to Vermont charities to help them fundraise and make up for the funds lost due to the pandemic.\" In sum, while it was true that, prior to her viral fame, Ellis mostly stopped charging people for handmade mittens due to costs including federal taxes, she was still creating the recycled wool products, and people were spending money on them as of this writing. For those reasons, we rate this claim a \"Mixture\" of truthful and misleading information.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Joo4PfGJAXQAp3R03b21XL0Fr-fUX0tW"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1y5hWs6Fkelj6MPYEQGiJaxAXjdgjpIzR"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=196ho4DGtHGzm-JeBDP5eGVuYbB8zxpPt"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1OWutHCG-gTsrXpd9KnUq_l8IVLJqUm7H"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=13qm9MdGX_LBf30ZjGNk9gSpchB2kMFbU"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_444","claim":"Were Schumer and Pelosi involved in assisting Obama to allocate $150 billion to a country considered an 'enemy of the US'?","posted":"01\/08\/2019","sci_digest":["Two prominent Democratic members of Congress didn't \"help\" bring about something that never took place."],"justification":"As President Donald Trump prepared on 8 January 2019 to deliver a televised speech to the nation making the case for billions of dollars to construct a wall along the roughly 2,000-mile border between the U.S. and Mexico, some social media users circulated an inaccurate meme containing the claim that the preceding Obama administration, with the help of Democratic lawmakers Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, had given Iran $150 billion in cash.   President Trump battled Congress over his request for $5.7 billion to fulfill a 2016 campaign promise to \"build the wall.\" The resulting impasse over budget appropriations for the wall's construction led to a protracted shutdown of the federal government. build the wall impasse shutdown As with many memes, the one above paired two topics that were unrelated to each other, along with a generous helping of inaccuracy. The \"enemy of the U.S.\" referred to Iran, which was never given a $150 billion cash payment by President Barack Obama with the help of Pelosi and Schumer. Instead, billions of dollars worth of Iranian assets were unfrozen as a result of the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated with that country, which had nothing to do with the U.S. federal budget or border wall construction. nuclear deal Trump floated the \"$150 billion\" figure in conjunction with his desired border wall construction in a 12 December 2018 Twitter post: The Democrats and President Obama gave Iran 150 Billion Dollars and got nothing, but they cant give 5 Billion Dollars for National Security and a Wall?  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 12, 2018 December 12, 2018 The $150 billion figure is an estimate of the value of Iranian assets that were unfrozen as a result of Iran's agreeing to the terms of the nuclear agreement reached with seven nations in 2015, including the U.S., an agreement formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. In other words, Iran gained access to assets that already belonged to them, assets that had been frozen in various financial institutions around the world due to sanctions imposed to curb Irans nuclear program. But Iran didn't get $150 billion in cash, nor did they receive any money at all from U.S. taxpayers -- they only regained access to assets that had been frozen in several different countries (not just the U.S.), and the $150 billion figure was merely an upper estimate. agreement Moreover, that $150 billion figure was the highest estimate of the value of Iran's frozen assets, with multiple sources reporting much lower figures. For example, Adam J. Szubin, Acting Under Secretary of Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, supplied written testimony to a U.S. Senate committee in August 2015 stating that U.S. assessment of the total liquid assets Iran would regain control of as a result of the nuclear agreement was \"a little more than $50 billion\": testimony We must also be measured and realistic in understanding what sanctions relief will really mean to Iran. Estimates of total Central Bank of Iran (CBI) foreign exchange assets worldwide are in the range of $100 to $125 billion. Our assessment is that Irans usable liquid assets after sanctions relief will be much lower, at a little more than $50 billion. The other $50-70 billion of total CBI foreign exchange assets are either obligated in illiquid projects (such as over 50 projects with China) that cannot be monetized quickly, if at all, or are composed of outstanding loans to Iranian entities that cannot repay them. These assets would not become accessible following sanctions relief. Nader Habibi, professor of economics of the Middle East at Brandeis University, told us via email his best estimate was that between $30 billion and $50 billion of unfrozen funds were made available to Iran as a result of the deal. On 8 May 2018, President Trump announced that he was pulling the U.S. out of the nuclear deal with Iran, which had been negotiated over the course of two years. Associated Press.  \"Democrats and Obama Did Not Give $150 Billion to Iran.\"\r  14 December 2018. Hirschfeld Davis, Julie.  \"Schumer and Pelosi Tap Themselves to Respond to Trump Speech.\"\r  The New York Times.  8 January 2019. Bozorgmehr, Najmeh.  \"Iran to Keep Most Unfrozen Overseas Assets in Foreign Banks.\"\r  Financial Times.  8 February 2016. Cunningham, Erin, and Bijan Sabbagh.  \"Iran to Negotiate with Europeans, Russia and China About Remaining in Nuclear Deal.\"\r  The Washington Post. 8 May 2018. Dahl, Fredrik.  \"Iran Has $100 Billion Abroad, Can Draw $4.2 Billion: U.S. Official.\"\r  Reuters.  17 January 2014. Habibi, Nader. \" Irans Frozen Funds: How Much Is Really There and How Will They Be Used?\"\r  The Conversation.  11 August 2015.","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1zMw4bwENjVVSLSOT1g7UD9jH-vzkeyx7"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_445","claim":"Since taking office, we have enacted more than $8 billion in cumulative tax relief.","posted":"06\/22\/2018","sci_digest":[],"justification":"In May 2017, Gov.Scott Walkermade a claim about tax cuts since he took office in 2011. He said the cuts that had been approved, and those that were proposed in his 2017-19 state budget, would exceed $8 billion by the time the budget is done. Werated the statement True. Now the budget is done and Walker ismakingtheclaimwithoutqualifications. For example, he declared on May 31, 2018,on Twitter: Since taking office, we have enacted more than $8 billion in cumulative tax relief. Campaigning for a third term in the November 2018 election, its a statement Walker will repeat. Lets see if its right. More governors race fact checks: How Walker and the Democratic candidates for governorstack up on the Truth-O-Meter. The numbers The governors office provided us tallies from the State Budget Office. They show that through June 2019, when the current 2017-19 state budget ends, the tax cuts will exceed $8.85 billion. We also went to a nonpartisan source, the state Legislative Fiscal Bureau, which did calculations in May 2018 and arrived at a slightly lower figure. The fiscal bureau told us it estimated the reduction in general fund tax revenues and property tax revenues, as a result of tax law changes enacted since 2011, at $8.47 billion: Income and franchise tax reductions $4.82 billion Property tax reductions $3.56 billion Other tax cuts $90 million Total tax reductions 2011 through mid-2019 $8.47 billion Democrats' reaction We asked the stateDemocratic Partyabout Walkers claim. The party did not challenge the $8 billion tally, but criticized a number of Walkers policies. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter:@PolitiFactWisc Among them: The manufacturing and agricultural tax credit gave an estimated $22 million in creditsto 11 individualswho had an adjusted gross income of $30 million or more in 2017, according to the state fiscal bureau. Our rating Walker says: Since taking office, we have enacted more than $8 billion in cumulative tax relief. The states official nonpartisan budget scorekeeper puts the figure -- since Walker took office in 2011 and through the current budget that runs through mid-2019 -- at $8.47 billion. We rate Walkers statement True.","issues":["Income","State Budget","Taxes","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_446","claim":"Did Kamala Harris Make These Contrasting Statements About Police?","posted":"08\/12\/2020","sci_digest":["Whether those contrasting statements document the senator to be a \"hypocrite\" is a thornier question."],"justification":"Shortly after U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden named Sen. (and former California Attorney General) Kamala Harris as his running mate in August 2020, social media users began circulating a meme purportedly showing two contradictory statements Harris had made about the value of having more police on the streets, along with commentary painting Harris as a \"lying hypocrite\": meme   In a strictly literal sense, the meme correctly attributes to Harris two contrasting statements she made 11 years apart, as The New York Times noted in an August 2020 article about Harris' viewpoint on police misconduct: noted In her 2009 book, Smart on Crime, she wrote that if we take a show of hands of those who would like to see more police officers on the street, mine would shoot up, adding that virtually all law-abiding citizens feel safer when they see officers walking a beat. Earlier this summer, in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, she told The New York Times that it is status-quo thinking to believe that putting more police on the streets creates more safety. Thats wrong. Its just wrong. Whether those contrasting statements document Harris to be a \"liar\" or a \"hypocrite\" is a thornier question, however. Altering one's viewpoint about an issue over the course of many years is not necessarily hypocritical, especially if such evolution is based on additional knowledge and experience and\/or shifting conditions -- it's only hypocritical if a given viewpoint is an insincere one, expressed for purposes of political expediency rather than genuine belief. In 2009, Harris was district attorney of San Francisco, but by 2020, she had served a six-year tenure as California's attorney general and was well into her fourth year as a U.S. senator. Certainly occurrences that took place, and the experience she accumulated, during that 11-year span might have prompted a change in her thinking. As well, it's important to note the context in which Harris made those statements. The first was taken from her 2009 book Smart on Crime, in a chapter that was specifically about the evolution of methods for fighting crime. The chapter was titled \"Myth: The tools of crime fighting never change\" and opened with the statement that \"the secret of successfully reducing crime is that there is no one secret to successfully reducing crime,\" so Harris was arguing against a status quo approach and emphasizing the need for measuring how effectively police were actually making communities safer (rather than merely creating the appearance of safety): On one hand, if we take a show of hands of those who would like to see more police officers on the streets, mine would shoot up. A more visible and strategic police presence is a deterrent to crime, and it has a positive impact on a community. Virtually all law-abiding citizens feel safer when they see officers walking a beat. This is as true in economically poor neighborhoods as in wealthy ones. Police officers are a reassuring sign of a community's commitment to order, calm, and safety. More beat cops means more rapid response to assaults, traffic crimes, and robberies and has a profound effect on reducing quality-of-life crimes by simple presence. But in addition to putting more police on the street, we have to look at the way officers are being deployed and how we measure whether they are achieving the goal of creating a safer community. Her second statement came in the midst of nationwide protests spurred by the police custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020, when long-simmering issues of police violence and the treatment of Blacks by police came to a boil -- all while the U.S. was grappling with a nationwide shutdown due to the COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic. At that point, many Americans decidedly did not hold to the notion that the increased presence of police made them safer (or made them feel safer) and gave rise to \"defund the police\" movements. It was in that context that Harris responded to a question about police by asserting that \"status quo thinking\" was wrong and that \"we have to reimagine what public safety looks like\": Q: Can I ask you about this idea of defunding the police? Whats your thinking on that idea? A: Well, its a concept. We do have to reimagine what public safety looks like. And heres the thing. It is status quo thinking to believe that putting more police on the streets creates more safety. Thats wrong. Its just wrong. You know what creates more safety? Funding public schools, affordable housing, increased homeownership, job skill development, jobs, access to capital for those who want to start small businesses, or who are running small businesses in communities. But, no, were not going to get rid of the police. We all have to be practical. But lets separate out these discussions. Many cities in our country spend one-third of their entire budget on policing. With all the responsibilities those cities have, one-third on policing? Put it in the context of the fact that over the last many decades, we have essentially been defunding public schools. If anyone thinks that the way were going to cure these problems is by putting more police on the street, theyre wrong. In the period between those statements, The New York Times observed, Harris has \"struggled to reconcile her calls for reform with her record as a prosecutor\" -- enduring criticism for not intervening in cases of controversial police shootings and for \"yielding to the status quo\" rather than pursuing \"bold reform,\" while \"her approach was subtly shifting\" nonetheless: Since becoming Californias attorney general in 2011, she had largely avoided intervening in cases involving killings by the police. Protesters in Oakland distributed fliers saying: Tell California Attorney General Kamala Harris to prosecute killer cops! Its her job! Then, amid the national outrage stoked by the 2014 killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., came pleas for her to investigate a series of police shootings in San Francisco, where she had previously been district attorney. She did not step in. Except in extraordinary circumstances, she said, it was not her job. Still, her approach was subtly shifting. During the inaugural address for her second term as attorney general, Ms. Harris said the nations police forces faced a crisis of confidence. And by the end of her tenure in 2016, she had proposed a modest expansion of her offices powers to investigate police misconduct, begun reviews of two municipal police departments and backed a Justice Department investigation in San Francisco. Critics saw her taking baby steps when bold reform was needed  a microcosm of a career in which she developed a reputation for taking cautious, incremental action on criminal justice and, more often than not, yielding to the status quo. So yes, across an 11-year span, Harris did offer the contrasting statements about police displayed above. Whether they're evidence of hypocrisy on her part or of an authentic shift in her thinking and viewpoint is a subjective issue. Harris, Kamala with Joan O'C. Hamilton.  Smart on Crime: A Career Prosecutor's Plan to Make Us Safer.\r  Chronicle Books, 2009.  ISBN 978-0-8118-6528-9  (p. 50).\r Lerer. Lisa.  \"Kamala Harris Is Done Explaining Racism.\"\r  The New York Times.  10 June 2020. Hakim, Danny et al.  \"Top Cop Kamala Harriss Record of Policing the Police.\"\r  The New York Times.  9 August 2020.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=14kInNt1XvTwljcPyefDYOYcnLX1Z4LQA","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_447","claim":"NASA's 'Astronaut Pen'","posted":"08\/22\/2000","sci_digest":["Space race legend claims NASA spent millions of dollars developing an 'astronaut pen' that would work in outer space, while the Soviets solved the same problem by simply using pencils."],"justification":"Ball-Point Pens for the Astronauts When NASA started sending astronauts into space, they quicklyDiscovered that ball-point pens would not work in zeroGravity. To combat this problem, NASA scientists spent aDecade and $12 billion developing a pen that writes in zeroGravity, upside-down, on almost any surface including glassAnd at temperatures ranging from below freezing to over 300 C. The Russians used a pencil. Your taxes are due again  enjoy paying them. [The Moscow Times, 2000] There is a charming anecdote that roams from e-mail box to e-mail box around the world about how, at the height of the space race, the Americans and Soviets approached the same problem: how an astronaut (or cosmonaut) could use a pen to write in zero gravity. As the story goes, the Americans spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on an ambitious, gravity-immune ballpoint pen; they successfully developed such a pen; and this pen went on to become a massive commercial success in the private sector. The Soviets  with the simple elegance their scientists are so rightly famed for  opted instead to use a pencil. Thelesson of the infamous \"space pen\" anecdote related above, about NASA's spending a small fortune to develop a ballpoint pen that astronauts could use in outer space while completely overlooking the simple and elegant solution adopted by the Soviet space program (give cosmonauts pencils instead), is a valid one: sometimes we expend a great deal of time, effort, and money to create a \"high-tech\" solution to a problem, when a perfectly good, cheap, and simple answer is right before our eyes. As good a story and moral as that may be, however, this anecdote doesn't offer a real-life example of that syndrome. Both U.S. astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts initially used pencils on space flights, but those writing instruments were not ideal: pencil tips can flake and break off, and having such objects floating around space capsules in near-zero gravity posed a potential harm to astronauts and equipment. (As well, after the fatal Apollo 1 fire in 1967, NASA was anxious to avoid having astronauts carry flammable objects such as pencils onboard with them.) When the solution of providing astronauts with a ballpoint pen that would work under weightless conditions and extreme temperatures came about, though, it wasn't because NASA had thrown hundreds of thousands of dollars (inflated to $12 billion in the latest iterations of this tale) in research and development money at the problem. The \"space pen\" that has since become famous through its use by astronauts was developed independently by Paul C. Fisher of the Fisher Pen Co., who spent his own money on the project and, once he perfected his AG-7 \"Anti-Gravity\" Space Pen, offered it to NASA. After that agency tested and approved the pen's suitability for use in space flights, they purchased a number of the instruments from Fisher for a modest price. This is how Fisher themselves described the development of their Space Pen: NASA never asked Paul C. Fisher to produce a pen. When the astronauts began to fly, like the Russians, they used pencils, but the leads sometimes broke and became a hazard by floating in the [capsule's] atmosphere where there was no gravity. They could float into an eye or nose or cause a short in an electrical device. In addition, both the lead and the wood of the pencil could burn rapidly in the pure oxygen atmosphere. Paul Fisher realized the astronauts needed asafer and more dependable writing instrument, so in July 1965 he developed the pressurized ball pen, with its ink enclosed in a sealed, pressurized ink cartridge. Fisher sent the first samples to Dr. Robert Gilruth, Director of the Houston Space Center. The pens were all metal except for the ink, which had a flash point above 200C. The sample Space Pens were thoroughly tested by NASA. They passed all the tests and have been used ever since on all manned space flights, American and Russian. All research and development costs were paid by Paul Fisher. No development costs have ever been charged to the government. Because of the fire in Apollo 1, in which three Astronauts died, NASA required a writing instrument that would not burn in a 100% oxygen atmosphere. It also had to work in the extreme conditions of outer space: (NASA tested the pressurized Space Pens at -50C, but because of the residential [sic] heat in the pen it also writes for many minutes in the cold shadows.) Fisher spent over one million dollars in trying to perfect the ball point pen before he made his first successful pressurized pens in 1965. Samples were immediately sent to Dr. Robert Gilruth, Manager of the Houston Space Center, where they were thoroughly tested and approved for use in Space in September 1965. In December 1967 he sold 400 Fisher Space Pens to NASA for $2.95 each. Lead pencils were used on all Mercury and Gemini space flights and all Russian space flights prior to 1968. Fisher Space Pens are more dependable than lead pencils and cannot create the hazard of a broken piece of lead floating through the gravity-less atmosphere. Paul Fisher continues to market his space pens as the writing instrument that went to the moon and has spun off this effort into a separate corporation, the Fisher Space Pen Co.: Space Pen   Sightings:  This legend was referenced in an episode of NBC's The West Wing TV series (\"We Killed Yamamoto\"; original air date 15 May 2002): https:\/\/youtu.be\/LQy1DH38E5g Curtin, Ciara.   \"NASA Spent Millions to Develop a Pen That Would Write in Space.\"  \r Scientific American.   20 December 2008. Garber, Steve.  \"The Fisher Space Pen.\"  \r NASA.gov. The Moscow Times.  \"Pencil Us in for the Next Y2K Disaster.\" \r 14 January 2000.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1e9I2czkb84H6WJafSPj0uY1PL4sGVgEa","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_448","claim":"Was the US Ranked the '118th Safest Country' in the World in 2019?","posted":"09\/10\/2019","sci_digest":["A widely-shared tweet misrepresented and over-simplified the Global Peace Index, but it did allude to findings that would worry many Americans."],"justification":"In September 2019, we received inquiries from readers about the accuracy of a widely-shared tweet claming that the United States had been ranked the \"118th safest country in the world\" in 2019, a decline of 53 places in just one year. The claims originated with a September 3 tweet by @ResisterSiano, a left-leaning, anti-Trump Twitter account, which said: \"The United States is the 118th safest country in the world. 118. Down from 65th last year. We fell 53 places in 1 year. The overwhelming majority of countries are now safer than the US. [I don't know] how else to say this. The United States is a dangerous shithole.\" The United States is the 118th safest country in the world. 118. Down from 65th last year. We fell 53 places in 1 year. The overwhelming majority of countries are now safer than the US. Idk how else to say this. The United States is a dangerous shithole.  Sergio (@ResisterSiano) September 3, 2019 September 3, 2019  Those claims were further promulgated when a Facebook user posted a screenshot of the tweet, garnering thousands of shares within a week:  The claims constituted a somewhat confusing and misleading representation of the findings of the 2019 Global Peace Index (GPI), an annual report produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace, an Australia-based non-profit organization, in collaboration with the Economist Intelligence Unit, a research and analysis firm associated with the Economist magazine. The originator of the tweet confirmed they had based their claims on the 2019 GPI in another tweet in which they wrote that \"the United States ranked 118th in safety in 2019\" and included a link to a summary of the report on the website World Population Review. tweet summary The GPI tracks the overall \"absence of violence or fear of violence\" in more than 160 independent countries and territories around the world. The overall GPI score is based on 23 separate indicators which, taken together, describe the presence and impact of internal and external conflicts, the impacts of violent crime and instability (including homicide rates, terrorism, the proportion of refugees and internally displaced people within a given population, and so on), as well as the levels of militarization and the availability and prevalence of weapons within a country or territory, among several other factors. The full list of 23 indicators can be viewed below, and a more detailed description of the methodology can be found in the 2019 GPI (starting on page 84): page 84   The GPI is not simply a measure of \"safety\" within a country, and it cannot be claimed, in a straightforward or reliable way, that a country which ranks 100th, for example, in the GPI is therefore \"the 100th safest country in the world.\" It is probably more apt (though still imprecise) to describe the index as a rough approximation of each country or territory's overall peacefulness, a term which takes into account public safety and violent crime, but also factors such as militarization and the presence, impact, and intensity of national and international conflicts. Notwithstanding these important distinctions, safety and security do form an important component of the GPI, and \"Societal Safety and Security\" is one of the index's three main strands, along with \"Ongoing Domestic and International Conflict\" and \"Militarization.\" \"Societal Safety and Security\" does include some indicators which a reader might typically associate with \"safety,\" such as the level of violent crime, the impact of terrorism, and the homicide rate, but it also takes into account several factors which a reader would not typically associate with \"safety,\" such as political instability and the ratio of police to population. Conversely, \"ease of access to small arms and light weapons\" -- a factor which many observers in the U.S., in particular, might associate with public safety -- is included in the \"Militarization\" strand, and not \"Societal Safety and Security.\" More broadly, the overall GPI score takes into account several other factors which a reader would not typically consider when making a straightforward assessment of the \"safety\" of a given country, such as: a country's financial contribution to UN peacekeeping missions; the prevalence of refugees and internally displaced persons within the population; military spending as a percentage of GDP, and others. Bearing in mind the aforementioned nuances and complexities inherent in the GPI and its methodology, the following is a breakdown of the United States' rankings (both overall and for each of the three strands), from 2015 to 2019: U.S. Rankings in Global Peace Index, 2015-2019(Out of 163 countries\/territories, unless otherwise stated.) 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019  Even if we set aside for a moment the inherent nuances in the GPI and the indicators of which it consists, those rankings lay bare several factual inaccuracies contained within the tweet. First, the U.S. did not rank 118th in the 2019 GPI, by any measure, and it's not clear what the basis was for citing that number. The United States' overall ranking was 128th, and when it came to \"Societal Safety and Security\" -- the strand which arguably represents \"safety\" most closely -- the U.S. ranked considerably better, at 59th out of 163 countries. On \"Societal Safety and Security,\" therefore, only around 36 percent of countries performed better than the United States, which somewhat undermines the claim that \"the overwhelming majority of countries are now safer than the U.S.\" Furthermore, no justification exists for the claim that the U.S. \"fell 53 places in one year,\" although the U.S. did rank lower by every measure in 2019 than the year before, and 2018 represented a decline in rankings by every measure from the year before that. The actual decline in U.S. rankings between 2018 and 2019 was: seven places in the overall rankings; two places under \"Ongoing Domestic and International Conflict\"; 12 places under \"Societal Safety and Security,\" and one place under \"Militarization.\" Notwithstanding these factual inaccuracies, and the over-simplistic invocation of the concept of \"safety,\" there is a justification for saying that based on the many and varied factors that go into the GPI, the United States was ranked the 128th most peaceful country in the world in 2019, an even lower ranking than 118th. That is to say, the United States could reasonably be described as being in the bottom 23 percent of the world's nations when it comes to overall peacefulness (which takes into account public safety and violent crime, but also international conflict and militarization). That ranking placed the U.S. below Central American nations such as Honduras (123rd), Nicaragua (120th), Guatemala (114th) and El Salvador (112th), as well as the African nations of Niger (126th), the Republic of the Congo (121st), and Kenya (120th), and historical rivals such as China (110th) and Cuba (91st). The U.S. ranked significantly below many of its European and NATO allies, such as the U.K. (joint 45th), Germany (22nd), and Canada (6th), but notably did outrank Russia, which was placed at 154th out of 163 countries and territories. Despite a somewhat confusing and misleading representation of the GPI, the index's actual findings would no doubt be just as worrying to many Americans. WorldPopulationReview.com.  \"Safest Countries in the World 2019.\"\r  28 August 2019. The Institute for Economics and Peace\/the Economist Intelligence Unit.  \"Global Peace Index 2019.\"\r  12 June 2019. The Institute for Economics and Peace\/the Economist Intelligence Unit. \"Global Peace Index 2018.\"\r  June 2018. The Institute for Economics and Peace\/the Economist Intelligence Unit. \"Global Peace Index 2017.\"\r  1 June 2017. The Institute for Economics and Peace\/the Economist Intelligence Unit. \"Global Peace Index 2016.\"\r  June 2016. The Institute for Economics and Peace\/the Economist Intelligence Unit. \"Global Peace Index 2015.\"\r  June 2015.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1zUCkSh2StPHyDHf8kG7HWygqwebaeGF3","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_449","claim":"Obama has signed a bill that forgives all student loan debt.","posted":"06\/09\/2014","sci_digest":["Has President Obama signed a bill forgiving all student loans taken out within the last ten years?"],"justification":"Claim: President Obama has signed a bill forgiving all student loans taken out within the last ten years. Example: [Collected via e-mail, June 2014] CONFIRM IF PRESIDENT SIGNED BILL FORGIVING STUDENT LOANS Origins: On 5 June 2014, the Empire News website published an article claiming that President Obama had signed a bill forgiving all student loans taken out within the last ten years (and any such loans to be taken out by current students in the future). The article stated that Americans who are under the financial strain of repaying student loan debt may now be off the hook for their education costs. President Obama signed a new federal bill this week releasing any student who has accrued outstanding debt due to high interest rates and excessive balances caused by college loans. \"Any student, past or present, who has taken loans from the federal government within the last 10 years to pay for higher education will no longer be required to pay back those loans,\" said President Obama. \"This forgiveness will also be extended to any student currently enrolled in college who may need financial assistance for the next several years as they finish their degrees.\" By the following day, links and excerpts referencing this article were being circulated via social media, with many of those who encountered the item mistaking it for a genuine news article. However, this item was just a spoof from the Empire News, a satirical website that publishes fictional articles such as \"Surgeons Remove Toy from Man's Rectum for 37th Time,\" \"Teenager Hospitalized with Facebook Withdrawals,\" and \"School Suspends Student for Gun-Shaped Birthmark.\" Empire News' \"About\/Disclaimer\" page notes that the site is a satirical publication: About\/Disclaimer Empire News is a satirical and entertainment website. We only use invented names in all our stories, except in cases when public figures are being satirized. Any other use of real names is accidental and coincidental. On 9 June 2014, President Obama did announce changes to the federal student loan program, but those changes stopped short of the blanket loan forgiveness suggested in the Empire News article. The changes included an expansion of a program that helps student loan borrowers manage their debt, a White House official said. The official stated that Obama will expand the criteria for an alternative repayment program, which caps monthly payments for certain federal student loans at 10% of a borrower's discretionary income. The alternative payment programs are designed to help borrowers struggling under the weight of student loans. They include forgiveness programs for on-time payments and public-sector employees. For example, teachers can have their balance canceled after ten years. Low-income borrowers can have their balance canceled after 20 or 25 years of on-time payments. Borrowers who do not qualify for forgiveness but use a repayment program will find their monthly payments reduced but spread out over a longer period of time. This means they will pay more over the lifetime of the loan, as there is additional time for interest to accrue. Last updated: 9 June 2014.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1E3prmdxP2ngASmgtrq_bGKCr6rWyjzQo"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_450","claim":"Bud Light 'Anniversary' Free 24-Pack Facebook Offer","posted":"11\/11\/2019","sci_digest":["Bud Light is not giving away free 24-packs of beer to Facebook users to celebrate the company's anniversary."],"justification":"In November 2019, a scam was spread via Facebook purporting to offer free 24-packs of Bud Light brand beer in celebration of the company's anniversary to users who clicked particular links and then followed the instructions found there:  The scam provided links which led to web pages (not operated or sponsored by Bud Light) displaying a Bud Light logo along with entreaties to spread the scam further by sharing the pages and writing \"thank you\" in the comments field:  The free Bud Light offer is a variation of the company anniversary survey scam, a ploy that depends on the unwary unwittingly promoting the phony offer to their social media friends: anniversary survey scam These web pages (which are not operated or sponsored by the companies they reference) typically ask the unwary to click what appear to be Facebook share buttons and post comments to the scammers site (which is really a ruse to dupe users into spreading the scam by sharing it with all of their Facebook friends). Those who follow such instructions are then led into a set of pages prompting them to input a fair amount of personal information (including name, age, address, and phone numbers), complete a lengthy series of surveys, and finally sign up (and commit to paying) for at least two Reward Offers (e.g., Netflix subscriptions, credit report monitoring services, prepaid credit cards).","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1nW2Ui4P4oQpE0H7mRua20elgvpIZh9Ii","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1lBAHGPIorpUPKIDdtv7VFa0UrsZDlBNJ","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_451","claim":"Cheating Husband Billboard","posted":"08\/29\/2006","sci_digest":["Did a woman take revenge on her cheating husband by advertising his infidelities on a billboard?"],"justification":"At the end of June 2006, a new blog entitled \"That Girl Emily\" appeared at thatgirlemily.blogspot.com. Ostensibly the musings of a married, 35-year-old New Jersey realtor named Emily, the blog for the first few weeks reported what might be read as the ordinary musings of a suburban professional woman: details of a recent vacation with her husband (Steven, a financial consultant), frustrations she experienced in pilates class, her husband's slow climb up the corporate ladder, and (after prompting by her sister) a discussion of her declining sex life. thatgirlemily.blogspot.com The blog then took a sudden left turn when Emily's brother convinced her to hire a private investigator (PI) to \"spy\" on her husband  a suggestion which Emily promptly accepted, implemented, and concluded in short order, finding out in the process (Quelle surprise!) that her husband was carrying on an expensive affair with her best friend, Laura. Emily spent the next few weeks venting her anger at her lying, cheating husband in her blog, including divulging information about various revenge schemes she had enacted to get back at Steven, starting with the billboard pictured here:  This photo is what Ive been talking about, the favors that I called in for. Brilliant, isn't it? I think so. I ran out early this morning to beat the rush hour traffic (didn't quite go as planned but at least it wasn't standstill) and got a picture of my billboard. My way to tell the world about the lowlife I've just wasted so many years on. I put it near Steven's office so his co-workers and friends could see exactly what a cheating scumbag he is. And of course, for all of you to see as well. I've decided to do what so many quiet, back-stabbed wives don't  take charge, make my whoring, cheating, adulterous, fornicating husband know what it feels like to be humiliated. And do it with many decibels. It's a personal message for everyone to read. Thanks goes out to my husband who chipped in on the price tag. Golly gee honey, I would've never been able to tell the world about your exploits with my best friend without your contribution! Gotta love joint bank accounts. Oh, sorry Steve, I had to splurge on the lights, too. Some people work late, like you. And theyre always driving home when it's dark. Burning that midnight oil, Steve-o. Just like you. So for the next two weeks, starting with today, I will exact revenge on my whoring husband. And who knows what a disparaged woman with lots of resources at her disposal might do?! Many readers who had been following \"Emily\"'s blog already suspected that something wasn't quite on the level, and their suspicions were confirmed when billboards with text identical to the one pictured above (\"Hi Steven, Do I have your attention now? I know all about her, you dirty, sneaky, immoral, unfaithful, poorly endowed slimeball. Everything's caught on tape. Your [soon-to-be-ex] Wife, Emily.\") popped up not only in New York, but in Brooklyn, Los Angeles, and Chicago as well. Some sharp-eyed readers noticed that one of Emily's blog entries was remarkably similar to the plot line of an episode of Court TV's reality show Parco P.I., and the blog and billboards were soon revealed as a stealth promotion for the upcoming season of that television series: Parco P.I. The billboard created interest, and not just from an unfaithful Steven. A booking agent from \"Good Morning America\" sent an e-mail to Emily inviting her on the show. British Glamour wanted to make her the subject of a feature article. But when pictures of the billboard proliferated on blogs, readers quickly dug in. One fact soon emerged, thanks to camera phone pictures: the billboard was identical to others in Brooklyn, Los Angeles and Chicago. Someone else discovered that Emily was keeping a blog, thatgirlemily.blogspot.com, detailing Steven's infidelities. More digging showed that one Emily blog entry was oddly similar to a synopsis for an episode of \"Parco P.I.,\" a reality show on Court TV. Another \"source\" sent an e-mail suggesting that Court TV was behind the signs, pointing out that it was a viral marketing campaign to promote one of its programs. Mystery solved. The bad news for viral marketers who use these kind of devices: executives at Court TV said they did not really want to be discovered so quickly. The good news is that even after the ruse was discovered, people visited the Emily blog, pushing it to one million hits by the end of [July 2006]. A fake surveillance video on the blog, supposedly from a private eye capturing Steven holding hands with his paramour, hit YouTube and became one of its most-viewed videos. Did it even matter that Emily was fictitious? \"Emily is really an amalgam of all of us who have been cheated on,\" said Marc Juris, general manager for programming and marketing at Court TV. \"Clearly, this really resonated with people.\" The \"Emily\" ruse was originally intended to be a stunt to help promote the start of the show's new season on Aug. 15, but Court TV's marketing group liked the idea so much that they made it a large part of the campaign.  Mr. Juris was still marveling: \"It's like a flash investigation took place, and within 24 hours we were busted.\" A similar billboard was spotted in Greensboro, North Carolina, in March 2013, this one supposedly bearing a message from a scorned woman named Jennifer, whose unfaithful partner, Michael, was carrying on an affair with a woman named Jessica. The text of the billboard echoed MasterCard's classic \"Priceless\" campaign, listing items (e.g., a GPS tracker, a Nikon camera) Jessica had purchased to expose Michael's cheating ways and stating that she had used the couple's investment account to fund putting up the shaming sign.  Local news accounts identified this billboard as another advertising gimmick, in this case for a Greensboro yogurt and coffee shop: What is known is that the billboard is owned by Outdoor Signage, a local company whose phone number connects to the offices of Kotis Properties. Kotis also owns a yogurt and coffee shop  Yo Daddy Dessert Bar  on Westover Terrace, the name of which was [later] featured on the billboard. Jessica  Meet me at Yodaddys at 7:00 p.m. for some wine therapy.  Jennifer, the new message read.  Debbie Hill, vice president of Triad Outdoor Advertising (which is not affiliated with the sign), said she has never known of anyone locally buying a billboard for a revenge message. She added that personalized messages are rare in the business. Its usually way too expensive, she said. In January 2010, YaVaughnie Wilkins put up a series of billboards in New York, San Francisco, and Atlanta after learning that the married man with whom she had been carrying on an affair for over eight years, Charles E. Phillips, had reconciled with his wife. Those billboards bore no scornful messages, however  they simply displayed a romantic picture of the couple, along with their first names and a reproduced quote from Phillips stating \"You are my soulmate forever\":  The billboards did include a URL for a (no longer active) web site, charlesphillipsandyavaughniewilkins.com, which featured numerous photographs and other mementos documenting the multi-year relationship between Wilkins and Phillips. The attendant publicity forced Phillips, who at the time was the president of Oracle Corporation and a member of President Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, to publicly acknowledge the affair. (YaVaughnie Wilkins' experience was also chronicled in the documentary film The Glamorous Lie.) The Glamorous Lie Berg, Emmett et al.  \"Jilted Mistress Proclaims Love for Exec Ex with Billboard.\"\r  New York Post.  22 January 2010. Bosman, Julie.  \"Public Hath No Fury, Even When Deceived.\"\r  The New York Times.  24 July 2006  (p. C6). Gardner, David.  \"Revenge by Billboard.\"\r  Daily Mail.  23 Janaury 2010. Tucker, Chad.  \"Wifes Billboard Revenge a Clever Marketing Ploy by Restaurant Company.\"\r  WGHP-TV [Greensboro].  20 March 2013. [Greensboro] News & Record.  \"Greensboro Billboard Draws Attention.\"\r  22 March 2013.","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1N40AdqK-SZPbGAD0z9H-BGJl-t49TnNH","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1qNRu0wjl635HjBfEfN1B6vwG-kyBnNd0","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1nz02jfZgfz-LYAnP8kK5xpWl4r-GluPf","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1poiMeCPhgnE91bfmuHtOCPXO5EndGDVJ","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_452","claim":"Prehistoric Shark Found in Pakistan","posted":"09\/25\/2014","sci_digest":["Was a 15-ton giant shark captured off the coast of Pakistan?"],"justification":"Claim: A 15-ton \"giant shark,\" previously believed to be extinct (and a \"parent of the Megalodon\"), was captured off the coast of Pakistan by local fishermen. Example: [Collected via e-mail, September 2014] 15-Ton Prehistoric Shark Captured Off Coast Of Pakistan. This seems sketchy in all aspects. Origins: On 24 September 2014, World News Daily Report published an article sure to spark interest among shark fans. According to the site, a \"parent\" species of the famed Megalodon was captured off the coast of Pakistan, near Karachi. The undated article \"quotes\" a local marine biologist as surmising that \"rising sea temperatures [are] forcing these beasts to come up closer to the shores,\" or perhaps the shark was \"simply hurt and suffering from a disorienting handicap.\" The report states that a giant prehistoric shark, previously thought to be extinct for more than 20 million years, has been captured by local fishermen off the coast of Pakistan, as reported by the Islamabad Herald this morning. The giant creature, initially thought to be a great white shark, was quickly identified by experts as an unknown species due to its unprecedented weight and size. Analysis of the teeth suggests the shark is a parent of the Megalodon, an extinct species that lived approximately 28 to 1.5 million years ago during the Cenozoic Era. Given the broad interest in the Megalodon, the \"prehistoric shark\" story quickly gained traction on social media sites. Unfortunately, World News Daily Report is one of several \"satire\" news outlets that produce passably believable articles to be shared on Facebook and Twitter. A disclaimer page on the main site states: World News Daily Report is a news and political satire web publication, which may or may not use real names, often in semi-real or mostly fictitious ways. All news articles contained within worldnewsdailyreport.com are fiction and presumably fake news. Any resemblance to the truth is purely coincidental, except for all references to politicians and\/or celebrities, which are based on real people but still largely fictional. In addition to the \"prehistoric giant shark\" story, World News Daily Report's featured daily articles include \"Elderly Woman Vanishes During Magic Show\" and \"Homeless Man Sexually Assaulted By Top Models In Limousine.\" Last updated: 25 September 2014.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Tgs1KVP4oHrRXgdXsolf31lVN6NQ0G2T","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_453","claim":"Says hes proposed the largest employer contribution to the Virginia Retirement System in history.","posted":"01\/06\/2012","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Gov. Bob McDonnell has proposed spending an additional $2.2 billion on state employee and teacher pensions during a two-year budget period that will begin on July 1. The governor, in presenting his biennial budget plan to the General Assembly's money committees on Dec. 19, said his pension proposal, if approved, would be the largest employer contribution to the Virginia Retirement System in history. We wondered whether the total $2.21 billion infusion over two budget years would truly be historic. Since taking office in 2010, McDonnell has made a number of proposals to reform the Virginia Retirement System, which is estimated to be $19.9 billion short of the assets needed to pay its projected pension liabilities over the next 85 years. However, the governor also added to VRS's woes early in his term by convincing the legislature to divert $620 million in scheduled pension contributions to balance the state's general fund, which pays for education, public safety, and health programs. Under McDonnell's new proposal, Virginia would pay roughly $600 million for state employee pensions during the 2013-14 budget years. Another $1.6 billion would be contributed to teacher retirement funds, with local governments picking up $1 billion of the sum and the state government paying $600 million. Tucker Martin, McDonnell's director of communications, told us the governor's claim that the $2.21 billion total contributions would be historic was based on VRS data. The VRS figures show that the largest employer contribution to date came in the 2007-08 biennial budget when total state and local contributions were $1.72 billion, which is lower than McDonnell's proposal. The retirement system started in 1942, but VRS doesn't have records of employer contributions before 1973. Jeanne Chenault, a VRS spokeswoman, said the number of teachers and state employees before 1973 would have been lower, so it's unlikely that contribution amounts would have exceeded 1973 levels. The VRS data shows annual contribution amounts without adjusting for inflation, so we did that work ourselves to see if McDonnell's claim could survive another test. It did. Even when adjusting for inflation, the 2007-08 contributions were still the high-water mark for employer contributions to the pension system, coming in at just over $1.8 billion in current dollars. McDonnell's proposal eclipses that. Our Ruling: The governor said his proposed $2.21 billion employer contribution for state worker and teacher pensions would be the largest in VRS history. For as far back as the data goes, the governor's statement is correct even when adjusting for inflation. We rate the claim True.","issues":["Pensions","Virginia"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_454","claim":"Who was Michael Myers?","posted":"10\/26\/2015","sci_digest":["The face of the mass-murdering Michael Myers character in the 'Halloween' films was originally a Captain Kirk mask."],"justification":"One of the most iconic masks in movie history is that worn by the crazed killer character Michael Myers in the Halloween franchise of slasher films, the first installment of which was released in 1978. According to rumor, this frightful face originated with a character from a very different series and medium: Captain Kirk from television's Star Trek. The 1978 horror film Halloween was produced on a very limited budget, and director John Carpenter didn't have the funds to create a custom mask. Carpenter told the Hollywood Reporter in a 2015 interview that the movie's art director instead picked up a mask of Captain Kirk at a magic shop and made a few alterations to create the iconic look of Michael Myers. He explained, \"There was a choice we had to make because we didn't have any money to make a mask. So the art director went up to Bert Wheeler's magic shop on Hollywood Boulevard, which was right up the street from our offices, and he got two masks. One was a clown mask, and one was a Captain Kirk mask. It was supposed to be Captain Kirk. It looked nothing like William Shatner, nothing like anybody, really. It was just a strange mask, which was perfect for us. So we spray-painted it, altered the eye holes, and just did a couple of things with the hair, and there you had it. I like to think it's Shatner, but it's not really.\" Similar versions of the story have been told by other members of the crew, including Rick Sternbach, who worked as an illustrator\/designer on Halloween 2, and William Shatner (who portrayed Captain Kirk) himself. Sternbach's account is of particular interest because he was one of the first to transition this movie legend into a movie fact. He stated, \"I was hired as an illustrator on Halloween 2 in 1981, working for production designer J. Michael Riva. In a supply cabinet at Pumpkin Pie Productions, we had one mask left from the original Halloween and no idea where to get any others for the sequel. It appeared that we'd need to check out some of the toy stores and such, but I noticed that there was some wording molded into the neck area. There was a model number and the words 'Don Post Studios.' I made a call, read off the model number, and the word came back, 'It's our Captain Kirk mask.' I asked if we could buy a number of them, and was told, 'We'll give you a box, just give us credit.' With that, I turned the official dealings over to the higher-ups.\"","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1dsfytY54fSEB5_jsEBHjleDA1K5ZNpW7"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_455","claim":"Did a 'Declassified' Picture Show an Alien UFO Crash?","posted":"01\/30\/2021","sci_digest":["A picture appeared to show military and government officials closing in on a crashed UFO that looked like a flying saucer alien spacecraft."],"justification":"The scene appeared to be dramatic. A picture showed a crashed UFO, perhaps an alien spacecraft, surrounded by military and government officials. The craft resembled the shape of a flying saucer. It appeared in an online advertisement:   The ad read: \"[Gallery] 40+ Wild Photos That the Government Has Declassified.\" Readers who clicked the ad were led to a slideshow article on the Daily Forest website. The story lasted 80 pages. slideshow article The picture from the ad did not show up in the lengthy article. It was nothing more than a still frame from 2016's \"The X-Files: The Event Series.\" A video from 20th Century Studios documented the creation of the alien UFO crash: video  The headline on Daily Forest read: \"Check Out These Fascinating Government Classified Photos.\" However, the article appeared to contain nothing but interesting photographs. None of them appeared to have been classified or declassified in the past. For example, one of the pictures showed NASA astronauts practicing a water landing. Its caption read: \"In June 1966, the Apollo 1 crew practices water egress procedures with a full-scale boilerplate model of the spacecraft\": showed water landing  Photo via NASA  The list also featured a publicly available picture from 2015. It depicted a radio telescope under construction in China: featured  Photo by Visual China Group via Getty Images  A third example from the lengthy article was a photograph of the late U.S. Sen. John McCain. It showed the moment he was captured during the Vietnam War on Oct. 26, 1967. At the time, he was known as Lt. Cmdr. John McCain III: photograph  Senator John McCain is pulled out of a Hanoi lake by North Vietnamese Army soldiers and civilians on October 26, 1967.(Photo By Getty Images)  The picture had not been classified. In fact, the Los Angeles Times printed the photograph just two days after he was captured. printed the photograph In sum, the ad that claimed to lead to \"40+ Wild Photos That the Government Has Declassified\" was nothing more than clickbait. The story lasted 80 pages and the photographs hadn't been classified or declassified. Further, the article didn't explain the alien UFO crash picture that readers clicked in the first place. Snopes debunks a wide range of content, and online advertisements are no exception. Misleading ads often lead to obscure websites that host lengthy slideshow articles with lots of pages. It's called advertising \"arbitrage.\" The advertiser's goal is to make more money on ads displayed on the slideshow's pages than it cost to show the initial ad that lured them to it. Feel free to submit ads to us, and be sure to include a screenshot of the ad and the link to where the ad leads. submit ads to us","issues":["lien"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1qDXPCJivrvoj7RQ_EfSX0oS7WoxwASeK","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=12Rt609E7KXrxoCeuSQSdqcPc271ClLJh","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1bNLspzLoJ-SoKw11V50AUQYK4IsV10t2","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=10Pbj4oeGf4T_3G6829KDHII4ngxnSUMx","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_456","claim":"Etymology of 'Card Shark' and 'Card Sharp'","posted":"05\/25\/2008","sci_digest":["Is someone who cheats at cards properly styled a 'card shark,' not a 'card sharp'?"],"justification":"Claim: Someone who cheats at cards is properly styled a card shark, not a card sharp. Status: Multiple, see below. Origins: The debate has long raged over whether a card cheat is properly termed a card sharp or a card shark. Sharks, after all, are known for dispassionately rending the flesh of their prey, which would seem to favor the card shark camp in this linguistic battle, since those who manipulate the pasteboards to bilk others have no more conscience or concern for their victims than do their finned counterparts. Yet card sharp also has its merits, as it conjures mental images of the poker cheats of the Old West\u2014sharp-featured men with cards up their sleeves. Which, therefore, is it? Both terms still refer to someone skilled in cheating at cards, although in recent years, card shark has also acquired the less odious definition of someone skilled at playing cards. (Were that not so, one would have to wonder about the naming of the 1978 TV game show Card Sharks, on which contestants tried to guess whether the next card in a sequence was higher or lower than its predecessor.) As to whether card sharp or card shark entered the English language first, the answer is far from straightforward. A print sighting of card sharp dates to 1884, and one of card sharper to 1859, while the first print sighting of card shark takes us back only to 1942\u2014evidence that would seem to settle matters. However, both sharper and shark (in the sense of one who cheats) antedate all of the above, with sharper dating to 1681 and shark to 1599, evidence that could be seen as giving the nod to shark. (By the way, the \"shark\" in question has nothing to do with carnivorous fish; it likely entered the English language via the German schurke, a word that in the 16th century meant a cheat or swindler.) If you thought the answer might be found by looking at the words sharp and shark absent the word card, that pursuit also leads down a blind alley, because some definitions of both words contain elements of cheating or connivance. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a sharp as \"a worthless and impecunious person who gains a precarious living by sponging on others, executing disreputable commissions, cheating at play, and petty swindling; a parasite; a sharper.\" While that use of the word is rarely encountered these days, remnants of it remain, such as when we accuse someone of engaging in \"sharp practices\" (meaning the cutting of corners to achieve desired ends; while the person so engaged may be staying within the strict letter of the law, their behavior could still be regarded as unethical and suspect). As for the word shark, in addition to encompassing the species of flesh-eating fish, it has over time come to serve as a label for certain dislikable characters: those who prey greedily upon others (such as successful businesspeople famous more for their love of profit than for adherence to ethics) and those who, by virtue of superior skill, outmaneuver less capable opponents (highly effective divorce attorneys, for instance). Common compound nouns have been formed from \"shark\" that address both meanings, such as loan shark in the \"prey greedily\" category and pool shark in the \"superior skill\" category. Barbara \"all sharks, finned or otherwise, are best avoided\" Mikkelson Last updated: 13 June 2008 Sources: The Compact Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993. ISBN 0-19-861258-3. The Compact Oxford English Dictionary.","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=15euSuln4mQhk7bQ5BEke3HX1mpA3Be_I","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_457","claim":"Scott Walker cut school funding more per student than any governor in America.","posted":"09\/07\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"ATV adreleased Aug. 28, 2014 by the Greater Wisconsin Committee, a group funded by labor unions and Democratic ideological groups, starts with three children looking into the camera and each asking: Why? Then an adult narrator says: Why did Scott Walker cut school funding more per student than any governor in America? Where did the money go? To Scott Walker's friends. Walker gave his corporate friends half a billion dollars in tax breaks and giveaways. We've alreadyrated Falsean earlier Greater Wisconsin Committee claim, that Walker gave $570 million in job-development incentives to his cronies or corporate friends. Much of that money went to firms whose employees have given to Democrats in the past, many of the donations were small and Walkers jobs agency has a limited role in dealing with firms associated with a big chunk of the $570 million. But what about the claim of Walker cutting school funding, on a per-student basis, more than any other governor? What we know There's no dispute that shortly after taking office in January 2011, Walker made a dramatic reduction in school funding. In fact, in February 2012 werated Truea broader claim -- that Walker had enacted the biggest cuts to education in our state's history. The $1.2 billion in reductions included $792 million in direct state aid to kindergarten-through-12th grade schools, which is the focus of the new Greater Wisconsin Committee ad. But that fact-check didn't calculate the K-12 school cuts on a per-student basis in comparison to other states. And Walker later restored some of the state aid to schools. The committees evidence Before we dig in, a few words about wording. The Greater Wisconsin Committees claim refers tofundingof public schools. But, as well see, the evidence the committee cites isoverall spendingby the schools -- in other words, what was spent in total from state, federal and local money. So, in addition to checking the overall spending figures the committee cited to us in support of its claim, well examinestate revenuefigures -- the amount of money given to public schools strictly from the state. What the Greater Wisconsin Committee cited isa tablefrom a solid source, thelatest annual reportfrom the U.S. Census Bureau comparing all 50 states (and the District of Columbia) on public school financing. Issued in May 2014, the report covers the Wisconsin state fiscal year of 2011-12, which is the first full fiscal year during Walkers term in office. (The states fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30; in other words, roughly the same as the traditional school year.) On a percentage basis, Wisconsins reduction in overall per-pupil spending -- of state, federal and local money -- was at the top of the chart when compared with the previous year. In terms of cuts, here are the top five:  State\/District Per-pupil SPENDING in 2011-12 from ALL sources Change from 2010-11 Wisconsin $11,042 -6.2 percent Florida $8,372 -5.8 percent District of Columbia $17,468 -5.4 percent Texas $8,261 -4.7 percent South Dakota $8,446 -4.1 percent  In contrast, the census report shows that in the four years before Walker took office, Wisconsins per-student spending rose -- by 3.6 percent in 2010-11, 2.6 percent in 2009-10, 3.7 percent in 2008-09 and 4 percent in 2007-08. In terms of blaming Walker for the cuts, the governor, along with the Republican-controlled Legislature, had direct control over state money, which amounted to 48 percent of the spending by Wisconsin schools in 2011-12. Through the Act 10 collective bargaining reform law, Walker and the Legislature required employees to pay more toward their pension and enabledschool districts to charge employees more for health insurance as a way to offset some of the state aid cuts. But as we noted in rating the biggest cuts in state history claim, the Greater Wisconsin Committees statement was not about net impact, just the state funding side of the equation. Walker and the Legislature also had significant influence over local funding, which amounted to 44 percent of the schools spending, because they essentially froze the amount of property tax revenue that local school districts could raise. Walker had no real control over federal funding, which amounted to 8 percent of total spending by Wisconsin schools. Other measures Now, using the same census report, lets look at the revenue figures, focusing on how much state money went to Wisconsin schools. Once again, Wisconsin was at the top in terms of cuts. State Per-pupil REVENUE in 2011-12 from STATE GOVERNMENT Change from 2010-11 Wisconsin $5,544 -8.33 percent Idaho $4,630 -6.79 percent Arizona $3,018 -6.46 percent Wyoming $9,466 -5.05 percent Florida $3,273 -4.84 percent  So, the state revenue measure also supports the Greater Wisconsin Committee claim. But there some newer figures available. AMay 2014 reportfrom the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal think tank in Washington, D.C., examined state funding of schools in 2013-14. Those figures show Wisconsin was among 15 states that reduced state per-student spending from the previous year. Wisconsin's 0.6 percent reduction (adjusted for inflation) wasnt the largest cut, but rather the third-smallest. (Alaskas 3.2 percent cut was the largest.) Wisconsin state funding was $5,747 per student in 2013-14, versus $5,783 the previous year. As for comparing states on school funding for the entirety of Walkers term, those figures simply arent available yet. Our rating The Greater Wisconsin Committee said: Scott Walker cut school funding more per student than any governor in America. Based on the latest census figures, for 2011-12, the Wisconsin cuts were the largest based on two measures -- state revenue provided to local schools and overall spending by schools of state, federal and local money. But more recent figures indicate that Wisconsins school spending cuts are no longer the largest, at least for a more recent period. For a statement that is accurate but needs additional information, our rating is Mostly True.","issues":["Children","Education","Message Machine 2014","State Budget","States","Taxes","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_458","claim":"Did Bernie Sanders Express Support for Iran During '79 Hostage Crisis?","posted":"02\/05\/2020","sci_digest":["A widely shared meme contained several key falsehoods about the independent Vermont senator's former association with the Socialist Workers Party."],"justification":"In January 2020, we received multiple inquiries from readers about the accuracy of a social media meme that made striking claims about the past record of U.S. Sen. and 2020 Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders. The meme featured black-and-white photographs of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who led the Islamic revolution of 1979 and became Iran's supreme leader; former U.S. President Jimmy Carter; and Sanders, along with the following text: meme text In 1979 Iran took 70 Americans hostage for 444 days. Most [of] America united, but one politician stood aloneSocialist Workers Party leader Bernie Sanders supported Ayatollah Khomeini against the US, condemned President Carter for imperialism, and accused the hostages of being CIA spies.  Is this what Democrat voters stand for? Bernie Sanders for President?Maybe in Iran. Not in the US.    The claims contained in the meme appeared to borrow from two articles published in January 2020, just two weeks before the Democratic presidential primaries began in earnest with the Iowa caucuses.  On Jan. 16, The Daily Beast published an opinion column written by historian Ronald Radosh, which carried the headline, \"When Iran Took Americans Hostage, Bernie Backed Iran's Defenders.\" There, Radosh wrote that Sanders \"aligned himself with the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), the self-proclaimed Trotskyist revolutionary party, became its presidential elector in Vermont, and campaigned for its candidates and platform that defended the Iranian hostage seizure.\" column On Jan. 18, The Jerusalem Post published an article that bore the headline, \"Bernie Sanders Backed a Party That Supported Iran During Hostage Crisis.\" The piece largely restated portions of Radosh's earlier column. article Important differences exist between the claims made in the above-displayed meme, which contained several key falsehoods, and Radosh's article, but the latter also omitted important context and made misleading assertions. Sanders and the SWP The January 2020 meme described Sanders as the \"Socialist Workers Party leader.\" This is false. Sanders was never even a member of that party, contrary to Radosh's claim that the future U.S. senator \"stood apart by joining a Marxist-Leninist party that not only pledged support for the Iranian theocracy, but also justified the hostage taking\" [Emphasis is added].  A spokesperson for the Sanders campaign told Snopes, \"Senator Sanders was never a member of the Socialist Workers Party.\" This is corroborated by several news reports from that era. In October 1980, the SWP's newsletter The Militant described Vermont as \"a state where there is no branch of the Socialist Workers Party,\" further undermining any claim that Sanders, who has lived in Vermont since the late 1960s, was a member of the party (let alone its leader) at that time. several news reports described However, Sanders was undoubtedly affiliated with the SWP. In 1980, he served as one of three Vermont Electoral College electors on behalf of the SWP's presidential candidate and leader Andrew Pulley, a former steelworker and Vietnam War veteran from Chicago. Sanders' role and Pulley's candidacy itself were both purely symbolic. Pulley was then only 29 years old and therefore ineligible to serve as president under the U.S. Constitution, and his place on several state ballots, including Vermont, was taken by Clifton DeBerry. Between them, Pulley and DeBerry got just 46,000 votes nationwide.  electors ballots After Sanders became mayor of Burlington in 1981, running as an independent, his affiliation with Pulley and the SWP continued, and he spoke at SWP campaign events in 1982 and 1984. However, his connection with the party appears to have diminished after that, as Sanders' own political vision moved from revolutionary socialism to social democracy. spoke The SWP's 1984 presidential candidate, Mel Mason, told Washington Times in 2019 that, \"We had a long-distance relationship, but that kind of changed after he ran for Congress [in 1990]. I didn't have as much contact anymore. I have a lot of respect for him, but I just don't think the programs he put forward are what workers need in this country.\" told It's also important to note that although Sanders supported SWP candidates for president in 1980 and 1984 and spoke at several SWP events, he did not necessarily support or endorse each of their policies or utterances. In fact, Sanders made a point of saying this in the summer of 1980, when it was first announced he would be an SWP elector in that year's presidential election. At the time, he said, \"Although I am not in agreement with the SWP on all issues, I strongly support that party's attempt to become a nucleus for a national labor party, which will fight for the interests of low income and working people.\" said Similarly, Sanders publicly clashed with the SWP on certain issues. At a forum in Worcester, Vermont, in July 1980, he put \"demanding questions\" to Matilde Zimmermann, the SWP's vice presidential candidate that year, on the subject of nuclear power. According to Burlington Free Press, \"the tone of the questions became almost hostile at moments.\" That interaction came just days after Sanders was announced as a Vermont elector for the SWP. Burlington Free Press In combination with the fact that Sanders never joined the SWP, held office in it, nor ran on an SWP ticket, this demonstrates that he was broadly supportive of the party's aims and campaigns for a period, but did not march in lockstep with each and every SWP policy or pronouncement. The SWP and the Iran Hostage Crisis During the Iran hostage crisis between 1979 and 1981, the SWP and its leader Pulley did criticize the approach of the U.S. government under then-President Jimmy Carter and at times even expressed support for positions taken by the recently installed, anti-Western, Islamic regime led by Khomeini. Broadly speaking, the SWP claimed that the Carter administration was cynically using the crisis in order to boost domestic public support for a military conflict with Iran; called on Carter to accede to the Khomeini regime's demands, including the extradition of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the U.S.-friendly former Shah of Iran who had been overthrown in the 1979 Islamic revolution and fled to the U.S.; and claimed that the U.S. Embassy, which was stormed in the hostage-taking, had been a hub of American intelligence activities, and some of the hostages were spies.  claimed In November 1980, Pulley and his former running mate Zimmermann published a statement calling on Carter to accede to the Iranian regime's demands, calling them \"simple and just,\" and said the U.S. should \"end its attacks on the Iranian revolution\": statement Washington's refusal to accept the offer of the Iranian parliament for releasing the hostages shows once again the U.S. government's total lack of concern for their safety and wellbeing. The proposals from Iran are simple and just: no U.S. military or political involvement in Iran; unfreeze the Iranian assets; cancel all claims against Iran; and return the shah's stolen wealth. If granted, the hostages would immediately be freed. [...] We should demand that the U.S. government immediately agree to the proposals from Iran-with no strings attached-and end its attacks on the Iranian revolution. A year earlier, Pulley issued the following statement: \"American people oppose U.S. support to shah. We will fight any U.S. attempt to intervene in Iran. Long live Iranian revolution!\"  statement We did not find any public statements by Sanders on the subject of the Iran hostage crisis, so the claim that he expressed support for Khomeini was false, and a clear case of \"guilt by association\" with the utterances of Pulley and the SWP being transferred on to Sanders because of his links to both. A spokesperson for Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign indicated he was opposed to SWP policy on Iran at that time, telling Snopes: \"Senator Sanders did not think the hostages were spies nor did he support their captivity. Any suggestion otherwise is nonsense.\"  However, Sanders' disagreement with Pulley and the SWP on the Iran hostage crisis was demonstrably not strong enough to prompt him to sever ties with either, given that the future U.S. representative and senator continued to speak at SWP campaign events after the hostage crisis and supported the party's presidential candidate four years later.  Image caption: Bernie Sanders, then Mayor of Burlington, Vermont, in his office at City Hall on March 1, 1985. Radosh, Ronald. \"When Iran Took Americans Hostage, Bernie Backed Iran's Defenders.\"\r  The Daily Beast. 16 January 2020. The Jerusalem Post. \"Bernie Sanders Backed a Party That Supported Iran During Hostage Crisis.\"\r  18 January 2020. Berney, Louis.  \"FBI Probes Mayor to Discredit Witness.\"\r  The Burlington Free Press. 8 April 1981. The Burlington Free Press. \"Pulley to Explain Socialist Suit Against FBI, CIA.\"\r  20 May 1981. Abbey, Alan. \"Burlington Immigration Office May Get Role in Socialist Probe.\"\r  The Burlington Free Press. 21 May 1981. Rose, Andy. \"Vermont Workers, Students Welcome Pulley.\"\r  The Militant. 24 October 1980. Kingsley, Robert. \"Socialists Launch Campaign to Get Candidates on Ballot.\"\r  The Rutland Daily Herald. 11 July 1980. Simonson, Joseph. \"Bernie Sanders Campaigned for Marxist Party in Reagan Era.\"\r  The Washington Times. 30 May 2019. Davis, Neil. \"Candidacy No Shield for Zimmermann.\"\r The Burlington Free Press. 20 July 1980. The Militant. \"Protests Say: 'No War Against Iran!'\"\r  30 November 1979. Pulley, Andrew; Zimmermann, Matilde. \"Socialists: 'Meet Just Proposal of Iranian People.'\"\r  The Militant. 14 November 1980.","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1B1vjKQW-cjmS8qnQkA2vtwbvVDbJYbwz","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_459","claim":"No, Drake Is Not Dead","posted":"11\/14\/2020","sci_digest":["#RIPDrake was the number one trend in the U.S. on the evening of Nov. 14, 2020, leaving Twitter users asking: \"Is Drake dead?\" It was a death hoax."],"justification":"On the evening of Nov. 14, 2020, #RIPDrake rose to become the number one Twitter trend in the United States.   However, it was not true that the rapper had passed away. Twitter pinned a message at the top of the #RIPDrake trend informing viewers that it was a death hoax: \"No, Drake is not dead. The rumors arose after users began to share photoshopped images of articles saying the rapper had died\":   Some tweets shared screenshots of reports supposedly taken from TMZ and Genius. The fake TMZ headline read \"Drake dead at 34 after a drive-by shooting.\" The fake Genius headline, which may have been shared more widely, read: \"Drake's Family Releases Info Saying Drake Passed Away.\" A number of tweets spread the rumor, while others reacted after finding out it was not true: spread the rumor   ","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1WJChR9N2yCB0TNbrD4NdP3tXnW-7Q2Hg","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1fr29qRfcE1PVWJp0ujFpQEFgdxCwHSja","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_460","claim":"Income Tax Refunds Issued as Savings Bonds","posted":"01\/26\/2010","sci_digest":["Will all U.S. federal income tax refunds paid in 2010 will be issued in the form of U.S. savings bonds?"],"justification":"By default, all U.S. federal income tax refunds paid in 2010 will be issued in the form of U.S. savings bonds. Please be aware that when filing your income taxes for 2009 earnings, the IRS has decided that all refunds due to clients will be paid in U.S. savings bonds unless you choose to \"opt out.\" So watch carefully and find the area on the forms or inform your preparer of your intentions regarding this. I would think that most people would not want to receive savings bonds instead of a refund check in the event of a refund coming to them. Income taxes are a subject of near-universal agreement: nobody likes paying them, nearly everyone thinks they're too high, and many folks are disgruntled that they have to pay their taxes in advance (through payroll withholding) and wait until the following year for the government to refund any overage. To most, it would be adding insult to injury if, as suggested above, the government stopped issuing income tax refunds in cash (via check or direct deposit) and instead started paying them out in the form of U.S. savings bonds (especially since savings bonds generally cannot be redeemed for their full value until the purchaser has held them for one year). However, the described refund switch isn't happening this year; someone has misinterpreted the introduction of a new option as a system-wide change to be imposed on everyone by default. In his weekly radio address of 5 September 2009, President Obama announced new initiatives for retirement savings, one of which was the following: \"We'll make it easier for people to save their federal tax refunds, which 100 million families receive. Today, if you have a retirement account, you can have your refund deposited directly into your account. With this change, we'll make it easier for those without retirement plans to save their refunds as well. You'll be able to check a box on your tax return to receive your refund as a savings bond.\" But taxpayer participation in the described initiative isn't a mandatory or default plan, and (for now, at least) it isn't as simple as \"checking a box on your tax return.\" For refunds to be issued in 2010, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has implemented a program under which taxpayers may opt to receive part or all of their refunds (up to $5,000) in the form of U.S. Treasury Bonds. This program is described in the \"Buying Savings Bonds\" section of the IRS' informational page entitled \"Taxpayers Can Now Use Refunds to Buy Savings Bonds.\" This year, a taxpayer for the first time can request a portion of their refund be used to buy up to $5,000 in low-risk, liquid Treasury I Bonds, which earn interest and protect owners against inflation. The resulting bonds will be issued in the taxpayer's name. If the refund is a joint refund, the bonds will be issued in the names of both taxpayers. No beneficiary may be selected. The taxpayer need not have a TreasuryDirect account to purchase I Bonds using this option. You can buy savings bonds in denominations of $50, $100, $200, $500, and $1,000. You buy them at face value, meaning if you pay $50 using your refund, you get a $50 savings bond. In any single calendar year, you can buy up to a total of $5,000 of U.S. savings bonds of any series, whether using your refund or some other method. If you buy $250 or less of savings bonds with your refund, then $50 savings bonds will be issued. If the amount is over $250, then $50 savings bonds will be issued up to $250, and the fewest possible additional savings bonds will be issued for the remaining amount. Follow the instructions on Form 8888 to tell the IRS to make a direct deposit of the amount you designate to an IRA, to buy U.S. savings bonds, or to a savings account or other savings vehicle. As noted in that description, the program for receiving refunds via savings bonds is an option taxpayers can request to participate in, not a default applied to everyone except those who specifically take action to opt out of it. Taxpayers who wish to take part in this new program must proactively indicate their desire to do so by filling out and submitting IRS Form 8888 with their returns. Additional changes may be coming in future years, but taxpayers filing federal income tax returns in 2010 for income earned in 2009 need not \"watch carefully\" to avoid receiving their refunds as savings bonds. Last updated: 26 January 2010.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_461","claim":"Message from the Employer","posted":"11\/20\/2011","sci_digest":["Employer issued letter to employees that any further taxes on his business will result in his shutting it down?"],"justification":"Claim: An employer issued a missive to his employees stating that any additional taxes on his business would result in his shutting the company down. \n\nTo All My Valued Employees,\n\nThere have been some rumblings around the office about the future of this company, and more specifically, your jobs. As you know, the economy has changed for the worse and presents many challenges. However, the good news is this: The economy doesn't pose a threat to your jobs. What does threaten your jobs, however, is the changing political landscape in this country. Of course, as your employer, I am forbidden to tell you whom to vote for\u2014it is against the law to discriminate based on political affiliation, race, creed, religion, etc. Please vote for whom you think will serve your interests best. However, let me share some facts that might help you decide what is in your best interest.\n\nFirst, while it is easy to spew rhetoric that casts employers against employees, you must understand that for every business owner, there is a backstory. This backstory is often neglected and overshadowed by what you see and hear. Sure, you see me park my Mercedes outside. You've seen my big home at last year's Christmas party. I'm sure all these flashy icons of luxury conjure up some idealized thoughts about my life. However, what you don't see is the backstory. I started this company 12 years ago. At that time, I lived in a 300-square-foot studio apartment for three years. My entire living space was converted into an office so I could put forth 100% effort into building a company that would eventually employ you. My diet consisted of Ramen Pride noodles because every dollar I spent went back into this company. I drove a rusty Toyota Corolla with a defective transmission. I didn't have time to date. Often, I stayed home on weekends while my friends went out drinking and partying. In fact, I was married to my business\u2014hard work, discipline, and sacrifice.\n\nMeanwhile, my friends got jobs. They worked 40 hours a week, made a modest $50K a year, and spent every dime they earned. They drove flashy cars, lived in expensive homes, and wore fancy designer clothes. Instead of hitting Nordstrom's for the latest hot fashion item, I was trolling through the Goodwill store, extracting any clothing item that didn't look like it was birthed in the '70s. My friends refinanced their mortgages and lived a life of luxury. I, however, did not. I put my time, my money, and my life into a business with a vision that someday I too would be able to afford these luxuries my friends supposedly had.\n\nSo, while you physically arrive at the office at 9 a.m., mentally check in at about noon, and then leave at 5 p.m., I don't. There is no \"off\" button for me. When you leave the office, you are done, and you have a weekend all to yourself. I, unfortunately, do not have that freedom. I eat, sleep, and breathe this company every minute of the day. There is no rest. There is no weekend. There is no happy hour. Every day, this business is attached to my hip like a one-year-old special-needs child. You, of course, only see the fruits of that labor\u2014the nice house, the Mercedes, the vacations... you never realize the backstory and the sacrifices I've made.\n\nNow, the economy is falling apart, and I, the guy who made all the right decisions and saved his money, have to bail out all the people who didn't. The people who overspent their paychecks suddenly feel entitled to the same luxuries that I earned and sacrificed a decade of my life for. Yes, business ownership has its benefits, but the price I've paid is steep and without wounds. Unfortunately, the cost of running this business and employing you is starting to eclipse the threshold of marginal benefit, and let me tell you why: I am being taxed to death, and the government thinks I don't pay enough. I have state taxes, federal taxes, property taxes, sales and use taxes, payroll taxes, workers' compensation taxes, unemployment taxes, and taxes on taxes. I have to hire a tax man to manage all these taxes, and then guess what? I have to pay taxes for employing him. Government mandates, regulations, and all the accounting that goes with it now occupy most of my time. On October 15th, I wrote a check to the U.S. Treasury for $288,000 for quarterly taxes. You know what my \"stimulus\" check was? Zero. Nada. Zilch.\n\nThe question I have is this: Who is stimulating the economy? Me, the guy who has provided 14 people with good-paying jobs and serves over 2,200,000 people per year with a flourishing business? Or the single mother sitting at home, pregnant with her fourth child, waiting for her next welfare check? Obviously, the government feels the latter is the economic stimulus of this country. The fact is, if I deducted (read: stole) 50% of your paycheck, you'd quit, and you wouldn't work here. I mean, why should you? That's nuts. Who wants to be rewarded with only 50% of their hard work? Well, I agree, which is why your jobs are in jeopardy. Here is what many of you don't understand: to stimulate the economy, you need to stimulate what runs the economy. Had the government suddenly mandated that I didn't need to pay taxes, guess what? Instead of depositing that $288,000 into the Washington black hole, I would have spent it, hired more employees, and generated substantial economic growth. My employees would have enjoyed the wealth of that tax cut in the form of promotions and better salaries. But you can forget it now. When you have a comatose man on the verge of death, you don't defibrillate and shock his thumb, thinking that will bring him back to life, do you? Or do you defibrillate his heart? Business is at the heart of America and always has been. To restart it, you must stimulate it, not kill it. Suddenly, the power brokers in Washington believe the masses of America are the essential drivers of the American economic engine. Nothing could be further from the truth, and this is the type of change you can keep.\n\nSo where am I going with all this? It's quite simple. If any new taxes are levied on me or my company, my reaction will be swift and simple: I fire you. I fire your co-workers. You can then plead with the government to pay for your mortgage, your SUV, and your child's future. Frankly, it isn't my problem anymore. Then, I will close this company down, move to another country, and retire. You see, I'm done. I'm done with a country that penalizes the productive and gives to the unproductive. My motivation to work and to provide jobs will be destroyed, and with it, my citizenship. While tax cuts to 95% of America sound great on paper, don't forget the backstory: If there is no job, there is no income to tax. A tax cut on zero dollars is zero. So, when you make the decision to vote, ask yourself who understands the economics of business ownership and who doesn't. Whose policies will endanger your jobs? Answer those questions, and you should know who might be the one capable of saving your job. While the media wants to tell you, \"It's the economy, stupid,\" I'm telling you it isn't. If you lose your job, it won't be at the hands of the economy; it will be at the hands of a political hurricane that swept through this country, steamrolled the Constitution, and changed its landscape forever. If that happens, you can find me in the South Caribbean, sitting on a beach, retired, and with no employees to worry about.\n\nSigned, Your Boss","issues":["income"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_462","claim":"The country's bankrupt.","posted":"08\/12\/2011","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, whohas raised warning flags about U.S. debt for decades, declared in an Iowa debate Aug. 11, 2011, that the country's bankrupt. Okay, we'll bite: Is it? PolitiFact Wisconsin tested a similar claim in February from Gov. Scott Walker (Were broke. We don't have any more money.) and found itFalse. But Paul's talking about the whole country.","issues":["National","Bankruptcy","Deficit","Federal Budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1VbD5QJEqUfQX_MJndxrHDJ6eWgul0P-E","image_caption":"Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, was one of eight presidential candidates to take part in the Aug. 11, 2011, debate in Ames, Iowa."}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_463","claim":"Is Sheryl Underwood exiting 'The Talk' following CBS's anger over her promotion of weight loss gummies?","posted":"11\/21\/2023","sci_digest":["An online article purportedly published by People magazine said Underwood had \"shocked everyone when she announced her departure from the show.\""],"justification":"In November 2023, multiple Facebook ads were displayed to users that led to an article that bore the People magazine logo and claimed that Sheryl Underwood, the longtime co-host of \"The Talk,\" would be leaving the TV talk show to work on expanding her own line of keto gummies for weight loss. However, this was not true. Underwood has nothing to do with any keto gummies for weight loss, nor did People magazine ever publish any such story. Underwood was simply the latest person in a long line of famous people who had had their image and likeness used without permission to sell keto gummies. Further, this false rumor that mentioned Underwood led to a dangerous scam that could potentially cost victims thousands of dollars per year. a long line of famous people One version of the Facebook ad claimed, \"Producers are furious that she came forward.\" The headline in the ads read, \"Sheryl Abandons 'The Talk' After Confessing Her Trick.\" Two of the false Facebook ads that promoted the scam. These ads led to a fake People magazine article on scam websites including emperorsland.pro, sizzlingpear.pro, mindfulmovement.pro and chillytreats.info. (We were unable to provide an archived link to the article since scammers design these websites so that the scam version of the page is cloaked from prying eyes  that is, unless users specifically came from a Facebook ad.) This is not a true story, nor did People.com ever publish any such article. The fake People magazine article, which was nothing more than fiction and a scam, began as follows: Sheryl Underwood Confirms She Is Leaving 'The Talk' After Her Accidental 'Live' Confession On-Air... The host said that it was 'time for a break', but she may actually have bigger things in mind. (People) - Sheryl Underwood, the 60-year-old host on CBS's show 'The Talk', shocked everyone when she announced her departure from the show after 12 record-breaking years on-air. Sheryl, who has earned the reputation of being one of the most business savvy women in the industry, made sponsors (and CBS) FURIOUS. Why? Because Sheryl failed to disclose her new weight loss line to the network. Sheryl's new company is actually a HUGE competitor to CBS's current sponsor Weight Watchers because Sheryl's product is 90% cheaper and five times more effective than Weight Watchers's competing product. According to sources, CBS made Sheryl decide on which direction she was going to focus on in the future. Being so turned off by the reaction of the network and their power move she has decided to pursue her new weight loss line and dream. The scam article went on to falsely claim that other celebrities had joined with Underwood to promote the products, whether they be Belly Blast Keto Gummies, Total Fit Keto Gummies or other products. It is a fact that no celebrities have ever endorsed keto gummies that are purportedly intended for use in weight loss. Websites that promote sales of keto gummies for weight loss usually lack information about the true creators of the products and the source of where they were packaged. In the past, some consumers who fell victim to these scams told Snopes that the post office box numbers included in return addresses for the products don't exist. The rabbit hole for keto gummies goes even deeper, however. Two odd scenarios have been laid out by numerous victims of the scams, which usually involve monthly subscription fees often reported as being around $200 or more, or around $2,400 per year. Some consumers said that they never ordered the products but kept receiving shipments that they had no way of returning, due to fake return addresses. On the flip side, other customers said that they received charges for the products on their credit card statements despite never having ordered them, and then never received any products in the mail. Further, listings for keto gummies for weight loss on Amazon.com and Walmart.com often feature the words \"Shark\" and \"Tank,\" although not consecutively as \"Shark Tank.\" The two words are included in product listings on Amazon.com and Walmart.com so that any customers searching online for keto gummies with the words \"Shark Tank\"  after those same customers saw false claims that said the TV show's investors endorsed the products  would then fall victim to the scam and purchase the products based on the \"Shark Tank\" lie. Again, to be clear, no investors associated with \"Shark Tank\" ever endorsed gummies. false claims If any readers have been victimized by these scams, we recommend contacting your credit card company immediately, reporting fraud to the FTC and also searching the U.S. Better Business Bureau's (BBB) website to perform a search for the product name associated with the purchase on your account or the product that arrived at your doorstep, so that you can find the company or LLC connected with the scam. reporting fraud to the FTC website Liles, Jordan. Shark Tank Keto Gummies Weight Loss Reviews Are a Scam. Snopes, 14 Mar. 2023, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/shark-tank-keto-gummies-weight-loss-reviews\/.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1gNt9mcQM3Xhesa2BDatcNK4-VLNRHPoz"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1yScemtSFvABQS--xJnWt50xSMzHF4u2w"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_464","claim":"DarkProfits","posted":"10\/24\/2003","sci_digest":[""],"justification":"Urban Legends Reference Pages: Inboxer Rebellion (DarkProfits)  Claim:  Your credit card has been used to place an order with DarkProfits.com.  .Example:  [Collected on the Internet, 2003]Origins:  This spammed message  warning recipients that DarkProfits.com has received an \"order made by using your personal credit card information\"  is not really a scam but merely another in a series of pranks directed at the DarkProfits web site.  No charges have been placed on anyone's cards. This item is just one more \"joe job\" prank (an attempt to pin blame on an uninvolved third party by forging messages in their name) intended to get people riled up at DarkProfits.com.DarkProfits has been targeted by other \"joe jobs\"  a September 2003 mailing that offered all manner of illegal goods for sale, and one that appeared in January 2004 that announced the recipient's credit card had been charged $149.95 by DarkProfits.com for \"1 Month Child Porn Unlimited Online Access.\"  Both of these were just more of the same leg pull.Last updated:  30 January 2004   .Example:  [Collected on the Internet, 2003]Origins:  This spammed message  warning recipients that DarkProfits.com has received an \"order made by using your personal credit card information\"  is not really a scam but merely another in a series of pranks directed at the DarkProfits web site.  No charges have been placed on anyone's cards. This item is just one more \"joe job\" prank (an attempt to pin blame on an uninvolved third party by forging messages in their name) intended to get people riled up at DarkProfits.com.DarkProfits has been targeted by other \"joe jobs\"  a September 2003 mailing that offered all manner of illegal goods for sale, and one that appeared in January 2004 that announced the recipient's credit card had been charged $149.95 by DarkProfits.com for \"1 Month Child Porn Unlimited Online Access.\"  Both of these were just more of the same leg pull.Last updated:  30 January 2004 Example:  [Collected on the Internet, 2003]  Origins:  This spammed message  warning recipients that DarkProfits.com has received an \"order made by using your personal credit card information\"  is not really a scam but merely another in a series of pranks directed at the DarkProfits web site.   No charges have been placed on anyone's cards. This item is just one more \"joe job\" prank (an attempt to pin blame on an uninvolved third party by forging messages in their name) intended to get people riled up at DarkProfits.com. joe job DarkProfits has been targeted by other \"joe jobs\"  a September 2003 mailing that offered all manner of illegal goods for sale, and one that appeared in January 2004 that announced the recipient's credit card had been charged $149.95 by DarkProfits.com for \"1 Month Child Porn Unlimited Online Access.\"  Both of these were just more of the same leg pull. illegal goods Child Porn Last updated:  30 January 2004 ","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1SsbcixRjUAoAhK12z8aRhmCiwqLHsEhU","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_465","claim":"Does Turmeric Prevent Dementia?","posted":"12\/05\/2017","sci_digest":["Myriad studies have suggested that turmeric can treat or prevent dementia, but evidence of its efficacy is problematic."],"justification":"Turmeric, which has been the subject of thousands of studies and perhaps even more memes, came up again recently when an image circulated claiming that the spice prevents dementia, and that because of its curative powers, India has the lowest rate of dementia in the world.    The meme, like a lot of claims about turmeric's curative properties, relies on a large body of research that scientists have recently called into question. Most turmeric studies have focused on curcumin, which appears in high concentrations in the root, and other similar chemicals called curcuminoids. Many of these curcumin studies employ a laboratory technique called High Throughput Screening (HTS) that allows researchers to test how curcumin responds to chemicals representing different bodily functions. High Throughput Screening These types of studies have suggested that curcumin can treat conditions ranging from diabetes to HIV. One study summed up the findings in this astonishing list:  summed Curcumin has been reported to have activity for the following indications: anti-inflammatory, anti-HIV, antibacterial, antifungal, nematocidal, antiparasitic, antimutagenic, antidiabetic, antifibrinogenic, radioprotective, wound healing, lipid lowering, antispasmodic, antioxidant, immunomodulating, anticarcinogenic, and Alzheimers disease, among others. An expansive 2017 review of curcumin and curcmuninoid research, however, argued that curcumin's chemical properties make it impossible to study using HTS and too biologically unstable to treat anything.  2017 review Curcumin is part of a group of chemicals called pan-assay interference compounds (or PAINS) that are known to trigger false positives in HTS studies.  PAINS Even if false positives weren't a problem, curcumin and curcuminoids are both unstable and not very potent in the human body, making them unlikely to be effective as a treatment.  Speaking to the Washington Post, Kathryn M. Nelson, a principal scientist at the University of Minnesotas Institute for Therapeutics Discovery and Development and the author of the 2017 review of curcumin explained: Speaking Curcumins bioavailability  the amount that makes its way throughout the body  is dismal, Nelson says. The chemical is fragile, and once its ingested, its quickly excreted. The compound itself is probably not doing anything, she adds. It falls apart in water. Think about how well its going to survive your stomach and its acids. For these and other reasons, research on the benefits of turmeric and curcumin remain far from settled, despite the large amount of literature on the topic. Does India Actually Have The Lowest Rage of Dementia in the World? Web sites promoting the use of turmeric often claim that India, a country with relatively high turmeric consumption, has the lowest rate of dementia in the world. But the research on dementia rates in India is so limited that it makes using the country as proof of turmerics efficacy problematic, if not scientifically dishonest. claim The claim originated with a 2001 epidemiology study that suggested one rural Indian village boasted the lowest rates of Alzheimer's (the most common dementia subtype) in the world. This finding, however, came with heavy caveats: 2001 epidemiology study common These are the first AD [Alzheimer's disease] incidence rates to be reported from the Indian subcontinent, and they appear to be among the lowest ever reported. However, the relatively short duration of follow-up, cultural factors, and other potential confounders suggest caution in interpreting this finding. Later studies on dementia rates in India were hindered by the similar problems. similar problems A 2006 study in the journal The Lancet suggested that the existing epidemiological data was insufficient to estimate the actual prevalence of dementia in India, in part due to under-diagnosis and a lack of awareness about the disease in rural communities. Based in part on an increasing awareness of the condition in rural parts of India, scientists predict dementia rates to grow by 300% in the coming years, among the fastest in the world. A 2008 paper further supported the notion that economic factors can contribute to an underestimate of the incidence of dementia in lower-income countries like India. insufficient predict 2008 paper Relying on disease rates in populations that consume a lot of turmeric as evidence for its efficacy is also problematic without data on other dietary factors and genetic differences, as a 2017 review suggested: 2017 review Even the authors of the oft-cited study cautioned against overinterpretation of their results given the relatively short duration of the study, the small number of incident cases, and the wide confidence intervals. Diet was not considered as part of the study, and the frequency of the APOE4 allele [gene], a risk factor for AD, was noted as being lower in the [Indian] group as compared to the [American] group. How Would Turmeric Treat Dementia?  Setting aside for a moment the problems with calculating the rate of dementia in India and the problems with HTS studies of curcumin, how would curcumin cure dementia? There are two main theories. The first relies on its (contested) anti-inflammatory properties: relies contested Research to date suggests that chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, and most chronic diseases are closely linked, and the antioxidant properties of curcumin can play a key role in the prevention and treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases. Another, related, hypothesis suggests that curcumin could stimulate the immune system to more efficiently remove the buildup in the brain of chemicals that produce amyloid plaques, which are thought to contribute to dementia. Some studies suggest that when you have Alzheimer's, your white blood cells can't efficiently consume and destroy these chemicals. Some research in animals and in laboratory settings hinted that curcumin could stimulate the immune system to do so. consume research However, there have been no controlled, double-blind, clinical trials on humans that support this claim outside of the lab. In terms of clinical research on humans, a 2012 phase II, 24-week, randomized, double-blinded clinical trial of curcumin on 36 individuals with mild to moderate Alzheimers indicated a lack of efficacy: 2012 lack After 24 weeks of treatment, there was no observed difference in mental status between the placebo and treated groups based on several measurements of cognitive status. \"To our knowledge, [curcumin] has never been shown to be conclusively effective in a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial for any indication,\" Nelson and her colleagues wrote in their 2017 review. wrote Bollinger, Ty.  \"Key Health Benefit of Turmeric: Improved Brain Health.\"\r  The Truth about Cancer.  6 September 2016. Neslon, Kathryn, M., et al.  \"The Essential Medicinal Chemistry of Curcumin.\"\r  Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.  11 January 2017. Baell, Jonathan B., and Holloway, Georgina, A.  \"New Substructure Filters for Removal of Pan Assay Interference Compounds (PAINS) from Screening Libraries and for Their Exclusion in Bioassays.\"\r  Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.  4 February 2010. NIH National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.  \"Turmeric.\"\r  Accessed 5 December 2017. Blackemore, Erin.  \"New Substructure Filters for Removal of Pan Assay Interference Compounds (PAINS) from Screening Libraries and for Their Exclusion in Bioassays.\"\r  Washington Post.  20 August 2017. Burns, Alistair.  Dementia.\"\r  BMJ.  5 February 2017. He, Yan, et al.  Curcumin, Inflammation, and Chronic Diseases: How Are\rThey Linked?\"\r  Molecules.  20 May 2015. Zhang, L., et al.  Curcuminoids Enhance Amyloid-beta Uptake by Macrophages of Alzheimer's Disease Patients.\"\r  Journal of Alzheimers Research.  September 2006. Chandra, V., et al.  Incidence of Alzheimers Disease in a Rural Community In India:\rThe IndoUS Study.\"\r  Neurology.  25 September 2001. Ferri, Cleusa, P., et al.  Global Prevalence of Dementia: A Delphi Consensus Study\"\r  The Lancet.  4 April 2006. Rodriguez, Juan J., et al.  Prevalence of Dementia in Latin America, India, and China: a Population-based Cross-sectional Survey.\"\r  The Lancet.  4 April 2006.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1_Io__j5jvyL_UDhTTQ8AzenWjic7OCpN","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_466","claim":"Customer Reports Finding Rat Head in Popeyes Chicken","posted":"09\/20\/2016","sci_digest":["A viral image purportedly depicts a deep-fried rat head served to a customer at a Harlem-area Popeyes Chicken outlet, but others suspect it's merely organ meat."],"justification":"On 18 September 2016, Facebook user Rosemary Thomas shared a four-panel image of what she claimed was a breaded and deep-fried rat served to her at a Harlem-area Popeyes Chicken: shared claimed Friends and family, this is a meal Popeyes in Harlem served my daughter, my niece and sister. This is clearly a rat and they have the nerve to have a 5 rating by the department of health. I've sent this picture to DESK@NY1 and no one has contacted me. People please free to share this picture. Think about all the other rat that have been served and the lasting effect this will have on my daughter, niece and sister. The exact address is 2730 Frederick Douglas Blvd.  The claim was shared over a hundred thousand times, and social media users flooded Popeyes Chicken's Facebook page to express their disgust about the images. Some social media users perhaps recognized Thomas' claim as an iteration of a very old urban legend known as the \"Kentucky Fried Rat\": Facebook Kentucky Fried Rat The \"Kentucky Fried Rat\" tale is one of the hoariest of food contamination urban legends, and some elements of its spread are easy to explain. Within the context of fast food restaurants, the offending eatery has to be a fried chicken outlet in order for the rat to be suitably disguised as a piece of food. Once the restaurant is established as one that serves fast-food chicken, it becomes Kentucky Fried Chicken because, as folklorist Gary Alan Fine writes, \"The frequency of attachment of an urban legend to the largest company or corporation is so common as to be considered a law of urban folklore.\" (These days, however, many KFC outlets receive their chicken pieces pre-battered, and thus one of them could not \"accidentally\" batter and fry a rat.) The choice of a rat as a contaminant is also easy: rats have turned up in food products before; they're the right size and shape to be mistaken for pieces of chicken (especially when fried in batter); and rats are vermin, symbols of filth and decay. The fact that the rat-chicken is usually eaten in the dark is a plot device to prevent premature discovery of the \"secret,\" although some might consider it an important symbolic aspect of the legend. So, what does this legend have to say? As our society becomes more urbanized (and frenetic), we become less and less involved with the preparation of our own food, frequently dining out instead of eating at home, scarfing a quick meal rather than enjoying a leisurely one, and leaving the food preparation entirely in the hands of others. And these others are not local restaurateurs we know well, but anonymous corporate fast food franchisees and their faceless employees. The combination of our guilt at abdicating this responsibility and our mistrust of corporations is expressed as fear that fast food entities who don't care about us will serve us tainted food prepared under unsanitary conditions, due to carelessness, laziness, or sheer malice. Like many other long-circulating urban legends, iterations (and parodies) of the deep-fried rat (or mouse) claim pop up from time to time on social media as first-person accounts. Typically, those claims are determined to be misunderstandings or fraudulent attempts to extort money from large companies. iterations parodies misunderstandings We contacted Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, and spokeswoman Renee Kopkowski told us the customer originally arranged to meet with someone from Popeyes on 19 September 2016 to supply a sample of the item in question for testing but then postponed the meeting, so the company has not yet been able to submit the sample to third-party examination. Kopkowski also stated that Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen conferred with suppliers who suggested the depicted material was actually organ meat, and she added that New York City's Health Department subsequently performed a thorough investigation of the Harlem location and found no evidence of the presence of vermin (i.e., rats): A guest at a Popeyes in Harlem in New York City recently posted on her social media account saying she thought she found something unusual in her chicken. Everyone at Popeyes takes claims like this very seriously.  Food quality is our top priority. When the franchise owner of this restaurant learned of the guests post, he immediately tried contacting her to resolve the issue.  The pictures she posted were also sent to the poultry supplier and the owner contacted the health department to inspect his restaurant that day.   The health department re-confirmed the locations A rating.  Its important to understand Popeyes uses fresh poultry.  Its rare, but there are instances when chicken organs fail to be removed from the final product.  While they may look unpleasant, or sometimes look like non-chicken parts, they do not pose a health risk. The franchisee has requested that the guest in New York and the attorney she is working with turn over the product to have the product tested by an independent third party. Until that testing takes place, we cant confirm her claim is valid ","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1wwo3srpduZFhIPEJBWwLWR2oxw1X7WQW","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_467","claim":"Was 'It's a Wonderful Life' ever considered Communist propaganda by the FBI?","posted":"12\/22\/2021","sci_digest":["Another fascinating chapter in the history of an American holiday classic. "],"justification":"During the 2021 holiday season, internet users enthusiastically shared articles and posts that described a fascinating episode from the history of a classic American Christmas movie, \"It's a Wonderful Life.\" On Dec. 21, for example, the London Independent reported that: \"'It's a Wonderful Life' was once considered communist propaganda by the FBI,\" while various outlets shared their own accounts of the story. Independent reported that shared own accounts Those accounts were broadly accurate, and based on high-quality primary documentary evidence. Although the FBI did not ever formally, as an institution, declare \"It's a Wonderful Life\" to be communist propaganda, FBI agents and informants investigated the movie, and the people behind it, as such. As part of a sweeping investigation ordered by bureau director J. Edgar Hoover, a special agent in 1949 included the film in a list of \"motion pictures disclosing communist propaganda therein.\" We are issuing a rating of \"true.\" That description of the movie, which was released in December 1946, can be found in an archived and redacted copy of the FBI report on \"Communist infiltration into the motion picture industry, available here. Specifically, it can be found on Page 12 in the ninth of 15 dossiers released under the Freedom of Information Act at some point in the ensuing decades. available here The sender of this 1949 update to the report is listed as one \"H.B. Fletcher,\" but it's not clear who specifically wrote the \"It's a Wonderful Life\" entry: listed   Although the FBI does not appear to have ever \"officially\" declared or designated the film as communist propaganda, it's quite clear those agents involved in the investigation of Hollywood (codenamed \"COMPIC\") were far from agnostic on the socialist, even Soviet inspiration behind the Christmas classic. Indeed, Hoover instructed Richard Hood, special agent in charge at the Los Angeles field office, to limit his team's criticism and reviews to films \"which are obviously communist propaganda in nature.\" instructed The entry on \"It's a Wonderful Life\" appears in the fourth section of the report (\"Communist Influence in Motion Pictures\"), under a sub-section entitled \"Analysis of Motion Pictures Disclosing Communist Propaganda Therein.\" entitled According to the author(s) of the briefing, Frank Capra's movie is noteworthy because: the two credited screenwriters, husband-and-wife team Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, were supposedly close associates of known communists; the film negatively portrays the villainous local businessman Mr. Potter, which is \"a common trick used by communists\"; and the storyline appears to have been borrowed from a putative earlier Russian film entitled \"The Letter.\" The first two sections of the briefing can be read in full below: According to the Informants [redacted] and [redacted] in this picture the screen credits again fail to reflect the Communist support given to the screen writers. According to [redacted] the writers Frances Goodrick and Albert Hackett were very close to known Communists and on one occasion in the recent past while these two writers were doing a picture for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Goodrick and Hackett practically lived with known Communists and were observed eating luncheon daily with such Communists as Lester Cole, screen writer, and Earl Robinson, screen writer. Both of these individuals are identified in Section I of this memorandum as Communists. With regard to the picture Its A Wonderful Life, [redacted] stated in substance that the film represented a rather obvious attempt to discredit bankers by casting Lionel Barrymore as a scrooge-type so that he would be the most hated man in the picture. This, according to these sources, is a common trick used by Communists. In addition, [redacted] stated that, in his opinion, this picture deliberately maligned the upper class, attempting to show the people who had money were mean and despicable characters. [Redacted] related that if he had made this picture portraying the banker, he would have shown this individual to have been following the rules as laid down by the State Bank Examiners in connection with making loans. Further, [redacted] stated that the scene wouldn't have suffered at all in portraying the banker as a man who was protecting funds put in his care by private individuals and adhering to the rules governing the loan of that money rather than portraying the part as it was shown. In summary, [redacted] stated that it was not necessary to make the banker such a mean character and I would never have done it that way. Magazine, Smithsonian, and Kat Eschner. The Weird Story of the FBI and Its a Wonderful Life. Smithsonian Magazine, https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/smart-news\/weird-story-fbi-and-its-wonderful-life-180967587\/. Accessed 22 Dec. 2021.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=172aCBiKZ4Lwfl2ufM54wYfPIf6AVUcfb"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_468","claim":"Says Austin is the safest big city in Texas with an unemployment rate under 3% that has been named the best place to live in the entire United States two years running.","posted":"04\/26\/2018","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Austin Mayor Steve Adler, who is seeking a second term this November, reacted to a game-show moment with a swaggering claim. In an April 25, 2018, tweet, Adler responded to a clue from that night's episode of Jeopardy: \"Per Rick Perry, it's the blueberry in the tomato soup.\" Perry, the Republican former governor, often offers the blueberry characterization of the Democrat-dominant capital. On the program, a contestant correctly answered \"Austin\" for $600. Next, Adler said in his tweet, accompanied by a photo of the Jeopardy clue: \"What is the safest big city in Texas with an unemployment rate under 3% that has been named the best place to live in the entire United States two years running?\" Is all of that true about Austin? Not entirely: In 2017, we found \"Half True\" an Adler reference to Austin as the state's safest big city. Not for the first time, we noted then that the FBI advises against using crime data it collects to declare one city safer than another. That said, such statistics at the time suggested both that the five-county Austin region in 2015 had a lower violent-crime rate than other Texas regions and that El Paso had a lower violent-crime rate than Austin in the first half of 2016. Seeking the mayor's factual backup, the morning after Adler posted his comment, which was retweeted more than 200 times, we reached mayoral spokesman Jason Stanford. Stanford advised by phone that Adler didn't have fresh information to offer in support of his 2018 safest big city in Texas statement. He suggested we check federal statistics to confirm Austin's jobless rate and told us that U.S. News had consecutively named Austin the nation's best place to live. Checking Austin's unemployment, our search for Austin's jobless rate on the Texas Workforce Commission website showed that from January through March 2018, the latest month of available data, the city's jobless rate ran shy of 3 percent. We also fetched a longer view showing the city's jobless rate mostly staying below 3 percent from January 2017 on (all the rates not seasonally adjusted). Austin's unemployment rate was last above 3 percent, according to the TWC, when it was 3.1 percent in August 2017. The Austin rate's 15-month low, 2.5 percent, occurred in December 2017. SOURCE: Website, Unemployment, Texas Labor Market Information, Texas Workforce Commission (search completed April 26, 2018). Austin ranked best place to live two times in a row. On April 10, 2018, U.S. News announced that for the second straight year, the online publication found Austin the best place to live in the United States among the country's 125 largest metropolitan areas; Colorado Springs, Colo., placed second. The rankings were based on affordability, job prospects, and quality of life, U.S. News said, and on surveying thousands of U.S. residents to find out what qualities they consider important in a hometown. The methodology, U.S. News said, also factored in data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the FBI, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics\u2014plus U.S. News rankings of the country's high schools and hospitals. Austin, the self-proclaimed Live Music Capital of the Planet, earned a score of 7.7 out of 10 for the 2018 rankings, U.S. News said, with even its few downsides having upsides. The story states: \"The median sale price for a single-family home in Austin is well above the national median.\" Then again, the story notes, Austinites' pocketbooks benefit from no personal or corporate income tax and a low state and local tax rate. Another semi-warning in the story: \"Summers in Austin take some getting used to, with temperatures often scorching.\" Though, the story adds, the metro area experiences mild weather throughout the rest of the year, temperatures have been known to drop in the winter. The story also notes: \"Austin is among the nation's worst metro areas for traffic congestion.\" But, the story suggests, that can be addressed with flexible work schedules, due diligence when choosing a neighborhood, and, for those wanting to get in some exercise while commuting, using public transportation, walking, and biking. Our ruling: Adler referred to Austin as the safest big city in Texas with an unemployment rate under 3% that has been named the best place to live in the entire United States two years running. Hizzoner was right about Austin's jobless rate of late and Austin getting named the city's best place to live two years in a row, though it's worth clarifying that the rankings considered only the country's 125 largest metro areas. Whether Austin is the safest big Texas city rests on interpreting crime data the FBI counsels against using to compare communities. That said, we previously found that the five-county Austin region in 2015 had a lower violent-crime rate than other Texas regions, while in the first half of 2016, El Paso had a lower violent-crime rate than Austin. On balance, we rate this Adler claim Mostly True. MOSTLY TRUE: The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. Click here for more on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.","issues":["City Government","Economy","History","Crime","Texas"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1EHlXbLlBPcr7zrfDhSlhL6c-tLOi9B1d","image_caption":"SOURCE:"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_469","claim":"Make the Pie Higher!","posted":"02\/26\/2003","sci_digest":["Is the 'Make the Pie Higher' poem composed of actual quotes from George W. Bush?"],"justification":"Claim:  \"Make the Pie Higher!\" poem is composed of actual quotes from George W. Bush.   Example:  [Collected on the Internet, 2002] MAKE THE PIE HIGHERby George W. Bush  I think we all agree, the past is over.This is still a dangerous world.It's a world of madmen and uncertaintyand potential mental losses.  Rarely is the question askedIs our children learning?Will the highways of the Internet become more few?How many hands have I shaked?  They misunderestimate me.I am a pitbull on the pantleg of opportunity.I know that the human being and the fish can coexist.Families is where our nation finds hope, where our wings take dream.  Put food on your family!Knock down the tollbooth!Vulcanize society!Make the pie higher! Make the pie higher! Origins:  We certainly didn't need to write a piece to inform the world that, like his father, President George W. Bush is not a strong public speaker.  Particularly when speaking   extemporaneously, he often uses words similar in sound but different in meaning to what he intends tosay (e.g., \"vulcanize\" for \"Balkanize\") or uses incorrect forms of words (e.g., \"resignate\" for \"resonate\"), garbles familiar phrases by transposing words (e.g., \"where wings take dream\"), and makes a variety of grammatical mistakes (e.g., \"how many hands have I shaked\").  The point here was not to rehash the numerous lists of \"Bushisms\" to be found in a variety of media, but to perform a sort of investigative experiment into the accuracy of information transmission in the Internet age. A common phenomenon in the world of the printed word is that once a public figure  whether he be an athlete such a Yogi Berra, an entertainment figure such as Samuel Goldwyn, or a politician such as Dan Quayle  acquires a reputation for spouting malapropisms, people quickly begin to put words into his mouth. All sorts of humorous misuses of words and phrases that sound like something that person might have said are soon attributed to him as something he \"really said\"; newspapers run the erroneous quotes without verification and are later cited as documented proof of their veracity, thereby enshrining apocrypha as  fact. Only when someone undertakes the chore of trying to track the quotes back to their sources are the misattributions discovered, usually far too late to dislodge them from the public consciousness. So, we thought we'd tackle a project to see whether the increased availability of information in the Internet age has had any effect on this phenomenon; whether quotes are less likely to be misattributed when nearly every utterance of a public figure as prominent as a presidential candidate is recorded and stored in one form or another.  As a test example, we chose the \"Make the Pie Higher!\" piece reproduced above (generally credited to \"Washington Post writer Richard Thompson,\" a satirist and illustrator who produces the \"Richard's Poor Almanac\" feature appearing in the Post's Sunday edition) and attempted to trace every statement listed therein to its source to determine how many of them were actually uttered by George W. Bush.  Our standard was that in order to consider a statement to be a genuine \"Bushism\" we had to find at least one major newspaper article that quoted the actual words spoken (rather than paraphrasing them), included specific information about when and where the statement was made, and was printed within a few days of the event at which the statement was offered. In this statistically insignificant non-random sample of one, we found that yes, the accuracy of quote transmission was remarkably high: All but a couple of the items in this piece could be reliably traced back to the mouth of George W. Bush. Here are the results:  \"I think we all agree, the past is over.\" In March 2000, Texas governor George W. Bush locked up the Republican presidential nomination, beating out his chief rival, Senator John McCain of Arizona, in a rancorous primary campaign marked by personal attacks and charges of dirty tactics on the part of both sides.  Two months later Senator McCain somewhat reluctantly endorsed Governor Bush for president during a joint appearance at the Westin William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh, where both men tried their best (somewhat unconvincingly) to assure the press that they had put their differences behind them: Both sides swapped charges of dirty campaign tactics. McCain aides accused Bush supporters of personal attacks, and Mr. Bush denounced McCain forces for suggesting that the governor was guilty of anti-Catholic bigotry. On Tuesday, the pair told some 200 journalists that they had discussed policy, not personal history. \"There's no point,\" Mr. McCain said. \"I hold no rancor. Others will be the judge of this campaign, not me.\"  Mr. Bush said the McCain challenge toughened him for the fall campaign against Mr. Gore.  \"We had a tough primary,\" Mr. Bush said. \"I told him point blank: 'You made me a better candidate.'\"  Later, on his campaign plane, the governor described the discussion as \"very cordial, very frank, very open.\" He added: \"I think we agree, the past is over.\"1 \"This is still a dangerous world. It's a world of madmen and uncertainty and potential mental losses.\" On the campaign trail in South Carolina while pursuing the Republican nomination in January 2000, Governor Bush spoke before 2,000 loyal Republicans at a well-attended oyster roast held on a plantation outside Charleston and mystified his audience when, during his discourse on the need for a strengthened U.S. military, he made reference not to \"mental\" losses (which itself would have sounded odd in the given context), but to \"mential\" (pronounced \"men-shul\") losses: During his visit to South Carolina this week, the first Bushism exploded as the governor painted a passionate picture of the military dangers facing the US, and the pressing need for protection against rogue missile launches. \"This is still a dangerous world,\" he told more than 2,000 supporters at an oyster roast. \"It's a world of madmen and uncertainty and potential mential losses.\" Bush's spokespeople could not immediately explain what a mential loss was, but it seemed only distantly related to missile launches.2 \"Rarely is the question asked, 'Is our children learning?'\" During that same South Carolina campaign swing in January 2000, Governor Bush committed another grammatical mix-up while wrangling a sentence containing both singular and plural subjects, this example occurring (with a modicum of irony) during the portion of his stump speech dealing with education: That's not to say Bush hasn't had his share of flubs. Part of his stump speech focuses on education. On Tuesday, talking to a crowd of several hundred at a cavernous civic center in Florence, S.C., Bush decried those who ignore educational programs that produce no results  inadvertently revealing a temporary shortcoming in his own grammar skills.  \"What's not fine is rarely is the question asked, are, is our children learning?\" Bush said.3 \"Will the highways of the Internet become more few?\" During his January 2000 push to win the first primary election of the campaign, held in New Hampshire, Governor Bush was asked to comment on the recently announced merger of media giants Time Warner and AOL, and he addressed concerns over its potential monopolistic effects with some unusual phrasing: When asked about the Time Warner\/America Online merger, the candidate took an unexpected detour on the information superhighway. The key question in considering the merger, Bush said, is \"will the highways to the Internet become more few?\"4 \"How many hands have I shaked?\" By October 1999 Republicans were noting Governor Bush's relatively rare appearances in New Hampshire and were beginning to question whether he had assumed he had the nomination sewn up and could afford to take the February 2000 New Hampshire primary for granted.   When reporters persistently questioned him about that possibility on 22 October 1999, during his first campaign swing through New Hampshire since early September, Governor Bush expressed the notion that the important factor was not the number of appearances he made, but the number of people he reached during those appearances: Asked repeatedly today about why he had not been around more, Mr. Bush at one point interrupted a reporter's question to say, \"The important question is, How many hands have I shaked.\"5 \"They misunderestimate me.\" The misuse of 'misunderestimate' for 'underestimate' seems to be one of  George W. Bush's more common elocutionary mistakes.  We can't pin down exactly when he used 'misunderestimate' for the first time in a public statement as a presidential candidate; the earliest print reference we could find appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times on 13 November 2000, but it didn't detail where and when he said it.  Nonetheless,  Bush was still using the word (and catching himself at it) after his inauguration as President, as demonstrated by this excerpt from a 29 March 2001 news conference: Look, it is in our nation's best interests to have long-term tax relief, and that has been my focus all along. I'm confident we can have it, get it done. I believe not only can we get long-term tax relief in place. Since our country is running some surpluses in spite of the dire predictions about cash flow, I believe we have an opportunity to fashion an immediate stimulus package, as well. The two ought to go hand in hand. Those who think that they can say, \"We're only going to have a stimulus package, but let's forget tax relief,\" misunderestimate ...  or, excuse me,  underestimate  just making sure you were paying attention  underestimate our administration's resolve to get this done ...6 \"I am a pitbull on the pantleg of opportunity.\" This line is a retrospective statement Bush uttered during an interview about his involvement in a partnershipthat bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in 1989: George W. Bush has frequently claimed to have cobbled together the deal to buy the Rangers in 1989. \"I was like a pit bull on the pant leg of opportunity,\" Mr. Bush said in a long interview about his past. \"And I just grabbed on to it. I was going to put the deal together. And I did.\" The initiative, Mr. Bush acknowledges, came from Bill DeWitt, a businessman and friend of the family. Mr. DeWitt had heard that the Rangers were on the market and wanted to recruit Mr. Bush as a partner to buy the team.15 \"I know that the human being and the fish can coexist.\" On Friday, 29 September 2000, Governor Bush was on the stump in Saginaw, Michigan, and deviated from his prepared speech to reassure the business community that he would not support the tearing down of energy-producing dams merely to protect threatened fish species, an issue he had recently covered while campaigning in the Pacific Northwest:    Friday, feeling the need to explain his statement during a speech on energy policy that he intended to maintain dams in the Pacific Northwest, he departed from his text and added, \"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully.\" He did not elaborate.7 Mark Crispin Miller noted in The Bush Dyslexicon that: This remark is striking not because it's silly but because it casts a threatened creature as a national enemy.  A relic of the Cold War, the phrase \"peaceful coexistence\" was a predtente Soviet coinage, meant to pitch conciliation between the world's two rival superpowers. \"Families is where our nation finds hope, where our wings take dream.\" Swinging through Wisconsin in mid-October 2000 en route to a debate with Democratic presidential challenger Al Gore, Governor Bush was discussing the importance of tax cuts to American families when he transposed a couple of words in a well-worn phrase: The Texas governor and GOP presidential nominee tangles up words often enough that he sometimes jokes about it, and the phenomenon has acquired a name  Bushism. On the campaign trail Wednesday, he let one fly: \"Families is where our nation finds hope,\" he said, \"where wings take dream.\"8 \"Put food on your family!\" On 27 January 2000, speaking in Nashua just a few days before the New Hampshire primary, Governor Bush was trying to illustrate the economic plight of single working mothers and again transposed (and omitted) a few words in the familiar reference to putting food on the table for one's family: At a breakfast meeting with the Nashua Chamber of Commerce, Bush illustrated his brand of compassionate conservatism by urging his listeners to put themselves in the role of a single mother \"working hard to put food on your family.\"4 Since these words are difficult to quote in the context in which they were offered, they were soon being rendered as the pithier \"I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family.\" \"Knock down the tollbooth!\" Governor Bush's misuse of 'tollbooth' for 'roadblock,' in reference to eliminating tax obstacles that prevent the working poor from joining the middle class, comes from his New Hampshire campaign appearances in January 2000, but contemporary reports don't seem to agree on the exact words he used  perhaps there was more than one such incident: Things must be good here, because the mere mention of tax cuts is not enough to get the crowd cheering. What they like is when Bush worries about the working poor; they applaud vigorously when he complains that a single mother making $22,000 is being penalized by the tax system. \"It's not fair!\" Bush exclaims. \"It's a tollbooth on the road to the middle class, and I intend not only to reduce the fees but to knock the tollbooth down.\"9  \"The hardest job in America is to be a single mom, making $20,000 a year,\" Bush declared at a recent Rotary Club lunch where he promised that as president, he would reduce the struggling woman's marginal income-tax rate and \"knock down her tollbooth to the middle class.\"10   Last weekend, fire marshals were actually turning people away from political rallies. At a high school near Nashua, you could see folks forlornly peeking in the windows, yearning to be let inside to hear George W. Bush call for \"a law that provides liability to teachers who enforce discipline in the schools.\" All the candidates are tired, but Mr. Bush's speeches are getting particularly unintelligible  at the same high school, he announced, \"I think we need not only to eliminate the tollbooth to the middle class, I think we should knock down the tollbooth.\" 11 \"Vulcanize society! \" At the very beginning of the 2000 presidential campaign, Ken Herman reported in a front-page story appearing in the 23 March 1999 edition of the Austin American-Statesman that Governor Bush had expressed his disdain for racial quotas as programs that \"vulcanize\" society: Sometimes this smooth operator is anything but. This was evident in a March 23 piece by Ken Herman, the Austin American-Statesman's chief Bush watcher, who wrote about the governor's \"2-step around hot topics.\" Mr. Bush says he's against \"hard quotas, quotas that basically delineate based on whatever. However, they delineate, quotas, I think, vulcanize society.\"12 In this instance Governor Bush of course meant to say 'Balkanize' (to divide a group into small, often hostile units) rather than 'vulcanize' (to improve the strength of rubber by combining it with sulfur in the presence of heat and pressure).  However, the issue was muddied a few days later when the American-Statesman reversed itself and issued a correction:  A front-page story Tuesday inaccurately quoted Gov. George W. Bush's position on quotas in college admissions and the awarding of state contracts. The story said Bush believes quotas \"vulcanize society.\" Bush actually said he believes quotas \"Balkanize society.\"13 Whether the reporter misquoted Governor Bush or whether Governor Bush really did say 'vulcanize' and the American-Statesman later printed an amended quote at the behest of his office is something we can't determine. \"Make the pie higher!\" This final item (a misstatement of the concept of putting more money into the hands of Americans by reducing taxes to grow the economy and enlarge the economic \"pie\" that everyone shares  i.e., making the pie \"bigger\" rather than \"higher\") is the phrase perhaps most often cited as an example of \"Bushisms,\" so much so that it was used for the title of the poem quoted at the head of this page.  And it is a real quote, something Bush said during the course of a 15 February 2000 Republican debate (moderated by CNN host Larry King) in Columbia, South Carolina, between Texas Governor George W. Bush, Senator John McCain of Arizona, and former Reagan administration official Ambassador Alan Keyes: The difference between our plans is, I know whose money it is we're dealing with. We're dealing with the government  we're dealing with the people's money, not the government's money. And I want to give people their money back.  And if you're going to have a tax cut, everybody ought to have a tax cut. This kind of Washington, D.C., view about targeted tax cuts is tax cuts driven by polls and focus groups. If you pay taxes in America, you ought to get a tax cut.  Under my plan, if you're a family of four in South Carolina, making $50,000, you get 50-percent tax cut. I've reduced the lower rate from 15 percent to 10 percent, which does this  and this is important. There are people on the outskirts of poverty, like single moms who are working the toughest job in America. If she has two kids, and making $22,000, for every additional dollar she earns, she pays a higher marginal rate on her taxes than someone making $200,000.  You bet I cut the taxes at the top. That encourages entrepreneurship. What we Republicans should stand for is growth in the economy. We ought to make the pie higher. This one initially posed something of a mystery to us, because transcripts of the debate prepared by the Federal Document Clearing House and CNN attribute the block of text quoted above to Senator John McCain, not Governor Bush.  However, the immediately preceding question had clearly been posed to Governor Bush, and newspaper accounts the following morning noted the \"make the pie higher\" comment as something uttered by Governor Bush: Bush, shedding his sometimes goofy demeanor, was as animated and forceful as he has been in any debate, punching the air with his fist to underscore his words. He scored points among the party faithful in calling for an end to the Clinton era in Washington  one of the money lines of the night. On taxes and bringing prosperity to struggling working mothers, however, Bush mangled one metaphor: \"We ought to make the pie higher.\"14 Moreover, at a Radio\/TV correspondents' dinner in Washington, D.C., a few weeks later, Governor Bush made humorous use of the item with no indication that the words weren't his own: Now most people would say in speaking of the economy, \"We ought to make the pie bigger.\" I, however, am on record saying, \"We ought to make the pie higher.\" As frivolous as this experiment may have been, let's hope it's a harbinger of more accurate information to come. Last updated:  21 July 2008    Sources:    7.  Allen, Mike.  \"Bush's Gaffes Are Back As Debates Near.\"   The Washington Post.  1 October 2000  (p. A8).    11.  Collins, Gail.  \"Savor the Moment.\"   The New York Times.  1 February 2000  (p. A21).     5.  Henneberger, Melinda.  \"New Hampshire Warns Bush, 'Don't Be a Stranger Hee-ahh'\"   The New York Times.  23 October 1999  (p. A12).    12.  Hunt, Albert R.  \"George W. Can Run But He Can't Hide.\"   The Wall Street Journal.  1 April 1999  (p. A23).     4.  Hutcheson, Ron.  \"Candidate George W. Bush Sometimes Mangles Words.\"   Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  29 January 2000  (p. A8).        Ivins, Molly.  Shrub: The Short But Happy Political Life of George W. Bush.   New York: Random House, 2000.  ISBN 0-375-50399-4  (p. 19). Shrub: The Short But Happy Political Life of George W. Bush     1.  Jackson, David and Wayne Slater.  \"Subdued McCain Endorses Bush.\"   The Dallas Morning News.  10 May 2000.    16.  Kristof, Nicholas D.  \"The 2000 Campaign: Breaking Into Baseball.\"   The New York Times.  24 September 2000.    10.  Leonard, Mary.  \"Fight Intensifies for Votes of Women.\"   The Boston Globe.  22 January 2000  (p. A1).     8.  Mason, Julie.  \"Campaign Notebook.\"   The Houston Chronicle.  19 October 2000  (p. A38).    14.  Miga, Andrew.  \"Tight S. Carolina Race Fuels Contentious Debate.\"   The Boston Globe.  16 February 2000  (p. 27).        Miller, Mark Crispin.  The Bush Dyslexicon: Observations on a National Disorder.   New York: W.W. Norton, 2001.  ISBN 0-393-04183-2. The Bush Dyslexicon: Observations on a National Disorder     3.  Miller, T. Christian.  \"With a Grin, Bush Answers Early Charges of Aloofness.\"   Los Angeles Times.  14 January 2000  (p. 20).        Smith, Zay N.  \"A Small Comfort Amid Election Snafus, Quarrels.\"   Chicago Sun-Times.  13 November 2000  (p. 26).     9.  Von Drehle, David.  \"12 Hours, 4 Contenders, Many Parallels.\"   The Washington Post.  15 January 2000  (p. A1).    13.  Austin American-Statesman.  \"Corrections.\"   25 March 1999  (p. A2).     2.  The Financial Times.  \"Bushed Again.\"   14 January 2000.     6.  The New York Times.  \"In Bush's Words: 'Both Sides Must Take Important Steps' in the Mideast.\"   30 March 2001  (p. A12).","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Uw2BNBEviI3CDbBbHAZCvcWPqnj6XVya","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_470","claim":"There is no state in the U.S. where a 40-hour minimum wage work week is enough to afford a two-bedroom apartment.","posted":"09\/18\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"What kind of apartment can you afford on a minimum-wage salary? Your options may be very limited. There is no state in the U.S. where a 40-hour minimum wage workweek is enough to afford a two-bedroom apartment, says a Facebook graphic posted on Sept. 11 from OurTime.org, an advocacy group for young Americans. At PolitiFact, we have noticed a growing number of Facebook users sharing graphics generated by OurTime.org. Its following on Facebook has grown from 100,000 in February to half a million today, and readers are constantly asking us to verify the information the group posts in catchy shareables. The posts tend to highlight progressive issues, like income inequality and the cost of higher education. This particular post had just over 9,000 shares on Sept. 17. Given its reach and the focus from Democrats on the minimum wage this election cycle, we wanted to give it a look. OurTime.org cited the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a group that advocates for policies that improve housing for the poor, as a source on the graphic. Each year, the National Low Income Housing Coalition publishes a report that calculates what they call the housing wage, or the hourly wage a full-time worker must earn to afford a decent two-bedroom rental home. The findings of the study are summed up in the introduction: The 2014 two-bedroom Housing Wage is $18.92. This national average is more than two-and-a-half times the federal minimum wage and 52 percent higher than it was in 2000. In no state can a full-time minimum wage worker afford a one-bedroom or a two-bedroom rental unit at Fair Market Rent. Four important words are included in the report that aren't in the Facebook graphic: at Fair Market Rent. That's a critical distinction. What is Fair Market Rent? It's an official number calculated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development that helps in determining subsidy levels for low-income renters. The department surveys rent prices in 530 metropolitan areas and 2,045 nonmetropolitan counties, and on a scale of all the rents being charged in a metro area, establishes a unique Fair Market Rent at the 40th percentile. This means that 40 percent of the rental properties in that area are at or below that threshold. So the Fair Market Rent is set just a bit below average rents in a given area. For example, in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metropolitan area of Florida, the Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom apartment is $951. Sixty percent of two-bedroom apartments in the area are more expensive than this, but 40 percent of them are at or below $951. The federal government does not create a state-based average for Fair Market Rent, but the National Low Income Housing Coalition created one by weighting government data with U.S. Census data on rental populations. The Fair Market Rent of a two-bedroom apartment in Florida costs $1,008 a month, or $12,096 a year. How much would someone need to make to afford that? Get out your calculators and scratch paper because it takes some math. The standard used by the federal government is that housing shouldn't cost more than 30 percent of an individual's income. That leaves people with enough money for other necessities like food, transportation, a phone, etc. For low-income individuals and families, anything more than 30 percent is teetering on homelessness, said Megan Bolton, research director for the National Low Income Housing Coalition. So if someone is making the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, they can afford rent of $377 a month. Obviously, that's a good bit less than Florida's Fair Market Rent of $1,008 for a two-bedroom apartment. For a person to afford a two-bedroom apartment in Florida would require a gross income of $40,355, or $19.39 an hour. That's well above the minimum wage in Florida of $7.93, which is actually set a touch higher than the federal minimum wage. This does not factor in any housing assistance an individual might receive through the federal government. The Department of Housing and Urban Development's largest program assists 1.2 million households, a spokesman said. Of course, there are cheaper places to live than Florida. At $653 a month, Arkansas has the lowest Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom apartment. Even at that price, it would take a wage of $12.56 an hour to afford the rent, according to the government's definition. Let's break it down further, though. According to the federal government, in rural Arkansas, the Fair Market Rent is $561. That would require an hourly wage of $10.79. Arkansas's minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. What about states and cities that have much higher minimum wages than the federal standard? Washington state has a minimum wage of $9.32, and Seattle recently raised its to $15 an hour. But there, the Fair Market Rent of a two-bedroom apartment is higher and still outpaces the minimum wage, the study found. In most states, it would actually take the equivalent of two or more minimum wage salaries to afford a Fair Market Rent. The National Low Income Housing Coalition found this to be true of one-bedroom apartments, too. This isn't to say that there aren't apartments for much cheaper than the Fair Market Rate. At the 40th percentile, by definition, means 40 percent of rental properties in that area are at that price or cheaper\u2014which is why it was important that the National Low Income Housing Coalition included that qualifier, and why it is somewhat misleading that OurTime.org did not. Absolutely, certainly there are places with rents at $377, especially if you're in smaller areas, and they may be of okay quality, Bolton said. If a minimum wage earner can get an apartment at that price, it would be affordable for them. However, cheaper might also have other tradeoffs, like being in an area with higher crime rates or low-performing schools, or it might just be a crummy apartment. Our ruling The Facebook graphic by OurTime.org claimed there is no state in the U.S. where a 40-hour minimum wage workweek is enough to afford a two-bedroom apartment. The group left out a key distinction from the study they cite: Minimum wage workers can't afford a two-bedroom apartment at Fair Market Rent, a number determined by the federal government for each region set at the 40th percentile of all rents in that area. That means that in some areas, minimum wage earners would be able to find and afford housing that is cheaper than the Fair Market Rent. Though, in states where rent is more expensive, minimum wage earners would not be able to afford apartments even well below the Fair Market Rent. The point is reasonably on target and applies to the vast majority of minimum wage workers looking for quality rental housing. We rate the claim Mostly True.","issues":["National","Housing","Income","Poverty"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/vahkphg8VuJyZlK8pKKK5JNbdL8d19-KM9kQpJQvJRX6h3oZDxoBdgLKUf8PQvjRIRhrT5EZrhCMYHzXkFOhHlENMP2PQNgciFujbtPfKWR1Cn0fQKin8m0AyUFsW64BfA","image_caption":"at Fair Market Rent"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_471","claim":"Says Beto ORourke voted against Hurricane Harvey tax relief.","posted":"08\/29\/2018","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz says in anonline video adthat he voted for tax relief for victims of Hurricane Harvey in 2017 as his Democratic challenger, Rep. Beto ORourke of El Paso, ridiculously voted no. The narrator of Cruzs August 2018 ad, which features photos of water rescues and Cruz on the scene of the devastating hurricane, says: Congressman ORourke is so irresponsible that he even voted against hurricane tax relief. A House roll callshowsthat ORourke, a congressman since 2013, was among 155 representatives to vote against the Houses Sept. 28, 2017, passage of theDisaster Tax Relief and Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2017, for which 264 members, including 43 Democrats, cast yea votes. The same day, the House concurred with a Senate amendment to the proposal and two days later President Donald Trump signed thatinto law. The measure folded in tax relief for hurricane victims. A September 2017Houston Chroniclenews storyon the action, crediting Cruz with leading the effort to pass the legislation, said key provisions--approved two weeks after Congress advanced more than $15 billion in aid to Harvey victims--would permit Harvey victims to access their retirement funds penalty-free, allow victims to easily write off hurricane losses and provide a tax credit of up to $6,000 for employers who hire in a declared disaster area like Harris County, home to hard-hit Houston. Also, the story said, charitable giving might be spurred by the measure's waiving of deduction limits. Also, the proposal included language allowing taxpayers to use income from the past year to determine the Earned Income Tax Credit or Child Tax Credit, the story said. O'Rourke voted for direct aid When we asked ORourkes campaign about his no vote, spokesman Chris Evans replied by email that ORourke, who otherwisevoted for direct hurricane relief, voted against the measure singled out by Cruz because it dramatically shortchanged Harvey victims by providing significantly smaller tax breaks than those given after Hurricane Sandy, whichslammed the East Coastin 2012. Hold that comparison: TheAmerican Institute of CPAsput us in touch with a Louisiana expert, CPAJerry Schreiber, who told us by phone that Congressdidnt provide tax breaksto victims of Hurricane Sandy. Another congressionalroll-call voteshows that earlier, on Sept. 25, 2017, ORourke joined a sufficient number of House members to keep the act from being immediately considered and passed by the House. O'Rourke's explanation for opposition to tax-relief legislation After that vote, ORourke posted astatementsaying that he supported the measures main thrust--reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration and programs set to expire that week--but voted against the House moving along because other initiatives that are critical to the livelihood of our families and neighbors in El Paso were excluded. ORourkes statement went on: Without returning this legislation for further improvement, I am not confident Congress would have reauthorized these programs. For example, H.R. 3823 left out reauthorizing the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and Community Health Centers only days before their funding is set to expire. The recent debate on health care in our country has only reinforced the need for quality, affordable care. That simply will not be possible without these two programs that so many children and families in El Paso rely on. Additionally, the bill would have left victims of recent natural disastersincluding Hurricane Harveywithout sufficient assistance as they work to recover and rebuild. The bill provided help in the form of tax breaks at a much lower rate than those provided to victims of both Hurricane Sandy and Hurricane Katrina. Ultimately, H.R. 3823 failed to pass the House. With less than a week remaining to reauthorize the FAA, CHIP, and Community Health Centers, I urge my colleagues to pass an improved version of this legislation that extends these programs while ensuring that we continue to aid those recovering from Harvey and other recent natural disasters. Our ruling Cruz said ORourke irresponsibly voted against tax relief for Hurricane Harvey victims. ORourke voted against the proposal delivering tax relief though Cruz's statement, suggesting a didn't-care attitude, leaves unsaid that ORourke offered some reasons for his opposition and had voted for direct aid to victims. We rate this claim Mostly True. MOSTLY TRUE The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.","issues":["Natural Disasters ","Taxes","Texas"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_472","claim":"No, Biden Transition Team Wasn't 'Removed' from Pentagon for Leaking Intel to China","posted":"12\/30\/2020","sci_digest":["A meme circulating on social media offered no evidence to support its extraordinary claims."],"justification":"Voting in the 2020 U.S. Election may be over, but misinformation continues to spread. Never stop fact-checking. Follow our post-election coverage here. In late December 2020, social media users shared a meme claiming that the transition team for U.S. President-elect Joe Biden was \"removed\" from the Pentagon for leaking intelligence to the Chinese government. The text of the meme reads: \"Last week the Biden transition team was removed from the Pentagon, and now we know why. The Secretary of Defense gave disinformation to the Biden team about naval movements in the South China Sea. Within 30 minutes, the intel was leaked to the CCP. Anyone who is okay with this needs to have their head checked. Biden is in bed with China.\" Notably, the meme did not include any evidence to support its claims, and there is no evidence that Biden's team was \"removed\" from the Pentagon or had leaked any intelligence to the Chinese Communist Party, the ruling political party in China. Had such a stunning event actually occurred, we would undoubtedly see mainstream news coverage. We found no credible news reports that the incoming presidential administration leaked intelligence to China, which would be a bombshell report. In fact, it has been an ongoing issue that outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump has not only refused to admit his electoral loss in the Nov. 3, 2020, election, but his administration has also demonstrated an unprecedented lack of cooperation with the incoming administration. On Dec. 18, 2020, Axios reported that Trump's acting Secretary of Defense, Chris Miller, had \"ordered a Pentagon-wide halt to cooperation with the transition of President-elect Biden, shocking officials across the Defense Department,\" citing \"senior administration officials.\" Miller stated that his staff had been cooperating and would continue to do so after a \"mutually agreed-upon holiday pause.\" Biden's team responded by stating that Miller's comments were false and that they had never agreed on a holiday break in transition meetings. Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said in a Dec. 29, 2020, interview with NPR that Trump's political appointees have continued to obstruct the transition process and have not turned over vital information pertaining to issues such as a massive Russian cyberattack against American government agencies or plans to distribute COVID-19 vaccines to the American public. Biden called the lack of cooperation from the Trump administration \"nothing short, in my view, of irresponsibility.\"","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1qLIpRr-ay70tUMewU5XqcXpr_RCXuAx1","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_473","claim":"Fifty percent of American citizens have savings accounts holding amounts lower than $10,000.","posted":"04\/09\/2015","sci_digest":[],"justification":"U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, speaking in Austin, bemoaned widening income differences between the countrys very rich and the rest of us. And in his remarks at aSouth Austin union hall, the Vermont independentmulling a runfor the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination also warned about American failures to save money. Heres something not talked about, something that can make us all very, very nervous, Sanders said. Half of all Americans have less than $10,000 in their savings account. And you know what that means and you know why people are so stressed out? If you have less than $10,000, he said, that means an automobile accident, a divorce, a serious illness, a crisis of one kind or another can drive you into bankruptcy and financial disaster. Is he right that half of us have less than $10K in savings? Sanders backup To our inquiry, a Sanders spokesman, Jeff Franks, said by email that Sanders relied on an April 2014USA Todaynews storyquoting a survey indicating 52 percent of U.S. workers had said they had less than $10,000 in total savings and investments, such as a 401(k) or IRA, that could be used for retirement. It did not include their homes or defined benefit plans, such as traditional pensions that could be used for retirement Specifically, the story said, 36 percent of workers said they had less than $1,000 in such savings and investments with another 16 percent of workers reporting $1,000 to $9,999 in such savings and investments. Those results came from a telephone survey of 1,000 workers and 501 retirees by the nonprofit Employee Benefit Research Institute and Greenwald and Associates. Next, we spotted a chart on the institutes website drawn from the same 2014 Retirement Confidence Survey. The 52 percent of workers reporting less than $10,000 in savings and investments in 2014 is up from 39 percent in 2009, the chart shows. Of course, workers isnt all of us. We called the Washington, D.C.-based institute,which saysit was founded in 1978 to deliver unbiased information on employee benefit plans so that decisions affecting the system may be made based on verifiable facts. By phone, researcher Craig Copeland told us that overall, 51 percent of survey respondents, meaning retirees and others, had less than $10,000 in financial savings. Also by phone, Ruth Helman of Greenwald and Associates, which helped do the survey, paused at the senators wording. Strictly speaking, their savings account isnt correct. Its total savings wherever it may be, under the mattress or wherever, Helman said. Federal Reserve Bank We wondered if there were other ways of looking at savings. Several experts urged us to contact the Federal Reserve Bank, which conducts a survey focused on consumer finances every three years.Its latest survey, drawing on data collected in 2013, resulted in a chart pointed out by Copeland indicating that the median value of financial savings outside of a pension or home reported by the nearly 95 percent of families who had bank accounts or stocks, bonds and other financial assets that year was $21,200, down from $23,000 in the boards 2010 survey. SOURCE:Report,Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2010 to 2013: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances,Federal Reserve Bulletin, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, September 2014 Copeland said that given that more than 5 percent of families reported no such financial assets, its reasonable to speculate that families overall had median financial savings of less than $20,000. We also asked reserve board officials to analyze the senators savings accounts statement. By phone, William Emmons and Bryan Noeth, both employed by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, raised questions. For instance, why not count a familys home or pension as part of its savings? Reminder: The institute, with its focus on savings for retirement, set aside these asset categories. Emmons said: People do count on their housing equity, not only in retirement, but before that. Beyond that, the pair said, its not always meaningful to focus on money held in savings accounts, which are a single wealth indicator. A savings account isnt where everybody holds their money, Noeth said. The two said a potentially superior way to gauge how Americans are faring, savings-wise, would be to consider net worth meaning family assets compared to debts. An agency manager, Adriene Dempsey, emailed usa spreadsheetshowing that according to the boards 2013 survey, 26 percent of U.S. families had less than $10,000 in net worth--a tick worse than the 25 percent of families according to its 2010 study. In 2013, half of American families had about $81,500 in net wealth or more, according to the spreadsheet. Total assets for a family include financial assets, such as bank accounts, mutual funds and securities plus tangible assets, including real estate, vehicles and durable goods, according to aFebruary 2015 essayby the St. Louis Fed.Weve elaborated on this here. So by the net-worth metric, more families are better off than if one focused on financial savings alone. We ran this net worth angle past the institutes Coleman, who reminded by email that its survey (relied on by Sanders) took into account financial assets, not just savings accounts. Our ruling Sanders said: Half of all Americans have less than $10,000 in their savings account. Some clarification went missing here: A 2014 survey indicated about half of American adults had less than $10,000 in savings and investments, such as a 401(k) or IRA, that could be used for retirement; those results encompassed more than savings accounts. We rate this claim Mostly True. MOSTLY TRUE The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.","issues":["Families","Income","Pensions","Poverty","Wealth","Texas"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1OW3lEkzbKV0dY7aq0QA-UpU67kwYiIw0","image_caption":"USA Today"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1urzHZtLUUVtgLjiBb-T5363dwQdPEyuZ","image_caption":"MOSTLY TRUE"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_474","claim":"Says Ron Johnson opposes entirely a federal minimum wage, except perhaps for guest workers.","posted":"08\/27\/2015","sci_digest":[],"justification":"During a campaign speech in Milwaukee, former U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold called for gradually raising the federal minimum wage to $15, which is currently set at $7.25 an hour. Without mentioning Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson by name, the Democrat criticized Johnson, as the two are poised for a rematch in 2016. \"Now, my likely opponent, the incumbent senator, opposes entirely -- get this, opposes entirely -- a federal minimum wage,\" Feingold said on Aug. 18, 2015. \"At least for Americans -- apparently he has some openness about guest workers -- disrespecting the hard work and dignity of too many working Wisconsinites.\" Johnson has often spoken against raising the minimum wage. But does he oppose the existence of any general federal minimum wage law? This is a hot topic -- $10, $12, or $15. Raising the federal minimum wage is a common campaign plank among Democrats. A month before Feingold's speech, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont seeking the Democratic nomination for president, introduced legislation for an increase to $15 an hour. Meanwhile, Democratic presidential contender Martin O'Malley also supports $15, while front-runner Hillary Clinton, like President Barack Obama, has expressed support for $12. Many Republicans, including Johnson and one of the leading GOP candidates for president, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, oppose a raise. Walker argued in 2014 that minimum-wage jobs are overwhelmingly for young people starting out in the workforce, a statement we rated as false. We found that the best estimates indicate that 24 percent to 55 percent of such jobs are held by teenagers and young adults. However, later in the year, PolitiFact National rated as mostly true a claim by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., that raising the minimum wage to $10.10 would destroy between 500,000 and 1 million jobs. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office stated that roughly 500,000 workers could lose their jobs, but that the most likely range was between very few and 1 million. To support Feingold's claim, his campaign cited comments Johnson made more than a year earlier, at a July 2, 2014, WisPolitics luncheon in Milwaukee. A member of the audience asked Johnson: \"What should the federal minimum wage be? Or should there not be a minimum wage?\" Johnson replied, \"Shouldn't be one. The only area that I would agree with minimum wage is in immigration reform, the guest worker program. I'd be 100 percent supportive of a minimum wage -- kind of industry-specific, maybe regionally specific -- for guest workers, so that we're not creating incentives for employers to bring in immigrants to lower the price of labor.\" He added, \"In the general economy, you get government involved in making market decisions -- first of all, they're going to get it wrong. For a minimum wage, you will actually reduce the number of jobs available. What you don't want to do -- if you're concerned about poverty, if you're concerned about providing opportunity -- you don't want to rip the bottom rung of the ladder of opportunity away from people. And that's what you do.\" (The federal government has so-called guest worker programs that allow foreign nationals to fill temporary jobs, both agricultural and non-agricultural.) Johnson did not dispute Feingold's claim. His campaign emailed us a statement that said in part that Johnson worked for minimum wage in his first job and knows minimum wage laws are here to stay, and we should design them to ensure they don't hurt the very people they are intended to help. Johnson opposes a raise to $15, the statement added, but does not seek to eliminate the federal minimum wage -- it's here to stay. Feingold asserts that Johnson opposes entirely a federal minimum wage, except perhaps for guest workers. While this may not be a position Johnson has stated often, when asked in July 2014 whether there should be a federal minimum wage, Johnson said there should not be one, other than perhaps one for guest workers. Although he may not be trying to repeal the wage, Johnson did not dispute the accuracy of Feingold's claim -- that he is against having a federal minimum wage, except perhaps for guest workers coming in from outside the United States. We rate Feingold's statement as true.","issues":["Agriculture","Economy","Jobs","Labor","Government Regulation","Unions","Workers","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_475","claim":"$65 billion would be added to the deficit if we keep the cuts for people on the highest incomes.","posted":"11\/14\/2010","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Sen. Mark Warner is pitching a plan that would allow some Bush-era tax cuts to expire as scheduled and apply the additional tax revenue toward business tax cuts and incentives to spur the economy. Laying out his plan in an Op-Ed in the Financial Times, Warner notes that a Republican-Democrat compromise is being considered by the Obama administration that would temporarily extend all the tax breaks for two more years. However, this latter approach has problems beyond the $65 billion that would be added to the deficit if we keep the cuts for people on the highest incomes, Warner writes. In Washington, such temporary benefits also have a strange way of becoming permanent. Since Warner's own plan hinges on reapplying the $65 billion in additional tax revenue that would come from allowing the tax breaks for the wealthy to expire, we thought it prudent to check the figure. Asked for the source, Warner's communication director, Kevin Hall, pointed to estimates by the U.S. Treasury. Those projections show that allowing the cuts to expire, along with adjustments to capital gains and dividends, would amount to $74.4 billion over two years. Here\u2019s why we mention that factor: If the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire as scheduled, the top tax rate on long-term capital gains would rise from 15 percent to 20 percent. Dividends, which are currently taxed at 15 percent, would be taxed at the same rates as ordinary income, with a top rate of 39.9 percent. But if we look exclusively at allowing the Bush cuts to expire, it\u2019s $62.5 billion for the two years. Hall said Warner excludes the capital gains and dividends change because they might not be enacted, and capital gains aren\u2019t really what people talk about when they say income taxes. Gerald Prante, senior economist with the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, disagreed on that point. He also suggested looking at more recent figures from the Office of Management and Budget, noting that the Treasury numbers are based on estimates that have since been revised. The OMB figures show that allowing the cuts for the wealthy to expire would generate more than $66 billion in tax revenue over two years. But that\u2019s including the adjustment to capital gains. Without it, the two-year total is closer to $57 billion. It\u2019s worth noting, however, that the numbers from both sources look at the revenue to be gained from repealing the tax cuts permanently as opposed to eliminating them after a two-year extension. If there were only a two-year extension, the cost may not be $66 billion, as the Joint Committee on Taxation\/Treasury would assume tax planning that could change the costs, moving income between years, noted Prante. But overall, Warner's claim is fine; the $65 billion figure is not an exaggeration. So, if we use the Treasury's numbers and look exclusively at the tax revenue raised by the two years' worth of repealed cuts for the wealthy, then Warner is very close. Using the more recent OMB figures, he\u2019d be nearer by including the capital gains adjustment, but is still in the neighborhood. Accepting that pinpointing a number using evolving projections is not an exact science, we find Warner's claim to be mostly true.","issues":["Federal Budget","Taxes","Virginia"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_476","claim":"Black Heritage Stamps","posted":"03\/23\/2000","sci_digest":["Is the U.S. Postal Service discontinuing the Black Heritage series of stamps?"],"justification":"Claim:  The United States Postal Service is discontinuing the \"Black Heritage\" series of stamps and destroying the remaining stock.  Example:  [Collected on the Internet, 2000] Subject: Discontinuing and DESTROYING Black Stamps I was in the post office this morning and requested the African American stamp. The postal worker informed me that they will DESTROY all remaining African American Heritage stamps at the end of the month instead of following their usual process of selling them until they are depleted. She also said that they were asking patrons to complain to the Post Master and gave me a complaint form. Needless to say, I've already completed the form. The post office is considering discontinuing Black Heritage Stamps because they aren't selling.  Instead of taking the path of least resistance and accepting the love, flag, rose or teddy bear stamps that they offer you automatically, request African-American stamps each and every time you mail something.  If we don't buy them, nobody will. Perhaps you think it's not a major issue. However, it is a part of the ongoing effort to assert ourselves as a major economic force in this society. PASS THE MESSAGE ON AND LET'S KEEP BLACK STAMPS IN CIRCULATION. Origins:  Many of the messages we receive these days are expressions of the feeling that blacks are being overlooked and slighted by white Americans, particularly in the economic arena.  A common theme is    that major companies decline to advertise in media that reach primarily black audiences because theyfail to recognize both the social desires and income levels of black Americans.  (In other words, it's racism in another form: either the people running these companies are so prejudiced that they're willing to sacrifice revenues by not selling to blacks, or they don't realize that blacks are not one stereotypical bloc of uneducated, poor, blue-collar workers who couldn't possibly aspire to the finer things in life  or afford them even if they did.)  As well, other messages convey the sentiment that the roles of blacks in American history have been ignored or minimalized.  (See the controversy over the origins of the Statue of Liberty for one example.)  This current message touches on both these themes: postage stamps honoring the heritage and contributions of black Americans are being discontinued and destroyed for economic reasons: because people just don't buy them.   Statue of Liberty Whether the beliefs expressed in the previous paragraph are right or wrong (and that is not the issue here), this message about the end of the Black Heritage series of postage stamps is undeniably false. The United States Postal Service is neither discontinuing the Black Heritage series nor planning to destroy the remaining stock of Black Heritage stamps.  The series has been going strong for 31 years now, and the 2008 entry (the 31st stamp in this series) features civil rights leader Charles W. Chesnutt.  There is no end to the Black Heritage series in sight, no matter how well or poorly the stamps sell. As Executive Director of Stamp Services Azeezaly S. Jaffer was quoted as saying in an official official media statement: Charles W. Chesnutt official media statement Given the popularity and importance of the Black Heritage stamps, there are no plans to discontinue the series. It is unfortunate that such rumors have spread, and we hope that the Postal Services commitment to honoring the historical achievements and contributions of African Americans on stamps will dispel any further concerns This policy was confirmed yet again by the USPS in a March 2005 press release: press release To dispel recurring rumors that its long-standing Black Heritage stamp series will be discontinued, a senior postal official reiterated the Postal Service's continued commitment to honoring African Americans on stamps. \"Nothing could be further from the truth. These rumors continue to resurface around this time of year,\" explained David Failor, Executive Director of Stamp Services, U.S. Postal Service, referring to the deluge of inquiries the Postal Service receives shortly after a Black Heritage stamp issuance.  He said, \"As a main component of our annual stamp program, the Black Heritage series is alive and well, and here to stay. We're already looking forward to announcing next year's honoree this fall.\"  The myth started several years ago through an anonymous email that alerted recipients to buy Black Heritage stamps before Post Offices take them off sale due to lack of demand. Exhorting people to buy Black Heritage stamps as a way of honoring the memories of the individuals they depict (or Black Americans in general) is a worthy cause.  Coaxing people into buying them based on misinformation is not. Last updated:  30 November 2007  ","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1tXatXzWszqRAXh_q_GbWGuTYlICBwFJ4","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_477","claim":"Did George Clooney Come 'Out of the Closet,' As Claimed by Online Ad?","posted":"08\/07\/2023","sci_digest":["We don't recommend placing blind trust in online advertisements that lead to extremely long list articles."],"justification":"In early August 2023, an advertisement was displayed to online users that claimed Oscar-winning actor George Clooney had come \"out of the closet,\" apparently implying that he had recently revealed he is gay. The ad read, \"Clooney, 64, Out of the Closet. At 64, George Clooney confirms the speculation.\"  This ad led to an extremely lengthy list article on reference.com that showed the headline, \"Stars You May Not Know Are LGBTQ+.\" article The article began as follows: The entertainment industry has long been a space where members of the LGBTQ+ community have thrived, despite the societal pressures that have often kept them in the shadows. From the early days of Hollywood to the present day, there have been countless stars who identify as LGBTQ+, but many have kept their identities hidden for fear of retribution or damage to their careers. However, with the rise of LGBTQ+ rights and representation in recent years, more and more stars are coming out and proudly sharing their identities with the world. However, nowhere in the massive article was Clooney's name even once mentioned. It was nothing but false and misleading clickbait. In September 2014, Clooney married Amal Alamuddin, who, following the wedding, assumed his last name. married As of August 2023, we found no evidence that the couple had split or that Clooney had revealed he identified as part of the LGBTQ+ community. As for the misleading ad and article, in the website address (URL) of the story, the campaign name for the advertising campaign was visible. It read as, \"go_002_btq_7-31_x_us_george_clooney_zero_28091c.\" In other words, the person or people who managed the ads were tracking various metrics, so that they could measure if it was successful in receiving clicks. The purpose of the ad and the idea of tracking its metrics were all about a strategy for making money. That strategy is called arbitrage. arbitrage Here's how arbitrage works: Taking the false Clooney ad as an example, the advertiser who created the ad hoped to make money based upon people viewing and clicking on the other ads in the extremely lengthy reference.com article. If they made more money back on their own ads in the reference.com article when compared to the budget they put toward the false Clooney ad, then they profited. Similar to this fact check, in the past, we previously reported about how advertisers had also claimed that stand-up comedian and TV host Jay Leno was gay and had a \"gorgeous husband,\" and that Oscar-nominated actor Michelle Pfeiffer was married to a woman. Neither of these claims was true. Like the claim about Clooney, they were nothing more than misleading clickbait for arbitrage purposes. Jay Leno was gay Michelle Pfeiffer was married to a woman Liles, Jordan. \"Does Michelle Pfeiffer Have a Wife?\" Snopes, 15 Nov. 2021, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/michelle-pfeiffer-wife\/. MacGuill, Dan. \"Did Jay Leno Marry a 'Gorgeous Husband'?\" Snopes, 23 Jan. 2021, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/jay-leno-gorgeous-husband\/. \"Stars You May Not Know Are LGBTQ+.\" Reference.com, https:\/\/go.reference.com\/entertainment\/stars-you-may-not-know-are-lgbtq\/.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1O8T8o8j0I2ClIr4JzKOIwrPulqeh4Oq-","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_478","claim":"Caution regarding the Affordable Care Act","posted":"10\/03\/2013","sci_digest":["Item describes penalties for non-compliance with the PPACA individual health insurance mandate."],"justification":" Claim:  Item describes penalties for non-compliance with the PPACA individual health insurance mandate. false Example:  [Collected via e-mail, October 2013] WARNING CONCERNING OBAMACARE ----Immediate Attention Required PLEASE ----- If you do not have to sign up with Obamacare on their website PLEASE DON'T! Once you see the cost of premiums and yearly deductible and choose to opt out from that point they will within a few hours email you stating your actual fees in which now they will by any means collect. REAL EXAMPLE ---- Please Read & Please Forward ASAP!!! A comment posted on the Affordable Care Act\/Obamacare FB page: I actually made it through this morning at 8:00 A.M. I have a preexisting condition (Type 1 Diabetes) and my income base was 45K-55K annually I chose tier 2 \"Silver Plan\" and my monthly premiums came out to $597.00 with $13,988 yearly deductible!!! There is NO POSSIBLE way that I can afford this so I \"opt-out\" and chose to continue along with no insurance. I received an email tonight at 5:00 P.M. informing me that my fine would be $4,037 and could be attached to my yearly income tax return. Then you make it to the \"REPERCUSSIONS PORTION\" for \"non-payment\" of yearly fine. First, your drivers license will be suspended until paid, and if you go 24 consecutive months with \"Non-Payment\" and you happen to be a home owner, you will have a federal tax lien placed on your home. You can agree to give your bank information so that they can easy \"Automatically withdraw\" your \"penalties\" weekly, bi-weekly or monthly! This by no means is \"Free\" or even \"Affordable.\" Origins:  One of the key (and most controversial) provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), commonly known as \"Obamacare,\" is its establishment of an individual mandate to buy health insurance.  Beginning in 2014, U.S. citizens and legal residents are required to either have PPACA-qualifying health insurance coverage (public or private) or pay a penalty for not carrying insurance.  Shortly after the opening of PPACA-created state- and federal-run insurance exchange marketplaces on 1 October 2013, which consumers could use to shop online for qualifying  insurance plans, the item reproduced above began circulating on the Internet.  This item claimed that after a consumer priced an insurance plan on one of the exchanges and found it to be unsuitably non-affordable (and so declined to enroll in it), he received a notice stating that he would be fined over $4,000 and have his driver's license suspended, and if he failed to pay the fine within two years the a federal tax lien would be placed on his home. Without knowing more details about the person referenced in this item, it's difficult to accurately assess whether the figures quoted for insurance coverage ($597.00 per month with a $13,988 yearly deductible) are completely accurate.   However, the PPACA sets annual limits on out-of-pocket expenses at $6,350 for individuals and $12,700 for families on plans offered through the state-based exchanges, so a yearly deductible of nearly $14,000 for someone shopping for coverage through an insurance exchange isn't a plausible offering. The penalty for failing to carry qualifying health insurance coverage varies with household size, income, and year.  In general, the penalties for non-compliance will be assessed as follows: For individuals (whichever is greater): 2014    $95 or 1% of income above tax filing threshold2015    $325 or 2% of income above tax filing threshold2016    $695 or 2.5% of income above tax filing threshold  For families (whichever is greater):  2014    $285 or 1% of income above tax filing threshold2015    $975 or 2% of income above tax filing threshold2016    $2085 or 2.5% of income above tax filing threshold The $4,037 fine claimed in this item doesn't jibe with those figures.  Since the non-compliance penalty for an individual in 2014 is $95 or 1% of income above the tax filing threshold (whichever is greater), that individual would have to earn a yearly income of $403,700 (above the tax filing threshold) in order to incur a fine of that magnitude for a single year  an income level which is far larger than the $45,000-$55,000 range claimed in this item.   Even adding together all the potential fines for three straight years of non-compliance beginning in 2014 produces a figure in the $3,000 range, not one over $4,000.  (The figures could be higher under a scenario in which multiple persons in the same household were non-compliant, but the item quoted above references only an individual.) According to a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report on the PPACA Penalty Provision and the Internal Revenue Service, collection of the penalty for failure to maintain qualifying health insurance coverage may include the IRS' withholding money from federal income tax refunds and obtaining liens against the taxpayer's property, but the PPACA does not allow for criminal prosecution or the seizure of bank accounts or other property: report   The Internal Revenue Code (IRC) limits the means the IRS may employ to collect the penalty established in the [PPACA]. First, the taxpayer is protected from either criminal prosecution or penalty for failure to pay the penalty. Second, the IRS is prohibited from either filing a notice of federal tax lien (NFTL) or levying any property in an effort to collect the penalty. There is no prohibition, however, on establishing a statutory lien against the taxpayers property. No additional limits are placed on the IRS using correspondence or phone calls, either through its own employees or through private collection agencies, in an effort to collect the amount owed. Additionally, no restriction was placed on the IRS's ability to use the refund offset as a means of collecting the amount due. Those who are required to pay the penalty for failure to maintain minimum coverage but choose not to do so will be subject to increases in the amount owed due to interest and late payment penalties imposed on the penalty after it has been assessed by the IRS.  A taxpayer who chooses not to pay the required penalty may ultimately forfeit more than the amount of the penalty if that taxpayer is ever in the position of having an overpayment to the IRS for any reason, since the refund offset applies not only to overpayments shown on original tax returns, but also to any subsequent adjustments, for example an audit by the IRS that results in an overpayment. Further, as explained above, it is possible that the IRS could present its claim when property is being sold and collect both the original penalty amount along with accrued interest and applicable penalties. (Note that a \"lien\" and a \"levy\" are two different things.  A lien is a claim against property that does not involve the right to seize property, while a levy is a seizure of property. A lien does not allow the lienholder to sell another's property, but when property subject to the lien is sold, the lien establishes the right to receive proceeds from the sale of the property before they are distributed to the seller.)  In short, failure to pay the PPACA non-compliance penalty might result in the IRS' sending you warning letters and deducting the penalty amount from your future tax refunds  (if you have any), but not throwing you in jail, forcibly taking money from your bank account, or seizing your house or other property.  We have also found no provision of the PPACA or IRS code that would allow the federal government to suspend an individual's driver's license as a penalty for non-compliance with the individual mandate provision of the PPACA. Last updated:  4 October 2013 ","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=10actHzXO916nUWA3pLusQ0DH8ggfa-3D"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_479","claim":"Did Kroger Supermarkets Overcharge Customers Due to a Coin Shortage?","posted":"07\/23\/2020","sci_digest":["Widely shared Facebook posts claimed that Kroger's new policy was to not give out cash change. "],"justification":"In the summer of 2020, readers asked us to examine widely shared Facebook posts that claimed the Kroger supermarket chain was refusing to give customers cash change, and thereby overcharging them.  One widely shared post from July 9 stated that: post \"Kroger will no longer keep coins in the drawer. Starting tomorrow. We will take them, but we can't give change. You can round up to the nearest dollar and donate it to the food bank, or round up and it goes onto your Kroger card as a credit. So it begins ...\"   One week later, Facebook users began sharing a post that purported to describe a contentious transaction and conversation at a Kroger supermarket in Bourbonnais, Illinois. The post claimed that, in light of a coin shortage, Kroger was rounding up the price of items to the next dollar, where a customer pays in cash, and then refusing to give out change, thus effectively overcharging customers: users began sharing post ... Stopped by Kroger today for just a gallon of milk. Seems due to this \"Change Shortage\", their new policy is to round every cash purchase UP to the next full dollar! I can even accept if they insisted on they could not \"give\" any coin back.It cost $2.41. I offered $2.50 payment. The clerk refused the quarters, explained \"due to change shortage\" policy & demanded another dollar instead. I offered the $2.50 again.Clerk: \"Your total is $3.00.\"Me: The total is $2.41, which $2.50 adequately covers & I don't care to give up the 9 cent, but I do NOT accept being up charged 60 cent while you refuse to take the coins I am offering.Clerk: it's $3.00 So literally the clerk was insisting I pay the $3 or they were refusing the sale. WTF ?!?...   A nationwide coin shortage did take place in the summer of 2020, contrary to a prevalent conspiracy theory that falsely claimed the crisis was fabricated or manufactured in order to usher in a cashless economy as part of a broader push towards a \"New World Order.\" That conspiracy theory reared its head in the Kroger post, which included the line, \"This is how being FORCED into a Cashless economy begins!\" did take place conspiracy theory Remarkably, it is not clear what Kroger's company policy was with regard to providing cash change to customers, at the time the Bourbonnais Facebook post was originally published, in the early hours of July 16.  Initially, a spokesperson for the company provided Snopes a statement which asserted that, in light of the ongoing nationwide coin shortage, Kroger was offering customers the option of receiving the amount of their change in the form of loyalty card credit or rounding up their total and donating the remainder to charity, as well as the existing options of paying by credit or debit card, or paying by cash and getting cash change. The statement read: \"We remain committed to providing our customers with an uplifting shopping experience and the freedom and flexibility to choose their payment method, including cash, during this unprecedented time. The Federal Reserve is experiencing a significant coin shortage across the U.S., resulting from fewer coins being exchanged and spent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Like many retailers and businesses, we are adjusting to the temporary shortage in several ways while still accepting cash. \"Customers can switch their payment type (e.g., use debit or credit vs. cash), and through our upgraded technology, we can now load coin change to their loyalty card for use during the next shopping trip, provide coin change at a lane with coins available or round up their order to support The Kroger Co. Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation, a public charity committed to creating communities free of hunger and waste.\" [Emphasis is added.] However, after this fact check was first published, we became aware of contradictory public statements attributed to Kroger earlier in July. In a July 15 article, KABC-TV reported that Kroger had \"announced this week that they will not be returning coin change to customers who pay with cash.\" The article attributed the following statement to the company: KABC-TV \"Currently our stores are collecting donations... by allowing customers to round up their order total to the next dollar... For customers that choose not to donate, our cashiers will load the coin value due back through their loyalty card. Customers can redeem the amount on their next transaction. We know this is an inconvenience for our customers and we appreciate their patience.\" That statement made no mention of the continued possibility of customers receiving their coin change as coin change, an omission which naturally indicates that Kroger policy at that time was to not provide customers with coin change.  On July 10, a named company spokesperson appears to have told another news outlet that Kroger policy was to no longer give out coin change. WXIX reported that: \"Kroger spokesperson Erin Rofles confirmed Friday the grocer will no longer return coin change to customers. Instead, the remainders from cash transactions will be applied to customers loyalty cards and automatically used on their next purchase.\" WXIX We asked Kroger to explain these glaring discrepancies in the company's various public articulations of its policy on coin change. A spokesperson said that the statement initially provided to Snopes (which asserted that company policy was to give customers the option of receiving coin change) was \"first issued on July 13,\" suggesting the company had been consistent in its messaging on the subject. We found the same wording in a series of tweets the company sent to a customer on July 14. Nevertheless, the company also told KABC-TV the opposite in an article published the following day.  tweets In one particularly egregious example of the confusion surrounding Kroger's articulation of its policy, on July 14 the company actually posted two different sets of tweets in response to the same customer's inquiries on Twitter. In one pair of tweets, Kroger told @bbaum17 that customers could either have their change loaded on to their loyalty card or donated to charity (no mention of coin change). In a second pair of tweets, Kroger told @bbaum17 that the company could accept a credit or debit card as payment, or load the customer's change on to their loyalty card, or have it donated to charity, or they could \"provide coin change at a lane with coins available.\"  sets of tweets The company spokesperson suggested to Snopes that news articles reporting that Kroger was no longer giving out coin change might have been based on signs that have been erected inside Kroger supermarkets. The spokesperson provided the following example, which reads: ATTENTION CUSTOMERS:The Federal Reserve is currently experiencing a coin shortage. Please consider Rounding Up for Zero Hunger ZeroWaste, using exact change or another form of payment. We apologize for any inconvenience this maycause and appreciate your help.   A sign that apologizes to customers for the inconvenience associated with an ongoing nationwide coin shortage, suggests three ways to avoid the need to provide change, and omits to mention that customers can still get their change in coin form is very obviously likely to create the perception that Kroger no longer gives out coin change.  We asked Kroger for exact details on whether, when and how its policy on coin change had changed; as well as whether, when, and how those changes had been communicated to Kroger's regional divisions, in-store employees, and paying customers. We will update this fact check if we receive a response to those questions.  In its initial statement to Snopes, Kroger gave us the clear impression that its policy on coin change was unambiguous, made no mention of any existing confusion or misinformation over that policy, and made no mention whatsoever that the company and its spokespersons had previously made directly contradictory public statements about that policy.  In reality, Kroger and its spokespersons had indeed issued contradictory and confusing public statements, and had done so before the original \"Bourbonnais\" Facebook post was published in the early hours of July 16. As a result, we are changing the rating in this fact check from \"false\" to \"Mixture.\" It's not entirely clear what took place at the Kroger supermarket in Bourbonnais, Illinois, specifically, but it appears to have been at least similar to the description in the widely shared Facebook post. A spokesperson for the company told Snopes:  \"The associate who engaged with this customer was newly trained to the cashier role and misunderstood the various ways were adapting to the temporary national coin shortage. It is an isolated event, and weve since coached the associate and contacted the customer.\" This appears to be a tacit admission by the company that, in the specific instance highlighted in the Facebook post, the cashier did incorrectly insist on receiving $3 in cash for the milk, but that this was not in keeping with the company's policy, although as we outlined above, the company's public articulation of its policy on coin change has not been consistent. The image of a receipt that accompanied the viral Facebook post was dated July 15, and indicates that the customer in question paid $3 in cash for a $2.41 container of milk (after tax). A line in the receipt labelled \"change shortage\" had $0.59 next to it, and the \"change\" line had 0.00 next to it. That indicates that the customer did not receive cash change.  Shortly after midnight on July 16, a person who lives near Bourbonnais, whose name we are withholding because their original Facebook post was private, published what appears to be the original version of the subsequently widely shared post. (That original version of the post began \"Stopped by Kroger today\" while versions published later began \"Stopped by Kroger yesterday,\" and the edit history of the post shows that a photograph of the receipt that showed the name of the cashier was replaced with a photograph showing the cashier's name obscured -- both signs that the post was published by the customer in question).  We contacted that person, whose identity we verified. In an email to Snopes, that person reiterated the version of events presented in the original Facebook post. The customer clarified that it was not possible to purchase the milk with a debit or credit card because the patron lives on \"a cash basis.\" To complicate matters further, on July 22 a Facebook page with the name \"KROGER-Bourbonnais\" published responses to the viral post, explaining that the company was \"currently allocating the remaining change that you would typically receive after your purchase to your Kroger Loyalty Card,\" but later wrote that \"we are not rounding up ... it was just a mistake of [sic] a cashier.\" explaining later Those posts were not written by an authentic Kroger company account, a spokesperson told Snopes, adding \"Our social media team isnt affiliated with it.\" Mac Guill, Dan. \"Did a Nationwide US Coin Shortage Occur in Summer 2020?\"\r  Snopes.com.  8 July 2020. Grider, Geoffrey.  \"Remember the Psy-Op Called the Great Toilet Paper Shortage? Now We Are Pretending There's a National Coin Shortage ...\"\r  NowTheEndBegins.com.  11 July 2020. Updated [23 July 2020]: Rating changed from \"false\" to \"Mixture.\" Article substantially updated to include Kroger's previous, contradictory public articulations of its policy on coin change.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1DCQwB6izPkCGFQJJfbLR-ZsFuDwAPZJk","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=10sJTILJ7T5WK5NN754qTt8-3BBUiqP03","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Rbb-0diwz6YZ7lkEROSZkhnUSzmtX-DY","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_480","claim":"Our economy (in Louisiana) has grown 50 percent faster than the national GDP, even since the national recession.","posted":"02\/27\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Louisiana's Republican governor, Bobby Jindal, attracted some media attention recently while attending an annual meeting of the National Governors Association in Washington. At a press event after meeting President Barack Obama with a bipartisan group of governors, Jindal said, \"The Obama economy is now the minimum wage economy. I think we can do better than that.\" This prompted Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy, a Democrat, to come to the microphone and call it a breach of the traditional bipartisan decorum for such events. Jindal, a potential Republican presidential candidate, hit the airwaves again two days later when he was interviewed on MSNBC's Morning Joe. Panelist Mike Barnicle asked Jindal to defend his own economic record: \"The last time the Census Bureau checked the per capita income of Louisiana, you were 47th lowest in the United States, not all under your watch. What have you done, as governor, to bring in all these better-paying jobs and boost your people's per capita income?\" Jindal responded, \"Well, the great thing is, we're doing exactly what the president has not: cut taxes, reform debt, make some investment in workforce training, and make it easier for businesses to create jobs. And here's the record: In Louisiana, we now have more people working, the highest incomes in our state's history, and a larger population than ever before. The president can't say all those things about the country. Our economy has grown 50 percent faster than the national GDP, even since the national recession.\" We wondered whether it is correct that Louisiana has grown 50 percent faster than the national GDP, even since the national recession. When we asked Jindal's office for more detail, they said he had been comparing the growth in inflation-adjusted gross domestic product for his state and the nation since 2007\u2014a year he chose because it was the baseline year before he began his first term as governor. We looked at the numbers and found that Jindal actually understated the comparison. Between 2007 and 2012 (the last year for which data is available), inflation-adjusted GDP grew by 2.5 percent nationally but by 6.4 percent in Louisiana. This definitely supports Jindal's claim. However, we note a caveat: While the timespan Jindal used certainly makes sense given his tenure as governor, it is not the only way to define \"since the national recession\"\u2014the words he used in the MSNBC interview. The recession officially began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009. So if you want to look at the period since the recession, one could just as easily use the range 2008-12, 2009-12, or 2010-12. So let's look at how these date ranges stack up. For 2008-12, Jindal would also be correct. During that period, Louisiana's growth (7.9 percent) easily outpaced United States growth (3.2 percent). But he would be wrong for 2009-12, when United States growth (6.7 percent) exceeded Louisiana growth (4.6 percent). And he would also be wrong for 2010-12, when the United States economy grew (4.1 percent) and the Louisiana economy actually shrank (by 1.2 percent). United States growth also exceeded Louisiana growth between 2011 and 2012\u20142.5 percent to 1.5 percent. Perhaps an easier way to look at it is to compare the year-over-year growth in GDP for Louisiana and the United States. The more robust statistic for each year is listed in bold: 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12. United States: -0.7, -3.3, +2.4, +1.6, +2.5; Louisiana: -1.4, +3.2, +5.8, -2.6, +1.5. If you look at it this way, the United States economy has grown faster (or shrunk less) in three of these years, compared to two years when the Louisiana economy did better, which undercuts Jindal's claim. This doesn't surprise John Francis, an economist at Louisiana Tech. \"Louisiana's economy is highly dependent on the energy sector, which, no matter where in the business cycle we lie, is always in demand,\" he said. \"So, when the economy is in a recession, we tend to do better than average. When the economy is doing better, energy demand is somewhat higher, but not dramatically so. So when the economy is doing well, we lag behind the U.S. average. I suspect that we were doing better when the economy was in the heart of the Great Recession, but we have fallen behind as the overall economy has rebounded.\" However, Jindal's camp draws the following analogy: \"In a football game between the United States team and the Louisiana team, the winner would be the one who ended up with more points, not the one who won more quarters.\" By any objective analysis, Louisiana has outperformed the national economy since January 2008, said Michael Reed, a spokesman for Jindal. Our ruling: Jindal said, \"Our economy (in Louisiana) has grown 50 percent faster than the national GDP, even since the national recession.\" The time frame Jindal's office said he used\u2014from 2007 to 2012\u2014is a reasonable one, and using that period does make his claim accurate. However, it's worth remembering that taking one crack at the numbers can tell an incomplete story. The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information, so we rate it Mostly True.","issues":["National","Economy"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_481","claim":"'Jake from State Farm' Death Hoax","posted":"10\/23\/2015","sci_digest":["Reports that \"Jake from State Farm\" of insurance commercial fame had been murdered by his wife were fake news."],"justification":"On 25 October 2015 the web site Huzlers published an article reporting that \"Jake,\" the character seen in State Farm Insurance's ubiquitous \"State of Unrest\" television commercial, had been murdered by his wife in a fit of rage over his infidelity: State of Unrest It is being reported that Jake From State Farm was reportedly found dead in his apartment bedroom Saturday night. According to authorities, Jake was killed by his wife after finding him in bed with another woman. Jake From State Farm was murdered by his own wife for allegedly cheating on her. Very Ironic, considering that the original Jake From State Farm commercial was about being unfaithful. According to State Farm, Jake would be a good neighbor to all of his clients, but when he needed help, nobody was there for him. Jakes wife was arrested a few hours following the murder. A true hero quoted State Farm. Nothing about this story is true, as it originated on Huzlers, a well known fake news site.  Also, real news articles (especially those reporting on deaths) tendto include the real names of actors and not refer to them solely by the names of characters they played on television. Finally, \"Jake from State Farm\" has dispelled this himself rumor on Twitter: dispelled  (This story might have made more logical [satirical] sense if the putative murder victim were actor Justin Campbell, who played the husband suspected of infidelity by his wife in the popular \"State of Unrest\" State Farm commercial, and not actual State Farm agent Jake Stone, who filled the role of the innocent insurance agent Jake.)      Justin Campbell Huzlers bills itself as \"the most notorious urban satirical entertainment website in the world with the most shocking headlines and articles shared by trillions around the world.\"","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1vmWMhRasblgLrIRJCijfxG5fC8rgD995","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_482","claim":"Donald and Ivanka Trump Really Photographed Together on a Bed?","posted":"02\/20\/2024","sci_digest":["\"Does [Trump] have any clue how this looks to strangers?\" one Reddit user commentedon the image."],"justification":"Critics of former U.S. President Donald Trump often share photographs in which he poses with his daughter Ivanka, allegedly behaving inappropriately towards her.One such photograph, shared online for years, purportedly showed her when she was a teenager, posing on a bed with her father. The photograph is authentic. It was featured in a 1995 issue of InStyle magazine. Therefore, we have rated the claim  The photo surfacedon X (formerly Twitter) inearly 2024 and has existed on various other social media platforms, includingFacebook, Imgur, Pinterest, Quora, and Reddit. Facebook Imgur Pinterest Quora Reddit   (X user @MarioVe69225752) TinEye reverse-image search results showed it has circulated online at least since 2016.\"Does [Trump] have any clue how this looks to strangers?\" one Reddit user commentedon the image. reverse-image search results at least since 2016 commented Snopes reached out to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign to ask about the in-question image. We will update this report when, or if, we receive a response. It's worth noting that, in many early postswith the image, it was seemingly a photo of a printed photograph. \"From the Trump family photo album,\" one X post claimed without evidence. in many early posts claimed Donald Trump and daughter Ivanka photographed for a Pretty Baby-esque publicity shoot in the '90s pic.twitter.com\/3jMLTZTjAg pic.twitter.com\/3jMLTZTjAg  Anna Biller (@missannabiller) October 17, 2016 October 17, 2016  We did notice that the photograph's background seemingly matched that of otherphotographs from inside Donald Trump's penthouse in New York (see image below). photographs   (X user @missannabiller, France24.com) After the initial publication of this article rating the claim \"Unproven,\" a reader shared with us what appeared to be digital scans of pages from a printed article featuring the in-question photograph. The reader confirmed via email that they owned a physical copy of the article and had scanned the image. shared with us   (Email from Snopes' reader) We uploaded the reader's images into TinEye's reverse-image search. Using those results and Wayback Machine, an internet archive, we found the images indeed matched media that appeared in an articlepublished byInStyle magazine in December 1995. We tracked down that magazine'scover, which teased the article, \"at home with [...] Donald & Marla Trump.\" cover  Inside, the article with the in-question image was titled \"Breakfast Above Tiffany's\" and was written by Leslie Marshall, according to a 2015 post by InStyle. We were unable to locate a digital version of the entire magazine issue. 2015 post by InStyle   (Wayback Machine) Based on the images, Firooz Zahedi photographed the Trumps. We reached out to Zahedi  as well as Marshall, the article's author  for more information about the 1995 piece. Firooz Zahedi Zahedi confirmed via email that he took the in-question photograph for a 1995 issue of the In Style magazine. He said he has \"not given the right to anyone else to publish it,\" so whoever put it online first \"scanned it from the article.\" We will update this report when, or if, we receive a response from Marshall. Two books by Gwenda Blair about the Trump family (\"The Trumps: Three Generations of Builders\" and \"Donald Trump: The Candidate\") cited the 1995 article by InStyle. The Trumps: Three Generations of Builders Donald Trump: The Candidate   (Google Books) This was not the first rumor about Donald Trump and his children that Snopes has fact-checked. For instance, in January 2024, we confirmeda photo authentically depicted Donald Trump with two of his children, Ivanka and Eric, alongside Jeffrey Epstein in 1993. We alsoinvestigatedrumors that Donald Trump said he'd like to date Ivanka anddebunked a false claim that Ivanka once said she would \"mace\" him if he wasn't her father. confirmed investigated debunked Evon, Dan. \"Did Donald Trump Say He'd Like to Date His Daughter?\" Snopes, 10 July 2015, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/donald-trump-date-daughter\/. ---. \"Ivanka Trump Said If Donald Trump Wasn't Her Father, She Would 'Mace' Him?\" Snopes, 25 Nov. 2016, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/ivanka-trump-said-if-donald-trump-wasnt-her-father-she-would-mace-him\/. Mahdawi, Arwa. \"Donald Trump Was Allegedly Creepy about Ivanka  but Will His Fans Care?\" The Guardian, 1 July 2023. The Guardian, https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2023\/jul\/01\/donald-trump-ivanka-miles-taylor-book-claims. PerryCook, Taija. \"Were Trump and 2 of His Kids, Ivanka and Eric, Seen with Jeffrey Epstein in '93?\" Snopes, 3 Jan. 2024, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/trump-ivanka-and-eric-with-epstein\/.\r February 20, 2024: This article was updated to include a response from photographer Firooz Zahedi to Snopes' inquiry about the photo.  February 21, 2024: This article was updated to include additional information from the reader who sent Snopes digital scans of the printed article featuring the in-question photograph.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1U7dvW5LUoiLnUgL7pLd5i8M8cNMM8nRz","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1hjf9s4-0zWe6BGzgn71pK4MSIERp5lw9","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1QfSL_PElhN5cX-rRMWwjm9_EY9kDSrLp","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1XdC_QPksyWHrBtW6VBWt9an3gsvnfSRU","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1i0I8wC_OFquuz3ZQ6cmuuDuSFXtdNOTS","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=140RNkgSoX-f60Y6dRScM-qCYHlA8Omi6","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_483","claim":"Waukesha SUV Incident: What's True, False About Suspect Darrell Brooks","posted":"11\/21\/2021","sci_digest":["We looked into online rumors surrounding the Waukesha parade fatalities suspect Darrell Brooks. "],"justification":"In November 2021, rumors swirled online in the aftermath of a major incident in Waukesha, Wisconsin, in which an individual driving an SUV appeared to plow into crowds attending a Christmas parade, killing at least five people and injuring dozens. major incident killing at least five people On the evening of Nov. 21, police officers said they had a person of interest in custody. The day after the incident, on Nov. 22, Waukesha Police Chief Daniel Thompson named him as Darrell E. Brooks, 39, a resident of Milwaukee, adding that authorities intended to charge him with five counts of first-degree intentional homicide.  police officers said named him In the hours after the incident, social media platforms were already rife with various claims about the background and past convictions of Brooks. Below, we analyze a selection of the most significant and widely shared rumors about the alleged Christmas parade assailant, in the 24 hours after the fatal incident. This collection may be updated, if and when further significant claims or conspiracies emerge.  True An example of posts making this claim can be found here. In May 2006, prosecutors in Washoe County, Nevada, charged Brooks with one count of statutory sexual seduction, a felony defined in Nevada law as sexual intercourse or penetration \"committed by a person 18 years of age or older with a person under the age of 16 years.\" here charged defined in Nevada law The details of the case were not immediately available. However, we do know that it was elevated to the 2nd Judicial District Court, where Brooks went on to plead guilty as part of a plea agreement, in November 2006.  plead guilty as part of a plea agreement NVSexOffenders.gov  an official Nevada Department of Public Safety database  lists Brooks as a \"non-compliant\" sex offender, a term for sex offenders who \"fail to initially register, fail to comply with verification or fail to update personal information; i.e., residential address, employment information, school information\": lists Brooks non-compliant   In 2016, Washoe County prosecutors charged Brooks with violating Chapter 179.D.550 of the Nevada Revised Statutes, which requires convicted sex offenders to properly register with local law enforcement agencies, and to inform them of address changes. charged Brooks Chapter 179.D.550 True Examples of that claim can be found here and here. On Nov. 5, prosecutors in Milwaukee County charged Brooks with several counts, including domestic abuse, battery, jumping bail, and resisting an officer: here here charged   According to court records, Brooks had pleaded not guilty to those charges, and on Nov. 19, he posted his $1,000 bail bond. The next scheduled hearing in that case was set for Dec. 20, 2021. Therefore, it was accurate to state that Brooks was out on bail on unrelated charges, in Milwaukee County, at the time of the parade incident in nearby Waukesha.  on Nov. 19, he posted his $1,000 bail bond Unproven In the hours following the parade incident, the possible motivations of the individual driving the SUV in Waukesha were the subject of intensive online speculation, with some positing that the incident must have been an \"act of terrorism.\" However, several outlets indicated otherwise. For example, CNN reported that: positing CNN There are indications the Waukesha suspect was fleeing another incident when he drove into the parade route, according to multiple law enforcement sources familiar with preliminary investigation findings. Similarly, NBC News reported that: NBC News Four senior law enforcement officials had said that a person of interest who may have a significant criminal history was being questioned overnight, with investigators probing the possibility that the driver had been fleeing an earlier incident involving a knife fight. And on Nov. 22, The Washington Post wrote: Washington Post A law enforcement official told The Washington Post that suspect Darrell Brooks, 39, was at the scene of a reported knife fight, then sped away in the red SUV when police arrived at that scene. Brooks was allegedly behind the wheel when it drove into the parade route...The law enforcement official told The Post that Brooks has a number of prior criminal arrests, but investigators have not yet found anything tying the vehicular violence to any sort of terrorism or ideology. So far, it appears his main intent was to escape the police at the prior incident, the official said. At a follow-up news conference on Nov. 22, Waukesha Police Chief Thompson said Brooks was involved in a \"domestic disturbance\" \"just prior\" to the parade incident, and insisted there was \"no evidence this is a terrorist incident,\" and said his department had no information to suggest that Brooks knew anyone in the parade.  follow-up news conference The early indications from local law enforcement, both on and off the record, strongly suggested that Brooks had indeed been moving quickly away from the scene of an unrelated altercation and\/or crime at the time of the Christmas parade incident. However, we have not yet seen underlying evidence linked to this specific claim, so we cannot yet reach a definitive conclusion on it. As a result, we are issuing a rating of \"Unproven\" on the claim for now.  5 Dead, More than 40 Injured after SUV Slams into Wisconsin Christmas Parade. NBC News, https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/crime-courts\/20-injured-suv-drives-wisconsin-holiday-parade-route-rcna6292. Accessed 22 Nov. 2021.      ","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1GvLZ2l8yGF3NZFNru2wxJXHefXh_yEij","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=16pEdQA0muToO9ih-_P39lXasmodPgsyG","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_484","claim":"Can You Buy COVID-19 Vaccines on the Dark Web?","posted":"02\/10\/2021","sci_digest":["You can certainly find people claiming to sell them."],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease.  fighting Find out Read Submit Become a Founding Member CDC WHO In December 2020, as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, the FBI and other federal agencies began to warn of fraudsters exploiting interest in the newly released vaccine. INTERPOL, as well, issued an Orange Notice alerting law enforcement to \"potential criminal activity in relation to the falsification, theft and illegal advertising of COVID-19 and flu vaccines.\" approved warn Orange Notice One area where these scams have reportedly proliferated is the so-called dark web. Broadly speaking, the dark web refers to unindexed content on the internet that can not be searched for and that, among other things, contains several anonymous marketplaces and forums that purport to sell a wide range of illicit material. On Feb. 8, 2021, CBS News reported that \"in just the last six weeks, the number of vaccine ads on the dark web has exploded,\" adding that \"the asking prices have doubled or even quadrupled.\" reportedly refers reported For a Dec. 25, 2020, segment on PlanetMoney, NPR spoke to Chad Anderson, a senior security researcher at the cyberthreat intelligence agency Domain Tools. \"We're a cyberthreat intelligence data company,\" he explained, \"so we scan the entire Internet as many times as we can every single day and give insights to customers based upon what we see.\" Back then, he argued the vaccine ads popping up on the dark web were clearly scams. NPR Chad Anderson \"For one thing,\" NPR correspondent Stacey Vanek Smith explained, \"the Pfizer vaccine requires a very intense cold storage chain. The vaccines have to be kept at negative 70 degrees Fahrenheit.\" And also, she added, \"the COVID vaccine ads are mixed in with ads for all kinds of other things, and Chad says that tends to be a red flag.\" At the time of this reporting, the only two FDA-approved vaccines are the Pfizer vaccine and the Moderna vaccine. Both shots are mRNA vaccines, and as such they both require this high level of refrigeration for transport. explained Snopes reached out to Anderson to ask if ads for vaccines on dark web marketplaces still appeared to be scams, as of February 2021. \"Just went and took a look at the last of the 'reputable' markets [on the dark web] and I still don't see any COVID vaccines for sale on there,\" he wrote to us by email, adding that he did see some ads for the largely discredited treatment hydroxychloroquine, but not much else on the COVID-19 front. One problem with the dark web, however, is that there is no requirement for \"reputable behavior\" and few safeguards against predatory behavior. Several media reports have cited a dark web market named Agartha as having ads for COVID-19 vaccines. Indeed it does  several hundred of them, according to a recent analysis by Snopes  but these ads are all comically obvious frauds. One ad listed under \"opiates,\" for instance, asked for \"mutual trust\" in its effort to sell some \"Moderona\" vaccine: media reports   Other ads claim to be able to ship the Pfizer vaccine, which as a reminder requires extreme refrigeration for storage, by FedEx at no additional cost. Many ads, like the one below, don't even specify what vaccine product they purport to sell. Instead, the ad appears to be a bait-and-switch for a seller peddling other drugs ranging from marijuana to fentanyl:   According to DomainTools' Anderson, \"Agartha is considered an entire scam market.\" He added that \"I've never thrown money into my user wallet on there, but I have heard from others that the moment you do it's immediately siphoned off to another wallet that I would assume is the wallet of those running the site.\" CBS News, in its reporting, cited the work of cybersecurity company Check Point. That firm attempted to purchase COVID-19 vaccines from various dark web sellers, even sending a Bitcoin payment to one. \"A few days after the Bitcoin transaction, Check Point received a message from the vendor saying the vaccine had been shipped, CBS reported. \"Then a few days later, that vendor's account completely disappeared from the site.\" They never received any product in return, and the firm concluded that none of the sellers they found actually had any vaccine to sell.  reported Overt fraud aside, a possibility remains that as more easily transportable vaccines are approved and produced, a dark web black market for vaccines could develop. \"As time goes by, and more people get access to legitimate doses, there's always the possibility that some of that real product could make its way onto the dark web,\" CBS reported. \"More providers will lead to looser shipping restrictions,\" Anderson agreed. reported The risks from engaging in these transactions are multifaceted. Outside of a potential loss of money, there are risks of receiving unknown and dangerous drugs instead of a vaccine or having identifying information stolen. \"In addition to the dangers of ordering potentially life-threatening products,\" a December 2020 Interpol news release stated, \"an analysis by the INTERPOLs Cybercrime Unit revealed that of 3,000 websites associated with online pharmacies suspected of selling illicit medicines and medical devices, around 1,700 contained cyber threats, especially phishing and spamming malware.\" In other words, even if these listings were not overt scams, it's not worth the risk. stated Because at this time there are several ads for COVID-19 vaccines on various dark web markets of low repute, but that none of them appear to be legitimate, we rate the claim that the vaccines are for sale as \"false.\"","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1mqrsO2mo3jm3gFCl-TO6mjDwkXoCkTVi","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1iMaYVosbAMOlxjWixG9yEz5z8AzpBxky","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_485","claim":"Cornfield of Dreams","posted":"10\/07\/2002","sci_digest":["Did a farmer carve a USA-shaped maze in his cornfield?"],"justification":"Claim: A photograph shows a USA-shaped maze carved in a cornfield by a farmer. Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2002] Here's an aerial picture of a cornfield in Lawrenceburg, TN. The owner allegedly drew the design on his computer, then downloaded it to his GPS system, and followed the GPS on his Bush Hog (a large mowing device). Origins: As the economics of family farming in America have become increasingly difficult, many farmers have turned to alternative uses of their land to supplement their incomes. One method of raising much-needed revenue has been the implementation of various agritourism schemes, such as leasing land for hunting and fishing, giving tours, or charging tourists to spend a day (and night) on the farm. Another popular agritourism scheme (one which Barbara and I have experienced personally, at the cost of many aching muscles) is the conversion of cornfields into large, elaborate mazes, for which hapless tourists fork over dollars for the privilege of wandering through for hours on end (also known as \"solving\" the maze). When Jon Rose of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, decided to generate some income by creating a maize maze on his farm for the second straight year in 2002, he went whole hog. Inspired by a picture in a magazine, Rose planned a giant labyrinth based on a map of the United States of America (including Alaska and Hawaii), bordered above and below by the phrase \"God Bless America,\" encompassing an endurance-straining 7.6 miles of aisles. Creating this monstrous maze would ordinarily have required the work of ten men hacking away at corn stalks for a full three weeks, a labor-intensive process Rose wanted to avoid. Instead, he came up with an ingenious solution: He had a special program created for his GPS device, entered his design into it, and, using a map displayed on his GPS screen as a guide, sculpted the maze on a riding mower with just one day's effort. The results are shown in the photograph above. Jon Rose also created a whopping 34.8-acre American flag maze. Last updated: 29 May 2005. Sources: [Northwest Alabama] TimesDaily. \"A-Maizing: Giant Map of U.S., Flag Carved Into Cornfield.\" 27 August 2002.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Ta91tSwHiTzYQsBXtOLmNV2BxekDIzm7","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_486","claim":"The tax carve out (Ron) Johnson spearheaded overwhelmingly benefited the wealthiest, over small businesses.","posted":"06\/07\/2022","sci_digest":["Johnson angled for a tax break for pass-through companies (businesses that pass income onto their owners, and are not subject to corporate income tax) before hed vote yes on the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which ultimately passed., Analyses from the Joint Committee on Taxation and the National Bureau of Economic Research have found that ultra-wealthy Americans have received billions in tax savings stemming from that deduction, while those earning less have gotten less of a break., For example, the NBER study found that the top 1% of Americans by income have received nearly 60% of the tax savings created by the provision.","Most of that amount went to the top 0.1%."],"justification":"The general election for one of Wisconsins U.S. Senate seats may still be months away, but Democrats have been gearing up to defeat Ron Johnson for much longer. Johnson, an Oshkosh Republican and Wisconsins senior senator, has held the seat since 2011. Earlier this year, he announced hedbreak with his initial pledge to only serve two termsand run for a third. In a news release, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin honed in on an action Johnson took at the beginning of his second term: He withheld his yes vote on the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act unless the bill included a tax break for companies calledpass-throughs those that pass all their income on to the owners or investors. Companies structured this way (often small, family owned businesses) are not subject to corporate income tax. And it worked. Once that tax break was added, Johnson voted yes and the bill passed. But Wisconsin Democrats argue it wasnt those small, family-owned businesses that reaped the bulk of the benefits. Multiple independent studies found that the tax carve out Johnson spearheaded overwhelmingly benefited the wealthiest, over small businesses, theApril 29, 2022, releasesaid. Is that correct? Lets break it down. When asked to back up the claim, Philip Shulman, Senate communications advisor for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, sent a list of analyses of the tax law from news outlets and research organizations. Well start with anApril 2021 studyfrom Treasury economists for the National Bureau of Economic Research. The study found that the top 1% of Americans by income have received nearly 60% of the tax savings created by the provision. Most of that amount went to the top 0.1%. Thats because even though there are many American small businesses that also function as pass-throughs, most pass-through profits flow to the wealthy owners of a small group of large companies, according to an Aug. 11, 2021,ProPublica analysisof the tax law. That small group of the ultrawealthy  made up of Republicans like Dick and Liz Uihlein, whose shipping supply company Uline is headquartered in Wisconsin, and Democrats like former presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg  received close to $25 billion in total tax savings in 2018 as a result of the pass-through tax break benefits, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research study. The rest of the top 10% of Americans by income received a little over $12 billion in total, and everyone else in the country, about $6 billion. An April 23, 2018,congressional reportforecast the same breakdown. In 2018, the Joint Committee on Taxationestimatedthat roughly 53% of the pass-through deduction benefit, or about $21 billion, would go to a few hundred thousand Americans earning $500,000 or more a year. For comparison, the average salary for an American small business owner is about $61,000 per year,according to the salary comparison company Payscale. By 2024, just under $4 billion of the pass-through deduction benefit would go to Americans making less than $100,000 per year, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation Report. More than $31 billion would go to those making over a million dollars a year. To be sure, any broad-based tax cut willmostly benefit the wealthybecause they already pay a large share of income taxes, something Johnson has acknowledged. In an April 28, 2022, interview withCBS 58-TV, Johnson said his efforts were for the many, not the few becausemost businessesfunction as pass-throughs, and that when you start talking about taxation, if you cut taxes for everybody  people who make more money get more dollars cut, but thats our tax system. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin claimed that the pass-through tax break Johnson advocated for in 2017 overwhelmingly benefited the wealthiest, over small businesses. Multiple analyses show Americas millionaires and billionaires are receiving large chunks of those benefits. We rate their claim True.","issues":["Wealth","Taxes","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_487","claim":"California is once again the sixth-largest economy in the world. If you add the GDPs of Washington and Oregon, California would surpass the United Kingdom to become the fifth-largest economy in the world.","posted":"12\/15\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Antonio Villaraigosa, the former mayor of Los Angeles and 2018 Democratic candidate for California governor, recently called for the state to unite with like-minded cities and states on the West Coast to oppose dangerous policies advanced by the Trump administration. California's large economy, Villaraigosa said in a Dec. 8, 2016 op-ed in the Sacramento Bee, gives it leverage in any possible showdown. In making this call, Villaraigosa repeated a favorite claim by California politicians that the state's economy ranks as the sixth largest in the world\u2014a claim PolitiFact California rated Mostly True in July. He then took the economic comparison further\u2014all the way to the Pacific Northwest. \"California is once again the sixth-largest economy in the world,\" Villaraigosa said. \"If you add the GDPs of Washington and Oregon, California would surpass the United Kingdom to become the fifth-largest economy in the world.\" \"That's power\u2014power we must use to protect our people against any dangerous policies advanced by the Trump administration,\" he added. We decided to fact-check the part of Villaraigosa's claim that if the GDPs of California, Washington, and Oregon were somehow combined, they would represent the fifth largest economy on the planet, ahead of the United Kingdom. Gross domestic product, or GDP, is used to measure the health of a country's or state's economy. It's the total value of all goods and services. Our research\u2014a campaign spokeswoman for Villaraigosa pointed us to 2015 GDP figures from the International Monetary Fund. We used the same data in July to verify that California, with a GDP of nearly $2.5 trillion, had the sixth-largest economy behind the United States, China, Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom. California Gov. Jerry Brown's administration released GDP figures in June showing the state had jumped two spots in these unique world rankings, ahead of France and Brazil, and into sixth place behind the United Kingdom. In our July fact check, we noted that when adjusted for California's very high cost of living, the state's GDP drops several places. This led us to our Mostly True rating for the claim, which we define as accurate but needing clarification or additional information. To come up with a combined GDP for three West Coast states, we added California's nearly $2.5 trillion to Oregon's $217 billion and Washington's $445 billion, using 2015 figures from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Together, their GDPs add up to $3.1 trillion. This hypothetical West Coast powerhouse economy would be larger than the United Kingdom's $2.8 trillion GDP. Villaraigosa's claim, however, needs the same disclaimer about the high cost of living. California, Oregon, and Washington are all expensive places to live. We realize Villaraigosa's comparison is hypothetical\u2014and it looks like he got his numbers right. But to do this, he creates a fictional California economy that magically annexes the GDPs of two nearby states. Our ruling: Antonio Villaraigosa recently said, \"California is once again the sixth-largest economy in the world. If you add the GDPs of Washington and Oregon, California would surpass the United Kingdom to become the fifth-largest economy in the world.\" We rated the first portion of this claim Mostly True in a separate fact check in July. We crunched the numbers on the second part of Villaraigosa's claim about a combined and hypothetical California-Oregon-Washington economy. At $3.1 trillion, it would surpass the United Kingdom's $2.8 trillion GDP and would rank fifth in the world. It's important to note that some economists factor in cost of living when assessing a state's or country's GDP. Expenses are high in all three states, which means this mega-economy could be knocked down a few spots in the rankings. The former mayor's statement needs this clarification. Overall, we rate Villaraigosa's claim Mostly True. MOSTLY TRUE: The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information.","issues":["Economy","Elections","The 2018 California Governor's Race","California"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1nykbbbIvwxYUXxLcvi6ggck1kYQ4ZEo1","image_caption":"Sacramento Bee"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_488","claim":"Did Marilyn Monroe Really Say This?","posted":"09\/20\/2022","sci_digest":["\"If you cant handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell dont deserve me at my best,\" Monroe supposedly said."],"justification":"In September 2022, some social media users shared a quote erroneously attributed to actress Marilyn Monroe: \"If you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best.\" The quote has also been attributed to the \"Some Like It Hot\" star in a longer form: \"I'm selfish, impatient, and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I'm out of control, and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best.\" As of this writing, we have been unable to locate the original source of the quote, but we found no evidence that it was said by Monroe. One source claimed in 2013 that it was a line of dialogue from the 1953 noir film \"Niagara,\" though we searched the screenplay at Scripts.com and didn't find any such dialogue there. We also viewed the portion of the movie in which Monroe appears, but her character, Rose Loomis, never makes the remark. According to Dictionary.com, the quote has been online for many years, since the 2000s, and hasn't always been attributed to Monroe. It has often been used in \"before\" and \"after\" or \"best\" and \"worst\" memes. Here's one example without attribution, posted by pop superstar Mariah Carey in 2018: Falsely attributing pieces of faux internet wisdom to famous people is a common occurrence. Recently, we reported that actor Morgan Freeman never made a remark widely credited to him. Another popular quote widely misattributed to Monroe reads, \"Well-behaved women seldom make history.\" Although fascination with Monroe has remained fairly constant since her lifetime, there may be renewed interest in September 2022 because of the release of a controversial Netflix movie titled \"Blonde.\" The movie is based on a 2000 novel of the same name by Joyce Carol Oates.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1hYSI29K9WZdH63R3A9JZwoI39-h-YPn-","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1T00qGf7SrqWW5Ah78T4PU_G4KANv_8aX","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_489","claim":"Did Pat Sajak's Daughter Appear in This Viral Photo?","posted":"02\/21\/2021","sci_digest":["We clicked through more than 100 pages of a clickbait slideshow so you wouldn't have to."],"justification":"Pat Sajak's daughter was purportedly featured in an online advertisement with the \"Wheel of Fortune\" host. At least two children were visible in the misleading ad, which had been displayed since at least February 2021. Pat Sajak's   It read: \"[Photos] Pat Sajak's Daughter Looks Like Her Iconic Mom.\" However, this was misleading. The picture in the ad did not feature his daughter. The real story behind the photograph was published by the Chicago Tribune in 2019. We blurred the faces of the children for this story, since their parents likely did not provide permission for the improper use of the photo. The caption read: published Celebrity Spokesperson Pat Sajak, pictured with children who have benefitted from services provided by the Hope Institute, continues to support the raffle which raises critical funds for children with autism spectrum disorders and developmental disabilities in Illinois. (Posted By olliealexander, Community Contributor) Readers who clicked the misleading ad were led through hundreds of pages of a slideshow article. Its headline was: \"Celebs and Their Parents at the Same Age - They Inherited Their Parents Good Luck & Their Credit Score, What a Bargain!\" It was published by the Mortgage After Life website. article The first page of the lengthy story featured Heidi Klum. Under the photos of the model and businesswoman was the all-caps text: \"CLICK NEXT TO SEE PAT SAJAKS DAUGHTER WHO LOOKS JUST LIKE HER MOM.\" first page Pat Sajak and his real daughter finally appeared on page 101. This meant that readers would need to click \"next page\" around 100 times to reach the promised reveal. page 101 Pat Sajak is a TV star, ex weatherman, and talk-show and game-show host, known mainly for hosting the game show Wheel of Fortune. He has been hosting the show since 1981. Pats wife is Lesly Brown Sajak, a photographer and they have 2 kids  their son Patrick (born in 1990), and their daughter Maggie (born in 1995). Maggie Sajak is an upcoming country musician. Her musical style draws comparisons to Sheryl Crow, Carrie Underwood, Jewel & Eva Cassidy. If Maggie inherited her fathers showbiz skills shell definitely become a huge star. Pat Sajak's real daughter is named Maggie. The American country music singer appeared on \"Wheel of Fortune\" in January 2020: singer  Game show television hosts have been a fixture of such misleading online advertisements for years. Their familiar faces likely made them a solid pick for clickbait advertisers because they appear trustworthy to many readers. This was true of both Sajak and the late Alex Trebek, who was the longtime host of \"Jeopardy.\" He was also featured in misleading ads that led to lengthy slideshow articles. Viewers have invited both Sajak and Trebek into their living rooms every weeknight for decades. To some, they may have felt like members of the family. featured In sum, a misleading online advertisement did not show Pat Sajak posing with his daughter. The photograph actually showed Sajak posing with children who have benefited from the Hope Institute. Hope Institute Snopes debunks a wide range of content, and online advertisements are no exception. Misleading ads often lead to obscure websites that host lengthy slideshow articles with lots of pages. It's called advertising \"arbitrage.\" The advertiser's goal is to make more money on ads displayed on the slideshow's pages than it cost to show the initial ad that lured them to it. Feel free to submit ads to us, and be sure to include a screenshot of the ad and the link to where the ad leads. submit ads to us","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1lmfTTpI2hLmxhFouwbOYBDNTjqhdd6SY","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_490","claim":"Did Pelosi Decry Trump's Police Tactics While Funding Them?","posted":"07\/29\/2020","sci_digest":["Top Democrats were quick to criticize the president's \"law and order\" approach to policing on Twitter. But do their budget decisions say otherwise?"],"justification":"As a comedian who claims he sees the faults in both major U.S. political parties, Jimmy Dore said this to fans amid clashes between Portland, Oregon, protesters and federal agents operating under a plan by U.S. President Donald Trump in July 2020: the country's top Democrats are misleading you. Jimmy Dore In a video posted on July 22, 2020, Dore claimed U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats were quick to use Twitter to push back against what started as a Trump-led initiative to deploy federal militarized officers in cities where people were protesting for the removal of racist monuments and against police brutality following George Floyd's in-custody death in May 2020. video initiative federal militarized officers George Floyd's Meanwhile, Dore claimed the same Democrats were working on legislation that would fund the exact law-enforcement effort to which they were outwardly opposed  the Trump-sponsored plan that resulted in chaotic street clashes between the officers and Americans who said they were rightfully exercising their First Amendment rights, and raised questions over the constitutional authority of federal law enforcement agencies.   Referring to groups of armed federal officers who wore camouflage body armor and were patrolling downtown Portland at the time of this analysis, Dore said: camouflage body armor You know whos not even trying to stop them? Nancy Pelosi. You know whos actually empowering that very thing to happen? You know whos giving Trump the soldiers, the goons, and the money to send those people in there without stopping them? ... Nancy Pelosi is giving Trumps Homeland Security, who those goons are, all the money they want with no strings attached. She could say, 'Well fund you, but inside this funding bill you cannot send federal troops into local municipalities, unless youre invited.' Shes not doing that  the Democrats arent doing that... There's Nancy Pelosi, one of the most powerful people in government, not doing anything but pretending to be outraged. The claim at its core was multifaceted: that Pelosi made clear in public statements that she opposed the Trump administration's use of federal agents in American cities including Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Portland in the aftermath of Floyd's death, and that she was concurrently working on a policy proposal that would cover the cost of similar militarized efforts in the future. Floyd Below examines the truth of those assertions based on federal legislative records; Pelosi's office did not respond to Snopes' request for comment on the accusations. In an email to Snopes, a representative for Dore said he wanted to expose his viewers to the idea that House Democrats were \"refusing to use their majority status to counter Trump,\" and that he based his argument on an article by a former speech writer for 2020 presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders named David Sirota. That report alleged: article Indeed, at times it almost seems as if Democrats are engaging in deliberate performance art to try to dare us to care about this bait and switch  as if they really cannot believe we are all this ignorant or asleep to not even notice the swindle. First, let's provide some context. Trump signed an executive order on June 26, 2020, giving several federal agencies the authority to join the Federal Protective Service  which is a section of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that aims to protect government properties  on patrols during demonstrations. executive order Federal Protective Service Homeland Security   Neither that order, nor other federal records, said how many agents would be participating in the effort, or what department they worked for. However, DHS Acting Deputy Secretary Kenneth Cuccinelli told reporters tactical units from the DHS' Customs & Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) were part of the president's directive. Other reports said officers from a group known as BORTAC  the CBP equivalent of a SWAT team that normally investigates drug-smuggling crimes  was also deployed. told reporters reports That said, the DHS was among the leading agencies in the federal government's response to the protests, making an investigation into that department's funding proposals the most appropriate avenue to determine the legitimacy of the claim. We reached out to DHS, asking for its response to critics like Dore who believed the DHS should not receive federal funding until it removes its officers from protest sites, but did not hear back as of this writing. David Lapan, a former spokesman for the DHS and Department of Defense, however, said in a blog post: said The creation of DHS [in 2002] was the federal response to the finding, after the 9\/11 attacks, that no single agency within the government was responsible for securing the country... While the core mission of DHS remains essentially unchanged, its roles and responsibilities have grown in response to various threats including cyber-attacks, election interference, drug smuggling and transnational criminal organizations. None of these threats appear to be present in Portlands protests. So, at a minimum, whatever DHS is doing in Portland strays wildly from the reason DHS exists in the first place. Next, we'll address the first part of the claim: that Pelosi decried the Trump-led operation, which devolved into federal officers using tear gas and firing less-than-lethal rounds into crowds of people almost nightly in Portland, and an incident in which a federal officer threw an impact munition at a 26-year-old man, fracturing his skull and sending him to the hospital. (That incident was also captured on video.)  video. While individual offices of several Democratic leaders made public statements about the federal use of force against citizens, we are only focusing on comments specifically by Pelosi, since she is the only member of Congress with the legal authority to decide on what legislation the House votes on, and because she was the main target of Dore's video. Upon our analysis of Pelosi's press announcements, media appearances, and social media posts since Trump made the directive, a series of tweets from her official account on July 17, 2020, appeared to be the first record of the House Speaker's dissent from the presidential administration's plan. series of tweets   The following day, her office sponsored a news release that said the House was committed to \"moving swiftly to curb these egregious abuses of power\" by Trump, without providing specifics, and referred to reports of federal agents in Portland using unmarked vehicles to \"kidnap\" protesters. (See our investigation into the truth of that claim here). news release here Then, five days later, Pelosi endorsed another statement alleging that the \"anonymous federal law enforcement agents\" were silencing \"peaceful protesters with violence,\" and made the following comment at a news conference:  statement news conference The use of storm troopers under the guise of law and order is a tactic that is not appropriate to our country in any way.  To recap, it was truthful to say that Pelosi criticized how federal agents responded to American protests in summer 2020, and that at least some of those officers represented DHS. Now, we'll examine the more complicated aspect of the claim: that Pelosi was working under the public's radar to prepare legislation that would set aside taxpayer dollars to pay to deploy federal law enforcement officers in U.S. cities in line with Trump's June order. To explore that question, we analyzed the agendas of House committees in July 2020 and looked for proposals that would apply to DHS considering its role in the protests. We learned the House Committee on Appropriations  to which Pelosi does not belong  released a more than $50 billion proposal on July 6, 2020, that explained how the committee would like to fund the department in 2021. The annual DHS budget bill was framed by the House committee as a compromise with Trump's wishes for all offices within the department, which included aggressive funding to continue building a concrete-steel wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. During our read of the draft legislation, we considered the various arms of federal government to which the DHS oversees, in addition to those that had provided law enforcement at protests, such as: does not belong released Trump's wishes aggressive funding building a concrete-steel wall such as Among numerous provisions, the proposal would set aside roughly $14.6 billion for the CBP to hire new officers, among other border-security efforts, and about $7.4 billion for ICE. In total, it would set aside $50.72 billion in discretionary funding  including roughly the same amount as the country's 2020 budget for non-military units  while boosting funding for defense operations by roughly $250 million, disaster relief by $5.1 billion, and military operations overseas by $215 million. country's 2020 budget However, nowhere in the roughly 85-page piece of legislation did the committee request federal dollars in 2021 to cover the cost of sending federal agents to U.S. cities to mitigate damage to federal properties during protests. roughly 85-page piece of legislation On July 15, 2020, the House committee  which is comprised of 30 Democrats and 23 Republicans  amended the legislation so ICE would be unable to use 2021 funding for a public education program, among other changes that essentially added stipulations for how and under what circumstances DHS could use portions of the money. But no amendment pertained to the use of militarized tactics during protests in American cities. July 15, 2020 public education program In other words  yes, like Dore somewhat alleges  House Democrats could in theory include language in the proposal that would only allow the DHS to receive certain funding if it agreed not to participate in the controversial law-enforcement effort.   The committee approved the budget bill, and it was introduced to the House on July 20, 2020. But as of this writing, it was unclear when or if Pelosi would preside over a hearing in which the full House would consider the proposal, titled H.R. 7669. Also undetermined was if or to what extent representatives would lump the DHS spending plan into a wide-sweeping policy package governing other aspects of federal government  such as its response to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic  which is typically the process for such budget-making. committee approved titled H.R. 7669. wide-sweeping policy package coronavirus The House clerk's online calendar for the week of July 27, 2020, listed the legislation as an item \"that may be considered\" on the House floor in the coming days, without any more scheduling details. July 27, 2020 At least two Democratic representatives, Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington state and Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, asked Pelosi not to schedule the bill for a floor hearing in light of the 2020 protests. They wrote in a statement: Rep. Pramila Jayapal Mark Pocan of Wisconsin wrote The Progressive Caucus has long-standing objections to the DHS Appropriations bill, which would fund [Trump-sponsored] programs and thereby sanction the horrific violations of human rights and due process by ICE, CBP and other agencies. Without the inclusion of additional necessary reforms, we believe that the Democratic Leadership should not attempt to pass Homeland Security funding by tying it to essential coronavirus research, education, and housing funding. Now, back to the claim in question. Yes, it was accurate to say members of the House were working on a DHS budget plan in July 2020  when Pelosi and other leading Democrats were issuing public statements against the very actions of federal officers who belonged to the department. However, Pelosi had not voted on or publicly discussed the budget bill as of this report, and given the fact that she did not respond to Snopes' request for interview, there was no available evidence to prove that she agreed  or disagreed  with the proposal. Put another way: It would be false to assert that Pelosi supported the funding proposal, as the claim stated, since it was so far only approved by the House Committee on Appropriations and awaiting a House vote. Additionally, while H.R. 7669, as written, would not explicitly prohibit the use of DHS officers to protect federal properties during demonstrations, it would be misleading to claim the legislation would pump federal dollars toward such law-enforcement efforts directly. The bill, instead, would authorize the DHS to decide how to divvy up some parts of its budget  which could include funding DHS agencies that were involved in the 2020 protests  but we have no proof to affirmatively state that the proposal would pay for the controversial policing tactics in the future. In sum, while it was unequivocally true to say Pelosi criticized the actions of federal agents in U.S. cities during protests in 2020, it was false to claim she simultaneously supported a budget bill that contradicted her public stance, and that that legislation would most definitely pay for militarized policing during demonstrations in U.S. cities  with the caveat that House leaders, including Pelosi, always maintained the authority to determine how and under what circumstances DHS could use federal dollars in the future. Lapan, David. \"Former DHS And Defense Dept. Spokesperson: Trump's Response To Civil Unrest In Portland Is Damaging To Our Government And Our Democracy\".\r Just Security. 27 July 2020. Homeland Security. \"DHS Budget\".\r Accessed 27 July 2020. House Appropriations Committee. \"FY21 Homeland Security & Financial Services Appropriations Bills\".\r 15 July 2020. Soskin, Ben. \"Chairwoman Roybal-Allard, DHS Appropriations Subcommittee Approve FY 2021 DHS Funding Bill\".\r Press Releases. 7 July 2020. Spaulding, Suzanne. \"Senior Adviser, Homeland Security, International Security Program\".\r Center For Strategic And International Studies. Accessed 27 July 2020. Lapan, David. \"Vice President of Communications\".\r Bipartisan Policy Center. Accessed 27 July 2020. Homeland Security. \"Congressional Budget Justification FY 2021\".\r Accessed 27 July 2020. Department Of Defense Appropriations Bill, 2021. \"Report Of The Committee On Appropriations\".\r Accessed 27 July 2020. Department Of Defense Appropriations Bill, 2021. \"Full Committee Print\".\r Accessed 27 July 2020. House Committee on Appropriations. \"Appropriations Committee Releases Fiscal Year 2021 Homeland Security Funding Bill\".\r 6 July 2020. House Committee on Appropriations. \"Appropriations Committee Approves Fiscal Year 2021 Homeland Security Funding bill\". 15 July 2020. House Committee on Appropriations. \"House To Consider Seven-Bill Appropriations Minibus Next Week\".\r 20 July 2020. House Appropriations. \"Division-By-Division Summary\".\r Accessed 27 July 2020.  EveryCRSReport.com. \"DHS Budget Request Analysis: FY2021\".\r 1 April 2020. Homeland Security. \"FY 2021 Budget In Brief\".\r Accessed 27 July 2020. National Immigration Forum. \"The President's Budget Request For The Department Of Homeland Security (DHS): Fiscal Year (FY) 2021\".\r 27 February 2020. Altman, Heidi. \"Principles For Negotiating a DHS Budget\".\r National Immigrant Justice Center. 27 January 2019. Grim, Ryan. \"As Trump Threatens Secret Police Deployment Nationwide, Democrats Debate Expanding Surveillance Powers And New Money For DHS\".\r The Intercept. 21 July 2020. Malone, Katie. \"House Homeland Subcommittee Approves FY21 DHS Budget Bill\".\r MeriTalk. 7 July 2020. Malone, Katie. \"House Approps Proposes FY2021 Funding Bumps For DHS, CISA\".\r MeriTalk. 6 July 2020. House Committee On Appropriations. \"FY 2021 Homeland Security Subcommittee Markup\".\r 7 July 2020. Blitzer, Jonathan. \"Is It Time To Defund The Department Of Homeland Security?\"\r The New Yorker. 24 July 2020. Graff, Garrett. \"The Federal Crackdown In Portland Is 'Legal.' That's The Problem With It\".\r The Washington Post. 22 July 2020. Wolf, Chad. \"Homeland Security Chief: To Attack Our Monuments Is To Attack America\".\r The Federalist. 3 July 2020. Kanno-Youngs, Zolan. \"Homeland Security Turns To Defunding Statues Amid Questions Over Priorities\".\r New York Times. 10 July 2020. Baker, et. al. \"Cities In Bind As Turmoil Spreads Far Beyond Portland\".\r New York Times. 26 July 2020. Klippenstein, Ken. \"The Border Patrol Was Responsible For An Arrest In Portland\".\r The Nation. 17 July 2020. Congressional Progressive Caucus. \"Congressional Progressive Caucus Asks Leadership Not To Bring DHS Funding Bill To The Floor\".\r 22 July 2020. Congress.gov. \"H.R. 7617 - Department Of Defense Appropriations Act, 2021\".\r Accessed 27 July 2020. Congress.gov. \"H. Rept. 116-453 - Department Of Defense Appropriations Bill, 2021\".\r Accessed 27 July 2020. Bills To Be Considered On The House Floor. \"Text Of Bills For The Week of Jul. 27, 2020\".\r 24 July 2020. McQuade, Barbara. \"Why Trump's Military Tactics In Portland Will Likely Backfire\".\r New York Intelligencer. 18 July 2020. Sirota, David. \"Dems' Sternly Worded Letter Won't Stop Fascism\".\r Too Much Information. 20 July 2020. Barrett, Devlin and Miroff, Nick. \"Trump Administration Sending More Federal Agents To Reinforce Portland Courthouse\".\r Washington Post. 27 July 2020.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=13FyJxZZYyevMs9AWzX0otHSdHlrvuvV5","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=13O-6A09WVwIlLSh3WPPTqkFmZP_4ybXT","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1J02IsFPaHtE6CdwML_mB9LWY64A78eqn","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1f88qW10A_9I-2gRjpTmxtJaivlC05Mdv","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_491","claim":"Was Donald Trump penalized for misappropriating funds meant for veterans?","posted":"11\/14\/2019","sci_digest":["Social media posts and memes badly misrepresented the facts surrounding the November 2019 resolution of a high-profile lawsuit against the president."],"justification":"In November 2019, we received multiple inquiries about the accuracy of claims that U.S. President Donald Trump had been fined $2 million by a New York court because he was found to have \"stolen\" charitable donations intended for military veterans. For example, former Democratic Virginia State Senate candidate Qasim Rashid tweeted on several occasions in November 2019 that Trump had \"stolen\" $2.8 million in charitable donations from veterans and that he had admitted as much in court: \"The President stole $2.8M in charity from Veterans & spent it on himself & admits to his crime in court documents. As you speak of honor & service, where is your accountability of a President who trampled on both? Why are you silent, Rep @RobWittman? #VeteransDay\" One of Rashid's tweets was later reposted in the form of a meme by the Facebook page Act.tv. Another widely shared meme claimed, \"It is a fact that draft dodger Trump stole charitable cash donations that were meant for our veterans.\" These social media posts and memes grossly misrepresented the facts surrounding a November 2019 settlement agreement between the New York Attorney General and the Donald J. Trump Foundation, Trump himself, and his children Ivanka and Eric. Trump did not \"steal\" charitable donations intended for veterans, nor did he admit as much in court. All the donations intended for veterans' charities ended up going to those charities. However, Trump's 2016 presidential campaign did direct and benefit from the manner in which many of those donations were distributed to the charities. The claims were related to a lawsuit brought by the New York Attorney General's office in June 2018 against the Trump Foundation, the president, and Ivanka and Eric Trump, in their capacity as board directors of the charity. In her June 2018 petition to the state's Supreme Court, then-New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood wrote: \"For more than a decade, the Donald J. Trump Foundation has operated in persistent violation of state and federal law governing New York State charities. This pattern of illegal conduct by the Foundation and its board members includes improper and extensive political activity, repeated and willful self-dealing transactions, and failure to follow basic fiduciary obligations or to implement even elementary corporate formalities required by law.\" One of the examples of \"improper political activity\" cited in the lawsuit related to a January 2016 fundraiser that the Trump Foundation and Trump's presidential election campaign jointly operated. In January 2016, days before the Iowa caucuses, Trump complained of unfair treatment by Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly and announced he would be boycotting the next Republican primary debate and instead host a fundraiser for veterans' charities in Iowa. The event raised around $5.6 million, with roughly half going to the Trump Foundation and half going directly to specific veterans' charities. The Trump campaign directed the distribution of funds to recipient charities, and Trump himself repeatedly presented checks at campaign rallies and more broadly used the distribution of funds to boost his presidential campaign. On the basis of those allegations, Underwood requested several outcomes, including asking the court to \"dissolve the Foundation for its persistently illegal conduct, enjoin its board members from future service as a director of any not-for-profit authorized by New York law, obtain restitution and penalties, and direct the Foundation to cooperate with the Attorney General in the lawful distribution of its remaining assets to qualified charitable entities.\" The parties to the lawsuit spent around a year negotiating a settlement. In December 2018, for example, all sides agreed that the Foundation would be dissolved and its assets distributed to a list of mutually agreed charities. In November 2019, the New York Supreme Court published the final settlement. As part of that settlement, Trump, his children, and the Foundation stipulated to a set of facts, among them the following section related to the Iowa veterans fundraiser: The website for the Iowa Fundraiser, DonaldTrumpForVets.com, was developed by campaign personnel and, with the agreement of the Foundation, featured the name of the Foundation at the top of the home page and informed visitors that \"the Donald J. Trump Foundation is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization\"; The campaign planned, organized, and paid for the Iowa Fundraiser, with administrative assistance from the Foundation; and the campaign directed the timing, amounts, and recipients of the Foundation's grants to charitable organizations supporting military veterans. The Iowa Fundraiser raised approximately $5.6 million in donations for veterans' groups, of which $2.823 million was contributed to the Foundation; the balance was contributed by donors directly to various veterans' groups. At campaign events in Iowa on January 30, January 31, and February 1, 2016, Mr. Trump personally displayed presentation copies of Foundation checks to Iowa veterans' groups. On May 31, 2016, at a campaign press conference, Mr. Trump announced the grants the Foundation made to veterans' groups with the proceeds of the Iowa Fundraiser and, on or about the same day, the campaign posted on its website a chart identifying the grant recipients. The New York Attorney General's office objected to the way in which the Trump Foundation had been used to advance the interests of the Trump campaign, and especially the way in which the campaign dictated how more than half of the funds were to be distributed, with Trump at times personally handing out checks at campaign rallies. The Attorney General's Office did not object on the grounds that Trump, his children, or his foundation had stolen or kept the money. Indeed, in an order accompanying the November 2019 settlement, New York Supreme Court Justice Saliann Scarpulla wrote that: \"The Attorney General has argued that I should award damages for waste of the entire $2,823,000 that was donated directly to the Foundation at the Fundraiser. In opposition, Mr. Trump notes that the Foundation ultimately disbursed all of the funds to charitable organizations and that he has sought to resolve consensually this proceeding. As stated above, I find that the $2,823,000 raised at the Fundraiser was used for Mr. Trump's political campaign and disbursed by Mr. Trump's campaign staff, rather than by the Foundation, in violation of [New York law]. However, taking into consideration that the funds did ultimately reach their intended destinations, i.e., charitable organizations supporting veterans, I award damages on the breach of fiduciary duty\/waste claim against Mr. Trump in the amount of $2,000,000, without interest, rather than the entire $2,823,000 sought by the Attorney General.\" Trump was ordered to pay $2 million to a list of agreed-upon charities as damages for the waste incurred by the fact that his political campaign orchestrated and benefited from distributing around $2.8 million in donations to veterans' groups. (That $2 million in damages was separate from the roughly $1.7 million the Trump Foundation had already agreed to distribute to various charities as part of the resolution dissolving the Foundation.) Neither Trump, nor his children, nor his charity were found to have \"stolen\" or kept the funds, and so none \"admitted\" to such actions. The New York Supreme Court explicitly acknowledged that all the funds raised from the January 2016 Iowa event did ultimately end up with veterans' groups. The irony in those claims was that it was, in fact, the manner in which the Trump Foundation and Trump campaign colluded in distributing the donations to veterans' charities that landed the president in hot water, not his having \"stolen\" the donations.","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=11YEbhL7MBOHl3dWqn9LGCtBNUFpcjtjt"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_492","claim":"The Love Machine","posted":"09\/08\/2001","sci_digest":["Do vending machines in Japan offer for sale the used panties of Japanese schoolgirls?"],"justification":"Claim:  Vending machines in Japan offer for sale panties purportedly worn by schoolgirls.   . Origins:  Used underwear that has supposedly been previously worn by schoolgirls is being offered for sale in vending machines in Japan. Though we don't know the current price for such items, in 1993 they sold for the equivalent of US $50 apiece. We'd read that this practice ended in 1993 and reported as much in the original of this article (which was penned in 2001), but since that time numerous readers living in Japan have written to say that not only haven't the machines gone away, but that they've themselves seen them. Japan is home to a thriving bura-sera industry    of which traffic in the soiled panties of schoolgirls represents only one part  with \"bura-sera\" or \"buru-sera\" the term for a specific male fascination relating to that country's schoolgirls. \"Buru\" is anglicized Japanese (Japlish) for \"bloomers\" and \"sera\" for \"sailor\"; the term refers to the sailor suit, the predominant style of girls' junior and high school uniforms. Dozens, if not hundreds, of magazines are exclusively devoted to bura-sera photographs, pictures that feature girls clad in school garb, holding up their skirts to display their panties. Usually in such photos the girls' faces are hidden, but that is not always the case. Girlish youth and innocence are considered sexy in Japan, a culture with a long history of regarding women more as sex toys than as people. This obsession with untouched adolescence results in the sad sight of women in their thirties emitting girlish giggles and clutching teddy bears in an effort to maintain their appeal to the opposite sex. Although it can fairly be said Western society also prizes youth in a woman, there the fascination has to do more with the looks of a girl than it does with her immaturity and presumed sexual innocence. A pretty 26-year-old who would be considered lovely in the West would in Japan be viewed by many as hopelessly long in the tooth. Western society looks for firm, youthful bodies housing the attitudes of grown women  we like them young, but we don't like them to act young. In the West, a teen's sex appeal is dependent upon her ability to look and act much older, thus the fascination with makeup and plunging necklines, accoutrements that make her appear less of a child and more of a woman. In Japan, this ideal is reversed  sexy in the Land of the Rising Sun adds up to childlike behavior and modes of dress that express this ideal. Sometimes this amounts to the adoption of clothing styles highly reminiscent of high school uniforms, but even when a girl dons an evening gown, she will strive to look like a kinderling caught parading in Mom's finery. Likewise, childish outbursts, pouting, and tantrums are viewed as charmingly erotic because such actions work to further the violated schoolgirl image.  In a sexual culture so dominated by roricon (Japlish for \"Lolita complex\"), buru-sera fetishism finds its footing. Those whose way of life has taught them to lust for young girls find outlet for their interest through viewing suggestive photos of teen girls and handling items previously worn by them.  For a price, girls supplying buru-sera items for resale will don a new pair of panties at a porn shop in the morning on their way to school, then change back into their own underwear at the end of the day at the same shop, leaving its proprietor with a saleable item. Girls can also turn a profit on their own used undies by offloading them to the same people.  Generally,  the more worn the item, the higher the price it will fetch.  Porn shops featuring buru-sera items also vend girls' used school uniforms.   There is no guarantee that all the panties marketed as having been worn by schoolgirls actually have been. Such details are not  scrupulously vetted; no regulatory body checks to ensure the veracity of claims made about these items.  However, it is clear that at least some of the used undies do come from teen girls, thus this \"underwear of a Japanese schoolgirl\" story is no myth. Japan has a tradition of vending through machines what Western society would view as unusual consumables. In addition to the many items one would typically expect to find offered for sale in this manner, porn magazines, disposable cameras, new pantyhose, horoscopes, and many other goods are routinely mechanically vended. Part of the appeal of such machines is attributable to a matter of convenience, but concern for privacy also fuels the mania. There is less chance of embarrassment in buying condoms from a machine than from a store where the sale must be rung up and bagged by a clerk. Likewise, purchases of \"pink\" videos (what in the West are termed \"blue movies\") are less likely to be blush-producing experiences when these transactions can be effected without anyone else's looking on. There was thus a waiting market for \"schoolgirl panties\" machines, in that those looking to obtain such items would not have to brave a bura-sera shop to fulfill their desires. These mechanical points of sale appeared in 1993 in Chiba City (Chiba Prefecture), in an area known for its porn magazine and adult video vending machines. Almost immediately, an outcry was raised against them, but there was a problem in getting them removed: Whereas sellers required licenses to distribute other types of goods, no such requirement was on the books for soiled underwear, because no one had foreseen the possibility of trade in such an item. These machines existed outside the law in the sense that no specific statute existed that could be invoked to combat them.  The solution was as creative as it is odd-sounding  the machines were countered by invoking the Antique Dealings Law, a statute which stipulates that an antique dealer or a dealer in second-hand items must obtain permission from local authorities. Lacking those permissions, the items could not be vended. In September 1993, three businessmen were charged with selling used panties without a permit under the provenance of this law.  This supposedly ended the presence of such salespoints in that country, but like we said at the top of this piece, countless readers have since written to tell us that the machines can still be found. Barbara \"vend me your rears\" Mikkelson Additional Information:    Teenage Sex and Buru-Sera Shops  Last updated:  8 July 2007    Sources:   Annells, Jonathan.  \"Hot Pants, Hot Customers and Hot Prices.\"   South China Morning Post.  12 September 1993  (p. 4).    The Daily Yomiuri.  \"Dealers of Used Female Underwear Charged.\"   21 September 1993  (p. 2).    Mainichi Daily News.  \"'Bura-Sera' Vending Machines Stir Local Concern.\"   12 September 1993.    Tokyo Business Today.  \"The Next Fad: Vending Machines for Panty Perverts.\"   November 1993  (p. 64).","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1OmkTMUwFlpCJAL16_5uiEwrd31KHv50W","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_493","claim":"It is a fact that the economy does better when we have a Democrat in the White House.","posted":"06\/08\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":" Does the nations economy do better when a Republican or Democrat is in the Oval Office? In her recent campaign stop in Sacramento, Hillary Clinton declared Democrats have the magic touch. It is a fact that the economy does better when we have a Democrat in the White House, Clinton said on June 5, 2016,speaking at Sacramento City Collegeduring her final push in theCalifornia primary. Its similar to a statement the likely Democratic presidential nominee made on March 21, 2016 in Phoenix, when she said: The economy always does better when theres a Democrat in the White House. PolitiFact Arizona checked out that claim andrated it Half True. Heres what they reported: The Clinton family love these comparisons, by the way. In 2015, PolitiFact ruled Mostly True claims from Hillary Clinton a claim that, Under Republicans, recessions happen four times as frequently as under Democrats, and another that, The stock market does better when you have a Democratic president in the White House. At the 2012 Democratic National Convention, former President Bill Clinton had this statement rated True:Since 1961  our private economy has produced 66 million private-sector jobs. So what's the jobs score? Republicans 24 million, Democrats 42 (million). The score, however, isnt as good for this particular Clinton claim. Hillary Clinton speaks at a rally, Monday, June 6, 2016, in Lynwood, Calif. Other factors involved Clintons Arizona spokesman, Tim Hogan, pointed us to aJuly 2014 studyon the topic from Princeton University economists Alan Blinder and Mark Watson. The study concludes that Democratic presidents do have more Gross Domestic Product growth than Republicans, according to quarterly GDP data dating back to 1947, when the data was first tracked. However, the economists point out that there are other factors, such as better oil prices and international conditions, that could be driving these better numbers for Democratic presidents. In short, Democrats occupying the Oval Office tend to have a little better luck. Experts we spoke with largely held the same views. Harvard University government professor Jeffrey Frankel said the statistics, from GDP to the unemployment rate, are striking, but noted that the president does not have all that control. That doesnt prove what the cause is, Frankel said. Christian Weller, a public policy professor at the University of Massachusetts Boston, did his own math on the GDP data since 1947. He found that the economy, through the last quarter of 2015 and after inflation, grew 3.8 percent under Democrats and 2.4 percent under Republicans. For President Barack Obama, the growth rate in his first term was 1.8 percent. His current growth rate is 2 percent, but thats still higher than his predecessor, George W. Bush. And his second term hasnt ended yet. Based on estimates, Weller said Obama should hit the 2.4 percent Republican average. Still, Ronald Reagans 3.4 percent growth rate is well ahead of the economy right now under Obama. Other than Obama, every Democrat had a faster growth rate, even (Jimmy) Carter had a slightly higher growth rate than Reagan, Weller said. This is one of the safest talking points for a Democratic contender. However, the asterisks bother Arizona State University presidential historian Brooks Simpson. Secretary Clinton is not exactly telling the whole truth, Simpson said. Simpson referenced Bill Clintons administration, noting that he benefited from some of the economic policies of his predecessor, Republican George H.W. Bush. A 2011 report from the right-leaning Heritage Foundation notes that the economy was already in its 22nd month of expansion when Bill Clinton took office in January 1993. We asked the Clinton campaign for a response. A spokesman pointed PolitiFact California to previous fact checks on the topic, includingPolitiFact Arizonas. The spokesman also pointed to ablog by the Washington Postthat says Clinton was right on the numbers but questions whether Democrats were responsible for the better economic times or just got lucky. Our ruling Hillary Clinton said in Sacramento, It is a fact that the economy does better when we have a Democrat in the White House. Its similar to her March statement in Phoenix that The economy always does better when theres a Democrat in the White House. Yes, Democratic presidents do have more Gross Domestic Product growth than Republicans, according to quarterly GDP data dating back to 1947. But Clinton's comments require several caveats. The current growth in the economy under Obama is lower than the Republican average. Factors such as oil prices also reflect the higher GDP growth under Democratic presidents. On top of that, comparing one period of time to another or one president to another can be problematic. We agree with PolitiFact Arizonas findings and rate Clinton's claim in Sacramento Half True. HALF TRUE The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context. Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check. https:\/\/www.sharethefacts.co\/share\/ee86664c-a54d-466d-97d0-e5b488faf87e","issues":["Economy","California"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ii0qLWIlYIri0mtUmovdRnMttmoN7CbV","image_caption":"Hillary Clinton speaks at a rally, Monday, June 6, 2016, in Lynwood, Calif."}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_494","claim":"Was Amazon exempt from paying federal income taxes in 2017?","posted":"09\/26\/2018","sci_digest":["By the companys own accounting, Amazon actually received a $137 million federal tax credit in the same year they earned over $5.6 billion in profit."],"justification":"Amid national debates about income inequality and tax cuts for the ultra-rich, one talking point is frequently highlighted in online memes and by political figures such as Bernie Sanders is that online retailing giant Amazon.com, despite taking in $5.6 billion in profit in 2017, paid no federal corporate income taxes for that year: Bernie Sanders   (With respect to the claim about Amazon employees on welfare, see our fact check on that topic here.) here In regards to U.S. federal income taxes, the claim that Amazon paid none in 2017 is almost certainly factual. While Amazons tax filings are not public, their SEC filing for the year 2017 illustrates that the company used the tax code expertly (and legally) to their advantage, so well that the company anticipated a $137 million tax refund from the federal government (numbers are in millions of dollars): SEC filing   Amazon did pay taxes to individual U.S. states ($211 million) and to international jurisdictions ($724 million), but their federal income tax burden was (less than) zero. The filings indicate that two factors provided the lion share of Amazons reduced federal tax liability: $220 million worth of tax credits, and $917 million in tax-deductible executive pay derived from the sale of stocks:   The third negative item in the SEC filing, $789 million in reduced tax burden as a result of the 2017 Tax Act, will be applied to future tax years, according to a report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. report SEC filings do not require a company to list the specific credits they utilize, but there are several avenues Amazon would likely have pursued. Annette Nellen, a professor and director of the Master of Science in Taxation program at San Jose University, said that Amazons write-offs likely include credits for research and development, domestic production, and equipment depreciation. And according to a report from the Economic Policy Institute, Amazon receives myriad tax incentives from state and local governments as well: said report The expansion of Amazons physical distribution network has coincided with a strategic business plan of negotiating millions in tax abatements, credits, exemptions, and infrastructure assistance from state and local governments in the name of regional economic development. By the end of 2016, Amazon had likely received over $1 billion in state and local subsidies for its facilities, which would include not only fulfillment centers but sortation centers that only sort packages, mailing centers, and other facilities. Publicly-traded corporations can list the stock options they grant to employees as a business cost in their accounting, and if an option-receiving employee makes over $1 million a year in salary, the profits from the sale of those stocks can be then counted as a federal income tax deduction for the corporation (primarily due to a Clinton-era compromise over how to cap executive pay). Stock options allow an employee to purchase stock in their employers company at a set price, regardless of its current market value: list Options give executives and investors the right to buy shares of a company at a later date and at specific prices. For example, if a chief executive joins a media company when its stock is trading at $55 a share, but years later, the share price has skyrocketed to $100, that chief executive can still buy the shares at $55, pocketing the massive difference. In the cases of their highest paid employees, Amazon and other companies are able to deduct the massive difference employees make when they sell that stock at a profit. According to the Center for Tax Justice, because companies typically low-ball the estimated values, they usually end up with much bigger tax write-offs than the amounts they deduct as a 'cost' in computing the profits they report to shareholders. The $917 million in stock-based compensation listed in Amazon's SEC filing likely stems from their top employees' cashing in on their stock options for a large profit. deduct While it is impossible to know the exact amount of money Amazon did or did not pay to the federal government in 2017, their own accounting suggests that they expected their federal corporate income tax burden to be negative that year.  U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.  Amazon.com Inc. Form 10-K\"\r  2 February 2018.\r Gardner, Mathew.  \"Amazon Inc. Paid Zero in Federal Taxes in 2017, Gets $789 Million Windfall from New Tax Law.\"\r  Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.  13 February 2018.\r Tobias, Manuela.  \"Bernie Sanders Says Amazon Paid No Federal Income Tax in 2017. He's Right.\"\r  Politifact.  3 May 2018. \r Jones, Janell and Ben Zipperer.  \"Unfulfilled Promises.\"\r  Economic Policy Institute.  1 February 2018. \r Gunjan, Banerji.  \"Potential Loser in Tax Overhaul: Executive Stock Options.\"\r  The Wall Street Journal.  19 December 2017.\r Citizens for Tax Justice.  Fortune 500 Corporations Used Stock Option Loophole to Avoid $64.6 Billion in Taxes Over the Past Five Years.\"\r  9 June 2016. \r","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1NVSt5cGpQNzynEVI156ceR5xo4ZXqXWT"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1qDGkJrEdBvfW9w69xlCP6ByXs3CfHqUd"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1gZo9rw_VOFCkQjLf02MKO0oesZFbUiQV"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_495","claim":"Is President Trump financially invested in Saudi Arabia?","posted":"11\/09\/2018","sci_digest":["In response to Trump's tweet claiming that he has no such financial interests, social media users shared a Fox News Research tweet highlighting Trump's business dealings with the Saudis."],"justification":"On 2 October 2018, journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared during a visit to Saudi Arabia's consulate in Instanbul, Turkey. Although foul play was suspected, the Saudi government at first denied that any harm had been done to the journalist. Then they began releasing conflicting accounts, beginning with the claim that Khashoggi died accidentally in a \"fistfight.\" Ultimately, the Saudis acknowledged that evidence provided by Turkish investigators pointed to his being slain in a \"premeditated\" attack, which they said was undertaken in a \"rogue operation\" not authorized by the Saudi royal family. Two senior government officials were dismissed, and 18 Saudi nationals allegedly involved in the murder were arrested. President Trump was criticized in the immediate aftermath of Khashoggi's disappearance for his apparent reluctance to hold the Saudis responsible for the incident. \"We want to find out what happened,\" he said. But he also maintained that the United States' relations with the kingdom were \"excellent\" and he would not consider stopping arms sales to Saudi Arabia despite calls from members of Congress to do so. Various commentators, including Washington Post contributor Brian Klaas, suggested that Trump's official dealings with Saudi Arabia are \"compromised by deep financial conflicts of interest\": suggested His business interests -- past, present, and future -- make it impossible for him to contemplate the kind of consequences that the Saudis deserve. In 1991, when Trump was $900 million in debt, he was bailed out by a member of the Saudi royal family, who purchased his 281-foot yacht, Trump Princess. Trumps other princess, Ivanka, is married to Jared Kushner, who has deep ties to the crown prince. In 2015, when asked about his relationship with the Saudis, Trump said: I get along great with all of them. They buy apartments from me. They spend $40 million, $50 million. Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much. As recently as December 2016, Trump owned companies in Saudi Arabia, as he sought to build a hotel there. Three days after Trumps inauguration, lobbyists working for the Saudi government funneled $270,000 directly to the Trump Organization by booking rooms at his Washington hotel. More recently, Trumps flagging Manhattan hotel got bailed out thanks to a lucrative visit from none other than the Saudi crown prince. It raises the disturbing possibility that Saudi Arabia will get away with abduction or murder because the president is beholden to Saudi money. Trump responded by tweeting that he has no financial interests in Saudi Arabia: tweeting For the record, I have no financial interests in Saudi Arabia (or Russia, for that matter). Any suggestion that I have is just more FAKE NEWS (of which there is plenty)!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 16, 2018 October 16, 2018  That same day, Fox News Research (a Fox News Twitter account that regularly posts newsworthy data) tweeted a list highlighting some of Trump's business relationships with the Saudis: tweeted Trump & Saudi Business:1991: Sold yacht to Saudi Prince2001: Sold 45th floor of Trump World Tower to SaudisJun 2015: I love the Saudis...many in Trump TowerAug 2015: \"They buy apartments from me...Spend $40M-$50M\"2017: Saudi lobbyists spent $270K at Trump DC hotel  Fox News Research (@FoxNewsResearch) October 16, 2018 October 16, 2018  Shortly afterward, Trump's tweet and the Fox News tweet were combined into a meme and unleashed on Facebook:   The meme presented the Fox News tweet as a refutation of Trump's, but although each of the former's statements can be confirmed via reliable sources, they don't necessarily disprove President Trump's claim that he has no financial interests in Saudi Arabia. The sticking point (and the reason we're rating the claim a mixture of true and false) is that the term \"financial interests\" usually denotes the ownership of property or investments in a given place, company, or industry. We have found no evidence that either Trump or Trump Organization (the umbrella company operated by Trump's sons, Donald Jr. and Eric), currently owns property or investments in Saudi Arabia. According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings, the Trump Organization was pursuing plans to open businesses in Saudi Arabia as recently as 2016, but the Associated Press reported in October 2018 that the companies had been shut down by the time Trump took office: reported Shortly after he announced his run for president, Trump began laying the groundwork for possible new business in the kingdom. He registered eight companies with names tied to the country, such as \"THC Jeddah Hotel Advisor LLC\" and \"DT Jeddah Technical Services,\" according to a 2016 financial disclosure report to the federal government. Jeddah is a major city in the country. \"Saudi Arabia, I get along with all of them. They buy apartments from me. They spend $40 million, $50 million,\" Trump told a crowd at an Alabama rally on Aug. 21, 2015, the same day he created four of the entities. \"Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much.\" The president's company, the Trump Organization, said shortly after his 2016 election that it had shut down those Saudi companies. The president later pledged to pursue no new foreign deals while in office. In a statement this week, the company said it has explored business opportunities in many countries but that it does \"not have any plans for expansion into Saudi Arabia.\" There is no question that Trump has profited from business dealings with the Saudis, however. Let's take the items in the Fox News Research list one by one: Fortune reported in 2017 that Trump, facing financial difficulties in 1991, sold a yacht he purchased from the Sultan of Brunei in the 1980s to Saudi Arabia's Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal. reported The Associated Press reported that the Kingdom of Saudi purchased the entire 45th floor of Trump World Tower in New York City in 2001, \"the biggest purchase in that building to that point.\" reported During a 16 June 2015 speech at Trump Tower announcing his presidential candidacy, Trump said: \"Saudi Arabia, they make $1 billion a day. $1 billion a day. I love the Saudis. Many are in this building.\" At a campaign rally one month later, he said: \"I like the Saudis; they are very nice. I make a lot of money with them. They buy all sorts of my stuff -- all kinds of toys from Trump. They pay me millions and hundreds of millions.\" speech said At a campaign rally in Mobile, Alabama in August 2015, Trump said: \"Saudi Arabia, I get along with all of them. They buy apartments from me. They spend $40 million, $50 million. Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much.\" said The Wall Street Journal reported in June 2017 that Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C., received payments amounting to roughly $270,000 for services provided to lobbyists working for the Saudi government. Although Trump had announced earlier in the year that any Trump Organization profits from foreign governments would be donated to the U.S. Treasury, the company did not respond to the Journal's questions about what would be done with the Saudi payments, which were made through a third party. reported Despite his not owning businesses, properties, or investments in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Trump has clearly, and by his own admission, profited to the tune of tens of millions of dollars from business dealings with the Saudis, and over a long period of time. We reached out to the Trump Organization for comment but received no reply. Beavers, Olivia.  \"Saudis Spent $270K at Trump Hotel Amid Lobbying Efforts: Report.\"\r  The Hill.  5 August 2017. Condon, Bernard et al.  \"'I Love the Saudis': Trump Business Ties to Kingdom Run Deep.\"\r  Associated Press.  16 October 2018. Fahrenthold, David A. and Jonathan O'Connell.  \"'I Like Them Very Much:' Trump Has Longstanding Business Ties with Saudis, Who Have Boosted His Hotels Since He Took Office.\"\r The Washington Post.  11 October 2018. Kirkpatrick, David D.  \"Trump's Business Ties in the Gulf Raise Questions About His Allegiances.\"\r  The New York Times.  17 June 2017. Klaas, Brian.  \"Jamal Khashoggi's Fate Casts a Harsh Light on Trump's Friendship with Saudi Arabia.\"\r The Washington Post.  10 October 2018. Mangan, Dan.  \"Trump Claims He Has 'No Financial Interests in Saudi Arabia' --- But He Makes Lots of Money from It.\"\r  CNBC.  16 October 2018. Myre, Greg.  \"The Big Overlap Between Trump's Global Holdings and U.S. Foreign Policy.\"\r  NPR.  22 November 2016. Orden, Erica.  \"Saudi Disappearance Puts Spotlight on Trump's Business Ties.\"\r  CNN.  12 October 2018. Smith, Geoffrey.  \"This Is the 420-Foot Yacht Donald Trump Wanted -- Before He Filed for Bankruptcy.\"\r  Fortune.  13 February 2017. Tau, Byron and Rebecca Ballhaus.  \"Trump Hotel Received $270,000 from Lobbying Campaign Tied to Saudis.\"\r  The Wall Street Journal.  6 June 2017. Watson, Kathryn.  \"What's at Stake in the Trump Administration's Ties to the Saudis.\"\r  CBS News.  12 October 2018. Wong, Edward et al.  \"Trump Calls Relations with Saudi Arabia 'Excellent,' While Congress Is Incensed.\"\r  The New York Times.  11 October 2018. Associated Press.  \"A Timeline of Events in the Khashoggi Case.\"\r  25 October 2018. CBS News.  \"Transcript: Donald Trump Announces His Presidential Candidacy.\"\r  16 June 2015.","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=102Yxf4POtiXQ7xbbK9TFyuWsH3ExG3LP"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_496","claim":"Do Amazon Employees Qualify for Food Stamps?","posted":"02\/01\/2018","sci_digest":["Official statistics suggest that some of the online retail giant's workforce receive food stamps, but it only applies to about 12 percent of one state's employees."],"justification":"Jeff Bezos, founder and chief executive officer of the online retail giant Amazon.com, became the world's richest person in October 2017, according to Forbes magazine. In January 2018, Bezos' company opened the first \"Amazon Go,\" a new kind of store with no checkout required, in Seattle, Washington, to considerable fanfare. Amid a wave of increased press coverage and scrutiny, a viral meme made several claims about Amazon in January 2018. A spokesperson for Amazon confirmed that the company's new grocery store, Amazon Go, does not accept SNAP benefits or food stamps as a form of payment. The source of the claim about Amazon workers receiving food stamps was a January 2018 report by the nonprofit group PolicyMatters Ohio, which estimated that roughly 700 Amazon workers in Ohio (more than 10 percent of the company's employees in the state) receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. As of last August, 1,430 Amazon employees or family members were receiving assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), according to the Ohio Department of Job & Family Services. In August, the average Ohio family receiving SNAP consisted of just over two people. Based on that average, more than 700 Amazon workers received benefits that month, or more than one in every ten of those Ohioans employed by the company. PolicyMatters Ohio arrived at that estimate by finding the number of Ohio food stamp recipients who are part of a household where someone works for Amazon (1,430), then dividing that by 2.02 (the average size of a household on food stamps in Ohio at that time). The resulting estimate is about 700 workers, or 11.8 percent of Amazon's Ohio workforce. We were unable to find any research or data on Amazon workers availing themselves of food stamps in other states. PolicyMatters Ohio sent us figures to corroborate their claims, which they received from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. (That data is available for download in spreadsheet form.) Furthermore, whether or not an individual qualifies for food stamps is determined by more than just income. Having a gross monthly household income at or below 130 percent of the federal poverty limit is an important factor. However, one can also qualify for SNAP benefits with an income above the poverty limit if someone in the household is disabled or elderly, and the poverty limit is pro-rated depending on the size of the household. Another factor to consider is whether a worker is employed by Amazon on a full-time or part-time basis. Someone whose only source of income is their part-time job at an Amazon fulfillment center would earn a lower monthly income than a full-time worker in a similar position, even if they received the same hourly wage. This circumstance might well qualify someone for food stamps even if their hourly wage at Amazon were otherwise not too bad. In an email, an Amazon spokesperson told us that Amazon full-time hourly employees in Ohio earn between $14.50 and $15 an hour as a starting wage, with regular pay increases plus Amazon stock and performance-based bonuses. On February 1, 2018, Amazon's jobs website listed seven open warehouse positions in Ohio. Only one was full-time, a description which a company spokesperson told us entails 40 hours of work per week. The hourly wage for the part-time jobs ranged from $10.50 to $11.75, while a \"reduced time\" position came with a starting rate of between $14.50 and $17 an hour. The full-time position had a starting hourly wage of between $14.50 and $15. According to a major 2016 report by the non-profit Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a group that advocates for more sustainable community development, Amazon's warehouse workers across 11 metropolitan areas in the United States earned, on average, 15 percent less than could be expected for a worker in that industry. Amazon told us this analysis was \"flawed,\" because it compared Amazon wages with \"traditional warehouse jobs and compensation,\" claiming that the appropriate comparison would be between Amazon wages and retail wages, as \"that industry more closely resembles the environment of an Amazon fulfillment center.\" Additionally, the report's authors said it was difficult to ascertain exactly what proportion of warehouse workers were on permanent contracts and what proportion were temporary, but estimated (based on news reports and the industry average) that the permanent to temporary ratio was roughly 60\/40. A spokesperson for the company provided contradictory figures, stating: \"Throughout the year, on average, 90 percent of associates across the company\u2019s U.S. fulfillment network are regular, full-time employees. That applies to states like Ohio.\" The spokesperson confirmed that \"regular\" means permanent. The ILSR criticized Amazon for using the label \"seasonal,\" which has connotations of the annual retail holiday rush, to describe the temporary positions it fills year-round. Amazon has also previously come under fire for what have been described as difficult working conditions. In its 2016 report, the ILSR summarized employment at the company's fulfillment centers as \"grueling work for lower pay than average.\" Employees describe running across warehouses that span the distance of 17 football fields; production quotas, or rates, that can be set 60 percent higher than the industry standard; and a disciplinary system that tracks workers' every action and inflicts points for any deviation from Amazon's standard. Underlying these conditions is Amazon's fundamental approach to its warehouse workers. The company\u2019s warehouses are finely-tuned machines, and the company creates conditions such that its workers are expected to be parts of that machine. The result is a work environment that is profoundly dehumanizing. In response to these descriptions, a spokesperson for the company told us: \"Like most companies, we have performance expectations for every Amazon employee, and we measure actual performance against those expectations. Associate performance is measured and evaluated over a long period of time, as we know that a variety of things could impact the ability to meet expectations in any given day or hour. We support people who are not performing to the levels expected with dedicated coaching to help them improve.\" While the meme states that Amazon grossed $128 billion in sales \"last year,\" that number is not quite accurate. For one thing, Amazon's 2017 earnings had not yet been published in January 2018, when the meme was created. Instead, Grit Post, where the meme appears to have originated, said in a list of sources that they had used Amazon's 2016 numbers. Amazon actually had net (not gross) sales of $136 billion in 2016, according to the company's full-year financial results. This means gross sales (which were not reported) were even higher than that, and certainly higher than the $128 billion claimed in the meme. Amazon's sales for 2017 are likely to be astronomical. Based on the company's predictions for the final three months of the year, Amazon's full-year net sales in 2017 might reach around $178 billion.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1WrkRz4yxRWf-RomzUXW-m8_-x0DvSOKg","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1INTxK5PgvfQ2jg7_N6Lvbbu0MqmQksvD","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_497","claim":"Opera Singer Embarrassment","posted":"09\/10\/2001","sci_digest":["Legend about an opera singer who reads embarrassingly misprinted lyrics."],"justification":"Claim:  Opera singer reads embarrassingly misprinted lyrics. LEGEND Example:  [Healey and Glanvill, 1994] A friend had landed his first big role as an opera singer, even if it was in a Gilbert and Sullivan show. It had been a struggle for him to find anything prestigious before because his memory was so bad. I'll tell you another thing: he had a terrible memory. But in this case his voice was sufficiently good  a lovely rounded bass  to warrant the producer giving him a chance to prove he could cope. The role was that of the famous Tax Collector and, as a concession, the stage director allowed the singer to have a crib sheet positioned in the pit to remind him of his words. On the opening night, the bass crooner paid more than the standard number of visits to the toilet facilities, but his voice was in good shape. On cue, he strolled confidently onstage and positioned himself in front of his idiot board. The band struck up his theme, and a deep, rich timbre filled the theatre. Sadly, hazards lie in wait for the unwary. The words of the song go, 'My stately pen is never lax  \/ When I'm assessing income tax'.  Unfortunately, the mischievous scamp who'd felt-tipped the words on to the card had neglected to leave a space between 'pen' and 'is', and the nervous artiste simply sang what he read, bringing a right royal flush to his cheeks  and raising a few eyebrows among the genteel ladies in the boxes. Origins:  Just  as English abounds with puns that play on the  homophony of 'seamen' vs. 'semen',  'seamen' vs. 'semen' numerous bits of humor turn on the slight difference in orthography between the very different concepts 'penis' and 'pen is.'   A favorite proofreading joke with many variations employs a punchline that has the familiar phrase \"The pen is mightier than the sword\" being rendered as \"The penis, mightier than the sword.\"  The piece featured here comes from a collection of urban legends but is really more joke than legend, its convoluted \"opera singer with a really bad memory\" set-up a bit too far-fetched for a true belief tale.  (For the record, the lyrics quoted don't correspond to any genuine Gilbert and Sullivan opera.) An item in our Photo Gallery also plays on the orthographic similarity of \"pen is\" and \"penis,\" and an apocryphal quote often attributed to the wife of French president Charles de Gaulle is based on the homophonic similiarity of other common words to \"penis\" when pronounced by non-native English speakers. Photo Gallery quote Last updated:  15 March 2014 Urban Myths Unplugged","issues":["income"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_498","claim":"Abandoned Polish Wedding Chairs","posted":"07\/14\/2015","sci_digest":["An intriguing image of chairs with trees growing through reportedly stems from an ill-fated wedding in Poland that was halted by the onset of World War II."],"justification":"A tale about a photograph of still-cared-for chairs symbolizing a wedding in Poland that was called off due to the onset of World War II in 1939 is a poignant and touching narrative: These chairs were laid out for a wedding in 1939 in Poland. The wedding was abandoned, and so were the chairs due to the German invasion. They were found again after the war with the trees growing through them. Every year they are repainted. However, this is a false backstory that has become attached to an entirely unrelated image. (One would have wonder about the likelihood that all these chairs were somehow precisely located in spots where trees would later grow up between their seats and backs).  What is actually depicted here is an art installation (entitled \"The Four Seasons of Vivaldi\") created along the road between Haut-bois and Faulx in Namur, Belgium, in 2001 by French conceptual artist\/sculptor Patrick Demazeau.  art installation Patrick Demazeau Much of Demazeau's work involves the juxtaposition of furniture and nature, which symbolizes the trees (who spend their lives standing) offering seats to share with the walkers and dreamers who come across them:","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1IUB5Mhns5uTNUatVonpEOBBaAUm0GkFi","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1muOdYe53IkhrOpeH0f3ZZZ7uk4SHkWr0","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1JiBQ9-gRkclnI1Yj9Og8etMyzC78X0aC","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_499","claim":"Did a Man Sue Himself After Being Hit by His Boomerang?","posted":"07\/08\/2015","sci_digest":[" Larry Rutman supposedly won $300,000 in a judgment against himself after he was hit in the head with a boomerang he threw."],"justification":"On 4 July 2015, the Facebook page \"What the 'F' Facts\" shared a photograph along with a claim that a Kentucky man named Larry Rutman had sued himself and won $300,000 (paid by his insurance company) after he hit himself in the head with a boomerang:  The \"What the 'F' Facts\" post renewed interest in the story of Larry Rutman, which was nothing more than a fictional tale that has been floating around the online world since it was first published in the Weekly World News back in 1996: published \"A Kentucky man who threw a boomerang that flew back and clobbered him in the head promptly filed a $300,000 lawsuit against himself  and incredibly, he was awarded the money! But most amazing of all is the fact that the guy will get the money from his insurance company  and he personally won't have to pay a cent. \"The accident occurred on my property so my homeowners insurance was liable for it,\" Rutman said of the April 18 accident. \"Some of my neighbors say this is crazy but it's perfectly logical when you think about it. I paid that insurance for a long time just in case something unforseen like this ever happened. And now all those years of paying premiums have turned out to be worthwhile.\"  The Weekly World News is, of course, a former supermarket tabloid (now operating in online form only) known for its fantastically fictional stories about subjects such as a zookeeper's being killed by elephant feces, a scientist's plot to blow up the sun, and a tree that grows meat. This fake news item received some additional unwarranted credibility when it was reported by the South China Morning Post in August 1996. elephant feces plot tree reported","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1kfgnhdW2VH6Em9BVsANXPzn5GKnxJQzW","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1modExODYlHtHphE1y1p5DXIE1iqqKWQN","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_500","claim":"Did 50K Ballots Suspiciously Appear at Polls Overnight in Georgia Senate Runoffs?","posted":"01\/06\/2021","sci_digest":["Shortly after Democrat Raphael Warnock was announced a winner, Trump spread the conspiracy theory on Twitter."],"justification":"Shortly after Democrat Raphael Warnock was announced the winner of one of Georgia's two Senate runoff races on Jan. 6, 2021, putting the Senate majority within the party's reach, U.S. President Donald Trump attempted to cast doubt on the integrity of the election by claiming that poll workers mysteriously uncovered 50,000 ballots overnight. He said in a tweet, \"They just happened to find 50,000 ballots late last night. The USA is embarrassed by fools. Our election process is worse than that of third-world countries.\" The post was part of the president's long-spanning misinformation campaign to convince Americans of an illicit, coordinated scheme by Trump's political enemies to undermine him, even though nothing of the sort was taking place. Snopes debunked similar assertions by Trump that secretive late-night vote \"dumps\" helped his opponent in the 2020 presidential election, Democrat Joe Biden, win key battleground states. As was the case then, Georgia voters' heavy reliance on mail-in voting instead of in-person polls to reduce the risk of catching COVID-19 increased the chances of voting results shifting significantly late at night, as poll workers counted more ballots. That phenomenon was not a result of a conspiracy against Trump, but rather a product of a Georgia law that prohibits poll workers from counting any ballots until after polls close. The Associated Press reported on Jan. 4, the day before the special election: \"Absentee ballots must be received by the close of polls to be counted. Military and overseas ballots postmarked by Tuesday and received by Friday will be counted, and absentee voters also have until Friday to fix any problems so their votes can be counted. No ballots, including absentee ballots received in advance of Election Day, can be counted until the polls close.\" In a close contest, one can expect the Republican candidate to jump out to an early lead due to two factors: First, Republican areas of the state usually report their results first. Second, Republican voters have been more likely to vote in person, either on Election Day or during the early voting period. Many counties release those in-person results first. Meanwhile, heavily Democratic counties, including Fulton, DeKalb, and Chatham counties, historically take longer to count votes. Regarding the president's assertion about a \"dump\" of 50,000 ballots to supposedly undermine Republican candidates Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, Snopes found no evidence to support the allegation of voter fraud, and Georgia election officials refuted such claims. \"Election Day for the Georgia Senate runoffs has progressed with few issues and almost nonexistent wait times,\" the Georgia Secretary of State said in a news release. Below is our evidence for that conclusion. Just hours after polls closed, some election officials statewide finished processing and tabulating ballots, and the public learned which candidate received the majority of votes in those counties. Meanwhile, ballot counting in other precincts remained ongoing. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported at 9:30 p.m.: \"It's still early, but Republicans are increasingly antsy about their chances. Early returns are showing U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue underperforming in important GOP strongholds in rural areas and the exurbs. And turnout in Democratic bastions is nearing November general election levels in some left-leaning rural counties that have already reported most of their results.\" By 11 p.m., the newspaper said, election workers had tallied more than 300,000 votes, and only a small number of precincts were outstanding. Shortly afterward, as Atlanta's DeKalb County uploaded its voter tallies, some news outlets, including Vox, declared Warnock the winner. He led Loeffler by about 37,000 votes, with 97% of precincts reporting, according to the AJC. \"Of the outstanding votes left to count, many were expected to come in from Democratic strongholds in DeKalb and Fulton counties,\" the newspaper reported. At 12:49 a.m., NBC was the first major news network to announce that Loeffler had no statistical chance of overcoming Warnock's margin of victory. National news outlets including The Associated Press, CNN, and ABC News quickly followed suit. At 2 a.m., the AJC reported that Fulton County election officials were calling it a night and preparing to count the last rounds of ballots in the morning. In all, about 25,000 mail-in ballots remained uncounted across the state, with the bulk in the Atlanta metro area, according to preliminary estimates from the Secretary of State's office. In other words, voting spikes occurred over the course of hours, late at night, for predictable reasons. Counting in multiple Democratic strongholds, as well as several smaller and more conservative-leaning counties, resumed by 6:45 a.m. on Jan. 6, according to the newspaper. Shortly after the president's tweet about poll workers nefariously \"finding\" 50,000 ballots, Gabriel Sterling, a Republican who oversees voting systems for the Secretary of State's office, highlighted evidence showing typical voter returns based on the state's estimated number of absentee voters. He said in a tweet, \"No Mr. President, there weren't found ballots. We have known the number of advanced votes since this weekend. We saw record Election Day turnout. As of Monday, 970,000 absentees had been accepted. 31k more were added in yesterday's totals. That leaves 60k that came in yesterday.\" In sum, considering Sterling's direct refutation of Trump's claim, as well as the fact that no evidence exists to prove the president's conspiracy theory about 50,000 ballots, and all proof showed predictable vote-counting processes in the early morning hours of Jan. 6, we rate this claim \"false.\"","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Hr3DwuyXkuUCBmE5IHUYkC52_MXazcGg","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=17Ij2XSwr2F8yEikwsoH_CRut9KvRXELY","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1k3-imyxeKF7tncy_VjhoWByWDVn7bJcq","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_501","claim":"Is it true that 643,000 bankruptcies in the United States each year are caused by medical expenses?","posted":"04\/21\/2016","sci_digest":["A popular meme holds that 643,000 Americans go bankrupt every year over medical bills, but the underlying math is elusive."],"justification":"In April 2016, a meme was published by the Facebook page \"The Other 98%\" (among others) claiming that 643,000 Americans declare bankruptcy due to medical bills every year, while in several other first-world countries, bankruptcies related to medical bills are non-existent (due to the implementation of national social health insurance\/medical care systems in those countries). At the fine print at the bottom of the meme was a citation: \"Source: NerdWallet Health Analysis.\" No link to the specific analysis referenced was provided, but presumably, the item in question was a 19 July 2013 publication by NerdWallet pertaining to medical bankruptcies. However, in that analysis, NerdWallet repeatedly stated that their findings were \"estimates\" or \"extrapolations,\" and some of their data were quite old even back in 2013. The primary portion of that article stated that in 2013, over 20% of American adults were struggling to pay their medical bills, and three in five bankruptcies would be due to medical bills. While we are quick to blame debt on poor savings and bad spending habits, the study emphasizes the burden of health costs causing widespread indebtedness. \"Medical bills can completely overwhelm a family when illness strikes,\" says Christina LaMontagne, VP of Health at NerdWallet. Furthermore, 25 million people hesitate to take their medications in order to control their medical costs. Unfortunately, this can lead to even worse financial outcomes as preventative treatments are not rendered, and patients end up using expensive ambulance and ER care as their health worsens. Many question whether President Obama's universal health insurance mandate will protect Americans from problems with medical bills. \"Insurance is no silver bullet,\" says LaMontagne. \"Even with insurance coverage, we expect 10 million Americans will face bills they are unable to pay.\" Although the \"643,000\" figure didn't expressly appear in that article, if we take the number of bankruptcy filings in the U.S. in 2013 (1,032,236) and apply NerdWallet's statement that \"three in five (60%) bankruptcies will be due to medical bills,\" we arrive at a number of medical bill-related bankruptcies (619,342) reasonably close to the 643,000 figure (although technically, a bankruptcy filing can represent more than one person). Likewise, a 2013 CNBC item based on the 2013 NerdWallet Health Analysis included a chart showing the estimated total number of medical-related bankruptcies in the U.S. in 2013 to be 646,812, which is also quite close to the cited 643,000 figure. Since the number of bankruptcy filings in the U.S. is a matter of public record, the accuracy of this figure hinges on the reliability of the estimate that 60% of those filings are medical-related. In NerdWallet's \"Methodology & Sources\" section, the site stated that their medical bankruptcy estimates were based on a 2009 Harvard study, which in turn used bankruptcy data from 2007 and involved interviewing a random national sample of bankruptcy filers. BACKGROUND: \"Our 2001 study in 5 states found that medical problems contributed to at least 46.2% of all bankruptcies. Since then, health costs and the numbers of un- and underinsured have increased, and bankruptcy laws have tightened. METHODS: We surveyed a random national sample of 2,314 bankruptcy filers in 2007, abstracted their court records, and interviewed 1,032 of them. We designated bankruptcies as medical based on debtors' stated reasons for filing, income loss due to illness, and the magnitude of their medical debts. RESULTS: Using a conservative definition, 62.1% of all bankruptcies in 2007 were medical.\" NerdWallet reported that they employed a more conservative estimate than the Harvard study figure regarding the proportion of bankruptcies that are medical-related: \"We relied on a widely cited Harvard study published in 2009. NerdWallet Health chose to include only bankruptcies explicitly tied to medical bills, excluding indirect reasons like lost work opportunities. Thus, we conservatively estimated medical bankruptcy rates to be 57.1% (versus the authors' 62.1%) of U.S. bankruptcies. We also used official bankruptcy statistics, released this month through March 2013, from U.S. Courts.\" Still, quantifying the occurrence of medical bankruptcies can be problematic, as noted in a January 2016 New York Times article on the subject: \"Research on","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1iBFYUms_6hzQTj-94mzGc4ai27q-CKC0"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1aCEutbTm3sPhIVMsDzi7nixxwNGo4Fb_"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_502","claim":"Mixed Case Street Name Signs","posted":"11\/14\/2010","sci_digest":["Do federal regulations require states to upgrade all street name signs to use mixed case lettering?"],"justification":"Claim:  Federal regulations require states to upgrade all street name signs to use mixed case lettering.  OF AND  INFORMATION Examples:  [Collected via e-mail, October 2010] A friend heard this on the radio today.  It was reported that there will be a federal mandate in 2012 that street signs must have a capital letter only at the beginning and the rest of the street sign must be in lower case.  He said the report stated that baby boomers were apparently having a difficult time reading the signs printed in all caps. I find this idea a little preposterous.  He indicated that it would cost Milwaukee, WI over a million $ to make the change.  it was also reported that there would be no federal grants available to assist in paying for the new signage.  Can this possibly be true?  Is there nothing more important for the federal government to worry about than street signs? They have mandated... without any funding... that all municipalities change traffic signs to a combination of upper and lower case letters... have we not been able to read our signs until now? Have we been eternally lost?? Government needs to get a life ...vote  I heard a gentleman telling a friend that President Obama was in New York City and didn't like the fact that the street signs were spelled in all caps.  He requested that Mayor Bloomberg change ALL the streets signs so they only began with a capital letter and he agreed, to the tune of $1mil+.  The conversation at the local scrap yard was about a mandate either Federal or Washington State requiring the change of all the street signs to ones that contain upper and lower case lettering (I guess most have all upper case lettering). This seemed so absurd I did not believe it but the scrap recyclers were excited about the huge amount of aluminum scrap that would be coming. Given the huge budget shortfalls and proposed cutbacks by most everyone, I find it offensive that someone is even payed to think about the font of the street signs. I sure hope this is just a rumor. Origins:  In October 2010, news outlets reported on new federal regulations regarding street and road signs that would be taking effect before the end of the decade, as exemplified by the following excerpt from the USA Today national newspaper: In a nod to the fading eyesight of the nation's growing number of aging Baby Boomers, the federal government is requiring communities around the USA to change street name signs from all capital letters to a combination of capital and lowercase letters. The government says that makes them easier to read. Cash-starved localities also will have to dig deep for new, more reflective traffic signs to make them easier to see at night, especially by older drivers. Under Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) regulations, communities have until 2015 to improve the nighttime visibility of roadside signs  such as stop, yield and railroad crossing signs. The issue is how well a sign redirects light from an automobile's headlights back toward the vehicle. Signs that fail to meet minimum standards must be replaced. Communities will be allowed to change the street name signs as they wear out. Unfortunately, the wording of some of these articles left readers unclear about exactly what the new federal regulations entail, leading to (mistaken) claims that officials in every state must upgrade all their street signs to used mixed case lettering by the year 2015. One of the new Federal Highway Administration regulations, as outlined in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), addresses the retroreflectivity of traffic signs: MUTCD For many years vehicle operators and the transportation industry have realized the importance of legible traffic signs and quality pavement markings for the purpose of highway safety and economical traffic flow, especially in low-light conditions. Light from a vehicle's headlights striking retroreflective traffic control devices bounces back to the driver's eyes allowing them to more easily see the road. Therefore, most traffic control devices are covered with retroreflective materials. These include transparent decals with embedded microprismatic reflectors for traffic signs and paint that has small sunken glass beads in the pavement markings.  Retroreflectivity is used to allow drivers to more easily see vital traffic control devices in nighttime and low-light conditions. The FHWA regulations require that states must upgrade post-mounted guide signs (e.g., stop signs, speed limit signs, pedestrian crossing signs) to meet minimum retroreflectivity standards by 2015.  States must also upgrade street name signs and overhead guide signs to meet minimum retroreflectivity requirements by 2018. A second  and distinctly different  FHWA regulation requires that newly-installed street name signs (or replacements for existing street name signs) must use a combination of upper and lower case letters rather than all upper case (i.e., capital) letters.  Signs executed in predominantly lower case letters are  generally easier to comprehend than signs written in all upper case letters (because the shapes of lower case letters have greater distinctiveness between them), so the new lettering requirements should make road signs easier for drivers (particularly older motorists) to read. The conflation of regulations regarding these  two new types of standards for signage  retroreflectivity and mixed case lettering  has created the  impression that all states must change every street name sign to used mixed case lettering by the year 2015 (at considerable cost to those states). This impression is false.  The only connection between these two standards is that if states have to replace some of their street name signs to meet the new retroreflectivity standards (which they are required to do by 2018), then those replacement signs must use mixed case lettering.  Otherwise, there is currently no requirement that states remove and replace street name signs which use only upper case lettering  such signs may remain in place until they reach the end of their service lives. Last updated:  14 November 2010","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_503","claim":"Is Maxine Waters Changing 'Memorial Day' to 'George Floyd Day'?","posted":"05\/28\/2021","sci_digest":["The credibility of a rumor does not increase when placed on a colorful background. "],"justification":"As Memorial Day approached in May 2021, a rumor started circulating on social media alleging that U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters had introduced a bill to rename the federal holiday to \"George Floyd Day\": George Floyd   Waters did not introduce any bills to rename Memorial Day. This piece of text, which read: \"Maxine Waters just introduced a bill to re-name Memorial Day George Floyd Day. Are you FRICK'N kidding me?\" was repeated verbatim across a wide range of colorful backgrounds. No matter how many times this message was repeated, and no matter how vibrant of a background was used, this rumor remained utterly false. A list of bills that have been introduced in Congress can be seen at Congress.gov. This government website also allows users to sort these bills by politicians. When we go to the page for Waters, we can see that the California politician has sponsored or co-sponsored a number of bills in 2021  such as legislation that would \"provide better care and outcomes for Americans living with Alzheimer's disease\" and \"to allow Americans to earn paid sick time\"  but Waters has not introduced legislation that would result in the renaming of Memorial Day. Congress.gov page for Waters provide better care and outcomes for Americans living with Alzheimer's disease to allow Americans to earn paid sick time Waters did co-sponsor the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021, but that bill had nothing to do with the annual federal holiday. The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021, which would address \"a wide range of policies and issues regarding policing practices and law enforcement accountability,\" was passed by the House in March 2021, but has not yet received a vote in the U.S. Senate. George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021","issues":["accountability"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1oYlL_ejfNkHozEhPRoEpE4vlQs6AnQXe","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_504","claim":"Sajid Muhammed Sets Woman on Fire","posted":"04\/11\/2016","sci_digest":["A satirical meme mocking anti-Muslim Facebook content was mistaken as factual by some social media users."],"justification":"On 6 April 2016, the Facebook page \"Worldwide Infidels United\" published the above-reproduced meme, along with the following text: published This is Sajid Muhammed, a Muslim man living in the UK. In 2002 he set a woman on fire for eating a bacon sandwitch and only got 2 year in prison! He was released early to appease the local Muslims protesting against his arrest! SHARE if you think he should be hung! The text included a photograph of theactor Ian Hart, who portrayed Professor Quirinus Quirrell in the film adaptation ofHarry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: Professor Quirinus Quirrell    The meme achieved tens of thousands of shares; alarge number of those sharing were in on the joke, but not all of them.Some were outraged: I'm not sure on the death penalty but he should served his sentence then been deported n not allowed a passport again pure evil the system over here stinks It's unbelievable what these Muslims get away with in our country what is our government trying to do .God Help Us Others were offended for different reasons: Whoever put up this post should be prosecuted for using a misleading image from Harry Potter and The Philosophers stone to promote racist comment whoever you are you should be ashamed of yourself! And you need to apologise to the Muslim community for peddling such lies! Incitement to hatred is a criminal offence! Putting asideany individual reader or commenter's interpretation, \"World Infidels United\" was not ananti-Muslim page, nor was its content meant to be taken literally. Additional content on the page clarifiedits satirical nature:  Posted by Worldwide Infidels United onWednesday, April 6, 2016 Worldwide Infidels United Wednesday, April 6, 2016  Please share to help spread the word! Posted by Worldwide Infidels United onWednesday, April 6, 2016 Worldwide Infidels United Wednesday, April 6, 2016 The meme's maker was mocking British people who shared similar (but serious) anti-Muslim memes on Facebook, and wasn't literally claiming that Professor Quirrell set a woman on fire for eating a bacon sandwich. ","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1-PF_z4_8G3TO76hmqaMuDsA8GwWu6Rv1","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_505","claim":"Did Trump Plagiarize Praise for Jesse Watters' Book from a Promo Blurb?","posted":"07\/14\/2021","sci_digest":["The president's statement contained a verbatim copy of a paragraph from the book's promotional description. "],"justification":"On July 14, 2021, former U.S. President Donald Trump released a statement via email praising a new book by Fox News host Jesse Watters. As screenshots of Trump's statement began circulating on social media, some people noticed that the text of this statement was, in part, a direct copy of the book's description on Amazon.com. This is a genuine statement released by Trump, and this is the genuine description of Watters' book from Amazon.com and other booksellers' websites. Here's the text of Trump's full statement. We highlighted the portion that was lifted directly from the book's description: \"Great new book out by Jesse Watters, How I Saved the World. Interspersed are his thoughtful suggestions for overcoming left-wing radicalism, maintaining American democracy,","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1jbdzU-SZCQjddOMo53NcJnediLuKibEW","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_506","claim":"Did Biden Vow To Eliminate the 'Stepped-Up' Basis for Capital Gains Tax?","posted":"02\/03\/2021","sci_digest":["For once, a viral Facebook post critical of a politician accurately articulated their past pronouncements. "],"justification":"In early 2021, readers asked Snopes to examine the accuracy of a widely shared social media post that purported to describe U.S. President Joe Biden's intention to eliminate a piece of tax law that allows taxpayers to benefit from selling a home inherited from their parents. The post, which was critical of Biden and the supposed plan, first emerged during the 2020 presidential election campaign but regained prominence after Biden was inaugurated in January 2021. It typically read as follows: \"Did you know Biden wants to get rid of something called 'stepped-up basis'? How does this affect you? When your parents pass and leave you the family house, normally you would inherit that property at its current value. If you were to sell that house, you would only pay taxes on the gain from its current value and what it sells for. If Biden does away with 'stepped-up basis,' you will inherit the property for what your parents paid for it. If you decide to sell, you will pay taxes on the difference between the original purchase price and what it sells for today. Here is what this looks like: \n\nCurrent Policy\nInherited House at Current Value - $200,000\nSells for $205,000\nTaxable income = $5,000\nTaxes Due - 20% of $5,000 = $1,000\nProfit to you = $204,000\n\nBiden Policy\nInherited House at Original Purchase Price - $40,000\nSells for $205,000\nTaxable income = $165,000\nTaxes Due - 20% of $165,000 = $33,000\nProfit to you = $172,000\n\nIf your parents had sold this property prior to passing, they would have paid no taxes because it was their primary residence. So much for helping the middle class get ahead. My educated guess would be that at least 95% of Americans don\u2019t even know Biden has proposed this. We are talking tens of thousands of additional tax dollars for the average person after inheritance! Wow, Google 'Biden stepped-up basis' and educate yourself because this is significant! Please share!\n\nThe viral post accurately stated that Biden proposed eliminating the 'stepped-up' basis for capital gains tax and correctly explained the potential practical consequences for an individual taxpayer who inherits a home. In fact, the tax burden for wealthier individuals would be even greater than the post indicated, as Biden has also proposed doubling the rate of long-term capital gains tax for those with income over $1 million. \n\nHere's how the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office describes the stepped-up basis for capital gains tax, which is the tax due on profits from the sale of an asset, such as shares or property: When people sell an asset for more than the price they paid for it, they realize a net capital gain. The net gain is typically calculated as the sale price minus the asset's adjusted basis\u2014generally the original purchase price adjusted for improvements or depreciation. To calculate the gains on inherited assets, taxpayers generally use the asset's fair-market value at the time of the owner's death, often referred to as stepped-up basis, instead of the adjusted basis derived from the asset's value when the decedent initially acquired it. When the heir sells the asset, capital gains taxes are assessed only on the change in the asset's value relative to the stepped-up basis. As a result, any appreciation in value that occurred while the decedent owned the asset is not included in taxable income and therefore is not subject to capital gains tax. \n\nIn 2015, then-President Barack Obama also proposed eliminating the stepped-up basis. Here's his administration's explanation of how it works: Suppose an individual leaves stock worth $50 million to an heir, who immediately sells it. When purchased, the stock was worth $10 million, so the capital gain is $40 million. However, the heir's basis in the stock is stepped up to the $50 million gain when inherited, so no income tax is due on the sale, nor ever due on the $40 million of gain. Each year, hundreds of billions in capital gains avoid tax as a result of the stepped-up basis. \n\nDuring the 2020 presidential election, Biden and his campaign repeatedly expressed their intention to eliminate the stepped-up basis. As first highlighted by Politifact, the Biden campaign presented the proposal as a partial way to pay for its proposed student loan reforms. In October 2019, ABC News reported that the plan makes official several policies the former vice president often discusses on the trail about student debt. Biden's policy includes his plan for reducing student loan debt obligations for students who enter the public service sector, allowing $10,000 of undergraduate or graduate debt relief per year for up to five years of service. Biden would also double the maximum amount of Pell grants available to students, including Dreamers, and would allow students making less than $25,000 a year to defer payments on their federal loans without accruing interest. Any student making more than $25,000 would pay 5% of their discretionary income toward their loans rather than the current 10% owed. The plan would be funded through the elimination of the stepped-up basis loophole, a type of break on inheritance taxes, and capping itemized deductions for wealthy Americans at 28%, according to the campaign. \n\nIn June 2020, according to CNBC, Biden told potential donors: \"I'm going to get rid of the bulk of Trump's $2 trillion tax cut, and a lot of you may not like that, but I'm going to close loopholes like capital gains and stepped-up basis.\" On the Biden-Harris campaign's website, a Spanish-language document outlining the campaign's plans for education reforms stated (translated): \"The Biden plan for post-secondary education is a $750 billion investment over 10 years, aimed at developing a stronger and more inclusive middle class. It will be paid for by ensuring the super-rich pay their fair share. Specifically, this plan will be funded by eliminating the gap in our tax law known as the 'Stepped-up Basis Loophole' as well as reducing the itemized deductions that the richest Americans can make to 28%.\" \n\nElsewhere, the Biden campaign proposed not only eliminating the stepped-up basis but also doubling the tax rate for long-term capital gains\u2014that is, profits from the sale of an asset owned for more than one year\u2014for relatively wealthy taxpayers. Here's what the Biden-Harris campaign website stated, as part of the campaign's healthcare plan: \"As President, Biden will make healthcare a right by eliminating capital gains tax loopholes for the super wealthy. Today, the very wealthy pay a tax rate of just 20% on long-term capital gains... As President, Biden will roll back the Trump rate cut for the very wealthy and restore the 39.6% top rate he helped restore when he negotiated an end to the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy in 2012. Biden's capital gains reform will close the loopholes that allow the super wealthy to avoid taxes on capital gains altogether. Biden will ensure that those making over $1 million will pay the top rate on capital gains, doubling the capital gains tax rate on the super wealthy.\" \n\nThe Facebook post shared widely in late 2020 and early 2021 accurately described Biden's stated intention to eliminate the stepped-up basis for capital gains tax, a move that would indeed increase the tax burden on an individual who inherits property from their parents before selling it. The tax burden for wealthier taxpayers would be even greater than the Facebook post outlined, since Biden has also proposed increasing the rate of long-term capital gains tax for those with an income above $1 million. The Facebook post did not mention that Biden had stipulated he would use the money raised from eliminating the stepped-up basis to help pay for his healthcare and education plans. Snopes contacted the White House to ask whether the Biden administration still intended to push for the elimination of the stepped-up basis, but we did not receive a response in time for publication.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1I6gv7_h7CLUDJw0TphzlxspmzNrvnhkb","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_507","claim":"Could you please provide more context or specific information about \"Harley Skim\" so that I can accurately paraphrase it for you?","posted":"06\/17\/2015","sci_digest":[""],"justification":"FACT CHECK: Is Harley Davidson repossessing paid-up motorcycles belonging to bikers involved in the Waco shootout? Claim: Harley Davidson has been repossessing paid-off motorcycles belonging to owners involved in a biker shootout in Waco, Texas. UNCONFIRMED Example: [Collected via e-mail, June 2015] Just read that Harley Davidson helps Waco PD to repossess motorcycles involved in the Twin Peaks incident even if they were not defaulting on their loan. Say it ain't so!!! Example: On 17 May 2015, several motorcycle clubs convened at a Waco, Texas, location of the Twin Peaks chain of restaurants. Violence erupted amid rival biker factions, leading to shootings that left nine attendees dead and eighteen more injured. A number of controversies stemmed from the deadly incident, such as conflicting eyewitness statements about what took place during the shootout, and one of those controversies involved the fate of motorcycles confiscated by police in the aftermath. Rumors circulated claiming that Harley Davidson and the Waco Police Department were in cahoots to seize and repossess the bikes of those present at the scene, regardless of whether the motorcycles were paid off or their registered owners were current on their payments. On 12 June 2015, the Waco Police Department seemingly addressed this scuttlebutt on their Facebook page, describing a rough inventory of motorcycles impounded and returned to date: We initially impounded 130 motorcycles and 91 other vehicles. As of June 10, 2015, 52 motorcycles and 47 vehicles have been released to the owners. In addition to those, 12 of the motorcycles and 3 of the other vehicles were released to the lienholders due to repossession. On 15 June 2015, a blog post claimed that manufacturer Harley Davidson had taken \"bikes that were paid up and sold them, claiming a default of loan for being involved in criminal activity in California.\" The blog's author pointed to language (either in Harley Davidson Financial Services contracts or a Department of Consumer Affairs guide to Repossession Practices) stipulating that the use of a vehicle during the commission of a crime (or suspected crime) was grounds for forfeiture, regardless of whether the loan was current at the time the vehicle was impounded. This morning, someone told me it happened to them. So I called Harley Davidson Financial Services and asked. I have indeed confirmed that Harley took bikes that were paid up and sold them, claiming a default of loan for being involved in criminal activity. This is a different state, but it's basically the same thing. Read the part in the contracts used by all Harley dealerships and other dealership loans about using the vehicle to engage in criminal activity: In some cases, you may not get your vehicle back at all. The legal owner can accelerate the maturity of your contract if: You provided false or misleading information on the credit application when buying the vehicle. You tried to avoid repossession by hiding the vehicle or taking it out of California. You destroyed, or threatened to destroy, the vehicle, or failed to take care of it. You committed, or threatened to commit, a criminal act of violence against the legal owner or anyone who tried to repossess the vehicle. You used the vehicle, or allowed it to be used, in a crime, and the vehicle was seized by a federal, state, or local authority. In general, police are required by law to provide notice of impounded vehicles to both the registered owners and all lienholders of those vehicles. Also, lienholders must typically provide police with a \"hold harmless\" affidavit and other evidence documenting that they are entitled to possession of a vehicle in order to claim it from police impound. Without additional information, it would be difficult to say definitively whether Harley Davidson Financial Services (HDFS) exercised any claims over bikes impounded after the Waco shootout. We attempted to contact HDFS to inquire about the issue but could reach only representatives waiting to talk to active account holders (not media contacts). It appears, though, that civil asset forfeiture (rather than lienholder repossession) is the likely fate of unreturned bikes impounded by Waco police. Three Waco Tribune articles examined whether motorcycles impounded at the scene would be taken from their owners for good. In an 18 May 2015 piece, the newspaper reported that owners might not be reunited with their motorcycles due to \"civil forfeiture procedures\": Even if the men bond out of jail, they likely won't be riding their motorcycles home. The motorcycles were confiscated as part of the massive law enforcement investigation, and sources say they likely will be seized and forfeited by McLennan County through civil forfeiture procedures and sold at auction. On 24 May 2015, the Waco Tribune published a far lengthier piece on the possibility that some of the bikes would be auctioned off. Titled \"Vehicle forfeiture efforts could be lucrative, but difficult in Twin Peaks shooting,\" that article provided local background regarding civil forfeiture practices for all cases in the district (dating back to at least 1989): It's possible some of the vehicles could be declared illegal contraband associated with a crime, and ownership transferred to the county through a process known as civil forfeiture. The collective value of the vehicles likely exceeds $1 million, assuming typical vehicle values. As of Friday afternoon, McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna had not filed any civil forfeiture notices with the McLennan County district clerk. Reyna declined through a spokesperson to discuss this or any other aspect of the Twin Peaks case. But Reyna is known for his aggressive pursuit of civil forfeiture, and defense attorneys are watching his moves in this case where so much property is at stake and so many owners are in jail. Yet another article published in the Waco Tribune, this one from 12 June 2015, quoted Waco Police Chief Brent Stroman, who provided an update regarding the then-current status of bikes that remained impounded. The paper again reported that some of the vehicles could be seized by police (not Harley Davidson) and sent to auction under extant civil asset forfeiture laws: A total of 130 motorcycles and 91 other vehicles were impounded from the scene that day, Stroman said, a number slightly above the original estimate. Of those, 52 motorcycles and 47 vehicles have been released to the owners, while 12 of the motorcycles and 3 of the other vehicles were released to the lienholders to be repossessed. Stroman said he did not know how many, if any, vehicles would be seized and put up for auction. Ultimately, it appeared to be true that some of the bikes remaining in police impound lots in June 2015 were fated to go to auction regardless of whether owners were current on payments at the time the bikes were seized. However, multiple local newspaper articles that covered the situation in depth described the potential repossessions as being within the scope of the Waco Police Department and not Harley Davidson Financial Services.","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1n572z0mN2cK6ufjY7P8iDsJSh-qyB9hK"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_508","claim":"Was taxpayer money used by Fauci for tests on beagles that were deemed 'cruel and unnecessary'?","posted":"08\/18\/2021","sci_digest":["Allocated government funds for the experiments reportedly totaled more than $1.8 million. "],"justification":"Throughout the latter half of 2021, the taxpayer watchdog group White Coat Waste Project (WCW) released announcements that it had exposed several government-funded, cruel and unusual research projects that tested potential vaccines and drug therapeutics on beagles, which collectively cost taxpayers millions of dollars. In all cases, WCW pointed blame at Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), whom the group posited as having given the final approval to fund the projects. Snopes readers asked our team to focus our investigation on three of the studies in question, which included research conducted at the University of Georgia Research Foundation (UGR), the nonprofit research institute SRI International, and by scientists in Tunisia. The allegations began in July 2021, when the Republican-led animal rights advocacy group published a report that claimed Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of NIAID, approved funding from taxpayer dollars to conduct painful experiments on beagles. WCW claimed in its July 30 report that Fauci, in an attempt to advance a human vaccine for a parasitic disease called lymphatic filariasis, spent $424,000 to commission a study in which healthy beagles were given an experimental drug and then intentionally infested with flies that carry a disease-causing parasite that affects humans. The findings of the WCW investigation were subsequently reported in publications like Fox News and conservative-leaning outlets such as RT, The Federalist, The Daily Caller, and The Patriot Project. In October 2021, Republican U.S. House Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina tweeted a letter she sent to Dr. Anthony Fauci, referencing documents obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request from WCW. WCW claimed that from October 2018 to February 2019, Fauci ordered cruel and unusual drug toxicity tests on dogs that cost taxpayers $1.68 million. In a third report, WCW claimed that NIAID funded more than $375,000 to conduct a study that again used beagles as test subjects in experiments involving sand flies that the organization described as \"torture.\" Snopes contacted WCW and obtained copies of documents reportedly obtained via separate Freedom of Information Act requests submitted by the organization. Claims of Fauci funding the torture of dogs circulated and recirculated in Fall 2021 and are largely based on two studies funded by the NIAID that did, indeed, involve using beagles as test subjects. We break those claims down below, but first, a closer look at the organization behind the reports. Founded in 2013, WCW is a watchdog group that self-describes as representing more than 2 million liberty lovers and animal lovers who oppose using taxpayer dollars to support experiments on animals. It is not a traditional animal advocacy group but instead devotes its efforts to denouncing what it characterizes as wasted government funds spent on testing. In 2016, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) reported that the Washington, D.C.-based organization is the brainchild of former Republican strategist Anthony Bellotti. His opposition to animal research began in 1995, when, in the summer between high school and college, he worked in a hospital laboratory that was conducting heart studies on pigs and witnessed experiments he saw as cruel. After he became a political consultant, he hit upon the idea of framing such research as a waste of taxpayer money, wrote AAAS. Following the UGR investigation into the lymphatic filariasis studies, a spokesperson for WCW told Snopes that in August 2021, the watchdog group also requested documents related to toxicity testing on beagles commissioned by NIAID. Snopes read through the file to verify the claims made in the WCW report specific to NIH contract number HHSN272201400006I, which was described in a government database as preclinical development services for AIDS therapeutics with SRI International, a California-based nonprofit scientific research institute. According to the government fiduciary site USA Spending, a $1.1 million grant was awarded to the organization by DHHS on behalf of the NIAID. The study was listed to begin on July 15, 2020, and wrap up by December 24, 2021, and included testing on small animals for therapeutics to treat HIV as well as Hepatitis B and C viruses. The request returned 1,438 pages of documents describing wasteful and unnecessary drug toxicity tests on beagle puppies, a WCW spokesperson told Snopes. The documents are hosted on our site at the link below. The records outlined several studies involving both rats and beagles. The documents outline both the proposed study design as well as the actual results of the study, the latter of which resulted in 40 beagles between the ages of 8 and 9 months being administered oral and subcutaneous (under the skin) doses of an unnamed HIV therapeutic between September 2018 and October 2019. It is true that all dogs were euthanized following the study and their organs were analyzed for potential toxicity from the drugs. It is also true that the dogs' vocal cords were cut out. In a statement emailed to MedPage Today, NIAID told the publication that the contract for \"preclinical pharmacology and toxicology services\" was conducted \"as required in animal models by the FDA, in compliance with Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) guidelines and in a facility accredited by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) or its equivalent.\" \"Vocal cordectomies, conducted humanely under anesthesia, may be used in research facilities where numerous dogs are present,\" the statement said. \"This is to reduce noise, which is not only stressful to the animals but can also reach decibel levels that exceed OSHA allowable limits for people and can lead to hearing loss.\" The housing and care of the beagles at the time of the study was in accordance with the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care, while welfare requirements were met in accordance with regulations established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the Animal Welfare Act. Every effort will be made to minimize, if not eliminate, pain and suffering in all animals in this study. Moribund animals and animals experiencing undue pain and suffering will be euthanized at the discretion of the Study Director, attending veterinarian, or other qualified person. The Study Director will make every effort to protect the scientific validity of the study, read the document. While at least some of the funding was provided by NIAID, it is still unclear whether Fauci personally signed off on approving the research. Claims of Fauci ordering the funding of therapeutic testing on beagles originated with a 38-page FOIA request submitted by WCW and shared publicly in July. Those are hosted in this Dropbox folder and have been archived on our site: Snopes read through the document, and our analysis confirmed that obligated funds were issued to the UGR by the NIH in the amount of $424,555 to determine the efficacy of a potential vaccine for lymphatic filariasis on beagle test subjects. A contract shared online by the U.S. government defined the research as: \"PRE-CLINICAL MODELS OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES; TASK C12 LYMPHATIC FILARIASIS VACCINE (LFGUARD) EFFICACY TRIAL IN DOGS.\" Research conducted on behalf of NIAID is funded in large part through annual funds allocated by Congress and the president, though direct projects may be signed off on by various leaders within NIH. However, there is no evidence that the grant was personally approved by Fauci, and there is no mention of him in the FOIA documentation. All that we can definitively say is that at least some of the money came from NIH. Neither the NIH nor UGR responded to Snopes requests to verify the documents published by WCW, but a spokesperson for WCW sent our team a letter, written by NIAID Government Information Specialist Lauren Bartok in response to the FOIA request under case number 55876. The letter referenced the experimental documents obtained by WCW, confirming that the experiments took place. As with the first study, personal and proprietary information had been removed from the document, including the name of the vaccine and experiment objectives. The files did note that the contractor (UGR) was to acquire healthy, adult beagle dogs to administer different formulations [presumably of vaccine] to dogs via the intramuscular route. Each set of experiments will use 14 dogs, which total 28 dogs at the completion of the study (7 dogs in each group), read the statement of work. Studies began in mid-November 2020, at which point the pathogen-free adult beagle dogs were scheduled to receive a total of three doses on days 0, 28, and 56. Throughout the study, researchers were instructed to monitor the dogs' health twice daily and collect blood and urine samples. A first dose of the vaccine was administered on November 12, with a second round given on December 17 without incident, with one important exception. That exception was four dogs in the so-named blue group reported as having vocalized in pain upon administration. After a physical examination five days later, the four dogs were observed as being bright, alert, and responsive. A third and final round was administered on January 14, 2021, also without incident but with one important exception. Half of the animals in the blue group again vocalized in pain upon administration. A week later, they were once again deemed bright, alert, and responsive. Emails sent between the researchers were included in the FOIA documents and confirmed that only the blue group showed a consistent pain response. The research is scheduled to be completed by January 15, 2022, and all animals will be euthanized after day 196, read the FOIA document. The UGR contract noted the vaccine was for lymphatic filariasis, a mosquito-borne parasitic infection caused by microscopic, thread-like worms. When inside their human hosts, these filarial worms live in the human lymph system and can cause elephantiasis and, in men, a condition called hydrocele that causes the swelling of the scrotum, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Lymphatic filariasis affects an estimated 120 million people worldwide, with another 1.2 billion at risk of infection, wrote researchers in 2014. Currently, there is no vaccine available for human cases, though treatment typically consists of chemotherapy and multiple drug therapies. But as the White Coat Project reported, vaccines for the disease have been tested in mice and were shown to be 90% effective and macaques (70% effective). In fact, at least 27 related animal experiments have been conducted since the 1940s on filarial worms. While WCW deemed the experiments \"cruel and unnecessary\" and claimed that some of the dogs were \"bitten to death,\" the NIH contends that all research involving animals is overseen by the agency's Office of Laboratory Welfare to ensure it is conducted ethically. All animals used in NIH-funded research are protected by laws, regulations, and policies that ensure the smallest number of subjects and the greatest commitment to their welfare, notes the agency on its website. Furthermore, no evidence was put forward showing that the dogs were subject to biting, let alone \"bitten to death.\" If any such information was included in the FOIA document, it has since been redacted. In an interview with Newsweek, Greg Trevor, associate vice president for marketing and communications at UGR, confirmed that the research was for a potential vaccine that was developed at another institution. In an emailed statement, Trevor reportedly told the publication that under federal rules, a vaccine must be tested in two animal species before it can be cleared for human clinical trials. NIAID decided to fund this research and that it needed to be conducted on a dog model, of which beagles are the standard. \"Because this disease currently has no cure, unfortunately, the animals that are part of this trial must be euthanized. We do not take lightly the decision to use such animals in some of our research,\" Trevor reportedly told the publication. The third study took place in Tunisia and analyzed whether a species of sand fly (Phlebotomus perniciosus) was noticeably attracted to beagles infected with Leishmania infantum, the parasite that causes the skin disease leishmaniasis. Sand flies are the main vector of L. infantum, and dogs are the main host and reservoir of the disease. Though the research took place, NIAID did not fund the study, and the journal that published the study, PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, issued a correction after reporting that the federal agency did support the study. The manuscript mistakenly cited support from NIAID, when in fact NIAID did not support this specific research shown in the images of the beagles being circulated, NIAID told Politifact. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases confirmed to MedPage Today that the mistake was made and posted a correction online, adding that NIAID did not provide any funding for this research and any such claim was made in error. Research conducted on behalf of NIAID is funded in large part through congressional and executive actions deciding how to allocate taxpayer dollars. These annual allocations are then signed off on by the sitting president. NIAID funding for the fiscal year 2021 was awarded $5.4 billion by then-U.S. President Donald Trump in 2020. The following year, President Joe Biden requested an increase of $178.9 million, or 2.9% compared with the fiscal year 2021 enacted level, for a total of $6.2 billion to be awarded in the fiscal year 2022. It is true that research conducted at UGR and SRI International was at least in part funded by NIAID with taxpayer dollars, though it is unclear whether such allocations were personally approved by Fauci.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1lVJl6Xn8dNxOMg0aYy8TDiE3qDwoLA2d"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Giqe2oy9yKUSakSOG0HuGgktwdw6Fzmm"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1TSckc203p0krjnHC_iSuqJrv3TkneRgn"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_509","claim":"Only 60 of 1,566 Churches in Houston Opened to Help Hurricane Harvey Victims?","posted":"08\/31\/2017","sci_digest":["A meme claiming that only 4 percent of churches in Houston opened their doors to Hurricane Harvey victims appears to have originated on a satirical Facebook page and was not based on any legitimate statistics."],"justification":"On 29 August 2017, a satirical Facebook page called \"The Cajun Navy\" (not to be confused with the actual Cajun Navy, a nonprofit organization whose members have been conducting rescues of Harvey victims on the ground) posted a now-viral meme that appeared to exploit Internet-driven outrage over the misleading rumor that \"Prosperity Gospel\" preacher Joel Osteen had closed his 16,000-capacity megachurch in Houston to refugees from floodwaters caused by Tropical Storm Harvey, which made landfall in southeast Texas in late August 2017. satirical Cajun Navy organization rumor The meme stated that only 60 of Houston's 1,566 churches had opened their doors to flood victims. It was shared thousands of times although it provided no citation for the figures:  meme   Only 60 (4%) out of 1566 have opened their doors to help the flood victims and the needy during hurricane Harvey. Let that sink in for a moment. \"The Cajun Navy\" page has shared several other posts mocking Osteen and his church for their response to Hurricane Harvey.  mocking church Despite the fact none of the figures in the meme are attributed, it was picked up by a Huffington Post community blogger who used it as leverage in arguing that churches should be taxed because they do an inadequate job of providing charity. blogger However, according to the Internal Revenue Service, religious organizations are tax exempt to promote religious freedom, not because they provide charity: exempt Congress has enacted special tax laws that apply to churches, religious organizations and ministers in recognition of their unique status in American society and of their rights guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. Churches and religious organizations are generally exempt from income tax and receive other favorable treatment under the tax law; however, certain income of a church or religious organization may be subject to tax, such as income from an unrelated business. The meme was shared on 29 August 2017, just a few days after Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas  and it seems highly unlikely someone conducted a survey of all of the churches in Houston during this time. Although we don't know the exact percentage of churches that opened their doors (or the number that couldn't, due to flood damage), we have come across multiple reports of churches coming to the aid of those in need in the wake of Hurricane Harvey: flood damage multiple reports churches aid The firefighters put a call out for help, asking if anyone could take the evacuees in. One local youth pastor answered the call. The rescue teams picked up Pastor David McDougle, 26, and his wife from their flooded home so they could open the First Baptist Church North Houston as a makeshift shelter for those stranded. McDougle said he got a call Sunday evening asking if he would let evacuees sleep at the church, so he and his wife took all the food and water they had gotten and brought it to the church. Though they now have a roof over their heads, the church is not a designated shelter and has no food or water for the evacuees. The church reached capacity with nearly 300 people laying on the floor of the gym, and the food supply ran out around 5 a.m. People are nervous to drink tap water. The restrooms at the church will not flush, creating a mess of the place. Houston's First Baptist Church, led by Pastor Greg Matte, is also participating in relief efforts, providing food and shelter to those in need. Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell, a former faith adviser to George W. Bush and pastor of Windsor Village United Methodist Church, announced that as of Monday, his church would house those affected by another round of evacuations.  announced Max Moll, a spokesman for Houston Controller Chris Brown, told us that churches have in fact been helping in various capacities, depending on their ability and circumstance in relation to flood damage. Some have been volunteering while others have been donating clothing and other supplies. Others have opened their doors to shelter stranded residents. Moll told us: Its up to each individual entity to decide what they can and can't do. Some [of the churches] are without power, or are flooded, or the roads around them are impassable. There are a lot of ways to respond and a lot of churches have responded in strong ways. In general terms, the city has three official shelter locations where thousands are being housed  the George R. Brown Convention Center, the Toyota Center and NRG Center. Osteen told \"CBS This Morning\" that his church has been coordinating its relief efforts with the city and opened the church for shelter when the city's overflowed: told We worked with the city constantly. The city set up a shelter about four miles from here that can house 10,000 people, showers, dormitories, kitchens, security, all that. They didn't need us as a shelter at that point. They wanted us to be a distribution center... When they filled up, they said \"we need shelter,\" we started our shelter. Shellnut, Kate.  \"Houston Churches Fight Flooding After Harvey Cancels Services.\"\r  Christianity Today.  28 August 2017. Rombow, Dennis.  \"Texas LDS Meetinghouse Becomes Shelter, Boat Command Center.\"\r  Deseret News.  29 August 2017. Sullivan, Kevin.  \"Texas Officials Say at Least Nine Dead as Harvey Flooding Continues\"\r  Washington Post.  28 August 2017. LA Times.  \"Why Don't Churches Pay Taxes?\"\r  23 September 2008. McGowan Mellor, Gail.\"One of the Most Telling Things Ive Heard This Week.\"\rHuffington Post blog.30 August 2017. Internal Revenue Service.\"Tax Guide for Churches & Religious Organizations.\"","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1-cCdosRC9LvyMzbwpaBNlnGKokGveBV5","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_510","claim":"Fraudulent Scheme Involving Sharpie Anniversary Giveaway","posted":"02\/20\/2016","sci_digest":["Sharpie isn't giving away a giant set of markers to celebrate their anniversary -- the offer is another online survey scam."],"justification":"In February2016, links began circulating on Facebookpromising a treasure trove of Sharpie brand markers to users who completed a short series of steps:   The embedded links led toURLs which were generated seemingly at random and didn't link to Sharpie's web site. Users who clicked through to claim the promised prize were routed to pages which appeared plausibly Facebook-esque(but werehostedoff Facebook):   As evidenced by the above-reproduced screenshots, the associatedURLs don'tmatch the official domains of Sharpie or Facebook. The fake giveaway was another version of the common survey\/sweepstakes scams which urge readers to share freebie bait on Facebook, which then spreads the scam to more friends and groups. Most social media users are familiar with survey scams conducted in this fashion: Kohl's, Costco, Home Depot, Lowe's,Kroger, Best Buy, Macy's, Olive Garden, Publix, Target, and Walmart are among brandsused as enticementsbyscammers, many aiming to capturepersonal information and valuable page likes from Facebook users. Kohl's Costco Home Depot Lowe's Kroger Best Buy Macy's Olive Garden Publix Target Walmart scammers A July 2014 article from the Better Business Bureauexplained how to identify and avoidbad actorsimitating high-profilebrands on social media: article Don't believe what you see. It's easy to steal the colors, logos and header of an established organization. Scammers can also make links look like they lead to legitimate websites and emails appear to come from a different sender. Legitimate businesses do not ask for credit card numbers or banking information on customer surveys. If they do ask for personal information, like an address or email, be sure there's a link to their privacy policy. When in doubt, do a quick web search. If the survey is a scam, you may find alerts or complaints from other consumers. The organization's real website may have further information. Watch out for a reward that's too good to be true. If the survey is real, you may be entered in a drawing to win a gift card or receive a small discount off your next purchase. Few businesses can afford to give away $50 gift cards for completing a few questions. ","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1sUTkip_LA4qp1WEWnFLZxmsMgObouA24"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1eSkDOeeBp-GhQcjvN5l_PP_O8AWDmyT2"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_511","claim":"In place of \"Black Tax\" Credit, you could say \"Tax Relief for African American Communities.\"","posted":"05\/01\/2001","sci_digest":["Are African-Americans entitled to a $5,000 slavery reparation tax credit?"],"justification":"Claim:  African-Americans are entitled to a $5,000 slavery reparation tax credit.  Example:  [Collected on the Internet, 2002] This goes out to all my friends, family, and everyone in the African American community. Once you receive this message please write down the number and then pass it along to every AfricanAmerican you know. As you my know, all African Americans living here in the United States are descendants of slavery,therefore our government has finally passed a bill to pay all descendants back. The way they are paying us back is through a refund called the, \"Black Inheritance Tax Refund\/40 Acres and a Mule\". When you call this number you'll give them your name, address, and phone number and they'll send you out a packet, which includes further details and information on how to receive the refund. I was informed that it will take only two weeks to receive the packet and then two weeks to receive themoney. Now, if you know our government I bet they are not expecting a lot of people to call for this refund, and they may be right, because many of us will not be informed of this. Therefore, this is why I am taking it upon myself to pass on this information, so our community will soon be informed through word-of-mouth about what has been owed to our ancestors all these years. Black Inheritance Tax Refund 1-800-441-5629 press #3 to direct you to the appropriate line open betweenEast Coast: 8am and 12amWest Coast: 5am and 9pm Expect to wait anywhere from 5mins-25mins (There will not be any music to entertain you while you wait!) Ps: You must be 18 years or older and I'm assuming a legal residence of the United States. So, request an application for yourself, husband, wife, sister, brother, father, mother, etc, or just pass the number along. God Bless You All and please check this out!!!!!!!! Origins:  In 2000, bogus letters claiming certain senior citizens were eligible for slavery reparations or higher Social Security payments were circulating in black churches in the South and elsewhere. The letters claimed blacks born before 1928 were eligible for a $5,000 \"Negro Inheritance Tax Refund\" due to a \"Slave Reparation Act,\" and folks born between 1911 and 1926 might be entitled to higher monthly Social Security payments.  This was but one of the many forms the \"slavery reparation tax credit\" misinformation has taken over the years.  An April 1993 Lena Sherrod commentary entitled \"Forty Acres and a Mule\" which appeared in Essence magazine dealt with the concept that reparations were owed to the descendants of African-Americans who were forced to work unpaid for 246 years, and that African-Americans were owed a tax rebate for years of legalized racial discrimination.  Sherrod wrote: The government also owes African-Americans a tax rebate for the 60 years of segregation and Jim Crow that followed slavery. Although we were consigned by law to second-class citizenship, we were still forced to pay first-class taxes . the delinquent tax rebate [is] now estimated . to be at $43,209 per household.\"  Since de facto racial discrimination continues to function as a hidden Black tax, it ought to be deductible. So when income-tax time rolls around, on line 59 of form 1040  which asks you to list 'other payments'  simply enter $43,209 in 'Black taxes' and compute accordingly. This commentary undoubtedly helped to foster the belief that a real income tax deduction was available as a form of reparation to the descendants of slaves. In 2002, people were being urged in e-mail to call an 800 number. Yet it's all the same  hoax. No matter whether you got the letter from your church or read about the give-back in a magazine, the \"reparations credit\" does not and never has existed. Those who claim the deduction because they are black can be subject to fines and penalties, so really, really think twice before trying to wring it out of Uncle Sam. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) can fine a taxpayer $500 for filing a frivolous claim. Moreover, if the tax department fails to catch the erroneous deduction at the time of filing, it has an additional six years to right its error. Upon catching the error, the taxmen would not only strike off the deduction, but would calculate interest owed on the new balance of tax due, dating it to the year of the original return. (For example, if you claimed the credit in 1994, and the IRS caught it in 1998, your 1994 return would be re-computed to remove the effect of the bogus deduction. You'd now get a bill from the IRS for the re-computed difference between tax paid and tax due, plus all the interest that had piled up on it across those four years, and maybe even a $500 penalty for trying to pull the wool over the tax department's eyes.  Eeesh.) IRS offices across the nation have received thousands of requests daily for Form 2439, which some people have been mistakenly led to believe reimburses the descendants of slaves. Form 2439 is actually for shareholders trying to claim undistributed capital gains.  Form 2439 Though word of the phony benefits is most often spread by well-meaning individuals whose only motivation is ensuring those who are supposedly in line for the break hear about it, at times unscrupulous tax preparers have stepped in to turn what is already a heart-wrenching disappointment into an out-and-out fraud perpetrated on the unwary by charging fees of hundreds (sometimes thousands) of dollars to \"help\" people apply for these nonexistent benefits.  In a common version of this take-down, a con man promises his unwary clients that he can obtain up to $40,000 in \"slave reparation\" credits for them from the government and offers to file the necessary tax forms on their behalf in exchange for a percentage of their refunds.  He then loads up his clients' tax returns with all manner of deductions and credits they're not entitled to take and thereby scams the government into sending them refund checks.  When the IRS later goes over the returns more thoroughly and starts clamoring for their money back, the victims are left holding the bag. The $43,209 \"Black tax refund\" figure one sometimes hears bandied about is said to be based on the estimated value of \"40 acres and a mule,\" a reparation supposedly laid out in an 1866 bill which lore claims was passed by Congress but was vetoed by President Andrew Johnson. The truth is a bit more complicated than that. The origins of the belief that the U.S. government promised 40 acres of land and a mule to freed slaves after the Civil War are indefinite.  One possible source of this claim is Special Field Order No. 15, Special Field Order No. 15 Sherman was neither a humanitarian reformer nor a man with any particular concern for blacks. Instead of seeing Field Order 15 as a blueprint for the transformation of Southern society, he viewed it mainly as a way of relieving the immediate pressure caused by a large number of impoverished blacks following his army. The land grants, he later claimed, were intended only to make \"temporary provisions for the freedmen and their families during the rest of the war,\" not to convey permanent possession. Understandably, however, the freedmen assumed that the land was to be theirs, especially after Gen. Rufus Saxton, assigned by Sherman to oversee the implementation of his order, informed a large gathering of blacks \"that they were to be put in possession of lands, upon which they might locate their families and work out for themselves a living and respectability.\" Debate continues over whether Sherman acted solely on his own authority in issuing Special Field Order No. 15 or whether he had the approval of the War Department (or even President Lincoln himself), but the end result was that a new policy (known as Howard's Circular 15) issued by the White House in September 1865 ordered the restoration of land to pardoned owners and thereby took away from freedmen the land appropriated for them by Sherman under Special Field Order No. 15  (The order made no provisions for giving mules to freedmen, but Foner notes that after issuing it, \"Sherman later provided that the army could assist [freedmen] with the loan of mules.\") Another possible source of the \"40 acres and a mule\" belief is the creation of the Freedmen's Bureau (originally the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands), a federal agency established as a subsidiary of the War Department  in March 1865 (a month before the end of the Civil War) to deal with issues concerning refugees and freedmen within states under reconstruction, including the management of abandoned and confiscated property.  One of the provisions of the Freedmen's Bureau Act directed that the bureau's commissioner should \"have authority to set apart, for the use of loyal refugees and freedmen, such tracts of land within the insurrectionary states as shall have been abandoned, or to which the United States shall have acquired title by confiscation or sale, or otherwise, and to every male citizen, whether refugee or freedman, as aforesaid, there shall be assigned not more than forty acres of such land.\"  However, this act did not propose giving property to freed slaves (the land was to be leased to freedmen for three years, then made available for purchase by them), nor did it make any mention of mules.   Freedmen's Bureau Freedmen's Bureau Act President Johnson did not veto the Freedmen's Bureau Act, which was passed by Congress in March 1865 and signed by President Lincoln.  (Johnson did not assume the presidency until Lincoln's assassination the following month.)   Two events occurred in February 1866, both of which have been misstated as overturning the \"forty acres\" provision of the Freedmen's Bureau Act:  An amendment to the Freedmen's Bureau Bill (also known as the \"Second Freedmen's Bureau Act\") proposed by Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, to add \"forfeited estates of the enemy\" to the land available to blacks, was overwhelmingly defeated in the House of Representatives.  (At that time, the only group of slaveholders who were compelled to provide their former slaves with land were Indians who sided with the Confederacy.)  President Johnson vetoed the Freedman's Bureau Bill, which sought to extend the life of the bureau indefinitely (it had originally been chartered only for one year after the end of the Civil War) and to greatly increase its powers.  Congress passed the bill again (in modified form) over Johnson's veto in July 1866. The Southern Homestead Act of 1866 did in fact make land in five southern states available to freed blacks, but only public land, not plantations or other property confiscated from former slaveholders.  Unfortunately, most of the land still available in the South for homesteading was too swampy and too far away from transportation links to be of much good to freedmen, and even then the largest portion of this inferior land was claimed by whites (often for quick resale to lumber companies).   Although the notion of a \"Black Inheritance Tax Refund\" has long since been debunked and disclaimed, it nonetheless lives on and continues to cause headaches to the IRS and taxpayers alike.  In April 2002, the Washington Post reported that the IRS had received more than 100,000 tax returns seeking nonexistent slavery-tax credits and had mistakenly paid out more than $30 million in erroneous refunds in 2000 and 2001.  And in April 2005, the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office obtained a temporary restraining order enjoining a New York man from preparing income tax returns for others because he had \"been including bogus tax credits such as reparations for African-American slavery and segregation.\" Barbara \"taxing the imagination\" Mikkelson Last updated:  27 May 2011    Brown, Timothy.  \"Black Churches in the South Targeted in Mail Hoax.\"   The Associated Press.  31 August 2000.     Deibel, Mary.  \"IRS Warns Black Taxpayers About Reparation-Claim Scam.\"   The Washington Times.  7 October 2000  (p. A2).     Fennell, Edward.  \"Slavery Reparations Program Labeled Lie.\"   The [Charleston] Post and Courier.  24 September 2000  (p. B1).    Foner, Eric.  Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution.  New York: Harper & Row, 1988.  ISBN 0-060-91453-X  (pp. 70-71, 245-246).     Foner, Eric and John Garraty.  The Reader's Companion to American History.  Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1991.  ISBN 0-395-51372-3  (pp. 987-988).      Josar, David.  \"IRS Warns Against Trying to Get Refund for Reparations.\"   The Detroit News.  28 August 1996  (p. D1).     Kessler, Glenn.  \"IRS Paid $30 Million in Credits for Slavery.\"   The Washington Post.  13 April 2002  (p. A1).     La Hay, Patricia.  \"Slavery Reparations Tax Break Is Illegal.\"   The Arizona Republic.  9 August 1997  (p. A1).     McLeod, Ramon.  \"Even Street Gangs Are Among Those Involved in Fraud.\"   The San Francisco Chronicle.  13 April 1996  (p. A17).     Moore, Linda.  \"League Explains Nonrole in Slavery Reparations Hoax.\"   The [Memphis] Commercial Appeal.  15 September 2000  (p. C2).     Oubre, Claude F.  Forty Acres and a Mule: The Freedmen's Bureau and Black Land Ownership.  Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1978.  ISBN 0-807-10298-9.     Sherrod, L.G.  \"Forty Acres and a Mule.\"   Essence.  April 1993  (p. 124).     Stiehm, Jamie.  \"IRS Official Warns of Tax Hoax Using Slave Reparations.\"   The Baltimore Sun.  12 February 2002.     The Associated Press.   \"Blacks Targeted in Slavery Reparation Scam.\"   6 October 2000.     Chicago Sun-Times.  \"Reparations Scam Preys on Ignorance.\"   17 July 1996  (p. 47).     Chicago Tribune.  \"Tax Myths Don't Add Up at IRS.\"    23 February 1997  (p. C7).     Reuters.  \"Man Barred from Making Slavery Tax Claims.\"    15 April 2005.","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_512","claim":"Says Michelle Nunn has acknowledged allowing a convicted felon to hold a fundraiser for her.","posted":"09\/12\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"The super PAC Ending Spending Fund is broadcasting another attack ad against Michelle Nunn, a politically pedigreed Democrat hoping to succeed Republican Saxby Chambliss as a U.S. Senator from Georgia. This time, its aradio adsimulating a man-on-the street interview with a potential female voter. In the ad, the announcer says: According to news reports, shes acknowledged allowing a convicted felon who is well known for his radical anti-American statements to actually hold a fundraiser for her. He then asked the unidentified woman: Is there any wisdom in that thinking? Im going to say None, the woman responds. Its part of a new campaign by Ending Spending that plays off Nunns well-known name. Her father, Sam Nunn was a respected moderate Democrat in the U.S. Senate for 24 years, from 1972 to 1997, who some considered White House or vice presidential material. The ad follows the theme of the super PACs new website,www.AbsolutelyNunn.com, which answers the question, is there any reason for Georgians to vote for her? But, PolitiFact Georgia wondered, is Nunn working with felons to win office? First, lets look at Ending Spending Action Fund, formed by TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts. As of Sept. 11, the group has spent nearly $2.8 million -- more than any other outside group -- on Georgias Senate race, according to OpenSecrets.org. The PAC favors Nunns GOP opponent, businessman David Perdue. Some of its money paid for ads during the contentious Republican primary earlier this year. The race is being closely watched, and heavily funded, nationally because of the tight battle for control of the U.S. Senate. Its also a priority for state Democrats eager to reclaim a major statewide office. The Nunn-Perdue battle has drawn the fifth-most money from outside groups in Congressional races across the nation this year, $12.4 million on ads from both sides. That brings us back to the ad, which is a reference to the July 8 Washington, D.C. fundraiser that featured Sam Nunn as a special guest. Virtual Murrell is listed as one of the co-hosts of the event, giving $2,600 to Nunns campaign for the honor. Guests paid at least $250 to the campaign to attend, according tothe invitation. Two days after the fundraiser, the conservative National Review broke the story that Murrell, now a political consultant, had pleaded guilty in 1995 to accepting a bribe while working as an Oakland (Calif.) City councilmans aide. He was sentenced to a year in prison. Nunn expressed surprise at the news of Murrells history, which also includes a stint in the 1960s as a leader in the Black Panther movement. Her campaign declined this week to make her available to discuss the fundraiser and its fallout. Spokesman Nathan Click referred us to a statement released in July, which said Nunn was unaware of Murrells record and promised to return contributions linked to him. Click, however, declined to confirm the exact amount of money the campaign said was returned or to disclose how much money was tied to Murrell. We didn't deposit any contributions from him or anything he raised for the event, Click said in a statement. We reached out to Murrell via email, to confirm that Nunn returned his donation and other he raised. He did not respond. We also contacted Brian Baker, Ending Spendings president, who said Nunn has acknowledged Murrell, a convicted felon, co-hosted a fundraiser for her. That is exactly what we say in the ad, Baker said. The ad is 100 percent factual. The event wasnt the campaigns only embarrassing moment. In late August, a series of confidential memos were leaked, revealing Nunns campaign strategy and vulnerabilities. Ironically, those documents may support the campaigns contention that Nunn didnt know Murrells background. On page 57 of the 144-page document  after listing vulnerabilities such as being linked to President Obama and before several pages laying out campaign issues  is a category called Vetting. It takes up less than a quarter of the page, most notably this one-sentence paragraph: Currently, there are no plans to vet donors to the campaign, the memo said. Baker said finding out Murrells background didnt require a complicated vetting process and was accessible with a basic Google search. PolitiFact Georgia has reviewed previous ad claims from the group, with mixed results. In August, Ending Spending ads claim that Michelle Nunns foundation directed grants to an Islamic group tied to radical terrorists earned aMostly False. In July, we rated asMostly Truean Ending Spending claim that Nunn earned as much as $300,000 from Points of Light around the time it laid off 90 workers due to its merger with the nonprofit Hands on Network. Available information on the latest claim suggests Ending Spendings new ad uses guilt by association in a bid to suggest Nunn knowingly wooed an inflammatory ex-convict to raise cash for her Senate bid. Nunn has repeatedly said she did not know Murrells history when she attended the fundraiser. She pledged to give back the money he raised, though the campaign and Murrell have not confirmed how much was determined to be linked to Murrell. Most of the statement from the Ending Spending attack ad is correct. A convicted felon did host a fundraiser for Michelle Nunn. Nunn has said she did not know anything about the mans criminal background. And there is evidence from a leaked memo that her campaign was not vetting donors. The claim is accurate. But it leaves out some relevant details. We rate it Mostly True.","issues":["Georgia","Campaign Finance"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_513","claim":"Jim Hill's Letter to Barbara Boxer","posted":"08\/10\/2009","sci_digest":["Letter chides Senator Barbara Boxer for asking a general to address her as 'Senator'?"],"justification":"Claim:  Letter chides Senator Barbara Boxer for asking a general to address her as \"Senator.\" CORRECTLY ATTRIBUTED Example:  [Collected via e-mail, July 2009] Many of us witnessed the arrogance of Barbara Boxer as she admonished a brigadier general because he addressed her as \"ma'am\" and not \"Senator\" before a Senate hearing. This letter is from a National Guard aviator and Captain for Alaska Airlines. I wonder what he would have said if he were really angry. Long fly Alaska !!!!! Babs: You were so right on when you scolded the general on TV for using the term, \"ma'am,\" instead of \"Senator\". After all, in the military, \"ma'am\" is a term of respect when addressing a female of superior rank or position. The general was totally wrong.. You are not a person of superior rank or position. You are a member of one of the world's most corrupt organizations, the U.S. Senate, equalled only by the U.S. House of Representatives. Congress is a cesspool of liars, thieves, inside traders, traitors, drunks (one who killed a staffer, yet is still revered [Remember Mary Jo]), criminals, and other low level swine who, as individuals (not all, but many), will do anything to enhance their lives, fortunes and power, all at the expense of the People of the United States and its Constitution, in order to be continually re-elected. Many democrats even want American troops killed by releasing photographs. How many of you could honestly say, \"We pledge our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor\"? None? One? Two? Your reaction to the general shows several things. First is your abysmal ignorance of all things military. Your treatment of the general shows you to be an elitist of the worst kind. When the general entered the military (as most of us who served) he wrote the government a blank check, offering his life to protect your derriere, now safely and comfortably ensconced in a 20 thousand dollar leather  chair, paid for by the general's taxes. You repaid him for this by humiliating him in front of millions. Second is your puerile character, lack of sophistication, and arrogance which borders on the hubristic. This display of brattish behavior shows you to be a virago, termagant, harridan, nag, scold or shrew, unfit for your position, regardless of the support of the unwashed, uneducated masses who have made California into the laughing stock of the nation. What I am writing, Senator, are the same thoughts countless millions of Americans have toward Congress, but who lack the energy, ability or time to convey them. Under the democrats, some don't even have the 44 cents to buy the stamp. Regardless of their thoughts, most realize that politicians are pretty much the same, and will vote for the one who will bring home the most bacon, even if they do consider how corrupt that person is. Lord Acton (1834 - 1902) so aptly charged, \"Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.\" Unbeknownst to you and your colleagues, \"Mr. Power\" has had his way with all of you, and we are all the worse for it. Finally Senator, I, too, have a title. It is \"Right Wing Extremist Potential Terrorist Threat.\" It is not of my choosing, but was given to me by your Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano. And you were offended by \"ma'am\"? Have a fine day. Cheers! Jim HillSouth Hill, WA 98374 Origins:  In June 2009, Brigadier General Michael Walsh testified before the U.S. Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee, chaired by Senator Barbara Boxer of California.  As General Walsh was answering  questions about New Orleans' levee system, Senator Boxer interrupted him mid-sentence to request that he address her as \"Senator\" rather than \"Ma'am\": Environment and Public Works Committee  This exchange touched off a partisan political brouhaha, with one side maintaining that the incident was merely an appropriately polite interjection by Senator Boxer requesting that she be addressed as she preferred, and the other side maintaining that it was a rude and disrespectful mid-sentence interruption of a  general who had already been exhibiting due deference by addressing her as \"ma'am.\" The above-reproduced letter, which takes the latter tack and chides Senator Boxer for her action, has been circulated in versions attributing it to several different names, with the most common variant concluding with the mailing address of one Jim Hill of South Hill, Washington.   Mr. Hill told us that he did indeed write and send it: With respect to the letter to Senator Barbara Boxer, I am in fact the author of it.   The only thing I received [from Senator Boxer's office in response to my correspondence] was a \"form letter,\" or at least it seemed to be, that stated that since it was determined that I was not a constituent of the Senator's, that the letter would not be shown to her.  I felt that to be a little bit blunt, but not all together out of place.  I thought no more of it until about two weeks later when I received an email from a friend and fellow airline pilot asking me if I had indeed written the original letter. He attached the email which he had received that contained my letter.  I have received hundreds of letters addressed per the copy of the letter circulating over the internet.  It would seem that someone within the Senator's office either forwarded a copy of the typed letter to a friend, or posted it on the internet.  The letters that I have received have come from all over the country, and from persons from all walks of life.  I have only received one negative letter to date. Last updated:  29 December 2009 ","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_514","claim":"Is the 'Venezuelan Poodle Moth' Real?","posted":"07\/07\/2010","sci_digest":["A photograph purportedly shows a newly discovered species of moth."],"justification":"The confusion was understandable.Example: Is there such a bug as the Venezuelan Poodle Moth? Needle felted model of the ever popular Venezuelan poodle moth. The moth was first discovered and photographed in 2009 and is believed to be a new species. It's thought to belong to the lepidopteran genus Artace.  The \"Venezuelan poodle moth\"  is a possible new species of moth discovered in 2009 in the Gran Sabana region of Venezuela by Dr. Arthur Anker of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.   Images of the fuzzy moth discovered by Dr. Anker took the Internet by storm in August 2012, as reported by the Christian Post: Venezuelan poodle moth A Venezuelan poodle moth is mystifying researchers, baffling the internet, and confusing everyone at a first casual glance. The insect, seemingly a blend of a large moth and a bright, fluffy white poodle, was discovered in 2009 and may be a new species. The Venezuelan poodle moth was first captured on film by Dr. Arthur Anker of Bishkek, Krgyzstan, who posted all 75 photographs of his time at the Gran Sabana National Park on Flickr. His trip to the Venezuelan park didn't gain much fame at the time, however, until last week, when someone noticed and posted the picture online. Flickr Another researcher, Dr. Karl Shuker, took an interest in the fuzzy white creature with bulging black eyes and strange brown antennae. He used his background in zoology, cryptozoology, and science writing to showcase the animal on his blog among other amazing finds. \"These photographs formed just one set of numerous spectacular images that Art has taken while visiting tropical rainforests and other exotic locations worldwide, and which he has placed in photosets on the Flickr website,\" he wrote on his blog ShukerNature. However, the critter pictured above appears to be a model (not an actual example) of a similar-looking but different species of moth, the Bombyx mori, also known as the (China) silkworm moth (pictured at top of this article). Bombyx mori The so-called Venezuelan poodle moth looks like this:   Distant, Daniel  \"Venezuelan Poodle Moth Confuses Scientists.\"\r  The Christian Post.  29 August 2012. Atlantic.  \"Venezuelan Poodle Moth Is the Internet's Favorite Pet This Week.\"\r  30 August 2012. Daily Mail.  \"Is It a Bird? Is It a Dog? No... It's a Moth That Looks Like a POODLE!\"\r  21 August 2012.\r","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=16OdNX_jHDVUZxkkNVli54vowDngiVpAI","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1UxsokM8P4OYxOfbuz0brxqR5G3ZS-yFE","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_515","claim":"Is Biden suggesting a 3% federal tax on property?","posted":"10\/27\/2020","sci_digest":["The Democratic presidential candidate has not proposed a 3% property tax."],"justification":"During the 2020 U.S. presidential campaign, social media postings repeatedly warned readers that Democratic candidate Joe Biden was planning to impose a 3% federal tax on the value of homes, in addition to any property taxes homeowners were already paying. However, this warning about a Biden-backed federal property tax was unfounded. Property taxes in the U.S. are set and collected at the state, county, and city levels, and the announced Biden Tax Plan includes nothing that could be construed as imposing an additional federal property tax on privately owned homes. The Tax Foundation, an independent tax policy nonprofit, summarizes the Biden tax plan as including the following primary elements applicable to individuals (rather than businesses): it imposes a 12.4 percent Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (Social Security) payroll tax on income earned above $400,000, evenly split between employers and employees. This would create a gap in the current Social Security payroll tax, where wages between $137,700, the current wage cap, and $400,000 are not taxed. It reverts the top individual income tax rate for taxable incomes above $400,000 from 37 percent under current law to the pre-Tax Cuts and Jobs Act level of 39.6 percent. It taxes long-term capital gains and qualified dividends at the ordinary income tax rate of 39.6 percent on income above $1 million and eliminates the step-up in basis for capital gains taxation. It caps the tax benefit of itemized deductions to 28 percent of value for those earning more than $400,000, meaning that taxpayers earning above that income threshold with tax rates higher than 28 percent would face limited itemized deductions. It restores the Pease limitation on itemized deductions for taxable incomes above $400,000. It phases out the qualified business income deduction (Section 199A) for filers with taxable income above $400,000. It expands the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for childless workers aged 65 and older and provides renewable energy-related tax credits to individuals. It expands the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) from a maximum of $3,000 in qualified expenses to $8,000 ($16,000 for multiple dependents) and increases the maximum reimbursement rate from 35 percent to 50 percent. For 2021 and as long as economic conditions require, it increases the Child Tax Credit (CTC) from a maximum value of $2,000 to $3,000 for children 17 or younger, while providing a $600 bonus credit for children under 6. The CTC would also be made fully refundable, removing the $2,500 reimbursement threshold and 15 percent phase-in rate. It reestablishes the First-Time Homebuyers Tax Credit, which was originally created during the Great Recession to help the housing market. Biden's homebuyers credit would provide up to $15,000 for first-time homebuyers. It expands the estate and gift tax by restoring the rate and exemption to 2009 levels. Similar analyses of Biden's tax plan by other entities include no mention of a federal property tax.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=16RZ_l8hC-6Y6UYGskN1ijCUEwl8IVJE1"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_516","claim":"Almost 100,000 people left Puerto Rico last year.","posted":"05\/17\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew is urging Congress to pass legislation to deal with Puerto Ricosdebt crisis, saying that without action the economy and welfare of the U.S. territory will continue to deteriorate. During an interview on the Bloomberg network, Lew said that Puerto Rican hospitals are ill-equipped to deal with the spread of the Zika virus, that schools are closing and that the failing economy is driving people out. You have broad economic stress causing people to leave the island, Lew said May 3, 2016. Almost 100,000 people left Puerto Rico last year. For an island with a total population around 3.5 million, thats a serious exodus. We decided to see if Lew was right. Looking at the data Census data showsa small, but steady increase in the number of people leaving Puerto Rico for the mainland. More than 360,000 people went from Puerto Rico to the United States btween 2010 and 2014. However, the Census data isnt out for 2015, which is the year Lew was talking about. So where did Lew get that figure? The estimate comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation, which tracks passengers departing from and arriving to the island. The Treasury Department has relied on this databefore, according to department spokesperson Daniel Watson. The data show about 90,000 more people left Puerto Rico for the United States than came in. *The American Community Surveyshowing total out-migration of Puerto Rico to the US mainland **T-100Domestic Market Data(US Carriers) None of this data includes people leaving Puerto Rico for somewhere other than the United States. Islanders mostly tend to head to the mainland, however, countries in Latin America, the Dominican Republic and Spain have been attracting Puerto Ricans as well. So the total number of migrants leaving the island is actually larger. Recent qualitative interviews by researchers from the Center for Puerto Rican Studies found that the people leaving Puerto Rico in the greatest numbers are nurses, paramedics, police officers, teachers, college professors and lawyers. They are often recruited and going to states with growing Hispanic populations in need of bilingual professionals. The surge in departures has led to the social media tag #yonomequito (I am not going anywhere). On Facebook this movement has been liked by70,000 people. Our ruling Lew said that almost 100,000 people left Puerto Rico last year. That appears to be close. Airline data suggests about 89,000 more people departed Puerto Rico for the United States then entered it in 2015. While thats not a perfect estimate to measure out-migration, all the population trends suggest Puerto Rico is experiencing a surge in out-migration, as residents leave for better jobs and prospects in the United States. Lews statement is Mostly True.","issues":["Global News Service","Bankruptcy","Economy","Population"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1IES4hF4Xo9X2eBhvD9BpwWxIMnzrX6vx","image_caption":"Census vs. Passenger data"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_517","claim":"Scam involving overpayment with a cashier's check","posted":"08\/03\/2003","sci_digest":["Sellers advertising online are defrauded by \"buyers\" who pay with cashier's checks made out for amounts in excess of the agreed-upon purchase price and ask the balances be sent to third parties."],"justification":"An interesting and highly lucrative con targeting those attempting to sell vehicles (and other high-ticket items) online works like the highly successful Nigerian scam. While this form of larceny typically features businessmen from Africa intent upon closing odd-sounding deals, it plays on the victims' honesty rather than their greed. \n\n[Collected via Facebook, May 2015] There is a scam going around, and I was almost a victim of it today. I recently posted an ad on Craigslist, and I was contacted by a person who sent me a check for $1,500 for the item I was selling. When I received the check today, it was for the amount of $4,000. When I asked why the check was for so much, they informed me that the extra money was to be shipped via Western Union to the shipper so the item could be picked up and delivered. I became suspicious and took the check to my bank to ensure it was legitimate. I was informed that it was, in fact, a fake. The bank told me that if I had cashed this check, it would have come back to me, and I would be responsible for the $4,000, and they would have access to all my banking information. I am asking everyone to please like and share this post to make it go viral so this does not happen to you or anyone you know or any hardworking Americans. Here is a picture of the check below. Please take the time to like and share. Let's get this thing viral. \n\n[Collected via e-mail, 2003] My husband is currently selling his motorcycle online. Last week, when he posted his bike, he received an email from a Hotmail account stating that the sender was interested in buying his bike and was located in West Africa. He mentioned that he knows someone in the U.S. who owes him money and would like to get our address to meet and make the exchange, and that he would pay for all shipping charges. A friend of ours, whose cousin is also selling his bike, received the same email but from a different email and name. That sounded funny to me. Well, my husband reposted his bike yesterday online, and he received another email about the same thing, with the sender claiming to reside in West Africa. \n\nThe scam works like this: Example 1: Dr. Dipo Morgans of Nigeria wants to buy your used car for $5,000. His friend, Mr. Okuta, will be sending you a cashier's check for $8,000. You are to keep $5,000 for the car and send the remaining $3,000 to Dr. Morgans. Example 2: Dr. Dipo Morgans of Nigeria wants to buy your used car for $5,000. He will be sending you a cashier's check for $8,000 on the understanding that you will forward $3,000 of it to the shipping company that will be transporting your car to Africa. In some versions of the scam, the buyer is not an individual but rather an agent for a firm that purchases cars on behalf of others, often diplomats stationed in foreign lands. This car broker is usually located in Africa. \n\nThe \"reason\" for the inflated-value check will vary from one attempt to defraud to another. Currency exchange problems will be cited, or a horrified buyer will realize he's had the check prepared for far too large an amount. Alternatively, the check may be sent by a third party for the full amount this other person supposedly owes the buyer, or it could be a refund check for a failed sale of something that would have cost more. Sometimes, it is claimed that it would take 30 days to clear a check from Africa, hence the need for an American third party to send the payment. The reasons are many, varied, and false. \n\nCars or motorcycles aren't the only items to attract this form of scam; those attempting to sell horses have experienced it too. It's not unreasonable to extrapolate that those attempting to sell boats will be similarly targeted. What matters is not the nature of the item being offered for sale but its price; it has to be high enough to justify the seller's feeling comfortable in sending thousands of his own dollars to a stranger under the mistaken belief he's already holding an even greater sum in his hand. \n\nIn another form of the scam, those advertising online for roommates are contacted by prospective apartment-sharers who want to send cashier's checks to cover the first few months' rent plus a few thousand extra, requiring that the extra be mailed back to them. Though nothing is being offered for sale, it's the same scheme: the check will turn out to be worthless, but usually only long after the roommate-hunter has mailed his own very good check to the con artist. \n\nThe scam works because the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) requires banks to make money from cashier's, certified, or teller's checks available in one to five days. Consequently, funds from checks that might not be good are often released into payees' accounts long before the checks have been honored by their issuing banks. High-quality forgeries can be bounced back and forth between banks for weeks before anyone catches on to their being worthless, by which time victims have long since wired the \"overpayments\" to the con artists who have just taken them for a ride. \n\nAlthough this scam is in its infancy, real people have already been bilked out of thousands of dollars by it\u2014in some cases, tens of thousands. The con has claimed victims in communities across the USA, so don't let your not having heard about it before lull you into a false sense of security. That the game is new doesn't mean it's not dangerous. \n\nHow to Avoid Falling Victim to Cashier's Check Scams: Additional information: Espinoza, Richard and Dan Morgolies. \"Latest Net Scam Preys on Honest Folks.\" Charleston Gazette. 1 June 2003 (p. D7). Flaum, David. \"Scam Hits Sellers Over Net.\" The [Memphis] Commercial Appeal. 2 March 2003 (p. G1). Jones, Matthew. \"Beach Police Officers Warn of Fake-Check Web Scam.\" The Virginian-Pilot. 9 January 2003 (p. B4). Kades, Deborah. \"Wisconsin Residents Fall Prey to Used Vehicle, Lottery Scams.\" The Wisconsin State Journal. 12 December 2002. Kristof, Kathy M. \"Nigerian Money Con Targets Small Firms.\" Los Angeles Times. 7 September 2003 (p. C3). Associated Press. \"Missoula Credit Union Members Taken.\" 15 March 2003.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_518","claim":"Did George Clooney Slam Trump and His Talk of a 'Hollywood Elite'?","posted":"12\/08\/2020","sci_digest":["In late 2020, the world-famous actor and director was quoted as calling the outgoing president a \"guy who takes a s--- in a gold toilet.\" "],"justification":"In December 2020, readers asked Snopes to check the authenticity and accuracy of a diatribe against outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump, widely attributed to actor and director George Clooney. The speech has been shared many thousands of times over the past three years, in social media posts, and in the form of memes. For unknown reasons, it enjoyed something of a resurgence in October and December 2020. shared thousands October December 2020 A typical post read: George Clooney's response after Trump accused him of being a \"Hollywood elite\". \"Here's the thing: I grew up in Kentucky. I sold insurance door-to-door. I sold ladies' shoes. I worked at an all-night liquor store. I would buy suits that were too big and too long and cut the bottom of the pants off to make ties so I'd have a tie to go on job interviews. I grew up understanding what it was like to not have health insurance for eight years. So this idea that I'm somehow the 'Hollywood elite' and this guy who takes a shit in a gold toilet is somehow the man of the people is laughable. \"People in Hollywood, for the most part, are people from the Midwest who moved to Hollywood to have a career. So this idea of 'coastal elites' living in a bubble is ridiculous. Who lives in a bigger bubble? He lives in a gold tower and has twelve people in his company. He doesn't run a corporation of hundreds of thousands of people he employs and takes care of. He ran a company of twelve people! \"When you direct a film you have seven different unions all wanting different things, you have to find consensus with all of them, and you have to get them moving in the same direction. He's never had to do any of that kind of stuff. I just look at it and I laugh when I see him say 'Hollywood elite.' Hollywood elite? I don't have a star on Hollywood Boulevard, Donald Trump has a star on Hollywood Boulevard! Fuck you!\"   Some of those posts and memes contained a small number of very minor tweaks in wording, but overall, they accurately and fairly attributed the diatribe to Clooney, who did indeed hammer Trump as a \"guy who takes a shit in a gold toilet\" and \"lives in a gold tower,\" and did indeed finish his speech by telling Trump \"Fuck you!\" Clooney's remarks came in the context of an interview with the Daily Beast, published on Sept. 22, 2017. Many of the viral social media posts claimed Clooney was speaking in response to Trump's accusation that Clooney was part of a \"Hollywood elite.\" interview But that's not quite right. The question (or prompt) to which Clooney was responding was, \"Trump has been stoking this culture war between \"coastal elites\" and Middle America  the irony of course being that Trump himself is a \"coastal elite.\" Below is the exchange as it appeared in its original context:  ","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1K9U_ts-GdKJ-ZeV8jKiRg6YL2Ng-Kkk2","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1LKEnkGJP2dM7Y8yf3A7rmEP7x89-EZhC","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_519","claim":"Was George Washington in favor of citizens being armed in opposition to the government?","posted":"01\/07\/2016","sci_digest":["Founding Father George Washington supposedly said that a free people need \"sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence\" from their own government."],"justification":"In January 2016, a quote attributed to first U.S. president George Washington, about the importance of an armed citizenry, started recirculating on the internet:  This statement had been making the online rounds for several years, but it regained popularity in January 2016 after President Obama announced new measures on gun control. announced George Washington never uttered the phrase in question. The first ten words (\"a free people ought not only be armed and disciplined\") are taken from the former president's annual address to theSenate and House of Representatives on 8 January 1790, in which he argued in favor of an armed citizenry and self-sufficiency in production military supplies as a deterrent to war: annual address Among the many interesting objects which will engage your attention that of providing for the common defense will merit particular regard. To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace. A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined; to which end a uniform and well-digested plan is requisite; and their safety and interest require that they should promote such manufactories as tend to render them independent of others for essential, particularly military, supplies. The proper establishment of the troops which may be deemed indispensable will be entitled to mature consideration. In the arrangements which may be made respecting it it will be of importance to conciliate the comfortable support of the officers and soldiers with a due regard to economy. A page dedicated to fake quotes attributed to George Washington on theMount Vernon web site addressed this passage as follows: addressed This quote is partially accurate as the beginning section is taken from Washington's First Annual Message to Congress on the State of the Union. However, the quote is then manipulated into a differing context and the remaining text is inaccurate. Although this meme does include a portion of Washington's first annual addressto members of theSenate and House of Representatives in1790, the majority of the quotewas never utteredby the Founding Father, and does not accurately represent his views on gun control. Nonetheless, its apocryphal nature doesn't hinder its continued reproduction as a genuine expression from George Washington: ","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1KRgCeofRL3jgcJ1HLOmUe8K-fO4utu_k"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1taUsv_Tzv3zM5149lTB5KAe6ADW7B36f"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_520","claim":"Is Joanna Gaines Quitting 'Fixer Upper'?","posted":"05\/09\/2017","sci_digest":["Contrary to Internet rumor, the home improvement maven isn't quitting the HGTV show to start her own cosmetics company."],"justification":"In March 2017, an assortment of dubious online advertisements masquerading as People articles declared that Joanna Gaines, costar of the HGTV home improvement series \"Fixer Upper,\" is suing to break her contract. The ads claimed that Gaines, who hosts the show with her husband, wanted to leave \"Fixer Upper\" to start her own cosmetics line: declared Joanna Gaines Fixer Upper   HGTV has had enough. Joanna has been showing up late to the construction sites as well as the filmings and now have found out Joanna has been leading a double life. Her disinterest in the show \"Fixer Upper\" with her hilarious husband Chip Gaines has fallen to the wayside due to her side business. Here we reveal the truth behind what this side business is really all about... The star of HGTVs hit TV show, Joanna Gaines, has shocked us all and 2017 has only just started. In recent developments, the reality star revealed that she just started a side beauty business because she is a serial entrepreneur and it's just in her nature. She never expected it to grow as fast as it did. HGTV and the network as a whole was not happy when they found out about this (to say the least) and they made Joanna decide on which direction she was going to go. Being so turned off by the reaction of HGTV and their \"power move\" she decided to pursue her new skin care line.   The article went on to promote VLamorous, a purported \"anti-aging serum.\"  Another version of the scam hawks a product allegedly created by Gaines called Bella Serata Anti-Aging Serum (the text is otherwise identical). version The ads prompted a spate of rumors that Gaines is abandoning the popular TV show and questions from concerned viewers. Gaines responded to these in a 21 April 2017 blog post entitled \"Don't Believe Everything You Read\": post At the end of the day, weve learned its impossible to control all the information thats out there. We care about you guys, and the best way we can protect you from false information is to direct you to our official channels. Follow our social media accounts, ... sign up for our newsletter, and keep up with our blog. These are the spots where well tell you about our new partnerships, projects, and even personal news. Always remember: if youre reading big, exciting news about us, and we did not confirm it on our official sites, then proceed with caution. We are so thankful for your supportwe wouldnt be here without you! And just in case you were wondering, YES! We are currently filming season 5 of the show. No! I am not getting into the business of facial creams. And No! We are not expecting baby #5. And no worries, believing some of these stories happens to the best of us. In summary, dont buy the facial cream, friends. As often happens, however, the false reports continued to propagate via social media, eliciting this taciturn tweet from Chip Gaines a few weeks later:  tweet No https:\/\/t.co\/mWxcQAzDud https:\/\/t.co\/mWxcQAzDud  Chip Gaines (@chippergaines) May 8, 2017 May 8, 2017 However, just shy of five months later, the Gaineses announced on their blog that they would be quitting Fixer Upper at the end of season five, which is scheduled to begin airing on the HGTV network in November 2017: announced It is with both sadness and expectation that we share the news that season 5 of Fixer Upper will be our last. While we are confident that this is the right choice for us, it has for sure not been an easy one to come to terms with. Our family has grown up alongside yours, and we have felt you rooting us on from the other side of the screen. How bittersweet to say goodbye to the very thing that introduced us all in the first place. They did not specify their reasons for leaving the show. Gaines, Chip and Joanna.\"Our Last Season.\"\rMagnoliaMarket.com.26 September 2017. Gaines, Joanna. \"Don't Believe Everything You Read.\"\r MagnoliaMarket.com. 21 April 2017. IMDb.com. \"Fixer Upper.\"\r Visited 9 May 2017. Update [26 November 2017]: Added information about Chip and Joanna Gaines's announcement that they will be leaving \"Fixer Upper\" at the end of its fifth season.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Exdc4iIjWzdlXJrTpO796z6Em3XYaINa","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_521","claim":"Is Khizr Khan a Muslim Brotherhood Agent?","posted":"08\/01\/2016","sci_digest":["After Khizr Khan's emotional DNC speech, rumors were circulated claiming the father of a fallen U.S. soldier is a Muslim Brotherhood operative."],"justification":"An unexpected controversy took root after the July 2016 Democratic National Convention (DNC) involving key speaker Khizr Khan, who took to the convention stage to speak about Donald Trump, Muslims in America, and the loss of his son, U.S. Army Captain Humayun Khan: Captain Humayun Khan   Khan's speech was preceded by brief introductory footage of Hillary Clinton describing his immigration to the United States, and how his son was killed in action in Iraq while guarding his Army unit. Khan reiterated his son's story and challenged Donald Trump (who has at times proposed barring Muslims from entering the United States) to read the U.S. Constitution: Like many immigrants, we came to this country empty-handed. We believed in American democracy; that with hard work and goodness of this country, we could share in and contribute to its blessings ... Our son, Humayun, had dreams too, of being a military lawyer, but he put those dreams aside the day he sacrificed his life to save the lives of his fellow soldiers. Hillary Clinton was right when she called my son \"the best of America.\" If it was up to Donald Trump, he never would have been in America. Donald Trump consistently smears the character of Muslims. He disrespects other minorities: women, judges, even his own party leadership. He vows to build walls, and ban us from this country. Donald Trump, you're asking Americans to trust you with their future. Let me ask you: have you even read the United States constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy. [Waved \"Pocket Constitution.\"] In this document, look for the words \"liberty\" and \"equal protection of law.\" Have you ever been to Arlington Cemetery? Go look at the graves of brave patriots who died defending the United States of America. You will see all faiths, genders and ethnicities. You have sacrificed nothing and no one. Trump repeatedly issued comments about Khan via Twitter as the Khans were being interviewed about the speech and about Trump's reaction to it: Captain Khan, killed 12 years ago, was a hero, but this is about RADICAL ISLAMIC TERROR and the weakness of our \"leaders\" to eradicate it!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 31, 2016 July 31, 2016 I was viciously attacked by Mr. Khan at the Democratic Convention. Am I not allowed to respond? Hillary voted for the Iraq war, not me!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 31, 2016 July 31, 2016  This story is not about Mr. Khan, who is all over the place doing interviews, but rather RADICAL ISLAMIC TERRORISM and the U.S. Get smart!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 1, 2016 August 1, 2016  On 31 July 2016, the dispute escalated when Trump suggested to ABC's George Stephanopoulos and the New York Times' Maureen Dowd that Khan's wife Ghazala was silent during her husband's DNC speech because, as a Muslim female, she was not permitted to speak: Mr. Trump told Mr. Stephanopoulos that Mr. Khan seemed like a nice guy and that he wished him the best of luck. But, he added, If you look at his wife, she was standing there, she had nothing to say, she probably  maybe she wasnt allowed to have anything to say, you tell me. Mr. Trump also told Maureen Dowd of The New York Times, Id like to hear his wife say something. A day earlier, Mrs. Khan told MSNBC that she was unable to bring herself to speak at the convention due to her ongoing grief over her son's death: Ms. Khan did speak to MSNBCs Lawrence ODonnell, saying she cannot even come in the room where his pictures are. When she saw her sons photograph on the screen behind her on the stage in Philadelphia, she said, I couldnt take it. I controlled myself at that time, she said, while choking back tears. It is very hard. On 31 July, Ghazala Khan wrote an editorial for the Washington Post addressing the ongoing controversy. The same day Mrs. Khan's editorial appeared, bloggers Theodore and Walid Shoebat published a lengthy polemic stitching together circumstantial evidence to suggest Khizr Khan was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood: editorial Shoebat polemic The Muslim who attacked Donald Trump, Khizr Muazzam Khan, is a Muslim Brotherhood agent, working to bring Muslims into the United States. After reading what we discovered so far, it becomes obvious that Khan wanted to trump Trumps Muslim immigration policy of limiting Muslim immigration into the U.S. But not so fast. Trump we have your back. The Shoebats went on to cite two papers written by Khan in 1983 and 1984 pertaining to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, described as \"an intergovernmental oil company consisting of mainly Islamic countries\" and a second titled \"Juristic Classification of Islamic Law\" (both of which were written prior to the family's move to the United States). With respect to the latter, Shoebat bracketed a not-present \"Sharia\" in the title and included a snapshot of the only page of the paper freely available (which in no part suggested support for Sharia law or membership in the Muslim brotherhood and appeared to be an academic piece, not an advocacy paper). The Shoebats maintained that in the paper \"Khan shows his appreciation for the icon of the Muslim Brotherhood,\" referencing a citation holding that \"The contribution to this article of S. Ramadans writing is greatly acknowledged.\" page However, the quoted text was suspiciously elided from the screenshot that appeared on Shoebat and looked far less damning in its actual context as an academic footnote:  The elided citation was offered as support of the assertion that Khan's work was undersigned by the \"Saudi Wahhabist religious institution\" and cited a \"recent report\" that Khan had moved from Pakistan to the United Arab Emirates, \"a hotbed for the Muslim Brotherhood.\" That \"recent report\" was a Politico article that described the Khan \"familys journey from Pakistan to the United Arab Emirates, and from there to Boston,\" which in turn referenced Khan's 2005 interview with the Washington Post about the recent loss of his son Humayun. In its original context, the interview revealed a very different picture than the one painted by the Shoebats: article interview [Khan] and his wife would talk often to their three boys about why they decided to come to the United States, he began. It was the 1970s, and Pakistan was under military rule. They came to Silver Spring to have more freedom and opportunity. \"It sounds cliche,\" said Khan, 54, \"but that is the story.\" His son was always reading books about Thomas Jefferson; that part of his passion was certainly his father's doing. When the boys were small, Khan would take them to the Jefferson Memorial. He'd have them stand there and read the chiseled, curving words about swearing hostility against tyrannies over the minds of men ... It was not exactly surprising, he continued, that Humayun quoted Jefferson in his admissions essay for the University of Virginia, a line about freedom requiring vigilance. It was a bit surprising, though, when he signed up for ROTC and told his dad that after graduation in 2000, he wanted to join the Army. \"He said that it seems only fair and logical to join the Army,\" Khan said. \"Because he wanted to complete the journey  he felt that ROTC had completed him as a person, and he wanted to give back. That's what he wanted to do.\" It was logical, Khan said, and how was a lawyer going to argue with logic? Humayun finished his four years of service and was preparing for law school when the Army called him back to duty. As he was moving into Iraq last year, Khan called him and they spoke briefly, a conversation he has turned over in his mind a million times since. His son said, \"Remember I wrote that article for admission to U-Va.?\" Khan said, pausing, taking the pen cap off and putting it on again, his voice steady. \"He said, 'I meant it.' He said that. He wasn't going there through some thoughtless process, or thoughtlessly following orders. He thought he was serving a purpose.\" Khan recounted the details of his son's death to the paper in 2005, noting that by all accounts his son sent his unit to safety before running towards a suicide bomber: Over time, his colonel and his fellow soldiers told Khan how his son died, and that, too, had some sort of horrible logic to it. Humayun's job at the base in Baqubah was to inspect the soldiers at the gates, where crowds of Iraqis would sometimes gather. Humayun went early that morning, which was just like him. He saw a taxi speeding toward the gates, too fast, he thought. He yelled for everyone to hit the dirt. Then, as was his nature, he went running toward it, they said. \"Ten or 15 steps with his hand outstretched,\" his father said, stretching his own arm out in front of him almost a year later, telling some ghost taxi to stop in a downtown conference room. The explosives detonated before the car could ram the gates or the mess hall nearby, where several hundred soldiers were eating breakfast. The Shoebat page was something of a Gish Gallop, patching together a pile of loosely or unrelated details to paint a picture of a Muslim Brotherhood infiltrator in the Army who was killed before he could complete some undescribed subversive mission: Gish Gallop I can go on and on. Is it likely that Khans son was killed before his Islamist mission was accomplished? Only another type of investigation will determine that. Do they ever mention how many soldiers have died because of Muslim traitors? Do they ever bring up how many Christians in the US military were killed? Yet the modernists and homosexuals continue to attack Christians. But soon everything we need to know will be uncovered. As we say in the Middle East: the snow always melts and the sh*t under it will soon be revealed. The Shoebats' insinuations about the younger Khan directly conflict with all other published accounts about him. Had Humayun's intent in joining the Army been one of sabotage, there would be no reason to expect he'd ultimately lay down his life to stop a suicide bomber from killing scores of other American soldiers  yet by every telling, that is exactly how Capt. Humayun Khan died. The other big \"smoking gun\" Shoebat cited to support their theory that Khizr Khan is a Muslim Brotherhood operative is his work as an immigration lawyer. By their rationale, Khan bears a grudge against Donald Trump for the candidate's myriad statements about Muslims and immigration  but although it's true that Khizr Khan and his sons were Muslims immigrants to the United States, none of the \"evidence\" presented by Shoebat remotely supported the idea that Khan is an operative of the Muslim brotherhood. Not only were most of the points made about Khan by Shoebat unrevealing and tenuous, the heroic death of Humayun Khan flies in the face of claims the family were Muslims operatives seeking to harm Americans or work against U.S. interests. Capt. Khan enlisted in the U.S. Army by choice and died protecting his fellow soldiers; by contrast, the only \"evidence\" linking his family to the Muslim Brotherhood are irrelevant, decades-old papers written about OPEC and Islamic law by Khizr Khan before he immigrated to America.  Haberman, Maggie and Richard A. Oppel, Jr.  \"Donald Trump Criticizes Muslim Family of Slain U.S. Soldier, Drawing Ire.\"\r  The New York Times.  30 July 2016. Khan, Ghazala.  \"Ghazala Khan: Trump Criticized My Silence. He Knows Nothing About True Sacrifice.\"\r  The Washington Post.  31 July 2016. Khan, Khzir.  \"Juristic Classification of Islamic Law.\"\r  Houston Journal of International Law.  1983. McCrummen, Stephanie.  \"Khizr Khans Loss: A Grieving Father of a Soldier Struggles to Understand.\"\r  The Washington Post.  22 March 2005. Shoebat, Theodore and Walid Shoebat.  \"What The Media Is Not Telling You About the Muslim Who Attacked Donald Trump ...\"\r  Shoebat.  31 July 2016. Timsit, Annabelle.  \"Seven Minutes That Shook the Convention.\"\r  Politico.  29 July 2016.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1wxl8Z-ZaK16UA-9uBieZXeG23Yu1Oto9","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_522","claim":"Is an 'Obama Don't Separate Me From My Mommy' Protest Sign Real?","posted":"06\/21\/2018","sci_digest":["A photograph showing protesters holding a sign is real, but the sign is referring to separations due to the deportation of family members in the United States rather than forcibly separating families at the border."],"justification":"As news broke in June 2018 that children were being separated from their families by immigration agents as they crossed into the United States from Mexico, an intense round of whataboutism ensued as the usual bots, paid trolls, unpaid trolls, and useful idiots took the opportunity to claim that President Barack Obama did the same thing during his time in office (he didn't). One piece of \"evidence\" supporting this argument was a photograph of a group of protesters holding a sign reading \"Obama Don't Separate Me From My Mommy.\" This image was frequently shared along with statements claiming that it destroyed \"the liberal narrative,\" and that Obama, too, had kept children in cages after separating them from their mothers. This is indeed a genuine photograph that was taken during the Obama era in 2014. However, there are major differences between the immigration policy at the center of the pictured protest and the child detention centers that were at the center of public outrage in June 2018. In a nutshell: Families were separated under President Barack Obama as a result of the deportation of undocumented people from the United States. Families were separated under President Donald Trump as parents and children were put into different detention facilities after they crossed the border to ask for asylum in the United States. Obama was referred to by some border activists as the \"Deporter-in-Chief\" during his time in office, as he deported more people from the United States (thanks in part, but not completely, to a change in definition) than any other president in modern history. Many of these deportations resulted in families being separated because children born in the United States were allowed to stay in the country while their parents were forced to leave. A June 2014 article published by the American Civil Liberties Union criticized Obama, saying that he was not living up to the promises he made on immigration during the 2008 campaign, and that deportation was still separating children from their parents under his watch. During the 2008 campaign, Senator Barack Obama seemed to understand their pain and promised to fix our broken immigration system. He promised to enact comprehensive immigration reform and create a pathway to citizenship for the millions of hardworking people who labor for little money at often thankless jobs to make their children's lives\u2014and for that matter, our lives\u2014a little bit easier. He pledged to no longer separate children from their parents. Today, 4 million children call an undocumented immigrant mom or dad, children who hug their parents extra tight before they leave for work for fear they'll never see them again. The viral photograph was taken by Associated Press photographer Jose Luis Magana on 2 August 2014 as demonstrators asked Obama to modify his deportation policies. Obama attempted to mitigate the issue a few months later when he announced the \"Immigration Accountability Executive Action\" plan. One of the central points of the plan was to focus on felons rather than families; another was to provide undocumented immigrants already living in the United States a chance to avoid deportation by passing a background check and paying taxes. This photograph shows a group of protesters urging President Barack Obama to modify his policies in order to ease deportations that result in family separations. The sign does not refer to children that were taken away from their parents and placed in detention centers.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1LMU8SHztAa_DvL-ftqywgVg7cq_0kfzv","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_523","claim":"Vintage Pic Shows Bizarre 'Blizzard Cones' To Protect Faces from Snow?","posted":"09\/03\/2023","sci_digest":["After its invention in 1907, the new synthetic material called \"plastic\" took the world by storm."],"justification":"Since the 2010s, a picture has permeated various corners of the internet, purportedly showing two women adorned with large \"blizzard cones\" to protect their faces from a snowstorm. For example, a Reddit post claimed that the picture was authentic and accurately captioned (aside from the misspelling of \"Montreal\"). Snopes traced the location of the photograph's original physical copy to an archive in the Netherlands, where an editor shared what is known about its backstory. Through a reverse-image search, Snopes found that the photograph has been circulating online since at least 2010, when it was published by the entertainment website Bored Panda. Since then, dozens of websites, such as Country Living, and social media platforms, including Imgur and X, have shared the picture. Many posts accurately claimed that the face masks were said to protect the two individuals from snow, though some falsely asserted that such masks were supposedly used to prevent infection during the 1918 Spanish Flu. We found the above image hosted on Fine Art America's online photograph database, where it was credited to the image-licensing group Bridgeman Photos. We contacted that agency and were referred to the Dutch foundation, Spaarnestad Photo, which confirmed it was housing the original physical copy of the picture for the National Archives of the Netherlands. After reviewing the photograph upon Snopes' request, Spaarnestad Image Editor Kim Tieleman told us by email that information regarding its origins was handwritten on its back. That note stated that the Spaarnestad publishing house first published it in 1939 in the Dutch-illustrated magazine Het Leven, which translates to \"life\" in English. According to Spaarnestad's records, the picture's caption is: Two ladies wear plastic face protection against the blizzard and cold in Montreal, Canada, 1939. There was no information about who took the picture or the identities of the women. As of this writing, the photograph's credit was the Nationaal Archief\/Collectie Spaarnestad\/Het Leven, according to Tieleman. The picture's authenticity aside, Snopes was unable to determine whether the cone-shaped mask was a one-off invention in the 1930s or if the device gained any type of popularity to protect people from snow. We found no evidence of other photographs depicting similar items, and we were unable to identify the cone mask's original inventor or a patent for it. Fashion and culture historian Deirdre Clemente, an associate professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, told Snopes via email that she had never seen or heard of \"such a contraption.\" However, given the popularity of plastic at the time, she said she was not surprised that such an invention existed. \"Tons of innovations in plastics [were produced] in the 1930s and more so into the 1940s, so it's culturally on point with that period,\" Clemente said. Plastic was invented in 1907 by Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland, according to the Science History Institute in Philadelphia. This, the U.K.'s Science Museum wrote, sparked a \"consumer boom in affordable yet highly desirable products.\"","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=10FzwaLGMwUNQAD5I7Tf79MMbE_LPMcVR","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_524","claim":"Veterans' Corpses Found Rotting in Chicago VA's Morgue?","posted":"10\/03\/2016","sci_digest":["A clickbait web site used a misleading picture to advance a rumor about unclaimed veterans' corpses in a VA hospital."],"justification":"On 30 September 2016, the official-looking Tribunist.com web site published an article reporting that a backlogged Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital morgue in Chicago had left the remains of deceased veterans scandalously \"stacked to capacity at times\": article The latest scandal to break paints another bleak picture. A whistle-blower at an Illinois VA hospital has leaked news that bodies of dead veterans have been left unclaimed in the morgue for up to two months ... The level of decay was so pronounced that at least one of the bodies had liquefied. When the staff tried to remove it, the body-bag burst. Complaints were lodged with the VAs inspector general last month about the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospitals handling of cadavers. In some cases, veterans families had not claimed the bodies. The complaint names Christopher Wirtjes, chief of Patient Administrative Services. The Chief of PAS has the funds available, the complaint reads, yet has no sense of urgency to lay the veteran to rest... Some veterans remains have been left in our hospital morgue for 45 days or more until they are stacked to capacity at times, reads the complaint. Kirk has taken his concerns to VA Secretary Bob McDonald. Wirtjes has been under scrutiny before. The Office of Special Counsel found Wirtjes had devised a secret wait list that was exposed in 2014. The Tribunist site is not (as implied) tied to a major newspaper such as the Chicago Tribune, and the image appended to their article was an unrelated photograph from 2010 that had nothing to do with VA burial backlogs and misleadingly suggested that claims about dozens of rotting veterans' corpses stacked on shelves awaiting burial or release in the Chicago VA morgue had been photographically documented: 2010  The claim wasn't entirely fabricated, however. On 26 September 2016 WBBM-TV reported on allegations that the burial of two unclaimed bodies at a VA morgue in Chicago had been delayed: reported The Department of Veterans Affairs investigated the claims echoed by WBBM and the Tribunist and maintained that although some isolated veteran burial issues may have occurred in Chicago, \"allegations related to consistent problems with dignified and timely burials [are] unsubstantiated\": Internal emails reveal at least two unclaimed vets sat inside the morgue for at least 30 days this summer, allowing the bodies to badly decompose. The VA said an investigation continues but signaled it has not uncovered any widespread problem. We take whistleblower allegations very seriously and absolutely agree that all of our veterans deserve dignity and respect, in life and in death. While our investigation into this matter is still ongoing, we have found allegations related to consistent problems with dignified and timely burials to be unsubstantiated. However, we have taken this opportunity to review our policies and procedures and are currently working to improve them, a spokesperson said. Claims about the VA morgue in Chicago so far remain localized and have to do with the burial of two veterans whose bodies were left unclaimed by relatives. We contacted the Department of Veterans Affairs, and a spokesperson told us that the morgue had a capacity of nine and currently held two decedents (neither of whom had been there for more than eight days):  Honoring the men and women who nobly served our nation  in both life and death  is a solemn obligation the Department of Veterans Affairs takes seriously. Consequently, when allegations surfaced that some Veterans who succumbed to illness under the care of Edward Hines Jr VA Hospital may not have been buried in a timely manner, an immediate investigation was launched. While that investigation is ongoing, preliminary results reveal no evidence of lack of timely final care. Staff at Hines VA Hospital conducted a fact-finding investigation that shows over the last two years, the vast majority  more than 95 percent  of Veterans remains are being respectfully handled within seven days, and more than 99 percent within 30 days. Additionally, VAs Office of Medical Inspector (OMI) spent significant time at the facility interviewing employees and reviewing related materials. And while we are awaiting OMIs final report, we remain confident that our Veterans have been receiving dignified and timely burials. While rare, there have been exceptions in which decisions and requests by next of kin created delays. It is in this area where Hines has already begun improving its policies and procedures to determine when to declare a Veterans remains as unclaimed and how to ensure more timely burials for these exceptions. Once a final report from OMI is complete, the VA will take additional actions as appropriate. WBBM-TV.  \"Bodies of Unclaimed Veterans Languish At Hines VA Hospital, Whistleblower Claims.\"\r  26 September 2016.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1yJdNIIswUyiE2SNHAh0YyTAJpeUJNQRd","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_525","claim":"Did Trump Launch 2024 Presidential Campaign?","posted":"03\/02\/2021","sci_digest":["\"I may even decide to beat [Democrats] for a third time,\" the former U.S. president said at the 2021 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)."],"justification":"On Feb. 28, 2021, former U.S. President Donald Trump gave a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), marking his first major appearance since vacating the White House roughly six weeks earlier. Afterwards, some viewers interpreted his remarks as an announcement of a 2024 presidential campaign following his loss to Democratic U.S. President Joe Biden in 2020. Overall, Trump's roughly 95-minute speech in Florida attacked Republicans who strayed from his political agenda, criticized Biden's first few weeks in office, and perpetuated lies about the November 2020 election. Specifically, Trump attempted to convince the crowd that his opponents coordinated an illicit scheme to push him out of the White House when, in reality, Biden secured the job because more Americans in battleground states voted for him instead of Trump. Mixed with the lies and vitriol were remarks that teased the possibility of a 2024 Trump presidential campaign. For example, after about 16 minutes on stage, the former president said, according to CSPAN's video recording and a transcript of the event: \"I may even decide to beat [Democrats] for a third time. Okay? For a third time.\" At other points, he pointed to Biden's track record as alleged evidence of Americans voting for a Republican candidate in the next election. \"And I wonder who that will be,\" he said. \"Who, who, who will that be? I wonder.\" Shortly after the speech, Trump told a reporter with Newsmax, a media outlet popular among his supporters, that while he doubts anyone could beat him if he decided to launch a presidential campaign again, \"I haven't decided to do that.\" In other words, Trump did not use the CPAC stage \u2014 nor any other platform \u2014 to announce plans to run in 2024, as of this writing. In at least one interview, he confirmed that he had not made up his mind on whether to place another bid for the White House. Furthermore, no email to supporters soliciting donations, merchandise on TrumpStore.com, or page on his official website indicated that he was running again or advertised \"Trump 2024\" products. (Other retailers are selling such items, similarly to how his supporters are sporting \"Patriot Party\" memorabilia even though the Trump campaign attempted to distance itself from the name.) In sum, while his statements at the conference purposefully left the door open to the possibility of a 2024 Trump campaign, Trump did not officially announce one.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1nHdzXmzZk3Vw074Erm1sWGK4nvjtduMm","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1W7PlVMf7i-prWYiuheOrVeTiKpuEuprj","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_526","claim":"Etymology of 'Little History Lesson'","posted":"11\/01\/2010","sci_digest":["The etymology of the phrases contained in the 'Little History Lesson' article."],"justification":"Claim:  \"Little History Lesson\" article accurately explains origins of many common phrases.  Example:  [Collected via e-mail, October 2000] In George Washington's days, there were no cameras. One's image was either sculpted or painted. Some paintings of Washington showed him standing behind a desk with one arm behind his back while others showed both legs and both arms. Prices charged by painters were not based on how many people were to be painted, but by how many limbs were to be painted. Arms and legs are \"limbs\" therefore painting them would cost the buyer more. Hence the expression, \"Okay, but it'll cost you an arm and a leg\". As incredible as it sounds, we are informed that men and women took baths only twice a year! (May & October) Women always kept their hair covered while men shaved their heads (because of lice and bugs) and wore wigs.  Wealthy men could afford good wigs. The wigs couldn't be washed so to clean them, they would carve out a loaf of bread, put the wig in the shell and bake it for 30 minutes. The heat would make the wig big and fluffy, hence the term \"big wig.\" Today we often use the term \"here comes Mr. Big Wig\" because someone appears to be or \"is\" powerful and wealthy. In the late 1700's many houses consisted of a large room with only one chair. Commonly, a long wide board was folded down from the wall and used for dining.  The \"head of the household\" always sat in the chair while everyone else ate sitting on the floor. Once in a while an invited guest would be offered to sit in this chair during a meal whom was almost always a man.  To sit in the chair meant you were important and in charge. Sitting in the chair, one was called the \"chair man of the board.\" Today in business we use the expression\/title \"Chairman of the Board.\" Needless to say, personal hygiene left much room for improvement.  As a result, many women and men had developed acne scars by adulthood. The women would spread bee's wax over their facial skin to smooth out their complexions. When they were speaking to each other, if a woman began to stare at another woman's face she was told \"mind your own bee's wax.\"   Should thewoman smile, the wax would crack, hence the term \"crack a smile?\"  Also, when they sat too close to the fire, the wax would melt and therefore the expression \"losing face.\" Ladies wore corsets which would lace up in the front. A tightly tied lace was worn by a proper and dignified lady as in \"straight laced.\" Common entertainment included playing cards. However, there was a tax levied when purchasing playing cards but only applicable to the \"ace of spades.\" To avoid paying the tax, people would purchase 51 card instead. Yet, since most games require 52 cards, these people were thought to be stupid or dumb because they weren't \"playing with a full deck.\" Early politicians required feedback from the public to determine what was considered important to the people. Since there were no telephones, TV's or radios, the politicians sent their assistants to local taverns, pubs and bars who were told to \"go sip some ale\" and listen to people's conversations and political concerns. Many assistants were dispatched at different times... \"you go sip here\" and \"you go sip there\". The two words \"go sip\" were eventually combined when referring to the local opinion and thus, we have the term \"gossip.\" At local taverns, pubs and bars, people drank from pint and quart sized containers. A bar maid's job was to keep an eye on the customers and keep the drinks coming. She had to pay close attention and remember who was drinking in \"pints\" and who was drinking in \"quarts.\" Hence the term \"minding your \"P's\" and \"Q's.\" Origins:  In 1999, a spurious missive purporting to explain the origins of a number of common phrases appeared on the Internet. That laughable compilation, titled \"Life in the 1500s,\" was pulled together as someone's idea of a joke. 1500s In 2000, the pranksters went at it again with yet another specious list of purported word and phrase origins, this time dating it to the1700s. Typically titled \"Little History Lesson,\" it offered the set of false etymologies listed in the Example section above. Below we analyze each entry in order: In George Washington's days, there were no cameras. One's image was either sculpted or painted. Some paintings of Washington showed him standing behind a desk with one arm behind his back while others showed both legs and both arms. Prices charged by painters were not based on how many people were to be painted, but by how many limbs were to be painted. Arms and legs are \"limbs\" therefore painting them would cost the buyer more. Hence the expression, \"Okay, but it'll cost you an arm and a leg\". While some portrait artists might have charged extra for the inclusion of additional details in commissioned works, we know of none that charged per limb displayed. (Most varied their fee by the size of the canvas requested.) The \"costs an arm and a leg\" saying instead first surfaced around the 1940s, with a meaning of \"An exorbitant amount of money,\" and it likely developed from much older phrases wherein arms and legs were used as examples of extremely valuable items their possessors might be persuaded to surrender in exchange for things desired even more. \"If it takes a leg\" (used to express desperate determination) dates to 1872. Similarly, print sightings for \"I'd give my right arm\" (to be able to do something especially desired) go back as far as 1616. As incredible as it sounds, we are informed that men and women took baths only twice a year! (May & October) Women always kept their hair covered while men shaved their heads (because of lice and bugs) and wore wigs.  Wealthy men could afford good wigs. The wigs couldn't be washed so to clean them, they would carve out a loaf of bread, put the wig in the shell and bake it for 30 minutes. The heat would make the wig big and fluffy, hence the term \"big wig.\" Today we often use the term \"here comes Mr. Big Wig\" because someone appears to be or \"is\" powerful and wealthy. Full immersion bathing didn't become the norm for a very long time because it took a fair bit of work to haul the amount of water and wood needed to fill and heat a bath. However, that folks weren't routinely taking what we would consider proper baths doesn't mean that they didn't regularly clean themselves. Cleaning one's body was a matter of taking what we would regard as \"sponge baths\": wetting oneself down with a damp cloth, followed by scrubbing the body with a soapy cloth,  rinsing with a wet cloth, and finishing off with a toweling dry. Even in the 1700s in locales and social strata where the wearing of wigs was common, these headcoverings were indeed washed (albeit carefully); they were not inserted into loaves of bread and baked. (One has to wonder about an explanation that posits folks who were afraid they'd damage expensive goods by washing them would happily risk incinerating them.) Print sightings of \"big wig\" and \"big wigged\" date to 1781 and 1778 respectively, with the term's always having referred to someone regarded as societally prominent by virtue of wealth, position, or power. While the term does find its origin in the rather impressive wigs sported by the upper crust, said wigs were deliberately constructed to be large and imposing; they didn't get that way from having been baked in bread to kill lice. In the late 1700's many houses consisted of a large room with only one chair. Commonly, a long wide board was folded down from the wall and used for dining. The \"head of the household\" always sat in the chair while everyone else ate sitting on the floor. Once in a while an invited guest would be offered to sit in this chair during a meal whom was almost always a man.  To sit in the chair meant you were important and in charge. Sitting in the chair, one was called the \"chair man of the board.\" Today in business we use the expression\/title \"Chairman of the Board.\" People have been eating off tables of various forms for about as long as humans have been recording history. We're wholly unaware of any society wherein a board hinged to the wall was let down at dinnertime so that folks seated on the floor in front of it could eat from it. The \"board\" in \"chairman of the board\" refers to a board of directors, generally a group of successful businessmen appointed to oversee the running of a corporation. The word \"chairman\" dates to 1654 and refers to the occupier of a chair of authority. Needless to say, personal hygiene left much room for improvement.  As a result, many women and men had developed acne scars by adulthood. The women would spread bee's wax over their facial skin to smooth out their complexions. When they were speaking to each other, if a woman began to stare at another woman's face she was told \"mind your own bee's wax.\"  Should thewoman smile, the wax would crack, hence the term \"crack a smile?\"  Also, when they sat too close to the fire, the wax would melt and therefore the expression \"losing face.\" While throughout history women have used odd (and sometimes dangerous) substances on themselves in pursuit of beauty, we're unaware that at any point they were coating their visages with wax.  \"Mind your own beeswax,\" a phrase first noted in 1934, is no more than a cutesy way of saying \"Mind your own business,\" with \"beeswax\" used as an ear-pleasing substitute for the more staid \"business.\" The saying it's based upon, \"To mind one's business,\" dates to 1660 and means to tend to one's own concerns in preference of involving oneself in the doings of others. One \"cracks a smile\" in the same way that one cracks a joke or a boast; there is no physical crevice made in anything, let alone the fictional wax masks women were supposedly parading about in. Sightings of \"crack\" used in the sense of uttering something loudly and with flair date to 1315, with \"crack a boast\" to 1386. The linguistic concept of \"losing face\" (or saving it) didn't enter the English language prior to contact between British traders and the Chinese and was first noted in 1834. The \"face\" the Chinese were so concerned about wasn't an anatomical one but rather the publicized image of oneself, in the sense of the \"face\" one displays to the world at large. Two Chinese words, one meaning \"moral character,\" the other \"social prestige,\" were each translated into English as \"face,\" with \"to lose face\" meaning to have damage done to one's reputation or to be publicly embarrassed.  Ladies wore corsets which would lace up in the front. A tightly tied lace was worn by a proper and dignified lady as in \"straight laced.\" \"Strait-laced\" does derive from the tying of corsets, but the proposed etymology given in the article has it backwards: The term's origin has to do with the tightness of the lacing and the consequent constriction of such garments, as opposed to the moral character of the persons wearing these underpinnings. (One needs to remember that a multitude of men and women, from the wholly proper and dignified right down to the entirely disreputable, wore corsets.) \"Strait\" came into the English language from the Latin verb \"stringere,\" which means \"to strain; draw tight.\" Other \"strait\" words we're familiar with, such as Straits of Gibraltar and strait-jacket, likewise employ its narrowing or restraining elements. \"Strait-laced\" was first spotted in 1430, and while at that time it did have to do with the tightness of corsets, by the 1540s the term had expanded to encompass things that were narrow in range or scope or people that were uncommunicative (i.e., kept a great deal of themselves in). By the 1550s, it was used to describe folks who were excessively rigid or scrupulous in matters of conduct. Common entertainment included playing cards. However, there was a tax levied when purchasing playing cards but only applicable to the \"ace of spades.\" To avoid paying the tax, people would purchase 51 card instead. Yet, since most games require 52 cards, these people were thought to be stupid or dumb because they weren't \"playing with a full deck.\" Taxes were levied on playing cards in England at various times in its history, with the earliest instance occurring in 1588. However, when this tax was in force, the basic duty was applied to each deck, not just a specific card within it. Once the tax had been paid, one card from the now-taxed deck was stamped with a special seal to show that the duty had been properly rendered. Over time, that card came to be the ace of spades (most likely because it's the one on the end of the deck). \"Not playing with a full deck\" is simply one of countless sayings of the same ilk as \"two bricks shy of a load\" or \"a couple of French fries short of a Happy Meal\"; a phrase indicating that the person referred to lacks ordinary intellectual capacity. Early politicians required feedback from the public to determine what was considered important to the people. Since there were no telephones, TV's or radios, the politicians sent their assistants to local taverns, pubs and bars who were told to \"go sip some ale\" and listen to people's conversations and political concerns. Many assistants were dispatched at different times... \"you go sip here\" and \"you go sip there\". The two words \"go sip\" were eventually combined when referring to the local opinion and thus, we have the term \"gossip.\" \"Gossip\" descends from \"God sib,\" an ancient term (1014) for godparent or sponsor. (A christening ceremony was a \"gossiping.\") Along the way to its current meaning, \"gossip\" picked up the additional meaning of \"chum\" or \"friend.\" One of the activities folks engage in with their friends is chewing over the events of the day, and over time the word \"gossip\" shifted away from the person chatted with to the activity itself, as well as coming to attach to people overly fond of discussing the doings of others. At local taverns, pubs and bars, people drank from pint and quart sized containers. A bar maid's job was to keep an eye on the customers and keep the drinks coming. She had to pay close attention and remember who was drinking in \"pints\" and who was drinking in \"quarts.\" Hence the term \"minding your \"P's\" and \"Q's.\" In an nutshell (with the non-nutshell version to be found here), while the definitive origin of this phrase has yet to surface, ones that most certainly can be ruled out are the \"pints and quarts served in a bar\" explanations. The first print sighting of the saying dates to 1756 (or even earlier if we accept a 1602 sighting of a variant of the phrase), which means it long predates the selling of beer in pints and quarts. here While the \"Little History Lesson\" e-mail has remained surprisingly static across its decade-plus existence, one additional item about freezing the balls off a brass monkey has come to be added to it.  One more: bet you didn't know this! In the heyday of sailing ships, all war ships and many freighters carried iron cannons. Those cannons fired round iron cannon balls. It was necessary to keep a good supply near the cannon. However, how to prevent them from rolling about the deck? The best storage method devised was a square-based pyramid with one ball on top, resting on four resting on nine, which rested on sixteen. Thus, a supply of 30 cannon balls could be stacked in a small area right next to the cannon. There was only one problem... how to prevent the bottom layer from sliding or rolling from under the others. The solution was a metal plate called a \"Monkey\" with 16 round indentations. However, if this plate were made of iron, the iron balls would quickly rust to it. The solution to the rusting problem was to make \"Brass Monkeys.\" Few land lubbers realize that brass contracts much more and much faster than iron when chilled. Consequently, when the temperature dropped too far, the brass indentations would shrink so much that the iron cannonballs would come right off the monkey. Thus, it was quite literally, \"Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.\" (All this time, youthought that was an improper expression, didn't you.) That writeup first appeared on the Internet in September 2002 as a stand-alone item. By March 2004 it began showing up as the completing entry in the \"Little History Lesson\" mailing. In a further nutshell, (with the non-nutshell version offered here), while the etymology of this pronouncement is still up in the air, the \"cannonballs\" explanation should be dismissed because  when the saying started appearing in print in the mid-19th century, various body parts (ears, tail, nose, or whiskers) were said to be about to fall off a brass monkey thanks to the cold. here Barbara \"frozen assets\" Mikkelson Last updated:  1 November 2010    Lighter, J.E.  Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang.   New York: Random House, 1997.  IBSN 0-679-43464-X. Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang    The Compact Oxford English Dictionary.   Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993.  ISBN 0-19-861258-3. The Compact Oxford English Dictionary","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_527","claim":"Did Clifford Walker Say at a 1924 KKK Rally That He Would Build a 'Wall of Steel' Against Immigrants?","posted":"01\/14\/2019","sci_digest":["A presidential biographer drew a comparison to then-Georgia Gov. Walker's comments and steel border wall construction desired by President Trump."],"justification":"On 8 January 2019, presidential biographer Jon Meacham tweeted what he described as a quote from the year 1924 made by then-Georgia Gov. Clifford Walker during a speech given at a Ku Klux Klan gathering: America should build a wall of steel, a wall as high as Heaven\" against the flow of immigrants.--Georgia Gov. Clifford Walker, at a 1924 convention of the Ku Klux Klan, then a powerful force at a time of strain for the white working class. #PastIsPrologue #PastIsPrologue  Jon Meacham (@jmeacham) January 8, 2019 January 8, 2019  The quote spread across the Internet, stripped of its context and in meme form, prompting some readers to query whether the quote and its description were real:   We confirmed that Walker did in fact make this remark in regards to immigrants at a KKK gathering. The statement was part of a speech called \"Americanism Applied\" and given by Walker at a \"Klonvocation\" in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1924. It can be found in a book called the Proceedings of the Second Imperial Klonvokation of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. The contents of that book have been uploaded to the Internet Archive, and we confirmed its authenticity with the Special Collections branch of the University of California at Davis' library, which also possesses a copy. Internet Archive Meacham's tweet was referencing a protracted partial shutdown of the federal government resulting from an impasse over a demand by President Donald Trump for a budget appropriation of $5.7 billion to fund wall construction along the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump had been stating on Twitter that his desired wall would be made of steel: A design of our Steel Slat Barrier which is totally effective while at the same time beautiful! pic.twitter.com\/sGltXh0cu9 pic.twitter.com\/sGltXh0cu9  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 21, 2018 December 21, 2018  Although harsh immigration rhetoric and policies have primarily targeted Latino migrants, Walker's comments demonstrate the shifting idea of which immigrant groups are considered favorable. His declaration, in its entirety, stated: \"I would build a wall of steel, a wall as high as Heaven, against the admission of a single one of those Southern Europeans who never thought the thoughts or spoke the language of a democracy in their lives.\" Kinights of the Ku Klux Klan, Inc.  Proceedings of the Second Imperial Klonvocation of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Held in Kansas City, MO in September 1924.\r  1924. Meacham, Jon.  The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels.\r  Random House, 2018.  ISBN 0399589813. Baker, Kelly J.  \"Make America White Again?\"\r  The Atlantic.  12 March 2016.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1nHaFfhIfMyJKd3_oDXxXJUnl7EmxCyRz","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_528","claim":"Does President Donald Trump's 'Muslim Ban' Exclude Countries Where He Has Businesses?","posted":"01\/31\/2017","sci_digest":["The president had admitted to having \"a little conflict of interest\" because of a licensing deal in Turkey, but it is not clear whether the countries listed in his immigration executive order were affected by his business interests."],"justification":"President Donald Trump's controversial executive order on 28 January 2017 restricts immigration into the U.S. from seven countries with predominantly Muslim populations. However, memes and stories quickly appeared to point out that this stay does not include nations where he has business interests. The order suspends entry into the U.S. from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen for 90 days. But critics have argued that Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates were not included, even though a report from the Cato Institute showed that the three countries were the point of origin for people responsible for 94.1 percent of American deaths due to terrorist attacks in the U.S. Eighteen of the 19 people responsible for the 11 September 2001 attacks also hailed from those three countries. order report Prior to his inauguration, Trump said in January 2017 said that he would not divest himself of ownership of his business holding, but instead turn over management duties to his two sons. Trump's executive branch financial disclosure form, which he submitted to the Federal Elections Commission in 2015, lists LLCs based in Dubai, the U.A.E's largest city: said disclosure form,           Dubai is also the site of a Trump-owned golf course slated for completion in 2017. However, it is not immediately clear whether the sites of Trump's business holdings have anything to do with the countries affected by his executive order. completion Trump is also currently licensing his name for use on two luxury towers in Istanbul, Turkey. The disclosure form stated an income between $1 million and $5 million from that agreement: licensing   The president mentioned the towers in a December 2015 interview with Breitbart News chair Stephen Bannon, who would go on to become Trump's chief advisor. Trump said at the time: interview I have a little conflict of interest 'cause I have a major, major building in Istanbul. It's a tremendously successful job. It's called Trump Towerstwo towers, instead of one, not the usual one, it's two.. In January 2017, the State Department issued a travel warning for Turkey, citing \"increased threats from terrorist groups.\" Trump's FEC filing also included holdings in Azerbaijan, Egypt, and Indonesia. issued Nowrasteh, Alex. \"Guide to Trumps Executive Order to Limit Migration for 'National Security' Reasons.\" The Cato Institute. 26 January 2017. Sullivan, Andy et al. \"Trump says won't divest from his business while president.\" Reuters. 11 January 2017. Riehl, Dan. \"Trump blasts Obama while warning of World War III.\" Breitbart.com. 1 December 2015. U.S. Department of State. \"Turkey Travel Warning.\" travel.state.gov. 25 January 2017.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=18zH4_AnsFWYUKi3HJxQImKQfznX-RAxI","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1J7ryi_u8GljnIFsG7dIBRWmXWfkyPKGI","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1OnN9YBJzmU1l8cZSDz4CDZvF-wwqcgNI","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1WORy6-HZzvNwBeMLW7_KHBFeEH5ZZMdM","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1M-fJRfU6Z-weoFzgbXKvhCAwiwcF7iyV","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1VbT6NtWCWTCF2JNYj_qTaYtbaj7UWb2D","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_529","claim":"Of all the 62 counties in New York state, all of them, unemployment is going up except for the five counties of New York City.","posted":"01\/17\/2018","sci_digest":[],"justification":"New York Republican State Committee Chairman Edward F. Cox claimed that the unemployment rate is rising in upstate counties, something Republicans intend to remind voters about in the 2018 race for governor. Of all the 62 counties in New York State, unemployment is increasing in all except for the five counties of New York City, Cox said in a radio interview. This claim stands in direct contrast to the more optimistic picture of the economy painted by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. The governor touted a decline in unemployment statewide during his State of the State address this month, stating that every region has seen a drop in unemployment and underemployment. Cox based his claim on a press release from the state Department of Labor, his spokesperson said. The release showed the jobless rate for the state's 15 metro areas in November 2016 and November 2017, the latest data released by the department. However, the release does not break down unemployment by county, although it links to that data. Albany, Schenectady, and Troy are all counted as one area, even though the cities are in different counties. Each of the 14 metro areas outside New York City had a higher unemployment rate in November 2017 than the year before, according to the data. The rural parts of the state, lumped into one category, also experienced a higher unemployment rate. The New York City metro area was the only place where unemployment decreased. A short-term rise in unemployment isn't always bad news. As was the case in Massachusetts last year, a higher unemployment rate could indicate that more people have decided to enter a growing workforce but have not yet landed a job. All but five of the state's metro areas added private sector jobs last year. Meanwhile, the labor force increased in all but two counties in New York State. The state Department of Labor also tracks the unemployment rate for each county. Our analysis of the data shows that Cox is mostly correct in his claim, with a few exceptions. The unemployment rate in Lewis County decreased from 6.1 percent in November 2016 to 5.9 percent a year later. The county's labor force and the number of people working increased during that time. Seneca and Clinton counties saw no change in unemployment during that period, although the labor force and the number of people employed increased in those counties as well. Unemployment in every other county outside New York City rose between November 2016 and November 2017, while unemployment in each of New York City's five boroughs decreased. The rates for each county and metro area are not seasonally adjusted, meaning they do not account for major shifts in employment during retail holiday seasons or construction in the summer. A market analyst from the state Department of Labor stated that the agency does not calculate seasonally adjusted numbers at the county level. Since 2011, while unemployment has inched up in most counties outside New York City recently, the trend has been very different since Cuomo took office in 2011. The unemployment rate is lower in every county since Cuomo took office, according to state data. Hamilton County, which recorded the largest one-year increase in unemployment in 2017, still has a lower unemployment rate than it did in 2011. Other counties, like Clinton and Columbia, now have an unemployment rate less than half of what it was when Cuomo took office. Some analysts believe that drops in unemployment upstate have been inflated by a shrinking population. Monroe County had more than 13,000 fewer people in the labor force in November 2017 than in January 2011, for example. During that time, the county's unemployment rate decreased from 8.3 percent to 5.1 percent. Our ruling is that, of all the 62 counties in New York State, unemployment is going up in all except for the five counties of New York City, Cox said. Cox was comparing unemployment figures between November 2017 and November 2016. The figures showed unemployment up in almost every county outside New York City, with one county having a lower rate and two other counties showing no change in their unemployment rates. We rate his claim as Mostly True.","issues":["Economy","Jobs","New York"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_530","claim":"Did Democrats Really Do All of This?","posted":"02\/03\/2020","sci_digest":["A meme presented kernels of truth within a distorted, oversimplified story line."],"justification":"In January 2020, Snopes readers inquired about a meme that had been circulating on Facebook since July 2019:   The meme presented three claims, which we unpack below: The above-displayed meme did not specify a specific state or branch of government, implying all Democrats were responsible for the actions in question; however, the first claim in the meme (\"Democrats killed a bill for tuition assistance for children of veterans killed in battle\") was similar to one we rated \"True\" in April 2019 as it pertained to New York state. \"True\" And regarding that bill, \"killed,\" as the meme stated, is a strong word in this context, given that similar legislation was still listed as in committee and potentially set to take effect April 1, 2020, at the time of this writing. However, its true that in 2019 Democrats in a committee of the state New York Assembly voted to block a bill expanding the state's tuition aid program covering so-called \"Gold Star\" families, defined as immediate relatives of service members who \"lost their lives while engaged in hostilities, as a result of an international terrorist attack, or under certain other circumstances.\" The bill proposed offering \"free tuition\" not just to Gold Star families but also to dependent family of service members who died while performing official military duties. listed defined To be clear: The blocked bill proposed expanding the states Military Enhanced Recognition Incentive and Tribute (MERIT) scholarship program to include family members of those killed or disabled in non-combat situations. The MERIT program already provides tuition and other assistance to family members of military personnel killed or disabled while engaged in (or training for) hostilities. MERIT In other words, the children of someone killed in battle, as the meme put it, would seem to qualify for the existing tuition-assistance program. The proposed extension of funding would have also covered family members who were killed or disabled while not in combat. It should be noted for what reason the Democrats stopped the bill. According to Newsday: Newsday Democrats said they did not support the Republican proposal because it was released after legislators passed the states $175 billion budget April 1, [2019], meaning it would have no source of funding even if it were signed into law. Democratic legislators said their college aid proposal would go into effect April 1, 2020, presumably giving lawmakers time to include additional spending for military family scholarships in next years budget. Not wanting to wait, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, announced a plan on April 17, 2019, to immediately grant tuition assistance to family members of all New York service members who were killed while performing any official duties, effectively providing a stop-gap until the new legislation took effect in 2020. announced So while Democrats did indeed block a tuition-assistance bill for families of service members who were killed or disabled outside of combat, this applied only in New York state and tuition assistance remained available to families of service members who were killed or disabled while in service. The second claim (\"... THEN APPROVE subsidizing the education and healthcare of Illegal Immigrants\") was similar, in part, to one we rated as \"Mixture\" in February 2019. \"Mixture\"  As we previously reported, New Yorks DREAM Act (not to be confused with proposed federal legislation of the same name) allows undocumented high school students to qualify for in-state, college-tuition assistance to public universities and community colleges. proposed federal legislation allows Again, this legislation applied only to New York state. It is true that some Medicaid and Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP) benefits have been extended, with various conditions and exceptions, to immigrants of varying status in a few states, including New York. conditions and exceptions While the idea of promising health care to \"undocumented\" immigrants has certainly received support among Democratic presidential candidates leading up to the 2020 election, it is not a nationwide benefit, as the meme may suggest. support Finally, its worth noting that the order of events presented in the meme is misleading, as the New York state DREAM Act was passed before the tuition-assistance bill. Given the kernels of truth presented in this overall oversimplified and misleading presentation, we rate this claim as \"Mixture.\" The New York State Senate.  \"Senate Bill S5187.\"\r  Accessed 03 February 2020. National Immigration Law Center.  \"Medical Assistance Programs for Immigrants in Various States\"\r  Accessed 03 February 2020. Campbell, Joe.  New York to Make College Tuition Aid Available to DREAMers.'\r  Democrat & Chronicle. 23 January 2019. Military One Source.  \"Scholarship Opportunities for Surviving Family Members.\"\r  Accessed 03 February 2020. Evans, Martin C.  \"State Senate Dems Tout Bill to Aid Dependents of Fallen Vets Pay for College.\"\r  Newsday.  15 April 2019.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1qwizwEWAQRqhq1rBgF1lpMOsWbKm2h6r","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_531","claim":"The Rock Mistakenly Admits 'Shady Role' in Maui Fires with Oprah Winfrey?","posted":"09\/05\/2023","sci_digest":["A YouTube video claimed that the pair was \"entangled in some eyebrow-raising alleged shady dealings\" regarding the August 2023 Maui wildfires."],"justification":"On Sept. 3, 2023, the celebrity gossip YouTube channel named Just In(@JustInCeleb) published an 11-minute video with the title, \"The Rock MISTAKENLY Admits SHADY Role In Maui Fires With Oprah.\" The video was viewed more than 100,000 times in just two days. In the thumbnail image for the video, it claimed that Dwayne Johnson, better known as The Rock, had purportedly admitted to a \"shady role\" in the August 2023 Maui wildfiresand then publicly pleaded, \"Please, forgive me.\" The image also showed entertainment icon Oprah Winfrey. Winfrey owns property on Maui, while Realtor.com reports that Johnson has a vacation rental on Oahu and had spent time in Hawaii when he was a child. Dwayne Johnson Maui wildfires Oprah Winfrey Realtor.com  The video (archived) was narrated by a voice that had been generated by artificial-intelligence (AI) tools. It began as follows: archived TIKTOK USER #1: Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne Johnson, you know the guy who plays the same character in every f*cking movie, decided to take it upon themselves to ask you for your money. OPRAH WINFREY: We have created the People's Fund of Maui. So, if you send a donation, just click where you see below, and send a donation. TIKTOK USER #2: Please don't tell me I just saw a billionaire standing next to a multi-millionaire begging the average, everyday citizens for donations that can barely get by. AI-VOICED NARRATOR: It seems like our beloved actor, The Rock, might have found himself in some hot water after taking an unexpected dip in the drama pool with none other than the queen of talk show herself, Oprah Winfrey. Get ready for the tea, because this story is sizzling. The Rock, known for his legendary muscles and action-packed movies, has unintentionally found himself in the middle of a scandal that's hotter than a Maui volcano. Apparently, he and Oprah are now entangled in some eyebrow-raising alleged shady dealings concerning a mysterious fire in the beautiful paradise of Maui. Who would have thought, right? However, the rumor in the video's title that Johnson had \"mistakenly [admitted]\" to a \"shady role\" in theMaui fires, implying that he was involved in the starting of the blaze, was made up. Further, he never begged for forgiveness, as claimed by the thumbnail image. In the latter half of the video, the AI-voiced narrator claimed thatJohnson was a fan of \"Hollywood elites\" and had \"[promoted] their evil agendas,\" later implying several times that he had also been involved in pedophilia. As readers might guess, such conspiracy theories are completely unfounded. A disclaimer was displayed on screen during the video. A longer version of the disclaimer was also included in the description, which read, \"Disclaimer: Content might be gossip, rumors, exaggerated or indirectly besides the truth. Viewer advised to do own research before forming their opinion. Content might be opinionated.\" The whole video appeared to have been created simply to earn YouTube advertising revenue based on tapping into the politics and emotions of viewers who might place blind trust in its claims. Such viewers might choose to head directly to the comments to post negative remarks about Johnson and Winfrey instead of exercising critical thinking and research to figure out if they had been misled by the video's title, thumbnail image, and content. Part of the video concentrated on the fact that Johnson and Winfrey had recorded a video announcing their creation of the People's Fund of Maui. The fund was designed to provide money to residents who were unable to return to their homes following the fires, which were thedeadliestU.S. wildfires in more than a century. deadliest    The Associated Press reported that the People's Fund of Maui was initially set up to provide payments of $1,200 per month to affected residents.Johnson and Winfrey each gave $5 million of their own money to start the fund. They also provided information about how people can donate. The Associated Press Johnson and Winfrey said they were inspired by a similar plan previously created by country star and multi-millionaire Dolly Parton following fires that swept through east Tennessee in November 2016. Those funds were also raised through donations, according to KnoxNews.comand DollyParton.com. KnoxNews.com DollyParton.com We previously reported about a rumor similar to the one in the video above that claimed Winfrey had revealed Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks also had a \"shady role\" in the Maui wildfires. That, too, was false. reported Ahillen, Steve. \"Dolly Parton's 'My People' Money Paid off for Those Who Lost Homes in Fires, Study Shows.\" Knoxville News Sentinel, 16 Nov. 2017, https:\/\/www.knoxnews.com\/story\/news\/local\/tennessee\/gatlinburg\/2017\/11\/16\/dolly-partons-my-people-gatlinburg-fire-recovery\/871908001\/. Beaty, Thalia. \"Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne Johnson Launch Fund with $10 Million for Displaced Maui Residents.\" The Associated Press, 31 Aug. 2023, https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/maui-wildfires-oprah-dwayne-johnson-donations-0e59c2e1dc06b8519c9b453c978ed1b9. \"Dolly's My People Fund Finishes 'Smokies Strong.'\" DollyParton.com, 5 May 2017, https:\/\/dollyparton.com\/life-and-career\/dollys-my-people-fund-finishes-smokies-strong\/14053. Liles, Jordan. \"Tom Hanks 'Panics' as Oprah Winfrey Reveals His 'Shady Role' in Maui Fires?\" Snopes, 1 Sept. 2023, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/hanks-oprah-maui-fires\/. McAvoy, Audrey. \"Hawaii Officials Urge Families of People Missing after Deadly Fires to Give DNA Samples.\" The Associated Press, 22 Aug. 2023, https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/maui-fire-missing-list-lahaina-e6909a2be7860fc7f9062c886a15f979. Zap, Claudine. \"Take a Look Inside Dwayne 'The Rock Johnson's Hawaiian Vacation Rental.\" Realtor.com, 7 Apr. 2022, https:\/\/www.realtor.com\/news\/celebrity-real-estate\/inside-dwayne-the-rock-johnson-hawaii-vacation-rental\/.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1S1RQvTEK1FQHtaW7ghYiBBCKkadPxV9Z","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_532","claim":"Verification of information: Ellie Kemper, the Ku Klux Klan, and the event known as the 'Veiled Prophet Ball'","posted":"06\/02\/2021","sci_digest":["The actors ties to a controversial St. Louis debutante ball were unearthed in a 1999 photograph. "],"justification":"The troubling history of a society ball for young debutantes has come under scrutiny through an unlikely figure  Kimmy Schmidt. No, not fictional Kimmy Schmidt, who was rescued from a cult in the popular Netflix show, but the actor who played her. Ellie Kemper, known for her roles in Bridesmaids, The Office, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, was at the center of an internet controversy when someone found old photographs of her winning a title at a debutante ball allegedly linked to a white supremacist group in her home city of St. Louis, Missouri. center According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, in 1999, Kemper won the title of Queen of Love and Beauty at the \"Veiled Prophet Ball,\" an annual event for debutantes, that was organized by a society known as the Veiled Prophet Organization (VPO). The ball still takes place in December every year, except in 2020 on account of the pandemic. takes place We found the original clippings from the newspaper in 1999:     The VPO was reportedly co-founded in 1878 by a former Confederate officer and historically excluded Black and Jewish people. Originally intended as a celebration for the citys wealthy, the Veiled Prophet Ball and the events surrounding it were, according to one historian, meant to reinforce the elites values over working class activism in the city. The VPO only admitted Black members in 1979. co-founded Twitter users also honed in on an image depicting a Veiled Prophet from 1878, which shows a person wearing a white costume and a pointed hat. The image was eerily similar to the white robes and hood worn by the white supremacist organization the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Many started calling Kemper the KKK princess alleging ties between the VPO and the KKK and highlighting the racist history behind the VPOs activities. image Ku Klux Klan  We learned that while the group does have a troubling history of racial discrimination within the organization, there is no clear evidence tying the group to the KKK. While Kemper did participate and win a title at the ball in 1999, there is also no evidence that she herself harbors racist beliefs. We reached out to representatives for Kemper for comment and will update this post if we get any more information. Below, we break down the history of the VPO, the ball, and the claims made about Kemper. It began in 1878, when a group of prominent businessmen formed an organization that instituted an annual ball and parade, which was presided over by a mysterious Veiled Prophet. This was usually one member of the organization in disguise, whose identity was not meant to be revealed. The parade ostensibly was meant to generate pride and interest in St. Louis as a prominent city. At the ball, daughters of Veiled Prophet members were presented and the Veiled Prophet would select one to reign as the Queen of Love and Beauty. formed The idea for this organization is commonly attributed to two brothers, Confederate Colonel Alonzo Slayback and his brother, Charles Slayback, a Confederate cavalryman. According to an essay in The Common Reader, a monthly publication by Washington University in St. Louis, the Veiled Prophet was drawn from a poem by Thomas Moore titled The Story of the Veiled Prophet of Khorassan, found in the book of poetry Lalla Rookh, published in 1817. The prophet in the poem is a wealthy man from the East, who is rewarded with opulent receptions wherever he goes. attributed The Common Reader Academics interpret the Veiled Prophet of the poem as a symbol of moral depravity, however, who rapes and corrupts the beautiful and virtuous high priestess Zelica, allegedly the inspiration for the Queen of Love and Beauty. interpret The Veiled Prophet in St. Louis, according to a book the organization published in 1928, is meant to be a beloved despot, evasive but real, who rules with an iron hand encased in velvet. The organizations interpretation of the Veiled Prophet showed him as a symbol of moral rectitude. published According to historian Thomas Spencers book The St. Louis Veiled Prophet Celebration: Power on Parade, 1877-1995, the parade was the business elites response to the workers strike of 1877, meant to awe the masses towards passivity with its symbolic show of power. The St. Louis Veiled Prophet Celebration: Power on Parade, 1877-1995, But it was civil rights protests from the 1960s to the 1980s that made people of the city perceive the parade and ball as wasteful and conspicuous consumption. Black activists with the Action Committee to Improve Opportunities for Negroes (ACTION) protested the events. An integrated group with Black leadership and white members who helped them get access to spaces normally off limits to minorities, the group carried out direct action protests, and sought economic justice through more jobs for minorities. By protesting the parade and ball, they were targeting big businessmen and corporations. perceive protested They also held parody balls which mocked the largely white Veiled Prophet events and crowned a Black Queen of Human Justice. In 1972, ACTION even managed to infiltrate a ball through three white women members who obtained tickets. According to The Common Reader: parody balls infiltrate The Common Reader As one woman shouted Down with the VP! another swung down from the balcony on a cable to the stage (the fall crushed three of her ribs). She told an official that she had fallen, and managed to sneak on stage, standing right next to the seated Veiled Prophet. She pulled the veil from his face, and then was quickly rushed offstage by the Bengal Lancers, the VPs protective guard. The VP, a Monsanto executive vice president, put his crown and veil back on, and the ball proceeded as usual. During this period of civil rights protests, the parade avoided Black neighborhoods on its route. ACTION's ultimate goal was to pressure business leaders to give jobs to more Black people. Members of ACTION also lay down in front of parade floats, chained themselves to floats and distributed leaflets, and reportedly picketed the balls with signs like VEILED PROFIT$ or VP=KKK. Percy Green, an activist behind ACTION said of the Veiled Prophet ball, parade, and the businessmen involved, \"No wonder these people dont hire Blacks because they are socially involved in these all-white organizations [...].\"  avoided pressure lay down said Indeed, the organization remained primarily white until 1979 when it admitted its first Black members, who were three doctors. Older members reportedly insisted that the doctors were admitted because they had earned their place among the elite. insisted We reached out to the modern-day VPO. A spokesperson described the ball as \"a venue to introduce young ladies, generally in their sophomore year of college, to the St. Louis community and instill the value of community service. During the preceding summer, the debutants and their families contribute more than 3,500 hours of volunteer time to countless service projects coordinated through the Veiled Prophet Community Service Initiative to participate in the Ball.\" Rumors of a connection with the KKK grew from the first available image of a Veiled Prophet from an 1878 issue of the Missouri Republican, which shows a figure dressed in white robes with a pointed cap. image   The image does not actually indicate the VPO was connected to the KKK. The KKK did not use this uniform until the early 1900s, when the 1915 film The Birth of a Nation depicted the white robes and hoods. Around 1921, the KKK was mass-producing similar white robes and hoods, decades after this particular image. did not Since that first image, the Veiled Prophets outfits have varied, as seen in these photographs of the celebrations over decades. The outfits include elaborate robes that are more reminiscent of the Popes regalia. This does not, however, discount the role of the VPO in perpetuating exclusionary practices over the course of its history. photographs A spokesperson for the VPO denied any connection to racist organizations. The source did not initially respond to our queries about their exclusionary policy that admitted Black members into the organization as late as 1979. In a statement, the group said: The VP organization is dedicated to civic progress, economic contributions and charitable causes in St. Louis. Our organization believes in and promotes inclusion, diversity and equality for this region. We absolutely reject racism and have never partnered or associated with any organization that harbors these beliefs. The VPO told us, \"Membership in the organization is open to men of all backgrounds and experiences. The organization is committed to diversity and actively seeks members with an interest in community service and a commitment to making St. Louis a better place to live for all.\" It is inaccurate to refer to Kemper as a KKK princess given that the VPO itself has no known ties to the KKK, even though its role in systems that uphold racism cannot be discounted. The ball and parade have continued in a range of forms since then. The organization today is commonly referred to as the Veiled Prophet Organization (VPO). According to a statement the group sent us and its website, VPO carries out volunteer work and donates to numerous causes: website We are proud of our commitment to support civic St. Louis for 143 years, including: Annually hosting dozens of community service projects and donating tens of thousands of dollars and service hours to support a variety of charity partners to create a stronger, more equitable and prosperous St. Louis, including: Beyond Housing, Mission: St. Louis, Missouri Veterans Endeavor, North Side Community School, Promise Community Homes, Brightside St. Louis, Forest Park Forever, and many others. Making many significant infrastructure and cultural gifts to the City, including lighting of the Eads Bridge, the Mississippi River Overlook and the mile-long Riverfront Promenade, and partnering in providing the Grand Staircase beneath the Arch as part of the National Park System and to the irrigation system as part of Forest Park Forever. Hosting two major free events in St. Louis, including Americas Birthday Parade and Fair St. Louis. Both events reflect the diversity of the St. Louis community and include a wide variety of partners  such as PrideFest and the Annie Malone Parade. Kemper came from a wealthy and influential banking family, and she has talked about her upbringing, saying she had a had a very privileged, nice, warm childhood. Her relationship to the organization, which still appears to be influential in St. Louis cultural and social landscape, can be attributed to her social standing and family history. While she may have certainly benefited from her background and privilege, it does not indicate that she is actively a part of upholding racist systems and beliefs. came from On June 7, 2021, Kemper addressed the controversy in a statement on her Instagram account:   She added:  I unequivocally deplore, denounce, and reject white supremacy. At the same time, I acknowledge that because of my race and my privilege, I am the beneficiary of a system that has dispensed unequal justice and unequal rewards. There is a very natural temptation when you become the subject of internet criticism, to tell yourself that your detractors are getting it all wrong. But at some point last week, I realized that a lot of the forces behind the criticism are forces that I've spent my life supporting and agreeing with. I believe strongly in the values of kindness, integrity and inclusiveness. I try to live my life in accordance with these values. If my experience is an indication that organizations and institutions with pasts that fall short of these beliefs should be held to account, then I have to see this experience in a positive light. Soon after Kemper made her statement, VPO sent us an additional statement, addressing their history of racism and exclusion: Upon reflection, the Veiled Prophet Organization acknowledges our past and recognizes the criticism levied our way. We sincerely apologize for the actions and images from our history. Additionally, our lack of cultural awareness was and is wrong. We are committed to change, allowing our actions to match the organization we are today. The VP Organization of today categorically rejects racism, in any form. Todays VP is committed to diversity and equity in our membership, community service initiatives and support for the region. Our hope is that moving forward, the community sees us for who we are today and together we can move this region forward for everyone. We are, and always will be committed to the success of the region and making St Louis a better place to live for all. The organization itself has no known connection to the KKK but did uphold exclusionary and racist policies within its ranks. It was also a target of protests by the civil rights movement. Kemper participated and won a title in the annual ball, decades after it admitted its first Black members. While the ball and organization play a role in a long history of racism in the United States, which implicates many institutions, there is no evidence tying this group to the KKK, nor any evidence that Kemper is actively racist herself. As such, we rate this claim a Mixture. June 2, 2021: Updated with ACTION's Percy Green quote.  June 3, 2021: Updated with VPO's additional comments. June 8, 2021: Updated with Ellie Kemper's statement, and a follow up statement from the VPO. ","issues":["equity"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1-wp1AtsNCqDtPw5v4aG1r4yBZTCwXWaP"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1_7b3ZccE29DYdm77bKeb6UL3nG1enPrN"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1xh-VKK-2jgBzM85n4SMZZkcqr78vBKU2"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_533","claim":"Did Russian State TV Thank GOP Lawmakers for Lifting Sanctions?","posted":"02\/08\/2019","sci_digest":["American news programs aren't the only ones that discuss U.S. politics."],"justification":"An image purportedly showing a screenshot from a Russian state TV news program featuring eight Republican U.S. senators -- Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), John Cornyn (R-TX), Richard Burr (R-NC), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Ron Johnson (R-WI), and John Thune (R-SD) -- made its way online in January 2019, along with the claim that the pictured American lawmakers were being \"honored\" or \"thanked\" for lifting sanctions against three companies controlled by Russian oligarch Oleg V. Deripaska:   This image has been posted to social media accompanied by a variety of descriptive captions: posted social media This image is a genuine screenshot from the news program \"60 \" (60 Minutes) aired on Channel 1 Russia on 17 January 2019. The graphic featuring the 8 GOP lawmakers originally appeared on MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show (the MSNBC logo is visible in the bottom right hand corner of the graphic) the day prior during a segment concerning the lifting of sanctions that had been imposed on three companies controlled by oligarch Oleg V. Deripaska. sanctions The graphic appears at the 9:30 mark of the following video, while a transcription from Maddow's report on these sanctions appears below the video: transcription  Shortly before Christmas, the Trump administration quietly released plans to lift U.S. government sanctions on companies connected to Deripaska. Deripaska is sanctioned because of the U.S. -- because of the Russian government interfering in the U.S. presidential election in 2016. Now, the sanctions on Deripaska's companies are consequential. The companies linked to Deripaska happen to be huge companies. So, even if you set aside the sanctions' effects on Deripaska personally, unsanctioning these huge Russian companies will also be really substantially economically beneficial to the Russian economy as a whole. Under American law governing sanctions like this, Congress has 30 days to review any decision by the administration to lift these kinds of sanctions. Within that 30-day window, Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer brought forward legislation to in fact challenge that decision by the Trump administration, to block the lifting of the Deripaska-related sanctions. As we reported last night, every Democrat in the Senate chamber voted with Schumer on this, as did 11 Republican senators, a heterogeneous bunch of Republican senators, who broke ranks with Mitch McConnell and sided with the Democrats to stop the Trump administration from lifting these Deripaska-related sanctions. That's a big number of Republican senators breaking ranks, especially after the Trump administration lobbied the Senate and the House really aggressively on this issue. Well, today, this afternoon, despite those 11 Republican senators breaking ranks and being willing to side with the Democrats on this, it turned out to be not enough because today there was a crucial vote on this matter which came with not a 50-vote threshold, but a 60-vote threshold to stop the Trump administration from lifting these Deripaska-related sanctions. Schumer and the Democrats and the breakaway Republicans were able to put together 57 votes, but 57 isn't 60, and so you can thank top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell. You can thank all of these other Republican senators who get all of this public credit for supposedly being so hawkish and so realistic on Russia. You can thank them all for voting today to give Vladimir Putin's government in Russia a huge big economic present and voting to give Oleg Deripaska the biggest break of his life, even while his potential role in the Russian attack on our election remains a critical matter that is under ongoing investigation related to multiple criminal cases. Julia Davis, an investigative journalist and Russian media analyst, was one of the first to notice Maddow's graphic being featured on Russian State TV. Davis shared this screenshot on Twitter along with a brief message explaining its context. Twitter Davis wrote: \"#Russia's state TV reports that for the first time since 2014, the US is lifting sanctions from Russian companies [#Deripaska's Rusal et al.] The host laughs out loud about the Democrats not getting enough votes to block the effort, expresses hope that this is just the beginning.\" We've included the relevant segment below from the \"60 \" broadcast, which starts around the 31-second mark (00:31) below: A rough translation of the video via Google shows that the host says at one point: \"Thank all these people who have always been known for their irreconcilable attitude towards Russia. Thank them all, for today they voted and made big economic gift to the government of Putin.\"  A rough translation of the video via Google shows that the host says at one point: \"Thank all these people who have always been known for their irreconcilable attitude towards Russia. Thank them all, for today they voted and made big economic gift to the government of Putin.\" MSNBC.  \"Transcript: 1\/16\/19, The Rachel Maddow Show.\"\r  16 January 2019. Vogel, Kenneth.  \"Democrats Fall Short in Russia Sanctions Vote.\"\r  The New York Times.  16 January 2019.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1c7NlaTAQu_xFRYd7qBaGtAEHHGk-o0XZ","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_534","claim":"Was there a poem by Kurt Russell that conveyed his disagreement with the idea of defunding the police?","posted":"08\/10\/2020","sci_digest":["A poem titled \"The Badge\" circulated on social media in June 2020 following nationwide protests calling for the defunding of police. "],"justification":"Rumors surged in the wake of George Floyd's death and the resulting protests against police violence and racial injustice in the United States. Stay informed. Read our special coverage, contribute to support our mission, and submit any tips or claims you see here. A widely circulated poem dedicated to the work of law enforcement was shared more than 125,000 times in late summer 2020 after the original user insinuated that actor Kurt Russell had shared it, along with his alleged opposition to defunding the police. \"The Badge\" went viral in the months following the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in Minneapolis, Minnesota, while in police custody. Protesters in the wake of Floyd's death called for the defunding of police in an effort to redirect funds to make law enforcement training more robust and to increase social services for communities that face a greater risk of police brutality and incarceration. We looked into the poem and found no evidence that Russell is connected to it in any way or that he had made political statements opposing the defunding of police. Russell is known for his distaste for social media and, despite dozens of fake profiles pretending to be the veteran actor, does not have verified accounts on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. In general, Russell is not active on social media and had not recently appeared in public making such declarations. In fact, since the poem's original posting in June 2020, the language and imagery shared alongside it underwent several changes that demonstrate the kind of manipulation a social media post may experience in a short amount of time. \"The Badge,\" a poem that recognizes police officers and their efforts to help society, was originally credited to an anonymous source and was first posted to social media on June 7. It begins: \"This badge ran towards certain death as the Towers collapsed on 9-11. This badge ran into the line of fire to save the people in the Pulse Night Club. This badge sheltered thousands as bullets rained down from the Mandalay Hotel in Las Vegas. This badge protected a BLM rally that left five officers dead in Dallas. This badge ran into the Sandy Hook School to stop a school shooter.\" The poem goes on to highlight other roles and responsibilities of law enforcement officers, including escorting the elderly across the street and helping to return crying children to their mothers. However, since it was originally shared on Facebook, the 22-line composition underwent several iterations. A second version of the poem surfaced in a post shared on the Victor Valley News Facebook page, a media outlet in Victorville, California, with an additional introduction that read: \"Yes ... let's all join in the hatred of all police for the sins of a few. Let's defund one of the most important public institutions in our country's history. Let's have all badges removed and allow people to tend to their own safety and security.\" This wording appears to have originated in a blog post titled \"In Honor of Uncle Bob Roberts Killed in the Line of Duty,\" posted on June 14 by a self-described entrepreneur. The post in question that Snopes readers asked us about added the above introduction, and in its most recent iteration, social media users included a headshot of Russell accompanied by the following: \"Amazing Post!! Kurt Russell.\" The additional wording insinuated that the actor had an affiliation with the August 6, 2020 post. In less than a week, the post had been shared over 125,000 times on Facebook. The libertarian actor has been at the heart of several viral claims falsely linking him to supporting U.S. President Donald Trump, including a 2016 image that showed him and partner Goldie Hawn wearing photoshopped pro-Trump shirts. In 2018, a fake Twitter account using Russell's face as a profile picture incorrectly quoted the actor as having called Trump relentless, dedicated, and determined. The following year, a right-leaning Facebook page posted a meme that falsely insinuated Russell referred to Democrats as enemies of the state.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=19MfRiIL64N-p9YWjuYV16q84CXwpA762"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_535","claim":"Did the Military Spend $1 Billion on This 'New Vehicle'?","posted":"12\/02\/2020","sci_digest":["The vehicle's front end featured a giant ball, similar to the boulder from \"Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.\""],"justification":"Since 2017, an imposing military-style vehicle with a giant rolling ball on its front has been featured in online advertisements and YouTube thumbnails. An advertisement created by the website Yeah Motor, hosted by the advertising platform Taboola, displayed the image of the vehicle alongside the words: \"The Military Spent $1 Billion on This New Vehicle, And Here's The First Look.\" Readers who clicked the advertisement were directed to a 52-page slideshow on Yeah Motor, where the image of the ball vehicle did not appear. This method of attracting readers with clickbait to a slideshow with multiple pages is known as advertising arbitrage. With arbitrage, the goal is to earn more money from the ads displayed during the slideshow than it costs to place the ads that initially draw readers to the story. The MAD LAB YouTube channel also featured the image in a thumbnail for the video, \"Best Off-Road Vehicles of All Time.\" However, the vehicle does not appear in the 12-minute video. The MAD LAB YouTube channel disabled the ability to like or dislike the video, which is unique to this particular video. This feature was likely disabled due to the large number of dislikes the video received for failing to deliver on the promise made in the thumbnail. Other videos on the channel allow viewers to like and dislike them. The image is also featured in several other YouTube videos. Concept artist Camille Kuo created the impressive artwork, although her signature appears to have been removed via Photoshop. The original \"track ball\" artwork with the signature is available on her ArtStation page: Camille Kuo https:\/\/www.artstation.com\/artwork\/PVxDy. Kuo, who is from Taipei, Taiwan, informed us that her artwork is available on image-licensing websites, allowing anyone who pays the licensing fee to use the artwork for commercial purposes. \"That's why you see they are being used commercially without giving me credit,\" Kuo said. However, it is unclear if all of the advertisers and YouTube users who featured her artwork in thumbnails properly obtained licenses. For this piece, \"track ball,\" Kuo emphasized the importance of being a tank without traditional tank wheels. It can massively crush whatever comes through at the bottom, making pancakes. All of the work is done in Photoshop using industry techniques of concept art called Photobash and 3DKitbash. She mentioned that it took around two to three hours to create, although \"the process of concepting the design takes the longest.\" Kuo's other work can be viewed on her ArtStation page. Snopes debunks a wide range of content, and online advertisements are no exception. Misleading ads often lead to obscure websites that host lengthy slideshow articles with numerous pages. It's called advertising \"arbitrage.\" The advertiser's goal is to earn more money from the ads displayed on the slideshow's pages than it costs to show the initial ad that attracted viewers. Feel free to submit ads to us, and be sure to include a screenshot of the ad and the link to where the ad leads.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1MGV2VE2Tu5PuLMzzX3--u_VOYsa4JITK","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1KOfchDdgl5PuBxnb4qdaSR3nIFg0ZCZ7","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_536","claim":"Does Ivermectin Cause Sterility in Men?","posted":"09\/08\/2021","sci_digest":["One study purportedly found that 85% of men who were given the anti-parasitic were sterile following the research period. "],"justification":"Nearly two years into the pandemic, the world saw a resurgence of COVID-19 cases and with them, reiterations of unfounded claims that have pulsated through the global community since early 2020.  In response to a rise of U.S. case counts, parts of the nation saw an increase in the use of the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin, which has been falsely touted as a potential treatment for the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, and online claims that the anti-parasitic drug could cure the virus since at least April 2020. April 2020 That debate was sparked again in early September 2021 when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a health advisory following a spike in ivermectin dispensing at retail pharmacies, as well as over-the-counter veterinary formulations not intended for human use.  Some social media users seized the health agencys announcement as an opportunity to peddle misinformation surrounding the drug, including a citation in a 2011 study that claimed to find that 85% of men treated for river blindness with ivermectin were found to be sterile. The purported study was shared to Reddit and Twitter where the post received thousands of engagements across both platforms.  Reddit Twitter  Ivermectin tablets are approved by the FDA for human use to treat river blindness and some parasitic worms (intestinal strongyloidiasis). Prescribed topical formulations are also used to treat some external parasites like head lice and rosacea. A different formulation is FDA-approved for animals to prevent heartworm disease and to treat internal and external parasites.  Ivermectin A spokesperson for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that it continues to monitor reports of all adverse events with ivermectin, and infertility in men is not a known side effect of it and, as such, is not included as a side effect in U.S. labeling. Ivermectin was also shown to have no adverse effects on the fertility in rats in studies at repeated doses of up to three times the maximum recommended human dose, the FDA added.  labeling The claim that Ivermectin caused infertility in rats is based on findings published in a questionable study hosted online by the Archives of Applied Science Research. study Archives of Applied Science Research According to the publication tracking service Publons, Archives of Applied Science Research is a peer reviewed, open access journal published by an institution known as Scholars Research Library  but as of this writing, the organizations social media account had been suspended by Twitter for violating the platforms rules. Additionally, Scholars Research Library is self-described as a self-supporting organization that does not receive funding from any institution or government. And while it does not require submission charges, study authors are required to pay a fair handling fee for processing their articles of up to 1000 euros.  Publons suspended self-described The webpage is also riddled with typos, for example: riddled   Snopes contacted the Scholars Research Library for further information on the peer review and vetting processes but did not receive a response. In an email to Snopes, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, an international non-profit organization that promotes collaboration amongst scientists, declined to comment on the credibility of the journal but did refer our team to the indexes at Clarivate, which requires a review of a journals peer-review process. A search of Archives of Applied Science Research did not return any results. Clarivate The study was written by four researchers including Blessing Idonije, or Idonije O.B., who is described as a professor of clinical biochemistry at Ambrose Alli University in Nigeria. Snopes contacted the university but did not hear back in time for publication.  described The study authors wrote that they screened a total of 385 patients diagnosed with river blindness, a tropical disease that the CDC noted as being caused by the parasitic worm, Onchocerca volvulus, and transmitted through the bites of river-breeding blackflies. Infection can result in visual impairment or blindness and cause rashes, itching, and nodules under the skin and is most often treated with ivermectin. But because ivermectin only kills the fly larvae, the anti-parasitic is given every six months for the lifespan of the adult worms, which can be between 10 and 15 years, or for as long as the person shows signs of skin or eye infection. noted treated Of those 385 patients, just 37 individuals between the ages of 28 and 57 at the onset of the study were deemed to have normal sperm counts. The sperm counts of those 37 patients were analyzed before and after an 11-month treatment of ivermectin, including data on motility, morphology, volume, viscosity, and liquefaction time.  We observed significant reduction in the sperm counts and sperm motility of the patients tested. On the morphology there was significant increase in the number of abnormal sperm cells. This took the forms of two heads, double tails, white (albino) sperms and extraordinarily large heads, wrote the study authors, adding that such alterations could only have occurred as a result of their treatment with ivermectin.  But the study has several blaring issues. Firstly, it did not include a section dedicated to limitations that could have been relevant to its findings. Limitations are important for other scientists to understand the context of study findings to interpret the validity of the scientific work. Not only do limitations help scientists to replicate future studies, but it also covers questions that may influence the findings, such as whether the reduction in sperm count could have been caused by river blindness infection.  limitations There were also typos present in the study that should have been caught by scientific editors publishing in a credible journal:    Experts warn that serious harm could result from using either the human or animal medications outside of their intended and prescribed use  but that hasnt stopped some from self-treating with the anti-parasitic. As ivermectin usage spiked, so too have adverse effects and overdoses associated with it. Since July 2021, outpatient ivermectin dispensing increased by 24-fold from before the pandemic. That same month, the U.S. also saw a five-fold increase in the number of calls to Poison Control Centers.  warn  Data was collected from the National Prescription Audit Weekly database, which collects data from a sample of approximately 48,900 U.S. retail pharmacies, representing 92% of all retail prescription activity. Ivermectin dispensed by mail order and long-term care pharmacies, prescriptions by veterinarians, and non-oral formulations were not included. CDC  CDC   Ivermectin is not authorized or approved by FDA for prevention or treatment of COVID-19. The National Institutes of Healths (NIH) COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel has also determined that there are currently insufficient data to recommend ivermectin for treatment of COVID-19, wrote the CDC.  As Snopes previously reported, preliminary results of several studies showed potential for effectiveness as an antiviral in the treatment and prevention of COVID-19, but as of this writing, the FDA had not authorized or approved ivermectin for the use in preventing or treating COVID-19 in humans. Further clinical trials are needed for guidance on ivermectin treatment of COVID-19 and clinical trials assessing such ivermectin uses are ongoing. reported not authorized Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease.  fighting Find out Read Submit Become a Founding Member CDC WHO Sources UPDATE [Sept. 9, 2021]: This article was updated to include reference to Clarivate indexes.  UPDATE [Sept. 10, 2021]: Language was added to clarify a 2002 citation included in the 2011 study. ","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=19ogaD4iydQYcAJCw7UDpfqsHIZ-yLxsi","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1nYPuiSPYIrkF2bfAiOKKYiypFESgzUj5","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1H8Tl7MdxV8-dKPEI0oF2OGLVCW-3zOuJ","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_537","claim":"The missiles that were launched at American forces in Iraq from Iran, were funded by Barack Obama, with American tax dollars.","posted":"01\/10\/2020","sci_digest":[],"justification":"The Iranian missile strikes launched against U.S. forces in Iraq inspired the spread of false and inaccurate claims on Facebook, with one post taking aim at former President Barack Obama. The missiles that were launched at American forces in Iraq from Iran, were funded by Barack Obama, with American tax dollars. Let that sink in, said a Jan. 8Facebook postfrom a page that calls itself Conservative Headquarters. A text image posted to Facebook on Jan. 8, 2020 contains a claim that we rate False. The post, with over 19,000 shares, was flagged as part of Facebooks efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about ourpartnership with Facebook.) It cites a2016 articlefrom the Washington Free Beacon, a conservative website. But the Free Beacon post  from nearly four years ago  doesn't allege what the Facebook image did. There is no evidence that the Iranian missiles were paid for by U.S. taxpayers. The Facebook post, likeotherpostsandclaimswevefact-checkedbefore, misrepresents terms of the Iran nuclear deal that Obama signed on behalf of the United States in 2015. The deal with Iran was promoted by Obama, but it was also signed by China, Russia, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, with assistance from the European Union. Thedealallowed Iran to regain access to some of its own assets, which had been frozen as an economic sanction levied in retaliation for the countrys pursuit of a nuclear weapon. The United States and other countries lifted the sanctions and freeze on funds after international inspectors verified in 2016 that Iran was doing enough to curb its nuclear program. So the money was Irans. It wasnt handed to Iran by the United States or Obama, nor was it funded by U.S. taxpayers. Its not clear what ultimately happened to the funds. InJanuary 2016, then-Secretary of State JohnKerry said he expected that some of the money would end up with organizations involved in terrorism. But theres no evidence that the money was behind the strike in Iraq. On Jan. 5, after a U.S. airstrike killed top Iranian military leader Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Iransaidit would no longer comply with the limits the deal placed on its ability to enrich uranium. In addition to the unfreezing of assets, the United States did provide Iran $1.7 billion as part of a settlement ending a legal dispute. That money was part of a cash transfer that theCongressional Research Service reviewed. It resolved an arms contract between the United States and Iran that predated the Iranian revolution in 1979. Iran had paid for military equipment, but it was never delivered. As wevenotedbefore, there was $400 million in that account as of 1990, and negotiators agreed that accrued interest would add $1.3 billion to the amount. The United States sent the money to Iran in euros, Swiss francs and other currencies. But this was a repayment, meaning the United States was giving Iran its money back with interest. And while the interest came from a governmentfundmaintained by taxpayer dollars, the money being reimbursed originated with Iran, not the U.S. taxpayer. And again, theres no evidence that this money ultimately went toward the recent missile strikes. A Facebook post said, The missiles that were launched at American forces in Iraq from Iran, were funded by Barack Obama, with American tax dollars. The 2015 Iran nuclear deal was signed by multiple nations, and it did not involve the United States or Obama cutting a check to Iran. The funds Iran received were its own frozen assets. American tax dollars were never part of the deal. A separate payment that went to Iran under Obama was to settle a decades-old dispute over U.S. military equipment that Iran paid for but never received. We rate this statement False. Clarification and update, Jan. 10, 2020: The Washington Free Beacon story cited by the author of the viral image never alleged that taxpayer dollars were used to fund the missiles launched at American forces in Iraq. An original version of this story may have been unclear on this point.","issues":["Corrections and Updates","Iran","Taxes","Facebook Fact-checks"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Y_N6kNwnh1fgLhraMa2ffI8gTQhSJmBH","image_caption":"A text image posted to Facebook on Jan. 8, 2020 contains a claim that we rate False."}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_538","claim":"Alabama Lawmaker Wants Food Stamp 'Hunger Tests'?","posted":"02\/16\/2016","sci_digest":["No, a Republican politician didn't propose saliva-based \"hunger tests\" prior to issuing food stamps."],"justification":"On 13 February 2016, the website Newslo published an article claiming that Alabama Congressman Robert Aderholt proposed the introduction of \"hunger tests\" before food stamps were issued to potential recipients. A top Republican wants the federal government to spend half a billion dollars so states can make people on food stamps pass drug tests. The legislation Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.) proposes would cut Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program spending by $1.2 billion and then allocate $600 million into grants for states to carry out drug testing programs. Federal law doesn't currently allow states to drug test food stamp recipients, an obstacle that has prevented Republicans in Georgia, Wisconsin, and elsewhere from implementing the policy. Aderholt's bill would allow drug tests but not require them. In addition to permitting states to willfully administer drug tests to food stamp recipients, the controversial bill would also require potential recipients to be tested for actual hunger every time before being issued food stamps. \"Look at what's going on right now,\" the Alabama Rep. said. \"The United States budget is hemorrhaging money because of drug addicts who are misusing food stamps to purchase narcotics, but what many people don't realize is that they are only part of the problem. There are many other so-called legitimately poor people who are also receiving food stamps but are using them to buy things like hot tubs, motorbikes, finance pool parties, and get their hands on the latest iPhone or MacBook. That's why, as a way of ensuring food stamps actually go to hungry people, I propose we introduce hunger tests prior to issuing the stamps to every potential beneficiary. The logistics of it are still in the works, but from what I can gather, we'd be using a benign chemical that would be able to tell whether or not a person is experiencing hunger from their saliva. The chemical would be located on the stamps themselves, and upon licking the stamp, as you would a simple stamp at a post office, we would know straight away if a person is trying to trick us or if they really deserve food. While it's true that Rep. Aderholt introduced a bill on 11 February 2016 in support of requisite drug testing for food stamp recipients, all but the first paragraph quoted above was embellished (as Newslo itself indicated). Articles on the self-styled \"hybrid\" news site Newslo (as well as sister sites Religionlo and Politicalo) regularly build upon controversial news items with fabricated details that range from subtle to outlandish. Newslo and related pages display an interactive feature allowing readers to \"Show Facts\" or \"Hide Facts.\" However, content published by Newslo, Politicalo, and Religionlo displays by default in \"Hide Facts\" mode, ensuring that many visitors are unaware that fabricated details appear alongside otherwise accurate news items. In addition to the \"Show Facts\/Hide Facts\" feature, Newslo's disclaimer states: \"Newslo is the first hybrid News\/Satire platform on the web. Readers come to us for a unique brand of entertainment and information that is enhanced by features like our fact-button, which allows readers to find what is fact and what is satire.\" Previous Newslo, Religionlo, and Politicalo articles that proved confusing to social media users included items claiming that Marco Rubio said women should be placed in custody if it was suspected they were considering an abortion, that Pat Robertson said gay people should wear specific colors by which heterosexual people could easily identify them, that Pastor John Piper decreed bikini waxes a sin in the eyes of God, that David Bowie was alive but held hostage by operatives of Satan, and that Ted Cruz believed God would not have allowed Antonin Scalia to die at a time that was potentially not politically expedient.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1dHwwBOf8zim0exaCwC7GrUeTgynfeCxu","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_539","claim":"Facebook Notice About Pedophiles","posted":"09\/15\/2014","sci_digest":["Are child predators using Facebook to source victims by adding unsuspecting parents as friends?"],"justification":" Claim:  Predators, pedophiles, and child trafficking rings are using Facebook to source new victims by friending trusting parents and mining images posted of their children. Example:  [Collected on Facebook, September 2014] A guy sends you a friend request. You don't know him, but he's got a cute profile pic, so you accept. It's baby girl's first day of school! She looks SO cute in her new outfit you just have to take a picture and put it on Facebook so all your friends and family can see. You're so excited dropping her off that you \"check in\" to her school on Fb saying \"I can't believe how big she's gotten. Time sure flies. One proud momma\/daddy right here!\"... Meanwhile, the mystery guy whose friend request you hurriedly accepted earlier this morning is saving that picture you posted of your daughter in her cute new outfit to his phone and texting it to 60 other grown men across the world with the caption \"Caucasian female. Age 5. Brown hair, green eyes. $2,500.\" Not only did you provide a picture of your little girl to a child trafficker, you've handed him the name and exact location of her school on a silver cyber platter. You go to pick her up at 3:00 this afternoon, but she's nowhere to be found. Little do you know, your precious baby girl was sold to a 43-year-old pedophile before you even stepped foot off campus this morning, and now she's on her way to South Africa with a bag over her head, confused, terrified and crying because a man she's never seen before picked her up from school, and now she doesn't know where her parents are, where she's going, or what's gonna happen to her. STOP ADDING STRANGERS ON FACEBOOK. Origins:  In September 2014, the post above (without original attribution) went viral on Facebook. While this iteration is a new one, panic over internet strangers is as old as the internet itself, and warnings such as this have largely morphed from email forwards to Facebook shares. panic over internet strangers In May and June of 2015, the story received a second wave of interest after it was published to the website StylishLisa on 27 May 2015. On 30 May 2015 the message appeared on the Facebook page Lil' Red Warriors, but was later deleted after Facebook commenters correctly identified the photograph's origin on a page about children's hairstyles. The photo and its claim were later published verbatim to the Facebook page of Cyn Malvita, from where it was shared hundreds of thousands of times. A cached version of the iteration involving the hairstyling picture is embedded below: published Lil' Red Warriors deleted children's hairstyles Cyn Malvita  The Facebook post currently in circulation bears some resemblance to a well-traveled warning from years back describing a similar danger. While the premise is similar, the stated risk has evolved, incorporating Facebook's open and share-friendly nature as the door through which rampant child predators will enter your life and summarily terrorize you. well-traveled warning This particular warning has some unpleasant undertones in its telling, suggesting that female users are too readily tempted by a \"cute\" potential predator to consider the safety of their children. It also tacitly condemns parents (mothers, presumably in particular) for even mentioning their children in hawking its highly improbable, sanctimonious premise. Facebook and similar social media sites have ushered in a new level of panic when it comes to internet safety, given that the social network requires users to supply accurate information about their true identities and real names to use the service. While many users flout this aspect of the site's terms and services, many others have been banned temporarily or permanently for using aliases in place of real names. Reading the circulating post above might lead one to believe that the danger is very real and omnipresent, but the scenario presented is one that is exceedingly unlikely. Among other implausibilities, this warning makes it sound as though the bad guys are stymied in their search for victims and don't know where to look for kids to abduct until they see pictures of them on Facebook. But potential abductors' seeing a Facebook photo of a particular child who attends a given school does nothing to facilitate the snatching of random children for sale to pedophiles  would-be kidnappers don't need Facebook photos, as they could simply lie in wait outside just about any school and try to grab children as such opportunities presented themselves. Aside from that, first and foremost, most schools nowadays do not release children to parties who have not been explicitly granted permission and had their names recorded on an authorized list, a fact to which any parent who has ever needed a friend to make a last-minute school pickup can attest. Secondly, while the risk of child abduction and trafficking may exist, children are far, far more likely to be endangered by a relative or other \"trusted\" adult than a random Facebook contact. According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, the most recent statistics reflect a far different danger than the one described above. Of 800,000 children reported missing, 200,000 were abducted by relatives, 58,000 were kids taken by nonfamily members, and only 115 missing child reports were considered \"stereotypical\" abductions involving a complete stranger with intent to harm or keep the child. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children A lengthy report on Child Exploitation Prevention presented to Congress by the Justice Department in 2010 [PDF] further delves into the profiles of predators involved in child abuse and trafficking. According to the data presented, the vast majority of children harmed in this manner are either introduced or otherwise victimized by family members or other trusted adults such as babysitters, coaches, or family friends. Only four percent of victims identified were exploited or abused by an adult not previously known to the child or their family. PDF In the cases examined, abuse typically occurred over the course of years and involved \"grooming\" and other behaviors designed to created compliance. Child victims were not at risk of being immediately whisked to Africa by a strange Facebook user, but rather more likely placed in harm's way by the people meant to ensure their safety and care. On rare occasions child predators may mine publicly posted photos of children for personal use or trade, and posted Facebook pictures and locations might facilitate a kidnapping if the abductors were seeking to grab a specific child (rather than trolling for random victims), but no evidence suggests the posting of kids' photos on Facebook has resulted in a general increase of kidnapping or abuse of children. Last updated:  4 June 2015","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ms4We9iI8UmU1aANtA-AJvZVcG93Ahao"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/i.imgur.com\/iHg4XC8.png"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_540","claim":"Uncompensated care has gone down by 30 percent just in the first few months of Medicaid expansion in the states that adopted it.","posted":"08\/10\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Virginia Democrats believe they have found evidence showing states that expand their Medicaid rolls are better off than those that reject expansion. Sen. George Barker, D-Fairfax,toldthose gathered for an expansion rally in Woodbridge that hospitals in Medicaid expansion states have fewer patients who cant pay. Those states who have adopted Medicaid expansion, and half of the states have -- what they have seen just in the first few months of this calendar year, 2014  is a reduction in uncompensated care, he said. That means people who show up at the hospital, show up at the emergency department, are uninsured and cant pay anything  charity care thats provided by the hospital  thats gone down by 30 percent just in the first few months. This seems to be an important point for their case, so we wondered about the origin of the figure. First, lets remember how we got here. The Affordable Care Act -- also known as Obamacare -- gives states the option of expanding Medicaid eligibility. Uncle Sam will pick up the entire tab for new enrollees during the next two years, that slowly declines to 90 percent with states picking up the remaining cost.Virginia has estimated that as many as 400,000 state residents could join Medicaids rolls. The Republican-controlled House of Delegates refused to broaden the program, saying the federal government cant be trusted to pay its promised share. That led to a months-long stalemate between the House and the Democratic-controlled Senate on the states two-year budget. Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, who earned aPromise Brokenby signing a budget that did not include expansion, is exploring whether he can broaden the program without the consent of the legislature. Uncompensated care is a key reason Virginia hospitals have pleaded with legislators to expand Medicaid. Across the country, uncompensated care totaled $45.9 billion in 2012, the most recent year for which data was available, according to the American Hospital Association. It was 6.1 percent of hospitals expenses that year. When we asked Barker about his claim, he sent us a link toan articlefrom Governing magazine. The article citesa studyfrom the Colorado Hospital Association that looked at 30 states, 15 with Medicaid expansion and 15 without. In the states with expansion, hospitals had charity care decreases from an average of $2.8 million per hospital in the first quarter of 2013 to $1.9 million per hospital in the first quarter of 2014, a 32 percent drop. And out-of-pocket charges decreased from 4.7 percent of all charges to 3.1 percent of all charges -- a 34 percent drop. Meanwhile, Medicaid charges surged from 15.3 percent to 18.8 percent, a 19 percent jump. While the survey covered a short period of time, the difference between hospitals in states with Medicaid expansion and those without was stark. States that balked at Medicaid expansion saw little change in their uncompensated care levels, the study found. Governing also linked to Arkansas Democratic Gov. Mike Beebes May 31columnin which he stated 42 hospitals in the state reported an average of 30 percent decline in uncompensated care. For emergency room visits, the hospitals had an average of 24 percent drop in uncompensated care. Beebe said the survey was not comprehensive for every acute-care center in the state, but its a good snapshot of early progress. Tenet Health, a publicly traded company with 80 hospitals in 14 states,reportedthat its hospitals in four states that expanded Medicaid saw a 33 percent decline in uninsured and charity admissions in the first quarter this year. In the second quarter, which ended in June, the numbers improvedeven more. With hospitals in five states that expanded Medicaid, the company had a decline in uninsured and charity admissions of 54 percent. Meanwhile, Medicaid admissions increased 23 percent. We also found an Arizona Daily Stararticlereporting on a survey of hospitals in the state done by the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association. In the first four months of 2014, the associations hospitalsreporteda 31 percent drop in uncompensated care expenses compared to the same period in 2013. So this seems to be a broader trend. This is how the law was intended to work, said Gayle Nelson, director of hospital community benefit program at The Hilltop Institute, part of University of Maryland, Baltimore County. This was all part and parcel of the same anticipation that this would happen, she said. The need for uncompensated care would reduce and the funds needed to address uncompensated care would also be reduced  This is good news. Of course, in those states where uncompensated care is reduced, that presumably leaves some resources freed up to be used in other ways. The Governing article said the trend was positive, but hospitals are hoping its enough to offset cuts called for in the Affordable Care Act. The biggest piece of this will be $39 billion in cuts to the Disproportionate Share Hospital program, which helps hospitals that serve the poor. In Virginia, this primarily means the University of Virginia and Virginia Commonwealth University hospitals. Our ruling Barker said hospitals in states with Medicaid expansion have already benefited from a 30 percent drop in uncompensated care. The evidence is based on the first three months after Medicaid expansion took effect and from a few sources. Its early, but he accurately reported the results. The statement is True.","issues":["Medicaid","State Budget","Virginia"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_541","claim":"Did Woodstock Occur During a Pandemic as Lethal as COVID-19?","posted":"05\/13\/2020","sci_digest":["Over the span of 18 months, the 1968 influenza pandemic killed approximately 100,000 people in the U.S. "],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease.  fighting Find out Read Submit Become a Founding Member CDC WHO In the winter of 1968, the H3N2 virus, also referred to as the \"Hong Kong flu,\" spread widely in the United States. Over the next 18 months, the pandemic killed an estimated 100,000 people in the U.S. and 1 million worldwide, yet daily life, more or less, proceeded as if it were business as usual. There were no statewide lockdowns or mandatory mask requirements, and large public events, such as the Woodstock music festival, took place as scheduled.  So what changed? Why did the U.S. operate under one set of guidelines during a pandemic in the 1960s only to implement much stricter rules during a pandemic in 2020?  That's the thrust of an article published by the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER) on May 1, 2020, under the headline \"Woodstock Occurred in the Middle of a Pandemic.\" Although the headline of this article is factually accurate (Woodstock took place in August 1969), the argument that government officials should be approaching all future pandemics the same way they did during the 1960s is flawed for several reasons.  Let's start with the basics. The world has seen a number of plagues and pandemics in its history, from the bubonic plague in the 1300s, which killed an estimated 200 million people, to smallpox, which killed an estimated 300 million people throughout the 20th century. Although these diseases may all have the same end result (sickness and death), they also vary in variety of ways, such as their lethality and incubation periods. bubonic plague estimated 300 million Medicine, too, improves, and some diseases are more quickly met with treatments and vaccines than others. The bubonic plague, for example, still exists but can be easily treated with antibiotics.  treated Every pandemic has unique challenges, yet the premise of the AIER article is based largely on the idea that the pandemic in the 1960s and the pandemic today involved two practically interchangeable diseases. After noting that the population in the U.S. was smaller in the 1960s (200 million compared to 330 million), the article states that \"in terms of lethality, [H3N2] was as deadly and scary as COVID-19 if not more so.\" But that really isn't the case.  pandemic While the 1968 flu was classified as a pandemic, this outbreak wasn't as deadly as previous pandemics, such as the 1918 flu.  Dr. David Morens, a senior scientific adviser at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, described the 1968 pandemic as \"wimpy\" compared to previous pandemics and noted that the total number of deaths wasn't much different than the amount of deaths seen during an average flu season. Morens told us: The number of deaths caused by that pandemic in the first two years, 1968 and 1969, weren't much higher than the average seasonal flu. So, it really was kind of a pandemic that was such a wimpy pandemic it didn't make much of a blip on the radar screen.  A 2008 study published in the American Journal of Public Health that examined seasonal flu trends supports Morens' assertion. This study found that the 1957 pandemic and the 1968 pandemic did \"not stand out as exceptional outliers, nor were these pandemics visually discernible from non-pandemics in seasonal or monthly influenza mortality graphs.\" American Journal of Public Health   While this flu analogy has been poorly used to describe COVID-19, it is an apt description for the H3N2 virus which, quite literally, continues to circulate as a variety of the seasonal flu.  seasonal flu The H3N2 virus followed a seasonal flu pattern after its initial outbreak in 1968. Generally speaking, this means that the disease peaks during the winter months before waning in the summer. Here's a chart from a study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases showing the seasonal spread of H3N2. We added a red \"X\" to this chart to show when Woodstock occurred:Woodstock took place in the summer of 1969 when there were practically no reported cases of H3N2 in the U.S. The majority of U.S. deaths happened several months prior to this festival, and the second wave of this pandemic didn't hit until a few months after.  seasonal flu pattern Journal of Infectious Diseases  COVID-19 is not expected to follow a similar seasonal pattern. Although researchers are not entirely sure how the changing seasons will impact the spread of COVID-19, evidence exists that COVID-19 can spread in warmer climates.  Marc Lipsitch, professor of epidemiology and director of the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, wrote: wrote The short answer is that while we may expect modest declines in the contagiousness of SARS-CoV-2 in warmer, wetter weather and perhaps with the closing of schools in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, it is not reasonable to expect these declines alone to slow transmission enough to make a big dent. The H3N2 virus proved to be less deadly than previous pandemics in part because it emerged approximately 10 years after the world dealt with a similar virus, H2N2, also called the \"Asian flu.\" As these two diseases both contained the N2 neuraminidase, populations that survived H2N2 had already built up immunity to the H3N2 virus.  Morens told us: \"In 1968, the US population had partial immunity. Because the 1968 virus was H3N2 and the 1957 virus was H2N2 so the whole population had a degree of protection related to the N2 neuraminidase. So the brakes were on this pandemic before it even appeared and we knew that early on.\" A vaccine for this disease was also quickly developed (although it was not widely available) just a few months after the initial outbreak. On the other hand, there are no \"specific treatments for COVID-19\" and a vaccine is still months, if not years, away as of this writing.  vaccine One of the arguments made in the AIER article is that the 1968 pandemic resulted in the deaths of 100,000 people, yet daily life, more or less, proceeded as normal. By comparison, the author argues, the COVID-19 pandemic has killed fewer people (as of this writing), yet has resulted in a major disruption of American life. When we take a closer look at these figures, however, we see that they aren't truly comparable.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that approximately 100,000 people died in the U.S. during the H3N2 pandemic, with the majority of deaths occurring during the first wave in 1968. This figure accounts for pandemic-related deaths over the span of approximately 18 months. Comparatively speaking, COVID-19 has so far resulted in more than 80,000 deaths over an approximate 4-month span. estimates 80,000 deaths Morens told us: \"It's not comparable. It's not comparable in a lot of ways but particularly in its mortality. It's also not comparable in the effects of what would happen if you just let it go.\" Of course, when we compare the death tolls from the 1968 pandemic and the COVID-19 pandemic, we also have to factor in the impact of social distancing and shelter-in place policies. While the 1968 pandemic saw some social distancing measures (more on that below), these guidelines were nowhere near as stringent as the policies put in place today. Generally speaking, H3N2 was allowed to spread unabated. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, on the other hand, the U.S. economy was basically shut down to slow the spread of the disease. But even with these extreme measures in place, COVID-19 resulted in more than 80,000 deaths during its first few months. If these social distancing measures were not put in place (i.e., if Woodstock-like festivals were allowed to go on as planned), it's reasonable to assume that the death toll would be much higher.  In fact, in April 2020, after some states started to relax their shelter-in place guidelines and allowed businesses to reopen, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington revised its death toll estimate for the beginning of August from 60,000 to 135,000: revised The institute wrote that the revisions reflected rising mobility in most U.S. states as well as the easing of social distancing measures expected in 31 states by May 11, indicating that growing contacts among people will promote transmission of the coronavirus.\" While the social-distancing measures implemented in 1968 were a far cry from the policies enacted 2020, it's not accurate to say that \"nothing closed\" and \"schools stayed open,\" as the AIER article stated. We found several newspaper clippings from 1968 noting that schools, businesses, and even political ceremonies were impacted by H3N2:  newspaper clippings  Fri, Dec. 13, 1968  9  The Post-Crescent (Appleton, Wisconsin)  Newspapers.com  Fri, Dec. 13, 1968  9  The Post-Crescent (Appleton, Wisconsin)  Newspapers.com A Getty Images photograph from December 1968 shows a nurse at Cleveland's Grace Hospital in front of a sign announcing the temporary restriction of all visitors during the pandemic:  Nurse Nadyne Weber stands by her notice severely restricting visiting hours at Cleveland's Grace Hospital due to a flu outbreak.  The argument that today's shelter-in place rules are unnecessary because similar rules were not implemented in the 1960s is based on a faulty comparison between two vastly different pandemics. On one hand, you have a disease that killed approximately 100,000 people over the span of 18 months during which little to no social distancing rules were implemented to stop it. On the other, you have a disease that has killed more than 80,000 people over the span of just a few months in spite of extreme self-quarantine laws that were implemented around the country.  So what if we treated COVID-19 the same way we treated H3N2 in 1968? In other words, what if we let another Woodstock go on in 2020?  Morens told us that if we just let things go the way we did in the Woodstock era and waited until the population reached herd immunity, the U.S. would see more than 1 million deaths from COVID-19.  Morens said: \"COVID-19 is far more deadly than the 1968 pandemic virus ... We have about 5% of herd immunity right now in the nation. By the time we get to 70%, think about that, that's 14 times as many cases as we have now. And if you project that onto 80,000 deaths, you can see [if we just] let things go, as we did in the Woodstock era, we'd have more than 1 million deaths.\" Jester, Barbara; Uyeki, Timothy; Jernigan, Daniel.  \"Fifty Years of Influenza A(H3N2) Following the Pandemic of 1968.\"\r  American Public Health Association.  8 April 2020. The New York Times.  \"Models Project Sharp Rise in Deaths as States Reopen.\"\r  4 May 2020. Viboud, Cecile; Grais, Rebecca; Lafont, Bernard; Miller, Mark; Simonsen, Lone.  \"Multinational Impact of the 1968 Hong Kong Influenza Pandemic: Evidence for a Smoldering Pandemic.\"\r  Journal of Infectious Diseases.  15 July 2005. Tucker, Jeffrey.  \"Woodstock Occurred in the Middle of a Pandemic.\"\r  American Institute for Economic Research..  1 May 2020. Kossakovski, Fedor.  \"One Simple Chart Explains How Social Distancing Saves Lives.\"\r  NPR.  13 March 2020. Piper, Kelsey.  \"Data Shows Social Distancing Has Slowed Down the Coronavirus Outbreak. But Whats Next?\"\r  VOX.  15 April 2020.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=12S6YaAf11AHPQKNU7frOKZKfjJEq75al","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1kJWgoXLHfpVdt-nI4rbuwpjCPvdbHnZ0","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/img.newspapers.com\/img\/img?id=290872362&width=700&height=1170&crop=127_134_1678_3330&rotation=0&brightness=0&contrast=0&invert=0&ts=1589223378&h=45bfc0d658e36568312a2487fea170bd","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1-_m-bKFE3nlwZ8QamuIHnuBLi1JmJwhj","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_542","claim":"Did Pregnant Wife Find Something in Oven After Husband Left Her?","posted":"12\/30\/2021","sci_digest":["We flipped through a 50-page slideshow article to find answers."],"justification":"In late December 2021, a strange online advertisement claimed that a pregnant woman found something in the oven after her husband left her. It read: \"He Left Pregnant Wife. Weeks Later, She Opens Oven.\" A variation of the ad also said: \"Husband Leaves 36 Weeks Pregnant Wife, She Finds This In Oven.\"  The ad in question.  The words \"pregnant\" and \"oven\" together often refer to the phrase \"bun in the oven.\" However, this was about the oven in her kitchen. Upon clicking the ad, we were led to a 50-page slideshow article with the headline: \"After Her Husband Left Her, She Saw Something in the Oven that Changed Her Life.\" The first page read as follows: article Her face flushed as she stared at the monitor. Was she, in fact, looking at her own house? Three men appeared out of nowhere. When Amanda saw this, she felt shame, anger, and fear. She had no idea who they were and had not invited them. The camera then panned to the disorganized kitchen. She realized the men were involved. One of them walked up to the oven and opened the door without warning. She let out a shriek when she saw what was inside. She couldnt believe she was in this situation. What was happening? The story didn't contain any last names, location details, and lacked other information that news articles typically feature. We initially believed it was all perhaps made up for \"entertainment purposes\" as we had seen with other such stories in the past. other stories However, the story of the pregnant wife and the oven turned out to be true, despite the extra inclusion of a bit of dramatization and several unrelated pictures. In April 2015, a radio show in Australia had quite a surprise for a woman who was about 36 weeks along in her pregnancy. She was identified only with her first name, Amanda, while on \"The Kyle & Jackie O Show\" on KIIS 1065 in Sydney. The Kyle & Jackie O Show It was true that her husband had recently left her after the couple had tried for around three years to conceive a child. The radio program surprised her with six months of cleaning services, three months of food, $4,000 in baby gifts, and a $1,000 baby photography voucher. \"Is there anything else left? Let's check the oven,\" Jackie O said. Inside the oven was $10,000 in Australian cash to help with the pregnant woman's mortgage. \"I can't tell you how much that means,\" Amanda said. \"That means I don't have to move right now.\" The entire reveal was posted on the radio show's YouTube channel: posted https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Wi1asdrFdqwIn sum, it was true that a pregnant wife whose husband left her found something in her oven: money. Amanda did not open the oven herself, nor did \"three men\" appear on the video monitor. However, the core of the claim was from a real story. Snopes debunks a wide range of content, and online advertisements are no exception. Misleading ads often lead to obscure websites that host lengthy slideshow articles with lots of pages. It's called advertising \"arbitrage.\" The advertiser's goal is to make more money on ads displayed on the slideshow's pages than it cost to show the initial ad that lured them to it. Feel free to submit ads to us, and be sure to include a screenshot of the ad and the link to where the ad leads. submit ads to us","issues":["mortgage"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=18PFriy_p0W6Q1QqZaiucCai-b_JD7e4o","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_543","claim":"Was there a report by Fox News indicating that the Mar-a-Lago Club owned by Trump received a foreclosure notice from Deutsche Bank?","posted":"11\/15\/2023","sci_digest":["\"BREAKING FOX NEWS: Deutsche Bank has filed a notice to foreclose on Mar-a-Lago,\" a popular post on X read."],"justification":"On Nov. 15, 2023, a user on X with the handle @PatMaguire10 published a post (archived) stating that Fox News had reported former U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, had received a foreclosure notice from Deutsche Bank. We received reader mail asking if this was true. The post read, \"BREAKING FOX NEWS: Deutsche Bank has filed a notice to foreclose on Mar A Lago. The Trump property is part of a larger estate lien that is $190 million delinquent. Court documents show a $3.4 billion loan that's in default. Trump hasn't responded to repeated attempts for comment. Developing story.\" However, a quick check of @PatMaguire10's X bio revealed that the account posts \"parody\" content. In other words, Fox News did not report on any such foreclosure notice, nor was there any public record of a foreclosure of Mar-a-Lago taking place or scheduled to happen in the future. For a little more background on the subject referenced, on the same day that the post was created, Trump's legal team reportedly asked for a mistrial to be declared in the civil fraud trial brought against him in New York. Weeks earlier, the same trial featured testimony from retired Deutsche Bank executive Nicholas Haigh. Haigh provided information to the court about the bank's decision to loan Trump roughly $125 million for the purchase of the Trump National Doral property in Miami in 2011, according to ABC News. As for Mar-a-Lago, the Miami Herald reported in August 2022 that Trump had received a loan from Chase Manhattan Bank\u2014not Deutsche Bank\u2014for his 1985 purchase of the property. Mar-a-Lago itself cost Trump $8 million, which he financed with an $8.5 million loan from Chase Manhattan Bank. The other parcel\u2014oceanfront land next to the manor\u2014cost $2 million. Trump was able to use $500,000 from the estate loan and a $1.5 million mortgage from the seller, Jack C. Massey, to cover the bill. For further reading, we previously published a report titled, \"Media Literacy: How Can You Tell if a Post Is Satire\/Parody?\"","issues":["mortgage"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1LxWjfBMuSbeQuybA2ij27KJgb-YYP2Ya"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_544","claim":"No, Pfizer does not possess the music catalog of Neil Young.","posted":"02\/04\/2022","sci_digest":["Conspiracy theorists reached new lows in attempting to discredit Young's vocal opposition to vaccine skepticism. "],"justification":"In early 2022, folk-rock legend Neil Young found himself the target of a laughable conspiracy theory after he spoke out against COVID-19-related misinformation. On Jan. 24, Young wrote that he wanted his music removed from the streaming platform Spotify, unless the company ended its agreement to host Joe Rogan's podcast, which has on several occasions provided a forum for potentially harmful misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines. In response, Spotify removed Young's back catalog from its library, rather than cutting ties with Rogan.  wrote misinformation removed In the midst of that controversy, vaccine skeptics and COVID-19 conspiracy theorists shared a ludicrous conspiracy theory claiming that the pharmaceutical company Pfizer  which produces a widely-used COVID-19 vaccine  either owned the rights to Young's music catalog or, through a chain of connections, held sway over the rock star and influenced, or even ordered, his pro-vaccination stance.  For example, some social media users posted a meme with the text, \"When you realize Neil Young's music catalogue is owned by Pfizer\": posted meme   Others did not explicitly claim that Pfizer itself owned some or all of Young's catalog, but did suggest that the company held sway over him, by way of a series of connections, and that therefore Young's opposition to Rogan and his criticism of vaccine misinformation should be dismissed as the result of corruption and self-compromise, rather than a principled stance.  did suggest series connections On social media, a conspiracy theorist who uses the moniker An0maly outlined the theory in helpful detail, starting with the observation that in January 2021, Young reportedly sold half of his catalog to a U.K.-based investment fund called Hipgnosis, for around $150 million. An0maly continued: outlined the theory So, 50% to UK investment fund Hipgnosis. In October of 2021, Blackstone and Hipgnosis Song Management launched [a] \"$1 billion partnership to invest in songs, recorded music, music IP and royalties.\" Interesting. Blackstone is \"an American alternative investment management company\" who, interestingly enough, in 2020 announced the appointment of \"Jeffrey B. Kindler, former chairman and CEO of Pfizer, as [a] senior adviser.\" Now I don't know the answer to this, but did Neil Young independently make the decision to try and blackball Joe Rogan for questioning big pharma and the government narrative? Or was it a team decision with a multi-billion-dollar investment firm who also owns a big chunk of his music? The first point to note here is that, even among those promulgating the Young-Pfizer theory, it is not seriously suggested that Pfizer itself  which is, after all, a pharmaceutical company  owns the rights to any of Young's music. That claim can be dismissed.  Before assessing the logic behind the theory, and its coherence, it's worth briefly evaluating the accuracy of each of its components. First, it appears to be true that, in January 2021, Young sold half of his songs to Hipgnosis. In a news release, Hipgnosis wrote: \"...The Company has acquired 50% of Neil Youngs worldwide copyright and income interests in his entire song catalogue comprising 1,180 songs.\" news release Secondly, it is also true that in October 2021, Blackstone bought an ownership stake in Hipgnosis, as demonstrated in news releases published by both companies. Finally, it is also true that in August 2020, Blackstone hired Jeff Kindler as a senior advisor, and that Kindler used to be the chairman and CEO of Pfizer.  both companies hired Jeff Kindler used to be However, rather than having uncovered a web of corruption, those pushing the Young-Pfizer story were engaging in the classic conspiracy theorist's fallacy of finding whatever possible connection they can between two separate entities (in this case, Young and Pfizer) without first testing the logical or chronological basis of that putative link. In other words, \"connecting the dots\" by whatever means available, rather than uncovering an actual, organic conspiracy.  Let's look at the sequence of events. Kindler left Pfizer in 2010  a full decade before he joined Blackstone, and before the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic prompted Pfizer to develop a vaccine along with its German partner BioNTech. left Pfizer in 2010 Blackstone is a publicly traded company, meaning it has a fiduciary duty to its shareholders, and Kindler, in turn, has a professional obligation to provide sound business and strategic advice to Blackstone. Aside from presenting no concrete evidence whatsoever, those pushing the Young-Pfizer conspiracy theory appear to be asking readers to believe, despite these circumstances, one of two explanations: publicly traded company As outlandish as these scenarios are, they are premised on even shakier assumptions: for example, that Kindler was even consulted on the Blackstone-Hipgnosis deal; or that if he was, he was in favor of it; and that Young has any remaining financial or commercial obligations to Hipgnosis and\/or Blackstone after the sale of half his music  after all, if that deal is already done, what is the supposed basis of Hipgnosis or Blackstone's putative leverage over Young? It's not necessary to list, in excruciating detail, each of the known factual and logical flaws associated with the Young-Pfizer conspiracy theory. The claim that the pharmaceutical company \"owned Young's music catalog\" was patently false, and the theory of a fantastical web of corruption, with Kindler at its centre, was presented without any concrete evidence and, perhaps more importantly, made no sense whatsoever. ","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1AvCtO4Q1qBIdkhFkm12Vl2wYARfyT8Uo"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_545","claim":"Did Marvin Gaye Deliberately Record a Bad Album to Cheat His Ex-Wife Out of Royalties?","posted":"09\/16\/2004","sci_digest":["The album 'Here, My Dear' chronicled the deterioration of Marvin Gaye's marriage into its heartbreaking, bitter, and angry end."],"justification":"Divorce can be anything from an amicable parting of spouses who realize their partnership just isn't working, to a vicious, protracted fight between two embittered people determined to wreak as much physical, emotional, and economic damage on the other as possible.  Unfortunately, the end of singer Marvin Gaye's first marriage came closer to the latter than the former. Marvin Gaye's Divorce In 1962, a 22-year-old Marvin Gaye wed Anna Ruby Gordy, a woman seventeen years his senior and the sister of Motown Record Corporation founder Berry Gordy, Jr. (a marriage, some cynics suggested, calculated to further the fledgling career of Gaye, who recorded for Motown).  By the time Anna filed for divorce thirteen years later, the couple had been separated for over two years, and each had accused the other of infidelities.  (Marvin's infidelity was hardly a matter of debate, as he was living with a teenage girl seventeen years his junior who was pregnant with his child.  Moreover, the son Marvin and Anna Gaye had claimed as their own was actually a child Marvin Gaye had fathered by his wife's fifteen-year-old niece.)  The divorce proceedings dragged out over two years as Marvin continually failed to show up for court dates, refused to pay court-ordered support for Anna and their son, and claimed his expenses exceeded his income even as he continued to spend money recklessly, purchasing luxury automobiles, boats, and beachfront properties.  By the time Marvin's day of financial reckoning arrived, he had little cash and was well in arrears for a large amount of back taxes, so his attorney worked out a settlement under which Anna would be paid off from the royalties earned by Gaye's next album.    Here, My Dear That next album turned out to be Here, My Dear, a harrowing \"concept album of divorce\" which chronicled the turmoil of Anna and Marvin's relationship.  The record's symbolism was hardly subtle: Featuring songs with titles such as \"You Can Leave, But It's Going to Cost You,\" the album bore an inner sleeve which depicted a Monopoly-like board game emblazoned with the word JUDGMENT, across which a male hand passed a broken record to a female hand.  On the man's side of the board were only a piano and some recording equipment, while the female's side of the board included money, a house, a Mercedes, and a diamond ring:  Although Marvin and Anna's divorce settlement was indeed tied to the royalties generated by Here, My Dear, the common legend surrounding the record -- that Marvin Gaye was ordered by a judge to hand over all his royalties from the album to Anna, and that Marvin was in a position to spitefully deprive Anna of those royalties by intentionally recording an album so bad it would not sell -- is largely untrue.  Debunking the Legend First off, the payment-through-royalties scheme was a settlement worked out through mutual agreement, not one devised and mandated by a judge.  Second, rarely does a competent attorney accept (or a responsible judge impose) a dissolution of partnership settlement under which the amount of compensation received by one party is completely dependent upon a future endeavor of the other party, precisely because such a settlement could allow one side to cheat the other by deliberately underperforming.  (A similar legend about producer Phil Spector is based on this premise.) Phil Spector The circumstances in Marvin Gaye's case were that he agreed to pay Anna a total of $600,000, the first $307,000 coming from the advance against royalties he was guaranteed for his next album, and the remaining $293,000 to be paid out of any royalties earned beyond the advance.  But Anna would lose nothing if Gaye's next record sold poorly, because the agreement specified that if the album failed to earn $293,000 within two years, Gaye was obligated to pay Anna the difference himself, and thus he had nothing to gain by tanking the sessions and purposely turning out substandard product.  In fact, Gaye was in a position to lose a great deal by deliberately turning out a substandard effort, both because he was entitled to keep any royalties earned after the first $600,000 and because he stood to earn additional monies through publishing rights (rather than record sales) that were not payable to Anna. It is true that Gaye initially considered giving the album less than his best effort, but he soon found that he was incapable of recording with anything less than a complete commitment to his art, and if he had any intent to \"get\" his ex-wife, it was through the album's lyrics and not its sales: At first, I figured I'd just do a quickie record  nothing heavy, nothing even good.  Why should I break my neck when Anna was going to wind up with the money anyway?  But the more I lived with the notion, the more it fascinated me. Besides, I owed the public my best effort. I'll give her my next album but it'll be something she won't want to play and it'll be something she won't want the world to hear because I'm gonna tell the truth. Critical Reception Although the album was not a smashing commercial success, it was admired in many quarters for its artistic qualities: Despite Marvin's efforts, Here, My Dear was a commercial failure, not because it lacked ideas and sophisticated music, but, perhaps, because it possessed them in abundance. I think Here, My Dear was simply too sophisticated, too boldly honest, too remarkably insightful  and too close to the emotional quick to succeed commercially. On \"I Met a Little Girl,\" Gaye appeals to his past: musically, through sweet fifties harmonies, and personally as he narrates meeting Anna, falling in love with her, and the relationship's demise. On \"When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You,\" which appears again as an instrumental and a reprise, Marvin uses a Latin-tinged mellow groove to probe for more than six minutes the philosophical question of love's origin and its end, both passing imperceptibly into existence, and into each other, as Marvin's multiple falsettos lash at the song's rhythms, and Anna: \"You said bad things and you lied.\" On \"Anger,\" Marvin mounts a funky shuffle of percussion and bass to declare the defining vices of a fundamental human passion: \"Anger ... can make you old ... can make you sick ... destroys your soul.\" The songs cross every genre  \"Anna's Song\" is a rhythmically complex patterning of soul-jazz that conjures Coltrane's ballads, while \"Funky Space Reincarnation\" is disco-funk that dreams of a raceless musical universe. And \"Here, My Dear\" is a poignant doo-wop love fugue transposed to detail Marvin's sorrowful joys and sad nostalgia in the aftermath of their breakup. Anna Gaye didn't take lightly some of the revelations Marvin expressed through his music on Here, My Dear (especially accusations that she was preventing him from seeing their son and that she had lied to God by breaking their marriage vows), and upon its release she told People magazine that she was considering filing a $5 million invasion of privacy lawsuit, although nothing ever came of her threat.  Critical reaction to Here, My Dear was mixed.  As Gaye biographer Steve Turner wrote, \"Reviewers didn't seem to know whether the double album was a huge joke at the expense of Anna Gaye and Motown, or a work of genius.\"  The record was not a hit, failing to sell well enough to even recoup the advance against royalties paid by Motown, so Marvin Gaye (who was by then officially bankrupt) was obligated to begin making monthly payments to Anna to cover the shortfall.  However, Gaye was killed in 1984 still owing Anna the additional $293,000 due her, and monies earned by his estate after his death went to paying off the IRS rather than benefiting his ex-wives and children -- thereby proving the maxim about life's only two certainties.   Dyson, Michael Eric.  Mercy, Mercy Me: The Art, Loves & Demons of Marvin Gaye.\r  New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2004.  ISBN 0-465-01769-X.\r\r Mercy, Mercy Me: The Art, Loves & Demons of Marvin Gaye Ritz, David.  Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye.\r  New York: Da Capo Press, 1985.  ISBN 0-306-80443-2.\r\r Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye Turner, Steve.  Trouble Man: The Life and Death of Marvin Gaye.\r  New York: HarperCollins, 1998.  ISBN 0-06-019821-4. Trouble Man: The Life and Death of Marvin Gaye","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1hpBOaoZDT-2RdLeU_rrrO_pgemEcviv6","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_546","claim":"Was the Insurrection Act nullified by the 2021 U.S. Defense Bill?","posted":"12\/23\/2020","sci_digest":["A defense budget bill was surprisingly controversial during the final weeks of 2020."],"justification":"Editor's note: Shortly after this article was published, U.S. President Donald Trump vetoed the National Defense Authorization Act. You can read more about Trump's veto here from the Associated Press. The original article continues below. Associated Press House Resolution 6395, or the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (NDAA), was surprisingly controversial during the final weeks of 2020. U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to veto the military budget bill, which passed the House and Senate with more than a two-thirds majority vote, because it did not call for the removal of Section 230, an unrelated piece of legislation that provides internet publishers legal immunity from third-party content.  threatened to veto Section 230 On Dec. 22, 2020, conservative commentator Chuck Callesto claimed that there was another reason Trump might want to veto the bill. Callesto wrote that the NDAA contained a provision that \"Nullifies the President's use of the Insurrection Act.\"   While Callesto presents his claim as if he is quoting directly from the bill, the phrase \"nullifies the President's use of the Insurrection Act\" does not appear anywhere in the NDAA (which numbers 1,480 pages, not 5,893 as Callesto claimed), the full text of which can be found here.  here Insurrection Act House Amendment 833 It's a bit of a moot point, however, as this amendment did not make it into the final bill. As of this writing, the NDAA does not include any language pertaining to the Insurrection Act.  The Hill reported on Dec. 6 that the amendment pertaining to the Insurrection Act was removed as Congress debated the NDAA: reported The NDAA also includes a modest rebuke of Trumps use of Pentagon funding on his southern border wall. The compromise includes House-passed language capping emergency military construction spending at $100 million annually for domestic projects. Trump took $3.6 billion from military construction funds to build the wall. The compromise jettisoned some rebukes of Trump, including House-passed language to restrict a presidents Insurrection Act powers and block funding for a nuclear test. But this year stands in stark contrast to last year, when most of House Democrats efforts to box in Trump on defense policy were stripped from the final product. In summary, the viral tweet claiming that the NDAA \"nullified\" the Insurrection Act is based on a House amendment proposed in July that would have restricted (not nullified) the president's use of the Insurrection Act. This amendment, which would have required the president to make certifications to Congress before invoking the Insurrection Act, did not make it into the final form of the legislation. ","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1A-UQx3D4a0D9yaBiC9R8N4ptUVeNiQYk"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_547","claim":"Is this a picture of valueless currency lying in the streets of Venezuela?","posted":"04\/05\/2019","sci_digest":["The disastrous economic situation in Venezuela can't be summed up in a single image. "],"justification":"In late March 2019, a photograph supposedly showing piles of \"worthless\" currency thrown into gutters in Venezuela circulated on social media, attached to comments blaming socialism for the phenomenon behind the striking visual. One popular posting on Facebook was captioned, \"This is a street in Venezuela. That's money in the gutter. It's worthless. Welcome to socialism.\": Facebook   This is a genuine photograph of worthless money dumped in the gutter of a Venezuelan street. However, the accompanying caption presents an oversimplification of the series of events that led to this currency's worthlessness and its discarding by Venezuelan residents. The economic collapse in Venezuela that began in 2013 is a complex matter which can't be attributed to any single factor. News outlets such as Bloomberg, the New York Times, and Fox News have cited a wide range of issues that led to the country's current economic crisis, including plunging oil prices, government corruption, political unrest, and socialist policies. That brew of unfavorable economic conditions has spawned massive hyperinflation which has greatly devalued Venezuela's currency, as the Washington Post reported in January 2018: Bloomberg New York Times Fox News reported Hyperinflation is disorienting. Five or six years ago, 500 bolivars wouldve bought you a meal for two with wine at the best restaurant in Caracas. As late as early last year, they wouldve bought you at least a cup of coffee. At the end of 2016, they still bought you a cup of caf con leche, at least. Today, they buy you essentially nothing ... well, except for 132 gallons of the worlds most extravagantly subsidized gasoline. Although hyperinflation has indeed caused the bolivar to become all but worthless, the caption on this viral photograph is a bit misleading. The money shown lying in the gutter in this picture is Venezuela's old currency, the Bolvar Fuerte, which was replaced by a new form of currency, the Bolivar Soberano, in August 2018.  When the Bolivar Soberano was introduced, Bolvar Fuerte currency in amounts less than 1,000 ceased to be legal tender, and Bolivar Fuerte currency in all amounts was completely withdrawn on 5 December 2018.   Hence the discarded money seen here was literally worthless not because it had no value, because it had been completely replaced by a newer currency and was no longer legal tender. Here's an excerpt from a CNN report about the switch in currencies: CNN Venezuela issued a new currency in an attempt to bolster its crumbling economy as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that inflation could hit one million percent this year. The move, part of a dramatic raft of measures aimed at halting runaway hyperinflation, comes as thousands of Venezuelans continue to flee across the border into neighboring countries amid food and medicine shortages, political turmoil and soaring crime rates. In a tweet posted following the unveiling of Venezuela's new currency, the country's president Nicolas Maduro hailed the recovery package as a \"revolutionary formula.\" The new \"Bolivar Soberano\" currency is worth 100,000 \"old\" Bolivares. \"We found the revolutionary formula that puts work in the center of the general re-adjustment of society, based on the production of goods and the value of salary. With that, we're gonna put to rest forever the perverse model that dollarized the prices in the country,\" tweeted Venezuela's 55-year-old leader. \"I call on the people to defend -- conscientiously -- the adjustment of the prices on street,\" Maduro later said in another tweet. A bank holiday was declared, with banks remaining closed as the new currency took effect. The rebranded currency, which has five fewer zeroes than the country's previous currency and will be pegged to a cryptocurrency called the Petro, is intended to simplify transactions. The viral photograph was likely taken on 11 March 2019 and showed the aftermath of looting at a bank in the town of Merida. Local news outlet Maduradas.com compiled several other photographs of the incident and reported that the perpetrators had discarded the old money on the streets and even lit some of it on fire (translated via Google): Maduradas.com TERRIBLE! Encapuchados saquearon banco Bicentenario en Mrida y esparcieron bolvares del viejo cono monetario por las calles (+Fotos) Este lunes 11 de marzo, encapuchados saquearon la agencia del banco Bicentenario en la avenida 3, de Glorias Patrias, en el estado Mrida. El hecho fue confirmado por el diputado de la Asamblea Nacional Williams Dvila, as como por el corresponsal de El Nacional en el estado Mrida, Leonardo Len. A travs de la red social Twitter, informaron que los ciudadanos esparcieron montones de billetes de viejo cono monetario en las calles, los cuales despus fueron incendiados. TERRIBLE! Hooded (vandals) sacked the bank Bicentenario in Merida and scattered bolivars of the old currency through the streets (+ Photos) On Monday, March 11, hooded (vandals) sacked the Bicentenario bank agency on Avenue 3, Glorias Patrias, in the state of Merida. The fact was confirmed by the deputy of the National Assembly Williams Dvila, as well as by the correspondent of El Nacional in the state of Mrida, Leonardo Len. Through the social network Twitter, they reported that citizens scattered piles of old money bills in the streets, which were then set on fire. Venezuelan journalists and social media users shared several other photographs of the scene: Ayer se produjo el saqueo de un banco bicentenario en la ciudad de Mrida, en las cercanas de la plaza Glorias Patrias. Los saqueadores incendiaron una pila de bolvares adems de dejar muchos billetes por el suelo. pic.twitter.com\/7gmL7FqMYo pic.twitter.com\/7gmL7FqMYo  Descifrando la Guerra (@descifraguerra) March 12, 2019 March 12, 2019  TERRIBLE! Encapuchados saquearon banco Bicentenario en Mrida y esparcieron bolvares del viejo cono monetario por las calles https:\/\/t.co\/6U3kFuMHn5 #LiberenALuisCarlos,#12Mar,#solidarioservicios pic.twitter.com\/QT0fP9ifaF https:\/\/t.co\/6U3kFuMHn5 #LiberenALuisCarlos #12Mar #solidarioservicios pic.twitter.com\/QT0fP9ifaF  EntornoInteligente (@ENTORNOi) March 12, 2019 March 12, 2019  #MeridaBanco Bicentenario en Merida fue robado, slo haban billetes del viejo cono monetario que terminaron tapizando las calles del centro de la ciudadVenezuela es realismo magico y tragicoSarai Suarez pic.twitter.com\/lIeo2mpw70 #Merida pic.twitter.com\/lIeo2mpw70  Nellie B. Izarza ? ???? (@myteks) March 12, 2019 March 12, 2019  In short, the \"money in gutters\" image shown above captured an older and now invalid form of currency that was tossed aside after the looting of a bank, and not usable currency discarded by citizens because it had been made next to worthless due to \"socialism.\" Sterling, Joe.  \"Venezuela Issues New Currency, Amid Hyperinflation and Social Turmoil.\"\r  CNN.  23 August 2018. Toro, Franciso.  \"In Venezuela, Money Has Stopped Working.\"\r  The Washington Post.  17 January 2018. Llorente, Elizabeth.  \"Caracas, Once a Thriving Metropolis, Is Struggling as Country Plunges Further Into Chaos.\"\r  Fox News.  4 April 2019. The New York Times.  \"The Crisis in Venezuela Was Years in the Making. Heres How It Happened.\"\r  23 January 2019. Martin, Eric and Patricia Laya.  \"What Broke Venezuela's Economy and What Could Fix It.\"\r  Bloomberg.  9 March 2019. Maduradas.com.  \"TERRIBLE! Encapuchados Saquearon Banco Bicentenario en Mrida y Esparcieron Bolvares Del Viejo Cono Monetario Por Las Calles (+Fotos).\"\r  12 March 2019. El Nacional.  \"Billetes Inferiores a 1.000 Bolvares No Tendrn Valor a Partir del 20A.\"\r  14 August 2018. 2001.com.ve.  \"Bolvar Fuerte Circular Hasta el Mircoles 5 de Diciembre.\"\r  Accessed 5 April 2019.","issues":["inflation"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1JDORtt2i1y6671YaUDEBpbhzt4_QUryE"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_548","claim":"Racist Product Color Descriptions","posted":"04\/21\/2007","sci_digest":["Modern products still sometimes bear labels and descriptions that include a color named for a racial pejorative."],"justification":"In April 2007, a dark brown leather sofa set (couch, loveseat, and chair) obtained from Vanaik Furniture and Mattress store in Toronto was discovered by the Brampton family that purchased it to bear a startlingly racist descriptor, tags pronouncing the items' chocolate shade to be \"Nigger-brown\":  The set had been manufactured by a furniture maker operating in Guangzhou, China. The offensive labels escaped notice both at the Toronto furniture store and at its supplier, Cosmos Furniture in Scarborough. Each of the three pieces had a similar label affixed to the woven protective covering wrapped around them.  A Chinese software company, Kingsoft Corp., acknowledged their translation program was at fault. When the Chinese characters for \"dark brown\" were typed into an older version of their Chinese-English translation software, the offensive description came up. (The program's 2007 version no longer produce that result.) The software had been programmed with terms garnered from a Chinese-English dictionary.  A similar controversy erupted in 2017 when consumers reported seeing a wig base cap offered for sale on web sites such as Amazon.com and Walmart.com whose description identified it as being \"nigger brown\" in color:  Words aren't dropped from a language in the blink of an eye: While new terms can swiftly become part of the common lexicon, that which has fallen from linguistic favor departs far more slowly. Though now widely regarded as one of the words one must not say, it wasn't that long ago that Western society routinely used \"nigger\" as a color descriptor of various goods, even well after it was no longer used as a descriptor of people. Around 1914, Lady's Pictorial a London magazine, routinely presented ads for soft taffeta hats in \"nigger-black.\" A 1915 edition of the British Home Chat magazine described cloth as \"nigger-brown.\" Writers D.H. Lawrence and John Dos Passos wrote about \"nigger-grey\" and \"nigger-pink.\" And, as late as 1973, The Times of London wrote of autumnal colours in a shade that \"used to be nigger brown.\" While Western society has now eschewed the word, in some parts of the world it continues to be used as a descriptor of an item's color. In China, \"nigger-brown\" pigment was available for purchase in 2007 from the Wenzhou Kunwei Pearly-Lustre Pigment Co., Ltd., and men's shoes from the Nanhai De Xing Leather Shoes Habiliment Co., Ltd., were described on its web site as: \"This product is comfortable for wearing, it looks very simple and artistic. Size: 39#-46# Color: nigger-brown.\" described Such are the pitfalls of dealing with a global economy: goods produced and labeled in one part of the world are sold internationally, and terms that are irredeemably offensive in some places barely give anyone pause in others. Until the epithet falls out of use everywhere, look for more gobsmacked Western consumers ending up with \"nigger brown\" couches and shoes. Other descriptive labels commonly used in times past have since been dropped by the wayside as awareness of their potential to offend grew. In 1962, Crayola renamed as \"peach\" the crayon it had until then vended as \"flesh,\" and in 1999 it changed to \"chestnut\" what had previously been labeled \"Indian Red.\" (The company asserted Indian red was not meant to represent the skin color of Native Americans, but rather referred to a reddish-brown pigment found near India.) Kopun, Francine.  \"Seeing Red Over Brown.\"\r  The Toronto Star.  14 April 2007  (p. A1).\r Noronha, Charmaine.  \"Racial Slur on Couch Label Blamed on Chinese Company's Faulty Software Program.\"\r  Associated Press.  19 April 2007. Wilkes, Jim.  \"Racial Slur on Sofa Label Stuns Family.\"\r  The Toronto Star.  6 April 2007  (p. B1). Willis, Kiersten.  \"Amazon and Walmart Investigating After N Brown Hair Cap Sparks Backlash.\"\r  Atlanta Black Star.  17 July 2017.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1TLzM0m82ln-FvnyTvcvwOB5loiFcci5t","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1xjwAdHnXZACINGN2O8Kvo-0NXiPFHXvx","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_549","claim":"Was a UFO Photographed Over Memphis?","posted":"11\/04\/2015","sci_digest":["A UFO supposedly photographed over Memphis, Tennessee, by several different people was actually sci-fi fan art."],"justification":"A series of imagespurportedly showinga UFO photographed by several different people began circulating via social media in October 2015: Yesterday afternoon in Memphis 4-6 random people posted these pictures on social media. The weirdest thing is that each of these individuals did not know each other and they all captured the same thing! Why isn't this being broadcasted on all major media outlets?! Somebody has some explaining to do. While the example Facebook post shown above reported that the alien ship was spotted over Memphis, Tennessee, other iterations of the photo set have claimed that the UFO was actually spotted inBenguela, Angola: claimed We'vehad a lot of people visiting the site over the past few weeks looking specifically for information about a remarkable UFO sighting in Banguela, Angola. The sightings were originally reported to MUFON and included a rather stunning image of the gigantic UFO that was not featured here on the UFOMG! copies of the reports. Here it isnow:  Even though these images all feature different settings, the UFO, as well as the surrounding cloud formations, pictured in each photograph are exactly the same. This means one of two things: Either a race of aliens has developed an efficient form of replicating technology, or the above-displayed photographs were created using the same stock image of a UFO. In fact, this series of photographs purportedly showing a UFO over Memphis (or Benguela) was created using a piece of fan art related to the V science fiction television series (about alien visitors to Earth) created bydigital artist Jukka Korhonen: artist   I was a big fan of V when it first came out. My love for the series has been growing bigger ever since they released the show on the DVD. The biggest news for V fans was the possible release of a sequel-series titled \"V: The Second Generation\". I quickly scetched out a few concept works and a fanmade poster to celebrate the announcement. As with many times in the media-mentality of amercan television, the \"V: Second Generation\" was not considered a mainstream series and so the network decided to freeze the project at the final meters. For this portfolio, I took out the V model I had made for the poster and combined it with one of my matteclouds. This image was one of the \"doom\" concept ideas that I had in mind when I first heard about the new series.  Modelled in trueSpace and postwork in Corel GS. This is NOT official art for the series, its merely fan-art from a dedicated admirer of Kenneth Johnson's work. I hope one day we will see the series come to life and see these iconic ships rise again to the LA skies ...","issues":["lien"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1zYuixSic5NYWIXCdDnLNKf26T_VZ4eTG","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1amoJF6thjP5kb3lVJ7AsLh8P1TziKbRw","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1XHPqEld6LchMhC2seoN5LSrWbtIQrG0V","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_550","claim":"Are gas stations owned by Lukoil of Russian origin?","posted":"03\/03\/2022","sci_digest":["Americans outraged by Russia's invasion of Ukraine called for a boycott of Lukoil gas stations in the U.S. "],"justification":"During Russia's invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, American social media users enthusiastically shared posts that called for a boycott of Lukoil gas stations on the East Coast, on the basis that they were Russian owned. As one very widely shared tweet summarized: social media users enthusiastically shared posts called boycott Russian summarized \"#BoycottRussia. Lukoil gas is Russian owned.\"   wrote \"Fill your tank elsewhere. Lukoil is a Russian multinational corporation headquartered in Moscow. Their CEO, Vagit Alekperov, is a Russian oligarch worth an estimated $19.6 billion. Lukoil gas stations are all over PA, NJ and NY.\" These posts undoubtedly contained a significant element of truth. Lukoil is indeed a large Russian-headquartered multinational petroleum and natural gas producer, with a U.S. subsidiary that oversees a network of gas stations, primarily in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York. Moreover, the company's billionaire president, Vagit Alekperov, has ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. has ties However, Lukoil typically does not operate those U.S. gas stations itself. Rather, it operates on a franchise basis, meaning any successful boycott of Lukoil-branded gas stations would likely have a negligible effect on the parent company or its billionaire president, but could prove financially devastating for dozens of U.S. franchise owners and their hundreds of local employees. In brief, Lukoil itself might be \"Russian owned,\" but its U.S. gas stations are U.S.-operated and locally staffed. As such, we're issuing a rating of \"Mixture.\" Lukoil emerged from the dissolving Soviet Union in the early 1990s, and entered the American market a decade later. According to the company's website, Lukoil acquired the American company Getty Oil in 2000, taking over and rebranding its existing network of gas stations. the company's website The first Lukoil-branded gas station was opened in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan in September, 2003. Notably, the grand opening was attended by Putin himself  who was in the U.S. at that time for talks with then-President George W. Bush. In the photograph below, Putin can be seen outside the Manhattan Lukoil, with Alekperov to his right, and U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to his left: attended by Putin himself  Russian President Vladimir Putin (C) and Lukoil President Vagit Alekperov (L) listen as U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) (R) gestures as he speaks about U.S.-Russian relations during the opening of Lukoil's gasoline station September 26, 2003 in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City. Lukoil, a Russian oil company, acquired Getty Petroleum Marketing Inc. and its 1,300 stations in November 2000. (Photo by Stephen Chernin\/Getty Images)  At the time, Lukoil was reported to have taken over Getty's existing network of 1,300 gas stations, but by 2022, the number of Lukoil-branded gas stations in the United States had declined to around 230  most, if not all, located in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York.  Importantly, most  if not all  of those gas stations are operated as franchises. Franchising is a popular business model in the United States, with the best-known examples being fast food restaurants such as McDonald's and convenience stores like 7-Eleven.  popular business model in the United States Roughly speaking, the franchisee (local entrepreneur) pays the franchisor (main company) some fees: typically an up-front franchise fee, and regular royalties  usually a percentage cut of their income from sales. In return, the franchisor gives the franchisee the right to operate a business using their well-known brand, for a defined period of time, usually several years. The company might also provide advice or assistance with logistics, advertising, marketing, and so on. The local entrepreneur is also contractually obliged to operate the business in accordance with certain prescribed methods, customer service models, and so on. Lukoil  or more specifically, Lukoil North America, a Delaware-registered LLC with an address in Moorestown, New Jersey offers three-year leases to franchisees in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York. In fact, as of March 2, the company's website listed for lease 13 different gas station sites in those states: Lukoil North America, a Delaware-registered LLC 13 different gas station sites   offer to lease\" document The aforementioned Bidder is submitting the below rental offer to lease the LUKOIL branded service station listed above, and is prepared to enter into an Agreement with LNA for the lease of the same, subject to the conditions specified below. The lease term is generally three (3) years, however a longer term can be approved, at LNA's discretion, provided a sufficient site improvement or supply commitment is made to justify a longer term.   Google post \"LUKOIL gas stations in the United States are independently owned and operated by local business owners who are members of the communities they serve, and 100% of the gasoline and diesel fuel sold is sourced from American oil refiners.\" Snopes asked Lukoil for details on the exact number of Lukoil-branded gas stations in the United States, and the number of those operated on a franchise basis, if not all. We also asked for precise details about the company's revenue from franchise fees, royalties and\/or rent paid by U.S. franchisees, but we did not receive a response in time for publication.  However, Lukoil's 2021 financial results, which were published on March 2, gave an indication of the relatively small role of U.S. gas station revenue in the company's overall income, most of which stems from oil and gas exploration and production inside Russia. Lukoil's 2021 financial results In 2021, according to Lukoil, the company had total sales of 9.4 trillion rubles ($88 billion), and its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were 1.4 trillion rubles ($13 billion). Of that $13 billion, just 8.3% ($1 billion) was made up of \"refining, marketing and distribution\" outside Russia. Although a more detailed breakdown is not available, it is reasonable to suppose that income related specifically to U.S. gas stations made up an even smaller fraction of that $1 billion, given that Lukoil refines, markets, and distributes petroleum in several other countries throughout the world.  It's also not clear whether, in the event of an effective widespread boycott of U.S. Lukoil-branded gas stations, franchisees would still be obliged to continue paying fees and rent to Lukoil North America even if they had no income from gas or convenience store sales. Therefore, a successful boycott could require financial devastation  if not ruination  among many dozens of local entrepreneurs in the United States, as well as sudden unemployment for their hundreds of workers, in order to achieve what would be only a very small financial impact on the Russian parent company, or its bosses in Moscow.  On March 3, Lukoil's board of directors issued a statement in which they expressed their \"deepest concerns about the tragic events in Ukraine,\" and called for an immediate end to the conflict and a \"lasting ceasefire.\" issued a statement Maass, Peter. The Triumph of the Quiet Tycoon. The New York Times, 1 Aug. 2004. NYTimes.com, https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2004\/08\/01\/magazine\/the-triumph-of-the-quiet-tycoon.html. PRESS RELEASE MARCH 02, 2022 LUKOIL RELEASES FINANCIAL RESULTS UNDER IFRS FOR 2021 PJSC LUKOIL Today Released Its Audited Consol. https:\/\/webcache.googleusercontent.com\/search?q=cache%3AnFU75r0Wkh4J%3Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.lukoil.com%2Fapi%2Fpresscenter%2Fexportpressrelease%3Fid%3D577486+&cd=7&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us. Accessed 3 Mar. 2022. Updated [March 4, 2022]: Added reference to the Lukoil board of directors March 3 statement about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. ","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=11JhP-qgJ9W2iC0jRwkrk3mi8kCgyz0h7"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=18HVUr72uWdZINiPz4MLTmp8_ryuTWDRY"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1CnuwvGE3Qldef_3J3lqUZjjRjPPVQ5HU"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1L6L0eMxIuo1V05ugmCy4f9shSjPiWIRL"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_551","claim":"Are Amazon workers eligible for assistance with food expenses through government programs?","posted":"02\/01\/2018","sci_digest":["Official statistics suggest that some of the online retail giant's workforce receive food stamps, but it only applies to about 12 percent of one state's employees."],"justification":"Jeff Bezos, founder and chief executive officer of the online retail giant Amazon.com, became the world's richest person in October 2017, according to Forbes magazine. In January 2018, Bezos' company opened the first \"Amazon Go,\" a new kind of store with no checkout required, in Seattle, Washington, to considerable fanfare. Amid a wave of increased press coverage and scrutiny, a viral meme made several claims about Amazon in January 2018. A spokesperson for Amazon confirmed that the company's new grocery store, Amazon Go, does not accept SNAP benefits or food stamps as a form of payment. The source of the claim about Amazon workers receiving food stamps was a January 2018 report by the nonprofit group PolicyMatters Ohio, which estimated that roughly 700 Amazon workers in Ohio (more than 10 percent of the company's employees in the state) receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. As of last August, 1,430 Amazon employees or family members were receiving assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), according to the Ohio Department of Job & Family Services. In August, the average Ohio family receiving SNAP consisted of just over two people. Based on that average, more than 700 Amazon workers received benefits that month, or more than one in every ten of those Ohioans employed by the company. PolicyMatters Ohio arrived at that estimate by finding the number of Ohio food stamp recipients who are part of a household where someone works for Amazon (1,430), then dividing that by 2.02 (the average size of a household on food stamps in Ohio at that time). The resulting estimate is about 700 workers, or 11.8 percent of Amazon's Ohio workforce. We were unable to find any research or data on Amazon workers availing themselves of food stamps in other states. PolicyMatters Ohio sent us figures to corroborate their claims, which they received from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. (That data is available for download in spreadsheet form.) Furthermore, whether or not an individual qualifies for food stamps is determined by more than just income. Having a gross monthly household income at or below 130 percent of the federal poverty limit is an important factor. However, one can also qualify for SNAP benefits with an income above the poverty limit if someone in the household is disabled or elderly, and the poverty limit is pro-rated depending on the size of the household. Another factor to consider is whether a worker is employed by Amazon on a full-time or part-time basis. Someone whose only source of income is their part-time job at an Amazon fulfillment center would earn a lower monthly income than a full-time worker in a similar position, even if they received the same hourly wage. This circumstance might well qualify someone for food stamps even if their hourly wage at Amazon were otherwise not too bad. In an email, an Amazon spokesperson told us that Amazon full-time hourly employees in Ohio earn between $14.50 and $15 an hour as a starting wage, with regular pay increases plus Amazon stock and performance-based bonuses. On February 1, 2018, Amazon's jobs website listed seven open warehouse positions in Ohio. Only one was full-time, a description which a company spokesperson told us entails 40 hours of work per week. The hourly wage for the part-time jobs ranged from $10.50 to $11.75, while a \"reduced time\" position came with a starting rate of between $14.50 and $17 an hour. The full-time position had a starting hourly wage of between $14.50 and $15. According to a major 2016 report by the nonprofit Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a group that advocates for more sustainable community development, Amazon's warehouse workers across 11 metropolitan areas in the United States earned, on average, 15 percent less than could be expected for a worker in that industry. Amazon told us this analysis was \"flawed,\" because it compared Amazon wages with \"traditional warehouse jobs and compensation,\" claiming that the appropriate comparison would be between Amazon wages and retail wages, as \"that industry more closely resembles the environment of an Amazon fulfillment center.\" Additionally, the report's authors said it was difficult to ascertain exactly what proportion of warehouse workers were on permanent contracts and what proportion were temporary, but estimated (based on news reports and the industry average) that the permanent to temporary ratio was roughly 60\/40. A spokesperson for the company provided contradictory figures, stating: \"Throughout the year, on average, 90 percent of associates across the company's U.S. fulfillment network are regular, full-time employees. That applies to states like Ohio.\" The spokesperson confirmed that \"regular\" means permanent. The ILSR criticized Amazon for using the label \"seasonal,\" which has connotations of the annual retail holiday rush, to describe the temporary positions it fills year-round. Amazon has also previously come under fire for what have been described as difficult working conditions. In its 2016 report, the ILSR summarized employment at the company's fulfillment centers as \"grueling work for lower pay than average.\" Employees describe running across warehouses that span the distance of 17 football fields; production quotas, or rates, that can be set 60 percent higher than the industry standard; and a disciplinary system that tracks workers' every action and inflicts points for any deviation from Amazon's standard. Underlying these conditions is Amazon's fundamental approach to its warehouse workers. The company's warehouses are finely-tuned machines, and the company creates conditions such that its workers are expected to be parts of that machine. The result is a work environment that is profoundly dehumanizing. In response to these descriptions, a spokesperson for the company told us: \"Like most companies, we have performance expectations for every Amazon employee, and we measure actual performance against those expectations. Associate performance is measured and evaluated over a long period of time, as we know that a variety of things could impact the ability to meet expectations in any given day or hour. We support people who are not performing to the levels expected with dedicated coaching to help them improve.\" While the meme states that Amazon grossed $128 billion in sales \"last year,\" that number is not quite accurate. For one thing, Amazon's 2017 earnings had not yet been published in January 2018, when the meme was created. Instead, Grit Post, where the meme appears to have originated, said in a list of sources that they had used Amazon's 2016 numbers. Amazon actually had net (not gross) sales of $136 billion in 2016, according to the company's full-year financial results. This means gross sales (which were not reported) were even higher than that, and certainly higher than the $128 billion claimed in the meme. Amazon's sales for 2017 are likely to be astronomical. Based on the company's predictions for the final three months of the year, Amazon's full-year net sales in 2017 might reach around $178 billion.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1M7VqJef8Riw4naS0iEoP1M7aNDVB6c5W"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1p2ZbvOW-1lTtdJDk6Cn1tHKYru8K7rNo"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_552","claim":"Is Cadbury distributing chocolate hampers for free?","posted":"12\/10\/2020","sci_digest":["Another giveaway scam was circulated on Facebook in December 2020. "],"justification":"In December 2020, some social media users encountered a message claiming that Cadbury was giving away hampers (or baskets) filled with chocolate to celebrate its 70th anniversary. However, this was not a genuine message from the famous confectionery company; it was just another social media scam. A similar scam circulated on Facebook, claiming that everyone who shared and commented on the post would receive a \"Cadbury Hamper delivered to their door\" in celebration of the company's 126th anniversary. This type of scam is common on social media. Users are asked to share and comment on the content to ensure it spreads to as many people as possible, and then they are prompted to provide personal information, such as email addresses or even credit card numbers, under the guise of completing a \"survey\" or some other questionnaire. We have had many occasions to alert readers to this kind of fraud. These viral coupon scams often involve websites and social media pages set up to mimic those of legitimate companies. Users who respond to these fake offers are required to share a website link or social media post to spread the scam more widely and lure in additional victims. Then, those users are presented with a survey that extracts personal information such as email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, and sometimes even credit card numbers. Finally, those who want to claim their free gift cards or coupons eventually learn they must first sign up to purchase a number of costly goods, services, or subscriptions. This Cadbury scam has been circulating in various forms on social media since at least 2018. The company addressed these fraudulent posts in a November 2020 message on Facebook, stating: \"We\u2019ve been made aware of a circulating post on social media, claiming to offer consumers a hamper of free Cadbury products. We can confirm that this has not been generated by us and would urge you not to interact or share personal information through the post. Your security is our priority, and we're working with the relevant organizations to ensure this is resolved.\" The Better Business Bureau offers consumers several general tips to avoid getting scammed.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1wRN0iS1WTeWd-OBDTWBnjgk1Fu9ZlP44"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1kYgeDXjK5YVv2OWsTFOw-Yc_HQzMOhy-"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=15G-bhRKdM8rP7uhmz82Y5zYmzsJxxfPG"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_553","claim":"Is the 'Pfizer Treatment Survey' Email a Scam or Legit?","posted":"01\/13\/2022","sci_digest":["Such emails promised \"$90 or more\" in rewards for answering a few questions. They didn't come from Pfizer."],"justification":"At some point during the COVID-19 pandemic, emails about a \"Pfizer Treatment Survey\" began landing in readers' inboxes. Such messages promoted \"$90 or more\" in rewards for taking the survey. The emails did not mention vaccines, but it may have been implied anyway. COVID-19 pandemic \"Take part in our rewards program for adults who offer their opinion about the Pfizer treatment,\" the email read. Also, the body of the message was nothing but an image with text. However, this was all a scam. Pfizer, the company, had nothing to do with it. scam Pfizer Such emails promoting a \"Pfizer Treatment Survey\" should be avoided and deleted. If this were a legitimate offer, there would be trust signals. For one, the subject line would not read, \"--C00NFlRmaaTlONN--REeCEe1PT...--+eef.\" Also, the email would have come from an official email address, not one ending with \"@tangor777.club,\" as we saw in one of the messages.  We strongly advise against clicking the links in these emails.  The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published a page about such scams, saying that others are out there for Moderna and AstraZeneca, and perhaps even Johnson & Johnson: page People across the country are reporting getting emails and texts out of the blue, asking them to complete a limited-time survey about the Pfizer, Moderna, or AstraZeneca vaccine. (And no doubt, there may be one for Johnson & Johnson, too.) In exchange, people are offered a free reward but asked to pay shipping fees. If you get an email or text like this, STOP. Its a scam. No legitimate surveys ask for your credit card or bank account number to pay for a free reward. If you get an email or text youre not sure about: - Dont click on any links or open attachments. Doing so could install harmful malware that steals your personal information without you realizing it. - Dont call or use the number in the email or text. If you want to call the company that supposedly sent the message, look up its phone number online. We investigated where the \"Pfizer Treatment Survey\" link in one of the emails led. After what appeared to be several redirects from website to website, our browser landed on a .ru (Russian) survey scam website. We recommend deleting these emails if you receive them. Source: Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease.  fighting Find out Read Submit Become a Founding Member CDC WHO","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Bh6tFJJwHhbRP0GtfeHjQFrb5lSqfNpe","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_554","claim":"The proudest accomplishment (of my tenure) was leaving the state with a $1.2 billion surplus, which was the largest wed ever had, and getting spending under control and a balanced budget.","posted":"10\/17\/2011","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Once upon a time, New Jersey had a surplus in the billions of dollars, according to a former governor.There were surpluses in the state budget and there were surpluses in pension funds.The proudest accomplishment (of my tenure) was leaving the state with a $1.2 billion surplus, which was the largest wed ever had, and getting spending under control and a balanced budget, former Gov. Christine Todd Whitman said in a Sept. 19 interview on NJTV.Since she is a governor who has been accused of shortchanging pension contributions to fund tax cuts, PolitiFact New Jersey decided to check her statement.David Rosen, the Legislative Budget and Finance officer for the states nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services, confirmed that Whitman left the state with a $1.2 billion surplus. And at least since 1986  the first year the states budgets are available online  that surplus was the states largest, PolitiFact New Jersey found. There have been larger surpluses since she left office.As for balancing the budget? Thats not an accomplishment. State law requires it.But we questioned the part of Whitmans statement in which she said she controlled spending.Lets review some of the spending during her tenure. Whitman reduced payments to the states pension funds to balance a 30-percent income tax cut enacted after she became governor in 1994. Three years later, Whitman had the state borrow $2.75 billion to deposit in the pension funds to address that liability. The stock market at that time was doing well and the infusion helped create a surplus in the accounts -- for a while. Then the stock market took a downtown.But the pension issue wasnt the only significant debt during Whitmans tenure. She also approved an $8.6 billion school construction bill that was largely funded during the Jim McGreevey administration. Taken together, thats more than $11 billion in debt.Experts, however, told us that governmental standard accounting practices do not include debt in an annual budget.Debt is included in the states financial statements, said Richard F. Keevey, who was budget director for former Gov. Jim Florio. Keevey, who teaches public budgeting systems and federal finance at Rutgers Newark, also served as a deputy budget director and budget director for former Gov. Tom Kean.Whats included in the budget is debt service, or the amount paid toward the total debt.Rosen also noted that New Jersey and the country had a strong economy during the Whitman years, from 1994 to Jan. 31, 2001. Whitman left office in the middle of her second gubernatorial term to become administrator at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, DC.We were certainly in a surplus position as was the federal government, Rosen said. Nationally the economy was doing very well and governments generally were doing quite well. Most states had large surpluses, the federal government was in surplus and New Jersey was as well.James DiEleuterio, who was state treasurer from 1994 to 1997, said in an email that Whitman controlled spending by reviewing each of the 32,000 line items in the state budget, cutting unnecessary expenses, streamlining operations and cutting the states payroll by 5,000. He also cited the 30 percent tax cut and changes in tax policy that he said improved the states economic climate.Finally, I want to ensure it is clear that Governor Whitman's surplus was not funded by pension funds, DiEleuterio wrote. Her tax cuts, and subsequent surplus, were funded the only way they should be: with true spending cuts and a balanced budget.Our rulingWhitman says her proudest accomplishment as governor was leaving the state with a more than $1 billion surplus, controlling spending and balancing the budget. Her surplus number is accurate, and two financial experts tell us that basic government accounting principles do not include debt in budgets. Whitmans former treasurer also claims the governor made traditional spending cuts during her tenure. But how is skipping payments to pension funds controlling spending if those and other bills arent being paid in full, or are being deferred to later administrations? We rate Whitmans claim Mostly True. To comment on this ruling, go toNJ.com.","issues":["New Jersey","State Budget","Taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_555","claim":"Is Pelosi advocating for 'assured minimum incomes' for 'undocumented immigrants' in the upcoming COVID-19 stimulus package?","posted":"05\/11\/2020","sci_digest":["A right-wing provocateur made the claim in a May 2020 tweet as federal leaders negotiated what to include in their next COVID-19 economic relief package."],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease.  fighting Find out Read Submit Become a Founding Member CDC WHO On May 4, 2020  as federal leaders debated how to respond to an unprecedented interruption to the U.S. economy due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic  a conservative provocateur tweeted that U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she wanted the country's next economic relief package to establish \"guaranteed minimum incomes\" for \"illegal aliens.\" COVID-19 Suggesting that only legal U.S. residents should benefit from federal stimulus packages, Charlie Kirk  who's the founder of the conservative political group Turning Point USA and social media ally of U.S. President Donald Trump  said in the tweet to his roughly 1.7 million followers:   To investigate the validity of his claim, we examined Pelosi's public statements and media appearances to determine if, or when, she used the phrased \"guaranteed income\"  and under what circumstances. While Kirk provides no explanation for where or when or to whom Pelosi made the remarks in the above-displayed tweet  aside from the tweet's indication with the word \"BREAKING\" that the House Speaker had made the comments shortly before he composed the post  we considered statements by Pelosi since the beginning of the COVID-19 U.S. outbreak in early 2020 for our investigation. Within that timeframe, she used or referenced the phrase \"guaranteed income\" in three public statements, two of which were televised interviews. First, the House Speaker spoke the words on HBO's \"Real Time with Bill Maher\" on April 24. In light of the federal government's approval of the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in March 2020 (and stimulus bills totaling about $500 billion since then), Maher asked Pelosi if the federal government could afford similar economic relief packages for Americans should the pandemic keep businesses closed and systems locked down in the coming months. She responded: April 24 CARES I think that it should be clear that this (COVID-19 stimulus spending so far) is not doing the job that it is set out to do completely, that we may have to consider some other options. Others have proposed a sovereign fund  profits of which go to these unemployed people  or guaranteed income, other things that may not even be as costly as continuing down this path. She provided no further details on the so-called proposals for \"guaranteed income,\" which generally refers to a government-imposed system so that every citizen receives a minimum income  a central idea of the 2020 presidential campaign by former Democratic candidate Andrew Yang. Also in the conversation with Maher, Pelosi did not explicitly state that she wanted the system implemented via Congressional legislation. Andrew Yang Three days later, however, the House Speaker again said the words \"guaranteed income\" in a televised interview, this time with more specificity on her openness to the social welfare system. In the April 27 segment of MSNBC's \"Live with Stephanie Ruhle,\" while explaining federal leaders' next steps to help small businesses survive the financial crisis, Pelosi said: MSNBC As we go forward, let's see what works: what is operational and what needs other attention. Others have suggested a minimum income for  a guaranteed income for  people. Is that worthy of attention now? Perhaps so, because there are many more people than just in small business and hired by small business, as important as that is to the vitality of our economy. And other people who are not in the public sector, you know, meeting our needs in so many ways, that may need some assistance as well. Soon after she made the statement on live TV, news outlets including CBS News and CNBC published stories with headlines such as, \"Pelosi says 'guaranteed income' for Americans is worth considering for coronavirus recovery.\" In a story by Business Insider about the televised comments, an aid to Pelosi said the House Speaker was referring to proposals that would guarantee worker paychecks  not a sweeping system for universal basic income. CBS News CNBC Business Insider guarantee worker paychecks Then, on May 1, the House Speaker and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus made themselves available to journalists via a conference call to discuss provisions within the CARES Act that exclude immigrants without Social Security numbers from receiving one-time stimulus checks.  May 1 receiving one-time stimulus checks.  In the call, Pelosi expressed support for legislation that would guarantee COVID-19 economic relief to not only people with Social Security numbers but also immigrants and their families who use Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs), which the IRS assigns to workers without Social Security numbers, to pay annual taxes. According to the IRS, the federal agency issues the numbers \"regardless of immigration status, because both resident and nonresident aliens may have a U.S. filing or reporting requirement under the Internal Revenue Code.\" In other words, some immigrants who use the identification numbers (ITINs)  not social security numbers  to pay taxes may be \"undocumented.\" According to a transcript of the May 1 call, at one point a reporter asked Pelosi: transcript Pretty recently you said that Congress should consider adding some form of guaranteed monthly income into the next coronavirus relief package. So I was wondering if you would extend that form of guaranteed income to undocumented immigrants and non-citizens who file taxes with tax ID numbers, ITINs, instead of Social Security numbers? In her response, Pelosi reiterated that she thinks federal leaders should consider guaranteed income and that she would talk to chairs of House committees about exploring the idea further. Additionally, as they consider future economic benefits for Americans during the pandemic, she said: Any way we go down the path that [ITINs] should apply, whether its direct payments, whether its participation in PPP (the federal Paycheck Protection Plan loan program)... I said it [guaranteed income] should be considered. And, why it should be considered, in my view, is because there is a lot of money, federal taxpayer dollars, going out the door. Whether its PPP, whether its Unemployment Insurance, whether its direct payments ... But, whatever we do, I think the tax number is an easy entre to many more people who deserve it, who should get this, but are being cut out now, in whatever it is that we are putting out there.  Given the nature of and circumstances surrounding the May 1 call, and considering the fact that Pelosi did not mention \"guaranteed income\" in any other public statements after the U.S. COVID-19 outbreak and before Kirk's viral posting, we determined it to be the most likely source of inspiration for his May 4 tweet. However, though Pelosi said she wants people who use ITINs to receive economic relief from the federal government during the pandemic  a group that would include \"undocumented\" immigrants  she did not say she wants the government to provide stimulus payments to all \"undocumented\" immigrants. Additionally, the House Speaker said she wanted federal leaders to consider, not implement, \"guaranteed income\" for Americans, unlike what Kirk's tweet implies. In sum, given those reasons  as well as the lack of clarity for what Pelosi means by the phrase \"guaranteed income,\" the context in which she made the comments analyzed above, and the fact that she did say she wanted future stimulus money to help foreign people without Social Security numbers  we rate this claim as \"false.\"   Rosenberg, Mattew and Rogers, Katie. \"For Charlie Kirk, Conservative Activist, the Virus Is a Cudgel.\"\r The New York Times. 19 April 2020. Ruhle, Stephanie. \"Pelosi says guaranteed income may be worth considering amid coronavirus hardships.\"\r MSNBC. 27 April 2020. Real Time with Bill Maher. \"Speaker Nancy Pelosi | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO).\"\r YouTube. 24 April 2020. Silverstein, Jason. \"Pelosi says 'guaranteed income' for Americans worth considering for coronavirus recovery.\"\r CBSNews. 28 April 2020. Zeballos-Roig, Joseph. \"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi opens the door to guaranteed income for Americans, saying it's 'worthy of attention.'\"\r Business Insider. 27 April 2020. Pelosi, Nancy. \"Pelosi Remarks on Press Call with Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Mixed-Status Families on Denial of COVID-19 Stimulus Checks.\"\r Newsroom. 1 May 2020. Pelosi, Nancy. \"Transcript of Pelosi Interview on MSNBC's Live with Stephanie Ruhle.\"\r Newsroom. 27 April 2020. Pelosi, Nancy. \"Transcript of Pelosi Interview on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher.\"\r Newsroom. 24 April 2020. Internal Revenue Service. \"Individual Taxpayer Identification Number.\"\r Accessed 11 May 2020.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1IYyHuJmRcm8wmNj8GysUWBoYc8r2-aSm"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_556","claim":"Is NASA Training a 17-Year-Old Girl to Be an Astronaut?","posted":"07\/16\/2018","sci_digest":["Alyssa Carson's passion for space has fueled her desire to take part in a mission to Mars as an adult."],"justification":"Seventeen-year-old Alyssa Carson has garnered media attention for her determination to be part of a space mission to Mars. Although her desire has been recognized by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), she is not officially in training with that organization to become an astronaut or to participate in the first human mission to Mars. Carson first began generating media attention when she was 12, at which point she had already attended three different space shuttle launches and participated in NASA space camps in three different countries. She was also the first person to complete the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex's \"Passport to Explore Space\" program, which requires visiting each of 14 NASA visitor centers across nine different states in the U.S. The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, however, is managed by a NASA contractor and is not funded by the agency itself. Completing the \"Passport to Explore Space\" program also led to Carson being a panelist at an event hosted by NASA and the Smithsonian, marking ten years of exploration by the Mars Exploration Rovers. Additionally, Carson has her own call sign, \"Blueberry.\" However, a NASA spokesperson confirmed that Carson is not currently training with or being \"prepped\" by that agency, as some reports have suggested. Contrary to some reports, NASA's Astronaut Candidate Program has no age requirement for applications, although according to the agency, \"astronaut candidates selected in the past have ranged between the ages of 26 and 46, with the average age being 34.\" In December 2017, President Donald Trump signed White House Space Policy Directive 1, which his administration said would \"lay the foundation\" for a mission to Mars. Carson's father, Bert, told Teen Vogue magazine that private companies have \"considered\" sending her on missions into space, although not to Mars. \"If we can find a mission for her in the next two years, she will be the first kid in the world to go to space,\" he said. \"If we can get it together before she's 20, she'll be the first teenager.\" One private group, Mars One, has already selected Carson to be one of their ambassadors. Carson wrote on that group's website about her interest in visiting the Red Planet: \"I would love to go to Mars because it is a planet that no one has been before. It's about the same size as the Earth, and there are ice caps at the top and bottom of Mars. That means there is water on Mars. This could possibly be our next Earth. Just think about all the things that are in space. For example, planets we have never explored, galaxies that we have never heard of, stars that are just babies, black holes that are as wide as the Sun to Pluto multiple times and have the mass of a billion suns, parts of the universe that we have never seen. Just think of all that stuff just floating around. It's more than you can imagine.\"","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1AEJyD3W3JNv0ee2qN4H5TVbYZDnNBHBh","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_557","claim":"Is This 'Shaun of the Dead' Meme Mocking Real Ohio Protesters?","posted":"04\/16\/2020","sci_digest":["A viral photograph from a protest against stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic was likened to the zombie movie \"Shaun of the Dead.\" "],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease.  fighting Find out Read Submit Become a Founding Member CDC WHO In April 2020, various cities in the United States saw protests against shelter-in-place orders that were enacted to combat the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease. Several photographs and videos showed these protests, but one image in particular went viral after it was likened to a scene from the zombie comedy \"Shaun of the Dead.\" went viral The top half of the image is a real photograph taken on April 13 by Joshua A. Bickel of The Columbus Dispatch and shows protesters outside of the Ohio Statehouse demonstrating against the state's self-quarantine rules.  Joshua A. Bickel The Columbus Dispatch It was originally published in an article entitled \"GOP lawmakers, protesters call on DeWine to begin re-opening Ohio.\" That article started: started Some Republicans in the Ohio legislature are publicly calling on Gov. Mike DeWine to consider removing coronavirus-related restrictions beginning next month, while on Monday, around 100 protesters gathered outside the Statehouse during Dewines daily COVID-19 press briefing. A growing chorus of Ohios Republican lawmakers want Gov. Mike DeWine to set a date for the first phases of re-opening businesses, schools and public places. We need to get the economy open, even if that means social distancing of some sort for months to come, Sen. Andrew Brenner, R-Delaware, wrote in a Facebook post. We cant stay like this much longer, and the hundreds of thousands of Ohioans whove lost their jobs or the thousands of small business owners cant keep doing this either, or their lives will be irreparably destroyed. On April 15, shortly after this image went viral, The Columbus Dispatch published a follow-up article providing the story behind the photo. This photograph was presented in that article with the following caption: story behind the photo Protesters stand outside the Statehouse Atrium where reporters listen during the State of Ohio's Coronavirus response update on Monday, April 13, 2020 at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio. About 100 protesters assembled outside the building during Gov. Mike DeWine's weekday update on the state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, upset that the state remains under a Stay-At-Home order and that non-essential businesses remain closed. While Bickel's photograph was taken on April 13 in Ohio, it truly went viral later a few days later when a similar (but larger) protest dubbed \"Operation Gridlock\" took place in Michigan and made national headlines. That protest featured hundreds of Michiganders outside of the state's Capitol demanding an end to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's stay-at-home orders.  Whitmer said that the protest in Michigan, which featured American flags, Trump flags, Confederate flags, and a number of heavily armed protesters, was just as much about partisan politics as it was about public health. Whitmer said: said It really wasn't about the stay-at-home order at all. [...] It was essentially a political rally, a political statement that flies in the face of all of the science, all the best practices. [...] It looks like a lot of people and it felt like a lot of people but in the bigger scheme of things, Michigan is a state of 10 million people, the vast majority of whom are doing the right thing. Our hospitals have stepped up, our nurses, our doctors, the average citizen whose staying home or is contributing in some way to help people on the front line. That's the story of what's really going on here. This group, a small group of people that came together without masks on, who were passing out candy with bare hands to children, who were congregating together, who were brandishing their weapons, who were having posters of being anti-choice; this was a political rally, it was a political rally that is going to endanger people's lives, because this is precisely how Covid-19 spreads. While there has been genuine criticism about various stay-at-home orders, there has also been a good deal of misinformation shared about these restrictions. For instance, many people falsely accused Whitmer of \"banning the sale\" of American flags.  banning the sale Staver, Anna' Behrens, Cole. &bsp; \"GOP Lawmakers, Protesters Call on DeWine to Begin Re-Opening Ohio.\"\r  The Columbus Dispatch.  13 April 2020. Deadline Detroit.  \"MSNBC Asks Michigan's Whitmer: What's Up With Confederate Flags At Lansing Rally?\"\r  15 April 2020. Everhart, Michelle.  \"You've Seen the Photo of Ohio Protesters. Heres The Story Behind It.\"\r  The Columbus Dispatch.  15 April 2020. Everhart, Michelle.  \"You've Seen the Photo of Ohio Protesters. Heres The Story Behind It.\"\r  The Columbus Dispatch.  15 April 2020.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1F5mPZpiTpiBmRsgJbIPFt4h4mJPHCC0F","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_558","claim":"'The Rock' Did Not Promote 'Black Adam' in Tweets About Queen","posted":"09\/12\/2022","sci_digest":["Two fake tweets went around on social media that made it look like Dwayne \"The Rock\" Johnson was promoting his upcoming film \"Black Adam\" alongside condolences for the death of Queen Elizabeth II."],"justification":"On Sept. 8, 2022, social media users began to share pictures of what appeared to be screenshots of two tweets from movie star Dwayne \"The Rock\" Johnson. The images made it look like Johnson had promoted his upcoming film \"Black Adam\" in the same messages where he shared condolences for the death of Queen Elizabeth II, who died on the same day. However, both of the tweets were fake. died The first fake tweet read, \"Rest in peace to Her Majesty the Queen, Elizabeth II. A great woman who sat on the throne as long as anyone in British history. Sad she will never get to see #BlackAdam. IN THEATERS OCT 21st.\"  This message was never posted to Johnson's Twitter account. Twitter A TikTok video that showed the screenshot of the first fake tweet was viewed millions of times. video The second fake tweet said, \"Everyone knows Black Adam has only 2 weaknesses: lightning, and the death of a famous monarch. My condolences to the Royal Family during this difficult time. NEW #BlackAdam trailer TODAY @ 5pm PT.\" tweet  MSN.com reported that Johnson later tweeted a genuine video where he sent his condolences regarding the queen's death. However, he did not mention or promote any of his films while speaking in the clip. MSN.com tweeted  \"Well, it has been one hell of a Thursday so far, certainly for my family,\" he said. \"From the moment we woke up this morning it's just been one of those days. But I'm just swooping in really quickly to stop in and send my love and my condolences, my light, strength, and mana to the royal family during this time in the spirit of the passing of the queen. I'm so sorry.\" In the video, Johnson sent heartfelt regards about the death of the queen and also referenced the passing of his father, who died on Jan. 15, 2020. Johnson died \"I never had a chance to say goodbye to him, and I regret that,\" he said. \"But the way I look at that these days is that it informs us on how we should live, moving forward, because, in their spirit, we have an opportunity to live, and live life, and live greatly, with passion and fervor and positive energy, and with all we got, with all we got. So, sending a lot of love, and stay strong, and now let's live as greatly as we can.\" He said of the queen, \"What a life. Stay strong.\" Johnson, Dwayne The Rock. Twitter, 8 Sept. 2022, https:\/\/twitter.com\/therock\/status\/1567990111295647744. McGeorge, Alistair. Dwayne Johnson Pays Powerful Tribute to Queen Elizabeth II after Fake Tweet Hoax. MSN.com, 9 Sept. 2022, https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/news\/world\/dwayne-johnson-pays-powerful-tribute-to-queen-elizabeth-ii-after-fake-tweet-hoax\/ar-AA11DLR4. Shewfelt, Raechal. Pro Wrestler Rocky Johnson, Father of Dwayne The Rock Johnson, Dies at 75. Yahoo Entertainment, 15 Jan. 2020, https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/entertainment\/pro-wrestler-rocky-johnson-father-of-dwayne-the-rock-johnson-dies-at-75-011604699.html.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1W3UWse6gPcWPvcgqIgzLs2Sf_kzg3UHe","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1qa_sbxkyiK0Ouja6Ua0toPDeKCQnDmHX","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_559","claim":"The average time someone used to hold a share of stock back in the 60s was eight years. Now, the average time is four months.","posted":"07\/06\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"U.S. Sen. Mark Warner joined the ranks of Wall Street critics during a recent radio interview, complaining that investors are increasingly focused on reaping quick profits from companies at the expense of long-term value. The average time someone held a share of stock back in the 1960s was eight years. Now, the average time is four months, he said during an interview on Cats Roundtable, a New York City radio talk show hosted by John Catsimatidis, a billionaire businessman. We wondered whether Warner, D-Va., is correct about the decline in shareholding time. Warner's office sent us a variety of articles by academics, investment strategists, newspapers, and magazines that contained similar statistics to those cited by the senator. The source of the historic data is the New York Stock Exchange, which, for most of the 20th century, was the dominant U.S. stock-trading venue. Here are the NYSE's average holding periods for stocks at the start of each new decade, beginning at Warner's mark in 1960: 1960, eight years, four months; 1970, five years, three months; 1980, two years, nine months; 1990, two years, two months; and 2000, one year, two months. However, many new trading venues have opened and expanded in recent decades\u2014E*Trade and NASDAQ, for example\u2014and the New York Stock Exchange's dominance has diminished. About 25 percent of all U.S. trading now occurs on the NYSE, which has high financial requirements for the companies it lists and generally deals with large, stable stocks. In 2004, the NYSE changed its formula for calculating average shareholding periods to focus on its own listings. Credit Suisse began computing shareholding data that reflect the broader U.S. stock market that year. Credit Suisse figures show that in 2008 and 2009, when the nation was mired in the Great Recession, shares turned over an average of almost five times a year. That has slowed to about three times a year since 2013, or, as Warner put it, once every four months. The World Bank offers more conservative figures, stating that U.S. shares, on average, turned over four times a year during the Great Recession and that slowed to 1.65 times a year in 2015\u2014or about once every eight months. Stock market analysts and academics note a variety of reasons for the quickening turnover of shares. Many say the days of small mom-and-pop investors have given way to an era of mutual funds and hedge funds that exert strong pressure on companies to produce short-term profits. The growth of e-trading is also cited, as are federal laws passed in 1993 that tied the bonuses of executives to their achievement of measurable performance goals in order for the bonuses to be tax-deductible for their companies. Warner stated that the consequence of activist investors is that corporations pay less attention to training workers and to research and development. He suggested that Congress should explore offering tax incentives to companies that embrace long-range goals. Many activist investors, on the contrary, argue that their actions have been beneficial and note that the stock market has continued to rise over the decades. Our ruling: Warner said, \"The average time someone used to hold a share of stock back in the 60s was eight years. Now, the average time is four months.\" The gist of Warner's statement is undeniable: The average holding period for stocks has eroded greatly over the past 56 years. The specifics of Warner's statement, however, need a little elaboration. Estimates by Credit Suisse align with Warner's claim that shares, on average, are now held for four months. The World Bank estimates the holding period is now about eight months. So we rate Warner's statement as Mostly True.","issues":["Corporations","Economy","Wealth","Virginia"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_560","claim":"One-third of the economic stimulus package was tax cuts.","posted":"02\/10\/2010","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Fox News host Bill O'Reilly andDaily Showhost Jon Stewart traded wisecracks -- and a few insults -- in O'Reilly'sNo Spin Zoneon Feb. 3, 2010.O'Reilly told Stewart that it was frightening that theDaily Showhost had been called an important cultural arbiter. O'Reilly said that his audience is primarily stoner slackers who love Obama, but that a lot of people don't think you're smart.Stewart shot back that O'Reilly was now the voice of sanity at Fox, which he likened to being the thinnest kid at fat camp.At times, they got serious. One topic was Stewart's belief that Republicans seem intent on opposing everything President Barack Obama puts on the table -- even if he presents an opportunity to compromise.But the president won't give the GOP anything, O'Reilly said.Stewart pointed to Obama's stimulus plan as an example. The bill was opposed by Republicans even though it included tax cuts, which typically appeal to their small government sensibilities. [Obama] has given [Republicans] many different angles, Stewart said. For instance, even in the stimulus plan, a full third of that was tax cuts... Just like at the State of the Union when he said we cut taxes for 95 percent of middle-class Americans, and everybody clapped, and the Republicans just sat there like this. Tax cuts, that sounds vaguely familiar. Is Stewart right that tax cuts account for a third of the stimulus plan? The stimulus bill, formally known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, is meant to create jobs and boost the economy. It cost $787 billion, including $499 billion to fund new roads, hire teachers and generally keep people employed, and about $288 billion in tax breaks to individuals and businesses. Among other things, the mix of tax cuts includes a refundable credit of up to $400 per individual and $800 for married couples; a temporary increase of the earned income tax credit for disadvantaged families; and an extension of a program that allows businesses to recover the costs of capital expenditures faster than usual.Simple math shows that Stewart is in the ballpark with his claim: $288 billion is a little more than 36 percent of the bill's overall cost. So, tax cuts -- at least the way they've been defined by the Obama administration -- make up for slightly more than one-third of the bill.But calculating the cost of the true tax cuts in the stimulus is a bit more complicated. In July 2009, we checked Obama's claim that, at the time,the stimulus had delivered $43 billion in tax breaks. According to the Treasury Department, about $8 billion of that figure came from extending a fix to the Alternative Minimum Tax. Originally, the AMT was targeted at very wealthy people, but over the years it spread to include some middle-income taxpayers as well. Congress passes yearly fixes to prevent those middle income taxpayers from having to pay the AMT.All told, the AMT fix in the stimulus will cost about $70 billion over 10 years, according to a bill summary published by the Senate Finance Committee. But many tax experts say the AMT fix should not be considered a tax cut. They say that, by extending the AMT fix every year, the government is basically maintaining the status quo.Back in July, we spoke with a number of tax experts about the issue who all agreed that including the fix as part of the stimulus tax cuts is a stretch.Dan Mitchell, a senior fellow at the free-market Cato Institute, explained it this way:AMT is something those people never expect to pay, he said. It's kind of like saying that, if I didn't rob you on the way home from work today, I gave you money.The Tax Policy Center, a joint venture between the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, gave the AMT extension a D-minus in its Tax Stimulus Report Card because the provision would provide virtually no economic stimulus. Because the patch is perennially extended, it would have no effect on behavior in 2009. Almost 80 percent of the benefits would go to the richest 20 percent of households, who would be least likely to spend the additional funds and stimulate demand.So, our tax experts are skeptical that the $70 billion AMT fix should be included in the stimulus bill's tax relief. That would bring down the cost of the tax cuts to about $218 billion. That means about 28 percent of the bill could be described as tax cuts, a little less than the one-third cited by Stewart.So we find Stewart's claim to be Mostly True.","issues":["National","Economy","Pundits","Stimulus","Taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_561","claim":"Did Russia's Sberbank Limit Cash Withdrawals to $20?","posted":"02\/28\/2022","sci_digest":["After Russian forces invaded Ukraine in late February 2022, rumors spread on social media that Russia's largest bank, Sberbank, had imposed a very low cash withdrawal limit."],"justification":"In late February 2022, a rumor went viral on TikTok and Twitter that said Russia's largest bank, Sberbank, had imposed a cash withdrawal limit that would be equivalent to $20 in the U.S. The rumor began to spread just after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. TikTok Twitter Russia Russia invasion Ukraine On Feb. 25, the person behind the @bantg Twitter account tweeted: \"Sberbank, Russian largest bank, has limited cash withdrawals to $20.\" tweeted  The tweet cited no sources.  Another tweet posted on Feb. 26 claimed: \"JUST IN: Sberbank, the largest bank in Russia, has limited cash withdrawals for its customers to $20 ? #PutinWillFeelThePainSoon.\" The hashtag referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin. tweet Vladimir Putin  Replies under the tweet asked for a source for the information, but @nick82gh did not respond to them.  While this second tweet didn't receive many engagements, it was shared the same day to TikTok as a screenshot. Within 48 hours of being posted, that TikTok video received 80,000 likes and was viewed more than 1.4 million times. The person speaking in the video said: \"The bank run has started. Russia is going bankrupt. This is the end of [the] Russian economy completely.\" video   Here are the facts: It's true that Sberbank is Russia's largest bank by its amount of assets, according to The Wall Street Journal. However, at the time, we found no reporting or evidence of any kind that backed up the claim that the Sberbank had limited cash withdrawals to $20. We also found no data about anything related to Sberbank causing the entire country of Russia to go bankrupt, as mentioned in the TikTok video. The Wall Street Journal By email, a spokesperson for Sberbank told us: \"This information contradicts reality. Sberbank continues to fulfill all of its obligations in full, including the withdrawal of funds from accounts. All funds are available to customers at any time.\" On Feb. 28, ABC News and The Associated Press reported that Sberbank had been hit with \"tough U.S. sanctions,\" leading to some limits on cash withdrawals: ABC News Associated Press Sberbank and VTB banks are Russias two largest state-run banks and own roughly half of the assets in the Russian banking system. They were targeted last week by tough U.S. sanctions aimed at limiting their businesses internationally and over the weekend barred from the international SWIFT payment system. SWIFT In both Slovenia and Croatia, Sberbank temporarily closed its branches or limited cash withdrawals following a rush by its clients last week. In Croatia, the banks clients will be allowed to withdraw a maximum of about 1,000 euros per day over the next two days. In Slovenia, the branches will be closed for the next two days and then the withdrawals will be limited to 400 euros per day. At the time that this news was published, 1000 euros was equivalent to $1,121, while 400 euros converted to $448. Neither of these figures was anywhere close to a $20 limit. We asked Sberbank for information on cash withdrawal limits for other countries but did not receive a response before this story was published. While we found no evidence regarding Sberbank branches having a $20 cash withdrawal limit, the conflict in Ukraine did lead to fears that the bank could fail, according to a report from Reuters, which cited a warning from the European Central Bank. Ukraine report Also, on a similar subject, The National Bank of Ukraine imposed cash withdrawal limits after the invasion began, according to The Wall Street Journal. However, again, those limits were reported to be nowhere near $20. Instead, the reporting said the limit was \"100,000 Ukrainian hryvnia a day, equivalent to about $3,339.13.\" according to The Wall Street Journal This story will be updated if we receive further information.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ZFamAifPlDczIzZfCuotCzyFPb5T56Vj","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1wWGCY9yk7qkxA8K2OsgYZ8AwsG_0H6OR","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_562","claim":"Wisconsin politicians get daily expense payments even if they dont spend a dime on meals, or lodging or travel, and no receipts are required for them to get paid.","posted":"05\/03\/2017","sci_digest":[],"justification":"The Wisconsin Freedom Alliance, a conservative political group, briefly made headlines in 2016 when it funded ads criticizing various Republican state Senate candidates during primary campaigns. Now, the group is back with a campaign charging that taxpayers are responsible for bloated pensions, salaries, and other benefits for state lawmakers of all political stripes. In an April 2017 radio ad, the alliance condemned a practice that pays Wisconsin state lawmakers a per diem amount when they travel to the Capitol for business. Did you know state politicians can collect their per diems even if they don't spend a dime on meals, lodging, or travel? No receipts are required for them to get paid. No receipts! It's the honor system for politicians paying themselves. Does that sound like a good idea? Is that how the system works? Legislators in most states qualify for per diems, and in many cases, they receive more than Wisconsin lawmakers do. That hasn't prevented the per diems from coming under occasional attack in Wisconsin. They top out at $115 a day for state senators and $78.50 a day (and $157 for an overnight stay) for Assembly members. In 2016, overall payments to Assembly members ranged from a low of $916 to state Rep. Nancy VanderMeer (R-Tomah) to a high of $9,591 to state Rep. Peter Barca (D-Kenosha), the Assembly minority leader. In total, the 99 Assembly members received $484,504, while the 33 senators received $200,860 in 2016. The payments ranged from $2,024.00 to state Sen. Terry Moulton (R-Chippewa Falls) to $14,256 to state Sen. Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau), the majority leader. Lawmakers living close to Madison qualify for lower per diem rates. A lawmaker's base salary is $50,950. The Wisconsin law governing the benefit states that legislators shall be entitled to an allowance for expenses incurred for food and lodging for each day that he or she is in Madison on legislative business. So, if the allowance is tied to spending on food and lodging, is it possible, as the alliance contended, that it is paid even if they don't spend a dime on meals, lodging, or travel? Michael Flaherty, executive director of the Freedom Alliance, cited a Dec. 30, 2016, story by the USA Today Network-Wisconsin, headlined \"Madison lawmakers max out hometown perk.\" The story stated that lawmakers can collect the money as income without spending a dime on meals, lodging, or gas. No receipts of expenses are required to get paid. The no-receipts claim is accurate, according to the clerks for the Senate and Assembly. Lawmakers are not asked to itemize. As for whether a lawmaker who skips meals and drives home to sleep can still get a per diem, the answer is yes, that's possible. However, it's impossible to say how often that happens, given the loose accounting system. \"It's a benefit, an allowance,\" said Senate Chief Clerk Jeff Renk. In Renk's opinion, despite the statute's mention of expenses incurred, lawmakers who incur no expense while collecting a per diem are not violating the law. The perk is so automatic that lawmakers, at the beginning of a two-year legislative session, choose whether to receive the maximum daily reimbursement for days they travel to Madison within that period. That's how the law was written. All they have to do to collect is confirm their appearances by entering a mark in a computer program. One aspect of the group's claim requires a minor clarification. Travel costs in the form of mileage are reimbursed separately from the per diem payments. Our rating: The Wisconsin Freedom Alliance claimed that state lawmakers receive daily expense payments even if they don't spend a dime on meals, lodging, or travel, and that no receipts are required for them to get paid. Per diems are built on an honor system that requires no documentation that any travel or lodging expense has been incurred. Travel costs, however, have nothing to do with per diems, and some clarification is necessary here because no one can say how often lawmakers receive the per diem without spending anything. We rate the claim Mostly True.","issues":["Immigration","Income","State Budget","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_563","claim":"Does 'Eye of the Moon in Utah' Photo Depict a Real Phenomenon?","posted":"05\/15\/2021","sci_digest":["Digital editing isn't the only method to create an interesting image. "],"justification":"An image supposedly showing a large moon sitting perfectly in the middle of a stone arch formation is frequently circulated on social media under the title \"The Eye of the Moon in Utah.\"  The Eye of the Moon in Utah     This isn't a genuine photograph, in the sense that this scene was not visible with the naked eye. However, this isn't a digitally altered image, either. The original picture was taken by photographer Zach Cooley by using an in-camera double exposure technique. In short, Cooley snapped a photograph, then snapped a second photograph, and layered the images on top of one another. (By labeling it \"Misleading,\" we don't mean to accuse Cooley of misrepresentation. Rather, it's to point out that in many cases the image has been shared on social media with no explanation of how it was constructed.) Zach Cooley Masterclass explains: explains Double exposure photography is a technique that layers two different exposures on a single image, combining two photographs into one. Double exposure creates a surreal feeling for your photos and the two photographs can work together to convey deep meaning or symbolism. A similar technique, called a multiple exposure, is when you combine more than two exposures in a single image Cooley provided some of the technical details behind this image in their Instagram post. They wrote that they traveled to Utah in October as the moon was aligning with this arch, that they used an in-camera double exposure to create this image, and that the two images used were taken about a minute apart. Compared to what was seen with the naked eye, the moon is enlarged and centered. Instagram post Here's the original Instagram post:   Cooley writes: Happy Halloween weekend! I planned an entire vacation mostly around the fact that the moonrise would align with this arch and I could get something resembling a spooky eye on the week of Halloween. Over two nights I got some single shots and double exposures, I thought this one was best for the eye look, what do you think? Can't wait to share more with you all!In-camera double exposureMoon: ?550mm?F\/9?1\/160sec.?ISO 160Arch: ?250mm?F\/9?1\/5 sec.?ISO 160 Notes: Photos taken about a minute apart and moon was enlarged and repositioned in the process.  While the \"Eye of the Moon in Utah\" photograph gives a slightly distorted view of what you would see if you were standing next to the photographer, it isn't that far off from reality. Here's a single-exposure photograph from Cooley that shows a very similar scene:    Cooley elaborated on this in-camera double exposure technique in another Instagram post that showed a large moon over Phoenix, Arizona, writing: Double exposure effects are often achieved in Photoshop or a similar program by importing and manipulating 2 different photos. However, many digital cameras today allow you to merge multiple photos at the time you take them, but of course with none of the flexibility you get with editing software. For this image for example, I captured the city in one shot, then zoomed in and positioned the moon where I wanted it to overlay, and when I snapped that second photo the camera merged it with the first since it was in double exposure mode. Zooming in for the moon photo makes it appear larger in comparison to the city than it did in real life (4X larger in this case). This all may sound easy, but a lot of things have to be just right for this to work out.Ive mentioned this before, but to be clear, I have zero issues with Photoshop - its a pretty cool tool that opens doors to infinite creativity, among other things. I'm personally just in a place where I have yet to learn how to do things like this in Photoshop, and I'm enjoying trying different things with my camera. Ive been hesitant to post this, probably most of all because I take pride in a lot of single exposure moon photos Ive taken, and I fear mixing in images like this could lead people to believe those single exposures are more of the same. Like Ive said though, I will always specify in the caption. At the end of the day, Im proud of this image too and happy to share creative work without walls, even if its not purist photography. Im definitely wanting feedback on all this, from photographers and not photographers alike, so please let me know what you think! And thanks for reading my book. ?? Here's the moon over Phoenix image:    ","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1u_b63j0EsJq0wpC_ilXXCKguam_5z5D3","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_564","claim":"Could a SpaceX rocket explosion be linked to a mysterious flying object that cannot be identified?","posted":"09\/07\/2016","sci_digest":["Video capturing the explosion of SpaceXs Falcon-9 rocket during a test fire seems to show an unidentified flying object pass above the rocket just beforehand."],"justification":"On the morning of 1 September 2016 a SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket carrying an Israeli satellite called Amos-6 exploded three minutes prior to a scheduled static fire test. SpaceX confirmed the event, stating that an anomaly had occurred in the upper stage of the oxygen tank as they were loading propellant into the rocket. The cause is still under review. anomaly Also lost during the explosion was the rockets payload: the Amos-6 satellite, which was built by Israel Aerospace Industries (an aerospace and defense contractor) and operated by the telecommunications company Spacecom. According to Spacecoms web site, the new satellite would provide expanded coverage and redundancy in case of other existing satellite malfunction: expanded coverage and redundancy AMOS-6 strengthens 4W orbital location with wider coverage and new services. AMOS-6 high power and large amount of Ku-band transponders offer Spacecoms existing and new customers a reliable growth-engine for their business. AMOS-6 enhances Spacecoms existing service offering by supporting a full range of services, including Direct-To-Home (DTH), video distribution, VSAT communications and broadband Internet. Facebook had also leased some of the communication equipment on this satellite to support their effort to provide free internet access to large swaths of Africa. After this loss of the satellite, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted a statement: posted a statement As I'm here in Africa, I'm deeply disappointed to hear that SpaceX's launch failure destroyed our satellite that would have provided connectivity to so many entrepreneurs and everyone else across the continent. Fortunately, we have developed other technologies like Aquila that will connect people as well. We remain committed to our mission of connecting everyone, and we will keep working until everyone has the opportunities this satellite would have provided. The most widely shared video of the explosion comes from USLaunchReport.com (an NGO that produces video reports of all things space\"). This video appears to show a rapidly moving object cross above the rocket right before it explodes: USLaunchReport.com https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_BgJEXQkjNQThe video does show an object that enters from the right of the screen and passes in a fairly straight line above the rocket (at least from the camera angle) as it explodes. This has led to accusations from some corners of the internet that someone or something of intentionally bringing the rocket down. The video Reddit, Sptember 2016Early this morning there was a test-fire for Elon Musk's Falcon-9 rocket, which is standard procedure before any launch (static fire test). They reported an anomalous explosion originating near the second stage oxygen tank. From footage posted by USLaunchReport.Com, (a non profit that brings Veterans to rocket launches  I don't question the footage on that note) there is a clearly identifiable-unidentifiable that passes by at incredible rate of speed as the explosion occurs. It destroyed the launch vehicle & the payload. Hypothesis: The AMOS-6 was destroyed by the passing UFO. (I know this is hard to accept for some, but others who are aware of certain things going on right now will appreciate this.) Some culprits discussed on the original Reddit thread include: aliens, a private aerospace competitor to SpaceX, a government worried about an Israeli spy satellite\/weapons system, and\/or Facebooks world domination plans. These claims have been amplified by the conspiracy focused website Neon Nettle and others. Reddit thread Neon Nettle What complicates this evidence is that there are a number of other objects, generally reported as birds or bugs, that make similar appearances before (and after) the explosion with far less fanfare. To successfully argue something scandalous, one has to prove that the object cant be a bird or a bug. Those in favor of an intentional sabotage conspiracy point to three arguments: Unfortunately, the fact that a massive telephoto lens captured the video adds to the challenge, if not outright impossibility of accurately assessing any of these questions scientifically. This camera, based on the time it took the noise of the explosion to reach it (~12 seconds) is easily over two miles away from the pad (assuming sound traveling at 0.2 miles per second). The further the zoom, the more of an effect the lens will have on an object's perceived distance and size. An object closer to the camera, additionally, would be required to travel at a much slower speed to make it from one side of the frame to the other compared to something two miles away. more of an effect Moreover, YouTube videos such as the uslaunchreport.com video are subjected to lossy compression, an effect resulting in loss of information as well as the introduction of potential artifacts. Per the FBIs Recommendations and Guidelines for the Use of Digital Image Processing in the Criminal Justice System: lossy compression Recommendations and Guidelines for the Use of Digital Image Processing in the Criminal Justice System Lossy compression achieves greater reduction in file size by removing both redundant and irrelevant information. Because the irrelevant information (as determined by the compression algorithm) cannot be replaced upon reconstruction of an image for display, lossy compression results in some loss of image content as well as the introduction of artifacts. This effect is minimal when you are not zooming in; but it becomes a bigger issue when you try to get a level of detail that has already been removed by a compression algorithm. compression algorithm An image treated in this way has been making the rounds as evidence that this object was clearly behind the left-most tower on the launch pad (these towers are used to protect the rocket from lightning strikes): image treated in this way Without more information, it is impossible to know what these pixels are telling us. If the object is in the foreground (and not in the background, as conspiracy theorists suggest) then the issues of the object's apparent larger-than-bird size and faster-than-bug speed can easily be attributed to that fact. The other argument in favor of the object being both distant and fast moving also comes from questionable handling of compressed images. According to some believers, there is a reflected glow off of the object when it passes over the explosion. These images, which also purport to show that the object doesnt look bird- or bug-like, have been enhanced, by methods that are not plainly documented: These images It is unclear what processes, outside of inverting the colors, went into the creation of these images; but zooming in on the object in each frame without any enhancement does not appear to reveal much about reflected light or shape: https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Screen-Shot-2016-09-07-at-11.32.48-AM.pngA final flaw in the alien\/government\/evil corporation argument is that it does not explain how an object traveling above the rocket (without making any physical contact) would cause its explosion, nor does it touch on why this novel method might have been employed. Do we know for sure what this object is? No. But the prevalence of similar harmless objects prior to the explosion, the fact that the evidence is based on wishfully enhanced screengrabs of downsampled video, and the fact that rockets are super explosive on their own, make an outside agent low on the list of possible explanations. Updated [30 September 2017]: Added information about other websites sharing similar claims. ","issues":["lien"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ZrVQJYbD-5V5NIBRPynrrJI5WVS9e3Ud"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1eZIs2ttQqld8Z-TNZy8n484vx0JpOM9B"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_565","claim":"Raid on Mexican Drug Dealer's House","posted":"06\/11\/2007","sci_digest":["Photographs show the proceeds from drug sales found during a raid of a dealer's residence."],"justification":"Photographs show the proceeds from drug sales found during a raid on a Mexican drug dealer's residence. Example: [Collected via e-mail, June 2007] $207 million seized in Mexico ... I wonder what they did with all of it! No wonder we aren't winning the war on drugs. This is unbelievable. RAID ON DRUG DEALERS' HOUSE Origins: The photographs displayed above accompanied a March 2007 press release issued by the PGR (Mexico's office of La Procuradur\u00eda General de la Rep\u00fablica, or judge advocate general) announcing a successful drug raid on a Mexico City home. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), working in conjunction with Mexican police, made what the DEA described as the \"largest drug-cash seizure in history\" when they confiscated a total of $205.6 million in U.S. currency, along with other cash, vehicles, and weapons, from a residence used by methamphetamine producers. The money found hidden inside walls, suitcases, and closets in one of Mexico City's wealthiest neighborhoods came from the profits of methamphetamines sold in the United States, DEA chief Karen Tandy said. Mexican law enforcement and the DEA worked for a year on the operation, she added. Mexican federal agents also seized eight luxury vehicles, seven weapons, and a pill-making machine during the raid in Lomas de Chapultepec, a neighborhood of walled compounds that is home to ambassadors and business magnates. Seven people were arrested and ordered to be held for three months while the investigation continues. In addition to the dollars, officials found 200,000 euros and 157,500 pesos. Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora stated that the money was connected to one of the hemisphere's largest networks for trafficking pseudoephedrine, the main ingredient in methamphetamines. Mora mentioned that the ring had been operating since 2004 and was run by a native of China who had gained Mexican citizenship. The alleged gang leader is in hiding, possibly outside of the country, Medina Mora said. The operation should reduce the supply of methamphetamine to the United States, where Mexican drug gangs control at least 80 percent of the market, Tandy noted. The U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Antonio O. Garza, issued a statement about the raid, which was published on the embassy's website (and included the photographs reproduced here): statement photographs Mexico City, March 20, 2007. With the largest single drug cash seizure by law enforcement officials in history, major narco-traffickers are now US $205 million poorer. This unprecedented seizure of drug money by Mexican law enforcement officials in Mexico City last week also led to the arrest of several important narco-traffickers. The seizure and arrests underscore our two countries' deep commitment to fighting the drug kingpins who bring corruption and violence to communities on both sides of the border. President Calder\u00f3n's administration has demonstrated firm resolve in fighting the criminals who undermine our societies and terrorize our citizens. Acting on information supplied in part by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Mexican law enforcement officers on March 15th seized these funds from the Mexico City home of an individual connected to the UNIMED pharmaceutical corporation of Hong Kong, China. Seven individuals have been arrested so far, and authorities are looking for more suspects. U.S. authorities believe UNIMED is connected with attempts, in December 2006 and February 2007, to smuggle large amounts of the toxic chemicals used to produce methamphetamine through ports in Colima and Michoac\u00e1n. I am convinced that continued close cooperation between our law enforcement agencies will lead to more arrests and further successes in our common fight against narco-traffickers. In July 2007, Chinese-Mexican businessman Zhenli Ye Gon, who was tied to the March 2007 seizure of drug cash shown in the photographs above, was arrested in Rockville, Maryland. Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora called the arrest \"magnificent news\" and said Mexican officials had 60 days to file their legal arguments for Ye Gon's extradition. The Chinese-Mexican fugitive is wanted on organized crime, drug trafficking, and weapons charges. DEA spokesman Garrison Courtney stated that Ye Gon was arrested on drug smuggling and money laundering charges, adding that he was tracked down by agents and did not turn himself in. Medina Mora said the cash seized at Ye Gon's home was connected to one of the hemisphere's largest networks for trafficking pseudoephedrine, the main ingredient in methamphetamines. He noted that the ring had been operating since 2004, illegally importing the substance and selling it to a drug cartel that mixed it into the crystal form and imported it into the United States. Last updated: 14 February 2014 Grillo, Ioan. \"Alleged Drug Trafficker Arrested in Maryland.\" Associated Press. 24 July 2007.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1xMGc4UuslkV0zj8bdN0IjF1V36rcOB4q","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1mN4heJNt1bh8jT7UiTktDTboGEbv_APW","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ZhmBj50iLaiwZ4GaNBkASAhdkJYkZo1x","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1K9OKz_vtr4wufVq1dpta7JlxyJMTHP2T","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1UzRh6b4YfAqvhtuDNOiMvuD6fKPpparD","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ZXBrZOGlr9S2NNmKHH7vfxQWRXb3BOKv","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1zSt6zOUcataqyFFxwctr97AG_AlqhFDe","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_566","claim":"Michigan Farmers Forced to Destroy Edible Cherries to Prop Up Imports?","posted":"09\/15\/2016","sci_digest":["A viral Facebook post about surplus U.S. cherry crops destroyed to \"make room for imports\" appeals to locavores but contains some inaccuracies."],"justification":"On 26 July 2016, Michigan cherry farmer Marc Santucci shared a post on Facebook asserting that he was forced to destroy 14 percent of his tart cherry crop in order to protect the market for cherries imported from overseas: shared These cherries are beautiful! But, we have to dump 14% of our tart cherry crop on the ground to rot. Why? So we can allow the import of 200 million pounds of cherries from overseas! It just doesn't seem right. What do you think? Please share this on your Facebook page???. Just to let everyone know we are not allowed to donate or in any way use diverted cherries. I have people who would buy them if I could sell them. Also these are tart cherries with a very short shelf life  Santucci's post slowly circulated on the social network, attracting the attention of blogs and health-conscious social media users through September 2016. As presented, Santucci's tale sounded like an unbelievable level of bureaucratic interference with the farm industry and left readers wondering whether his report about having to destroy 40,000 pounds of edible cherries in order to \"make room\" for imported cherries (and was \"not allowed to donate or in any way use diverted cherries\") was accurate.  Online articles pinned blame for the cherry-chucking on the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), citing a 29 July 2016 Detroit Free Press article about the social media controversy that referenced the federal Agricultural Agreement Act of 1937.  The Detroit Free Press article only briefly mentioned the USDA as a starting point for a very complex cherry charter, noting that cherries were originally not regulated under the Agricultural Agreement Act, but the cherry industry opted into its provisions in 1995.  pinned blame article regulated The act in question was introduced in 1937 due to tumultuous agricultural conditions that exacerbated the Great Depression and aimed to facilitate \"orderly marketing conditions for agricultural commodities in interstate commerce\" for the express purpose of stabilizing farmers' income. Cherry industry experts stressed that the 1995 extension of the regulation to include the tart cherry market was voluntary and had been desired by many cherry farmers: introduced At issue is a marketing order imposed through the U.S. Department of Agriculture as part of the federal Agricultural Agreement Act of 1937. But that law only applies to the tart cherry industry because growers and processors opted into the order in 1995. \"It was created at the industry's behest. It was voted in by growers and processors. It's not an imposition from outside,\" said Perry Hedin, executive director of the DeWitt-based Cherry Industry Administrative Board [CIAB], which oversees the marketing order not only in Michigan but in all states across the country that produce commercial crops of red tart cherries, including New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin. Tart cherries are one of the most volatile crops grown in the U.S., with yields that can vary dramatically year to year, Hedin said. \"This whole concept of the marketing order has two goals: to inject a better stability into our markets and improve grower returns,\" he said. \"The growers have been paid far better prices under the marketing order over the past 20 years than they were before the order was in place.\" A 29 July 2016 editorial published  in the Michigan Farm News also addressed what it framed as multiple misrepresentations in Santucci's viral post, starting with the reason cherry crops were thusly regulated. A horticulture specialist noted that the cherry farmers themselves (not the USDA) had sought market regulation after experiencing damaging price fluctuations: addressed In a classic example of what happens on social media when people form opinions based on emotion instead of fact, a Northwestern Michigan tart cherry grower's Facebook posting has gone viral, but with faulty information to back up the posting's claims ... The problem, however, said Kevin Robson, horticulture specialist with Michigan Farm Bureau, is that the information posted shows either shallow understanding of the federal marketing order or a deliberate attempt to change the order because of political disagreement. \"It's also enforced by the growers themselves,\" he said. \"It is for the betterment of the industry as a whole, and a great number of cherry growers have benefited, even those who voted against it.\" Administered by the Cherry Industry Administrative Board (CIAB), the order this year required tart cherry processors to keep 29 percent (the farmer's posting said he was ordered to dump only 14 percent) of the crop they handle off traditional markets (pies, sweetened desserts, etc.) in an attempt to stabilize both prices and supply, which in cherries has been notoriously volatile. \"For example,\" Reposing said, \"in 1988, when the entity was called the Cherry Administrative Board, growers voted to eliminate the marketing order. Prices began to follow a rollercoaster that led, within 10 years, to tart cherry prices that fell into single figures. Some growers went out of business.\" In response to prices that were below costs of production, tart cherry growers in seven states petitioned the USDA to put a new order and administrative board in place, and prices began to stabilize. Still, some growers, such as the one who posted the photo of a small pile of cherries, took exception to the order. Generally, the Agricultural Agreement Act ensures relatively stable income for tart cherry farmers in the face of a volatile market, with one of the drawbacks of that stability being that in boom crop years (as 2016 was), farmers may end up with a good deal of product they are precluded from selling on the open market.  However, although some outlets claim CIAB heavies visited farms to ensure every cherry lies unchomped, tart cherry farmers have options beyond leaving their surplus crop to \"rot in the sun\": visited farms Processors' options in times of surplus include holding the restricted cherries in surplus  frozen, dried or concentrated  for a later slow year. Farmers also can attempt to sell the surplus cherries in overseas markets or sell them domestically in a newly created market, either as a new product or by convincing a supermarket chain or other end user currently supplied by imported cherries to switch to U.S.-grown, he said. Hedin said Santucci could have worked with the [Cherry Industry Administrative] board to find a place to donate the surplus cherries, which typically aren't eaten raw like sweet cherries because of their very short shelf-life, but are instead used in products such as pie filling and jams. Likewise, the Michigan Farm News piece stated that: Another misstatement on the Facebook posting, [horticulture specialist Kevin] Robson said, is that growers are not allowed to donate or use the dumped cherries \"in any way.\" \"That's just not true,\" Robson said. \"Farmers can use the cherries for research and development, and they could make thousands of cherry pies and donate them to charity if they want. Remember these are tart cherries. They need to be processed  and quickly  to make a viable product. They aren't sweets that you just eat by the handful.\" The Facebook posting wrongly puts the blame for cherry dumping on the marketing order, Robson said, when it is the processor who makes the decision to ask farmers to dump cherries. Santucci himself told Grand Rapids television station WXMI that the dumping of surplus cherries wasn't expressly mandatory, but their short shelf life makes it difficult to find alternative uses for them: told \"I was just notified when we started shaking the trees that 14 percent would have to be kept off the market, so it didn't give me time to find any alternative action,\" he said, adding that tart cherries only have a two-day shelf life. It was true that Santucci's 2016 crop was (as with that of all other cherry growers) subject to a growers' agreement barring surplus cherries from the marketplace, and Santucci asserted he had insufficient time to properly divert his surplus cherries to other uses or markets. But the agreement under which the tart cherry market is regulated doesn't mandate surplus cherries be destroyed, nor does the protocol exist to protect foreign imports. Cherry growers in several states voluntarily opted in to a USDA marketing agreement (rather than being forcibly regulated) following a period of instability in the cherry industry, and agriculture experts widely agree the provision provides more protection than harm to cherry growers.  Jackson, Paul W.  \"Social Media Post Botches Cherry Program Reality.\"\r  Michigan Farm News.  29 July 2016. Matheny, Keith.  \"Traverse City Farmer: Dumping Perfectly Good Cherries Is Rotten.\"\r  Detroit Free Press.  29 July 2016. Pagan, Gabriella.  \"Cherry Dumping Photo Goes Viral, Grower Calls for Change.\"\r  WPBN.  27 July 2016. Shesky, Ty.  \"Farmer Explains Why Cherries Were Left to Waste.\"\r  WXMI.  29 July 2016.","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1P4wSabUJ__GYRUNpqov_9bm3OqNiEgin","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_567","claim":"Donald Trump's 'Quiet Acts of Random Kindness'","posted":"08\/07\/2020","sci_digest":["A viral Facebook post recounted several supposed gestures of generosity by the U.S. president."],"justification":"In the summer of 2020, multiple readers asked Snopes to verify the accuracy of a widely shared Facebook post that listed several \"quiet acts of random kindness\" purportedly performed by U.S. President Donald Trump. The post correctly identified Trump's date of birth as June 14, 1946, and then presented four incidents as examples of the \"quiet acts of random kindness\" supposedly performed by the businessman turned president. Supporters of Trump have previously promoted similar anecdotes that portray him as generous, and we have examined several of those in depth. Overall, the July 2020 Facebook post contained mostly accurate and verifiable claims, along with one long-debunked urban legend. \n\n\"In 1995, his car has a flat tire. A black man walking by notices its owner is wearing a suit. So he steps in and fixes the flat. 'How can I repay you?' asks the gentleman. 'My wife has always wanted some flowers,' the man says. A few days later, the black man's wife receives a beautiful bouquet of flowers with a note saying, 'Thanks for helping me. By the way... the mortgage on your house is paid off.'\" This is no more than an old urban legend that has appeared and reappeared in various forms with certain details changed, including the name of the celebrity who supposedly paid off the mortgage, for decades. Snopes first debunked it in 1998, after a version of the story involving Trump had appeared in Forbes magazine two years earlier. Over the years, similar stories have been told about Henry Ford, Nat King Cole, and Bill Gates, demonstrating that the 1995 version about Trump was just a variation of an old yarn. \n\n\"A USMC Sergeant spends seven months in a Mexican prison for a minor charge. He is beaten. After he is returned to America, the man from Queens sends him a check for $25,000, 'To get you started.'\" This anecdote relates to the story of U.S. Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi, who was arrested in Mexico in March 2014 and spent seven months in prison there on weapons-trafficking charges after he crossed the border at San Ysidro, California. His car was found to contain three firearms and ammunition, items he legally owned and was permitted to carry in the United States, but not in Mexico. We examined his case and the complexities surrounding it in a previous fact check. Tahmooressi's protracted detention in Mexico, along with his claims of having been beaten and restrained for weeks on end, caught the attention of several high-profile commentators in the United States, including broadcaster and U.S. Navy veteran Montell Williams, then-Fox News anchor Greta van Susteren, and Trump. \n\nTahmooressi's mother, Jill, who was a vocal and persistent advocate for her son's release and return to the United States, confirmed in a phone call with Snopes that Trump had indeed sent Andrew a check for $25,000 after he was released in late 2014. Trump also enclosed a letter, which Tahmooressi reproduced in her memoir. In that letter, dated Nov. 11, 2014, Trump wrote: \"It is my great honor to present you with this check for $25,000. You have served our country with fortitude and dignity, and we are fortunate to have someone like you as a brave Marine and protector of our wonderful nation. We are proud of you, and I wish you and your family the very best for many years to come.\" \n\n\"A black bus driver saves a suicidal girl from jumping off a bridge. Our man from Queens sends him a check for $10,000.\" In October 2013, Buffalo, New York, bus driver Darnell Barton made international headlines after he saved the life of a woman contemplating suicide. Barton stopped his bus and comforted the woman, who was standing on the outside of the railings along an overpass, before carefully helping her to the other side of the railings and staying with her while first responders arrived on the scene. The Buffalo News reported at the time that Mayor Byron Brown had presented Barton with a $10,000 check from Trump in a ceremony at city hall. \"Donald J. Trump wasn't there himself. But in the well-appointed office of Mayor Byron W. Brown, a check for $10,000 from the real estate mogul was presented to the hero bus driver who brought a woman on the brink of suicide to safety. 'Although I know to you it was just a warm-hearted first response to a dangerous situation,' Trump wrote to Darnell J. Barton, 'your quick thinking resulted in a life being saved, and for that you should be rewarded.'\" \n\n\"A rabbi's critically ill son needs to get from NYC to California for specialty care. No airlines will fly him. The generous man uses his private jet to fly the child.\" This is another accurate description, which we addressed at greater length in a 2015 fact check. In July 1988, the Ten family needed to travel to New York for urgent medical treatment for their three-year-old son Andrew Ten, who had a rare respiratory condition. Because Andrew required the constant aid of a respirator and life support machine but commercial airlines could not accommodate that equipment, the family could not travel to New York on a conventional flight. The boy's father, Harold Ten, an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, contacted Trump to ask for the use of his private jet, and the property magnate agreed without hesitation, according to a contemporaneous report by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Asked why he thought Trump made his private jet available, Ten replied, \"Because he is a good man. He has three children of his own, and he knows what being a parent is all about.\" Ten said he believes that Trump fulfilled the Talmudic saying that \"he who saves one person's life is as if he saved the entire world.\" Among the relatives at the airport to greet the child and his parents were the paternal grandparents of the sick boy. \"Donald Trump is a miracle, just a miracle,\" said grandmother Feigy Ten, who came to the airport with her husband, Phillip Ten. Both grandparents thanked Trump's generosity over and over again.","issues":["mortgage"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1sez_l4tibTuLcdw0RsPxrtBVV22jhjaP","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1xBEDcyQXg-wiry9B4gEr57dy6-qQIjvV","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_568","claim":"Says I've authored the first bipartisan tax reform bill in a quarter-century.","posted":"04\/06\/2013","sci_digest":[],"justification":"U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.,held a press event in Portland last week to promote a tax reform bill hesco-authored with a Republican from Indiana. Wyden said that taxpayers now have to go through bureaucratic water torture to do their taxes. The rules are such a complicated mish-mash that many people need professional help to file their returns. It simply doesn't have to be this way. I serve on the Senate Finance Committee. I've authored the first bipartisan tax reform bill in a quarter-century. This is with Sen. Dan Coats, the Republican from Indiana, Wyden said. The first bipartisan tax reform bill in 25 years? PolitiFact Oregon thought the statement a pretty bold claim to make. Dont people elected to Congress like to write up laws? We started digging. The context: The last time the federal government overhauled the tax code wasin 1986, when Republican Ronald Reagan was in office and the parties split control of Congress, much like today. Wyden, who was elected to Congress in 1980 and to the Senate in 1996, hastalked often about the need to revisit the bipartisan spirit of that time. Wyden wants to simplify and streamline the tax code. He says he also wants to lower the burden on families and small businesses. Wydenfirst proposed an overhaul in 2010, pairing with Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H. After Gregg left office, Wyden partnered with Coats in 2011 and plans to introduce the legislation again this year. The analysis: We asked Tom Towslee, a Wyden spokesman, to back up the senators assertion. Towslee said the office had checked with theCongressional Research Service, the bodys nonpartisan research arm, and was told of a1995 plan sponsored by Sens. Sam Nunn, D-Ga, and Pete Domenici, R-N.M. That plan would have replaced the income tax with a consumption tax, which Towslee said is not the same as a comprehensive reform plan. I think youll agree that reforming the current income tax code to make it fairer, simpler and more efficient is very different from replacing it outright with something else, he said. We turned to theTax Foundation, a Washington, D.C., think tank. President Scott Hodge checked with his staff and they also came upon the Domenici-Nunn USA Tax Act of 1995. (Tax bills in 1990, 1997, 2001, 2002 and 2003 may have had some crossover appeal, but these were bills to raise and lower tax rates, and not to address the tax code in a comprehensive way.) It may be a stretch, but not a big one, Hodge said of Wydens claim. What Wyden cares about is re-creating the bipartisanship that brought about the 1986 bill. He may not be the first, but he is in small company. We checked a database of Congressional bills. We found numerous bills, often introduced over multiple sessions, for a flat tax or for a fair share tax, sponsored by Democrats or Republicans, but not both. We also found several efforts to do away with the Internal Revenue Service, some with a Democrat or two on board with Republicans. For example,H.R. 352, introduced in January, is a four-page document that terminates the IRS Code of 1986 in Section 2 and calls for a new federal tax system in Section 3. It is skimpy on details. We also caught up with Jane Gravelle, the senior specialist at Congressional Research Service who assisted Wydens office. Shes been there 40 years, done tons of research in the area and could not locate legislation similar to the 1986 effort other than Wydens. She does not consider the Nunn-Domenici effort a general income tax reform bill on par with Wydens bill. I would also add that formulating and actually putting a major tax reform bill into legislative language is a major undertaking, not something that can be done easily and quickly, she said in an email. Indeed, Wydens bill runs 120 pages. Apparently we were mistaken in thinking that lawmakers like to draft lengthy, complicated legislation on the tax code. The bills are rare. The ruling: Some politicians call the tinkering of tax rates tax reform. We dont buy that. Some people consider the Nunn-Domenici bill of 1995 a bipartisan tax reform bill. We can see why Wydens office, with back-up from the research service, would differentiate his plan from their plan. Still, the 1995 effort merits a mention as additional information missing from an otherwise accurate statement. We rule the statement Mostly True.","issues":["Oregon","Bipartisanship","Congress","Taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_569","claim":"Is This the 'Most Detailed Image of a Human Cell to Date'?","posted":"01\/15\/2023","sci_digest":["For starters, it isn't even, strictly speaking, a human cell."],"justification":"In April 2021, an image went viral on social media platforms that was represented as follows:\"This is not a painting. It is the most detailed image of a human cell to date, obtained via radiography, nuclear MRI, and cryoelectronic microscopy.\" As we'll explain below, that description is completely inaccurate. First, here's an example of the miscaptioned image as posted on Facebook in late 2022:  Contrary to what the caption claims, this is a painting of sorts -- a digital illustrationby an artist named Russell Kightley. It is not the most detailed image of a human cell to date -- in fact, it is, in Kightley's words, a \"generalized animal cell,\" not specifically a human cell. Nor was the image obtained via radiography, nuclear MRI, or cryoelectronic microscopy. All of that was made up out of whole cloth. Kightley created the image with graphics software. digital illustration Russell Kightley As Kightley has written on his blog, the image has repeatedly gone viral since April 2021, almost never with an accurate description or proper credit to the artist (AFP fact-checked viral versions of the image in July 2021). Kightley wrote: has written on his blog AFP fact-checked The image was created twenty years ago for an educational poster for BioCam. It took six weeks of full-time work to create using Painter (Fractal Design's Painter as it was, now it's managed by Corel). Since then, it's appeared in lots of places, including Richard Dawkins's book, The Greatest Show on Earth (plates 12-13 c). It's available on prints and merchandise and for licensing (publication, academic use, etc.). If you want to print it out for your home or office you can buy the digital file here. If you want it for teaching, you can get the 700-pixel file here. BioCam prints and merchandise 700-pixel file Of the conception and design of the illustration, Kightley wrote: I wanted it to look like an opened jewelry box, for the glint and sense of wonder at the inner workings. The colors are arbitrary, but I've used greenish-blue for plasma membranes and red or purple for DNA for many years. It's a generalized animal (including human) cell, with no specializations and was designed as a basic biology teaching tool. I have spent many years creating cell and virus illustrations and animations, including pioneering work on animating the HIV life cycle back in 1990-1991, where I created internal cellular landscapes (using electronic paint on a Quantel Paintbox) and originated this style of illustration. You can learn more about the artist and view more of his work on RussellKightey.com. RussellKightey.com \"Animal Cell on White by Russell Kightley.\" Russell Kightley - Website, https:\/\/russell-kightley.pixels.com\/featured\/animal-cell-on-white-russell-kightley.html. Accessed 12 Jan. 2023. \"Illustration of Animal Cell Misrepresented as 'Most Detailed Image of Human Cell.'\" Fact Check, 27 July 2021, https:\/\/factcheck.afp.com\/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9GD4Z3-6. Kightley, Russell. \"Animal Cell Goes Viral AGAIN.\" Russell Kightley, 25 July 2021, https:\/\/www.russellkightley.com\/post\/animal-cell-goes-viral-again. \"Russelly.\" Russell Kightley, https:\/\/www.russellkightley.com\/russelly. Accessed 12 Jan. 2023.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1nURnxOZPaAFbO647zOzTDRtJBMCBRag0","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_570","claim":"No, the Associated Press did not publish a report stating that Obama was born in Kenya.","posted":"10\/19\/2009","sci_digest":["Internationally syndicated news stories are sometimes edited or added to by local newspaper publishers."],"justification":"Example:  [Collected via e-mail, October 2009] What most people know is that the Associated Press (AP) is one of the largest, internationally recognized, syndicated news services. What most people don't know that is in 2004, the AP was a \"birther\" news organization. How so? Because in a syndicated report, published Sunday, June 27, 2004, by the Kenyan Standard Times, and which was, as of this report, available here. here The AP reporter stated the following: Kenyan-born US Senate hopeful, Barrack Obama, appeared set to take over the Illinois Senate seat after his main rival, Jack Ryan, dropped out of the race on Friday night amid a furor over lurid sex club allegations.  (Sunday Standard\/Internet Archive) article However, The Associated Press made no such reference; the identification of Barack Obama as \"Kenyan-born\" was added to the Sunday Standard's version of the AP story by someone else (who misspelled the politician's given name as \"Barrack\" in the process) and is apparently unique to that publication. The full text of the \"Jack Ryan Abandons Senate Bid\" article as originally issued by the Associated Press is retrievable from the LexisNexis archive of global news sources, and it contains no reference (in the lead-in or elsewhere) to Barack Obama's being \"Kenyan-born\": Associated Press Online June 25, 2004 Friday Illinois' Jack Ryan Abandons Senate Bid BYLINE: MAURA KELLY LANNAN; Associated Press WriterSECTION: NATIONAL POLITICAL NEWSDATELINE: CHICAGO Illinois Senate candidate Jack Ryan dropped out of the race Friday amid a furor over lurid sex club allegations that horrified fellow Republicans and caused his once-promising candidacy to implode in four short days. \"It's clear to me that a vigorous debate on the issues most likely could not take place if I remain in the race,\" Ryan, 44, said in a statement. \"What would take place, rather, is a brutal, scorched-earth campaign - the kind of campaign that has turned off so many voters, the kind of politics I refuse to play.\" The campaign began to come apart Monday following the release of embarrassing records from Ryan's divorce. In those records, his ex-wife, \"Boston Public\" actress Jeri Ryan, said Ryan took her to kinky sex clubs in Paris, New York and New Orleans and tried to get her to perform sex acts with him while others watched. Ryan disputed the allegations, saying he and his wife went to one \"avant-garde\" club in Paris and left because they felt uncomfortable. In quitting the race, Ryan lashed out at the media and said it was \"truly outrageous\" that the Chicago Tribune got a judge to unseal the records. \"The media has gotten out of control,\" he said. Top Illinois Republicans immediately began the work of selecting a new candidate. Their choice will become an instant underdog against Democratic state Sen. Barack Obama in the campaign for the seat of retiring GOP Sen. Peter Fitzgerald. Obama held a wide lead even before the scandal broke. \"I feel for him actually,\" Obama said on WLS-AM. \"What he's gone through over the last three days I think is something you wouldn't wish on anybody. Unfortunately, I think our politics has gotten so personalized and cutthroat that it's very difficult for people to want to get in the business.\" Ryan had faced mounting pressure to quit from party leaders, who met several times in Washington this week to discuss whether the campaign could survive. \"He really was a dead man walking,\" Gary MacDougal, former Illinois Republican Party chairman. Ryan conducted an overnight poll to gauge his support. After reviewing the results, Ryan's advisers told the candidate that the only way to survive would be wage an extremely negative and expensive response. \"Jack Ryan made the right decision. I know it must have been a difficult one,\" said House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois, who made his feelings known by canceling a fund-raising event scheduled for Thursday with Ryan. Ryan was a political neophyte when he got into the race - a millionaire investment banker who had left business four years ago to teach at an all-boys parochial school in Chicago. He spent $3 million of his own fortune to win the primary. With his good looks and Harvard background, Ryan was seen by many as the party's best hope for revitalizing the Illinois GOP. The party lost control of the governor's office and nearly every statewide office two years ago in the wake of a corruption scandal involving then-Gov. George Ryan, who has since been indicted. He is not related to Jack Ryan. During the primary, Ryan waved off rumors of damaging sex allegations in his sealed divorce records, assuring state officials there was nothing in the file to worry about. But the Tribune and Chicago TV station WLS sued for the records' release, and a California judge ordered them unsealed. The couple fought to keep the records sealed, saying the release could harm their 9-year-old son. \"The fact that the Chicago Tribune sues for access to sealed custody documents and then takes unto itself the right to publish details of a custody dispute - over the objections of two parents who agree that the re-airing of their arguments will hurt their ability to co-parent their child and hurt their child - is truly outrageous,\" he said. Although most party leaders abandoned Ryan, Fitzgerald said Friday that he had encouraged him to stay in the race. \"I think the public stoning of Jack Ryan is one of the most grotesque things I've seen in politics,\" the senator said. He said the party's bigwigs pushed Ryan out: \"It was like piranhas. They smelled blood in the water and they just devoured him.\" Ryan won the GOP primary by more than 10 percentage points over his two closest rivals, dairy owner James Oberweis and state Sen. Steve Rauschenberger. Both Oberweis and Rauschenberger said this week that they would step in as Ryan's replacement if party leaders asked. Other possible candidates mentioned include U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, former Gov. Jim Edgar and Sen. Fitzgerald, though all three have said they are not interested. Likewise, archived versions of U.S. newspapers that published the same AP wire story (such as the San Diego Union-Tribune and the Seattle Times) do not include lead-ins identifying Barack Obama as \"Kenyan-born.\" San Diego Union-Tribune Seattle Times Lannan, Maura Kelly. \"Illinois' Jack Ryan Abandons Senate Bid.\"\rThe Associated Press. 25 June 2004.","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1GfAx5lh81BtoVYhFZGJLVWdjvpvZK13Z"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_571","claim":"Did Fauci Say in 2005 Virology Journal That Hydroxychloroquine Can Treat SARS?","posted":"08\/04\/2020","sci_digest":["Shockingly, a screenshot of an opinion piece excerpt omitted some important facts."],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease.  fighting Find out Read Submit Become a Founding Member CDC WHO In July 2020, social media users posted a meme that included a screenshot of an article excerpt that allegedly demonstrated hydroxychloroquine would be an effective \"cure and vaccine\" against COVID-19.  The claim stems from an opinion piece by Bryan Fischer, former director of the American Family Association, that interpreted a 2005 study on the utility of chloroquine to treat SARS as being relevant to COVID-19  a disease that did not exist at the time of that paper's publication. SARS (aka SARS-CoV, which caused epidemics in the early 2000s) and COVID-19 (aka SARS-CoV-2) are both caused by coronaviruses, but that does not mean that both could be treated with the same medication.  Similarly, hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are related drugs, but that does not mean they are interchangeable. Finally, the excerpted study was limited in scope and based on laboratory results. Fischer attempted to tie Dr. Anthony Fauci to the 2005 study by falsely alleging that it was published in a journal run by the U.S. agency Fauci heads.   Are SARS and COVID-19 the same? No. While SARS and COVID-19 are both coronaviruses, that does not mean these two diseases are interchangeable, nor that they can be treated with identical medicines. Hundreds of coronaviruses exist, most of which circulate among animals. These viruses occasionally jump to humans and cause diseases that range in severity. The common cold, for instance, which isn't particularly known for being lethal, can be caused by a coronavirus. On the other hand, COVID-19, which has caused more than 150,000 deaths in the United States (and close to 700,000 total deaths worldwide) as of this writing, is also caused by a coronavirus. Nobody would argue that a treatment for the common cold would be equally effective against COVID-19.  Hundreds of coronaviruses exist Fischer attempts to dismiss the fact that SARS and COVID-19 are two distinct diseases by arguing that they share a similar scientific name (SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2) and 79% of the same genome. Saying that these two diseases share 79% of their genome sequence may make it sound like these diseases are nearly identical, but consider this: Humans share 98% of our genome with chimpanzees.  98% of our genome Are hydroxycloroquine and chloroquine the same thing? No. Although these drugs are similar (they are both derivatives of a 4-aminoquinoline [4AQ] nucleus), they aren't interchangeable. Chloroquine is primarily used to treat malaria, while hydroxychloroquine, which is considered less toxic than chloroquine, is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and certain blood disorders.  CNN writes: writes Chloroquine is used to treat malaria, as well as in chemoprophylaxis, which is the administering of drugs to prevent the development of disease, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since 2006, it has not been recommended for use in severe malaria because of problems with resistance, particularly in the Oceania region, according to the World Health Organization. [...] Hydroxychloroquine is what's known as an analog of chloroquine, meaning the two have similar structures but different chemical and biological properties. The former is considered the less toxic derivative, according to studies.It's given to patients with rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and the blood disorder porphyria cutanea tarda, the CDC said. Did this study prove that chloroquine was an effective treatment against SARS? No. The 2005 article published in Virology Journal was based on a laboratory cell-culture experiment that used primate cells, not human cells. The authors noted at the time that more testing was needed before antivirals could be developed to treat the disease in humans: Virology Journal Chloroquine has been widely used to treat human diseases, such as malaria, amoebiosis, HIV, and autoimmune diseases, without significant detrimental side effects [15]. Together with data presented here, showing virus inhibition in cell culture by chloroquine doses compatible with patient treatment, these features suggest that further evaluation of chloroquine in animal models of SARS-CoV infection would be warranted as we progress toward finding effective antivirals for prevention or treatment of the disease. It should also be noted that this was an in vitro study, meaning that it was conducted in a controlled environment, like a test tube, not inside a living organism. The Universal Health Network, a medical research organization in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, noted that in vitro models have a reputation of being \"less translatable\" to humans than other research methods: Universal Health Network A major drawback is their failure to capture the inherent complexity of organ systems. For example, in vitro models may not account for interactions between cells and biochemical processes that occur during turnover and metabolism. As a result, in vitro studies have developed a reputation for being less translatable to humans. More importantly, in the years since the SARS outbreak in 2002, chloroquine has not been widely used to treat the disease.  Did this study say that hydroxychloroquine was an effective treatment against SARS? No.  The 2005 paper in the Virology Journal never mentions hydroxychloroquine. Was Fauci or the NIH involved in this 2005 paper? No.  As mentioned earlier, the above-displayed screenshot shows an excerpt from an opinion piece written by Fischer, which was published on websites such as One News Now and the conspiratorial True Pundit, a site that traffics in misinformation.  One News Now True Pundit, misinformation Fischer's article is centered on a 2005 paper published in the Virology Journal entitled \"Chloroquine Is a Potent Inhibitor of SARS Coronavirus Infection and Spread.\" Although this is a genuine article, it was not authored by Fauci. Fischer attempted to connect Fauci to this article by stating that the \"Virology Journal [is] the official publication of Dr. Faucis National Institutes of Health [NIH],\" but that simply isn't true. The Virology Journal is not an official publication of the NIH.  Virology Journal The Virology Journal is published by Biomed Central (BMC), part of the publishing group Springer Nature, an academic publishing company. Some government researchers were involved with this 2005 study (five of the eight listed authors were from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], the other three were from Clinical Research Institute of Montreal), but this study did not involve Fauci or anyone else from the NIH. Virology Journal Is hydroxychloroquine an effective treatment for COVID-19? No.  As of this writing, hydroxychloroquine has not been shown to be an effective treatment of COVID-19.  effective treatment Hydroxychloroquine has been an effective treatment for other diseases, such as malaria, but studies have not found the drug to be useful in the fight against COVID-19. In June 2020, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revoked \"the emergency use authorization (EUA) to use hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine to treat COVID-19,\" writing that a large, randomized clinical trial showed that the drug provided \"no benefit for decreasing the likelihood of death or speeding recovery.\" Food and Drug Administration Universal Health Network.  \"In vitro vs. In vivo: Is One Better?\"\r  Retreived 4 August 2020. McLaughlin, Eliott.  \"Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine: What to Know About the Potential Coronavirus Drugs.\"\r  CNN.  24 March 2020. FDA.  \"FDA Cautions Against Use of Hydroxychloroquine or Chloroquine for COVID-19 Outside of the Hospital Setting or a Clinical Trial Due to Risk of Heart Rhythm Problems.\"\r  1 July 2020. Seley-Radtke, Katherine.  \"Here's Why Hydroxychloroquine Doesn't Block The Coronavirus in Human Lung Cells.\"\r  Science Alert.  1 August 2020. Duply, Beatrice.  \"Chloroquine\/SARS Study Doesnt Prove Hydroxychloroquine Works Against COVID-19.\"\r  Associated Press.  31 July 2020. Niaid.nih.gov.  \"Coronaviruses.\"\r  Retrieved 4 August 2020. Silverman, Craig.  \"Revealed: Notorious Pro-Trump Misinformation Site True Pundit Is Run By An Ex-Journalist With A Grudge Against The FBI.\"\r  Buzzfeed. &nbs; 27 August 2018. Virology Journal.  \"Chloroquine is a Potent Inhibitor of SARS Coronavirus Infection and Spread'\"   22 August 2005. True Pundit.  \"COVER UP: Fauci Approved Chloroquine, Hydroxychloroquine 15 Years Ago to Cure Coronaviruses; \"Nobody Needed to Die.'\"\r  5 May 2020.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Nm0XlJrgLnWyb2PVa4Gf3aKMyRG2giGv","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_572","claim":"Says Donald Trump was one of the people who rooted for the housing crisis. He said back in 2006, Gee, I hope it does collapse because then I can go in and buy some and make some money. ","posted":"09\/26\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"In the opening skirmish of the first presidential debate, Hillary Clinton cast her rival as a man who put his own business interests ahead of the welfare of average Americans. Donald was one of the people who rooted for the housing crisis, Clinton said. He said back in 2006, Gee, I hope it does collapse because then I can go in and buy some and make some money. What does the record show? We found many examples from 2006 to 2009 when Donald Trump spoke of the great opportunity that came with falling real estate prices. One of the earliest instances was in a Trump audiobook from 2006. The man interviewing Trump for the audiobook says, There's a lot of talk, which you've no doubt heard too, about a so-called real estate bubble. What's your take on that pessimism? Well first of all, I sort of hope that happens because then people like me would go in and buy. You know, if you're in a good cash position  which I'm in a good cash position today  then people like me would go in and buy like crazy, he says in a portion of the audiobookposted by CNN. If there is a bubble burst, as they call it, you know, you can make a lot of money. Now that was before the collapse that led to the Great Recession, and arguably, Trump was simply offering sound business guidance. Trump touted the same view acoupleof times in2007. But at that point, the country still was not looking at an economic catastrophe. The situation was quite different by early 2009. The investment house Lehman Brothers had filed for bankruptcy, the largest in U.S. history. The Dow had suffered its worst weekly loss ever. Washington had bailed out General Motors and Chrysler. Foreclosures were rising weekly. Trump was on CNNFeb. 17, 2009, talking about the economy with host Wolf Blitzer and said the moment was a great opportunity. Blitzer asked Trump why. If you get something really prime, really good, eventually it's going to be worth a lot more than you paid, Trump explained. I used to tell people two years ago, don't buy real estate and I used to preach it hard. And now I'm saying, I think that this is a good time. Whether you hit the exact market or not, I can't tell you. But I think this is a great time to buy. If you have cash, this is the great time to buy. To be clear, Trump was speaking as an investor. He was not necessarily rooting for the housing crisis. But it was under way as he spoke. We reached out to the Trump campaign and did not receive any information to add to this picture. Our ruling Clinton said Trump was one of the people who rooted for the housing crisis. While Trump did not welcome the tragedy of foreclosures for millions of Americans, he did speak optimistically about the opportunities the overall situation created for an investor such as himself. Clintons statement leaves out that nuance, but in large measure, it matches Trumps words. We rate this claim Mostly True. https:\/\/www.sharethefacts.co\/share\/22c6df0a-1ffe-421d-b06a-b6c208a27038","issues":["National","Economy","History","Housing","Regulation"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_573","claim":"$750 Cash App Facebook Scams Feature Nikki Haley, Snoop Dogg, and Paula Deen","posted":"06\/09\/2022","sci_digest":["The Facebook posts promised $750 prizes in Cash App and used specific wording we've seen before from foreign scammers."],"justification":"Facebook giveaways that promise $750 or other large cash prizes in the Cash App finance app are just about always going to be scams. We found at least three such Cash App scam giveaways in early June 2022 that claimed multiple $750 prizes were being given away by former U.N. Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, rapper Snoop Dogg, and celebrity chef Paula Deen. Facebook Cash App scams Cash App Nikki Haley Snoop Dogg Paula Deen The pages for Haley, Snoop Dogg, and Deen all used both their image and likeness without their permission, and appeared like this: Haley Snoop Dogg Deen All of the pages that promised $750 in Cash App also used specific wording that we'd seen before with other scams that appeared to involve scammers from outside the U.S. We removed the scammers' website link from the example text below: we'd seen before CONGRATULATIONS for those of you who have received comments from me have been selected as winnersStep 1 = Like and ShareStep 2 = Coments \"DONE\"Step 3 = Register here (link removed) receive my prize. And the Gift will be sent after you successfully register (this is authentic and official) God bless youGood Luck The links in these Facebook giveaways all led to survey scam websites. The Facebook posts appeared to be created by people acting as affiliate marketers who were trying to earn money by driving traffic to survey scam websites. We found affiliate ID numbers in the full website addresses that resulted from the Facebook posts. It might be possible to take part in a large number of surveys on these scam websites and end up receiving something in return. However, such survey websites often require that users jump through various hoops in order to do so, all of which are usually spelled out in the fine print on terms and conditions pages. For the number of hours and the concentration that would be needed to obtain any sort of reward, we recommend that our readers don't waste their time. The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) and the U.S. Better Business Bureau (BBB) both published pages with advice on how to avoid survey scams and what to look out for. Basically, proceed with caution before taking a survey on an unfamiliar website. Some of these websites will ask users to sign up for free trials of various products that, in reality, will charge them a recurring fee in the future. Also, bear in mind that if the reward sounds too good to be true (like $750 in Cash App), it probably is. American Association of Retired Persons U.S. Better Business Bureau In sum, no, Haley, Snoop Dogg, and Deen were not giving away $750, or any other amount of prizes, in Facebook giveaways in Cash App, nor were any other noteworthy figures from the world of entertainment or politics. If readers see any other Facebook giveaway scams like these, please contact us with details. If possible, include a link to the post or the Facebook page. contact us BBB Tip: How to Identify a Fake Website. International Association of Better Business Bureaus, https:\/\/www.bbb.org\/all\/spot-a-scam\/signs-of-a-fake-survey. Beware of Survey Scams That Require Personal Information. AARP, https:\/\/www.aarp.org\/money\/scams-fraud\/info-2021\/survey.html.","issues":["finance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1EmkNQiLNrSgzng48eZlD0Wyoy8XL_Spq","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=198iy2lNm-1d5CfvS0DSOlJpgF-mP10bk","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1fuvYuHHn0TCTO4JQa-tkqSOXna-A4-x8","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_574","claim":"The Republican tax bill is not being scored by the Congressional Budget Office, as it is traditionally.","posted":"11\/13\/2017","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., offered several arguments against Republican efforts to pass a tax bill during an interview on CNNsState of the Union, including the impact of the deduction for state and local taxes and its effects on the balance of federal revenues and spending. But one criticism was procedural, echoing earlier Democratic complaints that Republican bills to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act had been crafted behind closed doors and without normal steps such as committee hearings. And let me tell you, there is a reason why this plan has been prepared in secret, why it's not being scored by the Congressional Budget Office, as it is traditionally,Durbin told host Jake Tapper. It's because it doesn't add up. Does Durbin have a point that the CBO has been unusually absent in this process? Not by the way ordinary viewers would hear it. The Senate Democratic whip, Dick Durbin of Illinois, appeared on CNN's State of the Union on Nov. 12, 2017. The CBO is Congress nonpartisan number-crunching office, best known for its detailed analyses of pending legislation. However, theres one exception to CBOs role in vetting proposed legislation: tax bills. That duty falls instead to a similar, nonpartisan congressional office known as the Joint Committee on Taxation. The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 requires the Joint Committee (on Taxation) to provide revenue estimates for all tax legislation considered by either the House or the Senate, the committees websiteexplains. Such estimates are the official congressional estimates for reported tax legislation. And by the time Durbin had made his comment to Tapper, the joint committee had already published analyses of the House version of the tax bill. On Nov. 9, the committee published an analysis of the billsrevenue impact. Two days later, the committee publishedtwootheranalyses, including one on how the bill would affect various segments of the income spectrum. The joint committee has scored versions of both the House and Senate bills, said Eric Toder, a co-director of the Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center. And they are the official scorekeepers for tax legislation. As it happens, CBO has also publishedone analysisof the bill, addressing estimated deficits and debt. But even this is based heavily on the Joint Committee on Taxations work, said Douglas Elmendorf, a former Democratic-appointed CBO director who now serves as dean of Harvard Universitys Kennedy School of Government. The joint committee provides the official estimates to Congress of the effects of proposed changes in the Internal Revenue Code, Elmendorf said. When a tax bill is voted out of committee, CBO releases an official cost estimate because CBOs statutory responsibility is to provide estimates for all bills voted out of committee  but that estimate is simply JCTs numbers with a CBO letterhead, and with due credit given to JCT in the text of the estimate. In other words, Elmendorf said, the Republicans are doing their duty. When we contacted Durbins office, spokesman Ben Marter pointed to a narrower interpretation of Durbins words. He said that in the Senate, Republicans have a potential problem with the Byrd rule, which determines whether a bill can be taken up under reconciliation, a process that effectively requires only 51 votes rather than 60 votes for passage. That violation would have to be fixed before their bill can move in the Senate, but the fix to address future revenue projections is being written in secret, and we likely wont see that until the bill is on the floor in the form of a substitute amendment, as they did with their health care bill, Marter said. Such a substitute amendment would become the bill, Marter said, and under the budget resolution, Senate Budget Chairman Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., could waive the requirement for a full score analysis before its voted on. An important point to remember about the Durbin teams analysis: Its based on speculation about future events. Durbins literal words gave viewers a different story -- that the Republicans are already blocking CBO from scoring the bill -- and that is incorrect on at least two levels. Durbin said the Republican tax bill is not being scored by the Congressional Budget Office, as it is traditionally. Under the most obvious interpretation of that statement, Durbin is incorrect. The nonpartisan analysis for tax bills is actually a task handled by the Joint Committee on Taxation, and the committee has been actively analyzing the Republican tax bills. We rate the statement False.","issues":["National","Corrections and Updates","Taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"http:\/\/static.politifact.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/politifact\/photos\/Durbin_on_CNN.jpg","image_caption":"State of the Union"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_575","claim":"Pizza Vending Machines","posted":"07\/02\/2015","sci_digest":["Rumors of the imminent arrival of pizza vending machines swept social media in mid-2015, but those machines have been \"coming soon\" for several years now."],"justification":"In mid-2015, social media users collectively raised their hopes about the advent of the pizza vending machine, an innovation that would allow them to obtain one of their favorite foods (pizza) while simultaneously avoiding one of its least popular aspects (human interaction). Tweets and Facebook posts about the pizza vending machine (called \"Let's Pizza\") touted the announcement of this \"new\" concept: @italiaricci You should get one for your house! #PizzaVendingMachine #NowIWantOne pic.twitter.com\/3SV5Z9bAuX @italiaricci #PizzaVendingMachine #NowIWantOne pic.twitter.com\/3SV5Z9bAuX Stephanie (@Xxsteff22xX) July 1, 2015 July 1, 2015 Photo: #PizzaVendingMachine this is so cool!!! https:\/\/t.co\/V0S2MtG9sB #PizzaVendingMachine https:\/\/t.co\/V0S2MtG9sB Linda Glatham (@LindaGlatham) June 30, 2015 June 30, 2015 The tone of the social media buzz suggested that pizza vending machines were, if not yet popping up all over the place, at least soon to be a common sight. (Although hot food vending machines are somewhat common, the novelty of one devoted specifically to pizza apparently fires the imagination.) Interest in the concept in mid-2015 appeared to stem in part from a confusing article titled \"Watch This Vending Machine Make Pizza,\" dated June 27, 2015, but originally published on March 21, 2014, featuring a YouTube clip uploaded in February 2013 that was filmed in 2012: During our trip to Italy in 2012, in the little town of Sorrento, my wife and I discovered a Let's Pizza vending machine that promised freshly made pizza in just 2.5 minutes, all for 3 euros. It was such a novel idea that we figured we had to film the whole process. In a March 5, 2014 article published in The Gate entertainment magazine, the author described encountering one of these contraptions in Sorrento, Italy, the same place where the video clip seen above was shot: My last travel piece about Sorrento was filled with details about why I loved this beautiful town along the coast of Italy. There was one other reason why I loved the town, though, and it all came down to a magical vending machine that made pizzas. Yes, it's a pizza vending machine (called Let's Pizza), and it makes them from scratch. For 3 euros, this machine mixes up dough from scratch, covers it in pizza sauce and cheese, and then bakes it all in less than 2.5 minutes. On June 14, 2012, the pizza vending machine branded \"Let's Pizza\" was covered by The Frisky in an article that touted the machines as soon to arrive in the U.S.: Turns out the pizza gods have heard our prayers because an innovative pizza vending machine called Let's Pizza is finally making its way to the States. The Let's Pizza has been popular in Europe for years (for obvious reasons), but here's what Americans can expect ... A Facebook page for Let's Pizza UK also promoted the concept, but that page hasn't been updated since 2011, and the mid-2015 reaction to the pizza vending machine rumors that circulated on social media indicated that if any of the machines already existed in the United Kingdom, they weren't very popular or well-known. In April 2015, Rochester television station WHEC tweeted about pizza vending machines: Local business offers pizza vending machines @whec_rleclair has the story https:\/\/t.co\/K0F8flxpFb @whec_rleclair https:\/\/t.co\/K0F8flxpFb news10nbc (@news10nbc) April 21, 2015 April 21, 2015 However, that tweet linked to an on-site article describing a different pizza vending machine, Pizzametry, that was still in the conceptual stages: It's a pizza vending machine that creates hot, fresh pies, and the prototype is in Webster. So the search is on for investors, possible manufacturers, and vendors to help Pizzametry grow along with the upstate economy, and it's all thanks to the pizza lovers of the Rochester region ... The pizzas will sell for about $4 to $6. The machines can be built for $28,000. A Daily Mail article published in July 2014 reported that the \"Let's Pizza\" machines had not caught on after their 2009 unveiling, primarily due to their considerable size and cost: The Let's Pizza machine was unveiled by Mr. Torghele in 2009 but has been slow to catch on. The downside is that each one is the size of nearly three average vending machines. It also retails for more than ten times the amount, at $32,000. When the meme peaked, there was perhaps at least one \"Let's Pizza\" pizza vending machine operating in Sorrento, Italy\u2014but predictions of its immigration to the United States were largely unfulfilled. However, in 2016, the Tampa Bay Times reported that a handful of the machines popped up in Florida; at least one more was spotted in Ohio: Guys, the stories are true! Xavier now has North America's first Pizza ATM and we got it j https:\/\/t.co\/oVJlzHXjsv pic.twitter.com\/mbTvsQQmpz https:\/\/t.co\/oVJlzHXjsv pic.twitter.com\/mbTvsQQmpz Xavier Admissions (@XUAdmissions) August 5, 2016 August 5, 2016 In January 2017, Grub Street noted that \"after nearly four years of teasing,\" an unreported number of pizza vending machines were scheduled to be installed that month. Little Caesar's announced a \"Pizza Portal\" in August 2017, but the technology still required a trip to the store to pick up a pizza. Although a handful of pizza vending machines appeared in the United States after the meme circulated, they remained few and far between as of late 2017.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1W4WD2Hy84LTtbagdzeBpiNPmpDuAknhu","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_576","claim":"The tattoo on John McAfee's arm with the word '$WHACKD' is sparking theories of conspiracy.","posted":"06\/25\/2021","sci_digest":["The former tech entrepreneur was found dead in his prison cell hours after Spain approved his extradition to the U.S. to face tax evasion charges. "],"justification":"If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health, suicide, or substance use crisis or emotional distress, reach out 24\/7 to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline) by dialing or texting 988 or using chat services at suicidepreventionlifeline.org to connect to a trained crisis counselor. On June 24, 2021, John McAfee, an eccentric security software pioneer, was found dead in his prison cell hours after Spain approved his extradition to the United States to face tax evasion charges. While officials from the Catalan government stated that \"everything points to death by suicide,\" social media users began sharing the hashtag #McAfeedidntkillhimself and referenced a 2019 tweet in which McAfee displayed a \"$WHACKD\" tattoo as evidence. This is a genuine tweet from McAfee. The security software pioneer indeed had the \"$WHACKD\" tattooed on his arm (you can see another image of the tattoo here), and he wrote, \"If I suicide myself, I didn't. I was whackd\" in a tweet. However, this message from November 2019 was more than a year before McAfee faced the very real possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison. While McAfee's November 2019 tweet may have reflected his mentality at the time, it does not necessarily provide insight into his state of mind at the time of his death. It should also be noted that McAfee did not get this tattoo solely to signal that he was not suicidal; this tattoo also promoted a cryptocurrency token on the now-defunct website McAfeedex.com. McAfee connected this cryptocurrency token to another death, that of Jeffrey Epstein, which many have claimed (with little evidence) was an assassination disguised as a suicide. McAfee, 75, was arrested in Spain in October 2020 as he was about to board a plane to Turkey. He was wanted in the United States for various tax evasion charges. In October 2020, John McAfee was arrested in Spain when he was about to board a plane to Turkey and was accused of failing to file tax returns for four years, despite earning millions from consulting work, speaking engagements, cryptocurrencies, and selling the rights to his life story. The U.S. Justice Department alleged that McAfee evaded tax liability by having his income paid into bank accounts and cryptocurrency exchange accounts in the names of nominees. He was also accused of concealing assets, including a yacht and real estate property, also in other people's names. McAfee was being held in a jail near Barcelona while he awaited extradition. On June 24, 2021, a Spanish court approved his extradition to the United States, where he would face charges. If convicted, McAfee could have been sentenced to as much as 30 years in prison. Hours after McAfee's extradition was approved, however, the software pioneer was found dead in his prison cell. The Justice Department for the government of Catalonia stated that an autopsy would be conducted before officially determining a cause of death. At the moment, however, the Spanish government says that \"everything points to death by suicide.\" McAfee's lawyer, Javier Villalba, also told Reuters that McAfee died by suicide. British-born U.S. technology entrepreneur John McAfee died on Wednesday by suicide in a Barcelona prison after the Spanish high court authorized his extradition to the United States on tax evasion charges, his lawyer told Reuters. McAfee's lawyer, Javier Villalba, said the anti-virus software pioneer died by hanging as his nine months in prison brought him to despair.","issues":["liability"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1cAlEQBACfVTl3zuPiu8MiHVTgweLXHGH"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_577","claim":"The Origins of Policing in the United States","posted":"09\/26\/2016","sci_digest":["Memes claim that modern law enforcement evolved out of slave patrols."],"justification":"As controversy raged over racially motivated violence and law enforcement policies in the United States, a persistent rumor regarding the origins of 21st-century policing appeared online. It showed up, as such things tend to do, in meme form:   But how accurate is this? And where did the concept of police as de facto executors of justice (rather than peacekeepers) originate? Law enforcement has always existed in one form or another. The first constables (from the Roman comes stabuli, or \"head of the stables\") with duties very similar to today's sheriffs, were around at least since the 9th century, and traveled to the Americas from Europe to supplant the systems that existed there at the time in the 1600s. The Encyclopedia of Police Science delves into the history of constables in the colonies:  history In the American colonies the constable was the first law enforcement officer. His duties varied from place to place according to the needs of the people he served. Usually, the constable sealed weights and measures, surveyed land, announced marriages, and executed all warrants. Additionally, he meted out physical punishments and kept the peace.  The informal and communal system known as \"the Watch\" worked (more or less efficiently) on a volunteer basis in the early colonies; there were also private policing systems for hire that functioned on a for-profit basis. As populations grew, so did demands for more functional system of policing towns and cities. Volunteers would often show up to their posts drunk or not at all, and the systems were disorganized or hopelessly corrupt.  posts According to Gary Potter, a crime historian at Eastern Kentucky University, a centralized, bureaucratic police system did not emerge until well into the 1800s, but was quickly adopted by cities around the country: Gary Potter It was not until the 1830s that the idea of a centralized municipal police department first emerged in the United States. In 1838, the city of Boston established the first American police force, followed by New York City in 1845, Albany, NY and Chicago in 1851, New Orleans and Cincinnati in 1853, Philadelphia in 1855, and Newark, NJ and Baltimore in 1857 (Harring 1983, Lundman 1980; Lynch 1984). By the 1880s all major U.S. cities had municipal police forces in place. These \"modern police\" organizations shared similar characteristics: (1) they were publicly supported and bureaucratic in form; (2) police officers were full-time employees, not community volunteers or case-by-case fee retainers; (3) departments had permanent and fixed rules and procedures, and employment as a police officers was continuous; (4) police departments were accountable to a central governmental authority (Lundman 1980). More than a hundred years earlier, in 1704, the colony of Carolina developed the fledgling United States' first slave patrol. The patrol consisted of roving bands of armed white citizens who would stop, question, and punish slaves caught without a permit to travel. They were civil organizations, controlled and maintained by county courts. The way the patrols were organized and maintained provided a later framework for preventive (rather than reactive) community policing, particularly in the South:  courts Policing had always been a reactive enterprise, occurring only in response to a specific criminal act. Centralized and bureaucratic police departments, focusing on the alleged crime-producing qualities of the \"dangerous classes\" began to emphasize preventative crime control. The presence of police, authorized to use force, could stop crime before it started by subjecting everyone to surveillance and observation. The concept of the police patrol as a preventative control mechanism routinized the insertion of police into the normal daily events of everyone's life, a previously unknown and highly feared concept in both England and the United States (Parks 1976). Patrols in the northern U.S. also became useful for breaking up labor strikes before they became too destructive (Marxist political historian Eric Hobsbawm referred to the mechanisms of violence and destruction of property to agitate for better working conditions as \"collective bargaining by riot\") and these services became increasingly utilized as the country became more populated and conditions simultaneously grew more difficult for the United States' restive economic underclasses.  labor strikes Eric Hobsbawm destruction In fact, police duties since the 1800s can be easily traced along the ebb and flow of political pressures as well as social issues:  issues In 1822, for example, Charleston, South Carolina, experienced a slave insurrection panic, caused by a supposed plot of slaves and free blacks to seize the city. In response, the State legislature passed the Negro Seamen's Act, requiring free black seamen to remain on board their vessels while in Carolina harbors. If they dared to leave their ships, the police were instructed to arrest them and sell them into slavery unless they were redeemed by the ship's master.  Similarly, patrols such as the Mounted Guards (forerunners to what eventually became the Border Patrol) were put in place to maintain minority quotas, among other things:  minority quotas Mounted watchmen of the U.S. Immigration Service patrolled the border in an effort to prevent illegal crossings as early as 1904, but their efforts were irregular and undertaken only when resources permitted. The inspectors, usually called Mounted Guards, operated out of El Paso, Texas. Though they never totaled more than seventy-five, they patrolled as far west as California trying to restrict the flow of illegal Chinese immigration. In March 1915, Congress authorized a separate group of Mounted Guards, often referred to as Mounted Inspectors. Most rode on horseback, but a few operated cars and even boats. Although these inspectors had broader arrest authority, they still largely pursued Chinese immigrants trying to avoid the Chinese exclusion laws. Modern law enforcement evolved out of complex brew of a larger population, shifting sociopolitical class boundaries, and other external issues (such as the labor pressures that created an unhappy underclass) and a shift in the way policing was regarded by business owners and the population at large: proactive rather than reactive.  However, it is important to note that \"the police\" do not consist of a homogenous block of the American population, and while the early days of modern-day police forces are undeniable and under-covered facets of its history, the focus and perspective of policing is a complicated and fraught subject. It would be a mistake to assume that police in 2016 are the same as police in the 1870s, and to conclude that the profile of law enforcement in the United States  and around the world  has not changed throughout its existence. It would also be a mistake to assume that law enforcement cannot or will not be changed again in response to popular pressure, given that its focus has varied dramatically since its inception.  Greene, Jack R. (ed.)\r The Encyclopedia of Police Science, Third Edition.   Routledge: New York. 2007. Harring, Sidney L., and McMullin, Lorraine M.  \"TheBuffalo Police18721900: Labor Unrest, Political Power and the Creation of the Police Institution.\"\r Crime and Social Justice 4: 5-14. 1975. Kelling, George L. and Moore, Mark H.  \"The Evolving Strategy of Policing.\"\r National Institute of Justice.  November 1988.\r  Potter, Gary. \"The History of Policing in the United States, Parts 1-6.\"\r  Eastern Kentucky University, Police Studies Online.  July 2013. Williams, Hubert and Murphy, Patrick V.  \"The Evolving Strategy of Police: A Minority View.\"  National Institute of Justice. January 1990.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1wGGEIDmj8LVlGQyJocvm8dy1WzNIJmdw","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_578","claim":"Do These Photographs Show a Protester Paid to Disrupt the Kavanaugh Confirmation Hearings?","posted":"10\/01\/2018","sci_digest":["Viral images shared with misleading information about protesters resulted in harassment and death threats."],"justification":"False accusations alleging protesters at confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh were paid as part of a nefarious liberal conspiracy to block his confirmation resulted in intense harassment for two people whose images were posted online along with misleading information. Internet trolls widely shared a photograph of demonstrator Vickie Lampron being handed cash by an organizer while she waited to enter the U.S. Capitol, where she would be one of the first persons to be arrested protesting at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing for Kavanaugh on 4 September 2018. Although she was merely given a small amount of cash so she could pay post and forfeit fines, conspiracy theorists falsely claimed a photograph of her was evidence that protesters were paid for personal gain in exchange for disrupting the hearings.The picture was originally posted by self-described international conference speaker Adam Schindler to his eponymous website and to Twitter. He also made a YouTube video in which three of his friends claimed to have witnessed \"paid political operatives\" in action:Proof the protestors were paid off in line. #Kavanaugh #ConfirmKavanaugh #ActivismInAction pic.twitter.com\/hMLpP4zWPn Adam W. Schindler (@AdamSchindler) September 4, 2018Theyre back at it today. Exercising free speech. pic.twitter.com\/K7GPFCeusM Adam W. Schindler (@AdamSchindler) September 5, 2018The first image was also widely shared on Facebook with the following caption: \"This woman disrupted the Kavanaugh hearing held on September 4 and was thrown out. A few minutes later someone got a photo of her being paid.\"While it's true the photograph indeed shows Lampron being given money, she wasn't being paid a fee in exchange for protesting. The man wearing a backpack in the photograph is Vinay Krishnan, a consultant who helps organize legal support for the progressive activist organization Center for Popular Democracy (an organization that has been heavily involved in organizing protests against Kavanaugh's confirmation).Krishnan told us the money was raised via small donations from around the country, and protesters were given about $35 to pay related fees in the event they were arrested; if they weren't arrested, the money was to be returned.\"These protesters are coming from across the country believing they are fighting for their very right to exist in this country,\" he told us. \"Thats why theyre there. Not for $35 which they returned immediately if they didn't give it to D.C. Capitol Police.\"Both Lampron and Krishnan faced online harassment as a result of the misinformation spread online about them. Krishnan received racially-tinged death threats, forcing him to close down his social media accounts, and a laundromat that had offered Lampron a job reportedly rescinded the offer as a result of the controversy.Vickie Lampron declined to be interviewed for this story, so we spoke instead to Shay Totten, spokesman for the Vermont activist organization Rights and Democracy, of which Lampron is a member. Totten told us:Vickie is not a paid protester. She felt very strongly that she wanted to go to D.C. on behalf of herself and her granddaughters because she feared she was seeing women's rights on the line when it came to this Supreme Court nomination. We fundraised to send our members down so they dont have to pay out of pocket. But they dont make any money.Adam Schindler's tweets and video were picked up and widely shared by a large number of social media users and junk news sites, including the Gateway Pundit (which incorrectly referred to Schindler as a \"reporter\"), Your News Wire, and conspiracy trolling site Infowars.RealClearPolitics meanwhile ran with the headline \"Three Texas Doctors: We Saw Protesters Paid in Cash to Disrupt Brett Kavanaugh Hearing on Line to Enter.\" (We reached out to both Schindler and RealClearPolitics publisher Tom Bevan about their posts but received no response.)The images of a \"paid protester\" have popped up repeatedly since the 4 September hearing in the service of false claims that Kavanaugh's confirmation process was being picketed for profit instead of principle.A detail that many junk sites failed to pick up on was that the same day Schindler published his posts claiming to have witnessed the paying of protesters, he began walking those same claims back:Spoke to the protest organizer. She confirmed handing out cash, but said they intend cash to be used to pay fines they know come when protestors break the law. A small price to pay to be heard I suppose. #KavanaughConfirmation Adam W. Schindler (@AdamSchindler) September 5, 2018On 6 September 2018, Schindler authored a blog post recounting his discussion with organizers from the activist group:I went back to the public ticket line mid-afternoon and approached the gentleman from the photos. I greeted him and the moment he saw me he hurried away. A woman sitting on the bench saw this and stepped in. She identified herself as Jennifer (Flynn Walker), the protest organizer from a group called Center for Popular Democracy. We had a very civil discussion about what they were doing and why.I made an audio recording of this conversation and it is posted in its entirety below. I have also transcribed some key moments in the conversation and posted them below.During our 12 minute discussion, a half dozen protestors gathered around and some participated. The gentleman in the photos did not. The protest leader confirmed her group was providing cash to protestors. She took issue with my use of the term payment, saying the provided cash was only to be used to pay the fines. I was unclear how she was able to enforce this vital distinction for her. But nonetheless, she, and the half dozen members surrounding us, all confirmed her group was giving cash to protestors.She then asked if I was interested in knowing the source of her cash. She had good instincts! I didnt even have to ask. I could sense her pride as she told an emotional story about how it was crowdsourced from donors across the nation. I asked if that was the only source of funding for this protest. I had no reason to doubt the truthfulness of her story. But I did doubt it was the only source of funds. She was quick to ask a clarifying question before answering, as her organization is funded with tens of millions of dollars from George Soros. A fact Im sure she was familiar with. But she said very precisely, Thats how we pay for the fines, yes. And that was that.Billionaire philanthropist George Soros contributes large sums of money toward progressive causes (the Center for Popular Democracy does receive funding from Soros, for example). He is also the boogeyman in many right-wing conspiracy theories that often veer into anti-Semitism, in which he is typically portrayed as a puppet master orchestrating a vague world take-over.We found no evidence, however, to support the claim that Soros was directly paying out money to Kavanaugh hearing protesters, nor did we find evidence to support accusations that persons demonstrating at the hearings were there because they were being paid to protest.  Internet trolls widely shared a photograph of demonstrator Vickie Lampron being handed cash by an organizer while she waited to enter the U.S. Capitol, where she would be one of the first persons to be arrested protesting at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing for Kavanaugh on 4 September 2018. Although she was merely given a small amount of cash so she could pay post and forfeit fines, conspiracy theorists falsely claimed a photograph of her was evidence that protesters were paid for personal gain in exchange for disrupting the hearings. first post and forfeit The picture was originally posted by self-described international conference speaker Adam Schindler to his eponymous website and to Twitter. He also made a YouTube video in which three of his friends claimed to have witnessed \"paid political operatives\" in action: website video Proof the protestors were paid off in line. #Kavanaugh #ConfirmKavanaugh #ActivismInAction pic.twitter.com\/hMLpP4zWPn #Kavanaugh #ConfirmKavanaugh #ActivismInAction pic.twitter.com\/hMLpP4zWPn  Adam W. Schindler (@AdamSchindler) September 4, 2018 September 4, 2018  Theyre back at it today. Exercising free speech. pic.twitter.com\/K7GPFCeusM pic.twitter.com\/K7GPFCeusM  Adam W. Schindler (@AdamSchindler) September 5, 2018 September 5, 2018 The first image was also widely shared on Facebook with the following caption: \"This woman disrupted the Kavanaugh hearing held on September 4 and was thrown out. A few minutes later someone got a photo of her being paid.\"   While it's true the photograph indeed shows Lampron being given money, she wasn't being paid a fee in exchange for protesting. The man wearing a backpack in the photograph is Vinay Krishnan, a consultant who helps organize legal support for the progressive activist organization Center for Popular Democracy (an organization that has been heavily involved in organizing protests against Kavanaugh's confirmation). Krishnan told us the money was raised via small donations from around the country, and protesters were given about $35 to pay related fees in the event they were arrested; if they weren't arrested, the money was to be returned. \"These protesters are coming from across the country believing they are fighting for their very right to exist in this country,\" he told us. \"Thats why theyre there. Not for $35 which they returned immediately if they didn't give it to D.C. Capitol Police.\" Both Lampron and Krishnan faced online harassment as a result of the misinformation spread online about them. Krishnan received racially-tinged death threats, forcing him to close down his social media accounts, and a laundromat that had offered Lampron a job reportedly rescinded the offer as a result of the controversy. Vickie Lampron declined to be interviewed for this story, so we spoke instead to Shay Totten, spokesman for the Vermont activist organization Rights and Democracy, of which Lampron is a member. Totten told us: Vickie is not a paid protester. She felt very strongly that she wanted to go to D.C. on behalf of herself and her granddaughters because she feared she was seeing women's rights on the line when it came to this Supreme Court nomination. We fundraised to send our members down so they dont have to pay out of pocket. But they dont make any money. Adam Schindler's tweets and video were picked up and widely shared by a large number of social media users and junk news sites, including the Gateway Pundit (which incorrectly referred to Schindler as a \"reporter\"), Your News Wire, and conspiracy trolling site Infowars. users Gateway Pundit Your News Wire Infowars RealClearPolitics meanwhile ran with the headline \"Three Texas Doctors: We Saw Protesters Paid in Cash to Disrupt Brett Kavanaugh Hearing on Line to Enter.\" (We reached out to both Schindler and RealClearPolitics publisher Tom Bevan about their posts but received no response.) RealClearPolitics The images of a \"paid protester\" have popped up repeatedly since the 4 September hearing in the service of false claims that Kavanaugh's confirmation process was being picketed for profit instead of principle. popped up repeatedly A detail that many junk sites failed to pick up on was that the same day Schindler published his posts claiming to have witnessed the paying of protesters, he began walking those same claims back: Spoke to the protest organizer. She confirmed handing out cash, but said they intend cash to be used to pay fines they know come when protestors break the law. A small price to pay to be heard I suppose. #KavanaughConfirmation #KavanaughConfirmation  Adam W. Schindler (@AdamSchindler) September 5, 2018 September 5, 2018  On 6 September 2018, Schindler authored a blog post recounting his discussion with organizers from the activist group: authored I went back to the public ticket line mid-afternoon and approached the gentleman from the photos. I greeted him and the moment he saw me he hurried away. A woman sitting on the bench saw this and stepped in. She identified herself as Jennifer (Flynn Walker), the protest organizer from a group called Center for Popular Democracy. We had a very civil discussion about what they were doing and why. I made an audio recording of this conversation and it is posted in its entirety below. I have also transcribed some key moments in the conversation and posted them below. During our 12 minute discussion, a half dozen protestors gathered around and some participated. The gentleman in the photos did not. The protest leader confirmed her group was providing cash to protestors. She took issue with my use of the term payment, saying the provided cash was only to be used to pay the fines. I was unclear how she was able to enforce this vital distinction for her. But nonetheless, she, and the half dozen members surrounding us, all confirmed her group was giving cash to protestors. She then asked if I was interested in knowing the source of her cash. She had good instincts! I didnt even have to ask. I could sense her pride as she told an emotional story about how it was crowdsourced from donors across the nation. I asked if that was the only source of funding for this protest. I had no reason to doubt the truthfulness of her story. But I did doubt it was the only source of funds. She was quick to ask a clarifying question before answering, as her organization is funded with tens of millions of dollars from George Soros. A fact Im sure she was familiar with. But she said very precisely, Thats how we pay for the fines, yes. And that was that. Billionaire philanthropist George Soros contributes large sums of money toward progressive causes (the Center for Popular Democracy does receive funding from Soros, for example). He is also the boogeyman in many right-wing conspiracy theories that often veer into anti-Semitism, in which he is typically portrayed as a puppet master orchestrating a vague world take-over. boogeyman We found no evidence, however, to support the claim that Soros was directly paying out money to Kavanaugh hearing protesters, nor did we find evidence to support accusations that persons demonstrating at the hearings were there because they were being paid to protest. Schindler, Adam.  \"Story Behind Kavanaugh 'Paid Protesters.'\r  AdamSchindler.com.  6 September 2018. Hulse, Carl.  \"A New Reality for Court Confirmations: Pandemonium, Protesters and Partisanship.\"\r  The New York Times.  4 September 2018. Brown, Emma. \"California Professor, Writer of Confidential Brett Kavanaugh Letter, Speaks Out About Her Allegation of Sexual Assault.\"\r  The Washington Post  16 September 2018.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ol1IwDp09qL8X7uLN7-SkLCJRwFEcX9U","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_579","claim":"Are there financial ties between President Trump and Saudi Arabia?","posted":"11\/09\/2018","sci_digest":["In response to Trump's tweet claiming that he has no such financial interests, social media users shared a Fox News Research tweet highlighting Trump's business dealings with the Saudis."],"justification":"On 2 October 2018, journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared during a visit to Saudi Arabia's consulate in Instanbul, Turkey. Although foul play was suspected, the Saudi government at first denied that any harm had been done to the journalist. Then they began releasing conflicting accounts, beginning with the claim that Khashoggi died accidentally in a \"fistfight.\" Ultimately, the Saudis acknowledged that evidence provided by Turkish investigators pointed to his being slain in a \"premeditated\" attack, which they said was undertaken in a \"rogue operation\" not authorized by the Saudi royal family. Two senior government officials were dismissed, and 18 Saudi nationals allegedly involved in the murder were arrested. President Trump was criticized in the immediate aftermath of Khashoggi's disappearance for his apparent reluctance to hold the Saudis responsible for the incident. \"We want to find out what happened,\" he said. But he also maintained that the United States' relations with the kingdom were \"excellent\" and he would not consider stopping arms sales to Saudi Arabia despite calls from members of Congress to do so. Various commentators, including Washington Post contributor Brian Klaas, suggested that Trump's official dealings with Saudi Arabia are \"compromised by deep financial conflicts of interest\": suggested His business interests -- past, present, and future -- make it impossible for him to contemplate the kind of consequences that the Saudis deserve. In 1991, when Trump was $900 million in debt, he was bailed out by a member of the Saudi royal family, who purchased his 281-foot yacht, Trump Princess. Trumps other princess, Ivanka, is married to Jared Kushner, who has deep ties to the crown prince. In 2015, when asked about his relationship with the Saudis, Trump said: I get along great with all of them. They buy apartments from me. They spend $40 million, $50 million. Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much. As recently as December 2016, Trump owned companies in Saudi Arabia, as he sought to build a hotel there. Three days after Trumps inauguration, lobbyists working for the Saudi government funneled $270,000 directly to the Trump Organization by booking rooms at his Washington hotel. More recently, Trumps flagging Manhattan hotel got bailed out thanks to a lucrative visit from none other than the Saudi crown prince. It raises the disturbing possibility that Saudi Arabia will get away with abduction or murder because the president is beholden to Saudi money. Trump responded by tweeting that he has no financial interests in Saudi Arabia: tweeting For the record, I have no financial interests in Saudi Arabia (or Russia, for that matter). Any suggestion that I have is just more FAKE NEWS (of which there is plenty)!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 16, 2018 October 16, 2018  That same day, Fox News Research (a Fox News Twitter account that regularly posts newsworthy data) tweeted a list highlighting some of Trump's business relationships with the Saudis: tweeted Trump & Saudi Business:1991: Sold yacht to Saudi Prince2001: Sold 45th floor of Trump World Tower to SaudisJun 2015: I love the Saudis...many in Trump TowerAug 2015: \"They buy apartments from me...Spend $40M-$50M\"2017: Saudi lobbyists spent $270K at Trump DC hotel  Fox News Research (@FoxNewsResearch) October 16, 2018 October 16, 2018  Shortly afterward, Trump's tweet and the Fox News tweet were combined into a meme and unleashed on Facebook:   The meme presented the Fox News tweet as a refutation of Trump's, but although each of the former's statements can be confirmed via reliable sources, they don't necessarily disprove President Trump's claim that he has no financial interests in Saudi Arabia. The sticking point (and the reason we're rating the claim a mixture of true and false) is that the term \"financial interests\" usually denotes the ownership of property or investments in a given place, company, or industry. We have found no evidence that either Trump or Trump Organization (the umbrella company operated by Trump's sons, Donald Jr. and Eric), currently owns property or investments in Saudi Arabia. According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings, the Trump Organization was pursuing plans to open businesses in Saudi Arabia as recently as 2016, but the Associated Press reported in October 2018 that the companies had been shut down by the time Trump took office: reported Shortly after he announced his run for president, Trump began laying the groundwork for possible new business in the kingdom. He registered eight companies with names tied to the country, such as \"THC Jeddah Hotel Advisor LLC\" and \"DT Jeddah Technical Services,\" according to a 2016 financial disclosure report to the federal government. Jeddah is a major city in the country. \"Saudi Arabia, I get along with all of them. They buy apartments from me. They spend $40 million, $50 million,\" Trump told a crowd at an Alabama rally on Aug. 21, 2015, the same day he created four of the entities. \"Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much.\" The president's company, the Trump Organization, said shortly after his 2016 election that it had shut down those Saudi companies. The president later pledged to pursue no new foreign deals while in office. In a statement this week, the company said it has explored business opportunities in many countries but that it does \"not have any plans for expansion into Saudi Arabia.\" There is no question that Trump has profited from business dealings with the Saudis, however. Let's take the items in the Fox News Research list one by one: Fortune reported in 2017 that Trump, facing financial difficulties in 1991, sold a yacht he purchased from the Sultan of Brunei in the 1980s to Saudi Arabia's Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal. reported The Associated Press reported that the Kingdom of Saudi purchased the entire 45th floor of Trump World Tower in New York City in 2001, \"the biggest purchase in that building to that point.\" reported During a 16 June 2015 speech at Trump Tower announcing his presidential candidacy, Trump said: \"Saudi Arabia, they make $1 billion a day. $1 billion a day. I love the Saudis. Many are in this building.\" At a campaign rally one month later, he said: \"I like the Saudis; they are very nice. I make a lot of money with them. They buy all sorts of my stuff -- all kinds of toys from Trump. They pay me millions and hundreds of millions.\" speech said At a campaign rally in Mobile, Alabama in August 2015, Trump said: \"Saudi Arabia, I get along with all of them. They buy apartments from me. They spend $40 million, $50 million. Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much.\" said The Wall Street Journal reported in June 2017 that Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C., received payments amounting to roughly $270,000 for services provided to lobbyists working for the Saudi government. Although Trump had announced earlier in the year that any Trump Organization profits from foreign governments would be donated to the U.S. Treasury, the company did not respond to the Journal's questions about what would be done with the Saudi payments, which were made through a third party. reported Despite his not owning businesses, properties, or investments in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Trump has clearly, and by his own admission, profited to the tune of tens of millions of dollars from business dealings with the Saudis, and over a long period of time. We reached out to the Trump Organization for comment but received no reply. Beavers, Olivia.  \"Saudis Spent $270K at Trump Hotel Amid Lobbying Efforts: Report.\"\r  The Hill.  5 August 2017. Condon, Bernard et al.  \"'I Love the Saudis': Trump Business Ties to Kingdom Run Deep.\"\r  Associated Press.  16 October 2018. Fahrenthold, David A. and Jonathan O'Connell.  \"'I Like Them Very Much:' Trump Has Longstanding Business Ties with Saudis, Who Have Boosted His Hotels Since He Took Office.\"\r The Washington Post.  11 October 2018. Kirkpatrick, David D.  \"Trump's Business Ties in the Gulf Raise Questions About His Allegiances.\"\r  The New York Times.  17 June 2017. Klaas, Brian.  \"Jamal Khashoggi's Fate Casts a Harsh Light on Trump's Friendship with Saudi Arabia.\"\r The Washington Post.  10 October 2018. Mangan, Dan.  \"Trump Claims He Has 'No Financial Interests in Saudi Arabia' --- But He Makes Lots of Money from It.\"\r  CNBC.  16 October 2018. Myre, Greg.  \"The Big Overlap Between Trump's Global Holdings and U.S. Foreign Policy.\"\r  NPR.  22 November 2016. Orden, Erica.  \"Saudi Disappearance Puts Spotlight on Trump's Business Ties.\"\r  CNN.  12 October 2018. Smith, Geoffrey.  \"This Is the 420-Foot Yacht Donald Trump Wanted -- Before He Filed for Bankruptcy.\"\r  Fortune.  13 February 2017. Tau, Byron and Rebecca Ballhaus.  \"Trump Hotel Received $270,000 from Lobbying Campaign Tied to Saudis.\"\r  The Wall Street Journal.  6 June 2017. Watson, Kathryn.  \"What's at Stake in the Trump Administration's Ties to the Saudis.\"\r  CBS News.  12 October 2018. Wong, Edward et al.  \"Trump Calls Relations with Saudi Arabia 'Excellent,' While Congress Is Incensed.\"\r  The New York Times.  11 October 2018. Associated Press.  \"A Timeline of Events in the Khashoggi Case.\"\r  25 October 2018. CBS News.  \"Transcript: Donald Trump Announces His Presidential Candidacy.\"\r  16 June 2015.","issues":["debt"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1LvoDvbrjGxEnR11fDQ8MX_xdoyFITNO9"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_580","claim":"The right-to-work states have much lower level of unemployment than the union states do.","posted":"02\/28\/2011","sci_digest":[],"justification":"On the Feb. 24, 2011, edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly stated that the jobs picture is better in right-to-work states\u2014that is, states in which workers can refuse to pay dues or fees to the union that represents them in bargaining. O'Reilly claimed that right-to-work states have a much lower level of unemployment than union states. He made this assertion while interviewing Caroline Heldman, a political scientist at Occidental College. We thought we would check to see whether O'Reilly is correct. \n\nFirst, some background. According to the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, 22 states have passed some form of right-to-work law (the exact provisions can vary): Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming. The other 28 states do not have such laws. \n\nTo test O'Reilly's claim, we turned to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, which is the official source for unemployment statistics in the United States. The BLS's most recent state-by-state data is for December 2010. We consulted with Gary Burtless, a labor economist with the centrist-to-liberal Brookings Institution, about the fairest way to analyze the data. We agreed that it was best to compare right-to-work and non-right-to-work states using data weighted according to state population. This approach ensures that California's unemployment rate would be given more weight than, say, Wyoming's. \n\nWhen we did the math, we found that the unemployment rate in the 22 right-to-work states was 9.17 percent, compared to 9.65 percent in the 28 non-right-to-work states. (The national unemployment rate that month was 9.4 percent\u2014right in the middle.) So, O'Reilly is basically correct. His only shortcoming was his use of the phrase \"much lower level of unemployment.\" The difference for December 2010 was only about half a percentage point, which is fairly modest, given that the range of state unemployment figures stretched from 3.8 percent in North Dakota to 14.5 percent in Nevada. \n\nAs always, there's a question about causation\u2014that is, whether right-to-work status actually produces low unemployment. Of the 11 states with the lowest unemployment (there was a tie for 10th place), eight were right-to-work states. Of those, seven states\u2014North Dakota, Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa, Wyoming, Kansas, and Oklahoma\u2014are from the Great Plains and the Mountain West, which have generally been less hard-hit during the recent recession. \n\nTo see whether today is an unusual situation, we asked the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation if they had historical data on the unemployment gap. They said they did not. James Sherk, a senior policy analyst in labor economics at the conservative Heritage Foundation, mentioned that numbers he has analyzed suggest that in 2008, before the worst of the recession set in, the gap was slightly larger\u2014about eight-tenths of a percentage point\u2014but was in the same general ballpark. \n\nIn any case, none of the economists we spoke to thought the gap was especially surprising, either now or historically. So where does that leave us in terms of O'Reilly's claim? He stated that right-to-work states have a much lower level of unemployment than union states do. To say it's \"much lower\" is a stretch, but he's right that it is lower. On balance, we rate his statement Mostly True.","issues":["National","Economy","Labor","Pundits","Workers"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_581","claim":"Every year we spend roughly $500 billion on tax compliance. That is roughly the budget of our entire military, entirely wasted on tax compliance.","posted":"05\/20\/2015","sci_digest":[],"justification":"A reader questioned Sen. Ted Cruz's comparison of military spending to the costs Americans incur for tax compliance. According to a blog post on txwinelover.com, Cruz toured Becker Vineyards in July 2014 before holding a roundtable with wine industry representatives, during which he agreed that the tax system should be simplified. Every year, Cruz elaborated, we spend roughly $500 billion on tax compliance, which is approximately the budget of our entire military, entirely wasted on tax compliance. I agree that we should move to a simple flat tax where everyone can fill out their taxes on a postcard and that we should shut down the IRS. Cruz, a Texas lawyer elected to the U.S. Senate in 2012, has since declared his candidacy for president. He had already called for a flat-rate income tax and the abolition of the IRS. But was he correct in stating that about the same $500 billion a year is spent on complying with tax laws and funding the military? Both figures require clarification. \n\nRegarding military spending, Cruz's campaign spokesman, Rick Tyler, said by email that Cruz drew on a chart posted by The Washington Post in 2012, indicating that, adjusted for inflation, defense spending has exceeded $500 billion a year since around 2007. The Post relied on the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, where analyst Todd Harrison informed us that the military's 2014 base budget, which covers the cost of maintaining a standing military in peacetime, totaled $496 billion. However, Harrison advised that this figure does not reflect all military spending. Generally, he explained, the base budget does not include the costs associated with military conflicts, legacy costs such as unfunded pensions and veterans' benefits, or military activities conducted outside of the Department of Defense, such as the maintenance and upgrade of nuclear weapons. All of those expenses are additional, he noted. If you account for those other costs, Harrison stated, the U.S. spent $866 billion on the military in 2014. By email, Tyler emphasized that the military's base budget does not include overseas contingencies. \n\nNext, we turned to the costs Americans incur to fulfill federal tax requirements. To better understand compliance costs, we reached out to certified public accountant Connie Weaver, a Texas A&M University professor, who directed us to June 2011 testimony on compliance costs by tax expert Michael Brostek of the General Accountability Office. Broadly, Brostek stated that complying with IRS regulations costs taxpayers time and money, estimating at least $107 billion in 2005, with other studies suggesting costs 1.5 times larger. Beyond compliance costs, Brostek noted even larger estimated economic efficiency costs, which are reductions in economic well-being caused by behavioral changes due to taxes. \n\nEven before Cruz commented at the roundtable, the Fact Checker at The Washington Post awarded two Pinocchios to House Speaker John Boehner's claim that it was costing Americans $500 billion a year to comply with federal tax demands. Cost estimates varied, the Post reported, with the safest bet at the time being $163 billion, as estimated by the IRS's Taxpayer Advocate Service, which is tasked with helping taxpayers resolve problems and recommending changes. Adjusting for inflation, that cost would have been nearly $172 billion a year around the time Cruz spoke in 2014. More recently, the Fact Checker weighed in again after noticing Cruz made his $500 billion military-tax compliance spending comparison during a May 2015 stop in South Carolina. Like Boehner, Cruz received a couple of Pinocchios. Weaver explained that because Cruz did not specify what he meant by compliance costs\u2014where he would draw the boundaries\u2014an observer could explore three possibilities: a taxpayer's basic liability, the costs associated with gathering information and submitting it to the government, or efficiency costs related to lost outputs and time taken from other productive activities. For an individual, she said, it's easy to calculate compliance costs by gauging how long it takes to fill out the required forms and multiplying that by an hourly dollar figure for how the individual values their time. However, she noted that aggregating that nationally is very difficult, and she would not be comfortable specifying a national compliance-cost figure. Overall, Weaver concluded that Cruz's figure appeared to be high. \n\nCruz's aide, Tyler, informed us that Cruz derived his tax-compliance costs from an April 2011 analysis by supply-side economist Arthur B. Laffer and others, which indicated $431.1 billion in combined annual costs incurred by taxpayers to pay federal taxes, and a May 2013 study by researchers at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, which stated that the annual hidden costs of U.S. tax compliance ranged from $215 billion to $987 billion. The Laffer-led study claimed that researchers created a comprehensive estimate of the total administrative costs, time costs, and direct tax compliance costs generated by the complex U.S. federal income tax code. The $431.1 billion in estimated annual spending reflects money spent to comply with and administer the U.S. income tax system. Its estimate, relying on 2010 figures, broke down to approximately $31.5 billion in direct outlays (paying a professional tax preparer or purchasing tax software), total IRS administrative costs of $12.4 billion, and nearly $378 billion for the time value costs taxpayers must bear to pay their taxes, filling out and submitting forms. In 2011, the Post's Fact Checker deemed the Laffer study dubious, noting it took a figure from the IRS's Tax Advocate that individuals and businesses spent 6.1 billion hours complying with tax filing requirements and arrived at its cost estimate by multiplying it against an absurd hourly income of $68.42, based on the theory that the wealthy pay most of the income taxes. \n\nThe Mercatus Center's study, led by Jason J. Fichtner, a senior research fellow, similarly noted the high wage costs applied in the Laffer study, stating that the average income used to monetize taxpayers' time is significantly greater than the average income used in other estimates. The center suggested a range of hidden costs connected to paying taxes, including time and money spent submitting tax forms, foregone economic growth, lobbying expenditures, and gaps in revenue collection, though the authors admitted they could not pin a figure for lobbying by interests trying to reduce taxes paid. Regarding compliance costs, which Cruz highlighted, the center's study estimated $67 billion to $378 billion a year in accounting costs associated with filing taxes, a range based on IRS information suggesting that 60 percent of individual taxpayers and 71 percent of unincorporated business taxpayers pay someone\u2014an accountant, lawyer, or tax professional\u2014to prepare their taxes, with 32 percent of individual taxpayers relying on software. Fichtner explained that his paper, based on a review of relevant studies, was intended to cover far more than simple compliance costs. He chose to provide a range based on the different methodologies found in the research literature, stating that it's not that one method is better than another or right versus wrong; all measures have different assumptions regarding the time value of an hour of lost work\/productivity as well as time spent. \n\nNext, we asked the Washington, D.C.-based Tax Foundation about Cruz's figure. Spokesman Richard Borean stated by email that it had no analysis to confirm or refute the $500 billion figure. However, he noted the Mercatus Center study and suggested we consider annual reports on tax compliance costs published by the National Taxpayers Union, a non-partisan research and educational organization devoted to showing Americans how taxes, government spending, and regulations affect them. The union's April 2014 report, which would have been the latest available before Cruz spoke, noted that the IRS's National Taxpayer Advocate had most recently estimated the annual paperwork burden generated by the federal personal and corporate tax system at 6.1 billion hours\u2014the equivalent of about 3.05 million employees working 40-hour weeks year-round with two weeks off each. The group stated that the value of the labor behind the 6.1 billion hours amounts to a staggering $192.6 billion when calculated with the most recently reported average employer cost for non-federal civilian workers by the Bureau of Labor Statistics: $31.57 per hour. Adding in the $31.7 billion spent on tax software and other out-of-pocket costs for individuals, the total comes to $224.3 billion a year. The union's latest look at compliance costs, released in April 2015, stated that compliance with the federal income tax cost the economy $233.8 billion in productivity in 2014. \n\nOur ruling: Cruz stated, \"Every year we spend roughly $500 billion on tax compliance. That is roughly the budget of our entire military, entirely wasted on tax compliance.\" This claim proved questionable at both ends. Depending on how one values time, it is possible to arrive at nearly any total for what it costs Americans to prepare and file tax returns. However, most estimates fall short of Cruz's figure. Meanwhile, military spending exceeded $800 billion when he spoke, although the senator's spokesman indicated he did not intend to include spending on conflicts abroad and other items not in the military's nearly $500 billion base budget. We rate the statement False.","issues":["Federal Budget","Military","Taxes","Texas"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1RYMoNKnGgAsO4PT1TRyhfEY_nSTG4ddy","image_caption":"The Washington Post"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1yLPU64bz7RRtm0aBNtExjI8ayJI9faPp","image_caption":"The Washington Post"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_582","claim":"'$500 Venmo Balance Needs Confirmation' Emails Are Scams","posted":"12\/16\/2021","sci_digest":["\"This message was sent from a trusted sender\" is not how trustworthy emails usually begin."],"justification":"Readers should beware of scam emails that claim a \"$500 Venmo balance needs confirmation.\" Venmo is a mobile payment service that allows people to pay and request funds through its app and website. The fraudulent emails appear to be phishing attempts that lead to endless survey offers, allowing the perpetrators to potentially earn affiliate commission dollars. We advise readers to never click any of the links in these scam emails. Such emails are often littered with errors like \"congratulation\" and \"to opt-out, please click her anytime.\" One message with the \"$500 Venmo balance needs confirmation\" subject line that we reviewed showed that it came from an email address ending with \"globalcbdusa.com.\" According to its domain registration information, the website was first created after June 2021. The mention of \"CBD\" in the website's name isn't surprising, considering other CBD-related scams we've covered in the past. Legitimate emails from Venmo end with \"@venmo.com,\" not \"@globalcbdusa.com.\" For example, emails from venmo@venmo.com and venmo@email.venmo.com can be trusted. Venmo.com has dedicated a page to common scams that have targeted its users, stating, \"We want your experience on Venmo to be as fun and effortless as possible. Here\u2019s some information to help you avoid common scams. Remember: You should only use Venmo to buy or sell goods or services in accordance with our User Agreement.\" If you receive one of these \"$500 Venmo balance needs confirmation\" emails, the best course of action is to delete it. If you think you've spotted a scam or have been the victim of one, call the Federal Trade Commission at 1-877-FTC-HELP.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1e879kxa11b3faAkjGD9idw0y4m4ru_d0","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1WTiPj0QdXA9HrE0wup_TTFmF2lUepnXn","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_583","claim":"Is it true that around 643,000 bankruptcies happen in the United States annually because of medical expenses?","posted":"04\/21\/2016","sci_digest":["A popular meme holds that 643,000 Americans go bankrupt every year over medical bills, but the underlying math is elusive."],"justification":"In April 2016, a meme was published by the Facebook page \"The Other 98%\" (among others) claiming that 643,000 Americans declare bankruptcy due to medical bills every year, while in several other first-world countries, bankruptcies related to medical bills are non-existent (due to the implementation of national social health insurance\/medical care systems in those countries). At the fine print at the bottom of the meme was a citation: \"Source: NerdWallet Health Analysis.\" No link to the specific analysis referenced was provided, but presumably, the item in question was a 19 July 2013 publication by NerdWallet pertaining to medical bankruptcies. However, in that analysis, NerdWallet repeatedly stated that their findings were \"estimates\" or \"extrapolations,\" and some of their data were quite old even back in 2013. The primary portion of that article stated that in 2013, over 20% of American adults were struggling to pay their medical bills, and three in five bankruptcies would be due to medical bills. While we are quick to blame debt on poor savings and bad spending habits, the study emphasizes the burden of health costs causing widespread indebtedness. Medical bills can completely overwhelm a family when illness strikes, says Christina LaMontagne, VP of Health at NerdWallet. Furthermore, 25 million people hesitate to take their medications in order to control their medical costs. Unfortunately, this can lead to even worse financial outcomes as preventative treatments are not rendered, and patients end up using expensive ambulance and ER care as their health worsens. Finally, many question whether President Obama's universal health insurance mandate will protect Americans from problems with medical bills. Insurance is no silver bullet, says LaMontagne. Even with insurance coverage, we expect 10 million Americans will face bills they are unable to pay. Although the \"643,000\" figure didn't expressly appear in that article, if we take the number of bankruptcy filings in the U.S. in 2013 (1,032,236) and apply NerdWallet's statement that \"three in five (60%) bankruptcies will be due to medical bills,\" then we arrive at a number of medical bill-related bankruptcies (619,342) reasonably close to the 643,000 figure (although technically, a bankruptcy filing can represent more than one person). Likewise, a 2013 CNBC item based on the 2013 NerdWallet Health Analysis included a chart showing the estimated total number of medical-related bankruptcies in the U.S. in 2013 to be 646,812, which is also quite close to the cited 643,000 figure. Since the number of bankruptcy filings in the U.S. is a matter of public record, the accuracy of this figure hinges on the reliability of the estimate that 60% of those filings are medical-related. In NerdWallet's \"Methodology & Sources\" section, the site stated that their medical bankruptcy estimates were based on a 2009 Harvard study, which in turn used bankruptcy data from 2007 and involved interviewing a random national sample of bankruptcy filers. BACKGROUND: Our 2001 study in five states found that medical problems contributed to at least 46.2% of all bankruptcies. Since then, health costs and the numbers of un- and underinsured have increased, and bankruptcy laws have tightened. METHODS: We surveyed a random national sample of 2,314 bankruptcy filers in 2007, abstracted their court records, and interviewed 1,032 of them. We designated bankruptcies as medical based on debtors' stated reasons for filing, income loss due to illness, and the magnitude of their medical debts. RESULTS: Using a conservative definition, 62.1% of all bankruptcies in 2007 were medical. NerdWallet reported that they employed a more conservative estimate than the Harvard study figure regarding the proportion of bankruptcies that are medical-related: We relied on a widely cited Harvard study published in 2009. NerdWallet Health chose to include only bankruptcies explicitly tied to medical bills, excluding indirect reasons like lost work opportunities. Thus, we conservatively estimated medical bankruptcy rates to be 57.1% (versus the authors' 62.1%) of U.S. bankruptcies. We also used official bankruptcy statistics, released this month through March 2013, from U.S. Courts. Still, quantifying the occurrence of medical bankruptcies can be problematic, as noted in a January 2016 New York Times article on the subject. Research on","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1wH1jIcLCt6RKXMQ0zHM102KFtSkiODVg"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1OAgPiXZTCs2X5EZSlssOGqGBxKMiC-bj"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_584","claim":"The average family not in the top 10 percent makes less money today than they were making a generation ago.","posted":"01\/13\/2015","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., believes the government's economic policies over the past few decades have undermined America's middle class. At the AFL-CIO National Summit on Raising Wages on Jan. 7, Warren spoke about growing income inequality, particularly since the 1980s, when trickle-down economic policies gained traction under former President Ronald Reagan. She argued that this theory\u2014that giving tax breaks and other economic benefits to corporations and the wealthy will benefit the poor by improving the overall economy\u2014hasn't worked. Warren, a former law professor and expert on the economic challenges facing the middle class, cited several statistics to support her point, including: \"Well, since 1980, guess how much of the growth in income over the last 32 years\u2014how much of the growth in income did the 90 percent get? Zero. None. Nothing.\" In fact, it is worse than that. The average family not in the top 10 percent makes less money today than they were making a generation ago. We wondered if that was true\u2014that the bottom 90 percent of earners in America have a lower income than they had more than 30 years ago. The statistic comes from data compiled by well-known economists Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez, who study income inequality. Their World Top Incomes Database specializes in cataloging the highest levels of income over time in more than 20 countries. To verify Warren's claim, we looked at average income data from 1979 to 2012 for the top 10 percent and bottom 90 percent of earners. (The time frame Warren used in her speech was a generation, which is vague, but in context, it's clear she's talking about since the 1980s.) The Saez-Piketty data comes from millions of tax returns filed over the past century. The data supports her claim. Adjusted for inflation, the top 10 percent of earners in the United States made, on average, $144,418 in 1979 and $254,449 in 2012. That's about 76 percent growth. The bottom 90 percent of earners, on the other hand, made $33,526 in 1979 and $30,438 in 2012. That's a decrease of about 9 percent. This chart generated from the Saez-Piketty top income database shows the growth of the top 10 percent of earners' average income over time, compared to the relatively stagnant progression of the bottom 90 percent of earners' average income. Compare this to the 30 years prior, where\u2014according to Saez and Piketty's data\u2014the average income for the bottom 90 percent of earners grew alongside the top 10 percent, albeit at a slower pace. However, there is some context to consider. Mainly, not everyone approves of the Saez-Piketty approach to cataloging income. Their approach uses pre-tax income and includes realized capital gains. Because the richest Americans earn a lot of capital gains and pay a lot of taxes, this arguably magnifies their income. On the other hand, the approach lowballs the income of lower-level earners\u2014the bottom 90 percent in this case. The income calculation does not include government payments, such as Social Security, unemployment insurance, food stamps, and the earned income tax credit. Salim Furth, an economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, also noted that the data looks at tax units\u2014individuals or married couples filing together\u2014rather than households, which may artificially lower average incomes. For example, a young adult living with his parents are two separate tax units; together they are one household or family. The Saez-Piketty data captures that the young worker has a very small income, but not the fact that he lives in a house with multiple incomes. Also, tax law has changed over the past 50 years to increase the number of units, Furth said. Regarding the general trend in income growth, he stated, \"Data sources that are more widely used show solid, though not fantastic, income growth for most of the income distribution through 2007. There are big losses in the Great Recession, and then an incomplete recovery since then.\" The Congressional Budget Office produced a report in November 2014 showing that the bottom 80 percent of earners (measured by households rather than tax units) saw income increases of about 16 percent between 1979 and 2011. The top 81-99 percent, on the other hand, saw increases of about 56 percent over the period. And the top 1 percent alone saw their household income grow by 174 percent. That report also found that if it includes government benefits in its income calculation, all income brackets saw even more income growth. Still, this data shows that top earners' incomes are growing at a faster pace than everyone else's\u2014which supports Warren's broader point. Richard Burkhauser, an economist at Cornell University, pointed us to a paper he co-wrote on income inequality that compares Saez-Piketty-style data to other income measurements. The results are consistent with the Saez-Piketty data until households are adjusted for size, and capital gains taxes and government payments are factored in. With those controls, incomes have grown across the board, and income inequality has also grown\u2014but not at as dramatic a rate as the Saez-Piketty data implies. Ultimately, Burkhauser's report concludes that different measurements work for different policy questions. If Warren is talking specifically about market income\u2014that is, income earned before taxes and before government payments\u2014the Saez-Piketty data is appropriate, and undoubtedly income inequality has grown substantially in recent years, and the middle class is struggling. If the question is, alternatively, whether government programs are doing something to close the gap and help the middle class\u2014other measures show that programs like food stamps and Medicaid are helping to a certain extent, at least for people who qualify. (And of course, not everyone in the bottom 90 percent of earners qualifies.) Arguably, in a speech directed at working and middle-class Americans at a summit on raising wages, the context of Warren's remarks gives credence to the fact that she was referencing data that emphasizes earned income over government-provided income. In the speech, Warren wasn't advocating for new government programs that provide payments to individuals in need. She was making a policy argument against the idea of trickle-down economics and in favor of broad economic policies that she believes would improve Americans' job-earned income, like raising the minimum wage and breaking up the Wall Street banks. \"We can make new choices,\" she said. \"And one way to make those choices is to talk openly and honestly and directly about work, about how we value work, and how we value those who do the work.\" Our ruling: Warren said, \"The average family not in the top 10 percent makes less money today than they were making a generation ago.\" According to one measurement, the bottom 90 percent of American earners had a lower income in 2012 than they had 30 years ago. By other measurements\u2014mainly ones that include government payments such as Social Security\u2014incomes have grown across the board. However, this data still supports Warren's overall point that income inequality is growing. Additionally, given the context of her speech at a forum about wages, it makes sense that Warren would reference data that gives more weight to pre-tax income. She's arguing that middle-class wages haven't increased enough over the past couple of decades. We rate Warren's claim Mostly True.","issues":["National","Economy","Income","Jobs","Labor"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1CS2UnfiuZLA_dIy0czU8WOCr9LCjlNlP","image_caption":"decrease"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=16jjc8CXAD4hwqJtuSK015SEF-_C447Nf","image_caption":"market income"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_585","claim":"Did the KKK March With a Trump-Pence Sign?","posted":"01\/13\/2020","sci_digest":["This photograph is not all you need to know before you vote in 2020. "],"justification":"In January 2020, a photograph supposedly showing a group of KKK members marching behind a presidential campaign sign for Donald Trump and Mike Pence was circulated on social media, accompanied by a message stating, \"This is all you need to know about why you should vote Blue in 2020.\" This is not a genuine photograph of KKK members holding a Trump-Pence sign; it is a digitally manipulated image created from a photograph that originally featured a \"Fraternal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan\" sign. The original photograph was taken in July 2009 and showed members of the Klan marching through Pulaski, Tennessee, in honor of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate army general who led the KKK in the 1860s. The original picture was taken by Spencer Platt and is available via Getty Images with the following caption: \"Getty Images Members of the Fraternal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan participate in the 11th Annual Nathan Bedford Forrest Birthday march July 11, 2009, in Pulaski, Tennessee.\" With a poor economy and the first African-American president in office, there has been a rise in extremist activity in many parts of America. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, in 2008 the number of hate groups rose to 926, up 4 percent from 2007, and 54 percent since 2000. Nathan Bedford Forrest was a lieutenant general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War and played a role in the postwar establishment of the first Ku Klux Klan organization opposing the Reconstruction era in the South. (Photo by Spencer Platt\/Getty Images) While the photograph of the KKK holding a Trump-Pence sign is fake, Trump did receive some support from the infamous group during the 2016 election. The official newspaper of the KKK, The Crusader, endorsed Trump for president, but the Trump campaign publicly rejected the Crusader's endorsement: \"Mr. Trump and the campaign denounce hate in any form. This publication is repulsive, and their views do not represent the tens of millions of Americans who are uniting behind our campaign.\"","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=14PeXU14dxkIVbdJXXk2gDX7eBow8wd8j","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Na7NoKXztKL2dbusm6p3b839e9H7GI4e","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_586","claim":"Do Girl Scout Cookie Proceeds Fund Planned Parenthood?","posted":"01\/21\/2016","sci_digest":[" The claim that Girl Scout Cookie sales fund Planned Parenthood became popular in mid-2015 and early 2016."],"justification":"For several years, social media users have shared tweets and memes claiming that funds from the sale of Girl Scout Cookies are distributed to Planned Parenthood, often posting such items with hashtags like \"#cookiecott\" to promote the rumor. How did we end up with a crooked-eyed snake salesman leader selling nothing but snake oil to Americans? Tiffiny Bond (@RedHatGeek) tweeted on April 8, 2015, \"@KazmierskiR don't even get me started on Girl Scout cookies where a portion goes to PP. Don't buy cookies; write a check to the troop.\" An opinion piece dated March 22, 2018, on LifeNews.com encouraged readers to \"say no\" to Girl Scout cookies over \"ties\" to Planned Parenthood, although it did not repeat the claim that proceeds from cookie sales fund that organization. The claim that Girl Scout Cookie sales fund Planned Parenthood became popular in mid-2015 and early 2016, likely due in part to a series of questionable viral videos targeting the latter organization that circulated in the summer of 2015. However, the rumor had previously spread widely in 2012 after Fox News reprinted a (since-deleted) opinion piece from LifeSiteNews that stated, in part: \"When our sweet little neighbor in her brown camp uniform came knocking on our door this year, we had to say no. I told her mother that I didn't want to hurt Katie's feelings, but I couldn't support the Girl Scout cookie sale anymore because I'd learned too much about the organizers' agenda, primarily their support for abortion and partnership with Planned Parenthood.\" Several years ago, a quarter of the Girl Scout councils nationwide admitted to partnering with Planned Parenthood, the nation's abortion giant. When questioned about the affiliation on NBC's Today Show, Girl Scout CEO Kathy Cloninger had no compunction in confirming it. In fact, what then-Girl Scout CEO Kathy Cloninger said on NBC's Today Show back in 2012 was that Planned Parenthood was one of several organizations (including church communities and YMCAs) that the Girl Scouts worked with \"to bring information-based sex education programs to girls.\" Cloninger did not state or imply that any financial support relationship existed between the two organizations. We contacted the Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) to determine whether any portion of the rumor was true. They responded to say that no proceeds have ever been donated from the sale of Girl Scout Cookies to Planned Parenthood. The Girl Scout Cookies section of the Girl Scouts website's FAQ declares that all revenue raised from cookie sales goes to the local Girl Scout councils and troops, not outside organizations: \"Girl Scout Cookies Q: Does any part of Girl Scout Cookie Program revenue support organizations other than the local Girl Scout council? A: One hundred percent of the net proceeds from Girl Scout Cookie sales is retained by the originating council and troop to power amazing experiences for girls and influential girl-led community projects.\" Girl Scout troops set goals for how to spend their proceeds on program-related activities, such as paying their own way to a community event or museum or funding other program outings. Girl Scout troops may also choose to use proceeds to purchase materials for a Take Action or service project to benefit the community. The Social Issues portion of the FAQ also states that GSUSA \"does not have a relationship or partnership with Planned Parenthood.\" A 12 March 2015 New York Times compendium piece addressed the rumor and found it lacking: \"In recent years, conservative groups have challenged the organization and even held cookiecotts over critics' claims that it supports abortion. One Indiana lawmaker in 2012 went so far as to say the Girl Scouts were quickly becoming a tactical arm of Planned Parenthood.\" The Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. does have a legislative agenda. Reducing bullying and increasing girls' involvement in science, technology, engineering, and math are among the issues on its website. Not on the list: abortion or any social issues. Anna Maria Ch\u00e1vez, the chief executive of the national group, responded to critics last year, denying any relationship with Planned Parenthood. \"A box of Girl Scout cookies is not a political statement,\" she said. As Girl Scouts of the United States of America is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, their financial statements are, by law, made freely available to the public, along with their annual report.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1vYWUn8Do3pVM6ImOtqn4SThwX2axzpEO","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_587","claim":"Does This Video Show Refugees Looting a Caf\u00e9 in Spain?","posted":"08\/16\/2018","sci_digest":["A video purportedly showing refugees looting a caf in Spain actually captures an incident from 2015 involving students at a university in South Africa."],"justification":"Another video seemingly intended to malign refugees began to spread online in August 2018. This video purportedly showed a group of dark-skinned individuals smashing glass cases and stealing food from a small caf\u00e9. The video was captioned \"Refugees Welcome to Spain,\" an apparent nod to the \"Refugees Welcome\" sign that had been hung on Madrid City Hall a few years prior. However, this video does not feature refugees, was not recorded in Spain, and does not depict a recent incident. The footage was actually taken in a cafeteria at Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria, South Africa, in November 2015. At that time, students at several South African universities were engaged in protests against fee hikes and inadequate funding. The South African Independent Online (IOL) news outlet reported that 16 protesting students at two Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) campuses were arrested for the incident depicted in this video and were released the following day. The Gencor Hall, the main exam center at the South campus, along with the information center and two security vehicles, were torched. The protests took an ugly turn when students vandalized a cafeteria at the South campus. That same day, police arrested 16 students in connection with the violence but released them a day later. South African History Online provided context for the student protest: student protests at public universities and colleges over financial exclusions speak directly to the issue of inadequate governmental and other funding for education in South Africa. An estimated R900 million per annum for student funding is needed for TUT to function as an institution that still serves qualifying students requiring financial aid. NSFAS, a loan and bursary scheme the government introduced in 1999 to provide financially disadvantaged students access to university education, offers only a portion of this amount to students who need financial aid at TUT. For example, in 2014, the state scheme funded half of the university students who qualified for its loans and bursaries at TUT. Despite obtaining an additional allocation of R1 billion for that year, NSFAS was still unable to fund an estimated 10,000 students across TUT's campuses who needed and qualified for financial aid in 2014, of which R270 million was allocated for TUT. In 2015, the situation worsened as the NSFAS allocation excluded that portion. The 2015 SRC estimated that over 20,000 returning students across the university's six campus regions were excluded that year. Many of these students had been funded by NSFAS in 2014 but were left out in 2015 and were not allowed to register without an upfront payment; they were also barred from receiving their results without settling their debt. Students at institutions including the Vaal University of Technology, the University of Johannesburg, the University of Venda, and Walter Sisulu University faced similar issues around the same time. Academic activities at the university were suspended for the remainder of the school year after the protests turned violent in November 2015. YouTuber Arphalia Meyer contemporaneously posted a series of videos of the protesters looting the campus, with the video that formed the basis of the later viral \"Refugees Welcome to Spain\" clip being uploaded on 23 November 2015. That original video was accompanied by the caption \"Security cam footage of the mob looting Kantina, the tuck shop on campus at TUT PTA. It's clear enough that this was premeditated and they are no strangers to it.\" This footage was taken at a university in South Africa and shows a group of students vandalizing a cafeteria amidst protests in 2015 against inadequate school funding. It has nothing to do with Spain or refugees, and it was nearly three years old when it was re-captioned and circulated online.","issues":["debt"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1aX45ciSzAmXtQ6sbCFFZF7QvAWjyQrKS","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_588","claim":"Did Mike Tyson Post About Social Media Making People 'Too Comfortable'?","posted":"07\/15\/2022","sci_digest":["While researching how  and where  this quote meme about former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson appeared online, we discovered a suspicious Facebook group."],"justification":"On July 12, 2022, a Facebook page called \"Just Boxing 101\" posted a meme that claimed former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson once said, \"Social media made y'all way to [sic] comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it.\" An official social media account for Tyson really did share this quote with an image of him, and he appears to be the original author of the message. posted Mike Tyson The post on the boxing page received over 14,000 shares in three days.  For our research, we searched Twitter for the quote, and found a tweet that claimed Tyson had posted the message on Facebook in 2020. That information led us to his original post. Twitter tweet Tyson Facebook post  This post truly did come from Tyson's official, and verified, Facebook page. For that reason, we rated this claim \"Correct Attribution.\" While we were looking around for evidence of the Tyson quote, we noticed a user in a Facebook group named \"Snowflake Central\" shared the above-mentioned meme, generating hundreds of additional views of it.  Snowflake Central shared This Facebook group, with its more than 30,000 members, deserved a closer examination because it included characteristics that are often indicative of foreign-run social media accounts that spread propaganda and disinformation to a U.S. audience.  Firstly, this Facebook group claimed that it was based in California City, California. While California City is a real city with around 14,000 residents, we have found in several past investigations that many politically-oriented Facebook accounts, pages, or groups that showed the town as their location were actually managed by foreign users pretending to be Americans. 14,000 residents several past investigations  Why California City? It's plausible to suppose that foreign propagandists and disinformation purveyors mistakenly typed the state name in the city field when filling out the various questions to set up accounts, pages, and groups on Facebook. The first city to auto-populate when typing \"California\" into the city field on Facebook is California City. Another indication of the \"Snowflake Central\" group's suspicious origins: its administrators. Four administrators were publicly displayed on the page, and one of those accounts had a duplicate account and claimed to be the \"CEO at eBay\" (and it wasn't Jamie Iannone, the e-commerce site's real CEO). Meanwhile, another a Facebook page, not a profile, for a political organization named \"Criminal Illegal Aliens - CIA Report\" was listed as another administrator for the \"Snowflake Central\" group. Jamie Iannone Criminal Illegal Aliens - CIA Report We will continue to monitor this Facebook group's future activities. In sum, aside from the separate issue of the suspect Facebook group, Tyson truly did once endorse the idea that, \"Social media made y'all way too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it.\" California City, California. City-Data.com, https:\/\/www.city-data.com\/city\/California-City-California.html. Can I Create Multiple Facebook Accounts? Facebook Help Center, https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/help\/975828035803295. Just Boxing101. Facebook, 12 July 2022, https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwankyBoxing\/. @LetsGoBackToWCW. Twitter, 21 Apr. 2022, https:\/\/twitter.com\/LetsGoBackToWCW\/status\/1517200419763761152. Mike Tyson Internet Trolls Speech Becoming the Legends Best Quote. WBN - World Boxing News, 17 May 2022, https:\/\/www.worldboxingnews.net\/2022\/05\/17\/mike-tyson-internet-trolls-truth\/. Snowflake Central. Facebook, 14 July 2022, https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/928256410610708\/. Tyson, Mike. Facebook, 3 July 2020, https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=100044612701436.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1-QcI_hAgW2Q4LhqYiVHVTNlepoFboYd9","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_589","claim":"No, AOC Didn't Tweet 'Farming Should Be Illegal'","posted":"05\/30\/2023","sci_digest":["A parody account fooled more than a few people on Twitter."],"justification":"In late May 2023, a number of Twitter accounts retweeted and criticized a post supposedly written on May 28 by U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), about farmers: retweeted and criticized  (@Shamrock168339\/Twitter)   (@GSchifanelli\/Twitter) Contrary to what most of these users apparently assumed, however, the \"Farming should be illegal\" tweet attributed to AOC was actually posted by a parody account: \"Farming should be illegal\" tweet AOC parody account  (@AOCpress\/Twitter) It was a joke. AOC did not tweet that \"Farming should be illegal.\" No such tweet or sentiment appeared on her official Twitter account. Twitter users were similarly fooled by a previous tweet from the parody account, also fact-checked by Snopes, in which Ocasio-Cortez supposedly said \"Printing money is the only way out of inflation.\" previous tweet fact-checked by Snopes In a May 30 tweet from her official account, Ocasio-Cortez informed the public that the parody account was \"impersonating\" her and \"releasing false policy statements,\" and noted that Twitter owner Elon Musk \"has engaged it, boosting its visibility\": May 30 tweet FYI there's a fake account on here impersonating me and going viral. The Twitter CEO has engaged it, boosting visibility. It is releasing false policy statements and gaining spread. I am assessing with my team how to move forward. In the meantime, be careful of what you see.  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 30, 2023 May 30, 2023  This is the @AOCpress tweet that Musk engaged with:  (@elonmusk\/Twitter) Snopes has also fact-checked fake tweets attributed to AOC that were created image-editing software. In one such fake tweet that circulated during the COVID-19 pandemic, she allegedly urged that businesses be kept closed until after the 2020 election. In another, she allegedly called for Democrats to commence with \"The Purge\" (a reference to the 2013 horror film) after U.S. President Joe Biden was elected. businesses be kept closed commence with \"The Purge\" 2013 horror film For background, here iswhywe sometimes write about satire\/humor. why Mikkelson, David. \"Did AOC Tweet That Businesses Should Be Shut Down Until the Election?\" Snopes, 23 June 2020, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/aoc-businesses-closed-tweet\/. Palma, Bethania. \"No, AOC Didn't Tweet About 'The Purge.'\" Snopes, 12 Jan. 2021, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/fake-aoc-purge-tweet\/.","issues":["inflation"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1RcaR_geVooG-6u2_fUFxjM9QGYDfTgDo","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1P5ID3N1mTzYczzpT7vDuIDQ7LaI7KM97","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1OnQXcy3iWpKyJvwFLV8BagBK9O0KVxyl","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ON9CGYW_5iZ4B7bZ3M19eBfdc4FtxU8w","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_590","claim":"We have the lowest percentage of Americans working today of any year since 1977.","posted":"01\/14\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"During the Republican presidential debate in North Charleston, S.C., Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, took aim at the nations economic record under President Barack Obama. The millionaires and billionaires are doing great under Obama, Cruz said. But we have the lowest percentage of Americans working today of any year since 1977. Median wages have stagnated. And the Obama-Clinton economy has left behind the working men and women of this country. We decided to fact-check Cruzs statement that we have the lowest percentage of Americans working today since 1977. Cruz is on to something. One key employment statistic known as the civilian labor force participation rate is at its lowest level since the 1970s. This statistic takes the number of Americans in the labor force -- basically, those who are either employed or who are seeking employment and divides it by the total civilian population. Heres a chart going back to the mid 1970s. When the civilian labor force participation rate is low, its a concern, because it means there are fewer working Americans to support non-working Americans. But well offer two asterisks for Cruzs statement. First, as wevenoted before, a notable factor in the decline of the labor-force participation rate is the aging of the Baby Boom generation. As more adults begin moving into retirement age, the percentage of Americans who work is bound to decline. When we last looked at this question in 2013, Gary Burtless, a Brookings Institution economist, told us he had estimated that the labor-force participation rate would have fallen in recent years on the basis of aging alone. That said, Cruz has a point that the recession exacerbated that decline. In a weak job market, some people who might otherwise want a job may return to school, become full-time parents or retire early. Second, theres another way to read Cruzs words. He said the lowest percentage of Americans working since 1977, which could also refer to a different statistic, the employment-population ratio. This statistic takes the number of people who are employed and divides it by the civilian population age 16 and above. The difference in this case is that using the employment-population ratio, Cruzs statement is incorrect. Unlike the labor-force participation rate, the employment-population ratio has actually been improving in recent years, although its below its pre-recession highs. Heres a chart showing this statistic over the same time frame:  If you exclude the Great Recession, the employment-population ratio was last at its current rate in 1984, not 1977. So by that measurement, hes close. Our ruling Cruz said, We have the lowest percentage of Americans working today of any year since 1977. Hes put his finger on a trend that worries economists of all stripes, but his wording was sloppy. In addition, its worth remembering that this particular trend is being driven at least to a degree by demographic trends beyond the control of any president. We rate the claim Mostly True.","issues":["National","Economy","Jobs"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_591","claim":"Accountant working in a house of ill repute.","posted":"06\/10\/2001","sci_digest":["A workingman's illiteracy contributes to his stunning success as a businessman."],"justification":"Claim:  The drawback of a laborer's illiteracy frees him to become a success in another field. LEGEND Example:  [Brunvand, 1993] My grandfather used to tell  about a country lad who went to the big city to seek his fortune, but had no luck finding a job.  One day, wandering through the red light district, he spotted a Help Wanted sign in a window. They were looking for a bookkeeper, but after the madam quizzed the boy about his education and discovered that he could neither read or write, she turned him away. Feeling sorry for him, she gave him two big red apples as he left.  A few blocks down the street, he placed the apples on top of a garbage can while tying his shoe, and a stranger came along and offered to buy them. The boy took the money to a produce market and bought a dozen more apples,which he sold quickly.  Eventually he parlayed his fruit sales into a grocery store, then a string of supermarkets.  Eventually he became the wealthiest man in the state. Finally he was named Man of the Year, and during an interview a journalist discovered that his subject could neither read or write. \"Good Lord, Sir,\" he said.  \"What do you suppose you would have become if you had ever learned to read and write?\" \"Well,\" he answered, \"I guess I would have been a bookkeeper in a whorehouse.\"1 Origins:  According to folklorist Jan Brunvand, after writer Somerset Maugham was accused of stealing the plot of his 1929 short story \"The Verger,\" he explained that he'd heard the tale from a friend and that it was a well known bit of Jewish folklore.  Maugham's claim is supported by this find, harvested from a 1923 joke book: Some fifteen years ago there landed in New York a friendless and almost penniless Russian immigrant who found lodgings on the East Side and at once, with racial perseverance and energy, set out to earn a living. He was of a likeable disposition, and speedily made acquaintances who sought to aid him in his ambition.  One of them sponsored him for the vacant post of janitor, or shammos, to use the common Hebraic word, of a little synagogue on a side street.  But when the officers of the congregation found out the applicant was  entirely illiterate they reluctantly denied him employment, inasmuch as a shammos must keep certain records.  The greenhorn quickly rallied from his disappointment.  He got a job somewhere.  He prospered.  Presently he became a dabbler in real estate. Within ten years he was one of the largest independent operators in East Side tenement-house property and popularly rated as a millionaire.  An occasion arose when he needed a large amount of money to swing what promised to be a profitable deal.  Finding himself for the moment short of cash, he went to the East Side branch of one of the large banks. It was the first time in his entire business career that he had found it necessary to borrow extensively.  He explained his position to the manager, who knew of his success, and asked for a loan of fifty thousand dollars. \"I'll be very glad to accommodate you, Mr. Rabin,\" said the banker.  \"Just sit down there at that desk and make out a note for the amount.\" The caller smiled an embarrassed smile.  \"If you please,\" he said, \"you should be so good as to make out the note and then I should sign it.\" \"What's the idea?\" inquired the bank manager, puzzled. \"Vell, you see,\" he confessed, \"I haf to tell you somethings: Myself, I cannot read and write.  My vife, she has taught me how to make my own name on paper, but otherwise, with me, reading and writing is nix.\" In amazement, the banker stared at him. \"Well, well, well!\" he murmured admiringly.  \"And yet, handicapped as you've been, inside of a few years you have become a rich man!  I wonder what you'd have been by now if only you had been able to read and write?\" \"A shammos,\" said Mr. Rabin modestly.2 Some like to question the legend's basis on the grounds that if the work-seeker couldn't read, he couldn't have made out what the sign in the window said. \"Illiterate\" is often mistakenly interpreted as \"incapable of making head or tail out of so much as one written word.\" In real life, any number of folks who cannot read and thus have no hope of making sense of a printed page have learned to recognize by sight a goodly number of key words and phrases, including \"help wanted.\" The illiterate among us manage to catch the right buses, \"read\" road signs, and order off menus, all by way of having memorized what certain words look like. They exist in mainstream society undetected for years, sometimes fooling even their immediate families. A good story never goes out of style, as this example shows: [Collected on the Internet, 2001] An unemployed man goes to apply for a job with Microsoft as a janitor. The manager there arranges for him to take an aptitude test  (Floors, sweeping and cleaning). After the test, the manager says, \"You will be employed at minimum wage, $5.15 an hour. Let me have your e-mail address, so that I can send you a form to complete and tell you where to report forwork on your first day. Taken aback, the man protests that he has neither a computer nor an e-mail address. To this the MS manager replies, \"Well, then, that means that you virtually don't exist and can therefore hardlyexpect to be employed. Stunned, the man leaves. Not knowing where to turn and having only $10 in his wallet, he decides to buy a 25 lb. flat of tomatoes at the supermarket. Within less than 2 hours, he sells all the tomatoes individually at 100% profit. Repeating the process several times more that day, he ends up with almost $100 before going to sleep that night. And thus it dawns on him that he could quite easily make a living selling tomatoes. Getting up early every day and going to bed late, he multiplies his profits quickly. After a short time he acquires a cart to transport several dozen boxes of tomatoes, only to have to trade it in again so that he can buy a pickup truck to support his expanding business. By the end of the second year, he is the owner of a fleet of pickup trucks and manages a staff of a hundred former unemployed people, all selling tomatoes. Planning for the future of his wife and children, he decides to buy some life insurance. Consulting with an insurance adviser, he picks an insurance plan to fit his new circumstances. At the end of the telephone conversation, the adviser asks him for his e-mail address to send the final documents electronically. When the man replies that he has no e-mail, the adviser is stunned, \"What, you don't have e-mail? How on earth have you managed to amass such wealth without the Internet, e-mail and e-commerce? Just imagine where you would be now, if you had been connected to the internet from the very start!\" After a moment of thought, the tomato millionaire replied, \"Why, of course! I would be a floor cleaner at Microsoft!\" Moral of this story: 1. The Internet, e-mail and e-commerce do not need to rule your life.  2. If you don't have e-mail, but work hard, you can still become a millionaire. 3. Since you got this story via e-mail, you're probably closer to becoming a janitor than you are to becoming a millionaire. 4. If you do have a computer and e-mail, you probably have already been taken to the cleaners by Microsoft. The   legend's message is twofold: that sometimes seeming adversity is actually the Hand of God arranging future events in our favor, and that often the most momentous decisions we make swing on little more than the expediency of the moment. Taking the second point first, we observe that if the young farm boy in the first example had been able to read and write, he would have gained the job he sought, that of a bookkeeper in a brothel, and thus would never have become the grocery tycoon he ultimately turned out to be. As to what led him to seek the bookkeeping position, he quite by happenstance chose to walk down a particular street, coincidentally on a day when a \"Help Wanted\" sign was posted in one of the windows. On another day, that sign wouldn't have been there, or he would already have had a job somewhere else.  It is ever thus  the directions of lives change depending upon which ad is answered, which interview is given, even which bus is taken. A chance encounter can lead to a marriage and the begetting of children, and just as certainly the slightly different choice of ad or bus can result in those two people's never meeting. Career direction is likewise up for grabs. As much as we like to feel we're masters of our fate, often we're the very last factor to have much influence on unfolding events, even within the confines of our own lives. But there's another message to this legend, one of the power of divine intervention and why it doesn't pay to second-guess God.  Today's disappointment can be a necessary, though momentarily painful, ingredient in tomorrow's success, as the snubbed bookkeeper or janitor finds out. Children of the moment that we are, we tend to forget this truth when caught up in sorrow over not getting what we'd set our hearts on, and tend only to remember it again when things ultimately turn out far better than they would have if we'd gotten our shortsighted way.  Barbara \"father of the chide\" Mikkelson Sightings:  In Somerset Maugham's 1929 short story \"The Verger,\" an illiterate church caretaker is fired by the vicar when his lack of education comes to light. The ousted verger goes on to become a tobacconist, eventually owning a string of shops in London. Last updated:  20 April 2011 The Baby Train   2.  Cobb, Irvin S.  A Laugh a Day Keeps the Doctor Away. Asimov Laughs Again   Botkin, B.A.  Sidewalks of America.  Indianapolis-New York: Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1954  (pp. 430-431).   The Big Book of Urban Legends.  New York: Paradox Press, 1994.  ISBN 1-56389-165-4  (p. 196). The Big Book of Urban Legends","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1aYZirbfrddSSl71geduQNHP8_7ULZ5X_"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_592","claim":"Yolanda Burroughs-Vestal Thanks President Obama","posted":"11\/04\/2013","sci_digest":["Letter to President Obama posted on Facebook thanks him for being 'selfish' and taking lavish vacations."],"justification":"Claim: Letter to President Obama posted on Facebook thanks him for being 'selfish' and taking lavish vacations. CORRECTLY ATTRIBUTED Example: [Collected via e-mail, October 2013] Is the 'thank you' letter to Obama from Yolanda Burroughs Vestal real? Dear President Obama, I wanted to take a moment to say thank you for all you have done and are doing. You see, I am a single mom living in the very small town of Palmer, Texas. I reside in a small rental house with my two children. I drive an older car that I pray daily will run just a little longer. I work at a mediocre job, bringing home a much lower paycheck than you or your wife could even imagine living on. I have many concerns about the new \"Obamacare,\" along with the taxes being imposed on us Americans and the debts you are adding to our country. I have a few questions for you, Mr. President. Have you ever struggled to pay your bills? I have. Have you ever sat and watched your children eat while you had to eat what was left on their plates when they were done, because there wasn't enough for you? I have. Have you ever had to rob Peter to pay Paul, and it still not be enough? I have. Have you ever been so sick that you needed to see a doctor and get medicine, but had no health insurance because it was too expensive? I have. Have you ever had to tell your children no when they asked for something they needed? I have. Have you ever patched holes in pants, glued shoes, or replaced zippers because it was cheaper than buying new? I have. Have you ever had to put an item or two back at the grocery store because you didn't have enough money? I have. Have you ever cried yourself to sleep because you had no clue how you were going to make ends meet? I have. My questions could go on and on. I don't believe you have a clue what Americans are actually going through, and honestly, I don't believe you care. Not everyone lives extravagantly. While your family takes expensive trips that cost more than most of us make in two to four years, there are so many of us who suffer. Yet, you are doing all you can to add to the suffering. I think you are a very selfish and cold-hearted man who does not care what is best for the people he was elected to represent (not by me), but is more concerned with the glory of your name attached to history. So thank you, Mr. President, for pushing those of us who are barely staying afloat completely underwater and driving America into the ground. You have made your mark in history as the absolute worst and most hated president of the United States. God have mercy on your soul! Sincerely, Yolanda Vestal Average American Origins: This open letter to President Obama ('thanking' him for being 'selfish' and taking lavish vacations) was posted on the Facebook page of Yolanda Burroughs-Vestal of Palmer, Texas, at the end of October 2013 and quickly garnered tens of thousands of shares, going 'viral' among online outlets. Last updated: 4 November 2013","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/www.luxuo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/obama-banner-600x200.jpg","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_593","claim":"Strip on a U.S. banknote","posted":"02\/05\/2007","sci_digest":["Does the plastic strip embedded in U.S. currency enable the government to track it?"],"justification":"Claim:  The plastic strip embedded in U.S. bank notes enable the Feds to tell how much money you have on you.  Examples:  [Collected on the Internet, 2001] This past weekend, a friend visiting our house told us that the anti-counterfeiting strip put in newly printed paper money can be used to determine how much cash you are carrying.  She said that the ever-present \"they\" at the airport have a machine that can determine how much cash you have on your person or in your luggage, and if you are carrying a sufficiently large amount of cash, you will be detained by the police and interrogated until you confess your guilt as a drug smuggler.  [Collected on the Internet, 2003] I did not get this in an e-mail but my bank teller in Kirksville, MO told me this one.  Evidently there is an urban legend floating around that the new \"security strip\" in the new $20's can be read by satellites with the implication being the Govt. can beam a satellite on you and eventually, when all the bills in circ. will have these, be able to tell how much $ you are carrying around.  This teller told me that she has had customers come in requesting \"no new $20s\" for this reason! We had a good laugh about it and we both agreed that the Govt. is going to be sorely disappointed if they turned this hypothetical satellite on us! Origins:  The ongoing effort to stay one step ahead of the counterfeiters has led to the inclusion of a number of security features in U.S. currency. One countermeasure in particular has come to be the focus of a widely-believed bit lore: the embedded inscribed security thread. According to scuttlebutt, the purpose of the thread isn't really to make it more difficult for the ill-intentioned to introduce   worthless currency into circulation by fooling its recipients into thinking it genuine, but instead to allow the government to know exactly how much money anyone is carrying at any particular moment. With the use of special scanners, or possibly a beam from a distant satellite, the Feds can quickly count the value of all bank notes being carried on or about one's person and thus track how much money is entering or leaving the country, and with whom. This knowledge, says the behind-the-hand whisperings, is used to finger drug dealers and smugglers. The rumor is bunk. The strip's sole purpose is the foiling of counterfeiters. It, along with a number of other security features worked into the nation's bank notes, make it far harder on the criminal element to produce phony bills that will be mistaken for the real thing. Other features include the microprinting of \"The United States of America\" within the rim surrounding the portraits on bills, a watermark displayed elsewhere on the bill of the figure in the portrait, and optically variable ink (OVI) which changes from green to black in the number in the lower right-hand corner of the bill when viewed from different angles. As for the suspect strip, it is made of polyester and is inscribed with the denomination of the bill. Nothing about the composition of these strips renders them detectable by scanner or satellite. In 2004, the false belief attaching to this security feature was enhanced by the claim of these bands containing RFID tags. As technology advanced, so did the rumor, leading many to microwave their $20 bills into ashen submission by falling for the canard that nuking their currency would disable these  RFID tags transmitters. Yet the belief about governmental detection of concealed sums via a subterfuge worked into the currency even predates the polyester security threads. In the 1980s, those similarly worried about being tracked by Big Brother fretted over the ink with which bank notes were printed, muttering to themselves that the \"magnetic ink\" they believed to have been used rendered the bills somehow magnetic and thus detectable by machine. Back then, the concern was more that this magnetic money would serve to pinpoint the location of the person carrying it rather than it give away how much of it was being ported, but it is another form of the same belief. One confirmation that nothing in and of itself is detectable about the polyester strips embedded in bank notes arises out of the news about security technologies now used at some U.S. airports, including Chicago's O'Hare. Were caches of greenbacks already being ferreted out via their embedded threads, descriptions of the BodySearch scanner, a device that uses special \"backscatter\" X-rays to produce images of items that might be concealed under passengers' clothing, would not always impart the glad tidings that this gizmo reveals the presence of currency as well as narcotics, plastic explosives, and plastic weapons.  While in the main, the \"sneakily embedded technology allows for the surreptitious tracking of people or their assets\" rumor attaches to currency and blames the government for the supposed spying, the belief also carries to other items and points fingers at other parties.  [Kamradt, 2003] Some students have not picked up their new ID cards through the re-carding project, which ends today, because of a rumor that there is a locator chip inside the IDs so Purdue can track their whereabouts. \"To dispel the transponder rumors, I was closely involved in developing the requirements for production of the ID cards and I can ensure students that no secret electronic devices were embedded in these cards,\" said Terry Schroeder, project manager for the Purdue ID Re-carding Project. \"From my understanding, most of the group that met to discuss this issue (as a result of distributed flyers) were wearing aluminum foil beanies.\"  [Mulkins, 2000] I heard that a person carrying a large number of $100 bills, going through the PikePass readers, could be detected and the exact amount of money determined. The authorities are using PikePass to detect drug dealers and then confiscating the money, even confiscating the money of innocent persons. (PikePass is a prepaid toll device containing a battery and a radio-frequency modulator placed on the windshield of a vehicle.  As a car bearing one travels under a transmitter overhanging a turnpike lane, the device intercepts the signal being broadcast and returns a signal exclusive to that particular PikePass customer. The signal is read, and the toll is subtracted from the customer's account.) PikePass Whereas student ID cards and prepaid toll signalers do at least have a whiff of the enigmatic to their technology, which works to encourage belief that some of that incomprehensibility might be of nefarious intent (we mistrust what we don't understand, after all), this next expression of the rumor is even farther afield: [Collected on the Internet, 1999] I recently received an email telling me that I need to take the labels off my canned good and mark the bare cans with a marker, or at least black out the UPCs. Why? Well, it seems the government has helicopters equipped with scanners that can read the UPCs of the food you have stored. Ostensibly, the government is doing this so they can confiscate food for redistribution in the up coming Y2K breakdown of society. When asked to verify, the poster informed me she was told this by a 'family friend\" who flies one of these scanner-equipped helicopters. Of course he doesn't want to be named for his own safety, but he risked telling his dear friends because he loves them. While most folks will laugh off the thought of their soup cans spying on them, the same cannot be said of the belief that their long green is being counted by surveillance satellites sent into orbit by a government intent upon keeping tabs on its citizens  a great many appear to believe that.  Barbara \"watch your money, don't worry about your money watching you\" Mikkelson Sightings:  In a first-season episode of television's The X Files (\"E.B.E.,\" original air date 18 February 1994), a member of a group that believes the government is up to any number of monstrous conspiracies takes a $20 bill from Agent Scully, holds it up to the light, rips the left side off, and pulls out its security strip, saying, \"They use this magnetic strip to track you. Whenever you go through a metal detector at an airport, they know exactly how much you're carrying.\" Additional information:        Inscribed Security Thread   (Secret Service)        Money Design Features   (Secret Service)        The Redesigned $20 Note   (Bureau of Engraving)   Last updated:  19 May 2011   Garber, Andrew.  \"New Airport Gadgets Strip, Sniff, Scan.\"  The Seattle Times.  23 October 2001  (p. A1).   Kamradt, Kori.  \"Officials Dismiss Rumors About New IDs.\"  The [Purdue University] Exponent .  14 November 2003.   Mulkins, Phil.  \"PikePass Can't Count Dope Dealers' Money.\"  Tulsa World.  28 July 2000.   Webb, Tom.  \"U.S. Currency to Get Makeover.\"  The Denver Post.  14 July 1994  (p. A4).   Zane, Maitland.  \"Counterfeit-Proof Cash Makes Its Debut.\"  The San Francisco Chronicle.  26 July 1991  (p. A1).   The Associated Press.  \"O'Hare Officials Install Scanner, Hoping to Replace Body Searches.\"  St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  23 November 1999  (p. B2).","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1jbuVui5uowPXb-C5B2ko0Lt-0mM8rm-a"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_594","claim":"Republican candidate for Governor of California, Travis Allen, made political contributions to Jerry Brown, Gavin Newsom, and Barbara Boxer.","posted":"05\/25\/2018","sci_digest":[],"justification":"DidTravis Allen, arguably the most conservative candidate for California governor, donate campaign money to three of the states leading liberal Democrats? Thats the Republican-on-Republican attack levied by John Coxs campaign for governor in arecent TV adthat goes after Allen, an Orange County assemblyman whos positioned himself as a GOP populist. Heres the full text of the ad, which includes three attacks on Allen: Narrator: For Republicans, the race for governor is crystal clear: Theres conservative businessman John Cox, leading the opposition to Jerry Browns Sanctuary State and chairman of the initiative campaign to repeal the gas tax. Then theres career politician Travis Allen. He gave campaign donations to Jerry Brown. Gavin Newsom and Barbara Boxer. And on the floor vote, Allen refused to join Republicans opposing driver licenses for illegal aliens. The conservative choice is clear: John Cox for governor. The ad was paid for by John Cox for Governor 2018. Well examine the other two attacks on Allen in future fact-checks. In this piece, well focus on the claim he donated to top Democrats. Background on GOP rivals Recent polls show growing support for Coxs campaign for governor, less than a week after President Trumpendorsedthe San Diego businessman. A surveyreleased Wednesday nightfrom the Public Policy Institute of California shows Newsom, the states lieutenant governor, leading Cox, 25 percent to 19 percent. Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was third, at 15 percent, followed by Allen with 11 percent,  State Treasurer John Chiang at 9 percent and former state schools chief Delaine Eastin with 6 percent. Coxand Allen have sparred at campaign events over who is the most conservative candidate. Theyve both criticized Californias Democratic leadership over the gas tax increase and sanctuary state protections. The top two candidates in the June 5 primary, regardless of party affiliation, will move on to the November runoff. Donating to Democrats? The ad accuses Allen of donating to three of the states top Democrats. The irony, of course, is that Allens run for governor has centered on criticizing those same politicians, particularly Brown and Newsom. We found clear evidence supporting the claim, though Coxs ad ignores the fact that the contributions took place nearly a decade ago, before Allen ran for elected office, and that he also donated to Republicans. Campaign finance records show that in October 2010, Allen donated $1,000 to Jerry Brown for Governor, through Wealth Strategies Group, his wealth management firm in Huntington Beach. In August 2010, Allen gave $100 to Gavin Newsom for Lieutenant Governor. And, in October 2010, he donated $250 to Barbara Boxer for Senate. SOURCE: Campaign finance records from the California Secretary of State'swebsite. Asked about this, a spokeswoman for Allens campaign said in an email that the contributions took place before Travis was an elected official, as a businessman, he purchased tickets to some events. A November 2017 Mercury-Newsarticlesummarized these and additional donations Allen made to Democrats in 2010 and 2011. He told the paper at that time: As a businessman I was invited to some events by friends, and I purchased tickets to these events. Attending these events, however, opened my eyes to the damage the Democrats were doing to California, and brought about my decision to do everything in my power to stop them, including running for public office. Similar claim In April 2016, PolitiFact California ratedMostly Truea similar claim about then Presidential candidate Donald Trump donating to Democrats. Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, at the time Trumps rival for the Republican presidential nomination, claimed Trump has given $12,000 to Jerry Brown, Gavin Newsom and Kamala Harris. Campaign finance data showed the claim was accurate, though we noted Cruz left out that the donations took place long before Trump announced his run for president. The contribution to Jerry Brown took place in 2006, while the donations to the other Democrats took place in 2009, 2011 and 2013. Our ruling In a recentTV ad, John Coxs campaign for governor claimed rival GOP candidate Travis Allen donated to three of Californias top Democrats. Campaign records prove the claim, though the contributions took place a decade ago, before Allen entered politics. The statement is accurate but needs this clarification. We rate it Mostly True. MOSTLY TRUE The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.","issues":["Campaign Finance","Negative Campaigning","The 2018 California Governor's Race","California"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1UTBX70v-ypQ4DEUhFAUkFWHQb5t5FUW8","image_caption":"Narrator: For Republicans, the race for governor is crystal clear: Theres conservative businessman John Cox, leading the opposition to Jerry Browns Sanctuary State and chairman of the initiative campaign to repeal the gas tax."}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_595","claim":"Does the United States see 643,000 bankruptcies yearly as a result of medical expenses?","posted":"04\/21\/2016","sci_digest":["A popular meme holds that 643,000 Americans go bankrupt every year over medical bills, but the underlying math is elusive."],"justification":"In April 2016, a meme was published by the Facebook page \"The Other 98%\" (among others) claiming that 643,000 Americans declare bankruptcy due to medical bills every year, while in several other first-world countries, bankruptcies related to medical bills are non-existent (due to the implementation of national social health insurance\/medical care systems in those countries). At the fine print at the bottom of the meme was a citation: \"Source: NerdWallet Health Analysis.\" No link to the specific analysis referenced was provided, but presumably, the item in question was a 19 July 2013 publication by NerdWallet pertaining to medical bankruptcies. However, in that analysis, NerdWallet repeatedly stated that their findings were \"estimates\" or \"extrapolations,\" and some of their data were quite old even back in 2013. The primary portion of that article stated that in 2013, over 20% of American adults were struggling to pay their medical bills, and three in five bankruptcies would be due to medical bills. While we are quick to blame debt on poor savings and bad spending habits, the study emphasizes the burden of health costs causing widespread indebtedness. Medical bills can completely overwhelm a family when illness strikes, says Christina LaMontagne, VP of Health at NerdWallet. Furthermore, 25 million people hesitate to take their medications in order to control their medical costs. Unfortunately, this can lead to even worse financial outcomes as preventative treatments are not rendered, and patients end up using expensive ambulance and ER care as their health worsens. Finally, many question whether President Obama's universal health insurance mandate will protect Americans from problems with medical bills. Insurance is no silver bullet, says LaMontagne. Even with insurance coverage, we expect 10 million Americans will face bills they are unable to pay. Although the \"643,000\" figure didn't expressly appear in that article, if we take the number of bankruptcy filings in the U.S. in 2013 (1,032,236) and apply NerdWallet's statement that \"three in five (60%) bankruptcies will be due to medical bills,\" then we arrive at a number of medical bill-related bankruptcies (619,342) reasonably close to the 643,000 figure (although technically, a bankruptcy filing can represent more than one person). Likewise, a 2013 CNBC item based on the 2013 NerdWallet Health Analysis included a chart showing the estimated total number of medical-related bankruptcies in the U.S. in 2013 to be 646,812, which is also quite close to the cited 643,000 figure. Since the number of bankruptcy filings in the U.S. is a matter of public record, the accuracy of this figure hinges on how reliable the estimate that 60% of those filings are medical-related is. In NerdWallet's \"Methodology & Sources\" section, the site stated that their medical bankruptcy estimates were based on a 2009 Harvard study, which in turn used bankruptcy data from 2007 and involved interviewing a random national sample of bankruptcy filers. BACKGROUND: Our 2001 study in five states found that medical problems contributed to at least 46.2% of all bankruptcies. Since then, health costs and the numbers of un- and underinsured have increased, and bankruptcy laws have tightened. METHODS: We surveyed a random national sample of 2,314 bankruptcy filers in 2007, abstracted their court records, and interviewed 1,032 of them. We designated bankruptcies as medical based on debtors' stated reasons for filing, income loss due to illness, and the magnitude of their medical debts. RESULTS: Using a conservative definition, 62.1% of all bankruptcies in 2007 were medical. NerdWallet reported that they employed a more conservative estimate than the Harvard study figure regarding the proportion of bankruptcies that are medical-related: We relied on a widely cited Harvard study published in 2009. NerdWallet Health chose to include only bankruptcies explicitly tied to medical bills, excluding indirect reasons like lost work opportunities. Thus, we conservatively estimated medical bankruptcy rates to be 57.1% (versus the authors' 62.1%) of U.S. bankruptcies. We also used official bankruptcy statistics, released this month through March 2013, from U.S. Courts. Still, quantifying the occurrence of medical bankruptcies can be problematic, as noted in a January 2016 New York Times article on the subject. Research on","issues":["debt"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1VkKTgS444iuh5B_bzz3wF2JugGsHlsnN"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ZiuYVXuadSKPonKqk3HoHtLvsxr8pBX1"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_596","claim":"Are Retailers Using 'Disappearing Ink' on Receipts to Discourage Returns?","posted":"12\/14\/2017","sci_digest":["A long-circulating rumor claims retailers use \"disappearing ink\" to inhibit the return of merchandise or use of warranties."],"justification":"The holiday shopping season often spurs rumors that retailers use \"disappearing ink\" on receipts, making it difficult for consumers to use paid-for warranties or return unserviceable merchandise. Some rumors were more broad, involving anecdotal concerns about \"disappearing ink\" receipts, addressing retailers: I know you are in business to make money. I know that fraudulent returns cut into your profit margin, so you feel the need to tighten up your return policies. I am totally on board with that. BUT, could you please then stop using disappearing ink on your receipts? I just had my baby shower, and EVERY SINGLE gift receipt from your store was so faded, it was barely legible. Then, you tried to give me a hard time because your computers couldn't read the receipts, therefore making my duplicates off the registry unreturnable (but improper registry maintenance is a whole other issue.) To sum up. You require receipts? Then print legible receipts. Thank you. Others were more specific, claiming very clear timeframes30 to 45 daysand practices governed the legibility of receipt ink. Iterations of that sort asserted companies deliberately sought out to ensure that no receipts past a certain point could be used, presumably rendered void when the ink \"disappeared\" by design: PLEASE READ: Learned something new tonight...I guess you guys need to be made aware of (if you don't already know)...I was informed this evening after making a purchase with an extended warranty from Wal-Mart that I needed to go home and make a photo copy of the receipt and file with the warranty card. I curiously asked why and the lady told me that Wal-Mart now uses disappearing ink. My jaw dropped. So this means after 30 -45 days moving forward, you will no longer have a legible receipt from Wal-Mart for returns or warranty usage or credit card issues. Heads up guys ! This will be a problem for many ! I understand the reason they gave for this action, but it sure makes for a difficult life for the honest folks in this world.   Don't forget to take a picture of your receipts. Disappearing ink is one big snowjob, so be ready for the storm.... 30 days and presto-change o. Although the rumor was rife on Facebook, instances of it far antedated the social network. Forum posts as far back as 2003 referenced the phenomenon. 2003 However, many retailers's return policies stipulate that receipts are not the sole manner in which consumers can prove a purchase. Walmart maintains: maintains Walmart will accept a non-receipted return or exchange provided it meets the following conditions: The refund verification process accepts the return.The government issued ID must not be altered and is accepted by Walmart. To return or exchange items without a receipt, you are required to present a valid government issued photo ID. Information from the customer ID will be stored in a secured database of returns activity that Walmart uses to authorize returns. At Lowe's the policy reads, in part: the policy reads, in part In most instances, your receipt can be retrieved by using the original credit card, checking account number, MyLowe's card or by your phone number. For returns without a valid receipt, in-store credit may be issued for the items current selling price. Lost or stolen gift cards can only be replaced for the remaining balance by presenting the original receipt. Similarly, CVS notes \"returns or exchanges are subject to a third-party verification process,\" suggesting physical paper receipts were not the sole manner in which proof of purchase was retained by the consumer or retailer. The web site CreditCards.com surveyed major retailers and reported that in addition to protections offered by issuers such as American Express and Mastercard, receipts were rarely the only recourse: notes surveyed Our survey of 12 large retailers policies regarding returning items without a receipt shows most allow it  within limits. Although a staunch no receipt, no return policy is rare, it does still happen, and there can be individual store quirks that make the return process difficult to predict. Store policies tend to be tiered, with full refunds reserved for those who meet the gold standard: They return the entire item, in its original packaging, quickly, with a receipt. The further you vary from the gold standard, the less you get back. Credit card holders may find that using their cards provides an added avenue to a refund, since some retailers will look up a credit card transaction and let you use that as proof of purchase for a return. As to how youll get your money back, its typical for stores to return it in the same way it was tendered. So if you used a credit card, expect to get the money back in the form of a credit on your cards statement. Retailers' policies stipulating for other verification measures undermined the implication receipt degradation was a deliberate action to discourage store returns. As for why receipts tended to fade (at least under certain conditions), papermaker Panda Paper Roll explained that the effect was a cost-saving measure for different reasons: explained Receipts are typically printed on thermal paper, a chemically coated paper that produces text and image when heat is applied to its surface. Since this kind of paper is susceptible to heat and UV light, extended exposure to these elements will ultimately cause gradual fading. If you are in the mood for experimenting, place a receipt that you dont need under a hot iron for about 10 seconds. The heat from the iron will change the color of paper to black. Oil and humidity are also factors to blame. Now if youre wondering why the use of thermal paper is so widespread despite this massive disadvantage, its because they are very low cost and the equipment used to print it is low maintenance, since it doesnt need ink or ribbon cartridges. That claim was echoed in a since-deleted 2014 WFLA story about \"disappearing ink\" receipts: story If you keep paper receipts, this could happen to you, too. That's because more retailers are using thermal paper. Heat and light fades the ink. Although it was clearly true that many receipts faded over time, the claim involving \"disappearing ink\" was a misnomer. Retailers' well-known reliance on thermal paper due to its cost efficient nature led to the generation of fragile receipts, particularly those exposed to heat or light. The phenomenon was real, but the cause was often misinterpreted by concerned consumers. Early iterations of the rumor also antedated the rise of online retail giants, e-receipts, smartphones with storage capabilities, and other technological advances that served effectively as a \"receipt\" for consumers. Behnken, Shannon.  \"Sales Receipts Have Ink That Fades, Making Returns Harder.\"\r  WFLA.  23 June 2014. Cabrera, Kristen.  \"Major Retailers' 2016 Return And Receipt Policies.\"\r  CreditCards.com.  22 December 2016. Walmart Help Center.  \"No Receipt Returns In Stores Policy.\"\r  Accessed 14 December 2017. Lowe's Service Desk.  \"Returns and Refunds Policy.\"\r  Accessed 14 December 2017. CVS.com.  \"Returns Policy.\"\r  Accessed 14 December 2017. Panda Paper Roll Company.  \"Thermal Paper: Why It Fades And How To Restore It.\"\r  Accessed 14 December 2017.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1khxtOXjHJ7M-fgge_JCiK_-Fggz3wTrH","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_597","claim":"Did a Government Shutdown in Australia Result in All Members of Parliament Getting Fired?","posted":"02\/14\/2019","sci_digest":["It's difficult to boil down one of the most turbulent periods in Australia's political history into a meme. "],"justification":"On the heels of the longest federal government shutdown in United States history, and on the potential precipice of another shutdown in February 2019, Facebook users started to share a meme about how the country of Australia handled their own government shutdown back in 1975:   The text of the meme stated: \"In 1975 Australia had a government shutdown. In the end, all the members of Parliament were fired and then elections were held to restart from scratch. They haven't had another shutdown since.\" This meme is largely accurate. Australia's government was effectively shutdown due to a budget impasse in October 1975, the prime minister was dismissed, both houses of Parliament were dissolved, and a new election was held. Since then, Australia has not had another government shutdown. However, Australia's constitutional crisis in 1975, often referred to as \"The Dismissal,\" was a bit more complicated than portrayed in this meme. Furthermore, the meme is often offered up on social media as a solution to government shutdowns in the United States, but Australia's government doesn't function in the same manner as the U.S. government. Some of the key differences that enabled \"The Dismissal\" to occur in Australia is that the country is both a representative democracy and a constitutional monarchy, which means that despite Australia's having elected officials, the head of state in Australia is still the Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, as represented by the governor-general). While the Queen rarely exercises her power and is often viewed as a mere figurehead in Australia, the monarch (and in turn the governor-general) is afforded some powers in the country's constitution. During the constitutional crisis of 1975, Governor-General Sir John Kerr used his constitutional authority to dismiss Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. constitutional monarchy Australia's constitution also permits a \"double dissolution\" procedure to resolve deadlocks between the House and Senate: The Australian Constitution gives almost identical powers to the House of Representatives and the Senate. A bill (proposed law) must be agreed to by both houses in order to become law. The drafters of the Constitution saw the possibility of a deadlock occurring between the two houses, in which there may be disagreement over a bill. Section 57 of the Constitution provides a mechanism to resolve the disagreement, by dissolving both houses of Parliament and calling an election to let the voters decide what the outcome will be. The double dissolution mechanism only relates to a bill that originates in the House of Representatives. While the viral meme states that members of parliament were \"fired\" due to the government shutdown, that isn't exactly accurate. Both houses of parliament were dissolved, so all of the seats in the House and Senate went up for election again. The \"fired\" lawmakers therefore still had a chance to retain their seats by winning them back in a subsequent election. In 1975, Prime Minister Whitlam and the Australian Labor Party (ALP) held a majority in the House of Representatives, but the Opposition controlled the Senate. When the two parties failed to pass appropriations bills to fund the government, Governor-General Kerr dismissed the prime minister and commissioned Malcom Fraser of the Liberal Party as the caretaker prime minister. Fraser then passed an appropriations bill, and Kerr dissolved Parliament, setting up a double dissolution election to be held the following month. Here's a summary of what took place from the Australian Broadcast Corporation: Australian Broadcast Corporation The Dismissal of the Whitlam Government by the Governor-General, on November 11, 1975, still stands as the most dramatic and controversial event in Australias political history. The decision of the Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, to dismiss the Labor Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam, and install the Liberal Opposition Leader, Malcolm Fraser, as caretaker prime minister, on condition that he called an election, was a sensational development that ended a three-week parliamentary stand-off. The crisis began on October 15, when the Opposition parties announced they would block the governments Supply Bills in the Senate, as a means of forcing the government to an election. Whitlam refused to call an election and three weeks of parliamentary debate and public campaigning convulsed the political system. On November 11, Whitlam sought a half-Senate election from the Governor-General. Kerr rejected the advice and dismissed Whitlam. He commissioned Malcolm Fraser as caretaker prime minister. Fraser immediately secured the passage of Supply through the Senate and recommended a double dissolution of the parliament. The election was held on December 13, 1975. The Fraser-led Coalition won the largest victory in Australias federal history. The Parliament of Australia website provided some additional context to this historic event: context Several weeks later, and after intense negotiations and a third attempt to enact the appropriation bills, the new Governor-General took the extraordinary and unprecedented step of acting at his own initiative to invoke his power under sec. 62 of the Constitution: There shall be a Federal Executive Council [in practice, the Government] to advise the GovernorGeneral in the government of the Commonwealth, and the members of the Council shall be chosen and summoned by the GovernorGeneral and sworn as Executive Councillors, and shall hold office during his pleasure. (emphasis added) Governor-General Kerr dismissed the Whitlam Government, even though it still enjoyed majority support in the House of Representatives to which, by constitutional convention, it was responsible. To replace it, Kerr appointed a caretaker Liberal Government with Fraser as prime minister. In justifying his decision, the Governor-General argued that, in the Australian system, the confidence of both Houses on supply is necessary to ensure its provision: When ... an Upper House possesses the power to reject a money bill including an appropriation bill, and exercises the power by denying supply, the principle that a government which has been denied supply by the Parliament should resign or go to an election must still applyit is a necessary consequence of Parliamentary control of appropriation and expenditure and of the expectation that the ordinary and necessary services of Government will continue to be provided. (quoted in Odgers Australian Senate Practice 2001: 104) In this position the Governor-General was supported by the Chief Justice, who wrote that: the Senate has constitutional power to refuse to pass a money bill; it has power to refuse supply to the Government of the day... a Prime Minister who cannot ensure supply to the Crown, including funds for carrying on the ordinary services of Government, must either advise a general election (of a kind which the constitutional situation may then allow) or resign. (quoted in Odgers Australian Senate Practice 2001: 105) Not surprisingly, the two houses reacted very differently. The Senate acted almost instantaneously to pass the stalled appropriation bills. The House agreed to a motion expressing its lack of confidence in the newly-designated prime minister and requesting the Speaker to ask the Governor-General to have Whitlam again form a government. But before the Speaker was allowed to deliver this message, the Governor-General declared, at Frasers request and by pre-arrangement, a double dissolution of both houses. As Solomon put it: In the 1975 double dissolution, the Governor-General had to dismiss a Prime Minister (who controlled a majority in the House of Representatives) and appoint another (who lacked the confidence of that House) to find an advisor who was prepared to recommend to him the course he wished to adoptnamely the dissolution of both Houses of Parliament under section 57. (Solomon 1978: 169) While some Americans may look at Australia's constitutional crisis of 1975 as a \"solution\" to modern U.S. government shutdowns, \"The Dismissal\" remains one of the most controversial events in Australia's history:  Australia.gov.au.  \"How Government Works.\"\r  Retrieved 14 February 2019. AustralianPolitics.com.  \"Comparing the American and Australian Political Systems.\"\r  Retrieved 14 February 2019. Whitlamdismissal.com.  \"What Happened.\"\r  Retrieved 14 February 2019. Barnett, Bronwyn.  \"The Dismissal: Through the News Camera Lens.\"\r  National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.  Retrieved 14 February 2019. Fisher, Max.  \"The Crisis of 1974-75.\"\r  Parliament of Australia.  Retrieved 14 February 2019. ABC.Net.Au.  \"The Dismissal, Australia's Constitutional Crisis.\"\r  Retrieved 14 February 2019. Fisher, Max.  \"Australia Had a Government Shutdown Once. In the End, the Queen Fired Everyone in Parliament.\"\r  The Washington Post.  1 October 2013.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1lA3tZc6IJlUq2ORFf81BCwfw_AEcmxq0","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_598","claim":"Macy's sent a letter to Rick Perry urging him to veto equal pay bill.","posted":"11\/25\/2013","sci_digest":[],"justification":"A reader forwarded anemailto us in which state Rep. Senfronia Thompson urged a boycott of Macys department stores on the day after Thanksgiving 2013. The fact that Macy's doesn't support equal pay for women should stop you from shopping there on Black Friday, the Houston Democrat wrote, saying that her equal-pay proposal cleared the Legislature earlier this year, but then Macy's sent a letter to Rick Perry urging him to veto the law, which he ultimately did. Thompsons House Bill950was among 24 bills PerryvetoedJune 14, 2013. It would have created state law similar to 2009s federal Lilly Ledbetter Act, which gave plaintiffs more time to sue over pay discrimination in federal courts. AnAug. 6, 2013,news storyin theHouston Chroniclereported that Texas Retailers Association members including Macys and Krogers had written Perry in May asking him to kill the legislation because, they said, it would lead to open-ended litigation and duplicate federal law. Thompson spokeswoman Milda Mora told us by phone that the representative learned of the letters from theHouston Chroniclereporter in August and checked with the governors office, which provided her with copies that Moraemailedto us. One written on Macys letterhead (clickhereor scroll down to view it) concluded, The federal requirements under Lilly Ledbetter are unnecessary and would be harmful to Texas employers. We urge you to veto this legislation. Macys spokeswoman Bethany Charlton confirmed that her company sent the May 31, 2013, letter, which was signed by a company vice president. By email, Charlton said the company absolutely supports equal pay for equal work among men and women but believes existing laws provide strong remedies for discrimination. Perrys logic was similar: House Bill 950 duplicates federal law, which already allows employees who feel they have been discriminated against through compensation to file a claim with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, said his June 14, 2013,veto statement. Progress Texas, the pro-Democratic organization that distributed Thompsons email and is organizing theboycott,disputesPerrys statement that the bill would have duplicated federal law, saying that the Ledbetter protections need to be codified in state law for them to apply to cases in state courts. The groups executive director, Ed Espinoza, told us by email that his group launched a boycott of Macys and other retailers when the news broke in August. An Aug. 7, 2013,Chroniclenews blog postsaid Thompson took part in that boycott also, canceling a planned appearance at a Macys store to mark the states annual sales-tax holiday. Mora said that Thompson, who was quoted in an Aug. 9, 2013 Texas Public Radionews storyas saying she had previously been a card-packing member of Macys, but had not shopped there since the letters became public. Our ruling Thompson said Macy's sent a letter to Rick Perry urging him to veto her equal pay measure. As the Houston newspaper reported, Macys wrote the governor May 31, 2013, saying We urge you to veto this legislation. The claim is True. TRUE The statement is accurate and theres nothing significant missing. Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.","issues":["Income","Legal Issues","Workers","Texas"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1I1ZyXVkuWilT4F8bHawXgYKDVb86_ctf","image_caption":""}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_599","claim":"The average taxpayer will see the equivalent of a 2 percent pay raise as a result of low fuel prices.","posted":"01\/10\/2015","sci_digest":[],"justification":"A reader noted Republican Glenn Hegar's upbeat comments about plummeting oil prices and requested a fact check. Hegar, the former state senator elected Texas state comptroller in 2014, told reporters early this year that there are benefits to falling oil prices. Lower fuel costs should reduce the price of importing goods, which is great for consumers and, ultimately, our economy, Hegar said, according to an Austin American-Statesman news story. In fact, the average taxpayer will see the equivalent of a 2 percent pay raise as a result of low fuel prices. The same story noted that the price of oil had fallen about 50 percent since June 2014 to just more than $50 a barrel. By email, Hegar spokesman Chris Bryan said Hegar drew that percentage from a December 2014 news story in The Economist magazine. The story stated, in part: \"Cheaper oil should act like a shot of adrenaline to global growth. A $40 price cut shifts some $1.3 trillion from producers to consumers. The typical American motorist, who spent $3,000 in 2013 at the pumps, might be $800 a year better off\u2014equivalent to a 2% pay rise.\" The magazine didn't engage with our inquiry about how its figures were calculated. We went on to query James Hamilton, a University of California, San Diego, economist quoted by the Wall Street Journal in November 2014, who said that lower gas prices relative to the average of the past three years would effectively put an extra $108 billion into U.S. consumers' pockets, generating a nearly 0.8 percent increase in disposable personal income. By email, Hamilton pointed us to his Dec. 21, 2014, blog post stating: \"The average U.S. retail price of gasoline right now is about $2.40 a gallon. Last year, in 2013, American consumers and businesses bought 135 billion gallons of gasoline, per the U.S. Energy Information Administration, at an average price of $3.60 a gallon.\" Hamilton wrote: \"If gasoline prices stay where they are and if we buy the same number of gallons of gasoline this year as last, that leaves us with an additional $160 billion to spend over the course of the year on other items. If we restate the total savings for U.S. consumers and businesses in terms of the 116 million U.S. households, that works out to almost $1,400 per household.\" We checked his bottom-line figure of $1,400 per household and compared it to what the U.S. Census Bureau estimates to have been the median household income for the U.S. and Texas, respectively, from 2009 through 2013. In Texas, the estimated $1,400 in unspent money translates to a 2.7 percent increase on the median income of $51,900. Nationally, it would amount to a 2.6 percent increase from the median household income of $53,046. Additionally, EIA spokesman Jonathan Cogan noted by email that in December 2014, the agency predicted the average U.S. household would spend about $550 less on gasoline in 2015 than in 2014 due to falling gas prices and more fuel-efficient cars and trucks, which would be 1 percent of the median household income in Texas. Our ruling: Hegar said the average taxpayer will see the equivalent of a 2 percent pay raise as a result of low fuel prices. Provided gas prices don't go back up, that percentage seems to be in the ballpark for how much Texans could save on gas compared to what they spent, though it's also possible to arrive at higher and lower projections. We rate this statement Mostly True.","issues":["Gas Prices","Income","Texas"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_600","claim":"Jim Renacci cheated on his income taxes and is a deadbeat citizen.","posted":"08\/27\/2010","sci_digest":[],"justification":"With control of the U.S. House at stake, Republicans and Democrats are waging fierce election campaigns across the country. In Ohio, at least four seats are considered in play, including the 16th Congressional District seat held by freshman Democratic Rep. John Boccieri of Alliance, a former state legislator who faces a well-financed Republican challenge from businessman Jim Renacci, a former Wadsworth mayor. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union has joined the fight, attacking Renacci in two television advertisements. We recently looked into a statement in the first ad, which accused Renacci of backing a massive tax increase, and found it to be Half True. The second ad levels an even harsher accusation that Renacci cheated on his income taxes and labels him a deadbeat citizen. Renacci has filed a defamation lawsuit in Stark County Common Pleas Court over the ad, which claims he hid more than $13 million and was forced to pay $1.4 million in back taxes and penalties. We wanted to see if AFSCME got closer to the truth the second time around. The basis of the attack is a dispute between Renacci and the Ohio Department of Taxation. Renacci has built a fortune from business interests that include nursing homes, real estate investments, auto and motorcycle dealerships, a bar and grill, an arena football team, and a minor-league baseball team. The tax department assessed Renacci about $1.4 million in back taxes, interest, and penalties for misreporting his income in 2000. Renacci and his wife, Tina, filed a state tax return for that year that claimed they had a loss of $247,336, but an audit found they actually made $13,730,440. The couple filed a tax appeal when the state charged them $954,650 in back taxes, $146,938 in interest, and $293,876 in penalties. At issue was Renacci's trust income from an S corporation that had not been subject to state taxes for several years before Ohio's tax commissioner issued an information release in January 2000 that changed the state's policy and directed taxpayers to add such trust income to their federal adjusted gross income. S corporations permit income to be taxed at an individual rate for federal tax purposes and avoid double taxation on corporate income. The tax department followed up with another information release in 2002 warning that it was launching audits and would impose fraud penalties on taxpayers who did not file amended returns reflecting the trust income and pay the taxes due. Renacci was among a group of taxpayers who fought the state decision. He contended that the trust income should have been tax-free and that he had reasonable cause to exclude it on his tax return, according to tax department and court documents. Others dropped their appeals, but Renacci continued to fight, despite an Ohio Supreme Court ruling in 2006 in a similar case in which the court said the trust income was subject to taxation. In that case, the taxpayers reported their S corporation income on their 2000 tax return and then unsuccessfully asked for a refund. Court records show the Renaccis eventually settled the tax dispute and sent the state the full amount due. He was proud of his fight and to have fought till the end, along with many other Ohioans for tax fairness, Renacci's campaign spokesman Jim Slepian said in an interview for a Plain Dealer story in April. The AFSCME ad cites as its source an Associated Press story from April that said Renacci fought vigorously but eventually paid the back taxes and other assessments. Webster's New World Dictionary defines cheat as a person who defrauds, deceives, or tricks others; swindler. It defines deadbeat as a person who tries to evade paying debts. It seems legitimate to raise questions about Renacci's failure to properly report his income. Some facts are not in dispute. But in the end, after taking his dispute to court and working within the system to resolve it, he did ultimately pay the state the full amount due, and he was never charged with tax fraud. We rate AFSCME's statement as Mostly True.","issues":["Ohio","Candidate Biography","Legal Issues","Message Machine 2010","Taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_601","claim":"Did Home Depot Donate to Herschel Walker's Campaign?","posted":"10\/10\/2022","sci_digest":["The truth of the matter regarding Home Depot and Walker, a Georgia Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, wasn't as simple as it was presented by some news articles."],"justification":"On Oct. 7, 2022, a Twitter user named Nathalie Jacoby tweeted, \"Will you join me in boycotting Home Depot for donating $1.75 MILLION to Herschel Walkers campaign?\" Walker is a Republican U.S. Senate candidate for the state of Georgia. The tweet led several of our readers to email us about the matter. tweeted  In the 2022 U.S. election, Walker was challenging U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat. Should Walker win the seat, it would potentially give Republicans a coveted Senate majority. The race brought with it a lot of rumors and news stories. One of the biggest rumors appeared to be about Walker purportedly encouraging a woman to have two abortions. However, for this fact check, we will only be looking into the claim about Home Depot. Walker encouraging a woman to have two abortions Home Depot responded to Jacoby's tweet by saying that the contribution in question came from the company's co-founder Bernie Marcus. responded  We also reached out to the company to inquire about the matter. By email, a company spokesperson told us the following: \"Thanks for reaching out. This isnt true. Home Depots PAC hasnt donated to Walkers or Warnocks campaigns. Our co-founder Bernie Marcus left Home Depot more than 20 years ago, and his views do not represent the company.\" It's true that Marcus retired from the company in 2002. However, despite what some readers may have read in other articles that appeared at the top of Google search results, that wasn't the full story. retired On the morning of Oct. 10, Judd Legum of the Popular Information blog reported that Home Depot PAC, a political action committee associated with the company, had donated funds to a Republican organization that funded ad spending for Walker's campaign. reported associated funded ad spending After reviewing Legum's reporting, we located expenditure records for Home Depot PAC that had been published on OpenSecrets.org. The website calls itself \"the nation's premier research and government transparency group tracking money in politics and its effect on elections and policy.\" published The information on Open Secrets indicated the following: While there is no record of Home Depot directly donating to Walker's efforts to win the Senate seat, Home Depot PAC did provide funds to the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC). According to reporting from Politico that was published on Oct. 4, the NRSC was \"splitting a new $8.5 million ad buy with the Walker campaign.\" National Republican Senatorial Committee reporting We contacted Legum by Twitter DM, who told us that the Federal Election Commission website, FEC.gov, also showed four key records related to Home Depot and NRSC. These records indicated that Home Depot PAC, shown on the website as The Home Depot Inc. Political Action Committee, had donated a combined $90,000 to the NRSC in late 2021 and early 2022. four key records  Other large expenditures made by the Home Depot PAC in 2021 and 2022 also went to organizations that were associated with the Republican Party, according to the FEC website. Examples included $45,000 to the California Republican Party and $25,000 to the Georgians First Leadership Committee. Other large expenditures At the same time, Home Depot PAC also gave money in 2021 and 2022 to organizations that appeared to be led by Democrats. Examples included $60,000 to the California Legislative Black Caucus Policy Institute, $50,000 to the Los Angeles Delegation Foundation, $30,000 to the Women in Power PAC, and $25,000 to the Asian Pacific Islander Leadership PAC. Home Depot Note: Jacoby, the Twitter user, also previously tweeted in support of boycotting CNN, Chick-fil-A, Kanye West, and Hobby Lobby and MyPillow. CNN Chick-fil-A Kanye West Hobby Lobby and MyPillow Allison, Natalie, and Marianne Levine. Republicans Rally around Walkers Imperiled Candidacy. POLITICO, 4 Oct. 2022, https:\/\/www.politico.com\/. Federal Election Commission. https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/. Grace Meng Elected as New Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Leadership PAC. Capacleadership.Org, 13 Apr. 2016, https:\/\/www.capacleadership.org\/. Home Depot. Twitter, https:\/\/twitter.com\/homedepot\/. Jacoby, Nathalie. Twitter, https:\/\/twitter.com\/nathaliejacoby1\/. Kamisar, Ben. Big Georgia Senate Ad Spending Shift Highlights a Novel Strategy. NBC News, 23 Sept. 2022, https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/meet-the-press\/meetthepressblog\/big-georgia-senate-ad-spending-shift-highlights-novel-strategy-rcna49125. Kempner, Matt. Home Depot Founders Reunite: $40M for Vets, 1st Responders Health. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 16 Feb. 2021. AJC.com, https:\/\/www.ajc.com\/ajcjobs\/home-depot-founders-reunite-40m-for-vets-1st-responders-health\/WRWBASV6GREQTKUU56LWLXGGY4\/. Koseff, Alexei. Women Target Seats Held by California Lawmakers Accused of Sexual Harassment. The Sacramento Bee, 15 Feb. 2018, https:\/\/www.sacbee.com\/news\/politics-government\/capitol-alert\/article200150799.html. Legum, Judd. Who Is Really Financing Herschel Walkers Campaign? Popular Information, 10 Oct. 2022, https:\/\/popular.info\/p\/who-is-really-financing-herschel. Members. CLBCPI Foundation, https:\/\/cablackcaucus.org\/members\/. National Republican Senatorial Committee. https:\/\/www.nrsc.org\/. NBCSL | California Legislative Black Caucus Elects New Leadership. 25 Aug. 2022, https:\/\/nbcsl.org\/media-center\/news\/item\/2376-california-legislative-black-caucus-elects-new-leadership.html. OpenSecrets. https:\/\/www.opensecrets.org\/. Report: Walker Encouraged Woman to Have Second Abortion. The Associated Press, 8 Oct. 2022, https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/2022-midterm-elections-herschel-walker-congress-government-and-politics-9d7d9c68a802169994b9db719d8256c0. Rosenhall, Laurel. The New Thing for California Politicians? Sweet Charity. CalMatters, 18 Feb. 2020, https:\/\/calmatters.org\/projects\/california-lawmaker-nonprofits-politics-charity-campaign-finance-foundation-dark-money\/. Scribner, Herb. Home Depot Denies Donating over $1 Million to Herschel Walkers Campaign. Axios, 8 Oct. 2022, https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2022\/10\/08\/home-depot-herschel-walker-georgia-donation. Werschkul, Ben. Home Depot Now the Biggest Corporate Donor to 2020 Election Objectors, Analysis Finds. Yahoo Finance, 25 Mar. 2022, https:\/\/finance.yahoo.com\/news\/home-depot-biggest-corporate-contributor-to-2020-election-objectors-analysis-finds-185705617.html. After this story was published, on Oct. 10, we added an email statement sent to us by Home Depot.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=15TnEnLvoIRXacXM9iaPN_Ogx_6mAVZYM","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_602","claim":"Did Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Forget to Vote for Her Own Bill?","posted":"04\/06\/2019","sci_digest":["Some people might benefit from acquiring an understanding of how the U.S. Congress actually works."],"justification":"On 7 February 2019, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Rep. Edward Markey of Massachusetts, both Democrats, introduced a five-page nonbinding resolution to the U.S. House of Representatives for the federal government to recognize its duty to establish a \"Green New Deal.\" The controversial proposal incorporated seven goals previously articulated by Ocasio-Cortez for the U.S. to realize within ten years: dramatically expanding existing renewable power sources and deploying new production capacity with the goal of meeting 100% of national power demand through renewable sources; building a national, energy-efficient smart grid; upgrading every residential and industrial building for state-of-the-art energy efficiency, comfort, and safety; eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from manufacturing, agriculture, and other industries, including by investing in local-scale agriculture in communities across the country; repairing and improving transportation and other infrastructure, and upgrading water infrastructure to ensure universal access to clean water; funding massive investments in the drawdown of greenhouse gases; and making green technology, industry, expertise, products, and services a major export of the United States, with the aim of becoming the undisputed international leader in helping other countries transition to completely greenhouse gas-neutral economies and bringing about a global Green New Deal. The broader proposal also called for sweeping social measures such as \"a job guarantee program to assure a living wage job to every person who wants one,\" \"basic income programs,\" and \"universal health care programs.\" On 26 March 2019, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell forced a preemptive vote in the U.S. Senate on a procedural motion to take up a binding form of the resolution, deriding the Green New Deal as a plan for \"basically outlawing the only sources of energy that working-class and middle-class families can actually afford,\" which would kill off entire domestic industries and eliminate millions of jobs. Democrats criticized McConnell's move as a \"sham\" intended to \"quash debate by blocking public hearings and expert testimony about the consequences of inaction on climate change\" and to hasten a vote in order to force Senate Democrats to commit to either supporting or rejecting the proposal at a very early stage. The criticism suggested that Republicans set up this vote to highlight potential splits in the Democratic caucus and force lawmakers to splinter from a high-profile, progressive idea. As the thinking goes, if only part of the Democratic caucus wound up backing the idea, Republicans could argue that it didn't actually have enough support from the party. Additionally, the move aimed to put Democrats from more moderate states in a tough position, forcing them to choose between backing a popular liberal idea and potentially turning off some of their constituents. \"The Senate vote is a perfect example of that kind of superficial approach to government,\" Ocasio-Cortez said. \"What McConnell's doing is trying to rush this bill to the floor without a hearing, without any markups, without working through committee because he doesn't want to save our planet. He thinks we can drink oil in 30 years when all our water is poisoned.\" In the end, most Democrats didn't bite. All 53 Republicans in the Senate voted against the plan, but they were joined by just three Democrats and independent Sen. Angus King of Maine (who caucuses with Democrats). The remaining 43 Democratic senators all declined to commit and merely voted present in protest of the GOP's action. The procedural motion was thus voted down by a 57-0 margin. A meme circulated online afterward, offensively portraying Rep. Ocasio-Cortez as a \"100% retard\" for failing to \"even vote for [her] own bill.\" The implications of that meme were wrong on two counts: 1) The Senate was not voting on whether to accept or reject Ocasio-Cortez's \"Green New Deal\" resolution. What the Senate voted on was a different form of the resolution, and what they voted against was not the resolution itself but a motion for cloture, the step of agreeing to end debate on a bill so that Senate consideration of it can move forward. This was not the non-binding Green New Deal resolution introduced by Sen. Edward Markey and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Feb. 7. Instead, this was a version that McConnell himself introduced, and it was a binding resolution. Instead of voting on whether \"it is the sense of the Senate\" that the government has a duty to create a Green New Deal, senators would have been skipping ahead to vote on whether the Green New Deal should become \"the policy of the United States,\" without so much as a hearing. Under Senate rules, making it binding was the only way McConnell could hold a show vote without the usual process of assigning the legislation to the appropriate committees for discussion and debate. That would put a public spotlight on experts testifying and debate over climate solutions, something McConnell sought to avoid. Technically, the Senate voted on whether to end debate on McConnell's motion to proceed to consideration of his version of a Green New Deal resolution. This \"cloture\" vote wasn't on the substance of the Green New Deal. McConnell's aim was not to actually consider the Green New Deal, which he describes as a \"socialist\" plan that would \"uproot life as we know it.\" He was hoping the vote would kill talk of a Green New Deal in its infancy while putting Democrats on the spot. 2) Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, not a member of the U.S. Senate, and thus she had no opportunity to vote on the cloture motion at all. In short, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez didn't \"neglect\" or \"forget\" to participate in the referenced Green New Deal vote; she wasn't eligible to take part in it because she isn't a member of the Senate. Nor was the vote that took place in the Senate one that directly addressed the merits or deficiencies of her Green New Deal resolution.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1fZyTdWWUjkWAp40zxDW7ioYCcuDYhyPh","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_603","claim":"New Orleans Swine Flu Cases","posted":"05\/02\/2009","sci_digest":["News about swine flu cases in New Orleans has been suppressed to avoid interfering with attendance at Jazz Fest?"],"justification":"Claim:  News about swine flu cases in New Orleans has been suppressed to avoid interfering with attendance at Jazz Fest.  Example:  [Collected via e-mail, April 2009] I just got this email from a friend of mine whose co-worker went to the doctor today:     \"The secretary in my office spoke to her mother's doctor this morning.  He told her the following and urged her to pass this on to everyone she knows.  She said this doctor is not normally the alarmist type but was very adamant about this.  He is a doctor at East Jefferson Hospital, he said the following: There have been 65 cases of Swine Flu in the New Orleans area in the past 48 hours.  This is not yet public knowledge because Nagin doesn't want to hurt Jazz Fest.  The boats that are docking and coming in from Mexico could be the culprits, but no one knows yet.   His instructions are as follows: For the next 10 days (he said by then we will all know about this) do not use public restrooms! Stay away from large crowds and anyplace with low income workers, he specifically said Wal-Mart.  He said this should be taken very seriously because since we are not being made aware of it, it could literally spread here like wildfire.  He recommended buying Lysol wipes and wiping down anything you have to use that can be accessed by the public. He also contacted his child's school and recommended they cancel the school play. This came directly from the doctors mouth!\" Origins:  The above-quoted e-mail began circulating on Tuesday, 28 April 2009. While its author is unknown, the quality of the information it proffers is not: it's bunk. As Gina Swanson, a news reporter with WDSU-TV in New Orleans said of the item in her 29 April 2009 piece about the e-mailed rumor: \"The e-mail alleges that there are dozens of cases, confirmed cases, of swine flu here at East Jefferson Hospital, and doctors are not  alerting the public. We spoke with doctors here [at East Jefferson Hospital] this afternoon. They want to set the record straight  they say simply that's not the case.\" Said Dr. John Wales, Director of Emergency Medicine, East Jefferson Hospital, in that interview:\"At our hospital, there's no reported cases of swine flu. We've had one case a couple of days ago and another case about a week ago of influenza A, which is very typical at the end of the flu season, which is where we are now, for a couple of flu cases to come in and test positive for Flu A. But as far as we know, there are no cases of swine flu at East Jefferson.\" As East Jefferson Hospital said in its 30 April 2009 online denial of the rumor: \"East Jefferson General Hospital would like to dispel a current Internet rumor claiming that an unnamed physician confirms there are 65 cases of H1N1 Flu, commonly known as swine flu, in the New Orleans area. There is no truth to this. At this time, there are no confirmed cases of swine flu in the state of Louisiana.\" denial As of 2 May 2009, the number of probable swine flu cases in the whole of Louisiana stood at 23. Barbara \"N(ew)O(rleans) truth to the rumor\" Mikkelson Last updated:  2 May 2009    East Jefferson General Hospital Newsroom.  \"EJGH Updates the Community on Swine Flu.\"   30 April 2009.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_604","claim":"Is Anthony Hopkins One of the 'Shortest Men in Hollywood'?","posted":"01\/18\/2021","sci_digest":["We clicked the \"next page\" button a whopping 95 times in a slideshow article so you don't have to."],"justification":"Since at least January 2021, actor Anthony Hopkins was featured in an online advertisement about the height of Hollywood celebrity men. The ad read: \"Some of the Shortest Men in Hollywood Today.\"   Readers who clicked the online ad were led to a 95-page story on Cleverst.com. Its headline read: \"These Short Male Celebrities Remind Us That Height Doesn't Matter In Hollywood.\" The lengthy article began with a picture of actor Dave Franco, who is purported to be 5 feet 7. We clicked \"next page\" 95 times until we realized we had clicked \"next article\" at the end. Hopkins didn't even show up in the story. Anthony Hopkins' height is listed at 5 feet 9 on various sources, including on his IMDb page. The actor is anything but \"short.\" his IMDb page Hopkins is perhaps best known for his work in the 1991 classic, \"The Silence of the Lambs.\" He won the best actor Oscar for playing the role of the terrifying cannibal, Hannibal Lecter. The long story of \"short male celebrities\" also featured a 6-feet-tall Vin Diesel, a 5 feet 10 Jason Statham, and 5 feet 9 actors Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Hardy. This was hardly a list of \"some of the shortest men in Hollywood today.\" The Cleverst.com story appeared to be a strategy known as advertising \"arbitrage.\" The goal was to make more money on ads that were displayed on all 95 pages than it cost to display the original Hopkins clickbait picture. The Hopkins photograph lured the readers. Readers then clicked \"next page\" in a search for Hopkins, who never appeared. The business and technology blog Margins defined \"arbitrage\" as \"leveraging an inefficient set of systems to make a riskless profit, usually by buying and selling the same asset.\" They also called it \"the mythical free lunch that economics tells us does not exist.\" Margins The same strategy employed for Hopkins' height was used by other advertisers in the past who placed an ad about Pierce Brosnan's net worth. The ad claimed that \"Pierce Brosnan's final net worth left his family in tears.\" Not only was Pierce Brosnan still alive, but he also did not appear in the lengthy slideshow story that resulted. Pierce Brosnan's net worth Snopes debunks a wide range of content, and online advertisements are no exception. Misleading ads often lead to obscure websites that host lengthy slideshow articles with lots of pages. It's called advertising \"arbitrage.\" The advertiser's goal is to make more money on ads displayed on the slideshow's pages than it cost to show the initial ad that lured them to it. Feel free to submit ads to us, and be sure to include a screenshot of the ad and the link to where the ad leads. submit ads to us","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1nDfIf7-G9Zx3IWvxtcOMBKeJ79FPBXaf","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_605","claim":"Did Mike Pence Say 'Allowing Rape Victims to Have Abortions Will Lead to Women Trying to Get Raped'?","posted":"07\/18\/2016","sci_digest":["Mike Pence did not say that if abortion were allowed in cases of rape, then women would try to get raped in order to have abortions."],"justification":"On July 17, 2016, the website Newslo reported that Indiana Governor Mike Pence, the newly announced running mate of GOP candidate Donald Trump, had stated that allowing rape victims to have abortions would lead to women trying to get raped in order to have abortions. The Republican war on women continues unabated. The same week that conservatives argued in the Supreme Court that employers should be able to prevent their employees from obtaining contraception outside of the company health plan, Indiana joined the ranks of states like Texas and Florida in passing a draconian law that purports to protect women while, in fact, endangering their health by making safe abortion much harder to access. Governor Mike Pence recently signed it. The bill is filled with numerous asinine restrictions on abortion, aimed at making the experience as miserable and humiliating as possible, and ideally something women cannot obtain legally at all. Pence also attempted to express his opinion on what would have happened had he allowed rape victims to still have abortions. First and foremost, because this is such a sensitive topic, let me just say that I sympathize with rape victims not only in America but around the world. I can only imagine what it must be like to experience such trauma, he said. However, that does not justify murder; not even that justifies murdering a baby, not in my book. Because what would happen? We would then have an epidemic of women claiming to have been raped just so they could have an abortion. And that has to be stopped at all costs. Donald Trump's new running mate also said, \"Basically, if I had said no on the bill, that would be just like giving out get-pregnant-without-fear cards, because at the end of the day, women could have unprotected sex without worrying about what they would do in the event of pregnancy. And you know, it's not supposed to be like that.\" It gets worse: when you get an abortion, you receive several days off work and whatnot to recover. There are a lot of crazy people out there. What if women went out and got raped on purpose just so they could take time off work? I mean, Indiana's economy is struggling as it is, and having thousands of women absent from their jobs would be horrific for the state, I'm telling you. I made the right call, and that will be confirmed in the long run, Pence concluded. As with all content on Newslo (and its sister sites Religionlo and Politicalo), the item used a fact-based introduction to lead into counterfactual information. Pence did sign anti-abortion legislation in May 2016, but like all content published by that trio of fake news sites, the article included a \"show facts\" or \"hide facts\" button (all content displayed by default in \"hide facts\" mode): a sign of fake news. While the facts of the first paragraph were broadly true (as Pence had signed an abortion bill a few months prior), the remainder of the piece was embellished or entirely fabricated.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1gOZ2i6IU-idXQHupf7yJQPbpYEt6Rmry","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_606","claim":"WV families making less than $400K & small businesses will NOT be targeted by the IRS.","posted":"10\/18\/2022","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Since the Inflation Reduction Act passed with only Democratic support in Congress, Republicans have criticized the bill, saying it will saddle ordinary Americans with increased audits by the Internal Revenue Service. The legislation, signed into law by President Joe Biden on Aug. 16,includesprovisions that would lower drug costs, address climate change, reduce the deficit, and impose higher taxes on the largest corporations. But much of the Republican criticism has focused on the laws allocation of about $80 billion over 10 years to strengthen the Internal Revenue Service. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said that the Democrats' new army of 87,000 IRS agents will be coming for you  with 710,000 new audits for Americans who earn less than $75k. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., sought to counter these attacks in an Aug. 28tweet, saying, The Inflation Reduction Act will ensure the wealthiest & most fortunate among us pay their fair share in taxes just like #WV families & small businesses. WV families making less than $400K & small businesses will NOT be targeted by the IRS because they are already paying taxes. The Inflation Reduction Act will ensure the wealthiest & most fortunate among us pay their fair share in taxes just like#WVfamilies & small businesses.WV families making less than $400K & small businesses will NOT be targeted by the IRS because they are already paying taxes. Manchin has a point. His argument is roughly the inverse of McCarthys, which PolitiFact ratedMostly False. We concluded that McCarthys 710,000-audit estimate runs counter to the IRS stated policy and was based on a flawed use of a Congressional Budget Office estimate that assumed much higher spending on enforcement than is in the legislation that passed. (We also found that McCarthys 87,000 figure was exaggerated because not all of those employees would be enforcement agents.) Here, well zero in on Manchins statement that WV families making less than $400K & small businesses will NOT be targeted by the IRS. The 710,000 figure stems from an exaggerated calculation by U.S.Rep. Kevin Bradyof Texas, the House Ways and Means Committees top Republican. He arrived at the number by bringing together two pieces of data. In 2021, the Congressional Budget Office said that $80 billion more for the IRS would return audit rates to the levels of about 10 years ago. Brady took 2010s audit rates and applied them to the number of tax returns in 2018, broken down by income groups. Using his approach, there would be about 710,000 more audits for filers reporting less than $75,000 in income. However, this approach ignores several key details about what the CBO report says elsewhere and what the bill  and the Treasury  have made clear: This effort aims to increase audits of corporations and high-net-worth individuals. The full sentence in the CBO report that Brady was drawing from said the audit rate would rise for all taxpayers, but higher-income taxpayers would face the largest increase. Brady also failed to note a key difference between the budget offices assessment from a year ago and the bill that was passed in 2022. The CBO assumed in its report that $60 billion of the $80 billion would go toward enforcement. But the current bill would result in substantially less than that  $46 billion  for enforcement, according to aCongressional Research Serviceanalysis. With nearly one-third less money for enforcement, the resulting number of audits would likely be smaller. Perhaps the biggest problem with assuming there will be a big increase in audits for middle- to low-income Americans, however, is that it runs directly counter to the IRS stated policy, which Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen laid out in a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig. I direct that any additional resources  including any new personnel or auditors that are hired  shall not be used to increase the share of small business or households below the $400,000 threshold that are audited relative to historical levels, Yellen wroteAug. 10. Rettig had said much the same in anAug. 4letter to Congress. Audit rates for filers reporting less than $75,000 in income have held steady over thepast several yearsat about 0.4%. Thats lower than the audit rate in 2011, when it was 1%. Yellen said enforcement will focus on corporations and people with high net worth. Auditing them requires staff with special skills. Today, she said, the agency is able to audit only about 7,500 out of 4 million such returns each year. Focusing on higher earners, as the IRS plans to do, would go a long way toward reversing the agencys historical focus on auditingsome of the lowest earners, largely households that file for the earned income tax credit. The only caveat to Manchins statement is that theres no guarantee the agency will adhere to the new policy it has announced. The pledge not to use the Inflation Reduction Act funds to increase audits of those making less than $400,000 is not built into law, John Buhl, senior communications manager at the Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center, told PolitiFact West Virginia. Although its not written in law, its a policy that has been stated publicly on several occasions. Both the IRS and Treasury are committed to that policy decision, as outlined in recent letters, said Erin Heeter, Manchins press secretary. Both the IRS and Treasury also outlined in their recent letters that audit rates for families making under $400k will not change. Buhl agreed that its unlikely that the IRS will perform audits on lower-income families when they already have documentation through W-2 wage pay stubs and other statements. And audits of high earners arewhere the money is, anyway. The top 1% of earners account for about 30% of the $600 billion each year that is owed but goes uncollected, Natasha Sarin, counselor for Tax Policy and Implementation at the Treasury Department, told PolitiFact. Manchin said, WV families making less than $400K & small businesses will NOT be targeted by the IRS. This limitation wasnt written into the Inflation Reduction Act. However, top Treasury and IRS officials have consistently confirmed that the new resources allocated to the IRS by the law will be focused on audits of the highest-paying Americans, making it stated policy. We rate the statement Mostly True.","issues":["West Virginia","Taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_607","claim":"Did Donald Trump Receive an Ellis Island Award in 1986?","posted":"09\/05\/2016","sci_digest":["It might seem unbelievable to some that Donald Trump could have been considered for an award in celebration of 'patriotism, tolerance, brotherhood and diversity.'"],"justification":"In the summer of 2016, as Donald Trump made strong arguments against immigration and said that he would build a border wall and deport illegal immigrants, the following photograph circulated, showing the Republican presidential nominee alongside Muhammad Ali and Rosa Parks:   While Donald Trump has battled accusations of racism throughout his 2016 presidential campaign (and throughout much of his career), his supporters have shared the above-displayed photograph as proof that Trump is not racist. When The American Mirror published this photograph on 4 September 2016, they asserted that Trump had never been accused of racism before he ran for president (which is demonstrably false) and argued that if Trump were a racist, he would have never posed for a photograph with Ali and Parks: The American Mirror false No one accused Donald Trump of being a racist until he decided to run for president and became a threat to Hillary Clintons return to power. In 1986, Trump joined several other prominent Americans, such as Rosa Parks and Muhammad Ali, as recipients of an Ellis Island Award. One suspects if Trump was a racist, theres no way he would have posed for a photo with those two. The photograph is real. It was taken on 27 October 1986 by Getty photographer Yvonne Hemsey at a ceremony honoring the recipients of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. (Joe DiMaggio, Victor Borge, and Anita Bryant are also featured in the photograph.) Getty The Ellis Island Medal of Honor is awarded each year in celebration of \"patriotism, tolerance, brotherhood and diversity\": Medal of Honor The Ellis Island Medals of Honor embody the spirit of America in their celebration of patriotism, tolerance, brotherhood and diversity. They recognize individuals who have made it their mission to share with those less fortunate their wealth of knowledge, indomitable courage, boundless compassion, unique talents and selfless generosity; all while maintaining the traditions of their ethnic heritage as they uphold the ideals and spirit of America. As always, NECO remains dedicated to the maintenance and restoration of Americas greatest symbol of its immigrant history, Ellis Island. Trump was one of 80 individuals to receive the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 1986, the first year that the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations handed out the award. However,  1986 the fact that Donald Trump received the award and posed for a photograph says little about his motivations or whether or not he has racist tendencies, only that he received an award and participated in a ceremony meant to honor him (and others). Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was similarly honored with the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 1999. honored The New York Times.  \"80 Named as Recipients of Ellis Island Awards.\"\r  16 October 1986.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1kfLZEmfz5V9k9za6z8uBPPb6uG5w8lqO","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_608","claim":"They're saying that 40 percent of the traffic that goes over [the Sakonnet River Bridge is from] out of state.","posted":"02\/20\/2012","sci_digest":[],"justification":"State Rep. John Jay Edwards was a guest on WHJJ's Helen Glover show when the issue of requiring motorists to pay a toll to cross the Sakonnet River Bridge, which connects Portsmouth and Tiverton and serves as a main thoroughfare to and from Aquidneck Island, came up. Edwards represents both towns. \"It's just another tax on the people who live in East Bay,\" he said. \"I'm sure there is going to be a split fare between the people who have a Rhode Island E-ZPass and those who do not. They're saying that 40 percent of the traffic that goes over that is from out of state.\" Glover expressed skepticism over that percentage. \"I think that's mostly locals commuting for jobs,\" she said. It sounded like the perfect thing to track down. We called Edwards to find out precisely who they are. He told us he got the information from the Rhode Island Department of Transportation and mentioned that he had his own doubts about the factoid. \"I think they may be using it to make it sound more palatable,\" he said. When we contacted the DOT, spokesman Bryan Lucier wrote to us, saying, \"The Director [Michael Lewis] has stated publicly that approximately 40 percent of the traffic is from out of state.\" Lucier explained that the percentage comes from a DOT study that tracked license plate numbers. He told us that 38.2 percent of the cars and trucks traveling southbound\u2014from Tiverton to Portsmouth\u2014had out-of-state plates, while 31.4 percent were going northbound. The average daily out-of-state volume was 35.1 percent, not 40. The traffic count was conducted on just two days in the middle of winter\u2014January 26, a Thursday, and January 28, a Saturday\u2014and was only from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding the afternoon rush hour. Among the out-of-state vehicles, 90 percent had Massachusetts license plates, 2 percent were from Connecticut, and 1 percent were from New Hampshire, New York, and New Jersey. The bridge currently has an 18-ton weight limit, which requires many trucks to detour around it. Lucier stated that the expectation is that when the bridge is replaced, truck traffic will increase, thereby raising the percentage of out-of-state vehicles using it. Our ruling: Rep. John Edwards said, \"They're saying that 40 percent of the traffic that goes over [the Sakonnet River Bridge] is from out of state.\" The DOT confirms that Edwards is correctly quoting Michael Lewis, who has been stating approximately 40 percent, based on a two-day traffic study commissioned by the DOT that concludes the actual percentage is 35. Clearly, when he was talking to Glover, Edwards indicated that the data wasn't his, and he later expressed doubts about its accuracy. It turns out he may have reason for skepticism. We rate the statement made by Lewis and repeated by Edwards as Mostly True. (Get updates from PolitiFactRI on Twitter. To comment or offer your ruling, visit us on our PolitiFact Rhode Island Facebook page.)","issues":["Rhode Island","State Budget","Transportation"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_609","claim":"Parkland Memorial Hospital and Undocumented Immigrants","posted":"11\/07\/2006","sci_digest":["Fact Check: Were 70% of the women who gave birth at Parkland Hospital in 2006 illegal immigrants?"],"justification":"Claim:  70% of the women who gave birth at Parkland Memorial Hospital in the first three months of 2006 were illegal immigrants. Example:  [Collected via e-mail, 2006] Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas is a fairly famous institution and for a variety of reasons:  1. John F. Kennedy died there in 19632. Lee Harvey Oswald died there shortly after3. Jack Ruby, who killed Lee Harvey Oswald, died there a few years later by coincidence On the flip side, Parkland is also home to the second busiest maternity ward in the country with almost 16,000 new babies arriving each year. (That's almost 44 per day  every day) A recent patient survey indicated that 70 percent of the women who gave birth at Parkland in the first three months of 2006 were illegal immigrants.' Crikey, that's 11,200 anchor babies born every year just in Dallas. According to the article, the hospital spent $70.7 million delivering 15,938 babies in 2004 but managed to end up with almost $8 million dollars in surplus funding. Medicaid kicked in $34.5 million, Dallas County taxpayers kicked in $31.3 million and the feds tossed in another $9.5 million. The average patient in Parkland's maternity wards is 25 years old, married and giving birth to her second child. She is also an illegal immigrant. By law, pregnant women cannot be denied medical care based on their immigration status or ability to pay. OK, fine. That doesn't mean they should receive better care than everyday, middle-class American citizens. But at Parkland Hospital, they do. Parkland Memorial Hospital has nine prenatal clinics. NINE. The Dallas Morning News article followed a Hispanic woman who was a patient at one of the clinics and pregnant with her third child  her previous two were also born at Parkland. Her first two deliveries werefree and the Mexican native was grateful because it would have cost $200 to have them in Mexico. This time, the hospital wants her to pay $10 per visit and $100 for the delivery but she was unsure if she could come up with the money. Not that it matters, the hospital won't turn her away. (I wonder why they even bother asking at this point.) How long has this been going on? What are the long-term effects? Well, another subject of the article was born at Parkland in 1986 shortly after her mother entered the U.S. illegally  now she is having her own child there as well. (That's right, she's technically a U.S. citizen.) These women receive free prenatal care including medication, nutrition, birthing classes and child care classes. They also get freebies such as car seats, bottles, diapers and formula. Most of these things are available to American citizens as well but only for low-income applicants and even then, the red tape involved is almost insurmountable. Because these women are illegal immigrants they do not have to provide any sort of legitimate  identification  no proof of income. An American citizen would have to provide a social security number which would reveal their annual income  an illegal immigrant need only claim to be poor and the hospital must take them at their word. My husband is a pilot for the United States Navy (yes, he fought in Iraq) and while the health care is good, we Navy wives don't get any of these perks! Car seats? Diapers? Not so much. So my question is this: Does our public medical care system treat illegal immigrants better than American citizens? Yes it does! As I mentioned, the care I have received is perfectly adequate but it's bare bones, meat and potato medical care  not top of line. Their (the illegals) medical care is free  simply because they are illegal immigrants? Once again, there is no way to verify their income. Parkland Hospital offers indigent care to Dallas County earn less than $40,000 per year. (They also have to prove that they did not refuse health coverage at their current job. Yeah, the 'free' care is not so easy for Americans.) There are about 140 patients who received roughly $4 million dollars for un-reimbursed medical care. As it turns out, they did not qualify for free treatment because they resided outside of Dallas County. So the hospital is going to sue them! Illegals get it all free! But U.S. citizens who live outside of Dallas County get sued! How stupid is this? As if that isn't annoying enough, the illegal immigrant patients are actually complaining about hospital staff not speaking Spanish. In this AP story, the author speaks with a woman who is upset that she had to translate comments from the hospital staff into Spanish for her husband. The doctor was trying to explain the situation to the family and the mother was forced to translate for her husband who only spoke Spanish. This was apparently a great injustice to her. In an attempt to create a Spanish-speaking staff, Parkland Hospital is now providing incentives in the form of extra pay for applicants who speak Spanish. Additionally, medical students at the University of Texas Southwestern for which Parkland Hospital is the training facility will now have a Spanish language requirement added to their already jammed-packed curriculum. No other school in the country boasts such a ridiculous multi-semester (multicultural) requirement. Origins:  Dallas' Parkland Memorial Hospital is familiar even to many non-Texans as the site where both President John F. Kennedy and his assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald (who was himself shot by Jack Ruby), were transported for emergency life-saving procedures in November 1963. Now, in 2006, Parkland Memorial is well known for its maternity program, which includes nine prenatal clinics and employs 72 doctors training to  become obstetricians-gynecologists and 45 nurse-midwives. According to the Dallas Morning News, in 2005 Parkland Memorial staff delivered 15,590 babies, an average of more than 42 infants per day. In a pair of June 2006 articles, the Morning News reported that a recent patient survey indicated 70% of the women who gave birth at Parkland in the first three months of 2006 were illegal immigrants (while a similar New York Times article pegged the yearly tally for 2005 as \"at least 56%\").  The hospital spent $70.7 million delivering babies born there in 2004, with taxpayers covering about 40% of the costs ($31.3 million) directly, and federal and state funds (primarily Medicaid) making up the remainder.  Because of large payments from the Medicaid system, Parkland still ended 2004 with a $7.9 million surplus in obstetrics. A recent hospital analysis concluded that the average maternity ward patient at Parkland is a 25-year-old, married Hispanic woman giving birth to her second child.  The Parkland staff does not ask maternity patients whether they are illegal immigrants, so the preponderance of illegal aliens among this group has to be inferred through other means.)  (Under the 1986 Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act [EMTALA], hospitals are obligated to provide care to pregnant women in need of emergency help, and those that fail to do so are subject to fines of up to $50,000 per violation and exclusion from Medicare and state health care programs.)  EMTALA Parkland's policies contrast with those of the public hospital system in neighboring Tarrant County: Uninsured Hispanic immigrants with uncertain immigration status have flocked in recent years to public hospital emergency rooms and maternity wards in Texas, California and other border states. Their care has swelled costs for struggling hospitals and increased the health care bills that fall to states and counties, giving ammunition to opponents of illegal immigration who complain of undue burdens on local taxpayers.  As a result, health care has become one of the sorest issues in the border states' debate over illegal immigration. Facing harsh criticism from residents, public hospitals are confronted with an uneasy decision: demand immigration documents from patients and deny subsidized care to those who lack them, or follow the public health principle of providing basic care to anyone who needs it.  In Texas, two of the biggest public hospitals chose differently.  The Parkland Health and Hospital System, which serves Dallas County, offers low-cost care to low-income residents with no questions asked about immigration status.  \"I don't want my doctors and nurses to be immigration agents,\" said Dr. Ron J. Anderson, the president of Parkland. \"We decided that these are folks living in our community and we needed to render the care.\" In Fort Worth, in neighboring Tarrant County, JPS Health Network requires foreign-born patients to show legal immigration documents to receive financial assistance in nonemergencies, like elective surgery and the treatment of routine or chronic illnesses. Executives said that their first responsibility was to legal residents, but that they were uncomfortable about having to make such distinctions. Administrators from both hospital systems indicated that some of the common assumptions made about immigrants who seek medical care at those facilities (and at other Texas hospitals) are misconceptions: While Texas border hospitals often get \"anchor babies\"  children of Mexican women who dart across the border to give birth to an American citizen  most illegal immigrants who go to major hospitals in Texas can show that they have been living here for years, said Ernie Schmid, policy director at the Texas Hospital Association. Many immigrant families have mixed status; often a patient with no documents has a spouse or children who are legal.  Most immigrant patients have jobs and pay taxes, through paycheck deductions or property taxes included in their rent, administrators at the Dallas and Fort Worth hospitals said. At both institutions, they have a better record of paying their bills than low-income Americans do, the administrators said.  The largest group of illegal immigrant patients is pregnant women, hospital figures show. Contrary to popular belief here, their care is not paid for through local taxes. Under a 2002 amendment to federal regulations, the births are covered by federal taxes through Medicaid because their children automatically become American citizens.  These cases are not affected by new regulations that went into effect on July 1 [2006] requiring Medicaid patients to provide proof of citizenship, Texas health officials said. They said they believed that only small numbers of illegal immigrants had received other Medicaid benefits.    Last updated:  25 August 2015     Sources:   Jacobsen, Sherry.  \"Parkland Is Brimming with Babies.\"   Dallas Morning News.  11 June 2006.    Jacobsen, Sherry.  \"Parkland Will Treat All Moms-to-Be.\"   Dallas Morning News.  12 June 2006.    Preston, Julia.  \"Texas Hospitals' Separate Paths Reflect the Debate on Immigration.\"   The New York Times.  18 July 2006  (p. A1).","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_610","claim":"Free Glasses for Kids at Target","posted":"04\/08\/2009","sci_digest":["Target stores with optical departments are offering free eyeglasses to children 12 and under?"],"justification":"Target stores with optical departments are offering free eyeglasses to children 12 and under. [Collected via e-mail, April 2009] PLEASE PASS ON! THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO ASSIST THOSE IN OUR COMMUNITIES WHO WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO REPAIR OR PURCHASE GLASSES FOR CHILDREN. If you have a child or know someone who does (ages 12 and under), they can get a FREE pair of eyeglasses from Target. Target is running a special promotion for their optical service. It could end at any time but will definitely conclude no later than April 29th. Children 12 and under can receive a free pair of glasses. They need to bring in a valid prescription for glasses from their doctor, and Target will allow the child to choose from about 40 different frames. They will place the best lenses in the frames, which are non-glare and scratch-resistant and normally sell for $200.00. There are no income guidelines; any child 12 or under is eligible. You can find stores with optical departments at www.target.com to confirm their participation before making a trip to the store. Please pass this information on to anyone who can benefit from this promotional offer. If you know someone with lost or broken glasses, please share this information with them ASAP, as the promotion could end at any time. They would like families to come in as soon as possible. Unfortunately, during troubled economic times, ordinary (i.e., non-urgent) health care is one of the first things many families have to eliminate from their budgets\u2014not just routine doctor visits, but also regular dental and optical checkups may go by the wayside, especially among families who have no insurance to cover such services. The announcement that Target stores with optical departments are offering free eyeglasses to children 12 and under would therefore seem to be a welcome announcement to many parents: It would mean they could get their children's existing eyeglasses replaced for free, and even if they had to pay for optical exams to obtain new or updated eye prescriptions for their children, they could rest assured that those prescriptions would be filled free at Target for children 12 and under. Sounds too good to be true? That's what we thought, especially when we noted that the Optical section of Target's website makes no mention of any such promotion. (They merely offer coupons for discounts on glasses, contacts, and premium lenses.) So, we contacted Target's Customer Relations department to inquire about this promotion and were told that they were offering such a deal, but only in a very limited sense. The \"free eyeglasses to children 12 and under\" promotion was a pilot program currently available only in a few stores in select areas (e.g., Kansas City, Kansas). However, that pilot program has now ended, as a Target Optical marketing manager communicated to us on 10 April 2009: At Target Optical, we believe strongly in our value, products, and services and wanted to introduce Target shoppers to the unique shopping experience that we offer. So, to introduce more Target shoppers to our stores, during the month of March, we offered families a way to try Target Optical for free through our Free Kids Eyeglasses promotion. The Free Kids Eyeglasses promotion is now over. It was a limited-time offer in seven stores within the greater Kansas City area. We were pleased to distribute over 1,000 pairs of free children's eyeglasses during this event. Last updated: 10 April 2009.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_611","claim":"Hiroshima vs. Detroit","posted":"08\/11\/2016","sci_digest":["Circulating images purport to compare the effects of urban decay in Detroit with the destruction of Hiroshima, Japan by an atomic bomb during World War II."],"justification":"The photo montage displayed above is one of dozens circulating online since 2009, purporting to demonstrate that 50-plus years of rule by the Democratic Party wrought a level of destruction on Detroit comparable to that caused by the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan in 1945. Some versions have sought to make the case verbally, as well. For example:What has caused more long term destruction - the A-bomb, or Government welfare programs created to buy the votes of those who want someone to take care of them? Japan does not have a welfare system. Work for it or do without. These are possibly the 5 best sentences youll ever read and all applicable to this experiment: 1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. 2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. 3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. 4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it! 5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.   The comparison of 2010 Detroit to 1945 Hiroshima is grotesquely forced, however, as is the implication that Democratic policies are wholly to blame for the Detroit's decline since World War II. We'll start our analysis with the images, some of which are inaccurately labeled. Beginning with the upper left-hand photo, it is, in fact, an aerial view of the hypocenter (ground zero) of the atomic bomb explosion over Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, taken a few months after the fact. Here's a larger view of the image: hypocenter Working clockwise, the next image in the set supposedly depicts modern-day Hiroshima  except that it doesn't. It's actually a snapshot taken from the Landmark Tower Sky Garden in Yokohama, Japan much like this one from Flickr: Flickr   That having been pointed out, it's true that Hiroshima was rebuilt from its ashes and is now a beautiful and modern city. Nor is it too terribly hard to find an actual photo of it. rebuilt photo The photo at bottom-right  though taken in 2013, not 2010  does show a dilapidated building (of which there are plenty) on the east side of Detroit. It's the former Packard Automotive Plant, which closed in the late 1950s: plenty closed   However, the thing to note about the use of this image to portray Detroit as a locus of Hiroshima-like devastation is that all we actually see is one long-abandoned, crumbling building. It doesn't make the case. Lastly, we're shown a photo supposedly depicting Detroit in its mid-1940s heyday  except that it was taken in the mid-1930s. It's an aerial view of Navin Field (later Tiger Stadium): Navin Field   Granted, for the purposes of argument it doesn't really matter whether the above photo was taken in the '30s or '40s  the point remains that Detroit once had a teeming population, abundant jobs, and a booming economy. In 1950 it was the fourth-largest city in the United States, but no longer. The question is, who was responsible? There's no simple explanation (and therefore no single scapegoat at whom to point fingers) for Detroit's long, slow descent to bankruptcy. Scott Martelle, author of Detroit: A Biography, offered this capsule summary in an op-ed column published in 2011: column The collapse of Detroit has roots in intentional de-industrialization by the Big Three automakers, which in the 1950s began aggressively spider-webbing operations across the nation to produce cars closer to regional markets, and to reduce labor costs by investing in less labor-friendly places than union-heavy Detroit. Their flight was augmented by government policies that, in the 1970s and 1980s particularly, forced municipalities and states to compete with each other for jobs by offering corporate tax breaks and other inducements to keep or draw business investments, a bit of whipsawing that helped companies profit at the expense of communities. Another summary of Detroit's decline cited issues such as the city's dependence on a single industry (i.e., automobiles), decades of racial tensions, shortcomings of leadership (stretching back to the 1930s), and the lack of an efficient transit system. decline Did Democrats and Democratic policies play some role in the fall of Detroit? Surely they did. Every Detroit mayor since 1962 has been a Democrat, after all. But Republicans held the seat for the 12 years prior to that, from 1950 through 1961. The Packard plant whose hollowed-out remains were displayed above closed its doors during that time. Whatever blame is to be allotted to politicians must be shared by both Democrats and Republicans on the national level, as well. Detroit's decline since World War II took place during periods when both parties held the presidency and\/or controlled Congress. Finally, the specific suggestion that Detroit's downfall was an unintended consequence of the spread of social welfare programs while Hiroshima's dramatic recovery is at least partially attributable to the lack of same in Japan is based on misinformation. Japan has maintained strong public health care and social welfare programs in one form or another since the 1920s. Yet Hiroshima was rebuilt and flourished just the same. maintained  Drury, Flora.\"A City Rebuilt from the Ashes.\"\rDaily Mail Online.5 August 2015. Martelle, Scott.\"The Collapse of Detroit.\"\rLos Angeles Times.27 March 2011. \"Anatomy of Detroit's Decline.\"\rNew York Times.8 December 2013. \"Zombieland: The Abandoned Buildings of Detroit.\"\rBeaumont Enterprise.18 July 2013.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1HXdvUd0GM1CUAi3lN_fAQq57YHIZ-q9Z","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=18CqvJaILttJVA1iv6Bbqt027rRjlgFqn","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1yvc2sUHFRU6G5zDMKhuMjgpSrli28Luc","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_612","claim":"Close Encounters of the Blurred Kind","posted":"11\/09\/2015","sci_digest":["Photographs of an \"alien\" found in San Jose are likely pictures of a deer fetus, and they clearly aren't being removed from Facebook as part of a cover-up."],"justification":"Claim: A photograph taken shortly after a California \"UFO sighting\" depicts a dead alien creature. Example: [Collected via e-mail, November 2015] It seems this is going viral on Facebook. People are discussing a missile launch and the subsequent \"lights,\" then stating they heard screaming and found this \"alien\" or animal: \"In Southern California, everybody noticed a bright, weird light. The government tried to tell everyone it was a test of a missile launch. And now people in San Jose, CA, are seeing dead aliens lying around, and Facebook deletes it every time someone mentions it.\" Origins: On 7 November 2015, social media users (and subsequently, the regular news media) reported an unidentified bright light spotted and photographed in the skies above California. The following day, Facebook user Gianna Peponis and a Reddit user shared the above-reproduced photographs, claiming the images were taken shortly after reports about the bright light appeared. It wasn't clear who initially uploaded the photographs to the Internet, and the images' origins were further obscured by the fact that the Facebook poster either deleted or locked the initial, most popular set of photographs. Her page featured subsequent screenshots of that initial photo set, which lacked any proof that the pictures were taken or posted after the bright light event and left open the possibility that the user exploited an existing rumor about a UFO sighting to spread photographs unrelated to the incident. Several Facebook posts and multiple e-mails we received maintained that the photographs were \"deleted\" (presumably by Facebook as part of a government cover-up of extraterrestrial sightings), but the user in question herself denied that her pictures were removed by a third party. On 9 November 2015, a Facebook user asked her whether the mysteriously missing first image was deleted in that fashion, to which she replied, \"nope.\" When pressed for the location of the creature seen in the images, she replied that it was \"buried.\" The Reddit thread in question was also presented as a first-person account, titled \"Friend found this outside her house. Wtf indeed...\" It's worth noting that r\/WTF (the subreddit in which the images gained the most traction) was rife with \"karma whoring,\" a practice wherein users repurpose existing photographs with a compelling backstory appended to them in order to accumulate upvotes and amplify their status on the site. The user who shared the images to r\/WTF had a scant comment history prior to publishing the thread and did not subsequently comment on it. A separate Reddit thread on r\/aliens (titled \"My sister's friend found this in her yard... Anyone have any idea what it is? In San Jose, CA\") similarly presented the claim as a first-person one, posting a comment in that discussion to share two additional mobile phone screenshots of the purported alien. The images were originally published to Facebook on 5 November 2015 by a user in Pleasant Hope, Missouri. As such, they were demonstrably not taken at a later date in San Jose, California. The Orange County Sheriff's Department addressed the \"light in the sky\" rumors on Twitter shortly after calls began flooding in, and prior to the publication of photographs of the San Jose \"alien\" on social media: #OCSDPIO: Light seen in OC sky was confirmed through JWA tower to be a Naval test fire off the coast. No further details. OC Sheriff, CA (@OCSD) November 8, 2015. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported on the unusual lights in the sky that same night: A mysterious light that streaked across San Diego's night sky Saturday, visible as far away as Nevada and Arizona, was a Trident missile test-fired by the Navy. Navy Strategic Systems Programs conducted the scheduled Trident II (D5) missile test flight at sea from the Kentucky, an Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine, in the Pacific Test Range off the coast of Southern California, a Navy spokesman said. The test was part of a scheduled, ongoing system evaluation test, said Cmdr. Ryan Perry with the Navy's Third Fleet. The test range is a massive area northwest of Los Angeles. The Navy periodically uses the range to test fire Tomahawk and Standard cruise missiles from surface ships and submarines. In fact, news of potential military activity in the airspace surrounding LAX was announced by the airport on 6 November 2015, prior to the sightings in the sky: Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) officials report that the Federal Aviation Administration's LAX Tower indicates that the military airspace to the west of LAX will be active for one week, creating traffic route limitations and requiring LAX to temporarily deviate from Over-Ocean Operations. The deviations began on November 6 and continued through November 12. LAX normally operates in Over-Ocean Operations from midnight to 6:30 a.m., wherein aircraft arrive and depart over the ocean to minimize noise disturbance to the communities directly east of the airport. Active military airspace will require the airport to temporarily deviate from this air traffic flow configuration and to remain in westerly operations (aircraft arriving and departing westbound) for the next seven nights. As a result, persons living near the airport may notice a change in aircraft flight activity and associated noise, airport officials said. While it's unlikely many folks kept abreast of LAX's latest news releases, the activity later reported as being alien-related was anticipated as part of scheduled military exercises. Here's a photograph of the phenomenon as captured by one of our correspondents in San Diego: As with prior claims about alien corpses, the rumor's originators were unable or unwilling to produce more than a photograph of a photograph to substantiate their claims. One user stated that the remains were \"buried,\" conveniently blocking them from any sort of examination. As one Reddit commenter pointed out, the images all closely resembled a partially consumed deer fetus more than anything else. The 7 November 2015 \"light in the sky\" was not only later explained by the Navy, but it had also been previously announced by LAX. Multiple social media users claimed photographs of what looked to be a fetal deer depicted a creature found dead in the area after the \"sighting,\" even though no one stepped forward to further substantiate the assertion with additional proof or images. And although the rumor was spread in part by people claiming the images were deleted in an attempt to conceal the discovery, that claim was contradicted by the appearance of the same photographs across online outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit. Last updated: 9 November 2015. Originally published: 9 November 2015.","issues":["lien"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1RHvd0xRzudSpYMvwthyTaWn_FslXu3Rp","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=185IQPYlMds30osckSnPLm_7FVmzikvJr","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1_0iNVHW6EeMM0bG2-GyPQJ9vAfUE9ZtU","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1KOtTzWA6i_bwjhCalaTjPtBZvsL8QLny","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_613","claim":"The riches of the Rothschild family.","posted":"10\/29\/2016","sci_digest":["The Rothschild family is rich, but claims that they have a net worth of $500 trillion and own 80% of the world's wealth are grossly exaggerated."],"justification":"Images reflecting an old rumor about the Rothschild Family's unimaginable accumulated global wealth hold that the Rothschilds are worth $500 trillion and hold more than 80% of the world's total wealth:   While the Rothschilds are indeed very wealthy, claims about their net worth such as the ones displayed above are grossly exaggerated. Conspiracy theories concerning the Rothschild family date back to the 18th century, and the family's wealth was largely responsible for the anti-semitic belief that \"Jews control the world's money supply.\" The Rothschilds are frequently associated with theories about the Illuminati, the New World Order, and other dark money groups that supposedly pull the strings of world governments, and the Rothschilds have been blamed for everything from starting wars for personal gain to funding the Holocaust to assassinating U.S. presidents. Skeptoid delved into the Rothschild family history in 2012, noting that: history The greatest of these financial adepts was Mayer Amschel Rothschild, born in 1744 in a Jewish slum of Frankfurt. Not much is known about his early life, as his was one of tens of thousands of marginalized, outcast families. But once he came of age he became an apprentice at a small bank in Hamburg, where he learned the trade. Returning to Frankfurt at the age of 19, he offered his own banking services in a modest way, beginning with trading of rare coins and related investments. He was energetic, clever, and most of all he was charismatic. And he was smart, seeking out wealthy clientele, and associating with nobility whenever he could. By the age of 40, he had consolidated his most important business contact: the Landgrave William, the Elector of Hesse, one of only a tiny number of nobles empowered to elect the Holy Roman Emperor. When William was younger, he had engaged in the trading of rare coins with Mayer's father, and so the two had always known one another. When William inherited his own father's massive fortune, his friendship with Mayer Rothschild gave Mayer the ability to begin conducting larger international transactions. This was the point at which the Rothschild name became first involved with the manipulation of money behind the scenes of wars. Mayer was a firm believer in family business, and insisted on using his own sons  by then he had five  as his business partners. What he did next became the model for many powerful Jewish financiers who followed: He installed each of his five sons as his agents in the five major financial centers of Europe: the eldest Amschel Mayer Rothschild in Frankfurt, Salomon Mayer Rothschild in Vienna, Nathan Mayer Rothschild in London, Calmann Mayer Rothschild in Naples, and the youngest Jakob Mayer Rothschild in Paris. Although the Rothschild family has amassed great wealth since the 1700s, claims that they have a net worth of $500 trillion or that they own 80% of the world's wealth are problematic. For one, the world's total wealth was estimated as of 2015 to be only $250 trillion, half of what the Rothchilds alone are claimed to possess: wealth Global wealth reached 250 trillion US dollars in 2015, slightly less than a year earlier, due to adverse exchange rate movements. The underlying wealth trends do, however, generally remain positive, according to the Credit Suisse Research Institute's annual \"Global Wealth Report.\" Also, the Rothschilds began acquiring their wealth in the 1700s, and since then the family has spawned hundreds of descendants, so there is no longer any centralized Rothschild family wealth.  The closest thing to a \"Rothschild Family\" business in 2016 is the Rothschild Group, a multinational investment banking company, but that firm does not in itself generate nearly enough income to back up claims about the family's wealth. In 2015, the Rothschild Group's annual revenue was approximately $500 million. In comparison, the world's largest company, Walmart, has an annual revenue of nearly $500 billion. annual Walmart It should also be noted that only one member of the Rothschild family is included among Forbes' 2015 list of the world's billionaires: Benjamin de Rothschild, who was ranked at number #1121 with a net worth of $1.61 billion.  list While the Rothschild family certainly was one of the world's most significant financial powers in centuries past, they no longer wield the same sort of influence over global affairs. Dunning, B.  \"The Rothschild Conspiracy.\" \r  Skeptoid Media.  22 May 2012.  Kersley, Richard.  \"Global Wealth in 2015: Underlying Trends Remain Positive.\"\r  Credit Suisse.  13 October 2013.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1qf0xH2vlnVyRidzT1tBGG_JBCFw8WGcR"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1T4wmfr605BZqunLHdG8HARzf3eosCLSO"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_614","claim":"Woman Births Octopus","posted":"03\/06\/2000","sci_digest":["Did a woman give birth to an octopus, lizard, frog, fish, or snake?"],"justification":"In his 1948 book The Affairs of Dame Rumor, Jacobson mentions this rumor \"flooded the Atlantic states in 1934\" and notes the story had been published in the Boston Traveler a few years earlier: Example: [Brunvand, 1984] This teen age girl, growing up in a California coastal town, was obviously pregnant  stomach starting to swell, morning sickness, etc. She, however, tearfully insisted to her mother that she couldn't possibly be pregnant. She had never \"done it\" with a boy and it just wasn't possible. As time went on, however, the signs continued. Her stomach continued to grow, her appetite increased, and so forth. Her mother insisted she was pregnant. The girl insisted it wasn't possible. She was still a \"good\" girl. Finally x-rays were taken and the girl was vindicated. She had a large tumor in her stomach and surgery was performed immediately. To everyone's amazement the surgeons removed not a tumor but a small, live octopus that had fastened itself to the lining of the girl's stomach. What happened to this girl supposedly is really possible. Octopus eggs are microscopic in size and laid in clusters of tens of thousands. They are usually affixed to kelp at the ocean bottom by a sticky secretion. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that a few could escape and float to the surface where they could be swallowed by an unsuspecting swimmer . Anyway, don't scoff, because the girl was a close friend of my older brother's girlfriend. Fishbein's 1930 book Shattering Health Superstitions includes the text of the Traveler piece: A London factory girl is reported to have swallowed something while taking a swim, and immediately after was seized with terrible pains. A local doctor and a specialist both failed to diagnose the case, but an X-ray examination finally showed that she had swallowed an octopus egg, which had hatched out inside her anatomy. Folklorist Jan Brunvand points out there is a traditional folk motif assigned to this type of tale:  B784.1.4  Girl swallows frog spawn; an octopus grows inside her with tentacles reaching to every part of her body. How an octopus can grow from frog spawn remains unexplained, however. There are numerous versions of the basic legend:  All of these tales might be considered variations of the \"bosom serpent\" legend, described by Harold Schecter as a tale in which \"through some unfortunate circumstance or act of carelessness . a snake. is accidentally ingested by, or grows inside the body of, the unlucky individual, where it remains until it is expelled or in some way lured out of the victim's body.\" This motif remains popular in films such as Alien, which features a crew member \"impregnated\" by an alien creature; once the incubation period is complete, the alien lifeform is \"born\" by bursting out through his chest. As Schechter notes, \"like the traditional, oral versions that have been popular for hundreds of years, [the] only purpose [of the birth scene in Alien] is to produce emotional response: shock, revulsion, morbid fascination.\" In June 2004 the Iranian daily Etemaad reported that an unnamed woman from the south-eastern city of Iranshahr had given birth to a frog. According to that paper, the woman's gynaecologist confirmed that the lady in question, whose period had stopped for six months, had undergone sonography in May which showed she had a cyst in her abdomen and that following severe bleeding, she gave birth to a live grey frog accompanied with mud. Numerous news outlets subsequently carried the story, but in the manner of reporting that an Iranian paper had run the item, not as a confirmation of the facts of the account. If the photo of the frog (as initially provided by the BBC  it was later stripped from their online article and replaced by a map of Iraq) was accurate, it disproved the theory that the purported mother of Kermit came by her amphibian pregnancy through having swum in or drunk frog spawn, because the lily pad jumper so pictured was of a species not native to Iran. In any event, it was always a case of news outlets repeating a weird story that had come to them, not of vetting the tale's claims. Humans cannot give birth to frogs, or snakes, or fish, or lizards, or octopuses  our biology rules it out.  Also told in:   The Big Book of Urban Legends.  New York: Paradox Press, 1994.  ISBN 1-56389-165-4  (p. 77).  The Big Book of Urban Legends   Brunvand, Jan Harold.  The Choking Doberman.\r  New York: W. W. Norton, 1984.  ISBN 0-393-30321-7  (pp. 110-111). The Choking Doberman   BBC News.  \"Iranian Woman Gives Birth to Frog.\"\r  27 June 2004.   Dale, Rodney.  The Tumour in the Whale.\r  London: Duckworth, 1978.  ISBN 0-7156-1314-6  (pp. 74-75). The Tumour in the Whale   Fishbein, Morris.  Shattering Health Superstitions.\r  New York: Horace Liveright, Inc., 1930  (pp. 90-97).   Jacobson, David J.  The Affairs of Dame Rumor.\r  New York: Rinehart & Co., 1948  (p. 23). The Affairs of Dame Rumor   Schecter, Harold.  The Bosom Serpent: Folklore and Popular Art.\r  Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1988.","issues":["lien"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=16ceYchW0ViT_rV8fnULC--mETFkfVYGH","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_615","claim":"Did Trump Add 11.6M Jobs to U.S. Economy During Pandemic?","posted":"10\/12\/2020","sci_digest":["U.S. Vice President Mike Pence made the claim during a debate with Democratic rival U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris."],"justification":"Voting in the 2020 U.S. Election may be over, but misinformation continues to circulate. Never stop fact-checking. Follow our post-election coverage here. Facing Democratic rival U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris in a debate in October 2020, Vice President Mike Pence attempted to credit his boss, President Donald Trump, for developing policies that helped rebound the economy after unprecedented losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, Pence stated that the U.S. workforce added millions of jobs since the early days of the outbreak because of Trump's fiscal and regulatory policies. He said, \"We're going through a pandemic that lost 22 million jobs at the height; we've already added back 11.6 million jobs because we had a president who cut taxes, rolled back regulation, unleashed American energy, and fought for free and fair trade. [...] We literally have spared no expense to help the American people and the American worker through this.\" In other words, he claimed the Trump administration spearheaded a variety of initiatives that added 11.6 million jobs in the summer and fall of 2020, regaining nearly half of the roughly 22 million jobs lost at the start of the pandemic. The comment echoed multiple statements by Trump, in which he, too, attempted to praise the administration's successful balance of public health and economic interests. \"Our strategy to kill the China virus has focused on protecting those at greatest risk while allowing younger and healthy Americans to safely return to work and school,\" he said in August. \"We added 1.8 million new jobs in July, exceeding predictions for the third month in a row, and adding a total of over 9.3 million jobs since May.\" To determine the legitimacy of such assertions, we referred to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) \"seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll,\" which is the standard measurement for determining how U.S. wage and salary jobs change over time. The payroll data are compiled monthly via a survey of about 145,000 businesses and government agencies across the country, excluding people who are self-employed or work for farms or private households. When a news story stated that, for instance, the economy added \"661,000 new workers,\" that number typically referred to the month-to-month change in nonfarm payrolls\u2014661,000 more jobs were added in September compared to August 2020. We obtained monthly nonfarm payroll data, which showed: According to our analysis of the month-by-month statistics, the economy tallied almost 1.4 million fewer jobs in March compared to February. Then, the recession deepened, and April recorded 20.8 million fewer jobs than the month prior\u2014the steepest decline since the Great Depression. While Pence did not provide an explanation for his labor statistics at the debate, we assumed he was referencing the sum of job losses in March and April, showing employers cut about 22 million jobs during those two months, per the BLS data. After that, the country started a slow, steady recovery. The data show the following increases in job totals, all approximations, on a month-by-month basis: (We should note here that the monthly employment figures for August and September 2020 were both preliminary and subject to revision as of this writing.) Looking at the data, yes, about 11.4 million jobs were added to the U.S. economy between May and September, and the Trump administration's comments about the economy showing significant job growth since the early weeks of the pandemic were true at face value. However, that upward trend had little to do with the White House and everything to do with how businesses on a grand scale adapted to new rules on social distancing to curb the spread of the deadly virus. In March, for instance, California issued the first statewide \"stay-at-home order,\" and New York City closed all non-essential businesses\u2014both decisions that contributed to April's historic job loss. Then, over the weeks, employers developed plans for operating under public health officials' recommendations to curb the spread of COVID-19 and, as a result, were able to bring back workers who had been furloughed or reopen after a temporary shutdown. Those trends significantly impacted job growth in the U.S., not Trump. Additionally, a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan\u2014which was developed by Congress, not the White House, via the March Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act\u2014helped some small businesses bring back lost positions or keep workers who would otherwise have been laid off. That stimulus package's direct payments to Americans who earned $75,000 annually or less (or families that made up to $150,000 annually) may have also driven spending in the summer months and, consequently, kept some employers afloat after the initial shock to their profits earlier in the year. All of that said, no evidence showed that the Trump administration enacted policies\u2014whether related to taxes or trade\u2014that \"added back\" the jobs; rather, economic trends shifted from the early days of the outbreak during mass furloughs and business closures. Here's the bottom line: Presidential administrations often exaggerate their influence on the economy\u2014especially when employment is showing somewhat positive signs\u2014regardless of whether they're leading the country during a crisis like the COVID-19 outbreak or in comparatively normal times. As Neil Irwin wrote for The New York Times in January 2017, just days before Trump's inauguration: \"The reality is that presidents have far less control over the economy than you might imagine. Presidential economic records are highly dependent on the dumb luck of where the nation is in the economic cycle. And the White House has no control over the demographic and technological forces that influence the economy.\" Additionally, the White House had little influence on how businesses quickly adapted to recommendations by public health officials to safely operate during the pandemic. For those reasons, we rate this claim a \"Mixture\" of truth and falsehoods. It was true that the country added back about half of the jobs lost during the early months of the pandemic, though it was a false misinterpretation of economic conditions to tie that job growth to Trump policies or to claim that he \"cut taxes, rolled back regulation, unleashed American energy, and fought for free and fair trade,\" as Pence alleged, and that those moves directly added jobs. Here's video footage of Pence making the claim on the vice presidential debate stage, courtesy of C-SPAN: https:\/\/www.c-span.org\/video\/?c4913299\/user-clip-vp-pence-jobs-claim. Factba.se. \"Press Conference: Donald Trump Holds A Coronavirus Pandemic Briefing In Bedminster - August 7, 2020.\" Accessed 9 October 2020. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. \"BLS Data Viewer.\" 9 October 2020. Reuters staff. \"Timeline: How the Global Coronavirus Pandemic Unfolded.\" Accessed 12 October 2020.","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ogzxWwVfm0sA9OjyPiC2lOS8vCP75ZL-","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_616","claim":"Says Texas law requires state agencies to give preference to goods produced and grown in Texas.","posted":"06\/12\/2013","sci_digest":[],"justification":"In vetoingHouse Bill 535, a measure dealing with how state agencies select and buy goods, Gov. Rick Perry said, Current law already requires state agencies to give preference to goods produced and grown in Texas. Perry said in apress releaseMay 25, 2013, the day of the veto, that HB 535 requires state agencies, when purchasing goods, to give preference to goods manufactured in Texas. This bill simply does not change current law. Soon after, a reader emailed us to ask: Is this truly in current law? The law that the bill would have modified is inSection 2155.444of the state's Government Code, which says that when making purchases of goods, including agricultural products, the comptroller and state agencies shall give preference to those produced or grown in this state or offered by Texas bidders. Next, the law says, goods from elsewhere in the United States must be considered. State law has contained Texas-first purchasing preferences for more than 50 years. According to a May 4, 1981, state attorney generalopinion, the Legislature created Texas preferences with a 1957 law which replaced an older statute favoring bidders who have an established local business. The1957 law, according to the opinion, created a preference for products produced in Texas as well as one for products offered by Texas citizens. HB 535, asfiledJan. 15, 2013,byRep. Yvonne Davis, D-Dallas, added manufactured to produced or grown and included a definition: Manufactured means, with respect to assembled goods, the final assembly, processing, packaging, testing, or other process that adds value, quality, or reliability. It added a requirement that the state comptroller shall promote the purchase of such Texas-grown or otherwise Texas-created goods. In the legislationsfinal version, that definition encompassed items produced as a result of a manufacturing process that alters the form or function of components in a way that adds value and transforms the parts into something different from what simply assembling the parts would have produced. Both versions also added a requirement that the state comptroller and state agencies promote the purchase of Texas goods. Ed Sills, spokesman for the Texas AFL-CIO labor federation, which supported the vetoed proposal, told us by phone that the combined effect of requiring such promotion, emphasizing manufactured goods and encouraging agencies to buy Texan, buy American could have been powerful. Current law does have preferences. It doesnt have as robust a preference as it would have if this bill had passed, Sills said. A spokesman for the state comptrollers office -- whichcounselsstate agencies on purchasing -- said by email that the state interprets the current law to cover goods manufactured in Texas. R.J. DeSilva said, Texas agencies have always considered the term produced to include manufactured goods. Therefore, the preference for manufactured goods was already being provided. DeSilva sent us a link tocomptroller procurement rulesin the Texas Administrative Code stating, Supplies, materials, and equipment are considered to be produced in Texas if they are manufactured in Texas; manufactured does not include the work of packaging or repackaging. Our ruling Perry said, Current law already requires state agencies to give preference to goods produced and grown in Texas. That holds up. Existinglawsays that when making purchases of goods, the comptroller and state agencies shall give preference to those produced or grown in this state or offered by Texas bidders. And the comptroller operates under rules that say items manufactured in Texas are considered to be produced in Texas. We rate Perrys statement as True.","issues":["State Budget","Texas"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_617","claim":"CNN \/ MSNBC Alert Virus","posted":"08\/12\/2008","sci_digest":["Information about the 'CNN News Alert' virus lures."],"justification":"Virus: CNN \/ MSNBC News Alert Status: Real virus. Example: [Collected via e-mail, July 2008] Origins: The CNN News Alert mailings are new lures for an existing virus (rather than a new form of virus), but since they have garnered so much attention, we have created this separate entry for them. The mailings, which began in August 2008, typically arrive with subject lines such as \"CNN.com Daily Top 10,\" \"My CNN Alert,\" or \"CNN Alerts: Breaking news,\" and offer what appear to be links to news stories from the CNN website. However, clicking on the links takes the user not to the CNN website, but to a site that will initiate the download of a malicious executable onto the user's PC. (Variants of these mailings used MSNBC in place of CNN.) All of this camouflage serves as cover for the propagation of the Storm worm, a virus that has been around for a few years and has been spread under many guises. Because a recent incarnation of this virus lure invoked the name and symbol of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), that agency has issued a press release to warn the public about the misleading messages: Storm incarnation press release FBI Warns of Storm Worm Virus. The FBI and its partner, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), have received reports of recent spam e-mails spreading the Storm Worm malicious software, known as malware. These e-mails, which contain the phrase \"F.B.I. vs. Facebook,\" direct e-mail recipients to click on a link to view an article about the FBI and Facebook, a popular social networking website. The Storm Worm virus has also been spread in the past through e-mails advertising a holiday e-card link. Clicking on the link downloads malware onto the internet-connected device, causing it to become infected with the virus and part of the Storm Worm botnet. A botnet is a collection of compromised computers under the remote command and control of a criminal \"botherder.\" Most owners of the compromised computers are unsuspecting victims. They have unintentionally allowed unauthorized access and use of their computers as vehicles to facilitate other crimes, such as identity theft, denial of service attacks, phishing, click fraud, and the mass distribution of spam and spyware. Because of their widely distributed capabilities, botnets are a growing threat to national security, the national information infrastructure, and the economy. \"The spammers spreading this virus are preying on internet users and making their computers unwitting participants in criminal botnet activity. We urge citizens to help prevent the spread of botnets by becoming web-savvy. Following some simple computer security practices will reduce the risk that their computers will be compromised,\" said Special Agent Richard Kolko, Chief, FBI National Press Office. Everyone should consider the following: Do not respond to unsolicited (spam) e-mail. Be skeptical of individuals representing themselves as officials soliciting personal information via e-mail. Do not click on links contained within unsolicited e-mails. Be cautious of e-mails claiming to contain pictures in attached files, as the files may contain viruses. Only open attachments from known senders. Validate the legitimacy of the organization by directly accessing the organization's website rather than following an alleged link to the site. Do not provide personal or financial information to anyone who solicits information. Last updated: 12 August 2008 Sources: Colker, David. \"Don't Open 'FBI vs. Facebook' E-Mail, Lest You Lose the Storm Worm.\" Los Angeles Times. 3 August 2008. Durkin, Mike. \"FBI vs Facebook Email Thread Has 'Storm Worm' Virus.\" FOXNews.com. 30 July 2008.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1cPchPFtUiEZmMeHPyoD-7MoRxd0TVoTG","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_618","claim":"Failed Suicide by Gas","posted":"07\/06\/2001","sci_digest":["Woman unsuccessfully tries to gas herself to death, but the gas company has turned off service."],"justification":"Legend:  Woman unsuccessfully tries to gas herself to death only to discover the gas company has turned off service. Example:  [Healey & Glanvill, 1996] A social worker mate in Glasgow had to visit a woman who's been put through the mill due to the incompetent Tories' recession. The worst slump since the 1930s had decimated her life. Nothing was going right. The company she worked for had sacked her and then gone bust, so she'd had no redundancy money after sixteen years' service. Her husband had lost his well-paid job in the building trade and they'd fallen way behind on their mortgage. The house was about to be repossessed, but it had plummeted in value so they owed the building society more than it was worth. The car and furniture on HP had been taken by the bailiffs, and every letter was a final demand. Finally, the strain of living on the breadline had wrecked their marriage and her husband had left to build a new life for himself down south. It was the last straw; the poor woman had had enough, and decided to end it all. So she opened the oven, stuck her head inside and switched the gas full on. But she woke the next day with a stinking headache, to find the gas supply had been cut off. Origins:  Whenever a story sounds too pat to be true, that generally turns out to be the case  real life is rarely that neat. In this instance, a tired plotline has been resurrected to service a new theme: The Tory government of Britain so screws up this woman's life it makes it impossible for her to kill herself.  The theme of the gas having been turned off is as old as the hills, although this plot twist is usually resorted to in murder thrillers rather than suicide tales. From the 1946 book 101 Plots Used and Abused comes this description: Henry Smithers, in a rage, strikes his wife and kills her. In a panic, he has an inspiration  why not make it appear that she had committed suicide by turning on the gas? Ah, what a great idea! Henry carries the body to the gas range, places it so that the head rests inside, turns on the gas, and, leaving the house, goes off on a \"business trip.\" When he returns, he is arrested and charged with the crime. Unfortunately for Mr. Smithers, the gas company, carrying out an old threat, had turned off the gas shortly before the murder. This 1946 collection of overused storylines referred to this theme as \"bewhiskered,\" and rightly so. Still, it's nice to see so old a device used for a new purpose. Barbara \"gas masked\" Mikkelson Sightings:  The 1977 Kinks song \"Life Goes On\" contains the following stanza: My bank went broke and my well ran dry.It was almost enough to contemplate suicide.I turned on the gas, but I soon realizedI hadn't settled my bill so they cut off my supply. Last updated:  18 January 2007     Sources:  Healey, Phil and Rick Glanvill.  Now! That's What I Call Urban Myths.  London: Virgin Books, 1996.  ISBN 0-86369-969-3  (p. 240). Now! That's What I Call Urban Myths   Young, James.  101 Plots Used and Abused.  Boston: The Writer, Inc., 1946  (p. 3)","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=19LkoKP0UtoQhSNVEhrmj63niRc_xhh2n","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_619","claim":"Bill imitators spreading malicious software?","posted":"01\/28\/2016","sci_digest":["The \"Be Like Bill\" Facebook trend has annoyed some social media users, but there are no credible reports of its behaving maliciously."],"justification":"In January 2016, a Facebook trend most commonly referenced as \"Be Like Bill\" swept the social network. During that time, users initially posted comics in which a character named \"Bill\" served as a reinforcer of social media etiquette, before \"Be Like Bill\" generators enabled users to create personalized versions of the meme. As is often the case with items like \"Be Like Bill\" that appear seemingly from nowhere and go Facebook-wide, it wasn't long before people became suspicious of this Bill character and his purpose on their News Feeds. Soon after Bill became the meme of the day, a backlash against it began: one that first simply decried the \"scolding\" nature of the trend, then followed up with rumors that the ubiquitous comic was a vector for malware, information theft, or other undesirable outcomes. Scolding Bill proved so popular and omnipresent that multiple local news outlets carried reports about the potential dangers of creating a \"Be Like Bill\" meme. Missouri TV station KFVS, Kansas City station KCTV, and Washington, D.C., station WTTG generated concern with coverage about the specific comic, typically lumping it into the general category of \"clickbait\" and associating it with the risks of all unvetted apps. It's known as 'clickbait,' and if you haven't read the terms and conditions on the creator's website, the details may shock you. The company originally stated in its privacy terms, \"You will allow us to use and edit your content with our service permanently, with no limit and no recovery.\" KFVS-TV also mentioned that, in some cases, content can contain viruses that can damage your computer, use your Facebook profile in ways you might not know, or even attempt to steal your credit card or bank account numbers. As the above-quoted material stated, Facebook has indeed presented a handy way for bad actors to engage in all sorts of unpleasant activities using compelling content. However, the \"in some cases\" outcomes described apply to malicious apps in general and not specifically to any known vulnerabilities linked to the \"Be Like Bill\" meme. Many articles cited existing Better Business Bureau warnings about rogue apps that predated \"Be Like Bill\" and referenced \"clickbait,\" but the term was applied exceptionally broadly and not specifically to malware. In short, whether an item is clickbait itself has no bearing on its potential to cause harm to computers or accounts, and plenty of clickbait exists just to drive traffic to various websites. Of additional interest was a widely reproduced excerpt from the Terms of Service of publisher Blobla (which offered a mechanism for customizing \"Be Like Bob\" memes) that purportedly stated end users agreed to \"allow [Blobla] to use and edit your content with our service permanently, with no limit and no recovery.\" We were unable to verify that such language ever appeared in the agreement in question, and no such wording was in their agreement as of January 27, 2016. On that date, Chicago station WMAQ published an article reporting that the Better Business Bureau (BBB) didn't suggest \"Be Like Bill\" posed any specific threat at all to social media users and added that the President and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois, Steve Bernas, had confirmed only that the BBB was looking into the meme (and keeping an eye out for impostors). According to the outlet, Blobla clarified that the generator didn't require Facebook authorizations of the sort generally associated with malware or rogue apps. However, the Better Business Bureau has not yet definitively ruled whether the generated memes pose a risk to you or your computer. The sensation's creator, Bloba, on the other hand, says they don't collect any data from users and their terms are the same as any others you see on Facebook. \"First, our game Be Like Bill doesn't require users to authorize a Facebook app,\" a spokesperson for Bloba wrote in response. \"Of course, if users want to share the results to Facebook, they must be logged into Facebook. However, we use the Facebook share dialog for users to share their results. It's very common... This doesn't allow us to collect any data from users' Facebook accounts.\" Blobla's creators also explained that the now-elided, widely cited verbiage (\"permanently, with no limit and no recovery\") was poorly composed and pertained to unrelated functions that might have ended up on their website. \"Second, we do not store any information about users on our servers, as stated in our Terms of Service,\" Bloba continued. \"Third, the terms about our right to users' content pertain to posts on our website (a post may be a game like Be Like Bill, or a quiz, or a video...). Because our website has a function for normal users to create a post in other languages, we have removed that term to avoid misunderstanding.\" On January 29, 2016, BBB communications director Katherine Hutt clarified the bureau's stance on \"Be Like Bill,\" due to the multiple news reports conflating their earlier \"clickbait\" warnings with that particular meme and generator: \"We don't issue warnings about a specific company without investigating first.\" Finally, outlets devoted to more detailed reporting on online security (such as Sophos' Naked Security blog) haven't issued any warnings about \"Be Like Bill\" or the popular comic generator. No widespread reports of adverse outcomes have substantiated news affiliate speculation, and the bulk of \"Be Like Bill\"-themed reports focused on the general ability for malware to spread through apps, not any reports definitively (or anecdotally) related to that meme specifically. While users might tire of seeing Bill across their feeds, he doesn't pose a threat to anything more than annoyance-free browsing.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1FZRm0tdbdqTkcUHFRAO3xw3NOkHqVr6W"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Q-QmpD06JSTeN2TYgotiKmtgKPWZ8_4W"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=17C_dzVUQR-J8cMLMMXafXtKoKTd-mimw"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_620","claim":"Was it asserted by Obama's literary representative that he was born in Kenya?","posted":"05\/18\/2012","sci_digest":["A 1991 literary promotional booklet identified Barack Obama as having been born in Kenya."],"justification":"In May 2012, the website Breitbart published a copy of a promotional booklet produced in 1991 by the literary agency Acton & Dystel, showcasing their roster of writers, among whom was a young man named Barack Obama. This booklet was of particular interest because it included a brief biographical sketch that described the future President as having been born in Kenya: Barack Obama, the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review, was born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii. The son of an American anthropologist and a Kenyan finance minister, he attended Columbia University and worked as a financial journalist and editor for Business International Corporation. He served as project coordinator in Harlem for the New York Public Interest Research Group and was Executive Director of the Developing Communities Project in Chicago's South Side. His commitment to social and racial issues is evident in his first book, Journeys in Black and White. Is this booklet evidence that Barack Obama was actually born in Kenya? Not even the site that published it made that claim, noting in a disclaimer that Andrew Breitbart was never a \"Birther,\" and Breitbart News is a site that has never advocated the narrative of \"Birtherism.\" In fact, Andrew believed, as we do, that President Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on August 4, 1961... [W]e discovered, and now present, the booklet described below\u2014one that includes a marketing pitch for a forthcoming book by a then-young, otherwise unknown former president of the Harvard Law Review. It is evidence not of the President's foreign origin, but that Barack Obama's public persona has perhaps been presented differently at different times. The editor of the biographical text about Barack Obama included in the booklet maintained that the mention of Kenya was an error on her part and was not based on any information provided to her by Obama himself: Miriam Goderich edited the text of the bio; she is now a partner at the Dystel & Goderich agency, which lists Obama as one of its current clients. \"You're undoubtedly aware of the brouhaha stirred up by Breitbart about the erroneous statement in a client list Acton & Dystel published in 1991 (for circulation within the publishing industry only) that Barack Obama was born in Kenya. This was nothing more than a fact-checking error by me, an agency assistant at the time,\" Goderich wrote. \"There was never any information given to us by Obama in any of his correspondence or other communications suggesting in any way that he was born in Kenya and not Hawaii. I hope you can communicate to your readers that this was a simple mistake and nothing more.\" A New York Times article about Barack Obama published in 1990, a year before the Acton & Dystel promotional booklet was issued, correctly identified his birthplace as Hawaii. A variant of this item paired the image shown above with the statement \"Big Oops! Harvard Law Review did not cleanse its 1991 yearbook which states he was born in Kenya.\" As noted above, the biographical sketch pictured above was put out by a literary agency; it was not part of any yearbook published by Harvard. Butterfield, Fox. \"First Black Elected to Head Harvard's Law Review.\" The New York Times. 6 February 1990. Stableford, Dylan. \"'Obama's Literary Agent Misidentified His Birthplace in 1991.\" ABC News. 18 May 2012. Taranto, James. \"Counterfeit Kenyan.\" The Wall Street Journal. 18 May 2012.","issues":["finance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Wj3AoAH_evKEV0963rA9PHGgl8ArSjtT"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_621","claim":"Is the assertion true that Ivanka Trump has a trademark for coffins in China?","posted":"04\/14\/2020","sci_digest":["In 2018, the United States' first daughter was awarded a variety of trademarks. "],"justification":"In April 2020, as the global death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic surpassed 100,000, social media users began posting messages about how Ivanka Trump, U.S. President Donald Trump's daughter and newly appointed member of the White House's council to reopen America, had a trademark in China for coffins. While some shared this claim as if it were a \"fun fact,\" others made a more direct connection between her company's trademark on coffins in China and the rising death toll from the pandemic. According to multiple news reports, the first daughter's company, Ivanka Trump Marks LLC, was indeed awarded a trademark for coffins in China. However, this occurred in 2018, long before COVID-19 started to spread globally. The Associated Press reported in May 2018 that her company had been awarded 13 trademarks in China over three months. These trademarks covered a variety of products, including baby blankets, coffee, perfume, and coffins. Ivanka Trump's brand continues to win foreign trademarks in China and the Philippines, raising questions about conflicts of","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1fI5KLS7STi721bLSY8h2tVECuHMypxQR"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1leODtrJn0V0liBg43syL39bZy5iyS3Zv"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_622","claim":"Can a Person Live Off of a Diet of Potatoes and Butter?","posted":"07\/05\/2018","sci_digest":["People could \"survive\" eating a very limited diet, health experts told us, but they wouldn't get everything their bodies needs to function."],"justification":"The idea that potatoes can be a catch-all form of sustenance for human beings has been popularized at various times by public campaigns and movies, but health experts are split on the potential impact of \"surviving\" on just one type of food. This claim has been widely circulated online in meme form, with the slight modification of adding butter to the \"menu\" of the all-potato diet:   Katherine Basbaum, a cardiovascular dietitian for the University of Virginia health system, is skeptical of this meme's assertion. She told us that potatoes and butter would provide enough macronutrients for the body at a \"very basic level,\" but added that remaining alive and remaining healthy are two very different things:  There's a big difference between what your body needs to survive and what your body needs to work as best as it possibly can  to be as efficient, to be as healthy, to be as strong and it possibly can. There's a big difference between that and merely surviving. If you were hard-pressed and you had to do it, you could absolutely survive on it. Is it nutritious? Is it healthy and balanced? Absolutely not. Dana Hunnes, senior dietitian at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, disagreed slightly. She told us that this type of diet could be sustainable for persons who consumed enough potatoes to support their body weight and muscle mass. However, she said she would advise anyone looking to pursue that kind of regimen to instead eat a wider variety of fruits and vegetables. \"You can certainly survive healthily  it's been done,\" Hunnes said. \"Would I recommend it for people? No. Because I think you'd be bored in that diet.\" At least two public campaigns have touted the supposed merits of an all-potato diet. In 2010 Chris Voigt, head of the Washington State Potato Commission, promoted the merits of tubers by living off of them for two months. promoted \"I'm not encouraging anyone to go on this crazy diet, nor would my doctor,\" he said at the time. \"This diet was just a bold statement to remind people that there is a lot of nutrition in a potato.\" Voigt lost 23 pounds during that experience and denied rumors that he had abandoned his plan early. lost That type of short-term effort, Basbaum said, was unlikely to cause a person much damage provided that they not only had a clean bill of health but also no family history or risk of heart or kidney disease. Butter, she told us, is extremely high in saturated fats and can lead to unhealthy cholesterol levels.  \"If somebody came in here saying, 'I heard about this potato and butter diet,' I would tell them not to touch it with a 10-foot pole,\" she said.  Similarly, potatoes on their own are rich in potassium but are best enjoyed in moderation because of the threat they pose to the kidneys, which manage potassium intake for the body. \"If someone goes from a regular balanced diet getting the normal amount of potassium to just eating potatoes (like 20 a day or whatever), that's dangerous. It's not a good idea. You're overloading your kidneys with all of this potassium,\" Basbaum said. \"If you have someone with pre-diabetes or diabetes or at risk for developing Type 2 diabetes, I don't really want to put them on an all-starch diet. You're risking increased levels of blood sugar and the body producing way too much insulin for your own good.\" Six years after Voigt's efforts, an Australian man, Andrew Taylor, also made news when he announced that he lost 114 pounds after spending the year eating around eight or nine pounds of  potatoes per day on a \"spud fit\" diet. announced Taylor posted before-and-after pictures touting his weight loss, but Basbaum did not interpret the results as being fully positive. \"As a dietitian I don't look at that picture and [say] 'That dude lost a bunch of weight, good for him,\" she said. \"I look at the before and after photo and I can tell this guy is malnourished. You can see the wasting in his shoulder and his clavicle area. You can see that he's lost muscle tone, he's got barely any muscle tone in his arms. Obviously I couldn't diagnose him, but we do nutrition-based physical exams with our patients and you can tell that that guy wasn't optimum health. Not by a long shot.\"  Heavily-restricted diets gain popularity, Hunnes told us, because some people are seeking \"the magic bullet\" to keep them healthy. \"If someone says anecdotally, 'This works for me,' I think there's a lot of power in people being able to see with their own eyes what's happening to someone else,\" she said. \"I think that's the makings of a fad, particularly if a celebrity gets caught on to it or if a person has a lot of followers on Facebook or Instagram social media, posting those types of images is very powerful for people.\" For her part, Basbaum said that restricting oneself to that extent gives some dieters a feeling of control because it limits their margin of error.  \"But at the end of the day, these diets that ask you to either eat only one thing or ask you to eliminate an entire nutrient  take no fat or no carbohydrates at all  they don't work. They work for a time just like all diets,\" she added. \"But they don't work for everybody and they're not sustainable. What happens when you go off of it?\" In popular culture, the popular novel The Martian (which was adapted into a 2015 feature film) featured a subplot in which stranded astronaut Mark Watney grew potatoes on the surface of Mars and ate them to keep himself alive. Subsequent research by the International Potato Center (CIP) in Peru produced \"encouraging results\" regarding the prospect of growing potato crops on the red planet. research produced \"With this study, we have the basis for contributing to the so-called 'Bioregenerative Food System' proposed by space agencies, based on a space agriculture using local resources  such as soil  in future missions to Mars,\" lead researcher David Ramirez said at the time. Pawlowski, A.  \"'Spud Fit': Man Loses 115 Pounds Eating Nothing But Potatoes for a Year.\"\r  The Today Show.  19 December 2016. BBC News.  \"Is a Potato-Only Diet Good for You?\"\r  29 November 2010. Saltzman, Sammy.  \"Chris Voigt Ends Potato-Only Protest Diet: Why?\"\r  CBS News.  30 November 2010. International Potato Center.  \"Crop Harvested Under Red Planet Conditions Will Set Course for Martian Farming.\"\r  18 December 2015. International Potato Center.  \"Research Reveals Potential for Growing Potatoes on Mars, And Challenging Areas of Earth.\"\r  9 February 2018.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Hlm5o5QhY6xeswxDazVnqwWrW7Is9s_J","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_623","claim":"Did Planned Parenthood Donate $30 Million to Democrats to Influence the Midterm Elections?","posted":"04\/23\/2018","sci_digest":["Social media memes misleadingly conflated Planned Parenthood itself with a coalition of organizations and PACs."],"justification":"On 18 April 2018, the Facebook page The Newly Press shared a text-based meme asserting that taxpayer-subsidized Planned Parenthood was spending upwards of $30 million to influence the outcome of the upcoming midterm elections. A later similar meme claimed specifically that all $30 million was going to Democratic candidates. However, a 16 April 2018 Roll Call piece made clear a distinction absent from Internet memes, namely that the $30 million figure represented funds to be provided by a coalition of organizations, of which Planned Parenthood Votes was but one member. A coalition of liberal organizations that includes the political arm of Planned Parenthood rolled out a $30 million program to mobilize infrequent voters to cast ballots for progressive candidates in the midterm elections. Targeting people of color, young people, and women is a time-worn strategy, but it has not worked in previous midterm cycles mostly because efforts often engage too close to election day and do not build real relationships, the coalition said in its release. The other organizations funneling money and resources to the initiative, which the coalition is calling Win Justice, are the Center for Community Change Action, Color Of Change PAC, and the Service Employees International Union. The organizations are targeting 1.25 million voters in Florida, a million in Michigan, and 250,000 in Nevada through door-knocking and text messaging with volunteers. Roll Call also noted that the multiple-group initiative included Planned Parenthood Votes, which is \"the political arm of Planned Parenthood\" (i.e., a super PAC branch), an entity separate from the main Planned Parenthood Federation of America organization. Memes such as the one referenced above suggest it should be \"highly illegal\" for Planned Parenthood to receive taxpayer subsidies yet expend funds on political activities. According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations such as Planned Parenthood are indeed \"prohibited\" from funding such endeavors. Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. Contributions to political campaign funds or public statements of position (verbal or written) made on behalf of the organization in favor of or in opposition to any candidate for public office clearly violate the prohibition against political campaign activity. Violating this prohibition may result in denial or revocation of tax-exempt status and the imposition of certain excise taxes. However, Planned Parenthood is affiliated with two offshoot political entities that are separate from the main organization and thus can be involved with funding midterm elections. Planned Parenthood Action Fund (PPAF) is a 501(c)(4), which the IRS stipulates \"may further its exempt purposes through lobbying as its primary activity without jeopardizing its exempt status.\" The second organization, Planned Parenthood Votes, is a Super PAC. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) defines Super PACs such as Planned Parenthood Votes as \"committees that may receive unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations, labor unions, and other political action committees for the purpose of financing independent expenditures and other independent political activity.\" In short, Planned Parenthood itself is not \"dishing out $30 million on midterm elections\" in violation of the law. Rather, a separate political arm of Planned Parenthood (which is donor-funded and may legally engage in such activities) is one part of a coalition of several groups that is expending an aggregate of $30 million on mobilizing infrequent voters for the 2018 midterm elections.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=15F1VzGV8C-oIYCyd6_2LLxuPOXI4NFPT","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1HzXWLc7HH1zgaZNbaSZizaSYAeKk0aIG","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_624","claim":"The Follower","posted":"03\/30\/2006","sci_digest":["Rumor: Photograph shows a kayaker being trailed by a Great White shark."],"justification":"Claim:  Photograph shows a kayaker being trailed by a Great White shark.  Example:  [Collected via e-mail, 2006] Hello I received this photo today, supposedly taken off Capetown, can you verify it please??     Origins:  Scarcely a week goes by in which we don't receive yet another photograph of a shark for verification,such is our fascination with these mysterious predators of the deep.  Of especial interest are pictures that show humans in (apparently) imminent danger from threatening  sharks, such as the infamous images of a diver attempting to board a helicopter just ahead of some breaching jaws (fake) and a surfer headed directly towards lurking trouble (misidentified). diver surfer The image above displays, according to its caption, a kayaker \"sitting in a 3.8-metre sea kayak and watching a four-metre great white approach.\"  This photograph is genuine and was taken from a September 2005 Africa Geographic article titled \"Shark Detectives,\" about researchers studying Great White sharks off the coast of South Africa, that described the circumstances under which this picture was snapped: article Sitting in a 3.8-metre sea kayak and watching a four-metre great white approach you is a fairly tense experience. Although we had extensively tested the sharks' reactions to an empty kayak and had observed no signs of aggression, this gave us little comfort as we eyed a great white heading straight for us, albeit slowly. Just a metre or so from the craft it veered off, circled and slowly approached from behind. It did this several times, occasionally lifting its head out of the water to get a better look. Then it lost interest, and as it continued on its way we were able to follow a short distance behind. Once we'd come to terms with having nothing between ourselves and a four-metre shark except a thin layer of plastic, our kayak made an ideal research platform for observing great white behaviour in shallow water. Its advantages are twofold: it is inconspicuous and appears not to cause the sharks to alter their behaviour for long, and it allows us to watch them in a natural situation, as it is not necessary to attract them to us with food. A similar article appearing in the December 2005 issue of the South African publication The Big Issue included another photograph from the same sequence. photograph Last updated:  29 May 2015    Peschak, Thomas P. and Michael C. Scholl.  \"Shark Detectives.\"   Africa Geographic.  September 2005.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1uDdMt9vye36g9XATIEYkdIt4fChaTKAq","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_625","claim":"General Motors is sending Mexican made model of Chevy Cruze to U.S. car dealers-tax free across border.","posted":"01\/04\/2017","sci_digest":[],"justification":"President-elect Donald Trump put General Motors on notice for tariff-free imports of vehicles from Mexico, warning of heavy taxes if vehicles are not instead manufactured in the United States. General Motors is sending Mexican made model of Chevy Cruze to U.S. car dealers-tax free across border, TrumptweetedJan. 3. Make in U.S.A. or pay big border tax! General Motors is sending Mexican made model of Chevy Cruze to U.S. car dealers-tax free across border. Make in U.S.A.or pay big border tax! Imposing hefty tariffson foreign goods was a staple of Trumps pro-manufacturing agenda. He suggested on day one of his campaign that ifFordchose to open a factory in Mexico and then tried to sell those vehicles in the United States, he would tell Fords CEO that were going to charge you a 35 percent tax. In the same speech, he bemoaned Chevys slight presence in foreign countries,particularly in Japan. We wanted to look at Trumps most recent beef with Chevy. The key to our review is that the president-elect singled out the Mexican-made model of the Chevy Cruze. The Cruze made in Mexico is a hatchback that does not sell widely in the United States. Chevy Cruze sedans are more popular in the United States  and they are produced in Ohio. Trump has a point, however, that the Mexican Cruze has made its way to the United States free of taxes, based on provisions under theNorth American Free Trade Agreement. General Motors: We make Cruzes in Ohio, too General Motors, whose portfolio includes Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC,saidin a brief statement that all Chevrolet Cruze sedans sold in the United States are built in the companys assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio. In 2016, it sold 185,500 of this body type in the United States. But the company builds the Chevrolet Cruze hatchback for global markets in Mexico, with a small number sold in the U.S., the statementsaid. Production of the hatchback model began in mid 2016, said Patrick Morrissey, a General Motors spokesperson, in an email. Out of 29,000 hatchbacks made in Mexico in 2016 for global markets, 4,500 were sold in the United States, Morrissey said. (Chevy Cruze photos courtesy of General Motors) Free trade provisions under international agreement TheNorth American Free Trade Agreement, effective since January 1994, lifted trade tariffs and restrictions among Canada, the United States and Mexico. NAFTA has beenpraisedfor expanding and facilitating trade among the three countries, but Trump andlabor unionsfrom the United States havecriticizedthe deal for outsourcing jobs and lowering wages. Trump called it the worst trade deal ever, blaming it for the loss ofmanufacturing jobs. But nonpartisan research said NAFTA has had a more subtle effect on the U.S. economy. NAFTA did not cause the huge job losses feared by the critics or the large economic gains predicted by supporters, a 2015 Congressional Research Service reportsaid. The net overall effect of NAFTA on the U.S. economy appears to have been relatively modest, primarily because trade with Canada and Mexico accounts for a small percentage of U.S. GDP. NAFTA allows the tariffs-free import of autos, light trucks, engines and transmissions from Mexico as long as62.5 percentof their value is from North America, the 2015 report said. The rules of origin requirement for other vehicles and automotive parts is 60 percent, according to the report. The Chevy Cruze hatchback would be covered under NAFTAs duty-free provision, experts told PolitiFact. NAFTA allowed each participating country to specialize in different stages of production, said Caroline Freund, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan Peterson Institute for International Economics. Parts can go back and forth in the production of a vehicle, so a car thats imported from Mexico can actually include components from companies in the United States, Freund said. As for the logistics of Trumps plan to impose high tariffs, trade experts introduced a number of concerns about it for ourJune analysis. They cited potential rising production costs and an increased cost burden on consumers, as well as a possible trade war and broken international agreements. Our ruling Trump tweeted, General Motors is sending Mexican made model of Chevy Cruze to U.S. car dealers-tax free across border. Thats accurate for 4,500 Chevy Cruze hatchbacks made in Mexico and sold in the United States in 2016. That was about 15 percent of all Cruze hatchbacks produced in Mexico last year for global markets. NAFTA provisions allow the tax-free imports of autos from Mexico. Its worth pointing out extra context that Chevy Cruze sedans sold in the United States are built in GMs assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio. The sedan is more than 40 times as popular among American buyers as the hatchback. Trumps statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. We rate it Mostly True. After the Fact After publishing this check, readers reached out telling us some Chevy Cruze sedans have also been imported from Mexico to sell in the United States. We asked General Motors about it, since their statement in response to Trump's tweet said all Cruze sedans sold in the United States are built in General Motors' assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio. In a follow-up email, a General Motors spokesperson said, In the fourth quarter of 2016 we built some sedans in Mexico (and shipped to the U.S) to help support the launch of the Lordstown plant with the new Cruze (that was announced and reported on last summer)  about 8,000 total. So some of those are still in inventory in the U.S., but the only Chevrolet Cruze models being built in Mexico now for the U.S. market are the hatchbacks. The approximate 8,000 sedans were sold to dealers in 2016 and most were probably sold to consumers, General Motors spokesperson Patrick Morrissey said.","issues":["National","Economy","Trade"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_626","claim":"Thirty years ago, the United States ranked sixth among advanced economies in the share of women in the workforce. You know where we are today? Twenty-three.","posted":"10\/08\/2021","sci_digest":[],"justification":"During a visit to Howell, Mich., President Joe Biden touted key agenda items under negotiation in Congress. One of the proposals he wants to see receive final Congressional approval is support for child care, which he said would benefit both children and their parents, including mothers who want to take jobs outside the home. How can we compete in the world if millions of American parents, especially moms, cant join the workforce because they cant afford the cost of child care or elder care? They have to stay home, Bidensaidin the Oct. 5 speech. He went on to say that the United States had fallen behind its industrialized peers in the percentage of women in the labor force. Thirty years ago, the United States ranked sixth among advanced economies in the share of women in the workforce, Biden said. You know where we are today? Twenty-three. Twenty-two countries have a higher percentage of their women in the workforce making a competitive wage than the United States. While our competitors are investing in the care economy, were standing still. Has the United States really fallen so far behind in womens participation in the labor force? Our research shows it has. We asked the White House for a source, and they pointed to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a think tank that studies advanced industrialized nations. The data broadly supports how Biden characterized the shifts between 1990 and 2020. There are multiple ways to measure the phenomenon Biden addressed  notably, what age ranges are used. If you look at the labor force participation rate for all women at least 15 years of age, the United States ranked seventh in 1990, behind Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Finland, Norway and Canada. But by2020, the United States ranking had fallen to 17th. (Labor force participation rate refers to the percentage of a given group that is either employed or is actively seeking work.) An alternative statistic  the labor force participation rate for women in the prime working ages of 25 to 54  shows an even steeper U.S. decline. In1990, the United States ranked seventh, behind the same six countries. But by2020, the U.S. had fallen to 31st. The White House used a slightly different version of the OECD data than we did, which accounts for the differences in the U.S. rankings. But multiple economists told us that the differences in rankings were minor, and that the trend line was much more important. Specifically, the U.S. percentage of women working basically stagnated over those 30 years, even as 13 nations leapfrogged the U.S. between 1990 and 2020: Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom. However you define it, I think the president is highlighting genuine trends, said Gary Burtless, an economist with the Brookings Institution. Historically, women in the U.S. gravitated to the labor force earlier than women in other countries did. Right after World War II, only about one-third of U.S. women were in the labor force, but by the late 1990s, that percentage had risen steeply, to the low-60% range. Since then, however, it has plateaued and even fallen modestly overall. By the early 1990s, the United States ranked higher on this measurement than most of its economic peers. Since the 1990s, the downturn has been driven mostly by married women with a college degree, particularly those married to high-earning men, said Stefania Albanesi, an economist at the University of Pittsburgh. Albanesi said her research suggests that a rise in earnings of college-educated men, particularly those at the top of the income distribution, has reduced the pressure for married women to take paying work outside the home. As the U.S. rate began to fall, other nations caught up. Several factors drove these international shifts, economists say. One is that women in other countries have belatedly made gains in educational attainment, giving them a boost in the labor market. But perhaps the biggest difference comes from the lack of social policies in the United States that enable women with children to take jobs. The policies that are common in other industrialized countries but not in the U.S. include publicly provided child care services, an entitlement to paid parental leave, laws giving workers the right to demand a change to a part-time work schedule without exception and without being discriminated against, said Mihaela Pintea, an economist at Florida International University. The upshot of the lack of such policies in the U.S. is that its costly or burdensome for women with kids to remain in the workforce after they have a child, Burtless said. Claudia Goldin, a Harvard University economist, cautioned that its tricky to make cross-national comparisons on labor-force participation. Perhaps the biggest factor complicating Bidens comparison is that countries define part-time work differently. Generally speaking, when looking only at participation among women who work full-time hours, the U.S. ranks higher in international comparisons, Goldin said. If you did this comparison just for full-time work, wed be up there, she said. If you weighted by hours, wed be up there. Pintea added that, despite grim statistics like those cited by Biden, U.S. women who are working may still be better positioned in some ways. Effectively, the U.S. labor market environment pushes women to either skip working entirely or take a full-time job, rather than finding a middle ground. In a lot of other countries, women might work part-time as opposed to full time and may be less likely to be promoted into managerial positions, or may have lower wages than their male counterparts because of their career path, she said. Biden said, Thirty years ago, the United States ranked sixth among advanced economies in the share of women in the workforce. You know where we are today? Twenty-three. The specific rankings vary a bit depending on what measure one uses, though by one measurement, the U.S. position is even worse than Biden said. The general conclusion is the same: The United States used to rank near the top of the pack of industrialized countries in womens participation in the labor force, but over the past 30 years, many other countries have leapfrogged the U.S. in that measurement, as the rate in the U.S. stagnated or even fell. Economists say the U.S. rate has been lagging for several reasons, including a lack of government policies encouraging child care and paid leave and other countries catching up to the United States earlier gains in womens educational attainment. We rate the statement Mostly True.","issues":["Children","Economy","Jobs","Women"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_627","claim":"Did a UC Berkeley Instructor Say Rural Americans Are 'Bad People'?","posted":"11\/20\/2019","sci_digest":["Jackson Kernion, a doctoral student in philosophy, became the focus of online outrage after he posted a series of tweets in November 2019."],"justification":"In November 2019, we received multiple inquiries from readers about the accuracy of reports that a doctoral student and philosophy instructor at the University of California Berkeley had provoked outrage, especially among right-leaning observers, by remarking that people in rural America were \"bad people who have made bad life decisions.\" On Nov. 12, Fox News published an article with the headline \"UC Berkeley Instructor Calls Rural Americans 'Bad People' Who Deserve 'Uncomfortable' Lives,\" which reported that: reported A UC Berkeley graduate student and instructor took to Twitter to shame \"rural Americans\" and those who aren't \"pro-city.\" Jackson Kernion, who has reportedly taught at least 11 philosophy courses at the California university, made the comments last Wednesday. \"I unironically embrace the bashing of rural Americans,\" Kernion wrote in a now-deleted tweet. \"They, as a group, are bad people who have made bad life decisions ... and we should shame people who aren't pro-city.\" Kernion started going after rural citizens, saying they should have higher health care, pay more in taxes and be forced to live an \"uncomfortable\" life for rejecting \"efficient\" city life, Campus Reform reported. Similar articles were also published by the right-leaning websites Breitbart, PJ Media, and Campus Reform. Breitbart PJ Media Campus Reform Kernion did indeed attract the ire of many online commentators with a series of tweets on Nov. 5, in which he outlined, apparently in earnest, his views about the sustainability of living in rural America, and the character of those who chose to do so. Kernion's Twitter account is no longer available, but many of the key tweets in question were archived and can be viewed here. here He wrote: \"The need for affordable rural healthcare\" = \"The need for people who decide to live in rural America to be subsidized by those who choose a more efficient way of life.\" Rural healthcare should be expensive! And that expense should be borne by those who choose rural America! Same goes for rural broadband. And gas taxes. It should be uncomfortable to live in rural America. It should be uncomfortable to not move. None of the replies I'm getting even *try* to address the central point I'm making: that we shouldn't make rural life *artificially* cheaper. That's how you know I'm right. When another user responded to Kernion with a point about health care in rural America, Kernion replied: \"I'm generally in favor of crushing rural America through market mechanisms ...\"   Another user asked ironically, \"Is this your campaign slogan?\" Kernion responded by declaring: responded \"I unironically embrace the bashing of rural Americans. They, as a group, are bad people who have made bad life decisions. Some, I assume, are good people. But this nostalgia for some imagined pastoral way of life is stupid and we should shame people who aren't pro-city.\"   Kernion certainly made the remarks attributed to him in various subsequent news reports. Although those news reports typically did not provide the full context of his Twitter thread and exchanges with other users, the reports did not substantively distort the meaning or sense of what Kernion wrote. There was arguably a hint of irony to his remarks. For example, he wrote (of rural Americans) \"some, I assume, are good people\"  an apparent nod to Donald Trump's infamous description of Mexican people at his 2015 presidential campaign launch. description In a later tweet, Kernion reflected on the heavy backlash against his comments, writing \"what I thought would read as cheeky hyperbole did *not* read as such ...\" which suggests there may have been an element of humorous exaggeration behind what he wrote about rural Americans. tweet However, these factors are counterbalanced by the obvious fact that Kernion stipulated \"I unironically embrace the bashing of rural Americans,\" and that he later articulated a measure of earnest contrition, writing, \"Pretty sure I did a bad tweet here. Gonna delete it. I'll want to reflect on it more later, but my tone is way crasser and meaner than I like to think I am.\" writing,  In an email, Kernion told Snopes \"There's both a substantive aspect to my original tweets and a semi-humorous aspect to my original tweets...but I'm not sure I want to go down the rabbit hole of doing a line-by-line annotation of what I was thinking\/wanting to communicate.\" He added that his tweets had, until Nov. 5, typically reached only a small audience whom he \"expected to understand\" what he was trying to convey. When the thread he published on that day was exposed to a much wider audience, Kernion said, \"they read into it attitudes that I do not hold.\" He reiterated that he had retracted and deleted his Twitter thread and would continue to \"reflect on it.\" Parke, Caleb. \"UC Berkeley Instructor Calls Rural Americans 'Bad People' Who Deserve 'Uncomfortable' Lives.\"  Fox News. 12 November 2019. Ciccotta, Tom. \"UC Berkeley Instructor: Rural Americans Are 'Bad People.'\"  Breitbart. 10 November 2019. Fox, Megan. \"Rural Americans Are 'Bad People' Who Deserve to Be Shamed, Says Berkeley Instructor.\"  PJ Media. 13 November 2019. Ryan, Celine. \"Berkeley 'Instructor': 'Rural Americans' Are 'Bad People.'\"  Campus Reform. 8 November 2019. The Washington Post. \"Full Text: Donald Trump Announces a Presidential Bid.\"  16 June 2015.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1HhUzwe0OKzrKQnlpmEGd2X5aZOM7MIKo","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1pzSgroBSWiy2vu7qP_pFOOk42NA7PRZW","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_628","claim":"DeVos Family Campaign Contributions","posted":"02\/08\/2017","sci_digest":["A chart purportedly shows how much money Betsy DeVos and her family contributed to Republican senators."],"justification":"On 7 February 2017, Betsy DeVos was confirmed as Secretary of Education in the new Trump administration by a narrow 51-50 margin, with the tie-breaking vote cast by Vice President Mike Pence. All the votes approving DeVos were cast by Republican senators, leading some of her detractors to theorize that she had essentially paid for her position through campaign contributions. This theory was illustrated by several charts circulated online that allegedly documented the amount of money DeVos had contributed to various senators. The chart displayed above first appeared on Reddit, but the data it incorporates was taken from a report published by the Center for American Progress. That report included another chart showing the DeVos family's campaign contributions. A similar report filed by the Center for Responsive Politics stated that \"Betsy DeVos and her relatives have given at least $20.2 million to Republican candidates, party committees, PACs, and super PACs\" since 1989. In the 2016 cycle alone, the family had given at least $10 million as of late October to a host of GOP candidates and committees. Much of that $4.4 million went to super PACs supporting the White House bids of Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, as well as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and businesswoman Carly Fiorina, along with the Koch brothers-backed Freedom Partners Action Fund and the super PAC started by Republican strategist Karl Rove, American Crossroads; the latter two groups helped support numerous Republicans in tight House and Senate races. However, these charts do not show how much Betsy DeVos personally contributed to Republican campaigns. A second chart from the Center for Responsive Politics documented that Betsy DeVos herself was only responsible for about 7% of these contributions. It should also be noted that these charts tally cumulative donations made over the span of two and a half decades, although the 2016 campaign cycle comprised the bulk of those donations. None of this information establishes that the contributions were made with the intent of gaining office for Betsy DeVos or that they had that effect. Republican senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, for example, received $43,200 from the DeVos family but voted \"No\" during Betsy DeVos' confirmation hearing. Although nearly all the Republican senators who had received contributions from the DeVos family voted \"Yes,\" so did all the Republican senators who had not received any contributions from the DeVos family. The Washington Post suggested a much more likely explanation for the confirmation vote breakdown: partisanship. If Democrats had controlled the Senate, DeVos would have lost her confirmation. There is every reason to believe that [Senate Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell let [Susan] Collins and Murkowski vote no on DeVos for political reasons, holding enough votes in reserve to assure she would win. The motivation was partisan support for a Republican nominee, not that a small fraction of his past campaign financing depended on DeVos's generosity. The Washington Post also noted that while the DeVos family contributed millions of dollars to Republican candidates, their contributions constituted only a sliver of the total money raised by those campaigns. It is no secret that DeVos and her family have been major donors to the Republican Party over the last few decades. In 1997, DeVos wrote that her family was the \"largest single contributor of soft money\" to the Republicans. Occasionally, a wayward reporter will try to make the charge that we are giving this money to get something in return or that we must be purchasing influence in some way. [...] They are right. We do expect some things in return. We expect to foster a conservative governing philosophy consisting of limited government and respect for traditional American virtues. We expect a return on our investment; we expect a good and honest government. Furthermore, we expect the Republican Party to use the money to promote these policies and, yes, to win elections. During DeVos' confirmation hearing in January 2017, Senator Bernie Sanders asked her how much her family had contributed to the Republican Party over the years, and she averred that an estimate of about $200 million might be accurate. Sanders: Mrs. DeVos, there is a growing fear, I think, in this country that we are moving toward what some would call an oligarchic form of society, where a small number of very, very wealthy billionaires control, to a significant degree, our economic and political life. Would you be so kind as to tell us how much your family has contributed to the Republican Party over the years? DeVos: Senator, first of all, thank you for that question. I was pleased to meet you in your office last week. I wish I could give you that number. I don\u2019t know. Sanders: I have heard the number was $200 million. Does that sound in the ballpark? DeVos: Collectively? Between my entire family? Sanders: Yeah, over the years. DeVos: That\u2019s possible. Sanders: Okay. My question is, and I don\u2019t mean to be rude. Do you","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1VPgTh738u8Od0fGrJLL3T3c0onk_nyWZ","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=192C0_FYopqSf8PIg6jAmk_E7Xzo8MHQn","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1zUeUZpicOXvWQgv1_ZQEhplxuVh7M7r4","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1B5LV5mR_oKIn-lG05O097BRkG_5WllAc","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_629","claim":"Harry Reid, Chinese Company Behind Nevada Ranch Standoff","posted":"04\/14\/2014","sci_digest":["Are Senator Harry Reid and a Chinese company building a solar plant behind a standoff between federal agents and a Nevada rancher?"],"justification":"Senator Harry Reid and a Chinese company building a solar plant are behind a standoff between federal agents and a Nevada rancher. Reports have emerged that Harry Reid is in cahoots with ENN, a Chinese firm for which his son works, to take over the range area in dispute with that Nevada rancher and the Bureau of Land Management. The Bundy Ranch in Nevada's standoff with the BLM is being attributed to Harry Reid's desire to help his son secure rights for a Chinese company to build a solar energy farm in the Nevada desert. This claim has circulated widely on Facebook and across the internet. \n\nIn April 2014, a decades-old dispute between the federal government and Cliven Bundy, a cattle rancher in Nevada, over grazing rights on public land was publicized. Back in 1993, Cliven Bundy began refusing to pay the government fees required for his cattle to graze on public lands. In 1998, as part of an effort to protect the endangered desert tortoise found in that area, the government obtained a court order requiring Bundy to remove his cows from that land. In July 2013, a federal court ordered Bundy to remove his cattle from public land within 45 days or risk having them confiscated by the government and sold to pay off the fees and trespassing fines, reportedly in excess of $1.2 million, that he owed. Bundy does not recognize federal authority over land where his ancestors first settled in the 1880s, claiming it belongs to the state of Nevada. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) disagreed and took him to federal court, which initially ruled in favor of the BLM in 1998. After years of failed attempts at a negotiated settlement over the $1.2 million Bundy owed in fees, federal land agents began seizing hundreds of his cattle that were illegally grazing on public land. Bundy's claim that the land belongs to Nevada or Clark County did not hold up in court, nor did his assertion of inheriting an ancestral right to use the land that pre-empts the BLM's role. As Bundy did not comply with the court order, the confiscation of his cattle began in April 2014, leading to a tense standoff between Bundy's supporters and law enforcement officials. The government eventually relented and released about 400 head of cattle it had seized from Bundy.\n\nAmid the reporting of this situation, a conspiracy theory emerged suggesting that the showdown between Cliven Bundy and the federal government was not truly about grazing cattle or endangered tortoises, but rather about a deal between Harry Reid, the senior U.S. Senator from Nevada, and a Chinese company eager to build a solar plant on the disputed land. As a family in Clark County, Nevada, continues to face an onslaught of heavily armed federal agents determined to evict them from their ranch, reports have surfaced that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid might be behind the entire ordeal. The ranch, which has been in Cliven Bundy's family for more than a century, is at the center of a growing showdown between federal authorities and individual rights activists. Reports indicate that Reid and his eldest son were integral in supporting and implementing a $5 billion solar plant being built in the county by a Chinese company. Reid has been outspoken in support of the government's position on the Bundy issue, and both he and his son Rory were prominent advocates of efforts by ENN Mojave Energy LLC, a Chinese-backed company, to build a solar plant in Clark County.\n\nQuestions surrounding family ties have resurfaced in Nevada regarding the Senate majority leader. He and his oldest son, Rory, are both involved in an effort by a Chinese energy giant, ENN Energy Group, to build a $5 billion solar farm and panel manufacturing plant in the southern Nevada desert. Reid has been one of the project's most prominent advocates, helping recruit the company during a 2011 trip to China and applying his political influence on behalf of the project in Nevada. His son, a lawyer with a prominent Las Vegas firm representing ENN, assisted in locating a 9,000-acre desert site that the company is purchasing well below its appraised value from Clark County, where Rory Reid formerly chaired the county commission. \n\nHowever, the theory that Reid's alleged involvement in the Bundy dispute was motivated by a desire to profit from the construction of a solar plant is undermined by two basic facts: The site that ENN Mojave Energy was planning to buy for the solar plant is nowhere near the public land Bundy has been disputing with the government, and ENN abandoned the solar project and terminated its agreement to purchase land for it as early as June 2013. A Chinese-backed company pulled the plug on a multibillion-dollar solar project near Laughlin after it was unable to find customers for the power that would have been generated there, according to a Clark County spokesman. In a letter, an executive from ENN Mojave Energy LLC informed the county that the company was terminating its agreement to purchase 9,000 acres near Laughlin, stating that the \"market will not support a project of this scale and nature at this time.\" The company, a subsidiary of ENN Group, described as the largest energy company in China, stated it was unable to sign the necessary power purchase agreements to sell the energy generated from the solar plant to utilities in Nevada or neighboring states. The project was divided into phases, but if fully completed, it was expected to generate enough energy to power 200,000 homes, with a price tag of $1 billion to $6 billion. The move was seen as a much-needed boost for economic development in the southern part of the state and was projected to create up to 2,200 permanent jobs. Commissioners agreed to sell the land for $4.5 million\u2014about a sixth of its appraised value\u2014in December 2011 to jump-start the development, but they established an aggressive timeline requiring ENN to secure the complicated power purchase agreements. With the solar project now just a mirage, commissioners will discuss what to do with the 9,000 acres of county-owned land at their July 2 meeting. \n\nEven the conservative Breitbart site debunked this conspiracy claim, noting that despite the obvious partisan gain to be had if Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's son Rory had somehow been involved in a \"land grab\" affecting the Bundy family ranch operation, the facts do not support such a narrative. Indeed, Rory Reid did have a role in plans to reclassify federal lands for renewable energy developments. Just northeast of Las Vegas and Nellis Air Force Base, plans were drawn by Reid's allies to potentially develop 5,717 acres of land for such use. While it would be fair to claim that such activity was in Bundy's relative neighborhood, the federal lands once leased by the family were more than 20 miles away, east of Overton, Nevada. Some versions of this conspiracy theory confuse the proposed ENN Mojave Energy site with that of the Moapa Southern Paiute Solar project, but the latter's 250MW solar power plant is already under construction, so there is no need to acquire land for it. As noted in Wildlife News, the Moapa plant is being built near the Moapa Indian Reservation and not on public land disputed by Cliven Bundy. \n\nA cursory search reveals a sudden explosion of articles claiming that Nevada's senior senator, Harry Reid, wants Bundy's land to build a solar plant to enrich himself and his son. Bundy has been trespassing over 750,000 acres of U.S. public land to the south of Mesquite and Bunkerville, Nevada. Bundy's actual private property is his melon farm at Bunkerville, which appears to be about 100 acres on Google Earth. There is a solar farm, but it is not on the vast expanse of land Bundy is trespassing on. The solar facility is actually under construction near the Moapa Indian Reservation, about ten miles closer to Las Vegas. Similarly, another area currently being studied by the BLM for the possible development of solar plants, commonly known as the Dry Lake Solar Energy Zone, is sometimes mistakenly included in the conspiracy theory mix by individuals who point to a BLM report listing \"Cattle Trespass Impacts\" and claim that it documents the BLM's intent to use the disputed land for solar development. Non-Governmental Organizations have expressed concern that the regional mitigation strategy for the Dry Lake Solar Energy Zone utilizes Gold Butte as the location for offsite mitigation for impacts from solar development, arguing that those restoration activities are not sustainable with the presence of trespass cattle. However, as explained in Wildlife News, that isn't what the quoted blurb means. There is some feeble effort to try to mitigate the damage to wildlife caused by solar development. Some of it is near the sites of these solar mirrors, referred to as \"primary mitigation.\" Some is in a location distant from the solar power site, known as \"secondary mitigation.\" Wildlife mitigation includes actions like planting grass that wildlife need or developing new water sources for wildlife to drink, as well as restoring rangeland overgrazed by cattle. All this bureaucratic language indicates that private groups like the Western Watersheds Project, Friends of Nevada Wilderness, Friends of Gold Butte, and Friends of Joshua Tree Forest do not believe the damage from solar power plants located elsewhere can be mitigated at Gold Butte because the cattle will trample all over it.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1UH1V00qRx21bs0Odzuun4h6Y-ZSE_WV3","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_630","claim":"Notification concerning the collapse of a bank by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation","posted":"10\/28\/2009","sci_digest":["Is the FDIC sending out e-mail notices about accounts in failed banks?"],"justification":"Virus:  FDIC notice of bank failure. REAL VIRUS Example:  [Collected via e-mail, October 2009] FDIC has officially named your bank a failed bank You have received this message because you are a holder of a FDIC-insuredbank account. Recently FDIC has officially named the bank you have opened your accountwith as a failed bank, thus, taking control of its assets. You need to visit the official FDIC website and perform the followingsteps to check your Deposit Insurance Coverage:  Visit FDIC website: https:\/\/www.fdic.gov\/  https:\/\/www.fdic.gov\/  Download and open your personal FDIC Insurance File to check your Deposit Insurance Coverage Origins:  In October 2009, Internet users began receiving e-mails purporting to have come from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the agency that insures deposits in U.S. bank accounts.  These messages claimed that the recipients were holders of FDIC-insured bank accounts in failed banks and instructed them to click on a link to the FDIC web site in order download a file which would allow them to check their \"Deposit Insurance Coverage.\"   However, the link embedded in the e-mail led not to the real FDIC web site, but to a spoof web site.  Attempting to download the proffered file from that site could initiate the installation of malware on the user's computer (presumably to collect sensitive personal information):  The real FDIC  put up an alert to warn consumers about this fraudulent mailing: alert The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has received numerous reports of a fraudulent e-mail that has the appearance of being sent from the FDIC. The subject line of the e-mail states: \"check your Bank Deposit Insurance Coverage.\" The e-mail tells recipients that, \"You have received this message because you are a holder of a FDIC-insured bank account. Recently FDIC has officially named the bank you have opened your account with as a failed bank, thus, taking  control of its assets.\" The e-mail then asks recipients to \"visit the official FDIC website and perform the following steps to check your Deposit Insurance Coverage\" (a fraudulent link is provided). It then instructs recipients to \"download and open your personal FDIC Insurance File to check your Deposit Insurance Coverage.\" This e-mail and associated Web site are fraudulent. Recipients should consider the intent of this e-mail as an attempt to collect personal or confidential information, some of which may be used to gain unauthorized access to on-line banking services or to conduct identity theft. The FDIC does not issue unsolicited e-mails to consumers. Financial institutions and consumers should NOT follow the link in the fraudulent e-mail. Last updated:  28 October 2009 ","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=15qHyWClfz6UNHYSlbSi4CV1QDTmCgRSq"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_631","claim":"Mike Martinez has supported increases in taxes and utility rates, as well as the discontinuation of no-cost bus service for seniors.","posted":"12\/11\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Austin voters should doubt mayoral aspirant Mike Martinezs commitment to an affordable city, his opponent in a Dec. 16, 2014, runoff maintains. The narrator of a Steve Adler TV ad says that as an Austin City Council member, Mike Martinez has voted to raise taxes and utility rates while ending free bus service for seniors. That statement is made against this visual backdrop:  Source: TV ad from Steve Adler, Austin mayoral candidate,Mike Martinez Record on City Council, posted online Dec. 2, 2014. Martinez has been a council member since June 2006. So its no surprise he would have had a say on taxes and rates charged by the city-owned utilities, though unsaid here is that no single council member controls any such decisions; its been a seven-member body, including the mayor. Martinez also chairs theeight-person boardoverseeing Capital Metro, which provides local bus and limited rail service. So he could have voted on fares charged the elderly. Lets recap Martinezs actions on fares, city taxes and utility rates. Bus fares To our inquiries, Adlers campaign didnt provide comprehensive backup for his ad claim. But by email, spokesman Jim Wick pointed out a September 2010Austin American-Statesmannews storystating the Cap Metro board voted to require bus riders 65 and older to pay 50 cents a ride or $15 for a 31-day bus pass, starting in 2011. The story also said the board was deciding to charge seniors and people with disabilities to ride buses for the first time since 1989. For Capital Metro, spokeswoman Francine Pares told us by email Martinez has been a board member since June 2007 and chairman since January 2010. Pares also confirmed the boards decision to charge the 50-cent fares, though she said that change was adopted at the boards November 2010 gathering, which Martinez didnt attend, she said. According tominutes of the Nov. 10, 2010, board meeting, the six members who were there unanimously approved a resolution authorizing higher fares in part, the resolution said, to generate additional operating revenues while striving to meet growing demand for transportation options. Martinez and another board member were recorded as absent. Pares told us theboard in September 2013approved another increase in senior fares, to 60 cents, effective in 2015. Generally, she said, senior citizens receive 50 percent off regular fares. By phone, Martinez agreed he and fellow board members agreed to charge the fares for elderly residents. But that happened, he said, only after a state panel issued marching orders including a recommendation calling for Capital Metro to raise more money from fares. In a 2010 report, the staff of the Sunset Advisory Commission recommended the authority charge a bus fare of 50 cents for groups currently riding free. The commission had said 30 percent of Capital Metros passengers were riding for free and, it noted, the board had rejected proposed fares in 2008 and 2009. In its finalJuly 2011 reporton Capital Metro, the commission said: While fare increases are difficult, requiring only a portion of its ridership to bear the burden of these increases is not equitable or sustainable, especially in bad financial times. Martinez pointed out the sunset review occurred in keeping withlegislation passed into lawby the 2009 Legislature, which wanted Capital Metro to get its finances in order. City taxes On taxes, Wick of Adlers camp offered as backup news stories indicating thatin 2009, Martinez said taxpayers would have to pay a little more in taxes and fees through 2010 to maintain services andin 2010, the council acting to raise the citys property tax rate from 42.09 cents per $100 of property value to 45.71 cents; the city tax on a median value home was expected to increase $52 to $843. Wick followed up by emailing us achart made by Adlers campaignindicating city property taxes on a median-valued home going up on Martinezs watch. For a non-campaign analysis, we turned to the Travis Central Appraisal District; the chief appraiser, Marya Crigler, emailed us achartindicating city property taxes on a median-value homestead in 2007 were $715; in 2014, the comparable figure was $1,014. We converted the 2007 figure to 2014 dollars, using afederal inflation calculator. Upshot: Adjusted for inflation, city taxes on a median-value Austin homestead went up $278, or 34 percent, from 2007 through 2014, Martinezs council years. Over those years, according to the district, the median taxable value of an Austin homestead went from $177,257 to $228,032. Adjusting for inflation suggests there was a nearly $18,800, 9 percent, increase. Martinez agreed property owners paid more in taxes in his council tenure, results influenced by surging property values, he said. Still, he said, in five of eight years, council members voted to keep the citys property tax rate the same or to lower it. When the rate was raised, he said, the economy was in recession. For another fact check, the city provided this chart of tax rates, which shows the council raised the rate three times in Martinezs tenure, most recently for 2013,  but cut the rate four times, most recently for 2014. In September 2014, the council left the 2014 rate intact for 2015. Utility rates In 2011,we found Mostly Truea claim that Austin Energy, the city electric utility, was considering its first hike in rates since 1994. The base electric rate, covering staff, the electric system, power plants, vehicles and the like, hadnt changed since 1994. Meantime, residential customers were paying less for electricity than they once had, taking inflation into account. On June 7, 2012, the council unanimously voted to raise the base rate, theAmerican-Statesmanreported. The news story said: The complicated new rate structure will hit customers in different ways; generally speaking, the larger and more energy-hungry the home, the higher the percentage increase, effective October 2012. A typical home, which uses an average of 1,000 kilowatt-hours a month over the course of a year, will see its monthly bill rise by $8, to $113, according to Austin Energy calculations. A home that uses a lot of electricity would see its monthly bill increase by $59, to $332, the story said. How would Adler have voted? We asked Wick how Adler would have voted on the bus fares, tax and utility rate hikes we confirmed. Theres no simple answer, Wick said by email, but Adler favors free fares for senior citizens. Our ruling Mike Martinez has voted to raise taxes and utility rates while ending free bus service for seniors. Austin residents pay more in taxes and could be paying more for electricity thanks to council actions Martinez supported. He also backed a decision by the Capital Metro board to charge half fares to elderly bus riders who had previously not been charged, though Martinez hardly did this by himself; its worth clarifying, too, that Capital Metro was under pressure to improve its finances and that Martinez missed the vote creating the then-50-cent fare. We rate this statement Mostly True. MOSTLY TRUE The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.","issues":["Transportation","Voting Record","Taxes","Texas"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1QU99K922jtMBBhNsN-RN2Ox0tue5o8op","image_caption":"Source: TV ad from Steve Adler, Austin mayoral candidate,"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1fs2YDYta2rpKqTt9e5apA16UD9QaDh8c","image_caption":" posted online Dec. 2, 2014."}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_632","claim":"The Lying Game","posted":"01\/14\/2016","sci_digest":["Numerous people on social media are falsely claiming that they won the $1.6 Powerball lottery jackpot."],"justification":"On 13 January 2016, the official web site for the Powerball lottery announced that three winning tickets had been sold (one in California, one in Tennessee, and one in Florida) for the $1.6 billion jackpot. Shortly thereafter, rumors started circulating about the identity of the winners. Powerball Several people took advantage of the hype surrounding the record breaking Powerball lottery and posted fake tickets to their social media accounts. Most of these posts followed the familiar \"Like Farming\" formula, in which people are promised monetary rewards in exchange for liking, sharing, or commenting on a Facebook message. Like Farming The above-displayed Facebook post, for instance, instructed people to share the photo for a chance to win $10,000. Rickstarr Ferragamo, however, did not win the lottery. The biggest giveaway in Ferragamo's post is that his \"winning ticket\" was purchased in New York, and not in one of the states which sold an actual winning ticket:   Ferragamo wasn't the only hoaxster to post a ticket from a non-winning state. Twitter user @BerenabasG, who promised to give $2000 to anyone who retweeted his image, and @Nerdout, who just wanted people to \"hit him up\" about his recent windfall of cash, posted fake \"winning\" fake from Texas and Ohio:     Some internet hoaxsters, however, did manage to produce fake tickets from one of the states that did sell a winning ticket. The most convincing example of thiscame from skateboarder and filmmaker Erik Bragg:OMG I WON $1.5 BILLION!!!!! I'm posting this in case anyone tries to jack me this is proof! Look it up, I bought in chino hills where I grew up! #powerball #powerball   While Bragg's photo has garnered 100,000 likes on Instagram, the above-displayed image also features a fake lottery ticket. The biggest giveaway here is the \"ABCDE\" displayed onthe left side of the ticket, which indicates that the ticket should feature four additional groups of lotto numbers. These numbers were removed, however, when the image was altered to display the winning lotto numbers of 4, 8, 19, 27, 34, and 10. As of 15 January 2015, $1.6 billion Powerball lottery winners who have been officially identified are John and Lisa Robinson of Mumford, Tennessee. Robinson ","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Ry2Fmx2xb-Is-kjju0wvCDcFURSLDIam","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1VvqWGFTCz_TJzLK8HRJ2D5Jrnp_FZYHm","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1xNcELKh2eNLhzQzGven2xkzLZFxXHlwa","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_633","claim":"Woman with Concealed Carry Permit Saves Multiple Lives After Stopping Department Store Shooter","posted":"09\/25\/2016","sci_digest":["Fake news reports a woman saved multiple lives by using her concealed carry pistol to take down a department store shooter in Virginia."],"justification":"On 24 September 2016, the Associated Media Coverage fake news site, which has now rebranded itself as the Boston Tribune,  published an article reporting that a woman with a concealed carry permit had saved multiple lives by stopping a department store shooter: article 37-year old Lisa Harris saved the lives of multiple people after using her concealed carry pistol to take down a department store shooter in Virginia. According to witness statements, the shooter, who has since been identified by police as 41-year old Randall Pierce, entered Bradfords department store Saturday evening at approximately 5:10 PM. According information provided by Chief of Police Matthew Collingsworth during a press-conference, the security footage provided to investigating officers by the Bradfords loss prevention department shows an agitated Randall Pierce walking briskly throughout the department store for approximately 6-minutes prior to retrieving a .223 caliber AR-15 assault style rifle concealed under his long-jacket. There was no truth to this report. Associated Media Coverage is a well-known purveyor of fake news that has been shamelessly exploiting recent occurrences of gun violence by publishing fabricated clickbait stories reporting similar incidents (in this case playing on the 23 September 2016 shooting deaths of five people at the Cascade Mall in Burlington, Washington). purveyor deaths Although many readers may now be familiar with Associated Media Coverage's reputation, the site has recently started publishing articles under the banners of fictitious newspapers such as The Boston Tribune and The Baltimore Gazette:  While Associated Media Coverage may be changing their name to The Boston Tribune, their content is still nothing more than fake news. ","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=13-Ic6lnnBy149P09d1Btko037uY75srx","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_634","claim":"John McCain's description of 'rich'","posted":"09\/13\/2008","sci_digest":["Did John McCain say he would define the income level that divides the middle class from the rich as $5 million?"],"justification":"Claim: John McCain said he would define the income level that divides the middle class from the rich as $5 million. Example: [Collected via e-mail, September 2008] I have heard many times that John McCain said (paraphrasing his comment, I'm sure) that the middle class includes people who make under $5 million. I am trying to find that in print to forward to relatives who say it is untrue. Origins: On 16 August 2008, presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain made back-to-back appearances at the Presidential Candidates Forum held at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, where they responded to questions posed by Pastor Rick Warren. During that forum, Pastor Warren asked both candidates to define \"rich\" for the purposes of taxation (although, since the candidates appeared separately, the question was not posed to both of them with the same wording). To Democratic candidate Barack Obama, Pastor Warren said: \"OK. Taxes, this is a real simple question. Define rich. I mean give me a number. Is it $50,000, $100,000, $200,000? Everybody keeps talking about who we're going to tax. How can you define that?\" Senator Obama didn't quite answer the question directly, stating that an income level of less than $150,000 per year was middle class and that his tax plan would call for a \"modest increase\" in taxes for those making more than $250,000 per year: \"Look, here's how I think about it. And this is reflected in my tax plan. If you are making $150,000 a year or less as a family, then you're middle class or you may be poor. But $150,000 down, you're basically middle class; it obviously depends on the region where you're living. I would argue that if you're making more than $250,000, then you're in the top three percent, four percent of this country. You're doing well. Now, these things are all relative. And I'm not suggesting that everybody making over $250,000 is living on easy street. But the question that I think we have to ask ourselves is, if we believe in good schools, if we believe in good roads, if we want to make sure that kids can go to college, if we don't want to leave a mountain of debt for the next generation, then we've got to pay for these things; they don't come for free, and it is irresponsible. I believe it is irresponsible intergenerationally for us to invest or for us to spend $10 billion a month on a war and not have a way of paying for it. That, I think, is unacceptable. So nobody likes to pay taxes. I haven't sold 25 million books, but I've been selling some books lately, and so I write a pretty big check to Uncle Sam. Nobody likes it. What I can say is that under the approach I'm taking, if you make $150,000 or less, you will see a tax cut. If you're making $250,000 a year or more, you're going to see a modest increase. What I'm trying to do is create a sense of balance and fairness in our tax code. One thing I think we can all agree on is that it should be simpler so that you don't have all these loopholes and big stacks of stuff that you've got to comb through, which wastes a huge amount of money and allows special interests to take advantage of things that ordinary people cannot take advantage of. To Republican candidate John McCain, Pastor Warren said: \"OK, on taxes, define 'rich.' Everybody talks about taxing the rich, but not the poor, the middle class. At what point\u2014give me a number, give me a specific number\u2014do you move from middle class to rich? Is it $100,000, is it $50,000, is it $200,000? How does anybody know if we don't know what the standards are?\" Senator McCain responded by stating that he didn't think \"rich\" should be solely defined by income level and that the question was moot because he wanted to cut spending rather than increase taxes on the rich; along the way, he mentioned an income level of $5 million (immediately noting that \"I'm sure that comment will be distorted\"): \"Some of the richest people I've ever known in my life are the most unhappy. I think that rich should be defined by a home, a good job, an education, and the ability to hand to our children a more prosperous and safer world than the one that we inherited. I don't want to take any money from the rich\u2014I want everybody to get rich. I don't believe in class warfare or redistribution of wealth. But I can tell you, for example, there are small businessmen and women who are working 16 hours a day, seven days a week that some people would classify as 'rich,' my friends, and want to raise their taxes and want to raise their payroll taxes. Let's keep taxes low. Let's give every family in America a $7,000 tax credit for every child they have. Let's give them a $5,000 refundable tax credit to go out and get the health insurance of their choice. Let's not have the government take over the health care system in America. So, I think if you are just talking about income, how about $5 million? But seriously, I don't think you can\u2014I don't think seriously that the point I'm trying to make here, seriously\u2014and I'm sure that comment will be distorted\u2014but the point is that we want to keep people's taxes low and increase revenues. And, my friend, it was not taxes that mattered in America in the last several years. It was spending. Spending got completely out of control. We spent money in a way that mortgaged our kids' futures.\" Although this item is \"true\" in the strictly literal sense that John McCain did make the remark attributed to him, how much importance to place upon it is a subjective issue. Predictably, Democrats painted Senator McCain's remarks as indicative of his being out of touch with ordinary Americans and desirous of giving tax breaks to the rich, while the McCain campaign dismissed the candidate's statement as an obvious joke. (A Democratic National Committee video spotlighted Senator McCain's \"$5 million\" statement while omitting the remarks that surrounded it; the full exchange in context can be viewed here.) Meanwhile, economists asked to comment on the issue observed that the definition of \"rich\" is a murky one, and that the dividing line between \"poor\" and \"middle class\" (rather than between \"middle class\" and \"rich\") is probably the more significant one. Economists said in interviews that neither candidate was wrong because there are no agreed-upon definitions for the terms that describe income segments. \"To be fair to both of them, 'rich' is an adjective,\" said James P. Smith, a senior economist at the Rand Corp., a nonpartisan think tank in Santa Monica. \"Economic science is not going to tell you that 'this' is the cutoff point.\" Yet the $5 million level, Smith said, includes \"almost nobody.\" Experts said that of all the households in the nation, fewer than one-tenth of 1% had an annual income of $5 million or more. Ken Goldstein, an economist for the Conference Board, a business-research group based in New York, said he would define rich as income of about $500,000 or more. \"If you set the bar at half a million, you're talking about the top 1% of taxpayers. If you think about the last eight years, those are the folks who have benefited the most.\" Other economists said they would have gone with a lower figure. Even the moderator who asked the question of the candidates, Pastor Rick Warren of Orange County's Saddleback Church, did not seem to anticipate a reply beyond the lower six figures, urging each man to \"give me a specific number ... is it $100,000, is it $50,000, is it $200,000?\" Most ordinary Americans tend to massage the definitions of such terms in an attempt to crowd themselves into what many consider the least offensive category. \"If you do surveys, 95% of people think they are middle class,\" said Len Burman, director of the Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan group that has analyzed the candidates' tax proposals. \"This includes people who are objectively quite poor and people who are objectively quite rich.\" Burman added: \"I guess it says something nice about America that rich people don't want to act like they're better than anybody else and poor people don't like complaining about how tough it is to pay their bills.\" Economists tend to spend more time debating the definition of poor, in large part because that cutoff has consequences for an array of social programs designed to assist those whose incomes fall below the poverty line. Last updated: 13 September 2008. Sources: Miller, Greg. \"Who's Rich? McCain and Obama Have Very Different Definitions.\" Los Angeles Times. 18 August 2008. Montopoli, Brian. \"DNC Looks to Exploit McCain's '$5 Million' Comment.\" CBSNews.com. 19 August 2008. Reuters. \"Obama Rips McCain for $5 Million 'Rich' Definition.\" 18 August 2008.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_635","claim":"Did Trump Say He Didn't Serve in Vietnam Because He Was 'Never a Fan'?","posted":"06\/15\/2020","sci_digest":["A partial quote taken out of context can tell almost any story."],"justification":"In mid-June 2020, social media users circulated a meme featuring a picture of what appeared to be U.S. soldiers on a battlefield, along with the claim that U.S. President Donald Trump had said he didn't serve in the Vietnam War because he \"was never a fan.\"   Trump made the comment in a June 2019 interview with British journalist Piers Morgan on the show \"Good Morning Britain.\" Morgan asked Trump whether he wished he had served in Vietnam. To that, Trump responded, \"Well, I was never a fan of that war, Ill be honest with you. I thought it was a terrible war. I thought it was very far away. Nobody ever, you know you're talking about Vietnam, and at that time, nobody had ever heard of the country.\" responded However, Trump did not state that was the reason he didn't serve. Trump received several draft deferments in order to attend college and for bone spurs in his feet. In the same interview, he stated that he felt that he had made up for not serving by increasing the U.S. military's spending budget while in office. draft deferments stated Trump did state he wasn't a \"fan\" of the Vietnam War, but he didn't give that as the reason he didn't serve. He was simply stating his opinion about the war when asked if he regretted not serving in it. We therefore rate this claim \"Mixture.\"  Washington Post.  \"4 Moments from Trump's 'Good Morning Britain' Interview with Piers Morgan.\"\r  YouTube.  5 June 2019. Freking, Kevin and Jonathan Lemire.  \"Trump Honors D-Day Vets, Discusses Vietnam Deferment.\"\r  The Associated Press.  5 June 2019. Horton, Alex.  \"Trump is Making Up for Not Serving in Vietnam with Increased Defense Funding, He Says.\"\r  Washington Post.  5 June 2019.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1NKP8hLnWxXUdcaKZKYfYfdSBiE2zd0Cx","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_636","claim":"No, Domino's Is Not Offering Free Online Coupons for 2 Large Pizzas","posted":"04\/08\/2020","sci_digest":["Yet another \"free coupon\" scam attempted to lure social media users with bogus promises."],"justification":"In April 2020, Facebook posts circulating online offered coupons supposedly good for two free large pizzas from the Domino's pizza chain:  Users who clicked on the offer were taken to an external website where they were instructed to answer survey questions in order to receive their coupons:  After completing the questionnaire, however, users were then required to click a button to share the \"offer\" with their Facebook friends before they could retrieve their coupons. Those who complied by spamming their friends were then allowed to click a \"Receive the Coupon\" button, but there was no actual coupon to receive. Like innumerable other \"free merchandise\" offers on Facebook, this offer was another variation of a common scam. other free merchandise offers Facebook We've had many occasions to alert readers to this kind of fraud: These types of viral coupon scams often involve websites and social media pages set up to mimic those of legitimate companies. Users who respond to those fake offers are required to share a website link or social media post in order to spread the scam more widely and lure in additional victims. Then those users are presented with a survey that extracts personal information such as email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, and even sometimes credit card numbers. Finally, those who want to claim their free gift cards or coupons eventually learn they must first sign up to purchase a number of costly goods, services, or subscriptions. The Better Business Bureau offers consumers several general tips to avoid getting scammed: offers consumers","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1WNbaGX9pKC85ztondUlsFnBEtfqSMOsd","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1E_Frz6UMs0sUDl6HD_UknjwXK6dWYkI3","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_637","claim":"The minimum wage is mostly an entry-level wage for young people.","posted":"01\/26\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"President Barack Obama is expected to take another stab at raising the minimum wage when he delivers his State of the Union speech this week. But Republicans appear ready to stymie that proposal once again. The topic came up Jan. 26, 2014, onFox News Sundayduring a discussion between host Chris Wallace and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Isn't it reasonable that somebody who's working full time, 40 hours a week, should be able to live above the poverty line? Wallace asked McConnell, referring to Obamas calls to hike the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. Yeah. But of course, the minimum wage is mostly an entry-level wage for young people, McConnell replied. We have a crisis in employment among young people right now. McConnell went on to say that he believes raising the minimum wage will hurt employment and we ought to be doing things that create more jobs. But what about McConnells characterization of minimum wage workers? Is it a workforce mostly made up of young folks? Well stick to the federal minimum wage, which is $7.25, since thats the topic up for debate. As it stands,21 states and the District of Columbiahave set their minimum wage higher than the federal level. A spokesman for McConnell pointed us to a study by the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics, Characterizations of Minimum Wage Workers, released in February of last year. Were familiar with it, having written a couple offact-checksrecentlyon the minimum wage. According to the report, of the 75 million people making hourly wages in 2012, about 1.6 million earned the minimum wage while another 2 million earned less than $7.25 an hour. (How does one earn less than the minimum wage? Certainexceptionsare carved out for vocational education students, full-time students employed by retail or service establishments, agriculture, or institutions of higher education, and those impaired by a physical or mental disability.) The underlying data in the report largely backs up McConnells claim. In fact, the report even says Minimum wage workers tend to be young. How young? Only 20 percent of individuals earning hourly wages are ages 16-24, but that demographic makes up half of all individuals earning at or below the minimum wage. About a quarter of those individuals are teenagers ages 16-19 and another 25 percent are 20 to 24 years old. Broadened to include 25-29 year olds, and nearly two-thirds of all workers making at or below the minimum wage are younger than 30. The older you get, the more likely youre making more than $7.25. But McConnell also described minimum wage jobs as entry-level. Thats a characterization with which some may take an issue. Entry-level jobs typically indicate positions that, while at the bottom of the totem pole, have potential for growth. Young adults take entry-level jobs at companies hoping to climb the career ladder. And while wages are lower, there is potential to see considerable salary increases and\/or career advancement. A majority of minimum-wage jobs dont really fit that description. According to the report, two-thirds are part-time, and half of all minimum wage jobs are in the leisure or hospitality industry. This includes food service jobs like waiters and cooks, hotel employees or movie theater workers, among other jobs. While many of those jobs are traditionally held by young people, they dont typically lead to careers in those industries. The same can be said for retail jobs, which make up another 16 percent of all minimum wage-or-less positions. Our ruling McConnell said the minimum wage is mostly an entry-level wage for young people. The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that indeed half of all workers making a minimum wage are 16 to 24, and another 20 percent are in their late 20s or early 30s. Thats a large chunk of the minimum wage workforce, though about 30 percent of people making the minimum wage are 35 and older. McConnell also goes a bit too far in calling these jobs entry-level. For most young people, these are part-time jobs in the food or retail businesses or similar industries with little hope for career advancement. We rate McConnells statement as Mostly True.","issues":["National","Income"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_638","claim":"Did Kenosha Leaders Require Police Body Cams, Then Fail To Buy Them?","posted":"08\/27\/2020","sci_digest":["None of the responding officers wore body cameras at the scene where Jacob Blake was shot multiple times by police in August 2020."],"justification":"On Aug. 23, 2020, bystanders' cellphone videos captured a white police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, shooting a Black man, Jacob Blake, multiple times as he opened the door to his vehicle. The footage went viral on social media and sparked deadly protests in the lakeside city over racism in American policing. Jacob Blake deadly protests One video, which a neighbor recorded from a second-story apartment nearby, showed Blake, 29, trying to get into his SUV from the driver-side door as a police officer pointed a gun at him, grabbed him by his shirt and then fired several times  shooting Blake in the back. Another clip documented the scene from the ground level, as children and other witnesses watched from a yard. The officer who fired his weapon was identified as Rusten Sheskey, according to Wisconsin's attorney general. video clip identified The day after the shooting, which left Blake paralyzed from the waist down as of this writing, advocates for police reform argued that if those witnesses had not taken out their phones, the public would not have known about the officers' use of potentially-lethal force. It was unclear whether dashboard cameras on squad cars captured the incident, and Kenosha officers do not wear body cameras  leading tools for holding officers accountable for their actions. paralyzed Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Blake's family, as well as other high-profile cases alleging wrongful use of force by police against Black Americans, including the relatives of George Floyd, tweeted: representing George Floyd,  We considered his underlying claim to be this: Kenosha city leaders approved an \"ordinance\" in 2017 that \"required\" all of Kenosha's roughly 200 police officers to wear body cameras, but, despite that active policy, the city had not purchased the technology as of August 2020. Additionally, the lawyer alleged the city was planning to buy the devices in 2022. First, to find any evidence of a 2017 policy that would make body cameras mandatory for all officers, Snopes combed through meeting agendas and minutes for the Kenosha Common Council  the city's 17-member group with the authority to write legislation for the city of roughly 100,000 people between Milwaukee and Chicago. We found an archived video of a council committee meeting on Feb. 27, 2017, where former Alderperson Kevin Mathewson asked the group to approve a formal request for the mayor to set aside city funding in the following year's budget to outfit officers with body cameras. \"The city, unfortunately, has been a little slow to implement much technology,\" he said in his testimony. \"If we can help document incidents better, and give the [district attorney] tools to make quicker convictions with less resources, we can save cops from violence ... I think it's a great thing.\" Roughly one month later, on March 20, 2017, the council unanimously approved the below-displayed resolution  not an ordinance and not Mathewson's budget proposal  that formalized city leaders' support for the devices. But that move was largely a statement to urge state legislators and then-Gov. Scott Walker to establish guidelines for how local police departments store and release the cameras' data, not an enforceable policy to make the devices mandatory for Kenosha officers. approved    Notably, the resolution stated: [I]mplementation of Body Worn Cameras for officers of the Kenosha Police Department is dependent on resolution of policy concerns associated with matters such as usage, storage, requirements, Public Record limitation, and privacy issues involving Body Worn Cameras.  In other words, it was true to state Kenosha city leaders expressed support for equipping police officers with body cameras in 2017, but they did not mandate the technology. Rather, its adoption hinged on if or when the state passed an all-encompassing law governing the devices, per the resolution. (In February 2020, Gov. Tony Evers passed a law outlining body camera regulations for police agencies.) passed A note on semantics here: According to the city of Kenosha's Code of General Ordinances, the council adopts both ordinances and resolutions with its legislative authority, though the latter are temporary in nature and often used for establishing fees and permits, while the former are municipal laws. Calling the March 2017 measure about body cameras an ordinance, like the claim alleged, was incorrect; it did not create an enforceable policy. Code of General Ordinances Next, we searched for any proof to confirm or deny another aspect of the claim: that the city had not purchased the devices as of August 2020. We learned that was true. A February 2020 story by Kenosha News said neither the city police department nor the Kenosha county Sheriff's Department used body-worn cameras. And the day after Blake's shooting, on Aug. 24, Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian confirmed to reporters that the city had not yet purchased the technology but had plans to do so. story confirmed Lastly, we looked for documentation of those efforts that would tell us if the city was indeed preparing to spend the money in 2022 and then deploy the cameras after that. For that step, Snopes reviewed the city's 2020 operating budget, which included a four-year plan for spending on police department projects. That 445-page document included the below-displayed table and confirmed that the city was indeed preparing to spend $200,000 on police body cameras in 2022. 445-page document  Rocco LaMacchia, chairman of the councils public safety committee, told The Associated Press the city initially planned to buy the devices in 2020, but funding shortfalls and technological concerns prompted the city to delay the purchase for two years. We have moved it back so many times, he said in the Aug. 25, 2020, story. I got a feeling this is going to move up on the ladder really fast because of whats going on around the United States right now.\" The Associated Press In sum, we rate this claim a \"Mixture\" of truth and falsehood. It was accurate to claim Kenosha leaders unanimously endorsed the use of body cameras in 2017, though it was false to say they created an enforceable policy, or an ordinance, to require all police officers to wear the devices. Additionally, it was true to assert the city had not bought the devices as of August 2020 and was planning to make the purchase in 2022. Mathewson, Kevin.  \"Urge The Mayor To Include Funding For Police Body Worn Cameras (BWC) In The 2018 CIP.\"\r  City of Kenosha.  Accessed 26 August 2020. Wisconsin State Legislature.  \"Senate Bill 50.\"\r  Accessed 26 August 2020. Police Department.  \"2020-2024 Capital Improvement Plan.\"\r  Accessed 26 August 2020. Zampanti, Jeffrey.  \"Body Cameras Gaining Popularity Despite Challenges.\"\r  Kenosha News.  29 February 2020. Foley, Ryan.  \"Kenosha Delayed Body Cameras For Years Before Black Shooting.\"\r The Associated Press.  25 August 2020. Kenosha News.  \"In Photos: County Board Committees Consider Body Cams For Sheriff's Department.\"\r  17 July 2020. Kenosha News. \"Body Camera Funds Shouldn't Go By The Wayside.\"\r  27 March 2020. Jones, Meg and Joe Taschler. \"Less Than 3 Minutes Passed Between When Kenosha Police Arrived And When Jacob Blake Was Shot, According To Dispatch Audio.\"\r  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 25 August 2020. Bosman, Julie, and Sarah Mervosh.  \"Wisconsin Reels After Police Shooting And Second Night of Protests.\"\r The New York Times.  24 August 2020.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1-4kkRX-MJuY8nT7HnfAUKBi1naElMidb","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1aRR12rZUQAYM4R8IQd5rTLnROsAeFyZY","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1OLHkI83Ox57iNSA5JV0uM2d7tOjwkPu7","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_639","claim":"North Carolina has one of the fastest growing populations as well as the fastest growing economy in the country.","posted":"04\/29\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Quarterly GDP numbers arent the sexiest item in political news, but when the latest state-level updates were released Thursday  for the third quarter of 2015, which ended Sept. 30  Gov. Pat McCrory trumpeted them on both his official and campaign websites and social media pages. McCrory has dubbed his re-election campaign the Carolina Comeback, trying to focus on good economic news. He said these numbers show North Carolina is squarely on the upswing. A states GDP, or gross domestic product, is the total of all goods and services it produces. And McCrory said that since he took office, no state has increased its gross domestic product faster than North Carolina. He credited the states cuts to the income tax rate and unemployment benefits, and the outsourcing of economic development efforts. He also clarified that he was talking about the numbers since January 2013. We have delivered $4.4 billion in tax relief, fixed our broken unemployment insurance system and reformed our economic development strategy to strengthen North Carolinas economy and put more people back to work, McCrory said in a statement. These efforts have positioned North Carolina as one of the fastest growing populations as well as (the) fastest growing economy in the country. Economies are subject to a number of influences. For this fact check, we wont attempt to say what has or hasnt been responsible for the states economic growth. Instead, we will look just at whether its true that North Carolina has one of the fastest growing populations as well as fastest growing economy in the country, as McCrory claimed. Population growth Between July 1, 2013  shortly after McCrory took office  and July 1, 2015, North Carolina added about 194,000 people for a total population of 10,043,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Thats close to a 2 percent growth rate and slightly better than the national average over that period. From 2013 to 2014 and from 2014 to 2015, five states added more people than North Carolina. Both years, North Carolina was the ninth largest state. North Carolina isnt adding people at the countrys fastest rate, or by the largest amounts. But it has a better-than-average growth rate, and its on pace tocontinue closing the gapwith larger states. McCrory is correct that North Carolina has one of the fastest growing populations. Economic growth This question is a little trickier. Has North Carolina had the fastest-growing economy in the country under Pat McCrorys administration? There are many ways to measure economic strength, and North Carolina is not the best in every measure, according to the U.S. Department of Commerces Bureau of Economic Analysis. For instance, in 2015, the state was 13th in total income and 39th in per-capita income. From 2013 to 2015 North Carolina also had the 19th-fastest growth in per-capita income and the 11th-fastest growth in total income. North Carolinas unemployment and underemployment rates are also both above the national average, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But McCrory specifically referenced GDP growth. For that reason, and because GDP is generally considered the most comprehensive measure of an economys strength, well look only at GDP growth for the sake of this fact check. And on that, McCrory is right that North Carolina is No. 1. Between the first quarter of 2013 and the third quarter of 2015 (the most recent data we have), no states economic output grew as fast as North Carolinas 13.4 percent rate. Florida and California came close, at 13.3 and 13.2 percent GDP growth, respectively. The average for both the Southeast and the United States as a whole was 9.9 percent. Because economists love to do math, there are other ways of defining the same data over the same period. That 13.4 percent rate specifically refers to current (non-inflation-adjusted) dollars. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis also measures GDPs compound growth rate in current dollars and chained dollars. Chaining is a process that adjusts for inflation, but by using different methods from the more common Consumer Price Index. In that measure, North Carolina tied for first in current dollar amounts and tied for seventh in chained dollar amounts. Its also worth noting that right now were partway through the second quarter of 2016, so the data are lagging behind real time by nearly six months. So while we don't know who currently has the fastest-growing economy, the data does show that North Carolinas growth hasnt been as dominant recently. Looking just from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, 2015  the most recent numbers available  North Carolinas GDP grew by 2.8 percent. Thats lower than 10 other states and tied with another seven. Its good, but not the best. Our ruling McCrory is right that North Carolina has one of the fastest growing populations. As for the economy, North Carolina did have the fastest-growing GDP in the country between the first quarter of 2013, when McCrory took office, and the third quarter of 2015. The pace has slowed recently, but that doesn't change the truth of the statement. We rate this claim True.","issues":["Economy","Income","Population","States","North Carolina"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_640","claim":"When a basketball player or football or baseball player from another team plays in Wisconsin, that one game's salary, they pay Wisconsin income tax on it... So, if for some reason we do not have the Brewers in Wisconsin all of those player salaries that generate dollars for the State of Wisconsin go away.","posted":"05\/12\/2023","sci_digest":["Withholding from professional athletes total in the millions every year., In 2022, withholding from Major League Baseballteams alone totaled about $12.4 million, In 2022, taxes from visiting pro athletes in baseball, basketball and football topped $50 million."],"justification":"In his2023-25 budget proposal, Gov. Tony Evers called for tapping a state surplus to spend $290 million on stadium renovations to help ensure the Milwaukee Brewers stay in Wisconsin. The cash would go into an escrow account operated by the Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District, a state-created agency that owns American Family Field and leases it to the Brewers. In return, the Brewers would extend their current ballpark lease, which could expire by the end of 2030, and agree to stay in Milwaukee through 2043. But Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has said the stadium funding question should be taken up outside of the budget process, and has argued there are other sources of money that could better be tapped to address the issue. (In March we ratedMostly Falsea claim by Evers that the original plan was bipartisan in nature.) In a March 9 appearance on aWisconsin Right Nowpodcast, and more recently at the Milwaukee Press Club, Vos has noted that taxes paid by visiting professional athletes could be tapped as a revenue source. Here is what he said on the podcast: When a basketball player or football or baseball player from another team plays in Wisconsin, that one game's salary, they pay Wisconsin income tax on it... So, if for some reason we do not have the Brewers in Wisconsin all of those player salaries that generate dollars for the state of Wisconsin go away, Vos said. This statement piqued our interest. Is it true that if the Brewers leave town, Wisconsins tax coffers would take a hit? Jock tax If a pro athlete plays in a state that collects income tax, any money made from that game is taxed as income earned in that state, which is informally known as a jock tax. The jock tax has been around in some form since the 1960s, according to severalonline sources. However, the practice heated up in the 1990s, after the state of California slapped the tax on the earnings of Chicago Bulls players who traveled to Los Angeles for the 1991 NBA finals. Illinois retaliated, imposing a similar tax on out of state players. According toHuddle Up, a newsletter focused on the business of sports, such taxes are collected in every state, with theexception of five:Florida, Nevada, Texas, Washington and Tennessee. RELATED:Will Wisconsin taxpayers get 'tremendous' payback for money spent on new Fiserv Forum? RELATED:Examining Scott Walker's 'cheaper to keep them' slogan The Vos claim came in response to a question about baseball players, so lets start there. Patricia A. Mayers, communications director for the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, provided a breakdown of the amount of Wisconsin withholding from MLB teams by year, noting It doesn't account for non-wage income of the team employees or any income of individuals who are not employed by the teams. State withholding by year Year             Baseball 2012           $8.4 million 2013            $8 million 2014            $8.9 million 2015            $9.2 million 2016             $7.8 million 2017            $8.8 million 2018            $11.9 million 2019            $12.3 million 2020             $5 million 2021            $10.5 million 2022            $12.4 million  Meanwhile, these are the figures for the three top-level professional leagues in which there is a Wisconsin team, in millions by year:  2020 2021 2022 Baseball 5.0 10.5 12.4 Basketball 10.6 14.1 13.3 Football 21.3 16.1 25.5 So, in 2022 alone, taxes from those visiting athletes topped $50 million. Vos said: When a basketball player or football or baseball player from another team plays in Wisconsin, that one game's salary, they pay Wisconsin income tax on it... So, if for some reason we do not have the Brewers in Wisconsin all of those player salaries that generate dollars for the state of Wisconsin go away. Indeed, in 2022 alone, state income taxes on visiting players in the big three leagues topped $50 million. For a statement that is accurate and has nothing significant missing, our rating is True.","issues":["Baseball","Sports","Taxes","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_641","claim":"Special education categorical aid from the state hasnt been raised in over a decade.","posted":"09\/20\/2018","sci_digest":[],"justification":"State schools superintendent Tony Evers, the Democratic challenger facing Gov. Scott Walker, has pledged to seek$606.1 million increasein funding for special education programs, which would bring funding for such services to $900 million by 2021. School districts have a legal obligation to kids with disabilities, and they are required to provide those services, Evers said when he made the announcement. That, in turn, puts pressure on the rest of the school budget. Its time to change that momentum. States use different methods to allocate special education funds. Wisconsin is one of five that reimburse schools for the costs incurred for educating special-needs students. It is considered categorical aid -- that is, based on a category outside of the regular funding formula. According to areport from the state Department of Public Instruction: This categorical aid is the states primary direct fund source to recognize the additional costs of educating pupils with disabilities. This critical aid program has widespread statewide impact providing funding for all pupils with disabilities, approximately 14 percent of Wisconsin pupils, providing equal benefit across all school districts. Evers request would more than double the state reimbursement rate for school districts special education costs, from 27 percent to 60 percent by 2019. Were going to add $600 million to special education categorical aid; it hasnt been raised in over a decade, Evers said at a primary election forum broadcast Aug. 16, 2018, byWRRD Resistance RadioDevils Advocates. Is Evers right? The evidence When asked about special education funding, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Instruction directed PolitiFact Wisconsin to theWisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau, a nonpartisan entity considered the gold standard on state budget matters. According to the fiscal bureau, in the 2006-2007 budget, the number was just over $350 million. In every year since then, the total has been just under $369 million -- $368,939,100, to be exact. Abdur Chowdhury, Marquette University Department of Economics Professor Emeritus, said inflation in the U.S. from 2007-18 averaged between 1 percent and 2 percent. Thus, he said, in later years, you need to provide more nominal aid in order to be equal to real aid in the early years. So, to keep up with inflation, the$368,939,100in fiscal year 2007 aid would have to have amounted to this much in subsequent years: 2008-09 -- $381,741,700 2009-10 -- $388,003,320 2010-11-- $400,250,755 2011-12 -- $408,533,744 2012-13 -- $414,517,781 2013-14 -- $421,242,038 2014-15 -- $421,742,043 2015-16 -- $427,062,373 2016-17 -- $436,160,315 At the same time, the report notes that while costs have increased, Wisconsin has experienced adecrease in special education enrollmentsince fiscal year 2007: 2007-2008 -- 124,520 2008-2009 -- 123,734 2009-2010 -- 123,412 2010-2011 -- 122,763 2011-2012 -- 121,881 2012-2013 -- 121,378 2013-2014 -- 120,698 2014-2015 -- 118,601 2015-2016 -- 118,923 2016 -2017 -- 118,209 That represents an enrollment drop of 5.07 percent from 2007-08 to 2016-17. The enrollment counts for 2018-19 are not final, but they are expected to again decrease. So, all this raises a question about what has happened with the per-student average -- and whether that has kept up with inflation. According to the Department of Public Instruction, special education costs per pupil in 2008-09 was $10,388, with the state on average paying $2,981, or nearly 29 percent per pupil. In 2018, the estimated cost per pupil is at $12,084, with the state on average paying $3,140, or nearly 26 percent per pupil. So, had the per-pupil amount being paid by the state kept pace with inflation, it would be an estimated$3,489.18in 2018, not the projected $3,140. A DPI spokesman pointed out that the per pupil figures are just special education costs, and those ride on top of regular education costs. The Walker team When asked about Evers claim, Walker campaign spokesman Austin Altenburg pointed PolitiFact Wisconsin to Walker education initiatives that feature targeted aid in the form of grants and other avenues for special education students: Altenburg did not say whether he was arguing these programs more than make up for the lack of increase in the main aid program. In any case, Evers was talking about the main categorical state aid for education, and that is what we are focusing on here. Our rating Evers said special education categorical aid from the state hasnt been raised in over a decade. The Walker administration has launched several initiatives that feature targeted aid in the form of grants for special education students, but the special education categorical aid continues to be set at nearly $369 million. Data shows a per-pupil increase in raw dollars paid by the state, from $2,981, or 28.6 percent, per pupil in 2008 to an estimated $3,140, or 25.98 percent, paid per pupil in 2018. But that increase is more than eaten away byinflation. And the state is paying a lower share of the cost per pupil. We rate Evers statement Mostly True.","issues":["Children","Education","State Budget","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_642","claim":"Was there a proposal made by Trump that could potentially result in the termination of disability benefits for thousands of individuals who receive SSI?","posted":"12\/18\/2019","sci_digest":["Activists and Congressional Democrats encouraged the public to voice their opposition to the proposals, which were published in November 2019."],"justification":"In December 2019, readers asked us about reports claiming that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump had proposed changes to the way Social Security disability payments are made, which could cause thousands, even hundreds of thousands, to lose their benefits. On Dec. 12, the Philadelphia Inquirer and Chicago Tribune posted an article with the headline \"Trump Administration Proposes Social Security Rule Changes That Could Cut Off Thousands of Disabled Recipients.\" The article reported: \"The Trump administration is proposing changes to Social Security that could terminate disability payments to hundreds of thousands of Americans, particularly older people and children. The new rule would change aspects of disability reviews\u2014the methods by which the Social Security Administration determines whether a person continues to qualify for benefits. Few recipients are aware of the proposal, which is open for public comment through January.\" The left-leaning website Common Dreams published an article with the headline \"'A National Disgrace': Trump Proposes Social Security Change That Could End Disability Benefits for Hundreds of Thousands.\" That story reported: \"Activists are working to raise public awareness and outrage over a little-noticed Trump administration proposal that could strip life-saving disability benefits from hundreds of thousands of people by further complicating the way the Social Security Administration determines who is eligible for payments.\" On the face of it, the changes proposed by the Trump administration would not directly or immediately strip disability benefits from thousands of would-be recipients; rather, the changes would introduce more (and more frequent) eligibility reviews for those who wish to receive them. However, some critics have argued that these increased bureaucratic requirements would overburden some would-be recipients, particularly the most vulnerable, and would ultimately (albeit indirectly) result in thousands losing disability benefits. The Social Security Administration distributes disability benefits in two principal ways: Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), which typically provides benefits to people based on their previous Social Security tax contributions and work history, and is paid out of the Social Security insurance fund; and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), which typically provides benefits to people based on their disability status and inability to work, and is paid out of general tax coffers. In order to prevent potential abuse and waste in the system, the Social Security Administration conducts \"continuing disability reviews,\" essentially investigating whether each recipient still has a disabling condition, and if so, which kind. Those reviews take place more or less frequently, depending on the nature of each individual's disability, which is broken into three \"medical diary categories.\" In November, the Social Security Administration published its proposals to make several changes to the review system. The most significant proposal was to add a fourth medical diary category, \"Medical Improvement Likely.\" Recipients placed in that category would undergo a review every two years. According to a document accompanying the proposals, the decision to introduce the fourth category was made, in part, because the administration saw a pattern whereby some in the \"Medical Improvement Expected\" category were being prematurely subjected to re-evaluation, after six to 18 months, before a medical improvement had the chance to take hold, and some in the \"Medical Improvement Possible\" category had successfully treated their impairment comfortably within the three-year review interval. The introduction of the new category would therefore mean the bureaucratic burden on some recipients would actually be lessened, since they would be subject to review less frequently, though it would also mean others would be subject to more frequent reviews. On the whole, the administration has estimated that, between 2020 and 2029, the new category would tend to require more frequent reviews for those currently in the \"Medical Improvement Possible\" category, rather than less frequent reviews for those currently in the \"Medical Improvement Expected\" category. The administration expects the introduction of the \"Medical Improvement Likely\" category to lead to an 18 percent increase in the total number of reviews undertaken over the next decade. This would lead to an increased upfront cost in administering the disability benefits programs and an increased aggregate bureaucratic burden on recipients (even if some individual recipients would actually undergo reviews less frequently). Greater scrutiny of individual cases and enhanced enforcement of eligibility criteria results in some recipients no longer being deemed eligible and no longer receiving either SSDI or SSI, which saves money for the Social Security insurance fund and the Treasury, respectively. For the 2015 fiscal year, for example, the Social Security Administration calculated a 19.9:1 return on investment rate for disability benefits enforcement\u2014meaning that for every $1 spent on performing reviews, the government would save $19.90 on disability benefits that would otherwise have been paid, over the course of a lifetime, to recipients who are now deemed ineligible. To be specific, the administration estimated that the $717 million spent on reviews in 2015 would ultimately save $14.3 billion in lifetime disability benefit payments. The introduction of the Trump administration's proposals is highly likely to ultimately lead to thousands of disability benefits recipients no longer receiving those benefits, both because some will be overburdened by the bureaucratic demands of more frequent reviews and because some recipients whose medical status no longer meets the eligibility criteria will have that ineligibility discovered sooner. A considerable measure of truth, therefore, exists in the reports published by the Philadelphia Inquirer and Common Dreams. However, those articles failed to mention an important component of the administration's proposals: they would not change how a recipient's eligibility is determined, only how often that determination takes place. As the proposal stated: \"We are not changing the Medical Improvement Review Standard that we use to determine whether a person continues to meet the disability requirements of the Act.\" This means that, while the proposed increase in the number and frequency of reviews was highly likely to ultimately cause thousands to lose their benefits, that loss of benefits would not be arbitrary or based on the application of a new and different standard for determining whether someone's health has improved. The standards and criteria for assessing whether an improvement has taken place would remain the same as currently exist, and only the frequency of those reviews would change. In other words, some recipients would be subject to more frequent reviews, but if those more frequent reviews result in a finding that the recipient still has a qualifying disability or impairment\u2014based on the same criteria as currently apply\u2014the recipient would continue to receive disability benefits. It could be that, as some critics have argued, the proposal represents an elegant way for the administration to save money by removing thousands from the recipient rolls without having to change eligibility criteria\u2014the latter a move that would be more likely to cause public outrage or political opposition. However, on its face at least, the proposal involves enhanced enforcement of existing eligibility standards and criteria. That's an important distinction and a significant omission from news articles that reported, with some justification, that the Trump administration had proposed changes to Social Security disability benefits that would cause thousands to be stripped of those benefits.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1HsV4AZ9gfufEJQ7Lyjp-1lZSkgEGpVdW"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_643","claim":"Benefits of parental leave available to parents in Europe.","posted":"03\/16\/2017","sci_digest":["Senator Bernie Sanders' office released an image showing how the U.S. 'lags' behind Canada, Norway, and Germany on the issue of parental leave."],"justification":"On 14 March 2017, Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-VT) office posted an image on his Facebook page criticizing the lack of federally-funded family leave in the U.S. by highlighting how similar policies are implemented in three other countries: Facebook   Sanders, who ran for the Democratic Party's 2016 presidential nomination, expressed support for a federal family leave program in the U.S., as stated on his campaign website: stated In my view, every worker in America should be guaranteed at least twelve weeks of paid family and medical leave. Thats why I am a proud cosponsor of the FAMILY Act, introduced by Senator [Kirsten] Gillibrand, which does just that. Under this measure, every employee would receive twelve weeks of paid family and medical leave: to take care of a baby, to help a family member who has been diagnosed with cancer or another serious medical condition, or to care for themselves if they become seriously ill. This would be funded through an insurance program, like Social Security. Workers would pay into it with every paycheck, at the price of roughly one cup of coffee per week. There is no reason not to pass this bill now. His office's claim that the U.S. and Papua New Guinea are alone \"out of 188 countries\" in lacking federal family leave programs is based on a 2015 study by the International Labour Organization (ILO) reporting that statistic. Sanders' post was also accompanied by an image listing individual claims about parental leave policies in Canada, Germany, and Norway.  study Canada allows parents to take 35 weeks' worth of leave while still receiving up to 55 percent of their regular salaries. The country's paid leave benefits are applied as part of its employment insurance (EI) program, which states: program For most people, the basic rate for calculating EI benefits is 55% of your average insurable weekly earnings, up to a maximum amount. As of January 1, 2017, the maximum yearly insurable earnings amount is $51,300. This means that you can receive a maximum amount of $543 per week. While parents can divide the 35 weeks of leave between themselves, mothers can take an additional 15 weeks as part of the program:  EI maternity benefits can be paid for a maximum period of 15 weeks. You cannot receive EI maternity benefits beyond 17 weeks after the expected or actual week of childbirth, whichever of the two is later. EI parental benefits can be paid for a maximum period of 35 weeks. The payments must be made within 52 weeks of the week your child was born or the week your child was placed with you for adoption. Parents seeking to take the paid leave must also meet criteria regarding length of employment, and while parental benefits are open to \"biological, adoptive, or legally recognized parents while they are caring for their newborn or newly adopted child,\" maternity benefits are only available to a child's biological mother: To be eligible for EI maternity benefits, you must have accumulated at least 600 hours of insurable employment in your qualifying period. If you are a self-employed fisher, you must have earned $3,760 from fishing during the 31-week qualifying period immediately before the start of your benefit period. To be eligible for EI parental benefits, each parent who applies for benefits must have accumulated at least 600 hours of insurable employment in his or her qualifying period. If you are a self-employed fisher, you must have earned $3,760 from fishing during the 31-week qualifying period immediately before the start of your benefit period. In Norway, as Sanders' office stated, parents may take 49 weeks of parental leave while receiving 100 percent of their pay. But the Norwegian government's web site also notes that parents have another option that provides lesser coverage for a longer period of time: notes When you apply for parental benefit, you must choose between 100 percent or 80 percent degree of coverage The total benefit period for parental benefit in the case of a birth, is 49 weeks at 100 percent coverage, and 59 weeks at 80 percent coverage. The parents must choose the same degree of coverage. Expectant mothers are also required to use three of their benefit weeks prior to their child's birth and can start using their benefits up to 12 weeks before the child's due date, though only nine of those weeks would be withdrawn from their accrued leave time.  Adoptive parents also have two options: take 46 weeks off while receiving 100 percent of their pay, or take 56 weeks off at 80 percent of their pay. In Germany, there are two ways to take parental leave, one of which is mentioned in the post by Sanders' office: parents can each take between two and 12 months off while receiving \"two-thirds of [their] previous income.\" Benefits range from at least 300 Euros a month to a maximum of 1,800 Euros a month. (Unemployed parents are also eligible for the benefits program.) receiving Parents who are already employed are each protected from losing their jobs while utilizing their family leave. However, parents taking the time off together can extend their benefits period to 14 months. Additionally, parents who participate in the \"ElterngeldPlus\" program can also add four months to their leaves if they each work up to 30 hours a week during their benefit period.  Parents seeking to take part in Germany's parental leave program must submit applications to their employer (if applicable) at least seven weeks before they intend to start taking the time off. Additionally, as of 1 July 2015 parents are eligible for up to 24 months of parental leave if their children are between the ages of two and seven.   Government of Canada.  \"Employment Insurance Maternity and Parental Benefits.\" \r  Accessed 16 March 2017. Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration.  \"Parental Benefit.\" \r  19 July 2013. [Danish] Federal Office for Migration and Refugees.  \"Parental Allowance and Parental Leave.\"\r   Accessed 16 March 2017. International Labour Organization.  \"Social Protection for Maternity: Key Policy Trends and Statistics.\" \r  2015.  Sanders, Bernie.  \"Real Family Values.\" \r  berniesanders.com.  ","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=12oHYGD4iZe4osMIid-VXxqx7dKXKA2cE"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_644","claim":"Was StopWatt Created by Elon Musk and Tesla?","posted":"08\/28\/2023","sci_digest":["We don't recommend believing in strange offers that claim a cheap \"electricity-saving box\" device can slash your home's utility bill by 90%."],"justification":"One series of online scams that seemingly never ends is the false claim that Tesla CEO Elon Musk had involvement in the creation of an inexpensive \"electricity-saving\" device that's about the size of a plug-in night light. U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm was also misleadingly mentioned as purportedly having endorsed the products, too. StopWatt is one of many names of a cheap and constantly rebranded \"electricity-saving box\" product that scammers have misleadingly associated with Musk, Granholm, Tesla (the company), and even Nikola Tesla himself. Pro Power Saver was one of the other rebranded product names, as we previously reported. reported According to images of such products, the only words that appeared on the physical devices were, \"Intelligent Energy Saver. Electricity-Saving Box. The Result Is the Best.\" That last bit about \"the result is the best\" appeared to be poorly-translated English. Names like StopWatt and Pro Power Saver don't appear on the products, since the rebranding from \"electricity-saving box\" was apparently only a marketing tactic and had no bearing on the creation of the device. Scams for these \"electricity-saving boxes\" usually begin with an online ad displayed on a website or in an email newsletter that claims the compact, inexpensive device can save homeowners 90% off of their utility bill. Those ads then lead to a scammy article that falsely claims Musk created StopWatt.  Just as we previously wrote about the Pro Power Saver scam, with StopWatt, we don't recommend trusting any claims that say homeowners will be able to save such an enormous percentage off of their electricity bills. If this was truly possible, it would be one of the most popular products around today. Always remember with online offers that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. As for the scammy article, it often bears the publisher name of Fox News. However, Fox News never published this story: Reducing Electricity Bills by 90%! Elon Musk's Revolutionary Device Designed Personally for Middle-aged, Elderly, and Low-income Groups Faces Suppression by Power Giants, Facing Production Crisis? Elon Musk, the genius CEO behind solar power giant Tesla has been the talk of the town lately. His most recent controversy is a genius electricity saving invention for those who can't afford fancy, expensive solar panels. The electric power companies are furious and want Elon's money saving invention banned before the American public can take full advantage of the savings. He goes on to say \"The big power companies are scamming you. Yes, that's right. Believe it or not, they have been using a secret to cheat you every time you run your lights, dishwasher, blender, vacuum and anything else that draws power. This is why your power bill is so expensive every month and keeps rising with some residents paying as much as $500 a month in electric bills. Every American can slash their electricity bill by 90% using this revolutionary technology. You're welcome, America.\" This scam often features a picture of Musk holding one of the supposed \"electricity-saving box\" devices in his hand:  However, as readers can see at the top of this article, the photograph with Musk holding the device had been doctored. The original picture was available on the Getty Images website. available Continuing with the scam article, it went on to tell a sad story of a woman named \"Dorothy Smith,\" purportedly a Tesla employee, who died of heat stroke in her home. According to the story, her death inspired Musk to create StopWatt: But for Elon Musk, this was more than just an invention to fight back against the greedy electric companies. When tragedy struck the Tesla factory, he knew he had to take action. Dorothy Smith was a 64 year old Tesla employee who died of a heat stroke after falling behind on her electric bills and her service was shut off in the middle of a record breaking heat wave. Her youngest daughter came to check up on her after many unanswered phone calls and tragically found Dorothy lifeless on the couch with her husband... Seeing just how devastating electricity prices are on the average American's wallet, and witnessing his own employee, Dorothy Smith pass away tragically, Elon Musk set out to find his old drawing plans for an electricity saver invention he had made as a young genius in South Africa. The original drawing was based on a concept by his idol, legendary inventor, electrical and mechanical engineer and visionary, Nikola Tesla. After a few hours of digging through old papers, he found it! Elon immediately called one of his brightest engineers at Tesla and trusted friend, Ed Sherwood. Combining their expertise, they set out to bring Elon's electricity saving dream to life. As we previously reported, none of this was true. Articles that claim Musk and Tesla created StopWatt are both fiction and scams. Further, there's no record of a Tesla employee named \"Dorothy Smith\" having died of heat stroke. \"Elon Musk.\" Tesla.com, https:\/\/www.tesla.com\/elon-musk. Liles, Jordan. \"Was Pro Power Saver Endorsed by Elon Musk and Tesla?\" Snopes, 23 Jan. 2023, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/pro-power-saver-elon-musk\/. Dec. 6, 2023: This report was updated to add the name of U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, whose image and likeness were being improperly used by scammers alongside Musk's in December 2023.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1KxNrcVMKqKNb9wBjvYnJ-CA5qUwm3qBf","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1hT6Ayl-T1MBiDIFmBg748I_FQP-vy0lb","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_645","claim":"Olive Pardon","posted":"07\/22\/2015","sci_digest":[""],"justification":"FACT CHECK: Do Olive Garden restaurants donate money to Planned Parenthood?  Claim: Olive Garden restaurants donate money to Planned Parenthood.   Examples:  [Collected via Twitter, July 2015] @olivegarden gives $ to planned parenthood, who are accused of selling baby body parts. No more breadsticks for me. #PlannedButcherhood @olivegarden #PlannedButcherhood  hotpink (@hotpink100) July 21, 2015 July 21, 2015   @PPact #IStandWithShuttingDownPP Profiting off the most vulnerable: terrified mothers & babies. @olivegarden donates to #PlannedParenthood. @PPact #IStandWithShuttingDownPP @olivegarden #PlannedParenthood  ConservativeOutreach (@conservoutreach) July 21, 2015 July 21, 2015   Olive Garden restaurants fund Planned Parenthood: think of the skulls they crush with that money, next time u chew an olive there...  Christian Tea Party (@ChristianTParty) July 21, 2015 July 21, 2015   I will boycott all companies which support @ppact. None are essential and there are plenty of other options. @AriDavidUSA @olivegarden @ppact @AriDavidUSA @olivegarden  Joe American (@MidAmericanGuy) July 22, 2015 July 22, 2015   Origins: Beginning on 14 July 2015, a controversy involving Planned Parenthood dominated conversation topics on social media. Among the rumors that were subsequently circulated about Planned Parenthood  was the claim that Olive Garden restaurants (or their parent company, Darden) is currently donating (or had previously donated) money to Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood The claim about Olive Garden donating to Planned Parenthood was not new: Does Olive Garden still support Planned Parenthood? Last info found from 2007 https:\/\/bit.ly\/5738R #prolife #tcot #prolife #tcot  Ms. B. (@msbeeee) June 18, 2009 June 18, 2009   Write to Darden Restaurants (Red Lobster, Olive Garden), stop giving to Planned Parenthood https:\/\/t.co\/FHZJxl4, info: https:\/\/t.co\/rv7b57I https:\/\/t.co\/FHZJxl4 https:\/\/t.co\/rv7b57I  LifeLetters, Julia (@lifeletterj) August 8, 2011 August 8, 2011   Since Olive Garden is a corporate sponsor of Planned Parenthood, I think they should serve unlimited breadsticks in the waiting room.  Liza (@thelizakate) October 5, 2011 October 5, 2011   Examples of the rumor concerning Olive Garden and Planned Parenthood were abundant, but tracking a definitive source documenting its claim was another matter entirely. Many people who repeated it cited a March 2012 \"boycott list\" published on the anti-abortion web site Life News, but that list offered zilch in the way of any proof that Olive Garden (or any of the other companies listed on it) actually supported Planned Parenthood. What's more, that years-old list didn't even describe how it came to the conclusion that any of the companies it listed currently or previously donated funds to Planned Parenthood. published Other critics cited a 2012 article published on the site XOJane urging its readers to patronize businesses that supported Planned Parenthood, in which Olive Garden was also mentioned. However, that XOJane article cited the 2011 Life News article, which made near-identical claims about companies supporting Planned Parenthood without providing any documentation for them. article The 2011 Life News article included an assertion by anti-abortion group Life Decisions International (LDI) suggesting that companies frequently hide evidence of their donations to Planned Parenthood: We learned early on that corporate leaders will turn to devious methods to continue supporting Planned Parenthood. For example, one corporation had donated $5,000 to the pro-abortion group every year since 1991. After becoming a boycott target, the corporation donated $25,000 and for four years told consumers they do not support Planned Parenthood. Therefore, do not be surprised if a corporation responds that it is no longer supporting Planned Parenthood. Such statements create an unreachable standard of proof for those wishing to verify this type of claim,  suggesting that corporate denials are insufficient evidence while offering no proof of their own assertions. And since the primary purpose of such corporate donations is to generate goodwill by funding worthy causes and organizations, it would make little sense for a business to simultaneously support a given non-profit or charity while publicly denying any such beneficence. Planned Parenthood's Annual Report for 2013 [PDF] is the most recent available and includes no specific mention of any donors. However, Olive Garden's Twitter account has replied to concerned customers about whether or not the company currently or previously supported Planned Parenthood: PDF @MidAmericanGuy We have never donated to them. We focus our giving on helping end hunger. Last yr we gave 3+ MM lbs of food to food banks. @MidAmericanGuy  Olive Garden (@olivegarden) July 22, 2015 July 22, 2015   For those who subscribe to the belief that a company might donate money and lie about it, the non-profit and non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) lists all Planned Parenthood donors as far back as 2010 (before LDI claimed in 2011 and 2012 that Olive Garden was among Planned Parenthood's supporters). In all the available  data listed on CRP's web site, neither Olive Garden nor Darden Restaurants appears among Planned Parenthood donors. Center for Responsive Politics data That list, however, provided an amusing twist concerning tweets calling for a boycott of Olive Garden due to their purported support of Planned Parenthood: While no Darden Restaurants brands appeared on the list, Twitter was slotted at #48 among Planned Parenthood donors.  So to remain ideologically pure, one would need to find an alternative social media site upon which to voice disapproval of Planned Parenthood  after all, those pro-boycott tweets are generating revenue for Twitter, a known supporter of Planned Parenthood. On 23 July 2015, Olive Garden replied to a snopes.com query as to whether the chain (or Darden Restaurants) donated to Planned Parenthood: Neither Olive Garden nor Darden Restaurants has ever donated to Planned Parenthood. Rather, our company strives to make a meaningful difference in the lives of others through programs such as Olive Garden Harvest. Through the Harvest program, every Olive Garden across the country donates fresh, wholesome food to a local food bank on a weekly basis. Last year, Olive Garden donated more than 3 million pounds of food to those in need. Last updated: 23 July 2015 Originally published:  22 July 2015","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_646","claim":"Were the sons of prominent Democrats engaged in business activities in Ukraine as part of a conspiracy associated with the Clintons?","posted":"10\/11\/2019","sci_digest":["Conspiracy theorists outdid themselves in October 2019 in response to the Ukraine scandal that threatened Donald Trump's presidency with impeachment."],"justification":"Amid intensifying debate over the prospect of U.S. President Donald Trump's impeachment after it was revealed he had asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate unsubstantiated rumors about former Vice President Joe Biden's dealings with that country, Republicans and Trump supporters retaliated by attempting to tie several high-profile Democrats and their families to Ukraine. Right-leaning websites scrutinized the purported business activities of Paul Pelosi Jr., son of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and attempted to draw a meaningful connection between Ukraine and the Clintons. On Oct. 6, the Twitter account @RealJack posted a widely shared tweet claiming that the sons of Biden and Pelosi, as well as those of former Secretary of State John Kerry and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), had worked for \"energy companies doing business in Ukraine\": \"Biden's son, Pelosi's son, Romney's son, Kerry's son\u2014all are on the board of directors for energy companies doing business in Ukraine... Coincidence? No.\" Jack Murphy (@RealJack) October 6, 2019. @RealJack's claims were further propagated when multiple Facebook accounts re-posted the wording of his tweet, including the group \"Texas for Donald Trump 2020.\" On Oct. 8, the right-leaning, Trump-supporting Twitter account @Education4Libs attempted to connect all these strands with a widely shared, innuendo-laden tweet claiming that an unspecified conspiracy linked donations to the Clinton Foundation with the alleged business activities of the sons of prominent Democrats: \"From 1999-2014, Ukraine donated more money to the Clinton Foundation than any other foreign country. Biden, Pelosi, Kerry, & Romney all have children working for Ukrainian gas companies. And all of the people I mentioned want Trump impeached. Are you connecting the dots yet?\" These tweets constituted a mixture of some accurate statements with false claims, as well as unsubstantiated suggestions of unspecified wrongdoing or corruption on the part of those involved. In 2015, the Wall Street Journal reported that between 1999 and 2014, Ukrainians had donated more than individuals of any other nationality to the Clinton Foundation, a non-profit humanitarian organization founded by former President Bill Clinton. However, @Education4Libs' claim that Ukraine as a country\u2014rather than individual Ukrainian nationals\u2014had topped the list of donations was not supported by the Journal's research. Hillary Clinton stepped away from her seat on the board of directors of the Clinton Foundation when she became Secretary of State in 2009. According to the foundation's website, neither she nor Bill nor Chelsea Clinton has ever derived any personal income from their involvement in the charity. Hunter Biden, the former vice president's 49-year-old son, served on the board of Burisma Holdings, a major Ukrainian natural gas producer, from 2014 until April 2019, according to multiple reports. His decision to join the company's payroll caused some political discomfort at the time, since Burisma's owner had recently been embroiled in a money-laundering scandal and Biden's father, the vice president, was heading the Obama administration's efforts to discourage and crack down on corruption in Ukraine. However, no evidence has yet emerged suggesting that either Biden engaged in any wrongdoing with regard to Burisma or Ukraine, despite President Trump's efforts to have both men investigated. It is accurate to say that Hunter Biden worked for and was on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian natural gas company, but no evidence indicates any link between his work there and Ukrainian donations to the Clinton Foundation. Furthermore, @Education4Libs claimed in October that Biden is \"working for\" a Ukrainian gas company, but that's not correct since he stepped down from his position on the board in April 2019. Paul Pelosi Jr., son of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was at one time on the board of a California-based oil-processing company called Viscoil, according to the account he gave in a video recorded in 2010. The link between Viscoil and Ukraine is either tenuous or non-existent and does not appear to involve Pelosi at all. Viscoil was linked to a somewhat shadowy figure going by the name \"Ana Shell,\" who claims to be an investor and environmental entrepreneur and claims to have provided funding to both Viscoil and another entity called NRG Lab. The purported Ukraine connection arose from a YouTube video posted by \"NRG Lab Research Council\" in 2013, whose caption stated, \"Mika Newton helped to secure the rights to build a plant for the production of SH-boxes in Ukraine.\" That single line from the caption of an NRG Lab promotional video was cited by Patrick Howley, who writes for The Epoch Times, a website known for disseminating pro-Trump misinformation, in advancing a link between Pelosi and an energy company that \"did business in Ukraine.\" However, the claim that Newton, a Ukrainian singer born Oksana Stefanivna Hrytsay, had any connection to NRG Lab or Viscoil appears to be false. We found a Facebook page labeled \"Mika_Newton.official,\" which appears distinctly unofficial, has very little content apart from \"Ana Shell\" promotional imagery, and includes the following description: \"Hi, my name's Mika Newton. This is my official page to support projects that NRGLab Singapore makes.\" Neither Newton's actual official Facebook page nor her Instagram account (where she engages in prolific product promotion) contains any mention of NRG Lab, Viscoil, or \"Ana Shell.\" The link between NRG Lab, Newton, and production rights in Ukraine appears to be bogus. In any event, Pelosi appears to have ended his involvement with Viscoil before the dubious Mika Newton connection was ever made. A spokesperson for Speaker Pelosi told PolitiFact that: \"The company [Viscoil] was based in Southern California and focused solely on U.S. business. The company later reorganized under a different name [NRG Lab], but Paul Pelosi Jr. played no role in the new entity.\" Pelosi Jr. did travel to Ukraine in 2017, but that trip related to his work for the Corporate Governance Initiative and had no discernible link to Viscoil, NRG Lab, or \"Ana Shell.\" This claim is riddled with errors. First off, former Secretary of State and 2004 Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry doesn't have a biological son. The man in question is his stepson, Chris Heinz, who was born to Kerry's wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, and her first husband, John Heinz. Heinz appears to have been added to the list because of his former business partnership with Hunter Biden and their friend Devon Archer. The three men formed an investment firm called Rosemont Seneca, and both Archer and Biden later joined the board of Burisma. However, Heinz did not. In fact, according to reports by The Washington Post and the Washington Examiner, Heinz expressed his own reservations about Archer and Biden's decision at the time, which underlines just how inaccurate and wrongheaded the meme's inclusion of Heinz was. A spokesperson confirmed to Snopes that Heinz had never been involved in Burisma in any way, nor had he ever worked for or sat on the board of directors of any energy company, or even traveled to Ukraine. Mitt and Ann Romney have five sons, and we found no evidence that any of them have ever had any involvement with either a \"Ukrainian gas company\" or an \"energy company doing business in Ukraine.\" The couple's oldest son, Tagg (49), has worked as a vice president at Reebok, chief marketing officer for the Los Angeles Dodgers, founded the investment firm Solamere Capital, and worked as an advisor and surrogate during his father's 2002 Massachusetts gubernatorial campaign as well as his 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns. Matt Romney was previously marketing director for the software company LavaStorm, worked as a real estate developer in California, and as a vice president for the real estate investment firm Excel Trust (which was acquired by the private equity firm Blackstone in 2015). Josh Romney is president of the Romney Group, a Utah-based real estate and property investment firm, and chairman and owner of Intercap Lending, a mortgage lender. He previously worked as a real estate developer in Salt Lake City. Ben Romney is a radiologist in Utah and Idaho, and Craig Romney, the youngest son, has worked in music production for the advertising firm McGarry Bowen and later for the real estate investment firm Sundance Bay. Contrary to @Education4Libs' claim, Romney had not called for President Trump's impeachment as of Oct. 8, undermining the putative basis for the Romney family's inclusion in the nonexistent conspiracy of wrongdoing to which the meme alluded.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1JvbS3A4Y07YTQ-R2gclLd2lqkte_VCG5"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_647","claim":"Free Publix $100 Coupons Scam","posted":"07\/12\/2015","sci_digest":["Rumor: Publix is giving away free $100 grocery coupons to Facebook users."],"justification":" Claim:  Publix is giving away $100 grocery coupons to Facebook users.  Origins:  In July 2015, Facebook users began seeing posts advertising a \"Get $100 in Free Groceries when you spend $120 or more\" coupon offer for the Publix supermarket chain.  These posts were the latest iteration of the common \"free coupon\" or \"free gift card\" scams that frequently plague social media.  On 12 July 2015 Publix took to Facebook to warn customers that these coupon offers are not an authorized promotion and advise them not to visit sites promoting them: Facebook  There is a fraudulent Publix coupon circulating on social media that states \"$100 off your purchase of $120 or more\"....Posted by Publix on Sunday, July 12, 2015There is a fraudulent Publix coupon circulating on social media that states \"$100 off your purchase of $120 or more\". This is not supported by Publix and this coupon is not valid at any of our locations. We recommend not participating in the promotion or providing your personal information. Thank you for your patience as we investigate this situation.  This coupon is a form of survey scam that typically instructs shoppers to follow \"three simple steps\" in order to get a free gift card. Once the steps are completed, however, users are not greeted with a coupon code. Instead, they were asked to fill out a brief survey and provide personal information such as home address, telephone number, e-mail address, and date of birth. Users were also required to sign up for credit cards or enroll in subscription programs in order to obtain their \"free\" gift cards.These fraudulent surveys are quite popular on Facebook, and if you frequently use that social network, there's a good chance that you'll run into one of these survey scams again. A July 2014 article from the Better Business Bureau lists key factors for identifying fraudulent Facebook posts:Don't believe what you see. It's easy to steal the colors, logos and header of an established organization. Scammers can also make links look like they lead to legitimate websites and emails appear to come from a different sender. Legitimate businesses do not ask for credit card numbers or banking information on customer surveys. If they do ask for personal information, like an address or email, be sure there's a link to their privacy policy. When in doubt, do a quick web search. If the survey is a scam, you may find alerts or complaints from other consumers. The organization's real website may have further information. Watch out for a reward that's too good to be true. If the survey is real, you may be entered in a drawing to win a gift card or receive a small discount off your next purchase. Few businesses can afford to give away $50 gift cards for completing a few questions. There is a fraudulent Publix coupon circulating on social media that states \"$100 off your purchase of $120 or more\".... Posted by Publix on Sunday, July 12, 2015 Publix Sunday, July 12, 2015  There is a fraudulent Publix coupon circulating on social media that states \"$100 off your purchase of $120 or more\". This is not supported by Publix and this coupon is not valid at any of our locations. We recommend not participating in the promotion or providing your personal information. Thank you for your patience as we investigate this situation.   This coupon is a form of survey scam that typically instructs shoppers to follow \"three simple steps\" in order to get a free gift card. Once the steps are completed, however, users are not greeted with a coupon code. Instead, they were asked to fill out a brief survey and provide personal information such as home address, telephone number, e-mail address, and date of birth. Users were also required to sign up for credit cards or enroll in subscription programs in order to obtain their \"free\" gift cards. These fraudulent surveys are quite popular on Facebook, and if you frequently use that social network, there's a good chance that you'll run into one of these survey scams again. A July 2014 article from the Better Business Bureau lists key factors for identifying fraudulent Facebook posts: article Don't believe what you see. It's easy to steal the colors, logos and header of an established organization. Scammers can also make links look like they lead to legitimate websites and emails appear to come from a different sender.  Legitimate businesses do not ask for credit card numbers or banking information on customer surveys. If they do ask for personal information, like an address or email, be sure there's a link to their privacy policy.  When in doubt, do a quick web search. If the survey is a scam, you may find alerts or complaints from other consumers. The organization's real website may have further information.  Watch out for a reward that's too good to be true. If the survey is real, you may be entered in a drawing to win a gift card or receive a small discount off your next purchase. Few businesses can afford to give away $50 gift cards for completing a few questions.  ","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1zD8ezfrt-FmCBICvH-BAycZ-_tgvNLed","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_648","claim":"SCAM: Luxury RV Giveaway","posted":"07\/22\/2016","sci_digest":["A Facebook page that promises to give away luxury RVs to users who like and share it is a scam."],"justification":"In July 2016, a scam promising a free \"Luxury RV\" to people who liked, shared, and commented on a Facebook began to circulate on the social network:  This fraudulent offer echoed similar scams promising free cars from BMW and millions of dollars from musician Eminem. These scams promise luxurious awards for the simple task of liking and sharing a page on Facebook, and since many users see this as a \"low risk, high reward\" situation, these pages often accomplish their goals of going viral. However, spreading these hoaxes actually has a detrimental effect on social media and can expose people to more fraudulent activity: BMW Eminem fraudulent But why shouldn't you click or share? Where's the harm in it? One reason is \"like-farming.\" Facebook's algorithms in particular emphasize popular content, and therefore gathering \"likes\" and \"shares\" receives a high premium. Sometimes, it's just an annoyance  maybe that kid really does want a hundred thousand \"likes\" so that a Victoria's Secret model will go to a school dance with him, so he's inundating people with appeals (although that's doubtful at best)  but more often, the intent is scammy. Like-farmers will gather clicks, which denote popularity, then scrub the original content and replace it with something else (usually a scammy ad of some sort) to bypass Facebook constraints. Facebook has moved to quash this behavior by adjusting their algorithms, but of course, some scammers' efforts always get by the online gatekeepers. efforts In addition to tell-tale signs of \"Like Farming,\" there are several other ways to tell that this \"Luxury RV\" page is a hoax. First, while this message purportedly comes from a business that has been operating for 50 years, their Facebook page was only established on 21 July 2016. Second, the Facebook page claims that it represents Major RV, a company based out of California, but lists its location as Eving, Germany. The lack of contact information on the Facebook page is also suspect:   Major RV caught wind of the scam and posted on their Facebook page to warn consumers the offer was fake: Facebook So [we] were hacked by Luxury RV. There is no giveaway at Major RV in Hesperia, Ca sorry for the inconvenience.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1J_00Ae9MoN9eE65uI8LNraHM_2BCgAC8","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1CsArwp_VTc4BGegddG1ucqpAkGoMIJVl","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_649","claim":"Does This Photograph Show 'Brittany L' After Killing a Leopard?","posted":"09\/17\/2018","sci_digest":["A photograph posted by Safari Club International went viral after being shared by outraged animal-lovers."],"justification":"In September 2018, a photograph went viral on social media along with a caption which claimed it showed a woman named \"Brittany L.\" holding a leopard she had just killed during a hunting expedition. On 10 September, the wildlife artist Sue Dickinson posted the photograph to her Facebook page along with a message which read as follows: posted This is Brittany L. She just killed this male leopard in his prime. According to SCI (Safari Club International) this leopard ranks as potentially the 9th largest leopard ever hunted. She's a cretin. Please share if you agree. Let's name and shame her.   Dickinson's post was shared hundreds of thousands of times within a week and was re-published through multiple accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, including the supermodel Naomi Campbell. Naomi Campbell The image is authentic and captures a woman posing with a real leopard that she herself killed. The photograph was first posted on 7 September 2018 to the web site of Safari Club International, a hunting organization based in Tucson, Arizona, as part of a group of new entries into the organization's online record book: posted SCI members share their hunter pride SCI Members hunt all over the globe, and are proud to share their successes. By entering their successful hunts in the SCI Record Book, they are not only documenting their hunting legacy for future generations, they are also adding to one of the largest and most comprehensive wildlife databases in the world. The URL of the controversial photograph contains the words \"Brittany L\" and \"leopard,\" so it was reasonable for internet users to deduce that the woman shown with the leopard had the first name Brittany and a surname beginning with the letter \"L.\" Indeed, we can confirm that Brittany L. is the woman shown in the photograph (rather than the name of the person who submitted it to SCI's record book). On 7 September, SCI posted more details about \"Brittany L.'s\" leopard photograph on HuntForever.org, a website affiliated with the organization. That blog post has since been removed, but we obtained an SCI newsletter email dated 7 September with content identical to the blog post's embedded in it (despite the post's having been removed from HuntForever.org itself). affiliated That blog post described the contentious photograph as follows: \"Brittany L. is featured here with her African leopard that potentially ranks number 9 overall and scores 18 4\/16.\" described Safari Club International.  \"SCI Members Share Their Hunter Pride.\"\r  7 September 2018.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=13bfi6i_p42i2YIfUK4v7lNy-p8p1Sa9V","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_650","claim":"Cautionary notice regarding the Affordable Care Act","posted":"10\/03\/2013","sci_digest":["Item describes penalties for non-compliance with the PPACA individual health insurance mandate."],"justification":" Claim:  Item describes penalties for non-compliance with the PPACA individual health insurance mandate. MOSTLY  Example:  [Collected via e-mail, October 2013] WARNING CONCERNING OBAMACARE ----Immediate Attention Required PLEASE ----- If you do not have to sign up with Obamacare on their website PLEASE DON'T! Once you see the cost of premiums and yearly deductible and choose to opt out from that point they will within a few hours email you stating your actual fees in which now they will by any means collect. REAL EXAMPLE ---- Please Read & Please Forward ASAP!!! A comment posted on the Affordable Care Act\/Obamacare FB page: I actually made it through this morning at 8:00 A.M. I have a preexisting condition (Type 1 Diabetes) and my income base was 45K-55K annually I chose tier 2 \"Silver Plan\" and my monthly premiums came out to $597.00 with $13,988 yearly deductible!!! There is NO POSSIBLE way that I can afford this so I \"opt-out\" and chose to continue along with no insurance. I received an email tonight at 5:00 P.M. informing me that my fine would be $4,037 and could be attached to my yearly income tax return. Then you make it to the \"REPERCUSSIONS PORTION\" for \"non-payment\" of yearly fine. First, your drivers license will be suspended until paid, and if you go 24 consecutive months with \"Non-Payment\" and you happen to be a home owner, you will have a federal tax lien placed on your home. You can agree to give your bank information so that they can easy \"Automatically withdraw\" your \"penalties\" weekly, bi-weekly or monthly! This by no means is \"Free\" or even \"Affordable.\" Origins:  One of the key (and most controversial) provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), commonly known as \"Obamacare,\" is its establishment of an individual mandate to buy health insurance.  Beginning in 2014, U.S. citizens and legal residents are required to either have PPACA-qualifying health insurance coverage (public or private) or pay a penalty for not carrying insurance.  Shortly after the opening of PPACA-created state- and federal-run insurance exchange marketplaces on 1 October 2013, which consumers could use to shop online for qualifying  insurance plans, the item reproduced above began circulating on the Internet.  This item claimed that after a consumer priced an insurance plan on one of the exchanges and found it to be unsuitably non-affordable (and so declined to enroll in it), he received a notice stating that he would be fined over $4,000 and have his driver's license suspended, and if he failed to pay the fine within two years the a federal tax lien would be placed on his home. Without knowing more details about the person referenced in this item, it's difficult to accurately assess whether the figures quoted for insurance coverage ($597.00 per month with a $13,988 yearly deductible) are completely accurate.   However, the PPACA sets annual limits on out-of-pocket expenses at $6,350 for individuals and $12,700 for families on plans offered through the state-based exchanges, so a yearly deductible of nearly $14,000 for someone shopping for coverage through an insurance exchange isn't a plausible offering. The penalty for failing to carry qualifying health insurance coverage varies with household size, income, and year.  In general, the penalties for non-compliance will be assessed as follows: For individuals (whichever is greater): 2014    $95 or 1% of income above tax filing threshold2015    $325 or 2% of income above tax filing threshold2016    $695 or 2.5% of income above tax filing threshold  For families (whichever is greater):  2014    $285 or 1% of income above tax filing threshold2015    $975 or 2% of income above tax filing threshold2016    $2085 or 2.5% of income above tax filing threshold The $4,037 fine claimed in this item doesn't jibe with those figures.  Since the non-compliance penalty for an individual in 2014 is $95 or 1% of income above the tax filing threshold (whichever is greater), that individual would have to earn a yearly income of $403,700 (above the tax filing threshold) in order to incur a fine of that magnitude for a single year  an income level which is far larger than the $45,000-$55,000 range claimed in this item.   Even adding together all the potential fines for three straight years of non-compliance beginning in 2014 produces a figure in the $3,000 range, not one over $4,000.  (The figures could be higher under a scenario in which multiple persons in the same household were non-compliant, but the item quoted above references only an individual.) According to a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report on the PPACA Penalty Provision and the Internal Revenue Service, collection of the penalty for failure to maintain qualifying health insurance coverage may include the IRS' withholding money from federal income tax refunds and obtaining liens against the taxpayer's property, but the PPACA does not allow for criminal prosecution or the seizure of bank accounts or other property: report   The Internal Revenue Code (IRC) limits the means the IRS may employ to collect the penalty established in the [PPACA]. First, the taxpayer is protected from either criminal prosecution or penalty for failure to pay the penalty. Second, the IRS is prohibited from either filing a notice of federal tax lien (NFTL) or levying any property in an effort to collect the penalty. There is no prohibition, however, on establishing a statutory lien against the taxpayers property. No additional limits are placed on the IRS using correspondence or phone calls, either through its own employees or through private collection agencies, in an effort to collect the amount owed. Additionally, no restriction was placed on the IRS's ability to use the refund offset as a means of collecting the amount due. Those who are required to pay the penalty for failure to maintain minimum coverage but choose not to do so will be subject to increases in the amount owed due to interest and late payment penalties imposed on the penalty after it has been assessed by the IRS.  A taxpayer who chooses not to pay the required penalty may ultimately forfeit more than the amount of the penalty if that taxpayer is ever in the position of having an overpayment to the IRS for any reason, since the refund offset applies not only to overpayments shown on original tax returns, but also to any subsequent adjustments, for example an audit by the IRS that results in an overpayment. Further, as explained above, it is possible that the IRS could present its claim when property is being sold and collect both the original penalty amount along with accrued interest and applicable penalties. (Note that a \"lien\" and a \"levy\" are two different things.  A lien is a claim against property that does not involve the right to seize property, while a levy is a seizure of property. A lien does not allow the lienholder to sell another's property, but when property subject to the lien is sold, the lien establishes the right to receive proceeds from the sale of the property before they are distributed to the seller.)  In short, failure to pay the PPACA non-compliance penalty might result in the IRS' sending you warning letters and deducting the penalty amount from your future tax refunds  (if you have any), but not throwing you in jail, forcibly taking money from your bank account, or seizing your house or other property.  We have also found no provision of the PPACA or IRS code that would allow the federal government to suspend an individual's driver's license as a penalty for non-compliance with the individual mandate provision of the PPACA. Last updated:  4 October 2013 ","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1lQQLHyMAdkBPq-XZynde3fHP-4_Q2Dcs"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_651","claim":"Is This Rachel Levine's Family Photo?","posted":"02\/02\/2021","sci_digest":["Rachel Levine is the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the Senate."],"justification":"In January 2021, a photograph supposedly showing Dr. Rachel Levine, the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, and her family was circulated on social media accompanied by hateful and transphobic comments:   This is not a genuine photograph of Levine and her family.  The above-displayed image is a photoshopped creation that originated with an image of Samantha, Phillip, and Emma Chawner, a family in the United Kingdom who have become known for their struggles with weight loss. The Chawner family first shot to attention in 2007 after Emma performed on the X-Factor. Emma was rejected from that show, but the Chawners soon found themselves on another reality show called \"Lorraine Kelly's Big Fat Challenge.\"  shot to attention While the above-displayed meme is frequently shared as if it shows Levine's family photo, it was also circulated during the holiday season with holly around the edges and the caption \"secular greetings.\"  Here's a comparison of the \"secular greetings\" version of this image (left) and the genuine photograph of the Chawners (right):    ","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1zX4IvrVGHY2xLyJclRPZskBaQWukMIHV","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1bYjDtQqI1BKZSajwBI5R-YG3jGI0wPFC","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_652","claim":"We doubled the size of the company (Hewlett-Packard).","posted":"05\/10\/2015","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Carly Fiorina is fighting back against critics, including a cyber-squatter, who accuse the Republican presidential candidate of slash-and-burn tactics in her time as CEO of computer company Hewlett-Packard. The cyber-squatter purchased the website carlyfiorina.org to highlight nearly30,000 layoffsthat occured while Fiorina led the computer giant from 1999-2005. Fiorina later was fired by HPs board. OnMeet the PressSunday, host Chuck Todd asked Fiorina why she was fired. Fiorina used the question to list her accomplishments at HP. What people fail to comment on is the fact we doubled the size of the company, took the growth rate from 2 percent to 9 percent, she said. We tripled the rate of innovation to 11 patents a day and went from lagging behind to leading in every product category. We grew jobs here in the U.S. and all over the world. You can't just leave those facts out -- they are as vital to the record as the fact that yes, indeed, I had to make tough calls during tough times. Tough times that many technology companies didn't survive at all. Given Fiorinas dismissal and other issues at HP, we were interested in that first claim -- that under her leadership, the company doubled in size. Fiorina's claim is not referring to the number of employees (you can read a good primer on that from our archiveshere). In this case, staff at Carly for America (Fiorinas political action committee) said she was referring to the revenues created by the company. By this specific measure, HP did double. In 1999, when Fiorina became CEO, HPs annual revenue was $42.4 billion, according to annualSecurities and Exchange Commission filings. With the exception of a slight dip in 2001 (at the end of the dot-com bubble), revenue increased each year -- to $86.7 billion in 2005, the year she left. Thats a little bit more than double. But that doesnt tell the entire tale. There are a few critical caveats. Where the growth came from Why such growth? Well, Fiorina spearheaded amajor $25 billion acquisitionof HPs rival, Compaq, to increase the companys share of the personal computer market. The merger was publicly controversial, in part because it tipped HPs focus toward computers (a tough market) and away from its most successful product, printers. The merger went through, and the company grew. In 2001, the year before the merger, revenue was $45.7 billion, and the Compaq revenue was about $40 billion. In 2003, after the two companies merged, revenue was $73 billion. Stephen Morrissette, a business professor at the University of Chicago, noted that the fact that so much of the revenue growth was a result of the merger casts some shade on Fiorinas claim. Most executives would likely not use the phrasing doubled the size of the company to describe their performance if the increase was all or mostly due to an acquisition, Morrissette said. Doubled revenues, but not necessarily stronger Despite the increased revenue, the HP-Compaq merger led to sluggish stock prices and missed profitability targets. The merger also led to the thousands of firings often cited by Fiorinas critics. The merger was widely seen as abustat the time, and it contributed to the HP boards decision to fire Fiorina. (HP stock valueplunged by nearly halfduring her tenure androse againafter she was fired.) HP had $42.4 billion in revenues and $3.1 billion in net earningsin 1999. When Fiorina was ousted in 2005, yes, the company reported $86.7 billion in sales. But that year HP had only$2.4 billion in earnings. Lastly, the employee head count gets a bit complicated. According to SEC filings, HP had 84,400 employees worldwide in 2001, the year before the merger. In 2001, Compaq had 63,700 full-time employees. That comes to a total of 148,100 workers. In 2005, just after her departure, HP's worldwide workforce reached 150,000. That includes acquiring some other companies, theLos Angeles Timesreported. Someanalystshave seen the merger more favorably in recent years, noting that it accomplished Fiorinas goal of increasing HPs share of the personal computer market even though Fiorinas execution failed. Fiorina is taking credit for something she launched and got started, Charles House, co-author ofThe HP Phenomenon,told theSan Jose Mercury Newsin2011. But I think you obviously have to give a hell of a lot of credit to (her successor) for making it successful. I'd be loath to say it would be the same with her there. Our ruling Fiorina said that while she was CEO of HP, the size of the company doubled. That's correct when discussing one specific aspect, revenues, but you could argue that's a bit of a red herring. The revenue growth was largely thanks to a controversial merger with Compaq and not organic. Moreover, the new revenue did not come with proportional increases to either profits or the number of HP jobs. Fiorinas figures are accurate, but standing alone, they dont tell the whole picture. We rate her claim Mostly True.","issues":["National","Candidate Biography","Economy"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_653","claim":"Was a weight loss of 37 pounds achieved by a Cornell student through the use of apple cider vinegar and supplements?","posted":"04\/27\/2017","sci_digest":["Stories promoting a \"diet hack\" involving apple cider vinegar are based on unrelated photographs and false claims."],"justification":"In April 2017, an advertisement for a diet product called \"Refresh Garcinia Cambogia\" or \"Garcinia Slim\" was disguised as a genuine news report and published on websites such as RunningEvolutions.com and The Platinum Beard. The article featured a student from Cornell University who allegedly lost 31 pounds on a university budget. Amanda Haughman, a student at Cornell University, claimed she was able to drop 31 pounds in one month without spending any of her own money. Amanda is studying nutrition sciences at Cornell, and for a required research project, she thought it would be perfect to use university funds to explore how to 'hack' her weight loss. According to Amanda, \"the most expensive part of it all was actually finding what worked. But the actual solution only cost about $5.\" \"I had struggled with my weight my whole life. I tried things like Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig, which just didn't work as well as they promised. I am a single mom with a child at home, and I am also working towards my degree, so I don't have any time to be at the gym. When I was assigned this big research project, I saw it as a perfect opportunity to get a deeper look at the natural weight loss options available, and that is when I discovered the combination of Refresh Garcinia Cambogia and apple cider vinegar. The best part of it all is that I can tell my daughter is proud of me.\" - Amanda Haughman. These reports included a number of false and misleading claims. For instance, the lead photograph purportedly showing Amanda Haughman's tremendous weight loss is actually of Rachel Graham, who lost nearly 100 pounds in a year. Graham told Today in 2016 that she credited her weight loss to exercise and a healthy diet. Graham did not mention the alleged magic formula of apple cider vinegar and garcinia cambogia. When asked how she managed to lose almost 100 pounds in one year, Rachel Graham stated, \"The formula is simple: Healthy food and exercise. No secrets. No gimmicks. No quick fixes.\" She was also honest about the impact of going from 235 pounds to 144 pounds, especially the loose skin on her stomach, thighs, and arms. \"I want people to know that it is 110 percent possible,\" Graham told TODAY. \"I used to feel as though it wasn't, that I didn't have what it takes, and that it was just too far out of reach... If you want to make changes, it is completely possible with healthy food and exercise.\" This weight loss advertisement also fabricated an interview with CNN and claimed that the network ran a segment on this Cornell student's \"amazing discovery.\" The article stated, \"We sat down with Amanda to ask her more about how she found out about Refresh Garcinia Cambogia and whether or not that is all she used to lose 31 pounds so quickly.\" However, this story never appeared on CNN. Not surprisingly, the Platinum Beard post links to a site selling Garcinia Cambogia. The Running Evolutions article links instead to what appears to be borrowed content from Barry's Boot Camp, a personal training program. We reached out to Barry's Boot Camp for comment but have not yet received a reply. Although we can't speak to the effectiveness of drinking apple cider vinegar with Refresh Garcinia Cambogia, we can say that this text did not originate from a genuine news article. This is an advertisement that used a fabricated interview, falsified claims, and an unrelated photograph to sell a diet product. Pawlowski, A. \"Mom gets real about weight loss: Here's how she shed 90 pounds in a year.\" Today, 3 October 2016.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=13T-Wfi2SNUvQj3bOfdSiUC8KmUBWdk8e"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1GvfRCTKLTzSKPF83Wfj37F1GeJcBF-mW"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_654","claim":"Did Trump's Tulsa Rally Result in 100% Positive COVID-19 Test Rates in Oklahoma?","posted":"07\/07\/2020","sci_digest":[" An MSNBC analysis of incomplete data resulted in misunderstandings."],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease.  fighting Find out Read Submit Become a Founding Member CDC WHO As U.S. President Donald Trump faced political fallout from his June 20, 2020, rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, many speculated about the health consequences of the large gathering due to the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. One such speculation took place on MSNBC's \"All in With Chris Hayes\" program, where on June 29, the anchor addressed a spike in COVID-19 cases in the state. June 20, 2020 Though Hayes emphasized there was no way to confirm cause and effect, his analysis led to an incorrect theory that the rally resulted in two days of 100% positive COVID-19 tests a week later. In a later segment, Hayes clarified that the data he presented was incomplete. incorrect theory segment We will address this claim starting with the initial misreport, followed by a look at the actual data, and then the clarification. On June 29, Hayes reported that positive COVID-19 test rates in Oklahoma had skyrocketed. He said: June 29 And it comes less than 10 days after that infamous Tulsa, Oklahoma, rally where even with the arena far from full, you still had thousands of people gathered in an indoor space cheering and screaming in a city that had just seen a spike in cases and in violation of every single recommendation for safety ... And while we never know cause and effect exactly, particularly in the moment, its hard to figure out what the exact impact of that rally looks ... Look at this: yesterday in Oklahoma, they tested 352 people for the coronavirus, and every single test came back positive. Today they tested another 178 people, and all those tests came back positive, too. If you cant do the math in your head, thats a 100% positive rate. According to data the show cited from The COVID Tracking Project on those dates, there did appear to be a 100% COVID-19 positive testing rate. On June 28 and 29 respectively, the data showed 352 and 178 tests were conducted and reported positive (see table below). This was in stark contrast to June 30 numbers that showed more than 15,000 tests had been conducted, and the number of negative cases had risen.  The COVID Tracking Project    However, Hayes language led to misinterpretation. PoliticusUSA, a news organization, reported Trumps rally \"may have [had] an impact on the spread of coronavirus in the state.\" Numerous tweets linked the two events together more directly. PoliticusUSA Numerous tweets  But the reality was not so simple. We found some lags in the government's reporting after looking at the Oklahoma health departments daily executive order reports, which provide updated cumulative COVID-19 data for the state, and speaking with Paul Monies, a reporter with Oklahoma Watch, a non-profit investigative journalism outlet. Those lags generally mean that percentages pinned to any specific day can be problematic. executive order reports Each government report  only issued on weekdays  shares data from midnight of the previous day, so the Monday report would conceivably share new information from Sunday, in addition to cumulative data. Monies suggested that many labs with COVID-19 tests were closed on weekends, or worked limited hours, so complete numbers of COVID-19 tests would be released during the regular work week in government reports. Indeed, each report indicates with an asterisk which labs were closed on weekends. Monday report report indicates The COVID Tracking Projects reporting showed that on some weekends, negative specimens' numbers remained unchanged. For example, the government did not release reports for July 3, 4, and 5 during the Fourth of July break, so The COVID Tracking Project reflected the negative specimens' data from the July 2 report for those three days, a cumulative total of 348,789. The same lag happened on June 27, 28, and 29, where the number of negative specimens remained unchanged in reports (313,021), and The COVID Tracking Project reflected data from the government's June 26 report. In other words, reporting delays impacted both the data reported by the government and the data that The COVID Tracking Project pulled from the government.  COVID Tracking Projects COVID Tracking Project July 2 report  June 26 report We also noticed that the state reported large batches of negative tests on Tuesday mornings. For this reason, looking at positive percentage rates on specific days was not useful, Dillon Richards, an Oklahoma City reporter with KOCO News, told us.  On July 1, Hayes issued a correction: July 1 ... those numbers I cited on Monday did not provide a clear or complete picture because they were not the final numbers for Oklahomas weekend testing. I have a cardinal rule that I violated there, that if a statistic sounds too wild to be true, it probably is ... PoliticusUSA also subsequently corrected its report. Hayes told Snopes: PoliticusUSA ... our reporting of what the state had published *was correct* ( I was so incredulous I actually checked it manually myself!) but it was a byproduct of a bad reporting system that is lumpy and misleading. All of that said, Trumps June 20 rally did violate numerous health recommendations from experts, took place when COVID-19 cases were rising in the state, and may have resulted in some positive cases. But no one has traced the increased number of cases to that one event. Oklahoma is also one of the unhealthiest states in the country, a potential factor in rising numbers. violate unhealthiest In sum, even though the rally may have increased risk for attendees, its connection to rising COVID cases is difficult to prove. The 100% positive test rate was also misreported, and Hayes issued a clarification. We therefore rate this claim as  Brown, Trevor. \"Experts: Oklahoma, Among the Unhealthiest States, Faces Heightened Risks for COVID-19.\"\r Frontline PBS. 16 April 2020. Colarossi, Sean. \"Correction: MSNBCs Chris Hayes Misinterpreted Oklahoma Virus Test Data.\"\r PoliticusUSA. 29 June 2020. Coronavirus.health.ok.gov. \"Executive Order Reports.\" Gupta, Sanjay and Andrea Kane. \"How Risky is it to Attend a Trump Campaign Rally During a Pandemic?\"\r CNN. 19 June 2020. Lutz, Tom. \"Brad Parscale Faces Trump 'Fury' After Tulsa Comeback Rally Flops.\"\r The Guardian. 21 June 2020. Regan, Helen, Marsh, Jenni, Rahim, Zamira. \"Coronavirus Pandemic: Updates From Around The World.\"\r CNN. 21 June 2020. The COVID Tracking Project. \"Oklahoma.\"","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1uCFSheLR31N7KHkudmVo_VDAawx36m7O","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_655","claim":"Barack Obama Removes Flag from Air Force One?","posted":"07\/29\/2008","sci_digest":["Did Barack Obama remove the U.S. flag from the tail of Air Force One and replace it with his own logo?"],"justification":"Claim:  Barack Obama removed the U.S. flag from the tail of Air Force One and replaced it with his own logo.    Example:  [Collected via e-mail, December 2011] HOW DOES ANYONE GET AWAY WITH THIS? SAD. Obama Removes American Flag from His Plane He has turned Air Force One into a campaign slogan carrier... not only the Obama Campaign logo on the tail, it bears his Campaign Slogan. I do believe in most States there are laws against something so blatantly an abuse of power, using public funds for campaigning. Atop this \"personalization of Air Force One\", Obama has logged more miles than any previous President. We have a triple A president Audacity, Abuse, and Arrogance... He should pay for the cost of repainting\/restoring the craft.... this guy has to go.  Photograph  Rob Olewisnki Rob Olewisnki    Origins:  In late 2011, the pictures displayed above were circulated with the claim that emblems depicting the U.S. flag had been removed from Air Force One and replaced with an Obama campaign logo.   This claim is completely false: both of the two Boeing 747-200B airplanes typically used by the President of the United States (and commonly referred to as Air Force One) remain with their standard markings (i.e., the words \"United States of America,\" the American flag, and the Seal of the President of the United States) intact: Air Force One  This rumor was just a repackaging of an item that had circulated years earlier, during the 2008 presidential campaign, regarding the removal of American flag emblems from the airplane used by the Obama campaign.  As we wrote at that time: Given the length and breadth of modern presidential campaigns, it has become de rigueur for most major party candidates to have their own airplanes for ferrying themselves and staffers, press, security, and other personnel from stop to stop along the campaign trail.  Such planes may be purchased by the candidate's campaign, or they may be leased or chartered from commercial airlines.  Typically when a campaign owns its own airplane or leases a plane under a dedicated charter arrangement, the aircraft's exterior markings will be modified to identify it as a particular candidate's campaign plane, with some notable recent examples of this practice including aircraft used by presidential candidates Bob Dole (1996), George W. Bush (2000), John Kerry (2004) and John McCain's \"Straight Talk Express\" campaign plane (from 2008): Bob Dole George W. Bush John Kerry    Although Senator Barack Obama flew on a variety of aircraft during the long 2008 presidential campaign season, from March through June 2008 he primarily used a Boeing 757-200ER aircraft chartered from (and operated by) North American Airlines as his campaign plane.  During that period, the plane bore the standard color scheme and company markings of a North American Airlines aircraft: North American  However, once the primary campaign effectively ended and Senator Obama became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, his campaign plane underwent a month-long refurbishment to prepare it for the general election campaign, a process that included reconfiguring the interior seating and modifying the exterior markings to identify and publicize the aircraft as Barack Obama's official campaign plane.  The latter activity included replacing the North American Airline color scheme and markings with the Obama campaign slogan (\"Change We Can Believe In\"), the BARACKOBAMA.COM domain name, and Obama's sunrise\/flag \"O\" campaign logo:  Two U.S. flag images were removed from the airplane during the refurbishment, although technically they were not ordinary representations of the American flag; rather, they were commercial markings of North American Airlines, whose logo  (a registered trademark of that company) employs a stylized rendition of the U.S. flag.  The North American flag\/logo on the forward portion of the fuselage was removed and the one on the tail was replaced with the Obama \"O\" campaign logo, while traditional depictions of the U.S. flag adjacent to the plane's registration numbers remained: trademark Original North American versionModified Obama campaign version Last updated:  16 April 2012    Gavrilovic, Maria.  \"Obama's New Plane to Meet Him Overseas.\"   CBSNews.com.  20 July 2008.    Kapp, Bonney.  \"Obama's 757 Is Back in Service.\"   FOXNews.com.  20 July 2008.    Oinounou, Mosheh.  \"Air 'Straight Talk' Launches.\"   FOXNews.com.  30 June 2008.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1FijVI2-uSNIX4rEcc0ihNxXKKRcZ6ONp","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1BP51VmlbLxH7QjXehPLics_pc-M-cH70","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1RyvBCv9PtzsmSo3wb0GXfhtrUuyi5ULV","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1_M-RjTzE6AdbaeX_ly-YJ9G9Ch1d7NkP","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Cr1jn0ei3zAYiqKO6ZohV3NRmFf0F5p6","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1NlEUJae3IbC1p4XU4Zg2YHmK3-zZ_El7","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1qO1RCrryJ2RktfGUTiys3yUS7vAD7LFu","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1YUIaj2Gv5Pav1VyiPqVk1rbRUVIvlyX1","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=14_FKFADFS9z_Qoa75LhhRyANXktl-Gcf","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1mHGEZHig_4rBGfW3DpFOpLJo8BJwnYdv","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_656","claim":"Was a penalty imposed on Donald Trump for allegedly misappropriating funds designated for veterans?","posted":"11\/14\/2019","sci_digest":["Social media posts and memes badly misrepresented the facts surrounding the November 2019 resolution of a high-profile lawsuit against the president."],"justification":"In November 2019, we received multiple inquiries about the accuracy of claims that U.S. President Donald Trump had been fined $2 million by a New York court because he was found to have \"stolen\" charitable donations intended for military veterans. For example, former Democratic Virginia State Senate candidate Qasim Rashid tweeted on several occasions in November 2019 that Trump had \"stolen\" $2.8 million in charitable donations from veterans and that he had admitted as much in court: \"The President stole $2.8M in charity from Veterans & spent it on himself & admits to his crime in court documents. As you speak of honor & service, where is your accountability of a President who trampled on both? Why are you silent, Rep @RobWittman? #VeteransDay\" One of Rashid's tweets was later reposted in the form of a meme by the Facebook page Act.tv. Another widely shared meme claimed, \"It is a fact that draft dodger Trump stole charitable cash donations that were meant for our veterans.\" These social media posts and memes grossly misrepresented the facts surrounding a November 2019 settlement agreement between the New York Attorney General and the Donald J. Trump Foundation, Trump himself, and his children Ivanka and Eric. Trump did not \"steal\" charitable donations intended for veterans, nor did he admit as much in court. All the donations intended for veterans' charities ended up going to those charities. However, Trump's 2016 presidential campaign did direct and benefit from the manner in which many of those donations were distributed to the charities. The claims were related to a lawsuit brought by the New York Attorney General's office in June 2018 against the Trump Foundation, the president, and Ivanka and Eric Trump, in their capacity as board directors of the charity. In her June 2018 petition to the state's Supreme Court, then-New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood wrote: \"For more than a decade, the Donald J. Trump Foundation has operated in persistent violation of state and federal law governing New York State charities. This pattern of illegal conduct by the Foundation and its board members includes improper and extensive political activity, repeated and willful self-dealing transactions, and failure to follow basic fiduciary obligations or to implement even elementary corporate formalities required by law.\" One of the examples of \"improper political activity\" cited in the lawsuit related to a January 2016 fundraiser that the Trump Foundation and Trump's presidential election campaign jointly operated. In January 2016, days before the Iowa caucuses, Trump complained of unfair treatment by Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly and announced he would be boycotting the next Republican primary debate and instead host a fundraiser for veterans' charities in Iowa. The event raised around $5.6 million, with roughly half going to the Trump Foundation and half going directly to specific veterans' charities. The Trump campaign directed the distribution of funds to recipient charities, and Trump himself repeatedly presented checks at campaign rallies and more broadly used the distribution of funds to boost his presidential campaign. On the basis of those allegations, Underwood requested several outcomes, including asking the court to \"dissolve the Foundation for its persistently illegal conduct, enjoin its board members from future service as a director of any not-for-profit authorized by New York law, obtain restitution and penalties, and direct the Foundation to cooperate with the Attorney General in the lawful distribution of its remaining assets to qualified charitable entities.\" The parties to the lawsuit spent around a year negotiating a settlement. In December 2018, for example, all sides agreed that the Foundation would be dissolved and its assets distributed to a list of mutually agreed charities. In November 2019, the New York Supreme Court published the final settlement. As part of that settlement, Trump, his children, and the Foundation stipulated to a set of facts, among them the following section related to the Iowa veterans fundraiser: The website for the Iowa Fundraiser, DonaldTrumpForVets.com, was developed by campaign personnel and, with the agreement of the Foundation, featured the name of the Foundation at the top of the home page and informed visitors that \"the Donald J. Trump Foundation is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization\"; The campaign planned, organized, and paid for the Iowa Fundraiser, with administrative assistance from the Foundation; and the campaign directed the timing, amounts, and recipients of the Foundation's grants to charitable organizations supporting military veterans. The Iowa Fundraiser raised approximately $5.6 million in donations for veterans groups, of which $2.823 million was contributed to the Foundation; the balance was contributed by donors directly to various veterans' groups. At campaign events in Iowa on January 30, January 31, and February 1, 2016, Mr. Trump personally displayed presentation copies of Foundation checks to Iowa veterans' groups. On May 31, 2016, at a campaign press conference, Mr. Trump announced the grants the Foundation made to veterans' groups with the proceeds of the Iowa Fundraiser and, on or about the same day, the campaign posted on its website a chart identifying the grant recipients. The New York Attorney General's office objected to the way in which the Trump Foundation had been used to advance the interests of the Trump campaign, and especially the way in which the campaign dictated how more than half of the funds were to be distributed, with Trump at times personally handing out checks at campaign rallies. The Attorney General's Office did not object on the grounds that Trump, his children, or his foundation had stolen or kept the money. Indeed, in an order accompanying the November 2019 settlement, New York Supreme Court Justice Saliann Scarpulla wrote that: \"The Attorney General has argued that I should award damages for waste of the entire $2,823,000 that was donated directly to the Foundation at the Fundraiser. In opposition, Mr. Trump notes that the Foundation ultimately disbursed all of the funds to charitable organizations and that he has sought to resolve consensually this proceeding. As stated above, I find that the $2,823,000 raised at the Fundraiser was used for Mr. Trump's political campaign and disbursed by Mr. Trump's campaign staff, rather than by the Foundation, in violation of [New York law]. However, taking into consideration that the funds did ultimately reach their intended destinations, i.e., charitable organizations supporting veterans, I award damages on the breach of fiduciary duty\/waste claim against Mr. Trump in the amount of $2,000,000, without interest, rather than the entire $2,823,000 sought by the Attorney General.\" Trump was ordered to pay $2 million to a list of agreed-upon charities as damages for the waste incurred by the fact that his political campaign orchestrated and benefited from distributing around $2.8 million in donations to veterans groups. (That $2 million in damages was separate from the roughly $1.7 million the Trump Foundation had already agreed to distribute to various charities as part of the resolution dissolving the Foundation.) Neither Trump, nor his children, nor his charity were found to have \"stolen\" or kept the funds, and so none \"admitted\" to such actions. The New York Supreme Court explicitly acknowledged that all the funds raised from the January 2016 Iowa event did ultimately end up with veterans groups. The irony in those claims was that it was, in fact, the manner in which the Trump Foundation and Trump campaign colluded in distributing the donations to veterans charities that landed the president in hot water, not his having \"stolen\" the donations.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1WSXPauHWSu0kRhUAg4g9_L3BF6k7NWc6"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_657","claim":"Were these kids divided from their parents during the Obama administration?","posted":"06\/21\/2018","sci_digest":["A 2014 photograph of unaccompanied minor immigrants is misleadingly being described as showing children separated from their parents by the Obama administration."],"justification":"During the ongoing national debate over a novel policy of separating families at the border, a photograph circulated, originally from Joshua Feuerstein, a self-styled \"American evangelist, Internet and social media personality,\" who last made headlines in 2015 when he manufactured a so-called \"Christmas cup controversy.\" The photograph purportedly depicted a room full of immigrant children that former President Barack Obama had supposedly removed from their parents' custody. The attached text read: \"As you stare at this picture of innocent children being separated from their parents at the border and feel your hatred toward President Trump start to boil over from the bowels of your soul... I'd just like to point out it was taken in 2014... when Obama was President! #share\" Some versions were shared with no accompanying text, inviting readers to project their own interpretation onto the image. Images of this type, dated to the Obama administration, were often described as having been ignored at the time they were originally taken. However, this image did appear in anti-immigration memes from 2014 and 2015, such as one framing the photograph as evidence that the Obama administration (described here as a \"cabal\") was encouraging (\"seducing\") immigrant (\"illegal alien\") children to come to the United States. The meme's text read: \"INSIDE AN OBAMA APPROVED REFUGEE CAMP 140,000 Illegal Alien Children Seduced into coming to America By the Obama Cabal. MORE COMING NEXT YEAR TOO Hey Obama... Why not use the FEMA CAMPS?? Or are those being prepped for Patriot Resistance Fighters!!\" The first iteration we could find of that image was alongside a June 5, 2014, post published by Breitbart. Although Breitbart shared the photograph on Facebook on June 21, 2018, the outlet did not include a link to its earlier reporting. In its original article, the children were described as \"unaccompanied,\" indicating that they came without their parents, not that they were separated from their families by American authorities. Breitbart Texas obtained internal federal government photos depicting the conditions of foreign children warehoused by authorities on U.S. soil on Wednesday night. Thousands of illegal immigrants have overrun U.S. border security and their processing centers in Texas along the U.S.\/Mexico border. Unaccompanied minors, including young girls under the age of 12, are making the dangerous journey from Central America and Mexico, through cartel-controlled territories, and across the porous border onto U.S. soil. The photograph was subsequently disseminated by numerous websites and news outlets. National Review's \"Immigration Bedlam\" reported that some 6,775 unaccompanied alien children (UAC) crossed the U.S.-Mexican border in 2011, according to the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement. ORR expects 60,000 UACs this year, and this number could reach 130,000 in 2015. Detaining them for $252 each per day will cost taxpayers $453.6 million per month this year and could cost $982.8 million per month next year. The image and events surrounding it were widely reported for several months, appearing in the Houston Chronicle, Splinter News, the Los Angeles Times, Mashable, and Reuters, among others. Stories during that time specifically reiterated that the photographs showed unaccompanied minor children in the custody of United States Customs and Border Protection and temporarily housed at a Texas Air Force base. The photos have a timestamp of May 27, 2014. A spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection stated that the agency has not officially released any photos at this time in order to protect the rights and privacy of unaccompanied minors in their care. A temporary shelter at Joint Base San Antonio Lackland has housed and provided services to 1,820 unaccompanied minors from Central America since May 18, as reported by San Antonio Express-News reporter Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje. The immigration surge is said to be part of children fleeing poverty and violence in their home countries. Although the photograph is real, it does not show children separated from their parents by the Obama administration. In June 2014, the image was published as part of numerous news stories and occasionally alongside editorial pieces objecting to the presence of unaccompanied minor children. The image did not develop a different backstory until June 2018, during a controversy that specifically involved family separation at the behest of the Trump administration.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=16FKkx7cha63MdaxvuuSP4dSzYxZnAvu9"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_658","claim":"Last year, we had zero percent growth in GDP in Virginia ...The only states that did worse than us were Alaska and Mississippi.","posted":"08\/25\/2015","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Virginia needs a dose of Republican economic medicine to get out of a funk, says Glen Sturtevant, a Richmond School Board member who is running for the state Senate. Last year, we had zero percent growth in GDP in Virginia -- zero percent, Sturtevant said during an Aug. 18 candidates forum, sponsored by WCVE Richmond Public Radio. The only states that did worse than us were Alaska and Mississippi. Sturtevant is seeking the 10th District Senate seat that long has been held by Republican John Watkins, who is not seeking reelection. Also running is Dan Gecker, a Democrat who serves on the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors; Marleen Durfee, an independent who is a former Chesterfield supervisor; and Carl Loser, a Libertarian from Powhatan County. We wondered whether Sturtevants dreary economic statistics were correct. A spokesman for his campaign said the information came from a June article in The Washington Post about preliminary state gross domestic product figures for 2014 that were released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis at the U.S. Department of Commerce. GDP is the value of all finished goods and services produced. Virginias GDP of about $427 billion last year was indeed flat -- there was 0.0 percent inflation-adjusted growth from 2013. Only two states trailed the Old Dominion in growth: Mississippi and Alaska, which saw their state economies shrink. Nationally, inflation-adjusted GDP expanded by 2.2 percent last year. These figures are preliminary, and Virginias position might improve slightly when the bureau releases its final report in September. Last year, for example, the preliminary report ranked Virginia 49th in economic growth in 2013; the final ranking pegged Virginias growth at 0.4 percent, 43rd among the states. The commonwealths economic growth has been lackluster for several years, spanning Democratic and Republican governors. In 2011, the state saw 0.6 percent GDP growth; in 2012, it saw 0.7 percent growth. Economists we spoke with said Virginias low numbers largely reflect a slow recovery from the Great Recession that has been exacerbated by its dependence on federal spending in an era of budget cuts. Virginia is home to large military bases and a fleet of defense and government contractors and federal workers that drive the economy of Northern Virginia. The Pew Charitable Trustsestimatesthat in 2013, federal spending was responsible for about 31 percent of Virginias economic activity. Only Mississippi was more dependent. Under the federal sequestration compromise, which kicked in at the start of 2013, Congress and the White House agreed to an automatic series of budget cuts to trim the national debt by $1 trillion over nine years. Half of the savings are coming from defense spending and half from domestic programs. A 2013studyby Stephen Fuller, director of the Center of Regional Analysis at George Mason University, said Virginia was particularly vulnerable to sequestration and predicted it would bite $15.4 billion a year out of the states economy. That was the second largest of any state. Fuller found California was projected to lose $16.7 billion. Texas was third, projected to lose $11.9 billion annually. Both of those states are seeing much greater growth than Virginia: Texas ranked second in the nation last year, with 5.2 percent growth; California ranked ninth with 2.8 percent growth. It should be noted, however, that both states have larger, more diverse economies than Virginia. Californias GDP was $2.1 trillion last year, Texas was $1.5 trillion, and Virginias was $427 billion, according to Bureau of Economic Analysis figures. Maryland, where many federal employees live, ranked 36th in economic growth last year. Although Maryland also is home to many federal employees, its less dependent on federal spending than Virginia. According to Pew, Uncle Sam funds about 27.5 percent of the economic activity in Maryland. While federal cuts start the discussion about Virginias sluggish recovery from the recession, theyre not the whole conversation. The state has also been hurt by the sagging coal industry in Southwest Virginia and declining furniture manufacturing in Southside Virginia, according to Terry Terry Rephann, regional economist at the University of Virginias Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. Our ruling Sturtevant said that Virginia had zero percent economic growth last year, the third worst result in the nation. We rate his statement True.","issues":["Economy","Virginia"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_659","claim":"Does the American Rescue Plan consist of just 9% of COVID-19 related content?","posted":"03\/12\/2021","sci_digest":["That percent doesn't include items like the $1,400 stimulus checks aimed at providing relief to those impacted by COVID-19. "],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease.  fighting Find out Read Submit Become a Founding Member CDC WHO On March 11, 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion stimulus package to provide relief to Americans who have been struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the days leading up to this bill's passage, a number of Republican lawmakers and pundits criticized the bill, arguing that only 9% of the relief package had anything to do with COVID-19.  signed Conservative author Melisa Tate, for example, wrote on Twitter that the bill \"only gives 9% to the American people\" while the rest went to politicians and their cronies. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said that she voted against the \"COVID relief\" bill because \"only 9% of this bill is COVID-related\" while \"the rest is allocated to liberal pet projects and blue state bailouts.\" Twitter voted against   The claim that only 9% of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan is going to COVID relief is largely false. The vast majority of this bill will provide financial relief to people, businesses, and governments who have struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The argument that only 9% of the measure will go to COVID relief appears to be an exaggeration of the fact that the American Rescue Plan will provide approximately $160 billion (about 8.5% of the total) for testing, protective gear, vaccine production and distribution, and other measures to directly combat the virus. $160 billion (about 8.5% of the total) for testing While it's true that only about 9% of this bill goes to fighting the virus directly, that figure does not include the vast majority of funds aimed at providing financial relief to those who have struggled through the pandemic. For example, the 9% does not include the most famous part of the American Rescue Plan, the $1,400 stimulus checks for individuals, which is expected to amount to around $400 billion (or about 21% of the total). This 9% figure also doesn't account for items such as unemployment insurance, a child tax care credit, funding for schools to re-open, rent assistance, and other measures aimed at providing relief to Americans.  $400 billion account for items Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, told NPR that there were two parts to the American Rescue Plan. The first dealt with combating COVID directly, while the second aimed at dealing with the financial crisis that resulted from the pandemic: NPR \"There are really two pieces to this bill. One is directly related to the health crisis, but the other, and the larger piece, is related to the economic crisis that the health crisis has created.\" The vast majority of the American Rescue Plan is concerned with providing relief to people, businesses, and governments that have suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, about $300 billion (or 15% of the bill) \"is spent on long-standing policy priorities that are not directly related to the current crisis.\" In other words, about 85% of the bill is related specifically to the impacts of COVID-19.  Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget In short: The American Rescue Plan is a multi-faceted, $1.9 trillion to bill that provides financial relief to those struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic. While it's true that only 9% of this funding will be used to directly combat the virus (via vaccine distribution and other health measures), this bill provides relief to Americans in several other ways. The $1,400 COVID-19 relief checks, for example, account for more than 20% of this $1.9 trillion bill. ","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1SDRDqlLZaAcBPaxOyQuSsY6QNYhC8zx9"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_660","claim":"Are Facebook Users Secretly Following You?","posted":"01\/04\/2017","sci_digest":["Instructions for blocking Facebook users who are supposedly furtively following you are spurious."],"justification":"In early January 2017, a rumor swept through Facebook asserting that \"Facebook security\" personnel were being paid to watch individual accounts. According to this rumor, entering the term \"Facebook Security\" into Facebook's \"block users\" field would reveal a list of people whom the social network had engaged to furtively monitor your activity, and each of whom had to be individually blocked by you to prevent them from spying on you. Did you know there are people literally watching your Facebook account? Yes, there are individuals who have a specific duty to monitor your posts and activity. While there are many Facebook secrets, for those who value privacy, this one is for you! Here is what you need to do to block the majority of the accounts that monitor your Facebook: 1. Log into Facebook 2. Account Settings 3. Click on Blocking 4. In the search field where it says Block Users, type in: Facebook Security 5. A new window will pop up. The list you see is most likely a compilation of Facebook employees, spies, and private accounts that are paid to shill for who knows who (sarcasm, kind of). 6. Go down the list, and if you don't like being monitored, just hit the block button. Some of the accounts may be unable to be blocked. While this is somewhat disturbing, you must remember that Facebook owns everything Facebook, so in essence, you agreed to be monitored. However, following these instructions does nothing to uncover or block the (non-existent) Facebook security personnel who are supposedly monitoring your online activities. Entering the term \"Facebook Security\" into the \"Block Users\" search box simply returns profiles of users who have used those particular words somewhere on their profile or in a place that's visible to the individual, such as in a public post. The list returned by this search neither includes people who are furtively following you nor individuals employed to spy on you by Facebook security. In September 2017, this rumor took on a slightly new form, one which eliminated the paranoid reference to \"Facebook security.\" Again, following these instructions simply produces a list of Facebook users with the string 'Me' somewhere in their screen names or profiles, not a list of accounts of people who are secretly following you.","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1tTuA-N73AsD8Q80LpatQMFSfChsqJROg","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1BkTRqZvxrjvG-XXD2MuHiEOS2igAbRjl","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=17bHofbLOS_Hv2KAyd1vdYSR7RntCJgS-","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_661","claim":"Chase Bank Won't Allow Cash Deposits?","posted":"09\/20\/2014","sci_digest":["Does Chase Bank not allow cash deposits made by non-account holders?"],"justification":" Claim:  Chase Bank does not allow cash deposits made by non-account holders.  Examples:  [Collected via e-mail, July 2008] Chase bank this morning would not accept cash deposit, when the person depositing the cash was not the account holder.  I was told that \"banking laws prohibit someone who is not the account holder from depositing cash to an account.\" (This actually happened to me!) Origins:  In January 2014, JPMorgan Chase & Co., the largest bank in the U.S., announced that in order to head off potential money laundering issues, it would be implementing a policy that requires customers making cash deposits to show identification and that prohibits customers from depositing cash into personal accounts on which they are not listed as account holders: announced  The policy applies only to cash deposits (not negotiables such as checks or money orders) and only to deposits made into consumer and business accounts (not investment, Treasury and commercial accounts). The restrictions, for example, limit the ability of parents to deposit cash into the accounts of their children who might be away from home (e.g., at college or on vacation) if the parents are not listed as joint account holders, but Chase customers can add authorized signers to their accounts to work around this limitation. According to a Chase spokesperson, the policy change was related to efforts to bolster the bank's anti-money laundering efforts: \"It's an excellent idea. I guarantee other banks will follow suit very shortly  if they're smart,\" said Annemarie McAvoy, a former federal prosecutor who now teaches anti-money laundering and counterterrorism at Fordham Law School. \"The hard thing with cash is you can't tell where it's coming from once it goes into an account,\" said McAvoy. \"I think Chase is trying very hard to be ahead of the curve. Part of it is they are under the microscope [due to a $2 billion settlement over criminal charges related to the Madoff scandal], but I think they are really trying to do the right thing.\" settlement It is not accurate to say that this limitation on cash deposits is \"banking law,\" however.  Banks are required by law to report cash transactions exceeding $10,000, but they are not required to turn down cash deposits made by non-account holders  the latter restriction is purely a voluntary policy that Chase has chosen to implement on its own; other banks may or may not follow suit. Last updated:  20 September 2014","issues":["banking"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1VTipZ2_dH29MupqvE4P3ZIOkvk7DbqpN","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Ge9us5FsGAubI6oeD2RdIbaomCpabJYy","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_662","claim":"Was a Baseball Game Won by a Score of 2\u00bd-2?","posted":"05\/05\/2020","sci_digest":["Just how much faith do you place in an unbelievable anecdote told by a wag known as \"Wild Bill\"?"],"justification":"Many a baseball fan in recent years has discovered a newspaper account relating an amazing first-person account of a game that took place in 1893: discovered   According to former minor league pitcher William \"Wild Bill\" Setley, a teammate of his who broke the last bat on the field had to step up to the plate in an extra-inning game wielding an axe, and his swing cut the pitched ball in two, sending half of it over the outfield fence while the other half popped up harmlessly on the infield. After some dispute with the umpire, the batter was awarded half a run, and his team was declared the winner by a score of 2 1\/2 to 2: William \"Wild Bill\" Setley [Pitcher Mike] Kilroy broke the last bat on the field when he fouled the first pitch. All the others having been broken previously, he walked over to a nearby woodpile, which fed the clubhouse furnace, and picked up an axe. Pottsville wanted to call the game, but Kilroy, waving the axe, insisted on his licks. He swung at the next pitch and cut the ball in half, one-half going over the fence and the other half making a pop-fly to first base. Kilroy did the bases, driving in a run, while Pottsville was rejoicing at the ump's decision -- 'out.' But Mike had other ideas. As soon as he crossed home plate he took his argument to the umpire and on the grounds that half the ball went out of the park, he was awarded half a run. While many readers have enjoyed the anecdote for the tall tale it is, without regard for its literal veracity, many others have wanted to know if the story is actually true as told by Setley. In that regard, the first thing to note is that Setley's account as excerpted above was given and published in 1937, some 44 years after the fact. Across the span of several decades, memories blur and fade, and potentially corroborating witnesses disappear and die off. And we also note that as far back as 1900, long before this particular version of Setley's \"half a baseball\" was publicized, he was already well known as \"a wag\" and \"a great story teller\": published  The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) helped us fill in some of the blanks by providing additional information: This wild story has been making the rounds in our circles, as well. But as far as we can tell, it appears to be false. At best, Setley's version of the story combines elements from one well-known urban legend with a real-life 1894 Allentown game in which Mike Kilroy did hit a dramatic game-ending single in the 11th inning. See below for details: 1. \"Hit a ball so hard it was cut in half\" This story has been told about a number of players, typically to illustrate a popular player's home run hitting prowess. But there is no evidence it has ever happened in professional baseball, with an axe or otherwise. Of course this is also a variant of the \"knocked the cover off the ball\" story, which has happened many, many times (see Roy Hobbs in The Natural and, more recently in real life, Martin Maldonado of the Milwaukee Brewers in 2014.) Knocking the cover off the ball was a somewhat common occurrence in the late 19th century, when baseball manufacturing standards were haphazard and inconsistent. Roy Hobbs in The Natural Martin Maldonado Some version of the \"cut a ball in half\" story was told about Mike \"King\" Kelly, the biggest superstar of his era, on the Ripley's Believe It Or Not radio show in the 1930s, possibly around the same time as Setley told his version. (More on Kelly below.) And here's another example in SABR's biography of Perry Werden, a celebrated minor-league slugger for the Minneapolis Millers in the 1890s: Mike \"King\" Kelly another example SABR's biography of Perry Werden Perry Werden: One time I hit the ball so hard that it broke in two. Half of the ball struck a Hit Me for a Free Pair of Shoes sign on the left-field fence; the other half was retrieved by the left fielder and thrown in to the catcher. As I steamed home, the catcher tagged me with half a ball. The umpire called me out, but I successfully argued that our team deserved half a run. It was a close game and we won by the score of 2 to 2. Reporter: Thats an amazing story, Perry. Did you get a free pair of shoes? Werden: No, the store owner said I was entitled to only one shoe. 2. Mike Kilroy's game-winning hit for Allentown in the 11th inning This portion of the story is true. Mike Kilroy and Wild Bill Setley were teammates for a minor-league team in Allentown of the Pennsylvania State League, but in 1894, not 1893. The team was managed by none other than Mike \"King\" Kelly, who was in the final year of his Hall of Fame career at age 36 and who died at the end of the season. (Baseball Reference lists the Allentown team with the nickname \"Kelly's Killers,\" but like so many early baseball team names, this name does not seem to have been used at the time and was only applied years later. They were generally just called Allentown.) a minor-league team so many early baseball team names On August 15, 1894, Mike Kilroy did have a dramatic game-winning hit for Allentown that fits the basic description of Setley's story. Here is a detailed recap from the Shenandoah Evening Herald. a detailed recap from the Shenandoah Evening Herald In the game against Shenandoah (not Pottsville), Kilroy pitched all 11 innings for the visitors from Allentown. In the bottom of the 11th inning  by the rules at the time, the home team could still choose whether to bat first or last  Bill Sweeney hit a double for Allentown and scored the winning run on Kilroy's dramatic single to win it, 7-6, in front of a crowd of 2,000 people.This memorable finish was the final game of the Pennsylvania State League season for the Allentown team, so it makes sense that Wild Bill Setley would have remembered Kilroy's big hit years later. The very next day, it was reported that the entire Allentown team had jumped to the Eastern League to replace a team in Binghamton (NY) that folded due to financial troubles. This kind of move was not unusual during the 19th century  players, teams, and entire leagues could disappear at a moment's notice, if a new contract could be negotiated or if the team's funds dried up  and that was even more true during a period of economic despair like America faced in 1893-94 it was reported jumped to the Eastern League This material from SABR confirms that although he got some details wrong (such as the year, score, and opposing team), Setley's account did conform to the records of an 1894 game between Shenandoah and Allentown that was won in the 11th inning on a dramatic hit by Allentown pitcher Mike Kilroy. However, two other key points emerge from SABR's information: 1) Contemporaneous and detailed reporting of the game in question made absolutely no mention of Kilroy's breaking the last available bat, using an axe in its place, cutting the ball in two with his swing, knocking half a ball over the fence, or being awarded half a run. (Kilory simply made a \"good safe hit\" that drove in a run, according to reporting of the day.) 2) The very same \"cut a ball in half\" story was told by and about other players as well, right down to the detail of the game-winning score being 2 1\/2 to 2. Notably, the 1894 game Setley referred to ended with a final score of 7-6, so clearly he dredged up the \"2 1\/2 to 2\" detail from somewhere other than his own experience and memory. With that data in mind, we think we can safely put this one down as a tall tale that belongs in the \"too good to be true\" category (otherwise known as \"False\"). [Shenandoah] Evening Herald.  \"Beaten in the Eleventh.\"\r  16 August 1894  (p. 1). Vicksburg Evening Post.  \"Perry Werden's Yarn.\"\r  4 April 1907  (p. 7). The [Mount Carmel, PA] Daily News.  \"Bill Setley's Career.\"\r  22 January 1900  (p. 1). INS.  \"Old Timer Recalls Game Won by Score of 2-2.\"\r  The [Madison] Capital Times.  5 August 1937  (Sports; p. 1).","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1F0uB-GmczL4pu-Mh1IDyK-pYvSllUa5T","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=18d2B9GwXg9kRWPrCEoY1_S2075Cn9wXU","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_663","claim":"Did U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell Increase His Net Worth by 'Nearly $2.4 Million Every Year for a Decade'?","posted":"02\/26\/2019","sci_digest":["A meme based on a 2014 campaign ad has continued to make the online rounds years later."],"justification":"In late February 2019, a misleading meme was circulated on Facebook that led viewers to ask whether U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky had mysteriously amassed vast wealth in yearly increments to the tune of $2.4 million while in office:   As Senate Majority Leader, McConnell received an annual salary of $193,400, but the Kentucky Republican reported an influx of family wealth between $5 million and $25 million in 2008, according to his financial disclosures. That influx was the result of an inheritance his wife received upon the death of her mother, and that  information has been part of public discourse since 2014, when it became campaign fodder for McConnell's Democratic opponent, Allison Lundergan Grimes: salary  Although the meme and the campaign ad upon which it was likely based were set up to make it seem as if McConnell's wealth increase were the result of his role in the Senate and thus involved unethical or illegal activities, most of his net worth actually derives from his wife, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, who hails from a wealthy business family and married McConnell in 1993. Chao is the daughter of James S.C. and Ruth Mulan Chu Chao. Her father is the founder of the New York-based international shipping and trading company Foremost Group, an organization her sister, Angela, chairs. How wealthy is the Chao family? Wealthy enough to have bestowed Harvard Business School with a $40 million gift in 2012. chairs gift According to the non-profit government transparency organization Center for Responsive Politics, McConnell's net worth jumped from an estimated $7.8 million in 2007 to $17 million in 2008, owing entirely to a tax-exempt, money market fund in an account he held jointly with his wife: 2008   As the Washington Post reported in 2014, McConnell's increase in wealth reflected inheritance mone Chao received when her mother passed away in 2007: reported Thats almost a sevenfold increase in 10 years. McConnell has quadrupled his net worth since 2007, when it was $7.8 million. So what happened in 2008? His financial disclosure form tells the storysuddenly there appeared a tax-exempt money market fund, valued at between $5 million and $25 million, listed as a gift from a filers relative. (Look at Line 2 and then Line 3.)   Indeed, a McConnell spokesman confirms that this was an inheritance for McConnells wife, former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, after her mother died in 2007. Chao, who married McConnell in 1993, earns significant income on her own, serving on corporate boards, and has at least $1 million in a Vanguard 500 Index Fund. (Since these shares are in her name, McConnell only needs to report they have a minimum value of $1 million.) The Center for Responsive Politics estimated McConnell's net worth in 2015, the most recent figure available, to be nearly $27 million. 2015 Kessler, Glenn.  \"How Did Mitch McConnells Net Worth Soar?\"\r  The Washington Post.  22 May 2014. Newmyer, Tory.  \"The Secret to Mitch McConnell's Millions.\"\r  Fortune.  20 March 2014.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1a8dK7jVm1wIRY1cxMZfqKTht9uXdK1J8","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1larLjJk6YI8AbpBLlfs_SuAejZtESW5u","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1EtDOceIIeMgZVbtUBASWzc5gsnsxC2gH","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_664","claim":"Does an Old Photo Show COVID Vax Creator as an Immigrant in Germany?","posted":"12\/07\/2020","sci_digest":["Ugur Sahin, who led the team that helped find a vaccine breakthrough, definitely has a remarkable personal story."],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease.  fighting Find out Read Submit Become a Founding Member CDC WHO In late 2020, three major pharmaceutical companies announced promising results in early trials of their COVID-19 vaccine candidates, prompting widespread optimism about the availability of a safe and effective vaccine for the virus, perhaps even before the end of the year.  major pharmaceutical companies On Dec. 2, 2020, the U.K. government gave emergency authorization for the distribution and application of the vaccine created by Pfizer and a smaller German company called BioNTech. The distribution was scheduled to start during the week of Dec. 7.  authorization BioNTech was founded by Ugur Sahin and zlem Treci, two immunologists and cancer researchers who also happen to be a married couple. Their striking personal story became the focus of news coverage in late 2020, and their achievements were described by some as an \"immigrant success story\"  Sahin was born in Turkey and immigrated to German with his family at the age of 4, while Treci was born in Germany to a Turkish immigrant father.  coverage described some In November and December 2020, social media users enthusiastically shared an old photograph of what they said was Sahin's family, claiming that \"the boy in the yellow t-shirt\" would later go on to lead the team that created the Pfizer\/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine: social media users   In one instance, another user claimed the photograph showed a family of Romanian immigrants.  claimed These widely shared posts were misleading. Sahin and his family did immigrate to Germany from Turkey when he was a young child. But Sahin's family is not shown in the photograph in question, and Sahin is not the boy in the yellow T-shirt. The widely shared tweet that referred to a Romanian family in Germany was entirely inaccurate.  As originally reported by the Turkish fact-checking website Teyit, the picture in question was taken by the German photographer Candida Hfer. It was featured in a 2016 collection of Hfer's photographs, entitled \"Trken in Deutschland\" (\"Turks in Germany\").  Teyit collection   Another of Hfer's photographs shows just the mother and father from the family in question: shows   In August 2020, DiasporaTrk  an online community dedicated to collecting stories and material relating to Turkish emigrs in Europe in the second half of the 20th century  profiled the family featured in Hfer's photographs. The photograph of the family (including the children) was dated to 1975 and apparently taken in Dsseldorf.  dated Although the date next to photographs of the family sometimes appears online as 1979, that is the year in which Hfer first exhibited the collection, rather than the year in which those particular photographs were taken.  According to DiasporaTrk, one of the grandsons of the couple from the photograph contacted them and filled in the blanks about the family's story, explaining that the father had moved to Germany from Aksaray, Turkey, in 1965, and the rest of the family joined him later. In 1975 they moved to Dsseldorf, and the photograph in question was taken within a week of their moving into their new home. Rather than becoming a cancer researcher, the boy in the yellow T-shirt became a lathe setter.  explaining The date of the photograph makes any purported connection to Sahin somewhat implausible. We have not yet been able to independently verify Sahin's precise date of birth (Wikipedia states variously he was born on Sept. 19 or Sept. 29, 1965) but an August 2016 news article gave his age as 50, and The New York Times reported in November 2020 that he was 55 years old.  Sept. 19 Sept. 29, article reported As such, Sahin would have been either 9 or 10 years old in 1975, when Hfer's photograph of a Turkish family in Dsseldorf was taken. It's possible the boy in the yellow shirt was that old, at that time, but it's unlikely.  Furthermore, as Teyit correctly pointed out, The New York Times noted in its profile of Sahin and Treci that Sahin had left the city of Iskenderun, Turkey, whereas the family from the photograph emigrated from Aksaray, some 170 miles away.  noted Some social media posts and online articles including the photograph of the family described them specifically as Turkish Muslim immigrants. We have not yet been able to determine Sahin's person religious convictions, if any, so this element of the narrative surrounding both the photograph, and Sahin's personal background, remains unclear. In November 2019, Sahin was the recipient of a Mustafa Prize, an Iranian-administered award for scientists in the Islamic world. described Mustafa Prize Eligible nominees must either be professed Muslims from anywhere in the world, or scientists of any religious persuasion from one of 57 Muslim-majority nations (including Sahin's native Turkey). As a result, Sahin's personal religious convictions cannot be deduced from his winning a Mustafa prize in 2019. any religious persuasion Although the family shown in the photograph is not Sahin's, and the boy in the yellow shirt is not him, the milieu it depicted may well have been similar to the one in which Sahin grew up. According to multiple reports, Sahin's father  like the father of the \"boy in the yellow t-shirt\"  immigrated to Germany as a gastarbeiter (\"guest worker\") in a Ford factory in Cologne. Both men originally arrived by themselves, before their respective families later joined them.  gastarbeiter The purpose of the guest-worker programs was to bring an influx of skilled labor into Germany in order to revive the German economy in the 1960s and 1970s. Workers were originally intended to stay for only two years, before returning to their countries of origin, but the rules were later changed and allowed for family reunification in Germany. So in the case of Sahin and the boy in the yellow shirt, their families' journey in German society began under the same legal mechanisms, and in similarly modest circumstances. ","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1RUUc2lJrIxzFTEFVD4O134S1hkBY73H_","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1RgFVA3AuTtD69tVItrCR6eF7AM0GjCKF","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Pa-1Wz7VUSNp8L3DPkVXyQ-xF6G-p7Wp","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_665","claim":"Is the Levi's Logo Racist?","posted":"02\/10\/2016","sci_digest":["A social media post claimed Levi's jeans' \"two horse\" logo was a racist symbol representing a slave's being killed."],"justification":"A viral post claiming that the logo for the Levi's brand of jean represents a slave being torn apart by horses likely refers to a speech ostensibly delivered by William Lynch on the bank of the James River in Virginia in 1712 to a group of slave owners: MUST READ!!!!! I'm Done Wearing \"Levi Jeans\". This was just brought to my attention, Back in slavery days they would \"Beat\" and \"Kill\" the strongest Black Man On The Plantation. They would do so in front of his family and every other slaves on the plantation. After He'd been beaten, they would tie two \"ROPES\" one to each of his \"LEGS\" and those ropes were tied to \"TWO HORSES\" they would then proceed to beat the horses making them run in opposite directions. Eventually the horses would rip his legs from his body...... The Logo on \"Levi Jeans\" shows how this process went. You see the two \"Slave\" owners whipping the horses and the ropes visibly connected from the horses to the mans legs. It's supposed to be amusing and to show how hard it would be to actually tear a pair of these jeans that's why the words \"Quality Clothing\" appears over both of the horses. Smh I've been wearing these jeans for years, WELL NOT ANYMORE!  While many historians believe that reports of this speech are a hoax, it is widely shared as an accurate depiction of how slave owners attempted to control their slaves: \"Take the meanest and most restless (slave), strip him of his clothes in front of the remaining male (slaves), the female, and the (slave)infant, tar and feather him, tie each leg to a different horse faced in opposite directions, set him a fire and beat both horses to pull him apart in front of the remaining (slaves).\" speech While those tactics might possibly have been employed by some slave owners at the time, no evidence suggests the Levi's jeans logo is an homage to this horrible concept. The primary selling point of the pants manufactured by the company Levi Strauss founded in 1853 was that they were not subject to tearing as other manufacturer's pants were due to the company's use of patented copper rivets to reinforce points of strain where pants typically tore, primarily the pocket corners and the base of the button fly.  The Levi's \"two horse\" logo was created in 1886 in an attempt to illustrate that most important of selling points to 19th century buyers: created Recognize the animals above? They've been part of the Levi's brand since 1886. But what you see here is something new  the freshest version of what we call the Two Horse patch. When you're a company that prides itself on both heritage and innovation, you want to tell that story as vividly and compellingly as possible. And for us, the Two Horse logo does just that. As the company Historian, let me share a bit of history. In 1873, Jacob Davis and company founder Levi Strauss invented the first blue jeans using their patented process of securing clothing at \"points of strain\" with rivets. The result: strong jeans that could stand up to the hard work thrown at them by miners and other hard-working individuals of the time. Levi Strauss & Co. knew the patent would expire in 1890, so we needed to quickly make sure consumers understood how good  and strong  the company's jeans were. But how do you tell that story in a way that consumers could quickly grasp? Well, one of the answers was the image of two horses  each pulling in the opposite direction on the same pair of jeans, trying in vain to tear them apart. Given that the Levi Strauss clothing company's original location and market base was an area of the United States where slavery was not legal (the company was founded in California, a free state, which was bordered by other non-slave states and territories), it's unlikely Levi Strauss would have depended upon his customer base's recognizing a supposed Southern plantation slavery practice to understand the brand's logo.  All the more so since the logo wasn't even unveiled until more than twenty years after slavery had been abolished all throughout the United States. Also note that in the Levi's logo, the ropes leading from the horses are attached to the hip area of the pants  if the image were supposed to be a literal graphical representation of pulling a man's legs apart, the ropes would be tied much farther down on the legs  (below the knee, close to the ankle).  As noted above, the image is intended to reinforce Levi Strauss' patented rivet solution to one of the most troublesome points of tearing in pants, the pocket corners (which are up near the hips, not down the leg): Levi Strauss took Facebook in an attempt to dispel this rumor: Facebook   The Levi's \"two horse\" logo symbolizes nothing more sinister than Levi's original rivet patent and the attendant strength of their jeans.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1vqnOkS5ohFIyoTTO5-rXeTsymXK-0gZE","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1wO-b9Ce_hds6aI3nL-HdbrkBMeRRxE8j","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_666","claim":"Under Greg Abbott, property taxes have gone up $20 billion.","posted":"05\/19\/2022","sci_digest":["O'Rourke's right that estimated revenue collected through local property taxes increased by about $20 billion from 2015, when Gov.","Greg Abbott first took office, to 2021., However, the governor's impact on property taxes is indirect because property taxes are set locally in Texas.","The governor and state legislature can change the rules on propety taxes and have supported propety tax reform to mitigate the increases in property taxes that's matching rising property values."],"justification":"Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke is blaming Gov. Greg Abbott for high inflation in Texas, taking a page out of the GOP playbook in attacking President Joe Biden. O'Rourke released anInstagram videoon April 23 with the caption, Greg Abbott is the single greatest driver of inflation in the state of Texas. TV news clips were stitched together with clips of O'Rourke speaking. In one clip in the montage, O'Rourke says, Under Greg Abbott, property taxes have gone up $20 billion. O'Rourke went on to say, When you add this to the other inflation that he's causing ...  with more clips pointing to electricity bills,traffic backups at the border in April due to additional commercial vehicle inspections Abbott ordered that he said would improve border security, and the rising costs of internet and phone for rural Texans. Overall, O'Rourke is saying Abbott is exacerbating consumer prices in Texas, which were already rising nationwide. We looked at one component of the ad: that jaw-dropping number of a $20 billion increase in property taxes. Is it true? Nationally, inflation hit a 40-year highaccording to March data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, prompting criticism of Biden, especially as inflationrelates to government spending. O'Rourke's campaign pointed to aTexas Taxpayers and Research Association reporttitled Relief from Rising Values: 2019 Property Tax Reforms Cutting Tax Rates at a Record Pace. The report looked at the effects of legislation by state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, and state Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Houston, that overhauled the school finance system and local government budgeting practices and tamped down property tax increases for Texans. The association found property taxes are continuing to rise, but at a slower rate. The campaign pointed specifically to a figure in the report depicting Texas local property taxes from 2011 to 2021. Property taxes levied were just over $50 billion in 2015, when Abbott took office, and just over $70 billion in 2021. The difference is about a $20 billion increase. Data on estimated revenue from local property taxes is available on the state comptroller's website. According to the2018-19 biennial reporton property taxes by the comptroller's office, property taxes totaled $52.2 billion in 2015. Comptroller data on school district, city, county and special district property taxes indicatethere was an estimated $73 billion in property taxes collected statewide in 2021. That's at least a $20 billion increase and in line with the analysis by the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association. In the six years before Abbott's election, property taxes increased to a lesser extent, but that property tax growth was constrained by the Great Recession. To note, while O'Rourke is appealing to voters who may also be homeowners, both commercial and residential property taxes are included here. Austin Community Collegeeconomics professor Stuart Greenfield, whose state government career included work with economic models and how Texas distributes money to school districts, said just over half of the 2019 school district taxable value of property was single-family and multifamily homes. The Texas Taxpayers and Research Association is a lobbying organization that primarily spends its money on research. Its policy advocacy has a fiscal conservative bent, the association's President Dale Craymer said, but the organization doesn't advocate for the policies of one party over the other. Craymer said O'Rourke spoke correctly of the group's report based on the data it analyzed from the comptroller's office. The implication of O'Rourke's ad, however, is that Abbott is responsible for rising property taxes. Craymer said the role of state government is indirect at best when it comes to property taxes because rates are set locally and not by the governor or Legislature. Basically, the process by which rates are set and adopted is laid out in state law, Craymer said. The Legislature and the governor obviously are responsible for drafting and putting those laws in effect. But the state really doesn't have a direct say in the amount of property taxes individual jurisdictions raise. The association's report found taxes would have been somewhat higher without twoproperty tax changes by the Legislature in 2019. One created a process where school district property taxes would decrease over time for senior citizens, whose school district taxes are capped. The second change, Craymer said, increased the school district property tax homestead exemption for homeowners from $25,000 to $40,000, saving homeowners about $180 per year. Also in 2019, the Legislature required cities, counties and most special districts to seek voter approval to set a property tax that raises revenues more than 3.5%. For junior colleges and hospital special districts, the threshold for voter approval is 8%. For school districts, it is 2.5%. State policy also affects property values, and increases in value are tied to increases in taxes. Richard Auxier,senior policy associate at the Tax Policy Center under the Brookings Institute and Urban Institute, said the value of Texas homes is increasing alongside the rest of the country. While you can frame that as property taxes went up, you can flip that to home values went up, Auxier said. It's always going to be a trade-off, because people want the value of their homes to increase, but people don't want their taxes to go up. Texas Republicans have campaigned on property tax relief, too. Abbottadded property tax reliefto the Legislature's third special session agenda in 2021 thatresulted ina now-approved amendment to the Texas Constitution. Abbottsimilarly publicized his support for property tax reliefas a priority in a May 2 tweet ahead of May 7 elections. Abbott'scampaign responded to O'Rourke's adby saying Abbott reduced property taxes by $18 billion since taking office and O'Rourke increased property taxes as an El Paso City Council member. Texas voters approvedProposition 2, which raises the homestead exemption for school district property taxes from $25,000 to $40,000. They also approvedProposition 1, which corrected a 2019 oversight in tax relief that did not apply to homeowners who are disabled or 65 or older because their school tax burden is capped. O'Rourke said in an April 23 Instagram video on rising inflation in Texas that, Under Greg Abbott, property taxes have gone up $20 billion. Data presented in biennial reports and on the comptroller's website show that estimated revenue collected through property taxes increased by more than $20 billion. O'Rourke's figure was accurate. But property taxes are set locally, not by the state. Although state policies might indirectly affect property taxes, the governor's role in setting property taxes is indirect. We rate this as Mostly True.","issues":["Housing","Taxes","Texas"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_667","claim":"In every state, women are paid less than men.","posted":"10\/01\/2012","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Women: You've come a long way, but still have a way to go, according to the National Women's Law Center. The NWLC revisited the gender wage gap debate last month, citing recently released federal statistics that show the difference between the earnings of men and women in the United States. Using this data, the organization devised a state-by-state ranking of women's median earnings compared with men's. In every state, women are paid less than men, the NWLC stated in a Sept. 21 news release about its analysis. The liberal-leaning advocacy organization for women's issues also cited the national gender wage gap, which shows that women are paid 77 cents for every dollar paid to men. The organization's leaders are using the analysis to push Congress to enact the Paycheck Fairness Act to address the disparity. That legislation\u2014sponsored by Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., and supported by the Obama administration\u2014is intended to strengthen the Equal Pay Act of 1963 by proposing guidelines to show employers how to evaluate jobs with the goal of eliminating inequities. The bill was passed by the House of Representatives in January 2009 but failed twice in the Senate, in November 2010 and in June 2012. The gender wage gap issue has been studied for years and has been targeted through legislation, including the Equal Pay Act and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. Still, the NWLC statement about all 50 states seemed broad. Was there a possibility that in at least one state the wage gap either didn't exist or favored women? And what factors were considered to determine the gap? The two most common sources for this type of gender wage data are the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The NWLC used data from the Census Bureau's 2011 American Community Survey, released last month, to calculate wage gaps in each of the 50 states and Washington, D.C. Using the Community Survey's statistics, the NWLC calculated the wage gap for each state as the ratio of female to male median earnings for full-time, year-round workers. (The Community Survey classified full-time, year-round workers as those aged 16 years and over who usually worked 35 hours or more per week.) The wage gaps are presented as the number of cents women are paid for every dollar paid to their male counterparts. Using this methodology, the organization's statement is accurate. For example, Georgia ranked 13th out of the 50 states and Washington, D.C., in terms of the highest wage gaps by jurisdiction. In Georgia, the wage gap was 80.7 percent, meaning that for every dollar a man earned, women earned just under 81 cents. Georgia males earned $43,902, while women earned $35,438 annually, a difference of $8,464. In that ranking, Washington, D.C., fared the best, with women making about 90 cents for every dollar men make. In Wyoming, where the wage gap was the largest, women earned 66.6 cents for each dollar earned by men. The NWLC analysis also includes the often-cited statistic that the national gender wage gap is 77 percent, or more clearly: For every dollar a man earns, a woman earns 77 cents. The national wage gap calculated by the organization is based on census data that tracks full-time, year-round worker wages regardless of occupation. PolitiFact has examined wage disparity claims with varying outcomes. Supporters of wage gap legislation typically cite the 77-cent figure without clarifying that the gap does not take into account other factors that could influence the figure, including occupation, employment longevity, and education. The census data shows the widest gap, but other data, including hourly wages tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, for example, yield smaller differences. Using BLS data, women are paid 86 percent of the median hourly wages of men. So, does the NWLC's claim hold up? Based on Census Bureau data, it does appear that women are paid less than men in every state and Washington, D.C. In considering other data and influences, the wage disparity amount, specifically the national wage gap, is smaller but still exists. We rate it True.","issues":["Georgia","Income","Women","Workers"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_668","claim":"Is This Unexpected Check from a Stranger for Real?","posted":"04\/02\/2020","sci_digest":["Someone you dont know sends you a check, then asks you to deposit it and send some of the money to another party. But the check is counterfeit."],"justification":"In March 2020, the prospect of the U.S. government's sending out $1,200 stimulus checks to individual taxpayers as part of a $2 trillion emergency economic package to address the COVID-19 pandemic created a prime opportunity for grifters who engage in scams that involve luring victims by mailing checks to them. In particular, a several-year-old check-scam warning was widely recirculated via social media. Such warnings served a useful purpose in alerting many viewers to be wary of receiving checks in the mail from unexpected sources. However, they also poorly served audiences by misstating how the underlying scams connected with those checks work. It is not the case, as claimed in the warning reproduced above and in the following news clip, that the scammers who mail out these checks \"do this in hopes of getting your account information when you deposit the check,\" and then using that information to clean out your bank account. A little common sense would be relevant here: If simply depositing a check provided the sender of that check with the means to obtain your personal banking information and drain your bank account, it would be unsafe for any bank customer to ever deposit any check. Clearly, that is not the case, as millions of people maintain checking accounts without regularly falling victim to scammers. All such check scams have two essential components: 1) Scammers mail out counterfeit checks (often made out in the names of real organizations) to lure their victims into believing they are receiving money. 2) Scammers instruct their victims to send back some of the funds they supposedly received from depositing the fake checks (usually via wire transfer, Western Union, PayPal, or gift cards). The scammers count on the fact that funds from deposited checks are often made available to bank customers before the banks can confirm that the checks are authentic and have cleared. The victims of these scams, mistakenly believing they have received \"free money\" once they have deposited their fake checks, are then usually receptive to sending some of that money back to the scammers for some legitimate-sounding purpose. But by the time the victims' banks discover the deposited checks were bad, the scammers already have the money their victims forwarded to them, and the victims are stuck paying all of those funds back to their banks. The person running the scam convinces a victim to cash a check and then send, via wire transfer, a portion of the money to another location. The portion kept by the victim can be called payment for a job, part of a commission, or a prize. However, the check turns out to be a very convincing fake. Banks in the United States are required to make funds available within a few days, but it can take weeks for a fraudulent check to be discovered. This means the wire transfers will happen long before the bank or the victim discovers that the initial check was fake. This scheme is effective because many consumers aren't fully aware of how the check-clearance process works. Unfortunately, the term \"clear\" sometimes gets used prematurely. An item has cleared only after your bank receives funds from the check writer's bank. Bank employees might tell you that a check has cleared, and your bank's computer systems might show that you have those funds available for withdrawal, but that doesn't necessarily mean you can spend the money risk-free. In many cases, when a bank employee tells you an item cleared, they are saying you can spend that money with your debit card, withdraw cash from an ATM, or set up a payment online. Most of the time, this informal terminology is fine because funds typically arrive as expected. Most of the confusion around checks comes from bank policies and federal laws that allow you to spend money before a check really clears. Banks are required to make a portion of your deposit available quickly\u2014usually the first $200 or, on certain official checks, $5,000\u2014and they might need to release the remaining funds after several business days. But that policy might prematurely provide access to the money. It does not mean the funds successfully arrived from the check writer's bank. If a check bounces, the bank reverses the deposit to your account\u2014even if you already spent some or all of the money from that deposit. If you don't have enough money in your account to cover the reversal, you end up with a negative account balance, and you could start bouncing other payments and racking up fees. Ultimately, you are responsible for deposits you make to your account, and you're the one at risk. The lures that scammers use to dupe their victims into sending them the illusory proceeds from the depositing of counterfeit checks are many and varied: o Mystery Shopping Scam: Scammers engage victims to act as \"mystery shoppers\" by making purchases from various vendors in order to rate their service. The scammers then send out counterfeit checks to their victims, instructing them to keep a portion of the funds to cover the costs of purchasing and returning the goods and to compensate them for their time, then wire back the rest of the money. o Reshipping Scam: Scammers engage job-seekers to act as work-at-home re-shippers, receiving (possibly stolen) goods and sending them on to other locations. Then the counterfeit checks those re-shippers are sent to compensate them for their efforts and to reimburse them for the shipping charges they incurred bounce, and they're left holding the bag. o Payment-Processing Scam: Scammers hire job-seekers to work as payment processors. The victims are instructed to open business accounts in their own name, deposit (counterfeit) checks sent to them into those accounts, then disburse the deposited funds as directed by the scammers. When the business account overdraws because the deposited checks are fake and bounce, the victim is on the hook for making restitution to the bank. o Windfall Scam: Scammers send out counterfeit checks that they declare are the proceeds from an inheritance, lottery win, or some other type of prize giveaway. Recipients are instructed to deposit the checks and return a share of the money to cover processing fees, shipping and handling charges, legal fees, taxes, or other charges. o Online Sales Overpayment Scam: Scammers agree to purchase items that have been advertised for sale or auction online, then send out counterfeit checks for greater than the sale price and ask the victims to refund the overpayments. o Rental Scams: Scammers respond to ads seeking roommates or tenants, send a check to cover the rent plus a little extra, then ask that the overpayment be forwarded to another party to cover moving expenses. As the U.S. Federal Trade Commission succinctly describes such scams: Fake checks drive many types of scams like those involving phony prize wins, fake jobs, mystery shoppers, online classified ad sales, and others. In a fake check scam, a person you don't know asks you to deposit a check\u2014sometimes for several thousand dollars and usually for more than what you are owed\u2014and wire some of the money back to that person. The scammers always have a good story to explain the overpayment\u2014they're stuck out of the country, they need you to cover taxes or fees, you need to buy supplies, or something else. But by the time your bank discovers you've deposited a bad check, the scammer already has the money you sent, and you're stuck paying the rest of the check back to the bank. The best way to avoid falling victim to such scams is not to cash or deposit checks for people you do not know, not to wire money to people you do not know, and not to spend funds from large checks you have deposited until you have verified with your bank that those checks have fully cleared.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1zfQU4AhsIP8OixTLz6iK_-pGWSd9gNZz","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_669","claim":"ATM Theft","posted":"12\/11\/2006","sci_digest":["Photographs show scammers using a strip of film to steal an unsuspecting bank customer's ATM card and PIN."],"justification":"Claim:  Photographs show scammers using a strip of film to steal an unsuspecting bank customer's ATM card.   . Example:  [Collected via e-mail, 2006]    ATM THEFTSIn our first slide you see an individual who apparently is making a bank transaction at an ATM.Placing the trapWhat he is really doing is placing a trap in the ATM machine to \"capture\" the next user card.                  Lookout WarningAltering the ATMs is a risky business, these individuals work in teams. The lookout warns of any possible eye witnesses or of the next potential victim.The VictimHere we see the next client using the ATM, after the trap has been set. He inserts his card and begins his transaction.                                  Springing the TRAPThe ATM card is confiscated, and the customer is confused, asking himself, why has my card been confiscated? However, here we see the cavalry coming to help.Honest Samaritan Offering HELP  Here we see the thief pretending to help. What he is really doing is trying to gain the \"chump\"'s PIN now that he has captured his card.                      Gaining access to the PINThe good Samaritan convinces the \"chump\" he can recover the card, if he presses his PIN at the same time the Samaritan presses \"cancel\" and \"enter.\"Situation Hopeless, \"They Leave\"After several attempts the \"chump\" is convinced his card has been confiscated. The \"chump\" and the Samaritan leave the ATM.     Recovering the CARDSatisfied the area is clear, the thief returns to recover the confiscated card from his trap. He not only has the card, he also has the PIN the \"chump\" provided unknowingly.The EscapeIn possession of the card and the PIN he leaves the ATM with $4,000 from the \"chump\"'s account.                                                                      THE TRAPThe trap is made up of x-ray film, which is the preferred material used by thieves simply because of the black color which is similar in appearance to the slot on the card reader.       Placing the TRAPThe trap is then inserted into the ATM slot. Care is taken not to insert the entire film into the slot, the ends are folded and contain glue strips for better adhesion to the inner and outer surface of the slots.     INVISIBLEOnce the ends are firmly glued and fixed to the slot, it is almost impossible to detect by unsuspecting clients.How is your card confiscated?Slits are cut into both sides of the trap. This prevents your card from being returned prior to completing your transaction.     Retrieval of Confiscated CardAs soon as the \"chump\" is gone, and they have your PIN, the thief can remove the glued trap. By grasping the folded tips, he simply pulls out the trap that has retained your card.        RECOMMENDATIONS1)  Once your card had been confiscated, observe the ATM slot and the card reader for any signs of tampering. Should you see the film tips glued to the slot, pull the trap out and recover your card.     2)  Report IMMEDIATELY to the bank.   Origins:   The photographs displayed above originated with a surveillance camera at one of the branches of the Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (now RBTT) and demonstrate a variant of the \"Lebanese loop\"  RBTT Lebanese loop scam, in which a type of plastic sleeve is inserted into the card slot of an ATM to trap an unsuspecting user's card, while the scammers employ low-tech methods of inducing the victim into entering his PIN repeatedly until they can observe and memorize it (and retrieve the card after the victim has left the scene).  This incident was one of several that prompted RBTT to post notices next to their ATMs warning customers to carefully guard their PINs, to call the RBTT customer hotline immediately if their cards were captured, to be wary of people loitering around ATMs, and to be aware of other unusual circumstances (such as the smell of glue around ATMs). A key point to note, however, is that these photographs are (as indicated by their timestamps) over five years old.  ATM manufacturers have been continuously working on improvements over the last several years to protect against these types of fraud schemes, so the scam shown here wouldn't necessarily be as easy to pull off now as it was back then. Some safety precautions ATM users can employ to protect themselves from this sort of theft are as follows:  Always shield your PIN from prying eyes. Use your body to block anyone's view of the keypad, or cup your non-keying hand over the pad as you use it. Do this whether you're at an ATM, a gas pump, or inside a store. (Rigging the machine to trap your card is not the only way a thief can steal your plastic. And keep in mind that scammers need your PIN to make your card work, so guard your PIN carefully.)  Don't use an ATM if people insist upon standing around it. Politely ask them to move aside, and if they refuse, go somewhere else.  Don't use any ATM that appears to be out of the ordinary. Turn up your nose at cashpoints sporting signs affixed to the machines or instruction screens asking you to do things that don't seem right (such as entering your PIN multiple times). Report these discrepancies immediately to the bank in question or the police.  Get into the habit of using the same ATM for almost all of your transactions so as to better recognize when something is different with the machine. Be wary of any changes you see on its outside.  If the ATM is affixed to a bank, walk in and ask why the changes were made.  Never take advice from \"helpful\" strangers about how to get your card back if an ATM keeps it.  Report a machine-trapped card to your bank as soon as possible so that the card can be deactivated if it was not kept for legitimate reasons. Last updated:  11 December 2006  ","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1O5PyDixnX-ZIe32BWfOXtioSudMEiyH1","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1VufkDunKDoCneS4AI4mjvbtcMzTAmdNB","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1il0z1cEq-42iPuY1HA1JWS17bgHiBEP3","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1UEvOKzI4gbmwJAAF67-qH0wAAG2aZ08y","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Rwl1tXgzKQISk3RCnRelkw-fWc3ckxfW","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Rc3jS8JaPcA4rwh3EJsYkfpWM8SFwiK1","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1jd1Hetd7HHKYJdzZa6S_aYD8nxoI1Z7v","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1vKLxEQKxxogq-fnL0ob2SHj0Xsenv_MZ","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=10PmEnRPIyITCyXmZv_Fv6DTome6U0zux","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=15mvPng_pLHRHuPC6s72WDPfbeV9CGgvG","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1r5Rj8-YboqA7JQ6fHnfXUs7kck6VnyTB","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1cTqNMtSmijIyte3URD4Fx1dPRcWCWL0x","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1mS-mXo0koDx8LpsYthuX6f-fdTd2Zjvq","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1bWd9jmdqK4Slm-GRzkponCUnBJ093_aJ","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=12iGGnGCD6itBo6hbJduXL-nTr0VVApIx","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1swbIy6DUYmf-DyVwTUqetNL5gj1PurI-","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_670","claim":"Was a Mars Rover's Final Message to NASA 'My Battery Is Low and It's Getting Dark?'","posted":"02\/18\/2019","sci_digest":["A poetic interpretation of the Opportunity rover's final transmission from Mars went viral in February 2019."],"justification":"On 13 February 2019, NASA announced that the mission of a robotic rover named Opportunity had come to an end after the device had spent 15 years exploring the surface of Mars. One of the most successful and enduring feats of interplanetary exploration, NASA's Opportunity rover mission concluded after almost 15 years of exploration and helping lay the groundwork for NASA's return to the Red Planet. The Opportunity rover stopped communicating with Earth when a severe Mars-wide dust storm blanketed its location in June 2018. After more than a thousand commands to restore contact, engineers in the Space Flight Operations Facility at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) made their last attempt to revive Opportunity, but to no avail. The solar-powered rover's final communication was received on June 10. As the online world mourned the loss of the famous Martian explorer, many social media users began sharing a quote that supposedly constituted Oppy's final transmission to NASA: \"My battery is low and it's getting dark.\" This quote quickly made its way around the Internet, shared by celebrities, reporters, and social media influencers. Although many individuals and news outlets cited these words as if they were a verbatim reproduction of Opportunity's final transmission, the phrase was not a literal reproduction of the robotic rover's last statement. The quote originated from a Twitter thread about Oppy's demise posted by KPCC science reporter Jacob Margolis. At one point, Margolis said the rover's final transmission \"basically\" translated as \"my battery is low and it's getting dark.\" However, this quote quickly escaped the context of Margolis' Twitter thread and began to circulate as if he were relaying a verbatim message from the Mars rover. On 16 February 2019, Margolis published an article on The LAist website explaining how his words had been taken out of context. He stated, \"My tweet is an interpretation of what two scientists from the Mars Exploration Rover Mission told me.\" Deputy Project Scientist Abigail Fraeman spoke about the moment they realized the June 2018 dust storm was going to be particularly severe and that Oppy's life was in danger. They instructed the rover to conserve energy. \"It's hard, because you know [the storm's] coming ... but there's nothing you can do to stop it,\" Fraeman said. \"By Thursday, we knew that it was bad. And then by Friday, we knew it was really bad, but there was nothing we could do but watch. And then on Sunday, we actually got a communication from the rover, and we were shocked,\" she said. \"It basically said we had no power left, and that was the last time we heard from it.\" John Callas, the project manager, offered another poignant detail about the final communication with Oppy: \"It also told us the skies were incredibly dark, to the point where no sunlight gets through. It's nighttime during the day.\" \"We were hopeful that the rover could ride it out, that it would hunker down, and then when the storm cleared, the rover would charge back up,\" he said. \"That didn't happen. At least it didn't tell us that it happened. So, we don't know.\" When NASA announced the completion of Opportunity's mission in February 2019, the Mars rover hadn't communicated with the space agency since the previous June. The solar-powered Opportunity was low on power when one of the largest dust storms observed on Mars engulfed the planet and essentially turned \"day into night,\" as the Planetary Society wrote. On June 20, NASA announced that the storm had gone global. To be more accurate, it evolved into a planetary-encircling dust event (PEDE), lofting enough dust into the atmosphere to completely blanket the planet and block out the Sun. In other words, the Red Planet and most of its features were hidden from orbiting instruments beneath an opaque, beige dust cloud. The atmospheric scientists taking measurements with instruments on the orbiters were soon blocked out. Opportunity sent its final message from the surface of Mars on 10 June 2018. The bare-bones contents of that missive informed her crew that a massive dust storm was lifting dust all around Endeavour Crater and turning day into night there. Minutes later, the solar-powered robot field geologist presumably shut down and went into a kind of hibernation mode to wait out the storm. NASA attempted to communicate with Opportunity many times after the storm passed, but the rover never responded.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1jq0HRalyovNUlMQ9crjG2BK-kg2y1Qh3","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1N3DIggA5kitvTRoiInaTv8CE40Tjq8CQ","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_671","claim":"Before I was governor, tuition was skyrocketing and we stopped that. We capped and then we froze college tuition.","posted":"06\/18\/2012","sci_digest":[],"justification":"U.S. Senate candidate George Allen claims he put the brakes on rising college costs when he was governor from 1994 to 1998. \"Before I was governor, tuition was skyrocketing, and we stopped that,\" Allen said in a May 25 debate among four candidates seeking the GOP Senate nomination. \"We capped, and then we froze college tuition.\" Allen won the Republican primary on June 12 and will face Democrat Tim Kaine this fall. They are vying to replace Democrat Jim Webb, who is not seeking a second Senate term. We wondered if the Allen administration truly did put a lid on tuition. While making this claim, Allen shared credit with the Democratic-controlled legislature that served with him. Dan Allen, a senior adviser to the campaign, pointed us to a July 2011 report from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. The study indicated that during the early 1990s, colleges and universities increased tuition by double digits annually to compensate for state funding cuts made by the General Assembly and then-Gov. Doug Wilder to help balance the budget during a recession. Wilder, in his final budget proposal made during an improving economy in December 1993, urged the General Assembly to cap tuition and instructional fee increases for in-state students at 5 percent during the 1994-95 school year and 4 percent during 1995-96. Allen, who took office in January 1994, successfully urged the General Assembly to go a step further and cap the increases at 3 percent during each of the next two school years. In 1996, as SCHEV notes, Allen and the General Assembly froze tuition and instructional fees entirely. This action did not apply to a number of other mandatory college costs, such as fees for athletic programs, health services, and campus transportation. Lawmakers eased some of the burden on colleges by appropriating an additional $200 million for higher education. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported in January 1998 that a strong economy during Allen's term allowed him to finance the tuition freeze. State tax revenues grew by about 45 percent during his tenure. In his farewell budget, Allen recommended freezing tuition through 2000. His successor, Republican Jim Gilmore, rolled back tuition and instructional fees by 20 percent for in-state students. When Allen arrived in the governor's mansion during the 1993-94 academic year, the average tuition and instructional fees for full-time, in-state undergraduate students at four-year colleges was $2,518, according to SCHEV's historical tables. That amount rose to $2,717 in the 1995-1996 academic year and remained at that level through 1997-1998, the last academic year of Allen's term. Using inflation-adjusted figures based on 1992 dollars, the report shows that tuition and instructional fees decreased from $2,383 in the 1993-94 academic year to $2,320 in 1997-98. Even when other mandatory fees that were not subject to the freeze are added in, college costs remained flat after being adjusted for inflation. Costs at two-year colleges showed the same trend: in-state tuition and instructional fees at those institutions were essentially flat during Allen's term. Our ruling: Allen said that, as governor, he stopped soaring tuition costs by implementing a tuition freeze. Allen and the General Assembly did impose a freeze after tuition had risen sharply during the early 1990s recession. Allen had the leeway to cap tuitions because a healthy economy during his term allowed lawmakers to increase state appropriations to colleges and universities. We rate Allen's claim True.","issues":["Education","State Budget","Virginia"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_672","claim":"Did Myeshia Johnson Accuse Rep. Frederica Wilson of Using Her Husband 'As a Political Platform'?","posted":"10\/21\/2017","sci_digest":["An alleged Facebook post from the widow about a controversial condolence call was \"published\" at least an hour before President Donald Trump phoned her."],"justification":"Conservative social media users circulated an image of a purported Facebook post from 17 October 2017 which they said showed Gold Star widow Myeshia Johnson accusing Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Florida) of exploiting a presidential condolence call over the death of her husband, U.S. Army Sgt. La David Johnson, for political gain: circulated   The picture allegedly depicts a post from Myeshia Johnson's Facebook page dated \"17 October 2017 at 3:27 p.m.\" saying: I want to set the record straight! I'm getting sick and tired of this so called politician using my husband as a political platform. Even buy [sic] her own words she did not hear all of the conversation she only heard part of it. This is what actually was said. \"They know the risk, they know what they sign up for but they still volunteer to put their lives on the line for their fellow Americans. We owe them a debt that can never be repaid\" A phone call from President Donald Trump to Johnson is at the center of what has become a public dispute between Johnson and the Trump administration. But the validity of the screenshot is doubtful. While the date of the post corresponds with that of the 17 October 2017 condolence call, the time listed is actually more than an hour before the reported time of President Trump's phone call, which was 4:45 p.m. Eastern time. reported Also, the picture shows a Facebook profile bearing a square profile picture. But the social media site implemented an update in August 2017 that changed the shape of users' profile pictures in the Facebook newsfeed from square to round, as seen in this example from the Snopes.com Facebook page (top left): update shape Facebook   La David Johnson was killed while serving in Niger on 4 October 2017, in what has been described as an ambush by Islamic insurgents. Three other U.S. service members, Staff Sgt. Bryan C. Black, Staff Sgt. Jeremiah W. Johnson, and Staff Sgt. Dustin M. Wright, were also killed in the attack, as were four Nigerien troops. described Rep. Wilson said she was riding with the Army sergeant's widow and members of her family to receive his body when the President called, telling CNN host Don Lemon that night: telling I heard what [Trump] said because the phone was on speaker. Basically he said, \"Well, I guess he knew what he signed up for, but I guess it still hurt.\" That's what he said. Wilson accused Trump of being insensitive not only to La David Johnson's family but \"to the family of every soldier that has paid the ultimate price for our freedom.\" The sergeant's mother, Cowanda Jones-Johnson, has corroborated Wilson's account of the phone call, saying that \"President Trump did disrespect my son and my daughter and also me and my husband.\" corroborated President Trump responded by denying what Rep. Wilson had claimed: I didn't say what that congresswoman said. Didn't say it all. She knows it. I had a very nice conversation with the woman, with the wife who was  sounded like a lovely woman. Did not say what the congresswoman said, and most people aren't too surprised to hear that. On 23 October 2017, Myeshia Johnson told ABC News that Wilson was \"100 percent\" in her description of the phone call. She said: told The President said that he knew what he signed up for, but it hurts anyway. And it made me cry cause I was very angry at the tone of his voice and how he said he couldn't remember my husband's name.  The only way he remembered my husband's name is because he told me he had my husband's report in front of him and that's when he actually said La David. I heard him stumblin' on, trying to remember my husband's name and that's what hurt me the most, because if my husband is out here fighting for our country and he risked his life for our country why can't you remember his name. But while President Trump suggested he had proof to support his account of events, White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that the call had not been not recorded. Instead, Sanders said, Chief of Staff Gen. John Kelly and other White House staff members were near President Trump when he phone Myeshia Johnson and heard what he said. proof told For his part, Kelly called Wilson an \"empty barrel\" and accused her of taking credit in 2015 for the funding of a Federal Bureau of Investigation field office in Miami, a claim that was debunked by footage of Wilson's remarks that was posted online on 20 October 2017. debunked Despite Sanders' statement that the president's conversation with Myeshia Johnson was not recorded, Lara Trump, the president's daughter-in-law and host of a Facebook broadcast devoted to what his administration calls \"real news,\" asserted on 20 October 2017 that she had read a transcript of the call which confirmed Trump spoke the words in question, albeit with additional context: broadcast asserted [Trump] said, \"Your husband went into battle, you know, knowing that he could be injured, knowing that he could be killed, and he still did it because he loved this country, and he did it for the American people.\" Wilson came under additional criticism after she responded to Kelly's allegations by exclaiming that \"You mean to tell me that I've become so important that the White House is following me and my words? This is amazing. That's amazing. I'll have to tell my kids that I'm a rockstar now.\" exclaiming Two days earlier, Rep. Wilson had issued a statement reading: statement Despite President Trump's suggestion that I have recanted my statement or misstated what he said, I stand firmly by my original account of his conversation with Myeshia Johnson, the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson. Moreover, this account has been confirmed by family members who also witnessed Mr. Trump's incredible lack of compassion and sensitivity. The Johnson family and the families of the three other soldiers who tragically lost their lives in the Niger ambush are experiencing what I am certain must feel like an unbearable loss. Rather than engage in a petty war of words with Mr. Trump, it is so much more important to embrace and support the families and honor these fallen heroes. We reached out to Rep. Wilson for comment but have not yet received a response. Sabovic, Sanela et al.  \"Trump to Widow of Sgt. La David Johnson: 'He Knew What He Signed Up For.'\"\r  WPLG-TV.  17 October 2017. Wilson, Frederica S.  \"Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson Stands by Account of President Trump's Condolence Call to the Widow of Sgt. La David Johnson.\"\r  18 October 2017. Kelly, Heather.  \"Facebook's Adding Text Bubbles and Round Profiles.\"\r  CNN.  15 August 2017. Sabovic, Sanela.  \"Remains of US Army Sgt. La David Johnson return to Miami.\"\r  WPLG-TV.  17 October 2017. CNN.  \"Congresswoman Describes Trump's Call to Widow.\"\r  17 October 2017. Gearan, Anne and Kristine Phillips.  \"Fallen Soldier's Mother: 'Trump Did Disrespect My Son.'\"\r  The Washington Post.  18 October 2017. de Moraes, Lisa.  \"White House: No Recording Of Donald Trumps Phone Call to Widow of Soldier Killed in ISIS Ambush.\"\r  Deadline.  18 October 2017. Barszewski, Larry.  \"Frederica Wilson 2015 Video Shows White House Chief of Staff John Kelly Got It Wrong.\"\r  The Sun-Sentinel. nbsp; 20 October 2017. Holly, Jessica.  \"Congresswoman Reacts to White House Statement on Call to Army's Family.\"\r  WSVN-TV.  19 October 2017. Searcey, Dionnne et al.  \"Conflicting Accounts in Niger Ambush Are Subject of Pentagon Investigation.\"\r  The New York Times.  20 October 2017. Slattery, Denis.  \"Lara Trump Says She 'Read Exactly What' President Said to Fallen Soldier's Widow Even Though There's No Transcript.\"\r  [New York] Daily News.  20 October 2017. Nestel, M.L.  \"'I Was Very Angry' at Trump, Says Myeshia Johnson, Widow of Fallen Soldier.\"\rABC News.  23 October 2017. Update [23 October 2017]: Updated with statement from Myeshia Johnson interview with ABC News backing up Wilson's account. ","issues":["debt"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ftho_Z1umL7JbVlUSELMKLw0Po53JZ5c","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1cRqkRxL7h6ozuXO2oeeAa9dxRPb0LB-h","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_673","claim":"McDonald's Will Stop Serving Overweight Customers Beginning 1\/1\/15","posted":"12\/05\/2014","sci_digest":["Will McDonald's stop serving overweight customers beginning in 2015?"],"justification":" Claim:  McDonald's will stop serving overweight customers beginning 1 January 2015.  Example:  [Collected via e-mail, December 2014] Is this article true? \"McDonald's Will Stop Serving Overweight Customers Beginning 1\/1\/15\"   Origins:  On 4 December 2014, Daily Buzz Live published an article claiming the McDonald's fast food chain would stop selling food to overweight customers as of 1 January 2015: article Obesity in America has more than doubled over the last 2 decades and has become the leading public health issue in the U.S. With more than two-thirds of the adult population overweight, McDonald's has decided to become part of the solution  not the problem. According to reports, beginning January 1, 2015, McDonald's will no longer serve customers with a weight capacity over 170 lbs for women and 245 lbs for men. Children's weight restrictions will vary depending on age and height. McDonald's is currently running campaigns to shake its \"junk food\" image, insisting they sell nothing but good quality food. They are are branding themselves from \"A dining experience of fast food\" to \"Good food served fast.\" McDonald's has taken a few steps to make its menu healthier, but the restaurant chain has not announced any plans to stop serving customers based on their weight. In addition to the logistical menu  impossibilities of weighing drive-thru customers, the potential lawsuits for discriminating against obese people, and the likelihood of McDonald's losing millions of dollars in profits, the article can be debunked simply by considering its source:  According to the Daily Buzz Live disclaimer page, all articles published on the site are meant for \"entertainment purposes only.\" Some articles are inspired by \"real news events,\" but the content of these articles is \"complete fiction.\" disclaimer Last updated:  5 December 2014  ","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=13xfDRcMgDoilNGlmOdhlVZoVHK4qxmRv","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_674","claim":"Reductions in funding for public broadcasting in the year 2005.","posted":"06\/17\/2005","sci_digest":["Would legislation currently under consideration substantially cut federal funding of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting?"],"justification":"Claim: Legislation currently under consideration would cut $100 million in federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Status: Was true; proposal has been defeated. Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2005] You know that email petition that keeps circulating about how Congress is slashing funding for NPR and PBS? Well, now it's actually true. (Really. Check at the bottom if you don't believe me.) Sign the petition telling Congress to save NPR and PBS: https:\/\/www.moveon.org\/publicbroadcasting\/ A House panel has voted to eliminate all public funding for NPR and PBS, starting with \"Sesame Street,\" \"Reading Rainbow,\" and other commercial-free children's shows. If approved, this would be the most severe cut in the history of public broadcasting, threatening to pull the plug on Big Bird, Cookie Monster, and Oscar the Grouch. The cuts would slash 25% of the federal funding this year\u2014$100 million\u2014and end funding altogether within two years. The loss could kill beloved children's shows like \"Clifford the Big Red Dog,\" \"Arthur,\" and \"Postcards from Buster.\" Rural stations and those serving low-income communities might not survive. Other stations would have to increase corporate sponsorships. Already, 300,000 people have signed the petition. Can you help us reach 400,000 signatures today? https:\/\/www.moveon.org\/publicbroadcasting\/ Origins: Although a long-outdated piece decrying supposed upcoming cuts in funding for the NEA, NPR, PBS, and Sesame Street has been circulating for years (it addressed legislation already voted upon way back in 1995), recent congressional efforts have brought the issue to public attention again. In June 2005, the House Appropriations Committee voted to sharply reduce federal financial support for public broadcasting. If this budgetary plan were approved, it would eliminate within two years all federal money for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which currently makes up 15% of the funding for public broadcasting. As the Washington Post reported: A House subcommittee voted yesterday to sharply reduce the federal government's financial support for public broadcasting, including eliminating taxpayer funds that help underwrite such popular children's educational programs as \"Sesame Street,\" \"Reading Rainbow,\" \"Arthur,\" and \"Postcards From Buster.\" In addition, the subcommittee acted to eliminate within two years all federal money for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which passes federal funds to public broadcasters, starting with a 25 percent reduction in CPB's budget for next year, from $400 million to $300 million. In all, the cuts would represent the most drastic cutback of public broadcasting since Congress created the nonprofit CPB in 1967. The CPB funds are particularly important for small TV and radio stations and account for about 15 percent of the public broadcasting industry's total revenue. The House measure also cuts support for a variety of smaller projects, such as a $39.6 million public TV satellite distribution network and a $39.4 million program that helps public stations update their analog TV signals to digital format. Although this legislation, if approved, would not (as claimed in older petitions) affect funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), it would obviously have a significant impact on public broadcasting outlets, which would have to turn to other sources to try to make up the lost revenue. On 23 June 2005, the House of Representatives decided, by a 284-140 vote, to rescind the House Appropriations Committee's proposed $100 million cut in federal funds from the budget for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Other areas of public broadcasting, however, may still face budget reductions if proposed funding cuts are not overturned: But Elmo and Big Bird remain at risk. The House did not restore all of the public broadcasting funding cuts proposed for 2006. Although yesterday's amendment would bump CPB's general budget back to $400 million, the 2005 funding level, an additional $102.4 million that had been cut from separate public broadcasting programs was not restored. That money underwrites the production of such PBS children's programs as \"Sesame Street,\" \"Arthur,\" and \"Postcards From Buster.\" The money that would be cut also pays for satellite technology, basic equipment purchases, and a federal mandate program to convert public TV stations from analog transmission to digital signal technology. Last updated: 24 June 2005 Sources: Farhi, Paul. \"Public Broadcasting Targeted by House.\" The Washington Post. 10 June 2005 (p. A1). Gold, Matea and Jube Shiver. \"Public Broadcasting Funds May Be Halved.\" Los Angeles Times. 17 June 2005 (p. A28). Murray, Shailagh and Paul Farhi. \"House Vote Spares Public Broadcasting Funds.\" The Washington Post. 24 June 2005 (p. A6). Taylor, Andrew. \"House Rescinds Proposed Cut in Federal Support of Public Broadcasting.\" Associated Press. 23 June 2005.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_675","claim":"Says Texas is dead last in support for mental health.","posted":"01\/10\/2013","sci_digest":[],"justification":"A Democratic state senator unleashed Twitter posts on the first day of the 2013 legislative session, expressing what she believes lawmakers should accomplish. The Jan. 8, 2013, posts by Wendy Davis of Fort Worth included a familiar claim about the state's low standing in mental health spending. \"It's time for the Texas Legislature to take responsibility and move up from dead last in support for mental health,\" Davis said. We explored similar territory in January 2010, rating as Mostly True candidate Marc Katz's claim that Texas then ranked last in spending for mental health care. For that fact check, we relied on the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation's roundup of per-person mental health care spending for the 50 states in fiscal 2006. According to its analysis, Texas ranked 49th among the states that year in per capita spending, not quite last. With expenditures of $34.57 per resident, Texas surpassed New Mexico, which spent $25.58. The national average was $103.53. In total dollars spent, Texas ranked 10th in 2006, spending about $805 million. Davis's spokesman, Rick Svatora, said the senator drew on a Dec. 18, 2012, news report by WFAA-TV, Channel 8 in Dallas, which quoted the liberal Austin-based Center for Public Policy Priorities as saying that Texas ranks last in the country in per-person mental health spending. Anne Dunkelberg, the center's associate director, told us by email that the center had passed information to WFAA about spending in fiscal 2009, as written up in an August 2012 report by the Texas-based Hogg Foundation for Mental Health. We found the Kaiser Foundation's latest state-by-state breakdown with help from Gyl Switzer, public policy director of Mental Health America of Texas, which advocates for programs that prevent and treat mental illness. A footnote to the research states that the figures come from the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors Research Institute, Inc., which claims to be the only national association representing state mental health commissioners\/directors and their agencies. Texas ranked last among the states in per-capita spending in 2009, 2008, and 2007, according to the charts for those years, though the 2007 chart shows no available data for Hawaii. The latest comparison: In fiscal 2010, which in Texas ran through August 2010, Texas spent nearly $980 million total on mental health services, placing ninth nationally, according to a foundation chart. Its per-person spending of $38.99 placed the state 49th\u2014not last\u2014among the states. Idaho, with per-capita spending of $36.64, was 50th, while Maine ranked first with per-capita spending of $346.92. The national average was $120.56. Dunkelberg noted that the 2010 breakdown, posted by the foundation on Nov. 20, 2012, suggests Idaho saw its per-capita spending drop by nearly $8, from $44 in 2009. In 2010, Texas's spending was up 61 cents per person from its $38.38 in 2009, according to the state-by-state charts. Texas surpassed a state, Dunkelberg wrote, not because of a significant improvement in its per-capita investment in mental health, but because poor Idaho cut per-capita spending. Finally, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of State Health Services, which oversees the state agency for mental health, replied to our inquiry about the Kaiser breakdown by pointing out that the analyzed figures do not take into account all funding for mental health services, stating that it doesn't really provide a clear picture of all the money that goes into mental health spending in Texas. Christine Mann said by email that the unnoted funding includes aid funneled through government-supported insurance programs, as well as services via agencies such as the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the Texas Education Agency, the Texas Youth Commission, the Department of Family & Protective Services, and the Department of Aging and Disability Services. Mann said by phone that her agency does not have a figure for total Texas spending on mental health services, nor has it compared spending on mental health services among the states. A footnote to the 2010 Kaiser chart states that its Texas figure includes money spent on mental health services for prisoners. Dunkelberg, asked to comment on Mann's critique, said the Kaiser breakdowns do not reflect all mental health funding for any state. Regardless, Dunkelberg wrote, the state ranking is a good measure of direct public and community (mental health) spending by a state for the population that is not in prison or served by the agency that monitors child abuse or Medicaid. In each state, she said, it is likely that Medicaid is a very large payer for mental health services, and also likely that no one is tracking that expenditure. Our ruling: Davis said Texas is dead last in mental health spending. The Kaiser-posted figures do not take into account all mental health spending for any state. But unless more comprehensive research surfaces, the figures appear to be the best way to compare relative spending. In 2010, the latest year analyzed, Texas spent more in raw dollars on mental health services than 41 states. However, in per-resident spending\u2014a better metric for comparing states\u2014Texas ranked second-to-last to Idaho after ranking last among all other states for several years. We rate the statement Mostly True.","issues":["Health Care","Public Health","State Budget","Texas"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_676","claim":"Bank of America Dropping FDIC Coverage?","posted":"12\/19\/2009","sci_digest":["Will Bank of America will be dropping all FDIC coverage on interest bearing accounts at the end of 2009?"],"justification":"Claim:  At the end of 2009, Bank of America will be dropping FDIC coverage on all interest-bearing accounts.  Example:  [Collected via e-mail, December 2009] Bank of America, the largest bank in the U.S., posted notices attall branches that as of January 1, 2010 it will no long participate in the FDIC insurance guarantee program on interest bearing accounts. As of January 1, 2010, all deposits in interest bearing accounts will not be protected from bank losses. This development not only suggests that the FDIC is totally insolvent, It suggests that U.S. fiat money, placed in interest bearing accounts, will soon be defaulted in bank losses or replaced. How many other banks will quickly follow?  Origins:  After a wave of bank failures that came in the wake of the stock market crash of 1929 and the prolonged economic depression that followed, the U.S. federal government created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to restore public confidence in (and help stabilize) the U.S. banking system. The FDIC currently provides federal government guarantees of deposits up to $250,000 per account holder per bank (subject to certain conditions) at insured financial institutions.   FDIC If, as claimed above, Bank of America (the United States' largest commercial bank) were dropping out of the FDIC program, that would certainly be alarming news that would shatter consumer confidence, not just in Bank of America, but in the FDIC and the entire U.S. commercial banking system.  Fortunately, no such thing is happening. We made a trip to our local Bank of America branch, where a helpful assistant manager made us a photocopy of the sign referenced in the example quoted above and took the time to answer some questions about its provisions.  Here is exactly how the sign reads: Beginning January 1, 2010, Bank of America will no longer participate in the FDIC's Transaction Account Guarantee Program.  Thus, after December 31, 2009, funds held in noninterest-bearing transaction accounts will no longer be guaranteed in full under the Transaction Account Guarantee Program, but will be insured up to $250,000 under the FDIC's general deposit insurance rules. The first item of importance is to note is that the change in question applies not to \"interest bearing accounts\" (e.g., savings accounts, certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, etc.) as claimed above, but only to noninterest-bearing transaction accounts (i.e., checking accounts). The second, larger item of importance is to note that Bank of America is not dropping FDIC insurance protection on any of its accounts.  It is merely winding down its participation in a temporary FDIC program that is already due to expire at the end of 2009. On 14 October 2008, the FDIC announced the implementation of its Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program (TLGP), which included a program known as Transaction Account Guarantee (TAG). The TAG program guaranteed that the FDIC would  TAG provide full deposit insurance coverage for noninterest-bearing deposit transaction accounts (primarily business checking accounts), regardless of their dollar amount.   In other words, TAG was extra insurance protection in addition to, and separate from, the $250,000 coverage available under the FDIC's general deposit insurance rules  under TAG, a depositor who held, say, $2 million in a checking account was covered for the full $2 million amount, not just the first $250,000.  Bank of America will still be providing FDIC coverage for all accounts up to the standard $250,000 limit; it just won't be providing the extra TAG coverage that temporarily guaranteed noninterest-bearing accounts up to their full amounts beyond that $250,000 limit. Moreover, the reason Bank of America is dropping that extra coverage at the end of 2009 is because the TAG program was originally scheduled to expire on 31 December 2009.  The FDIC later announced it would provide participating institutions the choice of either opting out of TAG at the end of 2009 or of temporarily extending TAG coverage for another six months in exchange for increased fees.   Most of the largest banks in the U.S. (including Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo) have chosen to opt out of the program rather than pay the increased FDIC fees for extended temporary TAG coverage. expire Last updated:  20 December 2009 <!--    Ellen, Daryn.  \"Guide to Tipping.\"   O, The Oprah Magazine.  December 2002.","issues":["stock market"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_677","claim":"Costco 'Anniversary' $75 Coupon Scam","posted":"03\/12\/2012","sci_digest":["Costco is not giving out free coupons to Facebook users to celebrate the company's anniversary."],"justification":"In November 2019, a survey scam spread via Facebook, purporting to offer free $75 Costco coupons in celebration of the company's anniversary to users who clicked specific links and followed the instructions provided. The scam included links that led to web pages (not operated or sponsored by Costco) displaying a Bud Light logo, along with entreaties to spread the scam further by sharing the pages and writing \"thank you\" in the comments field. Users who followed the instructions were then directed to a series of pages prompting them to input a significant amount of personal information (including name, address, email address, date of birth, and phone numbers), complete a lengthy series of surveys, and finally sign up (and commit to paying) for at least six \"Reward Offers,\" which usually involved applying for a credit card or signing up for some sort of paid subscription service. Those intent on obtaining free items through such lures should keep in mind that there is often a further downside to the process beyond personal disappointment and the financial enrichment of the scam artists preying on their gullibility. All too often, such adventures in clickjacking also result in the download of trojans and other viruses onto the computers of those looking to score the promised goodies. Costco states regarding such schemes: \"There are numerous posts circulating on Facebook stating that we are giving away $100 to $1,000 Costco Cash Cards to all Facebook users. While we love our fans and members, Costco is not giving away Costco Cash Cards to Facebook users and is not associated with this program.\" The Costco $150 coupon offer is a variation of the company anniversary survey scam, a ploy that also depends on the unwary unwittingly promoting the phony coupon to their social media friends. These web pages (which are not operated or sponsored by the companies they reference) typically ask the unwary to click what appear to be Facebook share buttons and post comments to the scammers' site (which is really a ruse to dupe users into spreading the scam by sharing it with all of their Facebook friends). Those who follow such instructions are then led into a series of pages prompting them to input a significant amount of personal information (including name, age, address, and phone numbers), complete a lengthy series of surveys, and finally sign up (and commit to paying) for at least two Reward Offers (e.g., Netflix subscriptions, credit report monitoring services, prepaid credit cards).","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1CAcAi0Qxi4ZL0J5KtoLa3lN3tg28F1DH","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1SlGtKFGXkTFJASP_HnvGdri48-PwfS8W","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_678","claim":"Did Fox News Report that Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club Received Foreclosure Notice from Deutsche Bank?","posted":"11\/15\/2023","sci_digest":["\"BREAKING FOX NEWS: Deutsche Bank has filed a notice to foreclose on Mar-a-Lago,\" a popular post on X read."],"justification":"On Nov. 15, 2023, a user on X with the handle @PatMaguire10 published a post (archived) claiming that Fox News had reported that former U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, had received a foreclosure notice from Deutsche Bank. We received reader mail asking if this was true. The post read, \"BREAKING FOX NEWS: Deutsche Bank has filed a notice to foreclose on Mar A Lago. The Trump property is part of a larger estate lien that is $190 million delinquent. Court documents show a $3.4 billion loan that's in default. Trump hasn't responded to repeated attempts for comment. Developing story.\" However, a quick check of @PatMaguire10's X bio revealed that the account posts \"parody\" content. In other words, Fox News did not report on any such foreclosure notice, nor was there any public record of a foreclosure of Mar-a-Lago taking place or scheduled to happen in the future. For a little more background on the subject referenced, on the same day that the post was created, Trump's legal team reportedly asked for a mistrial to be declared in the civil fraud trial brought against him in New York. Weeks earlier, the same trial featured testimony from retired Deutsche Bank executive Nicholas Haigh. Haigh provided information to the court about the bank's decision to loan Trump roughly $125 million for the purchase of the Trump National Doral property in Miami in 2011, according to ABC News. As for Mar-a-Lago, the Miami Herald reported in August 2022 that Trump had received a loan from Chase Manhattan Bank, not Deutsche Bank, for his 1985 purchase of the property. Mar-a-Lago itself cost Trump $8 million, which he financed with an $8.5 million loan from Chase Manhattan Bank. The other parcel\u2014oceanfront land next to the manor\u2014cost $2 million. Trump was able to use $500,000 from the estate loan and a $1.5 million mortgage from the seller, Jack C. Massey, to cover the bill. For further reading, we previously published a report titled \"Media Literacy: How Can You Tell if a Post Is Satire\/Parody?\"","issues":["mortgage"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1pqquJgst59WaO5JhZh5CVv5KKFqXHLH_","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_679","claim":"Did a Bargain Hunter Find Original Print of Declaration of Independence?","posted":"06\/29\/2000","sci_digest":["A lucky bargain hunter got more than he bargained for when he purchased an old painting."],"justification":"Urban legendry includes numerous \"windfall\" tales involving fortuitous discoveries of seemingly ordinary objects that proved to be extraordinarily valuable. (See our King of the Rode article for one example.) Every now and then one of these windfall things turns out to be for real, however. In 1989, a Philadelphia financial analyst bought an old painting (a depiction of a country scene) for $4 at a flea market in Adamstown, Pennsylvania, mostly because he liked the frame. He liked it even more once he found that the painting housed a rare and valuable document. The buyer was investigating a tear in the canvas, and the frame fell apart in his hands when he attempted to detach it from the painting, leading him to discover a folded document that appeared to be an old copy of the Declaration of Independence stored between the canvas and its wood backing. After a friend who collected Civil War memorabilia advised him to have it appraised, he learned that the document was in fact a rare original Dunlap broadside, one of 500 official copies from the first printing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Only 23 similar copies were known to exist before this find, of which a mere two were privately owned:  This rare document was offered for sale by Sotheby's on 4 June 1991, and the lucky find fetched even more than had been anticipated: the $800,000 to $1.2 million estimate turned into a $2.42 million sale by the sound of the gavel: \"This was a record for any printed Americana,\" said David Redden, the auctioneer, who is a senior vice president at Sotheby's in Manhattan. \"It was far and away the highest price for historical Americana ever.\" The copy sold [by Sotheby's] is a crisp, clean broadside, creased along lines where it had been folded. It was printed by John Dunlap on July 4, 1776, to carry news of America's independence to the citizens of the 13 colonies. It is one of 24 known copies of the Declaration, and one of only three remaining in private hands. The previous owner, who was not identified, had told Sotheby's he bought a torn painting for $4 in a flea market in Adamstown, Pa., because he was interested in its frame. When he got home, he said, he removed the painting  a dismal country scene  and concluded the frame could not be salvaged, but found the Declaration, folded and hidden in the backing. He showed it to Sotheby's experts earlier this year. Mr. Redden said he thought the man would be \"rather stunned\" to learn the price it had brought. This charming story was later turned to a commercial purpose: In the autumn of 1997, SunAmerica ran television commercials based on the original finder's tale, utilizing the theme that you could either hope to get lucky like he did, or you could work out an investment plan with SunAmerica. This document was put up for sale again in June 2000, fetching an $8.14 million bid from television producer Norman Lear in an online auction. It then became the centerpiece of the Norman Lear Center's Declaration of Independence Road Trip, which took it on a three-and-a-half year cross-country tour: Declaration of Independence Road Trip The goal of the project was to bring the \"People's Document\" directly to all Americans  especially young people  to inspire them to see citizenship as an opportunity; to participate in civic life; to exercise their rights; and above all, to vote. As the Road Trip traveled to cities and towns across the United States, it creatively combined elements of education, entertainment, and community outreach. When TV producer and philanthropist Norman Lear learned that the Dunlap broadside would be auctioned, he saw it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring it to the American people. Lear purchased it and development of the project now known as the Declaration of Independence Road Trip began. March 2006 saw a smaller-scale repetition of this experience when Michael Sparks was browsing a thrift shop in Nashville, Tennessee, and happened upon a yellowed, shellacked, rolled-up document. Learning from a clerk that the item could be had for a mere $2.48, Sparks purchased it, took it home, and after doing some online research eventually learned that he had bought one of 200 \"official copies\" of the Declaration of Independence commissioned by John Quincy Adams in 1820. He spent nearly a year authenticating and conserving the document before selling it at auction in March 2007, where it fetched $477,650. After Michael Sparks' lucky find made the news in February 2007, Stan Caffy contacted reporter Mary Hance of the Tennessean and claimed that he was the one who had (unwittingly) donated the valuable document to the Music City Thrift store in March 2006: \"I bought it at a yard sale in Donelson about 10 years, ago, in Donelson Hills, I think,\" said Stan Caffy, a pipe fitter. For years, the document hung in Stan Caffy's garage, where he works on bicycles as a hobby. He married his wife, Linda, a little more than a year ago. As part of the ritual of combining households, she pushed him to clean out the garage, which had filled up with all sorts of extraneous things. \"I used to be a packrat but now I am trying to get rid of things. The best I can recall, we had a little debate about whether to keep it (the Declaration) or donate it and she won.\" And so it was that Linda took the Declaration along with a pile of other stuff  an antique table, a shower massage head, and a faucet  to donate to the Music City Thrift store last March. \"I'm happy for the Sparks guy,\" Stan said. \"If I still had it, it would still be hanging here in the garage and I still wouldn't know it was worth all that. It is just life. So I'm not really upset. But you can't help but feel not very smart for doing it.\" Blau, Eleanor.  \"Declaration of Independence Sells for $2.4 Million.\"   The New York Times.  14 June 1991. Hance, Mary.  \"Turns Out, Expensive Document Was Tossed by Guy Cleaning Out His Garage.\"   The Tennessean.  23 February 2007. Trillin, Calvin.  \"Lucky Find.\"   The Atlanta Journal and Constitution.  10 April 1991  (p. A11). Winship, Frederick.  \"First Printing of Declaration Sold for $2.42 Million.\"   United Press International.  14 June 1991. Associated Press  \"Declaration of Independence for $2.48.\"   23 February 2007. Associated Press  \"Declaration Nets Lucky Owner Huge Profit.\"   23 March 2007. The Courier-Journal.  \"$4 Painting Yields $2.42 Million Bid.\"   14 June 1991  (p. A2). Los Angeles Times.  \"Declaration Copy Sold for $2.4 Million.\"   14 June 1991  (p. A19). Los Angeles Times.  \"Found, Under $4 Flea-Market Art: A $1-Million Memento from 1776.\"   3 April 1991  (p. A14). Reuters.  \"Declaration of Independence Copy Sold Online.\"   30 June 2000.","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1p-U5edUnW68C56raOhVHtcGo6WOpRMz7","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_680","claim":"Did Mike Pompeo Say 'We Will Continue to Fight These Battles Until the Rapture'?","posted":"01\/07\/2020","sci_digest":["White evangelical Christians are a powerful force in the Republican Party."],"justification":"Michael Richard Pompeo represented Kansas in the U.S. House of Representatives between 2011 and 2017 and then served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) until April 26, 2018, when he was tapped by U.S. President Donald Trump to succeed the departed Rex Tillerson as secretary of state. As The New York Times observed of Pompeo in March 2019, \"no secretary of state in recent decades has been as open and fervent as Mr. Pompeo about discussing Christianity and foreign policy in the same breath. That has increasingly raised questions about the extent to which evangelical beliefs are influencing American diplomacy.\" observed That questioning of Pompeo's mixture of religiosity and policy was reflected in a meme circulated in January 2020, amidst escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran over the U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad: airstrike  The quote reproduced in this meme  about continuing to fight battles and struggle until the moment of the Rapture  was taken from a talk Pompeo delivered at a \"God and Country Rally\" held at Summit Church in Wichita, Kansas, on June 28, 2015. The event was just a few days after the U.S. Supreme Court handed down the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges decision holding that same-sex couples have a constitutionally protected right to marry. Rapture Obergefell v. Hodges The words reproduced above were excerpted from a portion of Pompeo's speech, as captured here:  However, that short clip doesn't provide the full context of Pompeo's remark, which was not specifically about military or political battles. We reproduce the surrounding context below, as taken from a video of the complete speech (beginning around the 23:19 mark): complete speech On Friday, just hours after the Supreme Court's [Obergefell v. Hodges] decision, my wife entered a retail establishment here in Kansas. She went to the counter to pay for the products that she had purchased, and the man behind the counter saw the credit card that she was using and said \"Are you related?\" And before he could finish she said, \"Yes, yes, yes, I'm his wife,\" and he teared up and he said, \"Thank your husband for what he's doing; thank you for allowing him to go do that. Have strength, Susan, and remember always that no matter what happens in Washington, D.C. or in Topeka, it is the Lord that is in control.\" This was a stranger to Susan. This was a man who[m] she had not met before, but he took time from his role to pray for her and to thank her and to make clear that his Christian understanding of our nation was not just in her heart but his, and that he would work every day to make sure that the Lord's work govern our actions each and every day. It was a remarkable moment. We are blessed to live in Kansas where there are so many people that understand that. We will continue to fight these battles. It is a never-ending struggle. Until that moment Pastor Fox spoke about, until the Rapture be part of it, be in the fight. Ask for forgiveness seek His wisdom, and heed your pastor's call to actions, and great things will be bestowed upon our nation and our world. Wong, Edward.  \"The Rapture and the Real World: Mike Pompeo Blends Beliefs and Policy.\"\r  The New York Times.  30 March 2009.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1b0nwBplYKqBRI6_FhFzrBkunR9uEXlsJ","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_681","claim":"Says a portfolio managed by the Texas General Land Office earned 22 percent last year while the states emergency reserve account experienced a 1 percent gain.","posted":"08\/28\/2012","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Criticizing a poke at his failure to release millions of dollars to support public schools, Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson stated that doing so might cut into the double-digit returns on investments managed by the General Land Office. In a letter he made public on August 22, 2012, Patterson, a Republican, argued that those who want him to transfer $300 million in investment earnings to the State Board of Education for school needs do not understand the value of keeping such money invested so that the state's education endowment, the Permanent School Fund, continues to gain value. A pro-Democratic group, Progress Texas, accuses Patterson of inappropriately hoarding the millions. Patterson counters that the School Land Board, which he chairs, has discretion over whether to transfer the money and, he told us by telephone, it has until September 2013 to decide. His spokesman, Jim Suydam, also informed us by email that the board approved a resolution in early 2011 to release $250 million of earnings in both 2012 and 2013 to the State Board of Education. In his letter, Patterson stated that draining off additional earnings, as Progress Texas suggests he must, is a poor choice because last year the GLO-managed PSF earned 22 percent, while, due to statutory liquidity requirements, the rainy day fund earned just 1 percent. He was comparing the portion of the Permanent School Fund managed by the land office to earnings on the state's savings account, otherwise known as the Economic Stabilization Fund. If your family needed a quick infusion of cash, Patterson wrote, would you withdraw cash from the investment account earning 22 percent or the account earning 1 percent? We are not venturing to answer that question but wondered if Patterson made an accurate earnings comparison. Starting in 2005, the land office was given the authority to invest in real estate using proceeds received from selling lands or drawing on revenue from Permanent School Fund mineral leases and royalties, as noted on the agency's web page. Professional fund management firms oversee the investments, while the land board, consisting of the commissioner and two citizen appointees, manages the sale of Permanent School Fund land and mineral leases. In response to our inquiry, Suydam provided an agency report to the Legislature stating that through March 2012, the market value of the agency's investments made from the Permanent School Fund was $3.077 billion, about half of which reflects externally managed direct real estate investments and nearly $1.2 billion attributable to short-term investments in the state's treasury, which Suydam later clarified means money set aside so it is on call for the agency's real estate investments. The report, dated September 1, 2012, states that gross time-weighted returns on the portfolio in the 12 months through March amounted to nearly 22.9 percent, though that figure does not consider the short-term investments. Including the cash-on-call portion, the report indicates that the time-weighted returns on the portfolio were 13.03 percent. Time-weighted returns? By email, Suydam explained that the term describes a complex calculation that uses values for every day in the period being measured, which, he said, clarifies why the 23 percent return shown for the real estate investments does not align with the 30 percent return that we calculated by comparing the market value of those investments at the end of March 2012 to the comparable figure at the end of March 2011. When asked how the earnings on real estate through March 2012 compare to recent 12-month periods, Suydam stated that such investments generated nearly 14 percent in market value in the 12 months through March 2011 but lost about 15 percent in the 12 months through March 2010. We checked on the rainy day fund's earnings with Lauren Willis, spokeswoman for State Comptroller Susan Combs, who oversees state finances. Willis stated by email that money in the reserve fund, created in 1988, is invested like other funds in the state's treasury in stable, high-quality investments. In 2011, Willis noted, the average yield on all those funds was 0.74 percent, generating nearly $194 million in interest income, including $51.9 million added to the rainy day fund. R.J. DeSilva, another spokesman for Combs, mentioned by email that the rate of return might or might not have been about the same through the 12 months ending in March 2012. In a telephone interview, we asked Patterson why his letter mentions the higher returns on the real estate investments alone rather than also considering the lower returns influenced by the agency's cash-on-call funds. \"I don't count the cash,\" Patterson replied, \"because it's not part of our investment portfolio.\" The land office, Patterson noted, is limited by law to managing just part of the overall education endowment. Suydam later stated by email that as of the end of March, the market value of the agency's portion of the PSF, not including the value of minerals or state-owned land, was nearly $3.1 billion. He said the State Board of Education oversaw the fund's remaining $25.6 billion. Our ruling: Patterson's reference to 22 percent in earnings over the 12 months ending in March 2012 does not account for reduced earnings from nearly $1.2 billion in cash-on-call money supporting the agency's real estate investments. That clarification would be helpful, though it still seems reasonable, overall, to focus on the portion of the portfolio that would be expected to reap sizable gains. Separately, the claim seems to reflect the annual earnings on the rainy day fund, though the commissioner's March-to-March time period does not match the calendar-year approach used by the state comptroller. We rate the statement as Mostly True.","issues":["Education","State Budget","Texas"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_682","claim":"Did the FBI Send MLK a Letter Telling Him To Kill Himself?","posted":"01\/25\/2022","sci_digest":["The anonymous letter purported to reveal secrets about Martin Luther King Jr.s sex life. "],"justification":"Curious about how Snopes' writers verify information and craft their stories for public consumption? We've collected some posts that help explain our process. Happy reading, and let us know what else you might be interested in learning. As he was venerated for leading the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr. was also targeted for surveillance and defamation by the FBI under the direction of its first director, J. Edgar Hoover. King's public criticism of the FBI in the early '60s put him directly in Hoover's crosshairs. Hoover once called King \"the most notorious liar in the country.\" Hoover's efforts to damage King stemmed from King's criticism of the FBI for failing to enforce civil rights, particularly in the South, which led to the FBI investigating the activist for alleged communist connections. The bureau began wiretapping King's home and offices and planted bugs in his hotel rooms when they learned that he was in contact with a former Communist Party member named Stanley Levinson. Under the guise of \"national security,\" they even began looking into King's private life and sexual liaisons. All of this culminated in a troubling anonymous letter sent to King's wife that was later acknowledged by the U.S. Senate to be the work of the FBI. A partly redacted version of the letter was published by The New York Times after a Yale professor stumbled across it while conducting research. In 2014, while searching through Hoover's archives, history professor Beverly Gage found \"a full, uncensored version of the letter tucked away in a reprocessed set of his official and confidential files at the National Archives.\" Believed to have been written by William Sullivan, one of Hoover's deputies, who sent an agent to Miami to mail the letter to King's home in Atlanta in 1964, it claimed to have knowledge of King's extramarital affairs. The letter was delivered to his wife, Coretta Scott King, along with a package that contained a tape that allegedly bore evidence of King's sexual misconduct. The sender was masquerading as a Black person in the letter, with statements like: \"King, look into your heart. You know you are a complete fraud and a great liability to all of us Negroes.\" The letter continues with, \"Your 'honorary degrees,' your Nobel Prize (What a grim farce) ... will not save you.\" It adds, \"It is all there on the record, your sexual orgies. Listen to yourself, you filthy, abnormal animal. You are on the record. You have been on the record all your adulterous acts, your sexual orgies extending far into the past. This one is but a tiny sample.\" The version of the letter published by The New York Times omitted the name of an alleged lover because the Times could not verify or disprove the claims regarding that individual. Finally, the letter appears to call on King to kill himself: \"King, there is only one thing left for you to do. You know what it is. You have just 34 days in which to do [...] You are done. There is but one way out for you. You better take it before your filthy, abnormal fraudulent self is bared to the nation.\" King believed that the letter's author wanted him to kill himself and was certain it came from the FBI. More than a decade later, the Senate's Church Committee on intelligence overreach confirmed King's suspicions about the source of the letter. Sullivan admitted in a Senate committee hearing that he was involved in the plan but was opposed to the idea. In 1975, Senate investigators said they found a draft copy of the letter in Sullivan's files, which Sullivan claimed had been planted there. In a 1979 book, Sullivan said he knew about the tape but not the letter, and that Hoover was behind both. According to \"Enemies: A History of the FBI\" by journalist Tim Weiner, the FBI intelligence chief, Bill Sullivan, had run his own COINTELPRO against Martin Luther King. He had a package of the King sex tapes prepared by the FBI's lab technicians, wrote an accompanying poison-pen letter, and sent both to King's home. His wife opened the package. [...] The president knew Hoover had taped King's sexual assignations. Hoover was using the information in an attempt to disgrace King at the White House, in Congress, and in his own home. Ultimately, the FBI never succeeded in seriously damaging King's reputation. But the effects of such surveillance and dirty tricks are worth analyzing in contemporary times. Gage, the Harvard professor, wrote in The New York Times after uncovering the letter, \"Looking past the viciousness of the accusations, the letter offers a potent warning for readers today about the danger of domestic surveillance in an age with less reserved mass media.\"","issues":["liability"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1yNfQPpj65uM82jUJXZmEyuRjyXKJ-gba","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_683","claim":"Christian Pilots and the Rapture","posted":"04\/16\/2005","sci_digest":["Do airlines refuse to pair Christian pilots and co-pilots because of the Rapture?"],"justification":"Claim:   Airlines will not pair Christian pilots and co-pilots out of fear that the Rapture will snatch away both crew members capable of landing the flight.  Examples:  [Collected on the Internet, 2003] I just heard for the third time in as many years that some airlines will not put a whole flight crew of \"Christian believers\" in the same plane, just in case the \"rapture theory\" is true. I guess the thought is that the plane would be left unmanned and crash into whatever and kill thousands (like 9\/11) if the rapture theory turns out to be correct Bible doctrine.  [Collected on the Internet, 2004] I was raised a Southern Baptist and twice now a preacher has made reference to airlines pairing their pilots with one Christian (or saved)and one non-Christian (or un-saved). This is done on the pre-text that if and when the 2nd coming of Christ happens and the one Christian pilot is taken into the clouds with Christ, leaving the non-Christian pilot to supposedly land the plane safely alone.  One preacher specifically mentioned American Airlines as having this policy. Origins:   While many of those of the Christian faith may be unfamiliar with the concept of the faithful suddenly disappearing from the face of the Earth, this belief permeates a number of fundamentalist branches of Christianity. Known as \"The Rapture,\" it refers to a time when Jesus will return to claim the faithful, drawing Christians (both the still living and the already dead) up into the clouds to meet Him. It is said this event will be followed by seven years of famine, plagues, pestilence, and three world wars before the Savior returns, an interval often referred to as \"The Tribulation.\" The basis for belief in the Rapture lies in the Bible, specifically in this passage from 1 Thessalonians: this passage For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. Those who believe in the Rapture hold as a tenet of faith the sudden celestial appearance of Christ at some future unknowable date, immediatelyfollowed by the irresistible summoning heavenward of all who follow His teachings.  The   faithful will be pulled towards the Christ the way iron filings are pulled towards a magnet, rendering the Earth depopulated of the godly and leaving the godless (or at least the Christ-rejecting) to battle their way through the horrors of this world's final seven years.  The Rapture interpretation of 1 Thessalonians is not shared by the majority of Christians and appears to date to 1909, when the Scofield Reference Bible (King James Version) was published. Prior to that time, this parsing of 1 Thessalonians' \"caught up in the air\" passage was unknown, although in the 19th century theologian J.N. Darby popularized the idea that there would be a \"secret rapture\" seven years before the Christ really returned, and the non-Christians who didn't disappear into the air would be left to face the anti-Christ.  Rapture believers envision a time when the faithful will be abruptly swept into the safety and calm of Heaven, even as their less stalwart human brethren live on to battle great evil and suffering that will culminate in the end of the world. Part of that envisioning process is imagining not just the nightmare of the post-Rapture earthly existence their faith will spare them from knowing, but also the immediate effect their departure will have on those fated to remain behind. From this visualization springs the belief about airline or FAA regulations restricting Christian flight crews from serving together lest the Rapture snatch away everyone who can keep a plane in the air.  Because those who accept the Rapture as an article of faith plan their lives with this event in mind, they project others must be doing so as well. The presumption is further fueled by Rev. Tim LaHaye's and Jerry Jenkins' Left Behind series of novels, in the first of which Pan-Continental Airlines' Capt. Rayford Steele weathers the disappearance of many of his passengers during an overnight flight to England.  Left Behind How far the \"Christian pilots and co-pilots barred from serving together\" supposition dates back is anyone's guess, but we have recorded sightings of it from 1993, so it certainly has been part of the canon of widely-held beliefs for some time. The rumor has come to us variously as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) or \"the airlines\" restricting flight crew composition on religious basis out of concern that the Rapture will  FAA otherwise bring planes crashing to the ground. (Actually, if the FAA or \"the airlines\" were concerned about guarding against the Rapture's snatching away key personnel, they should also fret over air traffic controllers, because in their hands lies the safety of all who are in the air at any given time. A Raptured flight crew would result in the downing of one plane; Raptured air traffic control centers would endanger multiple planes attempting to take off or land.) We asked the FAA about the possibility of its having a policy that barred the Raptureable from serving with each other, only to be told by one of its representatives: \"The FAA does not have any regulations referencing religious beliefs.\" Likewise, our query in this vein to American Airlines was met with the assurance that AA does not now have such a policy, nor has it ever had one. Ergo, since neither airline nor FAA policy covers this event, if you're unsure of your state of salvation, pray for an atheist on the flight deck. The Rapture stars in another bit of well-traveled lore involving a supposed freakish fatality. In \"Leap of Faith,\" a woman who believes she sees the Rapture taking place jumps out of her car in traffic. Leap of Faith Barbara \"jump for joy\" Mikkelson Additional information:    Definition of The Rapture  (BibleBell Chronicles)      Preparing for The Rapture  (Free Gospel Bible Institute)   Last updated:  12 May 2005    Wineke, William.  \"Giving Wings to Rapture.\"    Wisconsin State Journal.  10 February 2001  (p. C1).","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ZOctn57DEuM9l1l5oMtK--ynlDgkszm7","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_684","claim":"Was Rebekah Erler, a guest at the State of the Union address, deliberately placed or organized?","posted":"01\/22\/2015","sci_digest":["Rumor: State of the Union address guest Rebekah Erler has been revealed as a 'Democratic operative.'"],"justification":"Rebekah Erler listed her previous work as a staffer on the campaign of Democratic Senator Patty Murray. Erler is a \"Democratic operative\" whose background was uncovered after the State of the Union address in January 2015. Example: [Collected via e-mail, January 2015] Rebekah Erler was a Democratic campaign staffer. Was she a plant in the SOTU speech? Origins: On 20 January 2015, as President Barack Obama addressed a number of current issues in the annual State of the Union address, he touched on the economy and its effects on average Americans. President Obama referenced a 36-year-old woman in attendance named Rebekah Erler, whom he described as an American parent struggling to make ends meet after the economic downturn adversely affected her husband Ben's construction business. Erler was mentioned early in President Obama's address as he broached the issue of the economy: Seven years ago, Rebekah and Ben Erler of Minneapolis were newlyweds. She waited tables, and he worked construction. Their first child, Jack, was on the way. They were young and in love in America, and it doesn't get much better than that. \"If only we had known,\" Rebekah wrote to me last spring, \"what was about to happen to the housing and construction market.\" As the crisis worsened, Ben's business dried up, so he took whatever jobs he could find, even if they kept him on the road for long stretches of time. Rebekah took out student loans, enrolled in community college, and retrained for a new career. They sacrificed for each other, and slowly, it paid off. They bought their first home, had a second son, Henry, and Rebekah got a better job, followed by a raise. Ben is back in construction and home for dinner every night. \"It is amazing,\" Rebekah wrote, \"what you can bounce back from when you have to ... we are a strong, tight-knit family who has made it through some very, very hard times.\" America, Rebekah and Ben's story is our story. They represent the millions who have worked hard, scrimped, sacrificed, and retooled. He mentioned Erler again as the speech concluded: I want our actions to tell every child, in every neighborhood: your life matters, and we are as committed to improving your life chances as we are for our own kids. I want them to grow up in a country where a young mom like Rebekah can sit down and write a letter to her President with a story to sum up these past six years: \"It is amazing what you can bounce back from when you have to ... we are a strong, tight-knit family who has made it through some very, very hard times.\" Erler's appearance at the 2015 State of the Union address was supplemented by a biography published on the White House blog that included background information on why Erler was invited to the address: Rebekah wrote the President last March to share what her family had been through together and to detail the rising cost of doing right for her family, from groceries to student loan payments to child care. Erler was among several middle-class Americans with whom President Obama met personally in the summer of 2014 in response to letters they'd written to him about their lives. In July 2014, a picture of President Obama dining with Erler in Minnesota was published on the White House blog along with details about other citizens whom the President had met during the summer: Lately, the Bear has been loose a lot, and this week will be no different. The President is hitting the road on a three-day swing to Colorado and Texas, where he will meet with Americans who've written him letters and whose stories\u2014their challenges and successes\u2014resonate with folks from across the country. The day after the [2014] State of the Union, a woman named Alex received a raise, allowing her to pay rent and afford groceries without worry. Alex's boss was inspired by the President's call and increased her wage right away. Earlier this year, Alex wrote the President to say \"thank you.\" Tonight, the President will deliver his reply in person when he meets Alex for dinner in Denver. And tomorrow, she'll introduce the President before his remarks in Denver. Erler was not mentioned by name in the text of that blog post, but she was identified in a caption that accompanied its image: \"President Barack Obama has lunch with Rebekah Erler at Matt's Bar in Minneapolis, Minn., June 26, 2014. Erler is a 36-year-old working wife and mother of two preschool-aged boys who had written the President a letter about economic difficulties.\" Immediately after President Obama's June 2014 meeting with Erler, Republicans in Minnesota published a press release titled \"BUSTED: Obama Walks in Shoes of Former Democrat Campaign Staffer.\" A Reuters article published on 26 June 2014 included details about Erler's work history culled from her now-unavailable LinkedIn page: After Obama chatted with Rebekah Erler, 36, over a cheese-filled \"Jucy Lucy\" hamburger at the dark-paneled Matt's Bar in Minneapolis, he drove to a city park where 350 invited participants were waiting. Erler, whose LinkedIn profile shows she was once a field organizer for Democratic Senator Patty Murray, wrote to Obama earlier this year to express her frustrations about the economy. Erler's LinkedIn page is either private or has since been deleted, but the claim that Erler is a \"Democratic operative\" is somewhat misleading. Those identifying her as such refer to her as a former \"field staffer\" for the campaign of Patty Murray, a Democrat who represents the state of Washington in the U.S. Senate. Field staffers are generally the lowest-ranking workers on the field team of any campaign, and Murray's state campaign has no exceptional link to the Obama administration. So while Erler may have worked for a time as a low-level campaign staffer for a Senator in Washington state, no evidence has been found suggesting her political involvement transcended that experience or that she is a \"Democratic operative\" or \"plant\" who furtively carries out tasks to further the agenda of that party. She did not come to President Obama's attention because she (like many other people) wrote a letter to him, nor were the circumstances of her life she described to him in that letter (which he referenced in the State of the Union address) untruthful. The one hundred senators in the United States Congress employ hundreds (if not thousands) of people on their campaign staffs at any given time. Erler's prior work on a single Senate candidate's campaign was not a secret after she first met with President Obama in June 2014, and there's no indication her work in that capacity was of note. Nor has any evidence been presented that shows Erler was involved with politics in any paid position after she moved to Minnesota. Ultimately, Erler was not exposed as a \"plant\" following the State of the Union address, as her connection to the campaign of Sen. Patty Murray was widely publicized in June 2014. If Erler's authenticity was a concern for the Obama administration, they had six months of warning to put forth a different example but still chose Erler despite significant prior coverage of her work experience as a one-time field staffer. Last updated: 22 January 2015.","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1CVJxDedCq7CaNYQFujKON4B0h3HnVR2G"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1-FJD31Qx3dwphCSZmgBlderxJY-6vmGr"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1MSA2LF5Ii__QM2u6S0V6ixNW7TDFrc4i"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_685","claim":"Did Schumer and Pelosi Help Obama Hand $150 Billion to an 'Enemy of the US'?","posted":"01\/08\/2019","sci_digest":["Two prominent Democratic members of Congress didn't \"help\" bring about something that never took place."],"justification":"As President Donald Trump prepared on 8 January 2019 to deliver a televised speech to the nation making the case for billions of dollars to construct a wall along the roughly 2,000-mile border between the U.S. and Mexico, some social media users circulated an inaccurate meme containing the claim that the preceding Obama administration, with the help of Democratic lawmakers Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, had given Iran $150 billion in cash.   President Trump battled Congress over his request for $5.7 billion to fulfill a 2016 campaign promise to \"build the wall.\" The resulting impasse over budget appropriations for the wall's construction led to a protracted shutdown of the federal government. build the wall impasse shutdown As with many memes, the one above paired two topics that were unrelated to each other, along with a generous helping of inaccuracy. The \"enemy of the U.S.\" referred to Iran, which was never given a $150 billion cash payment by President Barack Obama with the help of Pelosi and Schumer. Instead, billions of dollars worth of Iranian assets were unfrozen as a result of the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated with that country, which had nothing to do with the U.S. federal budget or border wall construction. nuclear deal Trump floated the \"$150 billion\" figure in conjunction with his desired border wall construction in a 12 December 2018 Twitter post: The Democrats and President Obama gave Iran 150 Billion Dollars and got nothing, but they cant give 5 Billion Dollars for National Security and a Wall?  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 12, 2018 December 12, 2018 The $150 billion figure is an estimate of the value of Iranian assets that were unfrozen as a result of Iran's agreeing to the terms of the nuclear agreement reached with seven nations in 2015, including the U.S., an agreement formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. In other words, Iran gained access to assets that already belonged to them, assets that had been frozen in various financial institutions around the world due to sanctions imposed to curb Irans nuclear program. But Iran didn't get $150 billion in cash, nor did they receive any money at all from U.S. taxpayers -- they only regained access to assets that had been frozen in several different countries (not just the U.S.), and the $150 billion figure was merely an upper estimate. agreement Moreover, that $150 billion figure was the highest estimate of the value of Iran's frozen assets, with multiple sources reporting much lower figures. For example, Adam J. Szubin, Acting Under Secretary of Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, supplied written testimony to a U.S. Senate committee in August 2015 stating that U.S. assessment of the total liquid assets Iran would regain control of as a result of the nuclear agreement was \"a little more than $50 billion\": testimony We must also be measured and realistic in understanding what sanctions relief will really mean to Iran. Estimates of total Central Bank of Iran (CBI) foreign exchange assets worldwide are in the range of $100 to $125 billion. Our assessment is that Irans usable liquid assets after sanctions relief will be much lower, at a little more than $50 billion. The other $50-70 billion of total CBI foreign exchange assets are either obligated in illiquid projects (such as over 50 projects with China) that cannot be monetized quickly, if at all, or are composed of outstanding loans to Iranian entities that cannot repay them. These assets would not become accessible following sanctions relief. Nader Habibi, professor of economics of the Middle East at Brandeis University, told us via email his best estimate was that between $30 billion and $50 billion of unfrozen funds were made available to Iran as a result of the deal. On 8 May 2018, President Trump announced that he was pulling the U.S. out of the nuclear deal with Iran, which had been negotiated over the course of two years. Associated Press.  \"Democrats and Obama Did Not Give $150 Billion to Iran.\"\r  14 December 2018. Hirschfeld Davis, Julie.  \"Schumer and Pelosi Tap Themselves to Respond to Trump Speech.\"\r  The New York Times.  8 January 2019. Bozorgmehr, Najmeh.  \"Iran to Keep Most Unfrozen Overseas Assets in Foreign Banks.\"\r  Financial Times.  8 February 2016. Cunningham, Erin, and Bijan Sabbagh.  \"Iran to Negotiate with Europeans, Russia and China About Remaining in Nuclear Deal.\"\r  The Washington Post. 8 May 2018. Dahl, Fredrik.  \"Iran Has $100 Billion Abroad, Can Draw $4.2 Billion: U.S. Official.\"\r  Reuters.  17 January 2014. Habibi, Nader. \" Irans Frozen Funds: How Much Is Really There and How Will They Be Used?\"\r  The Conversation.  11 August 2015.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1lLFvxVU9u8cllzrcDuyUrvk-9BUMV5EE","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_686","claim":"Are COVID-19 Tracing Apps Secretly Tracking Your Facebook and Phone Contacts?","posted":"05\/20\/2020","sci_digest":["Two smartphone apps tracking the transmission of COVID-19 raised privacy questions  and where there are questions, there are usually rumors."],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease. \n\nIn early 2020, a number of smartphone applications (apps) were tested and launched across North America to help regions identify which users had been infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus disease, who they came into contact with, and transmission zones. These apps aimed to make contact tracing easier, a form of disease control that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) calls a key strategy for preventing further spread of the disease. The process involves public health staff who work with COVID-19 patients to help them recall everyone they came into contact with during the time they may have been infectious. Staff then warn exposed individuals in a rapid and sensitive manner (while protecting the identity of the patient) and provide support and information on how to mitigate the spread. \n\nIn May 2020, a number of Facebook posts claimed that mobile apps using contact tracing to research COVID-19 transmission patterns were also taking information from the user's device to \"identify, track, or locate\" various contacts on their phones or their Facebook friends lists. Most posts referred to one of two such apps: Healthy Together or ABTraceTogether. The posts greatly exaggerated the extent to which apps have access to contact lists and particularly to Facebook accounts. Healthy Together, built by Twenty Holdings, Inc., was rolled out by the state of Utah in April and May 2020, as part of an effort to help public health officials trace contacts of those infected with the disease and to allow Utahns to track their symptoms and find the nearest testing center. The app uses GPS, location data, and Bluetooth technology to identify potential contacts. \n\nBluetooth technology allows health officials to gather data by connecting devices to each other, while GPS data enables them to track a person's movements and location to within 5 to 10 feet. Thus, Bluetooth determines potential person-to-person transmission of the disease, while GPS tracking figures out potential transmission zones and how contagious diseases can move through populations and regions. The Utah government is encouraging more people to download this application. As of May 13, more than 45,000 people had done so, at least 2% of the state's population, according to CNBC. The app is opt-in and voluntary, allowing users to control what data they release. They own their personal data and can delete it at any time. Location data is automatically deleted after 30 days, symptom data becomes anonymous after 30 days, and users can identify what data they would like to share, which includes Bluetooth data, location data, or contact lists. \n\nThe FAQ on the Utah government's coronavirus resources website suggests that officials are taking precautions around user privacy as well: Will anyone have access to personally identifiable information? Public health officials and a limited number of development employees with Twenty Holdings, Inc. will have access to your name, phone number, and location data for COVID-19 tracing purposes only. What collective data would the Utah government like to share publicly in the weeks following the launch? The State of Utah values the role of limited government and recognizes that asking you to provide personal information may be uncomfortable and concerning to some. However, you can be assured that your personal data will be used only for the purpose of fighting COVID-19. Utah will investigate GPS and location data to help understand transmission zones, with the goal of informing policymakers so they can make swift and smart decisions in the coming weeks or months. Healthy Together's privacy policy also states users may provide the following, among other details: \n\nWe may receive: Registration and Profile Information. We may receive information from you when you register to use Healthy Together. That information may include, among other things, your full name, phone numbers, and device identifiers. Contact List. If you choose to share your mobile device contacts or address book with Healthy Together, we will store your contacts or address book information, including the phone numbers and names of your contacts, to enable you to invite your contacts to Healthy Together and help facilitate your user experience. Healthy Together responded to Snopes' questions about these rumors: Only if a user opts in to share their phone's contact list can they then invite friends on their contact list to use the app. Sending this invitation will prompt their contact to join Healthy Together, but this invitation to join the app is also opt-in. Sending an invitation to a friend does not mean Healthy Together will track or automatically collect data. If someone chooses to download the app by accepting their friend's invitation, they too have to opt in to share any data permissions. The app is not connected to Facebook, and Healthy Together users cannot invite their Facebook friends to use the app. Healthy Together is not tracing anyone who is not a user of the app and is not tracing anyone who does not opt in to the Bluetooth or location data permissions. Healthy Together is completely opt-in; users own their data and can delete it at any time. Thus, the app's ability to access your contact list is in the user's control and is available only to invite friends to download the app. The app does not appear to have the ability to access your Facebook friends list. Furthermore, the app can only track and identify people who have downloaded it, so those without the app cannot be tracked. \n\nThe app ABTraceTogether requires even less information from the user. The other app at the center of the Facebook\/phone contacts rumor mill has been downloaded in the Canadian province of Alberta 100,000 times as of May 5. This voluntary app also does not connect to your phone contact list or Facebook friends list but collects only the following information: During the app setup, the only personal data we collect is your mobile number, so Alberta Health Services can contact you quickly if you were in close proximity to a COVID-19 case. With your consent, the ABTraceTogether app exchanges Bluetooth proximity data with nearby phones running the same app. This data is anonymized and encrypted and does not reveal your identity or the other person's identity. To measure distance, information about your phone model and the signal strength recorded is also shared, since different phone models transmit at different power. This data is stored only on your phone and is not shared with Alberta Health Services. Should Alberta Health Services need the data for contact tracing, they will ask you directly to share it with them and enable an upload of your contact tracing logs. Contact tracers, health officials who are trying to track down people exposed to the virus, may ask users about their locations in verbal interviews. The app's privacy policy states: The information you provide will be collected by Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services for the purpose of conducting contact tracing during the COVID-19 pandemic response to manage the public health emergency under the Public Health Act. [...] ABTraceTogether enables you to exchange non-identifying information with other users via Bluetooth; other users will not have access to any of your individually identifying information. If you receive a positive diagnosis for COVID-19, Alberta Health or Alberta Health Services will send you a code to enter into the Application. Your information will then be accessed and potentially disclosed by Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services to one another for the purpose of facilitating contact tracing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The privacy policy further points out that because tracers rely only on Bluetooth technology and not GPS, they do not collect data about users' locations; they only communicate with nearby phones through Bluetooth for a limited period. \n\nPrivacy advocates like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) are critical of apps that ask for names and phone numbers of users, arguing that this will erode trust and discourage people from signing on. They argue that developers need to be as transparent as possible to ensure their app is effective. Bennett Cyphers, a Staff Technologist with EFF, spoke to Snopes, arguing that ultimately these apps should only collect what is absolutely necessary from the user, with \"as little private information [and] strict data minimization,\" something they don't believe apps like Healthy Together and ABTraceTogether are doing: [The government] doesn't need [this information]; they want it ... Apple's and Google's proposals [have] ways to do it where the user's phone is able to give push notifications to the user through anonymized data. There are ways to do contact tracing that preserve privacy, and that the government doesn't get data at all. The only difference between [the] decentralized contact tracing approach (which Apple and Google are proposing) and the centralized approach is that in the first model [when] someone you've contacted is sick, [you will be notified] on your phone and it will tell you what to do and which public health officials to get in touch with. The other scenario is the government calls you themselves. The government prefers the latter because it gives them more control. We don't think there is a significant difference in the outcome [pertaining to health access] for users... All these apps are opting to share a record of who the people interacted with. That can reveal a lot about what you do, whether you engage in political activism, criminal activity, or all kinds of things not related to COVID, and the government will have access [to it] ... We wouldn't be able to tell you what the government will do [with this] but what they could do ... [and] that's the problem. \n\nJeff Jenkins, associate professor of Information Systems at the Brigham Young University Marriott School of Business, said this about Healthy Together in a published news interview: \"Jenkins said he feels like the app gives users a reasonable amount of control over their data, even if it's not totally clear how the data will be used. 'With any app, there is a tradeoff between the intended benefit\u2014in this case, combating COVID-19\u2014and privacy.'\" A range of contact-tracing apps were being tested and implemented in the spring of 2020. In May, Apple and Google released their own smartphone technology to automatically notify people if they have been exposed to someone with the virus. Unlike Healthy Together, their tech relies solely on Bluetooth technology to monitor person-to-person contact. Many of these apps are achieving mixed results, and the full implications of their impact on data privacy are being closely followed by groups like EFF and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). \n\nIn sum, little evidence exists to indicate that apps like Healthy Together and ABTraceTogether are collecting others' information from users' phone or Facebook contacts, especially without consent. As their privacy policies outline, the information they gather is for specific health-related purposes, and all the information given is with the user's consent. Healthy Together can receive your contact list if you agree to it, while ABTraceTogether only asks for your phone number. Furthermore, users have to actually install the app for their interactions to be monitored or their location to be tracked. Individuals without the app will not be tracked this way. As such, we rate this claim a \"Mixture.\" \n\nUpdate, Dec. 2, 2020: In July 2020, Utah's state epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn announced that Healthy Together's major feature of using GPS and Bluetooth location tracking would be turned off, stating, \"We've learned over the course of the last three months that location tracking isn't popular and, as a result, it hasn't really been helpful to our contact tracing efforts.\" In November, the state's health leaders announced their intention to explore using Google and Apple technology to notify users if they had been exposed to the coronavirus. Healthy Together now serves as a symptom checker and a resource for people in the event that they get COVID-19. ABTraceTogether has also faced issues with its effectiveness. In November, the Alberta government revealed that its app had been used to trace only 20 cases over six months. The province also said that issues with the app could persist on devices made by Apple and that the app needs further testing. Apple and Google's contact tracing software forms the backbone of the federal Canadian government's COVID Alert app and is being used in all provinces except Alberta and British Columbia.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1JQcY1oohDoV94_thU055SIy3F07CClC1","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=194SgYkkPE7o-Ylg731q9fsaQi0uAOHWv","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_687","claim":"Is This a Picture of the Bitterroot Forest Fire?","posted":"08\/31\/2003","sci_digest":["An awe-inspiring photograph reportedly captured wildlife fleeing a  fire in Bitterroot Forest, Montana."],"justification":"A Once-in-a-Lifetime Photo of a Forest Fire in Bitterroot Forest, Montana\n\nThis awesome picture was taken in the Bitterroot National Forest in Montana on August 6, 2000, by a fire behavior analyst from Fairbanks, Alaska, named John McColgan, using a digital camera. Since he was working when he took the picture, he cannot sell or profit from it, so he should at least be recognized as the photographer of this once-in-a-lifetime shot. The year 2000 brought one of the worst fire seasons in half a century to the United States. By August, more than 4 million acres (an area greater in size than the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined) had been burned by wildfires, and dozens of blazes raged out of control in eleven western states, with nearly half of the conflagrations occurring in Idaho and Montana. On August 6, 2000, as several fires converged in the Bitterroot National Forest near the town of Sula in western Montana, John McColgan, a fire behavior analyst employed by the USDA Forest Service, snapped the spectacular photograph shown above with a digital camera and described the experience to a writer for the western Montana newspaper The Missoulian: \"That's a once-in-a-lifetime look there. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. I've been doing this for 20 years, and it ranks in the top three days of fire behavior I've seen.\" The day was August 6, the Sunday when several forest fires converged near Sula into a firestorm that overran 100,000 acres and destroyed 10 homes. Temperatures in the flame front were estimated at more than 800 degrees. Nevertheless, McColgan said, the wildlife appeared to be taking the crisis in stride, gathering near the East Fork of the Bitterroot River where it crosses under U.S. Highway 93. \"They know where to go, where their safe zones are,\" McColgan said. \"A lot of wildlife did get driven down there to the river. There were some bighorn sheep there. A small deer was standing right underneath me, under the bridge.\" McColgan snapped the photo with a Kodak DC280 digital camera. Since he was working as a Forest Service firefighter, the shot is public property and cannot be sold or used for commercial purposes. After McColgan downloaded his amazing image to an office computer, a friend found it, e-mailed a copy to another friend, and by mid-September 2000, the picture was blazing its way across the Internet. Because many forwarded copies of the image lacked any attribution or explanation, e-mail recipients began to circulate rumors about its origins and authenticity; some claimed that the photo was snapped by a tourist, that it was taken during the extensive Yellowstone National Park fire of 1988, or that it was yet another digital fake. As John McColgan said afterward, \"I couldn't have profited from [the photograph], so I guess I'm glad so many people are enjoying it.\" We're happy to help him at least receive proper credit for his work. This picture has also been circulated with text identifying it as a photograph of August 2003 forest fires in British Columbia, of October 2007 California wildfires, of the June 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and of the November 2016 forest fires in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. \n\nChaney, Rob. \"Mystery Solved: Forest Service Firefighter Captured Tragedy with Digital Camera.\" The Missoulian. 15 September 2000. CNN.com. \"Montana Homes Threatened by Wildfires.\" 7 August 2000.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ek0vWNoS-yETt8skApzJlJDiO0K-bZeJ","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_688","claim":"John and Lisa Robinson Powerball Giveaway Hoax","posted":"01\/16\/2016","sci_digest":["A new Facebook hoax claims that Powerball winners John and Lisa Robinson are giving away their money on Facebook."],"justification":"On 15 January 2016, Lisa and John Robinson stepped forward as buyers of oneof the $1.6 billion Powerball lottery's three winning tickets: Powerball John Robinson and his wife Lisa bought four tickets at Naifeh's Food Mart, a grocery store one block from their home in Munford, Tennessee, at 6:56 p.m. on Wednesday night. Robinson, a father of two, said he bought the four tickets as he always does to represent the four members of their family, with the computer choosing the winning numbers of 04, 08, 19, 27, 34 and Powerball 10. Shortly after the identity of the winner was revealed, a fake message started circulating, which claimed that the Robinsonswere giving money away to random people on Facebook. As withprevious messages featuring Mark Zuckerbergand Eminem, these Facebook messages are a hoax. John and Lisa Robinson are not giving away money to people who like, share, or comment on a Facebook post. Mark Zuckerberg Eminem It appears that the message originated on the fake news web siteDaily Media Buzz. In addition to creating the fake message,DMBalso created fake Facebook comments to make it seem like some random people had received money for John and Lisa:   A fake web site, johnandlisagiveback.com,was also started in an attempt to legitimize this hoax. These \"something for nothing\" hoaxesare common on Facebook. While they employ different methods in an attempt to spread on social media (some request likes, some request comments, some even display fake countdowns to give the hoax a sense of urgency), they all have one thing in common: They are potentially opening up the social media user to malware or advertising scams (as this particular one increasingly appears to be) and they don't result in cash windfalls. Facebook one","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1H5ltEHM_H9zzn7JAeaQVajO577ibZe7Z","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_689","claim":"Did Target End Its 'Shop with a Cop' Program?","posted":"07\/27\/2020","sci_digest":["Pointing out a rumor exists is not the same as proving that the rumor is true. "],"justification":"In late July 2020, Snopes readers requested verification of numerous social media posts stating that Target had canceled its annual \"Shop with a Cop\" program, officially known as \"Heroes & Helpers,\" in an effort to \"distance themselves from police officers.\" Here is an example of one such post circulating on Facebook: Similar posts also circulated on Twitter, and to add to the confusion, a website called The Courier Daily only reported that people were discussing the rumor on Twitter but didn't provide any evidence for the claim. We reached out to the source itself, asking Target Corporate whether it had ended the long-standing program that pairs children from low-income backgrounds with local law enforcement officers for holiday shopping trips funded by charitable donations. A spokesperson for Target informed us that the program will continue, although details about how it will proceed amid the COVID-19 pandemic are still pending. In response to our inquiry about whether the program had been canceled, the company sent the following statement: \"We plan to continue to support children with Heroes & Helpers events across the country this holiday season. Like many of our holiday programs, we are carefully considering how to manage these events during the COVID-19 environment in a way that ensures the health and safety of our team and guests. We will have additional details to share as we approach the holiday season.\" The program was launched in 2009 and takes place in stores nationwide. To date, $5 million in grants has been used to support the shopping trips, and more than 100,000 children and 60,000 police officers have participated, according to Target. The false social media rumors may have been inspired by the fact that since the May 25, 2020, death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody, there have been ongoing protests against and discussions about police violence and racism in America, spurring calls to reform policing practices and even some activists calling for police departments to be defunded. However, as of this writing, Target does not plan to cancel the program as a result of the racial justice protests. With the information currently available, we rate this claim as a Bullseye View. \"Target Teams Up with Donnie Wahlberg to Celebrate 10 Years of Heroes & Helpers.\" 4 December 2019. Trujillo, Damian. \"Shop With a Cop Foundation Considers Name Change to Reconnect with Community.\" KNTV. 2 July 2020. Hill, Evan, et al. \"How George Floyd Was Killed in Police Custody.\" The New York Times. 31 May 2020.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1KrKk3Nbzl3PPJTLdBgJCnf7RoTpgt4hj","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_690","claim":"Does a 'Welcome to Kansas City' Sign Contain an Unfortunate Typo?","posted":"05\/08\/2018","sci_digest":["An image of a welcome sign featuring the word \"anally\" instead of \"annually\" is a digital creation."],"justification":"The phrase \"you had one job!\" is frequently used to highlight humorous instances when a relatively small mistake, such as a spelling error, results in a larger or more embarrassing problem. The \"You Had One Job\" Twitter account has posted numerous examples of this meme. On May 7, 2018, it shared an amusing image that supposedly shows a \"Welcome to Kansas City\" sign, which mistakenly spelled the word \"annually\" as \"anally,\" delighting 12-year-olds and those who share their humor everywhere. Unfortunately for fans of amusing typos, this misspelling wasn't the result of careless proofreading or the handiwork of a disgruntled employee, but rather the work of an enterprising prankster with a gift for digital editing. The @VisitKC Twitter account posted an image showing the original sign and noted that the photograph had been doctored. Other images showing the same sign from different angles were also posted online. Gish, Sarah. \"No Butts About It: Viral Photo of Visit KC Tourism Sign Is a Prank.\" The Kansas City Star. May 7, 2018.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1EvmGmin652G5SpqMmwFCznU12zMQbloR","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1qnZGMOQKDubqBXMPkz5CKG912fOqb-sZ","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1YZv75DpeOI0i72XobxcSHUmW5_gxOkTz","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_691","claim":"Fraudulent activity targeting refrigerators and ovens at Target and Walmart gains traction on Facebook.","posted":"08\/16\/2022","sci_digest":["We strongly recommend sharing this article with any family members or friends who might be susceptible to falling for this potentially dangerous scam."],"justification":"On Aug. 16, 2022, we received mail from our readers that asked if Facebook pages named Target Fans and Walmart Fans were legitimately giving away or donating hundreds of refrigerators and ovens. The truth was that these pages were nothing more than the first step of potentially dangerous survey scams. The scammers appeared to be based in Indonesia. The posts showed pictures of refrigerators and ovens (ranges) with the caption, \"We are happy to announce that we will be donating 670 refrigerators and cookers which cannot be sold due to a few scratches and minor damage, all machines are in working order, so we will send them randomly to someone who writes 'DONE' before August 19th!\"  A search of Facebook for the words Target Fans and the lowercase and special characters ??????? ???? showed dozens of pages that were hosting the survey scams. Target Fans ??????? ???? Survey scams like the one for the Target refrigerators giveaway are a specific kind of ruse. They promise big prizes up front, but then lead to a seemingly endless number of surveys with other tantalizing prizing promises, such as a $750 transfer via the mobile finance app, Cash App. Usually, the scammers who created the Facebook posts are hoping that users sign up for accounts on various websites that might land them small amounts of commission. Target At the same time, survey scams can also be quite dangerous, reported AARP.org: reported AARP.org Amid questions about the supposed subject, sham surveys solicit personal or financial information, such as a credit card number to pay a shipping fee for your prize  something a legit survey will not do. They might trick you into signing up for a free trial offer thats actually a costly subscription for a dietary supplement or other product. Clicking on the link might also launch malware that can scrape sensitive data from your device. Either way, the scammers get information they can use for identity theft or sell on to other bad actors. Some major retailers, including Amazon and Walmart, do offer gift cards as prizes for customers who complete online surveys about their shopping experience, but those companies say they will never ask participants to provide sensitive data. We strongly advise readers to never click any links in offers that seem too good to be true. Also, we recommend sharing our article with family members or friends who might be susceptible to falling for this kind of a Target or Walmart Facebook scam. In sum, no, Target and Walmart weren't giving away or donating refrigerators or ovens on Facebook on pages named Target Fans and Walmart Fans. Walmart Facebook Source: Beware of Survey Scams That Require Personal Information. AARP, https:\/\/www.aarp.org\/money\/scams-fraud\/info-2021\/survey.html.","issues":["finance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Ry_0MLHKEjP7SbR7813Hqqvy3-8V7JjO"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_692","claim":"No Evidence Port Slowdown Due to 'Liberal' California Laws","posted":"11\/02\/2021","sci_digest":["A confluence of issues have created congestion at the busiest port in the U.S."],"justification":"In late October 2021, a misleading copypasta meme spread on Facebook that attributed port bottlenecks and shipping delays to \"California's liberal trucking laws.\" The meme circulated on various platforms including Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Here is a version of the meme that was posted to Facebook:   The meme above reads, in part: So ships are piling up at Long Beach waiting to get unloaded. The port is jammed full of containers with no place to stack more. The liberal media is blaming it on the trucking industry while the nation's store shelves are becoming bare ... Well there's more to the story. Could Gavin Newsom and California's liberal trucking laws be the blame ? ? The NEWS says the California port situation is caused by a driver shortage. Not so fast: It is in part caused by a California Truck Ban which says all trucks must be 2011 or newer and a law called AB 5 which prohibits Owner Operators. The two state laws mentioned are AB5, a 2019 law intended to prevent employers from wrongly classifying workers as contractors, and something called \"California Truck Ban.\" The meme also mentions a September 2020 executive order by California Gov. Gavin Newsom that seeks to phase out fuel-burning vehicle engines by 2035 in an effort to combat global warming. AB5 executive order The meme is referencing congestion at the ports in San Pedro Bay in Southern California and the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, which collectively handle an estimated 40 percent of the nation's imports. The back-up is resulting in something of a crisis in shipping delays right before the 2021 winter holidays. congestion 40 percent crisis The meme above attempts to lay the blame for the crisis at the feet of Newsom, along with California labor and environmental laws. But from a broad perspective, the disruption in the supply chain is a global phenomenon sparked by a confluence of major calamities in 2020 and 2021, including labor shortages, facility closures, and an increased e-commerce demand resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, extreme weather, and a massive container ship that had become lodged in the Suez Canal for nearly a week. global phenomenon Here we will look at whether the two laws and executive order mentioned in the meme are to blame for the slowdown at the Southern California ports. There is no law called the \"California Truck Ban.\" But from the description above  that \"all trucks must be 2011 or newer\"  it appears the post is referencing the California Truck and Bus Regulation. That regulation doesn't currently block registration of vehicles from the year 2010 and older, however. Regulation The Truck and Bus Regulation requires trucks serving the ports to have engines from 2010 or newer as of Jan. 1, 2023. If they don't, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) would deny registrations to non-compliant vehicles. But the rule, which was adopted in 2008, has taken effect gradually over several years. It's not new, whereas the situation at the L.A. and Long Beach ports in the fall of 2021 is acute. requires In an email, Stanley Young, spokesperson for the California Air Resource Board, told Snopes, \"As of 2021 only trucks with engines older than 2005 would have their registration denied.\" Young added that 96 percent of the trucks currently serving the major ports in California are already compliant with the regulation. \"Despite what you may have heard or read, there is simply no evidence to support any claims that the current congestion at our ports has any connection to the states efforts to clean up Californias trucks,\" Young stated. \"Since trucks at major California ports have been required to have 2007 or newer engines since 2014, and since these engines are legal until at least 2023, its impossible that any shortage of vehicles at ports is the result of CARB regulations.\" Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5) is a California law that went into effect in January 2020, although it has faced an onslaught of legal challenges preventing it from being implemented. The law is intended to prevent companies like Uber and Instacart from misclassifying so-called gig workers as independent contractors, rather than employees.  Truckers often operate under an \"owner-operator\" model, in which they own their own vehicles, which they then use to transport goods as contractors for trucking companies. Both the California Trucking Association (CTA) and freight transport company Cal Cartage Express filed legal challenges against AB 5. Cal Cartage lost its case but the U.S. Supreme Court has yet to decide whether to hear a petition by CTA. Until it does, AB 5 remains in limbo for the trucking industry. Matt Schrap, CEO of the the Harbor Trucking Association (which represents drayage truck companies serving the ports of L.A. and Long Beach) said it's not a shortage of truckers that's driving the delays, and pointing the finger at AB 5 doesn't take reality into account. Instead, Schrap said that the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns spurred an explosion of online buying that ramped up sharply during the pandemic lockdowns, and the ports of L.A. and Long Beach don't have the infrastructure to handle the sudden influx. explosion \"Its like jamming ten lanes of freeway traffic into five lanes,\" Schrap said in a phone interview with Snopes. Currently, the bte noire for truckers and trucking companies at the ports of L.A. and Long Beach is an excess of empty shipping containers piling up at the ports, which often block truckers from picking up and dropping off cargo. \"Were struggling with these empty containers,\" Schrap said. \"That is really whats working us over.\" Schrap said he expects that the situation will start to improve, because with the sudden attention on the issue, officials are taking steps to help resolve it, like placing fees on cargo ship companies that leave behind empty containers, and potentially allowing empty container stacking on empty parcels of land at the ports. placing fees But these are just Bandaids on a larger problem, which is that the Southern California ports need investment in infrastructure to prevent crises like these, Schrap stressed. \"Were in this problem because of the underinvestment in the infrastructure that supports the American consumers buying habits,\" Schrap said. \"It's a temporary solution to a longstanding problem.\" Newsom issued an executive order in September 2020 seeking to phase out gas-burning vehicles by making all new vehicles sold as of 2035 and beyond zero-emission. But Newsom's order wouldn't make the current fuel-powered trucks illegal as of 2035. The executive order explicitly states that while California will require new vehicles sold as of 2035 and beyond to be zero-emission, older vehicles will not be illegal to own and operate, and can still be purchased and sold. executive order A news release from the governor's office announcing the order states, \"The executive order will not prevent Californians from owning gasoline-powered cars or selling them on the used car market.\" FreightWaves. \"CTAs Last Hope To Protect California Trucking From AB5: US Supreme Court,\" 10 August, 2021, https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/now\/ctas-last-hope-protect-california-184730483.html.  Goodman, Peter S., and Erin Schaff. Its Not Sustainable: What Americas Port Crisis Looks Like Up Close. The New York Times, 10 Oct. 2021. NYTimes.com, https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/11\/business\/supply-chain-crisis-savannah-port.html. Koetsier, John. COVID-19 Accelerated E-Commerce Growth 4 To 6 Years. Forbes, 12 June 2020, https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/johnkoetsier\/2020\/06\/12\/covid-19-accelerated-e-commerce-growth-4-to-6-years\/. No SCOTUS Review of California Laws Impact on Trucking Industry. Reuters, 5 Oct. 2021, https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/legal\/government\/no-scotus-review-california-laws-impact-trucking-industry-2021-10-04\/. Lynch, David J. Stubborn Supply Chain Woes Are Resisting Bidens Remedies. Washington Post, 26 October 2021, https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/business\/2021\/10\/26\/supply-chain-ports-fees-biden\/.  Swanson, Ana. Angling for a Merry Fishmas Despite Global Shipping Delays. The New York Times, 31 Oct. 2021, https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/31\/business\/economy\/global-shipping-delays-shortages.html. Updated to note AB 5 remains in limbo for the trucking industry pending legal actions.","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1_-1N_ZpLMFPsSbwU0DbawQd_DNpnbdSX","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_693","claim":"Says she is 6th in hard dollars raised and has more cash on hand than Governors (John) Kasich and (Chris) Christie combined.","posted":"02\/08\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"When Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina was denied a spot in a debate just days before the New Hampshire primary,she took to Medium to argue her case. Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, compared herself to some other Republican candidates in the race, including Govs. Chris Christie of New Jersey, John Kasich of Ohio and former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida. She wrote, Despite what the media is telling you, it is clear that Carly deserved to be on the debate stage, both according to their arbitrary metricsand the ones that actually matter: In an actual contest of voters, Carly came out ahead of Governors Christie and Kasich. She has the same number of delegates as Governor Bush. Governor Christie has 0. Carly is 6th in hard dollars raised and has more cash on hand than Governors Kasich and Christie combined. Fiorina never managed to snag a spot at the debate, but we decided to take a look at the third of Fiorinas bullet points -- the one about about her fundraising totals. (For the record, she was right on both of the previous two bullet points.Fiorina got 3,485 votes in Iowa, or 1.9 percent, which was ahead of Kasich by 11 votes and ahead of Christie by 201 votes. That translated into one delegate each for Bush and Fiorina and none for Christie.) For fundraising data, we turned toopensecrets.org for the latest presidential fundraising data. Heres the table, in descending order, for hard dollars raised, defined as money raised by the candidates own campaign committee. The most recent data available at the time of her Feb. 6 statement was through Dec. 31, 2015. (Opensecrets.org does not have data for one Republican candidate still in the race, former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore.) Candidate Hard dollars raised 1.Ben Carson $54,036,610 2.Ted Cruz $47,086,857 3.Jeb Bush $31,922,100 4.Marco Rubio $29,710,092 5.Donald Trump $19,405,217 6.Carly Fiorina $11,349,057 7.John Kasich $7,582,365 8.Chris Christie $7,159,329 So Fiorina was indeed sixth on the list. Thats not saying a whole lot -- she was ahead of only two candidates, and she had barely half the amount of the fifth-place finisher. How about cash on hand, which means money raised minus money already spent? Candidate Cash on hand 1.Ted Cruz $18,734,794 2.Marco Rubio $10,398,593 3.Jeb Bush $7,589,858 4.Donald Trump $6,964,325 5.Ben Carson $6,567,647 6.Carly Fiorina $4,484,307 7.John Kasich $2,537,301 8.Chris Christie $1,126,158 Fiorina was right that she had more cash on hand than Kasich and Christie combined; they totaled $3,663,459. Here too, thats no great shakes -- she still ranks sixth of the eight candidates in cash on hand Our ruling Fiorina said she is 6th in hard dollars raised and has more cash on hand than Governors Kasich and Christie combined. While its worth noting the context that she ranks far back in the pack, Fiorina is right on both counts, according to the most recent public filings. We rate her claim True.","issues":["National","Campaign Finance"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_694","claim":"Is the 'Picajopo Sting' Scorpion Real?","posted":"06\/28\/2021","sci_digest":["Whatever you do, don't let the \"aguijn picajopo\" or \"picajopo sting\" hug your face. "],"justification":"In June 2021, a set of photographs supposedly showing a near-extinct species of alacrn, or scorpion, called the \"picajopo sting,\" went viral on social media:   This post was originally shared in Spanish. Here's the text of this message: Si visitas soledad y te encuentras con estos animalitos, no te preocupes es fauna local, no muerden y solo salen cuando hay lluvia o mucho calor.Es una especie de la familia de los alacranes, estaba desaparecida, muchos la creian extinta, es conocida como aguijn picajopo. If you visit solitude and you meet these animals, do not worry, they are local fauna, they do not bite and only come out when there is rain or a lot of heat.It is a species of the scorpion family, it was disappeared, many believed it to be extinct, it is known as the picajopo sting. This post racked up more than 150,000 shares within a few days of its initial posting. While these images proved popular, they do not show a \"picajopo sting\" (which does not exist), or any other species of scorpion. These photographs actually feature a toy model of the \"Facehugger,\" or a Stage 1 Xenomorph, from the \"Alien\" movie franchise.   There are several different \"Facehugger\" toys or masks or replicas that can be purchased. We're not sure of the exact item that was used in the above-displayed photographs, but they resemble the life-size replica foam prop Facehugger made by the National Entertainment Collectibles Association (NECA).   NECA describes its product on Facebook: Facebook As seen in the 1986 horror classic #Aliens, this full-sized #replica measures nearly 3 and 1\/2 feet long and has a bendable tail, so you can pose it anywhere waiting to drop on unsuspecting prey from above, even attached to your face. The Life Size Facehugger is made of detailed, hand-painted foam -- perfect for costuming or decoration!  You can get another glimpse of this \"Alien\" prop in the following video review of the product: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=8NUY9MMER38This viral set of images does not show a picajopo sting scorpion. These photographs actually feature a replica prop of a Facehugger from the movie \"Alien.\"","issues":["lien"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Y2X_8sduFLqb4uJRrt2HzmxEI1NSzGQs","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1uhdt_iSxqupxbBAVggstLIncgzmq4ZFa","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_695","claim":"Cheryl Mills Called Benghazi Dead 'Idiot Soldiers' in Leaked E-Mail","posted":"10\/24\/2016","sci_digest":["There is no leaked e-mail in which longtime Clinton aide Cheryl Mills called the Benghazi dead \"idiot soldiers\" and expressed that she was glad they were tortured."],"justification":"In October 2016, the above-reproduced email screenshot began circulating on social media, purportedly capturing a message from longtime Clinton aide Cheryl Mills to Hillary Clinton. In this message, Mills expressed a need to \"hide\" the fact that requests for help made by the four U.S. personnel who died in the attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi had been denied. Mills referred to those deceased personnel as \"idiot US soldiers [who] deserved to die.\" The header of that screenshot matched some communications found in WikiLeaks' \"Hillary Clinton Email Archive,\" published on 16 March 2016. However, a search of the term \"idiot US soldiers\" in the entirety of WikiLeaks' releases (including the July 2016 DNC Leaks, the October 2016 Podesta emails, and the March 2016 Clinton archive) returns zero results. Moreover, the attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi occurred on 11 September 2012, but the clearly fabricated email that referenced it was dated 26 July 2012, over two months before the attack took place. The \"idiot soldiers\" email was not the first time falsified documents were passed off as authentic leaked emails. A Newsweek misinterpretation of WikiLeaks' releases led to claims that the leaks were fabricated, while faked email screenshots suggested Clinton called supporters of Bernie Sanders a \"bucket of losers\" and swing state voters \"white trash.\" Additionally, legitimate emails mocking a conspiracy theory about Clinton being involved in a plane crash were reframed as a \"shocking leak.\"","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ziC7MF-qBxMcxcINLtDgQz8z4CIm44nE","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_696","claim":"Did a Republican Group Post Anti-Trump Billboards in Minnesota?","posted":"01\/05\/2018","sci_digest":["The billboards are real, but the so-called Republican group has an interesting donor behind it."],"justification":"An eye-catching billboard in the state of Minnesota caused some controversy in the early days of January 2018. Purportedly sponsored by \"Republicans for Honesty in Government,\" the billboard showed a photograph of President Donald Trump accompanied by the words \"Big Mistake.\" billboard We received several inquiries from readers about the authenticity of the billboard, and whether it was actually produced by Republicans.  The billboard is real, as is another similar one found elsewhere in Minnesota. However, the group behind it\"Republicans for Honesty in Government\"is run by a Democratic donor and businessman in the state, suggesting there is more to the campaign than meets the eye. On 2 January 2018, the left-wing Facebook page Occupy Democrats posted a photo of the billboard, along with a message emphasizing the apparent party affiliation of its sponsors: photo REPUBLICANS erected this billboard in Minnesota...speaks volumes about the current state of our Liar-in-Chief's presidency, doesn't it?   That post was shared almost 25,000 times within three days.  The photo appears to have originally been posted to Facebook in October 2017 by Rosemary Rocco, who said the billboard was located along U.S. Route 52, in the state's second congressional district, which includes parts of Minneapolis-St. Paul and Wabasha County. She wrote: posted Seen on MN Highway 52 south-CD2! Proof there are Republicans who care about our country. Note the disclaimer on the billboard. This is what country first looks like. Earlier in October, a Reddit user posted another photograph of a billboard bearing a photograph of Trump along with the word \"Clueless.\" It was also purported to have been erected by the same group.  photograph According to records held by the Minnesota Secretary State, Republicans for Honesty in Government was first registered as a non-profit corporation in Minnesota in 2006, as reported by the regional news web site Bluestem Prairie. Its registered agent is Robert Johnson, founder and director of the Minnesota real estate investment firm AEI Capital.  records Bluestem Prairie AEI Capital Republicans for Honesty in Government shares its address with that of AEI Capital. The group was dissolved in 2009, but was reinstated in March 2017.  However, despite being the man behind a non-profit organization that labels itself Republican, Johnson is a prolific donor to Democratic candidates and the Minnesota branch of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party (DFL). Federal Election Commission records show that a \"Robert P. Johnson,\" \"Robert Johnson\" or \"Bob Johnson\" at \"AEI Fund Management\" or related company names in Minnesota has donated a total of $43,830.50 in federal campaign funding since 2004. All of it went to DFL and Democratic candidates or political action committees. records Johnson told the Minnesota news web site GoMN that he had leaned towards the Republican party in the past, but switched allegiances after what the web site described as a shift to the right within the GOP.  GoMN \"My political position was staked out decades ago and has not changed,\" he told GoMN. \"What has changed is the positions of the parties and their platforms.\" Federal Election Commission records show that in 1980, Johnson did donate $500 to the Minnesota Independent-Republican Finance Committee, his only non-Democratic federal election donation. records However, Johnson registered \"Republicans for Honesty in Government\" in 2006, two years after he began donating exclusively to Democratic and DFL candidates, including $7,000 to former Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, and more than $10,000 to the Minnesota DFL party.  $7,000 We asked Johnson questions about his involvement with Republicans for Honesty in Government, his party affiliation, his political donations, and the purpose of the billboards. We did not receive a response. He told GoMN that the billboards were intended to provoke Minnesotans to think more carefully about their electoral choices\"to maybe rub their chin metaphorically a little bit and wonder, what kind of decisions are we making?\" Sorenson, Sally Jo. \"Is Billboard on Highway 52 for Real?; Or, Who Are Those 'Republicans for Honesty in Government'\".\r Bluestem Prairie. 2 January 2018. McLaughlin, Shaymus. \"Who is the Group Behind the Donald Trump 'BIG MISTAKE' Billboard?\"\r GoMN. 3 January 2018.","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=13UsSvzfvw002NzDXKHQFDg4UmeqYk9_6","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_697","claim":"50% of the American population has a savings account balance that is below $10,000.","posted":"04\/09\/2015","sci_digest":[],"justification":"U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, speaking in Austin, bemoaned widening income differences between the countrys very rich and the rest of us. And in his remarks at aSouth Austin union hall, the Vermont independentmulling a runfor the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination also warned about American failures to save money. Heres something not talked about, something that can make us all very, very nervous, Sanders said. Half of all Americans have less than $10,000 in their savings account. And you know what that means and you know why people are so stressed out? If you have less than $10,000, he said, that means an automobile accident, a divorce, a serious illness, a crisis of one kind or another can drive you into bankruptcy and financial disaster. Is he right that half of us have less than $10K in savings? Sanders backup To our inquiry, a Sanders spokesman, Jeff Franks, said by email that Sanders relied on an April 2014USA Todaynews storyquoting a survey indicating 52 percent of U.S. workers had said they had less than $10,000 in total savings and investments, such as a 401(k) or IRA, that could be used for retirement. It did not include their homes or defined benefit plans, such as traditional pensions that could be used for retirement Specifically, the story said, 36 percent of workers said they had less than $1,000 in such savings and investments with another 16 percent of workers reporting $1,000 to $9,999 in such savings and investments. Those results came from a telephone survey of 1,000 workers and 501 retirees by the nonprofit Employee Benefit Research Institute and Greenwald and Associates. Next, we spotted a chart on the institutes website drawn from the same 2014 Retirement Confidence Survey. The 52 percent of workers reporting less than $10,000 in savings and investments in 2014 is up from 39 percent in 2009, the chart shows. Of course, workers isnt all of us. We called the Washington, D.C.-based institute,which saysit was founded in 1978 to deliver unbiased information on employee benefit plans so that decisions affecting the system may be made based on verifiable facts. By phone, researcher Craig Copeland told us that overall, 51 percent of survey respondents, meaning retirees and others, had less than $10,000 in financial savings. Also by phone, Ruth Helman of Greenwald and Associates, which helped do the survey, paused at the senators wording. Strictly speaking, their savings account isnt correct. Its total savings wherever it may be, under the mattress or wherever, Helman said. Federal Reserve Bank We wondered if there were other ways of looking at savings. Several experts urged us to contact the Federal Reserve Bank, which conducts a survey focused on consumer finances every three years.Its latest survey, drawing on data collected in 2013, resulted in a chart pointed out by Copeland indicating that the median value of financial savings outside of a pension or home reported by the nearly 95 percent of families who had bank accounts or stocks, bonds and other financial assets that year was $21,200, down from $23,000 in the boards 2010 survey. SOURCE:Report,Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2010 to 2013: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances,Federal Reserve Bulletin, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, September 2014 Copeland said that given that more than 5 percent of families reported no such financial assets, its reasonable to speculate that families overall had median financial savings of less than $20,000. We also asked reserve board officials to analyze the senators savings accounts statement. By phone, William Emmons and Bryan Noeth, both employed by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, raised questions. For instance, why not count a familys home or pension as part of its savings? Reminder: The institute, with its focus on savings for retirement, set aside these asset categories. Emmons said: People do count on their housing equity, not only in retirement, but before that. Beyond that, the pair said, its not always meaningful to focus on money held in savings accounts, which are a single wealth indicator. A savings account isnt where everybody holds their money, Noeth said. The two said a potentially superior way to gauge how Americans are faring, savings-wise, would be to consider net worth meaning family assets compared to debts. An agency manager, Adriene Dempsey, emailed usa spreadsheetshowing that according to the boards 2013 survey, 26 percent of U.S. families had less than $10,000 in net worth--a tick worse than the 25 percent of families according to its 2010 study. In 2013, half of American families had about $81,500 in net wealth or more, according to the spreadsheet. Total assets for a family include financial assets, such as bank accounts, mutual funds and securities plus tangible assets, including real estate, vehicles and durable goods, according to aFebruary 2015 essayby the St. Louis Fed.Weve elaborated on this here. So by the net-worth metric, more families are better off than if one focused on financial savings alone. We ran this net worth angle past the institutes Coleman, who reminded by email that its survey (relied on by Sanders) took into account financial assets, not just savings accounts. Our ruling Sanders said: Half of all Americans have less than $10,000 in their savings account. Some clarification went missing here: A 2014 survey indicated about half of American adults had less than $10,000 in savings and investments, such as a 401(k) or IRA, that could be used for retirement; those results encompassed more than savings accounts. We rate this claim Mostly True. MOSTLY TRUE The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.","issues":["Families","Income","Pensions","Poverty","Wealth","Texas"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1cvupYYRcFZEMd1-sX0Gi5gGeiq4YeoGk","image_caption":"USA Today"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1g4bn4yDcDCTq3x20l8rh58siJMEmFEQa","image_caption":"MOSTLY TRUE"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_698","claim":"Did Rand Paul Get COVID-19 Vaccination in Viral Photo?","posted":"08\/09\/2021","sci_digest":["In 2015, Paul invited a reporter to photograph him getting a vaccine because he was annoyed that he was \"being characterized as someone whos against vaccines.\""],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease. \n\nIn August 2021, as a new wave of COVID-19 cases rose in Kentucky, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul urged Americans to resist mask mandates and other guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) related to stopping the nearly two-year pandemic in a video posted to his Twitter account. Paul captioned his video: \"We are at a moment of truth and a crossroads. Will we allow these people to use fear and propaganda to do further harm to our society, economy, and children? Or will we stand together and say, absolutely not. Not this time. I choose freedom.\" As this video went viral, many Twitter users responded by posting a photograph of Paul that supposedly showed him receiving the COVID-19 vaccination. This photograph was frequently shared with captions claiming that Paul was a hypocrite, as he was urging others to \"resist\" the CDC while the picture supposedly showed him receiving a vaccine recommended by the CDC. \n\nThe picture was taken in 2015 and shows Paul receiving a booster vaccination for Hepatitis A from a physician at the U.S. Capitol. You can read more about the benefits of a Hepatitis A vaccine on this page from the CDC. The New York Times reports that Paul received this vaccine shortly after he set off an \"uproar\" when he seemingly made anti-vaccination comments amidst a measles outbreak. The following day, the Kentucky senator invited a New York Times reporter to accompany him as he received a vaccination. \n\nOn","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=15bul9oIMoXi_-i_KjaCagYTV8zN5A88U","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_699","claim":"Did Harvard Pay Elizabeth Warren $400,000 to Teach One Class?","posted":"01\/22\/2020","sci_digest":["An old tweet, accusing the Massachusetts senator of hypocrisy, re-emerged during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. "],"justification":"In January 2020, as the 2020 Democratic presidential primary progressed, we received multiple inquiries from readers about the accuracy of a widely shared claim regarding U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren's professional background. A social media meme contained the following text: \"'As Elizabeth Warren closes the night with complaints about the cost of college for students, just remember she was paid $400,000 to teach one class' -- Katie Pavlich.\" The meme originated in a tweet published on July 30, 2019, by Katie Pavlich, a Fox News contributor and editor of the right-leaning website Townhall. She was referring to Warren's appearance at that evening's Democratic primary debate in Detroit, Michigan. Critics of Warren have leveled accusations of hypocrisy against her in the past, and those claims have at times touched on the level of her pay while she taught at Harvard. In 2014, for example, Snopes addressed memes that alleged the U.S. senator \"lives in a $5.4 million mansion\" and was paid \"$350,000 to teach one class,\" all while purportedly \"lecturing\" the public on economic inequality. The allegation that Warren was paid $400,000 to teach a single course at Harvard University dates back to her 2012 U.S. Senate campaign in Massachusetts. In a Senate financial-disclosure statement filed in December 2011, Warren revealed that for \"2010 + 2011 to date,\" Harvard had paid her $429,981 in her capacity as a law professor. Regardless of one's subjective opinion of the salary paid by Harvard to Warren, it is essential to note that college professors, especially those who work at prominent and reputable institutions like Harvard, are typically expected to do more than just teach courses in return for their salaries. Those salaries can be based on several factors, including the volume, quality, and influence of their published research, the level of their expertise and reputation in a particular field, and so on. Similarly, their duties typically extend beyond teaching coursework and conducting research and can include advising and mentoring students, peer review, organizing and participating in conferences, moderating or participating in faculty or student groups and organizations, leading or attending departmental meetings, and occasionally representing and enhancing the public reputation of their respective institutions by providing expert commentary to the news media\u2014the latter being a duty that Warren discharged particularly frequently before she began her political career. Warren, long recognized as a leading expert in bankruptcy, debt, and consumer law, won several teaching awards, including at Harvard, and wrote or contributed to several dozen academic books, book chapters, and journal articles. One 2010 study found that Warren's academic research was among the most widely cited in the field of bankruptcy and commercial law in the five years leading up to the 2010 spring semester. So while the salary figure presented in Pavlich's tweet (and the subsequent meme) was accurate, it was misleading to claim that Harvard was paying Warren more than $400,000 merely \"to teach one class.\" Nonetheless, it is true that the future senator's teaching duties did taper off towards the end of her tenure at Harvard. During the fall 2009 semester, Warren taught contracts law, according to a Harvard course catalog, and she also taught a year-long \"Empirical Analysis of Law\" course over the fall 2009 and spring 2010 semesters. In September 2010, U.S. President Barack Obama appointed Warren as a special adviser to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, with responsibility for the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency she helped to conceive and create. As a result, Warren stepped back completely from teaching duties during the fall 2010 and spring 2011 semesters, as reflected in a 2010\/11 course catalog. However, she returned to Harvard in July 2011 and taught a course on contracts law during the fall 2011 semester. In 2010, Warren also contributed a chapter entitled \"Redesigning Regulation: A Case Study from the Consumer Credit Market\" to an academic book entitled \"Government and Markets: Toward a New Theory of Regulation,\" which was edited by David A. Moss from Harvard Business School and Duke University's Edward J. Balleisen. According to Warren's May 2012 Senate financial-disclosure statements, she took unpaid leave from Harvard during the spring and fall semesters in 2012 (that is, during her Senate campaign), and according to her May 2013 disclosure, her tenure as a Harvard professor ended when she joined the U.S. Senate in January 2013. According to Warren's December 2011 financial-disclosure statement, she was paid more than $400,000 by Harvard in 2010 and 2011. During that period, she taught two courses: one in the spring 2010 semester and another in the fall 2011 semester. From September 2010 to July 2011, Warren was on leave while helping to establish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and therefore did not teach during that time. Katie Pavlich's July 2019 tweet, and subsequent memes, accurately described Harvard as having paid Warren around $400,000 (in fact, it was closer to $430,000) but failed to specify that the salary covered 2010 and 2011. The tweet also misled readers by claiming Warren had been paid her salary simply to teach classes, because academic salaries typically take into account several factors other than the number of courses taught by a professor, and this is especially true for highly reputable academics such as Warren at prestigious institutions like Harvard. Finally, the tweet (and memes) also misrepresented the number of classes Warren taught during the period for which she was paid more than $400,000. It was two, not one. Taking into account that set of facts, we are issuing a rating of \"Mixture.\"","issues":["debt"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=14TTcZGp0l0WfCmDRfc7M8ciH6F215o4i","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_700","claim":"Fraudulent offer for complimentary Dunkin' Donuts voucher","posted":"04\/18\/2017","sci_digest":["An online Dunkin' coupon offering that promises a free box of donuts is part of an anniversary giveaway scam."],"justification":"Social media users are frequently targeted by anniversary giveaway and survey scams, with one common form of bait being fake coupon offers for free boxes of Dunkin' Donuts:  Such scams typically provide links which lead to web pages (not operated or sponsored by Dunkin' Donuts) displaying the Dunkin' logo along with entreaties to spread the scam further by sharing those pages and writing thank you in the comments field. The free Dunkin' Donuts offers are a variation of the company anniversary survey scam, a ploy that depends on the unwary unwittingly promoting the phony offer to their social media friends: anniversary survey scam These web pages (which are not operated or sponsored by the companies they reference) typically ask the unwary to click what appear to be Facebook share buttons and post comments to the scammers site (which is really a ruse to dupe users into spreading the scam by sharing it with all of their Facebook friends). Those who follow such instructions are then led into a set of pages prompting them to input a fair amount of personal information (including name, age, address, and phone numbers), complete a lengthy series of surveys, and finally sign up (and commit to paying) for at least two Reward Offers (e.g., Netflix subscriptions, credit report monitoring services, prepaid credit cards). A representative for Dunkin' Donuts wrote on the company's official Facebook page that the online \"free dozen\" coupon was not one offered by the chain:   The Better Business Bureau issued guidelines warning specifically of identical scams on Facebook that target shoppers: Dont believe what you see. Its easy to steal the colors, logos and header of an established organization. Scammers can also make links look like they lead to legitimate websites and emails appear to come from a different sender. Legitimate businesses do not ask for credit card numbers or banking information on customer surveys. If they do ask for personal information, like an address or email, be sure theres a link to their privacy policy. When in doubt, do a quick web search. If the survey is a scam, you may find alerts or complaints from other consumers. The organizations real website may have further information. Watch out for a reward thats too good to be true. If the survey is real, you may be entered in a drawing to win a gift card or receive a small discount off your next purchase. Few businesses can afford to give away $50 gift cards for completing a few questions. Legitimate Dunkin' Donuts offers are listed in a Promotions page on the company's website. Promotions","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ZvG0yOu2pkYCvfGcoHak2yKRJDDBWdfE"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1b3GOSYiOnik2eAMf4BtJFvIpiricxz3y"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_701","claim":"Public Broadcasting Cuts (2006)","posted":"06\/08\/2006","sci_digest":["Is Congress seeking to cut federal funding of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting?"],"justification":"Claim:   Congressional recommendations currently under consideration would cut $115 million in federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.  Example:  [Collected via e-mail, 2006] House Republicans just voted to slash funding for NPR and PBS this year. We stopped them last year. We can stop them again. Can you ask 3 friends to sign the petition telling Congress to save NPR and PBS? https:\/\/www.civic.moveon.org\/publicbroadcasting https:\/\/www.civic.moveon.org\/publicbroadcasting Origins:  Although a long-outdated  piece decrying supposed  piece upcoming cuts in funding for the NEA, NPR, PBS, and Sesame Street has been circulating for years (it addressed legislation already voted upon way back in 1995), recent congressional efforts have brought the issue to public attention again. In June 2006, the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees health and education funding voted to cut federal funding provided to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which distributes money to the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio. The proposed cuts would reduce the corporation's 2007 budget by $115 million, a 23% decrease in funding.  So far the budget cuts are only a subcommittee recommendation; they will not take effect unless they are approved by the full House Appropriations Committee and both houses of Congress. Similar budget cuts recommended by the subcommittee in June 2005 were overturned through lobbying efforts. June 2005 Last updated:  8 June 2006    Sources:   Klein, Rick.  \"GOP Takes Aim at PBS Funding.\"    The Boston Globe.  8 June 2006.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_702","claim":"Dearborn in the U.S.A.","posted":"07\/06\/2015","sci_digest":["President Obama did not sign an executive order authorizing the opening of an ISIS-sympathetic youth center in Dearborn."],"justification":"Claim:  President Obama signed an executive order authorizing the opening of an ISIS-sympathetic youth center in Dearborn.    Example:  [Collected via email, July 2015] Here is something from Facebook that is so far out I am asking you to debunk it ASAP. An executive order signed by the President so ISIS can open a center and train youths in Dearborn, Michigan.    Origins:  On 25 June 2015, an article reporting that President Obama had signed an executive order authorizing the opening of an ISIS-sympathetic youth center in Dearborn, Michigan (an American city with a large Muslim population which has been featured in a good many rumors and fake news stories) was widely circulated via social media: featured   Following months of obstruction by state officials, the federal government intervened on behalf of a Muslim group who is outspokenly supportive of the Islamic State, to open the doors of a new Islamic youth outreach center in a lower-income area in the city of Dearborn. The facility will be run by Syrian-born Aisha Hani-Salaam, a recent immigrant and unapologetic supporter of ISIS. President Obama, who signed the executive order to allow the center, said, \"We need to take advantage of every opportunity to end the violence between our people. Hopefully this will start a new era in relations between the United States and the religion of Islam. Muslims are understandably angry over the Western media's overblown portrayal of ISIL as merciless killers. I believe this is a good opportunity to end the fighting and use diplomacy to usher in a new era of peace, as well as gain a powerful new ally in that part of the world.\" Despite the President's hopeful and reassuring message, Hani-Salaam remains angry and openly criticizes some American Muslims for their 'lukewarm' traditional condemnations of the United States.   The above-quoted article was mistaken by many readers for a genuine news report. However, it was just a spoof published by a clickbait fake news site known for spreading malware.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1djqHMrRhbRp9PYF-seGAA_UFudng5_20","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_703","claim":"Did Rosie O'Donnell 'Plead Insanity' Over Illegal Campaign Donations?","posted":"05\/06\/2018","sci_digest":["Right-leaning web sites falsely accused the actress and comedian of trying to set up a \"Trump Derangement Syndrome\" defense."],"justification":"In May 2018, right-wing blogs pounced on a New York Post story concerning alleged campaign contribution violations by actress and comedian Rosie O'Donnell. According to the Post, the former co-host of The View exceeded the $2,700 limit on individual campaign contributions in donations to several Democratic Party candidates via the fundraising web site ActBlue, while using five different New York addresses and four variations of her name. According The report also said that O'Donnell donated $90,000 to 50 different committees and candidates for federal office. O'Donnell reportedly told the Post via email that she did \"nothing nefarious,\" adding that she did not choose to donate over the limit. The newspaper also quoted her as saying: My anxiety is quelled by donating to those opposing trump [and] his agenda  especially at night  when most of these were placed. Conservative bloggers seized on that remark to accuse O'Donnell of \"pleading insanity\": accuse Trump-hating liberal Rosie ODonnell has accused President Trump of many bogus crimes. She has been obsessed with trying to accuse President Trump of nonsense. She has became completely obsessed with President Trump. Her Twitter feed is filled with incohrrent [sic] rants. Now the Trump curse continues as she is pleading insanity in hopes of not paying the penalty for breaking campaign finance laws. She is facing criminal charges thanks to a campaign finance scheme. In fact, there has been no announcement of an investigation into the alleged donations, let alone \"criminal charges.\" The Federal Election Commission did not comment on the Post's report. While the Post's report has been aggregated by blogs and other news outlets, no second source has emerged corroborating its findings. An ActBlue spokesperson, Chris Fleming, did not comment on the story, but did tell us: ActBlue does not allow over the limit contributions in any one transaction, and ActBlue offers donors the option of saving all their info in an account where they can track their cumulative giving through ActBlue and compare\/add to offline giving. While the Post reported that FEC violations only rarely lead to penalties, Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levinson said that it can depend on the jurisdiction. \"For instance, some cities and states are much more aggressive about finding and fining people for these violations than others,\" said Levinson, who focuses on campaign finance in her work: On the federal level, it is true that the Federal Election Commission is a model of inaction. I think it would be fair to say that fines are not common, but I'm not really convinced that these types of violations are terrifically common. For her part, O'Donnell accused the Post on Twitter of employing \"sinister ways to warp the truth.\" She also posted a photograph depicting her contributions on the ActBlue platform, listed at 66 donations totaling $75,500: Twitter   She told the Post that candidates should refund donation money that exceeds the individual limit, adding, \"I don't look to see who I can donate most to.... I just donate assuming they do not accept what is over the limit.\" FEC regulations state that campaign committees that receive individual donations over the $2,700 limit have 60 days to refund the excess amount, redesignate it toward another election, or reattribute the money to someone else. In the event of a redesignation or reattribution, the contributor must be notified of the committee's intent and offered the chance to collect a refund instead. state The newspaper's report centered on contributions from O'Donnell to two current Democratic congressional candidates  Lauren Underwood in Illinois and Omar Vaid in New York  as well as campaigns for three current lawmakers from the same party: Rep. Adam Schiff from California; Doug Jones of Alabama; and Conor Lamb of Pennsylvania. Lamb's campaign will reportedly contact O'Donnell and offer to either refund or redesignate her excess contributions; Vaid's told the Post that it would amend its filings. A spokesperson for Underwood told us: Because of the data point differences in name, address, and employer, our systems did not flag these contributions as totaling above the limit. In the coming weeks, we will be amending our report. Bloggers also attempted to compare O'Donnell's purported violations to the outright illegal donations that led to the 2014 conviction of right-wing documentarian Dinesh D'Souza. D'Souza was sentenced to five years probation and eight months in a halfway house after pleading guilty to making illegal contributions in the names of others. D'Souza asked two friends and their partners to donate $10,000 apiece in 2012 toward Republican Wendy Long's senatorial candidate. sentenced \"I do think we could find a distinction between what D'Souza was charged with  making a contribution of about 10 times the legal limit  with what O'Donnell is accused of  making a total of $5,400 in contributions over the legal limit to five different candidates,\" Levinson said. \"O'Donnell's error seems more believably to be one of ignorance, while it is hard to believe that D'Souza believed a $20,000 contribution was legal.\" Sanders, Anna. \"Rosie O'Donnell's Campaign Donations to Dems Went Over Legal Limit.\"\r  New York Post. 5 May 2018. Federal Election Commission. \"Remedying an Excessive contribution.\" Federal Bureau of Investigations. \"Dinesh D'Souza Sentenced in Manhattan Federal Court to Five Years of Probation for Campaign Finance Fraud.\"\r  23 September 2014.","issues":["finance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1aLebx6DtXiupeG4w16EyYXpSpyCRPHbY","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_704","claim":"Does this internet trend show evidence of racial prejudice in cases of tax-evasion prosecutions?","posted":"03\/15\/2019","sci_digest":["What do these four examples have in common?  Nothing of significance, as far as we can tell."],"justification":"One of the more unusual political memes we've come across presented four different cases of tax-related financial improprieties to suggest that tax-evasion prosecutions were somehow influenced by racial bias against non-blacks. However, the \"Tax Racism\" meme offered examples, not all of which were actual cases of tax evasion, so widely spaced in time and differing in circumstances as to be unhelpful in making any point at all about either tax fraud or race. Martha Stewart, the entrepreneur who rose to prominence as the author of books on cooking, entertaining, and decorating, was not charged with or imprisoned for non-payment of income taxes. Stewart was found guilty in March 2004 of felony charges of conspiracy, obstruction of an agency proceeding, and making false statements to federal investigators in a case related to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation into insider trading activity. On June 4, 2003, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed securities fraud charges against Martha Stewart and her former stockbroker, Peter Bacanovic. The complaint, filed in federal court in Manhattan, alleges that Stewart committed illegal insider trading when she sold stock in a biopharmaceutical company, ImClone Systems, Inc., on Dec. 27, 2001, after receiving an unlawful tip from Bacanovic, who was a broker with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated at the time. The Commission further alleges that Stewart and Bacanovic subsequently created an alibi for Stewart's ImClone sales and concealed important facts during SEC and criminal investigations into her trades. In a separate action, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York obtained an indictment charging Stewart and Bacanovic criminally for their false statements concerning Stewart's ImClone trades. Stewart was sentenced to five months in prison and also settled a civil suit with the SEC by paying a $195,000 fine, a penalty that reflected four times the amount of stock value loss she avoided by taking advantage of inside information, plus interest. Stewart did engage in a dispute with the state of New York in 2002 over unpaid property taxes that she contended she didn't owe because she hardly spent any time in that state, and she was eventually ordered by a judge to pay $220,000 in back taxes plus penalties. But contrary to the false impression created by this meme, she was not prosecuted or jailed over that issue; the time she spent in prison was solely related to a later insider-trading case, not to tax evasion. By the mid-1920s, notorious Chicago mobster Alphonse Gabriel Capone was reportedly taking in nearly $60 million annually ($878 million in 2018 dollars) from a variety of illegal activities, primarily Prohibition-era bootlegging. Capone was dubbed \"Public Enemy No. 1\" after the 1929 Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, in which gunmen allegedly hired by him posed as police officers to murder seven members of a rival gang, leading to increased public pressure on the government to rein Capone in. Federal authorities had difficulty gathering sufficient hard evidence to convict Capone on any substantial criminal charges, so they took what was then a novel approach: Even if they couldn't prove Capone was making his millions illegally, they could prove he wasn't paying income tax on his ill-gotten gains. Despite his obviously lavish lifestyle, Capone never filed a federal income tax return and claimed he had no taxable income, reportedly boasting at one point that, \"They can't collect legal taxes from illegal money.\" He was proved wrong. IRS and Treasury agents gathered evidence that Capone had made millions of dollars in untaxed income, and the mobster was eventually indicted on 22 counts of federal income tax evasion. After conviction, he was sentenced in 1931 to 11 years in prison, fined $50,000, and ordered to pay back taxes in the amount of $215,000. Capone was released from prison in 1939 with time off for good behavior and retired to Florida, where he died in 1947 at the relatively young age of 48. In a literal sense, Capone was indeed jailed for non-payment of income taxes, but the tax evasion charges were essentially a proxy for prosecuting the mobster over the multitude of vastly worse and violent crimes with which he was connected, as well as the immense profits he derived from those criminal activities. Capone was by no means an otherwise upright and law-abiding citizen who was thrown in prison simply because he didn't pay his income taxes. At this point in our narrative, we need to distinguish between different forms of tax evasion. At one end of the spectrum are those who haven't engaged in any fraudulent behavior but simply didn't or can't pay their taxes for any number of reasons\u2014maybe they didn't plan or withhold prudently, they received poor financial advice, they had legitimate confusion or dispute over what constituted taxable income, or they simply overspent and ended up in debt. Although non-payment of taxes is a crime, the IRS will not usually seek prosecution in these types of cases and will instead work with offenders to facilitate payment of their back debts, rather than making repayment difficult or impossible by incarcerating them. At the other end of the spectrum are those who actively engage in fraud to evade the full payment of taxes: They fail to disclose their full income, hide financial transactions, claim deductions to which they are not entitled, disguise monies earned as something other than income, or otherwise file falsified tax returns. The IRS will, at their discretion, seek prosecution in egregious cases of these forms of tax evasion. Leona Helmsley, derisively known as the \"Queen of Mean,\" was a billionaire who, along with her husband, real estate investor and broker Harry Helmsley, owned a vast portfolio of real estate and other assets, including a chain of hotels and the iconic Empire State Building. Leona Helmsley, who once reportedly asserted that \"We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes,\" fell into the latter class of tax evader, falsely manipulating her personal finances, business expenses, and dealings with third parties to avoid paying immense sums of taxes. Some of Helmsley's luster was tarnished in 1986 when court documents and law enforcement officials said she had failed to pay sales taxes in New York on hundreds of thousands of dollars of jewelry she purchased at Van Cleef & Arpels, the exclusive Manhattan store. Two senior store officers were indicted on charges that they operated a scheme by which customers with out-of-state addresses could have their purchases recorded as being mailed to them, thus avoiding city and state taxes. In 1987, a series of adverse articles in The New York Post about the Helmsleys, set off by one of their disgruntled employees, led to a broad investigation. The following year, Harry and Leona Helmsley were indicted by federal and state authorities on charges that they had evaded more than $4 million in income taxes by fraudulently claiming as business expenses luxuries they purchased for Dunnellen Hall in Greenwich, Conn., a 28-room Jacobean mansion on 26 acres with a sweeping view of Long Island Sound that they bought in 1983. In 235 counts in state and federal indictments brought by Robert Abrams, then the New York State attorney general, and Rudolph W. Giuliani, then the United States attorney and later mayor of New York, the Helmsleys were accused of draining their hotel and real estate empire to provide themselves with such extravagances at Dunnellen Hall as a $1 million marble dance floor above a swimming pool, a $45,000 silver clock, a $210,000 mahogany card table, a $130,000 stereo system, and $500,000 worth of jade art objects. Nothing was too small or personal to be billed to their businesses, from Mrs. Helmsley's bras to a white lace and pink satin dress and jacket and a white chiffon skirt\u2014the dress and skirt were entered in the Park Lane Hotel records as uniforms for the staff. Mrs. Helmsley was also charged with defrauding Helmsley stockholders by receiving $83,333 a month in secret consulting fees. She was convicted of 33 felony counts related to her evasion of $1.2 million in federal income taxes. She was sentenced to 16 years in prison (reduced to four years on appeal), fined $7.1 million for tax fraud, and ordered to pay some $1.7 million in back federal and state taxes. She began serving her sentence in 1992 and was released from federal prison in Connecticut in 1994 after having served less than half her sentence. Where along the tax-evader spectrum between \"legitimate dispute\" and \"willful tax fraud\" civil rights activist Al Sharpton might fall is difficult to determine. Claims were made in the press in 2014 that Sharpton owed some $4.5 million in unpaid taxes, but the accuracy of that number and how much of the money owed might already have been repaid by Sharpton were unclear, and his tax-troubles narrative involved a muddied mixture of personal, business, and non-profit finances, as well as liabilities for federal taxes, state taxes, payroll taxes, and personal income taxes. Much of the dispute over the \"why\" and \"how much\" of Sharpton's unpaid tax bill stemmed from the operations of the National Action Network, a not-for-profit civil rights organization founded by Sharpton in 1991. Sharpton contended in a 2014 New York Times account that he incurred an unexpected tax liability because he was taxed personally for income he had given to the non-profit organization, and that he was up to date on repayment plans. Officials contested that the amount he was in arrears for unpaid taxes had actually grown larger, though. Today, Mr. Sharpton still faces personal federal tax liens of more than $3 million and state tax liens of $777,657, according to records. Mr. Sharpton said the federal liens resulted from a demand by the IRS that he pay taxes on earnings from speaking engagements that he had turned over to the National Action Network. He said he was up to date on payment plans for both the federal and state liens, so, he said, the outstanding balance was much lower than records showed. But according to state officials, his balance on the state liens is actually $220,000 greater now than when they were first filed during the years 2008 through 2010. A spokesman for the State Department of Taxation and Finance said state law did not allow him to provide any further details. Sharpton then contested that news account, asserting that it referenced \"old taxes\" and insisting again that his tax liens had been paid down below the $4.5 million debt claimed in the New York Times report. During a news conference at the headquarters of his National Action Network in Harlem, Mr. Sharpton sought to refute the assertion that there were $4.5 million in state and federal tax liens outstanding against him and the for-profit businesses he controls. He said that the liens had been paid down, although he declined to say by how much, and that he was current on all taxes he was obligated to pay under settlement agreements with tax authorities. \"We're talking about old taxes,\" he said, adding, \"We're not talking about anything new. So all of this, as if I'm not paying taxes while I'm doing whatever I'm doing, it reads all right, but it just is not true.\" The accuracy of Mr. Sharpton's assertion that the amount he owes the federal government is much lower than the $3.6 million shown in records could not be verified. A spokesman for the Internal Revenue Service said federal law prohibited the agency from divulging any details about individual taxpayers. As for the state tax liens, Mr. Sharpton's assertion that he had paid them down conflicts with information provided by state officials. State authorities filed tax liens against Mr. Sharpton in 2008 and 2009, and again in 2010 against a for-profit business he controls, Revals Communications, all totaling $695,000. But a spokesman for the State Department of Taxation and Finance said the amount due had actually increased to $916,000. Regardless of the numbers, Sharpton wasn't put in prison because tax officials did not deem his case to be an exceptional one of scofflaw tax fraud or evasion that merited prosecution, instead working with him to facilitate his paying down the debt. The conclusion here is a simple one: Cherry-picking four very disparate cases of financial wrongdoing spanning several decades, while ignoring the many other instances of tax evasion successfully prosecuted by the U.S. government, documents nothing about any purported racial bias in such prosecutions.","issues":["debt"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1YaeBZxsc5Ybwen6gYUE27t4O3oq-p0T1"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_705","claim":"Target Transgender Bathroom Policy","posted":"04\/20\/2016","sci_digest":["A social media controversy erupted when Target announced a chain-wide policy inviting transgender customers to use the bathroom that matched their gender identity."],"justification":"Public debate around transgender individuals and bathroom use hit a fever pitch in April 2016, largely due to the controversial passage of HB 2 (otherwise known as the \"bathroom bill\") in North Carolina. On April 19, 2016, Target released a statement confirming a new policy regarding transgender customers and bathrooms. The statement emphasized Target's commitment to inclusivity, reiterating its core belief that everyone\u2014every team member, every guest, and every community\u2014deserves protection from discrimination and should be treated equally. Consistent with this belief, Target supports the federal Equality Act, which provides protections to LGBT individuals, and opposes actions that enable discrimination. In its stores, Target demonstrates its commitment to an inclusive experience in various ways. Most relevant to the current conversations, the company welcomes transgender team members and guests to use the restroom or fitting room facility that corresponds with their gender identity. \n\nBathroom controversies were not new in April 2016, but HB2, which was by far the highest-profile legislation of that nature, provoked a significant response across the country. Target was not the first large and well-known entity to clarify its policy regarding transgender bathroom use, and the brand responded to some feedback on Twitter: \"Everyone is welcome at Target.\" Not all of the public's response was positive. Target's Facebook page was flooded with critical responses similar to the heavily satirized comments that appeared when the chain announced gender-neutral toy aisles. Some misinformation also circulated about the development. The website The Political Insider reported that the retailer released the statement under pressure from the President and LGBT groups, claiming that Target \"just caved to pressure from the Obama administration and liberal activists.\" They alleged that any transgender person could use the bathroom in their stores according to the gender they associate with, suggesting that men were now allowed to use the restroom next to young girls. \n\nNo information substantiated the claim that Target was pressured to institute the chain-wide policy, and no retailers of a similar size and scope have reported any organized push to enact similar policies. While HB2 is an enforceable law, Target's bathroom policy is simply a brand decision based on its own ethics and belief structure. It is true that Target announced on April 19, 2016, that transgender shoppers and staff were welcome to use the bathroom that best matched their gender identities. However, neither President Obama nor any groups appeared to have forced the retailer's hand in issuing the policy, and no \"transgender bathrooms\" were included in the details of the announcement.","issues":["equity"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1a-U6BfP4qDouGx0zmQCVlAYSN5PEnXoY","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1EksZH9zzFYzzz_-BEcKPYBsQQXzFIXIs","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=18QU6r48QPGoqwQyXedo3LEefF5eoaFl8","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1sQ5QVj9gA0aBwltJ4uC0P-r-BpVF3aFn","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_706","claim":"Did Actress Dawn Wells Make Millions from 'Gilligan's Island'?","posted":"11\/05\/2019","sci_digest":["Legend has it that the business savvy of \"Mary Ann's\" husband garnered her a lifetime of royalty payments."],"justification":"We now accept as commonplace the notion that actors in popular television shows are set for life financially, as we read about how cast members in hit shows such as \"Friends,\" \"Seinfeld,\" and \"The Big Bang Theory\" not only were paid upwards of $1 million per episode during those series' initial runs, but then earned millions of dollars more in residuals and royalties from syndication deals, DVD sales, and video streaming. $1 million earned That wasn't always the case, however. The actors from television shows of decades past  shows whose episodes have been continuously rerun countless thousands of times all over the world and are touchstones of popular culture  did not reap any such bounty. Those cast members were typically paid salaries that ranged from modest to pretty good, and they may have received additional payments for the first few airings of episodes in which they appeared, but that was it  they collected little or no residuals when their shows were sold into syndication, and no royalties from a home video market that didn't yet exist. As Eve Plumb, who portrayed Jan Brady on the 1970s sitcom \"The Brady Bunch,\" revealed in 2011: The biggest misconception is that were all rich from it, but we are not. We have not been paid for reruns of the show for many, many years. We are not making money off of it at all. Eve Plumb The one notable exception to this circumstance, according to legend, is actress Dawn Wells, who played the character of Mary Ann Summers in the 1960s sitcom \"Gilligan's Island.\" Numerous websites such as Mental Floss have offered versions of the following tale about how Wells supposedly parlayed her three seasons on the show into a lifetime of paychecks: versions Wells was married to talent agent Larry Rosen when she was hired for the Gilligan cast, and it was Rosen who noted the clause in her contract (which was standard at the time) that limited her to collecting residuals only the first five times any episode re-ran after its original airing. Rosen told Wells that if the series was a success, this clause could cost her a lot of money. Wells was the only castaway who asked for an amendment to that residual clause in her contract, and the producers granted it, never thinking the series would be on the air 40 years later. As a result, [producer] Sherwood Schwartz and Dawn Wells are the only two folks connected with the show who still receive money from it. This narrative seems quite improbable on its face. Actors are generally represented by a bevy of various unions, guilds, agents, and lawyers, and the idea that only one person in the whole television industry possessed the savvy to recognize that a contractual entitlement to residuals was a potentially lucrative reward worth pursuing strains credulity. Moreover, the goal of most television producers in that era was to keep their shows going long enough (generally three years) to amass a sufficient number of episodes for syndication deals after those series ended their original network runs, as the syndication market provided the bulk of potential profits. While producers may not have expected their shows to still be airing \"40 years later,\" they certainly hoped their series would enjoy long TV afterlives, and they would not be keen on sharing those revenues with actors who had little bargaining power (nor would they want to set a precedent for other actors to follow). A minor actor in a secondary role who dared to press for a contractual guarantee to perpetual royalties likely would have been curtly informed how quickly and easily she could be replaced.  We don't need to speculate on the state of 1960s television to know the answer here, though, because Wells herself has repeatedly stated that this legend is false. In 2014, for example, Wells said during an interview that she was paid a salary roughly equivalent to $50,000 in today's dollars and \"never received any residuals\": interview Q: They stopped making Gilligans Island 47 years ago. Do you still receive residuals? A: We never received any residuals. Q: How much money did you make for Gilligans Island? A: Nothing. I dont know, maybe I made $700 a week. I understand (the producer) Mr. Schwartz made $90 million on the reruns alone. I think we got paid ... maybe we made $50,000, I dont know. And in a 2016 interview, she answered the question, \"Whats one big myth about [Gilligan's Island]?\" by asserting that the actors \"didn't really get a dime\" in residuals: A misconception is that we must be wealthy, rolling in the dough, because we got residuals. We didnt really get a dime. I think my salary -- of course, I was low on the totem pole, Ginger [Tina Louise] and Thurston [Jim Backus] got more -- was $750 a week. Sherwood Schwartz, our producer, reportedly made $90 million on the reruns alone! A 2014 Washington Post obituary of Wells' cast mate Russell Johnson, who played the Professor, also observed that Johnson \"resented ... that he and other cast members were left out of the bulk of the syndication profits.\" obituary For what it's worth, the daughter of \"Gilligan's Island\" creator Sherwood Schwartz disputed the oft-repeated claim that her father realized as much as $90 million from the series: disputed Schwartzs daughter Hope Juber dismissed that estimate as an urban myth. While he, and my family were certainly comfortable, that kind of wild estimate is ridiculous and surprising, she wrote in an email. She said her father made his own deal with the studio just like the cast members, but not for that kind of money. She added, If there is $90 million, it must be buried in a chest on the island somewhere because weve never seen it. Mackie, John.  \"Full Interview With: Mary Ann on Gilligans Island.\"\r  Vancouver Sun.  22 January 2014. Bernstein, Adam.  \"Russell Johnson, Actor Who Played the Professor on Gilligans Island, Dies at 89.\"\r  The Washington Post.  16 January 2019. Malito, Alessandra.  \"Why We Keep Hearing About Once-Famous TV Actors in Financial Trouble.\"\r  MarketWatch.  10 September 2018. Kovalchik, Kara.  \"TV-Holic: Still on Gilligans Island.\"\r  Mental Floss.  8 September 2010. OK!.  \"Eve Plumb Not Paid for 'Brady Bunch' Reruns.\"\r  3 February 2011. Goldberg, Lesley.  \"Why the 'Big Bang Theory' Stars Took Surprising Pay Cuts.\"\r  The Hollywood Reporter.  29 March 2017. Clash, Jim.  \"Interview: Actress Dawn Wells Answers the Big Ginger\/Mary Ann Question, More.\"\r  Forbes.  18 March 2016.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1tlBoZEkp02_6t7Hr5HFMpRPKud0VClsM","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_707","claim":"The Real Mitt Romney","posted":"07\/02\/2012","sci_digest":["Item presents information about the 'real' Mitt Romney."],"justification":"Claim:  Item presents information about the \"real\" Mitt Romney. true Example:  [Collected via e-mail, June 2012] The Real Mitt Romney! After going to both Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School simultaneously, he passed the Michigan bar, but never worked as an attorney. As a venture-capitalist, Romney's first major business deal involved investing in a start-up office supply company with one store in Massachusetts that sold office supplies. That company, called Staples, now has over 2,000 stores and employs over 90,000 people. Romney or his company Bain Capital (using what became known as the \"Bain Way\") would go on to perform the same kinds of business miracles again and again, with companies like Domino's, Sealy, Brookstone, Weather Channel, Burger King, Warner Music Group, Dollarama, Home Depot Supply, and many others. Got your calculators handy? Let's recap. Volunteer campaign worker for his dad's gubernatorial campaign 1 year. Unpaid intern in Governor's office 8 years. Mormon missionary in Paris 2 years. Unpaid bishop and stake president for his church 10 years. No salary as president of the Olympics 3 years. No salary as MA governor 4 years. That's a grand total of 28 years of unpaid service to his country, his community and his church. Why? Because that's the kind of man Mitt Romney is! And in 2011 Mitt Romney gave over $4 million to charity, almost 19% of his income ... Obama gave 1% Joe Biden gave $300 or .0013% This is real character vs ... well you know what!   Origins:  This item about former Massachusetts governor and 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney first hit our inbox in June 2012.  Most of the information contained therein is verifiable, as described below: After going to both Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School simultaneously, he passed the Michigan bar, but never worked as an attorney.   In the 1970s, Mitt Romney attended Harvard University and earned a degree from the school's then-new joint business and law degree program.  According to a 2007 Boston Globe profile: George Romney loomed large in his son's decision to earn business and law degrees simultaneously. Intent on following in the professional footsteps of his father, who had been chairman of American Motors Corp., Romney expressed an interest in business school. George Romney believed a law degree was a valuable commodity. So his son pursued both. Harvard's joint MBA\/JD program was relatively new at the time  it had been launched two years earlier  and was intensely rigorous. Typically, business school is completed in two years and law school in three; dual-degree students earn both degrees in four years, spending their first year at one of the schools, their second at the other, and their final two shuttling between both. Out of Romney's 800 business school classmates and 550 law school classmates, only 15 earned degrees through the dual program. Romney excelled at both schools, graduating with honors from the law school; becoming a Baker Scholar at the business school, a distinction reserved for the top 5 percent of the class; and impressing many of his peers with his quick mind and skill at building consensus. The biography The Real Romney notes that: Shortly after Romney left Harvard, he began working at BCG [Boston Consulting Group], a fitting first job for a freshly minted Ivy League graduate. Romney was hedging his bets, though, not wholly confident that he would make it in the business world. He passed the Michigan bar exam in July 1975 and was admitted to practice law there the next year.  He figured it would provide him a landing place if he didn't cut it in business. But the safety valve wouldn't be necessary. As a venture-capitalist, Romney's first major business deal involved investing in a start-up office supply company with one store in Massachusetts that sold office supplies. That company, called Staples, now has over 2,000 stores and employs over 90,000 people. Romney or his company Bain Capital (using what became known as the \"Bain Way\") would go on to perform the same kinds of business miracles again and again, with companies like Domino's, Sealy, Brookstone, Weather Channel, Burger King, Warner Music Group, Dollarama, Home Depot Supply, and many others. The long-term effectiveness (or lack thereof) of the so-called \"Bain Way\" remains a subject of debate.  In January 2012, the Wall Street Journal published an analysis of the business investments made by Bain Capital during Mitt Romney's tenure there and reported the following: The Wall Street Journal, aiming for a comprehensive assessment, examined 77 businesses Bain invested in while Mr. Romney led the firm from its 1984 start until early 1999, to see how they fared during Bain's involvement and shortly afterward. Among the findings: 22% either filed for bankruptcy reorganization or closed their doors by the end of the eighth year after Bain first invested, sometimes with substantial job losses. An additional 8% ran into so much trouble that all of the money Bain invested was lost. Another finding was that Bain produced stellar returns for its investors  yet the bulk of these came from just a small number of its investments. Ten deals produced more than 70% of the dollar gains. Some of those companies, too, later ran into trouble. Of the 10 businesses on which Bain investors scored their biggest gains, four later landed in bankruptcy court. (Full details of the Wall Street Journal's analysis can be viewed here.) here Volunteer campaign worker for his dad's gubernatorial campaign 1 year.   A 2007 Time magazine article touched on a teenaged Mitt Romney's working for his father's Michigan gubernatorial campaign in 1962: He was 15 when his father ran for Governor in a state in which no Republican had held the job in 14 years. Mitt worked the campaign switchboard and traveled the county-fair circuit in a Ford microvan. George put Mitt to work at the \"Romney for Governor\" booths, shouting over a microphone and loudspeaker system, \"You should vote for my father for Governor. He's a truly great person. You've got to support him. He's going to make things better.\" Mitt realizes now that his dad had something in mind beyond his own political career: \"He was teaching me how to get out there.\" Unpaid intern in Governor's office 8 years.   Mitt Romney did work as an intern in the Michigan governor's office while his father held that position, but not for anything close to eight years. George Romney served as Michigan's governor for only six years (January 1963 to January 1969), and for most of that time Mitt Romney was living outside of the state: first as a student at Stanford University in California from 1965-66, then as a Mormon missionary in France from mid-1966 through the end of 1968. Mormon missionary in Paris 2 years.   Mitt Romney served as a Mormon missionary in France for a thirty-month period from July 1966 to December 1968.  In 2007 the New York Times France was a humbling experience for Mr. Romney, who recalled it as the only time in his life when most of what I was trying to do was rejected. Missionary work is a rite of passage for Mormon men, who are encouraged to volunteer when they turn 19. Mitt Romneys grandfather, father and older brother had all served in Britain, so his assignment to France came as a surprise, he recalled. The son of a car company chief executive who later became governor of Michigan, Mitt Romney called his mission an instructive first experience of deprivation. He lived on about $100 a month, sleeping on cast-off mattresses and crowding into small apartments in groups of four. The only toilet was often down the hall and the only shower in a public bathhouse.  The 175 missionaries in France all rose at 6 a.m. each day, rang doorbells from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and turned in by 10.  Mr. Romney quickly stood out. His father was perhaps the best known Mormon public official of his day, and Mitts three years of French at the exclusive Cranbrook school in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., had made him more fluent than his peers.  Like most missionaries, he did not win many converts. After reading Mitts demoralized letters, his father sent back a favorite motto: Despair not, but if you despair, work on in your despair. Mr. Romneys companions, though, recall only his zeal. In newsletters, he often led the lists recording contacts made or tracts distributed. He chafed at the door-to-door entreaties, pushing for new ways to market their creed, like an exhibition baseball game or staging an American night in a youth center. Unpaid bishop and stake president for his church 10 years.   The authors of The Real Romney described Mitt's service as a bishop and stake president in his church: Mormon congregations, typically groups of 400 to 500 people, are known as wards, and their boundaries are determined by geography. Wards, along with smaller congregations known as branches, are organized into stakes. Thus a stake, akin to a Catholic diocese, is a collection of wards and branches in a city or region. Unlike Protestants or Catholics, Mormons do not choose the congregations to which they belong. It depends entirely on where they live. In another departure from many other faiths, Mormons do not have paid full-time clergy. Members in good standing take turns serving in leadership roles. They are expected to perform their ecclesiastical duties on top of career and family responsibilities. Those called to serve as stake presidents and bishops, or leaders of local wards, are fully empowered as agents of the church, and they carry great authority over their domains. Mitt Romney first took on a major church role around 1977, when he was called to be a counselor to Gordon Williams, then the president of the Boston stake. Romney was essentially an adviser and deputy to Williams, helping oversee area congregations. His appointment was somewhat unusual in that counselors at that level have typically been bishops of their local wards first. But Romney, who was only about 30 years old, was deemed to possess leadership qualities beyond his years. Romneys responsibilities only grew from there; he would go on to serve as bishop and then as stake president, overseeing about a dozen congregations with close to 4,000 members altogether. Those positions in the church amounted to his biggest leadership test yet, exposing him to personal and institutional crises, human tragedies, immigrant cultures, social forces, and organizational challenges that he had never before encountered. No salary as president of the Olympics 3 years.   Mitt Romney served as the president and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games of 2002. According to his spokesman, Romney donated the salary and severance pay he received for that effort to charity: In Romney's case, he signed an offer letter in 1999 acknowledging he would be paid $280,000 annually for the Olympic job and receive up to one year in severance pay after the Games. Romney announced the day he started the job that he would not accept any wages unless the organizing committee completed the Games with a profit. He also told the Salt Lake Tribune one of his \"absolutes\" was that he would \"not accept any severance pay when his three-year term is complete.\" He also cited his pledge to forgo any severance pay in his book, \"Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership, and the Olympic Games.\" When the organizing committee posted a surplus of nearly $100 million after the Games, Romney accepted $922,980 in total salary as well as the $476,000 severance package. [His spokesman, Eric] Fehrnstrom said Romney gave his salary as well as the severance pay to charity. Romney and his wife, Ann, also donated $1 million to the organizing committee during his tenure. Asked what charities received the money, Fehrnstrom said Romney does not discuss publicly his charitable giving. No salary as MA governor 4 years.   Just prior to his swearing-in as Massachusetts' governor in 2003, Mitt Romney's transition team announced that he and his lieutenant governor would not take salaries ($135,000 and $120,000 per year, respectively) while in office. And in 2011 Mitt Romney gave over $4 million to charity, almost 19% of his income.  Obama gave 1% Joe Biden gave $300 or .0013%   According to an in-process federal income tax return made available by the Romney campaign, in 2011 Mitt and Ann Romney declared a gross income of $20,908,880 and charitable contributions of $4,020,572, the latter figure comprising 19.2% of the former.   tax return The additional information about the charitable donations of President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden is incorrect, however.  In 2011 the Obamas reported agross income of $844,585 and charitable contributions totaling $172,130, the latter figure comprising 20.4% of the former (a rate higher than the Romneys' 19.2%).  The Bidens reported a gross income of $379,035 for 2011 and claimed $5,540 in charitable contributions, the latter figure comprising 1.5% of the former. reported reported Last updated:  2 July 2012    Erb, Kelly Phillips.  \"President Obama and Vice President Biden Release 2011 Tax Returns.\"   Forbes.  13 April 2012.    Hohler, Bob.  \"Romney's Olympic Ties Helped Him Reap Campaign Funds.\"   The Boston Globe.  28 June 2007.    Khan, Huma.  \"Mitt Romney Made Nearly $22 Million in 2010, Paid Less Than 14% in Taxes.\"   ABCNews.com.  24 January 2012.    Kirkpatrick, David D.  \"Romney, Searching and Earnest, Set His Path in 60s.\"   The New York Times.  15 November 2007.    Kranish, Michael and Scott Helman.  The Real Romney.   New York: Harper, 2012.  ISBN 0-062-12327-0.    Maremont, Mark.  \"Romney at Bain: Big Gains, Some Busts.\"   The Wall Street Journal.  9 January 2012.    Pfeiffer, Sacha.  \"Romney's Harvard Classmates Recall His Quick Mind, Positive Attitude.\"   The Boston Globe.  26 June 2007.    Rubin, Jennifer.  \"Romney Paid 42 Percent of 2011 Income in Taxes and Charity.\"   The Washington Post.  24 January 2012.    Boston Business Journal.  \"Romney Passes Up $135K Governor Salary.\"   31 December 2002.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_708","claim":"Does This Pic Prove Russia Can Be Seen from Alaska?","posted":"02\/11\/2024","sci_digest":["Social media posts claim Russia's Big Diomede Island and Alaska's Little Diomede Island are only about 2.5 miles apart."],"justification":"On Feb. 3, 2024, a photograph circulated on social media allegedly showing a view of Russia from Alaska. \"Russia is 2 miles away from Alaska,\" one post on Reddit captioned the image, while another post on X (formerly Twitter) claimed that \"Russia is 55 miles away from Alaska.\" post post Russia is 2 miles away from Alaskabyu\/NicoleN_Pillow1899 inBeAmazed Russia is 2 miles away from Alaska u\/NicoleN_Pillow1899 BeAmazed  \"Is it real?\" one Reddit user asked. We found that the image was also shared on Instagram and featured in a BuzzFeed article. asked Instagram article In short, the photograph is authentic, but it does not show Russian territory visible from Alaska. The photo was featured in a 2018 BBC article with the title \"American lone sailor held in far east Russia near Alaska\" and an article by TASS, a Russian press agency, with the credit of \" ,\" which translates to \"Yuri Smityuk.\" We found the photograph was captured by Russian photographer Yuri Smityuk. The caption to the image shared by IMAGO, a German photo agency, read (emphasis ours): article article read CHUKOTKA, RUSSIA  JUNE 24, 2018: Mechigmen Spit near the Lorino whaling settlement. There are 1200 people living in the village which is the centre of Russia s subsistence whaling and walrus hunting. Lorino maritime hunters have an annual catch limit of 60 gray whales and 1 bowhead whale. Therefore, the photograph was not captured in Alaska, contrary to what some social media users claimed. However, it is true that Russia's Big Diomede Island and Alaska's Little Diomede Island are about 2.5 miles apart. (The Russian and Alaskan mainlands are approximately 55 miles apart at their closest points.) 2.5 miles mainlands   (Google Maps) Given that the so-called Yesterday and Tomorrow Islands are so close to each other, it is possible to see Russian territory from Alaska, as can be seen in the Getty Images photograph below: photograph   (Getty Images) For reference, here's what the Diomede Islands look like from from above:   (Getty Images) In January 2011, we investigated whether vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said, \"I can see Russia from my house,\" during the 2008 presidential campaign. investigated Anchorage, Mailing Address: 605 West 4th Avenue Suite 105, and AK 99501 Phone: 907 644-3661 Contact Us. How Close Is Alaska to Russia? - Alaska Public Lands (U.S. National Park Service). https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/anch\/learn\/historyculture\/how-close-is-alaska-to-russia.htm. Accessed 7 Feb. 2024.\rDiomede Islands | Bering Strait, Russia, & Alaska | Britannica. 18 Dec. 2023, https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Diomede-Islands.\rMikkelson, David. \"Did Sarah Palin Say: 'I Can See Russia from My House'?\" Snopes, 29 Jan. 2011, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/sarah-palin-russia-house\/.\rYesterday and Tomorrow Islands. 27 Jan. 2018, https:\/\/earthobservatory.nasa.gov\/images\/91638\/yesterday-and-tomorrow-islands.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1nSMq-L0QIKbN_Pzm6_ZcWvnHNnWeOFii","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1e_4twjxUxCZtV6qQPL2sN30LeU-XqAj7","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1eLaWSTt7DtQqF7CF50sk3jQeEwqtkIyQ","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_709","claim":"Did the Trump Administration Send 18 Tons of PPE to China in Early 2020?","posted":"03\/31\/2020","sci_digest":["Critics have questioned the wisdom of exporting to China medical supplies that would soon be vitally needed in the U.S."],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease.  fighting Find out Read Submit Become a Founding Member CDC WHO During the COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic in March 2020, social media users began sharing a tweet ostensibly posted by U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) that castigated U.S. President Donald Trump for supposedly having sent 18 tons of personal protective equipment (PPE) to China while ignoring warnings and calling COVID-19 concerns a \"hoax.\" Readers wanted to know both if Waters had actually tweeted those words, and whether the content of that tweet was true:   sharing   The authorship of the tweet is easily verifiable, as it appears on the timeline of Waters' Twitter account:  It is also true that on Feb. 7, 2020, while critics contended that the Trump administration was doing relatively little to prepare for the coming pandemic in the U.S., the State Department announced it had facilitated \"the transportation of nearly 17.8 tons of donated medical supplies to the Chinese people, including masks, gowns, gauze, respirators, and other vital materials\" in order to help \"contain and combat the novel coronavirus\": relatively little announced facilitated This week the State Department has facilitated the transportation of nearly 17.8 tons of donated medical supplies to the Chinese people, including masks, gowns, gauze, respirators, and other vital materials.  These donations are a testament to the generosity of the American people. Today, the United States government is announcing it is prepared to spend up to $100 million in existing funds to assist China and other impacted countries, both directly and through multilateral organizations, to contain and combat the novel coronavirus.  This commitment  along with the hundreds of millions generously donated by the American private sector  demonstrates strong U.S. leadership in response to the outbreak.  This assistance only adds to what the United States has done to strengthen health security programs around the world.  For the last 20 years, the United States through USAID has invested over one billion dollars to strengthen the capacity of more than 25 countries to prevent, detect, and respond to existing and emerging infectious disease threats.  Since 2015, under our commitment to the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA), this support has helped improve surveillance and laboratory systems, risk communication, outbreak response, and address the rising threat of anti-microbial resistance. The United States is and will remain the worlds most generous donor. We encourage the rest of the world to match our commitment.  Working together, we can have a profound impact to contain this growing threat. This same topic was also the subject of a CNN editorial published on the same day as Waters' tweet, which criticized Trump for allowing the transfer of PPE to China even after at least a dozen cases of COVID-19 had been discovered in the U.S.: published a dozen cases Concerns about a dwindling supply of PPE are not new. Back on February 7, the World Health Organization sounded alarm bells about \"the limited stock of PPE,\" noting demand was 100 times higher than normal for this equipment. sounded alarm bells Yet the same day as the WHO warning, the Trump administration announced that it was transporting to China nearly 17.8 tons (more than 35,000 pounds) of \"masks, gowns, gauze, respirators, and other vital materials.\" As Secretary of State Mike Pompeo noted in the press release announcing this shipment, \"These donations are a testament to the generosity of the American people.\" Americans indeed are a generous people. We want to help those in need. And at the time these medical supplies were shipped, more than 28,000 people in China were infected with nearly 600 deaths attributed to the virus. But how could Trump allow tons of vital medical equipment Americans to be transported to another country in February if, as he has claimed since January, he fully understood the risk the United States was facing from the virus. As a reminder, the first known case of coronavirus case on US soil was confirmed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on January 21, 2020. The next day, Trump was asked about the virus while attending the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos. CNBC anchor Joe Kernen asked the President: \"The CDC has identified a case of coronavirus in Washington state ... have you been briefed by the CDC?\" to which Trump responded, \"I have.\" Kernen continued, \"Are there worries about a pandemic at this point?\" Trump declared: \"No. Not at all. And  we're  we have it totally under control. It's one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It's  going to be just fine.\" As we covered in a separate article, it is not true that Trump literally dismissed the coronavirus itself as \"a hoax.\" He did, however, liken the Democrats' criticism of his administration's response to the new coronavirus outbreak to their efforts to impeach him, saying \"this is their new hoax\"  while seemingly downplaying the potential severity of the outbreak by comparing it to the common flu and claiming the press was \"in hysteria mode\": separate article Now the Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus. You know that, right? Coronavirus. Theyre politicizing it. We did one of the great jobs. You say, Hows President Trump doing? They go, Oh, not good, not good. They have no clue. They dont have any clue. They cant even count their votes in Iowa, they cant even count. No they cant. They cant count their votes. One of my people came up to me and said, Mr. President, they tried to beat you on Russia, Russia, Russia. That didnt work out too well. They couldnt do it. They tried the impeachment hoax. That was on a perfect conversation. They tried anything, they tried it over and over, theyve been doing it since you got in. Its all turning, they lost, its all turning. Think of it. Think of it. And this is their new hoax. But you know, we did something thats been pretty amazing. Were 15 people [cases of coronavirus infection] in this massive country. And because of the fact that we went early, we went early, we could have had a lot more than that. So a number that nobody heard of that I heard of recently and I was shocked to hear it, 35,000 people on average die each year from the flu. Did anyone know that? 35,000. Thats a lot of people. It could go to 100,000, it could be 27,000, they say usually a minimum of 27, it goes up to 100,000 people a year who die, and so far we have lost nobody to coronavirus in the United States. Nobody. And it doesnt mean we wont, and we are totally prepared, it doesnt mean we wont. But think of it. You hear 35 and 40,000 people, and weve lost nobody, and you wonder, the press is in hysteria mode. Some defenders have argued that the Trump administration's cooperation in sending donated supplies to the part of the world with the largest number of coronavirus cases at the time (China) was the most effective way of combating the outbreak, while critics have maintained that those supplies should have been kept on hand for use during the inevitable spread of the coronavirus to America.  Given that some of the supplies had been donated by the \"American private sector,\" it's unclear what would have happened to them had the U.S. State Department declined to facilitate their transportation to China, and whether that action ultimately saved or cost more lives in the U.S. is not possible to determine at this point. But for what it's worth, the Canadian government was likewise criticized for sending supplies to China for the same reasons: criticized Canadas department of Global Affairs shipped 16 tonnes of personal protective equipment to China [in February] to help Beijing fight the novel coronavirus, an effort that it undertook even after the World Health Organization had warned countries to prepare for possible cases. Critics are questioning the wisdom of exporting gear overseas just weeks before it was sorely needed in Canada. The Canadian government, however, says the shipment was an effort to collaborate with China in the fight against COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Amir Attaran, a professor at University of Ottawas school of epidemiology and public health and its faculty of law, said he was surprised to learn Global Affairs shipped personal protective equipment (PPE) to China. It was absolutely certain in early February that we would need this equipment, he said. \"This decision went beyond altruism into high negligence and incompetence because Canada did not, and does not, have surplus equipment to spare. Adam Austen, deputy director of communications for Mr. Champagne, said Canadas shipment to China was an effort to co-operate in the fight against the virus. Global pandemics require global co-operation. After all, pandemics know no borders. Co-operation is vital to ensuring the health and safety of people around the world. This includes protecting people here in Canada, as support of this kind can help to slow the spread of the virus, Mr. Austen said. Wikipedia.  \"Timeline of the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic in the United States.\"\r  Accessed 31 March 2020. Branswell, Helen.  \"Coronavirus Concerns Trigger Global Run on Supplies for Health Workers, Causing Shortages.\"\r  Stat.  7 February 2020.\r\r Obeidallah, Dean.  \"Trump Administration Sent Protective Medical Gear to China While He Minimized the Virus Threat to US.\"\r  CNN.  30 March 2020.\r\r Miller, Tim.  \"Warnings Ignored: A Timeline of Trumps COVID-19 Response.\"\r  The Bulwark.  25 March 2020.\r Palma, Bethania.  \"Did President Trump Refer to the Coronavirus as a Hoax?\"\r  Snopes.com  2 March 2020. Pompeo, Michael R.  \"The United States Announces Assistance to Combat the Novel Coronavirus.\"\r  U.S. Department of State.  7 February 2020. Chase, Steven.  \"Ottawa Faces Criticism for Sending 16 Tonnes of Personal Protective Equipment to China in February.\"\r  The Globe and Mail.  25 March 2020.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Aph2CZe6NBcT8j2zDcRNvjsvY4ZNVTkq","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_710","claim":"Beto O'Rourke's 'Reality Check' can be paraphrased as Beto O'Rourke's demonstration of the truth or a candid assessment of the situation.","posted":"09\/01\/2018","sci_digest":["A widely-shared Facebook meme offered allegations about a rising Democratic politician in Texas."],"justification":"Democratic congressman Beto O'Rourke of Texas came to national prominence in 2018 through his high-profile campaign to unseat incumbent Republican U.S. senator Ted Cruz. During the course of his campaign, the Democratic candidate has been confronted with various claims and allegations about himself and his family. One such meme, entitled \"'Beto' Reality Check,\" was shared widely on Facebook in August 2018:A spokesperson for O'Rourke's campaign described the meme as \"factually incorrect in countless ways\" and largely referred us to several existing news reports about the allegations. The following is our breakdown of the five sections contained in the meme.O'Rourke adopted the name \"Beto\" to appeal to Latino voters: The meme claimed:NOT HISPANIC\"Robert O'Rourke\" became \"Beto\" for his political campaigns and on the ballot, a tactic that gives the false impression he's Latino, misleading voters in a state with many Hispanics.In fact, O'Rourke was known as \"Beto\" long before he entered political life, although his birth name is Robert and he appears to use both first names interchangeably. (For example, his July 2018 Federal Election Commission \"Statement of Candidacy\" lists his name as \"Robert Beto O'Rourke.\")O'Rourke told CNN that his parents referred to him as Beto \"from day one,\" and that it \"just stuck.\" Others have noted that the name is likely derived from a pronunciation of the Spanish \"Roberto,\" and O'Rourke himself described it as \"a nickname for Robert in El Paso.\" (According to the U.S. Census Bureau, around 78 percent of El Paso county residents listed themselves as being of Mexican heritage in 2016.)O'Rourke's family is of Irish heritage. According to the New York Times, his family \"came over from Ireland four generations ago to work on the railroad.\" His father Pat O'Rourke was a prominent El Paso County official during the 1980s.A 1986 article about Pat O'Rourke in the El Paso Times referred to his then 14-year-old son as \"Beto O'Rourke.\" In 1999, six years before O'Rourke ran for El Paso city council, the same newspaper referred to \"web site designer Beto O'Rourke\" in a short article about his I.T. business Stanton Street Design.After checking the archives of the El Paso Times, we found multiple references to \"Beto O'Rourke\" between 1986 and 2004, when O'Rourk was either a child or a businessman and had never run for political office.In March, the campaign of O'Rourke's Republican opponent, Ted Cruz, launched a radio jingle that poked fun at the name \"Beto\" and included the following lyrics: \"I remember reading stories\/Liberal Robert wanted to fit in\/So he changed his name to 'Beto'\/And hid it with a grin ...\":FIRST LISTEN: our new 60-second statewide radio ad introducing our liberal opponent, Congressman Robert ORourke, to Texas voters.Help #KeepTexasRed: https:\/\/t.co\/PVsiCtbbyL #CruzCrew #TXSen pic.twitter.com\/OxK61gZ0ek Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 7, 2018The next day, O'Rourke posted a photograph of himself as a young boy, wearing a sweater with the nickname \"Beto\" stitched into it, establishing that, contrary to false accusation, he did not \"change his name\" for political reasons:pic.twitter.com\/1IO1dgmCkv Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) March 7, 2018O'Rourke used his father's connections to avoid trial for two felonies: UNPROVENThe meme claimed:FELONY ARREST RECORDAs an adult in his mid-20s, O'Rourke was caught breaking into the University of Texas El Paso. Charged with breaking and entering and burglary, he mysteriously avoided trial. A few years later, arrested for drunk driving, he again walked with a \"deal.\" Being the song of a powerful, politically connected County Judge apparently has benefits. O'Rourke dismisses his felony convictions as \"youthful pranks\" and \"mistakes\"; it's old news, move along, nothing to see here.O'Rourke has indeed been arrested for burglary and drunk driving, a history which he has discussed several times over the course of his political career, as his spokesperson told us: \"While charges were dismissed, this is something that Beto has always publicly addressed -- during his initial run for the city council, his run for Congress, in profiles written about him, during dozens of interviews, and at town halls across the state during this campaign.\"In a 27 August 2018 op-ed for the Houston Chronicle and  San Antonio Express-News, O'Rourke himself wrote:Twenty-three years ago I was arrested for attempted forcible entry after jumping a fence at the University of Texas at El Paso. I spent a night in the El Paso County Jail, was able to make bail the next day, and was released. Three years later, I was arrested for drunk driving -- a far more serious mistake for which there is no excuse.According to El Paso county jail records, O'Rourke was arrested for attempted burglary on 19 May 1995, when he was 22 years old. He was released from custody the same day. Court records show that the prosecutor dropped the charge in February 1996.O'Rourke was also arrested for driving while intoxicated on 27 September 1998, the day after his 26th birthday. He completed a \"misdemeanor diversion program\" (namely \"DWI school\") in October 1999, and the charge was dropped.In August 2018, the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News cited police reports, including a witness account, which suggested that the incident leading to O'Rourke's DWI arrest was relatively serious and involved a collision with another vehicle and a possible attempt by O'Rourke to leave the scene:State and local police reports obtained by the Chronicle and Express-News show that ORourke was driving drunk at what a witness called a high rate of speed in a 75 mph zone on Interstate 10 about a mile from the New Mexico border. He lost control and hit a truck, sending his car careening across the center median into oncoming lanes. The witness, who stopped at the scene, later told police that ORourke had tried to drive away from the scene. O'Rourke recorded a 0.136 and 0.134 on police breathalyzers, above a blood-alcohol level of 0.10, the state legal limit at the time.In the case of his DWI arrest, O'Rourke did not face prison time because he completed an alternative adjudication program. It's not clear why the attempted burglary charge was dropped in 1996 (we asked the O'Rourke campaign about this but didn't receive a response to that particular question in time for publication). However, we could find no evidence that O'Rourke's father had any role in either case, nor did the meme offer any evidence.Congressman O'Rourke's father Pat was the El Paso County judge until 1986 -- a kind of chief executive of the county's governing body, the Commissioners Court -- so he had not held office for nine years by the time of his son's attempted burglary arrest.O'Rourke violated 'insider trading' laws: The meme claimed:INSIDER TRADING VIOLATIONSAfter being sent a memo specifically prohibiting investment in Twitter's IPO [initial public offering], O'Rourke made a tidy one-day profit on it. When uncovered by a government watchdog, he quickly turned himself in. This violation of the STOCK Act (Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge) is apparently a habit, as there are several other instances of this behavior; he characterizes them as mistakes.Despite the meme's claim, O'Rourke has never been charged with, or convicted of, violating any laws related to insider trading, including the STOCK Act, which bars members of the U.S. Congress from benefiting from financial transactions made on the basis of information they received in their capacity as members of Congress.But this section of the meme does contain elements of truth in that -- after the matter was brought to light by a third party -- O'Rourke reported his potential violation of rules to the House Ethics Committee (for stock transactions he maintained were executed by his broker without his knowledge), and the matter was resolved without any charges being brought against him:U.S. Rep. Beto ORourke alerted the House Ethics Committee that he might have violated a new law restricting members of Congress from engaging in certain stock transactions.It is the first case to come before the committee involving a 2012 law that prohibits members of Congress from participating in initial public offerings, or IPOs, other than what is available to members of the public generally, said Melanie Sloan, executive director of the Committee for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington, a watchdog group.ORourke, a Democrat whose district covers a portion of western Texas, reported the possible violation after Legistorm, an online news site that tracks congressional issues, informed him that his Nov. 15 disclosure saying he participated in the Twitter IPO earlier in the month might indicate a violation of a 2012 law called the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, or STOCK Act.The freshman congressman also reported that, through his stockbroker, he participated in six other initial public offerings this year. In an interview, ORourke said he didnt see a Nov. 5 memo from the House Ethics Committee warning members of Congress about participating in IPOs.On 27 November 2013, O'Rourke wrote on Facebook that the ethics committee had informed him they would consider the issue resolved once he sold off any remaining shares that he bought during any IPOs, and sent the U.S. Treasury a check equal to the amount he earned in profits from those IPO-related shares:Upon receiving the letter from the Committee today I instructed my broker to sell all remaining shares, which he did. I then sent a check for the full amount of the profit from all IPO trades this year to the U.S. Treasury by overnight mail. Copies of the trades and the check have been sent to the Ethics Committee.I apologize to the House of Representatives and to the people I represent for not exercising due diligence. I will be much more thorough in the future concerning financial transactions and do my best to ensure that I am in full compliance with all rules covering members of Congress.Records filed with the Clerk of the House of Representatives show that O'Rourke bought between $1,000 and $15,000 worth of shares in Twitter on 7 November 2013 (the first day the company was traded on the stock market), before selling off between $1,000 and $15,000 in shares later that day.Records also indicate that on 27 November 2013, O'Rourke again sold off between $1,000 and $15,000 worth of Twitter shares \"pursuant to the recommendations made by House Ethics Committee in a letter from 11\/27\/13.\"A condom full of \"white powder\" was found in O'Rourke's father's car: trueThe meme claimed:FATHER'S DRUG SCANDALO'Rourke's father, while county judge, had a 2-way radio installed in his Jeep. Installers discovered a condom packed with a \"white powder\" concealed in his vehicle and called police. Much to the dismay of investigating officers, the Captain on duty, a friend and political ally of O'Rourke, flushed the evidence down the toilet and dropped the charges. The Captain was subsequently suspended and tried for tampering with evidence.This section of the meme relates to incidents which took place in 1983, when Beto O'Rourke was 10 years old, and which had absolutely nothing to do with him.Nevertheless, it's true that in February 1983, El Paso County Sheriff's Captain Willie Hill told two police officers to get rid of a condom full of white powder which they had found in Pat O'Rourke's car while they were installing a radio in it. The officers suspected the powder to be heroin or cocaine, but the substance was never tested to determine its true nature.Hill was temporarily suspended but was reinstated after being acquitted on a misdemeanor charge of evidence tampering. (The prosecutor had earlier dropped a charge of misconduct against him.) Hill testified that he made a snap decision about the discovery of the powder, which he strongly suspected had been planted there to embarrass or undermine either O'Rourke or one of the officers installing the radio.O'Rourke and Hill were friends, as O'Rourke (then county judge) told the El Paso Times: \"Because he's a good man, it would be an injustice if Willie were to suffer grievous consequences from this whole episode. You have an honest and honorable man implicated by pure fluke. And that's just damn right not fair.\"O'Rourke was involved in a family business that was prosecuted for tax violations: The meme claimed:FAMILY BUSINESS FEDERALLY PROSECUTEDO'Rourke's family business \"Charlotte's Furniture,\" a store \"Beto,\" his mother and sister are involved with, was charged in 2010 with altering records to avoid IRS reporting. Investigators found they accepted cash payments, in one instance over $630,000 from an unnamed individual (that's a LOT of furniture)! Found guilty on 15 counts, the sentence was a $250,000 fine and 5 years' probation. Around the time O'Rourke announced as a senate candidate, the business was shuttered and its records became unavailable. O'Rourke passes the prosecution off as a \"mistake\"; it's been covered, move along, nothing to see here.The meme got the basic facts right about the federal tax case against Charlotte's, but it falsely claimed that Congressman O'Rourke was personally \"involved\" in the company. He was not.In 2010, Charlotte's Inc., an El Paso furniture store company started by O'Rourke's grandmother in 1951, was convicted of \"structuring transactions to evade reporting requirements, a tax-related felony. The company was charged as a corporate entity, but the Congressman's mother, Melissa O'Rourke, acted as its authorized representative.The company pled guilty to accusations that it had restructured transactions in order to present relatively large cash payments as having been made in installments of less than $10,000. Anti-money laundering provisions of U.S. law require that a business reveal the identity of any individual who makes a cash payment above that threshold.In total, Charlotte's and its employees illegally restructured $630,000 in payments, all from one customer, in this way between May 2005 and October 2006. The identity of that customer is not known. U.S. District Court judge Kathleen Cardone gave a sentence of five years' probation and a $500,000 fine, with $250,000 of that suspended.In 2017, Melissa O'Rourke announced that she intended to close down the business but denied the decision was connected to her son's U.S. Senate campaign or the 2010 conviction.According to Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts records for 2017, Congressman O'Rourke had no formal role with Charlotte's Inc., whose directors were Melissa O'Rourke and the Congressman's sister Charlotte O'Rourke.Records for 2005 and 2006 (when the I.R.S. reporting violations took place) as well as 2010 (when the conviction happened) show that Congressman O'Rourke had no formal role with the company at those times, either.The Congressman is part owner of the property where Charlotte's was located. According to O'Rourke's 2013 congressional financial disclosure, his mother gifted him an ownership stake worth between $1 million and $5 million in Peppertree Square, a shopping center on North Mesa St. in El Paso.However, his part ownership of the Peppertree Square property (which does not appear to entail any management function in any of the businesses located there) did not accrue until 31 December 2012, more than six years after the conclusion of the I.R.S. reporting violations at Charlotte's.  One such meme, entitled \"'Beto' Reality Check,\" was shared widely on Facebook in August 2018: meme   A spokesperson for O'Rourke's campaign described the meme as \"factually incorrect in countless ways\" and largely referred us to several existing news reports about the allegations. The following is our breakdown of the five sections contained in the meme. The meme claimed: NOT HISPANIC \"Robert O'Rourke\" became \"Beto\" for his political campaigns and on the ballot, a tactic that gives the false impression he's Latino, misleading voters in a state with many Hispanics. In fact, O'Rourke was known as \"Beto\" long before he entered political life, although his birth name is Robert and he appears to use both first names interchangeably. (For example, his July 2018 Federal Election Commission \"Statement of Candidacy\" lists his name as \"Robert Beto O'Rourke.\") Statement O'Rourke told CNN that his parents referred to him as Beto \"from day one,\" and that it \"just stuck.\" Others have noted that the name is likely derived from a pronunciation of the Spanish \"Roberto,\" and O'Rourke himself described it as \"a nickname for Robert in El Paso.\" (According to the U.S. Census Bureau, around 78 percent of El Paso county residents listed themselves as being of Mexican heritage in 2016.) CNN noted listed O'Rourke's family is of Irish heritage. According to the New York Times, his family \"came over from Ireland four generations ago to work on the railroad.\" His father Pat O'Rourke was a prominent El Paso County official during the 1980s. New York Times A 1986 article about Pat O'Rourke in the El Paso Times referred to his then 14-year-old son as \"Beto O'Rourke.\" In 1999, six years before O'Rourke ran for El Paso city council, the same newspaper referred to \"web site designer Beto O'Rourke\" in a short article about his I.T. business Stanton Street Design. article article After checking the archives of the El Paso Times, we found multiple references to \"Beto O'Rourke\" between 1986 and 2004, when O'Rourk was either a child or a businessman and had never run for political office. In March, the campaign of O'Rourke's Republican opponent, Ted Cruz, launched a radio jingle that poked fun at the name \"Beto\" and included the following lyrics: \"I remember reading stories\/Liberal Robert wanted to fit in\/So he changed his name to 'Beto'\/And hid it with a grin ...\": FIRST LISTEN: our new 60-second statewide radio ad introducing our liberal opponent, Congressman Robert ORourke, to Texas voters. Help #KeepTexasRed: https:\/\/t.co\/PVsiCtbbyL #CruzCrew #TXSen pic.twitter.com\/OxK61gZ0ek #KeepTexasRed https:\/\/t.co\/PVsiCtbbyL #CruzCrew #TXSen pic.twitter.com\/OxK61gZ0ek  Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 7, 2018 March 7, 2018  The next day, O'Rourke posted a photograph of himself as a young boy, wearing a sweater with the nickname \"Beto\" stitched into it, establishing that, contrary to false accusation, he did not \"change his name\" for political reasons: pic.twitter.com\/1IO1dgmCkv pic.twitter.com\/1IO1dgmCkv  Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) March 7, 2018 March 7, 2018  The meme claimed: FELONY ARREST RECORD As an adult in his mid-20s, O'Rourke was caught breaking into the University of Texas El Paso. Charged with breaking and entering and burglary, he mysteriously avoided trial. A few years later, arrested for drunk driving, he again walked with a \"deal.\" Being the song of a powerful, politically connected County Judge apparently has benefits. O'Rourke dismisses his felony convictions as \"youthful pranks\" and \"mistakes\"; it's old news, move along, nothing to see here. O'Rourke has indeed been arrested for burglary and drunk driving, a history which he has discussed several times over the course of his political career, as his spokesperson told us: \"While charges were dismissed, this is something that Beto has always publicly addressed -- during his initial run for the city council, his run for Congress, in profiles written about him, during dozens of interviews, and at town halls across the state during this campaign.\" In a 27 August 2018 op-ed for the Houston Chronicle and  San Antonio Express-News, O'Rourke himself wrote: op-ed Twenty-three years ago I was arrested for attempted forcible entry after jumping a fence at the University of Texas at El Paso. I spent a night in the El Paso County Jail, was able to make bail the next day, and was released. Three years later, I was arrested for drunk driving -- a far more serious mistake for which there is no excuse. According to El Paso county jail records, O'Rourke was arrested for attempted burglary on 19 May 1995, when he was 22 years old. He was released from custody the same day. Court records show that the prosecutor dropped the charge in February 1996. records records O'Rourke was also arrested for driving while intoxicated on 27 September 1998, the day after his 26th birthday. He completed a \"misdemeanor diversion program\" (namely \"DWI school\") in October 1999, and the charge was dropped. arrested In August 2018, the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News cited police reports, including a witness account, which suggested that the incident leading to O'Rourke's DWI arrest was relatively serious and involved a collision with another vehicle and a possible attempt by O'Rourke to leave the scene: cited State and local police reports obtained by the Chronicle and Express-News show that ORourke was driving drunk at what a witness called a high rate of speed in a 75 mph zone on Interstate 10 about a mile from the New Mexico border. He lost control and hit a truck, sending his car careening across the center median into oncoming lanes. The witness, who stopped at the scene, later told police that ORourke had tried to drive away from the scene. O'Rourke recorded a 0.136 and 0.134 on police breathalyzers, above a blood-alcohol level of 0.10, the state legal limit at the time. In the case of his DWI arrest, O'Rourke did not face prison time because he completed an alternative adjudication program. It's not clear why the attempted burglary charge was dropped in 1996 (we asked the O'Rourke campaign about this but didn't receive a response to that particular question in time for publication). However, we could find no evidence that O'Rourke's father had any role in either case, nor did the meme offer any evidence. Congressman O'Rourke's father Pat was the El Paso County judge until 1986 -- a kind of chief executive of the county's governing body, the Commissioners Court -- so he had not held office for nine years by the time of his son's attempted burglary arrest. judge governing body The meme claimed: INSIDER TRADING VIOLATIONS After being sent a memo specifically prohibiting investment in Twitter's IPO [initial public offering], O'Rourke made a tidy one-day profit on it. When uncovered by a government watchdog, he quickly turned himself in. This violation of the STOCK Act (Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge) is apparently a habit, as there are several other instances of this behavior; he characterizes them as mistakes. Despite the meme's claim, O'Rourke has never been charged with, or convicted of, violating any laws related to insider trading, including the STOCK Act, which bars members of the U.S. Congress from benefiting from financial transactions made on the basis of information they received in their capacity as members of Congress. STOCK Act But this section of the meme does contain elements of truth in that -- after the matter was brought to light by a third party -- O'Rourke reported his potential violation of rules to the House Ethics Committee (for stock transactions he maintained were executed by his broker without his knowledge), and the matter was resolved without any charges being brought against him: violation U.S. Rep. Beto ORourke alerted the House Ethics Committee that he might have violated a new law restricting members of Congress from engaging in certain stock transactions. It is the first case to come before the committee involving a 2012 law that prohibits members of Congress from participating in initial public offerings, or IPOs, other than what is available to members of the public generally, said Melanie Sloan, executive director of the Committee for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington, a watchdog group. ORourke, a Democrat whose district covers a portion of western Texas, reported the possible violation after Legistorm, an online news site that tracks congressional issues, informed him that his Nov. 15 disclosure saying he participated in the Twitter IPO earlier in the month might indicate a violation of a 2012 law called the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, or STOCK Act. The freshman congressman also reported that, through his stockbroker, he participated in six other initial public offerings this year. In an interview, ORourke said he didnt see a Nov. 5 memo from the House Ethics Committee warning members of Congress about participating in IPOs. On 27 November 2013, O'Rourke wrote on Facebook that the ethics committee had informed him they would consider the issue resolved once he sold off any remaining shares that he bought during any IPOs, and sent the U.S. Treasury a check equal to the amount he earned in profits from those IPO-related shares: wrote Upon receiving the letter from the Committee today I instructed my broker to sell all remaining shares, which he did. I then sent a check for the full amount of the profit from all IPO trades this year to the U.S. Treasury by overnight mail. Copies of the trades and the check have been sent to the Ethics Committee. I apologize to the House of Representatives and to the people I represent for not exercising due diligence. I will be much more thorough in the future concerning financial transactions and do my best to ensure that I am in full compliance with all rules covering members of Congress. Records filed with the Clerk of the House of Representatives show that O'Rourke bought between $1,000 and $15,000 worth of shares in Twitter on 7 November 2013 (the first day the company was traded on the stock market), before selling off between $1,000 and $15,000 in shares later that day. filed Records also indicate that on 27 November 2013, O'Rourke again sold off between $1,000 and $15,000 worth of Twitter shares \"pursuant to the recommendations made by House Ethics Committee in a letter from 11\/27\/13.\" indicate The meme claimed: FATHER'S DRUG SCANDAL O'Rourke's father, while county judge, had a 2-way radio installed in his Jeep. Installers discovered a condom packed with a \"white powder\" concealed in his vehicle and called police. Much to the dismay of investigating officers, the Captain on duty, a friend and political ally of O'Rourke, flushed the evidence down the toilet and dropped the charges. The Captain was subsequently suspended and tried for tampering with evidence. This section of the meme relates to incidents which took place in 1983, when Beto O'Rourke was 10 years old, and which had absolutely nothing to do with him. Nevertheless, it's true that in February 1983, El Paso County Sheriff's Captain Willie Hill told two police officers to get rid of a condom full of white powder which they had found in Pat O'Rourke's car while they were installing a radio in it. The officers suspected the powder to be heroin or cocaine, but the substance was never tested to determine its true nature. Hill was temporarily suspended but was reinstated after being acquitted on a misdemeanor charge of evidence tampering. (The prosecutor had earlier dropped a charge of misconduct against him.) Hill testified that he made a snap decision about the discovery of the powder, which he strongly suspected had been planted there to embarrass or undermine either O'Rourke or one of the officers installing the radio. being acquitted O'Rourke and Hill were friends, as O'Rourke (then county judge) told the El Paso Times: \"Because he's a good man, it would be an injustice if Willie were to suffer grievous consequences from this whole episode. You have an honest and honorable man implicated by pure fluke. And that's just damn right not fair.\" El Paso Times The meme claimed: FAMILY BUSINESS FEDERALLY PROSECUTED O'Rourke's family business \"Charlotte's Furniture,\" a store \"Beto,\" his mother and sister are involved with, was charged in 2010 with altering records to avoid IRS reporting. Investigators found they accepted cash payments, in one instance over $630,000 from an unnamed individual (that's a LOT of furniture)! Found guilty on 15 counts, the sentence was a $250,000 fine and 5 years' probation. Around the time O'Rourke announced as a senate candidate, the business was shuttered and its records became unavailable. O'Rourke passes the prosecution off as a \"mistake\"; it's been covered, move along, nothing to see here. The meme got the basic facts right about the federal tax case against Charlotte's, but it falsely claimed that Congressman O'Rourke was personally \"involved\" in the company. He was not. In 2010, Charlotte's Inc., an El Paso furniture store company started by O'Rourke's grandmother in 1951, was convicted of \"structuring transactions to evade reporting requirements, a tax-related felony. The company was charged as a corporate entity, but the Congressman's mother, Melissa O'Rourke, acted as its authorized representative. felony The company pled guilty to accusations that it had restructured transactions in order to present relatively large cash payments as having been made in installments of less than $10,000. Anti-money laundering provisions of U.S. law require that a business reveal the identity of any individual who makes a cash payment above that threshold. restructured provisions In total, Charlotte's and its employees illegally restructured $630,000 in payments, all from one customer, in this way between May 2005 and October 2006. The identity of that customer is not known. U.S. District Court judge Kathleen Cardone gave a sentence of five years' probation and a $500,000 fine, with $250,000 of that suspended. sentence In 2017, Melissa O'Rourke announced that she intended to close down the business but denied the decision was connected to her son's U.S. Senate campaign or the 2010 conviction. announced According to Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts records for 2017, Congressman O'Rourke had no formal role with Charlotte's Inc., whose directors were Melissa O'Rourke and the Congressman's sister Charlotte O'Rourke. records Records for 2005 and 2006 (when the I.R.S. reporting violations took place) as well as 2010 (when the conviction happened) show that Congressman O'Rourke had no formal role with the company at those times, either. Records The Congressman is part owner of the property where Charlotte's was located. According to O'Rourke's 2013 congressional financial disclosure, his mother gifted him an ownership stake worth between $1 million and $5 million in Peppertree Square, a shopping center on North Mesa St. in El Paso. disclosure However, his part ownership of the Peppertree Square property (which does not appear to entail any management function in any of the businesses located there) did not accrue until 31 December 2012, more than six years after the conclusion of the I.R.S. reporting violations at Charlotte's. O'Rourke, Robert Beto.  \"Statement of Candidacy.\"\r  Federal Election Commission.  9 July 2018. Bradner, Eric.  \"With Primary Ending, Cruz Takes Opening Shot at Beto O'Rourke's Name.\"\r  CNN.  7 March 2018. Stanton, John.  \"Juarez's Biggest Booster Is an Irish-American Congressman.\"\r  BuzzFeed News.  14 October 2014. Draper, Robert.  \"Texas, Three Ways.\"\r  The New York Times.  14 November 2014. Scharrer, Gary.  \"O'Rourke Goes Out Talking.\"\r  The El Paso Times.  8 December 1986. The El Paso Times.  \"Consumers Dial Up Web Site.\"\r  16 June 1999. O'Rourke, Beto.  \"Texas Should Lead the Way on True Criminal Justice Reform.\"\r  The Houston Chronicle.  27 August 2018. Diaz, Kevin.  \"Police Reports Detail Beto O'Rourke's 1998 DWI Arrest.\"\r  The Houston Chronicle.  31 August 2018. Cruz, Laura.  \"Friends, Family Say Goodbye to O'Rourke.\"\r  The El Paso Times.  7 July 2001. The White House.  \"Fact Sheet: The STOCK Act -- Bans Members of Congress from Insider Trading.\"\r  4 April 2012. The El Paso Times.  \"Congressman May Have Broken Ethics Rules with Twitter Stock Purchase.\"\r  26 November 2013. Landis, David.  \"Jurors Decided Hill Negligent, Not Criminal.\"\r  The El Paso Times.  23 December 1983. Scharrer, Gary.  \"O'Rourke Expresses Sorrow Over Charge.\"\r  The El Paso Times.  29 October 1983. Legal Information Institute.  \"U.S. Code, Title 31, Subtitle IV, Chapter 53, Subchapter II, Section 5324 -- Structuring Transactions to Evade Reporting Requirement Prohibite.\"\r  Cornell Law School.  Accessed 31 August 2018. U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas, El Paso Division.  \"U.S.A. vs Charlotte's Inc. -- Information.\"\r  4 May 2010. U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas, El Paso Division.  \"U.S.A. vs Charlotte's Inc. -- Amended Judgment.\"\r  8 June 2010. Villa, Pablo.  \"Charlotte's Furniture Store to Close This Year, Owner Says.\"\r  The El Paso Times.  4 August 2017. Correction [4 September 2018]: This article has been updated to more accurately describe the role of El Paso County judge. ","issues":["stock market"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_711","claim":"Fraudulent Sharpie Anniversary Gift Promotion","posted":"02\/20\/2016","sci_digest":["Sharpie isn't giving away a giant set of markers to celebrate their anniversary -- the offer is another online survey scam."],"justification":"In February2016, links began circulating on Facebookpromising a treasure trove of Sharpie brand markers to users who completed a short series of steps:   The embedded links led toURLs which were generated seemingly at random and didn't link to Sharpie's web site. Users who clicked through to claim the promised prize were routed to pages which appeared plausibly Facebook-esque(but werehostedoff Facebook):   As evidenced by the above-reproduced screenshots, the associatedURLs don'tmatch the official domains of Sharpie or Facebook. The fake giveaway was another version of the common survey\/sweepstakes scams which urge readers to share freebie bait on Facebook, which then spreads the scam to more friends and groups. Most social media users are familiar with survey scams conducted in this fashion: Kohl's, Costco, Home Depot, Lowe's,Kroger, Best Buy, Macy's, Olive Garden, Publix, Target, and Walmart are among brandsused as enticementsbyscammers, many aiming to capturepersonal information and valuable page likes from Facebook users. Kohl's Costco Home Depot Lowe's Kroger Best Buy Macy's Olive Garden Publix Target Walmart scammers A July 2014 article from the Better Business Bureauexplained how to identify and avoidbad actorsimitating high-profilebrands on social media: article Don't believe what you see. It's easy to steal the colors, logos and header of an established organization. Scammers can also make links look like they lead to legitimate websites and emails appear to come from a different sender. Legitimate businesses do not ask for credit card numbers or banking information on customer surveys. If they do ask for personal information, like an address or email, be sure there's a link to their privacy policy. When in doubt, do a quick web search. If the survey is a scam, you may find alerts or complaints from other consumers. The organization's real website may have further information. Watch out for a reward that's too good to be true. If the survey is real, you may be entered in a drawing to win a gift card or receive a small discount off your next purchase. Few businesses can afford to give away $50 gift cards for completing a few questions. ","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1jw_CPnX8M5p00PNXFfne_oiPsIAwnF7a"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=12EkPWwuZRW6XKPAvroFQcm5_8_9jveKu"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_712","claim":"Is This a Severely Wounded Marine's Wedding Photograph?","posted":"01\/04\/2013","sci_digest":["One of the most iconic modern images demonstrates the potential costs of military service in wartime."],"justification":"Three days before Christmas in 2004, Marine Sgt. Ty Ziegel was on a routine patrol during his second tour of duty in Iraq when a suicide bomber blew up near his truck. The blast severed a portion of his left arm and three fingers from his other hand, fractured his jaw, left him blind in one eye, shattered his skull, and melted most of the skin off his head. Sgt. Ziegel was in a coma for months afterward and spent nearly two years recovering at Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas, where he underwent more than 50 operations, including the fitting of a plastic cap for his skull and the surgical reconstruction of his face with holes for his missing ears and nose. The London Times described the transformation of Sgt. Ziegel's experience into what seemed to be a modern-day fairy tale: The fairy tale goes like this: they are high school sweethearts from a small town, Metamora, Illinois, in the American Midwest. He graduates from high school, becomes a U.S. Marine, and is sent to Iraq. When he returns, they get engaged. He proposes before he leaves for his second tour. She is 18; he is 21. She can't wait for him to come home. The tour is cut short. A suicide bomber blows up near his truck, and he suffers horrific, life-changing injuries. A day later, he is in San Antonio, Texas, at the Brooke Army Medical Center. She leaves her hometown for the first time to fly there with his mother so they can be by his side. She is there for him. His injuries are severe. He will have numerous operations, and she will stand by him throughout. It will be a year and a half before they all go home. In the meantime, she will move in with his mother. The homecoming is a triumph. He is a hero, and she is his heroine. Their commitment to each other is inspiring and rock-solid. They get married. She is now 21, and he is 24. The wedding takes place on October 7, 2006, and that date is declared a state holiday: Renee and Tyler Ziegel Day. Their romance is covered by The Sunday Times Magazine. They plan to have a family. Love conquers all. During the period between Ty's convalescence and his marriage to Rene Kline, photographer Nina Berman, on assignment for People magazine, visited him three separate times and recorded a series of photographs chronicling his recovery, homecoming, and wedding day. One of those photographs was an iconic image that won the portraiture category of the World Press Photo contest in 2006, the most prestigious international award for photojournalism; yet it was questioned by some social media users when they encountered it without explanatory context: photographs I wanted to know if there's any way to tell if this photo is accurate? It's circulating on Facebook right now with a caption of \"This man served our country. Like for respect.\" But the girl in the photo, why does she look so unamused? Shouldn't she be smiling? And her face looks very pixelated. I would love to know more about the backstory if possible. The photograph was described as follows by Lindsay Beyerstein for a 2007 Salon article: A young couple stands side by side facing the camera. There are all the usual accouterments: the frosted, school-photo backdrop, the red bouquet precisely matched to the red trim on the bride's white gown. The groom wears a decorated dress uniform. It could be any couple in any town except that the groom's features have literally been melted off. He has no nose, no chin, no ears, and no hair. His head appears to attach directly to his shoulders, and his face is so badly burned that it's a struggle to decipher his expression. The bride's expression is equally opaque. Some people think she looks stunned. Others describe her expression as anxious or even fearful. Her mouth turns down slightly at the edges, but her wide brown eyes gaze straight ahead, and something about the set of her jaw suggests resolve. Some viewers strenuously deny that there's anything unusual about the young woman's countenance at all. In that article, Nina Berman also described the circumstances under which the photograph was taken: It was their wedding day. Before they went to the high school where they were married, they went to a commercial portrait studio. I normally don't find those commercial studio pictures very interesting. They seem fake. People just put on a happy face. But then I thought, this is a different wedding picture, isn't it? So I kind of stepped back. I thought, it's the same as having someone with their body blasted off in a high school yearbook. Rituals like this, young people getting married, if this doesn't say that this war is having an impact, I don't know what does. It just cries out to people: hey, this war is real. There's a very palpable reality to this war in certain communities. It's right there, not in the cities or on the coasts. Most people in the media and the cultural elite don't know anyone in the military. My whole goal is to say, hey, this war is not some kind of abstract thing. Unfortunately, difficulties in the marriage proved too much for the couple to overcome, and Ty and Rene were divorced in January 2008. They were too young to be married, too young to process the possibility that what led them into a lifelong commitment was a desire for certainty in an uncertain world. There is no mystery, no implosion, no tragic conclusion. There were factors that added up, factors that at the time they could not have foreseen: that a marriage would not offset the consequences of Ty's injuries, that it would not compensate for the loss and the grief felt by a young woman losing her father. Everyone suspected it was too soon, that maybe it wasn't right. But nobody spoke out. Others, strangers, projected onto them what they needed to believe. They were larger than life. When we heard their story, we put ourselves in their shoes, imagining what we would do in the same situation. Renee personified the courage and strength we hoped we would have. But she was 18 years old, and neither was prone to introspection. They weren't people who asked why. Between the two of them, they had so much life experience, but the emotional narrative of their lives never caught up. What made us think it would? Why did we have such high hopes for them in the first place? Nobody really ever knew Ty and Renee. Not even Ty and Renee. But this is not the end. They emerged from the marriage with warmth and affection for each other, not anger and recrimination. She was there when he needed her most; she showed up and stood by him. That is more than many people will ever have in a marriage. It is something they will always share. Ty Ziegel passed away in December 2012. A Metamora Iraq War veteran, who became a symbol of survival after a car bomb explosion, has died. Family members say 30-year-old Ty Ziegel died after falling on ice. Angela Cochran, Ziegel's girlfriend, said he had been an inspiration in the three months since they began dating. \"You can ask him anything about his scars, his time in Iraq, how everything happened; he's like an open book,\" said Cochran. \"He was willing to share stories. That's what makes him so inspiring. He's not trying to hide.\" Testimony given at a coroner's inquest several months later revealed that Ty's death had been the result of heroin and alcohol intoxication rather than injuries sustained in a fall.","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1_LRNlE4pMFCYkQ0eIwAGlmqZJ72PlCZC","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_713","claim":"Did Bill Murray Recommend Eating Children's Ice Cream to Teach About Taxes?","posted":"02\/23\/2017","sci_digest":["A quote attributed to the actor shared on social media originated with a parody Twitter account."],"justification":"A meme circulating on social media in late February 2017 attributed a quote about paying taxes to actor Bill Murray, but it was originally shared by a parody Twitter account. The parody account stated, \"The best way to teach your kids about taxes is by eating 30% of their ice cream.\" However, the Twitter account from which it was posted bore this disclaimer: \"I AM NOT BILL MURRAY. This is a parody account. This account is not in any way affiliated with the actor Bill Murray.\" Before it was finally suspended by Twitter, the Murray parody account posted mostly benign jokes in the casual tone and pithy humor associated with Murray, such as \"Trail mix? Oh, you mean M&Ms with obstacles,\" and \"When one door closes, another one opens. Or you could just re-open the closed door. Because that's how doors work.\" The fact that the Twitter account was not real did not prevent its tweets from being widely shared. For example, in November 2015, the disreputable site PoliticalInsider.com shared the above meme as fact, as did TheFederalistPapers.org. We were unable to find any genuine comments made by the actor Bill Murray about his feelings on taxes. He also does not have an official Twitter account. Kasperowics, Pete. \"Actor Bill Murray to CNBC: 'I Think We Ought to Be Personally Responsible.'\" The Hill. 10 February 2012. Shoard, Catherine. \"The Gospel According to Bill Murray: Impending Apocalypse, Seatbelt Safety and His Favourite Saint.\" The Guardian. 20 November 2014. Read, Max. \"Bill Murray on the Bill Murray 'No One Will Ever Believe You' Urban Legend.\" Gawker.com. 20 July 2010.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1KKJnNU39CcfKKrrjzkgYUxjPthLGZpFZ","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_714","claim":"AIG Bailout","posted":"02\/08\/2009","sci_digest":["Congress supported a bailout of AIG because that company insures the Congressional pension trust?"],"justification":"Claim: Congress supported a bailout of AIG because that company insures the Congressional pension trust. Example: [Collected via e-mail, January 2009] Politicians! Did you ever wonder? I couldn't figure out why Congress would let some firms go under and then bend over backwards to help others. This makes sense now! This sounds almost too logical. Why hasn't it received national press coverage? Remember when this economic crisis hit, and Congress let Bear Stearns go under, pushed a bunch of forced marriages between banks, etc.? Then they bailed out AIG. At the time, I thought, \"That's strange; what does an insurance company have to do with this crisis?\" I think I just found the answer. Among other things, AIG insures the pension trust of the United States Congress! No wonder they got bailed out right away! To hell with the people; let's protect our future, said all our Senators and Congressmen. Nice to see where their loyalties lie! I'm from the government, and I'm here to help myself! Origins: As the U.S. government began, in the latter part of 2008, to grapple with growing economic turmoil and the prospect that many large U.S. financial and corporate institutions were on the brink of failure, one of the vexing issues it confronted was which businesses it should attempt to rescue. Should the government take over or provide direct financial assistance (\"bailouts\") to mortgage finance companies (particularly Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac), the banking industry, or the auto industry? One of the corporate entities \"bailed out\" by the government was the insurance giant American International Group, commonly known as AIG. In September 2008, the Federal Reserve (not Congress) provided AIG with an $85 billion loan in exchange for a 79.9% equity stake, and the Federal Reserve also provided another $37.8 billion loan to AIG three weeks later and subsequently gave the company access to another $20.9 billion. (These loans were restructured in November 2008 to provide a total bailout package of over $150 billion to AIG.) Why did the government decide to assist AIG? The item reproduced above posits that it was pure self-interest: Supposedly Congress \"bailed out\" AIG because that company \"insures the pension trust of the United States Congress\" while supposedly allowing other financial institutions to wither and die or pushing them into \"forced marriages.\" (Global financial services firm Bear Stearns didn't \"go under\"; it was acquired by JPMorgan Chase, with assistance from the Federal Reserve, back in March 2008. In other transactions, Wells Fargo bought Wachovia, and JPMorgan Chase purchased Washington Mutual.) However, AIG was more than just an ordinary \"insurance company.\" That firm insured the debt of other financial institutions, and government officials were greatly concerned that AIG's failure could have a cascading effect that would produce catastrophic results for the entire U.S. (and global) financial industry. What frightened Fed and Treasury officials was not simply the prospect of another giant corporate bankruptcy, but AIG's role as an enormous provider of esoteric financial insurance contracts to investors who bought complex debt securities. They effectively required AIG to cover losses suffered by the buyers in the event the securities defaulted. It meant AIG was potentially on the hook for billions of dollars worth of risky securities that were once considered safe. If AIG had collapsed and been unable to pay all of its insurance claims, institutional investors around the world would have been instantly forced to reappraise the value of those securities, which in turn would have reduced their own capital and the value of their own debt. Small investors, including anyone who owned money market funds with AIG securities, could have been hurt, too. And some insurance policyholders were worried, even though they had some protections. \"It would have been a chain reaction,\" said Uwe Reinhardt, a professor of economics at Princeton University. \"The spillover effects could have been incredible.\" Associated Press economics writer Jeannine Aversa explained the importance of the government's decision in the wake of the AIG bailout: Q: Why is it important to keep AIG afloat? A: AIG is a global colossus, with operations in more than 130 countries. It is so interconnected with other financial firms that its problems have a jolting ripple effect both in the United States and abroad. AIG was pushed to the brink of bankruptcy in September 2008 when its credit rating was downgraded, and it could not post the collateral for which it was obligated under the \"credit default swap\" contracts it had issued. Credit default swaps are a type of corporate debt insurance. The Fed raced to the rescue at that time to prevent AIG's failure, which could have triggered billions of dollars in losses at other banks and financial firms that bought these swaps from AIG, sending them into failure as well. As a final nail in the coffin of the \"AIG insures the pension trust of the United States Congress\" claim, we reproduce the following response provided to us by Charlie Armstrong, AIG's Senior Director of Advertising & Global Branding: In response to your question as to whether AIG insures the US Congressional Trust, we don't. In fact, we've been told that no private company insures federal pensions; such a product doesn't exist. Further, none of our financial services companies provide advisory services to Congress' pension fund. We've explored this issue at length with our business units and have found no connection whatsoever to the fund. This rumor surfaced recently on a blog. We're not sure who started the rumor or why, but the rumor is baseless. The OpenSecrets website lists Barack Obama among the many politicians from both parties who have previously received campaign contributions (not \"bonus payments\" or \"bailout money,\" as is frequently reported) from AIG. Last updated: 18 March 2009 Aversa, Jeannine. \"Meltdown 101: Why Did the AIG Bailout Get Bigger?\" The Guardian. 12 November 2008. Bawden, Tom. \"Citigroup Buys Debt-Hit Wachovia.\" The [London] Times. 30 September 2008. Gordon, Marcy. \"JPMorgan's WaMu Purchase Stands - Bailout or No.\" The Seattle Times. 29 September 2008. Montia, Gil. \"Bear Stearns Acquired by JPMorgan Chase for $240 Million.\" Banking Times. 17 March 2008. Ventura County Star. \"Bear Stearns Acquisition Sends Tremors Through Markets.\" Banking Times. 23 March 2008.","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_715","claim":"Did Boyd Bushman Provide Evidence of Alien Contact?","posted":"10\/31\/2014","sci_digest":["\"People really believe that people are 100% honest on their deathbed, so I'm going to make sure I go out with a bang and assert my fantastic claims yet again.\""],"justification":"A video posted to YouTube on October 8, 2014, featured the deathbed revelations of former Lockheed Martin engineer (also known as the \"Area 51 scientist\") Boyd Bushman, who spoke with aerospace engineer Mark Q. Patterson shortly before he passed away at the age of 78 in August 2014: https:\/\/youtu.be\/bqQArKpA5ZQ. Bushman went out with an extraterrestrial disclosure bang, making claims about having worked on projects involving antigravity, UFOs, aliens, \"Area 51,\" and Roswell, New Mexico. According to his comments in the video, government officials had been in contact with aliens who closely resemble humans, tend to be \"approximately four and a half to five feet tall,\" \"have three backbones\" that are \"actually cartilage,\" and are able to communicate telepathically: \"They're able to use their own voice by telepathy to talk to you. You walk into the room with one of them, and all of a sudden you find yourself giving the answer to your question in your own voice,\" he said. In the video, Bushman described two types of aliens, some of whom live for 200 (presumed Earth) years and hail from a planet called \"Quintumnia,\" where, improbably, they continue to rustle cattle despite their vastly advanced technological state: \"They divide them into two groups. One group are wranglers, and the others are rustlers\u2014the ones who are stealers of cattle. The two groups act differently. The ones that are wranglers are much more friendly and have a better relationship with us.\" The sole piece of evidence Bushman presented in support of his tale about alien visitations from Quintumnia was some purported photographs of these extraterrestrial beings. However, when Bushman's claims began to gain traction on the Internet, a Reddit user located an existing plastic toy alien doll that closely resembled the image of the \"alien\" Bushman had presented in his video: Reddit https:\/\/youtu.be\/2FPQL9qoZ9I. A news outlet in Quebec also pointed out that the \"alien\" seen in the pictures held up by Bushman during the interview could be purchased at Walmart. Did Boyd Bushman prankishly decide to have one over on everyone as he departed his earthly life? Was he a publicity-seeking charlatan, a true believer who actually thought he had experienced the things he described, or was he suffering the effects of senility? Regardless of his reasons for offering them, Bushman's extraordinary claims weren't the least bit convincing in an evidential sense, as Stuart J. Robbins noted for SWIFT: A deathbed confession can be a way to solidify one's reputation. The thinking could easily be, \"People really believe that people are 100% honest on their deathbed, so I'm going to make sure I go out with a 'bang' and make my claims yet again. People who didn't believe me before might this time because they'll think I'm telling the truth 'cause I'm about to die.\" However, in addition to explaining why the common reasons to believe deathbed confession testimony are unconvincing, there's a better reason why the testimony is not useful: They're doing it wrong. Let's say I had a bunch of secrets of exotic physics and decided to do a deathbed confession. Here's what I would say: \"I've been working on antigravity and warp field physics for the last 50 years, in secret, with the US government.\" Then, instead of showing photos of a spaceship or a blurry alien, I would add: \"And here are the equations. Here is a diagram for how you build a device. Here is a working model. Here is exactly how you put everything together.\" In other words, it shouldn't matter who I am, what my experience is, or what pretty (or ugly) picture I show. What I need to show is HOW to do it. Just saying something doesn't make it so. I need to provide enough information for someone else to verify and duplicate it. Otherwise, what's the point? To make a spectacle before I die? That's why I find this whole deathbed confession thing unconvincing and, perhaps more importantly, not useful: We have no more information than we had before. We have no way to verify any of the information claimed. No way to test or duplicate it. At best, we have another person claiming this stuff is real, and while he or she may be proven right with the passage of time, their \"confession\" contributed absolutely nothing to that advancement. Until then, it's no better than any other pseudoscientific claim. Cloutier, Jean-Francois. \"An Engineer from Lockheed Martin Talks About UFOs Before His Death.\" TVQC. October 26, 2014. Fetcher, Joshua. \"Former Lockheed Martin Engineer from Texas: I Met Aliens at Area 51.\" San Antonio Express-News. October 30, 2014. van Velzer, Ryan. \"UFOs Over Tucson Video Part of Viral Debate.\" The Arizona Republic. December 14, 2007.","issues":["lien"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1NH33RuJ86r7k9Jh2bMw_82WQv9BrYM0t","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_716","claim":"Do banks need to disclose all transactions exceeding $600 to the IRS as part of the Biden administration's proposed plan?","posted":"09\/16\/2021","sci_digest":["The American Families Plan has a reporting requirement for banks that has infuriated some."],"justification":"Announced in April 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden's American Families Plan is an ambitious proposal that aims to expand Americans' access to childcare and education and increase the number of women in the workforce. The plan intends to fund all of this through higher taxes on income earners and increased reporting requirements for banks that could potentially yield more tax revenue. These reporting requirements have drawn the ire of several banks that took issue with this less widely known section of the plan. A Facebook post by FNB Community Bank claimed: \"The Biden administration has proposed requiring all community banks and other financial institutions to report to the IRS on all deposits and withdrawals through business and personal accounts worth more than $600, regardless of tax liability. This indiscriminate, comprehensive bank account reporting to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) could soon be enacted in Congress and will create an unacceptable invasion of privacy for our customers.\" Another screenshot shared by our readers expressed similar concerns: The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) even began a campaign, calling on communities to send a letter to Biden to prevent this so-called intrusive proposal: \"Tell Congress: Don't Let IRS Invade My Privacy. The Biden administration is proposing requiring financial institutions to report to the IRS all transactions of all business and personal accounts worth more than $600. This is an unprecedented invasion of privacy. In order to oppose this intrusive proposal, please send this letter to your representative and senators immediately.\" We looked up the proposal itself, and it does require more robust reporting of transactions across business and personal accounts. The proposal, which aims to go into effect after December 31, 2022, states: \"This proposal would create a comprehensive financial account information reporting regime. Financial institutions would report data on financial accounts in an information return. The annual return will report gross inflows and outflows with a breakdown for physical cash, transactions with a foreign account, and transfers to and from another account with the same owner.\" This requirement would apply to all business and personal accounts from financial institutions, including bank, loan, and investment accounts, with the exception of accounts below a low de minimis gross flow threshold of $600 or fair market value of $600. We begin by explaining some of the more technical terms in this proposal. A \"de minimis threshold\" is broadly defined as the amount of a transaction that has such a small value that accounting for it would be unreasonable. We spoke to Nyamagaga Gondwe, a Visiting Assistant Professor of Tax Law at New York University, who explained, \"It is the amount below which the IRS would argue isn't worth investigating. It's the difference between your company giving you a $5 card to Subway versus traveling on a private jet on your company's dime. The latter is worth reporting.\" In this case, \"gross flow\" refers to the aggregate inflows and outflows of cash from bank accounts. In sum, the current proposal stipulates that an aggregate amount of less than $600 worth of cash flowing into and out of accounts is not worth reporting. The \"fair market value\" refers to the amount people are willing to pay for an asset in the open market. In this case, Gondwe argued, the use of the term could possibly refer to the changing market value of transactions exceeding $600 that may occur in foreign currency transactions. The ICBA claims that the proposal will make banks report \"all transactions\" above the limit, but this is misleading. While it is true that the IRS will have more information on cash flows above $600, that doesn't mean they will have all the information pertaining to all transactions. The Center for American Progress (CAP) points out that banks will only be providing aggregate numbers to the IRS after each year\u2014gross inflow and gross outflow\u2014and not individualized transaction information. This reporting requirement would also extend to peer-to-peer payment services like Venmo but wouldn't require people to report any additional information to the government. According to The Wall Street Journal, financial institutions must already report interest, dividends, and investment incomes to the IRS, and the IRS can obtain other information through audits. According to Marie Sapirie of Tax Notes, a publication focused on tax news, a parenthetical to the proposal indicates that there is some flexibility in raising the minimum account balance\/inflow\/outflow above $600. The Tax Notes report also states that the Treasury Department estimated this form of reporting would raise $463 billion over the 10-year budget window, making it the third-largest revenue raiser proposed in the budget. The aim is to target businesses outside of large corporations that carry out gross underreporting of their income, amounting to $166 billion per year. According to the proposal: \"Requiring comprehensive information reporting on the inflows and outflows of financial accounts will increase the visibility of gross receipts and deductible expenses to the IRS. Increased visibility of business income will enhance the effectiveness of IRS enforcement measures and encourage voluntary compliance.\" Banks claim this would be an invasion of consumer privacy, with the ICBA saying it would allow the government to monitor account information. However, CAP analysts Seth Hanlon and Galen Hendricks argue, \"Only the prior year's total inflow and total outflow would be reported on annual forms. No one would say that the IRS monitors you on your job because it receives a W-2 from your employer with your total wages every January.\" Another challenge not mentioned in the ICBA's consumer alert is the higher costs this reporting proposal may impose on banks. In May 2021, a coalition of banking associations wrote a letter to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, arguing that they already provide a lot of data to the IRS and that this would impose additional costs on their systems. The costs and other burdens imposed to collect and report account flow information would surpass the potential benefits from such a reporting scheme. New reporting would appear to require material development costs and process additions for financial institutions, as well as significant reconciliation and compliance burdens on impacted taxpayers. For example, reporting total gross receipts and disbursements would require a new reporting paradigm for depository institutions, necessitating system changes to collect the information. On the flipside, Sapirie wrote for Tax Notes that the benefits of such a reporting proposal may be difficult to realize: \"Increasing the amount of information flowing into the IRS would not in itself lead to increased enforcement, and it might come with added challenges.\" Former IRS Commissioner Charles O. Rossotti acknowledged that the IRS today cannot use all the information it already receives, and significant areas of noncompliance are barely addressed, so more reporting alone will not solve the problem. It would almost certainly have a deterrent effect for taxpayers contemplating evasion, but the extent of that effect is unclear, and it might be insufficient to justify the costs to financial institutions and the federal government of implementing such a large new reporting regime. However, CAP's analysis argues that this will help prevent tax evasion while also providing more funding to enhance data security for consumers. Additional funding would go to enhancing data security. Even at present, the IRS's data security is already much better than that of the financial industry, with only very rare and limited breaches compared to the exponentially larger data breaches from financial institutions. Second, the reporting of information flows only from financial institutions to the IRS and not in the other direction, as some earlier proposals had called for. The Biden administration's bank reporting proposal is a critical element of the Build Back Better agenda. It gives the IRS some visibility into opaque forms of income that disproportionately accrue to high-income individuals. Despite fearmongering from bank lobbies, the proposal protects taxpayers' privacy while simply requiring banks to provide basic, aggregated information about flows. This enables the IRS to select audits in a more efficient and equitable way, so the vast majority of taxpayers will be less likely to be audited. By deterring and helping catch tax cheats, the proposal raises substantial revenue for the Build Back Better agenda, which provides critical investments to increase economic opportunities for American families and communities. On October 12, 2021, Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended the proposal in response to a question from a reporter, who said, \"[Banks] are concerned about the tracking of transactions that are greater than $600; Americans are starting to get worried about this. Do you think [this] is going to stay in the Reconciliation Bill?\" \"With all due respect, the plural of anecdote is not data,\" Pelosi said. \"Yes, there are concerns that some people have. But if people are breaking the law and not paying their taxes, one way to track them is through the banking measure. I think $600\u2014that's a negotiation that will go on as to what the amount is. But yes.\" Whatever the impact of this proposal is, it does require additional reporting of certain bank transactions, just not in the way the banks are portraying it.","issues":["dividend"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Q5nT3wl4355mX_gXmN7DkKe3qMIadLtn"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=14u9--TxElD7EnUaQhDL9j6yEqEqW9s1D"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_717","claim":"There are parks in Southeast Raleigh that still dont have air conditioning in the gym","posted":"10\/25\/2017","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Charles Francis says Raleigh isn't spending its parks money fairly. Francis, a Democrat, is running for mayor of Raleigh against three-time incumbent Nancy McFarlane, who is unaffiliated. They are in a runoff after none of the three candidates\u2014Francis, McFarlane, and Republican Paul Fitts\u2014secured the 50 percent of the vote required to win. (McFarlane got 48 percent, Francis got 36 percent, and Fitts got 12 percent.) In a debate on Friday, Francis suggested the city shouldn't focus all of its energy on Dix Park when more basic needs go unaddressed. Dix Park is a 308-acre property just south of downtown Raleigh that the city bought from the state in 2014 and plans to develop into a destination recreation spot. \"It's not right that there are parks in Southeast Raleigh that still don't have air conditioning in the gym,\" he said. \"We've got to have equity in the way we approach our parks.\" Southeast Raleigh, the city's lone predominantly Black area, hasn't enjoyed the same economic success as other parts of the city where businesses are opening and property values are rising. Francis grew up there and is campaigning on the idea that the city should be doing more for the area. A recent PolitiFact analysis of the Oct. 10 election showed Francis received his most fervent support in Southeast Raleigh. He has previously talked about how those voters could swing the election. \"There are 80,000 Black voters in Raleigh,\" Francis said at a forum in September. \"McFarlane normally wins with 25,000 to 30,000 votes. If only a quarter of African-American voters vote\u2014and vote the right way\u2014we're going to win.\" Given the city's budget is $919 million, PolitiFact wondered whether there are, indeed, gyms in Southeast Raleigh that don't have air conditioning. What we found: the city controls 23 gyms at 19 venues. And yes, there are three gyms in Southeast Raleigh that don't have air-conditioning units, according to Raleigh's parks, recreation, and cultural resources department. Biltmore Hills Park, John Chavis Memorial Park, and Tarboro Road Park are all located in Southeast Raleigh and lack air conditioning units. But that's not the whole story. There are six other Raleigh gyms that also lack air conditioning. The gyms at Green Road Park, Lions Park in Northeast Raleigh, Method Community Park in West Raleigh, Millbrook Exchange Park in North Raleigh, and two gyms at Laurel Hills Park in Northwest Raleigh also lack air conditioning. Most area gyms have AC. There are also four gyms in the Southeast Raleigh area that do have air conditioning: Barwell Road Community Center, Halifax Community Center, Roberts Park Community Center, and the Worthdale Community Center. The city says it didn't begin putting air-conditioned gyms in park facilities until 2006. It costs about $300,000 to install units in older facilities. The city says its budget for capital projects will fund air-conditioning units in eight of the nine AC-less gyms by 2022. Method Park, the lone outlier, is being considered for AC funding as part of the 2023 budget, the city says. Our ruling: Francis said gyms in Southeast Raleigh don't have air conditioning. There are four area gyms that have it and six gyms elsewhere in the city that don't have it. That context is important when debating city priorities, and Francis didn't elaborate during the televised debate. But he's right: there are three gyms in Southeast Raleigh that don't have AC. We rate his claim Mostly True.","issues":["City Budget","City Government","North Carolina"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_718","claim":"Hidden Sex Drawing in 'Monsters, Inc.' Scene","posted":"05\/24\/2016","sci_digest":["A viral video purports to show a sexual act depicted in a scene from the popular children's movie \"Monsters, Inc.\""],"justification":"In May 2016, a viral YouTube video purportedly featuring one of the final scenes in the Pixar movie Monsters, Inc. renewed interest in a rumor that a drawing of characters \"Uncle Roger\" and \"Mommy\" engaged in a sex act could be spotted on Boo's bedroom wall. The drawing did not actually appear in the movie at all. The image was created by Corey Vaspasian for a digital editing contest for the website Cracked, in which users were asked to insert R-rated \"Easter eggs\" into children's movies. The above-displayed image was later inserted into a clip from Monsters, Inc., which convinced many people that it was real. While Disney and Pixar both love to insert \"Easter eggs\"\u2014intentional hidden messages or inside jokes\u2014into their films, this is not an example of one. The real scene from Monsters, Inc. featured an innocent picture of a cat. While many of the X-rated Disney rumors have been proven false, the movie The Rescuers did actually feature two frames showing a topless woman.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1tL3V4ORcXarIy2wimIQA7-91y_omD80q","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1NiEmSD7E6JVrtaI95hzvtYA0ajEP2fEo","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_719","claim":"Are $250 coupons being offered by Kohl's to users on social media platforms?","posted":"11\/18\/2019","sci_digest":["Coupon scams are pervasive on social media."],"justification":"In April 2020, a coupon purporting to offer $250 in merchandise from the Kohl's department store circulated in Facebook posts directing viewers to click on a survey question:    This was a scam. Such efforts that trick viewers by offering free goods or money are long-standing. Kohl's is also a frequent target of such scams, but this fraud can target any business, from airlines to beer makers. A good rule of thumb to follow: If an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is. also frequent any airlines beer makers These types of viral \"coupon\" scams often involve websites and social media pages set up to mimic those of legitimate companies. Users who respond to those fake offers are required to share a website link or social media post in order to spread the scam more widely and lure in additional victims. Then those users are presented with a survey that extracts personal information such as email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, and even sometimes credit card numbers. Finally, those who want to claim their \"free\" gift cards or coupons eventually learn they must first sign up to purchase a number of costly goods, services, or subscriptions. Despite the latest coupon scam above, Kohl's was indeed celebrating its 57th year as a department store, as of September 2019. It opened its first store in Brookfield, Wisconsin, according to company literature. In 2016, a variation of the same type of scam circulated, offering viewers $75 off purchases. literature variation The Better Business Bureau offers consumers several general tips to avoid getting scammed: offers consumers WHP.  \"Scam Alert: Kohl's $75 Off Coupon Is Too Good to Be True.\"\r  24 May 2016. Better Business Bureau.  \"Scam Alert: Giveaway Scam Poses as Facebook.\"\r  14 April 2017.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1yOxniLZ9Inpvx2zbrT7eLS8nWc1qQbsr"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1lNOkyPNG4G0VvptPdQkX442NxTI_wQYM"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_720","claim":"Is Simon Cowell Leaving 'America's Got Talent'?","posted":"06\/26\/2023","sci_digest":["An online article that featured the People magazine logo said Cowell \"shocked everyone when he announced his departure from the show.\""],"justification":"In June 2023, paid ads were displayed on Facebook and Instagram claiming that Simon Cowell would be leaving \"America's Got Talent,\" NBC's performance-competition TV show better known as \"AGT.\" However, this was false, and the purpose of these ads was to lure users into a scam that could cost them thousands of dollars a year. The scam claimed that Cowell had endorsed an \"amazing miracle gummy product\" for weight loss called G6 Keto ACV Gummies, with \"ACV\" standing for apple cider vinegar. To be clear, none of this was true. Cowell never endorsed any CBD or keto weight loss gummy products, and his image and likeness were used without permission. Furthermore, we do not recommend placing trust in weight loss promises that feature the words \"amazing miracle.\" In this story, we will walk through how this scam worked, including shedding light on the strange return addresses that appeared on packages received by customers who ordered similar gummies in the past. The Facebook and Instagram ads featuring Cowell displayed before-and-after pictures that seemed to show a weight loss transformation. \"Simon Cowell Shares How He Dropped 56 In Just Weeks,\" the ads read. The link in the ads directed users to a specific page on the website brownnature.art. Before clicking on the link in the ad, we decided to check out the homepage for brownnature.art. According to our findings, this website appeared to have been created solely for running scams. How did we know this? A fake bookstore served as the facade for the scam operation on the website. This bookstore did not have any payment options enabled, meaning users could not order any of the books the website claimed to offer. Returning to the ads featuring Cowell, we clicked the link that took us to a specific page on brownnature.art. An article loaded in our browser that featured a People magazine logo. \"Simon Cowell Confirms He is 'LEAVING' America's Got Talent After His Accidental 'Live' Confession On-Air,\" the false headline read. The article also falsely claimed that celebrities Kelly Clarkson and Melissa McCarthy had lost weight with G6 Keto ACV Gummies. Both Clarkson and McCarthy have been featured in these scams for years, despite having no connection to any keto weight loss gummies. This was not a story that People magazine had ever published. Scammers had replicated the design of how articles are displayed on people.com, the official website for the magazine, in an attempt to fool users into believing they were reading an authentic story from the publication. After clicking on one of the many links in the fake People magazine article on brownnature.art, we were led to the G6 Keto ACV Gummies website, secure.get6gproducts.com\/v1\/. The creator or creators of the product's website published several false statements that extended the scam seen in the social media ads and the fake People magazine article. For example, Dr. Mehmet Oz never called the product the \"holy grail\" of weight loss, nor did the Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism medical journal publish any pieces about the gummies, as the G6 website claimed. The G6 website also included mentions of CBS News, NBC, CNN, Women's Health, Woman's World, and Honolulu Magazine, even though these publications never featured, mentioned, or endorsed anything about the product. Perhaps worst of all was the fact that no phone number was available on the G6 website, not even in its privacy policy or terms and conditions documentation. In fact, part of the terms and conditions left two spaces after \"TOLL FREE\" where the phone number belonged: \"Please contact Customer service at TOLL FREE between the hours of 9am EST - 9pm EST Mon - Sat with any questions regarding your product, payment or return.\" We have seen phone numbers omitted like this on CBD and keto weight loss gummies websites for more than a year. This was not a one-time issue. For many months, we have been observing comments from purported customers who complained about being victims of CBD and keto weight loss gummies scams. Many of these comments were posted to YouTube and contained detailed accounts of how they were scammed. These customers often stated in their comments that they were charged around $200 after believing they would only be paying about $40. They also expressed surprise that making a purchase enrolled them in a subscription that would charge their credit card hundreds of dollars per month, resulting in charges totaling thousands of dollars per year. Additionally, customers reported that when the gummy packages arrived at their doorstep, they contained no real identifying information about a parent company or anything about the people behind the products. According to the customers, the packages only included the two words \"fulfillment center\" along with a P.O. Box physical mailing address for Tampa, Florida, or Las Vegas, Nevada. Customers often reported a return address with the city of Smyrna, Tennessee. If any readers ordered CBD or keto gummies that promised an \"amazing miracle\" involving weight loss, we recommend they contact their credit card company to inform them of the scam. Again, these scams sign customers up for subscriptions. Unless action is taken, a new charge for hundreds of dollars will be placed on customers' credit cards every month. As for how Cowell truly lost weight, he once credited dropping pounds to his vegan diet. We found no credible reporting that indicated he ever consumed gummies. To be completely clear, we have never found even one real example of a celebrity who endorsed CBD or keto weight loss gummies.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1RkS6hQ74L4uUqWJ9HZYTMH1uSwTEKbUr","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1xa7yo7zhX11j_SpOG9cbQ0nb1aMdPYq-","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_721","claim":"Did Paul Ryan state that women who utilize contraceptives are engaging in acts of murder?","posted":"03\/08\/2017","sci_digest":["A statement supposedly made by House speaker Paul Ryan on CNN in which he asserted that women who use birth control are committing murder originated with a \"hybrid\" satire site."],"justification":"On 3 March 2017, the website USPOLN published an article that contained several quotes ostensibly uttered by Senator Paul Ryan, including one statement in which he supposedly asserted about birth control that \"If there was a legitimate way to have intercourse and not get pregnant, God would have included it in His holy books.\" This article was framed as presenting portions of a discussion between Ryan and CNN host Jake Tapper, and the introductory paragraph replicated a legitimate exchange between Ryan and Tapper about health care reform and birth control that took place on 13 November 2016. During that exchange, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) refused to say if some women would lose access to birth control benefits after Republicans repealed","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1yW1LDK0oXYn8LfkjYkL1b0wyyLqa_Kbr"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_722","claim":"Did Levi Strauss Announce a Partnership with Michael Bloomberg to Advocate for Gun Control?","posted":"09\/10\/2018","sci_digest":["Conservative web sites and the NRA gave largely accurate accounts of a September 2018 announcement by the maker of the iconic Levi's jeans."],"justification":"In September 2018, several conservative websites and the National Rifle Association (NRA) reported that Levi Strauss & Co., the producer of the iconic Levi's brand of jeans, had partnered with businessman and former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg to \"attack gun rights.\" The NRA's Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) declared that Levi Strauss had abandoned its \"rugged image\" and would be working with \"a billionaire oligarch in an effort to empower the government to trample upon the fundamental rights of the American people.\" The conservative LifeZette website similarly stated that the company planned to donate $1 million over four years through grants to anti-gun groups\u2014including the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety, a group founded and heavily funded by Michael Bloomberg\u2014and would also encourage employee contributions by offering to double-match all the money they contribute toward the anti-gun campaign. On September 5, the NRA-ILA posted a meme on Facebook asserting that \"Levi Strauss turns their back on Second Amendment supporting customers.\" It is true that Levi Strauss announced in September 2018 that it would be partnering with Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit organization that advocates for gun control measures. However, the accounts highlighted above included subjective (and sometimes misleading) characterizations of the company's efforts rather than objective facts. For example, Levi Strauss CEO Chip Bergh stated that the company was \"stepping up [its] support for gun violence prevention,\" not that it was working to \"attack gun rights.\" The latter characterization came from LifeZette and the NRA, not Levi Strauss itself. Similarly, the NRA's Facebook meme claimed that the company had \"[turned] its back on Second Amendment supporting customers,\" but none of the actions announced in September 2018 specifically related to customers rather than to the issue of gun violence in general. (In 2016, the company requested that customers not bring firearms into their stores as a safety measure.) Finally, LifeZette wrote that Levi Strauss would be donating money toward \"anti-Second Amendment activities,\" but that is not at all how the project was characterized by Levi Strauss itself, whose CEO stipulated that he did not favor repealing the Second Amendment. In a blog post on September 4, 2018, Levi Strauss announced three actions in support of gun violence prevention: 1. The Safer Tomorrow Fund: We have established this fund to direct more than $1 million in philanthropic grants from LS&Co. over the next four years to fuel the work of nonprofits and youth activists who are working to end gun violence in America. 2. Everytown Business Leaders for Gun Safety: We are partnering with Everytown for Gun Safety and executives from the business community, including Michael Bloomberg, to form a coalition of business leaders who believe that business has a critical role to play and a moral obligation to do something about the gun violence epidemic in this country. 3. Employee Support: We are doubling our usual employee donation match to organizations aligned with our Safer Tomorrow Fund. Additionally, we are encouraging employees to utilize their five hours a month in paid volunteer time to become more politically active. In an op-ed column for Fortune magazine, Bergh addressed the potential concerns of gun-owning customers and stressed that he was not advocating for the repeal of the Second Amendment and did not believe gun owners were irresponsible. He stated, \"You may wonder why a company that doesn't manufacture or sell guns is wading into this issue, but for us, it's simple. Americans shouldn't have to live in fear of gun violence. It's an issue that affects all of us\u2014all generations and all walks of life. So today, on top of our previous actions, Levi Strauss & Co. is lending its support for gun violence prevention in three new areas. I know that Americans, including many of our own consumers, employees, and other partners, hold a wide spectrum of views related to guns. I'm not here to suggest we repeal the Second Amendment or to imply that gun owners aren't responsible. In fact, as a former U.S. Army officer, I took a solemn oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. But as retired four-star general Michael Hayden once said, 'There are some weapons out there that frankly nobody should have access to. And actually, there are some people out there who should never have access to any weapons. We can't","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=16eCIdBzTMkBAlkUsnUVAwbZdes_pxf6D","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_723","claim":"7 out of 10 Oregon families living in poverty have at least one parent who works.","posted":"09\/11\/2013","sci_digest":[],"justification":"A common and perhaps reasonable assumption is that people who are poor dont have jobs. But in anAug. 7, 2013, infographicon its website, the left-leaningOregon Center for Public Policywrote that 7 out of 10 Oregon families living in poverty have at least one parent who works. Was this the debunking of a common myth about those in poverty? Do a full 70 percent of Oregon families in poverty have a parent who works? We first rang Chuck Sheketoff, the executive director of the Silverton-based center, who said that the figure was part of the centersJune 27, 2013, Working But Still Poor fact sheet. Work is not a sure path out of poverty, it said. A pie chart on the second page says that 69 percent of families in poverty were working families, composed of 22 percent who had at least one parent working full time and 47 percent who had at least one parent working less than full time. About 31 percent of the families had no parent working. The numbers were from the centers analysis of theU.S. Census Bureaus2011 American Community Survey data. Sheketoff pointed us to Jason Gettel, the centers policy analyst who crunched those numbers. Gettel explained that he usedDataFerrett, a free data analysis program promoted on the Census Bureaus website. DataFerrett allows users to analyze all of the survey responses to carve out data in different ways. We wanted to see what proportion of families in poverty had a worker present to show that people do live in poverty despite the fact that they work, Gettel said. Theyre there because some jobs pay too little, or theyve been laid off for some period of time, but not because they dont put forth a work effort. Gettel walked us through DataFerrett and showed us how he selected certain variables in order to limit the survey responses to arrive at the 7 out of 10 number. He limited the data to only the Oregon families who are in poverty with a related child. He then searched for types of work experience by different family members, such as householder worked full-time in the past 12 months and spouse worked full time in the past 12 months or female householder worked less than full-time in the past 12 months and no spouse present. Finally, the numbers were weighted to more accurately reflect statewide numbers, since the American Community Survey does not count as many people as the 2010 U.S. Census. The analysis showed that there were 437,991 families with children in Oregon. Of those, 86,255 were in poverty. This is the pool of Oregon families we would use for further calculations. Next we did some simple addition and subtraction. We first added up the 3,042 families where neither the householder nor the spouse worked; the 4,429 families where single male householders did not work; and the 19,339 families where single female householders did not work. This showed us that 26,810 of the 86,255 Oregon families with children had a parent who did not work in the previous year, roughly 31 percent. Put another way, 59,445 Oregon families with children in poverty  69 percent  had a parent who worked at least part time in the previous year. Its worth noting here that the Census data only breaks down work experience by three different types and only over a 12-month period: full-time work, less than full-time work, or no work. That means somebody who last worked a one-month retail job during the 2012 holiday season would qualify as a less than full-time worker. Were not sure that most people count that as a parent who works. Indeed, government officials generally categorize people unemployed for six months or longer as long-term unemployed. We also want to note that poverty is defined as the federal poverty threshold. For 2011, that threshold was $18,123 for a single parent with two children and $22,811 for a two-parent family with two children. The threshold varies depending on the number of adults and children and whether the adults are under 65 years old. Next we wanted to verify that Gettel had used the right variables to arrive at the right numbers. DataFerrett, to put it nicely, is not the most intuitive program for the average user. We called the U.S. Census Bureau, where a survey statistician in the poverty statistics branch also used DataFerrett to check our variables and numbers. The process that was used was the correct process, said Robert Bernstein, a bureau spokesman. The end result was this 69 percent figure. Lastly, we wondered if similar studies had been done. Again, we turned to the Census Bureau. One table indicated that nearly 64 percent of Oregon families with income below the poverty level in the previous year had a worker in the family. Those data were from the 2011 American Community Survey. Another 2011 Census table based on national data showed that, of the 33.1 million people in families in poverty, 21.1 million individuals were in families with at least one worker  about 64 percent. Neither of those studies was limited to families with children. We looked at some other studies, too, and saw similar percentages. None of these studies is a perfect apples-to-apples comparison to the Oregon Center for Public Policys data, but they show that the Oregon centers numbers are within range of what similar studies have found. The Oregon Center for Public Policy wrote that 7 out of 10 Oregon families living in poverty have at least one parent who works. We checked Gettels analysis and confirmed his results. We also confirmed the analysis and numbers with the U.S. Census Bureau. While the numbers are accurate, under the survey design, somebody classified by federal employment officials as long-term unemployed could be counted as working under the Census definition. We think thats an important clarification. We rate this statement Mostly True.","issues":["Oregon","Children","Families","Income","Poverty","Welfare"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_724","claim":"Does this meme show examples of racial bias in prosecutions for tax evasion?","posted":"03\/15\/2019","sci_digest":["What do these four examples have in common?  Nothing of significance, as far as we can tell."],"justification":"One of the more unusual political memes we've come across presented four different cases of tax-related financial improprieties to suggest that tax-evasion prosecutions were somehow influenced by racial bias against non-blacks. However, the \"Tax Racism\" meme offered examples, not all of which were actual cases of tax evasion, so widely spaced in time and differing in circumstances as to be unhelpful in making any point at all about either tax fraud or race. Martha Stewart, the entrepreneur who rose to prominence as the author of books on cooking, entertaining, and decorating, was not charged with or imprisoned for non-payment of income taxes. Stewart was found guilty in March 2004 of felony charges of conspiracy, obstruction of an agency proceeding, and making false statements to federal investigators in a case related to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation into insider trading activity. The investigation, which took place in Washington, D.C., on June 4, 2003, led to the Securities and Exchange Commission filing securities fraud charges against Martha Stewart and her former stockbroker, Peter Bacanovic. The complaint, filed in federal court in Manhattan, alleges that Stewart committed illegal insider trading when she sold stock in a biopharmaceutical company, ImClone Systems, Inc., on Dec. 27, 2001, after receiving an unlawful tip from Bacanovic, who was a broker with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated at the time. The Commission further alleges that Stewart and Bacanovic subsequently created an alibi for Stewart's ImClone sales and concealed important facts during SEC and criminal investigations into her trades. In a separate action, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York obtained an indictment charging Stewart and Bacanovic criminally for their false statements concerning Stewart's ImClone trades. Stewart was sentenced to five months in prison and also settled a civil suit with the SEC by paying a $195,000 fine, a penalty that reflected four times the amount of stock value loss she avoided by taking advantage of inside information, plus interest. Stewart did engage in a dispute with the state of New York in 2002 over unpaid property taxes that she contended she didn't owe because she hardly spent any time in that state, and she was eventually ordered by a judge to pay $220,000 in back taxes plus penalties. But contrary to the false impression created by this meme, she was not prosecuted or jailed over that issue; the time she spent in prison was solely related to a later insider-trading case, not to tax evasion. By the mid-1920s, notorious Chicago mobster Alphonse Gabriel Capone was reportedly taking in nearly $60 million annually ($878 million in 2018 dollars) from a variety of illegal activities, primarily Prohibition-era bootlegging. Capone was dubbed \"Public Enemy No. 1\" after the 1929 Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, in which gunmen allegedly hired by him posed as police officers to murder seven members of a rival gang, leading to increased public pressure on the government to rein Capone in. Federal authorities had difficulty gathering sufficient hard evidence to convict Capone on any substantial criminal charges, so they took what was then a novel approach: Even if they couldn't prove Capone was making his millions illegally, they could prove he wasn't paying income tax on his ill-gotten gains. Despite his obviously lavish lifestyle, Capone never filed a federal income tax return and claimed he had no taxable income, reportedly boasting at one point that, \"They can't collect legal taxes from illegal money.\" He was proved wrong. IRS and Treasury agents gathered evidence that Capone had made millions of dollars in untaxed income, and the mobster was eventually indicted on 22 counts of federal income tax evasion. After conviction, he was sentenced in 1931 to 11 years in prison, fined $50,000, and ordered to pay back taxes in the amount of $215,000. Capone was released from prison in 1939 with time off for good behavior and retired to Florida, where he died in 1947 at the relatively young age of 48. In a literal sense, Capone was indeed jailed for non-payment of income taxes, but the tax evasion charges were essentially a proxy for prosecuting the mobster over the multitude of vastly worse and violent crimes with which he was connected, as well as the immense profits he derived from those criminal activities. Capone was by no means an otherwise upright and law-abiding citizen who was thrown in prison simply because he didn't pay his income taxes. At this point in our narrative, we need to distinguish between different forms of tax evasion. At one end of the spectrum are those who haven't engaged in any fraudulent behavior but simply didn't or can't pay their taxes for any number of reasons\u2014maybe they didn't plan or withhold prudently, they received poor financial advice, they had legitimate confusion or dispute over what constituted taxable income, or they simply overspent and ended up in debt. Although non-payment of taxes is a crime, the IRS will not usually seek prosecution in these types of cases and will instead work with offenders to facilitate payment of their back debts, rather than making repayment difficult or impossible by incarcerating them. At the other end of the spectrum are those who actively engage in fraud to evade the full payment of taxes: They fail to disclose their full income, hide financial transactions, claim deductions to which they are not entitled, disguise monies earned as something other than income, or otherwise file falsified tax returns. The IRS will, at their discretion, seek prosecution in egregious cases of these forms of tax evasion. Leona Helmsley, derisively known as the \"Queen of Mean,\" was a billionaire who, along with her husband, real estate investor and broker Harry Helmsley, owned a vast portfolio of real estate and other assets, including a chain of hotels and the iconic Empire State Building. Leona Helmsley, who once reportedly asserted that \"We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes,\" fell into the latter class of tax evader, falsely manipulating her personal finances, business expenses, and dealings with third parties to avoid paying immense sums of taxes. Some of Helmsley's luster was tarnished in 1986 when court documents and law enforcement officials said she had failed to pay sales taxes in New York on hundreds of thousands of dollars of jewelry she purchased at Van Cleef & Arpels, the exclusive Manhattan store. Two senior store officers were indicted on charges that they operated a scheme by which customers with out-of-state addresses could have their purchases recorded as being mailed to them, thus avoiding city and state taxes. In 1987, a series of adverse articles in The New York Post about the Helmsleys, set off by one of their disgruntled employees, led to a broad investigation. The following year, Harry and Leona Helmsley were indicted by federal and state authorities on charges that they had evaded more than $4 million in income taxes by fraudulently claiming as business expenses luxuries they purchased for Dunnellen Hall in Greenwich, Conn., a 28-room Jacobean mansion on 26 acres with a sweeping view of Long Island Sound that they bought in 1983. In 235 counts in state and federal indictments brought by Robert Abrams, then the New York State attorney general, and Rudolph W. Giuliani, then the United States attorney and later mayor of New York, the Helmsleys were accused of draining their hotel and real estate empire to provide themselves with such extravagances at Dunnellen Hall as a $1 million marble dance floor above a swimming pool, a $45,000 silver clock, a $210,000 mahogany card table, a $130,000 stereo system, and $500,000 worth of jade art objects. Nothing was too small or personal to be billed to their businesses, from Mrs. Helmsley's bras to a white lace and pink satin dress and jacket and a white chiffon skirt\u2014the dress and skirt were entered in the Park Lane Hotel records as uniforms for the staff. Mrs. Helmsley was also charged with defrauding Helmsley stockholders by receiving $83,333 a month in secret consulting fees. She was convicted of 33 felony counts related to her evasion of $1.2 million in federal income taxes. She was sentenced to 16 years in prison (reduced to four years on appeal), fined $7.1 million for tax fraud, and ordered to pay some $1.7 million in back federal and state taxes. She began serving her sentence in 1992 and was released from federal prison in Connecticut in 1994 after having served less than half her sentence. Where along the tax-evader spectrum between \"legitimate dispute\" and \"willful tax fraud\" civil rights activist Al Sharpton might fall is difficult to determine. Claims were made in the press in 2014 that Sharpton owed some $4.5 million in unpaid taxes, but the accuracy of that number and how much of the money owed might already have been repaid by Sharpton were unclear, and his tax-troubles narrative involved a muddied mixture of personal, business, and non-profit finances, as well as liabilities for federal taxes, state taxes, payroll taxes, and personal income taxes. Much of the dispute over the \"why\" and \"how much\" of Sharpton's unpaid tax bill stemmed from the operations of the National Action Network, a not-for-profit civil rights organization founded by Sharpton in 1991. Sharpton contended in a 2014 New York Times account that he incurred an unexpected tax liability because he was taxed personally for income he had given to the non-profit organization, and that he was up to date on repayment plans. Officials contested that the amount he was in arrears for in unpaid taxes had actually grown larger, though. Today, Mr. Sharpton still faces personal federal tax liens of more than $3 million and state tax liens of $777,657, according to records. Mr. Sharpton said the federal liens resulted from a demand by the IRS that he pay taxes on earnings from speaking engagements that he had turned over to the National Action Network. He said he was up to date on payment plans for both the federal and state liens, so, he said, the outstanding balance was much lower than records showed. But according to state officials, his balance on the state liens is actually $220,000 greater now than when they were first filed during the years 2008 through 2010. A spokesman for the State Department of Taxation and Finance said state law did not allow him to provide any further details. Sharpton then contested that news account, asserting that it referenced \"old taxes\" and insisting again that his tax liens had been paid down below the $4.5 million debt claimed in the New York Times report. During a news conference at the headquarters of his National Action Network in Harlem, Mr. Sharpton sought to refute the assertion that there were $4.5 million in state and federal tax liens outstanding against him and the for-profit businesses he controls. He said that the liens had been paid down, although he declined to say by how much, and that he was current on all taxes he was obligated to pay under settlement agreements with tax authorities. \"We're talking about old taxes,\" he said, adding, \"We're not talking about anything new. So all of this, as if I'm not paying taxes while I'm doing whatever I'm doing, it reads all right, but it just is not true.\" The accuracy of Mr. Sharpton's assertion that the amount he owes the federal government is much lower than the $3.6 million shown in records could not be verified. A spokesman for the Internal Revenue Service said federal law prohibited the agency from divulging any details about individual taxpayers. As for the state tax liens, Mr. Sharpton's assertion that he had paid them down conflicts with information provided by state officials. State authorities filed tax liens against Mr. Sharpton in 2008 and 2009, and again in 2010 against a for-profit business he controls, Revals Communications, all totaling $695,000. But a spokesman for the State Department of Taxation and Finance said the amount due had actually increased to $916,000. Regardless of the numbers, Sharpton wasn't put in prison because tax officials did not deem his case to be an exceptional one of scofflaw tax fraud or evasion that merited prosecution, instead working with him to facilitate his paying down the debt. The conclusion here is a simple one: Cherry-picking four very disparate cases of financial wrongdoing spanning several decades, while ignoring the many other instances of tax evasion successfully prosecuted by the U.S. government, documents nothing about any purported racial bias in such prosecutions.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1WQY4IXRDzQuFBNtYvxlW9wyT9Vqg6NbW"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_725","claim":"What Does Obama Read? 'The Post-American World'","posted":"10\/07\/2008","sci_digest":["A photograph supposedly captured Barack Obama reading a book about \"a Muslim's view of a defeated America.\""],"justification":"A photograph of Barack Obama carrying (and presumably reading) the best-selling book, The Post-American World, is a real one, snapped by Doug Mills of the New York Times in Bozeman, Montana, in May 2008: What does Obama read?Hussein Obama with a book in his hands. He's reading \"The Post-American World\"  it's a Muslim's view of a defeated America!  However, the characterization of the pictured book as \"a Muslim's view of a defeated America\" is erroneous: The book does not posit a \"defeated America,\" nor does it express a Muslim point of view: The The Post-American World was written by Fareed Zakaria, an Indian-born political journalist (commonly described as a \"political moderate\") who specializes in world affairs and has written for (and edited) U.S. national news publications, hosted U.S. television news programs, and authored several books on international issues. A Village Voice profile described Zakaria (a naturalized citizen of the United States) thusly: Fareed Zakaria written hosted authored Although he was a rising star in the serious foreign-policy world of the '90s (The Nation once described him as a \"junior Kissinger\"), it was his post-9\/11 Newsweek cover story \"Why They Hate Us\" that put him on the mainstream map as someone who could make sense of the now threatening outside world. And he has continued to win himself a substantial following with his thoughtful critiques of the Bush administration's activities in Iraq. He is America's go-to man for global chaos, providing some urgently needed outside perspective on our never ending war on terror.His own upbringing was open-minded and secular; he sang Christian hymns at school and celebrated Hindu as well as his own Muslim holidays. \"I do know a lot about the world of Islam in an instinctive way that you can't get through book learning,\" he says thoughtfully, but admits he finds the role of token Muslim explainer in the American media slightly uncomfortable. \"I occasionally find myself reluctant to be pulled into a world that's not mine, in the sense that I'm not a religious guy.\" The following review (from Publishers Weekly) summarizes the thesis of The Post-American World  When a book proclaims that it is not about the decline of America but the rise of everyone else, readers might expect another diatribe about our dismal post-9\/11 world. They are in for a pleasant surprise as Newsweek editor and popular pundit Zakaria (The Future of Freedom) delivers a stimulating, largely optimistic forecast of where the 21st century is heading. We are living in a peaceful era, he maintains; world violence peaked around 1990 and has plummeted to a record low. Burgeoning prosperity has spread to the developing world, raising standards of living in Brazil, India, China andIndonesia. Twenty years ago China discarded Soviet economics but not its politics, leading to a wildly effective, top-down, scorched-earth boom. Its political antithesis, India, also prospers while remaining a chaotic, inefficient democracy, as Indian elected officials are (generally) loathe to use the brutally efficient tactics that are the staple of Chinese governance. Paradoxically, India's greatest asset is its relative stability in the region; its officials take an unruly population for granted, while dissent produces paranoia in Chinese leaders. Zakaria predicts that despite its record of recent blunders at home and abroad, America will stay strong, buoyed by a stellar educational system and the influx of young immigrants, who give the U.S. a more youthful demographic than Europe and much of Asia whose workers support an increasing population of unproductive elderly. A lucid, thought-provoking appraisal of world affairs, this book will engage readers on both sides of the political spectrum. As for what the chief executive reads in his spare time, according to deputy press secretary Bill Burton, President Obama brought the following books with him to his August 2009 vacation at Martha's Vineyard: In 2015, President Obama's summer reading list, as announced by the White House, included the following books: arner, Dwight.  \"What Obama Is Reading.\"\r  The New York Times.  21 May 2008. Joffe, Josef.  \"The New New World.\"\r  The New York Times.  11 May 2008. Press, Joy.  \"The Interpreter.\"\r  Village Voice.  9 August 2005. Wolf, Richard.  \"President's Reading List a Hefty One.\"\r  USA Today.  24 August 2009.","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1oE6DWhzNmyXOQ1QdPyb4O2qikzwAPsJw","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_726","claim":"Are Social Security Numbers Assigned by Race?","posted":"04\/11\/1999","sci_digest":["Rumor claims the U.S. government assigns Social Security numbers on the basis of race, a practice that permits employers to screen applicants and weed out those of color."],"justification":"The Social Security \"middle digit\" rumor is yet another Big Brother conspiracy theory, this one purporting that the federal government and its policies help promote racism. We're told the fifth digit of Social Security numbers denotes race, thus identifying blacks and minorities to mortgage lenders, university admissions officers, employers, and others in application processes that should be color blind. Armed with the foreknowledge of who is black and who is white, perhaps the resumes and applications of African Americans are being shuffled to the bottom of the pile. It's a chilling thought because we know in our heart of hearts if an exploitable resource did exist for pegging sight unseen what color any of us was, there are bigots out there who would not hesitate to use it. Thankfully, it doesn't.   The e-mailed warnings quoted above are bunk; none of the digits in a Social Security number has anything to do with race. The only information 'hidden' in an SSN is where and when it was issued.  Each SSN is composed of nine digits, commonly written as three fields separated by hyphens: AAA-GG-SSSS. The first three-digit field is the area number and indicates what state was listed in the applicant's mailing address when the number was issued. Someone with a mailing address in Oregon, for instance, would have a SSN beginning with 540 to 544, while the SSN of someone with a mailing address in Alabama would begin with 416 to 424. The second set of numbers (a grouping of two, which includes the supposed infamous 'race' digit) shows when the SSN was issued, not to whom. Note that it does not directly correspond to the year of issue: a 42 in this field does not indicate this particular SSN was handed out in 1942. Different states go through this two-digit code at different rates.  Moreover, when a state is done with a particular group number, the next one it begins using comes off the line according to a numbering system which makes perfect sense to the government, but to no one else. (Even so, we're going to attempt to explain it here.) Before 1965, only half of the potential group numbers were used: odd numbers below ten and even numbers above nine. In 1965, the system was changed so that assignments continued with the low even numbers and the high odd numbers. Therefore, group numbers for each area number are exhausted in the following order:   Odd numbers, 01 to 09 Even numbers, 10 to 98 Even numbers, 02 to 08 Odd numbers, 11 to 99 The last four digits on an SSN are unique to the individual and are known as the series numbers. They are handed out in chronological order within each area and group number. Simply put, if two people living in the same area apply for a SSN during the same year, the first five digits of both numbers will be identical. If their applications hit the desk at the SSA at the same time, there will be a one-number difference, say, 3456 vs. 3457. Getting back to the 'race' digit  possessed of a better understanding of how the SSA assigns that number, we find that prior to 1965, a bushelful of SSNs with even numbers in this position were  generated (45) as compared to a mere handful of odd (5). The more densely populated the area, the greater the amount of group numbers exhausted, resulting in SSNs in highly-populated areas more closely patterning themselves to the pre-1965 nine-to-one optimal result for this field. In less populated areas, however, the discrepancy between odd and even is less noticeable, because the five odd numbers are used up first (e.g., if in Alaska only twenty group numbers have been used up, then five are odd and fifteen even, resulting in a three-to-1 ratio.) From 1965 on, group numbers continue to be assigned on the above basis, but now with the second set of potential codes (49 only this time; there is no 00) being called into service when the first fifty are used up. Consequently, group codes have to achieve a ten-to-one even-to-odd imbalance before the numbers begin resetting themselves towards parity. So how does this impact the rumor? At the wildest point of the numbering swing, the odds are 10-to-1 any given person's SSN group code is an even number. Therefore, the claim that \"I polled 35 African-Americans, 34 had an EVEN fifth digit in their SS#, the 35th person was White\/Puerto Rican,\" isn't all that surprising. Especially when you consider that the five odd group numbers were handed out first, it's almost a leadpipe cinch that the SSNs of most of the people you meet will contain an even group code. All of the foregoing can be summed up thusly: The first five digits of an SSN say nothing about who the number is assigned to  they merely reflect the state and year of issue. The last four digits are particular to the individual subscriber, but they're handed out randomly, with the sole determining factor being when the paperwork is processed. Other than his state of residence at the time of application, nothing about the SSN-holder's identity is coded into the number assigned to him. Let's face it, many of us don't trust the government. Any random tidbit that seems to confirm the rightness of that stance will be seized upon by those who already believe the worst of Uncle Sam. In this case, because Social Security numbers are constructed to conform with certain arcane and almost incomprehensible numbering schemes, it's not that far of a stretch to conclude that some of the 'secret information' encoded into them could be used against us. We already harbor mistrust over being identified by a number, and the revelation that secret stuff is going on with how the numbers are handed out only serves to heighten that anxiety. White, black, or green, no one likes being reduced to a number; it smacks too much of governmental impersonalization, and its Orwellian overtones disturb us. In the case of African-Americans, this more general unease is further enhanced because of how their government treated them in the past, as Patricia Turner, a University of California-Davis African-American and African Studies professor noted in her book, I Heard It Through the Grapevine: Rumor in African-American Culture:  There is no denying that African Americans have suffered unduly at the hands of the government. The Social Security number theory's got that sort of element of the government wanting to track Black people.  It's a theory typical of a suspicion or mistrust of the government that also exists in the non-Black community. Segments of the white community initially resisted implementation of the Social Security card system because they didn't like the idea of Big Brother government nationally numbering people\" Additional information:  The SSN Numbering Scheme  (Social Security Administration)    A Myth About Social Security Numbers  (Social Security Administration)   Blocksma, Mary.   Reading the Numbers.\r  New York: Penguin, 1989  ISBN 0-140-10654-5  (pp. 162-164).\r Reading the Numbers Johnson, L.A.  \"Cyberconspiracy Theories.\"\r  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  30 July 1998  (p. E1).  Turner, Patricia.  I Heard It Through the Grapevine.\r  Berkeley, CA: Univ. of California, 1993.   ISBN 0-520-08185-4  (pp. 103-104). I Heard It Through the Grapevine","issues":["mortgage"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_727","claim":"Is Mohammed the Most Popular Name for Newborn Boys in the Netherlands?","posted":"01\/16\/2018","sci_digest":["Showing how you arrived at an answer may demonstrate your answer to be the wrong one."],"justification":"On 15 January 2018, DailyWire.com, the right-wing web site headed by conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, posted an article falsely reporting that \"Mohammed\" was the most popular name given to baby boys born in the Netherlands in 2017: article The mainstream media in the Netherlands reported last week that \"Noah\" was the most popular baby name for boys in the small European nation. \"Noah and Emma were the most popular children's names in the past year,\" reported Nos.nl. \"This is evident from the annual list of names of the Social Insurance Bank, which pays out the child benefit. Boys were named Noah 635 times, while 755 girls went through life as Emma since last year.\" The year before, \"Daan\" and \"Anna\" were the most popular names, the site said. But a journalist at Powned.tv did a little research on the report and found something completely different. Checking for \"Mohammed\"  and all its alternative spellings  the writer found that 636 babies had been given that name last year. PowNed.tv, the web site DailyWire.com aggregated their story from, is a Dutch blog owned by GeenStijl, a right-leaning site that boasts about being \"needlessly offensive.\" Both GeenStijl and PowNed.tv have been criticized for posting anti-Muslim and anti-migrant content. criticized Baby names in the Netherlands are recorded by the Social Insurance Bank (SVB) for social service purposes, and each year SVB releases a list of the most popular names and ranks them. (For example, Noah and Emma were the most popular boys' and girls' names in 2017, while Daan and Anna were the most popular in 2016.) PowNed arrived at their conclusion that Mohammed was the most popular boys' name for 2017 by tallying all of that name's variations and then weighing that total against the number of newborns who were named Noah in 2017, a methodology that's flawed, for obvious reasons. SVB ranks names by specific spellings, so if the variant spellings of any one name are tallied together, that approach changes the ranking order. Thus, \"Mohammad\" may be a less popular name on its own than \"Morris\" or \"Moos,\" but when all the different spellings of \"Mohammed\" are considered together, that name is more popular than either: ranks  It's true that if multiple variant spellings of the name \"Mohammed\" are entered into the SVB database, then the results document that 636 of the babies born in the Netherlands in 2017 were given that name. But if the same rule were applied to, for example, the names \"Lucas\" and \"Daniel,\" it would be clear that Mohammed was hardly the most popular boy's name in 2017. Almost 2,000 Dutch children were named for some form of \"Lucas,\" while more than 1,000 were given a variation of the name \"Daniel\" in 2017. The topic of migration in Europe has attracted the attention of nationalists and white supremacists, particularly since 2015, when the number of people seeking refuge from places like Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria spiked. European countries have been the targets of false stories claiming that migrants are creating rape capitals and \"no-go zones.\" attention spiked rape capitals no-go zones DailyWire.com has a tendency to share stories that are taken out of context or not verified. For example, in the days after a violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in August 2017, the site helped spread a false rumor that \"leftists\" were digging up Confederate graves. In March of that year, the site spread a false claim that Democratic lawmakers refused to stand for a fallen Navy SEAL's widow. In May 2017, the site falsely reported that Harvard University was holding segregated commencement ceremonies.  DailyWire.com spread false claim segregated The site was embroiled in another racial controversy after posting a video disparaging Native Americans in October 2017. After removing the video, Shapiro responded by apologizing but called the video 'satire.' controversy DutchNews.nl.  \"Noah and Emma Top the List of Most Popular Dutch Baby Names.\"\r  12 January 2018. Al Jazeera.  \"Rise of the Right: 'Anarchist' Media in the Netherlands.\"\r  27 November 2016. GeenStijl.nl.  \"LOL. Real Donald Trump Retweet Dumpertvideo.\"\r  29 November 2017. O'Donnell, Katie.  \"Anti-Immigrant Forces Gain Ground in Europe.\"\r  Politico.  22 October 2017. Hinshaw, Drew.  \"Polish Nationalist Youth March Draws Thousands in Capital.\"\r  The Wall Street Journal.  11 November 2017.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1FS4R7s3smmbuk7JXuA944cTGtDJJohev","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_728","claim":"Cashier's Check Overpayment Scam","posted":"08\/03\/2003","sci_digest":["Sellers advertising online are defrauded by \"buyers\" who pay with cashier's checks made out for amounts in excess of the agreed-upon purchase price and ask the balances be sent to third parties."],"justification":"An interesting and highly lucrative con targeting those attempting to sell vehicles (and other high-ticket items) online works similarly to the highly successful Nigerian scam. However, while this type of larceny typically features businessmen from Africa intent on closing odd-sounding deals, it plays on the victims' honesty rather than their greed. \n\n[Collected via Facebook, May 2015] There is a scam going around, and I was almost a victim of it today. I recently posted an ad on Craigslist, and I was contacted by a person who sent me a check for $1,500 for the item I was selling. When I received the check today, it was for the amount of $4,000. When I asked why the check was for so much, they informed me that the extra money was to be shipped via Western Union to the shipper so the item could be picked up and delivered. I became suspicious and took the check to my bank to ensure it was legitimate. I was informed that it was, in fact, a fake. The bank told me that if I had cashed this check, it would have bounced back to me, and I would be responsible for the $4,000, with the bank having access to all my banking information. I am asking everyone to please like and share this post to make it go viral so this does not happen to you or anyone you know, or any hardworking Americans. Here is a picture of the check below. Please take the time to like and share. Let's get this thing viral. \n\n[Collected via e-mail, 2003] My husband is currently selling his motorcycle online. Last week, when he posted his bike, he received an email from a Hotmail account stating that the sender was interested in buying his bike and was located in West Africa. He mentioned that he knows someone in the U.S. who owes him money and would like to get our address to meet and make the exchange, and that he would pay for all shipping charges. A friend of ours, whose cousin is also selling his bike, received the same email but from a different email address and name. That sounded funny to me. Well, my husband re-posted his bike yesterday online, and he received another email from yet another person, just about the same, stating he resided in West Africa. \n\nThe scam works like this: Example 1: Dr. Dipo Morgans of Nigeria wants to buy your used car for $5,000. His friend, Mr. Okuta, will be sending you a cashier's check for $8,000. You are to keep $5,000 for the car and send the remaining $3,000 to Dr. Morgans. Example 2: Dr. Dipo Morgans of Nigeria wants to buy your used car for $5,000. He will be sending you a cashier's check for $8,000 on the understanding that you will forward $3,000 of it to the shipping company that will be transporting your car to Africa. In some versions of the scam, the buyer is not an individual but rather an agent for a firm that purchases cars on behalf of others, often diplomats stationed in foreign lands. This car broker is usually located in Africa. \n\nThe \"reason\" for the inflated-value check will vary from one attempt to defraud to another. Currency exchange problems will be cited, or a horrified buyer will realize he's had the check prepared for far too large an amount. Alternatively, the check may be sent by a third party for the full amount this other person supposedly owes the buyer, or it could be a refund check for a failed sale of something that would have cost more. Sometimes, it is claimed that it would take 30 days to clear a check from Africa, hence the need for an American third party to send the payment. The reasons are many, varied, and false. \n\nCars or motorcycles aren't the only items to attract this form of scam; those attempting to sell horses have experienced it too. It's not unreasonable to extrapolate that those attempting to sell boats will be similarly targeted. What matters is not the nature of the item being offered for sale but its price; it has to be high enough to justify the seller's feeling comfortable in sending thousands of his own dollars to a stranger under the mistaken belief he's already holding an even greater sum in his hand. \n\nIn another form of the scam, those advertising online for roommates are contacted by prospective apartment-sharers who want to send cashier's checks to cover the first few months' rent plus a few thousand extra, requiring that the extra be mailed back to them. Though nothing is being offered for sale, it's the same scheme: the check will turn out to be worthless, but usually only long after the roommate-hunter has mailed his own very good check to the con artist. \n\nThe scam works because the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) requires banks to make money from cashier's, certified, or teller's checks available in one to five days. Consequently, funds from checks that might not be good are often released into payees' accounts long before the checks have been honored by their issuing banks. High-quality forgeries can be bounced back and forth between banks for weeks before anyone catches on to their being worthless, by which time victims have long since wired the \"overpayments\" to the con artists who have just taken them for a ride. \n\nAlthough this scam is in its infancy, real people have already been bilked out of thousands of dollars by it\u2014in some cases, tens of thousands. The con has claimed victims in communities across the USA, so don't let your not having heard about it before lull you into a false sense of security. That the game is new doesn't mean it's not dangerous. \n\nHow to Avoid Falling Victim to Cashier's Check Scams: Additional information: Espinoza, Richard and Dan Morgolies. \"Latest Net Scam Preys on Honest Folks.\" Charleston Gazette. 1 June 2003 (p. D7). Flaum, David. \"Scam Hits Sellers Over Net.\" The [Memphis] Commercial Appeal. 2 March 2003 (p. G1). Jones, Matthew. \"Beach Police Officers Warn of Fake-Check Web Scam.\" The Virginian-Pilot. 9 January 2003 (p. B4). Kades, Deborah. \"Wisconsin Residents Fall Prey to Used Vehicle, Lottery Scams.\" The Wisconsin State Journal. 12 December 2002. Kristof, Kathy M. \"Nigerian Money Con Targets Small Firms.\" Los Angeles Times. 7 September 2003 (p. C3). Associated Press. \"Missoula Credit Union Members Taken.\" 15 March 2003.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_729","claim":"Government Grant Scam","posted":"12\/10\/2004","sci_digest":["Are telephone solicitors looking to hook you up with a variety of government grants?"],"justification":"Scam: Telephone solicitors call out of the blue, looking to hook you up with thousands of dollars worth of government grants (aka free money) they claim you are eligible for. REAL FRAUD THAT COSTS ITS VICTIMS AROUND $250. Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2004] There is a telephone scam targeting people across the nation. The caller identifies himself as a representative of the Government Grant Association. The caller then leads the person to believe they have qualified for a government grant, and in order to pay out the grant, they need the person's bank account number or they have the account number and need the person to verify it. Origins: A new form of the \"prepayment\" con has been blanketing the US throughout 2004. Through it, the unsuspecting are lured by the promise of government grants into agreeing to have an \"up-front fee\" (usually $249) siphoned from their bank accounts. Though the fee is taken immediately, the grants never materialize, leaving those who have been led to believe they were about to be enriched to the tune of thousands of dollars sadly disappointed and a few hundred dollars poorer. \"Prepayment\" frauds are far from brand new; many successful flim-flams hold out the carrot of big money (which never materializes no matter how hard it is chased after) to seduce the gullible into parting with some of their hard-earned funds. Those so deceived have acted on the belief they were arranging hard-to-secure loans at very favorable rates, often with distant countries said to be eager to lend to Americans. Or they were promised access to little-known and almost-forgotten college grants. Or they received the news they'd won foreign fabulous wealth in lotteries they had no recollection of entering. Even the venerable Nigerian scam is a prepayment con: though its victims initially believe that for helping distressed foreigners move large sums of cash from their country they will receive millions of dollars, very early in the process they discover they will have to pay numerous sums to various individuals to bring this about. Folks conned via prepayment schemes mistakenly believe they stand to gain vast amounts of something for practically nothing. Acting on that faith, they willingly part with funds they would ordinarily be reluctant to spend, yet which, by comparison to the prizes about to be gained, momentarily appear to be relatively small sums. The 2004 'government grant' fraud operates on that principle. Those contacted by such cheats are told they are entitled to claim government grants worth anywhere from $8,000 to $25,000. In return for their banking information and what now seems an insignificant processing fee of $249, said grants will be directly deposited into their accounts. Those who suspect something might be wrong with the notion of the government handing them money for no discernible reason are told they are eligible for this form of largesse as a reward for having paid their taxes promptly for the past few years or because they are senior citizens. Individuals who further question the process are issued all manner of guarantees, including the provision of 800 numbers to call if at any time they wish to bow out and have their up-front fees refunded. \"Supervisors\" may join phone conversations between scam artists and their potential victims to assure those expressing doubts about the government wanting to give them money that everything is meticulously legitimate. The doubters may also be given the addresses of websites to examine which, they are told, will explain in far greater detail how these grants operate. These promises and seeming proofs serve only one purpose, and it is not the protection of the consumer; they work to lend an air of legitimacy to the pitch so as to soothe the suspicions of those about to be taken. Very few will think to call those numbers; they will instead trust that what they have been told are guarantees are, in fact, valid ones. Those inquisitive enough to dial those 800 numbers find they either go unanswered or have been disconnected. Those operating versions of this scam have, in the past, identified themselves as representatives of granting agencies with names such as the Government Grant Center, Consumer Grants USA, Ultimate Funding Inc., Government Grant USA, Federal Government Information Center, Federal Government Grant Information Center, National Grant Center, Federal Research Funding, Customer Care Plus, and Department of Revenue. However, the absence of a purported grant facilitation entity from this list does not prove it is legitimate, so no comfort should be taken from its absence. Swindlers routinely invent impressive-sounding names and titles for themselves and the entities they supposedly represent. \"That's what scam artists do,\" said Pat Coakley of the Better Business Bureau, \"they operate under a variety of names and phone numbers, then leave town and start all over again under other assumed names.\" As to how the con is run, one of our readers who was contacted by someone intent on victimizing him with the 'government grant' scheme reported this exchange: [Bryan] Good morning, this is Bryan. [Swindler] My name is Alec Watson. (Female with an Indian or Pakistani accent.) [Bryan] This is Bryan. [Swindler] Can I speak with Bryan P. please? [Bryan] Speaking. (I never answer in an affirmative manner anymore. I once had my long-distance carrier changed because I said yes when they asked me if I was Bryan. Once they recorded my yes, they had me saying yes to anything.) [Swindler] Again, my name is Alec Watson from the Las Vegas Government Grant Processing Center. And you have been approved to receive an eight thousand dollar grant. We would like to verify your information. Do you live at _____? Do you still work for _____? [Bryan] Correct. Why would I get a grant for $8,000? [Swindler] We have noticed that you have paid your taxes on time for the last 20 years. Can you please verify your bank? [Bryan] North Island Financial Credit Union. [Swindler] Can you tell me what your bank routing number is? [Bryan] No, I cannot. [Swindler] Bryan, we can process you for $8,000 for a full free grant. We can automatically withdraw the processing amount from your bank account. Do you think that a cost of $257 is worth receiving $8,000? [Bryan] Well, if you're charging me $257, then it isn't free, now is it? [Swindler] I can give you a few minutes to get your checkbook. [Bryan] I am at work. I do not have a checkbook with me. (Not kidding; my wife knows better than to send me to work with a checkbook during the holidays.) [Swindler] A deposit slip? [Bryan] No. [Swindler] Sir, we cannot finish without your banking routing number; can you call someone at home and receive it? [Bryan] Why can't you subtract the money from the grant? [Swindler] Because we are not allowed to touch the grant money. Did you get your checking information yet? [Bryan] Please remove me from your calling list. [Swindler] Bryan, you don't want the $8,000? We are not authorized to remove you. [Bryan] Okay, I found you on the web, and it says you are a rip-off. Please let me talk to a supervisor. [Swindler] CLICK. As Bryan experienced, the quite reasonable question of \"Why can't you deduct the fee from the funds you'll be sending me?\" is always countered by the claim that it is impossible to do so. Others who have been party to such come-ons report being told laws precluded the use of the grant (or loan or scholarship or lottery prize) for anything other than its designated purpose, which included barring the use of even a small part of those funds for payment of processing fees. Bryan's example also shows how much he was pressured to provide his banking information. Someone less aware of the possibility of being conned might well have given up that number under such a barrage. The scam succeeds as well as it does, in part, due to the many television commercials touting free government money. (Such advertisers are vending books containing the contact information for a variety of government grants, loans, and subsidies.) Though there are genuine government grants to be had, they are not available to just anyone for no purpose. Forget about the ads on TV; there are not untold troves of government funds available just for the asking. Grants are awarded based on specific criteria having been met for specific programs. Such grants are very strictly administered, require the completion of a great deal of paperwork, and are overseen at every step. These are not \"Fill out a simple form, then cash a huge check\" types of propositions; these are \"Prove to us that you qualify under this program, then, provided you are engaged in the activity we are interested in fostering, we might subsidize some of your costs\" sorts of deals. The hoops to be jumped through are many and varied, and there is precious little by way of a freebie to it. Regarding the government grant scam, keep these three points in mind: The U.S. Government does not telephone people to offer them grants. Grants are never guaranteed, nor are they issued for no apparent purpose, so folks should be downright suspicious of any talk of grants where the words \"free\" or \"guarantee\" are mentioned. Real government grants require extensive documentation with great attention to detail. There is nothing simple or painless about securing a government grant. How To Avoid Falling Victim To Prepayment Scams: Above all else, have nothing to do with 'deal of a lifetime' offers that require payment in advance of fees. Do not fall for schemes whereby you are required to prepay taxes on lottery winnings, or pay to have a prize shipped to you, or are to be charged a loan application fee. Do not pay someone for the privilege of working for them. With regard to 'free government grants' come-ons, disabuse yourself of the notion that the U.S. government is in the business of providing grants (aka free money) to whichever of its citizens have made it their habit to pay their taxes on time. (Rather, the U.S. government offers a disincentive to those who are tardy with their payments; it assesses penalties for deadlines missed and charges interest on the amounts overdue.) Stop believing in the chimera of \"something for nothing.\"","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_730","claim":"Was Donald Trump instrumental in rescuing the NYC Veterans Day Parade in 1995?","posted":"11\/13\/2019","sci_digest":["Trump reportedly donated $200,000 and helped raise another $500,000 for the \"Nation's Parade.\""],"justification":"A story from 1995 resurfaced around Veterans Day 2019, reporting that then-private citizen and real estate mogul Donald Trump had \"saved\" the Veterans Day parade that year in New York City when organizers ran out of money. On Nov. 6, 2019, for example, the Daily Caller News Foundation website published a story bearing the headline, \"The 1995 NYC Veterans Day Parade Had $1.21 In The Bank. Then Donald Trump Stepped In.\" A meme circulating on Facebook similarly described Trump's intervention:This claim apparently originated with Trump himself, or at least it was touted on his campaign website in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election. The website at the time stated: headline  campaign website Mr. Trump has long been a devoted supporter of veteran causes. In 1995, the fiftieth anniversary of World War II, only 100 spectators watched New York Citys Veteran Day Parade. It was an insult to all veterans. Approached by Mayor Rudy Giuliani and the chief of New York Citys FBI office, Mr. Trump agreed to lead as Grand Marshall a second parade later that year. Mr. Trump made a $1 million matching donation to finance the Nations Day Parade. On Saturday, November 11th, over 1.4 million watched as Mr. Trump marched down Fifth Avenue with more than 25,000 veterans, some dressed in their vintage uniforms. A month later, Mr. Trump was honored in the Pentagon during a lunch with the Secretary of Defense and the entire Joint Chiefs of Staff. First off, Trump's website contained some confusing pieces of misinformation: The Veterans Day parade in New York City went by the name the \"Nation's Parade.\" The poorly attended parade \"with only 100 spectators\" occurred in 1994, not 1995 (The New York Times reported police did not give a crowd estimate). Only one Veteran's Day parade took place in the city in 1995  the Nation's Parade on Nov. 11. That event was slated by the U.S. Defense Department as representing \"the official close of the 50th anniversary of World War II.\" reported We contacted the United War Veterans of New York (UWNY), which organized the Nation's Parade in 1995, to ask about claims that Trump's intervention saved the event from cancellation, and we were referred by spokesman Pat Smith to a Nov. 10, 1995, New York Times article about the event. Smith told us that Trump did make a financial contribution toward the parade, but also said UWNY is a small, volunteer-staffed group that doesn't keep records that could answer questions in detail about an event that occurred more than two decades ago. article  The 1995 Times article reported that Trump did make a financial contribution, but that he tried to make it in exchange for being named the parade's grand marshal even though he is not a veteran. The Times reported Trump gave $200,000, not $1 million: By mid-August, organizers had a bank account of exactly $1.21. A request to airlines to donate blankets for aging veterans was turned down because logos might not be visible on television. Then Donald Trump, a nonveteran, agreed to throw in $200,000 as well as raise money from his friends, in exchange for being named grand marshal. Since then, money has come in, though not enough to meet the original budget, which was reduced from $2.9 million to $2.4 million. Fireworks were just one of many cuts. In May 2016, CNN spoke to Vincent McGowan, the president emeritus of UWNY who organized the parade in 1995. McGowan said that Trump's contribution was \"somewhere between $325,000 and $375,000,\" but McGowan also said Trump's donation did save the event. McGowan also said Trump was never the grand marshal because that honor was only given to military veterans. CNN In a follow-up story, the Times in 1995 reported that organizers had agreed to make Trump the parade's grand marshal, a move that had angered some veterans, while others expressed appreciation for his \"crucial\" financial assistance: reported Also in the reviewing stand was the developer Donald Trump, who provided the only note of controversy in an otherwise positive day. Many veterans were angry that organizers had agreed to name Mr. Trump, who is not a veteran, as grand marshal in exchange for his contribution of $200,000 and help in raising additional funds. Another story, dated Nov. 11, 1995, from the news service UPI, reported that Trump contributed $200,000 and raised another $300,000 for the parade, which was viewed by parade Director Tom Fox as having been key: UPI Police estimated 500,000 people attended the largest military parade ever held in New York. Organizers, who placed the turnout at closer to a million, said the parade would not have been a success if it hadn't been for real estate developer Donald Trump, who contributed $200,000 and raised another $300,000. \"Donald Trump saved the parade,\" said parade director Tom Fox, himself a Vietnam veteran. \"We had asked for donations from 200 corporations, and none of them came through,\" he said. \"This donation is the single most important thing I've ever done,\" said a beaming Trump. \"This is more important than all of my buildings and my casinos. This is my way of saying thank you to all the men and women in the armed services who have made it possible for me to become a success. Without them freedom and liberty would be gone.\" In sum, we are rating this claim \"True\" because two individuals involved with the planning of the 1995 parade stated on two separate occasions that Trump's efforts and donation did indeed enable the event to take place. Still unclear are the origins of other sources of funding. Martin, Douglas.\"Veterans Day Parade Tries for a Comeback.\"\rThe New York Times.10 November 1995. Fitzpatrick, David and Curt Devine.\"Trump Will Give $1 Million to Marine Charity, but There Are Other Discrepancies.\"\rCNN.25 May 2016. McFadden, Robert D. \"On Parade To the Beat of History.\"\rThe New York Times.12 November 1995. UPI.\"More Than 500,000 Watch Nation's Parade.\"\r11 November 1995.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1fGnupno0-KBqskpy3rguRrvquDT1U5HO"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_731","claim":"You Don't Know Jack Daniel's","posted":"10\/24\/2015","sci_digest":["Jack Daniel's isn't giving away free cases of whiskey for their 125th anniversary.  It's a survey scam."],"justification":"Claim: Jack Daniel's is giving away a limited number of free cases of whiskey to Facebook users who like and share a post.  Example: [Collected via e-mail and Twitter, October 2015]  Going all over my page that Jack Daniels is giving away whiskey.....better hurry only 190 left Origins:In October2015, links began circulating on Facebook promisingusers a free case of Jack Daniel's whiskey as a celebration of the brand's 125th anniversary: The embedded links involved a variety of URLs, some of which included entirely unrelated scam-bait terms like \"iTunes\" and \"Apple.\" Users who clicked through to claim their purported free case of Jack Daniel's were routed to a pagereading \"Jack Daniels is Giving FREE Cases of Whiskey to celebrate 125th Anniversary (190 Cartons Remaining),\" which clonedthe style of Facebook-based content (but was hosted on a non-Facebook URL): As noted, URLs visible in the posts didn't point to any credible domains or sites linked to Jack Daniel's. By now,most social media users are familiar withsurvey scams: Kohl's, Costco, Home Depot, Lowe's, Kroger, Best Buy, Macy's, Olive Garden, Publix, Target, and Walmart are among retailers used asbait by scammers(seeking personal information and valuable page likes from Facebook users). Kohl's Costco Home Depot Lowe's Kroger Best Buy Macy's Olive Garden Publix Target Walmart scammers A July 2014 article from the Better Business Bureauillustrated how folks might spot and avoid bad actors utilizing the reputations of brands on social media: article Don't believe what you see. It's easy to steal the colors, logos and header of an established organization. Scammers can also make links look like they lead to legitimate websites and emails appear to come from a different sender. Legitimate businesses do not ask for credit card numbers or banking information on customer surveys. If they do ask for personal information, like an address or email, be sure there's a link to their privacy policy. When in doubt, do a quick web search. If the survey is a scam, you may find alerts or complaints from other consumers. The organization's real website may have further information. Watch out for a reward that's too good to be true. If the survey is real, you may be entered in a drawing to win a gift card or receive a small discount off your next purchase. Few businesses can afford to give away $50 gift cards for completing a few questions.   Last updated: 24 October 2015 Originally published: 24 October 2015","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1N0MMQt3dnnOD9FwZJh7TCs185bk4WSO4","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1rfNF7-NpfhpFTwrl9PzfNsk8wrgx9Izk","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_732","claim":"Disappearing Dependents","posted":"03\/29\/2006","sci_digest":["Did several million dependents disappear from income tax returns in 1987?"],"justification":"Several million fewer dependents were claimed on federal income tax returns the year the IRS started requiring taxpayers to list the Social Security numbers of their children. I had read at some point that millions of dependents dropped off the 1040 forms the year that the IRS required Social Security numbers. This seems incredibly high, but I know that it was a fact that many divorced parents were both claiming the same children as dependents, and some people were even claiming their pets. \n\nThe U.S. federal income tax code requires residents to be responsible for their own taxes; that is, it's up to each taxpayer to calculate their income, determine their allowable deductions, and file a tax return with the Internal Revenue Service (or hire someone to do it for them). Such a system allows (some say it even encourages) taxpayers to cheat, engaging in everything from blurring the line between business and personal expenses to hiding large amounts of unreported income. Although tax fraud may never be completely eliminated, the increasing use of automated record-keeping and tracking technology has made many of the more common cheating schemes quite difficult, if not impossible, to execute successfully these days. \n\nGiven how often we're asked to provide our Social Security numbers (they seem to be used for just about everything these days), those of us who began paying federal income tax only in the last twenty years might be surprised to discover that not until 1987 did the IRS begin requiring taxpayers to include the Social Security numbers of all dependent children claimed on their returns. After all, listing phony dependents in order to claim illegitimate extra deductions has historically been one of the more common forms of tax fraud, so it makes sense that the IRS would always have wanted to track such information as closely as possible. \n\nThis is the notion behind the legend made familiar to many readers by the 2005 best-seller Freakonomics that the year the IRS began asking taxpayers to provide Social Security numbers for all dependent children, the number of claimed dependents suddenly dropped significantly: some cheating leaves barely a shadow of evidence. In other cases, the evidence is massive. Consider what happened one spring evening at midnight in 1987: seven million American children suddenly disappeared. The worst kidnapping wave in history? Hardly. It was the night of April 15, and the Internal Revenue Service had just changed a rule. Instead of merely listing each dependent child, tax filers were now required to provide a Social Security number for each child. Suddenly, seven million children\u2014children who had existed only as phantom exemptions on the previous year's 1040 forms\u2014vanished, representing about one in ten of all dependent children in the United States. \n\nThe \"seven million\" figure appears to be accurate, as noted in a December 2000 National Tax Journal article by Jeffrey B. Liebman that drew its data from a 1990 Internal Revenue Service conference report. Another way in which taxpayers without children might claim a dependent child is to invent a fictional one. The strongest evidence for this possibility is that in 1987, the first year in which taxpayers were required to list Social Security numbers of dependents on their tax returns, seven million fewer dependent children were claimed than in the previous year. The suggestion by the Freakonomics authors that most or all of that drop in the number of dependents claimed in 1987 was directly attributable to fraud was an obvious one but not necessarily the only one, as alternative explanations could have accounted for a substantial portion of the reduction in the number of claimed dependents. \n\nFor example, it was not until 1987 that the IRS first demonstrated a program to allow parents to automatically obtain Social Security numbers for their newborn children when those births were registered, and the program did not become nationwide until 1989. Since the average citizen doesn't generally keep abreast of all the changes made to the tax code from year to year until they directly affect them, perhaps many taxpayers sat down to fill out their returns in 1987 and didn't realize until it was too late that they had never applied for Social Security numbers for their children. \n\nHowever, the assumption that many taxpayers had previously claimed non-existent children until the newly implemented Social Security number requirement made it much more difficult for them to safely do so is certainly an obvious one, and seems to be supported by additional information provided by Liebman. Further evidence that nonexistent children may have been claimed comes from the 1988 TCMP [Taxpayer Compliance Measurement Program]. In 1988, taxpayers were required to list on their tax returns the Social Security numbers of all dependents who were at least five years old. On tax returns where the TCMP auditor disallowed an EITC [Earned Income Tax Credit] claim, 39 percent of the disallowed dependent child claims were dependents for whom the taxpayer checked the box stating the child was under five and did not provide a Social Security number\u2014possibly because the children did not exist. \n\nLikewise, although follow-up reports in subsequent years noted that some portion of the previously claimed dependents who went \"missing\" in the 1987 tax year were indeed real people who were not claimed as dependents in 1987 for reasons other than their being fictitious (e.g., they were children who had in earlier years been unlawfully claimed as dependents by each of two divorced parents), the pattern of disappearing dependents in 1987 was indicative of widespread fraud. Starting in 1987, the IRS required that taxpayers report the Social Security number of all dependents over the age of five. That year, seven million American children disappeared from the nation's tax returns, representing a 9 percent drop in the 77 million dependents claimed the previous year and $2.9 billion more in yearly tax revenue. The tax agency said about 20 percent of the vanished dependents were children who had been claimed as dependents by both parents after a divorce. Under the law, only one parent may claim the child as a deduction. Most of the others probably never existed, John Szilagyi, an IRS researcher, said. \n\nSome families apparently became quite greedy in creating dependents, each worth a $1,080 deduction in 1986 and $1,900 in 1987. About 66,000 taxpayers who claimed four or more dependents in 1986 claimed none in 1987, after the Social Security identification rule went into effect. More than 11,000 families claimed seven or more dependents in 1986 but none in 1987. Those returns are now under investigation, with more than 1,000 audits in which the 1986 dependents were disallowed, and back taxes and fines collected. Mr. Szilagyi said some cases of apparent fraud have also been referred to the authorities for criminal investigation. \n\n\"In any individual family, you can imagine that one or two children might legitimately have stopped being dependents in 1987, but it's hard to imagine a legitimate situation in which a taxpayer had seven dependents one year and none the next,\" said Mr. Szilagyi, who drafted the proposal to require Social Security numbers from dependents and babysitters. Mr. Szilagyi said his research indicates that there are probably four million to five million more dependents being claimed illegally, either because they are fictitious or do not legally qualify as dependents.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=18yto2wEXGFuT1wsz574wis6Y2jFGXsxv","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_733","claim":"The national debt is larger than our entire annual economy.","posted":"03\/28\/2013","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Budget-cutting is a favorite theme for Champaign County Rep. Jim Jordan, a formerRepublican StudyCommitteechairman with themost conservative votingrecord of any Ohio Congress member. Jordan has frequentlyopinedthat thecontroversial sequester budget cutsimplemented on March 1 are a positive step toward reining in out-of-control government spending. On March 19, the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight and Government Spending that Jordan chairs held a hearing on how several government departments decided where to make cuts required by the sequester. At the hearing, Republicans and Democratsblamed each otherfor the $85 billion in cuts to government programs that were implemented after Congress failed to agree on an alternative. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District of Columbia's representative to Congress, rattled off the list of cuts to agencies testifying before the hearing: $2 billion to the Agriculture Department, $551 million to the Commerce Department, and $17 million to the Federal Communication Commission and concluded: This hearing really should be entitled: 'Sequestration Oversight; What Were House Republicans Thinking.' Jordan responded to her speech by saying: The reason we support reducing spending in sequestration is because we have a debt larger than our entire annual economy. We do have to cut some spending around this place and were finally taking some modest first steps. Jordans point about the national debt being larger than the entire U.S. annual economy is becoming a familiar GOP talking point. A few days before Jordan spoke at the hearing,  House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan made avirtually identical statementin a speech at Washington, D.C.s Conservative Political Action Conference, saying  Our debt is already bigger than our economy. PolitiFact has examined that statement and several other similar ones, noting that the politicians government debt tally included IOUs between government agencies, which dont affect the wider economy and credit markets as much as publicly held debt, which totals 75 percent of GDP. To find the size of the economy, PolitifFact national cited a Feb. 28, 2013 news release from The Bureau of Economic Analysis that put the GDP at just over $15.8 trillion. The governmentdefinesthe GDP -- gross domestic product -- as the market value of the goods and services produced by labor and property within the country. As for the debt, the U.S. Treasury is the go-to source. As of March 14, 2013,total outstanding public debtwas $16,708,225,460,175.14. Thats broken down into two categories: debt held by the public and intragovernmental holdings. Here are those dollar figures: Debt held by the public: $11.9 trillion Intragovernmental holdings: $4.8 trillion To explain the difference, well borrow from our PolitiFact Texas colleagues handiwork. Intragovernmental debt refers to money owed by agencies within government to other agencies -- basically an internal accounting issue. An example: Social Security surpluses that the government uses for other federal operations. Such money will have to be repaid, its presumed, but the demand is less pressing right now and it doesnt affect credit markets. In contrast, public debt reflects money borrowed from outside sources -- giving it more of a connection to the economy, Josh Gordon, an analyst with the anti-deficit Concord Coalition, told PolitiFact Texas. If your problem with the national debt is that you think its affecting the economy or interest rates or something like that, the only part of the national debt that affects the economy is the debt held by the public. Thats where the (U.S.) Treasury is borrowing money on the open market. Paul Van de Water, an economist with the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, further explained why that matters. Debt held by the public is important because it reflects the extent to which the government goes into private credit markets to borrow. Such borrowing draws on private national saving and international saving and therefore competes with investment in the nongovernmental sector (for factories and equipment, research and development, housing, and so forth). Large increases in such borrowing can also push up interest rates and increase the future interest payments the federal government must make to foreign lenders, which reduces Americans income. Achieving a stable debt-to-GDP ratio is a key test of fiscal sustainability, Van de Water wrote in a memo. So, if we just consider debt held by the public -- which is what most affects the economy -- it totals about 75 percent of GDP -- which is not larger than the entire economy, as Ryan and Jordan stated. But the pair arent entirely off-base, especially since partisans tend to disagree about the importance of intragovernmental holdings. When you dig a bit deeper, you hit a partisan debate about the portion of the debt not held by the public, most of which is held by the government in trust funds. Republicans say that the trust funds are filled with IOUs, which eventually will have to be redeemed with other funds. Democrats say that the trust funds represent binding promises that government has made to tens of millions of Americans. Theyre both right, said William Galston, an expert with the Brookings Institution who was an adviser to President Bill Clinton. When we asked Jordans press secretary if there was additional information that PolitiFact Ohio should consider in evaluating her boss assertion, she replied: The facts are correct behind Rep. Jordans statement: economy - $15.8 trillion, debt - $16.7 trillion. Jordan claimed we have a debt larger than our entire annual economy. If you count debt held by the public and intragovernmental holdings, the debt is roughly 105 percent of the economy, which makes his statement accurate. But the debt held by the public is more relevant to discussions about federal spending and the economy. With that clarification, we rate his statement Mostly True.","issues":["Ohio","Debt","Economy"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_734","claim":"A new, independent study put out last week found that at least 55 of our largest corporations used various loopholes to pay zero federal income tax in 2020.","posted":"04\/12\/2021","sci_digest":[],"justification":"With Republicans criticizing the corporate tax hike proposed by President Joe Biden to fund his infrastructure plan, Biden pushed back during remarks on his proposal, the American Jobs Plan. He framed the issue as one of fairness, arguing that big corporations are not paying their fair share. A new, independent study released last week found that at least 55 of our largest corporations used various loopholes to pay zero federal income tax in 2020, Biden said in his April 7 remarks. \"It's just not fair. It's not fair to the rest of the American taxpayers.\" Biden's statement is supported by a recently released study from a liberal group, though that study's methodology has its critics. President Joe Biden spoke during an event on the American Jobs Plan at the White House on April 7, 2021. We didn't hear back from the White House, but Biden's remarks make clear that he was referring to an April 2 study by the liberal-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. That study, which received wide media coverage in recent days, found that at least 55 of the largest corporations in America paid no federal corporate income taxes in their most recent fiscal year despite enjoying substantial pretax profits in the United States. The list of 55 companies includes well-known names such as FedEx, HP, Nike, Salesforce, and XCel Energy. Collectively, the study concluded, these companies earned $40.5 billion in pretax income in 2020 and would have paid taxes amounting to $8.5 billion had this income been taxed at the standard 21% corporate rate. In reality, the companies collectively received rebates from the federal government worth $3.5 billion. The study cited several tax laws that helped protect these companies' income from taxation, including those governing the tax treatment of executive stock options, research and experimentation, renewable energy, deductions for capital expenses, and the reallocation of losses to different tax years. Some observers told PolitiFact that they took issue with Biden's characterization of such laws as loopholes. \"Reasonable people can disagree over the wisdom of a given tax provision, but they were deliberate policy choices, not rifle shots,\" said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the center-right American Action Forum. Garrett Watson, a senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation, agreed, stating, \"The problem with that framing is that many of the provisions reducing tax rates are either built into the code to properly calculate net income\u2014such as a 100% bonus depreciation, a pro-growth provision\u2014or provisions created to incentivize preferred activity by policymakers, such as the research and experimentation tax credit.\" Still, even experts who are critical of the study's methodology told PolitiFact that Biden accurately portrayed the gist of the report's findings in his April 7 remarks. Notably, Biden's remarks also stopped short of blaming the companies for evading taxes; his comments suggest that his quarrel is with the tax system that allowed the companies to legally pay so little in taxes. The group's study is based on an analysis of annual financial reports filed by publicly traded companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index or the Fortune 500 list of companies with the largest revenue. However, while this data comes from federally required disclosures, critics argue that what is disclosed on these forms is calculated differently from these companies' actual tax filings, which are private. In other words, critics say, we don't really know whether these companies paid zero in taxes or not. Holtz-Eakin wrote that using Securities and Exchange Commission filings, as the study does, is tricky because the way income is counted on these forms departs substantially from the way taxable income is reported to the Internal Revenue Service. Notably, companies have some flexibility to determine their own fiscal years for financial disclosures, whereas the IRS requires a more rigid schedule for tax payments. Financial reports may not cover the same period of time as a tax return, he wrote. Meanwhile, the tax code allows companies to smooth out income by allowing losses to be carried forward or backward for a number of years, Holtz-Eakin wrote. As a result, a snapshot of the company in its single year of profitability is a necessarily distorted view, but one that some tax critics tend to highlight. Additionally, the rules governing the reporting of capital investments in the SEC disclosures may differ from what the IRS allows. Steve Wamhoff, director of federal policy at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said he disagrees with the methodological critiques. Wamhoff stated that his group's report focuses on what the companies affirm is their best calculation of taxes they have paid for the year. \"It's very unlikely that the company's real-world income tax liability will be substantially different from this,\" he told PolitiFact. He added that the reallocation of losses to different tax years is reasonable in theory, but \"we are finding that corporations are not paying taxes over a longer period.\" His report finds that many of these companies\u201426 that have been identified\u2014paid nothing over a three-year period. William Gale, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, agreed that it can be difficult to infer a company's actual tax position from its SEC filings. However, he stated that the idea that many large corporations do pay zero in federal taxes is now well-established. The non-partisan Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation has shown that in any given year for the past 15 years or so, about two-thirds of corporations with less than $1 billion in assets paid no federal corporate income tax, and one-third of corporations with assets greater than $1 billion paid no federal corporate income tax, Gale said. The committee, he noted, has access to corporations' actual tax returns. Biden said, \"A new, independent study put out last week found that at least 55 of our largest corporations used various loopholes to pay zero federal income tax in 2020.\" Biden is correct that a study had been released days earlier by a non-governmental group concluding that at least 55 large companies paid zero federal income taxes in 2020. However, it may be incorrect to call the tax provisions cited in the report loopholes, since many of them are deliberate attempts by the government to set incentives through the tax code and may, on their own, be broadly popular. Critics also argue that the financial disclosures used to compile the report are imperfect estimates of what the companies actually paid in taxes, since the accounting rules differ for the two types of filings. On the other hand, separate data from the Joint Committee on Taxation, which is based on actual tax returns, has supported the study's general point. We rate the statement Mostly True.","issues":["Corporations","Taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_735","claim":"Did ODNI Photoshop the Cover of a Diversity Report?","posted":"07\/12\/2021","sci_digest":["True diversity does not issue from the output of a digital editing program."],"justification":"Did ODNI Photoshop the Cover of a Diversity Report? One lesson that organizations should have learned by now is not to make groups appear to more diverse than they really are by digitally editing photographs since that type of manipulation is too easy to catch: digitally editing photographs https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/uw-booklet-student-added\/ Unfortunately, that was one lesson the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) hadn't learned by mid-2021, when that office published their annual demographic report on Hiring and Retention of Minorities, Women, and Persons with Disabilities in the United States Intelligence Community.\" ODNI annual demographic report The cover to that report featured a photograph of a group of smiling, well-dressed professionals, including a woman in a wheelchair and a (presumably) visually impaired man wearing sunglasses and holding the leash to a guide dog:   A press release about the report quoted the director of National Intelligence as stating the following: press release The Intelligence Community should reflect the diverse makeup of America and demonstrate that we are fostering an environment where every professional can succeed, said Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines. Promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion is fundamental to our democratic values and critical to meeting the ICs mission. This takes work every single day. We are committed to doing more to address this critical issue and accelerate our progress. There's one problem, though. The image used on the ODNI report cover was a stock photograph from the Shutterstock service, titled as representing \"Portrait of Multi-Cultural Office Staff Standing in Lobby.\" Although the Shutterstock photo may have included women and minorities among the pictured group, it but it didn't include any persons with obvious disabilities: https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/portrait-multicultural-office-staff-standing-lobby-174469094 As multiple social media users pointed out, rather than finding a more representative cover graphic to utilize for the report, someone at ODNI apparently utilized an altered version of the stock photo  a version into which the figures of the woman in the wheelchair and the visually impaired man had been clumsily added via Adobe Photoshop (or some other digital editing program) to create the requisite appearance of diversity:  The ODNI had not responded to our request for comment on the altered image at publication time, but we will update this story if we hear back.","issues":["equity"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1frWpL3lrMF17FDtMgJcnzp52FLMAOwU3","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_736","claim":"Fraudulent Scheme Involving Southwest Airlines Las Vegas Ticket Giveaway","posted":"02\/06\/2016","sci_digest":["Southwest Airlines is not giving away four tickets to Las Vegas and $5,000 spending money to Facebook users who share and like a page."],"justification":"Scammers and malware purveyors are always looking for ways to entice online users into following web links that will lead those victims into the traps set for them, and offers of free airline tickets are prime bait in that pursuit of prey.  Airline tickets are something nearly everyone uses and have considerable value, but their non-material nature and the fact that they're not tremendously expensive (compared to, say, a new car) makes it seem plausible to the public that they're something a business might actually be giving away for free as part of an advertising promotion.  The name of Southwest Airlines, a major U.S. airline which is also the world's largest low-cost carrier, has frequently been invoked in various online \"free ticket\" giveaway scams in recent years.  In February 2016, social media users encountered posts that appeared to be from Southwest Airlines, offering to give away four tickets to Las Vegas and $5,000 spending money to Facebook users who shared and liked a page.  The primary type of free ticket fraud is the \"sweepstakes scam,\" which intended to lure victims into completing numerous surveys, disclosing a good deal of personal information, and then agreeing to sign up for costly, difficult-to-cancel  \"Reward Offers\" hidden in the fine print.  The scammers spread links via e-mail and Facebook that purport to offer free air travel tickets to those who follow those links. These web pages (which are not operated or sponsored by Southwest Airlines) typically ask the unwary to click what appear to be Facebook \"share\" buttons and post comments to the scammer's site (which is really a ruse to dupe users into spreading the scam by sharing it with all of their Facebook friends). Those who follow such instructions are then led into a set of pages prompting them to input a fair amount of personal information (including name, age, address, and phone numbers), complete a lengthy series of surveys, and finally sign up (and commit to paying) for at least two \"Reward Offers\" (e.g., Netflix subscriptions, credit report monitoring services, prepaid credit cards): Pursuant to the Terms & Conditions, you are required to complete 2 of the Reward Offers from the above. You will need to meet all of the terms and conditions to qualify for the shipment of the reward. For credit card offers, you must activate your card by making a purchase, transferring a balance, or making a cash advance. For loan offers you must close and fund the loan. For home security and satellite tv offers you must have the product installed. You may not cancel your participation in more than a total of 2 Reward Offers within 30 days of any Reward Offer Sign-Up Date as outlined in the Terms & Conditions (the Cancellation Limit). Not only that, but the fine print on the \"free\" tickets offers typically states that by accepting its terms, the user agrees to receive telemarketing phone calls and text messages from a variety of different companies:  Similar phony free ticket lures are used to spread malware.    In those versions of the scam, those who attempt to reach the URL provided for the purpose of claiming the free tickets are instead victimized by a Facebook \"lifejacking\" attack, a malicious script that takes over a user's Facebook profile without their knowledge and propagates itself to their friends' accounts as well. lifejacking Southwest Airlines has responded to such scams by issuing messages on Twitter that read: \"Hey folks! There is a scam being passed around on Facebook about a free ticket offer from SWA. Please don't click or share the links!\" As well, Southwest spokesperson Christi McNeill has said of these attempts to defraud that \"We are aware of the scam for free tickets being spread across Facebook. This offer is in no way affiliated with Southwest Airlines and we are working with Facebook to get it removed.\"  ","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=16QtIXST3G4fhr0pznNMC1VP_jiiRiukc"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_737","claim":"Einstein and Compound Interest","posted":"11\/06\/2006","sci_digest":["Did Albert Einstein declare compound interest to be 'the most powerful force in the universe'?"],"justification":"Examples:  [Sangillo, 2006] There's an urban legend that Albert Einstein once said compounding [interest] is the most powerful force in the universe.  Whether or not he really said it, that line has become my financial motto. I strongly suggest you adopt it.  [Hartgill, 1997] When asked to name the greatest invention in human history, Albert Einstein simply replied \"compound interest.\" Origins:  Many homeowners who have struggled to meet their  mortgages month after month, only to find after years of making payments that most of their money has gone to cover interest charges, have felt like cursing whoever came up with the concept of compound interest. In that vein, around 1980 (when the neutron bomb and soaring interest rates were prominent news topics) Johnny Carson once quipped during a Tonight Show monologue that \"Scientists have developed a powerful new weapon that destroys people but leaves buildings standing  it's called the 17% interest rate.\"  Perhaps that explains why many of us seem to recognize a kindred spirit in the declaration by one of the greatest intellects of our time, Albert Einstein, that compound interest is \"the most powerful force in the universe\" or \"the greatest invention in human history.\"  (Since no context is ever offered for this purported quote, readers might also fairly assume that its intent was to praise compound interest as a wonderful device that allows thrifty savers to realize a significant, low-risk return on their money.) compound But did the eminent physicist really ever say such a thing?  The claim that he did appears dubious for a couple of significant reasons:  The attribution of this sentiment about compound interest to Einstein doesn't seem to have existed during the scientist's lifetime, first appearing in print only several decades after his death, and always repeated as something he supposedly said in some indefinite time and place.  (Albert Einstein died in 1955, but the earliest mention we could find of this item was in a 1983 New York Times blurb.)  Just what Einstein reportedly said about compound interest varies quite a bit from source to source: That it was \"the greatest invention in human history\" (or \"the greatest invention of mankind,\" or \"the greatest invention of all,\" or \"the most significant invention of the nineteenth century\"), that it is \"the most powerful force in the universe,\" or that it is \"more complicated than the theory of relativity.\"  (That last variation echoes another sentiment popularly attributed to Einstein which also began to appear only well after his death, to the effect that \"preparing a tax return is more complicated than relativity theory\" or \"the hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.\") We suspect that this perspective on the power of compound interest is a fairly modern invention, one which has been retroactively placed into the mouth of a prominent dead person to give it more punch. Last updated:  19 April 2011    Calaprice, Alice.  The New Quotable Einstein.   Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005.  ISBN 0-691-12074-9  (pp. 294-295). The New Quotable Einstein     Dorfman, Dan.  \"Fundamental Advice, Phenomenal Success.\"   USA Today.  2 August 1991  (p. B4).     Hartgill, David.  \"Power of Compounding.\"   The Advertiser.  15 September 1997.     Havemann, Judith.  \"Uncle Sam's Dual Standards.\"   The Washington Post.  23 January 1988  (p. A1).     Langworthy, David.  \"Einstein Was Right  So Is 'Wealthy Barber.'\"   The Houston Chronicle.  1 June 1998  (p. A20).    Sangillo, Karen.  \"All About 'Free Money' and How to Earn It.\"   Bucks County Courier Times.  5 November 2006.    Shapiro, Fred R.  The Yale Book of Quotations.   New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2006.  ISBN 0-300-10798-6  (pp. 230-231). The Yale Book of Quotations    Topolnicki, Denise M.  \"How You Can Beat the Five Threats to Your Retirement.\"   The Buffalo News.  8 November 1993  (p. 12).","issues":["income"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_738","claim":"Pic of 'Unwell' Trump Is Deceptively Edited","posted":"06\/16\/2022","sci_digest":["An edited image of Trump exaggerated his wrinkles and lightened his hair. "],"justification":"In June 2022, an image supposedly showing a particularly old, haggard, and \"unwell\" former President Donald Trump was circulated on social media:   This photograph was deceptively edited to make Trump look particularly old and haggard. It was created by altering a real photograph of Trump that was posted by Andrew Giuliani, the son of Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani, to Twitter on June 15:  The genuine photo was subsequently digitally altered to create the viral version. For example, extra wrinkles were added to Trump's face, his hair was lightened, and the bags under his eyes were enlarged. Here's a comparison between the genuine photo (left) and the doctored one (right):   This isn't the first time that a subtly edited image of Trump has gained traction online. In December 2020, an image went viral that added a few digital inches to Trump's waist. Similar subtle edits were made to an image of Trump's sons Eric and Trump Jr. image went viral that added a few digital inches to Trump's waist image of Trump's sons Eric and Trump Jr. You may also find our full collection of Trump photo fakery of interest. Trump photo fakery","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1OseKNYf3ZgFe8N7tvL52NvgQAgX1DLt5","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1RpYZjvKIbJ2kYoQwHJnEbTGgsFJ70ubt","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_739","claim":"Fascism, Corporations, and Merriam-Webster","posted":"04\/27\/2018","sci_digest":["A popular meme repeated confused and inaccurate claims about the purported links between fascism and modern corporations."],"justification":"The American corporation has long been a target of criticism and condemnation in online debates, sometimes well-founded and justified, but at other times irrelevant and misguided. According to a theory advanced by Academy Award-nominated director Adam McKay, there is a direct link between the modern corporation and 1930s-style fascism\u2014one that Merriam-Webster even went so far as to censor from its definition of fascism following a corporate takeover in the 1980s. In April 2018, McKay's words were turned into a widely shared online meme published by the Facebook page \"Americans Against Fascism\": Benito Mussolini created the word \"fascism.\" He defined it as \"the merging of the state and the corporation.\" He also said a more accurate term would be \"corporatism.\" This was the definition in Webster's up until 1987 when a corporation bought Webster's and changed it to exclude any mention of corporations. The quote is taken word for word from a 2010 op-ed written by McKay for the Huffington Post, in which he offered a scathing criticism of large corporations and the recent Citizens United decision in the U.S. Supreme Court. McKay's account is riddled with errors. For one thing, the definition of fascism commonly attributed to Mussolini is \"the merging of the state and corporate power,\" not \"the corporation,\" as McKay presents it. Second, it is not clear that Mussolini\u2014or even his ghostwriter, the philosopher Giovanni Gentile\u2014ever actually gave this precise definition of fascism. Most importantly, though, the meme's central point revolves around a common misunderstanding of what \"corporatism\" was in Mussolini's fascism and a conflation with the modern capitalist \"corporation,\" most likely borne out of the similarity between the words. Corporatism (\"corporativismo\" in Italian) was one of the cornerstone principles in Mussolini's fascism and had to do with the way society and the economy would be organized, with state power at the head of a system of guilds or corporations (\"corporazione\") representing each major industry. In his Dictionary of Political Thought, Roger Scruton describes corporatism in this way: the economy was divided into associations (called syndicates) of workers, employers, and the professions; only one syndicate was allowed in each branch of industry, and all officials were either fascist politicians or else loyal to the fascist cause. According to law, the syndicates were autonomous, but in fact, they were run by the state. The corporations united the syndicates in a given industry but made no pretense at autonomy from the state. This ultimate power and pervasive influence of the state (led by one man, of course) was famously summed up by Mussolini in a speech in 1927, in which he declared: \"Everything in the state, nothing against the state, nothing outside the state.\" In the Doctrine of Fascism, in 1932, Mussolini (with the help of Gentile) wrote: \"Fascism desires the State to be strong and organic, based on broad foundations of popular support. The Fascist State lays claim to rule in the economic field no less than in others; it makes its action felt throughout the length and breadth of the country by means of its corporative, social, and educational institutions, and all the political, economic, and spiritual forces of the nation, organized in their respective associations, circulate within the State.\" In other words, corporatism in Mussolini's fascism was not a free-market capitalist system. Far from it. It did not allow for the kind of competition, innovation, market entry, and research and development characteristic of modern capitalism, and it was closely ruled in every way by the state with Mussolini at its head. Anything that draws a direct link between what are now referred to as corporations (large, powerful private companies operating in a modern free-market capitalist system) and Mussolini's corporatism is founded on a misunderstanding most likely caused by the similarity between the words. As for the claim that Webster's dictionary censored its definition of fascism when it was taken over by a public relations-sensitive corporation in 1987: Merriam-Webster has in fact been owned by Encyclopedia Britannica Incorporated since 1964 and has operated as Merriam-Webster Incorporated since 1982; that claim is inaccurate.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1OHrpNPcZQkkr8Uy1EaaygFAcVXE_YHgd","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_740","claim":"In Wisconsin, a woman only earns 80 cents for every $1 a man earns.","posted":"04\/23\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Marking what President Barack Obamaproclaimedas National Equal Pay Day, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke uttered a claim that many politicians have made in one form another at the state or national level. Women deserve equal pay for equal work. It's just that simple, Burke, a Madison School Board member, said in an April 8, 2014news release. In Wisconsin, a woman only earns 80 cents for every dollar a man earns -- and pay discrimination doesn't just hurt our families, it hurts our economies, too. Let's take a look. Similar claims In rating a number of pay-gap claims, we and our PolitiFact colleagues have found that wording is crucial. Two of those fact-checks help put Burke's claim into perspective. Former Dane County executive Kathleen Falk, while campaigning for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination to challenge Walker in the 2012 recall election, said Wisconsin women are paid 81 cents to the dollar of a man doing the same job. The key phrase was same job. We rated the statementFalse, finding that Falk misquoted the very report she relied on. The report said that -- among all men and women in Wisconsin working all sorts of jobs -- women earned 81 cents for every dollar earned by men. Burke's claim, in contrast, is more similar to one made by Obama. You know, today, women make up about half our workforce, but they still make 77 cents for every dollar a man earns, Obama said in his January 2014 State of the Union speech. That is wrong, and in 2014, it's an embarrassment. Women deserve equal pay for equal work. PolitiFact National rated Obama's statementMostly True. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, our colleagues found, women who worked full-time, year-round in 2012 made 77 cents for every $1 men earned across the country. The comparison includes all male and female workers regardless of occupation. Our colleagues noted, however, the existence of a pay gap doesnt necessarily mean the gap is caused by discrimination. Work by the Institute for Womens Policy Research, for example, found that one factor is that women more often choose lower-paying jobs such as receptionists, nurses and teachers, while men more often pursue paths as truck drivers, managers and computer software engineers. Wisconsin figures So what's the situation in Wisconsin? Three organizations -- the Institute for Women's Policy Research, the National Partnership for Women & Families and the American Association of University Women -- also cited 2012 census data as the latest available. Those figures show Wisconsin women earned 78 cents per $1 earned by men. The American Association of University Women said in a March 2014reportthat the median annualearningsfor Wisconsin women working full time year round was $36,535 -- 78 percent of the $46,898 earned by men. (The median is the middle number -- in other words, half of the workers earned more than that amount and half earned less.) Commenting on the pay gap at the national level, the association said career choices explain some of the pay gap. But even after accounting for college major, occupation, hours worked and other factors, the association said, 7 percent of the gap nationally between men and women college graduates remained unexplained one year after graduation. So, there is evidence that Wisconsin women earn 78 cents per $1 of what men earn, although the role discrimination might play is not clear. Our rating Burke said: In Wisconsin, a woman only earns 80 cents for every $1 a man earns. Her claim is slightly conservative, in that census data put the figure at 78 cents. It's worth noting that the gap is not necessarily due to discrimination -- a conclusion some might have drawn because Burke's statement made reference to pay discrimination. We rate the claim Mostly True.","issues":["Economy","Income","Jobs","Women","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_741","claim":"Is This a Photograph of a Dead Fairy?","posted":"05\/07\/2007","sci_digest":["A photograph purportedly shows the remains of an 8-inch, mummified fairy found in Derbyshire."],"justification":"Most of the April Fool's pranks that appear on the Internet on or around April 1 have petered out by a day or two later; some of the more subtle satirical articles may continue to circulate for a few days longer before some readers recognize them as humor rather than genuine news stories. For whatever reason, though, a \"mummified fairy\" prank from 2007 was still going strong well after April 1 had come and gone, even though its creator had long since admitted to the hoax and the fictional tale had been exposed by major news outlets. Do fairies live at the bottom of your garden? Maybe not anymore, but a recent discovery would suggest that they probably did. What appear to be the mummified remains of a fairy have been discovered in the Derbyshire countryside. The 8-inch remains, complete with wings, skin, teeth, and flowing red hair, have been examined by archaeologists and forensic experts who can confirm that the body is genuine. X-rays of the fairy reveal an anatomically identical skeleton to that of a child. The bones, however, are hollow like those of a bird, making them particularly light. The puzzling presence of a navel even suggests that the beings reproduce in the same way as humans, despite the absence of reproductive organs. The mummified fairy supposedly found in Derbyshire by a dog walker at Firestone Hill near Duffield was the work of former Derbyshire resident Dan Baines, a prop maker. Baines posted an article (titled \"Do Fairies Live at the Bottom of Your Garden?\") presenting an elaborate backstory about the creature's discovery, along with several close-up photographs of the small, detailed fairy figure he created, on a website a few days before April Fool's Day 2007. The hoax was quite the hit for a few days as netizens debated its details and origins, and then on April 1, Baines confessed by appending the following message to his fairy article: \"Thank you for the interest you have shown in my story. Even if you believe in fairies, as I personally do, there will always be an element of doubt in your mind that suggests the remains are a hoax. However, the magic created by the possibility of the fairy being real is something you will remember for the rest of your life. Alas, the fairy is fake, but my interest and belief have allowed me to create a work of art that is convincing and magical. I was also interested to see if fairy folklore is still a valid belief in modern society, and I am pleased to say that yes, it is! I have had more response from believers than I ever thought possible. As well as being an artist, I am also a magician, and you have been my fantastic audience. That spark of magic ignited your imagination and made your day more memorable and exciting. I believe fairies to be Earth spirits rather than physical beings, so my performance was slightly flawed. The question still begs to be answered, though: are they made of flesh and blood like you and I? I hope you have not been offended by the events of the past few days, but if you are, I sincerely apologize. It took 50 years for the Cottingley fairies to be revealed as a hoax; at least you've only had to endure a few days of mystery.\" The prank was even prominent enough to merit coverage by the BBC: \"Photographs of a mummified fairy supposedly found in Derbyshire have been revealed as an April Fool's prank.\" Former Derbyshire resident Dan Baines, 31, who designs illusions for magicians, made the fairy as a prank. The site received 20,000 hits in one day from fairy believers. \"Although I've said it's a hoax, people still believe that it's real,\" said Mr. Baines. \"They believe this is just a cover-up, so let the illusion continue.\" He added that it had taken him four hours a day to answer all of his emails. \"I've had all sorts of comments, including people who say they've seen exactly the same things and one person who told me to return the remains to the grave site as soon as possible or face the consequences,\" he said. The fairy is about eight inches long, with details such as a navel, ears, and hair added for authenticity. Mr. Baines added that he had now become addicted to April Fool's jokes and told people to \"watch this space\" for future pranks. Dan Baines later put his fairy figure up for auction on eBay, where it fetched a high bid of \u00a3280.00.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Rl8YisDCCjgAytoYIoJ5Ra05o25iPxHZ","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_742","claim":"Is This 'Good News' List About the COVID-19 Pandemic Accurate?","posted":"03\/19\/2020","sci_digest":["A few bright spots do indeed shine amid the doom and gloom of the new coronavirus. "],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease. \n\nThings appeared pretty bleak in March 2020 as the COVID-19 coronavirus disease continued to spread across the globe. Businesses and restaurants were being shut down, people were asked to stay inside their homes, and the stock market was crashing. But, according to a viral list on social media, it wasn't all bad news. \n\nOn March 16, a Facebook post that supposedly highlighted some \"good news\" about COVID-19 started to spread online: \n\nHow about some good news? \n- China has closed down its last coronavirus hospital. Not enough new cases to support them. \n- Doctors in India have been successful in treating Coronavirus. A combination of drugs used: Lopinavir, Ritonavir, Oseltamivir along with Chlorphenamine. They are going to suggest the same medicine globally. \n- Researchers at the Erasmus Medical Center claim to have found an antibody against coronavirus. \n- A 103-year-old Chinese grandmother has made a full recovery from COVID-19 after being treated for 6 days in Wuhan, China. \n- Apple reopens all 42 stores in China. \n- Cleveland Clinic developed a COVID-19 test that gives results in hours, not days. \n- Good news from South Korea, where the number of new cases is declining. \n- Italy is hit hard, experts say, only because they have the oldest population in Europe. \n- Scientists in Israel are likely to announce the development of a coronavirus vaccine. \n- Three Maryland coronavirus patients have fully recovered and are able to return to everyday life. \n- A network of Canadian scientists is making excellent progress in COVID-19 research. \n- A San Diego biotech company is developing a COVID-19 vaccine in collaboration with Duke University and the National University of Singapore. \n- Tulsa County's first positive COVID-19 case has recovered. This individual has had two negative tests, which is the indicator of recovery. \n- All seven patients who were being treated at Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi have recovered. \n- Plasma from newly recovered patients from COVID-19 can treat others infected by COVID-19. \n\nSo it's not all bad news. Let's care for each other and stay focused on the safety of those most vulnerable. We're not sure who wrote this Facebook post. The earliest version we could find was posted by Dr. James Fedich, but we've come across several other variations of the list across social media. We reached out to Fedich to confirm authorship, but we have not yet heard back. \n\nMore importantly, this list appears to be generally accurate. Some of the statements are missing context, are a bit exaggerated, or appear to be little more than wishful thinking, so let's take a brief look at each of the claims individually: \n\nChina has closed down its last coronavirus hospital. Not enough new cases to support them. China built several temporary hospitals to care for people sickened by COVID-19. On March 11, journalists reported that these hospitals were shut down as the spread of the disease started to slow. On March 19, China reported no new locally transmitted cases for the first time since the start of the pandemic. \n\nDoctors in India have been successful in treating Coronavirus. A combination of drugs used: Lopinavir, Ritonavir, Oseltamivir along with Chlorphenamine. The Economic Times reported that the combination of two anti-HIV drugs had proven crucial to the treatment of coronavirus patients. India's Union of Health Ministry revised its guidelines to recommend the use of \"anti-HIV drug combinations Lopinavir and Ritonavir on a case-to-case basis depending upon the severity of the condition of a patient with a coronavirus infection.\" However, it's unclear how effective these drugs will end up being or if they will be implemented in treatment worldwide. \n\nResearchers at the Erasmus Medical Center claim to have found an antibody against coronavirus. The Dutch newspaper NL Times reported that \"a team of ten scientific researchers from the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam and Utrecht University\" discovered an \"antibody capable of fending off an infection by the COVID-19 variant of coronavirus.\" This may prove to be a significant step in developing a vaccine for COVID-19. \n\nA 103-year-old Chinese grandmother has made a full recovery from COVID-19 after being treated for 6 days in Wuhan, China. The Independent reported on March 11 that a 103-year-old woman named Zhang Guangfen contracted the disease in Wuhan, China. Guangfen was treated for six days at the hospital before being released. Dr. Zeng Yulan told reporters that the centenarian's quick recovery was likely due to the fact that she had no underlying health conditions. \n\nApple reopens all 42 stores in China. Although China was once the epicenter of this pandemic, the country managed to get a handle on the situation, and as of this writing, cases in the country continue to drop. On March 13, 2020, Apple announced that it was reopening all 42 of its stores in China. \n\nCleveland Clinic developed a COVID-19 test that gives results in hours, not days. The MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio, announced on March 16 that it can test COVID-19 samples at its laboratory and get the results in just two hours. These tests, however, were in very limited supply: MetroHealth CEO and President Akram Boutros, MD, FACHE, said: \"Supplies are very limited, and testing at this time must be reserved for hospitalized patients who are critically ill and those who have had direct contact with them.\" \n\nGood news from South Korea, where the number of new cases is declining. While COVID-19 continues to spread in places like the United States, some other countries have managed to \"flatten the curve\" and suppress the spread of the disease. Science Magazine wrote on March 17: \"Amid these dire trends, South Korea has emerged as a sign of hope and a model to emulate. The country of 50 million appears to have greatly slowed its epidemic; it reported only 74 new cases today, down from 909 at its peak on February 29. And it has done so without locking down entire cities or taking some of the other authoritarian measures that helped China bring its epidemic under control.\" One reason for South Korea's success, according to CNN, is that the COVID-19 outbreak occurred in a population of relatively young, non-smoking women. \n\nItaly is hit hard, experts say, only because they have the oldest population in Europe. While South Korea may have benefited from this disease impacting its young population first, Italy, on the other hand, has one of the oldest populations on earth. Wired reported: \"Italy has been hit particularly hard, with some 2,000 deaths thus far. Overwhelmed hospital staffers have had to make devastating decisions about who to treat and who they must let perish. The reason why Italy is suffering so badly, write University of Oxford researchers in a new paper in the journal Demographic Science, may be twofold: The country has the second-oldest population on earth, and its young tend to mingle more often with the elderly, like their grandparents.\" \n\nScientists in Israel are likely to announce the development of a coronavirus vaccine. Haaretz reported on March 18 that \"scientists at Israel's Institute for Biological Research\" have made a \"significant breakthrough,\" and that they could announce in the next few days that they have completed the development of a vaccine. However, it will still be a while before this vaccine reaches a larger population. \n\nThree Maryland coronavirus patients have fully recovered and are able to return to everyday life. Fox 5 DC reported on March 14 that Maryland's first three coronavirus patients had all recovered and were returning to their homes. The news outlet wrote: \"On Friday, Montgomery County's Chief Health Officer Dr. Travis Gayles told FOX 5 the first three people to test positive for Coronavirus in the state of Maryland have recovered and are able to resume their normal lives.\" \n\nA network of Canadian scientists is making excellent progress in COVID-19 research. The Montreal Gazette reported on March 13 that the country's scientists were making progress on COVID-19 research as they were able to isolate a copy of the coronavirus. \"A team of Canadian researchers from Ontario has isolated and grown copies of the coronavirus, the agent responsible for the outbreak of COVID-19 that has spread worldwide,\" the Gazette said. \"The isolated virus will help researchers in Canada and across the world develop better diagnostic testing, treatments, and vaccines, and to gain a fuller understanding of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).\" \n\nA San Diego biotech company is developing a COVID-19 vaccine in collaboration with Duke University and the National University of Singapore. A CBS TV station reported on March 12 that the San Diego biotech company Arcturus Therapeutics was working on a COVID-19 vaccine. The outlet reported: \"As the race to develop a vaccine for coronavirus\/COVID-19 continues globally, the San Diego-based biotech company, Arcturus Therapeutics, is working on creating one at its Torrey Pines lab ... The biotech company is working with Duke NUS- Medical School, a partnership between Duke University and the National University of Singapore.\" \n\nTulsa County's first positive COVID-19 case has recovered. This individual has had two negative tests, which is the indicator of recovery. Tulsa World reported on March 12 that the county's first coronavirus case had fully recovered. The Tulsa Health Department reported the good news on Facebook. \n\nAll seven patients who were being treated at Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi have recovered. The Hindu reported on March 14 that seven coronavirus patients at Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi had recovered from the disease, writing: \"Safdarjung Hospital, which is treating a bulk of COVID-19 patients here in the Capital, has reported that seven of the positive cases currently admitted in the hospital have recovered but are yet to be discharged.\" \n\nPlasma from newly recovered patients from COVID-19 can treat others infected by COVID-19. The final item on this list refers to an experimental treatment. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Stephen Hahn said that the FDA was experimenting with a new COVID-19 treatment involving the plasma from a person who recovered from the disease. Hahn also highlighted another experimental treatment possibility that the FDA is investigating: using plasma derived from blood taken from coronavirus patients who have recovered and injecting that into other patients in an attempt to potentially jump-start their own immune response. \"There's a cross-agency effort about something called convalescent plasma,\" he said. \"This is a pretty exciting area. And again, this is something that we have given assistance to other countries with as this crisis has developed, so the FDA has been working for some time on this. If you've been exposed to coronavirus and you're better, you don't have the virus in your blood. We could collect the blood now; this is a possible treatment. This is not a proven treatment, I just want to emphasize that, [but we would] collect the blood, concentrate that, and have the ability, once it's pathogen-free, that is virus-free, to be able to give that to other patients, and the immunoglobulins, the immune response could potentially provide a benefit to patients.\" \n\nIn summary, the claims on the popular \"good news\" list are generally accurate and supported by credible news reports. The number of new cases in China and South Korea has dropped since the pandemic began, enough so that China has closed its temporary hospitals. A number of patients have also successfully recovered from the disease, and several organizations are working on vaccines for COVID-19. However, at the time of this writing (March 19, 2020), this \"good news\" should not be taken as proof that this pandemic is soon coming to an end. Health officials in the United States continue to urge citizens to practice \"social distancing,\" and it's likely that we won't see a worldwide rollout of an effective vaccine until mid-2021.","issues":["stock market"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_743","claim":"Does This Photograph Show a Misaligned Bridge?","posted":"06\/01\/2016","sci_digest":["'Survey-scale inaccuracy or positioning errors can lead to costly construction mistakes such as bridge misalignment.'"],"justification":"A photograph purportedly showing a misaligned bridge is frequently shared via blogs and social media as a picture of one of the \"worst construction mistakes\" of all-time: blogs What shall we call these, construction mistakes or errors or goof ups? What ever we call it, it won't change a thing and still these look hilarious. Its quite surprising to see these and we really wonder how the engineers and architects who were part of these constructions must have reacted seeing them. When we first saw this bridge, we thought it to be shopped. But later we knew how wrong we were: 'Survey-scale inaccuracy or positioning errors can lead to costly construction mistakes such as bridge misalignment. Image courtesy of Zurich U.S.'  While the above-quoted article correctly cited a caption that accompanied the image on the website of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), that caption has been misinterpreted by some readers who believed it to document the occurrence of a misaligned bridge mishap. But Bobbi Simmons of NOAA's National Geodetic Survey explained that this image was actually an illustration created by the Zurich American Insurance Company and not a photograph of an actual bridge under construction: caption The image of the broken bridge is an illustration, not a photograph. (A terrific illustration, at that!) We were given permission to use the illustration by the Zurich American Insurance Company. In past communication with a representative from Zurich American, they told us it was not necessary for NOAA to credit their company when using the image, however we prefer to do so as a courtesy, hence the reference. We like the image, as it portrays extremely well the value of the work we do here at NOAA's National Geodetic Survey. We provide the framework for all positioning activities in the Nation  the foundational elements of latitude, longitude, elevation, and shoreline, and how they change over time. The image of the broken bridge is one we like to use to signify how accurate positioning contributes to informed decision making and how it impacts a wide range of important activities including: surveying, city planning, mapping and charting, navigation, flood risk determination, transportation, land use, and ecosystem management. Our authoritative spatial data, models, and tools are vital for the protection and management of both man-made and natural resources, and support the economic prosperity and environmental health of the Nation. This image has been online since at least 2007, when it was used by the NOAA in an article about the \"Transcontinental Traverse\" as part of the organization's 200th anniversary. NOAA explained that while angles can be accurately determined, measuring long distances occasionally leads to mistakes: Transcontinental Traverse From the earliest days of the C&GS, angles have been relatively easy to accurately measure using instruments called theodolites. Distances, however, have been very difficult to measure accurately, especially over long lines. This difficulty led to scale inaccuracy, the chief weakness of the nationwide triangulation network. If the scale is off, the distance between two survey points will be too long or too short and area measurements also will be incorrect. Therefore, anything constructed from these survey points, such as a bridge or a railroad, may not meet or align properly.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1RK92buCPXyXLjUogrioyFLRU1DoUUnWK","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_744","claim":"Princess Cruises Boycotts Israel","posted":"06\/14\/2010","sci_digest":["Has Princess Cruises ceased making stops in Israel?"],"justification":"Claim:  Princess Cruises has ceased making stops in Israel.  Example:  [Collected via e-mail, June 2010] Yesterday, 6\/2\/2010, the Pacific Princess, carrying 700 passengers, canceled a stop at Ashdod, Israel . Instead, they informed the passengers they would stop in Egypt as an alternative. Princess is now bowing to pressure and boycotting Israel . Please pass this on to all Jewish Americans in order to let them know that there are alternatives to Princess.  Origins:  On 31 May 2010, Israeli commandos stormed the six-ship Freedom Flotilla in international waters off the coast of the Gaza Strip as it carried some 10,000 tons of aid and up to 700 human rights activists to the Palestinian enclave. In that melee, nine activists were killed and dozens were injured. Hundreds of those being conveyed on the flotilla were jailed and then deported. The attack on the Gaza-bound humanitarian aid convoy served to heighten tensions in that area of the world. In response to the potential for retaliatory attacks on Israel, Princess Cruises canceled the 2 June 2010 Pacific Princess call on the port of Ashdod, Israel. The 1 June 2010 call upon the Israeli port of Haifa went ahead as scheduled, providing passengers the opportunity for a full day of touring Galilee and Nazareth. Princess Cruises said of their decision that: Based on careful review of the situation and information provided by the US State Department and other sources, we were concerned about potential violence in Ashdod in reaction to the incident.  We made the decision strictly in the best interest of the safety of our passengers and crew, to cancel the call in Ashdod the following day. Azamara Club Cruises also canceled a planned visit to that city, routing its Azamara Quest directly to Haifa rather than making the planned 7 June 2010 call upon Ashdod. Pacific Princess is scheduled to visit the ports of Haifa and Ashdod at the end of June 2010 during its 12-day Mediterranean East cruise (which departs from Venice on 20 June 2010). The line fully expects to maintain the published itinerary. Additional information:     Statement from Princess Cruises   (Princess Cruises)  Last updated:  14 June 2010    Sloan, Gene.  \"Princess Cruises Cancels Call in Israel in Wake of Attack on Aid Flotilla.\"   USA Today.  1 June 2010.    JTA.  \"Princess Cruises Boycott Tale Is Debunked.\"   14 June 2010.","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_745","claim":"Has Biden promised to get rid of the 'Stepped-Up' Basis for Capital Gains Tax?","posted":"02\/03\/2021","sci_digest":["For once, a viral Facebook post critical of a politician accurately articulated their past pronouncements. "],"justification":"In early 2021, readers asked Snopes to examine the accuracy of a widely shared social media post that purported to describe U.S. President Joe Biden's intention to eliminate a piece of tax law that allows taxpayers to benefit from selling a home inherited from their parents. The post, which was critical of Biden and the supposed plan, first emerged during the 2020 presidential election campaign but regained prominence after Biden was inaugurated in January 2021. It typically read as follows: \"Did you know Biden wants to get rid of something called 'stepped-up basis'? How does this affect you? When your parents pass and leave you the family house, normally you would inherit that property at its current value. If you were to sell that house, you would only pay taxes on the gain from its current value and what it sells for. If Biden does away with 'stepped-up basis,' you will inherit the property for what your parents paid for it. If you decide to sell, you will pay taxes on the difference between the original purchase price and what it sells for today. Here is what this looks like: \n\nCurrent Policy\nInherited House at Current Value - $200,000\nSells for $205,000\nTaxable income = $5,000\nTaxes Due - 20% of $5,000 = $1,000\nProfit to you = $204,000\n\nBiden Policy\nInherited House at Original Purchase Price - $40,000\nSells for $205,000\nTaxable income = $165,000\nTaxes Due - 20% of $165,000 = $33,000\nProfit to you = $172,000\n\nIf your parents had sold this property prior to passing, they would have paid no taxes because it was their primary residence. So much for helping the middle class get ahead. My educated guess would be that at least 95% of Americans don\u2019t even know Biden has proposed this. We are talking tens of thousands of additional tax dollars for the average person after inheritance! Wow, Google 'Biden stepped-up basis' and educate yourself because this is significant! Please share!\n\nThe viral post accurately stated that Biden proposed getting rid of the 'stepped-up' basis for capital gains tax and correctly explained the potential practical consequences for an individual taxpayer who inherits a home. In fact, the tax burden for wealthier individuals would be even greater than the post stated, because Biden has also proposed doubling the rate of long-term capital gains tax for those with income over $1 million. \n\nHere's how the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office describes the stepped-up basis for capital gains tax, which is the tax due on profits from the sale of an asset, such as shares or property: When people sell an asset for more than the price they paid for it, they realize a net capital gain. The net gain is typically calculated as the sale price minus the asset's adjusted basis\u2014generally the original purchase price adjusted for improvements or depreciation. To calculate the gains on inherited assets, taxpayers generally use the asset's fair-market value at the time of the owner's death, often referred to as stepped-up basis, instead of the adjusted basis derived from the asset's value when the decedent initially acquired it. When the heir sells the asset, capital gains taxes are assessed only on the change in the asset's value relative to the stepped-up basis. As a result, any appreciation in value that occurred while the decedent owned the asset is not included in taxable income and therefore is not subject to the capital gains tax. \n\nIn 2015, then-President Barack Obama also proposed eliminating the stepped-up basis. Here's his administration's explanation of how it works: Suppose an individual leaves stock worth $50 million to an heir, who immediately sells it. When purchased, the stock was worth $10 million, so the capital gain is $40 million. However, the heir's basis in the stock is stepped up to the $50 million gain when inherited, so no income tax is due on the sale, nor ever due on the $40 million of gain. Each year, hundreds of billions in capital gains avoid tax as a result of the stepped-up basis. \n\nDuring the 2020 presidential election, Biden and his campaign repeatedly expressed his intention to eliminate the stepped-up basis. As first highlighted by Politifact, the Biden campaign presented the proposal as a partial way to pay for its proposed student loan reforms. In October 2019, ABC News reported that the plan makes official several policies the former vice president often discusses on the trail about student debt. Biden's policy includes his plan for reducing student loan debt obligations for students who enter the public service sector, allowing $10,000 of undergraduate or graduate debt relief per year for up to five years of service. Biden would also double the maximum amount of Pell grants available to students, including Dreamers, and would allow students making less than $25,000 a year to defer payments on their federal loans without accruing interest. Any student making more than $25,000 would pay 5% of their discretionary income toward their loans rather than the current 10% owed. The plan would be funded through the elimination of the stepped-up basis loophole, a type of break on inheritance taxes, and capping itemized deductions for wealthy Americans at 28%, according to the campaign. \n\nIn June 2020, according to CNBC, Biden told potential donors: \"I'm going to get rid of the bulk of Trump's $2 trillion tax cut, and a lot of you may not like that, but I'm going to close loopholes like capital gains and stepped-up basis.\" On the Biden-Harris campaign's website, a Spanish-language document outlining the campaign's plans for education reforms stated (translated): \"The Biden plan for post-secondary education is a $750 billion investment over 10 years, aimed at developing a stronger and more inclusive middle class. It will be paid for by ensuring the super-rich pay their fair share. Specifically, this plan will be funded by eliminating the gap in our tax law known as the 'Stepped-up Basis Loophole' as well as reducing the itemized deductions that the richest Americans can make to 28%.\" \n\nElsewhere, the Biden campaign proposed not only eliminating the stepped-up basis but also doubling the tax rate for long-term capital gains\u2014that is, profits from the sale of an asset owned for more than one year\u2014for relatively wealthy taxpayers. Here's what the Biden-Harris campaign website stated, as part of the campaign's healthcare plan: \"As President, Biden will make healthcare a right by getting rid of capital gains tax loopholes for the super wealthy. Today, the very wealthy pay a tax rate of just 20% on long-term capital gains... As President, Biden will roll back the Trump rate cut for the very wealthy and restore the 39.6% top rate he helped restore when he negotiated an end to the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy in 2012. Biden's capital gains reform will close the loopholes that allow the super wealthy to avoid taxes on capital gains altogether. Biden will ensure that those making over $1 million will pay the top rate on capital gains, doubling the capital gains tax rate on the super wealthy.\" \n\nThe Facebook post shared widely in late 2020 and early 2021 accurately described Biden's stated intention to eliminate the stepped-up basis for capital gains tax, a move that would indeed increase the tax burden on an individual who inherits a piece of property from their parents before selling it. The tax hit for wealthier taxpayers would be even greater than the Facebook post outlined, since Biden has also proposed increasing the rate of long-term capital gains tax for those with an income above $1 million. The Facebook post did not mention that Biden had stipulated he would use the money raised from eliminating the stepped-up basis to help pay for his healthcare and education plans. Snopes contacted the White House to ask whether the Biden administration still intended to push for the elimination of the stepped-up basis, but we did not receive a response in time for publication.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1D-owYNhCUWA19_QKkmjU8MZ_YwM6lahN"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_746","claim":"Is This the World's Smallest Cow?","posted":"07\/08\/2021","sci_digest":["A 20-inch-tall cow in Bangladesh has become a major tourist attraction. "],"justification":"  In July 2021, photographs and videos started circulating on social media that supposedly showed the world's smallest cow, a 51 centimeters (20 inches) tall dwarf cow in Bangladesh named Raani (possibly spelled Rani): photographs   This is a genuine photograph of a very small cow in Bangladesh. It was taken by Munir Us Zaman, and is available via Getty Images with the caption: A dwarf cow named Rani (bottom), whose owners applied to the Guinness Book of Records claiming it to be the smallest cow in the world, walks next to a goat at a cattle farm in Charigram, about 25 km from Savar on July 6, 2021.  While this is a genuine photograph of a dwarf cow, Raani has not yet been officially declared the world's smallest cow. But Raani's owner, Abu Sufian, has already filed paperwork with the Guinness Book of World Records.  Sufian said: \"Guinness has acknowledged our entry and will be doing an independent verification, but we are confident that Raani will get the award.\" Sufian said At the time of this writing, the official record holder for world's smallest cow (or world's shortest cow) belongs to Manikyam, a 61-centimeter-tall cow in India that has held the record since June 2014.  https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=walK6YEmFUURaani is certainly smaller than Manikyam and it seems likely that this itty-bitty bovine will soon be crowned the world's smallest cow. Raani, a Bhutti or Bhutanese cow, is reportedly 23 months old. France 24 reports that the other Bhuttis on this farm near Charigram in Bangladesh are more than twice Raani's size.  France 24 reports: reports Rani is a Bhutti, or Bhutanese, cow which is prized for its meat in Bangladesh. The other Bhuttis on the farm are twice Rani's size. \"We did not expect such huge interest. We did not think people would leave their homes because of the worsening virus situation. But they have come here in droves,\" the manager said. Sajedul Islam, the government's chief vet for the region, said Rani is a product of \"genetic inbreeding\" and was unlikely to become any bigger. Raani has become a popular tourist attraction, with thousands of people flocking to this farm to catch a glimpse of potentially the world's smallest cow. Below is a video report from WION, a news outlet covering southern Asia:  See also on Snopes: Are Cow Farts Causing Global Warming? Are Warning Signs About Parachuting Cows Real? Did a K-9 Dog Bite a Cow, Deputy Tase a K-9, Cow Kick a Deputy? Did a Cow Really Sit on the Hood of this Car?  ","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1YysO-uGXzYNgG1jIKLlmOiuP_h997sPe","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_747","claim":"Did the House Give Itself a $25M Raise in Coronavirus Aid Bill?","posted":"03\/31\/2020","sci_digest":["Rumors claimed that U.S. representatives were using coronavirus aid legislation to give themselves a pay raise. "],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease. \n\nOn March 27, 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES), a $2.2 trillion economic relief package to assist Americans affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill's most publicized feature was that the federal government would be sending $1,200 checks to every adult with an adjusted annual gross income of less than $75,000. \n\nWhile negotiations over CARES were underway, social media posts contended that members of Congress\u2014or, more specifically, \"[House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and the Democrats\"\u2014were attempting to sneak a $25 million pay raise for themselves into the bill. However, neither the bill as passed nor any previous version of it included a $25 million pay raise for members of Congress. That misperception appeared to arise from a portion of the bill labeled \"HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,\" which set aside $25 million for \"Salaries and Expenses\": \n\nHOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Salaries And Expenses For an additional amount for Salaries and Expenses, $25,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2021, except that $5,000,000 shall remain available until expended, to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, domestically or internationally, to be allocated in accordance with a spend plan submitted to the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives by the Chief Administrative Officer and approved by such Committee: Provided, That such amount is designated by the Congress as being for an emergency requirement pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. \n\nAs Evan Hollander, a communications director for the House Appropriations Committee, explained, these funds were not allocated to provide pay increases to House members: \"The $25 million funding is to support the House's capability to telework, including for the purchase of equipment and improvements to the network,\" he said. The allocation also provides money to cover the cost of paying the staff of the House Child Care Center, food service contracts, and paying the House sergeant-at-arms. None of the funds will go to member salaries, which are paid directly from the Treasury pursuant to the Constitution, Hollander verified. \n\nThe 27th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits any law from raising (or lowering) the salaries of members of Congress until after the next national election has taken place, so the House could only raise the pay of representatives elected in the November 2020 election or later (which, naturally, could include current House members who successfully sought reelection).","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=17G9bvXJullvKikH4P5AJM0wx3iVPxIbW","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_748","claim":"Is 'The Office' Returning to U.S. Television in 2018?","posted":"09\/07\/2017","sci_digest":["Rumors holding that new episodes of the series 'The Office' will be airing on NBC in 2018 are unconfirmed."],"justification":"On 5 September 2017, the web site Pagez.com published an article claiming that the cast of the hit NBC show The Officewould return for a new season in 2018: Pagez.com CONFIRMED: The Office US is returning in 2018! Last week we heard the news that NBC bosses have given writers the go ahead to create a new season of The Office US. Today, we hear the news that writer, Mindy Kaling is ready to write.  This week has been full of Office news ever since star Jenna Fisher posted an old un-shot episode script on Instagram. Calling out the crew to get back together and shoot!    This article was based on two other posts, an April Fool's Day joke on Medium.com and an Instagram post from actress Jenna Fischer, neither of which \"confirmed\" that the cast of The Office would reunite for a new season of the hit NBC show. Fischer's Instagram post, for instance, was posted in February 2017, not \"this week\" as alleged by this September 2017 article. Although Fischer's idea stirred up some fan interest in a reunion, neither NBC nor the show's creators had announced plans at that time to create new episodes of the program. Instagram The rest of the Pagez.com article was based on an April Fool's Day Joke published on Medium.com. In fact, the author of the Pagez article plagiarized an entire paragraph from the joke article on Medium. Here's a comparison of text from the joke article on Medium (left) and the fake news article on Pagez (right): Medium.c om   Pagez.com later retracted their claim: retracted The other day we reported that The Office US would be hitting our screens again in 2018. Well, we were wrong. We all make mistakes and it seems that we got fooled by an April Fools joke from earlier this year. After our writers read the original article they got so excited they just had to tell everyone. They went ahead and published the story. So blame them. Not me.  However, there is a real (albeit slight) possibility that NBC could reboot the hit series. NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt told Deadline in August 2017 that the network frequently talks about bringing back The Office (with a different cast), but added that a new season was not currently in the works: Deadline There had been a lot of chatter the past few weeks about NBC potentially bringing back Emmy-winning comedy The Office, with Greg Daniels  who developed and ran the U.S. version of the British series  at the helm and possibly a new cast. While Id heard some optimism around town that a new Office may be in the offing, NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt did not indicate that a deal is in the works. We often talk about The Office, Ive talked to Greg four times over the past few years. Its always, maybe some day but not now, Greenblatt said in an interview with Deadline during NBCs portion of the TCA press tour. There is certainly an open invitation but we dont have anything happening right now. If he wants to do it, I would do it. Rumors of an Office revival kicked in again in December 2017, when TVLine reported (without confirmation from NBC) that plans were in the works for a \"continuation\" of the series: NBC is getting ready to put pen to paper on a revival of The Office. Sources confirm to TVLine exclusively that the Peacock network is eyeing a continuation of the beloved workplace comedy for the 2018-2019 season. The revival would once again be set at Dunder Mifflins Scranton, PA., branch, and feature a mix of new and old cast members. Steve Carell, who starred as the branchs regional manager, Michael Scott, for seven of the comedys nine seasons, will not be involved in the new series. The search for a new RM\/boss is said to be already underway.  NBC declined to comment on or confirm any details of this story. Andreeva, Nellie.  \"NBC Boss Revival Wish List: The Office, 30 Rock, The West Wing & ER\"\r  Deadline.  3 August 2017. Ausiello, Michael.  \"The Office Revival Eyed at NBC for 2018-2019 Season.\"\r  TVLine.  18 December 2017.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1uFE42hHXLYmOO4qjLBgQ8diusklAdyTQ","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1bK8hbeAwkcSbIUgZOKfIlV1cgohuvFLc","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_749","claim":"Stay away from the weight loss scheme advertised on 'Shark Tank' that inaccurately guarantees '50lbs in 61 Days.'","posted":"06\/30\/2021","sci_digest":["Unsolicited emails that appeared as a fake Fox News article led to a Keto Burn scam that had no affiliation with the \"Shark Tank\" TV show."],"justification":"For years, readers have received unsolicited email messages about a weight loss product that purportedly appeared on the \"Shark Tank\" television show. Clicking the link in the email led to a product called Keto Burn. We previously reported on a similar scam involving a similarly named product: Keto Fit. The emails for Keto Burn were designed to look like a Fox News article, even though they appeared to have no affiliation with Fox News. This article did not come from Fox News; it was fake. It appears that a person or company used the Fox News logo without the company's permission. After clicking the link in the email, users were led through a number of questionable redirects, meaning that they were bounced from website to website before landing on a final page. On that final page was another misleading story on a website called Live Intelligence Outreach. The headline read: \"50lbs in 61 Days: New No-Exercise Skinny Pill Melts Belly Fat. Why Every Judge On Shark Tank Backed This Product!\" The article showed a screenshot that appeared to be from a Fox News Channel television show. However, this was also fake; it did not air on the Fox News Channel. One dead giveaway is that the font in the lower-third area looks amateurish. The email for the Keto Burn weight loss product claimed to come from \"ABC - Shark Tank\" and mentioned \"Inc Magazine: Shark Tank Shocker.\" Clicking the link in the email led to a page that claimed: \"It was the most-watched episode in 'Shark Tank' history when sisters Anna and Samantha Martin won over the 'Shark Tank' panel.\" However, we found no such episode. People named Anna and Samantha Martin never appeared on the show. The scam article also claimed: \"The pair are the first contestants in the show's long duration to ever receive a standing ovation and offers of investment from all panel members. The sisters said they celebrated the success with champagne and cake when the episode wrapped.\" The story then displayed a picture of \"Shark Tank\" personalities with a cake, purportedly celebrating after an episode about a weight loss product. However, this picture had nothing to do with weight loss products and simply showed \"Shark Tank\" celebrating its 100th episode. This was confirmed on the Getty Images website. The celebration had nothing to do with Anna and Samantha Martin, Keto Burn, or any other weight loss offerings. In addition to \"Shark Tank,\" the Keto Burn weight loss website also claimed the product was covered by The New York Times, \"Today,\" O, The Oprah Magazine, People's Stylewatch, and Redbook. These publisher logos were misleading. However, we searched the content of all five publishers and did not find any coverage of a product called Keto Burn. This was highly misleading. In sum, a scam involving unsolicited emails, \"Shark Tank,\" and a Keto Burn weight loss product led to an article that misled readers. We recommend that readers delete such emails and avoid following links to such websites.","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1y6q-TNIgARpCwFbFAeqpmBSll67jDS_k"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1dr8xUuRdhrfc5NdxSvKzZ7yC99jPNO8q"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1qZ7m9X3d9JBTXGT19nCTSY-cFgGfMRx1"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1FYEAJ-rivm_zyA7BC662ENDaWfDjGeAf"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_750","claim":"Every year, more than $40 million are leaving Missouri for the Lone Star State.","posted":"08\/30\/2013","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Do dollars slip from state to state? Texas Gov. Rick Perry suggested as much in aradio adaired in Missouri as he framed his case for businesses there to slip away to Texas. In the ad, posted online Aug. 21, 2013, Perry said: Every year, more than $40 million are leaving Missouri for the Lone Star State. (He failed to say, 'Show Me' the money.) To our inquiry, Perry spokesman Josh Havens said the $40 million traces toan online application created byTravis H. Brown, CEO of a St. Louis public affairs and advocacy firm and author of the 2013 book,How Money Walks.Havens said clicking on Missouri on the app shows that between 1992 and 2010, more than $791 million was lost to the state of Texas. That equates to more than $40 million each year. We confirmed his figures on the Wealth Migration app, which indicates that Missouri lost an average of $1.38 billion in adjusted gross income from 1992 through 2010--with the net loss to Texas alone totaling $791.3 million.As definedby the Internal Revenue Service, adjusted gross income is a persons gross income minus adjustments. For most people, according to the app, adjusted gross income is the starting point in calculating their taxable income for federal tax purposes. At a glance, then, Perry's math seems to work. But is it accurate to say all those dollars annually leave Missouri for Texas? We failed to connect with Brown, but an analyst with the Washington, D.C.-based Tax Foundation, which researches state and federal tax policy, told us the IRS annually makes available its data tallying changes in adjusted gross income across the country and state to state--also taking into account how many taxpayers have moved from one state to another since the previous years filings. For instance, the foundationsNick Kaspraksaid by phone, if a taxpayer in Missouri had adjusted gross income of $30,000 one year and then the next year filed a return from Texas showing $65,000 in such income, the IRS would record that as $30,000 moving to Texas--basing that on the adjusted gross income reported in Missouri in the first tax year. A foundation web page breaks down such IRS data for 1993 through 2010, the latest year of available data. Adjusted for inflation, according to the foundation, Texas netted $862 million in adjusted gross income from Missouri over the 17 years, or nearly $51 million a year on average. By email, Kasprak told us the net difference in raw dollars over the 17 years was $710 million, or an annual average of $42 million. This net shift in Texass favor exceeded $40 million in 11 of the 17 years, including every year from 2006 through 2010, as shown on a chart we generated. The year 2005 was the latest one in which there was less than a $40 million difference, according to the chart. The low point:  In 2001, the difference was less than $7.4 million. Source: Web interactive,State to State Migration Data,the Tax Foundation (accessed Aug. 29, 2013) Per Perrys statement, Kasprak said it would be helpful to clarify that the cited adjusted gross income figures refer to how much money was made by residents of Texas in their previous year living in Missouri. That is not the same, he said, as saying that those exact earnings moved to Texas. Its not as if these people are literally carrying sacks of money over the border, Kasprak said. The only thing that is literally true is that if you add up all income of people who moved from Missouri to Texas versus people who moved from Texas to Missouri, this is the net difference in the tax year prior to their moves. Another expert, Art Hall, director of the Center for Applied Economics at the University of Kansas, agreed by phone that Perrys statement reflects only what individuals earned in the state they departed, either Missouri or Texas. We dont know if they got a wage increase or wage cut when they moved to Texas or vice versa, Hall said. Regardless, Hall said he considers Perrys statement in line with the IRS data as adjusted for inflation by the foundation. Our ruling Perry said: Every year, more than $40 million are leaving Missouri for the Lone Star State. That assessment ties to IRS data on adjusted gross income for 1992 through 2010, but the results are more complex and admittedly clunky than this claim acknowledges. That is, Missouri residents who moved to Texas through those years earned more the year before they moved than all income-tax-filing Texas residents who moved to Missouri in those years. Still, adjusted for inflation, the annual difference averages about $50 million--more than Perrys unadjusted figure. Then again, this did not hold for every year. In six years--most recently 2005--there was less than a $40 million difference. On balance, we rate this claim as Half True. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HALF TRUE The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context. Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.","issues":["Economy","Texas"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ymJATCFAsJgcxhXN0LhezTrJtge7-uPf","image_caption":"Source"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_751","claim":"The median income of a middle class family went down $2,100 from 2001 to 2007.","posted":"11\/18\/2011","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Vice President Joe Biden visited a New Hampshire university on October 20, 2011, to promote President Barack Obama's American Jobs Act before an audience he referred to as the 9\/11 generation. Speaking to a full house inside Plymouth State University's lecture hall, Biden discussed the need to restore the middle class and bring jobs back to America. He stated that middle-income Americans have been under siege long before the economic recession hit. \"In the previous decade, before the current recession, the middle class was getting killed,\" said Biden. During that period, between 2001 and 2007, productivity of American workers increased by 20 percent, but the median income of the middle class dropped by $2,100. \"Did the median of middle-income households really take a $2,100 hit before the economy hit the fan?\" We looked into Biden's claim to find out. First, we contacted Biden's staff to determine which figures they were using to arrive at the $2,100 decrease in the median income for middle-class households. Tobin Marcus, Biden's deputy economic policy adviser, informed us that the vice president was referring to real median household income for working-age households. \"We're looking at the core wage-earning households as opposed to retirees,\" Marcus said. Working-age households are typically considered to be those headed by someone between the ages of 25 and 54, and the median income was chosen to represent middle-income wage earners. Biden's office cited the Census Bureau's Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Surveys for year-ending data for 2000 and 2007. They stated that they compared inflation-adjusted numbers using the annual average increase column of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index. We examined their numbers, and their calculations checked out. To be sure, we contacted Dennis Delay, an economist with the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies and a New Hampshire State Forecast Manager for the New England Economic Partnership. He confirmed the calculations provided by Biden's campaign. \"I looked at the data sources, and they appear to be correct, and the data calculated correctly,\" Delay said. Delay then pointed us to a report by the Economic Policy Institute, which used the same data. From 2000 to 2007, the Institute reported that the real median income of working-age households fell from $61,574 in 2000 to $59,460 in 2007, a decrease of $2,114. The White House Task Force on the Middle Class cited a weak labor market and anemic job growth of the 2000s as some of the problems that contributed to the approximately 3.4 percent decline in the median of middle-class incomes over the seven years leading up to the economic recession. \"Clearly, median inflation-adjusted income fell much faster during the recession (2007 to present),\" Delay said. \"But the fall in that indicator during a period of economic expansion (2000 to 2007) is very troubling. I don't believe any other period of economic expansion saw a commensurate decline in median inflation-adjusted income.\" Our ruling: Vice President Biden stated that the median income of the middle class dropped by $2,100 from 2001 to 2007, and the numbers check out. We rate Biden's claim True.","issues":["National","Income","New Hampshire 2012"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_752","claim":"How many concerts would Taylor Swift have to perform to pay off one day of interest on our national debt? She would have to perform every day for three years.","posted":"11\/06\/2015","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Pop superstar Taylor Swift is known for being generous to her fans. But is she charitable enough to help Washington pay interest on the national debt? The#squadat the Republican Party of Florida asked (and answered) the question with a viral image on theirFacebook page on Oct. 29, 2015, the same week Swift was in the Sunshine State for concerts in Miami and Tampa. How many concerts would Taylor Swift have to perform to pay off one day of interest on our national debt? She would have to perform every day for three years, the post read. We just couldntshake it off. We wondered, would it take three years or more for the biggest pop star in the country to pay off the interest on the national debt, playing a concert every single night? We checked to see if it would be possible, even in ourwildest dreams. Because theres no telling just how much Swift is personally raking in these days (beyond, you know, a lot), theres going to be a lot of estimating here, possibly ablank spaceor two. But we do know the national debt is up over the $18 trillion mark these days, so shes got her work cut out for her. Just so we didnt cause anybad blood, we reached out to the state GOP and asked them how they were figuring Swifts tour schedule through 2019. They credited the stat to the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation. We notedthe original version was slightly different: How long would it take Taylor Swift to pay off our debt? Forbes estimates that T. Swift earned around $80 million in 2015 and performed 55 concerts. She would have to perform every day for three years to pay for one day of interest that accrued on our debt. They also point out how hard other big names would have to work, like boxer Floyd Mayweather having to fight for every night for 331 years or Bill Gates having to fork over 229 lifetimes worth of personal income to pay the same bill. The foundation told us they figured out Swifts workload by calculating that she took home 28.6 percent of the gross receipts from her March 2013-June 2014 Red Tour, then stretched it out as if she played for 365 nights straight. That ends up being $526,000 per show, or $192 million for a whole year of Swift concerts (and a whole lot ofInstagrams). So how much is the daily interest on our national debt? Heritage used the 2015 estimate for interest from the Office of Management and Budget, which was$229.2 billionfor the year. One day of that is $628 million. Break that down and Swift would have to play every night for just more than 3 years to pay for one measly day of interest on an $18 trillion debt. Now, the Heritage Foundation told us they used the Red Tour because it has a full net estimate. But we here at PolitiFact Florida always like to note wheneverything has changed. Swift is a megawatt star these days, and she has been practically printing money since this years1989 World Tourbegan. The tour topped$185 millionbetween May and mid October. Thats about about 60 shows, give or take, with 20-plus to go until Swift can take a breather. ForbesandBillboarddo generally usea third of gross receiptsas a rough guideline  remember, those tours have to pay for all sorts of things besides the artist, like sets and costumes and roadies. The$80 millionForbesestimatefor June 2014-June 2015 is hard to parse, because it includes all income, which could range fromt-shirts to albums to streaming royalties. Well note its really not possible to say what she makes from any given show, because every venue is different. The tour stood to make $2.75 million from herHalloween show in Tampa, with a $928,000 bonus if the show sold out. (We cant confirm whether it did, butreports make it soundlike it came close.) In any case, we figure these days it's fair to say Tay Tay is worth closer to a very rough average of $1 million per show, especially when she's playing bigger arenas. That would really help her put a dent in the nations outstanding bills. We could also cheat with some creative bookkeeping and use data from theFederal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, which puts 2015 debt interest at a slightly lower $223.3 billion. That works out to $612 million per day. Do the simple math and our estimate knocks Swifts theoretical slate of shows down to about 612 nights. Thats a little over 1 years of concerts. But theres always the chance she wouldnt want to fork over all her earnings for the interest payments. She could use a little walking around money, you know? Also, she needs a little time to go home to catsMeredith GreyandOlivia Benson. Our ruling The Republican Party of Florida asked, How many concerts would Taylor Swift have to perform to pay off one day of interest on our national debt? She would have to perform every day for three years. This viral image was inspired by the Heritage Foundation, and while their math is based on old estimates, it stands up to scrutiny. Well note that Swift likely makes a lot more money these days, so she could probably pay the bill faster. But the point that it would take an inordinate amount of time to pay just a single days interest on the $18 trillion-plus national debt stands. We rate the statement Mostly True.","issues":["Debt","Florida"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1NG5_6KA4weLiR7ooKYt9Ms1vBgIW4fpc","image_caption":"Forbes"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1dV6Vmej7kVWiDYdNQLGStYkxfyRuHau8","image_caption":"Billboard"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_753","claim":"Strip on U.S. currency","posted":"02\/05\/2007","sci_digest":["Does the plastic strip embedded in U.S. currency enable the government to track it?"],"justification":"Claim:  The plastic strip embedded in U.S. bank notes enable the Feds to tell how much money you have on you.  Examples:  [Collected on the Internet, 2001] This past weekend, a friend visiting our house told us that the anti-counterfeiting strip put in newly printed paper money can be used to determine how much cash you are carrying.  She said that the ever-present \"they\" at the airport have a machine that can determine how much cash you have on your person or in your luggage, and if you are carrying a sufficiently large amount of cash, you will be detained by the police and interrogated until you confess your guilt as a drug smuggler.  [Collected on the Internet, 2003] I did not get this in an e-mail but my bank teller in Kirksville, MO told me this one.  Evidently there is an urban legend floating around that the new \"security strip\" in the new $20's can be read by satellites with the implication being the Govt. can beam a satellite on you and eventually, when all the bills in circ. will have these, be able to tell how much $ you are carrying around.  This teller told me that she has had customers come in requesting \"no new $20s\" for this reason! We had a good laugh about it and we both agreed that the Govt. is going to be sorely disappointed if they turned this hypothetical satellite on us! Origins:  The ongoing effort to stay one step ahead of the counterfeiters has led to the inclusion of a number of security features in U.S. currency. One countermeasure in particular has come to be the focus of a widely-believed bit lore: the embedded inscribed security thread. According to scuttlebutt, the purpose of the thread isn't really to make it more difficult for the ill-intentioned to introduce   worthless currency into circulation by fooling its recipients into thinking it genuine, but instead to allow the government to know exactly how much money anyone is carrying at any particular moment. With the use of special scanners, or possibly a beam from a distant satellite, the Feds can quickly count the value of all bank notes being carried on or about one's person and thus track how much money is entering or leaving the country, and with whom. This knowledge, says the behind-the-hand whisperings, is used to finger drug dealers and smugglers. The rumor is bunk. The strip's sole purpose is the foiling of counterfeiters. It, along with a number of other security features worked into the nation's bank notes, make it far harder on the criminal element to produce phony bills that will be mistaken for the real thing. Other features include the microprinting of \"The United States of America\" within the rim surrounding the portraits on bills, a watermark displayed elsewhere on the bill of the figure in the portrait, and optically variable ink (OVI) which changes from green to black in the number in the lower right-hand corner of the bill when viewed from different angles. As for the suspect strip, it is made of polyester and is inscribed with the denomination of the bill. Nothing about the composition of these strips renders them detectable by scanner or satellite. In 2004, the false belief attaching to this security feature was enhanced by the claim of these bands containing RFID tags. As technology advanced, so did the rumor, leading many to microwave their $20 bills into ashen submission by falling for the canard that nuking their currency would disable these  RFID tags transmitters. Yet the belief about governmental detection of concealed sums via a subterfuge worked into the currency even predates the polyester security threads. In the 1980s, those similarly worried about being tracked by Big Brother fretted over the ink with which bank notes were printed, muttering to themselves that the \"magnetic ink\" they believed to have been used rendered the bills somehow magnetic and thus detectable by machine. Back then, the concern was more that this magnetic money would serve to pinpoint the location of the person carrying it rather than it give away how much of it was being ported, but it is another form of the same belief. One confirmation that nothing in and of itself is detectable about the polyester strips embedded in bank notes arises out of the news about security technologies now used at some U.S. airports, including Chicago's O'Hare. Were caches of greenbacks already being ferreted out via their embedded threads, descriptions of the BodySearch scanner, a device that uses special \"backscatter\" X-rays to produce images of items that might be concealed under passengers' clothing, would not always impart the glad tidings that this gizmo reveals the presence of currency as well as narcotics, plastic explosives, and plastic weapons.  While in the main, the \"sneakily embedded technology allows for the surreptitious tracking of people or their assets\" rumor attaches to currency and blames the government for the supposed spying, the belief also carries to other items and points fingers at other parties.  [Kamradt, 2003] Some students have not picked up their new ID cards through the re-carding project, which ends today, because of a rumor that there is a locator chip inside the IDs so Purdue can track their whereabouts. \"To dispel the transponder rumors, I was closely involved in developing the requirements for production of the ID cards and I can ensure students that no secret electronic devices were embedded in these cards,\" said Terry Schroeder, project manager for the Purdue ID Re-carding Project. \"From my understanding, most of the group that met to discuss this issue (as a result of distributed flyers) were wearing aluminum foil beanies.\"  [Mulkins, 2000] I heard that a person carrying a large number of $100 bills, going through the PikePass readers, could be detected and the exact amount of money determined. The authorities are using PikePass to detect drug dealers and then confiscating the money, even confiscating the money of innocent persons. (PikePass is a prepaid toll device containing a battery and a radio-frequency modulator placed on the windshield of a vehicle.  As a car bearing one travels under a transmitter overhanging a turnpike lane, the device intercepts the signal being broadcast and returns a signal exclusive to that particular PikePass customer. The signal is read, and the toll is subtracted from the customer's account.) PikePass Whereas student ID cards and prepaid toll signalers do at least have a whiff of the enigmatic to their technology, which works to encourage belief that some of that incomprehensibility might be of nefarious intent (we mistrust what we don't understand, after all), this next expression of the rumor is even farther afield: [Collected on the Internet, 1999] I recently received an email telling me that I need to take the labels off my canned good and mark the bare cans with a marker, or at least black out the UPCs. Why? Well, it seems the government has helicopters equipped with scanners that can read the UPCs of the food you have stored. Ostensibly, the government is doing this so they can confiscate food for redistribution in the up coming Y2K breakdown of society. When asked to verify, the poster informed me she was told this by a 'family friend\" who flies one of these scanner-equipped helicopters. Of course he doesn't want to be named for his own safety, but he risked telling his dear friends because he loves them. While most folks will laugh off the thought of their soup cans spying on them, the same cannot be said of the belief that their long green is being counted by surveillance satellites sent into orbit by a government intent upon keeping tabs on its citizens  a great many appear to believe that.  Barbara \"watch your money, don't worry about your money watching you\" Mikkelson Sightings:  In a first-season episode of television's The X Files (\"E.B.E.,\" original air date 18 February 1994), a member of a group that believes the government is up to any number of monstrous conspiracies takes a $20 bill from Agent Scully, holds it up to the light, rips the left side off, and pulls out its security strip, saying, \"They use this magnetic strip to track you. Whenever you go through a metal detector at an airport, they know exactly how much you're carrying.\" Additional information:        Inscribed Security Thread   (Secret Service)        Money Design Features   (Secret Service)        The Redesigned $20 Note   (Bureau of Engraving)   Last updated:  19 May 2011   Garber, Andrew.  \"New Airport Gadgets Strip, Sniff, Scan.\"  The Seattle Times.  23 October 2001  (p. A1).   Kamradt, Kori.  \"Officials Dismiss Rumors About New IDs.\"  The [Purdue University] Exponent .  14 November 2003.   Mulkins, Phil.  \"PikePass Can't Count Dope Dealers' Money.\"  Tulsa World.  28 July 2000.   Webb, Tom.  \"U.S. Currency to Get Makeover.\"  The Denver Post.  14 July 1994  (p. A4).   Zane, Maitland.  \"Counterfeit-Proof Cash Makes Its Debut.\"  The San Francisco Chronicle.  26 July 1991  (p. A1).   The Associated Press.  \"O'Hare Officials Install Scanner, Hoping to Replace Body Searches.\"  St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  23 November 1999  (p. B2).","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=14Y4pxRBpxm67dl9gv7sShz87N-b-2dPk"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_754","claim":"Says Republican presidential candidate and Gov. John Kasich has spent 177 days out of state and used $350,000 in taxpayer money on his costly campaign.","posted":"04\/19\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"In recent weeks, the national media has poked fun at John Kasich for chomping through Italian subs and pasta in the Bronx and eating pizza in Queens with a knife and fork. Back home, Ohio Democrats discussed something else: the governor's out-of-state travel and what it costs taxpayers in the only state he has won. The Ohio Democratic Party posted a graphic on its Facebook page on April 8, 2016, to bolster its complaint. Kasich's costly campaign, the image says, entails 177 days spent out of state and a tab of $350,000 to taxpayers. How did they calculate the days and dollars? We decided to look into it. The party's communications director, Kirstin Alvanitakis, pointed us to a March 26 Columbus Dispatch story reporting that Kasich has been out of state at least 177 days as he pursued the presidency. The Dispatch tally includes days he spent exploring the bid before his official announcement on July 21, 2015. An Associated Press story contains the $350,000 figure. By law, a special unit within the state department of public safety is assigned to protect the governor, and nine state troopers guard him 24\/7. So when he goes to Mike's Deli, so do they. State funds from the public safety department's non-highway program, which includes the governor's security detail, are likely paying for rental cars, hotel rooms, flights, fuel, per diems, and overtime while Kasich crisscrosses the country chasing delegates. However, the Dispatch story describes how cagey state agencies are being with these specifics. Information that was public in the years before Kasich's run is now shielded. On payroll records, the governor's detail was previously listed as the executive protection unit. Officials told the Dispatch that this designation has been dropped to shield the troopers' identities. \"To ensure safety and security, we do not discuss any of the resources used as part of the executive security detail,\" is the response repeated by agency spokespersons and the governor's campaign staff alike. The Associated Press used another tool to approximate the cost: an interactive, searchable checkbook of state spending hosted on the website of Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel, part of his nationally recognized transparency initiative. We used the Ohio Checkbook to drill down into the data, which has been updated since the AP checked. Isolating the travel costs of the non-highway program, which currently shows expenditures from July 1, 2015, through February 2, 2016, the total now comes to $403,638. This chart shows how disproportionate the travel spending has been in 2016 so far compared to prior years. Most of the transactions shown through the Ohio Checkbook lack details (General Travel Expenses is a recurring line item), but there are some expenditures that coincide with Kasich's campaign stops. For example, a batch of hotel rooms was booked over a series of days in December at the Wynn Las Vegas, the Renaissance Des Moines, the Doubletree Salt Lake City, and the Hampton Inn of Waterloo, all around the time last December when Kasich bounced from a debate in Nevada to a town hall in Iowa, to a fundraiser in Utah, and back to Iowa. It's not a staggering total, though some taxpayers might argue that $403,638 could be better spent on other state services. Kasich has dismissed any suggestions that he should drop out of the race before the Republican National Convention in July, which means the total taxpayer share from his campaign travel could continue to swell. (The average monthly spending from this fund in fiscal year 2016 is about $57,663. By comparison, $57,562 was the total spent in all of fiscal year 2014.) Other governors who ran for president have also left taxpayers with hefty bills. Chris Christie's security detail cost New Jersey taxpayers an estimated $614,000. Bobby Jindal racked up $400,000 in Louisiana during his considerably shorter run through November 2015. Wisconsin taxpayers paid Scott Walker's security team $577,000 in overtime alone before he dropped out in September 2015. Walker reimbursed about $260,000 to the state for expenses his campaign incurred. So far, the Kasich campaign has refused to disclose details about his security detail or its resources, or whether he similarly intends to give taxpayers a refund. We did not hear a response from Kasich's campaign or spokesman Rob Nichols. Our ruling: The Ohio Democratic Party said that in 177 days on the campaign trail, Kasich's security detail cost taxpayers $350,000. Our analysis confirmed that $350,000 is most likely a conservative estimate. At the current rate, the total could be twice that by the RNC in July. Since neither state officials nor Kasich's camp will confirm any details on the governor's security, we have to rely on what we learned from the treasurer's open records data. We rate this claim True.","issues":["Ohio","Campaign Finance","Taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1bxipBsIGzNG7Zt2Oy9MCFaFXjxvdmWq_","image_caption":"Columbus Dispatch"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1yaAeBRDpUM4NzYyeRuRrHzqNP9BE7daj","image_caption":"Dispatch"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_755","claim":"Most people in New Hampshire want to raise the minimum wage. (State Rep. Marilinda) Garcia opposes it.","posted":"10\/03\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"A gun reform group founded by former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, has turned its focus to New Hampshire, running a TV ad that criticizes Republican congressional candidate Marilinda Garcia not only on gun ownership, which is the group's main focus, but also on the minimum wage and equal pay for women. In a 30-second spot titled \"Strange Ideas,\" Giffords' group, Americans for Responsible Solutions, asserts that Garcia holds views that differ from those of a majority of New Hampshire residents. Marilinda Garcia has some strange ideas. Most people in New Hampshire want to raise the minimum wage, but Garcia opposes it. Most people support guaranteeing women equal pay for equal work, yet Garcia is against that, too. Garcia even opposes closing the loophole that allows dangerous criminals to obtain a gun without a background check. Granite Staters deserve commonsense leadership, not Marilinda Garcia. PolitiFact New Hampshire decided to check the record on those claims. In this item, we'll examine Garcia's stance on a minimum wage increase. Garcia, a state representative, is challenging incumbent U.S. Rep. Ann McLane Kuster, a Democrat, for the 2nd Congressional District seat. The Americans for Responsible Solutions PAC unveiled the advertisement in September, just as it stopped airing a controversial TV ad that accused a congressional candidate in Arizona of opposing legislation aimed at preventing convicted stalkers from buying guns. On-screen, the New Hampshire ad cites a WMUR-TV poll from February that found three-quarters of New Hampshire residents supported raising the state minimum wage to $9 an hour. That provides support for the ad's claim, though it's worth noting that a federal proposal supported by President Barack Obama and other Democrats would push it higher, to $10.10 an hour. At the time the poll was conducted, the New Hampshire Legislature was considering a bill (HB1403) to increase the minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.25 in 2015, and then to $9 in 2016. The poll, conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, found that 59 percent of residents strongly supported the increase, and another 17 percent somewhat supported it. Eight percent strongly opposed it, and 5 percent somewhat opposed it. Another 11 percent were neutral or didn't know enough to say, according to WMUR. New Hampshire is the only state among its neighbors without a higher wage than the federal floor of $7.25, and it has the lowest minimum wage of any New England state. The minimum wage is $8.73 an hour in Vermont, $8 in Massachusetts, and $7.50 in Maine. All told, it is one of 18 states that have the same minimum wage as the federal minimum of $7.25, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. About a month after the poll, the New Hampshire House of Representatives voted to increase the state's minimum wage by a vote of 173-118. Legislators voted mostly along party lines, with five Democrats voting against it and four Republicans voting for it. We checked the roll call to see how Garcia voted, but on three successive votes on March 12, 2014, related to the minimum wage bill, Garcia did not cast a vote. Later, in May, the Republican-controlled State Senate killed the bill, with all 13 Republicans voting against it and 11 Democrats voting in favor of it, a process in which Garcia played no official role. An earlier legislative battle over the minimum wage in New Hampshire also sheds light on Garcia's record. In 2011, the New Hampshire legislature, with a majority of Republicans in the House and Senate, passed a bill that deleted the state's minimum wage, meaning that the state's lowest wage would be the federal minimum. At the time, New Hampshire's minimum wage was $7.25 an hour, the same as the federal amount, but critics said the bill was intended to keep the state's minimum wage as low as possible. In the House, Garcia was one of 236 legislators to vote in favor of that bill, HB133. After passing the state Senate, Gov. John Lynch vetoed the measure. Both the House and Senate overrode Lynch's veto, and Garcia was one of 261 members of the House to vote in favor of overriding the governor. So, while Garcia has no voting record on the 2014 minimum wage increase in New Hampshire, she did take a clear stand on the 2011 law tying the state's minimum wage to the federal one. As further evidence of Garcia's opposition to increasing the minimum wage, the ad cites an article from The Hill, a newspaper that covers Congress, which reported that Garcia opposes a minimum wage hike. That article, published June 9, introduced Garcia\u2014then considered an underdog in the Republican primary against state Sen. Gary Lambert\u2014to a national audience. The article reviews her record as a state legislator and points to how some GOP establishment figures had feared Garcia would be viewed as too conservative in a general election race. The article quotes Garcia as saying in a March interview that while increasing the minimum wage superficially seemed like a good idea, it wouldn't actually help anybody much more and could, in fact, hurt. \"It actually has negative outcomes in many areas. One would be, if we're trying to encourage people to educate themselves further so they don't have to stay in a minimum-wage job anymore, raising [the minimum wage] lowers the incentive to do that,\" she said. Garcia's stance hasn't changed since then. In an email message to PolitiFact New Hampshire, Kenny Cunningham, the Garcia campaign's political and communications director, reinforced the position. \"A one-size-fits-all minimum wage from Washington, D.C., is counterproductive. Economists agree it would increase unemployment, particularly among teenagers,\" Cunningham said. \"Instead, Marilinda wants to reduce America's highest-in-the-world corporate tax rates and rein in job-killing regulations.\" Our ruling: An ad from the liberal Americans for Responsible Solutions PAC says most people in New Hampshire want to raise the minimum wage, but Marilinda Garcia opposes it. Polls from when the New Hampshire Legislature was considering raising the state's minimum wage showed that a majority of residents surveyed supported increasing the wage from the federal minimum of $7.25 to $8.25 and eventually to $9 an hour. And Garcia has gone on the record criticizing attempts to raise the minimum wage, saying its effects could be counterproductive and could lead to negative outcomes. She also cast several votes in 2011 that effectively kept the state minimum wage the lowest in the region. The claim needs a slight clarification. As backup for the assertion that most people in New Hampshire want to raise the minimum wage, the poll cited a poll that asked residents about a $9 minimum wage. It's not clear whether residents would support a hike to the higher level of $10.10, as the president and congressional Democrats are seeking. On balance, we rate the claim Mostly True.","issues":["New Hampshire","Income"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_756","claim":"Has Monica Lewinsky accumulated a substantial net worth?","posted":"12\/29\/2020","sci_digest":["Online advertisements falsely implied that Monica Lewinsky was dead and claimed that her net worth stunned her family."],"justification":"In late December 2020, a misleading online advertisement appeared, announcing that Monica Lewinsky was dead and that her net worth stunned her family. It read: \"Monica Lewinsky's Net Worth Stuns Her Family At Age 47. Monica Lewinsky Leaves Behind A Net Worth That Will Boggle Your Mind.\" However, this was not true. She is alive, and despite what the ad claimed, there was no indication in the resulting story that her net worth shocked her family. The ad was sponsored by the Therapy Joker website and was hosted on the Yahoo! Gemini advertising service. Readers who clicked the ad were led to a 430-page story with the headline: \"The Biggest Hollywood Celebrities & Their Incredible Net Worth: Can You Guess Who Has The Biggest Bank Account?\" Lewinsky's net worth appeared on page 417, meaning that readers had to click \"Next Page\" 417 times to reach her section: \"Monica Lewinsky: Activist and TV Personality - $500,000.\" Monica Samille Lewinsky is a woman of many skills. This popular American television personality is also a successful fashion designer, activist, and a former intern at the White House. The paparazzi constantly followed her, and she was a regular face in the media during her time at the White House. However, she decided to leave all that behind and pursue a different career. Additionally, she authored the book, \"Monica: Her Story,\" which added to her fame. The London School of Economics and Political Science alumna is now 47 years old and remains a popular television personality. She rents a lavish apartment and enjoys a luxurious lifestyle. Her fleet of cars includes a Mini Cooper and a Cadillac. We hope she has a professional financial advisor to assist her with her banking needs. Currently, the media personality, activist, and fashion designer has retained her fame, and we hope Lewinsky continues to manage the money she has accumulated over the years. The page mentioned nothing about Lewinsky's purported death, nor did it present any information about her family being stunned by her net worth. The misleading advertisement and exceptionally lengthy article reflect a strategy known in the advertising world as \"arbitrage.\" The Therapy Joker website's goal was to make more money from ads displayed on each of the 430 pages than it cost to lure readers with the initial \"Monica Lewinsky's Net Worth Stuns Her Family\" ad. The business and technology blog Margins defined \"arbitrage\" as \"leveraging an inefficient set of systems to make a riskless profit, usually by buying and selling the same asset.\" Margins also referred to it as \"the mythical free lunch that economics tells us does not exist.\" Lewinsky was a White House intern in the mid-1990s who became famous after her affair with former U.S. President Bill Clinton became a public scandal. In December 1998, Clinton was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives. However, the Senate did not vote to convict and remove him from office, and he served the remainder of his second term in the White House. We previously covered similar misleading net worth stories for Sean Connery, Jaleel White, Richard Gere, Chuck Norris, Clint Eastwood, and Alex Trebek. Snopes debunks a wide range of content, and online advertisements are no exception. Misleading ads often lead to obscure websites that host lengthy slideshow articles with numerous pages. It's called advertising \"arbitrage.\" The advertiser's goal is to make more money on ads displayed on the slideshow's pages than it cost to show the initial ad that lured them to it. Feel free to submit ads to us, and be sure to include a screenshot of the ad and the link to where the ad leads.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Th2gVp824scP35caUJCpg5_p3mrJ3axM"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_757","claim":"Video Does Not Show Thousands of US Marines Deboarding Plane in Israel in October 2023","posted":"10\/27\/2023","sci_digest":["The truth of the matter was that the video documented U.S. Army soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division deboarding a plane in Romania in June 2022."],"justification":"On Oct. 26, 2023, X user Matt Wallace (@MattWallace888)  a user who has a history of promoting misinformation  created a post with a video that included the caption, \"HAPPENING NOW: Thousands of U.S. Marines Just Landed in Israel. WW3 HIGH ALERT.\" history post The video showed uniformed U.S. military service members deboarding an airplane down a set of stairs.  However, this video's caption was incorrect. The clip was recorded more than a year before Hamas' surprise attack in Israel launched the current Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, 2023. surprise attack A longer version of the same video was previously posted on YouTube on June 29, 2022. The clip showed that the airplane displayed markings for Omni Air International as well as the letters and numbers \"N828AX.\" video  The captions for the original video provided by both the YouTube user and the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service said that it was recorded in Romania on June 28, 2022, and that it showed U.S. Army soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division, not U.S. Marines. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service 101st Airborne Division The YouTube caption read as follows: 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) Soldiers arrive in Mihail Kogalniceanu, Romania, June 28, 2022. The 101st units are supporting V Corps mission to reinforce NATOs eastern flank and engage in multinational exercises with partners across the European continent to reassure their Nations Allies and deter further Russian aggression. Video by Sgt. 1st Class Jacob Connor 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) In light of the video being reposted on X a year later with misleading captions, the YouTube user (\"Murphy\") updated the video's description in October 2023 to add that the clip had \"nothing to do with [the] events in Israel.\" The original versions of the video showed that the clip posted by Wallace had been horizontally mirrored. The act of horizontally mirroring a photo or video is a strategy that's sometimes employed in order to make it more difficult for anyone performing a reverse-image search. (A reverse-image search is a way of providing a search engine with a piece of media rather than words, in order to find past posts of the same content.) reverse-image search Wallace's misleading post has since been removed from X. According to two archived captures of the post, it was accessible for at least 14 hours. It received more than 2.7 million impressions, 4,761 reposts, 968 quotes, 13,900 likes and 410 bookmarks. archived captures We reached out to Wallace to ask if he had horizontally mirrored the video before posting it, or if he had found the clip already altered elsewhere online. We also asked if he expected to receive revenue from X for the post, even though it was deleted, seeing as he once boasted about making money from posting misinformation on the platform. This story will be updated if we receive answers. boasted While the video of the soldiers deboarding the airplane was old, separately, the Pentagon had made an announcement on Oct. 17 in regard to the war in Israel and Gaza that included U.S. Marines being sent into the region by sea. As The Associated Press noted in their own fact check of the same miscaptioned video, the Pentagon said that \"the USS Bataan amphibious ready group, which consists of three ships carrying thousands of Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit,\" would be heading to the region in light of the situation in Israel and Gaza. The Associated Press We contacted the U.S. Marine Corps to ask if they would be able to share details about the group's ship movements. In response, they referred us to the Department of Defense. We reached out to a spokesperson for the department and will update this story if we receive anything further. 101st Airborne. The United States Army, https:\/\/www.army.mil\/101stAirborne. 101st Airborne Division Arrive in Romania. YouTube, Murphy, June 29, 2022, https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=vZwCps8soIo. 101st Soldiers Arrive in Romania. DVIDS, June 28, 2022, https:\/\/www.dvidshub.net\/video\/848509\/101st-soldiers-arrive-romania. Evon, Dan. Snopes Tips: A Guide To Performing Reverse Image Searches. Snopes, March 22, 2022, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/articles\/400681\/how-to-perform-reverse-image-searches\/. Federman, Josef, and Issam Adwan. Hamas Surprise Attack out of Gaza Stuns Israel and Leaves Hundreds Dead in Fighting, Retaliation. The Associated Press, Oct. 7, 2023, https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/israel-palestinians-gaza-hamas-rockets-airstrikes-tel-aviv-11fb98655c256d54ecb5329284fc37d2. N828AX OMNI AIR INTERNATIONAL BOEING 777-200.Planespotters.net, https:\/\/www.planespotters.net\/airframe\/boeing-777-200-n828ax-omni-air-international\/egx9gv. Phan, Karena. Old Video Shows US Army Arriving in Romania, Not Marines Landing in Israel. The Associated Press, Oct. 27, 2023, https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/fact-check-israel-hamas-war-military-aid-video-false-109820082794. @Shayan86. He Was Warned Not to Post This Video from Maui, Hawaii, Which It Turns out Is Actually an Explosion in Macul, Chile, in May. X, Aug. 14, 2023, https:\/\/twitter.com\/Shayan86\/status\/1691040580090863616. USS Bataan Amphibious Ready Group Heads toward Israel as US Grows Its Military Presence.13NewsNow.com, Oct. 10, 2023, https:\/\/www.13newsnow.com\/article\/news\/national\/military-news\/us-continues-to-send-ships-toward-israel-uss-bataan-amphibious-ready-group\/291-646b9a8d-9f92-4540-9909-464137a2b903.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1JqccnWNkPjp_6t04-wJdSKDSZkKUUxE5","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_758","claim":"Is Wendy's Closing All Locations, as Announced in Late 2023?","posted":"11\/24\/2023","sci_digest":["Websites appeared to report in late 2023 via Facebook and Instagram ads that Wendy's had plans to close down. However, this was false."],"justification":"In October and November 2023, online advertisements were displayed to users on Facebook and Instagram, each featuring a photo of Wendy's fast-food restaurant founder Dave Thomas. Thomas became a household name in the U.S. in the 1990s while starring in hundreds of the company's TV commercials. The caption of the ads read, \"Closing Time: All The Restaurant Chains Closing.\" They appeared to suggest that Wendy's would be closing down its entire restaurant chain, going bankrupt, or going out of business for other reasons. Two versions of the ads ran in late 2023. Users who clicked on the ads with the Wendy's-themed photo of Thomas were directed to one of two articles. In one lengthy, list-style article hosted by Investing.com, the headline read, \"Last Call: You May See Fewer of These Restaurant Chains in 2023.\" Wendy's was mentioned in the story at number 44 out of 123 restaurants, with a paragraph that began with, \"Wendy's itself is not going out of business.\" Wendy's Year Established: 1969 Headquarters: Dublin, Ohio, United States. While Wendy's itself is not going out of business, the restaurant's biggest franchisee operator, NPC International, sadly is. NPC International operates 385 Wendy's in the U.S., meaning that the future of those stores is now in serious jeopardy. NPC also operates over 1,225 Pizza Huts in America. NPC filed for Chapter 11 in July 2020, citing $903 million in debt. NPC attempted to sell off 900 Pizza Huts to Yum! Brands to pay off some of the debt, but Yum! Brands backed out of the deal, citing concerns that creditors would snatch the locations up before they had the chance to move in. The article ultimately revealed that a franchisee named NPC International had sold its Wendy's restaurants to another operator. The sale was approved by a judge in 2021, according to RestaurantBusinessOnline.com, indicating that this was old news. A second article linked to some of the Facebook and Instagram ads led to sportzbonanza.com. The story's headline read, \"Classic Fast Food Restaurants That Are Gone for Good.\" However, Wendy's was not mentioned in the article. Additionally, the story was dated Oct. 14, 2020, which again made this article old news. The reason these kinds of ads exist on Facebook and Instagram, along with their lengthy articles, is usually due to something called advertising arbitrage. Advertising arbitrage is a strategy by which an advertiser hopes to make more money on ads displayed in a lengthy article than it would cost to display an initial clickbait ad meant to attract users to the article. Since both articles were at least two years old, we wouldn't be surprised to see these misleading ads continue to appear well into the 2024 calendar year, and perhaps beyond.","issues":["debt"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=12FxASnqS2fV9M2jx4qAP8pvARmbRtW2Z","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_759","claim":"What a Great Idea - U.S. Presidency Outsourced to India","posted":"07\/23\/2009","sci_digest":["Is the job of President of the United States being outsourced to India?"],"justification":"Claim: The job of President of the United States is being outsourced to India. Example: [Collected via e-mail, June 2009] Is this true? What a GREAT IDEA!!! Washington, DC June 11, 2009 Congress today announced that the office of President of the United States of America will be outsourced to India as of September 1, 2009. The move is being made to save the President's $500,000 yearly salary, as well as a record $750 billion in deficit expenditures and related overhead that his office has incurred during the last three months. It is anticipated that $7 trillion can be saved by the end of the President's term. \"We believe this is a wise financial move. The cost savings are huge,\" stated Congressman Thomas Reynolds (R-WA). \"We cannot remain competitive on the world stage with the current level of cash outlay,\" Reynolds noted. Obama was informed by email this morning of his termination. Preparations for the job move have been underway for some time. Gurvinder Singh, a tele-technician for IndusTeleservices in Mumbai, India, will assume the office of President as of September 1, 2009. Mr. Singh was born in the United States while his Indian parents were vacationing at Niagara Falls, NY, thus making him eligible for the position. He will receive a salary of $320 (USD) a month, but no health coverage or other benefits. It is believed that Mr. Singh will be able to handle his job responsibilities without a support staff. Due to the time difference between the US and India, he will be working primarily at night. \"Working nights will allow me to keep my day job at the Dell Computer call center,\" stated Mr. Singh in an exclusive interview. \"I am excited about this position. I always hoped I would be President.\" A Congressional spokesperson noted that while Mr. Singh may not be fully aware of all the issues involved in the office of President, this should not be a problem, as Obama had never been familiar with the issues either. Mr. Singh will rely upon a script tree that will enable him to respond effectively to most topics of concern. Using these canned responses, he can address common concerns without having to understand the underlying issues at all. \"We know these scripting tools work,\" stated the spokesperson. \"Obama has used them successfully for years, with the result that some people actually thought he knew what he was talking about.\" Obama will receive health coverage, expenses, and salary until his final day of employment. Following a two-week waiting period, he will be eligible for $140 a week in unemployment for 26 weeks. Unfortunately, he will not be eligible for Medicaid, as his unemployment benefits will exceed the allowed limit. Obama has been provided with the outplacement services of Manpower, Inc. to help him write a resume and prepare for his upcoming job transition. According to Manpower, Obama may have difficulties securing a new position due to a lack of any successful work experience during his lifetime. A greeter position at WalMart was suggested due to Obama's extensive experience in shaking hands, as well as his 'special' smile. Origins: As we've noted on many occasions, really good satire hews a fine line between plausibility and absurdity, so it's not surprising we often receive \"Is this true?\" inquiries about satirical articles that circulate widely via e-mail. The receipt of an out-of-context, news-like article with a premise that seems vaguely credible with a quick read-through can easily leave readers confused about its authenticity. This humor piece about the U.S. presidency being outsourced to India is actually an updated version of a 2004 satirical article about President George W. Bush. Although the 2009 version's topical references\u2014a weak economy, an updated growing budget deficit, and the looming threat of job outsourcing\u2014might strike a chord with many Americans, and those who are no fans of the current U.S. president might appreciate its sly digs at Barack Obama, the reason we've received so many inquiries about this particular article is somewhat puzzling, as its premise isn't at all plausible: The U.S. Constitution and U.S. law have very specific provisions about the line of succession to the presidency, and that line does not encompass Congress arbitrarily bypassing the vice president (and everyone else in the chain of succession) to hand over the office of chief executive to an unelected foreign resident. Not to mention that if the U.S. presidency were really set to change hands within the next few months, that subject would be the dominant topic of every American news outlet, not an obscure bit of information spread solely via e-mail. If nothing else, the notion that the U.S. presidency would be given over to someone who would undertake it as a moonlighting job for $320 per month crosses the line from believability to absurdity. Last updated: 23 July 2009","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_760","claim":"Was it suggested by Senator Tom Cotton that drug testing should be required for individuals receiving Social Security benefits?","posted":"01\/24\/2018","sci_digest":["The Arkansas Republican has supported drug screening for welfare programs, but never for Social Security."],"justification":"Amid tense talks between Congressional Republicans and Democrats over the 2018 federal budget, the attention of many observers turned to each side's record on government spending, benefits and entitlements, and fiscal priorities. In that vein, a widely shared Facebook meme took aim at Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, accusing him of supporting a modified version of a long-standing liberal bugbear: drug testing for welfare recipients. On January 21, 2018, Facebook user Ken Stanley wrote, \"Tom Cotton calls for every person who receives Social Security to be drug tested; those who test positive will lose benefits.\" This claim is false. We searched Cotton's speeches, op-eds, and press releases, as well as the Congressional Record and news archives, and found no evidence of the Senator ever having advocated such a policy. In an email, a spokesperson for Cotton told us the meme was \"completely false\": Senator Cotton does not support (nor has he ever supported) drug testing for Social Security recipients. Indeed, even those who call for drug testing for welfare recipients do not typically propose the same policy for Social Security. This is because Social Security is more widely regarded as an earned benefit (workers contribute to it through payroll taxes), while programs such as housing assistance or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as food stamps) are regarded as welfare. Senator Cotton does, however, have a record of making statements and advocating policies around welfare assistance that have raised eyebrows. In 2015, Salon and Raw Story headlines accused Cotton of \"blaming\" drug addiction on Social Security benefits and claiming that receiving Social Security disability benefits causes individuals to \"spiral\" into drug addiction. The articles, as well as Cotton's actual comments, were more nuanced. In a speech at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, Cotton advocated for reform of the Social Security disability system and drew a link between population decline and social ills (including drug addiction) in certain counties and regions, and rates of Social Security disability insurance uptake: \"It's hard to say what came first or caused the other: population decline or increased disability usage. Or maybe economic stagnation caused both. Regardless, there seems to be, at least at the county and regional level, something like a disability tipping point. When a county hits a certain level of disability usage, disability becomes a norm. It becomes an acceptable way of life and an alternative source of income to a good-paying, full-time job... After a certain point, when disability keeps climbing and becomes endemic, employers will struggle to find employees or begin or continue to move out of the area. Population continues to fall, and a downward spiral kicks in, driving once-thriving communities into further decline. Not only that, but once this kind of spiral begins, communities could begin to suffer other social plagues as well, such as heroin or meth addiction and associated crime.\" In 2014, while running for the Senate, a Huffington Post writer accused Cotton of \"calling food stamp recipients addicts.\" Again, his comments were much more nuanced than that description. According to a Huffington Post transcript of a virtual town hall hosted by Cotton in July 2014, the then-Congressman defended voting down a Democratic bill relating to agricultural payments and federal food aid on the basis that it did not sufficiently reform the food stamps program, including by requiring drug testing for applicants: \"I don't think that we should be using farmers as a way to pack more welfare spending into Barack Obama's government,\" Cotton said. \"Nor should we have a food stamp program that isn't reformed, that doesn't have job training and work requirements, that doesn't have drug testing requirements, so we can get people who are addicted the help they need. Or make sure that long-term addicts or recidivists are not abusing taxpayer dollars.\" In March 2017, Cotton joined with Republican Senate colleagues in voting to nullify an Obama-era Department of Labor rule that limited the circumstances under which states could conduct drug testing for individuals applying for unemployment insurance. President Donald Trump later formally reversed the guideline, effectively giving states greater powers in conducting drug screening for jobless benefits. So Senator Cotton has certainly supported drug testing for welfare programs but never for Social Security.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1D2NiZCPSZrdxZqdDo_gMR-RtiPkY6ree"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_761","claim":"Manufacturer Hawker Beechcraft","posted":"01\/02\/2012","sci_digest":["Did the U.S. government unfairly exclude Hawker Beechcraft from bidding to supply military aircraft for Afghanistan?"],"justification":"Claim:  The U.S. government unfairly excluded Hawker Beechcraft from bidding to supply military aircraft for Afghanistan. Examples:  [Collected via e-mail, December 2011] \"Any president whose actions so consistently refute his own words must have deep contempt for the intelligence of the American public.\" The obama administration told U.S. owned Hawker Beechcraft earlier this week they are being excluded from bidding on the US Air Force contract for a light attack aircraft. That leaves Brazilian owned Embraer as the likely recipient of the lucrative deal. I found this one hard to believe so I did a little research. It was tough because this was completely ignored by the main stream media.  This is a double slap in the face of the United States. At a time when jobs, the economy, and security are the most critical priorities for our country, the Obama administration decides to send a defense contract to a foreign owned company. This has to be the stupidest thing this administration has done to date. This is not just a dumb decision, it is a perfect example of why this president is such a poor leader. He talks about wanting jobs. He says we need to force companies to repatriate billions of dollars that Americans keep overseas. He wants to raise taxes so he can spend billions on stimulus that does nothing to stimulate anything. And when it's time to act, he sends our tax dollars overseas at the expense of American jobs and income for an American company. This is nothing more than a Chicago-style political pay back; but this time it is at the expense of our national security. How much more damage will obama be allowed to do in the next 14 months? One of the lead stories in the media this week blasted congress for insider trading. If this contract goes to Embraer it will be a huge pay off to another George Soros company. When will the 4th estate do it's constitutionally protected job and expose the real obama to the American people?   Origins:   On 30 December 2011, the U.S. Department of Defense announced that it had awarded a $355 million contract to Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC) for 20 light air-support\/single-engine turboprop aircraft that will serve as both trainers and ground-attack planes for Afghanistan's air force.  Wichita-based aircraft manufacturer Hawker Beechcraft (HBDC) had hoped that their AT-6 aircraft, an armed version of their T-6 trainer which is currently used by the U.S. military, would be chosen for the contract, but the U.S. Air Force (USAF) excluded the AT-6 from the running, leaving the A-29 Super Tucano built by Sierra Nevada Corp. in partnership with Brazil-based Embraer as the lone eligible supplier. Hawker Beechcraft Corp. has since filed suit against the U.S. government over the exclusion, maintaining that the Air Force had not provided them with sufficient detail about the reasons behind their exclusion and that Embraer had been unfairly favored: The suit alleges the exclusion was \"arbitrary and capricious\" and seeks to prevent the government from awarding a contract until Beechcraft can make its case in court. \"This is yet another example of the Air Force's lack of transparency throughout this competition,\" said Bill Boisture, Hawker Beechcraft chairman and CEO, in a statement. \"With this development, it now seems even clearer that the Air Force intended to award the contract to Embraer from early in this process.\" \"We think we were wrongfully excluded from the competition,\" Boisture said. \"We don't understand the basis for the exclusion, and frankly, we think we've got the best airplane. \"So we're going to take every avenue available to us to make sure our product is fully evaluated and recognized for what it is. There are several issues here that just, frankly, don't make sense.\" The Air Force maintains that the process was fair, that Hawker Beechcraft was excluded because \"multiple deficiencies and significant weaknesses found in HBDC's proposal make it technically unacceptable and results in unacceptable mission capability risk,\" and that the company failed to respond to its notice of exclusion in time to request a debriefing or file a protest: respond Lt. Col. Wesley Miller, an Air Force spokesman, said the contest \"was conducted in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations\" and that the evaluation of the aircraft \"was fair, open and transparent.\" In dismissing Hawker Beechcraft Corp from the competition, the Air Force found Hawker Beechcraft's bid \"technically unacceptable,\" one that would result in an \"unacceptable mission capability risk.\"  The Air Force said the company missed a three-day deadline to file a request for a debriefing and a 10-day deadline to file a protest. It is not possible at this point to definitively determine why the USAF excluded Hawker Beechcraft from the Light Aircraft Support (LAS) bidding, as ongoing litigation prevents the Air Force from releasing information regarding the competition, but according to industry observers the primary issue behind Hawker Beechcraft's disqualification was that the LAS contract called for a non-developmental, production-ready aircraft, and Hawker Beechcraft's AT-6 was still a developmental aircraft.   observers According to SNC's own statement on the issue: statement In its Request for Proposal, the Air Force specifically sought a non-developmental, in-production aircraft so that warfighters in-theater could have an advanced solution quickly and so that American taxpayers would not have to pay development costs. The plane proposed by SNC's competitor is a developmental aircraft that is not in production and has never been used for light air support or any other purpose. The AT-6 is a developmental aircraft.  With only two prototypes in existence, it has never been in production. In contrast, the aircraft selected by the Air Force and to be provided by SNC, Embraer's A-29 Super Tucano, is a light air support aircraft that is currently in use with six air forces around the world.   Unlike the AT-6, the A-29 Super Tucano has more than seven years of real-world combat and training experience behind it.  This means that its operational costs are known and that all costly development issues related to weapons load, maneuverability and operations have already been worked out.  Only the A-29 Super Tucano has actually flown in combat.  More significantly, only the A-29 was built from the ground up to perform counterinsurgency and light air support operations.  The A-29 is larger in size allowing it to make full use of the 1,600-hp engine without power limitations due to torque.  It sits higher off the ground and has a broader stance, increasing stability on unprepared airfields.  The A-29's longer tail section increases longitudinal stability and provides exceptional accuracy for the delivery of weapons.  Only the A-29 delivery system is specifically designed with the five NATO hard points for external stores, translating into maximum operational flexibility for the war fighters in the theater.  The AT-6 carries no munitions in its native configuration. This is a critical difference.  The A-29 also is munitions-certified with over 130 operational external load configurations.  The AT-6 is not yet munitions-certified. In February 2012, the Air Force announced it was canceling the contract with Sierra Nevada Corp. pending an investigation of the award: General Donald Hoffman, commander of the Air Force Materiel Command, has started an investigation, Jennifer Cassidy, an Air Force Spokeswoman, said. She said she didn't know whether the contract would be re-opened for competition and didn't elaborate on the reason for the cancellation. \"While we pursue perfection, we sometimes fall short, and when we do we will take corrective action,\" Michael B. Donley, the Air Force secretary, said in a statement. \"Since the acquisition is still in litigation, I can only say that the Air Force Senior Acquisition Executive, David Van Buren, is not satisfied with the quality of the documentation supporting the award decision.\" The awarding of the Air Force contract to a partner of Brazil-based Embraer did not necessarily mean that all the jobs connected with the contract would be sent overseas, as Embraer said that its partner, Nevada-based Sierra Nevada Corp., would build the turboprops in Jacksonville, Florida, if it won the contract: The A-29 Super Tucano will be built in America.  Embraer will make the plane at a new production facility in Jacksonville, Fla.  Over 88 percent of the dollar value of the A-29 Super Tucano comes from components supplied by U.S. companies or countries that qualify under the Buy America Act. No new jobs are being created in Brazil as a result of this contract. Despite the claim made in the example text reproduced above that the subject of Hawker Beechcraft's exclusion was \"completely ignored by the mainstream media,\" it has in fact received widespread news coverage in a variety of media sources, including at least five of the nine highest-circulation newspapers in the U.S. (The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, the San Jose Mercury News, the New York Post, and the Chicago Tribune). widespread Also, we found no evidence to support the claim that \"If this contract goes to Embraer it will be a huge pay off to another George Soros company,\"  as we turned up no information indicating that George Soros holds an ownership stake in Embraer.  The closest connection we found between George Soros and Embraer seems to be that the former is one of the leading shareholders in China's Hainan Airlines Group (HNA), and HNA bought ERJ-145 jets from Harbin Embraer, a partnership between Embraer and the Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation of Harbin, China. However, that connection makes Soros a customer of Embraer, not an owner, and therefore does not put him in a position to profit from the awarding of an Air Force contact to Embraer. shareholders Last updated:  5 March 2012    Hodge, Nathan.  \"Hawker Beechcraft Sues Over Air Force Bidding.\"   The Wall Street Journal.  28 December 2011.    Hodge, Nathan.  \"Embraer Hits Defense Barrier.\"   The Wall Street Journal.  11 January 2012.    Ivory, Danielle.  \"Air Force Cancels Contract to Sierra After Hawker Protest.\"   San Francisco Chronicle.  1 March 2012.    McMillin, Molly.  \"Hawker Requests GAO Review of Air Force Deal.\"   The Wichita Eagle.  22 November 2011.    McMillin, Molly.  \"Hawker Beechcraft Files Suit Over Air Force Contract.\"   The Wichita Eagle.  28 December 2011.    Associated Press.  \"Hawker Beechcraft Sues Over Air Force Contract.\"   28 December 2011.    Associated Press.  \"Air Force Temporarily Halts Work After Hawker Beechcraft Lawsuit.\"   The Washington Post.  5 January 2012.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_762","claim":"We've got the highest corporate tax rate in the world.","posted":"08\/27\/2012","sci_digest":[],"justification":"When it comes to taxing businesses, the United States is leading the world, according to Republican U.S. Senate candidate Joe Kyrillos. As he looks to unseat Democratic incumbent Robert Menendez this November, Kyrillos has refused to sign an anti-tax pledge but maintained in an Aug. 20 interview on WOR-AM that he is looking to lower tax rates. \"We've got the highest corporate tax rate in the world,\" said Kyrillos, a state senator representing Monmouth County. \"So, I'm about reducing tax rates.\" As far as the corporate tax rates on the books, Kyrillos' claim is accurate. However, when you factor in various tax breaks, the rate actually paid by U.S. businesses has been among the highest in the world, but not in first place, studies show. For this fact-check, we are focusing on two different types of corporate tax rates: statutory and effective rates. To back up Kyrillos' claim, a spokeswoman pointed to the top statutory corporate tax rate of 39.2 percent in the United States. That figure represents a combination of federal, state, and local tax rates imposed by law before any tax breaks. Once Japan reduced its combined corporate tax rate in April, the U.S. rate became the highest among industrialized nations, according to an analysis by the Tax Foundation, a pro-business group. So, Kyrillos' claim about a first-place finish is accurate in terms of statutory rates. But the United States does not necessarily lead the world when you consider the effective tax rates paid by U.S. businesses. Due to various tax breaks, those rates are typically lower than the top statutory rate. In a September 2011 report, the Tax Foundation summarized the findings of the latest 13 studies of effective corporate tax rates across the world. Due to different methodologies, those studies determined U.S. effective tax rates ranging from 23 percent to 34.9 percent, according to the report. The United States did not rank first in any of those studies, but in 10 of them, U.S. effective rates ranked among the top five highest for the countries analyzed, the report states. However, the effective rate in Japan will likely drop, possibly moving the United States to the top spot in future studies. Apart from that Tax Foundation report, it's worth noting that a separate analysis found thirty Fortune 500 companies, including General Electric, didn't pay any federal corporate income taxes over the 2008-2010 period. That study was done by the left-leaning Citizens for Tax Justice along with the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. So, what's the better measure -- statutory or effective rates? According to Tax Foundation president Scott Hodge, statutory rates make for better comparisons. Effective rates are unpredictable and vary across different industries, but the statutory rates are fixed, Hodge told us. \"The effective tax rate will differ from industry to industry and business to business, whereas the list price is what it is and everyone starts at that point,\" Hodge said. But Joseph Rosenberg, a research associate at the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, argued that effective tax rates provide the best measure of comparison for overall tax burdens. Aparna Mathur, an economist with the conservative American Enterprise Institute, added in an email that both are equally valid measures of looking at the burden of the corporate income tax. Our ruling: In a radio interview, Kyrillos claimed, \"We've got the highest corporate tax rate in the world.\" It's accurate that, at 39.2 percent, the United States has the highest statutory corporate tax rate among industrialized nations. But with various tax breaks, U.S. effective corporate tax rates range anywhere from 23 percent to 34.9 percent, studies show. Those effective tax rates may not land in first place, but they're still among the highest in the world. We rate the statement Mostly True. To comment on this ruling, go to NJ.com.","issues":["New Jersey","Taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_763","claim":"Americans spend 6.1 billion hours a year on tax preparation.","posted":"04\/15\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Tax day has come around again, bringing with it a startling claim about the amount of time Americans spend doing their taxes each year. According to U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., it takes United States taxpayers a total of 6.1 billion hours to file their taxes, which adds up to more than 695,000 years. \"6.1 billion hours a year, just to figure out how much money the government is going to take,\" she said in a post on Twitter. We had to check to see if this number could possibly be accurate. According to Foxx's office, the figure comes from the Taxpayer Advocate Service's 2013 report to Congress, which addressed the complexity of the U.S. tax code. In 2012, the National Taxpayer Advocate designated the complexity of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) as one of the most serious problems facing taxpayers, the report states. The existing code, by our count, has reached nearly four million words and imposes an unconscionable burden on taxpayers. Our analysis of IRS data indicates that individuals and businesses spend about 6.1 billion hours a year complying with tax-filing requirements. It's important to note that the report arrives at this number by calculating the estimated combined time businesses and individuals spend filing taxes, not just that of private citizens. The Taxpayer Advocate Service is an independent group within the Internal Revenue Service that is tasked with helping taxpayers resolve problems with the IRS and recommending changes to prevent such issues. The number was calculated by multiplying the number of times each type of tax form was filed in 2010 by the amount of time the IRS estimates it takes to complete each form, according to Ken Drexler, a media relations officer at the Taxpayer Advocate Service. The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 requires federal agencies to estimate the amount of time it takes to fill out a given piece of paperwork. \"It's the best number you can come up with, but it's not necessarily a number you would take to the bank,\" Drexler said, noting that it would take longer for someone unfamiliar with a form to complete it than for someone who has done so many times before. Accountants and tax professionals, for example, could fill out the forms faster than an average filer. In other words, the estimate might have flaws, but it is the best guess as to the time it takes for businesses and individuals to fill out tax paperwork. In a 2011 report, the Laffer Center for Supply-Side Economics further broke down the 6.1 billion hour figure, finding that individuals spend 3.16 billion of those hours filling out tax forms, while businesses account for 2.94 billion hours. The estimate has remained the same since 2010. In 2009, the Taxpayer Advocate Service concluded that Americans spent a staggering 7.6 billion hours completing the forms. Our ruling: Foxx said, \"6.1 billion hours a year, just to figure out how much money the government is going to take.\" The number came from the Taxpayer Advocate Service's 2013 report to Congress, which stated that individuals and businesses spent 6.1 billion hours preparing their taxes. It's important to note that the figure is an estimate. It is derived from taking the number of tax forms filed in the last year and multiplying it by the IRS's estimate of the time it takes to prepare the forms. Foxx's larger point, that it takes a very long time for Americans to comply with filing their federal taxes, is accurate. The number is an estimate, but it comes from a credible, independent report. We rate this statement True.","issues":["National","Taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_764","claim":"Did Mark Zuckerberg Announce His Resignation from Facebook?","posted":"03\/14\/2017","sci_digest":["Reports that the social media maven is stepping down were fiction created to sell a skin care product -- or an April Fool's Day joke."],"justification":"In March 2017, an advertisement disguised as a news story appeared, reporting that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was leaving the company to sell skin care products. The hoax report was published on the website GetInkNews.co. Neither Katy Perry nor any of the other mentioned celebrities endorsed this product, and the website used unrelated images of Zuckerberg and various celebrities (the image of Katy Perry was taken in 2011) to create the illusion that they had endorsed Zuckerberg's skin care line together. The advertisement also claimed that Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, were giving away free samples of the product (as long as customers paid for shipping and handling): ZUCKERBERG GIVES PRODUCTS AWAY FOR FREE! So, what if you aren't rich or famous? Chan and Zuckerberg don't care. After all, they are already worth more than $556 billion. \"We aren't in this to make a fortune,\" Chan told a friend recently. \"We have already amassed a fortune. I just want to help people.\" That is why she is now offering readers the opportunity to experience the joys of younger-looking skin for FREE! The only cost to you is a $4.95 shipping and handling fee, so you can try the EcoMaxx Ageless Moisturizer and EcoMaxx Ageless Eye Revitalizer, which will be delivered right to your front door. Simply click on the link here for ordering details. This is a relatively new form of ubiquitous fake news: an advertisement designed to mimic a genuine news item in order to convince people to buy a skin care product. At the very bottom of this webpage, below the comments section, below several links to purchase this product, and below several fake celebrity endorsements, appears a disclaimer: THIS IS AN ADVERTISEMENT AND NOT AN ACTUAL NEWS ARTICLE, BLOG, OR CONSUMER PROTECTION UPDATE. This website is not intended to provide medical advice or to replace medical advice and treatment from your personal physician. Visitors are advised to consult their own doctors or other qualified health professionals regarding the treatment of medical conditions. The author shall not be held liable or responsible for any misunderstanding or misuse of the information contained on this site or for any loss, damage, or injury caused, or alleged to be caused, directly or indirectly, by any treatment, action, or application of any food or food source discussed on this website. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not evaluated the statements on this website. The information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. MARKETING DISCLOSURE: You should know that the owner of this website has a monetary connection to the products and services advertised and provided. The owner receives payment whenever a qualified lead is referred. All of the information regarding the goods and services mentioned on this website is provided by the owner. ADVERTISING DISCLOSURE: This website is an advertisement and not a news publication. Any photographs of persons used on this site are models. Any photographs of before\/after images used on this site are not real and are only used to illustrate the results some may achieve. Many of the articles featured on this site are what is commonly referred to as an advertorial, a combination of advertisement and editorial written in an editorial format as an independent news story. However, unlike an independent news story, an advertorial may promote a particular product or interest. Advertorials take factual information and report it in an editorial format to allow the author, often a company marketing its products, to enhance or explain certain elements to maintain the reader's interest. A familiar example is an airline's in-flight magazine that provides editorial reports about travel destinations to which the airline flies. In 2018, the same conceit of Facebook's head announcing that he was stepping down was used as fodder for an April Fool's Day joke. Last year in June, when Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg gave the company a new mission statement, it was too late for him to try to change how things worked at Facebook's offices. While it wasn't made public, Cambridge Analytica had already used data from millions of users for voter profiling and other purposes. In the wake of the recent data misuse revelation, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has resigned from the company. While demands were already being made for his resignation, this has come as a big surprise to many. Zuckerberg publicly informed the world via a post on Facebook. Altus, Celeste. \"But Did He Friend Her?\" AdWeek. 21 January 2011. Get Ink News. \"Mark Zuckerberg Disgusted with Social Media; Set to Leave Facebook Later This Year.\" Retrieved 13 March 2017.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1lzVabeyaUUJRnvM0s3cCg1JCl5w1Pdru","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1l7zhCziWKViep2X4tbzXkEU9kYRvcQs-","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1EqXIyaOGsBXVNxvypPOGxcsNPoO633pM","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_765","claim":"Is Starbucks Offering Coupons for Black Customers Only?","posted":"04\/18\/2018","sci_digest":["A Starbucks coupon for customers of \"African-American heritage\" only was a piece of divisive propaganda pushed by a popular internet forum."],"justification":"After the Starbucks coffee chain announced that they would be closing their stores on 29 May 2018 to conduct racial-bias education following the controversial arrest of two black men at one of their locations in Philadelphia, an image purportedly showing a Starbucks coupon offered exclusively to customers of African-American heritage began to circulate on social media: announced controversial   The \"apology\" coupon was fake that was not released by Starbucks and was not redeemable at any of the chain's locations -- it was a race-based hoax that was likely created (and certainly spread) by users of the 4chan internet forum.  A spokesperson for Starbucks told Business Insider that \"This [coupon] is completely false and [is] in no way associated with Starbucks.\" Business Insider Although we have not yet pinpointed the exact origins of this fake flyer, we did find several threads on 4chan promoting the dissemination of this hoax in an attempt to spread racial discord: threads 4chan promoting   4chan users also implored each other to share this fake coupon with the hashtag #FreeBlackCoffee in threads filled with racial slurs. In fact, the QR code in the above-displayed coupon spells out the word \"n**ger\" when scanned. 4chan has a history of creating fake coupons with the intent of mocking Starbucks' \"liberal\" positions. When the company announced their support for Dreamers and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, trolls on the forum created mock-ups for a fake Starbucks \"Dreamer Day\" coupon.  announced Similar fake flyers for a \"Welcome Refugees\" promotion were posted to the r\/The_Donald section of reddit after Starbucks announced in 2017 that they would be hiring over 10,000 displaced peoples over the following 5 years. Welcome Refugees announced Taylor, Kate.  \"Free Starbucks Is a Hoax from 4Chan.\"\r  Business Insider.  18 April 2018.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=17-uWw_xR577qf-f80KnDtVFCBzTSvnHA","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1zyUItn2Hi_6LZi3XUJn37KkbSPid45Fs","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_766","claim":"Trump proposed enacting the largest tax increase in American history.","posted":"09\/02\/2015","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Republican candidates continue to attack Donald Trump on his past positions, claiming he is not the conservative he says he is today. Jeb Bush picked up the attack by criticizing Trump over tax policy. \"I cut taxes every year,\" Bush said at an Aug. 20 rally in New Hampshire. \"He's proposed the largest tax increase in mankind's history, not just our own country's history.\" The next day, Bush reiterated this claim in a fundraising email: \"Trump proposed enacting the largest tax increase in American history.\" This seems like something worth fact-checking. A spokesman for Bush told us that the former Florida governor was referring to Trump's 1999 proposal to raise taxes on the rich. Trump, who at the time was considering a run for president under the Reform Party, proposed a one-time tax on individuals and trusts with a worth of $10 million or more. Trump stated that the one-time tax of 14.25 percent would raise $5.7 trillion and eliminate the debt. He mentioned that if the wealthy were having trouble liquidating their assets, they could pay off their tax over 10 years. The New York Daily News featured a photograph of Trump with the words, \"SOAK THE RICH.\" Experts at the time criticized Trump's plan as economically and politically unviable. \"I don't think the plan makes much economic sense,\" said Stephen Moore, director of fiscal policy studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, in a 1999 interview with the New York Times. \"The fact is that most people's wealth that has been built up over 10, 20, or 50 years is wealth that has already been taxed.\" Daniel Mitchell, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation in 1999, described Trump's plan as \"the lunacy of this idea is almost indescribable.\" He raised concerns about the economic consequences, including that households would shift assets overseas to try to avoid confiscation. Trump calculated that 1 percent of Americans would pay the Trump tax. He proposed that half the savings would go toward middle-class tax cuts and the other half for Social Security. A spokeswoman for Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, Hope Hicks, wouldn't tell us if Trump still supports that plan and said that he would release his current tax plan later in September. However, in 2011, talk show host George Stephanopoulos asked Trump if he still supported that tax, and Trump said it was no longer viable. \"Well, at a time, it would have paid off the deficit. I mean, you wouldn't have a deficit at that time,\" Trump said (though he confused debt and deficit). \"Unfortunately, the world has changed; today you can't do it. Today, and I'm very strongly against tax increases.\" When Stephanopoulos asked, \"So, you're no longer for that tax?\" Trump replied, \"No, no. I'm no longer for that tax, no.\" Would Trump's tax have broken records? Many tax experts told us that indeed Trump's plan would have been record-breaking in terms of revenue, but they said it was never going to happen and lacked major details. \"It certainly would have been the biggest ever simply because of its sheer size -- it was trillions of dollars,\" said Roberton Williams, a fellow at the Tax Policy Center. \"However, it's a totally crazy idea... I don't think anybody was taking it seriously -- it was Donald Trump being Donald Trump.\" The United States gross domestic product in 1999 was $9.7 trillion, so if Trump's tax had raised $5.7 trillion, that would have been 59 percent of GDP, said Chris Edwards of the libertarian Cato Institute. Federal tax hikes typically are no more than 1 percent of GDP, Edwards noted. The Bush 1990 hike and Clinton 1993 hike were less than 1 percent of GDP over five years, whereas Trump's tax would have been 59 percent one time in one year, Edwards said. PolitiFact previously looked into the largest tax increases as a percentage of GDP. Topping the list from 1940-2006 was the Revenue Act of 1942, which was about 5 percent of GDP. Richard Phillips, an expert at the Citizens for Tax Justice research group, which aims to require the wealthy to pay their fair share, said that Trump's one-time tax proposal can't be compared to conventional tax reform, which typically refers to taxes collected annually. His estimate was based on a back-of-the-envelope calculation of the total wealth of individuals with over $10 million in assets multiplied by the 14.25 percent rate, he said. \"There are very real questions as to whether you could plausibly tax all forms of wealth and whether wealthy individuals would be able to take action to shield large swaths of their wealth from taxation.\" Additionally, Trump proposed repealing the estate tax and enacting other tax cuts using the revenue that the federal government would save by no longer paying interest on the national debt. \"It's not clear how much those tax cuts would have cost and how much of the tax they would offset over time,\" Phillips said. Our ruling: Bush said, \"Trump proposed enacting the largest tax increase in American history.\" Yes, in 1999, Trump proposed a historically large one-time tax increase. Trump said the tax would have raised $5.7 trillion and wiped out the national debt. It would have applied only to the wealthiest Americans. This claim rates True.","issues":["Candidate Biography","Taxes","Florida"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_767","claim":"Was President Trump able to pressure Qatar into rescuing Jared Kushner financially?","posted":"10\/18\/2018","sci_digest":["The president's son-in-law reportedly owes a $1 billion-plus mortgage on a building he purchased on Fifth Avenue in 2007."],"justification":"In October 2018, social media users shared a meme posted by the liberal Facebook page Occupy Democrats reporting a series of events involving Gulf states were the result of President Donald Trump and his son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner \"using American foreign policy to enrich themselves\":   Although the sequence of events referenced in the meme is described accurately according to reputable news reports, the motives, connections, and causality the meme ascribes to those events have not been proved. It is true that Jared Kushner, who is married to President Trump's eldest daughter Ivanka, was in need of over a billion dollars to cover the mortgage on 666 Fifth Avenue, a 41-story Manhattan building he purchased for $1.8 billion in 2007, as the New Yorker reported on 2 March 2018: reported Kushner Companies co-owns 666 Fifth Avenue with another developer, Vornado Realty. In 2007, at Jared Kushners urging, the company paid $1.8 billion for the building -- at the time, the highest price ever paid for a New York office tower. The property occupies a prime spot between Fifty-second and Fifty-third streets, but it was built in 1957 and needed extensive upgrades. It still has many vacancies, and the $1.2 billion mortgage, which reportedly has ballooned to almost $1.5 billion, is due in February, 2019. Right now, it is not entirely clear whether Kushner Companies is in a position to repay or refinance the loan. The company hoped to knock the building down and put up another, twice as tall and far more luxurious, in its place, Bloomberg reported. It sought funds from investors in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, China, South Korea, Israel and France. No investors were announced for the plan, described by many as prohibitively expensive. That same day, The Intercept reported that in April 2017, Kushner's father Charles, who runs the family's real estate firm Kushner Companies, had made a direct appeal for financing to Qatari Finance Minister Ali Sharif Al Emadi, which was followed shortly afterwards by the Saudi-led blockade of Qatar: reported The 30-minute meeting, according to two sources in the financial industry who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the potential transaction, included aides to both parties, and was held at a suite at the St. Regis Hotel in New York. A follow-up meeting was held the next day in a glass-walled conference room at the Kushner property itself, though Al Emadi did not attend the second gathering in person. The failure to broker the deal would be followed only a month later by a Middle Eastern diplomatic row in which Jared Kushner provided critical support to Qatars neighbors. Led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, a group of Middle Eastern countries, with Kushners backing, led a diplomatic assault that culminated in a blockade of Qatar. Kushner, according to reports at the time, subsequently undermined efforts by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to bring an end to the standoff. Middle Eastern diplomatic row subsequently undermined In May 2017, Qatar's Gulf neighbors commenced a blockade of that country, and within days President Trump tweeted his support of the blockage despite the fact that Qatar is home to Al Udeid Air Base, a key U.S. military installation: commenced tweeted During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar - look!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 6, 2017 June 6, 2017  In May 2018, the New York Times reported that the Kushner family was close to reaching a bailout deal for 666 Fifth Avenue with a company possessing Qatari government ties: reported Charles Kushner, head of the Kushner Companies, is in advanced talks with Brookfield Asset Management over a partnership to take control of the 41-story aluminum-clad tower in Midtown Manhattan, 666 Fifth Avenue, according to two real estate executives who have been briefed on the pending deal but were not authorized to discuss it. Brookfield is a publicly traded company, and its real estate arm, Brookfield Property Partners, is partly owned by the Qatari government, through the Qatar Investment Authority. And, the Trump administration around that time reversed course with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo telling the Saudis in April 2018 that it was time to end the blockade against Qatar. telling It's likely the meme gained momentum on social media in October 2018 due to scrutiny over Kushner and Trump's relationship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in light of the gruesome murder of Jamal Kashoggi.  scrutiny Kashoggi, a Saudi national and columnist for the Washington Post, went missing on 2 October 2018 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul seeking documents he needed to get married. According to reports citing Turkish government and U.S. intelligence sources, the Virginia resident never left the consulate, where he was ambushed by Saudi agents, tortured and murdered, and his body dismembered. ambushed Trump has resisted calls by U.S. lawmakers to impose sanctions on Saudi Arabia in retaliation for the journalist's apparent death, comparing global condemnation of the Gulf kingdom to accusations of sexual misconduct leveled against U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Trump told the Associated Press: \"Here we go again with, you know, you're guilty until proven innocent. I don't like that. We just went through that with Justice Kavanaugh and he was innocent all the way as far as I'm concerned.\" calls told Cassidy, John.  \"Jared Kushners Conflicts of Interest Reach a Crisis Point.\"\r  The New Yorker.  2 March 2018. Swisher, Clayton and Ryan Grim.  \"Jared Kushner's Real Estate Firm Sought Money Directly from Qatar Government Weeks Before Blockade.\"\r  The Intercept.  2 March 2018. Bagli, Charles V. and Jesse Drucker.  \"Kushners Near Deal with Qatar-Linked Company for Troubled Tower.\"\r  The New York Times.  17 May 2018. Kirkpatrick, David D. and Carlotta Gall.  \"Audio Offers Gruesome Details of Jamal Khashoggi Killing, Turkish Official Says.\"\r  The New York Times.  17 October 2018.","issues":["mortgage"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1gwZZt8eMsf4q4lm09vHW5s4IanAX_aR4"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_768","claim":"Ideas Worth Shedding","posted":"07\/27\/2015","sci_digest":[""],"justification":"FACT CHECK: Was Nick Hanauer's 2012 TED Talk about income inequality banned because it was \"too politically controversial\" to release? Claim: A 2012 TED Talk video featuring wealthy entrepreneur Nick Hanauer speaking on the subject of income inequality was banned because it was deemed \"too politically controversial.\" Example: [Collected via e-mail, July 2015] There are several articles that claim \"TED Banned This Billionaire For Exposing Capitalism's Biggest Lie\" or similar wording. This refers to the speech of Nick Hanauer, a Seattle venture capitalist. The sensational language of this claim makes me suspicious, as does the unlikelihood of the assertion. Is it true? What is the source of the rumor? Origins: On 1 March 2012, Seattle-based venture capitalist and entrepreneur Nick Hanauer participated in the global conference series of \"TED Talks.\" The video of his six-minute talk, widely circulated since its release, captured him addressing a range of issues pertaining to income inequality and capitalism from the perspective of a very wealthy individual. Not long after Hanauer's March 2012 talk was filmed, rumors began circulating that TED had deliberately suppressed the clip due to its potentially offensive nature (to wealthy individuals). On 16 May 2012, National Journal published an article contending that TED's organizers had quashed the groundbreaking talk because its content was simply too controversial to release, an odd assertion considering the 2011 emergence of a well-known protest movement known as Occupy Wall Street. The article noted that TED organizers invited Hanauer, the first non-family investor in Amazon.com, to give a speech on March 1 at their TED University conference. Inequality was the topic, specifically Hanauer's contention that the middle class, and not wealthy innovators like himself, are America's true \"job creators.\" \"We've had it backward for the last 30 years,\" he said. \"Rich businesspeople like me don't create jobs. Rather, they are a consequence of an ecosystemic feedback loop animated by middle-class consumers, and when they thrive, businesses grow and hire, and owners profit. That's why taxing the rich to pay for investments that benefit all is a great deal for both the middle class and the rich.\" You can't find that speech online. TED officials initially told Hanauer they were eager to distribute it. \"I want to put this talk out into the world!\" one of them wrote to him in an e-mail in late April. But early this month, they changed course, telling Hanauer that his remarks were too \"political\" and too controversial for posting. In the years since 2012, Hanauer's TED clip has paradoxically been viewed millions of times while remaining the focus of articles describing it as \"banned,\" \"too controversial,\" or the speech TED \"doesn't want you to see.\" While it's difficult to determine the accuracy of statements about its online availability in March 2012, the clip clearly became widely available and was frequently viewed on sharing sites such as YouTube shortly thereafter, and it has remained popular ever since. However, in 2015, many social media users continued to assert that Hanauer's talk was banned. In late May 2012, a contributor to TED's forums specifically asked why Hanauer's talk had been \"banned,\" prompting a lengthy discussion during which individuals affiliated with TED linked to a statement issued by TED curator Chris Anderson explaining why Hanauer's talk had not been promoted. The service by which Anderson published the explanation (Posterous) shuttered in April 2013, taking Anderson's remarks with it. However, a cached version revealed the date (17 May 2012), title (\"TED and inequality: The real story\"), and content of Anderson's rebuttal. Anderson opened by stating that \"TED was subject to a story so misleading it would be funny... except it successfully launched an aggressive online campaign against us.\" He described an ensuing \"firestorm of outrage\" on sites including Reddit and Huffington Post, wherein TED was \"accused of being cowards ... in the pay of our corporate partners ... [and] the despicable puppets of the Republican party.\" Anderson's account of the decision not to release Hanauer's talk differed dramatically from the circulating rumors: Here's what actually happened. At TED this year, an attendee pitched a 3-minute audience talk on inequality. The talk tapped into a really important and timely issue. However, it framed the issue in a way that was explicitly partisan. (The talk explicitly attacked what he called an article of faith for Republicans. He criticized Democrats too, but only for not also attacking this idea more often.) It included a number of arguments that were unconvincing, even to those of us who supported his overall stance, such as the apparent ruling out of entrepreneurial initiative as a root cause of job creation. The audience at TED who heard it live (and who are often accused of being overly enthusiastic about left-leaning ideas) gave it, on average, mediocre ratings\u2014some enthusiastic, others critical. At TED, we post one talk a day on our home page. We're drawing from a pool of 250+ that we record at our own conferences each year and up to 10,000 recorded at various TEDx events around the world, not to mention our other conference partners. Our policy is to post only talks that are truly special. We try to steer clear of talks that are bound to descend into the same dismal partisan head-butting people can find every day elsewhere in the media. We discussed internally and ultimately told the speaker we did not plan to post. He did not react well. He had hired a PR firm to promote the talk to MoveOn and others, and the PR firm warned us that unless we posted, he would go to the press and accuse us of censoring him. We again declined, and this time I wrote to him and tried gently to explain in detail why I thought his talk was flawed. He then forwarded portions of the private emails to a reporter, and the National Journal duly picked up the story. As Anderson noted, income inequality was the subject of at least one TED Talk video in 2011. Much of the rumor regarding Nick Hanauer's purportedly banned TED Talk segment hinged upon the differing assertions made by TED and Nick Hanauer at the time of the controversy in 2012. However, Anderson's claims (that TED curators are tasked with promoting only the most impactful clips) weren't implausible or suggestive of a cover-up. It would be difficult to determine whether Hanauer or anyone working on his behalf threatened a public relations offensive, but TED maintained that quality and not content was behind the decision not to feature the video (which clearly was not \"banned\" from public view but was simply not promoted by TED). Since the time of the initial debate over whether or why the TED talk was \"banned,\" the clip has been distributed both by TED and other outlets and widely viewed by a large online audience. In August 2014, Hanauer returned for a TED Talk titled \"Beware, fellow plutocrats, the pitchforks are coming.\" While it's true that TED opted not to promote Hanauer's initial appearance (during which he discussed income inequality), his segment was not banned, and the organization cited his lack of substantive content alongside his primary reliance on partisan ideas as the reason it was not curated alongside other featured TED Talks. At no point during the immediate controversy did TED appear to deny the existence of the video, remove it from the Internet, interfere with its distribution, or otherwise thwart the ideas advocated by Hanauer from spreading. The group simply chose initially not to promote the clip (as they do for a large number of TED Talks) in favor of other content selected by their curators. Last updated: 27 July 2015 Originally published: 27 July 2015","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1TjKHI76CzcBVXgnx2XfHmpEzF-x6rw6M","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_769","claim":"Does This Photograph Show President Trump Visiting a WWI Cemetery in the Rain?","posted":"11\/13\/2018","sci_digest":["President Trump was widely criticized for skipping a ceremony commemorating the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I due to the rain, but he did attend another event (also in the rain) to honor the occasion. "],"justification":"President Trump was widely criticized over Veterans Day weekend in November 2018 after he skipped an event at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in France commemorating the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I due to inclement weather. Social media users chided Trump for bowing out of the scheduled event, which was attended by other world leaders such as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and French President Emmanuel Macron, sharing photographs of \"real presidents\" who had previously honored veterans while standing in the rain. President Trump took issue with this coverage, however, and on 13 November 2018, he took to Twitter to explain his absence (asserting that his helicopter couldn't fly because of the rain) and proclaim that he had delivered a speech in the \"pouring rain\" the following day but that the event was \"little reported\" by the \"fake news.\" President Trump's explanation for missing the memorial at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery might have been regarded as questionable, but he truly did deliver a speech in the rain (although we might quibble with the assertion that it was \"pouring\") at the American Cemetery of Suresnes, as NBC News reported. President Donald Trump paid tribute on Sunday to Americans who fought in the two world wars, saying the nation is forever in their debt during a visit to a cemetery in France where more than 1,500 of them are buried. \"It's been a wonderful two days we spent in France, and this has certainly been the highlight of the trip,\" Trump said in remarks that capped a weekend in Paris where he and more than 80 other world leaders marked the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. Standing at the presidential podium under a steady rain without an umbrella, Trump joked to six World War II veterans about their enviable position keeping them dry. \"You look so comfortable up there under shelter as we're getting drenched,\" Trump said, drawing laughter from the crowd. \"Very smart people. You look like you're in very good shape, all of you,\" he added. \"I hope I look like that someday. America is forever in your debt.\" The ceremony in Suresnes certainly drew less attention on social media than Trump's absence at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery the previous day did, but it isn't accurate to say that his visit to the Suresnes Cemetery was \"little reported.\" In addition to the aforementioned NBC News report, Trump's speech was also covered by outlets such as CNN, USA Today, CBS News, and Time magazine. Despite this coverage, a number of social media users seemed surprised when they came across a photograph posted to Facebook by Dan Scavino, the White House Director of Social Media, which showed President Trump standing solemnly in the rain at a cemetery. Social media users took to the comments section to claim that this image was fake and that Trump had been digitally inserted into the picture. While it's possible that Scavino applied some sort of filter to this photograph (Trump's outline is surprisingly crisp), a number of similar pictures can be found via news outlets such as NBC News and photography agencies such as Getty Images.","issues":["debt"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1CXaXY-0rE9Tcwf3YixlTXVSDeXU7S5tZ","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=19N_2Y4GxdYu3ZdZFrfVYHQ7WCN2k81Ls","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_770","claim":"Biden's plan is a 14% tax hike on middle class families.","posted":"10\/13\/2020","sci_digest":[],"justification":"A new ad for President Donald Trump's reelection campaign paints Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden as eager to raise the average voter's taxes. \"What would Joe Biden's plan do for you?\" the ad asks. Biden's plan is a 14% tax hike on middle-class families. Eighty-two percent of Americans would pay more, and Biden's plan gives illegal immigrants amnesty and health care. Joe Biden is a career politician who has spent decades raising taxes. So what would the Biden plan do for you? Raise your taxes? That's it. Would Biden really raise taxes by 14% on middle-income families? There's zero evidence of that. (The 82% statistic is also incorrect.) Biden's proposed changes would repeal provisions in President Donald Trump's tax law for taxpayers earning over $400,000. Specifically, Biden would: increase the top corporate tax rate to 28% from 21%; raise the top individual federal income tax rate to 39.6%; place a 12.4% Social Security tax on incomes above $400,000; and tax capital gains at the same rate as ordinary income for very high earners. All of this is targeted toward the highest earners, those earning $400,000 or more per year. So where does the alleged 14% tax hike on middle-income Americans come from? That's unclear. A screenshot from the Trump campaign's recent ad shows this claim. The Trump campaign did not respond to inquiries for this article. The ad footnotes the assertion with a reference to an article from the financial website MarketWatch on March 4, 2020, when Biden was still in the thick of his party's presidential primary. The MarketWatch article provides no support for the 14% assertion in the Trump ad. The only mention of 14% in the article refers to the plan offered by one of Biden's primary opponents, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. The article stated that Warren would assess a 14.8% high-income Social Security tax on the top bracket. However, not only was that provision not part of Biden's plan, but it was also specifically targeted at the top tax bracket, not middle-income Americans. Taking a step back from the MarketWatch article, we also see no evidence that Biden's plan would produce such a significant tax hike on middle-income taxpayers. Several independent groups of varied ideologies assessed the impacts of Biden's tax plan earlier this year. They projected that some of the burden of Biden's tax increases would fall on people making less than $400,000 in the form of lower wages or investment returns. This would be a result of Biden's proposal to hike the corporate tax rate. Unlike direct changes to individual tax rates and income thresholds, the impact of the corporate tax rate on ordinary Americans' tax returns is indirect and difficult to measure. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a group that is hawkish on the federal budget deficit, stated that overall, Biden's tax plan would make the tax code more progressive, with the vast majority of increased tax burdens and the entirety of direct tax increases falling on high-income households. The group summarized four other groups' assessments of how Biden's tax plan would affect members of the lowest, second-lowest, middle, second-highest, and highest income quintiles. The four analyses were conducted by the American Enterprise Institute, the Tax Foundation, the Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center, and the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. As the following chart shows, no quintile\u2014even the top one\u2014would see anything close to a 14% tax increase due to the Biden plan. Only the top 1% of earners would see anything approaching that degree of increase. According to the Tax Policy Center's analysis, the lowest income group would see their incomes drop by $30. The next would see a drop of $110; the middle would see a drop of $260; and the second-highest, with incomes up to $170,000, would see a loss of $590. Meanwhile, Biden has also proposed a number of tax cuts that were not included in the analyses above. Here are some of the bigger cuts being proposed by the campaign: a temporarily expanded child tax credit, worth $3,000 per child for children ages 6 to 17 and $3,600 for children under 6. Biden would make the credit fully refundable; a $15,000 permanent tax credit for first-time homebuyers that could be advanced to the claimant rather than waiting until the following tax year; a refundable tax credit for health insurance premiums; and up to $8,000 in tax credits to help pay for child care. It's entirely possible that these proposed cuts would wipe out the increases from the corporate tax hike, making the assertion in Trump's ad even more incorrect. The initial analysis does not provide support for Trump's claim that Biden's plan will raise taxes by 14% for middle-class families, said Eric Toder, a fellow at the Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center. \"Not even close.\" The Trump ad claimed that Biden's plan is a 14% tax hike on middle-class families. There is no evidence for this assertion. The article cited in the ad says nothing about this, and analyses by independent think tanks found a much smaller indirect hit from the corporate tax hike, one that could well be reversed by larger-scale tax cuts that Biden has proposed and that are currently being analyzed. We rate the statement False.","issues":["Taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1qx4tHxOZPueTx0Y6EDGn5gz4-AA0OeCH","image_caption":"A screenshot from the Trump campaign's recent ad."}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_771","claim":"80 percent of North Carolinians are for the living wage","posted":"04\/28\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"In the rallies against North Carolina's new LGBT law, commonly known as HB2, protesters represented not just gay and transgender activists. Also present on Monday for the rallies outside the legislature were Latino activists and supporters of the Black Lives Matter and Rise Up for $15 movements. The law doesn't just ban transgender people from using the bathroom of the gender they identify with; it also prohibits local governments\u2014cities and counties\u2014from raising the minimum wage that businesses within their boundaries would have to pay workers. Rev. William Barber, president of the N.C. NAACP, stated that the crowds of protesters were more diverse than just LGBT activists because of the wage issue. In a speech just days before Monday's protests, he claimed that the bathroom issue was actually a Trojan Horse of sorts for what he deems the real intent of the law: stopping cities from raising the minimum wage, as cities like Seattle and Los Angeles have recently done. \"Eighty percent of North Carolinians are for the living wage,\" Barber said. \"So if North Carolina's legislature and the governor had just put on the table a straight bill to prohibit living wages, they would have been going against 80 percent of North Carolinians.\" A higher minimum wage is often opposed by Republican politicians. But if Barber is correct, a higher minimum wage is a true bipartisan issue\u2014something that four out of five people support in a state where four out of ten are Democrats. What is a living wage? Polling on this issue is inconsistent. There are many ways to ask the question. Some polls provide a specific number for approval; some allow respondents to choose a number; some simply ask whether the minimum wage should be higher; others inquire who should have the power to make that decision. But first, perhaps we should define \"living wage,\" the phrase Barber used in place of \"higher minimum wage.\" It's not just a political catchphrase; there are actual methods for calculating it. In 2004, an MIT professor of economic geography and regional planning created what she called the Living Wage Calculator. Accounting for location-specific factors such as the cost of food, childcare, housing, transportation, and taxes, the tool determines the living wage as well as the poverty wage for states, counties, and metro areas. It provides numbers in both wage categories for single adults or couples, and households with zero to three children. It also assumes full-time employment of 2,080 work hours per year (40 hours a week for 52 weeks). For the purposes of this report, we'll look at the wage for a single person with no children. Currently, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, although some states and cities have set higher rates. North Carolina has not, and as Barber accurately stated, the state has now forbidden any individual city or county from raising it. In Wake and Mecklenburg counties\u2014the two largest in North Carolina\u2014the Living Wage Calculator indicates that a living wage would be approximately $11 an hour. The state average is $10.53, and 13 of 14 metropolitan areas are above $10. A person working full-time for $10.53 an hour would earn $21,902.40 a year. At the current minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, that same person would make $15,080 a year\u2014a difference of more than $6,800. Now that we know what a living wage is, we can examine whether Barber is correct about 80 percent support. The topic isn't surveyed much at the state level, but fortunately, two polls have addressed this issue in the last month. They are from the left-leaning Public Policy Polling and the more centrist Elon University Poll. A spokesman for the state's main right-leaning polling firm, The Civitas Institute, stated that there is no record of Civitas ever having polled people on the topic of minimum wage. Public Policy Polling found that 76 percent of North Carolinians support a minimum wage of at least $10 an hour. That isn't an exact confirmation of Barber's claim, since it's slightly lower than 80 percent and the living wage is $10.53, not $10, but it's fairly close. However, the Elon poll found less support for a $10 or higher minimum wage, at 65 percent. It also arrived at that number differently than PPP. PPP provided five choices, asking people whether they thought there shouldn't be a minimum wage, if it should remain at $7.25, or if it should increase to $10, $12, or $15. Elon asked respondents to name whatever they thought the minimum wage should be. A plurality (27 percent) said $10. In total, 65 percent said $10 or higher. That's certainly less than the 80 percent claim Barber made or the 76 percent that PPP found. However, complicating matters, Elon also found less support than PPP for keeping the current minimum wage. The difference is that many in the Elon Poll (23 percent) named a number between $7.26 and $9.99\u2014an option that PPP didn't provide. So while the Elon poll found only 65 percent support for wages that could be classified as a living wage under the MIT definition, it did find 88 percent support for raising the minimum wage at least a little. Barber framed his claim in the context of the state's Republican leaders trying to avoid backlash for imposing restrictions on a higher minimum wage. Therefore, we decided to examine how Republicans feel about the subject. Just as they phrased their questions differently, PPP and Elon also asked about party affiliations in different ways. PPP found that 63 percent of people who voted for Mitt Romney in 2012 also support at least a $10 minimum wage, as do 92 percent of Barack Obama voters and 65 percent of others. The Elon poll found that 46 percent of self-identified Republicans support a $10 or higher minimum wage, compared with 86 percent of Democrats and 62 percent of others. It's impossible to say for certain that a full 80 percent of North Carolinians want a living wage in North Carolina, as Barber stated. However, it does appear that a vast majority support the idea, including about half of Republicans and nearly all Democrats. One recent poll found 76 percent support for a $10 or higher minimum wage. With a margin of error of 3.4 points, Barber's 80 percent claim would be well within reason if this were the only recent poll. But another recent poll found just 65 percent support. The average of the two polls is 70.5 percent. We rate this claim Mostly True.","issues":["Economy","Income","Labor","Polls and Public Opinion","Poverty","Small Business","North Carolina"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_772","claim":"Incorrect, the former NFL quarterback John Elway is not financially destitute.","posted":"01\/05\/2022","sci_digest":["The misinformation stemmed from an online advertisement that was being paid for by unknown persons."],"justification":"In January 2022, an online advertisement displayed a picture of former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway alongside the words, \"Iconic NFL Players Who Went Broke.\" The ad was misleading clickbait, leading to a slideshow article on MoneyWise.com that again featured the same photograph of Elway. The headline read, \"These Iconic NFL Players Lost It All.\" It wasn't until the last page of the lengthy article that Elway was mentioned; however, it said nothing about him running out of money or going \"broke.\" Instead, it referenced that, in 2010, Elway fell victim to a Ponzi scheme orchestrated by a hedge fund manager named Sean Michael Mueller. The Associated Press reported that \"he and a business partner gave Mueller $15 million,\" and that Mueller was later sentenced to 40 years in prison. The last page of the MoneyWise.com article also mentioned an ABC News article from 2016, which reported that Elway missed out on a potentially huge investment opportunity in 1998. Had he signed a deal with the Broncos to buy an ownership stake in the team, his investment might have been worth around $388 million by 2015, potentially yielding a \"646 percent return on the 1998 investment, adjusted for inflation.\" As of early 2022, the former NFL great was employed as the president of football operations for the Broncos and had previously held the title of the team's general manager. There was no evidence that Elway was broke, nor did the lengthy MoneyWise.com article mention any such thing. Snopes debunks a wide range of content, and online advertisements are no exception. Misleading ads often lead to obscure websites that host lengthy slideshow articles with numerous pages. This practice is known as advertising \"arbitrage.\" The advertiser's goal is to earn more money from ads displayed on the slideshow's pages than it cost to show the initial ad that attracted viewers.","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1K5lOZ37Il8_VTdR24217LoYmdsbCrz6B"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_773","claim":"Says Mitt Romney flip-flopped on a taxpayer protection pledge.","posted":"11\/29\/2011","sci_digest":[],"justification":"On Nov. 28, 2011, the Democratic National Committee released two videos designed to paint Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney as a serial flip-flopper. The shorter,30-second versiongives a taste of the attack, specifically citing abortion and health care, and directs viewers to a website with afour-minute versionthat offers alleged flip-flops on a variety of other issues. For this item, well check one of the claims from the four-minute version -- specifically, whether Romney has changed his position on signing a taxpayer protection pledge. We're looking at other aspects of the ad in separate items. Heres the relevant portion from the DNC ad: Screen text: Will not sign pledge Audio ofCandy Crowley: Republican Mitt Romney says he will not sign a no-new-taxes pledge. Screen text: Then he did Audio from Romney radio ad: Im proud to be the only major candidate for president to sign the tax pledge. The first clip refers to an announcement during Romneys 2002 gubernatorial campaign that he would not sign a pledge circulated by Citizens for Limited Taxation, a Massachusetts-based anti-tax group. Heres how theBoston Globecovered the news: In a break with Acting Governor Jane Swift and her GOP predecessors, Republican gubernatorial candidate Mitt Romney is refusing to rule out tax increases and said yesterday he will not sign a no new taxes pledge, the newspaper wrote. Romney said that while he opposes all tax increases in principle, he will not make such a pledge in writing. The article went on to quote Romney saying, I am not in favor of increasing taxes. At this stage, I am inclined to make that position as clear as I can but not to enter into a written pledge of some kind, and that's true on this and other issues. TheGlobecited another comment by Romney that had been reported by theUnion-Newsof Springfield, Mass. I'm against tax increases, Romney told attendees of Western Massachusetts GOP meeting, according to theUnion-News. But I'm not intending to, at this stage, sign a document which would prevent me from being able to look specifically at the revenue needs of the Commonwealth. Barbara Anderson, an official with Citizens for Limited Taxation, was unhappy with Romney's refusal to sign, which came after hed met with her for half an hour. He's thinking like an independent businessman who doesn't sign pledges, she suggested to theGlobe. Meanwhile, theBoston Heraldquoted then Romney deputy campaign manager Eric Fehrnstrom saying, Mitt Romney doesn't have to sign a piece of paper to have a position on an issue. He's pledged to oppose any tax increase, he doesn't support them, his position on taxes is clear. In an interview with theGlobe, Fehrnstrom was even more dismissive, calling the pledge government by gimmickry, the newspaper reported. Put it all together and you have a candidate who didnt just decide against signing a pledge but who cast doubt on the propriety of such pledges in general. Now well fast-forward a few years, when Romney, having finished a term as governor of Massachusetts, was running for president. On Dec. 31, 2006, Romney became the first major candidate for the 2008 election to sign a taxpayer protection pledge offered by Americans for Tax Reform, the anti-tax group headed by Grover Norquist. In signing the pledge, Gov. Romney firmly commits himself in writing to fiscal discipline and economic common sense, Norquist said in anews release. Mitt Romney has told taxpayers in no uncertain terms that he plans to look out for their interests. Romney hardly signed the Norquist pledge covertly. On Jan. 4, 2007, he issued apress releasetouting his action, and on Oct. 5, 2007, he released aradio adspotlighting it. Thats where the DNC got the clip used in its ad. For years, conservative candidates for president signed their name on the dotted line pledging to oppose tax increases, Romney said in the ad. I'm Mitt Romney. I'm proud to be the only major candidate for president to sign the tax pledge. The others have not. I signed the tax pledge because I want everyone to know where I stand. We've got to get taxes down and grow our economy. I believe it's not fair that you have to pay taxes when you earn your money, when you save your money and when you die. That's why I'll kill the death tax once and for all and roll back tax rates across the board. And savings? When I'm president, for every middle class American, the new tax rate on your interest, dividends, and capital gains will be absolutely zero. I stood firm to roll back taxes as governor. I'll roll back taxes as president. In this case, then, Romney not only signed a written pledge but actively broadcast it to the electorate. Its worth noting that the two pledges are not exactly the same. One addressed the state context and one the federal context. The Massachusetts text is a pledge to ... all the people of this state, that I will oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes. The Norquist pledge, to which Romney is still a signatory, requires the signer to oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rates for individuals and\/or businesses  and oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates. Still, despite the differences in wording, we think the pledges are equivalent in their underlying requirements. Our ruling In 2002, Romney refused to make a pledge in writing on taxes. Four years later, he signed one and touted it as a selling point for his candidacy. In our book, thats a clear flip-flop. We rate the DNCs charge True.","issues":["National","Message Machine 2012","Taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_774","claim":"Does Louisiana Textbook Teach Civil War from Perspective of Wealthy, White Slave Owner?","posted":"06\/15\/2021","sci_digest":["A viral tweet claimed a textbook for eighth-graders focused on the war's effect on a 20-year-old white woman whose family owned slaves. "],"justification":"In mid-June 2021, thousands of Twitter users circulated the tweet displayed below, which included images purportedly taken from an eighth-grade textbook in Louisiana that introduces the Civil War through the perspective of Kate Stone, a 20-year-old wealthy white woman whose family owned more than 100 slaves. \"There are two approved Louisiana history textbooks for the state's 8th graders,\" read the tweet authored by Joshua Benton, the founder of Harvard University's Neiman Lab. \"This is how one of them introduced the Civil War: as tough times for a poor young white woman whose family owned 120 slaves.\" Benton added to clarify his point: that clarification was largely true. State law allows local school systems to establish required textbooks for students since, according to the Louisiana Department of Education, educators \"closest to students are best positioned to decide which instructional materials are appropriate for their district and classrooms.\" For the purpose of this fact check, we focused on Benton's underlying claim: that the Louisiana Department of Education reviewed a textbook called \"Louisiana Our History, Our Home\" for eighth-grade teachers to possibly include in social studies classes, and that this piece of literature introduces readers to the Civil War via the perspective of a wealthy white woman whose family owned more than 100 slaves. Under Louisiana law, the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education oversees teams of teachers who regularly review textbooks submitted by publishers to determine if, or to what extent, they meet the state's teaching objectives in core subjects (English language arts, math, science, and social studies). A document outlining that process states: The Department conducts the review of instructional materials. This process supports local school systems and educators in making informed decisions regarding which materials to adopt and purchase locally. The state does not recommend or adopt textbooks or instructional materials. [...] There are no requirements to use any of the textbooks and instructional materials that have been state-reviewed. Pending the outcome of the state reviews, the state Department of Education lists the textbooks on its website for local school boards to consider while creating curricula, or for parents and students to see. The list ranks the books on a three-tiered scale, with a \"Tier I\" label for learning materials that are of \"exemplary quality and meet all criteria\" and a \"Tier III\" designation for resources that \"do not meet the non-negotiable criteria.\" A financial incentive exists for local school systems that opt for books with the state's highest rating. Administrators can buy \"Tier 1\" materials using state funding; however, they must come up with local dollars to help cover the cost of \"Tier 3\" resources, according to state records. Additionally, school systems can forgo the state's review process altogether and rely on their own ratings of textbooks, or they can adopt a combination of state-reviewed and locally-reviewed materials. As of this writing, the state department's list of \"Instructional Materials Reviews\" indeed included the textbook to which Benton referred in his viral tweet, titled \"Louisiana Our History, Our Home,\" published by Clairmont Press in 2015. Also, as Benton correctly stated, just one other textbook exclusively designed for eighth-grade social studies classes was similarly reviewed. Considering that evidence, it was true that the Louisiana Department of Education reviewed the book for eighth-grade teachers to possibly use in classrooms and made that fact known on the department's website, despite the fact that local school districts ultimately decide what students read on a community-by-community basis. Furthermore, the state department rated \"Louisiana Our History, Our Home\" with a \"Tier III\" label, citing a range of issues from its sourcing to interactive activities for students. Ted Beasley, the agency's director of communication, elaborated in an email to Snopes: \"This Clairmont Press resource is Tier III, which is the lowest rating we have. This is the lowest possible rating we can give a resource. We rate all resources submitted by publishers. Tier 3 signifies materials that do not represent quality. We do not have data on the number of systems or schools utilizing the referenced textbook.\" The state's review of the controversial book, however, did not explicitly note anything about the purported introduction to the Civil War via the story of Kate Stone, a 20-year-old white woman whose family operated a plantation in northeast Louisiana and at one point owned more than 100 slaves. (She documented the war's impact on them in diaries, and publishers later compiled those writings to create \"Brokenburn: The Journal of Kate Stone.\") Next, we investigated whether the textbook indeed included the pages shown in Benton's tweet. Firstly, we attempted to contact Benton to learn how he made his alleged discovery. We were waiting for his response as of the initial publication of this report. Beasley told Snopes the state department was unable to confirm the authenticity of the pages. So, we reached out to Clairmont Press, as well as the textbook's listed author, Alecia Long, with the following questions: We have not received responses from them, but we will update this report when, or if, that changes. In sum, until we uncover verified evidence to corroborate the images in Benton's tweet thread, we cannot give this claim a traditional Snopes rating, so we therefore rate it \"Research in Progress.\" In follow-up tweets, Benton elaborated on his purported discoveries within the textbook, including a chapter that aimed to tell the story of Louisiana's post-war years by first sharing the experience of a Confederate soldier who eventually served as Louisiana's governor, Francis R. T. Nicholls. As of this writing, his biography on the state's Secretary of State website described Nicholls as a politician who considered the Antebellum Period \"a golden age in Louisiana\" with the \"planter approach to less government\u2014low taxes, few official services, and little involvement by Blacks in the political processes.\"","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1A47eolhxnF6hbNc-nXbVpMsz6cofYiob","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1CNlqyG15ALHO12iHxkomNk0ULz2oSZGm","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1wLB_9ZXn-bwQf687m5jB0EKpqDQq-qca","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1FTAbFgrjMV4FpN4m4_8tOUoLjaaei6Tm","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1kWrUzJFNUvGkZM-jCtEmjhgOrqrZVi4-","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_775","claim":"Radiation from Fukushima leads to a 100% death rate of infant Orca whales.","posted":"09\/26\/2016","sci_digest":["A fear-mongering article based on speculation and out-of-context quotes falsely claimed that radiation from the Fukushima disaster had caused 100% infant mortality among orca whales."],"justification":"Fear-mongering articles claiming that radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster (triggered by the tsunami that followed the T\u014dhoku earthquake on 11 March 2011) caused a 100% infant mortality rate among orca whales born since then have circulated online for several years. The website Humans Are Free renewed interest in this rumor in September 2016 when it published an article with the clickbait title \"Radiation from Fukushima Now Causes 100% Infant Mortality Rate in West Coast Orcas.\" This piece was sourced from an article by the disreputable Natural News website, which employed a similarly misleading title (\"West Coast Orcas Experiencing 100% Infant Mortality Rate as Radiation from Fukushima Drifts Across Ocean\"), even though the text of that article plainly admitted that there was no proven connection between the Fukushima disaster and the mortality of infant orcas. No one has yet proven a direct link between the 100% mortality rate seen among orca infants and the effects of radiation contamination in the Pacific Ocean from the Fukushima reactor leak in Japan, but it certainly can't be ruled out as a possibility. Natural News listed several sources about whale deaths at the bottom of its article, but none of those sources mentioned radiation from Fukushima as a likely or definitive cause. Quotes from Ken Balcomb, executive director of the Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbor, Washington, were also misleadingly reproduced out of context by Natural News to bolster a claim that Balcomb's statements did not support. The recent discovery of a carcass off the coast of British Columbia, that of a 19-year-old orca female believed to be in the late stages of pregnancy, is just one example of the recent orca deaths that have scientists and conservationists worried. Ken Balcomb stated, \"Her death doesn't bode well for the southern resident population and certainly not for that matriline. Her mother died young. Her aunt had two sons, and she's probably post-reproductive. She hasn't had any babies in the last 12 years. So there's no future.\" Balcomb also remarked, \"We haven't had any survivals in babies for a couple of years. We have had stillborns and newborns die and a number of whales that appear to be pregnant but didn't ultimately produce any calves. It's like zero survival in birth rate here.\" While Balcomb did say that \"we haven't had any survivals in babies for a couple of years,\" he was referring only to the local Puget Sound orca whale population, and he did not connect a 100% infant orca mortality rate to radiation from Fukushima. His quotes originated from a story published by the Seattle Times in December 2014 about a baby orca whale that had died in Puget Sound. While the exact cause of that whale's death was unclear, Balcomb suggested that the whale likely died due to a diminished food supply (and not radiation). He noted that two of the whales' three biggest problems\u2014the buildup of pollutants such as DDT and polychlorinated biphenyls in their blubber, and disturbance by marine traffic\u2014appear to be worsened by a third issue: a reduction in available prey. These whales can eat sockeye and halibut but overwhelmingly prefer fatty chinook from Puget Sound and Canada's Fraser River, distinguishing them from other fish by using sonar to sense differences in the animals' swim bladders. However, Puget Sound chinook numbers have dropped to about 10% of their historic high, and they, too, are listed for protection under the ESA. For Balcomb, the loss of J32 suggests it's time to consider drastic measures, such as a ban or steep curtailment in chinook fishing, even though fishing is likely the least of the threats chinook face. \"It's a wake-up call\u2014we know what the problem is, whether it's dams or fishing or habitat destruction,\" he said. \"It's just what happens when millions of people move into the watershed. (But) stopping fishing, at least for a while, is something we can do immediately.\" The reality is that the basic problem is food, Balcomb said. Although apparently no baby orcas survived long after birth in Puget Sound in 2013 or 2014, that wasn't the case in the immediately following years, as 2015 saw nine successful orca births in Puget Sound. In just over a year, Puget Sound welcomed nine baby Southern-resident orcas to the fold, as the pod continued to rebound from the 30-year-low numbers reported at the end of 2014. While radiation from the Fukushima disaster did have a major impact on marine life, the leak of radioactive material from the plant did not cause a proven \"100% infant mortality\" rate among orca whales. Moreover, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration do not list nuclear radiation (from any source) among the threats currently facing the world's whale population.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1cg44QWY7A0tv1vWKGYQBmpiR6htEEtYx"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_776","claim":"Travis Allen, the Republican candidate running for Governor of California, contributed campaign funds to Jerry Brown, Gavin Newsom, and Barbara Boxer.","posted":"05\/25\/2018","sci_digest":[],"justification":"DidTravis Allen, arguably the most conservative candidate for California governor, donate campaign money to three of the states leading liberal Democrats? Thats the Republican-on-Republican attack levied by John Coxs campaign for governor in arecent TV adthat goes after Allen, an Orange County assemblyman whos positioned himself as a GOP populist. Heres the full text of the ad, which includes three attacks on Allen: Narrator: For Republicans, the race for governor is crystal clear: Theres conservative businessman John Cox, leading the opposition to Jerry Browns Sanctuary State and chairman of the initiative campaign to repeal the gas tax. Then theres career politician Travis Allen. He gave campaign donations to Jerry Brown. Gavin Newsom and Barbara Boxer. And on the floor vote, Allen refused to join Republicans opposing driver licenses for illegal aliens. The conservative choice is clear: John Cox for governor. The ad was paid for by John Cox for Governor 2018. Well examine the other two attacks on Allen in future fact-checks. In this piece, well focus on the claim he donated to top Democrats. Background on GOP rivals Recent polls show growing support for Coxs campaign for governor, less than a week after President Trumpendorsedthe San Diego businessman. A surveyreleased Wednesday nightfrom the Public Policy Institute of California shows Newsom, the states lieutenant governor, leading Cox, 25 percent to 19 percent. Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was third, at 15 percent, followed by Allen with 11 percent,  State Treasurer John Chiang at 9 percent and former state schools chief Delaine Eastin with 6 percent. Coxand Allen have sparred at campaign events over who is the most conservative candidate. Theyve both criticized Californias Democratic leadership over the gas tax increase and sanctuary state protections. The top two candidates in the June 5 primary, regardless of party affiliation, will move on to the November runoff. Donating to Democrats? The ad accuses Allen of donating to three of the states top Democrats. The irony, of course, is that Allens run for governor has centered on criticizing those same politicians, particularly Brown and Newsom. We found clear evidence supporting the claim, though Coxs ad ignores the fact that the contributions took place nearly a decade ago, before Allen ran for elected office, and that he also donated to Republicans. Campaign finance records show that in October 2010, Allen donated $1,000 to Jerry Brown for Governor, through Wealth Strategies Group, his wealth management firm in Huntington Beach. In August 2010, Allen gave $100 to Gavin Newsom for Lieutenant Governor. And, in October 2010, he donated $250 to Barbara Boxer for Senate. SOURCE: Campaign finance records from the California Secretary of State'swebsite. Asked about this, a spokeswoman for Allens campaign said in an email that the contributions took place before Travis was an elected official, as a businessman, he purchased tickets to some events. A November 2017 Mercury-Newsarticlesummarized these and additional donations Allen made to Democrats in 2010 and 2011. He told the paper at that time: As a businessman I was invited to some events by friends, and I purchased tickets to these events. Attending these events, however, opened my eyes to the damage the Democrats were doing to California, and brought about my decision to do everything in my power to stop them, including running for public office. Similar claim In April 2016, PolitiFact California ratedMostly Truea similar claim about then Presidential candidate Donald Trump donating to Democrats. Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, at the time Trumps rival for the Republican presidential nomination, claimed Trump has given $12,000 to Jerry Brown, Gavin Newsom and Kamala Harris. Campaign finance data showed the claim was accurate, though we noted Cruz left out that the donations took place long before Trump announced his run for president. The contribution to Jerry Brown took place in 2006, while the donations to the other Democrats took place in 2009, 2011 and 2013. Our ruling In a recentTV ad, John Coxs campaign for governor claimed rival GOP candidate Travis Allen donated to three of Californias top Democrats. Campaign records prove the claim, though the contributions took place a decade ago, before Allen entered politics. The statement is accurate but needs this clarification. We rate it Mostly True. MOSTLY TRUE The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.","issues":["Campaign Finance","Negative Campaigning","The 2018 California Governor's Race","California"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1m9TYP59VPDPW32-RK_WzCO92K78viApl","image_caption":"Narrator: For Republicans, the race for governor is crystal clear: Theres conservative businessman John Cox, leading the opposition to Jerry Browns Sanctuary State and chairman of the initiative campaign to repeal the gas tax."}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_777","claim":"Is this video depicting refugees stealing from a caf\u00e9 in Spain?","posted":"08\/16\/2018","sci_digest":["A video purportedly showing refugees looting a caf in Spain actually captures an incident from 2015 involving students at a university in South Africa."],"justification":"Another video seemingly intended to malign refugees began to spread online in August 2018. This video purportedly showed a group of dark-skinned individuals smashing glass cases and stealing food from a small caf\u00e9. The video was captioned \"Refugees Welcome to Spain,\" an apparent nod to the \"Refugees Welcome\" sign that had been hung on Madrid City Hall a few years prior. However, this video does not feature refugees, was not recorded in Spain, and does not depict a recent incident. The footage was actually taken in a cafeteria at Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria, South Africa, in November 2015. At that time, students at several South African universities were engaged in protests against fee hikes and inadequate funding. The South African Independent Online (IOL) news outlet reported that 16 protesting students at two Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) campuses were arrested for the incident depicted in this video and were released the following day. The Gencor Hall, the main exam center at the South campus, along with the information center and two security vehicles, were torched. The protests took an ugly turn when students vandalized a cafeteria at the South campus. That same day, police arrested 16 students in connection with the violence but released them a day later. South African History Online provided context for the student protest: student protests at public universities and colleges over financial exclusions speak directly to the issue of inadequate governmental and other funding for education in South Africa. An estimated R900 million per annum for student funding is needed for TUT to function as an institution that still serves qualifying students requiring financial aid. NSFAS, a loan and bursary scheme the government introduced in 1999 to provide financially disadvantaged students access to university education, offers only a portion of this amount to students who need financial aid at TUT. For example, in 2014, the state scheme funded half of the university students who qualified for its loans and bursaries at TUT. Despite obtaining an additional allocation of R1 billion for that year, NSFAS was still unable to fund an estimated 10,000 students across TUT's campuses who needed and qualified for financial aid in 2014, of which R270 million was allocated for TUT. In 2015, the situation worsened as the NSFAS allocation excluded that portion. The 2015 SRC estimated that over 20,000 returning students across the university's six campus regions were excluded that year. Many of these students had been funded by NSFAS in 2014 but were left out in 2015 and were not allowed to register without an upfront payment; they were also barred from receiving their results without settling their debt. Students at institutions including the Vaal University of Technology, the University of Johannesburg, the University of Venda, and Walter Sisulu University faced similar issues around the same time. Academic activities at the university were suspended for the remainder of the school year after the protests turned violent in November 2015. YouTuber Arphalia Meyer contemporaneously posted a series of videos of the protesters looting the campus, with the video that formed the basis of the later viral \"Refugees Welcome to Spain\" clip being uploaded on 23 November 2015. That original video was accompanied by the caption \"Security cam footage of the mob looting Kantina, the tuck shop on campus at TUT PTA. It's clear enough that this was premeditated and they are no strangers to it.\" This footage was taken at a university in South Africa and shows a group of students vandalizing a cafeteria amidst protests in 2015 against inadequate school funding. It has nothing to do with Spain or refugees, and it was nearly three years old when it was re-captioned and circulated online.","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1TmcgNU4Ia6vJldVXGj9aQADT7jZIsqlJ"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_778","claim":"Comparison of Hiroshima and Detroit","posted":"08\/11\/2016","sci_digest":["Circulating images purport to compare the effects of urban decay in Detroit with the destruction of Hiroshima, Japan by an atomic bomb during World War II."],"justification":"The photo montage displayed above is one of dozens circulating online since 2009, purporting to demonstrate that 50-plus years of rule by the Democratic Party wrought a level of destruction on Detroit comparable to that caused by the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan in 1945. Some versions have sought to make the case verbally, as well. For example:What has caused more long term destruction - the A-bomb, or Government welfare programs created to buy the votes of those who want someone to take care of them? Japan does not have a welfare system. Work for it or do without. These are possibly the 5 best sentences youll ever read and all applicable to this experiment: 1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. 2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. 3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. 4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it! 5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.   The comparison of 2010 Detroit to 1945 Hiroshima is grotesquely forced, however, as is the implication that Democratic policies are wholly to blame for the Detroit's decline since World War II. We'll start our analysis with the images, some of which are inaccurately labeled. Beginning with the upper left-hand photo, it is, in fact, an aerial view of the hypocenter (ground zero) of the atomic bomb explosion over Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, taken a few months after the fact. Here's a larger view of the image: hypocenter Working clockwise, the next image in the set supposedly depicts modern-day Hiroshima  except that it doesn't. It's actually a snapshot taken from the Landmark Tower Sky Garden in Yokohama, Japan much like this one from Flickr: Flickr   That having been pointed out, it's true that Hiroshima was rebuilt from its ashes and is now a beautiful and modern city. Nor is it too terribly hard to find an actual photo of it. rebuilt photo The photo at bottom-right  though taken in 2013, not 2010  does show a dilapidated building (of which there are plenty) on the east side of Detroit. It's the former Packard Automotive Plant, which closed in the late 1950s: plenty closed   However, the thing to note about the use of this image to portray Detroit as a locus of Hiroshima-like devastation is that all we actually see is one long-abandoned, crumbling building. It doesn't make the case. Lastly, we're shown a photo supposedly depicting Detroit in its mid-1940s heyday  except that it was taken in the mid-1930s. It's an aerial view of Navin Field (later Tiger Stadium): Navin Field   Granted, for the purposes of argument it doesn't really matter whether the above photo was taken in the '30s or '40s  the point remains that Detroit once had a teeming population, abundant jobs, and a booming economy. In 1950 it was the fourth-largest city in the United States, but no longer. The question is, who was responsible? There's no simple explanation (and therefore no single scapegoat at whom to point fingers) for Detroit's long, slow descent to bankruptcy. Scott Martelle, author of Detroit: A Biography, offered this capsule summary in an op-ed column published in 2011: column The collapse of Detroit has roots in intentional de-industrialization by the Big Three automakers, which in the 1950s began aggressively spider-webbing operations across the nation to produce cars closer to regional markets, and to reduce labor costs by investing in less labor-friendly places than union-heavy Detroit. Their flight was augmented by government policies that, in the 1970s and 1980s particularly, forced municipalities and states to compete with each other for jobs by offering corporate tax breaks and other inducements to keep or draw business investments, a bit of whipsawing that helped companies profit at the expense of communities. Another summary of Detroit's decline cited issues such as the city's dependence on a single industry (i.e., automobiles), decades of racial tensions, shortcomings of leadership (stretching back to the 1930s), and the lack of an efficient transit system. decline Did Democrats and Democratic policies play some role in the fall of Detroit? Surely they did. Every Detroit mayor since 1962 has been a Democrat, after all. But Republicans held the seat for the 12 years prior to that, from 1950 through 1961. The Packard plant whose hollowed-out remains were displayed above closed its doors during that time. Whatever blame is to be allotted to politicians must be shared by both Democrats and Republicans on the national level, as well. Detroit's decline since World War II took place during periods when both parties held the presidency and\/or controlled Congress. Finally, the specific suggestion that Detroit's downfall was an unintended consequence of the spread of social welfare programs while Hiroshima's dramatic recovery is at least partially attributable to the lack of same in Japan is based on misinformation. Japan has maintained strong public health care and social welfare programs in one form or another since the 1920s. Yet Hiroshima was rebuilt and flourished just the same. maintained  Drury, Flora.\"A City Rebuilt from the Ashes.\"\rDaily Mail Online.5 August 2015. Martelle, Scott.\"The Collapse of Detroit.\"\rLos Angeles Times.27 March 2011. \"Anatomy of Detroit's Decline.\"\rNew York Times.8 December 2013. \"Zombieland: The Abandoned Buildings of Detroit.\"\rBeaumont Enterprise.18 July 2013.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=11rS4QGrk0u0xUenk5BCywXsc1_IkmRz6"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ltA2CHYCEvlciw7g2IGP0iROQcF652L3"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1jCl8Ia61t6NFrdWFBBGtXkCKx8gGudcI"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_779","claim":"If Wisconsin's governor cuts perquisites as much as he plans to do, it would still leave (workers) better off than their private sector counterparts.","posted":"02\/21\/2011","sci_digest":[],"justification":"With national attention focused on a showdown in Wisconsin over Gov. Scott Walker's proposal to reduce state worker benefits, the issue led to some spirited back-and-forth between union-backer Donna Brazile and conservative columnist George Will during the round-table discussion on ABC'sThis Week.Brazile called the workers who have flooded the state capitol to back union workers an organic movement.Just like the Tea Party went out there and grabbed the microphone, what you have is grassroots people out there saying, 'No more,' no more budget cuts on the back of working people. Brazile said.Will responded, Donna, what you call the grassroots is a tiny minority of this tiny minority of Wisconsin people who work for the government. Three hundred thousand public employees in Wisconsin went to work -- while the teachers were clutching their little signs that say it's all about the kids, they're abandoning their classrooms, lying to their supervisors, saying they were sick, and going off to protest in defense of perquisites, which if the governor cuts them as much as he plans to do, would still leave them better off than their private sector counterparts.We decided to check Will's claim that perks or non-wage compensation such as health and retirement benefits) -- if cut as much as Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has proposed -- would still leave public employees better off than those in the private sector.Walker's plan would require state workers to pay 5.8 percent of their pension contributions and to double their share of health premiums to 12.6 percent.Our colleagues at PolitiFact Wisconsin have been all over many of the issues in this contentious debate, and back on Feb. 8, they fact-checked a claim Gov. Walker made in his firststate of the stateaddress,that most state employees could pay twice as much toward their health care premiums, and it would still be half the national average.Here's some of what our friends at PolitiFact Wisconsin found:* AKaiser FamilyFoundationstudy that concluded that employees nationally -- public and private -- pay an average of 29 percent of the cost of the premiums. Among just state and government workers nationwide, the average was 25 percent for family coverage. * A U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics2010 health care benefitssurveythat put the employee share at 32 percent for family coverage. Its 21 percent for single coverage. * Astudy by The Segal Co., a private benefits firm, that looked just at state government workers and found that a majority pay between 20 percent and 60 percent of their premium costs for family coverage.In other words, no matter how you slice it, the 12.6 percent share of health care premiums that Walker proposes employees pay is well below what most pay in the private--and public--sectors.That gets us halfway there. The second piece is pensions. Again, Walker's plan would require state workers to pay 5.8 percent of pension contributions. This one is a little more difficult to compare. Most public employees have a pension plan. But fewer than one in five private-sector employees has access to a pension plan. And those who do typically don't contribute anything to it. Much more often, private employees have access to employer-sponsored retirement benefits (such as 401(k) plans), rather than pensions. And a third of the private sector workforce has no access to an employer sponsored retirement plan at all.The 401(k) has become the de facto retirement benefit in the private sector, said Keith Brainard, research director for the National Association of State Retirement Administrators.Typically, Brainard said, employers will match about 3 percent to 5 percent of an employee's salary. Employeesmaycontribute to their 401(k), but they aren'trequiredto contribute.So Wisconsin public employees may berequiredto contribute more to the their retirement plan than those in the private sector, but that doesn't mean they're at a disadvantage compared to the private sector. In fact, experts say theywillbe better off.According to a survey prepared by Brainard in October 2009, The retirement security of working Americans presently appears shaky outside the public sector, due not only to the nations heavy use of a retirement plan model that has been found to be undependable in its ability to provide reliable retirement income, but also due to low relative rates of participation in employer-sponsored retirement plans. Conversely, For most states and local governments, retirement security of retired workers is a policy that is being achieved.As always, Brainard said, there are exceptions, such as for those government employees who don't work long enough to become vested in a pension.But Will's comment, as it relates to pension is largely accurate, Brainard said. Overall, the retirement plan typically provided to Wisconsin public employees --whether or not they are contributing 5.8 percent -- provides a larger retirement benefit than private sector employees get.We'd like to cite one more survey, one by theWisconsin Legislative Councilwhich found that even among major public employee retirement systems, most required employee contributions of more than 5 percent. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, for government workers with a required plan contribution, the average contribution is 6.3 percent of earnings. So Walker's proposal is in line with the norm for government workers.Now, we'd like to drop one big disclaimer into this whole analysis. Many experts contend that while state workers get better benefits, they get paid less than folks in the private sector. PolitiFact Wisconsin took a closer look at that issuehere. The point is that it's important to consider an employee's total package of wages and benefits when comparing public and private sector compensation. But that's not the issue before us here. Will clearly stated that he was talking about just the benefits side of the equation. And with regard to the changes Walker has proposed -- requiring greater employee contributions to pension and health care -- Will is right that they would still leave public employees better off than those in the private sector. We rate Will's comment True.","issues":["National","Labor","Pundits","State Budget","This Week - ABC News"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_780","claim":"Did an Ohio Gubernatorial Candidate Accept $20,000 from a Pro-Assad Group?","posted":"04\/23\/2018","sci_digest":["Former Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a Democrat, disclosed he received the money as payment for a speech."],"justification":"On 17 April 2018, Dennis Kucinich, a former U.S. representative from Ohio who is seeking to become the Democratic nominee for the state's upcoming gubernatorial election, filed paperwork disclosing that he had received thousands of dollars in speaking fees from an organization that supports Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, who is widely considered a war criminal. According to a supplemental disclosure filed with the Ohio Ethics Commission, Kucinich received $20,000 from the Association for Investment in Popular Action Committees, a California-based non-profit organization that operates several projects, including the Syria Solidarity Movement. That organization describes itself as dedicated to \"Syrian sovereignty\" and opposes military intervention in the ongoing civil war, in which hundreds of thousands of Syrians have died. The Ethics Commission sent us a copy of the disclosure, which was signed by Kucinich. The Syria Solidarity Movement's website contains a range of stories that promote the talking points of the Assad regime and its Russian allies, including stories that seek to raise doubts about a deadly 7 April 2018 attack on civilians, in which it is widely suspected that chemical weapons were used, and that cast unfounded suspicions upon the camera-toting rescue organization broadly known as the White Helmets, who regularly document war crimes in rebel-held regions. Articles about the payment spread on social media, prompting some readers to ask whether a blurb taken from the liberal news site Huffington Post and shared on Facebook alongside the story was true (it is): \"The former congressman is seeking the Democratic nomination in Ohio's gubernatorial race and recently revealed he accepted $20,000 from a pro-Assad group.\" In response, Kucinich's spokesman, Andy Juniewicz, told the Associated Press that the event at which Kucinich spoke was pro-peace, and that the former congressman, who has personally met Assad several times, has pressured the embattled Syrian president to admit he used chemical weapons on civilians and to abide by international law. The bloody Syrian civil war is now in its seventh year. On 13 April 2018, the U.S., France, and the U.K. launched a missile strike against the Assad regime in response to their attack on Douma, where scores of people died and hundreds were injured. The aftermath shed light on an ongoing and disorienting disinformation campaign promulgated by so-called Western \"anti-imperialists\" who support the Assad regime and help spread propaganda to an English-speaking audience. According to the Syria Solidarity Movement's \"About\" page, the organization has its roots in a 2012 email listserv started by Eva Bartlett, a Canadian blogger who regularly makes reality-challenged statements, such as claiming that child war victims are actors being \"recycled\" in attacks staged by the White Helmets, and that Al Quds, a hospital in Aleppo that was bombed in 2016, was in fact never bombed, citing only false Russian government statements as proof.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1U7ZU-ZCV5M_yO33r0c2rVr84bU_9ckcJ","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_781","claim":"Ronald Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter by a large margin, even though he was behind by 6% in the polls.","posted":"10\/23\/2016","sci_digest":["The claim that Reagan won the 1980 presidential election in a landslide despite trailing well behind Carter in late public opinion polls is cited as a reason to get out and vote for Donald Trump."],"justification":"Two and a half weeks before the 2016 presidential election, GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump trailed behind Democrat Hillary Clinton by an average of 6% in national polls, a statistic that buoyed Clinton supporters yet failed to rattle diehard supporters of Trump, who had managed, as The Guardian put it, to \"confound expectations\" all year. As the smoke cleared from weeks of political bombardment, White House watchers were convinced the only questions now were how big Hillary Clinton's win would be and whether the Democrats could take Congress, too. Those Republicans still loyal to Trump clung to the hope that all the polls were wrong and that in barely two weeks' time, angry voters would again stun the world. Over and over, Donald Trump repeated one word: Brexit. \"We will win,\" he told a rally in Pennsylvania on Friday. \"We will shock the world. This is going to be Brexit-plus.\" Hubris aside, some of his supporters remained worried about voter defections in the wake of the Trump \"groping\" scandal, prompting calls for an eleventh-hour get-out-the-vote drive, not to mention homebrew efforts to rally people to the polls, like the image macro below: groping drive. The Internet meme was accurate insofar as public opinion polls taken in October 1980 showed Democrat Jimmy Carter holding as much as an eight-point lead over Republican Ronald Reagan (a Gallup poll two weeks before the election had Carter at 47% and Reagan at 39%); yet Reagan won a landslide victory in the general election, beating Carter 489 to 49 in electoral votes and by almost 10% in the popular vote. (It should be noted that 6.6% of the popular vote also went to a third-party candidate, John Anderson.) To conclude from that single example that polls simply ought not to be believed is a stretch, however. The 1980 upset was anomalous, the polling organization Gallup says, and based on factors unique to that year's campaign. Reagan's late-breaking surge that year is generally attributed to the only presidential debate between Carter and Reagan, held one week before the election on October 28, which seemed to move voter preferences in Reagan's direction, as well as the ongoing Iran hostage crisis, which reached its one-year anniversary on Election Day. After trailing Carter by 8 points among registered voters (and by 3 points among likely voters) right before their debate, Reagan moved into a 3-point lead among likely voters immediately afterward, and he won the November 4 election by 10 points. By contrast, in 2016, the two major party candidates had already faced off in three head-to-head debates, all held well before Election Day, which resulted in little or no improvement in Trump's underdog position in the polls. Among the many issues and challenges facing America, none loomed in the forefront the way the Iranian hostage crisis (and the Iranian Revolution in general) did throughout the final year of Jimmy Carter's presidency. As Jonathan Chait noted back in 2012 when Republican challenger Mitt Romney found himself in a similar underdog position against incumbent president Barack Obama in that year's campaign home stretch: \"In 1980, the economy cratered (nothing remotely comparable has occurred this year), and then the Iranian hostage crisis, after an initial rally-around-the-flag blip, steadily corroded Carter's popularity.\" No equivalent of those factors can be seen yet today, and pinning your hopes on a scenario where your campaign suddenly picks up ten points in the final month seems to be either an act of self-delusion or a ploy to keep anxious conservatives at bay. John Sides similarly observed when commenting on the 2012 presidential race that the notion President Carter held a polling lead over Ronald Reagan in 1980 right up until the very end of the campaign is something of a misconception: \"1980 is a poor comparison with 2012 for many reasons. One is simply that the economy is not as bad in 2012 as it was in 1980. But there is another apparent misconception in the Romney campaign, which Nate Silver rightly picked up on: Carter didn't lead Reagan for much of the campaign. The [poll tracking] plot shows what Chait describes, which is the ebbing of Carter's poll standing throughout 1980. Indeed, Reagan didn't need his convention bump\u2014which he certainly got\u2014to put him in the lead. The Democratic convention helped erode Reagan's lead, but it never closed it altogether. At the end of the campaign, Reagan did surge, but this only increased his lead. His surge appears to have been brought on first by the debate, and then perhaps by several other events in the final week of the campaign: 'On Friday of that week, the final economic indicator of the campaign showed inflation still seriously on the rise. And on Sunday morning, November 1, the Iranian parliament announced their conditions for freeing the American hostages. Jimmy Carter immediately abandoned campaigning and appeared on national television in the early evening to repeat much of what the public had been hearing all day. It was a week, in effect, with much that could affect the choices made by voters.'\" Carter's pollster, Patrick Caddell, believed that Iran's rebuff doomed Carter, saying, \"It was all related to the hostages and events overseas.\" Harry Enten of the statistical analysis website FiveThirtyEight confirmed that in ordinary circumstances, October public opinion polls are usually reliable and highly predictive of final election results: \"In most years, the early-October polls [since 1952] were pretty close to the mark, with a correlation of +0.96 between the polls and the final result. Ten of the 16 elections featured errors of 3 percentage points or less, and in all but three campaigns, the polls were within 5 percentage points of the final outcome. Even in 2012, when Mitt Romney closed his deficit against President Obama after the first debate, the polls at this point still showed Obama leading. At this point in the election cycle, the average error of polls for all elections is just 3.3 percentage points (much lower than the 4.7-point error we found for just after the conventions), and every candidate who's been ahead in the popular vote in mid-October went on to win the election.\" Given the rarity of last-minute upsets, did Enten think Donald Trump still had a chance to stage a comeback and win the general election despite lagging 6% in the polls? \"It's possible,\" he wrote. \"But it would be basically unprecedented.\" Is that an excuse for anyone, regardless of party affiliation, not to turn out to vote? No, it is not.","issues":["inflation"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1o1Jv62OfneePG2gWeA7PkfpOtLVtxEQx"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_782","claim":"Monsanto Protection Act","posted":"03\/27\/2013","sci_digest":["Does the Monsanto Protection Act create a 'precedent-setting limitation on judicial review of genetically-engineered crops'?"],"justification":"Claim:  The Monsanto Protection Act creates a \"precedent-setting limitation onjudicial review of genetically-engineered crops.\"  Example:  [Collected via e-mail, March  2013]  I received an email regarding The Monsanto Protection Act is this true? On March 21st, Congress passed The Monsanto Protection Act that was slipped into a short term budget resolution. This dangerous rider found in Section 735 of the bill would create a precedent-setting limitation on judicial review of genetically-engineered crops, allowing them to be planted without federal safeguards in place that protect our environment,family farmers and citizens. Call President Obama today; tell him to strike section 735 from the 2013 Continuing Resolution.  Add your voice to the groundswell in response to this dangerous bill! Together we WILL be setting right this gross imbalance! Origins:  On 26 March 2013, President Obama signed into law a bill passed by the House and Senate earlier that month known as the \"Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013\" to provide funding for various federal agencies through the end of the 2013 fiscal year.  One of the provisions included in that bill in the section for \"Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and related agencies\" was Section 735, variously dubbed the \"Farmer Assurance Provision\" or the \"Monsanto Protection Act,\" an inclusion which reignited a clash between the agribusiness industry and food safety groups.  The former maintains that the Farmer Assurance Provision prevents activists from manipulating the court system to force farmers to abandon or destroy genetically modified (GMO) or genetically engineered (GE) crops that have already received U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) safety approval; the latter assert that Congress kowtowed to big business by sneaking into an appropriations bill a provision that allows large biotech companies like Monsanto to do an end run around the court system and avoid legitimate legal challenges to the safety of their products: bill Not only has anger been directed at the Monsanto Protection Act's content, but the way in which the provision was passed through Congress without appropriate review by the Agricultural or Judiciary Committees. The biotech rider instead was introduced anonymously as the larger bill progressed  little wonder food activists are accusing lobbyists and Congress members of backroom dealings. The Food Democracy Now and the Center for Food are directing blame at the Senate Appropriations Committee and its chairman, Sen. Barbara Mikulski. According to reports, many members of Congress were apparently unaware that the \"Monsanto Protection Act\" even existed within the spending bill, HR 933; they voted [for the bill] in order to avert a government shutdown. The \"Farmer Assurance Provision\" is not new to 2013: it was also part of the initial draft of a FY2013 Agriculture Appropriations bill in June 2012.  The text of the provision (Section 735) states that: bill In the event that a determination of non-regulated status made pursuant to section 411 of the Plant Protection Act is or has been invalidated or vacated, the Secretary of Agriculture shall, notwithstanding any other provision of law, upon request by a farmer, grower, farm operator, or producer, immediately grant temporary permit(s) or temporary deregulation in part, subject to necessary and appropriate conditions consistent with section 411(a) or 412(c) of the Plant Protection Act, which interim conditions shall authorize the movement, introduction, continued cultivation, commercialization and other specifically enumerated activities and requirements, including measures designed to mitigate or minimize potential adverse environmental effects, if any, relevant to the Secretarys evaluation of the petition for non-regulated status, while ensuring that growers or other users are able to move, plant, cultivate, introduce into commerce and carry out other authorized activities in a timely manner: Provided, That all such conditions shall be applicable only for the interim period necessary for the Secretary to complete any required analyses or consultations related to the petition for non-regulated status: Provided further, That nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting the Secretary's authority under section 411, 412 and 414 of the Plant ProtectionAct. The provision directs the Secretary of Agriculture to grant temporary deregulation status to allow growers to continue the cultivation of biotech crops that had previously been approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) while legal challenges to the safety of those crops are underway, and it prevents courts from interceding in the review process  a situation which critics contend unconstitutionally bars the court system from taking part in ensuring the safety of food products: The \"Monsanto Protection Act\" effectively bars federal courts from being able to halt the sale or planting of controversial genetically modified (aka GMO) or genetically engineered (GE) seeds, no matter what health issues may arise concerning GMOs in the future. The advent of genetically modified seeds  which has been driven by the massive Monsanto Company  and their exploding use in farms across America came on fast and has proved a huge boon for Monsanto's profits. But many anti-GMO folks argue there have not been enough studies into the potential health risks of this new class of crop. Well, now it appears that even if those studies are completed and they end up revealing severe adverse health effects related to the consumption of genetically modified foods, the courts will have no ability to stop the spread of the seeds and the crops they bear. The American Soybean Association (ASA) and other major agricultural associations expressed support for the provision in 2012, stating that it \"addresses a costly vulnerability in the regulatory process for biotechnology that is discouraging innovation in agriculture and unnecessarily putting farmers at financial risk\" by allowing biotech opponents to mount challenges to GE crop approvals based on procedural, rather than scientific, issues: support Opponents of agricultural biotechnology have repeatedly filed suits against USDA on procedural grounds in order to disrupt the regulatory process and undermine the science-based regulation of such products. These lawsuits have also created tremendous resource constraints for  USDA and have resulted in significant delays in approval of new, innovative products that will help growers provide Americans with an abundant and economical food supply while remaining competitive in the world market. [This provision] provides certainty to growers with respect to their planting decisions. If enacted, growers would be assured that the crops they plant could continue to be grown, subject to appropriate interim conditions, even after a judicial ruling against USDA. The inclusion of [this provision] is a positive step to ensure that U.S. farmers and our food chain are shielded from supply disruptions caused by litigation over procedural issues unrelated to sound science or the safety of biotech crops. This legislative solution ensures that national agricultural policy is not being decided by the court system while providing a level of certainty that is critical to ensure that our agricultural producers continue to lead the world. Dozens of food and consumer groups opposed the provision on the grounds that it was unnecessary and undermined the judiciary's authority to regulate the growing of genetically engineered crops:  opposed Reeling from federal court decisions that have found approvals of several genetically engineered (GE) crops to be unlawful, the biotech industry has quietly slipped a policy rider into the FY 2013 Agriculture Appropriations bill now being debated in the House Appropriations Committee. The provision would strip federal courts of the authority to halt the sale and planting of an illegal, potentially hazardous GE crop while the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) assesses those potential hazards. Further, it would compel USDA to allow continued planting of that same crop upon request, even if in the course of its assessment the Department finds that it poses previously unrecognized risks. Far from safeguarding farmers, the only parties whose interests are \"assured\" by this rider are those of GE crop developers.  The \"farmer assurance provision\" has very little to do with farmers and everything to do with the developers of GE crops. It would strip the Judiciary of its authority to fully adjudicate violations of law by USDA and compel USDA to take actions that might harm farmers and the environment  all to \"assure\" the profits of a handful of biotech companies, including Monsanto, Dow and Bayer CropScience. Every court that has reversed a USDA decision to approve a GE crop has carefully weighed the interests of all affected farmers, as is already required by law. No farmer has ever had his or her crops destroyed. USDA already has working mechanisms in place to allow partial approvals, and the Department has used them, making this provision completely unnecessary. The provisions of this bill (including the \"Monsanto Protection Act\") were originally to remain in effect for six months, until the end of the  fiscal year on 30 September 2013.  The bill was later extended to expire on 15 December 2013.     Last updated:  13 September 2013    Sheets, Connor Adams.  \"Furor Growing Against Obama Over 'Monsanto Protection Act.'\"   Interntional Business Times.  27 March 2013.    Sheets, Connor Adams.  \"Monsanto Protection Act.\"   Interntional Business Times.  27 March 2013.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_783","claim":"Was a significant trade agreement signed between Mexico and Argentina in response to Trump's proposals for a border wall?","posted":"11\/01\/2017","sci_digest":["Mexico is in trade talks with Argentina, but no deal has been finalized; the cost to American farmers would likely be lower than claimed."],"justification":"Two of Donald Trump's most prominent 2016 campaign pledges were to build a border wall along the Mexican border (or rather, to reinforce and extend it; a wall already exists along hundreds of miles of the international border), and to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, a 1994 arrangement between the United States, Canada and Mexico which he called \"the single worst trade deal ever approved in this country.\" exists arrangement called In October 2017, left-wing Facebook page \"The Other 98%\" posted a widely-shared meme which claimed that Mexico had  in retaliation for Trump's border wall plans  signed a major agricultural trade agreement with Argentina, which would have very harmful effects on American farmers: meme They're trying to distract us from the fact that Mexico retaliated against the border wall by establishing an agricultural agreement with Argentina. Starting next year Mexico will be buying 100% of their corn, rice, wheat and soy from Argentina duty free. In exchange Mexico will ship cars to Argentina duty free. This will take away at least $13 billion annually from American farmers.    As of 1 November 2017, Mexico and Argentina have not signed an agreement like the one described by \"The Other 98%\", but the two countries have held talks about a more limited (though still significant) trade deal involving grains and cars. Furthermore, the main catalyst for the negotiations has been the uncertainty caused by Donald Trump's vow to renegotiate NAFTA rather than his plans to build a border wall.  The source cited by \"The Other 98%\" is a September 2017 article by Daily Kos, which reported: Daily Kos Mexico already retaliated against Trump and his insults earlier this year by establishing an agricultural agreement with Argentina. Starting next year Mexico will be buying 100% of her corn, rice, wheat and soy from Argentina duty free. In exchange Mexico will ship cars to Argentina, duty free. This will taken [sic] away $13 billion annually from American farmers.  It's not clear what the source of these claims is, but a similar meme appeared online earlier in 2017, which read: meme Mexico has retaliated against Trump's racial profiling and insistence that Mexico will pay for his border wall. Beginning in 2018, Mexico will be buying its corn, rice, wheat and soy from Argentina. Not America. American farmers stand to lose $13 billion. The ripple effect will be even more devastating. The fact that this announcement was made during Trump's Made in America week, is just karmic icing.  \"Made in America Week\" took place from 17-24 July 2017; we found no evidence of any deal between Mexico and Argentina being announced during that time period. However, talks have been ongoing between the two countries.  place In the spring of 2017, Mexico's Deputy Economy Minister Juan Carlos Baker made several comments in interviews about his country's negotiations with Argentina and Brazil. On 26 March 2017, the Financial Times reported: Financial Times Mexico, the worlds biggest buyer of US corn, is considering offering duty-free access to Brazilian and Argentine maize as an alternative to American imports in a move that could have big consequences for US farmers worried about Donald Trumps trade and tax agenda. [...] \"I am pretty optimistic about the possibility of having a deal with these countries soon,\" Juan Carlos Baker, Mexicos deputy economy minister, told the Financial Times in an interview. \"Were pretty far advanced with Brazil...Argentina is a few steps behind,\" he said.... The following month, Baker told Reuters that a deal with Argentina could be finalized by the end of 2017: Reuters Mexico, seeking closer ties with the rest of Latin America, expects to finish negotiations on a trade deal with Argentina involving cars and agricultural products around the end of the year, Mexicos deputy minister for foreign trade said in an interview on Tuesday. [...] Under the deal, Argentina could gain part of the lucrative grains market in Mexico, Latin Americas No. 2 economy, Baker told Reuters. In 2015 Mexico imported $2.3 billion worth of U.S. corn and $1.4 billion of U.S. soy. But Baker said those numbers will likely decrease under a renegotiated North American Free Trade Agreement called for by Trump. \"The potential is there,\" Baker said. \"The Argentine exporters could find attractive conditions in Mexico.\" Mexico, in turn, could export cars to Argentina, he said. \"We have a very strong manufacturing industry and Argentina is an important market for us,\" Baker said. A trade deal between Mexico and Argentina may be in the works, but it has not yet been announced as of 1 November 2017. However, assuming a deal goes ahead to shift Mexico's importation of certain products from the United States to Argentina, the numbers are significant  but not as dramatic as they are in the meme. According to United States Grain Council statistics, the United States exported $2.5 billion worth of corn to Mexico in 2015 and 2016. In 2015, the United States exported $2.9 billion worth of soy products to Mexico, according to the U.S. Soybean Export Council (page 19.) According to Global Agricultural Trade System statistics for 2016, exports of wheat and rice were worth $612 million and $274 million, respectively.  Grain Council page 19 Global Agricultural Trade System This yields a total of $6.3 billion in U.S. exports to Mexico of corn, rice, wheat and soy  the four products specified in the above meme. So even if Mexico did decide to stop importing all these products from the U.S., the likely annual financial cost to the American agriculture industry would be extremely significant, but still only around half the $13 billion claimed. It's not entirely clear where the figure of $13 billion came from, but it might have originated in an October 2017 letter sent to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, and signed by dozens of food and agriculture companies and industry associations, warning Ross about the dangers, as they see them, of withdrawing from NAFTA.  letter According to a study by ImpactECON, if Canada, Mexico, and the United States return to most favored nation (MFN) tariff rates upon any withdrawal from NAFTA, the negative impact on the United States will far outweigh any benefits from higher U.S. tariffs, including a net loss of 256,000 U.S. jobs, a net loss of at least 50,000 jobs in the U.S. food and agriculture industry, and a drop in GDP of $13 billion from the farm sector alone. The study mentioned here was an August 2017 working paper produced by the economic consulting firm ImpactECON. It did not actually mention any figure of $13 billion. Rather, it projected that over the course of two to three years after a U.S. withdrawal from NAFTA, real GDP in the United States would fall by as much as 0.09 percent. working paper Gross domestic product, or GDP, is the combined market value of all goods and services produced in a particular geographic area (in this case, the United States.) It is a calculation commonly used to measure the total size of an economy. Real GDP is gross domestic product adjusted for inflation - meaning, roughly speaking, the size of the economy in relation to the cost of living.  As of the third quarter of 2017 (when the ImpactECON report was published), the real GDP of the United States was $17.01 trillion, according to figures from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. A 0.09 percent decline in that would amount to a $15.3 billion loss  not far off the $13 billion posited by the food and agriculture industry, in their letter.  figures There are a couple of things to note here: firstly, the 0.09 percent decline estimated in the ImpactECON report relates to the entire U.S. economy, and not \"the farm sector alone,\" as mentioned in the letter. In fact, the working paper projects a very small increase in production for the crops and forestry sector (0.04 percent, page 20), accompanied by a significant boost to production in the sugar sector (5.11 percent), but it also projects production declines of between one and two percent in the meat, food and livestock and fishing sectors.  page 20 Secondly, this real GDP declined is projected to happen \"in the next 2-3 years\", so if the meme is using the letter to Wilbur Ross as the source of its $13 billion figure, it is misrepresenting the decline as happening \"annually.\" projected Politico. \"Full Transcript: First 2016 Presidential Debate.\"\r Politico. 27 September 2016. Webber, Jude. \"Mexico Eyes Duty-Free Corn Deals to Counter Trump.\"\r Financial Times. 26 March 2017. Misculin, Nicolas. \"Mexico, Looking South, Sees Trade Deal With Argentina Around Year's End.\"\r Reuters. 18 April 2017. U.S. Soybean Export Council. \"2015 Annual Report.\"\rU.S. Soybean Export Council. 27 October 2015. NAFTA Food and Ag Trade Working Group. \"Letter to Wilbur Ross.\"\rNAFTA Food and Ag Trade Working Group. 25 October 2017. Bureau of Economic Analysis. \"Gross Domestic Product: Second Quarter 2017 (Advance Estimate.)\"\r U.S. Department of Commerce. 28 July 2017. Walmsley, Terry; Minor, Peter. \"Reversing NAFTA: A Supply Chain Perspective.\"\r ImpactECON. August 2017. Update [2 November 2017]: Added possible source of the $13 billion figure in the meme. ","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1sxx4v3izvjUZ58CE5o0mE6nOwMG6cTNi"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_784","claim":"Says Texas U.S. Rep. John Culberson was caught using campaign cash on collectibles, including Civil War memorabilia and fossils.","posted":"11\/03\/2018","sci_digest":[],"justification":"As the 2018 campaign comes to a close, the political arm of the Environmental Defense Fund has sent a mailer to homes in Texas 7th Congressional District saying that John Culberson, a Republican congressman, is wrong for Houston. As partial proof, it said he was caught using campaign cash on collectibles, including Civil War memorabilia and fossils. Caught is an interesting word, since the nine-term incumbent, now challenged by Democrat Lizzie Pannill Fletcher, disclosed the memorabilia purchases, which he says he gave as gifts from his campaign. As for the fossils, his campaign insisted there were no such purchases -- and said it only bought books and maps from a business that happens to also sell fossils. Critics have made a false assumption, the Culberson campaign told us initially. Well look at both parts of the claim but will give away a bit of what we found right here: He bought fossil replicas. If you wonder why an environment group would care about fossils and Culberson, the group noted that Culberson said in late summer that his purchases were for research into such things as paleoclimatology, or the study of climates before instrumental records were widely available, to help him better understand climate change. Environmental Defense Fund Action says that for all this studying, Culberson still refuses to accept scientific research on the matter. Culberson has said humans played a role in climate change but, ashe toldthe Los Angeles Times in 2015,  We just dont have enough data or accurate data to say with certainty what that effect has been. Lets take fossils first. The congressmans critics based their claim on a mention in a 2012 campaign finance report that Culbersons campaign made two purchases from a South Dakota organization, the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research. The institute sells fossils, replicas and other things, and Culberson spent $309.66 altogether there, Federal Election Commission records show. The purchase was part of a broader set of Culberson expenses being questioned by Texas Democrats -- a set of questions we are not addressing fully here because we are looking specifically at campaign ads and claims. But for a bit of perspective, theHouston Chroniclewrote in August that Texas Democrats were challenging nearly $50,000 in Culberson campaign spending since 2004. Focusing just on fossils, PolitiFact asked Culbersons campaign what it bought from the Black Hills Institute. We were told it bought books and maps, not fossils, the same explanation the campaign has given since August. Only in politics does a person get attacked for trying to be better at their job, Culberson campaign spokeswoman Catherine Kelly said. The mailer from the Environmental Defense Action Fund is factually wrong. The congressman never bought fossils with campaign contributions and all other purchases are acceptable under House and FEC rules. Culberson is a voracious reader, and has spent thousands of dollars from his campaign account for books and materials, including some on paleoclimatology, that his campaign says were related to his job. In just the 2011-12 campaign season, Culbsersons campaign spent $9,848 on research or research materials, most of it from vendors such as Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble, FEC records reviewed by PolitiFact show. Culberson chairs the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees spending on science and such agencies as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The research material helps him better understand the changing levels of carbon dioxide in the climate, his campaign says. Asked about records that would show he was buying books and maps, not fossils, from the Black Hills Institute, his campaign said the 2012 records for such specific purchases no longer exist. PolitFact, however, called the Black Hills Institute. They pulled the invoices from Culberson's two separate orders and sent us copies. This is what the campaign paid for, excluding shipping charges: Three large wall charts showing extensive histories of the Earth and matter, dating back 4.5 billion years. The charts have columns showing tectonic maps, changes in the earth such as mountain formation, major volcanic eruptions, glacial epochs, craters from asteroids and comets and extensive information on fossils, invertebrates and vertebrate lifeforms, as well as their extinction. These cost $19.95 apiece. One desktop model of a Triceratops. It cost $84.05. Two large -- 4.5 inches -- fossil replicas of a Tyrannosaurus Rex tooth. Each cost $40. The FEC gives pretty wide latitude to the purchase of books and other materials that a candidate or officeholder might use in his or her official capacity, Brendan Fischer, an expert on campaign finance law at the Campaign Legal Center, told us. But what about a Triceratops model and replicas of a Tyrannosaurus Rex tooth fossil? Id like to hear their explanation for it, he said. Its hard to see how it would pertain to their official duties. We told the campaign what we found, and it asked what our proof was. So we sent the campaign the invoices for the congressmans purchases. The response from Kelly, the spokeswoman: The invoices confirm that the congressman never bought actual fossils, and every purchase from the Black Hills Institute is considered acceptable under House and FEC rules. Asked why the congressman bought the replicas and the model at all, Kelly said, While these purchases were more than six years ago and now being used as part of a coordinated partisan hit job, the congressman believes these particular purchases were gifts, which is completely acceptable under FEC and House rules. The mailer from Environmental Defense Fund Action also mentioned Culbersons use of campaign money to buy collectibles and Civil War memorabilia. This, too, originated from the Democrats complaint referenced in the Houston Chronicle. Culberson is a Civil War history buff, collector and sometime-seller of memorabilia. But when it comes to his campaign funds, the purchases were for items such as stamps and coins the congressman got in order to give out as gifts, his campaign said. Congress members frequently use campaign money to buy gifts for constituents and volunteers, and the Culberson campaign said the Texas Republican was doing nothing different from what House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi has done when buying white orchids. The FEC allows candidates and officeholders to buy and give as gifts items of nominal value as long as they are not given to family members, Fischer said. FEC reports show only what a candidate or officeholder pays, not the value of the each item. For example, in 2014, Culbersons campaign spent $3,631 on coins from an antique coin seller. In 2009 and 2010, the campaign spent $4,181 on antiques and coins for gifts, includinghat stars(an emblem worn on soldiers hats) and Texas Centennial and Republic of Texas coins, FEC records show. Culbersons campaign said the value of each coin was about $25, and the value of stamps was about $10. For a broader view, we downloaded FEC data showing all federal candidate purchases -- those for everyone with a federal campaign account -- of items listed as gifts just since January 2017. The total reached $1.8 million, for everything from model airplanes to a quilt to gift baskets. Environmental Defense Fund Action said Texas U.S. Rep. John Culberson was caught using campaign cash on collectibles, including Civil War memorabilia and fossils. Caught seemed strong to us at first, given the campaigns denials. But with a phone call and email, it turned out that Culberson had in fact used campaign funds -- not for fossils, but for replicas and a desktop model. Our ruling comes down to perspective. The mailers spin seemed a little strong at first, especially knowing that gift purchases, whether for Civil War trinkets or not, are allowable if considered of nominal value. But the insistence of the campaign that Culberson did not buy fossils -- and that he had only bought books and maps -- is a factor as well. OK, he didnt buy fossils. He bought fossil replicas. We rate the claim Mostly True.","issues":["National","Campaign Finance","Climate Change"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_785","claim":"Did Keanu Reeves Say 'The Road to Heaven Isn't Through Your Yard'?","posted":"02\/09\/2021","sci_digest":["A viral quotation has been around online for years, but only belatedly was the Hollywood star's name attached to it. "],"justification":"In February 2021, social media users enthusiastically shared a meme that attributed the following quotation to the actor Keanu Reeves: shared \"I don't care how much you don't like me. The last time I checked, the road to heaven wasn't through your yard.\"   It's very unlikely Reeves ever uttered or wrote those words, but we cannot rule out that possibility. As a result, we are issuing a rating of \"Unproven,\" for now. The quotation itself has been around since 2018 at the latest, and appeared in numerous widely-shared memes that year. In the intervening years, it has appeared on T-shirts, and in various online forums devoted to \"inspirational quotes.\" numerous appeared T-shirts online forums Only more recently has it been attributed to Reeves, a clear indication (though not definitive proof) that he did not come up with it. We found instances of its attribution to the actor as early as August 2019, and social media users continued to share it in 2020. For reasons that are not clear, the meme enjoyed a resurgence in February 2021.  August 2019 2020 February 2021 We could not find any evidence to support the attribution of the quotation to Reeves, despite checking a news archive that stretches back several decades. The meme strongly appears to feature a generic, unattributed quotation of the kind that is widely shared on social media, which was belatedly linked to Reeves online.  However, we cannot rule out the possibility that Reeves wrote or uttered those words in some source that has since become obscure. As a result, for now, we're issuing a rating of \"Unproven.\"","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1s5WDkWmQT2qHH2hGpaE_IIi55cFksHUb","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_786","claim":"Says more than $3.5 billion in state revenue that is supposed to be dedicated to basic needs and functions is being diverted to make the books look balanced.","posted":"12\/04\/2010","sci_digest":[],"justification":"State Sen. Kirk Watson says he's going to fight budgetary gambits when lawmakers confront an expected shortfall in state budget revenue in the legislative session starting in January.In a Nov. 15 speech outlining his self-titled honesty agenda, the Austin Democrat names among his concerns a tendency by past legislatures to balance the budget by dipping into state income that's supposed to fund specific needs and functions.The result, Watson said, has diverted billions of dollars that had been promised to roads, parks, hospitals, clean air, utility bill relief, and other necessities  using it instead as a special piggy bank to make the books look balanced. In fact, over $3.5 billion of what people pay to support specific, basic needs and government functions is (currently) being diverted in this way. That's a lot of promises made and then broken. And this practice has grown -- more than doubled -- over the past decade.Watson mentioned the budget-balancing strategy again in aninterview excerptedin the Nov. 28 Austin American-Statesman and in a Nov. 30 talk at the University of Texas where he listed three of the affected funds, saying: Folks, I could go on (listing them) all day.The lege gets blamed for lots of things; has it really been taking funds dedicated to necessities to make the books look balanced?History: The Texas Constitution forbids the state from running in the red. Lawmakers who write each two-year budget must satisfy the state comptroller that budgeted expenditures won't exceed what the state gathers in revenue. That's what it means to balance the budget.Watson spokesman Steve Scheibal responded to our request for back-up evidence by sharing a spreadsheet prepared by the state comptroller's office. According to the spreadsheet, since the 1993 session, lawmakers have balanced budgets by tapping special accounts that collect money for specific purposes. Money taken from such accounts increased steadily through eight of the last nine budget periods, reaching more than $3.7 billion for fiscal 2010-11, which runs through August. All told, money spent in this fashion totals $18 billion.So, Watson's $3.5 billion-plus number sticks.According to the spreadsheet, more than 25 different accounts took hits from the 2009 Legislature. A category broadly termed All Other GR Dedicated Certification Accounts accounted for the largest single amount, $840 million. Next highest: nearly $671 million from the System Benefit Fund, which consists of proceeds from a tax on some utility bills intended to help low-income residents pay utility bills; $515 million from the Emissions Reduction Plan, which funds grants in targeted counties to address polluting heavy vehicles and equipment; and $331 million from an account called Designated Trauma Facility and EMS, which helps hospitals recover costs of uncompensated trauma care.An August 2009 news article in The Houston Chronicle quotes Dale Craymer, a veteran budget watcher who's president of the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association, saying of such transfers: It's kind of like having your (household) budget laid out and spending part of your food money on entertainment, or vice versa.Finally, we turned to the tail of Watson's statement--that shifting money from such funds make the books look balanced as opposed to actually balancing the budget.For expert perspective, we contacted consultant Billy Hamilton of Austin. He was the deputy comptroller when then-State Comptroller John Sharp recommended that the 1991 Legislature -- then facing a $4 billion-plus revenue shortfall -- consolidate more than 300 state funds. That change laid the groundwork for lawmakers to use accumulated cash balances to help balance future budgets.The comptroller's July 1991 Texas Performance Review report, Breaking the Mold, anticipated criticism of the funds' consolidation as an accounting trick. It says: The truth of the matter is that under the state's constitutionally mandated cash-basis budgeting system, there is no trickery involved. Bond rating agencies, for example, see funds consolidation as a component of prudent fiscal management; the one-time revenue gain from such consolidation is a valid and immediate benefit of improving the structure of fiscal management.As it turned out, the one-time revenue gain gave lawmakers a budget-balancing tool they have wielded ever since. In an interview, Hamilton said subsequent legislatures used it to balance budgets while avoiding major tax changes, save a 2006 overhaul of the state's largest business tax and a hike in cigarette taxes.Per Watson's statement, Hamilton said, As a matter of sound public policy, if you agree that the Legislature in the past has set up these dedicated accounts to accomplish certain public policy goals, they're certainly not being accomplished because the money is being effectively used for other purposes. Then again, Hamilton said, just because (lawmakers) set up a fund, that doesn't mean there's an inherent requirement that they spend the money (on that purpose); the Legislature has the power to appropriate most state funds as desired.Strolling into wonk territory, we also interviewed Craymer, who said the legislative practice of tapping special-purpose accounts doesn't mean the accounts won't someday recover money spent on other budget items. For instance, future legislatures could vote to replenish the funds from other sources and\/or quit draining their dollars.Craymer continued: Lawmakers are not spending the dedicated revenue, they're spending cash balances the revenue creates. Say what? It's a distinction only an accountant could appreciate.Separately, R.J. DeSilva, spokesman for the comptroller's office, agreed that dollars made available from the special-purpose accounts actually helped balance the 2010-11 budget, rather than just making the books look balanced.Maybe so, Watson acknowledged, but conversely, if lawmakers spent the dollars taken from a so-called dedicated account on its intended purpose, then they couldn't make the books look balanced because they wouldn't be -- meaning funding would fall short somewhere else in the budget. And Watson reminded that once money from such accounts is spent on other items, the dollars aren't available to pay for the needs they were originally intended to support.Watson also noted that on May 27, 2009, Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, told his Senate colleagues that the Legislature was unable to write an appropriations bill that would serve the needs of this state without relying to a fairly significant extent on surplus balances in our general-revenue dedicated funds.Ogden also said that a review of the practice would belong in a comprehensive assessment of the state's finances. At the end of the story, Ogden said, the obvious answer is a tax overhaul in the state of Texas. We really have a pretty rickety system right now.Bottom line: Watson accurately recaps the amount of money allocated from specific-purpose accounts for the 2010-11 state budget. But the shifting of funds doesn't just look like a book-balancing; it's for real.We rate Watson's statement Mostly True.","issues":["State Budget","Texas"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_787","claim":"Says Austin is creating more jobs than any other city in the country.","posted":"05\/16\/2018","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Austins mayor made a best-in-the-nation claim about local job gains that made us wonder. Steve Adler,who seeks a second termin November 2018, was askedon KLBJ-AMs morning May 8, 2018, Todd and Don Show about ending the red tape and paperwork that businesses have to go through just to expand in this city. Adlerreplied: You ought to minimize the bureaucracy as much as you can. But were doing something right in this city, you guys have to admit, right? Were creating more jobs than any other city in the country. We have an economy thats on fire. I mean, were doing something right, Adler said, going on to agree that he also wasnt trying to take personal credit for the gains. Some background:We recently found accuratean Adler tout of Austins jobless rate. From January through March 2018, Austins unemployment rate ran shy of 3 percent; the rate had mostly stayed under 3 percent since the start of 2017. So, we wondered, is Austin flat-out growing more jobs than any other city in the country? Mayor cites local sort of federal data By email, Adler spokesman Jason Stanford told us the mayor made his job growth claim by drawing on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Stanford included in his reply a chart from the Austin Chamber of Commerce indicating that between March 2017 and March 2018, the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metropolitan area--which takes in five Austin-area counties--saw greater percentage gains in nonfarm payroll jobs than nine other high-growth areas:          SOURCE:Web post,APRIL 24, 2018 - JOB GROWTH & UNEMPLOYMENT,Austin Chamber of Commerce, April 24, 2018 The Austin area was home to 1,060,200 jobs in March 2018, the chart says, and that count was up 36,800 jobs, or 3.6 percent, from March 2017. Listed as metro areas with the next-most percentage gains: Orlando (3.5 percent); Phoenix, Seattle and Riverside, Calif. (3.2 percent each); Jacksonville and Dallas (3.1 percent each). We noticed, though, that the Austin area ranked sixth among the selected regions in raw jobs gained. According to the chart, the Dallas area had 78,400 more jobs in March 2018 than in March 2017; the Phoenix area had 65,600 more jobs than before; the Seattle area had 53,200 more jobs than before; the Riverside area had 45,900 more jobs than before; and the Orlando area had 43,700 more jobs than before. To our inquiry, a chamber expert, Beverly Kerr, pointed out the chambers April 2018web postshowing Austins No. 1 rank. Kerr also commented: The mayor might better have said Austin is creating jobs faster than any other major metro, rather than creating more jobs, since some slower growing much larger metros are bound to actually be creating a larger number of jobs. Job gains in more metro areas We sought to look over the figures. So Kerr emailed us what she described as herfull fetch of job changes within 426 U.S. metro areas for the selected months, enabling us to conduct our own shake-outs. We sorted all the figures by percentage gains in jobs--finding that Austins 3.6 percent growth placed the area in a national tie with the Idaho metros of Idaho Falls and Pocatello and behind 28 similarly less populous areas, including three in Texas. From March 2017 to March 2018, the Midland area saw a nationally leading 9.9 percent bump, gaining 8,900 jobs; the adjoining Odessa area had a gain of 6.6 percent, 4,700 jobs; and the College Station-Bryan area saw an increase of 4.3 percent with 5,100 jobs gained, the figures indicate. We also sorted the provided figures by limiting our focus to the nations 49 metro areas that were home to 1 million jobs or more in March 2017. Among those areas, the Austin areas 3.6 percent growth rate as of March 2018 placed it No. 1, we found, though 14 other areas recorded greater raw job gains. Next, we queried the BLS directly about the mayors claim and backup information. By email, Dallas-based economist Cheryl Abbot confirmed that the figures behind Adlers claim were rooted in the bureaussupplemental tableposted online gauging over-the-year job changes from March 2017 to March 2018 in total nonfarm employment in metro areas with a population of 1 million residents or more as of 2010. Among the 51 areas clearing the declared population hurdle, Abbot wrote, the Austin area ranked No. 1 in percentage job growth. And even on a net change basis, Austin ranked 11th on our table (jobs up by 36,800), competing with the likes of NYC, LA, DFW, and Atlanta, among others, Abbot said. A national analysis We also consultedAaron M. Renn, an economist with theManhattan Institute for Policy Research. Asked to provide a long perspective on the Austin areas job gains, Renn emailed usa chartbased on BLS figures showing that the Austin area topped 52 other metro areas--leaving out many--with a 51 percent uptick in nonfarm jobs from 2000 to 2017; Californias Riverside area placed second with a 46 percent increase. But among the selected metro areas, the Austin areas raw gain of nearly 350,000 jobs over those years placed the area 10th nationally behind the metro areas of New York, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Houston, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Miami, Riverside, Phoenix and Atlanta, according to the chart. Our ruling Adler told the morning radio hosts that Austin is creating more jobs than any other U.S. city. To the contrary, federal figures show the five-county Austin metropolitan area (not Austin alone) trails some other U.S. metros including the No. 1 Midland area for its pace of jobs gained and it lags more than 25 metro areas in raw jobs gained. It would be accurate to say the Austin area lately has enjoyed greater percentage job gains than other metro areas of 1 million residents or more. We rate this Adler claim False. FALSE The statement is not accurate. Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.","issues":["Economy","Jobs","Texas"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1jVmmvauxDczVgy37q7NZobF1TS-eh5_v","image_caption":"SOURCE:"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_788","claim":"Does this online joke show evidence of racial prejudice in cases of tax evasion prosecutions?","posted":"03\/15\/2019","sci_digest":["What do these four examples have in common?  Nothing of significance, as far as we can tell."],"justification":"One of the more unusual political memes we've come across presented four different cases of tax-related financial improprieties to suggest that tax-evasion prosecutions were somehow influenced by racial bias against non-blacks. However, the \"Tax Racism\" meme offered examples, not all of which were actual cases of tax evasion, so widely spaced in time and differing in circumstances as to be unhelpful in making any point at all about either tax fraud or race. Martha Stewart, the entrepreneur who rose to prominence as the author of books on cooking, entertaining, and decorating, was not charged with or imprisoned for non-payment of income taxes. Stewart was found guilty in March 2004 of felony charges of conspiracy, obstruction of an agency proceeding, and making false statements to federal investigators in a case related to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation into insider trading activity. The investigation, which took place in Washington, D.C., on June 4, 2003, led to the Securities and Exchange Commission filing securities fraud charges against Martha Stewart and her former stockbroker, Peter Bacanovic. The complaint, filed in federal court in Manhattan, alleges that Stewart committed illegal insider trading when she sold stock in a biopharmaceutical company, ImClone Systems, Inc., on Dec. 27, 2001, after receiving an unlawful tip from Bacanovic, who was a broker with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated at the time. The Commission further alleges that Stewart and Bacanovic subsequently created an alibi for Stewart's ImClone sales and concealed important facts during SEC and criminal investigations into her trades. In a separate action, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York obtained an indictment charging Stewart and Bacanovic criminally for their false statements concerning Stewart's ImClone trades. Stewart was sentenced to five months in prison and also settled a civil suit with the SEC by paying a $195,000 fine, a penalty that reflected four times the amount of stock value loss she avoided by taking advantage of inside information, plus interest. Stewart did engage in a dispute with the state of New York in 2002 over unpaid property taxes that she contended she didn't owe because she hardly spent any time in that state, and she was eventually ordered by a judge to pay $220,000 in back taxes plus penalties. But contrary to the false impression created by this meme, she was not prosecuted or jailed over that issue; the time she spent in prison was solely related to a later insider-trading case, not to tax evasion. By the mid-1920s, notorious Chicago mobster Alphonse Gabriel Capone was reportedly taking in nearly $60 million annually ($878 million in 2018 dollars) from a variety of illegal activities, primarily Prohibition-era bootlegging. Capone was dubbed \"Public Enemy No. 1\" after the 1929 Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, in which gunmen allegedly hired by him posed as police officers to murder seven members of a rival gang, leading to increased public pressure on the government to rein Capone in. Federal authorities had difficulty gathering sufficient hard evidence to convict Capone on any substantial criminal charges, so they took what was then a novel approach: Even if they couldn't prove Capone was making his millions illegally, they could prove he wasn't paying income tax on his ill-gotten gains. Despite his obviously lavish lifestyle, Capone never filed a federal income tax return and claimed he had no taxable income, reportedly boasting at one point that, \"They can't collect legal taxes from illegal money.\" He was proved wrong. IRS and Treasury agents gathered evidence that Capone had made millions of dollars in untaxed income, and the mobster was eventually indicted on 22 counts of federal income tax evasion. After conviction, he was sentenced in 1931 to 11 years in prison, fined $50,000, and ordered to pay back taxes in the amount of $215,000. Capone was released from prison in 1939 with time off for good behavior and retired to Florida, where he died in 1947 at the relatively young age of 48. In a literal sense, Capone was indeed jailed for non-payment of income taxes, but the tax evasion charges were essentially a proxy for prosecuting the mobster over the multitude of vastly worse and violent crimes with which he was connected, as well as the immense profits he derived from those criminal activities. Capone was by no means an otherwise upright and law-abiding citizen who was thrown in prison simply because he didn't pay his income taxes. At this point in our narrative, we need to distinguish between different forms of tax evasion. At one end of the spectrum are those who haven't engaged in any fraudulent behavior but simply didn't or can't pay their taxes for any number of reasons\u2014maybe they didn't plan or withhold prudently, they received poor financial advice, they had legitimate confusion or dispute over what constituted taxable income, or they simply overspent and ended up in debt. Although non-payment of taxes is a crime, the IRS will not usually seek prosecution in these types of cases and will instead work with offenders to facilitate payment of their back debts, rather than making repayment difficult or impossible by incarcerating them. At the other end of the spectrum are those who actively engage in fraud to evade the full payment of taxes: They fail to disclose their full income, hide financial transactions, claim deductions to which they are not entitled, disguise monies earned as something other than income, or otherwise file falsified tax returns. The IRS will, at their discretion, seek prosecution in egregious cases of these forms of tax evasion. Leona Helmsley, derisively known as the \"Queen of Mean,\" was a billionaire who, along with her husband, real estate investor and broker Harry Helmsley, owned a vast portfolio of real estate and other assets, including a chain of hotels and the iconic Empire State Building. Leona Helmsley, who once reportedly asserted that \"We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes,\" fell into the latter class of tax evader, falsely manipulating her personal finances, business expenses, and dealings with third parties to avoid paying immense sums of taxes. Some of Helmsley's luster was tarnished in 1986 when court documents and law enforcement officials said she had failed to pay sales taxes in New York on hundreds of thousands of dollars of jewelry she purchased at Van Cleef & Arpels, the exclusive Manhattan store. Two senior store officers were indicted on charges that they operated a scheme by which customers with out-of-state addresses could have their purchases recorded as being mailed to them, thus avoiding city and state taxes. In 1987, a series of adverse articles in The New York Post about the Helmsleys, set off by one of their disgruntled employees, led to a broad investigation. The following year, Harry and Leona Helmsley were indicted by federal and state authorities on charges that they had evaded more than $4 million in income taxes by fraudulently claiming as business expenses luxuries they purchased for Dunnellen Hall in Greenwich, Conn., a 28-room Jacobean mansion on 26 acres with a sweeping view of Long Island Sound that they bought in 1983. In 235 counts in state and federal indictments brought by Robert Abrams, then the New York State attorney general, and Rudolph W. Giuliani, then the United States attorney and later mayor of New York, the Helmsleys were accused of draining their hotel and real estate empire to provide themselves with such extravagances at Dunnellen Hall as a $1 million marble dance floor above a swimming pool, a $45,000 silver clock, a $210,000 mahogany card table, a $130,000 stereo system, and $500,000 worth of jade art objects. Nothing was too small or personal to be billed to their businesses, from Mrs. Helmsley's bras to a white lace and pink satin dress and jacket and a white chiffon skirt\u2014the dress and skirt were entered in the Park Lane Hotel records as uniforms for the staff. Mrs. Helmsley was also charged with defrauding Helmsley stockholders by receiving $83,333 a month in secret consulting fees. She was convicted of 33 felony counts related to her evasion of $1.2 million in federal income taxes. She was sentenced to 16 years in prison (reduced to four years on appeal), fined $7.1 million for tax fraud, and ordered to pay some $1.7 million in back federal and state taxes. She began serving her sentence in 1992 and was released from federal prison in Connecticut in 1994 after having served less than half her sentence. Where along the tax-evader spectrum between \"legitimate dispute\" and \"willful tax fraud\" civil rights activist Al Sharpton might fall is difficult to determine. Claims were made in the press in 2014 that Sharpton owed some $4.5 million in unpaid taxes, but the accuracy of that number and how much of the money owed might already have been repaid by Sharpton were unclear, and his tax-troubles narrative involved a muddied mixture of personal, business, and non-profit finances, as well as liabilities for federal taxes, state taxes, payroll taxes, and personal income taxes. Much of the dispute over the \"why\" and \"how much\" of Sharpton's unpaid tax bill stemmed from the operations of the National Action Network, a not-for-profit civil rights organization founded by Sharpton in 1991. Sharpton contended in a 2014 New York Times account that he incurred an unexpected tax liability because he was taxed personally for income he had given to the non-profit organization, and that he was up to date on repayment plans. Officials contested that the amount he was in arrears for in unpaid taxes had actually grown larger, though. Today, Mr. Sharpton still faces personal federal tax liens of more than $3 million and state tax liens of $777,657, according to records. Mr. Sharpton said the federal liens resulted from a demand by the IRS that he pay taxes on earnings from speaking engagements that he had turned over to the National Action Network. He said he was up to date on payment plans for both the federal and state liens, so, he said, the outstanding balance was much lower than records showed. But according to state officials, his balance on the state liens is actually $220,000 greater now than when they were first filed during the years 2008 through 2010. A spokesman for the State Department of Taxation and Finance said state law did not allow him to provide any further details. Sharpton then contested that news account, asserting that it referenced \"old taxes\" and insisting again that his tax liens had been paid down below the $4.5 million debt claimed in the New York Times report. During a news conference at the headquarters of his National Action Network in Harlem, Mr. Sharpton sought to refute the assertion that there were $4.5 million in state and federal tax liens outstanding against him and the for-profit businesses he controls. He said that the liens had been paid down, although he declined to say by how much, and that he was current on all taxes he was obligated to pay under settlement agreements with tax authorities. \"We're talking about old taxes,\" he said, adding, \"We're not talking about anything new. So all of this, as if I'm not paying taxes while I'm doing whatever I'm doing, it reads all right, but it just is not true.\" The accuracy of Mr. Sharpton's assertion that the amount he owes the federal government is much lower than the $3.6 million shown in records could not be verified. A spokesman for the Internal Revenue Service said federal law prohibited the agency from divulging any details about individual taxpayers. As for the state tax liens, Mr. Sharpton's assertion that he had paid them down conflicts with information provided by state officials. State authorities filed tax liens against Mr. Sharpton in 2008 and 2009, and again in 2010 against a for-profit business he controls, Revals Communications, all totaling $695,000. But a spokesman for the State Department of Taxation and Finance said the amount due had actually increased to $916,000. Regardless of the numbers, Sharpton wasn't put in prison because tax officials did not deem his case to be an exceptional one of scofflaw tax fraud or evasion that merited prosecution, instead working with him to facilitate his paying down the debt. The conclusion here is a simple one: Cherry-picking four very disparate cases of financial wrongdoing spanning several decades, while ignoring the many other instances of tax evasion successfully prosecuted by the U.S. government, documents nothing about any purported racial bias in such prosecutions.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1rWRC6JwRZIge6QDo7Mh4C3u3459csdRF"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_789","claim":"Purchasing SpaceX shares ahead of its public offering is a scam.","posted":"10\/10\/2022","sci_digest":["The scam was being promoted in Facebook ads and perhaps also on Instagram by an account that showed signs of originating in Vietnam."],"justification":"On Oct. 10, 2022, a paid ad on Facebook promoted a fake investment opportunity with the words, \"How To Buy SpaceX Stock Before It Goes Public.\" The ad showed a picture of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and directed users to chat with a person on Messenger, who then told users to visit a WhatsApp group chat named \"Stock Learning Group 28.\" But none of this was legitimate. It was all a scam to steal users' money. Stock Learning Group 28  The full scam post that promised a way to \"buy SpaceX stock before it goes public\" read as follows: Bullish on the future of space travel? See how to invest in SpaceX before it goes Public! We help you pre-buy stocks in the latest up-and-coming companies, before most retail investors. Getting in on the best companies before they go public is how you can get the returns like recent IPOs such as: AirBnB - 130% return in 7 months.Palantir - 226% return in 10 months.Snowflake - 331% return in 10 months. We do one thing very well.....get you access to the most popular companies before the public market has a chance. Click the Learn More button now and well show you how to invest in SpaceX before the public  This post appeared to follow the same playbook we had seen before with numerous crypto scams. In those scams, users were also led from one social media platform to another, where they were told that their money would be invested in a special crypto opportunity. However, it was all a lie. Just like the scam post about SpaceX, some of the crypto scams featured photos of Musk as a way of trying to create trust. crypto scams featured photos of Musk The Facebook account that hosted the ads showed up as a personal profile and not a page. It was named Tut Pro 1 38801324. The profile picture showed an image that said \"Half Price Books,\" a company that had absolutely nothing to do with the scam. We asked the account about the strange profile photo. They responded, \"This event is sponsored by Mr. Nino, a senior stock analyst. Join Mr. Nino's stock research group now and receive a stock book when you join the group.\" The crypto scams we covered in the past also claimed to feature a specialist who could help deliver on the scam's promise. In the crypto scams, the scammers called this person \"the teacher.\" We asked the user if this \"Mr. Nino\" was \"the teacher.\" The account responded, \"Yes.\" If the strange account name weren't enough of a red flag, the profile also once featured two seemingly random pictures of young girls. According to TinEye.com, a handy reverse image search website, at least one of the photos was traced to websites that were managed in Vietnam. This may have indicated that the scam was being operated from Southeast Asia. TinEye.com reverse image search As for the reality of SpaceX going public in the future, CNBC previously reported that Musk told employees the company was not likely to go public until 2025 or later. reported Evon, Dan. Snopes Tips: A Guide To Performing Reverse Image Searches. Snopes.com, 22 Mar. 2022, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/articles\/400681\/how-to-perform-reverse-image-searches\/. Sheetz, Michael. Elon Musk Says an IPO of SpaceXs Starlink Satellite Internet Business Is Still 3 or 4 Years Away. CNBC, 7 June 2022, https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/06\/07\/spacex-starlink-ipo-elon-musk-says-offering-is-3-or-4-years-away.html. TinEye Reverse Image Search. https:\/\/tineye.com\/. Tut Pro 1 38801324. Facebook, https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=100084130714561. On Oct. 18, 2022, we added a note that said a real company named Half Price Books had nothing to do with the scam.","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=14fYUXN0mwAiafnrpxMhIGsFe8aYPGo5N"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1vSwe5ArHgfA4hup5L1c2g_kJZrJUKoB7"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_790","claim":"Did Astronaut Mark Kelly Say the 'Space Force' Was a 'Dumb Idea?'","posted":"08\/13\/2018","sci_digest":["A man who flew on several NASA Space Shuttle missions is not a supporter of the proposed Space Force."],"justification":"U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's August 2018 announcement of plans for the creation of a sixth branch of the U.S. military dubbed \"Space Force\" drew mixed reactions from pundits, politicians, and Trump administration supporters and critics. Retired astronaut Mark Kelly was one of those who supposedly chimed in on the issue, as reflected in a meme circulated by social media users that quoted him as opining that the proposed Space Force was a \"dumb idea\":   This is a genuine quote from Mark Kelly, who flew several missions on NASA's Space Shuttle from 2001 to 2011. The wording was taken from a tweet the former astronaut posted in June 2018 shortly after President Trump directed the Pentagon to \"begin the process necessary to establish a space force as the sixth branch of the armed forces\": directed This is a dumb idea. The Air Force does this already. That is their job. Whats next, we move submarines to the 7th branch and call it the under-the-sea force? https:\/\/t.co\/S1urOuJBe6 https:\/\/t.co\/S1urOuJBe6  Mark Kelly (@ShuttleCDRKelly) June 19, 2018 June 19, 2018  Kelly elaborated on his position in an interview with MSNBC which took place shortly after Vice President Pence's announcement, saying that he stood by his \"dumb idea\" remark and that a Space Force would be redundant: Former astronaut Mark Kelly on President Trump's \"Space Force\" effort: \"The only person that Ive heard say this is a fantastic idea is the Commander in Chief, the President of the United States. Everybody else says its redundant, its wasteful.\" https:\/\/t.co\/5WNNuWy4v4 pic.twitter.com\/e1c5uocTgv https:\/\/t.co\/5WNNuWy4v4 pic.twitter.com\/e1c5uocTgv  MSNBC (@MSNBC) August 9, 2018 August 9, 2018  Michael Dodge, an assistant professor in the Department of Space Studies at the University of North Dakota, noted Space.com that while other branches of the military (such as the U.S. Air Force) also started out as sectors of larger branches, the existence of the Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) would not necessarily be redundant because it would \"free up the Air Force to focus on what it does best\": Space.com President Donald Trump's administration is pushing to form a U.S. Space Force, a new military branch, but how would that agency differ from the Air Force Space Command, which already oversees much of the country's defense assets in space? The early version of the U.S. Air Force existed as the U.S. Army Air Corps, an aerial warfare sector of the U.S. Army. But as planes continued to advance technologically and find their way into mainstream travel, \"Congress decided they needed to have a new branch of the military,\" Dodge said. The country needed a branch that could \"address issues unique to this domain.\" The Air Force became the fifth branch of the U.S. armed forces in 1947. The Space Force would essentially serve the same purpose, but for space. Dodge said it would \"free up the Air Force to focus on what it does best,\" as the new branch addressed issues unique to space. Dodge noted that this space-oriented, sixth military branch makes the most sense now. \" [O]ur assets are so critical in outer space and everything that we do is so dependent on outer space that we need a new force capable of focusing on that domain by itself,\" he said.\" Another former astronaut, Buzz Aldrin, offered a different reaction to the new military branch. The Apollo 11 Lunar Module Pilot was in attendance in June 2018 when President Trump announced his intention to create a Space Force and later tweeted that the idea was \"one giant leap\" in the right direction: One giant leap in the right direction. #SpaceForce https:\/\/t.co\/3ZAvB2Oex4 #SpaceForce https:\/\/t.co\/3ZAvB2Oex4  Buzz Aldrin (@TheRealBuzz) August 10, 2018 August 10, 2018  Davenport, Christian.  \"Pence Details Plan for Creation of Space Force in What Would be the Sixth Branch of the Military.\"\r  The Washington Post.  9 August 2018.  Gohd, Chelsea.  \"Trump Wants a Space Force  But We Have an Air Force Space Command.\"\r  Space.com.  10 August 2018. Greshko, Michael.  \"Would a U.S. Space Force Be Legal? Get the Facts.\"\r  National Geographic.  9 August 2018. Stewart, Phil.  \"Going Where No President Has Gone Before, Trump Wants Space Force by 2020.\"\r  Reuters.  9 August 2018. ","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1fjj4fAr-v6-Wc6K0iEqu6XEW3Up5Htxk","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_791","claim":"Are These the Last Words of Billionaire Steve Gouves?","posted":"01\/07\/2019","sci_digest":["Can fictional characters be penalized for plagiarizing fake news?"],"justification":"In December 2015, we examined a piece of text being shared on social media that was said to represent the final words of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. We hoped our article would help to dispel that false rumor, but in January 2019, a nearly identical speech was circulated again, this time attributed to a different billionaire with an eerily similar name: Steve Gouves. The \"Steve Gouves deathbed speech\" was shared by many social media users in January 2019, with one of the most popular postings coming from Joshua Feuerstein, an evangelical internet personality known for spreading misinformation and perhaps most famously for criticizing Starbucks' Christmas cups. Feuerstein's post included a photograph of a bearded man, presumably Mr. Steve Gouves, along with the following text: \"From my friend David Norrie: Steve Gouves dies a billionaire, with a fortune of $7 billion, at the age of 56 from pancreatic cancer, and here are some of his last words: In others' eyes, my life is the essence of success, but aside from work, I have little joy, and in the end, wealth is just a fact of life to which I am accustomed. At this moment, lying on the bed, sick and reflecting on my life, I realize that all my recognition and wealth are meaningless in the face of imminent death. You can hire someone to drive a car for you, make money for you\u2014but you cannot rent someone to carry the disease for you. One can find material things, but there is one thing that cannot be found when it is lost\u2014'life.' Treat yourself well and cherish others. As we get older, we become wiser, and we slowly realize that a watch worth $30 or $300 shows the same time. Whether we carry a purse worth $30 or $300, the amount of money in our wallets is the same. Whether we drive a car worth $150,000 or a car worth $30,000, the road and distance remain the same; we reach the same destination. If we drink a bottle of wine worth $300 or one worth $10, the experience will be the same. If the house we live in is 300 square meters or 3,000 square meters, the loneliness is the same. Your true inner happiness does not come from the material things of this world. Whether you're flying first class or economy class, if the plane crashes, you crash with it. So, I hope you understand that when you have friends or someone to talk to, this is true happiness! Five Undeniable Facts: 1. Do not educate your children to be rich. Educate them to be happy, so when they grow up, they will know the value of things, not the price. 2. Eat your food as medicine; otherwise, you will need to eat your medicine as food. 3. Whoever loves you will never leave you, even if they have 100 reasons to give up. They will always find one reason to hold on. 4. There is a big difference between being human and a human being. 5. If you want to go fast, go alone! But if you want to go far, go together! And in conclusion, the six best doctors in the world are: 1. Sunlight 2. Rest 3. Exercise 4. Diet 5. Self-confidence 6. Friends. Keep them in all stages of life and enjoy a healthy life. 'Love the people God sent you; one day, He'll need them back.' Something worth sharing! The man in this photograph is not \"Steve Gouves\" but rather James R. Kirouac, a \"Level 2 Quantum Healing Hypnosis Technique Practitioner\" with the company \"Leading Edge Thought,\" who, as best we can tell at the time of this writing, is still very much alive. The first half of this text (everything preceding \"Treat yourself well and cherish others\") is a nearly verbatim copy of the fake deathbed speech falsely attributed to Steve Jobs back in 2015. That speech appears to have originated on a random blog and was never connected to Jobs in any real way. The second half of this text has been circulating independently from the first since at least September 2015, when it was posted to a Chinese language blog at xuite.net. That posting was not attributed to Jobs, Gouves, or any other billionaire, and it was not shared as if it were a deathbed speech. The fake Steve Jobs deathbed speech started making its way around the web in November 2015, and readers have apparently revised and expanded it over the years. At some point, the text posted to xuite.net was tacked onto the end of the original fake speech, Jobs' name was changed to Gouves, and an image of an unrelated bald man was used to depict the fictional billionaire. In short, Steve Gouves did not make this speech on his deathbed because Steve Gouves does not exist. Much of this text was previously attributed to Steve Jobs, but the Apple co-founder did not utter those words on his deathbed either.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1GpVg2_jSeykOsUFoG531R5BeMqSvOnhV","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1URfNaHjsFJKD501MGpBFTA_jBjbPqmOU","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_792","claim":"Is This Bizarre Costume a 'Siberian Bear-Hunting Suit'?","posted":"07\/20\/2021","sci_digest":["The leather outfit, covered in nails from head to toe, has captured the imagination of internet users for years. But what is it?"],"justification":"In recent years, internet users and fans of historical curiosities have marveled at a bizarre, even sinister-looking costume covered from head to toe in spikes, which is most commonly described as a \"Siberian bear-hunting suit from the 1800s.\" Enthusiasts have repeatedly posted largely the same distinctive black-and-white photograph of the outfit on the popular online forum Reddit in 2019, 2018, and 2014. The posts always refer to the object as a \"Siberian bear-hunting suit\" and largely date it to the 19th century, as shown in the examples below: 2019, 2018, 2014. The remarkable photograph, along with its description as a Siberian bear-hunting suit from the 19th century, enjoyed a boost online in 2012 after it was featured on the popular, now-defunct website Retronaut. It has even inspired a song entitled \"Bear Hunting Armor,\" released by the Prague-based indie band Ending in 2018. The music video, whose imagery clearly borrows heavily from the now-famous photograph, can be watched below. The band itself described the song as having been \"inspired by a Siberian bear hunting armor from the 1800s.\" In reality, conclusive evidence is not available regarding the precise origins of the costume, its purpose, creation date, or the geographical and cultural milieu from which it emerged, although it is a real historical artifact and the widely shared photograph of it is authentic. Moreover, good reasons exist to doubt the accuracy of the \"Siberian bear-hunting\" explanation that has become popular. As such, we are issuing a rating of \"Unproven.\" If decisive evidence emerges, we will update this fact check accordingly. The picture in question appears to have been taken by Malcolm Kirk, a renowned New York-based photographer. In 2012, the Victorian Adventure Enthusiast blog wrote about the artifact, claiming to have confirmed with Kirk's representatives that he did indeed take the photograph. As of July 2021, the suit itself was housed at the Menil Collection in Houston, Texas, a museum that contains the private art and artifact collection of the French-American de Menil family. The museum's website features various photographs of the costume, which is on display as part of the \"Witnesses to a Surrealist Vision\" exhibit. The Menil Collection describes the exhibit, which first opened in 1999, as follows: This unique installation presents a culturally heterogeneous collection of more than 150 objects from the Menil's permanent collection or on long-term loan from members of the de Menil family. Ritual and everyday objects, primarily from the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Islands and the Americas\u2014which the Surrealists believed to be witnesses to the universality of their own visual and literary artistic practices\u2014are exhibited alongside 19th-century European astrolabes, anamorphoscopes, and other devices that offer alternative ways to perceive and understand reality. So we know the suit is real, who owns it, and where it has been on display for the past 20 years, and we know that the widely shared photograph of it is authentic, as well as the name of the photographer who captured it. However, the precise origins of the costume remain elusive. In her 2014 master's thesis, available in full here, Kristen Strange at Arizona State University wrote at length and in considerable detail about \"Witnesses to a Surrealist Vision.\" As part of her research, she examined records relating to the acquisition of the costume, which was also frequently referred to as \"Wildman,\" as well as correspondence involving Dominique de Menil, a co-founder of the museum along with her husband, John; their daughter, Adelaide de Menil; and Edmund Carpenter, Adelaide's husband and an American anthropologist who initially curated the exhibit. Despite her extensive examination of those documents and records, Strange found no evidence to definitively pin down the exact origins of the suit but did discover some interesting background information and clues that the outfit might actually have originated in 18th or 19th century Germany or Switzerland, rather than 19th century Russia. She wrote: The Wildman, an essential object in the early planning stages of the exhibition, was referred to as the porcupine man in correspondence between Dominique de Menil and Edmund Carpenter. Carpenter was likely drawn to the uncanny appearance and narrative of the Wildman and displayed this costume in his office for many years before its inclusion in Witnesses. There has been some uncertainty over this object's culture of origin and its originally intended purpose. While it is now thought to have originated in 18th- or 19th-century Germany or Switzerland, this costume presumably represents a folk figure seen in the Vogel Gryff Festival in Basel, but it has also been considered a bear hunting costume. Its provenance dates back to a December 6, 1974 auction at the Palais Galliera in Paris, where it was purchased by Adelaide de Menil and Carpenter. The file provides further documentation and explains that this costume came with a handwritten note stating that it formerly belonged to the collection of Adamson (naturalists) who gave their name to surreal seashells. While the true origins of The Wildman remain uncertain, it appears that it was being described as a bear-hunting suit as early as 1998, and possibly before that. In November of that year, the renowned conservator Barbara Appelbaum wrote an email to her colleagues at the Global Conservation Forum, looking for advice on the use of Beva, a specialist adhesive popular among conservators. In her email, she described the artifact she was working on at that time in terms that strongly suggest it was The Wildman, especially since her email came just months before the \"Witnesses to a Surrealist Vision\" exhibit first opened at the Menil Collection. However, it should be noted that in her email, Appelbaum cast doubt on the \"bear-hunting\" description of the item: The object is being called a Siberian bear-hunting suit, but I suspect it is more likely to be for bear baiting than hunting, since I can't imagine anyone could run around the woods in it. It consists of leather pants and a jacket (and an iron helmet) studded all over with 1-inch iron nails about 3\/4 in. apart. The nails are held in place by a second layer of leather lining the whole thing and quilted into place between the nails. In areas of wear and flexing, like around the ankles and the crotch, the inside layer of leather is worn through, so the nails are falling out.","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1f6ik96ru2OkXF-lYVTZxYVNcK4q9by5e","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ZKxrRm4bAZvhKizjKNnBw2_Oyq1p8t-l","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1HbetON31lbJIlXNV4XFQspQlEx7kXkHs","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_793","claim":"Did 'The Simpsons' Predict Apple's Vision Pro?","posted":"02\/05\/2024","sci_digest":["Apple's long-awaited Vision Pro headset was released on Feb. 2, 2024. "],"justification":"In early February 2024, Apple released the long-awaited Vision Pro headset. As Reuters reported, the headset \"blends three-dimensional digital content with a view of the outside world.\" While some commentators claimed the device represented a \"new tech dystopia,\" others suggested that it was predicted by the TV series \"The Simpsons.\" released reported claimed On Feb. 5, 2024, a video went viral on Reddit, with the caption \"The Simpsons predicted the Apple Vision Pro.\" The same claim was also spread on other social media platforms such as X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, and TikTok. video X YouTube TikTok The Simpsons predicted the Apple Vision Pro. byu\/adityapixel inBeAmazed The Simpsons predicted the Apple Vision Pro.  u\/adityapixel BeAmazed  The topic was also covered in the Daily Mail, New York Post, and The Independent. \"The Simpsons predicted revolutionary $3,500 Apple Vision EIGHT years before fans flocked to buy newest tech and show them off in everyday life,\" Daily Mail headline read. Daily Mail New York Post The Independent In short, although the clip really is from the series, the claim that \"The Simpsons\" predicted the Apple Vision Pro is false. The clip originated from \"The Simpsons\" Episode 2 of Season 28, Friends and Family, aired in October 2016 (the in-question scene starts about 20:00 in the episode). originated First of all, virtual reality (VR) is not a new concept. By 2016, when the Friends and Family episode aired, companies such as Oculus VR had introduced their VR headsets to the market, so the concept of people using such devices was not a novel prediction by \"The Simpsons.\" The show, known for its satirical take on societal trends and technological advancements, was merely reflecting the growing interest in VR technology that was already present at the time. Thus, attributing the anticipation of Apple's Vision Pro to \"The Simpsons\" series overlooks the fact that the technology was already known to the public and evolving rapidly at the time. virtual reality Oculus VR   (Olaf Carlson looks up during a press demonstration at The Village event space in San Francisco, California, on March 15, 2016. Getty Images) We have covered similar dubious \"Simpsons\" Predictions in the past. For instance, we investigated whether an episode predicted the 9\/11 terrorist attacks. In September 2023, we also debunked a claim that the series predicted the Tesla Cybertruck. \"Simpsons\" Predictions investigated debunked Friends and Family. The Simpsons, directed by Mike B. Anderson and Lance Kramer, 2 Oct. 2016. Friends and Family - The Simpsons (Series 28, Episode 2) - Apple TV (OM). AppleTV, 2 Oct. 2016, https:\/\/tv.apple.com\/om\/episode\/friends-and-family\/umc.cmc.5gyk9l73m6w6rqb32aji5hue3?showId=umc.cmc.1kfo3z1jtaj8ff6wsh9cvxbwu.\rHeres When You Can Buy Oculuss Long-Awaited Virtual Reality Headset. TIME, 11 June 2015, https:\/\/time.com\/3918081\/oculus-rift-release-date-microsoft\/. Kasprak, Alex. The Simpsons Predicted Teslas Cybertruck? Snopes, 8 Sept. 2023, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/simpsons-predicted-cybertruck\/.\r Nellis, Stephen, and Dawn Chmielewski. Vision Pro Headset Is Apples next Mac and TV Combined. Reuters, 3 Feb. 2024. www.reuters.com, https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/technology\/vision-pro-headset-is-apples-next-mac-tv-combined-2024-02-03\/.\r Virtual Reality (VR) | Definition, Development, Technology, Examples, & Facts | Britannica. 1 Feb. 2024, https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/technology\/virtual-reality. Wrona, Aleksandra. The Simpsons Predicted 9\/11 Attack on World Trade Center? Snopes, 11 Sept. 2023, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/simpsons-predicted-wtc\/.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Eylt95MLeFmjj9GfFtiC1YCc6aVuvBTQ","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_794","claim":"Minnesota Vikings Open Their Stadium to Shelter the Homeless","posted":"12\/19\/2016","sci_digest":["Several news outlets filed reports incorrectly stating that the Minnesota Vikings had opened their stadium to shelter the homeless on a cold winter night."],"justification":"On 18 December 2016, Twitter user David Dellanave posted a message claiming that the Minnesota Vikings football team had opened up U.S. Bank Stadium to shelter the homeless on a particularly cold winter night: posted Although Dellanave is not a reporter or a spokesperson for the Minnesota Vikings, his message was picked up and reported as fact by several news outlets, including Yahoo News and CBS Sports:  Yahoo News CBS Sports The Minnesota Vikings are embracing the Christmas spirit early and helping out the community on Sunday night. According to David Dellanave, U.S. Bank Stadium will be open to the local homeless population during a night with crazy cold temperatures. The Minnesota Vikings, however, did not open U.S. Bank Stadium on 18 December 2016 to shelter the homeless. Dellanave eventually deleted his original tweet and posted follow-up messages claiming that he had posted the false information as an attempt to draw attention to a social issue: Tweet deleted. Point was to highlight a social issue and waste of taxpayer money that could help people instead of make private profits 1\/3  David Dellanave (@ddn) December 19, 2016 December 19, 2016 Zero interest in retweets or followers, have never cared and never will. 2\/3  David Dellanave (@ddn) December 19, 2016 December 19, 2016  But most importantly if I thought for a second someone in need would take it seriously, wouldn't be worth the potential good. 3\/3  David Dellanave (@ddn) December 19, 2016 December 19, 2016 I'm sorry if this obviously misguided attempt at highlighting a social issue hurt anyone. Didn't think a tweet would go so far & I regret it  David Dellanave (@ddn) December 19, 2016 December 19, 2016","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=13cBSOf46Bhb8brH05Utzwj5e_YD4yZSl","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_795","claim":"Did Alex Smith Die at Age 26 Because He Couldn't Afford Insulin?","posted":"09\/24\/2018","sci_digest":["The Minneapolis man suffered from type 1 diabetes and had begun rationing his insulin because he couldn't pay for the prescription."],"justification":"An Associated Press analysis published in late September 2018 warned that prescription drug prices in the United States were still rising precipitously despite President Trump's vow to reduce them. During the first seven months of the year, the report said, prescription drug prices saw 96 increases for every cut. analysis vow The human cost of runaway prescription drugs prices was dramatically illustrated in a meme shared on the Occupy Democrats Facebook page on 18 September:   This is Alex Smith. He died this year at age 26 because he couldn't afford insulin in America. He made $35,000 a year as a restaurant manager, and couldn't afford his $450 a month health insurance with a $7,600 out-of-pocket deductible. The insulin he needed for diabetes was $1,300 a month. When he turned 26 and was kicked off his mom's insurance, he started rationing his life-saving insulin. He died a month later. The text is mostly accurate, although it has Smith's given name wrong (it was Alec, not Alex), and he died in 2017, not \"this year\" as claimed in the 2018 meme. died According to local news reports, Alec Raeshawn Smith's lifeless body was found in his apartment on 27 June 2017, 27 days after his coverage under his mother's health insurance policy had lapsed due to his age. The cause of death was diabetic ketoacidosis, a life-threatening complication of diabetes that occurs when the body produces excess blood acids (called ketones) because it lacks enough insulin. news reports ketoacidosis In a piece contributed to Truthout.org in February 2018, Smith's mother, Nicole Smith-Holt, wrote that even though Alec had a full-time job, it did not come with employer-provided health coverage: wrote For Alec, this meant that his insulin and supplies cost almost $1,300 a month. He and I together researched for months in advance about his health insurance options. They werent good. The best plan we found would cost him $450 a month for the premium with a whopping $7,600 deductible. That deductible meant he would be paying out-of-pocket for his medicine for many months anyway, so he decided to go without the plan until he could find a different job with benefits. The prohibitive cost drove Smith to ration his insulin use to try to make his supply stretch to the next payday. \"I have since learned that this is not uncommon,\" Smith-Holt wrote, and is indicative of a worsening health care crisis: Globally, half of the people who need insulin cant reliably get access to it. With 6 million people in the US insulin-dependent, and nearly 40 percent of Americans uninsured or facing high deductibles that leave their medicine costs uncovered, the crisis is occurring right here, too. Endocrinologists here in the US report that as many as one in five of their patients are not able to afford their insulin. For many persons with diabetes, that means they land in the emergency room with diabetic ketoacidosis. For others, like Alec, they never get there. Just 27 days after his coverage under my insurance ended, I received the call no parent ever wants to get. The American Diabetes Association released a report in March 2018 estimating that the total costs of diagnosed diabetes in the United States had risen 26 percent in the previous five years: report People with diagnosed diabetes incur average medical expenditures of $16,752 per year, of which about $9,601 is attributed to diabetes. People with diagnosed diabetes, on average, have medical expenditures approximately 2.3 times higher than what expenditures would be in the absence of diabetes.... People with diabetes who do not have health insurance have 60% fewer physician office visits and are prescribed 52% fewer medications than people with insurance coverage  but they also have 168% more emergency department visits than people who have insurance. In November 2017, we confirmed the similar case of Shane Patrick Boyle, an uninsured type 1 diabetic who died of ketoacidosis shortly after starting a GoFundMe campaign to try to raise enough money for a one-month supply of insulin. Shane Patrick Boyle Haavik, Emily.  \"Mother Calls for Lower Insulin Prices in Wake of Son's Death.\"\r WTSP-TV [Tampa\/St. Petersburg].  13 May 2018. Karlin-Smith, Sarah.  \"Trump Says Drug Industry 'Getting Away with Murder.\"\r  Politico.  11 January 2017. Olson, Jeremy.  \"Son's Death Pushes Minnesota Mom Into Fight Against High, Rising Drug Prices.\"\r  [Minneapolis] Star Tribune.  11 May 2018. Smith-Holt, Nicole.  \"I Had to Bury My 26-Year-Old Son Because He Couldn't Afford Insulin.\"\r Truthout.org.  1 February 2018. Symons, Xavier.  \"U.S. Insulin Price Hikes Prove Fatal for Diabetics.\"\r BioEdge.  8 September 2018. American Diabetes Association.  \"The Cost of Diabetes.\"\r 30 April 2018. Mayo Clinic.  \"Diabetic Ketoacidosis.\"\r Accessed 24 September 2018.","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1LOCmSqZiTsTlVBbSS1aggVDotVQ5lPOb","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_796","claim":"Is This Greenland Shark Nearly 400 Years Old?","posted":"08\/21\/2020","sci_digest":["Greenland sharks can reach lengths of up to 24 feet and weigh more than 2,000 pounds. "],"justification":"In August 2020, a widely shared image claiming to depict a 392-year-old shark resurfaced on social media, garnering thousands of shares on both Facebook and Twitter. Facebook Twitter   This was a variation of a familiar meme, which we identified as \"false\" in December 2018. We are rating the newer variation as \"mixture\" because the image that circulated in 2020 was, indeed, a photograph of a Greenland shark. However, we were unable to determine the exact age of the shark in question, though the age of a given Greenland shark can be estimated by its length (more on that later).  December 2018 Both viral memes originated from a study published in the journal Science in August 2016. In the study, researcher Julius Nielsen, who was then a Ph.D. student at the University of Copenhagen, set out to define the life history of the Greenland shark, scientifically known as Somniosus microcephalus. These deep ocean fish have been described as an \"iconic species of the Arctic seas\" and remain one of the most enigmatic creatures on Earth (see National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration picture below), mainly due to their unique ability to survive at depths of at least 7,200 feet. Science Julius Nielsen at least 7,200 feet   When the research was first announced in 2016, many mainstream media publications picked up the study and declared that the Greenland shark was the longest-lived vertebrate known on the planet. In the years following the publication of the study, various iterations of the photograph's subject and its age have recirculated in different forms. A reverse-image search found 56 results, dating back to as far as 2018. Following another round of social media virality, Nielsen took to Instagram in December 2017 to address misleading claims related to the age of the shark in question: media publications declared everse-image search Instagram Social media are going beserk over old Greenland sharks these days?? All of this is just the same story coming to life from August 2016 and please note that we have not found any sharks to be 600 or 500 yr old.... we have ESTIMATED (meaning that it has not been verified) that one shark was AT LEAST 272 yr old or in more detail that this shark was between 272-512 yr old with 95.5% certainty (the later also being an unverified estimate). Over the course of a three-year project to study the biology of the Greenland shark, the team used radiocarbon dating to determine the ages of 28 specimens that had been accidentally caught as by-catch over several years. The findings concluded that the slow-maturing species grows by about .4 inches each year, and can reach lengths stretching to over 16 feet. The largest shark analyzed in the study was measured at nearly 16.5-feet long, and was believed to have been around 392 years old in 2016  which would make her about 396 in August 2020. However, radiocarbon dating studies typically determine age ranges rather than point to a specific age. Based on the analysis of 28 female Greenland sharks  each of which measured between 2.5 and 16.5 feet long  the study authors estimated an average species lifespan of at least 272 years. If the estimates followed the annual growth of .4 inches to a tee, then one might calculate the largest shark to be 502 years old. Range estimates, on the other hand, showed that the largest shark was likely 392 years old, give or take 120 years.  A University of Copenhagen news release published at the time of the study described Greenland sharks as \"among the largest carnivorous sharks on the planet,\" whose role as an apex predator in the Arctic ecosystem is \"completely overlooked.\" Greenland sharks can reach lengths of up to 24 feet and weigh more than 2,000 pounds. news release What remains unclear is whether the shark featured in the meme was that same large shark mentioned above, or another one photographed as part of the research. So, while the photograph does, in fact, depict an individual, long-lived Greenland shark, the exact age of the specimen is not made readily clear in the research. Have you seen other variations of this claim? Let us know. Let us know Nielsen, Juilius, et al.  \"Eye Lens Radiocarbon Reveals Centuries of Longevity in the Greenland Shark (Somniosus microcephalus).\"\r  Science.  12 Aug 2016.  Morelle, Rebecca.  \"400-Year-Old Greenland Shark Longest-Living Vertebrate.\"\r  BBC.  12 Aug 2016.  Bates, Mary.  \"272-Year-Old Shark Is Longest-Lived Vertebrate on Earth.\"\r  National Geographic.  11 Aug 2016.   \"Greenland Sharks Live For Hundreds of Years.\"\r  University of Copenhagen.  11 Aug 2016.  Putterman, Samantha.  \"Viral Photo Does Show Longest-Living Shark Species, But Exact Age Is Unclear.\"\r  PolitiFact.  28 Jan 2016. ","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1EKEA-Rul4ZQRaGdFRIe323Wh1yDGu1hg","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ClZ78E0oaDo3COrjlJbCofI7aArqPDL_","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_797","claim":"Do Tulsa Trump Rally Attendees Have To Sign COVID-19 Waiver?","posted":"06\/16\/2020","sci_digest":["The Trump campaign announced a rally at the same time public health officials recommended that people avoid big gatherings."],"justification":"As the number of confirmed cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease surpassed 2 million in early June 2020, the campaign to reelect U.S. President Donald Trump ended its monthslong pause on large, in-person events and announced it would host a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the coming weeks. COVID-19 coronavirus disease Despite public health officials' recommendations at the time to avoid group gatherings and crowds to limit the spread of COVID-19, the Trump campaign announced on June 10 that it would host a rally at the Bank of Oklahoma Center, which seats almost 19,200 people, on June 19. Trump told reporters at the White House: public health officials told reporters Were going to start our rallies back up now. Weve had a tremendous run at rallies...The first one, we believe, will be probably  were just starting to call up  will be in Oklahoma  in Tulsa, Oklahoma. A beautiful, new venue  brand-new. And were looking forward to it. Theyve done a great job with COVID, as you know, in the state of Oklahoma. Beyond the event's potential threat to attendees' health, critics including high-profile Democrats and historians saw the announcement as a call to white supremacists during a national reckoning over racism following the death of George Floyd for two reasons: Tulsa is home to one of the worst acts of racial violence in American history  the 1921 Tulsa race massacre  and the event's originally scheduled date of June 19, or Juneteenth, is a day in many communities that traditionally celebrates the end of U.S. slavery in 1865. So two days after the initial announcement from the Trump campaign, the president yielded to that backlash and said he would delay the event and instead hold it on June 20. He tweeted: Democrats George Floyd Tulsa race massacre Juneteenth He tweeted   But as critics pointed out, the massive gathering still held the potential to expose large numbers of people to COVID-19. As if to confirm the danger, reports appeared saying the Trump campaign was asking attendees to agree in advance not to hold the campaign liable for coronavirus exposure:   To investigate the claim that attendees were asked to agree to a liability waiver, we went through the steps of reserving a spot at the Tulsa rally in the days before the event. To receive a digital ticket for the event, attendees had to complete the following form:   At the bottom of the registration page, the following text appeared: registration page By clicking register below, you are acknowledging that an inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present. By attending the Rally, you and any guests voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19 and agree not to hold Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.; BOK Center; ASM Global; or any of their affiliates, directors, officers, employees, agents, contractors, or volunteers liable for any illness or injury. In other words, to reserve an entry ticket for the Tulsa rally, people had to agree that they would \"assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19\" and agree not to sue Trump or any organizers of the event if they got sick. That agreement essentially clears the campaign of any responsibility should attendees catch the virus. At first, campaign leaders declined to elaborate on their plans to protect attendees' health once they were at the event. Then, on June 14, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters that attendees should wear masks. And campaign manager Brad Parscale said the following day that event organizers will hand out hand sanitizer and face masks (though they're not necessarily required) and check attendees' temperatures for fevers. He tweeted: Larry Kudlow should wear masks. said tweeted   Still unclear is if, or to what extent, the event will promote social distancing. It's possible people will stand or sit less than six feet apart from each other, despite recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to avoid that close of contact with people to prevent the virus' spread. Additionally, as of June 16, the CDC urged everyone to wear cloth face coverings when they leave their homes, stating on its website: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Considering the ongoing health risks due to COVID-19 and an upward trend in cases statewide, Tulsa Health Department Director Bruce Dart said he would rather the president hold the event at a later date. He told Tulsa World: an upward trend in cases statewide Tulsa World I think its an honor for Tulsa to have a sitting president want to come and visit our community, but not during a pandemic...Im concerned about our ability to protect anyone who attends a large, indoor event, and Im also concerned about our ability to ensure the president stays safe as well. As of June 15, Oklahoma had tallied 359 deaths and 3,417 non-fatal cases due to the virus. The Trump campaign had last held a big rally on March 2 in Charlotte, North Carolina, before much of the country shut down to curb the pandemic. In sum, given the substantiating evidence that, in order to receive a ticket for the Tulsa event, people must click a box agreeing they would not hold the Trump campaign or event organizers liable should they catch COVID-19 at the June 20, 2020, rally, we rate this claim \"True\". Fox, Joe, et. al.  \"At Least 112,000 People Have Died from Coronavirus in the U.S.\"\r  The Washington Post. Accessed 12 June 2020. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. \"How to Protect Yourself & Others.\"\r Accessed 12 June 2020. Sprunt, Barbara.  \"Upcoming Trump Rally In Tulsa Faces Backlash Over Race, Coronavirus.\"\r  National Public Radio.  11 June 2020. Bierman, Noah. \"Trump Says He Will Resume Campaign Rallies June 19 in Tulsa.\"\r  Los Angeles Times.  10 June 2020. White House.  Remarks by President Trump in Roundtable Discussion.\r  10 June 2020. Oklahoma State Department of Health.  \"Current Situation.\"\r  Accessed 12 June 2020. Chiacu, Doina.  \"Trump Economic Adviser Urges Wearing of Masks at Tulsa Rally.\"\r  Reuters.  14 June 2020.","issues":["liability"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=16Gb5oGuInF48XtBsWXS_8ByAr_JtypUC","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=16R2ixPYHcM_AYaeVIPoCorGM0EYsxf8U","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1otIyGWjpxEWP42F7XAWhoLddVdkMfP4v","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1aBjKgjFms0AEMPVLFy_6jlZa7UvfuSv6","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_798","claim":"Paul Allen Letter About Mormons","posted":"03\/31\/2006","sci_digest":["Did Paul Allen write a letter to a Santa Clarita newspaper in defense of Mormons?"],"justification":"Claim:  Paul Allen of Microsoft wrote a letter to a Santa Clarita newspaper in defense of Mormons.  Example:  [Collected via e-mail, 2006] Comment: I recieved the email below and want to know if it is truely from Paul Allen or not: Paul Allen's Editorial on the \"Mormons\". Paul Allen is the owner of the Seattle Seahawks.  He is also theowner of the Portland Trail Blazers NBA basketball team and is aco-partner with Bill Gates in Microsoft.  His letter to the editor waspublished  in the Santa Clarita, California newspaper. Editor:  I have heard and seen enough! I have lived in the West all my life. I have worked around them. They have worked for me and I for them. When I was young, I dated their daughters. When I got married they came to my wedding. Now that I have daughters of my own, some of their boys have dated my daughters. I would be privileged if one of them were to be my son-in-law. I'm talking about the Mormons. They are some of the most honest, hard-working people I have ever known. They are spiritual, probably more than most other so-called religious people I have encountered. They study the Bible and teach from it as much as any Christian church ever has. They serve their religion without pay in every conceivable capacity. None of their leaders, teachers, counselors, Bishops or music directors receive one dime for the hours of labor they put in. The Mormons have a non-paid ministry  a fact not generally known. I have heard many times from the pulpits of others how evil and non-Christian they are and that they will not go to heaven. I decided recently to attend one of their services near my home to see for myself. What a surprise! What I heard and saw was just the opposite from what the religious ministers of the day were telling me. I found a very simple service with no fanfare. I found a people with a great sense of humor and a well-balanced spiritual side. There was no loud music. Just a simple service, with the members themselves giving the several short sermons. They urge their youth to be morally clean and live a good life. They teach the gospel of Christ, as they understand it. The name of their church is \"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.\" Does that sound like a non-Christian church to you? I asked them many questions about what they teach and why. I got answers that in most cases were from the New Testament. Their ideas and doctrines did not seem too far fetched for my understanding. When I read their \"Book of Mormon\" I was also very surprised to find just the opposite from what I had been told I would find. Then I went to another church's pastor to ask him some of the same questions about doctrine. To my surprise, when he found out that I was in some way investigating the Mormons, he became hostile. He referred to them as a non-Christian cult. I received what sounded to me like evil propaganda against those people. He stated bluntly that they were not Christian and that they did not fit into the Christian mold. He also told me that they don't really believe the Bible. He gave me a pile of anti-Mormon literature. He began to rant that the Mormons were not telling me the truth about what they stand for. He didn't want to hear anything good about them. At first I was surprised and then again, I wasn't. I began to wonder. I have never known of a cult that supports the Boy Scouts of America. According to the Boy Scouts, over a third of all the Boy Scout troops in the United States are Mormon. What cult do you know of that has a welfare system second to none in this country? They have farms, canneries and cattle ranches to help take care of the unfortunate ones who might be down and out and in need of a little help. The Mormon Church has donated millions to welfare causes around the world without a word of credit. They have donated thousands to help re-build Baptist churches that were burned a few years ago. They have donated tons of medical supplies to countries ravaged by earthquakes. You never see them on TV begging for money. What cult do you know of that instills in its members to obey the law, pay their taxes, serve in the military if asked and be a good Christian by living high moral standards? Did you know that hundreds of thousands of Mormon youth get up before high school starts in the morning to attend a religious training class? They have basketball and softball leagues and supervised youth dances every month. They are recruited by the FBI, the State Department and every police department in the country because they are trustworthy. They are taught not to drink nor take drugs. They are in the Secret Service  those who protect the President. They serve in high leadership positions from both parties in Congress and in the U.S. Senate, and have been governors of several states other than Utah. They serve with distinction and honor. If you have Mormons living near, you will probably find them to be your best friends and neighbors. They are Christians who try to live what they preach. They are not perfect and they are the first to admit this. I have known some of them who could not live their religion, just like many of us. The rhetoric which is spread around against them is nothing more than evil propaganda founded in untruths. (Others) had successfully demonized them to the point that the general public has no idea what they actually believe and teach. If you really want to know the truth, go see for yourself. You, also, will be surprised. When I first moved here some 25 years ago there were five Mormon wards in Santa Clarita. Now there are 15. They must be doing something right.  Paul AllenSanta Clarita, Calif. Origins:  The above-quoted letter to the editor by one Paul Allen was indeed published on the opinion page of the Santa Clarita Valley (California) Signal on 24 November 2000.  Within five months, someone had re-typed the letter (because the Signal didn't then publish letters to the editor on its web site) and started it circulating on the Internet via e-mail forwards (most of which erroneously stated that it had first been published on 25 April 2002). However, the Paul Allen who wrote this piece was not (as claimed in the example above) the Paul Allen who co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates (and regularly ranks high on lists of the world's wealthiest people)  he was simply a local resident with the same name. Paul Allen wealthiest Nonetheless, after the e-mail version of Paul Allen's editorial had been making the rounds for only a month, the Signal had received such a deluge of messages inquiring whether they had ever really published such a letter that the newspaper's general manager, Tim Whyte, saw fit to reprint it along with an editorial explaining its origins and the phenomenon it had become: At first, I didnt think much of the e-mails. I answered each as carefully and completely as I could. Little did I know, within a week I would go from being managing editor of The Signal to being \"The Guy Who Answers E-mails From Curious Members of the LDS Church Throughout the World Who Want to Know if we REALLY Published a Letter from Paul Allen Praising the Mormons.\" I have tried to remain professional and helpful to those making the queries, but to be quite frank, it has become a bit overwhelming. I haven't counted, but suffice to say the number of inquiries is easily in the several hundreds. The e-mails and phone calls have come to me from all over  Utah, of course, but also a wide array of states ranging from Hawaii to the Beast Coast, and several out of Canada, from Toronto to the remote reaches of Manitoba. (Brrr.) Other nations have been represented, too, including Australia and New Zealand. Apparently, members of the Mormon faith get beat up a lot in the court of public opinion around the nation and world. You wouldn't know it here in Santa Clarita. And again, when I think \"Mormon,\" I still tend to think, \"Cute Girls.\" But there is an almost-sad level of disbelief in these e-mails I receive from people, literally from across the globe, who apparently feel as if their religion is marginalized and ostracized. The people who have sent me notes are invariably incredulous, as if its unlikely that a letter complimentary to the Mormon faith would be penned by someone outside the faith, and then, in turn, published by a community newspaper: Can you please confirm that this letter was really published? Well, yes. It really was. And here, on this page, accompanying this column, is a copy of the original letter. No, I don't have tearsheets available for those who want original copies, but well post this version on our web site  making an exception to our typical policy under which one must actually buy the newspaper to read letters to the editor  so LDS church members worldwide can copy the text of the letter and get the confirmation they seek, right here in this column. Yes, the letter is complimentary to Mormons. Yes, we really published it-nearly two years ago, but thanks to Internet wizardry and LDS members' skepticism, it's all the rage on Planet Earth and in cyberspace right now. And now, back to your regularly scheduled community newspaper. Well over five years after its initial publication, Paul Allen's letter is still the subject of inquiry (here at snopes.com and at The Signal as well), hence its inclusion here. Last updated:  31 March 2006    Sources:   Whyte, Tim.  \"Have Faith: Letter Was Really Published.\"   The [Santa Clarita Valley] Signal.  26 May 2002.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_799","claim":"Were These Monstrous Paws Photographed in Alabama?","posted":"04\/02\/2018","sci_digest":["We're not certain where a photograph of a pair of monstrous claws comes from, but it certainly wasn't taken in Alabama in 2018."],"justification":"A somewhat disturbing image of an unknown animal's feet has been circulating online for several years, alongside a variety of claims about its origins. In March 2018, the photograph was re-purposed and shared as if the creature whose prints it captured had been spotted recently on a game trail in Cleburne County, Alabama: photograph   We have not been able to identify the source of this photograph. However, the claims made in recent Facebook posts about it are false: This picture was not taken in March 2018, and the animal it captured traces of (if any) did not destroy a trail camera or kill an Alabama farmer's livestock. This image has been online since at least as far back as October 2015, when it was shared on Instagram along with a story about a sailor in Oman who was \"shocked\" to find the image on his camera. This photograph has also been used to illustrate similar stories about a strange creature that was supposedly found in India, Brazil, andHawaii. Needless to say, we're skeptical that this exact same photograph was pulled from cameras in so many different locations and times. Instagram India Brazil Hawaii So what does this picture actually show? While this image is frequently claimed to depict evidence of a lobisomem, South America's version of a werewolf, we're fairly certain that this is a dog (or another extant species) suffering from mange: \"Mange (demodicosis) is an inflammatory disease in dogs caused by various types of the Demodex mite. When the number of mites inhabiting the hair follicles and skin of the dog become exorbitant, it can lead to skin lesions, genetic disorders, problems with the immune system and hair loss (alopecia).\" mange In fact, the paws in this viral photograph closely resemble a 2014 photograph taken by the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science at the University of Nottingham, UK, of a dog suffering from a severe case of sarcoptic mange: photograph  ","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1TBmQRer0nI6FWitAbInmySra1xmGVjwn","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1TmwS2VN8cH0nbUvRJFGI5JS3WcTpYK52","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_800","claim":"Samsung's Dog-Skinning Machine","posted":"07\/26\/2016","sci_digest":["A graphic calling for a boycott of Samsung products over allegations of animal abuse is based on faulty information."],"justification":"A call to boycott the South Korean multinational conglomerate Samsung, best known in the U.S. for its electronics products, has been widely shared over the company's alleged involvement in the manufacture and sale of a device purportedly used to skin dogs alive for food preparation. These machines are manufactured by Samsung to rip the hair off dogs while they are still alive in the machine as it spins. Samsung supplies these machines to vendors and dog meat traders. Not only is Samsung actively helping the barbaric practice of dog eating to continue, but it is also contributing to the suffering of thousands of dogs that are being tortured and killed by being boiled, blow-torched, or skinned alive\u2014the most horrific and brutal methods possible employed by dog meat butchers. Samsung does not care; its interest is only in profit. The device pictured in the graphic is real, but the accompanying description of it is inaccurate. This device is not manufactured or sold by Samsung, and it was not used to skin a live dog. The photograph of the dog carcass was taken by Swiss documentary photographer Didier Ruef in South Korea in 2002, who noted that the device was being used to eliminate the fur from an already-dead dog: photograph South Korea, Kimje area, dog's slaughter for meat. A machine spins the dead dog to get rid of its fur. While the notion of eating dog meat may be appalling to most Westerners, Ruef observed that \"dog meat is a delicatessen [sic] of Korean traditional cooking,\" and the dish known as Bosintang is \"made of dog meat cooked in a soup with various spices and vegetables.\" The machine depicted in the photograph probably wasn't designed for the sole purpose of skinning dogs; it closely resembles a contraption that is commonly used to de-feather slaughtered chickens and can readily be purchased commercially, although the version displayed here appears to be a homemade one. So what does Samsung have to do with any of this? A petition posted to Change.org calls on major companies, such as AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, Walmart, Costco, Best Buy, Amazon, Samsung, and LG, to help stop the \"heinous butchering and eating\" of dogs in South Korea. Although these companies do not directly contribute to the culinary habits of South Koreans, the petition holds that by remaining neutral, these companies are condoning the act of eating dogs. Bishop Desmond Tutu said, \"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.\" As a major retailer of Samsung and LG products, you have the power to influence the South Korean government to end the horrific cruelty that is perpetrated against innocent dogs and cats in South Korea. It's possible that whoever created the graphic seen here misread the petition and mistakenly associated the manufacture of the pictured machine with Samsung.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1tmFvLI8SBq-qLMeMWEz0IMjFzXafrBN_","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_801","claim":"The director of the movie 'Jeepers Creepers 3', Victor Salva, was found guilty of child molestation.","posted":"09\/18\/2017","sci_digest":["\"Jeepers Creepers 3\" director Victor Salva was convicted in 1988 of molesting a 12-year-old."],"justification":"As the premiere of the horror flick Jeepers Creepers 3 approached in September 2017, many posted messages on social media to remind potential moviegoers about director Victor Salva's criminal history. Salva was convicted in 1988 on charges related to the sexual molestation of 12-year-old actor Nathan Forrest Winters during the filming of his movie Clownhouse. Salva served 15 months in prison and completed his parole in 1992. The Associated Press reported at the time that Salva confessed to having oral sex with Winters in 1987 while directing him in \"Clownhouse,\" a low-budget horror film about three boys terrorized by circus clowns. Salva, sentenced to three years in state prison, served 15 months and completed parole in 1992. Salva is a registered sex offender. Victor Salva, a former child-care worker who impressed Hollywood filmmakers with his early cinematic work, was sentenced to three years in state prison in 1988 for molesting a 12-year-old boy who had acted in two of his films. Salva videotaped one of the encounters. The revelations came as the now 20-year-old victim, Nathan Winters of Concord, Calif., picketed a screening of \"Powder\" on Monday night in Westwood. Winters passed out leaflets urging the public to boycott the movie and said his family and friends would continue protesting after the film debuted Friday on more than 1,500 screens nationwide. Winters said he was \"in awe\" that Disney would even make a movie with Salva. \"I can't believe [Salva] is allowed to work with children again,\" Winters said. \"He should not be allowed around children ever again.\" At the time, Salva released a statement saying, \"How deeply I regret my actions.\" It continued, \"I paid for my mistakes dearly. Now, nearly 10 years later, I am excited about my work as a filmmaker and look forward to continuing to make a positive contribution to our society.\" Caravan Pictures, the company that made Powder for Disney, also released a statement: \"He paid for his crime; he paid his debt to society,\" said Roger Birnbaum, whose Caravan Pictures made \"Powder\" for Disney and reportedly didn't know of Salva's record until the film was midway through production. \"What happened eight years ago has nothing to do with this movie.\" More recently, Salva's past hindered the casting of Jeepers Creepers 3 when the website Breakdown Services removed the casting call for a 13-year-old character (to be played by an 18-year-old) upon learning of Salva's crime. Winters never starred in another movie.","issues":["debt"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1DXCnBWOD5pvOttOZMAuQiWQfFmaOmTmg"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1zTuOQWDqZkPspQImMVxm3y-5gTNzXdnZ"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_802","claim":"Adlai E. Stevenson High School 'Donations' Letter","posted":"07\/10\/2013","sci_digest":["Letter from high school offers to allow students to make monetary donations to offset inattendance and poor grades."],"justification":" Claim:  Letter from high school offers to allow students to make monetary donations to offset inatttendance and poor grades.  Example:  [Collected via e-mail, July  2013] There is a picture of a copy of a letter circulating, allegedly from a prominent suburban Chicago high school initiating an \"Earned Academic Rewards Network\" program whereby students can make monetary donations to offset tardyies, absences, homework assignments and\/or test scores:    Origins:  This image of a purported letter from Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire,  Illinois, began circulating on the Internet on 8 July 2013.  The text of the alleged missive announces a new effort by the school's Social Studies department to boost unsatisfactory student achievement by introducing a program which allows freshman to make \"charitable contributions\" ranging from $10 to $35 in order to receive homework passes, extra credit points, and test exemptions, as well as to offset unexcused tardies.  Such \"donated funds\" would go towards improving the school's infrastructure, providing new technology for school offices, and relieving \"budgetary constraints for teachers.\" On 10 July 2013, administrators posted a notice on the school's Facebook page advising inquirers that the letter was a hoax: Facebook There is a fake Stevenson letter being circulated via social media, claiming students can pay donations for excusing tardies and homework, receiving extra credit, and test exemptions. This is a hoax, and IS NOT a Stevenson letter, program, or from a Stevenson employee. This is not something the District would ever endorse. Apparently the letter was not intended as a prank, but was something created as a teaching tool for a history class:  [Eric Twadell, superintendent of Stevenson High School District 125, said,] \"It turned out a teacher had created [the letter] and used it as a modern-day example of what papal indulgences may look like [today] compared to 500 years ago in the medieval realm. People would pay off the Pope for ridiculous things ... I think (the teacher) used it as an illustrative tool.\" Stevenson teachers have used the letter for \"many, many years\" to teach a unit on medieval Rome in world history classes, he said. Last updated:  10 July 2013","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/isfanow.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/money-stack1.png","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1qhv2eqUln4qL5OFVKYahKNeCFklkGG3W","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_803","claim":"Free Dunkin' Donuts Coupon Scam","posted":"04\/18\/2017","sci_digest":["An online Dunkin' coupon offering that promises a free box of donuts is part of an anniversary giveaway scam."],"justification":"Social media users are frequently targeted by anniversary giveaway and survey scams, with one common form of bait being fake coupon offers for free boxes of Dunkin' Donuts:  Such scams typically provide links which lead to web pages (not operated or sponsored by Dunkin' Donuts) displaying the Dunkin' logo along with entreaties to spread the scam further by sharing those pages and writing thank you in the comments field. The free Dunkin' Donuts offers are a variation of the company anniversary survey scam, a ploy that depends on the unwary unwittingly promoting the phony offer to their social media friends: anniversary survey scam These web pages (which are not operated or sponsored by the companies they reference) typically ask the unwary to click what appear to be Facebook share buttons and post comments to the scammers site (which is really a ruse to dupe users into spreading the scam by sharing it with all of their Facebook friends). Those who follow such instructions are then led into a set of pages prompting them to input a fair amount of personal information (including name, age, address, and phone numbers), complete a lengthy series of surveys, and finally sign up (and commit to paying) for at least two Reward Offers (e.g., Netflix subscriptions, credit report monitoring services, prepaid credit cards). A representative for Dunkin' Donuts wrote on the company's official Facebook page that the online \"free dozen\" coupon was not one offered by the chain:   The Better Business Bureau issued guidelines warning specifically of identical scams on Facebook that target shoppers: Dont believe what you see. Its easy to steal the colors, logos and header of an established organization. Scammers can also make links look like they lead to legitimate websites and emails appear to come from a different sender. Legitimate businesses do not ask for credit card numbers or banking information on customer surveys. If they do ask for personal information, like an address or email, be sure theres a link to their privacy policy. When in doubt, do a quick web search. If the survey is a scam, you may find alerts or complaints from other consumers. The organizations real website may have further information. Watch out for a reward thats too good to be true. If the survey is real, you may be entered in a drawing to win a gift card or receive a small discount off your next purchase. Few businesses can afford to give away $50 gift cards for completing a few questions. Legitimate Dunkin' Donuts offers are listed in a Promotions page on the company's website. Promotions","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1LdSjE-svHVFnw8jJxjb0av_7_YNmiaLs","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1-xAHYNlw45thIkKXCJhzEkQaKPyl0xhm","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_804","claim":"Did Senator Tom Cotton Advocate for Drug Testing Social Security Beneficiaries?","posted":"01\/24\/2018","sci_digest":["The Arkansas Republican has supported drug screening for welfare programs, but never for Social Security."],"justification":"Amid tense talks between Congressional Republicans and Democrats over the 2018 federal budget, the attention of many observers turned to each side's record on government spending, benefits and entitlements, and fiscal priorities. In that vein, a widely shared Facebook meme took aim at Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, accusing him of supporting a modified version of a long-standing liberal bugbear: drug testing for welfare recipients. On January 21, 2018, Facebook user Ken Stanley wrote, \"Tom Cotton calls for every person who receives Social Security to be drug tested; those who test positive will lose benefits.\" This claim is false. We searched Cotton's speeches, op-eds, and press releases, as well as the Congressional Record and news archives, and found no evidence of the Senator ever having advocated such a policy. In an email, a spokesperson for Cotton told us the meme was \"completely false\": Senator Cotton does not support (nor has he ever supported) drug testing for Social Security recipients. Indeed, even those who call for drug testing for welfare recipients do not typically propose the same policy for Social Security. This is because Social Security is more widely regarded as an earned benefit (workers contribute to it through payroll taxes), while programs such as housing assistance or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as food stamps) are regarded as welfare. Senator Cotton does, however, have a record of making statements and advocating policies around welfare assistance that have raised eyebrows. In 2015, Salon and Raw Story headlines accused Cotton of \"blaming\" drug addiction on Social Security benefits and claiming that receiving Social Security disability benefits causes individuals to \"spiral\" into drug addiction. The articles, as well as Cotton's actual comments, were more nuanced. In a speech at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, Cotton advocated for reform of the Social Security disability system and drew a link between population decline and social ills (including drug addiction) in certain counties and regions, and rates of Social Security disability insurance uptake: \"It's hard to say what came first or caused the other: population decline or increased disability usage. Or maybe economic stagnation caused both. Regardless, there seems to be, at least at the county and regional level, something like a disability tipping point. When a county hits a certain level of disability usage, disability becomes a norm. It becomes an acceptable way of life and an alternative source of income to a good-paying, full-time job. After a certain point, when disability keeps climbing and becomes endemic, employers will struggle to find employees or begin or continue to move out of the area. Population continues to fall, and a downward spiral kicks in, driving once-thriving communities into further decline. Not only that, but once this kind of spiral begins, communities could begin to suffer other social plagues as well, such as heroin or meth addiction and associated crime.\" In 2014, while running for the Senate, a Huffington Post writer accused Cotton of \"calling food stamp recipients addicts.\" Again, his comments were much more nuanced than that description. According to a Huffington Post transcript of a virtual town hall hosted by Cotton in July 2014, the then-Congressman defended voting down a Democratic bill relating to agricultural payments and federal food aid on the basis that it did not sufficiently reform the food stamps program, including by requiring drug testing for applicants: \"I don't think that we should be using farmers as a way to pack more welfare spending into Barack Obama's government,\" Cotton said. \"Nor should we have a food stamp program that isn't reformed, that doesn't have job training and work requirements, that doesn't have drug testing requirements, so we can get people who are addicted the help they need. Or make sure that long-term addicts or recidivists are not abusing taxpayer dollars.\" In March 2017, Cotton joined with Republican Senate colleagues in voting to nullify an Obama-era Department of Labor rule that limited the circumstances under which states could conduct drug testing for individuals applying for unemployment insurance. President Donald Trump later formally reversed the guideline, effectively giving states greater powers in conducting drug screening for jobless benefits. So Senator Cotton has certainly supported drug testing for welfare programs but never for Social Security.","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Pm9CWCqO-sDaM0HgO4V8cUmWXC-u7tdr"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_805","claim":"Does a Photo Show a Parasite That Replaced a Fish's Tongue?","posted":"03\/05\/2021","sci_digest":["And you thought that canker sore was bad."],"justification":"It sounds like something from a horror flick. A small, parasitic creature swims into the mouth of a fish and attaches itself to the organisms tongue  yes, fish have tongues  causing it to slowly degrade before latching onto the stub leftover, thus becoming a parasitic pseudo tongue. Over time, the host loses its ability to eat and slowly succumbs to starvation.   So claims a now-viral Instagram post that was shared in March 2021 by the Smithsonian Institute in appreciation of #ParasiteWeek2021. And if the photo was enough to give you the heebie-jeebies, then you may not want to continue reading. Because both the photograph in question and the supposed parasite featured in it are, in fact, real. The picture featured an organism known as a cymothoid isopod and was originally shared on Aug. 3, 2020, by marine biologist Jimmy Bernot, a post-doctoral scholar with the National Science Foundation and Smithsonians National Museum of Natural History specializing in crustacean phylogeny and parasite evolution. In an email to Snopes, Bernot said that he captured the photo during a 2016 survey of fish parasites of Moreton Bay, Australia.   The host fish is known scientifically as Mugil cephalus or the Flathead mullet.  \"Not to be confused with the business in the front, party in the back haircut,\" said Bernot.  And the parasite seen inside the mullet's mouth is what is known as a cymothoid isopod that measured about an inch long. According to the scientist, it appeared that the fish did use the creepy-crawly as a \"pseudo tongue.\"  The fact that you can see imprints of the fish's teeth on the back of the isopod indicates the fish is crushing items against the isopod similar to how the fish would use its tongue, he said.  Jimmy Bernot  Isopods are marine invertebrates, or animals without backbones, that belong to a greater group of animals called crustaceans. Only a handful of the at least 95 known families of isopods are parasitic, one of which being cymothoid, according to research published in a 2014 issue of the International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife. The cymothoidae family in particular is made up of 350 species of aquatic parasitic isopods. Widely distributed around the world in both oceanic and freshwater habitats, cymothoids are on the larger side of parasites and can reach lengths upwards of a quarter of an inch, with the largest reaching lengths of up to 3 inches. International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife \"Cymothoids superficially look like free-living isopods, such as terrestrial rolly-pollies or pillbugs that people may be familiar with, except for their powerful hooked legs that they use to attach to their host,\" explained Bernot. \"As adults, they are not good swimmers and typically stay permanently attached to their host.\" Equipped with a long, slender body that tapers at the end and sharply curved hooks at the end of its limbs, the cymothoid can attach to its host fish at the gills or mouth as well as externally or inside the host flesh, depending on the species. Cymothoids are generally host-specific, meaning each cymothoid typically attaches to a single host species or a small group of related fish. On a parasitized fish, Bernot said that there will often be a single large female and a few small males attached nearby on the same fish.  Various types of parasitic attachment strategies of cymothoid isopods. International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife  International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife   Only a few species attach specifically to the tongue, and these are commonly called \"tongue-biters.\" Other species attach to the skin or gills, but all have detrimental effects on their hosts including blood loss due to the parasite feeding, skin and tissue damage, deformities, and overall stunted growth and reproductive issues.  And when it comes to the cymothoid featured on social media posts, the Smithsonian Institute wrote that the crustaceans sever the host fishs tongue\"  a claim that is only partly true. wrote \"The cymothoids feed on blood and perhaps some of the tongue and surrounding tissue in the host's mouth, but the loss and degradation of the tongue are at least partially, if not mostly, due to atrophy of the tongue from mechanical damage caused by the strong, hooked legs that the isopod uses to attach to the base of the tongue,\" said Bernot. In short, cymothoids do not snip straight through the tongue of the fish, but rather cause such damage that a portion of the tongue can eventually fall off.  And according to the research institution, Bernot's photograph is the only known instance in the animal kingdom where a parasite has been observed as fully replacing its hosts organ. In a reply to his original post, Bernot said that the pictured cymothoid isopod holding caused its host to atrophy  a fancy word for wasting away. Studying parasites like cymothoids helps researchers to better understand evolutionary biology and the unique adaptations that individual species obtain in order to survive.  \"It appears different groups of parasitic isopods have independently evolved strongly clawed legs through a process called convergent evolution,\" said Bernot. \"Convergent evolution is of interest to evolutionary biologists and developmental biologists since it gives us insights into how evolution can shape the morphology of animals.\"  And cymothoids also impact human health and economies because of their effect on fish, which Bernot said could sometimes infect more than 90% of fish on a single farm, including commercially farmed sea bass, bream, and salmon. As gross as it may sound, eating a fish with a parasite is \"definitely still safe for humans,\" but the fish might be smaller or have scars, and Bernot said that means it can't be sold at its highest market value.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1iBFWtkDWu5R7OAD2g2tNapsMvj-CmItt","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=16YW53UAGUMg-fbwe2Ma5wRCrXBfR-7az","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_806","claim":"Says on the state level, we spend less today than Jon Corzine spent in fiscal year 2008, five years later.","posted":"02\/03\/2013","sci_digest":[],"justification":"The only way to make New Jersey a more affordable place to live is to have government spend less money, according to Gov. Chris Christie.The Republican governor offered that solution when a man called into a Jan. 22 radio program and expressed concerns about the cost of living in New Jersey. The caller wanted to know the plan for keeping people like him in the state.Christie told the man that property taxes have increased minimally in the last two years, because government spending has been capped. On the state level, spending is now lower than it was under Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine in fiscal year 2008, according to Christie.Now were making a difference. Because you know why? Were capping spending, Christie said on New Jersey 101.5s Ask the Governor program. Were saying youve got to spend less, and on the state level, we spend less today than Jon Corzine spent in fiscal year 2008, five years later.The governor, who is seeking re-election this year, repeated the state spending claim on Thursday during a campaign stop at Tops Diner in East Newark.Christie is right that state spending in the current fiscal year is lower than the spending level in fiscal year 2008, but the governors claim ignores the fact that spending has still increased with each new state budget since he took office.Lets break down the numbers:For fiscal year 2008, Corzine approved a spending plan of about $33.47 billion, according to state Department of the Treasury reports. Final state spending that year ended slightly higher, at $33.61 billion, according to department reports.In June 2012, Christie signed a budget for fiscal year 2013 that appropriates about $31.65 billion in state spending.So, the governors current budget marks a nearly $2 billion decrease in state spending as compared to fiscal year 2008.But just because state spending is lower than it was five years ago, doesnt mean it hasnt increased on Christies watch.In his first budget after taking office in January 2010, Christie approved a roughly $28.36 billion spending plan for fiscal year 2011. For the next budget year -- fiscal year 2012 -- the governor approved a roughly $29.69 billion budget.That means, in terms of the annual appropriations acts signed by Christie, state spending has increased by about $3.29 billion, or 11.6 percent, between fiscal years 2011 and 2013. In response to our findings about spending increases during Christie's tenure, Treasury spokesman Bill Quinn said the following in an e-mail: We think your original question has been conclusively answered in the Governors favor as unequivocally true. You are now posing an entirely different inquiry that is not based on what the Governor actually said on the air that led to your fact check.The increased spending since fiscal year 2011 is due in part to the governors policies boosting the states economy, leading to higher tax revenues, according to Quinn. He pointed out how two of the major areas of higher spending have been in education and pension contributions.Quinn added that the tough decisions needed to put the state budget on sound, responsible fiscal footing in fiscal years 10 and 11 allowed us to grow and make key investments in FY 12 and 13.Our rulingIn response to a caller during New Jersey 101.5s Ask the Governor program, Christie claimed that on the state level, we spend less today than Jon Corzine spent in fiscal year 2008, five years later.The governor is correct in that the fiscal year 2013 budget is nearly $2 billion less than the level of state spending under Corzine in fiscal year 2008. But Christies claim ignores the fact that state spending has still increased during his tenure.That means the governors statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. That meets our definition of Mostly True. To comment on this ruling, go toNJ.com.","issues":["New Jersey","State Budget"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_807","claim":"Raising the national minimum wage to $15 per hour would destroy up to 3.7 million jobs.","posted":"02\/11\/2021","sci_digest":["Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy claimed raising the national minimum wage to $15 per hour would destroy up to 3.7 million jobs., McCarthy appears to be citing a Congressional Budget Office analysis from 2019 that said, at the high-end, 3.7 million jobs could be lost from the wage hike., But in his statement, he cited the CBOs new analysis published this week which found an average estimate of 1.4 million jobs would be lost., The new CBO report added theres a one-third chance the loss will be between 1 million and 2.7 million workers, still far less than McCarthys claim."],"justification":"Would raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour destroy up to 3.7 million jobs in the United States? Thats what GOP House Minority Leader and California Rep. Kevin McCarthy claimed in the headline of apress releaseon Tuesday as Democrats in Congress began debating the move. On Twitter the same day,McCarthy wrotethe wage hike could put nearly 4 million Americans out of work. This is a screen shot of the headline from McCarthys press release. The Biden Administration last month proposed raising the federal minimum hourly pay from $7.25 to $15, with increases of about $1.50 every year for five years. To make that happen, Congressional Democrats introduced theRaise the Wage Act of 2021last month and began considering the legislation in the House Committee on Education and Labor this week. Heres what McCarthy said in the body of the press release: At this critical point, the Democrats big, creative response is to raise the federal national wage to $15 an hour  a move the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office previouslyfoundcould cost nearly 4 million workers their jobs. President Joe Biden initially included the proposal to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour in his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill. But he predicted last week it would be left out due to opposition from Republicans and centrist Democrats. Given the debate over raising the wage and its impact on jobs, we decided to take a closer look at McCarthys claim in this fact check. Our Research In his press release and tweet, McCarthy linked to ananalysisof the wage proposal by the Congressional Budget Office published on Monday. The CBO, a nonpartisan research service, predicted the wage hike would eliminate jobs, but would also raise wages for an estimated 17 million people and lift 900,000 people out of poverty. It doesnt say anything about destroying an estimated 3.7 million positions as McCarthy claimed. Instead, the CBO said the average estimate is that employment would be reduced by 1.4 million workers. The report goes on to say theres a one-third chance the loss will be between 1 million and 2.7 million workers, still far less than McCarthys number. Young, less educated people would account for a disproportionate share of those reductions in employment, the report adds. A spokesperson for McCarthy did not respond to questions. Deborah Kilroe, a spokesperson for the CBO, said McCarthy likely got his figure from aJuly 2019 CBO reportthat also examined raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour. That older analysis predicted the median estimate for job losses would be 1.3 million. Meanwhile, it said there is a two thirds chance that the change in employment would be between about zero and a decrease of 3.7 million workers. That last figure lines up with McCarthys statement of nearly 4 million workers, but it comes from the high-end of an old report and ignores what the CBO published this week. Last month,FactCheck.org found Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul also distorted the facts on this topic. The senator told Fox News that the government estimates are close to 4 million people will lose their jobs, if the minimum wage hike goes through. FactCheck.org examined the July 2019 CBO report [the current report had yet to be published] and found Paul cherry-picked the high-end of that report. Our Ruling Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy claimed raising the national minimum wage to $15 per hour would destroy up to 3.7 million jobs. McCarthy appears to be citing a Congressional Budget Office analysis from 2019 that said, at the high-end, 3.7 million jobs could be lost from the wage hike. But in his statement, he linked to the CBOs new analysis published this week which found an average estimate of 1.4 million jobs would be lost, a figure he omitted. The new CBO report added theres a one-third chance the loss will be between 1 million and 2.7 million workers, still far less than McCarthys claim. In the end, we found McCarthy cherry-picked a figure from an old report while ignoring current data on the topic that tells a different story. We rated his claim False. FALSE The statement is not accurate.","issues":["Economy","Jobs","California"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1uCW1bw6lT8YGI0Kvd35bhZq4MYP8Zs5I","image_caption":"This is a screen shot of the headline from McCarthys press release."},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1QMc1OIRUAlp6R3Pp_GiGxz-2862dPr6H","image_caption":"At this critical point, the Democrats big, creative response is to raise the federal national wage to $15 an hour  a move the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office previouslyfoundcould cost nearly 4 million workers their jobs."}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_808","claim":"No, 'Dog the Bounty Hunter' is alive and well.","posted":"11\/29\/2019","sci_digest":["Highly dubious websites posted false and distasteful articles that prompted unwarranted concern among the reality TV star's many fans."],"justification":"In late 2019, readers asked us about blog posts that were widely shared on social media and falsely claimed that the reality television star Duane Chapman, known as \"Dog the Bounty Hunter,\" had died either by suicide or from a pulmonary embolism.  Those reports were false. Beginning on Nov. 20, admirers of Chapman and his late wife, Beth, who died in June after herself being the subject of death hoaxes, began posting tributes to him and sharing one of two blog posts.  hoaxes The first purported to be hosted by a website with the domain name whatnow.actual-events.com, but when internet users clicked on the story on social media, they were redirected to the domain newspanel.suzeraincollections.com. There, the story carried the headline \"Duane 'Dog' Chapman Died of Pulmonary Embolism. He Didn't Survive His Second Attack. He Was 66 -- WGN.\"  first   The highly dubious website falsely attributed the claim about Chapman's death to WGN America, a real U.S. television network that broadcast the Chapmans' most recent reality show \"Dog's Most Wanted.\" The hoax article also misleadingly used WGN America's logo in a sharebait video that purported to be a television news report about Chapman's death, but that paused after a few seconds and required users to share the article on social media in order to continue watching:   In reality, WGN America had no connection to the story and did not report on Chapman's death in November 2019, because Chapman did not die in November 2019. The specific claim that Chapman had died from a pulmonary embolism (a blocked artery in the lungs) was rather insidious. At first glance, it appeared especially plausible to many fans of the television star because he was in fact diagnosed with that very problem in September 2019. diagnosed The second blog post shared by social media users was even more distasteful than the first. It falsely and misleadingly used the logo of BBC News, a highly reputable and widely trusted information source, to report that Chapman had taken his own life.  In this instance, social media users shared an article that appeared to be hosted on the domain bbc-newsroom.actualeventstv.com, but which redirected to news-room.easystepsdiy.info. On social media, the post carried the headline \"Duane 'Dog' Chapman Died of Suicide After Depression Attack on His Sickness -- BBC News\" but when users redirected to the source, the article's headline proclaimed: shared proclaimed \"Breaking: (Actual Suicide Video) Duane 'Dog' Chapman Died of Suicide After Depression Attack on His Sickness -- BBC News.\" Despite the extremely distasteful claim that the video in the article contained footage of Chapman's suicide, it contained nothing of the sort and, just as in the first article, the video stopped after a second or two and required viewers to share the post on social media in order to continue watching.     The claim that Chapman had taken his own life was, like the claim he had died of a pulmonary embolism, particularly insidious. In the season finale of \"Dog's Most Wanted,\" broadcast by WGN America on Nov. 6, Chapman spoke about the recent death of his wife from cancer, and the considerable difficulty he was experiencing in coping with her loss.  At one moment in the episode, he reportedly discussed how he had contemplated taking his own life, such was his grief. People magazine quoted Chapman as saying: People \"I just hope that I dont live very much longer without her, because now she made the first step, shes through the gate,\" he added. She paved a way for me. I want to take a [god damn] pain pill so bad. I feel like if I did something to myself right now and passed away suicidal and I got to heaven and was like, Hi honey, and would she go, You [dumb ass], why would you do that? Or would she go, Wow, youre here. Ill be like Of course Im here. You left me. Im here. So, am I obligated to do that?  Because of that widely reported revelation, a report that Chapman had died by suicide would have appeared somewhat plausible to many readers.  The dubious nature of the websites involved, and the absence of any corroborating evidence or reports by actual news organizations, meant that some readers would have immediately recognized the stories as hoaxes. However, a significant number were taken in by them, and shared them on social media, to the extent that Chapman himself intervened. He provided the gossip website TMZ a photograph of himself holding the Nov. 19 edition of the Denver Post, and a handwritten sign that read \"I'm alive!\" Chapman then posted a screenshot of that article to his own Instagram page the next day. photograph Instagram If you need help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255. Or contact Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741. Kasprak, Alex. \"Outdated: Beth Chapman Death Hoax.\"\r Snopes.com. 22 April 2019. Lee, Ashley. \"Dog the Bounty Hunter Reveals Pulmonary Embolism Diagnosis.\"\r The Los Angeles Times. 28 September 2019. Dugan, Christina. \"Dog the Bounty Hunter Contemplates Suicide After Wife Beth's Death on 'Dog's Most Wanted' Finale.\"\r People. 6 November 2019. TMZ. \"Dog the Bounty Hunter: Nope, He's Not Dead...Look, I'm Alive!\"\r 20 November 2019.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1fGK5aX5nQ_xMuLXmiPPjAI_DAmjzexUe"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1jPhsCTDGU5ChimKii4B26fq8mZfUnKlh"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1UmRVLPEfkWKmeWIjMrMvIqjQPbOcQhla"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_809","claim":"Obama personally funded the opening of a Muslim museum during a government shutdown.","posted":"10\/03\/2013","sci_digest":["Is President Obama using his personal funds to keep the International Museum of Muslim Cultures open during the government shutdown?"],"justification":" Claim:  President Obama is using his personal funds to keep the International Museum of Muslim Cultures open during the government shutdown.  Example:  [Collected via e-mail, September 2013] I recently read an article online stating that president Obama is using his personal funds to keep the international museum of Muslim culture open during the government shutdown. I was wondering if your site had any information regarding this.   Origins:  On 2 October 2013,  the National Report published an article positing that President Obama would be using his personal funds to keep the International Museum of Muslim Cultures open during the current government budget shutdown: article While up to 800,000 federal workers faced life without a paycheck as Day One of the government shutdown kicked in, President Barack Obama held a press conference to announce  that he is using his own money to open the federally funded International Museum of Muslim Cultures. \"During this shutdown, people will have to deal with some of their favorite parks and museums being closed,\" Obama told reporters. \"Just keep in mind, they will always be there. The Grand Canyon and the Smithsonian are not going anywhere.\" Obama continued, \"The International Museum of Muslim Cultures is sacred. That is why I have taken it upon myself to use my own personal funds to re-open this historic piece of American culture.\" The International Museum of Muslim Cultures closed its doors as parts of the federal government shut down after Congress failed to reach an agreement on spending. The fiscal standoff stems in large part from Republican attempts to block President Obama's healthcare initiative. By the following day links and excerpts referencing this article were being circulated via social media, with many of those who encountered the item mistaking it for a genuine news article.  However, the article was just a bit of satire from the National Report,  a web site that publishes outrageous fictional stories such as \"IRS Plans to Target Leprechauns Next,\" \"Boy Scouts Announce Boobs Merit Badge,\" and \"New CDC Study Indicates Pets of Gay Couples Worse at Sports, Better at Fashion Than Pets of Straight Couples.\" The National Report's (since removed) disclaimer page notes that: disclaimer National Report is a news and political satire web publication, which may or may not use real names, often in semi-real or mostly fictitious ways.  All news articles contained within National Report are fiction, and presumably fake news.  Any resemblance to the truth is purely coincidental. Nonetheless, Fox News host Anna Kooiman fell for this spoof during a Fox & Friends segment, reporting that \"[W]e're going to talk a little bit later in the show  about some things that are continuing to be funded. And President Obama has offered to pay out of his own pocket for the museum of Muslim culture ...\":  (For the record, we note that there is indeed an International Museum of Muslim Cultures in Jackson, Mississippi, but it is an independent museum and not a federally funded one.) International Museum of Muslim Cultures Last updated:  5 October 2013 ","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1HtJFZkh7L6yvYyFw5URyJN3w66pVq2_h"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_810","claim":"All of Donald Trump's achievements in a mere four months?","posted":"05\/24\/2017","sci_digest":["We looked into the accuracy of a viral list touting President Trump's accomplishments during his first four months in office."],"justification":"In May 2017, a Reddit user posted a graphic that purported to list all of President Trump's accomplishments during his first four months in office. It was then widely shared on social media: \"Reddit TRUMP ACCOMPLISHMENTS ..Retweet the hell out of this to annoy @ABC @CBS @cnn @cnbc @MSNBC @nbc @nytimes @washingtonpost #dishonestmedia.\" Creating homebrew visual aids touting the accomplishments (or failures) of top politicians is a popular online pastime, not least because it's a cheap and easy way to propagandize, and because there are no pesky standards of fairness and accuracy to meet. As we've noted with regard to previous specimens (for example, a late-2016 meme touting the alleged economic achievements of President Obama), the graphic format lends itself to the display of cherry-picked facts to make a simplistic case with no semblance of context or nuance. In this case, the claim is that, despite all the carping in the mainstream press about \"chaos\" and \"ineptitude\" in the Oval Office, President Trump has actually accomplished quite a lot during his first four months as chief executive, and thus you will not find mention of major campaign promises Trump has had difficulty keeping so far, such as instituting a Muslim immigration ban and building a wall on the Mexican border. Also, since it's very much a partisan case being made, there will be disagreement over what constitutes an \"accomplishment.\" Some feats, such as reducing unemployment, are uncontroversial, while others, such as dismantling entire government agencies, aren't likely to be regarded as accomplishments by those who find the functions of those agencies critical. Here are the claims: 4.4 percent - lowest since May 2007. As reported in the Washington Post, government data released on May 5, 2017, indicated that the national unemployment rate hit a new low in April: The U.S. job market rebounded strongly last month, and the unemployment rate fell to the lowest level seen in a decade, government data released Friday morning showed, calming fears that had bubbled up in the past month about the state of the economy. Employers added 211,000 jobs in April as the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.4 percent, the lowest level since May 2007. It bears pointing out that the jobless rate had already been on a steady decline since 2010. Further, unemployment hit a previous nine-year low of 4.6 percent in December 2016 when President Obama was still in office. It climbed back up to 4.8 percent in January, dipped to 4.7 percent in February, and to 4.5 percent in March 2017. To what degree short-term improvements in the economy since January can be attributed to a new chief executive whose economic policies remain nascent is perennially up for debate, though according to The New York Times' senior economic correspondent Neil Irwin, a \"Trump effect\" that is buoying corporate hiring policies after the election cannot be ruled out. So does Mr. Trump deserve any credit for solid economic results? If you think the economy is driven by concrete, specific policies around taxes, spending, monetary policy, and regulation, the answer is no. If you think that what really matters is the mood in the executive suite, then just maybe. This is a mostly accurate, partial list of corporations that have announced investments in American facilities and\/or jobs since the election of Donald Trump. With the exception of Bayer AG (which announced $8 billion in new investments, not $1 billion as claimed), the dollar amounts match those cited in press reports between January and April 2017 (sources: Softbank, Exxon Mobil Corp., Hyundai-Kia, Apple, Fiat Chrysler, General Motors, Bayer AG, Toyota, LG Electronics). It's not necessarily accurate to characterize all of these commitments as \"accomplishments\" of President Trump, however. As CBS Moneywatch's Irina Ivanova reported in January 2017, few of the jobs companies are promising to create in the U.S. can be attributed to a sudden renewed commitment to USA Inc. inspired by Trump's America First policies. Indeed, the businesses Trump has been quick to praise have been careful not to characterize their recent hiring announcements as new. And as usual with corporate investments of this scale, such plans are typically months or even years in the making, suggesting they long predate the presidential election. For example, Fiat Chrysler said their promise of a $1 billion investment in Michigan and Ohio plants, projected to create 2,000 jobs, was the \"second phase\" of an industrialization plan announced in 2016. GM's $1 billion investment was \"several years in the making,\" according to sources cited by CBS. The largest of all the announced commitments, SoftBank's pledge of $50 billion, was also in the works long before Trump won the election: Another widely publicized corporate initiative that Trump trumpeted\u2014a promise by SoftBank to create 50,000 high-tech jobs in the U.S.\u2014was the result of a tech fund the company announced on October 14, three weeks before the election. Given the massive tech industry in the U.S., economists say much of the planned $50 billion investment would have found its way to the states regardless of who occupied the White House. You don't just decide overnight to invest $3 billion, said Nathan Jensen, a professor at the University of Texas who studies interactions between government and corporations. Bayer AG's commitment to an $8 billion investment and the creation of 3,000 U.S. jobs was announced by the Trump transition team after the president-elect met in January 2017 with the CEOs of Bayer AG and Monsanto, who are planning a merger. Transition spokesman Sean Spicer credited Trump's negotiating skills for the pledge, but some analysts were skeptical that the companies had actually promised anything that wasn't already on the table when plans for the merger were first revealed in September 2016. Bayer and Monsanto said in a joint statement after Spicer's remarks that the \"combined company expects to spend approximately $16 billion in R&D in agriculture over the next six years with at least half of this investment made in the United States.\" That amounts to about $2.7 billion a year, which roughly equates to what the combined companies already spend in that area globally, [Wall Street analyst Jeremy] Redenius said. As for the U.S. breakdown, he estimates it's likely close to half already; Monsanto spends $1.5 billion a year, the majority of which is in the U.S., he said, and Bayer already invests in R&D here as well. \"Not an increase, but not substantially cutting,\" he said of the global figure. The merger, which awaits U.S. regulatory approval, is not likely to be completed until 2018, CNBC reported. It is true that the U.S. Treasury reported a $182 billion budget surplus in April 2017, the largest April surplus since 2001 (and the second-largest in history), according to MarketWatch. It's unclear exactly how that surplus is attributable to President Trump, however. April is typically a surplus month because of tax receipts. In addition, citing a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) review as its source, the Associated Press reported that the April 2017 surplus was \"inflated\" because of a tax deadline change allowing corporations to pay federal taxes in April that in previous years were paid in March. It remains to be seen what effect Trump's policies will have on the budget deficit for 2017 as a whole (the fiscal year ends on September 30). The CBO projects a 4.6 percent drop in the deficit from what it was in 2016, but that is based on laws and policies already in effect when Trump took office. The stock market can be fickle. As of April 29, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 20,940.51, 6.12 percent higher than when Trump took office\u2014positive movement, unquestionably. That number had risen to 20,981.94 by May 16, then plummeted 372 points the next day as the market was shaken by news that Trump had shared classified information with Russian diplomats in the White House and attempted to divert FBI Director James Comey from an investigation of Trump's alleged ties to Russia before he fired him. It's true that the Consumer Confidence Index, a metric assessing how ordinary consumers feel about the strength of the economy, hit 125.6 in March 2017, its highest point since 2000. It is also true that it fell five points to 120.3 the following month. Even so, it showed that consumers (as of April) had more confidence in the economy under Trump than under Obama, during whose administration the index never exceeded 113.7 (although it did manage to rise to that point after bottoming out in 2009 at 25). As of May 17, 2017, President Trump had signed 34 bills passed by Congress, a comparatively high number in such a short period of time (since Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who signed 76 pieces of legislation in his first 100 days, only Harry Truman, at 55, signed more). That's not to say that all of the legislation signed by Trump between January and May 2017 was necessarily noteworthy, however. One bill changed the name of a Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic in Pago Pago, American Samoa; another renamed a VA health center in Pennsylvania; another approved the location of a memorial honoring Desert Storm and Desert Shield veterans; three appointed citizen regents to the board of the Smithsonian Institution. Nor should it be assumed that Trump's signing of a given bill meant he or his administration was actively involved in its passage. Thirteen such bills nullifying federal regulations enacted during the Obama administration (such as H.J. Res. 69, reversing a U.S. Fish and Wildlife rule pertaining to Alaska's National Wildlife Refuges and S.J. Res. 34, reversing FCC Internet privacy rules) were rushed through Congress and quickly signed because they made use of the Congressional Review Act of 1996, which imposes a 60-day limit on the time allowed to overrule previously passed laws. This is true. Gorsuch was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 7, 2017. This is true. Trump fulfilled a campaign promise by signing an executive order withdrawing the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership international trade agreement on January 23, 2017, one day after announcing he would renegotiate it. Despite President Obama's fervent support for the deal, many groups, including labor unions, were critical of the TPP, and CNN reported that its chances of approval by Congress were already \"bleak.\" The number of illegal border crossings from Mexico into the U.S. in February 2017 were indeed down 40 percent from the previous month, according to statistics provided by the Department of Homeland Security, and that downward trend, which had actually started the previous November, continued in March and April 2017. It's true that in March 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded a $100 million grant to the state of Michigan to upgrade the drinking water infrastructure in Flint, which experienced a lead pollution crisis potentially affecting as many as 100,000 people beginning in 2014. There has been some dispute, however, over whether this ought to be labeled a \"Trump accomplishment\" or an \"Obama accomplishment.\" As we noted in a previous article, funding for the grant came from a bill signed by President Obama in 2016, though the monies weren't officially awarded until after he left office, hence some prefer to credit it to Trump. Although President Trump pledged to \"strengthen\" overseas relationships going into office and he had already met with several important foreign leaders by mid-May 2017, it is too soon to tell to what degree his promise will bear fruit. The president-elect got off to a rocky start with China in December by accepting a congratulatory call from the leader of Taiwan, which China views as a province, not an independent nation, and with which the U.S. does not have diplomatic relations. China lodged a formal complaint. In April, Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, with whom he said he made \"tremendous progress\" but no breakthroughs. A trade deal negotiated by the Trump administration with China in May was rated \"pretty good\" by The Wall Street Journal. Japanese Prime Minister Abe, who has met twice with Trump, issued a joint statement with him reaffirming the \"unshakable alliance\" between the U.S. and Japan. That is despite Trump having called Japan a \"currency manipulator\" during the presidential campaign and pulling out of the TPP, which Abe supported. Whether the \"very, very good chemistry\" Trump says he has with Abe will improve the relationship between the two countries over the long haul remains to be seen. U.S.-Russia relations have been strained for many years, a situation not improved by Russia's attempts to meddle in the U.S. presidential election, nor by the fact that Trump associates are under investigation for possible collusion in that effort. A U.S. missile strike by Trump against Syria, with whose government Russia is closely allied, was strongly condemned by Russian leaders, who warned there could be \"extremely serious\" consequences. British Prime Minister Theresa May was the first foreign leader to visit the Trump White House, and their cordial meeting was portrayed by both countries as a renewal of the \"special relationship\" between the U.S. and the U.K. According to the BBC, Obama was seen by many Britons as more interested in the European Union as a whole than in the U.K. itself, while Trump, who was in favor of Brexit, is perceived as the opposite. President Trump has employed what the Washington Post calls \"hard-line rhetoric\" against North Korea, including threats of force, in hopes of squelching that country's increasing militarism, a strategy some experts dismiss as \"macho posturing\" that could escalate into a Cuban Missile Crisis-like confrontation. In April 2017, Trump ordered U.S. missile strikes against an air base in Syria in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack on civilians by the Syrian government, which has been known to brutalize its own people during the ongoing civil war there. Trump's gesture came up short, however, in that the Syrian Air Force was able to launch a new attack against rebel forces from that same base just hours later. In April 2017, President Trump negotiated the release of U.S. citizen Aya Hijazi, her Egyptian husband, and four other humanitarian workers from a prison in Cairo, Egypt, where they had been locked up since 2014, without evidence or trial, on charges of child abuse and trafficking. Although it is true that President Trump signed an executive order on March 13, 2017, directing the heads of executive branch departments to eliminate all \"unnecessary\" agencies and reorganize those that remain to improve their \"efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability,\" the order gave said department heads six months from the date of signing to come up with suggestions for this process, so not much fat has been trimmed thus far despite the groundwork being laid. President Donald Trump made a campaign trail promise to eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency\u2014a department once looked to as an important national force tackling climate change\u2014and during his first 100 days in office has held true to his word, taking swift strides towards dismantling the agency and rolling back regulations. Alongside EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, a former Oklahoma attorney general who once worked tangentially with the fossil fuel industry to oppose Obama-era regulations, the Trump administration has so far issued a flurry of EPA-focused executive orders, proposed employee buyouts, handed down a social media gag order, and is proposing significant cuts to the EPA budget. The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), a small business advocacy group, has hailed Trump's commitment to cutting \"burdensome regulations,\" while environmental protection groups see it as a threat to public health and the future of the planet. The controversial Dakota Access Pipeline project, halted under President Obama, was revived by President Trump and will begin commercial operations on June 1, 2017. Trump also issued an executive order directing a review of lands designated as national monuments. Specifically, the review will consider all national monument designations of federal public lands since 1996 that are 100,000 acres or larger. Mr. Trump singled out former President Barack Obama's egregious use of federal power in using the Antiquities Act to unilaterally place swaths of American land and water under federal control, adding, \"it's time we ended this abusive practice.\" As with many of the other items discussed above, whether or not one regards this as an \"accomplishment\" (as opposed, say, to a travesty) will depend almost entirely on one's political views going in.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1G3IQrBNbt-LJmvqcDTFeNj1hpozmQMRw"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_811","claim":"Does Texting 'USPS' to 50409 Send a Letter to Your Political Representatives?","posted":"08\/18\/2020","sci_digest":["A political crisis surrounding the Postal Service inspired some novel campaigning techniques in August 2020."],"justification":"In August 2020, amid an ongoing political crisis in the U.S. surrounding the Postal Service and mail-in ballots, readers asked Snopes to examine widespread claims that by texting \"USPS\" to the number 50409, an individual could send a letter to their local political representatives expressing support for the Postal Service. crisis The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic prompted millions of Americans to consider voting by mail, rather than in person, in 2020. But cuts at the Postal Service caused a slowdown in deliveries that meant millions of ballots were at risk of not being counted. U.S. President Donald Trump admitted he was pushing back against a fresh infusion of funding for the Postal Service, on the basis that mail-in ballots would disproportionately favor the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, fueling a partisan battle, with Democrats demanding a properly funded, well-functioning Postal Service.  admitted On Aug. 15, 2020, Democratic Congressional candidate Allen Ellison tweeted that \"If you text USPS to 50409 they will send letters to your senators and representative in support of the postal service. It literally takes under a minute.\" tweeted A similar exhortation posted on Facebook read: \"Pushback pressure is working. Text USPS to 50409. This one-word text will automatically send a letter to your local representatives using Resistbot and urge them to take action. Thanks.\" posted   The process is not quite as straightforward as described in the meme above, but it is true that texting \"USPS\" to 50409 does begin a relatively quick process under which, on your behalf, a bot sends letters to your federal political representatives based on the mailing address you provide. We tested the bot on Aug. 18, 2020, using the SMS utility on a cellphone and providing a real name and address in Pennsylvania's 8th Congressional District. (The creators of \"Resistbot\" state that the same process works on Apple's iMessage, Facebook's Messenger, Twitter, and the encrypted text message app Telegram.) The following is a step-by-step breakdown of how the bot works: state First, the user texts \"USPS\" to 50409. The bot automatically and immediately replies, asking if the user wants to electronically sign a \"Support the USPS\" letter and send it to the user's political representatives. It also offers to show a sample of what the letter will look like:   When the user replies with \"SAMPLE,\" the bot replies with a link to a screenshot of the form letter and asks if the user would like to sign it:   After the user confirms, the bot then asks for a first and last name and a mailing address:   The bot adds the user's name to the petition and the mailing address allows it to identify the user's congressional district. The bot then automatically sends the letter via email to the corresponding members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate:   From start to finish, the process took around five minutes with the only significant delay coming when the user awaits a verification code sent to their email address.  Snopes could confirm that the letter was sent to the representatives in question because the office of one of them, U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Pennsylvania, happened to respond later on with an acknowledgement that explicitly addressed the topic of the letter, the Postal Service:   Claims that \"Resistbot\" allowed users to quickly send letters to their political representatives were true, although it should be noted that the user is, for obvious reasons, required to actively provide a valid name, mailing address, and email address, and the letter is sent to federal representatives only, not state legislators. According to the Resistbot website, the bot is a \"product of the Resistbot Action Fund, a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization\" with an address in Florida. The group's Executive Director Jason Putorti sent Snopes a copy of the Resistbot Action Fund's certificate of incorporation, showing that it was registered as a non-profit organization in the state of Delaware in February 2018. website registered Riccardi, Nicholas.  \"Q&A: What's Happening at the Postal Service, And Why?\"\r  The Associated Press.  15 August 2020. Delaware Secretary of State.  \"Certificate of Incorporation -- Resistbot Action Fund.\"\r  26 February 2018.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1CF8J7JDtlRKozFhMe_ekustLXlS4YYLf","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1VGYGFQ2voHHJ49iOUIVKPpuYWoChaouW","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=13TMTcmkxk8k9g3YfXErZcMPaoVEau9ZZ","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1enwnHFhLaPImuS4Vo-me_iVYAAUyqiHy","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1JpYRPdn_4Qq9JQhaLPY56uAFFPH92RND","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1lIheGcJ8i8GW5wDMgIGYmjvOgxD_NoRN","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_812","claim":"9 'Facts' About Slavery 'They Don't Want You to Know'","posted":"08\/16\/2016","sci_digest":["A widely circulated list of historical \"facts\" about slavery dwells on the participation of non-whites as owners and traders of slaves in America."],"justification":"One of the lesser-known aspects of the history of slavery is how many and how often people of color owned and traded slaves in early America. Free Black slaveholders could be found at one time or another \"in each of the thirteen original states and later in every state that countenanced slavery,\" historian R. Halliburton Jr. observed. The fact that Black people bought and sold other Black people raises \"vexing questions\" for 21st-century Americans, like African American writer Henry Louis Gates Jr., who argues that it reveals class divisions that have always existed within the Black community. For others, it's an excuse to deflect the shared blame for the institution of slavery in America away from white people. In the latter vein, a \"9 Facts About Slavery They Don't Want You to Know\" meme lays out a mixture of true, false, and misleading historical claims. We'll address each one in turn below: \n\nThe first legal slave owner in American history was a Black tobacco farmer named Anthony Johnson. This statement is possibly true. The wording of the statement is important. Anthony Johnson was not the first slave owner in American history, but he was, according to historians, among the first to have his lifetime ownership of a servant legally sanctioned by a court. A former indentured servant himself, Anthony Johnson was a so-called \"free negro\" who owned a 250-acre farm in Virginia during the 1650s, with five indentured servants under contract to him. One of them, a Black man named John Casor, claimed that his term of service had expired years earlier and that Johnson was holding him illegally. In 1654, a civil court found that Johnson in fact owned Casor's services for life, an outcome historian R. Halliburton Jr. calls \"one of the first known legal sanctions of slavery other than as a punishment for crime.\" \n\nNorth Carolina's largest slaveholder in 1860 was a Black plantation owner named William Ellison. This statement is false. William Ellison was a very wealthy Black plantation owner and cotton gin manufacturer who lived in South Carolina (not North Carolina). According to the 1860 census (in which his surname was listed as \"Ellerson\"), he owned 63 Black slaves, making him the largest of the 171 Black slaveholders in South Carolina, but far from the largest overall slaveholder in the state. \n\nAmerican Indians owned thousands of Black slaves. This statement is true. Historian Tiya Miles provided this snapshot of Native American ownership of Black slaves at the turn of the 19th century for Slate magazine in January 2016: Miles places the number of enslaved people held by Cherokees at around 600 at the start of the 19th century and around 1,500 at the time of westward removal in 1838-9. (Creeks, Choctaws, and Chickasaws, she said, held around 3,500 slaves across the three nations as the 19th century began.) \"Slavery inched its way slowly into Cherokee life,\" Miles told me. \"When a white man moved into a Native location, usually to work as a trader or as an Indian agent, he would own [African] slaves.\" If such a person also had a child with a Native woman, as was not uncommon, the half-European, half-Native child would inherit the enslaved people (and their children) under white law, as well as the right to use tribal lands under tribal law. This combination put such people in a position to expand their wealth, eventually operating large farms and plantations. \n\nIn 1830, there were 3,775 free Black people who owned 12,740 Black slaves. This statement is approximately true, according to historian R. Halliburton Jr.: There were approximately 319,599 free Blacks in the United States in 1830. Approximately 13.7 percent of the total Black population was free. A significant number of these free Blacks were owners of slaves. The census of 1830 lists 3,775 free Negroes who owned a total of 12,760 slaves. \n\nMany Black slaves were allowed to hold jobs, own businesses, and own real estate. This statement is somewhat true. There were exceptions, but generally speaking, especially after 1750, by which time slave codes had been entered into the law books in most of the American colonies, Black slaves were not legally permitted to own property or businesses. From the Oxford Companion to American Law (2002): Under these early codes, slaves had virtually no legal rights; in most areas, they could be executed for crimes that were not capital offenses for whites. Their testimony was restricted in legal cases and could not be used either for or against whites. Trials of slaves were usually by special courts. Slaves could not own property, move about without the consent of their owners, or legally marry. \n\nBrutal Black-on-Black slavery was common in Africa for thousands of years. This statement is true, in the sense that the phenomenon of human beings enslaving other human beings goes back thousands of years, but not just among Blacks, and not just in Africa. \n\nMost slaves brought to America from Africa were purchased from Black slave owners. This statement is sort of true. Historian Steven Mintz describes the situation more accurately in the introduction to his book African-American Voices: A Documentary Reader, 1619-1877: Apologists for the African slave trade long argued that European traders did not enslave anyone; they simply purchased Africans who had already been enslaved and who otherwise would have been put to death. Thus, apologists claimed, the slave trade actually saved lives. Such claims represent a gross distortion of the facts. Some independent slave merchants did in fact stage raids on unprotected African villages and kidnap and enslave Africans. Most professional slave traders, however, set up bases along the West African coast where they purchased slaves from Africans in exchange for firearms and other goods. Before the end of the seventeenth century, England, France, Denmark, Holland, and Portugal had all established slave trading posts on the West African coast. Yet to simply say that Europeans purchased people who had already been enslaved seriously distorts historical reality. While there had been a slave trade within Africa prior to the arrival of Europeans, the massive European demand for slaves and the introduction of firearms radically transformed West and Central African society. A growing number of Africans were enslaved for petty debts or minor criminal or religious offenses or following unprovoked raids on unprotected villages. An increasing number of religious wars broke out with the goal of capturing slaves. European weapons made it easier to capture slaves. \n\nSlavery was common for thousands of years. This statement is true, as noted above, though how \"common\" slavery has been and what the specific nature of that slavery was has varied according to time and place. \n\nWhite people ended legal chattel slavery. It's rather self-serving to claim that \"white people\" ended legal chattel slavery in the United States (much less ended chattel slavery, period), given that the overwhelming majority of Blacks in the U.S. could not vote, could not run for political office, and, in every other way conceivable, were excluded from institutional power. Moreover, even as some white people were laboring to put an end to slavery, many other white people were fighting to preserve it. Slavery was eliminated in America via the efforts of people of various ethnicities, including white people, who took up the banner of the abolitionist movement. The names of the white leaders of that movement tend to be better known than those of the Black leaders, among whom were David Walker, Frederick Douglass, Dred Scott, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Nat Turner, and many others. When Congress passed (and the states ratified) the 13th Amendment in 1865, it was the culmination of many years of work by that multi-racial movement.","issues":["debt"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1S4up5wyalcU27ap-6p-KOtGNImxnMixs","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_813","claim":"Does a Photo Show a Trump Impeachment Rally in Toronto?","posted":"12\/18\/2019","sci_digest":["Rallies in support of U.S. President Donald Trump's impeachment (and some against) were held across the country on the eve of the House vote. "],"justification":"On Dec. 16, 2019, the night before the U.S. House of Representatives was scheduled to vote on two articles of impeachment against U.S. President Donald Trump, people gathered around the United States to hold impeachment rallies: impeachment rallies Hours before the House votes on whether to impeach President Donald Trump, hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Times Square Tuesday night chanting \"Tell me who's above the law? Nobody is above the law!\" They weren't alone. Rallies sprang up from Oregon to Florida on the eve of the vote on two articles of impeachment against Trump, charging him with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Democrats say Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate his political rivals in exchange for security aid and that he obstructed a congressional investigation by refusing to allow key officials to testify. Trump has asserted that Democrats' attempt to impeach him is part of a larger effort to avenge the results of the 2016 election. As photographs of these crowds started to circulate on social media, some people started to share a picture that supposedly showed an impeachment rally held in Toronto, Canada: share This is a genuine photograph of a large crowd gathered in Toronto, but it has nothing to do with the impeachment of Trump.   The picture comes from a video taken on June 17, 2019, by 680 News reporter Momin Qureshi, and shows thousands of people at a parade in honor of the recent NBA champions, the Toronto Raptors: reporter  That said, a rally in support of the impeachment of Trump was indeed held in Toronto, Canada, but it was nowhere near as large as the crowd pictured above. The group Democrats Abroad held a small protest in the Canadian city to call for the president's impeachment: Democrats Abroad  Rush, Curtis.  \"Toronto Raptors Draw Massive Crowds to Victory Parade and Rally.\"   Forbes.  17 June 2019. Holcombe, Madeline.  \"Pro-Impeachment Protests Span the Country Ahead of Historic Vote.\"\r  CNN.  18 December 2019.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ViJp5WySgE0AuwVOXqGK8cvORTXIEFLZ","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_814","claim":"We (in Illinois) have the fifth-highest tax burden in the country.","posted":"12\/01\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"With Illinois entering its 17th month without a state budget as Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan continue their epic stalemate, Republican legislative leaders repeatedly talk about the need for a property tax freeze. They suggest that the freeze, which Rauner has made a prerequisite for any budget negotiation, is particularly necessary, as the state will need to raise other taxes to cover its growing bill backlog when a budget is signed into law. Rauner has called for daily meetings with Madigan and the state's three other legislative leaders as the state's stopgap spending authority expires at year's end. As the legislative leaders began those closed-door meetings in their six-day fall veto session, both Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno and House Republican Leader Jim Durkin again made the case for a property tax freeze by saying Illinois has one of the worst tax burdens nationwide. Radogno said, \"People in this state right now are suffering because they don't have jobs. We have the fifth-highest tax burden in the country. People are moving out of their homes because of the property tax burden. These are issues that have to be addressed and have to be addressed now.\" This is a claim we've often heard for years in Illinois, and it seems various groups are releasing rankings daily. So we decided to check this one out. Patty Schuh, press secretary to the Illinois Senate GOP staff, said the source for the fifth-worst tax burden claim was a January release of rankings by the Tax Foundation. Indeed, the nonpartisan foundation did issue rankings of the 50 states' tax burdens that showed Illinois at No. 5 for its overall burden. But that's not the entire picture. Measuring the rankings: What does the Foundation's overall burden measure? And is that the best, most relevant measurement? Jared Walczak, a policy analyst at the Tax Foundation, noted there are many ways to measure tax systems, rates, and burdens. A state's own tax structure can play a big part in how it ranks compared to others. For instance, he said Alaska derives a lot of its tax revenue from oil sales, but Alaskans pay relatively little of those taxes, which are paid by all of us who use gasoline, Walczak said. The Tax Foundation does measure the overall tax burden of the people paying taxes in a state, but that overall metric includes both taxes that return to Illinois and those that are paid outside of Illinois, Walczak said. Annette Nellen, a professor and director of San Jos\u00e9 State University's graduate tax program, agreed, noting that people need to understand how the rankings are calculated and what they mean. \"I think it gets to that legislator using that information incorrectly. A legislator should look at what's paid and what the rates are in Illinois if she is trying to make the argument that Illinois taxes are too high,\" she said. \"They should look at the rate in the state for income, sales, and property taxes and how much the middle quintile of taxpayers pay for various taxes within Illinois,\" Nellen added. The Tax Foundation's own website notes, \"Tax collections are useful for some purposes and cited frequently. However, dividing total taxes collected by governments in a state by the state's total income is not an accurate measure of the tax burden on a state's residents as a whole because it does not accurately reflect the taxes that are actually paid out of that state's income.\" Walczak, the Foundation analyst, said Illinois actually ranked seventh-highest in taxes residents paid to their own state and fifth-most overall when taxes paid outside of Illinois are included. The ranking of taxes paid by residents in their state is a more accurate reflection of the state's tax structure and burden on residents, experts agreed. But there's one more thing to consider. The Tax Foundation rankings were released in January but were calculated using census data from 2012, the bureau's most recent release of that particular data. John Frendreis, a Loyola University political science professor, said the Foundation's work was sound but noted the income tax rate in 2012 was higher than it is now. The rate then for individuals was 5 percent but dropped in January 2015 to 3.75 percent. As a point of comparison, during the two fiscal years preceding FY 2012, the total state tax burden was 10.5 percent, which dropped Illinois several places in the ranking, Frendreis noted. Still, he said, \"In general, Illinois' total tax burden puts it into roughly the top quarter of states on a regular basis.\" Our ruling: Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno said Illinois has the fifth-highest tax burden in the country. It's a statistic she and other Republicans cite often as they argue for a property tax freeze as one of several changes they want made before they will agree to a budget with Madigan and Democrats. While independent experts say the No. 5 rank for Illinois issued by the Tax Foundation for overall tax burden is accurate, the overall burden includes taxes paid outside of Illinois and is not the best metric for the burden taxpayers carry as a result of tax policy and structure and those taxes paid within the state. Illinois actually is No. 7 nationwide by the measure that best reflects in-state tax policy set by lawmakers. The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. We rate this claim Mostly True.","issues":["Taxes","Illinois"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_815","claim":"Was a UFO Spotted in Irvine, California?","posted":"05\/21\/2021","sci_digest":["This \"UFO\" has been in the same location for several years. "],"justification":"In May 2021, the UfoChannel TikTok page posted a video that supposedly showed a UFO that had been spotted in Irvine, California: TikTok page   This video does not show a UFO, nor was it taken in California. This video was taken in the parking lot of a Minnesota Walmart and shows the light display of a nearby casino.  Outside of the Mystic Lake Casino are several bright spotlights the project a circular display in the night sky. The casino uses this display as part of an advertising campaign which informs Minnesotans to \"follow the lights\" to the venue. Here's an illustration of this display:      This display is also featured on the casino's YouTube page:  These lights have fooled a few people into thinking that they were witnessing a UFO -- which may just be the intent. In 2018, a similar video went viral as a person expressed befuddlement over this strange sighting. A screenshot from that video (available via the local Minnesota news outlet SWNewsMedia) shows a nearly identical scene to that the video that went viral in May 2021: SWNewsMedia   SW News Media wrote at the time: wrote at the time Death, taxes and someone thinking the beaming lights drawing masses to Mystic Lake Casino are, in-fact, proof of a pending alien invasion. These are the certainties of life in the Land of Big Fun. Last week, a visitor to the Shakopee Wal-Mart on a cloudy Thursday evening looked up and saw lights forming a perfect circle hovering above the store. While its easy to see why someone might think there is a UFO dropping in to buy a gallon of milk, underwear, a big screen TV and a new pair of glasses, most area residents know enough to recognize the lights as the illuminated tipi for Mystic Lake Resort and Casino on the nearby Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community reservation. The video that went viral on TikTok in May 2021 did not show a UFO in Irvine, California. This video actually showed a casino's light display in Minnesota.   ","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1WWwi9t0TewIHP5A4pVD4gBGZO9R71CAX","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1eUGWZjmYs2gmBTjQ78G9ZwS3mzCuktqy","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_816","claim":"Did a Mandalay Bay Hotel Worker 'Vanish' After Giving an Interview?","posted":"10\/16\/2017","sci_digest":["A disreputable web site published an illogical and inaccurate conspiracy theory about a valet worker who reportedly had a brush with the Las Vegas gunman."],"justification":"Among the many conspiracy theories surrounding the October 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada, is one that involves Chad Nishimura, a Mandalay Bay Hotel valet worker who said he parked suspected shooter Stephen Paddock's car upon his arrival at the hotel. According to conspiracy theorists, Nishimura told a reporter in his native Hawaii that Paddock did not appear to have many bags with him, thus contradicting the \"official\" narrative that Paddock acted alone and prompting Nishimura's sinister disappearance. On October 10, 2017, the disreputable and rarely accurate website Neon Nettle wrote: \"A valet worker from the Mandalay Bay hotel, who parked the suspected Las Vegas shooting gunman's car, has mysteriously vanished after giving an interview saying Stephen Paddock was a 'normal guy' who 'didn't have many bags.'\" There is no evidence that Nishimura has disappeared or been reported missing, and this account contains several important factual errors and logical mistakes, typical of much of the content that Neon Nettle and other sites of its ilk publish. It is true that Nishimura spoke to KITV 4, a Honolulu ABC affiliate, for an article published on October 3, 2017, that has since been deleted: A Kamehameha graduate working as a valet at the Mandalay Bay Resort said he parked the shooter's car on Saturday. The gunman, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, checked his car into the hotel on Saturday morning. Valet Chad Nishimura, who is from Mililani, said he spoke briefly with Paddock. \"Just in shock, really. It's scary to know that I was close to someone that was that dangerous. I would've never thought. He seemed like a normal guy. When he came in, nothing too weird about him. He didn't have any crazy bags with him that I can remember. We are a convention hotel, so we have a bunch of people that have boxes and multiple carts worth of stuff. There's nothing weird that I can remember,\" Nishimura said. (An archived version of the story can be viewed here.) The first thing to note is that Nishimura did not say Stephen Paddock didn't have many bags. He said Paddock didn't have any \"crazy bags\" and brought \"nothing weird\" that he could remember. Further, it requires a logical leap to propose that if Stephen Paddock didn't have much luggage with him upon arriving at the Mandalay Bay Hotel, it follows that he must have had an accomplice in the October 1, 2017, mass shooting. Nothing in Nishimura's account of meeting Paddock eliminates the possibility that Paddock made multiple trips to the hotel, therefore making that particular conspiracy theory surrounding Nishimura fall apart on this logical point alone. Neon Nettle also attributes the removal of the KITV 4 article to \"higher-ups at ABC taking issue with a report that conflicts with the narrative they are pushing on the public,\" and falsely states that the reporter Moanike'ala Nabarro had declined to answer readers who asked why the story had been deleted. In fact, Nabarro gave a clear answer to this question on October 7, 2017, three days before Neon Nettle published its story, saying that the decision was made in order to protect Nishimura's privacy: \"Mililani native says he spoke to shooter before checking his car into the valet at Mandalay Bay.\" Finally, there is no evidence that Chad Nishimura has \"vanished\" mysteriously or otherwise, and in fact, there is evidence to contradict this claim. According to Neon Nettle, Nishimura \"has completely vanished since the report was published, with all of his social media accounts being scrubbed from the internet.\" This is completely and provably false. Nishimura has been active on Facebook after October 3, the publication date of the KITV 4 article, which, at least according to the conspiracy theory being pushed here, prompted his \"disappearance.\" (His Facebook account remains active, but we are not linking to it in the interest of protecting Nishimura's privacy from readers provoked by the groundless conspiracy theory peddled and promulgated by Neon Nettle and others.) On October 5, 2017, Nishimura wrote: \"I'm okay everyone, I was at the concert the night before, thankfully cut my wristband off and didn't go on Sunday. However, I did park the shooter's car... That's been the rough part for me.\" Furthermore, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has not listed Nishimura as a missing person. This conspiracy theory is illogical, not supported by any evidence, contradicted by other evidence, and is false. Neon Nettle has a history of publishing inaccurate conspiracy theories, hoaxes, and other fabricated content. The Chad Nishimura case joins a laundry list of conspiracy theories and hoaxes revolving around the October 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1YhJTHQr17pdoQDinV33olbICpq9O3V3L","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_817","claim":"The website called The Hunger Site","posted":"09\/08\/2001","sci_digest":["Does The Hunger Site really donate money for hunger relief every time you click a button on their site?"],"justification":"Claim:  You can direct money to hunger relief simply by clicking a button on a web site. Origins:  Over the last few years we've seen a plethora of altruistic appeals circulate on the Internet, each one claiming that you could donate money to a worthy cause or right some terrible injustice  at no cost to you  merely by taking some simple action, such as forwarding an e-mail message.  (See our Jessica Mydek page for one example.)  All of these messages were hoaxes  until The Hunger Site came  Jessica Mydek along. At The Hunger Site, you can \"donate\" money to hunger relief simply by clicking a button.  How?  The Hunger Site, the creation of  John Breen, a 42-year-old computer programmer from Bloomington, Indiana, was funded by various companies who sponsored the site for a day.   Every sponsor donated the approximate cost of 1\/4 of a cup of food to the United Nations' World Food Program for each user who clicks on the site during the day.  (If multiple companies were sponsoring the site, the amount of food donated was multiplied by the number of sponsors.) The Hunger Site Breen created the site in June 1999 as a personal project to help deal with hunger in developing countries, and the response was soon so overwhelming that he spent most of his time administering the site even though he received no income, loans, grants, or donations to compensate him for his time and effort or pay his expenses.  Eventually The Hunger Site became part of GreaterGood.com, a shopping portal where customers could direct up to 15% of the cost of every purchase to causes they selected.  GreaterGood.com ceased operations in July 2001, and The Hunger Site was temporarily shut down until CharityUSA.com took over its operations a few weeks later.  Other sites also offer similar means for visitors to aid various charities: CharityUSA.com  Animal Rescue Site Animal Rescue Site  The Breast Cancer Site The Breast Cancer Site Additional information:        About the Hunger Site   (TheHungerSite.com)        The Hunger Site press release   (World Food Program)   Last updated:  Last updated:  29 August 2009    Rowe, Peter.  \"Fighting Hunger with the Click of a Button.\"","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_818","claim":"Georgia has the fifth-highest number of uninsured people of any state in the union.","posted":"02\/03\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"A chorus of Democratic lawmakers and supporters has become increasingly vocal in urging Gov. Nathan Deal to expand Medicaid in Georgia. One of those voices is the Rev. Raphael Warnock, senior pastor of Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church, the former pulpit of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Warnock, the keynote speaker at this year's MLK Commemorative Service at Ebenezer, used the occasion\u2014attended by political heavyweights from both sides of the aisle\u2014to demand an expansion. He cited a statistic we have seen others mention to support his case: Georgia has the fifth-highest number of uninsured people of any state in the union, he said. Is this correct? PolitiFact Georgia was curious for a few reasons. U.S. census figures show Georgia has the eighth-highest population in the nation, so the Peach State's ranking would be higher than some states with more residents if Warnock is correct. We have also heard similar claims in the past from others who support the expansion, so PolitiFact Georgia thought now would be a good time to find out if they are right. As part of the federal health care law, also known as Obamacare, the federal government pays for the full cost of newly eligible Medicaid recipients under expansion for the first three years. Its share then drops to no lower than 90 percent of the cost. In Georgia, it is estimated that as many as 650,000 additional residents would be eligible for Medicaid. Deal, whose last vote as a congressman was against the health care law, has been adamantly opposed to the Medicaid expansion. The governor has expressed concern about expanding coverage for fear that the federal government will be unable to fulfill its funding pledge for the additional Medicaid recipients. Deal has estimated that the expansion would cost the state $4 billion over a decade, but supporters of the health care law argue that the cost would likely be closer to half of that. Medicaid expansion supporters contend that Georgia could receive about $30 billion over 10 years from the federal government. Deal, who spoke at the MLK service, had left by the time Warnock addressed the audience. The pastor, who called Deal courageous for his position on other issues, such as prison re-entry, told us, \"I'd like to see the same courage on Medicaid expansion.\" An Atlanta Journal-Constitution statewide poll conducted in September found that nearly 60 percent of Georgians do not support the health care law, but approximately the same percentage of respondents believe Medicaid should be expanded. Warnock stated that he had researched where Georgia ranked nationally in terms of uninsured residents and believed he was in the ballpark with his claim. He forwarded a two-page fact sheet from the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, which supports an expansion, stating that Georgia ranks fifth in the number of uninsured residents. He shared a 2012 Kaiser Family Foundation report that ranked Georgia tied for fifth in the percentage of uninsured residents, at 19 percent, along with Alaska and California. The top four states were Nevada, Florida, New Mexico, and Louisiana. A 2013 Gallup poll found that Georgia ranked sixth nationally in that category, with approximately 22.5 percent of its residents uninsured. The top five were Texas, Louisiana, Nevada, California, and Florida. The results were based on telephone interviews conducted as part of a yearlong survey of a random sample of adults across the nation, with some interviews conducted in Spanish. The Corporation for Enterprise Development, an organization that works to alleviate poverty, released a study that found nearly 22 percent of Georgians under the age of 65 were uninsured in 2011, the fourth-highest total in the nation, behind only Florida, Nevada, and New Mexico. The corporation used data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for its findings. The U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey provides a breakdown of uninsured residents by state. In 2012, Georgia ranked sixth, with about 19 percent of its residents uninsured, slightly above the national average of 16 percent. The top five states were Texas, Nevada, New Mexico, Florida, and Louisiana. Georgia State University associate professor Bill Custer noted several factors contributing to why Georgia consistently ranks among the states with the highest percentage of uninsured residents. He explained that Georgia has a larger percentage of residents who cannot afford health insurance due to low wages or unemployment. We recently fact-checked a claim by state Sen. Jason Carter, D-Atlanta, that the average Georgia family makes $6,000 less than the average family did 10 years ago when inflation is factored in. Carter's claim was rated true. Another factor, Custer said, is that many Georgians live in rural areas and work in industries such as agriculture and retail, where their employers cannot afford to provide health care. Custer wrote a report in February 2013 concluding that the expansion would support 70,343 jobs statewide over a 10-year span, with about half of those jobs in the health care industry. \"For us not to accept the Medicaid expansion is a barrier to economic growth,\" Warnock said in a telephone interview. \"You'll produce jobs. If you provide that health care to those additional Medicaid recipients, someone has to provide that health care.\" To sum up, Warnock stated that Georgia has the fifth-highest number of uninsured residents. Our research showed he is indeed in the ballpark. We rate his claim true.","issues":["Georgia","Medicaid","State Budget"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_819","claim":"Is 'Price Is Right' Ending After Drew Carey Endorsed Keto?","posted":"05\/09\/2022","sci_digest":["A paid ad on Facebook showed a picture of \"The Price Is Right\" host Drew Carey and asked the question, \"Will the show stay on air?\""],"justification":"\"The Price Is Right\" is not ending, nor did its host, Drew Carey, endorse keto diet pills, despite what some readers might have seen online in a fake article that was designed to mimic the Us Weekly website. The Price Is Right Drew Carey keto Us Weekly On May 9, 2022, we looked at a paid advertisement from the Blossom Words Facebook page that showed a picture of Carey with a sad expression on his face. The ad read, \"What you didn't know about the 'Price Is Right' host. Will the show stay on air?\" It appeared to hint that the long-running game show would be ending. However, this was nothing but misleading clickbait to try to sell a keto diet pill product named Lifestyle Keto. Facebook Carey Price Is Right  The ad appeared to vaguely hint that something was revealed about Carey that he was sad about. We previously saw this same clickbait tactic used with \"Jeopardy\" host Mayim Bialik. In that instance, an ad falsely claimed that there were \"allegations\" against Bialik. The ad led to a fake CBD gummies endorsement page that mentioned nothing of any \"allegations\" against the TV star, because there were none. Carey Jeopardy Mayim Bialik CBD After clicking the ad with Carey's sad facial expression, we were led to a scammy website (entertainmentnewsnow.net) that published a fake Us Weekly article. It appeared that scammers had copied the design from the official Us Weekly website and recreated it to push their scam, all seemingly without the authorization of the magazine's parent company, A360 Media, LLC. A360 Media, LLC  The article included a fake interview between Carey and Ellen DeGeneres in which he purportedly endorsed a product named Lifestyle Keto. The interview supposedly happened on \"The Ellen DeGeneres Show.\" At one point during the fake interview, DeGeneres supposedly asked, \"Lifestyle Keto? You mean Lifestyle Ketosis? I think I saw something on Dr. Oz about it.\" We found no record of this interview or any mention of Lifestyle Keto on Dr. Mehmet Oz's show, because it was completely made up by the person or people who designed the website. Ellen DeGeneres Dr. Mehmet Oz The fake interview in the fake Us Weekly article had the following headline: \"After Drew Careys Shocking Health News- Millions Of Americans Are Melting Body Fat & Getting Ripped Thanks To His Intermittent Keto Routine!\" It began like this: The Price Is Right's Drew Carey has recently opened up about his recent body transformation after having battled with weight problems for most of his life. Drew was recently announced as one of Time's 100 Most Influential People, and is a loving father. Carey said that for his entire comedy career, he had tried everything. He tried a lot of classes, he tried his own healthy recipes, but nothing worked like Lifestyle Keto did. Like millions of parents across North America, the TV star seems to swear by Keto Prime, but he has said it was hard to find something that worked and he trusted - it took him years to find this keto solution. In 2022, Drew Carey told US Weekly Magazine that he had tried almost every fitness style, class, and supplement out there, but was yet to figure out what works for him. The Price Is Right \"I tried spinning, I tried running, I tried Pilates. I realized I don't like running ... I refuse to do it,\" Drew Carey told the publication. Eventually, he said he fell in love with Lifestyle Keto. This whole article was both misleading and false. Again, we found no record that Carey had ever endorsed Lifestyle Keto or any other keto diet pills. To cover all of the bases for any future claims, we also found no evidence that he endorsed any CBD gummies or oil products. We previously saw Us Weekly's website design being used in other keto diet pill scams, all seemingly without the publisher's authorization. In 2018, we debunked a claim to the effect that singer Kelly Clarkson had been fired from the reality TV series \"The Voice\" and that she later endorsed keto diet pills. debunked Kelly Clarkson In 2021, another fake article that mimicked the Us Weekly website design claimed that the cast of the \"Shark Tank\" reality TV series had endorsed a product named Keto Burn. All of this was false. claimed Shark Tank In 2010, People.com published an article about the real way that Carey said he lost 80 pounds. Keto diet pills didn't appear in the story: article So how'd he do it? No carbs, Carey says. I have cheated a couple times, but basically no carbs, not even a cracker. No bread at all. No pizza, nothing. No corn, no beans, no starches of any kind. Egg whites in the morning or like, Greek yogurt, cut some fruit. He snacks on fruit, and for dinner he ll have grilled chicken and steamed vegetables and water. I dont drink anything but water, he says. No coffee, no tea, no soda. In sum, no, \"The Price Is Right\" is not ending or going off the air, nor did Carey ever endorse Lifestyle Keto or any other keto diet pill products. All of this was false. The Price Is Right Source: Hammel, Sara. Drew Carey: How I Lost 80 Lbs. People.com, 29 July 2010, https:\/\/people.com\/health\/drew-carey-how-i-lost-80-lbs\/.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1-1w4KM2XnulobA4EFFvWW3Aiaf7rUDlS","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1hWKq-2b3MIn_HFbU6HivZxeKi-9UppJa","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_820","claim":"Was it Stanley Kubrick who pretended that the moon landings were fake?","posted":"12\/11\/2015","sci_digest":["Various edits of this infamous 'interview' have been circulating for years. "],"justification":"On 10 December 2015, the website YourNewsWire.com published a video purportedly showing acclaimed film director Stanley Kubrick, who helmed groundbreaking films such as Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and A Clockwork Orange, confessing to having helped NASA fake the Apollo program moon landings. A stunning new video emerged 15 years after Stanley Kubrick's death, in which he allegedly admits that the NASA moon landings were faked. Filmmaker T. Patrick Murray interviewed Kubrick three days before his death in March 1999. He was forced to sign an 88-page NDA to keep the contents of the interview a secret for 15 years. Below is a transcript from the interview with Stanley Kubrick, in which the director of 2001: A Space Odyssey allegedly admits on camera that \"the moon landings ALL were faked, and that I was the person who filmed it.\" In the interview, the alleged Stanley Kubrick figure confesses: \n\nKubrick: I perpetrated a huge fraud on the American public, which I am now about to detail, involving the United States government and NASA, that the moon landings were faked, that the moon landings ALL were faked, and that I was the person who filmed it. \n\nMurray: Ok. (laughs) What are you talking ... You're serious. Ok. \n\nKubrick: I'm serious. Dead serious. Yes, it was fake. \n\nMurray: Why are you telling the world? Why does the world need to know that the moon landings aren't real and you faked them? \n\nKubrick: I consider them to be my masterpiece. \n\nMurray: And you can't take credit, or even talk about ... \n\nKubrick: Well, I am now ... \n\nMurray: So, you can't talk to Roger Ebert about it. Does that frustrate you? Why did they have to fake it? Why would they have to do that? \n\nKubrick: Because it is impossible to get there ... 2001 was very ambitious, but that's not to say that faking the moon landing was not ambitious. But I learned things from making 2001, and that's why I got this gig in the first place. \n\nMurray: That makes sense. \n\nKubrick: Well, it was easy for me because I didn't think a whole lot about the morality of it. But I didn't. And I could see that Neil [Armstrong] was bothered by it. \n\nThis video has been circulating online since at least August 2015 and is one of several clips purportedly showing Kubrick talking about his alleged involvement in faking the U.S. moon landings. While there are various edits of this infamous (and fake) interview circulating on YouTube, the videos all originated with a new film from T. Patrick Murray titled Shooting Kubrick. Murray claimed on the Shooting Kubrick website that he was granted unprecedented access to interview the director in May 1999, which would have been quite an impressive feat since Kubrick had passed away two months earlier. Although the date could be a simple typographical error, that was not the only questionable aspect of the interview. The man being interviewed simply doesn't look or sound like Stanley Kubrick when compared to a video of the real Kubrick accepting the D.W. Griffith Award in 1997. Furthermore, unedited versions of the interview contain hints that the \"Stanley Kubrick\" in the video is an actor. In a since-deleted clip, the interviewer called his subject \"Tom\" and instructed him on how to tell the next part of his story: \"You don't say he said anything. You say what he says. Tom, I'm giving you directions. You don't have to imitate him (Richard Nixon). You're not reporting it. You're repeating it ... We're doing exposition here. That's how we're going to sneak it in.\" A spokesman for Kubrick's widow also proclaimed that \"[t]he interview is a lie; Stanley Kubrick has never been interviewed by T. Patrick Murray. The whole story is made up, fraudulent, and untrue.\" T. Patrick Murray has not admitted that his interview with Stanley Kubrick is a hoax, but he certainly is banking on the mystery's driving interest in his project.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1VT7_7KZJuXACGtSTDo03ohwrvauTkSkv"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1xn1H6111dCT5hJc_UVtWiZq9FIb-PFAt"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_821","claim":"Says Russ Feingolds campaign is powered by small-dollar contributions like ours.","posted":"06\/22\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont loves to boast about his independence from super PACs and billionaires, stating that his campaign relies on the support of small donors. Recently, the Democratic presidential hopeful extended his small donor claim to Russ Feingold. Sanders sent out a news release on May 26, 2016, announcing that he would be raising money for Feingold, a former U.S. senator aiming to unseat Republican incumbent Ron Johnson in a rematch of their 2010 contest. Sanders also sent an email to his national fundraising list, saying, \"We are going to have to elect candidates up and down the ballot who recognize that it is too late for establishment politics and economics,\" referring to candidates like his friend, former U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold. Sanders continued, \"Russ led the fight with me to make the Affordable Care Act much stronger in 2009. He voted against the USA PATRIOT Act and the war in Iraq. He authored and passed landmark campaign finance reform legislation, and his campaign is powered by small-dollar contributions like ours.\" That last accolade caught our attention. Sanders's record-breaking level of small-contribution support has been well noted, leading us to wonder if small donors were also powering Feingold's campaign. Typically, small donors are considered those who give $200 or less over an election cycle. Having a lot of small-dollar contributions can indicate strong grassroots support and an effective online fundraising effort. When asked to back up the statement, Sanders's team directed us to a news release issued by Feingold's campaign in April 2016. At that time, the release stated that 30,000 Wisconsinites had contributed to Feingold's campaign, with money coming in from each of the state's 72 counties. The release also claimed that 96 percent of all contributions in the first quarter were $100 or less. The problem for fact-checkers is that this information cannot be independently verified. PolitiFact National explored the issue when presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton stated that her campaign depends on small donations for the majority of its support. Her team provided similar information, claiming that more than 50 percent of the money raised by the campaign came from online grassroots donations, with 98 percent being smaller than $250. Until an individual donor surpasses $200 in contributions, their funds are unitemized on campaign disclosure reports, making the number of donors who give less than $200 unknown. Numbers reported to the Federal Elections Commission provided weak support for Clinton's statement, as PolitiFact National found that small donors accounted for less than 20 percent of Clinton's total donations. The claim was rated Mostly False. The Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan campaign finance research group, tracks money given to candidates from individuals and PACs, as well as those self-financing their campaigns and contributions from other means. Sanders's profile on the group's website reports that 99 percent of his campaign's more than $200 million in funds has come from individual contributions (as opposed, for instance, to political action committees). Of that, 62 percent\u2014more than $129 million\u2014was from contributions of $200 or less. The other portion comes from large individual contributions of up to $2,700. So what about Sanders's Wisconsin pal, Feingold? According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Feingold has raised more than $10 million in the race against Johnson. Like Sanders, an overwhelming amount of his funds\u201493 percent\u2014comes from individual contributions. However, Feingold has received a larger share of donations from large donors than small ones, with 52 percent of his overall funds coming from people who gave more than $200. Another 41 percent came from small individual donors, and he also received about $600,000 from PAC contributions. Thus, while the majority of Sanders's funding\u201462 percent\u2014comes from small donors, only 41 percent of Feingold's funding comes from small donors. The phrase \"powered by\" is, of course, open to interpretation. We examined candidates in other competitive Senate races across the country this election cycle, finding that most candidates received less than 20 percent of all campaign funds from small donors. Some approached 30 percent, still far below the proportion of funds Feingold has raised from small donors. While Feingold does not exceed 50 percent and does not match Sanders's level, we believe the claim is generally on target. It doesn't factor into this claim, but as a point of reference, Johnson has raised just under $12 million, with individuals donating about 80 percent of that money. He has received a far greater share of his contributions from big spenders\u2014those donating between $200 and $2,700 this election cycle\u2014while just 15 percent of his funds come from people who donate less than $200, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Our rating: Sanders stated in a fundraising letter that Feingold's campaign is powered by small-dollar contributions like ours. Both the presidential and congressional hopefuls have received the majority of their support from individual donors. While small donors have played a role in Feingold's funding, they are not as integral as Sanders's small donors. We rate the claim Mostly True.","issues":["Campaign Finance","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_822","claim":"Did 'John-John' From 'Sesame Street' End Up On a Sex Offender List?","posted":"11\/25\/2019","sci_digest":["A 2-year-old who appeared on the children's show in 1971 shares a lot of biographical information with a known registered sex offender. "],"justification":"In November 2019, an old clip from the children's popular show \"Sesame Street\" started to go viral on Twitter. The clip, which was viewed more than 8 million times in a few days, showed a child named \"John-John\" counting to 10 with a muppet in 1971, and then showed John-John's return to \"Sesame Street\" about 20 years later: One of my favorite @sesamestreet moments of all time... pic.twitter.com\/WnHgjTQWkb @sesamestreet pic.twitter.com\/WnHgjTQWkb  ?Kristina A. Holzweiss #HackingSchoolLibraries (@lieberrian) November 21, 2019 November 21, 2019 While many viewers were delighted that John-John appeared to have grown into an upstanding citizen and member of the U.S. Air Force, others claimed there was a bit more to the story: Many Twitter users pointed to a 2015 article published on I Love Old School Music as evidence that he'd been in trouble with the law. Here's an excerpt from that article, as well as a mugshot of a man named \"John Bernard Williams\": I Love Old School Music ... John ended up getting convicted of Aggravated Sexual Assault Of A Child in the state of Texas..... Texas Department Of Public Safety Sex Offender Registry Records reveal that John sexually assaulted a 4 year old female child and that he was sentenced to 5 years in prison, was released on parole and is now under a lifetime mandatory supervision by the state of Texas.   A man named John Bernard Williams truly is on the Texas Public Sex Offender registry. We also found that much of the known biographical information for \"John-John\" matched with the information of this offender from the Texas Department of Public Safety. the Texas Public Sex Offender For instance, a profile on \"Airman John-John\" published by the Air Force Service Information and News Center in 1989 identified him as \"John Bernard Williams.\" That article also identified his mother by the first name of \"Trina.\" This is also the name of convicted sex offender John Bernard Williams' mother, according to a 2000 opinion on Williams' court case. Air Force Service Information and News Center 2000 opinion We also know that John-John was born in 1969 because many news outlets reported that the viral \"Sesame Street\" counting clip was filmed in 1971 when he was just 2 years old. The Muppet Fandom Wiki provides a more specific date of birth for John-John (Sept. 24, 1969), but we have been unable to verify this information. If this information is accurate, though, John-John and John Bernard Williams share the exact same birth date. If it's inaccurate, we still know that they were born in the same year. reported Muppet Fandom Wiki Lastly, in 1998, The New York Times caught up with John-John for the 30th anniversary of \"Sesame Street.\" That article noted that John-John was living in San Antonio, Texas. A year later, charges would be filed against a man named John Bernard Williams in Bexar County, where San Antonio is located, for the sexual assault of a child. San Antonio, Texas. The information we've gathered seems to show that John-John, the 2-year-old child who made multiple appearances on \"Sesame Street,\" may be the same person who ended up on the offender list in Texas. However, it is possible that this is just a coincidence. Given the nature of the rumor, and the fact that we have been unable to definitively tie these two identities together (via family statements, social security numbers, fingerprints, etc.) we are rating this claim \"Unproven.\" We've reached out to the Texas Department Of Public Safety and will update this article if more information becomes available. Ramos, Cindy.  \"Grover San Antonian's 14 Years on 'Sesame Street' Influenced His Life.\"   San Antonio Express-News.  12 May 1998. Sutherland, Anna.  \"Airman John-John.\"   Air Force Service Information and News Center.  1989. Martin, Brett.  \"TELEVISION; Still a Bilingual Guy, But Without Muppets.\"   New York Times.  29 March 1998. iloveoldschoolmusic.com.  \"Man Who Played Sesame Street Kid 'John John' Was Convicted Of Heartbreaking Crime Against Child.\"   22 October 2015.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1_eA8h1obbtjJGiEvwe0LloqkQibSGVUR","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_823","claim":"A letter addressed to President Obama by Lou Pritchett.","posted":"05\/31\/2009","sci_digest":["Lou Pritchett penned an 'open letter' to President Obama?"],"justification":"Claim:  Lou Pritchett penned an \"open letter\" to President Obama. CORRECTLY ATTRIBUTED Example:  [Collected via e-mail, May 2009] AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA Dear President Obama: You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me. You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you. You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support. You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American. You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll. You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don't understand it at its core.. You scare me because you lack humility and 'class', always blaming others. You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail. You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the 'blame America' crowd and deliver this message abroad. You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector. You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one. You scare me because you prefer 'wind mills' to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves. You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world. You scare me because you have begun to use 'extortion' tactics against certain banks and corporations. You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals. You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people. You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient. You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do. You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaughs, Hannitys, O'Relllys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view. You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing. Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years. Lou Pritchett Origins:  Lou Pritchett is a former vice president of Procter & Gamble whose career at that company spanned 36 years before his retirement in 1989, and he is the author of the 1995 business book, Stop Paddling & Start Rocking the Boat.   Lou Pritchett Mr. Pritchett confirmed to us that he was indeed the author of the much-circulated \"open letter\" quoted above: I did write the 'you scare me' letter. I sent it to the NY Times but they never acknowledged or published it. However, it hit the internet and according to the 'experts' has had over 500,000 hits. In April 2012, the following update was added to the original: In April 2009, I sent President Obama and the New York Times a lettertitled \"You Scare Me\" because, as a candidate, he promised to\"fundamentally transform America.\" Now, after observing his performancefor over three years, he no longer scares me  he terrifies me for thefollowing reasons: FIRST-- He has done more to damage America's standing in the world, tolower the standard of living in America, to impoverish future generationsand to shake our faith in the country's future than any other Americanpresident in history. SECOND-- With a compliant Democrat congress, a lapdog media and a weak,almost nonexistent Republican opposition, he has shattered the Americandream of job security, home ownership and rugged individualism formillions of Americans and has poisoned and divided our civil society withhis politics of envy, class warfare, race warfare, and religious warfarewhich he is using as fundamental building blocks for his 'socialist'agenda. THIRD-- culturally, he remains totally out of touch with traditionalAmerican values. This has absolutely nothing to do with race or where hewas born, rather it has everything to do with where, how and with whom hewas raised, schooled, educated, trained and associates with still today. FOURTH-- he has surrounded himself with naive academicians, lawyers,politicians, bureaucrats and socialist leaning czars who arrogantly thinkand behave exactly as he does.People who offer no balanced suggestions or devils advocate positions andthink in lock step with him that big government is the answer to all ourproblems. FIFTH-- he not only encourages but aids and abets the unionization of allAmerican industry, the albatross around the neck of the free market. Inturn, they provide the money and muscle to intimidate his opponents. SIXTH-- he has increased the national debt by over 30% in just threeyears. If re-elected and this rate of increase continues, America will beburdened with an unsustainable 20 trillion dollar debt which will resultin the Country's financial death. Recovery will be impossible ---- Americawill be the Greece of 2016. SEVENTH-- given his fanatical beholding to the 'environmental' and'man-caused global warming' fringe, he has deliberately discouraged U.S.fossil fuel exploration and production while wasting millions of tax payerdollars on solar, wind and algae experiments. He refuses to accept thatoil, gas and coal are not America's enemies, they are America's assetswhich, properly managed, could make us energy independent within ageneration. EIGHTH-- He views the U.S. as a power in retreat which abused its Worlddominance. Therefore he systematically apologizes round the world. LastMarch he whispered to Russian President Medvedev \"--this is my lastelection. After my election, I have more flexibility\". Just what is thesecret that Obama and Putin are concealing from the American people untilafter the election? With what other leaders has he made similar secretagreements? NINTH---and finally, after all his mis-steps, bad decision making, poormanagement, and zero leadership, the fact that he has the audacity to seekre-election should terrify every American.I predict that if re-elected, future historians and political interpreterswill look back at the eight year period 2008-2016, and conclude \"the 44thPresident of the U.S. allowed the takers to overpower the payers whichresulted in the greatest economy in history vanishing from the face of theEarth\". Lou Pritchett  April 15, 2012Farewell America, the World will really miss you! Last updated:  12 May 2012 ","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_824","claim":"Could Women Not Do These 9 Things in 1971?","posted":"09\/03\/2019","sci_digest":["A viral list recounts some of the bumps on the road to gender equality. "],"justification":"In August 2019, as many people took to the Internet to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote on paper, a piece of text started to circulate on social media that supposedly listed \"9 things that women couldn't do until 1971\":   The following list is of NINE things a woman couldn't do in 1971  yes the date is correct, 1971. In 1971 a woman could not: 1. Get a Credit Card in her own name  it wasn't until 1974 that a law forced credit card companies to issue cards to women without their husband's signature. 2. Be guaranteed that they wouldn't be unceremoniously fired for the offense of getting pregnant  that changed with the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of *1978*! 3. Serve on a jury - It varied by state (Utah deemed women fit for jury duty way back in 1879), but the main reason women were kept out of jury pools was that they were considered the center of the home, which was their primary responsibility as caregivers. They were also thought to be too fragile to hear the grisly details of crimes and too sympathetic by nature to be able to remain objective about those accused of offenses. In 1961, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld a Florida law that exempted women from serving on juries. It wasn't until 1973 that women could serve on juries in all 50 states. 4. Fight on the front lines  admitted into military academies in 1976 it wasn't until 2013 that the military ban on women in combat was lifted. Prior to 1973 women were only allowed in the military as nurses or support staff. 5. Get an Ivy League education - Yale and Princeton didn't accept female students until 1969. Harvard didn't admit women until 1977 (when it merged with the all-female Radcliffe College). Brown (which merged with women's college Pembroke), Dartmouth and Columbia did not offer admission to women until 1971, 1972 and 1981, respectively. Other case-specific instances allowed some women to take certain classes at Ivy League institutions (such as Barnard women taking classes at Columbia), but, by and large, women in the '60s who harbored Ivy League dreams had to put them on hold. 6. Take legal action against workplace sexual harassment. Indeed the first time a court recognized office sexual harassment as grounds for any legal action was in 1977! 7. Decide not to have sex if their husband wanted to  spousal rape wasn't criminalized in all 50 states until 1993. Read that again ... 1993. 8. Obtain health insurance at the same monetary rate as a man. Sex discrimination wasn't outlawed in health insurance until 2010 and today many, including sitting elected officials at the Federal level, feel women don't mind paying a little more. Again, that date was 2010. 9. The birth control pill: Issues like reproductive freedom and a woman's right to decide when and whether to have children were only just beginning to be openly discussed in the 1960s. In 1957, the FDA approved of the birth control pill but only for \"severe menstrual distress.\" In 1960, the pill was approved for use as a contraceptive. Even so, the pill was illegal in some states and could be prescribed only to married women for purposes of family planning, and not all pharmacies stocked it. Some of those opposed said oral contraceptives were \"immoral, promoted prostitution and were tantamount to abortion.\" It wasn't until several years later that birth control was approved for use by all women, regardless of marital status. In short, birth control meant a woman could complete her education, enter the work force and plan her own life. Oh, and one more thing, prior to 1880 which is just a few years before the photo of this very proud lady was taken, the age of consent for sex was set at 10 or 12 in more states, with the exception of our neighbor Delaware  where it was 7 YEARS OLD! Feminism is NOT just for other women. KNOW your HERstory. A similar post on Facebook with tens of thousands of shares reported much the same in 2016 from user Lisa Bialac-Jehle. post on Facebook In general, the list above accurately reports nine things that women couldn't do in 1971. We'll take a closer look at each item below: Get a credit card in her own name As this post explains, banks were able to discriminate against women applying for credit cards until the passage of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act in October 1974. Women could get credit cards prior to this legislation, but as The Smithsonian notes, they were likely to be asked a barrage of personal questions and were often required to be accompanied by a man to co-sign for a credit card. Even then, women often received cards with lower limits or higher rates: Equal Credit Opportunity Act Smithsonian Forty years ago, any woman applying for a credit card could be asked a barrage of questions: Was she married? Did she plan to have children? Many banks required single, divorced or widowed women to bring a man along with them to cosign for a credit card, and some discounted the wages of women by as much as 50 percent when calculating their credit card limits. As women and minorities pushed for equal civil rights in various arenas, credit cards became the focus of a series of hearings in which women documented the discrimination they faced. And, finally, in 1974  forty years ago this year  the Senate passed the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which made it illegal to discriminate against someone based on their gender, race, religion and national origin. Be guaranteed that they wouldn't be unceremoniously fired for getting pregnant Women faced a number of work-related consequences for getting pregnant prior to the passage of thePregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978. On the 40th anniversary of this law, the ACLU posted a statement explaining how pregnancy often resulted in pink slips for working women: Pregnancy Discrimination Act statement Forty years ago, working women in the United States won the legal protection to become working mothers. On Oct. 31, 1978, Congress enacted the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, making it illegal for employers to deny a woman a job  or promotion, or higher pay, or any other opportunity  because she is pregnant. The statute had an immediate, dramatic impact on women's ability to fully participate in the workforce. Although on-the-job sex discrimination had been outlawed more than a decade earlier, pregnancy wasn't legally recognized as a type of sex discrimination. As a result, a pregnancy often resulted in a pink slip. Some employers even imposed formal policies prohibiting pregnancy outright because their female employees were expected to project a certain image  for example, flight attendants, who were expected by airlines to convey sexual availability to their businessman customers, and teachers, who were expected by school districts to project chasteness to their young pupils. Serve on a jury Women's road to the jury box was a long one. While the state of Utah deemed women qualified for jury duty back in 1898, it took the other 49 states several decades to reach the same conclusion. The ACLU noted that women were excluded from jury duties for a number of reasons: noted Aside from the \"defect of sex,\" women were excluded from juries for a variety of reasons: their primary obligation was to their families and children; they should be shielded from hearing the details of criminal cases, particularly those involving sex offenses; they would be too sympathetic to persons accused of crimes; and keeping male and female jurors together during long trials could be injurious to women. While this viral posts states that it wasn't until \"1973 that women could serve on juries in all 50 states,\" we found that this battle was still being fought for at least another two years. In 1975, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in an 8-1 decision that it was constitutionally unacceptable for states to bar women from juries. From a 1975 article in The New York Times: The New York Times The Supreme Court ruled today that shifting economic and social patterns of the last dozen years have made it constitutionally unacceptable for states to deny women equal opportunity to serve on juries. The 8to1 decision will have little practical effect on the makeup of juries. All states, including Louisiana where the case originated, now have laws that do not exempt women from jury service, although women are treated differently from men in some instances involving such service. But the majority broke important philosophical ground by acknowledging for the first time that the role of women is society was changing and that the courts must recognize their growing economic independence in assessing their legal rights. \"If it was ever the case that women were unqualified to sit on juries or were so situated that none of them should be required to perform jury service,\" Associate Justice Byron R. White wrote for the majority, \"that time has long since passed.\" Fight on the front lines Women in the United States have been aiding military operations as nurses, cooks, and in other non-combat positions since the Revolutionary War in 1775. However, it wasn't until 1976 that the United States Military Academy at West Point accepted women to the Corps of Cadets. Still, it would be several more years until women would find their way to the front lines. In 1994, the Pentagon restricted women from serving in \"artillery, armor, infantry and other such combat roles.\" This ban wasn't lifted until 2013: several more years restricted 2013 The US military officially lifted a ban on female soldiers serving in combat roles on Thursday and said that anyone qualified should get a chance to fight on the front lines of war regardless of their sex. At a press conference in the Pentagon Defence Secretary Leon Panetta and General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that women had already proved themselves in action on America's battlefields and the move was simply a way of catching up with reality. \"Everyone is entitled to a chance,\" said Panetta, who is retiring form his post this year. At the moment women make up about 14% of the military's 1.4 million active members and more than 280,000 of them have done tours of duty in Iraq, Afghanistan or overseas bases where they helped support the US war effort in those countries. Indeed, some 152 women have been killed in the conflicts. Get an Ivy League education The Ivy League is comprised of eight universities in the northeastern part of the United States. While women were able to attend Cornell University as early as the 1870s, it wasn't until 1983 that the final Ivy League school, Columbia College, started to admit women: 1983 The last all-male school in the Ivy League became a coeducational one yesterday when Columbia College enrolled women for the first time in its 229-year history. It was a day of celebration at Columbia, with few alumni or students criticizing the change, and with college administrators saying the decision to admit women had resulted in the most talented freshman class ever. Take legal action against workplace sexual harassment. According to Time, the term \"sexual harassment\" was coined by a group of students at Cornell University in 1975. The term was popularized in a New York Times article published that same year, and in 1977, three court cases confirmed that a woman could take legal action against her employer for sexual harassment: Time New York Times The phrase \"sexual harassment\" was coined in 1975, by a group of women at Cornell University. A former employee of the university, Carmita Wood, filed a claim for unemployment benefits after she resigned from her job due to unwanted touching from her supervisor. Cornell had refused Wood's request for a transfer, and denied her the benefits on the grounds that she quit for \"personal reasons.\" Wood together with activists at the university's Human Affairs Office, formed a group called Working Women United. At a Speak Out event hosted by the group, secretaries, mailroom clerks, filmmakers, factory workers and waitresses shared their stories, revealing that the problem extended beyond the university setting. The women spoke of masturbatory displays, threats and pressure to trade sexual favors for promotions ..... By 1977, three court cases confirmed that a woman could sue her employer for harassment under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, using the EEOC as the vehicle for redress. The Supreme Court upheld these early cases in 1986 with Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, which was based on the complaints of Mechelle Vinson, a bank employee whose boss intimidated her into having sex with him in vaults and basements up to fifty times. Vinson was African American, as were many of the litigants in pioneering sexual harassment cases; some historians suggest that the success of racial discrimination cases during these same years encouraged women of color to vigorously pursue their rights at work. Decide not to have sex if her husband wanted to This item is referring to spousal rape. The first person to be convicted of spousal rape in the U.S. was a Massachusetts bartender who broke into the home of his estranged wife in 1979 and raped her: convicted English common law, the source of much traditional law in the U.S., had long held that it wasn't legally possible for a man to rape his wife. It was in 1736 that Sir Matthew Hale  the same jurist who said that it was hard to prove a rape accusation from a woman whose personal life wasn't entirely \"innocent,\" setting the standard that a woman's past sexual experiences could be used by the defense in a rape case explained that marriage constituted permanent consent that could not be retracted. That idea stood for centuries. Then, in 1979, a pair of cases highlighted changing legal attitudes about the concept. Until then, most state criminal codes had rape definitions that explicitly excluded spouses. (In fact, as TIME later pointed out, it wasn't just the case that saying \"no\" to one's husband didn't make the act that followed rape; in addition, saying \"no\" to one's husband was usually grounds for him to get a divorce.) As the year opened, a man in Salem, Ore., was found not guilty of raping his wife, though they both stated that they had fought before having sex. But, even as the verdict was returned, a National Organization for Women spokesperson told TIME that \"the very fact that there has been such a case\" meant that change was in the air  and she was quickly proved right. The case believed to be the first-ever American conviction for spousal rape came that fall, when a Salem, Mass., bartender drunkenly burst into the home he used to share with his estranged wife and raped her. It's not hard to see how this case was the one that made the possibility of rape between a married couple clear to the public: they were in the middle of a divorce, and the crime involved house invasion and violence. As TIME noted, several other states had also adopted laws making it possible to pursue such a case, though they had not yet been put to the test. Even though the first conviction for spousal rape occurred during the 1970s, it wasn't until 1993 that spousal rape was officially illegal in all 50 states. While marital rape has been technically illegal in all 50 states since 1993, advocates argue that there are still legal loopholes in some states that allow for marital rape to be treated differently than rape. legal loopholes Obtain health insurance at the same monetary rate as men This item refers to the practice of \"gender rating\" by health insurance companies, which typically resulted in higher premiums for women seeking individual health insurance. In 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) sought to do away with the practice. Obamacare NPR reported: reported Any woman who has bought health insurance on her own probably didn't find herself humming the old show tune, \"I Enjoy Being a Girl.\" That's because more than 90 percent of individual plans charge women higher premiums than men for the same coverage, a practice known as gender rating. Women spend $1 billion more annually on their health insurance premiums than they would if they were men because of gender rating, according to a recent report by the National Women's Law Center. Under the health care overhaul, the practice is banned starting in 2014. The birth control pill This post correctly states that the FDA first approved an oral contraceptive (a birth-control pill called Enovid) in 1957. However, at the time, the pill was only approved for use as a \"treatment of severe menstrual disorders,\" and the FDA required that it be labeled with a warning that Enovid will prevent ovulation. A few years later in 1960, the FDA approved Enovid as a contraceptive. Still, the pill was only available to married couples. It wasn't until 1972 that birth-control pills were available to all women, regardless of marital status: 1972 Then came the landmark date, marking the biggest change to America's contraceptive potential in history. On May 9, 1960, the FDA approved Enovid, an oral contraceptive pill released by G.D. Searle and Company. By 1965, almost 6.5 million American women were on \"The Pill,\" the oral contraceptive's enduring vague nickname, which is thought to have stemmed from women requesting it from their doctors as discreetly as possible. That same year, the Supreme Court struck down state laws that prohibited contraception use, though only for married couples. (Unmarried people were out of luck until 1972, when birth control was deemed legal for all.) Ortiz, Erik.  \"'It's Disgusting': Loopholes Remain in North Carolina's Sexual Assault Laws. Advocates Ask Why.\"   NBC News.  11 May 2019. Eveleth, Rose.  \"Forty Years Ago, Women Had a Hard Time Getting Credit Cards.\"   Smithsonian.  8 January 2014. Thomas, Gillian.  \"Employees Who Have Babies Are Still Getting the Axe.\"   ACLU.  31 October 2018. McDonald, Laughlin.  \"A Jury of One's Peers.\"   ACLU.  18 March 2011. Harris, Paul.  \"Women in Combat: US Military Officially Lifts Ban on Female Soldiers.\"   The Guardian.  25 January 2013. Rothman, Lily.  \"When Spousal Rape First Became a Crime in the U.S.\"   Time.  28 July 2015. Weaver, Warren.  \"High Court Backs Women's Jury Rights.\"   The New York Times.  22 January 1975. Bumiller, Elisabeth and Thom Shanker.  \"Pentagon Is Set to Lift Combat Ban for Women.\"   The New York Times.  23 January 2013. Belkin, Lisa.  \"First Coed Class Enters Columbia College.\"   The New York Times.  30 August 1983. Cohen, Sascha.  \"A Brief History of Sexual Harassment in America Before Anita Hill.\"   Time.  11 April 2016. Nemy, End.  \"Women Begin to Speak Out Against Sexual Harassment at Work.\"   The New York Times.  19 August 1975. NPR.  \"Health Insurance Prices For Women Set To Drop.\"   17 July 2012. Gibson, Megan.  \"The Long, Strange History of Birth Control.\"   Time.  2 February 2015.","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1BX7_KfYQzMdc_uq5d18DTsw8_cSD5V_0","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_825","claim":"Did Representative Mike Kennedy claim that 'access to hospitals' was the cause of the deaths?","posted":"04\/27\/2018","sci_digest":["According to rumors, the Utah Republican says access to hospitals killed a million or more Americans a year  but is that true?"],"justification":"In April 2018, Utah Republican Mike Kennedy made national headlines as he faced off against Mitt Romney for a Senate seat in that state, prompting the circulation of a meme asserting that Kennedy had once made a statement about access to hospitals and patient deaths. Although the meme dated back to at least 2015, its featured quote appeared in a 24 April 2018 Salt Lake Tribune article: \"Who is that guy who beat Mitt Romney at the GOP convention?\" The article reported that at the top of the list was the repeal of Obamacare. [Kennedy] told delegates, \"I oppose Obamacare and any scheme that puts the government between doctor and patient.\" Four years prior, Kennedy made national headlines when, during a legislative task force meeting, he said, \"Sometimes access to health care can be damaging and dangerous ... I've heard from the National Institutes of Health and others that we're killing up to a million, a million and a half people every year in our hospitals. And it's access to hospitals that's killing those people.\" That piece referenced a report and video from Salt Lake station KSTU, but neither source provided complete context. Kennedy was quoted as arguing against Medicaid expansion, and as represented, his remarks were accurately transcribed. Representative Mike Kennedy, a Republican from Alpine, made the comments in a Health Reform Task Force meeting in reaction to a story from another doctor. Doctor Kyle Jones told the legislature's Health Reform Task Force about a neighbor who was in a car crash. That neighbor suffered a rare response to pain medicine called toxic encephalopathy. The condition has caused memory loss, seizures, and depression, according to Jones. \"Sometimes access actually can mean harm,\" said Representative Mike Kennedy, a family physician. The Republican from Alpine repeated the argument more than once: \"Sometimes access to health care can be damaging and dangerous. And it's a perspective for the [Legislative] body to consider that I've heard from the National Institutes of Health and others that we're killing up to a million, a million and a half people every year in our hospitals. And it's access to hospitals that's killing those people.\" We were unable to locate any information substantiating Kennedy's claim that access to hospitals killed between one and one-and-a-half million Americans per year. It's possible Kennedy was referencing an ongoing study of the effects of medical mistakes, a topic that was the subject of research published in The BMJ in May 2016, but those figures estimated only 250,000 deaths due to medical error per year at that time. Kennedy may also have been referencing research published in September 2013, in which researchers extrapolated between 210,000 and 400,000 deaths per year \"associated with preventable harm in hospitals.\" The authors of that study concluded that \"engaging patients and their advocates during hospital care, systematically seeking the patient's voice in identifying harms, transparent accountability for harm, and intentional correction of root causes of harm will be necessary\" to reduce preventable hospital deaths but did not recommend restricting access to medical care as a preventive measure.","issues":["accountability"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1BRKWLjQPrMP2gCvueaYcB1XNivO4GSry"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_826","claim":"Chipotle $100 Gift Card Giveaway","posted":"07\/31\/2018","sci_digest":["Chipotle is not offering free $100 gift cards for National Avocado Day to internet users who share a link with their friends."],"justification":"In July 2018, the Chipotle Mexican Grill chain of fast casual restaurants ran a promotion in conjunction with National Avocado Day, offering free guacamole to customers with their orders on 31 July: free guacamole  Unfortunately, scammers took advantage of this promotion to post counterfeit offers for free $100 Chipotle gift cards, touting that users need only share a link with five friends to claim their bounty: counterfeit offers   This fake offer was just another variation of a long-running form of scam with a familiar pattern.  First, scammers set up look-alike websites and social media pages that mimic those of legitimate companies in order to promote scams advertising free gift cards or coupons. Users who respond to those fake offers are required to share a website link or social media post in order to spread the scam more widely and lure in additional victims. Then those users are presented with a \"survey\" that extracts personal information such as email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, and even sometimes credit card numbers. Finally, those who wish to claim their \"free\" gift cards eventually learn they must first sign up to purchase a number of costly goods, services, or subscriptions (negating the free aspect of the gift card). The Better Business Bureau offers three tips to identify similar scams: Dont believe what you see. Its easy to steal the colors, logos and header of an established organization. Scammers can also make links look like they lead to legitimate websites and emails appear to come from a different sender. Legitimate businesses do not ask for credit card numbers or banking information on customer surveys. If they do ask for personal information, like an address or email, be sure theres a link to their privacy policy. Watch out for a reward thats too good to be true. If the survey is real, you may be entered in a drawing to win a gift card or receive a small discount off your next purchase. Few businesses can afford to give away $50 gift cards for completing a few questions.","issues":["banking"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1GpYRZH6cM5xP-95YKt9tAfbcf5INnaeP","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1a4Eh6dhVxANCugFMnoyYhkJHyubU1wU2","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_827","claim":"Is a Murderous Taxi Driver Killing People in His Cab?","posted":"02\/13\/2018","sci_digest":["Social media users from Nigeria to New York City accused an unidentified man of being a taxi driver moonlighting as a serial killer."],"justification":"The perils of sharing photographs online manifested in a February 2018 hoax in which social media users shared an unidentified man's image along with the claim that he's a murderous taxi driver. The earliest iteration of the post, on 4 February 2018, emanated from a Facebook user in Nigeria, who posted:    The post was accompanied by a photograph of the alleged assailant:   Besides lacking much in the way of context, the photo can be found on at least two online dating sites, with divergent information: The man is identified as a resident of Casablanca on Wamba; but on JeContacte he's described as hailing from Cameroon. Wamba; JeContacte However, the web site The Zambian Observer claimed that he was Congolese in a post accusing him of committing several murders: post Zambia shares a border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, and in December 2017 a reported thousands of Congolese refugees made their way into Zambia to escape from violence in their own country. The article appears to be using the man as an anti-immigrant scapegoat and a way to attack a specific politician. reported Other iterations of the post placed the man in Freeport, Jamaica; Washington D.C.; Toledo, Ohio; and in New York City, where some social media users posted the picture and the original caption, adding the phrase \"my friend from the DA'S office in Brooklyn just sent me this. Share it for your safety\":   A spokesperson for the actual Brooklyn District Attorney's office told us that they \"know nothing\" about the person in the picture or the allegations. But as often happens around social media, users shared the claim while admitting that they had no idea whether they were helping the spread of misinformation:       But there has yet to be actual corroboration of any of the claims surrounding the unnamed man; police officials in both New York City and Washington D.C. told us that they had never heard of the post or any allegations about a \"murder cab.\" The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles said that \"2465RB\" did not match any license plate attached to a taxi or any other sort of vehicle. And a spokesperson for the Toledo Police Department told us, \"We have looked into this and it is not credible.\" We also contacted police in Zambia seeking comment, but had not heard back as of time of publication. The fact that the claim spans several continents and countries suggest that this is a false rumor, as does the Zambian Observer's claim that the man was doing \"ritual killings.\" If this man were murdering people in Brooklyn (or Toledo, or Washington D.C., or Freeport et al), and if law enforcement had his photograph, it would have been reported in major U.S. newspapers, police would know about it, and official government sources would have published warnings.  Schlein, Lisa. \"Thousands of Congolese Fleeing into Zambia to Escape Violence in DRC.\"\rVoice of America. 3 December 2017. Added reponse from the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office.  Added response from the Toledo Police Department. ","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1KLIziQ4ati-hxVqyVAff0sfc81DfJmLu","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1LSEOHfF6PRqybZZsJIAHBjQUsoRiHB49","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1lTz_1mlJncDNLoFpFGRw6YzgpHDP7Rbr","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1RkJHTuLUcdcmr_NZdj-2Uw3bRdZSTPQx","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Qls7rwOAYaaYpH2VEIGO9CH64IURdjGO","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=12ano2CUQPS5RY4wNcKZ7M7t7idxRgNBl","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_828","claim":"Did Paul Ryan Nominate Joel Osteen for House Chaplain?","posted":"05\/01\/2018","sci_digest":["Rumors about the outgoing House Speaker tapping the televangelist originated with a satirical post on a message board."],"justification":"Shortly after outgoing House Speaker Paul Ryan fired House Chaplain Patrick Conroy in a closed-door meeting at the end of April 2018, a rumor that the House Speaker had nominated televangelist Joel Osteen as his replacement started to spread online: fired spread   Paul Ryan did not nominate Joel Osteen to be the new House Chaplain. This rumor originated with a satirical post on the message board Democratic Underground: post In a surprise move during the weekend, Speaker Ryan proposed that Prosperity Gospel champion, Joel Osteen, become the new chaplain for the U.S. House of Representatives. In a brief comment, the Speaker said, \"America needs to become more prosperous. It needs a new approach to individual wealth. Pastor Osteen carries that message and shows us the way. Working Americans should be grateful to pay more taxes to the Federal Government. As Jesus, himself, said, 'It will be returned an hundred-fold.' Joel, my good friend, suggests that the road to a more prosperious America will come through even higher taxes on low-income citizens, who will benefit in the end, of course. I agree with the good Pastor, and will be introducing new legislation to that effect soon.\"    The author of this post, a user identified as \"MineralMan,\" wrote in the comments that the \"evil grin\" emoticon included at the bottom of the post indicated that the text was satirical. Forum users also compared the text to articles on the Borowitz Report, a well-known satirical blog published in the New Yorker: Borowitz Report   Zanona, Melanie.  \"Ryan Explains Decision to Dismiss House Chaplain.\"\r  The Hill.  27 April 2018.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ow1LmCvfgbw_jdQu_zXtA919nvLkgzGG","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1el0QZHivAdRHPLRAsTBayax2W95Eu9L1","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1WMiWbfIXzfUmE45ZSs9DfY27xiS_BUY2","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_829","claim":"Letter to Clinton re Sacrifice","posted":"01\/29\/2000","sci_digest":["A letter writer chides Clinton for stating that the older generation must learn to sacrifice as younger generations have done."],"justification":"Claim:  A letter-writing Air Force veteran chides Clinton for stating that the \"older generation must learn to sacrifice as other generationshave done.\"  Example:  [Collected on the Internet, 1999] I was embarrassed to read that President Clinton and his advisors have said, \"the older generation must learn to sacrifice as other generations have done.\" That's my generation.  [As a former World War II \"fly-boy\" and ex-prisoner of war, I greatly resent President Clinton saying that the older generation must learn to sacrifice as other generations have done. When did he ever sacrifice?]  I knew eventually someone would ferret out the dirty secret: we've lived the \"lifestyle of the rich and famous\" all our lives. Now, I know I must bare the truth about my generation and let the country condemn us for ourselfishness.  During the Depression we had an hilarious time dancing to the tune of \"Brother Can You Spare A Dime?\" We could choose to dine at any of the country's fabulous soup kitchens, often joined by our parents andsiblings . those were the heady days of carefree self-indulgence.  Then, with World War II, the cup filled to over-flowing. We had the chance to bask on the exotic beaches of Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima and Okinawa; to see the capitols of Europe and travel to such scenic spots as Bastogne,Malmedy and Monte Cassino. Of course, one of the most exhilirating adventures was the stroll from Bataan to the local Japanese hotels, laughingly known as death camps.  But the good times really rolled for those lucky enough to be on the beaches of Normandy for the swimming and boating that pleasant June day in '44. Unforgettable. Even luckier were those that drew the prized holiday tickets for cruises on sleek, gray ships to fun-filled spots like Midway, The Solomons and Murmansk.  Instead of asking \"what can we do for our country,\" an indulgent government let us fritter away our youth wandering idly through the lush and lovely jungles of Burma and New Guinea.  [Yes, they were certainly pampered. And just when it looked like they might have to take on some responsibility, off they went to camp in the \"Land of Fozen Chosen,\" and more of the same - reveling in the sights and sounds of peace-loving people along the Yalu, the fun run to Pusan, water skiing at Inchon and the thrill of Hamburger Hill.  After soaking up the GI Bill and moving into plush VA quarters, thanks to the military-industrial complex, those of them still around got to compete for silver, bronze and purple medals in the great Southeast Asian War Games.] Yes, it's all true: we were pampered, we were spoiled rotten, we never did realize what sacrifice meant. We envy you, Mr. Clinton, the harsh lessons you learned in London, Moscow and Little Rock.  My generation is old, Mr. President . and guilty; but we are repentant. Punish us for our failings, sir, that we may learn the true meaning of Duty, Honor, Country.  [Older America is all worn out from a lifetime of fun and frolic. They are surely guilty as you have charged. Cut their entitlement so they may know the true meaning of duty done for flag and nation.  By the way, Mr. President, what have you ever done for our country?] [As the Eighth Airforce News says, \"Yes, it's all true. We are pampered and spoiled rotten. We never did learn what sacrifice meant. My generation is old, President Clinton.  \"Please continue to punish us for our failings, so we might learn the true meaning of duty, honor, country' and love for our creator.\"  Thanks a lot, Mr. President.] (Bracketed sections indicate text found in variant versions) Origins:  Exactly who wrote this evocative and well-crafted letter chiding President Clinton for calling on older generations to \"learn sacrifice as other generations have done\" remains a mystery.  It has appeared in the print media, on the radio, and throughout the Internet in several variant forms, credited to a variety of writers.  The version most frequently cited on the Internet is attributed to a retired Air Force Lt. Colonel from Colorado Springs named Robert J. Grady and reportedly ran in the (now defunct) Public Intelligence Review and Newsletter on 30 July 1994.  It also appeared in St. Petersburg Times in 1996, where it was credited to Otho E. Hays of Clearwater, Florida; was printed in the Cleveland Plain Dealer (also in 1996) under the name of Kitty Dowdell; and was awarded the December 1997 \"Letter of the Month\" honor by The Seattle Times, who cited its author as one Joe Regan of Kirkland.  Even stranger, the letter was reportedly read by actor Charlton Heston on Rush Limbaugh's radio show on 31 May 1994, before its earliest known  publication. Whoever its author, this letter is a heady reminder that previous generations endured times of hardship and crisis that those of us who have enjoyed only an era of economic booms and peaceful security find it hard to imagine.  (The post-World War II era has not been completely free of economic downturns, armed conflicts, and various other crises, of course.)  This piece has become a favorite of conservative critics and radio talk show hosts, with Heston's readings being especially popular.  But was it prompted by a real remark of Clinton's, or merely something the writer (and others of similar sentiment) mistakenly assumed he said? The intended irony here is in President Clinton  a man who wasn't born until well after the Depression and World War II were over, has enjoyed living in a country with a strong economy throughout most of his lifetime, and avoided military service during the Vietnam War  stating that, for the good of the country, \"the older generation must learn to sacrifice as other generations have done.\"  However, one searches in vain to find evidence that Clinton ever made any such statement. The earliest attribution of this letter (31 May 1994) narrows the timeframe in which he could have said these words, but nothing resembling this quote turns up in any major news database.  Nor does this quote sound like anything the politically astute Clinton would have been foolish enough to utter.  (If nothing else, Clinton's recent impeachment and lawsuit troubles have demonstrated how carefully he chooses his words.) Perhaps the writer was responding to something that was erroneously reported as having been said by Clinton, a quote by someone in the White House administration other than Clinton, or a putative summarization of Clinton's policies (real or imagined).  One of the main points of the letter, however, is a pointed attack on the alleged hypocrisy of President Clinton; as such, the letter should be based on something he actually said, not what someone wants to believe he said. Additional Information:     Charlton Heston reads the letter  Last updated:  3 December 2007    Sources:   Dowdell, Kitty.  \"Seniors Should Be Ashamed.\"   The [Cleveland] Plain Dealer.  24 September 1996  (p. B8).     Hays, Otho E.  \"Letters.\"   The St. Petersburg Times.  2 February 1996  (p. A15).     Regan, Joe.  \"Letters to the Editor.\"   The Seattle Times.  17 December 1997  (p. B5).","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_830","claim":"This budget also reflects the smallest state government workforce per 1,000 residents in Florida in this century.","posted":"05\/22\/2013","sci_digest":[],"justification":"When Florida Gov. Rick Scott announced he approved a$74.1 billion budget, he portrayed it as having plenty of goodies for everyone, from school teacher raises to hot meals for the elderly. But he also claimed that the budget was lean. This budget also reflects the smallest state government workforce per 1,000 residents in Florida in this century, Scott wrote in his May 20thveto and budget message. The Florida Families First budget is one of our state's smallest budgets this century, when adjusted for population growth and inflation. PolitiFact Florida has separately tracked Scott's 2010 campaign progress to reduce the state workforce by 5 percent -- we rated thatPromise Keptearlier this year. Here, we wanted to fact-check Scott's claim that the recently approved budget reflects the smallest state workforce in relation to population since 2000. Scott's data There are a few valid ways to measure the number of state workers. TheU.S. Bureau of Labor Statisticscompiles data on actual state workers while the state Department of Management Servicesannual workforce reportsshow both established positions (including vacant ones) and actual employees (some folks refer to that as heartbeats'.) But here, Scott's office of policy and budget created their ownchartby pulling together budget data. We did not review the full backup that shows all the details that went into the chart but we interviewed spokespersons in Scott's office who explained their methodology to PolitiFact. Here is how they arrived at their figures: They started with the state's general appropriations budget each year, which does not include the state university workers. Then they made some adjustments to provide apples to apples comparisons: Scott subtracted for vetoes -- his own and by recent past governors -- and by subtracting county health workers, who were not included in state budgets before 2009-10. Scott's office also added in positions that were included in separate bills not reflected in the general budget bill. That's how Scott's office arrived at a figure of adjusted positions. Then Scott's office examined population data from the state's Office of Economic and Democratic Research. That data includes some projections so it sometimes has slightly different figures from the Census Bureau. Let's look at Scott's figures:  Year Population (in 1000s) Adjusted positions Positions per 1,000 residents 1999-2000 15,881.7 126,557 8 2000-01 16,228 124,843 7.7 2001-02 16,551.2 120,091 7.3 2002-03 16,892 117,869 7.0 2003-04 17,273.8 116,797 6.8 2004-05 17,677.3 116,317 6.6 2005-06 18,062.2 116,463 6.4 2006-07 18,378.2 113,634 6.2 2007-08 18,578.9 114,270 6.2 2008-09 18,671.4 112,867 6.0 2009-10 18,770.5 114,852 6.1 2010-11 18,879.1 113,202 6.0 2011-12 19,028.6 108,844 5.7 2012-13 19,218 105,023 5.5 2013-14 19,432 101,784 5.2 We spot-checked some of the math and the calculations were correct. The ratio declined before Scott, too Our task here is to fact-check whether Scott's claim about the declining state workers per capita was correct -- not whether or not that is the best policy or why the numbers declined. But we will briefly provide some background about the state workforce. First, we'll note that the ratio of Scott's adjusted positions compared to population has declined under not only Scott, but also his predecessors Charlie Crist (Republican turned independent while in office, and now a Democrat) and Jeb Bush (Republican). PolitiFact Florida fact-checked a claim by Alex Sink, Scott's Democratic opponent in 2010, who said at the time that Compared to other states, Florida ranks last in the ratio of employees to residents: 118 per 10,000 compared to the national average of 216 employees per 10,000 residents. And Florida is dead last in the nation in state employee payroll expenditures per resident: $38 compared to the national average of $69 per resident. We rated Sink's claimTrue. (The National Conference of State Legislatures did not have an updated ranking to reflect Scott's tenure.) Since Scott took office, there have been about 60,000 staffers to leave because they quit, retired or for other reasons, and the state laid off 2,197 workers. (Those figures don't include state universities but do include temporary state workers who briefly work for the state.) One area Scott has targeted in the budget to save money is the state prisons. In January, his administration announced that it would outsource health care for more than 15,000 inmates including at prisons in Miami-Dade County. That has affected about 400 workers but about 97 percent were hired by the company, according to the state Department of Corrections. We sent Scott's claim to Chris Lafakis, a senior economist at Moody's who studies Florida. (He used BLS data to examine Scott's claim.) He's right if you look at it in terms of state government workers per capita, but this is partially because of all the retirees that have flooded into the state. If you look at the state government share of total employment, it is low, but not at an all time low.... This number has been steadily declining since the mid 1990s, and Scott has continued it on the downward trend, Lafakis told PolitiFact Florida in an email. We also interviewed two professors of public administration at Florida International University -- chair Howard A. Frank and assistant professor Hai (David) Guo. Both said that Scott's claim may not tell the full story about the state's workforce. Frank raised a question about how to factor in privatization efforts. Ideology aside, those employees are less burdensome in terms of direct outlays, but I suspect at least some are quasi-governmental if they are employed by entities that derive a significant part of their revenue from the state-local sector, he wrote. Guo said that additional indicators of government size include the budget per capita and its growth and whether the state has shifted any responsibilities to local governments. The employee number of state government alone may not tell the whole story, Guo wrote in an email. Our ruling Scott said that the 2013-14 budget reflects the smallest state government workforce per 1,000 residents in Florida in this century. To get there, Scott's office examined budgeted positions and made certain adjustments including subtracting for vetoes. They also projected the state's population for 2013-14. We think their assessment is largely fair, with some small caveats. First, there are other ways to measure both the state workforce -- either by using federal labor statistics, or other state data. And second, the size of the state workforce per capita has been declining for years. Minor points, though. We rate this claim Mostly True.","issues":["Jobs","State Budget","Florida"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_831","claim":"Child care costs account for 24% of a WI familys budget.","posted":"01\/03\/2020","sci_digest":[],"justification":"When it comes to family budgets, one of the biggest bites can be child-care costs. Just how big is that bite? Child care costs account for 24% of a WI familys budget.This is well above the 10% affordability threshold established by the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human services. Paid Family Leave would allow parents the flexibility necessary 2 ensure they are able 2 put their family first, state Rep. David Crowley, D-Milwaukee, saidOct. 22, 2019in a Twitter post. Crowleys tweet came on the same day Assembly Democrats reintroduced the Wisconsin Family Medical Leave Insurance Act. Under the bill, Wisconsin workers without employer-funded family medical leave would be able to buy into a state-run insurance program. The proposal would expand the states current family medical leave law to allow individuals to take leave for more family members, including care of grandparents and siblings. According to a Legislative Reference Bureau analysis, a covered individual who is on family or medical leave would be eligible, beginning on Jan. 1, 2024, to receive up to 12 weeks of family or medical leave insurance benefits. This is thethird timethe measure has been introduced; it has not gained support from Republican lawmakers. Is Crowley, who has announced hiscandidacyfor Milwaukee County executive, on target about the cost of child care for Wisconsin families? Lets take a look. The evidence When asked for backup, Crowleys staff pointed us to a 2018United Wayreport. The report focused on a population group that has been given the acronym ALICE -- Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. The ALICE Report was part of a collaboration between the United Way in Wisconsin and 16 other states. Indeed, the report itself includes a line that is nearly identical to Crowleys tweet: In the Household Survival Budget, child care accounts for24 percentof the Wisconsin family budget, well above the 10 percent affordability threshold established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. But where did the numbers come from? Officials with the state Department of Children and Families told us they do not collect that data. They pointed us to a series of advocacy groups, as opposed to any government agency or repository. According to the United Way, the reports child care budget is based on the average annual cost of care for one infant and one preschooler in registered family child care homes -- the least expensive childcare option. The most recent U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports,dating from 2016onward, recommend that child care be considered affordable if out-of-pocket costs are equivalent to 7% of total household income. In earlier years, dating back to at least 2015, the federal benchmark for child care affordability was reported as 10%, the figure referenced in the second part of Crowleys tweet. Additional groups Other advocacy groups have done their own tallies -- though each measures a slightly different thing: Economic Policy Institute: A July 2019 report from the institute puts the average cost of infant child care in Wisconsin at $12,597 a year. The report states that care for one infant would take up 18.5% of a median familys income in Wisconsin. Wisconsin is ranked 20th out of 50 states and the District of Columbia for most expensive infant care. The groupssource listincludes the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Child Care Aware of America and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Child Care Aware: According to a2017 report, the average cost of center-based infant care across all states tops 27% of the median income for single parents, an increase of 3 percentage points from findings in the groups 2016 report, Parents and the High Cost of Care. The group says it obtains data through surveys of state child-care referral agencies. For states that did not respond to the survey, child care capacity and price data was pulled from publicly accessible databases and market rate surveys. Center for American Progress: On average, a family making the state median income in the United States would have to spend 18% of its income to cover the cost of child care for an infant, according to a November 2018report. The 18% number is based on the state median income for a family of four, which comes from 2018U.S. Department of Health and Human Servicesdata. Its also important to flag that the 18% number is the cost of child care for an infant in a center-based program. If you are focused on home-based child care as implied by one part of the statement we would note that the number for home-based family care is 11%, Steven Jessen-Howard, a Center for American Progress spokesman, said in an email. The high cost of child care is out of reach for most working families, said Simon Workman, co-author of the American Progress report in a statement. In short, each of the studies support Crowleys central point that child care costs consume a far greater share of an average Wisconsin familys budget than is recommended -- though the estimates vary, from 11% to 27%. Our ruling Crowley said child care costs account for 24% of a WI familys budget. Child care costs can vary, of course, based on age of the child, number of children receiving care and where the care is provided. But each of the available reports supports Crowleys main point -- that the costs far exceed the recommended amount -- even if the numbers come up somewhat different in each analysis. At PolitiFact Wisconsin, a statement is Mostly True when it is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. That fits here. This fact-check has been updated to change an emailed quote mistakenly attributed to Julia Cusick of the Center for American Progress to Steven Jessen-Howard from the same organization.","issues":["Children","Families","Income","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_832","claim":"Did Trump receive a military that was weakened by the previous administration of Obama?","posted":"09\/26\/2020","sci_digest":["U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly exaggerated the \"depleted\" state of the military when he took office. "],"justification":"One claim that has often been repeated by U.S. President Donald Trump is that he rebuilt a military that was \"totally depleted\" by his predecessor, Barack Obama. Trump's grievance is based on a grain of truth: military spending was reduced during Obama's second term, but Trump's statements on the matter have combined distorted facts with outright falsehoods. The way Trump tells it, the United States military was in complete shambles when he took office. Over the years, Trump has made a variety of statements to perpetuate this notion. In one oft-repeated story, Trump illustrated his claim that Obama depleted the military by saying that the armed forces had \"no ammunition\" when he took office. In October 2019, for instance, Trump said, \"When I took over our military, we did not have ammunition.\" This is not true. The military did not run out of ammunition during the Obama administration (or during any other administration, as far as we can tell). In addition, Trump falsely claimed in August 2018, as he was signing the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2019, that the military had not received any money for years. Trump said, \"We've been trying to get money. They never gave us money for the military for years and years. And it was depleted.\" This, again, is false. In fact, approximately $600 billion was spent on the military in the year before Trump took office. President Trump has also mischaracterized his own military spending. On May 22, 2020, during a speech at the \"Rolling to Remember Ceremony: Honoring our Nation's Veterans and POW\/MIA,\" Trump claimed that he spent trillions on equipment: \"We've invested $2.5 trillion in all of the greatest equipment in the world, and it's all made here, right in the USA.\" This is not true. The $2.5 trillion figure refers to the total Department of Defense (DOD) budget that was passed under Trump\u2014comparatively speaking, Obama's budget during his first term was about $3.3 trillion and $2.7 trillion during his second term\u2014but only a portion of the DOD budget is spent on equipment. The amount spent on procurement, or the act of obtaining military equipment and supplies, varies from year to year, but it generally made up about 15% of Trump's total military budget. While Trump has told several falsehoods about how Obama supposedly \"totally depleted\" the military, there is some general truth to the idea, as overall military spending was reduced during the Obama administration. However, there is a bit more nuance to this issue than is often heard on the campaign trail. While the military was leaner during the Obama years, the Obama administration still spent trillions on national defense. Calculating an exact dollar figure for how much the U.S. spends on the military (and which administration is responsible for that spending) is a complicated proposition. The military budget covers a wide range of expenses across five military branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Space Force. One could also factor in money spent on the Department of Veterans Affairs, on overseas contingency operations, and on other security agencies, such as Homeland Security. Military contracts and budgetary plans also often overlap presidential terms, meaning that spending authorized under one president may end up getting spent under another. Furthermore, each president is faced with different domestic and global threats, which require different approaches and therefore different spending. Lastly, no president has sole discretion over military spending. For instance, sequestration, a provision of the 2011 Budget Control Act that passed Congress with bipartisan support, limited the amount that could be spent on the military. The \"green book,\" an annual budgetary analysis put out by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, shows that military spending greatly increased following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks during the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush. Spending continued to increase after Obama took office. In 2010, there was a slight decrease in military spending, and that trend continued until 2015. Spending increased again during Obama's final year in office and then continued to increase during Trump's administration. The following chart from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) takes a look at the United States' budget stretching back to the 1980s. The green line at the top of this chart represents the United States budget for National Defense. Trump's military budget for his first four years (approximately $2.9 trillion) was more robust than Obama's budget during his last four years (approximately $2.7 trillion). However, it was smaller than Obama's budget during his first four years (approximately $3.3 trillion). The Marine Corps Times writes that the military the president inherited from Obama was not depleted or facing a massive readiness crisis, which resulted from massive underfunding in the Obama years. In fact,","issues":["inflation"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1aIH3gds1q3qk_KU28_T5E6Y6pXfh9vZg"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_833","claim":"Did Hitler Say, 'To Conquer a Nation First Replace Science with Christianity'?","posted":"05\/21\/2023","sci_digest":["Adolf Hitler misquotes are quite popular on social media."],"justification":"Since roughly 2015, a spurious quote attributed to Adolf Hitler about replacing science with Christianity has been making the rounds on social media. We found examples on both Twitter and Facebook. Adolf Hitler Twitter Facebook The precise statement is, \"To conquer a nation first replace science with Christianity.\"  (@Dixie202021\/Twitter) We have rated this quote Misattributed, because there is no evidence the Nazi dictator ever said such a thing, or anything resembling it. Although Nazi Germany boasted some topnotch scientists, some of whose talents were recruited by the military for the war effort, Hitler reportedly showed little personal interest in, and even less working knowledge of, the sciences. Nazi Germany reportedly It's relevant to note, as well, that Hitler is known to have made at least one very positive statement about Christianity,\"We tolerate no one in our ranks who attacks the ideas of Christianity. Our movement is Christian.\" There is little reason to conclude that he meant those words, however, given that Hitler's regime persecuted Christians who refused to toe the Nazi line. one very positive statement In any case, we found no published instances of the statement about replacing science with Christianity predating 2015, when it first surfaced on the internet, yet another indication that it is apocryphal. Snopes previously fact-checked another alleged Hitler quote that begins with the identical phrase: \"To conquer a nation, you must first disarm its citizens.\" We determined it was not an exact quote, though it can be described as a rough paraphrase of a lengthier statement he did make. To conquer a nation, you must first disarm its citizens The present example, \"To conquer a nation, first replace science with Christianity,\" is nowhere to be found in published literature and appears to be a fabricated variant of the \"disarm its citizens\" quote. Liles, Jordan. \"Did Adolf Hitler Say 'Our Movement Is Christian'?\" Snopes, 3 Mar. 2022, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/hitler-our-movement-is-christian\/. Macrakis, Kristie. \"Harnessing Science for Hitler.\" Nature, vol. 425, no. 6960, Oct. 2003, pp. 76667. www.nature.com, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/425766a. Mikkelson, David. \"Did Hitler Say 'To Conquer a Nation, You Must First Disarm Its Citizens'?\" Snopes, 10 Jan. 2013, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/to-conquer-a-nation\/.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ki-irftqdN0vO2_3FvDIs-wFxCj02Ovo","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_834","claim":"Buono voted 154 times to raise our taxes -- like the sales tax, the income tax, health care taxes, even small business taxes.","posted":"05\/19\/2013","sci_digest":[],"justification":"The gloves are off. Chris Christie may be more popular than ever, but the Republican isnt taking any chances with seeking re-election in a majority Democrat state. Witness a new TV ad released Monday by his re-election campaign, Christie for Governor. The ad starts off with pictures of Christies Democratic challenger, state Sen. Barbara Buono, as a narrator introduces her as former Gov. Jon Corzines budget chair. Buono chaired the Senates Budget and Appropriations Committee for two years during Corzines tenure. Buono voted 154 times to raise our taxes -- like the sales tax, the income tax, health care taxes, even small business taxes, the narrator states as text in the commercial states she voted to raise taxes and fees. This ad is a variation on a theme mentioned previously by Christie, and its also right on target. First, some background about tax increases. During his State of the State address earlier this year Christie noted that New Jersey saw more than 100 increases in taxes and fees in the eight years before he became governor, which is similar to the new TV ad about Buono, the Democratic challenger in the November gubernatorial race. In addition, state Sen. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield) made a similar claim in an Oct. 7, 2011 news release when he tied 115 votes for tax increases to jobs leaving New Jersey. Keans claim was rated Half True. For both previous fact-checks, Republicans provided us with a list that included tax and fee hikes as well as tax policy changes that occurred between fiscal years 2003 and 2010. Now lets review the 154 increases. The Christie for Governor camp provided us with a list of the 154 increases they claim Buono supported both in the Senate and when she served in the Assembly. We reviewed each vote and found that the list given us mirrors the previous Republican-provided lists, plus additional votes. Although Democrats sponsored most of the bills in question, a few had Republican support. Democrats held legislative majorities in the eight years before Christie became governor. His predecessors during that time were Jim McGreevey, Richard Codey and Corzine. Among the increases were raising the sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent and applying the tax to services such as tanning and limousine rides; increases in the cigarette tax; and allowing towns to impose parking taxes and surcharges. Also, the state twice increased the gross income tax on New Jerseyans with six-figure incomes: in 2004 for those with income exceeding $500,000 and again in 2009 for those incomes above $400,000. In addition to tax increases were hikes in dozens of fees, such as a new $1.50 fee on the sale of new vehicle tires; imposing fees on certain realty transfers; on hotel\/motel occupancies; increases in the minimum casino hotel parking charge; and raising the fee to file for divorce. Overall, the lists provided by Republicans showed that there were dozens of increases in taxes or fees or other tax policy changes that could result in individuals or businesses paying higher taxes. We calculated the votes and confirmed that Buono did vote 154 times in favor of higher taxes and fees. After we shared the list with Buono for Governor spokesman David Turner, we received a list back pointing out cuts that Christie has made to various tax credit rebates and programs; legislation the governor signed resulting in assessments on ambulatory care facilities and insurers; and other legislation signed by Christie allowing government authorities to charge fees. Barbara Buono has spent her life in public service fighting for New Jersey's middle class and working people, Turner said in an e-mail. Throughout her career she has pushed to make large corporations and the wealthy pay their fair share and reduce the tax burden on New Jersey's working families. And she has consistently voted to hold lawbreakers accountableif Governor Christie believes it was wrong to stiffen penalties for deadbeat dads, impose tougher fines on tax cheats and force polluters to help pay for damaging our environment and threatening public health, he should say so. Christie for Governor spokesman Kevin Roberts declined comment. Our ruling A Christie for Governor TV ad claims, Buono voted 154 times to raise our taxes -- like the sales tax, the income tax, health care taxes, even small business taxes. Although a narrator only mentions tax increases, scrolling text in the ad also mentions fee increases. And in this case, the ad is accurate: Buono did vote on 154 bills that would increase fees and taxes on things ranging from the purchase of new vehicle tires to those New Jerseyans earning six-figure incomes exceeding $400,000. We rate the claim True. To comment on this story, go toNJ.com.","issues":["New Jersey","Taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_835","claim":"Is the Trump campaign automatically selecting a checkbox for a \"Recurring Donation\" option that concludes in December?","posted":"11\/06\/2020","sci_digest":["The campaign website, until recently, had been accepting recurring donations up until Election Day. "],"justification":"Voting in the 2020 U.S. Election may be over, but misinformation continues to circulate. Never stop fact-checking. Follow our post-election coverage here. On Oct. 31, 2020, The New York Times reported that the Trump Campaign's fundraising landing page was \"now automatically checking a box to create recurring weekly donations from supporters until mid-December.\" This is true, although the \"automatically checked box\" development is fairly old news. The Trump Campaign's primary fundraising platform, WinRed, changed the landing page to automatically check the monthly recurring donation option in March 2020. The shift to soliciting weekly donations occurred in mid-September 2020, with that option also appearing as pre-checked. The more recent development is the change in when those weekly contributions would stop. Earlier solicitations committed people to donations that would stop automatically on Election Day, Nov. 3, 2020. In late October, the text was changed to read \"make this a recurring donation until 12\/14.\" It is worth mentioning that well before any returns came in on Nov. 3, the campaign encouraged donations as a way to \"keep fighting after election day\" because \"there will be voter fraud like you've never seen.\" Speaking to the Times, Trump campaign spokesperson Tim Murtaugh stated that no one would receive a recurring charge without their knowledge and that donors could opt out at any time. He argued that funds were needed because \"this race will be very close, and it is possible that multiple states will require recounts and potential additional spending from our campaign.\" From a factual standpoint, there is no guarantee that the money goes to fight election-related lawsuits. Some of the money goes to resolving Trump Campaign debt, while much of the rest goes to the Republican National Committee's general operating account. Because the Trump Campaign is indeed accepting recurring donations until Dec. 12, and because that option is auto-checked on the campaign's primary fundraising platform, we rank this claim.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1BpDu2eEkCss3_kkQRvh9IsoDdBVdxpGt"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_836","claim":"Wal-Mart American Flags","posted":"01\/29\/2002","sci_digest":["Do Wal-Mart employees have to pay for their stores' American flags?"],"justification":"Claim:  Wal-Mart employees must pony up to buy flags, flagpoles, and floodlights, or else their stores have to do without American flag displays.  Example:  [Collected on the Internet, 2001] I have run across a situation that I think should be changed; it upset me and so I decided to put it out on the Internet. If you decide to forward this note to your friends, that's fine-if not, that's okay, too. Maybe I'm wrong in feeling this way, but this is what I found on Friday, October 12, 2001. I ran to our local Wal-Mart store before I went to work. While I was being checked out at the counter, I realized that I had not noticed an American Flag flying outside and asked the clerk why there wasn't one. I was told that the policy is that Wal-Mart does not provide flags to their stores. Rather, each store must provide their own.  At this store, the employees would have to take up a collection among themselves to make the purchase of the flag, pole & flood light. I was sure there was a misunderstanding in that policy somewhere, but I needed to get to a meeting, so I didn't pursue the problem. As I drove to my meeting I became more and more upset to think that the Company that always \"seems\" to encourage patriotism and \"Buy American\" won't even, in these days of horror and heroism and war on terrorism, provide their stores with flags to show their support!!  When I got to my meeting I told one of my friends what I had found that morning and they agreed that I must be mistaken. Wal-Mart would not have a policy that made individual stores\/employees purchase their own flag, \"for heavens sake!\" My friend suggested I just call Wal-Mart's corporate offices and there I would discover the truth to this misunderstanding. So, I did. I called the Corporate office and spoke to their representative. By the way, their number is 1-800-Wal-Mart. Do you know what I was told? I wasn't misunderstanding their policy!  Each store must provide their own flag  if the store can't fit the expense into their budget, then the employees have to take up a collection. Now, I find this a disgrace. I have always noticed the large flags flying at every Perkins Pancake House  they always fly the flag, even when there isn't a National Emergency. But here's Wal-Mart, the company who has become wealthy beyond measure in this great Country of ours; who claims to be \"one big happy family,\" who recommends we \"Buy American,\" but who cannot\/will not provide a flag pole\/flag and light to each of their stores wherever they are.  Would this be expensive? Oh, somewhat, I agree, but I hear that Wal-Mart is planning to build many new stores in the near future and that, possibly, they will make every existing store into a \"super-store.\" Now, I realize that expanding like that will bring in more money and make them wealthier still, where providing flags to all their stores would only COST money and not add money to their fortune. Maybe, just maybe, not providing flags to their stores and not flying the flag in support of our Country will start costing them more money-maybe I will start looking more closely for the flag before I shop and begin supporting the smaller stores who don't worry so much about the \"bottom line,\" but rather are happy to spend some money to show they really love America. Do you think I am really way off base on this, or do you feel the same. Thanks for taking the time to think about this with me-if you feel the same, forward this on to your address list-if not, that's what your \"Delete\" is for. Origins:  This one reminds me of an episode of TV's M*A*S*H, in which Hawkeye and Trapper John attempt to acquire an incubator so that they can save time (and lives) by growing bacterial cultures right at the M*A*S*H hospital instead of having to send them out to labs.  As they   attempt to cut their way through layers of military red tape they find that even though the Army agrees an incubator is a perfectly sensible piece of equipment for a M*A*S*H unit to possess, they can't have one because an incubator is not on the list of recommended supplies for a M*A*S*H unit, leaving them to resort to some less \"official\" means of obtaining their goal.  (They finally get their incubator when Radar, the company clerk, surreptitiously swaps their commanding officer's barbeque for one.) Most of us who have had to deal with the management of business budgets know that you often have to make do with whatever amount of money you're allotted, even if it's woefully inadequate for the job expected of you.  You soon become an expert in finding all sorts of ways to pay Paul by robbing Peter: charging necessary expenses to different budgets (preferably someone else's), making deals, getting creative with expense reports, and doing whatever it takes to scrounge up the funds you need.   If you desperately need to purchase a new photocopier because the old one is broken beyond repair, but you've already used up the entire year's office equipment budget, you claim it as a personnel expense and maintain with a straight face that yes, you did indeed hire a contractor by the name of Mr. Xerox. So, you're the manager of a Wal-Mart store, and you need an American flag to display outside the store.  Wal-Mart corporate may have assigned money (on paper) to your facilities budget for a flag (and Wal-Mart corporate assures us they do indeed  budget each store for such an expense), but maybe you already used up all the start-up funds allotted to you getting the store ready for its grand opening before you got around to purchasing a flag and pole.  Or maybe you had a flag, but it got ruined; you need a new one, but you're already over budget. What do you do?  Go without a flag? Purchase one, submit the expense, and hope you don't draw corporate censure for running over budget?  Perhaps you take the path of least resistance and just go and pay for a new flag out of your own pocket (possibly even asking some of your employees to chip in).   Wal-Mart itself stated on its web site that: web site Wal-Mart shares the enthusiasm of Americans everywhere for displaying the American flag. In fact, we display the flag at all Wal-Mart stores and Supercenters. While some of our stores are equipped to fly the flag outside on flagpoles, others display the flag inside, usually in the front of our stores. In every instance, the flag has been purchased by Wal-Mart out of the local store's operating budget. Wal-Mart is proud of our American heritage and the things our associates and customers do every day to support this great country. So, if this piece isn't a complete work of fiction, it sounds like the writer grossly misunderstood what she was told.  Yes, Wal-Mart stores get money for flags, but managers often have to perform juggling acts with their budgets, and funds don't always end up being used for their specifically allocated purposes.  If you're a store manager and your store needs six things (including a flag), but the cost of those six things (which all come out of the same budget) exceeds the monies available to you, you have to decide which one(s) you're going to do without.  You don't have to take up a collection amongst your employees to buy a flag, but you might decide it's better to do that than to skip on lights for the exterior sign or painting lines in the parking lot.  Certainly your workers are more likely (out of pride) to chip in for an American flag than they are for, say, new mops and brooms.  It's not hard to see how someone might misinterpret  an explanation of the sometimes difficult trade-offs managers have to make to mean \"They have to get their employees to pay for this stuff or do without!\"  Last updated:  2 December 2007  ","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_837","claim":"Says state Senate recall challenger Sandy Pasch voted to cut school aid by nearly $300 million.","posted":"07\/20\/2011","sci_digest":[],"justification":"The target in one of themostcompetitiveof Wisconsins nine Senaterecallracesis state Sen.Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, an architect of a 2011-2013 state budget that reduces aid to public schools by nearly $800 million.But one of the states major political players, the conservativeClub for Growth Wisconsin, is turning the tables. It claims Darlings challenger, state Rep.Sandy Pasch, D-Whitefish Bay, also backed a sizable school funding cut.The attack is part of aradioadthat began airing about a week before Pasch won the Democratic primary.Club for Growth, whichadvocatesfor limited government and minimal taxation, mostly branded Pasch as a tax-and-spender in the ad. But at one point, the female narrator says Pasch voted to to cut school aid by nearly $300 million.Club for Growth also makes the school aid claim in similar ads that have targeted two other Assembly Democrats who are challenging incumbent Republicans in recall races,accordingto theLa Crosse Tribune.They are Rep. Jennifer Shilling of La Crosse, running against Sen. Dan Kapanke of La Crosse; and Rep. Fred Clark of Baraboo, challenging Luther Olsen of Ripon. Those elections, and the Pasch-Darling contest, are on Aug. 9, 2011.When we asked for evidence to back the claim against Pasch, Club for Growth spokesman R. J. Johnson cited a May 2009Milwaukee Journal Sentinelarticle.It referred to the 2009-2011 budget submitted by then-Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat, which proposed cutting state aid for schools by $290 million. That was before the Legislature, then controlled by Democrats, voted on the budget.But a month later, Pasch joined all but two Assembly Democrats inapprovingthe spending plan. The final budget cut general school aid by$294 million-- to $9.3 billion -- over two years, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau.So, Club for Growth Wisconsin is correct in saying Pasch voted to cut school aid nearly $300 million. But is that whole story?In the same article cited by Club for Growth, Doyle said total spending on public schools would actually rise by about 5 percent because schools would get an additional $877 million in federal stimulus funds. That seemed to indicate that stimulus money would more than offset the state aid reduction. Gillian Morris, Paschs campaign spokeswoman, said that was also her understanding of what happened.But that was not the case.According to the fiscal bureau and the state Department of Public Instruction, the $294 million aid reduction took into account both the cut in state funds and the federal stimulus money that was added in.In other words, the stimulus money was not enough to offset the state funding cut. The net result for schools was a reduction in funding of $294 million.In sum, Club for Growth Wisconsin claimed that Pasch voted to cut nearly $300 million in aid to schools. The record shows the claim was on the mark.We rate the statement True.","issues":["Education","State Budget","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_838","claim":"Have You Ever Been in an Accident Resulting in Your Death?","posted":"05\/06\/2016","sci_digest":["No, an Obamacare questionnaire didn't ask respondents if they'd ever been in an accident resulting in their deaths."],"justification":"In late April 2016, an image began circulating on Facebook, depicting a screenshot of a survey question asking whether you've ever been in an accident resulting in your death.Early versionsof the question consisted of just ascreenshot, and often came from outside the United States: screenshot  However, as the meme gained traction in late April and early May 2016, the popular image accumulated a new detail. According tosome users, the question was an example of the purported ineptitude of the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare). By 6 May, thatassertion was overwhelminglycommonplace: commonplace    Verbal descriptionsof the question circulatedearlier than that, going back to mid-2015.Again, manyof those social media users were from outside the United States, often in the UK: circulated 2015 outside often UK    One survey taker captured a partial URL in her share of the perplexing question: captured    While that user didn't specify what site askedthe question, a closer look at the image revealed a web addressfor a survey company and an open tab for similar activity:    On 26 April 2016, a Twitter user claimed the question was an \"actual health insurance question\": An actual health insurance question pic.twitter.com\/04r5f8Gti2 pic.twitter.com\/04r5f8Gti2  Rabih Alameddine (@rabihalameddine) April 26, 2016 April 26, 2016 In response, other users said that the question was for quality control and originated with a specific online survey company: @rabihalameddine This is from Your-Surveys, search it, they have questions like these all the time. @rabihalameddine  StormzSR (@StormzSR) April 26, 2016 April 26, 2016  The survey question appears to have beenauthentic, and was initiallyfound at a site called Your-Surveys.com. It isprobable that initial use of the viral image was satiricallyattributed to the ACAby critics of the program, but it wasn't long before people (mostly from outside the United States)began to genuinelybelieve that the question was part of online enrollment for health insuranceunder the Affordable CareAct.","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1s9gYT3EHQeTX205HEbpQGev9KB-guRti","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1igUf2fb7sBYJ2b3OEl3S10Q1lH7SVmOJ","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1QZiylMGlnCDpTCov8ToOC6nSbkUW-i0m","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Kt9RW6mDbFUhpx8imN_3iJ_zdynj2_pE","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1wF7oeLuYH0BquvCat9IC5u83EJ3LCGtj","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=14xuL7HU6AypPeH-oPm47UEsuNG_rzQcZ","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_839","claim":"Can a meme effectively convey the significance of Kamala Harris being Vice President?","posted":"01\/27\/2021","sci_digest":["Harris made history several times over when she was sworn in as U.S. vice president on Jan. 20, 2021."],"justification":"Voting in the 2020 U.S. Election may be over, but the misinformation keeps on ticking. Never stop fact-checking. Follow our post-election coverage here. here On Inauguration Day, Kamala Harris made history several times over. In being sworn in on Jan. 20, 2021, the outgoing California senator became the first Black person, first woman, and first person of South Asian heritage to be elevated to the vice presidency.  Inauguration Day The historic nature of her achievement was placed in stark context in a viral meme that showed Harris, whose parents immigrated to the United States from India and Jamaica, respectively, juxtaposed with a long list of official portraits of white men. (Charles Curtis, who served with Herbert Hoover from 1929 to 1933, had some Native American heritage and was therefore the first person of color to hold the office of vice president). Charles Curtis The meme also highlighted several purported landmarks in the slow progress of women's rights and racial desegregation in the United States, as follows: Dont understand why its a big deal that Kamala Harris is VP? Until Red box? She would have been enslaved. Until Blue box? She couldnt vote. Until Yellow box? She had to attend a segregated school. Until Green one? She couldnt have her own bank account.   The following screenshot shows a selection of instances of the meme on Facebook and demonstrates its popularity on social media in January 2021: popularity   The vice presidents highlighted in various colors were as follows (along with the dates of their tenure as vice president): Red: Andrew Johnson, March 4 to April 15,1865 Andrew Johnson Blue: Calvin Coolidge, March 4, 1921, to Aug. 3, 1923 Calvin Coolidge Yellow: Richard Nixon, Jan. 20, 1953, to Jan. 20, 1961 Richard Nixon Green: Spiro Agnew, Jan. 20, 1969, to Oct. 10, 1973 Spiro Agnew The claims made in the meme were therefore that: until Johnson's tenure as vice president (in 1865), Harris would have been enslaved due to her racial heritage; until Coolidge's tenure as vice president (1921 to 1923), she would have been denied the right to vote due to her gender; until Nixon's tenure as vice president (1953 to 1961), she would have been forced to attend a segregated school due to her racial heritage; and until Agnew's tenure as vice president (1969 to 1973), she would have been denied the right to her own bank account, due to her status as a married woman.  On the whole, the claims contained a high degree of historical accuracy, though in some cases they over-simplified certain discriminatory practices and made some relatively minor errors in identifying the vice president in office during certain major reforms. As a result, we're issuing a rating of \"true.\" The following is our assessment of each of those claims.   The creator of the meme appears to have chosen the year 1865, and therefore the tenure of Johnson, because that is the year in which the 13th Amendment, which outlawed slavery, was passed. The text of the amendment reads as follows:  text Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Congress passed the amendment in January 1865, while Johnson was vice president-elect to President-elect Abraham Lincoln, but it was not ratified by the states until December 1865, by which time Johnson had ascended to the presidency after Lincoln's assassination, leaving the vice presidency vacant for the duration of his presidency. So the sequence of events is a bit muddled, but it is certainly reasonable to place the 13th Amendment, and the abolition of slavery, during the Johnson era.  Until the passing of the 13th Amendment, Black people in the United States lacked legal protection against enslavement. That doesn't mean that all Black people before 1865 were slaves, but the vast majority were. Based on figures included in the 1860 U.S. Census (page 14), some 89% of Black people in the country at that time were slaves. page 14 Slavery was far more prevalent in the southern states, but on average, a Black woman in the U.S. shortly before the 13th Amendment had close to a 90% likelihood of being enslaved. From a human rights perspective, Black people had no legal or constitutional protection from slavery, which is likely the thrust of the point made in the meme.   The 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, was passed by Congress in June 1919 and ratified by the states in August 1920. The text of the amendment read: text The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. On both those dates, Thomas Riley Marshall was vice president, under President Woodrow Wilson. So the meme was incorrect in stating that women could not vote until the vice presidency of Calvin Coolidge. In fact, women voted for the first time in the November 1920 election, which saw Warren Harding and his running mate Coolidge elected president and vice president, respectively.  Thomas Riley Marshall That inaccuracy does not impinge upon the truth of the broader point being made in the meme, namely that Harris, as a woman, would not have been able to vote in the United States until the early 1920s. However, the meme does miss an important additional barrier to voting rights that Harris, as a Black woman, could have faced even after the passage of the 19th Amendment.  While the 15th Amendment in principle gave Black men the right to vote, and the 19th Amendment gave all women the right to vote, states continued to discriminate against Black voters by imposing obstacles such as poll taxes, literacy tests, and \"grandfather clauses\"  all of which were designed to suppress Black voters. 15th Amendment obstacles It wasn't until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that such practices were prohibited by federal law, although many activists argue that present-day voter-ID rules continue the legacy of electoral restrictions that have a disproportionate impact on voters of color. Voting Rights Act argue   The creator of the meme appears to have selected the vice presidency of Nixon (1953 to 1961) because that was the period during which the U.S. Supreme Court declared racial segregation in public schools constituted a violation of the Equal Protection clause in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, in the landmark 1954 ruling in Brown vs. the Board of Education. In a follow-up ruling in 1955, the court ordered school districts to arrange for the desegregation of public schools \"with all deliberate speed.\"  declared follow-up ruling Most, though not all, schools were racially segregated in the 19th and early-20th centuries in the United States. So a Black student, such as Harris, would very likely have been forced to \"attend a segregated school,\" as the meme claims. Brown vs. the Board of Education marked the beginning of the end of school segregation, but it did not bring about integration overnight. Over the course of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, state lawmakers and local authorities fought protracted and often bitter battles to resist the Supreme Court's clear mandate. battles So while the meme was right to point out that Black students would be very likely forced to attend segregated schools before the decision in Brown vs. the Board of Education, it's also the case that many Black students were forced to attend segregated schools for many years after the ruling, as well. What changed in 1954 was that the nation's highest court clearly declared that system of racial segregation to be unconstitutional.   The meme appears to refer to the enactment of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) in the early 1970s, which made it illegal for financial services companies to discriminate against customers on the basis of anything other than their creditworthiness. The legislation stated that: stated It shall be unlawful for any creditor to discriminate against any applicant, with respect to any aspect of a credit transaction(1) on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex or marital status, or age (provided the applicant has the capacity to contract)... However, the law wasn't enacted until October 1974, when the office of vice president was vacant. Spiro Agnew resigned in late 1973, after he was charged with bribery and tax fraud, and his replacement, Gerald Ford, ascended to the presidency in August 1974, after Nixon resigned. So the meme is again mistaken on the precise sequence of events. While Agnew was vice president, banks could (and did) legally deny credit to a woman on the basis of extraneous considerations such as her marital status, her husband's income and credit history, and so on. and did The meme also somewhat overstated the restrictions in place before 1974. Women, including married women, could open their own bank accounts before the ECOA was passed, but often faced difficulty and discrimination in doing so. It was particularly difficult for women to obtain a line of credit or a credit card, in her own name. In 1972, the National Commission on Consumer Finance published a report that found the following common discriminatory practices in lending: report What the ECOA changed in 1974, and what the meme appears to allude to, is that banks and lenders could no longer legally engage in such discriminatory practices. ","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1bS9Mm2ZMILddjYqUWKCWY4eizQlaLmO7"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1jM4tzh81mS16VcqlHrMKMSzsy6WSSaV3"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_840","claim":"Was President Trump accused of using his power to pressure Qatar into financially supporting Jared Kushner?","posted":"10\/18\/2018","sci_digest":["The president's son-in-law reportedly owes a $1 billion-plus mortgage on a building he purchased on Fifth Avenue in 2007."],"justification":"In October 2018, social media users shared a meme posted by the liberal Facebook page Occupy Democrats reporting a series of events involving Gulf states were the result of President Donald Trump and his son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner \"using American foreign policy to enrich themselves\":   Although the sequence of events referenced in the meme is described accurately according to reputable news reports, the motives, connections, and causality the meme ascribes to those events have not been proved. It is true that Jared Kushner, who is married to President Trump's eldest daughter Ivanka, was in need of over a billion dollars to cover the mortgage on 666 Fifth Avenue, a 41-story Manhattan building he purchased for $1.8 billion in 2007, as the New Yorker reported on 2 March 2018: reported Kushner Companies co-owns 666 Fifth Avenue with another developer, Vornado Realty. In 2007, at Jared Kushners urging, the company paid $1.8 billion for the building -- at the time, the highest price ever paid for a New York office tower. The property occupies a prime spot between Fifty-second and Fifty-third streets, but it was built in 1957 and needed extensive upgrades. It still has many vacancies, and the $1.2 billion mortgage, which reportedly has ballooned to almost $1.5 billion, is due in February, 2019. Right now, it is not entirely clear whether Kushner Companies is in a position to repay or refinance the loan. The company hoped to knock the building down and put up another, twice as tall and far more luxurious, in its place, Bloomberg reported. It sought funds from investors in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, China, South Korea, Israel and France. No investors were announced for the plan, described by many as prohibitively expensive. That same day, The Intercept reported that in April 2017, Kushner's father Charles, who runs the family's real estate firm Kushner Companies, had made a direct appeal for financing to Qatari Finance Minister Ali Sharif Al Emadi, which was followed shortly afterwards by the Saudi-led blockade of Qatar: reported The 30-minute meeting, according to two sources in the financial industry who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the potential transaction, included aides to both parties, and was held at a suite at the St. Regis Hotel in New York. A follow-up meeting was held the next day in a glass-walled conference room at the Kushner property itself, though Al Emadi did not attend the second gathering in person. The failure to broker the deal would be followed only a month later by a Middle Eastern diplomatic row in which Jared Kushner provided critical support to Qatars neighbors. Led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, a group of Middle Eastern countries, with Kushners backing, led a diplomatic assault that culminated in a blockade of Qatar. Kushner, according to reports at the time, subsequently undermined efforts by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to bring an end to the standoff. Middle Eastern diplomatic row subsequently undermined In May 2017, Qatar's Gulf neighbors commenced a blockade of that country, and within days President Trump tweeted his support of the blockage despite the fact that Qatar is home to Al Udeid Air Base, a key U.S. military installation: commenced tweeted During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar - look!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 6, 2017 June 6, 2017  In May 2018, the New York Times reported that the Kushner family was close to reaching a bailout deal for 666 Fifth Avenue with a company possessing Qatari government ties: reported Charles Kushner, head of the Kushner Companies, is in advanced talks with Brookfield Asset Management over a partnership to take control of the 41-story aluminum-clad tower in Midtown Manhattan, 666 Fifth Avenue, according to two real estate executives who have been briefed on the pending deal but were not authorized to discuss it. Brookfield is a publicly traded company, and its real estate arm, Brookfield Property Partners, is partly owned by the Qatari government, through the Qatar Investment Authority. And, the Trump administration around that time reversed course with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo telling the Saudis in April 2018 that it was time to end the blockade against Qatar. telling It's likely the meme gained momentum on social media in October 2018 due to scrutiny over Kushner and Trump's relationship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in light of the gruesome murder of Jamal Kashoggi.  scrutiny Kashoggi, a Saudi national and columnist for the Washington Post, went missing on 2 October 2018 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul seeking documents he needed to get married. According to reports citing Turkish government and U.S. intelligence sources, the Virginia resident never left the consulate, where he was ambushed by Saudi agents, tortured and murdered, and his body dismembered. ambushed Trump has resisted calls by U.S. lawmakers to impose sanctions on Saudi Arabia in retaliation for the journalist's apparent death, comparing global condemnation of the Gulf kingdom to accusations of sexual misconduct leveled against U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Trump told the Associated Press: \"Here we go again with, you know, you're guilty until proven innocent. I don't like that. We just went through that with Justice Kavanaugh and he was innocent all the way as far as I'm concerned.\" calls told Cassidy, John.  \"Jared Kushners Conflicts of Interest Reach a Crisis Point.\"\r  The New Yorker.  2 March 2018. Swisher, Clayton and Ryan Grim.  \"Jared Kushner's Real Estate Firm Sought Money Directly from Qatar Government Weeks Before Blockade.\"\r  The Intercept.  2 March 2018. Bagli, Charles V. and Jesse Drucker.  \"Kushners Near Deal with Qatar-Linked Company for Troubled Tower.\"\r  The New York Times.  17 May 2018. Kirkpatrick, David D. and Carlotta Gall.  \"Audio Offers Gruesome Details of Jamal Khashoggi Killing, Turkish Official Says.\"\r  The New York Times.  17 October 2018.","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1YIPfQHiM9CX1dp4Vfly09skklO50B4oK"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_841","claim":"Did New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern Don a Hijab and Offer Aid to Families of Massacre Victims?","posted":"03\/18\/2019","sci_digest":["New Zealand was rocked by grief following a massacre at two mosques perpetrated by a suspected white supremacist."],"justification":"In mid-March 2019, the social media network The Other 98% shared a meme featuring an image of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and text lauding her actions in the face of a deadly massacre targeting the Muslim community in the city of Christchurch. Readers who were justifiably suspicious of content in a meme generated by a partisan source asked us whether its statements were true, and they were. Ardern garnered praise for guiding her country through grief in the wake of a mass shooting that claimed the lives of 50 people at two mosques on 15 March 2019, while Brenton Tarrant, a 28-year-old Australian suspected of being a white supremacist, was charged in the slayings. Ardern did wear a hijab, or veil, while honoring the victims of the massacre. Professional news photographers captured images of Ardern wearing a gold-trimmed, black head covering during her 16 March 2019 visit to the Canterbury Refugee Centre. It is also true that Ardern confirmed victims and their families would receive financial assistance from the New Zealand government, although it might be a stretch to claim she personally offered such assistance. In a speech given on 17 March 2019, Ardern assured victims that New Zealand's Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC), an agency that provides financial assistance to anyone in New Zealand who is injured in an accident, would be on hand to help them. ACC is putting more staff on the ground in Christchurch, working alongside the Ministry of Social Development at the community hub at Hagley. For ACC, as I\u2019ve said before, immigration status is not a factor; it is based on the event happening here in New Zealand. In an event such as this\u2014murder or manslaughter\u2014the family is eligible for a funeral grant of around $10,000. There are also one-off payments for the deceased's partner, children, and dependents, ongoing assistance provisions for things like childcare, and, of course, compensation for the loss of income. MSD [Ministry of Social Development] is providing standard forms of financial assistance as well, such as helping with immediate needs and one-off grants for food payments. It will also be working with individuals and families to consider ongoing needs, such as benefit support. The country is currently making preparations for funerals for the 50 deceased victims.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1RYJWLEb-B9DHiBtgNMSphuBEOVViV2Nl","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_842","claim":"The Hunger Site","posted":"09\/08\/2001","sci_digest":["Does The Hunger Site really donate money for hunger relief every time you click a button on their site?"],"justification":"Claim:  You can direct money to hunger relief simply by clicking a button on a web site. Origins:  Over the last few years we've seen a plethora of altruistic appeals circulate on the Internet, each one claiming that you could donate money to a worthy cause or right some terrible injustice  at no cost to you  merely by taking some simple action, such as forwarding an e-mail message.  (See our Jessica Mydek page for one example.)  All of these messages were hoaxes  until The Hunger Site came  Jessica Mydek along. At The Hunger Site, you can \"donate\" money to hunger relief simply by clicking a button.  How?  The Hunger Site, the creation of  John Breen, a 42-year-old computer programmer from Bloomington, Indiana, was funded by various companies who sponsored the site for a day.   Every sponsor donated the approximate cost of 1\/4 of a cup of food to the United Nations' World Food Program for each user who clicks on the site during the day.  (If multiple companies were sponsoring the site, the amount of food donated was multiplied by the number of sponsors.) The Hunger Site Breen created the site in June 1999 as a personal project to help deal with hunger in developing countries, and the response was soon so overwhelming that he spent most of his time administering the site even though he received no income, loans, grants, or donations to compensate him for his time and effort or pay his expenses.  Eventually The Hunger Site became part of GreaterGood.com, a shopping portal where customers could direct up to 15% of the cost of every purchase to causes they selected.  GreaterGood.com ceased operations in July 2001, and The Hunger Site was temporarily shut down until CharityUSA.com took over its operations a few weeks later.  Other sites also offer similar means for visitors to aid various charities: CharityUSA.com  Animal Rescue Site Animal Rescue Site  The Breast Cancer Site The Breast Cancer Site Additional information:        About the Hunger Site   (TheHungerSite.com)        The Hunger Site press release   (World Food Program)   Last updated:  Last updated:  29 August 2009    Rowe, Peter.  \"Fighting Hunger with the Click of a Button.\"","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_843","claim":"Wisconsins dead last in Midwest job growth.","posted":"08\/31\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"If Mary Burke has said it once, shes said it a thousand times: Wisconsins dead last in Midwest job growth. The Democratic candidate for governor uses the line in TV ads, in interviews and her stump speech, all aimed at countering Republican Gov. Scott Walkers message that Wisconsin is back on after the Great Recession. Burkesalliesrepeat the claim. One example, from a Burkecampaign television spotthat first aired in July 2014: Its Walkers agency that gave millions in tax breaks to companies that relocated jobs overseas. Another reason Wisconsins dead last in Midwest job growth. As this is spoken, the TV spot rolls through a list of nine states before settling on Wisconsin at the bottom: North Dakota, Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois. With a new Walker TV ad bragging thatwere third in the Midwest in job growth, we thought it was time to look at both claims. In both cases, and like so many claims in a campaign that any numbers nerd would love, evaluation depends on two things: the timeframe and the measuring stick. In the Burke ad, the narrator in the spot doesnt say what time frame was analyzed. But the fine print in the ad cites data collected for the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. And the footnote says the ad compares quarter four of 2010 -- the last before Walker took office -- to quarter four of 2013. That is still the latest available quarterly data. That data, reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, is considered the most exhaustive and credible for employment trends. It is based on a census of 96 percent of all American non-farm employers. Our examination of the data for the three-year period cited by Burke shows Wisconsin 10th out of the 10 states --  dead last -- just below Illinois when it comes to growth in private-sector jobs. The low growth in jobs in Wisconsin has been matched by very low income growth and poor levels of consumer spending, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee labor economist John Heywood told us. The state has been slower than its peers in recovering from the recession. Nationally, Wisconsinranked 35th. Heres the regional picture: State and midwest ranking on percentage growth in jobs Dec. 2010-Dec. 2013 Percentage change in employment National rank on percentage change 1. North Dakota 21.90% 1st 2. Michigan 8.71% 6th 3. Indiana 6.88% 15th 4. Minnesota 6.29% 20th 5. Nebraska 5.71% 24th 6. Ohio 5.65% 25th 7. South Dakota 5.28% 27th 8. Iowa 5.20% 28th 9. Illinois 4.21% 33th 10. Wisconsin 4.04% 35th Burke ranks the states by the percentage of growth. That is preferred by economists for state-by-state comparisons because it shows performance regardless of the states population. By another measure -- raw number of jobs created -- Wisconsin ranked sixth-best of the 10 states, we found. Limitations to the data There are two statistical points to consider. The most important is the definition of Midwest. Both Burke and Walker use the 10 states we mentioned. Theres a good case to be made for that: The Bureau of Labor Statistics Midwest regional office covers those 10 states. We found other instances in which the agency adds Missouri and Kansas into the Midwestern mix, for a total of 12 states. In that larger group, Wisconsin finishes 11th of 12, ahead of Missouri. Previously we ratedHalf Truea Burke claim in January 2014 that Wisconsin was last in the Midwest. The numbers worked out, but we faulted Burke mainly for a too-narrow comparison. She said Midwest, but looked only at the four states adjoining Wisconsin. We noted that at that time, before the 2013 numbers were complete, that Ohio and Nebraska (from the group of 10) and Missouri (from the more expansive BLS group of 12) had slower growth rates than Wisconsin. Finally, because its so comprehensive, reporting of the quarterly jobs data lags by at least six months, meaning the picture may be a bit outdated by the time it is released. The next quarterly jobs figures, covering the first quarter of 2014, are set for mid-September release. There is more recent jobs data available, from the monthly Current Employment Statistics surveys, but its based on a sample of only about 3 percent of employers. Those figures are prone to large margins of error but are also a widely cited source on job trends. Walker has called the quarterly data the gold standard, and has criticized the monthly data. But he has cited the monthly data, and does so in his new ad. Burke has used both at various times as well. Indeed, she was using the less-reliable monthly data back when we rated her earlier worst-in-Midwest claim Half True. Our rating Mary Burke contends that Wisconsins dead last in Midwest job growth. In the new version of this claim, she uses the most accurate jobs data for the longest Walker-era period that can be analyzed with it. And Wisconsin does bring up the rear. But due to the lag time, it does not reflect the most current trends. We rate the claim True...... Deciphering jobs claims Voters will hear many more jobs claims before the Nov. 4 election. Here are five tips for separating fact from fiction -- and hype from hard evidence -- when it comes to candidates and the numbers they use. Check the timeframe:If the statement covers a short period, it can be a red flag for cherry-picking data to find a good result. A longer time frame may be being used to mask more recent changes. Check the data source:The quarterly jobs numbers are more accurate than the monthly figures, but also more out of date. Be more skeptical of recent announcement about the monthly numbers, because they are subject to revisions can be significant. Raw numbers or percentages? :If the claim is that State X added more jobs than State Y, the statement may have limited information value. Look for percentage growth figures that level the playing field among states of varying sizes. Check the map:When the claim is best in the region, trust but verify. Are all relevant states included? Scrutinize the sector:Most claims focus on just the private sector, but sometimes partisans will add in public employees if it suits their purpose.","issues":["Economy","Jobs","Message Machine 2014","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_844","claim":"Huma Abedin Cut FBI Deal, Kept Clinton E-Mails in 'Life Insurance' Folder?","posted":"10\/31\/2016","sci_digest":["Rumors claimed that Huma Abedin retained deleted e-mails belonging to Hillary Clinton in a folder called \"life insurance,\" and cut a deal with the FBI for them."],"justification":"Shortly after news broke on 28 October 2016 that additional Clinton e-mails were potentially located on a computer linked with aide Huma Abedin, rumors circulated that thousands of potentially incriminating documents were found in a computer folder titled \"life insurance,\" and that Abedin had cut a deal with investigators: Clinton e-mails 10,000 new emails found on Huma Abedin and Anthony Weiner's computer and phones. They were in a file marked \"Life Insurance\". #Corruption #Corruption  Morgan Brittany (@MorganBrittany4) October 29, 2016 October 29, 2016 The \"life insurance\" claim (which bore some similarity to the long-circulating Clinton body bags rumor) appeared to hit a tipping point with the tweet reproduced here, and numerous articles all cited that single uncorroborated item (which may have been meant as a wry joke). Clinton body bags  A slightly earlier tweet expressed the same notion, but again with no source link or reference: So did Huma steal 10,000 emails and saved it on her comp just in case Clinton targeted her? Hence: \"life insurance\"  Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) October 30, 2016 October 30, 2016 We were unable to find any descriptive claims (credible or anecdotal) involving Huma Abedin's purported \"life insurance\" folder that appeared prior to these tweets. However, not long before they showed up on Twitter, a commenter on the web site Zero Hedge made a similar remark (in what appeared to be a joking reference to the \"body count\" rumor):  Articles containing the \"life insurance\" folder claimed cited only the tweets as a source. A popular related rumor held that Abedin \"cut a deal\" or negotiated with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, presumably in relation to a criminal investigation into Clinton:  commenter  cited FBI Source: Huma requesting immunity deal  Jack Posobiec ?? (@JackPosobiec) October 29, 2016 October 29, 2016   I am certain that Huma faces some serious jail time for lying to @FBI but will she make a deal with the @FBI to testify against Hillary?? pic.twitter.com\/tMVs4HGoGQ  Villi Wilson (@Conservative_VW) October 31, 2016 @FBI @FBI pic.twitter.com\/tMVs4HGoGQ October 31, 2016  On 30 October 2016, multiple blog posts claimed Abedin had \"turned on\" Clinton and began \"negotiating\" with the FBI: blog posts Hows It Feel, Hillary? CNN Just Announced Huma Has Decided to Negotiate with FBI Huma Abedins lawyers are negotiating with the FBI about conducting a full search on estranged husband Anthony Weiners laptop in light of the new probe into Hillary Clintons emails. Huma Abedins lawyers are negotiating with the FBI about conducting a full search on estranged husband Anthony Weiners laptop in light of the new probe into Hillary Clintons emails. Those articles were based on a CNN article that stated: article The computer in question is considered to belong to [Abedin's estranged husband Anthony] Weiner. Prior to obtaining the warrant, investigators saw enough of the emails to determine that they appeared pertinent to the previously completed investigation and that they may be emails not previously reviewed. Agents saw enough of the emails that they believed there could be classified information and that it warranted further inquiry, law enforcement sources told CNN. Because they didn't have a warrant specific to Abedin's emails, officials weren't able to further examine them. Justice Department and FBI officials view Abedin as cooperative with the investigation. A correction to that article suggested that the original piece gave an inaccurate impression: Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that talks between the Department of Justice and Abedin's lawyers were underway. They are not. However, the context of the source material made it clear that CNN reported Huma Abedin was \"cooperative with the investigation,\" not \"cooperating with investigators.\" The former suggested compliance without resistance, while the latter hinted Abedin was assisting law enforcement agents to protect herself in an attempt to build a case against Clinton. At the time the rumors began circulating, little was known about the 28 October 2016 e-mail investigation development (providing scant basis for informed speculation). No substantiated information suggests that Abedin required or sought immunity, or that she maintained a \"life insurance\" folder. Perez, Evan and Pamela Brown.  \"FBI Discovered Clinton-Related Emails Weeks Ago.\"\r  CNN.  31 October 2016 (updated).","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1I043cMJSPqFW48V26D-_9zsCb68z4fit","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_845","claim":"Is Trump Campaign Auto-Checking A \"Recurring Donation\" Option That Ends in December?","posted":"11\/06\/2020","sci_digest":["The campaign website, until recently, had been accepting recurring donations up until Election Day. "],"justification":"Voting in the 2020 U.S. Election may be over, but misinformation continues to circulate. Never stop fact-checking. Follow our post-election coverage here. On Oct. 31, 2020, The New York Times reported that the Trump Campaign's fundraising landing page was \"now automatically checking a box to create recurring weekly donations from supporters until mid-December.\" This is true, although the \"automatically checked box\" development is fairly old news. The Trump Campaign's primary fundraising platform, WinRed, changed the landing page to automatically check the monthly recurring donation option in March 2020. The shift to soliciting weekly donations occurred in mid-September 2020, with that option also appearing as pre-checked. The more recent development is the change in when those weekly contributions would stop. Earlier solicitations committed people to donations that would stop automatically on Election Day, Nov. 3, 2020. In late October, the text was changed to read \"make this a recurring donation until 12\/14.\" It is worth mentioning that well before any returns came in on Nov. 3, the campaign encouraged donations as a way to \"keep fighting after election day\" because \"there will be voter fraud like you've never seen.\" Speaking to the Times, Trump campaign spokesperson Tim Murtaugh stated that no one would receive a recurring charge without their knowledge and that donors could opt out at any time. He argued that funds were needed because \"this race will be very close, and it is possible that multiple states will require recounts and potential additional spending from our campaign.\" From a factual standpoint, there is no guarantee that the money goes to fight election-related lawsuits. Some of the money goes to resolving Trump Campaign debt, while much of the rest goes to the Republican National Committee's general operating account. Because the Trump Campaign is indeed accepting recurring donations until Dec. 12, and because that option is auto-checked on the campaign's primary fundraising platform, we rank this claim.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Jvan0p0-4T11CBtlA_uh0wE9fJOoGXo3","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_846","claim":"Ohio is losing over 700 family farms a year, some of them just to pay the inheritance tax.","posted":"12\/09\/2010","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Echoing Gov.-elect John Kasich's pledge to cut taxes, Ohio's incoming agriculture chief recently called for the elimination of the state's estate tax. The tax has contributed to the declining number of family farms in Ohio, said State Rep. Jim Zehringer, a Republican from Northwest Ohio whom Kasich recently picked to lead the state's Department of Agriculture. Ohio is losing over 700 family farms a year, some of them just to pay the inheritance tax, Zehringer said at a Nov. 16 news conference at which Kasich introduced him as the new agriculture director. Kasich, a Republican who defeated Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland in November, has specifically called for the elimination of the tax, which Zehringer referred to as the inheritance tax, because he believes it punishes success. An estate tax is levied on the net value of an estate before its assets are transferred to anyone else. PolitiFact Ohio decided to take a look, given that farming remains one of Ohio's key industries. First, we looked to see if the number of family farms is actually decreasing at the rate Zehringer claims. Rob Nichols, a spokesman for John Kasich, said Zehringer based his claim on the United States Department of Agriculture's statistics, specifically an agricultural census the department conducts every five years. For his assessment, Zehringer compared figures for one classification of family farms. The USDA, however, also counts family-held corporations within its definition of family farms, according to Amanda Pomicter of the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service. Family-held corporations represent only a fraction of family farms in Ohio, but their inclusion does color the picture of how fast the number of family farms is shrinking in the state. Here is a comparison over the last 15 years of the figures Zehringer used and statistics that include family-held corporations. Year         Family farms only     Family farms and corps 1992         60,936                         62,538 1997         69,123                         71,099 2002         70,890                         72,579 2007         66,382                         69,131 Nichols told us that Zehringer used the most recent of these five-year stretches for his assertion. Ohio lost 4,508 family farms in that span for an average of about 902 farms a year. If the statistics Zehringer used showed a 900-farm-per-year decline, why did he estimate the annual losses at 700? He was being conservative, Nichols said. Had Zehringer also included in his analysis farms owned by family-held corporations, he might have reduced the annual decline even further. In the same five-year stretch, using the figures the USDA prefers, Ohio lost 3,448 family farms for an average of 690 lost farms per year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture won't begin counting farms for its 2012 census until the end of that year, so the figures for 2007 represent the most recent available data. Another point of clarity is needed for Zehringer's assertion that the state's inheritance tax is causing the state to lose family farms. John Kohlstrand, a spokesman for the Department of Taxation, said the state does not have an inheritance tax. He said inheritance taxes apply to each individual who receives property from an estate. Ohio has an estate tax, which is levied on the net value of an estate before its assets are transferred to anyone else. In emails, Nichols told us that was what Zehringer was referring to and that it is universally known that some family farms are sold because the estate tax could not be paid. In Ohio, estates worth $338,333 or less are effectively exempt from the state estate tax due to a tax credit, which is available to all estates, of up to $13,900. A 6 percent tax rate applies to estates worth between $338,334 and $500,000. For estates worth more than $500,000, the tax is $9,700 plus 7 percent of the estate's value. A federal estate tax also exists. It was phased out in 2010 as part of the Bush tax cuts that are set to expire at the end of the year, pending an extension by Congress. The U.S. Agriculture Department does not track how many family farms are lost due to estate taxes, said James Ramey, director of the Ohio field office of the USDA's National Agriculture Statistics Service. Neither does the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation. But Joe Cornely, the bureau's spokesman, said Zehringer is absolutely right that the Ohio estate tax contributes to the decline in family farms. Sometimes a chunk of a farm is sold to pay federal and state estate taxes, and as a result, the farm is no longer commercially viable, Cornely said. The federal estate tax is more burdensome, but inheritance taxes, regardless of whether they are state or federal, can have negative consequences on the heirs, he said. The food and agriculture industries are a $98 billion business in Ohio. The loss of family farms, particularly in light of Kasich's commitment to job creation, is sure to be something the incoming agriculture chief will monitor. Zehringer's data is somewhat dated, and he didn't include all types of family farms in his analysis. His statement is not far off the annual decline found in Ohio using statistics the USDA prefers. And ultimately, the differences in numbers don't impact his underlying point. As for the estate tax's role in the decline, it's difficult to say exactly how many family farms were lost for that reason. But Cornely, an authority on Ohio agriculture, said he is sure some of the losses would be due to taxes. We rate the statement True.","issues":["Agriculture","Ohio","Economy","Taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_847","claim":"Camera Cell Phone Identity Theft","posted":"01\/20\/2004","sci_digest":["Are thieves using camera cell phones to capture credit card information?"],"justification":"Claim:  Thieves are using camera cell phones to capture credit card information.   Example:  [Collected on the Internet, 2004] Keep a watch out for people standing near you at retail stores, restaurants, grocery stores, etc., that have a cell phone in hand. With the new camera cell phones, they can take a picture of your credit card, which gives them your name, number, and expiration date. Identification theft is one of the fastest growing scams today, and this is just another example of the means that are being used. So... be aware of your surroundings.   Variations:  Some October 2004 versions are prefaced \"CBS reported this type of identification theft is one of the fastest growing scams today.\"  (If CBS had run a piece on cell phone cameras used by thieves to capture credit card numbers, it has escaped our notice. More likely, this claim was added by someone looking to infuse the mailing with a greater sense of credibility.) Origins:  Camera phones, the latest in cell phone wizardry, allow users to take pictures on the go and transmit these images by e-mail or post them to the Web. With video phone in hand, unexpected sightings of celebrities can be snared with a flick of the wrist (turning the celled into the snaparazzi), as can chance encounters with pretty girls or gorgeous sunsets. Though introduced in the USA only in 2002, camera phones have already helped solve crimes and aided in the capture of criminals when quick-thinking phone owners had the wit to turn their units on their attackers. They   are fast growing in popularity. Yet they also have a dark side, one that ultimately might be their undoing. Most who purchase such instruments have only the most innocuous of pleasures in mind  they want to be able to take and transmit pictures of places they're visiting and people they're meeting. Or they want to have something handy with which to snap photos if something hilarious plays out in front of them. However, at least some who are equipping themselves with this latest in technology are doing so for nefarious purposes. Camera phones have been banned in many public areas like swimming pools and locker rooms in the U.K. and Japan after police discovered pedophiles were using the technology to add to their child porn collections. In Japan, police have apprehended people using camera phones to take photos up the skirts of unsuspecting women in crowded trains and stores. In the U.S., some state legislatures have before them bills that would serve to ban cell phone cameras in venues where folks have an expectation of privacy, such as locker rooms and restrooms. Even without this legislation, a number of American health clubs and courthouses have barred their use on their premises.  Yet the danger posed by these instruments may not end with embarrassing or lewd photos of the unsuspecting  quite possibly such phones may be used to harvest credit card data. Information in other forms has already been purloined via camera phone, with newsstand owners in Japan complaining folks armed with such gadgets have been photographing magazine articles instead of buying the issues, thereby cutting into their business. In January 2003,  a Web-based fashion magazine used video phones to beam photos from Paris fashion shows, producing almost-live coverage of the catwalks and scooping the competition. Pictures were sent directly to the Web. We first saw the warning against camera cell phone enabled identify thieves in January 2004. Although we've yet to stumble across reports of actual incidents of theft of credit card information by this method, the warning implicit to the e-mail is valid  the ill-intentioned could indeed photograph the face of your credit card with such devices. At this time, most of the units on the market don't take very good pictures, possibly not nearly high enough quality to capture what is, after all, fairly small raised print on fairly small items. Video phone pictures aren't high-resolution, and most camera phones can't autofocus, lack onboard flash, and rely on long exposures  all limitations that conspire to make them unsuitable for data mining over someone's shoulder. However, what they (at this time) lack in clarity of image, they make up for in distance their captures can be transmitted. Unlike the cameras found secreted at ATMs, which could send their images to receivers no farther than about 200 meters away, video phones can relay what they see to the other side of the world. They are, after all, telephones. ATMs Although at this time the phones' limitations might appear to rule out the risk of your VISA or Mastercard details being harvested by camera phone-wielding thieves, the danger should not be discounted. The more expensive of these instruments take better photos, meaning they could pick off minute detail that lesser phones couldn't, so every video phone should not be judged safe to flash your plastic to.  Moreover, the technology is improving, which makes it a good bet the next generation of camera phones will transmit sharper, clearer images. In February 2005, a retail fraud investigator for one of the larger chain stores told us that while he is still unable to capture a useable image of a credit card from even the newer camera phones, he has been able to grab readable images of all account and routing info from the personal checks customers have produced at the checkout. Check writers, he says, have a tendency to \"lay out\" their check books on the writing counter at the registers and keep them stationary enough to obtain a clear image of all the personal information printed on the check.  He has also tested this theory with camera-equipped palm tops and has found that with the adjustable resolution he has been able to get a pretty clear picture, with zoom, from a reasonable distance away (3-5 feet). So at this point in time, while your credit card might still be secure, your personal check might not be. As for camera phones themselves, whatever their limitations or potential for misuse, unless legislated out of existence, they are likely to become the next \"must have\" item. We do so love our toys, after all.  Barbara \"surfeit USA\" Mikkelson Additional information:        Preventing Credit Card Fraud   (Consumer @ction)   Last updated:  22 July 2011    Bradley, Kim.  \"Camera Phones Bug Cop; Fears It'll Be Used By Perverts.\"    The Toronto Sun.  26 December 2003  (p. 128).    Hanluain, Daithi.  \"Forget F-Stops: These Cameras Have Area Codes.\"    The New York Times.  3 July 2003  (p. G1).    Ihnatko, Andy.  \"Camera Phones an Idea Whose Time Shouldn't Have Come.\"    Chicago Sun-Times.  2 December 2003  (p. 64).    The Associated Press.  \"Bill Would Ban Cell Phone Cameras from Locker Rooms.\"    10 January 2004.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1unyVjVkjgEiuWkjyiKCw13K9FfQnfsXL","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_848","claim":"Did Ben Shapiro Say His 'Red Pill Moment' Was Sharing Cupcakes With Poor Kids?","posted":"03\/30\/2021","sci_digest":["The viral screenshot came from a subreddit called ToiletPaperUSA that satirizes the right-wing group Turning Point USA. "],"justification":"On March 29, 2021, a screenshot of a tweet purporting to have been sent by conservative media personality Ben Shapiro was widely shared on Twitter: \"My #redpill moment came about when I turned 7 years old. My mom sent me to school with cupcakes for my birthday, and the teacher made me share them with my classmates, even the poor ones whose mothers never sent cupcakes for THEIR birthdays. The rage of that day has never left me.\" Shapiro did not write this tweet. The screenshot was first posted to a subreddit named ToiletPaperUSA, which is \"dedicated to the mockery of Turning Point USA and conservative pseudo-intellectuals in general.\" The subreddit allows for both fake and real screenshots but requires fake ones to be labeled as such. The Ben Shapiro screenshot is identified as \"fake news,\" which means \"the post is fake and is most likely satire.\" Because Shapiro never wrote the tweet in question and because it first appeared on a satirical subreddit, we rank his purported tweet as \"Labeled Satire.\"","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1hDzpqRtHmujvqkM-nqWvhHjjOlY1Poes","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_849","claim":"2004 Long Island Black Friday Rumor","posted":"11\/03\/2004","sci_digest":["On November 26, 2004, will four Long Island shopping malls be hit with chemical weapons by terrorists?"],"justification":"Claim:  Minutes of emergency response agencies' meeting reveal that on 26 November 2004 four Long Island shopping malls will be hit in a terrorist attack using chemical weapons.   Example:  [Collected on the Internet, 2004] Hello all, Some information has come to me.  It has not been released to the general public, but it's something we all need to be aware of. A couple of weeks ago someone was seen taking photos of my ambulance company in Bay Shore. This same person was seen outside Exchange Ambulance in Islip doing the same. The police were notified and the person was apprehended outside Southside hospital, again taking photos. He is a man of Middle Eastern descent and is being held for investigation. It seems that he was gathering information about our response capabilities in a mass casualty attack. The NY Field Office of the FBI held a meeting at Bay Shore Fire Department for officials from the local PD, EMS and FD's. They have information from this man and from their own intelligence that a mass attack is planned for Long Island. On Black Friday (November 26) 4 Long Island Malls are supposed to be hit simultaneously with chemical weapons. This would be the first time a chemical weapon is used in the United States. Forces from NYC and Washington DC would be diverted to aid here on Long Island leaving these areas vulnerable. A second attack would take place in these areas. Ever since 9\/11 EMS has undergone extensive training on howto deal with a terrorist attack and to think it could really happen here is terrifying. There is also concern about car bombings as a large number of vehicles have gone missing in Nassau and Suffolk counties. Ambulances, taxi's, commercial vans and airport limos have been reported stolen.  These vehicles look perfectly innocent driving through our neighborhoods and no one would think twice about seeing them. This is not an internet scam. The officers at my department were at this meeting and I saw the minutes myself. I figure it's pretty serious if the FBI made an appearance to share what they know. I'm not sure why this isn't being released to the public. I can only assume that if this got out, no one would shop and it would be devastating to our economy. I do not want to spread panic, only information. Take from this what you will, but I needed to let you all know. I love you all and I felt I needed to share this with you. I know it's hard to believe. I can't believe that an Al Qaeda operative was only a few blocks from my home. Origins:  We first happened across this e-mail in mid-October 2004. At this time, the identity of its author is not known to us, nor is that of whomever penned the following preface that appears on a number of the forwards: The following email was sent to me last night by a personal friend.  She is the directly involved with the ambulance corp.  I am sending this email to the Red Cross to inquire.  Nonetheless, please read it and try and shop around Nov. 26, not THE 26th. Her email is not a \"forward to 10 people\" It is personally written and personally sent to her friends based on facts she is personally aware of. We searched for news articles that made reference to a man of Middle Eastern appearance being detained under the circumstances described, but to no avail. We also did not hear scuttlebutt about a potential terrorist assault on Long Island set for 26 November 2004 from sources other than just the one e-mail, which is noteworthy, given that supposedly at a meeting at the Bay Shore Fire Department on Long Island the FBI informed any number of police, fire, and emergency personnel of it. (It was not really plausible that everyone in the room, with the exception of one letter-writer, would have stayed entirely mute about an upcoming chemical attack on their neighborhoods, preferring to keep a secret over potentially safeguarding themselves and their loved ones by making the risk known.) Common knowledge has it that Black Friday (the term for the day after American Thanksgiving) is biggest shopping day of the year. (Which is somewhat true  though as far as actual sales go, it lags behind the four days that make up the two weekends just prior to Christmas, in terms of number of shoppers loosed on the stores it might well be.) It therefore follows that mall-targeting terrorists looking to cause the greatest harm to the greatest number would select that day over any number of  biggest shopping day others. Doug Einsfeld, chief of Exchange Ambulance of the Islips, said the e-mailed warning was a hoax. About two months prior to the rumor's emergence, the volunteer ambulance corps and local law enforcement had conducted a terror drill based on a scenario involving a chemical attack at Long Island malls taking place on the day after Thanksgiving. Einsfeld concludes that printed information about the drill, circulated internally and to police and fire officials, must have been used as a basis for the alert. He confirms that a man was seen taking pictures outside the volunteer ambulance corps' building.The FBI was notified and did investigate, but no evidence of the man intending any harm was uncovered. Regarding the e-mail's claim of the errant shutter bug's being taken into custody, Suffolk Police Third Squad Det. Sgt. Thomas Groneman said no such arrest was made. As for the claim of the man being of Middle Eastern appearance, Einsfeld said he saw the man only from behind and couldn't tell his ethnicity. This was not the first time it had been whispered that terrorists were plotting to kill shoppers. In October 2001, a fiction about the revelation of a planned strike in malls on Halloween by one of those involved in a letter to his girlfriend swept the nation. There was nothing to that story, but it nevertheless kept people away from the stores that day. letter to his girlfriend Adding to the plausibility of the Long Island tale were reports from the summer of unusual interest in that area's emergency vehicles. On 12 August 2004, the New York State Association of Fire Chiefs circulated this memo: THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS FORWARDED BY THE NEW YORK STATE ASSOCIATION OF FIRE CHIEFS PUBLIC RELATIONS COMMITTEE FOR YOUR INFORMATION.August 12, 2004 The following alert was released by Westchester County Department of Emergency Services based on information fron New Jersey authorities and should be practiced by all agencies. Within the past week, the Office of Counter-Terrorism received three reports of suspicious activity concerning ambulances. The most recent incident involved an individual who attended an open-house at an ambulance squad in Middlesex County. The man, who claimed he was from Pakistan and a physician, asked a series of questions to the squad members that related exclusively to the operation of the emergency vehicles, including the speed at which the vehicles responded to calls and the use of the lights and sirens.  The individual appeared very nervous, did not ask about patient care, and left the premises when asked to complete a membership application. The second incident occurred at a hospital in Essex County and involved an inquiry made by a male of Middle-Eastern appearance who was first observed standing near an ambulance at the emergency room doors while writing notes in a small notepad.  When confronted by the vehicle's operator, a firefighter\/EMT, the man asserted that he was employed as an ambulance mechanic. He then asked where a nearby fire department serviced its vehicles.  The man provided an illegible New York driver's license when asked to produce identification before leaving the premises. Lastly, OCT received information concerning an unusual attempt by three men of Middle-Eastern appearance to join a volunteer ambulance squad. The men expressed to squad members an \"abnormal interest\" in operating the emergency vehicles, and further insisted that the process by which they obtain the appropriate credentials and certifications to join the squad be expedited at their personal expense. Due to the recent threat elevation to ORANGE (HIGH) for the financial sector and intelligence relating to the threat of Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (VBIEDs), any suspicious activity relating to emergency vehicles is of particular concern and should be reported to law enforcement immediately. As demonstrated by recent attacks in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and elsewhere, terrorist operatives worldwide continue to rely on VBIEDs as a method of attack.  This tactic has been used here in the past, notably in the 1993 World Trade Center and 1995 Oklahoma City bombings.  The World Trade Center and Oklahoma City attacks were carried out with rented vehicles, highlighting the need for awareness among the car, truck, and  limousine rental community of the potential for vehicle-borne attacks in the United States. As always, report all suspicious activities and individuals to the toll-free terrorism tip-lines.New York State: 1-866-SAFE-NYSNew York City: 1-888-NYC-SAFE It was feared in the summer of 2004 that those mysterious men might have been weighing up the possibilities of fashioning ambulances or firetrucks into rolling bombs by loading them with explosives or chemicals and using them to breach security barriers at hard-to-reach targets, the underlying assumption being emergency vehicles would be allowed near or into locations ordinary cars and trucks would be turned away from. Also considered was the possibility of such vehicles being used to launch a second wave of attack on the heels of an initial terror strike when all was confusion and no one would think to try to prevent an ambulance or fire truck from going to the aid of the injured. Long Island, which lies off New York City, is 118 miles long and 20 miles across at its widest point, and is connected to the Big Apple by three expressways.  It is home to a population of 2.65 million. Regarding the entities mentioned in the warning e-mail, the Exchange Ambulance of the Islip's is a volunteer non-profit service consisting of approximately 100 members. It is located on Long Island and serves the towns of East Islip, Islip, Islip Terrace. Southside Hospital  is Long Island's largest community hospital, having 377 beds. Exchange Ambulance Southside Hospital The region believes itself adequately prepared for a terrorist attack, including an event in Manhattan that could immobilize the area and cut off the Island from the mainland for days or perhaps weeks. Emergency workers on the island have engaged in a number of simulation drills for disaster events including train derailments with mass casualties, detonations of dirty bombs containing chemical, biological, or radioactive agents, hostage takings, and evacuations of specified areas. As Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy said in August 2004, \"We are cognizant that we are in close proximity to the No. 1 target in America.\" Which could well be what triggered this rumor  that sense of proximity could have worked to cause someone to jump at shadows, misremembering an alert from the summer about suspicious characters as a current matter (especially in light of another man being seen taking photographs) and misunderstanding the paperwork generated around a summer 2004 disaster preparation drill as minutes of a meeting in which a specific warning was issued.  Barbara \"minute- and second-guessing\" Mikkelson Last updated:  7 November 2004    Sources:   Guart, Al.  \"'Mideast' Snoops Spurring Ambulance-Bomb Alert.\"   The New York Post.  29 August 2004  (p. 12).     Kelleher, Jennifer Sinco.  \"Terror E-mail a Hoax.\"   Newsday.  7 November 2004.     Rather, John.  \"2 Counties Buff Disaster Plans.\"   The New York Times.  22 August 2004  (Long Island Weekly Desk, p. 5).","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_850","claim":"Does Bill Gates Own the Majority of US Farmland?","posted":"04\/28\/2022","sci_digest":["Uncertainty breeds conspiracy theories.  "],"justification":"In April 2022, researchers warned about the potential risk of a global food shortage, spurred on in part by Russia's ongoing attacks on Ukraine. While there are currently no nationwide food shortages in the United States, nor widespread disruptions in the supply chain, the potential of such shortages caused many people to feel that their food security was suddenly uncertain.  researchers warned about the potential risk of a global food shortage currently no nationwide food shortages in the United States In the wake of this uncertainty, unfounded rumors began to spread that attempted to lay the blame for any coming food shortages on nefarious forces. One such rumor claimed that there had been an unusual number of fires at food processing facilities in 2022. The explanation offered by conspiracy theorists for this untrue claim was that these fires were being intentionally set in order to create a food crisis. In reality, the number of fires was not extraordinary, the causes of the fires were not unusual, and the damage caused by the fires was minimal.  the number of fires was not extraordinary, the causes of the fires were not unusual, and the damage caused by the fires was minimal As unfounded rumors related to the cause of a yet-to-happen food crisis circulated online, many people started to point fingers at a favorite target of conspiracy theorists, former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates.  One of the most prevalent claims related to Gates and the potential for food shortages is that the billionaire owns a suspicious amount of farmland in the United States. On social media, we found people claiming, for example, that Gates owns the \"majority\" of U.S. farmland -- 80%, they claimed -- and that Gates is trying to buy up \"all\" of the farmland.   These claims are not true. Gates does not own anywhere close to the majority of America's farmland.  Gates does own a lot of farmland. In fact, he reportedly owns more farmland than any other individual in America. According to 2021 article from the Land Report, a magazine about land ownership, Gates owns approximately 242,000 acres of farmland. While this is certainly a lot of acreage, it represents less than 1% of all the farmland in the United States.  reportedly owns more farmland According to a 2021 report from the United States Department of Agriculture and the National Agriculture Statistics Service, there are 895,300,000 acres of farmland in the United States. Gates' 242,000 acres amounts to about 0.03% of the total.  2021 report from the United States Department of Agriculture and the National Agriculture Statistics Service To put that into perspective, if you put all of the land that Gates owns into one place (his holdings are spread throughout the country), you'd cover an area about a quarter the size of Rhode Island.  you'd cover an area about a quarter the size of Rhode Island While viral conspiracy theories baselessly conjecture that Gates is buying up farmland in order to starve Americans for some unknown reason, there's likely a simpler explanation: Gates makes money off this land.  Gates started purchasing farmland circa 2013 through his investment group, Cascade Investments. Agfundernews.com, a website about agricultural investments, reported in 2021 that Gates' investments were part of a broader trend that started after the financial crisis of 2008, as investors looked for reliable returns.  Agfundernews.com For many years, farmland was not a common asset class among financial investors ... The tide began to shift in the early 2000s, when institutional investors began to give farmland a closer look. Momentum accelerated during the 2008-2009 Great Financial Crisis, when investors grew desperate for alternatives to traditional safe haven investments like bonds and gold. In this short period of time, there was a proliferation in funds that were specifically focused on farmland investing. In 2020, there were 166 such funds globally, nearly a 9x increase from only 19 in 2005. [...] Bill Gates investments in farmland can be seen as part of this trend. The Gates have been quietly acquiring farmland through their investment manager, Cascade Investment, for over 10 years. While many have also speculated that Gates' land purchases were in some way related to his efforts to curb climate change, Gates has said that the two are unrelated. Gates said during a Reddit AMA: Reddit AMA  My investment group chose to do this. It is not connected to climate. The agriculture sector is important. With more productive seeds we can avoid deforestation and help Africa deal with the climate difficulty they already face. It is unclear how cheap biofuels can be but if they are cheap it can solve the aviation and truck emissions. During times of uncertainty, people often look for someone to blame, and peddlers of misinformation are quick to tell others at whom they should be pointing their fingers. Oftentimes, those fingers get pointed at Gates. During the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine-hesitant Americans were inundated with false rumors claiming that Gates was putting microchips into vaccines, that he was working on a mind-altering vaccine, that Gates had input tracking devices into vaccines, and that he once called for vaccinations as a way to depopulate the planet. These rumors, like the present rumor about Gates buying up the majority of farmland in the United States for nefarious purposes, are all false.  Gates was putting microchips into vaccines working on a mind-altering vaccine Gates had input tracking devices into vaccines vaccinations as a way to depopulate the planet Sources: Bill Gates: Americas Top Farmland Owner | The Land Report. 11 Jan. 2021, https:\/\/landreport.com\/2021\/01\/bill-gates-americas-top-farmland-owner\/. Bill Gates Uses Farmland as an Investment Outlet Buying up Potato, Carrot and Onion Farms. NBC News, https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/tech\/tech-news\/mcdonald-s-french-fries-carrots-onions-all-foods-come-bill-n1270033. Accessed 28 Apr. 2022. Bill Gates Uses Farmland as Investment Vehicle, Owning 269,000 Acres of Land. NBC News, https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/now\/video\/bill-gates-is-nation-s-largest-farmland-owner-114566213692. Accessed 28 Apr. 2022. Estes, Nick. Bill Gates Is the Biggest Private Owner of Farmland in the United States. Why? The Guardian, 5 Apr. 2021. The Guardian, https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2021\/apr\/05\/bill-gates-climate-crisis-farmland. If Not for Climate, Then Why Is Bill Gates Buying so Much Farmland? AFN, 27 Aug. 2021, https:\/\/agfundernews.com\/gates-if-not-for-climate-then-why-is-bill-buying-up-so-much-farmland.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1pL4bXGdvqsxCMEP_lTBqGkLO82uhIieQ","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Y9FaREZRUS-eKE0Br4YsKddyRj21zFo4","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_851","claim":"There is great disparity, tremendous disparity, in the (capital) funding on a per-student basis between our traditional public schools and our charter public schools.","posted":"02\/22\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"A Florida House bill that would require school districts to share capital funding with charter schools has sparked a debate over how much money these privately run institutions should receive. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami, would, in part, mandate that charter schools have access to local school board levies that are typically reserved for capital improvements in traditional public schools. Charter schools are financed with taxpayer money but managed by private companies. Initially touted as an option for students attending low-performing public schools, charter schools have grown in popularity. Critics argue that too many taxpayer dollars have been shifted to the private companies that operate charter schools, while traditional schools suffer from a lack of resources. During a House Appropriations Committee hearing for Fresen's HB 873, Republicans supported equal access to capital improvement funds for charter schools. \"I think it is time that we recognize that there is great disparity, tremendous disparity, in the funding on a per-student basis between our traditional public schools and our charter public schools,\" said Rep. Janet Adkins, R-Fernandina Beach, at the Feb. 9 hearing. The bill has drawn extra scrutiny because Fresen works for an architecture firm that builds charter schools, and his sister and brother-in-law are executives for the state's largest charter school operator. The bill passed the Appropriations Committee 19-5 and, on Feb. 17, passed the Education Committee 13-4, both times along party lines. These votes move the bill to the House floor. The Legislature has debated charter school funding for years, and the subject is confusing, to say the least. We wanted to run the numbers to see if Adkins, a candidate for Nassau County Schools superintendent, is correct in saying there is a tremendous disparity between charter and traditional schools. It turns out that while the figures are not easy to decipher, it seems Adkins has a point. \n\nFlorida has 4,270 public schools with around 2.7 million children enrolled, and more are coming every month. These figures include approximately 650 charter schools across the state, with about 250,000 students. Charter school enrollment has grown at least fivefold in the last decade. This means that statewide, there are more than six traditional schools for every charter school. However, since charter schools often have much smaller enrollments than their counterparts, traditional schools have almost 11 students for every one in a charter. Calculating school funding is a confusing process that mixes money from state and local governments, including several types of tax revenues, grants, and awards. Many of these sources are earmarked for specific purposes, such as vocational-technical career centers and funds to balance class sizes. For this fact-check, we will focus on capital outlay costs, which are funds set aside primarily for construction and maintenance. Adkins confirmed to PolitiFact Florida that she was specifically referring to those capital dollars, not operating funds. State money for operations is allocated annually by the Legislature on a per-pupil basis\u2014around $7,100 per student\u2014and given to school districts, which divide the money among charter and traditional public schools. (This is the cash Gov. Rick Scott likes to mention when he talks about school funding.) Capital funding is a different story. Districts have been under pressure to build schools as Florida's population grows, and a significant portion of the capital funding the state allocates for schools is used to pay down debts on projects they have already completed. Many charter schools, however, lease the property they occupy instead of erecting new buildings, so much of their capital funding goes to paying rent. This practice is controversial, as districts are often left without assets if a charter school closes. \n\nThere are several sources for these capital dollars, but we will examine the two most relevant sources: state Public Education Capital Outlay (PECO) money and local school board levies. As charter schools have grown more popular, the Legislature has allocated more of the state capital money, known as PECO, to them than to traditional schools, which received nothing from that fund in some years. The totals have fluctuated recently, but charter schools receive significantly more PECO money than traditional schools on a per-student basis. Last year, lawmakers allocated $50 million to those 650 charter schools and $50 million to the other 3,600 traditional schools. This gives charter schools a bit more than $200 per student in PECO funding, while traditional schools receive roughly $20 per student. The Legislature is currently debating how much to allocate for 2016-17. (As lawmakers head into budget negotiations, the House has proposed $90 million in capital funding for charter schools, while the Senate has offered charters zero capital dollars. Both chambers would maintain traditional schools' capital outlay at $50 million.) \n\nHowever, school boards have the power to add to their capital budgets through levies. These levies can be up to 1.5 mills (that\u2019s $1.50 per $1,000 in taxable property values) on an annual property tax bill. Money from these local levies, however, is largely off-limits to charters. State statute allows districts to share this money with charter schools, but only five districts do. Fresen's bill would require school districts to share a portion of this money with charters. Districts argue that these local levies are necessary to keep up with ever-growing communities. A common argument is that districts have needed this money as the state has cut other sources of funding. It\u2019s important to remember that not every district levies these taxes at the same rate or generates the same amount. But there is no denying that it is a substantial pot of money to which charter schools do not have ready access. According to the Florida Department of Revenue, these levies created an annual pool of about $2.3 billion statewide in 2015. Traditional schools also receive an additional $850 million or so in dedicated capital funding along with their PECO money, a House comparison indicates. \n\nThese figures are rounded estimates, of course, and we need to remember that traditional schools and charter schools face different challenges. It also does not include money from bonds that school districts can ask voters to approve. But using these estimates, we found that traditional schools have a more than 6 to 1 ratio of capital dollars compared to charters. We would consider that a significant disparity, regardless of the reasons behind the policies. \n\nAdkins stated, \"There is great disparity, tremendous disparity, in the (capital) funding on a per-student basis between our traditional public schools and our charter public schools.\" While charter schools do receive a larger per-student share of one type of state capital funding, traditional schools can generate much more by taking advantage of school board levies and other sources that charters cannot access. There are many fine details that can get lost in discussions about this subject. However, we found that currently, traditional schools potentially can receive six times the capital funding per pupil compared to charter schools. The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. We rate it Mostly True.","issues":["Education","State Budget","Taxes","Florida"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_852","claim":"Bernie Sanders: The Life of Someone Who Has Experienced Defeat?","posted":"02\/04\/2016","sci_digest":["A meme about Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders displayed questionable accuracy and relevance."],"justification":"In February 2016, a meme about the lack of business acumen and experience exhibited by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a Democratic presidential candidate, began circulating online. The criticisms offered in the meme were a mixture of true, false, irrelevant, and misleading statements. To wit: Never owned a business. Right off, this meme begins with a rather nebulous criticism. Although having owned a business is an experience many voters would like to see on the r\u00e9sum\u00e9 of a potential chief executive, a literal application of that term isn't of much relevance. Technically, a person who once operated a roadside lemonade stand has \"owned a business,\" while a person who has spent his career serving as the CEO of a public multinational, multibillion-dollar corporation has not\u2014even though everyone would agree the latter has vastly more business experience than the former. Certainly, a number of highly regarded U.S. presidents in the modern era (e.g., Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Ronald Reagan) never owned their own businesses. Moreover, one might validly say that Sanders started and operated his own business (whether he \"owned\" it is somewhat arguable, as it was a nonprofit), the American People's Historical Society, which was created in 1978 to produce educational film strips about the history of Vermont. The University of Vermont has archived several of the brochures produced by the American People's Historical Society, one of which includes a statement from Sanders outlining the purpose of his film strips: Director Bernard Sanders explained, \"It is our belief that state and regional history has too long been neglected by the audiovisual industry, and we are happy to begin the process of rectifying that situation. We believe that students have the right to learn about the state and region in which they are living.\" While the financials of the American People's Historical Society are not available, Sanders wrote in his memoir, Outsider in the House, that the business was reasonably successful and \"a lot of fun.\" A friend of Sanders told Politico that the film strip business \"wasn't just a way to make money ... He made film strips about people he admired and believed in. He just thought kids should know the truth of how things really were.\" Never invented anything. Once again, this is a rather nebulous criticism. The concept of \"inventing\" something could range from simply thinking up a novel idea (but doing nothing more about it) to creating and building a device for personal use (but not marketing it) to actually obtaining a patent for a new product. Bernie Sanders is certainly no inventor and holds no patents, but it's hard to see how that fact is of any relevance, as the same is true of nearly every U.S. president. Thomas Jefferson might legitimately be considered an inventor for having conceptualized various devices (including a macaroni machine, a swivel chair, a spherical sundial, a moldboard plow, and a cipher wheel), although he held no patents because he believed them to be a form of monopoly. Abraham Lincoln was the only U.S. president who ever held a patent, having been issued Patent #6,469 for \"A Device for Buoying Vessels Over Shoals\" on May 22, 1849. Beyond that, \"inventing\" has historically had nothing to do with the qualifications or success of candidates for the White House. Never had a 9 to 5 job. This criticism is too vaguely worded to allow for much cogent analysis. What does holding a \"9 to 5 job\" mean? That one literally works from 9 AM to 5 PM (and not some other period of the day)? That one holds full-time employment? That one is paid on an hourly basis? That one toils at what is commonly referred to as a \"blue-collar\" job? That one works for someone else rather than being self-employed? If we assume the most seemingly relevant application of the term\u2014that it refers to holding steady, full-time employment\u2014then one might fairly say it applies to Bernie Sanders. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Chicago in 1964, Sanders primarily worked a series of odd jobs while attempting to get his political career off the ground, and a Politico article observed that he \"didn't collect his first steady paycheck until he was an elected official pushing 40 years old.\" However, that same article did list a variety of jobs Sanders held (even if they weren't steady or didn't provide a livable wage) before he finally reached public office upon being elected mayor of Burlington, Vermont, at age 39\u2014working as an aide at a psychiatric hospital, as a Head Start preschool teacher, as a carpenter, and as a freelance writer for local publications. Sanders rented a small brick duplex at 295 1\/2 Maple Street that was filled with not much furniture and not much food in the fridge but stacks of checked-out library books and scribbled-on legal pads. \"Pretty sparse,\" Gene Bergman, an old friend, said about the apartment. \"Stark and dark,\" said Darcy Troville, a fellow Liberty Unionite who lived around the corner and shared with Sanders homemade jellies and jams. \"The electricity was turned off a lot,\" Barnett said. \"I remember him running an extension cord down to the basement. He couldn't pay his bills.\" He worked some as a carpenter, although \"he was a shitty carpenter,\" [Liberty Union party member John] Bloch told me. \"His carpentry,\" [Liberty Union member Danny] Morrisseau said, \"was not going to support him, and didn't.\" He worked as a freelance writer, putting intermittent pieces in the low-budget Vermont Freeman, a Burlington alternative weekly called the Vanguard Press, and a glossy, state-supported magazine called Vermont Life. His writing wasn't a living. The Vanguard paid as little as the rest. \"It would've been not more than 50 bucks,\" said Greg Guma, a former editor. Vermont Life? \"Our rate was 10 cents a word,\" said Brian Vachon, a former editor. \"He was always poor,\" Sandy Baird, another old friend, told me in Burlington. \"Virtually unemployed,\" said Nelson, the political science professor at the University of Vermont. \"Just one step above hand to mouth,\" said Terry Bouricius, who was involved with Liberty Union, served at times as a de facto campaign manager for Sanders, and at one point crashed for a couple of months on his couch. Liberty Union \"people found it difficult to support themselves while engaging in full-time political work,\" Michael Parenti, one of those people, wrote in the Massachusetts Review in the summer of 1975. \"Some held jobs that allowed free time for campaign activities, while others lived off unemployment insurance.\" \"His work was to be a politician,\" Guma said. \"He put everything into what he was doing.\" We would also note that by the standard used here, holding elective office (as Sanders has done for most of the last 35 years as a mayor, a U.S. representative, and a U.S. senator) is as much a \"9 to 5\" job as any other. Never proposed a bill that has passed. This statement is not literally true, as during his tenure in Congress Sanders has sponsored three bills that were enacted, two of which were rather slight matters involving the naming of USPS facilities, and one of which was the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2013 (which provided \"for an increase in the rates of compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation for the survivors of certain disabled veterans\"). Although that might seem like a slight achievement for someone who has spent 25 years as both a U.S. representative and a U.S. senator, we would note that only a scant handful of bills submitted in Congress (about 4 to 6 percent) are ever brought to a vote, and even fewer (about 2 to 4 percent) end up being enacted. We would also note that sponsoring original legislation is but one small part of Congress members' duties: they also co-sponsor legislation submitted by colleagues (which Sanders has done for more than 200 successful bills), muster support (or opposition) among colleagues and the public for proposed legislation, review and vote on proposed bills, serve on various committees (Sanders holds six Senate committee appointments), meet with constituents, and participate in oversight and investigation of governmental affairs. Lived off welfare before elected to public office. As noted above, various acquaintances who knew Sanders in the years before he achieved public office have reported that he was \"always poor,\" and he likely received public assistance at some point during that time, although what form of (and how much) assistance he received is difficult to determine at this remove. A contemporaneous newspaper account from the Bennington Banner reported that in 1974, when Sanders ran for the U.S. Senate on the Liberty Union Party ticket, he was collecting unemployment benefits: \"Sanders, 32, cares little what 'image' he conveys\u2014and that's part of his image of being a bit rumpled and unshorn. He's on unemployment compensation right now, having worked for the Bread & Law Task Force, as a freelance writer, and as a carpenter in the Burlington area. But the thing he likes best, and excels at, is 'talking the issues,' and he doesn't mind repeating himself sometimes.\" 74-year-old personal net worth of $300,000. As 247 Wall St. reported, determining the precise net worth of candidates is difficult for a number of reasons: net worth reporting exact values is not required. Instead, candidates may disclose their assets and income in a range. Further, candidates do not necessarily report all their assets. For instance, candidates do not need to disclose their personal real estate and property values. Jeb Bush opted to omit assets generated by several holding companies, for example. In addition, while some candidates choose to include their spouses in their disclosures, some do not. Carly Fiorina's net worth of $59 million, for example, includes that of her husband, Frank. Hillary Clinton's reported net worth, on the other hand, does not include assets jointly owned by her and former President Bill Clinton, who is worth by some estimates more than $50 million. 247 Wall St. attempted to determine each presidential candidate's net worth in an article published on August 24, 2015. They estimated that Sanders was one of the \"poorest presidential candidates\" running for office in 2016, with a likely net worth somewhere around $330,000: estimated Bernie Sanders' net worth: $194,026-$741,030. In 2013, Bernie Sanders had an average estimated net worth of $330,507, well below other prospective presidential nominees and among the lowest compared with other members of Congress. As of late 2019, Open Secrets, the website of the Center for Responsive Politics, estimated Sanders' net worth at between $729,000 and $1.8 million, making him neither the richest nor the poorest presidential hopeful in the 2020 field. In any case, the meme's characterization of Sanders as a \"loser\" based on his net worth evinces a rather skewed perspective. Although many people view financial rewards as a tangible measure of one's success, it is far from the only factor by which accomplishment can be measured. (In fact, highly regarded President Harry S. Truman had virtually no net worth even after leaving the White House in 1953 and afterwards was largely dependent upon Congress finally establishing a pension for former presidents.) Bernie Sanders might equally be considered a \"winner\" for persevering at his goal of achieving a political career long after others might have given up and for succeeding at that effort despite prolonged financial hardship. Unlike many others, Sanders might also be lauded for maintaining a rather plain life and not having enriched himself in public service (especially since candidates at the other end of the financial spectrum are frequently criticized for being \"out of touch with the common man\"). As 247 Wall St. wrote of Sanders: \"The Vermont senator, who is the longest-serving independent in U.S. history, is a self-identified socialist. He is seeking the Democratic nomination and is the most popular Democratic candidate after Hillary Clinton. In keeping with Sanders' stated intention of starting a grassroots movement, more than 90% of his campaign contributions have come from individual donors. Sanders' campaign speeches have drawn record numbers of attendants. Most recently, 19,000 people watched Sanders speak at an NBA arena in Portland, Oregon, the largest political event compared with all other candidates so far this election season.\" All in all, that sounds like quite an impressive career achievement for anyone\u2014regardless of net worth.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1rlr5_HQk2qPSLi-2MCk5UGSS_lVzgTZQ"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_853","claim":"Is Safyre Terry's Christmas Wish a Scam?","posted":"12\/09\/2015","sci_digest":["A request to send Christmas cards to 8-year-old Safyre Terry is not a scam."],"justification":"Christmas may be a time for giving, but it's also a time for scams. Internet swindlers attempt to take advantage of people's generosity during the holiday season with a variety of schemes. This is probablywhy some people looked at a request for Christmas cards for an 8-year-old burn victim named Safyre Terry with a skeptical eye. attempt schemes The request was originallyposted to Facebook by Kevin \"Snapshot\" Clark on 4 December 2015: posted Facebook users who were skeptical about Clark's request must have been a little extra wary when the account disappeared for a few hours on 8 December 2015. But this was not the result of any fraudulent activity:  result Last night Facebook shut my page down 6 hours... probably because of all the Safyre stuff (I was getting 50\/minute friend requests! )... anyways, I made a new page BUT now don't need it. Ignore it. Today after I nap from working all night I'm meeting Liz Terry-Dolder and Safyre after she gets outta school at her PO BOX so we can all check her mail TOGETHER! *AND A REPORTER \/PHOTOGRAPHER FROM THE SCHENECTADY GAZETTE WILL BE THERE TOO! PSYCHED!!! Liz Terry-Dolder The influx of activity on Clark's page was likely dueto Hulk Hogan's sudden involvement in the project. On 8 December 2015, the wrestler shared Clark's message with his loyal \"maniacs\": shared Alright maniacs let's make Safyre's Christmas Dream come true! All she wants is Christmas Cards from around the world, but a little extra Christmas magic wouldn't hurt!HH. The outpouring of support for Safyre Terry has been covered by multiple TV stations and news publications. And while a fundraising page has been set up to cover medical bills (anaspect that occasionally sets off the scam alert) this is a legitimate attempt to raise money for a young girl who suffered through a terrible ordeal. stations news publications fundraising On 2 May 2013, Terry survived a fire that killed her father and three siblings: survived Elizabeth Dolder never imagined Safyre Terry's stubborn ways might one day serve the girl well in her battle to stay alive. \"She was a stubborn child, but that stubbornness is helping her through this,\" Dolder said of her niece. \"She's going to get through this. I can't lose her, too.\" The 5-year-old girl, the only child to survive a ferocious house fire in Schenectady during the early morning hours of May 2 that claimed the lives of three of her siblings and her father, remains hospitalized in critical condition with severe burns to her tiny body. On 9 December 2015 Dodler, Terry's sole guardian, sent a thank you message out to all of the people who sent Christmas cards and donations: message BELIEVE BELIEVE BELIEVE She did. When she said she can't wait to fill up the card tree my response was I don't think it's gonna get filled up but I am sure we will get a few more cards. She BELIEVED and ALL of YOU are making it happen. THANK YOU.....FAITH LOVE HOPE TO ALL Subsequent reportsshowedhuge piles of letters and cards: When this all began Sa'fyre wanted 100 Christmas cards. This is her latest delivery. Are you sitting down? I'll wait...Posted by John Gray Fox23 on Monday, December 14, 2015On 15 December 2015, a nonprofit organization called Baking Memories 4 Kids, which uses funds from cookies they sell to send children with life-threatening conditions on free vacations with their families, surprised Safyre with a trip to Walt Disney World.[article-meta] When this all began Sa'fyre wanted 100 Christmas cards. This is her latest delivery. Are you sitting down? I'll wait... Posted by John Gray Fox23 on Monday, December 14, 2015 John Gray Fox23 Monday, December 14, 2015 On 15 December 2015, a nonprofit organization called Baking Memories 4 Kids, which uses funds from cookies they sell to send children with life-threatening conditions on free vacations with their families, surprised Safyre with a trip to Walt Disney World. organization surprised  [article-meta]","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1YXFskAEbPz_371NHBUESSxFqA3cdmWlp","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_854","claim":"Bin Laden Shooter Rob O'Neill Mistakenly Attacked by Street Thugs Seeking to Collect Debt from Neighbor","posted":"12\/16\/2014","sci_digest":["Did Bin Laden shooter Rob O'Neill fight off five gang members during an attempted home invasion robbery?"],"justification":" Claim:  Bin Laden shooter Rob O'Neill was targeted in a home invasion gone awry.  Example:  [Collected via e-mail, December 2014] \"Bin Laden Shooter Rob O'Neill Mistakenly Attacked By Street Thugs Seeking To Collect Debt From Neighbor\" Seems rather far-fetched - not many Crips in Butte, MT. Origins:  On 15 December 2014, Empire News published an article titled \"Bin Laden Shooter Rob O'Neill Mistakenly Attacked by Street Thugs Seeking to Collect Debt from Neighbor,\" claiming O'Neill, the Navy SEAL credited with firing the shots that killed Osama bin Laden, had been mistakenly targeted in a home invasion by street gang members. article According to the article, O'Neill made quick work of all five criminals: Butte Police Commissioner Bartholomew S. Harrington told members of the Associated Press in a brief press conference that the five men, part of a local street gang connected with the infamous Crips, were seeking to collect on a drug debt and invaded the wrong house, with the intended target just so happening to be the next door neighbor of O'Neill's. \"Mr. O'Neill had just turned in for the night, but was awoken by a loud crash when his backdoor was abruptly kicked in. As the five thugs ran aimlessly through the home, Mr. O'Neill used silent hand-to-hand combat tactics to individually disarm them of their weapons.  Once Mr. O'Neill had taken down the five men and secured his home, he brewed a pot of coffee and called the police station. Those boys sure did find the wrong house!\" commissioner Harrington said as he chuckled. The tale spread quickly across social media sites, but Empire News is one of many fake news sites responsible for the frequent hoodwinking of Facebook users. Among previous hoaxes unleashed by the site are a yarn about welfare recipients being given free cars, a claim that the state of Colorado has legalized meth, and a widely-shared story about a pending \"snowmageddon.\" free cars legalized meth snowmageddon The site's disclaimer  page notes Empire News \"is a satirical and entertainment website.\"  disclaimer   Last updated:  16 December 2014 ","issues":["debt"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=12tP0LQIte0ywwjtLBZFy8ltgYloiEoW1","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_855","claim":"Is the 'Nancy Pelosi Crime Family' meme true to the facts?","posted":"01\/29\/2019","sci_digest":["And where does the 'Pelosi Crime Family' fall on a scale of 'innocent' to 'Gambino'?"],"justification":"An image graphic supposedly documenting the various misdeeds of the \"Pelosi Crime Family\" \u2014 including perjury, securities fraud, and simply being rich \u2014 was circulated on social media in January 2019. We have examined each of the accusations leveled against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, her husband, her father, her brother, and her son individually and found them to be largely overstated, misrepresented, or based on unreliable information. \n\nWas Nancy Pelosi's father, Thomas D'Alesandro, Jr., a constant companion of Benjamin \"Benny Tratta\" Magliano? Status: UNPROVEN. The facts: This claim is a verbatim reproduction of the introductory paragraph of a June 2015 blog post published on the Typepad blog \"Bitterqueen\" by Phillip Crawford, Jr., the author of the 2015 book The Mafia and the Gay, which was reportedly based on FBI files obtained pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Crawford wrote that Peter Galiano, a boxer who was caught up in a draft-dodging scheme in the 1940s, told federal agents in 1947 that D'Alesandro was a \"constant companion\" of the Boston mobster. When the FBI examined these associations in 1961, however, before D'Alesandro received a presidential appointment to the Federal Renegotiation Board, Galiano stated that his comments were based on rumor and hearsay and that he couldn't recall where he had obtained that information. \n\nGaliano wasn't the only person to accuse D'Alesandro of having ties to the Boston mob, but those allegations were never officially corroborated, and they never resulted in any charges being brought against D'Alesandro. In fact, D'Alesandro was appointed to the Federal Renegotiation Board by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 despite an FBI investigation into those alleged associations. \n\nDoes Nancy Pelosi own Goat Hill Pizza, a restaurant suspected of harboring trafficking? Status: The Facts: Nancy Pelosi does not own a pizza parlor, and Goat Hill Pizza is not suspected of harboring child trafficking by any law enforcement agencies. This claim first started circulating in 2016 as part of a larger nonsensical and repeatedly debunked conspiracy theory known as \"Pizzagate,\" in which online trolls asserted that innocuous words such as \"pizza\" and \"cheese\" were actually code words referring to child sex trafficking. Although this conspiracy theory was largely focused on the Washington, D.C., pizza parlor \"Comet Ping Pong,\" Pelosi was also accused of running her own pedophilia ring back in San Francisco out of Goat Hill Pizza. \n\nWhy? Because a single document from 2004 listed \"Philip@GoatHill.com\" as the email address for Nancy Pelosi. While conspiracy theorists may contend that this tidbit of information is somehow proof that a high-profile politician was running a pedophilia ring out of the basement of a pizza parlor, a much more plausible (and far less sensational) explanation is evident: it was a filing error. Philip DeAndrade co-founded Goat Hill Pizza in the 1970s, but by 1987 he was working on Nancy Pelosi's staff. It's likely that DeAndrade accidentally put his own email address, instead of Pelosi's, into a form. Regardless, one spurious appearance of an email address can in no way be construed as proof that Pelosi owns a pizza parlor. Furthermore, the only persons who have suspected this pizza parlor of facilitating child trafficking are online conspiracy theorists and not genuine law enforcement agencies. \n\nDid Nancy Pelosi hold a secret fundraiser for Islamist and Hamas-linked groups? Status: The Facts: Despite the wording suggesting that Pelosi hosted a \"secret fundraiser\" for Islamist- and Hamas-linked groups, this claim refers to a fundraiser held for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. The Islamist and Hamas-linked groups portion of the claim is largely based on the fact that Nihad Awad, the co-founder of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), attended the fundraiser. A number of other Muslim groups were also reportedly in attendance at the fundraiser, along with Keith Ellison, the first Muslim to be elected to the U.S. Congress. \n\nThe Daily Caller was among the first to draw attention to Awad's attendance at this fundraiser: Democratic leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi headlined a high-dollar fundraiser in May that was attended by U.S.-based Islamist groups and individuals linked by the U.S. government to the Hamas jihad group and to the Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood movement. The donors at the undisclosed May 16 event included Nihad Awad, the co-founder of the Council on American Islamic Relations, according to data provided by the nonpartisan Investigative Project on Terrorism. \n\nWhile it's true that CAIR was named as an unindicted co-conspirator during the 2007 case of the Holy Land Foundation (HLF), an Islamic charity eventually convicted of funding Islamic militant groups, CAIR was not charged with any criminal activity in connection with that case. Furthermore, CAIR was one of nearly 250 organizations that were given the \"unindicted co-conspirator\" label during the HLF case. CAIR is an aggressive Muslim civil liberties organization, modeled on the Anti-Defamation League, that has made it a target for criticism. It was indeed named as an unindicted co-conspirator or joint venturer in the Holy Land Foundation case \u2014 an Islamic charity that in 2008 was convicted of funding Islamic militant groups. But CAIR was not alone in that designation; nearly 250 other organizations and individuals were also named. \n\nThe federal government said the organizations were included on the list in order to produce evidence at the trial, but the district court and a federal appeals court later ruled that it had been a mistake to make the list public. The New York Times also reported that \"unindicted co-conspirators\" on this list were not charged with any crimes. Technically, the prosecution can introduce statements made by any individual or organization named as an unindicted co-conspirator without such statements being dismissed as hearsay. Those on the list have not been charged with anything, but they are concerned that the label of unindicted co-conspirator will forever taint them, particularly if the Holy Land group is convicted, and that they will have no legal recourse. CAIR, of course, also denied having links to any terrorist organizations. \n\nSo Pelosi and other Democrats held a Democratic fundraiser in 2012 that was attended by a number of leaders from various Muslim groups. While some critics may label groups such as CAIR as \"Hamas-linked,\" that label is disputed. \n\nWas Nancy Pelosi's son, Paul Pelosi, Jr., charged with securities fraud? . The Facts: In July 2014, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced they were bringing fraud charges against four individuals involved with the company Natural Blue Resources Inc. Although Paul Pelosi, Jr. did work for that company, he was not one of the individuals charged with securities fraud by the SEC, who didn't even mention Pelosi Jr.'s name when they first announced the charges. \n\nThe Securities and Exchange Commission today announced fraud charges against four individuals and a microcap company for concealing from investors that two lawbreakers ran the company. According to the SEC's orders instituting administrative proceedings, the mission of Natural Blue Resources Inc. was to create, acquire, or otherwise invest in environmentally friendly companies, including an initiative to locate, purify, and sell water recovered from underground aquifers in New Mexico and other areas with depleting water resources. What investors didn't know was that two individuals with prior law violations \u2014 James E. Cohen and Joseph Corazzi \u2014 secretly controlled the operational and management decisions of Natural Blue while calling themselves outside consultants. This arrangement enabled them to be de facto officers of Natural Blue and personally profit from the company without disclosing their past brushes with the law to investors. Cohen, who lives in Windermere, Fla., was previously incarcerated for financial fraud. Corazzi, who resides in Albuquerque, N.M., was previously charged with violating federal securities laws and permanently barred from acting as an officer or director of a public company. The other two individuals charged in the case are Toney Anaya and Erik Perry, who were former chief executive officers at Natural Blue. The SEC's orders find that they misled investors by failing to disclose that Cohen and Corazzi were running the company in spite of their criminal or disciplinary histories. Subsequent SEC filings listed Paul Pelosi, Jr. as President and Board member of Natural Blue from August 24, 2009, to January 10, 2010. So while Nancy Pelosi's son was involved with a company that was charged with securities fraud years later, he was never personally charged with a crime. \n\nWas Nancy Pelosi's brother, Franklin D. Roosevelt D'Alesandro, charged with lying during a rape trial? Status: The Facts: Nancy Pelosi's brother, Franklin D. Roosevelt D'Alesandro, was charged with perjury during a rape trial in the 1950s. However, he was eventually acquitted of those charges. \n\nIn 1953, D'Alesandro and 13 other youths went on trial in Baltimore for \"moral charges\" involving two young girls, aged 11 and 14. D'Alesandro, who was 20 at the time and was charged with statutory rape, testified that he had never seen the victims before. Although he was eventually acquitted of the rape charges (he was the only defendant to be acquitted during the trials), he was later charged with perjury. The Denton Journal reported at the time that \"The perjury charge resulted from that trial. The state contended D'Alesandro lied in denying he had ever seen the girls before or had been in a car with three other youths who testified at their trials he was with them.\" Just as with the rape charges, however, D'Alesandro was eventually acquitted of the perjury charges: A jury of four women and eight men deliberated 6 hours and 16 minutes before acquitting Franklin Roosevelt D'Alesandro, 21-year-old son of Baltimore's mayor, of a perjury charge. The \"not guilty\" verdict, delivered in a loud voice by Mrs. Stella B. Hughes, jury foreman, to a tension-taught crowd in Wicomico County Circuit Court, ended a 5-day trial. Young D'Alesandro, calm and poised throughout the long hours of testimony and argument and seemingly endless wait on the verdict, was jubilant when he heard the decision. After receiving a kiss on the hand from his fianc\u00e9e and hugs and kisses from his crying mother, D'Alesandro planted a kiss on the cheek of Joseph Sherbow, former Baltimore Circuit Court judge, who headed the defense staff. It was Sherbow who successfully defended young D'Alesandro on a statutory rape charge in Baltimore last November when he was the only one of 16 defendants to be acquitted in a series of morals trials resulting from sex charges brought by two young girl cousins. \n\n\"In order to acquit this defendant,\" Asst. State's Atty. J Harold Grady said, \"You must be convinced these eight witnesses who appeared before you entered into a conspiracy and made up their story out of whole cloth.\" The defense countered that the only evidence of contraindications came from a \"parade of trash.\" Chief witness for the defense was Mary Ann Jankowski, a 20-year-old petite blonde fianc\u00e9e of the defendant. She testified that at the time of the alleged sex offenses last July, young D'Alesandro spent every evening with her and her parents. Although it's possible that D'Alesandro's political power had something to do with his acquittal (whether directly or indirectly), the fact of the matter is that he was found not guilty of any crimes. \n\nNancy Pelosi's husband Paul has a net worth of over $200 million? Status: UNPROVEN. The Facts: Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul is indeed a successful businessman and investor, but the claim that he has a net worth of $202 million (which has nothing to do with criminal activity) appears to be based on a misreading of a 2015 article published by the National Review. The conservative publication reported at the time that Pelosi (not specifically her husband) listed assets worth between $43.4 million and $202 million on her 2014 financial disclosure forms. \n\nThough financial-disclosure forms list only ranges of assets and liabilities, Pelosi listed between $42.4 million and $199.5 million in assets in 2013, which was enough for Bloomberg Business to deem her the richest member of House leadership from either party. By 2014, she and her husband, investment banker Paul Pelosi, were doing even better: She reported between $43.4 million and $202 million in assets. The \"Pelosi Crime Family\" meme refers to the highest possible figure within a very broad range and incorrectly refers to this number as Pelosi's net worth. However, the figure actually states the estimated value of Pelosi's assets and doesn't offset it with other financial aspects such as debt. The financial disclosures don't just show substantial assets \u2014 the Pelosis have gone into lots of debt, too. Pelosi and her husband are currently paying mortgages on seven properties, totaling between approximately $9.8 million and $46.5 million in 2014, likely accruing big tax savings in the process. The couple also opened home-equity lines of credit on four of these properties, adding between approximately $1.7 million and $6.5 million to their liabilities. A 2015 Politico article reported Pelosi's net worth at around $30 million.","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1yV-IPQJTzFOYiYqLpK6-zaoz6H6erpCP"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_856","claim":"Will Cars with Full Gas Tanks Explode on Hot Days?","posted":"07\/02\/2018","sci_digest":["A common rumor holds that a car bearing a full tank of gas on an exceptionally hot day may explode due to increased pressure and heat. This claim makes no sense."],"justification":"Since at least as far back as 2011, the Internet has been plagued by a viral warning about a danger to car owners, who supposedly create a significant risk of explosion by filling their vehicles' gas tanks to capacity during hot weather:  This premise sounds terrifying, but thankfully it makes zero scientific sense. This claim is complete hogwash for two clear and incontrovertible reasons. The first is that the temperature at which fuel auto-ignites (i.e. the temperature at which fuel will combust without a trigger or spark) is around 495F. This level is far higher than any temperature a covered, insulated tank could possibly achieve simply by being driven or parked on planet Earth. around 495F The second reason concerns the implication that pressure will dangerously build up in car's gas tank during hot weather, leading to higher temperatures within the tank and, somehow, an eventual spontaneous explosion. However, modern fuel tanks must have the ability to vent pressure. Since 1971, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has required that all internal combustion engine cars include evaporative emission control (or EVAP) systems. This mechanism collects excess fuel vented from a tank (to maintain even pressure) and, when conditions are correct, returns it to the tank. 1971 EVAP Prior to the adoption of these regulations, many gas tanks simply relied upon vented gas caps, leading to the occasional release of liquid gas onto the ground or the emission of volatile chemicals into the atmosphere. A significant build-up of pressure would still not occur in such older vehicles, however. vented gas caps When this rumor hit the Middle East in 2015, the local press were quick to debunk it: Middle East The new rumour last week was about the dangers of filling car tanks to the maximum capacity in summer months circulated widely on social media. As usual the rumour-monger[ing] attributed the information to an official body  Adnoc Distribution. The rumour mill on social media suggested that fully filled car tanks could cause fires or explosions in summer. Adnoc Distribution confirmed that it has not issued any warnings against filling car tanks to maximum capacity. Khalid Hadi, Vice-President, Marketing and Corporate Communications at Adnoc Distribution, said: We would like to point out that filling fuel tanks to full capacity does not imply any risks as all car fuel tanks are designed to withstand pressure build-up in high temperatures. Furthermore, Adnoc Distribution has not registered any such previous incident [of cars exploding]. The rumour attributed to us is based on unknown sources, and is therefore completely false, Hadi said. The 2018 version of this rumor (reproduced in a graphic at the head of this page) attributes the warning to Pakistan State Oil (PSO), who similarly took to social media to disclaim it: disclaim <!-- Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has announced that filling fuel tank to its full capacity poses no threat of any kind to the cars or its passengers.PSO made the statement after a Whatsapp message went viral over the past few days. The message falsely claimed that PSO had warned the public against filling fuel tanks to the full capacity in light of increasing temperatures.Auto igniting temperature of petrol is way above the highest temperatures during summers in Pakistan. Filling your fuel tank to its full capacity poses no threat of any kind neither to the car nor to its passengers and is deemed completely safe and beneficial to the running of the car.--> The bottom line: Because the temperature required to spark a spontaneous fire in a gas tank is unreasonably high, and because gas tanks by their nature vent excess pressure, we rank this claim as false. Charles, Craig.  \"Dont Fill Petrol Tank to the Limit or Risk Explosion? Debunked.\"\r  Thats Nonsense.  9 June 2016.  American Petroleum Institute.  \"Alcohols and Ethers: A Technical Assessment of Their Application as Fuels and Fuel Components.\"\r  1 June 2001.\r U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  \"Milestones in Auto Emissions Control (Fact Sheet OMS-12).\"\r  August 1994.  George, Patrick, E.  \"How Evaporative Emission Control Systems Work.\"\r  How Stuff Works.  2 July 2018. Kader, Binsal Abdul.  \"Filling Fuel Tanks to the Maximum Capacity Not Dangerous During Summer.\"\r  Gulf News.   23 May 2015.\r\r","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1JOaJlcoQmzQ25Yi7vWvgTGYL486501hV","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_857","claim":"Today, the gap between African American and white homeownership is larger than it was in the late 1960s.","posted":"06\/11\/2020","sci_digest":["The gap in the homeownership rate between Blacks and whites is around 30 percentage points., The Census Bureau does not have year-by-year homeownership data by race for the 1960s.","However, the gaps in 1960 and 1970 were narrower than they are now."],"justification":"Joe Biden does not support the call from racial justice activists to defund the police. In a USA Today op-ed, he proposed other policies for rooting out systemic racism in American laws and institutions, focusing on economic opportunities. Homeownership is key to financial stability and building generational wealth, Biden wrote, yet the share of African Americans who own their homes is significantly lower than that of whites. Today, the gap between African American and white homeownership is larger than it was in the late 1960s, Biden wrote in the June 10 op-ed. We have to give local officials the tools to combat gentrification, end discriminatory lending practices, and eliminate exclusionary zoning laws designed to keep low-income people and people of color out of certain communities. Is Biden right about the homeownership gap being larger now than in the late 1960s? His op-ed linked to an October 2019 report from the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan think tank. Researchers there told PolitiFact that Biden accurately referenced their findings, and their data aligned with the U.S. Census Bureau numbers, which also supported Biden's claim. The homeownership rate refers to the share of households living in owner-occupied homes, rather than renting. The Urban Institute stated that in 2017, the white homeownership rate was 71.9% compared with 41.8% for Blacks. (The gap was similar in 2019 and during the first quarter of 2020.) The Black homeownership rate in 2017 was at its lowest level in 50 years and also the lowest of all racial and ethnic groups, according to the Urban Institute. The racial homeownership gap between Black households and white households is more than 30 percentage points, which is greater than it was before the passage of the 1968 Fair Housing Act, the Urban Institute report said. It's difficult to say what the homeownership rate for Black and white Americans was in a given year in the 1960s because the Census Bureau does not have yearly data on homeownership by race for that decade. (That detailed data is available for the 1970s and later.) Still, the available data show the homeownership gap was lower in 1960 and 1970 than it is now. Homeownership rates by race, according to a 1994 Census Bureau report: 1960: white 64.4%, Black 38.4% (26-point gap); 1970: white 65.2%, Black 41.6% (23.6-point gap). The Urban Institute provided similar figures to PolitiFact for the 1960s and 1970s. The homeownership rates for non-Hispanic Blacks and non-Hispanic whites generally decreased from 2007 through 2016. Since then, the rate for whites has been ticking back up, while Blacks have experienced a mix of up and down years. Among the factors cited for the racial homeownership gap, according to the Urban Institute's report: Black Americans have lower median household income; Black households are less likely to have a bachelor's degree or higher education level, limiting income potential; white households tend to have higher credit scores and longer credit histories; marital status has a strong association with homeownership rates, and residents of Black households are less likely to get married. The racial gap in homeownership is also rooted in federal housing policies created in the 20th century in response to the Great Depression, which explicitly discriminated against African American, Latino, and other families of color by denying them access to federally insured mortgage programs because of their race, Nikitra Bailey, executive vice president of the Center for Responsible Lending, told a House committee in May 2019. The recession of 2008-10 also wiped out 30 years of homeownership gains for African Americans, Bailey said. Evidence shows that a large number of borrowers of color were targeted and steered into toxic mortgages, even when they qualified for safer and more responsible loans with cheaper costs. Biden said, \"Today, the gap between African American and white homeownership is larger than it was in the late 1960s.\" This claim is supported by research from the Urban Institute and data from the Census Bureau. We rate Biden's statement True.","issues":["Housing","Race and Ethnicity","Wealth"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_858","claim":"The FDA Classified Walnuts as Drugs?","posted":"03\/24\/2016","sci_digest":["The Food and Drug Administration hasn't decided walnuts are drugs  just that companies can't make specific, unauthorized health claims about them."],"justification":"Sometimes, the circulation of misinformation revives interest in separate, similar, but still inaccurate claims. Thisappeared to be the case with a March 2016 internet rumor alleging that the Food and Drug Administration classified walnuts as drugs. In February and March 2016, the FDA was already the subject of rumors that the agency \"outlawed\"cannabidiol (CBD) oils. Almost immediately, rumors began to surfaceon social media that walnuts had also recently fallen prey to preposterous reclassification by the FDA. outlawed While the rumors weren't new, interest in whether walnuts were drugs spiked in March 2016. Many social media users linked to a RealFarmacy itemfrom2013. On 23 March 2016, the Facebook page \"Living Traditionally\" sharedthe 2013 article as if its claims were new: item shared    The 2013 article claimed thatFDA sent letters to walnut distributor Diamond Foods deeming that their \"walnut products [were] drugs\": Seen any walnuts in your medicine cabinet lately? According to the Food and Drug Administration, that is precisely where you should find them. Because Diamond Foods made truthful claims about the health benefits of consuming walnuts that the FDA didnt approve, it sent the company a letter declaring, Your walnut products are drugs  and new drugs at that  and, therefore, they may not legally be marketed  in the United States without an approved new drug application. The agency even threatened Diamond with seizure if it failed to comply. RealFarmacy alsoclaimedthat manufacturers' First Amendment rights were being infringed by the FDA's regulation of unsubstantiated health claims: Of course, if the Constitution were being followed as intended, none of this would be necessary. The FDA would not exist; but if it did, as a creation of Congress it would have no power to censor any speech whatsoever. If companies are making false claims about their products, the market will quickly punish them for it, and genuine fraud can be handled through the courts. In the absence of a government agency supposedly guaranteeing the safety of their food and drugs and the truthfulness of producers claims, consumers would become more discerning, as indeed they already are becoming despite the FDAs attempts to prevent the dissemination of scientific research. Besides, as [another blog]observed, If anyone still thinks that federal agencies like the FDA protect the public, this proclamation that healthy foods are illegal drugs exposes the governments sordid charade. The site linked to a letter publicly shared on the FDA's website, which wasalready several years old by the time the 2013 article was published,and whichplainly indicated that itsaction was due to health claimsmadeabout walnuts in labeling and marketing: letter The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reviewed the label for your \"Diamond of California Shelled Walnuts\" products and your website at www.diamondnuts.com. Based on our review, we have concluded that your walnut products are in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the Act) and the applicable regulations in Title 21, Code of Federal Regulations (21 CFR) ... Based on claims made on your firm's website, we have determined that your walnut products are promoted for conditions that cause them to be drugs because these products are intended for use in the prevention, mitigation, and treatment of disease. The following are examples of the claims made on your firm's website under the heading of a web page stating \"OMEGA-3s ... Every time you munch a few walnuts, you're doing your body a big favor.\": \"Studies indicate that the omega-3 fatty acids found in walnuts may help lower cholesterol; protect against heart disease, stroke and some cancers; ease arthritis and other inflammatory diseases; and even fight depression and other mental illnesses.\" \"[I]n treating major depression, for example, omega-3s seem to work by making it easier for brain cell receptors to process mood-related signals from neighboring neurons.\" No part of the letter said (or even implied)that walnuts had been subjected to a sweeping reclassificationasdrugs, and inthe ensuing six years, no one was arrested for or charged with possession of walnuts with intent to distribute. Additionally,the FDA didn't ban, regulate, or demand withdrawal of Diamond Foods' walnuts, or any other, from the market, but did go after the company for unauthorizedhealth claims: The back of your product label also bears the following statement: \"The omega-3 in walnuts can help you get the proper balance of fatty acids your body needs for promoting and maintaining heart health. In fact, according to the Food and Drug Administration, supportive but not conclusive research shows that eating 1.5 oz of walnuts per day, as part of a low saturated fat and low cholesterol diet, and not resulting in increased caloric intake, may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. Please refer to nutrition information for fat content and other details about the nutritional profile of walnuts.\" Although FDA exercises enforcement discretion over the last two sentences of this statement, which meet the criteria for a qualified health claim for walnuts and coronary heart disease, the last two sentences read in conjunction with the first sentence makes the entire statement an unauthorized health claim. The statement suggests that the evidence supporting a relationship between walnuts and coronary heart disease is related to the omega-3 fatty acid content of walnuts. There is not sufficient evidence to identify a biologically active substance in walnuts that reduces the risk of CHD. Therefore, the above statement is an unauthorized health claim. This letter is not intended to be an inclusive review of your products and their labeling. It is your responsibility to ensure that all of your products comply with the Act and its implementing regulations. As with claims that CBD oils wereoutlawed, blogs and Facebook pages spreading rumors that walnuts had been reclassified as drugs either didn't read or misrepresented the FDA's warning letters. In both instances, manufacturers were warned about use of marketing and labeling language that warranted classification of the products in question as drugs, primarily pertaining to suggestion that the substances or foods were \"intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or preventanycondition.\" Thewarnings werespecifically due an \"unauthorized health claim,\" and products that arenot classified as drugs by the FDA are not legally allowed tomake such claims. However, the letters in no way indicated that walnuts had been classified as drugs. Prior dubious itemsfromRealFarmacyincludedclaims that science disproved a link between sun exposure and skin cancer, and another baselessly accusing unspecifiedpro-GMObioterrorists of sabotaging Chipotle's productsupply with foodborne pathogens. skin cancer bioterrorists ","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=14vscqvwxeCxAFmrwv_HpILe2tyw03Cm8","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_859","claim":"Is the White House Gift Shop Selling a 'Trump Defeats COVID-19' Coin?","posted":"10\/06\/2020","sci_digest":["Question is whether the coin comes from an official government gift shop. "],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease.  fighting Find out Read Submit Become a Founding Member CDC WHO In October 2020, shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19, a rumor started circulating on social media that the White House gift shop was selling a \"Trump Defeats COVID-19\" commemorative coin:   WhiteHouseGiftShop.com is selling a \"Trump Defeats COVID-19\" commemorative coin. However, this website is not the official gift shop of the White House, the government does not dictate what this business sells, and the Trump administration does not make a profit from its sales.  WhiteHouseGiftShop.com This isn't the first time this misleadingly named gift shop has caused confusion online. In April 2020, a similar rumor went viral after social media users claimed that the United States government was selling \"Coronavirus Task Force\" coins at its gift shop. Again, while the coins were real, the website selling them was not officially affiliated with the government. The website's owner, Anthony Giannini, told us at the time that the White House Gift Shop \"is not affiliated with The White House, nor is The White House involved in any of our decisions, products, or operations.\" While this website does not have any current ties to the government, it does have a long (and somewhat convoluted) history that can reportedly be traced back to the 1950s when U.S. President Truman set up a gift shop in the basement of the White House: While it traces its history to a 1950 authorization by President Harry Truman, the headquarters of the White House Gift Shop has been in Lititz since 2012. Its operated by Lititz (Pennsylvania) resident Anthony Giannini with his wife, Helen. Its very weird and very cool, Giannini says of the shops curious history and its current location. After a failed assassination attempt of Truman in 1950 left one member of White House Police dead, Truman authorized a fund to benefit the family of the slain officer and the others who were injured in the attack by two Puerto Rican nationalists. When the White House Police became the Secret Service, the Truman-authorized fund became the Secret Service Uniformed Division Benefit Fund. The fund was replenished from the sale of items from a gift shop originally set up in the basement of the White House but eventually relocated to the nearby executive mansion. While Giannini was granted a trademark to use the name \"White House Gift Shop,\" this business has not been officially affiliated with the government since at least 2012.  Umble, Chad.  \"From 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. to Warwick Center: How the White House Gift Shop wound up in Lititz.\"\r  Lancaster Online.  27 May 2019.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1pbRET5D6uoh_9VLAyAZi4gVCGTbxFxU1","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_860","claim":"Mysterious flying craft spotted as SpaceX rocket detonated?","posted":"09\/07\/2016","sci_digest":["Video capturing the explosion of SpaceXs Falcon-9 rocket during a test fire seems to show an unidentified flying object pass above the rocket just beforehand."],"justification":"On the morning of 1 September 2016 a SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket carrying an Israeli satellite called Amos-6 exploded three minutes prior to a scheduled static fire test. SpaceX confirmed the event, stating that an anomaly had occurred in the upper stage of the oxygen tank as they were loading propellant into the rocket. The cause is still under review. anomaly Also lost during the explosion was the rockets payload: the Amos-6 satellite, which was built by Israel Aerospace Industries (an aerospace and defense contractor) and operated by the telecommunications company Spacecom. According to Spacecoms web site, the new satellite would provide expanded coverage and redundancy in case of other existing satellite malfunction: expanded coverage and redundancy AMOS-6 strengthens 4W orbital location with wider coverage and new services. AMOS-6 high power and large amount of Ku-band transponders offer Spacecoms existing and new customers a reliable growth-engine for their business. AMOS-6 enhances Spacecoms existing service offering by supporting a full range of services, including Direct-To-Home (DTH), video distribution, VSAT communications and broadband Internet. Facebook had also leased some of the communication equipment on this satellite to support their effort to provide free internet access to large swaths of Africa. After this loss of the satellite, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted a statement: posted a statement As I'm here in Africa, I'm deeply disappointed to hear that SpaceX's launch failure destroyed our satellite that would have provided connectivity to so many entrepreneurs and everyone else across the continent. Fortunately, we have developed other technologies like Aquila that will connect people as well. We remain committed to our mission of connecting everyone, and we will keep working until everyone has the opportunities this satellite would have provided. The most widely shared video of the explosion comes from USLaunchReport.com (an NGO that produces video reports of all things space\"). This video appears to show a rapidly moving object cross above the rocket right before it explodes: USLaunchReport.com https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_BgJEXQkjNQThe video does show an object that enters from the right of the screen and passes in a fairly straight line above the rocket (at least from the camera angle) as it explodes. This has led to accusations from some corners of the internet that someone or something of intentionally bringing the rocket down. The video Reddit, Sptember 2016Early this morning there was a test-fire for Elon Musk's Falcon-9 rocket, which is standard procedure before any launch (static fire test). They reported an anomalous explosion originating near the second stage oxygen tank. From footage posted by USLaunchReport.Com, (a non profit that brings Veterans to rocket launches  I don't question the footage on that note) there is a clearly identifiable-unidentifiable that passes by at incredible rate of speed as the explosion occurs. It destroyed the launch vehicle & the payload. Hypothesis: The AMOS-6 was destroyed by the passing UFO. (I know this is hard to accept for some, but others who are aware of certain things going on right now will appreciate this.) Some culprits discussed on the original Reddit thread include: aliens, a private aerospace competitor to SpaceX, a government worried about an Israeli spy satellite\/weapons system, and\/or Facebooks world domination plans. These claims have been amplified by the conspiracy focused website Neon Nettle and others. Reddit thread Neon Nettle What complicates this evidence is that there are a number of other objects, generally reported as birds or bugs, that make similar appearances before (and after) the explosion with far less fanfare. To successfully argue something scandalous, one has to prove that the object cant be a bird or a bug. Those in favor of an intentional sabotage conspiracy point to three arguments: Unfortunately, the fact that a massive telephoto lens captured the video adds to the challenge, if not outright impossibility of accurately assessing any of these questions scientifically. This camera, based on the time it took the noise of the explosion to reach it (~12 seconds) is easily over two miles away from the pad (assuming sound traveling at 0.2 miles per second). The further the zoom, the more of an effect the lens will have on an object's perceived distance and size. An object closer to the camera, additionally, would be required to travel at a much slower speed to make it from one side of the frame to the other compared to something two miles away. more of an effect Moreover, YouTube videos such as the uslaunchreport.com video are subjected to lossy compression, an effect resulting in loss of information as well as the introduction of potential artifacts. Per the FBIs Recommendations and Guidelines for the Use of Digital Image Processing in the Criminal Justice System: lossy compression Recommendations and Guidelines for the Use of Digital Image Processing in the Criminal Justice System Lossy compression achieves greater reduction in file size by removing both redundant and irrelevant information. Because the irrelevant information (as determined by the compression algorithm) cannot be replaced upon reconstruction of an image for display, lossy compression results in some loss of image content as well as the introduction of artifacts. This effect is minimal when you are not zooming in; but it becomes a bigger issue when you try to get a level of detail that has already been removed by a compression algorithm. compression algorithm An image treated in this way has been making the rounds as evidence that this object was clearly behind the left-most tower on the launch pad (these towers are used to protect the rocket from lightning strikes): image treated in this way Without more information, it is impossible to know what these pixels are telling us. If the object is in the foreground (and not in the background, as conspiracy theorists suggest) then the issues of the object's apparent larger-than-bird size and faster-than-bug speed can easily be attributed to that fact. The other argument in favor of the object being both distant and fast moving also comes from questionable handling of compressed images. According to some believers, there is a reflected glow off of the object when it passes over the explosion. These images, which also purport to show that the object doesnt look bird- or bug-like, have been enhanced, by methods that are not plainly documented: These images It is unclear what processes, outside of inverting the colors, went into the creation of these images; but zooming in on the object in each frame without any enhancement does not appear to reveal much about reflected light or shape: https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Screen-Shot-2016-09-07-at-11.32.48-AM.pngA final flaw in the alien\/government\/evil corporation argument is that it does not explain how an object traveling above the rocket (without making any physical contact) would cause its explosion, nor does it touch on why this novel method might have been employed. Do we know for sure what this object is? No. But the prevalence of similar harmless objects prior to the explosion, the fact that the evidence is based on wishfully enhanced screengrabs of downsampled video, and the fact that rockets are super explosive on their own, make an outside agent low on the list of possible explanations. Updated [30 September 2017]: Added information about other websites sharing similar claims. ","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=10ze0O7eurF39oVpl2SoX2z3Gvohk65-v"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1P8G6q6sWp7XGXymzaQheAPj-lXA1Ak1b"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_861","claim":"brief sale","posted":"02\/07\/2013","sci_digest":["Account describes women manipulating the short sales of properties?"],"justification":"Claim: Account describes women manipulating the short sales of properties. Example: [Collected via e-mail, January 2013] Recently, our good friend Michael (a local realtor) shared his experience with Leisa and me about an \"Obama supporter\" he encountered while showing homes to a low-income working family in Pontiac, MI. We asked him to please write it down so we could share it with you. As a realtor for the past 28 years, I thought I had seen or heard it all\u2014until now. I was showing homes in Pontiac, MI, one afternoon recently and arrived at a home at the 4:00 PM time my appointment was scheduled for. After I woke up the homeowner, she let us in and then proceeded to tell my buyers and me that she had already entered into a contract to sell the home as a short sale. (A short sale is a sale where the bank accepts less money than is owed on the home.) After some chit-chat, she told us that she and her sister (who also lived in the area) were buying each other's homes through the short-sale process. I mentioned to her that I thought relatives could not be involved in those transactions. She smiled and said, \"We have two different last names, so no one knows the difference.\" She went on to tell us that each of them owed over $100,000 on their homes and were in the process of buying each other's homes for about $10,000 to $15,000 cash. To top it off, they were each receiving $3,000 in government-provided relocation assistance at the closing. My buyers and I were amazed that she was outright admitting to fraud, and yet she continued. She began to tell us that the best part of her scheme was that because they were currently not working, they were both receiving Section 8 vouchers. I said I thought those were for renters, and she replied, \"That's the best part; my sister and I are going to be renting each other's homes, so we don't even have to move, and Obama is going to give us each $800 a month to pay the rent!\" She then picked up a picture she had framed of Obama and did a little happy dance around her living room, kissing the picture while singing, \"Thank you, Obama... thank you, Obama.\" So here is the bottom line: Both of these scammers got at least $80,000 in debt forgiven, $3,000 in cash for relocation (when in fact they did not relocate), and to boot, you and I will now be paying (through our taxes) $1,600 in rent for each of them each and every month... perhaps forever! I also would not be at all surprised if they are receiving food stamps and whatever other programs are available for anyone willing to lie to get assistance. These women went from working and paying about $900 each in mortgage payments to staying home and getting paid $800 each per month to live in the same home they had been living in, and all they had to do was lie on a few papers. This craziness has to stop! I'm sure this kind of fraud is going on each and every day all across the country, and no one wants to touch the subject of entitlements because they might offend someone or lose a vote or two. By the way, she had an almost new SUV in the driveway, three flat-screen TVs, and a very nice computer set up in her living room, which was furnished entirely with nice leather furniture. 'TIS THE NEW 'AMERICAN WAY' Origins: The terms \"underwater\" and \"short sale\" in reference to home mortgages have entered common parlance in recent years due to a severe downturn in the housing market. The first refers to a mortgage that is greater than the property's current market value: If a home buyer owes $600,000 on a property that he originally bought for $900,000 but that is now valued at only $300,000, his property is described as being underwater. The second refers to a process that has been used by some borrowers to keep afloat financially by shedding their underwater properties. When a property owner holds an underwater mortgage and can no longer make his mortgage payments, one remedy is for the lienholder to agree to a short sale: that is, to allow the owner to sell the property for less than the amount still owed on the loan. A short sale leaves the lender taking a loss, but it is often preferable to the alternative of the lender having to foreclose on the property and resell it themselves (with no guarantee the resale would bring in any more money than the short sale did). The unpaid balance still owed to a lienholder by the property owner after a short sale is known as a \"deficiency.\" If the owner with the aforementioned $600,000 mortgage short sells his home for $250,000, he has incurred a $350,000 deficiency. A short sale may or may not relieve the borrower of the obligation to repay that deficiency: whether it does depends on the agreement made between the lienholder and the property owner prior to the short sale. (The amount of a deficiency is considered by the IRS to be a benefit that is taxable as income, but the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 currently allows taxpayers to exclude income from a discharge of debt on their principal residence.) The January 2013 item reproduced above purportedly tells of two women who are supposedly gaming the system by agreeing to buy each other's homes at short sales (in contravention of the rules), then collecting a monthly housing assistance stipend for being renters in the homes they formerly owned. The item contains no verifiable details such as names, dates, or addresses (only the mention of a city or state, which changes from version to version), but the scenario described would require a number of implausibilities to all be true: A woman who was engaging in a scheme to defraud multiple lienholders and government programs would openly admit to that scheme and describe it in detail to a stranger. The buyers and sellers involved in short sales are required to provide full financial disclosures and are subject to asset checks, making it highly unlikely that this cross-buying scheme could work. A lienholder would almost certainly refuse to proceed with a short sale by an owner who had just bought another property or to agree to a short sale home purchase by a buyer who herself currently had a property in short sale. The $3,000 in relocation assistance provided to those who short sell their homes under the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program also requires financial disclosure and is not available to those who have purchased a house within the last 12 months, so neither sister would qualify. HAFA Section 8 assistance offered under the Housing Choice Voucher Program (which provides payment of rental housing assistance to private landlords on behalf of low-income renters) is income- and asset-based. Someone who not only owned her own residential property but was also functioning as a Section 8 landlord could not possibly qualify for Section 8 housing assistance. Moreover, in many areas, the waiting list for renters seeking to obtain Section 8 funds is years long. Also, little of what is referenced here has any direct connection to President Obama. Although the HAFA program, which provides $3,000 in relocation assistance, was introduced by the Treasury Department under the Obama administration in 2009, the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act (which exempts deficiencies in short sales from being considered taxable income) was passed in 2007 during the administration of George W. Bush, and Section 8 housing assistance was established under the Housing Act of 1937, passed during the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Last updated: 7 February 2013","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_862","claim":"Is This President Trump With a Controversial Russian Lawyer?","posted":"07\/17\/2017","sci_digest":["A photograph of the president posing with a brunette woman doesn't depict Kremlin-linked attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya."],"justification":"In the wake of revelations that President Donald Trump's son had met with a Kremlin-linked lawyer during the 2016 presidential election, a photograph purporting to show the President with his arm around that same lawyer spread widely on Facebook in July 2017.  The woman in the photograph and Natalia Veselnitskaya share Russian nationality and some physical features (long brown hair and petite builds) but are two different individuals.   entrepreneur Instagram Congratulations, @realDonaldTrump @potus!We are ready and hope to build constructive and positive relationships between our counties! pic.twitter.com\/pchk038h7h @realDonaldTrump @potus pic.twitter.com\/pchk038h7h  Alferova Yulya (@AlferovaYulyaE) January 21, 2017 January 21, 2017 Alferova, who earned brief Internet notoriety in 2015 after posting a picture of her cat eating caviar, met Trump in November 2013 when he held his Miss Universe beauty pageant in Moscow. She wrote that the image was taken exactly three years prior to Trump's election win, on 9 November 2013, joking in Russian, \"Coincidence? I do not think so.\" caviar Alferova was described in a 20 January 2017 Daily Beast story as an avid Trump admirer who read his books and emulated his famed career as a real estate mogul and celebrity. At one point she worked for the Crocus Group, a real estate firm owned by Trump's friends, the father-and-son team Aras and Emin Agalarov. The Daily Beast reported: story owned In 2013, Trumps longtime friends and interlocutors on business matters in Russia, the billionaire Aras Agalarov and his son Emin, the president and vice president of the Crocus Group real-estate company, asked the then-26-year-old Alferova, a quick-thinking Moscow entrepreneur, to help organize Trumps Miss Universe contest. If three years ago Alferovas job was to make sure that beautiful images of the event appeared on social media, today, as Trump is inaugurated as the next president of the United States, Alferova sees her mission as advocating for him... Trump had long been Alferovas business idol. She read his books, his life story, and modeled herself after him, working in commercial real estate for Crocus Group, developing social-media pages for Russian governors and regional officials, organizing federal and regional events. That day in November, Trump teamed up with Alferova, as if they were old friends. We talked as if we were equals, and I felt certain we were very much alike, she said. Trump invited her to have lunch togetherAlferova pulled up one more picture to demonstrate that there were just a few men and her waiting for lunch at the Crocus restaurant that day. When she mentioned she was interested in the real-estate business, Trump pulled out his business card and encouraged her to call him when she was in New York. Regardless of whether you think Alferova and Veselnitskaya look alike, they do share a connection -- a representative of Emin Agalarov, Alferova's former boss, was present was at the now-infamous 9 June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower in New York City between Donald Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., and Veselnitskaya, along with former campaign manager Paul Manafort and son-in-law Jared Kushner. between The meeting was arranged by Rob Goldstone, a former British tabloid writer-turned-publicist for Emin Agalarov (who is also a pop singer and featured the current U.S. president in a 2013 music video). Goldstone told Trump Jr. that the Russian government wanted to help his father win the election and that Veselnitskaya would provide deleterious information about Trump's opponent, Hillary Clinton. Trump Jr. has said no useful information was provided.  music video told government has said The revelation about the meeting occurred amid an FBI investigation into whether members of the president's campaign colluded with the Russian government's meddling in the 2016 election. investigation Li, David K.\"This Russian Cat Eats Caviar While You Dont.\"\rNew York Post.12 March 2015. Nemtsova, Anna. \"She Met Donald Trump at the Moscow Ritz (Not That Way!)\"\rThe Daily Beast.20 January 2017. Twohey, Megan, and Eder, Steve.\"How a Pageant Led to a Trump Sons Meeting With a Russian Lawyer.\"\rThe New York Times.10 July 2017. Crowley, Michael.\"When Donald Trump Brought Miss Universe to Moscow.\"\rPolitico.15 May 2016. Ruiz, Rebecca R., and Landler, Mark.\"Robert Mueller, Former F.B.I. Director, Is Named Special Counsel for Russia Investigation.\"\rThe New York Times.17 May 2017.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=116ooUCA3Buxq5men0veS5OA-SUqsuP60","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_863","claim":"Is Biden in favor of the Green New Deal?","posted":"10\/01\/2020","sci_digest":["Presidential hopeful Joe Biden's position on climate change became a hot topic on the first night of the presidential debates in the fall of 2020."],"justification":"Voting in the 2020 U.S. Election may be over, but misinformation continues to spread. Never stop fact-checking. Follow our post-election coverage here. During the first 2020 U.S. presidential debate held in Cleveland on Sept. 29, Democratic nominee Joe Biden stated that he does not support the Green New Deal, a resolution introduced in Congress by members of his own party proposing strategies for addressing climate change. Instead, he backs the Biden Plan for doing so, which is outlined on his campaign website. Biden's disavowal came in response to an attempt by his opponent, U.S. President Donald Trump, to link him to the Green New Deal, claiming it would cost $100 trillion if implemented. Biden's responses (which begin one hour and 20 minutes into the video clip) were as follows: \"That is not my plan. The Green New Deal is not my plan. The Green New Deal will pay for itself as we move forward. We're not going to build plants that are, in fact, great polluting plants. No, I don't support the Green New Deal. I support the Biden Plan that I put forward. The Biden Plan is different from what [Trump] calls the radical Green New Deal.\" These statements sparked criticism from Republicans like Omar Navarro, who ran three unsuccessful bids for California's 43rd Congressional District in 2016, 2018, and again in 2020. On Sept. 30, Navarro shared a screenshot from Biden's website that described the Green New Deal as a crucial framework for meeting climate challenges. The language in the tweeted screenshot was indeed found on Biden's website as of Sept. 30, but it was taken out of context and does not reflect the differences between the Biden Plan and the Green New Deal, which we will discuss below. The Green New Deal resolution was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Feb. 7, 2019, in response to Trump's 2017 announcement that the United States would withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change. The 14-page proposal sets forth a number of policies aimed at lowering greenhouse gas emissions produced by American companies, creating high-wage jobs for Americans, and establishing an overall framework for environmental justice and resilience against climate change-related disasters. It is important to note that the Green New Deal is nonbinding, and if it were to pass, nothing outlined within its pages would become law. Biden made climate change a cornerstone of his 2020 bid for the presidency, criticizing Trump's handling of environmental affairs. It is true that the Biden Plan includes elements of the Green New Deal and is similar in that both plans agree that the U.S. needs to act urgently to meet the scope of the climate change challenge, and that the environment and the economy are completely interconnected. The Biden Plan addresses many of the issues outlined in the Green New Deal, with the addition of specific actions that a Biden administration would take if he were elected in November 2020. We examined both proposals to understand the nuances between them, where they differ, and where they are similar. Generally speaking, both policies establish a similar framework but differ in the specifics of how policymakers should enforce and achieve defined goals. For example, both plans highlight the importance of clean, safe drinking water and community-driven projects that promote social and environmental justice in areas disproportionately impacted by the effects of climate change. The greatest difference between the Biden Plan and the Green New Deal lies in their stances on the Paris Agreement, an international agreement established in 2015 with the central aim of coordinating and strengthening the global response to climate change and keeping the global temperature rise this century below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Whereas the Biden Plan promises a recommitment to the Paris Agreement, the Green New Deal does not mention it at all. When it comes to clean energy, the Green New Deal and the Biden Plan are similar in that they aim to achieve 100% clean energy and net-zero emissions, but the former sets forth a 10-year mobilization deadline, whereas the Biden Plan sets a goal of no later than 2050. Both plans establish priorities for investment in clean energy innovation and research; however, the Biden Plan is much vaguer. The Green New Deal goes into greater detail, specifying that those investments should include infrastructure and industry, sustainable farming and land-use practices, zero-emission vehicle infrastructure, manufacturing public transit, removing greenhouse gas emissions from manufacturing and industry, and the research and development of new clean and renewable energy technologies. Other key areas of overlap between the two plans include creating resilience across the nation and committing to international policy and trade that employ strong labor and environmental protections. According to his website, the Biden Plan will be funded by rolling back Trump tax incentives and will require a federal investment of $1.7 trillion over the next decade, leveraging additional private sector and state and local investments to total more than $5 trillion. This estimated cost is significantly lower than the $100 trillion bill that Trump claimed the U.S. would incur during the debate. However, serious disagreement exists over how much the implementation of the Green New Deal might actually cost. After its 2019 introduction by U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Republican leaders and some media publications cited research by the right-wing think tank American Action Forum that speculated the Green New Deal could cost up to $93 trillion, or an estimated $600,000 per household, in its first 10 years. But a number of financial experts have countered that research, suggesting that it is more likely that the Green New Deal would cost significantly less, with some estimates being half as much. In fact, a September 2020 study published in the journal Energy Research & Social Science suggested a total overall cost of just over $16 trillion over 15 years. Though both the Biden Plan and the Green New Deal provide similar general frameworks for moving towards a cleaner economy and combating the effects of climate change at a national level, subtle differences exist between the two. Although Biden stated outright that he does not support the Green New Deal, it is apparent from his own policy statements that he supports elements of it that have been incorporated into his own plan.","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1owkPJcvzW9Bh0W2pYd251DEmD4nJ-Sac"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_864","claim":"Did a Doctor in Italy Warn Coronavirus Wasn't Just a 'Bad Flu'?","posted":"03\/11\/2020","sci_digest":["Physician: \"The situation is now nothing short of dramatic. No other words come to mind.\""],"justification":"In March 2020, as the coronavirus continued to spread around the globe, a viral message circulated on social media that was supposedly written by a doctor in Italy about how the new virus had impacted hospitals in the country. Silvia Stringhini, an epidemiologist, shared a translated version of this post on Twitter. A screenshot of Stringhini's first few tweets appear below. The full thread can be viewed here: shared here   Stringhini's viral tweets are a translated version of a real Italian-language Facebook post from Dr. Daniele Macchini, an intensive care unit physician at the Humanitas Gavazzeni hospital in Bergamo.  post Humanitas Gavazzeni A screenshot of a portion of Macchini's post appears below. The full post can be viewed here, and a translated version appears in full at the bottom of this article: viewed   Macchini explained that hospitals in Italy were overwhelmed with new cases, urged people to stop downplaying the disease as just a \"bad flu,\" and asked those who were \"unafraid\" of the disease to consider how it will impact older populations. Macchini also complimented the cooperative efforts of medical professionals at the hospital, writing that there were \"no more surgeons, urologists, orthopedists,\" just doctors who \"suddenly become part of a single team to face this tsunami that has overwhelmed us.\" Here's Macchini's message in full (translated via Google): In one of the constant emails that I receive from my health department on a more than daily basis now these days, there was also a paragraph entitled \"doing social responsibly\", with some recommendations that can only be supported. After thinking for a long time if and what to write about what is happening to us, I felt that the silence was not at all responsible. I will therefore try to convey to people \"not involved in the work\" and further away from our reality, what we are experiencing in Bergamo during these pandemic days from Covid-19. I understand the need not to create panic, but when the message of the danger of what is happening does not reach people and I still feel who cares about the recommendations and people who gather together complaining about not being able to go to the gym or to be able to do soccer tournaments I shudder. I also understand the economic damage and I am also worried about that. After the epidemic, the tragedy will start again. However, apart from the fact that we are literally also devastating our NHS from an economic point of view, I allow myself to raise the importance of the health damage that is likely throughout the country and I find it nothing short of \"chilling\" for example that a red zone already requested by the region has not yet been established for the municipalities of Alzano Lombardo and Nembro (I would like to clarify that this is pure personal opinion). I myself looked with some amazement at the reorganizations of the entire hospital in the previous week, when our current enemy was still in the shadows: the wards slowly \"emptied\", the elective activities interrupted, the intensive therapies freed to create as many beds as possible. Containers arriving in front of the emergency room to create diversified routes and avoid any infections. All this rapid transformation brought into the corridors of the hospital an atmosphere of surreal silence and emptiness that we still did not understand, waiting for a war that was yet to begin and that many (including me) were not so sure would never come with such ferocity . (I open a parenthesis: all this in silence and without publicity, while several newspapers had the courage to say that private health care was not doing anything). I still remember my night guard a week ago passed unnecessarily without turning a blind eye, waiting for a call from the microbiology of the Sack. I was waiting for the outcome of a swab on the first suspect patient in our hospital, thinking about what consequences it would have for us and the clinic. If I think about it, my agitation for one possible case seems almost ridiculous and unjustified, now that I have seen what is happening. Well, the situation is now nothing short of dramatic. No other words come to mind. The war has literally exploded and the battles are uninterrupted day and night. One after the other the unfortunate poor people come to the emergency room. They have far from the complications of a flu. Let's stop saying it's a bad flu. In these 2 years I have learned that the people of Bergamo do not come to the emergency room at all. They did well this time too. They followed all the indications given: a week or ten days at home with a fever without going out and risking contagion, but now they can't take it anymore. They don't breathe enough, they need oxygen. Drug therapies for this virus are few. The course mainly depends on our organism. We can only support it when it can't take it anymore. It is mainly hoped that our body will eradicate the virus on its own, let's face it. Antiviral therapies are experimental on this virus and we learn its behavior day after day. Staying at home until the symptoms worsen does not change the prognosis of the disease. Now, however, that need for beds in all its drama has arrived. One after another, the departments that had been emptied are filling up at an impressive rate. The display boards with the names of the sick, of different colors depending on the operating unit they belong to, are now all red and instead of the surgical operation there is the diagnosis, which is always the same cursed: bilateral interstitial pneumonia. Now, tell me which flu virus causes such a rapid tragedy. Because that's the difference (now I'm going down a bit in the technical field): in the classical flu, apart from infecting much less population over several months, cases can be complicated less frequently, only when the VIRUS destroying the protective barriers of the Our respiratory tract allows BACTERIA normally resident in the upper tract to invade the bronchi and lungs, causing more serious cases. Covid 19 causes a banal influence in many young people, but in many elderly people (and not only) a real SARS because it arrives directly in the alveoli of the lungs and infects them making them unable to perform their function. Sorry, but to me as a doctor it doesn't reassure you that the most serious are mainly elderly people with other pathologies. The elderly population is the most represented in our country and it is difficult to find someone who, above 65 years of age, does not take at least the tablet for pressure or diabetes. I also assure you that when you see young people who end up in intubated intensive care, pronated or worse in ECMO (a machine for the worst cases, which extracts the blood, re-oxygenates it and returns it to the body, waiting for the organism, hopefully, heal your lungs), all this tranquility for your young age passes there. And while there are still people on social networks who pride themselves on not being afraid by ignoring the indications, protesting that their normal lifestyle habits are \"temporarily\" in crisis, the epidemiological disaster is taking place. And there are no more surgeons, urologists, orthopedists, we are only doctors who suddenly become part of a single team to face this tsunami that has overwhelmed us. The cases multiply, we arrive at the rate of 15-20 hospitalizations a day all for the same reason. The results of the swabs now come one after the other: positive, positive, positive. Suddenly the emergency room is collapsing. Emergency provisions are issued: help is needed in the emergency room. A quick meeting to learn how the first aid management software works and a few minutes later they are already downstairs, next to the warriors on the war front. The PC screen with the reasons for the access is always the same: fever and difficulty breathing, fever and cough, respiratory failure etc ... The exams, radiology always with the same sentence: bilateral interstitial pneumonia, bilateral interstitial pneumonia, bilateral interstitial pneumonia. All to be hospitalized. Someone already to intubate and go to intensive care. For others it is late ... Intensive care becomes saturated, and where intensive care ends, more are created. Each fan becomes like gold: those of the operating rooms that have now suspended their non-urgent activity become places for intensive care that did not exist before. I found it incredible, or at least I can speak for the HUMANITAS Gavazzeni (where I work) how it was possible to implement in such a short time a deployment and a reorganization of resources so finely designed to prepare for a disaster of this magnitude. And every reorganization of beds, wards, staff, work shifts and tasks is constantly reviewed day after day to try to give everything and even more. Those wards that previously looked like ghosts are now saturated, ready to try to give their best for the sick, but exhausted. The staff is exhausted. I saw fatigue on faces that didn't know what it was despite the already grueling workloads they had. I have seen people still stop beyond the times they used to stop already, for overtime that was now habitual. I saw solidarity from all of us, who never failed to go to our internist colleagues to ask \"what can I do for you now?\" or \"leave that hospitalization alone.\" Doctors who move beds and transfer patients, who administer therapies instead of nurses. Nurses with tears in their eyes because we are unable to save everyone and the vital signs of several patients at the same time reveal an already marked destiny. There are no more shifts, schedules. Social life is suspended for us. I have been separated for a few months, and I assure you that I have always done my best to constantly see my son even on the day of disassembly at night, without sleeping and postponing sleep until when I am without him, but for almost 2 weeks I have not voluntarily I see neither my son nor my family members for fear of infecting them and in turn infecting an elderly grandmother or relatives with other health problems. I'm happy with some photos of my son that I regard between tears and a few video calls. So be patient too, you can't go to the theater, museums or gym. Try to have mercy on that myriad of older people you could exterminate. It is not your fault, I know, but of those who put it in your head that you are exaggerating and even this testimony may seem just an exaggeration for those who are far from the epidemic, but please, listen to us, try to leave the house only to indispensable things. Do not go en masse to make stocks in supermarkets: it is the worst thing because you concentrate and the risk of contacts with infected people who do not know they are. You can go there as you usually do. Maybe if you have a normal mask (even those that are used to do certain manual work) put it on. Don't look for ffp2 or ffp3. Those should serve us and we are beginning to struggle to find them. By now we have had to optimize their use only in certain circumstances, as the WHO recently suggested in view of their almost ubiquitous impoverishment. Oh yes, thanks to the shortage of certain devices, I and many other colleagues are certainly exposed despite all the means of protection we have. Some of us have already become infected despite the protocols. Some infected colleagues have in turn infected family members and some of their family members already struggle between life and death. We are where your fears could make you stay away. Try to make sure you stay away. Tell your elderly or other family members to stay indoors. Bring him the groceries please. We have no alternative. It's our job. In fact, what I do these days is not really the job I'm used to, but I do it anyway and I will like it as long as it responds to the same principles: try to make some sick people feel better and heal, or even just alleviate the suffering and the pain to those who unfortunately cannot heal. I don't spend a lot of words about the people who define us heroes these days and who until yesterday were ready to insult and report us. Both will return to insult and report as soon as everything is over. People forget everything quickly. And we're not even heroes these days. It's our job. We risked something bad every day before: when we put our hands in a belly full of blood of someone we don't even know if he has HIV or hepatitis C; when we do it even though we know it has HIV or hepatitis C; when we sting with the one with HIV and take the drugs that make us vomit from morning to night for a month. When we open with the usual anguish the results of the tests at the various checks after an accidental puncture hoping not to be infected. We simply earn our living with something that gives us emotions. It doesn't matter if they are beautiful or ugly, just take them home. In the end we only try to make ourselves useful for everyone. Now try to do it too though: with our actions we influence the life and death of a few dozen people. You with yours, many more. Please share and share the message. We must spread the word to prevent what is happening here in Italy. Shortly after Macchini's post went viral, the Italian government announced new restrictions on public travel in an effort to stop the spread of the disease.  announced Beaumont, Peter and Ian Sample.  \"From Confidence to Quarantine: How Coronavirus Swept Italy.\"\r  The Guardian.  10 March 2020. Lemon, Jason.  \"Doctor in Coronavirus-Stricken Italy Details What's Happening In His Hospital.\"\r  Newsweek.  10 March 2020. Steinbuch, Yaron.  \"Italian Doctor at Heart of Illness Shares Chilling Coronavirus Thoughts.\"\r  New York Post.  10 March 2020. Correction [11 March 2020]: This article originally referred to an unrelated Twitter thread by Jason Van Schoor. This reference has been removed. ","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=17q4RTWY8-vxGgC3Lkq0eia4HOMjy8M6P","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1pIAmEvQqft7OrbGXq6i3TfyjsJYGBXIM","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_865","claim":"Was a bill passed by Pelosi that allowed her husband to profit millions from selling USPS property?","posted":"08\/29\/2020","sci_digest":["A meme circulating on Facebook appears to be a rehash of another version from 2013."],"justification":"In late August 2020, readers inquired about a meme circulating on Facebook that claimed falsely that U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had rigged legislation to help her husband benefit financially from selling off property belonging to the U.S. Postal Service.   The meme's text reads: This is Paul Pelosi (aka, Nancys Husband). He owns Financial Leasing Services LLC, a San Francisco based Real Estate and Venture Capitalist Firm. His net worth is 120 million. Why is this important? His wife sits on the House Appropriations committee. This committee appropriates funds to the United States Postal Service ( and others). Why is this important? Easy. She passed a bill to sell off 9 billion dollars ( yes 9 BILLION WITH a [smile emoji] worth of FEDERALLY OWNED POST OFFICE PROPERTY AND AWARDED THE THE CONTRACT TO, none other, Financial Leasing Services LLC. Her husbands firm. Why is this important? The commissions rate was set at 9%. That is almost a 1 BILLION dollar contract. If thats not enough, lets look at the new stimulus package. Nancy wants 25 billion in the stimulus package for the postal service where only 1.25 billion goes to making sure voting ballots are legit. The other 23.5 billion is going to upgrading the facilities so they are more attractive to potential buyers for her husbands firm. Corrupt to the core. It's true that Speaker Pelosi's husband Paul Pelosi owns and operates Financial Leasing Services, a San Francisco-based investment company. Financial disclosures in 2018, the most recent available, show Speaker Pelosi's estimated net worth to be $114 million. owns estimated But Speaker Pelosi doesn't sit on the House Appropriations Committee. Her spokesman Drew Hammill told us by email she hasn't been on the committee since 2002. Furthermore, we found no evidence that a bill to sell off $9 billion-worth of federally-owned U.S. Postal Service property exists. doesn't sit It's true that the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would, if signed into law, provide $25 billion to shore up the Postal Service and rectify delays in mail delivery service, but it doesn't allocate $1.25 billion toward \"making sure voting ballots are legit.\" The funding was originally on the table during negotiations over a coronavirus stimulus package, but those negotiations broke down. Whether the stand-alone Postal Service funding bill will be signed into law by U.S. President Donald Trump seems unlikely. bill originally unlikely The meme seems to be a rehash of a similar one that dates back to 2013  except in that case the subject of the claim was Richard Blum, the husband of U.S. Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., who like Pelosi hails from San Francisco. similar one Mikkelson, David.  \"Did Dianne Feinstein Get Her Husbands Company a USPS Contract?\"   Snopes. 23 April 2013. Rayome, Alison DeNisco.  \"What the New USPS Bill Means for the Next Stimulus Package.\"   CNET.  24 August 2020. Pramuk, Jacob.  \"House Passes Bill to Put $25 Billion Into USPS and Reverse Changes Amid Uproar.\"   CNBC.  22 August 2020. Henney, Megan.  \"How Much Money is Nancy Pelosi Worth?\"   Yahoo! News.  17 July 2020. Wildermuth, John.  \"Pelosi's Husband Prefers a Low Profile.\"   San Francisco Chronicle.  1 January 2007.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1dEwBIExNNZCR11f7mPgXIn9W0m7u8T5k"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_866","claim":"Highway Sign Urged Drivers to 'Consider Canada' Due to Inauguration Traffic?","posted":"01\/20\/2017","sci_digest":["A photograph purportedly showing a Maryland highway sign exhorting motorists to avoid Inauguration Day traffic and \"Consider Canada\" was fabricated."],"justification":"On 20 January 2017, a photograph purportedly showing a highway sign in Maryland urging drivers to \"consider Canada\" in avoiding Inauguration Day traffic was widely circulated on social media. This image was just a prank, however, being a digitally manipulated version of a more mundane image. The Maryland State Highway Administration published a genuine photograph of the sign on Interstate 270, which actually read \"Consider Metro.\" State Highway Administration spokesman Charlie Gischlar told the Baltimore Sun that he sent some workers out to the site after viewing the viral image and confirmed that the words \"Consider Canada\" did not actually appear on the traffic sign. \"Whoever did it, though, I have to give them credit; it looks real,\" he confirmed. We also reached out to the Maryland State Highway Administration to confirm that the sign never read \"consider Canada.\" @danieljevon No, it did not. @danieljevon MD State Highway Adm (@MDSHA) January 20, 2017. January 20, 2017 Dance, Scott. \"Viral image of 'Consider Canada' highway sign a hoax, SHA says.\" Baltimore Sun. 20 January 2017.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=10LhXfdqiF-rxvR9lDy8hvYAVrBS_gP1N","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1EM-FJnC9eWUAPIQEKZYIJyaenIVJ268R","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_867","claim":"Was the Day After 2020 Election Also National Stress Awareness Day?","posted":"11\/04\/2020","sci_digest":["It depends on whom you ask."],"justification":"Voting in the 2020 U.S. Election may be over, but the misinformation keeps on ticking. Never stop fact-checking. Follow our post-election coverage here. here As the United States woke up to an undecided presidential election amid a worsening pandemic on the morning of Nov. 4 2020, some Twitter users noted that \"National Stress Awareness Day\" allegedly fell on this day: worsening noted that    The claim is not baseless, but there are at least two days popularly considered to be National Stress Awareness Day. The Nov. 4 claim has its origins in a U.K. charity named the International Stress Management Association (ISMA). This organization currently sponsors an event it named International Stress Awareness Week that was originally named, according to its website, National Stress Awareness Day when first conceived in 1998. In numerous instances that predate the 2020 election, this organization has described Stress Awareness Week as the first week of November with the Wednesday of that week being Stress Awareness Day. The ISMA is the organization that is referenced on the National Day Calendar website, which is often shared as the source for the claim that Nov. 4 is that holiday. website numerous instances website A look at Google Trends going back to 2004, however, suggests that interest in \"National Stress Awareness Day,\" at least in the U.S., has historically peaked in April each year: in April   The reason for this appears to be that another nonprofit organization, the U.S.-based Health Resource Network (HRN), declared in 1992 that April is National Stress Awareness Month and that April 16 (the day after taxes are due) is National Stress Awareness Day. The April 16 awareness day is referenced in health or lifestyle blogs and is included in some online calendars, including one for 2020, as well.  Health Resource Network declared in 1992 April 16 health lifestyle blogs for 2020 Either way, neither date is an official holiday or government initiative. Because multiple days have been claimed as National Stress Awareness Day including Nov. 4 2020, we rank the truth of this claim \"Mixture.\"","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1e9UvaENIgoFsGT48xtBn8dCZOosixL90","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1c2VUPn2ioTwz-BQmCKWkwT3p7SredooS","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1g26HFEkx1GrcJZKOGqgPe6DCFThcGb-6","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_868","claim":"Insect Spy Drone","posted":"08\/13\/2012","sci_digest":["A photograph purportedly shows a miniature insect spy drone that can take photographs and DNA samples."],"justification":"Is this a mosquito? No. It's an insect spy drone for urban areas, already in production, funded by the US Government. It can be remotely controlled and is equipped with a camera and a microphone. It can land on you, and it may have the potential to take a DNA sample or leave RFID tracking nanotechnology on your skin. It can fly through an open window, or it can attach to your clothing until you take it in your home.  One of the current areas of research reportedly being undertaken in the scientific\/military field is the development of micro air vehicles (MAVs), tiny flying objects intended to go places that cannot be (safely) reached by humans or other types of equipment. One of the primary military applications envisioned for MAVs is the gathering of intelligence (through the surreptitious use of cameras, microphones, or other types of sensors); among the more extreme applications posited for such devices is that they may eventually be used as \"swarm weapons\" which could be launched en masse against enemy forces. Some efforts in MAV research have involved trying to mimic birds or flying insects to achieve flight capabilities not attainable through other means of aerial propulsion. In 2007 a bug-like MAV model with a 3-cm wingspan was displayed at a robotics conference, in 2008 the U.S. Air Force released a simulated video showing MAVs about the size of bumblebees, and in 2012 engineers at Johns Hopkins University were studying the flight of butterflies to \"help small airborne robots mimic these maneuvers.\" birds displayed video butterflies The specific mosquito-like object pictured above is, however, just a conceptual mock-up of a design for a MAV, not a photograph of an actual working device \"already in production.\" And although taking DNA samples or inserting micro-RFID tracking devices under the skin of people are MAV applications that may some day be possible, such possibilities currently appear to be speculative fiction rather than reality. Some have claimed the U.S. government has not only researched and developed insect-like MAVs, but for several years has been furtively employing them for domestic surveillance purposes: The US government has been accused of secretly developing robotic insect spies amid reports of bizarre flying objects hovering in the air above anti-war protests. No government agency has admitted to developing insect-size spy drones but various official and private organisations have admitted that they are trying. But official protestations of innocence have failed to kill speculation of government involvement after a handful of sightings of the objects at political events in New York and Washington. Vanessa Alarcon, a university student who was working at an anti-war rally in the American capital [in September 2007], told the Washington Post: \"I heard someone say, 'Oh my God, look at those.' \"I look up and I'm like, 'What the hell is that?'. They looked like dragonflies or little helicopters. But I mean, those are not insects.\" Bernard Crane, a lawyer who was at the same event, said he had \"never seen anything like it in my life\". He added: \"They were large for dragonflies. I thought, 'Is that mechanical or is that alive?'\" The incident has similarities with an alleged sighting at the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York when one peace march participant described on the internet seeing \"a jet-black dragonfly hovering about 10 feet off the ground, precisely in the middle of 7th Avenue\". Entomologists suggest that the objects are indeed dragonflies. Jerry Louton, an expert at the National Museum of Natural History, said Washington was home to large, impressively-decorated dragonflies that \"can knock your socks off\". Others maintain the technical obstacles involved in creating flying insect-sized robots have yet to be overcome: The technical challenges of creating robotic insects are daunting, and most experts doubt that fully working models exist yet. \"If you find something, let me know,\" said Gary Anderson of the Defense Department's Rapid Reaction Technology Office. Getting from bird size to insect size is not a simple matter of making everything smaller. \"You can't make a conventional robot of metal and ball bearings and just shrink the design down,\" said Ronald Fearing, a roboticist at the University of California at Berkeley. For one thing, the rules of aerodynamics change at very tiny scales and require wings that flap in precise ways  a huge engineering challenge. Scientists have only recently come to understand how insects fly. Even if the technical hurdles are overcome, insect-size fliers will always be risky investments. \"They can get eaten by a bird, they can get caught in a spider web,\" Professor Fearing said. Leonard, Tom.  \"US Accused of Making Insect Spy Robots.\"   The Telegraph.  10 October 2007. Weiss, Rick.  \"Washington Abuzz with Talk of Dragonfly Spies.\"   The Sydney Morning Herald.  12 October 2007.","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1PdP-JM9EbeULINrsjbWPO0wdsC58t6Lp","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_869","claim":"Did Biden Say George Floyd's Death Had Greater 'Worldwide Impact' Than MLK's?","posted":"04\/07\/2021","sci_digest":["Remarks attributed to U.S. President Joe Biden saw a resurgence in social media sharing in April 2021."],"justification":"In April 2021, an old quote attributed to U.S. President Joe Biden saw a resurgence in shares on social media, overwhelmingly from users who disapproved of his purported claim that the death of George Floyd in May 2020 had a greater \"worldwide impact\" than the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. The remarks attributed to Biden were: \"Dr. King's assassination did not have the worldwide impact that George Floyd's death did.\" To demonstrate the popularity of the meme, the following screenshot shows just a selection of posts from Facebook alone. The quotation was authentic and originated in remarks Biden made at a campaign event in June 2020. As such, we are issuing a rating of \"Correct Attribution.\" The following is an excerpted transcript of the relevant portion of Biden's remarks, which came at a roundtable event on COVID-19 and the American economy in Philadelphia on June 11, 2020. Video of the remarks can be viewed below. Around halfway through the discussion, U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, asked Biden a question that alluded to ongoing social and racial tensions in the United States and how his campaign pledge to \"restore the soul of America\" related to those issues. In response, the then-presumptive Democratic nominee criticized then-President Donald Trump for his remarks on white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, and his divisive and inflammatory comments about Mexican immigrants. He noted that people of color were being disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and then moved into a discussion about the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in May 2020 after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes. Floyd's death sparked a renewed wave of protests about police brutality and racial injustice throughout the United States and in other parts of the world. Biden said: \"...George gets brutally murdered for the whole world to see. You've never seen... I was a kid when Dr. King was assassinated. When I came back, my city [Wilmington, Delaware] was the only city in America occupied by the National Guard since Reconstruction because a significant portion was burned to the ground. I came back, I had a job with a good law firm, and I quit and became a public defender. But even Dr. King's assassination did not have the worldwide impact that George Floyd's death did. Because, just like television changed the civil rights movement for the better when they saw Bull Connor and his dogs ripping the clothes off of elderly Black women going to church, and fire hoses ripping the skin off of young kids, all those folks around the country that didn't have any Black populations heard about this, but they didn't believe it until they saw it. It was impossible to close their eyes. Well, with George Floyd, what happened to him, now you've got how many people around the country? Millions of cellphones. It's changed the way everybody's looking at this. Look at the millions of people marching around the world. So my point is that I think people are really realizing that this is a battle for the soul of America. Who are we? What do we want to be? How do we see ourselves? What do we think we should be? [Emphasis is added]. As the transcript and video show, Biden did indeed say, \"Dr. King's assassination did not have the worldwide impact that George Floyd's death did,\" and the memes therefore quoted him accurately. In full context, Biden appeared to be making a point less about the relative historic importance of King's life and achievements, but rather the global audience that watched cellphone video footage of Floyd's death. However, Biden also referred to \"the millions of people marching around the world\" in response to Floyd's death, so his argument did not appear to be limited only to the manner in which modern technology enabled footage of Floyd's death to reach a global audience. Floyd's death did indeed inspire protests and demonstrations of solidarity throughout the world in the ensuing days and weeks. In Germany and England, high-profile professional soccer players made gestures of support for Floyd and for the broader Black Lives Matter movement. In the English Premier League, the most-watched soccer league in the world, players replaced the names on their jerseys with the words \"Black Lives Matter\" for the final 12 games of the 2019-20 season and began \"taking a knee\" before every game in the aftermath of Floyd's death, a ritual that has persisted until the time of publication, almost one year after the death of George Floyd.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1QWybiWNgg0IUgzcbHLzRRLvC5YnSc7Cp","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1xoq5cmuAuOcYzdD9DH5fRcFXRJD6ldPR","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_870","claim":"Were Poll Watchers 'Thrown Out' of Vote Counting Rooms?","posted":"11\/19\/2020","sci_digest":["In the wake of the 2020 presidential election, the Trump campaign spread this rumor in fundraising emails but walked it back in court."],"justification":"Voting in the 2020 U.S. Election may be over, but the misinformation keeps on ticking. Never stop fact-checking. Follow our post-election coverage here. here In mid-November 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump's reelection campaign sent supporters fundraising emails saying poll workers were thrown out of rooms where elections officials were counting ballots in the presidential election. (Read more fact checks like this one here.) Donald Trump here \"Large numbers of poll watchers were thrown out of vote counting rooms in many key battleground states,\" claimed a Nov. 17 email obtained by Snopes.   Separately, the Trump campaign sent supporters another fundraising email that claimed Republican poll watchers were not \"thrown out\" but prohibited from entering ballot-processing rooms altogether, suggesting that the alleged lack of surveillance benefited President-elect Joe Biden. Joe Biden The best description of this situation is widespread, nationwide voter fraud, of which this is a part,\" Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal attorney, said of the alleged conspiracy by Democrats, without citing any evidence. Rudy Giulian Together, the emails and Giuliani's statement claimed that some unidentified person, or a group of people, ordered Republican poll workers to leave ballot-counting rooms, or to not enter them in the first place  essentially breaking laws that allow for poll observers to monitor the elections process on behalf of a political party or candidate. Before we unpack those allegations, let us explain about whom we're talking. whom Every state allows some form of \"poll watching\" or \"election observing,\" by means of which political parties or candidates appoint volunteers to monitor polling sites for fairness on Election Day. Additionally, states train and certify nonpartisan poll watchers to keep an eye out for any voting issues. Rules governing both types of poll watching, especially to combat any voter harassment or intimidation, vary state by state, and apply to poll watchers regardless of their political affiliation. intimidation \"State rules vary on who can be a poll watcher, how many are allowed at polling places or local elections offices, and how they must conduct themselves inside the office or precinct,\" according to The Associated Press. The Associated Press The Trump campaign alleged poll watchers were blocked from doing their jobs \"in many key battleground states,\" though it did not, in its emails, pinpoint one or more locations where this supposedly occurred. Giuliani, however, claimed Democrats in cities including Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Las Vegas, and Phoenix were behind the alleged conspiracy to undermine Trump's reelection. No poll watchers with the Democratic party raised issues with the 2020 election. For more details about the Trump campaign's allegations, we referred to the campaign's lawsuits challenging various aspects of the presidential election to determine where, exactly, the campaign believed citizen monitors were wrongfully kicked out of ballot-processing rooms. lawsuits At least two legal complaints in Pennsylvania and Michigan involved Republican poll watchers. However, on Nov. 17, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled distancing regulations at polling sites were \"reasonable\" in that they allowed poll monitors to see what was happening, as prescribed by state law. (You can read that decision here.) The high court's ruling countered an earlier decision by a lower court that sided with the Trump campaign. here   Days before that decision, U.S. District Judge Paul S. Diamond asked a Trump campaign lawyer during a court hearing if poll watchers were allowed in the room where election workers were processing mail-in ballots in Philadelphia. Theres a nonzero number of people in the room, campaign lawyer Jerome Marcus replied, acknowledging that Trump representatives were indeed present despite the campaign's messaging. Additionally, Republican poll watchers in Michigan's Wayne County filed a lawsuit alleging fraud during absentee ballot counting at a Detroit convention center. That litigation sought to halt the state's vote certification process. But two judges found no evidence to support the accusations and allowed the process of certifying votes to proceed, finalizing the state's voter tallies. finalizing the state's voter tallies Of separate lawsuits, The Associated Press reported: reported \"Other lawsuits claimed poll watchers were temporarily denied access in some locations, but there has been no evidence to back it up. Nor was there evidence of votes being miscounted out of political bias. And most of the litigation alleging this has been dismissed.\" In other words, there was no evidence of any person or entity blocking poll watchers' access to polling sites on Election Day, no matter their presidential candidate of choice. Additionally, there were no reports of someone, or a group of people, \"throwing out\" poll observers from rooms to which election laws guarantee them the right, as of this report. Those conclusions do not eliminate the possibility that poll watchers at some (or many) sites across the country were asked to follow distancing guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and avoid distracting voters. However, there's no proof of such requests being part of a nefarious scheme to help Trump or Biden, or any political cause. COVID-19 We should note here: The emails about poll observers from Trump's campaign asked supporters to chip in to a so-called \"Official Election Defense Fund\" or \"Election Defense Task Force,\" both of which the campaign framed as costly initiatives involving ballot recounts or various lawsuits to challenge Biden's win. But according to Brendan Fischer, director of the federal reform program at Campaign Legal Center, the average donor's money was not covering those expenses. Rather, people were giving their money to the Trump Make America Great Again Committee, where contributions are divided between Trump's committees and the Republican National Committee.  Brendan Fischer Republican National Committee \"Small donors who give to Trump thinking they are financing an 'official election defense fund' are in fact helping pay down the Trump campaigns debt or funding his post-presidential political operation,\" Fischer tweeted. tweeted In sum, no evidence showed poll watchers were removed or prohibited from rooms were ballots were being counted in the Biden-Trump race, even though physical distancing rules may have affected the monitoring. In fact, one Republican lawyer representing Trump provided evidence to the contrary and acknowledged Republican poll watchers in Philadelphia were indeed allowed in ballot counting rooms. For those reasons, we rate this claim ","issues":["debt"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=15-fCHj1wqXmV5LgHdOB9--Q2re_n8iDz","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1bsUUHM_Sqwx-lXrZZh1M0RnjxrCiwDAB","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_871","claim":"Will an Asteroid Hit Earth in April 2020?","posted":"03\/04\/2020","sci_digest":["Clickbait headlines continue to stoke fears about \"doomsday asteroids.\""],"justification":"On April 29, 2020, a large asteroid is expected to fly by Earth at a distance of approximately 4 million miles. While this may be of interest to stargazers, the previous sentence isn't very alarming or attention-grabbing. Yet many media outlets wrote headlines about this incoming asteroid as if it posed an immediate and catastrophic threat to the planet. An article in the Daily Express, for instance, was headlined: \"Asteroid warning: NASA tracks a 4KM asteroid approach - Could end civilization if it hits.\" The site used a similar message when promoting this article on Twitter. While these headlines may attract clicks, they may also lead readers to falsely believe that this asteroid poses an immediate threat to life on Earth. That isn't the case. While Asteroid 52768 (1998 OR2) will approach Earth in April 2020, it is not expected to come within 3.9 million miles of the planet. NASA is constantly monitoring the skies for asteroids and meteors that pose a potential threat to Earth. When these near-Earth objects (NEOs) are discovered, NASA monitors them to determine when they will approach Earth, how fast they will be traveling, how large they are, and how close they will get. All of this data is publicly available on the Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) website. Asteroid 52768 (1998 OR2) was first discovered (as its name implies) in 1998, so this asteroid isn't making a sudden and scary appearance above Earth. NASA has been monitoring it for more than two decades and has learned quite a bit. For instance, the asteroid is relatively large, with a diameter between 1.1 and 2.5 miles, and it will be traveling at just under 20,000 mph when it makes its closest approach to Earth. While an asteroid of this size would cause catastrophic damage if it hit Earth, there is practically no chance that will happen in April 2020. According to NASA, this asteroid won't come within 3.9 million miles of Earth. In other words, it will approach no closer than about 16 times the distance between us and the moon. Asteroid Watch, the official Twitter account of the CNEOS, attempted to quell fears about this asteroid, writing that it will \"safely pass\" Earth and that NASA did not issue a \"warning\" about a possible catastrophic collision. Asteroid 52768 (1998 OR2) is not currently listed on NASA's list of potential future Earth impact events. On a daily basis, about one hundred tons of interplanetary material drifts down to the Earth's surface. Most of the smallest interplanetary particles that reach the Earth's surface are tiny dust particles released by comets as their ices vaporize in the solar neighborhood. The vast majority of the larger interplanetary material that reaches the Earth's surface originates from the collision fragments of asteroids that have run into one another eons ago. With an average interval of about 10,000 years, rocky or iron asteroids larger than about 100 meters would be expected to reach the Earth's surface and cause local disasters or produce tidal waves that can inundate low-lying coastal areas. On average, every several hundred thousand years or so, asteroids larger than a kilometer could cause global disasters. In this case, the impact debris would spread throughout the Earth's atmosphere, causing plant life to suffer from acid rain, partial blocking of sunlight, and firestorms resulting from heated impact debris raining back down upon the Earth's surface. Since their orbital paths often cross that of the Earth, collisions with near-Earth objects have occurred in the past, and we should remain alert to the possibility of future close Earth approaches. It seems prudent to mount efforts to discover and study these objects, to characterize their sizes, compositions, and structures, and to keep an eye on their future trajectories. No one should be overly concerned about an Earth impact from an asteroid or comet. The threat to any one person from auto accidents, disease, other natural disasters, and a variety of other problems is much higher than the threat from NEOs. Over long periods, however, the chances of the Earth being impacted are not negligible, so some form of NEO insurance is warranted. At the moment, our best insurance rests with the NEO scientists and their efforts to first find these objects and then track their motions into the future. We need to first find them, then keep an eye on them. NASA is currently tracking about 20,000 NEOs. While these objects routinely pass by Earth without incident, every now and again, a media outlet will write an outlandish story about how one of these objects is poised to wipe out life on Earth. While we've seen several of these fear-mongering rumors over the years, these \"doomsday\" asteroids never seem to arrive.","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1q0KQ517aM-hTKc_zy0WUmKIza2Um4Hhj","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1hP_M1qNiXLMtAPJ9ZmRvjAXCPANedEU_","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_872","claim":"Fraudulent Reshipping Scheme","posted":"11\/14\/2004","sci_digest":["Work at home and make big bucks acting as an intermediary for international transactions?"],"justification":"Claim:  Aspiring work-at-homers promised big bucks for acting as intermediaries for international transactions wherein they cash checks for other parties have been defrauded by con artists.  REAL FRAUD WHICH COSTS ITS VICTIMS THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS Example:  [Collected on the Internet, 2004] Good day, my name is Evaldas Vytautas. I'm Sales Manager of Lionder Web Design Agency. We are situated in Vilnius, Lithuania. Lionder Web Design Agency is pleased to offer you the position of Exchange Manager for our organization. We are excited about the potential that you bring to our company. We work with corporate clients and some of them prefer to do wire transfers, however we cannot receive international wire transfers because of heavy taxes. Tax for international wire transfer is 25% In Lithuania. There is no sense for us to work in such a way, however we don't want to lose our clients. You need to have Paypal\/bank account. System is completely automated. You will work only 1-2 hours a day, receive, process payments from our clients through your Paypal\/bank account. Report about all new payments, act only within the limits of law  earn minimum $1500-$2000 per month. Your salary will be 5-15% from every processed amount (you begin from 5%). To join the minimum requirements include : -MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS (Skills, Knowledge, Ability, etc.)-The minimum qualifications are diploma or equivalent.-Must be able to multi-task and have good communication skills.-Knowledge of MS Word and other basic computer programs.-This being a new field there is NO experience needed. HOW TO APPLY: If you would like to pursue this opportunity simply send Your Resume (CV) to resume@lionder.net OR Download Job Application Form  (www.lionder.net\/Job_Application_Form.doc), fill it in and send us to resume@lionder.net (No phone calls please. Callers will not be considered for the position). We will respond promptly. Please don't feel shy to contact our Online Support and ask any questions you will have: Contact Name: Julie JakulyteICQ- 257235542,AOL IM Screen Name- Jakulyte,Yahoo! ID: JJakulyte,MSN- Jakulyte@hotmail.com. No agencies, please. Lionder Web Design Agency is an equal opportunity\/affirmative actionemployer. For more information about who we are and what we do, please visit our webiste  www.lionder.net It is necessary that we know your decision by November 20, 2004, so that we can plan accordingly. Regards, Evaldas VytautasLionder Web Design Agency Origins:  In   2004 we began noticing a new scam targeting those searching for part-time paid duties that could be performed from home. This new con uses the promise of high-paying work to lure eager job seekers into being defrauded themselves or used to steal from others. Those so led down the garden path are pulled in by advertisements for jobs involving the forwarding of monies or goods collected in the U.S. to business entities in other countries. Supposedly, the successful applicants will make thousands of dollars through working from home for a few hours a week, with no special skills or training required. Sometimes international wire transfers are specifically mentioned in these solicitations, and the terms \"import\/export specialist,\" \"marketing manager,\" and \"financial manager\" often turn up in their wording. The reputations of the venues where the ads are found proves no protection to those looking for such opportunities, in that this work-at-home scam has been touted thousands of times on popular job web sites including Monster, Careerbuilder, Careers.com, and Yahoo! Hotjobs. This con operates in one of two of ways, both of which leaves hopeful job seekers in a mess of trouble:  In its more usual incarnation, successful job applicants are tasked with depositing checks for varying amounts (anywhere from a few thousand dollars all the way into the six-figure range) into their personal bank accounts and relaying to their new employers 95% of the amount banked, keeping 5% as their commission. The explanation given by the employers for that which necessitates their having someone cash checks on their behalf varies from come-on to come-on, but the need to believe in 'something for nothing' (in this case a high steady income in return for a few hours' work per week) blinds the about-to-be-defrauded to the glaring implausibilities inherent to these tall tales of strange government-imposed restrictions, exorbitant tax rates in the homeland, the need to fly under a competitor's radar, and the like. The checks the unsuspecting dupes are given to deposit are worthless, but this detail is not discovered by them or their banks until weeks after the fact, which is long after 95% of the face value of said financial instruments has been wired to the thieves. As is the case in the 'cashier check' scam (sellers are duped into accepting cashier checks in excess of the amounts they seek for their goods on the understanding they are to forward the additional monies to third parties), the scam works because the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) requires banks to make money from cashier's, certified, or teller's checks available in one to five days. Consequently, funds from checks that might not be good are often released into payees' accounts long before the checks themselves have been honored by their issuing banks. High quality forgeries can be bounced back and forth between banks for weeks before anyone catches on to their being worthless. cashier check In this form of the scheme, those who'd thought they were about to pack up and move to Easy Street thanks to their new jobs as international relayers instead find themselves on the hook for the amounts they wired to others. That the original checks were worthless does not absolve those who deposited them from financial responsibility for the funds they subsequently instructed their banks to pay out  the two transactions (the deposit and the disbursement) are regarded as separate. Therefore, if a hypothetical erstwhile wire transfer facilitator handled a bogus check for $10,000, instead of netting $500 (his 5% fee), he would be out $9,500 (the amount he had his bank wire to those who'd conned him).  The mayhem doesn't necessarily end there. There is a further danger that, now armed with the dupe's banking information from the wire transfer, these same thieves can use those numbers to create a demand draft to  withdraw funds without confirmation from the hapless job seeker's bank account until there's nothing left in it but dust. demand draft  In another version of the con, those who land these coveted 'jobs' are tasked with collecting payments from their new employers' clients in the U.S. and wiring these funds back to the home office, retaining a specified portion of the recouped accounts as their fees. Only after the fact does it come to light that the deposited checks were for non-existent merchandise vended through online auction sites, usually about the time that the police come a'knocking on the door. This form of the wire transfer scam mirrors a type of the CNP fraud in which job-seeking dupes are hired to repackage and ship to Nigeria goods purchased on stolen credit cards. As with the wire transfer come-on, the promise of  easy, high-paying part-time work blinds those who unwittingly become part of an international theft ring thanks to their desire to believe in the job fairy. In both cases, they're the ones left holding the bag when the police turn up to ask questions about the monies or goods others have been duped out of.Those searching for employment opportunities that will allow them to work from home are all too often the very people who can least afford to be defrauded. Although a great many folks  CNP daydream about earning livable incomes from the comfort of their dens rather than having to make the trek to their offices each day, they do not as a general rule of thumb search for such job openings with the same fervor as do the elderly, the physically afflicted, or the parents committed to remaining at home with their preschool children. Members of those groups hunt for work-at-home opportunities because laboring in more traditional job settings is impossible for them. Because genuine offers of work of this nature are few and far between, with the need to secure a steady income becoming more of a pressing issue with each passing non-employed day, those folks are at far greater risk of being victimized by such schemes  their desperation leads them to be gulled by pie-in-the-sky promises and mollified by the wild backstories that go with them whereas the financially better off are more likely to remain convinced something is very wrong with the offer of mucho bucks in exchange for only a few hours' labor performed from home each week by folks possessed of no special training or skills. Barbara \"reshipboard romance\" Mikkelson How To Avoid Falling Victim To Reshipper Scams: Avoid job listings that use these descriptions: \"package forwarding,\" \"reshipping,\" \"money transfers,\" \"wiring funds\" and \"foreign agent agreements.\" These and similar phrases should raise a red flag.   Do not be fooled by official-sounding corporate names. Some scam artists operate under names that sound like those of long-standing, reputable firms.   Never forward or transfer money from any of your personal accounts on behalf of your employer. Also, be suspicious if you are asked to \"wire\" money to an employer. If a legitimate job requires you to make money transfers, the money should be withdrawn from the employers business account, not yours.   Do not give out your personal financial information. A potential legitimate employer will not request your bank account, credit card or Paypal account number. Provide your banking information only if you are hired by a legitimate company and you choose to have your paycheck direct deposited.   Do not fax copies of your ID or Social Security number to someone you have never met. Credit checks and fake IDs can be obtained with this information. Give these documents to your employer only when you are physically at the place of employment.   If you have questions about the legitimacy of a job listing, contact your Better Business Bureau, your state or local consumer agency, or the Federal Trade Commission.   Stop believing in the chimera of \"something for nothing.\"  Additional Information:      Work-at-Home Schemes   (Federal Trade Commission)       Work-at-Home Schemes   (Better Business Bureau)   Last updated:  11 July 2011 <!--","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=16tPu3PhZrB-Q4lPBQOJbFuMQss19HfaV"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_873","claim":"Was the creator of the 'Bernie Mittens' forced to shut down their business due to taxes?","posted":"01\/29\/2021","sci_digest":["That would be ironic considering the progressive senator's unabashed proposals to impose new taxes."],"justification":"As memes of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders wearing hand-crafted mittens at Joe Biden's presidential inauguration plastered the Internet in early 2021, rumors surfaced alleging that the creator of the mittens had stopped selling recycled wool products because of high federal taxes. Snopes received numerous inquiries to investigate the validity of the claim, which attempted to expose the hypocrisy of people who support the Vermont senator's goals of imposing new taxes to pay for various proposals, including free universal health care. Here's some background: Jen Ellis, a Vermont elementary school teacher, said she made the mittens out of discarded wool sweaters and gifted them to the senator after he lost the Democratic presidential nomination to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race. \"I sent him these mittens kind of as a shoutout to who he is, and I put a note in that said something to the effect of, 'I hope you run again,'\" she told Slate. The viral image of Sanders wearing Ellis' gift and sitting with his arms and legs crossed made the teacher famous by the viral standards of 2021. She gave multiple interviews to news outlets including NPR and Slate in which she discussed her support for Sanders and her reaction to the memes; social media users and other websites republished those comments, in part to harness the virality of the moment. Among the latter group was The Federalist, an online hub of articles with a conservative bent. Two days after the inauguration, the website published a page with the headline, \"Woman Behind Bernie Sanders' Iconic Mittens Quit Making Them Because High Taxes Killed Her Business,\" reading: \"The Vermont school teacher who made Bernie Sanders' mittens, featured in the most recent viral meme, said she had to stop making them after the federal government taxed her too much.\" To support the claim, The Federalist cited a portion of Ellis' interview with Slate. According to a transcribed version of that conversation, which Slate published on Jan. 21, the elementary school teacher indeed told writer Rachelle Hampton: \"Speaking of bittersweet, you supported Bernie. How did you feel about watching Biden be sworn in as president?\" Ellis responded, \"Oh my gosh, I cried. I'm 42 and I've waited four decades of my life to see a woman be vice president. I wish that she was president, although I think Biden is pretty great. [...] And then there was this little side nagging thing of every five minutes I was getting several hundred more emails about the mittens. A year ago, when Bernie was on the campaign trail, he was wearing those mittens and Twitter buzzed about it then. I'm not really on Twitter\u2014I have an account, but I don't really participate\u2014but a lot of my younger colleagues do, and they were like, 'You've gotta check this out.' [...] So I put it out there that I made the mittens, they were a gift, and they're not knitted; they're sewn from repurposed and up-cycled sweaters. At that time, I had 30 or 40 mittens for sale, and being a little na\u00efve about Twitter, I put my Gmail account on that, which someone picked up yesterday and retweeted it. People have been contacting me thinking that they can get mittens, and actually they can't. I don't have any more, and I don't have much of a mitten business anymore because it really wasn't worth it. Independent crafters get really taken for a ride by the federal government. We get taxed to the nth degree, and it wasn't really worth it pursuing that as a business, even as a side hustle. I mostly just make them as gifts.\" In other words, Ellis said she did not \"have much of a mitten business anymore,\" or that she previously sold the handmade items for a price and then mostly stopped. She implied that federal taxes were a leading factor in her decision to make that change. On Jan. 20, as social media lit up with the memes following the inauguration, she confirmed on Twitter that she was not selling mittens like the senator's. Snopes reached out to Ellis to learn more about her history of trying to sell mittens for profit and paying federal taxes as a self-described independent crafter. We have not yet received a response, but we'll update this report when or if we do. All of that said, the size of Ellis' former business was unknown, as well as how long or via what methods she sold the handmade mittens. U.S. tax code requires all independent contractors\u2014no matter if they use online marketplaces such as Etsy to sell handmade products\u2014to pay local and federal taxes based on net profits. Also, we should note here: Sanders' proposed changes to the country's tax system would repeal aspects of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act so that taxpayers who earn between about $9,500 and $250,000 would pay about 4% more, and taxes on the country's top earners would generate the majority of revenue. Additionally, he wants to impose a new payroll tax on businesses that earn more than $2 million annually, a change that intends to protect ventures like Ellis' from paying more. So while it was true that taxes played a role in Ellis' decision to stop charging people money for mittens prior to her viral fame, it was false to claim that she \"quit\" making them altogether, as The Federalist headline alleged. Between Jan. 23 and 24, she said in a series of tweets that she made three more pairs of \"Bernie mittens,\" two of which she donated to Passion 4 Paws Vermont and Outright Vermont for fundraising, and one that she was auctioning off to benefit her daughter's college fund. After that, Sanders' official campaign began selling merchandise with the senator's meme-worthy image that Ellis made possible. The so-called \"Chairman Sanders\" sweatshirts, T-shirts, stickers, etc., helped raise $1.8 million for charitable organizations in Vermont over the course of five days, The Associated Press reported. On Jan. 24, Ellis tweeted that the senator called her to tell her that \"the mitten frenzy\" had raised \"an enormous amount of money\" for the charities. Besides that evidence, it was unclear how, or to what extent, the teacher was involved in the making or selling of the campaign-official products featuring her mittens. As further proof to debunk claims that she had ceased all mitten-making, the teacher on Jan. 27 announced that she had partnered with entities including Darn Tough Socks to make socks inspired by the viral mittens, and the following day she said she was in the process of another project \"to get Bernie Mittens for ALL.\" \"I'm not opening a mitten factory or quitting my job as a second-grade teacher! However, I am going to choose a new adventure on the side,\" Ellis said on her official website and GoFundMe page. \"Never fear\u2014I will make more mittens, but I won't be selling them for myself. I will be donating them to Vermont charities to help them fundraise and make up for the funds lost due to the pandemic.\" In sum, while it was true that, prior to her viral fame, Ellis mostly stopped charging people for handmade mittens due to costs including federal taxes, she was still creating the recycled wool products, and people were spending money on them as of this writing. For those reasons, we rate this claim a \"Mixture\" of truthful and misleading information.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1iS9a4j_COfHFo5iWKW5MRp3G14ilkefZ"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=11QNRv3jjYdKeqxWo9TXDu83RyHGOSlrj"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1J2dydXhssJeps-vtxZhWVzG2TjH1plnY"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1qar_xiuF2rnQXELssl_Ai4jhMl7dIctq"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=126naFp7piO6JW_zAgIfrtEgztR96_oCt"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_874","claim":"Was the military that Trump inherited from Obama considered to be lacking in resources?","posted":"09\/26\/2020","sci_digest":["U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly exaggerated the \"depleted\" state of the military when he took office. "],"justification":"One claim that has often been repeated by U.S. President Donald Trump is that he rebuilt a military that was \"totally depleted\" by his predecessor, Barack Obama. Trump's grievance is based on a grain of truth: military spending was reduced during Obama's second term, but Trump's statements on the matter have combined distorted facts with outright falsehoods. The way Trump tells it, the United States military was in complete shambles when he took office. Over the years, Trump has made a variety of statements to perpetuate this notion. In one oft-repeated story, Trump illustrated his claim that Obama depleted the military by saying that the armed forces had \"no ammunition\" when he took office. In October 2019, for instance, Trump said, \"When I took over our military, we did not have ammunition.\" This is not true. The military did not run out of ammunition during the Obama administration (or during any other administration, as far as we can tell). In addition, Trump falsely claimed in August 2018, as he was signing the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2019, that the military had not received any money for years. Trump said, \"We've been trying to get money. They never gave us money for the military for years and years. And it was depleted.\" This, again, is false. In fact, approximately $600 billion was spent on the military in the year before Trump took office. President Trump has also mischaracterized his own military spending. On May 22, 2020, during a speech at the \"Rolling to Remember Ceremony: Honoring our Nation's Veterans and POW\/MIA,\" Trump claimed that he spent trillions on equipment: \"We've invested $2.5 trillion in all of the greatest equipment in the world, and it's all made here, right in the USA.\" This is not true. The $2.5 trillion figure refers to the total Department of Defense (DOD) budget that was passed under Trump\u2014comparatively speaking, Obama's budget during his first term was about $3.3 trillion and $2.7 trillion during his second term\u2014but only a portion of the DOD budget is spent on equipment. The amount spent on procurement, or the act of obtaining military equipment and supplies, varies from year to year, but it generally made up about 15% of Trump's total military budget. While Trump has told several falsehoods about how Obama supposedly \"totally depleted\" the military, there is some general truth to the idea, as overall military spending was reduced during the Obama administration. However, there is a bit more nuance to this issue than is often heard on the campaign trail. While the military was leaner during the Obama years, the Obama administration still spent trillions on national defense. Calculating an exact dollar figure for how much the U.S. spends on the military (and which administration is responsible for that spending) is a complicated proposition. The military budget covers a wide range of expenses across five military branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Space Force. One could also factor in money spent on the Department of Veterans Affairs, on overseas contingency operations, and on other security agencies, such as Homeland Security. Military contracts and budgetary plans also often overlap presidential terms, meaning that spending authorized under one president may end up getting spent under another. Furthermore, each president is faced with different domestic and global threats, which require different approaches and therefore different spending. Lastly, no president has sole discretion over military spending. For instance, sequestration, a provision of the 2011 Budget Control Act that passed Congress with bipartisan support, limited the amount that could be spent on the military. The \"green book,\" an annual budgetary analysis put out by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, shows that military spending greatly increased following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks during the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush. Spending continued to increase after Obama took office. In 2010, there was a slight decrease in military spending, and that trend continued until 2015. Spending increased again during Obama's final year in office and then continued to increase during Trump's administration. The following chart from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) takes a look at the United States' budget stretching back to the 1980s. The green line at the top of this chart represents the United States budget for National Defense. Trump's military budget for his first four years (approximately $2.9 trillion) was more robust than Obama's budget during his last four years (approximately $2.7 trillion). However, it was smaller than Obama's budget during his first four years (approximately $3.3 trillion). The Marine Corps Times writes that the military the president inherited from Obama was not depleted or facing a massive readiness crisis, which resulted from massive underfunding in the Obama years. In fact,","issues":["debt"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=12UhkdDkX79KPGP8H4hHOvvoxbyK2YrcF"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_875","claim":"Did Kirsten Gillibrand Call for Taxpayer-Funded Social Security for Undocumented Immigrants?","posted":"05\/29\/2019","sci_digest":["The senator actually proposed rectifying a system that doesn't allow immigrants to pay or receive their fair share. "],"justification":"On 21 March 2019, the junk news site Neon Nettle reported that U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) had called for undocumented immigrants to receive Social Security benefits, with American taxpayers footing the bill\u2014a claim that was later encapsulated in memetic form. Junk news reported that Gillibrand, a candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, in fact said the opposite. Although the story's headline read \"2020 Democrat Gillibrand Calls for Taxpayer-Funded Social Security for Illegals,\" Gillibrand instead stated that undocumented immigrants should be provided a path to citizenship and the \"right\" to pay taxes and contribute to Social Security and other public systems. Speaking to a crowd during a campaign stop in Davenport, Iowa, on 19 March 2019, Gillibrand said: \"First, we need comprehensive immigration reform. If you are in this country now, you must have the right to pay into Social Security, to pay your taxes, to pay into the local school system, and to have a pathway to citizenship. That must happen.\" Her remarks were captured in a Facebook Live video. The Neon Nettle story wasn't the first instance in which Gillibrand's comments were misconstrued. Shortly after she made the statement, Fox News pundit Mike Huckabee mischaracterized them as \"Let's not only give them Grandma's Social Security; let's toss in a car and maybe rent for a nice home\" during an appearance on the Fox News primetime talk show Hannity. Huckabee continued, \"I hope Kirsten Gillibrand has to go out and talk to people in their 70s who can barely afford food and tell them they're not going to get their Social Security raised because we're going to be giving it to people who broke into this country illegally.\" But as the Los Angeles Times pointed out in an analysis of the controversy, Gillibrand wasn't advocating giving away benefits to supposedly freeloading immigrants. She was discussing allowing immigrants to pay into the system openly \"via payroll and income taxes, and to receive the benefits they've earned.\" The implicit point of Gillibrand's words is that many undocumented workers today can't make those contributions because they have to operate in the underground economy to avoid detection; some are legally barred from receiving benefits even if they have a Social Security number because they never received a work permit in the U.S. If their legal status were somehow regularized and they were given a path to citizenship, they would join the rest of us in the legitimate economy, which would be beneficial for everyone. Tropes that immigrants are draining the coffers of social welfare programs and bringing in diseases or spiking crime rates are common forms of misleading propaganda. As the same Los Angeles Times analysis reported, undocumented immigrants largely pay into the Social Security system without ever benefiting from it. In 2013, Social Security Chief Actuary Stephen Goss and his staff estimated that as many as 1.8 million undocumented immigrants (they used the term unauthorized immigrants) were working and contributing to Social Security via either someone else's or a fabricated Social Security number as of 2010. All told, 3.1 million undocumented immigrants were working and paying Social Security taxes. Those contributions, which Goss estimated at $13 billion in 2010, mostly went into the administrative void. The workers who paid them had virtually no chance of ever collecting benefits either. In 2010, only $1 billion in benefits were paid based on unauthorized work.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1kz2JzgIXVgsweLUH7uk2tBDSrRQdoySh","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_876","claim":"The Psychology Behind Suicide Bombings","posted":"08\/17\/2006","sci_digest":[" E-mail reproduces interview with documentary filmmaker Pierre Rehov about the psychology of terrorism."],"justification":"Claim: E-mail reproduces an interview with documentary filmmaker Pierre Rehov about the psychology of terrorism. Example: [Collected via e-mail, 2006] The Psychology Behind Suicide Bombings By Pierre Rehov, documentary filmmaker On July 15, MSNBC's \"Connected\" program discussed the July 7th London attacks. One of the guests was Pierre Rehov, a French filmmaker who has filmed six documentaries on the intifada by going undercover in Palestinian areas. Pierre's upcoming film, \"Suicide Killers,\" is based on interviews he conducted with the families of suicide bombers and would-be bombers in an attempt to understand their motivations. Pierre agreed to a request for a Q&A interview here about his work on the new film. Q - What inspired you to produce \"Suicide Killers,\" your seventh film? A - I started working with victims of suicide attacks to make a film on PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) when I became fascinated with the personalities of those who committed these crimes, as they were described repeatedly by their victims. Particularly striking is the fact that suicide bombers are often smiling just before they detonate. Q - Why is this film especially important? A - People don't understand the devastating culture behind this unbelievable phenomenon. My film is not politically correct because it addresses the real problem, showing the true face of Islam. It points to a culture of hatred in which the uneducated are brainwashed to the extent that their only solution in life becomes to kill themselves and others in the name of a God whose word, as transmitted by other men, has become their only certainty. Q - What insights did you gain from making this film? What do you know that other experts do not know? A - I concluded that we are facing a neurosis at the level of an entire civilization. Most neuroses share a common dramatic event, generally linked to unacceptable sexual behavior. In this case, we are talking about kids who live their entire lives in pure frustration, with no opportunity to experience sex, love, tenderness, or even understanding from the opposite sex. The separation between men and women in Islam is absolute, as is the contempt toward women, who are completely dominated by men. This leads to a situation of pure anxiety, where normal behavior is impossible. It is no coincidence that suicide killers are mostly young men dominated subconsciously by an overwhelming libido that they cannot satisfy and are afraid of, as if it is the work of the devil. Since Islam describes heaven as a place where everything on Earth will finally be allowed and promises 72 virgins to those frustrated kids, killing others and themselves to reach this redemption becomes their only solution. Q - What was it like to interview would-be suicide bombers, their families, and survivors of suicide bombings? A - It was a fascinating and terrifying experience. You are dealing with seemingly normal people with very nice manners who have their own logic, which can make sense to them since they are so convinced that what they say is true. It is like dealing with pure craziness, akin to interviewing people in an asylum, as what they say is, for them, the absolute truth. I heard a mother say, \"Thank God, my son is dead.\" Her son had become a shaheed, a martyr, which for her was a greater source of pride than if he had become an engineer, a doctor, or a winner of the Nobel Prize. This system of values works completely backward since their interpretation of Islam worships death much more than life. You are facing people whose only dream, whose only achievement goal, is to fulfill what they believe to be their destiny, namely to be a Shaheed or the family of a shaheed. They don't see the innocent being killed; they only see the impure that they have to destroy. Q - You say suicide bombers experience a moment of absolute power, beyond punishment. Is death the ultimate power? A - Not death as an end, but death as a door opener to the afterlife. They are seeking the reward that God has promised them. They work for God, the ultimate authority, above all human laws. They therefore experience this single delusional second of absolute power, where nothing bad can ever happen to them, as they become God's sword. Q - Is there a suicide bomber personality profile? Describe the psychopathology. A - Generally, they are kids between 15 and 25 bearing many complexes, typically inferiority complexes. They must have been fed with religion. They usually lack a developed personality and are impressionable idealists. In the Western world, they would easily have become drug addicts, but not criminals. Interestingly, they are not criminals since they don't perceive good and evil the same way we do. If they had been raised in an Occidental culture, they would have hated violence. But they constantly battle against their own death anxiety. The only solution to this deep-seated pathology is to be willing to die and be rewarded in the afterlife in Paradise. Q - Are suicide bombers principally motivated by religious conviction? A - Yes, it is their only conviction. They don't act to gain territory or to find freedom or even dignity. They only follow Allah, the supreme judge, and what He tells them to do. Q - Do all Muslims interpret jihad and martyrdom in the same way? A - All Muslim believers believe that, ultimately, Islam will prevail on Earth. They believe this is the only true religion, and there is no room in their minds for interpretation. The main difference between moderate Muslims and extremists is that moderate Muslims don't think they will see the absolute victory of Islam during their lifetime; therefore, they respect other beliefs. The extremists believe that the fulfillment of the Prophecy of Islam and ruling the entire world, as described in the Koran, is for today. Each victory of Bin Laden convinces 20 million moderate Muslims to become extremists. Q - Describe the culture that manufactures suicide bombers. A - Oppression, lack of freedom, brainwashing, organized poverty, placing God in charge of daily life, total separation between men and women, forbidding sex, giving women no power whatsoever, and placing men in charge of family honor, which is mainly connected to their women's behavior. Q - What socio-economic forces support the perpetuation of suicide bombings? A - Muslim charity is usually a cover for supporting terrorist organizations. But one must also look at countries like Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Iran, which support the same organizations through different networks. The ironic thing in the case of Palestinian suicide bombers is that most of the money comes from financial support from the Occidental world, donated to a culture that utterly hates and rejects the West (mainly symbolized by Israel). Q - Is there a financial support network for the families of the suicide bombers? If so, who is paying them, and how does that affect the decision? A - There used to be a financial incentive in the days of Saddam Hussein ($25,000 per family) and Yasser Arafat (smaller amounts), but those days are gone. It is a mistake to believe that these families would sacrifice their children for money. However, the children themselves, who are very attached to their families, might find in this financial support another reason to become suicide bombers. It is like buying a life insurance policy and then committing suicide. Q - Why are so many suicide bombers young men? A - As discussed above, libido is paramount. Also, ego, because this is a sure way to become a hero. The shaheeds are the cowboys or the firemen of Islam. Shaheed is a positively reinforced value in this culture. And what kid has never dreamed of becoming a cowboy or a fireman? Q - What role does the U.N. play in the terrorist equation? A - The U.N. is in the hands of Arab countries and third-world or ex-communist countries. Their hands are tied. The U.N. has condemned Israel more than any other country in the world, including the regimes of Castro, Idi Amin, or Kaddahfi. By behaving this way, the U.N. leaves a door open by not openly condemning terrorist organizations. In addition, through UNRWA, the U.N. is directly tied to terror organizations such as Hamas, representing 65 percent of their apparatus in the so-called Palestinian refugee camps. As a support to Arab countries, the U.N. has maintained Palestinians in camps with the hope of \"returning\" to Israel for more than 50 years, making it impossible to settle those populations, which still live in deplorable conditions. Four hundred million dollars are spent every year, mainly financed by U.S. taxes, to support 23,000 employees of UNRWA, many of whom belong to terrorist organizations (see Congressman Eric Cantor on this subject, and in my film \"Hostages of Hatred\"). Q - You say that a suicide bomber is a 'stupid bomb and a smart bomb' simultaneously. Explain what you mean. A - Unlike an electronic device, a suicide killer has the capacity to change his mind until the last second. In reality, he is nothing but a platform representing interests that are not his, but he doesn't know it. Q - How can we put an end to the madness of suicide bombings and terrorism in general? A - Stop being politically correct and stop believing that this culture is a victim of ours. Radical Islamism today is nothing but a new form of Nazism. Nobody was trying to justify or excuse Hitler in the 1930s. We had to defeat him to make peace one day with the German people. Q - Are these men traveling outside their native areas in large numbers? Based on your research, would you predict that we are beginning to see a new wave of suicide bombings outside the Middle East? A - Every successful terror attack is considered a victory by radical Islamists. Everywhere Islam expands, there is regional conflict. Right now, there are thousands of candidates for martyrdom lining up in training camps in Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Inside Europe, hundreds of illegal mosques are preparing the next step of brainwashing for lost young men who cannot find a satisfying identity in the Occidental world. Israel is much more prepared for this than the rest of the world will ever be. Yes, there will be more suicide killings in Europe and the U.S. Sadly, this is only the beginning. Origins: Pierre Rehov is an Algerian-born filmmaker (his family left Algeria for France in 1961 when he was nine years old) who has produced a number of documentaries about the Middle East, primarily focusing on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In the wake of the 7 July 2005 terrorist bombings in London, he made several appearances on television news programs to discuss the causes and nature of terrorism and his experiences in producing films about the subject. Those appearances included a 15 July 2005 interview for MSNBC's Connected: Coast to Coast, the text of which is reproduced above. We haven't yet been able to obtain a transcript of the 15 July 2005 Connected program, so we can't guarantee that what is reproduced above is a 100% complete and accurate reproduction of Pierre Rehov's interview. However, we have verified that he was interviewed on Connected that day, that the substance of his remarks matched what is contained in the e-mail quoted at the head of this page, and that he offered substantially similar comments on other news programs around the same time as his Connected appearance. Last updated: 17 August 2006 Sources: CNN Live Saturday. \"The Psychology of a Suicide Bomber.\" CNN.com. 23 July 2005.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_877","claim":"Do Electric Vehicles and Batteries Pose a Negative Impact on the Environment?","posted":"03\/28\/2022","sci_digest":["We broke the viral Facebook post down claim by claim."],"justification":"In mid-March 2022, a widely circulated meme was sent to our editorial team for investigation, which we determined contains a mixture of true, false, and unproven claims. In a nutshell, the post argued that eco-friendly electric vehicles (EVs) were bad for the environment, and presented several vague, unsupported facts in an attempt to bolster the argument.  The Facebook post we received appeared to have started circulating online on March 12, 2022. The fact-checking website Lead Stories located a complete version of the post, which we have archived.  Lead Stories complete version archived   The entirety of the post is too long to share here, but we have broken out its primary claims below. For help evaluating them, we spoke with Elena Krieger, director of research at PSE Healthy Energy, a multidisciplinary research and policy institute focused on the adoption of evidence-based energy policy. entirety of the post Elena Krieger It is true that batteries store electricity produced elsewhere, but what that electricity is generated by depends on the electric grid that the battery is connected to. (For more background on this, read \"Energy Storage: How It Works and Its Role in an Equitable Clean Energy Future,\" by the Union of Concerned Scientists.)  Energy Storage: California has specifically designed its Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) to encourage charging at times when grid emissions are low, pointed out Krieger. As Jeff St. John wrote in an article for Green Tech Media, the goal of projects like SGIP are to incentivize power-producing technologies that contribute less to greenhouse gas emissions, such as solar or wind, than fossil fuels do. There are controversies with the technology, such as concerns that natural-gas-fueled generators used werent reducing the consumption of fossil fuels. SGIP encourage charging Green Tech Media Battery facilities also allow for power from renewable sources to be produced when the wind is blowing windmills or the sun is shining on solar panels before being stored for later use during times of high consumption. allow An electric vehicle has zero tailpipe emissions, noted Krieger. However, emissions from both greenhouse gases and health-damaging air pollutants throughout the course of the vehicles use depend on how and where the vehicle is produced, what electricity is used to charge the vehicle, and how the vehicle is disposed of. Union of Concerned Scientists analyzed data from 2018 and affirmed that EVs produce significantly fewer emissions than gasoline: affirmed Based on where EVs have been sold, driving the average EV produces global warming pollution equal to a gasoline vehicle that gets 88 miles per gallon (mpg) fuel economy. Thats significantly better than the most efficient gasoline car (58 mpg) and far cleaner than the average new gasoline car (31 mpg) or truck (21 mpg) sold in the US. And our estimate for EV emissions is almost 10 percent lower than our previous estimate two years ago. Now 94 percent of people in the US live where driving an EV produces less emissions than using a 50 mpg gasoline car. almost 10 percent lower than our previous estimate two years ago Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EPA) show that 22% of electricity generated in the U.S. was from coal plants in 2021, up from 19% the year before, so the first part of this statement is incorrect, explained Krieger. Data The second part implies that the generation is proportional to vehicle charging. This assumption may be invalid for two reasons: 1) EV adoption is very high in places like California, which has minimal coal in its power mix, and 2) it depends on when the vehicles are charged, and which power plants dominate at the time the vehicles are charged. It is true that there are rechargeable and single-use batteries, both of which contain toxic materials of varying degrees. No technology is zero impact, but some battery chemistries use fewer toxic materials than others. For example, Tesla is phasing out cobalt from its batteries, albeit likely due to outside pressure, because cobalt is often mined by children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). More on that below, explained Krieger.  phasing out It is estimated that more than 70% of the worlds cobalt is produced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Foreign-owned firms, primarily Chinese, account for about 60% of global cobalt demand to be used in the rechargeable battery industry to be used in cars and electronic devices. Cobalt mining does come with environmental complications that may outweigh its use in rechargeable electronics. The nonpartisan research group Wilson Center reports that quick cobalt extraction contributes to global warming, while mining operations generate incredibly high carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide emissions, both of which can contribute to the greenhouse effect. 60% of global cobalt reports contribute to the greenhouse effect Human rights groups have documented severe human rights issues in mining operations, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. It is estimated that of the 255,000 Congolese mining for cobalt, 40,000 are children. Council on Foreign Relations estimated Cobalt increases battery life and has been a popular choice for EV batteries, but the U.S. Geological Survey notes that the mineral is also used in a plethora of other goods, including airbags, petroleum and chemical industries, paints, varnishes, dyes, and magnets, among many other goods and processes.  popular choice notes Snopes spoke with Brandon Baxley, an LA-based engineer and physicists, who said that Einsteins formula is not the best concept to apply in this case.  Einsteins formula is more about how much total possible energy can be extracted from mass like, for example, in a nuclear explosion. It isnt relevant to something like this, said Baxley. If [the original poster] is referencing Einsteins formula, that means they arent entirely clear on the physics of the theory.  However, that doesnt mean the argument is entirely incorrect. Baxley noted that in this case, the theory of kinetic energy is a more appropriate concept. This follows that it would take the same amount of energy to move two vehicles of equal weight regardless of whether they are powered by gas or electricity  Over the last four decades, the average weight of a vehicle in the U.S. has increased from about 3,200 pounds to nearly 4,200 pounds for a variety of reasons, one of which is due to heavier battery packs in electric vehicles, according to a 2020 report by the EPA. Heavier vehicles require more energy to move than lower-weighted vehicles, but weight is just one component in addition to other factors like velocity and speed.  EPA I assume nickel-metal oxide is meant to refer to nickel-metal hydride, which is common in older Priuses. Nickel-cadmium batteries were common for small electronics but aren't used in cars or laptops or anything and are less common now. Lead-acid batteries, such as those used to start most cars, are also rechargeable. Nearly all lead-acid batteries are recycled, although it's worth noting these facilities aren't always safely managed, explained Kireger. Nearly all See, for example, the Excide plant in LA that was polluting a largely low-income Latino community for decades. Lithium-ion batteries are currently recycled at a low rate, largely because it is cheaper to make new batteries than recycle old ones, although there are a lot of start-ups working in this space (e.g. Redwood Materials, founded by former Tesla CTO). This is an area that needs additional funding, research, and regulations. polluting Redwood Materials Krieger explained that many batteries self-discharge at some rate (some higher than others), meaning that if a battery is left unused for a long period of time, it will likely have a lower state of charge over time. She furthered:  The \"ruined flashlight\" sounds like some kind of side-reaction occurred over time, likely producing materials that put stress on the battery and caused it to rupture, leaking out battery acid that damaged the surrounding casement. In terms of batteries being \"run down,\" typically a battery is considered \"dead\" when it hits some threshold where the voltage of the battery drops below a certain level. The poster is correct that you could theoretically drain a battery even more if you hooked it up to a circuit. The battery isn't exactly \"leaking\" electricity to the outside. It is likely undergoing additional electrochemical reactions that, ideally, wouldn't occur. I think what typically comes out is the electrolyte, not the electrode materials, since the electrolyte is more likely to be a liquid. You certainly shouldn't touch the electrolyte. It's often acidic. In Oakland, at least, you're not supposed to throw batteries in trash; you're supposed to put them in a separate bag on your trash can so that the hazardous waste can be managed properly and not just thrown in a landfill. I do agree that you shouldn't just throw a lithium-ion battery in a landfill. Ideally, we learn low-energy and cost-effective ways to recycle them all. Lead-acid batteries, as noted, are usually recycled, and I think that is promising for our ability to manage the future lithium-ion battery waste stream.  Getty Images  This point is part of the continued debate over whether renewable energies like solar panels and wind turbines can be considered green as they require extractive resources to build, many of which can be harmful to human health.  debate  solar panels Silicon derived from quartz is the primary material used in the production of solar cells, a process that produces greenhouse gas emissions and requires manufacturers to handle toxic chemicals. Solar panels can also be sourced and made from a variety of materials, including silicon-based panels, gallium arsenide, cadmium-telluride (often referred to as \"thin film\", etc.  primary material These aren't usually all made at once (except in relatively rare multi-junction cells); instead, most manufacturers make silicon cells, and some others use other semiconductors such as cadmium telluride. Some parts of these are recycled, some aren't. The production process, like any materials processing, does need to be conducted in a way that protects environmental and human health, said Kreiger.  recycled The EPA notes that many of the materials are easily recyclable, including glass (about 75% of a solar panel), the aluminum frame, copper wire, and plastic junction box. Toxic chemicals, including cadmium, may also be present in solar panels that can make recycling more difficult. Even so, at least one U.S. manufacturer runs dedicated recycling facilities that recover semiconductor material like cadmium and tellurium.  notes The cited windmill is also slightly off and depends on the size and model the a turbine in question. For example, the Haliade-X turbine, which is among the largest in production, caps out to just over 900 tons. Wind turbines last an average of 25 years and about 85% of component materials  including steel, copper wire, electronics, and gearing  can be recycled, according to an article published by the Union of Concerned Scientists. As of this writing, it is true that used blades cannot be recycled. It is also true that windmills are energy intensive and that the blades are largely not recyclable. As we have previously reported, some windmills may not recoup their energy-construction costs, but it is untrue to say that no windmills will generate as much energy as was invested in building them. In some cases, a well-situated windmill could pay back the energy costs in under three years.  Haliade-X turbine 900 tons article cannot be recycled blades are largely not recyclable may not recoup their energy-construction costs generate well-situated windmill The question is: how long must a windmill generate energy before it creates more energy than it took to build it? At a good wind site, the energy payback day could be in three years or less; in a poor location, energy payback may be never, wrote earth scientist David Hughes in his 2009 book, Carbon Shift: How Peak Oil and the Climate Crisis Will Change Canada (and Our Lives).  Data in the meme appears to be quoted from the Tesla website (900 pounds, 6,831 cells; this is old and likely varies by model). As Krieger notes, its difficult to generalize the weight and amount of materials in any given EV as each manufacturer uses a different chemistry and the chemistries are constantly changing. website A 2021 article published in Nature suggested that many EV batteries contain eight kilograms of lithium, 35 kilograms of nickel, 20 kilograms of manganese, and 14 kilograms of cobalt  but many companies are moving away from cobalt or advancing various technologies and the usage of certain materials. Nature  An aerial view of Moss Landing in California with the power plant pictured in the center. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Digital Visual Library  U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Digital Visual Library It appears that the original poster is referencing the Moss Landing battery project that replaced an old gas plant. Currently, it measures 400 megawatts, and operators are considering doubling it. Exactly what that expansion looks like remains to be determined.  battery project that While some of the power charging this facility might come from solar and wind, there's no guarantee it will do so. It just charges and discharges from the grid. It might charge more with solar, since we're starting to see a surplus in the middle of the day, and it might help integrate wind power, and it might do other things like help limit the need for gas plants to ramp up quickly to meet the evening peak, explained Krieger. In short, the post claiming that EVs are no better for the environment than other energy sources is a form of copypasta in which social media users copy and paste content without verifying the claims made within it. A look through social media confirmed that the uncited facts had been reposted numerous times. While there are elements of truth to the post, it largely overgeneralizes the science behind batteries and EVs and does not list sources to verify the claims. As such, we have rated this claim as a Mixture.  copypasta A Bit About Batteries. 30 Nov. 2006, https:\/\/www.tesla.com\/pt_PT\/blog\/bit-about-batteries. Are Electric Vehicles Really Better for the Climate? Yes. Heres Why. The Equation, 11 Feb. 2020, https:\/\/blog.ucsusa.org\/dave-reichmuth\/are-electric-vehicles-really-better-for-the-climate-yes-heres-why\/. Are Solar Panels Toxic or Bad For the Environment? | EnergySage. Solar News, 1 Feb. 2018, https:\/\/news.energysage.com\/solar-panels-toxic-environment\/. Are Windmill Turbine Blades Buried in Wyoming Landfill? Snopes.Com, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/wind-turbine-blades-landfills\/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Author: Elena Krieger, PhD. PSE | Physicians, Scientists, and Engineers for Healthy Energy, https:\/\/www.psehealthyenergy.org\/about\/staff\/elena-krieger\/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Calma, Justine. Tesla to Make EV Battery Cathodes without Cobalt. The Verge, 22 Sept. 2020, https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2020\/9\/22\/21451670\/tesla-cobalt-free-cathodes-mining-battery-nickel-ev-cost. Castelvecchi, Davide. Electric Cars and Batteries: How Will the World Produce Enough? Nature, vol. 596, no. 7872, Aug. 2021, pp. 33639. www.nature.com, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/d41586-021-02222-1. Cobalt Use in Batteries - Google Search. https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=cobalt+use+in+batteries&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS910US910&oq=cobalt+use+in+batteries&aqs=chrome.0.0i512j0i22i30l5.2996j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Copypasta. Snopes.com, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/collections\/copypasta\/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Could Anti-Solar Panels Use Deep Space to Generate Power at Night? Snopes.Com, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/anti-solar-panels-night-power\/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Cutting the Carbon From Californias Self-Generation Incentive Program | GTM Squared. https:\/\/www.greentechmedia.com\/squared\/dispatches-from-the-grid-edge\/cutting-the-carbon-from-californias-self-generation-incentive-program. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Did California Tell Residents Not To Charge Electric Cars Due to Power Shortage? Snopes.Com, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/california-electric-cars-charge\/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Did Total Collapse in Wind and Solar Energy Leave Germany in Need of Coal-Fired Power? Snopes.Com, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/total-collapse-wind-solar-germany\/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Do Windmills Consume More Energy to Build Than They Ever Produce? Snopes.Com, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/wind-idiot-power\/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Does Antarctica Have Functioning Wind Turbines? Snopes.Com, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/wind-turbines-antarctica\/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Electricity Data Browser. https:\/\/www.eia.gov\/electricity\/data\/browser\/#\/topic\/0?agg=2,0,1&fuel=vtvv&geo=g&sec=g&linechart=ELEC.GEN.ALL-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.COW-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.NG-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.NUC-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.HYC-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.WND-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.TSN-US-99.A&columnchart=ELEC.GEN.ALL-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.COW-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.NG-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.NUC-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.HYC-US-99.A~ELEC.GEN.WND-US-99.A&map=ELEC.GEN.ALL-US-99.A&freq=A&ctype=linechart&ltype=pin&rtype=s&maptype=0&rse=0&pin=. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Expansion Plan to Take Worlds Biggest Battery Storage Project to 3GWh Capacity. Energy Storage News, 25 Jan. 2022, https:\/\/www.energy-storage.news\/expansion-plan-to-take-worlds-biggest-battery-storage-project-to-3gwh-capacity\/. Fact Check: Electric Vehicles DO Pollute -- But Engineers Are Reducing Impacts | Lead Stories. https:\/\/leadstories.com\/hoax-alert\/2022\/03\/fact-check-electric-vehicles-do-pollute-but-engineers-are-reducing-impacts.html. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Gaines, Linda. The Future of Automotive Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling: Charting a Sustainable Course. Sustainable Materials and Technologies, vol. 12, Dec. 2014, pp. 27. ScienceDirect, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.susmat.2014.10.001. Governor Proposes $454 Million to Clean up Exide Battery Recycling Plant. Daily News, 18 May 2021, https:\/\/www.dailynews.com\/2021\/05\/17\/governor-proposes-454-million-to-clean-up-exide-battery-recycling-plant. Gulley, Andrew L., et al. Chinas Domestic and Foreign Influence in the Global Cobalt Supply Chain. Resources Policy, vol. 62, Aug. 2019, pp. 31723. DOI.org (Crossref), https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.resourpol.2019.03.015. How Energy Storage Works | Union of Concerned Scientists. https:\/\/www.ucsusa.org\/resources\/how-energy-storage-works. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Katz, Cheryl. The Batteries That Could Make Fossil Fuels Obsolete. https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/future\/article\/20201217-renewable-power-the-worlds-largest-battery. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. New Data Show Electric Vehicles Continue to Get Cleaner. The Equation, 8 Mar. 2018, https:\/\/blog.ucsusa.org\/dave-reichmuth\/new-data-show-electric-vehicles-continue-to-get-cleaner\/. Redwood Materials. Redwood Materials, https:\/\/www.redwoodmaterials.com. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Self-Generation Incentive Program. https:\/\/www.cpuc.ca.gov\/industries-and-topics\/electrical-energy\/demand-side-management\/self-generation-incentive-program. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. The DRC Mining Industry: Child Labor and Formalization of Small-Scale Mining | Wilson Center. https:\/\/www.wilsoncenter.org\/blog-post\/drc-mining-industry-child-labor-and-formalization-small-scale-mining. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. https:\/\/www.wilsoncenter.org\/blog-post\/drc-mining-industry-child-labor-and-formalization-small-scale-mining. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. The Greenhouse Effect | Center for Science Education. https:\/\/scied.ucar.edu\/learning-zone\/how-climate-works\/greenhouse-effect. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. US EPA, OLEM. Solar Panel Recycling. 23 Aug. 2021, https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/hw\/solar-panel-recycling. Vries, Eize de. Haliade-X Uncovered: GE Aims for 14MW. https:\/\/www.windpowermonthly.com\/article\/1577816?utm_source=website&utm_medium=social. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Haliade-X Uncovered: GE Aims for 14MW. https:\/\/www.windpowermonthly.com\/article\/1577816?utm_source=website&utm_medium=social. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Were Frozen Wind Turbines in Texas a Major Factor in Power Outages? Snopes.Com, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/wind-turbines-texas-power-outages\/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Why Cobalt Mining in the DRC Needs Urgent Attention. Council on Foreign Relations, https:\/\/www.cfr.org\/blog\/why-cobalt-mining-drc-needs-urgent-attention. Accessed 28 Mar. 2022. Wind Turbine Blades Dont Have To End Up In Landfills. The Equation, 30 Oct. 2020, https:\/\/blog.ucsusa.org\/james-gignac\/wind-turbine-blades-recycling\/.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=10nRp1FJ0WSC26Q5yuYevZzSJyVw0_g_E"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1PTAc_04BqViSr_FN4ipEaJICYlgR0GDJ"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=18xxud9fVG_PYWDPMDvhJlPiKGSO89gOx"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_878","claim":"No, McDonald's Is Not Offering 2 Free Big Mac Meals for a Month","posted":"04\/03\/2020","sci_digest":["Yet another \"free coupon\" scam attempted to lure social media users with bogus promises."],"justification":"In March 2020, Facebook posts circulating online offered free coupons supposedly good for two free Big Mac Meals for a month from outlets of the McDonald's fast food chain. Users who clicked on the offer were taken to an external website where they were instructed to answer survey questions in order to receive their coupons. After completing the questionnaire, however, users were required to click a button to share the \"offer\" with their Facebook friends before they could retrieve their coupons. Those who complied by spamming their friends were then allowed to click a \"Receive the Coupon\" button, but there was no actual coupon to receive. Like countless other \"free merchandise\" offers on Facebook, this offer was a common form of scam. We have had many occasions to alert readers to this kind of fraud. These types of viral coupon scams often involve websites and social media pages set up to mimic those of legitimate companies. Users who respond to these fake offers are required to share a website link or social media post in order to spread the scam more widely and lure in additional victims. Then, those users are presented with a survey that extracts personal information such as email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, and sometimes even credit card numbers. Finally, those who want to claim their free gift cards or coupons eventually learn they must first sign up to purchase a number of costly goods, services, or subscriptions. The Better Business Bureau offers consumers several general tips to avoid getting scammed.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1I8L2EUpmSAHjoPKtCSbNcccD_SXiH4XQ","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1dmUyHEzCAkkR5WJT8jaRNDSZrToJpmo0","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_879","claim":"Is Facebook Deleting an Image of a Cross Carved to Honor Fallen Firefighters?","posted":"11\/15\/2018","sci_digest":["Clickbait social media posts claim Facebook has an anti-religion bias."],"justification":"One surefire way to get people to share an item on social media is to tell them that Facebook (or Twitter or Instagram etc...) is trying to suppress that specific item from spreading. That was the case in November 2018 as Facebook users recirculated an image purportedly showing a cross carved in honor of fallen firefighters while simultaneously claiming that this photograph was being deleted by the social network: Firefighters carved this cross in honor of the fallen in Redding. FB deleted it, let's share it like crazy.   This image is not being deleted by Facebook as evidenced by its widespread prevalence on the aforementioned social media network. The text associated with this image appears to have originated with an August 14th post by Facebook user Barbara Church. That post, which has racked up nearly 500,000 shares since it was initially posted, included the claim that Facebook had deleted this image. However, at the time of this writing three months after Church's initial post, this item is still available on her page: Facebook available   Church didn't provide an explanation for why Facebook would delete this image, but the insinuation appears to be that it was (hypothetically) removed due to its religious nature. However, Facebook's community guidelines do not ban religious content. guidelines This image has been on Facebook since at least 30 July 2018 when it was shared by \"California Wildfire Net\" with the caption: California Wildfire Net My crew member Justin Godel made this in honor of fallen firefighters. Our hearts prayers and thoughts are with everyone affected and struggling. Our job is dangerous but our bond will never be broken.\" - Brittany Michelle, Diamond Fire That posting is also still available at the time of this writing. This isn't the first time that a rumor of this ilk has been shared on Facebook. In fact, \"Facebook bans _____\" could be considered its own subsect of internet disinformation. We've previously investigated false rumors holding that Facebook had banned cartoons of President Trump, photographs of military amputees, nativity scenes, Christian-themed content, the Marines Corp. emblem, the confederate flag, posts containing the word \"Amen,\" atheism, and an image of a little boy saluting an American flag. cartoons of President Trump military amputees nativity scenes Christian-themed content Marines Corp. emblem confederate flag Amen atheism American flag","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1FApZQGGD8IoS40gHVb-Ld6TlU7r_oDYn","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1SPzUnCBigE-DNS6B5eti5Hbr6XmpgnJs","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_880","claim":"Over the last 10 years, Texas created 33 percent of the net new jobs nationwide.","posted":"05\/09\/2013","sci_digest":[],"justification":"In a May 9, 2013, advertisement, Gov. Rick Perry offered President Barack Obama a handy checklist about job creation to take back to Washington, D.C.The ad, which Perrys campaign placed in theAustin American-Statesmanthe day Obama came to Austin to stress economic issues, said the checklist includes low taxes, lawsuit abuse reform, predictable and effective regulations, balanced budgets and accountable schools and a competitive workforce.And an indicator that the Texas model works, the ad said, is that while the U.S. lost 2.5 million net new jobs over the past five years, Texas created 530,000 net new jobs. Also, the ad said: Over the last 10 years, Texas created 33 percent of the net new jobs nationwide.Texas has had a healthy economy compared with most other states. Still, we were curious if one in three of the nations net new jobs over the past 10 years was gained in Texas.By email, Perry spokesman Josh Havens referred to information attributed to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicating that Texas reaped more than 1.75 million net new jobs from March 2003 to March 2013, a period in which the United States as a whole accounted for 5.3 million net new jobs, Havens said.To our inquiry, a regional economist for the bureau, Cheryl Abbot, confirmed the net job gain figures provided by Havens. According to aspreadsheetshe emailed our way, Texas topped 42 states with net job gains in the period, considerably outdistancing the No. 2 jobs-gainer, New York, which had a net gain of 458,000 jobs. States with net losses were Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio and Rhode Island.Among the states, Texas had the third-greatest percentage gain in jobs over the decade, 19 percent, trailing North Dakota (33 percent increase) and Utah (21 percent), the spreadsheet indicates.By email and in a telephone interview, though, Abbot said the bureau steers clear of using its employment estimates to declare how much of any national job gains are attributable to net job gains in individual states. That judgment has to do with technical difficulties comparing the results of surveys undertaken state by state to research intended to have national sweep, she said.Regardless, she said, Texas has been a very powerful job creator; during the period, the state created 1.75 million net jobs  and that was equal to one-third of the net jobs created nationwide, which is slightly different from saying the state accounted for 33 percent of national net jobs gained.We sent Perrys office the bureaus standingcautionary noteabout using its figures to reach conclusions about how much each state contributes to national job gains. Havens replied: The bottom line is, this is the most accurate way available to compare any single states job growth to the nation as a whole.We also tried a different way of gauging the degree that Texas job gains fit the national picture by adding up each states net job gains as estimated by the bureau. This delivered a slightly higher total for national jobs gained, 5.5 million. Dividing the 1.75 million net jobs gained in Texas into the higher total leaves Texas accounting for 32 percent of the nations net jobs gained.We also asked Jason Abrevaya, who chairs the University of Texas Department of Economics, to review the bureau figures. He said by email that they seem to hold up. If Texas had been performing at the average nationwide from 2003 to 2013, he added, one would expect the state to account for roughly 8 percent, rather than 33 percent, of the net job changes, since Texas accounts for about 8 percent of the nations jobs.Our rulingPerry said: Over the last 10 years, Texas created 33 percent of the net new jobs nationwide. That conclusion is supported by comparing state-by-state job gain estimates and a separate calculation of net job gains nationally, both by the federal government. This might be an imperfect way to explore this facet, but there also don't appear to be better approaches. We rate the claim as True.","issues":["Economy","Jobs","Texas"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_881","claim":"Higher education is one of America's strongest export sectors. Over 1 million international students studied at American universities, (in the) 2018-19 school year. They contributed over $40 billion to the economy.","posted":"07\/10\/2020","sci_digest":["A new Trump administration directive would bar foreign college students from staying in the U.S. if they take all their courses online., Hayes statistics are accurate.","Education was the sixth largest U.S. service export in 2019, the International Trade Administration told PolitiFact."],"justification":"A new Trump administration directive targeting international students at U.S. colleges is beingchallenged by universitiesin court  and by pundits on the cable news channels. Thenew Immigration and Customs Enforcement guidancewould bar foreign college students from staying in the country if they take all their courses online. International students enrolled atHarvard Universityandother U.S. collegesthat have moved fall-semester classes entirely online due to the coronavirus pandemic will have to leave the U.S. or transfer to a school with in-person teaching, according to the new rule. The rule, if put into effect, could trim the number of foreign students in the U.S. and at specific universities. It could also deal a blow to the U.S. economy, said MSNBC host Chris Hayes, who argued on his primetime TV show that the policy has no upside. Higher education is one of America's strongest export sectors, Hayes said, while displaying achart on U.S. education exports. Over 1 million international students studied at American universities, (in the) 2018-19 school year. They contributed over $40 billion to the economy. Hayes statistics are accurate. In 2019, U.S. service exports from education totaled roughly $44 billion, according to theBureau of Economic Analysis. That made education the sixth largest service export for the year, behind services such as personal travel and professional and management consulting, a spokesperson for the International Trade Administration said. Academic experts and representatives from nonprofits focused on international education also backed Hayes claims. An ICE spokesperson said Hayes statement was accurate but declined to comment further due topending litigation. Higher education is one of the few areas in which we have a big surplus of exports over imports, said Dick Startz, professor of economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who wrote about the economics of education in a2017 article for the Brookings Institution. All three of the statistics Hayes cited are correct. More than 1 million international students studied at U.S. institutions during the 2018-19 academic year, according to theInstitute of International EducationandNAFSA: Association of International Educators, two nonprofits dedicated to international education. The two organizations reported that those international students contributed more than $40 billion to the U.S. economy during the year. Experts said higher education can be considered an export because international students pay their tuition and living expenses to colleges and universities using money from abroad. International students are buying an American education, Startz said. Hence its an export. Exports from education amounted to roughly $44 billion in 2019, up from about $42.6 billion in 2018, according to theBureau of Economic Analysis. Thats more than the U.S. made from exporting manyother goodsand services in the same timeframe. Education ranked sixth among service exports in 2019, the International Trade Administration spokesperson told us. It wasfifth in 2018. Those numbers make sense when you factor in thecost of college, said Judith Scott-Clayton, professor of economics and education at Columbia Universitys Teachers College. If there are 1.1 million international students in the country, and each of them spends about $40,000 on U.S. tuition and living expenses, that gets you to $44 billion, she said. In an email to PolitiFact, Hayes also cited theInternational Trade Administrationand anarticle in the New York Times Magazinein which an Institute of International Education adviser was quoted saying higher education is one of Americas biggest exports. But the article said U.S. schools were losing their international appeal for a number of reasons, including rising tuition costs and various policies enacted under President Donald Trump. Rachel Banks, NAFSAs senior director for public policy and legislative strategy, said in a statement that new international student enrollment is down over 10% since the fall of 2016, a trend NAFSAestimateshas cost the U.S. economy $11.8 billion. Thats before the impacts of a global pandemic and related travel restrictions, several presidential proclamations targeting immigrants and nonimmigrants, and this guidance, Banks said. Therefore, we dont anticipate this downward trajectory to reverse itself anytime soon. Hayes said, Higher education is one of America's strongest export sectors. Over 1 million international students studied at American universities, 2018-19 school year. They contributed over $40 billion to the economy. Government agencies, academic experts and nonprofit organizations said Hayes statistics are correct. The money the U.S. gets from foreign students studying at its colleges and universities makes education one of the countrys top service exports. We rate this statement True.","issues":["Immigration","Economy","Education","Pundits","Trade","PunditFact","Coronavirus"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_882","claim":"Did Trump Donate to Kamala Harris' Past Election Campaigns?","posted":"08\/12\/2020","sci_digest":["Trump's reelection campaign called Harris \"a corrupt former California Attorney General.\" But did he play a small role in keeping her in that office?"],"justification":"In August 2020, readers asked us to examine the accuracy of claims that before he took office, U.S. President Donald Trump had made donations to a previous election campaign of Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., whom presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden named as his vice-presidential running mate.  Shortly after Biden named Harris as his running mate on Aug. 11, the president's reelection campaign denounced her as \"phony Kamala,\" claiming she was willing to \"abandon her own morals, as well as try to bury her record as a prosecutor, in order to appease the anti-police extremists controlling the Democrat party.\" named denounced In an email sent to supporters, the Trump campaign also labeled Harris \"a corrupt former California Attorney General\":   Paul Begala, a former advisor to former President Bill Clinton, alluded to a degree of irony in this allegation, claiming in a tweet that \"Trump donated to Kamala Harris when she was [attorney general].\" claiming In widely shared tweets, NBC News correspondent Tom Winter claimed that Trump had twice contributed to Harris' election campaign, in 2011 and 2013, donating a total of $6,000. Winter also said that Trump's daughter and advisor Ivanka Trump had herself donated $2,000 to Harris' campaign in 2014: claimed   Those claims were accurate. Records available through the campaign finance database on the website of the California secretary of state show that Trump made two contributions to Harris' 2014 campaign for reelection as California attorney general: a $5,000 donation on Sep. 26, 2011, and a $1,000 donation on Feb. 20, 2013. Harris first took office in January 2011, which means Trump contributed to her reelection when she had already been in office for eight months, and two years, respectively.  database In March 2019, The Sacramento Bee reported that a spokesperson for Harris' presidential primary campaign had said she \"donated the $6,000 Trump had contributed to a non-profit that advocates for civil and human rights for Central Americans,\" with the newspaper adding that Harris' donation of the money took place in 2015.  reported We contacted spokespeople for both Harris and Biden, requesting further details about that claim, including the name of the charity in question, and the date on which Harris purportedly donated $6,000 to the charity. We did not receive a response in time for publication. The campaign finance database also reveals that the future president made several other campaign contributions in California, to both Republicans and Democrats. He donated $2,500 to the unsuccessful 2010 gubernatorial campaign of Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who was ultimately elected to that office in 2019; he gave a total of $3,500 to Democrat Jerry Brown's successful 2006 bid to become California attorney general; he donated a total of $12,000 to committees supportive of Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger; and gave $25,000 to the state's Republican party, in 2005.   The database also corroborates Winter's claim that in June 2014, Ivanka Trump  adviser to, and daughter of, the president  herself made a $2,000 donation to Harris' successful campaign to be reelected as the state's attorney general. She also contributed $500 to the unsuccessful 2010 gubernatorial campaign of Newsom:   Ronayne, Kathleen; Weissert, Will. \"Biden Picks Kamala Harris as Running Mate, First Black Woman.\"\r The Associated Press. 11 August 2020. Cadei, Emily. \"Big-Dollar Donors, Including Donald Trump, Fueled Kamala Harris' Political Rise in California.\"\r The Sacramento Bee. 4 March 2019.","issues":["finance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1fiat4GWOGEbB8lrO5Z0elGWQJ44pnZuu","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ET5DnGwhGPP7eACIx4LHlIUrqclf8EfG","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=106otmNOc9okG_WKrvfqo1zpjqk8geaXU","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1jEdXOzM4z2OL9w1Jg_0sarbuaHEdmBcH","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_883","claim":"Colored Stickers Target Homes of Dog Owners?","posted":"03\/11\/2013","sci_digest":["Rumors that criminals are marking homes with colored stickers or bags in trees in order to steal dogs for use in dogfighting events are unfounded."],"justification":"Warnings about dog-snatchers tagging homes with colored stickers to facilitate the stealing of canines for use in dogfighting events were originally circulated in the suburbs of Perth, Australia, in February 2013 before being relocated to a UK setting the following month: Any dog owners beware, leaflet droppers or anyone walking around housing estates.Keep your eye out for small coloured STICKERS on gates or doors, gangs are marking how many dogs live there to steal and they are using them for DOG BAIT FOR FIGHTING.Ring the police immediately if you see any and inform the home owners.Remove the stickers immediately!Red stickers are for big dogsYellow for medium andPink for small breedsPlease re-share and keep your dog safe!This is already happening in the Goole Yorkshire area, UK and could be spreading across the country. This is disgusting The same rumor has also been spread involving plastic bags in trees: I've seen on Facebook that people's homes are being marked by plastic bags tied in trees indicating they have a dog. This is a sign for criminals to abduct the dog for it be used as bait in dog fighting rings. This just doesn't seem feasible.  Officials in the former area quickly got out the word that this warning was a hoax: The internet has been flooded with chilling tales of an organised underground dog fighting ring operating out of Perth's suburbs. Family pets have been systematically stolen from their yards to be trained as fighting dogs, according to reports appearing on social media and online classified websites. While many in Perth claim to know somebody who knows somebody whose pet has fallen prey to a kidnapping, authorities and social media experts have dismissed the warnings as a viral hoax. Animal welfare authorities in Perth, who have been inundated with phone calls since the messages started to appear, said the warnings were \"completely unfounded.\" \"It's a viral hoax,\" RSPCA spokesman Tim Mayne told Fairfax Media. \"Police and the RSPCA have no solid evidence on this at all. \"We've been monitoring this situation and still, to the best of our knowledge, it's a viral hoax.\" Curtin University internet studies lecturer and social media expert Tama Leaver said the lack of specific details in the messages was a dead giveaway for a viral hoax. \"If people were really trying to stop something there would be specific details about it and who they could contact,\" he said. He said the messages were so vague they had managed to cover \"the entire spectrum of Perth\". \"If something like that is appearing for two weeks and there's no official information released whatsoever  there's no police follow up  and there's no evidence of an actual fight, you'd have to question it,\" he said. Similarly, in March 2013 UK officials in Yorkshire issued a denial that area dognappers were placing stickers or other markings on vehicle tires to identify the homes of dog owners (a variant of a similar rumor that such a method was being used to target gun owners): denial rumor Police in Whitby and other areas of the county want to reassure residents that there are no gangs of dog thieves operating in the area and placing stickers on vehicles. A local officer who was called by concerned residents, has enlisted the advice of a local tyre fitter to prove that marks left on vehicle tyres are not the work of dog-nappers. Rumours have been circulating on social media sites that dog thieves have been placing stickers on vehicle tyres to mark the homes of dog owners, ready for them to go back and steal the dogs. This is not the case. The red and yellow dots seen on tyres are placed there by tyre manufacturers. The red dot denotes the heaviest part of the tyre and a yellow dot denotes the lightest. They are not the work of dog thieves. The rumor traveled to the U.S. in early 2015, when it emerged in the form of a warning involving plastic bags tied to trees as a harbinger of dognappers. According to the rumor (which spread widely on Facebook), criminals marked dog-owning homes by tying grocery bags to trees so pets could later be kidnapped for dogfighting rings. There was no explanation of how those who became wise to the purported ruse managed to differentiate bags purposefully tied to trees for signaling from discarded grocery bags that coincidentally came to rest among the branches after being blown about by wind. And as with prior variations, no instances in which pets were abducted were linked to plastic bags mysteriously found in trees prior to the canines' disappearances. As noted in our article about a similar putative home-marking scheme, there's no practical reason for persons seeking to perpetrate crimes against property to surreptitiously mark the homes of their intended victims rather than simply recording the addresses of those homes. A related warning was originally circulated in March 2012 (and again in March 2013) about a man named Michael Anthony Burdis who was reportedly attempting to obtain dogs from animal shelters to \"use as bait in dog fighting\": article This is Michael Anthony Burdis  watch out for him in all rescue centres as he's trying to get his hands on a dog to use as bait in dog fighting! Please share this far and wide  we have to stop this evil man! This warning was apparently based on information originating with the UK-based Scruples Whippet Rescue, who posted on their Facebook page back in March 2012 that: Facebook There is currently a statement being posted all over facebook about a Michael Burdis. It is claimed that the statement was written by Scruples Whippet Rescue and is badly written and reads like Michael is a volunteer for us. The statement was NOT written by any member of the Scruples team. Michael Burdis is NOT in any way a Volunteer for Scruples or in any way associated with our Rescue. He wrote on our Facebook page last week enquiring about young dogs and was REFUSED a dog and was BLOCKED from our page due to his dog fighting links. This man is currently under investigation by the RSPCA . All our Volunteers are very strictly vetted and home checked and Scruples Whippet Rescue will not have, and never have had anything to do with anyone involved in the barbaric illegal activity that is dog fighting. We are very concerned that this badly worded statement that has been written by someone unknown to Scruples is making people believe that we are involved with Michael and his activities and we are asking all Facebook groups to delete the incorrect post and post and share this statement instead. However, we found no evidence that someone named Michael Burdis is (or was) being investigated by the RSPCA in connection with dogfighting activities, and the Scruples Whippet Rescue notice states only that someone using that name inquired of them about some dogs via Facebook. The photograph circulated with this warning (not reproduced here) appears to be a picture of someone by the same name from the U.S. who has no connection to any of the claims. A similar unconfirmed warning was circulated in April 2013 naming Dell Schanze as the person going to animal shelters to obtain dogs for use as bait in dog fights. And in May 2017, the \"bags in trees\" version of the rumor re-emerged on Facebook, purportedly confirmed by a police department in Pennsylvania: re-emerged Facebook SHARING!!!!I usually don't post much on Facebook however, I just wanted to spread the word\/ make people aware of this. So I came home yesterday and noticed a bag hanging from a tree that had not been there when I left my house for about an hour, if that. The bag immediately caught my attention for some reason and it's placement looked like it had been put there on purpose rather than trash that blew into the tree. It was positioned right at the corner of my fence. For some reason, I thought I remembered hearing someone tell me that there had been other cases of this and that it was related to marking houses for people who apparently steal dogs. When I walked out and looked at the tree and the bag, I noticed that the bag was tied in 3 different places to the tree meaning someone clearly put it there for a reason, so that alone was strange to me. Even though I thought they would tell me I was psycho for calling, I called 911 and explained the situation to them and asked if I should contact SPCA or something with this problem. I was surprised to hear that this was a concerning problem and that I was correct for calling\/ report it to the police. I was even more alarmed when the 911 dispatcher asked me if I had any dogs and if so if they were inside to which I replied that my dog was inside. He then asked me if I was aware of the several recent cases of dogs being stolen\/ going missing while in their own backyards. I was instructed to lock my doors, keep myself and my dog inside, not to touch the bag or any evidence at the scene and that they were sending out a police officer right away. I was told that this \"tagging\" or \"marking\" is thought to be used for people who are scoping out neighborhoods\/ homes in which people have dogs that go outside or are left outside alone even for brief periods of time. They mark the house with a plastic bag tied to a tree at the home to leave a mark for people who will then come later and apparently lure dogs out of their yard and steal them. Although not absolutely certain why they are stealing them, they are apparently being used for dog fighting. Smaller breeds, larger breeds, or medium breeds. As I knew many of my friends here on Facebook have dogs or many of us have dogs of course, I wanted to spread the word. I was told by the police officer as well as the 911 dispatcher that even if letting the dog out for 5 minutes to go with them.   please read this especially if you have a dog or dogs!!!! pic.twitter.com\/Gh0sYVtD2l pic.twitter.com\/Gh0sYVtD2l  Bella (@b3llaconigliaro) May 19, 2017 May 19, 2017  Yet again, the warning to dog owners was shared tens of thousands of times. We contacted the Dallastown Police Department in Dallastown, Pennsylvania in an attempt to confirm that police validated the user's concerns about bags in trees and dog theft. An employee with whom we spoke denied they received any reports of dog kidnapping overall, including the sort connected to bags in trees.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/i.imgur.com\/wUDjyyL.jpg","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1vtXhmyVGda397KjAc61UTrU5DIEQxrVe","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_884","claim":"Incredible Edibles","posted":"07\/31\/2014","sci_digest":["Does Edible Arrangements fund the terrorist organization Hamas?"],"justification":"Claim: Edible Arrangements funds the terrorist organization Hamas. Example: [Collected via Facebook, July 2014] A friend posted an \"article\" about Edible Arrangements supporting Hamas: \"After you see what Edible Arrangements did for Hamas, you'll never buy from them AGAIN.\" Being suspicious, I did a search and found a number of articles, all from late 2012, and all from questionable \"news\" sources. Origins: Edible Arrangements International is a U.S.-based business that specializes in selling \"fruit bouquets,\" fruit baskets designed like floral arrangements. As of 2014, the company was a 1,200-store chain with outlets in 14 countries, including the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Italy, Turkey, Hong Kong, Oman, India, and China. Since at least as far back as 2012, rumors have circulated claiming that brothers Tariq and Kamran Farid, who founded the company, are \"devout Pakistani Muslims\" who have, through their Tariq Farid Foundation, donated money to organizations linked with Hamas, a Palestinian Islamic fundamentalist movement engaged in armed resistance and terrorism against Israel. Tariq Farid is the CEO of Edible Arrangements, which he started with his brother, Kamran Farid. Not only are they devout Pakistani Muslims, but they are also major donors and fundraisers for American mosques, Islamic schools, and similar enterprises in Pakistan. Recent tax returns of their Farid Foundation, to which they and Edible Arrangements are major contributors, show that their foundation gives tens of thousands of dollars to extremist Islamic schools and mosques in America and to Islamic Relief, the HAMAS\/Al-Qaeda\/Muslim Brotherhood \"charity\" that sends tens of millions of dollars to finance jihad around the world. The Anti-Defamation League (whose stated mission is to \"stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment for all citizens alike\") commented on such rumors back in 2012: We have received several inquiries regarding recent allegations by Debbie Schlussel in an article critical of the owners of Edible Arrangements, which sells fruit baskets and the like. Schlussel claims that the owners of Edible Arrangements are funding Palestinian terror organizations, including Hamas, through their Farid Foundation. In our judgment, Schlussel's allegations lack context and nuance, and she does not offer any clear evidence to support them. Even if the Farid Foundation has provided funding for some of the American Muslim groups she references, we believe it is an unsupported stretch to conclude that the Foundation or Edible Arrangements is funding Hamas. The ADL reiterated these points in August 2014: A widely circulated rumor suggests that the owners of Edible Arrangements, a company that sells fruit baskets through a series of privately owned franchises across the country, are funding Hamas through a charitable foundation they support. Several ideologically motivated online sites are urging consumers to boycott the company due to their ties to terrorism. In fact, there is absolutely no truth to these unfounded assertions. While the Farid Foundation has provided funding to various organizations in the U.S. and abroad, there is no evidence to suggest that any of those funds have been used to support terrorism. Moreover, the company has clearly and unequivocally denounced terrorism, including the forms of terror used by Hamas. It should also be noted that the company's franchise owners come from a variety of religious backgrounds; some are Jewish, including the company's current president. We do note that in June 2014, Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) was banned from operating in Israel due to that country's belief that IRW \"funnels cash to Hamas\": Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon signed a decree banning Islamic Relief Worldwide from operating in Israel. Israel believes IRW, which markets itself as a charitable agency that solicits donations from all over the world, funnels cash to Hamas. Ya'alon's ban was decided upon after the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), the coordinator for government activities in the territories, and legal authorities provided incriminating information against IRW. The organization has representatives worldwide, including Australia, the United States, and Britain, where it is headquartered. Some of their local branches in Gaza, Judea, and Samaria are run by Hamas operatives. Ya'alon's decree makes it illegal for IRW to function anywhere in Israel, Judea, and Samaria. It will also be forbidden from transferring funds to any destination in Judea and Samaria. \"[The IRW] is another source of funds for Hamas, and we have no intention of allowing it to operate and assist terrorist activity against Israel,\" Ya'alon said. \"This is another in a series of steps that we are taking against Hamas in Judea and Samaria and the pressure we are applying, the goal of which is to harm the organization's leadership and rank-and-file as well as its civilian infrastructure. These serve as the foundation from which Hamas operates among the local population.\" In March 2014, Blue MauMau reported on a sexual and religious harassment lawsuit against Edible Arrangements and founder Tariq Farid, which referenced charitable organizations that the Farids allegedly support: Farid and his brother, Kamran Farid (Edible Arrangements' Chief Operating Officer), at all relevant times have been the two trustees of a foundation called the Farid Foundation, operated out of the same location as Edible Arrangements. The Farid Foundation makes significant contributions to Islamic causes and organizations, including the Farid Foundation Pakistan; the Salma K. Farid Academy; Islamic Circle of North America Relief; the Muslim Coalition of Connecticut; the Inner-City Muslim Action Network; the Wallingford Islamic Center; Masjid Al-Islam; and the Islamic Association of Southern Connecticut. The funding for these donations is derived in large part from donations by Farid and his brother, and by Edible Arrangements and its affiliated entities. One of those organizations, the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), supposedly has financial ties to Hamas, but the evidence presented for that claim only references web links from the ICNA website to Hamas and similar groups, not any direct financial ties: Open support for terrorist causes was available on the websites of regional ICNA branches, even after 9\/11. As late as November 2002, the ICNA Southeast Zone website linked to the websites of Hamas, Hizballah, and terrorist organizations fighting in Chechnya, Afghanistan, and the Pakistani-Indian disputed region of Kashmir. Among its short list of recommended Islamic charities was the Islamic Society in Gaza, which openly touted its connections to Hamas. The day after the Blue MauMau article was published, Tariq Farid's legal representatives issued a letter challenging the truthfulness of its implications, demanding its retraction, and asserting, among other things, that Farid's foundation only donated to ICNA's special fund called \"ICNA Relief USA,\" an organization in New York City that, among other things, helps women with temporary housing. This letter addresses a recent article regarding my clients, Tariq Farid and the Farid Foundation, that was written by Paul Steinberg under the pseudonym \"Corbin Williston\" and published on your website, Blue MauMau. The article is false and defamatory of Mr. Farid and the Farid Foundation, and we demand an immediate and complete retraction. We also demand that the publication be immediately removed from all websites under your control. The article has been deliberately written to falsely accuse Mr. Farid and the Farid Foundation of supporting the illegal acts of alleged terrorist organizations and the activities of alleged war criminals. Moreover, the article is written so that a reasonable reader would believe that Edible Arrangements, the well-known business of which Mr. Farid is founder and CEO, also supports these alleged acts of terrorism. These statements, and the entire message of the article, are patently and outrageously false. Indeed, the author and publisher of these falsehoods could only have acted with actual malice and reckless disregard for the truth. The article asserts that Mr. Farid and the Farid Foundation support terrorist activities overseas through the Farid Foundation's donations to the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA). In fact, the Farid Foundation's only contribution was to a special fund of the ICNA called \"ICNA Relief USA,\" an organization in New York City that, among other things, helps women with temporary housing. When a rumormonger made similar false accusations against the Farid Foundation some time ago, the Anti-Defamation League responded that such \"allegations lack context and nuance and [the accuser] does not offer any clear evidence to support them. Even if the Farid Foundation has provided funding for some of the American Muslim groups she referenced, we believe it was an unsupported stretch to conclude that the Foundation or Edible Arrangements funded Hamas.\" Most egregious and defamatory is the article's clear implication that Mr. Farid and the Farid Foundation support the goals of an alleged terrorist (Ashrafuzzaman Khan) or overseas terrorist groups. There is not a shred of objective fact, cited or existing, to support this false assertion. In addition, the article is in part based on false allegations contained in a complaint of an ex-employee of Edible Arrangements. Mr. Farid and Edible Arrangements have refuted those allegations in their answer and will obtain dismissal of all claims in the litigation. Blue MauMau's original article has not been retracted, and its author published a follow-up the next day stating (in part): A few observations regarding the Edible Arrangements statement: The franchise does not dispute that the head of ICNA was recently convicted of war crimes in Bangladesh. The franchise says that Edible Arrangements actually gave money to \"a special fund\" of ICNA. In other words, although ICNA may have been run by a man convicted of torture and murder of 18 people, he also ran \"a special fund\" which \"helps women with temporary housing.\" Members of the public may find this a distinction without a difference, and they may also find it relevant that Edible Arrangements does not see any problem with ICNA's history of behavior, nor does it see any problem with the head of ICNA being a party to torture. My guess is that the people who were tortured and murdered might disagree with Tariq Farid. The franchise says that a \"reasonable reader\" may believe that Edible Arrangements and Tariq Farid \"support these alleged acts of terrorism.\" Well, yes. That is a \"reasonable\" reading of the uncontroverted facts laid out in the Blue MauMau article. Whatever the truth of those issues regarding ICNA may be, the evidence for a direct financial link between ICNA and Hamas (and thus between Edible Arrangements and Hamas) still appears rather tenuous. Last updated: 2 August 2014 O'Connor, Clare. \"How Edible Arrangements Sold $500 Million of Fruit Bouquets in 2013.\" Forbes. 8 April 2014. Williston, Corbin. \"Edible Arrangements Suit Renews Questions of Terrorist Support.\" Blue MauMau. 30 March 2014. Williston, Corbin. \"Edible Arrangements Denies Funding Terrorists.\" Blue MauMau. 31 March 2014. The Jerusalem Post. \"Israel Bans Islamic Relief Worldwide from West Bank Due to Hamas Ties.\" 19 June 2014.","issues":["finance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Gu1oUoosMym45tXVoi-Lfpq_Ak1GY2Rc","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_885","claim":"Mother Arrested for Tattooing Baby","posted":"01\/22\/2012","sci_digest":["Photograph shows a 9-month-old baby tattooed by its mother's boyfriend?"],"justification":"Claim:  Photograph shows a 9-month-old baby tattooed by its mother's boyfriend.  Example:  [Collected on the Internet, December 2011] A local New York State resident, Franny Trokerns was arrested early this morning after being turned in by her babysitter. After the babysitter noticed the child was constantly screaming as if the baby was pain she took the baby's clothes off to give her a bath and saw the baby had a REAL tattoo on the her right arm. The babysitter was in disbelief and immediately called authorities. The mother works as a dancer at a local strip bar and apparently during a night of heavy drinking of shots she allowed her on-and-off-again boyfriend Derrek Honsteads (a tattoo artist) to tattoo her 9 month old baby for a little practice!   Origins:  This image does not show a 9-month-old baby whose mother, after a night of heavy drinking, allowed her tattoo artist boyfriend to ply his trade on her child.  The infant in the picture is not a real child, and the accompanying text is simply a bit of fiction crafted by someone to create a false outrage-provoking backstory. What's pictured here is a 2010 work by Brooklyn, New York, artist Jason Clay Lewis, who describes his art thusly: Jason Clay Lewis As an artist, my approach has always been, intentionally, to confound and challengeattempts to make things fit into what we already know and think. I strive to questionperceived beauty, passion, life, death, and creation. I have an urgent conviction that artis a passionate and essential affair, as if a matter of life and death, where one sensesthe only response to death is art. Without glossing over the violence of the natural worldI asks questions about man's suicidal folly, the one we call progress, a merger into apathetic religion of commerce and profit, of false facades, and using a strategy to makeus reconsider our world of visual imagery. I tinker with these visual explanations, tryingto give them purpose, direction, and meaning. Always perfectly aware that knowing thisconstant probing does not have a sequence to a perfect solution. Atypical andfascinating, as an adventurer blending expression, analysis, and experience, I use everymeans and media available to explore the love of knowledge and depict limits, whiletrying to push those limits even farther. My interest in unique materials helps to developmy ideas of attraction verses repulsion allowing my work to have both a strong visceralfeeling while maintaining a direct cerebral presence. This particular work is entitled 'Drill Baby' and features an infant constructed from vinyl rubber, mohair, oil paint, plaster, and aluminum armature.  Photographs of the full artwork, as well as close-ups taken from multiple angles, can be viewed here. here Last updated:  22 January 2012 ","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1zCZGZqC-4AbewPuAN0scyQ5lfkAMJv1B","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_886","claim":"Clintons and Enron","posted":"03\/18\/2002","sci_digest":["E-mail attributes the Enron scandal to the Clinton administration."],"justification":"Claim: Democrats and the Clinton administration received more campaign contributions from Enron and were more accommodating of Enron's lobbying efforts than Republicans and the Bush administration. Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2002] SCANDAL IN THE WHITE HOUSE Texas, an energy company, big money, Bush in the White House. This has all the makings of a Republican scandal. Certainly, there is a political dimension here. Enron's chairman did meet with the president and the vice president in the Oval Office. Enron gave $420,000 to the president's party over three years and donated $100,000 to the president's inauguration festivities. The Enron chairman stayed at the White House 11 times. The corporation had access to the administration at its highest levels and even enlisted the Commerce and State Departments to facilitate deals for it. The taxpayer-supported Export-Import Bank subsidized Enron for more than $600 million in just one transaction. BUT ... the president under whom all this happened wasn't George W. Bush; it was William Jefferson Clinton. Origins: The debacle that was Enron was years in the making and will probably never be fully unraveled, no matter how much time is devoted to investigating it. Enron traded so much money and influence through its lobbying efforts for so many years among both Republicans and Democrats, in federal as well as state governments, that neither party can rightly take the moral high ground in decrying the scandal. As The San Francisco Chronicle reported in 2002, Enron's tentacles ran so deep into Washington's political establishment that 71 sitting senators and nearly half of the current House of Representatives received Enron money during the last decade, including some who are now investigating the company's bankruptcy. The Hartford Courant noted that the company was also generous with state and local candidates from both major political parties. Its tentacles were wrapped around high-profile figures in several administrations. The attempt made in the piece of netlore quoted above to deflect blame from the Bush administration and dump it onto the Clinton White House includes some major inaccuracies, such as the claim that \"the Enron chairman stayed at the White House 11 times\" during President Bill Clinton's tenure in office. However, as Brendan Nyhan revealed in a 2002 article, Enron CEO Kenneth Lay was never an overnight visitor at the White House during the Clinton administration; according to Nyhan, \"Lay did, however, stay at the White House when George H.W. Bush was president.\" Additionally, given the General Accounting Office's investigation into connections between Enron and Vice President Dick Cheney's planning of Bush administration energy policy, \"the corporation's access to the administration at its highest levels\" apparently continued well after Bill Clinton left the White House. According to USA Today, Enron spent nearly three times as much money lobbying the Bush administration in the first half of 2001 as it initially reported. The collapsed energy-trading company spent at least $2.46 million on efforts to influence energy and budget decisions and support its international ventures, according to an amended lobbying report Enron filed with the House and Senate on March 1. As for the supposedly shocking monetary figures mentioned (\"Enron gave $420,000 to the [Democratic] president's party over three years. It donated $100,000 to the president's inauguration festivities.\"), those numbers don't come close to matching what was reported about Enron's contributions to George W. Bush and the Republican party in The Hartford Courant: since 1989, the Houston-based energy broker and its employees have made more than $5.7 million in contributions to federal candidates and political parties, nearly three-quarters of it to Republicans. Enron was George W. Bush's biggest contributor in the 2000 presidential campaign. Nor do they match what The New York Times uncovered: Enron, Arthur Andersen, and Vinson & Elkins, a Houston law firm, are among the most generous contributors to Mr. Bush's 2000 presidential campaign. Enron has given more than $700,000 to Mr. Bush since 1993; no company has given him more. In addition, Enron's chairman, Kenneth L. Lay, was one of the \"pioneers,\" raising more than $100,000 for Mr. Bush's email campaign, and he and his wife gave a total of $10,000 to Mr. Bush's Florida recount fund. Enron and Mr. Lay also contributed a total of $200,000 to Mr. Bush's inaugural festivities. Last updated: 30 March 2006 Sources: Keen, Judy. \"Enron Tale Drags Bush Aides Along.\" USA Today. 8 February 2002 (p. A4). Lochhead, Carolyn. \"Firm Gave Campaign Funds to Half of Congress.\" The San Francisco Chronicle. 16 January 2002 (p. A12). McCoy, Kevin. \"Enron Spent $2.5M, Not $825,000, on Lobbying Efforts.\" USA Today. 8 March 2002 (p. B1). Nyhan, Brendan. \"Another Bedroom Farce.\" Salon.com. 21 February 2002. Reaves, Jessica. \"Enron: What Should Cheney Do?\" Time. 30 January 2002. van Natta, Don. \"Enron Spread Contributions on Both Sides of the Aisle.\" The New York Times. 21 January 2002 (p. A13). The Hartford Courant. \"Enron's Pervasive Influence.\" 24 January 2002 (p. A10).","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_887","claim":"Does the American Rescue Plan just have a 9% connection to COVID-19?","posted":"03\/12\/2021","sci_digest":["That percent doesn't include items like the $1,400 stimulus checks aimed at providing relief to those impacted by COVID-19. "],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease.  fighting Find out Read Submit Become a Founding Member CDC WHO On March 11, 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion stimulus package to provide relief to Americans who have been struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the days leading up to this bill's passage, a number of Republican lawmakers and pundits criticized the bill, arguing that only 9% of the relief package had anything to do with COVID-19.  signed Conservative author Melisa Tate, for example, wrote on Twitter that the bill \"only gives 9% to the American people\" while the rest went to politicians and their cronies. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said that she voted against the \"COVID relief\" bill because \"only 9% of this bill is COVID-related\" while \"the rest is allocated to liberal pet projects and blue state bailouts.\" Twitter voted against   The claim that only 9% of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan is going to COVID relief is largely false. The vast majority of this bill will provide financial relief to people, businesses, and governments who have struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The argument that only 9% of the measure will go to COVID relief appears to be an exaggeration of the fact that the American Rescue Plan will provide approximately $160 billion (about 8.5% of the total) for testing, protective gear, vaccine production and distribution, and other measures to directly combat the virus. $160 billion (about 8.5% of the total) for testing While it's true that only about 9% of this bill goes to fighting the virus directly, that figure does not include the vast majority of funds aimed at providing financial relief to those who have struggled through the pandemic. For example, the 9% does not include the most famous part of the American Rescue Plan, the $1,400 stimulus checks for individuals, which is expected to amount to around $400 billion (or about 21% of the total). This 9% figure also doesn't account for items such as unemployment insurance, a child tax care credit, funding for schools to re-open, rent assistance, and other measures aimed at providing relief to Americans.  $400 billion account for items Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, told NPR that there were two parts to the American Rescue Plan. The first dealt with combating COVID directly, while the second aimed at dealing with the financial crisis that resulted from the pandemic: NPR \"There are really two pieces to this bill. One is directly related to the health crisis, but the other, and the larger piece, is related to the economic crisis that the health crisis has created.\" The vast majority of the American Rescue Plan is concerned with providing relief to people, businesses, and governments that have suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, about $300 billion (or 15% of the bill) \"is spent on long-standing policy priorities that are not directly related to the current crisis.\" In other words, about 85% of the bill is related specifically to the impacts of COVID-19.  Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget In short: The American Rescue Plan is a multi-faceted, $1.9 trillion to bill that provides financial relief to those struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic. While it's true that only 9% of this funding will be used to directly combat the virus (via vaccine distribution and other health measures), this bill provides relief to Americans in several other ways. The $1,400 COVID-19 relief checks, for example, account for more than 20% of this $1.9 trillion bill. ","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1P3E1lJbQ1UCNxSBLDSaXMRO9ZipaZf4n"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_888","claim":"The Secret Words","posted":"02\/15\/2001","sci_digest":["Rumor has it that Groucho Marx made a risqu wisecrack about his cigar to a female 'You Bet Your Life' contestant with 17 children."],"justification":"You Bet Your Life was the post-World War II vehicle that provided Groucho Marx with a career apart from his brothers and introduced him to a generation of viewers too young to remember him from his stage or film work. The interview-quiz show, featuring the famous $100 bonus paid to any contestant who said the \"secret word\" (displayed on a cartoonish stuffed duck that dropped from above if a contestant uttered the word of the day), debuted on radio in 1947, aired on both radio and television through 1960, and continued on television only for its final season in 1960-61\u2014an amazing fourteen-year run for a quiz show with a tiny budget, a plain set, and a small jackpot (even by 1950s standards). Although You Bet Your Life was structured to make it appear as though every show was completely ad-libbed by Groucho (who issued a steady stream of impromptu questions, off-the-cuff remarks, and cutting put-downs to contestants he had met only moments earlier), a good deal of preparation went into each episode. Potential contestants were selected and interviewed in advance, scripts for each week's show were prepared by writers and reviewed by Groucho, and the comedian used a mechanical teleprompter to read his lines during the recording of the program. (In early telecasts of You Bet Your Life, Groucho can be seen reading off sheets of paper propped up in front of him on something resembling a music stand.) It was true, however, that Groucho didn't actually meet the contestants until they walked onstage, and he certainly had plenty of latitude to depart from the prepared gags and questions (as did the contestants), resulting in much of the show's banter being improvised on the spot. About an hour's worth of material was recorded for each half-hour program so that flubs, uninteresting segments, and any troublesome or offensive remarks by Groucho could be edited out. The most notable remark from Groucho's You Bet Your Life years, which has gone down in legend as one of pop culture's most notorious comeback quips, supposedly occurred when Groucho was interviewing a Mrs. Story, a contestant with a remarkably large number of children (a number that varies anywhere from 10 to 21 in different tellings of the legend): GROUCHO: \"Why do you have so many children? That's a big responsibility and a big burden.\" MRS. STORY: \"Well, because I love my children and I think that's our purpose here on Earth, and I love my husband.\" GROUCHO: \"I love my cigar, too, but I take it out of my mouth once in a while.\" But did Groucho really say this, or is it a remark that (like so many other infamous quips) originated elsewhere and was later attributed to the notable figure deemed most likely to have said it? Since You Bet Your Life was taped in advance, heavily edited, and not aired live, this remark (if it truly occurred) would certainly have been cut from the finished program as too offensive for the standards of the times; so we can state definitively that nobody ever actually heard it broadcast. If Groucho had really made this quip, the only people who would have heard it would have been those present during the recording of the program (i.e., the cast, crew, contestants, and studio audience). So, did Groucho in fact utter this risqu\u00e9 remark, even if his bon mot never made it onto the airwaves? The one person who would undoubtedly know the truth is Groucho himself, and he maintained in a 1972 interview with Roger Ebert for Esquire magazine that he never said it: \"I got $25 from Reader's Digest last week for something I never said. I get credit all the time for things I never said. You know that line in You Bet Your Life? The guy says he has seventeen kids and I say: 'I smoke a cigar, but I take it out of my mouth occasionally'? I never said that.\" This debate really should end here, based on a complete lack of evidence that Groucho ever said any such thing, coupled with his unequivocal statement affirming that he did not. Instead, the legend persists in large part because misinformation about it is propagated over and over. Take, for example, the following account, presented as a first-person telling in a 1976 book often touted as a Groucho Marx autobiography, The Secret Word Is Groucho: \"Wherever I go, people ask me about a remark I purportedly made to Mrs. Story. Folklore about the encounter has been so broadly disseminated that it has been variously described as occurring with a mother having any number from ten to thirty children. The story, however, is not apocryphal. It did happen. 'Why do you have so many children?' I asked Mrs. Story. 'That's a big responsibility and a big burden.' 'Well,' she replied, 'because I love children, and I think that's our purpose here on Earth, and I love my husband.' 'I love my cigar too,' I shot back, 'but I take it out of my mouth once in a while.' That kind of remark can have one of two reactions. It will either cause a sharp intake of breath at having crossed some forbidden frontier or it will bring the house down. The studio audience loved it, but the people out there in Radioland never got a chance to react. The exchange was clipped out by Dwan, the house censor.\" But even though Groucho is credited as the primary author of The Secret Word Is Groucho, it isn't really an \"autobiography.\" The book was actually put together in the waning years of the comedian's life by freelance writer Hector Arce, who ostensibly obtained input from Groucho; and it's unlikely that Groucho's declining health and memory allowed him to contribute much (if anything) to the finished work, leaving Arce to rely on secondary sources. Arce consulted various personnel associated with You Bet Your Life in producing the book; almost certainly one (or more) of those people proffered the \"cigar\" story as true to Arce, who rewrote it in Groucho's voice and inserted it into the book, unaware that his subject had denied it just a few years previously. Arce's account doesn't sound like Groucho's speaking or writing style at all, and it presents a Groucho who has suddenly \"remembered\" details he was previously unfamiliar with in his Esquire interview a few years earlier (i.e., he's corrected the gender of the person he was addressing from male to female, he now recalls the contestant's name, and he's fixed the wording of the remark from \"I smoke a cigar, but I take it out of my mouth occasionally\" to the pithier \"I love my cigar too, but I take it out of my mouth once in a while\"). While the 1972 Esquire interview in which Groucho discussed this quip undeniably contained Groucho's own words, the same can't be said for what was presented in Arce's book. The Secret Word Is Groucho account quoted above also has Groucho asserting that the purported exchange with Mrs. Story was \"clipped out by Dwan, the house censor.\" Groucho, of course, would have known that Robert Dwan was not a \"house censor\"; he was one of the producers who worked on You Bet Your Life for its entire run, staging the weekly performances and supervising the editing of each episode for broadcast. In his own book about the program (As Long As They're Laughing: Groucho Marx and You Bet Your Life), Dwan wrote: \"Last summer in Maine, a respectable New York dealer in rare books sidled up to me and said, conspiratorially, 'Is it true Groucho made that crack about his cigar?' I knew immediately what he meant. For a long time, I, too, believed it was a figment of the mass libido. But, after discussions with my late partner, Bernie Smith, I am convinced that it did happen. I now believe that Groucho said it, but that he didn't mean what the dirty joke collectors think he meant. That remark, taken at its burlesque show level, was simply not his style. But outside of that studio audience and the 200 people who laughed that night, no one else ever heard that joke, because the exchange was never broadcast. It was never heard beyond the confines of NBC Studio C in Hollywood, and yet the story has spread to become an underground legend.\" This account is even more curious: Robert Dwan, the man who was onstage for every performance of You Bet Your Life and who supervised the editing of the show, didn't remember hearing Groucho make such a remark, yet he came to \"believe\" the legend was real because someone else told him so many years after the fact. And although Dwan noted that he consulted \"20 volumes of the original scripts\" and a \"collection of acetate recordings of the unedited performances and tapes of the edited broadcasts\" and four reels of 16mm film consisting of \"the funniest and most audacious of the sequences which we were required to delete from the broadcasts as being unsuitable for viewing in the 1950s\" in the preparation of his book, he made no mention of turning up anything supporting the \"cigar\" story. Steve Stoliar, who worked as a secretary in Groucho's household during the last few years of the comedian's life, also made an affirmative case for this legend in his 1996 book, Raised Eyebrows: My Years Inside Groucho's House: \"You may have heard about a legendary line concerning a certain cigar that Groucho was alleged to have uttered during one program. Some say it never happened; others swear they've seen it on TV. As it turns out, the truth is somewhere in between. One of the unexpected pleasures of spending time with the people behind the scenes was getting to the bottom of this infamous incident. For the record, it was [You Bet Your Life head writer] Bernie Smith who provided us with the details. To our amazement, Bernie had kept a chart throughout the life of the show, in which he had meticulously recorded the names of the contestants, what the secret word was, and how much they ended up winning. There was, it seems, a sign painter named Mr. Story who lived in Bakersfield, California. He and his wife had what was reputed to be the largest family in America. Originally there were twenty-two children, but three had died. During the first season of You Bet Your Life, when it was broadcast on radio only, the Story family was bused in from Bakersfield to be contestants on the show. After a bit of small talk, the conversation went like this: Groucho: 'How many children do you have?' Mrs. Story: 'Nineteen, Groucho.' Groucho: 'Nineteen?! Why do you have so many children? It must be a terrible responsibility and a burden.' Mrs. Story: 'Well, because I love my children and I think that's our purpose here on Earth and I love my husband.' Groucho: 'I love my cigar, too, but I take it out of my mouth once in a while!' The studio audience went wild, but director Bob Dwan ordered the exchange deleted before it could be aired because it was obviously too racy for 1947 sensibilities. So the Story story is true, but anyone who claims to have seen that program is either mistaken or lying because it occurred three years before the show's 1950 television debut and it was edited out of the radio show before anyone but the studio audience had a chance to hear it. Unfortunately, no copies of that legendary outtake are known to have survived. Although the imagined dialogue between Groucho and the female contestant is lifted directly from The Secret Word Is Groucho, this account does at least introduce some detail to the story (e.g., a specific number of children, the hometown of the contestants, the father's occupation, the year of the interview) indicating actual research rather than mere repetition of legend. As we'll see shortly, however, some of this detail is inaccurate. The most recent presentation of the \"cigar\" legend we're aware of is the background booklet enclosed with the 2003 DVD release You Bet Your Life: The Lost Episodes (a collection of some of the show's preserved TV episodes), which contained the following information about an audio bonus feature included on one of the discs: \"In December 1950, DeSoto distributed a twelve-inch 78rpm recording featuring highlights from You Bet Your Life and a holiday message from Groucho to their dealers. The nine-minute recording includes an excerpt from Groucho's November 17, 1947 radio interview with Mr. and Mrs. Story of Bakersfield, California, the parents of twenty children. This interview has become legendary for a portion of it that never aired. Groucho: 'Why do you have so many children? It must be a terrible responsibility and a burden.' Mrs. Story: 'Well, because I love my children and I think that's our purpose here on Earth, and I love my husband.' Groucho: 'I love my cigar, too, but I take it out of my mouth once in a while.'\" Considering how many people have claimed to have seen or heard that exchange over the years, it would seem likely that it must exist somewhere. But of the ninety-nine radio episodes of You Bet Your Life that aired prior to the show's television debut, fewer than half of them survive. And the show with Mr. and Mrs. Story is not among them. The famous exchange would certainly have been edited out anyway. The brief clip from Season's Greetings from DeSoto Laughs with Groucho is all that remains of this episode. And the only people who witnessed that legendary moment were in the studio audience that fateful night in 1947. (Note that the imagined dialogue between Groucho and Mrs. Story is lifted directly from the book The Secret Word Is Groucho, another indication that it came from someone associated with the You Bet Your Life program and not Groucho himself.) It is true that Marion and Charlotte Story of Bakersfield, California, the parents of twenty children, were once featured as contestants on You Bet Your Life. According to announcer George Fenneman's introduction, Mr. and Mrs. Story were selected to participate because the producers thought it would be interesting to go through the audience and find the couple with the largest number of offspring for Groucho to interview, and as the parents of twenty children (not nineteen, as stated in Raised Eyebrows), Mr. and Mrs. Story qualified for that honor. (Since You Bet Your Life was a well-planned show that interviewed and prepped its contestants in advance, Mr. and Mrs. Story likely appeared on the program by invitation and were not merely present in the audience by happenstance, with George Fenneman's introduction of them probably stretching the truth a little to create an exaggerated sense of spontaneity for the listening audience.) It is also true that this interview took place during You Bet Your Life's days as a radio-only program (it didn't begin airing on television in addition to radio until October 1950); so even if the \"cigar\" quip had sprung from this encounter, anyone who now claims to have seen Groucho make the remark on television is clearly mistaken. As usual, however, the DVD booklet's account is rife with misinformation. A complete audio recording of (the broadcast portions of) Marion and Charlotte Story's appearance on You Bet Your Life does indeed exist (and is linked below). Moreover, that recording couldn't possibly date from November 17, 1947, as claimed, because Groucho can be heard making promotional references to DeSoto-Plymouth, who did not become sponsors of You Bet Your Life until partway through the 1949-50 season. (External evidence indicates this recording actually dates from the broadcast of January 11, 1950, the first show aired after DeSoto-Plymouth took over sponsorship of You Bet Your Life from Elgin-American.) What do we find in this recording? It does not include anything like the infamous \"cigar\" quip, Groucho's only mention of stogies coming when he inquires of Mr. Story, \"With each new kid, do you go around passing out cigars?\" (\"I stopped at about a dozen,\" Mr. Story responds.) And for those who would claim that the \"cigar\" remark was indeed uttered by Groucho but excised from the aired version of the show, we note that none of the claimed dialogue ancillary to that remark is present in the recording, either: Groucho does not ask Charlotte Story why she has so many children, neither Mr. nor Mrs. Story professes to thinking that having children is \"our purpose here on Earth,\" nor does Mrs. Story proclaim that she loves her husband. As we touched on earlier in this article, it's a common phenomenon of urban legendry that amusing stories involving clever repartee often retroactively place words into the mouths of the famous people deemed most likely to have said them. Sometimes, however, the designated mouths don't really match up with the words assigned to them. Johnny Carson's image has long been saddled with the claim that he made a risqu\u00e9 remark to a cat-carrying starlet on the Tonight Show, even though he was never known for employing that sort of crude sexual humor in his TV talk show host role. Likewise, although it might seem that no one would fit a sexual double entendre involving a cigar better than Groucho Marx, even You Bet Your Life producer Robert Dwan acknowledged (as quoted above) that it was too burlesque and not really Groucho's style. It was the kind of dirty put-down Groucho might blurt out in private, but not to a kindly couple on a national radio program. Groucho's style on You Bet Your Life was typically much gentler, as exemplified by the following exchange made under similar circumstances (i.e., when he questioned a female contestant who came from a family of seventeen children): GROUCHO: \"How does your father feel about this rather startling turn of events? Is he happy or just dazed?\" DAUGHTER: \"Oh, my daddy loves children.\" GROUCHO: \"Well, I like pancakes, but I haven't got closets full of them.\" It's not inconceivable that the infamous \"cigar\" quip might have originated with this very exchange, when someone later misremembered or deliberately \"naughtied up\" the dialogue to better fit Groucho's public image and changed \"pancakes\" to \"cigar.\"","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1615LxE_vIgGdRDOY_sbd6vDsVtBfAOW8","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1zkj8hVNihmR5W-aLaDMozgaVoTHs-8cj","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1dKftFhPoTXzLVOhqydzKzX0r0bv4s28W","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_889","claim":"Did Barack and Michelle Obama Lose Their Law Licenses?","posted":"04\/08\/2010","sci_digest":["Rumor holds that the Obamas 'surrendered' their law licenses to avoid pending disciplinary actions."],"justification":"Several similar items have been circulated during or since the 2008 U.S. presidential election, all suggesting (without evidence) that Barack and Michelle Obama, both of whom obtained licenses to practice law in Illinois, were forced to give up those licenses in order to avoid having them revoked through disciplinary actions or criminal prosecution. In fact, neither of the Obamas gave up their law licenses because they were facing disciplinary actions or criminal charges: Barack Obama  Editor of the Harvard Law Review  Has No Law License? I saw a note slide across the #TCOT feed on Twitter last night that mentioned Michelle Obama had no law license. This struck me as odd, since (a) she went to school to be a lawyer, and (b) she just recently held a position with the University of Chicago Hospitals as legal counsel  and that's a pretty hard job to qualify for without a law license. But being a licensed professional myself, I knew that every state not only requires licensure, they make it possible to check online the status of any licensed professional. So I did, and here's the results from the ARDC Website: She \"voluntarily surrendered\" her license in 1993. Let me explain what that means. A \"Voluntary Surrender\" is not something where you decide \"Gee, a license is not really something I need anymore, is it?\" and forget to renew your license. No, a \"Voluntary Surrender\" is something you do when you've been accused of something, and you \"voluntarily surrender\" you license five seconds before the state suspends you. Here's an illustration: I'm a nurse. At various times in my 28 years of nursing I've done other things when I got burned out; most notably a few years as a limousine driver; even an Amway salesman at one point. I always, always renewed my nursing license  simply because it's easier to send the state $49.00 a month than to pay the $200, take a test, wait six weeks, etc., etc. I've worked (recently) in a Nursing Home where there was an 88 year old lawyer and a 95 year old physician. Both of them still had current licensures as well. They would never DREAM of letting their licenses lapse. I happen to know there is currently in the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City Indiana an inmate who is a licensed physician, convicted of murder when he chased the two burglars who entered his home and terrorized his family into the street and killed them. (And I can't say I blame him for that, either.) This physician still has an active medical license and still sees patients, writes prescriptions, etc all from inside the prison. And he renews his medical license every two years, too. I tried looking up why she would \"Voluntarily surrender\" her license, but Illinois does not have it's 1993 records online. But when I searched for \"Obama\", I found this: \"Voluntarily retired\"  what does that mean? Bill Clinton hung onto his law license until he was convicted of making a false statement in the Lewinsky case and had to \"Voluntarily Surrender\" his license too. President Barack Obama, former editor of the Harvard Law Review, is no longer a \"lawyer\". He surrendered his license back in 2008 possibly to escape charges that he \"fibbed\" on his bar application. This is the former editor of the Harvard Law Review who doesnt seem to give a crap about his law license. Something else odd; while the Search feature brings up the names, any searches for the Disciplinary actions ends quickly. As in, Too Quickly. Less than a half-second quickly on a Search Engine that can take five seconds to Search for anything. As in, \"there's a block on that information\" kind of thing. So we have the first Lawyer President and First Lady  who don't actually have licenses to practice law. There's more to this story, I'm sure. I'll let you know when I find it. Such claims are false ones, based on misreadings of information about license status and erroneous interpretations and assumptions about such information, as detailed below: I saw a note slide across the #TCOT feed on Twitter last night that mentioned Michelle Obama had no law license. This struck me as odd, since (a) she went to school to be a lawyer, and (b) she just recently held a position with the University of Chicago Hospitals as legal counsel  and that's a pretty hard job to qualify for without a law license. This lead-in was wrong on two counts: Michelle Obama does in fact have a license to practice law in Illinois (it is currently on inactive status), and she did not hold a position as legal counsel with the University of Chicago Hospitals (rather, she worked at that institution as Executive Director for Community Affairs and then Vice President for Community and External Affairs). None of her job duties at the University of Chicago Hospitals required her to have an active law license. worked She \"voluntarily surrendered\" her license in 1993. Let me explain what that means. A \"Voluntary Surrender\" is not something where you decide \"Gee, a license is not really something I need anymore, is it?\" and forget to renew your license. No, a \"Voluntary Surrender\" is something you do when you've been accused of something, and you \"voluntarily surrender\" you license five seconds before the state suspends you. This passage was also wrong: Michelle Obama did not \"voluntarily surrender\" her law license; she requested that her license be placed on \"inactive\" status. The difference is crucial: a lawyer who has surrendered his law license has given it up and therefore no longer has a license, while a lawyer who has gone on inactive status still holds a valid law license but is not currently engaged in any professional activities that require it to be active. At various times in my 28 years of nursing I've done other things when I got burned out; most notably a few years as a limousine driver; even an Amway salesman at one point. I always, always renewed my nursing license  simply because it's easier to send the state $49.00 a month than to pay the $200, take a test, wait six weeks, etc., etc. I've worked (recently) in a Nursing Home where there was an 88 year old lawyer and a 95 year old physician. Both of them still had current licensures as well. They would never DREAM of letting their licenses lapse.  A lawyer's holding active license status can entail a number of obligations, both financial and otherwise: paying bar association fees, carrying malpractice insurance, taking continuing legal education classes, etc. Therefore, it is not uncommon for lawyers who are not in practice (i.e., do not appear in court or counsel clients) and do not expect to return to practice in the near future to request that their licenses be placed on inactive status in order to avoid these ongoing obligations. Reactivating an inactive law license is a fairly easy procedure, as noted in the Volokh group blog for law professors: Volokh The fact that someone who doesn't actually practice law, and is unlikely to practice law, voluntarily retires is hardly a sinister signal: It costs money to be a member of the bar, and if you're not going to practice, it may make sense to retire. Nor does this somehow undermine claims that he's a lawyer; a retired lawyer is still commonly called a lawyer  as an indication of what he has studied, and his general professional field  even if he is no longer a member of the bar. The bar record says that [Michelle Obama] is \"Voluntarily inactive.\" This is even more common for lawyers who don't need a bar card, such as many lawyers who don't appear in court or counsel clients other than [their] employer. Being an active status lawyer costs more money than being inactive, and it requires one to do Continuing Legal Education classes, unless one is in certain jobs for which the CLE requirements are waived. The difference in bar fees, for instance, is why I myself was inactive in 2001. Moreover, it's pretty easy to switch back to active status should one need to do that. The following passage included the erroneous implication that Barack Obama also gave up his law license to avoid disciplinary action: \"Voluntarily retired\"  what does that mean? Bill Clinton hung onto his law license until he was convicted of making a false statement in the Lewinsky case and had to \"Voluntarily Surrender\" his license too. President Barack Obama, former editor of the Harvard Law Review, is no longer a \"lawyer\". He surrendered his license back in 2008 possibly to escape charges that he \"fibbed\" on his bar application. This passage was similarly incorrect: Barack Obama did not \"surrender\" his law license. Like his wife, Barack Obama had no need for an active law license for the work in which he was engaged, so in February 2007 (after announcing his candidacy for the presidency) he chose to have his law license placed on voluntarily inactive status, and after becoming president he opted to change his status to voluntarily retired. Neither of the Obamas was irrevocably stripped of a law license through the action of \"surrendering\" it. James Grogan, deputy administrator and chief counsel for the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of the Supreme Court of Illinois, affirmed that the Obamas were \"never the subject of any public disciplinary proceedings,\" and the Illinois State Bar Association continues to list Barack and Michelle Obama as Honorary Members of that organization. list Something else odd; while the Search feature brings up the names, any searches for the Disciplinary actions ends quickly. As in, Too Quickly. Less than a half-second quickly on a Search Engine that can take five seconds to Search for anything. As in, \"there's a block on that information\" kind of thing. The above passage was also not true. Information about the statuses of both Barack and Michelle Obama's licenses is readily retrievable, both show no record of any disciplinary actions or pending proceedings, and the elapsed time for searches we performed on their information was comparable to that for searches on information about other names in the Illinois ARDC database.   (The \"Malpractice Insurance\" section of Michelle Obama's license information which included a notation about her being on \"court ordered inactive status\" was not, as commonly misinterpreted, an indication of any wrongdoing on her part. That terminology was used simply because prior to the end of 1999, the Illinois ARDC rules required \"a proceeding in the Court for any voluntary transfer to inactive status, whether because of some incapacitating condition or solely as a matter of the lawyer's preference because the lawyer would not be practicing law.\") rules So we have the first Lawyer President and First Lady  who don't actually have licenses to practice law.  This was hardly remarkable or suspicious: neither of the Obamas held a currently active law license because neither President of the United States nor First Lady was a position that required one. This statement was also inaccurate in referring to the Obamas as the \"first Lawyer President and First Lady,\" as both Bill and Hillary Clinton held law degrees and engaged in legal work prior to the former's election to the presidency.","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1FeFFGC90QVKBHG4-_6tqPhE18q9kbqJ9","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=16beR4ADvW53L-jup19BWFdvIEVlH_Mwo","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_890","claim":"In the last two years, super PACs raised more than $180 million -- with roughly half of it coming from fewer than 200 super-rich people and roughly 20 percent from corporations.","posted":"03\/13\/2012","sci_digest":[],"justification":"This years primary elections are getting so nasty that Lithonia Congressman Hank Johnson has taken to calling them slimary elections.In an op-ed on liberal website The Huffington Post, Johnson, a Democrat, blamed the viciousness on super PACs, political fundraising organizations that can raise unlimited amounts of money from individuals, corporations and unions alike.In the last two years, super PACs raised more than $180 million -- with roughly half of it coming from fewer than 200 super-rich people and roughly 20 percent from corporations, Johnson wrote in the Feb. 24 article.Those are some big bucks, wealthy people, and generous businesses. We wondered if Johnson got his numbers right.Super PACs became legal after a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision. They are an object of ire for those who think they can be used to buy elections and help donors obscure their identities.A Johnson spokesman said the congressman got his data from articles in Politico and Roll Call. The stories, which ran Feb. 8, lay out the findings of Auctioning Democracy: The Rise of Super PACs & the 2012 Election.The report was authored by left-leaning policy and advocacy group Demos and U.S. Public Interest Research Group, or U.S. PIRG, a consumer advocacy group. It argued that super PACs skew American politics by giving outsize influence to wealthy donors who hold views that do not represent those held by the broader public.Johnsons account matched both news accounts descriptions of the Auctioning Democracy report. One of these descriptions could have been more precise, but they were not unreasonable.From the advent of super PACs to the end of 2011, donors have contributed a total of $181 million in what are called itemized individual contributions to super PACs, the report states. These are contributions from donors who give more than $200. Super PACs must report donor names once their contributions pass this threshold.The report did not tally contributions by small donors, said Adam Lioz, a Demos official and an author of the report.Demos and U.S. PIRG found that 196 people donated $100,000 or more to super PACs, which is just shy of 200 individuals. Calling them super-rich is polarizing, but its reasonable to assume that people who can afford to make a $100,000 donation have unusually high incomes.We used the reports findings to calculate that donations of the super-rich amounted to about 43 percent of total contributions. This is some 7 percentage points lower than the roughly half figure that Johnson used.For-profit businesses contributed 17 percent of itemized donations, the report states. This is just shy of the 20 percent Johnson cited.We checked with the Sunlight Foundation, a nonpartisan organization that advocates for more transparency in government. It is the source of much of the data used in the report, so we wanted to get the organizations take on the numbers. A spokesman said they found no problems with the conclusions of Auctioning Democracy.But for the sake of due diligence, we compared the reports numbers to data published by the Center for Responsive Politics, which keeps a rolling tally of super PAC contributions on its websiteOpenSecrets.org.The data from the CRP and the Auctioning Democracy report are not easy to compare. They track contributions over different time periods, and the CRP tallies a broader pool of contributions.However, we felt an analysis of the CRP data would give us a rough sense of whether Demos and U.S. PIRG overstated their results to make their case.First, we looked at the CRPs count of total super PAC donations.From 2010 to late February, about $215 million had been donated to super PACs, according to the CRP data. This is about $35 million -- or 20 percent -- more than the data published in Auctioning Democracy, but this difference did not signal major flaws.The CRPs number should be significantly higher than the figures in Auctioning Democracy. The report excludes donations of $200 or less as well as contributions for the 2012 calendar year. The CRP includes them.Next, we looked at whether roughly half of super PAC donations came from 200 super-rich people. The CRP publishes a list of the top 100 super PAC donors for the 2012 election cycle on its website. We found they donated about $74 million so far, or 57 percent of the cycles $130 million total.The count in Auctioning Democracy was lower, which suggests that Demos and U.S. PIRG did not overstate the significance of donations from the super-rich.We had difficulty using the CRPs data to check corporate or business donations. The CRPs Web page lists too few organizations, and does not distinguish between for-profit businesses and groups such as labor unions or advocacy organizations.Our rulingJohnson wrote that [i]n the last two years, super PACs raised more than $180 million -- with roughly half of it coming from fewer than 200 super-rich people and roughly 20 percent from corporations.On balance, Johnsons claim reflects the findings of a report by two advocacy groups that are critical of super PACs. The statistics Johnson uses also make sense in light of data published by a separate group.We give Johnson a True.","issues":["Georgia","Campaign Finance"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_891","claim":"Blue Owls Aren't Real, Despite Pictures Shared Online","posted":"12\/02\/2022","sci_digest":["One particularly striking picture of a blue owl was shared on social media in November 2022."],"justification":"On Nov. 24, 2022, a Facebook user posted a picture of a blue owl. However, blue owls are not real, meaning that the image was a fake. posted  The post from Nov. 24 was shared at least 2,000 times in a little over one week. It was the earliest posting of the picture that we have found so far. On Twitter, the fake blue owl picture, which showed cat-like whiskers for the animal, received hundreds of thousands of likes. For example, this tweet from@jimrosecircus1 was posted on Dec. 1, 2022. It showed nearly 150,000 likes by the next day. The caption read, \"I hope you don't mind this adorably majestic blue owl in your newsfeed.\" tweet  Under the tweet, Twitter added a context note that read, \"There is no such thing as blue owl. It looks really good but unfortunately it's not true.\" On Dec. 2, the @daily__owls Twitter account also posted the fake picture of the blue owl with the misleading caption, \"The beautiful Norwegian Blue owl.\" posted  According to Brittanica.com, \"owls vary in color from white through many shades of tan, gray, brown, or rufous (reddish) to deep brown.\" Despite the beauty of the blue and orange owl in the picture, it's just not real. Brittanica.com Hoax hunter @HoaxEye tweeted of the blue owl image that it may have been generated by artificial intelligence (AI). The tweet also tagged the user @Valdevia_Art, who added that they believed it was likely not as simple as a color change in Adobe Photoshop. Instead, the user said that it \"does seem AI-generated.\" tweeted added said This wasn't the first time a picture of a purportedly blue owl made its way around social media. In 2021, USA Today's fact-check team debunkeda picture of what online posts referred to as a \"blue Philippines owl.\" VisitCryptoVille.com previously published a story about the same picture five years earlier. debunked picture story Back in 2019, AFP filed a report about a \"beautiful blue owl of Madagascar,\" which also was fake. report At Snopes, we've previously fact-checked photos purporting to show a multicolored \"rainbow owl\" (fake) and a \"rare red owl with blue eyes\" (also fake). rainbow owl rare red owl with blue eyes This story will be updated if we find more details about the origins of the blue owl picture. As noted by some knowledgeable Twitter users, it may have simply been generated by AI. @Daily__Owls. Twitter, 2 Dec. 2022, https:\/\/twitter.com\/Daily__Owls\/status\/1598613376992792576. @HoaxEye. Twitter, 2 Dec. 2022, https:\/\/twitter.com\/hoaxeye\/status\/1598734104396079104. @jimrosecircus1. Twitter, 1 Dec. 2022, https:\/\/twitter.com\/jimrosecircus1\/status\/1598366192817045504. \"Owl - Appearance and Classification.\" Britannica.Com, https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/animal\/owl\/Form-and-function. Sadeghi, McKenzie. \"Fact Check: Viral Image Claiming to Be a Blue Philippine Owl Is Doctored.\" USA TODAY, 22 Feb. 2021, https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/factcheck\/2021\/02\/22\/fact-check-viral-image-purported-blue-philippine-owl-doctored\/4533533001\/. Salah, Dr. Muhammad. \"Just Admire the Beauty of Allah's Creation!\" Facebook, 24 Nov. 2022, https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MSalahOfficial\/posts\/pfbid0TazmyskVgTA2axagkDCMNrAUqheW4LRPz91UvMUaK3v6xywK5JgrQHjLy6YysK61l. \"The Blue Owl of the Philippines 19-31.\" VisitCryptoVille.com, 19 Jan. 2016, https:\/\/visitcryptoville.com\/2016\/01\/19\/the-blue-owl-of-the-philippines-19-31\/. @Valdevia_Art. Twitter, 2 Dec. 2022, https:\/\/twitter.com\/valdevia_art\/status\/1598752209935560706. Yan, Rachel. \"No, This Is Not a Genuine Photo of a Blue Owl in Madagascar.\" AFPFact Check, 4 June 2019, https:\/\/factcheck.afp.com\/no-not-genuine-photo-blue-owl-madagascar.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1d1oAgd-vUmeBtDXiHZ8QO0M5KdOQLYDp","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1LehWam9i5k2Sx9vQzTOjhUEP9K1Y4vE0","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1WIAam0PubfQtcm--ZWLxOaU92uAObFsG","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_892","claim":"Do refugees who are considered 'illegal' receive a monthly payment of $3,874 from the government?","posted":"11\/15\/2017","sci_digest":["\"This is what 1 illegal refugee gets with the federal assistance program: $3874 per month.\""],"justification":"As is the case for many Western democracies, the Canadian government's formal efforts to help refugees settle in the country have been the subject of much speculation, criticism, and misinformation in recent years. In the fall of 2017, a viral Facebook post spread even more misinformation about the benefits received by refugees in Canada. On September 1, 2017, Facebook user Mike Marcoux posted what appears to be a photograph of an itemized breakdown of benefits associated with the Resettlement Assistance Program, along with the message: \"This is what 1 illegal refugee gets with the federal assistance program: $3,874 per month.\" We have modified the image to obscure the name of the recipient, which was included in the original photograph. Although this document appears to be authentic, according to the Canadian Council for Refugees, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and advocating for refugees, its representation on Facebook was highly misleading. The document details payments to a family of five (not a single person) who were refugees accepted by Canada (and therefore are not in the country \"illegally\"), and most of the listed payments are one-time-only resettlement assistance payments and not monthly benefits. A spokesperson for the Council told us the document showed \"a start-up breakdown of costs for a newly arrived Government-Assisted Refugee (GAR) family\" and that the amounts shown were consistent with benefit rates in the province of British Columbia. Despite the apparent authenticity of the document, Marcoux's post grossly misrepresents its contents. Firstly, contrary to Mike Marcoux's post, there is no such thing as an \"illegal\" refugee in this context. By definition, beneficiaries of the Canadian government's Resettlement Assistance Program are individuals and families formally recognized by the Canadian government as refugees before they travel to Canada. According to the Canadian Council for Refugees, Government-Assisted Refugees, such as those to whom this document appears to relate, are \"referred by the [U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees] to Canada because they have been identified as being in need of resettlement.\" Secondly, the document does not relate to one refugee, as the Facebook post falsely claims. The document clearly shows that these benefits are for a family of five people. Third, the grand total value of the benefits ($3,874 CAD or $2,748 USD as of January 28, 2016) is not a recurring monthly payment, as the Facebook post falsely claims. The document clearly shows that the majority of benefits listed are one-off \"start-up\" benefits. The only regular monthly benefits are conveniently labeled \"Regular Monthly Benefits,\" and consist of payments for food, rent, and transportation, which, because of the size of the family, total $1,399 CAD per month ($1,094 USD as of November 15, 2017). These monthly benefits work out to $16,788 CAD ($13,132 USD) a year for a family of five (in addition to \"start-up\" benefits). Unless there are exceptional circumstances, these Resettlement Assistance Program benefits are only payable to refugees for one year. The amounts of benefits depend on the size of the family that receives them. If this document did relate to a single individual (as the Facebook post claims), the overall monthly payments could be expected to be significantly lower. The one-off start-up benefits, which bring the total in this particular document to $3,874, also include a $375 loan for a security deposit for housing. Being a loan, that amount will have to be repaid to the federal government. Furthermore, depending on when this particular family arrived in Canada, they may be required to pay the Canadian government for the cost of their transportation into the country, which takes the form of loan debt. According to the Canadian Council for Refugees, the average loan debt between 2008 and 2012 was $3,090 CAD. So while the document in the photograph does appear to be authentic, Mike Marcoux's Facebook post constitutes a gross misrepresentation of its actual contents. The same document formed the basis of a similarly outraged post on the right-wing blog \"90 Miles from Tyranny\" in December 2016. That blog post cited an earlier article by the now-defunct Magafeed website, which is listed in the Fake News Codex as a \"clickbait site with misleading, poorly sourced, and outright false stories.\" It's hardly the first time that Canada's refugee policy has been the subject of false claims. For example, a factual error in a 2004 letter to the editor of the Toronto Star spawned a chain email and online memes falsely claiming that refugees in Canada receive more benefits each month than Canadian pensioners. The rumor persisted for years. Similar false rumors have been spread in the United States, often with the headline \"INSANITY IS WHEN ILLEGAL REFUGEES GET $3,874 A MONTH IN FEDERAL ASSISTANCE WHILE SOCIAL SECURITY CHECKS AVERAGE $1,200 A MONTH.\"","issues":["debt"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1A9-BktW7ilMHo6Qsn7snWebLBl_2Ijk7"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1MSQsj0O233jcoYkG6bdrLn6NSij1qErO"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_893","claim":"Did Channing Tatum Come Out as Gay?","posted":"05\/28\/2015","sci_digest":["Fake news of no redeeming value is often generated by prank news sites and formatted for social media impact."],"justification":"On 28 May 2015, a news-like link began to circulate on Facebook claiming that popular actor Channing Tatum had come out as gay. The link's headline stated, \"Channing Tatum comes out as Gay,\" and the preview text read, \"Channing Tatum comes out as Gay following a number of rumours.\" While the rumor briefly gained popularity on sites like Twitter and Facebook among Tatum's fans, it was generated by the site Feednewz.com. Feednewz.com is not a news site; rather, its primary purpose is the generation of user-submitted links that appear to be news stories. Similar to a viral hoax involving EastEnders actor Danny Dyer, the Channing Tatum hoax spread unusually far for a Feednewz.com link due to user interest in the fabricated claim. Claims like the one about Tatum often spread due to a compelling headline alone. Readers who clicked through to the appended link were greeted with an image revealing the prank: Channing Tatum did not disclose any new information about his sexuality and remained married to actress Jenna Dewan until they separated in March 2018.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1GUcqNG2R9ko_BlkxDNmvzYg42BMfBbYL","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_894","claim":"I got a letter from 20 people who said they wanted their money back, 14 never gave me a penny.","posted":"05\/17\/2010","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Though he officially declared his independence by leaving the Republican Party on May 12, 2010, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist says he won't return money contributed to his U.S. Senate campaign while he was running as a Republican. People gave to a good cause, and we're going to spend it on a good cause,'' Crist said minutes after switching his voter registration. That's why I'm going to keep it. It's important to be able to get our message out and communicate with the people of Florida.'' The next day, in a wide-ranging interview with the editorial board of theSt. Petersburg Times, the refund talk resurfaced. This time, Crist discussed a letter he received from 20 Republican heavyweights asking for refunds. He suggested that the letter was more a stunt than a sincere request. I got a letter from 20 people who said they wanted their money back, 14 never gave me a penny, Crist told theTimes,adding, You gotta give it to me first before you can have the option. We wanted to see if Crist is right. The letter in question actually ispublishedon Marco Rubio's Senate campaign website. It reads in part: We helped to support, and yes to bankroll, your political career. For years you have been asking us for money. And for years we have put our names and credibility on the line by asking our friends to donate to you. Those days are over.As part of your transition into this new phase of your political career, we respectfully request that you return every penny of donor money from every donor who asks for a refund. For those of us who have donated to your Senate campaign, you can start by refunding in full the contributions we have made.Recent reports with the Federal Elections Commission indicate your campaign is sitting on a stockpile of approximately $7.6 million dollars in contributions.Charlie, that is not your money. The letter is signed by mainly Florida Republicans, including former Florida GOP Chairman Al Cardenas, Outback Steakhouse executive Chris Sullivan, Palm Beach County GOP chair Sid Dinerstein and former U.S. Ambassador to Portugal Al Hoffman. Palm Beach Postreporter Mike Bender quickly took the list of letter writers and compared it to the list of Charlie Crist's campaign contributors. He published the results of his analysis on thePost's political blog. The analysis showed that of the 20 people listed on the letter, only nine actually donated to Crist's Senate campaign, and of the nine -- Hoffman -- got his contributions back in February 2010 (Hoffman asked for his money back in February over allegations of excessive spending by the Republican Party of Florida and Crist's hand-picked chairman Jim Greer). PolitiFact Florida checked Bender's reporting by searching the Federal Election Commission's electronic campaign database and came up with the same number. Here's a list of the signers and how much they contributed to Crist's campaign. Hilton did donate $2,000 to Crist's 1998 Senate campaign. ThePostreported that one of the 20 to sign the letter, Gay Gaines of Palm Beach, hasnt donated to Crist in at least 15 years. She gave $2,400 this year to Rubio. Crist, in his statement to theSt. Petersburg Timeseditorial board, is off a little bit by saying 14 of the 20 have asked for a refund. Actually, 11 never gave Crist a penny for his 2010 Senate campaign. And a 12th person had his money back before sending the letter to Crist. That's close enough, however, to rate Crist's claim Mostly True.","issues":["Campaign Finance","Florida"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_895","claim":"Was Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez negligent in casting a vote for her own bill?","posted":"04\/06\/2019","sci_digest":["Some people might benefit from acquiring an understanding of how the U.S. Congress actually works."],"justification":"On 7 February 2019, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Rep. Edward Markey of Massachusetts, both Democrats, introduced a five-page nonbinding resolution to the U.S. House of Representatives for the federal government to recognize its duty to establish a \"Green New Deal.\" The controversial proposal incorporated seven goals previously articulated by Ocasio-Cortez for the U.S. to realize within ten years: dramatically expanding existing renewable power sources and deploying new production capacity with the goal of meeting 100% of national power demand through renewable sources; building a national, energy-efficient smart grid; upgrading every residential and industrial building for state-of-the-art energy efficiency, comfort, and safety; eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from manufacturing, agriculture, and other industries, including by investing in local-scale agriculture in communities across the country; repairing and improving transportation and other infrastructure, and upgrading water infrastructure to ensure universal access to clean water; funding massive investments in the drawdown of greenhouse gases; and making green technology, industry, expertise, products, and services a major export of the United States, with the aim of becoming the undisputed international leader in helping other countries transition to completely greenhouse gas-neutral economies and bringing about a global Green New Deal. The broader proposal also called for sweeping social measures such as \"a job guarantee program to assure a living wage job to every person who wants one,\" \"basic income programs,\" and \"universal health care programs.\" On 26 March 2019, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell forced a preemptive vote in the U.S. Senate on a procedural motion to take up a binding form of the resolution, deriding the Green New Deal as a plan for \"basically outlawing the only sources of energy that working-class and middle-class families can actually afford\" that would kill off entire domestic industries and eliminate millions of jobs. Democrats criticized McConnell's move as a \"sham\" intended to \"quash debate by blocking public hearings and expert testimony about the consequences of inaction on climate change\" and to hasten a vote in order to force Senate Democrats to commit to either supporting or rejecting the proposal at a very early stage. The criticism suggested that Republicans set up this vote to highlight potential splits in the Democratic caucus and force lawmakers to splinter from a high-profile, progressive idea. As the thinking goes, if only part of the Democratic caucus wound up backing the idea, Republicans could argue that it didn't actually have enough support from the party. Additionally, the move was aimed at putting Democrats from more moderate states in a tough position, forcing them to choose between backing a popular liberal idea and potentially turning off some of their constituents. \"The Senate vote is a perfect example of that kind of superficial approach to government,\" Ocasio-Cortez said. \"What McConnell's doing is trying to rush this bill to the floor without a hearing, without any markups, without working through committee because he doesn't want to save our planet. He thinks we can drink oil in 30 years when all our water is poisoned.\" In the end, most Democrats didn't bite. All 53 Republicans in the Senate voted against the plan, but they were joined by just three Democrats and independent Sen. Angus King of Maine (who caucuses with Democrats). The remaining 43 Democratic senators all declined to commit and merely voted present in protest of the GOP's action. The procedural motion was thus voted down by a 57-0 margin. A meme circulated online afterward offensively portrayed Rep. Ocasio-Cortez as a \"100% retard\" for failing to \"even vote for [her] own bill.\" The implications of that meme were wrong on two counts: 1) The Senate was not voting on whether to accept or reject Ocasio-Cortez's \"Green New Deal\" resolution. What the Senate voted on was a different form of the resolution, and what they voted against was not the resolution itself but a motion for cloture, the step of agreeing to end debate on a bill so that Senate consideration of it can move forward. This was not the non-binding Green New Deal resolution introduced by Sen. Edward Markey and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Feb. 7. Instead, this was a version that McConnell himself introduced, and it was a binding resolution. Instead of voting on whether \"it is the sense of the Senate\" that the government has a duty to create a Green New Deal, senators would have been skipping ahead to vote on whether the Green New Deal should become \"the policy of the United States,\" without so much as a hearing. Under Senate rules, making it binding was the only way McConnell could hold a show vote without the usual process of assigning the legislation to the appropriate committees for discussion and debate. That would put a public spotlight on experts testifying and debate over climate solutions, something McConnell is seeking to avoid. Technically, the Senate voted on whether to end debate on McConnell's motion to proceed to consideration of his version of a Green New Deal resolution. This \"cloture\" vote wasn't on the substance of the Green New Deal. McConnell's aim was not to actually consider the Green New Deal, which he describes as a \"socialist\" plan that would \"uproot life as we know it.\" He was hoping the vote would kill talk of a Green New Deal in its infancy while putting Democrats on the spot. 2) Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, not a member of the U.S. Senate, and thus she had no opportunity to vote on the cloture motion at all. In short, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez didn't \"neglect\" or \"forget\" to participate in the referenced Green New Deal vote; she wasn't eligible to take part in it because she isn't a member of the Senate. Nor was the vote that took place in the Senate one that directly addressed the merits or deficiencies of her Green New Deal resolution.","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1vHabzv7YWqKX99kjwDPHPgnjShZLxw40"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_896","claim":"Yes, Biden referred to Fox's White House Correspondent as a 'foolish child of a female dog.'","posted":"01\/24\/2022","sci_digest":["The remark was uttered as Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy and other members of the press were being ushered out of the room."],"justification":"On Jan. 24, 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden responded to a question shouted by Fox News reporter Peter Doocy as members of the press were being ushered out of the room, calling him a \"stupid son of a bitch.\" This incident occurred during a meeting of the White House Competition Council. According to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, the purpose of the meeting was \"to discuss its success thus far in providing concrete cost savings for American families and to discuss plans for further actions in the weeks, months, and years ahead.\" U.S. President Joe Biden spoke during this meeting in the East Room of the White House. As members of the press were departing, Doocy shouted to Biden, asking, \"Do you think inflation is a political liability in the midterms?\" According to CNN correspondent Brian Stelter (and as can be heard in the video clip below), Biden \"deadpanned\" the following answer: \"It's a great asset. More inflation. What a stupid son of a bitch.\" CNN, LiveNow from Fox, and perhaps others referred to Biden's remark as a \"hot mic\" incident, though it's unclear whether he was aware that the microphone was still picking up what he said. At the time Biden responded to Doocy, cameras were still on, and he was sitting in front of a microphone with ten members of his Cabinet, \"the heads of seven independent agencies,\" White House staff members, and some members of the press who were still making their way out of the room.","issues":["inflation"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1tUw6X0b8trKyAwUO1LXhtGBTkLgcip8i"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_897","claim":"Says that the state spends more money on tax giveaways than it receives in tax collection.","posted":"12\/10\/2012","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Middle ground is a hard thing to find in politics these days. Partisanship, especially at the national level, is almost a sport. And yet, this election cycle there did seem to be one point of agreement: The tax code needs to be reworked and breaks, in particular, need a close examination.In a recent blog post, Our Oregon, an organization backed by several public employee unions and other groups of similar political views, made the same case for the Oregons tax code.Heres part of a recent post their Sockeye blog published on the topic:Oregon's tax expenditure code is a list of 378 different tax breaks, writing exceptions into Oregon's law for certain income, property, and other items. While some of the tax expenditures are good, common sense ideas (like the earned income tax credit, which provides relief for low-income, working families), others appear completely baffling (did you know that boat owners can take a tax credit for each of their boats? )Overall, Oregon's tax expenditure code costs the state $32 billion each budget cycle, while Oregon collects about $14 billion in total taxes and other revenue. To put it plainly: Each budget cycle, the state spends more money on tax giveaways than it receives in tax collection.We decided to check it out.First, we called up the Oregon Department of Revenue. Spokesman Dennis Thompson told us to take a look at the Tax Expenditure Report. This report lays the details out pretty clearly for 2011-13. During the current biennium, the state is expected to bring in some $27.2 billion, while its tax giveaways are expected to total $31.3 billion.The numbers support Our Oregons statement.There is some important context offered in the expenditure report right before these figures. The dollar impact listed for tax breaks is not the amount of revenue you could gain if you wanted to repeal all of them. Take federal land, for example. Oregon has a lot of it -- and its exempt from property taxes. Even though we technically forgo those revenues, we dont have much of a choice. Its also true that certain tax breaks should, if working correctly, generate more revenue for the state than they give away -- inducements to attract business, for example.We called Scott Moore, Our Oregons spokesman, and spoke with him about all of this.We tend to speak pretty generally about the money that the state loses through the tax code because there is a great deal of complexity in individual expenditures, he said. But I dont think that discounts, in any way, the general statement that the revenue impact of this big collection of tax breaks is astonishing.There is clearly room to make that system more efficient and more effective and save money.Hes not the only one who feels this way, of course. The Legislature has already instituted a six-year cycle in which all credits will get reviewed before being renewed. The folks at Our Oregon believe they should go further and statistics like this one underscore that.There was, however, one other detail that caught us. The Our Oregon blog post mentioned $14 billion in total taxes and other revenue. The report we read put the figure at $27 billion, nearly double that. Moore told us the Our Oregon figure comes from a separate2011-13 Budget Highlightsdocument that references the states general fund, leaving out property taxes, beer and wine taxes, gas taxes and others. Moore said they went with the $14 billion figure because thats the money the Oregon Legislature has the most direct control over. Property taxes, for example, usually go to local governments. But if you follow that line of reasoning, theres also a significant portion of the tax code that the Legislature doesnt have control over -- again, federal land.In the blog post, Our Oregon said the state spends more money on tax giveaways than it receives in tax collection. State budget documents back them up.But context matters. In the sentence before the statement were ruling on, Our Oregon compares apples and oranges. You cant count revenues the Legislature has control over  and then compare them with tax breaks that include some the Legislature has no say in. We find that additional clarification is needed.We rate this claim Mostly True.","issues":["Oregon","State Budget","Taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_898","claim":"We're within 600 miles of 60 percent of America. We're in a perfect location.","posted":"05\/13\/2011","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Location is commonly cited as the most important consideration in buying real estate, and geographic location was the reason that Cleveland once was tagged as being -- or occupying -- the best location in the nation.The slogan was coined in 1944 by the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co., now part of FirstEnergy Corp., to help build post-war business.The claim was based on the fact that within 500 miles of the city lived half the people of the United States and Canada; that Cleveland was the natural meeting place of iron ore, coal, copper, gypsum, stone, sand and other vital raw materials; and that efficient water, rail, highway and air transportation facilitated delivery and reduced costs, wrote historians Carol Poh Miller and Robert Anthony Wheeler.The slogan has fallen into disuse, but geography hasn't changed.Gov. John Kasich touted the concept this month when he spoke to the Ohio Chamber of Commerce about making Ohio more competitive for business growth:We're to the point now where location matters because logistics matters again, he said. Cost of shipping things matters again. We're within 600 miles of 60 percent of America. We're in a perfect location.Given our Buckeye bias, PolitiFact Ohio wanted to believe it. But we have examined similar claims before and found them wanting. We knew that population has shifted since the 1940s, when the population center point of the entire nation (now in Missouri) was still in Ohio. But we also noted that Kasich moved the measuring stick from 500 miles cited in those previous claims to 600 miles.Using the tools we employed before,we built a map including all U.S. counties whose seats are located within 600 miles of Ohio's borders. We used U.S. Census Bureau data to calculate the aggregate population.We found that 184,900,000 people live within 600 miles of Ohio, or 59.9 percent of the U.S. population of 308.7 million.That's 60 percent, whether you round off by a number that is not statistically significant or factor a margin of error.The 600-mile reach would include nearly all of the Eastern Seaboard, the upper Midwest, much of the Deep South and some states west of the Mississippi River.One additional note: In addition to 60 percent of the U.S. population, Kasichs claim also would encompass the most populous parts of Ontario and Quebec.We rate Kasich's statement as True.","issues":["Ohio","Economy","Jobs"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_899","claim":"The Bush-era tax cuts failed to increase employment and work-force participation fell in 2001 and has never returned to the record level set in 2000.","posted":"12\/11\/2010","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Democratic Congressman Jim Moran didnt want tax cuts then, and he doesnt want them now.Explaining his vote against any extension of the Bush-era cuts, Moran paints the acts in 2001 and 2003 as abject failures.When the Bush plan was first proposed in 2001, the great cost of those tax cuts was sold to the public as a means of generating economic growth. That has proven to be false. The decade that followed the 2001 tax cuts featured the slowest average annual growth since World War II, he said in a Dec. 2 press release.Moran continues: Nor did lower taxes increase employment. Work-force participation fell in 2001 and has never returned to the record level set in 2000  before the tax cuts took effect.We were intrigued by the Congressmans correlation between employment and the tax cuts. So we looked into the numbers.Asked for a source, Morans chief of staff, Austin Durrer, sent us aNew York Times business blog postby David Leonhardt, which does reinforce the congressmans statement. Getting to the bottom of Moran's claim required us to examine two contentions in the congressman's statement: 1) That overall U.S. employment was not increased by the Bush tax cuts; 2) That work-force participation actually fell. These two contentions may sound similar, but in the specialized world of economists they are defined differently and involve separate sets of statistics.EmploymentNor did lower taxes increase employment, Moran said.There were 132 million Americans employed when the first round of Bush tax cuts passed in June, 2001, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. There were 130.5 employed at the end of last month. Thats a decrease of 1.5 million workers. So technically, Moran is correct. But he omits an important consideration: After the more-sweeping second round of tax cuts took effect in June 2003, there was a significant increase of jobs that lasted until recessions onset at the end of 2007.There were 129.8 million Americans employed in June, 2003 and almost 138 million with jobs in December, 2007. Thats an increase of 8.2 million workers.The recession at the end of the decade is the great equalizer that makes Morans statement factually accurate. But you cant dismiss that the number of workers steadily increased for better than four years after the second Bush tax cut.So wed rate Morans statement that lower taxes did not increase employment Half True.Work-force participationWork-force participation fell in 2001 and has never returned to the record level set in 2000 -- before the tax cuts took effect, Moran said.Work-force participation is the percentage of the population 16 and older that is employed. Most economists regard it as a more meaningful measure of employment than the total number of Americans working. Heres why:The total employment figure does not take into account that the United States population is growing and additional workers enter the job market every day. The U.S. has to create about 125,000 new jobs a month just to keep its employment and unemployment rates steady.The measure of work-force participation includes population growth.Moran is correct in saying work-force participation peaked in 2000. The high-water mark came in April that year when 64.7 percent of the U.S. population -- 16 and older -- had jobs.In June, 2001, when the first Bush  tax cuts were approved, participation was at 63.7 percent. Last month, it was 58.2 percent -- the lowest measure since mid-1983.The participation percentages varied slightly from passage of the second Bush tax cuts to the start of the recession. In June, 2003, participation was 62.3 percent; it was 62.7 percent in December, 2007.Economists caution against measuring the success or failure of tax cuts by employment figures.The point of the tax rate cuts was to increase incentives for working, saving, and investing -- and therefore productivity and growth, said Brian Riedl, lead budget analyst for the conservative Heritage Foundation. Labor Force Participation is just one variable. There is also job totals, work hours, investment, productivity, etc. Those variables all responded well.Gary Burtless, a senior fellow specializing in labor market policy with the left-leaning Brookings Institution, says Morans point is valid. But he, too, says labor force growth is a small component in measuring the effectiveness of tax cuts.Tax changes can affect participation rates, though their impact has often been greatly exaggerated, especially by folks self-identifying as supply siders, he said.So its fair to argue that the merits of tax cuts should not be reduced to employment figures. But Moran is accurate when he says work-force participation fell after 2000 and the tax cuts did not restore them to previous highs. We rate this part of his statement True.SummaryMoran says the Bush tax cuts failed to boost jobs. He cites two measurements.As he notes, total employment didnt go up over the decade. But he neglects to mention numbers were on the rise before the advent of the worst economic downturn in 80 years. Hes half right here.Hes correct in saying work-force participation fell since a record in 2000.When you put both parts of his statement together, we rate it Mostly True.","issues":["Jobs","Taxes","Virginia"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_900","claim":"Was federal income tax paid by Amazon in 2017?","posted":"09\/26\/2018","sci_digest":["By the companys own accounting, Amazon actually received a $137 million federal tax credit in the same year they earned over $5.6 billion in profit."],"justification":"Amid national debates about income inequality and tax cuts for the ultra-rich, one talking point is frequently highlighted in online memes and by political figures such as Bernie Sanders is that online retailing giant Amazon.com, despite taking in $5.6 billion in profit in 2017, paid no federal corporate income taxes for that year: Bernie Sanders   (With respect to the claim about Amazon employees on welfare, see our fact check on that topic here.) here In regards to U.S. federal income taxes, the claim that Amazon paid none in 2017 is almost certainly factual. While Amazons tax filings are not public, their SEC filing for the year 2017 illustrates that the company used the tax code expertly (and legally) to their advantage, so well that the company anticipated a $137 million tax refund from the federal government (numbers are in millions of dollars): SEC filing   Amazon did pay taxes to individual U.S. states ($211 million) and to international jurisdictions ($724 million), but their federal income tax burden was (less than) zero. The filings indicate that two factors provided the lion share of Amazons reduced federal tax liability: $220 million worth of tax credits, and $917 million in tax-deductible executive pay derived from the sale of stocks:   The third negative item in the SEC filing, $789 million in reduced tax burden as a result of the 2017 Tax Act, will be applied to future tax years, according to a report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. report SEC filings do not require a company to list the specific credits they utilize, but there are several avenues Amazon would likely have pursued. Annette Nellen, a professor and director of the Master of Science in Taxation program at San Jose University, said that Amazons write-offs likely include credits for research and development, domestic production, and equipment depreciation. And according to a report from the Economic Policy Institute, Amazon receives myriad tax incentives from state and local governments as well: said report The expansion of Amazons physical distribution network has coincided with a strategic business plan of negotiating millions in tax abatements, credits, exemptions, and infrastructure assistance from state and local governments in the name of regional economic development. By the end of 2016, Amazon had likely received over $1 billion in state and local subsidies for its facilities, which would include not only fulfillment centers but sortation centers that only sort packages, mailing centers, and other facilities. Publicly-traded corporations can list the stock options they grant to employees as a business cost in their accounting, and if an option-receiving employee makes over $1 million a year in salary, the profits from the sale of those stocks can be then counted as a federal income tax deduction for the corporation (primarily due to a Clinton-era compromise over how to cap executive pay). Stock options allow an employee to purchase stock in their employers company at a set price, regardless of its current market value: list Options give executives and investors the right to buy shares of a company at a later date and at specific prices. For example, if a chief executive joins a media company when its stock is trading at $55 a share, but years later, the share price has skyrocketed to $100, that chief executive can still buy the shares at $55, pocketing the massive difference. In the cases of their highest paid employees, Amazon and other companies are able to deduct the massive difference employees make when they sell that stock at a profit. According to the Center for Tax Justice, because companies typically low-ball the estimated values, they usually end up with much bigger tax write-offs than the amounts they deduct as a 'cost' in computing the profits they report to shareholders. The $917 million in stock-based compensation listed in Amazon's SEC filing likely stems from their top employees' cashing in on their stock options for a large profit. deduct While it is impossible to know the exact amount of money Amazon did or did not pay to the federal government in 2017, their own accounting suggests that they expected their federal corporate income tax burden to be negative that year.  U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.  Amazon.com Inc. Form 10-K\"\r  2 February 2018.\r Gardner, Mathew.  \"Amazon Inc. Paid Zero in Federal Taxes in 2017, Gets $789 Million Windfall from New Tax Law.\"\r  Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.  13 February 2018.\r Tobias, Manuela.  \"Bernie Sanders Says Amazon Paid No Federal Income Tax in 2017. He's Right.\"\r  Politifact.  3 May 2018. \r Jones, Janell and Ben Zipperer.  \"Unfulfilled Promises.\"\r  Economic Policy Institute.  1 February 2018. \r Gunjan, Banerji.  \"Potential Loser in Tax Overhaul: Executive Stock Options.\"\r  The Wall Street Journal.  19 December 2017.\r Citizens for Tax Justice.  Fortune 500 Corporations Used Stock Option Loophole to Avoid $64.6 Billion in Taxes Over the Past Five Years.\"\r  9 June 2016. \r","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1l_Pitpsm-HZzGV90p_xNiTrZCxxTXbGg"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=15-f0KsIsV6RsG55Af7V1hnnGVeZhAQj8"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ygZCukkNAtZH53TlG_in8P219yyT8pe2"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_901","claim":"Jill Stein Caught Embezzling Recount Funds for Marijuana Dinner Party","posted":"11\/28\/2016","sci_digest":["An old photograph of Jill Stein was used to claim that the Green Party presidential candidate had been arrested for using \"recount funds\" to host a \"marijuana dinner party.\""],"justification":"On 27 November 2016, the web site The American Tribune published an article reporting that Green Party candidate Jill Stein had been arrested for \"embezzling\" money donated to her to fund a recount of 2016 general election votes: article In yet another crazy turn of events this election season, Green Party's Jill Stein was arrested following a speech in Los Angeles this Saturday. Investigators received a tip from an anonymous source that Stein had hosted a \"marijuana dinner party for ... some of the richest liberals in Los Angeles.\" When asked for comment, representatives for Jill Stein refused to respond. A spokesperson for the LAPD only said that they are \"taking the case very seriously, and will update the public with any major announcements.\" President-Elect Donald Trump was quick to call out \"two-face Stein\" for her \"rude scheme\" to \"gyp the whiny liberals!\" As of now, the guest list for the dinner party, which purportedly cost Stein $75,000, has not been released. It is unclear whether Stein obtained the marijuana legally or not -- chances are some legal shortcuts were taken to supply a large amount of cannabis for an event where medical licenses were not verified. If found guilty, Stein faces fines of up to $5 Million (ironically, the amount raised for the recount), and a sentence of up to 2 years in prison. An \"About\" page linked in The American Tribune's footer disclaimed: page The American Tribune provides a satirical view of current events. Our articles should be taken with a grain of salt. Our articles are a parody of the terrible news coverage in 2016 and beyond. A reverse image search led to a page (which has since been disabled) on the official Green Party web site, bearing the caption: page Photos from arrest [of Jill Stein] at the Conestoga Bank next to Fannie Mae August 1, 2012. The clothing worn by Jill Stein and the image's August 2012 date matched a separate photograph documenting her arrest while protesting banking practices in Philadelphia: documenting  ","issues":["banking"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Lsx9mTkzrkmsJfVTDVUvl6YVLSBk0O56","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_902","claim":"Did the Grateful Dead Fund Lithuania's Olympic Basketball Team?","posted":"07\/07\/2021","sci_digest":["Just keep dribblin' on."],"justification":"In July 2021, as the pandemic-delayed 2020 Olympic Games approached, an interesting tidbit about basketball, Lithuania, and the 1960s psychedelic rock band the Grateful Dead began to circulate on social media. A viral Reddit post claimed that \"after the breakup of the USSR, the Lithuanian basketball team couldn't afford to participate in the 1992 Olympics, so the Grateful Dead funded the team's expenses and sent a box of tie-dyed outfits in Lithuania's national colors. They went on to win bronze.\" This post is generally accurate. The Grateful Dead really did sponsor Lithuania's men's basketball team, and they provided the team with tie-dyed shirts bearing the country's national colors (yellow, green, and red) and a \"Skullman\" logo designed by Greg Speirs. Our one quibble with this claim is that the band was not the team's sole source of funding. While the Grateful Dead did provide some financial support (one report states that the band wrote a $5,000 check), the band's main contribution was allowing the team to sell special Grateful Dead merchandise, which proved massively popular with fans at the 1992 Olympic Games. Here's a newspaper clipping from 1992 about the popularity of these shirts. According to Grateful Dead spokesman Dennis McNally, around 20,000 shirts sold in the first week. A third of the money raised went to the Lithuanian Olympic Committee, and the band received \"nothing more than a good time.\" The Grateful Dead's connection with the Lithuanian basketball team began in 1992 when Sarunas Marciulionis, the team's star guard, and scout Donnie Nelson showed up at a garage in San Francisco to hear the band play. The team, which would be competing in its first Olympic Games since the country declared independence from the Soviet Union a few years earlier, was seeking sponsors to fund their trip to Barcelona. Here's an excerpt from an article published on NBCOlympics.com in 2012: On a cold and windy Bay Area winter day 20 years ago, Sarunas Marciulionis and Donnie Nelson, a starting guard and a scout, respectively, for the Golden State Warriors, knocked uncertainly on the door of a nondescript garage in San Francisco. The Grateful Dead is in here? Nelson thought to himself. Somebody said to enter, and so they did, metaphorical hats in hand, taking in the sights and, more vividly, the smells. \"Well, there was a little pot going on,\" Nelson recalls today. \"The Dead were trying out Beatles covers, doing stuff like 'Here Comes the Sun' and 'Hey Jude,' but they were just kind of working through things and sounding kind of nasally. Sarunas pulls me aside and says, 'Donnie, no way these guys are famous. They're terrible.'\" Nelson shakes his head and smiles. \"I always think back and wonder what it would be like if someone caught that scene today -- Sarunas in the Dead pot garage.\" The Dead had heard about the Marciulionis-Nelson crusade to raise money to enable Lithuania, Marciulionis's native land, to try to qualify for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. \"You're all about liberty and freedom and, man, we're all about that, too, so we dig what you guys are doing,\" said Jerry Garcia, the Dead's leader. That's a paraphrase, but if you've ever heard Jerry (who died in 1995), it's pretty close. NBC reported that the band ended up writing the team a check for $5,000. More importantly, the band gave the team a license to use and sell special Olympics-Grateful Dead merchandise. These items were a major hit and helped the team raise funds that were then used to support their participation in the 1996 Olympics. Strong anti-Soviet reactions from the West helped force a treaty, but by the time Marciulionis decided that he wanted to field a team, the nation was nearly bankrupt. He donated some of the money from his $1.28 million Golden State contract, and, with the help of Nelson, whom he had tapped to be Lithuania's assistant coach, set out to raise the rest. Getting the Dead was a major coup. The band wrote a check for $5,000 but, more importantly, granted Lithuania the rights to sell a Dead t-shirt, a stoned-out psychedelic masterpiece splashed with Lithuania's national colors of green, red, and yellow and anchored by the Dead's skeleton symbol. Purely from a fundraising perspective, sales of the t-shirt had more to do with the 1996 Olympics; it financed most of Lithuania's participation in the Atlanta Games. But the t-shirt became the hit of the '92 Games, more treasured than any of the merchandise bearing the likeness of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird, the stalwarts of the United States Dream Team. The shirt kept Lithuania in the news, told the story of its heroic struggle for freedom, its battle to get to Barcelona (it earned a spot through the European Olympic qualifier), and its quest for a medal. For many American basketball fans, the 1992 Olympics are probably remembered for the dominant play of the \"Dream Team,\" the American Olympic team that featured superstars such as Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird. But the Lithuanian team made its mark as well. In 2012, a documentary was released entitled \"The Other Dream Team,\" which followed Arvydas Sabonis and Sarunas Marciulionis on their somewhat psychedelic journey to a bronze medal. Updated [1 September 2021]: Updated to credit the designer of the Skullman logo.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1jrE3HHrf60lxG2aixOhNaGnD5FjYBsXH","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/img.newspapers.com\/img\/img?clippingId=80967473&width=700&height=321&ts=1607535806","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_903","claim":"Endorsement Enforcement","posted":"12\/07\/2015","sci_digest":["USAF General Chuck Yeager has not endorsed Donald Trump for President.   It's another case of mistaken attribution."],"justification":"[featured-image] Claim:USAF General Chuck Yeager wrote an essay endorsing Donald Trump for President.  Example: [Collected via e-mail, December2015] I've been repeatedly seeing a post that Chuck Yeager is endorsing Donald Trump for President.But on Yeager's website there is no mention of it and he seems to shy away from politics, in general. Origins: On 5 November 2015, the web site GaryForbes.wix.com published an article purportedly written by retiredUnited States Air Force General Chuck Yeager, endorsing Donald Trump for President of the United States: article The criticisms of Trump are amazingly missing something. They are lacking in negative stories from those who work for him or have had business dealings with him. After all the employees he's had and all the business deals he's made there is a void of criticism. In fact, long term employees call him a strong and merciful leader and say he is far more righteous and of high integrity than people may think. And while it may surprise many, hes actually humble when it comes to his generosity and kindness. A good example is a story that tells of his limo breaking down on a deserted highway outside of New York City. A middle-aged couple stopped to help him and as a thank you he paid off their mortgage, but he didnt brag about that. Generous and good people rarely talk of charity they bestow on others. But as much as all this is interesting, the real thing that people want to know is what Donald Trumps plan is for America. Its funny how so many people say they dont know what it is, or they act like Trump is hiding it. The information is readily available if people would just do a little homework. But, since most Americans won't do their own research, here, in no particular order, is an overview of many of Trumps positions and plans: This article, titled \"Donald Trump  Who He REALLY Is by Chuck Yeager,\" was not written bythe retired USAF General, nor was it first published on theGary Forbes web site. The article has been posted on a variety of blogs and web sites, with the earliest iteration being published to Doug Johnson's Horse Sense blog on 4 July 2015. variety blogs published Johnson's article wasn't particularly popular, but the majority of its content soon started circulating via e-mail and online forums, where it was cmommonly attributed to an \"unknown author.\"Chuck Yeager's name was eventually tacked on to the essay, first by Catholic.org in August, and later by Gary Forbes, but this form of credit was undertaken without the USAF General's knowledge or approval. attributed August In fact, General Yeager has asked some Twitter users to delete links tothe purported endorsement,maintaining that he does not endorse political candidates (although he has apparently done so before): delete apparently      Last updated: 7 December 2015 Originally published: 7 December 2015","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1xKFj_hEGdTd5ZV_XIPMD8YSlfs8YX7vD","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1D3UufJDlq22gKVey206tkG297YE1bnYH","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_904","claim":"Real Photo of a 'Spiraling Village' in Iran?","posted":"01\/29\/2024","sci_digest":["Trick of the eye or trick of AI?"],"justification":"On Dec. 10, 2023, the Instagram account @hamidreza.edalatnia posted a series of eight images. Each image featured a spiral pattern, taking shape in either the architecture, greenery, or surrounding landscapes. The images, particularly the first one, went viral, with multiple accounts across Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook sharing them, with or without credit to the original account. One such viral post, which garnered 110,836 likes as of this writing, was published by the Instagram account @national_archeology and was flooded with comments from users who claimed the images were AI-generated. \"Please stop posting AI images; we want to learn about history here,\" one user wrote. The original account that posted the images captioned them: \"'Re-envisioning Iranian urban landscape through spiral pattern' | AI, Stable diffusion, Controlnet.\" When we reached out to the account for comment, the owner responded, \"Yes, the series of images called 'Re-envisioning Iranian urban landscape through spiral pattern' was originally generated by me using AI stable diffusion.\" According to the biography section of this account, its owner graduated from the Danish university Det Kongelige Akademi and is currently based in Hamburg, Germany. The account features many such AI-generated images, some depicting the geographic shape of Iran in different forms, as well as various renderings of Iran's famous Azadi Tower. Lastly, when the first image was run through AI-detection software Hive, the result indicated a 99.6% likelihood of being AI-generated. We've previously reported on other AI-generated imagery, such as R. Kelly performing shows in prison and U.S. President Joe Biden wrapped in a bubble suit.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=18lslipYuwol1-9HSfRMWnMTxwmmH-g0A","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_905","claim":"Snowden was declared deceased by his girlfriend in Russia.","posted":"08\/10\/2016","sci_digest":["A fake news web site's claim that Edward Snowden was \"pronounced dead by his girlfriend\" has been aggregated by other low-credibility sites but remains false."],"justification":"On 10 August 2016, the unreliable website Disclose.tv published an article reporting that former National Security Agency (NSA) employee and whistleblower Edward Snowden was \"pronounced dead by his girlfriend\" in Russia. Days after Snowden's rumored death was debunked by journalist Glenn Greenwald and a Russian lawyer, a report emerged claiming that his mistress and girlfriend had confirmed the leaker's demise. Quoting MKRU News of Russia, a conservative site called Get Off the BS stated that Snowden's mistress said he was killed Saturday by a drunken, knife-wielding Buryat man in the Republic of Buryatia. The article from which the claim was aggregated was presented in the style of fiction rather than reporting and was interspersed with salacious fabrications. Late Monday afternoon, the mistress of the infamous Edward Snowden announced his death, alleging that he was killed this past Saturday by a drunken, knife-wielding Buryat man in the Republic of Buryatia. MKRU News reported that a drunken man, who for some reason took exception to a man, presumably Snowden, saving his wife from drowning, attacked a woman by slicing her neck and stabbed her male companion in the thigh, who later died from severe blood loss in a local hospital. The injured were taken to a nearby hospital, where one of them died as a result of extensive blood loss. The unidentified man was allegedly 27 years old. (Snowden, who was born on June 21, 1983, would be 33 now.) That outlet connected the purported death of Snowden to a cryptic, since-deleted tweet issued by the exiled contractor on 5 August 2016. While it was true that the disappearing tweet was interpreted by many as an ominous signal, an insurance key, or a dead man's switch, journalist Glenn Greenwald, who works closely with Snowden to publish leaked material, quickly confirmed that Snowden is alive and well. Disclose.tv and Get Off the BS are sites known for publishing outlandish fabrications and fake news in order to attract readers. On 15 August 2016, Snowden reappeared on Twitter, putting concerns for his safety to rest.","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1UfOoKbevx5LPf-T_0tbIpb3C3fb9BlyM"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_906","claim":"Was Target's stock negatively affected by their transgender bathroom policy?","posted":"03\/01\/2017","sci_digest":["The big box retailer gave investors lower-than-expected forecasts due to increasing online sales, news that affected the company's stock price."],"justification":"On 28 February 2017, Breitbart.com reported that big box retailer Target's stock had \"crashed,\" losing a combined total of $15 billion in investor wealth due to the chain's announcement in 2016 that it would allow transgender customers and employees to use bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity. Reported Target's stock value is now down by 30 percent since it sparked a consumer boycott by embracing the transgender political agenda. That 30 percent drop has slashed investors' wealth by roughly $15 billion. On Tuesday, the stock fell to $58.78, down from its April 19 high of $83.98. In contrast, Walmart is up 3 percent since April, and Kohl's is down less than one percent. Company officials indirectly acknowledged the consumer boycott. \"Our fourth-quarter results reflect the impact of rapidly changing consumer behavior, which drove very strong digital growth but unexpected softness in our stores,\" Target CEO Brian Cornell said in a company statement. The company also admitted that it would likely continue to experience losses throughout the year. On 19 April 2016, Target announced that transgender customers and employees were free to use the restroom that corresponded to their gender identity amid a national debate on the subject during the 2016 election cycle. The announcement came after North Carolina enacted the controversial HB 2 in March 2016, a law that became colloquially known as the \"bathroom bill,\" which required public single-sex restrooms to be used only by people of the corresponding biological sex. The controversy and Target's definitive stance prompted conservative groups like the American Family Association (AFA) to launch a boycott. Nearly 1.5 million people had signed the AFA's petition as of 1 March 2017. Target shares did plunge on 28 February 2017, but it wasn't due to its nearly year-old bathroom policy. The drop was due to 2017 guidance announced during an investor day event. Projections were far lower than expected by Wall Street analysts (the term \"guidance\" refers to projected earnings). The drop in Target's stock corresponds to the announcement made at their investor event. According to Edward Jones analyst Brian Yarbough, Wall Street was expecting Target to project earnings of $5.30 per share, but the company instead provided guidance of $3.80 to $4.20 per share, which was \"well below\" expectations, prompting the drop in share value. According to Reuters, Target's decline dragged others down with it: Target's plunge prompted declines across the retail sector. Walmart Stores Inc was down 2.0 percent, with Kroger Co down 1.2 percent and Macy's Inc off 1.7 percent. Dollar General Corp fell 4.2 percent. What is affecting Target and other retailers has been competition with all-online retailers like Amazon, which do not have the overhead costs of brick-and-mortar locations. Target, for example, has 1,803 stores. \"Online players don't have a huge network of stores, and since they don't have that cost, they can offer lower prices,\" Yarbough said. Customers also have the immediate ability to do price comparisons with smartphones. These changing patterns are reflected in a statement given by Target CEO Brian Cornell: \"Our fourth-quarter results reflect the impact of rapidly changing consumer behavior, which drove very strong digital growth but unexpected softness in our stores. At our meeting with the financial community this morning, we will provide details on the meaningful investments we're making in our business and financial model, which will position Target for long-term, sustainable growth in this new era of retail. We will accelerate our investments in a smart network of physical and digital assets as well as our exclusive and differentiated assortment, including the launch of more than 12 new brands, representing more than $10 billion of our sales over the next two years. In addition, we will invest in lower gross margins to ensure we are clearly and competitively priced every day. While the transition to this new model will present headwinds to our sales and profit performance in the short term, we are confident that these changes will best position Target for continued success over the long term.\" Although Target offers online shopping, profits there tend to be lower due to associated costs like shipping and price competition from the likes of Amazon. Retailers are struggling to survive, with more profitable in-store sales lagging and lower profit margins due to a growing number of online shoppers. Although its e-commerce operation is growing quickly, Target reported its third straight quarter of lower sales from existing stores, citing \"unexpected softness\" and raising new questions about the health of large national retailers in the United States. Target also forecast first-quarter profit well below Wall Street estimates. Shares sank 13 percent, on track for their biggest one-day percentage drop in more than 18 years. Target's stock has lost a quarter of its value since the 2016 holiday season started in November and is now trading at its lowest level since August 2014. Target maintains that the bathroom policy has had no effects on its business, with company spokeswoman Erika Winkels telling us in an email, \"We have made it clear over time that we've seen no material impact on the business based on the bathroom policy. We don't have anything new or different to share.\" A poor performance in the 2016 holiday season was also attributed to online sales outpacing foot traffic, but Target is, again, not the only chain feeling the effects: Department stores across the country are paying the price for underestimating Amazon this holiday season. Macy's and Kohl's both reported lower-than-expected sales during the all-important end-of-year retail period and announced a spate of store closures that will lead to thousands of lost jobs. Sears has even been reduced to selling off one of its iconic brands after a double-digit sales slide. Industry observers blame online competition, as well as department store brands' own shortfalls in adapting to a fundamental shift in consumer behavior. Nevertheless, Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail, told us that Target could be worse off than it is: \"It's in a much better position than some retailers because its balance sheet is still robust, whereas Sears and Macy's are in a very difficult position. With Target, it's much more about tweaking and reinvention at the edges. [The guidance] wasn't great, but not as bad as other people.\" Saunders told Reuters that while Walmart has been buoyed by successfully offering groceries, Target has not been able to keep up on that front, calling its grocery offerings \"confusing.\" \"Target is neither a full-line grocer nor a player with lots of niche specialty products; it is neither a high-end player nor a price-focused discounter,\" he said. It is difficult to say with certainty whether Target's commerce overall has been negatively affected by its policy on transgender people. Although company representatives have maintained it has not, shortly after Cornell made the announcement, USA Today reported a study that showed the percentage of people who would consider shopping there the next time they needed something dropped from 42 to 38 percent. But the retail industry as a whole is facing a dramatic shift in consumer behavior, and retailers have struggled to keep pace with it. Target's late February 2017 stock drop, however, was the result of announcements made during an investor day event and cannot be attributed to their policy on bathroom use.","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1x93rDn-z9UAJaaUWXbNTu_1dPCjnkYhL"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_907","claim":"Did Zelensky Say Trump 'Did Nothing Wrong' In Relation to Ukraine?","posted":"12\/03\/2019","sci_digest":["The U.S. president engaged in some wishful thinking about a major interview his Ukrainian counterpart gave in December 2019."],"justification":"In December 2019, U.S. President Donald Trump, beset by a mounting, Democrat-led impeachment process, tried to dismiss allegations of wrongdoing in relation to his July 2019 phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and Trump's broader actions and policies toward Ukraine. That phone call has been the focus of intense scrutiny, amid allegations that Trump used U.S. aid to Ukraine (a U.S. ally) as leverage in attempting to force Zelensky to launch an investigation into former U.S. Vice President and leading 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and Biden's son, Hunter. On Dec. 2, Trump tweeted: tweeted \"Breaking News: The President of Ukraine has just again announced that President Trump has done nothing wrong with respect to Ukraine and our interactions or calls. If the Radical Left Democrats were sane, which they are not, it would be case over!\"   We asked the White House to explain what the president was referring to and how those purported remarks amounted to an announcement by Zelensky that Trump had \"done nothing wrong.\" We did not receive a response of any kind. However, Trump appeared to be alluding to a major interview Zelensky gave to four international news outlets: TIME in the U.S., Le Monde in France, Der Spiegel in Germany and Gazeta Wyborcza in Poland. Those news organizations published their respective transcripts of the interview on or around Dec. 2, with the exception of Der Spiegel, which had not yet released its own transcript at the time this fact check was published.  Zelensky answered one question that was directly and specifically relevant to his July 2019 phone call with Trump. The following is a breakdown of how three of the four outlets reported that section of the interview. TIME TIME Q: When did you first sense that there was a connection between Trumps decision to block military aid to Ukraine this summer and the two investigations that Trump and his allies were asking for? Can you clarify this issue of the quid pro quo? Zelensky: Look, I never talked to the President from the position of a quid pro quo. Thats not my thing...I dont want us to look like beggars. But you have to understand. Were at war. If youre our strategic partner, then you cant go blocking anything for us. I think thats just about fairness. Its not about a quid pro quo. It just goes without saying. Le Monde Le Monde Q: Lors de cette conversation tlphonique, quand avez-vous senti le lien entre laide militaire amricaine et la demande denqute formule par M. Trump sur Hunter Biden, le fils de son rival dmocrate Joe Biden pour llection de 2020 ? Zelensky: Nous navons pas parl dun change du genre  Je te donne ci et tu me donnes a . Ce type de conversation, je lai eu avec le prsident russe lorsque nous avons chang les prisonniers. Et je peux lavoir avec lEurope pour quils nous disent :  Remplissez telle ou telle condition pour rejoindre lUnion europenne [UE].  LUkraine se trouve en Europe et peut faire partie de lUE. Et nous le voulons. L je comprendrais quil puisse y avoir un donnant-donnant... (Translated) Q: During that phone conversation, at what point did you sense the connection between American military aid and Mr. Trump's request for an inquiry into Hunter Biden, the son of his Democrat rival in the 2020 election, Joe Biden? Zelensky: We didn't talk about an exchange in terms of \"You give my this and I give you that.\" I did have that type of conversation with the Russian president, when we conducted a prisoner exchange. And I could have [that type of conversation] with Europe if they say to us \"Satisfy this or that condition in order to join the European Union.\" Ukraine is in Europe and could become part of the EU. And we want that. In that case I could understand having a give-and-take... Gazeta Wyborcza Gazeta Wyborcza Q: Jest wiele spekulacji na temat tego, kiedy pan zrozumia, e jest zwizek midzy amerykask wojenn pomoc i ledztwami, o ktre prosi Trump [w sprawie Huntera Bidena i firmy Burisma]? Zelensky: Ja nie rozmawiaem z Trumpem z pozycji \"co za co\". W taki sposb rozmawiaem z prezydentem Rosji  oddaj mi tych, a my oddamy tych [winiw]. Czego potrzebujemy od USA? Nie chcemy wyglda dzisiaj jak klient. Ale trzeba rozumie, e u nas toczy si wojna. Jeli jestemy strategicznymi partnerami, to nie mona nam czego blokowa. U nas byy posiedzenia z UE. Powiedziaem im otwarcie: zobaczcie, tak by nie moe, albo nas widzicie w UE, albo nie. My podkrelamy: Ukraina znajduje si w Europie i zakadamy, e moemy by czci UE, podzielamy te same wartoci. Tutaj wymiana co za co jest dla mnie zrozumia... (Translated) Q: There has been a lot of speculation about when you understood that there was a link between American aid and the investigations Trump was asking for [regarding Hunter Biden and Burisma]. Zelensky: I didn't talk to Trump in terms of \"this for that.\" I did talk like that with Putin -- give them [prisoners] to me and I'll give them to you. What do we want from the U.S.? We don't want to look like a client. But you have to understand that we have a war zone going on here. If we're strategic partners, we can't block each other's business.  We had meetings with the EU. I told them explicitly: this is unacceptable. Either you see Ukraine as part of the EU or you don't. We emphasize: Ukraine is in Europe and we believe we can become part of the EU, we have the same core values. In that situation, a quid pro quo makes sense. Clearly, Zelensky did not say, word-for-word, that Trump had \"done nothing wrong with respect to Ukraine and [the two men's] interactions or calls.\" However, Trump's tweet did not attribute that to Zelensky as a direct quotation, so it should not be evaluated as such. Rather, Trump was giving his own description or summary of what Zelensky had said. As we've seen, Zelensky did say that, in their July phone conversation, he and Trump did not discuss a quid pro quo agreement or arrangement in which Trump would release military aid to Ukraine in exchange for Ukrainian authorities opening an investigation into the alleged (and unproven) activities of the Bidens in and with regard to Ukraine.  Without presenting supportive evidence, Trump and others have claimed that Joe Biden acted corruptly while he was vice president, because he pressured Ukrainian authorities to fire the country's top prosecutor in order to end an investigation into the owner of Burisma, a natural gas company whose board of directors included Biden's son, Hunter. However, former U.S. officials have rejected that theory, saying that Joe Biden pushed Ukraine to remove the prosecutor as part of a broader Obama administration drive against corruption in Ukraine. rejected The allegation that Trump used military aid to Ukraine as a bargaining chip, in exchange for an investigation that would prove damaging to one of his likely main rivals in the 2020 election, has so far undeniably been one of the principle allegations against the president. Therefore, when Zelensky said he and Trump did not discuss matters in terms of a \"quid pro quo,\" he was undeniably exculpating Trump to a certain extent (whether or not Zelensky's description of the conversation actually measures up to what the White House call summary shows). As such, there is a measure of truth in Trump's claim that Zelensky said his American counterpart had done nothing wrong, but only as it relates specifically to that phone call.  call summary The allegations of wrongdoing against Trump extend beyond the contents of one particular phone call in July. For example, Gordon Sondland, U.S. ambassador to the EU, has testified before Congress that Trump directed a months-long campaign of lobbying and persuading Ukrainian authorities to investigate the Bidens, as well as discredited claims that Ukraine (rather than Russia) was responsible for online efforts to intervene in the 2016 presidential election.  campaign According to Sondland, that broader policy involved Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, acting at the president's direction, as well as other administration officials, and involved Trump directing his officials to freeze U.S. military aid to Ukraine. In his December 2019 interview, Zelensky did not address those wider allegations about Trump's Ukraine policy  he spoke only about one particular phone call. Therefore, Trump was only partly accurate in summarizing and describing what Zelensky said as \"President Trump has done nothing wrong with respect to Ukraine and our interactions or calls.\" Shuster, Simon. \"'I Don't Trust Anyone at All.' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Speaks Out on Trump, Putin and a Divided Europe.\"\r TIME. 2 December 2019. Gatinois, Claire. \"Volodymyr Zelensky: 'Nous Voulons un Vritable Cessez-le-Feu.'\"\r Le Monde. 2 December 2019. Andrusieczko, Piotr. \"Woodymyr Zeenski: Nie pjd na Donbas, zginyby setki tysicy ludzi.\"\r Gazeta Wyborcza. 2 December 2019. Riechmann, Deb. \"Anatomy of the Phone Call Now Imperiling Trump's Presidency.\"\r The Associated Press. 12 October 2019. Levine, Mike. \"Testimony and Texts: How the Trump-Ukraine Allegations Fit Together in a Timeline.\"\r ABC News. 20 November 2019.","issues":["lien"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1AceaV_-4vRfE2Hxy9oUsweceUyt_hrlJ","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_908","claim":"Obama loans $2 billion to a Brazilian oil company.","posted":"02\/10\/2010","sci_digest":["President Obama signed an executive order to lend $2 billion to a Brazilian oil company?"],"justification":"Claim:  President Obama signed an executive order to lend $2 billion to a Brazilian oil company, with no financial gain for the U.S. false Example:  [Collected via e-mail, November 2009] This is a perfect example why many refrain from watching the news on ABC, NBC, CBS, or MSNBC. Today on a segment of the \"Glen Beck Show\" on FOX (Fox Cable News) was the following: \"Today, even though President Obama is against off shore drilling for our country, he signed an executive order to loan 2 Billion of our taxpayers dollars to a Brazilian Oil Exploration Company (which is the 8th largest company in the entire world) to drill for oil off the coast of Brazil!  The oil that comes from this operation is for the sole purpose and use of China and NOT THE USA! Now here's the real clincher... the Chinese government is under contract to purchase all the oil that this oil field will produce, which is hundreds of millions of barrels of oil\". We have absolutely no gain from this transaction whatsoever! Wait, it gets more interesting. Guess who is the largest individual stockholder of this Brazilian Oil Company and who would benefit most from this? It is American BILLIONAIRE, George Soros, who was one of President Obama's most generous financial supporter during his campaign. If you are able to connect the dots and follow the money, you are probably as upset as I am. Not a word of this transaction was broadcast on any of the other news networks! Forward this factual e-mail to others who care about this country and where it is going. Also, let all of your Government representatives know how you feel about this. Is this the kind of \"transparency\" you want from your government? Below is the Wall street Journal article to confirm this. Wall Street Journal editorial Wall Street Journal editorial Origins:  The above-quoted article references a segment attributed to Fox News Channel host Glenn Beck criticizing President Obama for signing an executive order to lend $2 billion to a Brazilian oil company to finance offshore drilling, all without securing reciprocal oil exports from Brazil or any other benefit to the U.S.   Nearly all of the substantive claims made in that article are false, as detailed below:  [President Obama] signed an executive order to loan 2 Billion of our taxpayers dollars to a Brazilian Oil Exploration Company This statement is false: President Obama signed no such executive order.  On 14 April 2009, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im), an agency whose mission \"is to assist in financing the export of U.S. goods and services to international markets,\" issued a preliminary approval for a $2 billion loan to Brazil's national oil company, Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras), to help fund offshore oil exploration and development. Ex-Im preliminary approval The approval of the loan was an action undertaken not by officials who had been appointed by President Obama, but by his predecessor, President George W. Bush, as Ex-Im itself stated: The Bank's bipartisan Board unanimously approved the preliminary commitment to Petrobras on April 14, 2009, before any Obama appointees joined the Bank. In fact, at the time the Bank's Board consisted of three Republicans and two Democrats, all of whom were appointed by George W. Bush. Despite the claim that the money committed to Petrobras is \"taxpayer dollars,\" Ex-Im notes that \"the vast majority of our financing consists of guarantees of loans made by commercial lenders,\" that \"the bank is self-sustaining and does not receive any appropriated funds from Congress,\" and that \"the Bank's activities do not cost the American taxpayer a dime.\"    We have absolutely no gain from this transaction whatsoever! This statement is also false, one predicated on the mistaken assumption that the only tangible financial benefit of lending money to Petrobras was to guarantee a supply of Brazilian oil for the United States.  The Ex-Im's mission statement declares: mission statement The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) is the official export credit agency of the United States. Ex-Im Bank's mission is to assist in financing the export of U.S. goods and services to international markets. Ex-Im Bank enables U.S. companies  large and small  to turn export opportunities into real sales that help to maintain and create U.S. jobs and contribute to a stronger national economy. Accordingly, as set forth in a 29 July 2009 press release, Ex-Im's chairman and president, Fred P. Hochberg, declared that the bank approved the $2 billion preliminary commitment not as a downpayment to ensure future oil purchases from Brazil by the U.S., but \"to encourage purchases of U.S. goods and services by Petrobras\": press release I chose Brazil as my first international destination for good reason: Brazil is a powerhouse among South American economies and offers tremendous opportunities for U.S. exporters in many sectors. I want Brazilians to know that Ex-Im Bank has the will and the capacity to finance their purchases of U.S. equipment, products and services. (Although Fred P. Hochberg is an Obama appointee, the President did not nominate Hochberg for the position of Ex-Im president until 20 April 2009, a week after the board approved the loan to Petrobras.) nominate    The Chinese government is under contract to purchase all the oil that this oil field will produce, which is hundreds of millions of barrels of oil. China does have an agreement to buy Brazilian oil from Petrobras, but not literally to purchase the entire output of Brazilian offshore oil fields.  In May 2009, the China Development Bank (CDB) agreed to lend Petrobras $10 billion (five times the amount of the Ex-Im loan); in exchange, \"the two sides agreed to increase actual crude oil exports from Brazil to China.\" At the same time, Petrobras and Sinopec (the China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation) signed a separate long-term export agreement providing for  Petrobras to export 200,000 barrels of oil to China per day from 2010 to 2019. agreed    Guess who is the largest individual stockholder of this Brazilian Oil Company and who would benefit most from this? It is American BILLIONAIRE, George Soros, who was one of President Obama's most generous financial supporter during his campaign. Billionaire financier George Soros has donated large sums of money to groups that support the goals of the Democratic Party (including an estimated $23.5 million towards defeating the re-election effort of President George W. Bush in 2004),  and his hedge fund (Soros Fund Management LLC) does hold stock in Petrobras.  However, the implication that President Obama unilaterally directed the issuance of a loan to Petrobras as quid pro quo repayment to George Soros is erroneous since, as noted above, the loan was approved and made by a Republican-majority board of Ex-Im officials who had been appointed by  George W. Bush. Soros' hedge-fund firm  sold off 5 million of its 37 million Petrobras shares in May 2009, and the firm sold off another 22 million shares in August 2009, before Petrobras received any loan funds from Ex-Im. sold sold   In a letter published by the Wall Street Journal on 21 August 2009, Ex-Im president Fred P. Hochberg refuted the criticisms expressed in that newspapers' editorial of three days earlier: Your editorial \"Obama Underwrites Offshore Drilling\" (Aug. 18) more correctly should have read, \"Obama Underwrites U.S. Jobs.\" That's because the mandate of the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. (Ex-Im Bank) is to help create and sustain U.S. jobs by financing U.S. exports. Our offer to provide financing to Brazil's state-owned oil company Petrobras does exactly that. That's what is behind our decision to offer at least $2 billion in loans or loan guarantees to help finance purchases of U.S. goods and services by Petrobras. This increases the likelihood that  American  not foreign   workers will be employed to satisfy part of the company's planned $175 billion investment during the next five years. Ex-Im Bank does not make U.S. policy. In fact, our charter prohibits us from turning down financing for either nonfinancial or noncommercial reasons, except in rare circumstances including failure to meet our environmental standards. We make no grants. The vast majority of our financing consists of guarantees of loans made by commercial lenders, not Ex-Im Bank direct loans. The foreign buyers that use Ex-Im Bank products pay us in full. Over the past 16 years the fees that we collect have netted American taxpayers more than $4.9 billion plus the jobs those exports have created. Thanks to the fees we charge, the bank is self-sustaining and does not receive any appropriated funds from Congress. At a time when jobs, and exports, are more important than ever in helping our economy recover, Ex-Im Bank is achieving its mission to keep Americans working, and we're doing it without burdening the U.S. taxpayer. Additional information:  Facts About the Proposed Ex-Im Bank Loans  Last updated:  10 February 2010 ","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_909","claim":"Facebook Appeal for Lylah Rose","posted":"04\/04\/2012","sci_digest":["A 2-month-old girl was badly burned in the hand by emergency room staff at a Merced hospital?"],"justification":"A 2-month-old girl was badly burned on the hand by emergency room staff at a Merced hospital. This is a friend of mine's 2-month-old niece, Lylah Rose! We took her to the Merced ER because she was having diarrhea. They told me she was dehydrated and needed an IV. They were trying to find a vein and put a light on her palm to see through her hand, where they attempted 14 times to get an IV in and blew 3 veins! They held her hand under the light for over 8 minutes while my niece was screaming the whole time! When my sister finally demanded that they stop and send her to Valley Children's, the doctor or nurse noticed the burn when they lifted her hand and wrapped it up with gauze, failing to inform my sister that they had burned her! We realized when we got to Valley Children's that she had a huge bubble on the palm of her hand that had popped from the tape being placed on it! My sister took her to the doctor today to get it checked out, and the doctor said these are second-degree burns and is sending my sister to a burn specialist, where they will have to remove the dead and dying skin from her hand! I have contacted the local newspaper and the local news station, both of which are denying to write a story about what happened! I can't let this slide! Please help share our story! We can be her voice! I don't want them to be able to do this to anyone else! Will you help us, KMPH FOX 26, and get justice for Lylah and expose the truth? This is news that matters. Merced Hospital is trying to cover this up. If this isn't newsworthy, I don't know what is! This item, which began circulating in April 2012, maintains that a 2-month-old girl named Lylah Rose was taken to a hospital in Merced, California, for treatment of diarrhea; and when she was diagnosed as being dehydrated, emergency room staff engaged in multiple attempts to insert an IV, which resulted in second-degree burns to her hand. Furthermore, the item asserts that attempts to interest local media in the story have failed, as those news outlets are \"denying to write a story about what happened!\" In response to a query, Fresno television station KMPH said they had attempted to look into the story but were so far unable to obtain information from either party involved in the alleged incident: \"In order for us to do this story, we must be able to speak with the family and the hospital. We have contacted both. The family referred us to an attorney who will not discuss the case, and the hospital will not comment due to patient protection laws.\" On a Facebook site established as the \"voice\" for Lylah Rose, a post made on April 3, 2012, stated: \"We talked to our lawyer today who told us not to talk to the media just yet until he is finished gathering all the information he needs. But I assure you, as soon as he says, we will talk to the media and share Lylah's story so this never happens again. Until then, we are just going to focus on getting Lylah better and out of pain.\" Last updated: April 3, 2012.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1N8lPW_826EV9aAUyUvuQ5rsRFiURP782","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_910","claim":"Kathryn Starkey only attended half of those meetings.","posted":"08\/13\/2010","sci_digest":[],"justification":"A new political mailer from the Committee to Protect Florida attacks State House District 45 candidate Kathryn Starkey of New Port Richey for her record on taxes, citing her role on a water district board and her support of the Penny for Pasco, a 2004 increase in the county sales tax. The committee is headed by Rockie Pennington, a political consultant for Richard Corcoran, one of Starkey's two opponents in the Aug. 24 Republican primary. (Fabian Calvo is also on the ballot.) \"Taxing Kathryn,\" says the mailer sent in early August 2010. \"With Kathryn Starkey's record on taxes here at home, how can we trust her\u2014or afford her\u2014in Tallahassee?\" We wondered, can you trust the mailer's claims? We looked at three claims, and this Truth-O-Meter item tackles her attendance at meetings. Other items are here on her voting record for river board tax rates and here on her actions involving the Pasco sales tax. We examined the claim that as a member of the Pinellas-Anclote River Basin Board, Kathryn Starkey had the opportunity to fight for lower taxes in 14 separate budget meetings between 2002 and 2008. However, she only attended half of those meetings! Pennington said he based that claim on minutes from the basin board's meetings. We took a look, too. We reviewed two budget meetings each year: June, when the basin board typically sets its preliminary tax rate, and August, when it takes a final vote. (In 2007, the final vote was taken in July.) Starkey served on the board from June 2002 through April 2008, so we looked only at the 12 budget-related meetings that fell within that period. (Pennington, who put together his mailer a month ago, said he wasn't sure why we came up with different counts for the meetings.) Of the 12 budget meetings she could have attended, Starkey attended seven (five of those seven were the final votes). That attendance record is just over half. We rate this claim Mostly True.","issues":["Environment","Candidate Biography","Taxes","Florida"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_911","claim":"Did Pelosi Tell Seniors, 'You Are Not Entitled to Social Security! It's Gone!'?","posted":"05\/13\/2020","sci_digest":["The U.S. House Speaker is the frequent target of inflammatory fake quotes."],"justification":"In early May 2020, Facebook users reported seeing a headline circulating on the social platform stating, \"Pelosi To Seniors: 'You Are Not Entitled to Social Security! It's Gone!'\" The story was published on the website BIZ News. website The story contained a number of sensational and false statements such as, \"Socialist politicians in the Democratic Party have tried for years to eliminate Social Security, a source of income relied upon by millions in this country just to get by in their old age.\" While the story didn't actually contain the quote in the headline above, the copy did include an Ebenezer Scrooge-like statement falsely attributed to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi:To be clear, no record exists that Pelosi made this remark or the quoted remark in the BIZ News headline. However, a similar, also-fake quote about Social Security that was attributed to Pelosi circulated in April 2020.  similar,  This item is nothing more than an example of junk news. We therefore rate this claim  Speaker.gov.\"Pelosi Statement on 84th Anniversary of Social Security.\"\r14 August 2019.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1MZUaot9ts-L330EXgOXHo7bsWUlx9kY7","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_912","claim":"Lowe's $150 Anniversary Coupon Scam","posted":"05\/21\/2015","sci_digest":["Don't believe what you see. It's easy to steal the colors, logos and header of an established organization."],"justification":"In late 2019, social media users began seeing posts touting that \"LOWES has announced that everyone who shares this link will be sent a $150 coupon for its anniversary TODAY ONLY\":  This coupon offer was fake, just another iteration of similar scams that have made the online rounds several times before. In May 2015, a fraudulent offer for $100 Lowe's coupons started circulating on Facebook. The message linked Facebook users to a fraudulent web site adorned with the Lowe's logo, and instructed them to follow a simple set of instructions:  Scams like these require users to pass the fake coupon on to their Facebook friends, which widens the pool of potential victims. Next, they direct people to fill out a simple survey, which seems like a harmless task but is used to coax sensitive information such as email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth and credit card numbers out of victims. Finally, users who complete the survey will never receive a free Lowe's gift card but instead will likely sign up for difficult-to-cancel \"Reward Offers\" or have their personal information used for nefarious purposes. The Better Business Bureau provides these three tips to identify scams on Facebook: Facebook Don't believe what you see. It's easy to steal the colors, logos and header of an established organization. Scammers can also make links look like they lead to legitimate websites and emails appear to come from a different sender.Legitimate businesses do not ask for credit card numbers or banking information on customer surveys. If they do ask for personal information, like an address or email, be sure there's a link to their privacy policy. Watch out for a reward that's too good to be true. If the survey is real, you may be entered in a drawing to win a gift card or receive a small discount off your next purchase. Few businesses can afford to give away $50 gift cards for completing a few questions. Lowe's also posted a warning about this scam on their Facebook page: Facebook  In April 2017, two years after we first debunked the initial coupon scam, a new version of it appeared, taking in unsuspecting Facebookers yet again:  Those who clicked on this image on Facebook were taken to a page with a dubious URL& (in this case, https:\/\/www.lowes.com-holdit.us\/?sfpzbJt) and asked to take a simple survey and then to \"like\" and \"share\" the page:  Needless to say, anyone who attempted to redeem these coupons at Lowe's will be unsuccessful (and probably a little embarrassed), and if they have followed the online instructions, they have set themselves and their friends on social media up for, at best, a like-farming scam. A simple racket, certainly, but an effective one. scam   ","issues":["banking"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1cHp8biqd_3hAPjM740c7wwC4V0KbZfqB","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1s60R-RN-iEnMmgy1Yny9cy8eXGF0kUbR","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=132P0Ykx9tBjNpoImsEzfUQXzqBQ9C4Su","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1yhzDD3r1mqYc_W7rpI8z7MewYkqW0iHr","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1FygtQg5S9z7npmo0bFYtDovD3_yYf8sN","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_913","claim":"Under Donald Trump's tax plan, 51 percent of single parents would see their taxes go up.","posted":"11\/06\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Campaigning in the final stretch of the presidential election, Hillary Clinton took a brief break from criticizing Donald Trump's character to focus on his tax plan. \"He's taking care of himself, he's taking care of his family, he's taking care of the super wealthy and corporations,\" Clinton said at a rally in Pittsburgh on Nov. 4, 2016, adding that under Trump, 51 percent of single parents would see their taxes go up. Briefly, Trump's tax plan would collapse the seven federal income tax brackets into three (12 percent, 25 percent, and 33 percent). He would also raise the standard deduction (the amount everyone can deduct from taxable income) but repeal personal exemptions and head of household filing status. Tax analysts have found that Trump's plan would deliver, on average, tax cuts across all income brackets. So how is it possible that single parents would pay more? The Clinton campaign referred us to an analysis of Trump's tax plan from the Tax Policy Center, which is affiliated with the left-leaning Urban Institute. According to the report, authored by New York University professor Lily Batchelder, about 20 percent of households and more than half of single parents would wind up paying more in federal taxes. How? First, Trump's proposal to increase the standard deduction wouldn't be enough to offset the amount many single parents could have deducted with personal exemptions (which Trump would eliminate). For example, a single mother with one child can take a $9,350 standard deduction and two $4,050 exemptions, one for herself and one for her child in 2017 under the current system, totaling $17,450 in exemptions. Under Trump's plan, she would be able to take just a $15,000 standard deduction. The end result? That mother would have to pay income tax on an additional $2,450 under Trump's plan. Second, the head of household filing status currently applies to unmarried filers with dependents, and their standard deduction and tax rates are between those of married filers and single filers. Repealing this provision, as Trump proposes, would require single parents to file as individuals with higher tax rates. Third, Trump's three brackets would increase taxes for many head of household filers. For example, the current lowest bracket is 10 percent, but Trump's lowest bracket is 12 percent. In 2017, a single parent with one child who claims the standard deduction would face a 25 percent tax rate on adjusted gross income between $53,050 and $68,550, compared with just a 15 percent rate under current law, Roberton Williams, an analyst at the Tax Policy Center, wrote in Forbes. Put together, 51 percent of single parents, or about 5.8 million households, would see a tax increase under Trump's plan, Batchelder calculated. As our colleagues at FactCheck.org noted, single parents tend to fare worse under Trump's plan than under current law. For example, a single parent with an income of $75,000 and two school-age children would see his or her taxes increase by $2,440, or by $1,640 if the family had child care costs that could be deducted under Trump's plan, according to Batchelder. Similarly, a single parent making $50,000 with three children would face an increase of $1,188. The Tax Foundation, a free market-oriented think tank, has not released a similar analysis. However, its director of federal projects, Kyle Pomerleau, found no faults with Batchelder's report. \"@lilybatch We were able to replicate many of the numbers in the report. The results seem reasonable to me.\" The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment. Our ruling: Clinton said that under Trump's tax plan, 51 percent of single parents would see their taxes go up. Trump's proposal would simplify the federal tax code and provide tax cuts for many. But analysts say Trump's plan would make changes that would negatively affect some people. Trump's proposal to eliminate the head of household filing status and personal exemptions would raise federal income taxes for many single parents. We rate Clinton's claim as True.","issues":["National","Taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_914","claim":"Did the final three years of Obama's presidency witness a greater number of jobs being generated compared to the initial three years of Trump's administration?","posted":"02\/19\/2020","sci_digest":["Left-leaning critics of U.S. President Donald Trump rejected his claims to overseeing unprecedented economic growth in early 2020. Who was right?"],"justification":"In February 2020, we received multiple inquiries from readers about the veracity of social media posts and news articles claiming that the U.S. economy had added 1.5 million more jobs during former President Barack Obama's final three years in office than it did during President Donald Trump's first three years. On Feb. 17, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-New York, tweeted that Obama had \"created 1.5 million more jobs in his last 3 years than Donald Trump has in his first 3 years.\" Earlier, the left-leaning Democratic Coalition group posted a link to a Yahoo! News article with the headline \"Trump's First 3 Years Created 1.5 Million Fewer Jobs Than Obama's Last 3,\" adding, \"FACT: New figures from Trump's own Department of Labor show that 6.6 million new jobs were created in the first 36 months of Trump's tenure, compared with 8.1 million in the final 36 months of Obama's\u2014a decline of 19% under Trump.\" That article was itself a republication of a Feb. 10 report published by HuffPost, which read as follows: \"As President Donald Trump takes the stage at his reelection rally here [Manchester, New Hampshire] Monday and boasts of his economic record, there is one statistic he is likely to omit: He created 1.5 million fewer jobs in his first three years in office than predecessor Barack Obama did in his final three. Newly revised figures from Trump's own Department of Labor show that 6.6 million new jobs were created in the first 36 months of Trump's tenure, compared with 8.1 million in the final 36 months of Obama's\u2014a decline of 19% under Trump, according to a HuffPost analysis.\" The HuffPost article didn't specify the exact metric it used to arrive at those numbers, but the standard figure used to gauge job growth in the United States is total, seasonally adjusted non-farm payroll employment, which is released every month as part of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) establishment survey, in which BLS collects data from a sample of around 145,000 businesses and government agencies throughout the country. When a news headline states that, for example, the economy \"added 225,000 jobs in January,\" that's typically a reference to seasonally adjusted non-farm payroll employment, meaning there were 225,000 more jobs in the United States in January 2020 than there were in December 2019. Once a year, the BLS revises its employment data after consulting more official figures collected from each state's unemployment insurance agency. This \"benchmark\" revision process enhances the accuracy of job figures and typically results in retrospective adjustments to employment statistics from every month over the preceding 10 years. That's what happened on Feb. 7, when the BLS released both the preliminary employment figures for January and revised job numbers from 2010 through 2019. Those revisions meant that job growth in 2018 turned out to be slower than originally recorded, prompting Slate to report that: \"On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its latest batch of employment numbers, along with its annual benchmark revisions adjusting its estimates from prior months. Before, the government believed that the U.S. had added 223,000 jobs per month in 2018, the year that the GOP's tax cuts and new, higher spending levels took effect. It has now lowered that estimate to 193,000 per month, a significant drop.\" For its part, MSNBC wrote that: \"The revisions for 2019 showed that the economy generated nearly 2.1 million jobs last year, which is a pretty good number. The trouble, however, is that the job totals from last year were down from the year before and were actually the lowest since 2011. Or put another way, while Trump spent the year boasting that the U.S. job market was the strongest it's ever been, 2019 saw job growth slow to an eight-year low. What's more, the best year for jobs during Trump's presidency\u20142.31 million in 2018\u2014fails to reach the job growth in any of the three final years of Barack Obama's presidency. It adds a degree of irony to his rhetorical record: Trump ran for president in 2015 and 2016, telling the nation that the economy was horrible and he'd make it vastly better. But annual job growth totals from both 2015 and 2016 were better than any year of the Republican's tenure, at least so far. Taking this one step further, Trump has now been in office for 36 full months\u2014February 2017 through January 2020\u2014and in that time, the economy has created 6.56 million jobs. In the 36 months preceding Trump's presidency\u2014February 2014 to January 2017\u2014the economy created 8.08 million jobs. Before we present the figures at the heart of this fact check, it should be noted that, as a rule, politicians overstate their influence over the economy when indicators are healthy and downplay their influence when things are bad. As Neil Irwin wrote for The New York Times before Trump's inauguration in January 2017: \"The reality is that presidents have far less control over the economy than you might imagine. Presidential economic records are highly dependent on the dumb luck of where the nation is in the economic cycle. And the White House has no control over the demographic and technological forces that influence the economy. Even in areas where the president really does have the power to shape the economy\u2014appointing Federal Reserve governors, steering fiscal and regulatory policy, responding to crises and external shocks\u2014the relationship between presidential action and economic outcome is often uncertain and hard to prove.\" However, Trump himself has repeatedly insisted on tying positive economic indicators like employment growth to his own presidency. So even if we might dispute the premise that presidents should receive unqualified praise or blame when the economy grows or tanks, it's worth checking the numbers involved. After all, if Trump proposes that he is to be thanked for employment growth, his own logic dictates that he should be blamed if that rate of growth is slowing down. In order to measure and compare job growth during Obama's final three years in office and job growth during Trump's first three, we obtained a data set containing 10 years' worth of monthly non-farm payroll employment figures, which BLS confirmed for Snopes was the most reliable and up-to-date data set available, and took into account the February 2020 benchmark revisions. The spreadsheet can be downloaded here, and the table is shown below: It's important to note that the monthly employment figures for December 2019 and January 2020 are both still preliminary. The January 2020 figure will be revised in March, and all the monthly figures shown in the table are liable to be further revised in 2021, when BLS conducts its annual benchmark revisions again. There are several potential ways to compare job growth under Obama and Trump, depending on where you place the transition between the two administrations. Since Trump was inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2017, there is a case for \"starting the clock\" in January 2017, but also for starting it in February 2017, since that was his first full month in office. If the purpose of the comparison is to gauge the possible influence of a presidency on employment trends, one could also measure job growth starting in November 2016, since that's when Trump was actually elected, or in December 2016, since that was the first full month of what could be described as the \"Trump era.\" Finally, if one wished to use only the most reliable figures available and exclude the preliminary data from December 2019 and January 2020, one could track job growth for just the first 34 months of Trump's presidency (from February 2017 to November 2019) and compare that to the final 34 months of Obama's tenure (from April 2014 to January 2017). The following table takes into account all five methods. Each of them demonstrates that the final three years of Obama's presidency saw significantly superior job growth than the first three years of Trump's presidency. As the table shows, Obama's final three years in office saw significantly greater job growth than Trump's first three years did, no matter where the transition between presidencies is placed. Across the first four different methods, the gap averages out at around 1.5 million jobs\u2014meaning the claim at the center of this fact check was accurate. Employment has grown during the first three years of Trump's presidency, but at a significantly slower rate than it did towards the end of Obama's tenure. Across the first four methods used here, job growth under Trump has averaged out at around 19% slower than the rate of growth experienced during his predecessor's final three years in office. When we exclude the two months of preliminary data (December 2019 and January 2020) and compare blocks of 34 months each (as opposed to blocks of 36 months), the job growth gap is naturally slightly smaller (because the time periods in question are slightly shorter), but the gap in the rate of growth is still significant, with Trump's presidency seeing employment grow 18.2% more slowly than it did during the final 34 months of Obama's time in office.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1R3UZn644qzcYOq54mjQ9yh2bnwxR2di3"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1pVR4J4DZ-ZvYpVCqjTvuKDn9j_ZlmiDk"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=10nQLPZ9ADnQbYzTOaN31dM8vz60ORBXL"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1kJl190URj2DzoVtuKHSPzhh7Xt-mJAoV"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_915","claim":"Did Trump's 2020 Campaign Publish a Heavily Slanted 'Trump vs Democrat' Poll?","posted":"07\/03\/2019","sci_digest":["Readers questioned whether the outrageous framing of the poll questions was intended as satire. It was not. "],"justification":"Readers responded with bemusement and skepticism in June 2019 after an \"Official 2020 Trump vs Democrat Poll\" emerged online and on social media, appearing to pose questions framed in a heavily anti-Democrat way. For example, one survey question asked, \"Who would you rather see fix our Nation's shattered immigration policies? President Trump \/\/ A MS-13 loving Democrat,\" while another somewhat tautological question asked: \"Who would you trust to NOT raise your taxes? President Trump \/\/ A High Tax Democrat.\" Such bias in the questions, as well as some clear nods to Trump's go-to insults against his political opponents (the poll referenced \"a Lyin' Democrat\" and \"a Low IQ Democrat\"), prompted inquiries from Snopes readers who were uncertain whether they were reading a parody or hoax or an official Trump 2020 campaign poll. One reader asked, \"Oh my gosh, is this really from the Trump campaign? Or some satire site?\" while another wrote, \"Is this for real? It sounds too crazy ...\" The survey was indeed published by Trump's official re-election campaign committee, on that campaign's official website. An archived version can be read here. The site on which it appeared, donaldjtrump.com, is run by two formally registered, pro-Trump committees and the Republican National Committee (RNC). The website contains the following disclaimer, which makes clear the official nature of the June 2019 survey and all other content featured on the site: here \"Paid for by the Trump Make America Great Again Committee, a joint fundraising committee authorized by and composed of Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. and the Republican National Committee.\" Committee Inc Committee The poll's true purpose may not have been to create a set of results that reflected in a misleadingly positive way on the president but rather to harvest contact information  respondents were required to enter their name, zip code and email address in order to submit their answers.  The full list of questions was as follows: The \"Trump vs Democrat\" poll bore similarities to another survey on the subject of \"mainstream media accountability,\" which Trump's website published in February 2017, and that included heavily slanted questions such as. \"Do you feel that the media is too eager to slur conservatives with baseless accusations of racism and sexism?\"  accountability DonaldJTrump.com. \"Official 2020 Trump vs Democrat Poll.\"\r June 2019. DonaldJTrump.com. \"Mainstream Media Accountability Survey.\"\r February 2017.","issues":["accountability"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1A0EuJCfV6RXbJiWRBHWaOzoNGf__62p0","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_916","claim":"Windshield Washer Robbers","posted":"02\/05\/2005","sci_digest":["Is a naked woman distracting drivers by washing their windshields while her partner robs the cars?"],"justification":"Joke:  Naked woman distracts drivers by washing their windshields while her partner robs the cars. LEGEND Examples:  [Collected via e-mail, February 2005] WARNING A scam is being pulled, mainly on older men. What happens is that when you stop for a red light, a young nude woman comes up and pretends to be washing your windshield. While she is doing this, another person opens your back door and steals anything in the car. They are very good at this:  They got me 7 times Friday and 5 times Saturday.  I wasn't able to find them on Sunday. Origins:  This howler began its Internet life in January 2005. No, it is not a valid warning about an actual crime being perpetrated by gangs of naked women and their accomplices; it is merely a joke that is presented as an alert solely as the set-up for its final line, \"I wasn't able to find them on Sunday.\" The crime victim's wistfulness is key to the jest, transforming the supposed account of repeated thefts into one of a lustful man so entranced by the sight of the woman's nudity that not only didn't he mind being repeatedly stolen from, he would actively go looking for it. In May 2005 we encountered a distaff version of the joke: Scam on Women of a Certain Age...Watch out this weekend, ladies... Be careful of this scam This new scam is being pulled mainly on older women who are apparently passed the age of giving a running pursuit. What happens is that when the intended victim stops for a red light, a completely nude and good looking, nicely tanned, unbelievably well enhanced young man comes up with muscles flexing, and body stretched to its full potential, he pretends to wash your windshield. While he is doing this, another person opens the back door of your car, taking anything you have in the car. They are very good at this. They got me seven times Friday and five times Saturday  I couldn't find them on Sunday. In August 2006 we began receiving inquiries about a more elaborate, \"purse snatching\" variation of the latter version: WARNING! I want ALL of my friends and family to be aware of this potential danger! I don't know how many of you shop at Sam's Club or Costco, but this may be useful to know. I became a victim of a clever scam while out shopping. This happened to me and it could happen to you!! Here's how the scam works: Two seriously good-looking 23-year-old, well-built guys come over to your car as you are packing your shopping in the trunk. They both are shirtless and start  wiping your windshield with a rag and Windex, with their highly-defined chest muscles and rock-hard abs exposed. It's impossible not to look. When you thank them and offer them a tip, they say 'No' and instead ask you for a ride to another Sam's Club or Costco. You agree and they get in the back seat. On the way, they start talking dirty about what they want to do to you. Then one of them climbs over into the front seat and begins kissing your neck and begs you to pull over so he can make love to you! BEWARE! While this is going on the other guy steals your purse!  I had my purse stolen last Tuesday, Wednesday, twice on Thursday, again on Saturday, and also yesterday and most likely tomorrow. I'm running out of purses ... PLEASE SEND ME ANY PURSES YOU ARE NO LONGER USING! You know I'm living on a fixed income and doing without food trying to keep the purses stocked! Thank you in advance ... PLEASE HELP! March 2009 brought an even more exaggerated version involving young female wallet thieves victimizing men who shop at Home Depot: SHOPPING AT HOME DEPOT A 'heads up' for those men who may be regular Home Depot customers. This one caught me by surprise. Over the last month I became a victim of a clever scam while out shopping. Simply going out to get supplies has turned out to be quite traumatic. Don't be naive enough to think it couldn't happen to you or your friends. Here's how the scam works: Two seriously good-looking 20-21 year-old girls come over to your car as you are packing your shopping into the trunk. They both start wiping your windshield with a rag and Windex, with their breasts almost falling out of their skimpy T-shirts. It is impossible not to look. When you thank them and offer them a tip, they say 'No' and instead ask you for a ride to McDonalds. You agree and they get into the back seat. On the way, they start undressing. Then one of them climbs over into the front seat and starts crawling all over you, while the other one steals your wallet. I had my wallet stolen January 4th, 9th, 10th, twice on the 15th, 17th, 20th, 24th & 29th. Also February 1st & 4th, Twice on the 8th, 16th, 23rd, 26th & 30th, three times last Monday and very likely again this upcomingweekend. So tell your friends to be careful. P.S. Wal-Mart has wallets on sale for 2.99 each. I found cheaper ones for $1.99 at K-Mart and bought them out. Also, you never will get to eat at McDonalds. I've already lost 11 pounds just running back and forth to Home Depot. In September 2010, we spotted this adendum to the version quoted above: So please, send this on to all the older men that you know and warn them to be on the lookout for this scam. (The best times are just before lunch and around 4:30 in the afternoon.) An instance of ostension was reported in December 2005 by Houston station KPRC-TV, who broadcast that  a pair of Hispanic women between 17 and 22 years of age robbed a local man in somewhat similar fashion. According to the victim's statement, a woman approached him as he was getting into his pickup truck and exposed herself, then pulled out a hammer and broke his window. A second woman produced a gun and robbed him. It is believed the same women stole another man's van not far from the apartment complex where the pickup owner was robbed. ostension Barbara \"wash and beware\" Mikkelson Last updated:  1 September 2010","issues":["income"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_917","claim":"Did Police in NC 'Escort' Proud Boys to LGBTQ Library Event?","posted":"06\/23\/2022","sci_digest":["Outraged social media posts went viral after a \"Pride reading time\" event at Pine Valley Library in Wilmington, North Carolina. "],"justification":"In June 2022, viral social media posts claimed that police in Wilmington, North Carolina, had \"escorted\" protesters from the far-right Proud Boys group towards an LGBTQ reading event for children, at a local public library. For example, on June 22, trans rights activist Erin Reed posted several photographs to Twitter, along with the following description: posted Proud Boys stormed the Pine Valley Public Library in Wilmington, North Carolina. I did some research from people who witnessed things on the ground and took pictures, and it would seem that not only was the Sheriff's office ineffective - they ESCORTED the proud boys to the room!   Also on Twitter, @wapplehouse shared similar photos and wrote:  shared similar photos the fucking Proud Boys showed up to a local Pride story time event today for 7 year olds and to the surprise of absolutely no one were escorted into the building and right to the room it was being held in by the [New Hanover Sheriff's Office]. A spokesperson for the New Hanover Sheriff's Office (NHSO) firmly denied to Snopes that any officer had \"escorted\" the Proud Boys towards the event. The spokesperson told Snopes the agency had video footage which corroborated that assertion, but its public release was unlikely because of the demands of North Carolina state law.  demands of North Carolina state law Either way, no one has so far made public any evidence that definitively establishes the truth of that law enforcement agency's role in the June 21 incident. As a result, we are issuing a rating of \"Unproven.\" If relevant evidence becomes available, we will update this fact check accordingly.  The event in question was an LGBTQ \"Pride reading time\" for children, and took place at Pine Valley public library in Wilmington, North Carolina, on June 21.  It was protested by local members of the Proud Boys, a far-right group. Earlier in June, several of that movement's leaders were charged with seditious conspiracy over their alleged role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.  far-right group charged with seditious conspiracy More broadly, the summer of 2022 had seen a rising tide of homophobia and transphobia in the U.S., with a particular rhetorical focus on purportedly protecting children from \"groomers\"  a homophobic slur with a long and odious ancestry.  long and odious ancestry The photographs and descriptions that formed the basis of viral \"police escort\" claims were originally published by Angie Smith Kahney, who was present at the library at the time of the protest.  In a series of Facebook and Instagram posts, she shared pictures of NHSO deputies talking with protesters, as well as walking and standing near them. In one, she wrote that the sheriff's deputies had \"led the Proud Boys and their entourage right through the library TO THE ROOM FULL OF CHILDREN...\" talking with protesters walking she wrote Snopes put those allegations  that police had \"escorted\" the Proud Boys into the library and\/or towards the room where the event was taking place  to Lt. JJ Brewer, a spokesperson for the NHSO. Brewer firmly denied them, saying \"That's 100 percent incorrect.\" Rather, he said, an NHSO supervisor had endeavored to walk ahead of the crowd of protesters and make sure they could not enter the room where the Pride reading time event was taking place. According to Brewer, while the protesters were legally permited to enter the main library building, they would have needed to be properly registered, and accompanied by children, in order to attend the event itself.  He added that none of the protesters ever entered that room, nor did they attempt to enter it, and \"at no time did they cause a disturbance in the library.\" We asked Smith Kahney for her response to those assertions, but we did not receive a response in time for publication. However, in an earlier Facebook post, she insisted that the Proud Boys were indeed disruptive and intimidating inside the library, and shouted obscenities at children and their parents, and said it was library staff  rather than sheriff's deputies  who ensured the protesters did not have access to the room. earlier Facebook post Snopes also asked New Hanover County officials for their account of the events that took place at the Pine Valley library  which is operated by the county  on June 21.  In a statement provided to Snopes, Linda Thompson, the county's chief diversity and equity officer, said the protesters only entered the library building after the reading event had concluded, although some attendees still remained inside the room: ...After the Storytime program had ended, several members of the protesting group wanted to come inside. Anyone from the public is permitted inside the building as long as they are not actively protesting or disturbing other patrons, based on the library's code of conduct.  The library director came inside with them and deputies quickly made their way to the door of Storytime, to ensure safety for library patrons and staff who were still in the room. The members of the protesting group were not allowed in the closed room where the event had been held and families were still in, and there was no disturbance inside the building.  Sheriffs deputies and library staff also provided help to parents and kids who were still in attendance (some had left already) on where to exit the library following the event. Parents and children were not in danger at any time. Video footage will likely be required in order to definitively answer questions about the NHSO's role in the incidents, and whether or not they \"escorted\" Proud Boys towards the event. So far, such footage has not been published, and it is not clear what actions and events are shown in the still images posted online by Smith Kahney. Brewer told Snopes that the sheriff's office did have such footage, and that it clearly demonstrated that deputies did not \"escort\" the protesters towards the room, so that they might intimidate or harass attendees at the Pride event.  However, as Brewer himself pointed out, North Carolina has unusually strict rules around the publication of police bodyworn camera footage. Police, for example, cannot unilaterally release such footage, but a judge can authorize its release. Brewer told Snopes it was therefore not likely that the bodycam footage would imminently be made public.  unusually strict rules Until or unless relevant evidence does become available, our rating remains \"Unproven.\" Groomers Rhetoric Targeting LGBTQ People Nothing New. Snopes.Com, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/news\/2022\/06\/23\/lgbtq-groomers-smear-campaign\/. Accessed 23 June 2022.  Leader of Proud Boys and Four Other Members Indicted in Federal Court For Seditious Conspiracy and Other Offenses Related to U.S. Capitol Breach. 6 June 2022, https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/leader-proud-boys-and-four-other-members-indicted-federal-court-seditious-conspiracy-and.  Who Are the Proud Boys Trump Told To Stand Back and Stand By? Snopes.Com, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/news\/2020\/10\/07\/proud-boys-explained\/. Accessed 23 June 2022.","issues":["equity"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1i4e_Q8AP8drzzw_BWFaub-BpAKvbzP9f","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_918","claim":"Did Ohio Man Who Called COVID-19 a 'Political Ploy' Die from the Disease?","posted":"04\/22\/2020","sci_digest":["John W. McDaniel of Ohio passed away at the age of 60 in April 2020."],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease. \n\nIn April 2020, a set of screenshots supposedly showing comments from a \"John McDaniels,\" in which he called COVID-19 a \"political ploy\" and social-distancing measures \"bullshit,\" started to circulate on social media. Along with the posts were articles claiming he died from complications of the coronavirus disease. \n\nMcDaniel truly died from complications related to COVID-19 in April 2020 after he downplayed the seriousness of the disease on social media. The New York Daily News wrote: An Ohio man has tragically died from COVID-19 after criticizing his state's coronavirus lockdown. John W. McDaniel, 60, died Wednesday in Columbus, exactly one month after reportedly calling Gov. Mike DeWine's stay-at-home order madness. \"If what I'm hearing is true, that DeWine has ordered all bars and restaurants to be closed, I say bullshit! He doesn't have the authority,\" McDaniel reportedly wrote in a since-deleted social media post that circulated widely. As screenshots of McDaniel's posts went viral, many social media users took the opportunity to criticize him, saying he had received his comeuppance for calling the virus a political ploy. \n\nMcDaniel's wife, Lisa, acknowledged that her husband had made some \"early assumptions\" about the virus on social media but added that social media users were also making unfair assumptions about him. In a statement posted to the Snyder Funeral Homes Facebook page, which announced that services for McDaniel would not be live-streamed due to concerns about unwanted, negative social media reactions, she explained that McDaniel, like many others, was initially not fully aware of the severity of the pandemic. However, she wrote that he ordered the employees at his company, O&M, to work from home on March 16 (the day after the above-displayed Facebook post). Furthermore, according to her Facebook message, he self-isolated as soon as he was made aware that he had been in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19. \n\nLastly, she wrote that if he were still alive, he would have abided by the state's stay-at-home order and would have encouraged others to do the same. Here's her statement from April 22, 2020 (emphasis ours): \"Words do not describe all of the emotions we, John W. McDaniel's family, are experiencing right now. We are overwhelmed with grief for the loss of our beloved husband, father, soon-to-be father-in-law, son, brother, uncle, and dear friend to many. Similar to thousands of people, we are suffering from an unexpected and untimely loss due to the effects of COVID-19, the likes of which we never could have imagined. During this time of mourning, John's story, along with early assumptions that he stated on Twitter and Facebook, have turned into national news. The news has opened the floodgates for people to share their own misguided anger and unfounded assumptions about a man they don't know. Wanting to protect my family and John's legacy, we have decided not to live stream his funeral services via Facebook today. We will be privately recording his services today, and we will be sharing it directly with his family and friends. We have not come to this decision lightly, and we hope everyone will honor and respect this decision. \n\nAs each day passes, we all are learning more about this \"invisible enemy.\" We have all learned that the early actions taken by our national and state government were indeed the right actions to take. Quarantine and social distancing have been effective in flattening the curve. John, President of O&M, ordered the company to work from home on March 16. In addition, it is important to note that John immediately self-isolated as soon as he learned he had been in contact with someone who had tested positive. Many, like John, made statements early on not fully aware of the severity of COVID-19; many have retracted their statements knowing now the effects of this pandemic. We know if John were still here with us, he would acknowledge the national crisis we're in, abide by the stay-at-home order, and encourage family and friends to do the same. But sadly, he is not with us, and we will forever have to live and cope with how his life ended far too soon. Further, we will never be able to erase from our hearts and minds the negative posts that have been made and shared about John this past week. To all of our family and friends, my sons and I will never be able to appropriately say \"thank you\" for all the love and support you have given us throughout this entire process. From the bottom of our hearts, we will forever be grateful for you and the special relationship we share. \n\nWhile some may cast aspersions on McDaniel for not treating COVID-19 with the seriousness it deserved in March 2020, it should be noted that misinformation has been rampant during this pandemic. We've debunked scores of rumors over several months that have touted bad medical advice and promoted conspiracy theories. U.S. President Donald Trump, too, has been criticized for downplaying the seriousness of COVID-19 and has repeatedly called the news outlets covering this pandemic \"fake news.\" On Feb. 28, just two weeks before McDaniel posted on social media that COVID-19 was a \"political ploy,\" Trump said during a rally that \"Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus\" as their \"new hoax.\"","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1wOWdfP-p02JYaSPfNGdDf5MyJSRouwpG","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_919","claim":"Off Target","posted":"11\/24\/2015","sci_digest":["A Facebook coupon offering 50% off at Target retail stores is just another survey scam. "],"justification":"    Claim: A Facebook coupon offering 50% off at Target stores is real.  Example: [Collected via Facebook, November2015]I saw this on Facebook this afternoon. Similar to the Kohl's hoax coupon going around in the last week or so.   Origins: InNovember 2015, a survey scam began circulating on Facebook which promised users 50% off at Target stores in exchange for liking, commenting, and sharing the scam with their friends:    The scam circulated via a variety of images and directed people toseveral different URLs (such as holidayschristmas.com and Coupon-Christmas.com), none of which were associated with Target stores:   Once users commented, shared and liked the coupon  ensuring that the scam reached a wider audience  they were directed to a survey site where they were required to provide personal information, fill out surveys, and make a purchase before they could retrieve their coupons. Even then, however, a 50% off Target coupon was unlikely to materialize, as this promotion wasnotconnected with the store: not   These survey scams are quite popular on Facebook. The customers of Target (previously)Costco,Home Depot, Lowe's, Kroger, Best Buy, Macy's, Olive Garden, Publix, and Walmarthave all been targeted by similar scams. Costco Home Depot Lowe's Kroger Best Buy Macy's Olive Garden Publix Walmart These ruses are so prevalent that theBetter Business Bureauissued a warning about them in 2014:Don't believe what you see. It's easy to steal the colors, logos and header of an established organization. Scammers can also make links look like they lead to legitimate websites and emails appear to come from a different sender. Better Business Bureau Legitimate businesses do not ask for credit card numbers or banking information on customer surveys. If they do ask for personal information, like an address or email, be sure there's a link to their privacy policy. When in doubt, do a quick web search. If the survey is a scam, you may find alerts or complaints from other consumers. The organization's real website may have further information. Watch out for a reward that's too good to be true. If the survey is real, you may be entered in a drawing to win a gift card or receive a small discount off your next purchase. Few businesses can afford to give away $50 gift cards for completing a few questions.    Last updated: 25 November 2015 Originally published: 25 November 2015","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=153BsAf6ii1AehZHPLiIuPSTa6PzseUCB","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1fwTv-CetCUzYR_CZR5HmPi2njVq8alxH","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1yxmYUe0Rkdt0wrCsyhok4waSlaAepU-7","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_920","claim":"Is Bernie Sanders: The Story of a Defeated Life?","posted":"02\/04\/2016","sci_digest":["A meme about Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders displayed questionable accuracy and relevance."],"justification":"In February 2016, a meme about the lack of business acumen and experience exhibited by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a Democratic presidential candidate, began circulating online. The criticisms offered in the meme were a mixture of true, false, irrelevant, and misleading statements. To wit: Never owned a business. Right off, this meme begins with a rather nebulous criticism. Although having owned a business is an experience many voters would like to see on the r\u00e9sum\u00e9 of a potential chief executive, a literal application of that term isn't of much relevance. Technically, a person who once operated a roadside lemonade stand has \"owned a business,\" while a person who has spent his career serving as the CEO of a public multinational, multibillion-dollar corporation has not\u2014even though everyone would agree the latter has vastly more business experience than the former. Certainly, a number of highly regarded U.S. presidents in the modern era (e.g., Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Ronald Reagan) never owned their own businesses. Moreover, one might validly say that Sanders started and operated his own business (whether he \"owned\" it is somewhat arguable, as it was a non-profit), the American People's Historical Society, which was created in 1978 to produce educational film strips about the history of Vermont. The University of Vermont has archived several of the brochures produced by the American People's Historical Society, one of which includes a statement from Sanders outlining the purpose of his film strips: Director Bernard Sanders explained, \"It is our belief that state and regional history has too long been neglected by the audio-visual industry, and we are happy to begin the process of rectifying that situation. We believe that students have the right to learn about the state and region in which they are living.\" While the financials of the American People's Historical Society are not available, Sanders wrote in his memoir, Outsider in the House, that the business was reasonably successful and \"a lot of fun.\" A friend of Sanders told Politico that the film strip business \"wasn't just a way to make money ... He made film strips about people he admired and believed in. He just thought kids should know the truth of how things really were.\" Never invented anything. Once again, this is a rather nebulous criticism. The concept of \"inventing\" something could range from simply thinking up a novel idea (but doing nothing more about it) to creating and building a device for personal use (but not marketing it) to actually obtaining a patent for a new product. Bernie Sanders is certainly no inventor and holds no patents, but it's hard to see how that fact is of any relevance, as the same is true of nearly every U.S. president. Thomas Jefferson might legitimately be considered an inventor for having conceptualized various devices (including a macaroni machine, a swivel chair, a spherical sundial, a moldboard plow, and a cipher wheel), although he held no patents because he believed them to be a form of monopoly. Abraham Lincoln was the only U.S. president who ever held a patent, having been issued Patent #6,469 for \"A Device for Buoying Vessels Over Shoals\" on May 22, 1849. Beyond that, \"inventing\" has historically had nothing to do with the qualifications or success of candidates for the White House. Never had a 9 to 5 job. This criticism is too vaguely worded to allow for much cogent analysis. What does holding a \"9 to 5 job\" mean? That one literally works from 9 AM to 5 PM (and not some other period of the day)? That one holds full-time employment? That one is paid on an hourly basis? That one toils at what is commonly referred to as a \"blue-collar\" job? That one works for someone else rather than being self-employed? If we assume the most seemingly relevant application of the term\u2014that it refers to holding steady, full-time employment\u2014then one might fairly say it applies to Bernie Sanders. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Chicago in 1964, Sanders primarily worked a series of odd jobs while attempting to get his political career off the ground, and a Politico article observed that he \"didn't collect his first steady paycheck until he was an elected official pushing 40 years old.\" However, that same article did list a variety of jobs Sanders held (even if they weren't steady or didn't provide a livable wage) before he finally reached public office upon being elected mayor of Burlington, Vermont, at age 39\u2014working as an aide at a psychiatric hospital, as a Head Start preschool teacher, as a carpenter, and as a freelance writer for local publications. Sanders rented a small brick duplex at 295 1\/2 Maple Street that was filled with not much furniture and not much food in the fridge but stacks of checked-out library books and scribbled-on legal pads. \"Pretty sparse,\" Gene Bergman, an old friend, said about the apartment. \"Stark and dark,\" said Darcy Troville, a fellow Liberty Unionite who lived around the corner and shared with Sanders homemade jellies and jams. \"The electricity was turned off a lot,\" Barnett said. \"I remember him running an extension cord down to the basement. He couldn't pay his bills.\" He worked some as a carpenter, although \"he was a shitty carpenter,\" [Liberty Union party member John] Bloch told me. \"His carpentry,\" [Liberty Union member Danny] Morrisseau said, \"was not going to support him, and didn't.\" He worked as a freelance writer, putting intermittent pieces in the low-budget Vermont Freeman, a Burlington alternative weekly called the Vanguard Press, and a glossy, state-supported magazine called Vermont Life. His writing wasn't a living. The Vanguard paid as little as the rest. \"It would've been not more than 50 bucks,\" said Greg Guma, a former editor. Vermont Life? \"Our rate was 10 cents a word,\" said Brian Vachon, a former editor. \"He was always poor,\" Sandy Baird, another old friend, told me in Burlington. \"Virtually unemployed,\" said Nelson, the political science professor at the University of Vermont. \"Just one step above hand to mouth,\" said Terry Bouricius, who was involved with Liberty Union, served at times as a de facto campaign manager for Sanders, and at one point crashed for a couple of months on his couch. Liberty Union \"people found it difficult to support themselves while engaging in full-time political work,\" Michael Parenti, one of those people, wrote in the Massachusetts Review in the summer of 1975. \"Some held jobs that allowed free time for campaign activities, while others lived off unemployment insurance.\" \"His work was to be a politician,\" Guma said. \"He put everything into what he was doing.\" We would also note that by the standard used here, holding elective office (as Sanders has done for most of the last 35 years as a mayor, a U.S. representative, and a U.S. senator) is as much a \"9 to 5\" job as any other. Never proposed a bill that has passed. This statement is not literally true, as during his tenure in Congress, Sanders has sponsored three bills that were enacted, two of which were rather slight matters involving the naming of USPS facilities, and one of which was the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2013 (which provided \"for an increase in the rates of compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation for the survivors of certain disabled veterans\"). Although that might seem like a slight achievement for someone who has spent 25 years as both a U.S. representative and a U.S. senator, we would note that only a scant handful of bills submitted in Congress (about 4 to 6 percent) are ever brought to a vote, and even fewer (about 2 to 4 percent) end up being enacted. We would also note that sponsoring original legislation is but one small part of Congress members' duties: they also co-sponsor legislation submitted by colleagues (which Sanders has done for more than 200 successful bills), muster support (or opposition) among colleagues and the public for proposed legislation, review and vote on proposed bills, serve on various committees (Sanders holds six Senate committee appointments), meet with constituents, and participate in oversight and investigation of governmental affairs. First and foremost, the Member is a decision-maker. Members are faced with hundreds of decisions in both recorded and unrecorded votes on matters major and minor. Many decisions must be made quickly. Each decision, whether spontaneous or studied, balances the conflicting perspectives received from private citizens, public officials, and party leaders. Decisions are often second-guessed by constituents, campaign opponents, colleagues, lobbyists, and media critics. Meetings are continual, in committee rooms, in private offices, in corridors, and in gatherings on the floor. Daily, sacks of mail are delivered. Faxes flow in a steady stream. Electronic mail jams congressional computers. Correspondence must be written and press releases issued. Highly visible issues are debated on the House or Senate floor, fully televised, and the absence or presence of a Member is duly noted. Scandals require investigation. Programs require oversight. Requests for information, both basic and complex, are received daily. Journalists seek comment. Constituents seek assistance obtaining federal grants, government jobs, and help in overcoming bureaucratic obstacles. Over time, these daily tasks and the always-changing expectations of the electorate have come together to establish a multi-faceted job. Lived off welfare before elected to public office. As noted above, various acquaintances who knew Sanders in the years before he achieved public office have reported that he was \"always poor,\" and he likely received public assistance at some point during that time, although what form of (and how much) assistance he received is difficult to determine at this remove. A contemporaneous newspaper account from the Bennington Banner reported that in 1974, when Sanders ran for the U.S. Senate on the Liberty Union Party ticket, he was collecting unemployment benefits: Sanders, 32, cares little what 'image' he conveys\u2014and that's part of his image of being a bit rumpled and unshorn. He's on unemployment compensation right now, having worked for the Bread & Law Task Force, as a freelance writer, and as a carpenter in the Burlington area. But the thing he likes best, and excels at, is 'talking the issues,' and he doesn't mind repeating himself sometimes.\" 74-year-old personal net worth of $300,000. As 247 Wall St. reported, determining the precise net worth of candidates is difficult for a number of reasons: net worth reporting exact values is not required. Instead, candidates may disclose their assets and income in a range. Further, candidates do not necessarily report all their assets. For instance, candidates do not need to disclose their personal real estate and property values. Jeb Bush opted to omit assets generated by several holding companies, for example. In addition, while some candidates choose to include their spouses in their disclosures, some do not. Carly Fiorina's net worth of $59 million, for example, includes that of her husband, Frank. Hillary Clinton's reported net worth, on the other hand, does not include assets jointly owned by her and former President Bill Clinton, who is worth by some estimates more than $50 million. 247 Wall St. attempted to determine each presidential candidate's net worth in an article published on August 24, 2015. They estimated that Sanders was one of the \"poorest presidential candidates\" running for office in 2016, with a likely net worth somewhere around $330,000: estimated Bernie Sanders' net worth: $194,026-$741,030. In 2013, Bernie Sanders had an average estimated net worth of $330,507, well below other prospective presidential nominees and among the lowest compared with other members of Congress. As of late 2019, Open Secrets, the website of the Center for Responsive Politics, estimated Sanders' net worth at between $729,000 and $1.8 million, making him neither the richest nor the poorest presidential hopeful in the 2020 field. In any case, the meme's characterization of Sanders as a \"loser\" based on his net worth evinces a rather skewed perspective. Although many people view financial rewards as a tangible measure of one's success, it is far from the only factor by which accomplishment can be measured. (In fact, highly regarded President Harry S. Truman had virtually no net worth even after leaving the White House in 1953 and afterwards was largely dependent upon Congress finally establishing a pension for former presidents.) Bernie Sanders might equally be considered a \"winner\" for persevering at his goal of achieving a political career long after others might have given up, and for succeeding at that effort despite prolonged financial hardship. Unlike many others, Sanders might also be lauded for maintaining a rather plain life and not having enriched himself in public service (especially since candidates at the other end of the financial spectrum are frequently criticized for being \"out of touch with the common man\"). As 247 Wall St. wrote of Sanders: The Vermont senator, who is the longest-serving independent in U.S. history, is a self-identified socialist. He is seeking the Democratic nomination and is the most popular Democratic candidate after Hillary Clinton. In keeping with Sanders' stated intention of starting a grassroots movement, more than 90% of his campaign contributions have come from individual donors. Sanders' campaign speeches have drawn record numbers of attendees. Most recently, 19,000 people watched Sanders speak at an NBA arena in Portland, Oregon, the largest political event compared with all other candidates so far this election season. All in all, that sounds like quite an impressive career achievement for anyone\u2014regardless of net worth.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1jdiywRgH2kPbKu5HV30Tw-Fa4cv-AgBt"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_921","claim":"I've cut taxes for ... middle-class families, small businesses.","posted":"09\/07\/2012","sci_digest":[],"justification":"In his speech at the Democratic National Committee in Charlotte, N.C., President Barack Obama mocked Republicans for turning to tax cuts as the solution to every problem.Have a surplus? Try a tax cut. Deficit too high? Try another. Feel a cold coming on? Take two tax cuts, roll back some regulations, and call us in the morning! Obama said.Now, Ive cut taxes for those who need it  middle-class families and small businesses. But I dont believe that another round of tax breaks for millionaires will bring good jobs to our shores, or pay down our deficit, Obama said.Obama is often accused by Republicans of raising taxes, and he has raised some taxes during his presidency. Hes also said that he intends to raise income tax rates for couples who make more than $250,000 a year or single people who make more than $200,000 a year.Here, were going to look at his claim to cut taxes for middle-class families and small businesses. (Weve been tracking all of Obamas campaign promises about taxes on our Obameter. )Obama has signed off on two major tax cuts for middle-class families: the Making Work Pay tax credit that was part of the economic stimulus of 2009 and a temporary reduction in Social Security payroll taxes that went into effect in 2011.As part of the stimulus, formally known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, single workers collected a $400 tax credit, and working couples got $800. The credit didnt come in the form of a check; it worked out so that most workers had about $400 less in federal income taxes withheld from their paychecks spread out over the entire year.Most workers received a tax cut under that plan, with the exception of some high earners. The tax cuts phased out for couples who make more than $250,000 or a single person making over $200,000, according to an analysis from thenonpartisan Tax Policy Center.The result mirrored what Obama promised he would do on the campaign. Obama pledged tax cuts of $500 for each worker and $1,000 for working couples. We rated the promisea Compromiseon ourObameterbecause the resulting tax cut was a little lower than what Obama wanted.That tax cut expired at the end of 2011. But Obama won another round of tax cuts for most workers in a December 2010 tax deal with Republicans in Congress. Those tax cuts -- a temporary reduction in workers payroll taxes, worth about 2 percent of total earnings -- expire in 2013. Again, the tax cut didnt come as a check, but gives workers a little more in their paychecks than they would have otherwise.Obama also has passed an array of tax cuts for small businesses.Eight of them were included in the stimulus, the Affordable Care Act (also known as the health care law), and the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (also known as the HIRE Act). Among the cuts were the exclusion of up to 75 percent of capital gains on key small business investments; a tax credit for the cost of health insurance for small business employees and new tax credits for hiring Americans out of work for at least two months.Another eight cuts came via the Small Business Jobs Act, signed by Obama in September of 2010. These included: adding deductions for business cell phone use; creating a new deduction for health care costs for the self-employed; allowing greater deductions for business start-up expenses; eliminating taxes on all capital gains from key small business investments, and raising the small business expense limit to $500,000.Three months later, the president signed a tax bill that raised the expense limit to 100 percent of small business new investments until the end of 2011. It also extended the elimination of capital gains taxes for small business investments through the end of 2012. (For more details, see our previous fact-check that provided at least 16 tax cuts to small businesses; we rated itMostly True. )To be clear, this doesnt mean the middle-class and small businesses havent seen any tax increases under the Obama administration. We rated his campaign promise that no family making less than $250,000 will see any form of tax increase asPromise Broken. Obama has signed off on new taxes on cigarettes and indoor tanning. His health care law includes a tax penalty for people who dont buy health insurance; that starts in 2014. (It includes hardship exemptions for people who cant find affordable policies. )Also, under the health care law, small businesses that have more than 50 employees that dont offer their employees health insurance could face fines.Our rulingObama has raised some taxes during his presidency, but hes also pursued broad-based tax cuts for the middle class and small businesses. We particularly give weight here to the tax cuts that were part of the stimulus and the payroll tax holiday, which reduced taxes for broad swaths of the workforce. Some small businesses may have been hit by new taxes that were part of Obamas health law, but these would depend on the particular circumstances of each business. Also, there were new taxes on cigarettes and indoor tanning.Obama said he has cut taxes for those who need it  middle-class families, small businesses. He has, but he also has raised some taxes. So while his statement is accurate, it lacks that additional context. We rate his claim Mostly True.","issues":["National","Taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_922","claim":"IRS Notification: Federal Tax Return\/Payment Rejection or Refund Notification","posted":"08\/28\/2007","sci_digest":["Is the IRS sending out e-mail notices about tax refunds or stimulus payments?"],"justification":"Phishing bait:  Notice from the IRS indicating the recipient's electronic tax return or payment has been rejected or that the recipient has a refund coming. Examples:   [Collected via e-mail, October 2010] Subject: Your Federal Tax Payment ID 010357109 is rejected.  Urgent Report. Your Federal Tax Payment ID: 01037524 has been rejected. Return Reason Code R21 - The identification number used in the Company Identification Field is not valid. Please, check the information and refer to Code R21 to get details about your company payment in transaction contacts section: EFTPS: The Electronic Federal Tax Payment System PLEASE NOTE: Your tax payment is due regardless of EFTPS online availability. In case of an emergency, you can always make your tax payment by calling the EFTPS.  [Collected via e-mail, January 2008] After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a Stimulus Payment. Please submit the Stimulus Payment Online Form in order to process it. A Stimulus Payment can be delayed for a variety of reasons.For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline. To submit your Stimulus Payment form, please download the document attached to your email. Note: If filing or preparation fees were deducted from your 2007 Refund or you received a refund anticipation loan, you will be receiving a check instead of a direct deposit. Regards,Internal Revenue Servicestimulus.payment@irs.gov  [Collected via e-mail, August 2007] From: \"Internal Revenue Service\" Subject: IRS Notification - Fiscal ActivityDate: Sun, 26 Aug 2007 23:57:35 +0300 After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of $268.32. Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 6-9 days in order to process it. A refund can be delayed for a variety of reasons. For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline. To access the form for your tax refund, please click here Regards,Internal Revenue Service Copyright 2007, Internal Revenue Service U.S.A. All rights reserved.  [Collected via e-mail, February 2009] Re: US Stimulus Check Information--------------------------------------------------------------------If you're one of the millions of Americans struggling in today's economy, help is available. You've been chosen for the chance to get a US Stimulus Check based on your annual income level. (Participation required. See below for details.) Refer to the chart below to determine the amount of money you can receive: --------------------------------------------------------------------$0 - $35,000........................$709 US Stimulus Check--------------------------------------------------------------------$35,000 - $70,000.................$615 US Stimulus Check--------------------------------------------------------------------$70,000+.............................$504 US Stimulus Check--------------------------------------------------------------------  Make your selection here, then follow the instructions on our website before this offer expires.  [Collected via e-mail, July 2009] Tax Refund Notification After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity, we have determined that you are eligible to receive tax refund of 488.50 GBP. You are require to submit the tax refund request using the tax refund reference below and allow up 6-9 working days in order to process it [link elided] Note : A refund can be delayed for different reasons, for example submitting invalid records or applying after deadline. we apologise for any inconveniences and thank you for your co-operation. Yours Sincerely HM Revenue & Customs  [Collected via e-mail, June 2011] Department of Treasury Internal Revenue Source Important information about your tax return We are unable to process your tax return We recived your tax return. However, we are unable to process the return as field. Our records indicate that the person identified as the primary taxpayer or spouse on the tax return did not provided all the required documents shown on the tax form. Our records are based on information received from the Social Security Administration. Based on this information, the tax account for the individual has been locked  What you need to do Print out the attached notification and list of missing documents, fill it in, add the documents and send the following information to the adress shown in the attached notification. List of required documents: 1. A copy of this letter 2. Notification letter 3. A photocopy of valid U.S. Federal or State Government issued identification. Keep this notice for your records. If you need assistance, please don'thesitate to contact us  [Collected via e-mail, January 2012] IRS notice, The analysis of the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity has indicated that you are entitled to receive a tax refund of $115.25 Please submit a request of the tax refund and a processing of the request will take 7-14 days. A tax refund can be delayed by different reasons. For instance submission of invalid records or sending after the deadline. Please find the form of your tax refund attached and fill out it and send a report. Regards,Internal Revenue Service. Origins:  Notices purporting to come from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) make good  phishing bait for a number of reasons: phishing  Notices from institutions of the federal government (especially an agency with the ominous reputation of the IRS) grab people's attention.  Unlike other phishing schemes that emulate mailings from various private financial institutions (e.g., Bank of America) and are therefore easily recognized as phony by many recipients (because they do no business with those companies), a forged IRS notice has the potential to take in a much larger pool of victims, as most adult U.S. residents have dealings with that agency.  Many people find the federal income tax filing process complicated and confusing, so the idea that they might have unclaimed refunds or payments waiting for them to claim seems plausible. An August 2007 mass phish e-mailing (reprised in January 2012) took advantage of those points, spamming millions of Internet users with phony notices that advised recipients they were eligible to receive tax refunds (of amounts such as $109.30 or $268.32) and invited them to click on a link that took them to a form  through which they could claim those refunds.  Of course, the link included in the messages didn't actually send users to the genuine IRS web site; it redirected claimants to an imposter site that instructed them to enter sensitive personal information (e.g., Social Security number and debit card number) in order to \"deposit\" their refunds.   Similarly, January 2009 versions redirected claimants to an imposter site with a form for them to fill out in order to claim stimulus payments, and an October 2010 version used the lure of claiming that the recipients' Electronic Federal Tax Payments (EFTPS) had been rejected due to invalid information and sent them to a phony imitation of the real EFTPS site to enter new information. The IRS never offers refunds through e-mail or sends out unsolicited e-mails to taxpayers.   When the IRS needs to contact a taxpayer, it sends notice via U.S. Mail, and every such notice includes a telephone number that the recipient can call for confirmation.  Should you need to visit the IRS web site for any reason, go there directly (by entering the www.irs.gov URL into your web browser) rather than following links in e-mail messages. The IRS says about such e-mails that: IRS The IRS does not initiate taxpayer communications through e-mail. In addition, the IRS does not request detailed personal information through e-mail or ask taxpayers for the PIN numbers, passwords or similar secret access information for their credit card, bank or other financial accounts.  Do not open any attachments to questionable e-mails, which may contain malicious code that will infect your computer. Please be advised that the IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers via e-mails. The EFTPS web site also states that: EFTPS EFTPS values your privacy and security and will never attempt to contact you via e-mail. If you ever receive an e-mail that claims to be from EFTPS or from a sender you do not recognize that mentions a payment made through EFTPS, forward the e-mail to phishing@irs.gov or call the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 1.800.366.4484. Last updated:  9 January 2012","issues":["income"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_923","claim":"Is the majority of farmland in the United States owned by Bill Gates?","posted":"04\/28\/2022","sci_digest":["Uncertainty breeds conspiracy theories.  "],"justification":"In April 2022, researchers warned about the potential risk of a global food shortage, spurred on in part by Russia's ongoing attacks on Ukraine. While there are currently no nationwide food shortages in the United States, nor widespread disruptions in the supply chain, the potential of such shortages caused many people to feel that their food security was suddenly uncertain.  researchers warned about the potential risk of a global food shortage currently no nationwide food shortages in the United States In the wake of this uncertainty, unfounded rumors began to spread that attempted to lay the blame for any coming food shortages on nefarious forces. One such rumor claimed that there had been an unusual number of fires at food processing facilities in 2022. The explanation offered by conspiracy theorists for this untrue claim was that these fires were being intentionally set in order to create a food crisis. In reality, the number of fires was not extraordinary, the causes of the fires were not unusual, and the damage caused by the fires was minimal.  the number of fires was not extraordinary, the causes of the fires were not unusual, and the damage caused by the fires was minimal As unfounded rumors related to the cause of a yet-to-happen food crisis circulated online, many people started to point fingers at a favorite target of conspiracy theorists, former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates.  One of the most prevalent claims related to Gates and the potential for food shortages is that the billionaire owns a suspicious amount of farmland in the United States. On social media, we found people claiming, for example, that Gates owns the \"majority\" of U.S. farmland -- 80%, they claimed -- and that Gates is trying to buy up \"all\" of the farmland.   These claims are not true. Gates does not own anywhere close to the majority of America's farmland.  Gates does own a lot of farmland. In fact, he reportedly owns more farmland than any other individual in America. According to 2021 article from the Land Report, a magazine about land ownership, Gates owns approximately 242,000 acres of farmland. While this is certainly a lot of acreage, it represents less than 1% of all the farmland in the United States.  reportedly owns more farmland According to a 2021 report from the United States Department of Agriculture and the National Agriculture Statistics Service, there are 895,300,000 acres of farmland in the United States. Gates' 242,000 acres amounts to about 0.03% of the total.  2021 report from the United States Department of Agriculture and the National Agriculture Statistics Service To put that into perspective, if you put all of the land that Gates owns into one place (his holdings are spread throughout the country), you'd cover an area about a quarter the size of Rhode Island.  you'd cover an area about a quarter the size of Rhode Island While viral conspiracy theories baselessly conjecture that Gates is buying up farmland in order to starve Americans for some unknown reason, there's likely a simpler explanation: Gates makes money off this land.  Gates started purchasing farmland circa 2013 through his investment group, Cascade Investments. Agfundernews.com, a website about agricultural investments, reported in 2021 that Gates' investments were part of a broader trend that started after the financial crisis of 2008, as investors looked for reliable returns.  Agfundernews.com For many years, farmland was not a common asset class among financial investors ... The tide began to shift in the early 2000s, when institutional investors began to give farmland a closer look. Momentum accelerated during the 2008-2009 Great Financial Crisis, when investors grew desperate for alternatives to traditional safe haven investments like bonds and gold. In this short period of time, there was a proliferation in funds that were specifically focused on farmland investing. In 2020, there were 166 such funds globally, nearly a 9x increase from only 19 in 2005. [...] Bill Gates investments in farmland can be seen as part of this trend. The Gates have been quietly acquiring farmland through their investment manager, Cascade Investment, for over 10 years. While many have also speculated that Gates' land purchases were in some way related to his efforts to curb climate change, Gates has said that the two are unrelated. Gates said during a Reddit AMA: Reddit AMA  My investment group chose to do this. It is not connected to climate. The agriculture sector is important. With more productive seeds we can avoid deforestation and help Africa deal with the climate difficulty they already face. It is unclear how cheap biofuels can be but if they are cheap it can solve the aviation and truck emissions. During times of uncertainty, people often look for someone to blame, and peddlers of misinformation are quick to tell others at whom they should be pointing their fingers. Oftentimes, those fingers get pointed at Gates. During the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine-hesitant Americans were inundated with false rumors claiming that Gates was putting microchips into vaccines, that he was working on a mind-altering vaccine, that Gates had input tracking devices into vaccines, and that he once called for vaccinations as a way to depopulate the planet. These rumors, like the present rumor about Gates buying up the majority of farmland in the United States for nefarious purposes, are all false.  Gates was putting microchips into vaccines working on a mind-altering vaccine Gates had input tracking devices into vaccines vaccinations as a way to depopulate the planet Sources: Bill Gates: Americas Top Farmland Owner | The Land Report. 11 Jan. 2021, https:\/\/landreport.com\/2021\/01\/bill-gates-americas-top-farmland-owner\/. Bill Gates Uses Farmland as an Investment Outlet Buying up Potato, Carrot and Onion Farms. NBC News, https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/tech\/tech-news\/mcdonald-s-french-fries-carrots-onions-all-foods-come-bill-n1270033. Accessed 28 Apr. 2022. Bill Gates Uses Farmland as Investment Vehicle, Owning 269,000 Acres of Land. NBC News, https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/now\/video\/bill-gates-is-nation-s-largest-farmland-owner-114566213692. Accessed 28 Apr. 2022. Estes, Nick. Bill Gates Is the Biggest Private Owner of Farmland in the United States. Why? The Guardian, 5 Apr. 2021. The Guardian, https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2021\/apr\/05\/bill-gates-climate-crisis-farmland. If Not for Climate, Then Why Is Bill Gates Buying so Much Farmland? AFN, 27 Aug. 2021, https:\/\/agfundernews.com\/gates-if-not-for-climate-then-why-is-bill-buying-up-so-much-farmland.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1l1gYI6Vqiud26YvdZl0nOwTL3LyumwUa"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1vfbcgIaXmN6G2c1y1h7JbNaW9t6GfXtN"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_924","claim":"Did Hillary Clinton Say 'I Would Like to See People Like Donald Trump Run for Office'?","posted":"10\/28\/2016","sci_digest":[" In fact, when you say businessmen and women, I cant help but think of a particular one that I would just love to see running for the presidency at some point in the future.\""],"justification":"On 17 October 2016, the now-defunct website The Rightists published an article positing that Hillary Clinton said during a 2013 speech she wanted to see someone like Donald Trump to run for President:  The Rightest was a \"hybrid\" website that published a mixture of real and fake news: TheRightists.com is independent News platform That allow People and independent Journalist to bring the news directly to the readers. Readers come to us as a source of independent news that not effected from the big channels. This is HYBRID site of news and satire. part of our stories already happens, part, not yet. NOT all of our stories are true! In this case, the \"news\" portion of the article was a speech Clinton purportedly delivered to Goldman Sachs in 2013. While an excerpt of the speech was published by Wikileaks, the Clinton campaign has refused to verify the documents: excerpt MALE ATTENDEE: My question is, as entrepreneurs, we risk a lot. And Mike Bloomberg had 30 billion other reasons than to take office. Do we need a wholesale change in Washington that has more to do with people that don't need the job than have the job? SECRETARY CLINTON: That's a really interesting question. You know, I would like to see more successful business people run for office. I really would like to see that because I do think, you know, you don't have to have 30 billion, but you have a certain level of freedom. And there's that memorable phrase from a former member of the Senate: You can be maybe rented but never bought. And I think it's important to have people with those experiences. And especially now, because many of you in this room are on the cutting edge of technology or health care or some other segment of the economy, so you are people who look over the horizon. And coming into public life and bringing that perspective as well as the success and the insulation that success gives you could really help in a lot of our political situations right now. The Rightists used the above-quoted speech as the basis of their article, but then they added several fake quotes in relation to Donald Trump: And then she just had to go on. In fact, when you say businessmen and women, I cant help but think of a particular one that I would just love to see running for the presidency at some point in the future, Clinton added. I dont know what it is exactly about him, I cant quite put my finger on it, but my instinct is almost never wrong. And its telling me that Donald Trump would be very successful if he were to venture into politics in the future. Asked to elaborate on her statement, the former Secretary of State argued that she thinks that businessmen cant be bought and that theyre very honest. And I think that goes especially for Donald Trump, whose successful projects and business ventures have made him synonymous with big business and, more importantly, creating thousands of jobs. I also think he understands the philanthropic and charitable side of things quite well, which is a crucial skill for any politician, she praised her current counter-candidate. The above-displayed quotes, however, do not appear in the transcript of Clinton's alleged 2013 Goldman Sachs speech. These are fictional quotes created by a \"hybrid\" web site that publishes a mixture of fake news and satire. In summation, WikiLeaks published an excerpt allegedly from a speech Hillary Clinton delivered to Goldman Sachs in 2013 in which the former secretary of state said that more businessmen should run for office. Clinton did not, however, specifically mention Donald Trump in that speech. Keith, Tamara.  \"WikiLeaks Claims to Release Hillary Clinton's Goldman Sachs Transcripts.\"\r  NPR.  15 October 2016.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1XyQnJmLNRcC1ZQ6FD5EtArx8Ng0zLcsx","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_925","claim":"Colorado Pot Shop Accepting Food Stamps - Taxpayer Funded Marijuana for Welfare Recipients","posted":"01\/05\/2014","sci_digest":["Does a store in Colorado accept food stamps towards the purchase of food items containing marijuana?"],"justification":"Claim: A store in Colorado accepts food stamps towards the purchase of food items containing marijuana. Example: [Collected via e-mail, January 2014] Is there a pot shop in Colorado that is taking food stamps for food items containing marijuana? Origins: On January 3, 2014, the National Report published an article positing that in Colorado (where marijuana use had just been legalized), a store had begun accepting food stamps towards the purchase of food items made with marijuana. As of January 1, 2014, Colorado became the first state in the nation to allow adults aged 21 or older to purchase and use marijuana for recreational purposes. This decision led to excessively long lines at pot shops across the state, and store owners reportedly surpassed $1 million in sales statewide on just the first day, according to Denver's 9News. In total, 136 licenses have been approved by the state of Colorado for retail operations aimed at selling marijuana. A majority of those licenses were issued to businesses in Denver, with just eighteen city stores completing the process in time for opening day. One of those shops, Rite Greens, located on E. Colfax Ave in Denver, has taken the necessary steps to accept food stamps (now called EBT cards) for the purchase of marijuana, effectively leading to taxpayer-funded marijuana for welfare recipients. Electronic Benefit Transfer cards, part of the Department of Agriculture's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, typically fall into two general categories: food and cash benefits. [Store owner] JC Franco was able to take advantage of a loophole in the SNAP program, as his shop sells a wide array of \"edible\" marijuana, ranging from cookies and brownies to barbecue sauce and homemade butter. By the end of the day, links and excerpts referencing this article were being circulated via social media, with many who encountered it mistaking it for a genuine news item. However, the article was merely a piece of political humor from the National Report, spoofing the controversy over legalized recreational marijuana use and stereotypes about recipients of government assistance. The National Report is a satirical website that publishes outrageous fictional stories such as \"IRS Plans to Target Leprechauns Next,\" \"Boy Scouts Announce Boobs Merit Badge,\" and \"New CDC Study Indicates Pets of Gay Couples Worse at Sports, Better at Fashion Than Pets of Straight Couples.\" The National Report's (since removed) disclaimer page states: \"National Report is a news and political satire web publication, which may or may not use real names, often in semi-real or mostly fictitious ways. All news articles contained within National Report are fiction, and presumably fake news. Any resemblance to the truth is purely coincidental.\" (NOTE: A good deal of misunderstanding about the use of EBT funds to purchase marijuana has led many readers to maintain that the article referenced above, though satirical in nature, is true in concept. We address those misconceptions in a separate article.) Last updated: September 13, 2014.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1rdkcA2oOss7yXsKjkOSBdsMF3wYNYmCt","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_926","claim":"Did Joe Biden Have a Horse Thief Ancestor?","posted":"10\/15\/2000","sci_digest":["Perennially circulated bit of political humor holds that a distant relative of a prominent politician was a horse thief and a train robber."],"justification":"What are the odds that two prominent Democrats would both have distant relatives with funny names who were hanged for train robbery and horse stealing? Hillary, an amateur genealogical researcher, discovered that her great-great uncle, Remus Rodham, a fellow lacking in character, was hanged for horse stealing and train robbery in Montana in 1889. The only known photograph of Remus shows him standing on the gallows.  On the back of the picture is this inscription: \"Remus Rodham; horse thief, sent to Montana Territorial Prison 1885, escaped 1887, robbed the Montana Flyer six times. Caught by Pinkerton detectives, convicted and hanged in 1889.\" In Hillary's Family History, her staff of professional image consultants cropped Remus's picture, scanned it, enlarged the image, and edited it with image processing software so that all that's seen is a head shot. The accompanying biographical sketch is as follows: \"Remus Rodham was a famous cowboy in the Montana Territory. His business empire grew to include acquisition of valuable equestrian assets and intimate dealings with the Montana railroad. Beginning in 1883, he devoted several years of his life to service at a government facility, finally taking leave to resume his dealings with the railroad. In 1887, he was a key player in a vital investigation run by the renowned Pinkerton Detective Agency. In 1889, Remus passed away during an important civic function held in his honor when the platform upon which he was standing collapsed.\" Not as long as you might think, apparently, because the same day in 2000 we received the example quoted above, we also received the following version: Tipper Gore, an amateur genealogical researcher, discovered that her husband's great-great uncle, Gunther Gore, a fellow lacking in character, was hanged for horse stealing and train robbery in Tennessee in 1889. The only known photograph of Gunther shows him standing on the gallows. On the back of the picture is this inscription:\"Gunther Gore; horse thief, sent to Tennessee Prison 1885, escaped 1887, robbed the Tennessee Flyer six times. Caught by Pinkerton detectives, convicted and hanged in 1889.\" After letting Al Gore and his staff of professional image consultants peruse the findings, they decided to crop Gunther's picture, scan it in as an enlarged image, and edited it with image processing software so that all that's seen is a head shot. The accompanying biographical sketch was sent to the Associated Press as follows: \"Gunther Gore was a famous rancher in early Tennessee history. His business empire grew to include acquisition of valuable equestrian assets and intimate dealings with the Tennessee railroad. Beginning in 1883, he devoted several years of his life to service at a government facility, finally taking leave to resume his dealings with the railroad. In 1887, he was a key player in a vital investigation run by the renowned Pinkerton Detective Agency. In 1889, Gunther passed away during an important civic function held in his honor when the platform upon which he was standing collapsed.\" This item is merely a very old bit of humor (dressed up with an accompanying photograph of train-robbing outlaw Tom \"Black Jack\" Ketchum) which has been adapted into a \"one-size-fits-all\" political jibe  all one need do is simply alter the text by changing the surname to match that of the disfavored politician du jour, then send it winging around the Internet yet again. In May 2001, for example, another version featured George W. Bush: Ketchum George W. Bush A LITTLE KNOWN FACT OF TEXAS HISTORY Not very many of you folks out there know all about Texas history. Here's some of the more \"colorful\" moments in the archives of this great state, and some of her true characters.Laura Bush, an amateur genealogical researcher, discovered that her husband's great-great uncle, Chadsworth Bush, a fellow lacking in character, was hanged for horse stealing and train robbery in Texas in 1889. The only known photograph of Chadsworth Bush shows him standing on the gallows. On the back of the picture is this inscription: \"Chadsworth Bush; horse thief, sent to Texas Prison 1885, escaped 1887, robbed the Texas Flyer six times. Caught by Pinkerton detectives, convicted and hanged in 1889.\" After letting George W Bush and his staff of professional image onsultants peruse the findings, they decided to crop Chadsworth's picture, scan it in as an enlarged image, and edit it with image processing software so that the biographical sketch was sent to the Associated Press as follows: \"Chadsworth Bush was a famous rancher in early Texas history. His business empire grew to include acquisition of valuable equestrian assets and intimate dealings with the Texas railroad.. Beginning in 1883, he devoted several years to service at a government facility, finally taking leave to resume his dealings with the railroad. \"In 1887, he was a key player in a vital investigation run by the renowned Pinkerton Detective Agency. In 1889, Chadsworth Bush passed away during an important civic function held in his honor when the platform upon which he was standing collapsed.\" And thus passed the very first \"hanging Chad.\" In December 2008 a version aimed at a Canadian politician appeared online: Judy Wallman, a professional genealogical researcher, discovered that Robert Dion, the great-great uncle of Stephane Dion, the leader of Canada's Liberal Party, was hanged for horse stealing and train robbery in Quebec in 1889. The only known photograph of Dion shows him standing on the gallows. On the back of the picture is this inscription:\"Robert Dion; horse thief, sent to Quebec Provincial Prison 1883, escaped 1887, robbed the Canadian Pacific Railway six times. Caught by Pinkerton detectives, convicted, and hanged in 1889.\" Judy e-mailed Stephane Dion for comments. Dion's staff sent back the following biographical sketch: \"Robert Dion was a famous horseman in Quebec. His business empire grew to include acquisition of valuable equestrian assets and intimate dealings with the Canadian Pacific Railroad. Beginning in 1883, he devoted several years of his life to service at a government facility, finally taking leave in 1887 to resume his dealings with the railroad. Subsequently, he was a key player in a vital investigation run by the renowned Pinkerton Detective Agency. In 1889, Dion passed away during an important civic function held in his honour, when the platform on which he was standing collapsed.\" Shortly after Republican senator Ted Stevens of Alaska was convicted in October 2008 on seven felony counts of violating federal ethics laws, this joke was updated again in versions that featured both his name and that of Democratic Senate majority leader Harry Reid: Jane Stevens, a professional genealogy researcher here in Alaska, was doing some personal work on her own family tree. She discovered that Ted Stevens' great-great uncle, Remus Stevens, was hanged for horse stealing and train robbery in Montana in 1889. Both Jane and Ted Stevens share this common ancestor.The only known photograph of Remus shows him standing on the gallows in Montana territory. On the back of the picture Jane obtained during her research is this inscription: 'Remus Stevens, horse thief, sent to Montana Territorial Prison 1885, escaped 1887, robbed the Montana Flyer six times. Caught by Pinkerton detectives, convicted and hanged in 1889.' So Jane recently e-mailed Senator Ted Stevens for information about their great-great uncle. Believe it or not, Ted Stevens' staff sent back the following biographical sketch for her genealogy research: 'Remus Stevens was a famous cowboy in the Montana Territory. His business empire grew to include acquisition of valuable equestrian assets and intimate dealings with the Montana railroad. Beginning in 1883, he devoted several years of his life to government service, finally taking leave to resume his dealings with the railroad. In 1887, he was a key player in a vital investigation run by the renowned Pinkerton Detective Agency. In 1889, Remus passed away during an important civic function held in his honor when the platform upon which he was standing collapsed.' Judy Wallman, a professional genealogy researcher here in southern California, was doing some personal work on her own family tree. She discovered that Harry Reid's great-great uncle, Remus Reid, was hanged for horse stealing and train robbery in Montana in 1889. Both Judy and Harry Reid share this common ancestor. The only known photograph of Remus shows him standing on the gallows in Montana territory. On the back of the picture Judy obtained during her research is this inscription: 'Remus Reid, horse thief, sent to Montana Territorial Prison 1885, escaped 1887, robbed the Montana Flyer six times. Caught by Pinkerton detectives, convicted and hanged in 1889.' So Judy recently e-mailed Congressman Harry Reid for information about their great-great uncle. Believe it or not, Harry Reid's staff sent back the following biographical sketch for her genealogy research: 'Remus Reid was a famous cowboy in the Montana Territory. His business empire grew to include acquisition of valuable equestrian assets and intimate dealings with the Montana railroad. Beginning in 1883, he devoted several years of his life to government service, finally taking leave to resume his dealings with the railroad. In 1887, he was a key player in a vital investigation run by the renowned Pinkerton Detective Agency. In 1889, Remus passed away during an important civic function held in his honor when the platform upon which he was standing collapsed.' In 2009 this joke was circulated in a version that featured Vice President Joe Biden doing his own genealogical research: Vice-President Joe Biden, an amateur genealogical researcher, discovered that his great-great uncle, Robert Biden, a fellow lacking in character, was hanged for horse theft and train robbery in Texas in 1889. The only known photograph of Robert shows him standing on the gallows, waiting to be hanged. On the back of the picture someone has scrawled: 'Robert Biden; horse thief, sent to Texas Prison 1883, escaped 1887, robbed the Texas Flyer six times. Caught by Pinkerton detectives, convicted and hanged in 1889.' After perusing the findings with his staff of professional image consultants, they decided to crop the picture, scan it, enlarge it, and edit it in an image processing software so that all you can see is a head shot. The accompanying biographical sketch was sent to the Associated Press as follows: \"Robert Biden was a famous Texas cowboy in the late 1800s. His business empire grew to include acquisition of valuable equestrian assets and intimate dealings with the Texas railroad. Beginning in 1883, he devoted several years of his life to service at a government facility, finally taking leave to resume his dealings with the railroad. In 1887, he was a key player in a vital investigation run the famous Pinkerton Detective Agency. Robert passed away in 1889 during an important civil function held his honor, when the platform he was standing on collapsed.\" And this is the man you elected to be Vice-President?! The jape was still going strong in 2017, with a version circulating on Facebook about then-U.S. President Donald Trump: Judy Wallman Trump, a professional genealogy researcher in southern California, was doing some personal work on her own family tree. She discovered that President Donald Trump's great, great uncle, Remus Trump, was hanged for horse stealing and train robbery in Montana in 1889. Both Judy and President Trump share this common ancestor. The only known photograph of Remus shows him standing on the gallows in Montana territory. On the back of the picture Judy obtained during her research is this inscription: \"Remus Trump, horse thief, sent to Montana Territorial Prison 1885, escaped 1887, robbed the Montana Flyer six times. Caught by Pinkerton detectives, convicted and hanged in 1889.\" So Judy recently e-mailed the President for information about their great, great uncle, Remus. Believe it or not, President Trump's staff sent back the following biographical sketch for her genealogy research: \"Remus Trump was a famous cowboy in the Montana Territory. His business empire grew to include acquisition of valuable equestrian assets and intimate dealings with the Montana railroad. Beginning in 1883, he devoted several years of his life to government service, finally taking leave to resume his dealings with the railroad. In 1887, he was a key player in a vital investigation run by the renowned Pinkerton Detective Agency. In 1889, Remus passed away during an important civic function held in his honor when the platform upon which he was standing collapsed.\" Predictably, another Joe Biden variation turned up on Facebook during the first year of Biden's presidency, 2021:  another Joe Biden variation Judy Wallman Biden, a professional genealogy researcher in South Dakota, was doing some personal work on her own family tree. She discovered that President Joe Biden's great, great uncle, Remus Biden was hanged for horse stealing and train robbery in Texas in 1889. Both Judy and President Biden share this common ancestor. The only known photograph of Remus shows him standing on the gallows in Galveston, Texas. On the back of the picture, Judy obtained during her research is this inscription: \"Remus Biden horse thief sent to Galveston State Prison 1885, escaped 1887, robbed the Galveston & Southern Flyer six times. Caught by Texas Ranger's detectives, convicted and hanged in 1889.\" So Judy recently e-mailed the President for information about their great, great uncle, Remus, and a few days ago President Biden's staff sent this response: \"Remus Biden was a famous cowboy in Texas in the 1880s. His business empire grew to include the acquisition of valuable equestrian assets and intimate dealings with the Galveston & Southern railroad. Beginning in 1885, he devoted several years of his life to government service, finally taking leave to resume his dealings with the railroad. In1887, he was a key player in a vital investigation run by the renowned Texas Rangers. In 1889, Remus passed away suddenly during an important civic function held in his honor when the platform upon which he was standing collapsed.\" Now THAT, folks, is how Democrats spin things!   Meakes, Daryl.  Drunkcow Landmines.\r  Infinity Publishing, 2004.  0-741-42257-3  (p. 175).   Robertson, Ken.  \"Sen. Reid's Swinging Family Tree a Mere Web Spoof.\"\r  [Kennewick] Tri-City Herald  9 January 2009. [Update 11\/17\/21]: Added new \"Remus Biden\" variant.","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=13t0UsV8TNQoRVcpbN299YCGSZkOrp6K2","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_927","claim":"Is Ruby Tuesday Closing Permanently?","posted":"12\/29\/2020","sci_digest":["A website claimed the American restaurant chain was \"closing up shop.\""],"justification":"In 2020, the Pinterest post displayed below alleged Ruby Tuesday was going out of business before the end of the year. The post linked to a 50-page article on the website Money Pop with the headline, \"These Restaurant Chains Are Turning Off Their Burners And Closing Up Shop.\" 50-page article   The social media post and article headline were misleading. The COVID-19 pandemic had indeed forced Ruby Tuesday to file for bankruptcy protection and close 185 branches nationwide as of fall 2020, according to court records obtained by Snopes and news reports. file 185 branches court records news reports This announcement does not mean Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday,\" CEO Shawn Lederman said in an Oct. 7 statement at the time. an Oct. 7 statement Another statement from the business at the time of the bankruptcy filing said it was \"pursuing a comprehensive financial and operational restructuring\" to reduce debt and that it intended to overcome bankruptcy status \"as quickly as possible.\" statement Despite the site closures, more than 230 company-owned locations remained open in addition to an undisclosed amount of branches run by 10 franchise groups, according to USA Today. No evidence showed a significant change in those numbers between the date of Ruby Tuesday's filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware and the publication of this report. USA Today In addition to Ruby Tuesday, the Money Pop listicle erroneously made it seem as if Taco Bell was closing in 2020 (see our fact check here), along with numerous other food businesses that were still serving customers as of this report. see our fact check here other food businesses We should note here that, although the headline on the Money Pop was false, the text on the article appeared rooted in truth, reading: Like Friendlys, Ruby Tuesday is an East Coast chain, but this restaurant has some branches on the Pacific Coast, too. The restaurant was founded in 1972 in Knoxville, Tennessee, and has seen some major dips in revenue over the past few years. Which, unfortunately, has resulted in many of the restaurants closing. At last count, the chain has around 491 stores around the world. But according to Restaurant Business, that number is due to nearly 50% of the stores closing over the past ten years. They said it was because customers were enjoying the convenience of take-out instead of actually sitting down in a restaurant. In sum, while the pandemic had negatively impacted Ruby Tuesday, and it was true that the chain had closed numerous sites in 2020, the Money Pop headline was inaccurate to claim all locations were \"turning off their burners and closing up shop\" or that the restaurant chain was going out of business.","issues":["debt"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1N_01atgC7X7Rcv_l4mgRV1ZCfsFwdyvG","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_928","claim":"Big Oil","posted":"07\/14\/2008","sci_digest":["E-mail criticizes U.S. environmental regulations on the oil industry."],"justification":"Claim:  E-mail criticizes U.S. environmental regulations on the oil industry.  OF AND  INFORMATION Examples:  [Collected via e-mail, June 2008] Bill Phillips spent nearly 50 years in the US oil and gas industry; most of his career was with the Phillips Petroleum Company. Bill is a descendant of Frank Phillips. Frank Phillips, along with his brother Lee Eldas (L.E.) Phillips, Sr., founded the original Phillips Petroleum Company in 1917 in Bartlesville, OK. Do you remember Phillips 66 gas stations? Phillips Petroleum Company merged with Conoco, Inc. in 2002 to form the current ConocoPhillips oil company. So, when Bill talks about oil and gas issues, I tend to listen - very closely. I think that you will find Bill's thoughts and facts very revealing, very compelling and very difficult to argue with. As you prepare to cast your crucial ballots this Fall, please think long and hard about the far-reaching, cumulative effects of the US political philosophies, policies and legislation that have contributed to the current and future US oil supply situation.  Did you know that the United States does NOT have any big oil companies. It's true: the largest American oil company, Exxon Mobil, is only the 14th largest in the world, and is dwarfed by the really big oil companies  all owned by foreign governments or government-sponsored monopolies  that dominate the world's oil supply. With 94% of the world's oil supply locked up by foreign governments, most of which are hostile to the United States, the relatively puny American oil companies do not have access to enough crude oil to significantly affect the market and help bring prices down. Thus, ExxonMobil, a \"small\" oil company, buys 90% of the crude oil that it refines for the U.S. market from the big players, i.e., mostly-hostile foreign governments. The price at the U.S. pump is rising because the price the big oil companies charge ExxonMobil and the other small American companies for crude oil is going up as the value of the American dollar goes down. They will eventually bleed this country into printing even more money and we will go into runway inflation once again as we did under the Carter Democratic reign. This is obviously a tough situation for the American consumer. The irony is that it doesn't have to be that way. The United States  unlike, say, France  actually has vast petroleum reserves. It would be possible for American oil companies to develop those reserves, play a far bigger role in international markets, and deliver gas at the pump to American consumers at a much lower price, while creating many thousands of jobs for Americans. This would be infinitely preferable to shipping endlessbillions of dollars to Saudi Arabia, Russia and Venezuela to be used in propping up their economies. So, why doesn't it happen? Because the Democrat Party  aided, sadly, by a handful of Republicans  deliberately keeps gas prices high and our domestic oil companies small by putting most of our reserves off limits to development. China is now drilling in the Caribbean, off Cuba but our own companies are barred by law from developing large oil fields off the coasts of Florida and California. Enormous oil-shale deposits in the Rocky Mountain states could go a long way toward supplying American consumers' needs, but the Democratic Congress won't allow those resources to be developed. ANWR contains vast petroleum reserves, but we don't know how vast, because Congress, not wanting the American people to know how badly its policies are hurting our economy, has made it illegal to explore and map those reserves, let alone develop them. In short, all Americans are paying a terrible price for the Democratic Party's perverse energy policies. I own some small interests in tiny, 4 barrel-per-day oil wells in Wyoming. We have 14 agencies that have iron-hand jurisdiction over us. If we drop any oil on the ground when the refinery truck comes to pick up oil from our holding tanks, we are fined. Yet down the road the state will spray thousands of gallons of used oil on a dirt road to control dirt. When it rains that oil runs into rivers and creeks. Yet a cup of oil on the ground at our wellhead is a $50,000 EPA fine plus additional fines from state regulating agencies. They treat oil as if it were plutonium that has the potential to leak into the environment. We are fined if our dirt burms are not high enough around a holding tank, yet the truck that picks up our oil runs down the road at 60 mph with no burm around it. People wonder why there is no more exploration in this country. It's because of the regulators; people who have lived their whole lives doing nothing but imposing fines on small operators like us for doing mostly nothing. So, America enjoy your $4.00 per gallon gasoline. Your dollar is now worth 0.62 Euro-Cents. The lack of American production of GNP, the massive trade deficit (as labor markets have moved overseas to fight insanely high union imposed labor costs in America) and the run away printing of money (backed by nothing of value here in America) has caused the dollar to become more worthless on the international market. And that's where our oil comes from. It's paid for with dollars that become more worthless everyday. If we had just kept par with the Euro we'd be paying $62 dollars per barrel for oil (42 gallons) or about $1.50 instead of $2.50 a gallon for crude oil. What the US government also does not tell you is that it is the leaseholder and royalty recipient of most oil production and receives 25% of the gross oil sales before we pay for electricity to lift the oil, propane to keep the oil-water separators from freezing in the winters. We pay a pumper to visit each well everyday plus we have equipment failures all the time. We pay for that out of our 75% of gross sales. The government does not share in any expenses to run any production well. So, if the Big Oil Companies are making record profits, then so is the federal government from it's 25% tax on every molecule of oil sold to a refinery in this country. Why isn't the government on the stand for \"Record\" profits? What you don't see is this 25% of the sales price of crude oil being siphoned away by the government. That money plus the road taxes, state taxes, etc. amounts to over $1 per gallon of gasoline you are buying while the governments only admit to about 50 cents per gallon. To all you Democrats, when you go vote for your candidate, a blazing liberal like Barrack Hussein Obama just keep in mind that their liberal spending habits will further decrease the value of the American dollar on the world market and your gasoline costs will hike even higher. As they introduce more give-away programs, raise taxes on everyone to pay people not to produce or work, your dollar will continue to dwindle on the world market and you will be paying $10.00 per gallon at the next election. Cheap hydrocarbon fuel is all over. Enjoy! Enjoy the fruits of your decision to elect these folks when you are there in that voting booth and you stab your pin through a Democrat's name. William \"Bill\" Phillips Origins:  Several readers (including members of the Phillips family) have maintained to us that there is no descendant of Frank Phillips matching the description of the putative author of this piece, which itself appears to be a rewritten\/expanded version of an earlier article (one not originally attributed to William \"Bill\" Phillips).  Given the uncertain provenance of the \"Phillips\" authorship version, we'll address our analysis primarily to the wording of the (presumed) original: article I hadn't realized, until the hearings on energy that were held this week in House and Senate committees, that the United States doesn't have any big oil companies. It's true: the largest American oil company, Exxon Mobil, is only the 14th largest in the world, and is dwarfed by the really big oil companies  all owned by foreign governments or government-sponsored monopolies  that dominate the world's oil supply. With 94% of the world's oil supply locked up by foreign governments, most of which are hostile to the United States, the relatively puny American oil companies do not have access to enough crude oil to significantly affect the market and help bring prices down. Thus, Exxon Mobil, a small oil company, buys 90% of the crude oil that it refines for the U.S. market from the big players, i.e., mostly-hostile foreign governments. The price at the U.S. pump is rising because the price the big oil companies charge Exxon Mobil and the other small American companies for crude oil is going up. Ranking businesses according to \"bigness\" can be based on a variety of different metrics: geographic reach, scale of operations, market value, gross revenues, net profits, etc. Exxon Mobil is certainly one of the world's largest (in terms of gross revenues) and most profitable public companies.  (Many of the world's largest non-public companies are also in the oil business.)  The statement here about Exxon Mobil's being \"only the 14th largest [oil company] in the world\" refers to the amount of oil and gas reserves that company controls, and it is generally true that the major (public) oil companies have much less access to oil and gas resources than they did a few decades ago, most of which are now controlled by national oil companies: largest profitable non-public reserves Despite record crude prices, the major oil companies are struggling to access resources that are being jealously guarded by national companies with whom they are forced to establish partnerships. As paradoxical as it may seem, high oil prices do not mean a golden age for the likes of ExxonMobil, Chevron, Totalor BP. Of course, with a barrel of oil at more than 140 dollars, they are seeing major profits, but the future has never seemed so uncertain. The problem is access to reserves. The oil majors now control less than 10 percent of world resources of gas and oil, against 70 percent in the 1970s, according to figures released by the office of Ernst and Young at the World Petroleum Congress in Madrid. As a result they are being forced to explore in increasingly extreme conditions. The statement that \"94% of the world's oil supply [is] locked up by foreign governments, most of which are hostile to the United States\" might be a considered a bit misleading since many of those \"hostile\" countries have relatively small oil reserves, while the country with the second-largest oil reserves, Canada, is U.S.-friendly (and both Mexico and the United States are also among the countries with the largest oil reserves). reserves This is obviously a tough situation for the American consumer. The irony is that it doesn't have to be that way. The United States  unlike, say, France   actually has vast petroleum reserves. It would be possible for American oil companies to develop those reserves, play a far bigger role in international markets, and deliver gas at the pump to American consumers at a much lower price, while creating many thousands of jobs for Americans. This would be infinitely preferable to shipping endless billions of dollars to Saudi Arabia, Russia and Venezuela. So, why doesn't it happen? Because the Democratic Party  aided, sadly, by a handful of Republicans  deliberately keeps gas prices high and our domestic oil companies small by putting most of our reserves off limits to development. China is now drilling in the Caribbean, but our own companies are barred by law from developing large oil fields off the coasts of Florida and California. Enormous shale oil deposits in the Rocky Mountain states could go a long way toward supplying American consumers' needs, but the Democratic Congress won't allow those resources to be developed. ANWR contains vast petroleum reserves, but we don't know how vast, because Congress, not wanting the American people to know how badly its policies are hurting our economy, has made it illegal to explore and map those reserves, let alone develop them. Drilling for oil off of most of the Pacific and Atlantic coasts has largely been barred due to a moratorium imposed by Congress in the early 1980s and by an executive order signed by President George H.W. Bush (a Republican) in 1990.  The congressional moratorium has to be renewed every year, and it has remained in place for nearly three decades through a succession of administrations and Congresses, both Democratic and Republican alike.  (On 14 July 2008, President George W. Bush lifted the executive order barring offshore drilling that had been signed by his father eighteen years earlier.)  The congressional moratorium is due to expire on 1 October 2008 unless Congress votes to extend it. Some analysts have claimed that if the oil industry could extract oil and gas from oil shale in a cost-effective manner, oil shale deposits in the U.S. (particularly on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains, site of the world's largest such deposit) could produce viable oil reserves of about 800 billion barrels (three times the current proven reserves of Saudi Arabia).  However, the cost and effectiveness of oil shale development (and the resource use and environmental effects attendant to accomplishing it) remain a subject of considerable debate, and oil companies remain barred from undertaking commercial oil shale projects on federal land: At best production is years away, while unpredictable oil markets, growing water demand, sizable electricity needs and climate change all pose potentially huge hurdles. Democrats have barred the Bureau of Land Management from leasing any federal land for commercial-scale oil shale projects. Skeptic Randy Udall of nearby Carbondale, Colo., argues that oil shale is but a poor cousin to other fossil fuels, with an energy content per ton less than one-third that of cattle manure and only slightly better than the potato. Any oil shale project in this region would mean new water demands on the Colorado River and its tributaries, vital waterways for much of the western U.S. and northern Mexico. That potential demand for water worries rancher David Smith of nearby Meeker, Colo., who relies on water from the White River that he fears will be diverted to the oil shale operations. The oil companies, Smith said, could help ease concerns by sharing in the cost of a water storage project. \"They have not offered to do that,\" Smith said. Besides water, Shell's oil shale project would require far more electricity than the existing power grid could supply. That likely means construction of a new power plant. In this part of the country, the most economical way to fire a power plant would be with coal. But in the next Congress, lawmakers are likely to pass legislation to limit greenhouse emissions, and coal-fired plants are huge emitters of carbon dioxide. That would add to cost, ever oil shale's nemesis. The subject of opening the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration and development is another issue that has been pursued across the years through a succession of administrations and Congresses, both Democratic and Republican alike. The issue has been complicated by the uncertainty of many factors involved in the opening of ANWR to U.S. oil production, such as the total amount of oil underlying the area, the size of the oil fields that might be found in ANWR, the quality of the oil that might be found in ANWR, the potential production capacity of ANWR drilling operations, how long it would take before ANWR operations began providing significant amounts of oil for the U.S. market, what effects the oil extracted from ANWR would have on world oil supply and prices, and the environmental impacts of oil exploration and development in ANWR.  As of now, both major-party presidential candidates, Senators John McCain and Barack Obama, are opposed to opening ANWR to oil exploration. pursued factors Last updated:  14 July 2008    Dechaux, Delphine.   \"Despite Rocketing Prices, Outlook Is Bleak for Oil Majors.\"   Agence France Presse.  6 July 2008.     Feller Ben.   \"Bush Trumps Congress; Moves First on Drilling.\"   Associated Press.  14 July 2008.     Forbes, Steve.   \"Will We Rid Ourselves of This Pollution?\"   Forbes.  16 April 2007.     Guerrera, Francesco and Carola Hoyos.   \"Hidden Value: How Unlisted Companies Are Eclipsing the Public Equity Market.\"   Financial Times.  15 December 2006.     Ivanovich, David.   \"Despite 800 Billion Barrel Potential, Oil Shale a Hard Sell.\"   The Houston Chronicle.  12 July 2008.     Simon, Richard.   \"Bush Lifts Presidential Ban on Offshore Drilling.\"   Los Angeles Times.  14 July 2008.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_929","claim":"Is the CDC categorized as a 'Private Nonprofit Corporation'?","posted":"05\/05\/2021","sci_digest":["The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the CDC Foundation are two separate entities. "],"justification":"Since November 2020, an identically worded piece of text alleging that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) \"is a private nonprofit corporation\" has been shared across multiple social media platforms. The claim originated on the website Armstrong Economics, which sells a variety of self-published conspiracy books by the titular Martin Armstrong, and has become a widely shared piece of \"copypasta,\" reproduced in part below: \"Did you know the CDC is a private nonprofit corporation? [...] The CDC is quasi-government under the Department of Health and Human Services, which strangely has sources of funding that are predicated on the fact that it also has a private 501(c)(3) public charity, like the Clinton Foundation.\" The CDC Foundation receives charitable contributions and philanthropic grants from individuals, foundations, corporations, universities, NGOs, and other organizations to advance the work of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is NOT a government-funded organization. It is not exclusively government-funded, which is very curious. Natural News, which boasts a massive audience of conspiracy theorists, republished it in December 2020. At the time of this writing, versions of this copypasta still appear on various social media platforms. On May 3, 2021, a Facebook account named The Daily Callout published it along with a picture of purported CDC funding sources. Commenters on that post were evidently confused. The allegations leveled against the CDC are not all that coherent in these posts. The copypasta suggests the CDC is both a non-profit and a \"quasi-government\" agency. Further, those issues are tangled up in the separate issue of corporate donations to the CDC. The title of the post, however, provides Snopes with a clearly stated contention: \"Did you know the CDC is a private nonprofit corporation?\" You most likely did not know this because it is, in fact, not true. The CDC is a federal agency housed in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The confusion stems from the fact that, in 1992, Congress mandated the creation of a non-profit foundation\u2014the CDC Foundation\u2014that would \"not be an agency or instrumentality of the Federal Government\" and whose purpose would be \"to support and carry out activities for the prevention and control of diseases, disorders, injuries, and disabilities, and for the promotion of public health.\" As part of that goal, the foundation has an endowment and accepts charitable gifts from a variety of entities, including corporations, which are forwarded to the CDC to support specific initiatives. \"The government has unique capacities as well as limitations. The same is true for the private and philanthropic sectors,\" the CDC Foundation argues on its website. \"We believe that people, groups, and organizations have greater positive impact and can accomplish more collectively than individually.\" Funds raised by the CDC Foundation are donated to various programs and initiatives within the CDC. The CDC Foundation is one of two ways corporations can legally provide funds to the CDC. Donations to the CDC Foundation are an indirect route, as, by law, \"officers, employees, and members of the board of the Foundation shall not be officers or employees of the Federal Government.\" Direct gifts by corporations to the CDC are also allowed under a portion of the U.S. Code that authorizes the secretary of HHS \"to accept on behalf of the United States gifts made ... for the benefit of the Service or for the carrying out of any of its functions.\" For both direct gifts to the CDC and gifts made via the CDC Foundation, conditional funding is allowed as long as those requirements are not, as outlined in CDC policy documents. The acceptance of corporate donations earmarked for specific causes\u2014both to the CDC Foundation and to the CDC itself\u2014has caused apparent conflicts of interest. In 2015, the medical journal BMJ published an editorial outlining several examples of potential conflicts, including these examples: In 2010, the CDC, in conjunction with the CDC Foundation, formed the Viral Hepatitis Action Coalition, which supports research and promotes expanded testing and treatment of hepatitis C in the United States and globally. Industry has donated over $26 million to the coalition through the CDC Foundation since 2010. Corporate members of the coalition include Abbott Laboratories, AbbVie, Gilead, Janssen, Merck, OraSure Technologies, Quest Diagnostics, and Siemens\u2014each of which produces products to test for or treat hepatitis C infection. In 2012, [a company named] Genentech earmarked $600,000 in donations to the CDC Foundation for the CDC's efforts to promote expanded testing and treatment of viral hepatitis. Genentech and its parent company, Roche, manufacture test kits and treatments for hepatitis C. The CDC argues that it has policies in place to prevent such conflicts. Its website states that \"when we engage with the private sector, we maintain our scientific integrity by participating in a gift review process that is rigorous and transparent. The CDC's gift acceptance policy requires a comprehensive gift review prior to accepting a gift. This includes CDC Foundation (CDCF) gifts and gifts given directly to [the] CDC, whether they are monetary or non-monetary.\" These processes have been refined and standardized several times since 2014. While the issue of potential corporate influence over public health policy merits scrutiny, it is also important to consider the scale of private funding compared to the overall congressionally appropriated budget of the CDC. In the 2020 fiscal year, the CDC received $13 million in conditional gifts from the CDC Foundation and $10 million in conditional and unconditional direct contributions from the private sector. This is a drop in the bucket compared to the nearly $8 billion in funding the CDC receives from Congress. Even from a rhetorical standpoint, it would be a stretch to argue that the CDC is proportionally awash in corporate funding. Narrowly speaking, however, the assertion that the CDC is a non-profit, non-government organization is incorrect because that claim conflates the CDC (a federal agency) and the CDC Foundation (a 501(c)(3) charity).","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1OgTOWEuHX_SdoIDVAoDPs6oz9wKGkD7a"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=16Yt0iP991dCcIrslmpGlhUXFikgrX-xQ"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_930","claim":"Whittier Carjacking Warning","posted":"02\/06\/2009","sci_digest":["E-mail warns about a carjacking attempt in Whittier, California?"],"justification":"Claim:  E-mail warns about a carjacking attempt in Whittier, California. PARTLY Example:  [Collected via e-mail, February 2009] 01\/21\/09 - I am sending this to all of you, per the advice of the Whittier Police. Last night on my way home from work, I was followed off the freeway without realizing it.  A lot of people take the Telegraph off ramp to go home. Then I turned left on Norwalk going north. This Van pulled up on my right side and told me that my right rear tire was going flat and that I should pull over and let him put my spare on. I was only 2 miles from home and in an industrial area where no gas stations, etc. so told him NO THANKS, and kept going slow the rest of 20 the way home.  When I got home I told Richard what had happened and he checked my tire.  The tire was perfectly OK. That's when I realized what had happened and it scared me to death. According to the Police there are allot of car jacking going on, then they rob you of everything (money, jewelry, etc) due to the economy. The best thing I could do was to let the gals at work know to be more than careful of their surroundings.  It's happening all over So Cal, not just LA or Orange Counties. Please my friends, be very careful out there. Origins:  This January 2009 e-mailed warning about a carjacking attempt in Whittier (a  California city about 12 miles southeast of Los Angeles) is distinct from most Internet-forwarded crime warnings in that it's a first-person account rather than a third- or -fourth-hand retelling produced by someone with no direct connection to the events described.  Its accuracy appears to be better than most such warnings, but like most such warnings it also evidently proclaims an exaggerated level of danger not warranted by the facts. Certainly criminals' attempting to fool motorists into believing their cars are evidencing symptoms of potentially serious malfunctions (e.g., flat tire, excessive smoke, fire) as a means of getting those motorists to pull over and stop so that crimes (e.g., robbery, car theft, assault, rape) can be effected on them is a ruse that has been successfully used many times before.  And the Whittier Police have acknowledged that \"The originator of this email did in fact contact the Whittier Police Department to report the above facts and a report was taken.\" However, the Whittier Police also noted that no link to criminal intent has yet been established for the reported incident, and that they did not (as stated in the e-mail) tell the person who filed the report that carjackings have been taking place \"all over Southern California\" in the manner described: Whittier Police For clarification purposes, the Whittier Police Department did not advise the caller that \"there are a lot of car jackings going on\".  The Department has not received any other reports that involve these sets of circumstances, which led to a car jacking.  While there is no definite way at this time to determine the true intent of the van driver, motorists are encouraged to report any suspicious activity to the Whittier Police Department. Last updated:  6 February 2009 ","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_931","claim":"Do Dogs Watch You Go to the Bathroom To Protect You?","posted":"12\/14\/2020","sci_digest":["Humans and dogs have evolved alongside one another for thousands of years.  "],"justification":"For dog owners who have noticed their furry friends regularly following them into the bathroom or pawing beneath the door and wondered why, social media posts offer this answer: Your dog is trying to protect you. The claim has made the internet rounds for decades and again came to the forefront when TikTok user mavandmel posted a video in December 2020 that showed her golden retriever following her into the bathroom. mavandmel   You know when you keep trying to go to the bathroom and [the dog] keeps trying to nose their way in or theyre always standing at the door, said the golden retriever's owner, whose video had been shared more than 48,000 times as of this writing. Wolves and wild dogs, they protect one another while one goes to the bathroom because when youre going to the bathroom, youre vulnerable. So, they stand guard! Snopes readers asked our team to verify whether this TikTok explanation accurately accounts for the affectionate toilet behavior of our furry companions. We found that though there is some level of truth to the claim, generally speaking, this type of behavior is one learned more from nurture than nature. For millennia, humans and dogs have grown alongside one another to form very special evolutionary bonds. In fact, research suggests that the domestication of dogs occurred at least 20,000 years ago, but likely closer to 40,000 years ago. It may come as no surprise, then, that the two species are capable of reading one another  from the dogs ability to understand both the words and tone of human speech to being able to communicate with its owner through facial expressions. research suggests understand both the words and tone of human speech facial expressions But do dogs carefully watch their toilet-seated owners in order to protect them? That remains to be scientifically proven. In the wild, wolves have been shown to mark their territorial boundaries using the scent of their urine  a trait that pet dogs have brought with them into their neighborhood environments. This same behavior suggests that both wild and domesticated canines use olfactory cues to communicate with other members of their species. And when it comes to protection, canines are known to defend members of their pack from predators and perceived threats, contributing to the strong societal and familial bonds that both wolves and pet dogs share with their families. mark their territorial boundaries protection  Members of the Yellowstone Druid wolf pack chase down an elk. NPS\/Doug Smith  NPS\/Doug Smith That loving connection extends to the human-canine relationship as well. Research published in the journal Science found that shared eye contact between humans and their furry companions increases concentrations of oxytocin  the so-called happy hormone  in much the same way humans may bond emotionally when they gaze into another persons eyes. That loving connection extends to the human-canine relationship as well. Research published in the journal Science found that shared eye contact between humans and their furry companions increases concentrations of oxytocin  the so-called happy hormone  in much the same way humans may bond emotionally when they gaze into another persons eyes. Human-like modes of communication, including mutual gaze, in dogs, may have been acquired during domestication with humans, wrote the study authors at the time, adding that wolves rarely engage in eye contact with their human handlers. We show that gazing behavior from dogs, but not wolves, increased urinary oxytocin concentrations in owners, which consequently facilitated owners affiliation and increased oxytocin concentration in dogs. While the scientific literature has shown strong evidence for communication and bonding through the act of urinating and other bonding behavior in both canine and human-canine relationships, it does not prove that dogs go into the bathroom with their owner to protect them. Rather, it more than likely simply reflects a desire to be closer to their humans.  Snopes spoke with Paul Mundell, executive director of the American Service Dog Access Coalition, who said that although he has not systematically studied the question, he is skeptical of the claim that dogs who look intently at their owners while defecating are seeking assurance that either the owner will protect the dog or vice versa. I think its more plausible to consider the habit established during puppyhood  if the puppy was picked up and moved while defecating in an inappropriate area, or if it was scolded or punished for defecating in a particular area, its reasonable that the puppy got in the habit of watching the owner to ensure all was okay while defecating, Mundell said. Conversely, if the pup was rewarded for defecating in the right areas, it may have set up the expectation that defecating may be followed by a reward  even if the owner hasnt maintained the practice. Mundell remained equally as skeptical when it came to describing the behavior of a pup following a person into the bathroom for protection, particularly as the bathroom is not likely to be considered an unsafe space. During thunderstorms or fireworks, for example, dogs will often turn to the confined, isolated space of a bathroom or bathtub for security. For some dogs, following a person into the bathroom is the same behavior they display whenever their person goes anywhere  they follow them in order to remain near them. This is most pronounced in dogs displaying hyper-attachment to their owners, said Mundell, comparing the bond to that of children with their parents. Going to the bathroom provides an opportunity for our furry friends to interact with their uninterrupted owners, who may otherwise be occupied with chores, the computer, or other things that distract from petting and attention. Finally, dogs live in an olfactory world, and Mundell says that the urine and feces humans produce contain uniquely personal mixtures of volatile organic compounds due to each persons individual metabolisms, diets, and microbiomes  all of which may be interesting and even rewarding information to the dog.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1uW2EGqbJ2cnNZgROPiwOG0jYeGbb-MrO","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_932","claim":"F-15 Crash","posted":"05\/05\/2008","sci_digest":["Photographs show an F-15 fighter jet breaking up in mid-air."],"justification":"Photographs show an F-15 fighter jet breaking up in mid-air. Example: [Collected via e-mail, March 2008] What a ride!!!! Just flying along, enjoying the experience... Oh my, this is so much fun... it's so great being a pilot. Hmmm, something feels different... Hey, why am I looking up? Oops, my controls aren't working? Where's my F-15? Oh, there it is... I think I'm having separation anxiety. OK, I'm out here, but first the canopy has to go. Glad that worked! That's it... now I'm gone. Can you imagine what was going through this poor pilot's mind? AND, just what caused the mid-air breakup? The U.S. Air Force announced on Thursday that a Missouri National Guard F-15 jet broke apart in midair on Nov. 2, 2007; the pilot evacuated the plane safely. The breakup in midair was blamed on parts that didn't meet specifications, which raises issues ranging from national security to potential legal action and even foreign sales. Origins: It's a common phenomenon that when a spectacular disaster strikes, \"real\" photographs of it begin to circulate via e-mail that are actually recycled images from earlier, similar events (such as this set of storm photos) or images that aren't actually photographs (such as these movie stills passed off as photographs of the Space Shuttle Columbia exploding). The images displayed above fit that latter category: The underlying incident they depict is real, but the images shown here aren't photographs of that incident, nor are they photographs at all. On 2 November 2007, a Boeing Co. F-15C Eagle fighter jet flown by the Missouri Air National Guard crashed during a training exercise. The following day, the U.S. Air Force grounded the country's global fleet of 676 F-15s out of \"airworthiness concerns\" while they conducted inspections to investigate a possible structural failure in the aircraft. An animated video simulation of the Missouri F-15's mid-air breakup was prepared during the course of the investigation, and the images displayed above are frames taken from that simulation. The Air Force ultimately determined that the cause of the accident was a defective metal support beam: A failure of the upper right longeron, a critical support structure in the F-15C Eagle, caused the crash of a Missouri Air National Guard F-15C, four miles south-southeast of Boss, Missouri, on Nov 2. According to the Air Combat Command Accident Investigation Board report released on Jan. 10, a technical analysis of the recovered F-15C wreckage determined that the longeron didn't meet blueprint specifications. This defect led to a series of fatigue cracks in the right upper longeron. These cracks expanded under life cycle stress, causing the longeron to fail, which initiated a catastrophic failure of the remaining support structures and led to the aircraft breaking apart in flight. At the time this report was issued in January 2008, about 60 percent of the Air Force's F-15 fleet had cleared inspection and been returned to service; approximately 40 percent of the inspected aircraft were found to have at least one longeron that did not meet blueprint specifications, and nine of them were discovered to have longeron fatigue cracks. The Air Force's 224 newer F-15E fighter jets do not have the same flaws and have been returned to service. This week, the Air Force returned 261 F-15 A-Ds to service after they were cleared for flight. Although some of the flawed beams, known as longerons, have been deemed just millimeters off of their blueprint specifications, Air Force officials said they are not taking chances with aircraft that could be susceptible to the same cracks that led to the dramatic crash last year. Nine of the F-15 A-D models have been grounded because of actual cracks in the aircraft; Air Force officials said yesterday that they are weighing the possibility of replacing the longerons on the other defective planes or giving up on the aircraft in favor of $132 million F-22s, a cutting-edge fighter that the Air Force prefers. Lt. Gen. Donald J. Hoffman, a military deputy in the Air Force acquisition office, said the Air Force is beginning to investigate potential liability on the part of the manufacturer, but Air Force officials also said they are having difficulty locating the original contracting paperwork and are unsure whether McDonnell Douglas made the specific part that is failing or whether it was made by another vendor for inclusion in the airplanes. Boeing officials said they have been working with the Air Force to determine the extent of the problem, and the Air Force said Boeing tests led to the discovery of the manufacturing defect after the November crash. By failing to conform to blueprint specifications, the metal beams in some cases weakened and cracked after years of experiencing high speeds and G-forces, according to the accident investigation. [Boeing spokesman Paul] Guse said Boeing is gathering data from its F-15 inspections and expects it to take about four weeks to determine a course for fixing the aircraft. Despite the spectacular nature of the accident, the pilot was able to eject safely and suffered only the (relatively) minor injuries of a dislocated shoulder, a broken arm, and some cuts and bruises. Last updated: 6 May 2008. Sources: Borak, Donna. \"Air Force Grounds F-15s in Wake of Training Crash.\" The [Cleveland] Plain Dealer. 6 November 2007. Buzanowski, J.G. \"Air Force Leaders Discuss F-15 Accident, Future.\" Air Force Link. 10 January 2008. Lardner, Richard. \"Defective Part Cited in F-15 Jet Crash.\" ABC News. 10 January 2008. White, Josh. \"Air Force Indefinitely Grounds Many F-15 Jets.\" The Washington Post. 11 January 2008 (p. A3). Air Force Link. \"Air Combat Command Clears Selected F-15s for Flight.\" 9 January 2008. Air Force Link. \"F-15 Eagle Accident Report Released.\" 10 January 2008. KSPR-TV [Springfield, MO]. \"Air Force Releases F-15 Crash Animation.\" 10 January 2008.","issues":["liability"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1jGIUuGR-pSe3pg9gA4z2XcDKIIAI5nC5","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1gp8bIfDPWQ6k8bPoiff8r-g8DQq7ZVh-","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=14gph62-qtHnHjBCYFjY0zEHP_QbU7WYV","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1gXaJ5r0bVjK5PB1PEPAzKwfPyT0_Cul-","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1BU_QcIuMlrVJs4cmpAVTuiK0uMsWGyCP","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1mw8qQtNjMXrRieYHm-6hGjZotM77frh0","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1-xAOeQQrBVcG5lFek_qbdU9Oyz5KH89y","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=13vNnaTyDa1QWp2uM4Z6kcb_OAo7nK_SE","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1r_gaFrCkJa_8qxJ1Z9kM2Su4bIPwz6uQ","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1kZgK0mWXikb7kDtrJ01KrUUMmWeNqqe6","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1NDv16X9hG-nUtBuHgW91sar29N3RaUoY","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_933","claim":"Was it reported by Fox News that Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club received a foreclosure notice from Deutsche Bank?","posted":"11\/15\/2023","sci_digest":["\"BREAKING FOX NEWS: Deutsche Bank has filed a notice to foreclose on Mar-a-Lago,\" a popular post on X read."],"justification":"On Nov. 15, 2023, a user on X with the handle @PatMaguire10 published a post (archived) claiming that Fox News had reported that former U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, had received a foreclosure notice from Deutsche Bank. We received reader mail asking if this was true. The post read, \"BREAKING FOX NEWS: Deutsche Bank has filed a notice to foreclose on Mar A Lago. The Trump property is part of a larger estate lien that is $190 million delinquent. Court documents show a $3.4 billion loan that's in default. Trump hasn't responded to repeated attempts for comment. Developing story.\" However, a quick check of @PatMaguire10's X bio revealed that the account posts \"parody\" content. In other words, Fox News did not report on any such foreclosure notice, nor was there any public record of a foreclosure of Mar-a-Lago taking place or scheduled to happen in the future. For a little more background on the subject referenced, on the same day that the post was created, Trump's legal team reportedly asked for a mistrial to be declared in the civil fraud trial brought against him in New York. Weeks earlier, the same trial featured testimony from retired Deutsche Bank executive Nicholas Haigh. Haigh provided information to the court about the bank's decision to loan Trump roughly $125 million for the purchase of the Trump National Doral property in Miami in 2011, according to ABC News. As for Mar-a-Lago, the Miami Herald reported in August 2022 that Trump had received a loan from Chase Manhattan Bank, not Deutsche Bank, for his 1985 purchase of the property. Mar-a-Lago itself cost Trump $8 million, which he financed with an $8.5 million loan from Chase Manhattan Bank. The other parcel\u2014oceanfront land next to the manor\u2014cost $2 million. Trump was able to use $500,000 from the estate loan and a $1.5 million mortgage from the seller, Jack C. Massey, to cover the bill. For further reading, we previously published a report titled, \"Media Literacy: How Can You Tell if a Post Is Satire\/Parody?\"","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1i6pUh5a4He_XiI_uBPnkombaEOdUq4hr"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_934","claim":"Did Tyrone Woodfork Beat an Elderly Oklahoma Couple?","posted":"04\/03\/2012","sci_digest":["Woodfork, 22, was sentenced to consecutive life sentences on separate counts of felony murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and two counts of first-degree rape."],"justification":"In July 2020, social media users began circulating a meme about a \"black kid named Tyrone Woodfork\" who \"severely beat an elderly couple, Mr. and Mrs. Strait, who had been married for 65 years,\" along with the claim that \"no national media carried the story\" of the crime. Tyrone RAPED Mrs. Strait, and she died from injuries sustained at his hands. Mr. Strait served in the 101st Airborne during WWII. I suppose that if Mr. Strait had shot Tyrone, the whole country would know about the story. As it is, only Mrs. Strait died, so it's not of interest to Brian Williams and the rest of the mainstream media. Think about it. After 65 years of marriage, after serving our country, and after 90 years of life, Mr. Strait has lost his wife to a rapist\/murderer. NO ONE in the national media cares, and neither does Facebook. The meme was based on a real incident, but it included no information informing readers that the events it described had taken place eight years earlier and were not a recent occurrence. Bob and Nancy Strait (90 and 85 years old, respectively) were a North Tulsa, Oklahoma, couple whom family members described to local television station KOTV as follows: The couple had been married for more than 65 years, had six children, and 18 grandchildren. They were great, great, great-grandparents. Bob Strait was a paratrooper in World War II. He was with the 101st Airborne and was part of the D-Day invasion. He was awarded the Bronze Star. Nancy grew up in a log cabin in Kenwood, Oklahoma, with no running water. She moved to Tulsa to work during the war. Nancy was a homemaker who made quilts and homemade jellies. Bob was a welder by trade and did woodworking as a hobby. The two did everything together: grocery shopping, doctor's visits, you name it. \"Mama was the kind, if you came in, she would say, 'Go to the kitchen and help yourself with the groceries or let me get you something.' She fed everybody,\" said their daughter, Andra. \"[Bob] is the kind of guy, if your car breaks down on the highway, he could fix it. He'd stop and fix your car,\" said the Straits' son, Bob. In April 2012, a message was widely circulated online claiming that the Straits had been \"beaten to a pulp in [a] home invasion by colored offenders,\" and only press outside the U.S. covered the story: 90-Year-Old White Couple Beaten to a Pulp in Home Invasion by Colored Offenders. Hey Bobby Rush, going to wear anything for this white couple? UPDATE: Once again, it takes an overseas newspaper to report the truth because American newspapers are too afraid to post the truth... They might get boycotted by the Negroes! The couple met and married within a month and stayed together for 65 years, only to be parted after a home invader beat the wife to death. Nancy Strait, 85, was sexually assaulted and battered to death by a burglar. Her husband Bob, 90, suffered a broken jaw and broken ribs in the attack. Police arrested 20-year-old Tyrone Dale David Woodfork. On 14 March 2012, Nancy and Bob Strait were indeed robbed and beaten at their home. Nancy Strait was sexually assaulted and died from her injuries the following day; Bob Strait was shot in the face with his own BB gun, suffered a broken jaw and cracked ribs, and died a few months later, on 4 May 2012. Their assailants reportedly made off with the Straits' television, $200, a BB gun, and the couple's Dodge Neon. Tulsa police made an arrest the afternoon following the robbery after being tipped off to the location of the couple's stolen car: Tulsa police located the couple's stolen car in the 5700 block of East Easton Street. An alert driver at 4th and Yale called police when he saw the Plymouth Neon. He followed it to the neighborhood, and that's when more than a dozen police cars stopped the driver. Investigators took three men and a woman in for questioning. Police reported that there was a child inside the car with the woman. After interviewing the four, police arrested Tyrone Woodfork, 20. Police said they had enough evidence to arrest Woodfork for this murder. Woodfork was on a suspended sentence for burglary. A police report states he sold the Straits' 42-inch flatscreen TV for $250 at a gas station shortly after the break-in and was in possession of other items from the house. He is being held without bond. Tyrone Woodfork was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Nancy Strait, as well as burglary, assault with a dangerous weapon, and two counts of armed robbery. The 22-year-old was convicted in May 2014 and sentenced to consecutive life sentences on separate counts of felony murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and two counts of first-degree rape in the March 2012 attack on Bob and Nancy Strait. Although the robbery and beating of the Straits was reported in the Daily Mail, U.S. coverage of the crime was primarily limited to local (i.e., Tulsa area) news media. This is not evidence of some type of bias or cover-up on the part of the U.S. news media, however, because violent crimes are unfortunately an all too common occurrence in the United States, and nothing about this particular incident was comparatively unusual or shocking enough to propel it out of local coverage and into the national news.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1aDUG8X6A2jrpW5sNA_yy7fgEUTcq4JRm","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1hGCZde3_Gd_os3zKzPrYownvZTX0uC5I","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1a-yyBfe27r7qrSmoKkfFWdUv-ak7ATZw","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_935","claim":"Rick Perry Speech","posted":"07\/11\/2011","sci_digest":["Transcript reproduces a speech given by Texas governor Rick Perry."],"justification":"Claim:  Transcript reproduces a speech given by Texas governor Rick Perry. CORRECTLY ATTRIBUTED Example:  [Collected via e-mail, July 2011] Thought this was interesting. It is food for thought..... It would be nice if Rick Perry really is that strong of a Christian.  From   TEXAS                TO THE WHITEHOUSE! Below are his remarks in Longview.  Be sure and readwhere he stands and where his heart is.  In 1977, I had left the Air Force and moved home. I'll be real honest with you  I was a bit lost spiritually, and I really didnt know what I wanted to do with my life. So I moved in with my mother and father. Now that's a real trip! I had been an aircraft commander, traveling all around the world, seeing amazing places that a boy from Paint Creek, Texas, had never even dreamed were out there before. I had this great epiphany during my mid twenties. As I had lived in Europe and South America and the Middle East, I saw all these different countries with different forms of government. I was actually paying attention to the dictatorships, theocracies, monarchies, democratic states, etc. I started making the connection between how those people lived and the form of government they had. It was most interesting for me, as I'd never really given that much attention to our form of government in America . I'd taken for granted this extraordinary country we live in, but I came to realize that America is really a special place. I also made the calculation that inside that really cool place was this incredible place called Texas! At twenty-five, twenty-six years old, it dawned on me what an incredible country we live in, and that the vast majority of the people take it for granted. They abuse the privilege of living in a free country. They don't realize how so many other people live around the world. But with that knowledge, I went home and lived with my mom and dad. I moved back into my old room. At eighteen years old, I left to go to my beloved Texas A&M University. Nine years later, I came back into my old room. I swear to God, I know mother cleaned it, but it looked exactly like it did the day I left. It had my football number on the door, and it had the all-star football game program still stuck on the bulletin board. It was an eerie moment for me to move back home. My dad was pretty sure I was the same stupid eighteen-year-old that had left. I was pretty sure he hadn't gotten any smarter either. So we went through this really brutal period of time of finding our comfort zone. But God was dealing with me. At twenty-seven years old, I knew that I'd been called to the ministry. I've just always been really stunned by how big a pulpit I was gonna have! I still am. I truly believe with all my heart that God has put me in this place at this time to do His will. On Aug. 6 of this year, 2011, we are going to have a day of prayer and fasting. And it's going to be the real deal. It's not going to be some program where we line up a dozen political figures to come in and talk. It's going to be people standing on that stage, projecting and proclaiming Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior at Reliant Stadium in Houston. Let me tell you, that's a big stadium and there will be a lot of people. But it's going to send a powerful message across this country!  Our country's broke. Well, actually, Washington's broke; our country's going to be just fine. But we've got to have men and women who are willing to stand up to  proclaim the values that this country was based upon. In 1774, at the Continental Congress when they got together and penned that first document, they talked about \"life\" and \"liberty.\" Interestingly, the third thing they talked about was \"property.\" A couple of years later, when they actually wrote the Declaration, they changed that \"property\" to \"the pursuit of happiness.\" I just signed a piece of legislation today, the eminent domain legislation. I tell people, that \"personal property\" and the ownership of that personal property is crucial to our way of life. Our founding fathers understood that it was a very important part of the pursuit of happiness. Being able to own things that are your own is one of the things that makes America unique. But I happen to think that it's in jeopardy. It's in jeopardy because of taxes; it's in jeopardy because of regulation; it's in jeopardy because of a legal system thats run amok.And I think it's time for us to just hand it over to God and say, \"God, Youre going to have to fix this.\" (I think it was Herman Cain who stood up the other day and said, \"How's that 'Hope and Change' thing working out for you?\") I think it's time for us to use our wisdom and our influence and really put it in God's hands. That's what I'm going to do, and I hope you'll join me.I hope you'll join us in Houston on the 6th day of August and really start a revival across this country. Here's what I want to leave you with. I know from time to time, people will say something like, \"There goes Perry. He wants to secede.\" But I love this country. We're a special place. We were created by God-fearing individuals who understood those biblical values and how powerful they could be and would be in the future. And I suggest that for our country, our best days are ahead if we'll get on our knees and ask God to take over and give us wisdom. I may wear the Lord out every day in prayer. I pray for this country. I pray for restoration for this country. I pray for our president every day. I pray that God turns buckets of wisdom out on his head, that God will open his eyes. We can change this country, but it requires our giving it to Him and letting Him guide us. Origins:  The above is an accurate transcript of a speech given by Texas governor Rick Perry at Longview, Texas, on 23 May 2011.  The event referred to therein is The Response, a \"solemn gathering of prayer and fasting for our country\" to be held at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas, on 6 August 2011. The Response Last updated:  11 July 2011 ","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_936","claim":"Was the record low in US unemployment attributed to Trump?","posted":"10\/13\/2020","sci_digest":["The Trump campaign alleged pre-COVID-19 unemployment rates were evidence that he could jumpstart the pandemic-stricken economy."],"justification":"During the U.S. vice presidential debate on Oct. 7, 2020, Republican candidate Mike Pence claimed he and U.S. President Donald Trump worked \"from day one\" in the White House to drive down American unemployment to \"record\" low levels  evidence, he alleged, that voters should re-elect Trump on Nov. 3 to try and reshape the economy after unprecedented job losses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Oct. 7, 2020 COVID-19 pandemic The statement echoed previous comments by the president. In October 2019, the White House issued a news release suggesting the Trump administration's \"pro-growth agenda\" was the reason for new jobs and a declining unemployment rate, reaching a level not seen in 50 years. news release Then, on Jan. 29, 2020, roughly one week after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the first COVID-19 case in the U.S., Trump reiterated on Twitter: reiterated   About six weeks later as the deadly virus spread nationwide, Trump doubled down on that \"50 year\" claim and said his administration is responsible for the \"best unemployment numbers in the history of our Country.\" He tweeted: tweeted   The claim took on another layer as the pandemic worsened: Trump alleged without evidence that his administration was responsible for helping Black Americans, specifically, get jobs. For instance, on June 2, he claimed he \"has done more for the Black Community than any President since Abraham Lincoln,\" and that the country's unemployment figure among Black Americans was evidence of that work. claimed After that, Trump supporters went a step further by circulating the below-displayed meme online, alleging that Trump not only drove down unemployment rates for people who identify as Black or African American but also women and Hispanic workers.   This was true: U.S. Unemployment Reached 50-year Low Under Trump But no evidence showed Trump was responsible for causing the dip. First, to determine the validity of the underlying claim  that Trump shaped the economy so that U.S. unemployment dipped to the lowest rate ever  we considered the data available. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) began calculating the country's unemployment rate  the number of people seeking work divided by the sum of that amount and total people employed  in March 1940, when demographers first launched a monthly survey of households nationwide called the \"Current Population Survey.\" Before that, more subjective and less comprehensive data existed. So to ensure accuracy in this report, we only considered the country's unemployment figure post-1940, as compiled by BLS and the U.S. Census Bureau and to which government officials refer. Bureau of Labor Statistics According to our analysis of the labor statistics before Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20, 2017 (see below for our analysis of the jobless rate during his presidency), the country recorded the lowest unemployment rate in 1944, near the end of World War II. At that time, just 1.2% of Americans were unemployed and seeking jobs, per BLS data, which included workers over the age of 14. (Note: The survey in modern years only counted adults and teenagers over the age of 16, not 14.) The survey   Next, we considered BLS unemployment data over the course of 50 years before Trump's inauguration to determine whether the country's jobless rate indeed fell to the \"the lowest level in more than 50 years\" under his leadership. We learned 1969's annual unemployment rate was about 3.6%, in part, because millions of men were drafted for the Vietnam War and left the American workforce, making the sum of all those seeking or maintaining employment significantly lower. In May 1969, for instance, the unemployment rate was 3.4%. After that, we obtained statistics to gauge the country's monthly unemployment rate from the beginning of Trump's term  Jan. 20, 2017  to January 2020, when the U.S. COVID-19 outbreak began and businesses on a grand scale prepared to temporarily close or furloughed workers to prevent the spread of the deadly virus. (We did not consider U.S. unemployment during the outbreak since the claim was framed by the Trump campaign that he was more suited than Democratic rival Joe Biden to revive the pandemic-stricken economy.)  Per the BLS' Current Population Survey, the country's unemployment rate in February 2017, which was compiled including survey responses in the weeks before and after Trump took office in January, was 4.6%. From that point, the proportion of Americans seeking work compared to the total number of people in the country's workforce slightly decreased under the Trump administration. By September 2019, the percentage reached 3.5%  the lowest rate since December 1969. That meant Trump was correct in saying that unemployment dropped to the lowest point in about 50 years under his watch. However, his second tweet  that that metric was the lowest in U.S. history (or since the comprehensive unemployment data existed)  was false. The World War II-era 1.2% unemployment rate was lower. Trump was correct According to BBC economists' analysis of the recent employment figure, the change was a result of 490,000 Americans leaving the workforce. Jerome Powell, whom President Barack Obama appointed to the Federal Reserve System's board of governors and Trump promoted to the agency's chairman in 2018, told CBS News at the time that \"an unusually large number of people in their prime working years\" were not seeking employment or maintaining jobs for a variety of reasons, such as the U.S. opioid crisis, and that the U.S. workforce participation rate was lower than almost every other advanced country. BBC economists' analysis Federal Reserve System's board of governors CBS News We also obtained data showing the country's unemployment rate by race and gender to determine the accuracy of the above-displayed meme that alleged the percentage of unemployed female workers, as well as people who identify as Black, African Americans or Hispanic, was higher in 2009 than in 2019, among other things. According to the monthly data, these facts were true at face value: were true technically ended But that statistical snapshot is missing necessary context to consider the claim  that Trump's fiscal and regulatory policies led to millions of workers finding jobs  accurate: In February 2009, roughly one month after Obama was sworn into office, he signed a $787 billion stimulus package to save jobs and reverse the economic downturn. The increased public spending on everything from roads to science programs to unemployment benefits, as well as other market trends, created new jobs on a mass scale. And, in turn, labor statistics showed a steady increase in job growth and a gradual decrease in the country's jobless rate over the course of a decade until the pandemic hit.   Looking at the graph above, we determined no significant disruptions or changes in the country's unemployment rate when Trump took office  the steady decrease is essentially indistinguishable from the Obama years after the recession. \"At best, you would say it's been a continuation of a steady trend,\" economist Austan Goolsbee told MSNBC. told MSNBC In other words, it was false to claim that Trump moved into the White House and jumpstarted a failing economy. Rather, conditions were improving for American workers years before voters elected the real estate billionaire as president. NBC News reported in August 2020: NBC News The president rightly takes credit for having low unemployment during his presidency. In December of 2019, the unemployment rate was a scant 3.5 percent, the lowest it had been in 50 years. However, as good as that number was, when Trump took office the rate was already at 4.7 percent. That figure is quite low by historical standards (lower than all of the 1980s as well as most of the 1990s and 2000s). In December of 2017, it was the lowest the number had been since the Great Recession. In fact, Obama saw a much steeper drop in unemployment in his second term, a 3.3 drop in the rate, than Trump did in his first three years, a decline of 1.2 points. Thats not to besmirch the remarkably low unemployment under Trump, but its hard to ignore that the unemployment track under Obama had been downward. Again, the numbers look like the continuation of a trend, not something new. Another analysis of labor statistics by NPR came to the same conclusion: that job growth remained consistent since the end of the recession in 2010 and 2018, while the unemployment rate steadily decreased. NPR reported: labor statistics by NPR So while the White House can certainly point to some yardsticks that indicate a meaningful turnaround on Trump's watch  including small business sentiment, business investment and goods-producing job growth  broader measures of the overall job market and wages show the economy continues to follow the steady, upward glide path that began under Obama. In sum, considering no evidence showed policies enacted by the Trump administration drove down the country's unemployment rate  but rather the roughly 50-year low in fall 2019 was essentially a continuation from the Great Recession's recovery, per economists' analysis of BLS data  we rate this claim \"false.\" per economists BBC News. \"US Jobless Rate At Lowest Since 1969.\"  3 May 2019. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. \"BLS Data Viewer.\"  Accessed 13 October 2020. Wingfield, Brian. \"The End of the Great Recession? Hardly.\"  Forbes. 20 September 2010. Jones, Chuck. \"Trump's Economic Scorecard: 3 Years In Office.\"  Forbes. 10 February 2020. Horsley, Scott. \"FACT CHECK: Who Gets Credit For The Booming U.S. Economy.\"  NPR. 12 September 2018. Ruhle, Stephanie. \"Which President Gets The Credit For The Booming Economy?\"  MSNBC. 10 September 2018.","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=19phX_wqPTwcq-aw97ZyJHnf8UIPRGIin"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=148CYL5OyWmNCXJ_h8EDQLlLNXuFgeecm"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1yi46xwhmiyZaXaKF-Yoga7WYVbGcJ-1d"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1MPKSkTDyEHDqjt7PiBwA22HCD_l4k9CA"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1mlONP7dGIc6SPM7vjHDFbiWKfq3lIpnw"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1npWbEgadWJ5lJ1fgi2MO8UuIjURkJ3to"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_937","claim":"Facebook Car Giveaway","posted":"12\/12\/2014","sci_digest":["You cannot win a new Audi, Mercedes, Range Rover, Camaro, or other car by liking a Facebook page or post and sharing it with friends."],"justification":"In December 2014, several Facebook pages using car brand names such as Audi, Range Rover, Mercedes, and Camaro (among others) posted directives similar to the messages quoted above. The pages claimed that Facebook was giving away cars. Among the cars offered in the giveaways were Audi R8s, Range Rovers, Mercedes-Benz E63 AMGs, and Chevrolet Camaro SS models. Almost all the scams followed the same format: they instructed users to like a separate page, like the original post, and share the post on their own Timeline (thereby validating its legitimacy and enticing others to do the same). Users were eligible to win one of two available vehicles in the winner's choice of color simply by liking a separate Facebook page, liking and sharing a post, and waiting for an inbox message confirming the winners. In April 2016, the scam reappeared, this time with a Range Rover as the car offered in the giveaway. The first clue that the giveaways following this format were not legitimate was the pages to which Facebook users were directed, pages that had been created just days before the giveaway posts began to appear. Not only were the secondary Facebook pages involved always new, but they were also not linked with car companies or other interests one might reasonably expect to offer a car in exchange for social media advertising (such as automobile dealerships, insurance companies, or large retailers). Were a legitimate company to engage in such a high-ticket contest giveaway, the incentive would be exposure; however, no corresponding promotional return on advertising investment was discernible in these Facebook giveaway claims. The tactics were similar to recent scams involving Costco, Kroger, and Amazon gift cards, but the six-figure price tag attached to some of the vehicles involved in the Facebook car giveaway posts proved to be a far more difficult-to-resist enticement for some users, not all of whom questioned whether sharing a page presented any negative consequences should it later turn out to be a prank, hoax, or other false promise. The pages to which users were directed carried all the hallmarks of \"like farming\" operations intended to quickly build and sell popular Facebook pages. Even if the page creators' intent were only to build an audience, users participating in the scam created a larger incentive for employing future fakery of the same description to crowd Facebook feeds. Scammers could also exploit a large audience by mining varying levels of personal data from those who have liked a page of dubious origin. Thus, Facebook users who participate in such fake giveaways not only unwittingly help spammers pollute the social network with scams, but they may also risk being exposed to malware, clickjacking, or other unpleasantries (such as finding their names and identities endorsing a scam, hate page, or other undesirable activity). Giveaways, particularly of high-value merchandise, are generally rare and almost always conducted through brands' official channels or the social media accounts of related large companies.","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=10tNKkBn0djNdL5VkPZAPvswscMcIz8YH","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_938","claim":"No, This Illinois High School Isn't Set To Implement Race-Based Grading","posted":"06\/01\/2022","sci_digest":["This rumor originated with a \"local\" news website that is part of a so-called \"pink slime\" news network. "],"justification":"In May 2022, a website purporting to be a local news site for the western portion of Illinois' Cook County, the state's most populous county that covers the Chicago metro, published an article falsely claiming that Oak Park and River Forest High School (OPRF) officials were set to implement a \"race-based grading system.\" The article alleged that administrators would make it mandatory for \"teachers next school year to adjust their classroom grading scales to account for the skin color or ethnicity of its students.\" published an article  The website was called \"West Cook News,\" and the article featured a cropped version of OPRF Administrator Laurie Fiorenza's Twitter profile photo. The contents of the article stemmed from a presentation that she gave during a recent school board meeting (a video of it posted on May 26 and is displayed below). In the presentation, she discussed research around grading students more fairly, known as \"equitable grading,\" and shared findings with school board members for their consideration. Neither she nor any other member of the board announced policy changes that would require teachers to change how they grade students, much less make it mandatory for them to assess students based on their race or ethnicity. For these reasons, we're marking this claim  Twitter profile photo The school said in a statement published to its website: said in a statement The article contains a variety of misleading and inaccurate statements. The articles mischaracterization of the Board meeting is unfortunate and has caused unnecessary confusion [...] At no time were any statements made recommending that OPRF implement a race-based grading approach. At the above-mentioned school board meeting, Fiorenza gave a brief presentation about the progress of a board committee that researches professional development strategies for teachers, called the Transformative Education Leadership Team (TELT). Fiorenza noted that during the school year, teachers had read several books about \"equitable grading,\" or strategies to assess students on a non-biased basis. That said, Fiorenza did not say that teachers were required to implement equitable grading (which is not \"race-based grading\"). Here's a video of the meeting:  We reached out to Karin Sullivan, the executive director of communications at OPRF, who told us that \"there are no changes being proposed. This was a report on the committees research of best practices.\" The rumor that OPRF was implementing a race-based grading system appeared to largely stem from a misunderstanding of the term \"equitable grading.\" Ralph Matire, secretary of the OPRF School Board, said during the meeting: OPRF School OK, equitable grading. People are going to hear that, and they are not going to understand that. So I want to be very clear that equitable grading practice [is] the objective assessment of academic mastery. It is not a dumbing down. It is not making concessions for this, that, or the third thing. It's finding a way to be objective about determining whether a student has mastered the academic content, because too often, subjective evaluation can be off and that's where inequity comes in. So it's getting to an objective measurement of student mastery of academic content. The community needs to hear that. It's an important thing. Margaret Sullivan, an associate director at EAB, a consulting firm specializing in education institutions, wrote about equitable grading in November 2021: wrote Course failure rates more than doubled during the pandemic, reducing student confidence in school and their chances of pursuing postsecondary education. But lack of learning isnt the only driver of course failures. Up to 40% of traditional student grades include non-academic criteria that do not reflect student learning gains  including participation and on-time homework submission. As a result, traditional grading may inadvertently penalize underprivileged students who struggle to meet non-academic expectations. One of the goals of equable grading is to focus on whether students understand course material, no matter their timeline for doing so, as opposed to testing them for points on specific dates. For example, supporters say, to achieve more equitable grades, teachers should drop zeroes on assignments from grade books when students demonstrate that they know the material from those assignments. During the presentation, Matire talked about how the latter change could give teachers a better assessment of a student's performance, saying: So, a kid scores zero points on a quiz, then three weeks later demonstrates complete mastery of the material that was in that quiz, why should that zero points hold down that kid's grade when the kid has demonstrated mastery of the academic content? That's what moving to an equitable grading system is. It's understanding that students grow at different paces. And it's teachers interacting with and assessing their students in a manner that allows them to objectively determine that the student has inf act mastered the content. Karin Sullivan told us that there had been \"no school-wide recommendation or implementation\" of equitable grading at OPRF, and that this presentation was just a \"discussion of research-based best practices.\" If a teacher does implement equitable grading into their instruction plan, Sullivan said, \"any teachers using such practices would have to use them across the board for all students, regardless of race.\" West Cook News' article carried the sensational and false title \"OPRF to implement race-based grading system in 2022-23 school year.\" As noted above, the school simply was not implementing a new grading system, and the grading strategies that officials discussed at a recent school board meeting (equitable grading) had nothing to do with students' race or ethnicity. Despite (or perhaps because of) the inaccuracy of this headline, screenshots of West Cook News' article spread widely on social media. When Libs of Tiktok, a social media account that has gained a massive following thanks to its ability to stir up conservative outrage with claims that are often misleading, false, or stripped of context (no, litter boxes haven't been installed at schools because kids \"identify\" as cats), spread this rumor, they added screenshots from the presentation that highlighted specific passages: Libs of Tiktok litter boxes haven't been installed at schools   Neither of these highlighted passages stated that OPRF officials were implementing a race-based grading system. What these passages refer to, again, is equitable grading, or an attempt to remove bias from the classroom so that teachers can grade students purely on their mastery of a given subject.  The school explained in their statement:  explained in their statement As part of the Board of Educations strategic plan, the OPRFHS Grading and Assessment Committee was formed to examine national research on objective, unbiased practices for determining whether students have mastered academic content. Again, the presentation slides do not state that teachers at OPRF will implement a race-based grading system. Rather, the slides note that teachers had read books about how take non-academic factors (such as attendance) out of the equation could give them a more objective view of a student's mastery of a subject.  West Cook News is part of a so-called \"pink slime news\" network, a network of websites purporting to be local news outlets (despite having few or no local reporters) that publish politically biased content. The website is run by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which is part of the Metric Media Foundation, a pink slime network that operates more than 1,200 \"local news\" outlets. A 2019 investigation by the New York Times found that these networks received \"at least $1.7 million from Republican political campaigns and conservative groups.\" \"pink slime news\" network pink slime network that operates more than 1,200 \"local news\" outlets 2019 investigation by the New York Times A disclaimer on the site about its funding read: \"Funding for this news site is provided, in part, by advocacy groups who share our beliefs in limited government.\" While West Cook News presented itself as a local news outlet covering the suburban area west of Chicago, the majority of the stories published by this website were written with an algorithm, according to co-founder Brian Timpone. The Columbia Journalism Review reported in 2018: Columbia Journalism Review reported Most of the stories published on LGIS news sites are written by algorithm, co-founder Brian Timpone says in an interview with CJR, using software that analyzes data (school test scores, for instance) and splices it by region to deliver to local publications around the state. [...] When stories are written, their authors are usually freelancers, many of whom report their stories from well beyond the Illinois state line. The story about \"race-based grading\" carried no author byline. Instead, the article stated it came from the \"LGIS News Service.\" The Times reported that this network also publishes \"pay-for-play\" content. Or, in other words, clients can pay to have stories written and published on this network of sites. While reputable news websites would either label this type of content as \"paid content\" (or, more likely, simply avoid it altogether), these paid advertisements were published by the Metric Media Foundation as if they were regular news stories. The New York Times reported: New York Times reported Internal documents show how much influence the clients have. \"The clients pay us to produce a certain amount of copy each day for their websites,\" said one tool kit for new writers. \"In some cases, the clients will provide their own copy.\" No.  This rumor can be traced back to an article published on a pink slime news network in May 2022 that mischaracterized a presentation slide about equitable grading. School officials did not say they were preparing to implement any changes to their grading system, much less adjustments that would force teachers to account for a student's race or ethnicity. Furthermore, any potential future changes to how students are graded would apply to all students, not just students of a specific race.  OPRF said in a statement: \"OPRFHS does not, nor has it ever had a plan to, grade any students differently based on race.\" OPRF said in a statement We reached out to West Cook News with questions about the article, but did not receive a reply by publication time. [From the Snopes archives: Did Oregon Officials Say Showing Work in Math Class Is White Supremacism?] Did Oregon Officials Say Showing Work in Math Class Is White Supremacism Advocacy Groups and Metric Media Collaborate on Local Community News. Columbia Journalism Review, https:\/\/www.cjr.org\/tow_center_reports\/community-newsmaker-metric-media-local-news.php\/. Accessed 1 June 2022. Alba, Davey, and Jack Nicas. As Local News Dies, a Pay-for-Play Network Rises in Its Place. The New York Times, 18 Oct. 2020. NYTimes.com, https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/10\/18\/technology\/timpone-local-news-metric-media.html. Editor, Henry Scott |. for and Publisher. Exploiting the Local News Desert: Are Political and Foreign Interests Profiting from the Locals Loss? Editor and Publisher, https:\/\/www.editorandpublisher.com\/stories\/exploiting-the-local-news-desert,207894. Accessed 1 June 2022. Follow The Money: Right-Wing Funding Of Pink Slime Websites Tracked In New Study. News, 4 Nov. 2021, https:\/\/www.wgbh.org\/news\/commentary\/2021\/11\/03\/follow-the-money-right-wing-funding-of-pink-slime-websites-tracked-in-new-study. Gabbatt, Adam. The Fake News Sites Pushing Republicans Critical Race Theory Scare. The Guardian, 17 Nov. 2021. The Guardian, https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2021\/nov\/17\/fake-news-sites-republicans-critical-race-theory-scare. Hundreds of Pink Slime Local News Outlets Are Distributing Algorithmic Stories and Conservative Talking Points. Columbia Journalism Review, https:\/\/www.cjr.org\/tow_center_reports\/hundreds-of-pink-slime-local-news-outlets-are-distributing-algorithmic-stories-conservative-talking-points.php\/. Accessed 1 June 2022. Press, Associated. Republican Retracts False Claim Schools Placing Litter Boxes for Furry Students. The Guardian, 29 Mar. 2022. The Guardian, https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2022\/mar\/29\/nebraska-lawmaker-litter-boxes-claim-debunked. Romain, Michael. Conservative Site Seeking to Fill News Void Invites Suspicion. Oak Park, 27 Apr. 2021, https:\/\/www.oakpark.com\/2021\/04\/27\/conservative-site-seeking-to-fill-news-void-invites-suspicion\/. D97 Updates Board on Racial Equity Analysis Tool. Oak Park, 20 May 2020, https:\/\/www.oakpark.com\/2020\/05\/20\/d97-updates-board-on-racial-equity-analysis-tool\/. Statement Regarding Grading Practices. https:\/\/www.oprfhs.org\/news\/1742090\/statement-regarding-grading-practices. Accessed 1 June 2022. The Metric Media Network Runs More than 1,200 Local News Sites. Here Are Some of the Non-Profits Funding Them. Columbia Journalism Review, https:\/\/www.cjr.org\/tow_center_reports\/metric-media-lobbyists-funding.php\/. Accessed 1 June 2022. Tugade, F. Amanda. Building out Equity Projects Goal of OPRFs Equity Chief. Oak Park, 1 Feb. 2022, https:\/\/www.oakpark.com\/2022\/02\/01\/building-out-equity-projects-goal-of-oprfs-equity-chief\/. Why Equitable Grading Policies Matter. 15 Nov. 2021, https:\/\/eab.com\/insights\/expert-insight\/district-leadership\/why-equitable-grading-policies-matter\/.","issues":["equity"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ursoRnqpqesPr6fE1FD_rO8jXb-E0ihA","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1puE1bmuMKPeXtxSdEUWaPYnqMNYfQFdx","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_939","claim":"Scientists in Japan Clone 98% Pure Saber-Tooth Tiger","posted":"04\/20\/2014","sci_digest":["Have Japanese scientists successfully cloned a saber-tooth tiger?"],"justification":"  Claim:  Japanese scientists have successfully cloned a saber-tooth tiger.  Example:  [Collected via e-mail, April 2014] Cloning of a Sabre-tooth tiger, real or not?  There are not enough credible sources for this story.   Origins:  In April 2014, the NewsHound web site published an article positing that scientists had, in a procedure similar to the one employed by characters in the fictional Jurassic Park novel and film, successfully cloned a \"98% pure\" saber-tooth tiger from a frozen specimen of that long-extinct species: article Japanese scientists have successfully cloned a 98 percent pure Saber-Tooth Tiger at the Japanese government-funded laboratory, Riken Center for Development Biology. The baby,  named \"Ryu\" is said to be in good health and is currently being monitored 24 hours a day by a team of 6 specialists. Tests are ongoing, but it has been confirmed that the baby is 98% pure Saber-Tooth. The team hope to begin work on the second cloned Saber-Tooth Tiger within the next 2 months and when the two reach maturity, they will be breed naturally. This will create a second generation with 98.4% pure Saber-Tooth DNA. The story was easily spotted as nothing more than a hoax for a variety of reasons, chief among them that the NewsHound web site is not a news site at all, and it has, in place of reporting on actual events, reproduced a number of other hoaxes and spoofs as if they were real news, such as long-debunked stories about a Chinese man suing his wife over giving birth to an ugly baby, Apple paying Microsoft [sic] a $1 billion debt all in nickels, a planetary alignment causing gravity on Earth to be negated for five minutes, and Google Earth helping to locate a woman who had been stranded on a desert island for seven years. ugly baby nickels gravity Google Earth Moreover, NewsHound's saber-tooth tiger clone article is itself just a thinly-altered retread of another fabricated story the site published a month earlier, the latter about British scientists' supposedly having cloned a dinosaur from preserved fossils. dinosaur   Last updated:  20 April 2014 ","issues":["debt"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1vERPtZuMQ_7ytrViWEi3CcHir6Fy0Ugl","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_940","claim":"Big Lame Hunting","posted":"04\/14\/2015","sci_digest":["Fauxtography: Photographs show female hunters posing with the bodies of giraffes they've killed."],"justification":" Claim:  Photographs show female hunters posing with the bodies of giraffes they've killed. Example:  [Collected via e-mail, April 2015] Facebook has recently been inundated with pictures of women hunters posed with dead giraffes. Are they fake or real?  Origins:  Earlier this year as we were trekking through Africa, we passed through Tanzania to investigate some animal-related legends and visit a place that has loomed large in our imaginations ever since we were children: the Serengeti. It was everything we imagined it to be, and more: endless herds of zebra and buffalo stretching across the plains  as far as the eye could see, prides of lions snoozing under trees, elephants with their calves parading across our path, rhinoceros slowly lumbering along the landscape, huge pools in which hundreds of hippos lazed to escape the midday sun, as well aswarthogs, mongooses, hyenas, impala, gazelles, dik-diks, hyrax, and baboons. Tour operators in that part of the world typically tout that their clients will have an opportunity to view the \"Big Five\" of African wildlife: the African lion, the African elephant, the Cape buffalo, the African leopard, and the rhinoceros (black or white).  We were fortunate enough to see all of these creatures (and more), and to be able to shoot them from up close  with cameras only  includingthe one animal that's hardest to miss:  We were somewhat surprised to learn during our trip that the term \"Big Five\" derives not from the world of tourism (which has co-opted it), but from the world of big-game hunting: it is said to encompass the five African animals most difficult to hunt on foot.  We were more surprised to learn that, despite widespread public perception that the \"Big Five\" (and most other large African wildlife) are all endangered and\/or protected by law, there are very few African animals that cannot be legally hunted somewhere on that continent. We were reminded of our experience in April 2015, when comedian Ricky Gervais posted to his Facebook page a photograph purportedly showing a female hunter posing in recline alongside the carcass of a giraffe she had just killed, along with his rumination about why someone would \"want to kill a beautiful animal and then lie next to it smiling\":  The comedian didn't provide much background information in his Facebook post, which led many viewers to speculate about the authenticity of the photo. Was the scene staged with a giraffe that died from other causes?  Was the giraffe put down for humane reasons? Was the image Photoshopped?  The photograph that Gervais shared has originally appeared on the website RebeccaFrancis.com in August 2010. Although that site did not provide any specific information about that particular image, the site is full of pictures of animals killed in African big game hunts, including lions, zebras, and giraffes. Francis addressed the controversy of being a \"big game hunter\" in a blog entitled \"The True Circle of Hunting\": RebeccaFrancis.com pictures As a hunter, I am constantly under fire and constantly being labeled a \"trophy hunter\". What is a trophy hunter?  I have put a great deal of thought into the meaning of this.  In the dictionary the literal meaning is simply put: \"Trophy hunting is the selective hunting of wild game animals\".  In that case, I AM A TROPHY HUNTER.   There is no question that I am extremely selective about the animals I hunt.   I feel it is absolutely necessary to hunt older and more mature animals.  In a lot of cases, that puts that animal past it's breeding prime and the animal can actually be kicked out of the herd and replaced with a younger, stronger male to introduce new genetics into the gene pool. Consequently, that animal can not only be bullied by the new male, but also be left all alone to suffer until it\u0019s inevitable death. I have no desire to shoot an animal, just to shoot it.  I admire, respect, and love watching these beautiful creatures. Ricky Gervais subsequently posted a second photograph on his Facebook page of a female hunter posing with a dead giraffe :  While the specific origins of this photograph are unknown to us, the earliest incarnation we've found appears to have originated with the now-defunct Facebook page of one \"Ivy Swanepol\":  A similar photograph of a grinning woman posing astride a dead giraffe while holding a high-powered rifle in her hands generated online controversy in March 2014 when it was posted to the Facebook page of Koeshall's World Hunting Adventures taxidermy shop in Wisconsin along with a caption  \"We took Shelley out this morning with the thoughts of maybe getting a giraffe. We found this big bull feeding in the trees, and Shelley put 2 good shots in him before he went down. Big mature bull. We have it all here, and we want to share it with YOU\": posted  Regardless of who is pictured in these photographs, there is no good reason to believe that they are not genuine or do not represent what they appear to depict, as giraffes are indeed one of the trophy animals frequently targeted in African big game hunts. Big Game Hunting Adventures of South Africa, for instance, offers safaris on which hunters can bag (among other animals)baboons, hyenas, buffalo, elephants, giraffe, hippos, impala, leopards, lions, warthogs, wildebeest, and zebras.   safaris Although many animal lovers and wildlife protection groups may decry African big game hunts, they are perfectly legal in places such as South Africa.  Moreover, some conservationists have argued that this form of tourism actually helps their cause by providing much-needed revenue for the preservation of more endangered species in the region: South Africa has a tourism industry that permits people to hunt big game animals such as the elephant, rhinoceros and lion.  Many people object to this blood sport.  But some argue that hunting big game animals creates income needed to save the country's population of big animals. It is legal in some African countries to hunt big game.  The business brings in a lot of money.  A ten-day 'elephant package' could cost U.S. $36,000.  Hunting a rhinoceros can cost U.S. $100,000. The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) has strong words against what it calls the \"needless killing of endangered species for trophies.\"  The organization says big game hunting is not sustainable, meaning it cannot be supported over a long period of time.  The group also says it provides only short-term economic gains, hurts the area's environmental balance and is morally wrong. But not all conservationists agree.  Some argue trophy hunting may be helping Africa's wildlife.  Professor John Hanks is the former head of the World Wide Fund for Nature in South Africa.  He says tourism and donations do not provide the billions of dollar needed. \"I think trophy hunting in South Africa is really absolutely essential if we are going to look for long-term future for rhinos in the whole of Africa ... there's hardly a single country anywhere that can afford to run its national parks as they should be run ... Here we are in South Africa, one of the richest countries in the continent, Kruger Park has a million visitors a year and they still cannot afford to defend the rhinos.\" The hunting industry in South Africa brings in more than $744 million each year.  The industry employs about 70,000 people.  And about 9,000 trophy hunters travel to South Africa every year.  Ninety percent of them come from the United States.  In 2012, foreign hunters spent $115 million in South Africa.  Trophy hunting is the most profitable form of commercial land use in the country. Herman Meyeridricks is the president of the Professional Hunters' Association of South Africa.  He argues that legal hunting is important to wildlife protection. \"The only way there will be incentive for those landowners to protect and keep on investing in rhino is if they have an economic value. They can only have an economic value if there is an end-user that is willing to pay for that, and that is the trophy hunter.\" One can find plenty of photographs of male big game hunters posing with taken giraffes online, but those images apparently don't stir up as much widespread outrage as similar pictures showing female hunters. photographs Last updated:  14 April 2015    Parker, Gilliam.  \"Trophy Hunting Is Big Business in South Africa.\"   VOA.  16 August 2014.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1FFPjQ0YSP7DVOq1QOWiceeGDXSLEd9C3","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=14ABwzTYsRn2w4Vo_SslfXG1nF15Pgddw","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1GnLsBwR45Seje3RYCnh61x49DRv9-9J7","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1l-3gC76ucYaEY9FEeu7Hb04XzwDRdaGH","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/scontent-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net\/hphotos-xpa1\/v\/t1.0-9\/10590444_697935300286768_753567594627242744_n.png?oh=75c3625f59e36fe75bc7263e5447d367&oe=55A22DF4","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1nCwwWyIa84t1pOfW8zNLZbgET9qzKI98","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_941","claim":"Joanna Gaines Never Endorsed Keto Gummies for Weight Loss","posted":"05\/26\/2023","sci_digest":["The author and tv star was the latest celebrity to have her image used without permission in scams for questionable weight loss gummies."],"justification":"Despite what scammers would like to have you think, \"Fixer Upper\" star andNew York Times bestselling author Joanna Gaines never endorsed an \"intermittent keto routine,\" keto gummies, or any kind of \"bedtime routine\" involving weight loss gummies, pills, or supplements. Her husband, Chip, also had nothing to do with any of these products. In May 2023, paid ads circulated on Facebook and Instagram that showed pictures of Gaines. Those ads led to a fake CNN article that showed a picture of the married couple. That \"article\" was never hosted on cnn.com. The headline of the scammy and fictional article read, \"How Millions Of Women Are Melting Body Fat & Getting Ripped Thanks To Joanna Gaines And Her Intermittent Keto Routine!\" According to the article, Gaines spoke about weight loss and keto gummies on a \"recent segment\" of \"The Ellen DeGeneres Show.\" However, in reality, Gaines never said anything about these subjects on DeGeneres' show, which ended in 2022. Gaines The article also falsely claimed that Kelly Osbourne, Rachael Ray, and Wendy Lopez all took the alleged \"amazing miracle pill\" pushed by Gaines. Osbourne and Ray have been targets of similar scams in the past, including one that featured afake People article about Rebel Wilson. fake People article about Rebel Wilson Dr. Mehmet Oz, the celebrity surgeon best known as \"Dr. Oz,\" was also named on the order pages for these scammy products. Such pages falsely claimed he said of apple cider vinegar (ACV) keto gummies, \"it works,\" and that they were the \"holy grail of weight loss.\" However, like Gaines and others, he had nothing to do with the products. We advise readers to stay away from strange medicinal products that are referred to as weight loss \"miracles.\" If an online offer seems too good to be true, it probably is. Scam offers for weight loss keto gummies often enroll customers in monthly subscription charges, a stipulation that can only be found in the fine print of a page where people input their personal information. We recommend readers who have been the victims of these scams call their credit card company to ensure they don't receive future charges. For more information on the inner workings of these weight loss keto gummies scams, we recommend our past stories on the subject. our past stories As we previously reported, this was in no way the first time that Gaines' image and likeness was used without permission to promote these sorts of products  and it likely won't be the last. reported","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1uwp5NPBNT05M615gcnO1RG8cZxWqNPAy","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1wFlEDCkFMOmd0TvySrb8hkSRAGRElgIg","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_942","claim":"Judge David Kithil on Obamacare","posted":"12\/02\/2009","sci_digest":["Letter from Judge David Kithil provides line-item criticism of health care reform legislation."],"justification":" Claim:  Letter from Judge David Kithil provides accurate line item criticisms of \"Obamacare\" health care reform legislation.  Examples:  [Collected via e-mail, November 2009] I have reviewed selected sections of the bill and find it unbelievable that our Congress, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, could come up with a bill loaded with so many wrong-headed elements. We do need to reform the health insurance system in America in order to make coverage affordable and available to everyone. But, how many of us believe our federal government can manage a new program any better than the bankrupt Medicare program or the underfunded Social Security program? Both Republicans and Democrats are equally responsible for the financial mess of those two programs. I am opposed to HB 3200 for a number of reasons. To start with, it is estimated that a federal bureaucracy of more than 150,000 new employees will be required to administer HB3200. That is an unacceptable expansion of a government that is already too intrusive in our lives. If we are going to hire 150,000 new employees, let's put them to work protecting our borders, fighting the massive drug problem and putting more law enforcement\/firefighters out there.\" Other problems I have with this bill include: Page 50\/section 152: The bill will provide insurance to all non-U.S. residents, even if they are here illegally. Page 58 and 59: The government will have real-time access to an individual's bank account and will have the authority to make electronic fund transfers from those accounts. Page 65\/section 164: The plan will be subsidized (by the government) for all union members, union retirees and for community organizations (such as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now - ACORN). Page 203\/line 14-15: The tax imposed under this section will not be treated as a tax. (How could anybody in their right mind come up with that?) Page 241 and 253: Doctors will all be paid the same regardless of specialty, and the government will set all doctors' fees. Page 272. section 1145: Cancer hospital will ration care according to the patient's age. Page 317 and 321: The government will impose a prohibition on hospital expansion; however, communities may petition for an exception. Page 425, line 4-12: The government mandates advance-care planning consultations. Those on Social Security will be required to attend an \"end-of-life planning\" seminar every five years. Page 429, line 13-25: The government will specify which doctors can write an end-of-life order. Finally, it is specifically stated this bill will not apply to members of Congress. Members of Congress are already exempt from the Social Security system and have a well-funded private plan that covers their retirement needs. If they were on our Social Security plan, I believe they would find a very quick \"fix\" to make the plan financially sound for the future.\" Honorable David Kithil Marble Falls, Texas.  Origins:  A number of similar pieces presenting lists of line item criticisms of a pending health care reform bill (H.R. 3200) began circulating on the Internet in mid-2009, and they continue to circulate widely three years later as arguments to oppose the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), commonly known as \"Obamacare.\" The versions of this item that continue to be spread via e-mail forwards and online postings are wrong in nearly every particular, however:  Although this list is commonly attributed as originating with a letter sent to Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana by Dr. Stephen E. Fraser, an Indianapolis anesthesiologist, or as a letter sent to the River Cities Tribune by David Kithil, a former county judge in Marble Falls, Texas, it is actually the work of Peter Fleckenstein, who issued Peter Fleckenstein the list as a series of Tweets and posted it to his blog in July 2009.  The bill referenced in this list, America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 (H.R. 3200), was never passed by Congress.  A   completely different bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590), became the basis for what is now known as \"Obamacare.\"  Many of the entries in the list are therefore irrelevant and outdated, as they address aspects of health care reform legislation that were never enacted by Congress (particularly the \"public option\" for a government insurance plan). H.R. 3200 H.R. 3590  Virtually every statement included in this list is exaggerated, misleading, inaccurate, or outright erroneous, as detailed below:    The bill will provide insurance to all non-U.S. residents, even if they are here illegally. This is false.  The PPACA, as enacted, doesn't \"provide insurance\" to anyone  it institutes some regulations on the insurance industry to make medical insurance more broadly available and affordable to Americans, and it requires that Americans enroll in PPACA-qualified medical plans or pay a penalty, but everyone is still responsible for obtaining (and paying for) their own insurance coverage.   Moreover, the section of the unpassed HB 3200 bill referenced in the above statement is 152. PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION IN HEALTH CARE, which simply states that \"[e]xcept as otherwise explicitly permitted by this Act and by subsequent regulations consistent with this Act, all health care and related services (including insurance coverage and public health activities) covered by this Act shall be provided without regard to personal characteristics extraneous to the provision of high quality health care or related services.\"  It doesn't explicity grant or authorize government funds for providing illegal immigrants with health care or health insurance, and another section of the bill specifically states that  \"Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States.\"  The government will have real-time access to an individual's bank account and will have the authority to make electronic fund transfers from those accounts. This is false. The section of HB 3200 referenced here does nothing more than attempt to provide a framework for simplifying the use of electronic payments for health services, emulating the way that many consumers currently use to make a variety of other payments (e.g., utilities, mortgages, credit card balances).   The bill simply calls for the secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to set standards for electronic administrative transactions that would \"enable electronic funds transfers, in order to allow automated reconciliation with the related health care payment and remittance advice.\"  Nothing in this section grants the government \"real-time access to an individual's bank account\" or the \"authority to make electronic fund transfers from those accounts.\"  The bill doesn't even require that consumers use an electronic payment system  it simply seeks to make that an option for those who want to use it.   The plan will be subsidized (by the government) for all union members, union retirees and for community organizations (such as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now - ACORN). This statement is misleading, as the section of HB 3200 referenced here is SEC. 164. REINSURANCE PROGRAM FOR RETIREES, which addresses \"retirees and ... spouses, surviving spouses and dependents of such retirees\" who are covered by \"employment-based [health benefit] plans.\"  It does not specifically provide for subsidizing health insurance for \"all union members, union retirees and community organizations\"; it sets up a new federal reinsurance plan for any retirees and their spouses who are covered by any employer plan, not just those who are covered under plans run by unions or community groups.  The reinsurance would be available to any \"group health benefits plan that ... is maintained by one or more employers, former employers or employee associations.\"  The tax imposed under this section will not be treated as a tax. (How could anybody in their right mind come up with that?) This statement misleadingly tries to make HB 3200 sound ridiculous by deliberately eliding the end of the statement it quotes.  What the bill actually says is that\"The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax imposed by this chapter for purposes of determining the amount of any credit under this chapter or for purposes of section 55.\"  Section 55 is a reference to the Alternative Minimum Tax, and the purpose of this portion of the bill is to mitigate the effects that new health care-related taxes would have on persons making over $350,000 a year.   Doctors will all be paid the same regardless of specialty, and the government will set all doctors' fees. This is false. The section of the bill referenced here is an updating of the physician fee schedule for Medicare services, which neither states that \"all doctors will be paid the same regardless of specialty\" nor that the \"government will set all doctors' fees.\"  All this section does is slightly revise the formula used for determining how much doctors are reimbursed for providing Medicare services, depending upon which of two categories those services fall under.   Cancer hospital will ration care according to the patient's age. This is false. The section referenced here is one which does nothing more than call for a study to determine whether certain classes of hospitals incur higher costs than other hospitals for the cancer-related care they deliver, with the aim of providing \"an appropriate adjustment [in payments] \"to reflect those higher costs.\" This section in no way \"rations care\" provided by \"cancer hospitals\" based on a patient's age (or any other factor); it simply seeks to pay some hospitals more to compensate for their higher costs in treating cancer patients.  The government will impose a prohibition on hospital expansion; however, communities may petition for an exception. This is false. As noted by FactCheck, forbids hospital expansion \"only for rural, doctor-owned hospitals that have been given a waiver from the general prohibition on self-referral. It does not apply to hospitals in general. The bill provides for exceptions to even this limited expansion ban.\"   The government mandates advance-care planning consultations. Those on Social Security will be required to attend an \"end-of-life planning\" seminar every five years. This is false. This statement references a much-distorted portion of the bill that would allow for Medicare to cover voluntary counseling sessions for seniors with their doctors to discuss aspects of end-of-life care such as hospice care, DNR orders, life-sustaining treatments, living wills, and the like (a form of counseling not previously covered by Medicare).  Nothing about such counseling sessions would be mandatory, for Social Security recipients or anyone else.   The government will specify which doctors can write an end-of-life order. This is false. The bill does not \"specify which doctors can write an end-of-life order.\"  It merely defines an \"end-of-life order\" (i.e., an order for life-sustaining treatment) as a document \"signed and dated by a physician [that] effectively communicates the individual's preferences regarding life sustaining treatment.\"  It is specifically stated this bill will not apply to members of Congress. This is false. HB 3200 did not contain a provision stating that it would \"not apply to members of Congress.\"  The bill likely would have had little or no effect on members of Congress because they belong to a class of federal worker who have the benefit of choosing from a variety of subsidized insurance plans offered through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, but the same requirements for obtaining and having health insurance would have applied to them just as much to other citizens.  The version of the PPACA that was actually passed did indeed require lawmakers to give up the insurance coverage previously provided to them through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and instead purchase health insurance through the online exchanges that the law created.  Variations:  A later version of this piece was prefaced with the false claim that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act limits the amount of Medicare coverage provided to those over the age of 75 or 76.  This claim is covered in a separate article on this site: separate PLEASE PASS THIS OUTRAGE TO EVERYONE ON YOUR LIST!!! THIS should be readby everyone, especially important to those over 75.......If you areyounger, then it applies to your parents. Your hospital Medicare admittance has just change under Obama Care. Youmust be admitted by your primary Physician in order for Medicare to payfor it! If you are admitted by an emergency room doctor it is treated asoutpatient care where hospital costs are not covered. This is only the tipof the iceberg for Obama Care. Just wait to see what happens in 2013 &2014! Age 76 Today, I went to the Dr. for my monthly B12 shot that I have beengetting for a number of years. The nurse came and got me, got out theneedle filled and ready to go then looked at the computer and got veryquiet and asked if I was prepared to pay for it. I said no that myinsurance takes care of it. She said, that Medicare had turned it down and went to talk to my Dr.about it. 15 minutes later she came back and said, she was sorry but theyhad tried everything they could but Medicare is beginning to turn manythings away for seniors because of the projected Obama Care coming in. Shewas brushing at tears and said, \"Someday they too will get old\", I am sovery sorry!! Please for the sake of many good people ... be informed please.YOU ARE NOT GOING TO LIKE THIS. Last updated:  11 March 2014 ","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1vvQnzzaOcDietM7Svh2tBwjAXZzKgFy3","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_943","claim":"Did Donald Trump Appoint Sarah Palin as a Science Advisor?","posted":"01\/02\/2017","sci_digest":["A report that President-elect Trump appointed the former governor of Alaska as a Science and Technology Advisor is a fake news tidbit."],"justification":"On 5 December 2016, the World News Daily Report web site published an article reporting that President-elect Donald Trump had officially announced former Alaska governor (and 2008 vice presidential candidate) Sarah Palin was in line to become his new Science and Technology Adviser: World News Daily Report article Critics of the administration have already voiced their concerns over the choice of the former Alaska governor, known to be a fierce climate change denier, to lead the White House Office of Science and Technology of the United States. Far too long has the Chinese narrative over climate change kept our economy in a rut. Its time to open the pumps and as I like to say: Drill, baby, drill!   Sarah Palin, former Alaska governor  This tweet did not appear in Twitter's history of Trump's account, and no other news outlet reported what would have been an undoubtedly highly newsworthy appointment.  history That lack of additional coverage is because this report originated with World News Daily Report, a fake news site. The site used an old and unrelated image of Donald Trump and Sarah Palin together (which dated to 2011) to suggest that the pair had met during the President-elect's transition period in late 2016. image 2011","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1hu9XIqIJ3gjlq4e2e7Wv1LAZPEiR1MUb","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_944","claim":"We already have $23 billion worth of debt.","posted":"06\/13\/2011","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Florida Gov. Rick Scott vetoed a record $615 million from the 2011-12 state budget on May 26, 2011, targeting an array of money for projects such as university buildings, arainwater studyand$4.8 million for public broadcasting.The latter cut causedstation managers across the stateto worry about possible layoffs, station closings and an increased reliance on private donations.In a June 2 interview, ABC 27 reporter Jerry Hume in Tallahassee asked Scott if vetoing public broadcasting dollars was a hard choice compared to other line items. Here is Scott's full response (available byvideo):I don't think the state ought to be paying for that. But the easy ones are things like studying how to collect rainwater, stuff like that, and a new barn and things like that. But there's a lot of tough ones. But the way I thought about it was, what should state government be doing? I mean, there's a lot of good things in there, but they were local issues, or charity should be doing it, or there's a better way of doing it, or we're already doing it a different way.And on top of that, I don't want to increase the debt in the state. We already have $23 billion worth of debt, so those are things I thought about. But really, it was how do we get jobs going?Scott mentions the state debt as support for his big cuts, even though the state wasn't going to issue new debt just for public broadcasting. But it got us thinking: How big is the state debt, anyway?Turns out, this isn't the first time Scott has bemoaned the state's debt. In late May,Scott warned he was thinking about vetoingPublic Education Capital Outlay projects, which pay for college and university construction projects and represent the state's largest bond program. He said the added debt of $134 million could jeopardize the state's credit rating and increase costs of future borrowing.I'm clearly focused on the amount of debt the state has, Scott said then. I'm clearly focused on the debt rating.Where does he get that number?Our search for the state debt level starts with Scott spokesman Lane Wright. He directed us to aDecember 2010 report on Florida's debt affordability, written by the State Board of Administration's Division of Bond Finance.The division is responsible for executing bonds authorized by the Legislature and administers financing programs for educational facilities and transportation projects, among other programs.As of June 30, 2010, the state's total overall debt outstanding stood at $28.2 billion.Now, this doesn't mean Scott's figure is off from the get-go. That $28.2 billion figure includes $23.6 billion for net tax-supported debt and $4.6 billion for self-supporting debt.These are important differences to understand (page 7of the document is helpful).Net tax-supported debt, which Scott seems to reference in his TV interview, is debt accrued when the state issues bonds to raise money for spending on projects such as PECO, Everglades restoration, right-of-way acquisition for roads and bridge construction.Self-supporting debt is made up of bonds that include a source of revenue, and is excluded when calculating the state's benchmark debt ratio. Examples of this are bonds to build toll roads, covered by the tolls, or university dorm maintenance, covered by student fees.Net tax-supported debt is paid off through the state's ability to tax all residents and tourists, while self-supporting debt is paid off by the people who pay to use the facilities.The benchmark debt ratio is important SBA jargon for measuring the state's annual payment on borrowed money, said Ben Watkins, the division's director. The annual payment, called debt service, works kind of like a mortgage, in which you pay off a chunk each year over a certain span of years. Debt service is based on tax-supported debt.To calculate the benchmark debt ratio, the division divides the annual debt service -- for tax-supported debt only -- by available state revenues.Florida Statutes say the ratio should not exceed a target of 6 percent and a cap of 7 percent. But in 2010, it was over the cap at 7.91 percent. That did not happen as a result of outstanding debt, Watkins said, but declining state revenues (the denominator of the benchmark ratio equation). The Legislature authorized more borrowing in 2010 due to a critical state emergency, pursuant to state law.The law on benchmark debt ratios is really a soft policy limit to give lawmakers perspective on how much debt the state can afford, Watkins said. The cap is seen as a planning tool and not an absolute ceiling, though other states have hard limits. Still, exceeding the soft cap should signal the state has borrowed all it should, and more borrowing should happen for absolutely essential projects, Watkins said.Anyway, Florida pays about $2.1 billion a year for debt service on the state's tax-supported debt.There's another type of debt to consider, called indirect debt. Unlike tax-supported and self-supported debt, this category does not get as much attention because the debt obligation lies with a separate legal entity such as Citizens Property Insurance, Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund Finance Corporation, water management districts or the Florida Housing Finance Corporation -- not the state. As of June 30, 2010, the indirect debt total was $16.4 billion. It is a whopping figure, but it is not included in the state's debt ratios or debt burden, according to the report.We mention all of this to explain that Scott is essentially short-handing the state's debt by describing it as $23 billion. But that's not necessarily a bad thing.This is the debt (figure) that matters to the state from a financial management perspective, Watkins said.Putting Florida debt in contextNow that we've considered the 2010 financial report, we looked for another opinion to make sure we understood all the context. Florida TaxWatch, a group that analyzes state spending and taxes, uses the same data supplied by the Division of Bond Finance to track the debt.Kurt Wenner, TaxWatch vice president of tax research, echoed much of Watkins' analysis and agreed that $23 billion is probably the most accurate figure to use to describe the state debt.That is the amount of debt that is backed by Florida taxpayers, Wenner said.Florida's debt doesn't get as many people talking as the country's $14 trillion-plus national debt. One explanation is that Florida has a balanced budget requirement, Wenner said. So it cannot spend money it simply doesn't have, like Washington does.Florida's borrowed money goes toward bricks and sticks projects, Watkins said, and not for normal government operations.Florida's total outstanding debt last year grew $1.8 billion, exceeding the $1 billion average for the past decade, according to the report. Still, the debt is considered moderate and manageable at its current level.Our rulingScott said he thought about the state's $23 billion debt as he weighed whether to veto certain programs. We verified that figure with the Division of Bond Finance's most recent estimate, and experts consider the figure a street convention to describe the debt. We rate his claim True.","issues":["State Budget","Florida"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_945","claim":"Did Target's Stock 'Crash' Due to Their Transgender Bathroom Policy?","posted":"03\/01\/2017","sci_digest":["The big box retailer gave investors lower-than-expected forecasts due to increasing online sales, news that affected the company's stock price."],"justification":"On 28 February 2017, Breitbart.com reported that big box retailer Target's stock had \"crashed,\" losing a combined total of $15 billion in investor wealth due to the chain's announcement in 2016 that it would allow transgender customers and employees to use bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity. Reported Target's stock value is now down by 30 percent since it sparked a consumer boycott by embracing the transgender political agenda. That 30 percent drop has slashed investors' wealth by roughly $15 billion. On Tuesday, the stock fell to $58.78, down from its April 19 high of $83.98. In contrast, Walmart is up 3 percent since April, and Kohl's is down less than one percent. Company officials indirectly acknowledged the consumer boycott. \"Our fourth-quarter results reflect the impact of rapidly changing consumer behavior, which drove very strong digital growth but unexpected softness in our stores,\" Target CEO Brian Cornell said in a company statement. The company also admitted that it would likely continue to experience losses throughout the year. On 19 April 2016, Target announced that transgender customers and employees were free to use the restroom that corresponded to their gender identity amid a national debate on the subject during the 2016 election cycle. The announcement came after North Carolina enacted the controversial HB 2 in March 2016, a law that became colloquially known as the \"bathroom bill,\" requiring public single-sex restrooms to be used only by people of the corresponding biological sex. The controversy and Target's definitive stance prompted conservative groups like the American Family Association (AFA) to launch a boycott. Nearly 1.5 million people had signed the AFA's petition as of 1 March 2017. Target shares did plunge on 28 February 2017, but it wasn't due to its nearly year-old bathroom policy. The drop was due to 2017 guidance announced during an investor day event. Projections were far lower than expected by Wall Street analysts (the term \"guidance\" refers to projected earnings). The drop in Target's stock corresponds to the announcement made at their investor event. According to Edward Jones analyst Brian Yarbough, Wall Street was expecting Target to project earnings of $5.30 per share, but the company instead provided guidance of $3.80 to $4.20 per share, which was \"well below\" expectations, prompting the drop in share value. According to Reuters, Target's decline dragged others down with it: Target's plunge prompted declines across the retail sector. Walmart Stores Inc was down 2.0 percent, with Kroger Co down 1.2 percent and Macy's Inc off 1.7 percent. Dollar General Corp fell 4.2 percent. What is affecting Target and other retailers has been competition with all-online retailers like Amazon, which do not have the overhead costs of brick-and-mortar locations. Target, for example, has 1,803 stores. \"Online players don't have a huge network of stores, and since they don't have that cost, they can offer lower prices,\" Yarbough said. Customers also have the immediate ability to do price comparisons with smartphones. These changing patterns are reflected in a statement given by Target CEO Brian Cornell: \"Our fourth-quarter results reflect the impact of rapidly changing consumer behavior, which drove very strong digital growth but unexpected softness in our stores. At our meeting with the financial community this morning, we will provide details on the meaningful investments we're making in our business and financial model, which will position Target for long-term, sustainable growth in this new era of retail. We will accelerate our investments in a smart network of physical and digital assets as well as our exclusive and differentiated assortment, including the launch of more than 12 new brands, representing more than $10 billion of our sales over the next two years. In addition, we will invest in lower gross margins to ensure we are clearly and competitively priced every day. While the transition to this new model will present headwinds to our sales and profit performance in the short term, we are confident that these changes will best position Target for continued success over the long term.\" Although Target offers online shopping, profits there tend to be lower due to associated costs like shipping and price competition from the likes of Amazon. Retailers are struggling to survive, with more profitable in-store sales lagging and lower profit margins due to a growing number of online shoppers. Although its e-commerce operation is growing quickly, Target reported its third straight quarter of lower sales from existing stores, citing \"unexpected softness\" and raising new questions about the health of large national retailers in the United States. Target also forecast first-quarter profit well below Wall Street estimates. Shares sank 13 percent, on track for their biggest one-day percentage drop in more than 18 years. Target's stock has lost a quarter of its value since the 2016 holiday season started in November and is now trading at its lowest level since August 2014. Target maintains that the bathroom policy has had no effects on its business, with company spokeswoman Erika Winkels telling us in an email, \"We have made it clear over time that we've seen no material impact on the business based on the bathroom policy. We don't have anything new or different to share.\" A poor performance in the 2016 holiday season was also attributed to online sales outpacing foot traffic, but Target is, again, not the only chain feeling the effects: Department stores across the country are paying the price for underestimating Amazon this holiday season. Macy's and Kohl's both reported lower-than-expected sales during the all-important end-of-year retail period and announced a spate of store closures that will lead to thousands of lost jobs. Sears has even been reduced to selling off one of its iconic brands after a double-digit sales slide. Industry observers blame online competition, as well as department store brands' own shortfalls in adapting to a fundamental shift in consumer behavior. Nevertheless, Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail, told us that Target could be worse off than it is: \"It's in a much better position than some retailers because its balance sheet is still robust, whereas Sears and Macy's are in a very difficult position. With Target, it's much more about tweaking and reinvention at the edges. [The guidance] wasn't great, but not as bad as other people.\" Saunders told Reuters that while Walmart has been buoyed by successfully offering groceries, Target has not been able to keep up on that front, calling its grocery offerings \"confusing.\" \"Target is neither a full-line grocer nor a player with lots of niche specialty products; it is neither a high-end player nor a price-focused discounter,\" he said. It is difficult to say with certainty whether Target's commerce overall has been negatively affected by its policy on transgender people. Although company representatives have maintained it has not, shortly after Cornell made the announcement, USA Today reported a study that showed the percentage of people who would consider shopping there the next time they needed something dropped from 42 to 38 percent. But the retail industry as a whole is facing a dramatic shift in consumer behavior, and retailers have struggled to keep pace with it. Target's late February 2017 stock drop, however, was the result of announcements made during an investor day event and cannot be attributed to their policy on bathroom use.","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=16rSQmFafEPX3nWMvR4d8UyG3VN9PQD2B","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_946","claim":"Did Ronald Reagan Pave the Way for Fox News?","posted":"01\/26\/2018","sci_digest":["A Facebook meme gets some facts right about the demise of the Fairness Doctrine but ignores important distinctions between broadcast and cable television."],"justification":"Political polarization in the news media is a growing concern for Americans, one that liberals often blame on the conservative movement, particularly with the rise of right-wing talk radio and Fox News over recent decades. For instance, the Christian Left Facebook page posted an interesting set of claims about Ronald Reagan in January 2017, in the form of a meme that has been widely shared over the past couple of years. The meme reads: \"The Father of Fake News: Ronald Reagan's FCC abolished the Fairness Doctrine, which, since 1949, required media to present both sides' opinions in the rare event they weren't just reporting straight news. A Democrat-controlled Congress passed a bill to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine in 1987. Reagan vetoed the bill. Fox News followed in the 1990s. America is now more polarized and misinformed than ever.\" The meme was originally created by K. Scott Schaeffer, a self-described \"moderate Democrat\" and \"theologically moderate Christian\" who runs the Rescuing Religion from Republicans Facebook page. Much of the content in the meme is accurate, but it leaves out important distinctions between broadcast and cable television and is ultimately misleading in claiming that the demise of the Fairness Doctrine cleared a path for the creation of Fox News. In 1949, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published a report that recommended what came to be known as the \"Fairness Doctrine.\" As explained by the Congressional Research Service, the doctrine \"consisted of two basic requirements\" for anyone given a TV or radio broadcast license: (1) that every licensee devote a reasonable portion of broadcast time to the discussion and consideration of controversial issues of public importance; and (2) that in doing so, [the broadcaster must be] fair\u2014that is, [the broadcaster] must affirmatively endeavor to make facilities available for the expression of contrasting viewpoints held by responsible elements with respect to the controversial issues presented. There were additional requirements under the Fairness Doctrine: The personal attack rule stated that when personal attacks were made on individuals involved in public issues, the broadcaster had to, within one week of the broadcast, notify the person attacked, provide him with a copy of the broadcast (either script or tape), and allow him an opportunity to respond over the broadcaster's facilities. The political editorial rule required that when a broadcaster endorsed a particular political candidate, the broadcaster was required to provide the other qualified candidates for the same office (or their representatives) the opportunity to respond over the broadcaster's facilities. Part of the rationale behind the doctrine was the scarcity of television and radio frequencies available, especially in the middle of the 20th century. The government had a duty to regulate the operation of scarce frequencies, the argument went, and therefore had a right to use the public interest as the main criterion in granting and renewing broadcast licenses. Because so few companies licensed a frequency, it was important to ensure that the viewing and listening public were exposed to a wide variety of viewpoints on important issues. However, the rise of cable and satellite television channels like CNN and HBO, especially in the 1980s, changed the American broadcasting landscape. Traditionally, broadcast (or \"terrestrial\") television involved the distribution of content between broadcast towers and household antennas or tuners on particular frequencies. For several decades up to the 1980s, television was dominated by the \"big three\" networks\u2014ABC, CBS, and NBC\u2014which were free to watch. By contrast, cable television programming was distributed via cables, and satellite television via satellites orbiting the earth. Unlike watching broadcast television, viewers had to pay for cable and satellite subscriptions. These new methods of distribution undermined the \"scarcity\" principle that underpinned the Fairness Doctrine. Cable and satellite television offered a new, wider range of programming and viewpoints, and later, so did the internet. However, they did not ensure heterogeneity or a universally open \"marketplace of ideas.\" Exposure to cable and satellite television was confined to those who could afford to pay for it, while those who could not were still limited to the broadcast networks. By 1987, amid growing criticism, Reagan's FCC came to believe the Fairness Doctrine should be abandoned because it believed that \"the doctrine chilled the speech of broadcasters and inhibited free and open debate on the public airwaves,\" as the Congressional Research Service put it. In an effort to preempt such a repeal, Democratic Senator Fritz Hollings introduced the Fairness in Broadcasting Act in March 1987, which would have fully enshrined the Fairness Doctrine in law. The Senate was split 55-45 in favor of the Democrats at the time, and the bill passed the Senate by 59-31. A similar bill was passed by 302 votes to 102 in the Democrat-controlled House in June, but President Reagan vetoed it. The Facebook meme is somewhat muddled when it comes to the sequence of events here. The vote in Congress was not an attempt to \"reinstate\" the Fairness Doctrine; it was a preemptive effort to fully codify the existing doctrine before the FCC could abolish it later in 1987 (which it duly did). Likewise, Reagan's veto did not prevent the reinstatement of the doctrine; it prevented the doctrine from being fully codified. In August 1987, the FCC put an end to the Fairness Doctrine by a unanimous vote. But did the abandonment of the Fairness Doctrine clear the way for Fox News, as the meme implies? Not really. As we've outlined, the Fairness Doctrine applied to broadcast licensees. Fox News is a cable TV channel that launched in 1996. The distinction between broadcast and cable TV is crucial here. As the Congressional Research Service wrote: \"It does not appear that the Fairness Doctrine may be applied constitutionally to cable or satellite service providers.\" The Supreme Court has held that content-based restrictions on the speech of cable and satellite providers are subject to strict scrutiny. Strict scrutiny requires that the restriction at issue advance a compelling government interest and that the restriction be the least restrictive means of achieving that interest. Content-based regulations of speech in the print media are accorded strict scrutiny. The Supreme Court has recognized that regulations similar to the Fairness Doctrine, when applied to the print media, are not constitutional. If regulations similar to the Fairness Doctrine could not withstand strict scrutiny when applied to the print media, it appears unlikely that similar regulations would withstand such scrutiny when applied to cable or satellite providers. So even if the Fairness Doctrine had persisted until the era of Fox News, the FCC would, in all likelihood, have been restricted to regulating the content of public broadcasters, leaving Fox News to its own devices, like hundreds of other cable and satellite channels.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=18J1ivfOAZ55jRFxrizaqpJli6HTF6NkG","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_947","claim":"Was Marvin Gaye intentionally producing a subpar album to deceive his ex-wife and avoid paying royalties?","posted":"09\/16\/2004","sci_digest":["The album 'Here, My Dear' chronicled the deterioration of Marvin Gaye's marriage into its heartbreaking, bitter, and angry end."],"justification":"Divorce can be anything from an amicable parting of spouses who realize their partnership just isn't working, to a vicious, protracted fight between two embittered people determined to wreak as much physical, emotional, and economic damage on the other as possible.  Unfortunately, the end of singer Marvin Gaye's first marriage came closer to the latter than the former. Marvin Gaye's Divorce In 1962, a 22-year-old Marvin Gaye wed Anna Ruby Gordy, a woman seventeen years his senior and the sister of Motown Record Corporation founder Berry Gordy, Jr. (a marriage, some cynics suggested, calculated to further the fledgling career of Gaye, who recorded for Motown).  By the time Anna filed for divorce thirteen years later, the couple had been separated for over two years, and each had accused the other of infidelities.  (Marvin's infidelity was hardly a matter of debate, as he was living with a teenage girl seventeen years his junior who was pregnant with his child.  Moreover, the son Marvin and Anna Gaye had claimed as their own was actually a child Marvin Gaye had fathered by his wife's fifteen-year-old niece.)  The divorce proceedings dragged out over two years as Marvin continually failed to show up for court dates, refused to pay court-ordered support for Anna and their son, and claimed his expenses exceeded his income even as he continued to spend money recklessly, purchasing luxury automobiles, boats, and beachfront properties.  By the time Marvin's day of financial reckoning arrived, he had little cash and was well in arrears for a large amount of back taxes, so his attorney worked out a settlement under which Anna would be paid off from the royalties earned by Gaye's next album.    Here, My Dear That next album turned out to be Here, My Dear, a harrowing \"concept album of divorce\" which chronicled the turmoil of Anna and Marvin's relationship.  The record's symbolism was hardly subtle: Featuring songs with titles such as \"You Can Leave, But It's Going to Cost You,\" the album bore an inner sleeve which depicted a Monopoly-like board game emblazoned with the word JUDGMENT, across which a male hand passed a broken record to a female hand.  On the man's side of the board were only a piano and some recording equipment, while the female's side of the board included money, a house, a Mercedes, and a diamond ring:  Although Marvin and Anna's divorce settlement was indeed tied to the royalties generated by Here, My Dear, the common legend surrounding the record -- that Marvin Gaye was ordered by a judge to hand over all his royalties from the album to Anna, and that Marvin was in a position to spitefully deprive Anna of those royalties by intentionally recording an album so bad it would not sell -- is largely untrue.  Debunking the Legend First off, the payment-through-royalties scheme was a settlement worked out through mutual agreement, not one devised and mandated by a judge.  Second, rarely does a competent attorney accept (or a responsible judge impose) a dissolution of partnership settlement under which the amount of compensation received by one party is completely dependent upon a future endeavor of the other party, precisely because such a settlement could allow one side to cheat the other by deliberately underperforming.  (A similar legend about producer Phil Spector is based on this premise.) Phil Spector The circumstances in Marvin Gaye's case were that he agreed to pay Anna a total of $600,000, the first $307,000 coming from the advance against royalties he was guaranteed for his next album, and the remaining $293,000 to be paid out of any royalties earned beyond the advance.  But Anna would lose nothing if Gaye's next record sold poorly, because the agreement specified that if the album failed to earn $293,000 within two years, Gaye was obligated to pay Anna the difference himself, and thus he had nothing to gain by tanking the sessions and purposely turning out substandard product.  In fact, Gaye was in a position to lose a great deal by deliberately turning out a substandard effort, both because he was entitled to keep any royalties earned after the first $600,000 and because he stood to earn additional monies through publishing rights (rather than record sales) that were not payable to Anna. It is true that Gaye initially considered giving the album less than his best effort, but he soon found that he was incapable of recording with anything less than a complete commitment to his art, and if he had any intent to \"get\" his ex-wife, it was through the album's lyrics and not its sales: At first, I figured I'd just do a quickie record  nothing heavy, nothing even good.  Why should I break my neck when Anna was going to wind up with the money anyway?  But the more I lived with the notion, the more it fascinated me. Besides, I owed the public my best effort. I'll give her my next album but it'll be something she won't want to play and it'll be something she won't want the world to hear because I'm gonna tell the truth. Critical Reception Although the album was not a smashing commercial success, it was admired in many quarters for its artistic qualities: Despite Marvin's efforts, Here, My Dear was a commercial failure, not because it lacked ideas and sophisticated music, but, perhaps, because it possessed them in abundance. I think Here, My Dear was simply too sophisticated, too boldly honest, too remarkably insightful  and too close to the emotional quick to succeed commercially. On \"I Met a Little Girl,\" Gaye appeals to his past: musically, through sweet fifties harmonies, and personally as he narrates meeting Anna, falling in love with her, and the relationship's demise. On \"When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You,\" which appears again as an instrumental and a reprise, Marvin uses a Latin-tinged mellow groove to probe for more than six minutes the philosophical question of love's origin and its end, both passing imperceptibly into existence, and into each other, as Marvin's multiple falsettos lash at the song's rhythms, and Anna: \"You said bad things and you lied.\" On \"Anger,\" Marvin mounts a funky shuffle of percussion and bass to declare the defining vices of a fundamental human passion: \"Anger ... can make you old ... can make you sick ... destroys your soul.\" The songs cross every genre  \"Anna's Song\" is a rhythmically complex patterning of soul-jazz that conjures Coltrane's ballads, while \"Funky Space Reincarnation\" is disco-funk that dreams of a raceless musical universe. And \"Here, My Dear\" is a poignant doo-wop love fugue transposed to detail Marvin's sorrowful joys and sad nostalgia in the aftermath of their breakup. Anna Gaye didn't take lightly some of the revelations Marvin expressed through his music on Here, My Dear (especially accusations that she was preventing him from seeing their son and that she had lied to God by breaking their marriage vows), and upon its release she told People magazine that she was considering filing a $5 million invasion of privacy lawsuit, although nothing ever came of her threat.  Critical reaction to Here, My Dear was mixed.  As Gaye biographer Steve Turner wrote, \"Reviewers didn't seem to know whether the double album was a huge joke at the expense of Anna Gaye and Motown, or a work of genius.\"  The record was not a hit, failing to sell well enough to even recoup the advance against royalties paid by Motown, so Marvin Gaye (who was by then officially bankrupt) was obligated to begin making monthly payments to Anna to cover the shortfall.  However, Gaye was killed in 1984 still owing Anna the additional $293,000 due her, and monies earned by his estate after his death went to paying off the IRS rather than benefiting his ex-wives and children -- thereby proving the maxim about life's only two certainties.   Dyson, Michael Eric.  Mercy, Mercy Me: The Art, Loves & Demons of Marvin Gaye.\r  New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2004.  ISBN 0-465-01769-X.\r\r Mercy, Mercy Me: The Art, Loves & Demons of Marvin Gaye Ritz, David.  Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye.\r  New York: Da Capo Press, 1985.  ISBN 0-306-80443-2.\r\r Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye Turner, Steve.  Trouble Man: The Life and Death of Marvin Gaye.\r  New York: HarperCollins, 1998.  ISBN 0-06-019821-4. Trouble Man: The Life and Death of Marvin Gaye","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1kWMziErtweJG7_cdcaLc2SJroSoV9OaV"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_948","claim":"Did President Trump Kiss Bob Dole on the Forehead?","posted":"12\/10\/2018","sci_digest":["Photographs sometimes don't capture the public's attention until later events make them noteworthy."],"justification":"A photograph purportedly showing President Trump kissing former U.S. Senator Bob Dole on the forehead was circulated on social media in the days following the funeral of former president George H.W. Bush in December 2018: social media   The internet's interest in this image, and Bob Dole in general, spiked in December 2018 after the 95-year-old politician rose from his wheelchair in order to salute Bush's casket. (Dole was gravely wounded by an artillery shell during World War II that left him with permanent disabilities.) wheelchair wounded Although this photograph is genuine, some viewers may have been left with the inaccurate impression that it was taken during Bush's funeral. The picture of Trump's kissing Dole on the forehead was actually taken in January 2018 during a ceremony held in the Capitol Rotunda, upon which occasion the former senator was bestowed with a Congressional Gold Medal. The original is available via UPI, who display it with the following caption: UPI During a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda, Dole was presented Congress' highest civilian honor by President Trump, Vice President Pence and Senate and House leaders. President Trump kisses World War II veteran and former Senate majority leader Bob Dole as he received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor, \"in recognition of his service to the nation as a soldier, legislator, and statesman.  Przybyla, Heidi.  \"Former Senator Bob Dole Receives Congressional Gold Medal in Capitol Ceremony\r  USA Today.  17 January 2018.  Cole, Devan.  \"Bob Dole Helped Out of His Wheelchair to Salute George H.W. Bush.\"\r  CNN.  4 December 2018.  Uria, Daniel.  \"'True American Hero' Bob Dole Receives Congressional Gold Medal.\"\r  UPI.  18 January 2018. ","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ioF5QDHkP6WSSOioTbLrEpNtkgfh-Cfo","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_949","claim":"Debunking Trump Tweets: Popular Vote Totals Indicative of 'Rigged Election'?","posted":"12\/16\/2020","sci_digest":["Understanding the U.S. presidential election process is key to explaining its results."],"justification":"Voting in the 2020 U.S. Election may be over, but the misinformation keeps on ticking. Never stop fact-checking. Follow our post-election coverage here. here One of the many claims U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly made in his futile attempt to overturn his loss to Democratic rival Joe Biden in the 2020 general election was to assert that his own popular vote total was indicative of a \"rigged election.\" How could he possibly have lost in 2020, Trump reasoned, when he received some 11 million votes more than he did in 2016, when he won?  \"Perhaps the biggest difference between 2016 and 2020 is @FoxNews, despite the fact that I went from 63,000,000 Votes to 75,000,000 Votes, a record 12,000,000 Vote increase. Obama went down 3,000,000 Votes, and won. Rigged Election!!!\" The answer to this question is a simple one: Neither the voting-age population of the U.S., nor the percentage of that population that actually turns out to vote, is a constant. Those figures can -- and do -- vary widely from election to election. It is true that former U.S. President Barack Obama won reelection in 2012, despite garnering some 3.5 million fewer votes that year than he did when he was initially elected in 2008. Why? Largely because some 2.2 million fewer people turned out to vote in 2012 than in 2008. (Obama still received well over 50% of the popular vote in both years, nonetheless.) 2012 2008 And it is true that Trump was elected President in 2016 after receiving about 63 million votes, yet lost his reelection bid in 2020 despite receiving over 11 million more votes than he had in the previous election. How did this happen? For two very important (and obvious) reasons that Trump consistently overlooks or ignores: 2016 2020 1) Voter turnout skyrocketed between 2016 and 2020, rising from 55.7% of eligible voters in the former year to 66.7% in the latter -- a difference of some 22 million additional voters. So even though the increased turnout brought Trump an additional 11 million votes, it also brought another 11 million votes cast for someone other than him. 2) Popular vote doesn't determine the election winner; electoral votes do. Trump won the presidency in 2016 despite receiving some 3 million fewer votes than Hillary Clinton nationwide, because he managed to pull of narrow victories in three key states: Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. In 2020, however, Trump's popular vote deficit was over twice as large as the previous election (he received some 7 million fewer votes than winner Joe Biden), and, more crucially, he lost all three of the key states he had managed to capture in 2016 as they flipped back to blue:  The fact that far fewer voters cast their ballots for third-party candidates in 2020 than in 2016 also seems to have worked against Trump, as his Democratic opponent in 2020 (Biden) tallied over 15 million more votes than his Democratic opponent in 2016 (Clinton) had -- a figure constituting far more than half of the 22 million additional ballots cast in 2020 over 2016.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1z-CdcZWiV4BH47EN8ubDCRWdAC7BfOcS","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_950","claim":"Was a propaganda video created by crisis actors in Ukraine?","posted":"02\/28\/2022","sci_digest":["This claim definitely involves propaganda, but not in the direction a propagandist would have you believe. "],"justification":"In February 2022, Russian propagandists went into overdrive in an attempt to justify their unprovoked attack on Ukraine. They claimed that Ukraine was run by Nazis (false), that Ukraine was committing genocide on its own people (false), and that Russia was attacking biolabs to prevent \"COVID-2\" (false). false false false Another line of disinformation attempted to downplay violence in Ukraine. This was largely done when people posted photographs and videos that supposedly showed \"crisis actors,\" or people pretending to be in crisis there. A video of a camera crew filming people running through the street, for example, was posted to Bitchute (a video platform known for hosting far-right, conspiratorial, and hate content) along with the title \"How to Make a Propaganda Video?\" and the hashtags #UKRAINE #RUSSIA and #PROPAGANDA. posted photographs and videos that supposedly showed \"crisis actors a video platform known for hosting far-right, conspiratorial, and hate content   Rumble, another video platform known for hosting far-right content, posted this video under the caption \"completely choreographed Fake News In Ukraine - Still Believe Mockingbird Media?\" On \"TheGreatAwakening,\" a conspiratorial website dedicated to the debunked QAnon conspiracy theory, this video was shared with the caption \"Lights, Camera, Action!\" and on Twitter it was shared as if it showed \"crisis actors\" filmed \"in the middle of the 'massive and scary' Russian invasion.\"   This video was not filmed in the Ukraine, and it was not filmed in 2022. This video was originally posted in 2013 and shows a behind-the-scenes look at the making of \"Invasion Planet Earth\" (originally titled \"Kaleidoscope Man\"), a sci-fi adventure movie about an alien invasion. The above-displayed scene was filmed in Birmingham, England, not Ukraine. Invasion Planet Earth Kaleidoscope Man  Another version of this rumor hinged on the claim that the news media was sharing an abbreviated version of this video that only showed people running (with no hints of a camera crew) in order to exaggerate the state of affairs in Ukraine. By claiming that a miscaptioned version of this footage was being shared by the news media, social media users could claim that this was an example of \"globalist propaganda.\"   But we have not found a single post from a genuine news outlet that presented this footage as if it were real. The \"news outlet\" included the above-displayed screenshot is a weeks-old Twitter account, @mightyfarooz200, that has no apparent connections to any credible news outlet. This video was not filmed in Ukraine during Russia's invasion of the country. It does not show crisis actors and it was not shared as if it were genuine footage of Russia's invasion as reported by credible media news outlets. However, this is still a good example of propaganda, just not in the way that it's being presented online. This footage was widely circulated on social media with one of two claims: First, that it showed Ukrainian \"crisis actors\" filming a propaganda video, and second that the news media was using miscaptioned footage to misrepresent the situation in Ukraine. Neither of these claims were true. Our search for postings of this video turned up dozens of far-right accounts sharing this video as if it showed crisis actors, and practically zero postings of people sharing this video as if it showed a genuine attack. In other words, this video was widely shared by those attempting to downplay the violence by Russians in Ukraine, not by those attempting to exaggerate it. British Council Film: Kaleidoscope Man. https:\/\/film-directory.britishcouncil.org\/kaleidoscope-man. Accessed 28 Feb. 2022. Hinton, Alexander. Putins Claims That Ukraine Is Committing Genocide Are Baseless, but Not Unprecedented. The Conversation, https:\/\/theconversation.com\/putins-claims-that-ukraine-is-committing-genocide-are-baseless-but-not-unprecedented-177511. Accessed 28 Feb. 2022. Putin Using False Nazi Narrative to Justify Russias Attack on Ukraine, Experts Say. NBC News, https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/world\/putin-claims-denazification-justify-russias-attack-ukraine-experts-say-rcna17537. Accessed 28 Feb. 2022. Ukraine Invasion: Misleading Claims Continue to Go Viral. BBC News, 28 Feb. 2022. www.bbc.com, https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/60554910.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1aoaaWsbMH2n4ec8LWoJlvCqFUoyfCGgX"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1HvoPqxKm7l8sDNwCvZ_wEbfgEmyLvz7w"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1mNMWImwmiKC_P_rpariR1-eBVhvY3Z9L"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_951","claim":"Was it stated by Hillary Clinton in a leaked email that 'We must obliterate Syria for the benefit of Israel'?","posted":"04\/16\/2018","sci_digest":["Controversy around military action in Syria led to the recirculation of an inaccurate claim about Hillary Clinton."],"justification":"Following controversial airstrikes on Syria in April 2018, a 2017 article published by repeat offender YourNewsWire.com with the claim that Hillary Clinton voiced support for destroying Syria in a \"leaked\" e-mail popped up and began to circulate again: Syria article Lest We Forget  Hillary Clinton: We Must Destroy Syria For israel https:\/\/t.co\/VxkzUu1IkE pic.twitter.com\/Zf4iagpqsv https:\/\/t.co\/VxkzUu1IkE pic.twitter.com\/Zf4iagpqsv  Michael Lee (@MichaelLee2009) April 15, 2018 April 15, 2018  The piece included a screenshot of what were purportedly Clinton's views taken from an e-mail, as well as quotes: Clinton Email: We Must Destroy Syria For Israel [...] The best way to help Israel deal with Irans growing nuclear capability is to help the people of Syria overthrow the regime of Bashar Assad, Clinton forthrightly starts off by saying. Even though all US intelligence reports had long dismissed Irans atom bomb program as a hoax (a conclusion supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency), Clinton continues to use these lies to justify destroying Syria in the name of Israel. She specifically links Irans mythical atom bomb program to Syria because, she says, Irans atom bomb program threatens Israels monopoly on nuclear weapons in the Middle East.   A nearly identical claim (since deleted) was published by a separate site in March 2016. Both attribute the text of the purported e-mail to Clinton during her tenure as Secretary of State, a position she held for approximately four years between 2009 and 2013. published held The text is indeed a part of WikiLeaks' \"Hillary Clinton Email Archive,\" and the title search returns three documents in that data set. The same document was also available via FOIA.state.gov [PDF]. three FOIA.state.gov PDF Although its content was characterized as an e-mail authored by Hillary Clinton, that is misleading. It appears that she actually received and forwarded an attachment from James P. Rubin. In all three documents (two forwards and an attachment) it is clear that Rubin authored and sent the commentary to Clinton, stating in his preface that the then-Secretary of State \"may not agree\" with his stance on Syria: forwarded attachment James P. Rubin commentary From: James P. RubinSent: Monday, April 30, 2012 11:03 AMTo: H Subject: Best of luck on China trip First, I want to wish you and Kurt best of luck getting out of the pickle Mr Chen has you in as you arrive in China. I wanted to pass on something I intend to publish on Syria and Iran, because I think it is worth trying to urge the President and his political advisers to act. As you can see from today's column by Jackson Diehl, the pundits and many in the media will push the Syria issue very hard for the foreseeable future. It may not be on the front burner every day, but it will be close to or at the top of the media's attention indefinitely. Interestingly, the Republicans have showed their hand on the foreign policy debate, in which inaction on Syria is pretty much the only serious criticism they can offer that will stick. As you will see from the attached piece, I believe that action on Syria will forestall the biggest danger on the horizon, that Israel launches a surprise attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. Although the pressure has now eased for a variety of reasons, it will return. Action by Washington on Syria, on the other hand, I believe will eliminate much of the urgency for Israeli action. In other words, a more aggressive policy on Syria will eliminate the best case the republican's have going into the November election, will ease substantially the pressure on Israel to attack Iran and possibly spark a wider war in the Middle East, and finally would be the right stance on Syria going forward. I know you may not agree but I thought it was better to share this with you first as at least a new way to look at the problem. All best, your friend,Jamie James P. Rubin Walsh, Nick Paton.  \"What Do The US, UK And French Airstrikes Mean For Syria's War?\"\r  CNN.  15 April 2018.","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Qf5-CijqJhkgBJUNn00SW0PpOf882lw7"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_952","claim":"Does Search Engine Ecosia Use Profits to Plant Trees?","posted":"08\/27\/2019","sci_digest":["The search engine claims it has funded the planting of more than 60 million trees. "],"justification":"If you browse Snopes.com, you'll likely come across the advice, \"If it seems too good to be true, it it probably is\" on pages about social media scams. While this platitude is certainly worth considering when browsing the internet, a few exceptions exist. social media scams The Germany-based search engine Ecosia claims to use its profits to plant trees around the world. Its home page even carries a tally of the number of trees that have reportedly been planted by Ecosia users:   For many people, this business model may seem \"too good to be true\" and has led to some skepticism about the legitimacy of this company. A search on Google, for instance, results in several articles and blog posts questioning the legitimacy of the search engine and asking whether Ecosia is a scam. As far as we can tell, Ecosia is a legitimate search engine that truly uses a portion of its profits to help plant trees around the world.  Ecosia was launched in 2009 by Christian Kroll. At the time, the search engine was partnered with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and promised to donate \"at least 80 percent of its income from sponsored links to WWFs rainforest protection programme in Brazils Juruena-Apui region.\" WWF announced the partnership in a blog post: blog Those people unable to make it to the Copenhagen Climate Conference this month can still contribute to stopping climate change  by using a new search engine from their own computers. The same day the conference begins on Dec. 7, web users can start using a new green search engine called Ecosia. The new application, powered by Yahoo! and Microsofts Bing search engines, will allow internet surfers to protect about 2 square meters of Amazon rainforest just by clicking on sponsored links. Although users do not donate any money themselves, the company behind Ecosia will donate at least 80 percent of its income from sponsored links to WWFs rainforest protection programme in Brazils Juruena-Apui region. The green search engine is a very modern and inventive method of saving the world climate without a huge effort, says WWF Germanys director Eberhard Brandes. Every year billions of dollars are being earned in the internet only from advertising revenue, says Christian Kroll, founder of Ecosia. There is a more eco-friendly way of using these huge profits: the money should better be used to fight global warming. Since 2009, Ecosia has partnered with a number of other environmental organizations. The company reports it uses a portion of its profits to fund these organizations, who in turn work to plant trees around the world.  Ecosia makes money the way most other search engines and websites do: through advertising revenue. While this money covers various business expenses, such as advertising and operational costs, Ecosia claims that the majority of its revenue goes toward funding tree-planting projects.  Ecosia releases monthly financial reports so users can see exactly how the company is spending its money. The most recent full report comes from July 2019. The following report shows that 52% of its total income (approximately 80% of its surplus revenue) was invested in tree-planting projects; 5% was spent on advertising; 30% was spent on operational costs; and 12% went into company \"reserves,\" which are used to fund larger environmental investments: financial reports   We have been unable to independently verify these numbers. However, we checked the websites of several of Ecosia's reported benefactors and found that many of these organizations list Ecosia as one of their partners. Dr. Simon Pfister, managing director of Green Ethiopia, an organization working to grow forests in Ethiopia that received approximately $150,000 from Ecosia in June 2019, told us that Ecosia accurately reported its donation in the company's financial report.  Ecosia is also a Certified B Corporation. This means that Ecosia underwent a third-party evaluation that determined the company had an overall positive impact on its workers, community, and environment. According to the company: Ecosia Certified B Corporation. B Corp Certification doesnt just evaluate a product or service; it assesses the overall positive impact of the company that stands behind it. And increasingly thats what people care most about. Certified B Corporations achieve a minimum verified score on the B Impact Assessment  a rigorous assessment of a companys impact on its workers, customers, community, and environment and make their B Impact Report transparent on bcorporation.net. Certified B Corporations also amend their legal governing documents to require their board of directors to balance profit and purpose. The combination of third-party validation, public transparency, and legal accountability help Certified B Corps build trust and value. B Corp Certification is administered by the non-profit B Lab. Ecosia lets users plant trees by searching the web. In donating 80 percent of its surplus ad revenue, the search engine has raised almost $3 million for reforestation projects since its founding in December 2009. Ecosia's mission to cultivate a world where the environment doesnt need protecting has it working to plant one billion new trees by the year 2020. By supporting high-impact reforestation efforts  as well as neutralising all CO2 emissions related to its search  Ecosia aims to achieve the highest positive environmental impact per dollar possible. By publishing its monthly donation receipts online, Ecosia aims to live up to its users demands for transparency. And by working to improve its charitable web service day after day, Ecosia aims to show the world that small changes can make a big difference. In its mission to plant one billion trees by 2020, Ecosia is working with experts and communities to reforest areas of the world that need it most. Sustainable, high-impact planting strategies mean improvements to the environment, local economies and social stability. Ecosia truly uses a large portion of its profits to fund tree planting projects. Of course, for anyone searching for an environmentally friendly search engine, planting trees isn't the only factor to consider. Ecosia is largely powered by Microsoft's Bing search engine. While Microsoft's global operations have been carbon neutral since 2012, the data centers powering Bing don't run entirely on renewable energy. Microsoft is working toward this goal, however, and expects to be driven by 100 percent renewable energy by 2023: Bing 2012 100 percent renewable energy In our data centers, we will continue to focus on R&D for efficiency and renewable energy. In 2016, we announced that we would power our data centers with more renewable energy, setting a 50 percent target by the end of 2018 and topping 60 percent early in the next decade while continuing to improve from there. We hit the first target nearly a year ahead of schedule, and today we are sharing the news that we will reach the 60 percent milestone before the end of this year. Were therefore setting our next milestone on the path to 100 percent renewable energy, aiming to surpass the 70 percent target by 2023. Well also launch a new data-driven circular cloud initiative using the Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor performance and streamline our reuse, resale and recycling of data center assets, including servers. For comparison's sake, Google announced in 2017 that its search engine was being powered by 100% renewable energy. announced While Microsoft may not be at quite at 100% renewable energy yet, Ecosia claims that its own servers run on clean power thanks to its new solar plant. Additionally, Ecosia's carbon footprint is lessened due to its involvement with various tree-planting projects around the world. The company says: carbon footprint Renewable energy: Did you know that the CO2 footprint of an average search is estimated at 0.2 grams? Not so with Ecosia. We recently built our own solar plant, so that we can run our servers on clean power. This is even better than buying renewable energy from existing plants, as the plant can deliver clean energy to the grid and replace electricity derived from fossil fuels. Carbon-negative: By planting trees and offsetting its energy use with renewables, each search with Ecosia actually removes 1 kg of CO2 from the air, which makes Ecosia a carbon-negative search engine. Heres the math: an average search generates around 0.005  of revenue. It costs roughly 0.25  to plant a tree, which means that Ecosia can plant one tree every 50 searches. On average, these trees will each remove 50 kg of CO2 during an expected 15 year lifetime. To sum up: Ecosia makes money through advertisements on its search engine. While a portion of that money is used to fund the operational costs of the business, about 80% of its surplus revenue is donated to environmental organizations and tree-planting projects around the world.  Smith, Brad.  \"We're Increasing Our CarbonFee as We Double Down on Sustainability.\"   Microsoft.  15 April 2019. Google.  \"100% Renewable is Just the Beginning.\"\r  Retrieved 27 August 2019. Ecosia.  \"Financial Reports and Tree-Planting Receipts.\"\r  15 May 2019. World Wildlife Fund.  \"Clicks to Help Save Amazon.\"   3 December 2009.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=11IE6G50b5u5qgaObs6cwxi4qt7czQjSU","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=172FutaeKBWdx2RdzGF_DN6PA45nEiZB1","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_953","claim":"Fukushima Radiation Causes 100% Infant Mortality Among Orca Whales","posted":"09\/26\/2016","sci_digest":["A fear-mongering article based on speculation and out-of-context quotes falsely claimed that radiation from the Fukushima disaster had caused 100% infant mortality among orca whales."],"justification":"Fear-mongering articles claiming that radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster (triggered by the tsunami that followed the T\u014dhoku earthquake on 11 March 2011) caused a 100% infant mortality rate among orca whales born since then have circulated online for several years. The website Humans Are Free renewed interest in this rumor in September 2016 when it published an article with the clickbait title \"Radiation from Fukushima Now Causes 100% Infant Mortality Rate in West Coast Orcas.\" This piece was sourced from an article by the disreputable Natural News website, which employed a similarly misleading title (\"West Coast Orcas Experiencing 100% Infant Mortality Rate as Radiation from Fukushima Drifts Across Ocean\"), even though the text of that article plainly admitted that there was no proven connection between the Fukushima disaster and the mortality of infant orcas. No one has yet proven a direct link between the 100% mortality rate seen among orca infants and the effects of radiation contamination in the Pacific Ocean from the Fukushima reactor leak in Japan, but it certainly can't be ruled out as a possibility. Natural News listed several sources about whale deaths at the bottom of its article, but none of those sources mentioned radiation from Fukushima as a likely or definitive cause. Quotes from Ken Balcomb, executive director of the Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbor, Washington, were also misleadingly reproduced out of context by Natural News to bolster a claim that Balcomb's statements did not support. The recent discovery of a carcass off the coast of British Columbia, that of a 19-year-old orca female believed to be in the late stages of pregnancy, is just one example of the recent orca deaths that have scientists and conservationists worried. Ken Balcomb stated, \"Her death doesn't bode well for the southern resident population and certainly not for that matriline. Her mother died young. Her aunt had two sons, and she's probably post-reproductive. She hasn't had any babies in the last 12 years. So there's no future.\" Balcomb also remarked, \"We haven't had any survivals in babies for a couple of years. We have had stillborns and newborns die and a number of whales that appear to be pregnant but didn't ultimately produce any calves. It's like zero survival in birth rate here.\" While Balcomb did say that \"we haven't had any survivals in babies for a couple of years,\" he was referring only to the local Puget Sound orca whale population, and he did not connect a 100% infant orca mortality rate to radiation from Fukushima. His quotes originated from a story published by the Seattle Times in December 2014 about a baby orca whale that had died in Puget Sound. While the exact cause of that whale's death was unclear, Balcomb suggested that the whale likely died due to a diminished food supply (and not radiation). He noted that two of the whales' three biggest problems\u2014the buildup of pollutants such as DDT and polychlorinated biphenyls in their blubber, and disturbance by marine traffic\u2014appear to be worsened by a third issue: a reduction in available prey. These whales can eat sockeye and halibut but overwhelmingly prefer fatty chinook from Puget Sound and Canada's Fraser River, distinguishing them from other fish by using sonar to sense differences in the animals' swim bladders. However, Puget Sound chinook numbers have dropped to about 10% of their historic high, and they, too, are listed for protection under the ESA. For Balcomb, the loss of J32 suggests it's time to consider drastic measures, such as a ban or steep curtailment in chinook fishing, even though fishing is likely the least of the threats chinook face. \"It's a wake-up call\u2014we know what the problem is, whether it's dams or fishing or habitat destruction,\" he said. \"It's just what happens when millions of people move into the watershed. (But) stopping fishing, at least for a while, is something we can do immediately.\" The reality is that the basic problem is food, Balcomb said. Although apparently no baby orcas survived long after birth in Puget Sound in 2013 or 2014, that wasn't the case in the immediately following years, as 2015 saw nine successful orca births in Puget Sound. In just over a year, Puget Sound welcomed nine baby Southern-resident orcas to the fold, as the pod continued to rebound from the 30-year-low numbers reported at the end of 2014. While radiation from the Fukushima disaster did have a major impact on marine life, the leak of radioactive material from the plant did not cause a proven \"100% infant mortality\" rate among orca whales. Moreover, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration do not list nuclear radiation (from any source) among the threats currently facing the world's whale population.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1IeQ6dRTuustjwlLa2qkLF5qdj0NP1Dzp","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_954","claim":"John Madden Death Hoax (2014)","posted":"04\/27\/2016","sci_digest":["False reports in 2014 and 2016 that the former NFL coach had passed away came from an article originally published on a satirical website."],"justification":"Editor's Note: The Associated Press reported that John Madden died at the age of 85 on Dec. 28, 2021. The fact check below pertains to a hoax that circulated online in 2014 and 2016. A rumor about Hall of Fame coach John Madden's alleged death started circulating online in April 2016. The rumor began after the website LockerDome posted a link to a fake news article published on April 29, 2014, by the entertainment website Empire Sports. The article claimed, \"NFL fans cover your eyes, Super Bowl-winning head coach John Madden was found dead this morning at his Pleasanton, California home.\" Paramedics responded to a call made early that morning and found the 78-year-old Hall of Fame coach sitting upright on his couch with a microphone in his hand. The Pleasanton Medical Examiner has not released the cause of death, but no foul play is suspected. There was no truth to this story when it was initially published in 2014, and it remained false when it recirculated two years later, at a time when John Madden was still alive and well at 80 years old (not 78). Empire Sports, like the related Empire News, is one of many \"satire and entertainment\" websites that publish only hoax stories. Many of Empire Sports' articles use invented names, except in cases when public figures are being satirized. Any other use of real names is accidental and coincidental. LockerDome is an interest-based social network that started as a place for sports fans to gather online but later expanded to include other interests.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1WOi1am6xCQEjgOCJHst4fruCFvZfrU5r","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_955","claim":"Premium Increase","posted":"07\/16\/2012","sci_digest":["Is President Bush responsible for a 17% increase in Medicare premiums?"],"justification":"Claim:  President Bush is responsible for a 17% increase in Medicare premiums.  Example:  [Collected on the Internet, 2004] Have you seen the John Kerry commercial in which George Bush pledges to help Seniors on Medicare and \"the very next day imposes a 17% premium increase  the biggest in history\"? That ad is a stroke of genius on Kerry's part and will surely gain him many votes among the uninformed. It was found to be so amazing that someone did some homework on the issue. As it turns out the 17% increase was not imposed by President Bush but was mandated by the \"balanced budget agreement\" signed by President Clinton, voted into law by Senator John Kerry, and was scheduled to come into effect during the Bush administration. President Bush had no authority to reverse what had been voted into law by Senator Kerry during the Clinton administration. Once again Kerry is counting on the ignorance of the American people. Don't be duped by his misstatement of facts! Origins:  The availability of health care and the associated costs of medical care, prescription drugs, and insurance are a major issue in every campaign, especially among older voters.  With premiums for the government-funded Medicare program scheduled to rise from $66.60 to $78.20 per month in January 2005 (a 17.4% increase over current levels, and 56 percent higher than the premiums charged in 2001), both sides in the upcoming presidential election are seeking the upper hand on the issue. Medicare Democrats have maintained that the Bush administration bears much of the responsibility for the increase in premiums because it has done little to control health costs and had directed too much Medicare money to the managed health care industry, and Democratic nominee John Kerry's campaign aired a commercial that (incorrectly) implied that President Bush  was responsible for the increase in Medicare premiums (\"George Bush imposes the biggest Medicare premium increase in history .\").  President Bush's campaign countered by running a TV spot that (incorrectly) stated Senator Kerry had \"voted five times to raise Medicare premiums\": Republicans had hoped to emphasize their support of Medicare in this campaign season, after making herculean efforts to pass legislation adding drug benefits to the health program for 41 million people who are elderly or disabled. But the new law, signed by Bush in December, has met mixed reviews. The drug benefits, representing the largest expansion of Medicare since its creation in 1965, do not become available until 2006, and the increase in premiums has nothing to do with the new drug coverage. Beneficiaries will have to pay an additional premium, expected to average $35 a month in 2006, for drug benefits. The Bush campaign advertisement, titled \"Medicare Hypocrisy,\" says, \"It was Mr. Kerry who voted five times to raise Medicare premiums.\" The votes, from 1985 to 1997, were not on premiums alone, but on comprehensive budget bills that included hundreds of provisions affecting Medicare and scores of other federal programs. Like most political issues, health care is a complex subject that has been shaped and affected by many different pieces of legislation, and no one person or political party is solely responsible for the rise in Medicare premiums.  Those interested in trying to follow the bouncing ball and track the origins of the 17% increase in Medicare premiums may find this article helpful. article Last updated:  12 October 2004    Sources:    Pear, Robert and Carl Hulse.  \"Medicare Costs Are New Focus for Candidates.\"   The New York Times.  12 September 2004  (p. 1).     The [Pottstown] Mercury.  \"Health Care a Passionate Issue for Candidates.\"   1 October 2004.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_956","claim":"Seahawks Ban Ticket Sales to Californians?","posted":"01\/12\/2014","sci_digest":["Have the Seattle Seahawks banned California residents from buying tickets to the NFC Championship Game?"],"justification":" Claim:   The Seattle Seahawks are not selling tickets to the NFC Championship Game to California residents.  Examples:  [Collected via e-mail, January 2014] Just read an article saying that Fearing 49er Fans, The Seahawks have banned NFC Championship Ticket Sales for Californians. Is this true, I don't see how it can be?  I want to know if it is true that the Seattle Seahawks website page is closed to residents in California and Carolina from buying tickets to the January 19th 2014 playoff game to the Super Bowl. It is only reported on a California news page. Is it true??? Origins:  When the NFL's Seattle Seahawks take the field on 19 January 2014 for the NFC Championship Game in the hopes of securing a berth in this year's Super Bowl, there likely will be a good many fans from California in the stands at Seattle's CenturyLink Field, because the Seahawks' opponents that day will be the San Francisco 49ers.  Possibly there will be far fewer fans from the Bay Area in the stands than would like to be there, though, because the Seahawks announced  announced on their web site on 11 January 2014 that tickets for the game would be available only to buyers in a specified geographic area  and that area does not include any part of California. According to the notice posted on the Seahawks' official web site, tickets for the NFC Championship Game can be purchased only by buyers with credit card billing addresses in the states of Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, Alaska, and Hawaii, and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Alberta.  So a Canadian football fan from Edmonton, Alberta, has a shot a scoring some tickets to next Sunday's game (even though there are no NFL franchises anywhere in Canada), but not fans from Oakland, San Francisco, San Diego (all of which are home to NFL teams), or Los Angeles (the second-largest city in the U.S.).   The Seahawks offered no explanation for this restriction on their web site, but theories for the reasons behind it have ranged from its being a (likely ineffective) attempt to cut down on ticket scalping to a (mean-spirited) move to protect the Seahawks' home-field advantage by making it more difficult for 49ers fans to pack the stands.  As the San Francisco Chronicle noted, \"Niner fans are known for traveling. This season, several road stadiums were packed with 49ers fans, and 49ers' play-by-play voice Ted Robinson said there were droves of 49ers fans in Charlotte for [last] Sunday's 23-10 road win over the Panthers.\" Somewhere in between is the notion that the team simply wants to try to ensure that their allotment of tickets for the championship game ends up, as much as possible, in the hands of Seahawks fans as a reward for their support throughout the season, rather than being bought up by others who simply want to attend a championship game (regardless of who's playing in it) or re-sell the tickets for profit.   The Denver Broncos have similarly restricted sales of tickets to the AFC Championship Game to residents of the Rocky Mountain region (Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Montana, South Dakota and Western Kansas), an area that does not include the home of their opponents for that game, the Boston-based New England Patriots (but Denver and Boston are much father apart than Seattle and San Francisco are). restricted Boosters of the 49ers and other California football fans can still acquire tickets to the game through the secondary market (i.e., ticket resellers), but it will cost them.  According to Forbes, the NFC Championship Game will be the most expensive NFL game this season, with the cheapest ticket on the secondary market going for just under $400, and tickets selling for an average price of $740 each.  Last updated:  12 January 2014    Lynch, Kevin.  \"Seahawks Block NFC Title Game Ticket Sales to California.\"   San Francisco Chronicle.  12 January 2014.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1hduPeLq8SxQRyXXtYjDyRPLVnc-1T0li","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_957","claim":"Intuit Order Confirmation","posted":"03\/01\/2012","sci_digest":["Is Intuit sending out software order confirmations?"],"justification":"Phishing bait:  Software order confirmation from Intuit. Example:   [Collected via e-mail, October 2012]     Origins:  In October 2012, Internet users were spammed with phony e-mailed confirmation orders from Intuit, a financial and tax preparation software company, bearing subject lines such as \"Intuit Order Status,\" \"Intuit GoPayment Order Status update,\" \"Intuit GoPayment Shipment Information,\" and \"Intuit GoPayment Shipment Note.\" Intuit posted an alert on its web site about the fake e-mail, advising recipients to: alert  Do not click on the link in the email. Send a copy of the email to spoof@intuit.com. Do not forward the email to anyone else. Delete the email. Intuit's alert also advises users that: On the Internet, \"phishing\" refers to criminal activity that attempts to fraudulently obtain sensitive information. Here's what you can do to protect yourself from a phishing attack:  If you suspect you have received a phishing email from Intuit, please forward it immediately to spoof@intuit.com. We will look into each reported instance. Make sure you subscribe to an anti-virus software and keep it up-to-date. Make sure you have updated your web browser to one that includes anti-phishing security features, such as Internet Explorer 7 or Firefox version 3 or higher. Make sure that you keep up to date on the latest releases and patches for your operating systems and critical programs. These releases are frequently security related. Do not respond to emails asking for account, password, banking, or credit card information. Do not open up an attachment that claims to be a software update. We will not send any software updates via email. Do not respond to text messages or voicemails that ask you to call a number and enter your account number and pin. Make sure you have passwords on your computer and your payroll files. Last updated:  1 October 2012 ","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1jLvGk2Pgvj8r_XIlDZd9SdyGNMk0Epy5","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_958","claim":"Shoo Fly Awry","posted":"08\/17\/2015","sci_digest":[""],"justification":"FACT CHECK: Did Kentucky hire an Amish DMV clerk who refused to issue driver's licenses based on her religious beliefs?      Claim:  Kentucky hired an Amish DMV clerk who refused to issue driver's licenses based on her religious beliefs.    Example:   [Collected via Twitter and Facebook, August 2015] Why can't an Amish worker at a DMV refuse to give out driver's licenses? pic.twitter.com\/fntubM4XGB pic.twitter.com\/fntubM4XGB  Hamybear (@hamybear) August 16, 2015 August 16, 2015    Origins: On 26 June 2015, the Supreme Court's decision in the case Obergefell vs. Hodges [PDF] held that same-sex couples were guaranteed the right to marry under both the Due Process Clause and Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. (Almost immediately, that decision led to a number of rumors and viral claims; that pedophiles would soon be granted similar rights, that Joe Biden had gone on a victory spree, and that Facebook had begun tracking the political beliefs of users via a celebratory rainbow filter for profile pictures.) PDF pedophiles Joe Biden rainbow filter Tangential rumors circulated pertaining to individuals and businesses who subsequently (or previously) went out on a limb for their religious opposition to marriage equality, which included a false claim involving a pastor purportedly  jailed for refusing to marry a gay couple and the true case of an Oregon bakery ordered to pay damages stemming from a pre-decision refusal to serve a same-sex couple. The meme displayed above was inspired by Kentucky court clerk named Kim Davis, who unwittingly starred in a viral video during which she refused to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple shortly after the June 2015 Supreme Court ruling. jailed bakery Kim Davis On 12 August 2015, U.S. District Judge David L. Bunning ordered Davis [PDF] to begin issuing licenses as requested. Bunning wrote in his ruling that by \"openly adopting a policy that promotes her own religious convictions at the expenses of others,\" Davis had violated the law, adding: ordered PDF Davis remains free to practice her Apostolic Christian beliefs. She may continue to attend church twice a week, participate in Bible Study and minister to female inmates at the Rowan County Jail. She is even free to believe that marriage is a union between one man and one woman, as many Americans do. However, her religious convictions cannot excuse her from performing the duties that she took an oath to perform as Rowan County Clerk. The humorous image above was clearly created to poke fun at Davis over the legal dispute (and the general issue of allowing personal religious beliefs to trump the requirements of employment and public service), a subtlety lost on many social media users who hadn't heard of the marriage license controversy in Kentucky and consequently didn't get the joke. The jape partially relies outsider assumptions about Amish  culture, one of which is the notion that Amish people are prohibited from driving due to their religion. That's not precisely accurate, as use of a horse-and-buggy over cars is primarily a cultural choice and not part of a specific anti-automobile religious edict applied to everyone: Amish anti-automobile Although the Amish are allowed to use automobiles for social and business functions, the church rules prohibit members from owning as well as driving a car. Amish businessmen are also not allowed to provide loans to non-Amish employees for the purpose of buying a vehicle. Ownership of an automobile is considered a taboo. It is important to the community to maintain the horse and buggy as a symbol of Amish identity. The joke also leans on a (fallacious) assumption that Amish citizens neither seek nor require state driver's licenses, part of a broad, inaccurate perception of the community as frightened of the outside world. The Amish often need state-issued ID for a variety of day-to-day purposes, including the operation of lucrative businesses (contrary to the belief Amish people reject wealth and\/or financial success entirely or that they lack awareness of modern conventions). Photographic requirements have presented problems for Amish people seeking licenses, however, as their traditions generally favor the avoidance of photography. (Yet another misconception asserts the practice is due to a primitive, uneducated fear that the camera might \"steal\" a person's soul; in actuality, it's more due to intentional humility and not a fear of technology.) state-issued ID variety operation photography fear steal soul While the meme seen here satirizes the imposition of religious belief on outsiders by a presumably stricter sect, it should be noted that Amish communities are known for a marked disinclination to interact with the \"English\" world save for necessary circumstances. Although their religious beliefs are notoriously stringent, Amish folks are far likelier to be encroached upon by a conflict of law and faith than the other way around. disinclination Last updated:  17August 2015 Originally published: 17August 2015","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1lUQXT3qrWKsf6_0Q18stpZGI0W3oz7Vg","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1laK1zPSWyArY933qxBQKRi6Y7ylangmt","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_959","claim":"Is State Farm Denying Insurance to Gun Owners?","posted":"05\/31\/2018","sci_digest":["Both the company and an insurance expert refuted online anecdotes painting the company as hostile toward firearm owners."],"justification":"Though some gun owners have accused State Farm insurance online of not being a \"good neighbor\" toward them, two claims  which appeared eighteen years apart  have proven to be outliers and not indicative of any bias against firearm owners or manufacturers. The most recent iteration of the claim is connected to a photograph circulating online of a letter dated 18 March 2018 from the company concerning a Minnesota-based gunmaking business applying for coverage: State Farm Fire and Casualty Company is unable to provide the coverage you requested in your application because: - we don't provide coverage for businesses engaged in manufacturing firearms.   The photograph was subsequently circulated in various disreputable blogs, claiming that State Farm had been, among other things, \"cucked.\" A State Farm spokesperson, Sevag Sarkissian, would not comment on specific policies or applications. But he did tell us via e-mail: This is not a firearms focused issue  State Farm generally does not insure manufacturing businesses. Insurance companies specialize in insuring different types of risks. Manufacturing businesses are not a type of risk that State Farm has selected to specialize in writing. Insurance companies as a whole each weigh the types of products they take on for their policies, said Michael Barry, a spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute, a non-profit trade group. \"I think it's fair to say that some products are riskier to ensure than others,\" he said: For instance, Tesla [self-driving] automobiles are in all likelihood going to be costlier to insure because there isn't a past performance chart on the risks inherent operating these vehicles in the same way that there are individual operated vehicles. However, he said, that inherent risk is not an indicator of any industry-wide embargo against firearm makers: There are some insurers who are willing to underwrite certain risks where others choose not to. If I'm a gun manufacturer and I need an insurer, I'm confident that with enough due diligence and research I can find a number of prospective insurers. Eighteen years earlier, a South Carolina man also accused State Farm of discriminating against gun owners, saying that the company cancelled his homeowner's insurance policy after he revealed to an agent that he engaged in recreational shooting in a gun range on his property. The agent, he said, cited a \"factor of increased risk\" in terminating the policy, while also giving him seven days to find another insurer. man Sarkissian told us: State Farm's homeowner policy provides limited coverage for personal items like firearms, jewelry and other valuables. State Farm's personal articles policy provides broader coverage for personal items like firearms, jewelry and other valuables. On a homeowner insurance policy application, State Farm does not ask if a homeowner owns any firearms. That would only come up if a customer specifically wanted additional coverage for firearms under their homeowner policy or if they chose to purchase a personal articles policy for broader coverage options. While not addressing the South Carolina man's case specifically, Michael Barry said that when insurance companies cancel coverage for policy holders, it is typically due to two reasons: non-payment on the policy, or a \"material misrepresentation\" on the part of the policy holder on their initial application. But he refuted the idea that State Farm or the insurance industry as a whole were \"dropping\" gun owners from their clienteles. \"I haven't even heard that anecdotally,\" said Barry, whose group is based out of New York: There's a whole big country out there west of the Hudson. A lot of home insurers would have trouble staying in business if they took that stance when it comes to gun owners, an unwillingness to assume the risk. In February 2018, the National Rifle Association accused another company, Delta Airlines, of being biased against firearm owners after Delta announced that it would end a travel discount for the group's members. The airline responded by pointing out that a total of thirteen members had used the discount. responded Horton, Alex. \"Only 13 NRA Members Used Delta's Discount. Ending it Cost the Airline a $40 Million Tax Break.\"\r  Washington Post. 3 March 2018.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1rwmnZY81TTbFxl4gKf8-Jd0Y2IJ1NcWe","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_960","claim":"Are These the Final Words of the Challenger Crew?","posted":"02\/22\/2001","sci_digest":["Reports of a secret tape recorded aboard the doomed space shuttle Challenger that captured the final panic-stricken moments of the crew raised suspicions of a cover-up."],"justification":"Seventy-three seconds into the 28 January 1986 flight of the space shuttle Challenger the craft broke apart, killing the seven astronauts aboard. Videotapes released by NASA afterwards showed that a few seconds before the disaster, an unusual plume of fire and smoke could be seen spewing from the lower section of the shuttle's right solid-fuel rocket. It was generally assumed (and NASA did little to disturb this opinion) that all aboard died the moment the external tank blew up. NASA later conceded it was likely that at least three of the crew members aboard remained conscious after the explosion, and perhaps even throughout the few minutes it took forthe crew compartment of the shuttle to fall back to Earth and slam into the Atlantic Ocean. The agency was highly secretive about matters relating to the Challenger tragedy, actively fighting in the courts media requests to be allowed access to photographs of the wreckage, the details of the settlements made with the crews' families, or the autopsy reports, and this reticence to share information likely convinced some that there was more to the story than was being told. Such an environment breeds its own rumors, and Miami Herald reporter Dennis E. Powell wrote that the crew were likely all alive and conscious until the shuttle's crew compartment plunged into the Atlantic Ocean: When the shuttle broke apart, the crew compartment did not lose pressure, at least not at once. There was an uncomfortable jolt  \"A pretty good kick in the pants\" is the way one investigator describes it  but it was not so severe as to cause injury. This probably accounted for the \"uh oh\" that was the last word heard on the flight deck tape recorder that would be recovered from the ocean floor two months later. As they were feeling the jolt, the four astronauts on the flight deck saw a bright flash and a cloud of steam. The lights went out. The intercom went dead. After a few breaths, the seven astronauts stopped getting oxygen into their helmets. Someone, apparently astronaut Ronald McNair, leaned forward and turned on the personal emergency air pack of shuttle pilot Michael Smith. The PEAP of Commander Francis Scobee was in a place where it was difficult to reach. It was not activated. Even so, if the crew compartment did not rapidly lose air pressure, Scobee would only have had to lift his mask to be able to breathe. Two other PEAPs were turned on. The three others were never found. Though the shuttle had broken to pieces, the crew compartment was intact. It stabilized in a nose-down attitude within 10 to 20 seconds, say the investigators. Even if the compartment was gradually losing pressure, those on the flight deck would certainly have remained conscious long enough to catch a glimpse of the green-brown Atlantic rushing toward them. If it lost its pressurization very slowly or remained intact until it hit the water, they were conscious and cognizant all the way down. In fact, no clear evidence was ever found that the crew cabin depressurized at all. There was certainly no sudden, catastrophic loss of air of the type that would have knocked the astronauts out within seconds. Such an event would have caused the mid-deck floor to buckle upward; that simply didn't happen. A purported transcript of the Challenger crew's final horrifying moments has circulated online for many years, supposedly taken from a \"secret tape\" leaked from NASA: A secret NASA tape reveals that the crew of the shuttle Challenger not only survived the explosion that ripped the vessel apart; they screamed, cried, cursed and prayed for three hellish minutes before they slammed into the Atlantic and perished on January 28, 1986. The tape is said to begin with a startled crewman screaming,\"What happened? What happened? Oh God - No!\" Screams and curses are heard - several crewmen begin to weep - and then others bid their families farewell. Two minutes forty-five seconds later the tape ends. That's when the shuttles crew compartment, which remained intact after the vessel exploded over the Atlantic, hit the ocean at over 2,000 miles per hour, instantly killing the crew. \"Cover up? Of course there was a coverup,\" declared Robert Hotz, a member of the Presidential commission that investigated the disaster. \"NASA can't face the fact that they put these astronauts in a situation where they didn't have adequate equipment to survive. NASA doesn't give a damn about anything but covering it's ass,\" he said. The official account released by NASA ends with shuttle pilot Michael Smith saying, \"Uh-oh!\" Some NASA employees have evidently heard more - much more. And they provided the rest of the account based on what they've discussed within NASA in the last five years. The astronauts had time and realized something was happening after the shuttle broke up. \"All shuttle astronauts carry personal recorders and the tape in question apparently came from Christa's (McAuliffe), which was recovered after the shuttle disaster,\" said Hotz. Jarvis was sitting beside her, and when he figured out what was happening he said, \"Give me your hand.\" \"NASA insists there's nothing like that on tape but they're talking about the mission tape, not Christa's. So they're not lying, but they're not telling the truth, either.\" A journalist with close ties to NASA was even more emphatic, \"There are persistent rumors, dating back to the disaster, that this tape is absolutely bone-chilling.\" The following transcript begins two seconds after NASA's official version ends, with pilot Michael Smith saying, \"Uh-oh!\" Times from the moment of takeoff are shown in minutes and seconds and are approximate. The sex of the speaker is indicated by M or F. T+1:15  (M)  What happened? What happened? Oh God, no - no! T+1:17  (F)  Oh dear God. T+1:18  (M)  Turn on your air pack! Turn on your air... T+1:20  (M)  Can't breathe... choking... T+1:21  (M)  Lift up your visor! T+1:22  (M\/F)  (Screams.) It's hot. (Sobs.) I can't. Don't tell me... God! Do it...now... T+1:24  (M)  I told them... I told them... Dammit! Resnik don't... T+1:27  (M)  Take it easy! Move (unintelligible)... T+1:28  (F)  Don't let me die like this. Not now. Not here... T+1:31  (M)  Your arm... no... I (extended garble, static) T+1:36  (F)  I'm... passing... out... T+1:37  (M)  We're not dead yet. T+1:40  (M)  If you ever wanted (unintelligible) me a miracle... (unintelligible)... (screams) T+1:41  (M)  She's... she's... (garble) ... damn! T+1:50  (M)  Can't breathe... T+1:51  (M\/F)  (screams) Jesus Christ! No! T+1:54  (M)  She's out. T+1:55  (M)  Lucky... (unintelligible). T+1:56  (M)  God. The water... we're dead! (screams) T+2:00  (F)  Goodbye (sobs)... I love you, I love you... T+2:03  (M)  Loosen up... loosen up... T+2:07  (M)  It'll just be like a ditch landing... T+2:09  (M)  That's right, think positive. T+2:11  (M)  Ditch procedure... T+2:14  (M)  No way! T+2:17  (M)  Give me your hand... T+2:19  (M)  You awake in there? I... I... T+2:29  (M)  Our Father... (unintelligible)... T+2:42  (M)  ...hallowed be Thy name... (unintelligible). T+2:57  (M)  You...over there? T+2:58  (M)  The Lord is my shepherd, I shall... not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures... though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil... I will dwell in the house... T+3:15 to end.  None. Static, silence. Rest in Peace However, this \"transcript\" originated with an article published in a February 1991 issue of Weekly World News, a tabloid famous for creating news stories out of whole cloth. There never was such a transcript, nor was the crew of the Challenger known to have been wearing personal recorders. Moreover, personal recorders would not have picked up the comments of crew members on different decks as the faked transcript would have us believe. Weekly World News Not everyone aboard died the exact second the external tank exploded; that much is known. A complete understanding of exactly what happened in that cabin after the explosion remains elusive because the impact of the crash, plus the six weeks the wreckage and bodies spent in the sea, made it impossible to determine precisely when and how everybody aboard died. (Six weeks in sea water would also have ruined any unshielded audio tapes that miraculously survived the explosion and the crash.)  If the cabin depressurized immediately, the crew would have lived about 6 to 15 seconds after the blast; if not, they might have survived for the full two minutes and forty-five seconds it took the cabin to fall 65,000 feet back to Earth. They most certainly could not have lived through the crushing 207 mph impact with the waters off the Florida coast, which negates the wilder versions of \"survived astronauts\" rumors that had them still alive for hours (and even days) under the sea, waiting for rescuers who could not reach them in time. Possibly the best clue towards solving the mystery of how long the doomed crew survived lies in what NASA learned from examining the four emergency air packs recovered from the wreckage. Three had been manually activated, which demonstrated that at least some of the crew realized something had gone wrong and had taken steps to save themselves. However, the fourth unactivated pack speaks with an even stronger voice, indicating that most likely realization of the circumstances and loss of consciousness were occurring at roughly the same time. That was the conclusion of Dr. Joseph Kerwin, director of Life Sciences at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. His July 1986 report was based on an official examination of the debris of the crew compartment, audio tapes and other data recorded on the shuttle, the remains of the astronauts, and photographs of the capsule as it fell after the shuttle exploded. In the report, Dr. Kerwin said: \"The cause of death of the Challenger astronauts cannot be positively determined, the forces to which the crew were exposed during the orbiter breakup were probably not sufficient to cause death or serious injury, and the crew possibly, but not certainly, lost consciousness in the seconds following orbiter breakup due to in-flight loss of crew module pressure.\" In other words, they might well have lived for the full spiral down and might even have been fully conscious for all of that hellish descent. But even if so, this fabricated \"transcript\" does not preserve their final words. Jones, Alex.  \"Withheld Shuttle Data: A Debate Over Privacy.\"\r  The New York Times.  27 January 1987  (p. C1). Okie, Susan.  \"Astronaut Autopsies Will Be Difficult.\"\r  The Washington Post.  16 March 1986  (p. A14). Wilford, John Noble.  \"A Grueling Autopsy for the Challenger.\"\r  The New York Times.  9 February 1986  (p. D5). The Associated Press.  \"NASA Says Challenger Crew Survived Briefly After Blast.\"\r  The San Diego Union-Tribune.  29 July 1986  (p. A8). The Associated Press.  \"Challenger Crew Made Bid for Life.\"\r  The Record.  29 July 1986  (p. A1). \"Tape Proves Doomed Shuttle Screamed, Cursed and Prayed.\"\r  Weekly World News. 5 February 1991.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1S9zSe1c2T1sGThb3P7MLHNUmgHjFYGPm","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_961","claim":"Did Trump Solicit Donations, Attack Liz Cheney to Mark His Birthday?","posted":"06\/16\/2022","sci_digest":["Here's how to tell whether a \"Statement by Donald J. Trump\" is actually a statement by Donald J. Trump..."],"justification":"In June 2022, internet users, especially those opposed to former Pres. Donald Trump, enthusiastically shared what appeared to be a statement in which he marked the occasion of his 76th birthday by attacking Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney, making a lewd remark about his wife, Melania, and soliciting donations from his supporters. In reality, the statement was fabricated by a left-wing political action committee which routinely produces what it describes as political satire. We are issuing a rating of \"Misattributed.\" On Twitter, @StandForBetter posted the statement on June 14, Trump's birthday, along with the caption: posted Happy #FlagDay everyone! Looks like Donald J. Trump is looking for people to send money. Instead, maybe we can say Happy Birthday President Trump by sending an arrest warrant instead. The 100 GOP that support his big lie can bail him out of this spoof. From #UKR    The bogus statement was re-shared elsewhere on social media, without the name of its original source. This is important because Stand For Better is a left-wing political action committee that regularly publishes what its creators describe as \"political films and satire supporting Dems.\"  re-shared elsewhere social media political action committee publishes describe Without that contextual information, social media users were more likely to share the statement as authentic.  When Trump does issue authentic statements, they appear on one or more of the following platforms: his website; his TruthSocial account; the Twitter feed of spokesperson Liz Harrington; or the Twitter feed of spokesperson Taylor Budowich.   website TruthSocial account Liz Harrington Taylor Budowich The \"birthday\" statement never appeared on any of those platforms on or around June 14, and we could therefore conclude it was not authentic, even if we weren't aware of the overtly political and \"satirical\" motivations of Stand for Better.  Did Trump Call Pence a Dog That Belongs on the Street? Snopes.Com, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/trump-pence-dog-pet\/. Accessed 16 June 2022.  Save America. https:\/\/www.donaldjtrump.com\/news. Accessed 16 June 2022.  STAND FOR BETTER PAC - Committee Overview. FEC.Gov, https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/committee\/C00758672\/. Accessed 16 June 2022.  Truth Social. https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/. Accessed 16 June 2022.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1YNHtID4RysxeabZSzQ_DlIlTcstGXJwS","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_962","claim":"Is Ellen DeGeneres Holding a Facebook Giveaway?","posted":"11\/02\/2018","sci_digest":["Don't fall for scams that use counterfeit Facebook accounts to falsely associate themselves with celebrities."],"justification":"Several times over the last few years, Facebook posts have appeared proposing that users who followed instructions to \"like\" and \"share\" them could win myriad prizes in a purported giveaway sponsored by Ellen DeGeneres. The Ellen DeGeneres Show does run segments involving prize giveaways that may have online components, including ties to official social media accounts, but not ones involving randomly choosing viewers who \"like\" and \"share\" posts stemming from counterfeit Facebook accounts. Any legitimate promotional offer using Facebook should be tied to an account bearing a blue badge indicating that the account has been verified by Facebook as authentic. As we have noted on previous pages about similar hoaxes, these counterfeit promotional posts exhibit a number of red flags, primarily that the underlying pages are not endorsed by any official channel associated with Ellen DeGeneres. The first clue that the giveaways following this format are not legitimate is that the pages to which Facebook users are directed were created just days before the giveaway posts began to appear. Not only are the secondary Facebook pages involved new, but they are also not linked with automobile companies or other interests one might reasonably expect to offer a car in exchange for social media advertising (such as automobile dealerships, insurance companies, or large retailers). Were a legitimate company to engage in such a high-ticket contest giveaway, the incentive would be exposure, but no corresponding promotional return on advertising investment is discernible in these Facebook giveaway claims. The aim of schemes such as the celebrity giveaway hoaxes is typically to rapidly build a large Facebook following in order to sell pages with high \"like\" counts to third parties. While such hoaxes appear to present little risk to participants, liking and sharing the false information is not entirely safe. In addition to advancing the interests of and encouraging social media scammers, page likes potentially enable user data mining by scammers. In some cases, the giveaway hoaxes lure victims into downloading malware-bearing files.","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1I5nksmpRS4iFDb353k2sNIc8aR0Lop2q","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=19z65y0QyNC28wmO6FvuXXlS1fjIeagEe","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_963","claim":"Can American millionaires receive $1.7 million in COVID-19 stimulus funds?","posted":"04\/21\/2020","sci_digest":["That would be about 1,400 times the amount a low-income worker would receive from the federal government's COVID-19 economic relief package."],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease. \n\nResponding to an unprecedented disruption to the U.S. economy caused by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, U.S. President Donald Trump on March 27, 2020, approved a $2.2 trillion stimulus package called the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Aiming to provide direct payments to Americans, the relief package authorized the U.S. Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to send $1,200 checks to low- and middle-class workers. The legislation also boosted funding for unemployment benefits, set aside billions of dollars for loans to help small businesses, and increased health care spending by $100 billion, among other provisions. \n\nHowever, the bill included an additional benefit for wealthy Americans, as reported by national media in mid-April: \"Over 43,000 U.S. millionaires will get stimulus averaging $1.6 million each\" (New York Post) and \"How Some Rich Americans Are Getting Checks Averaging $1.7 million\" (Forbes). Snopes received numerous reader inquiries about the veracity of those reports. \n\nThe claim is multi-pronged: that millionaires and other Americans received the same type of stimulus checks, termed \"Economic Impact Payments\"; that those payments were higher for millionaires than for other workers; and that the economic benefits for the country's wealthiest residents averaged $1.7 million each under the CARES Act. \n\nThe coronavirus relief package authorized the federal government to send payments to single tax filers with adjusted gross income up to $75,000, and for married couples filing jointly, the threshold is $150,000. For those with higher annual salaries, the federal government reduces the stimulus checks by $5 for each $100 above the $75,000 threshold (similar calculations apply for payments to families). Yet, evidence from the IRS indicates that \"Tax filers with adjusted gross income up to $75,000 for individuals and up to $150,000 for married couples filing joint returns will receive the full payment,\" which does not exceed the amounts of $1,200 for individuals, $2,400 for joint claims, and $500 per qualifying child. This means that only in a hypothetical situation where a family had 3,400 qualifying children could an American receive a stimulus check of $1.7 million. \n\nThe latter part of the claim\u2014that millionaires could reap an average of $1.7 million in financial gains under the CARES Act\u2014is less definite. The answer begins with understanding the pre-CARES Act tax code. In 2017, the federal government established new limitations on how much money owners of so-called \"pass-through\" businesses can deduct as losses against their \"nonbusiness\" income to minimize their tax liability. Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, owners of such businesses\u2014entities where profits flow through to owners and are not subject to corporate income taxes\u2014could deduct a maximum of $250,000 in losses individually ($500,000 for couples) to offset taxable income from other sources, such as capital gains. \n\nTwo Democratic Congressmen, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas, have explained the rule like this: If one spouse owns a company that had a $5 million loss in 2018 and the other spouse made $5 million from stock market investments, this limitation meant that the couple's taxable income was $4.5 million (not zero, if the loss were allowed to fully cancel out the income). The other $4.5 million in losses, however, could be carried forward to use in future years. Provisions in the CARES Act temporarily suspended that limitation until the start of 2021, according to an analysis of legislative records by Snopes. In other words, the IRS is legally obligated to count excess losses from businesses that it otherwise wouldn't have and provide them with \"the same treatment as if the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act had not been enacted,\" according to attorneys with the international law firm Foley and Lardner. \n\nAdditionally, the provisions change the timeline of the 2017 law and allow for the new standard to retroactively apply, enabling businesses to report losses in 2018 and 2019 against the past five years. Those taxpayers, however, would likely need to amend their 2018 and 2019 tax returns if they have already been filed to see any changes, according to the tax consulting firm Calvetti Ferguson. Since the modification under the CARES Act only applies until December 31, 2020, the 2017 law will take effect the following year. \n\nHere's how that change to the tax code is relevant to the claim: Americans who earn $1 million or more will benefit the most from the temporary suspension of the deduction limit, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan congressional body, the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT). In early April 2020, Whitehouse and Doggett requested the committee to research \"the distributional effects\" of the provision within the CARES Act. Later, the committee's chief of staff, Thomas Barthold, shared its findings in a letter to the congressmen, including the caveat: \"There is, of course, a great deal of uncertainty about the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and how those economic effects will translate into business losses for individuals. The revenue estimate represents our best effort to give Congress useful information about the potential scale of revenue changes associated with this provision.\" \n\nThe letter included a table showing what class of Americans will receive what percentage of benefits from the amendment to the 2017 tax law. The table shows that almost 82% of the provision's benefits will go toward about 43,000 Americans who earn $1 million or more annually. Put another way, hedge-fund investors and owners of real estate businesses are \"far and away\" the two prime beneficiaries of the change to the 2017 tax law, Steve Rosenthal, a tax expert at the nonpartisan Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, told The Washington Post. The JCT also found that suspending the limitation for \"pass-through\" businesses will cost taxpayers about $90 billion in 2020 alone, the Post reported. \n\nUsing those numbers, you can do back-of-the-napkin math to estimate the amount of money the country's wealthiest population could reduce from their tax burden as a result of the change (82% of $90 billion): about $73.8 billion. Then, if you divide that total by the estimated number of impacted Americans who earn $1 million or more (43,000), you end up with an average of $1,716,279\u2014or about $1.7 million\u2014each. \"If you take the reports' calculations at face value, that means that, on average, each of the eligible taxpayers would get a windfall of ~$1.7 million!\" Forbes contributor Shahar Ziv wrote. Clearly, not all of those earning only $1 million will receive a $1.7 million tax cut; however, just as some may receive less than the $1.7 million, some may benefit much more. \n\nIn sum, given that U.S. millionaires won't receive stimulus payments based on their income under the CARES Act but rather that the Act's provisions enable those Americans to take advantage of a temporary tax relief\u2014potentially to the tune of $1.7 million on average\u2014we rate this claim as a \"Mixture\" of true and false information.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1TK6LUOWqn59c8UoqqXZxIRTUh0M9kQFe"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1xWmkrsuI7aU-jQ2f9Zp6lc-HAoYY1z6I"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_964","claim":"Did a Homebuyer Discover a Barn Full of Classic Cars on His Property?","posted":"07\/19\/2007","sci_digest":["Photographs showing an \"eclectic collection of old cars in a decaying building\" inspired a hopeful backstory."],"justification":"One of the many \"fortunate discovery\" scenarios people sometimes fantasize about involves taking possession of a dwelling and turning up something of great value left behind by a previous resident  perhaps a forgotten stash of currency, discarded coins that were once common but are now worth a pretty penny to collectors, jewelry hidden away and never retrieved, etc.   Purchasing an old farmhouse and discovering the property included a barn stuffed full with a few hundred vintage automobiles is a reverie probably outside the range of even the most optimistic daydreamer's imaginings, but that's the backstory that was created to enliven a set of photographs circulated in early 2007 that showed an \"eclectic collection of old cars in a decaying building.\" A dream come true. A NY man retired. He wanted to use his retirement money wisely, so it would last, and decided to buy a home and a few acres in Portugal. The modest farmhouse had been vacant for 15yrs.; the owner and wife both had died, and there were no heirs. The house was sold to pay taxes. There had been several lookers, but the large barn had steel doors, and they had been welded shut. Nobody wanted to go to the extra expense to see what was in the barn, and it wasn't complimentary to the property anyway..... so, nobody made an offer on the place. The NY guy bought it at just over half of the property's worth, moved in, and set about to tear in to the barn..... curiosity was killing him. So, he and his wife bought a generator, and a couple of grinders..... and cut thru the welds. What was in the barn...............?     The referenced pictures (the full set is viewable here) were indeed taken in a barn somewhere in Portugal, but the \"lucky find\" aspect of the story doesn't quite ring true.  As Tom Cotter of Sports Car Market magazine noted when he looked into this story: here Huge collections of cars don't just happen. Cars are accumulated  sometimes lovingly, sometimes not  by someone with a purpose. I was sure this collection was not assembled by accident; nobody would simply sell an old farm and fail to mention to the new owners the stash of old cars in the barn. What Cotter found out by tracking down the photographer was that the owner of the barn (and the 180 or so vintage cars contained within) was not a lucky buyer who had just purchased the property and was astonished to find a treasure trove in one of the farm buildings.  The owner was an automobile dealer in the 1970s and 1980s who had built up an assemblage of cars over the years and stashed it in the barn (locking and soldering the doors shut when the structure was full) and who simply hired a photographer to document his collection: I was eventually able to contact the photographer who was contracted by the cars' owner to shoot the photographs that would ultimately appear on millions of car-guy computer monitors beginning on January 20 [2007]. Manuel Menezes Morais shot the photos, but he was sworn to secrecy about the cars' location and the owner's name. However, he was able to obtain permission from the elusive owner to give me the following information: The owner of the cars was a car dealer in the 1970s and 1980s, and decided to save the more interesting cars that came through his doors. When the barn was full, he padlocked and \"soldered\" the doors shut. (Perhaps welding was too permanent.) Web sites varied on the number of cars: 58, 100, and 180 were speculated. According to Morais, there are 180 cars in the barn. And, aw shucks, none of the cars is for sale. A partial inventory of the various models of automobiles stored in the barn can be viewed here. here Cotter, Tom.  \"Portuguese Barn Find: Fact or Fiction?\"\r  Sports Car Market.  May 2007.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1rws2xDK3KXBXCYcwC7benvOCp0zQbJI9","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Wdo4nnLq2qodumD074HItwYZu8RCwYo1","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_965","claim":"Was an image of Patti LaBelle utilized by Fox News in their homage to Aretha Franklin?","posted":"08\/17\/2018","sci_digest":["Fox News accidentally included a photograph of singer Patti LaBelle instead of Aretha Franklin as they reported on the latter's  passing."],"justification":"On 16 August 2018, Aretha Franklin, the iconic Grammy Award-winning singer known as the \"Queen of Soul,\" passed away at the age of 76. As fans took to social media to share their memories of the late soul singer, many of them noticed a curious graphic that had been shared by the official Fox News Twitter account. The news network used the same graphic in their television broadcast about Franklin's death. This graphic was of particular interest because while the foreground picture is that of Aretha Franklin, the woman in the green jacket seen in the background is not the Queen of Soul. That is actually an image of singer Patti LaBelle performing at the \"Women of Soul: In Performance at the White House\" concert in 2014. Zachary Pleat (@zpleat) tweeted, \"Yep here's video pic.twitter.com\/IIkMDuKB7e\" on August 16, 2018. Jessica Santostefano, Vice President of the Media Desk at Fox News, issued an apology for the mistake, stating, \"We sincerely apologize to Aretha Franklin's family and friends. Our intention was to honor the icon using a secondary image of her performing with Patti LaBelle in the full-screen graphic, but the image of Ms. Franklin was obscured in that process, which we deeply regret.\" LaBelle and Franklin both performed at a 2014 White House concert, but the network's explanation for the error seemed questionable to some viewers because Franklin didn't appear at all in the photograph of LaBelle that formed the basis of the graphic. The original photograph, which was taken during LaBelle's performance of \"Somewhere Over the Rainbow\" by Reuters photographer Jonathan Ernst, can be seen below.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1WD8jSoE8JK1kKxqXxubAAppcfslANskJ"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1oXy5OzBJnZJ6wE_nejwkE_Bwhh041uuj"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1o_FQLbOC4rPqCteK_7Sc11-f0XUbwiJF"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_966","claim":"Did a Jury Find That a Cop Had Lied About a Fatal Shooting, But Brett Kavanaugh Threw Out the Verdict?","posted":"10\/01\/2018","sci_digest":["Judge Brett Kavanaugh once ruled against a police shooting victims family, blocking financial damages a jury awarded to them. But another part of that ruling was in the familys favor."],"justification":"At 1:30 a.m. on the morning of March 23, 2002, a 41-year-old dental surgery student was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer while pulling his car from a parking lot in front of a D.C.-area apartment complex. In the middle of the night in March 2002, Brian Hundley and a woman were in a car parked outside an apartment complex in Washington, D.C. Off-duty Metropolitan Police Department Officer Marcus Gaines tapped on the window of the car as he walked past. Hundley, who was in the driver's seat, began to drive the car in the direction of Officer Gaines. Officer Gaines pulled his gun, yelled \"police,\" and ordered Hundley to stop and get out of the car. Hundley complied and exited the car. According to Officer Gaines, while Hundley was standing outside the car, he suddenly moved his right hand from behind his back and began lunging toward Officer Gaines, who was about 10 to 15 feet away. In apparent self-defense, Officer Gaines shot and killed Hundley. The Hundley family brought a civil suit against Gaines, another officer, and the District of Columbia in three separate areas: first, a tort law claim of assault and battery based on the officer's fatal shot; second, a violation of the Fourth Amendment's ban on excessive force; and third, a tort law claim of negligence based on Gaines' initial stop of Hundley. A jury awarded the Hundley estate $242,000 based on the third claim, ruling that Hundley's death was the result of the officer's negligence in performing this initial traffic stop. Both sides were unhappy with the ruling, according to the Washington Post's 2004 coverage of the trial. The jury found that Officer Marcus Gaines was negligent in the steps leading to the shooting of Brian Hundley, 41, in a Northwest Washington parking lot. However, it rejected the family's bid for more damages, finding that Gaines did not abuse Hundley, violate his civil rights, or inflict emotional distress upon him when he killed him with a single gunshot to the chest. Although the verdict was a victory on paper, Hundley's relatives and lawyers called the amount of the award a bitter insult to Hundley's life and said they would appeal. \"It really defies logic,\" said Carl Hundley, who brought the wrongful death suit on behalf of his late brother. \"They found the [traffic] stop was negligent; they found my brother didn't threaten the officer. One is left to wonder if they are just deciding his life had no value.\" The family's attorney, Gregory L. Lattimer, called the award a \"travesty.\" \"A 41-year-old man dies at the police's hands without threatening him or doing anything wrong, and his life is worth $241,000. How are the police allowed to get away with this?\" A spokeswoman for the D.C. attorney general's office, which defended the department, said that the jury erred in siding with the family and that the city might seek to overturn the award. On appeal, both the defendants (Officer Gaines et al.) and the plaintiffs (the Hundley family) challenged that ruling, as described in court documents. Hundley's estate challenged the assault and battery and excessive force verdict, arguing that the jury's verdict was inconsistent with the written interrogatory answer. The defendants challenged the judgment for the plaintiffs on the negligence claim. This appeal was heard by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, and the opinion was written by Judge Brett Kavanaugh, who later became President Trump's controversial nominee to the Supreme Court. The crux of the appeal argument centered on jury inconsistency. In the original trial, the jury was asked to rule on the three issues brought to the court and, in what is known as an interrogatory jury question, on the reliability or truth of Officer Gaines' version of events. In addition to asking the jury to render a verdict on the assault and battery and excessive force claims, the judge also instructed the jury to answer a written interrogatory: \"Do you find that Brian Hundley was shot after placing his right hand behind his back and then making a lunging motion toward Officer Marcus Gaines?\" The written interrogatory tracked Officer Gaines' testimony regarding the apparent self-defense shooting. The jury answered \"No.\" Both the lawyers representing Gaines and the lawyers representing the interests of the Hundley family pointed to this fact as a reason for appeal, as jury inconsistency is valid grounds for appeal under Federal Law. In the Hundley family's case, they argued that the jury's written interrogatory response is inconsistent with the jury's findings for the defendants on the assault and battery and excessive force claims. Gaines et al., on the other hand, pointed to the finding as a reason to reject the damages awarded to the Hundleys by the jury, as their verdict with respect to negligence relied on a narrative the jury themselves said was not truthful. Kavanaugh agreed that the jury verdict was inconsistent: \"Two distinct versions of events were presented to the jury. The jury could conclude either that Officer Gaines shot Hundley in self-defense as described by Officer Gaines, or that he shot Hundley without justification. In making their cases to the jury, both sides agreed that liability turned on which version of events the jury believed. Yet the jury found for the defendants [Gaines et al.] on the assault and battery and excessive force claims while simultaneously answering a written interrogatory indicating that the jury did not believe Officer Gaines' version of events. The two answers cannot coexist; they make no sense in the context of the evidence presented in this case.\" Ultimately, Kavanaugh rendered a 180-degree shift on both sides of this argument. He ruled that because the negligence claim relied on a narrative deemed false by the jury, that charge and the damages awarded because of it should be overturned. This aspect of the decision has led to the online narrative that a jury found that a cop lied but Brett Kavanaugh threw out the verdict. While this meme expresses a factually accurate statement, it tells only a portion of the story. Using the same logic that prompted the reversal of the negligence charge, Kavanaugh also overturned the earlier rulings that did not hold the officer liable for assault or excessive force, remanding that aspect of the case for a new trial. \"We agree with Hundley's estate that the jury verdict on the assault and battery and excessive force claims was inconsistent with the jury's answer to the written interrogatory. We agree with the defendants that the negligent stop, as a matter of law, did not proximately cause the shooting death and thus cannot justify the damages for the shooting death. We therefore reverse the judgment of the District Court and remand for a new trial for Hundley's estate on the assault and battery and excessive force claims.\" It is uncertain if the Hundley family sought a retrial after this ruling or reached a settlement with the defendants. (An email to the lawyer who represented the Hundleys in this matter was not immediately returned.) Regardless, Kavanaugh's ruling did have the effect of reversing a cash settlement given to the Hundley family, but it also allowed for a new trial on the first two claims the Hundleys had lost during their initial trial.","issues":["liability"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1VokKD-CFKf4hkm4frAN39eYx7ft9BEhS","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_967","claim":"Jim Renacci tried to avoid paying taxes on nearly $14 million that he made.","posted":"10\/22\/2012","sci_digest":[],"justification":"The congressional contest between Democratic Rep. Betty Sutton and Republican Rep. Jim Renacci is among the nation's most costly and hard-fought races, and it has also devolved into one of the nastiest. After Renacci placed ads accusing Sutton of voting to raise taxes on just about everyone, Sutton fired back with an ad claiming that Renacci supports tax breaks for millionaires like himself and tried to avoid paying taxes on nearly $14 million that he earned. \"We play by the rules, but Renacci thinks he's above them,\" says a male blue-collar worker shown in Sutton's ad. On the same day that Sutton unveiled the ad accusing Renacci of avoiding taxes, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee made a similar assertion in a different ad, which stated: \"Renacci tried to skip out on paying over a million in taxes.\" The tax avoidance claims in Sutton's new ad echo charges that were raised against Renacci in 2010, when he first ran for Congress and defeated Democratic Rep. John Boccieri. They stem from a dispute Renacci had with the Ohio Department of Taxation, which accused him and his wife, Tina, of misreporting their income in 2000 and assessed them nearly $1.4 million in back taxes, interest, and penalties. The Renaccis filed state tax returns claiming they had a loss of $247,336 that year, but auditors determined they actually made $13,730,440. The couple filed a tax appeal when the state assessed them $954,650 in back taxes, $146,938 in interest, and $293,876 in penalties. The quarrel was over Renacci's trust income from an S corporation, which wasn't taxable for several years before Ohio's tax commissioner changed the state's policy. S corporations permit income to be taxed at an individual rate for federal tax purposes and avoid double taxation on corporate income. Renacci was among a group of taxpayers who fought the state decision. He contended that the trust income should have been tax-free and that he had reasonable cause to exclude it on his tax return, according to tax department and court documents. Others dropped their appeals, but Renacci continued to fight, even after a 2006 Ohio Supreme Court ruling in a similar case in which the court stated that the trust income was subject to taxation. In that case, the taxpayers reported their S Corporation income on their 2000 tax return and then unsuccessfully asked for a refund. A 2007 legal brief the state of Ohio filed in Renacci's case observed that nearly all other litigants who created grantor trusts in an attempt to shelter, i.e., exclude their S corporation income from Ohio income taxation, gave up their appeals, and that the Renaccis were almost alone in their persistence. Court records show the Renaccis eventually sent the state more than $1.3 million, but they continue to argue that the $359,822 they paid in penalties and interest was improper. \"He was proud of his fight and to have fought till the end, along with many other Ohioans for tax fairness,\" Renacci spokesman James Slepian told the Plain Dealer in 2010. When asked about Sutton's new ad, Slepian this month called her a desperate politician who knows she's losing and has no record to run on, and said she's engaging in the bogus, gutter politics of recycled personal attacks that have defined her sad career in Congress. Indeed, the charges against Renacci are somewhat recycled. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union placed a television ad in 2010 that contained a more extreme version of the charges that Sutton is making. That ad claimed he cheated on his income taxes, that he hid more than $13 million, and was forced to pay $1.4 million in back taxes and penalties. Renacci filed a defamation suit against the union after the ads began to air. Court records show he dropped the case on Feb. 3, 2011, shortly after he took office in Congress. PolitiFact Ohio found a claim in that ad to be Mostly True because Renacci could have disclosed the trust income on his state tax return, as the state warned he should, but he didn't. He also could have paid the taxes and contested the amount, but didn't. And he didn't amend his return, despite an explicit 2002 warning from Ohio's tax Department that he could face penalties for fraud and failure to pay if he didn't. However, Renacci ultimately worked within the system to resolve the case, paid the full amount that was due, and was never charged with tax fraud. The claim in this ad is an easier call. Reams of legal documents show that Renacci battled with the state over trust income from an S corporation, trying to avoid paying taxes on the $13.7 million at issue in the case. On the Truth-O-Meter, Sutton's claim rates True.","issues":["Ohio","Message Machine 2012","Negative Campaigning","Taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_968","claim":"Says Mike Enzi is getting about 84 percent of his campaign funds from Washington-based PACs. That's more than any senator of either party.","posted":"10\/30\/2013","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Some fathers help their daughters by teaching them how to ride a bike. But if youre Dick Cheney, you do it by attacking her political rival on national television. The former vice president appeared on ABCsThis Weekon Oct. 27, 2013, to discuss national security issues, and was asked about the Republican primary battle in Wyoming between incumbent Sen. Mike Enzi and his daughter, Liz Cheney. ThoughLiz Cheney has previously said her father wouldnt be campaigning for her, he didnt pass on the opportunity to take a few shots at Enzi. He accused the three-term senator of getting about 84 percent of his campaign funds from Washington-based PACs, which Cheney said was more than any senator of either party. Enzi is far from the most prestigious, vocal or well-known lawmakers on the Hill. So we were surprised to hear that the three-term senator from Wyoming, of all places, is the upper chambers leader in percentage of donations from PACs. We decided totake a deeper look. Counting PAC money Off the bat, we ran into trouble with the term Washington-based PAC. The Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks campaign finance data, noted that most political action committees, but not all, are based in the nations capitol, and its difficult to separate which of Enzis donors are from D.C. What's probably safe to say is that the vast majority are not based in his home state, Viveca Novak at the center told PoltiFact (which is what Cheney was driving at anyway). According to data provided by the Center for Responsive Politics, in the Senate campaign cycle beginning in 2009, Enzi raised $1.64 million, with $1.19 million, or 73 percent, coming from PACs. Thats not the 84 percent figure that Dick Cheney mentioned. Liz Cheneys campaign said they got to 84 percent by including a $74,463 transfer to the campaign from a joint fundraising committee, as well as $826,000 given to Enzis leadership PAC from other political groups. So the Cheney campaign counted those transfers as PAC money, while the center didnt. Using the centers data, Enzis percentage of PAC money is higher than any other senator -- by quite a bit actually. The next closest is Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., who has received 66 percent of his donations from PACs in the last five years. The disparity is even larger over the course of Enzis entire career. Nearly 70 percent of the $6.55 million the Wyoming Republican has raised since 1991 comes from PACs. In second is Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, at a distant 52 percent. A large chunk of Enzis PAC money comes from congressional leadership groups who are backing the senior senator over Cheneys challenge. He gets quite a bit from health groups, as well -- which isnt surprising, since he has worked prominently on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee for years. Its not that Enzi is taking more money from PACs than all of his colleagues, but a higher proportion of his money raised is from these outside groups Its worth noting that of the 10 senators who have relied the most on PACs this cycle, nearly all hail from states in the bottom third of the population rankings. Candidates from smaller states have a shallower pool of in-state donors to pull from, pushing them to rely on PACs in their increasingly expensive election fights. Cheney has proven to be a formidable fundraiser, pulling in $1 million between July and September, for her contest against Enzi. Doug Weber at the Center for Responsive Politics had another explanation for Enzis reliance on PACs. Enzi hasn't really raised and spent much in the past, Weber said in an email. His 2002 and 1996 elections were the cheapest Senate victories of their cycle. So it may be a function of a modest fundraising effort -- raising from individuals involves a lot more work. (Republican House Speaker John) Boehner raised more from individuals just this year than Enzi has since 1989. And even though Enzi tops this list, hes far from the most prolific fundraiser in Washington. In the current Congress,hes 356th in money raised, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Enzis campaign didnt deny Cheneys claims. While spokeswoman Kristin Walker noted that two-thirds of Enzis individual donors in the last cycle were from Wyoming, she added he has always raised the money he needed to be competitive. Our ruling While Dick Cheney differed from our nonpartisan sources on the final number, the fact remains he was right: Enzi has received a higher proportion of his money from PACs than anyone in the Senate. Its more a product of circumstancesEnzis from a small state and hes facing a strong challengerthan evidence that Enzi has gone Washington, as Cheney was implying. We rate it Mostly True.","issues":["National","Campaign Finance"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_969","claim":"Says he is the only candidate in the race for Clackamas County Chair who will refuse to join the Public Employees Retirement System.","posted":"05\/08\/2012","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Wilsonville businessman John Ludlow is in a four-way race for Clackamas County Commission Chair in next week's election. He says that he is the only candidate in the race who will refuse to join the Public Employees Retirement System.Is he the only candidate in the race to make such a promise? Perhaps just as important a question: Are elected officials even able to decline joining the retirement system?The Public Employees Retirement System is a hot-button issue with critics who claim it eats way too much money, hurting taxpayers to benefit public employees. The retirement program is open to participating employers, from the state of Oregon to school districts and cities.We turned to Paul Cleary, the retirement system's executive director. He pointed toOregon Revised Statutes 238A.100 (2): A person who is elected or appointed to an office with a fixed term ...may elect not to become a member of the pension program by giving the Public Employees Retirement Board written notice not later than 30 days after taking office. The trick here, says Cleary, is that for a person to decline membership, that person cannot have been a PERS member, ever. Ludlow is a former Wilsonville city councilor and served as Wilsonvilles mayor from 1989 to 1991, but received no retirement benefits from his time in public office.Ludlow, 63, says he has never been a member of PERS, and the Public Employees Retirement System confirms he is not a member.The other Clackamas County commission chair candidates are members of the Public Employees Retirement System. They are county Chairwoman Charlotte Lehan, county Commissioner Paul Savas, and state Rep. Dave Hunt. They cannot opt out. Savas said he never knew he could decline to join.He is the only candidate who will refuse, and who can refuse, to join PERS. We expect Ludlow to keep his promise if he wins, and we rate his statement True.","issues":["Oregon","County Budget","County Government","Message Machine 2012","Workers"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_970","claim":"Cell Phone Guns","posted":"03\/03\/2016","sci_digest":["The prototype for a gun that looks like a smartphone is real, but it isn't something designed by criminals to fool police."],"justification":"On 26 February 2016, Facebook user Karl de la Guerra published an \"Officer Warning\" post alongside several pictures showing a gun disguised as a cell phone, which was presented as a threat to police. The photographs were shared tens of thousands of times, often as a warning to officers to remain vigilant, but the pictured item was neither illegal nor widely available at the time. According to the Facebook page \"IDEAL Conceal Patent Pending,\" the depicted weapon was marketed to licensed gun owners as a discreet method of carrying: \"We invented a new style of self-defense. It looks like a cellphone when folded up, but push the safety and you are ready to defend yourself.\" On 22 February 2016, the page posted an image indicating that the manufacturer advocated the guns to protect (not harm) police officers: \"YEPPER!\" posted by IDEAL Conceal - patent pending on Monday, February 22, 2016. In a separate post, the company responded to a user interested in purchasing the concept gun: \"Prototype phase is finishing up, production mid-2016.\" Subsequent comments indicated that the concept was marketed at gun enthusiasts, not criminals: \"What you're seeing is a 3D model. Production will begin mid-summer. Planning to show the first prototype in May at the NRA show in Louisville!! STAY TUNED!\" IDEAL Conceal's website listed a projected price ($395) and a target market: \"Specializing in concealed weaponry, we aim to deliver a high-quality handgun that can be deployed very quickly for the defense of you or your family. The idea for Ideal Conceal follows the present-day demand for handguns that people can carry on a day-to-day basis, in a manner that makes carrying a gun easy to do. From soccer moms to professionals of every type, this gun allows you the option of not being a victim. Our mission is to promote security and public safety by designing and manufacturing innovative and unparalleled products engineered to protect...\" The unrivaled Ideal Conceal pistol is a carefully engineered double-barreled derringer, cunningly designed to look like a smartphone when folded up; one click of the safety and you're ready to go. This product is a defensive weapon designed with the utmost safety in mind. On 28 February 2016, de la Guerra posted an update about his original claim (but didn't delete the first one): \"Friday morning I posted some information I found in a foreign publication regarding a .380 double-barrel pistol designed to appear like a cell phone. As those of you who have followed me on FB for a while know, I regularly post information on dangerous items that can potentially cause harm to those in public safety. This is merely an extension of my work as a protective services instructor. Since I posted that last piece of information, the FB friend requests I have received have rapidly increased. And since I know none of these people, I can only assume that they took an interest in my post. In some cases, it appears that interest is of a negative context. To further clarify my position, I have taken the liberty of posting a FB message I received this morning (no names mentioned) and my associated response.\" The rumor strongly resembled earlier warnings about purported Super Soaker modifications as \"new gang trends,\" or a claim that gang members were removing lug nuts from officers' vehicles. All instances seemed to involve warnings rooted in things folks imagined criminals might be doing, rather than information about things that criminals actually were doing. IDEAL Conceal told us that the device was designed for officers (and others) to carry guns discreetly and legally, and that the manufacturers are strong supporters of law enforcement: \"Thanks so much for taking the time to contact us. We totally support law enforcement. Further, we would never promote or make a product for ambushing anyone, let alone police. In fact, we have received MANY requests from Law Enforcement to purchase this weapon for undercover and off-duty officers. This gun is for people who need or want to carry to protect themselves. Also, this pistol cannot be fired from the closed position as people assume. This is just an everyday type of conceal carry handgun. Also, it is not even on the market yet. It will come out mid-2016. Thanks again for contacting us. Hopefully, you can help correct this dreadful rumor.\" The gun's makers expressed support for both police and the National Rifle Association, and the stealth gun didn't appear to be in any way a covert criminal effort to get the jump on cops. Also, people reaching for actual phones and wallets have been shot by officers in the past, making the premise that carrying a phone-shaped gun in your pocket was an effective way to target police officers extremely shaky. However, cell phone guns were not unheard of before this. In the past fifteen years, various warnings have been sounded about guns disguised as phones (and other everyday objects), but this is the first time that they appear to have been marketed to mainstream gun enthusiasts in the United States.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ntqewCAQfRZaS06HKgU_p1Ncq2lKg9JE","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_971","claim":"Golf Club Gift","posted":"07\/20\/2007","sci_digest":["Legendary golfer is rewarded by a sultan with the gift of a golf club."],"justification":" Claim:  A legendary golfer is rewarded by a sultan with the gift of a golf club. LEGEND Examples:  [Osteen, 2004] Years ago, a famous golfer was invited by the king of Saudi Arabia to play in a golf tournament. He accepted the invitation, and the king flew his private jet over to the United States to pick up the pro. They played golf for several days, and enjoyed a good time. As the golfer was getting on the plane to return to the United States, the king stopped him and said, \"I want to give you a gift for coming all this way and making this time so special. Anything you want. What could I get you?\" Ever the gentleman, the golfer replied, \"Oh, please; don't get me anything. You've been a gracious host. I've had a wonderful time. I couldn't ask for anything more.\" The king was adamant. He said, \"No, I insist on giving you something so you will always remember your journey to our country.\" When the golfer realized that the king was resolute, he said, \"Okay, fine. I collect golf clubs. Why don't you give me a golf club?\" He boarded the plane, and on his flight back home, he couldn't help wondering what kind of golf club the king might give him. He imagined that it might be a solid gold putter with his name engraved on it. Or maybe it would be a sand wedge studded with diamonds and jewels. After all, this would be a gift from the oil-rich king of Saudi Arabia. When the golfer got home, he watched the mail and the delivery services every day, to see if his golf club had come yet. Finally, several weeks later, he received a certified letter from the king of Saudi Arabia. TheU.S. professional thought that rather strange. Where's my golf club? he wondered. He opened the envelope, and to his surprise, inside he discovered a deed to a five-hundred-acre golf course in America.  [Collected via e-mail, July 2006] I heard a rumor that Arnold Palmer was once asked by a Saudi king to come and play golf with him. Palmer wasn't sure if he should go, but his friends convinced him. As he was playing the king told him he wanted to give him a gift for coming to play with him. Palmer declined, but the king was persistent. Palmer said he could give him a golf club. The king said he would send it to him. After returning home Palmer got to wondering what the club would look like. Solid gold? Diamond studded? The package arrived, but it was not the size of a golf club. Palmer opened it and found the keys and a deed to a golf club (resort). Origins:  How old is old? This story about a wealthy patron and his gift of a golf club has been kicking around at least since 1949, when it appeared in Reader's Digest: Lowell Thomas tells about an explorer who brought an Indian maharajah some gifts which were unobtainable in Asia.  The grateful potentate wanted to reciprocate, and after much pleading he finally got the explorer to suggest: \"Oh, well, if in your travels around England you happen to find any golf clubs, buy a few for me.\" Later the maharajah reported: \"I've bought two golf clubs for you. Both have 18 holes, and one even has a swimming pool. But I have a disappointment for you. St. Andrews refuses to sell.\" Some urban legends are \"wish fulfillment\" tales, accounts wherein those who have acted in especially kindly or well-mannered ways are unexpectedly rewarded with expensive gifts by the well-heeled but previously unrecognized folks they'd assisted. One story of this sort tells of a good-hearted motorist who stops to  render aid to the occupants of a limousine that has broken down, and for his troubles the millionaire who was riding in that vehicle pays off the chap's mortgage. That hoary moral lesson on the value of being kind to others has been trotted out about many famous people (or their wives) over the years, including Donald Trump, Bill Gates, Mrs. Perry Como, and Mrs. Nat King Cole. mortgage The \"gift of a golf club\" story is another tale of this ilk, in which once again a beneficent wealthy person over-rewards for a service received, this time with a multi-million dollar piece of real estate rather than the far more mundane and less expensive item requested. Also worked into this yarn is a common belief about the mega-rich, that they live and spend on so different a plane from the rest of us that the term \"golf club\" would naturally prompt them to think in terms of clubhouses and greens, while their less financially fortunate counterparts would be mentally conjuring up putters and drivers. (Of course, since golf is played with a set of clubs, it would be rather unusual for a golfer to state that he'd like a club without specifying which one [e.g., a 3-wood, a 7-iron, a putter], a detail that would eliminate the ambiguity necessary for this legend to work.  Hence some versions, such as the first example quoted above, note that the golfer is also a \"collector\" of clubs and thus unconcerned about which single club his benefactor might provide him.) The \"golf club\" story is similar to a joke presented as a diary entry made by Bill Gates, a man often used in illustrative stories as verbal shortform for \"very wealthy person\" (in the same way Albert Einstein is used for \"very smart person\"). Says that bogus diary entry: \"Memo to self  Next time, when my wife says we need to buy china, she means dishes.\"  Barbara \"peking into the lives of the rich and famous\" Mikkelson Last updated:  9 October 2013    Fun Fare: A Treasury of Reader's Digest Wit and Humor.   Pleasantville, N.Y.: Reader's Digest Association Inc., 1949  (p. 230).","issues":["mortgage"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/www.michaellittlegolf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/rolling-green-golf-club-clubhouse-1-e1346947656746.jpg","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_972","claim":"Ode to the Welfare State","posted":"01\/08\/2012","sci_digest":["Rumor: Image shows an 'Ode to the Welfare State' published in a 1949 newspaper."],"justification":"Claim:  Image shows an \"Ode to the Welfare State\" published in a 1949 newspaper. Examples:  [Collected via e-mail, January 2012] Imagine. (62) years ago someone saw it coming.Now we have (50) million on welfare   Origins:  On 3 November 1949, President Harry Truman appeared in St. Paul, Minnesota, in conjunction with that state's Truman Day Celebration, and that evening he delivered an address to local residents on the subject of opposition to Democratic efforts to promote the general welfare, stating (in part): address We know that there will be more prosperity for all if all groups have a fair share of the wealth of the country. We know that the country will achieve economic stability and progress only if the benefits of our production are widely distributed among all its citizens. We believe that it is the Federal Government's obligation, under the Constitution, to promote the general welfare of all our people  and not just a privileged few. The policies we advocate are based on these convictions. We maintain that farmers, like businessmen, should receive a fair price for the products they sell. We maintain that workers are entitled to good wages and to equality of bargaining power with their employers. We believe that cooperatives and small business should have a fair opportunity to achieve success, and should not be smothered by monopolies. We hold that our great natural resources should be protected and developed for the benefit of all our people, and not exploited for private greed. We believe that old people and the disabled should have an assured income to keep them from being dependent on charity. We believe that families should have protection against loss of income resulting from accident, illness, or unemployment. We hold that our citizens should have decent housing at prices they can afford to pay. We believe in assuring educational opportunities for all our young people in order that we may have an enlightened citizenry. We believe in better health and medical care for everyone  not for just a few. We hold that all Americans are entitled to equal rights and equal opportunities under the law, and to equal participation in our national life, free from fear and discrimination. Now, my friends, these are the policies that spell the progress for all our people. President Truman's remarks ostensibly prompted the New York Daily News to dub his address a \"pie-for-everybody\" speech and publish the following \"Ode to a Welfare State\" in response: Father, must I go to work?  No, my lucky sonWe're living on Easy Street  On dough from Washington  We've left it up to Uncle Sam,  So don't get exercisedNobody has to give a damn   We've all been subsidized  But if Sam treats us all so well  And feeds us milk and honeyPlease, daddy, tell me what the hell  He's going to use for money  Don't worry, bub, there's not a hitch  In this here noble plan He simply soaks the filthy rich  And helps the common man  But father, won't there come a time  When they run out of cashAnd we have left them not a dime  When things will go to smash?  My faith in you is shrinking, son,  You nosy little brat;You do too damn much thinking, son  To be a Democrat. As often happens with many popular political items even in today's era of the Internet, the \"Ode to a Welfare State\" poem gained currency in late 1949\/early 1950 as it was republished in various newspapers across the country, sometimes as an editorial piece and sometimes through reader submission.  For example, it turned up in the Hagerstown, Maryland, Morning Herald on 20 December 1949:  As another example, the ode was submitted to the Los Angeles Times    Last updated:  9 February 2015 ","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1j0b2i6Mp_8Fe1cQ_LMyvV6HCY57WcU0D","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1QC2XIAT5BSnIOW_rD_gwCnNf26kjBn-n","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1QWnj5B2kSXpL_ilsNNouIsn-aa3eul_e","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_973","claim":"Did Pence Deliver Empty PPE Boxes to a Rehabilitation Center?","posted":"05\/08\/2020","sci_digest":["The vice president had made a joke about carrying an empty box for the news cameras."],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease. \n\nIn May 2020, a video supposedly showing Vice President Mike Pence delivering empty boxes that were supposed to be filled with personal protective equipment (PPE) to the Woodbine Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center in Alexandria, Virginia, was featured on the show \"Jimmy Kimmel Live.\" A clip of this segment was later shared on social media along with the caption: \"Mike Pence caught on hot mic delivering empty boxes of PPE for a PR stunt.\" This is genuine footage of Pence. However, it does not show him \"caught on hot mic\" admitting that he just delivered a bunch of empty boxes to a health care facility. This video actually shows Pence making a humorous quip after delivering boxes that were truly filled with PPE. \n\nThe full video from C-Span shows Pence transporting several boxes from a truck to the door of the health care center. After unloading the boxes from his dolly, Pence returns to the truck to grab another round of boxes but is informed by someone that the remaining boxes are empty. Pence then jokes that he should carry one of the empty boxes for the cameras. The man replies with a quip of his own, saying that the empty ones are much easier to carry than the full ones, which draws laughter from the crowd. Pence then closes the van door. You can see this exchange around the 9-minute mark of the following video from C-Span: https:\/\/www.c-span.org\/video\/?471876-1\/vice-president-pence-delivers-ppe-woodbine-rehabilitation-center. \n\nWe reached out to the Woodbine Rehabilitation Center to confirm that it had received PPE from the vice president. While we have yet to receive a response, the facility did post a message on Facebook to thank Pence and his team. Jon Thompson, a spokesperson for the vice president, called the claim that Pence was delivering empty boxes \"absolute garbage\" in a tweet. Coleman, Justine. \"Pence Delivers PPE to Alexandria Nursing Home.\" The Hill. 7 May 2020. C-Span. \"Vice President Pence Delivers PPE to Woodbine Rehabilitation Center.\" 7 May 2020.","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=13tmFpf7lnzr6e0Oo3axXevQ8zvfnXXvD","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1vxDpdTg7R-hkEtmGA24vH0KYgGkqLyXR","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_974","claim":"People haven't had a raise -- 90 percent of Americans have not had a raise for 40 years.","posted":"10\/16\/2019","sci_digest":[],"justification":"San Francisco hedge fund billionaire Tom Steyer is perhaps best known for his TV ads calling for President Trumps impeachment. At his first debate appearance as a Democratic presidential candidate last night in Ohio, Steyer repeated his call to remove what he termed the criminal in the White House. But he also railed against income inequality, leading fellow Democratic contender Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar to quip: ... no one on this stage wants to protect billionaires. Not even the billionaire wants to protect billionaires. Steyers claim that caught our attention was that the vast majority of Americans havent received a raise for decades. I would undo every Republican tax cut for rich people and major corporations, Steyer promised. But there's something else going on here that is absolutely shameful, and that's the way the money gets split up in terms of earnings. As a result of taking away the rights of working people and organized labor, people haven't had a raise -- 90 percent of Americans have not had a raise for 40 years. Was his claim about raises accurate? We set out on a fact check. PolitiFacts analysis We turned toPolitiFacts analysisin April of a similar claim made by Democratic presidential contender and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Well place a rating on Steyers claim based on what PolitiFact found. Since 1973, the income of the bottom 90 percent, so pretty much all of us, didnt budge, or even retreated a little bit, Buttigieg claimed. PolitiFact investigated whether income levels for most people -- adjusted for inflation, which economists consider a necessity for such comparisons -- havent increased since 1973. It found that income levels have actually risen beyond inflation during that period, but the share of income taken by the bottom 90 percent hews pretty closely to what Buttigieg said. It rated the mayors claim Half True, meaning it is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context. CBO data shows income growth In its fact check, PolitiFact revieweddata from the Congressional Budget Office, the nonpartisan number-crunching arm of Congress, covering 1979 to 2015, most of the period in question. The figures CBO used were adjusted for inflation and federal taxes, but not for state and local taxes. They showed income growth for people in four different economic ranges: the lowest 20 percent of the income distribution, the middle 60 percent, the 81st percentile to the 99th percentile, and the top 1 percent. They didnt mirror Buttigiegs precise parameters, but economists said they are useful for showing whether the mayor was broadly right or not, PolitiFact reported. Heres a chart showing the CBO data:  The top 1 percent, in red, has the most unique and most impressive growth. The other income groups show positive but much slower growth, after adjusting for inflation. This undercuts Buttigiegs assertion that for most people, income didnt budge, or even retreated a little bit, since the 1970s, PolitiFact said. Other data supports the claims by Buttigieg and Steyer. Inflation-adjustedfigures from the Economic Policy Institute, for example, show clear wage stagnation for the bottom 60 percent of the income scale. The rate did go up for the 70 and 80 percent levels, which means the 90 percent figure would be a bit exaggerated. PolitiFact also cited theWorld Inequality Database. It shows the bottom 50 percent and the next 40 percent -- essentially the 90 percent that Buttigieg cited -- have taken declining shares of the nations income since 1973. By contrast, both the top 10 percent and the top 1 percent have seen their shares grow. When we asked Steyers campaign for evidence supporting his claim, it pointed to anAugust report by the Pew Research Center. It found todays real average wage, defined as the wage after accounting for inflation, has had some ups and downs, but has about the same purchasing power it did 40 years ago. And what wage gains there have been have mostly flowed to the highest-paid tier of workers. Our ruling Tom Steyer claimed at the Democratic presidential debate in Ohio that, People haven't had a raise -- 90 percent of Americans have not had a raise for 40 years. PolitiFact in Aprilfact-checkeda similar claim by South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg: Since 1973, the income of the bottom 90 percent, so pretty much all of us, didnt budge, or even retreated a little bit. It found that income for every group, as calculated by the Congressional Budget Office, has actually increased beyond the rate of inflation since the 1970s. However, another measurement -- the share of income taken by the bottom 90 percent -- has indeed declined since 1973. It rated the mayors claim Half True. We agreed with PolitiFacts assessment and rated Steyers claim Half True, as well. HALF TRUE The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context. Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.","issues":["Economy","Income","Jobs","Wealth","California"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Idt8pExSry1W8gcAfNWux4uW1xISDoHb","image_caption":"I would undo every Republican tax cut for rich people and major corporations, Steyer promised. But there's something else going on here that is absolutely shameful, and that's the way the money gets split up in terms of earnings. As a result of taking away the rights of working people and organized labor, people haven't had a raise -- 90 percent of Americans have not had a raise for 40 years."}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_975","claim":"Is Only 9% of the American Rescue Plan Related to COVID-19?","posted":"03\/12\/2021","sci_digest":["That percent doesn't include items like the $1,400 stimulus checks aimed at providing relief to those impacted by COVID-19. "],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease.  fighting Find out Read Submit Become a Founding Member CDC WHO On March 11, 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion stimulus package to provide relief to Americans who have been struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the days leading up to this bill's passage, a number of Republican lawmakers and pundits criticized the bill, arguing that only 9% of the relief package had anything to do with COVID-19.  signed Conservative author Melisa Tate, for example, wrote on Twitter that the bill \"only gives 9% to the American people\" while the rest went to politicians and their cronies. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said that she voted against the \"COVID relief\" bill because \"only 9% of this bill is COVID-related\" while \"the rest is allocated to liberal pet projects and blue state bailouts.\" Twitter voted against   The claim that only 9% of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan is going to COVID relief is largely false. The vast majority of this bill will provide financial relief to people, businesses, and governments who have struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The argument that only 9% of the measure will go to COVID relief appears to be an exaggeration of the fact that the American Rescue Plan will provide approximately $160 billion (about 8.5% of the total) for testing, protective gear, vaccine production and distribution, and other measures to directly combat the virus. $160 billion (about 8.5% of the total) for testing While it's true that only about 9% of this bill goes to fighting the virus directly, that figure does not include the vast majority of funds aimed at providing financial relief to those who have struggled through the pandemic. For example, the 9% does not include the most famous part of the American Rescue Plan, the $1,400 stimulus checks for individuals, which is expected to amount to around $400 billion (or about 21% of the total). This 9% figure also doesn't account for items such as unemployment insurance, a child tax care credit, funding for schools to re-open, rent assistance, and other measures aimed at providing relief to Americans.  $400 billion account for items Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, told NPR that there were two parts to the American Rescue Plan. The first dealt with combating COVID directly, while the second aimed at dealing with the financial crisis that resulted from the pandemic: NPR \"There are really two pieces to this bill. One is directly related to the health crisis, but the other, and the larger piece, is related to the economic crisis that the health crisis has created.\" The vast majority of the American Rescue Plan is concerned with providing relief to people, businesses, and governments that have suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, about $300 billion (or 15% of the bill) \"is spent on long-standing policy priorities that are not directly related to the current crisis.\" In other words, about 85% of the bill is related specifically to the impacts of COVID-19.  Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget In short: The American Rescue Plan is a multi-faceted, $1.9 trillion to bill that provides financial relief to those struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic. While it's true that only 9% of this funding will be used to directly combat the virus (via vaccine distribution and other health measures), this bill provides relief to Americans in several other ways. The $1,400 COVID-19 relief checks, for example, account for more than 20% of this $1.9 trillion bill. ","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1qKWXepLWAC8o1TWmp1WxdTfLffSDTYFP","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_976","claim":"Did President Trump Share a Photo of a 'Bikers for Trump' Member with a Nazi Tattoo?","posted":"08\/13\/2018","sci_digest":["President Trump may have greeted the 'Bikers for Trump' at one of his golf courses, but he didn't tweet a photograph of one of them bearing an 'SS' tattoo."],"justification":"On 11 August 2018, President Trump welcomed members of the \"Bikers for Trump\" group to the Trump National Golf Course in Bedminster, New Jersey. Shortly afterwards a supposed tweet from President Trump featuring an image of one of the \"Bikers for Trump\" bearing an apparent Nazi 'SS' tattoo started making its way around online: welcomed online   The text shown above was taken from a tweet posted by President Trump, but that tweet did not include the photograph seen above. The President posted four photographs from the Bedminster event, none of which (as far as we can tell) prominently featured a biker with a Nazi tattoo on his arm. Here's a screenshot of President Trump's actual tweet: actual tweet   The biker photograph itself was snapped by Lauren Hudgins at the right-wing \"Patriot Prayer\" rally held in Portland, Oregon, a week before Trump's Bedminster event: Patriot Prayer This is one of the dudes I saw today at the #PatriotPrayer rally with just straight up Nazi tattoos. pic.twitter.com\/hI5nMiizqr #PatriotPrayer pic.twitter.com\/hI5nMiizqr  Lauren Hudgins (@lehudgins) August 5, 2018 August 5, 2018  It's unknown exactly who first combined President Trump's tweet with the photograph of the \"Bikers for Trump\" member bearing the apparent Nazi tattoo, but that idea was suggested by Twitter user @ASchmalbert shortly after Trump posted his message about the bikers' visit to Bedminster (although that suggestion did not state that the resulting mash-up should necessarily be cast as something the President himself had tweeted in its entirety):   The pictured tattoo appears to be an SS Bolt, a white supremacist symbol derived from Schutzstaffel (SS) paramilitary organization in Nazi Germany. (Some social media users offered that the tattooed \"SS\" was just the latter part of a larger tattoo showing the KISS rock band's somewhat similar logo. This argument doesn't appear to be valid, however, as the SS symbol in the biker's photograph does not appear to be preceded by the letter \"I.\") symbol The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) noted that while SS Bolts are symbols commonly used by white supremacists and neo-Nazis, it's difficult to determine a user's intent based solely on a picture: noted The SS bolts are typically used as a symbol of white supremacy, but there is one context in which this is not necessarily always so. Decades ago, some outlaw biker gangs appropriated several Nazi-related symbols, including the SS bolts, essentially as shock symbols or symbols of rebellion or non-conformity. Thus SS bolts in the context of the outlaw biker subculture does not necessarily denote actual adherence to white supremacy. However, because there are a number of racists and full-blown white supremacists within the outlaw biker subculture, sometimes it actually is used as a symbol of white supremacy. Often the intended use and meaning of the SS bolts in this context is quite ambiguous and difficult to determine. The photograph of the \"Bikers for Trump\" member with an 'SS' tattoo on his arm was taken in Portland, Oregon, during a \"Patriot Prayer\" rally. That photograph was not shared by President Trump, nor did any other information suggest the same person was in attendance at the 'Bikers for Trump' rally in Bedminster, New Jersey. Stanglin, Doug.  \"Portland Protests: Police Use 'Flash Bangs' at Right-Wing Rally That Drew Counterprotesters.\"\r  USA Today.  4 August 2018. My Central Jersey.  \"Bikers for Trump Meet with President in Bedminster.\"\r  12 August 2018. ADL.  \"SS Bolts.\"\r  Retrieved 13 August 2018.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=19E6NgJfhxwSAVxo7Iwaoi2h8EwCnLuYO","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=16RIILacsNWGL-Z6pVm5Hp-MokrrExVot","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1HyB03NmOVn1La9nVVnWadGHx0oI96K17","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_977","claim":"John McCain's description of 'Rich'","posted":"09\/13\/2008","sci_digest":["Did John McCain say he would define the income level that divides the middle class from the rich as $5 million?"],"justification":"Claim: John McCain said he would define the income level that divides the middle class from the rich as $5 million. Example: [Collected via e-mail, September 2008] I have heard many times that John McCain said (paraphrasing his comment, I'm sure) that the middle class includes people who make under $5 million. I am trying to find that in print to forward to relatives who say it is untrue. Origins: On August 16, 2008, presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain made back-to-back appearances at the Presidential Candidates Forum held at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, where they responded to questions posed by Pastor Rick Warren. During that forum, Pastor Warren asked both candidates to define \"rich\" for the purposes of taxation (although, since the candidates appeared separately, the question was not posed to both of them with the same wording). To Democratic candidate Barack Obama, Pastor Warren said: \"OK. Taxes, this is a real simple question. Define rich. I mean give me a number. Is it $50,000, $100,000, $200,000? Everybody keeps talking about who we're going to tax. How can you define that?\" Senator Obama didn't quite answer the question directly, stating that an income level of less than $150,000 per year was middle class and that his tax plan would call for a \"modest increase\" in taxes for those making more than $250,000 per year: \"Look, here's how I think about it. And this is reflected in my tax plan. If you are making $150,000 a year or less as a family, then you're middle class or you may be poor. But $150,000 down, you're basically middle class; it obviously depends on the region where you're living. I would argue that if you're making more than $250,000, then you're in the top three percent, four percent of this country. You're doing well. Now, these things are all relative. And I'm not suggesting that everybody making over $250,000 is living on easy street. But the question that I think we have to ask ourselves is, if we believe in good schools, if we believe in good roads, if we want to make sure that kids can go to college, if we don't want to leave a mountain of debt for the next generation, then we've got to pay for these things; they don't come for free, and it is irresponsible. I believe it is irresponsible intergenerationally for us to invest or for us to spend $10 billion a month on a war and not have a way of paying for it. That, I think, is unacceptable. So nobody likes to pay taxes. I haven't sold 25 million books, but I've been selling some books lately, and so I write a pretty big check to Uncle Sam. Nobody likes it. What I can say is that under the approach I'm taking, if you make $150,000 or less, you will see a tax cut. If you're making $250,000 a year or more, you're going to see a modest increase. What I'm trying to do is create a sense of balance and fairness in our tax code. One thing I think we can all agree on is that it should be simpler so that you don't have all these loopholes and big stacks of stuff that you've got to comb through, which wastes a huge amount of money and allows special interests to take advantage of things that ordinary people cannot take advantage of. To Republican candidate John McCain, Pastor Warren said: \"Ok, on taxes, define 'rich.' Everybody talks about taxing the rich, but not the poor, the middle class. At what point\u2014give me a number, give me a specific number\u2014do you move from middle class to rich? Is it $100,000, is it $50,000, is it $200,000? How does anybody know if we don't know what the standards are?\" Senator McCain responded by stating that he didn't think \"rich\" should be solely defined by income level and that the question was moot because he wanted to cut spending rather than increase taxes on the rich; along the way, he mentioned an income level of $5 million (immediately noting that \"I'm sure that comment will be distorted\"): \"Some of the richest people I've ever known in my life are the most unhappy. I think that rich should be defined by a home, a good job, an education, and the ability to hand to our children a more prosperous and safer world than the one that we inherited. I don't want to take any money from the rich; I want everybody to get rich. I don't believe in class warfare or redistribution of wealth. But I can tell you, for example, there are small businessmen and women who are working 16 hours a day, seven days a week that some people would classify as 'rich,' my friends, and want to raise their taxes and want to raise their payroll taxes. Let's keep taxes low. Let's give every family in America a $7,000 tax credit for every child they have. Let's give them a $5,000 refundable tax credit to go out and get the health insurance of their choice. Let's not have the government take over the health care system in America. So, I think if you are just talking about income, how about $5 million? But seriously, I don't think you can\u2014I don't think seriously that\u2014the point I'm trying to make here, seriously\u2014and I'm sure that comment will be distorted\u2014but the point is that we want to keep people's taxes low and increase revenues. And, my friend, it was not taxes that mattered in America in the last several years. It was spending. Spending got completely out of control. We spent money in a way that mortgaged our kids' futures.\" Although this item is \"true\" in the strictly literal sense that John McCain did make the remark attributed to him, how much importance to place upon it is a subjective issue. Predictably, Democrats painted Senator McCain's remarks as indicative of his being out of touch with ordinary Americans and desirous of giving tax breaks to the rich, while the McCain campaign dismissed the candidate's statement as an obvious joke. Meanwhile, economists asked to comment on the issue observed that the definition of \"rich\" is a murky one, and that the dividing line between \"poor\" and \"middle class\" (rather than between \"middle class\" and \"rich\") is probably the more significant one. Economists said in interviews that neither candidate was wrong because there are no agreed-upon definitions for the terms that describe income segments. \"To be fair to both of them, 'rich' is an adjective,\" said James P. Smith, a senior economist at the Rand Corp., a nonpartisan think tank in Santa Monica. \"Economic science is not going to tell you that 'this' is the cutoff point.\" Yet the $5 million level, Smith said, includes \"almost nobody.\" Experts said that of all the households in the nation, fewer than one-tenth of 1% had an annual income of $5 million or more. Ken Goldstein, an economist for the Conference Board, a business-research group based in New York, said he would define rich as income of about $500,000 or more. \"If you set the bar at half a million, you're talking about the top 1% of taxpayers. If you think about the last eight years, those are the folks who have benefited the most.\" Other economists said they would have gone with a lower figure. Even the moderator who asked the question of the candidates, Pastor Rick Warren of Orange County's Saddleback Church, did not seem to anticipate a reply beyond the lower six figures, urging each man to \"give me a specific number ... is it $100,000, is it $50,000, is it $200,000?\" Most ordinary Americans tend to massage the definitions of such terms in an attempt to crowd themselves into what many consider the least offensive category. \"If you do surveys, 95% of people think they are middle class,\" said Len Burman, director of the Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan group that has analyzed the candidates' tax proposals. \"This includes people who are objectively quite poor and people who are objectively quite rich.\" Burman added: \"I guess it says something nice about America that rich people don't want to act like they're better than anybody else and poor people don't like complaining about how tough it is to pay their bills.\" Economists tend to spend more time debating the definition of poor, in large part because that cutoff has consequences for an array of social programs designed to assist those whose incomes fall below the poverty line. Last updated: September 13, 2008. Sources: Miller, Greg. \"Who's Rich? McCain and Obama Have Very Different Definitions.\" Los Angeles Times. August 18, 2008. Montopoli, Brian. \"DNC Looks to Exploit McCain's '$5 Million' Comment.\" CBSNews.com. August 19, 2008. Reuters. \"Obama Rips McCain for $5 Million 'Rich' Definition.\" August 18, 2008.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_978","claim":"Americas hard-working agricultural producers  have taken a disproportionate hit when it comes to illegal retaliatory tariffs.","posted":"08\/09\/2018","sci_digest":[],"justification":"As President Donald Trumpstrade warwages on, we decided to check in on the most affected sectors. U.S. Agriculture Department Secretary Sonny Perdue said farmers, who will receive $12 billion in aid, were particularly affected by the dispute. Americas hard-working agricultural producers have been treated unfairly by Chinas illegal trading practices and have taken a disproportionate hit when it comes to illegal retaliatory tariffs, Perdue said in a USDApress releaseon July 26. Well leave aside the question of whether the retaliatory tariffs are any more illegal than the initial U.S. tariffs on imports. But we were interested in the second half of his claim: Have agricultural producers taken a disproportionate hit? The Agriculture Department pointed out that 37 percent of U.S. exports facing retaliatory tariffs are agricultural exports. Those are the tariffs as of July 31, 2018 coming from China, the European Union, India, Turkey, Mexico and Canada. Thats disproportionate to the total goods the United State exports: about 10 percent are agricultural goods, according to the USDAs 2017 data. Its hard to measure the exact numbers, though. Thats because tariffs are listed individually by the governments that issue them (in this case, not the United States), and because the United States doesnt keep close tabs on exports. USDA calculated the 37 percent figure using official import customs data from the retaliating partner through a private third party, Global Trade Atlas. Export data is notoriously bad, Laura Baughman, president of the Trade Partnership, told us in July. Its inaccurate because people dont necessarily report it very carefully, since you are not assessing tariffs on exports. However, the agricultural industry is on average much more dependent on world markets than other industries, according to David Laborde, a senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute. Exports comprise 10 percent of total GDP in the United States, whereas they comprise about 20 percent of GDP in the American agricultural sector. That fraction iseven higherfor crops like cotton (76 percent is exported), soybeans (50 percent) and wheat (46 percent), according to USDA. About 16 to 17 percent of exports to China are agricultural goods, so any conflict with China (like the ongoing one) takes a heavy toll on agriculture, Laborde said. He calculated that 86.8 percent of agricultural exports to China are impacted by retaliatory tariffs while 36.9 percent of the non-agricultural exports are covered. Farmers face two additional aggravators: their products are easily replaceable and theyre an easy political target. One ton of U.S. soybeans is a nearly perfect substitute to one ton of Brazilian soybeans, Laborde pointed out. But high-tech medical equipment (another type of products exported to China) is difficult to substitute, so Chinese consumers are more willing to endure the tariff. And from a political economy point of view, Laborde said it made sense for China to maintain pressure on farmers in particular, as a core constituency for the Trump administration. Perdue said, Americas hard-working agricultural producers  have taken a disproportionate hit when it comes to illegal retaliatory tariffs. Its difficult to measure the impact of tariffs on the economy and particularly hard to measure the impact of retaliatory tariffs on exports. That said, the economy sets up agricultural producers to bear the brunt of tariffs. Exports are doubly important for the agricultural sectors GDP as for the countrys GDP. USDA calculated that 37 percent of exports facing tariffs are agricultural goods, whereas agricultural goods comprise 10 percent of total exports. We rate this statement Mostly True.","issues":["Agriculture","National","Trade"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_979","claim":"Is the GoFundMe Campaign of Catherine Elizabeth Clennan genuine?","posted":"12\/28\/2016","sci_digest":["Social media users mocked what appeared to be a sincere (if tone-deaf) GoFundMe plea from Catherine Clennan, but the campaign resembled a publicity hoax."],"justification":"On 23 December 2016, a woman identifying herself as Catherine Elizabeth Clennan created a GoFundMe campaign destined for viral attention, in which she asked donors to supply her with US$5,000,000 in order to fulfill her \"lifelong dream\" (of having five million dollars). Clennan's bid for money stated that at 27, she dreamed of one day being independent of her family who \"pay for everything\" for her. Although she said that she hoped to raise $2,000,000 to buy a home in California, the campaign's goal was set at more than twice that amount: My name is Catherine Elizabeth Clennan and my whole life I have been trying to live by other's definitions of who I 'should be'. I have been trying so hard to live this lie that I came face to face with a choice: either live as others definitions of you and die OR strike out on your own and find for yourself who you really are. Well I chose life. I chose to live by my own definition ... With this choice I am in the process of turning my life in a new direction. Currently I live in Laramie, Wyoming. in a property owned by my family. They pay everything for me - and I am 27 years old. I feel that as long as I live by their definition I am 'taken care of', but this definition is leading me to deaths door - it forces me to live a lie - to turn my back to who I really am; a free spirit, an artist, a woman, a lesbian, a civil rights activist, a woman who goes against the grain, a woman who knows that not everything is as it seems. I need $2,000,000 dollars to purchase my dream home in California. I need the money to help me walk out of the lie that I am living, but more importantly I need the money to live my dream - which is to live as much as my life in the spiritual dimension as possible. The money will go towards the purchase of a new home, new transportation, and the various fees and taxes that accumulate with a move across the country. These funds will help me live the life that I feel I am meant to live, the life I want to live - the life defined not by other people - but by me. These funds will help me break free from the tyranny of what other people think is 'right'. The 'right' job, the 'right' education, the 'right' way to earn a living...   Although GoFundMe marked the campaign as \"trending\" as of 28 December 2016, Clennan had only received $21 of that goal on that date:   Although she has not indicated that her campaign is a hoax or prank (and GoFundMe has not flagged or removed it), Clennan does not appear to have much of an online footprint other than this campaign, aside from a LinkedIn profile and what may be a Huffington Post contribution (which as of April 2016 indicated she was an active student). That single article led some social media users to claim Clennan worked for the Huffington Post, but it looked as if she had submitted only one piece as a contributor. LinkedIn contribution In that article, Clennan expressed a desire to \"be a public figure\": Exposing my vulnerabilities publicly and confidently gave that girl the strength she needed to participate. Thats when I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life  I want to use computer science to inspire other women to explore computer science. I want to be a public figure in computer science that is the exact opposite of what you would typically expect to find in the field. I want to be that girl who no one thought she could, who had all the odds against her, that everyone thought was dumb, and yet she becomes incredibly successful in computer science. Then I want to turn that success around and use it as a pedestal to expose every wound, every failure, every painful vulnerability I have, even with my hands trembling, Clennan invited potential donors to visit her Facebook page for more information, but few additional details were available there. It remains possible that her goal is genuine and presented honestly with no expectations that it would go over poorly or go viral, but also within the realm of possibility that the GoFundMe request was a step in her stated aim to become a public figure. Facebook Clennan, Catherine.  \"The Benefits Of Being A Dumb Girl In Computer Science.\"\r  Huffington Post.  12 April 2016.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1h5cMOzdClBBVhKr8_KNwzTM4K5VsLxZb"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_980","claim":"Harley Skim should be rephrased as \"Harley Skimmed through the document quickly.\"","posted":"06\/17\/2015","sci_digest":[""],"justification":"FACT CHECK: Is Harley Davidson repossessing paid-up motorcycles belonging to bikers involved in the Waco shootout? Claim: Harley Davidson has been repossessing paid-off motorcycles belonging to owners involved in a biker shootout in Waco, Texas. UNCONFIRMED Example: [Collected via e-mail, June 2015] Just read that Harley Davidson helps Waco PD to repossess motorcycles involved in the Twin Peaks incident even if they were not defaulting on their loan. Say it ain't so!!! Example: On 17 May 2015, several motorcycle clubs convened at a Waco, Texas, location of the Twin Peaks chain of restaurants. Violence erupted amid rival biker factions, leading to shootings that left nine attendees dead and eighteen more injured. A number of controversies stemmed from the deadly incident, such as conflicting eyewitness statements about what took place during the shootout, and one of those controversies involved the fate of motorcycles confiscated by police in the aftermath. Rumors circulated claiming that Harley Davidson and the Waco Police Department were in cahoots to seize and repossess the bikes of those present at the scene, regardless of whether the motorcycles were paid off or their registered owners were current on their payments. On 12 June 2015, the Waco Police Department seemingly addressed this scuttlebutt on their Facebook page, describing a rough inventory of motorcycles impounded and returned to date: We initially impounded 130 motorcycles and 91 other vehicles. As of June 10, 2015, 52 motorcycles and 47 vehicles have been released to the owners. In addition to those, 12 of the motorcycles and 3 of the other vehicles were released to the lienholders due to repossession. On 15 June 2015, a blog post claimed that manufacturer Harley Davidson had taken \"bikes that were paid up and sold them, claiming a default of loan for being involved in criminal activity in California.\" The blog's author pointed to language (either in Harley Davidson Financial Services contracts or a Department of Consumer Affairs guide to Repossession Practices) stipulating that the use of a vehicle during the commission of a crime (or suspected crime) was grounds for forfeiture, regardless of whether the loan was current at the time the vehicle was impounded. This morning, someone told me it happened to them. So I called Harley Davidson Financial Services and asked. I have indeed confirmed that Harley took bikes that were paid up and sold them, claiming a default of loan for being involved in criminal activity. This is a different state, but it's basically the same thing. Read the part in the contracts used by all Harley dealerships and other dealership loans about using the vehicle to engage in criminal activity: In some cases, you may not get your vehicle back at all. The legal owner can accelerate the maturity of your contract if: You provided false or misleading information on the credit application when buying the vehicle. You tried to avoid repossession by hiding the vehicle or taking it out of California. You destroyed, or threatened to destroy, the vehicle, or failed to take care of it. You committed, or threatened to commit, a criminal act of violence against the legal owner or anyone who tried to repossess the vehicle. You used the vehicle, or allowed it to be used, in a crime, and the vehicle was seized by a federal, state, or local authority. In general, police are required by law to provide notice of impounded vehicles to both the registered owners and all lienholders of those vehicles. Also, lienholders must typically provide police with a \"hold harmless\" affidavit and other evidence documenting that they are entitled to possession of a vehicle in order to claim it from police impound. Without additional information, it would be difficult to say definitively whether Harley Davidson Financial Services (HDFS) exercised any claims over bikes impounded after the Waco shootout. We attempted to contact HDFS to inquire about the issue but could reach only representatives waiting to talk to active account holders (not media contacts). It appears, though, that civil asset forfeiture (rather than lienholder repossession) is the likely fate of unreturned bikes impounded by Waco police. Three Waco Tribune articles examined whether motorcycles impounded at the scene would be taken from their owners for good. In an 18 May 2015 piece, the newspaper reported that owners might not be reunited with their motorcycles due to \"civil forfeiture procedures\": Even if the men bond out of jail, they likely won't be riding their motorcycles home. The motorcycles were confiscated as part of the massive law enforcement investigation, and sources say they likely will be seized and forfeited by McLennan County through civil forfeiture procedures and sold at auction. On 24 May 2015, the Waco Tribune published a far lengthier piece on the possibility that some of the bikes would be auctioned off. Titled \"Vehicle forfeiture efforts could be lucrative, but difficult in Twin Peaks shooting,\" that article provided local background regarding civil forfeiture practices for all cases in the district (dating back to at least 1989): It's possible some of the vehicles could be declared illegal contraband associated with a crime, and ownership transferred to the county through a process known as civil forfeiture. The collective value of the vehicles likely exceeds $1 million, assuming typical vehicle values. As of Friday afternoon, McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna had not filed any civil forfeiture notices with the McLennan County district clerk. Reyna declined through a spokesperson to discuss this or any other aspect of the Twin Peaks case. But Reyna is known for his aggressive pursuit of civil forfeiture, and defense attorneys are watching his moves in this case where so much property is at stake and so many owners are in jail. Yet another article published in the Waco Tribune, this one from 12 June 2015, quoted Waco Police Chief Brent Stroman, who provided an update regarding the then-current status of bikes that remained impounded. The paper again reported that some of the vehicles could be seized by police (not Harley Davidson) and sent to auction under extant civil asset forfeiture laws: A total of 130 motorcycles and 91 other vehicles were impounded from the scene that day, Stroman said, a number slightly above the original estimate. Of those, 52 motorcycles and 47 vehicles have been released to the owners, while 12 of the motorcycles and 3 of the other vehicles were released to the lienholders to be repossessed. Stroman said he did not know how many, if any, vehicles would be seized and put up for auction. Ultimately, it appeared to be true that some of the bikes remaining in police impound lots in June 2015 were fated to go to auction regardless of whether owners were current on payments at the time the bikes were seized. However, multiple local newspaper articles that covered the situation in depth described the potential repossessions as being within the scope of the Waco Police Department and not Harley Davidson Financial Services.","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1RgJj9V7uXRnO3hQjowjrGmr9XMtuLrPl"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1p4oDYoE3o3HAzu_Ha02J0Zs2LCpIbUWP"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_981","claim":"Austin is recognized as the safest major city in Texas, boasting an unemployment rate of less than 3% and winning the title of the top place to reside in the entire United States for two consecutive years.","posted":"04\/26\/2018","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Austin Mayor Steve Adler, who is seeking a second term this November, reacted to a game-show moment with a swaggering claim. In an April 25, 2018, tweet, Adler responded to a clue from that night's episode of Jeopardy: \"Per Rick Perry, it's the blueberry in the tomato soup.\" Perry, the Republican former governor, often offers the blueberry characterization of the Democrat-dominant capital. On the program, a contestant correctly answered \"Austin\" for $600. Next, Adler said in his tweet, accompanied by a photo of the Jeopardy clue: \"What is the safest big city in Texas with an unemployment rate under 3% that has been named the best place to live in the entire United States two years running?\" Is all of that true about Austin? Not entirely: In 2017, we found \"Half True\" an Adler reference to Austin as the state's safest big city. Not for the first time, we noted then that the FBI advises against using crime data it collects to declare one city safer than another. That said, such statistics at the time suggested that the five-county Austin region in 2015 had a lower violent crime rate than other Texas regions and that El Paso had a lower violent crime rate than Austin in the first half of 2016. Seeking the mayor's factual backup, the morning after Adler posted his comment, which was retweeted more than 200 times, we reached mayoral spokesman Jason Stanford. Stanford advised by phone that Adler didn't have fresh information to offer in support of his 2018 safest big city in Texas statement. He suggested we check federal statistics to confirm Austin's jobless rate and told us that U.S. News had consecutively named Austin the nation's best place to live. Checking Austin's unemployment, our search for Austin's jobless rate on the Texas Workforce Commission website showed that from January through March 2018, the latest month of available data, the city's jobless rate ran shy of 3 percent. We also fetched a longer view showing the city's jobless rate mostly staying below 3 percent from January 2017 on (all the rates not seasonally adjusted). Austin's unemployment rate was last above 3 percent, according to the TWC, when it was 3.1 percent in August 2017. The Austin rate's 15-month low, 2.5 percent, occurred in December 2017. SOURCE: Website, Unemployment, Texas Labor Market Information, Texas Workforce Commission (search completed April 26, 2018). Austin ranked best place to live two times in a row. On April 10, 2018, U.S. News announced that for the second straight year, the online publication found Austin the best place to live in the United States among the country's 125 largest metropolitan areas; Colorado Springs, Colo., placed second. The rankings were based on affordability, job prospects, and quality of life, U.S. News said, and on surveying thousands of U.S. residents to find out what qualities they consider important in a hometown. The methodology, U.S. News said, also factored in data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the FBI, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics\u2014plus U.S. News rankings of the country's high schools and hospitals. Austin, the self-proclaimed Live Music Capital of the Planet, earned a score of 7.7 out of 10 for the 2018 rankings, U.S. News said, with even its few downsides having upsides. The story states: \"The median sale price for a single-family home in Austin is well above the national median.\" Then again, the story notes, Austinites' pocketbooks benefit from no personal or corporate income tax and a low state and local tax rate. Another semi-warning in the story: \"Summers in Austin take some getting used to, with temperatures often scorching.\" Though, the story adds, the metro area experiences mild weather throughout the rest of the year, temperatures have been known to drop in the winter. The story also notes: \"Austin is among the nation's worst metro areas for traffic congestion.\" But, the story suggests, that can be addressed with flexible work schedules, due diligence when choosing a neighborhood, and, for those wanting to get in some exercise while commuting, using public transportation, walking, and biking. Our ruling: Adler referred to Austin as the safest big city in Texas with an unemployment rate under 3% that has been named the best place to live in the entire United States two years running. Hizzoner was right about Austin's jobless rate of late and Austin getting named the city's best place to live two years in a row, though it's worth clarifying that the rankings considered only the country's 125 largest metro areas. Whether Austin is the safest big Texas city rests on interpreting crime data the FBI counsels against using to compare communities. That said, we previously found that the five-county Austin region in 2015 had a lower violent crime rate than other Texas regions, while in the first half of 2016, El Paso had a lower violent crime rate than Austin. On balance, we rate this Adler claim Mostly True. MOSTLY TRUE: The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. Click here for more on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.","issues":["City Government","Economy","History","Crime","Texas"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=14JrkuhCI4H6tH9cxCnapA1-usns-faNc","image_caption":"SOURCE:"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_982","claim":"Is This Bill Clinton with Jeffrey Epstein?","posted":"07\/22\/2019","sci_digest":["Convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein had relationships with a number of high-profile people, including politicians. "],"justification":"On July 10, 2019, we examined a claim that Google was \"scrubbing\" its search results of any pictures showing President Bill Clinton together with convicted sex offender and billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein. While this rumor was false (Google's search results were not notably different from those of Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, Yandex, or Bing), we were left with one unanswered question: Are there any photos of Epstein and Clinton? After all, Clinton flew on Epstein's private plane, a convicted sex offender who was arrested again in July 2019 on new charges related to child sex prostitution. The two were also both present at a \"small dinner party\" in 1995 hosted by Revlon mogul Ron Perelman to raise funds for the Democratic National Convention. It seems reasonable to believe that someone at some point took a photograph of these two well-known public figures together. On July 22, 2019, Josh Rosner, the managing director of independent research consultancy Graham Fisher & Co, alerted us to his tweet containing a photograph of Epstein and Clinton that was published in a 2003 issue of Vanity Fair: Josh Rosner published, \"Disturbing! The #press wiped all pictures of @BillClinton & #JeffreyEpstein from the #internet. Even @VanityFair, which published this image in '03 from their #sex(?) trip to Brunei, scrubbed it.\" Again, no evidence exists that this image was \"wiped\" from the Internet. In fact, this image is available online in Vanity Fair's digital archive (subscription required). This photograph was published in a March 2003 article by Vicky Ward entitled, \"The Talented Mr. Epstein.\" The photograph's caption reads: \"Epstein with President Clinton in Brunei, 2002.\" One possible explanation for why this photograph doesn't appear in search engines is that Vanity Fair didn't publish it as a standalone image. Rather, it is embedded in a digital copy of the March 2003 edition of the magazine. While we're not in the business of offering predictions, we would bet that this image will start finding its way into Google Images and other image-based search engines in the near future, especially if more outlets pick up and publish stories including this image. Clinton is mentioned three other times in the Vanity Fair story; each iteration is reproduced below (emphasis ours): \"Lately, Jeffrey Epstein's high-flying style has been drawing oohs and aahs: the bachelor financier lives in New York's largest private residence, claims to take only billionaires as clients, and flies celebrities including Bill Clinton and Kevin Spacey on his Boeing 727. But pierce his air of mystery and the picture changes. Vicky Ward explores Epstein's investment career, his ties to retail magnate Leslie Wexner, and his complicated past. In addition to the town house, Epstein lives in what is reputed to be the largest private dwelling in New Mexico, on an $18 million, 7,500-acre ranch which he named 'Zorro.' 'It makes the town house look like a shack,' Epstein has said. He also owns Little St. James, a 70-acre island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where the main house is currently being renovated by Edward Tuttle, a designer of the Aman resorts. There is also a $6.8 million house in Palm Beach, Florida, and a fleet of aircraft: a Gulfstream IV, a helicopter, and a Boeing 727, replete with trading room, on which Epstein recently flew President Clinton, actors Chris Tucker and Kevin Spacey, supermarket magnate Ron Burkle, Lew Wasserman's grandson, Casey Wasserman, and a few others, on a mission to explore the problems of AIDS and economic development in Africa. Epstein is known about town as a man who loves women\u2014lots of them, mostly young. Model types have been heard saying they are full of gratitude to Epstein for flying them around, and he is a familiar face to many of the Victoria's Secret girls. One young woman recalls being summoned by Ghislaine Maxwell to a concert at Epstein's town house, where the women seemed to outnumber the men by far. 'These were not women you'd see at Upper East Side dinners,' the woman recalls. 'Many seemed foreign and dressed a little bizarrely.' This same guest also attended a cocktail party thrown by Maxwell that Prince Andrew attended, which was filled, she says, with young Russian models. 'Some of the guests were horrified,' the woman says. 'He's reckless,' says a former business associate, 'and he's gotten more so. Money does that to you. He's breaking the oath he made to himself\u2014that he would never do anything that would expose him in the media. Right now, in the wake of the publicity following his trip with Clinton, he must be in a very difficult place.' In 2002, around the time that this photograph was taken, Clinton told New York Magazine via a spokesperson that, 'Jeffrey is both a highly successful financier and a committed philanthropist with a keen sense of global markets and an in-depth knowledge of twenty-first-century science. I especially appreciated his insights and generosity during the recent trip to Africa to work on democratization, empowering the poor, citizen service, and combating H.I.V.\/AIDS.' Clinton once had a relationship with Epstein and even took multiple trips on his private plane. However, the former president said that he hasn't had contact with Epstein for a decade and knows nothing about the crimes the latter has been accused or convicted of. Clinton, of course, isn't the only high-profile politician connected to Epstein. U.S. President Donald Trump has also been photographed with Epstein.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1En3r1k-ryIe1nWjZ44ZXosi3RuGInxQo","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_983","claim":"We have the highest corporate tax rate in the world. Its 35 percent.","posted":"10\/09\/2011","sci_digest":[],"justification":"With unemployment remaining stubbornly high, U.S. Rep.Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., was asked what the federal government could do to create jobs.The suburban Milwaukee congressman, who was first elected to the House in 1979, didnt hesitate in replying.Weve got to address the fact that we have the highest corporate tax rate in the world, Sensenbrenner told the editorial board of theMilwaukee Journal Sentinelon Sept. 29, 2011. Its 35 percent.Sensenbrenner argued that if corporate taxes in the U.S. were lower than they are in other parts of the world, more U.S.-based multinational companies would repatriate their profits back to America, creating more jobs here.Its Sensenbrenners opinion that lowering the U.S. corporate tax rate would create jobs. We cant check an opinion.But we can check whether the rate is 35 percent and if it is the highest in the world.Sensenbrenners district director, Loni Hagerup, pointed to a 2011reportfrom theOrganization for Economic Corporation and Development, a Paris-based group of 34 large, industrialized democracies.The widely quoted report says the U.S. corporate tax rate is 35 percent, tops among the member countries.Next in line were France and Belgium (both 34 percent), and then Australia, Japan, Spain and Mexico (each 30 percent).Seems pretty straightforward. Sensenbrenner is right, right?Lets first look at two points:1. Combined corporate tax rateSome analysts, when comparing countries, use the Paris groups report but cite a different figure -- the combined corporate tax rate, rather than merely the corporate tax rate. The combined rate includes not only federal but also state tax rates for corporations. The combined corporate tax rate in the U.S. is 39.2 percent, which ranks second behind Japans 39.5 percent.But Sensenbrenner was asked what the federal government could do to create jobs, so the corporate tax rate -- not the combined rate -- is relevant here.2. Limitations of the corporate rateWe consulted experts at two Washington, D.C. research organizations --TaxFoundationpresidentScottHodgeandRoberton Williams, senior fellow at theTax Policy Center. Both said Sensenbrenner is correct in stating that the U.S. corporate tax rate is 35 percent and that the rate is the highest in the world, but they added some context to the discussion.Williams said the corporate tax rate is not a good measure of the taxes that corporations actually pay. While some corporations might pay the full 35 percent rate, many pay considerably less, depending on the types of investments they make, depreciation they take and other factors that reduce taxable income, he said.Hodge agreed. He added, however, that the effective federal tax rate (after deductions) that corporations pay is about 26 percent -- and that also is among the highest rates of all industrialized nations.Our conclusionAsked what the federal government could do to create jobs, Sensenbrenner said lower the corporate tax rate, which he said was 35 percent and the highest in the world. A widely quoted annual report says the U.S. corporate tax rate is 35 percent and is highest among 34 large, industrialized countries. Two experts agreed with the rate and the ranking.We rate Sensenbrenners claim True.","issues":["Corporations","Jobs","Taxes","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_984","claim":"Russian Flag at Texas State Capitol","posted":"12\/19\/2016","sci_digest":["A photograph showing a Russian flag on display at the Texas State Capitol has been shared widely without proper context."],"justification":"On 19 December 2016, a photograph purportedly showing a Russian flag on display at the Texas State Capitol was circulated on social media:  Many social media users shared the above-displayed photograph along with claims that it showed pro-Russian elements celebrating Donald Trump's election and insinuated that Russia had helped installed him as the next President of the United States. In fact, this image actually shows a group of demonstrators who were protesting Trump's election on the day Texas' electors met to cast their ballots for him, taken by a Texas Tribune photographer who goes by the handle @BobPhoto on Twitter: Russian flag flies at Texas Capitol prior to #ElectoralCollege @TexasTribune @bobphoto #txlege pic.twitter.com\/0pcYFoY3bA #ElectoralCollege @TexasTribune @bobphoto #txlege pic.twitter.com\/0pcYFoY3bA  bobphoto (@bobphoto) December 19, 2016 December 19, 2016  Guys with Russian flag in line House gallery #ElectoralCollege #txlege @TexasTribune @bobphoto pic.twitter.com\/PZ9YqtRdMj  bobphoto (@bobphoto) December 19, 2016 #ElectoralCollege #txlege @TexasTribune @bobphoto pic.twitter.com\/PZ9YqtRdMj December 19, 2016  Aliyya Swaby, another reporter for the Texas Tribune, added some more context to these photographs when she shared an image of the protesters outside of the capitol building: Joke contingent of pro-Russia supporters shows up to \"protect our investment\" and ensure electors vote Trump pic.twitter.com\/xuod4x3tWk pic.twitter.com\/xuod4x3tWk  Aliyya Swaby (@AliyyaSwaby) December 19, 2016 December 19, 2016  This display was not one celebrating Trump's alleged friendly relationship with Russia; it was a tongue-in-cheek message delivered by a group of protesters.","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1RZlk2QCbBLGfIBMIvULUGU6GRPKBJhV-","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_985","claim":"Fraudulent Promotion Offering Free Airline Tickets","posted":"02\/07\/2016","sci_digest":["Airlines are not giving away free tickets or spending money to Facebook users who share and like a page.  Those offers are a form of online scam."],"justification":"Scammers and malware purveyors are always looking for ways to entice online users into following web links that will lead those victims into the traps set for them, and offers of free airline tickets are prime bait in that pursuit of prey. Airline tickets are something nearly everyone uses and have considerable value, but their non-material nature and the fact that they're not tremendously expensive (compared to, say, a new car) makes it seem plausible to the public that they're something a business might actually be giving away for free as part of an advertising promotion. Virtually every major U.S. air carrier  including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, Emirates, United Airlines, US Airways, Continental Airlines, Alaska Airlines, WestJet Airlines, Allegiant Air, and Air Canada  has been invoked in various online \"free ticket\" giveaway scams in recent years: Air Canada The primary type of free ticket fraud is the \"sweepstakes scam,\" which is intended to lure victims into completing numerous surveys, disclosing a good deal of personal information, and then agreeing to sign up for costly, difficult-to-cancel \"Reward Offers\" hidden in the fine print. The scammers spread links via e-mail and Facebook that purport to offer free air travel tickets to those who follow those links. These web pages (which are not operated or sponsored by the airlines they reference) typically ask the unwary to click what appear to be Facebook \"share\" buttons and post comments to the scammer's site (which is really a ruse to dupe users into spreading the scam by sharing it with all of their Facebook friends). Those who follow such instructions are then led into a set of pages prompting them to input a fair amount of personal information (including name, age, address, and phone numbers), complete a lengthy series of surveys, and finally sign up (and commit to paying) for at least two \"Reward Offers\" (e.g., Netflix subscriptions, credit report monitoring services, prepaid credit cards): Pursuant to the Terms & Conditions, you are required to complete 2 of the Reward Offers from the above. You will need to meet all of the terms and conditions to qualify for the shipment of the reward. For credit card offers, you must activate your card by making a purchase, transferring a balance, or making a cash advance. For loan offers you must close and fund the loan. For home security and satellite tv offers you must have the product installed. You may not cancel your participation in more than a total of 2 Reward Offers within 30 days of any Reward Offer Sign-Up Date as outlined in the Terms & Conditions (the Cancellation Limit). Not only that, but the fine print on the \"free\" tickets offers typically states that by accepting its terms, the user agrees to receive telemarketing phone calls and text messages from a variety of different companies: Similar phony free ticket lures are used to spread malware. In those versions of the scam, those who attempt to reach the URL provided for the purpose of claiming the free tickets are instead victimized by a Facebook \"lifejacking\" attack, a malicious script that takes over a user's Facebook profile without their knowledge and propagates itself to their friends' accounts as well. lifejacking In short, those who seek \"free\" merchandise generally end up paying a dear cost for it.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1fut26t-CeLHktWmtuSmMKfzPGwsUv0bl"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1VGZWUCdzEZMLAwv4zy2__H-dlTHpVpro"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1A8KlEQX0dBMtJKa2fiANxHKb725FHmi1"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Fbo5UEbTHbsqOHUTQ0MmqP-EDuyijdc6"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_986","claim":"Does Walmart Sell Insulin for $25 a Vial Without a Prescription?","posted":"02\/07\/2019","sci_digest":["The question centers on a different type of insulin than most diabetics are currently prescribed."],"justification":"In early February 2019, amid continued public outcry over the soaring cost of life-saving pharmaceuticals, readers shared a screen-captured image on social media of a local news station's reporting on the story of a woman who said she bought inexpensive insulin without a prescription at Walmart: pharmaceuticals   Readers asked us whether this was true. It is true, although you should note Walmart sells human insulin, an older version of the glucose-moderating hormone, whereas most insulin-dependent diabetics are currently prescribed insulin analogs that have evolved to help prevent dangerous swings in blood-glucose levels. The screenshot above was taken from a 4 February 2019 news broadcast from DallasFort Worth television station KDFW: We confirmed with Walmart that the retail chain does indeed sell human insulin without a prescription (except in Indiana). That product is Novo Nordisk-manufactured Novolin, which Walmart has branded as ReliOn and sells for $24.88 per vial. Walmart spokeswoman Marilee McInnis confirmed to us that the company has \"maintained, through negotiation, the same retail to patients since 2011.\" To say that the insulin is sold \"over-the-counter\" isn't quite accurate, however, as customers must ask a pharmacist for it. Indiana Although this revelation might be important, life-saving information for diabetics, an important caveat is that human insulin behaves differently than the newer analog insulin currently retailing for more than $300 a vial. retailing Dr. Todd Hobbs, chief medical officer for Novo Nordisk, wrote that the different types of insulin have the same effect of lowering blood-glucose levels, but, \"Training is required whenever someone is prescribed insulin, whether that be human insulin or the newer analog insulin products. Differences in the timing of all types of insulin must be considered for patients to effectively use them ... The difference in the types of insulin is related to how slowly or rapidly they are absorbed once injected. Scientific advances over the years have made improvements on the speed and length of time this absorption occurs.\" wrote Diabetes Forecast, a health-oriented magazine associated with the American Diabetics Association, explained the history of the two types of insulin and the difference in health benefits this way: explained In the 1970s, researchers discovered how to program bacteria in the lab to manufacture human insulin, and in 1982, regular human insulin became the first recombinant DNA drug product. Its a very pure, clean product, and its exactly what we as humans make, [Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy associate professor and a spokesman for the American Association of Diabetes Educators Evan] Sisson says. Human insulin is now available as short-acting regular (or R) insulin, which is used at mealtimes, and intermediate-acting NPH (or N) insulin, which is used as a basal insulin ... While the development of human insulin was a major advancement, it wasnt perfect. Regular insulin didnt hit the bloodstream quick enough to cover the rapid absorption of carbohydrates after meals, and it stuck around too long after meals, causing hypoglycemia [low blood glucose, which can lead to unconsciousness and death if untreated]. In 1996, Eli Lilly introduced the first rapid-acting insulin analog to the market: insulin lispro (Humalog). Insulin aspart (Novo Nordisks Novolog) and insulin glulisine (Sanofis Apidra) quickly followed. With rapid-acting insulin analogs, onset occurs 10 to 20 minutes after injection, instead of the 30 to 60 minutes it takes for regular human insulin to take effect. This allows people to inject their insulin right before a meal, rather than having to dose 30 minutes or more before eating ... hypoglycemia Deliver a dose of NPH [human] insulin, and itll reach its peak about six to eight hours later. This means your insulin may peak while youre sleeping, posing a serious danger if you dont wake up to treat. Long-acting analogs, on the other hand, dont peak, resulting in more-stable blood glucose levels and fewer unexpected highs or lows. In fact, one study showed that long-acting analog insulin glargine reduced overnight bouts of hypoglycemia by up to 48 percent compared with NPH. In another study, detemir reduced nighttime hypoglycemia by 34 percent. This is especially beneficial for people with type 1, who need to be much more precise about matching insulin dosages with their insulin needs to avoid nighttime lows, says Sisson. Note, there are two types of diabetes. Type 1 diabetics' bodies cannot manufacture insulin, the hormone responsible for glucose absorption. Type 2 diabetics' bodies, on the other hand, become resistant to insulin. In most cases, Type 1 diabetes starts in childhood, whereas Type 2 is sometimes referred to as \"adult-onset\" diabetes. Writing for Insulin Nation, Nicki Nichols explained why the older form of human insulin is difficult to control in children: Insulin Nation When my child was first diagnosed, she was on NPH. It was incredibly difficult to limit a growing childs diet to such a strict schedule. Heres what it looked like: 8 a.m.- 45-carb meal10:30 a.m.  15-carb snack12 p.m.  45-carb meal2 p.m.  15-carb snack5 p.m.  45-carb meal7:30 p.m.  15-20 carb snack before bed to keep blood sugar up overnight. I cannot tell you how many times my child refused to eat the 45 carbs in her dinner. There is something wrong when you are fussing at your 5-year-old to stop eating her green beans and to eat her bread, or mashed potatoes, or pasta. The screen shot from the KDFW report no doubt went viral as a result of an ongoing controversy over the cost of analog insulin, which as of 7 February 2019 soared to a retail price of more than $300 per vial. Americans have been awash in medical horror stories such the death of Jesse Lutgen, a 32-year-old Type 1 diabetic who lost his job at a distribution center in Dubuque, Iowa, and with it, his health insurance. He was found dead in his home in February 2018, having run out of insulin. His last vials of the medication were given to him by a friend. soared Jesse Lutgen Hobbs, Todd, MD.  \"The Truth About Human Insulin.\"\r  Novo Nordisk.  29 November 2018. Tsai, Allison.  \"Can Switching from Analog to Human Insulin Save You Money?\"\r  Diabetes Forecast.  March 2017. Johnson, Carolyn Y.  \"Why Treating Diabetes Keeps Getting More Expensive.\"\r  The Washington Post.  31 October 2016. Nichols, Nicki.  \"Why Walmart Insulins Arent the Answer to High Insulin Prices.\"\r  Insulin Nation.  16 September 2016. Des Moines Register.  \"Iowa Man Loses Job, Health Insurance, Access to Insulin and His Life. When Will Congress Act?\"\r  6 February 2019.","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1qmKEU7L6-HPS24ZWxTZiQgW6cB4KcV3M","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_987","claim":"Dash Scam","posted":"08\/03\/2015","sci_digest":[""],"justification":"FACT CHECK: Did a leaked audio recording capture actress and Fox News contributor Stacey Dash admitting Fox News hired her to attract \"old, white dudes\" who are \"horny\"?      Claim: A recently leaked tape captured actress and Fox News contributor Stacey Dash admitting Fox News hired her to attract \"old, (horny) white dudes.\"          Example:   [Collected via Twitter, August 2015] https:\/\/t.co\/nN17nRrePh they know what we like #RaceWars #OpieRadio #SherrodsTwitterArmy #Sirius #SiriusXM #StandupLabs #NYC #redeye #fnc https:\/\/t.co\/nN17nRrePh #RaceWars #OpieRadio #SherrodsTwitterArmy #Sirius #SiriusXM #StandupLabs #NYC #redeye #fnc  Sherrod Small (@Sherrod_Small) August 3, 2015 August 3, 2015   Leaked Tapes Capture Stacey Dash Saying FOX Hired Her to Attract Horny, Old Men https:\/\/t.co\/6NZMgaOzn0 via @Mannyotiko https:\/\/t.co\/6NZMgaOzn0 @Mannyotiko  john osalvo (@jojokejohn) August 3, 2015 August 3, 2015   Leaked Tapes Capture Stacey Dash Saying FOX Hired Her to Attract Horny, OldMen https:\/\/t.co\/TWPYK3tKgp pic.twitter.com\/ebygMzv6TX https:\/\/t.co\/TWPYK3tKgp pic.twitter.com\/ebygMzv6TX  Manny Otiko (@Mannyotiko) August 1, 2015 August 1, 2015   Origins: On 1 August 2015, the web site The Business Standard News (tagline \"BS News, keeping it real\") published an article titled \"Leaked Tapes Capture Stacey Dash Saying FOX Hired Her to Attract Horny, Old Men.\" article It claimed \"conservative hero Stacey Dash\" (a Fox News contributor who previously appeared in the film Clueless) was \"just in it for the money,\" adding: The Business Standard News has acquired audio files of a conversation between Stacey Dash and her friend Rashika Johnson. Dash is heard on tape breaking down why she decided to come out as a conservative. Girl, its all about getting paid, Dash said. Im in my 40s going up against bitches half my age for roles. It was getting tough. This conservative gig is about cash money. I got a mortgage and kids to put through college. They hired me because I make old, white dudes horny, Dash told her friend. Take a look at the other women on FOX News, they all look like models. Hell, I get emails from old white men in the South, saying they never thought of f**king a black woman until they saw me. Ann Coulter told me there is good money to be made selling lame books to dumb rednecks, Dash said. Like her, I dont believe half the crap I say. Im an actress, give me a script and Ill give you a performance. However, The Business Standard News features the following disclaimer on its site, indicating its content (including the claim about Stacey Dash) is not intended to be taken seriously: disclaimer The Business Standard News is a satirical site designed to poke fun at the absurdity of the modern-day news cycle. The stories are outlandish, but reality is so strange nowadays they could be true.   In addition to the article about Stacey Dash, The Business Standard News featured similarly fabricated and \"outlandish\" pieces including \"FOX News Hires Ex-Porn Star Jenna Jameson as Pundit,\" \"GOP Serves Fried Chicken, Watermelon to Black Conservative Group,\" and \"Bill Cosby Loses His Illuminati Membership, Parking Rights.\" Last updated:  3 August 2015 Originally published:  3 August 2015","issues":["mortgage"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_988","claim":"Says Donald Trump has outlined policies that read like a Kremlin wish list.","posted":"09\/22\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Concerned by Donald Trump's secrecy about his dealings with other countries, 55 former government, military and national security officials  Democrats and some Republicans  havesigned a letterurging him to reveal his international business relationships and foreign investments, and to pledge to divest himself of all overseas business interests if he wins the presidency. The letter was drafted in part by Michael Morell, former acting director and deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency. It says that the limited amount of information available to the public  Trump has refused to release his tax returns  suggests business relationships that would be problematic and might influence his policy positions as president, particularly when it comes to Russia. On the campaign trail, Mr. Trump has repeatedly praised Vladimir Putins authoritarian leadership, while outlining policies that read like a Kremlin wish list. He has claimed that Putin would never invade Ukraine, suggested permanently ceding Crimea to Russia, and placed conditions on upholding our obligation to protect our NATO allies. He even encouraged Russian espionage to interfere with our election, a tactic Putin has deployed across Central Asia and Europe to boost his preferred candidates. In addition, he has floated lifting sanctions against Russia, which would benefit both Putin and the Trump Organization. For this fact-check, we were interested in whether Trump has outlined policies that read like a Kremlin wish list. We talked to Russia experts who signed the letter as well as those who didn't. We emailed several people in the Trump campaign asking for reaction and information to dispute the assertion. We received no reply. We contacted Morell and more than a half dozen of the signers to get details on the claim. Their focus is on the issues mentioned in the letter: NATO, Ukraine and the lack of support for economic sanctions against Russia. Let's review them separately. NATO:In July, Trumptold theNew York Timesthat he wouldn't automatically come to the defense of a NATO ally that hasn't paid its expected contribution. I would be absolutely prepared to tell those countries, 'Congratulations, you will be defending yourself,' he said. NATO was created as deterrent to the former Soviet Union, of which Russia was the key player. Putin hasstrongly objectedto attempts to expand NATO because of Russian security concerns, so anything that weakens NATO could strengthen Russia. This is exactly what Putin wants  to sow the seeds of doubt in those countries on his periphery over whether the West will be there for them, Morell told us in an email. This kind of talk forces those states to be more accommodating to Russian interests. Trump'spotential unwillingness to defend NATO memberswho don't contribute enough financially to the alliance is essentially undermining unconditional nature of our commitment to their defense, said a cosigner of the letter, Richard Nephew, a former principal deputy coordinator of sanctions policy for the State Department who is now at Columbia University. Crimea and Ukraine:Russiaannexed Crimea, andPutin supportedan uprising in eastern Ukraine, sending in fighters after a revolution removed a pro-Russian president in 2014. Putin said annexation was morally and legally justified. The United States and the European Union disagreed. Trump hada different attitude. The people of Crimea, from what I've heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were,he saidin a July 31 interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos. He also called Putins grab so smart inan April 12, 2014 Fox News interview. As PolitiFact reported in August, Trumps comments actually echo theofficial Kremlin positionthat Crimea is now Russian and its citizens prefer it that way. Trump has sided with Putin on all these issues, said Samantha Vinograd, another co-signer and former director for international affairs and Iraq at the National Security Council. If you look at how Trump will not condemn Russia's military takeover of Crimea, that's something that literally Putin was probably jumping up and down over when he said that. This lets Putin off the hook for the first land grab in Europe since World War II, said Morell. That gift to Putin even has a bow on it. Sanctions against Russia:The European Union and the United States responded to the situation in Ukraine by issuing sanctions against Russia.They affectRussian banks, arms makers and energy companies, andhave bothlimited Russia's access to Western markets and hindered its ability to deal with a recession caused by the sharp drop in oil prices. Clearly, Russia would like to see those sanctions lifted.Trump has saidhe would consider removing them. That undermines sanctions as a tool, said Vinograd. You don't just remove them without proof that a country has met its international obligations. What other Russia experts say Experts we consulted who didn't sign the letter agreed that many of Trump's comments line up with actions that Putin would probably like to see. I think Trump's foreign policy is the most pro-Russian policy we've seen from a major presidential candidate, at least since World War II, said Matthew Kroenig, associate professor at Georgetown University and a senior advisor on the Marco Rubio campaign who signed an anti-Trump letter last spring. With talk of tearing up NATO and positive talk about President Putin, it seems to be a very sympathetic Russian foreign policy, Putin and the Russians would be delighted to see him elected, Kroenig added. To be more supportive of the Kremlin, Trump would have to scrap America's nuclear arsenal and sign a treaty to give the Ukraine back to Russia. Michael McFaul, who served as U.S. ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014, made additional points in an Aug. 17, 2016,Washington Postcommentary. For example, a political battle over building a wall on the Mexican border, would be a major distraction in this country and a United States convulsed by infighting over Trump's deeply divisive policy proposals gives Putin more freedom to act around the world. But Peter Feaver, a professor of political science and public policy at Duke University, said the claim that Trump's policies read like a Kremlin wish list is hyperbole to be sure, because it's looking at some of Trump's statements and not others. For example, the candidate's pledge to reinvigorate the United States military would not be part of a Russian wish list. He said the idea that NATO allies aren't paying their fair share for the defense of Europe is a longstanding United States complaint. It's just that Trump is the first to threaten to take action by not defending a country that's attacked but is not paying. And he described the situation in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine in a way that was favorable to Russia's interpretation of what's happening, said Feaver. So I wouldn't say his comments are are on the Kremlin's wish list, but they were certainly reinforcing Putin's approach and undermining NATO, which is a way of achieving one of Putin's goals, which is to weaken NATO. He also cautioned that it can be hard to tell what Trump really thinks, given all the things he says in off-the-cuff remarks. Only the other hand, he noted, Trump seldom backtracks on an outrageous statement he's made. The claim that Trump's policies read like a Kremlin wish list has a lot more to do with Donald Trump's overall statements about Russia than it does with any concrete policies, and that's because Donald Trump doesn't really have many concrete policies, said Emma Ashford, a defense and foreign policy research fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute. Trump tends to be quite inconsistent on a lot of things such as working with Russia to fight ISIS, she said. So with Donald Trump's inconsistency, it's really really hard to tell what he would do on some of these issues. Our ruling Morell and others said Trump has outlined policies that read like a Kremlin wish list. Trumps comments on backing away from NATO, supporting Russia on the Ukraine and rethinking sanctions against Russia certainly qualify as statements that dovetail with what the Putin administration would like. But not all of his opinions, such as wanting to increase military spending, are in lockstep with policies the Kremlin might favor. We rate the statement Mostly True. https:\/\/www.sharethefacts.co\/share\/5df18d2f-7ff9-4a32-8bc9-ab8300a0ac0c","issues":["National","Candidate Biography","Economy","Energy","History","Human Rights","Foreign Policy","Military","Trade","Transparency"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_989","claim":"Are Old Canadian $2 Bills Worth $20,000?","posted":"10\/27\/2014","sci_digest":["Are old Canadian $2 bills worth $20,000 each?"],"justification":"Claim: Old Canadian $2 bills are worth $20,000 each. OF AND INFORMATION Examples: [Collected via Twitter, October 2014] Some Old $2 Bills Are Now Worth $20,000 - https:\/\/t.co\/Smg3HP6J2Q via @MTLBlog https:\/\/t.co\/Smg3HP6J2Q @MTLBlog Matt Vardy (@mattvardy) July 21, 2014 July 21, 2014 Origins: In September 2012, a rare Canadian $2 bill went up for auction in Toronto with an estimated value of $15,000-$20,000. While this exceptional piece of collector currency ended up selling for only about $10,000, it also sparked the rumor that all old Canadian $2 bills were worth $20,000 each. Several publications have penned stories over the years about the $2 bills' incredible increase in value. On June 9, 2014, the MTL Blog published an article with the headline \"Old $2 Bills Are Now Worth $20,000.\" While that statement is true, it is also very misleading. The article refers only to a very specific set of $2 bills. According to Jared Stapleton, the vice-president of the Canadian Paper Money Society, the Bank of Canada accidentally printed a few bills in 1986 with the wrong signatures on them. Bills printed with the AUG, AUH, and AUJ prefixes were supposed to be signed by Bank of Canada governor Gerald Bouey and deputy governor John Crow, but a few were accidentally issued with the signatures of incoming Bank of Canada governor John Crow and deputy governor Gordon Thiessen. Stapleton said that only five of these bills are known to exist, and though that makes them extremely rare, the VP of the Canadian Paper Money Society opined that he was doubtful the remaining bills would necessarily fetch a price similar to that of the one sold in 2012. Some people are content with low-grade older bills, but condition is often rough because \"you're dealing with a paper product and they can get damaged and soiled easily,\" Stapleton said. Anyone seeking currency and coins for investment should \"collect the best.\" The Canadian $2 bill has become a bit of a collector's item since it was withdrawn from circulation and replaced by a coin commonly known as the \"toonie\" in 1996, but the majority of these bills have not significantly increased in value since then. It's possible that a Canadian $2 bill could sell for as much as $20,000, but it's very unlikely that you have one of those bills resting in your wallet. Last updated: October 27, 2014 D'Alimonte, Michael. \"Old $2 Bills Are Now Worth $20,000.\" MTL Blog. June 9, 2014.","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Mt4O3ylrusQFB_GutIQiHFEfegbTJL_f","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1EzZ4VB_wEtlIKGZ4hgkrW-i1GynsYich","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_990","claim":"Congress shoveled $700 billion into the Troubled Assets Relief Program, $325 billion of which has been spent without purchasing any toxic assets.","posted":"04\/09\/2009","sci_digest":[],"justification":"The Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP, was envisioned as a giant pot of money the federal government could use to buy toxic assets, the mortgage-backed investments that triggered the nation's financial crisis. The idea was to buy the bad assets so banks would be in better shape to do more lending. That was the original vision of Henry Paulson, the Bush administration's treasury secretary and one of the architects of the plan. He won quick approval from Congress in early October 2008. But Paulson changed his strategy. Instead of using the early TARP money to buy the toxic assets, he decided to use it to invest in banks. That, Paulson said, would get them to resume lending. Since then, critics have questioned whether the TARP money has been wisely spent. They have criticized TARP investments in banks that did not appear to be in serious trouble, and said it was unwise to spend $25 billion on the auto industry. In his column on March 24, 2009, conservative writer George Will took aim at a variety of recent acts by Congress and the Obama administration. He described members of Congress as braying yahoos and said the Obama administration had invited private sector investors to become business partners with the capricious and increasingly anticonstitutional government. This latest plan to unfreeze the financial system came almost half a year after Congress shoveled $700 billion into the Troubled Assets Relief Program, $325 billion of which has been spent without purchasing any toxic assets. We had a vague recollection that TARP spending had been broadened at some point, but we wondered if Will was correct that such a large amount had been spent without buying the assets that were the original focus of the program. (Indeed, the program was named after them, creating a metaphorical acronym that suggested it was a temporary protection from storms.) A quick history: In early October, with fears that the economy was on the brink of collapse, Congress approved the $700 billion Paulson wanted, and President George W. Bush signed the measure into law. As we noted above, the early vision was to buy toxic assets. But just 10 days later, Paulson and the Bush administration changed the game plan. Instead of buying toxic assets, they said they would buy stock in American banks to put them on sound footing so they could resume lending. Today we are taking decisive actions to protect the U.S. economy, Paulson said on Oct. 14. We regret having to take these actions. Today's actions are not what we ever wanted to do  but today's actions are what we must do to restore confidence to our financial system. Criticism grew. Some said Paulson had gotten too much leeway to spend the money. Congress began harrumphing and holding hearings, and oversight groups known as SIGTARP (the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program) and COP (the Congressional Oversight Panel) began to scrutinize the spending. (A quick aside: The financial crisis has spawned some of coolest acronyms this side of the Pentagon, making it possible for Treasury officials to utter sentences like, COP and SIGTARP have examined the TARP but haven't yet focused on the P-PIP.) The $325 billion cited by Will comes from the March 11 testimony by Neel Kashkari, the interim assistant secretary for financial stability who directs the TARP, before the Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Asked about the status of the program and how much more would be needed, Kashkari said, We've deployed about 325 billion cash dollars out the door. And at that point, none of the money had been spent on buying toxic assets, according to the Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan congressional research group, and the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, an independent group tracking spending on TARP and other stimulus programs on its siteStimulus Watch. We should note that since that testimony, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has unveiled his proposal for buying the toxic assets, which would be partly paid for by a portion of the TARP money. But that wasn't the case when Will's column was published, so we find his claim to be True.","issues":["National","Economy","Pundits"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_991","claim":"Are the majority of cruise ships registered under flags of foreign countries?","posted":"03\/23\/2020","sci_digest":["The economic strain of the COVID-19 pandemic prompted some to point fingers at companies perceived to be skirting the rules."],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease. \n\nAs the COVID-19 pandemic threatened to shut down businesses across America in March 2020, the U.S. government faced the difficult task of deciding which industries should receive economic assistance to stay afloat. Public sentiment in some quarters was strongly against government bailouts for businesses such as airlines and cruise companies, on the grounds that many major operators had spent billions of dollars in profits buying back their own stock rather than paying down their debts. In USA Today, John M. Griffin and James M. Griffin wrote: \"Start with the airlines. Rather than using their profits from the past five years to pay off debts and save for a rainy day, the big four\u2014American, United, Delta, and Southwest\u2014grew their combined liabilities to $166 billion, all while spending $39 billion on share repurchases.\" That amount, which is only from the big four, is almost 80% of what they are now asking for from U.S. taxpayers. Similarly, the three largest cruise companies\u2014Carnival, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean\u2014have liabilities of $47.5 billion and engaged in share repurchases of $8 billion. Had these companies paid down their liabilities instead of using stock repurchases to inflate their stock prices, they would have been far better prepared to weather this emergency. Of course, higher share prices made their stock options more valuable, allowing top airline executives to pay themselves $666 million in compensation over the five-year period, while top cruise executives managed to earn $448 million. Now, taxpayers are unwillingly being called upon to bail out their extravagant behavior. \n\nA widely circulated meme on social media offered another reason why cruise lines were supposedly unworthy of government bailouts: although they might be headquartered in the U.S., their ships are foreign-flagged to evade U.S. law. That nearly every major cruise line registers its ships somewhere outside the U.S. is hardly disputable. As a 2011 news report noted, only a single major cruise ship at the time was U.S.-flagged: \"Only one major cruise ship\u2014NCL America's Pride of America\u2014is registered in the United States, according to data from CyberCruises.com.\" Most of the big boats fly Bahamian flags, but other popular registries include Panama, Bermuda, Italy, Malta, and the Netherlands. In fact, according to the Cruise Lines International Association, 90% of commercial vessels calling on U.S. ports fly foreign flags. The three cruise lines mentioned in the meme\u2014Disney, Celebrity, and Carnival\u2014do indeed engage in this practice. It's not difficult to verify that Disney cruise ships are registered in the Bahamas, Celebrity ships in Malta, and Carnival ships in Panama. \n\nOf course, the cruise industry and its critics offer differing reasons for why cruise ships are flagged in countries other than the U.S. The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) maintains there are valid reasons for such policies: \"There are many factors that determine where a cruise ship\u2014or for that matter, any maritime vessel\u2014is flagged. Those determinations are made by individual cruise lines and other ship operators based on varying factors including the capabilities of the flag to deliver the services needed; representation and reputation of the flag in the international shipping community; the performance of the flag state, which dictates how a ship is prioritized by port states; the pool of seafarers able to meet the needs of the flag; and the flag's fees, charges, and taxes,\" the association stated in an email. This can be viewed as a robust free-market debate. Some maintain that burdensome U.S. regulations have forced cruise operators to plant their flags elsewhere, while others argue that these corporations seek to attract American dollars while skirting American safety and consumer protection laws. \n\nOn the other hand, an academic paper by Caitlin E. Burke of the University of Florida about \"Legal Issues Relevant to Cruise Ships\" made no bones about observing that reflagging of ships has long been used as a means of avoiding U.S. federal taxes, labor and safety laws, environmental laws, lawsuits, criminal investigations, and other regulations. Aside from the majority of revenue generated by U.S. passengers, cruise lines are independent of the U.S. economy. Even though nearly 75 percent of passengers are U.S. citizens, cruise line corporations and their ships are not traditionally American-owned or registered. Cruise line companies are not concerned about increasing minimum wage, rising insurance premiums, or higher corporate taxes. Cruise lines escape federal taxes and labor laws by registering their corporations and vessels in foreign countries such as Panama, Liberia, and the Bahamas. In fact, employees of cruise lines are often mistreated due to lax labor laws, and worst of all, employees find little to no recourse in pursuing litigation. Likewise, a U.S. citizen passenger faces the same predicament. A vessel's country of registration is commonly referred to as the \"flag of convenience\" (FOC). Flagging a ship under a foreign flag for the convenience of the cruise line is nothing new, nor is it rare. The majority of cruise ships today are registered in Panama, Liberia, or the Bahamas. It is important to pay close attention, as many vessels within the same fleet are often registered in different countries. For example, Carnival Corporation has flagged its cruise vessel Celebration under Panama and Destiny under the Bahamas. Cruise lines often avoid drawing attention to the FOC by using the term \"headquartered in Miami, Florida.\" While the majority of these cruise lines have their headquarters in Miami, they are not registered in the U.S. Thus, U.S. laws do not apply, and passengers are at the mercy of maritime law. \n\nThe practice of ship reflagging is common and regular. Whether cruise lines headquartered in the U.S. but operating ships registered in foreign countries \"deserve\" government bailouts in a time of pandemic is a subjective issue with no definitive answer, but certainly some critics have argued that they do not. Even in a crisis, companies with prudent balance sheets will survive and, in time, thrive. Despite what politicians might tell you, the airplanes and ships of imprudent companies are physical property that will not suddenly disappear. They will fly or sail again under the same or a different name, but hopefully with cheaper prices, better service, and different executives. Like a college student sleeping off a hangover, a crisis is a time to sober up by removing debt from the system. It's not time for another drink.","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1G6cbmrXzObUmElU_17Ou4rymQIl1abxM"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_992","claim":"Because of Obamacare, Medicare is going broke.","posted":"12\/23\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"As U.S. House SpeakerPaul Ryandiscussed the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act, a top priority of President-electDonald Trump, he made a claim about the financial health ofMedicare. What people dont realize is, because of Obamacare, Medicare is going broke, the Wisconsin RepublicantoldFox News hostBret Baieron Nov. 10, 2016. The Affordable Care Act certainly has its detractors. When Ryan claimed the same month that Obamacare is not a popular law, our rating wasMostly True. The polls generally showed most Americans had an unfavorable opinion of it. But surprisingly for Ryan, who is regarded as a federal budget expert, his claim about the law flies in the face of evidence that it actually helps shore up Medicare. What the ACA did on Medicare https:\/\/www.sharethefacts.co\/share\/7de6b429-1d9a-42de-ad08-c7998eaa6ca5 Heres howMarc Goldwein, senior policy director at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, lays it out: On one side of the ledger, Obamacare slowed the growth of Medicare spending by, among other things, reducing increases in payments made to nearly all health care providers. On the other side of the ledger, the law included a surtax on high-income earners that brings more money into Medicare. Two health care policy experts further told us that the combination of spending curbs and revenue increases forMedicare Part A-- which covers hospital, nursing home and home care services, and is financed mainly through payroll taxes -- has extended the solvency of Medicare. (Medicare Part B, which is voluntary, covers doctor visits and some medical care.) Paul Ginsburg, a professor of the practice of health policy and management at the University of Southern California, pointed us to anOctober 2016 reportfrom the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. The report noted that in 2010, the Medicare trustees projected that Obamacares spending curbs and revenue increases would mean MedicaresHospital Insurance Trust Fund, which finances Part A, would remain solvent until 2029. Thats 12 years later than had been projected a year before the Affordable Care Act became law. (The projection has since been revisedto 2028.) Michael Sparer, a professor health policy and management at Columbia University in New York, put it this way, financially speaking: If Obamacare were repealed completely, it would put Medicare in worse shape, not better shape. Finally, its worth noting that bothFactcheck.organd the Washington PostFact Checkeralso concluded that Ryans claim is wrong. They both also noted that, even if the Part A trust fund did become depleted in 2028, the program wouldnt be broke, in that it is still set up to cover an estimated 87 percent of expenses. FactCheck.orgs rating was false and the Fact Checker gave Ryan its worst rating, four Pinnocchios, which is for statements deemed to be whoppers. Ryans office opted not to provide us any information to support his claim. Our rating Ryan said: Because of Obamacare, Medicare is going broke. Financially, Medicare isnt entirely in the clear, given that actuaries project that a key reserve fund will run out of money in 2028. But the Medicare trustees themselves, along with a host of experts, say the Affordable Care Acts changes to Medicare -- including holding the line on spending and raising taxes -- actually puts Medicare in better shape than before the law was adopted. Thats a long way from making Medicare go broke. We rate Ryans statement Pants on Fire.","issues":["Bankruptcy","Federal Budget","Health Care","Medicare","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1xLfF-em50RU_kFV5108TbxW-hl2b8bHU","image_caption":"Vice President Joe Biden (left) and House Speaker Paul Ryan applaud President Barack Obama during Obama's State of the Union address on Jan. 12, 2016."}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_993","claim":"The Origins of Princess Leia's Hairstyle","posted":"12\/30\/2016","sci_digest":["Following Carrie Fisher's death, speculation mounted regarding the inspiration for her Princess Leia's character's iconic hair buns."],"justification":"Following the death of Carrie Fisher, the resurgent interest in her most famous role as Princess Leia in Star Wars prompted renewed attention to the inspiration behind the most distinctive aspect of her character's appearance. Princess Leia's iconic look was inspired by real-life Mexican revolutionaries. The debate regarding Princess (later General) Leia Organa's hair, specifically her hair buns, began in 2002 when Star Wars creator George Lucas offered this explanation to Time magazine: \"In the 1977 film, I was working very hard to create something different that wasn't fashion, so I went with a kind of Southwestern Pancho Villa woman revolutionary look, which is what that is. The buns are basically from turn-of-the-century Mexico. Then it took such hits and became such a thing.\" However, as Remezcla reported, the claim came under question when the character's hair was compared to pictures of adelitas, the women who fought in the Mexican Revolution, which exhibited no such hairstyle. Lucas's revelation about the hairstyle's origins only seemed to cause confusion across the internet. Some found it difficult to locate photographic evidence for Lucas's claims, perhaps only seeing images of soldaderas wearing hats. All that Star Wars historian Michael Heilemann could find were bun-less images of adelitas. As a result, some began to look elsewhere for other possible explanations. In fact, some critics argued that Leia's hair more closely resembled a traditional hairstyle worn by women of the Hopi Native American tribe. Eric Tang, an associate professor of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas-Austin, contributed to the discussion when he posted a picture taken from a Star Wars exhibition currently on display at the Denver Art Museum that seemingly supported the \"Mexican revolutionary\" claim. The museum confirmed to Snopes on December 30, 2016, that the referenced photograph was part of their exhibition and sent full-length pictures of the display, along with a transcription of the audio accompanying it. Princess Leia's side cinnamon-bun hairdo was one of the most iconic looks from the original Star Wars films. Some twenty years later, actress Natalie Portman wore these fake hair rolls to reprise the hairstyle as Padm\u00e9 Amidala in the film Attack of the Clones. Clearly, George Lucas and his team had learned a thing or two in the intervening years. While it took actress Carrie Fisher two hours to have her hair done as Leia, Portman could just pop on her side buns in a matter of minutes. But where did this unusual hairstyle originate in the first place? For Princess Leia in the original Star Wars, George Lucas was inspired by a traditional Hopi Native American hairstyle. For Leia's mother, Padm\u00e9, Lucas's prequel team looked at Hopi and Mexican Revolution imagery for inspiration and sketched even more dramatically shaped variations of the coiffure, as you can see in the drawing in this display. The response to Leia's hair had been so overwhelming in the 1970s and beyond that Lucas encouraged the prequel designers to be even more outlandish, drawing everything from space mohawks to snakelike coils, hair nautilus shells, and everything in between. A museum spokesperson could not directly confirm the origin of the picture other than to say it was \"sourced from the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art archives at Skywalker Ranch.\" We contacted Lucasfilm seeking additional information, but the film company did not respond. However, we were able to track it down fairly easily, as it is a famous photograph of Mexican soldadera and guerrilla fighter Clara de la Rocha, as seen below alongside her father, General Herculano de la Rocha. Clara de la Rocha is described in the book Las Soldaderas: Women of the Mexican Revolution as a guerrilla commander who played an important role in the seizing of the city of Culiac\u00e1n, Sinaloa, in 1911, alongside her father. She eventually earned the rank of coronela, or colonel, in the fight against Porfirio D\u00edaz's regime. One of her descendants, Alexandra de la Rocha, told Public Radio International that she saw Tang's post about the exhibit and recounted some of the soldadera's exploits: \"She actually crossed a river on horseback ... and was able to take out a power station in order to allow the rebel forces to attack during the night without being seen. She was a grizzled woman, as her father was. They were mountain people, and were actually miners and owned a lot of land. They were business people.\" Clara de la Rocha died in 1970 in Culiac\u00e1n, the site of her most famous battle. While she was certainly not the only inspiration for the Leia Organa character's hairstyle, she was by all accounts a major one.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Q4MV4v1aT4mBI1YQ4JJ2Iv7np0421EI6","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1qmuu-bOfLwNpoJ33DZTjikFRDwFW1sC5","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1nD8A5ztnA7uQuUigsrWwrAg6-sz4Uxlo","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_994","claim":"Free $200 Amazon Gift Card","posted":"10\/23\/2014","sci_digest":["Is Amazon giving out free $200 gift cards to Facebook users?"],"justification":" Claim:  Amazon is giving out free $200 gift cards to Facebook users.  Examples:  [Collected via e-mail, October 2014] Amazon, it appears, is offering a $200 gift card if you \"like\" their page and comment about your appreciation.  Is this for real?  How exactly would they pay up??  If you like it, it posts to your facebook stream and other people see it and automatically trust you and click on like and share as well. Origins:  In October 2014, a fraudulent offer for a free $200 Amazon gift card started circulating on Facebook.  The message contained a link which redirected bargain hunters to a website adorned with Amazon's logo. That website, however, had no affiliation with the retail giant. It was also marked as \"High Risk\" by Scam Adviser. Scam Adviser  The $200 Amazon gift card scam is very similar to recent schemes which targeted Costco and Kroger shoppers. While each scam has slight variations, they all feature three main components. First, they require people to like or share the message on Facebook in an attempt to spread the scam around the Internet. Second, they direct people to complete a fraudulent survey which extracts personal information such as email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth and credit card numbers. Lastly, these scams never end with a free monetary gift card.  Costco Kroger The Better Business Bureau gave these three tips to identify scams on Facebook: Facebook Don't believe what you see. It's easy to steal the colors, logos and header of an established organization. Scammers can also make links look like they lead to legitimate websites and emails appear to come from a different sender.  Legitimate businesses do not ask for credit card numbers or banking information on customer surveys. If they do ask for personal information, like an address or email, be sure there's a link to their privacy policy.  Watch out for a reward that's too good to be true. If the survey is real, you may be entered in a drawing to win a gift card or receive a small discount off your next purchase. Few businesses can afford to give away $50 gift cards for completing a few questions. This isn't the first time that a Facebook scam has targeted Amazon shoppers. A similar scheme circulated around the social networking site in 2011 and again in 2012.  2011 2012   Last updated:  23 October 2014","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1-dlqx_P8FAL_PKw3Wxv804TqqrKuP9MZ","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1j5uvSnh40V3kSlp366Xznk9IyiaXeYFp","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_995","claim":"Says federal debt doubled during the Bush administration.","posted":"07\/19\/2012","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Former Texas state Rep. Paul Sadler answered a debate question on June 26, 2012, with a call to stop expanding government programs until the federal debt is under control. Squaring off in Dallas with retired teacher Grady Yarbrough, his opponent in the July 31, 2012, runoff for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination, Sadler said, \"Until we get our financial house in order, we cannot continue to spend money. We just can't.\" \"The U.S. has never seen national debt like this,\" Sadler said. \"It doubled during the Bush administration.\" We decided to see if Sadler's claim about debt under President George W. Bush holds up. Sadler sent us an email with several presidents' names linked to numbers, such as Bill Clinton 1.4, and told us the numbers' sources were the U.S. Treasury, Financial Management Service, Bureau of the Public Debt, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and Office of Management and Budget. The same figures and sources, listed in the same order, appear on a July 28, 2011, New York Times chart illustrating how much of the federal debt accumulated under each president since 1981. According to the chart, the Bush administration began with a $5.8 trillion gross federal debt, which grew by $6.1 trillion to reach $11.9 trillion\u2014an increase of 105 percent, or slightly more than double. The Times ascribed the increase in debt to tax cuts, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the economic downturn in 2001, and the recession starting in 2007. Following a suggestion from Treasury spokesman Matthew Anderson, we found that plugging the fiscal years of Bush's presidency\u2014October 2001 through September 2009\u2014into the Treasury's online calculator gives debt figures that tally with the Times graphic. While that period begins nearly nine months into Bush's presidency, it also aligns with the years over which he held budgetary sway. Gross federal debt, though, is only one measure of how much the government owes. Because Sadler's numbers match the Times chart, we started with that statistic, which includes money the federal government owes itself, including for programs such as Social Security and Medicare, in addition to public debt. Public debt itself is another commonly used measure. Debt held by the public is money borrowed from investors outside the federal government, in the form of Treasury notes and other securities. Which to use? We consulted Oregon State University political scientist Robert Sahr, who studies U.S. debt, policy, presidents, and inflation. Sahr suggested we use public debt and emailed us part of a textbook's explanation of why net public debt, rather than gross debt, is seen as a better measure of how much government is borrowing. We returned to the Treasury calculator and found that during Bush's fiscal years, public debt rose from $3.3 trillion to $7.6 trillion\u2014up 130 percent, clearly more than double. Also, we asked Sahr whether he agreed that debt doubled under Bush. \"Adjusted for inflation,\" he said, \"public debt did not double, though it came close.\" Sahr produced a spreadsheet for us with fiscal year-end debt numbers from the federal Office of Management and Budget. Among the results: As with the Treasury calculator, 2001-2009 public debt in non-inflation-adjusted dollars went up 130 percent. Adjusted for inflation (to 2011 dollars), though, the increase was 88 percent. Returning to gross federal debt, which was Sadler's basis: Sahr's spreadsheet showed the same 105-percent increase in non-inflation-adjusted dollars as the New York Times chart. In 2011 dollars, though, the increase was 70 percent. Some news analyses have compared changes in debt using inauguration dates. We checked those with the Treasury calculator, finding that from Bush's first inauguration, January 20, 2001, to the day President Barack Obama took office, January 20, 2009, gross federal debt in non-inflation-adjusted dollars rose from $5.7 trillion to $10.6 trillion, up 86 percent. The calculator didn't have an amount for public debt on January 20, 2001, but says the non-adjusted figure was $6.3 trillion on January 20, 2009. When we checked back in with Sadler, he objected to adjusting the debt changes for inflation, saying by email: \"I seriously doubt any holder of the debt or your bank would allow you to adjust your debt for inflation. The amount owed is the amount owed\u2014you don't get to adjust it for inflation.\" Sahr said later: \"Sure, you're paying in current dollars. But if you're looking at the change in debt over eight years, part of the change is the change in the value of the dollar over those years.\" A final note: Such accounting and tallies can be read as blaming Bush alone for the increases. As PolitiFact has noted numerous times, such assumptions are overly sweeping. Many factors are at play, including Congress, which votes on many spending decisions affecting the debt. Our ruling: We see how Sadler reached his conclusion. In raw terms, both the public debt and gross federal debt more than doubled during the fiscal years corresponding to Bush's presidency. However, adjusting for inflation, gross debt increased 70 percent over those years, while public debt increased 88 percent. That's not quite doubling. We rate Sadler's claim Mostly True.","issues":["Debt","Federal Budget","Texas"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_996","claim":"Was a UFO Spotted Over New Jersey?","posted":"09\/16\/2020","sci_digest":["It appears some TikTok users were unable to identify an easily identifiable flying object. "],"justification":"In mid-September 2020, videos started to circulate on TikTok that supposedly showed an alien spaceship, or unidentified flying object (UFO), flying over New Jersey. The video, which racked up millions of views within a few days, shows several curious onlookers observing the \"UFO\" near New Jersey's Route 21 highway. While this may have been an unidentified flying object to these onlookers, this \"alien spaceship\" has since been identified as a Goodyear Blimp. The video was taken on Monday, Sept. 14, in an area close to MetLife Stadium, which was hosting the NFL's Monday Night Football game between the New York Giants and the Pittsburgh Steelers. A Goodyear spokesman told Insider that the company's blimp was indeed flying in the area: \"A representative for Goodyear confirmed to Insider that the company flew a blimp in New York City and northern New Jersey on Monday evening to capture aerial footage of the NFL game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.\" The object in the video resembles the size and shape of a Goodyear blimp. The \"alien\" looking light can also be explained, as many Goodyear blimps are equipped with bright digital displays. While it's easy to see how this large, unidentified, flying, and seemingly glowing object could be mistaken for a UFO, it's also easy to see how the \"UFO\" in the viral video looks eerily similar to the Goodyear Blimp. Here's a comparison of the \"UFO\" from the viral video (left) and a genuine photograph of the Goodyear Blimp that was taken in 2016. Young, Jabari. \"ESPN's Week 1 Monday Night Football Ratings Fall Nearly 11%.\" MSNBC. 16 September 2020. Greenspan, Rachel. \"Viral Videos of a 'UFO' in New Jersey Really Captured a Goodyear Blimp.\" Insider. 15 September 2020. CORRECTION [Sept. 17, 2020]: A previous version of this article erroneously stated the NY Jets played the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sept. 14, 2020. It was the NY Giants.","issues":["lien"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1lQpoKVHOIMytP1w0ws_9-8QMfWRKzzpf","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_997","claim":"Wisconsin Bans Poor People from Buying Shellfish, Potatoes and Ketchup?","posted":"05\/16\/2015","sci_digest":["Rumor: Wisconsin has passed a bill banning poor people from purchasing shellfish, potatoes, and ketchup."],"justification":"Claim: Wisconsin has passed a bill banning poor people from purchasing shellfish, potatoes, and ketchup. Example: [Collected via e-mail, May 2015] Is this true? Origins: Recent months have seen efforts by lawmakers in several states to limit what recipients of food stamps and other forms of public assistance may purchase with those benefits. For example, a member of the Missouri legislature introduced a bill that would bar recipients of supplemental nutrition assistance programs (SNAP) from using their benefits to purchase cookies, chips, energy drinks, seafood, or steak. Kansas passed a law prohibiting recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds from spending those monies on a variety of goods and services. Similarly, in May 2015, the Wisconsin State Assembly passed a bill (Assembly Bill 177) that would require those who receive food stamps to spend at least two-thirds of their benefits on foodstuffs designated by the state as nutritional items. The list of allowed nutritional items includes meat, fish, fresh produce, and white potatoes, but specifically excludes food stamps from being used for purchases of crab, lobster, shrimp, or any other shellfish. The larger list of allowed foodstuffs excludes such items as white potatoes, nuts, cranberry sauce, popsicles, spaghetti sauce, soup, ketchup, pickles, baked beans, flavored peanut butter, flavored milk, and brown eggs. Contrary to various inaccurate headlines, however, the proposed law (if fully passed and enacted as law) would not \"ban\" food stamp recipients from purchasing these food items; rather, it would restrict them from spending more than one-third of their SNAP benefits on such foodstuffs. It's also unlikely the bill will be codified as law, as it would require a federal waiver that no state has ever received. No state has received such a waiver, but Rep. Brooks said he believes his bill is less restrictive than some proposed in other states and has a better chance of being implemented. Proponents of the bill argue that it would promote healthier eating habits, which would benefit both food stamp recipients and taxpayers. They argue that limiting the purchase of junk food promotes healthy eating, reduces unspecified \"abuses,\" and benefits society in the long run. \"There is a direct financial benefit not just to the individual, which of course is obvious to have better health, but also to state taxpayers and society as a whole,\" said Assembly Speaker Robin Vos. Opponents, however, contend that the bill would neither promote healthier eating nor reduce fraud. \"It's a restriction that's designed just to make the lives of those that are already struggling that much harder,\" said Rep. Lisa Subeck. \"And instead, we should be focusing not on the foods people buy but on putting people to work by creating jobs that get people off of FoodShare.\" To illustrate Democrats' opposition, Rep. Evan Goyke held a platter of four Wisconsin cheeses. All four were cheddar. One was shredded, and three were in block form. Three displayed flags that said \"GOP Prohibited.\" One flag said \"GOP Approved.\" The approved cheese was a block of mild cheddar. Two sharp cheddars\u2014one shredded and one block\u2014were not approved. One mild cheddar was not approved because it was too large, Goyke said. \"The stated goals of this bill are nutrition and fraud,\" said Rep. Mark Spreitzer. \"When you look at something like this cheese plate, there's no evidence of sharp cheddar fraud. People are not buying sharp cheddar in order to defraud FoodShare, and there's no nutritional difference. So if those are the stated goals, the bill is not accomplishing either.\" Last updated: 16 May 2015","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1oeq1BORFE7nI6bWUBuV3uBVSSKJmA-cJ","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_998","claim":"Is Netflix Asking Users to Update Payment Information?","posted":"11\/15\/2019","sci_digest":["A popular phishing scam targets Netflix users. "],"justification":"In November 2019, we received a few emails from readers alerting us that they had received an email from someone purporting to be from Netflix that asked them to update their payment information: I believe there is a scam going around in regards to Netflix. My husband received a notice that something is wrong with our account and the link given doesnt go to an actual Netflix website. They ask for all the profile information including a credit number and info. I checked the actual website and our account is in good standing and all the info is accurate.    This is not a genuine email from Netflix. This email is an attempt to steal credit card information and is known as a phishing scam.  Phishing scams use various forms of bait (hence the name) in an attempt to trick people into giving up personal information, such as passwords or credit card information. These scammers may promise a prize, such as a cash giveaway, in order to entice people to give up their information. Or, as in this case, pose as a trusted company. This Netflix phishing scam has been circulating since at least 2017. In December 2018, so many people had reported they were targeted with a version of this scam that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a statement called \"Netflix phishing scam: Dont take the bait\": statement Phishing is when someone uses fake emails or texts to get you to share valuable personal information  like account numbers, Social Security numbers, or your login IDs and passwords. Scammers use your information to steal your money, your identity, or both. They also use phishing emails to get access to your computer or network. If you click on a link, they can install ransomware or other programs that can lock you out of your data. Scammers often use familiar company names or pretend to be someone you know. Heres a real world example featuring Netflix. Police in Ohio shared a screenshot of a phishing email designed to steal personal information. The email claims the users account is on hold because Netflix is having some trouble with your current billing information and invites the user to click on a link to update their payment method. Readers can find additional tips on how to spot and respond to this scam here. The FTC has also published a few tips on how to spot similar scams, which we've reproduced below: here How to Recognize PhishingScammers often update their tactics, but there are some signs that will help you recognize a phishing email or text message. Phishing emails and text messages may look like theyre from a company you know or trust. They may look like theyre from a bank, a credit card company, a social networking site, an online payment website or app, or an online store. Phishing emails and text messages often tell a story to trick you into clicking on a link or opening an attachment. They may Netflix has also addressed the phishing scams that have targeted the company's users. The help section of the Netflix website (located at help.Netflix.com) informs readers they can always check the standing of their accounts on the official Netflix website, and that they should never give payment information to third-party outlets: help.Netflix.com Netflix website,  If you suspect you have received a fraudulent email or text message that appears to be from Netflix, follow these tips to keep your information safe and secure, and follow the steps below to report the message: How do I report a suspicious or phishing email or text message (SMS)? If you received a suspicious or phishing email, forward it to phishing@netflix.com and delete the email. Please include the message header information, which can be found using this Google article. phishing@netflix.com Google article If you received a suspicious text message (SMS), forward it to phishing@netflix.com using the steps for your device below. phishing@netflix.com Engadget.  \"How to Recognize and Avoid Phishing Scams.\"\r  Retrieved 14 November 2019. Lawler, Richard.  \"FTC Issues Warning About a Netflix Phishing Scam.\"\r  Engadget.  26 December 2018. Tressler, Colleen.  \"Netflix Phishing Scam: Dont Take the Bait.\"\r  FTC.  26 December 2018.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1WGyVTAIN1VZM7tHbdTKwRhgqXz4mu8Xw","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_999","claim":"Did Nancy Pelosi Tweet That She Is 'Disgusted' with 'President' Trump?","posted":"12\/29\/2017","sci_digest":["The long-time House member supposedly didn't like the President Trump's 'allowing people to keep more of the money they earn.'"],"justification":"In December 2017, an image purportedly showing an oddly spaced and strangely punctuated message posted to Twitter by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, expressing disgust with President Donald Trump's stance on a recently passed (and highly controversial) tax reform bill, received viral attention: passed controversial I am disgusted with \"President\" Trump allowing people to keep more of the money they earn. It is this type of wide spread theft of public resources that keeps America from being great \"Mr. President\".   This tweet did not appear on Pelosi's Twitter timeline. Although some critics may argue that this only shows that the message was posted and then quickly deleted, that assumption would also be false. timeline For one thing, we could not find a single tweet linking to the original message. More tellingly, however, is the watermark in the bottom right corner of this image. Tweeterino.com is a fake tweet generator that lets users attribute any fictional phrase to any Twitter user. According to the site, hundreds of fake tweets from Nancy Pelosi already exist: fake tweet tweets   The House Minority Leader did legitimately post criticism of the tax reform bill, repeatedly calling it a \"GOP Tax Scam\" and saying that that the bill would explode the deficit, and noted that 86 million middle class families would see a tax hike: There are few things more disturbing than hearing the swell of cheers from the @HouseGOP as they raise taxes on 86 million middle class families. #GOPTaxScam @HouseGOP #GOPTaxScam  Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) December 19, 2017 December 19, 2017  -86 million middle class families get a tax hike-83% of benefits go to the top 1 percent-13 million Americans will be added to the rolls of the uninsured Thats the real story of the #GOPTaxScam. #GOPTaxScam  Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) December 20, 2017 December 20, 2017  The House Minority Leader also appeared to take as much issue with how the legislation was passed as she did with was what it contained, since the following message was pinned to the top of her Twitter timeline: No hearing. No expert testimony. No listening to the American people. That has been the story of the #GOPTaxScam. #GOPTaxScam  Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) December 20, 2017 December 20, 2017  The criticisms levied by Pelosi were backed by reports from nonpartisan organizations such as the Tax Policy Center and Congress's own Joint Committee on Taxation. We wrote about these claims (and several others) in an explainer about the bill. explainer","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1VO8fVtRb3YcDgIS-UfSnJWrMIHufDP5T","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1CKSmAWvFSXpmXj33wHrc3UM6bf3YdFQh","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1000","claim":"Could an Impeached President Be Pardoned and Regain Office?","posted":"07\/30\/2018","sci_digest":["A meme posited a highly improbable, if not absolutely impossible, scenario under which an impeached President Trump could regain the White House."],"justification":"What happens when the sitting President of the United States can no longer carry out his duties due to death, resignation, removal from office, or incapacitation?  That was one of the issues addressed by the framers of the U.S. Constitution back in the 18th century, but unfortunately not thoroughly so  ambiguities of wording and unanticipated circumstances have required that the Constitution be amended several times to cover situations not originally foreseen. Even today, some questions about presidential succession and eligibility remain, giving rise to various thought exercises such as the following: thought exercises  Although the particular scenario outlined in the above meme is a hypothetical, we can say that its  description of how to restore to office a President who has been impeached and removed from office would almost certainly fail in real life for practical and\/or legal reasons. For openers, let's summarize the process of removing a President from office.   The House Judiciary Committee holds hearings to discuss the charges against the President (similar to a grand jury pondering an indictment), prepares articles of impeachment outlining those charges, and (if a majority of the committee votes to approve the articles), sends them to the full House for debate and vote.  If a majority of the full House votes for impeachment based on one or more of those articles, then the President must stand trial in the Senate.  If two-thirds of the Senate votes to convict at the culmination of that trial, the President is automatically removed from office and, if the Senate so decides, may be barred from holding any high governmental position again. But could the removed President's successor make use of constitutional powers to pardon him and engage a scheme to reinstall him to the presidency by appointing him Vice President?    Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution states that \"Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States.\"  So if the Senate voted to convict a sitting President and thereby remove him from office, they could also vote to permanently disqualify him from holding federal office again.   However, none of that judgment could be undone by a presidential pardon, because Article II, Section 2 (which establishes the presidential pardon privilege) states that \"The President ... shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.\"  (If this were not the case, then a sitting President facing impeachment could simply pardon himself and thus avoid any punishment.) What if the Senate voted to remove a President from office but did not also vote to bar him from holding office again?  That's where the practicality part of this exercise kicks in. Let's imagine a President is impeached and removed from office, and the Vice President thereby assumes the presidency.  Now the office of Vice President is vacant and needs to be filled.  Could the just-removed President step into that role? Amendment XXV of the U.S. Constitution specifies that \"Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.\"  Theoretically, anyone who was  constitutionally eligible to hold office could be nominated for the VP slot.  But how likely is it that the same Congress that just voted overwhelmingly to oust a politician from the highest office in the land would then turn right around and approve appointing that same person to the second-highest office?  We'll go with \"not very likely.\" About the only way this scenario could conceivably play out in real life would be if the following sequence of events took place: 1) A President were impeached and removed from office but not permanently barred from holding office.2) An election that altered the makeup of Congress intervened before a new Vice President could be nominated and approved.3) The results of that election tilted Congress in favor of the recently deposed President.4) The newly seated Congress opted to make one of their first acts of business the audacious re-installation to power of a President who had just been drummed out of office. All of the maneuvering described above would only get the former President as far the vice presidency.  Elevating him back into the position of chief executive would require that the current President be so pliant as to willingly step aside to make room for someone who had just been kicked out of office  an act that would have no obvious upside to it for the recently installed President (given that   achieving the presidency is generally considered the pinnacle of any politician's career).   All in all, it's possible that under an extremely contrived and convoluted sequence of events, a President who had been impeached and removed from office could regain the White House without standing for election again ... but the likelihood of circumstances lining up just right to make that happen are practically zero.   And the presidential power to pardon would be irrelevant to that process.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1e_luFHCe50YsA5pLa6uUhx2Wa-Ju8A0Y","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1001","claim":"Did an Ohio State Senator Drive During a Zoom Call About Distracted Driving?","posted":"05\/06\/2021","sci_digest":["Andrew Brenner caused a stir with his antics during a May 2021 meeting of the Ohio Controlling Board."],"justification":"In May 2021, news articles and widely-shared social media posts reported that an Ohio State Senator had been caught driving during an official Zoom video conference, and even used a fake \"office\" background. Ohio On May 6, Brody Logan, a reporter at the NBC affiliate KSEE in Fresno, California, posted a short video to Twitter, along with the following text: text \"This Ohio State Senator thought he was slick, using a Zoom background of his home office while driving... debating a bill for harsher penalties for distracted driving...\"      Similarly, Newsweek published an article with the headline \"Ohio Senator Uses Zoom Office Background While Driving During Hearing on Distracted Driving Bill.\" The report went on: Newsweek An Ohio state Republican senator participated in a virtual Zoom meeting regarding distracted driving legislation while using an office background as he drove his vehicle this week. During the 13-minute meeting of the Ohio Controlling Board on Monday, State Senator Andrew Brenner could be seen fiddling with his phone, while also turning his camera on and off as he drove with the office background displayed. Andrew Brenner did drive during the Zoom call, and he did use a fake \"office\" background. However, the meeting had nothing to do with distracting driving, which was an important component of much of the commentary surrounding the incident, since it provided a significant element of irony. As a result, we're issuing a rating of \"Mixture.\" The incident in question took place during the May 3, 2021 meeting of the Ohio Controlling Board, a body that provides legislative oversight of statewide spending, procurement and investment in Ohio.  body The video can be watched in full on the Ohio Channel website, here.  here When Brenner first appears, he is clearly sitting in a parked car, not wearing a seatbelt:   He disappears from view for a short while, then reappears, this time with his camera zoomed in on his face. Around the 3:30 mark, his background abruptly shifts from his car, to a fake \"office\":   Brenner then disappears from view again, and when he becomes visible again around one minute later, he can clearly be seen driving the car, with his seatbelt on, and the \"office\" backdrop still in place:   In an interview with the Columbus Dispatch, Brenner admitted he was driving during the meeting, but denied being distracted: Columbus Dispatch \"I wasn't distracted. I was paying attention to the driving and listening to it (the meeting,)\" Brenner said. \"I had two meetings that were back to back that were in separate locations. And I've actually been on other calls, numerous calls, while driving. Phone calls for the most part but on video calls, I'm not paying attention to the video. To me, it's like a phone call.\" On the same day as the Ohio Controlling Board meeting took place, May 3, Republicans in the state house introduced House Bill 283, which would enhance and expand Ohio's existing prohibition against distracted driving and using electronic devices while driving. House Bill 283 However, after watching the full Ohio Controlling Board meeting from that day, as well as checking its agenda, it's clear that none of the participants even mentioned House Bill 283, specifically, or distracted driving more broadly. That particular claim, as made by Newsweek and Logan, was inaccurate.  agenda","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1zxlN6TMkoKWN2kC7d5yKTkIlwou-v3VA","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=132qdxAartOMujARAzGFzPcyk9NEvMJjf","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1VNPtCENGPX1sPCXxbiuDPVptrikOh97c","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1dOE_gBPsln2P56z-GIoUuQLAKesnRW5c","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1002","claim":"Coca-Cola is not offering a bottle with the message 'Share a Coke with the KKK' for sale.","posted":"03\/02\/2016","sci_digest":["Artwork from an online protest asking Coca-Cola not to sponsor the 2016 Republican National Convention led some to believe that the company actually sold a \"KKK\" bottle."],"justification":"In March 2016, photos showing a bottle of Coca-Cola with the words \"share a Coke with the KKK\" written on its label started circulating online. This is not a real product sold by Coca-Cola. While the \"Share a Coke\" campaign allows Coca-Cola drinkers to personalize their cans, some words or phrases (such as \"KKK\") are not available. The image showing the \"KKK\" bottle was created for an online petition on the website Color Of Change, asking the company to pull its sponsorship of the Republican National Convention due to Donald Trump's failure to condemn the KKK in an interview. Even with Trump refusing to disavow the support of the Ku Klux Klan this weekend and declaring All Lives Matter at a rally, Coca-Cola and other companies still have not canceled their sponsorship of the RNC. How can Coca-Cola, a company that heavily markets to and profits from Black people, fund a platform for a presidential nominee that is being bolstered into office by former Grand Wizard David Duke, the KKK, and other white supremacists? The petition presupposes that Coca-Cola will be sponsoring the 2016 Republican National Convention and that Coca-Cola would be effectively endorsing the Ku Klux Klan by sponsoring the RNC. On 23 February 2016, representatives from the advocacy groups ColorofChange, Americas Voice, CREDO Action, Million Hoodies, MoveOn, and Presente.org admitted as much in an open letter to Coca-Cola and other alleged sponsors of the 2016 RNC. Based on your corporate sponsorship of the 2012 Republican National Convention, we have reason to believe that your company is planning to again sponsor the RNC this year. We believe it is a sign of strong corporate leadership for you and your company to refrain from sponsoring Donald Trump's hateful and divisive rhetoric. While Coca-Cola did sponsor the Republican National Convention in 2012, the company also sponsored the Democratic National Convention that year. Many of the sponsors of the Democratic convention were also sponsors of the host committee in Tampa for the previous week's Republican National Convention. \"The Coca-Cola Company believes we have a role to play in the political process and that includes helping to make the political conventions a success,\" said Coca-Cola spokeswoman Nancy Bailey.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1CwkmSyuRKBLy0Jlvy6KKe5nMvb1FtE4M"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1_emnJtUuAPXPy6a4c_1oxaQGkIdCwVHX"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1003","claim":"Did Trump Lose Twitter Followers for the First Time After 2020 Election?","posted":"11\/30\/2020","sci_digest":["U.S. President Donald Trump indeed lost followers after Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election."],"justification":"Voting in the 2020 U.S. Election may be over, but the misinformation keeps on ticking. Never stop fact-checking. Follow our post-election coverage here. here In late November 2020, social media users called attention to the number of Twitter accounts following U.S. President Donald Trump after his reelection loss to Joe Biden. Donald Trump Joe Biden One such tweet (displayed below) alleged the sitting president had lost followers \"for the first time\" and included a chart supposedly depicting that trend. such tweet  The underlying assertion  that Trump's account saw an unusual decline in followers after the election  is true; however, it is false to say the follower count had never dipped at all before, or that the number only increased or remained stagnant until late November 2020. Firstly, the number of Twitter accounts following @realDonaldTrump overall increased during Trump's presidency. Snopes created the below-displayed visualization of the trend based on follower analytics by Factba.se, a database of the president's public statements that uses automated software and archived screenshots to measure his accounts follower count over time. @realDonaldTrump Factba.se   Next, let us unpack the claim. Socialbakers, a software company that compiles social media analytics, apparently created the tweet's data visualization. The graph measured @realDonaldTrump's millions of Twitter followers between Nov. 16 and Nov. 23, when the account was a leading tool for the president's misinformation campaign to try to lower Americans' trust in the 2020 election as states certified election results in Biden's favor. @realDonaldTrump president's misinformation campaign states certified election results The graph depicted a steady decrease in followers over that time period, going from about 88.95 million followers to 88.90 million followers. Below is another visualization of the account's growth or decline in followers via Socialbakers over a longer time frame, between Election Day on Nov. 3 and Nov. 29.   Those numbers were indeed accurate estimations, according to Factba.se. Factba.se In other words, it is accurate to state that the president's follower account was decreasing from one day to the next in late November 2020. Per Factba.se, the president recorded an all-time peak follower count  88,964,791  on Nov. 17. Then, the following day, that total dropped by more than 18,900 accounts, and a daily decline continued with no sign of changing course as of this writing on Nov. 30. By that point, the president had lost almost 140,000 followers since the high point roughly two weeks earlier. (See the slight declines each day via Factba.se data below.)   That type of consecutive daily decline over the course of almost two weeks had not happened since the start of Trump's presidency in January 2017, per Factba.se's data.   However, it was false to claim that Trump's follower count had never before decreased. Between Jan. 20, 2017  the day of Trump's inauguration  and Nov. 17, 2020, Trump lost followers from one day to the next on numerous occasions, per the database. The net losses, which ranged in size, were documented on the following dates: June 15, 2017; June 29, 2017; July 13, 2017; Jan. 30, 2018; Feb. 2, 2018; May 25, 2018; June 9, 2018; June 28, 2018; July 12, 2018; July 18, 2018; July 19, 2018; Oct. 23, 2018; Oct. 24, 2018; Nov 4, 2018; Nov. 5, 2018; Nov. 9, 2018; Nov. 29, 2018; Dec. 7, 2018; April 24, 2019; Nov. 29, 2019; Jan. 29, 2020; Oct. 31, 2020; Nov. 9, 2020; Nov. 14, 2020, and Nov. 15, 2020. In other words, in four instances  July 2018, October 2018, November 2018, and mid-November 2020  Trump's Twitter account measured a follower count less than the day prior two days in a row. But in all of those cases, on the third day, the quick trend reversed and showed a net gain. That was not the case in late November 2020, when, as of this writing, the account tallied 13 days of consecutive net losses. We should note here: the data showed the total number of accounts following the president, no matter if they were associated with particular individuals, companies, organizations, or bots. The latter are run by programs attempting to spread content on social media without human involvement. Factba.se tweeted the following: tweeted   \"We don't analyze for bot behavior,\" the tweet said. However, \"small drops daily\"  like what the president's account measured in late November  were not typically the result of bots removing themselves from accounts, per Factba.se's analysis. In sum, it was true in November 2020 that Trump was losing Twitter followers from one day to the next over almost two weeks  something that had not happened since the start of his presidency. However, it was false to say his follower account declined \"for the first time.\" On numerous occasions, he lost followers from one day to the next. For those reasons, we rate this claim a mixture of truth and falsehood.    ","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1O8vH-IZhTZmR8nbvDjIBAJwirb_vK_Zd","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1PwTB1Bx1GdPg6l8sYrVfr3QQwTiOeUo_","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1P76x5vQQ3klL9REeMf4XvT1MQ-jSedXJ","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1JKRTggv0_1XSFvhYcQ8iRE7HDByAenug","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1o5woUTeSvM5km13M7S5vBgwnfij0UF4O","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1jRKx9YgqZnSx0QS05je_7-T5ZiTk4y4y","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1004","claim":"Does a Vox Infographic Claim Killing GOP Members Could Prevent 'Ten 9\/11s'?","posted":"06\/15\/2017","sci_digest":["After Rep. Steve Scalise was shot on 14 June 2017, an infographic purportedly from Vox weighed Republican lawmaker lives against healthcare-related deaths."],"justification":"After the 14 June 2017 shooting of Republican congressman Steve Scalise, a purported Vox infographic circulated on social media contrasting deaths of Republican lawmakers against deaths related to healthcare legislation. Twitter account @DudeSlater (purporting to be Vox's editor-in-chief) was (presumably) the first to share the graphic (which can be seen here in full): @DudeSlater first graphic here   However, the origin of the \"Vox infographic\" was unclear, and we were unable to locate a legitimate branded graphic on which it was based. We contacted Vox Media for more information about the image. A spokesperson confirmed to us that the claim is false and the image was not created by the outlet: This person's Twitter bio falsely claims he is the editor in chief of Vox. He is not an employee of Vox or Vox Media and does not in any way represent the Vox brand. The infographic he posted was not created or published by Vox. We have alerted Twitter executives to this issue, and are working with them to have this false information removed immediately.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1rsvbYi5CZH9FCSl0XbR2dD4xpt6WqR0x","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1005","claim":"Which political party is more successful in decreasing the number of abortions?","posted":"09\/22\/2020","sci_digest":["It is hard to draw a straight line between federal government policy (let alone presidential policy) and abortion procurement."],"justification":"Voting in the 2020 U.S. Election may be over, but the misinformation keeps on ticking. Never stop fact-checking. Follow our post-election coverage here. here In September 2020, social media users began circulating a text meme charting the decrease in abortion rates in the U.S. during previous presidential administrations, attributing the greater drop in those rates during Democratic administrations to a difference in approach (i.e., making it illegal vs. making it unnecessary):     As we noted in an earlier article on a similar topic, following the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that protected a pregnant woman's liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction, the abortion rate rose immediately afterward until it peaked in the 1980s, and it has fairly consistently declined since that peak through presidential administrations of both parties: article Following nationwide legalization of abortion in 1973, the total number, rate (number of abortions per 1,000 women aged 1544 years), and ratio (number of abortions per 1,000 live births) of reported abortions increased rapidly, reaching the highest levels in the 1980s before decreasing at a slow yet steady pace.     Although it is true that the abortion rate has experienced greater declines during Democratic administrations than Republican ones, we can't draw any definitive conclusion that, as the meme tries to suggest, this difference is primarily due to varying approaches by the two main political parties. The simple idea presented by the meme has a number of flaws, chief among them that political factors that might influence the abortion rate (e.g., policies, legislation, judicial appointments and rulings) do not neatly conform to presidential terms of office -- what takes place during one administration generally continues to have an effect throughout subsequent administrations. As well, events occurring at state and local levels (not necessarily directly tied to federal actions) can have a substantial impact on the availability and prevalence of abortions. More important, though, is that we cannot definitively determine to what extent political factors influence the abortion rate. As the Guttmacher Institute (a pro-abortion-rights research organization) observed, recent declines in the abortion rate appear to have been driven not primarily by abortion restrictions but by a broader decline in pregnancies: observed Abortion restrictions target either individuals ability to access the procedure (such as by imposing coercive waiting periods and counseling requirements) or providers ability to offer it (such as through unnecessary and intentionally burdensome regulations). Any one of these restrictions could result in some people being forced to continue pregnancies they were seeking to end; this could, in theory, lower the abortion rate. With the available evidence, it is impossible to pinpoint exactly which factors drove recent declines, and to what degree. However, previous Guttmacher analyses have documented that abortion restrictions, while incredibly harmful at an individual level, were not the main driver of national declines in the abortion rate ... Rather, the decline in abortions appears to be part of a broader decline in pregnancies, as evidenced by fewer births over the same period. What's driving that decline in pregnancies, then? We don't know that for sure, either, but likely a combination of social, cultural, economic, medical, and political factors: combination Experts say the decline isnt due to a single cause, but rather a combination of several factors, including changing economics, delays in childbirth by women pursuing jobs and education, the greater availability of contraception, and a decline in teen pregnancies. The trend seen in the United States is also seen in much of the developed world, including Western Europe, said Dr. John Rowe, a professor at Columbia Universitys Mailman School of Public Health. One important factor driving this is the changing roles of women in society, Rowe said. In general women are getting married later in life, he explained. They are leaving the home and launching their families later. [Dr. Helen Kim, an associate professor at Northwestern Universitys Feinberg School of Medicine] said the concept of the ideal family size may be changing. There are shifts where having smaller families is a trend, she added. I cant speak on this as a sociologist, but this is what Ive seen among my peers and colleagues. One of the biggest factors is the decline in teen pregnancies, Rowe said. Thats good news ... And that makes a huge difference to their lives. The Guttmacher Institute posited a similar mix of factors to explain the decline in the abortion rate: Because both abortions and births [have] declined, it is clear that there were fewer pregnancies overall in the United States ... The big question is why. One possible contributing factor is contraceptive access and use. Since 2011, contraception has become more accessible, as most private health insurance plans are now required by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to cover contraceptives without out-of-pocket costs. In addition, thanks to expansions in Medicaid and private insurance coverage under the ACA, the proportion of women aged 1544 nationwide who were uninsured dropped more than 40% between 2013 and 2017. There is evidence that use of long-acting reversible contraceptive methods -- specifically IUDs and implants -- increased through at least 2014, especially among women in their early 20s, a population that accounts for a significant proportion of all abortions Another possible contributing factor might be a decline in sexual activity. Findings from one national survey suggest a long-term increase in the number of people in the United States -- mostly younger men -- reporting not having sex in the past year. Yet another possibility is that infertility is increasing in the United States, thereby reducing the chances of getting pregnant and subsequently seeking to obtain an abortion. More generally, there are a host of other potential factors that could be driving declines in pregnancy rates, from individuals evolving desires about whether and when to become parents to peoples changing economic and social circumstances. Finally, it is possible that ... there could have been an increase in self-managed abortions happening outside of medical facilities, which the census would be unable to capture. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also offered a combination of potential explanations for lower abortion rates: combination Multiple factors influence the incidence of abortion including the availability of abortion providers; state regulations, such as mandatory waiting periods, parental involvement laws, and legal restrictions on abortion providers; increasing acceptance of nonmarital childbearing; shifts in the racial\/ethnic composition of the U.S. population; and changes in the economy and the resulting impact on fertility preferences and access to health care services, including contraception. As we stated four years ago, \"causation between the presidency and abortion rates [is] difficult to demonstrate in any case, because it is hard to draw a straight line between federal government policy (let alone presidential policy) and abortion procurement.\" That observation remains true today. Carroll, Linda and Shamard Charles, M.D.  \"Americans Aren't Making Enough Babies to Replace Ourselves.\"\r  NBC News.  13 January 2019. Nash, Elizabeth and Joerg Dreweke.  \"The U.S. Abortion Rate Continues to Drop: Once Again, State Abortion Restrictions Are Not the Main Driver.\"\r  Guttmacher Institute.  18 September 2019. Kasprak, Alex.  \"Abortion Rates Fall During Democratic Administrations and Rise During Republican Ones.\"\r  Snopes.com.  11 November 2016.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1cPlP3gNDi4NrejajGhAwKBpEAg3k_MSS"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ae2_GWIh152-EuB5CLdX05c9jlVHI9gJ"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1006","claim":"Did a Former Haitian Official Commit Suicide Before Clinton Testimony?","posted":"07\/17\/2017","sci_digest":["After Klaus Eberwein's suicide, inevitable links to the \"Clinton Body Count\" rumor emerged, but without clear merit."],"justification":"On 12 July 2017, theMiami Herald covered the death of former Haitian official Klaus Eberwein, news that soon developed into an version of the \"Clinton Body Count\" political urban legend. Clinton Body Count In the original article, theHeraldreportedthat Eberwein held the position of director general of Haiti's economic development agency (fonds d'assistance conomique et social, or FAES) from May 2012 until his replacement in February 2015. According to the report, Eberwein had subsequently struggled and worked as an Uber driver, presumably to make ends meet: reported Klaus Eberwein, a former Haitian government official, was found dead Tuesday in a South Dade motel room in what the Miami-Dade medical examiner's office is ruling a suicide. \"He shot himself in the head,\" said Veronica Lamar, Miami-Dade medical examiner records supervisor. She listed his time of death at 12:19 p.m... The address where Eberwein's body was discovered according to police, 14501 S. Dixie Hwy., is a Quality Inn... it appears that Eberwein had fallen on hard times. An Uber spokesperson confirmed that he worked as a driver for awhile in South Florida. The portion of the article that caught the attention of conspiracy blogs was about \"allegations of fraud and corruption\" faced by Eberwein about FAES' management of funds. The paper made no mention of Clinton or the Clinton Foundation: Eberwein was scheduled to appear Tuesday before the Haitian Senate's Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, the head of the commission, Sen. Evalire Beauplan confirmed. The commission is investigating the management of PetroCaribe funds, the money Haiti receives from Venezuela's discounted oil program. By 14 July 2017, internet sleuths got wind of the news and, perhaps inevitably, built on it: built   A separate blog post on the same day summarized the Herald's report, then made an uncited and unsourced claim about Eberwein's scheduled appearance at a 18 July 2017 hearing: post Eberwein was due to appear next Tuesday before the Haitian Senate Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission where he was widely expected to testify that the Clinton Foundation misappropriated Haiti earthquake donations from international donors. According to Miami-Dade's medical examiner records supervisor, the official cause of death is \"gunshot to the head\". Eberwein's death has been registered as \"suicide.\" Eberwein, who had acknowledged his life was in danger, was a fierce critic of the Clinton Foundation's activities in the Caribbean island, where he served as director general of the government's economic development agency, Fonds d'assistance conomique et social, for three years. The outlet originally reported that Eberwein was slated to appear in relation to a probe into the management of PetroCaribe funds, \"the money Haiti receives from Venezuela's discounted oil program\". We were unable to find a credible link to Eberwein's involvement in the hearing; the same unsourced claim was repeated by a blog called the Haiti Sentinel. However, many readers citing that site failed to recognize that the Haiti Sentinelarticle came after the other pieces, and that it based its claims upon them: article   As it turns out, however, the article from YourNewsWire from which the Haiti Sentinel piece was written is suspect, containing a \"quote\" from Eberwein the only part of the article that linked him to the Clintons to begin with  that was actually spoken by someone else: suspect \"The Clinton Foundation, they are criminals, they are thieves, they are liars, they are a disgrace,\" Eberwein said at a protest outside the Clinton Foundation headquarters in Manhattan last year. Someone did say that outside Clinton Foundation headquarters in Manhattan in November 2016, but YourNewsWire appears to have, for some reason, confused one person of Haitian descent with another. The actual person who spoke this phrase is a community activist and New York area radio host named Dahdoud Andr, and this comment originally appeared in a BBC article: Dahdoud Andr article Andr, despite the attempts to stir suspicion, remains very much alive as of July 2017, and pointed out to us that Eberwein had nothing to do with any protestsagainst the Clintons that he had helped organize. (It appearsYourNewsWire took some liberties with the false quote as well, weaving Donald Trump's assessment of the Clinton Foundation into Andr's.) protests As we have noted before, allegations about Hillary Clinton, the Clinton Foundation, and corruption in Haiti are not new, nor are they fully substantiated: Hillary Clinton Relatedrumors of the Clintons' relationship to Haiti appeared in October 2016, this time alleging that after the Haiti'sinfrastructure was devastated by a majorearthquakein 2010, the State Department steered reliefcontracts to personal friends of the Clintons. However, while Hillary Clinton didrecommendspecific companies to help with the rebuilding process ande-mailshave surfacedindicating that special attention was givento \"FoBs\" (\"Friends of Bill\"), there's noevidencethat the United States government awardedcontracts to any of those contenders. earthquake recommend e-mails evidence In 2014, Eberwein lamented slow progress in Haiti following a 2010 earthquake, despite an outpouring of aid to the country, and claims about the Clintons' influence in Haiti are not limited to career Clinton critics. In 2015,Politicoreported: lamented ... one person even closer to the secretary of state was singing a different tunevery, very quietly... after a four-day visit to the quake zone, Chelsea Clinton authored a seven-page memo which she addressed to \"Dad, Mom,\" and copied their chief aides. That informal report tells a continuing story of the unique brands of power and intelligence wielded by the Clinton family in Haiti and around the worldand of the uniquely Clinton ways they often undermine themselves. Chelsea Clinton was blunt in her report, confident the recipients would respect her request in the memo's introduction to remain an \"invisible soldier.\" She had first come to the quake zone six days after the disaster with her father and then-fianc, Mark Mezvinsky. Now she was returning with the medical aid group Partners in Health, whose co-founder, Dr. Paul Farmer, was her father's deputy in his Office of the UN Special Envoy for Haiti. What she saw profoundly disturbed her. The Clintons' role in what was frequently framed as a bungled-at-best relief effort was described in a September 2016 Slate piece: piece Here is an island country of 10 million people where America's ultimate power couple invested considerable time and reputation. Here is a fragile state where each took turns implementing destructive policies whose highlights include overthrowing a presidential election. Bill Clinton in particular mixed personal relationships, business, and unaccountable power in ways that, if never exactly criminal, arouse the kind of suspicion that erodes public trust. No two individuals, including Haiti's own leaders, enjoyed more power and influence than the Clintons in the morass of the failed reconstruction following the deadly Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake, when a troubled country managed to go from catastrophe to worse. The claim about Eberwein's purportedly suspicious suicide bore a strong resemblance to similar rumors involving former U.N. official John Ashe in 2016. Ashe purportedly died before he could testify against Clinton in the summer of that year. Although insiders have repeatedly stated that Ashe was never scheduled to testify against Clinton, his name regularly appears on lists of those allegedly murdered by the Clintons or their associates. John Ashe Before news of Klaus Eberwein's suicide was reported on 12 July 2017, no reports said or even hinted that any probe in which he was involved targeted Hillary Clinton or the Clinton Foundation. The claim originated on the frequently disreputable YourNewsWire.com, and was uncritically repeated and amplified by readers and blogs. However, we have found no specific information tying Eberwein to Clinton before his July 2017 death. frequently disreputable We attempted to contact both the original Herald writer as well as Sen. Evalire Beauplan to verify the link or lack thereof, but have not yet received a response from either.  Charles, Jacqueline.  \"Former Haiti Government Official Shoots Himself in the Head In Miami-Area Hotel.\"   Miami Herald.  12 July 2017. Charles, Jacqueline.  \"Progress Slow in Haiti's Isle of Ill-Content.\"   Miami Herald.  22 November 2014. Dmitry, Baxter.  \"Haiti Official, Who Exposed the Clinton Foundation, Found Dead in Miami.\"   YourNewsWire.  14 July 2017. Katz, Jonathan M.  \"The Clintons' Haiti Screw-Up, As Told by Hillary's Emails.\"   Politico.  2 September 2015. Katz, Jonathan M.  \"The Clintons Didn't Screw Up Haiti Alone. You Helped ...\"   Slate.  22 September 2016. Maxime, Samuel.  \"Former Official Found Dead Ahead of Senate Testimony.\"   Haiti Sentinel.  15 July 2017.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1yx-I5hiJggYEMpNdM_UluKpT-pwksMdo","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1m0zx_te_CcZllPvAaoJy-LwNLrLtBNRr","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1007","claim":"Is the GoFundMe campaign by Catherine Elizabeth Clennan genuine?","posted":"12\/28\/2016","sci_digest":["Social media users mocked what appeared to be a sincere (if tone-deaf) GoFundMe plea from Catherine Clennan, but the campaign resembled a publicity hoax."],"justification":"On 23 December 2016, a woman identifying herself as Catherine Elizabeth Clennan created a GoFundMe campaign destined for viral attention, in which she asked donors to supply her with US$5,000,000 in order to fulfill her \"lifelong dream\" (of having five million dollars). Clennan's bid for money stated that at 27, she dreamed of one day being independent of her family who \"pay for everything\" for her. Although she said that she hoped to raise $2,000,000 to buy a home in California, the campaign's goal was set at more than twice that amount: My name is Catherine Elizabeth Clennan and my whole life I have been trying to live by other's definitions of who I 'should be'. I have been trying so hard to live this lie that I came face to face with a choice: either live as others definitions of you and die OR strike out on your own and find for yourself who you really are. Well I chose life. I chose to live by my own definition ... With this choice I am in the process of turning my life in a new direction. Currently I live in Laramie, Wyoming. in a property owned by my family. They pay everything for me - and I am 27 years old. I feel that as long as I live by their definition I am 'taken care of', but this definition is leading me to deaths door - it forces me to live a lie - to turn my back to who I really am; a free spirit, an artist, a woman, a lesbian, a civil rights activist, a woman who goes against the grain, a woman who knows that not everything is as it seems. I need $2,000,000 dollars to purchase my dream home in California. I need the money to help me walk out of the lie that I am living, but more importantly I need the money to live my dream - which is to live as much as my life in the spiritual dimension as possible. The money will go towards the purchase of a new home, new transportation, and the various fees and taxes that accumulate with a move across the country. These funds will help me live the life that I feel I am meant to live, the life I want to live - the life defined not by other people - but by me. These funds will help me break free from the tyranny of what other people think is 'right'. The 'right' job, the 'right' education, the 'right' way to earn a living...   Although GoFundMe marked the campaign as \"trending\" as of 28 December 2016, Clennan had only received $21 of that goal on that date:   Although she has not indicated that her campaign is a hoax or prank (and GoFundMe has not flagged or removed it), Clennan does not appear to have much of an online footprint other than this campaign, aside from a LinkedIn profile and what may be a Huffington Post contribution (which as of April 2016 indicated she was an active student). That single article led some social media users to claim Clennan worked for the Huffington Post, but it looked as if she had submitted only one piece as a contributor. LinkedIn contribution In that article, Clennan expressed a desire to \"be a public figure\": Exposing my vulnerabilities publicly and confidently gave that girl the strength she needed to participate. Thats when I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life  I want to use computer science to inspire other women to explore computer science. I want to be a public figure in computer science that is the exact opposite of what you would typically expect to find in the field. I want to be that girl who no one thought she could, who had all the odds against her, that everyone thought was dumb, and yet she becomes incredibly successful in computer science. Then I want to turn that success around and use it as a pedestal to expose every wound, every failure, every painful vulnerability I have, even with my hands trembling, Clennan invited potential donors to visit her Facebook page for more information, but few additional details were available there. It remains possible that her goal is genuine and presented honestly with no expectations that it would go over poorly or go viral, but also within the realm of possibility that the GoFundMe request was a step in her stated aim to become a public figure. Facebook Clennan, Catherine.  \"The Benefits Of Being A Dumb Girl In Computer Science.\"\r  Huffington Post.  12 April 2016.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=11DTPW1fChCr7cosVizLo5zasHa-ztw4s"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1008","claim":"No, UNICEF Didn't Say Blocking Kids From Porn Violates Their Rights","posted":"06\/08\/2021","sci_digest":["Misleading headlines distorted a discussion paper about digital tools and human rights."],"justification":"On June 3, 2021, the Nigerian website Pulse.ng published the headline, \"UNICEF report says blocking children from watching pornography violates their human rights.\" Citing a May 13, 2021, story from the right-leaning, U.S.-based non-profit Center for Family and Human Rights (C-Fam), the Pulse story opened with a blurb in bold text that read: \"The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund has come under criticism after it released a report stating that exposure to pornography may not always be harmful to children because it prepares some of them for adulthood.\" The story was picked up by the right-leaning Canadian site Post Millennial, which ran the headline, \"New UN-backed study claims there's 'inconsistent evidence' that children are damaged by accessing porn.\" None of those headlines was accurate. Rather, the stories distorted portions of an April 2021 discussion paper published by UNICEF titled, \"Digital Age Assurance Tools and Children's Rights Online across the Globe.\" The paper did not claim that blocking children from accessing porn violates their human rights, nor did it state that exposure to it may not always be harmful. Instead, the paper noted that some countries render access to porn illegal for all age groups, while various countries have differing standards for what they define as porn. As a result, some educational materials dealing with sensitive topics like sexuality might be defined as \"porn\" by some governments. In one section titled \"Parental controls and supervision,\" the paper's authors state the following about parental-monitoring systems: \"This approach is likely most suitable for younger children, because it may infringe on children's rights to access information and to freedom of expression where their Internet access is censored at an older age.\" Practically speaking, it is also likely that older children will be able to circumvent parental controls. This section makes no mention of pornography. The paper also noted that \"the evidence is inconsistent, and there is currently no universal agreement on the nature and extent of the harm caused to children by viewing content classified as pornography.\" This statement followed a discussion about how many children are known to access pornography online, how often, and the degrees of harm inflicted, as well as various types of content they may be exposed to: \"There is conflicting evidence regarding how many children worldwide are accessing pornography online, and how often. Some studies have found that boys are more likely to experience greater exposure to pornography at an earlier age, and they are more likely to be exposed to violent or abusive images such as rape, whereas girls are more likely to be subject to involuntary or problematic exposure.\" In other words, UNICEF's report did not state that viewing porn doesn't harm children. It pointed out that research into the extent of harm is complex and incomplete. Some on social media falsely interpreted the C-Fam headline to mean that UNICEF tested pornography viewing on children. A UNICEF spokesperson told Snopes in an email that it took the discussion paper down because it was being misrepresented in a way that did not reflect UNICEF's position.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1CwIW2MXLkhWWpW619GZagjvmdRp8-Pyh","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1009","claim":"Is President Trump Billing Michelle Obama For $11 Billion?","posted":"02\/17\/2017","sci_digest":["A hoax news story reported that the former First Lady spent $11 million alone on \"new furniture.\""],"justification":"On 16 February 2017, the web site FocusNews.info published a story based in part on the myth that First Lady Michelle Obama employed an absurdly extravagant staff. The first paragraph gives a quick indication as to its slant: story Michelle Obama will go down in history as the First Lady who spent more money than any other. In addition to her 214 personal assistants, 32 gardeners, 11 dog walkers and her own mother on the government payroll as a day care provider, Moochelle also purchased $11 million worth of new furniture, an airplane, four yachts and two limousines with taxpayer money. The story goes on to promote the claim that President Donald Trump ordered that Obama be billed for $11 billion, not only for the \"new furniture\" and other extravagances, but $10 billion for \"vacations and the balance in food, clothing, liquor and cigarettes that should have been paid for out of their own pockets.\" Far from having \"214 personal assistants,\" Obama had a staff of about two dozenpeople working for her during her tenure as First Lady. The allegation that her mother, Marian Robinson, would receive a $160,000 pension has also been debunked. staff debunked. Another site, LastLineOfDefense.org, published a similar \"report\" stating that Trump instead billed Obama's husband, former President Barack Obama, for a $2.1 billion \"vacation scam\" that would have paid for his family and staff to indulge in free trips until the year 2036. published Much like LastLineOfDefense.org, FocusNews.info does have a disclaimer regarding its content stating that the site \"does not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability and accuracy of this information,\" as seen below:   The disclaimer appears as a small pop-up, as well as its own separate section on the website. section","issues":["liability"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1jRYX-kyBJuvWKH5O6LP-JPxVrEPqqsow","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1010","claim":"Was it suggested by Sanders to increase taxes to 52% on incomes exceeding $29,000?","posted":"02\/21\/2020","sci_digest":["A popular meme appears to have conflated two different tax proposals from the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate."],"justification":"In February 2020, a text meme concerning Sen. Bernie Sanders' health care plan and his proposal to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour was circulated on social media. The meme contained several arithmetic equations that supposedly showed how the pay increase for minimum wage workers would be negated by the hike in taxes needed to pay for Sanders' \"Medicare for All\" plan: Bernie Sanders said at the debate last night he wants the minimum wage to be $15 an hour. $15 x 40 hr work week = $600; $600 x 52 weeks per year = $31,200. Bernie Sanders wants free healthcare for all and was asked how he would pay for it. His answer was to raise taxes by 52% on anyone making over $29,000 per year. 52% of $31,200 = $16,224 in tax; $31,200 - $16,224 = $14,976 is your pay; $14,976 \u00f7 52 weeks = $288 per week; $288 \u00f7 40 hr week = $7.20 per hour. But there's no need to check the arithmetic in this meme. The general claim here that Sanders' health care plan would raise the tax rate to 52% on everyone making over $29,000 per year is egregiously false. One proposal offered by Sanders would raise the tax rate to 52% on earnings over $10 million. Sanders also proposed that the first $29,000 of a person's income would be exempt from taxes, and a 4% income-based premium would be applied to earnings over $29,000. The meme asserts that Sanders made this claim \"at the debate last night.\" As this meme started circulating in mid-February 2020, we'll assume that timing refers to the Democratic presidential debate held in Las Vegas on Feb. 17, 2020. Although Sanders did say that he wanted to raise the minimum wage to $15 during that debate, he did not say that he would pay for his health care plan by raising \"taxes to 52% on anybody making over $29,000 a year.\" Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg did maintain that \"taxes will go up on anybody making more than $29,000\" under Sanders' tax plan, but Buttigieg did not claim that the tax rate would increase to 52% for these individuals. Sanders disputed Buttigieg's claim during the debate, saying the latter was \"not being honest\" and that any tax increase for low-wage workers would be offset by lower health care costs. Here's an excerpt of the exchange between the two men (a full transcript of the debate is available here): BUTTIGIEG: [Sanders] was a congressman at the time. And the qualities I admired then are qualities I still respect a great deal. I never said that I agree with every part of his policy views, then or now. But I appreciate that at least he's straightforward and honest about them. He's honest about the fact that taxes will go up on anybody making more than $29,000 to fund his health care plan, although, again, a little bit vague about how the rest of that gets ... SANDERS: You're not being honest. Premiums would be eliminated. BUTTIGIEG: But you're still raising those taxes. And when you do it... SANDERS: But we're saving people money because they don't pay any premiums, out-of-pocket expenses, co-payments, or deductibles. They're going to be much better off. [applause] BUTTIGIEG: But where is the other $25 trillion supposed to come from? At a certain point, you've got to do the math. SANDERS: Well, we got it all up there on the internet. It's a payroll tax\u2014a payroll tax... [crosstalk] BUTTIGIEG: Well, no, but even after the payroll tax, you still have a hole. [crosstalk] SANDERS: Because we have a wealth tax. Elizabeth [Warren] has a good one. Ours is a little bit tougher on Mr. Bloomberg than hers. We're going to raise it in a progressive way, which deals with income and wealth inequality, and makes certain, finally, that health care in this country is a human right, not a privilege. Although Sanders did not reference it during that debate, we did find mention of a 52% tax rate in a document he released to explain various \"options to finance Medicare for All.\" That document stated that the 52% tax rate would be applied to earnings over $10 million, not $29,000 as claimed in the meme. Here's the relevant excerpt from that document (emphasis ours): Another option is to reform the personal income tax system by strengthening progressive income tax rates, taxing capital gains and dividends the same as work income, limiting deductions for the wealthy, taxing carried interest as ordinary income, and requiring derivatives to be marked to market. Progressive income tax rates. Under this plan, the marginal income tax rate would be: Sanders mentioned the $29,000 figure in another document entitled \"Financing Medicare for All.\" This document listed a few additional ways to pay for Medicare for All, including a 4% income-based premium on incomes over $29,000. Here's an excerpt from that document (emphasis ours): As the wealthiest country in the world, we have a variety of options available to support a Medicare for All, single-payer health care system that guarantees high quality, affordable health care as a right, not a privilege, to every man, woman, and child in this country. Those options include, but are not limited to: Sanders elaborated on this portion of his plan during a September 2019 appearance on \"The Late Show with Stephen Colbert\": Sanders made a similar statement during a town hall in New Hampshire in November 2019. Sanders again said that the first $29,000 of an individual's earnings would be exempt from taxes and then a 4% tax rate would apply on earnings over $29,000: What we will do is have a four percent tax on income exempting the first $29,000,\" Sanders told his supporters. \"All right, good. You're better at arithmetic than I am. Because what that means is if you are that average family in the middle who makes $60,000 a year, that means we're going to tax you on $31,000 at four percent. We were unable to find any instance of Sanders proposing a 52% tax rate on \"anybody making over $29,000\" per year, something that appears to be an erroneous conflation of Sanders proposing a 4% tax rate on earnings over $29,000 and a 52% tax rate on earnings over $10 million. A counter-meme offered a more accurate (although still not entirely accurate) look at Sanders' actual expressed plans: This meme, too, makes a mistake. Sanders' tax proposal uses a marginal tax rate (or a progressive tax rate), which means that a different tax rate is applied to different portions of a person's income. The percentage taxed starts relatively small but grows as income increases. In Sanders' case, the first $29,000 of a person's income would be exempt from taxes. When a person's income crosses the $29,000 threshold, a 4% tax will be applied to earnings over $29,000. This tax rate continues to grow as income increases. Income over $10 million, for instance, would be taxed at 52%. But the above-displayed meme applies a 4% tax rate to all $31,200. Under Sanders' plan, however, the first $29,000 would be exempt, and the 4% tax rate would only apply to the remaining $2,200. We reached out to Sanders' campaign for comment on the claim that the candidate was planning to raise the tax rate to 52% on everyone making over $29,000 per year. A spokesperson told us, \"the meme is false.\"","issues":["dividend"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1JmV4bdiDu2J1rnFjeatcEZX5kfKb3X0K"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1rPYT4WYRyQTXgsHHIWb9HK9H3sOLr5gd"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1011","claim":"The national economy was strong in its largest expansion of private sector jobs before President Trump came into office.","posted":"09\/25\/2018","sci_digest":[],"justification":"U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine had an old prediction tossed back at him during a debate this summer. It was thrown by moderator Judy Woodruff, the anchor and managing editor of PBS NewsHour. She reminded Kaine that in 2016, when he was the Democratic nominee for vice president, he said the election of then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump would be a disaster for the economy. Woodruff asked Kaine to square that with the strong economic results during the first 18 months of the Trump administration: about3 million new jobs, the unemployment rate dippingbelow 4 percent, and soaring corporate profits. Kaine replied, The national economy was strong, in its longest expansion in private sector jobs, before President Trump came into office. We fact-checked Kaines claim that Trump, when he became president on Jan. 20, 2017, inherited the nations longest expansion of private jobs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics keepsmonthly recordson private sector employment back to 1939. They show that the U.S. experienced 82 months straight months of private sector job growth before Trump became president - from March 2010 through December 2016, when Barack Obama was in the White House. That easily qualifies for the longest streak during the eight decades the BLS had been keeping the statistics prior to Trumps presidency. The streak is still alive under Trump and - through August 2018, the latest statistics are available - is up to 112 months. The second longest streak was 64 months. It ran from May 1995 through October 2000, when Bill Clinton was president. The longest continuous drop in private employment lasted 22 months - from January 2008 through October 2009 during the Great Recession. That was during the last year of George W. Bushs administration and the first year of Obamas. Presidents from both political parties traditionally have been quick to claim the credit for good economies and fast to dodge the blame when times turn bad. Economists have repeatedly told us its mostly a political dance; that the policies of presidents and  governors dont drive economic ups and downs. Our ruling Kaine said, The national economy was strong in its largest expansion of private sector jobs before President Trump came into office. Data shows hes right. We rate his statement True.","issues":["Economy","Jobs","Virginia"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1012","claim":"Was it stated by Biden that individuals earning less than $400,000 per year will not owe any taxes at all?","posted":"05\/04\/2021","sci_digest":["The Biden administration's tax plan will not raise taxes on people making less than $400,000, but those people will still have to pay taxes. "],"justification":"In May 2021, a video started to circulate that supposedly showed U.S. President Joe Biden saying that people making less than $400,000 won't have to pay a single penny in taxes.  Joe Biden  This is a genuine clip showing a portion of the remarks Biden delivered during a visit to Tidewater Community College in Portsmouth, Virginia, on May 3, 2021. While the president said that people making under $400,000 would not pay a single penny in taxes during these remarks, that is not what is outlined in the Biden administration's tax plan. Biden misspoke here. A more accurate way of representing his tax plan would have been to say that people making under $400,000 would not see their taxes \"raised\" by a single penny.  remarks Biden delivered Here's how Fox News reported on this gaffe: Fox News reported President Biden reiterated his pledge that no American earning less than $400,000 would not pay \"a single penny\" in additional taxes with a slight twist on Monday, after he proposed several tax increases to fund two sweeping spending plans. Biden appeared to mistakenly leave out a key word during his speech at Tidewater Community College  instead saying that no one earning under his specified threshold would pay any taxes. Biden repeatedly promised during his 2020 presidential campaign that people making less than $400,000 \"wont pay a penny more in taxes.\"  repeatedly promised 2020 presidential campaign   This campaign promise was included in Biden's proposal for the American Families Plan that was released in April 2021: released in April 2021 In all, the American Families Plan includes $1.8 trillion in investments and tax credits for American families and children over ten years. It consists of about $1 trillion in investments and $800 billion in tax cuts for American families and workers. Alongside the American Families Plan, the President will be proposing a set of measures to make sure that the wealthiest Americans pay their share in taxes, while ensuring that no one making $400,000 per year or less will see their taxes go up. When combined with President Bidens American Jobs Plan, this legislation will be fully paid for over 15 years, and will reduce deficits over the long term. Biden has repeatedly promised that people making less than $400,000 would not see their taxes raised under his plan. Although a video that showed him saying that people making less than a $400,000 won't \"pay a single penny in taxes\" is real, the president clearly misspoke during this portion of his speech. ","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1N0FCRsgPwrA-DYOcGuz3J6DDCzw9oVuI"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1013","claim":"Misleading Ad Does Not Show Nelly's Abandoned Mansion","posted":"08\/18\/2021","sci_digest":["The picture isn't even from the United States."],"justification":"On Aug. 10, 2021, a tweet claimed to show an abandoned mansion previously owned by the rapper Nelly. tweet Nelly The paid Twitter ad in question was highly misleading. Nelly never owned the property in the picture.   Readers who clicked the ad were led to a story about Nelly's real abandoned mansion, which was very different than what was seen in the Twitter ad. The article lasted a staggering 81 pages and showed multiple photographs that appeared to have been plucked from various YouTube videos and other websites. article According to Realtor.com, the real and perhaps at one time abandoned mansion that Nelly once owned is located in Wildwood, Missouri. It's located just outside of St. Louis, and did not appear in the ad above. The home showed as a pending sale in mid-August 2021. The mansion has six bedrooms and 6.5 baths and covers 10,799 square feet. The asking price was $599,000. According to Realtor.com https:\/\/www.realtor.com\/realestateandhomes-detail\/17329-Hidden-Valley-Dr_Wildwood_MO_63025_M79539-41672 The property history showed that the home was first purchased for an unknown amount of money on April 14, 1994. It was then listed for $2,650,000 in 2001 and then $2,499,000 in 2002. It sold on Sept. 4, 2002, again for an unknown price. It's not known when Nelly's former mansion was abandoned and emptied of all its contents. This video from the Living St. Louis YouTube channel shows the abandoned mansion when snow was falling in February 2021: video Living St. Louis YouTube channel  It's unknown if the current pending sale will go through successfully. According to the Freaktography website, the picture in the ad that showed a much larger building was taken in Northern Ontario. It was \"built by a Canadian forest industry company.\" Work began in 2005. It was intended to be used as \"an office complex, living quarters and a showcase\" for the company's products. Freaktography reported that construction was abandoned after a \"strong downturn in the global economy.\" Freaktography website https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=h9kPjeYI478&t=89s In sum, a misleading ad on Twitter claimed to show Nelly's abandoned mansion. In reality, the impressive picture was clickbait and had nothing to do with the rapper.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1dc9xrNTxHIQzANb8bBeKrYblhX1Wo389","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1014","claim":"Did 30,000 cows perish due to the extreme cold during a winter storm?","posted":"01\/11\/2017","sci_digest":["A story that thousands of cattle were left dead after a winter storm was from 2015, not 2017."],"justification":"In January 2017, a photograph purportedly showing a group of cows that had apparently frozen solid was circulated on Facebook along with the claim that 30,000 animals had just died in a winter storm. Both the photograph displayed here and its accompanying claim are legitimate. However, while this meme reappeared (and was mistaken for current) in January 2017, this graphic actually references a winter storm that occurred at the end of December 2015. Weather.com reported that more than 15,000 cows died during Winter Storm Goliath in Texas, while another 20,000 froze to death in New Mexico. Dairy producers in Texas and New Mexico have estimated that the number of animals that died during the recent Winter Storm Goliath will climb to more than 30,000. The winds are believed to be the cause of many of the animals' deaths. They created drifts as high as 14 feet and pushed animals into fenced corners where they suffocated, according to The Associated Press. \"As Winter Storm Goliath wrapped up over the southern Plains, strong winds were associated with the storm's tightening pressure gradient,\" said Weather.com meteorologist Quincy Vagell. \"When combined with snow, the winds were strong enough to create dangerous blizzard conditions.\" Executive director of the Texas Association of Dairymen, Darren Turley, said that an estimated 15,000 mature dairy cows died between Lubbock, Muleshoe, and Friona, the primary impact area of the storm, AP also reports. This region includes the home of half the state's top 10 milk-producing counties, which provide 40 percent of Texas milk. According to an agent with New Mexico State University's extension service, the state lost an estimated 20,000 cows. \"Like all agriculture, dairy producers always operate at the mercy of Mother Nature,\" said Turley. \"With Goliath, she dealt a particularly harsh and costly blow to the area's dairy producers, from the death of thousands of livestock they spend so much time caring for to a loss of milk production both over the weekend and in the future.\" The photograph is also real, although we were not able to determine a definite source. An uncropped version of the image was published by Tri-State Livestock News shortly after the storm, which showed a group of frozen (or near-frozen) cattle on the side of the road. The other part of the meme heavily implied that the cows froze to death out of neglect because nobody \"felt the need\" to bring them inside in the cold weather. The truth is, of course, more complicated. A January 5, 2016 report from the Houston Chronicle detailed efforts farmers undertook to protect their cattle from the freak storm. More than one foot of snow on December 27 surprised ranchers and dairy farmers in a region accustomed to a few inches of precipitation each winter. Unlike their northern peers, Texas cattle raisers rarely own four-walled barns designed to keep cattle warm, often opting instead for open structures meant to keep Texas cattle cool during the long, hot summers. Forecast warnings of a \"historic blizzard\" came too late. Voinis said some cattle raisers had tried to build shelters with hay bales and machinery, to little avail. Some cattle were buried in snowdrifts formed by gale-force winds. Others froze to death in the open, died of frostbite in later days, or just disappeared. Initial loss estimates increased greatly in the days following the storm. A similar story unfolded in New Mexico, which was swept by the same storm. Meteorologists sounded the first warnings about the storm some eight days before it hit on Dec. 26. Farmers prepared as best they could\u2014putting down extra bedding behind windbreaks, placing extra bales of hay in front of calf bungalows, and in places where snow typically accumulates. But as the blizzard raged on, cows that had sought shelter behind windbreakers were buried alive by drifting snow. Others froze to death in open fields. Calves that had been nestled inside hutches went hungry because no one could reach them. Farmers who tried to rescue their animals became disoriented and lost on their own land. \"We did the best we could for our animals,\" Ms. Beckerink said. \"But as the storm worsened, saving them meant risking the lives of her workers\u2014a horrifying decision to make.\" The deaths of the cattle dramatically affected the livelihoods of farmers in both states. It is extremely unlikely that any farmer (dependent on their animals for money and food) would cavalierly leave their main source of income and food out in the snow to freeze to death, despite what this meme implies.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1uIPY8MR-PfTyUVMkOuzpaN-6rVjeLpWA"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1isDaDJRRu7UwqUnwRdAcp3MJgI-Z_lOF"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1015","claim":"Did FloraSpring Help a 65-Year-Old Man 'Poop Out 42 Pounds'?","posted":"02\/20\/2021","sci_digest":["Online advertisements for the FloraSpring weight loss supplement led users to pictures and video of Dr. Steven Masley, and mentions of a \"pooping habit.\""],"justification":"It's not every day that readers see a paid online advertisement that describes the cumulative weight of someone's bowel movements. One such ad for the FloraSpring weight loss supplement reads as follows: \"65 y\/o Man Poops Out 42 Lbs.\" A somewhat similar YouTube video ad also promised a \"pooping habit\" for customers who take FloraSpring. First, this is the Google-hosted ad that claimed a 65-year-old man had 42 pounds of bowel movements:   However, the photo in the misleading ad did not show a man who \"pooped out 42 pounds\" (nor was he actually 65 years old). It was originally posted by photographer Pavel Ladziak in 2017. posted   In 2017, Bodybuilding.com reported that Ladziak was nowhere near 65 years of age: reported \"Pawel Ladziak, a 35-year-old Polish fitness pro and personal trainer, is causing a sensation on Instagram by intentionally aging himself. His goal: to look as muscular and as old as he possibly can.\" There was no indication that Ladziak had any involvement with or knowledge of the \"Man Poops\" ad. We reached out to him, and will update this story should we hear back. The misleading ad led to a full-screen seminar-style video on a website for FloraSpring. It was described as \"a weight loss supplement that assists in the weight loss process by increasing ones metabolism.\" described At first, a red line at the bottom of the screen looked to be a progress bar for the video player. However, the line appeared to be part of the video itself. It moved at a fairly quick speed at the beginning of the video, giving the effect that its running time would be short (as promised in the ad). However, the line later slowed to a crawl for the remainder of the presentation. Around 80 seconds into the video, the video's voice-over announced: \"In the next 6 minutes and 27 seconds, you're going to get to go behind the scenes at Dr. (Steven) Masley's private clinic.\" However, the video lasted well over 45 minutes. Viewers who attempted to leave the video page were shown a notice. It said: \"WAIT! BEFORE YOU GO... READ THE FREE REPORT FROM DR. MASLEY INSTEAD OF WATCHING THIS VIDEO NOW... CLICK HERE NOW.\" It led to a fairly lengthy page with an introduction from Dr. Steven Masley, MD. page The page purported to feature success stories for FloraSpring. The pictures next to the stories were from unrelated websites. For example, one of the pictures was from a YouTube video that featured dancing. Another looked to have come from the satirical website ClickHole. pictures YouTube video ClickHole We contacted Revival Point LLC, the company that sells FloraSpring. We asked about the ad that claimed a 65-year-old man released 42 pounds of fecal matter. The company's name was \"Revival Point Labs\" in the ad. A company spokesperson claimed that an affiliate was to blame. They also said the ad was a violation of the company's terms of service: This advertisement is not run by Dr. Masley or Revival Point LLC. The man in the photo does not represent a Revival Point LLC customer and the ad copy does not represent any of the studies supporting the ingredients in the product. The spokesperson later said they \"submitted the link to Google Adwords to get the ad account removed that's running the ads.\" They also told us that they \"terminated the link from these ads and permanently removed the affiliate.\" We asked about the unrelated photographs in the success stories. They told us that the three stories were representative of Masley's patients, but that real names and photos were changed for privacy reasons: unrelated photographs As for the photos on the longer page, these people represent three of Dr. Masley's patients, but their names and photos have been changed to keep their identity private. Due to Doctor\/Patient confidentiality, we cannot provide any further information on these patients or their medical history with Dr. Masley. The photos on the page have been replaced with licensed stock imagery. Following our email to Revival Point LLC, the original pictures were changed to stock photographs. original pictures stock photographs We also stumbled upon a YouTube video that purported to show a FloraSpring video advertisement about a \"pooping habit.\" Masley appeared in the video, which looked to have been screen-recorded and posted by a YouTube user. The ad mentioned \"poop\" and \"pooping\" many times. The small, corner photograph of Masley matched the profile picture on a YouTube channel for Revival Point Labs. YouTube video YouTube channel  The ad's voice-over script promised a \"pooping habit\" with FloraSpring: The good news is this pooping habit is something that anyone can start at any time at any age. It will help burn off pounds of fat, restore energy, shut down cravings, and yes, help you have amazing poops. Poop more often. Poop better. Make your poops more solid, and yet come out much easier, all while flushing out pounds of fat, flushing those excess calories and fat right out your butt into your toilet, and right down the drain, gone for good. We asked Revival Point LLC about the FloraSpring \"pooping habit\" ad. In response, they said: \"This does not appear to be from us or affiliated with us.\" In sum, a picture in an online advertisement did not show a 65-year-old man. He also did not \"poop out 42 pounds\" after taking FloraSpring. The man in the ad is Ladzia, a Polish photographer. He's in his late 30s, and ages himself to look older as a hobby. Revival Point LLC claimed that the Google ad and the \"pooping habit\" YouTube video ad were not created by their company.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1keOWFCQQXeeqonv0OgEuHnsFMtRsDWzl","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1016","claim":"'Facebook Will Start Charging This Summer' Is an Old Hoax","posted":"10\/14\/2022","sci_digest":["Meta has never announced any plans that they would start charging users to be on Facebook."],"justification":"In October 2022, Facebook users copied and pasted posts that claimed, \"Facebook will start charging this summer.\" The copy-and-paste posts, which we refer to as copypasta, claimed that the news was \"official\" and that the posts had been \"signed\" by the users, a word that was sometimes misspelled as \"signal.\" The posts claimed the news had even been broadcast \"on TV.\" However, this was nothing more than a repeated iteration of a long-running Facebook hoax. copypasta To be clear, Meta has never announced any plans to charge Facebook users money in order for them to be able to use the platform. We found no shortage of these posts being copied and pasted in mid-October. A search for \"Facebook will start charging this summer\" returned a seemingly endless number of results. a seemingly endless number of results The copy-and-paste post usually read something like this, with the time changed in some posts depending upon when the user shared the text:  It's official Signed at 10:33. It's even passed on TV. Facebook will start charging this summer. If you copy this to your wall your icon will turn blue and your Facebook will be free for you. Please pass this message, if not your icon will be deleted. P.S. this is serious, the icon will turn blue (Copy and paste to your wall) Mine really turned blue. After the \"Facebook will start charging this summer\" text, some of the posts that we found then continued by including words from previous iterations of this same hoax: continued Don't forget tomorrow starts the new Facebook (akanew name, META) rule where they can use your photos. Don't forget the Deadline is today!!! I do not give Facebook or any entities associated with Facebook permission to use my pictures, information, messages or posts, both past and future. With this statement, I give notice to Facebook it is strictly forbidden to disclose, copy, distribute, or take any other action against me based on this profile and\/or its contents. The information: The violation of privacy can be punished by law NOTE: Facebook is now a public entity. All members must post a note like this.If you prefer, you can copy and paste this version. If you do not publish a statement at least once it will be tacitly allowing the use of your photos, as well as the information contained in the profile status updates.DO NOT SHARE. Copy and paste.Their new algorithm chooses the same few people - about 25 - who will read your posts.Therefore:Hold your finger down anywhere in this post and \"copy\" will pop up. Click \"copy\". Then go to your page, start a new post and put your finger anywhere in the blank field. \"Paste\" will pop up and click pasteThis will bypass the system. We previously debunked this rumor in 2009, then published another story about it in 2020. The version of the hoax that uses the words \"this summer\" had apparently been going around since at least 2011. debunked this rumor in 2009 another story since at least 2011 Despite being well over a decade old, Facebook users often share various posts that ask others to copy and paste the text, as if doing so would establish precautionary measures against a future development. ask others to copy and paste the text However, as Jerry once told Kramer on the \"Seinfeld\" TV series, \"I don't know if what you have here constitutes a legally binding document.\" told Huberman, Bond. \"Is Facebook Charging a User Fee?\" Snopes.com, 22 May 2020, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/is-facebook-charging-a-user-fee\/. Huberman, Bond, and David Emery. \"Snopestionary: What Is Copypasta?\" Snopes.com, 19 Sept. 2021, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/articles\/369246\/what-is-copypasta\/. Mikkelson, David. \"Is Facebook Implementing User Fees?\" Snopes.com, 31 Dec. 2009, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/facebook-implementing-user-fees\/. ---. \"Will Posting This Notice Stop Facebook from Making Your Posts Public?\" Snopes.com, 4 June 2012, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/facebook-posts-made-public\/. Tim. \"Its Official...Signal at 12:20 It Even Passed on Tv. Facebook Will Be Charging This Summer - Viral Hoax!\"Facecrooks, 3 July 2011, https:\/\/facecrooks.com\/Internet-Safety-Privacy\/Its-official-signal-at-1220-it-even-passed-on-tv-Facebook-will-be-charging-this-summer-Viral-Hoax.html.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1na1JQnWhQ3B7aJ-V9PDzJ4GtsAYUuTcH","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1017","claim":"Photograph 'Taken Without a Telescope' Shows Andromeda Galaxy Next to the Moon","posted":"05\/25\/2016","sci_digest":["A purported photograph that shows the galaxy next to (and much larger than) the moon is actually a composite of two separate images."],"justification":"An image purportedly showing the Andromeda Galaxy next to the moon circulated in May 2016, along with the claim that it was taken from Finland without the aid of a telescope. However, this picture is actually a composite of two separate images, and the Andromeda Galaxy appears far smaller in the night sky to the naked eye, almost identical to a garden-variety, somewhat fuzzy star, as this photograph illustrates (the galaxy is in the top center). In May 2012, NASA released a new image of what it called \"The Galaxy Next Door,\" taken by an orbiting ultraviolet space telescope called the Galaxy Evolution Explorer, or GALEX for short. The GALEX image shows hot stars burning brightly, revealing the ultraviolet side of a familiar face. At approximately 2.5 million light-years away, the Andromeda Galaxy, or M31, is our Milky Way's largest galactic neighbor. The entire galaxy spans 260,000 light-years across\u2014a distance so large that it took 11 different image segments stitched together to produce this view of the galaxy next door. Andromeda is so bright and close to us that it is one of only ten galaxies that can be spotted from Earth with the naked eye. This view is a two-color composite, where blue represents far-ultraviolet light and orange represents near-ultraviolet light. In 2015, Reddit user Tom Buckley took the GALEX image and added it into a photograph of the moon that had been taken by Flickr user Stephen Rahn. Buckley said that his composite showed \"Andromeda's actual size if it was brighter.\" Most versions of this size comparison paste the moon (rather poorly) onto an existing picture of the galaxy. However, I couldn't find any instances of the other way around, where the galaxy is pasted onto an existing picture of the moon. I think you get a much more realistic sense of what's 'hidden' in our night sky like this. Oh yes, and original credit goes to Stephen Rahn. Buckley's image caught the eye of a few scientists when it first circulated in February 2015. Canadian astronomer Alan McConnachie told IFL Science that it is largely accurate. The GALEX image of Andromeda is in the ultraviolet, and the extent of this image is close to the size of the optical image of Andromeda that everyone is familiar with, says astronomer Alan McConnachie of the National Research Council Herzberg in Victoria, Canada. The moon is about 0.5 degrees in diameter; the Andromeda Galaxy, measured on its longest axis, is approximately 2-3 degrees long. Thus, if it were possible for Andromeda to be more luminous, it would appear roughly six times larger than our moon. But at 2.5 million light-years from Earth, the galaxy is not as easily seen as the crescent in our sky, which is only 238,900 miles (384,400 kilometers) from Earth. While Buckley provided the source images when he first shared his composite, and while the image circulated along with an explanation in 2015, some only encountered the picture when it was attached to the erroneous claim that it was a real photograph of the Andromeda Galaxy and the moon.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=10kAlkgus0PL5hSqP2YZ8BoVYZ8tMSH4o","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1N1rIiMY-ckNr37MQMeZkcDCWiGxkliGj","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Klon-g3vXkguhaO2GkfU1kRBdqD5kbEY","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1018","claim":"Did President Trump contribute to Kamala Harris' previous campaign funds?","posted":"08\/12\/2020","sci_digest":["Trump's reelection campaign called Harris \"a corrupt former California Attorney General.\" But did he play a small role in keeping her in that office?"],"justification":"In August 2020, readers asked us to examine the accuracy of claims that before he took office, U.S. President Donald Trump had made donations to a previous election campaign of Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., whom presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden named as his vice-presidential running mate.  Shortly after Biden named Harris as his running mate on Aug. 11, the president's reelection campaign denounced her as \"phony Kamala,\" claiming she was willing to \"abandon her own morals, as well as try to bury her record as a prosecutor, in order to appease the anti-police extremists controlling the Democrat party.\" named denounced In an email sent to supporters, the Trump campaign also labeled Harris \"a corrupt former California Attorney General\":   Paul Begala, a former advisor to former President Bill Clinton, alluded to a degree of irony in this allegation, claiming in a tweet that \"Trump donated to Kamala Harris when she was [attorney general].\" claiming In widely shared tweets, NBC News correspondent Tom Winter claimed that Trump had twice contributed to Harris' election campaign, in 2011 and 2013, donating a total of $6,000. Winter also said that Trump's daughter and advisor Ivanka Trump had herself donated $2,000 to Harris' campaign in 2014: claimed   Those claims were accurate. Records available through the campaign finance database on the website of the California secretary of state show that Trump made two contributions to Harris' 2014 campaign for reelection as California attorney general: a $5,000 donation on Sep. 26, 2011, and a $1,000 donation on Feb. 20, 2013. Harris first took office in January 2011, which means Trump contributed to her reelection when she had already been in office for eight months, and two years, respectively.  database In March 2019, The Sacramento Bee reported that a spokesperson for Harris' presidential primary campaign had said she \"donated the $6,000 Trump had contributed to a non-profit that advocates for civil and human rights for Central Americans,\" with the newspaper adding that Harris' donation of the money took place in 2015.  reported We contacted spokespeople for both Harris and Biden, requesting further details about that claim, including the name of the charity in question, and the date on which Harris purportedly donated $6,000 to the charity. We did not receive a response in time for publication. The campaign finance database also reveals that the future president made several other campaign contributions in California, to both Republicans and Democrats. He donated $2,500 to the unsuccessful 2010 gubernatorial campaign of Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who was ultimately elected to that office in 2019; he gave a total of $3,500 to Democrat Jerry Brown's successful 2006 bid to become California attorney general; he donated a total of $12,000 to committees supportive of Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger; and gave $25,000 to the state's Republican party, in 2005.   The database also corroborates Winter's claim that in June 2014, Ivanka Trump  adviser to, and daughter of, the president  herself made a $2,000 donation to Harris' successful campaign to be reelected as the state's attorney general. She also contributed $500 to the unsuccessful 2010 gubernatorial campaign of Newsom:   Ronayne, Kathleen; Weissert, Will. \"Biden Picks Kamala Harris as Running Mate, First Black Woman.\"\r The Associated Press. 11 August 2020. Cadei, Emily. \"Big-Dollar Donors, Including Donald Trump, Fueled Kamala Harris' Political Rise in California.\"\r The Sacramento Bee. 4 March 2019.","issues":["finance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1QVwfUo_RweLpzQpHL36cBU9_cxlhMLRQ"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1xyUGifclUHMOWAoua5QedbjtHRO8aUW6"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1IYjz9Jo6X8INYr5K2ST_v6Z22tgvk45j"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1fF805TviHXaYEDOm26fcYFl40jyME3Xu"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1019","claim":"WikiLeaks E-Mail Says Obama Directed His Supporters to Engage in 'All-American Voter Fraud'","posted":"10\/19\/2016","sci_digest":["One WikiLeaks e-mail referenced unproven rumors that the Obama campaign had \"flooded\" the 2008 Iowa Democratic caucuses with out-of-state voters."],"justification":"The October 2016 WikiLeaks series \"The Podesta Emails\" gave readers an inside look at operations in the Democratic Party by publishing the communications of Hillary Clinton campaign director John Podesta, and one rumor connected with that e-mail dump held that one of those documents revealed in part that President Obama had \"directed his supporters\" to engage in \"a little all-American voter fraud.\" Misinterpretation and misrepresentation of WikiLeaks documents is rife, and the phrasing about \"a little all-American voter fraud\" came not from the actual text of one of the released documents but from a blog post about the WikiLeaks documents: blog post Wikileaks has done an amazing job of revealing to the American people just how screwed up and corrupt our government really is, at all levels. The most recent revelation comes from the very top, and shows that Obama may have directed his supporters in Colorado to engage in a little all-American voter fraud. In the email, John Podesta discussed his meeting to two Coloradans who made it clear that they wanted help in making sure that only legal and living people were allowed to vote in the 2015 caucuses. A search of WikiLeaks returns zero results for the \"all-American voter fraud\" phrasing: zero results  As with many purported WikiLeaks revelations, the blog included not a link to the complete underlying document but only a screenshot of an out-of-context e-mail along with commentary about it: screenshot  That e-mail was dated 14 May 2015, pertained to the upcoming 2016 Democratic caucuses in Colorado (eventually won by Bernie Sanders), and referenced unproven rumors that back in 2008 the Obama campaign had supposedly \"flooded\" the Iowa caucuses with ineligible voters from out of state: High importance. I met with Jim and Mike in Denver. They are both old friends of the Clintons and have lots of experience. Mike hosted our Boulder Road Show event. They are reliving the 08 caucuses where they believe the Obama forces flooded the caucuses with ineligible voters. They want to organize lawyers for caucus protection, election protection and to raise hard $. They are not just Colorado focused and have good contacts in the region A December 2007 Politico article examined the claim made by a Clinton aide at the time that the Obama campaign was trying to \"manipulate the Iowa caucuses\" by \"busing in students from out of state\": article A Clinton spokesman, Mo Elleithee, drew a distinction between her campaign's approach to college campuses and Obama's, amplifying Yepsen's criticism of the Obama campaign. Theres a big difference here. We are not systematically trying to manipulate the Iowa caucuses with out of state people. We dont have literature recruiting out of state college students. We didnt bus in folks from out of state to the JJ. We didnt bring in out of state activists to the Heartland Forum. An Obama aide also pointed out that there's no evidence his campaign was busing in students from out of state, while my colleague Ben Adler reported that Clinton volunteers from out of state were planning to come back to caucus (it's unclear to him how organized this effort is) and the Clinton campaign did email out a call for volunteers to come from other midwestern states prior to the Jefferson Jackson dinner. Obama spokesman Bill Burton responded to this controversy by saying: Rather than denigrating the caucus rights of students who go to school in Iowa, we would suggest the Clinton campaign organize them. Their attack here is borne out of pure political frustration. Iowans are determined to launch a winning candidate for the Democratic Party to bring real change for our country. They will not be deterred by efforts to dampen participation and 11th-hour attacks. In March 2016, the Clinton campaign allegedly repurposed these rumors and claimed Bernie Sanders' campaign was \"busing in\" ineligible voters to party caucuses. Sanders dismissed the rumor as a recycled smear used by David Brock: busing in Really? Based on what do they say that? Based on David Brock's long history of honest and integrity? The man who tried to destroy Anita Hill? Is that where this is coming from? Everyone of you know, you know it, that every day you're being flooded by all this negative stuff from Sec. Clinton's super PAC. I haven't heard of that. I don't want my integrity and honesty to be impugned. I have no idea who says this, that is a lie. An absolute lie. We will win or lose, we do it honestly, and I really dislike people suggesting we're going to bring in students from out of state who are going to perjure themselves, and say they are from Iowa? That's, talk about negative stuff, this is what ... Again, I don't think this is the Secretary ... but you bring people like David Brock ... into your campaign ... if this is the kinda stuff that they're planting, that's negative stuff. No e-mail released by WikiLeaks quoted John Podesta (or anyone else) saying that President Obama had engaged in (or suggested his supporters engage in) \"a little all-American voter fraud\" in Colorado. In 2015 Podesta referenced uncorroborated rumors from the 2008 campaign holding that President Obama had flooded the Iowa caucuses (not the Colorado caucuses, not any 2016 caucuses, and not any general election polling places) with ineligible voters during his run against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. Smith, Ben.  \"Clinton Aide: Obama Trying To 'Manipulate The Iowa Caucuses.'\"\r  Politico.  1 December 2007.","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=13slopKIVF1VjHFB9B0MQAesn8WKTc1ON","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1LW7yrHh5tYKGCLGNqmTMNNIE30jRrU_N","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1020","claim":"Did Merrick Garland Call Bill Barr a 'Liar' During Confirmation Hearing?","posted":"02\/24\/2021","sci_digest":["A viral tweet purported to quote a tense exchange between Biden's attorney general nominee and Republican Sen. Tom Cotton."],"justification":"In February 2021, during U.S. Senate hearings on the confirmation of Merrick Garland as President Joe Biden's nominee for attorney general, a widely shared tweet purported to capture a startlingly frank exchange between Garland and Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas. The tweet, posted by @Roshan_Rinaldi on Feb. 22, contained a link to a PBS live video of the hearing, along with the following text: tweet Tom Cotton: \"Can you make a commitment on resources?\"Garland: \"I don't make commitments unless I know the facts first.\"Cotton: \"When we confirmed Bill Barr, he was able to make a commitment on resources. Why can't you do that now?\"Garland: \"Because I'm not a liar\"   The tweet, which has since been deleted, was widely shared on Twitter and its text contents tweeted out by several users in separate tweets. It was also shared on the popular left-wing forum Democratic Underground. On Facebook, users enthusiastically shared screenshots of it in the hours and days that followed. The following screenshot demonstrates the popularity of the post on Facebook in February 2021: several users shared shared   In reality, Garland never called former Attorney General Bill Barr \"a liar.\" Nor did he describe him in a way that could fairly be summarized in that way. The tweet paraphrased a real line of questioning from Cotton but grossly misrepresented both the wording and tone of Garland's response. @Roshan_Rinaldi's tweet was particularly misleading because it not only misrepresented Garland's utterances in response to Cotton's questioning, but also used quotation marks, thereby presenting the exchange between Cotton and Garland as a direct quotation, which it certainly was not. During a confirmation hearing on Feb. 22, Garland, a U.S. Circuit Court judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, faced questioning from Republican senators about the future of Special Counsel John Durham's investigation. In 2019, then-President Donald Trump asked Durham to investigate whether federal investigators engaged in wrongdoing or criminality during the early stages of investigations into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian government actors during the 2016 presidential election. In 2020, Trump gave Durham the title and powers of a special counsel.  John Durham special counsel In particular, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, and later Cotton, asked Garland whether he would commit to providing Durham the resources he required in order to complete his investigation. Garland demurred, and both Grassley and Cotton pointed out (accurately) that Barr, during his confirmation hearings in January 2019, was willing to make such a commitment to continuing and resourcing the work of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who had been leading an investigation into possible collusion between Russia and Trump's 2016 campaign. accurately In order to provide the full and proper account of what Garland actually said about Barr (or rather, did not say), the following are excerpted transcripts and videos of his exchanges with Grassley and then Cotton: Grassley: I'm going to go to the Durham investigation. At Barr's hearing, he stated the following [with] regard to Mueller's investigation: \"It's virtually [read: vitally] important that the special counsel be allowed to complete his investigation.\" Also, at that same hearing, Sen. Feinstein asked: \"Will you commit to providing Mr. Mueller with the resources, funds and time needed to complete his investigation?\" Attorney General Barr answered Sen. Feinstein with a one-word \"Yes.\" With respect to Special Counsel Durham's investigation, I expect that he will be allowed to complete his investigation. If confirmed, will you commit to providing Special Counsel Durham with the staff, resources, funds and time needed to thoroughly complete the investigation? vitally Garland: Senator, I don't have any information about the investigation, as I sit here today. And another one of the very first things I'm going to have to do is speak with Mr. Durham, figure out how his investigation is going. I understand that he has been permitted to remain in his position, and sitting here today, I have no reason to think that that was not the correct decision.  Grassley: Okay. And I suppose that would be an answer that [means] he would only be removed for cause, then? Would that be your position? Garland: Well, Senator, I really do have to have an opportunity to talk with him. I have not had that opportunity. As I said, I don't have any reason, from what I know now, which is really very little, to make any determination on that ground. But I don't have any reason to think that he should not remain in place.   Later, Cotton followed up on Grassley's line of questioning, and the following exchange took place: Cotton: I want to return to Sen. Grassley's questions about the Durham investigation. Sen. Grassley asked you if you would commit, specifically, to ensure that John Durham had the staff, the resources and the time that he needed to complete that investigation. You said you didn't have the info yet, that you needed to speak to him, but you had no reason to think that him staying on was not the correct decision  Garland: That's correct, Sir, yes. Cotton: Why can't you commit, specifically, to saying that he will have the time, staff and resources he needs to complete his investigation? Garland: Well, again, it's because I'm sitting here and I don't have any information about what he needs, in his resources and the allocation of resources. But my  everything I know, sitting here, suggests that he should of course have those resources. Cotton: Judge, two years ago Bill Barr made that exact commitment about the Mueller special counsel [investigation]. He did not have that information, he had not consulted with the department. He was in the same posture you are. He simply said \"Yes.\" Why can't you say \"Yes\" today, the way Bill Barr did two years ago? Garland: Again, my view about every investigation and every decision I make is I have to know the facts before I can make those kind of decisions. I don't know what went into his consideration, but for myself, I have to be there and learn what's going on, before I can make a decision. But as I said, I have no reason to doubt that the decision to keep him in place, and to continue his investigation, was in any way wrong. Cotton: Was it wrong for Bill Barr to make that commitment two years ago? Garland: Again, as I said, Senator, I'm not going to be making judgements about my predecessors. I don't think there's any purpose in that for myself. I want you to judge me on my own record and what I do going forward. Cotton: Was it wrong for Democratic senators on this committee to repeatedly demand that Bill Barr make that commitment two years ago? Garland: I think my answer would be the same.  As the videos and transcripts show, far from calling Barr \"a liar\" or saying words to that effect, Garland actually repeatedly refused openings to criticize Barr in any way. The wording presented in the viral tweet was inaccurate, and the underlying claim that Garland attacked Barr's honesty was a gross misrepresentation of what he actually said.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=10DwD0sONOu_RQ2RDIZiQQfuirBBTiXQH","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1JT9MK5Cdw3NycbjCcVGStxBQ5RoEsj1g","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1021","claim":"John Travolta Is Not Dead, Despite Multiple Online Death Hoaxes","posted":"01\/03\/2023","sci_digest":["If such a big a Hollywood celebrity truly was dead, the story would be widely reported by credible news agencies."],"justification":"Film actor John Travolta is not dead. Readers inquired about the actor's well-being in early January 2023 after a death hoax was shared online. We found no credible reporting that said anything of Travolta being in poor health, hospitalized, or anything of the sort. What we did locate, however, was evidence that there had been a number of past death hoaxes about the actor, including a brand new one created on Dec. 30, 2022. Some readers who looked for answers about Travolta's rumored death may have first noticed an article on mediamass.net. That article showed the headline, \"'John Travolta dead 2023' : Actor killed by internet death hoax.\" One thing that some readers may have missed about mediamass.net was that its \"About Us\" page said it publishes satire. But that wasn't the only thing we noticed about this website. According to the top of the story on mediamass.net, it claimed to have been \"last updated on Jan. 3, 2023.\" However, that was not when this article was published. Thanks to the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, we know that this article was originally publishedall the way back in 2013. In other words, this was not the new death hoax that we were looking for. The headline and date in the article were changed to give the misleading appearance that the story was new. originally published The roots of the more recent death hoax appeared to stem from an article with the headline, \"John Travolta Dead at 68.\" article This story was published on Dec. 30, 2022, onthe \"prank\" website channel46news.com. The address \"channel46news.com\" might sound like a local news website, but it's not.The website allows anyone to create a \"prank\" news article, which can then be shared with friends. The \"prank\" story read as follows: John Travolta Dead at 68. The famous actor was found unconscious in his home when a family member found him, the family member called 911 and ambulances arrived rushing him to the hospital and for about 2 hours the actor was still unconscious, until 11:43am, He had stopped breathing and from then on had passed away. No further details has been provided has doctors are still trying to find the cause for his death. Our deepest condolences go out to his family and friends who had lost. Some fans have posted on Twitter saying \"Rest in peace John Travolta, Heaven has gained another angel and you are with Olivia in heaven\". We send our love for family, friends and fans. The death hoax was shared right around the anniversary of the death of Travolta's son, Jett, who died on Jan. 2, 2009. According to CBS News, he died at the age of 16 \"after having a seizure and hitting his head in a bathtub.\" Travolta's wife, actor Kelly Preston, also died in 2020 of breast cancer. CBS News died We found several Facebook posts where users appeared to believe the recent \"prank\" death hoax or another one about Travolta supposedly passing away. several Facebook posts appeared believe Some of the commenters under these posts pointed to the story from mediamass.net as proof that Travolta was not dead. Again, while it was true that Travolta was alive, the mediamass.net article was nearly a decade old by that point, and had nothing to do with the newer death hoax. Some users also appeared to have seen prior death hoaxes about Travolta, such as YouTube videos with titles like, \"30 minutes ago\/ RIP John Travolta\/ Goodbye John Travolta,\" \"John Travolta has just passed away at his home, He will be buried next to his friend Newton-John,\" and \"10 Minutes Ago \/ Sad News John Travolta Is Pass Away Expected Soon Family Prepare To Say Goodbye.\" YouTube videos  All of these videos were misleading and false. For further reading, in the final months of 2022, we covered online death hoaxes for other celebrities including Bruce Willis, Simon Cowell, Dick Van Dyke, Clint Eastwood, Sylvester Stallone, Julia Roberts, Alan Jackson, Amy Roloff, andJim Carrey, as well asformer U.S. President Donald Trump. death hoaxes Bruce Willis Simon Cowell Dick Van Dyke Clint Eastwood Sylvester Stallone Julia Roberts Alan Jackson Amy Roloff Jim Carrey former U.S. President Donald Trump \"John Travolta Dead 2023: Actor Killed by Celebrity Death Hoax.\" Mediamass.net. O'Kane, Caitlin. \"John Travolta Pays Tribute to Late Son Jett on What Would Have Been His 30th Birthday.\" CBS News, 15 Apr. 2022, https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/john-travolta-son-jett-travolta-birthday\/. Ramzy, Austin. \"Kelly Preston, 'Jerry Maguire' Star, Dies at 57.\" The New York Times, 13 July 2020, https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/07\/13\/movies\/kelly-preston-dead.html. \"Wayback Machine.\" Internet Archive, https:\/\/web.archive.org\/.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ArwRzMzmB0qzuc95lY8a3F5svLkHc80y","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1OUF5_rEwiI15TTa02B7fnmkyj3ftpivC","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1aQ5_hYRbB3I-11QO20QLPEs5dxP86xse","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1fXtM24iZjj2XgUBy0AF9XbHkDkbtihI5","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1022","claim":"Deceptive Reshipping Scheme","posted":"11\/14\/2004","sci_digest":["Work at home and make big bucks acting as an intermediary for international transactions?"],"justification":"Claim:  Aspiring work-at-homers promised big bucks for acting as intermediaries for international transactions wherein they cash checks for other parties have been defrauded by con artists.  REAL FRAUD WHICH COSTS ITS VICTIMS THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS Example:  [Collected on the Internet, 2004] Good day, my name is Evaldas Vytautas. I'm Sales Manager of Lionder Web Design Agency. We are situated in Vilnius, Lithuania. Lionder Web Design Agency is pleased to offer you the position of Exchange Manager for our organization. We are excited about the potential that you bring to our company. We work with corporate clients and some of them prefer to do wire transfers, however we cannot receive international wire transfers because of heavy taxes. Tax for international wire transfer is 25% In Lithuania. There is no sense for us to work in such a way, however we don't want to lose our clients. You need to have Paypal\/bank account. System is completely automated. You will work only 1-2 hours a day, receive, process payments from our clients through your Paypal\/bank account. Report about all new payments, act only within the limits of law  earn minimum $1500-$2000 per month. Your salary will be 5-15% from every processed amount (you begin from 5%). To join the minimum requirements include : -MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS (Skills, Knowledge, Ability, etc.)-The minimum qualifications are diploma or equivalent.-Must be able to multi-task and have good communication skills.-Knowledge of MS Word and other basic computer programs.-This being a new field there is NO experience needed. HOW TO APPLY: If you would like to pursue this opportunity simply send Your Resume (CV) to resume@lionder.net OR Download Job Application Form  (www.lionder.net\/Job_Application_Form.doc), fill it in and send us to resume@lionder.net (No phone calls please. Callers will not be considered for the position). We will respond promptly. Please don't feel shy to contact our Online Support and ask any questions you will have: Contact Name: Julie JakulyteICQ- 257235542,AOL IM Screen Name- Jakulyte,Yahoo! ID: JJakulyte,MSN- Jakulyte@hotmail.com. No agencies, please. Lionder Web Design Agency is an equal opportunity\/affirmative actionemployer. For more information about who we are and what we do, please visit our webiste  www.lionder.net It is necessary that we know your decision by November 20, 2004, so that we can plan accordingly. Regards, Evaldas VytautasLionder Web Design Agency Origins:  In   2004 we began noticing a new scam targeting those searching for part-time paid duties that could be performed from home. This new con uses the promise of high-paying work to lure eager job seekers into being defrauded themselves or used to steal from others. Those so led down the garden path are pulled in by advertisements for jobs involving the forwarding of monies or goods collected in the U.S. to business entities in other countries. Supposedly, the successful applicants will make thousands of dollars through working from home for a few hours a week, with no special skills or training required. Sometimes international wire transfers are specifically mentioned in these solicitations, and the terms \"import\/export specialist,\" \"marketing manager,\" and \"financial manager\" often turn up in their wording. The reputations of the venues where the ads are found proves no protection to those looking for such opportunities, in that this work-at-home scam has been touted thousands of times on popular job web sites including Monster, Careerbuilder, Careers.com, and Yahoo! Hotjobs. This con operates in one of two of ways, both of which leaves hopeful job seekers in a mess of trouble:  In its more usual incarnation, successful job applicants are tasked with depositing checks for varying amounts (anywhere from a few thousand dollars all the way into the six-figure range) into their personal bank accounts and relaying to their new employers 95% of the amount banked, keeping 5% as their commission. The explanation given by the employers for that which necessitates their having someone cash checks on their behalf varies from come-on to come-on, but the need to believe in 'something for nothing' (in this case a high steady income in return for a few hours' work per week) blinds the about-to-be-defrauded to the glaring implausibilities inherent to these tall tales of strange government-imposed restrictions, exorbitant tax rates in the homeland, the need to fly under a competitor's radar, and the like. The checks the unsuspecting dupes are given to deposit are worthless, but this detail is not discovered by them or their banks until weeks after the fact, which is long after 95% of the face value of said financial instruments has been wired to the thieves. As is the case in the 'cashier check' scam (sellers are duped into accepting cashier checks in excess of the amounts they seek for their goods on the understanding they are to forward the additional monies to third parties), the scam works because the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) requires banks to make money from cashier's, certified, or teller's checks available in one to five days. Consequently, funds from checks that might not be good are often released into payees' accounts long before the checks themselves have been honored by their issuing banks. High quality forgeries can be bounced back and forth between banks for weeks before anyone catches on to their being worthless. cashier check In this form of the scheme, those who'd thought they were about to pack up and move to Easy Street thanks to their new jobs as international relayers instead find themselves on the hook for the amounts they wired to others. That the original checks were worthless does not absolve those who deposited them from financial responsibility for the funds they subsequently instructed their banks to pay out  the two transactions (the deposit and the disbursement) are regarded as separate. Therefore, if a hypothetical erstwhile wire transfer facilitator handled a bogus check for $10,000, instead of netting $500 (his 5% fee), he would be out $9,500 (the amount he had his bank wire to those who'd conned him).  The mayhem doesn't necessarily end there. There is a further danger that, now armed with the dupe's banking information from the wire transfer, these same thieves can use those numbers to create a demand draft to  withdraw funds without confirmation from the hapless job seeker's bank account until there's nothing left in it but dust. demand draft  In another version of the con, those who land these coveted 'jobs' are tasked with collecting payments from their new employers' clients in the U.S. and wiring these funds back to the home office, retaining a specified portion of the recouped accounts as their fees. Only after the fact does it come to light that the deposited checks were for non-existent merchandise vended through online auction sites, usually about the time that the police come a'knocking on the door. This form of the wire transfer scam mirrors a type of the CNP fraud in which job-seeking dupes are hired to repackage and ship to Nigeria goods purchased on stolen credit cards. As with the wire transfer come-on, the promise of  easy, high-paying part-time work blinds those who unwittingly become part of an international theft ring thanks to their desire to believe in the job fairy. In both cases, they're the ones left holding the bag when the police turn up to ask questions about the monies or goods others have been duped out of. CNP daydream about earning livable incomes from the comfort of their dens rather than having to make the trek to their offices each day, they do not as a general rule of thumb search for such job openings with the same fervor as do the elderly, the physically afflicted, or the parents committed to remaining at home with their preschool children. Members of those groups hunt for work-at-home opportunities because laboring in more traditional job settings is impossible for them. Because genuine offers of work of this nature are few and far between, with the need to secure a steady income becoming more of a pressing issue with each passing non-employed day, those folks are at far greater risk of being victimized by such schemes  their desperation leads them to be gulled by pie-in-the-sky promises and mollified by the wild backstories that go with them whereas the financially better off are more likely to remain convinced something is very wrong with the offer of mucho bucks in exchange for only a few hours' labor performed from home each week by folks possessed of no special training or skills. Barbara \"reshipboard romance\" Mikkelson How To Avoid Falling Victim To Reshipper Scams: Avoid job listings that use these descriptions: \"package forwarding,\" \"reshipping,\" \"money transfers,\" \"wiring funds\" and \"foreign agent agreements.\" These and similar phrases should raise a red flag.   Do not be fooled by official-sounding corporate names. Some scam artists operate under names that sound like those of long-standing, reputable firms.   Never forward or transfer money from any of your personal accounts on behalf of your employer. Also, be suspicious if you are asked to \"wire\" money to an employer. If a legitimate job requires you to make money transfers, the money should be withdrawn from the employers business account, not yours.   Do not give out your personal financial information. A potential legitimate employer will not request your bank account, credit card or Paypal account number. Provide your banking information only if you are hired by a legitimate company and you choose to have your paycheck direct deposited.   Do not fax copies of your ID or Social Security number to someone you have never met. Credit checks and fake IDs can be obtained with this information. Give these documents to your employer only when you are physically at the place of employment.   If you have questions about the legitimacy of a job listing, contact your Better Business Bureau, your state or local consumer agency, or the Federal Trade Commission.   Stop believing in the chimera of \"something for nothing.\"  Additional Information:      Work-at-Home Schemes   (Federal Trade Commission)       Work-at-Home Schemes   (Better Business Bureau)   Last updated:  11 July 2011 <!--","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1KTUjaoRc7xGTQozBehQ7JBb-Yhp-65wh"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1023","claim":"Do refugees classified as 'illegal' receive $3,874 monthly from the government?","posted":"11\/15\/2017","sci_digest":["\"This is what 1 illegal refugee gets with the federal assistance program: $3874 per month.\""],"justification":"As is the case for many Western democracies, the Canadian government's formal efforts to help refugees settle in the country have been the subject of much speculation, criticism, and misinformation in recent years. In the fall of 2017, a viral Facebook post spread even more misinformation about the benefits received by refugees in Canada. On September 1, 2017, Facebook user Mike Marcoux posted what appears to be a photograph of an itemized breakdown of benefits associated with the Resettlement Assistance Program, along with the message: \"This is what 1 illegal refugee gets with the federal assistance program: $3,874 per month.\" We have modified the image to obscure the name of the recipient, which was included in the original photograph. Although this document appears to be authentic, according to the Canadian Council for Refugees, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and advocating for refugees, its representation on Facebook was highly misleading. The document details payments to a family of five (not a single person) who were refugees accepted by Canada (and therefore are not in the country \"illegally\"), and most of the listed payments are one-time-only resettlement assistance payments and not monthly benefits. A spokesperson for the Council told us the document showed \"a start-up breakdown of costs for a newly arrived Government-Assisted Refugee (GAR) family\" and that the amounts shown were consistent with benefit rates in the province of British Columbia. Despite the apparent authenticity of the document, Marcoux's post grossly misrepresents its contents. Firstly, contrary to Mike Marcoux's post, there is no such thing as an \"illegal\" refugee in this context. By definition, beneficiaries of the Canadian government's Resettlement Assistance Program are individuals and families formally recognized by the Canadian government as refugees before they travel to Canada. According to the Canadian Council for Refugees, Government-Assisted Refugees, such as those to whom this document appears to relate, are \"referred by the [U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees] to Canada because they have been identified as being in need of resettlement.\" Secondly, the document does not relate to one refugee, as the Facebook post falsely claims. The document clearly shows that these benefits are for a family of five people. Third, the grand total value of the benefits ($3,874 CAD or $2,748 USD as of January 28, 2016) is not a recurring monthly payment, as the Facebook post falsely claims. The document clearly shows that the majority of benefits listed are one-off \"start-up\" benefits. The only regular monthly benefits are conveniently labeled \"Regular Monthly Benefits,\" and consist of payments for food, rent, and transportation, which, because of the size of the family, total $1,399 CAD per month ($1,094 USD as of November 15, 2017). These monthly benefits work out to $16,788 CAD ($13,132 USD) a year for a family of five (in addition to \"start-up\" benefits). Unless there are exceptional circumstances, these Resettlement Assistance Program benefits are only payable to refugees for one year. The amounts of benefits depend on the size of the family that receives them. If this document did relate to a single individual (as the Facebook post claims), the overall monthly payments could be expected to be significantly lower. The one-off start-up benefits, which bring the total in this particular document to $3,874, also include a $375 loan for a security deposit for housing. Being a loan, that amount will have to be repaid to the federal government. Furthermore, depending on when this particular family arrived in Canada, they may be required to pay the Canadian government for the cost of their transportation into the country, which takes the form of loan debt. According to the Canadian Council for Refugees, the average loan debt between 2008 and 2012 was $3,090 CAD. So while the document in the photograph does appear to be authentic, Mike Marcoux's Facebook post constitutes a gross misrepresentation of its actual contents. The same document formed the basis of a similarly outraged post on the right-wing blog \"90 Miles from Tyranny\" in December 2016. That blog post cited an earlier article by the now-defunct Magafeed website, which is listed in the Fake News Codex as a \"clickbait site with misleading, poorly sourced, and outright false stories.\" It's hardly the first time that Canada's refugee policy has been the subject of false claims. For example, a factual error in a 2004 letter to the editor of the Toronto Star spawned a chain email and online memes falsely claiming that refugees in Canada receive more benefits each month than Canadian pensioners. The rumor persisted for years. Similar false rumors have been spread in the United States, often with the headline \"INSANITY IS WHEN ILLEGAL REFUGEES GET $3,874 A MONTH IN FEDERAL ASSISTANCE WHILE SOCIAL SECURITY CHECKS AVERAGE $1,200 A MONTH.\"","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=11AzwQNNGdpY3Qumo26ummDs-J0P7SQnJ"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1H5TU0Gr1db36PyJ60xQIO0ord-eM77m6"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1024","claim":"Director Victor Salva, who helmed 'Jeepers Creepers 3', was found guilty of child molestation.","posted":"09\/18\/2017","sci_digest":["\"Jeepers Creepers 3\" director Victor Salva was convicted in 1988 of molesting a 12-year-old."],"justification":"As the premiere of the horror flick Jeepers Creepers 3 approached in September 2017, many posted messages on social media to remind potential moviegoers about director Victor Salva's criminal history. Salva was convicted in 1988 on charges related to the sexual molestation of 12-year-old actor Nathan Forrest Winters during the filming of his movie Clownhouse. Salva served 15 months in prison and completed his parole in 1992. The Associated Press reported at the time that Salva confessed to having oral sex with Winters in 1987 while directing him in \"Clownhouse,\" a low-budget horror film about three boys terrorized by circus clowns. Salva, sentenced to three years in state prison, served 15 months and completed parole in 1992. Salva is a registered sex offender. Victor Salva, a former child-care worker who impressed Hollywood filmmakers with his early cinematic work, was sentenced to three years in state prison in 1988 for molesting a 12-year-old boy who had acted in two of his films. Salva videotaped one of the encounters. The revelations came as the now 20-year-old victim, Nathan Winters of Concord, Calif., picketed a screening of \"Powder\" on Monday night in Westwood. Winters passed out leaflets urging the public to boycott the movie and said his family and friends would continue protesting after the film debuted Friday on more than 1,500 screens nationwide. Winters said he was \"in awe\" that Disney would even make a movie with Salva. \"I can't believe [Salva] is allowed to work with children again,\" Winters said. \"He should not be allowed around children ever again.\" At the time, Salva released a statement saying, \"How deeply I regret my actions.\" It continued, \"I paid for my mistakes dearly. Now, nearly 10 years later, I am excited about my work as a filmmaker and look forward to continuing to make a positive contribution to our society.\" Caravan Pictures, the company that made Powder for Disney, also released a statement: \"He paid for his crime; he paid his debt to society,\" said Roger Birnbaum, whose Caravan Pictures made \"Powder\" for Disney and reportedly didn't know of Salva's record until the film was midway through production. \"What happened eight years ago has nothing to do with this movie.\" More recently, Salva's past hindered the casting of Jeepers Creepers 3 when the website Breakdown Services removed the casting call for a 13-year-old character (to be played by an 18-year-old) upon learning of Salva's crime. Winters never starred in another movie.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1edhA6ShbzlU7V9tFSD-fcHTMobEJ-xC9"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1hoUjpmf0JMmpHrujXUNG0rcjCeg2SlEF"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1025","claim":"Ohio today has the fewest number of state employees since the Reagan administration.","posted":"09\/06\/2010","sci_digest":[],"justification":"For much of this gubernatorial campaign, Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland has been defending his record against charges from Republican challenger John Kasich that he has done too little to stem job losses in Ohio and responding to accusations that he still oversees a bloated state government.Stricklands running mate, Yvettee McGee Brown, in her own campaign speeches has echoed the governors. Recently she tackled a charge by Republicans that Ohio still has too many employees on the state payroll by evoking the name of one of the GOPs favorite sons.Ohio today has the fewest number of state employees since the Reagan administration, McGee Brown said in an Aug. 4 speech at a candidates forum in Columbus.Clearly, recent well-chronicled state layoffs and hiring freezes almost assure Ohio has fewer state employees than when Strickland took office in 2007. But could it be fewer than in the 1980s when Reagan was president, as Brown contends?The Strickland campaign is looking to reverse long-held Republican opinion that Democrats favor higher taxes and bigger government.The higher taxes issue will loom for whomever is Ohios next governor, given that the state faces up to an $8 billion budget deficit in the next operating budget with seemingly few options other than raising personal income taxes.But the big government question is something Strickland has dealt with since 2009 when the last biennial budget was set and the administration laid off state workers, froze hiring in some areas and otherwise shrunk government by attrition.Now McGee Brown has gone a step further by stating that under Strickland, Ohio now has the fewest state employees since Reagan, who was president from 1981 through 1988.Stricklands campaign communications team offered uneven explanations for where McGee Brown got her information. It first stated it came from a state data chart that officials could not find until, PolitiFact began inquiring three weeks after McGee Browns speech. It then said the information was in an October 2009 news release from the Strickland administration that the campaign never produced.But the Ohio Department of Administrative Services bailed them out. It discovered annual employee data in a trends report that contained information dating back to 1983 and updated to include recent years.The report shows that as of December 2009, Ohio had 58,622 employees, the lowest number since 1983 when the state had 60,292 workers. That 28-year stretch includes a period from 1991 through 2006 when Ohios governors were Republicans and the state had more than 65,000 employees.We rate McGee Browns statement as True. Comment on this item.","issues":["Ohio","State Budget"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1026","claim":"Ford Motors Funds Black Lives Matter","posted":"09\/26\/2016","sci_digest":["Multiple online outlets falsely reported that the Ford Motor Company had donated $100 million to the Black Lives Matter movement."],"justification":"August 2016 saw the circulation of rumors holding that the Ford Motor Company had donated a large sum of money (typically between one and 100 million dollars) directly to the Black Lives Matter movement: rumors TIME FOR BOYCOTT! Ford Just Gave $100 MILLION To THIS Radical Hate Group Ford used to be one of the most highly-respected and longest-running companies in the United States. Now, the automaker is not only shipping a huge portion of its jobs overseas, it is giving away an enormous sum of money to a separatist and racist hate group. Ford just donated $100 million dollars to Black Lives Matter. A (since removed) blog post published by Allen B. West's blog on 11 August 2016 called for a boycott of the automaker over the issue: boycott Ford is investing in the Black-Led Movement Fund in partnership with Borealis Philanthropy Movement Strategy Center, and Benedict Consulting. Well, if you were ever looking for a reason not to buy a Ford vehicle or to trade one in you already have, this seems to be just as good as any. Looks like another American icon just caved to the liberal agenda. We see how well that worked out for Target Hopefully enough people will express displeasure over this to prompt Ford to stop playing politics and get back to making cars. <!--However, the claim was resurrected by the unreliable American News on 24 September 2016 (during then-current high-profile Black Lives Matter protests), prompting a new wave of consumers threatening to boycott Ford over Black Lives Matter on Ford Motor Company's Facebook page: claim then-current Black Lives Matter page The claims appeared to stem from an 11 August 2016 article in Fortune, which was admittedly ambiguous in its reporting with respect to the Ford Foundation versus the Ford Motor Company: article More than 50 organizations have already registered their support [for the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL)], but one, in particular, stands out. The Ford Foundation added their voice to the growing chorus of supporters, in the strongest possible terms. But the [Ford Foundation] is also planning on studying and underwriting what it calls a new and dynamic form of social justice leadership and infrastructure, by investing in the Black-Led Movement Fund, (BLMF) a pooled donor fund designed to support the work of the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL), and led by Borealis Philanthropy. In the first paragraph above, Fortune erroneously linked the word \"Ford\" in \"Ford Foundation\" to the web site of the Ford Motor Company:   The origins of the rumor lay with a 19 July 2016 announcement from the Ford Foundation titled \"Why black lives matter to philanthropy\" explaining why that foundation had \"made six-year investments in the organizations and networks that compose the Movement for Black Lives\": announcement We are living in anxious, often frightening times. Earlier this month, the deaths of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling sparked a new round of public protest against the toxic blend of racism, hypermasculinity, and state violence that has taken the lives of too many black men and women and people of color in the US. At one protest in Dallas, a lone gunman killed five police officersLorne Ahrens, Michael Krol, Michael J. Smith, Brent Thompson, and Patrick Zamarripa. Weve seen reductive attempts to frame the murders in Dallas as a confrontation between protesters and law enforcement, but that obscures the larger democratic principles at play: The officers died while protecting the right to freedom of expression and peaceful protest, and are inexorably linked to Philando Castile and Alton Sterling. These events  added to so many others, including the fatal shootings of three police officers in Baton Rouge on Sunday morning  have the potential to either deepen empathy and understanding among Americans or divide us even more sharply along lines of race, ethnicity, and gender. Thats why now is the time to stand by and amplify movements rooted in love, compassion, and dignity for all people. Now is the time to call for an end to state violence directed at communities of color. And now is the time to advocate for investment in public services  including but not limited to police reform  together with education, health, and employment in communities and for people that have historically had less opportunity and access to all those things.These are the reasons we support the Movement for Black Lives. However, the flaw in claiming that the Ford Motor Company donated millions of dollars to the Black Lives Matter movement is two-fold. First, although the philanthropic Ford Foundation is so named because it was created and originally funded by automobile icon Henry Ford (along with his son Edsel) and because the foundation was a large holder of Ford stock, those associations ended many years ago. No member of the Ford family or Ford Motor Company management sits on the Ford Foundation Board of Trustees, and the Ford Foundation began selling off its Ford Motor Company stock in the mid-1950's (a process that was completed in 1974). The completely separate Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services is the current philanthropic arm of the Ford Motor Company. Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services Second, although they may have common goals, the Black Lives Matter movement and the Movement for Black Lives are not the same thing. The latter is not a single group or movement, but rather \"a coalition of over 50 black-led organizations\": Movement for Black Lives latter Black humanity and dignity requires black political will and power. In response to the sustained and increasingly visible violence against Black communities in the U.S. and globally, a collective of more than 50 organizations representing thousands of Black people from across the country have come together with renewed energy and purpose to articulate a common vision and agenda. We are a collective that centers and is rooted in Black communities, but we recognize we have a shared struggle with all oppressed people; collective liberation will be a product of all of our work. Some of the blog posts responsible for the spread of the rumor that the Ford Motor Company had given millions of dollars to Black Lives Matter were later edited to note that the Ford Foundation and Ford Motor Company had long since parted ways, but by then the claim had already been loosed into the wilds of social media, and the important distinction between the two entities was lost as the rumor traveled from blog to blog.    McGirt, Ellen.  \"Who Is Funding Black Lives Matter.\"\r  Fortune.  8 August 2016. Yasui, Luna and Brook Kelly-Green.  \"Why Black Lives Matter to Philanthropy.\"\r  Ford Foundation Equals Change Blog.  19 July 2016. Ford Foundation.  \"A Legacy of Social Justice.\"\r  (Undated.) Ford Foundation.  \"History.\"\r  (Undated.) Ford Motor Company.  \"The Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services.\"\r  (Undated.) Funding Universe.  \"The Ford Foundation History.\"\r  (Undated.) Borealis Philanthropy.  \"Black-Led Movement Fund.\"\r  (Undated.)","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1GMK6VkUMu3LNkrsdgpDNDj7T5hT9UK8z","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1027","claim":"$120,000 will be spent by taxpayers on Charlie Crist's political photo-op special session.","posted":"07\/14\/2010","sci_digest":[],"justification":"On July 8, 2010, Gov. Charlie Crist called for aspecial sessionJuly 20-23 for legislators to put a constitutional amendment on the November ballot to ban oil drilling near Florida's coasts.Republican Marco Rubio, one of independent Crist's rival in the U.S. Senate race, immediately accused Crist of using the session for political gain.Rubio wrote in a July 9press release, $120,000 will be spent by taxpayers on Charlie Crist's political photo-op special session.Clearly, Crist will get news coverage including photo-ops out of the special session -- as will legislative leaders from both parties. But does Rubio have the dollar figure right?Everyone we spoke to agrees it's hard to say, but $40,000 a day is the most common figure used. When Crist announced this session, ThePalm Beach Postcited a $40,000 a day figure while theSt. Petersburg Timeswrote $50,000. Other articles simply stated tens of thousands a day. In the archives, we found that the $40,000 figure has been quoted for decades -- as early as 1983 in theMiami Heraldand 1989 in theSt. Petersburg Times.Is there no such thing as inflation when it comes to special sessions in Florida?We asked the House and Senate forthe bills from some recent special sessions, and we added up the average costs for both legislative bodies to get one average cost per day. The special session in early October 2007 on budget cuts and personal injury protection for motorists cost an average of $47,924.19 per day. Another session later in October 2007 (property tax cuts) cost an average of $45,329.64. A session in January 2009 (state budget) cost an average of $46,378.71 per day. The average for those three sessions was about $46,544 per day.Then is $46,544 a good daily average? Not necessarily. The House and Senate spokespersons, the Division of Management Services and the Office for Legislative Services all caution that those averages are imprecise. For example, they include just travel, meals, hotels and per diem. Jill Chamberlin, spokesperson for the House, says the per-diem for special sessions is $80 a day. However, lawmakers can get reimbursements instead: up to $110 a day for hotel, up to $36 a day for meals, and travel at 44.5 cents per mile or the common airline fare. The OLS calculates the length of the session differently for each body depending on what they scheduled on their calendars each day.The averages also don't include the cost of aides. If legislators want to bring an aide -- most don't for a brief special session -- that is paid for out of their district funds, which are also taxpayer dollars. Lawmakers may come into Tallahassee the day before the session or stay overnight when it ends, which affect the costs.Chamberlin also notes that some special sessions include committee meetings instead of floor sessions that require full attendance, so the bean-counters try to separate those costs from the special-session costs. For example, a December 2009 session on transportation was mostly committee meetings so expenses associated with the session were low: an average of $22,105.31.We contacted the Florida Department of Management Services to ask about electricity use and other routine building costs. Do they contribute to the cost of a special session? Not really, says Linda McDonald, DMS spokeswoman, in an e-mail. She explains that the lights and the staff are there year-round. The electric bill was higher in January 2009 for the special session on the budget than in January 2008, but McDonald blames higher rates, not the special session, for most of the increase.There probably will be minimal additional costs for the Capitol Police, but Florida Department of Law Enforcement spokesman Mike Morrison said he couldn't speculate on the amount. The police provide security to the complex year round. Pinpointing the average is not a simple task because there are so many variables, said Lisa Swindle, finance and accounting director for the Office of Legislative Services. But each time the OLS attempts to come up with an average, it is around $40,000, she said. Swindle said several years ago both the House and Senate appropriation bills allotted an additional $40,000 per day for each body for special sessions if they needed it, and that's likely why it's the most common figure used. She also says the one coming up will be a true special session, without deducting cost of committee meetings, so we here at PolitiFact will update those costs when the session is over. We asked for cost records of special sessions in the 1980s and 1990s to see why the $40,000 figure has stood up for so long. But the OLS says it doesn't have those records.We asked Rubio's campaign where it got the $120,000 figure. Rubio spokesman Alex Burgos said the campaign had heard reports between $30,000 and $50,000 a day, and he cited a July 9 blog in theOrlando Sentinel. Even that blog states that Rubio's $120,000 figure is probably low.So where does that leave us?When Crist announced the special session, Rubio pounced and accused him of creating a $120,000-taxpayer funded photo op for a four-day special session. Rubio was being conservative with his numbers, using the low-end of $30,000 for four days. We're going with actual average of $46,544 from three recent sessions, and adding a fudge factor for all those imprecise costs that nobody in Tallahassee seems able to pin down. Let's call it a minimum of $50,000 a day, and $200,000 if this session lasts four days. Rubio went with a logical but conservative estimate, so we rate this claim Mostly True.","issues":["Oil Spill","State Budget","Florida"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1028","claim":"Sharon Jasper Section 8 Public Housing","posted":"02\/17\/2008","sci_digest":["Welfare queen decries New Orleans public housing."],"justification":"Claim:  Welfare queen decries New Orleans public housing Example:  [Collected via e-mail, February 2008] Welfare Ain't What It Used To Be Sharon Jasper has been victimized. Sharon Jasper has been rabidly wronged. She has become a Section 8 carcass  the victim of ever changing public housing policies. Sharon Jasper has spent 57 or her 58 years dedicated to one cause and one cause only, and has nothing to show for her dedicated servitude. She has lived in Section 8 housing all but 1 of her 58 years. It was a legacy passed down from her parents who moved into   Section 8 housing in 1949 when she was six months old. She has passed the legacydown to her children, but fears they may have to get jobs to pay for the utilities and deposits. She laments about her one year hiatus from the comfort of her Section 8 nirvana, \"I tried it for a year..you know...working and all. It's not anything I would want to go through again, or wish on anyone in my family, but I am damn proud of that year.\" Sharon was moved out of her St. Bernard housing project after hurricane Katrina and into a new, yet albeit, substandard quarterage. As can be noted from the above photo of her new Section 8 home, it is repugnant and not suitable for someone of Sharon Jasper's seniority status in the system. \"Don't be fooled by them hardwood floors,\" says Sharon. \"They told me they were putting in scraped wood floors cause it was more expensive and elegant, but I am not a fool  that was just a way to make me take scratched up wood because I am black. The 60 inch HD TV? It may look nice but it is not a plasma. It's not a plasma because I'm black. Now they want me to pay a deposit and utilities on this dump.\" \"Do you know why?\" She has held her tongue in silence through the years of abuse by the system, but it came to a head at the New Orlean's city council meeting where discussions were under way about the tearing down of the St. Bernard projects. When a near riotous exchange between groups opposing the tearing down of St. Bernard, and groups wanting the dilapidated buildings torn down and newer ones built, Sharon unleashed verbal hell with her once silenced tongue. The object of her oratory prowess was an acquiescent poor white boy in attendance. The context of her scathing rebuke was, \"Just because you pay for my house, my car, my big screen and my food, I will not be treated like a slave!\" and \"Back up and Shut up! Shut up, white boy! Shut up, white boy!\" Recapping from the mental log of the city council minutes in her head, Sharon repines, \"Our families have been displaced all over the United States. They are being forced to commit crimes in cities they areunfamiliar with. It is a very uncomfortable situation for them. Bring them back, then let's talk about redevelopment.\" Sharon directs the reporter's attention across the street to Duncan Plaza where homeless people are living in tents, and states that, \"I might do better out there with one of these tents.\" She further lamented hersentiments about her situation, \"I might be poor, but I don't have to live poor.\" Origins:  In December 2007, as part of its coverage of the ongoing battle over the City Council of New Orleans' plan to tear down four public housing complexes, a photographer visited the home of Sharon Jasper, a 48-year-old resident of that city and housing activist who lives in an apartment rented for her under the provisions of Section 8. (Federal housing assistance programs began in the U.S. during the Great Depression. The Housing Choice Voucher Program is one such program and is better known as Section 8, a term which refers to the part of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 under which the original subsidy program was authorized. Section 8 tenants pay their landlords about 30 percent of their income for rent, with the difference between what they pay and what is deemed fair rent for the unit provided by the federal  government.) That visit resulted in the photograph shown here of Jasper sitting on a couch in the subsidized private apartment she'd described as a slum. The snapshot captured her big screen TV and the unit's hardwood floors, apartmental accoutrements many had difficulty squaring against their definition of \"slum.\" Jasper also complained about missing window screens, a slow leak in a sink, a warped back door, and a few other details of a residence that otherwise appeared to have been recently renovated.  That photo plus quotes from Sharon Jasper lifted from that article (\"I might do better out here with one of these tents\") and from others (\"I might be poor, but I don't have to live poor\") were married to her outbursts at a New Orleans City Council meeting on 20 December 2007 (\"I will not be treated like a slave!\" and \"Back up and Shut up! Shut up, white boy! Shut up, white boy!\"), then worked into the satire piece quoted above. It's for this reason that we've given this item a \"Multiple\" status: While some of the elements portrayed in the spoof are fabricated of whole cloth, others aren't. And while most of the photos associated with the satire were taken from elsewhere, the first one, the one that shows a big screen television, is the real deal. Though we cannot yet definitively identify the satirist who masterminded this piece, we believe it to be the work of a blogger known as jimbyrd on the Word Press site. The item now circulates generally in the shortened version quoted above, but the far longer original contains additional photos of the \"substandard\" housing given in the satire's version of Sharon Jasper, as well as her assessment of the same, such as her reaction to the contents of the wine cellar: \"Look at all these bottles of wine, they are worthless. Just another example of thinking I am stupid. All this wine is at least 10 years old and some of it is 20 years old, you know the white man kept all the fresh stuff for himself. I aint that stupid.\" original That same blog contains other works of satire, such as \"Vermont to Arrest George Bush and Dick Cheney\" and \"Hillary Clinton Sues Barack Obama.\" Vermont Sues Last updated:  17 February 2008    Sources:   Bohrer, Becky.  \"Public Housing Advocates Seek Halt on Demolitions.\"   Associated Press.  30 November 2007.    Warner, Coleman.  \"Housing Officials Claim Surplus.\"   [New Orleans] Times-Picayune.  18 December 2007.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1SPtwVqaAdXmhhZYrJxeIClWTDmmlih1o","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1029","claim":"California will have the highest gas tax in the nation once its 12 cent gas tax hike goes into effect.","posted":"04\/11\/2017","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Republican State Assemblyman Jim Patterson of Fresno recently claimed California would soon have the highest gas tax in the nation. He made the claim in a press release days after the California Legislaturepassed a 12 cent per gallon gasoline tax hike, part of a funding package to raise billions of dollars for state road repairs. The $52 billion tax will also put Californians in a special, yet unenviable category  drivers who pay the highest gas tax in the nation, Patterson said in the release issued April 10, 2017. With Democratic Gov. Jerry Browns signature the bill will go into effect in November. The Golden States per gallon gas tax is already high. We set out to fact-check whether it really will be the highest in the country. Our research Asked for evidence, Pattersons spokeswoman pointed us to a map showing state-by-state gasoline tax ratesproduced in March 2016by the nonprofit Tax Foundation. That map and its numbers, however, are outdated. A mapproduced in January 2017by the foundation includes the most current state-by-state gas tax rates. Those rates are calculated by adding up state and local gas taxes and fees. It shows Pennsylvania has the highest per gallon tax rate in the nation at more than 58 cents. Californias current per gallon tax is about 38 cents per gallon, the seventh highest in the nation. Do the arithmetic: Even with the 12-cent increase, Californias tax will trail Pennsylvanias by 8 cents per gallon. You wont be No. 1, thats for sure, said John Buhl, a spokesman for the Washington D.C.-based Tax Foundation. Pennsylvania will still be the highest. Achart produced in January 2017by the American Petroleum Institute, a trade association, confirms the tax foundations figures, though it adds in the 18.4 cents per gallon federal gas tax for each state. Based on current rates, Californias increase will likely result in the second highest state gas tax in the nation, ahead of Washington and Hawaii. This second highest tax ranking could leave California with the highest overall gas prices at the pump, according to energy analysts. We looked at that topic in arecent article. As of this week, Californias average price was $2.99 per gallon. It trailed only Hawaiis $3.04, for a margin of about 5 cents per gallon. The 12 cent per gallon increase could cause California to leap-frog Hawaii, analysts said. Joe Henchman, a vice president with the Tax Foundation, noted that California also adds a 2.25 percent sales tax on gasoline. This sales tax is not counted by the foundation or the petroleum institute as part of the states gas tax. But based on the current price of gasoline in the state, it represents about 6 or 7 cents per gallon in tax, which would not entirely close the gap with Pennsylvania, Henchman said. Five other states charge a sales tax on gasoline: Alaska, Connecticut, Hawaii, Indiana and Illinois. Pennsylvania does not. Our ruling Republican State Assemblyman Jim Patterson claimed Californias recent gas tax increase, once approved by Gov. Jerry Brown as expected, would result in the highest gas tax in the nation. Patterson relied on outdated gas tax rates. Current figuresfrom the Tax Foundation show Californias per gallon gas tax will still trail Pennsylvanias rate by more than 6 cents, even after the tax hike goes into effect in November. California would likely move from seventh highest to second in the nation. These figures are alsoconfirmedby the American Petroleum Institute. In the end, we rate Pattersons claim False. UPDATE:This fact-check has been updated with comments from Joe Henchman of the Tax Foundation about the sales tax California charges on gasoline. The foundation provided us a second update later in April 2017 that accounted for an additional and less-publicized gas tax increase under Californias new legislation. It concluded Pennsylvania will still be highest, but by a narrower margin. This latest update factors inan additional 7.5 cent per gallon gas tax increasethat would start in July 2019. This is on top of the 12 cent per gallon hike that would go into effect in November. The states full gas tax increase would amount to 19.5 cents per gallon by this time. Californias overall gas tax would climb to 58.3 cents per gallon under the foundations latest calculations. We continue to rate Patterson's claim as False as the foundation concluded this higher California gas tax, even in 2019, would  be just behind Pennsylvania's highest-in-the-nation 59.3 (cents-per-gallon) tax. FALSEThe statement is not accurate. Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.","issues":["Energy","Gas Prices","States","Taxes","California"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1TXB8RwPD7GFJvPV2Um3Tav9eO3uTbNNJ","image_caption":"UPDATE:This fact-check has been updated with comments from Joe Henchman of the Tax Foundation about the sales tax California charges on gasoline."}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1030","claim":"Mitt Romney gave away his father's inheritance.","posted":"08\/27\/2012","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Mitt Romney, the self-made man. Thats part of the Mitt Romney story that Republicans plan to tell at their convention in Tampa this week.His father may have been well-to-do, but Republicanshave been emphasizingfor weeks that Romney made his millions on his own.Romneys father, George, was chief executive of Detroit automaker American Motors Corp. and a three-time governor of Michigan who ran for president in the 1960s. Mitt grew up in a wealthy Michigan suburb, attending prep school and ultimately Harvard.He's been the target of silver-spoon attacks because hes worthmore than $100 million. (Perhaps far more. )But Republicans argue he wasnt handed his wealth  he earned it.He even gave away his fathers inheritance, national committee chair Reince Priebusrepeatedlytold TV interviewers on Aug. 26, 2012, as the party prepared to open its convention.Weve rated a related claim from Romney himself that he didnt inherit money from his parents. That earned aHalf True, because he previouslytold interviewershe did get an inheritance, but donated it to Brigham Young University.This time were checking whether he gave away his fathers inheritance.Were short on primary evidence for the claim  we havent seen his fathers will, nor a receipt from Brigham Young. But theres a strong circumstantial case that Priebus is correct.Rich get richerGeorge Romney died in 1995 at age 88. By that time, his son had led Bain Capital, the private equity firm he launched in 1984, for more than a decade.As Romney tolda C-SPAN interviewerin 2006:I did get a check from my dad when he passed away. I shouldnt say a check, but I did inherit some funds from my dad. But I turned and gave that away to charity. In this case I gave it to a school which Brigham Young University established in his honor... And thats where his inheritance ended up.Why did he give the money away?I figured we had enough of our own, he said.According toa short historyof the George W. Romney Institute of Public Management at BYU, the family provided an endowment in 1998, within a few years of George Romney's death.Our rulingReince Priebus says that Romney gave away his father's inheritance.Romney has repeatedly said so himself and that's backed up by the simple fact that Brigham Young University has an institute named for his father launched just a few years after his death. And theres no reason to think Romney would have needed the money a decade after his lucrative move to Bain Capital.We find the evidence supports the claim and we see nothing to contradict it. If any evidence emerges, we'll review it. But in the meantime, we rate Priebus claim True.","issues":["National","Candidate Biography","Wealth"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1031","claim":"Did Biden Say Taxpayers Must Fund Health Care for 'Illegal Immigrants'?","posted":"07\/17\/2020","sci_digest":["Another Biden quote was misrepresented by U.S. President Donald Trump and the internet. "],"justification":"In June and July 2020, ahead of the presidential elections, Democratic candidate Joe Bidens various policy platforms were picked apart and in some cases misrepresented by critics, including U.S. President Donald Trump. One particular statement Biden made about health care for so-called \"undocumented\" immigrants was misreported and presented without context as his policy. picked apart Snopes readers asked us if Biden had ever said that U.S. taxpayers had an obligation to pay for the health care of 11 million \"illegal immigrants.\" We found that Biden was misquoted, and his actual platform said something very different.   The quote appeared to originate from a clip shared by right-wing media organization BlazeTV, in May 2019. The video carried the title, \"Joe Biden Says U.S. Obligated to Give Free Healthcare to 'Undocumented' Immigrants.\"  In the clip, a reporter asked Biden, Do you think the undocumented immigrants[that] are law abiding, should be entitled to federal benefits, Medicare, Medicaid for example? Biden responded: \"Look I think that anyone who is in a situation where theyre in need of healthcare, regardless of whether theyre documented or undocumented, we have an obligation to see that theyre cared for. Thats why I think we need more clinics around the country.\" Biden echoed this in the June 2019 Democratic presidential debates. And in a December 2019 interview with Telemundo, he laid out the caveats in his plan: \"They can buy into the system like everyone else\" under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  June 2019 December 2019 On July 14, 2020, in a rambling speech, Trump misrepresented Biden's policy after it was presented by the Biden-Sanders Unity Task Forces. Trump said: They want government health care for all illegal aliens. speech misrepresented presented But here's what the task force actually recommended: task force \"To ensure that people living and working across the country have health care access, the Task Force recommends extending Affordable Care Act coverage to DACA recipients, allowing undocumented immigrants to purchase unsubsidized coverage in the ACA marketplaces ...\" Under this proposal, taxpayers would not be paying for undocumented immigrants health care, rather undocumented immigrants could have the option to pay out-of-pocket for health coverage through the ACA exchange marketplace, but without access to the government subsidies that are available to others. In 2019 Brookings estimated that there are 10.5 to 12 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. Currently, they cannot enroll in Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), or purchase insurance through the ACA marketplace. Some state-funded or locally-funded health programs provide coverage regardless of immigration status. Emergency health services and safety-net clinics are already available to undocumented immigrants, which Biden had advocated for before.  Brookings estimated cannot state-funded available before In summary, even though Biden did state that the U.S. had an obligation to ensure immigrants received health care, his views were largely misrepresented and did not reflect his current policy. While he would extend health care access to undocumented immigrants through the marketplace, it was far from the government-subsidized, taxpayer-funded plan it was made out to be by Trump. We thus rate this claim as false. Dale, Daniel.  \"Fact check: Trump Deceives About Sanders-Biden Task Force Proposals to Make Biden Sound 'Extreme.'\"\r CNN. 15 July 2020. JoeBiden.com. \"Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force Recommendations.\"\r July 2020. Japsen, Bruce.  \"Bidens Healthcare Idea For Undocumented Immigrants Already Exists.\"\r Forbes. 6 July 2019. Kaiser Family Foundation. \"Health Coverage of Immigrants.\"\r 18 March 2020. Kamarck, Elaine and Christine Stenglein. \"How Many Undocumented Immigrants are in the United States and Who are They?\"\r  Brookings Institute. 12 November 2019. Kelley, Alan and Renuka Tipirneni. \"An Ironic Health Care Twist for Undocumented Immigrants.\"\r Institute for Healthcare Policy & Innovation, University of Michigan. 2 May 2018. Whitehouse.gov. \"Remarks by President Trump in Press Conference.\"\r 14 July 2020.","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1N7_M_olSy4wAv_ZbzEza4BXx1U_wYSKN","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1032","claim":"Did Stallone 'Keep' the Turtles from 'Rocky'?","posted":"08\/23\/2021","sci_digest":["Red-eared sliders can live for decades, as these ones have."],"justification":"In late August 2021, some social media users marveled at reports that actor Sylvester Stallone kept two turtles from the 1976 film he starred in, \"Rocky,\" as pets  and that the two turtles are still alive. For example, a popular Reddit post on Aug. 22, 2021, stated Stallone \"still has\" the reptiles from more than four decades ago. Reddit post   It's true that Stallone posed in a photograph with the two red-eared sliders, named \"Cuff\" and \"Link,\" which were the original turtles seen in the 1976 movie. In a 2019 Instagram post, Stallone said the turtles also were in the 2018 film \"Creed II,\" an installment in the \"Rocky\" movie franchise. Instagram post We don't know the current status of the reptiles, as of this writing; however, red-eared sliders that are well cared for are known to live into their 40s and potentially longer. Cuff and Link serve as good reminders that owning turtles as pets could well entail a decades-long commitment due to their long lifespans. potentially long Although many interpreted Stallone's Instagram post to mean that the actor personally kept the turtles as his own pets, that doesn't appear to be the case. interpreted mean kept In 2006, the Philadelphia Inquirer contacted the turtles' original owner, Joseph Marks, who said the turtles are females and were about 5 years old at the time the first \"Rocky\" movie was shot. Marks, who owned J&M Tropical Fish, lent the turtles for the film's production, and they were returned when the movie wrapped. contacted Marks told the Inquirer at that time that the turtles still lived in the (now-closed) pet store featured in the movie as the place where Rocky's love interest, Adrian, worked. They were cared for there by Marks' nephew, John Stuart, who apparently kept them alive and well for decades.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=11c55K7ADpKQ9vOpDI70vmR_fFhzuc6pr","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1033","claim":"Did President Trump's Awarding of a Purple Heart to a Wounded Vet Go Unreported by News Media?","posted":"03\/22\/2019","sci_digest":["Some social media users turned a private moment between Trump and a veteran into accusations of news bias. "],"justification":"On 16 March 2019, an image of President Donald Trump bestowing a Purple Heart decoration on a wounded veteran named Clint Trial went viral after a Facebook user shared it along with the claim that the event \"didn't make the news.\" The text of the meme reads: \"The President Awarding a Purple Heart to Marine MSGT Clint Trial. This Didn't Make the News, Share, Because It Should Have.\" This is a genuine photograph of President Trump awarding a Purple Heart to a wounded veteran reportedly named Clint Trial. While the majority of \"news media blackout\" claims we have encountered\u2014an allegation often levied in an attempt to either spread fake news or push narratives of biased reporting\u2014have proved false, in this case, it is true that mainstream news outlets provided little (if any) coverage of this event. So why didn't this photograph make the news? While many social media users shared this image as \"evidence\" of the news media's alleged bias against President Trump, that claim wasn't supported by what we found. If this were simply a case of \"liberally biased\" mainstream media outlets ignoring a positive story about President Trump, we would still expect coverage of this event to appear in conservative-leaning news outlets. However, we found almost no information about this veteran receiving a Purple Heart from President Trump in any news outlets, regardless of their perceived political leanings. The only article we could find was published in a Pennsylvania newspaper, the Titusville Herald, on 16 February 2019. That paper reported on the event not because of its national importance, but because of the pictured veteran's family ties to Saegertown, Pennsylvania. The report also contained an editor's note explaining that the veteran's surname was omitted due to a request for privacy: \"*Editors note: There are two Clints referenced in this story. One, simply referred to as Clint, is Luke McGill's uncle, while the second is his father. The last names of Clint and his wife, Casey, have been omitted by request of the family for privacy.\" The event began with President Trump's visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland in February 2019 for his annual physical. While there, the president met with a few of the wounded veterans who were being treated at that facility. The Titusville Herald also reported that President Trump's visit with Trial was unexpected, and that no members of the press were present at the meeting. In other words, President Trump didn't meet with this wounded veteran for a photo op or with the expectation of garnering positive news coverage. The newspaper also reported that the photographs were taken by a White House photographer (not a press photographer) and were privately provided to the family as keepsakes: A Saegertown boy and his family got an unexpected visit from the President of the United States while meeting with an uncle who was injured in the military. Luke McGill, 11, traveled with his mother, Stacey Gotchy, of Saegertown, and his cousin to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, on Feb. 6 to visit his uncle Clint, a Marine who lost both of his legs to a land mine in Afghanistan. While they were there, Clint was asked if he would be up for seeing a special VIP visitor, according to Gotchy. Little did they know, the special VIP visitor would turn out to be the President of the United States. According to Gotchy, the meet and greet was not political in any way. There was no press at the meeting, and the only pictures taken were by a White House photographer who provided images as keepsakes for the family. President Trump was very kind and compassionate, Gotchy said. There was nothing political about it. He was very kind, concerned, and very respectful, and you could tell his sole purpose was to make sure [Luke's uncle] Clint was okay and that his family was supported throughout the process. The visit became even more special when the president learned that Clint had not yet received his Purple Heart. Casey reached out to the staff at the office with the request that the president be the one who pinned the medal awarded to soldiers wounded in the line of duty on Clint's shirt. President Trump saved Clint's visit for last and held an award ceremony with the family present. We haven't been able to track down the initial internet origins of this image, but it seems likely that the photograph was lifted from one of the personal social media pages of Trial (whose Twitter account is now set to private) or those of one of his relatives, and then turned into a meme and shared (against his wishes for privacy) with his full name. This meme does not appear to demonstrate any news media \"bias\" against President Trump but rather a private interaction that was never meant to receive press attention. President Trump didn't meet with this veteran for a photo opportunity, nor did the news media refuse to cover the event out of a desire to provide nothing but negative stories about the president. If anything, this meme seems to demonstrate that some social media users will exploit even wounded veterans in order to advance their own political viewpoints. A GoFundMe campaign to help Sgt. Trial with his injuries was established in March 2019. In mid-January 2019, Clint Trial was working overseas when an explosion caused serious injuries to his body, resulting in a bilateral leg amputation, traumatic brain injury, and numerous internal injuries. We want to make sure this warrior and his family never have to worry about future costs as he adapts his life to a new normal and learns to get back on his \"new feet.\" When you make a contribution to this fund, you will help ease this transition. Money raised with this fundraiser will be used to cover gaps in coverage for care outside of hospital bills, including vehicle modifications, traveling costs for family members, moving expenses, and construction costs to ensure their house is properly adapted to ADA standards.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1M5nqNxC4NEG35AKHOPLtbe1iCn_yEK-6","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1lwpo6ke9j15zy23J0ZxosvtyG0o25Pa2","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1034","claim":"My office is about a 300-step walk to the governor's office.","posted":"06\/05\/2013","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal have become something of a team, delivering a one-two punch for various economic development projects in Georgia, including metro Atlanta. Although the two align on opposite sides of the political aisle, they have managed to set aside their party affiliations to work together on securing funding for Georgia ports, constructing a new football stadium, and relocating Porsche's North American headquarters close to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Their relationship has caught the attention of politicos far and wide as an example of effective leadership. However, this has not always been the case. Reed noted this last month during the Governing Georgia Leadership Forum in downtown Atlanta. \"My office is about a 300-step walk to the governor's office,\" Reed said. \"But you would have thought previously that walk was a 10k.\" PolitiFact Georgia is always looking for an opportunity for a little fun and exercise, so we grabbed our pedometer and set out for a walk. At the Leadership Forum, Reed and Deal were co-presenters for a 30-minute session titled \"Shared Fortunes -- Building a Better Georgia.\" The description of the discussion stated that the state's governor, a Republican, and the mayor of its largest city, a Democrat, would discuss how they are working together to advance a common agenda. To work together, you have to be together, and being together includes office visits, so we set out to check the distance between them. Not relying solely on our math, we used a pedometer for a more accurate step count. We walked the path from Reed's office in Atlanta City Hall to Deal's office on the main floor of the Georgia State Capitol and back again, twice. We began walking at a normal pace, but the mayor stands at 6 feet, a full six inches taller than this PolitiFact Georgia reporter, so we extended our stride a bit. Our calculations confirmed that Reed was correct. The distance from the governor's office to the first step outside City Hall was 300 steps. Adding the distance from the outside City Hall steps to Reed's actual office increased the step count by between 65 and 100 steps, depending on the route through the lobby, whether one takes a short ramp or the few steps up to the main office level, and the stride of the walker. To sum up, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed stated that his office was about 300 steps from Gov. Nathan Deal's office. Walking the path that the mayor is likely to take, it is indeed 300 steps from Deal's office to the bottom of the first step of Atlanta City Hall, where Reed's office is located. Walking all the way to the receptionist just outside the mayor's office adds additional steps, based on our calculations, which could make the mayor's claim off by about one-third. Reed's overall point was that the political divide between him and Deal has closed. Based on their history of delivering economic development projects for the city and state, that statement is correct. However, the mayor is slightly off on his distance claim if taken literally. We rated Reed's claim as Mostly True.","issues":["Georgia","City Government","Economy"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1035","claim":"[O]ver 200,000 ordinary citizens were given the opportunity to identify projects they preferred.","posted":"04\/13\/2012","sci_digest":[],"justification":"A new mailer about a referendum to fund a transportation overhaul for metro Atlanta makes it appear as if voters had a hand in this plan to raise their taxes.Voters will decide July 31 whether they want to pay a 1 percent sales tax to build an estimated $7.2 billion worth of roads, highway interchanges, mass transit infrastructure and other projects to ease traffic in a region thats choking on it.More than two dozen local leaders spent months hammering out that list of projects through state-created regional roundtables. The mailer, which appeared in a PolitiFact Georgia reporters home mailbox April 3, said the average Joe had a say, too. [O]ver 200,000 ordinary citizens were given the opportunity to identify projects they preferred, it said.Its enough to make a populist swoon. But 200,000 people? Is that even possible?PolitiFact Georgia called up the Metro Atlanta Voter Education Network, which sent out the mailer on the proposed transportation special local option tax, or T-SPLOST. The nonprofits mission is to educate voters about the referendum.A MAVEN spokeswoman said the Atlanta Regional Commission, the regions planning agency, contacted 1.3 million residents last year for telephone town hall meetings about the plan.Part of ARCs mission is public outreach, so it regularly tallies the number of residents it involves, spokeswoman Julie Ralston said.Our research shows ARC has a track record for doing so. It counted residents who participated inPlan 2040, which identified transportation projects the region will need in the next three decades. It posted numbers on the projects website.T-SPLOSTs website, news accounts and ARC news releases chronicle the series of 10 evening telephone town hall meetings in June.ARC contracted with Telephone TownHall Meeting, a Denver-area company that uses Web and telephone technology to hold virtual meetings. Members of Congress often use the meetings to connect with voters back home.Telephone TownHall Meeting owner Curt Cerveny told us how the meetings typically work:The company calls tens of thousands of land lines and cellphones for their target households. Some numbers dont work. Others send the call to voicemail or a fax machine. Sometimes, people hang up.About 15 percent to 20 percent of the time, someone picks up and listens in for at least one minute, Cerveny said. Usually, listeners spend eight to 10 minutes on the line.The T-SPLOST town halls attempted to reach 1.3 million registered voters, an ARCreportsaid. The town halls took place by county.It was the biggest call we had ever done, Cerveny said. It was kind of ahead of its time.Some 134,400 households participated. They stayed on the line for an average of 10.59 minutes. Presenters took 213 live questions. (This PolitiFact Georgia scribe received one of those calls on her cellphone. She was in her car, stuck in gridlock. )This number does not include calls that went to voicemail. These households received messages telling voters how they can have a say in the project. The report did not state the number of listeners per call.This amounts to about 10 percent participation, or slightly less than what Cerveny said was typical.ARC launched other outreach efforts. In March and April 2011, 126 residents of the affected counties participated in a series of 12 focus groups. In July, about 200 attended a 3 -hour town hall meeting. In September, 12 public meetings were attended by about 1,700 people, according to ARC meeting notes.An online survey generated9,600 responses. Interested residents could also consult the projects website,www.atlantaregionalroundtable.com.Local governments and private organizations also conducted their own outreach. ARC collaborated with more than 80 of them to get the word out, Ralston said.One is the Livable Communities Coalition, an Atlanta nonprofit that works on regional growth strategies. A very conservative estimate is that its efforts reached 5,000 people, said Jim Stokes, the groups interim executive director.To conclude:Since ARC tried to reach 1.3 million people through its telephone town halls and managed to get about 10 percent of them, we think its safe to say that more than 200,000 were given the opportunity to participate.In addition, some 20,000 participated in meetings, online surveys and other outreach efforts organized by the planning agency. Local governments and other organizations performed outreach as well.This is a lot of ordinary citizens, but their influence had limits. The decision rested with the regional roundtable. Members could accept -- or ignore -- public comments as they saw fit.That said, MAVENs mailer stopped short of saying that these voters controlled the process. Furthermore, its participation estimate is conservative. Its statement earns our highest rating -- True.","issues":["Georgia","Transportation","Taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1036","claim":"Does Pic Show Milky Way Galaxy Framed By Karnak Egyptian Temple?","posted":"10\/23\/2022","sci_digest":["If it looks too cool to be real, it probably is."],"justification":"Since at least 2021, internet users have been admiring an impressive, but fake image purporting to show the core of the Milky Way galaxy framed by Karnak, an ancient Egyptian temple complex, northeast of the city of Luxor.  Here is one example, posted to Twitter, with the user's name cropped out for privacy:  The image above is not a real representation of the view into the heavens from Karnak in Egypt. It was debunked in 2021 by Juan Carlos Muoz-Mateos, media officer for the European Southern Observatory, a research facility based in Germany. The moon in the image is too large and is transparent, and the core of the Milky Way isn't visible from Karnak's location, Munoz wrote in a Twitter thread explaining how he could tell the image was faked. debunked transparent   We were unable to locate the original version of the image or its creator, but the earliest instances we found of the picture online was 2017. It's been shared in various forums like a Reddit channel dedicated to \"shamelessly stolen\" images. shamelessly stolen In an email sent to Snopes, Munoz said that such fake but visually appealing space\/science images often crop up on content-scraping social media feeds, which can be identified by features like generic but easily searchable names like \"curiosity\" or \"black hole.\" The images shared are most often uncredited. \"Their bios say things like 'DM for credit\/removal' or 'credit goes to the respective owner,' Munoz observed. \"Another common question is why this matters, whats the harm with these accounts,\" Munoz wrote. \"Besides the obvious problem of sharing wrong information, these accounts often link to fishy websites riddled with ads, or they're follower farms that are later sold and renamed.\" It may take time, but it's worthwhile to report them and get them removed from social media platforms, Munoz added.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1GUky-KDxaWybeQnWKIooMTbMDhkxrOq5","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1037","claim":"Did NYC Mayoral Candidate Andrew Yang Say This About Mentally Ill People?","posted":"06\/22\/2021","sci_digest":["Yang was among more than a dozen Democratic candidates running in the city's June 22, 2021 mayoral primary."],"justification":"On June 21, 2021, the day before New York City's mayoral primary election, a New York Times reporter claimed that one of the Democratic candidates, Andrew Yang, said on a conservative talk radio show that people with mental illnesses need to be hospitalized for the city's economy to improve. According to a tweet by Times journalist Emma Fitzsimmons, billionaire John Catsimatidis and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani had just spoken with Yang on 77 WABC's \"Election Coverage\" show. Fitzsimmons stated in the post, which hundreds of users retweeted for their own followers, at 4:18 PM (EST): \"The attribution was correct.\" According to 77 WABC's video recording of the June 21 broadcast segment, which featured candidates from several New York races fielding questions from Catsimatidis and Giuliani, Yang phoned into the show and had the following exchange: \n\nYang: \"We're poised to win this race, and then I'm going to get to work on delivering for New Yorkers the public safety we expect and deserve, which includes getting the homeless men who are struggling mentally into environments where they're safer and healthier. It's better for everyone.\" \n\nCatsimatidis: \"One of the most important things with law and order in New York City is that we have all of these homeless people in the streets, and a lot of them are mentally ill. [...] What happened? Don't those people deserve treatment? Aren't we better off spending money to build hospitals to treat those poor people?\" \n\nYang: \"100 percent. We need to get them the care that they need, but that will also supercharge our economic recovery because we all see these mentally ill people on our streets and subways, and you know who else sees them? Tourists. And then they don't come back, and they tell their friends, 'Don't go to New York City.' We're never going to get our jobs back and our economy back if we don't get the mentally ill people who are on our streets into a better environment. It's going to be worth every penny.\" \n\nIn other words, Yang did not explicitly say that hospitalizing people with severe mental health issues was \"the only way\" (verbatim) to restart the city's economy after the COVID-19 pandemic. However, he did say, \"we're never going to get our jobs back and our economy back\" without supposedly taking that step, implying the same thing. Hours after the radio interview, Yang told The New York Times that he stood by his comments on the radio show, again framing the issue as one of public safety. He told the newspaper, \"We all know that public safety is top of mind for New Yorkers. There will not be an economic recovery until people feel safe walking our streets and riding our subways.\" \n\nIt was not the first instance of Yang, a former presidential candidate, saying that people with severe mental issues perpetuate some of the city's economic and social problems. During a debate on June 16 with other Democratic candidates (there are 13 total), Yang said city officials need to get people with untreated mental health issues \"off of our streets and our subways into a better environment,\" and that \"mentally ill homeless men are changing the character of our neighborhoods,\" presumably for the worse. \n\n\"Yes, mentally ill people have rights, but you know who else has rights? We do: the people and families of the city,\" Yang said at the debate. \"We have the right to walk the streets and not fear for our safety because a mentally ill person is going to lash out at us.\" Those comments sparked criticism among social media users who pointed out research showing that people with severe mental illness are far more likely to be victims of crime\u2014not perpetrators\u2014and the fact that mental health includes a wide spectrum of disorders that affect everyone. \n\nThe day after the debate, Yang responded to that outcry with the following tweet: \"Full context here: mental illness is behind half of anti-Asian hate crimes. We need to get them compassionate, comprehensive care and not let them languish on our streets.\"","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1FW-gt8_yqokehn3ezSUd8lN_46T3GbnP","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1cZuQcMVAwNC3Gftb8LrFpSp96TX3OyOU","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1038","claim":"Was Kroger Supermarkets accused of charging customers extra because of a shortage of coins?","posted":"07\/23\/2020","sci_digest":["Widely shared Facebook posts claimed that Kroger's new policy was to not give out cash change. "],"justification":"In the summer of 2020, readers asked us to examine widely shared Facebook posts that claimed the Kroger supermarket chain was refusing to give customers cash change, and thereby overcharging them.  One widely shared post from July 9 stated that: post \"Kroger will no longer keep coins in the drawer. Starting tomorrow. We will take them, but we can't give change. You can round up to the nearest dollar and donate it to the food bank, or round up and it goes onto your Kroger card as a credit. So it begins ...\"   One week later, Facebook users began sharing a post that purported to describe a contentious transaction and conversation at a Kroger supermarket in Bourbonnais, Illinois. The post claimed that, in light of a coin shortage, Kroger was rounding up the price of items to the next dollar, where a customer pays in cash, and then refusing to give out change, thus effectively overcharging customers: users began sharing post ... Stopped by Kroger today for just a gallon of milk. Seems due to this \"Change Shortage\", their new policy is to round every cash purchase UP to the next full dollar! I can even accept if they insisted on they could not \"give\" any coin back.It cost $2.41. I offered $2.50 payment. The clerk refused the quarters, explained \"due to change shortage\" policy & demanded another dollar instead. I offered the $2.50 again.Clerk: \"Your total is $3.00.\"Me: The total is $2.41, which $2.50 adequately covers & I don't care to give up the 9 cent, but I do NOT accept being up charged 60 cent while you refuse to take the coins I am offering.Clerk: it's $3.00 So literally the clerk was insisting I pay the $3 or they were refusing the sale. WTF ?!?...   A nationwide coin shortage did take place in the summer of 2020, contrary to a prevalent conspiracy theory that falsely claimed the crisis was fabricated or manufactured in order to usher in a cashless economy as part of a broader push towards a \"New World Order.\" That conspiracy theory reared its head in the Kroger post, which included the line, \"This is how being FORCED into a Cashless economy begins!\" did take place conspiracy theory Remarkably, it is not clear what Kroger's company policy was with regard to providing cash change to customers, at the time the Bourbonnais Facebook post was originally published, in the early hours of July 16.  Initially, a spokesperson for the company provided Snopes a statement which asserted that, in light of the ongoing nationwide coin shortage, Kroger was offering customers the option of receiving the amount of their change in the form of loyalty card credit or rounding up their total and donating the remainder to charity, as well as the existing options of paying by credit or debit card, or paying by cash and getting cash change. The statement read: \"We remain committed to providing our customers with an uplifting shopping experience and the freedom and flexibility to choose their payment method, including cash, during this unprecedented time. The Federal Reserve is experiencing a significant coin shortage across the U.S., resulting from fewer coins being exchanged and spent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Like many retailers and businesses, we are adjusting to the temporary shortage in several ways while still accepting cash. \"Customers can switch their payment type (e.g., use debit or credit vs. cash), and through our upgraded technology, we can now load coin change to their loyalty card for use during the next shopping trip, provide coin change at a lane with coins available or round up their order to support The Kroger Co. Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation, a public charity committed to creating communities free of hunger and waste.\" [Emphasis is added.] However, after this fact check was first published, we became aware of contradictory public statements attributed to Kroger earlier in July. In a July 15 article, KABC-TV reported that Kroger had \"announced this week that they will not be returning coin change to customers who pay with cash.\" The article attributed the following statement to the company: KABC-TV \"Currently our stores are collecting donations... by allowing customers to round up their order total to the next dollar... For customers that choose not to donate, our cashiers will load the coin value due back through their loyalty card. Customers can redeem the amount on their next transaction. We know this is an inconvenience for our customers and we appreciate their patience.\" That statement made no mention of the continued possibility of customers receiving their coin change as coin change, an omission which naturally indicates that Kroger policy at that time was to not provide customers with coin change.  On July 10, a named company spokesperson appears to have told another news outlet that Kroger policy was to no longer give out coin change. WXIX reported that: \"Kroger spokesperson Erin Rofles confirmed Friday the grocer will no longer return coin change to customers. Instead, the remainders from cash transactions will be applied to customers loyalty cards and automatically used on their next purchase.\" WXIX We asked Kroger to explain these glaring discrepancies in the company's various public articulations of its policy on coin change. A spokesperson said that the statement initially provided to Snopes (which asserted that company policy was to give customers the option of receiving coin change) was \"first issued on July 13,\" suggesting the company had been consistent in its messaging on the subject. We found the same wording in a series of tweets the company sent to a customer on July 14. Nevertheless, the company also told KABC-TV the opposite in an article published the following day.  tweets In one particularly egregious example of the confusion surrounding Kroger's articulation of its policy, on July 14 the company actually posted two different sets of tweets in response to the same customer's inquiries on Twitter. In one pair of tweets, Kroger told @bbaum17 that customers could either have their change loaded on to their loyalty card or donated to charity (no mention of coin change). In a second pair of tweets, Kroger told @bbaum17 that the company could accept a credit or debit card as payment, or load the customer's change on to their loyalty card, or have it donated to charity, or they could \"provide coin change at a lane with coins available.\"  sets of tweets The company spokesperson suggested to Snopes that news articles reporting that Kroger was no longer giving out coin change might have been based on signs that have been erected inside Kroger supermarkets. The spokesperson provided the following example, which reads: ATTENTION CUSTOMERS:The Federal Reserve is currently experiencing a coin shortage. Please consider Rounding Up for Zero Hunger ZeroWaste, using exact change or another form of payment. We apologize for any inconvenience this maycause and appreciate your help.   A sign that apologizes to customers for the inconvenience associated with an ongoing nationwide coin shortage, suggests three ways to avoid the need to provide change, and omits to mention that customers can still get their change in coin form is very obviously likely to create the perception that Kroger no longer gives out coin change.  We asked Kroger for exact details on whether, when and how its policy on coin change had changed; as well as whether, when, and how those changes had been communicated to Kroger's regional divisions, in-store employees, and paying customers. We will update this fact check if we receive a response to those questions.  In its initial statement to Snopes, Kroger gave us the clear impression that its policy on coin change was unambiguous, made no mention of any existing confusion or misinformation over that policy, and made no mention whatsoever that the company and its spokespersons had previously made directly contradictory public statements about that policy.  In reality, Kroger and its spokespersons had indeed issued contradictory and confusing public statements, and had done so before the original \"Bourbonnais\" Facebook post was published in the early hours of July 16. As a result, we are changing the rating in this fact check from \"false\" to \"Mixture.\" It's not entirely clear what took place at the Kroger supermarket in Bourbonnais, Illinois, specifically, but it appears to have been at least similar to the description in the widely shared Facebook post. A spokesperson for the company told Snopes:  \"The associate who engaged with this customer was newly trained to the cashier role and misunderstood the various ways were adapting to the temporary national coin shortage. It is an isolated event, and weve since coached the associate and contacted the customer.\" This appears to be a tacit admission by the company that, in the specific instance highlighted in the Facebook post, the cashier did incorrectly insist on receiving $3 in cash for the milk, but that this was not in keeping with the company's policy, although as we outlined above, the company's public articulation of its policy on coin change has not been consistent. The image of a receipt that accompanied the viral Facebook post was dated July 15, and indicates that the customer in question paid $3 in cash for a $2.41 container of milk (after tax). A line in the receipt labelled \"change shortage\" had $0.59 next to it, and the \"change\" line had 0.00 next to it. That indicates that the customer did not receive cash change.  Shortly after midnight on July 16, a person who lives near Bourbonnais, whose name we are withholding because their original Facebook post was private, published what appears to be the original version of the subsequently widely shared post. (That original version of the post began \"Stopped by Kroger today\" while versions published later began \"Stopped by Kroger yesterday,\" and the edit history of the post shows that a photograph of the receipt that showed the name of the cashier was replaced with a photograph showing the cashier's name obscured -- both signs that the post was published by the customer in question).  We contacted that person, whose identity we verified. In an email to Snopes, that person reiterated the version of events presented in the original Facebook post. The customer clarified that it was not possible to purchase the milk with a debit or credit card because the patron lives on \"a cash basis.\" To complicate matters further, on July 22 a Facebook page with the name \"KROGER-Bourbonnais\" published responses to the viral post, explaining that the company was \"currently allocating the remaining change that you would typically receive after your purchase to your Kroger Loyalty Card,\" but later wrote that \"we are not rounding up ... it was just a mistake of [sic] a cashier.\" explaining later Those posts were not written by an authentic Kroger company account, a spokesperson told Snopes, adding \"Our social media team isnt affiliated with it.\" Mac Guill, Dan. \"Did a Nationwide US Coin Shortage Occur in Summer 2020?\"\r  Snopes.com.  8 July 2020. Grider, Geoffrey.  \"Remember the Psy-Op Called the Great Toilet Paper Shortage? Now We Are Pretending There's a National Coin Shortage ...\"\r  NowTheEndBegins.com.  11 July 2020. Updated [23 July 2020]: Rating changed from \"false\" to \"Mixture.\" Article substantially updated to include Kroger's previous, contradictory public articulations of its policy on coin change.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1XHrajfy4ftDR78b-4Bpk6L_EvaxZUFAO"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Pvwmu8_vs3YtdMe76B6JS-Cdd_-e1x17"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1rapHRdefhaRB4t898vZKHRmWvgGIaZm5"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1039","claim":"Does Delta Airlines Give Planned Parenthood Members Discounted Rates?","posted":"03\/01\/2018","sci_digest":["A Georgia senator has claimed  without any supporting evidence  that Delta offers discounts on air travel to Planned Parenthood members."],"justification":"Calls to boycott the National Rifle Association intensified in the days following a school shooting in Parkland, Florida that left seventeen people dead on 14 February 2018. In response, a number of companies responded by ending partnership programs that provided discounts to NRA members: ending   Shortly after Delta announced that it would stop offering discounts to NRA members, some argued that Planned Parenthood should be the actual subject of nationwide boycotts, despite not being involved directly or indirectly with the Parkland, Florida shooting in any way. One meme summed up that argument by stating without attribution that Planned Parenthood kills hundreds of babies a day, while the NRA has never directly killed anyone: meme   This number appears to be derived from figures provided by the organization in 2015, which said that Planned Parenthood offices had performed 323,999 abortions in total the year before. However, that interpretation is dependent on subjective interpretations of when life supposedly begins; abortions are not counted as a \"cause of death\" by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. performed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Georgia State Senator Michael Williams took issue with Delta's decision (the company is headquartered in Atlanta) and during an appearance on CNN said that the airline should also rescind its discounts for other organizations: If they're going to pull the discount for NRA members, why not pull it for Planned Parenthood or some of the left organizations out there? When CNN host Brianna Keilar asked Williams what evidence he had that Delta Air Lines offered discounted rates to Planned Parenthood members, adding that the network had examined these allegations and found no information to verify the claim, Williams explained that he \"looked it up on Google\" and did not know of the exact source  but that he would provide it at a later date:  We searched for any credible sources to back the claim that Delta Air Lines offers a discount to members of Planned Parenthood (along with the official definition of what a member of Planned Parenthood might be: Did he mean donors to the nonprofit? Patients who do not donate? Some combination of the above? Is there a membership card?) but all we found were unverified claims in the comment sections of various articles and in random social media messages: comment sections social media   Shortly after Williams appeared on CNN, Planned Parenthood denied his claims: Being a Planned Parenthood supporter doesn't come with corporate perks and discounts. People stand with Planned Parenthood because they support reproductive health and rights. https:\/\/t.co\/RcHKSxI9As https:\/\/t.co\/RcHKSxI9As  Planned Parenthood Action (@PPact) February 28, 2018 February 28, 2018    On 28 February 2018, Williams released a statement on Twitter: released   This statement offers no supporting evidence and, in fact, does nothing to address the original claim Williams made during his CNN appearance. Instead, it moves the goalposts completely by saying that while Delta does not contribute directly to Planned Parenthood, it indirectly supports the organization instead, by donating to groups such as the Susan G. Komen Foundation. However, we found some holes in this argument too. For example, American Airlines, not Delta Air Lines, is the official partner of the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Delta does host an annual fundraiser for breast cancer research, but the airline donates the proceeds to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, not Susan G. Komen: Last month, Delta celebrated its 12th anniversary of the Breast Cancer One survivor flight, kicking off the airlines Breast Cancer Awareness month throughout October and continuing the tradition of building awareness and raising funds for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. This years flight honored 140 breast cancer survivors who flew from New York to Los Angeles. Festivities began with an event at the gate in JFK before the pink plane made its way to LAX, where survivors and attendees enjoyed another gatehouse event and an overnight stay, including dinner, hotel accommodations and a meet-and-greet with one of BCRFs world-renowned researchers, Dr. Sofia Merajver from the University of Michigan. It is entirely possible that Delta has contributed to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, but this group is not a \"Delta partner,\" nor is it the main benefactor of their cancer research fundraiser.  Williams doubled down on his claim that Delta was partnered with the Susan G. Komen Foundation when he shared a photograph of a Delta plane painted with pink ribbons and linked to a set of images on the web site FlashPointAgency: shared FlashPointAgency   FlashPointAgency does say that this plane was designed as part of Delta's work with the Susan G. Komen Foundation. However, these images appear to be mislabeled. Another image in this set of photographs shows two women standing in front of a wall of logos for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. As we noted above, Delta does frequently host fundraisers to support BCRF:   Regardless of Delta Air Lines' relationships with the Susan G. Komen Foundation, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, or anyone else, these groups have little to do with the senator's original claim, which is that Delta Air Lines provided discounts to Planned Parenthood members. Our examination of this rumor resulted in a chain of unfounded social media posts, but absolutely no supporting evidence. Aued, Blake.  \"Georgia Prospers When Businesses Don't Discriminate.\"\r  Flagpole.  28 September 2016. Goldschmidt, Debra.  \"Planned Parenthood: Fast Facts and Revealing Numbers.\"\r  CNN.  1 August 2017. Wattles, Jackie.  \"More Than a Dozen Businesses Ran Away From the NRA. How it Went Down.\"\r  CNN.  26 February 2018. Wattles, Jackie.  \"More Than a Dozen Businesses Ran Away From the NRA. How it Went Down.\"\r  CNN.  26 February 2018.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ga2nOXLjQKSry7ywEvtXjLQw9mMtRcFR","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1EH7rRV_GSI4b1iFw9dvXmC7lT0arsWTq","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=18wzXI2b0foln4A5Lj0-Hhm6pve6P_J3P","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1pbkjruG6ssnZZ6aWagAeGaSuhG21veef","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1CDROcX_uRDwXyqSbTGAcdwmvSOZhZCbz","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1s4CSFOHCEKAgOZKPViYP6iz7q_Zcanpf","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1040","claim":"Did Stalin assert that America resembles a robust physique possessing triple strength?","posted":"03\/15\/2012","sci_digest":["Despite how frequently these words are shared in his name, there appears to be no record of Josef Stalin writing or uttering them."],"justification":"One of the forms of political expression that frequently arrives in our inbox for verification is the \"evil plan\" warning, items which present the notion that some malevolent entity (ranging from Communists to Satan himself) not only expressed an intent to destroy our society from within, but outlined a specific plan for doing so. A quote attributed to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin that a reader emailed us in November 2011 exemplifies the genre: Soviet dictator Josef Stalin \"America is like a healthy body and its resistance is threefold: its patriotism, its morality, and its spiritual life. If we can undermine these three areas, America will collapse from within.\"   The specifics of these plans (no matter how long ago they may supposedly have been formulated) generally relate to current events, and the political purpose of circulating them is to make readers aware that trends which threaten the health of our society are currently in place (i.e., \"This is EXACTLY what is happening now!\"), and to warn them that we must be vigilant about holding our course and stopping or reversing the encroachment of these socially unhealthful trends. This form has been expressed in such widely circulated items as Paul Harvey's \"If I Were the Devil\" essay, an (apocryphal) quotation by Karl Marx about the perils of consumer debt, and an (also apocryphal) warning from Abraham Lincoln about the accumulation of vast wealth in the hands of a few. If I Were the Devil Karl Marx Abraham Lincoln The putative quotation from Stalin referenced above is another item of this genre, one which presents the concept that Communist enemies of the U.S. viewed patriotism, morality, and spirituality as America's greatest assets and cannily plotted that the U.S. could be made to collapse from within if these values were sufficiently undermined (and which, of course, serves as an admonition to American readers to be attentive in maintaining these values). Whatever level of truth one might find in this sentiment, however, it's highly unlikely that Stalin ever spoke these words. Proving a negative is often an uncertain proposition, but our reasons for believing this quotation to be of dubious origin are: Josef Stalin Internet Archive Stalin documents letter Cummings, Jeanne.  \"Gingrich Out to Save America.\"The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 16 January 1994 (p. G1). \"Readers Respond to 'The Day After'.\"Lawrence Journal-World. 23 November 1983 (p. 9). Stalin Internet Archive. https:\/\/www.marxists.org\/reference\/archive\/stalin\/works\/subject\/index.htm. Accessed 15 Sept. 2022. Stalin, Joseph, 1879-1953 | The Online Books Page. https:\/\/onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu\/webbin\/book\/lookupname?key=Stalin%2c%20Joseph%2c%201879-1953. Accessed 15 Sept. 2022. Updated [Sept.15, 2022]: Sources and links refreshed.","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1PF43f4px1Qo95Gj0ctO2Pk3hvbRg0T3j"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1041","claim":"More than 30 cents of every state tax dollar goes to Medicaid.","posted":"04\/19\/2015","sci_digest":[],"justification":"The Raimondo administration wants to see more efficiency when it comes to spending on Medicaid, the joint state and federal program that provides health insurance to the very poor and people with disabilities. Roughly every dollar spent by the state is matched by the federal government. Duringa March 2, 2015, presentationto the Reinventing Medicaid Working Group, the state's secretary for health and human services, Elizabeth Roberts,displayed a slidewhich said that nearly a third of all state tax dollars goes to Medicaid. More than 30 cents of every state tax dollar goes to Medicaid, the slide said. It also contained a pie chart in which Medicaid is shown eating up 31.5 percent of those tax dollars. The slide lists the source as the state budget for the 2013 fiscal year. But on March 31, 2015, groups that want to create a single-payer health insurance system in the statechallenged that statistic and othersbeing used by the Raimondo administration in itspush for Medicaid reform. The Rhode Island chapters of Physicians for a National Health Program and HealthCare Now said the actual percentage isn't 31.5 for fiscal 2013, but closer to 22. We decided to see who was correct. Because Roberts specifically mentioned state tax dollars, for this fact check, we will only look at general revenue funds raised by the state, not federal funds shared with the state or restricted funds. When we contacted Roberts' office, spokesman Michael Raia said the source of the information was listed incorrectly. The 31.5 percent is based on the current fiscal year of 2015. According to data from the House Finance committee, this year the state is slated tospend $1.084 billionof its unrestricted money on Medicaid. That's 31.5 percent of the$3.445 billion in general revenue funds. (The state budget enacted that year totaled $8.78 billion, including restricted revenue and federal money for Medicaid and other things.) That made us curious. What were the numbers in 2013, the year cited incorrectly by Roberts? The Rhode Island Health Care Association, one of the groups questioning the numbers, referred us to the executive summary ofGov. Lincoln Chafee's budget for the 2015 fiscal year. Page A-5 listed $3.216 billion in general revenue for that year and page 71 of the budget'stechnical appendixsays the Office of Health and Human Services (OHHS) actually received $772 million from the general fund. That would be 24 percent, close to what the critics claimed. But in the 2013 enacted budget,20 percent of the state's Medicaid money was spent by other departments, including Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals (BHDDH) and the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF). That makes the 24 percent too low. When all of the states spending for Medicaid out of its general revenues is accounted for, the percentage comes out to around 31 percent. Our ruling Roberts said more than 30 cents of every state tax dollar goes to Medicaid. She cited a specific percentage of 31.5 percent and said it came from the 2013 fiscal year. It's actually from the 2015 fiscal year. But the percentage from 2013 is very close to that. Roberts may have gotten the source year wrong, but it turns out that either year produces the same result. We rate her statement asTrue. (If you have a claim youd likePolitiFact Rhode Islandto check, email us at[email protected]. And follow us on Twitter: @politifactri.)","issues":["Rhode Island","Debt","Disability","Economy","Families","Health Care","Medicaid","Poverty","State Budget","Taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1042","claim":"L'Oreal Beagle Testing","posted":"05\/26\/2016","sci_digest":["A viral Facebook image purportedly depicts a beagle blinded by L'Oreal cosmetics testing, but the image was previously linked with a separate and unrelated controversy in Brazil."],"justification":"On 24 May 2016, a Facebook user published the above-reproduced image of a partially blinded beagle, along with the claim that it represented the harmful effects of cosmetics testing on animals. When cosmetics companies like L'Oreal want to test their products, they often use beagles. They take the potentially toxic ingredients in their products and apply them to the puppy's eye in large doses to test how much of a product is needed to cause harm. When they finish, they remove the beagle's eye and start again on the other eye. When the beagle runs out of eyes, they kill it. This is why we never support companies that test on animals. The photograph caused alarm and concern among animal lovers worried about whether the beagle's injuries were truly inflicted by L'Oreal (or any other cosmetics brand). A reverse image search revealed that the photograph had appeared years earlier on Portuguese-language websites, with many English-language sites later using the same image to blame Mary Kay, Avon, or Procter & Gamble for the beagle's injuries. This doleful image was previously published on a Brazilian website, where it was identified as having been taken in the city of S\u00e3o Roque in relation to a controversy involving animal testing at the Instituto Royal laboratory. It was also posted to Instagram in connection with rumors linked to that laboratory and location. An article published in the Brazilian version of the Epoch Times reported that the lab in question had been closed after protests by animal rights supporters and stated that the institute tested \"cosmetics and cleaning products\" of unspecified origin. The Royal Institute announced it was ending the activities of the laboratory in S\u00e3o Roque, in the state of S\u00e3o Paulo. The decision came after the release of 178 beagle dogs used in laboratory tests for cosmetics and cleaning products by protesters. The case was widely reported and generated discussions on ethics related to the use of animals in testing. The institute has been investigated by prosecutors since 2012 for their mistreatment of animals. A 2013 news article also reported on the beagle controversy but made no specific mention of cosmetics testing at the lab in question. A group of animal rights activists camped in front of the Royal Institute in S\u00e3o Roque (SP) after they stormed the headquarters of the laboratory, which conducts research for the pharmaceutical and veterinary industries, among others. The protesters, including members of the Black Bloc SP, accused the company of the ill-treatment of beagle dogs used in research. Protests against the Royal Institute began just last year. Activists claim that the company practices irregularities and criminal acts against animals. The Royal Institute defends its research on its website and states that it respects all national and international standards in dealing with dogs in the laboratory. The company is an Oscip (Civil Society Organization of Public Interest) and receives public money thanks to the support of funding agencies for scientific research. Animal advocates say the company does not have the necessary licenses and permits for the activities it performs. Contemporaneous articles mentioned \"cosmetic and pharmaceutical testing,\" and a blog post claimed that the contraceptive Norplant was among the products tested on the liberated beagles. Scientists who worked for the lab lamented the loss of a decade of research due to the clashes with animal rights activists. For the scientific director of the Royal Institute, Jo\u00e3o Ant\u00f4nio Pegas Henry, the damage is incalculable. Jo\u00e3o Anthony stated that the biggest problem was not the liberation of animals, but rather the destruction of the building, materials, and especially their research. \"[The activists] destroyed the laboratory, including computers holding research data. We can fix the material damage, but the damage to science is incalculable. There was material that was in its final stages after a ten-year study. Everything was lost,\" said Jo\u00e3o Anthony. According to the coordinator of the National Council of Animal Experimentation Control (Concea), Marcelo Marcos Morales, the institute in S\u00e3o Roque is the most important laboratory in the country regarding such experimentation. While the precise origin of the beagle photograph purportedly linked to L'Oreal research is unknown, the image was originally circulated as one linked to a 2012 controversy involving the since-closed Instituto Royal of S\u00e3o Roque. Testing carried out at the lab while it was operational was not restricted to cosmetics, and most reports named pharmaceutical and household products as the primary substances researched at the Institute. The photograph has long since been repurposed to claim that a number of popular cosmetics brands such as MAC, Avon, Mary Kay, and Head & Shoulders were responsible for the beagle's injuries. On L'Oreal's website, the brand discloses its policy on animal testing, a position a representative for L'Oreal reiterated to us on 27 May 2016. L'Oreal no longer tests any of its products or ingredients on animals anywhere in the world, nor does it delegate this task to others. The rare exception allowed is if regulatory authorities demand it for safety or regulatory purposes. This image was not the first spurious animal testing rumor attached to L'Oreal on social media. Previously, a photograph of a sick rabbit unrelated to animal testing was circulated alongside claims that the animal was also a victim of cruel experiments carried out by L'Oreal.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1zWgvDi6RNB6kQxLbJza81DKhsLAk2aqb","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1vgtba4kIVQldthJ00pqmkfGiNWyqYXfe","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1M7W8Fz8nf6UvYcEaoeHraGwcKIFttqU8","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1043","claim":"The White House increases.","posted":"08\/11\/2011","sci_digest":["Chart shows raises given to White House staffers in 2010?"],"justification":"Claim:  Chart shows top 20 raises given to White House staffers in 2010. Example:  [Collected via e-mail, August 2011] Well here you go folks - outrageous salary increases at the WH.  Go Google and set your search parm to white house top 20 raises and you'll get everything you want to know about this article. What the heck does a Director of African-American Media do to get an 86% increase? Hang out over at Black Entertainment TV or maybe sit around and read Ebony? Remember in November Remember: no Cost of Living Adjustment for seniors for two years.  HMMM...17% to 86% RAISES IN SALARY FOR HIS WHITE HOUSE STAFF MEMBERS!!. NO WONDER WE CAN'T HAVE A COST OF LIVING INCREASE & HE WANTS TO NOW RAISE OUR TAXES ALSO. SOUNDS LIKE THE ADMINISTRATION IS REALLY LOOKING OUT FOR THE VOTERS, DOESN'T IT ????    Origins:  This graphic detailing the \"White House's Top 20 Raises\" (which actually includes 21 entries) originated as an accompaniment to a 6 July 2011 Gawker article entitled \"White House Staffers Got a Raise Last Year, And You Did Not.\"   graphic article The chart is accurate as far as it goes, but by itself it does not include the context that 19 of the 21 staffers listed also received new job titles, so the pay increases were not straight raises but came in tandem with promotions and\/or increased job responsibilities.  The Gawker article also noted that, because the number of paid staffers decreased from 466 in 2010 to 451 in 2011, the White House's salary budget actually dropped from $38.8 million to $37.1 million, and the average salary for staffers also dropped from $82,721 to $81,765 (about 65% above the median household income). Last updated:  11 August 2011    Fader, Carole.  \"White House Staff Got Pay Raises, But There's More to the Story.\"   Jacksonville.com.  7 August 2011.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=17eQ7La01iQR9-ZAxva6ej4CBguZSJpgJ"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1044","claim":"Did Trump Claim Obama Wrote the Emoluments Clause of U.S. Constitution?","posted":"10\/24\/2019","sci_digest":["U.S. President Donald Trump did describe the emoluments clause as \"phony.\" "],"justification":"On Oct. 22, 2019, a link to an op-ed entitled \"Trump's Obama envy is getting even worse\" was shared in several anti-Trump Facebook groups, such as Anti Donald Trump, original DONALD TRUMP CLOWN UNIVERSITY, and DEFEAT TRUMP 2020!, along with an alleged excerpt from the article in which the president claimed that former President Barack Obama had written the emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution. Trump accused Obama of writing the Constitution to make him look bad, stating, \"I know for certain that he wrote the emoluments clause because he can't stand to see me make so much illegal money.\" He added, \"I've said all along, Obama is obsessed with me. He will do anything to make me look bad, but it never works, and he can't stand to see me winning. Busy day and so much winning. Time for golf.\" The text of this Facebook post does not relay a genuine quote from Trump. He did not claim that Obama wrote the emoluments clause of the Constitution during an appearance on Fox News, nor does this quote appear in the linked op-ed story published in The Washington Post. Trump appeared on Fox News on Oct. 21, 2019, for an interview with Sean Hannity. While Trump mentioned Obama several times during that interview, he didn't accuse his predecessor of writing the Constitution, which was written more than 200 years ago. Some readers may have been misled by the fake quote because it was published a day after Trump described the emoluments clause as \"phony.\" Vox reported that President Donald Trump was still defending the White House's decision to host next year's G7 summit, a gathering of seven world leaders, at a Miami resort owned by Trump's business, even though he abandoned the plan after it was widely criticized. At a Cabinet meeting on Monday, he blamed the backlash against his attempt to profit from the G7 on \"you people with this phony emoluments clause,\" referring to a provision of the Constitution that prevents federal officials from being compensated by foreign governments. While Trump may have called the emoluments clause \"phony,\" he did not claim Obama wrote it. We therefore rate this claim as false.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=17szgFVnfT-8tdvVq59vvMSI18gSLJ_XT","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1045","claim":"Obama provides a loan of $2 billion to a Brazilian oil company.","posted":"02\/10\/2010","sci_digest":["President Obama signed an executive order to lend $2 billion to a Brazilian oil company?"],"justification":"Claim:  President Obama signed an executive order to lend $2 billion to a Brazilian oil company, with no financial gain for the U.S. false Example:  [Collected via e-mail, November 2009] This is a perfect example why many refrain from watching the news on ABC, NBC, CBS, or MSNBC. Today on a segment of the \"Glen Beck Show\" on FOX (Fox Cable News) was the following: \"Today, even though President Obama is against off shore drilling for our country, he signed an executive order to loan 2 Billion of our taxpayers dollars to a Brazilian Oil Exploration Company (which is the 8th largest company in the entire world) to drill for oil off the coast of Brazil!  The oil that comes from this operation is for the sole purpose and use of China and NOT THE USA! Now here's the real clincher... the Chinese government is under contract to purchase all the oil that this oil field will produce, which is hundreds of millions of barrels of oil\". We have absolutely no gain from this transaction whatsoever! Wait, it gets more interesting. Guess who is the largest individual stockholder of this Brazilian Oil Company and who would benefit most from this? It is American BILLIONAIRE, George Soros, who was one of President Obama's most generous financial supporter during his campaign. If you are able to connect the dots and follow the money, you are probably as upset as I am. Not a word of this transaction was broadcast on any of the other news networks! Forward this factual e-mail to others who care about this country and where it is going. Also, let all of your Government representatives know how you feel about this. Is this the kind of \"transparency\" you want from your government? Below is the Wall street Journal article to confirm this. Wall Street Journal editorial Wall Street Journal editorial Origins:  The above-quoted article references a segment attributed to Fox News Channel host Glenn Beck criticizing President Obama for signing an executive order to lend $2 billion to a Brazilian oil company to finance offshore drilling, all without securing reciprocal oil exports from Brazil or any other benefit to the U.S.   Nearly all of the substantive claims made in that article are false, as detailed below:  [President Obama] signed an executive order to loan 2 Billion of our taxpayers dollars to a Brazilian Oil Exploration Company This statement is false: President Obama signed no such executive order.  On 14 April 2009, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im), an agency whose mission \"is to assist in financing the export of U.S. goods and services to international markets,\" issued a preliminary approval for a $2 billion loan to Brazil's national oil company, Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras), to help fund offshore oil exploration and development. Ex-Im preliminary approval The approval of the loan was an action undertaken not by officials who had been appointed by President Obama, but by his predecessor, President George W. Bush, as Ex-Im itself stated: The Bank's bipartisan Board unanimously approved the preliminary commitment to Petrobras on April 14, 2009, before any Obama appointees joined the Bank. In fact, at the time the Bank's Board consisted of three Republicans and two Democrats, all of whom were appointed by George W. Bush. Despite the claim that the money committed to Petrobras is \"taxpayer dollars,\" Ex-Im notes that \"the vast majority of our financing consists of guarantees of loans made by commercial lenders,\" that \"the bank is self-sustaining and does not receive any appropriated funds from Congress,\" and that \"the Bank's activities do not cost the American taxpayer a dime.\"    We have absolutely no gain from this transaction whatsoever! This statement is also false, one predicated on the mistaken assumption that the only tangible financial benefit of lending money to Petrobras was to guarantee a supply of Brazilian oil for the United States.  The Ex-Im's mission statement declares: mission statement The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) is the official export credit agency of the United States. Ex-Im Bank's mission is to assist in financing the export of U.S. goods and services to international markets. Ex-Im Bank enables U.S. companies  large and small  to turn export opportunities into real sales that help to maintain and create U.S. jobs and contribute to a stronger national economy. Accordingly, as set forth in a 29 July 2009 press release, Ex-Im's chairman and president, Fred P. Hochberg, declared that the bank approved the $2 billion preliminary commitment not as a downpayment to ensure future oil purchases from Brazil by the U.S., but \"to encourage purchases of U.S. goods and services by Petrobras\": press release I chose Brazil as my first international destination for good reason: Brazil is a powerhouse among South American economies and offers tremendous opportunities for U.S. exporters in many sectors. I want Brazilians to know that Ex-Im Bank has the will and the capacity to finance their purchases of U.S. equipment, products and services. (Although Fred P. Hochberg is an Obama appointee, the President did not nominate Hochberg for the position of Ex-Im president until 20 April 2009, a week after the board approved the loan to Petrobras.) nominate    The Chinese government is under contract to purchase all the oil that this oil field will produce, which is hundreds of millions of barrels of oil. China does have an agreement to buy Brazilian oil from Petrobras, but not literally to purchase the entire output of Brazilian offshore oil fields.  In May 2009, the China Development Bank (CDB) agreed to lend Petrobras $10 billion (five times the amount of the Ex-Im loan); in exchange, \"the two sides agreed to increase actual crude oil exports from Brazil to China.\" At the same time, Petrobras and Sinopec (the China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation) signed a separate long-term export agreement providing for  Petrobras to export 200,000 barrels of oil to China per day from 2010 to 2019. agreed    Guess who is the largest individual stockholder of this Brazilian Oil Company and who would benefit most from this? It is American BILLIONAIRE, George Soros, who was one of President Obama's most generous financial supporter during his campaign. Billionaire financier George Soros has donated large sums of money to groups that support the goals of the Democratic Party (including an estimated $23.5 million towards defeating the re-election effort of President George W. Bush in 2004),  and his hedge fund (Soros Fund Management LLC) does hold stock in Petrobras.  However, the implication that President Obama unilaterally directed the issuance of a loan to Petrobras as quid pro quo repayment to George Soros is erroneous since, as noted above, the loan was approved and made by a Republican-majority board of Ex-Im officials who had been appointed by  George W. Bush. Soros' hedge-fund firm  sold off 5 million of its 37 million Petrobras shares in May 2009, and the firm sold off another 22 million shares in August 2009, before Petrobras received any loan funds from Ex-Im. sold sold   In a letter published by the Wall Street Journal on 21 August 2009, Ex-Im president Fred P. Hochberg refuted the criticisms expressed in that newspapers' editorial of three days earlier: Your editorial \"Obama Underwrites Offshore Drilling\" (Aug. 18) more correctly should have read, \"Obama Underwrites U.S. Jobs.\" That's because the mandate of the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. (Ex-Im Bank) is to help create and sustain U.S. jobs by financing U.S. exports. Our offer to provide financing to Brazil's state-owned oil company Petrobras does exactly that. That's what is behind our decision to offer at least $2 billion in loans or loan guarantees to help finance purchases of U.S. goods and services by Petrobras. This increases the likelihood that  American  not foreign   workers will be employed to satisfy part of the company's planned $175 billion investment during the next five years. Ex-Im Bank does not make U.S. policy. In fact, our charter prohibits us from turning down financing for either nonfinancial or noncommercial reasons, except in rare circumstances including failure to meet our environmental standards. We make no grants. The vast majority of our financing consists of guarantees of loans made by commercial lenders, not Ex-Im Bank direct loans. The foreign buyers that use Ex-Im Bank products pay us in full. Over the past 16 years the fees that we collect have netted American taxpayers more than $4.9 billion plus the jobs those exports have created. Thanks to the fees we charge, the bank is self-sustaining and does not receive any appropriated funds from Congress. At a time when jobs, and exports, are more important than ever in helping our economy recover, Ex-Im Bank is achieving its mission to keep Americans working, and we're doing it without burdening the U.S. taxpayer. Additional information:  Facts About the Proposed Ex-Im Bank Loans  Last updated:  10 February 2010 ","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1046","claim":"Clunker Math","posted":"09\/13\/2009","sci_digest":["Analysis demonstrates the 'Cash for Clunkers' program to be an inefficient economic trade-off?"],"justification":"Claim:  Analysis demonstrates the \"Cash for Clunkers\" program's gasoline savings to be an inefficient economic trade-off. false Example:  [Collected via e-mail, September 2009]     I guess I must be on the wrong page... A vehicle at 15 mpg and 12,000 miles per year uses 800 gallons a year of gasoline. A vehicle at 25 mpg and 12,000 miles per year uses 480 gallons a year. So, the average clunker transaction will reduce US gasoline consumption by 320 gallons per year. They claim 700,000 vehicles  so that's 224 million gallons \/ year. That equates to a bit over 5 million barrels of oil. 5 million barrels of oil is about  of one day's US consumption. And, 5 million barrels of oil costs about $350 million dollars at $75\/bbl. So, we all contributed to spending $3 billion to save $350 million. How good a deal was that ??? They'll probably do a great job with health care though!! Origins:  In 2009, the federal government's Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), commonly known as \"Cash for Clunkers,\" provided consumers with $3,500 or $4,500 discounts for trading in older model automobiles and purchasing new, more fuel-efficient vehicles.  The analysis presented above maintains that the CARS program essentially spent $3 billion in federal (i.e., taxpayer) funds in order to save $350 million in (foreign) oil purchases, an inefficient economic trade-off.   The premise that the sole purpose or benefit of the CARS program is to save money on U.S. expenditures is a rather specious one to begin with.  And even within that framework,the analysis is flawed in key aspects. According to the latest CARS statistics,  auto dealers conducted 690,114 transactions through the program, and cars traded in through the program averaged 15.8 MPG, while new vehicles purchased through the program averaged 24.9 MPG.  Assuming, as stated above, that the average motorist drives 12,000 miles per year, we arrive at the following calculations: statistics A vehicle averaging 15.8 MPG driven 12,000 miles per year uses 759.5 gallons of gasoline per year. A vehicle averaging 24.9 MPG driven 12,000 miles per year uses 482 gallons of gasoline per year. The average CARS transaction will reduce U.S. gasoline consumption by 277.5 gallons of gasoline per car per year. The 690,114 vehicles sold through the CARS program will therefore save a total of 191.5 million gallons of gasoline per year. So far, so good  our figures make the CARS program look even less economically efficient than the original analysis does.  The fatal flaw comes in the next step, however. The example presented above claims that 224 million gallons of gasoline are the equivalent of 5 million barrels of oil (i.e., one barrel of oil produces about 45 gallons of gasoline), which is an erroneous assumption.  One barrel of crude oil holds 42 gallons of crude oil, not 42 gallons of gasoline  the crude has to be put through a refining process before it becomes gasoline. How much gasoline is produced from one barrel of crude varies according to the refining process used and the type of crude oil involved, but according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), a branch of the U.S. Department of Energy, \"U.S. refineries produce between 19 and 20 gallons of motor gasoline from one barrel (42 gallons) of crude oil.\" (Crude oil contains many different types of hydrocarbons, not all of which can easily be converted to gasoline, so other petroleum products such as kerosene and lubricating oil are also produced during the refining process.) EIA hydrocarbons If we take the mid-point of that range (i.e., 19.5 gallons of gasoline per barrel of oil) and multiply it by the $75 per barrel price quoted in the example, we find: 191.5 million gallons of gasoline \/ 19.5 gallons of gasoline per barrel of oil = 9.8 million barrels of oil 9.8 million * $75 per barrel  = $735 million This savings of $735 million per year is over twice the $350 million figure posited in the original analysis.  (The latter figure should actually be $375 million; the original contains a mathematical error in stating that 5 million multiplied by 75 equals 350.)  Moreover, the gasoline-saving benefits produced by the CARS program won't simply dissipate after the passage of a single year, as suggested above.  According to the  CARS stats, the total dollar value of transactions conducted under the \"Cash for Clunkers\" program was about $2.9 billion. Therefore (if all other factors remained the same), the full cost of the CARS program would be offset by gasoline savings in about four years  not a spectacular trade-off, perhaps, but not nearly as bad a one as claimed in the original analysis.  (All of these figures assume the price of gasoline to be a constant, a dubious proposition since the cost of oil can fluctuate quite widely, especially in the short term.) The original analysis also focuses solely on savings in gasoline costs and doesn't take into account other intended or residual effects of the CARS program, such as the economic benefits of boosting auto sales, reducing pollution by replacing older cars with more fuel-efficient vehicles, increasing safety by replacing older cars with vehicles offering advanced safety features, and providing additional parts and raw materials for the market: [The clunkers'] components and frames ... have begun flooding the used parts and scrap-recycling markets with more than 100 million tons of steel, batteries, and tires, among other things. \"This is like a second wave of stimulus to our economy,\" said Bill Goodale, general manager of Millis Industries, which has picked up about 200 clunkers from local dealers and expects to take possession of hundreds more in the next few weeks. \"As it trickles down, it helps junkyards. It helps the guy looking for cheap parts to keep his car going. It adds a lot of steel to a market that hasn't produced much of it in the last year.\" Last updated:  13 September 2009","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1047","claim":"Does Video Show Ribbon Worm, 'Spitting a Living, Tree-Like Proboscis to Hunt Its Prey'?","posted":"12\/27\/2023","sci_digest":["Social media users described the critter as disgusting, creepy, and alien-like."],"justification":"In late December 2023, a video was circulated on Reddit, alleging that \"the ribbon worm, one of the most outlandish creatures we've ever discovered, spits a living, tree-like proboscis to hunt its prey.\" We used Google reverse-image search to investigate the video's origins. The results showed that it had been shared on various platforms such as Reddit, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. Probably one of the most 'alien-like' species, the ribbon worm spits a living, tree-like proboscis to hunt its prey. The earliest instance of the video being shared that we found was a repost of a TikTok video by the Reddit user @thatcherisdeadding from 2021. Unfortunately, the @_pharouque TikTok account credited in the above-mentioned post was not active as of this writing. Therefore, to assess the video's authenticity, we started by researching whether ribbon worms even existed. For reference, here's the Encyclopaedia Britannica description of a \"ribbon worm,\" also called a \"proboscis worm\": \"Ribbon worm, any member of the invertebrate phylum Nemertea (sometimes called Nemertinea or Rhynchocoela), which includes mainly free-living forms but also a few parasites of crustaceans, mollusks, and sea squirts. The majority of the approximately 900 known nemertean species are found in marine habitats. Some, however, live in freshwater or on land. The name proboscis worm derives from the muscular eversible proboscis, which is housed in a fluid-filled chamber above the gut. This tube-shaped organ, which in many aquatic forms has a needlelike stylet, is typically used to trap prey. The stylet may also be used for burrowing; in land-dwelling species, it may be used for rapid movement.\" What's more, we found other similar videos showing a ribbon worm and its proboscis. A ribbon worm expelling an organ called its proboscis uses it to capture and digest prey up to three times larger than its size. The footage attached to the above post was featured, for instance, in Science Channel's video shared in January 2016 with the title, \"The Proboscis Worm's Mouth of Horrors.\" Moreover, Nature's article on the topic of ribbon worms, titled \"A poisonous shield, a potent venom: these worms mean business,\" stated that \"the wriggling creatures called ribbon worms protect themselves with toxin-laden mucus and subdue their prey with venom that they inject through a retractable proboscis. But scientists have had a limited understanding of the toxic compounds deployed by the more than 1,300 ribbon-worm species (phylum Nemertea).\" Finally, we found another similar video showing a ribbon worm that went viral back in 2015. Mental Floss, an online magazine, in an article titled \"Meet This Bizarre and Mysterious Ribbon Worm,\" discussed the video above, citing biologist Sebastian Kvist, who \"specializes in Nemertea, the phylum of ribbon worms this creature belongs to.\" Kvist explained to Mental Floss that \"the worm also throws out its proboscis as a defensive strategy, and that's what we're seeing in the video,\" underscoring that \"what we're seeing is a very stressed worm that's doing everything it can to try to get away from the situation that it's in.\" All in all, although we did not find the original poster of the video in question, we found other very similar-looking footage of the ribbon worm \"spitting a tree-like proboscis.\" Because of that, we have rated the claim as unverified. We will update this article if and when new information comes to light on the video's origins.","issues":["lien"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1IhqAmmnc8Nr7qyPwUXuAz4DT7OM28-UL","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1048","claim":"Is This the New USPS Mail Truck?","posted":"02\/24\/2021","sci_digest":["These Next Generation Delivery Vehicles (NGDV) won't hit the road until 2023."],"justification":"In February 2021, the U.S. Postal Service announced that they had awarded a multi-billion dollar contract to Oshkosh Defense to manufacture the next generation of mail trucks. As reports started circulating about these more fuel-efficient vehicles, much of the chatter on social media was focused on the somewhat cartoonish appearance of USPS' new mail trucks: announced The Postal Service is truly modernizing its fleet of mail trucks. The above-displayed image originated with the Postal Service and it truly shows what their new mail trucks are expected to look like when they hit the streets in 2023.   This is not, however, a genuine photograph of a physical truck. This is a concept image of what the trucks would look like in the future.  In a press release from the Postal Service about their new trucks, they noted that Oshkosh Defense \"will finalize\" the design before it goes into production.  will finalize Under the contracts initial $482 million investment, Oshkosh Defense will finalize the production design of the Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV)  a purpose-built, right-hand-drive vehicle for mail and package delivery  and will assemble 50,000 to 165,000 of them over 10 years. The vehicles will be equipped with either fuel-efficient internal combustion engines or battery electric powertrains and can be retrofitted to keep pace with advances in electric vehicle technologies. The initial investment includes plant tooling and build-out for the U.S. manufacturing facility where final vehicle assembly will occur. Kim Frum, senior public relations representative of corporate communications for USPS, confirmed to us that the \"NGDV is not a ready-made vehicle\" and that the image going around social media is a \"concept image.\"  If any more proof is needed, here's a look at the Shutterstock image (left) that was used as a base to create the image of the new Postal Service mail truck (right):   While the first NGDV should look pretty close to what is shown in this viral image when it finally hits the street in 2023, this is not a genuine photograph of a physical vehicle. This is a concept illustration of USPS' new mail trucks.","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1E_0hTx36Qdq_POcUpW7S7SvgEG15acbB","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Z3vaxNocJ8XHdDmlJYYJqclnR3pLVfQ1","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1049","claim":"Think Before You Donate!","posted":"11\/13\/2005","sci_digest":["An article that compares the salaries of top executives of several large charitable organizations is mostly outdated and inaccurate."],"justification":"When deciding which charities to donate to, many people consider an important factor to be the \"efficiency\" of these organizations  that is, what percentage of the monies taken in by a given charity goes to funding its mission rather than being eaten up by costs such as fundraising activities, salaries, and other administrative overhead. The e-mail reproduced above, which began circulating in 2005 and has been re-circulated every year since then around Christmastime, attempts to steer potential donors away from inefficient charities. Unfortunately, much of the information it presents was inaccurate back in 2005, and it has grown only more so in the years since then, resulting in a misleading and outdated view of various charities. We attempt to present accurate and up-to-date information about the named charities below. The following efficiency information is derived from the Charity Navigator web site, the GuideStar web site and Forbes magazine's November 2009 special report on the 200 Largest U.S. Charities. Salary information is taken from Schedule J (Compensation Information) of the various charities' IRS Form 990 filings, an annual reporting return that certain federally tax-exempt organizations must file with the IRS which provides information on the filing organization's mission, programs, and finances. (In the context of this article, the term \"efficiency\" refers to the percentage of total budget\/expenses that each listed organization spends on providing charitable programs and services, while the term \"compensation\" or \"pay\" includes salary, one-time payments, and deferred compensation.) Charity Navigator GuideStar special report UNICEF United States Fund for UNICEF states 2010 2011 said United Way Worldwide reported World Vision World Vision Canada states: In our annual report to the Canada Revenue Agency, we publicly disclose information about executive compensation. In the interest of greater transparency to our donors, we have gone beyond our legal requirements by disclosing that our president, Michael Messenger, currently earns the top annual base salary of $215,000 plus a combination of taxable and non-taxable benefits. The presidents performance is subject to annual review by our Board of Directors, and his compensation is decided by them. World Vision Canada's (self-reported) efficiency is 81%, much higher than the 52% figure claimed above. BBB Goodwill Industries International Jim Gibbons compensation March of Dimes St. Jude parent Lions Clubs A 2011 addendum to the original message presented the following information: The American Legion National Commander receives a $0.00 zero salary.The Veterans of Foreign Wars National Commander receives a $0.00 zero salary.The Disabled American Veterans National Commander receives a $0.00 zero salary.The Military Order of Purple Hearts National Commander receives a $0.00 zero salary.The Vietnam Veterans Association National Commander receives a $0.00 zero salary.The Wounded Warriors National Commander receives a $0.00 zero salary. These organizations with no salaries have donations going to help Veterans and their families and youth. According to the most recent available Form 990 filings, all of these statements are false and\/or misleading (in large part because the National Commanders are not necessarily the top business executives of these organizations): Unfortunately, the six veterans-related charitable organizations mentioned above don't receive very high marks for efficiency (as determined by Charity Navigator, the BBB, or Form 990 information): <!--Additional information:  America's Most Efficient Charities --> UNICEF USA. \"CEO Salary Email.\" American Red Cross. \"Red Cross Statement on Inaccurate Viral Email on Charity CEO Pay.\" 11 December 2012. United Way. \"CEO Compensation FAQ.\" World Vision Canada. \"Our Approach to Executive Compensation.\" Updated CEO names and salaries for several of the organizations listed.","issues":["finance"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1050","claim":"'Black Tax' Credit","posted":"05\/01\/2001","sci_digest":["Are African-Americans entitled to a $5,000 slavery reparation tax credit?"],"justification":"Claim:  African-Americans are entitled to a $5,000 slavery reparation tax credit.  Example:  [Collected on the Internet, 2002] This goes out to all my friends, family, and everyone in the African American community. Once you receive this message please write down the number and then pass it along to every AfricanAmerican you know. As you my know, all African Americans living here in the United States are descendants of slavery,therefore our government has finally passed a bill to pay all descendants back. The way they are paying us back is through a refund called the, \"Black Inheritance Tax Refund\/40 Acres and a Mule\". When you call this number you'll give them your name, address, and phone number and they'll send you out a packet, which includes further details and information on how to receive the refund. I was informed that it will take only two weeks to receive the packet and then two weeks to receive themoney. Now, if you know our government I bet they are not expecting a lot of people to call for this refund, and they may be right, because many of us will not be informed of this. Therefore, this is why I am taking it upon myself to pass on this information, so our community will soon be informed through word-of-mouth about what has been owed to our ancestors all these years. Black Inheritance Tax Refund 1-800-441-5629 press #3 to direct you to the appropriate line open betweenEast Coast: 8am and 12amWest Coast: 5am and 9pm Expect to wait anywhere from 5mins-25mins (There will not be any music to entertain you while you wait!) Ps: You must be 18 years or older and I'm assuming a legal residence of the United States. So, request an application for yourself, husband, wife, sister, brother, father, mother, etc, or just pass the number along. God Bless You All and please check this out!!!!!!!! Origins:  In 2000, bogus letters claiming certain senior citizens were eligible for slavery reparations or higher Social Security payments were circulating in black churches in the South and elsewhere. The letters claimed blacks born before 1928 were eligible for a $5,000 \"Negro Inheritance Tax Refund\" due to a \"Slave Reparation Act,\" and folks born between 1911 and 1926 might be entitled to higher monthly Social Security payments.  This was but one of the many forms the \"slavery reparation tax credit\" misinformation has taken over the years.  An April 1993 Lena Sherrod commentary entitled \"Forty Acres and a Mule\" which appeared in Essence magazine dealt with the concept that reparations were owed to the descendants of African-Americans who were forced to work unpaid for 246 years, and that African-Americans were owed a tax rebate for years of legalized racial discrimination.  Sherrod wrote: The government also owes African-Americans a tax rebate for the 60 years of segregation and Jim Crow that followed slavery. Although we were consigned by law to second-class citizenship, we were still forced to pay first-class taxes . the delinquent tax rebate [is] now estimated . to be at $43,209 per household.\"  Since de facto racial discrimination continues to function as a hidden Black tax, it ought to be deductible. So when income-tax time rolls around, on line 59 of form 1040  which asks you to list 'other payments'  simply enter $43,209 in 'Black taxes' and compute accordingly. This commentary undoubtedly helped to foster the belief that a real income tax deduction was available as a form of reparation to the descendants of slaves. In 2002, people were being urged in e-mail to call an 800 number. Yet it's all the same  hoax. No matter whether you got the letter from your church or read about the give-back in a magazine, the \"reparations credit\" does not and never has existed. Those who claim the deduction because they are black can be subject to fines and penalties, so really, really think twice before trying to wring it out of Uncle Sam. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) can fine a taxpayer $500 for filing a frivolous claim. Moreover, if the tax department fails to catch the erroneous deduction at the time of filing, it has an additional six years to right its error. Upon catching the error, the taxmen would not only strike off the deduction, but would calculate interest owed on the new balance of tax due, dating it to the year of the original return. (For example, if you claimed the credit in 1994, and the IRS caught it in 1998, your 1994 return would be re-computed to remove the effect of the bogus deduction. You'd now get a bill from the IRS for the re-computed difference between tax paid and tax due, plus all the interest that had piled up on it across those four years, and maybe even a $500 penalty for trying to pull the wool over the tax department's eyes.  Eeesh.) IRS offices across the nation have received thousands of requests daily for Form 2439, which some people have been mistakenly led to believe reimburses the descendants of slaves. Form 2439 is actually for shareholders trying to claim undistributed capital gains.  Form 2439 Though word of the phony benefits is most often spread by well-meaning individuals whose only motivation is ensuring those who are supposedly in line for the break hear about it, at times unscrupulous tax preparers have stepped in to turn what is already a heart-wrenching disappointment into an out-and-out fraud perpetrated on the unwary by charging fees of hundreds (sometimes thousands) of dollars to \"help\" people apply for these nonexistent benefits.  In a common version of this take-down, a con man promises his unwary clients that he can obtain up to $40,000 in \"slave reparation\" credits for them from the government and offers to file the necessary tax forms on their behalf in exchange for a percentage of their refunds.  He then loads up his clients' tax returns with all manner of deductions and credits they're not entitled to take and thereby scams the government into sending them refund checks.  When the IRS later goes over the returns more thoroughly and starts clamoring for their money back, the victims are left holding the bag. The $43,209 \"Black tax refund\" figure one sometimes hears bandied about is said to be based on the estimated value of \"40 acres and a mule,\" a reparation supposedly laid out in an 1866 bill which lore claims was passed by Congress but was vetoed by President Andrew Johnson. The truth is a bit more complicated than that. The origins of the belief that the U.S. government promised 40 acres of land and a mule to freed slaves after the Civil War are indefinite.  One possible source of this claim is Special Field Order No. 15, issued in January 1865 by Union General William Tecumseh Sherman, which set aside a coastal strip of land from Charleston, South Carolina, to Jacksonville, Florida, for the exclusive use of freed slaves, with each freed-slave family receiving a 40-acre chunk of this holding. As Eric Foner noted in his history of Reconstruction: Special Field Order No. 15 Sherman was neither a humanitarian reformer nor a man with any particular concern for blacks. Instead of seeing Field Order 15 as a blueprint for the transformation of Southern society, he viewed it mainly as a way of relieving the immediate pressure caused by a large number of impoverished blacks following his army. The land grants, he later claimed, were intended only to make \"temporary provisions for the freedmen and their families during the rest of the war,\" not to convey permanent possession. Understandably, however, the freedmen assumed that the land was to be theirs, especially after Gen. Rufus Saxton, assigned by Sherman to oversee the implementation of his order, informed a large gathering of blacks \"that they were to be put in possession of lands, upon which they might locate their families and work out for themselves a living and respectability.\" Debate continues over whether Sherman acted solely on his own authority in issuing Special Field Order No. 15 or whether he had the approval of the War Department (or even President Lincoln himself), but the end result was that a new policy (known as Howard's Circular 15) issued by the White House in September 1865 ordered the restoration of land to pardoned owners and thereby took away from freedmen the land appropriated for them by Sherman under Special Field Order No. 15  (The order made no provisions for giving mules to freedmen, but Foner notes that after issuing it, \"Sherman later provided that the army could assist [freedmen] with the loan of mules.\") Another possible source of the \"40 acres and a mule\" belief is the creation of the Freedmen's Bureau (originally the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands), a federal agency established as a subsidiary of the War Department  in March 1865 (a month before the end of the Civil War) to deal with issues concerning refugees and freedmen within states under reconstruction, including the management of abandoned and confiscated property.  One of the provisions of the Freedmen's Bureau Act directed that the bureau's commissioner should \"have authority to set apart, for the use of loyal refugees and freedmen, such tracts of land within the insurrectionary states as shall have been abandoned, or to which the United States shall have acquired title by confiscation or sale, or otherwise, and to every male citizen, whether refugee or freedman, as aforesaid, there shall be assigned not more than forty acres of such land.\"  However, this act did not propose giving property to freed slaves (the land was to be leased to freedmen for three years, then made available for purchase by them), nor did it make any mention of mules.   Freedmen's Bureau Freedmen's Bureau Act President Johnson did not veto the Freedmen's Bureau Act, which was passed by Congress in March 1865 and signed by President Lincoln.  (Johnson did not assume the presidency until Lincoln's assassination the following month.)   Two events occurred in February 1866, both of which have been misstated as overturning the \"forty acres\" provision of the Freedmen's Bureau Act:  An amendment to the Freedmen's Bureau Bill (also known as the \"Second Freedmen's Bureau Act\") proposed by Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, to add \"forfeited estates of the enemy\" to the land available to blacks, was overwhelmingly defeated in the House of Representatives.  (At that time, the only group of slaveholders who were compelled to provide their former slaves with land were Indians who sided with the Confederacy.)  President Johnson vetoed the Freedman's Bureau Bill, which sought to extend the life of the bureau indefinitely (it had originally been chartered only for one year after the end of the Civil War) and to greatly increase its powers.  Congress passed the bill again (in modified form) over Johnson's veto in July 1866. The Southern Homestead Act of 1866 did in fact make land in five southern states available to freed blacks, but only public land, not plantations or other property confiscated from former slaveholders.  Unfortunately, most of the land still available in the South for homesteading was too swampy and too far away from transportation links to be of much good to freedmen, and even then the largest portion of this inferior land was claimed by whites (often for quick resale to lumber companies).   Although the notion of a \"Black Inheritance Tax Refund\" has long since been debunked and disclaimed, it nonetheless lives on and continues to cause headaches to the IRS and taxpayers alike.  In April 2002, the Washington Post reported that the IRS had received more than 100,000 tax returns seeking nonexistent slavery-tax credits and had mistakenly paid out more than $30 million in erroneous refunds in 2000 and 2001.  And in April 2005, the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office obtained a temporary restraining order enjoining a New York man from preparing income tax returns for others because he had \"been including bogus tax credits such as reparations for African-American slavery and segregation.\" Barbara \"taxing the imagination\" Mikkelson Last updated:  27 May 2011    Brown, Timothy.  \"Black Churches in the South Targeted in Mail Hoax.\"   The Associated Press.  31 August 2000.     Deibel, Mary.  \"IRS Warns Black Taxpayers About Reparation-Claim Scam.\"   The Washington Times.  7 October 2000  (p. A2).     Fennell, Edward.  \"Slavery Reparations Program Labeled Lie.\"   The [Charleston] Post and Courier.  24 September 2000  (p. B1).    Foner, Eric.  Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution.  New York: Harper & Row, 1988.  ISBN 0-060-91453-X  (pp. 70-71, 245-246).     Foner, Eric and John Garraty.  The Reader's Companion to American History.  Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1991.  ISBN 0-395-51372-3  (pp. 987-988).      Josar, David.  \"IRS Warns Against Trying to Get Refund for Reparations.\"   The Detroit News.  28 August 1996  (p. D1).     Kessler, Glenn.  \"IRS Paid $30 Million in Credits for Slavery.\"   The Washington Post.  13 April 2002  (p. A1).     La Hay, Patricia.  \"Slavery Reparations Tax Break Is Illegal.\"   The Arizona Republic.  9 August 1997  (p. A1).     McLeod, Ramon.  \"Even Street Gangs Are Among Those Involved in Fraud.\"   The San Francisco Chronicle.  13 April 1996  (p. A17).     Moore, Linda.  \"League Explains Nonrole in Slavery Reparations Hoax.\"   The [Memphis] Commercial Appeal.  15 September 2000  (p. C2).     Oubre, Claude F.  Forty Acres and a Mule: The Freedmen's Bureau and Black Land Ownership.  Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1978.  ISBN 0-807-10298-9.     Sherrod, L.G.  \"Forty Acres and a Mule.\"   Essence.  April 1993  (p. 124).     Stiehm, Jamie.  \"IRS Official Warns of Tax Hoax Using Slave Reparations.\"   The Baltimore Sun.  12 February 2002.     The Associated Press.   \"Blacks Targeted in Slavery Reparation Scam.\"   6 October 2000.     Chicago Sun-Times.  \"Reparations Scam Preys on Ignorance.\"   17 July 1996  (p. 47).     Chicago Tribune.  \"Tax Myths Don't Add Up at IRS.\"    23 February 1997  (p. C7).     Reuters.  \"Man Barred from Making Slavery Tax Claims.\"    15 April 2005.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1051","claim":"Eddie O'Hare and Son","posted":"04\/09\/2000","sci_digest":["A tale of Al Capone, 'Easy Eddie' O'Hare, and his son, Butch O'Hare."],"justification":"Claim:  Notorious mob lawyer \"Easy Eddie\" O'Hare teaches his son Butch the value of honesty and integrity; the son goes on to become a decorated war hero and dies in the service of his country Example:  [Collected on the Internet, 2000] During the course of World War II, many people gained fame in one way or another. One man was Butch O'Hare. He was a fighter pilot assigned to an aircraft carrier in the Pacific. One time his entire squadron was assigned to fly a particular mission. After he was airborne, he looked at his fuel gauge and realized that someone had forgotten to top off his fuel tank. Because of this, he would not have enough fuel to complete his mission and get back to his ship. His flight leader told him to leave formation and return. As he was returning to the mother ship, he could see a squadron of Japanese Zeroes heading toward the fleet to attack. And with all the fighter planes gone, the fleet was almost defenseless. His was the only opportunity to distract and divert them. Single-handedly, he dove into the formation of Japanese planes and attacked them. The American fighter planes were rigged with cameras, so that as they flew and fought, pictures were taken so pilots could learn more about the terrain, enemy maneuvers, etc. Butch dove at them and shot until all his ammunition was gone, then he would dive and try to clip off a wing or tail or anything that would make the enemy planes unfit to fly. He did anything he could to keep them from reaching the American ships. Finally, the Japanese squadron took off in another direction, and Butch O'Hare and his fighter, both badly shot up, limped back to the carrier. He told his story, but not until the film from the camera on his plane was developed, did they realize the extent he really went to, to protect his fleet. He was recognized as a hero and given one of the nation's highest military honors. And as you know, the O'Hare Airport was also named after him. Prior to this time in Chicago, there was a man named Easy Eddie. He was working for a man you've all heard about, Al Capone. Al Capone wasn't famous for anything heroic, but he was notorious for the murders he'd committed and the illegal things he'd done. Easy Eddie was Al Capone's lawyer, and he was very good. In fact, because of his skill, he was able to keep Al Capone out of jail.  To show his appreciation, Al Capone paid him very well. He not only earned big money, he would get extra things, like a residence that filled an entire Chicago city block. The house was fenced, and he had live-in help and all of the conveniences of the day. Easy Eddie had a son. He loved his son and gave him all the best things while he was growing up: clothes, cars, and a good education. And because he loved his son he tried to teach him right from wrong. But one thing he couldn't give his son was a good name, and a good example. Easy Eddie decided that this was much more important than all the riches he had given him. So, he went to the authorities in order to rectify the wrong he had done. In order to tell the truth, it meant he must testify against Al Capone, and he knew that Al Capone would do his best to have him killed. But he wanted most of all to try to be an example and to do the best he could to give back to his son, a good name. So he testified. Within the year, he was shot and killed on a lonely street in Chicago. This sounds like two unrelated stories. But Butch O'Hare was Easy Eddie's son.  Do you think Easy Eddie was able to pass the value of integrity on to his son? Origins:  Some parts of this glurge about Edgar Joseph \"Easy Eddie\" O'Hare (also known as EJ) and his son, Edward Henry \"Butch\" O'Hare, are true, if exaggerated in the presentation above. The senior O'Hare provided legal services to Al Capone and later helped the government bring that notorious gangster to justice on tax fraud charges in 1931, then was murdered on 8 November 1939.  (Exactly who killed Eddie O'Hare has always been a subject for debate, but the preponderance of the evidence indicates that he was killed on orders from Capone for having given information to the government that led to Capone's imprisonment.)  Eddie's son Butch was a pilot who died in the Pacific during World War II when he failed to return to his carrier after a night mission on 26 November 1943, and Chicago's O'Hare airport was indeed named in his honor. (Dispute remains over exactly what happened to Butch, a Medal of Honor winner, but the preponderance of the evidence indicates his plane was downed by friendly fire rather than Japanese Zeroes.)   This glurge completely  jumps the tracks, however, in trying to turn the story of Eddie and Butch O'Hare into a tale of redemption, a little morality play to demonstrates the importance of recognizing the errors of one's ways, of atoning for one's misdeeds, of trying to do right and prevent one's sins from being visited on future generations.  Those are all valuable lessons, but they have precious little to do with this story. Eddie O'Hare was not just a gangster's lawyer, he was also a partner in some of Al Capone's illegal activities. Despite having entered a profession in which he was expected, of all things, to uphold the law, the senior O'Hare broke the law to enrich himself through unethical and illegal schemes in partnership with the most notorious gangster in American history.  What's more, he served Capone as an attorney and business manager, aiding the mobster in setting up illegal enterprises and helping to keep Capone and his cronies out of prison. When \"Easy Eddie\" did eventually provide information that aided federal authorities in sending Capone to prison for income tax evasion, it was far less likely that he did it because he had an attack of conscience, wanted to right the wrongs he'd done, or sought to teach his son the value of integrity.  More probably he turned state's evidence because he could see the handwriting on the wall: Capone was going to be nailed with or without his assistance, but by doing the government a favor Eddie could keep himself out of prison.  (Some sources even suggest the connections Eddie made by turning government informant were what got his son Butch a berth at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis.) Perhaps Eddie O'Hare believed or knew he would be killed for what he had done; perhaps not.  Either way, it was his son Butch who redeemed the family name through his wartime bravery and heroism, and the price he paid for that redemption was his life.  None of that redemption was achieved through the actions of Easy Eddie. Was the elder O'Hare \"able to pass the value of integrity on to his son\"?  If his actions illustrated anything, it was just the opposite of integrity: if you're clever enough and sufficiently lacking in moral values you can live a life of wealth and privilege by victimizing others, and if  your gravy train should ever derail you can adopt an \"every man for himself\" attitude and save your own skin by ratting on your associates. Butch O'Hare was suitably honored when the Chicago airport known as Orchard Depot was renamed O'Hare International in 1949.  It's unfortunate that he and the airport have to share the O'Hare name with his unscrupulous father. Additional information:     Capone and the O'Hares  (Combined Counties Police Association)  Last updated:  1 February 2005    Sources:    Ewing, Steve and John B. Lundstrom.  Fateful Rendezvous: The Life of Butch O'Hare.   Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1997.  ISBN 1-55750-247-1. Fateful Rendezvous: The Life of Butch O'Hare","issues":["income"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1052","claim":"Did Israel Detain and Place Numbered ID Tags on Workers from Gaza?","posted":"11\/06\/2023","sci_digest":["Thousands of Gazan workers were detained in Israel in October 2023, soon after the Israel-Hamas war started."],"justification":"On Nov. 3, 2023, thousands of detained Gazan laborers were deported from Israel into Gaza after spending weeks in Israeli prisons. A video went viral showing numbered plastic ID tags on the released workers' ankles, with many online decrying Israeli authorities for treating the Gazans like animals. The workers were detained soon after the Israel-Hamas conflict began. On Oct. 7, 2023, the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel from Gaza, followed by Israel declaring war and attacking and blockading Gaza, actions that resulted in the deaths of 1,400 Israelis and almost 10,000 Palestinians as of this writing. A number of independent news organizations spoke to multiple Gazan workers and laborers who made similar claims of being tagged, as well as witnessed the laborers leaving Israel with numbered ID tags on their ankles and wrists. The above video was taken from an NPR report that showed Gazan workers leaving Israel from the Kerem Shalom crossing, also known as Karem Abu Salem, and workers at the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. NPR producers witnessed throngs of these laborers returning from detentions at these border crossings and saw the blue numbered tags on their ankles and wrists. NPR's producer in Gaza, Anas Baba, spoke to one worker who said the Israeli police \"treated us like livestock\" and showed a tag with an identification number on his ankle. The same could be seen on many of the detained workers released that day. Photographs taken by Baba for NPR, and by Said Khatib for the AFP, also show workers with the tags on their ankles. Al Jazeera and The Washington Post detailed similar claims from workers, as well as their own reporters witnessing the numbered tags on the wrists and ankles of detained workers. The Washington Post described the scenes at the border crossing thus: In tattered clothes, the men passing through the Kerem Shalom crossing on Friday were among 10,000 Gazan workers ordered deported after spending weeks in Israeli prisons. Some still wore plastic tags around their wrists with numbers from their detention. Al Jazeera spoke to Zaki Salameh, a builder from Gaza who was working in an Israeli town when the war broke out on Oct. 7, 2023. He described being arrested and tagged by Israeli authorities and taken to a prison where he was tortured and interrogated for several days, he said. Before the war, Israel had given an estimated 18,500 Palestinians permits to work in Israel\u2014a coveted ticket out of Gaza's crushing unemployment, which was made worse by Israel's 17-year blockade that devastated the economy. Gazan workers often took low-wage jobs on Israeli farms, construction sites, and in restaurants and malls. Within days of Hamas's attack on Israel, the government canceled all work permits and erased the workers' information on the phone app that Palestinians from Gaza used to prove their legal standing, according to The Washington Post. When Israel decided to release some of the workers, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, \"Israel is cutting off all contact with Gaza. There will be no more Palestinian workers from Gaza, and the workers who were in Israel when the war broke out will be returned to Gaza.\" Thousands of Gazan workers also sought refuge in Palestinian-run parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to the Post, and are presently unable to return to their families in Gaza.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1nmmXxCYn93_BST6Gn40m--Ov9pP1jKKD","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1053","claim":"Under Barack Obama, the fewest number of adults are working since Jimmy Carters presidency.","posted":"01\/22\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"After the presidenttalked up national job gains, a Central Texas member of Congress suggested things havent been rosy. U.S. Rep. Roger Williams, R-Austin, whose district stretches nearly to Fort Worth, said in a Jan. 12, 2016,responseto the State of the Union address: Its been seven years since President Barack Obama took office. In that time, the United States has accumulated the largest national debt in its history, the fewest number of adults are working since Jimmy Carters presidency and the executive branch has expanded its power immensely  the president has chosen which laws to enforce and created new ones without Congress approval. Thenational debt, in raw dollars, is at a record high, and Obama has issued provocative executive orders though, PolitiFactfound in 2014, fewer orders than most recent predecessors. A reader asked us if Williams was correct about the country having fewer working adults than when Carter was president from 1977 into January 1981. Just given population growth, could that be? We asked Williams spokesman Vince Zito how Williams reached his conclusion and didnt hear back. In 2012, PolitiFact explored similar territory,finding Mostly Falsea claim that the American workforce was smaller than when Carter was president. The word workforce refers to the absolute number of people employed or seeking work; that tally was way up by 2012 compared with Carters era due to population growth and, through the 1990s, the expansion of working women. Counting workers So, did the number of working adults subsequently plunge to Carter-era levels? No, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, whose figures indicate that in 1980, around 100 million people were in the civilian workforce. In 2015,bureau figures show, nearly 150 million Americans were in the workforce -- up about 50 percent from Carters last year as president. By phone to our inquiry, economistStephen Roseof the Urban Institute, a former deputy in the Department of Labor, told us Williams claim isnt supported. Not close, Rose said. Achartin the 2015 Economic Report of the President shows 99.3 million people comprised the civilian workforce in 1980 and 146.3 million were in the workforce in 2014. Another bureauchartindicates 149.7 million people in the workforce in December 2015 and also that the workforce increased nearly every year from 1980 through 2015 -- with the exceptions of 1982, 1991, 2002 and 2008 through 2010, a period encompassing the end of George W. Bushs terms and the first two years of Obamas tenure. From 2010, when an Obama-low 139 million people were in the workforce, the count inched to nearly 140 million in 2011; 143 million in 2012; 144 million in 2013 and 146 million in 2014, according to the bureau. Employment-population ratio By another indicator, Rose said, its possible to compare the share of Americans who had jobs in Obamas years with the share of job-holders when Carter was president. The BLS, drawing on results from the American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, calculates the employment-population ratio to reflect the proportion of the civilian noninstitutional population aged 16 years and over thats employed. The highest ratio under Obama was 60.6 in January 2009, the month he was sworn in. The lowest ratio on his watch, 58.2, was set in November 2010 and June and July 2011. In Carters four years as president, according to the bureau, the highest ratio, 60.1, was reached in February and December 1979 and the lowest ratio, 57.0, occurred in January 1977, the month he was sworn in (it nudged to 57.2 the next month). Labor force participation We wondered if another indicator might be relevant. That statistic is the civilian labor force participation rate --meaningthe labor force, civilians 16 and older working full- or part-time, divided by the civilian population. According to the BLS, 62.6 percent of the population comprised the labor force in December 2015, the latest month of available figures. While Carter was president, a bureau chart indicates, the participation rate fluctuated from 61.6 percent in January 1977 to 64 percent in January and February 1980. Score one for Williams, though the rate on Obamas watch peaked at 65.8 percent in February 2009--which was higher than any rate in Carters years or the first seven years of successor Ronald Reagans tenure. The rate was 66.5 percent when Reagan left office in January 1989. Labor force changes Theres another chewy issue: Demographics, particularly the aging of the population, have affected changes in the workforce, making comparisons between current times and Carters era tricky. In the 2000 Census, Americans aged 60 to 69 -- that is, those who had recently hit retirement age or would do so soon -- numbered about 20 million. But thanks to Baby Boomers, that number surged in the 2010 Census to more than 29 million, for almost a 50 percent increase. This matters because the more people aged 60 to 69, the more people who pass into retirement age -- or, put another way, leave the labor force. Even though more people proportionally remain in the workforce after retirement age, the difference isnt big enough to cancel out the flood of new retirees. In 2015, Atlantic magazine published a chart contrasting the workforce in October 1977, in Carters first year as president, and June 2015, in the seventh year of Obamas tenure:  SOURCE: Story,How America's Workforce Has Changed Since 1977,the Atlantic, July 2, 2015 (accessed Jan. 21, 2016) Our ruling Williams said that under Obama, the fewest number of adults are working since Jimmy Carters presidency. This claim doesnt hold up in that far more people were working the past few years than in Carters time as president. According to a government calculation, about the same share of adults was employed during each Democrats presidency. We rate this statement False. FALSE The statement is not accurate. Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.","issues":["Economy","Jobs","Texas"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1SzPw65uksR8XQx6_W4CbT1rq4UakUccp","image_caption":"SOURCE"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1054","claim":"Was there a heavily biased 'Trump vs Democrat' poll published by Trump's 2020 Campaign?","posted":"07\/03\/2019","sci_digest":["Readers questioned whether the outrageous framing of the poll questions was intended as satire. It was not. "],"justification":"Readers responded with bemusement and skepticism in June 2019 after an \"Official 2020 Trump vs Democrat Poll\" emerged online and on social media, appearing to pose questions framed in a heavily anti-Democrat way. For example, one survey question asked, \"Who would you rather see fix our Nation's shattered immigration policies? President Trump \/\/ A MS-13 loving Democrat,\" while another somewhat tautological question asked: \"Who would you trust to NOT raise your taxes? President Trump \/\/ A High Tax Democrat.\" Such bias in the questions, as well as some clear nods to Trump's go-to insults against his political opponents (the poll referenced \"a Lyin' Democrat\" and \"a Low IQ Democrat\"), prompted inquiries from Snopes readers who were uncertain whether they were reading a parody or hoax or an official Trump 2020 campaign poll. One reader asked, \"Oh my gosh, is this really from the Trump campaign? Or some satire site?\" while another wrote, \"Is this for real? It sounds too crazy ...\" The survey was indeed published by Trump's official re-election campaign committee, on that campaign's official website. An archived version can be read here. The site on which it appeared, donaldjtrump.com, is run by two formally registered, pro-Trump committees and the Republican National Committee (RNC). The website contains the following disclaimer, which makes clear the official nature of the June 2019 survey and all other content featured on the site: here \"Paid for by the Trump Make America Great Again Committee, a joint fundraising committee authorized by and composed of Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. and the Republican National Committee.\" Committee Inc Committee The poll's true purpose may not have been to create a set of results that reflected in a misleadingly positive way on the president but rather to harvest contact information  respondents were required to enter their name, zip code and email address in order to submit their answers.  The full list of questions was as follows: The \"Trump vs Democrat\" poll bore similarities to another survey on the subject of \"mainstream media accountability,\" which Trump's website published in February 2017, and that included heavily slanted questions such as. \"Do you feel that the media is too eager to slur conservatives with baseless accusations of racism and sexism?\"  accountability DonaldJTrump.com. \"Official 2020 Trump vs Democrat Poll.\"\r June 2019. DonaldJTrump.com. \"Mainstream Media Accountability Survey.\"\r February 2017.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=11uMaWdVGSnDTN3JyqxlXtUTTegAfWLyk"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1055","claim":"How Did 'Black Friday' Get Its Name?","posted":"11\/30\/2013","sci_digest":["Use of the term 'Black Friday' to describe the day after Thanksgiving did not originate with accounting practices or slavery."],"justification":"\"Black Friday\" is the (originally derisive, now mainstream) term for the phenomenon that takes place in the U.S. on the day after Thanksgiving Thursday, when millions of consumers who have the day off from work or school crowd into stores for what is traditionally considered the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. The origins of the term \"Black Friday\" have become somewhat obscured over time, leading people to invent fanciful explanations for how that phrase became attached to the day after Thanksgiving. One example posits that the term started with a tradition of slave owners or slave traders using that day as an opportunity to sell their wares. However, the use of \"Black Friday\" as a descriptor for the day after Thanksgiving has nothing to do with the selling of slaves, and the term didn't originate until nearly a century after the practice of slavery was abolished in the U.S. The earliest known use of \"Black Friday\" in this context stems from 1951 and referred to the practice of workers calling in sick on the day after Thanksgiving in order to have four consecutive days off (because that day was not yet commonly offered as a paid day off by employers). \"Friday-after-Thanksgiving-itis\" is a disease second only to the bubonic plague in its effects. At least that's the feeling of those who have to get production out when \"Black Friday\" comes along. The shop may be half empty, but every absentee was sick and can prove it. What to do? Many companies have tried the standard device of denying Thanksgiving Day pay to employees absent the day before and after the holiday. The trouble is, you can't deny pay to those legitimately ill. But what's legitimate? It's tough to decide these days with often miraculously easy doctors' certificates. Glenn L. Martin, a Baltimore aircraft manufacturer, has another solution: When you decide you want to sweeten up the holiday kitty, pick Black Friday to add to the list. That's just what Martin has done. The Friday after Thanksgiving is the company's seventh paid holiday. We're not suggesting more paid holidays just to get out of a hole. But if you can make a good trade in bargaining, there are lots of worse things than having a holiday on a day that was half holiday anyway. It shouldn't cost too much for that reason, either. By 1961, the term \"Black Friday\" (and \"Black Saturday\" as well) was being commonly used in a derisive sense by Philadelphia police, who had to deal with the mayhem and headaches caused by the extra pedestrian and vehicular traffic created by hordes of shoppers heading for the city's downtown stores on the two days after Thanksgiving. For downtown merchants throughout the nation, the biggest shopping days are normally the two following Thanksgiving Day. Resulting traffic jams are an irksome problem for the police, and in Philadelphia, it became customary for officers to refer to the post-Thanksgiving days as Black Friday and Black Saturday. In a 1994 article, former Philadelphia Bulletin reporter Joseph P. Barrett recalled how he took part in popularizing the term \"Black Friday\" throughout Philadelphia in the early 1960s, from which it eventually spread into nationwide usage. The term \"Black Friday\" came out of the old Philadelphia Police Department's traffic squad. The cops used it to describe the worst traffic jams that annually occurred in Center City on the Friday after Thanksgiving. It was the day that Santa Claus took his chair in the department stores, and every kid in the city wanted to see him. It was the first day of the Christmas shopping season. Schools were closed. Late in the day, out-of-town visitors began arriving for the Army-Navy football game. Every \"Black Friday,\" no traffic policeman was permitted to take the day off. The division was placed on 12 hours of duty, and even the police band was ordered to Center City. It was not unusual to see a trombone player directing traffic. Two officers were assigned to intersections along Market Street to control the throngs of pedestrians. The department also placed police officers outside parking garages because the \"lot filled\" signs failed to deter motorists from lining up on the curb lane outside the garage. This reduced the street size from two lanes to one, causing traffic to back up and block the next intersection, resulting in massive gridlock. In 1959, the old Evening Bulletin assigned me to police administration, working out of City Hall. Nathan Kleger was the police reporter who covered Center City for the Bulletin. In the early 1960s, Kleger and I put together a front-page story for Thanksgiving and appropriated the police term \"Black Friday\" to describe the terrible traffic conditions. We used it year after year. Then television picked it up. One popular alternative explanation for the origins of \"Black Friday\" is that it is the day on which retailers finally began to show a profit for the year (in accounting terms, moving from being \"in the red\" to \"in the black\") after operating at an overall loss from January through mid-November. If the day is the year's biggest for retailers, why is it called Black Friday? Because it is a day retailers make profits, said Grace McFeeley of Cherry Hill Mall. \"I think it came from the media,\" said William Timmons of Strawbridge & Clothier. \"It's the employees; we're the ones who call it Black Friday,\" said Belle Stephens of Moorestown Mall. \"We work extra hard. It's a long hard day for the employees.\" However, the earliest known use of this accounting-related explanation for the origins of the term \"Black Friday\" dates from 1981, many years after Philadelphia police had been using the phrase in reference to traffic issues.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=17Megogv-fV63f59oqjP4iLk9hJ3kPXf5","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1056","claim":"Is Mylan CEO Heather Bresch the Daughter of W.V. Democratic Senator Joe Manchin?","posted":"10\/10\/2018","sci_digest":["A meme about Manchin's vote to confirm Kavanaugh accurately notes that Heather Bresch is Manchin's daughter, but it's not clear why that's relevant."],"justification":"In early October 2018, social media users shared a meme bearing a critical message about Sen. Joe Manchin, the lone Democrat who voted to confirm U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and his daughter, Mylan CEO Heather Bresch:   It's no secret Bresch is the daughter of the U.S. senator from West Virginia, and that father and daughter were the subjects of two very different and unrelated controversies. Bresch runs Mylan, the manufacturer of EpiPen, a medical device that delivers a dose of life-saving epinephrine to people with severe allergies which can result in a deadly reaction known as anaphylaxis. In late summer 2016, Mylan was widely criticized for hiking the price of EpiPens by more than 400 percent, taking the price of the device from $100 in 2009 to roughly $600 in 2016. anaphylaxis hiking taking Manchin, on the other hand, earned the ire of his party and other critics when he broke ranks on 6 October 2018 and voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, who had been accused by three women of sexual misconduct while he was a high school and college student, to the United States Supreme Court. One of the accusers, California college professor Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, testified about being assaulted as a 15-year-old, sparking an outcry and protests against Kavanaugh's confirmation. Mancin's vote broke the tie between Republican and Democratic senators, who otherwise voted along party lines. Amid the EpiPen controversy, Manchin voiced his support for his daughter, saying, \"My daughter is my daughter with unconditional love, and she's the most amazing person that I know. She's so compassionate and generous in how she's always lived her life.\" saying It was not the first time Bresch's role at Mylan was used to attack her father politically -- in fact, Manchin took heat over it from the other side of the aisle as he fought to keep his seat in the November 2018 midterm elections: heat The RNC bashed Manchin after Mylan announced it was laying off 500 people at a plant in West Virginia. Manchin has taken heat before from his opponents over Mylans decision a few years ago to jack up the price of allergy drug EpiPen by 500 percent. Amidst the layoffs and scandals, Mylan has continued to contribute to Manchin's war chest for his upcoming election, an RNC bulletin said. Mylan executives and employees contributed more than $50,000 to Manchin's campaign in the first quarter of 2018. However, barring some yet-unknown potential future ruling by Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court that might benefit Mylan, it's unclear why the meme's makers considered the familial relationship between Manchin and Bresch relevant, other than to imply some vague nefarious characteristic they supposedly share. Wright, David.  \"Manchin Defends CEO Daughter After Company Raised EpiPen Price.\"\r  CNN.  7 September 2016. McClausland, Phil.  \"Mylan Releases $300 Generic EpiPen After Price Hike Outrage.\"\r  NBC News.  16 December 2016. King, Robert.  \"Republicans Tarnish Joe Manchin with EpiPen Scandal.\"\r  Washington Examiner.  28 April 2018.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=11I4Xr7MyQAbv85jn6T3xyNieOIR4KDcf","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1057","claim":"The 'OO5251839' Post Doesn't 'Circumvent' Facebook Algorithm","posted":"06\/02\/2021","sci_digest":["Thanks for the tip, but it's not unusual for friends to say \"hello\" if you ask them to do so."],"justification":"In May 2021, an old and false claim was resurrected about Facebook friends. It claimed that copying and pasting a message with the code \"OO5251839\" would show a Facebook user's posts to old friends. It would also purportedly allow users to see posts from friends that may not have appeared in their News Feeds for years. The purported Facebook code began with two letters: \"OO5251839.\" Some variations may have started with zeroes: \"005251839.\" Posts that soared in popularity in mid-2021 began with: \"Thanks for the tip to circumvent Facebook OO5251839 Works!!\" I have a whole new profile. I see posts from people I didn't see anymore. Facebook's new algorithm picks the same people\u2014around 25\u2014who will see your posts. Hold your finger anywhere in this post and click \"copy.\" Go to your page where it says \"What's on your mind?\" Tap your finger anywhere in the empty field. Click paste. This is going to circumvent the system. Hello new and old friends! Drop a single hello, thanks! PLEASE SAY HELLO IF YOU SEE THIS. However, this \"OO5251839\" message had no impact on the Facebook algorithm. Some Facebook users might have thought that the \"OO5251839\" message worked if they received comments under their posts. The copy-and-paste message asked friends to say \"hello.\" It would not be a huge surprise that some of the poster's friends saw the message and responded \"hello.\" It's also likely that the more comments a post received, the better it might rank in the News Feeds of friends. As more \"hello\" comments racked up, it probably showed to more friends. Copy-and-paste Facebook rumors have been circulating as long as Facebook has been around. The \"OO5251839\" message was not the first time that Facebook users copied and pasted posts that were said to avoid or protect against unwanted aspects of the Facebook platform. For example, in the past, we covered a false claim about \"copy and paste\" and \"don't share\" messages. We also reported on a dubious warning regarding Facebook and Instagram purportedly making all posts public. In sum, the \"OO5251839\" Facebook message did not circumvent Facebook's algorithm or change anything about a user's Facebook friends.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1tlzDgR-nXCDzfhtg8ttkSYnhA0Lq-zfl","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1058","claim":"Were these children separated from their parents during the Obama administration?","posted":"06\/21\/2018","sci_digest":["A 2014 photograph of unaccompanied minor immigrants is misleadingly being described as showing children separated from their parents by the Obama administration."],"justification":"During the ongoing national debate over a novel policy of separating families at the border, a photograph circulated, originally from Joshua Feuerstein, a self-styled \"American evangelist, Internet and social media personality,\" who last made headlines in 2015 when he manufactured a so-called \"Christmas cup controversy.\" The photograph purportedly depicted a room full of immigrant children that former President Barack Obama had supposedly removed from their parents' custody. The attached text read: \"As you stare at this picture of innocent children being separated from their parents at the border and feel your hatred toward President Trump start to boil over from the bowels of your soul... I'd just like to point out it was taken in 2014... when Obama was President! #share\" Some versions were shared with no accompanying text, inviting readers to project their own interpretations onto the image. Images of this type, dated to the Obama administration, were often described as having been ignored at the time they were originally taken. However, this image did appear in anti-immigration memes from 2014 and 2015, such as one framing the photograph as evidence that the Obama administration (described here as a \"cabal\") was encouraging (\"seducing\") immigrant (\"illegal alien\") children to come to the United States. The meme's text read: \"INSIDE AN OBAMA APPROVED REFUGEE CAMP 140,000 Illegal Alien Children Seduced into coming to America By the Obama Cabal. MORE COMING NEXT YEAR TOO Hey Obama... Why not use the FEMA CAMPS?? Or are those being prepped for Patriot Resistance Fighters!!\" The first iteration we could find of that image was alongside a June 5, 2014, post published by Breitbart. Although Breitbart shared the photograph on Facebook on June 21, 2018, the outlet did not include a link to its earlier reporting. In its original article, the children were described as \"unaccompanied,\" indicating that they came without their parents, not that they were separated from their families by American authorities. Breitbart Texas obtained internal federal government photos depicting the conditions of foreign children warehoused by authorities on U.S. soil. Thousands of illegal immigrants have overrun U.S. border security and their processing centers in Texas along the U.S.\/Mexico border. Unaccompanied minors, including young girls under the age of 12, are making the dangerous journey from Central America and Mexico, through cartel-controlled territories, and across the porous border onto U.S. soil. The photograph was subsequently disseminated by numerous websites and news outlets. National Review's \"Immigration Bedlam\" reported that some 6,775 unaccompanied alien children (UAC) crossed the U.S.-Mexican border in 2011, according to the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement. The ORR expects 60,000 UACs this year, a number that could reach 130,000 in 2015. Detaining them for $252 each per day will cost taxpayers $453.6 million per month this year and could cost $982.8 million per month next year. The image and events surrounding it were widely reported for several months, appearing in the Houston Chronicle, Splinter News, the Los Angeles Times, Mashable, and Reuters, among others. Stories during that time specifically reiterated that the photographs showed unaccompanied minor children in the custody of United States Customs and Border Protection and temporarily housed at a Texas Air Force base. The photos have a timestamp of May 27, 2014. A spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection stated that the agency has not officially released any photos at this time in order to protect the rights and privacy of unaccompanied minors in their care. A temporary shelter at Joint Base San Antonio Lackland has housed and provided services to 1,820 unaccompanied minors from Central America since May 18, as reported by San Antonio Express-News reporter Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje. The immigration surge is said to be driven by children fleeing poverty and violence in their home countries. Although the photograph is real, it does not show children separated from their parents by the Obama administration. In June 2014, the image was published as part of numerous news stories and occasionally alongside editorial pieces objecting to the presence of unaccompanied minor children. The image did not develop a different backstory until June 2018, during a controversy that specifically involved family separation at the behest of the Trump administration.","issues":["lien"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=16nusT9gGThDnUM02rXJ5G8u_vyVfmJAB"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1059","claim":"Was Fox News Removed From 'Armed Forces Radio' Over Vindman Segment?","posted":"11\/22\/2019","sci_digest":["Fox News was criticized for a segment on Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman's testimony during the impeachment inquiry into U.S. President Donald Trump. "],"justification":"On Nov. 21, 2019, a rumor began circulating on social media that the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) had removed Fox News from \"Armed Forces Radio\" due to the network's coverage of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman's testimony during the House Intelligence Committee's impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. However, Fox News has not been removed from \"Armed Forces Radio,\" which is a misnomer for the American Forces Network Radio (AFN). Navy Capt. Bill Speaks, a Pentagon spokesperson, confirmed to the Associated Press that this rumor was false, stating, \"We have not canceled Fox News from American Forces Network programming, either on our radio or TV services.\" A spokesperson for American Forces Network Radio also informed us via email that AFN Radio has continued to air FOX radio newscasts and features on many of its radio services. AFN Radio rotates top-of-the-hour radio newscasts between FOX, Associated Press, ABC, CBS, and Westwood One radio. While Fox News was not removed from American Forces Network Radio, the network faced criticism for its coverage of Vindman's testimony. Vindman's lawyer sent a letter to Fox News requesting a retraction of an Oct. 28 segment that aired on Laura Ingraham's prime-time show, \"The Ingraham Angle.\" On the show, guest John Yoo, a former deputy assistant U.S. attorney general, appeared to suggest that Vindman was guilty of espionage. Newsweek reported that a law firm representing Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman sent Fox News a warning letter on Wednesday, asking for the retraction and correction of a segment on Laura Ingraham's show that suggested the colonel might be guilty of espionage. \"We are compelled to write because of a deeply flawed and erroneous Fox News segment that first aired on October 28, 2019, the gist of which has since been republished countless times, including by the President of the United States to his 66.9 million Twitter followers.\" The segment on The Ingraham Angle featured a panel with lawyer John Yoo, a former Deputy Assistant U.S. Attorney General and current U.C. Berkeley law professor, and legal scholar Alan Dershowitz. In an exchange with Yoo, Ingraham remarked on something she read about the colonel, as reported by the New York Times. \"Here we have a U.S. national security official who is advising Ukraine while working inside the White House, apparently against the president's interest, and usually, they spoke in English,\" said Ingraham. \"Isn't that kind of an interesting angle on this story?\" \"I find that astounding, and, you know, some people might call that espionage,\" responded Yoo. Fox News released a statement saying that \"Yoo was responsible for his own sentiments.\" As a guest on FOX News, John Yoo was responsible for his own sentiments, and he has subsequently done interviews to clarify what he meant. Yoo also wrote an op-ed for USA Today on Nov. 1, 2019, in which he claimed that he was talking about Ukraine, not Vindman specifically, and that he had \"no reason to question Vindman's patriotism or loyalty to the United States.\" Vindman's lawyers also addressed Yoo's op-ed in their complaint, writing, \"On November 1, 2019, Mr. Yoo published an op-ed in USA Today regarding his appearance on Fox News several days earlier. In the Yoo op-ed, Mr. Yoo stated, contrary to fact, that 'I didn't call Alexander Vindman a spy.' But of course, he did\u2014Mr. Yoo's statement on Fox News expressly accused LTC Vindman of 'espionage' and was universally understood to have done so. It is why Mr. Yoo wrote an op-ed seeking to rewrite recorded fact; it is why he begins his op-ed, 'I really stepped in it this week.' What Mr. Yoo 'stepped in' was a lie.\"","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1pld-7W2VINxZivy52jPGlOtQRiICF4xH","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1060","claim":"Under the compromise tax agreement, 99.7% of American families will not pay 1 nickel in an estate tax.","posted":"12\/14\/2010","sci_digest":[],"justification":"While the debate over the compromise tax agreement proposed by President Barack Obama has focused mostly on Bush's income tax cuts and whether they ought to be extended to wealthy Americans, the issue of estate taxes has also become a sticking point for some legislators.Under the plan, the estate tax rate would be set at 35 percent, with an effective exemption of $5 million.Many Republicans had hoped to do away with the estate tax altogether, and Democrats last year had proposed a higher rate: 45 percent on the value of estates over $3.5 million.The compromise has ruffled feathers on both sides of the aisle. Sen. Jim DeMint, R.-S.C., for example, said he would not support the plan because he considered the estate tax compromise a tax increase. We ruled that claimBarely True.Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont and a self-described democratic socialist, sent out amessage via Twitteron Dec. 13, 2010, saying that under the estate tax plan, 99.7% of American families will not pay 1 nickel in an estate tax. This is not a tax on the rich, this is a tax on the very, very, very rich.According to ananalysis by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, Sanders is correct.The Tax Policy Center estimated that about 99.7 percent of estates were exempt from the estate tax in 2009 when the first $3.5 million of an estate was exempt. Even fewer people would be subject to the tax if the threshold is increased to $5 million, as proposed in the compromise tax plan.Under the compromise plan, less than 2\/10 of 1 percent of estates would be subject to the estate tax next year, said Bob Williams of the Tax Policy Center. That means more than 99.8 percent would be completely exempt.The Tax Policy Center estimates that about 3,600 estates would be subject to the tax under the $5 million threshold. Those 3,600 estates would have to pay an estimated $11.4 billion in estate taxes under the compromise tax plan.Estate tax rates have fluctuated through modern history. In 2001, President George W. Bush signed a plan to gradually reduce the estate tax from 55 percent to 45 percent, while at the same time increasing the exemption value from $1 million in 2002 to $3.5 million in 2009. The estate tax disappeared altogether in 2010.But the Bush plan only had a 10-year window because Republicans didn't have the votes at the time to permanently abolish the estate tax. It passed the Senate under budget reconciliation, which requires only a simple majority of 51 votes but which also limited it to a 10-year shelf life. Barring a new tax agreement, the rate was set to revert next year to a 55 percent rate with an effective exemption of $1 million.Last year, Democrats proposed a plan to permanently set the estate tax rate at 2009 levels -- 45 percent on the value of estates over $3.5 million. But the plan never reached a vote in the Senate. Had that plan gone through, the Tax Policy Center estimates it would have subjected 6,460 estates to a tax (bring in an estimated $18.2 billion). If no tax plan passes, and the rate goes back to 55 percent on the value of estates over $1 million, an 43,540 estates would have to pay (bringing in an estimated $34.4 billion next year).Sanders was correct that in 2009, when the effective exemption was $3.5 million, about 99.7 percent of all estates were exempt and didn't pay anything. The compromise plan -- which would set effective exemption at $5 million -- would push the number of exempted estates even higher, so that more than 99.8 percent of estates would not pay anything. We rate Sanders' comment True.","issues":["National","Taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1061","claim":"No, Kroger Is Not Offering a Free $50 'Anniversary' Coupon on Facebook","posted":"07\/15\/2016","sci_digest":["Yet another \"free coupon\" scam attempted to lure social media users with bogus promises."],"justification":"In March 2020, Facebook posts offering free coupons supposedly worth $50 in merchandise from the Kroger grocery chain began circulating with the claim that the company was celebrating its anniversary:  Users who clicked on the offer were taken to a non-Kroger website where they were instructed to answer survey questions in order to receive their coupon:  After completing the questionnaire, however, users were then required to click a button to share the \"offer\" with all their Facebook friends before they could retrieve their coupon. Those who complied by spamming their friends are then allowed to click a \"Receive the Coupon\" button. However, there was no actual coupon to receive. Like innumerable other \"free merchandise\" offers on Facebook, this one was a scam. We've had many occasions to alert readers to this kind of fraud: other free merchandise offers These types of viral coupon scams often involve websites and social media pages set up to mimic those of legitimate companies. Users who respond to those fake offers are required to share a website link or social media post in order to spread the scam more widely and lure in additional victims. Then those users are presented with a survey that extracts personal information such as email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, and even sometimes credit card numbers. Finally, those who want to claim their free gift cards or coupons eventually learn they must first sign up to purchase a number of costly goods, services, or subscriptions. The Better Business Bureau offers consumers several general tips to avoid getting scammed: offers consumers Updated with information on a more recent sighting of the scam. ","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1HQuyeAI1G-6rsZq1SSgmAmHnFl5dhbV9","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1VZF63I45-8bURii0RZsBB9gNXddOL0yj","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1062","claim":"Did Trump Really Say This About Wind and Windmills?","posted":"12\/26\/2019","sci_digest":["The president raised eyebrows in December 2019 with a somewhat baffling attack on the use of wind turbines."],"justification":"In December 2019, we received multiple inquiries from readers about remarks that U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly made regarding wind power. In particular, readers asked us about a Dec. 23 meme published by the left-leaning \"Occupy Democrats\" Facebook page. The caption that accompanied the meme read: \"Yes, Trump really DID say this last night...\" The meme itself contained the introductory line, \"Future generations will look back on Trump's latest idiotic wind turbines rant in awe and horror,\" followed by what was presented as an extended quotation: \"I never understood wind. You know, I know windmills very much. But they're manufactured tremendous if you're into this tremendous fumes. Gases are spewing into the atmosphere. You know we have a world, right? So the world is tiny compared to the universe. So tremendous, tremendous amount of fumes and everything. You talk about the carbon footprint\u2014fumes are spewing into the air. Right? Spewing. Whether it's in China, Germany, it's going into the air. It's our air, their air, everything\u2014right?\" The quotation included in the Occupy Democrats meme was a highly, though not perfectly, accurate presentation of real remarks made by Trump during a Dec. 21 speech at a conference held by the right-leaning youth organization Turning Point USA. Appearing before a highly partisan, strongly supportive audience, Trump riffed on various familiar topics, attacking and ridiculing Democrats while boosting his own administration's record, often using hyperbolic language and eliciting laughter and cheers from the crowd. At times, the remarks appeared more like a stand-up comedy routine than an official speech. Around 30 minutes in, Trump ridiculed the Green New Deal, riffed on the subject of wind power, and attacked wind turbines. The following is a transcript of the most relevant section from his speech, which can also be watched in the official White House video below: \"...We'll have an economy based on wind. I never understood wind. You know, I know windmills very much. I've studied it [sic] better than anybody I know. It's [sic] very expensive. They're made in China and Germany mostly, very few made here, almost none. But they're manufactured\u2014tremendous, if you're into this, tremendous fumes, gases are spewing into the atmosphere. You know we have a world, right? So the world is tiny compared to the universe. So [a] tremendous, tremendous amount of fumes and everything\u2014you talk about the 'carbon footprint'\u2014fumes are spewing into the air, right? Spewing. Whether it's in China, Germany, it's going into the air. It's our air, their air, everything, right? So they make these things, and then they put them up, and if you own a house within vision of some of these monsters, your house is worth 50 percent of the price. They're noisy, they kill the birds. You want to see a bird graveyard? You just go, take a look, a bird graveyard? Go under a windmill someday. You'll see more birds than you've ever seen in your life...\" The remarks included in the meme are shown in boldface above. Occupy Democrats did not misquote Trump and quoted word-for-word from his actual remarks, though the creators of the meme made slightly different punctuation choices than those we made. They also left out a short section where Trump explained his purported knowledge of windmills: \"I've studied it [sic] better than anybody I know. It's [sic] very expensive. They're made in China and Germany mostly, very few made here, almost none.\" That gap should have been reflected in the quotation with the use of an ellipsis, but the omission did not distort the meaning or sense of what Trump said, and we therefore issue a rating of \"Correct Attribution.\" Although his remarks were somewhat garbled at times, Trump appeared to have been making the point that the construction of wind turbines causes carbon emissions (\"tremendous fumes\"). For what it's worth, it's true that building and maintaining wind turbines does leave a carbon footprint, but analyses have shown that the overall negative environmental impact of wind power is far outstripped by that of the fossil fuel energy sources that wind power is intended to replace.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Id9hzcpWsIR9XriqP-UEYdHQL_I_fu23","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1063","claim":"When career politician Daniel Webster became speaker of the House, he wasted $32,000 of our money on a spiral staircase for his office.","posted":"08\/31\/2010","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Central Florida U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson is digging on some 1970s Led Zeppelin in his first ad attacking Republican opponent Daniel Webster.The ad is called Dan Webster's Stairway to Nowhere. See where this is going, Zeppelin fans?It opens with someone ripping off Jimmy Page's recognizable guitar introduction to Stairway to Heaven. A narrator talks over a black-and-white image of Webster, a longtime state legislator and former House speaker.When career politician Daniel Webster became speaker of the House, he wasted $32,000 of our money on a spiral staircase for his office, the narrator says, before moving on to a claim that he used tax money for private flights.The ad then finishes with a spin off of Robert Plant's vocals.And he's charged us for a stairway to nowhere.To be honest, it's a pretty poor rendition.But we're PolitiFact Florida, not American Idol, so we'll stick to the factual claims in the ad -- specifically about the stairwell.Stepping stones to the staircaseWebster was elected to the state House in 1980. In 1996, he became the first Republican state House speaker in more than 100 years after the GOP seized power.That also put him in charge of improvements and renovations to House offices and facilities. Each new speaker traditionally has made changes, upgrades, or renovations. In 1999, Speaker John Thrasher, now a state senator and chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, approved nearly $7 million for the House chamber -- now adorned in mahogany -- the Speaker's Office, and House office building.In 2002, leaders of the House and Senate spent about $1.5 million on furniture, structural changes, even a private bathroom. On the other hand, former Speaker Allan Bense spent only about $1,500 on changes in 2004, according to theSt. Petersburg Times.According to newspaper accounts Webster spent about $100,000 in taxpayer dollars on improvements to House facilities in his first months as speaker, including $31,983 on a spiral staircase.The staircase connected the Republican Majority Office on the Capitol's third floor with the Speaker's Office above it on the fourth floor. The staircase was intended to make it easier to move back and forth between the two offices -- namely, it allowed legislators and Webster as speaker to avoid walking through the public hallways filled with lobbyists, reporters and members of the public. The staircase will allow us to better coordinate things between the Speaker's Office and the Majority Office, Webster said at the time. He also noted that he took the idea from Democrats, who previously had drawn up plans for a spiral staircase of their own. It was built in a spiral style because it was the only way it could work given the space. The Grayson ad includes an image of an elaborate white spiral staircase to help make its point about Webster. But that's not the Webster staircase, said Todd Reid, staff director for the Florida House Majority Office. The staircasewas closed off in 2006 during more than $500,000 of renovations ordered by then-Speaker Marco Rubio. The stairway's fourth-floor landing became the new offices of the speaker's chief of staff. It was a standard black metal staircase, Reid said. It certainly wasn't heavy on the accouterments. Reid described the staircase as noisy and said whenever someone walked up or down it, people could hear the staircase rattling from both offices. He said the bottom half of the staircase remains in place; a closet was built around it. If you were in Tallahassee, I'd take you in to see it, Reid told PolitiFact Florida. Your humble fact-checker didn't have time to jump in a car for the five-hour trip to Tallahassee, but we were able to send theSt. Petersburg Times\/Miami Herald'sLee Logan for an exclusive tour. Cribs: Staircase to Nowhere-edition Logan filed the following report, complete with apicture. Behind a door labeled No Entry in the House Majority Office is the famed Webster staircase. The small closet without lights is used so rarely that Reid had to hunt down someone in the House Sergeant at Arms office to get a key to the door. The bottom half of the black spiral staircase is still bolted to the floor. (Stairs are simple black metal, with a black metal railing.) Pieces of the top half are also in the closet, including a large piece that rests on top of the lower portion.The ceiling of the closet is now covered over with concrete, forming the floor of the chief of staff's office on the fourth floor. Reid says it's unlikely the stairway would be re-installed because the fourth floor spot is prime real estate -- now the House speaker and his chief of staff have direct access to one another through a door.Before Rubio made the space into the chief of staff's office, the staircase came up through a hole in the floor and emptied into a common area that also housed a few supplies.Reid said the closet could be used for supplies if the stairs were removed. But he speculated that they weren't taken out because they're simply too big. Also, a speaker sometime in the future might find a use for the stairs.The stairs were used irregularly, Reid said, usually on peak days when the Capitol was crowded. He also recalled former Gov. Jeb Bush occasionally using the stairs.Currently, if a staffer (not Joe Public) wanted to go from the Majority Office to the Speaker's Office, he or she could go up a back stairwell and cut through the Member's Lounge, which requires a key card and is reserved for lawmakers. Speaker Larry Cretul has said staffers can cut through the area if they don't loiter or disturb the lawmakers. Our ruling Grayson's ad is unintentionally ironic in that Webster's stairway to nowhere actually now is a stairway to nowhere, as it's bolted to the ground of a seldom-used closet. The stairway leads to a concrete ceiling, which now serves as the floor of an office above. Those changes were made by Marco Rubio in 2006. The stairs haven't been used since then. But that's not how Webster left it. When he became speaker in 1996, Webster did what most every speaker has done in recent times -- he spent taxpayer money on House renovations. The amount has varied wildly over the years depending on the size of the renovation.Among the $100,000 or so Webster spent, he allocated just under $32,000 for a plain spiral staircase to internally link the Speaker's Office with the House Republican Offices below.While Grayson's ad is correct on the reported dollar amount and the type of staircase, we think it's slightly misleading for two reasons. First, the imagery displayed suggests an ornate staircase when the staircase is far from ornate and only a spiral staircase by necessity. Second, it fails to provide the context that most every speaker spends taxpayer dollars on renovations, and several spent more than Webster. We rate the claim Mostly True.Now cue the Led Zeppelin ... (Update Sept. 1: We reached out to the Webster campaign before publishing this story via phone and e-mail, but did not hear back. After publication, Webster spokesman Brian Graham said in an e-mail that the staircase actually cost less than published reports. The original construction contract was for $28,126. The state paid even less, $22,242, Graham said). (Update Sept. 3:We noticed that the Grayson ad has been removed from his You Tube web page. We're not sure why).","issues":["Candidate Biography","Ethics","Message Machine 2010","State Budget","Taxes","Florida"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1064","claim":"How Were 'Omicron Variant' Books Published So Fast?","posted":"12\/21\/2021","sci_digest":["Just because a book exists doesn't mean it's worth reading. "],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease.  fighting Find out Read Submit Become a Founding Member CDC WHO In December 2021, a number of social media users expressed confusion and skepticism over a series of books that had been published on Amazon about the new COVID-19 omicron variant. How was it possible, these people wondered, for someone to research, write, and publish a book about a strain of COVID-19 that had been discovered just days or weeks earlier.  social media users expressed confusion   Other social media users commented: How can there be so many books knowing all about the #Omicron variant when we only found out about it 2 weeks ago? Amazing how there are 30 books available on Amazon on the Omicron variant when it was just named Nov 26,this one in particular was published on that date..almost like it was planned Go to Amazon and search \"Understanding Omicron Variant\" How can scientists do any kind of reputable work, write a book, have it peer reviewed, have it proofed, published AND printed in a couple WEEKS? Can you say scam? There are truly a number of books on Amazon about the omicron variant that were published within days of the announcement by the World Health Organization (WHO) that the new strain had been identified. This isn't proof that the pandemic was \"planned,\" or that it is a \"scam.\" Rather, it's proof of just how quick and easy it is to self-publish a book on Amazon.  Self-publishing authors can submit their books to Amazon in as little as 5 minutes and can see their books up for sale the following day.  Amazon in as little as 5 minutes The social media users quoted above all expressed skepticism that a book about something as complicated as the omicron variant could be researched, written, and edited in a span of just a few days. This skepticism is rightfully placed. The omicron variant books on Amazon that were published in December 2021 likely did not go through rigorous research, writing, or editing phases. Unlike a scholarly journal where material has to go though peer review, anybody can self-publish just about anything on Amazon. The material can contain an infinite amount of typos (no editing), the content doesn't have to be factual (no research), and in some cases the text can be artificially generated or plagiarized (no writing). In other words, just because a book exists on Amazon doesn't mean its content is worth reading.  In March 2020, near the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Amazon was flooded with self-published books about the illness. These books were shoddily put together and often contained plagiarized content. The Guardian reported: Guardian reported As the coronavirus spreads around the world, it is not only health professionals and politicians who are being kept busy. Amazon has been flooded with badly put together, often plagiarised guides to combatting the virus. The retailing giant has already been removing tens of thousands of listings from bad actors attempting to artificially raise prices on items such as face masks and hand sanitiser. Now it is fighting a losing battle against the writers rushing out self-published books to profit from coronavirus fears. Generally shorter than 100 pages, dozens have been published in the last few weeks, promising worried readers ways to prevent or avoid the virus. On Amazon.co.uk on Thursday morning, the top results returned for books about coronavirus included Corbi Yangs Coronavirus, which promised to answer how this virus was identified and what measures have been taken up till now. Running to 44 pages, much of the writing was lifted directly from web pages. While social media users were skeptical of the rash of books published on Amazon about the omicron variant, there was one title that drew special attention. According to social media posts, a book by \"Dr. Teresa Bishop\" titled \"UNDERSTANDING OMICRON VARIANT: All You Need To Know About Omicron Variant, Where It Comes From, Answers To Questions You Have, And Lots More Update To Keep You Well Informed\" was copyrighted in 2020, nearly a year before the omicron variant emerged.    How was this possible? How was a book about the omicron variant copyrighted before the emergence of the omicron variant? We reached out to Amazon for some specifics about this title and we will update this article if more information becomes available. For the moment, here's what we know: announced by WHO nonsensical sentences International Standard Book Number database Copyright Public Records Portal   This title is no longer available on Amazon. A few days after this book was removed, Bishop published a similarly titled book \"UNDERSTANDING OMICRON VARIANT: Everything You Need To Know About Omicron Variant, Where It Comes From, Answers To Questions You Have, And Lots More Update To Keep You Well Informed Kindle Edition.\" That book claims a copyright date of 2021.  As Coronavirus Spreads, Hastily Produced Books Capitalize on Fear. Undark Magazine, 6 Mar. 2020, https:\/\/undark.org\/2020\/03\/06\/coronavirus-books-amazon-outbreak\/. Flood, Alison. Amazon Flooded with Self-Published Coronavirus Books. The Guardian, 12 Mar. 2020. The Guardian, https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/books\/2020\/mar\/12\/amazon-flooded-with-self-published-coronavirus-books. Matsakis, Louise. Amazon Quietly Removes Some Dubious Coronavirus Books. Wired. www.wired.com, https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/amazon-quietly-removes-coronavirus-books\/. Accessed 21 Dec. 2021. Self-Published Book on Omicron Was Not Copyrighted before Variant Was Discovered. Politifact, https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2021\/dec\/20\/facebook-posts\/self-published-book-omicron-was-not-copyrighted-va\/. Accessed 21 Dec. 2021. Update on Omicron. https:\/\/www.who.int\/news\/item\/28-11-2021-update-on-omicron. Accessed 21 Dec. 2021.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1rtYmw8BgPpHxm6bPxzHzfDINrbb5PAxG","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1siWnqJEZonJgOTUnfC7mXDDD7cFVJLUm","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1uIQAAgTfwZQbjFxJE1E3eGAo9KxRCBhj","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1065","claim":"Economic Development Commission Executive Director Keith Stokes sent me a letter and he said the taxpayers will never be on the hook for these bonds for 38 Studios.","posted":"07\/10\/2013","sci_digest":[],"justification":"One of the hot-button issues of the 2013 General Assembly session was whether the state should repay the bonds sold to help finance 38 Studios, the now-bankrupt video game company founded by former Boston Red Sox player Curt Schilling. One state representative who has argued against repayment is Charlene Lima, a Democrat from Cranston. She told the House on June 26 that, before the bonds were sold in November 2010, she had been promised by the executive director of the Rhode Island Economic Development Commission (RIEDC) that taxpayers would not have to foot the bill if the deal with 38 Studios didn't live up to its promise. \"When I was complaining to the former director, Keith Stokes, he sent me a letter and said the taxpayers will never be on the hook for these bonds, for this money,\" Lima said. \"How was this properly vetted by these people if they were saying the taxpayers wouldn't be on the hook? And guess what. Today they ARE on the hook.\" We're not going to get into the merits of the state's controversial decision to start paying the cost of the moral obligation bonds, but we wondered whether Stokes, who resigned after 38 Studios collapsed, really had made a specific pledge in writing. We called Lima, and she quickly forwarded a copy of an Oct. 4, 2010, letter from Stokes in which he complained that Lima had offered an inaccurate characterization of this investment and the RIEDC's degree of concern for Rhode Island taxpayers in a news release she had authored. At the time, the bond sale had been approved, and the bonds themselves were about to be sold. Stokes wrote, \"In the unlikely event that the company is not able to meet its debt obligations, the state would have first crack at 38 Studios' assets. These collateral assets, in addition to the debt repayment reserves, would be used to pay back the loan before the application of any public funds would be considered. This ensures that under no circumstances would taxpayers be asked to repay $75 million.\" As Lima now notes, taxpayers are being asked to pay the money. (The $8.2 billion state budget, which the General Assembly passed and Governor Chafee signed, included $2.5 million for the first required taxpayer payment on the bonds. The total owed, with interest, is about $112.6 million.) To sum up, Lima said she received a letter in 2010 from then-RIEDC official Keith Stokes in which he insisted that Rhode Islanders would not be on the hook for the 38 Studios bonds. Lima earned a Pants on Fire last month for a comment she made about Rhode Island's failure to pass the constitutional amendment authorizing the federal income tax. \"If my pants were on fire,\" she said, \"what is he? A towering inferno? We don't have varying levels of conflagration.\" And in this case, we're simply judging the claim Lima made on the House floor. She has the evidence, and we rate her statement true.","issues":["Bankruptcy","Rhode Island","Corporations","Debt","Economy","History","Jobs","State Budget","Taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1066","claim":"Is Joe Biden the owner of an island in the Caribbean?","posted":"08\/13\/2020","sci_digest":["Several details got distorted as this rumor spread online."],"justification":"In July 2020, a rumor began circulating on social media in an apparent attempt to link 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in prison in August 2019. This rumor claimed that former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden owned an island right next to \"Little St. James,\" the island at the center of Epstein's alleged pedophile ring. However, Biden does not own an island in the Caribbean. Those spreading the rumor that the former vice president owns an island in the Caribbean across from Epstein's island appear to be confusing Joe Biden with his brother, James Biden. While it's true that James Biden (not Joe) owns property in the Caribbean, details about this property purchase were distorted as they spread online. For instance, James Biden does not own an island; he owns a small piece of property on Water Island, an island in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Water Island is approximately 500 acres, and in 2005, James Biden purchased a single acre of land on it. The following year, he sold a portion of this land to lobbyist Scott Green. When Politico reported on this deal in January 2020, the story focused on how James Biden may have received a favorable price for the plot due to Green's lobbying connections. In 2005, Joe Biden's brother bought an acre of land with excellent ocean views on a remote island in the Caribbean for $150,000. He divided it into three parcels, and the next year, a lobbyist close to the Delaware senator bought one of the parcels for what had been the cost of the entire property. Later, the lobbyist gave Biden's brother a mortgage loan on the remaining parcels. The Virgin Islands land deal, reported here for the first time, furthers a pattern in which members of the Biden family have engaged in financial dealings with people interested in influencing the former vice president. Politico did not report that Joe Biden owned this island or that he was even aware of this land deal. When reached for comment, a spokesperson for Joe Biden told Politico: \"Joe Biden was wrong. Politico does have a sense of humor. Because this story is an absolute joke.\" Biden does not list any properties in the Caribbean on his financial disclosure forms available on his presidential campaign website. Andrew Bates, a spokesperson for the Biden campaign, told the AFP that Biden \"does not and never has\" owned property in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It should also be noted that describing the island where James Biden owns land as being \"right across from Epstein's island\" is misleading. Little St. James, the island that was owned by Epstein and reportedly the site of many of his crimes, is in close proximity to several other populated islands, such as St. Thomas, Thatch Cay, Greater St. James, Water Island, and the Virgin Islands National Park. Owning property in this area does not make you (or your relatives) complicit in Epstein's crimes. To sum up: Former Vice President Joe Biden does not own an island in the Caribbean. Joe Biden's brother, James Biden, owns a small piece of property on Water Island.","issues":["mortgage"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1jx_-BS4XRQ512p9dqDyUCvFEFLds4BIg"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1mo_N6SU_SL5zwDENPn1DpHIpo4Sgh7_0"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1067","claim":"Renaming Interstate 69","posted":"11\/21\/2004","sci_digest":["Is an Indiana Congressman introducing legislation to change the name of Interstate 69?"],"justification":"Claim:  An Indiana Congressman is introducing legislation to change the name of Interstate 69.  Example:  [Hoosier Gazette, 2004] John Hostettler, the Congressman representing the 8th district of Indiana, has been convinced by local religious groups to introduce legislation in the House that would change the name of an Interstate 69 extension to a more moral sounding number. There are plans to extend the interstate from Indianapolis through southwestern Indiana all the way through Texas into Mexico in the coming years.  While most believe this highway will be good for the states economy, religious conservatives believe \"I-69\" sounds too risqu and want to change the interstates number. [Rest of article here.] here Origins:  Despite   the disclaimer on the site of the Hoosier Gazette, a number of its satirical articles have been mistaken for real news (such as a report that a Kinsey Institute study found that having children lowers the IQ of parents).   disclaimer Hoosier Gazette report Now yet another entry from the Hoosier Gazette has made the news, this one proclaiming that Indiana Congressman John Hostettler is attempting to introduce legislation to rename Interstate 69 (because the pronunciation of its common abbreviation, I-69, sounds like a slang term for a sexual position).  The spoof has caused no small amount of consternation at Congressman Hostettler's office, where aides have been kept busy handling calls about the fictional legislation: entry John Hostettler Interstate 69 sexual position U.S. Rep. John Hostettler's office is fielding outraged calls about an Internet hoax that says he's proposed changing the name of Interstate 69 to Interstate 63 for religious reasons.  Hostettler spokesman Michael Jahr said Monday he had been fielding calls about the story all day.  \"There is no truth in the story about any legislation changing the name of I-69,\" he said. \"The Web site is satirical in nature, and any suggestion otherwise is absurd.\" The Hoosier Gazette has also published a sampling of responses to their I-69 article, many of them submitted by readers who didn't get the joke. responses Last updated:  21 November 2004    Sources:   Wehrman, Jessica.  \"Hostettler's Office Fields Hoax Calls.\"   Evansville Courier & Press.  16 November 2004.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Wa7BCINmi8ycSOhqR0Iq4c37lwIZJYWp","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1068","claim":"Did Donald Trump Transport Stranded Troops on His Own Airplane?","posted":"10\/22\/2016","sci_digest":["A story that Donald Trump personally sent out an airplane to transport hundreds of stranded U.S. Marines home is based on inaccurate information."],"justification":"In May 2016, syndicated talk radio host Sean Hannity aired an item claiming that Donald Trump had sent a plane to give 200 stranded U.S. Marines a much-needed ride home after Operation Desert Storm in 1991. When Corporal Ryan Stickney and 200 of his fellow Marines prepared to return to their families after Operation Desert Storm in 1991, a logistics error forced them to turn to a surprising source for a ride home: Donald J. Trump. Today, Stickney would like to say \"thank you.\" Stickney, a squad leader in a TOW company of a Marine reserve unit based in Miami, FL, spent approximately six months in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War between 1990 and 1991. Upon his unit's return to the United States, the former Marine says the group spent several weeks decompressing at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina before heading back to Miami. Stickney recalls being told that a mistake had been made within the logistics unit and that an aircraft wasn't available to take the Marines home on their scheduled departure date. This, according to Stickney, is where Donald Trump comes in. \"The way the story was told to us was that Mr. Trump found out about it and sent the airline down to take care of us. And that's all we knew ... I remember asking, 'Who is Donald Trump?' I truly didn't know anything about him,\" the former Marine said. Corporal Stickney snapped a photo to remember the day. The story came up several times during the course of the 2016 presidential campaign (Cpl. Stickney even told it in person at a Trump rally), but skeptics questioned its validity despite a statement from the Trump campaign allegedly confirming it: \"The Trump campaign has confirmed to Hannity.com that Mr. Trump did indeed send his plane to make two trips from North Carolina to Miami, Florida, to transport over 200 Gulf War Marines back home. No further details were provided.\" The few details we do have about Trump's alleged participation don't, in fact, add up. We can confirm, based on military records, that the 209-member Anti-Tank (TOW) Company, part of the 8th Tank Battalion for Operation Desert Shield, deployed to Camp LeJeune, North Carolina, from their home base in Miami on 26 November 1990. We can also confirm that the company deployed from Camp LeJeune to Saudi Arabia on 22 December, served throughout the combat phase of Operation Desert Storm (from 17 January to 28 February 1991), and returned to North Carolina in April. A command chronology of the deployment notes that a \"Cpl. Stickney\" was among those receiving certificates of commendation. We can also confirm, via a 23 April 1991 article from the Sun-Sentinel, that a series of flight delays stalled the company's homecoming to Miami on 22 April, but that they finally did arrive home after being split across two separate flights. Stickney's photograph shows that he arrived on a plane marked \"Trump,\" but it also proves something else: that even if Trump did send the plane, it wasn't his private jet. That Trump didn't send the pictured plane at all was something noted by a sharp-eyed reader, who wrote to us to note: First, that's not Trump's private 727 jet; it's one of the jets in the Trump Shuttle fleet. I wondered if maybe Trump's jet back in those days was painted differently, so I researched his private jet as of April 1991. I found that Trump was deep in the red financially and having to liquidate assets, one of which was his personal 727. The sale of that jet was finalized in the first week of May 1991, making it highly unlikely he was also flying reservists around while discussing the sale at the end of April. The markings of the plane in Stickney's photo match those of the Trump Shuttle fleet, so the question becomes: Did Trump himself send a Trump Shuttle to retrieve the stranded Marines, or was it procured some other way? To arrive at an answer, it's necessary to go into a bit of the history of Trump Shuttle. A July 2015 article in NYC Aviation detailed Trump's short-lived airline industry involvement, beginning with an entirely separate carrier, Eastern Air Shuttle, which he immediately rebranded with his own name. CEO Frank Lorenzo began selling off assets, including the prized Shuttle operation. Donald Trump placed a winning bid for the Shuttle, its aircraft, and landing slots at LaGuardia and National for $380 million, financed through no less than 22 banks. The newly branded Trump Shuttle took to the skies on June 7, 1989. Timing is everything in business, and unfortunately for Trump, he entered the airline game at the wrong time. The U.S. entered an economic recession in the late '80s, leading many corporations to cut back on business travel. In addition, tensions in the Middle East leading up to the first Gulf War caused oil prices to spike. This one-two punch was devastating for the airline industry and led to the demise of several airlines, including Eastern and Pan Am. Given these circumstances, the Trump Shuttle lost money, and with Trump continuing to accumulate debt in his other ventures, it was becoming increasingly difficult to pay back the loans taken to purchase the airline. In September 1990, Trump defaulted on his loan, and control of the airline went back to the banks led by Citibank. Given that the bankers, not Donald Trump, owned Trump Shuttle from September 1990 until it was sold to U.S. Air in 1996, Trump wasn't in a position to send the planes anywhere, much less on a spur-of-the-moment Marine transport mission. So who did? As it turns out, the U.S. military itself chartered the flights\u2014a common practice in the day, according to an 11 August 2016 report by The Washington Post. Lt. Gen. Vernon J. Kondra, now retired, was in charge of all military airlift operations. He said that relying on commercial carriers freed up military cargo aircraft for equipment transport. Kondra's notes on the flight are declassified and available online and show a contract for Trump Shuttle to \"move troops in [the] continental United States\" during the 1990-91 timeframe. There are several references to a 1990-91 contract for Trump Shuttle to carry personnel across the United States, between the East and West Coasts, on a standard LaGuardia-Dover-Charleston-Travis-Chord-Kelly-Dover-LaGuardia run. \"It worked very well, and the crews loved it, and really thought that we'd done something special for them,\" Kondra recalled in the oral history. \"It was a helluva lot better than using 141s [cargo craft], which we could use for something else.\" But Kondra said that the notion that Trump personally arranged to help the stranded soldiers made little sense. \"I certainly was not aware of that. It does not sound reasonable that it would happen like that. It would not fit in with how we did business. I don't even know how he would have known there was a need.\" So the real story underlying the claim that Donald Trump personally sent his jet to pick up stranded soldiers and return them to the U.S. is that the military paid to charter a plane from an airline Trump no longer owned in order to bring those service personnel home.","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1W9Rn2P6UJJE2tqTkihJ1wQWhBARpY3Wv","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1069","claim":"Is Kohl's Offering $250 Coupons to Social Media Users?","posted":"11\/18\/2019","sci_digest":["Coupon scams are pervasive on social media."],"justification":"In April 2020, a coupon purporting to offer $250 in merchandise from the Kohl's department store circulated in Facebook posts directing viewers to click on a survey question:    This was a scam. Such efforts that trick viewers by offering free goods or money are long-standing. Kohl's is also a frequent target of such scams, but this fraud can target any business, from airlines to beer makers. A good rule of thumb to follow: If an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is. also frequent any airlines beer makers These types of viral \"coupon\" scams often involve websites and social media pages set up to mimic those of legitimate companies. Users who respond to those fake offers are required to share a website link or social media post in order to spread the scam more widely and lure in additional victims. Then those users are presented with a survey that extracts personal information such as email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, and even sometimes credit card numbers. Finally, those who want to claim their \"free\" gift cards or coupons eventually learn they must first sign up to purchase a number of costly goods, services, or subscriptions. Despite the latest coupon scam above, Kohl's was indeed celebrating its 57th year as a department store, as of September 2019. It opened its first store in Brookfield, Wisconsin, according to company literature. In 2016, a variation of the same type of scam circulated, offering viewers $75 off purchases. literature variation The Better Business Bureau offers consumers several general tips to avoid getting scammed: offers consumers WHP.  \"Scam Alert: Kohl's $75 Off Coupon Is Too Good to Be True.\"\r  24 May 2016. Better Business Bureau.  \"Scam Alert: Giveaway Scam Poses as Facebook.\"\r  14 April 2017.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1YUMwSKpoVCIQSc2SNyKkrI0U3wLNZn2M","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1zyJudX6vTiDNIyTjMh21pxFMKiZDnj8F","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1070","claim":"Nigeria: Restaurant Served Roasted Human Heads","posted":"05\/16\/2015","sci_digest":["Rumor: A hotel restaurant in Nigeria was found to be selling human meat."],"justification":"A hotel restaurant in Nigeria was found to be serving human meat. Human heads were discovered in a Nigerian hotel room, which the hotel's owner maintains were planted there as a setup over a business dispute. For example, a report collected via e-mail in May 2005 questioned whether a Nigerian restaurant was serving human flesh and if the police discovered human heads and flesh in the restaurant kitchen. On 5 September 2013, the Nigerian tabloid Osun Defender published a grisly account (sourced from the Naija Loaded forum) about a local hotel that had been shut down after reports surfaced that its restaurant was selling dishes made of human meat, with police reportedly recovering two fresh cellophane-wrapped human heads at the scene. On Thursday, Onitsha police arrested 11 people after they discovered two fresh human heads in a hotel (name withheld) very close to the popular Ose-Okwodu market in Anambra state. Two AK47 rifles and other weapons were also discovered in the hotel. The arrest followed tip-offs from area residents on Thursday morning. The hotel owner, six women, and four men were arrested. After police gained access to the hotel, they made a startling discovery of two human heads wrapped in a cellophane bag, two AK47 rifles, two army caps, 40 rounds of live ammunition, and numerous cell phones. \"Each time I came to the market, because the hotel is very close to the market, I always noticed funny movements in and out of the hotel; dirty people with dirty characters always come into the hotel. So, I was not surprised when the police made this discovery in the early hours of yesterday,\" said a vegetable seller in the area. A pastor who was among those who tipped off the police on Thursday said, \"I went to the hotel early this year; after eating, I was told that a lump of meat was being sold for N700. I was surprised. So, I did not know it was human meat that I ate at such an expensive price.\" This account was widely picked up by many Western news outlets in February 2014, including the New York Daily News, the International Business Times, the Independent, Metro, and Gawker, all of whom reported it as straight news. This two-year-old story inexplicably gained traction when it was repeated on the Swahili-language section of the BBC's website on 13 May 2015 and was picked up again by Western press outlets (such as the Daily Mail) a few days later. But was it true? The original report included several typical signs of fake news: the article lacked verifiable details; the name of the hotel where the gruesome discovery was allegedly made was withheld, the persons quoted in the article were referenced only by vague descriptions (e.g., \"a vegetable seller,\" \"a pastor\"), none of the eleven persons purportedly arrested was identified, and not a single law enforcement officer or other official was quoted, named, or referenced in the story. The claim stemmed from a single source: no other news outlet was cited by the Western media, who merely repeated what Osun Defender had published without further verification. Nor were any follow-up articles published about the incident to reveal such information as whose bodies were being dished out. The article appeared flippant in tone; for example, a pastor's reaction to being informed that he had consumed human flesh was to note how expensive the meat was. Multiple comments left on the Defender's site by local residents (and others) denounced the newspaper for regularly printing false news stories like this one. All in all, what we had was the Western press repeating a single-source story that a Nigerian tabloid had picked up from an online forum. However, overlooked in all that initial U.S. and UK reporting was that other news sources, such as the Nigerian Tribune, had also contemporaneously reported the same event, with additional verifiable details that suggested there might be something to the story. According to a police source, who pleaded anonymity, it was revealed that during the operation, which lasted for hours, the police team, led by a senior police officer attached to the IGP Monitoring Unit, cordoned off the hotel after several intelligence reports indicated that human meat was being served to guests in the hotel. Though the Onitsha Area Commander, Mr. Benjamin Wordu, declined further comments on the matter on the grounds that the police were still investigating the case, it was gathered that during the operation, an Infiniti SUV belonging to the hotel owner, with registration number DA203FST, was also recovered. Meanwhile, the Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Emeka Chukwuemeka, confirmed the incident and said the police had intensified a manhunt to arrest all members of the cartel. Here we have various law enforcement officials cited and referenced by name, which lends a degree of verisimilitude to the story. But all that such reports confirmed was that a raid on the hotel took place, not necessarily that the shocking claims about human meat being served to unsuspecting restaurant patrons were true. A 29 December 2013 article from the Nigerian publication Vanguard quoted the hotel's owner, Bonaventure Mokwe, as asserting that he had been set up over a motor park dispute between him and some Onitsha natives. According to Mr. Mokwe, his business rivals planted two rotten skulls (as well as rifles and magazines) in one of his hotel's rooms, and the rumors of humans being served to guests were a fabricated excuse that police used to raid the hotel, arrest Mr. Mokwe, put him on trial for murder, and ultimately demolish his hotel. Prior to the day I was arrested and my hotel demolished on the directive of the Anambra State governor, I was involved in a motor park dispute with some Onitsha natives. During that period, I wrote to the Obi of Onitsha three times, asking him to intervene and call the natives to order, but he remained understandably silent. When that failed, I wrote a petition to the Anambra State Commissioner of Police, which he forwarded to the Onitsha Area Commander, who in turn assigned an inspector to investigate. But these efforts ended as soon as they started. When that failed again, I went to court and obtained an order that was served on the palace of the Obi of Onitsha, the police, and the leaders of the Onitsha natives antagonizing me. Soon after, some bus drivers started loading in my park, and all hell broke loose, as threats of all dimensions started coming from the Onitsha natives, culminating in the planting of the exhibits in my hotel. The human skulls and magazines were packed in a sack and planted in the wardrobe of my hotel room number 102. I drove into my office around 7 a.m. that fateful day because I had a land transaction. Before I could settle down, my hotel was surrounded by over 100 police officers. As I made my way toward my office entrance, some of them were already in the passage. I was taken into my office and shown a search warrant. In the process, one police officer betrayed the whole adventure when he shouted at one of my staff to be shown room 102. It did not make sense to me then. The first thing I saw when the door of the room was opened was an unsealed traveling bag on the floor. Some polythene bags were inside the bag and two on the bed. Nothing was found in the toilet or under the bed. The police then opened the wardrobe of the room and brought out one single Bagco sack, in which were two rotten skulls, two AK-47 rifles that looked unserviceable, and two loaded magazines. The mock search exercise started and ended after five minutes or thereabouts at the door of room 102. Incidentally, the lodger locked the room and left with the key around 6:30 a.m., following which the police showed up. I was immediately handcuffed and taken outside the corridor of the hotel, where I was told to sit next to the exhibits while they took pictures. Soon after that, I, along with my staff, was taken to the police Area Command in Onitsha and paraded before the public and journalists. According to Mr. Mokwe, the police showed no interest in investigating or arresting the lodger who had occupied the room in question immediately before they coincidentally arrived to search it. The identity of the person who lodged in my hotel room number 102 on the very day the police came searching was unmasked. Though he gave his name as John Obi, his true identity was that of a native of Umudie village. His picture was smuggled and shown to the receptionist, who identified him as the person who received the receipt for room 102 that fateful day. It was he who planted the exhibits in the hotel room wardrobe. The police have some questions to answer: why did they not attempt to arrest the person who lodged in the room, despite the fact that the guest's registration was sent to them? If it was real, the person who stayed in the hotel room should have been apprehended. It would then be for him to reveal who gave him the things he left in the room, because there is no way he could have slept in that room with all those things without knowing. When the identity of the people who orchestrated my hotel setup became known even to the general public, a petition was written by my lawyer to the Inspector-General of Police, listing their names. But the police sat on it because arresting them would have meant releasing me, which would have resulted in a state financial liability and embarrassment for the state government. Mr. Mokwe also maintained that he was set up on criminal charges, and his hotel was demolished at the behest of a corrupt local government and police force. A week after I arrived at prison, it became increasingly clear that the incident was a setup. Matters were not helped by what occurred when the police first took me to the grave of one Mr. Nwonye Akas, a native of Nkwuele Ezinaka Itite village, who died in 1972 when I was still a toddler, to say I killed and buried the man at that place. With the police under pressure from the media, especially from NIPPRON, I, along with three of my staff, was arraigned in court on 17 October 2013, and a murder charge along with possession of human skulls and firearms were heaped on us, and we were subsequently remanded in prison. I spent a total of two months and seventeen days at SARS Awkuzu. My hotel demolition had nothing to do with fighting crime, as it was sold to the general public. When I was bailed, a legal officer with the Anambra State government begged my cousin to tell me to lie low until after the elections. I obeyed. So you can see that it's not all about justice; it's about what they can gain from it. They told me to lie low, that after the electioneering campaign, something would be done to address the issue, but to date, nothing has been done. The state government should sit with my lawyer or appoint someone to sit with my lawyer and agree on how to pay for the damages. You don't beat somebody and tell him not to cry. Secondly, this matter is impossible to wish away. No amount of prayer will wish it away. I must be paid everything. Everything I had was destroyed, including my Green Card, in that hotel building. Those fabricated charges should be canceled because they are mere damage control charges intended to fill in the blanks; they have no bearing on me because they were manufactured. You don't charge someone for possession when you didn't see anything on him. Also, you don't charge someone for murder when an investigation has not been done. Last updated: 17 May 2015. Oruya, Suzy. \"Police Arrest 11 with 2 Fresh Human Heads in Onitsha.\" Nigerian Tribune. 2 August 2013. Osun Defender. \"Hotel Selling Cooked Human Meat Found in Onitsha.\" 5 September 2013.","issues":["liability"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Op0IdI_OKaHUcvePgNIrDxTd8-oyHJV_","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1071","claim":"Says the Austin City Council may give $4 million a year to subsidize a race track.","posted":"06\/12\/2011","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Kathie Tovo, facing Austin City Council Member Randi Shade in a June 18 runoff, says in aTV adthat debuted in April: Were in a budget crisis, but the council may give $4 million a year to subsidize a race track. Thats the wrong priority.City Hall coughing up for vroom-vroom?First, lets brake to define subsidy. Merriam-Websters Online Dictionarysaysits a grant by a government to a private person or company to assist an enterprise deemed advantageous to the public. Offered examples are expenditures for public transit or to farmers in case of crop failure.To back her claim, Tovos campaign pointed us to an eight-pagefact sheeton her website touching on money that could flow to support Formula One races to be held on a track being built east of Austins airport.According to the sheet, state Comptroller Susan Combs has agreed to provide $25 million a year for 10 years from a state trust fund to cover an annual sanctioning fee that local F1 organizers must pay to the British-based international race organization.The fund reimburses event organizers with some of the extra sales, hotel, alcohol and car rental tax revenue attributable to the event itself  i.e., money that the state theoretically would not have collected if the event had not been held. In the past it has been used to attract NFL Super Bowls and the Major League and NBA All-Star games.Per a 2009 state law, though, the states $25 million a year can only be spent if a local city or county government puts up $1 for every $6.25 in state aid. The law specifies that in order to get the state aid, local organizers need a local city or county to agree to endorse the event.So, $4 million a year is to be ginned up locally with the money would be dedicated to covering costs of staging the event -- police overtime, say, or erecting traffic barriers -- municipal expenses that might otherwise be charged to the promoter.Subsidy case closed?Not by the lights of Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell. A June 8 Austin American-Statesman newsarticlequotes Leffingwell saying during a June 7 City Council work session: The city will never put any money into the Formula One project.During the session, Richard Suttle, the projects Austin lawyer, said the first of the 10 payments will come from a local organizing committee, which in turn expects to get the money from the Formula One promoters. A city employee noted that the subsequent local contributions of $4 million will come from tax revenue the state expects to reap in connection with the races.Next, we asked Tovos camp why the $4 million amounts to a subsidy if the first installment is to come from a non-governmental source and future payments are expected to reflect tax revenue that presumably would not exist without the races.Jim Wick, Tovos deputy campaign manager, replied: What you have happening right now is the mayor and some members of the council are trying to figure out how to structure this so that it doesnt appear the city (is) giving the promoters of this event a subsidy. It looks like fuzzy accounting.Shade campaign spokeswoman Lynda Rife pointed out by email that the trust fund money can be spent on the races -- not construction of the track itself. Also, each race is expected to generate more than $4 million in new tax revenue that wouldn't come to the city without the event taking place.Rifes email continued: If we dont generate that $4 million in new tax revenue from the event, then the city doesnt have to pay the whole $4 million. The city is not on the hook, if the event doesnt meet the performance standard, she said.Notably, the city can use its contribution to the trust fund to pay race-related expenses. According to Rodney Gonzales, deputy director of the city's Economic Growth and Development Services office, any amount not spent to cover hosting expenses would remain in the trust fund the next year and could not be spent for other municipal purposes.Time to wave our checkered flag.Maybe we missed a hairpin turn or two, but its clear the council is gearing up to vote on an agreement committing tax revenue to a trust fund devoted to supporting the F1 races.Subsidy? Sure, though Tovos statement skirts the expectation that the area will draw tax benefits equal to or exceeding the local expenditures. We rate it Mostly True.","issues":["City Budget","City Government","Elections","Taxes","Texas"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1072","claim":"Did Trump Say COVID-19 Deaths Wouldn't Hurt Anyone as Much as Himself?","posted":"05\/06\/2020","sci_digest":["During an ABC News interview, the president spoke about reopening the U.S. and what he'd say to those who lost loved ones to the coronavirus disease."],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease.  fighting Find out Read Submit Become a Founding Member CDC WHO One of the primary issues that the U.S. federal and state governments were wrestling with during the COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic in May 2020 was the trade-off of keeping social distancing and business closure restrictions in place to protect lives, versus the trade-off of ongoing (and possibly permanent) economic harm to individuals, businesses, and the country as a whole. On May 5, 2020, while U.S. President Donald Trump was in Phoenix, Arizona, to tour a medical face mask manufacturing facility there, he was interviewed by David Muir of ABC News about the subject of reopening the U.S.: https:\/\/youtu.be\/WrPTkaO3IBoShortly after the interview aired, a meme began to circulate on social media holding that when Trump had been asked during that interview what he'd say to people who lost family members to COVID-19, he replied, \"I would say this didn't hurt anyone as much as it hurt me\":   Although this meme is vaguely reflective of something Trump said during that interview, it grossly misrepresents both what he literally said and what he meant. According to the transcript of that interview, Trump was asked the following by Muir: \"We've lost more people now [to COVID-19] than we lost in the Vietnam War. What do you want to say to those families tonight?\" Trump responded in full as reproduced below: transcript I want to say: I love you. I want to say that we're doing everything we can. I also want to say that we're trying to project people over 60 years old. We're trying so hard and -- everything I've said today -- I'd like to preface it by saying, if you're 60 years old and especially if you're 60 or even less than that and you've had a heart condition or you've had diabetes or a problem of any kind -- it seeks out problems. This is a vicious -- it seeks out weakness, in terms of medical -- If somebody has any form of a heart problem or diabetes -- anything -- it seeks it out. It's a vicious, vicious virus. But I want to just say to the people that have lost family and have lost loved ones, and the people that have just suffered so badly, and just made it -- and just made it -- that we love you. We're with you. We're working with you. We're supplying vast amounts of money, like never before. We want that money to get to the people, and we want em to get better. And we want them -- you can never really come close to replacing, when you've lost some -- no matter how well we do next year, I think our economy is going to be raging. It's going to be so good. No matter how well, those people can never ever replace somebody they love. But we're going to have something that they're going to be very proud of. And to the people that have lost someone, there's nobody -- I don't sleep at night thinking about it. There's nobody that's taken it harder than me. But at the same time I have to get this enemy defeated. And that's what we're doing, David. That's what we're doing. As indicated in the bolded passages above, Trump expressed sympathy for the families who had suffered and lost loved ones to COVID-19, said he \"didn't sleep night at night thinking about it,\" and asserted that nobody had taken \"it\" (i.e., grappling with the effects of the pandemic) harder than himself. He perhaps undercut his message somewhat by mixing in the anguish of losing loved ones to disease (\"those people can never ever replace somebody they love\") with talk about recharging the economy (\"I think our economy is going to be raging ... we're going to have something that they're going to be very proud of\"), but he did not say anything that could reasonably be interpreted as meaning that coronavirus related deaths \"didn't hurt anyone as much as it hurt me.\" ABC News.  \"TRANSCRIPT: ABC News Anchor David Muir Interviews President Trump in Arizona.\"\r  5 May 2020.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1FpH_CXy4qzYjBH9lucMAf506Cd8GbPo6","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1073","claim":"Millions of dollars are spent by Planned Parenthood to elect Democrats to the House of Representatives and the Senate.","posted":"10\/08\/2015","sci_digest":[],"justification":"During the debate on a bill to defund Planned Parenthood, U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., alluded to secretly recorded videos that prompted the legislation and then made a claim about the group's political activity. If you watch this debate, you have to ask: How could anybody defend the practices at Planned Parenthood? Duffy said on the House floor on Sept. 18, 2015, the day the House approved the one-year defunding. \"Harvesting body parts. How could anybody defend that? It's an easy answer. Look at the political season. Millions of dollars, millions of dollars are spent by Planned Parenthood to elect Democrats to the House of Representatives and to the Senate. This isn't about babies; this is about money.\" A reader asked us to check Duffy's claim. The videos, first released in July 2015, show Planned Parenthood officials offhandedly discussing how they sometimes procure tissue from aborted fetuses for medical research. The anti-abortion Center for Medical Progress, which recorded the videos, alleges that Planned Parenthood is illegally profiting from fetal organ sales. However, Planned Parenthood asserts that it has done nothing illegal and that the videos were edited in a misleading way. The defunding bill, which has yet to be taken up by the U.S. Senate, would end federal payments to Planned Parenthood for a year, diverting the money to thousands of community health centers. Republicans say those clinics could handle the displaced Planned Parenthood patients, but Democrats argue that the centers are overburdened and sometimes located in remote areas. Planned Parenthood receives around $450 million each year in federal payments, mostly Medicaid reimbursements for handling low-income patients. That's about one-third of the organization's $1.3 billion annual budget. Regarding Planned Parenthood's political activity, some of this ground was covered when Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina made a similar claim. She stated that Planned Parenthood funnels millions of dollars in political contributions to pro-abortion candidates. PolitiFact National rated the statement \"Mostly True.\" Millions have been spent, but the caveat is that the operational medical clinics of Planned Parenthood cannot spend money in politics\u2014separate entities affiliated with Planned Parenthood can. Duffy's claim was a little different\u2014that Planned Parenthood spent millions to elect Democrats to the House and Senate. We found, using figures from the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, that this was indeed the case. In the 2014 election cycle alone, Planned Parenthood-affiliated groups that can't give directly to candidates or coordinate with them, such as Planned Parenthood Votes, a Super PAC, made over $6 million in independent expenditures. This included $1.85 million spent in support of Democrats and $2.87 million spent against Republicans. Additionally, Planned Parenthood's PAC contributed nearly $590,000 to congressional candidates, all of whom were Democrats. The numbers would be higher, of course, if previous cycles were included. Our rating: Duffy said, \"Millions of dollars are spent by Planned Parenthood to elect Democrats to the House of Representatives and the Senate.\" By law, the operational medical clinics of Planned Parenthood cannot spend money in politics. However, separate entities affiliated with Planned Parenthood can, and they spent millions just in the 2014 election cycle to elect Democrats. We rate Duffy's statement \"Mostly True.\"","issues":["Abortion","Campaign Finance","Elections","Federal Budget","Health Care","Women","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1074","claim":"One Texas school district alone -- Austin ISD -- is expected to lose more than $530 million in local property taxes to Robin Hood this year.","posted":"07\/19\/2017","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Texas House Speaker Joe Straus hinted at theTexas Houses derailed push for more state education aidby asserting that absent fresh action, Austin taxpayers can count on ponying up more than half a billion dollars to schools in other places this year. The San Antonio Republican prefaced his Austin-centric claim by rehashing his view that Texas overly relies on property taxes to fund the schools. Property taxes are going up, and more and more of those dollars are going to school districts in other parts of the state through the Robin Hood system, Straus said in anemail blastdistributed two days before the July 2017 special session called by Gov. Greg Abbott. Straus elaborated: School districts are expected to send away $2 billion through Robin Hood in the upcoming year. One district alone -- Austin ISD -- is expected to lose more than $530 million in local property taxes to Robin Hood this year. Is that accurate? Straus was referring to the Robin Hood or recapture facet of state law designed for equalization purposes so districts with rich tax bases share revenue with less property-wealthy districts. In July 2017,  before Straus made his claim, the Texas Education Agencysaid that some $2 billion all told would be redistributedvia the share-the-wealth mechanism in 2017-18. In 2016,we found Truea claim by Travis County state Sen. Kirk Watson that in Austin, the average homeowner is paying about $1,300 to $1,400 just for recapture. That fact-check said the district for 2016-17 would be forwarding more than $400 million for schools elsewhere. Straus cites newspaper Asked how Straus reached the larger $530-million figure, a Straus spokesman, Jason Embry, said by email that Straus relied on a June 19, 2017, Austin American-Statesmannews storyabout the Austin districts board of trustees approving a nearly$1.5 billion budget for 2017-18. The story said the districts recapture payment this year is expected to be $534 million, an increase of 32 percent, or $127.8 million, over 2016-17. It quoted Nicole Conley, the districts chief financial officer, saying the district expects to pay more than $1 billion in recapture payments during the next two years. Austin school districts calculation When we reached out to the district, spokeswoman Cristina Nguyen specified that according to calculations taking into account expected student enrollment and tax collections, Austins estimated payments would total $533,874,730 for the 2017-18 school year. She emailed us the districts calculations,viewable here. Another district spokeswoman, Tiffany Young, sent an email pointing out a May 2017 district chart suggesting its recapture payments could top $800 million by the 2020-21 school year: SOURCE: Document,FY2018 Recommended Budget,Austin Independent School District, May 2017 (web link received by email from Tiffany Young, senior communication specialist, AISD, July 17, 2017) States preliminary analysis We also asked the Texas Education Agency how much the Austin district will be expected to forward in recapture money in 2017-18. By email, Lauren Callahan guided us to an agency estimate, last updated June 21, 2017, of $513,633,317. Thats $20 million less than the districts announced estimate. But Callahan also cautioned that the state figure is preliminary and likely to increase depending on the districts tax rate. Callahan wrote: We use different estimates of local property tax collections as well as different estimates of student counts, both of which affect the estimate of recapture. Our numbers tie together when all final data is reconciled. Our ruling Straus said the Austin district is expected to lose more than $530 million in local property taxes to Robin Hood this year. As of May 2017, the Austin district estimated that in 2017-18 it would flow nearly $534 million in local property tax revenue through the states school finance system, nicknamed Robin Hood, to help equalize school funding across the state. We rate this claim True. TRUE The statement is accurate and theres nothing significant missing. Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.","issues":["Education","State Budget","Texas"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1JX9KX7LV6GlkfGwz3X8bFLNEJFPt4hM4","image_caption":"SOURCE"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1075","claim":"The Truth About Slenderman","posted":"01\/20\/2017","sci_digest":["In 2014, two 12-year-old girls arrested for stabbing a schoolmate in Waukesha, Wisconsin told police they did it to appease a towering supernatural being with tentacles for arms named \"Slenderman.\""],"justification":"On 31 May 2014, three 12-year-old girls embarked on a \"birdwatching\" expedition in a wooded area near their homes in Waukesha, Wisconsin, which ended with one of them being stabbed 19 times and left for dead. Seriously injured, the victim managed to crawl to a nearby road, where she was found and taken to a hospital. She told police that her friends had attacked her. The other two girls were arrested and charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide. The weapon used in the attack was found among their belongings. They admitted to planning and executing the crime. Under interrogation, they claimed they did it to appease a supernatural being called Slenderman (aka Slender Man), who was described in a Newsweek article as \"an evil character who lives only on the Internet.\" According to the criminal complaint obtained by Newsweek, Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier, both 12, discovered Slenderman on Creepypasta Wiki, a website dedicated to Internet horror stories (its tagline: Proudly hosting 12,151 of your worst nightmares since 2010). They believed he was real. In early 2014, Geyser and Weier decided to become what they called proxies of Slenderman, thereby proving their dedication to him and his existence to skeptics. To do so, they would have to kill someone. Although months in the planning, their mission did not succeed. The victim, Payton Leutner, recovered, though she still lives in fear for her life, according to her mother. The accused were tried as adults and pleaded guilty to the attack but argued in court that they weren't responsible for their actions due to mental illness. In December 2017, Weier was sentenced to 25 years in a psychiatric institution. Geyser has yet to face sentencing. The incident was cast as a cautionary tale for parents by Waukesha police chief Russell Jack, who cited it as a consequence of allowing children unsupervised access to the Internet. Keeping children safe is more challenging than in years past. The Internet has changed the way we live. It is full of information and wonderful sites that teach and entertain. However, it can also be filled with dark and wicked things. While it's true that there are \"dark and wicked things\" to be found on the Internet (as in life, generally), and children's use of the Internet ought indeed to be supervised, to suggest that the Slenderman materials viewed by the accused are \"wicked,\" in any deeper sense than, say, a Stephen King novel is \"wicked,\" is to misunderstand them. The Slenderman \"mythos,\" as the accumulated stories, images, and commentary related to the character have come to be called, is a blend of fiction and folklore. It's a crowd-sourced horror story that hearkens back to boogeyman tales of old. The first time the name \"Slender Man\" appeared anywhere in print or on screen was on the entertainment website SomethingAwful.com on 10 June 2009. Someone started a thread in a discussion forum, essentially a Photoshop contest, entitled \"Create Paranormal Images.\" Among the early entries was one posted under the pseudonym \"Victor Surge\" (later identified as member Eric Knudsen), consisting of an old photograph manipulated to depict a tall, faceless human-like figure with tentacle-like arms lurking in the shadows near a children's playground. Inspired by this example, others contributed photos and backstories expanding on Surge's themes, and the piecemeal construction of the Slenderman mythos, a collaborative project from the start, was underway. As Surge himself suggested, it was also, from the beginning, a patchwork of cultural influences: \"Where did you get the source for Slender Man? Or was he done from scratch? The Slender Man as an idea was made up off the top of my head, although the concept is based on a number of things that scare me. The name I thought up on the fly when I wrote that first bit. The asset I used for a couple of the pictures was the creepy tall guy from Phantasm, which sadly I have not seen, and the others various guys in suits. All of the things that aren't the torso and legs, like the tentacles and Slender Man's face, were painted from scratch.\" By the time middle-schoolers Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier encountered the Slenderman character years later, the mythos had grown considerably and was being archived on fan sites like Creepypasta Wiki (creepypasta being an Internet slang term for user-created horror stories and images). It's where, for example, the girls would have read that Slenderman uses fear to control people's minds and then kills them. He is described as wearing a black suit strikingly similar to the visage of the notorious Men In Black, and as the name suggests, appears very thin and able to stretch his limbs and torso to inhuman lengths in order to induce fear and ensnare his prey. Once his arms are outstretched, his victims are put into something of a hypnotized state, where they are utterly helpless to stop themselves from walking into them. He is also able to create tendrils from his fingers and back that he uses to walk on in a similar fashion to Doctor Octopus. The superhuman stretching ability could also be seen as a similarity between himself and Mr. Fantastic. Whether he absorbs, kills, or merely takes his victims to an undisclosed location or dimension is also unknown, as there are never any bodies or evidence left behind in his wake to deduce a definite conclusion. It's also where they would have learned what a Slenderman \"proxy\" is: Proxy (plural: Proxies) is the term given to those who serve The Slender Man. The theory behind the name is that Proxies are entities or people who are under the influence or control of the Slender Man (or the same force that influences Slender Man) and act based on its wants and needs; hence, Proxies serve as an in-between (i.e., a proxy) for Slender Man. And it's where they would have been introduced to \"evidence\" that Slenderman sightings date back to the 16th century in Germany, where woodcuts documenting reports of a murderous so-called \"Tall Man\" (Der Gromann) with a spear-like arm and superfluous legs were allegedly found. According to legend, he was a fairy who lived in the Black Forest. Bad children who crept into the woods at night would be relentlessly chased by Der Gromann, who wouldn't leave them be until he either caught them or they were forced to tell their parents of their wrongdoing. Like other items purporting to constitute visual proof of Slenderman's existence, however, the woodcut is merely a doctored version of a Hans Holbein print (circa 1497) depicting a knight in armor \"pierced by Death's lance.\" It's hard not to admire the creativity that went into Slenderman. It's equally hard\u2014at least, from our point of view\u2014to subscribe to the view that it was done for a malevolent purpose or represents a \"dark and wicked\" side of the Internet. It's more accurate to characterize it as an ad hoc communal art project, or, if you're a folklorist and your bailiwick includes studying the spontaneous generation of stories, an updated, Internet-savvy instance of the age-old process of legend creation. American folklorist Andrea Kitta expressed just this view in a January 2017 interview with the website inews.co.uk: \"The internet is certainly helping to spread modern urban myths wider and faster than before.\" Kitta argues, however, that they are more or less exactly like traditional folklore. The only difference in some cases is that people may include a picture with the story, which adds to its believability. But all of these forms of folklore share many similarities. They tend to be set in the local or historic past, they are believable, and they contain variation. Folklorists see such tales as imbued with deeper social meanings. Shira Chess, author of Folklore, Horror Stories and the Slender Man (2014), explored these in comments to The Washington Post: \"We tell ourselves stories because we (humans) are storytelling animals,\" she wrote in an email. \"And, to that end, horror stories take on a specific significance and importance because they function metaphorically\u2014the horror stories that are the best are often metaphors for other issues that affect our lives on both cultural and personal levels.\" Slenderman, Chess says, is a metaphor for helplessness, power differentials, and anonymous forces. He's an infinitely morphable stand-in for things we can neither understand nor control, universal fears that can drive people to great lengths\u2014even, it would appear, very scary, cold-blooded lengths. Chess seems to be saying it's the feeling of helplessness and fear underlying them, not horror stories themselves, that can drive people to \"cold-blooded lengths.\" Andrea Kitta isn't so sure: Kitta believes that urban legends are sometimes wrongly blamed for shocking events. However, she also suggests it is possible they can exert an influence too. Sometimes people use folklore as a scapegoat, perhaps most famously in the Satanic Panic of the 1980s. But we would be remiss to assume that folklore is safe or benign. We're not in a position to judge to what extent, if any, the Slenderman materials viewed by Payton Leutner's accused attackers may have \"exerted an influence\" on their behavior. We would point out, however, that reports of such incidents have been very few and far between since the character was created in 2009. Perhaps, as Kitta says, folklore isn't always benign, but we should be wary when it's blamed for the bad things people do.","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1fUWW6tK-5xUIkEVG5jTYboV8lzq57H8Q","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1a_NBQSZ_70RTXiSJXvu2hwtfhQvxDRs4","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1oMLifI2XsE7RmIulxzR91_UhpM2WTcYX","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1076","claim":"Do Thieves Use Trash to Case Homes for Expensive Christmas Presents?","posted":"12\/27\/2016","sci_digest":["Although concealing boxes for big-ticket items is never a bad idea, no evidence suggests that flashy trash increases your risk of being robbed."],"justification":"Holidays like Christmas frequently inspire an uptick of crime avoidance tip of questionable merit, such as one popular rumor that indiscreet disposal of fancy gadget boxes can leave people open to an increased risk of robbery and theft. After 25 December 2016, Facebook was awash in warnings encouraging everyone to disguise their Christmas refuse from enterprising thieves \"shopping\" the flashiest trash: warnings   Police departments and municipal agencies (which are known to occasionally give shaky advice on social media) frequently included the tip in their holiday advice posts: municipal shaky advice included tip holiday advice  In some versions, discarded holiday boxes were compared to leaving doors open to thieves, so great was the purported risk:  Rumors were sufficiently pervasive to inspire mocking memes:    In the weeks leading up to the holidays, similar rumors about avoiding crime while shopping circulate and recirculate every year. As with most of these stories, the post-Christmas rumor that thieves use trash to target homes with desirable new items includes zero evidence to support the claim, just directives to drive your garbage to a second location to ward off crime and theft. The rumors imbue a sense of misplaced security at best (and at worst, a lingering fear among people who tossed their boxes before seeing the rumor).  shopping But is the risk high enough to justify concern and heightened caution? It is true that holiday-related crimes take place each year, and in December 2016 gift-grabbing robbers did make the news in several locations across the United States. Of particular note in those scenarios was that the victims did not appear to have been targets of trash-casing thieves, but rather selected at random, meaning that no amount of garbage rearranging would have spared them. One of the affected families was attending a religious service during the crime; by that rationale, you're arguably more likely to be robbed of your new things while driving your trash to a faraway recycling plant than because you discarded the boxes where thieves might view them.  gift-grabbing robbers news locations Another consideration worth remembering is that burglars, thieves, and other criminals need no particular inspiration to commit crimes, and are overwhelmingly opportunistic. Furthermore, many homes can reasonably be expected to have televisions, computers, gaming systems, and other valuable items inside them at any time of year. In 2014, Boston.com attempted to determine if the holidays in general carried a heightened risk of being robbed, and were unable to substantiate the claim. attempted Jokingly blaming the cultural influence of Home Alone (a film series that coincidentally prompted its own Christmas warning in 2016, thanks to a misfired joke) the newspaper also noted that the idea that the month of December is teeming with crime is often advanced by entities hawking preventive goods or services, such as cameras or security personnel: Christmas warning Every year, along with the snow and the Christmas lights, comes a flood of warnings to protect your home from burglars looking to take advantage of all the houses left empty during holiday vacations ... But google something along the lines of holiday home break-ins and youll see a lot of \"tips\" written by insurance agencies or companies selling home security systems. Not surprisingly, some of those tips include \"Buy our security equipment,\" or \"Get our insurance.\" So are holiday crime sprees just a myth cooked up by self-interested corporations and classic 90s films? Or do the numbers justify the fears? ... Boston.com dove into the stats from the last few years, punching our calculators and tabulating the averages to bring you the answer, which is... it kind of depends. The Boston Police Department breaks their crime data down by week, so we actually get to see how the trend changes within the month of December in 2012 and 2013 ... The first half of December is pretty normal (i.e. the blue and green bars are about the same height as the purple bar, which represents the average of all 52 weeks of the year), but in both years those last two weeks  where Christmas and New Years fall  saw significantly more burglaries than the normal week ... [but] Boston police dont keep separate numbers for home burglaries vs. burglaries of businesses, so not all of the break-ins were looking at happened at peoples houses. Its possible commercial burglary is more common during the holidays, while residential burglary is not (or vise versa)... Theres really no [discernible] pattern here. In 2012, November saw fewer than average home break-ins and December was roughly on par with the rest of the year. In 2013, November saw a few more break-ins than usual, but the numbers plummeted in December ... The Cambridge Police Department at least has an explanation for the tiny number of break-ins during December of 2013. The annual crime report from last year reads, The majority of this decline can be attributed to the eradication of three housebreak patterns that had been a problem from late September to mid-November.\" Boston.com concluded that while normal levels of concern were advisable, taking extensive precautions was not necessary. A 2013 CNN Money item took a separate stab at substantiating the belief that burglars are spurred on by holiday bounties, only to discover that December wasn't even the worst offender among calendar months (pointing to summer vacations as a larger problem). substantiating The piece was peppered with somewhat contradictory details, noting that burglaries peak in the summer nationally and citing travel as a known factor, before doling out the \"cut up your boxes\" advice: In several states, according to the FBI, December is the peak month for burglaries as folks leave homes unattended during the holidays ... Nationally, burglaries peak during the summer vacations, though December is close behind. Many families take off, leaving homes empty -- except for all the gifts. And winter storms can make it obvious that nobody's home. \"Criminals drive through neighborhoods looking for places to burglarize,\" said Hayden. \"If there's newly fallen snow that hasn't been shoveled, they figure the home is empty.\" He added that many townspeople put their beautifully decorated Christmas trees -- and all the gift packages stacked beneath them -- right at the front of the living room. \"Burglars can walk around and window-shop,\" said Hayden. The criminals are already aware that homes are filled with loot this time of year -- jewelry, televisions, smart phones and computers. Sometimes homeowners advertise what they got for Christmas by putting out for trash collection the empty boxes their gifts came in, according to Gary Holliday, deputy chief of the Knoxville, Tenn., police department ... To minimize risk, police advise homeowners to cut up boxes and stuff them into black garbage bags before putting them out for collection. \"Social media is a great thing for people but it's a great thing for criminals too,\" said Holliday. \"Criminals stake out the Internet.\" Social media, holiday home vacancy, and knowledge of attractive loot were all cited by police as possible factors, but no evidence indicated any or all of those circumstances caused anyone to fall victim or inspired crimes. Overall, police said thieves are aware of holiday gift-giving, suggesting that discarded boxes are not a primary contributor to Christmas crime. Not only was the notion of a Christmas crime spike mostly anecdotal, information suggesting thieves \"shopped\" from boxes at the curb appeared to come solely from speculation about criminal behavior, not the real-life practices of thieves. By most accounts, criminals target homes bearing signs of non-occupancy, not those \"advertising\" their loot. Bryan, Emory.  \"Tulsa Family's Home Burglarized While They're at Christmas Services.\"\r  WARN.  26 December 2016. Christie, Les.  \"Burglaries Jump During the Holidays.\"\r  CNN Money.  27 December 2013. James, Cory.  \"Burglars Are Caught on Camera Stealing Christmas Gifts from Fresno Home.\"\r  KFSN-TV.  24 December 2016. Matson, Emily.  \"How to Keep Your Home Secure from Christmas Burglars.\"\r  WICU.  22 December 2016. Kwong, Jessica.  \"Corona Del Mar Home Burglarized Monday After Christmas.\"\r  The Orange County Register.  26 December 2016. O'Brien, Kelly.  \"Its Not Clear Home Break-Ins Happen More Often During the Holidays.\"\r  Boston.com.  10 December 2014. Szalavitz, Maia.  \"10 Ways We Get the Odds Wrong.\"\r  Psychology Today.  1 January 2008. Yawn, Andrew J.  \"Protect Your Home by Doing This After Christmas.\"\r  Montgomery Advertiser.  24 December 2016. Associated Press.  \"Gretna Police, JP Deputies Replace Christmas Presents After Home Is Burglarized.\"\r  25 December 2016.","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1bvQ9R7mU7eF6puAo53VCneHJeVBTE9bZ","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1oKFse2HC5bG-VUnh8qaSBonVj1liAdQj","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1cGjIbTT3g9g51UmOFlADDe4Zpt1jfyC2","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1077","claim":"Hillary Clinton reduced her tax expenses by \"contributing\" $1 million to herself through the Clinton Foundation.","posted":"10\/01\/2016","sci_digest":["Accusations that Hillary Clinton padded her own pockets by deducting charitable donations to the Clinton Foundation appear to be baseless."],"justification":"An Internet meme circulating during the final weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign purported to reveal financial trickery on the part of Democratic contender Hillary Clinton, who allegedly deducted $1 million from her 2015 income tax return after donating it \"to herself\" via contributions to the Clinton Foundation. Assuming that this information came from the candidate's 2015 tax filing (released to the public earlier this year), we went to verify the accuracy of the claims. Our findings were as follows: 1. The return was a joint filing for both Hillary and William J. Clinton. 2. Their shared charitable donations totaled $1,042,000: $42,000 to Desert Classic Charities and $1 million to the Clinton Family Foundation. 3. Declaring an amount, say $1 million, as a charitable donation only reduces your taxable income; it doesn't mean your \"tax bill\" is reduced by that amount. 4. The Clinton Family Foundation is a separate entity from the Clinton Foundation. Inside Philanthropy describes the Clinton Family Foundation as \"a traditional private foundation that serves as the vehicle for the couple's personal charitable giving.\" It has neither staff nor offices. 5. According to Inside Philanthropy, the Clinton Family Foundation regularly disburses contributions to numerous different charities (one of which is, in fact, the Clinton Foundation). Digging into the Clinton Family Foundation's 2014 tax return reveals that they made around $3.8 million in grantmaking and held some $5.3 million in assets. Of total grantmaking in 2014, $1.8 million went to the Clinton Foundation, just under half of total giving. However, in 2013, the Clintons gave $1.8 million through their personal foundation, with only around a fifth of that money going to the Clinton Foundation, around the same share as in 2012. So where have all the other gifts gone? The short answer is to many different places. In 2014, the Clintons donated money to 70 nonprofits through their foundation. The picture looked similar the year before, with many grants falling in the range of $5,000 to $25,000. Recipients of the Clintons' generosity via the Clinton Family Foundation in 2014 ranged from the School of American Ballet to the Arkansas Children's Hospital Foundation to Wellesley College to the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity. The foundation's 2015 tax filing has not yet been made public, so we don't have an accounting of the organizations to which the $1 million contributed by the Clintons that year was disbursed. Regarding the apparent assumption that any monies donated to the Clinton Foundation simply end up in the Clintons' own pockets, we refer readers, once again, to Inside Philanthropy, which describes the actual work the foundation does, and to the charity rating service Charity Navigator, which gives the Clinton Foundation an overall score of 94.74 points out of 100 in terms of its financials, accountability, and transparency.","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=13ZQEIlv5UhgYb28oFAhptGKa1k713XCk"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1078","claim":"Was a study able to determine if a vegan diet might be more beneficial for the health of dogs compared to diets based on meat?","posted":"04\/13\/2022","sci_digest":["Vegan diets were described by researchers as less hazardous for dogs than conventional or raw meat-based diets."],"justification":"Well-rounded vegan diets may be less hazardous and better for the health of dogs compared to conventional meat or raw meat diets, according to research published in April 2022. Pets are a multibillion-dollar industry. According to estimates published in 2018, there are 471 million pet dogs and 373 million pet cats worldwide, which sets the international worth of pet food sales at nearly 132 billion euros. Such high demand has a significant impact on the environment, particularly in the sourcing of the animal and agricultural products that make up pet food. Feeding pets is also a lucrative market. In 2020, the vegan pet food market alone was worth $8.7 billion in the U.S. and was expected to grow to over $15 billion in the next six years. Because pets and their nutrition represent large shares of both the economy and its production line, researchers at the University of Winchester in the U.K. set out to determine which diets are best for the health of pets. To explore the links between diet and health, the team advertised an online survey through social media between May and December 2020 and analyzed the data of more than 2,500 dogs included in the survey responses from the pets' guardians. Each dog had been living with its guardian for at least one year. About half were fed conventional meat-based diets, around one-third raw meat, and 13% were fed a vegan diet. The survey included questions about the dogs' health, such as veterinary visits, medications, and overall health disorders, and consulted both the guardian and a veterinarian on the dog's health status. \"We believe our study of 2,536 dogs is by far the largest study published to date exploring health outcomes of dogs fed vegan and meat-based diets,\" wrote the researchers in a news release. It analyzed a range of objective data, as well as owner opinions and reported veterinary assessments of health. It revealed that the healthiest and least hazardous dietary choices for dogs are nutritionally sound vegan diets. Figures show the three main diets fed to the 2,536 dogs included in the survey. Publishing their work in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS One, the team found that overall, dogs on conventional meat diets were less healthy than those on raw meat or vegan diets. Previously, it was thought that raw meat diets were linked to an increased risk of pathogen exposure, while vegan diets might result in nutritional deficiencies. However, when necessary hygienic and nutritional supplements were taken into consideration, both diets were, by and large, shown to be healthier and less hazardous to the canine consumer. In summary, when jointly considering health outcomes and dietary hazards, our results and those of other studies indicate that the healthiest and least hazardous dietary choices for dogs are nutritionally sound vegan diets, concluded the researchers. However, there are several limitations to the study that should be taken into consideration. For one, it could be the case that dogs given a raw meat diet were not necessarily healthier than those given a conventional diet, but rather that their guardians might have been less likely to take their pets to a veterinarian. Because the frequency of veterinarian visits was considered a health indication, this internal bias may have skewed the results. Furthermore, dogs given a raw meat diet tended to be younger in age than those eating other diets, which could further explain why they were deemed healthier. The study authors also didn't factor in the sex or breed of each dog, a limitation that may have influenced the results, given that certain breeds are more prone to illness than others. Let's also look at the structure of the study itself. Participating guardians were asked to consider the main ingredients within their pets' normal diet, which means that a pet may not have been fed the identified diet exclusively, nor were treats or other dietary supplements excluded. It was also an opinion-based study in which respondents gave their thoughts on a dog's health in a non-standardized way. Additionally, because the survey was conducted online, this required that respondents have internet access and the time necessary to complete the survey, which may have excluded pet guardians of lower income statuses. Lastly, there is an inherent unconscious bias within the study structure, which means that a given guardian might have been expecting a better health outcome based on the preferred diet, and this expectation could have influenced how they responded to the survey question. While there is now scientific evidence to suggest that both raw meat and vegan diets are better than conventional diets alone, the study authors said more research is needed to determine which of the two is associated with better dog health outcomes. Dog guardians should ensure that all aspects of their dogs' nutrition are being met, regardless of primary diet preference. They should check pet food labels and consult with manufacturers to make sure that healthy practices are in place to provide nutritional soundness.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1leHDjUjCHJSv05DGTYTV8h0YTOo4_hxb"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1079","claim":"Sheldon Whitehouse voted for a $525-billion tax increase on the middle class.","posted":"11\/01\/2012","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Did U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, who characterizes himself as a champion of the middle class, vote for a $525-billion tax increase on that group?That's one assertion in atelevision adby Republican challenger Barry Hinckley.After raising an allegation about insider trading, which Whitehouse has strongly denied, the commercial says Whitehouse voted to raise taxes on middle-class families. The phrase $525 billion tax increase on the middle class flashes on the screen.The commercial offers no further information about what Hinckley is talking about, so we asked the Hinckley campaign for its backup.Campaign manager Patrick Sweeney said the ad refers to the Affordable Care Act, the health care plan often known as Obamacare, which Whitehouse supported. PolitiFact has examined similar claims, including one in which Hinckley declared that the law will add trillions of dollars in debt, a claimwe ruled False.The government's nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the legislation, designed to expand health coverage, will generate $525 billion in revenue. A lower estimate by Congress' nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation predicted it will bring in more than $437.8 billion. Sweeney said the ad is using the CBO estimate.But there are a few significant facts the ad doesn't mention.First, that's not money raised over one year. It'sover 10 years, from 2010 through 2019 for legislation that is being gradually phased in. In 2019, annual revenue is expected to have risen to $88.2 billion.Second, most of the money won't be coming from the middle class, as the ad states.For example, a huge chunk of the revenue, $210 billion of the $437.8 billion in the Joint Committee estimate, comes from both a higher Medicare payroll tax to be paid by individuals earning more than $200,000 a year ($250,000 for couples filing jointly) and from a new 3.8 percent tax on investment income if your income is already high.Those take effect in 2013 and are taxes that middle class families will not see.Other taxes aren't geared to the middle class either, although all taxpayers may have to foot the bill indirectly as the extra costs are factored into the goods and services they buy.They include a fee for pharmaceutical manufacturers and importers (which will raise an estimated $27 billion); an excise tax on manufacturers and importers of medical devices ($20 billion); and a fee on health insurance providers ($60.1 billion).In addition, there's the excise tax on indoor tanning services (expected to raise $2.7 billion) and the stricter limit on deducting medical expenses on tax returns, which is expected to raise $15.2 billion. Both will have a more direct effect on the well-tanned or very-ill middle class.One other element of the law that will affect the middle class is the provision of Obamacare known as theindividual mandate. It requires people to pay an annual penalty if they don't buy health insurance. It takes effect in 2014, starting off at a minimum of $95 for an individual and rising to $695 per year in 2016. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld that controversial provision by characterizing it as a tax, not a penalty.Is this a tax\/penalty on the middle class?The CBO, the source used by the Hinckley campaign, has estimated that by 2016, 55 percent of the money collected via the individual mandate will come from people with incomes in the top 20 percent, which is a family of four making roughly $120,000 or more.So less than half the money will be coming from middle class Americans.How much money is involved?About $4 billion in 2016. The amount coming from the middle class and lower class: roughly $1.8 billion.To put that in perspective, $1.8 billion is 3 percent of the $57 billion or so Obamacare will be raising from everyone in 2016.Our rulingBarry Hinckley said Sheldon Whitehouse voted for a $525 billion tax increase on the middle class.The ad doesn't say that it's really talking about Obamacare, and that the money is designed to help pay for health coverage for the uninsured, many of whom are in the middle class.It also doesn't point out that the $525 billion is spread out over 10 years, through 2019. Most of it doesn't come from the middle class.And of the $4 billion the government expects to collect each year from people who choose not to purchase health insurance, less than half will come from the middle class.The claim in the Hinckley ad is so ridiculously off base, we rate itPants on Fire! (Get updates from PolitiFact Rhode Island on Twitter:@politifactri. To comment or offer your ruling, visit us on ourPolitiFact Rhode Island Facebookpage.)","issues":["Rhode Island","Economy","Health Care","Message Machine 2012","Voting Record","Taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1080","claim":"The Russian ruble is currently depreciating.","posted":"03\/02\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"American and European leaders find themselves scrambling to respond to Russias deployment of troops in the Crimean Peninsula of Ukraine. With military action on no ones wish-list, diplomacy and economic sanctions are the only moves effectively in play. Secretary of State John Kerry said on CBSFace the Nationthat he had been on the phone with his counterparts among the G-8 nations. Every single one of them are prepared to go to the hilt in order to isolate Russia with respect to this invasion, Kerry said. Theyre prepared to put sanctions in place, theyre prepared to isolate Russia economically, the ruble is already going down. Russia has major economic challenges. This fact-check zeros in on the value of the Russian ruble. It has declined but partly because thats what the Russians wanted. A big drop In the early part of 2013, the ruble was worth 3.3 U.S. cents. Today, its value has tumbled by 15 percent, to 2.8 cents. A little less than half of that fall came in January as the situation in Ukraine deteriorated. Heres the picture over the past year, taken from the currency exchange serviceXE.com:   There is no question that the violence and political turmoil in Ukraine took a toll on the ruble. Russian banks have about $28 billion in loans in the country. Before the Russian troops moved in, investors were already worried. Last week,two of the largest banks in Russiasaid they would suspend any new lending in Ukraine. But the rubles decline has deeper roots. In 2010, the Russian Central Bank announced it wanted to get out of the business of setting the rubles value on the international market. It had in mind a gradual glide path for the currencys fall, andin October, it gave the ruble even more leewayto drop further. The countrys economy grew less than 2 percent last year, and it has struggled to keep inflation in check. The ruble got pretty over-valued in the big energy boom from 2001-08, said Mark Adomanis, a management consultant and contributor to Forbes. That hurt Russian manufacturing and letting the ruble fall potentially could help. With a weaker ruble Russian goods become more competitive on international markets, Adomanis said. That said, a free fall is not what the Russian Central Bank has in mind. In January,the bank signaled that it would stepin to prop up the ruble. But the overall policy remains the same. Our ruling Kerry said the ruble is going down, and it is. The Russian currency has lost about 15 percent of its value against the dollar since early 2013. It is not all because of the situation in Ukraine, however, a fact that viewers may not have picked up on by hearing Kerry's statement. The currencys decline is also part of Russian policy to reduce inflation and make domestic manufacturers more competitive. Theres a little more going on here than Kerrys statement would suggest. We rate his claim Mostly True.","issues":["National","Economy","Foreign Policy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/kGJMlPV8libfb_Bf0JjGj52aAYDUAh1fMF1RgiQbwL2Tejf_QCCPpcrLzInQdteneuIPsCRbwPGxuIKICNkG0caq-IB38t6PuD2I-cqO71aNc0EPTcMf70tTkw","image_caption":"Face the Nation"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1081","claim":"Is Trump's Name Set to Feature on COVID-19 Stimulus Checks?","posted":"04\/15\/2020","sci_digest":["While the unprecedented move could potentially delay these payments, U.S. Treasury officials insist the checks \"are scheduled to go out on time and exactly as planned.\""],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease. \n\nIn April 2020, millions of Americans who lost income due to circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic were waiting for promised relief payments from the United States government. So when news broke that U.S. President Donald Trump was making the \"unprecedented\" move of having his name added to these stimulus checks\u2014a decision that could potentially delay their arrival by several days\u2014many citizens took to social media to voice their displeasure. Trump's name is indeed being added to the COVID-19 stimulus checks, otherwise known as Economic Impact Payments. As of this writing, however, officials at the U.S. Treasury Department insist this will not result in any delays. \n\nThe Washington Post first reported on Trump's decision on April 14, 2020. According to the news outlet, Trump's name is expected to appear in the memo line of the check, not as the payment's official signatory, and this will be the \"first time that a president's name appears on an IRS disbursement.\" The Treasury Department has ordered President","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1hViO_aZMqXaOUDQjNdgtQkiNc1zO37Qj"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1082","claim":"Israel Offered 'Free Therapy' with BetterHelp Co. for Those 'Affected by the War'?","posted":"10\/16\/2023","sci_digest":["In the wake of Hamas surprise attack on Israel in October 2023, the countrys official X account gained attention."],"justification":"As violence escalated in Israel and Palestine in early October 2023, many online readers noticed an unusual promotion posted on the official X account for the state of Israel: six months of free mental health services with the company BetterHelp for people in Israel affected by the war. In a viral TikTok, user pearlmania500 shared a screenshot of the post from X, expressing surprise at the announcement: Israel declared war, and then they declared a collab with BetterHelp. [...] What the f*ck is next? HelloFresh for Ukraine? UberEats for Syria? pearlmania500   This was indeed a real post on X, published by the verified account of the state of Israel. The full post, published on Oct. 10, 2023, stated: Thank you to all of the incredible Israeli companies, volunteers and individuals who are coming together to help as many people during this horrific time. @betterhelp, a company which offers therapy is providing 6 months of free therapy to those affected by the war in Israel. stated  The conflict began on Oct. 7, 2023, when the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel from Gaza, resulting in the deaths of 1,400 Israelis, as of the time of this writing. Israel subsequently declared war and attacked and blockaded Gaza, actions that resulted in the deaths of more than 2,000 Palestinians, as of this writing. There are at least 200 known Israeli hostages taken by Hamas militants. Experts, according to The New York Times, believe the hostages are being held in underground tunnels in the Gaza Strip. Hamas' attacks came after months of surges in violence against Palestinians by the Israeli military. Gaza is presently facing a humanitarian crisis as a result of Israeli strikes. launched 1,400 attacked 2,000 200 believe months presently We looked up BetterHelp's \"Israel Support\" page. There is no restriction on who receives therapy from the service, which states on the website that it \"is available to anyone impacted, regardless of location and nationality.\" The company does, however, require users to submit a valid payment method to prevent abuse, adding that the card will not be charged. The website directs users to a questionnaire asking them to put in their identifying information, including marital and economic status.  Israel Support states (Screenshot via BetterHelp.com) Chris Stenrud, a spokesperson for Teladoc Health, a telemedicine company that acquired BetterHelp in 2015, reached out to us to emphasize, \"This is an independent initiative, and we have not worked with the Israeli government on this or any other organization. The support is not limited to Israelis and applies to anyone affected by the war, anywhere.\" acquired We should note that Alon Matas, the founder and president, according to his profile on Teladoc, has led product development and strategy for startups, enterprises and the Israeli Defense Forces. profile Teladoc We should also note that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said that BetterHelp had previously shared customers health data  which it had promised to keep private, including information about mental health challenges  with companies like Facebook and Snapchat. In March 2023, BetterHealth agreed to settle with the FTC by returning $7.8 million to customers, and an FTC order restricted how they could share consumer data in the future.  said March 2023 Given that this was a real post from the verified account of the state of Israel, we rate this as a Correct Attribution. \"Alon Matas, President BetterHelp.\" Teladoc. https:\/\/www.teladochealth.com\/about\/leadership\/alon-matas\/#:~:text=Alon%20Matas%20is%20the%20president,operations%2C%20partnerships%20and%20product%20development. Accessed 17 Oct. 2023. \"2021 Investor Day.\" Teladoc, 18 Nov. 2021, s21.q4cdn.com\/672268105\/files\/doc_presentations\/2021\/Teladoc-Health-2021-Investor-Day-Final.pdf. Al-Mughrabi, Nidal, et al. Israeli Strikes on Gaza Intensify as Humanitarian Crisis Deepens. Reuters, 16 Oct. 2023. www.reuters.com, https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/middle-east\/gaza-border-crossing-set-reopen-israeli-troops-prepare-ground-assault-2023-10-15\/.Accessed 16 Oct. 2023. BetterHelp Shared Users Sensitive Health Data, FTC Says. AP News, 2 Mar. 2023, https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/betterhelp-ftc-health-data-privacy-befca40bb873661d1f8986bb75d8df07.Accessed 16 Oct. 2023. \"Israel-Hamas War News. CNN, 15 Oct. 2023, https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/middleeast\/live-news\/israel-news-hamas-war-10-15-23\/index.html.Accessed 16 Oct. 2023. Gaza and West Bank Death Toll Reaches 2,383 Palestinians - Ministry. Reuters, 15 Oct. 2023. www.reuters.com, https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/middle-east\/gaza-west-bank-death-toll-reaches-2383-palestinians-ministry-2023-10-15\/.Accessed 16 Oct. 2023. Gettleman, Jeffrey, and Tamir Kalifa. For Hostages Families, an Endless Loop of Hope and Despair. The New York Times, 16 Oct. 2023. NYTimes.com, https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/10\/16\/world\/asia\/israel-hostages-families-hamas-gaza.html.Accessed 16 Oct. 2023. Ibrahim, Nur. Were Israeli Babies Beheaded by Hamas Militants During Attack on Kfar Aza? Snopes, 12 Oct. 2023, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/news\/2023\/10\/12\/40-israeli-babies-beheaded-by-hamas\/.Accessed 16 Oct. 2023. Israel, Oct. 10, 2023. X (Formerly Twitter), https:\/\/twitter.com\/Israel\/status\/1711683167986327901. Accessed 16 Oct. 2023. Netanyahu, Gantz Agree to Form Emergency Unity Govt and War Cabinet. France 24, 11 Oct. 2023, https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/middle-east\/20231011-%F0%9F%94%B4-live-israeli-airstrikes-on-gaza-continue-death-toll-mounts-on-both-sides.Accessed 16 Oct. 2023. Two Palestinians Killed during Israeli Military Raid in West Bank Refugee Camp. PBS NewsHour, 24 Sept. 2023, https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/world\/two-palestinians-killed-during-israeli-military-raid-in-west-bank-refugee-camp.Accessed 16 Oct. 2023. Oct. 17, 2023: The story was updated to include a statement from Teladoc Health that offers BetterHelp services and that emphasized it did not have a partnership with the Israeli government.  Oct. 17, 2023: The claim at the top of this story was clarified to state this was a promotion, not a collaboration. We also included more details on the founder of BetterHelp in the body of the story.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ZKNEYIjabddXUMc8_f9UqqIMNLWWmwcW","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1083","claim":"Texans pay the sixth-highest property tax in the nation.","posted":"12\/01\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"After Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick saluted legislation potentially giving voters more sway over local property taxes, we wondered afresh about how Texas ranks nationally in terms of property tax burden. Patrick, talking upa proposalhatched by fellow Republicans led by Houston state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, said in a Nov. 29, 2016,press release: Texans pay the sixth-highest property tax in the nation, and Texans have told us loud and clear that common-sense property tax reform legislation is long overdue. In January 2016,we found Mostly Truethe same claim by a Bexar County legislative aspirant. The business-orientedTax Foundation, a national group, drew on 2013 Census Bureau datato mapthe average amount of residential property tax paid as a percentage of home value state by state. By that metric, the Texas rate of 1.9 percent proved higher than the rates in 44 states; it was topped by the rates for Wisconsin, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Illinois and No. 1 New Jersey at 2.38 percent. Still, we noted, property taxes in Texas are levied locally in Texas, resulting in ample differences in the burden depending on where taxpayers live. Rankings yet to be updated Not a lot has changed since we reached that conclusion. For starters, the rankings  showing Texas with the sixth highest mean effective property tax rate on owner-occupied housing  havent been updated, the foundations Jared Walczak said to our inquiry. Yet, Walczak also told us by email, this does not make Texas a high-tax state. Texas has chosen to rely more heavily on property taxes, and less heavily on other taxes, than many peer states, foregoing some altogether. The state's tax structure is an important part of its economic success, and it is inevitable that, when a state foregoes an individual income tax, some other tax will be somewhat higher than it might otherwise have been. In fact, the foundation has previously reported that in 2012Texas ranked 46thin state-local taxes per resident. Why property taxes can be high Property taxes might be higher here becauseunlike most states, Texas levies no state income tax. Notably too, unlike in some states, Texas property tax rates are set locally, not by the state,according to the Texas state comptroller, with government units spending the revenue to provide local services including schools, streets and roads, police and fire protection and many others. Moreover, the state lacks the constitutional authority to levy a property tax, as the Texas Legislative Council noted in a2002 overviewof local taxes statewide. Generally under the current system, a county appraisal district does an annual property valuation, then each area city, county, school and special district (like hospital and road districts) sets the respective tax rate necessary to raise the money needed to fund the related adopted budget. And according to Census data, property taxes in 2013, the latest year of available data, were the source of 81.6 percent of local tax revenue in Texas (the national average for this figure was 46.7 percent). Updated information is to be posted Dec. 9, 2016, bureau spokesman Sean Patrick told us by email. Regional differences When we looked into this topic before, advocates including Dick Lavine of the liberal-leaning Center for Public Policy Priorities and Dale Craymer of the business-backed Texas Taxpayers and Research Association suggested we consider acomparison studyby the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy showing that property owners in the biggest cities of Texas, especially Houston and San Antonio, had some of the highest property taxes in 2014 compared with large cities in other states. That remained so the next year, according to aJune 2016 institute studyindicating, for instance, that El Paso homeowners in 2015 ranked No. 3 among the countrys 50 most populous cities in homestead property taxes on a $150,000 property or $300,000 property. Among the 50 cities, homestead taxes in large Texas cities including Austin, Dallas and San Antonio ranked No. 5 (Fort Worth) to No. 13 (Houston), according to the report. The disparity between property taxes by county comes through in real-dollar terms, although measures of taxes in terms of dollars paid can be distorted by the difference in home prices from county to county. A Tax Foundationmapshows in real dollars just how much property taxes vary from county to county based on IRS data reflecting the amount of real estate taxes deducted from federal taxes. In 2013, Texas counties with residents paying the most were Travis ($7,553), Kendall ($6,916) and Fort Bend ($6,813), while those paying the least are Dickens ($1,325), Stonewall ($1,425) and Hudspeth ($1,450). Another factor to think about when considering the property tax burden for the average Texan is the rate of home ownership. The Tax Foundation map showing Texas tied for sixth-highest in property taxes considered the percentage of home value thats paid in property taxes on owner-occupied housing. In 2015, 61.1 percent of Texas housing was owner-occupied, tying the state with Oregon for the nations sixth-lowest rate,according tothe Census Bureau. Our ruling Patrick said: Texans pay the sixth-highest property tax in the nation. While it may be true that on average, Texas property taxes are the sixth-highest in the nation, the actual taxpayer burden on residents can vary greatly by locality, making the average less representative. We rate the claim Mostly True. MOSTLY TRUE The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check","issues":["Taxes","Texas"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1084","claim":"'Moving to Canada' Search Spike?","posted":"03\/09\/2016","sci_digest":["Google said search queries about moving to Canada spiked on Super Tuesday, but that spike didn't seem to crash Canada's immigration website by itself."],"justification":"On 1 March 2016, a number of American states held \"Super Tuesday\" primaries. The next day, Google Trends tweeted that searches originating from the United Statesaboutemigrating from the toCanada reached an all-time high: Super Tuesday Searches for \"Move to Canada\" are higher than at any time in Google history #SuperTuesday pic.twitter.com\/0KBJPrHdEO #SuperTuesday pic.twitter.com\/0KBJPrHdEO  GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) March 2, 2016 Google offered no explanation for the spike, but on2 March 2016, the Washington Post published apiecethat maintained thatthe real winner of Super Tuesday was \"Canada\":  piece Donald Trump was projected to win in at least seven states. Chris Christie, who endorsed Trump last week, was shown standing behind the Republican presidential front-runner wearing an expression of unmasked horror. And, the government of Canadas immigration website was experiencing delays. Coincidence? The Internet didnt think so. By the end of the night, Trump had secured victories in seven states, well ahead of his competitors. But his popularity wasnt apparent on Facebook and Twitter, where users lamented the billionaire real estate moguls rise and contemplated fleeing the country ... Simon Rogers, a data editor at Google, noted that the phrases search popularity had increased by 350 percent between 8 p.m. and midnight Eastern. At midnight, the spike reached 1,500 percent. To quote Trump himself, Just look at the numbers, way up! The Washington Post included a tweet of a screenshot of the Canadian immigration web site published late on 1 March 2015:  Canada's immigration website is being overloaded with web traffic after Super Tuesday results. pic.twitter.com\/JqxW8ZSUHB  jay newman (@Big_Dread) March 2, 2016 pic.twitter.com\/JqxW8ZSUHB March 2, 2016  However, it wasn't immediately clear whether Super Tuesday (or any other specific event) spurred the search spike. U.S. News & World Report dug into the data, and discovered that the searches were indeed highest in two states where Trump won primaries on Super Tuesday (Massachusetts and Virginia). discovered But that outlet uncovered some other related search data that suggested the cause and effect wasn't necessarily cut and dried. For example, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders received equal attention in related searches, but no one seemed to be blaming the spike on him:    Vox pointed out that while the spike following the re-election of George W. Bush appeared smaller, that was also a periodbeforesmartphones and widespread use of social media. TIME reported that immigration did increasefollowing that election, but no one is sure specifically what caused thatuptick. (Confounding factors like a weak economy or increased internet relationships could have also been factors.) pointed reported Shortly after the story made its rounds, psychology professor Adam Alter speculatedthat few truly would leave the United States: speculated In truth, though, few of Trumps detractors are likely to leave the country because of Novembers results. And had Mitt Romney won in 2012, as I wrote then for the Atlantic, few diehard supporters of President Obamas would have done so, either. This pattern has a history: Twelve years ago, as George W. Bush took a commanding lead over John F. Kerry in the polls, Canadian immigration applications tripled. Visits to the immigration departments website skyrocketed from an average of 20,000 per day to 115,000 the day after Bush won the election. A small crop of diehard liberals followed through, but U.S-Canadian immigration was ultimately unchanged in the year following the election. Two years later, conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh promised to move to Costa Rica if the Affordable Care Act passed. It did, but Limbaugh still lives in Palm Beach, Fla. Why do so many disgruntled voters threaten to leave the country, only to see so few actually follow through? Because people overestimate how much pain theyll feel when they experience a dreaded outcome. A key aspect of the rumor hinged on the number of Americans searching for ways to get out of the country on Canada'sofficial immigration site, but when we visited that link on 9 March 2016, a nearly identical error message appeared: link    The exact impetus for the rise insearchesfor the phrase \"move to Canada\" remains unclear.WhileAmericans on both sides of the aislethreaten to leave thecountry for political reasons during every election, studiessuggest that only a handful follow through with such plans. Also, reported error messages on the Canadian immigration website on 1 March 2016 were still in place on 9 March 2016, more than a weekafterthe spike in searches abated. ","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=12oP1exXOrUnu9u8bgxSqRGhjopYw6dQ8","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1eLoQ9spzgRXCtqIonpDVvol4wesflOtt","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1085","claim":"Is the USPS deliberately delaying mail to support Trump's reelection?","posted":"08\/06\/2020","sci_digest":["U.S. Postal Service workers nationwide reported backlogs of letters and packages in summer 2020. But was the issue political?"],"justification":"As U.S. President Donald Trump accelerated unsubstantiated attacks on the legitimacy of mail-in voting during the summer of 2020, numerous Snopes readers asked us to investigate whether the leader of the U.S. Postal Service was carrying out a nefarious scheme to help Trump win another presidential term. mail-in voting In late July and early August, various rumors surfaced regarding Louis DeJoy, a North Carolina businessman whom the Postal Service's governing board selected to run the agency in May 2020. For example, a viral tweet thread alleged: viral tweet My mailman just confirmed they have all officially been told to \"SLOW THE MAIL DOWN,\" per trump's Postmaster General...He says that there is backed up mail ALL OVER THE FLOOR. He's never seen anything like it. It has ALREADY begun. But as long as we keep each other informed, we can beat their dirty tricks with INFORMATION.   The claim's underlying notions were these: DeJoy was a political ally to the Republican president, and the new postmaster general had used his new authority to order Postal Service carriers and clerks to slow deliveries to help Trump win the 2020 November election. A backlog of ballots in the weeks or days before Election Day, critics of the president worried, could lead to votes going uncounted or deemed invalid due to state laws governing mail-in election deadlines. state laws What follows is an examination of federal documents obtained by Snopes  including letters by members of Congress, campaign finance reports, and internal memos to Postal Service employees  as well as interviews with postal union representatives and a Postal Service spokesperson, to determine the legitimacy of those questions. DeJoy could not be reached for an interview for this report.  Note: Snopes not only investigated DeJoy's relationship to Trump, but his financial stake in companies that compete with the Postal Service to evaluate if, or to what extent, his past investments provided any evidence of a plan to undermine the Postal Service's longstanding mission: to provide mail service to every American, no matter their address or income. Yes. DeJoy, who lives in Greensboro, donated more than $1.2 million to the Trump campaign between August 2016 and February 2020, according to campaign finance reports compiled by the Federal Elections Commission (FEC). Federal Elections Commission It's unclear when or how DeJoy developed a relationship with Trump, and why he decided to support the billionaire's political pursuits. In a 2005 interview with Greensboro's local newspaper, DeJoy  then-CEO of New Breed Logistics, a distribution and warehousing company  appeared less supportive of Trump, saying his self-important attitude on the reality-TV show \"The Apprentice\" was destructive. 2005 interview The Apprentice \"I'd be fired,\" DeJoy said, if he was a contestant. Nonetheless, by early 2017, DeJoy was among his state's top donors to Trump (see below for The Charlotte Observer's list that ranks DeJoy at No. 3 with a total contribution of $111,000). And by October of that year, DeJoy had become close enough to the president to host him and other donors for fundraiser at his Greensboro house. top donors Greensboro house.     Also, by that time, DeJoy's wife, Aldona Wos, had been appointed by the president to serve as vice chair of a White House commission that oversees paid fellowships in federal offices, according to the couple's foundation website. foundation website In addition to his contributions to Trump's political campaigns specifically, DeJoy has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican causes or campaigns over decades, the FEC records show. The Postal Service's governing board, a group appointed by the president with confirmation from the Senate, selected DeJoy as Postmaster General on May 6, 2020, after what it described as an extensive nationwide search for qualified candidates. At the time of that decision, Trump had appointed all six board members  Chairman Robert Duncan, John Barger, Ron Bloom, Roman Martinez IV, Donald Moak, and William Zollars  since the early days of his presidency. what it described Robert Duncan John Barger Ron Bloom Roman Martinez IV Donald Moak William Zollars  DeJoy, who was in charge of fundraising for the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Charlotte when the board made its announcement, made the following donations since the start of 2020, according to filings from the FEC: National Republican Congressional Committee. National Republican Congressional Committee Facebook In sum, considering DeJoy's record of donations, as well as evidence of him hosting a Trump fundraiser at his Greensboro home in fall 2017, it is accurate to claim that the new postmaster general is a political ally to the Republican president.  home The answer to this question is less clear. In summer 2020, the viral claim about DeJoy  that he had directed carriers to delay mail to benefit Trump's reelection campaign (which we unpack below)  took on another layer: that DeJoy had also allegedly invested $70 million of his own money in delivery companies that compete with the Postal Service. another layer allegedly     That allegation, which we deemed true (see the explanation below), was particularly worrisome for critics of Trump and DeJoy, who believed the alleged holdings were more proof of the two leaders conspiring together  this time in an attempt to privatize the Postal Service. critics Here's some context before we dive into DeJoy's personal assets: Conservative Republicans have long pushed to remove government from mail services that they believe should be left to the private commercial market. Since Trump took office, he has called the Postal Service \"a joke\" or Amazon's \"delivery boy,\" considering its package rates, and has floated the idea of eventually privatizing the agency. a joke delivery boy eventually privatizing the agency Meanwhile, others fear dismantling the federally-mandated mail service would disproportionately affect people who live in rural areas, where private companies such as FedEx and UPS either charge higher rates or do no shipments at all. At the same time, the Postal Service  which does not receive tax dollars for its operating expenses  faces a worsening financial situation due to a 2006 congressional mandate that required the agency to prepay health care benefits of retirees, as well as a decline in first-class mail customers. The coronavirus pandemic exacerbated those long-standing problems, forcing several post offices nationwide to completely close or scale back hours. congressional mandate coronavirus pandemic scale back hours For instance, on April 9, 2020, roughly one month before DeJoy was selected to lead the Postal Service, then-Postmaster General Megan Brennan said the agency was preparing for a $13 billion revenue shortfall due directly to COVID-19 and an additional $54.3 billion in losses over 10 years. Considering those projections, she said the agency could run out of cash this fiscal year  or the end of September  without federal intervention. (Brennan announced her retirement in October 2019, after more than 30 years with the agency.) April 9, 2020 announced her retirement The former Postal Service leader made those comments shortly after federal leaders negotiated a $2.2 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package, called the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which, initially, included a $13 billion one-time boost for the mail service. But, purportedly at the urging of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and aides to Trump, congressional leaders removed that provision from the stimulus package, and instead included a $10 billion loan that the Trump administration could leverage in its favor. Then, on July 29, 2020, The Washington Post reported that under DeJoy's leadership, the postal agency gave Mnuchin's office's proprietary information about the Postal Service's most lucrative private-sector contracts, such as Amazon, FedEx and UPS, in exchange for the loan money. economic relief package Steven Mnuchin The Washington Post By that time, Congressional leaders and Trump were battling yet again over another emergency relief package; Democrats proposed a $25 billion boost for the Postal Service but then lowered that amount to $10 billion during talks with Republicans. On Aug. 13, 2020, during an interview on Fox Business Network, the president said frankly the tug-and-pull over Postal Service funding was part of his administration's plan to try to make it harder for the agency to handle the expected surge in mail-in ballots in the November election. If we dont make a deal, that means they dont get the money, Trump told host Maria Bartiromo, referring to the false claim that Democrats are are proposing a universal mail-in voting system. That means they cant have universal mail-in voting; they just cant have it. told Which brings us to DeJoy's assets, and the above-mentioned claim that he had \"$70 million invested in companies that compete with USPS.\" For the basis of this analysis, we considered private companies that provide shipping or distribution services, such as DHL, the FedEx Corporation, and United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS), business competitors with the post office. For more than 30 years, DeJoy was the CEO of New Breed Logistics, a supply chain business that contracted with a variety of public and private companies, including the Postal Service. In 2014, XPO Logistics acquired DeJoy's company, and he served on the company's executive team or board of directors until May 2018. According to internal documents, which we obtained using the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) database of company filings, XPO Logistics considered its competitors to include DHL, FedEx, UPS, and J.B. Hunt Transport Services.  XPO Logistics DHL FedEx UPS J.B. Hunt Transport Services Aside from that evidence, which proved DeJoy's former company competed for business with organizations that also competed with the Postal Service, Snopes uncovered a letter from his wife, Wos, to a White House legal advisor on January 3, 2020, that listed her family's financial assets, known as \"Attachment A.\" According to that list, the family had stock in companies including UPS, J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc., and XPO Logistics, Inc. letter She wrote the letter in response to a nomination by the Trump administration to serve as U.S. ambassador to Canada, and she said she would divest from all holdings in the document within 90 days of her confirmation. However, as of this writing, Wos had not been sworn into the position. The letter, which was available via the Office of Government Ethics, read: nomination Office of Government Ethics   As of June 15, 2020, the day DeJoy assumed his role as postmaster general, The Washington Post reported the couple had between $30.1 million and $75.3 million in assets in Postal Service competitors or contractors. XPO Logistics represented the vast majority of those investments, and the couple's combined stake in UPS and trucking company J.B. Hunt, for examples, was roughly $265,000. The Washington Post reported On DeJoy's first day, the Senate's top Democrat, Charles Schumer of New York, said in letter to the Postal Service's board of governors' chairman: \"[DeJoy's] financial interests in companies that have business ties with the Postal Services, as well as his extensive campaign fundraising efforts, raise questions\" over his ethical conflicts of interest and partisan interests. letter By that point, a spokeswoman for DeJoy told journalists he had resigned as finance chair for the Republican National Convention, and would \"comply with any financial divestitures that are required\" for the new leadership position. told journalists In sum, reports proved the DeJoy family at one point had millions of dollars in assets in companies that compete or contract with the Postal Service, which lend credibility to the viral assertion. But the exact amount of such investments was unclear, and as of this writing, it was unknown if or to what extent the couple had divested any of the financial holdings. Not exactly  but there is some truth to the claim. Upon our analysis, the rumor seems to have stemmed from a series of directives DeJoy gave Postal Service employees since he took over the agency. On his first day, for example, he addressed the agency in a video that alluded to impending changes under his leadership that aimed to create a \"viable operating model,\" though he did not go into specifics. video Then, in mid-July, he issued several memos to employees, including a \"New [Postmaster General's] expectations and plan.\" Those messages to all managers, clerks, and carriers nationwide appeared to be the source of the claim, and detailed changes to how and when the Postal Agency would deliver mail. A July 10, 2020, internal document to managers, which Snopes received from the American Postal Workers Union and refers to an \"operational pivot\" for the agency, said the following, for example: American Postal Workers Union The initial step in our pivot is targeted on transportation and the soaring costs we incur due to late trips and extra trips, which costs the organization somewhere around $200 million in added expenses. $200 million in added expenses The shifts are simple, but they will be challenging, as we seek to change our culture and move away from past practices previously used. But perhaps most relevant to the claim, the DeJoy-sponsored directives included instructions for employees to leave letters or packages at distribution centers if they delayed carriers from their routes  contradicting previous rules for deliveries  and said the Postal Service would no longer pay employees overtime to complete all mail deliveries. The July 10, 2020 memo said:  contradicting One aspect of these changes that may be difficult for employees is that  temporarily  we may see mail left behind or mail on the workroom floor or docks [in Processing and Distribution Centers], which is not typical. We will address root causes of these delays and adjust the very next day. Any mail left behind must be properly reported, and employees should ensure this action is taken with integrity and accuracy. As we adjust to the ongoing pivot, which will have a number of phases, we know that operations will begin to run more efficiently and that delayed mail volumes will soon shrink significantly. We also considered a separate message to employees in July 2020 that said, under a new initiative, carriers in certain regions would not sort any mail during the morning and instead clock in, retrieve sorted mail from the previous day and limit time in the office as much as possible. Then, when they returned from the streets, they would sort all available mail for the next day. July 2020 The agency said the extra spending on employees' overtime or delivery trips had not improved \"our performance scores,\" without going into detail on what that meant, and framed the changes as necessary steps to improve its financial position. A July 27, 2020, public statement from DeJoy said: said public statement Given our current situation, it is critical that the Postal Service take a fresh look at our operations and make necessary adjustments. We are highly focused on our public service mission to provide prompt, reliable, and efficient service to every person and business in this country, and to remain a part of the nations critical infrastructure. David Partenheimer, manager of media relations for the Postal Service, told Snopes that the postmaster general was not doing any media interviews regarding the initiatives, nor about the underlying claims of this report. In a roughly 760-word email to us, however, Partenheimer reemphasized what the agency viewed as the need for the adjustments, and said: \"We acknowledge that temporary service impacts can occur as we redouble our efforts to conform to the current operating plans, but any such impacts will be monitored and temporary ... and corrected as appropriate.\" Soon after the directives, American Postal Workers Union President Mark Dimondstein told us in a phone interview that employees and customers across the country were noticing mail delays. In the Philadelphia region, for instance, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported situations where residents were going upwards of three weeks without receiving packages and letters, and postal union leaders and carriers said mail was piling up at offices, unscanned and unsorted. Mark Dimondstein employees Philadelphia Inquirer \"When you ... say this is what you have to do as workers, then that's what we have to do  [the change] runs counter to everything that the Postal Service is about, which is we treat the mail as our own; we get it to the customer as quickly as we can,\" Dimondstein said. \"They've never seen mail backed up like this  it's not being moved.\" That meant, while DeJoy had not told carriers to \"slow the mail down\" verbatim, he initiated changes to how and when carriers go about doing their job that the Postal Agency said would cause temporary mail delays. However, it would be inaccurate to assume all slow deliveries under DeJoy's leadership were a result of the July 2020 directives specifically, when they could also be linked to reduced hours for some post offices or other circumstances. Roughly three months before the 2020 presidential election, voting rights groups and outspoken critics to the president believed the new directives by DeJoy occurred at a convenient time for Trump: when a record number of Americans were preparing to vote by mail and avoid potential exposure to the COVID-19 coronavirus by casting ballots at in-person polling places. Specifically, they worried the new requirements for post office carriers and clerks would lead to backlogs of mail-in ballots and thus create challenges for elections officials who, in the majority of states, must invalidate ballots that reach them after Election Day  even if they were postmarked before that date. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat from New York, for example, led colleagues in writing a letter to DeJoy on July 20, 2020, that said: Rep. Carolyn Maloney \"While these changes [to mail service] in a normal year would be drastic, in a presidential election year when many states are relying heavily on absentee mail-in ballots, increases in mail delivery timing would impair the ability of ballots to be received and counted in a timely manner  an unacceptable outcome for a free and fair election.\" We asked Dimondstein, APWU president, whether he believed the July directives by Postal Service leadership were somehow linked to a plan to cause mail service chaos before the November election and help Trump win reelection. He said: What we do know for truth is this administration is, in written record, proposing and planning to sell the post office to private corporations, i.e. privatizing...That was June 2018. We also know as a fact that ...that [there are] calls for reduced service, increased prices, and less workers' rights and benefits. So if you take those two things together, certainly if they're implemented, then they're going to cause delays in mail; they're going to cause service being undermined... written record This is a fact: [DeJoy is] what's considered a mega-donor of the Trump administration and the Republican party... Anything that undermines the Postal Service' [service to customers] ... has us concerned that it could be linked back to those who have an agenda to eliminate [the Postal Service]. But I can't sit here and tell you that that's a fact. Partenheimer said any notion that DeJoy made decisions for the Postal Service under directions from Trump (which include claims that he issued the July 2020 changes that resulted in delays to help Trump's re-election campaign) were \"wholly misplaced and off-base.\" He said the Postal Service, typically an apolitical agency, remains committed to \"fulfilling our role in the electoral process\" in places where politicians allow voters to cast ballots by mail and \"to delivering Election Mail in a timely manner consistent with our operational standards.\" He elaborated: \"[Despite] any assertions to the contrary, we are not slowing down Election Mail or any other mail. Instead, we continue to employ a robust and proven process to ensure proper handling of all Election Mail consistent with our standards.\" Days later, he said in a statement to news media that certain deadlines concerning mail-in ballots, may be incompatible with the Postal Services delivery standards, especially if election officials dont pay more for first-class postage. To the extent that states choose to use the mail as part of their elections, they should do so in a manner that realistically reflects how the mail works, he said. news media Then, on Aug. 18, 2020, DeJoy issued a statement in which he said he would temporarily suspend initiatives \"that have been raised as areas of concern as the nation prepares to hold an election in the midst of a devastating pandemic,\" including the controversial July 2020 directives that eliminated overtime and some delivery trips. The statement read: statement To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded. I want to assure all Americans of the following: In addition, effective Oct. 1, we will engage standby resources in all areas of our operations, including transportation, to satisfy any unforeseen demand. In sum, it was accurate to state that DeJoy, a political ally to Trump, ordered Postal Service workers to leave late-arriving mail at distribution centers for delivery the following day and eliminate extra trips in July 2020  a change the Postal Service was expecting to cause temporary mail delays  although no verifiable evidence proved those directives were part of a deliberate scheme to disenfranchise voters in the November 2020 election. Additionally, there was no proof to show the changes aimed to help Trump win reelection. For those reasons, we rate this claim \"Unproven.\" Ye Hee Lee, Michelle and Bogage, Jacob. \"Postal Service Backlog Sparks Worries That Ballot Delivery Could Be Delayed In November\".\r The Washington Post. 30 July 2020. Naylor, Brian. \"Pending Postal Service Changes Could Delay Mail And Deliveries, Advocates War\".\r NPR. 29 July 2020. Naylor, Brian. \"Pending Postal Service Changes Could Delay Mail And Deliveries, Advocates War\".\r NPR. 29 July 2020. USPS Contributor. \"What Is The History Behind The Unofficial USPS Motto?\"\r Postal Posts. 11 September 2015. USPS. \"Postmaster General Statement On Operational Excellence And Financial Stability\".\r 27 July 2020. Office of Inspector General. \"U.S. Postal Service's Processing Network Optimization And Service Impacts\".\r USPS. 16 June 2020. Dawsey, Josh, et. al. \"Top Republican Fundraiser And Trump Ally Named Postmaster General, Giving President New Influence Over Postal Service\".\r The Washington Post. 6 May 2020. Bogage, Jacob. \"Postal Service Memos Detail 'Difficult' Changes, Including Slower Mail Delivery\".\r The Washington Post. 14 July 2020. Naylor, Brian. \"New Postmaster General Is Top GOP Fundraiser\".\r NPR. 7 May 2020. Hummel, Marta. \"New Breed CEO No One's 'Apprentice' Louis DeJoy Is A Big Supporter Of George W. Bush But Says The Clinton Era Was His Most Profitable\".\r News & Record. 7 January 2005. Heckman, Jory. \"USPS Board Names Logistics Executive As New Postmaster General\".\r Federal News Network. 6 May 2020. Gordon, Aaron. \"USPS Plans To Slash Hours At Many Post Offices, Hoping To Save A Buck\".\r Vice. 29 July 2020. Cohen, Rachel. \"USPS Workers Concerned New Policies Will Pave The Way To Privatization\".\r The Intercept. 29 July 2020. Derysh, Igor. \"With Trump Donor In Charge, Postal Service May Shut Locations And Cut Service Before Election Day\".\r Salon. 31 July 2020. Rushing, Ellie. \"Mail Delays Are Frustrating Philly Residents, And A Short-Staffed Postal Service Is Struggling To Keep Up\".\r The Philadelphia Inquirer. 2 August 2020. Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney. \"Maloney, King Lead Bipartisan NY Delegation Call For Immediate Help For The Postal Service\".\r 28 April 2020. House Committee On Oversight And Reform. \"Senior Democrats Request Information On Postal Service's Operational Changes\".\r 20 July 2020. Bogage, Jacob. \"Trump Ally Takes Over Crisis-Ridden Postal Service As Top Senate Democrat Demands Inquiry On Hiring\".\r The Washington Post. 15 June 2020. Murphy, Brian. \"NC Businessman, A Big-Time GOP Donor, Is Tapped To Lead US Postal Service\".\r The News & Observer. 7 May 2020. Shear, Michael. \"Mail Delays Fuel Concern Trump Is Undercutting Postal Service Ahead Of Voting\".\r The New York Times. 1 August 2020. Sargent, Greg. \"Trump Just Told Us How Mail Delays Could Help Him Corrupt The Election\".\r The Washington Post. 31 July 2020. Reichmann, Deb, and Izaguirre, Anthony. \"Trump Admits He's Blocking Postal Cash To Stop Mail-In Votes.\"\r Associated Press. 14 August 2020. USPS. \"Postmaster General Louis DeJoy Statement.\"\r 18 August 2020. This report was updated to include an interview by Trump with Fox Business Network on Aug. 13, 2020, where he acknowledged that he was intentionally blocking Postal Service funding in an attempt to make it harder for the agency to process mail-in ballots in the November presidential election. This report was updated to include a statement by DeJoy on Aug. 18, 2020, in which he announced the suspension of certain initiatives \"to avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail.\"","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1KC74Wtnmd8r3337xlle-IAxeuBy5948V"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1F4fn_K9qraSmo4bHb--MElKcv_FaLwzu"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1sTdiupwpeF7TUclumYOZ74LuBewH8rDw"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1hQpGJwFHYfZ_yUjTNlOBfXJhjMK1XJpk"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1q49z7mye4k2QeZbDn9-wm9NTjtj7kxiX"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1LexgFDHTSe_OrGrWviUas6krTzVfbdOy"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1086","claim":"Do Pics Show Blackburn Flashing 'White Power Sign' in US Senate?","posted":"04\/11\/2022","sci_digest":["A seemingly inadvertent hand gesture received some social media attention after it was shared out of context. "],"justification":"In April 2022, a picture was circulated on social media that supposedly showed U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., making a \"white power\" gesture during a Senate hearing or vote to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination to the Supreme Court. This example was shared on Twitter:  While the photograph is real, it was not taken during a hearing or vote on Jackson's confirmation, and there's no evidence that Blackburn was intentionally \"throwing a white power sign\" with her hand.   The picture appears to have been taken from video footage of an April 7, 2022, Senate Armed Services Committee hearing with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Mark Milley. Blackburn posted a video of herself questioning these officials to her own Twitter account. The hand position above can be seen around the 1:30 mark of the following video.   While what is more generally known in the U.S. as the \"OK\" hand symbol has truly been adopted (or co-opted) by some white supremacists, not every instance of this gesture is necessarily related to a hateful ideology. In most cases, the OK symbol simply means \"OK.\" The same gesture has also been used as part of a game and by Kappa Alpha Psi, a Black fraternity that was formed in 1911. In other cases, someone might rest their hand in this position without any thought or meaning behind it.  \"OK\" hand symbol adopted (or co-opted) by some white supremacists, used as part of a game Kappa Alpha Psi, a Black fraternity that was formed in 1911 When we watched the entirety of the six-minute-long video of Blackburn's questioning, it seemed most plausible that Blackburn's hand position falls into the latter category: a random, momentary hand movement without any meaning behind it. Blackburn's questioning Washington Post reported But as the first Black woman nominated to the high court, Jackson also bears certain burdens that have become evident during her confirmation hearings. She has been subjected to questioning from some Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee that has been explicitly or implicitly all about race. She has been asked about critical race theory and the history of Americas slaveholding past and whether she has been too lenient in her sentencing as a trial judge  issues that are cultural flash points in todays caustic political debate but the first two of which have little to do with the actual work of the Supreme Court. During Jackson's hearing, Blackburn asked the judge to define the word \"woman\" and accused Jackson of being an advocate for judges to consider critical race theory when considering sentencing. Blackburn voted against Jackson's nomination along with all but three of her Republican colleagues. woman judges to consider critical race theory When this image was shared with the false claim that it showed Blackburn during Jackson's hearing, some social media users may have been primed to believe that Blackburn was acting out of some sort of racial malice. This, in turn, made it seem plausible, to some, that Blackburn was flashing a white power sign. But the image shown above was taken at an entirely different Senate hearing, one that was far less racially charged.  The claim that Blackburn made a white power gesture at Jackson's confirmation hearing (or vote) is false. While this is a real image of Blackburn, it comes from a different Senate hearing and no evidence has been provided to suggest that this was anything other than an inadvertent hand position.  Analysis | Jackson Endures Questioning with Racial Overtones from GOP Senators. Washington Post. www.washingtonpost.com, https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2022\/03\/23\/jackson-endures-questioning-with-racial-overtones-gop-senators\/. Accessed 11 Apr. 2022. Democrats Dilemma: Back Bidens Pentagon Budget or Supersize It. POLITICO, https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2022\/04\/05\/biden-pentagon-defense-budget-00022928. Accessed 11 Apr. 2022. Fact Check-Photo of Sen. Marsha Blackburn Was Not Captured at Justices Brown Confirmation. Reuters, 11 Apr. 2022. www.reuters.com, https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/factcheck-blackburn-miscaptioned-idUSL2N2W913W. Phillips, Steve. Ketanji Brown Jackson Hearing Reveals Republicans Racist Fears. The Guardian, 25 Mar. 2022. The Guardian, https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2022\/mar\/25\/ketanji-brown-jackson-hearing-reveals-republicans-racist-fears. Remarks by President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on the Senates Historic, Bipartisan Confirmation of Judge Jackson to Be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. The White House, 8 Apr. 2022, https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/speeches-remarks\/2022\/04\/08\/remarks-by-president-biden-vice-president-harris-and-judge-ketanji-brown-jackson-on-the-senates-historic-bipartisan-confirmation-of-judge-jackson-to-be-an-associate-justice-of-the-supreme-court\/. Top Biden Defense Officials Admit Administration Was Wrong To Share Intelligence With Chinese. U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, 7 Apr. 2022, https:\/\/www.blackburn.senate.gov\/2022\/4\/top-biden-defense-officials-admit-administration-was-wrong-to-share-intelligence-with-chinese.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1z4kXVags68a4pYuaQOnJIkCr63RmMdKp","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1087","claim":"Debit Card Abuse","posted":"10\/15\/2005","sci_digest":["Have debit cards issued Katrina evacuees been used to purchase luxury or entertainment items?"],"justification":"Claim:   Debit cards issued to Hurricane Katrina evacuees have been used to purchase luxury or entertainment items.  Example:  [Collected on the Internet, 2005] Yesterday, I was shopping for my mother in Dillard's at Lakeline Mall in Austin, TX. I admired a suit, but it was too expensive for me to purchase. You can imagine my shock when I witness the suit being purchased by a Katrina \"refugee\" using the government-issued debit card!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought certainly there must be controls on these debit cards that would preclude recipients from using the money to purchase items other taxpayers cannot afford, but I was mistaken. I heard the sales clerk call the Dillard's business office and confirm that the \"American Red Cross Debit Card\" could be used for the woman's purchase. After the transaction was completed, I asked the sales clerk to confirm this and she did. Now, when these debit cards that we the taxpayers provided are used up, what will happen? Will you give them even more of our money to purchase items the taxpayers cannot afford? I already know the answer. Based on the social welfare system that exists in our country, you will just give them more money. This system does not pass the \"is this right?\" test. You have hard-working, tax-paying citizens who worry every month whether they'll make it financially. And, you take their earnings and \"re-distribute\" it to others who do not work but wear better clothes, drive newer cars and have manicures, cell phones, and designer handbags. Yea, if you'd just send me one of those debit cards, I could buy my mother that nice suit. I have copied everyone in my address book. I am asking them to send this to everyone in their address books. This is the reality of our social welfare system. It must stop. Suzzette Chapman223 W. Mockingbird LaneHarker Heights, Texas 76548 Origins:  Through its disaster management agency FEMA, the federal government issued more than 10,000 debit cards to Hurricane Katrina refugees in Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio. Each card carried a monetary value of $2,000. While the only overtly stated restrictions on their use prohibited the purchase of alcohol, tobacco or firearms, recipients were required to sign an agreement promising to use the cards only for disaster recovery purposes; that is, expenses related to the process of rebuilding their lives.  On 11 September 2005, just three days after its start, the debit card program was discontinued after refugees expressed frustration with the process. FEMA has since reverted to its traditional mode of directly depositing cash into the bank accounts of those being  assisted. While the intent of the novel program was to quickly thrust money into the hands of those left homeless by Hurricane Katrina and in need of ready cash with which to meet living expenses, not everyone who received debit cards kept their purchases in line with the spirit of the program's purpose. At least some of the cards were used to buy luxury or entertainment items.  One of the first news outlets to report on abuse of these financial instruments was the New York Daily News, who broke the story that two of the cards had been used in Atlanta to buy $800 Louis Vuitton handbags. (That claim has been substantiated by MSNBC's Abrams Report; the store confirmed to them that it happened.)  Others have been spotted in adult entertainment venues  according to a report by KPRC Channel 2 in Houston, the wife of a strip club manager in that city said her husband has seen patrons from Louisiana offering FEMA and Red Cross debit cards. A manager at Caligula XXI Gentlemen's Club told KPRC that he has seen at least one card used at his club. \"Abby,\" a bartender at Baby Dolls, another strip club in Houston, said customers are paying for drinks with what may be FEMA or Red Cross debit cards. Syndicated radio talk show host Neal Boortz says FEMA debit cards were also used to pay for breast implants. (That assertion stands as unconfirmed at the moment.) We have ourselves received numerous e-mails from folks who claim they or someone they know saw the cards used to purchase expensive suits, diamond earrings, $300 handbags, and large plasma screen televisions. While we can't confirm any of those specifically, we do know the Houston Police Department formed a task force to investigate abuse of the FEMA-issued debit cards.   Neal Boortz How many of the cards have been misused is unknown at this point, but Lt. Craig Williams of the Houston Police Department Fraud Task Force says a majority of people are using the money the way it was intended. While the FEMA-issued card program has been brought to an end, the American Red Cross continues to give out debit cards, called Client Assistance Cards. Like FEMA's program, each disaster victim must agree to use the cards for emergency needs, such as food, housing, and clothing. Those too have been abused; for example, Red Cross records show one was used for entertainment items at a Best Buy (a computers, stereos, TVs, and other electronics store) in Kentucky for more than $1,000. It's likely some of the abuse was the doing of scam artists who fleeced evacuees of the cards issued them. Some Katrina evacuees were told by unscrupulous merchants they had to use the full value encoded into their cards in one shot or lose it  these merchants would then offer to buy the unused portion for cash at a reduced rate. Others were approached by individuals claiming to be FEMA representatives who demanded they hand their cards over to them, saying the cards had to be returned.  We can't answer the larger question in the back of everyone's minds  have most evacuees used the cash and resources handed them wisely and well, with the abuse limited to a mere handful of refugees, or has the exploitation of people's goodwill been widespread, with the \"wisely and well\" crowd in the distinct minority? It's a troubling question to have to go unanswered, because Americans are not going to open their wallets to the Red Cross nearly as readily or be as supportive of FEMA if they've strong reason to suspect the money they drained from their households to assist victims of disasters (either as direct donations or through their taxes) is going for big-ticket items they themselves can't afford for their own families or is being tucked into someone's G-string. Barbara \"bared necessities\" Mikkelson Last updated:  23 October 2005    Sources:   Abrams, Dan.  \"The Abrams Report.\"   MSNBC.  16 September 2005  (p. A1).    Christian, Carol.  \"Guard Debit Cards Carefully, Say Officials.\"   Houston Chronicle.  10 September 2005.    Ramstack, Tom.  \"Gulf Coast Residents Told to Use Aid for Recovery Only.\"   The Washington Times.  30 September 2005  (p. A1).    Seltzer, Robert.  \"Stripped of Joy, Katrina Evacuees Find Comfort in Bare Necessities.\"   San Antonio Express-News.  25 September 2005  (p. H1).    Widdicombe, Ben.  \"Gatecrasher: Retailers Take a Swipe at Katrina Card Use.\"   [New York] Daily News.  18 September 2005  (Gossip, p. 22).    Widdicombe, Ben.  \"Gatecrasher: Lavish Tastes of Card-Carrying Lowlifes.\"   [New York] Daily News.  10 September 2005  (Gossip, p. 20).    Yen, Hope.  \"U.S. Emergency Agency Says it Will End Debit Card Plan for Evacuees.\"   Associated Press.  9 September 2005. ","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1088","claim":"Did Trump Decry Low-Flow Showers and Dishwashers During a Pandemic?","posted":"07\/20\/2020","sci_digest":["President Trump ranted about low-flow showers and dishwashers at a campaign rally-like event while the U.S. recorded a record high of COVID-19 cases in a single day.   "],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease.  fighting Find out Read Submit Become a Founding Member CDC WHO On July 16, 2020, as the U.S. recorded its single highest number of COVID-19 cases since the coronavirus health crisis began, U.S. President Donald Trump spoke at an event held on the South Lawn of the White House, ostensibly on the subject of \"Rolling Back Regulations to Help All Americans.\" During his talk, according to a meme, Trump allegedly tackled the subject of energy-efficiency standards which have supposedly resulted in home appliances that do not function properly due to requirements aimed at conserving the amount of water and power they consume:  This was an accurate reproduction of a portion of Trump's talk, according to a White House transcript of the event: transcript Were bringing back consumer choice in home appliances so that you can buy washers and dryers, showerheads and faucets. So showerheads  you take a shower, the water doesnt come out. You want to wash your hands, the water doesnt come out. So what do you do? You just stand there longer or you take a shower longer? Because my hair  I dont know about you, but it has to be perfect. Perfect. Dishwashers  you didnt have any water, so you  the people that do the dishes  you press it, and it goes again, and you do it again and again. So you might as well give them the water because youll end up using less water. So we made it so dishwashers now have a lot more water. And in many places  in most places of the country, water is not a problem. They dont know what to do with it. Its called rain. They dont have a problem. This was far from the first time the president had riffed on poorly functioning appliances. In December 2019, as Trump spoke in the Roosevelt Room of the White House amidst an impeachment inquiry, he digressed into railing about toilets and other bathroom fixtures that allegedly frustrate their users due to the use of low-flow technology. CNN reported: digressed railing about toilets The President claimed Americans are flushing their toilets \"10 times, 15 times, as opposed to once\" and argued that they are having difficulty with washing their hands in what appeared to be a tangent about low-flow sinks and toilets. \"We have a situation where we're looking very strongly at sinks and showers and other elements of bathrooms where you turn the faucet on -- and in areas where there's tremendous amounts of water, where the water rushes out to sea because you could never handle it, and you don't get any water,\" the President said during a roundtable with small business leaders about deregulatory actions. \"You turn on the faucet and you don't get any water. They take a shower and water comes dripping out. Just dripping out, very quietly dripping out,\" the President continued, lowering his voice as he spoke about the drips. \"People are flushing toilets 10 times, 15 times, as opposed to once.\" It wasn't entirely clear what he was talking about, but it appeared to have to do with bathroom fixtures with low-flow appliances. He said the Environmental Protection Agency was looking into the issue on his suggestion. \"They end up using more water. So (the) EPA is looking at that very strongly at my suggestion,\" Trump said, though he did not give details on what suggestions, if any, he made. NPR quoted the Pacific Institute, a non-profit research institute with a focus on global and regional freshwater issues, as asserting that Trump's statements did not comport with reality: quoted asserting Peter Gleick with the Pacific Institute in Oakland considers this all to be Trumpian nostalgia for a time when showers were strong, toilets used 4 gallons a flush and lightbulbs burned your hands when you touched them. Gleick said these newer household items are part of an \"efficiency revolution,\" doing the same tasks with less and halting the upward trajectory of water and energy consumption in America. And, yes, a dishwasher cycle takes longer, and incandescent bulbs are cheaper to buy upfront. But in the long run, \"They're much more expensive, because they use a huge amount of energy, which we pay for over time and they burn out 20 times faster,\" Gleick said. Based on the way Trump talks about efficient lightbulbs, it seems his complaint is with compact fluorescent bulbs, which were the only low-energy bulbs widely available 10 years ago. But today, store shelves are full of LED bulbs with warmer-looking light and even longer life spans. Gleick suspects Trump's toilet complaints are outdated as well, because low-flow toilet technology has come a long way in recent years. \"Some people got bad toilets, but that was 15 and 20 years ago,\" Gleick said. \"And now the new toilets not only use a tiny fraction of the water the old toilets used to use, but the truth is they flush better  and if you have a bad toilet that doesn't flush, well, that's because you have a bad toilet.\" A video of the portion of the speech reproduced in the above meme can be viewed here:  Picheta, Rob et al.  \"Trump Claims Americans Have to Flush the Toilet '10 Times, 15 Times, As Opposed to Once.'\"\r  CNN.  7 December 2019. Keith, Tamara.  \"Trump vs. Toilets (And Showers, Dishwashers and Lightbulbs).\"\r  NPR.  27 December 2019. WhiteHouse.gov.  \"Remarks by President Trump on Rolling Back Regulations to Help All Americans.\"\r  16 July 2020.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Twc26JhXV8nkNfzIdv8alrjPPSKksVsT","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1089","claim":"Says that except for Donald Trump, every other major party nominee for the past 40 years has released their tax returns.","posted":"09\/28\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"On Sept. 19, 2016, theWisconsin Democratic Partycalled onDonald Trumpto release his tax returns, issuinga statementthat quoted U.S. Sen.Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., as saying: The time is way past due for Donald Trump to release his tax returns, as every other major party nominee has done for the past 40 years. So, lets see if thats what every Democratic and Republican presidential nominee since 1976 has done. Wayback machine Baldwin has taken aim at Trump before, since he became the GOP nominee. In August 2016, werated Half Trueher claim that Trump has a long history of exporting jobs overseas. Trump-brand products such as his clothing have been made overseas, but those jobs were always abroad, not U.S. jobs that were moved. To back her current claim, Baldwins campaign cited editorials from theNew York Timesand theWashington Post, both of which said Trump would be the first major party candidate since 1976 -- 40 years ago -- not to release his tax returns. Also cited was an editorial from theBoston Globe, which said its been more than 40 years. But there is an exception. We checked anarchive of presidential tax returnsmaintained by the Tax Analysts, a publisher specializing in tax policy. It shows that going back to 1976, all but one major-party nominee released at least one return. Only Republican Gerald Ford, who lost to Democrat Jimmy Carter in 1976, did not release returns (he released summary tax data), the archive shows. FactCheck.org also found Ford to bethe one exception. Joe Thorndike, the Tax History Project director at Tax Analysts, told us that Fords summaries were clearly not the same as tax returns. For instance, they didnt provide detailed information on things such as sources of income and charitable contributions. Moreover, its impossible to know what might be in a return unless you see the return. It's also worth noting that while some nominees have released numerous years of returns  1996 GOP nominee Bob Dole provided30 years worth others have not. In 1980, Republican Ronald Reagan released onlyone returnand in 2012, Republican Mitt Romneyreleased two. In the 2016 race,Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, has released returns from 2000 through 2015. As for Trump, he has said he hasnt released his taxes because he is being audited. When he claimed he released the most extensive financial review of anybody in the history of politics. You don't learn much in a tax return, PolitiFact Nationalsrating was False. Trump did release an extensive (and legally required) document detailing his personal financial holdings. But experts say tax returns would offer valuable details on his effective tax rate, the types of taxes he paid and how much he gave to charity, as well as a more detailed picture of his assets. Our rating Baldwin says that except for Trump, every other major party nominee for the past 40 years has released their tax returns. Shes almost right. During that period, the only major-party presidential nominee who didnt release returns was Ford, the Republican nominee in 1976. It's also worth noting that many nominees have released numerous years of returns, but some have released only one or two. We rate Baldwins statement Mostly True. https:\/\/www.sharethefacts.co\/share\/3b799eb7-8454-41ff-a343-3c13c44e9c78","issues":["Candidate Biography","Income","Wealth","Taxes","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1090","claim":"Did Adele Endorse Keto Weight Loss Gummies on 'Ellen'?","posted":"05\/20\/2022","sci_digest":["We looked into the origins of an article with the headline, \"Adele Told Us About Her Daily Keto Routine That Melted 87 Pounds In Just Few Weeks!\""],"justification":"Singer-songwriter Adele did not endorse keto weight loss gummies on \"The Ellen DeGeneres Show.\" The claim appeared in an article on the scammy website newsurvey22offer.com. We first looked into the matter in May 2022. It's unclear just how long the article had been around. Adele keto Ellen DeGeneres article newsurvey22offer.com The page appeared to load one of four different fake keto gummies endorsement articles, depending on when we refreshed it. One mentioned Oprah Winfrey, which we already reported on. Another mentioned Adele. The other two showed fake keto gummies endorsements from the cast of the reality television series, \"Shark Tank.\" keto One Oprah Winfrey already reported on Adele other two Shark Tank The article featuring Adele looked to have been purposely designed to trick readers into believing they were reading an Us Weekly story. In reality, the publisher had nothing to do with newsurvey22offer.com. The headline read, \"Adele Told Us About Her Daily Keto Routine That Melted 87 Pounds In Just Few Weeks!\" Adele Us Weekly Keto  The product name mentioned in the body of the article appeared to change depending on either the time the page was refreshed or the location from which we accessed it. For example, the page falsely claimed that Adele had endorsed Keto Start ACV, Gemini Keto, Kwazi Keto Gummies, Slim Mediq Keto Gummies, Trim Life Keto + ACV Gummies, and perhaps other similar products. Adele Within the fake Us Weekly article, Adele supposedly told DeGeneres on her daytime talk show that the secret to her weight loss wasn't diet or exercise, but rather keto gummies. Adele DeGeneres keto However, here's the truth. In November 2021, Women's Health reported that while Adele's weight loss regimen had little to do with what she ate, it had just about everything to do with exercise. She \"worked out three times a day\" with trainers, often including working with weights, going for hikes, and boxing. Nowhere in the Women's Health article did the word \"keto\" appear even once. reported weight loss The fake Us Weekly article also included a fake tweet that was never posted to Adele's Twitter account. It read, \"If you ain't on Keto, you're missing out! I've been eating burgers, fries, cakes - pretty much everything since I'm supposed to be dieting in January. If you don't believe me, give it a try I promise you won't be disappointed.\" Twitter  The rest of the page falsely claimed that other celebrities also endorsed keto weight loss gummies, including Dr. Oz, Drew Barrymore, Kelly Osbourne, Rachael Ray, and Wendy Lopez. Other similar keto gummies scams made the same false endorsement claims about Melissa McCarthy, Drew Carey, Jennifer Hudson, and the cast of \"Shark Tank.\" Dr. Oz Drew Barrymore Kelly Osbourne Rachael Ray Other similar keto gummies scams Melissa McCarthy Drew Carey Jennifer Hudson Shark Tank In sum, no, Adele never endorsed keto gummies, nor did she ever say they helped her with weight loss. Source: Miller, Korin, and Sarah Felbin. Adele, 33, Deadlifts 170 Pounds On The Regular At The Gym. Womens Health, 15 Nov. 2021, https:\/\/www.womenshealthmag.com\/weight-loss\/a30443070\/adele-weight-loss-diet\/.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1BLTIRQJHZ-WFIW-F5kvo2wTWFhtkIF5v","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1xz7g5o-luGj7TOzLn5g3HB6DQcx6MWLe","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1091","claim":"Did a 'Convicted Terrorist' Sit on the Board of a BLM Funding Body?","posted":"07\/14\/2020","sci_digest":["The past crimes of Susan Rosenberg reemerged in the summer of 2020, amid a new wave of protests over racial injustice and police brutality."],"justification":"In the summer of 2020, amid a new wave of nationwide protests over racial injustice and police brutality, readers inquired about the accuracy of online articles and social media posts that claimed a convicted terrorist sat on the board of directors of a left-leaning organization that provides fundraising and administration services for the Black Lives Matter movement. On July 8, 2020, Twitter user @asdomke posted a widely-shared tweet that read:  \"This is convicted terrorist Susan Rosenberg, she sits on the Board of Directors for the fundraising arm of Black Lives Matter. She was convicted for the 1983 bombing of the United States Capitol Building, the U.S. Naval War College and the New York Patrolmen's Benevolent Assoc.\"   In June, the website of right-leaning talk radio host Wayne Dupree posted an article with the headline \"Report: Leader of Group Handling 'BLM Fundraising' is a Convicted Terrorist Who Carried Out Bombings in NYC and DC.\" Similar articles were published by the Daily Caller (an article that was republished by the Western Journal) and on the website of former Fox News pundit Bill O'Reilly.  article Daily Caller Western Journal Bill O'Reilly On July 9, 2020, Tucker Carlson ran a segment about Rosenberg's past and her connection to Thousand Currents and the Black Lives Matter movement on his Fox News show.  segment Those posts and articles were largely based on a June 24, 2020, report published by the right-leaning Capital Research Center, which carried the headline \"A Terrorist's Ties to a Leading Black Lives Matter Group.\" The report went on to state that: report Some conservatives have begun speculating the unrest in American cities -- even as late as Monday night in Washington, DC as protestors unsuccessfully worked to tear down a statue of Andrew Jackson and set up an autonomous zone across the street from the White House -- may in part be an attempt to affect the upcoming presidential election, with the chaos and violence intended to make it as difficult as possible for Donald Trump to win a second term. Lending credence to this idea is the fact that at least one board member of the group fiscally sponsoring the most organized part of the Black Lives Matter movement, who have been involved in most of the activity surrounding the current unrest -- tried the same thing almost 40 years ago during Ronald Reagans reelection campaign. And it landed her in federal prison for 16 years. If there were any question whether Black Lives Matter has ideological ties to the Communist terrorists of the 1960s, the story of Susan Rosenberg should put that issue to bed... Rosenberg, who started out as a member of the 1960s revolutionary group Weather Underground, graduated into even more violent, and arguably successful, forms of terrorism in the 1970s and 1980s -- including bombings at an FBI field office in Staten Island, the Navy Yard Officers Club in Washington, DC, and even the U.S. Capitol building, where she damaged a representation of the greatest of the Democrat defenders of slavery, John C. Calhoun. She currently serves as human and prisoner rights advocate and a vice chair of the board of directors of Thousand Currents. Thousand Currents is undoubtedly very closely linked to the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, a Delaware-registered entity that is one of the leading formal embodiments of the broader Black Lives Matter movement. The Thousand Currents website outlines the relationship between the two entities: outlines \"In 2016, BLM Global Network approached Thousand Currents to create a fiscal sponsorship agreement. Thousand Currents, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization, provides the legal and administrative framework to enable BLM to fulfill its mission. Fiscal sponsorship is a common structure utilized by nonprofit organizations. Oftentimes, nonprofit initiatives seek fiscal sponsorship to be able to have the fiscal sponsor handle administrative operations while the organization focuses on its programs and builds up its own organizational infrastructure. In this capacity, we provide administrative and back office support, including finance, accounting, grants management, insurance, human resources, legal and compliance.\" Descriptions of Thousand Currents as an organization which \"handles fundraising\" for Black Lives Matter were therefore accurate. As recently as June 24, the date on which the Capital Research Center published their report, the Thousand Currents website listed Susan Rosenberg as vice chair of the organization's board of directors, describing her as a \"human and prison rights advocate and writer.\" The entire \"board of directors\" page has since been removed from the site. describing According to tax documents obtained by Snopes, Rosenberg sat on the board of directors during the 2015 and 2016 financial years, and was elevated to the position of vice chair in 2017. We asked Thousand Currents for the dates of Rosenberg's tenure on the board, and as its vice chair, and invited the organization to comment on the ongoing controversy, and will update this story if we receive a response. 2015 2016 2017 Rosenberg's prominent position within Thousand Currents is clear, as are that organization's close links to the Black Lives Matter Global Network (and thereby the broader Black Lives Matter movement). However, the question of whether she should be described as a \"terrorist\" or \"convicted terrorist\" is much more complicated. Originally from New York City, Rosenberg was an active member of several revolutionary left-wing groups and movements during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. In November 1984, she was arrested in Cherry Hill, New Jersey after police said she and an associate, Timothy Blunk, were found transferring 740 pounds of explosives, an Uzi submachine gun, an M-14 rifle, a rifle with a telescopic sight, a sawed-off shotgun, three 9-millimeter handguns and boxes of ammunition from a car into a storage locker. said Rosenberg was tried and convicted on the following charges: \"Conspiracy to possess unregistered firearms, receive firearms and explosives shipped in interstate commerce while a fugitive, and unlawfully use false identification documents ...; possession of unregistered destructive devices, possession of unregistered firearm (two counts) ...; carrying explosives during commission of a felony ... ; possession with intent to unlawfully use false identification documents...; false representation of Social Security number, possession of counterfeit Social Security cards.\" charges In May 1985, New Jersey U.S. District Court Judge Frederick Bernard Lacey gave Rosenberg and Blunk the maximum available sentence of 58 years each in prison. On Jan. 20, 2001, his last day in office, President Bill Clinton commuted Rosenberg's sentence, and she was released from prison. sentence commuted According to several contemporaneous news reports, Rosenberg had previously been charged with multiple offenses as part of a major 1982 conspiracy case against several prominent left-wing revolutionaries. Along with the others, Rosenberg was charged with conspiracy and racketeering offenses in connection with the following incidents: incidents The most high-profile incident was the October 1981 Brink's robbery in Nyack, New York. Several members of the Weather Underground and Black Liberation Army groups were accused of having orchestrated and carried out the violent robbery of a Brink's armored vehicle at the Nanuet Mall, stealing total of $1.6 million. In the course of a police chase and shootout, two police officers and a Brink's guard were killed. The money was recovered. Specifically, Rosenberg was accused of having driven one of the getaway cars. killed accused After Rosenberg's arrest in New Jersey in 1984, and her subsequent conviction and imprisonment on the weapons and explosives possession charges, prosecutors dropped the conspiracy and racketeering charges against her, and she was never tried or convicted in relation to the 1981 Brink's robbery, the 1979 Shakur prison escape, or other armed robberies. The prosecutor who oversaw the decision not to proceed with that case, in the 1980s, was Rudolph Giuliani, then U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. After Rosenberg's release in 2001, Giuliani, by then Mayor of New York City, told the New York Times the charges were dropped because her existing 58-year prison sentence made a further prosecution unnecessary. told In 1988, Rosenberg was charged with aiding and abetting a series of bombings which took place between 1983 and 1985, at the Capitol building, Fort McNair, the Washington Navy Yard Computer Center and the Washington Navy Yard Officers' Club, all in Washington, D.C. Bombs were also planted, but did not detonate, at several sites in New York: the FBI's office in Staten Island, the Israeli Aircraft Industries building, the South African consulate and the New York Patrolmen's Benevolent Association. However, prosecutors dropped those charges in 1990 as part of a plea deal involving other suspects in the bombings. As a result, Rosenberg was never tried or convicted on any charges relating to the 1983-1985 bombing campaign. The claim, made in @asdomke's tweet, that Rosenberg was \"convicted of\" several 1983 bombings, was therefore false. The claim in the headline of an article on Wayne Dupree's website that Rosenberg \"carried out\" the bombings stands in contrast to the fact that she was never tried or convicted in relation to those incidents. dropped During her 16-year incarceration, Rosenberg renounced the use of political violence, though her political beliefs appear not to have changed significantly. In a radio interview shortly after her release in January 2001, she said she \"rejects\" the \"potential for violence in my past actions,\" saying her view of violence as a strategic tool had undergone an \"enormous change,\" but that she retained \"a political view that is certainly progressive and radical in a certain sense.\" interview In her 2011 memoir, she recounted what she said during an unsuccessful 1997 parole application: recounted \"I outlined my criminal acts and what I felt about them then and now. I talked about the political ethos of the 1960s and how it had led me and my associates into thinking our activities were acceptable. I detailed how sorry I felt now, how I accepted responsibility for my past actions, and how I would never commit any crimes again. I tried to put my life within the context of the historical period when many Americans thought they could change the world and end war and racism and poverty. I tried to distinguish between my core values and my embrace of the use of political violence. I stated that I now rejected the use of violence. I meant all that I said.\" There is no single, universally-accepted definition of terrorism, so any use of that label requires a degree of explanation or justification. One basis upon which one might reasonably describe a person as a terrorist is if they have been convicted of terrorist offenses. That is not true of Rosenberg, who was convicted only of weapons and explosives possession and fraudulent document possession, after her arrest in New Jersey 1984. She pleaded not guilty to charges relating to the 1980s bombing campaign, and those charges against her were dropped, and she has denied any involvement in the 1979 Shakur prison break and 1981 Brink's robbery, with those charges also having been dropped. not guilty denied The United States Code defines \"domestic terrorism\" (as distinct from \"international terrorism\") as follows: defines \"... Activities that (A) involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State; (B) appear to be intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and (C) occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States ...\" However, that definition was only added in 1992, years after Rosenberg was convicted of weapons and explosives possession and charged for her alleged role in the 1983-1985 bombing campaign, and her alleged role in a series of armed robberies by left-wing revolutionaries. added In any event, despite the existence of a definition of domestic terrorism in federal law, a discrete criminal offense of domestic terrorism does not exist, and did not exist in the 1980s. As a result, even if Rosenberg's activities perfectly met the definition of domestic terrorism currently set out in federal law, and even if that definition existed in the 1980s, she could not have been charged with, tried for and convicted of domestic terrorism as such does not exist In the 1988 indictment relating to the 1983-1985 bombing campaign, prosecutors accused Rosenberg and others of trying \"to influence, change and protest policies and practices of the United States Government concerning various international and domestic matters through the use of violent and illegal means.\" That language is remarkably similar to that found in the present U.S. Code definition of domestic terrorism as seeking to \"influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping ...\" accused Examining the 1980s bombings retrospectively, one might very well be justified as describing them as a campaign of domestic terrorism, even if prosecutors were not in a position to hang that label on them at the time. However, the charges against Rosenberg were dropped anyway, and she was never convicted in relation to the bombing campaign. In her memoir, Rosenberg wrote of her 1984 arrest in New Jersey that \"there was no immediate, specific plan to use the explosives\" with which she and Blunk were caught. However, it's clear they were transporting and transferring them for a purpose that was at the very least broadly associated with the group's wider mission of opposing various U.S. government policies and carrying out a socialist uprising. \"We were stockpiling arms for the distant revolution that we all had convinced ourselves would come soon,\" she added. wrote Earlier in her book, Rosenberg indicated that she was comfortable, at least at one point in time, with bombing government buildings: \"We thought that by taking armed actions against government property (including bombing unoccupied government buildings), we would show that despite the power of the state, it was possible to oppose it.\" indicated One could reasonably argue that Rosenberg's actions in the explosives possession case served her and her comrades' overarching mission of militant opposition to U.S. government policy and broader power structures and were in keeping with the group's (if not Rosenberg's) proven record of using bomb attacks to influence the wider American public and advance their cause. As such, a supportable (though not definitive) case exists for claiming that the crimes of which Rosenberg was convicted in 1985 were indeed acts of domestic terrorism. Crane, Missy. \"Report: Leader of Group Handling 'BLM Fundraising' is a Convicted Terrorist Who Carried Out Bombings in NYC and DC.\"\r WayneDupree.com. 28 June 2020. Kerr, Andrew. \"A Convicted Terrorist Sits on Board of Charity Handling Black Lives Matter Fundraising.\"\r The Daily Caller. 27 June 2020. O'Reilly, Bill. \"Does Karl Marx Matter?\"\r BillOReilly.com. 5 July 2020. Walter, Scott. \"A Terrorist's Ties to a Leading Black Lives Matter Group.\"\r Capital Research Center. 24 June 2020. Raab, Selwyn. \"Radical Fugitive in Brink's Robbery Arrested.\"\r The New York Times. 1 December 1984. The Associated Press\/The Philadelphia Daily News. \"2 Revolutionaries Get 58 Years Each in N.J.\"\r 20 May 1985. Barbanel, Josh. \"4 Indicted by U.S. in Escape of Joanne Chesimard in '79.\"\r The New York Times. 19 November 1982. Barbanel, Josh. \"3 Killed in Armored Car Holdup.\"\r The New York Times. 21 October 1981. Gross, Jane. \"Brink's Suspect Held Without Bail After She Refuses to Enter a Plea.\"\r The New York Times. 14 May 1985. Lipton, Eric. \"Officials Criticize Clinton's Pardon of an Ex-Terrorist.\"\r The New York Times. 22 January 2001. The Associated Press\/The New York Times. \"3 Radicals Agree to Please Guilty in Bombing Case.\"\r 6 September 1990. Rosenberg, Susan. \"An American Radical...\"\r Citadel Press. 2011. Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. \"United States Code, Title 18, Part I, Chapter 113B, Section 2331 -- Definitions.\"\r Accessed 14 July 2020. McCord, Mary B. \"It's Time for Congress to Make Domestic Terrorism a Federal Crime.\"\r Lawfare. 5 December 2018. Shenon, Philip. \"U.S. Charges 7 in the Bombing at U.S. Capitol.\"\r The New York Times. 12 May 1988.","issues":["finance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1XYQxx_tj-DIbZERhNedFha56qzxF9QCm","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1092","claim":"GeoCities Closing","posted":"05\/06\/2001","sci_digest":["Will Yahoo be shutting down all Geocities web site ?"],"justification":"Claim:  Yahoo has announced it will be shutting down all GeoCities web sites. Example:  [Collected via e-mail, May 2001] As you all know, my hubby is a Community Leader for Geocities. He just got this in his email today. Geocities WILL BE CLOSING! All the websites will be DELETED and CLOSED! They will be NO WARNING as usual, that's just the way Yahoo works. So, if any of you want to keep your website, you will have to back it up and save it, and move it to a new web hosting place.  This is not a internet hoax, my husband got this from his boss, it could happen in a week, it could happen in about a month. My hubby said to tell as many people as I can, so that you will not lose your site, and so you can be ready to move it to another place. :o( Below is part of the memo he received: \"Yahoo executives declined to specify which areas of its service will be affected by the cutbacks. In general, however, the company said the only areas spared would be those that directly produced revenue advertising, services to businesses and its new fee-based services for consumers.\" \"Big areas of its site like the Geocities service, which lets users build personal home pages are NOT part of this new, narrower focus, even though they contain some advertising. They will be closed.\" Origins:  In the manner of \"even a stopped clock is right twice a day\" or \"even a blind pig finds a truffle now and then,\" false rumors from 2001 about Yahoo's announcing an impending shutdown of its GeoCities free web hosting service finally came true in 2009.  Back in April 2001, the New York Times (NYT) ran an article about Yahoo!'s financial situation which detailed stock market analysts' downgrades of the  company's stock and supplied statements from Yahoo! about steps it was planning to take to manage its business better (including potentially cutting back or eliminating some of its non-revenue-producing services).  Shortly afterwards, the e-mailed warning quoted above began circulating, purportedly offering a memo from Yahoo! documenting that the company would be shutting down and deleting GeoCities-hosted web sites without warning.  However, the \"memo\" quoted in the e-mailed warning wasn't a memo from Yahoo! at all; it was an excerpt from a portion of the 12 April 2001 New York Times article to which someone had added the erroneous tagline \"They will be closed.\"  The key part of the New York Times article read: Yahoo! executives declined to specify which areas of its service will be affected by the cutbacks. In general, however, the company said the only areas spared would be those that directly produced revenue  advertising, services to businesses and its new fee-based services for consumers.  Big areas of its site  like the GeoCities service, which lets users build personal home pages  are not part of this new, narrower focus, even though they contain some advertising. In other words, the \"memo\" someone decided to send up an alarm over back in 2001 said the exact opposite of what that person had understood it to say. \"Other things are going under the axe,\" said the article, \"but not GeoCities.\" There was no secret memo from Yahoo! detailing a nefarious plot to shut down and delete GeoCities web sites without warning.  Instead, the most likely scenario behind the creation of this scare was that someone mistakenly parsed the NYT article as meaning the GeoCities service would be shut down and forwarded it to someone else, with that someone else writing a hysterical call to arms based on a \"memo,\" throwing in a tagline that seemed appropriate, packaging it up, and sending it winging on its way. Thus are rumors created and 'They will be closed' \"memos\" fabricated out of misparsings of news stories. Eight years later, on 23 April 2009, Yahoo! did finally announce that it would be shutting down its GeoCities web hosting service.  On that date, Internet users who visited the Yahoo! GeoCities login page were greeted with the announcement that \"new GeoCities accounts are no longer available\" and notification that \"After careful consideration, we have decided to close GeoCities later this year.\"  An interior help page elaborated on these statements: GeoCities help We have decided to discontinue the process of allowing new customers to sign up for GeoCities accounts as we focus on helping our customers explore and build new relationships online in other ways. We will be closing GeoCities later this year. Existing GeoCities accounts have not changed. You can continue to enjoy your web site and GeoCities services until later this year. You don't need to change a thing right now  we just wanted you to let you know about the closure as soon as possible. We'll provide more details about closing GeoCities and how to save your site data this summer, and we will update the help center with more details at that time. Or, as noted in a tongue-in-cheek PC World \"obituary\" for the service: GeoCities, a free Web hosting service that achieved fame in the mid-90s, died Thursday at the Yahoo headquarters in Silicon Valley. GeoCities was 15 years old. GeoCities had suffered a long and drawn-out battle with its health over the past decade. An antiquated service model and outdated technology are widely blamed for the struggle. An official cause of death, however, has yet to be determined. The proliferation of low-cost hosting options, combined with the increasing popularity of social network-style services in place of personal home pages, only contributed to its demise. Last updated:  25 April 2009    Hansell, Saul.  \"Yahoo Reports Quarterly Loss and Schedules Round of Cuts.\"   The New York Times.  12 April 2001  (p. A1).     Huffstutter, P.J.  \"Yahoo's Search for Profit Leads to Pornography.\"   Los Angeles Times.  11 April 2001  (p. A1).     Raphael, P.J.  \"So Long, GeoCities: We Forgot You Still Existed.\"   PC World.  23 April 2009.     Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  \"Yahoo's Blunder to Push Porn Quickly Fixed.\"   19 April 2001  (p. C3).","issues":["stock market"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1093","claim":"Does a Video Game Allow Players to Assume the Role of a School Shooter?","posted":"05\/29\/2018","sci_digest":["Survivors of mass shootings and those who have lost loved ones in them condemned the game \"Active Shooter\" ahead of its planned June 2018 release."],"justification":"In May 2018, survivors of the Parkland school shooting massacre, along with many others both on and off social media, responded with horror to reports of a video game in which players could assume the role of a school shooter. Jaclyn Corin, a survivor of the February 14, 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, called the game (titled Active Shooter) \"disgusting\" in a tweet and urged others to sign a petition against its release. The online petition garnered almost 100,000 signatures within four days. Ryan Petty, whose 14-year-old daughter Alaina was killed in the shooting rampage, accused Valve Corporation (the Bellevue, Washington, company that runs the Steam platform on which the game would be distributed) of \"trying to profit from the glamorization of tragedies affecting our schools across the country\" and also called the game \"disgusting.\" The game was indeed real; it was published by a Russian company called Acid and developed by Revived Games, which featured titles such as Furry, Tyde Pod Challenge, and White Power: Pure Voltage. Active Shooter's descriptive entry on Steam's website read as follows: \"Pick your role, gear up, and fight or destroy! Be the good guy or the bad guy. The choice is yours! Only in 'Active Shooter' will you be able to pick the role of an Elite S.W.A.T. member or the actual shooter.\" A video preview of the game showed a shooter armed with a rifle, handgun, and knife stalking the classrooms and corridors of a school, shooting at both police and civilians while a \"kill counter\" displayed the number of \"cops\" and \"civ\" (civilians) the player had murdered. Every civilian shown in the preview video appeared to be female. In a difficult-to-follow post on May 23, 2018, the game's publisher claimed that Active Shooter \"does not promote any sort of violence, especially any sort of a mass shooting.\" The publisher went on to note that the game would likely not allow players to assume the role of the shooter by the time it was released. After receiving a significant amount of criticism and backlash, the publisher stated, \"I will more likely remove the shooter role in this game by the release, unless it can be kept as it is right now.\" We asked Valve Corporation whether Active Shooter would still be released on June 6, 2018, and if so, whether it would still feature the shooter mode. We did not receive a response to our query, but shortly afterward, we noticed that Acid's games were no longer listed among Steam's offerings. Subsequently, the gaming news website PC Gamer reported that both the publisher and developer of the game\u2014Acid and Revived Games\u2014had been removed from the Steam platform. PC Gamer quoted what it called a \"Valve rep\" as saying that the publisher and developer were the same person: a developer and publisher calling himself Ata Berdiyev, who had previously been removed when he was operating as '[bc]Interactive' and 'Elusive Team.' Ata is a troll with a history of customer abuse, publishing copyrighted material, and user review manipulation. His subsequent return under new business names came to light as we investigated the controversy surrounding his upcoming title. We are not going to do business with people who act like this towards our customers or Valve. In mid-June, Acid announced plans to offer Active Shooter for purchase via its own platform. On June 26, they posted a notice to that effect on the Steam community board, noting that Active Shooter had been renamed Standoff. As of September 2019, Active Shooter was still listed among Acid's offerings, and a sequel, Standoff: Lockdown, was also available for sale.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1z_BtfecJcPouYMWxRTM9R1UGM5Noofiu","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1094","claim":"Jill Biden Photo Was Doctored To Add Lobsters on Her Outfit","posted":"12\/07\/2022","sci_digest":["It might not be the most pressing news of the day, but a misleading picture of a first lady is a misleading picture of a first lady."],"justification":"On Dec. 4, 2022, the Right Wing Patriots of America Telegram account and Facebook page posted a doctored picture of U.S. First Lady Jill Biden that showed a pattern of red lobsters on her outfit. The caption in the post read, \"Has Red Lobster gotten into the fashion business?\" In reality, the original photograph of Jill Biden did not show any lobsters on her outfit as she walked alongside U.S. President Joe Biden. The original picture was captured by Jim Lo Scalzo of UPI and was captioned as follows: \"U.S. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden return to the White House from a weekend at Camp David in Washington, D.C., on a Sunday in May 2021.\" Reuters first reported on the fake photo with the lobsters on Dec. 5, adding that they had located the picture being shared on Twitter and in a since-deleted Instagram post. Twitter reported, \"Fact Check - Image of First Lady Jill Biden with Lobster-Patterned Clothing Is Digitally Altered.\"","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1pvcT1kO5B3LA3JMuoLWeHaJ3osd2wbM0","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1095","claim":"Did Experts and Officials Warn in 2018 US Couldn't Respond Effectively to a Pandemic?","posted":"04\/01\/2020","sci_digest":["Such individuals have made repeated warnings about U.S. readiness in the event of a pandemic."],"justification":"In late March and early April 2020, social media users revisited a 2018 tweet posted by Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Senior Fellow Stephen Schwartz, in which he paraphrased a Washington Post article that reported the Trump administration had disbanded the National Security Council's pandemic response team. tweet Stephen Schwartz article The tweet, dated May 10, 2018, read, \"When the next pandemic occurs (and make no mistake, it will) and the federal government is unable to respond in a coordinated and effective fashion to protect the lives of US citizens and others, this decision by John Bolton and Donald Trump will be why.\"Some who shared the tweet amid the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic in early 2020 pointed to the date of the tweet and noted its apparent prescience. But Schwartz followed up on March 15, 2020, by thanking the experts quoted in the article, who themselves raised the alarm that the actions of U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration regarding pandemic preparedness left the United States vulnerable:The people tagged in Schwartz' tweet are global health and development advocate Carolyn Reynolds; Jeremy Konyndyk, who led foreign disaster assistance for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) under President Barack Obama; and Luciana Borio, former director for the National Security Council's Medical and Biodefense Preparedness under Trump. tweet  followed up  Those three were quoted in the Post's 2018 report in the following passage: This week, the administration released a list of $15 billion in spending cuts it wants Congress to approve. Among the targets is $252 million in unused funds remaining from the 2014-2015 Ebola epidemic in West Africa that killed more than 11,000 people, far exceeding the combined total cases reported in about 20 previous outbreaks since the 1970s. list of $15 billion in spending cuts The White House proposal is threatening to claw back funding whose precise purpose is to help the United States be able to respond quickly in the event of a crisis, said Carolyn Reynolds, a vice president at PATH, a global health technology nonprofit. Collectively, warns Jeremy Konyndyk, who led foreign disaster assistance at the U.S. Agency for International Development during the Obama administration, What this all adds up to is a potentially really concerning rollback of progress on U.S. health security preparedness. It seems to actively unlearn the lessons we learned through very hard experience over the last 15 years, said Konyndyk, now a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development. These moves make us materially less safe. Its inexplicable. The day before news of [Senior Director for Global Health Security and Biodefense Timothy] Ziemers exit became public, one of the officials on his team, Luciana Borio, director of medical and biodefense preparedness at the NSC, spoke at a symposium at Emory University to mark the 100th anniversary of the 1918 influenza pandemic. That event killed an estimated 50 million to 100 million people worldwide. 1918 influenza pandemic The threat of pandemic flu is the number one health security concern, she told the audience. Are we ready to respond? I fear the answer is no. Sun, Lena H.\"Top White House Official in Charge of Pandemic Response Exits Abruptly.\"\r The Washington Post.10 May 2018. Sun, Lena H.\"The Trump Administration Is Ill-Prepared for a Global Pandemic.\"\r The Washington Post.8 April 2017. Sun, Lena H.\"Bill Gates Calls on U.S. to Lead Fight Against a Pandemic that Could Kill 33 Million.\"\r The Washington Post.27 April 2018.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=18TNhVNwVfO17AAz6N3jYM5z0rZGJnvze","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1gdFbsRnkIW3WXYr7wBdtVpDPRhdsZgu5","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1096","claim":"Is West Virginia Building a 'Sharia Zone' Housing Project for Syrian Refugees?","posted":"03\/14\/2019","sci_digest":["A video shot at a public housing project makes numerous, factually challenged claims about Syrian migration to West Virginia. "],"justification":"On 5 March 2019, a conspiracy-minded Twitter account shared a video purporting to be from the site of a construction project funded by West Virginia taxpayer money for the purpose of housing 321 Syrian refugees. The video also claimed this was being done at the expense of regular Americans who, the man asserted, were being pushed into substandard housing. He stated that the area he was standing in would become a sharia zone, where no non-Muslims would be allowed to enter. Several factual problems exist with the assertions in this video. Chief among them is the fact that this video shows the Littlepage Terrace housing project, a low-income housing tax-credit property allocated through the West Virginia Housing Development Fund, which houses zero Syrian refugees and many regular Americans. Several lines of evidence support this conclusion. First, someone who works next to the project refers to it as Littlepage Terrace. Second, a wider, composite view of the man's video shows clearly identifiable markers of the Littlepage housing complex, including a telltale smokestack and buildings that exactly match the structures built at Littlepage. Third, Mark Taylor, the chief executive officer of the Charleston-Kanawha Housing Authority, which works with the Littlepage Terrace project, confirmed by email that the suspect video was taken at that site during renovations that likely occurred in May 2017. He also confirmed that the community houses no Syrian refugees. Another significant oversight in the tweeted narrative is that the entire state of West Virginia has taken in far fewer than 321 Syrian refugees in total. In 2016, the year the United States took in the largest number of Syrian refugees, West Virginia resettled only five of them. On 1 February 2017, the Trump Administration announced Executive Order 13769, commonly referred to as the \"travel ban,\" which indefinitely suspended the admission of Syrian refugees to the United States. In 2017, West Virginia took in 13 refugees, but these individuals were not necessarily Syrian. It is true that Littlepage was torn down and rebuilt, but that decision had nothing to do with refugee housing. Instead, the renovations aimed to reduce crime and revitalize the area, as reported by West Virginia's WCHS television station in 2016. The Charleston-Kanawha Housing Authority is now in the last phase of revitalizing three housing projects. Similar to Orchard Manor and Washington Manor, Littlepage Terrace will be demolished and rebuilt as two-story townhomes. This housing project was built nearly 80 years ago with no air conditioning and poor visibility. Now it is simply not a secure living space. The goal for these new developments is to reduce crime and revitalize the area. Because the housing complex displayed was not built for Syrian refugees, and because the state has taken virtually no Syrian refugees at all, we rank the claims made in this video as aggressively and demonstrably false.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=16JAxqP8-KaT_ihndwWwppiC9JzYTuQp0","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1097","claim":"IRS Notification: Federal Tax Return\/Payment Rejection or Refund Notice","posted":"08\/28\/2007","sci_digest":["Is the IRS sending out e-mail notices about tax refunds or stimulus payments?"],"justification":"Phishing bait:  Notice from the IRS indicating the recipient's electronic tax return or payment has been rejected or that the recipient has a refund coming. Examples:   [Collected via e-mail, October 2010] Subject: Your Federal Tax Payment ID 010357109 is rejected.  Urgent Report. Your Federal Tax Payment ID: 01037524 has been rejected. Return Reason Code R21 - The identification number used in the Company Identification Field is not valid. Please, check the information and refer to Code R21 to get details about your company payment in transaction contacts section: EFTPS: The Electronic Federal Tax Payment System PLEASE NOTE: Your tax payment is due regardless of EFTPS online availability. In case of an emergency, you can always make your tax payment by calling the EFTPS.  [Collected via e-mail, January 2008] After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a Stimulus Payment. Please submit the Stimulus Payment Online Form in order to process it. A Stimulus Payment can be delayed for a variety of reasons.For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline. To submit your Stimulus Payment form, please download the document attached to your email. Note: If filing or preparation fees were deducted from your 2007 Refund or you received a refund anticipation loan, you will be receiving a check instead of a direct deposit. Regards,Internal Revenue Servicestimulus.payment@irs.gov  [Collected via e-mail, August 2007] From: \"Internal Revenue Service\" Subject: IRS Notification - Fiscal ActivityDate: Sun, 26 Aug 2007 23:57:35 +0300 After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of $268.32. Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 6-9 days in order to process it. A refund can be delayed for a variety of reasons. For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline. To access the form for your tax refund, please click here Regards,Internal Revenue Service Copyright 2007, Internal Revenue Service U.S.A. All rights reserved.  [Collected via e-mail, February 2009] Re: US Stimulus Check Information--------------------------------------------------------------------If you're one of the millions of Americans struggling in today's economy, help is available. You've been chosen for the chance to get a US Stimulus Check based on your annual income level. (Participation required. See below for details.) Refer to the chart below to determine the amount of money you can receive: --------------------------------------------------------------------$0 - $35,000........................$709 US Stimulus Check--------------------------------------------------------------------$35,000 - $70,000.................$615 US Stimulus Check--------------------------------------------------------------------$70,000+.............................$504 US Stimulus Check--------------------------------------------------------------------  Make your selection here, then follow the instructions on our website before this offer expires.  [Collected via e-mail, July 2009] Tax Refund Notification After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity, we have determined that you are eligible to receive tax refund of 488.50 GBP. You are require to submit the tax refund request using the tax refund reference below and allow up 6-9 working days in order to process it [link elided] Note : A refund can be delayed for different reasons, for example submitting invalid records or applying after deadline. we apologise for any inconveniences and thank you for your co-operation. Yours Sincerely HM Revenue & Customs  [Collected via e-mail, June 2011] Department of Treasury Internal Revenue Source Important information about your tax return We are unable to process your tax return We recived your tax return. However, we are unable to process the return as field. Our records indicate that the person identified as the primary taxpayer or spouse on the tax return did not provided all the required documents shown on the tax form. Our records are based on information received from the Social Security Administration. Based on this information, the tax account for the individual has been locked  What you need to do Print out the attached notification and list of missing documents, fill it in, add the documents and send the following information to the adress shown in the attached notification. List of required documents: 1. A copy of this letter 2. Notification letter 3. A photocopy of valid U.S. Federal or State Government issued identification. Keep this notice for your records. If you need assistance, please don'thesitate to contact us  [Collected via e-mail, January 2012] IRS notice, The analysis of the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity has indicated that you are entitled to receive a tax refund of $115.25 Please submit a request of the tax refund and a processing of the request will take 7-14 days. A tax refund can be delayed by different reasons. For instance submission of invalid records or sending after the deadline. Please find the form of your tax refund attached and fill out it and send a report. Regards,Internal Revenue Service. Origins:  Notices purporting to come from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) make good  phishing bait for a number of reasons: phishing  Notices from institutions of the federal government (especially an agency with the ominous reputation of the IRS) grab people's attention.  Unlike other phishing schemes that emulate mailings from various private financial institutions (e.g., Bank of America) and are therefore easily recognized as phony by many recipients (because they do no business with those companies), a forged IRS notice has the potential to take in a much larger pool of victims, as most adult U.S. residents have dealings with that agency.  Many people find the federal income tax filing process complicated and confusing, so the idea that they might have unclaimed refunds or payments waiting for them to claim seems plausible. An August 2007 mass phish e-mailing (reprised in January 2012) took advantage of those points, spamming millions of Internet users with phony notices that advised recipients they were eligible to receive tax refunds (of amounts such as $109.30 or $268.32) and invited them to click on a link that took them to a form  through which they could claim those refunds.  Of course, the link included in the messages didn't actually send users to the genuine IRS web site; it redirected claimants to an imposter site that instructed them to enter sensitive personal information (e.g., Social Security number and debit card number) in order to \"deposit\" their refunds.   Similarly, January 2009 versions redirected claimants to an imposter site with a form for them to fill out in order to claim stimulus payments, and an October 2010 version used the lure of claiming that the recipients' Electronic Federal Tax Payments (EFTPS) had been rejected due to invalid information and sent them to a phony imitation of the real EFTPS site to enter new information. The IRS never offers refunds through e-mail or sends out unsolicited e-mails to taxpayers.   When the IRS needs to contact a taxpayer, it sends notice via U.S. Mail, and every such notice includes a telephone number that the recipient can call for confirmation.  Should you need to visit the IRS web site for any reason, go there directly (by entering the www.irs.gov URL into your web browser) rather than following links in e-mail messages. The IRS says about such e-mails that: IRS The IRS does not initiate taxpayer communications through e-mail. In addition, the IRS does not request detailed personal information through e-mail or ask taxpayers for the PIN numbers, passwords or similar secret access information for their credit card, bank or other financial accounts.  Do not open any attachments to questionable e-mails, which may contain malicious code that will infect your computer. Please be advised that the IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers via e-mails. The EFTPS web site also states that: EFTPS EFTPS values your privacy and security and will never attempt to contact you via e-mail. If you ever receive an e-mail that claims to be from EFTPS or from a sender you do not recognize that mentions a payment made through EFTPS, forward the e-mail to phishing@irs.gov or call the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 1.800.366.4484. Last updated:  9 January 2012","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1098","claim":"African-American Airlines","posted":"10\/29\/2015","sci_digest":["Comedian Tyler Perry did not buy American Airlines and rename it African-American Airlines."],"justification":"Comedian Tyler Perry has bought American Airlines and renamed it African-American Airlines. In October 2015, a rumor began circulating via social media that comedian\/actor Tyler Perry had purchased American Airlines and was renaming the company\"African-American Airlines.\"  The rumors were based on a 2013 article published by the Weekly World News, the former supermarket tabloid (now online only) that deals in fabricating fantastically fictional articles: article Tyler Perry reportedly made an offer to buy American Airlines. They accepted. The new airline: African-American Airlines. The Texas-based AMR Corporation, the parent company of American Airlines, announced that the company filed petitions for Chapter 11 reorganization in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, \"in order to achieve a cost and debt structure that is industry competitive and thereby assure its long-term viability and ability to continue delivering a world-class travel experience for its customers.\" WWN has learned that wealthy actor-director Tyler Perry has made an attractive offer for American Airlines. The offer, said to be near $5 billion dollars, was quickly accepted by the airline. \"Mr. Perry made a bold and brilliant move ... he is the smartest mogul in the country,\" said a source close to American Airlines. \"No other businessman would have the guts to try to bail out the biggest airline in the United States.\" The fake news article went on to state that Perry would be theCEO, CFO, COO, CIO, the director of human sources, and the pilot for African-American Airlines, that a character from the popular Madea film franchise would be on every flight, and that Perry plans to buy another airline in a few years. If those outlandish claims didn't tip off readers that this was a piece of fake news, then theWeekly World News' reputation as an entertainment tabloid that has made aname for itself by publishing a multitude of fictionalarticles over the years should have. publishing fictional articles   Last updated: 27 October 2015 Originally published: 27 October 2015","issues":["debt"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1XUNPWfSSiWGJO5lb2eqQFznHxI0aZR8N","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1099","claim":"Hillary Clinton's Armani Jacket priced at $12,000","posted":"06\/08\/2016","sci_digest":["Outrage over an expensive Armani jacket worn by Hillary Clinton during her New York primary acceptance speech  included some inaccurate details."],"justification":"In early June 2016, Facebook users widely shared articles reporting that Hillary Clinton wore a $12,495 Giorgio Armani jacket to deliver a speech on income inequality. The underlying implication was that Clinton's interest in the plight of middle-class Americans was visibly superficial. Interest in the claim began with a New York Post article that focused not on the jacket, but on Clinton's general wardrobe choices on the campaign trail. Its title referenced the \"surprising strategy behind Hillary Clinton's designer wardrobe,\" and the piece began by noting that Clinton's appearance and style have been publicly scrutinized and mocked for decades. Clinton's New York primary victory speech in April addressed topics including income inequality, job creation, and helping people secure their retirement. It was a clear attempt to position herself as an everywoman. But an everywoman she is not; she gave the speech in a $12,495 Giorgio Armani tweed jacket. The polished outfit was a stark contrast to the fashion choices Clinton had made in the past. As First Lady, Clinton wore frumpy pastel skirtsuits. As a New York senator and secretary of state, she attempted a more serious look, wearing pantsuits in a rainbow of colors\u2014so mocked that they sparked memes. In comparison to Michelle Obama, who has become known as a style icon during her time in the White House and appeared on the cover of Vogue twice, Clinton has never been able to nail down a personal aesthetic that works for her. The article speculated (but didn't confirm) that Clinton paid full price for the clothing and did not wear it on loan from its designers. The paper also suggested that Clinton's fashion choices negatively affected her public perception in the past. The cost of men's suits worn by fellow politicians didn't appear in the article for contrast. It's a marked shift from Clinton's 2008 run, when she regularly recycled outfits such as blue-and-tangerine pantsuits from DC-based designer Nina McLemore. But just like Clinton's fashion choices of the past, the makeover could turn out to be divisive. On one side will be those who say it's an appropriate expense for Clinton, given that she's in the unprecedented position of running for president as a woman\u2014and looking the part is crucial to her success. On the other side are those who will see her spending as being out of touch with her message. Not long after Clinton's 2016 campaign looks were dissected by the Post, a litany of items condensed the article to a single headline: It's true that the jacket was from Giorgio Armani's collection and bore a list price of $12,495. But on June 8, 2016, the jacket's actual retail price was $7,497, and it can now be had for about one-third of that list price. The Post speculated that Clinton paid for the clothing out of pocket, but the website Fashionista, in turn, said that might not necessarily be the case. The Post also posits that Clinton must be spending her own money on all these clothes, as no designer is taking credit for dressing her as they do with First Lady Obama; with Anna Wintour backing her campaign, it would not be outrageous to think that designers might also be quietly gifting clothing to Clinton. (The Post also attacks Clinton's style by mentioning that Michelle Obama has nabbed the cover of Vogue twice; it is worth noting that Clinton has her own cover of Vogue, for which she wore Oscar de la Renta.) It's unclear whether Clinton purchased expensive clothing for such major appearances (such as her New York speech in April 2016), and it's possible she was loaned articles of clothing to wear by major designers. Stylists Jennifer Rade and Rebecca Klein of Media Style told CNBC that no matter what Clinton did, she would be criticized for her sartorial choices: CNBC But Clinton is \"damned if she does, damned if she doesn't,\" said Rade. If Clinton were to wear a lower-priced wardrobe, she would be criticized for not wearing the same caliber of clothing as her competitors. \"It's not appropriate for the forum,\" Klein said. \"She is a presidential candidate. That would be disrespectful... She is dressing for the occasion.\" A June 2014 Associated Press article examined the matter of the contents of White House closets, noting that as an issue, the debate goes back at least as far as Mary Todd Lincoln. The outlet noted that some clothing was gifted to Michelle Obama under specific circumstances: In recent weeks, Mrs. Obama has turned heads with a forest-green Naeem Khan dress and shimmered in a silver Marchesa gown; her flowered shirtdress for a Mother's Day tea at the White House (recycled from an earlier event) hit just the right note for an audience of military moms. It takes money to pull that off, month after month. Those three dresses by themselves could add up to more than $15,000 retail, not to mention accessories such as shoes and jewelry. Is it the taxpayers who foot the bill? No. (Despite what critics say.) Is it Mrs. Obama? Usually, but not always. Does she pay full price? Not likely. Does she ever borrow gowns from designers? No. The financing of the first lady's wardrobe is something that the Obama White House is loath to discuss. It's a subject that has bedeviled presidents and their wives for centuries. First ladies are expected to dress well, but the job doesn't come with a clothing allowance or a salary. Here's how Joanna Rosholm, press secretary to the first lady, explains it: \"Mrs. Obama pays for her clothing. For official events of public or historic significance, such as a state visit, the first lady's clothes may be given as a gift by a designer and accepted on behalf of the U.S. government. They are then stored by the National Archives.\" The claim also included that Ms. Clinton wore the designer piece to \"deliver a speech about income inequality.\" The Post originally reported that \"Clinton's New York primary victory speech in April focused on topics including income inequality, job creation, and helping people secure their retirement,\" an opener widely condensed to \"a speech about income inequality.\" But in fact, neither claim was accurate; the full text of Clinton's April 2016 New York speech was available online, and the words \"income inequality\" didn't appear a single time. The wide-ranging speech only briefly touched on a theme of \"income inequality,\" in a much broader sense than the rumor suggested: Now, we all know many people who are still hurting. I see it everywhere I go. The Great Recession wiped out jobs, homes, and savings, and a lot of Americans haven't yet recovered. But I still believe with all my heart that as another great Democratic President once said, there's nothing wrong with America that can't be cured by what's right with America. That is, after all, what we've always done. It's who we are. America is a problem-solving nation. And in this campaign, we are setting bold progressive goals backed up by real plans that will improve lives, creating more good jobs that provide dignity and pride in a middle-class life, raising wages and reducing inequality, making sure all our kids get a good education no matter what zip code they live in, building ladders of opportunity and empowerment so all of our people can go as far as their hard work and talent will take them. Let's revitalize places that have been left out and left behind, from inner cities to coal country to Indian country. And let's put Americans to work rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, including our failing water systems like the one in Flint, Michigan. There are many places across our country where children and families are at risk from the water they drink and the air they breathe. Let's combat climate change and make America the clean energy superpower of the 21st century. Let's take on the challenge of systemic racism, invest in communities of color, and finally pass comprehensive immigration reform. And once and for all, let's guarantee equal pay for women. After the Republican National Convention (RNC) in July 2016, Hillary Clinton's infamous Armani jacket was again negatively compared to the dress worn at the convention by GOP nominee Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka, an item of clothing (from Ivanka's own label) that retails for $158. Trump's wife Melania, however, opted for a pricier Margot dress by Roksanda, which retails for $2,190.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1VqSEUJXgQ2YfDkVt1YpX5MzYQUidEuNb"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1100","claim":"Did Bernie Sanders Support Dumping Nuclear Waste in a 'Poor Latino Community'?","posted":"06\/15\/2018","sci_digest":["A conservative group's Facebook meme gets some basic facts right but leaves out important context."],"justification":"In April 2018, the right-leaning Turning Point USA posted a Facebook meme which attacked Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders for once supporting a proposal to \"dump nuclear waste\" in a \"poor Latino community in Texas\": meme In the 90's, Trump supported a bill to dump nuclear waste in Sierra Blanca, a poor Latino community in Texas where the average yearly income was $8,000. When asked if he would visit the site, he said \"Absolutely not.\"  Oh wait! Never mind, that was Bernie Sanders! And he actually co-sponsored the bill! The meme was re-posted by the \"Capitalism\" Facebook page: re-posted   In 1997 and 1998, Sanders did indeed support a measure that gave Congressional approval to an arrangement that would have allowed the states of Maine and Vermont to transport and dispose of nuclear waste at a proposed site in the sparsely populated town of Sierra Blanca in Hudspeth County, close to the Mexican border in West Texas. As the meme suggests, Sierra Blanca was (and is) a predominantly Latino community. U.S. Census Bureau records show that in 2000, two years after the proposal, 73 percent of the town's 533 residents identified as Hispanic or Latino, and almost all of those as Mexican. In 2016, some 69 percent of Sierra Blanca's 557 residents identified as Hispanic or Latino.  records In 1999, the annual per capita income of Sierra Blanca residents was $10,768, which was 45 percent lower than that of Texans at large ($19,617). In 2016, the median household income in Sierra Blanca was estimated to be $41,875 as compared to $54,727 in the state of Texas.  income income As an Independent member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Vermont, Sanders was one of 23 co-sponsors of House Resolution 629, which called for Congress to give its consent to the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact  an agreement between the states of Texas, Maine, and Vermont.  629 Speaking on the floor of the house in October 1997, Sanders said he was in \"strong support\" of the resolution for environmental reasons, and stressed that he personally was opposed to the use of nuclear power, but that the waste it produces had to be disposed of as safely as possible. It is worth reading a relatively extensive excerpt from his remarks in order to get a good sense of Sanders' stated reasoning: remarks Let me touch, for a moment, upon the environmental aspects of this issue. And let me address it from the perspective of someone who is an opponent of nuclear power, opposes the construction of nuclear power plants and if he had his way, would shut down the existing nuclear power plants as quickly and as safely as we could.  One of the reasons that many of us oppose nuclear power plants is that when this technology was developed, there was not a lot of thought given as to how we dispose of the nuclear waste. But...the reality, as others have already pointed out, is that the waste is here. We can't wish it away. It exists in power plants in Maine and Vermont, it exists in hospitals, it is here...So the real environmental issue here is not to wish it away, but to make the judgement, the important environmental judgement as to what is the safest way of disposing of the nuclear waste that has been created.  ...Leaving the radioactive waste at the site where it was produced -- despite the fact that that site might be extremely unsafe in terms of long-term isolation of the waste, and was never intended to be a long-term depository of low-level waste -- is horrendous environmental policy...No reputable scientist of environmentalist believes that the geology of Vermont or Maine would be a good place for this waste. In the humid climate of Vermont and Maine, it is more likely that ground water will come in contact with that waste and carry off radioactive elements to the accessible environment.  There is widespread scientific evidence to suggest, on the other hand, that locations in Texas -- some of which receive less than 12 inches of rainfall a year, a region where the groundwater table is more than 700 feet below the surface -- is a far better location for this waste. This is not a political assertion, it is a geological and environmental reality.  A video clip of his comments can be viewed here. here Congress passed the resolution comfortably by 305 votes to 117, as did the Senate, by 78 votes to 15. passed Senate The proposal had much stronger support among Republicans than among Democrats. GOP members of the House voted 197-26 in favor, while Democrats were more evenly split, voting 107-91 in favor. In the Senate, not a single Republican opposed H.R. 629, while 51 of them voted for it. Fifteen Democratic Senators opposed the bill, while 27 of them voted in support. At that time, five out six Senators from Texas, Vermont, and Maine were Republicans. All five of them voted in favor of the proposal. Both of Maine's Representatives voted for the disposal site, as did 10 out of the 13 Republican Congress members from Texas. In the House, the proposal had 23 co-sponsors. Eleven were Republicans, eleven were Democrats, and one was Sanders himself, an Independent. The author of the resolution was Joe Barton, a Republican from Texas.  Despite Congressional approval for the agreement, authorities in Texas ultimately rejected the proposal to establish a disposal site at Sierra Blanca. In October 1998, the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission voted 3-0 against issuing a permit for the construction of a nuclear waste dump there. According to the Associated Press, commission chairman Barry McBee said the disposal site could have provided a much-needed economic boost to the area, but commission members were sufficiently concerned about safety issues to deny the permit.  Associated Press According to a September 1998 article in the Texas Observer, a group of activists opposed to the Sierra Blanca waste site approached Sanders at an anti-nuclear weapons rally in Vermont that year:  article Sanders left the stage, which surprised no one in the small Texas delegation. Earlier, he had told them, \"My position is unchanged, and you're not gonna like it.\" When they asked if they would visit the site in Sierra Blanca, he said, \"Absolutely not. I'm gonna be running for re-election in the state of Vermont.\" We contacted Bill Addison, a leading opponent of the Sierra Blanca proposal, who was identified in the Texas Tribune article as having attended that Springfield rally. He confirmed that he was present and corroborated the article's account of the activists' interaction with Sanders. We asked a spokesperson for Sanders whether he agrees that this exchange took place, but we did not receive a response to that specific question. Instead, the spokesperson offered a broader explanation and defense of the Senator's support of H.R. 629: The only reason Senator Sanders was ever involved is because the constitution requires Congress to approve interstate compacts. Texas Representative Joe Barton introduced such legislation in 1998, and twenty-three members of the Vermont, Texas and Maine congressional delegations cosponsored it.  The bill did not endorse a specific site  in fact, it did not mention Sierra Blanca at all. Nor did the bill override the local and state approval process. In the end, the Texas agency in charge of permitting ruled against the Sierra Blanca site, choosing another site in Texas instead. So, the process worked. The compact, much less the site selection were never Sen. Sanders idea. He disagrees with the very premise of the 1980 law that led to the Texas-Vermont-Maine compact, since it put the burden of disposing of low-level waste on the states, rather the nuclear energy companies that produced much of the waste. In fact, he has long been an opponent of nuclear power precisely it produces waste for which we still have no solution (the Texas site is just for low-level contamination  there is still no plan for all of the high-level nuclear waste all across the country).  Sanders' spokesperson is right to point out that the text of H.R. 629 did not mention Sierra Blanca, but the town was widely known and discussed as the proposed location of the disposal site throughout the time that Sanders and others supported the bill. For example, in April 1998 (three months before Sanders and others in the House voted in favor of H.R. 629) the late Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone condemned the proposed Sierra Blanca site from the floor of the Senate: condemned What has troubled me from the very beginning is that this legislation would result in the dumping of low-level radioactive waste in a small, poor, majority-Latino community in rural West Texas  a town called Sierra Blanca. The Texas legislation in 1991 identified the area where the dump will be located. The Texas Waste Authority designated the site near Sierra Blanca in 1992. A draft license was issued in 1996. Whether we like it or not, this knowledge makes us responsible for what happens to Sierra Blanca.  The Turning Point USA meme is accurate in claiming that Sanders supported and co-sponsored a proposal that would have seen nuclear waste from Maine, Vermont and (principally) Texas disposed of at a site in Sierra Blanca, and that Sierra Blanca was (and still is) a predominately Latino and relatively poor community. The meme leaves out important and relevant context by failing to mention the key role that Republicans played in crafting and passing that proposal; instead, it singles out Sanders and does not offer the reader any inkling of his environmentalist rationale. Sanders stood to gain politically from supporting a plan that would remove nuclear waste from his constituency, but this does not necessarily mean he wasn't motivated by a sincere desire to dispose of the waste in a manner and location that he genuinely believed to be safer. However, whether or not you believe his stated rationale was sincere, no proper analysis of a particular politician's policy position or Congressional vote should leave out the reasons put forward by that politician. Finally, we were not able to corroborate the \"Absolutely not\" quotation attributed to Sanders, and his spokesperson did not address our question about it.  Hershey, Olive. \"Sanders to Sierra Blanca: 'Drop Dead!'\"\r The Texas Observer. 11 September 1998. Barton, Joe. \"House Resolution 629 -- Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Consent Act.\"\r U.S. House of Representatives\/Congressional Record. 20 September 1998 U.S. House of Representatives. \"Debate Transcript --Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Consent Act.\"\r Congressional Record. 7 October 1997. Associated Press. \"Texas Agency Denies Permit for Waste Site.\"\r New York Times\/Associated Press. 23 October 1998. U.S. Senate. \"Debate Transcript --The Texas\/Maine\/Vermont Compact.\"\r Congressional Record. 3 April 1998. Updated [16 June 2018]: Added comment from Bill Addison.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1CB592C3dWlT_X1_y06LDsSVtw04crfvX","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1101","claim":"Did Tiffany Chokers Originate as Slave Collars?","posted":"09\/27\/2016","sci_digest":["Tiffany & Co. never made or sold slave collars, and a viral image of a slave collar is not from an exhibit at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C."],"justification":"On 26 September 2016, a Facebook user published the following status update and photograph reporting that his sister had captured an image of a Tiffany slave collar at an \"African-American history museum in DC\" (presumably a reference to the National Museum of African American History and Culture): \"My lil sis is at the African-American history museum in DC. Crazy the things u never knew. Still want that Tiffany Bracelet? Just saying.\" The photograph had actually appeared on Facebook as early as May 2016 and was not taken by anyone in September 2016. Many on social media interpreted the picture to mean that Tiffany & Co. had once manufactured high-end slave collars like the one seen in the museum display, but the text of the exhibit only stated that the design of Tiffany chokers was supposedly inspired by such collars: \"This 18th Century Brass Slave Collar with an engraved name (Patterson), fancy etchings, and heart-shaped pendant was favored by wealthy, white slave mistresses. However, it was not worn by them; instead, it was used on her female slave. The collar was fitted around a negro slave's neck and attached to a leash, leading her around like a pet.\" Years later, famed Charles Lewis Tiffany, founder of Tiffany & Co. Jewelers, used this infamous collar as a prototype to design his best-selling choker necklace, which has a heart-shaped pendant attached. The necklace remains very popular today. The text's final line lent a clue as to the image's origin: The Lest We Forget Black Holocaust Museum of Philadelphia (LWFSM), whose Facebook \"About\" page describes the facility thusly: \"The 'Lest We Forget' Black Holocaust Slavery Museum offers an opportunity to examine and explore factual aspects of the African Slave Trade experience. Our artifacts and historical documents speak for themselves and truly 'bring history alive.' The exhibit conveys an awareness of a dark and tragic period in American as well as African history.\" We contacted the LWFSM, and curator Gwen Ragsdale confirmed that the exhibit was part of the museum's collection of artifacts from the slave trade. She maintained that the collar was a genuine \"slave collar\" from the 1700s, most likely a gift given to a slave owner to use decoratively on a female slave. She also noted that, like much of the history of slavery, tracking the precise provenance of the item was difficult due to a dearth of historical records, and much of the information retained about the practice was passed along orally across generations. The curator told us that photography was not permitted inside the LWFSM in part because it often leads to the spread of misinformation on social media. Indeed, despite the signage, the depicted \"brass female slave collar\" was not directly linked with Tiffany & Co. or the company's founder in the exhibit's text; the collar was simply referenced as inspiration for the jewelry brand's popular \"Tiffany heart.\" Determining the exact inspiration for any particular item of Tiffany & Co. jewelry is difficult, as it involves assigning motives and experiences to people who are not here to explain those aspects for themselves. However, the basic history of Tiffany & Co. is well documented given the prominence of the company in American jewelry design: Tiffany & Co. began as a stationery store but soon expanded to dominate the diamond market. One historical connection with respect to the abolition of slavery can be found in the company's documented history of acting as an \"emporium of military supplies\" for the North during the Civil War. The collection's most popular heart-modeled items\u2014the Elsa Peretti \"Open Heart\" and the iconic \"Return to Tiffany\" collection\u2014were introduced in or around 1969. Early Tiffany & Co. pieces antedating those now popular items (based on two separate heart designs) bear no resemblance to modern silver necklaces, chokers, or bracelets. Early pieces attributed to the brand appear to have been more focused on displaying precious gemstones, and no piece resembling a slave collar is present among the company's historical items. Tiffany & Co. maintains its own image repository of antique pieces, and no collar-like items appear among its archival collection of necklaces. All items resembling the choker are linked with post-1969 collections largely designed by Elsa Peretti and Paloma Picasso. In the 1800s, Tiffany & Co.'s primary precious metal works were household items such as silverware; items designed by Charles Lewis Tiffany weren't typically plain silver affairs, and all the antique chokers we located were gemstone-based. Although no direct link appears between Tiffany & Co.'s modern heart designs and slave chokers, company founder Charles Lewis Tiffany purportedly had links to the antebellum practice of slavery. A 2002 Hartford Courant article examined the iconic brand and its roots in the trade of a less precious material\u2014cotton: \"Charles L. Tiffany originally sold goods in the company store to workers in his father's cotton mills in the hills of 19th century Connecticut, in a town named Killingly. He and the son of another mill owner bet a $1,000 stake they could make it in New York City. That $1,000 investment\u2014about $15,000 in today's dollars\u2014is the start of just one of many strands of wealth created by the booming New England textile industry in the 19th century, an explosion that helped turn Connecticut from a colonial outpost of farms and villages into a center of manufacturing and international trade. Behind this transition were men of ingenuity and vision who invented the machinery, built the mills, and developed revolutionary industrial processes. And what made it all possible were hundreds of thousands of slaves who, toiling for free under even worse conditions but at a convenient distance hundreds of miles away, provided the raw material: Cotton.\" The fortunes of Charles Tiffany and John Young and countless others who made names for themselves in Connecticut as merchants, manufacturers, and traders have their roots in what Charles Sumner, abolitionist and later a senator from Massachusetts, called an \"unhallowed union ... between the cotton planters and fleshmongers of Louisiana and Mississippi and the cotton spinners and traffickers of New England\u2014between the lords of the lash and the lords of the loom.\" The story of Tiffany's origins in the cotton trade does not appear in company history. Company President William R. Chaney was in Clinton recently preparing for the grape harvest at Chamard, the vineyard owned by his family. He sat in the reproduction of a French manor house where the wine is fermented, bottled, and sold. Chaney, who came to Tiffany's from Avon Products in the 1980s, said he had never heard of the Killingly connection and looked startled and hurt at the idea of the company's roots. \"Are you sure?\" he asked. The provenance of the viral Tiffany & Co. slave collar pictured above is certainly muddled. The image of the \"slave collar from the 1700s\" (of unknown origin) is from a real exhibit, albeit often misrepresented as depicting a piece on display at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. (rather than the Lest We Forget Black Holocaust Museum of Philadelphia). A curator explained that such items were supposedly often gifted to mistresses for use with their slaves but correctly noted that the history of slavery is often documented forensically in an absence of surviving written records, so little else is definitively known about the collar. The website for Colonial Williamsburg reports that affluent American owners sometimes placed collars made of precious metal on their slaves as status symbols: \"Before slavery was outlawed in England in 1772, some slave owners had their household slaves wear a silver collar engraved with the owner's name and address. Such a collar can be seen on a slave boy in plate two of Hogarth's Harlot's Progress. Affluent Americans copied this fashion. In the portrait of young Maryland resident, Henry Darnall III, painted by Justus Englehardt Kuhn, a black servant wears a wide silver collar about his neck. In Virginia, the estate of Colonel Thomas Bray included 'a Silver Collar for a Waiting Man' which was sold at auction near Williamsburg in 1751.\" A neck ornament of precious metal that might in one context be a mark of wealth in the wearer instead indicates servitude, which by extension enhances the status of the owner. According to the Smithsonian, slave collars made of iron were used to \"discipline and identify slaves who were considered risks of becoming runaways,\" but their pictured example looks significantly different than the museum piece shown above. Tiffany sent along a picture showing an object very much visually like the museum \"slave collar,\" this one identified as a sterling silver dog collar made by Tiffany circa 1884. The museum piece indeed bears resemblance to Tiffany & Co.'s \"Return to Tiffany\" collection, and discomfort with that visual likeness is one reason viewers have reacted negatively to the rumor positing a connection between the two. However, Tiffany & Co. pieces from the period of time Charles Lewis Tiffany headed the company (from 1837 until his death in 1902) tend to be based on expensive gemstones, diamonds, or silverware; the company didn't commonly adopt their now-iconic simple silver heart designs until around 1969. But Tiffany's core fortune (on which he built his empire) supposedly involved pre-Civil War cotton industry wealth likely derived in part from slave labor, a detail often elided from official histories of Tiffany & Co.","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1E2P0lQD4eapin1ly_AutsxgYqjrR0l7q","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1apH1so8pxL92CTqZpio2ButPVj44Hf0A","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=19eOjq-_oRlAnmIbUyQ3mT7CWWpHPfV3P","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1102","claim":"Is This a Photo of a Nazi Flag from the 'Million MAGA March'?","posted":"11\/14\/2020","sci_digest":["\"At this time in our lives, we need to be united with love and respect for all.\""],"justification":"On Nov. 14, 2020, supporters of President Donald Trump rallied in Washington D.C., in an event dubbed the \"Million MAGA March,\" either to commiserate with each other about Trump's recent loss in his failed bid for re-election, or to foster Trump's spurious claims that the presidential election had been \"stolen\" from him. rallied Some posts shared on social media about the event purported to document the display of Nazi and Confederate flags offered for sale at the rally:  However, the photograph seen above was taken in a different time and place that had no connection to \"Million MAGA March.\" It had been snapped at the Braddock's Inn flea market in Pennsylvania over two months earlier, and the vendor displaying the offending material removed it upon request: flea market ","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1im263iNOUJIodDqDnLiKcYiGXwRLG4gh","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1103","claim":"Dog Years vs. Human Years","posted":"05\/07\/2002","sci_digest":["Conventional wisdom holds that one year of human time is the equivalent of seven years in a dog's age."],"justification":"When we humans exchange information about each other, age is one of the most important pieces of data we share. Knowing someone's age immediately allows us to infer a great deal of information about that person with a reasonable degree of certainty. Age not only tells us whether someone is a child, an adult, or an elderly person, but it also allows us to categorize individuals into finer gradations: infant, toddler, child, adolescent, young adult, adult, middle-aged, and elderly. From these categories, we can deduce a good deal about their physical, psychological, and social statuses. We know a 4-year-old child should be walking, but a 6-month-old baby is unlikely to be capable of that feat. We understand that a couple of 16-year-olds might well have a baby together, but an 8-year-old boy is generally too young to father one, and a 58-year-old woman is usually too old to conceive. We're aware that most 9-year-olds haven't yet reached puberty, but a 39-year-old might well have started experiencing many of the infirmities of advanced age (e.g., diminished eyesight, loss of hearing, weight gain, persistent aches and pains). We grasp that a 29-year-old is in what we would term \"the prime of life,\" while an 89-year-old has well exceeded the average human lifespan. We can make pretty good guesses from a person's age about whether they are old enough to have finished their schooling, live away from their parents, be married, or hold an important professional position, or whether they are too old to still be working or raising children of their own. Even those of us who still have most of our lives ahead of us know all this. When it comes to our pets, however, many of us are mystified about how to relate their ages to ours. Sure, knowledgeable owners and breeders may be quite familiar with all the developmental stages of their chosen animals, but many of us casual pet owners can do little more than distinguish between \"puppy,\" \"dog,\" and \"old dog.\" At what age are kittens weaned from their mothers? What's the average lifespan of a dog? When is a cat old enough to reproduce, and when is a dog too old to bear a litter? Is an 8-year-old dog in the prime of life, or is he closer to middle age? Lacking a good deal of observational experience, many of us simply don't know. Since knowledge and experience take time and effort to acquire, we've developed simple shortcuts to help us answer these questions, such as the well-known formula for \"dog years\": multiply your dog's age by seven, and you'll have his equivalent age in human terms. Although this formula might work reasonably well for the middle years of a dog's life, it's too simplistic to accurately reflect a dog's developmental status closer to either end of its lifespan. Using this calculation, for example, an 18-month-old dog would be at a developmental stage similar to a 10-year-old child, but while many 18-month-old dogs are fully grown and capable of reproducing, few 10-year-old children are. The \"dog years\" measurement suggests that a 15-year-old dog is equivalent to a 105-year-old person, but (factoring out accidents and other unnatural causes of death) a much larger proportion of dogs live to the age of 15 than humans live to the age of 105. Additionally, age is more than just a chronological measurement of years lived; it's also an expression of how our bodies have been affected by the passage of time. Different types of animals age at different rates, so we can't employ a simple, direct, proportional relationship to correlate the ages of species as disparate as dogs and humans, especially since variable factors such as genetics, nutrition, and environment play an important role in the aging process. The bottom line is that just as we wouldn't raise a litter of puppies or kittens the same way we'd raise a baby, we shouldn't care for our pets based on how old we think they would be if they were people. For those who would like a rough idea of how the ages of our canine and feline friends compare to ours (strictly for entertainment purposes), we present the following charts courtesy of ANTECH: \n\nANTECH Dog Human\n1 year 15 years\n2 years 24 years\n4 years 32 years\n7 years 45 years\n10 years 56 years\n15 years 76 years\n20 years 98 years\n\nCat Human\n1 year 15 years\n2 years 24 years\n5 years 36 years\n7 years 45 years\n12 years 64 years\n15 years 76 years\n18 years 88 years\n21 years 100 years\n\nHowever, smaller dog breeds tend to live longer on average than larger breeds, so no single chart can adequately represent all dogs with much accuracy. Therefore, a better charting of equivalent ages is one based on the weight of the animal.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1-zQ19-JsVBakG4LfPr1TGdR3jrVsZwCz","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1104","claim":"We've recovered (from the recession) faster and come farther than almost any other advanced country on Earth.","posted":"07\/23\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"While his critics decry his economic policies, President Barack Obama continues to insist that he has had economic success. In a speech in Wilmington, Del., last week, Obama offered several pieces of evidence that, in his view, suggest that the country is rebounding from the recession. Unemployment is at its lowest rate since 2008, he noted; the auto industry is booming, America is producing more oil than it imports, and the deficit has been cut in half, he added. All told, Obama said, we have recovered faster and come farther than almost any other advanced country on Earth. That final claim got our attention, so we took a closer look. The evidence We asked the White House for evidence to back up Obama's claim, and they pointed us to their annual economic report to Congress. According to the report, the United States is one of only two of the 12 countries that experienced systemic financial crises in 2007 and 2008 but have seen real (gross domestic product) per working-age person return to pre-crisis levels. The 12 countries are France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and the United States. Germany is the only other country among these 12 in that category\u2014that is, that has seen its GDP per person aged 16 to 64 return to its pre-recession level. Here is the summary chart from the White House report: This provides evidence for Obama's claim because, aside from Germany, all the other countries in this category have not yet returned to their pre-recession levels at all. So, case closed? Not quite. There are many ways to measure the economy beyond real GDP per working age. And while the 12 countries studied in the report all experienced banking crises during the recession, Obama's statement was broader than that\u2014he said almost any other advanced country on Earth. (The list of the most advanced countries on Earth also usually does not include Ukraine.) So we ran this measurement past some experts. In general, they agreed with the tenor of Obama's claim but said it wasn't as simple as relying on the chart the White House provided. The general sentiment is quite right, said Jeffrey Frankel, an economist at Harvard University. But to evaluate the statement in its sweeping form, one would have to look at more countries, and one should consider other possible measures of economic performance. Additional measurements On the experts' recommendations, we looked at inflation-adjusted gross domestic product, as well as unemployment rates, in a wider selection of advanced countries. We used data from the International Monetary Fund, which considers 36 economies to be advanced. For each of these 36 countries, we calculated the growth between their worst point in GDP and unemployment to 2013, the last year for which full data is available. Positive growth in GDP is good, while negative growth in unemployment is desirable. Each value that is better than the United States (the last country on the list) is highlighted in bold-italic. (The raw data is here.) Country GDP Unemployment Country GDP Unemployment Australia 13.01% 1.49% Korea 15.98% -16.11% Austria 5.93% 2.45% Latvia 15.36% -36.44% Belgium 4.25% 1.82% Luxembourg 6.93% 17.72% Canada 9.96% -14.58% Malta 8.57% -6.14% Cyprus -6.66% 155.94% Netherlands 0.39% 54.15% Czech Republic 2.37% -4.48% New Zealand 9.18% -6.22% Denmark 2.55% -6.25% Norway 5.30% -2.26% Estonia 17.76% -48.36% Portugal -3.90% 50.52% Finland 3.76% -2.87% San Marino -15.98% 61.78% France 4.08% 11.14% Singapore 29.34% -37.19% Germany 8.93% -32.12% Slovak Republic 10.51% -2.20% Greece -16.92% 117.47% Slovenia -1.72% 39.40% Hong Kong 16.96% -40.30% Spain -2.79% 31.38% Iceland 7.10% -45.41% Sweden 12.39% -6.71% Ireland 1.98% -5.83% Switzerland 7.98% -14.67% Israel 19.48% -32.10% Taiwan 19.58% -28.55% Italy -2.09% 45.31% United Kingdom 4.86% -3.13% Japan 7.31% -20.30% United States 9.32% -23.64% So the United States has clearly done better in expanding GDP and lowering unemployment than most of the economies deemed advanced by the IMF. Still, some countries have fared better, particularly in Asia. It is also worth noting that some countries, like Estonia, have seen an improvement in GDP, yet their GDP has not yet returned to pre-recession levels. Among the countries beyond the United States that are doing well are Canada, Germany, and Switzerland. Israel and some Asian countries, such as Korea and Singapore, have seen improvements as good or better than the United States' in recent years, but they were not as dramatically affected by the recession as North America and Europe. Austan Goolsbee, Obama's former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers (which prepares the White House's annual economic report), pointed to an IMF paper from April, World Economic Outlook: Recovery Strengthens, Remains Uneven. Overall, the report suggests that the United States' forecast for economic growth is better than it is for many advanced European economies, with others roughly comparable. In general, the United States is expected to have the highest growth in the coming year\u2014a projected 2.75 percent. In fact, the report found that the United States economy accelerated faster than anticipated in 2013, while many advanced economies in Europe are still struggling with high unemployment, debt, and other financial issues. Canada, too, has seen some growth, but sluggish exports and business investments have kept the growth fairly slow. The strengthening of the recovery from the Great Recession in the advanced economies is a welcome development, the report says. But growth is not evenly robust across the globe. In many advanced Asian economies, for instance, the recovery is steady due in large part to growing exports, domestic demand, and strong labor markets. (Japan, which is undergoing structural reforms, is an exception.) Australia and New Zealand\u2014neither of which was included in the report the White House cited\u2014have growth classified as stable. Laurence Ball, an economist at Johns Hopkins University, said another factor to consider is the long-term damage caused by the recession. Ball looked at 23 countries that belong to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and compared how much they thought they could grow in 2007 to how much they think they can grow now, based on OECD estimates. Ball found that, on average, these countries sustained an 8.3 percent blow to their potential output for growth. While some countries, like Australia and Switzerland, took a very small hit to their potential output, Greece, Hungary, and Ireland absorbed blows of roughly 30 percent compared to their GDP prospects before the recession. For the United States, the figure is 5.3 percent\u2014lower than the rate for most advanced countries, but higher than Australia, Switzerland, and Germany. This shows that even though the United States has recovered well compared to other countries, it has still lost potential output as a result of the recession, Ball said. Our ruling Obama said the United States has recovered faster and come farther than almost any other advanced country on Earth since the end of the Great Recession. The White House's supporting data is pretty narrow, but other measurements show that the United States has generally fared better since the recession than many\u2014though not all\u2014of its peers among the world's advanced economies. On balance, we rate this statement Mostly True.","issues":["National","Economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1prVlZZdVw9uvCJrwfuCQRv3IrBZS142m","image_caption":"13.01%"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1105","claim":"Titanic Sister Ship Gigantic","posted":"07\/24\/2000","sci_digest":["Was the Titanic's sister ship originally named the 'Gigantic'?"],"justification":"Claim:  The sister ship to the Olympic and Titanic was originally intended to be named the Gigantic.   . Origins:   The   Titanic was originally conceived by the White Star Company as one of a triumvirate of ships intended to vie with Cunard for the trans-Atlantic passenger service business.  White Star couldn't hope to offer ships as fast as Cunard's liners, so they planned to compete by building liners that were both bigger (and hence able to carry more paying passengers and cargo) and more luxurious than Cunard's.  Moreover, since an Atlantic crossing typically took five days in the new class of steamships operated by Cunard and White Star in the first decade of the 20th century, creating a trio of similar ships would allow White Star to offer trans-Atlantic service in both directions on a regular weekly schedule. The planned ships were so large that the shipbuilders, Harland and Wolff, had to allocate space normally used for building three hulls to handle just two of the new behemoths.  Harland and Wolff planned to construct the liners on a staggered schedule so that White Star would have one ready to go into service each spring between 1911 and 1913, and initially everything went according to plan. The keel of the first ship, the Olympic, was laid in December 1908, and the Titanic followed suit three months later.  The Olympic was launched in October 1910, and the Titanic in May 1911.  The  Olympic's maiden voyage took place in June 1911, and the Titanic's in April 1912.  And then ... After the Titanic disaster, the feverish public interest in these massive ocean liners abated, and the third ship of the planned triumvirate, the Britannic, was finally launched (after extensive modifications and with considerably less fanfare than her sisters) in April 1914.  Like her sister ship Titanic, she wasn't around long, though: World War I broke out before the Britannic ever went into passenger service; she was requisitioned by the Royal Navy and pressed into service as a hospital ship; and she struck a mine and sank off the coast of Greece in November  1916.   The magnitude of the Titanic disaster and World War I both overshadowed the short life of the Britannic, and she was gone before many people were even aware she had been built.  Over the years a rumor began to circulate that the Britannic's original name had been the Gigantic, but White Star had thought better of it and quietly changed their minds after the Titanic sank.  White Star maintained that this was not true; they had planned to name the ship Britannic all along and had never considered the name Gigantic. From a purely logical point of view, Gigantic seems the more likely choice.  The names Olympic, Titanic, and Gigantic all evoke a sense of size and strength that Britannic simply does not.  And White Star had considered naming a ship Gigantic on at least one other occasion, as demonstrated by this brief article that appeared 17 September 1892 New York Times: London, Sept. 16  The White Star Company has commissioned the great Belfast shipbuilders Harland and Wolff to build an Atlantic steamer that will beat the record in size and speed. She has already been named the  Gigantic, and will be 700 feet long, 65 feet 7-1\/2 inches beam and 4,500 horsepower. It is calculated that she will steam 22 knots an hour, with a maximum speed of 27 knots. She will have three screws, two fitted like Majestic's, and the third in the centre. She is to be ready for sea in March, 1894. We have more than logic and supposition to go by here, however.  Contemporary references publications such as The New York Times, Scientific American, and Lloyd's List and Shipping Gazette as well as a promotional flyer from White Star itself all indicate that White Star did indeed originally have the name  Gigantic in mind, but one could hardly blame them for altering their plans.  After the sinking of the Titanic, passengers were suddenly less concerned with size and luxury than they were with getting to their destinations alive, and the dignified name Britannic conveyed a sense of safety and reliability in a way the attention-grabbing Gigantic could not. Last updated:  18 December 2005    Sources:   Eaton, John P. and Charles A. Haas.  Titanic: Destination Disaster.   Wellingborough, England: Patrick Stephens, 1987.  ISBN 0-85059-868-0  (pp. 54-56). Titanic: Destination Disaster    Heyer, Paul.  Titanic Legacy: Disaster As Media Event and Myth.   Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1995.  ISBN 0-275-95352-1  (pp. 20-22).","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1igPz0w6pjGqNgk8XHERuLVDC1nui2w-q","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1106","claim":"Crayola Bathtub Fingerpaint Soap Warning","posted":"02\/02\/2018","sci_digest":["A Utah pediatrics practice says that Crayola bathtub fingerpaint soap caused caustic burns, but other users of the popular product didn't share that experience."],"justification":"On 30 January 2018, Utah-based Premier Pediatrics shared a Facebook post warning that Crayola bathtub fingerpaint soap chemically burned a patient's hands: Facebook post   The text of that warning reads as follows: CAUTION! ? We want to share a warning with everyone.  We had a patient come in today. He had used Crayola Bathtub Fingerpaint Soap and it BURNED his hands. Luckily only his hands. We're talking layers of skin gone! We have permission to share. She has attempted to contact the company 3 times with no reply. She purchased it at Wal-Mart but its sold everywhere. Most Amazon reviews are great but we found a ton of bad ones with kids having terrible rashes or more burns.PLEASE SHARE OR TAG YOUR FRIENDS!! ?@premierpediatrics(Update: the company has reached out to us and given their direct line to the parent.) According to to Premier Pediatrics, the child showed up with burns on 30 January 2018. The office also claimed the child's mother made three attempts to contact Crayola about the situation, but it was not clear how much time elapsed between the purported injury, calls, and doctors' visit. Premier Pediatrics pointed to mixed reviews on Amazon as evidence the product causes burns  but some of those reviews were based on Facebook warnings about the product. Amazon A spokesperson for Crayola told us they will be investigating: Thank you for making us aware of this incident. As the manufacturer for childrens products, safety, above all else, is most important to us. We share your concerns and are actively looking into this further. Patient privacy laws make it difficult to find out more details about the purported injury. Although it is possible the photographs show burns on a child exposed to Crayola's bathtub fingerpaint soap, the vast majority of commenters report use of the product without incident. An individual allergic reaction to an unidentified ingredient in the soap is possible, but without further information, impossible to verify. Patient privacy California Department of Health Care Services.  \"What Is HIPAA?\"\r  Accessed 2 February 2018.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1on2JL9Fwx_yXsjSeR8OaQNpALmvJSJKj","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1107","claim":"Michelle Obama Demanding Kids in Daycare Get Weighed","posted":"03\/24\/2015","sci_digest":["Rumor: Michelle Obama has demanded that all children in daycare be weighed as a part of her ongoing interest in childhood nutrition."],"justification":" Claim:  Michelle Obama has demanded that all children in daycare be weighed as a part of her ongoing interest in childhood nutrition.  Example:  [Collected via Twitter, March 2015] https:\/\/t.co\/31ExuXleQH BECAUSE OF MICHELLE OBAMA ALL DAYCARES WILL BE REQUIRED 2 WEIGH CHILDREN. OMG THE GOVERNMENT IS TAKING OVER THE KIDS  slo129 (@slo129) March 24, 2015 https:\/\/t.co\/31ExuXleQH March 24, 2015  Origins:  On 20 March 2015, a rumor began circulating online suggesting that First Lady Michelle Obama had planned a new and intrusive childhood nutrition initiative. According to the rumor, Mrs. Obama had insisted that young children in daycare be weighed and measured for unspecified reasons (somehow pertaining to her initiatives in childhood nutrition): rumor Just when you thought Michelle Obamas nanny state program to force kids to eat healthy couldnt possibly get any worse, it actually does. Not only has the first lady destroyed the spirits of children across the land by tossing out tasty treats from the lunch line, ruining Taco Tuesday, and emptying out vending machines, shes now sending in feds to weigh children in daycare and record the information. One of the rumor's first appearances (which many subsequent iterations pointed to) mentioned the First Lady, but that version made a stronger distinction between Mrs. Obama and the referenced initiative: appearances Bureaucrats from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will weigh and measure children in daycare as part of a study mandated by First Lady Michelle Obama's Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act. The agency published a notice in the Federal Register on Friday proposing data collection on what meals are served in professional and home daycare facilities and how much physical activity children perform. Aside from assessing how healthy the food in daycare is, the USDA will also check the weight and height of roughly 3,000 children. That article linked to a published notice [PDF] in the Federal Register that described an initiative involving weigh-ins of children at daycare facilities. That program has no link to Michelle Obama (save for her earlier advocacy of the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010), and the linked document explains that only about 3,000 children across the country will be involved in the proposed study. notice So while a nutritional study has been proposed that might collect data (including height and weight measurements) from 3,000 children in daycare, that initiative was not ordered by First Lady Michelle Obama. Moreover, \"every child\" in daycare is not being weighed; rather the information-gathering is part of a study (not a form of oversight or enforcement) that will involve only a few thousand children. The proposed title of the study is Study on Nutrition and Wellness Quality in Childcare Settings, or SNAQCS.   Last updated:  24 March 2015 ","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/now.snopes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/day-care-weigh.jpg","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1108","claim":"Have 3D Printed Rhino Horns Been Developed to Stop Poaching?","posted":"07\/11\/2016","sci_digest":["Several biotechnology firms have developed undetectably fake rhino horns as an anti-poaching measure, but wildlife experts aren't thrilled about the innovation."],"justification":"On 9 July 2016, the Facebook page \"The Medical Facts\" published the image and explanation shown below, reporting the development of synthetic rhino horn as an anti-poaching measure: image A biotech startup has managed to 3-D print fake rhino horns that carry the same genetic fingerprint as the actual horn. The company plans to flood Chinese [the] Chinese rhino horn market at one-eighth of the price of the original, undercutting the price poachers can get and forcing them out eventually.  The International Rhino Foundation (IRF) and Save the Rhino International (SRI) issued a joint statement after \"monitoring the progress of four US-based companies that have announced their intentions  with varying degrees of success  to produce synthetic or bio-fabricated rhino horn, and occasionally also other products including e.g. elephant ivory, lion bones or pangolin scales.\" In that statement, both groups expressed their opposition to the introduction of fake rhino horn to international markets: statement We are opposed to the development, marketing and sale of synthetic rhino horn [because]: o Selling synthetic horn does not reduce the demand for rhino horn or dispel the myths around rhino horn and could indeed lead to more poaching because it increases demand for the real thing o More than 90% of rhino horns in circulation are fake (mostly carved from buffalo horn or wood), but poaching rates continue to rise annually. o Synthetic horn could give credence to the notion that rhino horn has medicinal value, which is not supported by science. o Users buy from trusted sources and value the real thing. o The availability of legal synthetic horn could normalise or remove the stigma from buying illegal real horn. o It will take time to develop synthetic horn and meanwhile the poaching crisis continues. o How can consumers and law enforcement officials distinguish between legal synthetic horn that looks real, and illegal real horn? o Companies benefitting from making synthetic horn have shown very little commitment to use their profits to help the core problem of rhino poaching; besides which, those profits would meet only a tiny fraction of the total rhino protection costs that would remain to be met as long as demand reduction campaigns falter, as they would with the marketing of synthetic horn. o Finally, the manufacture \/ marketing \/ sale of synthetic horn diverts funds and attention from the real problem: unsustainable levels of rhino poaching. A December 2015 National Geographicarticle covered the efforts of one such biotechnology outfit producing synthetic rhino horn (Pembroke) and outlined some conservationist concerns about the unintended consequences of such a venture: article I frankly dont see that its any better, to be honest, says Susie Watts, a consultant for WildAid and co-chair of the Species Survival Network Rhino Working Group, referring to Pembients move to put faux powder on the back burner. While shes aware that people buy rhino horn jewelry, Watts has never heard of rhino horn cell phone cases and chopsticks. But opposition to Pembients synthetic horn plans extends beyond the possible new market it could create. Theres very little, if any, relief on wild populations when we see commercial farming develop or commercial trade of a protected species, says Douglas Hendrie, manager of the wildlife crime and investigations unit for conservation group Education for Nature - Vietnam. The wild trade continues right alongside. Patrick Bergin, CEO of the African Wildlife Foundation, also believes that inserting fake horn into the market could counteract efforts to educate people about why they shouldnt buy wild horn, a strategy most activists push as the best way to reduce demand. If you start to nuance that message with some rhino horn is good, some of it is bad, some of it is legal, some of it is illegal, he says, you lose people and lose the clarity of the message. Theres also concern that fake horn could increase the workload for law enforcement in countries already struggling to contain the illicit trade. According to Hendrie, Vietnam doesnt have the enforcement capacity to regulate the black market along with the legal one. A February 2016 followup article presented a five-point set of objections to the introduction of genetic copies of rhino horn to the market, filed with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by the Center for Biological Diversity: presented Additionally, U.S Fish & Wildlife Service Law Enforcement Deputy Chief Ed Grace commented: Experience demonstrates that efforts to 'flood the market' with products produced from protected wildlifeeither by producing synthetic alternatives or raising animals in captivity for harvestoften fail to achieve their stated goal. Such efforts often create more demand from consumers, even as products from wild animals and plants continue to command a premium over synthetic or farmed alternatives... We also have significant concerns about injecting products into the market that would make it harder for law enforcement to detect poached and trafficked wildlife products, or allow criminals to disguise the source of illegal products by commingling them with these alternatives. In short, it's true that at least four biotechnology firms have engaged in some form of development of synthetic material genetically identical to rhino horn. Although progress in that area was initially hailed as a potential anti-poaching measure, conservation groups and wildlife officials have since expressed strong skepticism that the overall effects on the rhinoceros population of selling such material wouldn't be deleterious.  Members of both groups have espoused positions opposing the introduction of fake rhino horn to any market, citing anticipated demand uptick and burdens on already taxed enforcement agencies. Actman, Jani.  \"Can Fake Rhino Horn Stop the Poaching of an Endangered Species?\"\r  National Geographic.  2 December 2015. Neme, Laurel.  \"Petition Seeks Ban on Trade in Fake Rhino Horn.\"\r  National Geographic.  10 February 2016. Save the Rhino International.  \"Joint Statement by the International Rhino Foundation and Save the Rhino International.\"\r  July 2015.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1TriXwCIsXUcpQvsAumQlLZB0BJ6XMgWJ","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1109","claim":"St. Joseph and Home Sales","posted":"05\/18\/2001","sci_digest":["Will burying a statuette of St. Joseph help speed the sale of a property?"],"justification":"Claim:  Burying a statuette of St. Joseph on the property will help speed the sale of a home.  LEGEND Example:  [Cohen, 1997] Many realtors have their \"Believe It or Not\" stories.  Such was the case of a woman who moved from Maryland to Arizona.  After eight months of paying the mortgage on her unsold home in Baltimore, she sent her agent a statue and burial instructions.  Within two weeks, the house sold.  Another case involved a couple moving because of a new job. But their house, which was in a very active neighborhood, wasn't doing anything, even with St. Joseph in the ground. But St. Joseph's presumed inattention turned out to be for the better. The husband got a better job offer, and that's when the house sold.  In 1995, Betsy Moyer was determined to sell her house on Lake Avenue in Baltimore at a premium. She listed it for $15,000 more than other sellers in the same neighborhood. After seven quiet months a friend recommended that Moyer plant St. Joseph. The next week a group of nuns arrived to look at the house. Three months later, the house was sold at the highest price ever in that area, according to her agent. Origins:  Those trying to sell a home often feel in need of a miracle when a quick sale fails to materialize. Folklore purports to have the remedy: Bury a plastic statue of St. Joseph in the yard, and a successful closing won't be long in the offing. Realtors across the nation swear by this. The reputed origins of the practice vary. Some say an order of European nuns in the Middle Ages buried a medal of St. Joseph while asking   the saint to intercede in its quest for a convent. Others claim it may be connected to a practice of German carpenters who buried the statues in the foundations of houses they built and said a prayer to St. Joseph. Yet others trace the connection to a chapel building effort in Montreal in the late 1800s. Brother Andre Bessette wanted to buy some land on Mount Royal in Montreal to construct a small chapel called an oratory. When the landowners refused to sell, Bessette began planting medals of St. Joseph on the property. In 1896 the owners suddenly relented and sold, and Bessette was able to build his oratory.  But these theories may well be instances of retrofitting lore to a custom because mentions older than contemporary times have failed to materialize in standard folklore references. That the custom now has an interesting backstory does not mean its backstory is valid or even that old. The practice of burying a plastic St. Joseph to help speed the sale of a home dates at least to 1979 in the U.S.A. In 1990 it seemingly became all the rage, with realtors buying plastic saints' statues by the gross. The standard practice calls for the statue to be dug up once the property has sold and placed on the grateful seller's mantel or in another place of honor. Some, however, who have trouble remembering where they interred their statues prefer to leave the buried saints where they've been placed to help protect the properties for the new owners. (Which may not work all that well  some believe leaving the statue underground will cause the land to continue changing hands.)  But why Joseph, you ask? Why not another saint  say, St. Jude, patron saint of lost causes? Joseph, Jesus' earthly father, is the patron saint of home and family in the Roman Catholic religion. According to one of the hottest new customs, the statues are buried upside down and facing the road in front of a house for sale.1 Actually, different realtors quote different placements of the statue:   Upside down, near the 'For Sale' sign in the front yard. (An upside down St. Joseph is said to work extra hard to get out of the ground and onto someone's mantel.)  Right side up.  In the rear yard, possibly in a flower bed.  Lying on its back and pointing towards the house \"like an arrow.\"  Three feet from the rear of the house.  Facing the house.  Facing away from the house. (One who tried this reported the house across the street sold, and it hadn't even been up for sale.)  Exactly 12 inches deep. The custom of burying St. Joseph has become so widespread that some retailers even offer a Home Sale Kit, which includes a plastic statue, a prayer card, and an introduction to the St. Joseph home sale practice.  Home Sale Kit Prudent realtors also recommend the following advice in addition to burying Joe: \"For this practice to be fully effective, the seller must, of course, first do such  practical yet all important chores as completing all necessary fix-ups, properly staging the home and finally, adjusting the price so as to exactly reflect market value.\"  Many who have experienced difficulty selling their homes have reported seemingly miraculous sales shortly after burying a statue of St. Joseph on their property. Stephen Binz's 2003 book, Saint Joseph, My Real Estate Agent, is replete with many such examples. However, one tale included in the book (which might well be apocryphal)  indicates that everything doesn't always go as planned. One impatient man moved his statue from the front yard to the backyard to the side of the house and finally threw it in the trash. A few days later the frustrated seller opened the newspaper and saw the headline \"Local Dump Has Been Sold.\" Barbara \"joe work\" Mikkelson Last updated:  11 June 2011    1.  Beard, Betty.  \"Answer to Special Prayers.\"   The Arizona Republic.  16 May 1998  (p. EV1).    Binz, Stephen.  Saint Joseph, My Real Estate Agent.   Ann Arbor, MI: Servant Publications, 2003.   ISBN1-569-55361-0.    Brunvand, Jan Harold.  The Baby Train.   New York: W. W. Norton, 1993.   ISBN 0-393-31208-9   (p. 181-184). The Baby Train   Brunvand, Jan Harold.  Too Good To Be .  New York: W. W. Norton, 1999.   ISBN 0-393-04734-2  (pp. 246-247). Too Good To Be     Cohen, Charles.  \"And He Does It All Upside Down.\"   The [Baltimore] Sun.  30 March 1997  (p. M1).    Galletta, Jan.  \"Believing that Faith Not Only Moves Mountains .\"   Chattanooga Times.  8 April 2000  (p. E1).    Ivey,  James.  \"Gregory With Statue of St. Joseph.\"   Omaha World-Herald.  9 December 1984.    Shea, Jim.  \"Home Sellers Tap a Saint as Dealmaker.\"   The Washington Post.  16 August 1997  (p. E5).    Vigue, Doreen Iudica.  \"St. Joseph Sells.\"   The Boston Globe.  7 December 2003.    Chicago Sun-Times.  \"A New Compass Aims to Please.\"   14 January 1986  (p. 71).    Los Angeles Times.  \"Desperate Sellers Dig That Saint.\"   25 November 1990  (p. K1).    Omaha World-Herald.  \"Priest Doesn't Buy Story .\"   21 November 1985  (p. K1).   The Big Book of Urban Legends.  New York: Paradox Press, 1994.  ISBN 1-56389-165-4  (p. 193). The Big Book of Urban Legends","issues":["mortgage"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1a8MC9FSyuJ74bii-aIEEneU-DHYxiQ2F","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1110","claim":"Hotline Ping","posted":"12\/02\/2015","sci_digest":["A popular Facebook graphic correctly states the number for the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans, but calls to the line might not immediately result in shelter for vets."],"justification":"Claim:Veterans can dial 877-424-3838 to secure immediate shelter for any homeless veteran. [dot-mixture][\/dot-mixture] WHAT'S : The phone number for the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans is877-424-3838. WHAT'S \/UNDETERMINED: Calls to this number will result in immediate housing arrangements for homeless vets. Example:[Collected via e-mail and Facebook, December2015]Is this real?   Let's make this go viral!   Origins: On 20 November 2015 a Facebook user shared the above-reproduced graphic, urging fellow users to make it \"go viral\" and indicating that calls to the phone number877-424-3838 would get \"any homeless veteran a place to live.\" shared With winter approaching (and renewed interest in homelessness among veterans due to an ongoing refugee crisis) the image and its claims became popular among Facebook users. The phone number877-424-3838 indeed belongedto theNational Call Center for Homeless Veterans (operated by theU.S. Department of Veterans Affairs), and the hotline's page described its range of services:The Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA)has founded a National Call Center for Homeless Veterans hotline to ensure that homeless Veterans or Veterans at-risk for homelessness have free, 24\/7 access to trained counselors.The hotline is intended to assist homeless Veterans and their families, VA Medical Centers, federal, state and local partners,community agencies, service providers and others in the community. refugee crisis National Call Center   Clearly,disseminating information about the hotline and its purposesserved topotentially benefit some homeless veterans. However, the wording of the graphicpotentially led readers to believe that a call placed to the line wouldensure a homeless vet would receive immediate housing services; however, particularly in winter, it was important to understand the scope of the hotline and its limitations. While the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans provided access to counselors 24 hours a day and seven days a week, its primary function wasn't to directly provide housing for at-risk veterans. Counselors on the line possessed the ability to possibly connect veterans with local resources, but did not appear capable of directly arranging those resources. Local law enforcement agencies often engage homeless protection protocols during severe weather, such as New York City's Code Blue:Implemented when the temperature drops to 32 degrees or lower, or during times of sustained winds and precipitation, Code Blue calls for increased street outreach efforts - thereby doubling the number of vans in the field and enabling teams to check on individuals more frequently. In addition, when Code Blue is in effect, individuals experiencing homelessness may access any of the agency's adult facilities, including shelters and drop-in centers, without going through the usual intake process.  Code Blue \"Code Blue is a procedure that, above all else, aims to save lives,\" said DHS Commissioner Michele Ovesey. \"As we strengthen and maximize agency outreach efforts, we do so knowing the great importance, and urgency, of reaching as many vulnerable individuals as possible, Citywide.\"  It's possible that a call placed to the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans would result in eventual help for a homeless vet, but 877-424-3838 might not be the best number to call for immediate assistance. In addition to the hotline, concernsabout the immediate welfare of a homeless veteran directed tolocal law enforcement agencies could help determine ifdirectservices wereavailable.  Last updated: 2December 2015 Originally published: 2December 2015","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=18bYGC3t489F1baZICNlhjBC2XFn7pZx0","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1111","claim":"Seattle Chase Wheedle could be paraphrased as \"Pursue in Seattle Coax\".","posted":"07\/17\/2015","sci_digest":[""],"justification":"FACT CHECK: Is the city of Seattle forcing local businesses to comply with Sharia law?  Claim: The mayor of Seattle has \"launched\" a new \"rule\" forcing businesses to comply with Sharia law.   false WHAT'S   Seattle is exploring options to make home loans accessible to Muslims who are unable to participate in standard mortgage programs due to religious proscriptions.     WHAT'S   Seattle businesses are being forced to comply with tenets of sharia law. Examples: Seattle Mayor Planning to Force Banks to Give Sharia Compliant Homes Loans to Local Muslims https:\/\/t.co\/QSKZ1XqzMB https:\/\/t.co\/QSKZ1XqzMB  Warner Todd Huston (@warnerthuston) July 17, 2015 July 17, 2015   Seattle's Liberal Mayor Caves To Muslims Following Sharia Law - BuzzPo https:\/\/t.co\/A3m76OJz7r https:\/\/t.co\/A3m76OJz7r  EMERSON E.RODRIGUES (@EMERSON_NALITA) July 17, 2015 July 17, 2015   Mayor, no Sharia law applies in America!! Stop this unconstitutional junk. https:\/\/t.co\/fx7VENmVQx https:\/\/t.co\/fx7VENmVQx  Bunch (@bunch1243) July 17, 2015 July 17, 2015   Origins:On 17 July 2015, the unreliable web site Conservative Tribune published an article titled \"ALERT: Seattle Mayor Launches Rules to Force Local Businesses to Comply With SHARIAH LAW\" claiming that: article In one major American city, new rules may force banks to comply with Shariah law on lending and interest. One of the major tenets of Shariah law is that Muslims cannot pay interest on loans. In countries with large Muslim populations, theres something known as Islamic banking, which manages to get around this through various machinations. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray wants to see that change, and hes apparently willing to force banks into Shariah-compliant lending if necessary. This means that, if it passes, Seattle will be the first city in America to mandate that its banks allow access to Shariah-compliant financing.  That claim was sourced to the TeaParty.org site's article \"Seattle Mayor Offers Plan for Sharia-Compliant Housing Rules,\" which offered the following visual: article That article was a word-for-word copy of a Puget Sound Business Journal article about a potential plan by the mayor of Seattle to help Muslims obtain home loans to buy houses.  Quoting both Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Seattle-area Chapter Executive Director Arsalan Bukhari, the article explained that the city was examining housing options available to home-buying Muslims who are prohibited from participating in the traditional American housing market due to religious restrictions that prohibit them from obtaining standard home loans (despite their having desirable credit profiles): article   For some Muslims, it can be hard to buy a house, and Mayor Ed Murray plans to do something about it. Murray's housing committee released its recommendations for ways the city can increase housing in the city. Most ideas were what you'd expect, including increasing the city's housing levy and implementing new rules and regulations to foster development of market-rate and lower-income housing. One suggestion would help followers of Sharia law buy houses. That's virtually impossible now because Sharia law prohibits payment of interest on loans. The 28-member committee recommended the city convene lenders and community leaders to explore options for increasing access to Sharia-compliant loan products. More and more lenders are offering Sharia-compliant financing. The sector has grown to more than $1.6 trillion in assets worldwide over the past three decades, and analysts see potential for continued growth as the number of Muslims in the United States and Europe grows. Based on what he called \"rough anecdotal evidence,\" Bukhari estimated a couple hundred people aren't borrowing money for houses due to their religion. He said this includes even high-wage earners, such as the more than 1,000 Muslims who work for Microsoft and more than 500 Amazon.com  employees. They could easily qualify for home loans but opt not to apply \"simply because they don't want to pay interest,\" Bukhari said. \"We will work to develop new tools for Muslims who are prevented from using conventional mortgage products due to their religious beliefs,\" Murray said. The overall topic of Seattle-area Muslims and banking products was also addressed in another Puget Sound Business Journal article about retirement plans. According to that piece, CEO Thom Poulson of Falah Capital is working to facilitate opportunities for Muslim tech workers to access products such as 401(k)s and mortgages previously inaccessible to them due to religious barriers: article   It's estimated that more than 1,000 Muslims in the Puget Sound region work for Microsoft, and for those who closely follow their faith, it can be difficult to participate in the company's retirement plan. That's because Sharia law forbids them from investing in funds with holdings in companies that peddle pornography, alcohol and other vices. It's almost impossible for retirement funds to guarantee all their investments are free from those kinds of businesses. This has become an issue for workers at other tech companies, too. \"You have people who aren't getting the full benefits of their employer's offering,\" said Thom Polson, CEO of a new Seattle company, Falah Capital LLC, which works with Muslims to ensure they're investing while staying true to their beliefs. In partnership with Seattle-based Russell Investments and IdealRatings of San Francisco, Falah set up its first Islamic exchange traded fund (ETF) last fall. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker \"FIA,\" the Russell-IdealRatings Islamic US Large Cap Index, the ETF is the first of its kind on the exchange. Polson said a large percentage of the Muslims who work at tech firms are not using their 401(k) plans because they're not Sharia-compliant. \"All of our advisory business is about addressing these needs,\" Polson said, adding his company is working with clients from the Muslim Association of the Puget Sound. The association has a large community center with a mosque in Redmond near Microsoft's headquarters. Next up for Fallah is a possible foray into home mortgages so clients can buy houses without taking out interest-bearing loans, which is against Sharia law. As part Seattle Mayor Ed Murray's landmark housing initiative, the city plans to work with lenders to help observant Muslims buy homes.   What these articles address are efforts to help businesses  service a significant portion of the local Seattle-area working population who are unable to utilize those business' current offerings  due to religious limitations, not to force businesses to comply with tenets of sharia law.  Mayor Murray's 13 July 2015 \"Action Plan to Address Seattles Affordability Crisis\" merely included a policy point of \"explor[ing] the best options for increasing access to Sharia-compliant loan products,\" not mandating that any local businesses offer such products: Action Plan  Support the Community in Finding Housing Tools for Sharia-Compliant Lending: For our low- and moderate-income Muslim neighbors who follow Sharia law  which prohibits the payment of interest or fees for loans of money  there are limited options for financing a home. Some Muslims are unable to use conventional mortgage products due to religious convictions. The City will convene lenders, housing nonprofits and community leaders to explore the best options for increasing access to Sharia-compliant loan products to help these residents become homeowners in Seattle.   Last updated: 17 July 2015 Originally published:  17 July 2015","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1MsVbmDnhcYyYuHMmSlJphNWrB5D4poLH"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1N-3OAMKIElx1wOOsGbxr6IyQhv53-IF2"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1112","claim":"Were These Sea Creatures Washed Up by a Tsunami?","posted":"01\/12\/2005","sci_digest":["These deep-sea creatures were not found scattered throughout the wreckage pf a tsunami."],"justification":"In the wake of the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004, almost any unusual or remarkable photographs connected with oceanic phenomena were attributed to that disaster, and the following collection of pictures was a prime example: Phuket Deep Sea Creatures - Found At Seaside After TSUNAMI. As everyone knows, the tsunami in Southeast Asia was devastating, both in terms of loss of life and economic impact on the region. However, now that the cleanup is underway, deep-sea creatures that live too deep to be studied are being found scattered throughout the wreckage. These creatures were washed up on shore when the waves hit. It's amazing what lives so far below the surface, isn't it? It is ironic how terrible human tragedy and natural disaster can lead to an unprecedented expansion of scientific knowledge. The theory is that the tsunami created enough vertical currents to sweep these deep-living creatures to the surface quickly. The gases in their blood expanded rapidly, causing death (similar to divers ascending too quickly). The same set of pictures was dusted off in April 2011 and attributed to the tsunami that hit Japan the previous month: Creatures Found At Seaside After JAPAN TSUNAMI. Everyone knows the tsunami in Japan was devastating, both in terms of loss of life and economic impact on the region. However, now that the cleanup is underway, deep-sea creatures that live too deep to be studied are being found scattered throughout the wreckage. These creatures were washed up on shore when the waves hit. Although these pictures are genuine images of some rather strange deep-sea creatures, the photographs had nothing to do with a tsunami in the Indian Ocean or Japan. They date from mid-2003 and were taken as part of the NORFANZ voyage, a joint Australian-New Zealand research expedition conducted in May-June 2003 to explore deep-sea habitats and biodiversity in the Tasman Sea. These photographs can be viewed on Australia's National Oceans Office website. NORFANZ National Oceans Office.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=14y1b809z8RZ6flLWKjkxjmjs66RORerS","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1_FkS-afp5Ex4TQF-GZQ1BgI2ztJj8vUs","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1WBf_gzXWp3bfaBcmxE2hAjCceVdflwlC","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1iUw1yfa6Vfja1Jjgt3Tgn01OBBopCHKG","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Gvf6jagfWtPY-cn0Ii9sY-BdBtbK17-M","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1sm-fOVYQ3vWX9fZMEqnV0e6JB4w4zxtC","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Rlbp1tSKHnq6YVQ_fg--23Y_ieKFYFUu","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1OqlXijG01C57LIf0Javpk0nxdfH8GTOX","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1TBDKpOxvPdYZIWs37X6VP4VXilIrvoeI","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1b3ugKQddBACUvKHZP8EIwMRC6fWtOZkx","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1nhXGzuilujbK372Hb-Ud-N_mLGFvmwN5","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Kev1h89tWMZ2DrsuJAb-cs1W559kXH_7","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1113","claim":"Over 3 million Americans are employed in the growing green-collar workforce, which is more than the number of people working in the fossil fuel industry.","posted":"02\/14\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"The notion of counting the number of green jobs in America made us think, oddly enough, of a middle-aged guy trying to be cool by pairing a sport coat with blue jeans. Not easy. Yet quite matter-of-factly, while touting a clean energy jobs bill she introduced, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin made the following statement on Jan. 22, 2014: Over 3 million Americans are employed in the growing green-collar workforce, including in clean energy and sustainability, which is more than the number of people working in the fossil fuel industry. When we put the Wisconsin Democrat's claim to Daniel Kish at the Institute for Energy Research, he told us that both green and fossil fuel industry job numbers are sometimes thrown around with abandon. This gets really dicey real quick, he said. Everybody's got their dueling banjos. That's PolitiFact Wisconsin's kind of music. To back his boss's claim, Baldwin spokesman John Kraus cited two reports. Both are from solid sources, though they mix sports coats and -- er, apples and oranges -- a bit. \n\n1. Federal report  \nIn 2012, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics embarked on an annual tally of green jobs. The agency had the advantage of considering a definition of green jobs proffered a year earlier by the Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C. think tank, which produced its own green jobs count. The Bureau of Labor Statistics surveyed 120,000 business and government establishments within 325 industries that were identified as potentially producing green goods or providing green services. Those surveyed indicated whether they produced green goods and services and the percentage of their revenue or employment associated with that output. Green goods and services were defined as those that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources. They fall into one or more of the following five groups: 1) Production of energy from renewable sources; 2) energy efficiency; 3) pollution reduction and removal, greenhouse gas reduction, and recycling and reuse; 4) natural resources conservation; and 5) environmental compliance, education and training, and public awareness. So, the list of green jobs is quite varied, including jobs in areas such as farming; home construction; electric, solar, and other types of power generation; petroleum and coal products manufacturing; urban mass transit; newspaper publishing; advertising and public relations services; waste treatment and disposal; museums and zoos; and social advocacy organizations. The Bureau of Labor Statistics produced its second -- and, it turns out, final -- green jobs report in March 2013. It estimated that employment associated with the production of green goods and services -- full- and part-time jobs -- exceeded 3.4 million in 2011. Manufacturing, with 507,000 green jobs, was the largest sector. Goods produced by those jobs included air conditioning and refrigeration equipment meeting selected standards, hybrid cars and parts, and pollution mitigation equipment. Kish, who is senior vice president for policy at the industry-backed Institute for Energy Research, pointed out that 886,000 of the 3.4 million were government jobs -- not jobs, he said, in which people are making or installing windmills and solar panels. Green, Kish said, is a political word, used by politicians and advocates, that is truly elusive. Nevertheless, the Bureau of Labor Statistics is well-established as the official jobs counter for the federal government. The 2013 report, for the number of green jobs in 2011, remains the latest available. That report said that because of budget cuts, no more green counts would be done. \n\n2. Think tank study  \nThe Brookings Institution report we noted above was produced in 2011, so it's a little dated. Brookings estimated that in 2010, there were 2.7 million green jobs -- that is, jobs that directly contributed to the production of goods and services that had an environmental benefit. Brookings didn't do a count of fossil fuel industry jobs, but it did make a comparison using federal government tallies. Its report said that in 2010, there were 1.3 million jobs that directly supported the production of fossil fuel-based energy, derivative manufactured products, and machinery. If all wholesale and retail distributors, transporters, and other workers -- such as gas station employees -- were included, the fossil fuel tally would be 2.4 million jobs, Brookings said. Brookings scholar Jonathan Rothwell told us some critics view the think tank's definition of green jobs as too expansive. For example, some 350,000 public transportation jobs in the green tally include not only bus drivers but secretaries, janitors, executives, and all other employees who work for bus companies, he said. Brookings' definition of green jobs was very broad and included any economic activity that has an environmental benefit -- from public transportation to waste management, Rothwell acknowledged, adding that because only a small portion of energy comes from green sources, fossil fuel employees are a much larger share of the energy sector's workforce. But Rothwell noted that the Bureau of Labor Statistics adopted a similar definition when it did green jobs counts. And we note that BLS arrived at a roughly similar green jobs estimate. So, the most recent federal report backs the first part of Baldwin's statement, that there are more than 3 million green jobs. The older think tank report she cites doesn't say there were more than 3 million green jobs, but does say that green jobs outnumbered fossil fuel industry jobs as of 2010. \n\nOther views  \nOne thing to underline here is that counting green jobs is a different sort of animal. As CNN\/Money observed when the first Bureau of Labor Statistics green jobs report came out in 2012, comparing green jobs to another singular sector isn't really fair. The green jobs survey took into account a wide variety of jobs in over 300 different industries. As for the oil and gas industry itself, a July 2013 report was done by PricewaterhouseCoopers for the American Petroleum Institute, a trade association for the oil and natural gas industry, that was an update of a report done two years earlier. The later report said there were 2.59 million jobs in the oil and natural gas industry in 2011. PricewaterhouseCoopers said it utilized data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the U.S. Census Bureau for its study. The study noted that the oil and natural gas industry encompasses a number of activities that span separate industry classifications in government economic data. For example, oil and natural gas exploration and production is included in the mining sector; and oil refining is part of the manufacturing sector. The study defined the oil and gas industry to include all such activities. The petroleum institute noted to us criticism of how the federal government defines green jobs, including an editorial in Investors Business Daily that called the annual count phony. A final note: In November 2012, U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, made a claim similar to but broader than Baldwin's, saying there were more people working in clean and green energy than in oil and gas in this country. That was before the latest reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and American Petroleum Institute that estimated green and fossil fuel jobs for 2011. PolitiFact Rhode Island rated the statement True. Our colleagues noted that at the time, the number of green jobs as estimated by BLS exceeded the number of oil and gas jobs estimated by the petroleum institute. \n\nOur rating  \nBaldwin said: Over 3 million Americans are employed in the growing green-collar workforce, which is more than the number of people working in the fossil fuel industry. The latest estimates are for 2011. The federal government says there were 3.4 million green jobs, while a national oil and gas trade group says there were 2.59 million oil and gas jobs. We rate Baldwin's statement True. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.","issues":["Environment","Economy","Energy","Jobs","Transportation","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1114","claim":"Says Donald Trump supports the Wall Street bailout.","posted":"09\/15\/2015","sci_digest":[],"justification":"The Club for Growth, an anti-tax group, portrays Donald Trump as a liberal in a new TV ad. Which presidential candidate supports higher taxes, national health care and the Wall Street bailout?asks the narratorin the Sept. 15 ad in Iowa as it shows photos of Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. It's Donald Trump. The ad then shows a clip of Trump saying in 2004: In many cases I probably identify more as a Democrat. We have already fact-checked Trumps statements ontaxes(hes supported increases),health care(hes had different views over the years) and an attack about hisparty affiliation(he was once a Democrat). Here, we will fact-check if he supported the Wall Street bailout. Trump on the bailout In October 2008, Congress created a $700 billion emergency bailout fund called the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP,  to rescue banks in response to the subprime mortgage crisis. President George W. Bush pressed for passage, and it also drew the support of GOP presidential nominee John McCain and the Democratic nominee, Barack Obama. The Club for Growthcitedthree statements by Trump in support of the bailout. However, the ad omits that he expressed some skepticism about whether it would work. On Sept. 30, 2008, CNNs Kiran Chetry asked Trump about the bailout days before its final passage. The ad includes this segment of that interview: Chetry:Do you think that this bailout plan needs to pass in some way, shape or form for things to stabilize? Trump replied: Well, I think it would be better if it passed. But the ad omits the rest of Trumps statement in which he expressed some doubt about the bailout: I'm not sure that it's going to work.Youknow, it is trial and error. This is very complicated. This is more complicated than sending rockets to the moon. Nobody really knows what impact it's going to have. Maybe it works, and maybe it doesn't. But certainly it is worth a shot. I don't love the idea that the government's buying back all the bad loans. How about some of the good loans? You know? I don't like the idea that the government, frankly, is going to be negotiating with people to sell those loans, because maybe we'd be better off having the best bankers in the world do that. But I think overall, it's a probable positive, other than you have to control the price of oil. Because if you don't, whatever happens with the bailout, if you want to call it the bailout, whatever happens with the bailout, is will have no impact, no positive impact. OnLarry King Liveon April 15, 2009, King asked Trump his opinion of Obama and Trump turned to the bailout in part of his answer: I do agree with what they're doing with the banks. Whether they fund them or nationalize them, it doesn't matter, but you have to keep the banks going, Trump said. On Feb. 18, 2009, Trump talked about the bank bailout onDavid Letterman: The one thing is, the government came in and intelligently put money into the banks, so that if you have your money in CDs or whatever in the banks, youre not going to lose your money at least. In response to the ad, Trumptweeted: Little respected Club for Growth asked me for $1,000,000 -- I said NO. Now they are spending lobbyist and special interest money on ads! Trumps charge relates to a June 2 letter from Club for Growth president David McIntosh to Trump asking him to contribute $1 million to the group. Trump then issued apress releasesaying that the group was trying to shake him down. Club for Growth spokesman Doug Sachtleben told PolitiFact that Trump had asked for the meeting and was interested in donating to the group. Our ruling A Club for Growth TV ad states that Trump supports the Wall Street bailout. Trump made multiple statements in support of TARP, the bailout of the banks, in late 2008 and 2009. However, the ad omits that he raised concern that the banks had received billions and were not loaning them out. Overall, we rate this claim Mostly True.","issues":["Congress","Economy","Florida"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1115","claim":"California's Attorney General, Xavier Becerra is putting together plans to raise property tax revenue by eliminating the only thing keeping some people's property tax from sky rocketing, Prop 13.","posted":"01\/24\/2020","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Supporters of a California ballot measure that would remove some of Proposition 13s tax protections say claims shared thousands of times on Facebook and other social media platforms have distorted their initiative. The campaign for theCalifornia Schools and Local Communities Funding Act of 2020, also known as the split-roll measure,is still gathering signatures to qualify for the November ballot. It is backed by a group of union and social justice organizations. If approved by voters, the measure would hike taxes on factories, stores and other commercial and industrial real estate by requiring they pay property tax based on current market value rather than the value of the property when it was purchased. It would raise an estimated $7.5 billion to $12 billion annually, according to ananalysisby the nonpartisan Legislative Analysts Office. The money would be distributed to schools and local governments. The proposed ballot measure, however, would not touch tax protections for homeowners. Yet many claims on social media suggest the initiative would repeal all parts of Prop. 13, stoking concerns that residential property taxes could spike. Heres one example posted on Facebook Dec. 31, 2019:  A similar Facebook postby Bakersfield Tuff, a media company focused on racing and rodeo, was shared more than 2,200 times. Others have appeared on the platforms Next Door and We Chat, according to the campaign for the initiative. Do these claims distort the truth? We set out on a fact check to find out. Background on Prop. 13 In 1978, voters approved Prop. 13, which slashed property taxes and limited how much they could go up. It also tied tax rates to a propertys purchase price, rather than to the fluctuations of Californias real estate market, ensuring homeowners greater financial stability. The lawremains popularamong homeowners and business groups, who argue it allows neighborhoods to stay intact and older residents on fixed-incomes to remain in their homes rather than being forced out by high tax bills. Groups such asCalifornians to Stop Higher Property Taxeshave warned that removing Prop. 13s commercial tax protections will lead companies to pass along any increased tax burden to consumers. Critics of Prop. 13, on the other hand, say the law has cut too deeply into the foundation of tax revenue for local governments. Social Media Claims Completely False The campaign spearheading the November ballot measure contacted PolitiFact about the social media claims. They are completely false, said Alex Stack, spokesperson for theinitiative. It would completely protect and exempt all residential property, that means homeowners, renters and seniors. Thats backed up by the initiatives officialtitle and summaryprepared by the Attorney Generals office. That document says the measure exempts residential properties; agricultural properties; and owners of commercial and industrial properties with combined value of $3 million or less. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (AP Photo\/Rich Pedroncelli) Becerra's Role The social media posts claimed Becerra was putting together plans to eliminate Prop. 13. Theres no evidence to substantiate that. Becerra and others attorneys general, however, have been criticized for drafting misleading ballot measure titles and summaries. For example,Becerra wasaccused of giving an earlier version of this measure a friendly write-up. But attorneys general do not initiate ballot measures. A spokesperson for Becerra declined to directly address the social media posts. Wesley Hussey, a political science professor at Sacramento State University, said the claim about Becerra planning to repeal Prop. 13 is clearly wrong and described the rest of the information as cleverly fuzzy. Its very intelligently written, he said of the posts, suggesting they may have originated with a political operative. Only one or two spots are wrong. A lot is political opinion. Theres no doubting the ballot measures significance, Hussey added. It would be a dramatic revision to Prop. 13. If passed, it would be by far the biggest change weve seen since voters approved the law, he said. Keith Smith is a political science professor at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, where he studies elections and voting behavior. He agreed the claim about Becerra was technically wrong. But given that the initiative represents a big change to Prop. 13, some voters may see it as a gateway to repealing the measure altogether. Asked if social media posts were accurate, he replied: It depends on your perspective. Is [Prop. 13] going away? No, its not going away. Is [the ballot measure] proposing to do away with some aspect of Prop. 13 that currently exists? Yes. The claims published on Facebook and other sites, Smith explained, could be more convincing to voters than any details in the ballot measure. Earlier this month,ABC 10 Sacramento examined similar claimsand found theres no effort to eliminate Prop. 13. Adding to the confusion about the proposed November ballot measure, theres a voter initiative on Californias March primary ballot calledProposition 13, the School and College Facilities Bond. But it has nothing to do with the landmark measure of the same name passed four decades ago. A spokesman for the California Secretary of States Office said that the numbers assigned to propositions are reused through the years, sometimes leading to duplicates. Our Ruling Social media posts claimed a November ballot measure would repeal Californias Prop. 13, and that Attorney General Becerra is putting together plans to eliminate the historic law. The proposed measure would undo Prop. 13s tax protections for commercial and industrial properties with a value over $3 million. It would be a major change to the law. But homeowners, small businesses and agricultural properties would not lose their Prop. 13 tax safeguards. Thats spelled out in the measures official statetitle and summary document. While Becerras office writes the legal titles and summaries for voter initiatives, the attorney general does not put forward ballot measures. Theres no evidence Becerra is trying to eliminate Prop. 13. In the end, the social media posts capture the real concern about potential changes to Prop. 13, but they also greatly misrepresent the specific changes the November ballot measure would make to it. We rate their claims about repealing Prop. 13 as False. FALSEThe statement is not accurate. Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check. Read more about Prop. 13, its history and efforts to change it in'The Block That Prop. 13 Built,' a collaboration between CapRadio, CALmattersand public radio stations across California. Email us at[email protected]with feedback or contact us onTwitterorFacebook. Also, were starting a new project calledAsk PolitiFact California.Is there something in California government or politics that we should fact-check next? Send us a question, and one of our reporters and fact-checkers might reach out to find the answer.","issues":["City Budget","County Budget","Education","Federal Budget","State Budget","Taxes","California"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1_Nnq3JeuASfWKK4H3S3sUiQkxx-2yiPu","image_caption":"California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (AP Photo\/Rich Pedroncelli)"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1JYH_vn9QalrcAju6frPyeKDhQ9r5MUk5","image_caption":"FALSE"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1116","claim":"Dark money spending in the 2016 election cycle is 10 times what it was at the same point in the 2012 election cycle, when it topped $308 million.","posted":"11\/05\/2015","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Soliciting contributions to her campaign fund, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin warned her supporters about the dangers of dark money -- cash spent on elections by groups that dont have to disclose their donors. In an Oct. 30, 2015 email, the Wisconsin Democrat wrote that groups backed by conservatives such asKarl Roveand theKoch brothershave spent hundreds of millions of dollars to make sure they get right-wing extremists elected into office. And its only getting worse. Today, Baldwins email continued, dark money spending is 10 times what it was at the same point in the 2012 election cycle. And in 2012, it ended up topping $308 million. Then she asked for a contribution of $5 or more. A year away from the 2016 general election, is dark-money spending already 10 times higher than it was at this point four years ago? The answer, from the source widely acknowledged as the best in this area: Yes. What dark is We consulted the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan campaign finance research group that runs a website calledOpenSecrets.org. (Two other groups involved in campaign finance -- the Sunlight Foundation and the Campaign Finance Institute -- also referred us to the center.) Using data from the Federal Election Commission, the Center for Responsive Politics tracks so-called dark-money spending -- that is, expenditures by nonprofit groups, whose primary function is not supposed to be political activity, that dont have to disclose their donors. Those groupscan receiveunlimited corporate, individual, or union contributions. They can use the money for various election activities, including buying ads that advocate for or against a candidate, running phone banks and making contributions to super PACs. Butthey cantcoordinate with or donate money to candidates. Lets start with 2011 and 2012 -- that is, the 2012 election  cycle. 2012 election cycle The center reports that, as Baldwin indicated, more than$308 millionin dark money was spent during the entire 2012 election cycle. Some 86 percent was spent by conservative groups, 11 percent by liberal groups and 3 percent by other groups. The most -- $71 million -- was spent byAmerican Crossroads\/Crossroads GPS, which was co-founded by Rove.Americans for Prosperity, founded in part by the billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch, was second ($36 million) and theU.S. Chamber of Commercewas third ($35 million). The three leading liberal groups, as identified by the center, were theLeague of Conservation Voters($11 million),Patriot Majority USA($7 million), whose priorities include money for public schools and infrastructure, andPlanned Parenthood(nearly $7 million). 2016 cycle As for the 2016 cycle,$4.88 millionin dark money expenditures have already been made, according to the center. Thats more than 10 times the$440,000that was spent at this point during the 2012 cycle. The $4.88 millionhas been spent by six groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ($3 million) and Americans for Prosperity ($1.5 million), The only liberal group was Planned Parenthood, which spent just under $75,000 Richard Skinner, policy analyst at the Sunlight Foundation, told us that the focus of early dark money being spent in the 2016 cycle is on U.S. Senate elections that are considered to be competitive, though some is also being spent on U.S. House races. (Baldwin isnt up for election again until 2018. But Wisconsins other senator, Republican Ron Johnson,is ratedas being in a pure toss-up race in 2016 from Democrat Russ Feingold, whom Johnson defeated in 2010. No dark money has been spent yet in that race, according to the Sunlight Foundation.) Skinner said he didnt know whether dark money spending so far means that the total for the 2016 cycle will ultimately be 10 times higher than four years earlier. But he said he expects more dark money to spent in the 2016 cycle than ever before. Our rating Baldwin said dark money spending in the 2016 election cycle is 10 times what it was at the same point in the 2012 election cycle, when it topped $308 million. So-called dark money spending in election campaigns -- by groups that dont have to disclose their donors -- exceeded $308 million in the 2012 election cycle. So far in the 2016 cycle, it has reached nearly $5 million, more than 10 times the $440,000 that had been spent at this point in the 2012 cycle. We rate Baldwins statement True. More on Tammy Baldwin The pope and Donald Trump and Tammy Baldwin all agree on eliminating the carried-interest tax break.Half True. Scott Walker's views on abortion are more restrictive than any Republican president in recent times.True. Middle-class Americans pay a higher tax rate than millionaires and billionaires.Half True.","issues":["Campaign Finance","Congress","Elections","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1117","claim":"Oprah's recommendation is to leave a ten percent tip.","posted":"11\/04\/2009","sci_digest":["Does Oprah Winfrey say restaurant goers should tip ten percent?"],"justification":"Claim:  Oprah Winfrey said that restaurant customers need not tip their servers more than 10%..  Example:  [Collected via e-mail, November 2009] Did Oprah Winfrey state that, in this economy, tipping 10% is acceptable? Origins:  Leaving a relatively substantial monetary tip for the waitstaff at the conclusion of a restaurant meal is the custom in some countries, including the U.S. and Canada. A gratuity amounting to 15% to 20% of the bill is now considered the standard or minimum tip, with even more left in recognition of superlative service. It is therefore little cause for surprise that any cultural icon's public voicing of an opinion that folks should leave no more than a 10% tip would raise the hackles of many in the service industry.  And so it was with the belief that Oprah Winfrey, beloved television talk show host, had instructed members of her audience to not leave more than a 10% tip when dining in restaurants, with such rumor often coupled with a further assertion that this advice was offered in recognition of the recession's having hit everyone hard. Such belief that Oprah had said it fit  well with a widely-held stereotype that African American customers tip less than do other restaurant patrons. In September 2009 a page on the social networking site Facebook raised the false \"Oprah said not to tip more than 10%\" claim. Titled \"1 Million Servers Strong Against Oprah's Comments,\" the group stated as its purpose:  Against Oprah Winfrey has recently stated on her TV show that it is acceptable to tip servers 10% in our current economy. This group is being put together to show Oprah that her comments have a crippling affect on servers all over the world. As of 4 November 2009, \"1 Million Servers Strong Against Oprah's Comments\" has 37,228 members. Yet the claim that has inflamed so many is false. There is no evidence in support of the assertion that Oprah Winfrey recommended her audience tip waitstaff 10%, in response to economic recession or otherwise, on her television show or in her magazine. No one has yet to turn up a video clip from her show of her supposed  tipping advice or produce a copy of an article from  O, The Oprah Magazine in which such counsel was allegedly given.  Instead, material from both those venues state that restaurant goers should tip at least 15%. While we've yet to locate a video clip or news report of Oprah herself instructing the audience to pony up with 15% or better, there are examples of invited guests on her show or columnists in her magazine saying exactly that. In the \"Ending Rudeness\" segment of The Oprah Winfrey Show (which aired on 9 September 2008), Steven Dublanica, author of Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip  Confessions of a Cynical Waiter, sat beside Oprah and, with her nodding in agreement, offered this bit of advice for restaurant goers: Rudeness Don't tip less than 15 percent Waiters are paid wages well below the minimum wage  as little as $2.15 an hour in some states  with the expectation that they will earn the majority of their income through tips. In addition, some restaurants require waiters to pay around 20 to 30 percent of their tips to food runners, hostesses and bartenders.  \"If you don't tip, then that person doesn't get paid,\" Steven says. \"Literally.\" Of the \"10 Do's and Don'ts of Restaurant Etiquette\" proffered by The Oprah Winfrey Show via oprah.com, its official web site, the first is \"Tip 15 percent or more.\" first Likewise, the \"Guide to Tipping\" published in the December 2002 issue of  O, The Oprah Magazine says:  Guide to Tipping Normally, 15 to 20 percent of the total bill  20 percent for a first-class place. Note that people tip more in urban areas. According to the Zagat Survey, the average gratuity in city restaurants across the United States is about 18 percent. In response to the rumor, HarpoBear (moderator of oprah.com's message board) posted a clarificationon 8 June 2009 (and repeated periodically since then) that said: posted We'd like to respond to the concerns raised about Oprah's thoughts on tipping. The truth is that Oprah has never said that people should tip less during the recession. She believes in generously compensating waiters and waitresses. While a November 2009 Facebook page marked a resurgence of the Oprah rumor, it wasn't the first time the claim had been bruited on that venue: In December 2008 a now defunct Facebook group titled \"No, Oprah, it's not OK to tip 10%\" repeated the gossip. The rumor comes in two forms: that Oprah herself directed her audience never to tip more than 10% or (far less frequently) that one of her guests did. One name that has been mentioned as the identity of the guest who gave such advice is financial guru Suze Orman, as in this 19 September 2009 blog entry:  Suze Orman blog entry It has been brought to my attention that Suze Orman went onto the Oprah Winfrey show some time ago to give some sound financial advice to all the Oprah-ites who bow down to the feet of the great and powerful O. [...] She said that when it comes time to tip you should just leave 10% instead of 15%. Barbara \"the ten percent dissolution\" Mikkelson Last updated:  11 November 2009    Day Owen, Sarah.  \"Servers at Restaurants See Dropoff in Gratuities.\"   Augusta Chronicle.  19 December 2008.    Ellen, Daryn.  \"Guide to Tipping.\"   O, The Oprah Magazine.  December 2002.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1118","claim":"I cut more as a percentage out of government than any state in the country this past decade. And where is Michigan in terms of its economic growth? Cutting did not result in economic growth.","posted":"08\/04\/2011","sci_digest":[],"justification":"During the July 31, 2011, edition of NBC's Meet the Press, Jennifer Granholm\u2014a Democrat who served as governor of Michigan from 2003 to 2011\u2014was asked to bring her own experience to bear on the debate over the federal debt ceiling. \"Clearly, the entitlement question has to be addressed,\" Granholm said, referring to the rising cost of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, which is a major contributor to the growing federal debt. However, Granholm told host David Gregory that she was skeptical about whether such cuts would be beneficial for the economy at large. \"I can tell you, David, I cut more as a percentage out of government than any state in the country this past decade,\" Granholm said. \"And where is Michigan in terms of its economic growth? Cutting did not result in economic growth. What results in growth is making sure you've got a good business climate for businesses to grow and prosper. And so we've got to cut where we can in order to invest where we must to grow the economy. And it's that investment side that I worry those affiliated with the Tea Party or those on the far right don't realize\u2014that other countries are co-investing with businesses to create jobs in their countries. If we do nothing more than just cut,\" she continued, \"that will continue to accelerate the lack of growth in gross domestic product. So we've got to realize that the strategy here must be very specific. Yes, you've got to reform entitlements, but you've got to reform entitlements and invest in order to grow because the quickest way to take down your deficit is through growth.\" \n\nWe wondered about three elements of Granholm's comments: whether she cut more as a percentage out of government than any state in the country this past decade, how poor Michigan's economic growth has been over the same period, and whether spending cuts to state government hampered economic growth. (Separately, we're looking at a comment from the same show by Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, in which he accused Granholm of supporting the highest tax increases in the history of Michigan, which helped push unemployment from 6.8 percent to 15.3 percent.) We'll take up the three claims in order. \n\nDid Michigan cut more from its government than any state in the country? To answer this question, we turned to The Fiscal Survey of States, a twice-annual publication of the National Association of State Budget Officers that offers fiscal data for the 50 states going back to 1979. We determined that the most appropriate data to use were figures for annual expenditures from the 50 states' general funds. We'll acknowledge up front that this is not the only measure that could be used to compare how much state governments have been cut. In fact, Michigan's state revenues flow into two accounts, the general fund and the school-aid fund, and the numbers we looked at only take into account the general fund. However, fiscal experts told us that the general fund offers a reasonable yardstick for state spending, and it also turned out to be the same measurement Granholm used, according to a spokeswoman. (Then there's the eternal statistician's lament: When comparing all 50 states across a period of nearly a decade, you take the statistics you can get.) We calculated the change in general fund expenditures for all 50 states between fiscal year 2003 and fiscal year 2010\u2014the closest approximation we could get to the start and end dates of Granholm's tenure. And by this measure, Granholm is right. Every state but two saw their general fund expenditures increase over that period (without taking inflation into account). The two that didn't? Georgia, which saw its general fund expenditures fall by $54 million over that period, and Michigan, which saw its general fund expenditures fall by more than $1 billion. If they had been adjusted for inflation, the decrease would be even more severe. \n\nUsing another measure, Carole Polan, a spokeswoman for Granholm, added that from 2000 to 2008, the number of state employees fell by about 11,000\u2014a 17 percent decline. That was a more rapid decline than in private employment, which fell in the state by 12 percent over the same period, Polan said. We'll address the causes of these declines in a moment, but for now, we can say that by this measure, Granholm is right that spending on government declined faster in Michigan than in any other state between 2003 and 2010. \n\nHow poor was Michigan's economic growth during Granholm's tenure? To answer this question, we looked at gross domestic product data for Michigan as published by the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis. (Just as the bureau calculates the national gross domestic product, it does the same for individual states.) Once again, we compared Michigan's GDP for 2003 and 2010. By this measure too, Michigan performed worst in the nation. Its gross domestic product rose by 6 percent over that period (again, not adjusted for inflation). That may sound okay, but it's not. It's only about one-third the rate of the next worst-performing state\u2014Ohio, at 17 percent growth. And it's less than one-fifth of the increase of the nation as a whole, which was 31 percent. So where economic growth is concerned, Granholm is right again: Michigan's performance during her tenure was uniquely poor among the 50 states. \n\nDid spending cuts to state government hamper Michigan's economic growth? The cuts to government almost certainly hampered Michigan's economy. But experts say that they weren't the primary cause of the state's poor economic performance. Long-term troubles in the automotive industry, the national recession, and raising taxes on businesses and individuals were all partially to blame, said Patrick L. Anderson, an economic analyst in East Lansing, Mich., who wrote a report released by Granholm's successor elected in 2010, Republican Rick Snyder. Charles Ballard, an economist at Michigan State University and author of Michigan's Economic Future: A New Look, added that even before the national economic crisis of 2008, the auto industry limped along for much of the decade, with General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler losing market share steadily. \"In Michigan, we don't have Honda plants\u2014we have GM, Ford, and Chrysler plants. Two of those companies went into bankruptcy. For better or for worse, we are home to the portions of the industry that did the worst.\" Meanwhile, Ballard added that Michigan's tax structure\u2014which doesn't tax most services or Internet sales and mail-order\u2014exacerbated the fiscal impact of these economic problems. \"If the sectors that aren't taxed are growing faster than those that are, the sales tax applies to an ever-shrinking portion of the economy,\" Ballard said. \"So if you put the tax law on autopilot, the portion of your economy going to tax revenues shrinks every year.\" In fact, Michigan's revenues peaked in 2000 and are not projected to return to peak until 2020, said Arturo Perez, a state budget analyst with the National Conference of State Legislatures. No other state has had a similar revenue situation. \n\nGiven this backdrop, a more appropriate way of thinking about it is that a poor economy in Michigan caused a drop in state tax revenue, which in turn forced Granholm to cut government services\u2014not the other way around. Declining tax revenue is a much more urgent factor for state governments than for the federal government, since most states are constrained from using deficit spending. (Michigan is one, though unavoidable deficits may be resolved in the next fiscal year.) This means that tax revenues play a more direct role in determining spending levels than they do at the federal level. \n\nThe plain fact is that state economic growth rates are in the short run linked to the demand for products that are produced in the state\u2014products like autos in Michigan, oil in Texas, sunny vacations in Florida, and gambling holidays in Nevada, said Gary Burtless, an economist with the centrist-to-liberal Brookings Institution. Demand for these products can have booms and busts that are completely unrelated to a state's typical tax rate or spending level. In the short run, when demand for a state's products plummets, its state tax revenues fall, forcing the state to trim state spending or increase state tax rates. \n\nOur ruling: There's strong evidence supporting two of Granholm's statistical claims\u2014that government spending has fallen faster in Michigan than in any other state, and that the state's economic performance has been especially poor compared to other states. However, in the Meet the Press interview, Granholm was trying to use her experience as a governor to make a larger point about how cutting government did not result in economic growth. She's probably correct that government cuts hampered her state's recovery, at least in the short term, but Michigan's experience over the last decade suggests that the reverse is an even bigger factor\u2014that is, poor economic growth hurts tax revenues and, in turn, forces government cuts. This doesn't mean that Granholm's point is inaccurate, but in trying to apply a state lesson to a federal problem, she's ignored a key factor in how state fiscal policy works. On balance, we rate her statement Mostly True.","issues":["National","Deficit","Economy","States"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1119","claim":"Is Martial Law 'Imminent' Before Biden's Inauguration?","posted":"01\/13\/2021","sci_digest":["Seems odd that a pastor in rural Texas would be the first to get the news. "],"justification":"As U.S. President Donald Trump faced impeachment following the deadly Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, a video of a Texas pastor circulated widely online alleging that anonymous sources told him Trump would soon declare \"martial law\"  the temporary military takeover of civil functions such as policing and courts. faced deadly Capitol Rev. Wade McKinney, who leads a ministry in rural eastern Texas, used Facebook Live to stream himself talking in a vehicle for roughly 22 minutes on Jan. 9, and that video spread rapidly on YouTube and other platforms in the following days. In the footage, which Snopes obtained via McKinney's Facebook page before it was permanently removed, he said: other platforms I have got a lot of contacts the lord has helped me build over the last few years, and those contacts are people who have given me intelligence and given me information that has to do with our nation and it's future, so I could use it for Bible prophecy teaching. [...] We are looking imminently  and when I say imminently, I'm talking about the next two or three days  we're looking at a martial law being declared. This is coming straight from my contacts in D.C., ya'll. We are going to see martial law declared. What level, what degree of martial law? Whatever they have to do to bring things under a corrective mode. So, basically, what I'm trying to tell you is, you need to be prepared for there to be a martial law declaration. McKinney also claimed Trump's opponents in government \"are going to be brought down\" in some \"house cleaning\" and that the rest of America needed to prepare for that event. He urged viewers to secure cash, food, and supplies, such as fuel tanks for vehicles and bullets for gun owners, and develop communication plans should cell service supposedly stop. supposedly stop \"It's the president's last effort,\" McKinney said of the alleged event, while making several other baseless claims regarding military efforts, the 2020 presidential election, and the Capitol insurrection. \"We are in a battle for everything that God intended for this country.\" 2020 presidential election the Capitol insurrection   In short, the pastor alleged that Trump was preparing to invoke martial law and use military force to arrest his political opponents before Biden's inauguration on Jan. 20. use military force First, to investigate those claims, Snopes reached out to McKinney to learn more about his alleged sources in Washington, D.C., and unidentified military bases  people he did not name but said told him about the president's purported plans. The pastor did not respond to us. We will update this report when, or if, he returns our message. It is common practice for reputable news organizations to report information from credible people who requested anonymity out of fear of repercussions for speaking publicly and that journalists have cross-referenced with other sources. McKinney did not explain why, or under what circumstances, his alleged sources asked not to be named, nor did he outline any efforts to investigate their truthfulness. Now, let us explain the nature of the pastor's allegations. No federal statute nor the Constitution defines martial law. However, other executive authorities  such as those provided in the Insurrection Act  give presidents the power to deploy the military or the National Guard in U.S. cities, whether due to terrorist attacks, natural disasters, or other safety issues. Over the course of history, presidents have relied on martial law to order military forces to take the place of civilian governments, like in Hawaii during World War II. Insurrection Act like in Hawaii during World War II The Brennan Center for Justice said of martial law: said It describes a power that, in an emergency, allows the military to push aside civilian authorities and exercise jurisdiction over the population of a particular area. Laws are enforced by soldiers rather than local police. Policy decisions are made by military officers rather than elected officials. People accused of crimes are brought before military tribunals rather than ordinary civilian courts. In short, the military is in charge. [...] To some observers, a deployment of troops under the Insurrection Act might look and feel very much like martial law. Given the degree of confusion over the term, some within the media or the government itself might even call it martial law. Trump did not invoke the Insurrection Act before or after he encouraged his supporters to try to block a ceremonial vote to affirm Biden's presidency and an angry mob broke into the Capitol on Jan. 6. Insurrection Act encouraged Additionally, he had not declared martial law as of this writing, and no credible evidence showed that he was preparing to do so. If, like McKinney alleged, people within the White House or Department of Defense wanted Americans to know that Trump was preparing to make the declaration, history shows they would not turn to one pastor living in rural Texas to spread the important announcement. Instead, they would use official communication methods, such as a news conference or public statement, to broadcast it widely. Also, Americans should rely on emergency management departments for trusted information on when, and how, they must prepare for natural or human-caused emergencies. None supported McKinney's recommendations to stock up on food and supplies prior to Biden's inauguration. Nonetheless, thousands of National Guard members were patrolling Washington, D.C., in the days between the Jan. 6 insurrection and Biden's swearing-in ceremony, and the FBI warned law enforcement agencies nationwide of armed protests at all 50 state capitols. warned But all of those efforts by military forces and law enforcement agencies were unrelated to martial law and the Insurrection Act, and they were not a scheme by Trump to arrest his political opponents during the final days of his term. Rather, they were strategies to try to preserve government properties and safety in the event of more election violence. In sum, since no evidence existed to support McKinney's assertion that credible sources said Trump was preparing to invoke martial law, we rate this claim ","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1zkZ6hBoQh_26nrotY2jbcpwNoSY_zZgY","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1120","claim":"Does a Video Show Firefighters Catching a Suicidal Woman in Mid-Air?","posted":"08\/17\/2021","sci_digest":["The heroic exploits of two Latvian firefighters gained prominence online in August 2021. "],"justification":"If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health, suicide or substance use crisis or emotional distress, reach out 24\/7 to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline) by dialing or texting 988 or using chat services atsuicidepreventionlifeline.orgto connect to a trained crisis counselor.  suicidepreventionlifeline.org In August 2021, remarkable footage of a daring rescue re-emerged online, prompting interest from readers about its authenticity and origins.  On Aug. 12, a post on the popular forum Reddit carried the title \"Firefighter snatches suicide jumper out of mid air\" and included the 20-second video, which although not graphic, shows an interrupted suicide attempt and thus might be upsetting to some readers: post   The footage was entirely authentic and really did show a firefighter, leaning out of a window while being supported by his colleague, catch a suicidal woman who had fallen or jumped from the floor above. As a result, we are issuing a rating of  The incident took place in May 2018 in Riga, the capital city of the Baltic nation of Latvia. According to an official account posted by Valsts ugunsdzsbas un glbanas dienests (the national Latvian State Fire and Rescue Service or SFRS), the firefighters responded to an emergency call from the apartment building in question, about a woman on the fourth floor who appeared to be contemplating suicide.  official account Fearing that she might jump out of the window if they attempted to rescue her from inside her apartment, some of the firefighters set up on the floor below, while others went on the roof and attempted to lower mountaineering equipment in order to secure the woman. It's not entirely clear whether the woman ultimately jumped or fell from the fourth-floor window sill, and the SFRS statement noted that her fingers were observed to be \"slipping.\" On the third floor, Tomas Jaunzems leaned out of the window while his colleague, Boriss Rutkovskis, braced Jaunzems' legs and helped stabilize him against the window ledge. As the video shows, Jaunzems ultimately caught the falling woman and, with the help of Rutkovskis, carried her inside to safety. The Latvian Interior Ministry later awarded the two men medals for \"selflessness\" and \"heroic actions,\" as shown below: awarded  From left to right: Head of the SFRS Oskars boli; SFRS firefighter Tomas Jaunzems; SFRS firefighter Boriss Rutkovskis; Latvian Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis. Photo: SFRS  The authenticity of the video footage is further confirmed by the fact that the SFRS itself posted the clip to Facebook on May 31, 2018. posted the clip to Facebook","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Yu2_WdRfpT6LxNq61dVZYSDIgAYxwJk7","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1REX9BLiMkB-t5ygJKNZdyMB-oGPBMnTk","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1121","claim":"Could Polar Bears Be Extinct by 2100?","posted":"07\/22\/2020","sci_digest":["Polar bears have long been seen as a bellwether for climate change. "],"justification":"Climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions is a threat to the existence of polar bears that, if left unabated, may push many some groups to the brink of local extinction by the end of the century -- and thats under conservative estimates. More likely, research published in a July 2020 issue of Nature Climate Change suggests that most of the species will be extinct by 2100.  Nature Climate Change Previously, we knew that polar bears would ultimately disappear unless we halt greenhouse gas rise. But knowing when they will begin to disappear in different areas is critical for informing management and policy -- and inspiring action, said study co-author Steven Amstrup, chief scientist of Polar Bears International, in a statement. statement We found that moderate emissions reductions may prolong global persistence, but are not likely to prevent the extirpation of several populations, emphasizing the urgency of more ambitious emissions cuts. Amstrup and a team of researchers from Polar Bears International and several North American universities determined for the first time when polar bears are likely to go extinct due to a loss of sea ice, which provides crucial hunting grounds during the summer months, by analyzing 13 of 19 Arctic polar bear subpopulations, which collectively make up about 80% of the species. Other groups were omitted because of their remote locations, making them difficult to study. A framework was developed to determine how different weights of polar bears may make them better or worse equipped to survive longer fasting periods as well as the amount of energy expended during this time -- what they call the fasting impact threshold -- and compared this data with the projected future number of days that the Arctic is likely to be sea-ice-free based on observations made between 1979 and 2016. Polar Bears International By estimating how thin and how fat polar bears can be, and modeling their energy use, we were able to calculate the threshold number of days that polar bears can fast before cub and\/or adult survival rates begin to decline, said Professor Pter Molnr of the University of Toronto, Scarborough.   Polar bears depend on sea ice to hunt seal prey, but in recent years declining levels have made it increasingly difficult for bears to feed. Sea ice is frozen ocean water that forms in the fall, grows in the winter, and eventually melts back into the ocean in the summer, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. But NOAA notes that observations in recent decades suggest that minimum sea ice -- that is, the lowest level each September -- is declining at a rate of more than 12% each decade since the 1970s. As sea ice declines, polar bears are forced ashore or to less productive waters and more time spent searching for food means that they are spending longer periods of time fasting and using up vital energy reserves built over the winter. National Snow and Ice Data Center NOAA Scientists calculated the timeliness of risk to determine how individual polar bear populations might be affected by two different futures based on greenhouse gas projections. If current greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current rate, a scenario colloquially known as business-as-usual, researchers project that all but a few of the polar bear subpopulations will collapse by the end of the century, leaving only those living in the high Arctic. Though moderate emissions will likely prolong the survival rates of some, it is likely that at least some of the population will become locally extinct within this century. business-as-usual By keeping global temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius, as was set forth by the Paris Agreement, it is still likely that most of the polar bear population will experience reproductive failure by 2080. Paris Agreement  Polar bears have long been seen as a bellwether, highlighting what might happen to some of the planets most vulnerable species in the face of climate change. A 2019 assessment conducted by the Polar Bear Specialist Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) found that sea ice loss resulting from climate change posed the most serious threat to polar bear survivals, but determining how and when the species may go extinct has been a challenge to the scientific community. Polar Bear Specialist Group IUCN Some polar bear subpopulations were further shown to be more impacted by environmental conditions differently. In the southernmost areas, total sea-ice melt forces local bears ashore every summer and they must largely rely on energy reserves from winter hunting for their survival and to produce enough milk for their cubs. The researchers add that their timeline projections are probably conservative and predict that many of the subpopulations will likely pass their threshold earlier. This is due to the high probability that researchers underestimated bears metabolic rate and assumed in their calculations that the large animals spend less energy on thermoregulation or growth than they do in reality. Environmental and physiological differences in bear subpopulations also play a role in how likely they are to pass their threshold sooner. For example, bears that hunt in areas like the Southern Beaufort Sea with fragmented sea-ice are likely to use far more energy than is gained by feeding -- a potential difference of up to four times more energy than bears who hunt in Western Hudson Bay, which the scientists note render their baseline timelines optimistic. The International Union of the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species lists polar bears as vulnerable and estimates that there are between 22,000 and 31,000 individuals left worldwide, up to 80% of which are found in Canada. Though some subpopulations appear to be rebounding, in part due to measures placed on historical hunting, at least four groups are experiencing population decreases. vulnerable Molnr, Pter, et al.  \"Fasting Season Length Sets Temporal Limits for Global Polar Bear Persistence.\"\r  Nature Climate Change.  20 July 2020. Polar Bears International.  \"When Will Polar Bear Populations Likely Start Collapsing?\"\r  20 July 2020. World Wildlife Fund.  \"Polar Bear Assessment Brings Good and Troubling News.\"\r  October 2019.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1z7vQo76LXYZusmmwNaegFGGMhS2B_P4a","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1122","claim":"Did Disney 'Hire' Colin Kaepernick To 'Teach Your Kids About American History'?","posted":"07\/15\/2020","sci_digest":["A production partnership sparked some unfounded claims about the former NFL player."],"justification":"In early July 2020, social media users shared a meme that continued to fuel long-standing culture war animosity directed at former NFL player and civil rights activist Colin Kaepernick, this time by noting that he had been \"hired\" by Disney to \"teach your kids about American history.\" culture war   The meme both sensationalizes and exaggerates Kaepernick's role with Disney. While it's true that Kaepernick has made an agreement with Disney and ESPN Films to create a documentary series focusing on race, that doesn't mean he has been \"hired\" by Disney to \"teach children\" about American history.  On July 6, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback and Disney announced a first-look deal for a documentary series  to be produced by ESPN Films  about Kaepernick's experience, according to a press release from ESPN. press release \"Colins experience gives him a unique perspective on the intersection of sports, culture and race, which will undoubtedly create compelling stories that will educate, enlighten and entertain, and we look forward to working with him on this important collaboration,\" Disney executive chairman Bob Iger said in the statement. Per the press release, the \"first project in development as part of this deal is an exclusive docuseries chronicling Kaepernicks journey. Using extensive new interviews and a vast never-before-seen archive that documents his last five years, Kaepernick will tell his story from his perspective.\" Overall, the partnership \"will focus on telling scripted and unscripted stories that explore race, social injustice and the quest for equity, and will provide a new platform to showcase the work of Black and Brown directors and producers.\" Kaepernick has been a lightning rod in popular culture since 2016, when he began protesting systematic racism and police violence against Black Americans by kneeling during the national anthem before NFL games. His protest was mimicked by other players, but it also became a recurring talking point among media pundits, some of whom accused him of disrespecting national symbols. This narrative has been echoed by the White House. accused echoed The issue Kaepernick raised with his protest has hardly gone away. In the spring of 2020, racial justice protests swept the country after a video went viral of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, for almost nine minutes. Floyd died in police custody. The public outcry coupled with massive protests prompted a national conversation about racism and compelled many businesses  including entertainment companies  to reckon with their own failures when it comes to racial equality. Lopez, Isabelle.\"The Walt Disney Company Announces Overall First-Look Del with Colin Kaepernick.\"\rESPN Press Room.6 July 2020. Steinberg, Brian.\"Colin Kaepernick Signs First-Look Deal With Walt Disney.\"\rVariety.6 July 2020. Adler, Dan.\"Our Never-Ending Culture Wars: Colin Kaepernick and Nikes Betsy Ross Air Maxes Edition.\"\rVanity Fair.2 July 2019. BBC.\"Trump: NFL Kneelers 'Maybe Shouldn't Be in Country.'\"\r24 May 2018. Johnson, Martenzie.\"Colin Kaepernick Tried to Tell White America.\"\rThe Undefeated.30 May 2020.","issues":["equity"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=10ozQeR_qNIRtjmo9h-UqbvlvES_do0gW","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1123","claim":"Will a Trump Order Drop Insulin Price to 'Pennies A Day'?","posted":"07\/30\/2020","sci_digest":["The president described it as a \"massive cost savings,\" but the fine print of his executive order lacked specifics."],"justification":"Sitting in front of a mock pharmacy and flanked by people in white lab coats, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders on July 24, 2020, that he framed as end-all solutions for Americans who struggle to pay high premium prices for prescription drugs. Of one of the directives, specifically, Trump told a crowd of supporters and reporters at the ceremony: told Under this order, the price of insulin for affected patients will come down to just pennies a day  pennies a day from numbers that you werent even able to think about. Its a massive cost savings. News outlets such as The New York Times and Washington Post described the signing event like it was largely symbolic, since the executive orders are unlikely to take effect this year, if at all (we explain more below). The New York Times Washington Post Meanwhile, at least two conservative media sources, Ben Shapiro's Daily Wire and CNSNews  which claims to balance \"liberal bias\" in mainstream news with its coverage  reported on the president's pledge to slash prescription prices at face value, and highlighted the above-mentioned quote by Trump regarding insulin. Daily Wire CNSNews published the story, \"Trump Says Executive Order Will Drop the Price of Insulin Down to Pennies a Day,\" which mainly quoted the president verbatim, and numerous Snopes readers reached out to us to investigate the claim's accuracy. Namely, diabetic patients wondered whether they would indeed pay less for insulin syringes or insulin cartridges for their pens or pumps because of the president. story pens   According to a Congressional analysis in September 2019, insulin averaged $34.75 per dose in the U.S.  a total that's almost 2.5 times higher than the average price in other countries. First, we'll lay out what was unequivocally true: Trump issued Executive Order on Access to Affordable Life-saving Medications during the July 24, 2020, signing event, and that directive authorized the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make certain changes regarding the cost of EpiPens for Americans with severe allergies and the cost of insulin for those who suffer from diabetes, specifically. It stated: Executive Order on Access to Affordable Life-saving Medications Department of Health and Human Services EpiPens The price of insulin in the United States has risen dramatically over the past decade... While Americans with diabetes and severe allergic reactions may have access to affordable insulin and injectable epinephrine through commercial insurance or Federal programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, many Americans still struggle to purchase these products. Medicare Medicaid Here's some more context: Medicare, the federal program that covers the majority of Americans over age 65 and those with disabilities, offers plans that help diabetic patients cover the cost of some insulin products. Meanwhile, policies for Medicaid, the government-run health insurance system for low-income people, vary state by state  variances that include whether or not the program covers the cost of diabetic enrollees' insulin, or to what extent. state by state Trump's directive pertained to \"federally qualified health centers\" (FQHC), which are about 1,400 community health care clinics nationwide that treat low-income patients on sliding fee scales and purchase discounted drugs from pharmaceutical companies under an existing federal program, known as 340B. The July 2020 executive order was worded like this: federally qualified health centers 1,400 340B   In other words, the president's order requires participants of the 340B Program to offer insulin at greatly reduced prices to patients with no or little insurance coverage, without providing specifics on how or when the change would take effect. Advisory Board, a news site for health care providers, said in a statement: \"Only patients with low incomes; those with high cost-sharing requirements for insulin or epinephrine; those with high, unmet deductibles; and\/or those without health insurance would be eligible for the discount.\" A news release from the HHS said: statement news release This will increase access to life-saving insulin and epinephrine for the patients who face especially high costs among the 28 million patients who visit FQHCs every year, over six million of whom are uninsured. For perspective, about 34.2 million Americans had diabetes as of 2018, which represented about 10.5 percent of the population, according to the American Diabetes Association. So, hypothetically, if the same proportion of people had diabetes within the FQHC population of 28 million patients (a total reported by the HHS), then Trump's executive order could help about 2.9 million people, depending on whether their insurance already covers the treatment. American Diabetes Association So to recap, in regard to the claim in question, it was true to state Trump signed an executive order in July 2020 that aimed to make it easier for low-income diabetic patients to pay for insulin. But nowhere in the federal document did the presidential administration explain its plan for implementing the change, nor the level to which insulin prices would drop. There was no proof that the order would allow any American to someday pay \"pennies a day\" on the protein hormone. We should note here: In addition to that previously explained executive order, a separate directive signed by Trump on July 24, 2020, touched on a yet-to-be-finalized initiative by the White House to relax international drug importation rules and added insulin to a list of prescription medications that can be imported from Canada. The president characterized that directive, too, as a positive step for people who want lower insulin costs. separate directive yet-to-be-finalized And that brings us to our final point: Much of what Trump celebrated in the July 2020 executive orders had been proposed by his administration prior to the signing ceremony but stalled amid opposition from pharmaceutical companies and political barriers. \"[None] of these ideas put forth are new, or in fact any more implementable than before, especially without congressional action, an investor told FeircePharma, a trade publication for the pharmaceutical industry. FeircePharma For instance, in May 2020, Trump unveiled a plan to cap the cost of insulin for Medicare recipients at $35 per month beginning in 2021 (even that initiative would cost patients more than \"pennies a day\"). But as of this writing, it was unclear exactly how that directive would roll out, and when or if qualifying seniors with diabetes would notice a price difference. The Washington Post reported on July 24, 2020: May 2020 Washington Post The moves [by Trump] are largely symbolic because the orders are unlikely to take effect anytime soon, if they do so at all, because the power to implement drug pricing policy through executive order is limited. Voters will not see an impact before the November elections, and the drug industry is sure to challenge them in court. A couple days after the July signing ceremony, for example, Politico reported that representatives of major drug lobbies refused to meet with the president to discuss one of the four executive orders: a non-specific and controversial proposal to link Medicare payments for certain medicines to lower costs that people pay in other countries. After that refusal on industry leaders' part, investors told MarketWatch that the executive orders were \"largely campaign fodder\" and \"come without the necessary force to meaningfully change prices in the U.S.\"  Politico reported meet controversial MarketWatch In sum, while it was truthful to claim Trump issued an executive order in July 2020 that was intended to lower the price of insulin for some Americans, it was misleading to claim that all diabetic patients would save money as a result of the directive  the directive only targeted low-income patients who are uninsured or underinsured and seek help from certain federal community health providers. Additionally, it was unclear as of this report when, if at all, that group would actually reap the benefit of the cost savings, and the estimated amount of such was unknown. It would be wrong to state based on available evidence that the executive order alone would drive down prices to \"pennies a day.\" For those reasons, we rate this claim a \"Mixture\" of truth and falsehoods. White House. \"Executive Order On Access To Affordable Life-saving Medications\".\r 24 July 2020. White House. \"Executive Order On Lowering Prices For Patients by Eliminating Kickbacks To Middlemen\".\r 24 July 2020. White House. \"Executive Order On Increasing Drug Importation To Lower Prices For American Patients\".\r 24 July 2020. White House. \"Remarks By President Trump At Signing Of Executive Orders On Lowering Drug Prices\".\r 24 July 2020. Sanger-Katz, Margot. \"As He Woos Drugmakers On Virus, Trump Demands Drug Price Controls\".\r New York Times. 24 July 2020. Arter, Melanie. \"Trump Says Executive Order Will Drop the Price of Insulin Down to Pennies a Day\".\r CNSNews. 24 July 2020. National Conference of State Legislatures. \"Diabetes Health Coverage: State Laws And Programs\".\r 10 January 2016. HHS.gov. \"Trump Administration Announces Historic Action To Lower Drug Prices For Americans\".\r 24 July 2020. American Diabetes Association. \"Statistics About Diabetes\".\r Accessed 30 July 2020. White House. \"Executive Order On Increasing Drug Importation To Lower Prices For American Patients\".\r 24 July 2020. Luhby, Tami. \"Trump Administration Proposes Allowing Imports Of Certain Drugs From Canada\".\r CNN. 18 December 2019. O'Donnell, Carl. \"Explainer: Trump's Plan To Cut Drug Prices\".\r Reuters. 27 July 2020. Abutaleb, Yasmeen and Josh Dawsey. \"Trump Signs Executive Orders Aimed At Lowering Drug Prices In Largely Symbolic Move\".\r Washington Post. 24 July 2020. Cohen, Joshua. \"Trump's Executive Orders On Drug Pricing Contain Caveats And Limitations\".\r Forbes. 25 July 2020. Ways And Means Committee Staff. \"A Painful Pill To Swallow: U.S. Vs. International Prescription Drug Prices\".\r September 2019. Reklaitis, Victor. \"Trump's Meeting With Pharma Execs Called Off, As Analysts Say His Moves On Drug Prices Lack Bite\". Prestigiacomo, Amanda. \"Trump Issues Executive Orders To Slash Insulin, EpiPen Prices; End 'Global Freeloading'.\r The Daily Wire. 27 July 2020.","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1c9-kk-QNU3RcwthvdBBQxxikJttckhV4","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1i86is8oYDX0gaza29tOEcL8B2fJpBsUK","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1124","claim":"Ralph Hall has never voted to raise the debt ceiling.","posted":"03\/31\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"You have to go a long way back to trace U.S. Rep. Ralph Halls voting record. A conservative political action committee claimed theNortheast TexasRepublican has never voted to raise the debt ceiling in amail flierforwarded March 10, 2014, to PolitiFact Texas by Matt Mackowiak, an adviser to his challenger in the May 27, 2014, primary runoff for the GOP nomination. Hall, who faces former U.S. Attorney John Ratcliffe, was elected to Congress in 1980 and has served 17 terms; hes theoldestserving House member in history, as PolitiFact wrote March 20, 2014, in afact-checkrating False a charge that Hall was the oldest member in Congress ever. Since 1980, there have been more than 50 votes to raise the debt ceiling, which caps how much the U.S. government can borrow to carry out everything budgeted by Congress. And during Halls tenure, the limit has never been reduced. But did Hall, who promises in a campaignadthat he wont raise the debt ceiling, ever, never vote before to increase the cap? Debt ceiling votes tend to split on party lines. Typically, the party that controls the White House has had to push through the politically ticklish vote to raise the limit, while the other party gets a free run at criticizing the hike and voting against it.Memorably, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., voted against raising the ceiling in 2006 when the Republican president, George W. Bush, sought an increase. Hall has been on both sides of that partisan divide, serving as a Democrat (albeit a conservative one)untilJan. 5, 2004, when heswitchedto the GOP. Clickhereto visit the Washington Posts interactive graphic on increases in the debt ceiling, updated Feb. 11, 2013 and spanning most of U.S. Rep. Ralph Halls time in Congress. We called and emailed theConservatives Acting Together PACfor information on its claim and didnt hear back. Hall campaign spokesman Ed Valentine told us by phone that the campaign wasnt involved with the mailer. Mackowiak told us by email that contrary to the PACs claim, Hall voted seven times to raise the ceiling from December 1985 through April 2005 -- twice under President Ronald Reagan, twice under President BIll Clinton and three times under Bush. Mackowiaks breakdown almost entirely holds up, though we found that some of Halls votes for raising the ceiling were wrapped into other House decisions. According to theHouse clerks officeand theCongressional Record, Hall voted five times in favor of raising the ceiling, though most of these instances were not pure votes on elevating the ceiling. Such increases were, for example, wrapped into theContract with America Advancement Act of 1996and theBalanced Budget Act of 1997. In the other two cases Mackowiak cited, one each in1985and2005, the ceiling-hike resolutions were passed by the House as a whole, rather than by individual representatives voting. This came about under theGephardt rule,named after former Rep. Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., whichoperated on the premisethat if representatives had voted for the budget, they had intended to fund everything in the budget, and it was thus not necessary to force them to take the potentially unpopular step of voting to raise the debt limit separately. In 2005, Hall votedforthe House budget measure that triggered the debt limit hike. But in 1985, he votedagainstthe original House version of the budget that was wrapped into the resolution the Senate approved -- so under the logic of the Gephardt rule, Hall presumably did not approve the debt limit increase that came with that budget. Hall votes: April 28, 2005, House Joint Resolution 47deemed passed. Hallvoted forthe budget measure that triggered it. Nov. 18, 2004,votefor Senate Bill 2986. June 27, 2002,votefor Senate Bill 2578. July 30, 1997,votefor House Resolution 2015. March 28, 1996,votefor House Resolution 3136. Aug. 14, 1986,votefor House Resolution 5395. Dec. 11, 1985, House Joint Resolution 372deemed passed.Hall voted againstHouse Concurrent Resolution 152, which was wrapped intoSenate Concurrent Resolution 32, the approval of which triggered HJR 372. Our ruling The PAC said, Ralph Hall has never voted to raise the debt ceiling. We didnt have to look further than the votes cited by his opponents campaign to find six instances from 1986 through 2005 in which Hall backed debt-limit increases. We rate this claim as False. FALSE The statement is not accurate. Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.","issues":["Debt","Federal Budget","Voting Record","Texas"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=19kHEMBuB13zumxmelXoBQCRdtebC5XMf","image_caption":"FALSE"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1125","claim":"Is it possible to purchase COVID-19 vaccines through underground internet platforms known as the Dark Web?","posted":"02\/10\/2021","sci_digest":["You can certainly find people claiming to sell them."],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease.  fighting Find out Read Submit Become a Founding Member CDC WHO In December 2020, as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, the FBI and other federal agencies began to warn of fraudsters exploiting interest in the newly released vaccine. INTERPOL, as well, issued an Orange Notice alerting law enforcement to \"potential criminal activity in relation to the falsification, theft and illegal advertising of COVID-19 and flu vaccines.\" approved warn Orange Notice One area where these scams have reportedly proliferated is the so-called dark web. Broadly speaking, the dark web refers to unindexed content on the internet that can not be searched for and that, among other things, contains several anonymous marketplaces and forums that purport to sell a wide range of illicit material. On Feb. 8, 2021, CBS News reported that \"in just the last six weeks, the number of vaccine ads on the dark web has exploded,\" adding that \"the asking prices have doubled or even quadrupled.\" reportedly refers reported For a Dec. 25, 2020, segment on PlanetMoney, NPR spoke to Chad Anderson, a senior security researcher at the cyberthreat intelligence agency Domain Tools. \"We're a cyberthreat intelligence data company,\" he explained, \"so we scan the entire Internet as many times as we can every single day and give insights to customers based upon what we see.\" Back then, he argued the vaccine ads popping up on the dark web were clearly scams. NPR Chad Anderson \"For one thing,\" NPR correspondent Stacey Vanek Smith explained, \"the Pfizer vaccine requires a very intense cold storage chain. The vaccines have to be kept at negative 70 degrees Fahrenheit.\" And also, she added, \"the COVID vaccine ads are mixed in with ads for all kinds of other things, and Chad says that tends to be a red flag.\" At the time of this reporting, the only two FDA-approved vaccines are the Pfizer vaccine and the Moderna vaccine. Both shots are mRNA vaccines, and as such they both require this high level of refrigeration for transport. explained Snopes reached out to Anderson to ask if ads for vaccines on dark web marketplaces still appeared to be scams, as of February 2021. \"Just went and took a look at the last of the 'reputable' markets [on the dark web] and I still don't see any COVID vaccines for sale on there,\" he wrote to us by email, adding that he did see some ads for the largely discredited treatment hydroxychloroquine, but not much else on the COVID-19 front. One problem with the dark web, however, is that there is no requirement for \"reputable behavior\" and few safeguards against predatory behavior. Several media reports have cited a dark web market named Agartha as having ads for COVID-19 vaccines. Indeed it does  several hundred of them, according to a recent analysis by Snopes  but these ads are all comically obvious frauds. One ad listed under \"opiates,\" for instance, asked for \"mutual trust\" in its effort to sell some \"Moderona\" vaccine: media reports   Other ads claim to be able to ship the Pfizer vaccine, which as a reminder requires extreme refrigeration for storage, by FedEx at no additional cost. Many ads, like the one below, don't even specify what vaccine product they purport to sell. Instead, the ad appears to be a bait-and-switch for a seller peddling other drugs ranging from marijuana to fentanyl:   According to DomainTools' Anderson, \"Agartha is considered an entire scam market.\" He added that \"I've never thrown money into my user wallet on there, but I have heard from others that the moment you do it's immediately siphoned off to another wallet that I would assume is the wallet of those running the site.\" CBS News, in its reporting, cited the work of cybersecurity company Check Point. That firm attempted to purchase COVID-19 vaccines from various dark web sellers, even sending a Bitcoin payment to one. \"A few days after the Bitcoin transaction, Check Point received a message from the vendor saying the vaccine had been shipped, CBS reported. \"Then a few days later, that vendor's account completely disappeared from the site.\" They never received any product in return, and the firm concluded that none of the sellers they found actually had any vaccine to sell.  reported Overt fraud aside, a possibility remains that as more easily transportable vaccines are approved and produced, a dark web black market for vaccines could develop. \"As time goes by, and more people get access to legitimate doses, there's always the possibility that some of that real product could make its way onto the dark web,\" CBS reported. \"More providers will lead to looser shipping restrictions,\" Anderson agreed. reported The risks from engaging in these transactions are multifaceted. Outside of a potential loss of money, there are risks of receiving unknown and dangerous drugs instead of a vaccine or having identifying information stolen. \"In addition to the dangers of ordering potentially life-threatening products,\" a December 2020 Interpol news release stated, \"an analysis by the INTERPOLs Cybercrime Unit revealed that of 3,000 websites associated with online pharmacies suspected of selling illicit medicines and medical devices, around 1,700 contained cyber threats, especially phishing and spamming malware.\" In other words, even if these listings were not overt scams, it's not worth the risk. stated Because at this time there are several ads for COVID-19 vaccines on various dark web markets of low repute, but that none of them appear to be legitimate, we rate the claim that the vaccines are for sale as \"false.\"","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1qR5TwNSo62Hb-vtW689LwZ9__7xOckC5"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1mlT0I3KpphVyXUViGYcbDtVdjwgShGev"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1126","claim":"Cicero's thoughts on managing a government's finances.","posted":"05\/08\/2013","sci_digest":["This quotation from Roman statesman Cicero about balancing the budget comes from a 1965 novel, not from history."],"justification":"As we've noted many times in these pages, one common way in which people attempt to demonstrate the aptness of a particular social or political viewpoint is to put its expression into the mouth of a revered historical figure.  [Collected via e-mail, April 2008] This quote is going around the internet. I would like to know if it really came from Cicero as claimed. \"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance.\"  Cicero, 55 BC Surely if one of great minds of our civilization, someone who lived hundreds (or even thousands) of years ago, said the very same thing we're thinking today, then surely that's proof we've hit upon some eternal truth that should be sagaciously heeded. In short, attributing apocryphal quotations to everyone from Confucius to Abraham Lincoln is an attempt to capitalize on the maxim that \"great minds think alike.\" One prime representative of this phenomenon is the passage reproduced above, which warns about the perils of governments' overspending their budgets and lavishing too much money on foreign aid and welfare programs. For the last half century it has been attributed to Roman philosopher and statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero and widely quoted by politicians and pundits seeking to bolster their arguments in favor of fiscal conservatism. For example, Louisiana representative Otto Passman, who for thirty years \"pursued a relentless battle against spending for foreign aid\" in the U.S. Congress, read these words into the Congressional Record on April 25, 1968: read these words into the Congressional Record Mr. Speaker, the record shows that in all ages where republican forms of government have been lost, it has been through the pretense of a share-the-wealth program, a blind faith in public officials, and apathy on the part of those who could act but did not. To mention only one of many, many examples from past history, may I quote from a statement made by Cicero over 2,000 years ago: The budget should be balanced, the treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt, the mobs should be forced to work and not depend on government for subsistence. History reveals that public officials heeded not the warning  therefore, the government collapsed. On March 29, 1971 the Chicago Tribune published a letter from a reader who invoked the same words to make a similar point: Someone said years ago: \"The more things change, the more they are the same.\" Today's problems are not new. The Roman Empire faced bankruptcy 2,000 years ago, as more and more power was concentrated in central government and government spending grew. Cicero spoke out against the trend. This great Roman senator said: \"The budget should be balanced, the treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. The mobs should be forced to work and not depend on government for subsistence.\" Romans ignored Cicero; Rome fell. History is great if we learn from it. It is not too late for the United States to heed those words out of the past. Those words were never uttered by Cicero, however; and the reason no one ever quoted them as such until about fifty years ago is because they weren't written until 1965. They sprang from the pen of Taylor Caldwell, a fiction writer best known for historical novels such as Captains and the Kings, her 1972 best-selling chronicle of the rise to wealth and power of an Irish immigrant named Joseph Francis Xavier Armagh (which was also made into a popular television mini-series in 1976). popular television mini-series Caldwell penned several novels based on real-life religious and historical figures, including Genghis Khan (The Earth Is the Lord's), Cardinal Richelieu (The Arm and the Darkness), Saint Luke (Dear and Glorious Physician), Saint Paul (Great Lion of God), Aspasia (Glory and the Lightning), and Judas Iscariot (I, Judas). Her 1965 effort A Pillar of Iron was a historical novel about the life of Cicero, the great Roman statesman who \"is a pillar of iron as he publicly maintains his search for honor and justice under law in the face of plots against his life and his country.\" Although A Pillar of Iron often drew directly from the recorded speeches and letters of Cicero for its dialogue, it was nonetheless a work of fiction, and the now famous statement from Cicero about \"balancing the budget\" was an invention of Caldwell's and not a reproduction of Cicero's own words. In fact, the novel doesn't even present these words as something spoken by Cicero, but rather as a summation of Cicero's political philosophy presented as a preface to an imagined conversation between Cicero and Gaius Antonius Hybrida: Reared in republican virtues, Cicero found himself frequently confounded by Antonius. Antonius heartily agreed with him that the budget should be balanced, that the Treasury should be refilled, that public debt should be reduced, that the arrogance of the generals should be tempered and controlled, that assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt, that the mobs should be forced to work and not depend on the government for subsistence, and that prudence and frugality should be put into practice as soon as possible. But when Cicero produced facts and figures how all these things must and should be accomplished, by austerity and discipline and commonsense, Antonius became troubled. \"But this  or that  would bring hardship on this  or that  class,\" Antonius said. \"The people are accustomed to lavish displays in the circuses and the theaters, and the lotteries, and free grain and beans and beef when they are destitute, and shelter when they are homeless and a part of the city is rebuilt. Is not the welfare of our people paramount?\" \"There will be no welfare of the people if we become bankrupt,\" said Cicero, grimly. \"We can become solvent again, and strong, only by self-denial and by spending as little as possible until the public debt is paid and the Treasury refilled.\" \"But one cannot  if one has a heart at all  deprive the people of what they have received for many decades from government, and which they expect. It will create the most terrible hardships.\" \"Better that all of us tighten our girdles than Rome fall,\" said Cicero. As Jess Stearn observed in In Search of Taylor Caldwell, this imagined historical conversation was reflective of Caldwell's own political outlook much more than Cicero's: \"She was a conservative politically, believing the spoils belonged to those who toiled for them. There were not free lunches. She abhorred the welfare philosophy that gave handouts to free-loaders, decrying rewards for indolence and incompetence.\" Or, as John Blundell aptly quipped in Ladies for Liberty, \"Taylor Caldwell gives us fiscal policy, civil service reform, cuts in aid to less developed countries, and welfare reform all in one sentence.\" The reproductions of Caldwell's words as a historical quote from Cicero have altered the original a fair bit over the years: the admonition that \"prudence and frugality should be put into practice as soon as possible\" was quickly dropped from the end of the sentence; \"people\" have replaced \"mobs\" as the ones who should be \"forced to work and not depend on the government for subsistence\"; the proclamation that the \"arrogance of the generals should be tempered and controlled\" now refers to generic \"officialdom\" rather than military figures; and the warning that this advice need be followed \"lest Rome become bankrupt\" has mutated into the more ominous-sounding \"lest Rome fall.\" Blundell, John.  Ladies for Liberty: Women Who Made a Difference in American History.\r  New York: Algora Publishing, 2013.  0-875-86865-7  (p. 145). Caldwell, Taylor.  A Pillar of Iron.\r  Lake Oswego, OR: eNet Press Inc., 2013.  ASIN B00CEINOCW. Collins, John H.  \"False Quotations.\"\r  Chicago Tribune.  20 April 1971. Connolly, Jerry.  \"Warning from the Past.\"\r  Chicago Tribune.  29 March 1971  (p. 14). Lueck, Thomas J.  \"Otto Passman, 88, Louisiana Congressman Who Fought Spending.\"\r  The New York Times.  14 August 1988. Stearn, Jess.  In Search of Taylor Caldwell.\r  New York: Stein & Day, 1981.  0-812-82791-0. Tench, Helen.  \"Cicero's Rome Quarried for a Scholarly Novel.\"\r  Ottawa Citizen.  14 August 1965 (p. 24). Congressional Record [House].  \"History's Warning.\"\r  25 April 1968  (p. 10635).","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1mYH3utg_qGXHMyvZArknA1zN2SpcLuFP"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1127","claim":"Fact Check: Ellie Kemper, the KKK, and the 'Veiled Prophet Ball'","posted":"06\/02\/2021","sci_digest":["The actors ties to a controversial St. Louis debutante ball were unearthed in a 1999 photograph. "],"justification":"The troubling history of a society ball for young debutantes has come under scrutiny through an unlikely figure  Kimmy Schmidt. No, not fictional Kimmy Schmidt, who was rescued from a cult in the popular Netflix show, but the actor who played her. Ellie Kemper, known for her roles in Bridesmaids, The Office, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, was at the center of an internet controversy when someone found old photographs of her winning a title at a debutante ball allegedly linked to a white supremacist group in her home city of St. Louis, Missouri. center According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, in 1999, Kemper won the title of Queen of Love and Beauty at the \"Veiled Prophet Ball,\" an annual event for debutantes, that was organized by a society known as the Veiled Prophet Organization (VPO). The ball still takes place in December every year, except in 2020 on account of the pandemic. takes place We found the original clippings from the newspaper in 1999:     The VPO was reportedly co-founded in 1878 by a former Confederate officer and historically excluded Black and Jewish people. Originally intended as a celebration for the citys wealthy, the Veiled Prophet Ball and the events surrounding it were, according to one historian, meant to reinforce the elites values over working class activism in the city. The VPO only admitted Black members in 1979. co-founded Twitter users also honed in on an image depicting a Veiled Prophet from 1878, which shows a person wearing a white costume and a pointed hat. The image was eerily similar to the white robes and hood worn by the white supremacist organization the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Many started calling Kemper the KKK princess alleging ties between the VPO and the KKK and highlighting the racist history behind the VPOs activities. image Ku Klux Klan  We learned that while the group does have a troubling history of racial discrimination within the organization, there is no clear evidence tying the group to the KKK. While Kemper did participate and win a title at the ball in 1999, there is also no evidence that she herself harbors racist beliefs. We reached out to representatives for Kemper for comment and will update this post if we get any more information. Below, we break down the history of the VPO, the ball, and the claims made about Kemper. It began in 1878, when a group of prominent businessmen formed an organization that instituted an annual ball and parade, which was presided over by a mysterious Veiled Prophet. This was usually one member of the organization in disguise, whose identity was not meant to be revealed. The parade ostensibly was meant to generate pride and interest in St. Louis as a prominent city. At the ball, daughters of Veiled Prophet members were presented and the Veiled Prophet would select one to reign as the Queen of Love and Beauty. formed The idea for this organization is commonly attributed to two brothers, Confederate Colonel Alonzo Slayback and his brother, Charles Slayback, a Confederate cavalryman. According to an essay in The Common Reader, a monthly publication by Washington University in St. Louis, the Veiled Prophet was drawn from a poem by Thomas Moore titled The Story of the Veiled Prophet of Khorassan, found in the book of poetry Lalla Rookh, published in 1817. The prophet in the poem is a wealthy man from the East, who is rewarded with opulent receptions wherever he goes. attributed The Common Reader Academics interpret the Veiled Prophet of the poem as a symbol of moral depravity, however, who rapes and corrupts the beautiful and virtuous high priestess Zelica, allegedly the inspiration for the Queen of Love and Beauty. interpret The Veiled Prophet in St. Louis, according to a book the organization published in 1928, is meant to be a beloved despot, evasive but real, who rules with an iron hand encased in velvet. The organizations interpretation of the Veiled Prophet showed him as a symbol of moral rectitude. published According to historian Thomas Spencers book The St. Louis Veiled Prophet Celebration: Power on Parade, 1877-1995, the parade was the business elites response to the workers strike of 1877, meant to awe the masses towards passivity with its symbolic show of power. The St. Louis Veiled Prophet Celebration: Power on Parade, 1877-1995, But it was civil rights protests from the 1960s to the 1980s that made people of the city perceive the parade and ball as wasteful and conspicuous consumption. Black activists with the Action Committee to Improve Opportunities for Negroes (ACTION) protested the events. An integrated group with Black leadership and white members who helped them get access to spaces normally off limits to minorities, the group carried out direct action protests, and sought economic justice through more jobs for minorities. By protesting the parade and ball, they were targeting big businessmen and corporations. perceive protested They also held parody balls which mocked the largely white Veiled Prophet events and crowned a Black Queen of Human Justice. In 1972, ACTION even managed to infiltrate a ball through three white women members who obtained tickets. According to The Common Reader: parody balls infiltrate The Common Reader As one woman shouted Down with the VP! another swung down from the balcony on a cable to the stage (the fall crushed three of her ribs). She told an official that she had fallen, and managed to sneak on stage, standing right next to the seated Veiled Prophet. She pulled the veil from his face, and then was quickly rushed offstage by the Bengal Lancers, the VPs protective guard. The VP, a Monsanto executive vice president, put his crown and veil back on, and the ball proceeded as usual. During this period of civil rights protests, the parade avoided Black neighborhoods on its route. ACTION's ultimate goal was to pressure business leaders to give jobs to more Black people. Members of ACTION also lay down in front of parade floats, chained themselves to floats and distributed leaflets, and reportedly picketed the balls with signs like VEILED PROFIT$ or VP=KKK. Percy Green, an activist behind ACTION said of the Veiled Prophet ball, parade, and the businessmen involved, \"No wonder these people dont hire Blacks because they are socially involved in these all-white organizations [...].\"  avoided pressure lay down said Indeed, the organization remained primarily white until 1979 when it admitted its first Black members, who were three doctors. Older members reportedly insisted that the doctors were admitted because they had earned their place among the elite. insisted We reached out to the modern-day VPO. A spokesperson described the ball as \"a venue to introduce young ladies, generally in their sophomore year of college, to the St. Louis community and instill the value of community service. During the preceding summer, the debutants and their families contribute more than 3,500 hours of volunteer time to countless service projects coordinated through the Veiled Prophet Community Service Initiative to participate in the Ball.\" Rumors of a connection with the KKK grew from the first available image of a Veiled Prophet from an 1878 issue of the Missouri Republican, which shows a figure dressed in white robes with a pointed cap. image   The image does not actually indicate the VPO was connected to the KKK. The KKK did not use this uniform until the early 1900s, when the 1915 film The Birth of a Nation depicted the white robes and hoods. Around 1921, the KKK was mass-producing similar white robes and hoods, decades after this particular image. did not Since that first image, the Veiled Prophets outfits have varied, as seen in these photographs of the celebrations over decades. The outfits include elaborate robes that are more reminiscent of the Popes regalia. This does not, however, discount the role of the VPO in perpetuating exclusionary practices over the course of its history. photographs A spokesperson for the VPO denied any connection to racist organizations. The source did not initially respond to our queries about their exclusionary policy that admitted Black members into the organization as late as 1979. In a statement, the group said: The VP organization is dedicated to civic progress, economic contributions and charitable causes in St. Louis. Our organization believes in and promotes inclusion, diversity and equality for this region. We absolutely reject racism and have never partnered or associated with any organization that harbors these beliefs. The VPO told us, \"Membership in the organization is open to men of all backgrounds and experiences. The organization is committed to diversity and actively seeks members with an interest in community service and a commitment to making St. Louis a better place to live for all.\" It is inaccurate to refer to Kemper as a KKK princess given that the VPO itself has no known ties to the KKK, even though its role in systems that uphold racism cannot be discounted. The ball and parade have continued in a range of forms since then. The organization today is commonly referred to as the Veiled Prophet Organization (VPO). According to a statement the group sent us and its website, VPO carries out volunteer work and donates to numerous causes: website We are proud of our commitment to support civic St. Louis for 143 years, including: Annually hosting dozens of community service projects and donating tens of thousands of dollars and service hours to support a variety of charity partners to create a stronger, more equitable and prosperous St. Louis, including: Beyond Housing, Mission: St. Louis, Missouri Veterans Endeavor, North Side Community School, Promise Community Homes, Brightside St. Louis, Forest Park Forever, and many others. Making many significant infrastructure and cultural gifts to the City, including lighting of the Eads Bridge, the Mississippi River Overlook and the mile-long Riverfront Promenade, and partnering in providing the Grand Staircase beneath the Arch as part of the National Park System and to the irrigation system as part of Forest Park Forever. Hosting two major free events in St. Louis, including Americas Birthday Parade and Fair St. Louis. Both events reflect the diversity of the St. Louis community and include a wide variety of partners  such as PrideFest and the Annie Malone Parade. Kemper came from a wealthy and influential banking family, and she has talked about her upbringing, saying she had a had a very privileged, nice, warm childhood. Her relationship to the organization, which still appears to be influential in St. Louis cultural and social landscape, can be attributed to her social standing and family history. While she may have certainly benefited from her background and privilege, it does not indicate that she is actively a part of upholding racist systems and beliefs. came from On June 7, 2021, Kemper addressed the controversy in a statement on her Instagram account:   She added:  I unequivocally deplore, denounce, and reject white supremacy. At the same time, I acknowledge that because of my race and my privilege, I am the beneficiary of a system that has dispensed unequal justice and unequal rewards. There is a very natural temptation when you become the subject of internet criticism, to tell yourself that your detractors are getting it all wrong. But at some point last week, I realized that a lot of the forces behind the criticism are forces that I've spent my life supporting and agreeing with. I believe strongly in the values of kindness, integrity and inclusiveness. I try to live my life in accordance with these values. If my experience is an indication that organizations and institutions with pasts that fall short of these beliefs should be held to account, then I have to see this experience in a positive light. Soon after Kemper made her statement, VPO sent us an additional statement, addressing their history of racism and exclusion: Upon reflection, the Veiled Prophet Organization acknowledges our past and recognizes the criticism levied our way. We sincerely apologize for the actions and images from our history. Additionally, our lack of cultural awareness was and is wrong. We are committed to change, allowing our actions to match the organization we are today. The VP Organization of today categorically rejects racism, in any form. Todays VP is committed to diversity and equity in our membership, community service initiatives and support for the region. Our hope is that moving forward, the community sees us for who we are today and together we can move this region forward for everyone. We are, and always will be committed to the success of the region and making St Louis a better place to live for all. The organization itself has no known connection to the KKK but did uphold exclusionary and racist policies within its ranks. It was also a target of protests by the civil rights movement. Kemper participated and won a title in the annual ball, decades after it admitted its first Black members. While the ball and organization play a role in a long history of racism in the United States, which implicates many institutions, there is no evidence tying this group to the KKK, nor any evidence that Kemper is actively racist herself. As such, we rate this claim a Mixture. June 2, 2021: Updated with ACTION's Percy Green quote.  June 3, 2021: Updated with VPO's additional comments. June 8, 2021: Updated with Ellie Kemper's statement, and a follow up statement from the VPO. ","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1_01OduMLr94FIYx9LlqTZtZ3G3hRKph7","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1jX7SHHSa7pUKjE6y3zPC_IQ4pJ-_nLe4","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1TLHxI677PiVKYNyKdDXcDyjYexGuECK1","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1128","claim":"The Stolen Biscuits","posted":"02\/08\/1999","sci_digest":["A long-circulating tale of biscuit banditry. "],"justification":"This legend has circulated in Great Britain at least since 1972. Author Douglas Adams tells the \"packet of biscuits\" tale in his 1984 novel So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish. He has since recounted it on numerous occasions, claiming it happened to him in 1976 at a station in Cambridge. His claim is doubted by many who point out the self-same tale was around years prior to that, but it is not impossible for events in real life to mimic those of lore. (Indeed, the actual folkloric term for such an event is ostension.) In any case, whether the incident happened to him or not, it is clear the legend did not begin with him: ostension Examples: [Brunvand, 1986] An elderly woman, traveling by bus, had a layover during her journey. She purchased a package of Oreo cookies from a vending machine in the bus terminal and located a table. She placed her cookies on the table, sat down, and proceeded to read her newspaper She was joined by a young man, who, to her surprise, opened the package of Oreo cookies and began to eat them. The woman, saying nothing, but giving him an icy stare, grabbed a cookie. The young man, with a funny look on his face, ate another cookie. The woman again glared and grabbed another cookie. The young man finished the third cookie and offered the last to the woman. Completely appalled, she grabbed the cookie and the young man left. Outraged, the woman threw down her paper only to find her unopened Oreos on the table in front of her.  [Collected on the Internet, 1994] A friend of my aunt was going shopping at the mall, and stopped in a snack bar to rest her feet. She bought a Kit Kat bar, a candy bar which breaks into several pieces. The place was crowded, so the friend was forced to share a table with a meek-looking gentleman. (That's just the way some malls are, I guess.) The expected business happened with the two of them sharing the Kit Kat, but since the Kit Kat had an odd number of pieces, she made sure she got the last one. The man got up without saying a word, went over to the counter and bought a couple of donuts. The friend was working herself into a rage because this guy had eaten her Kit Kat. She imagined that he had bought two donuts to give one to her in apology, and so you can imagine how she got even more angry when he had the gall to go sit by himself at a table far away from her. So, in the strength of her fury, she stalked over to his table, picked up one of the donuts, took a BIG CHOMP out of it, and set it back in front of him. Then she glared at him, said \"And a VERY GOOD DAY to you, too!\" and stormed out. She got to her car, opened up the purse to get her keys, and you know the rest. [Ann Landers, 1997] A Ferry Story My aunt and uncle own a business in Kamloops, B.C. Here is a true story that happened to one of the women in their office: The woman was taking the car ferry from Victoria to Vancouver. She sat on the deck. Beside her in an empty chair were her newspaper and her chocolate bar. A man sat next to the little pile. He picked up the chocolate bar, ate it, picked up the newspaper, read some of it, threw the candy bar wrapper away, tucked the newspaper under his arm and then walked off. The woman was too shocked to say anything. Having nothing to read, eat or munch on, she decided to go to the cafeteria. There, at a table, sat the man, flipping the pages of the newspaper with one hand, holding a submarine sandwich in the other. Still angry, the woman strode over to him, grabbed the sandwich out of his hand, took a big bite and then put the sandwich back in his hand. She marched off, saying nothing and not looking back. She then decided to go to her car. On the passenger seat were her newspaper and her chocolate bar. She had never taken them out of the car! Variations: Numerous stories about unwitting thieves abound in the realm of contemporary lore, with the \"victim turned thief\" motif appearing in such tales since the early 1900s. (Visit our Pocket(ed) Watch, Gun-Toting Grannies, and Jogger's Billfold pages for other legends of this type.) Pocket(ed) Watch Gun-Toting Grannies Jogger's Billfold As folklorist Jan Harold Brunvand put it, \"All variations on the theme of unwitting theft portray a plausible situation in which we ourselves might act in such an uncharacteristic threatening manner because of a simple misunderstanding.\" In this legend, the \"plausible situation\" impels a woman one presumes would not normally make a spectacle of herself to angrily glare at a stranger, screech at him, lecture him, or even defiantly grab a food item she knows is his and tear a bite out of it. Because of the way the characters are presented (the woman exudes a faintly aristocratic aura while the man is described as a leather-clad punk, a foreigner, or an insolent-appearing young person), the woman's social lapse is more glaring. We forgive her outburst at the time ... but afterwards have a chance to reflect on how she handled the situation and conclude there had to have been a better way. Her lapse and the awareness of how she must have appeared to others serves as a caution against our taking similar action in any potentially confrontational encounter that occurs in public. We might not always have all of the facts we think we do. Moreover, even if we do have all the facts, we're going to look like a right idiot to anyone looking on. Sightings: Both the 1990 film The Lunch Date and the 1989 film Boeuf Bourgignon make use of this legend. In both, a well-dressed white woman goes off to fetch silverware and returns to find a Black man eating her lunch. Only after she shares her dinner with the stranger (at one point he fetches coffee for the two of them) and the man leaves does she notice her own meal sitting on another table. The 2010 Ian McEwan novel Solar contains an interesting sighting of the legend, where it is both related as a true story undergone by the book's protagonist and afterwards challenged by a folklorist he encounters on its basis as an urban legend of long standing. Denton. Lisa.  Chewing Gum Keeps the Hearing Aids In.\r The Chattanooga Times. 30 July 1997  (p. C1).  Kaelber, Randy.  The Biscuit Bullet: Is It My Fault?\r FOAFTale News. June 1996  (p. 8). Kreck, Dick.  A Biscuit with Her Name on It.\r The Denver Post. 6 April 1996  (p. D8). McEwan, Ian. Solar.\r  Toronto: Alfred A. Knopf, 2010.  ISBN 978-0-385-53341-6. \r  (pp. 117-8, 119, 121-7, 154-5, 157-8, 179-80). Owens, Gene.  Doughboy Gets Around.\r [Greensboro] News & Record. 11 July 1995  (Food; p. A7). Rose, Allen.  Story of Biscuit Dough Explodes in My Face.\r The Orlando Sentinel. 31 May 1996  (p. D1). Rose, Allen.  Biscuit Dough Makes Impact on Shopper.\r The Orlando Sentinel. 30 May 1996  (p. D1). Sandstrom, Karen.  Joke Telling Done Well Gives Audience More Than Laughs.\r The Plain Dealer. 19 June 1994  (p. B5). Setencich, Eli.  City Shoots First, Asks Questions Later.\r The Fresno Bee. 22 January 1996  (p. B1). Truly, Pat.  The Unthinkable Is Becoming Less So Every Day.\r The [Cleveland] Plain Dealer. 19 January 1994  (p. B5). Venable, Sam.  Highway Shooting Incident Turned Out to Be Poppin Fresh.\r The Knoxville News-Sentinel. 19 April 1998. Viets, Elaine.  The Half-Baked Biscuit Bullet Story Wont Die.\r Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 13 December 1995  (Food; p. 3). Wikipedia.  \"Ostensive Definition; Ostension in Folklore.\"\r  Accessed 14 November 2018.","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1vOxdndQUXJRRbMTO8kqxMP7x6rlyTfKF","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1129","claim":"Koch Pays George Zimmerman's Legal Fees?","posted":"04\/19\/2012","sci_digest":["Did Koch Industries pay the legal fees of George Zimmerman?"],"justification":"Claim: Koch Industries paid the legal fees of George Zimmerman. Example: [Collected via e-mail, April 2012] Was posted on my Facebook page today. Is this true? \"In the wake of the killing of Trayvon Martin ... The company Koch, which manufactures paper products, is paying for Zimmerman's legal fees because they feel he had the legal right to bear arms and shoot Trayvon. We are asking that people everywhere band together with us and pass this information on and not purchase any of the following items because your money will be paying for Zimmerman's lawyer fees!!! Please do not purchase any of the following items: Angel Soft toilet paper, Brawny paper","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Xra-k9t5l4fLou1VThjeF5CVYtQmmr6V","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1130","claim":"Does This Photograph Show Legislators Playing Solitaire?","posted":"11\/01\/2009","sci_digest":["\"The bills theyre passing by playing solitaire instead of voting for us are taking away our freedoms with every key stroke.\""],"justification":"A photograph that appears to show representatives playing solitaire on their laptops during a legislative session has certainly struck a chord among many viewers, undoubtedly because it seemingly confirms a widely held view of elected representatives as paid fat cats frittering away their time on frivolous pursuits rather than engaging in serious governmental problem-solving efforts. The photograph is real, although it has erroneously been attributed to a number of different legislative bodies, from the U.S. Congress to various state legislatures. This picture was sent to me, showing our Congress at work. It was said that this was while Congress was in session, which appears to be true, and that it was during the health care debate. Even if it wasn't during the health care debate, if this is how they spend their time while they are supposed to be deciding on important issues, then I not only want a rebate on my tax dollars, but I also want to see some new people who actually care about what is happening and are paying close attention to the matter at hand sitting in those seats. It seems we don't need to be sending them on any more expensive vacations; they're already on one. It seems to me that if all we are doing is paying these congressmen and women a gigantic salary to sit in congressional sessions and play solitaire or whatever, it's time to bring most of them back home by replacement. Democrats, Republicans, independents\u2014it makes no difference. The bills they're passing by playing solitaire instead of voting for us are taking away our freedoms with every keystroke. Folks, we need to forward this to everyone we know to get the word out about these people who are being paid by our tax dollars. Nothing else needs to be said. This is one of their three-day work weeks that we all pay for. I am ready to start from the beginning by voting out all elected officials and not allowing any of them to stay in office for more than two terms. No more lifelong healthcare, retirement, voting in their own pay raises, or taking perks on our taxes, etc. These are the folks who can't get the budget out by October 1. Seriously! So, we've got a 30-day budget extension. Well, guess what? Thirty days from now, we will be in the same boat. I guess this makes it easy for the news reporters, as all they have to do is recycle the same headlines from this week and from two years ago. And these individuals will still be playing solitaire! The picture was actually snapped in the Connecticut House of Representatives on August 31, 2009, by photographer Jessica Hill, while Rep. Larry Cafero was delivering a lengthy speech on the state budget. The photo was captioned by the Associated Press as follows: \"House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk, far right, speaks while colleagues play solitaire on their computers as the House convenes to vote on a new budget for the fiscal year in the Capitol, in Hartford, Conn.\" Ms. Hill described the reaction to her photograph as follows: \"I have received a great deal of mail and even a few calls from people all over the country over the last couple of months about the photograph I have as a lead-off image on my member page. Some viewers have even gone so far as to say they believe the photograph is not authentic. I take my profession very seriously. There is nothing staged or altered in the photograph, and it is insulting to me to have been accused of otherwise by people who do not even know me.\" Rep. Jack Hennessy (D-Bridgeport), one of the two Connecticut legislators shown in the photo playing solitaire on a laptop computer (the other was Rep. Barbara Lambert [D-Milford]), issued a letter of apology to his constituents: \"It was certainly bad judgment for me to play a computer game, even for just a few minutes, during the final House session on the budget. I am embarrassed, and I apologize to each and every person in the North End and to people across the state. My actions were inexcusable. I do want my constituents to know that my poor judgment for a few moments in no way means I ignored your interests in representing you on this very serious matter. Over the past seven months, as a member of the General Assembly's Finance Committee, I have participated fully in the budget process and have played an active role in crafting a budget that provides the necessary services that our communities so desperately need while at the same time minimizing any negative impact on the city of Bridgeport and its people. I sincerely apologize to each of you. I look forward to having the continued privilege of representing you and your interests in Hartford. I thank you in advance for your understanding and have been humbled by those of you who have already expressed your understanding and forgiveness.\"","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1kSnCRl6bpZHqbTQFcfbkaaMs8s6FOEuP","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1131","claim":"Facebook Pedophile Warning","posted":"09\/15\/2014","sci_digest":["Are child predators using Facebook to source victims by adding unsuspecting parents as friends?"],"justification":" Claim:  Predators, pedophiles, and child trafficking rings are using Facebook to source new victims by friending trusting parents and mining images posted of their children. Example:  [Collected on Facebook, September 2014] A guy sends you a friend request. You don't know him, but he's got a cute profile pic, so you accept. It's baby girl's first day of school! She looks SO cute in her new outfit you just have to take a picture and put it on Facebook so all your friends and family can see. You're so excited dropping her off that you \"check in\" to her school on Fb saying \"I can't believe how big she's gotten. Time sure flies. One proud momma\/daddy right here!\"... Meanwhile, the mystery guy whose friend request you hurriedly accepted earlier this morning is saving that picture you posted of your daughter in her cute new outfit to his phone and texting it to 60 other grown men across the world with the caption \"Caucasian female. Age 5. Brown hair, green eyes. $2,500.\" Not only did you provide a picture of your little girl to a child trafficker, you've handed him the name and exact location of her school on a silver cyber platter. You go to pick her up at 3:00 this afternoon, but she's nowhere to be found. Little do you know, your precious baby girl was sold to a 43-year-old pedophile before you even stepped foot off campus this morning, and now she's on her way to South Africa with a bag over her head, confused, terrified and crying because a man she's never seen before picked her up from school, and now she doesn't know where her parents are, where she's going, or what's gonna happen to her. STOP ADDING STRANGERS ON FACEBOOK. Origins:  In September 2014, the post above (without original attribution) went viral on Facebook. While this iteration is a new one, panic over internet strangers is as old as the internet itself, and warnings such as this have largely morphed from email forwards to Facebook shares. panic over internet strangers In May and June of 2015, the story received a second wave of interest after it was published to the website StylishLisa on 27 May 2015. On 30 May 2015 the message appeared on the Facebook page Lil' Red Warriors, but was later deleted after Facebook commenters correctly identified the photograph's origin on a page about children's hairstyles. The photo and its claim were later published verbatim to the Facebook page of Cyn Malvita, from where it was shared hundreds of thousands of times. A cached version of the iteration involving the hairstyling picture is embedded below: published Lil' Red Warriors deleted children's hairstyles Cyn Malvita  The Facebook post currently in circulation bears some resemblance to a well-traveled warning from years back describing a similar danger. While the premise is similar, the stated risk has evolved, incorporating Facebook's open and share-friendly nature as the door through which rampant child predators will enter your life and summarily terrorize you. well-traveled warning This particular warning has some unpleasant undertones in its telling, suggesting that female users are too readily tempted by a \"cute\" potential predator to consider the safety of their children. It also tacitly condemns parents (mothers, presumably in particular) for even mentioning their children in hawking its highly improbable, sanctimonious premise. Facebook and similar social media sites have ushered in a new level of panic when it comes to internet safety, given that the social network requires users to supply accurate information about their true identities and real names to use the service. While many users flout this aspect of the site's terms and services, many others have been banned temporarily or permanently for using aliases in place of real names. Reading the circulating post above might lead one to believe that the danger is very real and omnipresent, but the scenario presented is one that is exceedingly unlikely. Among other implausibilities, this warning makes it sound as though the bad guys are stymied in their search for victims and don't know where to look for kids to abduct until they see pictures of them on Facebook. But potential abductors' seeing a Facebook photo of a particular child who attends a given school does nothing to facilitate the snatching of random children for sale to pedophiles  would-be kidnappers don't need Facebook photos, as they could simply lie in wait outside just about any school and try to grab children as such opportunities presented themselves. Aside from that, first and foremost, most schools nowadays do not release children to parties who have not been explicitly granted permission and had their names recorded on an authorized list, a fact to which any parent who has ever needed a friend to make a last-minute school pickup can attest. Secondly, while the risk of child abduction and trafficking may exist, children are far, far more likely to be endangered by a relative or other \"trusted\" adult than a random Facebook contact. According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, the most recent statistics reflect a far different danger than the one described above. Of 800,000 children reported missing, 200,000 were abducted by relatives, 58,000 were kids taken by nonfamily members, and only 115 missing child reports were considered \"stereotypical\" abductions involving a complete stranger with intent to harm or keep the child. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children A lengthy report on Child Exploitation Prevention presented to Congress by the Justice Department in 2010 [PDF] further delves into the profiles of predators involved in child abuse and trafficking. According to the data presented, the vast majority of children harmed in this manner are either introduced or otherwise victimized by family members or other trusted adults such as babysitters, coaches, or family friends. Only four percent of victims identified were exploited or abused by an adult not previously known to the child or their family. PDF In the cases examined, abuse typically occurred over the course of years and involved \"grooming\" and other behaviors designed to created compliance. Child victims were not at risk of being immediately whisked to Africa by a strange Facebook user, but rather more likely placed in harm's way by the people meant to ensure their safety and care. On rare occasions child predators may mine publicly posted photos of children for personal use or trade, and posted Facebook pictures and locations might facilitate a kidnapping if the abductors were seeking to grab a specific child (rather than trolling for random victims), but no evidence suggests the posting of kids' photos on Facebook has resulted in a general increase of kidnapping or abuse of children. Last updated:  4 June 2015","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1X5MuCuzMPsO832tm9abWu2euXyrny7Da","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/i.imgur.com\/iHg4XC8.png","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1132","claim":"Is the character Mr. Burns from 'The Simpsons' inspired by banker Jacob Rothschild?","posted":"09\/06\/2023","sci_digest":["The Rothschild family is a common source of conspiracy theory fodder. "],"justification":"For nearly a decade, claims have circulated online that the character Mr. Burns from \"The Simpsons,\" who is Homer Simpson's boss at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, was based on Jacob Rothschild, a billionaire financier and member of the British Rothschild banking family, which is often at the center of Illuminati-based conspiracy theories. A 2015 post from the Instagram account nwoprophecies asserts, for example, that Mr. Burns is modeled after the British banker Jacob Rothschild, stating that the Rothschilds are among the most prominent of the top thirteen Illuminati families and that the House of Rothschild is in charge of the Illuminati's finances. This claim continued to circulate online, with a September 2023 post on X, formerly Twitter, asserting the same. However, these claims are baseless. Mr. Burns is based on several American business tycoons, primarily John D. Rockefeller, as well as creator Matt Groening's high school teacher. According to the book \"100 Things the Simpsons Fans Should Know Before They Die,\" Mr. Burns is described as wildly and opulently wealthy, serving as a vessel for jokes and ideas about America's history of greed. He was modeled after famous rich American figures like John D. Rockefeller, Howard Hughes, the fictional Charles Foster Kane, and Matt Groening's high school teacher, Mr. Bailey, who is probably not a billionaire unless the state of Oregon has significantly increased teacher salaries. In a 2015 article in Fortune magazine, a representative for Groening stated that the best source on the inspirations for Mr. Burns was an October 2000 TV Guide story, in which the creator mentioned that the twin models for Burns' personality are real-life oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller and Henry Potter, the miserly banker played by Lionel Barrymore in the 1946 film \"It's a Wonderful Life.\" In that same story, animator David Silverman stated that Mr. Burns' physical appearance was based on Barry Diller, who was running Fox Broadcasting when \"The Simpsons\" debuted on the network in 1989. Silverman added that Burns' body language is modeled on a praying mantis. In addition to the incorrect information about the origin of Mr. Burns, these memes misrepresent Jacob Rothschild's wealth, which stood at just over a billion dollars in 2019. Because the character Mr. Burns was not inspired by Jacob Rothschild, according to the people who developed him, we rate the assertion as false.","issues":["finance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1oKKHd09XzDeMkIeD2YQtfHnKBJ40Jwwh"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=17xGCI63N-MvduT4nEOT9uuwfwQazLDYj"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1133","claim":"Was a student from Cornell able to lose 37 pounds by utilizing apple cider vinegar and supplements?","posted":"04\/27\/2017","sci_digest":["Stories promoting a \"diet hack\" involving apple cider vinegar are based on unrelated photographs and false claims."],"justification":"In April 2017, an advertisement for a diet product called \"Refresh Garcinia Cambogia\" or \"Garcinia Slim\" was disguised as a genuine news report and published on websites such as RunningEvolutions.com and The Platinum Beard. The article featured a student from Cornell University who claimed to have lost 31 pounds on a university budget. Amanda Haughman, a student at Cornell University, was able to drop 31 pounds in one month without spending any of her own money. Amanda is studying nutrition sciences at Cornell, and for a required research project, she thought it would be perfect to use university funds to find out how to 'hack' her weight loss. According to Amanda, \"the most expensive part of it all was actually finding what worked. But the actual solution only cost about $5.\" \"I had struggled with my weight my whole life. I tried things like Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig, which just didn't work as well as they promised. I am a single mom with a child at home, and I am also working towards my degree, so I don't have any time to be at the gym. When I was assigned this big research project, I saw it as a perfect opportunity to get a deeper look at the natural weight loss options that are out there, and that is when I found out about combining Refresh Garcinia Cambogia and apple cider vinegar. The best part of it all is that I can tell my daughter is proud of me.\" - Amanda Haughman. These reports included a number of false and misleading claims. For instance, the lead photograph purportedly showing Amanda Haughman's tremendous weight loss is actually of Rachel Graham, who lost nearly 100 pounds in a year. Graham told Today in 2016 that she credited her weight loss to exercise and a healthy diet. Graham did not mention the alleged magic formula of apple cider vinegar and garcinia cambogia. Rachel Graham stated, \"Ask me how I've managed to lose almost 100 pounds in one year, and the formula is simple: healthy food and exercise. No secrets. No gimmicks. No quick fixes.\" She was also honest about the impact of going from 235 pounds to 144 pounds, especially the loose skin on her stomach, thighs, and arms. \"I want people to know that it is 110 percent possible,\" Graham told TODAY. \"I used to feel as though it wasn't, that I didn't have what it takes, and that it was just too far out of reach... If you want to make changes, it is completely possible with healthy food and exercise.\" This weight loss advertisement also fabricated an interview with CNN and claimed that the network ran a segment on this Cornell student's \"amazing discovery.\" The article stated, \"We sat down with Amanda to ask her more about how she found out about Refresh Garcinia Cambogia and whether or not that is all she used to lose 31 pounds so quickly.\" The supposed interview included questions and answers that never appeared on CNN. Not surprisingly, the Platinum Beard post links to a site selling Garcinia Cambogia. The Running Evolutions article links instead to what is apparently borrowed content from Barry's Boot Camp, a personal training program. We reached out to Barry's Boot Camp for comment but have not yet received a reply. Although we can't speak to the effectiveness of drinking apple cider vinegar with Refresh Garcinia Cambogia, we can say that this text did not originate in a genuine news article. This is an advertisement that used a fabricated interview, falsified claims, and an unrelated photograph to sell a diet product. Pawlowski, A. \"Mom gets real about weight loss: Here's how she shed 90 pounds in a year.\" Today, 3 October 2016.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=19zS1Rb_NY3lzd9AQC6D5vFu9HKZsOjWj"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=16Vsed9M4djDNaUUpbdPctoqq1SJyzaYE"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1134","claim":"Did Trump Inherit a 'Depleted' Military From Obama?","posted":"09\/26\/2020","sci_digest":["U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly exaggerated the \"depleted\" state of the military when he took office. "],"justification":"One claim that has often been repeated by U.S. President Donald Trump is that he rebuilt a military that was \"totally depleted\" by his predecessor, Barack Obama. Trump's grievance is based on a grain of truth: military spending was reduced during Obama's second term, but Trump's statements on the matter have combined distorted facts with outright falsehoods. The way Trump tells it, the United States military was in complete shambles when he took office. Over the years, Trump has made a variety of statements to perpetuate this notion. In one oft-repeated story, Trump illustrated his claim that Obama depleted the military by saying that the armed forces had \"no ammunition\" when he took office. In October 2019, for instance, Trump said, \"When I took over our military, we did not have ammunition.\" This is not true. The military did not run out of ammunition during the Obama administration (or during any other administration, as far as we can tell). In addition, Trump falsely claimed in August 2018, as he was signing the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2019, that the military had not received any money for years. Trump said, \"We've been trying to get money. They never gave us money for the military for years and years. And it was depleted.\" This, again, is false. In fact, approximately $600 billion was spent on the military in the year before Trump took office. President Trump has also mischaracterized his own military spending. On May 22, 2020, during a speech at the \"Rolling to Remember Ceremony: Honoring our Nation's Veterans and POW\/MIA,\" Trump claimed that he spent trillions on equipment: \"We've invested $2.5 trillion in all of the greatest equipment in the world, and it's all made here, right in the USA.\" This is not true. The $2.5 trillion figure refers to the total Department of Defense (DOD) budget that was passed under Trump\u2014comparatively speaking, Obama's budget during his first term was about $3.3 trillion and $2.7 trillion during his second term\u2014but only a portion of the DOD budget is spent on equipment. The amount spent on procurement, or the act of obtaining military equipment and supplies, varies from year to year, but it generally made up about 15% of Trump's total military budget. While Trump has told several falsehoods about how Obama supposedly \"totally depleted\" the military, there is some general truth to the idea, as overall military spending was reduced during the Obama administration. However, there is a bit more nuance to this issue than is often heard on the campaign trail. While the military was leaner during the Obama years, the Obama administration still spent trillions on national defense. Calculating an exact dollar figure for how much the U.S. spends on the military (and which administration is responsible for that spending) is a complicated proposition. The military budget covers a wide range of expenses across five military branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Space Force. One could also factor in money spent on the Department of Veterans Affairs, on overseas contingency operations, and on other security agencies, such as Homeland Security. Military contracts and budgetary plans also often overlap presidential terms, meaning that spending authorized under one president may end up getting spent under another. Furthermore, each president is faced with different domestic and global threats, which require different approaches and therefore different spending. Lastly, no president has sole discretion over military spending. For instance, sequestration, a provision of the 2011 Budget Control Act that passed Congress with bipartisan support, limited the amount that could be spent on the military. The \"green book,\" an annual budgetary analysis put out by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, shows that military spending greatly increased following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks during the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush. Spending continued to increase after Obama took office. In 2010, there was a slight decrease in military spending, and that trend continued until 2015. Spending increased again during Obama's final year in office and then continued to increase during Trump's administration. The following chart from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) takes a look at the United States' budget stretching back to the 1980s. The green line at the top of this chart represents the United States budget for National Defense. Trump's military budget for his first four years (approximately $2.9 trillion) was more robust than Obama's budget during his last four years (approximately $2.7 trillion). However, it was smaller than Obama's budget during his first four years (approximately $3.3 trillion). The Marine Corps Times writes that the military the president inherited from Obama was not depleted or facing a massive readiness crisis, which resulted from massive underfunding in the Obama years. In fact,","issues":["inflation"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=18iyIpbpf8NVtyiRCotRl3cEuZGM2mZyp","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1135","claim":"Is Biden considering a proposal to tax income generated from 401(k) accounts?","posted":"10\/28\/2020","sci_digest":["The proposed Biden\/Harris plan would replace individual retirement account deductions with a flat deduction available to everybody."],"justification":"During the 2020 U.S. presidential campaign cycle, social media users circulated a meme claiming that Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden had announced his intention to tax 401(k) retirement accounts. However, the published Biden campaign plan for addressing savings and retirement issues makes no mention of taxing 401(k) accounts, nor could we locate any speech or public statement by Biden suggesting the imposition of a tax on such accounts. Biden did unveil a tax plan that called for \"equalizing the tax benefits of retirement plans.\" Key to that plan was the fact that currently, contributions workers make to retirement plans such as 401(k)s consist of pretax dollars, which reduces those workers' taxable income and, thus, their income tax liability. Right now, you can deduct your contributions to your 401(k) plan right off the top of your income. As far as the IRS is concerned, the money is invisible for this year's calculations. If you make $200,000 and contribute the maximum $19,500 to your 401(k), then, as far as Uncle Sam (and your state) are concerned, you didn't make $200,000 this year; you only made $181,500. However, Biden contended that this type of tax benefit is skewed in favor of higher-income families: the more tax you pay, the more your 401(k) contribution saves you. If you have to pay the top 37% federal tax rate on every extra dollar you earn, deducting that money from your tax return saves you $7,215 in income taxes. But if you're only paying 10% federal tax on each extra dollar you earn, deducting $19,500 would save you just $1,950. Therefore, Biden has proposed to equalize these benefits across the income spectrum by providing taxpayers with an approximately 26% refundable tax credit in place of the deductions they currently receive for contributing to retirement plans. The current tax benefits for retirement savings are based on the concept of deferral, whereby savers can exclude their retirement contributions from tax, see their savings grow tax-free, and then pay taxes when they withdraw money from their accounts. This system provides upper-income families with a much stronger tax break for saving and a limited benefit for middle-class and lower-income workers. The Biden Plan will equalize benefits across the income scale, so that low- and middle-income workers will also receive a tax break when they save for retirement. The Tax Foundation, an independent tax policy organization, explained this plan as follows: Biden proposes converting the current deductibility of traditional retirement contributions into matching refundable tax credits for 401(k)s, individual retirement accounts (IRAs), and other types of traditional retirement vehicles, such as SIMPLE accounts. Biden's proposal would eliminate deductible traditional contributions and instead provide a 26 percent refundable tax credit for each dollar contributed. The tax credit would be deposited into the taxpayer's retirement account as a matching contribution. Existing contribution limits would remain, and Roth-style tax treatment would be unaffected. Is it accurate to assert that Joe Biden said \"he's going to tax your 401(k)\"? Not really, since the Democratic presidential candidate hasn't proposed taxing the amount of money people contribute to or maintain in their retirement accounts, nor eliminating the tax reductions workers realize by paying some of their earnings into those plans. However, Biden's proposal would likely have the effect, in the words of MarketWatch, of \"subsidizing retirement savings for those earning less by raising taxes on everyone else.\"","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=12ZfYNzDdZkXGze8VMUeVQZCffSUlXYpe"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1136","claim":"Citibank","posted":"02\/24\/2008","sci_digest":[""],"justification":"Urban Legends Reference Pages: Inboxer Rebellion (Citibank)  Claim:  Citibank is sending out checking account suspension notices and asking customers to verify their acceptance of new terms and conditions.  .Example:  [Collected on the Internet, 2003]Your Checking Account at CitibankWe are letting you know, that you, as a Citibank checking account holder, must become acquainted with our new Terms & Conditions and agree to it.Please, carefully read all the parts of our new Terms & Conditions and post your consent. Otherwise, we will have to suspend your Citibank checking account.This measure is to prevent misunderstanding between us and our valued customers.We are sorry for any inconvinience it may cause.Click here to access our Terms & Conditions page and not allow your Citibank checking account suspension.   .Example:  [Collected on the Internet, 2003]Your Checking Account at CitibankWe are letting you know, that you, as a Citibank checking account holder, must become acquainted with our new Terms & Conditions and agree to it.Please, carefully read all the parts of our new Terms & Conditions and post your consent. Otherwise, we will have to suspend your Citibank checking account.This measure is to prevent misunderstanding between us and our valued customers.We are sorry for any inconvinience it may cause.Click here to access our Terms & Conditions page and not allow your Citibank checking account suspension. Example:  [Collected on the Internet, 2003]Your Checking Account at CitibankWe are letting you know, that you, as a Citibank checking account holder, must become acquainted with our new Terms & Conditions and agree to it.Please, carefully read all the parts of our new Terms & Conditions and post your consent. Otherwise, we will have to suspend your Citibank checking account.This measure is to prevent misunderstanding between us and our valued customers.We are sorry for any inconvinience it may cause.Click here to access our Terms & Conditions page and not allow your Citibank checking account suspension.  Your Checking Account at Citibank We are letting you know, that you, as a Citibank checking account holder, must become acquainted with our new Terms & Conditions and agree to it. Please, carefully read all the parts of our new Terms & Conditions and post your consent. Otherwise, we will have to suspend your Citibank checking account. This measure is to prevent misunderstanding between us and our valued customers. We are sorry for any inconvinience it may cause. Click here to access our Terms & Conditions page and not allow your Citibank checking account suspension. Click here to access our Terms & Conditions page and not allow your Citibank checking account suspension.  Origins:  Yet   again a redirection scam has hit the Internet in the guise of messages appearing to come from a well-known financial entity; in this case the wolf is disguised in the clothing of Citibank. Just like scams perpetrated earlier this year using PayPal and various Internet service providers as camouflage, this one involves messages which appear to be coming from Citibank itself.  In this case the fraudulent message falsely announces that Citibank has changed the Terms & Conditions of its checking accounts and informs the recipient that he must follow a hyperlink to indicate his acceptance of these new conditions or his account will be suspended.  In a classic case of redirection scamming, however, the page the user is taken to after clicking the link does not reside on the real Citibank site; it's a phony page camouflaged to look like a real Citibank page and hosted on the web site of Nanhua Futures Trading Co. of Zhejiang, China.  (Since the redirection URL is an IP address rather than a domain name, the ruse isn't obvious.)  The faux Citibank page records the visitor's e-mail address and asks him to enter the first four digits of hisCitibank Banking Card number and his full name, then hides the ruse by bouncing him back to the real Citibank's terms and conditions page. PayPal Internet phony Nanhua page According to the warning Citibank has posted on their web site: warning Citibank is working with law enforcement to aggressively investigate a fraudulent email that has recently been sent as spam to numerous email addresses. Although the email appears to come from Citibank regarding \"Your Checking Account at Citibank,\" it does not, and Citibank is in no way involved in the distribution of this email. The email tells recipients that their Citibank Checking Account will be suspended unless they accept new Terms and Conditions and directs them to a site that appears to be Citibank's. The fradulent site requests the customers' name and the first 4 digits of their ATM card number.  Citibank urges recipients of this email to delete it immediately. Citibank does not ask customers to provide sensitive information in this way. Customers who receive suspicious email purporting to be from Citibank are encouraged to report it to customer service at the number listed on their ATM card. Citibank's systems have not been compromised in any way. In August 2003 the scammers tried again, this time sending out phony \"You've received money transfer\" Citibank notices which require the user to enter personal information in order to \"prove you are our customer\":       Dear CustomerC2it.com service would like to inform you, that you received money      transfer from Andreas (andreas666@earthlink.net).      Amount is $217. In order to receive that amount from c2it.com you have to      register your ATM card to prove you are our customer.Your e-mail is not registred with us, you need to setup account with us      and verify your identity. Please fill this form to be enrolled to c2it.com      service.Once you register, the money will appear in your c2it's account balance      in your overview page. You can withraw the outstanding balance to your      credit or debt card's bank account. C2it.com service would like to inform you, that you received money      transfer from Andreas (andreas666@earthlink.net).      Amount is $217. In order to receive that amount from c2it.com you have to      register your ATM card to prove you are our customer. andreas666@earthlink.net Your e-mail is not registred with us, you need to setup account with us      and verify your identity. Please fill this form to be enrolled to c2it.com      service. Once you register, the money will appear in your c2it's account balance      in your overview page. You can withraw the outstanding balance to your      credit or debt card's bank account.  There's a world ofreasons to use c2it            service. Send money from your computer to over 100            countries for a low flat fee. Transfer money to a bank account overseas or            send a check to family back home. It's easy. It's secure.It's from            Citibank. c2it service is convenient. And it's secure --            because c2it is backed by Citibank. We've improved our foreign exchange rates, so            now is a great time to send money overseas.  Send money from your computer to over 100            countries for a low flat fee.  Transfer money to a bank account overseas or            send a check to family back home.    c2it service is convenient. And it's secure --            because c2it is backed by Citibank.  We've improved our foreign exchange rates, so            now is a great time to send money overseas.  Information About Yourself   Email Address PasswordCard Holder Full Name Card Number Card Expiration Month 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 \/ Year 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012CVV2 (3 or            4 Digit Code After Card # on Back of Card)ATM PIN (For            Bank Verification)     2003 Citibank, FSB. Member FDIC.   2003 Citibank, FSB. Member FDIC.   Once again, the information entered by gullible recipients is going not to Citibank, but to a site registered to \"Hangzhou Silk Road Information Technologies Co., Ltd\" in Beijing, China. Scams that trick the gullible into revealing private information by having them \"confirm\" details presumably already in the possession of the one doing the asking fall under the broad heading of \"social engineering,\" a fancy term for getting people to part with key pieces of information simply by talking to them. The wary consumer's best defense to such maneuvers is a zipped lip (or, in the online world, an untapped keyboard). Protect yourself by volunteering nothing, even if you feel somewhat pressured by the one doing the inquiring. If someone on the telephone asks you to read off your checking account number for \"verification,\" ask him instead to recite it to you from his records. If you get an e-mail announcing something dire has befallen one of your on-line accounts and requiring you to re-enter sensitive personal data to get things back on track, do not reply to it, and do not fill out any forms that accompany it or click through any hot links it provides. Instead, contact that service through its web site and ask them about the e-mail. The con artists are getting more sophisticated all the time, so do not be too quick to mistake the appearance of legitimacy or authority with legitimacy itself. Just because an e-mail looks like it comes from an entity you do business with doesn't mean it's genuine, and just because you're being directed to a web page that looks like that entity's home page doesn't mean you're not being sent somewhere else. Beware the wolf in sheep's clothing lest you end up his dinner. Additional information:      'Phishers' Use Citi Logo to Try to Steal Personal Info   (Associated Press)Last updated:  31 August 2003 By David MikkelsonDavid Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.Article TagsASP ArticleRecommendations        'Phishers' Use Citi Logo to Try to Steal Personal Info   (Associated Press)Last updated:  31 August 2003 By David MikkelsonDavid Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.Article TagsASP ArticleRecommendations  Last updated:  31 August 2003    ","issues":["debt"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/www.c2it.com\/C2IT\/images\/hdr_welcome_01.jpg","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1137","claim":"Beto O'Rourke's 'Reality Check' can be paraphrased as a factual assessment or a reassessment of the situation by Beto O'Rourke.","posted":"09\/01\/2018","sci_digest":["A widely-shared Facebook meme offered allegations about a rising Democratic politician in Texas."],"justification":"Democratic congressman Beto O'Rourke of Texas came to national prominence in 2018 through his high-profile campaign to unseat incumbent Republican U.S. senator Ted Cruz. During the course of his campaign, the Democratic candidate has been confronted with various claims and allegations about himself and his family. One such meme, entitled \"'Beto' Reality Check,\" was shared widely on Facebook in August 2018:A spokesperson for O'Rourke's campaign described the meme as \"factually incorrect in countless ways\" and largely referred us to several existing news reports about the allegations. The following is our breakdown of the five sections contained in the meme.O'Rourke adopted the name \"Beto\" to appeal to Latino voters: The meme claimed:NOT HISPANIC\"Robert O'Rourke\" became \"Beto\" for his political campaigns and on the ballot, a tactic that gives the false impression he's Latino, misleading voters in a state with many Hispanics.In fact, O'Rourke was known as \"Beto\" long before he entered political life, although his birth name is Robert and he appears to use both first names interchangeably. (For example, his July 2018 Federal Election Commission \"Statement of Candidacy\" lists his name as \"Robert Beto O'Rourke.\")O'Rourke told CNN that his parents referred to him as Beto \"from day one,\" and that it \"just stuck.\" Others have noted that the name is likely derived from a pronunciation of the Spanish \"Roberto,\" and O'Rourke himself described it as \"a nickname for Robert in El Paso.\" (According to the U.S. Census Bureau, around 78 percent of El Paso county residents listed themselves as being of Mexican heritage in 2016.)O'Rourke's family is of Irish heritage. According to the New York Times, his family \"came over from Ireland four generations ago to work on the railroad.\" His father Pat O'Rourke was a prominent El Paso County official during the 1980s.A 1986 article about Pat O'Rourke in the El Paso Times referred to his then 14-year-old son as \"Beto O'Rourke.\" In 1999, six years before O'Rourke ran for El Paso city council, the same newspaper referred to \"web site designer Beto O'Rourke\" in a short article about his I.T. business Stanton Street Design.After checking the archives of the El Paso Times, we found multiple references to \"Beto O'Rourke\" between 1986 and 2004, when O'Rourk was either a child or a businessman and had never run for political office.In March, the campaign of O'Rourke's Republican opponent, Ted Cruz, launched a radio jingle that poked fun at the name \"Beto\" and included the following lyrics: \"I remember reading stories\/Liberal Robert wanted to fit in\/So he changed his name to 'Beto'\/And hid it with a grin ...\":FIRST LISTEN: our new 60-second statewide radio ad introducing our liberal opponent, Congressman Robert ORourke, to Texas voters.Help #KeepTexasRed: https:\/\/t.co\/PVsiCtbbyL #CruzCrew #TXSen pic.twitter.com\/OxK61gZ0ek Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 7, 2018The next day, O'Rourke posted a photograph of himself as a young boy, wearing a sweater with the nickname \"Beto\" stitched into it, establishing that, contrary to false accusation, he did not \"change his name\" for political reasons:pic.twitter.com\/1IO1dgmCkv Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) March 7, 2018O'Rourke used his father's connections to avoid trial for two felonies: UNPROVENThe meme claimed:FELONY ARREST RECORDAs an adult in his mid-20s, O'Rourke was caught breaking into the University of Texas El Paso. Charged with breaking and entering and burglary, he mysteriously avoided trial. A few years later, arrested for drunk driving, he again walked with a \"deal.\" Being the song of a powerful, politically connected County Judge apparently has benefits. O'Rourke dismisses his felony convictions as \"youthful pranks\" and \"mistakes\"; it's old news, move along, nothing to see here.O'Rourke has indeed been arrested for burglary and drunk driving, a history which he has discussed several times over the course of his political career, as his spokesperson told us: \"While charges were dismissed, this is something that Beto has always publicly addressed -- during his initial run for the city council, his run for Congress, in profiles written about him, during dozens of interviews, and at town halls across the state during this campaign.\"In a 27 August 2018 op-ed for the Houston Chronicle and  San Antonio Express-News, O'Rourke himself wrote:Twenty-three years ago I was arrested for attempted forcible entry after jumping a fence at the University of Texas at El Paso. I spent a night in the El Paso County Jail, was able to make bail the next day, and was released. Three years later, I was arrested for drunk driving -- a far more serious mistake for which there is no excuse.According to El Paso county jail records, O'Rourke was arrested for attempted burglary on 19 May 1995, when he was 22 years old. He was released from custody the same day. Court records show that the prosecutor dropped the charge in February 1996.O'Rourke was also arrested for driving while intoxicated on 27 September 1998, the day after his 26th birthday. He completed a \"misdemeanor diversion program\" (namely \"DWI school\") in October 1999, and the charge was dropped.In August 2018, the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News cited police reports, including a witness account, which suggested that the incident leading to O'Rourke's DWI arrest was relatively serious and involved a collision with another vehicle and a possible attempt by O'Rourke to leave the scene:State and local police reports obtained by the Chronicle and Express-News show that ORourke was driving drunk at what a witness called a high rate of speed in a 75 mph zone on Interstate 10 about a mile from the New Mexico border. He lost control and hit a truck, sending his car careening across the center median into oncoming lanes. The witness, who stopped at the scene, later told police that ORourke had tried to drive away from the scene. O'Rourke recorded a 0.136 and 0.134 on police breathalyzers, above a blood-alcohol level of 0.10, the state legal limit at the time.In the case of his DWI arrest, O'Rourke did not face prison time because he completed an alternative adjudication program. It's not clear why the attempted burglary charge was dropped in 1996 (we asked the O'Rourke campaign about this but didn't receive a response to that particular question in time for publication). However, we could find no evidence that O'Rourke's father had any role in either case, nor did the meme offer any evidence.Congressman O'Rourke's father Pat was the El Paso County judge until 1986 -- a kind of chief executive of the county's governing body, the Commissioners Court -- so he had not held office for nine years by the time of his son's attempted burglary arrest.O'Rourke violated 'insider trading' laws: The meme claimed:INSIDER TRADING VIOLATIONSAfter being sent a memo specifically prohibiting investment in Twitter's IPO [initial public offering], O'Rourke made a tidy one-day profit on it. When uncovered by a government watchdog, he quickly turned himself in. This violation of the STOCK Act (Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge) is apparently a habit, as there are several other instances of this behavior; he characterizes them as mistakes.Despite the meme's claim, O'Rourke has never been charged with, or convicted of, violating any laws related to insider trading, including the STOCK Act, which bars members of the U.S. Congress from benefiting from financial transactions made on the basis of information they received in their capacity as members of Congress.But this section of the meme does contain elements of truth in that -- after the matter was brought to light by a third party -- O'Rourke reported his potential violation of rules to the House Ethics Committee (for stock transactions he maintained were executed by his broker without his knowledge), and the matter was resolved without any charges being brought against him:U.S. Rep. Beto ORourke alerted the House Ethics Committee that he might have violated a new law restricting members of Congress from engaging in certain stock transactions.It is the first case to come before the committee involving a 2012 law that prohibits members of Congress from participating in initial public offerings, or IPOs, other than what is available to members of the public generally, said Melanie Sloan, executive director of the Committee for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington, a watchdog group.ORourke, a Democrat whose district covers a portion of western Texas, reported the possible violation after Legistorm, an online news site that tracks congressional issues, informed him that his Nov. 15 disclosure saying he participated in the Twitter IPO earlier in the month might indicate a violation of a 2012 law called the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, or STOCK Act.The freshman congressman also reported that, through his stockbroker, he participated in six other initial public offerings this year. In an interview, ORourke said he didnt see a Nov. 5 memo from the House Ethics Committee warning members of Congress about participating in IPOs.On 27 November 2013, O'Rourke wrote on Facebook that the ethics committee had informed him they would consider the issue resolved once he sold off any remaining shares that he bought during any IPOs, and sent the U.S. Treasury a check equal to the amount he earned in profits from those IPO-related shares:Upon receiving the letter from the Committee today I instructed my broker to sell all remaining shares, which he did. I then sent a check for the full amount of the profit from all IPO trades this year to the U.S. Treasury by overnight mail. Copies of the trades and the check have been sent to the Ethics Committee.I apologize to the House of Representatives and to the people I represent for not exercising due diligence. I will be much more thorough in the future concerning financial transactions and do my best to ensure that I am in full compliance with all rules covering members of Congress.Records filed with the Clerk of the House of Representatives show that O'Rourke bought between $1,000 and $15,000 worth of shares in Twitter on 7 November 2013 (the first day the company was traded on the stock market), before selling off between $1,000 and $15,000 in shares later that day.Records also indicate that on 27 November 2013, O'Rourke again sold off between $1,000 and $15,000 worth of Twitter shares \"pursuant to the recommendations made by House Ethics Committee in a letter from 11\/27\/13.\"A condom full of \"white powder\" was found in O'Rourke's father's car: trueThe meme claimed:FATHER'S DRUG SCANDALO'Rourke's father, while county judge, had a 2-way radio installed in his Jeep. Installers discovered a condom packed with a \"white powder\" concealed in his vehicle and called police. Much to the dismay of investigating officers, the Captain on duty, a friend and political ally of O'Rourke, flushed the evidence down the toilet and dropped the charges. The Captain was subsequently suspended and tried for tampering with evidence.This section of the meme relates to incidents which took place in 1983, when Beto O'Rourke was 10 years old, and which had absolutely nothing to do with him.Nevertheless, it's true that in February 1983, El Paso County Sheriff's Captain Willie Hill told two police officers to get rid of a condom full of white powder which they had found in Pat O'Rourke's car while they were installing a radio in it. The officers suspected the powder to be heroin or cocaine, but the substance was never tested to determine its true nature.Hill was temporarily suspended but was reinstated after being acquitted on a misdemeanor charge of evidence tampering. (The prosecutor had earlier dropped a charge of misconduct against him.) Hill testified that he made a snap decision about the discovery of the powder, which he strongly suspected had been planted there to embarrass or undermine either O'Rourke or one of the officers installing the radio.O'Rourke and Hill were friends, as O'Rourke (then county judge) told the El Paso Times: \"Because he's a good man, it would be an injustice if Willie were to suffer grievous consequences from this whole episode. You have an honest and honorable man implicated by pure fluke. And that's just damn right not fair.\"O'Rourke was involved in a family business that was prosecuted for tax violations: The meme claimed:FAMILY BUSINESS FEDERALLY PROSECUTEDO'Rourke's family business \"Charlotte's Furniture,\" a store \"Beto,\" his mother and sister are involved with, was charged in 2010 with altering records to avoid IRS reporting. Investigators found they accepted cash payments, in one instance over $630,000 from an unnamed individual (that's a LOT of furniture)! Found guilty on 15 counts, the sentence was a $250,000 fine and 5 years' probation. Around the time O'Rourke announced as a senate candidate, the business was shuttered and its records became unavailable. O'Rourke passes the prosecution off as a \"mistake\"; it's been covered, move along, nothing to see here.The meme got the basic facts right about the federal tax case against Charlotte's, but it falsely claimed that Congressman O'Rourke was personally \"involved\" in the company. He was not.In 2010, Charlotte's Inc., an El Paso furniture store company started by O'Rourke's grandmother in 1951, was convicted of \"structuring transactions to evade reporting requirements, a tax-related felony. The company was charged as a corporate entity, but the Congressman's mother, Melissa O'Rourke, acted as its authorized representative.The company pled guilty to accusations that it had restructured transactions in order to present relatively large cash payments as having been made in installments of less than $10,000. Anti-money laundering provisions of U.S. law require that a business reveal the identity of any individual who makes a cash payment above that threshold.In total, Charlotte's and its employees illegally restructured $630,000 in payments, all from one customer, in this way between May 2005 and October 2006. The identity of that customer is not known. U.S. District Court judge Kathleen Cardone gave a sentence of five years' probation and a $500,000 fine, with $250,000 of that suspended.In 2017, Melissa O'Rourke announced that she intended to close down the business but denied the decision was connected to her son's U.S. Senate campaign or the 2010 conviction.According to Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts records for 2017, Congressman O'Rourke had no formal role with Charlotte's Inc., whose directors were Melissa O'Rourke and the Congressman's sister Charlotte O'Rourke.Records for 2005 and 2006 (when the I.R.S. reporting violations took place) as well as 2010 (when the conviction happened) show that Congressman O'Rourke had no formal role with the company at those times, either.The Congressman is part owner of the property where Charlotte's was located. According to O'Rourke's 2013 congressional financial disclosure, his mother gifted him an ownership stake worth between $1 million and $5 million in Peppertree Square, a shopping center on North Mesa St. in El Paso.However, his part ownership of the Peppertree Square property (which does not appear to entail any management function in any of the businesses located there) did not accrue until 31 December 2012, more than six years after the conclusion of the I.R.S. reporting violations at Charlotte's.  One such meme, entitled \"'Beto' Reality Check,\" was shared widely on Facebook in August 2018: meme   A spokesperson for O'Rourke's campaign described the meme as \"factually incorrect in countless ways\" and largely referred us to several existing news reports about the allegations. The following is our breakdown of the five sections contained in the meme. The meme claimed: NOT HISPANIC \"Robert O'Rourke\" became \"Beto\" for his political campaigns and on the ballot, a tactic that gives the false impression he's Latino, misleading voters in a state with many Hispanics. In fact, O'Rourke was known as \"Beto\" long before he entered political life, although his birth name is Robert and he appears to use both first names interchangeably. (For example, his July 2018 Federal Election Commission \"Statement of Candidacy\" lists his name as \"Robert Beto O'Rourke.\") Statement O'Rourke told CNN that his parents referred to him as Beto \"from day one,\" and that it \"just stuck.\" Others have noted that the name is likely derived from a pronunciation of the Spanish \"Roberto,\" and O'Rourke himself described it as \"a nickname for Robert in El Paso.\" (According to the U.S. Census Bureau, around 78 percent of El Paso county residents listed themselves as being of Mexican heritage in 2016.) CNN noted listed O'Rourke's family is of Irish heritage. According to the New York Times, his family \"came over from Ireland four generations ago to work on the railroad.\" His father Pat O'Rourke was a prominent El Paso County official during the 1980s. New York Times A 1986 article about Pat O'Rourke in the El Paso Times referred to his then 14-year-old son as \"Beto O'Rourke.\" In 1999, six years before O'Rourke ran for El Paso city council, the same newspaper referred to \"web site designer Beto O'Rourke\" in a short article about his I.T. business Stanton Street Design. article article After checking the archives of the El Paso Times, we found multiple references to \"Beto O'Rourke\" between 1986 and 2004, when O'Rourk was either a child or a businessman and had never run for political office. In March, the campaign of O'Rourke's Republican opponent, Ted Cruz, launched a radio jingle that poked fun at the name \"Beto\" and included the following lyrics: \"I remember reading stories\/Liberal Robert wanted to fit in\/So he changed his name to 'Beto'\/And hid it with a grin ...\": FIRST LISTEN: our new 60-second statewide radio ad introducing our liberal opponent, Congressman Robert ORourke, to Texas voters. Help #KeepTexasRed: https:\/\/t.co\/PVsiCtbbyL #CruzCrew #TXSen pic.twitter.com\/OxK61gZ0ek #KeepTexasRed https:\/\/t.co\/PVsiCtbbyL #CruzCrew #TXSen pic.twitter.com\/OxK61gZ0ek  Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 7, 2018 March 7, 2018  The next day, O'Rourke posted a photograph of himself as a young boy, wearing a sweater with the nickname \"Beto\" stitched into it, establishing that, contrary to false accusation, he did not \"change his name\" for political reasons: pic.twitter.com\/1IO1dgmCkv pic.twitter.com\/1IO1dgmCkv  Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) March 7, 2018 March 7, 2018  The meme claimed: FELONY ARREST RECORD As an adult in his mid-20s, O'Rourke was caught breaking into the University of Texas El Paso. Charged with breaking and entering and burglary, he mysteriously avoided trial. A few years later, arrested for drunk driving, he again walked with a \"deal.\" Being the song of a powerful, politically connected County Judge apparently has benefits. O'Rourke dismisses his felony convictions as \"youthful pranks\" and \"mistakes\"; it's old news, move along, nothing to see here. O'Rourke has indeed been arrested for burglary and drunk driving, a history which he has discussed several times over the course of his political career, as his spokesperson told us: \"While charges were dismissed, this is something that Beto has always publicly addressed -- during his initial run for the city council, his run for Congress, in profiles written about him, during dozens of interviews, and at town halls across the state during this campaign.\" In a 27 August 2018 op-ed for the Houston Chronicle and  San Antonio Express-News, O'Rourke himself wrote: op-ed Twenty-three years ago I was arrested for attempted forcible entry after jumping a fence at the University of Texas at El Paso. I spent a night in the El Paso County Jail, was able to make bail the next day, and was released. Three years later, I was arrested for drunk driving -- a far more serious mistake for which there is no excuse. According to El Paso county jail records, O'Rourke was arrested for attempted burglary on 19 May 1995, when he was 22 years old. He was released from custody the same day. Court records show that the prosecutor dropped the charge in February 1996. records records O'Rourke was also arrested for driving while intoxicated on 27 September 1998, the day after his 26th birthday. He completed a \"misdemeanor diversion program\" (namely \"DWI school\") in October 1999, and the charge was dropped. arrested In August 2018, the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News cited police reports, including a witness account, which suggested that the incident leading to O'Rourke's DWI arrest was relatively serious and involved a collision with another vehicle and a possible attempt by O'Rourke to leave the scene: cited State and local police reports obtained by the Chronicle and Express-News show that ORourke was driving drunk at what a witness called a high rate of speed in a 75 mph zone on Interstate 10 about a mile from the New Mexico border. He lost control and hit a truck, sending his car careening across the center median into oncoming lanes. The witness, who stopped at the scene, later told police that ORourke had tried to drive away from the scene. O'Rourke recorded a 0.136 and 0.134 on police breathalyzers, above a blood-alcohol level of 0.10, the state legal limit at the time. In the case of his DWI arrest, O'Rourke did not face prison time because he completed an alternative adjudication program. It's not clear why the attempted burglary charge was dropped in 1996 (we asked the O'Rourke campaign about this but didn't receive a response to that particular question in time for publication). However, we could find no evidence that O'Rourke's father had any role in either case, nor did the meme offer any evidence. Congressman O'Rourke's father Pat was the El Paso County judge until 1986 -- a kind of chief executive of the county's governing body, the Commissioners Court -- so he had not held office for nine years by the time of his son's attempted burglary arrest. judge governing body The meme claimed: INSIDER TRADING VIOLATIONS After being sent a memo specifically prohibiting investment in Twitter's IPO [initial public offering], O'Rourke made a tidy one-day profit on it. When uncovered by a government watchdog, he quickly turned himself in. This violation of the STOCK Act (Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge) is apparently a habit, as there are several other instances of this behavior; he characterizes them as mistakes. Despite the meme's claim, O'Rourke has never been charged with, or convicted of, violating any laws related to insider trading, including the STOCK Act, which bars members of the U.S. Congress from benefiting from financial transactions made on the basis of information they received in their capacity as members of Congress. STOCK Act But this section of the meme does contain elements of truth in that -- after the matter was brought to light by a third party -- O'Rourke reported his potential violation of rules to the House Ethics Committee (for stock transactions he maintained were executed by his broker without his knowledge), and the matter was resolved without any charges being brought against him: violation U.S. Rep. Beto ORourke alerted the House Ethics Committee that he might have violated a new law restricting members of Congress from engaging in certain stock transactions. It is the first case to come before the committee involving a 2012 law that prohibits members of Congress from participating in initial public offerings, or IPOs, other than what is available to members of the public generally, said Melanie Sloan, executive director of the Committee for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington, a watchdog group. ORourke, a Democrat whose district covers a portion of western Texas, reported the possible violation after Legistorm, an online news site that tracks congressional issues, informed him that his Nov. 15 disclosure saying he participated in the Twitter IPO earlier in the month might indicate a violation of a 2012 law called the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, or STOCK Act. The freshman congressman also reported that, through his stockbroker, he participated in six other initial public offerings this year. In an interview, ORourke said he didnt see a Nov. 5 memo from the House Ethics Committee warning members of Congress about participating in IPOs. On 27 November 2013, O'Rourke wrote on Facebook that the ethics committee had informed him they would consider the issue resolved once he sold off any remaining shares that he bought during any IPOs, and sent the U.S. Treasury a check equal to the amount he earned in profits from those IPO-related shares: wrote Upon receiving the letter from the Committee today I instructed my broker to sell all remaining shares, which he did. I then sent a check for the full amount of the profit from all IPO trades this year to the U.S. Treasury by overnight mail. Copies of the trades and the check have been sent to the Ethics Committee. I apologize to the House of Representatives and to the people I represent for not exercising due diligence. I will be much more thorough in the future concerning financial transactions and do my best to ensure that I am in full compliance with all rules covering members of Congress. Records filed with the Clerk of the House of Representatives show that O'Rourke bought between $1,000 and $15,000 worth of shares in Twitter on 7 November 2013 (the first day the company was traded on the stock market), before selling off between $1,000 and $15,000 in shares later that day. filed Records also indicate that on 27 November 2013, O'Rourke again sold off between $1,000 and $15,000 worth of Twitter shares \"pursuant to the recommendations made by House Ethics Committee in a letter from 11\/27\/13.\" indicate The meme claimed: FATHER'S DRUG SCANDAL O'Rourke's father, while county judge, had a 2-way radio installed in his Jeep. Installers discovered a condom packed with a \"white powder\" concealed in his vehicle and called police. Much to the dismay of investigating officers, the Captain on duty, a friend and political ally of O'Rourke, flushed the evidence down the toilet and dropped the charges. The Captain was subsequently suspended and tried for tampering with evidence. This section of the meme relates to incidents which took place in 1983, when Beto O'Rourke was 10 years old, and which had absolutely nothing to do with him. Nevertheless, it's true that in February 1983, El Paso County Sheriff's Captain Willie Hill told two police officers to get rid of a condom full of white powder which they had found in Pat O'Rourke's car while they were installing a radio in it. The officers suspected the powder to be heroin or cocaine, but the substance was never tested to determine its true nature. Hill was temporarily suspended but was reinstated after being acquitted on a misdemeanor charge of evidence tampering. (The prosecutor had earlier dropped a charge of misconduct against him.) Hill testified that he made a snap decision about the discovery of the powder, which he strongly suspected had been planted there to embarrass or undermine either O'Rourke or one of the officers installing the radio. being acquitted O'Rourke and Hill were friends, as O'Rourke (then county judge) told the El Paso Times: \"Because he's a good man, it would be an injustice if Willie were to suffer grievous consequences from this whole episode. You have an honest and honorable man implicated by pure fluke. And that's just damn right not fair.\" El Paso Times The meme claimed: FAMILY BUSINESS FEDERALLY PROSECUTED O'Rourke's family business \"Charlotte's Furniture,\" a store \"Beto,\" his mother and sister are involved with, was charged in 2010 with altering records to avoid IRS reporting. Investigators found they accepted cash payments, in one instance over $630,000 from an unnamed individual (that's a LOT of furniture)! Found guilty on 15 counts, the sentence was a $250,000 fine and 5 years' probation. Around the time O'Rourke announced as a senate candidate, the business was shuttered and its records became unavailable. O'Rourke passes the prosecution off as a \"mistake\"; it's been covered, move along, nothing to see here. The meme got the basic facts right about the federal tax case against Charlotte's, but it falsely claimed that Congressman O'Rourke was personally \"involved\" in the company. He was not. In 2010, Charlotte's Inc., an El Paso furniture store company started by O'Rourke's grandmother in 1951, was convicted of \"structuring transactions to evade reporting requirements, a tax-related felony. The company was charged as a corporate entity, but the Congressman's mother, Melissa O'Rourke, acted as its authorized representative. felony The company pled guilty to accusations that it had restructured transactions in order to present relatively large cash payments as having been made in installments of less than $10,000. Anti-money laundering provisions of U.S. law require that a business reveal the identity of any individual who makes a cash payment above that threshold. restructured provisions In total, Charlotte's and its employees illegally restructured $630,000 in payments, all from one customer, in this way between May 2005 and October 2006. The identity of that customer is not known. U.S. District Court judge Kathleen Cardone gave a sentence of five years' probation and a $500,000 fine, with $250,000 of that suspended. sentence In 2017, Melissa O'Rourke announced that she intended to close down the business but denied the decision was connected to her son's U.S. Senate campaign or the 2010 conviction. announced According to Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts records for 2017, Congressman O'Rourke had no formal role with Charlotte's Inc., whose directors were Melissa O'Rourke and the Congressman's sister Charlotte O'Rourke. records Records for 2005 and 2006 (when the I.R.S. reporting violations took place) as well as 2010 (when the conviction happened) show that Congressman O'Rourke had no formal role with the company at those times, either. Records The Congressman is part owner of the property where Charlotte's was located. According to O'Rourke's 2013 congressional financial disclosure, his mother gifted him an ownership stake worth between $1 million and $5 million in Peppertree Square, a shopping center on North Mesa St. in El Paso. disclosure However, his part ownership of the Peppertree Square property (which does not appear to entail any management function in any of the businesses located there) did not accrue until 31 December 2012, more than six years after the conclusion of the I.R.S. reporting violations at Charlotte's. O'Rourke, Robert Beto.  \"Statement of Candidacy.\"\r  Federal Election Commission.  9 July 2018. Bradner, Eric.  \"With Primary Ending, Cruz Takes Opening Shot at Beto O'Rourke's Name.\"\r  CNN.  7 March 2018. Stanton, John.  \"Juarez's Biggest Booster Is an Irish-American Congressman.\"\r  BuzzFeed News.  14 October 2014. Draper, Robert.  \"Texas, Three Ways.\"\r  The New York Times.  14 November 2014. Scharrer, Gary.  \"O'Rourke Goes Out Talking.\"\r  The El Paso Times.  8 December 1986. The El Paso Times.  \"Consumers Dial Up Web Site.\"\r  16 June 1999. O'Rourke, Beto.  \"Texas Should Lead the Way on True Criminal Justice Reform.\"\r  The Houston Chronicle.  27 August 2018. Diaz, Kevin.  \"Police Reports Detail Beto O'Rourke's 1998 DWI Arrest.\"\r  The Houston Chronicle.  31 August 2018. Cruz, Laura.  \"Friends, Family Say Goodbye to O'Rourke.\"\r  The El Paso Times.  7 July 2001. The White House.  \"Fact Sheet: The STOCK Act -- Bans Members of Congress from Insider Trading.\"\r  4 April 2012. The El Paso Times.  \"Congressman May Have Broken Ethics Rules with Twitter Stock Purchase.\"\r  26 November 2013. Landis, David.  \"Jurors Decided Hill Negligent, Not Criminal.\"\r  The El Paso Times.  23 December 1983. Scharrer, Gary.  \"O'Rourke Expresses Sorrow Over Charge.\"\r  The El Paso Times.  29 October 1983. Legal Information Institute.  \"U.S. Code, Title 31, Subtitle IV, Chapter 53, Subchapter II, Section 5324 -- Structuring Transactions to Evade Reporting Requirement Prohibite.\"\r  Cornell Law School.  Accessed 31 August 2018. U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas, El Paso Division.  \"U.S.A. vs Charlotte's Inc. -- Information.\"\r  4 May 2010. U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas, El Paso Division.  \"U.S.A. vs Charlotte's Inc. -- Amended Judgment.\"\r  8 June 2010. Villa, Pablo.  \"Charlotte's Furniture Store to Close This Year, Owner Says.\"\r  The El Paso Times.  4 August 2017. Correction [4 September 2018]: This article has been updated to more accurately describe the role of El Paso County judge. ","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1rBMVjTNvw5AoEqbPzRcf-c6QCrNArVB4"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1138","claim":"Letter from the Boss","posted":"11\/20\/2011","sci_digest":["Employer issued letter to employees that any further taxes on his business will result in his shutting it down?"],"justification":"Claim: An employer issued a missive to his employees stating that any additional taxes on his business would result in his shutting the company down. \n\nTo All My Valued Employees,\n\nThere have been some rumblings around the office about the future of this company, and more specifically, your jobs. As you know, the economy has changed for the worse and presents many challenges. However, the good news is this: The economy doesn't pose a threat to your jobs. What does threaten your jobs, however, is the changing political landscape in this country. Of course, as your employer, I am forbidden to tell you whom to vote for\u2014it is against the law to discriminate based on political affiliation, race, creed, religion, etc. Please vote for whom you think will serve your interests best. However, let me share some facts that might help you decide what is in your best interest.\n\nFirst, while it is easy to spew rhetoric that casts employers against employees, you must understand that for every business owner, there is a backstory. This backstory is often neglected and overshadowed by what you see and hear. Sure, you see me park my Mercedes outside. You've seen my big home at last year's Christmas party. I'm sure all these flashy icons of luxury conjure up some idealized thoughts about my life. However, what you don't see is the backstory. I started this company 12 years ago. At that time, I lived in a 300-square-foot studio apartment for three years. My entire living space was converted into an office so I could put forth 100% effort into building a company that would eventually employ you. My diet consisted of Ramen Pride noodles because every dollar I spent went back into this company. I drove a rusty Toyota Corolla with a defective transmission. I didn't have time to date. Often, I stayed home on weekends while my friends went out drinking and partying. In fact, I was married to my business\u2014hard work, discipline, and sacrifice.\n\nMeanwhile, my friends got jobs. They worked 40 hours a week, made a modest $50K a year, and spent every dime they earned. They drove flashy cars, lived in expensive homes, and wore fancy designer clothes. Instead of hitting Nordstrom's for the latest hot fashion item, I was trolling through the Goodwill store, extracting any clothing item that didn't look like it was birthed in the '70s. My friends refinanced their mortgages and lived a life of luxury. I, however, did not. I put my time, my money, and my life into a business with a vision that someday I too would be able to afford these luxuries my friends supposedly had.\n\nSo, while you physically arrive at the office at 9 a.m., mentally check in at about noon, and then leave at 5 p.m., I don't. There is no \"off\" button for me. When you leave the office, you are done, and you have a weekend all to yourself. I, unfortunately, do not have that freedom. I eat, sleep, and breathe this company every minute of the day. There is no rest. There is no weekend. There is no happy hour. Every day, this business is attached to my hip like a one-year-old special-needs child. You, of course, only see the fruits of that labor\u2014the nice house, the Mercedes, the vacations... you never realize the backstory and the sacrifices I've made.\n\nNow, the economy is falling apart, and I, the guy who made all the right decisions and saved his money, have to bail out all the people who didn't. The people who overspent their paychecks suddenly feel entitled to the same luxuries that I earned and sacrificed a decade of my life for. Yes, business ownership has its benefits, but the price I've paid is steep and without wounds. Unfortunately, the cost of running this business and employing you is starting to eclipse the threshold of marginal benefit, and let me tell you why: I am being taxed to death, and the government thinks I don't pay enough. I have state taxes, federal taxes, property taxes, sales and use taxes, payroll taxes, workers' compensation taxes, unemployment taxes, and taxes on taxes. I have to hire a tax man to manage all these taxes, and then guess what? I have to pay taxes for employing him. Government mandates, regulations, and all the accounting that goes with it now occupy most of my time. On October 15th, I wrote a check to the U.S. Treasury for $288,000 for quarterly taxes. You know what my \"stimulus\" check was? Zero. Nada. Zilch.\n\nThe question I have is this: Who is stimulating the economy? Me, the guy who has provided 14 people with good-paying jobs and serves over 2,200,000 people per year with a flourishing business? Or the single mother sitting at home, pregnant with her fourth child, waiting for her next welfare check? Obviously, the government feels the latter is the economic stimulus of this country. The fact is, if I deducted (read: stole) 50% of your paycheck, you'd quit, and you wouldn't work here. I mean, why should you? That's nuts. Who wants to be rewarded with only 50% of their hard work? Well, I agree, which is why your jobs are in jeopardy. Here is what many of you don't understand: to stimulate the economy, you need to stimulate what runs the economy. Had the government suddenly mandated that I didn't need to pay taxes, guess what? Instead of depositing that $288,000 into the Washington black hole, I would have spent it, hired more employees, and generated substantial economic growth. My employees would have enjoyed the wealth of that tax cut in the form of promotions and better salaries. But you can forget it now. When you have a comatose man on the verge of death, you don't defibrillate and shock his thumb, thinking that will bring him back to life, do you? Or do you defibrillate his heart? Business is at the heart of America and always has been. To restart it, you must stimulate it, not kill it. Suddenly, the power brokers in Washington believe the masses of America are the essential drivers of the American economic engine. Nothing could be further from the truth.\n\nSo where am I going with all this? It's quite simple. If any new taxes are levied on me or my company, my reaction will be swift and simple: I will fire you. I will fire your co-workers. You can then plead with the government to pay for your mortgage, your SUV, and your child's future. Frankly, it isn't my problem anymore. Then, I will close this company down, move to another country, and retire. You see, I'm done. I'm done with a country that penalizes the productive and gives to the unproductive. My motivation to work and to provide jobs will be destroyed, and with it, my citizenship. While tax cuts to 95% of America sound great on paper, don't forget the backstory: If there is no job, there is no income to tax. A tax cut on zero dollars is zero. So, when you make the decision to vote, ask yourself who understands the economics of business ownership and who doesn't. Whose policies will endanger your jobs? Answer those questions, and you should know who might be the one capable of saving your job. While the media wants to tell you, \"It's the economy, stupid,\" I'm telling you it isn't. If you lose your job, it won't be at the hands of the economy; it will be at the hands of a political hurricane that swept through this country, steamrolled the Constitution, and changed its landscape forever. If that happens, you can find me in the Caribbean, sitting on a beach, retired, and with no employees to worry about.\n\nSigned, Your Boss","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1139","claim":"Has a firefighter's helmet from the FDNY that was worn on September 11th been taken?","posted":"04\/12\/2019","sci_digest":["Firefighter Michael O'Connell has received two replica helmets and numerous messages of support since his 2015 plea went viral, but his original helmet has not been returned. "],"justification":"On June 2, 2015, New York firefighter Michael O'Connell took to Facebook to ask social media users for help in locating a helmet that had been stolen from his house a few years earlier. O'Connell posted a photograph of his son with the helmet and explained that he had worn it throughout his FDNY career, including during 9\/11 and its aftermath. He wrote, \"This was my FDNY helmet I wore my entire career, including 9\/11\/01. It was stolen from my home a while back. I know it's a long shot, but if enough people share, maybe it turns up or is sent back so I can keep it in my family! Thanks!\" The NYC Wire Fire Facebook page helped spread O'Connell's message by resharing his post with the caption, \"In case anyone comes across this ... maybe the thief is stupid enough to try to sell it on eBay.\" Within a week, the message reportedly reached more than 8 million people and had been reshared hundreds of thousands of times. Unfortunately, despite the wide dissemination of this Facebook post, it did not result in the return of O'Connell's FDNY helmet. On June 24, 2015, AM New York reported that while O'Connell had not been reunited with his helmet, he did receive an outpouring of support from the community and two replica helmets from \"good Samaritans hoping to soothe the sting\" of his loss. Retired firefighter Michael O'Connell's social media campaign to retrieve his stolen FDNY helmet had garnered him the next best thing\u2014two replicas, thanks to some good Samaritans. \"There are still amazing people in this world!\" O'Connell said. O'Connell, 39, recently turned to Facebook to track down the significant memento that he wore at Ground Zero following 9\/11 and hoped to leave to his three children. What came back instead were two painstakingly created replica helmets from good Samaritans hoping to soothe the sting of his loss and an avalanche of human kindness and compassion. \"I'm taking the good out of this story, not the bad,\" said O'Connell, who was forced to retire from the FDNY after being diagnosed with sarcoidosis, an inflammatory disease that attacks the lungs and lymphatic system, in 2007. \"We live in an amazing world. So many people are willing to help. I hope people recognize this more than all the hate out there,\" he said. Although this FDNY firefighter's message was originally posted in June 2015, social media users have continued to share his plea on Facebook over the ensuing years. In April 2019, for example, a screenshot of O'Connell's message that was posted by the \"Ramsey, New Jersey Volunteer Fire Department\" racked up more than 600,000 shares. When viewers learned that this message was nearly four years old by the time they encountered it in April 2019, they were left wondering if O'Connell had ever been reunited with his firefighter helmet. Unfortunately, that was not the case. O'Connell told us in April 2019, \"I appreciate everyone's support in this matter. Unfortunately, my helmet was never returned! Hoping that it will make its way back home one day as I am a retired firefighter who has fallen sick due to my work on September 11th, and this was the helmet that I wore that day and throughout my career!\"","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1LyOZwN0b8AIEiNMuFAF0ORGiiKrX3gl3"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1140","claim":"Are 'PlayJoltz' or 'SmushGame' Legitimate Free Streaming Services?","posted":"06\/25\/2019","sci_digest":["Several spammy posts in June 2019 promoted a streaming service ... but readers shouldn't hand over their credit card details. "],"justification":"In June 2019, scammers attempted to swindle millions of social media users by presenting a movie- and television-streaming service called \"PlayJoltz,\" which spammy, fabricated online posts claimed was \"better than Netflix\" and was available for free for (you guessed it) a limited time only.  We received multiple inquiries about PlayJoltz after it was promoted on Facebook and Twitter in almost-identical posts, each targeting readers from a different nation.  For example, on 25 June the website worldnews24.co published a post with the headline \"There is a Better Service Than Netflix...and It's Free for the Canadian!\" The article went on to report that: worldnews24.co \"The streaming giant Netflix has lost thousands of Canada users this week because of a new competing service which just came out and is lifetime free for the people living in North America (US & CA). The new service is called Playjoltz and provides an identical streaming service to that of Netflix but with a lot of extras. The users admit it is much faster, cleaner and with many more movies\/series than Netflix. They currently give a free access to the first 5,000 people who subscribe even though it seems they have almost reached this number. Playjoltz \"With an almost unlimited selection of HD movies and TV series having an incredibly good image quality and that loads up at blazing speeds on all devices (TV, smartphones, computers, tablets), it is not surprising that thousands of people have already switched from Netflix to this new service, Playjoltz, since it has been launched 3 weeks ago. Playjoltz informed us that the last day to subscribe for free is 27 June, 2019.\" In parallel with that, the website austria-news.co targeted readers in Austria, with the same claims and same text, this time in German. The scammers targeted readers in Australia with another version of the same article, this time on australia-news.co, as well as a poorly produced Facebook video that made the same claims: that the service was \"free for Australians,\" and \"100x better than Netflix\": austria-news.co australia-news.co   These articles were not only fakes but also appeared to be part of a long-running scam orchestrated from the country of Cyprus, which has caused multiple users to be tricked into trying a \"free trial\" that they cannot end. Users are encouraged to provide their credit card details for the free trial, on the understanding that they will not be charged if they cancel their subscription by the billing date. However, some users have complained of being charged repeatedly, even after canceling before the end of the free trial.  The various websites on which these articles appeared in June 2019 were littered with spammy links. For example, clicking on any link on any of the sites led the user to the same webpage, www.smushgame.com, which offered users a sign-up form for a streaming service similar to the one described in the PlayJoltz articles.  sign-up   However, the smushgame.com homepage instead advertised a gaming service  \"Unlimited access to all your gaming needs.\" That homepage was registered to \"Japalta Consulting\" in the city of Nicosia, Cyprus. Another website registered to a company in Cyprus (this time the city of Limassol) was PlayJoltz.com: homepage PlayJoltz.com   Since 2018, consumers from various countries have been reporting in online forums that they were swindled out of repeated, unsanctioned credit card debits after signing up for a \"free trial\" on both PlayJoltz.com and SmushGame.com. Both are scams.  online forums The wave of PlayJoltz articles published in late June 2019 offered other clues about the unreliability of their claims. For instance, every article contained the same \"comments section,\" which was designed to resemble the Facebook-linked comments section common to many sites. In reality, clicking on a \"username\" lead only to the SmushGame sign-up page, rather than that \"user's\" Facebook account  a clear sign that the comments came from fabricated identities rather than the Facebook accounts of real people.  Similarly, every comment was gushing in its praise for PlayJoltz, and the exact same set of \"commenters\" left their positive reviews in each article, to the extent that they even appeared to comment in German, under the Austrian version of the article. The image below shows the set of comments included under the Canadian worldnews24.co article, and on the right, those included under the Austrian austria-news.co version:   Finally, each of the June 2019 articles included a cover image that was designed to indicate that the existence of PlayJoltz, and the supposed sudden collapse of Netflix as a result, was garnering mainstream television news coverage. The image featured a female news reader standing next to a giant screen that showed the Netflix logo and the flag of whichever country was being targeted in each article, whether Australia, Austria, or Canada:   In reality, these were digitally manipulated images of an Irish news reader, who can be seen below wearing the same outfit as the one shown in the \"PlayJoltz\" images (she is a co-presenter of the \"Six One News,\" the main evening news broadcast on RT, Ireland's public-service broadcaster). The broadcaster stressed her image was used without consent: \"RT can confirm it has not given permission for any use of its copyright imagery for commercial use and the news report featured is false. We urge anyone who sees these misleading ads to report them to the platform they are carried on.\"  wearing   In short, RT's Six One News has never reported on the triumphant rise of either PlayJoltz or SmushGame, because neither has experienced such a surge in popularity, and both are scams.  Worldnews24.co. \"There is a Better Service Than Netflix...and It's Free for the Canadian!\"\r 25 June 2019. Australia-news.co. \"This New HD Streaming Service is the Reason Why Aussies Are Canceling Their Netflix Subscriptions!\"\r 25 June 2019. Austria-news.co. \"Es Gibt Einen Besseren Dienst Als Netflix...und Er Ist Kostenlos fr sterreicher!\"\r 25 June 2019.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Du_2GLZgaC20pNJaZNG1_kMTWp_eQ_uA","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=10h7lNaE-a1AcJ90-gdS_vmkqXfy9vknL","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1HxKoO4iaY3JlA7KWdmAK-pln2JB3Kdjq","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1nzK2idwK7s9aOcHsAK7tvGSl6iy7N0ce","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1tcdYyjfbyp4FL4EowmOatnuxJTecdm9r","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1141","claim":"Pizza Hut's 58th Anniversary Freebie Scam","posted":"10\/04\/2017","sci_digest":["Pizza Hut is not giving three pizzas away to contest entrants in celebration of their 58th anniversary."],"justification":"In October 2017, multiple versions of a dubious post titled \"Pizza Hut is giving 3 FREE Large Pizza Coupons on their 58th Anniversary\" circulated on Facebook. The link led to suspicious domains, including pizzahutfree.us, pizzahut.com-freezones.us, and massiveoffers.xyz\/p\/, none of which followed the proper formatting for a pizzahut.com subdomain, which is \"link.pizzahut.com.\" Those who clicked through found a page that looked somewhat legitimate but showed signs of being a common survey scam. Users were first asked a series of questions. The page followed a typical scammer template, appropriating Pizza Hut's logo and Facebook's visual interface, but clumsily boasted that entrants had \"a chance to get [a] Papa [John's] Coupon.\" Any interaction with the prompts (again mentioning Papa John's 58th anniversary, not Pizza Hut's) led to a screen encouraging potential victims to spread the scam further on Facebook. Underneath the \"Congratulations\" interface was a series of what appeared to be comments from real Facebook users who had successfully redeemed the purported coupon. All of the profiles featured individuals with jobs displayed as \"MD, at the Hospital.\" Pizza Hut addressed a previous flood of customer queries on their Facebook wall during a similar scam in May 2016. Facebook users continue to regularly encounter survey scams (often the \"anniversary\" version) on the social network. A July 2014 article from the Better Business Bureau advised users on how not to fall prey: \"","issues":["banking"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Erzg5xceDQR5ImtAI617_3Zab_Xz962T"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Kx3MEwLstAHFA37v6PzLQvrq51jDUr2Y"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Pu4Ldn_Utw3pVA5D2oKe8XC3Lcz5Hwoa"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1142","claim":"Says Tennessees higher education funding model is 100 percent outcomes-based and we are already seeing this model changing the way our postsecondary institutions do business.","posted":"11\/11\/2012","sci_digest":[],"justification":"When we saw the Oct. 18 edition ofTimemagazine  its higher education issue  we found TennesseeGov. Bill Haslamlisted as one of eight people the magazine consulted for 8 Ideas to Improve Higher Education. Haslams article: Tie Funding to Graduation Rates.The governor described the big changes in the focus and funding of Tennessees public higher education system brought about by theComplete College Tennessee Act,which was approved by the Tennessee legislature in 2010 at the behest of then-governor Phil Bredesen.CCTA did several things, all with a goal of improving the rate at which Tennesseans attain college degrees or post-high school certificates to help prepare them for the modern workforce. Toward that end, the law revised how the state allocates taxpayer funding among its public universities, community colleges and technical institutes, away from the old model based mostly on enrollment and to an outcomes-based formula to reward institutions that perform well in helping students advance through their programs and graduate.Haslamwrote:States have traditionally funded their public institutions of higher education based on enrollments. This means the more students attending an institution, the more money that institution receives from the state. While this may incentivize colleges to expand access, it does nothing to incentivize efficiency and productivity. Institutions are rewarded for admitting more students and keeping them enrolled as long as possible, not for ensuring that every student is making progress toward a degree and ultimately leaving with a credential that has value in the labor market.Instead of funding  based on enrollments, states should use a formula that pays institutions for success in key areas like progress toward and completion of degrees and credentials. Tennessee remains the only state to have a 100 percent outcomes-based model  (and) we are already seeing this model changing the way our postsecondary institutions do business.We decided to look at Haslams claims.Its a given that the 2010 legislation changed the funding formula to a performance and outcomes based model. ATennessee Higher Education Commission summarysays, The outcomes-based funding formula bases the entire institutional allocation of state appropriations on the basis of outcomes including degree production, research funding and graduation rates at universities, and student remediation, job placements, student transfer and associates degrees at community colleges.Higher education officials agree that 100 percent of the variable funding component of the formula is based on outcomes. That variable funding is about 80 to 85 percent of the total state appropriation for public higher education. There is also funding allocated for fixed costs like routine building operating expenses and utility costs that are based on square footage and type of space. But the bulk of the funding is allocated totally on performance.Dr. Richard Rhoda, executive director of theTennessee Higher Education Commissionsays its also true that Tennessee is the only state in which the funding formula for higher education is totally outcomes-based.Perhaps the most important part of the discussion for students is whether and how the institutions they attend are, in the governors words, changing how they do business.On that point, officials agree: a lot, particularly by committing more resources to help students succeed. Most universities, including theUniversity of Tennesseeand theUniversity of Memphis, have establishedstudent success programsand centers and academic support centers where students can get individual and group tutoring, advising centers where advisers review students majors and recommend what courses they need to take, and career centers that help students figure out what they want to do and what majors they need to get there. Those centers and advisers constantly remind students and their parents during orientation and enrollment that the advising services are available. UT has consolidated itsstudent success centerin new offices in Greve Hall, and has established a one-stop shop for success counseling and tutoring in the newly renovatedCommonsat the main library. It has also createdUT LEAD, a program to promote undergraduate success, academic excellence and persistence to graduation for selected students awarded the Tennessee Pledge or Tennessee Promise scholarships.This has indeed changed the way we do business. It is fair to say that each of our institutions is looking at how they allocate financial resources and assessing how those allocations will contribute to outcomes, saidChancellor John Morganof theTennessee Board of Regents, which governs U of M,Southwest TennesseeandPellissippi Statecommunity colleges, and all other institutions outside the University of Tennessee System. Since the outcomes under the formula are heavily weighted toward student progression and program completion, there is an intense focus on spending money in a way that will promote student success.Rhoda at THEC agreed: The changes we are seeing are in the forms of more intentional and direct assistance to students in selecting courses and majors; getting students to focus on completing programs and earning credentials; new programs that lead to credentials and skills that employers are seeking; and targeting adults with some college experience but no degree.On that last group, adults with no degree, Rhoda says THEC is advocating Prior Learning Assessment on all state campuses  which helps adults earn college credit for skills they have acquired in the workplace. Rhoda said the University of Memphis appears further along in that than other institutions, offering experiential learning credit.Our rulingSo, funding is outcomes based and the institutions are changing the way they operate, by focusing more resources on students. We rate this claim True.","issues":["Tennessee","Education","State Budget"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1143","claim":"When you're white ... you don't know what it's like to be poor.","posted":"03\/07\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"During the Democratic debate in economically distressed and racially diverse Flint, Mich., CNNs Don Lemon asked both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders the same question: In a speech about policing, Lemon said, the FBI director, James Comey, borrowed a phrase saying, Everyone is a little bit racist. What racial blind spot do you have? When it was Sanders turn to answer, he began by talking about several specific examples of racial discrimination. He then drew a contrast with what whites experience. When youre white, you dont know what its like to be living in a ghetto. You dont know what its like to be poor. You dont know what its like to be hassled when you walk down the street or you get dragged out of a car, Sanders said. Several readers asked us to take a closer look at Sanders comment that when you're white ... you don't know what it's like to be poor. Sanders' point was that white people havent had to contend with racism based on skin color. But when he moves into the subject of whites experience with poverty, hes on weak ground. Sanders suggestion that white Americans havent experienced poverty is undercut by statistics calculated by the U.S. Census Bureau. Since the 1960s, the Census Bureau has tracked the numbers and percentages of Americans by race who have an income level that puts them at the poverty line. Heres the most recent data, for 2014:  Category Number in poverty Poverty rate Americans of all races 46.7 million 14.8 percent White 19.7 million 10.1 percent African-American 10.8 million 26.2 percent Hispanic 13.1 million 23.6 percent Asian-American 2.1 million 12.0 percent By this measure, Sanders was certainly wrong to suggest that whites havent experienced poverty. In 2014, there were actually more white Americans in poverty -- 19.7 million -- than members of any other group. Part of the reason, of course, is that there are more white Americans than there are members of minority groups overall. (Whitesaccount for62 percent of the population.) Still, even though whites have a lower poverty rate than other groups -- roughly 10 percent -- even that percentage is hardly trivial. The numbers are similar if you raise the income level slightly. At125 percent of the poverty level, the number ofwhite Americansrises to about 26.5 million. Thats a lot of white people who are in or near poverty. This was a misstatement. A lot of white people know what its like to be poor, said Julia Isaacs, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute. If you look at the poor as a group, minorities are disproportionately represented. Still, the white population is large enough that the majority of the people in poverty are white. Thats been the case since at least 1970. We calculated the racial and ethnic makeup of the population at the poverty line in roughly 10-year intervals, using data for the four categories above. Census data is available back to 1990 for all four groups, and they exist for all but Asians back to about 1970. Year Percentage of people in poverty who were white Percentage of people in poverty who were black Percentage of people in poverty who were Hispanic Percentage of people in poverty who were Asian 2014 54 19 23 4 2010 54 19 24 3 2000 56 21 20 3 1990 57 25 15 2 1980 62 27 11 NA 1970 64 28 9* NA * Data is for 1972 Its easiest to grasp the scope of white poverty when using the following graphic, which was provided to us by Christopher Wimer, a research scientist at the Columbia University Population Research Center. Its similar to the chart above, except that it uses a more precise, though still experimental, measurement of poverty that is adjusted for geography, government benefits and other factors not captured in the traditional poverty measurement. The share of whites in the population of Americans in poverty is shown in purple. As the chart indicates, the white share has fallen, but its still the largest of any of the four groups studied. Sanders said the day after the debate that he misspoke,telling reporters, What I meant to say is when you talk about ghettos traditionally, what you talk about is African-American communities. There is nobody on this campaign  who's talked about poverty, whether it's in the white community, the black community, the Latino community, more than I have. Our ruling Sanders says that when you're white ... you don't know what it's like to be poor. On the contrary -- the most recent figures show that nearly 20 million white Americans are experiencing poverty. While thats smaller as a percentage than it is for other racial and ethnic groups, thats still a lot of people. In raw numbers, its actually more than any other group. We rate his claim False.","issues":["National","Economy","Income","Race and Ethnicity","Poverty"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1I3mHw5x3a4l1-QfAuhFg7-hWRB_zQt0L","image_caption":"* Data is for 1972"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1144","claim":"No, the claim that Joe Biden's nephew owns Dominion Voting Systems is false.","posted":"12\/14\/2020","sci_digest":["The claim is just one iteration of a conspiracy theory about Dominion Voting Systems."],"justification":"Voting in the 2020 U.S. Election may be over, but the misinformation keeps on ticking. Never stop fact-checking. Follow our post-election coverage here. here On Dec. 11, 2020, a Twitter user posted a new permutation of a conspiracy theory about Dominion Voting Systems, the technology firm that provided voting systems in multiple U.S. jurisdictions in the November 2020 election, and which has also been the target of a disinformation campaign falsely claiming its systems were used to perpetrate widespread voter fraud. technology firm falsely claiming One of the narratives in the election fraud conspiracy theory holds that voting machines provided by Dominion switched votes from ballots cast for U.S. President Donald Trump to his challenger, Joe Biden, who is now president-elect. Trump has refused to accept his electoral loss, and has perpetuated the lie that Dominion machines were used en masse to flip votes. perpetuated Hence, more than a month after Biden was declared winner of the election, conspiracy theories continued to flourish. In this case, a Twitter user falsely claimed that Dominion is owned by a member of Biden family, namely his nephew. But the tweet in question is nothing but a patchwork of misleading screenshots and assumptions, based on people sharing a common surname. We cropped the user's name out below: falsely claimed   The screenshots in the meme above contain what appear to be the professional biographies of two men, Stephen Owens and R. Kevin Owens, neither of which mentions Dominion. The meme included in the tweet points to President-elect Biden's sister and campaign manager Valerie Biden Owens, with the alleged clincher being that Stephen Owens, a co-founder of Staple Street Capital, an investment firm that owns 75% stake in Dominion, shares a surname. However, \"Owens\" is a common last name, so that hardly serves as proof at all. co-founder owns Valerie and her husband, John T. Owens, have three children, none named Stephen. A spokesperson for Staple Street confirmed in an email to Snopes that Stephen Owens has no relation to the Biden family. three children And although the meme includes mention of R. Kevin Owens, an attorney who is related to Valerie's husband, we see no connection between this person and Dominion. related In other iterations of this conspiracy theory, the voting systems company has been falsely linked to deceased Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, as well as various Democratic politicians, including U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, and the Clinton Foundation, the charitable foundation run by former President Bill and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Hugo Chavez including Trump's own administration has undermined his post-election disinformation blitz by stating the November 2020 election was \"the most secure in American history.\" undermined \"There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised,\" the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which is a component of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said in a Nov. 12, 2020, statement. statement Updated to note that a Staples Street representative confirmed Stephen Owens isn't related to the Bidens.","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=18nEm8rCkyakYJEhSa1Fr1Kq_m9c9x1en"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1145","claim":"Letter to President Obama - Harold Estes","posted":"11\/27\/2009","sci_digest":["Letter from nonagenarian World War II veteran criticizes President Obama?"],"justification":"Claim: Letter from nonagenarian World War II veteran criticizes President Obama. CORRECTLY ATTRIBUTED Example: [Collected via e-mail, November 2009] Dear President Obama, My name is Harold Estes, and I am approaching 95 on December 13 of this year. People meeting me for the first time don't believe my age because I remain wrinkle-free and mentally alert. I enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1934 and served proudly before, during, and after World War II, retiring as a Master Chief Bos'n Mate. Now, I live in a \"rest home\" located on the western end of Pearl Harbor, which allows me to keep alive the memories of 23 years of service to my country. One of the benefits of my age, perhaps the only one, is the ability to speak my mind, bluntly and directly, even to the head man. So here goes. I am amazed, angry, and determined not to see my country die before I do, but you seem hell-bent on not granting me that wish. I can't figure out what country you are the president of. You fly around the world telling our friends and enemies despicable lies like: \"We're no longer a Christian nation\" and \"America is arrogant.\" Your wife even announced to the world, \"America is mean-spirited.\" Please tell her to try preaching that nonsense to 23 generations of our war dead buried all over the globe, who died for no other reason than to free a whole lot of strangers from tyranny and hopelessness. I'd say shame on both of you, but I don't think you like America, nor do I see an ounce of gratefulness in anything you do for the obvious gifts this country has given you. To be without shame or gratefulness is a dangerous thing for a man sitting in the White House. After 9\/11, you said, \"America hasn't lived up to her ideals.\" Which ones did you mean? 1. Was it the notion of personal liberty that 11,000 farmers and shopkeepers died for to win independence from the British? 2. Or maybe the ideal that no man should be a slave to another man, for which 500,000 men died in the Civil War? 3. I hope you didn't mean the ideal for which 470,000 fathers, brothers, husbands, and many fellas I knew personally died in World War II, because we felt strongly about not letting any nation push us around, as we stand for freedom. 4. I don't think you mean the ideal that says equality is better than discrimination. You know, the one that a whole lot of white people understood when they helped to get you elected. Take a little advice from a very old geezer, young man. Shape up and start acting like an American. If you don't, I'll do what I can to see you get shipped out of that fancy rental on Pennsylvania Avenue. You were elected to lead, not to bow, apologize, and kiss the hands of murderers and corrupt leaders who still treat their people like slaves. And just who do you think you are, telling the American people not to jump to conclusions and condemn that Muslim major who killed 13 of his fellow soldiers and wounded dozens more? You mean you don't want us to do what you did when that white cop used force to subdue that black college professor in Massachusetts who was putting up a fight? You don't mind offending the police by calling them stupid, but you don't want us to offend Muslim fanatics by calling them what they are: terrorists. One more thing. I realize you never served in the military and never had to defend your country with your life, but you're the Commander-in-Chief now, son. Do your job. When your battle-hardened field general asks you for 40,000 more troops to complete the mission, give them to him. But if you're not in this fight to win, then get out. The life of one American soldier is not worth the best political strategy you're thinking of. You could be our greatest president because you face the greatest challenge ever presented to any president. You're not going to restore American greatness by bringing back our bloated economy. That's not our greatest threat. Losing the heart and soul of who we are as Americans is our big fight now. And I sure as hell don't want to think my president is the enemy in this final battle. Sincerely, Harold B. Estes Origins: Many readers originally encountered the above-reproduced letter to President Obama on the website Congress.org, where it was published in November 2009 after being submitted to that site by someone in Florida who had received it via e-mail. The actual author of the letter was Hawaii resident Harold B. Estes, a long-serving veteran of the U.S. Navy who was pictured in the May 2005 issue of Fore 'n Aft magazine and for whom the BMC Harold Estes Leadership Award is named. The publisher of Fore 'n Aft kindly responded to our inquiry and provided confirmation that Harold Estes was indeed the author of this piece: Thank you for your note and this opportunity to personally vouch for that to which you refer. The letter is REAL, and so is Harold Estes. A retired Master Chief Boatswain's Mate, he dictated the letter to a secretary who printed it, and Harold has signed it personally. I believe that in addition to the president, over 50 hard copies were mailed to various VIPs bearing his signature. Another personal and mutual friend showed me his copy! Thus, Harold is the author, a dear friend, and a very well-known Navy Leaguer. Honolulu television station KITV also interviewed Harold Estes at his Hawaii home and verified that he wrote the letter attributed to him: A letter from a 95-year-old retired World War II sailor in Hawaii to President Barack Obama has stirred up attention on the Internet. Retired ship's Boatswain Harold Estes wrote the letter, and someone in Florida sent it to Congress.org. The letter then bounced around different sites, and people questioned whether it was real. Estes said he was unaware of the controversy he caused on the Internet. \"I've never looked at anything on the Internet. I don't follow this. I didn't write this to get publicity,\" Estes said. Some later versions of the piece circulated via e-mail included a photograph of the author posing with Navy personnel: For those who question Harold Estes' status as Master Chief, a rank which was not created until after his retirement from the Navy, Fore 'n Aft notes in a profile of Estes that: In 2007, to recognize his many years of voluntary service as the Navy's goodwill ambassador in Hawaii, the Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, Admiral Gary Roughead, promoted Harold to the honorary rank of Pacific Fleet Command Master Chief. Harold B. Estes passed away at the age of 96 in May 2011 and was interred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. Last updated: 26 December 2012 KITV-TV [Honolulu]. \"HI Vet's Letter to Obama Stirs Internet.\" 26 January 2010.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1xH7z_sV2lOTVxDhQUOTJe0x1f_d7wUWV","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1146","claim":"Deception at the White House","posted":"09\/17\/2015","sci_digest":[""],"justification":"FACT CHECK:  Did President Obama order that \"behavioral experiments\" be carried out on the American people?  Claim:   President Obama ordered \"behavioral experiments\" be carried out on the American people.   false WHAT'S   President Obama issued an Executive Order on 15 September 2015 encouraging federal agencies to more frequently use behavioral research insights in the creation and adoption of policy.     WHAT'S   President Obama ordered that \"behavioral experiments\" be carried out on American citizens; President Obama specifically directed agencies to implement any form of behavioral insight usage; the word \"experiment\" appeared anywhere in the Executive Order. Example:    [Collected via Twitter, September 2015] President Barry ORDERS BEHAVIORAL EXPERIMENTS ON AMERICAN PUBLIC!! https:\/\/t.co\/MNHOSCvpAB #COSProject pic.twitter.com\/0aQN33AqQ3 https:\/\/t.co\/MNHOSCvpAB #COSProject pic.twitter.com\/0aQN33AqQ3  TheFightingIrishDame (@TheIrishDame) September 16, 2015 September 16, 2015   Shock Executive Order: Obama Authorizes Behavioral Experiments On U.S. Citizens: To A ... - https:\/\/t.co\/pl2RzxZr4q pic.twitter.com\/ll7cWaFtqe https:\/\/t.co\/pl2RzxZr4q pic.twitter.com\/ll7cWaFtqe  State of Globe (@StateofGlobe) September 17, 2015 September 17, 2015   Obama Executive Order Instructs Federal Agencies to Conduct Mass Behavioral Experiments on U.S. Citizens: https:\/\/t.co\/mCynSnLP0e https:\/\/t.co\/mCynSnLP0e  Bill Periman (@BillPeriman) September 17, 2015 September 17, 2015   Origins:   On 15 September 2015 the web site Daily Caller published an article titled \"President Obama Orders Behavioral Experiments on American Public\" which claimed that the chief executive had \"authorized federal agencies to conduct behavioral experiments on U.S. citizens\": President Obama announced a new executive order which authorizes federal agencies to conduct behavioral experiments on U.S. citizens in order to advance government initiatives. The article was aggregated by other news outlets such as DC Clothesline, which similarly claimed the President's executive order had instructed \"Federal Agencies to Conduct Mass Behavioral Experiments on U.S. Citizens\": Does anyone actually believe \"behavioral experiments\" on the US citizenry are about \"designing government policies to better serve the American people?\" Think Pavlov's dog. And, can someone point to the Constitution and show where government has the authority to \"experiment\" on the citizenry in any shape, form or fashion? It's not there. Government possesses no authority whatsoever to conduct any type of experimentation, behavioral or otherwise, on the citizens of this nation. Both Daily Caller and DC Clothesline used the phrase \"behavioral experiments\" (conjuring up frightening scenarios of federal gaslighting), and the second article placed the phrase in quotes, suggesting specifically that the Obama administration had \"ordered\" sinister-sounding \"behavioral experiments\" be inflicted upon Americans. The 15 September 2015 Executive Order referenced by the articles is available on the White House's web site for open review. Tellingly, the word \"experiments\" does not appear anywhere within it; only words such as \"encourage[d],\" \"identify,\" \"review,\" and \"improve.\" The executive order about \"Using Behavioral Science Insights to Better Serve the American People\" actually decreed: web site decreed To more fully realize the benefits of behavioral insights and deliver better results at a lower cost for the American people, the Federal Government should design its policies and programs to reflect our best understanding of how people engage with, participate in, use, and respond to those policies and programs. By improving the effectiveness and efficiency of Government, behavioral science insights can support a range of national priorities, including helping workers to find better jobs; enabling Americans to lead longer, healthier lives; improving access to educational opportunities and support for success in school; and accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy. Alongside the Executive Order, the White House issued a document titled \"Fact Sheet: President Obama Signs Executive Order; White House Announces New Steps to Improve Federal Programs by Leveraging Research Insights.\" Aiming to provide details not included on the Executive Order about how \"behavioral insights\" could apply to the creation and implementation of policy, that document explained: document Behavioral science insights  research insights about how people make decisions  not only identify aspects of programs that can act as barriers to engagement, but also provide policymakers with insight into how those barriers can be removed through commonsense steps, such as simplifying communications and making choices more clear. That same study on financial aid found that streamlining the process of applying  by providing families with assistance and enabling families to automatically fill parts of the application using information from their tax return  increased the rates of both aid applications and college enrollment. When these insights are used to improve government, the returns can be significant. For instance, the Federal Government applied behavioral science insights to simplify the process of applying for Federal student aid and has made college more accessible to millions of American families. Similarly, the Pension Protection Act of 2006, which codified the practice of automatically enrolling workers into retirement savings plans, is based on behavioral economics research showing that switching from an opt-in to an opt-out enrollment system dramatically increases participation rates. Since the implementation of this policy, automatic enrollment and automatic escalation have led to billions of dollars in additional savings by Americans. Another germane fact sheet tidbit came in the form of detail pertaining to a new committee formed to facilitate the order's initiatives: The Executive Order also formally establishes the Social and Behavioral Sciences Team (SBST), a group of experts in applied behavioral science that translates findings and methods from the social and behavioral sciences into improvements in Federal policies and programs for the benefit of the American people. The passage excerpted above indicated that behavioral insights data targeted by the initiative stemmed not from government-led \"behavioral experiments,\" but rather \"findings and methods from the social and behavioral sciences.\"  Another passage supported inferences that non-governmental research groups would be tasked with submitting the bulk of relevant findings to the SBST for consideration in the drafting of future policy: The Behavioral Science & Policy Association (BSPA) is launching a Behavioral Science and Policy Series to identify promising avenues for applying behavioral science to public policy at the Federal level in order to improve Americans' lives. Through this series, by September 2016, working groups will deliver white papers that propose particular applications of behavioral science that can be applied, tested, and implemented at the Federal level in the near term. A less harrowing interpretation of the executive order than that fostered by conservative news sites was offered by the Houston Chronicle in a 17 September 2015 article: article Dr. Andrew Harper, a professor of behavioral science at the University of Texas Health Medical School, said behavioral science is an old discipline, used to maximize communication effectiveness, that is only now being applied to government-authored materials. \"For example in healthcare there are simple things we want people to do  eat a balanced diet, sleep well,\" he said. \"When just saying 'do it' doesn't work, we look to behavioral science to inform us on strategies that might work better.\" According to the executive order, research will be used to inform even the basic layout of federal agencies websites and other outreach information. The newly-founded team will consider \"how the content, format, timing and medium by which information is conveyed affects comprehension and action by individuals.\" In other words, researchers will conduct clinical studies to determine how agencies could more effectively present information in a way that will move people to action. The Executive Order didn't come to pass without some objections, however. The University of Oxford's Practical Ethics in the News Blog featured an editorial that questioned how scientifically rigorous the selection and application of such data might be, implying the initiative's mission was too ambiguous. Author Joshua Shepherd conceded that the proposal was overall \"a good thing,\" but said \"the order raises a number of ethical and practical issues\": editorial Given recent evidence that many results from experimental and social psychology fail to replicate, there might be reason to worry here. The executive order does not define what counts as an 'insight' from behavioral science. Is it the result of one study? A couple? Deployment of an insight that is nothing more than an experimental artifact could be damaging, or wasteful. Suppose a genuine insight exists. Even so, implementing it is not straightforward. Other experts didn't think that the potential flaws outweighed the benefits. University of Michigan professor Andrew Hoffman outlined the potential practical effects of such initiatives on policy in a Scientific American article, positing that their application to the drafting of policy was \"long overdue\": article [Hoffman] says that people might react rebelliously to a gas tax imposed by the government. A rise in its cost spurred by market forces, on the other hand, might prompt them to drive less. In that way, federal policies should consider the complicated ways that people filter, interpret and process messages. You can't expect to put a price on something  whether that's gas, plastic bags or emissions  and get an expected result, he said. These are things that sociology, psychology, political science have been focusing on for decades, Hoffman said. So to bring in the notion that humans are not perfectly rational, utility-maximizing beings in the formation of policy is long overdue. It is true that President Obama issued an Executive Order on 15 September 2015 encouraging and facilitating the application of behavioral research insights, with a stated goal of creating more efficient policy and stronger compliance. Moreover, some credible questions were raised about how rigorous standards for inclusion of such data might be. But the order neither referenced nor described \"behavioral experimentation\" upon the American people, nor did it in any way suggest that the order's details involved using anything other than existing, ongoing research carried out by social and behavioral science experts. Last updated:     17 September 2015 Originally published:   17 September 2015","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=12GPFjw5rqaNVsQX8MNGDW2uaDXzW3lfq"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1147","claim":"Does a Meme Show the Faces of Suspected Mass Shooters in U.S. in 2019?","posted":"08\/06\/2019","sci_digest":["After two shooting massacres in August 2019 in the U.S., some commentators focused on the racial identities of perpetrators. "],"justification":"In the aftermath of two back-to-back mass shootings in the United States in early August 2019, much debate turned to the demographic dimensions of such massacres, with some commentary pointing the finger at white men, in particular.  In response to such observations, others pointed out the role of non-white assailants in gun violence in the U.S. One graphic in particular caught the attention of internet users.  The meme was first posted on Aug. 5 to the \/pol\/ (\"Politically Incorrect\") section of the website 4chan, which is notorious as a forum for far-right and white nationalist imagery, tropes and discussion threads. It was entitled \"Mass Shooters 2019\" and bore the sub-heading \"Every person charged with or arrested for shooting 4+ people in a single incident.\" Underneath that was a collage of 98 portrait photographs, many of them prison mugshots. posted A large portion of the individuals shown in the collage appeared to be non-white, prompting its further promulgation on other online forums, including the website of former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke. The meme prompted much racist and white supremacist commentary.  Duke commentary   A note under the collage read: \"146 Mas [sic] shootings so far this year are unsolved. Of these, 16 suspects have been identified as black or Latino and 0 white. The remaining cases have no suspect description issued. Also, of the 146 unsolved [mass] shootings so far, 21 are in Chicago, 8 are in Baltimore, 7 are in Washington DC, and 6 are in Philadelphia. All of this is according to my personal research which consisted of googling every single incident on the wikipedia page for mass shootings and reading local news articles about them. If I'm wrong about something give me the up-to-date information.\" This meme failed to take into account an essential piece of context in any discussion of mass shootings and those who perpetrate them: how you define a mass shooting.  Different definitions, different lists No fixed, uniformly accepted definition exists of a mass shooting, as we have explained in the past: explained Historically, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defined what they call active shooter incidents as those that result in four or more people (not including the attacker) being shot dead in public through actions not related to terrorism, gang activity, or the commission of other crimes (such as robbery). Since 2013, the FBI has dropped that numerical threshold to incidents involving the deaths of three or more people. defined three Everytown for Gun Control, a pro-gun-control non-profit that collects data on shootings, also defines a mass shooting as one in which at least four people are killed (not including the shooter) but includes shootings taking place in private homes, a circumstance the FBI omits from their methodology. defines Mother Jones magazine, in their mass shootings database, defines such shootings as indiscriminate rampages in public places resulting in four or more victims killed by the attacker. database Stanford Universitys now-defunct Mass Shootings in America project defined a mass shooting as one in which three or more people were shot (but not necessarily killed), excluding the attacker. Stanfords definition excluded gang-, drug-, or organized crime-related shootings. defined The Mass Shooting Tracker, a crowd-sourced project, defines a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more people are shot, including the attacker. defines Of the major sources of data about mass shootings, the Gun Violence Archive has a relatively inclusive definition: If four or more people are shot or killed in a single incident, not [including] the shooter, that incident is categorized as a mass shooting based purely on that numerical threshold. This includes shootings in private places, incidents involving gang activity and armed robbery, shootouts, and non-fatal shootings. definition The August 2019 meme stated that its inclusion criteria were incidents in which four or more people were shot in a single incident. It did not specify any other criteria, such as whether the total number shot could include the perpetrator, whether it included incidents that took place in private dwellings, whether it included terrorism or gang-related shootings, and so on.  However, the meme also said it had derived its list of incidents from those included in the Wikipedia entry for \"List of mass shootings in the United States in 2019.\" It's clear that that list did include some gang-related shootings, some which took place in a private dwelling, and several incidents in which multiple people were shot but nobody died.  entry Our relatively brief overview of the alleged shooters included in the August 2019 meme indicates that it was broadly fairly accurate. It contained a few errors, but was faithful overall to its own criteria.  The primary problem with the chart was that it was based on a relatively broad definition of \"mass shooting\" which, while valid in and of itself, should not be confused with the much more narrow definition implicitly at work in many conversations about \"mass shootings\"  that is, incidents in which an attacker with no links to terrorism, criminal gangs, or organized crime goes out into a public area and fatally shoots multiple people. From a law enforcement and criminological point of view, defining a \"mass shooting\" in this relatively narrow way helps to establish clear parameters in terms of the nature and causes of such attacks, as well as the motivations of the attackers and any patterns in the identities of their victims. By contrast, gang-related shootings, for example, even if they cross a numerical threshold for victims, have relatively well-studied and straightforward causes and motivations, as well as a much more familiar victimology. Hence, agencies such as the FBI deliberately exclude them from their study of, and operations against, \"active shooter incidents.\" However, to some observers, especially those primarily focused on the role of guns in violent deaths in the U.S., it is of secondary importance whether a mass shooting was related to a drug feud or a white supremacist act of terrorism. What matters most to these observers is the role of a firearm in causing the deaths of multiple people in one incident. Another example of this is the Mass Shooting Tracker's (relatively rare) insistence on including the death of a perpetrator among the total number of deaths in a mass shooting. The website's reasoning is simple but powerful: \"We include the shooter's death because suicide matters ...\" insistence Therefore, how you define a \"mass shooting\" can often depend on which underlying phenomenon or aspect of a mass shooting is of primary interest to you, and that definition can have a significant effect on the list of incidents on which your analysis focuses.  How you define a mass shooting also indirectly has a bearing on the demographic make-up of victims and perpetrators. For example, we know that criminal gangs in the United States are disproportionately made up of Latino and African American members. Including gang-related shootings in your definition of mass shootings will, therefore, increase the proportion of such perpetrators and victims in your count. That should not be surprising or controversial.  made up In fact, the full list of mass shootings (according to the broad definition used in the August 2019 meme), is likely to skew even more towards non-white perpetrators than the meme itself shows. This is because, as we explained in our examination of 2018 statistics for mass shootings, unsolved shootings often remain unsolved due to the dynamics inherent in gang conflict.  2018 statistics If an analysis of gun violence and mass shootings is being done in good faith, that demographic breakdown will be an inadvertent byproduct of the decision to include gang violence in one's definition. However, readers should also be on the lookout for those with a racist or white supremacist agenda deliberately tailoring the definition of a mass shooting so as to yield a list of perpetrators with a higher quotient of non-white individuals.  So what are the demographics of perpetrators of mass shootings, if we examine only the more narrow definitions of that term  the elusive phenomenon whereby an assailant without any ties to gangs, terrorism or organized crime, picks up a firearm and shoots multiple people in a public setting? The most extensive and robust database of gun violence in the U.S. is arguably the Gun Violence Archive. We have used entries from that database and applied the FBI's definition of \"active shooter incident\" in order to check the demographic make-up of the perpetrators of these much more narrowly defined attacks. The FBI defines an \"active shooter incident\" (akin to a mass shooting) as an incident in which a perpetrator shoots dead three or more people (not including the perpetrator) in a single incident in a public place, which is unrelated to terrorism, gangs, and doesn't take place in the course of some other criminal activity (like a robbery or fight).  defines By this definition, the Gun Violence Archive showed there were six such alleged incidents between Jan. 1 and Aug. 5, 2019: Aug. 4 Betts Aug. 3 shot dead Crusius July 28 described claimed May 31 shot dead DeWayne Craddock Feb. 15 shot dead Jan. 23 shot dead Xaver All six suspects were men, three were white, two were African-American, and the precise racial and ethnic identity of the sixth suspect was not clear.  Mac Guill, Dan. \"Were None of 154 Mass Shootings in 2018 Committed by a Black Man, Illegal Alien, or Woman?\"\r Snopes.com. 15 July 2018. National Gang Center. \"National Youth Gang Survey Analysis -- Demographics.\"\r Accessed 6 August 2019. Seewer, John; Sewell, Dan; Minchillo, John. \"Vigil Honors Victims as Authorities Eye Ohio Shooter's Life.\"\r The Associated Press. 5 August 2019. Galvan, Astrid; Lee, Morgan; Weber, Paul J. \"El Paso Deaths Climb to 22 as Mayor Prepares for Trump's Visit.\"\r The Associated Press. 5 August 2019. Vives, Ruben et al. \"What We Know About the Gilroy Garlic Festival Shooting Suspect.\"\r The Los Angeles Times. 29 July 2019. Finley, Ben. \"12 People Killed in Virginia Beach Shooting; Suspect Dead.\"\r The Associated Press. 1 June 2019. Coutu, Peter and Alissa Skelton. \"Virginia Beach Killer Matched the Cliche: Quite, Polite, Unassuming.\"\r The Virginian-Pilot. 5 June 2019. Holcombe, Madeline. \"Aurora Gunman Opened Fire on His Coworkers as Soon as he Lost His Job.\"\r CNN. 18 February 2019. Hauser, Christine. \"Death Penalty Sought for Man Charged With Killing 5 in a Florida Bank Shooting.\"\r The New York Times. 8 February 2019. Updated [8 August 2019]: Added clarification that Santino William Legan's manner of death was suicide. ","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1TYgkVAaPT6rRcQtGQHhGtAqJUBY2KgtU","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1148","claim":"Says Wisconsin Democrats during the previous administration adopted double-digit tax increases.","posted":"01\/25\/2012","sci_digest":[],"justification":"In his latestTV ad, released on the first anniversary of hisinauguration, Wisconsin Gov.Scott Walkermakes a case for why he should not beonly the thirdU.S. governor ever recalled from office.The Republican takes credit for erasing Wisconsins $3.6 billion budget deficit and for saving taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars by making government employees pay more for pension and health benefits.Walker closes the ad, released Jan. 3, 2012, by drawing a contrast with his Democratic predecessor.In the three years before I took office, he says, without namingJim Doyle, Wisconsin lost 150,000 jobs. But now, well, employer confidence is up, and since the start of the year, Wisconsin has added thousands of new jobs. Instead of going back to the days of billion-dollar budget deficits, double-digit tax increases and record job loss, lets keep moving Wisconsin forward.Thats some broad language.So broad, some would think the double-digit increases were a fact of life for most residents. While widespread jobs losses in therecessionand the deficit Walker inherited are well known, we wondered what Walker meant by double-digit tax increases.Walkerrepeatedthe double-digit tax increases claim on Rush Limbaughs national radio talk show on Jan. 17, 2012, the day before petitions seeking the recall election weresubmitted. And he did it again the next day,claimingDemocratic recall candidateKathleenFalkintends to take Wisconsin back to the days of double-digit tax increases.Lets see if thats what state Democrats did.Democrats did boost taxes with the 2009-2011 state budget and a 2009 budget adjustment bill. We found, when rating a $5 billion claim by Walker running mateRebecca KleefischasFalse, that the two measures raised taxes and fees by just over $3 billion over the two-year period.Ben Sparks, a spokesman for the Republican Party of Wisconsin, said Walkers double-digit claim refers to the same two budget measures. In adocumentSparks provided, Walker cites three sets of tax changes to back his claim.School property taxesWalker said that, because of the Democrats 2009-2011 budget, school property tax levies would have increased an estimated17.3percentin 2011 had he not taken the steps he did with his 2011-2013 budget.Hmmm.In the ad, Walker flatly claimed that Democrats raised taxes by double-digits. Now hes talking about a hypothetical -- indeed, one that didnt occur.Like any governor, Walker had the opportunity to fashion his own budget. And with a Republican-controlled Legislature, he cut state aid to schools and school districts ability to raise property tax revenues. The result: 2011 school levies dropped1 percent.What about the other two tax changes Walker cites?Business taxesWalker contends Democrats raised business taxes by $456 million, or 28 percent, over two years.Among other things, he cited the Democratic adoption of combined reporting, which taxes a relatively small number of Wisconsin-based businesses on income from subsidiaries outside the state, rather than only those within Wisconsin. That tax is estimated to raise $187 million over two years. He also cited elimination of a tax deduction fordomestic production, which is estimated to increase corporate income tax payments by nearly $72 million.Dale Knapp, research director of the nonprofitWisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, said there isnt a good base on which to calculate the $450 million increase. But roughly $350 million of that increase is to be paid in corporate income taxes, which is roughly an increase of 21 percent, he said.So, that material is generally on point.Whats left?Miscellaneous taxesWalker cites a number of double-digit tax increases the Democrats made, including a 42 percent hike in the tax oncigarettesto $2.52 per pack; more than doubling the $75 per-bed per-month assessment paid bynursing homes; and more than doubling thetipping feecharged to landfills, which is ultimately passed on to garbage generators such as families.Our own research turned up one Walker didnt cite.The Democrats raised the top income tax rate from 6.75 percent to 7.75 percent. That 1-percentage-point increase amounts to a 15 percent boost in the rate itself. The change caused a 13.5 percent increase in the actual tax paid by people with an adjusted gross income of $1 million or more,accordingto the taxpayers alliance.Our ratingIn a TV ad, Walker said the Democratic administration and Legislature that preceded him approved double-digit tax increases. There certainly were not widespread double-digit increases in the taxes most people directly pay -- income taxes and the sales tax. But there are a variety of other tax increases that rose by double digits.We rate Walkers statement Mostly True.","issues":["Corporations","Message Machine 2012","State Budget","Taxes","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1149","claim":"Who is responsible for the rise in debt?","posted":"01\/23\/2012","sci_digest":["A chart from 2011 compared changes in the U.S. national debt over the last several presidencies."],"justification":"Debt is typically a major campaign issue in elections from the municipal level all the way up to the office of the President of the United States.  Candidates tout their accomplishments in balancing budgets or reducing government debt as examples of fiscal prudence while pointing to increased debts during their opponents' administrations as indicators of profligate and wasteful spending of taxpayers' money.    The chart reproduced above, which was posted to the Flickr account of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, attempted to reverse conventional political stereotypes by portraying recent Republican presidents as responsible for huge increases in the national debt, while showing recent Democratic presidents as responsible for much lower increases in the level of debt.   Flickr account As a first step in evaluating this chart, we have to determine the applicable definition of \"debt.\"  In general, the term \"public debt\" (or \"debt held by the public\") refers to money borrowed by the government through the issuance and sale of securities, government bonds, and bills.  It includes federal debt held by all investors outside of the federal government, including individuals, corporations, state or local governments, the Federal Reserve banking system, and foreign governments. Another form of debt is \"intragovernmental debt\" (or \"debt held by government accounts\"), which refers to money that the government has borrowed from itself, such as when the U.S. government invests money from federal savings programs such as Medicare and the Social Security trust fund by buying up its own treasury securities.  A variety of names have been applied to the total of these two forms of debt, including \"gross federal debt,\" \"total public debt,\" and \"national debt.\" Although this chart is labeled as presenting a \"percent increase in public debt,\" it actually uses figures corresponding to the total described as \"gross federal debt\" above (i.e., a combination of debt held by the public and debt held by government accounts, rather than just the former).  We checked the numbers in this chart by using (for pre-1993 years) the U.S. Treasury's Monthly Statement of the Public Debt (MSPD), noting the total debt reported as of January 31 of each relevant year, and (for 1993 onwards) the Treasury's The Debt to the Penny and Who Holds It application, noting the total debt reported as of Inauguration Day of each relevant year. Monthly Statement of the Public Debt The Debt to the Penny and Who Holds It From these records, we gleaned the following information: Ronald Reagan:Took office January 1981.  Total debt: $848 billionLeft office January 1989.    Total debt: $2,698 billionPercent change in total debt:  +218%  George H.W. Bush:Took office January 1989.  Total debt: $2,698 billionLeft office 20 January 1993.    Total debt: $4,188 billionPercent change in total debt:  +55% Bill Clinton:Took office 20 January 1993.  Total debt: $4,188 billionLeft office 20 January 2001.  Total debt: $5,728 billionPercent change in total debt:  +37% George W. Bush:Took office 20 January 2001.  Total debt: $5,728 billionLeft office 20 January 2009.  Total debt: $10,627 billionPercent change in total debt:  +86% Barack Obama:Took office 20 January 2009.  Total debt: $10,627 billionTotal debt (as of the end of April 2011):  $14,288 billionPercent change in total debt:  +34% So, as far as raw numbers go, the chart is reasonably accurate (although our calculations produced a somewhat higher debt increase for Ronald Reagan than reported).  That said, however, we have to consider how valuable these numbers are; whether by themselves they present a reasonable comparative measure of presidential fiscal responsibility.  In that regard, one could find a number of aspects to take issue with:  The chart isn't a true comparison of equals, as it includes three presidents who served two full terms (Reagan, Clinton, and George W. Bush), a president who served one term (George H.W. Bush), and a president who had served half a term (Obama).  Obviously, the longer a president holds office the greater the opportunity for him to influence the debt, and certainly (barring a radical change in current circumstances)  the increase reported for Barack Obama would be considerably higher by the time he left office.   All presidents come into office with policies and budgets that were put into place by their predecessors in the White House and Congress, and they all pass the same along to their successors when they leave office.  Therefore, determining how much of the change in debt that occurs during a given president's administration is actually the result of his actions (rather than the consequence of factors over which he had little or no influence) would require a much more complex analysis than the one presented here.  Which is the best measure of debt for this purpose: public debt, intragovernmental debt, or a combination of the two?  As noted in the General Accounting Office's FAQ on Federal Debt, they represent rather different concepts: FAQ Debt held by the public approximates current federal demand on credit markets. It represents a burden on today's economy, and the interest paid on this debt represents a burden on current taxpayers. Federal borrowing from the public absorbs resources available for private investment and may put upward pressure on interest rates. Further, debt held by the public is the accumulation of what the federal government borrowed in the past and is reported as a liability on the balance sheet of the government's consolidated financial statements. In contrast, debt held by government accounts (intragovernmental debt) and the interest on it represent a claim on future resources. This debt performs largely an internal accounting function. Special federal securities credited to government accounts (primarily trust funds) represent the cumulative surpluses of these accounts that have been lent to the general fund. These transactions net out on the government's consolidated financial statements. Debt issued to government accounts does not affect today's economy and does not currently compete with the private sector for available funds in the credit market.   Are plain percentage changes in the national debt level a useful figure, or do they need to be placed in context to have relevance?  Some would argue, for example, that the Debt-to-GDP ratio is a better measure of economic health relative to the national debt than raw debt figures alone, and a chart which tracked the change in that ratio over the last several presidencies would paint a significantly different picture of debt levels than the one displayed above.  Debt-to-GDP chart All in all, this is a case of relatively accurate information which is of marginal value due to a lack of proper comparative context.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Jgl3WUT-cvi_E2VO3wfx5xC6URC4asVw"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1150","claim":"Says a proposed $1.05 billion Austin school district bond proposition will require no tax rate increase.","posted":"10\/12\/2017","sci_digest":[],"justification":"A handout urging voter support for aproposed $1.05 billion Austin school district bond issueon the November 2017 ballot singles out the need to repair and renovate schools averaging 40 years of age plus a desire to modernize or build 16 schools. Moreover, the handout from the Committee of Austins Children PAC says: Did you know? AISD Prop. 1 bonds will require no tax rate increase, a claim the group also makes onits website. Is that rate statement accurate? To rehash, the handout saysthe sought bondswont require a rate increase. Its silent on whether district residents will pay more in taxes if the proposition passes--which struck Austin lawyer Bill Aleshire, formerly Travis Countys elected judge, as misleading. Aleshire, who brought the handout to our attention, said by email: No one in their right mind should believe AISD can borrow $1 billion plus interest and not have a property tax increase as a result. When we asked, David Butts, a consultant to the PAC, told us by phone the group based its rate claim on district presentations. Butts said: Weve never said that you wouldnt pay higher taxes, in that barring an economic recession, escalating local property values stand to drive up how much the district reaps--without the district needing a rate bump. Property taxes are tied to assessed property values which in Austin (like other prosperous cities) lately spiral nearly every year. In this fact-check, well share assumptions behind the no-hike scenario and unpack estimates of how much money the proposed bonds would likely cost homeowners in increased tax bills. Its also worth noting the speculative quality of tax predictions. To our inquiry, Roger Falk of theTravis County Taxpayers Union, which opposes the proposition, questioned anyones ability to fact-check rate-related claims because, he said by phone, tax effects depend on unknowns including whether and how much total appraised property values change and if the districts intended debt repayment schedules and interest rates bear out. You cannot assume its a sunny day every day, Falk said. Its going to rain sometime. Austin districts assumptions District leaders have said that presuming total assessed property values continue to increase and also that the district repays more than half the proposed debt within a decade, the school board will be spared from considering an increase in the districts total tax rate of $1.192 per $100 valuation--the bulk of which covers day-to-day maintenance and operations. A September 2017Austin American-Statesmannews storyelaborated: The district points to its last bond election $392 million approved by voters in 2013 as an example of how it can tamp down the impact on property tax bills. Those bonds were expected to raise the tax rate by 3 cents, or about $38.40 a year to the property tax bill for a $200,000 home. But instead, the story said, the district, buoyed by increasing property values, lowered the tax rate by 5 cents per $100 of a homes assessed value. Homeowners are still paying more, of course, because property values in Austin have shot up 12 percent a year, on average, for the past five years. Tiffany Young, a district spokeswoman, emailed us the districts August 2017tax capacity analysisof the proposed bond costs, which included a summary of annual changes--of late 11-percent-plus annual increases--in total assessed property valuations in the district from 2008 through 2017:           SOURCE:Document showing tax capacity analysis of proposed bond debt, Austin Independent School District, Aug. 10, 2017 (received by email from Tiffany Young, senior communication specialist, AISD, Sept. 26, 2017) That news story noted that the districts payback plan for the proposed bond package assumes an annual increase in total assessed property values of 7 percent in the first two years and 1.5 percent for each subsequent year. Property values actually have a 10-year average growth rate of nearly 8 percent, the story said. School leaders advised that if theres a flattening in property-value increases, the district could tap $46 million in reserves, or savings, to make up for lost revenue. Also, the story quoted Ellen Wood, who chairs the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerces board of directors, calling district assumptions behind no tax-rate hike prediction conservative and appropriate. By phone, Wood told us chamber members based that judgment on talks with the districts chief financial officer, Nicole Conley Johnson, and a firm advising the district on the proposed issuance. To our inquiries, Conley Johnson reaffirmed the districts conclusion that the proposed bonds can be paid off without a tax-rate hike. In fact, Conley Johnson said by phone, she expects the district to land interest rates perhaps 2 percentage points less than the 5 percent rate assumed in its modeling, a decrease that would reduce repayment costs. Noting increased assessed property valuations in recent years, Conley Johnson also said its reasonable to expect assessed values to surge more each year than the 1.5 percent rate assumed in the modeling past the first couple years. If the proposition fails at the polls, Conley Johnson confirmed,the school board could reduce the debt portionof the district tax rate in 2021-22 by $0.0297 per $100 valuation to $0.0833 with additional reductions doable most subsequent years through 2039-40--though that scenario depends, perhaps improbably, on no additional costs accumulating in the intervening years. If the proposition passes, Conley Johnson said, in 2022, the district will need some $35.5 million to pay incremental costs on the proposed bonds. An estimated $35.5 million would be raised by from that $0.0297 per $100 valuation in tax rate, the district projects. Worst-case scenarios? We separately asked Conley Johnson andChris Allenof First Southwest, the firm hired by the district as financial advisers on the proposition, to lay out a worst-case scenario that might cause district officials to recommend a rate increase after all. Youd have to have a major economic downturn, Allen said by phone. Youd have to have the housing market plummet. Allen, referring to the districts assumed 7 percent increases in total assessed valuations in both 2019 and 2020, said: I think the 7 percent is conservative. If you look around, there are cranes everywhere. The housing and commercial market is on fire. Conley Johnson said by email: We estimate that if total assessed valuation growth stayed flat for the next 8 years or there was a cumulative decline in AV of 20%, we would need to consider increasing the tax rate. Of course. she said, these events would buck historical trends of the last 10 years where there was only year that AV declined, in 2011 due to the national recession--arguably the worst in history. Even still, there was subsequent growth thereafter and the decline was made-up after two years and growth doubled after that. Falk, the proposition foe, questioned the assumption that the district can repay the bonds at a 5 percent interest rate past this next year. Theres no science--no way to know--past one year, Falk said. Falk called the assumed annual increases in total property valuations a best guess. We also askedCharles Gilliland, a land-market expert at Texas A&M University, to evaluate the no-rate-increase claim. Gilliland said by phone the districts post-2020 assumption that total assessed property values will increase 1.5 percent annually seems pretty conservative. The rest of the story is its not going to be a nice steady increase, Gilliland said. There are going to be ups and downs. Generally, Gilliland said by email: Without exhaustive historical studies of the parameters of their model and an examination of the operating conditions of the district, I have no evidence to cast doubt on the assumptions underlying the districts analysis. Costs to taxpayers Falk called the tax-rate claim by itself a head fake intended to dupe voters into overlooking that each taxpayer would be paying more dollars to cover bond repayments. He also emailed us thetaxpayer groups analysis, which provides estimated effects on property tax bills by assuming that  total assessed valuations within district boundaries wont go up or down. Then again, the district has acknowledged that property owners will pay more in taxes to pay debt service on the bonds, if approved. A June 2017American-Statesmannews storyon school board members voting to place the proposition before voters initially noted that district officials said the tax rate would remain flat at $1.192 per $100 of assessed property value, with $1.079 designated for operations and $0.113 of the rate going toward repaying debt issued to fund capital improvements. Still: For the owner of the districts average taxable value home of $355,947, the school tax bills would total nearly $4,243. As properties increase in value, the story said, that same tax rate would lead to increasingly higher tax bills. District web pages devoted to the proposition similarly indicate property owners will likely face increases in what the district bills. We initially spotted no estimates of how much more, but estimates were provided when we asked. Lets cover those web posts, then turn to what the district gave us. Heres a question on the districts main FAQ section about the proposition: I've heard AISD say this bond will not raise my property tax rate. How is that possible? The 202-word reply stresses the districts plan not to issue the sought debt all at once plus plans to draw on other funds; it doesnt concede additional direct-to-taxpayer bond costs. We saw this question on a separate districtFinance FAQ web pageabout the proposition: So does this mean that I wont have an increase in my tax bill? The districts reply opens, No. That reply otherwise says higher taxes depend on the appraised value of taxable property, which is determined by the Travis Central Appraisal District, not AISD. An increase or decrease in taxable property value, even with no change in the tax rate, would result in an increase or decrease in the actual amount of taxes paid. The reply goes on to note that residents who qualify for Travis Countys over-65 homestead exemption wouldnt pay more in school taxes. Moreover, the reply continues, other governing entities levy property taxes including the city of Austin, Travis County, the Austin Community College District and the Travis County Health Care District. The rates for each entity are set annually by the elected or governing officials, the district says. The rate for each of the taxing entities is then applied to your home value, it says. We also noticed the last, 18th question on the districts main FAQ page for the proposition: What's the bottom line, the one thing you want voters to know? The districts reply: AISD needs to address facility deficiencies and is committed to creating 21st-century learning spaces for our students. We can do so without a tax rate increase. Conley Johnson told us that in 2021-22 (the third year of the district starting to sell and repay the bond debt being presented to voters), the cost to taxpayers of the new debt would range from $29.70 for the owner of a property with an assessed value of $100,000 up to $297 for the owner of a property with an assessed value of $1 million.See the districts full chart here. According to what Conley Johnson described as the districts worst-case modeling of the proposed bonds effect on taxes, the owner of an Austin homestead at theaverage 2017-18 assessed value($332,103) would see the debt portion of her or his district tax bill increase from $375 in 2017-18 to $484 in 2027-28--driven by expected bumps in assessed property values. Absent the sought bonds or other approved debt, this modeling indicates, the 2027-28 costs to such a homeowner for district debt would total $250.57. An owner of a homestead at the 2017-18median value($262,282) would face $382.75 in district debt-tied taxes in 2027-28--up from $296 in 2017-18 and greater than the $197.89 in such taxes the homeowner would face if the district doesnt issue additional debt. Theres more: As we made our inquiries, the district posted adocumentestimating each homesteading homeowners future tax payments to the district related to paying off the proposed bonds. Upshot: Starting in 2022, some $0.0297 per $100 valuation of the districts tax rate would generate sufficient revenue to pay debt service on the sought bonds, the document says. The share of the districts tax rate needed to pay that debt service will escalate in subsequent years, the document says, with that share reaching its maximum of $0.0530 per $100 valuation as of 2029. According to the document, the district estimates the dollar costs in annual taxes on the median-value homestead in the district--which in 2017 had an appraised value of $287,282--to be $77.90 in 2022 and $139.01 in 2029. At the upper end, the estimated annual dollar costs due to debt service on the proposed bonds to a homestead appraised at $1 million in 2017 is shown as $289.58 in 2022, $516.75 in 2029. Our ruling The PAC said the proposed Austin school district bonds will require no tax rate increase. Missing from this claim: Individual homeowners are expected to pay more in property taxes even if the tax rate remains the same, which looks likely thanks to rising property valuations in a hot real-estate market. We rate this statement, which lacks the important clarification that only the tax rate isnt expected to rise, Mostly True. MOSTLY TRUEThe statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.","issues":["Children","Debt","Education","Texas"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1iIbpg9CVzzUSPl2kBOmM79f5yHjVhNs0","image_caption":"Austin American-Statesman"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1151","claim":"Are 16 states utilizing voting machines manufactured by a company reportedly under the control of George Soros?","posted":"10\/20\/2016","sci_digest":["The Daily Caller lied and falsely reported that 16 states would be using voting machines controlled by a company with \"deep links to George Soros.\""],"justification":"With the advent of electronic voting systems and public unease about casting ballots that are not tangible physical objects, every election cycle brings rumors that some individual or group with a significant investment in the outcome of the election owns or controls the machines that record and count votes. These parties are often accused of using their influence to \"rig\" the voting systems they control to ensure the election outcome aligns with their preferred results. Billionaire business magnate George Soros was implicated in such rumors in 2012 and resurfaced in 2016 as the subject of articles by disreputable websites such as the Daily Caller, which falsely claimed that Soros' ties to the Smartmatic company, purportedly the manufacturer of voting machines used in 16 states, positioned him to \"rig\" the election in Hillary Clinton's favor. The Daily Caller headline read, \"HILLARY IS RIGGING THE ELECTION! Surprised? You shouldn't be. We've just learned that Hillary is tied to the one company that has the power to sway this entire election: Smartmatic. Smartmatic manufactures the voting machines that will be used this November. The Chairman of Smartmatic, Mark Malloch-Brown, is on the board of George Soros' Open Society Foundation. Yes, George Soros, the billionaire crook who is one of Hillary's biggest donors. SMARTMATIC'S VOTING MACHINES WILL BE USED IN THESE 16 CRUCIAL STATES: Arizona, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin. HILLARY IS TRYING TO RIG THIS ELECTION BECAUSE SHE KNOWS IT'S THE ONLY CHANCE SHE HAS! \n\nGeorge Soros has no hand in the management or ownership of Smartmatic. As is typical of such claims, this one is based on nothing more than the most tenuous of connections\u2014namely, that among the numerous non-profit boards on which Smartmatic Chairman Lord Mark Malloch-Brown sits is the Global Board of the Open Society Foundation, an international grantmaking network founded by George Soros. The fact that one of the many people on one of the many boards of one of the many organizations with which George Soros (a large Clinton donor) is involved also happens to chair an electronic voting company is taken as proof enough by conspirators that George Soros has the means, motive, and intent to commit a massive act of voting fraud. And, despite being the multinational billionaire business magnate that he is, Soros utterly lacks the common sense not to rig an election through a confederate so obviously connected to him. \n\nAs is also typical of such claims, those who propagate them mistakenly assume that every company in the business of providing electronic voting services produces machines that record and count votes, which isn't the case. Such services can include anything from providing streamlined systems for reporting election results to the press to automating the process of voter authentication. In this case, the assertion that \"Smartmatic's voting machines will be used in 16 crucial states\" is false, apparently a misinterpretation of a statement on Smartmatic's website touting that the company had previously offered unspecified \"technology and support services to the Electoral Commissions of 307 counties in 16 states\"\u2014a statement that didn't say that Smartmatic supplied voting machines used in all of those states or that Smartmatic was even currently working with any of those states in any capacity. Indeed, the Case Studies section of Smartmatic's website chronicles their primary dealings in providing equipment and services for foreign elections; there's no mention of Smartmatic's involvement in U.S. elections beyond providing a voting system for a Utah state Republican caucus in March of 2016 and pilot testing an ePen for capturing provisional envelopes and vote-by-mail ballots in parts of Los Angeles County. \n\nIn fact, a search using Verified Voting shows that not a single one of the listed 16 states is using voting machines provided by Smartmatic; Smartmatic isn't even listed as a vendor of any voting machines being used in any state. Nonetheless, the false rumor has grown so prevalent that Smartmatic has addressed it themselves on their website, in a page that includes a statement confirming that no Smartmatic technology is being used in any state during the 2016 U.S. presidential election: \"Smartmatic is 100% privately owned. Smartmatic has no ties to political parties or groups in any country and abides by a stringent code of ethics that forbids the company from ever donating to any political campaigns of any kind. The company's headquarters were based in Florida for many years but have since moved to London to service its global client base. George Soros does not have and has never had any ownership stake in Smartmatic. It is no secret that our Chairman, Lord Mark Malloch-Brown, is a member of a number of non-profit boards addressing global issues from poverty reduction to conflict resolution, including the Global Board of the Open Society Foundation. This is stated clearly in his official biography. Lord Malloch-Brown is a highly respected global figure whose credentials include former Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations and former Vice-Chairman of the World Economic Forum. He also served in the British Cabinet as Minister of State in the Foreign Office. Smartmatic will not be deploying its technology in any U.S. county for the upcoming 2016 U.S. Presidential elections. Our election technology has handled more than 3.7 billion votes over the past 12 years in election projects on five continents, without a single discrepancy. As a technology provider, Smartmatic is only responsible for, and concerned with, the technical aspects of the vote. Smartmatic does not comment on specific candidates or outcomes. Smartmatic's voting technology has never been compromised. \n\nGeorge Soros' philanthropic organization comprises 22 different boards, but Smartmatic's chairman sits on only one of them. Soros himself has never worked for or held an ownership share in Smartmatic. \n\nInterestingly, much information has recently come to light about the Clinton candidacy. Notably, the hacker Guccifer 2.0 released documents that he took from the computer network of the Democratic National Committee. Among these files, one tabulated a list of big-money donors to the Clinton Foundation. One fact has gone unreported in the media: Two of the three companies that control the electronic voting market, namely Dominion Voting and H.I.G. Capital (i.e., Hart Intercivic), are on this list of big-money donors. In conclusion, the data suggests that Clinton won in counties and in states where Clinton Foundation donors are responsible for the voting machines. Thus, we strongly believe that the risk posed by unverifiable electronic voting should not be taken. Our country should revert to verifiable voting. An honest election is more important than a day of labor. \n\nOff the bat, a discrepancy arose regarding the chart. In July 2016, vote skeptics eyed links between two voting vendors and the Democratic National Committee (DNC); neither of those vendors was Smartmatic. In October 2016, the same chart was used to claim Smartmatic had already rigged the primary for Clinton and would do so for her again in her face-off against Donald Trump on November 8, 2016. Given the source material for the chart named entirely different equipment vendors, its inclusion in claims about Smartmatic was suspect. Missing from the later claim was any information about how the 16 states and their use of Smartmatic machines to the ostensible exclusion was obtained. The claim was simply stated as fact with no citation, along with assertions that George Soros (a Hungarian-American mogul and political activist) was heading up Smartmatic. \n\nWe contacted Smartmatic via phone and email to ask about the states and the rumor but did not receive a response. However, Smartmatic (like most companies) heralded their own work and achievements on their website, and voting machines were not a primary highlight. It appeared the list of 16 states came verbatim from the unreferenced Smartmatic website, where the company explained that in its tenure, it had worked with 307 counties in 16 states (not that it supplied all voting machines to all 16 or even currently worked in any capacity with any of the states). \n\nBy contrast, the circulating articles used slightly different framing: \"SMARTMATIC'S VOTING MACHINES WILL BE USED IN THESE 16 CRUCIAL STATES.\" The \"Soros connection\" was also described openly on Smartmatic's website, via a biography and professional history for company chairman Lord Mark Malloch-Brown. Although the articles claimed Malloch-Brown \"sat on the board\" of George Soros' Open Society Foundation, his resume suggested that any work with Soros was not current. Mark Malloch-Brown is a former number two in the United Nations as well as having served in the British Cabinet and Foreign Office. He now sits in the House of Lords and is active both in business and in the non-profit world. He also remains deeply involved in international affairs. Mark served as Deputy Secretary-General and Chief of Staff of the UN under Kofi Annan. Other positions have included vice-chairman of George Soros' Investment Funds, as well as his Open Society Institute, a Vice-President at the World Bank, and the lead international partner at Sawyer Miller, a political consulting firm. \n\nThus far, the rumor amounted to Smartmatic's potential and possibly prior involvement in \"offering technology and support services\" to 307 counties in 16 states, a misrepresented chart of alleged election irregularities involving other voting equipment vendors, and a company chair who once worked for Soros' Investment Funds and Open Society Institute. As for the level of Smartmatic's specific involvement in the vote in those 16 states, most state election officials provided information about their voting methods up to and including vendors that supplied equipment used on Election Day. Ballotpedia hosted a color-coded map of the U.S. with information about voting methods by state, and not all the 16 states voted identically. \n\nGoing by color-coding alone, it was clear the states' election equipment and processes varied tremendously. The oft-included chart (which evolved to identify \"HER voting machines\") in actuality referenced states that employed Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) without a paper trail. But several of the 16 states with a paper trail included Arizona, California, Illinois, Missouri, Nevada, and Wisconsin\u2014they were not included in tabulations from states without. Of the 16, only Louisiana and New Jersey employed the DRE without paper trail method of voting, and the balance of states used either paper ballots, a combination of DRE and paper ballots, or mail-in voting\u2014none of which could be easily corrupted by Hillary Clinton or George Soros. As of 2014, the District of Columbia offered both paper and DRE voting with receipts. \n\nAs Smartmatic stated, \"support\" and \"technology\" were provided to the 16 states mentioned; extant information indicated that the states were not equipped identically with specific machines; some used paper or mail-in ballots, some employed DRE with a paper trail, and two used DRE without any \"receipts.\" Arizona (the first state listed) made information about voting machine manufacturers available on its website; only Maricopa County used Sequoia technologies, bought and later sold by Smartmatic in 2006. California relied on a variety of vendors for DRE voting, including Sequoia, Election Systems and Software (ES&S), Hart InterCivic, InkaVote, and Premier; Smartmatic was not listed on California's election website as a current or prior vendor of voting machines (but as evidenced above, the company did provide electronic pens for some primary election functions). Illinois also did not list Smartmatic as a vendor, Colorado used Diebold equipment before switching to vote by mail (a vendor also used by Missouri), and Florida listed several vendors (none Smartmatic) for their machines. \n\nIn fact, in a search using Verified Voting, not a single one of the 16 states was listed as using voting machines provided by Smartmatic\u2014Smartmatic was not even listed as a vendor of any voting machine in any state. As such, the claim was false and contained numerous inaccuracies in its ancillary detail. The chair of Smartmatic was not currently affiliated with any group of George Soros, the included chart involved voting machines unrelated to Smartmatic, and while Smartmatic touted providing services to counties in the 16 listed states, not one of those states used Smartmatic voting machines. A near-identical rumor involving Soros and President Barack Obama circulated in 2012 and similarly had no truth to it.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Jn5XmdkOHo-TvZASIF6xvM9YiY1r_ne9"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=125dtQFBW_4qxmL_sLC0L2TbKMZ455gjI"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Ls-ypLedVS5XV2cO9ZlBRsWfHS3uuKok"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1152","claim":"Harley skimmed the article.","posted":"06\/17\/2015","sci_digest":[""],"justification":"FACT CHECK: Is Harley Davidson repossessing paid-up motorcycles belonging to bikers involved in the Waco shootout? Claim: Harley Davidson has been repossessing paid-off motorcycles belonging to owners involved in a biker shootout in Waco, Texas. UNCONFIRMED Example: [Collected via e-mail, June 2015] Just read that Harley Davidson helps Waco PD to repossess motorcycles involved in the Twin Peaks incident even if they were not defaulting on their loan. Say it ain't so!!! Example: On 17 May 2015, several motorcycle clubs convened at a Waco, Texas, location of the Twin Peaks chain of restaurants. Violence erupted amid rival biker factions, leading to shootings that left nine attendees dead and eighteen more injured. A number of controversies stemmed from the deadly incident, such as conflicting eyewitness statements about what took place during the shootout, and one of those controversies involved the fate of motorcycles confiscated by police in the aftermath. Rumors circulated claiming that Harley Davidson and the Waco Police Department were in cahoots to seize and repossess the bikes of those present at the scene, regardless of whether the motorcycles were paid off or their registered owners were current on their payments. On 12 June 2015, the Waco Police Department seemingly addressed this scuttlebutt on their Facebook page, describing a rough inventory of motorcycles impounded and returned to date: We initially impounded 130 motorcycles and 91 other vehicles. As of June 10, 2015, 52 motorcycles and 47 vehicles have been released to the owners. In addition to those, 12 of the motorcycles and 3 of the other vehicles were released to the lienholders due to repossession. On 15 June 2015, a blog post claimed that manufacturer Harley Davidson had taken \"bikes that were paid up and sold them, claiming a default of loan for being involved in criminal activity in California.\" The blog's author pointed to language (either in Harley Davidson Financial Services contracts or a Department of Consumer Affairs guide to Repossession Practices) stipulating that the use of a vehicle during the commission of a crime (or suspected crime) was grounds for forfeiture, regardless of whether the loan was current at the time the vehicle was impounded. This morning someone told me it happened to them. So I called Harley Davidson Financial Services and asked. I have indeed confirmed that Harley took bikes that were paid up and sold them, claiming a default of loan for being involved in criminal activity. This is a different state, but it's basically the same thing. Read the part in the contracts used by all Harley dealerships and other dealership loans about using the vehicle to engage in criminal activity: In some cases, you may not get your vehicle back at all. The legal owner can accelerate the maturity of your contract if: You provided false or misleading information on the credit application when buying the vehicle. You tried to avoid repossession by hiding the vehicle or taking it out of California. You destroyed, or threatened to destroy, the vehicle, or failed to take care of it. You committed, or threatened to commit, a criminal act of violence against the legal owner or anyone who tried to repossess the vehicle. You used the vehicle, or allowed it to be used, in a crime, and the vehicle was seized by a federal, state, or local authority. In general, police are required by law to provide notice of impounded vehicles to both the registered owners and all lienholders of those vehicles. Also, lienholders must typically provide police with a \"hold harmless\" affidavit and other evidence documenting that they are entitled to possession of a vehicle in order to claim it from police impound. Without additional information, it would be difficult to say definitively whether Harley Davidson Financial Services (HDFS) exercised any claims over bikes impounded after the Waco shootout. We attempted to contact HDFS to inquire about the issue but could reach only representatives waiting to talk to active account holders (not media contacts). It appears, though, that civil asset forfeiture (rather than lienholder repossession) is the likely fate of unreturned bikes impounded by Waco police. Three Waco Tribune articles examined whether motorcycles impounded at the scene would be taken from their owners for good. In an 18 May 2015 piece, the newspaper reported that owners might not be reunited with their motorcycles due to \"civil forfeiture procedures\": Even if the men bond out of jail, they likely won't be riding their motorcycles home. The motorcycles were confiscated as part of the massive law enforcement investigation, and sources say they likely will be seized and forfeited by McLennan County through civil forfeiture procedures and sold at auction. On 24 May 2015, the Waco Tribune published a far lengthier piece on the possibility that some of the bikes would be auctioned off. Titled \"Vehicle forfeiture efforts could be lucrative, but difficult in Twin Peaks shooting,\" that article provided local background regarding civil forfeiture practices for all cases in the district (dating back to at least 1989): It's possible some of the vehicles could be declared illegal contraband associated with a crime, and ownership transferred to the county through a process known as civil forfeiture. The collective value of the vehicles likely exceeds $1 million, assuming typical vehicle values. As of Friday afternoon, McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna had not filed any civil forfeiture notices with the McLennan County district clerk. Reyna declined through a spokesperson to discuss this or any other aspect of the Twin Peaks case. But Reyna is known for his aggressive pursuit of civil forfeiture, and defense attorneys are watching his moves in this case where so much property is at stake and so many owners are in jail. Yet another article published in the Waco Tribune, this one from 12 June 2015, quoted Waco Police Chief Brent Stroman, who provided an update regarding the then-current status of bikes that remained impounded. The paper again reported that some of the vehicles could be seized by police (not Harley Davidson) and sent to auction under extant civil asset forfeiture laws: A total of 130 motorcycles and 91 other vehicles were impounded from the scene that day, Stroman said, a number slightly above the original estimate. Of those, 52 motorcycles and 47 vehicles have been released to the owners, while 12 of the motorcycles and 3 of the other vehicles were released to the lienholders to be repossessed. Stroman said he did not know how many, if any, vehicles would be seized and put up for auction. Ultimately, it appeared to be true that some of the bikes remaining in police impound lots in June 2015 were fated to go to auction regardless of whether owners were current on payments at the time the bikes were seized. However, multiple local newspaper articles that covered the situation in depth described the potential repossessions as being within the scope of the Waco Police Department and not Harley Davidson Financial Services.","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1-mM89_qj8b_V2IR7y3-9uWr_-VEqbfIO"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=10lCKU5p2Y76CLK6ONdYEy945T7ezeX94"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1153","claim":"'Shark Tank' Keto Gummies Weight Loss Reviews Are a Scam","posted":"03\/14\/2023","sci_digest":["The cast of \"Shark Tank\" never endorsed any CBD gummies or keto gummies, despite a lie that scammers have promoted for years."],"justification":"One online scam that never seems to come to an end is the false claim that the cast of the TV show \"Shark Tank\" endorsed, invested in, or provided reviews for either CBD gummies or keto gummies for weight loss. For years, scammers have used the \"Shark Tank\" name to promote the misleading idea that the cast of the show invested in CBD gummies and keto gummies, even though no such episode ever aired. No one on the \"Shark Tank\" show has anything to do with CBD gummies or keto gummies. In this story, we'll outline everything we know about these scams and provide ways to fight back. Some readers may have seen scam ads about \"Shark Tank\" and keto gummies online, perhaps in Google search results or on Facebook or Instagram. Such ads also appeared in email messages, like the one shown below. These ads led to dubious articles branded with the logos of major publishers. However, those articles were written by scammers and hosted on scam websites. Here's how the seemingly legitimate-looking articles were created: scammers copied the designs of various news websites to fool potential victims into thinking they were reading from the publisher's official page. In the past, scammers replicated article layouts from ABC News, Fox News, Us Weekly, \"Today,\" People magazine, Time magazine, and others. The articles usually claim that various celebrities, including Oprah Winfrey, Ree Drummond, Kelly Clarkson, Tom Selleck, Kaley Cuoco, Melissa McCarthy, Wayne Gretzky, and the cast of \"Shark Tank,\" endorsed either CBD gummies or keto gummies, even though they had no involvement with the products whatsoever. In reality, the image and likeness of each celebrity were used without permission. Aside from the scammy ads, we often see numerous fake CBD and keto gummies reviews that use the \"Shark Tank\" name. These articles aren't really reviews; they're paid product pitches that appear as sponsored content. Outlook India, Tribune India, Mid-Day.com, and others all seemed to accept money in exchange for sponsored content articles that named \"Shark Tank\" alongside various CBD and keto gummies product names. In recent months, our reporters received word from some users who said they received bags (not boxes) of CBD or keto gummies products at their doorstep, despite having no recollection of ordering them. Some also reported that there was no charge on their credit card. It's unclear why people who hadn't ordered or been charged for the products were receiving them in the mail. Many of these users said that the return address on the package was for a nameless \"fulfillment center\" with a P.O. box in Smyrna, Tennessee, Tampa, Florida, or Las Vegas, Nevada. Typing \"fulfillment center\" into Google (without quotes) displayed the first search suggestion as \"fulfillment center smyrna tn,\" indicating just how many people were looking for help after being scammed. Unfortunately, more details about these \"fulfillment center\" addresses were not available at the time this article was published. It's unclear if anyone associated with these mailboxes or locations had any knowledge of or involvement with the scams. In the past, our reporters noticed that brand new CBD gummies and keto gummies product names popped up regularly, with no sign of a parent company or any other branding, as if such details had been omitted on purpose. It's possible that many of these products were the same and had simply been rebranded after previous product names received negative feedback. We also noticed that phone numbers on some product order pages for CBD and keto gummies are often missing or disconnected. Calling any working number leads to a generic, nameless customer service phone line. When calling these lines, the person on the other end declined to say the name of the company they worked for, nor would they provide any information regarding the name of the apparent call center. One additional aspect of the \"Shark Tank\" CBD gummies and keto gummies scams, as well as the scams that used the images and likenesses of other celebrities, was that many users told us they believed they would be charged around $40 for their order but were ultimately charged close to $200. From what we could tell, this information may have appeared in the fine print of the terms and conditions but was not mentioned at all on product checkout pages. After having difficulties getting in touch with the phone line for the product they ordered, users consistently reported being offered a 50% refund, something that apparently was part of the call center's script. In 2022, \"Shark Tank\" cast member Mark Cuban tweeted about the seemingly never-ending keto gummies scams, criticizing tech platforms that continue to accept money from scammers to allow ads promoting these scams. \"Does anyone really think keto pills work?,\" Cuban asked. \"Why would anyone take an ad for them with or without the fake endorsement? Where is the content filtering that we hear so much about? If a platform can't detect fake keto or CBD gummy ads, can they really detect anything? Or do they not care that mostly seniors are getting ripped off?\" The official \"Shark Tank\" website on ABC.com also published a page about scammers that use the show's name without authorization. \"The internet has become overrun with advertisements featuring products allegedly endorsed by 'Shark Tank' or the Sharks,\" the page read. \"Many merchants are using the names and images of the show and the Sharks in an attempt to sell their products. Unfortunately, with every new episode comes the opportunity for imposters to use false information to exploit the unwary. While many products claim to have been on 'Shark Tank,' that is not always the case.\" On the subject of gummy scams, this story would not be complete without mentioning two past court cases. In 2021, famed film actor and director Clint Eastwood won $6.1 million in a lawsuit after alleging that a Lithuanian company had used his image and likeness without permission to promote CBD products. The following year, Eastwood won another lawsuit, also related to a CBD promotion, for $2 million. Cannabis Law Report stated that the lawsuit had been filed against \"Los Angeles-based Norok Innovation Inc. and its CEO Eric Popowicz.\" If you believe you've been a victim of fraud, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) allows users to file a report. Additionally, if any readers find one of the scammy articles claiming \"Shark Tank\" or other big-name celebrities endorsed keto gummies, or find a product order page believed to be involved in the scam, the domain URL can be reported to its registrar. Simply visit godaddy.com\/whois and type in the website address. This form will display domain registration information for the website. Look for the \"Registrar Abuse Contact Email\" and \"Registrar Abuse Contact Phone\" to report the website to the company that allowed it to be registered. In recent years, we've often reported on these scams involving the \"Shark Tank\" name. We will continue to provide our readers with further reporting on this subject in the future. If any readers were scammed, we recommend bookmarking this page or emailing it to yourself so that you can revisit it in the future for further updates, as we plan to add additional information as it becomes available.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1NKJn3qKR6utCLUTGXpZCDEsc-QJgKiLZ","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ZuZy0Dj5S90YP1XRs6J2RAxyh9bbRNT_","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1FY26iy-4KmuOt54f1zGJa9SC3zORjRjB","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1154","claim":"Presidential Pensions","posted":"08\/14\/2008","sci_digest":["John McCain would not be eligible to draw a pension after serving two terms as president?"],"justification":"Claim: John McCain would not be eligible to draw a pension after serving two terms as president. Example: [Collected via e-mail, August 2008] Retirement - Mr. President A point to ponder ... A president's pension currently is $191,300 per year until he is 80 years old. Assuming the next president lives to age 80, Sen. McCain would receive ZERO pension as he would reach 80 at the end of two terms as president. Sen. Obama would be retired for 26 years after two terms and would receive $4,973,800 in pension. Therefore, it would certainly make economic sense to elect McCain in November. How's that for non-partisan thinking? Origins: We're not sure whether the above-quoted bit of electioneering about presidential pensions was meant to be taken seriously or whether it was intended to be light-hearted or sardonic, but regardless, its basic premise is incorrect. It is true in broad terms that since John McCain is twenty-five years older than Barack Obama (they'll be 72 and 47 years old, respectively, at the time of the next presidential inauguration), the former would probably draw a smaller aggregate pension as a former president than the latter would. (There are no guarantees, of course, since we never know what Fate might have in store for anyone.) It is not true, however, that if John McCain served two terms as president, he would draw no pension at all due to having reached the maximum age limit (80) by then. The pension payments allocated to former presidents are lifetime benefits and do not end or expire once a recipient reaches a particular age. Under the terms of the Former Presidents Act (FPA), former presidents are entitled to \"a taxable pension that is equal to the annual rate of basic pay for the head of an executive department\" (currently $191,300). This pension is a lifetime benefit that begins \"immediately upon a President's departure from office at noon on Inauguration Day.\" (Presidential widows receive lifetime pensions of $20,000 per year.) In fact, pensions constitute a relatively small fraction of the federal funds that are provided for the maintenance of former presidents, who also receive Secret Service protection, free mailing privileges, travel funds, and allowances to maintain and staff their offices. (Secret Service protection for presidents who began serving after January 1, 1997, is no longer a lifetime benefit and is now limited to ten years.) As the chart below indicates, these additional benefits typically add up to far more than the base pension amount: All of these expenditures on former presidents are but a drop in the bucket of the overall U.S. federal budget, which currently totals about $3 trillion per year. Since both John McCain and Barack Obama are members of the U.S. Senate, whichever one doesn't win the upcoming presidential election will still have a congressional pension to look forward to. Last updated: August 14, 2008 Sources: Alexander-Bloch, Benjamin. \"Former Presidents Cost U.S. Taxpayers Big Bucks.\" The [Toledo] Blade. January 7, 2007. Smith, Stephanie. \"Former Presidents: Federal Pension and Retirement Benefits.\" Congressional Research Service. March 18, 2008.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1kygxSGHcE7W8ORO4wwUdu1Uf-B-fn6M2","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1155","claim":"The Anne Frank 'Single Candle' Quote Is Fake","posted":"01\/14\/2022","sci_digest":["A quote attributed to Frank said: \"Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.\""],"justification":"For years, internet users have shared a fake quote that was attributed to Anne Frank that said, \"Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.\" Anne Frank Frank became a famous and important historical figure after her death in early 1945 for writing a series of works, most famously her diary, while she hid from Nazis during World War II. death a series of works  A statue of Anne Frank in Amsterdam, November 8, 1963. (Photo by Keystone\/Getty Images)  A Google search showed results for the fake candle quote with Frank's name on various websites, including AZQuotes, Goodreads, QuoteFancy, and QuotePark. AZQuotes Goodreads QuoteFancy QuotePark We also found a seemingly endless wall of quote memes on Google Images:  Courtesy: Google Images  According to Google Books, the quote has been printed and attributed to Frank in numerous works, the first of which appeared to be published no earlier than 2013. This would be a red flag in the case of any purported decades-old quote. According to Google Books Facebook was littered with the fake quote, including several posts made in early January 2022, the same time when this fact check was first published. was littered with the fake quote several posts made in early January 2022 In 2018, \"Harry Potter\" author J. K. Rowling tweeted the fake Frank candle quote: tweeted  Courtesy: @jk_rowling\/Twitter  The official Twitter account for the country of Israel once tweeted it: tweeted  Courtesy: @Israel\/Twitter  In fact, the fake candle quote spread so much across the internet that even the U.S.-based Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect once accidentally shared it by mistake: Anne Frank Center shared  Courtesy: @AnneFrankCenter\/Twitter  This fact check does not serve to fault any of the institutions that are dedicated to educating the world about Frank's life and the history of the Holocaust. Rather, perhaps the debunking of fake quotes such as this one could potentially inspire readers to share more of the genuine passages from her writing. Holocaust Anne Frank Fonds is a foundation that was started by Anne's father, Otto Frank. Before his death in 1980, he designated it as his \"universal heir and legal successor.\" Anne Frank Fonds A spokesperson for the foundation confirmed to us that the candle quote was fake and that there was no record of Frank ever having said the words, \"Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.\" We also did not find any trace of the quote in Frank's works, nor did we find if it had been misattributed from a different author. The spokesperson said that fake quotes are \"an ongoing battle\" and that \"new false quotes tend to pop up every so often.\"  Photographs of Anne Frank are on display at the Jewish Museum in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on October 21, 2020. (Photo by STR \/ AFP via Getty Images)  We previously debunked another fake Frank quote that read, \"Dead people receive more flowers than the living ones because regret is stronger than gratitude.\" There's no evidence that she ever said these words. debunked","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1mZCoBjXIak2BO8e1e5_Ss-JdgeICh32o","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1fJt34qssMfpsLnkQDH_pDRdTpA4BDF98","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1fctTGxsRHLDx4-fF0sD5BXkktXFXVgwn","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1m4Bo843THQWnpaT82VzS4dH7vPXxjMd_","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1N1Js0SyADmtvzAa8xe-oP-25TV-Dhqcd","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=14i6fbajO5dvueAPMJSuY8IbkxgGpeBNj","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1156","claim":"Was the military that Trump inherited from Obama considered weakened?","posted":"09\/26\/2020","sci_digest":["U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly exaggerated the \"depleted\" state of the military when he took office. "],"justification":"One claim that has often been repeated by U.S. President Donald Trump is that he rebuilt a military that was \"totally depleted\" by his predecessor, Barack Obama. Trump's grievance is based on a grain of truth: military spending was reduced during Obama's second term, but Trump's statements on the matter have combined distorted facts with outright falsehoods. The way Trump tells it, the United States military was in complete shambles when he took office. Over the years, Trump has made a variety of statements to perpetuate this notion. In one oft-repeated story, Trump illustrated his claim that Obama depleted the military by saying that the armed forces had \"no ammunition\" when he took office. In October 2019, for instance, Trump said, \"When I took over our military, we did not have ammunition.\" This is not true. The military did not run out of ammunition during the Obama administration (or during any other administration, as far as we can tell). In addition, Trump falsely claimed in August 2018, as he was signing the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2019, that the military had not received any money for years. Trump said, \"We've been trying to get money. They never gave us money for the military for years and years. And it was depleted.\" This, again, is false. In fact, approximately $600 billion was spent on the military in the year before Trump took office. President Trump has also mischaracterized his own military spending. On May 22, 2020, during a speech at the \"Rolling to Remember Ceremony: Honoring our Nation's Veterans and POW\/MIA,\" Trump claimed that he spent trillions on equipment: \"We've invested $2.5 trillion in all of the greatest equipment in the world, and it's all made here, right in the USA.\" This is not true. The $2.5 trillion figure refers to the total Department of Defense (DOD) budget that was passed under Trump\u2014comparatively speaking, Obama's budget during his first term was about $3.3 trillion and $2.7 trillion during his second term\u2014but only a portion of the DOD budget is spent on equipment. The amount spent on procurement, or the act of obtaining military equipment and supplies, varies from year to year, but it generally made up about 15% of Trump's total military budget. While Trump has told several falsehoods about how Obama supposedly \"totally depleted\" the military, there is some general truth to the idea, as overall military spending was reduced during the Obama administration. However, there is a bit more nuance to this issue than is often heard on the campaign trail. While the military was leaner during the Obama years, the Obama administration still spent trillions on national defense. Calculating an exact dollar figure for how much the U.S. spends on the military (and which administration is responsible for that spending) is a complicated proposition. The military budget covers a wide range of expenses across five military branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Space Force. One could also factor in money spent on the Department of Veterans Affairs, on overseas contingency operations, and on other security agencies, such as Homeland Security. Military contracts and budgetary plans also often overlap presidential terms, meaning that spending authorized under one president may end up getting spent under another. Furthermore, each president is faced with different domestic and global threats, which require different approaches and therefore different spending. Lastly, no president has sole discretion over military spending. For instance, sequestration, a provision of the 2011 Budget Control Act that passed Congress with bipartisan support, limited the amount that could be spent on the military. The \"green book,\" an annual budgetary analysis put out by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, shows that military spending greatly increased following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks during the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush. Spending continued to increase after Obama took office. In 2010, there was a slight decrease in military spending, and that trend continued until 2015. Spending increased again during Obama's final year in office and then continued to increase during Trump's administration. The following chart from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) takes a look at the United States' budget stretching back to the 1980s. The green line at the top of this chart is the United States budget for National Defense. Trump's military budget for his first four years (approximately $2.9 trillion) was more robust than Obama's budget during his last four years (approximately $2.7 trillion). However, it was smaller than Obama's budget during his first four years (approximately $3.3 trillion). The Marine Corps Times writes that the military the president inherited from Obama was not depleted or facing a massive readiness crisis, which resulted from massive underfunding in the Obama years. In fact,","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1zYiN5hen22ln5aB-0GB_oKd8FucJ3mLS"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1157","claim":"Did Ruth Bader Ginsburg Say that Pedophilia Was Good for Children?","posted":"02\/26\/2018","sci_digest":["A 1974 report co-authored by Ruth Bader Ginsburg about sex bias in U.S. law has been grossly misinterpreted."],"justification":"The language in a 1974 report that was co-authored by Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, has been analyzed and criticized for more than four decades. The piece tackled sex bias in the United States penal code. As these critics have devolved from scholars, to senators, to pundits, to conspiracy-minded web sites, to the lowly meme maker, the accusations against Ginsburg have grown more crude and distorted. scholars senators pundits web sites In February 2018, for instance, we came across a meme featuring an image of the Supreme Court Justice and a quote ostensibly uttered by her about pedophilia being good for children:     This is not a genuine quote from Ruth Bader Ginsburg. This claim is based upon a gross misinterpretation of another misinterpretation, which was itself based upon a simple misreading of a 1974 report entitled \"The Legal Status of Women Under Federal Law\" that was co-authored by Ginsburg, who at the time was a professor of law at the Columbia Law School. The other co-author was Brenda Feigen-Fasteau, a former director of the American Civil Liberties Union's women's rights project. The Legal Status of Women Under Federal Law In 1974 Ginsburg and Feigen-Fasteau published a report examining how federal law frequently employed gendered language. This report was used as the basis for the \"Sex Bias in the U.S. Code,\" a report published in 1977, which included a passage explaining the purpose of the study: Sex Bias in the U.S. Code The Constitution, which provides the framework for the American legal system, was drafted using the generic term \"man.\" While the United States Supreme Court, the ultimate interpreter of the Constitution, might have determined that \"man\" also means \"woman\" in terms of rights, duties, privileges, and obligations under the Constitution, the Court instead has chosen on numerous occasions to deny to women certain rights and privileges not denied to men. While explaining the \"equality principle\" and arguing that pronouns should be altered in the existing penal code so that both men and women were equally accountable for crimes against both boys and girls, Ginsburg quoted a proposed 1973 Senate bill as an example of legislation which used gender neutral language:   The 1937 Senate bill, S. 1400, in 1631, provides a definition of rape that in substance conforms to the equality principle: A person is guilty of an offense if he engages in a sexual act with another person, not his spouse, and (1) compels the other person to participate: (A) by force or (B) by threatening or placing the other person in fear that any person will imminently be subjected to death, serious bodily injury, or kidnapping; (2) has substantially impaired the other person's power to appraise or control the conduct by administering or employing a drug or intoxicant without the knowledge or against the will of such other person, or by other means; or (3) the other person is, in fact, less than 12 years old. It is the highlighted line that has been repeatedly misinterpreted and distorted over the ensuing decades. It appears that Ginsburg was first accused of wanting to lower the age of consent to 12 shortly before she was confirmed to the Supreme Court in 1993. This accusation reemerged in 2005 after John Roberts was nominated. Both Senator Lindsey Graham and Fox News host Sean Hannity, for instance, used this line to argue that Ginsburg was \"very left-wing\" and immoral: accused Lindsey Graham Sean Hannity HANNITY: I guess where I am on this, if you look at Ruth Bader Ginsburg, I mean, she -- the Ginsburg rule, she doesn't have to answer specific questions, clearly pro-choice going in, thinks there may even be a constitutional right to polygamy, has a controversial view we should lower the age of consent to 12, supports legalized prostitution, very left-wing. GRAHAM: Well, there are all kind of hearts. There are bleeding hearts and there are hard hearts. And if I wanted to judge Justice Ginsburg on her heart, I might take a hard-hearted view of her and say she's a bleeding heart. She represents the ACLU. She wants the age of consent to be 12. She believes there's a constitutional right to prostitution. What kind of heart is that? However, Ginsburg never actually said that the age of consent should be lowered to 12. Ginsburg's report was about changing gendered language, not the age of consent, in our existing laws. In the quoted passage, she was not arguing for or against lowering the age of consent; rather, she was quoting a proposed Senate bill as an example of how appropriate gender-neutral pronouns should be used. Ginsburg wrote that she used this bill because it \"conform(ed) to the equality principle,\" not because she agreed with the presented age of consent. Furthermore, Ginsburg mentioned another section of the penal code a few paragraphs earlier which referenced a different age of consent: 16. In both cases, Ginsburg's focus was on the gender of the victim, rather than the age, as her report was specifically concerned with gendered-language in U.S. law: 18 U.S.C.  1154 and 2032 make it a crime for a person to have carnal knowledge of a female, not his wife, who has not attained the age of sixteen years. [...] The \"statutory rape\" offense defined in these sections follows the traditional pattern: the victim must be a female and the offender, a male. Protection of the girl's virtue as an asset to be traded by her family at marriage time can no longer survive as a justification for such provisions. The immaturity and vulnerability of young people of both sexes can be protected through appropriately drawn, sex-neutral proscriptions. The claim that Ginsburg said that \"pedophilia was good for children\" appears to be the result of a decades-long game of telephone that started with a misreading of a 1974 report. It started in 1993, after Ginsburg was nominated to the Supreme Court, when this report was quoted out of context as evidence that Ginsburg wanted to lower the age of consent to 12. As this errant argument was reiterated by pundits such as Sean Hannity it morphed from a single out of context quote to an alleged personal belief at the core of Ginsburg's political views. When the \"Pizzagate\" controversy exploded during the 2016 presidential election, this rumor underwent another devolution as conspiracy theorists claimed that Ginsburg once wrote that she wanted to legalize child rape. Pizzagate claimed In February 2018, this rumor took one more step away from reality when a meme featuring a quote ostensibly uttered by Ginsburg arguing that pedophilia was good for children went viral online. Bader Ginsburg, Ruth.  \"The Legal Status of Women Under Federal Law.\"\r  Report of Columbia Law School Equal Rights Advocacy Project,  1974  (p. 71) Noah, Timothy.  \"Lindsey Graham's Smear.\"\r  Slate.  16 September 2005. Kalven, Josh.  \"Hannity Falsely Claimed Ginsburg Advocated Legalizing Prostitution, Lowering the Consent Age to 12.\"\r  Media Matters.  1 November 2005.","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=14zfYB60VhESgB5ELiux-Vq5zITbtBory","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1b8U9EbNZDE3zEu9rCXarq14viJDbuA_x","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1158","claim":"Is Michael Bubl\u00e9 'Retiring' from Making Music?","posted":"10\/16\/2018","sci_digest":["The Canadian singer-songwriter disclaimed a report quoting him as saying he would \"leave at the very top.\""],"justification":"In mid-October 2018, singer-songwriter Michael Bubl defused speculation generated by a newspaper interview that he would be bringing his career to a close. Bubl took a two-year hiatus from recording in the wake of his firstborn son Noah's October 2016 cancer diagnosis.  During an interview published in the Daily Mail's weekend magazine on 13 October 2018 that touched on the end of that hiatus, Bubl explained his reasons for recording his forthcoming new album in the wake of his son's battle with cancer -- and seemingly announced his retirement from the music world in a story hyperbolically headlined \"\"Michael Bubl QUITS Music Following Heartache Over Son Noah's 'Life-Changing' Cancer Battle as He Reveals He Is Done with Fame in Final Interview\": published \"One, because I felt a debt of gratitude, deeper than I can explain, to the millions of people all over the world who prayed for us and showed us compassion. That gave me faith in humanity.  \"Two, because I love music and feel I can continue the legacy of my idols. And three, because if the world was ending -- not just my own personal hell but watching the political turmoil in America and watching Europe break up -- theres never a better time for music.\" Then suddenly he stops. \"This is my last interview,\" he says quite solemnly. \"I'm retiring from the business. I've made the perfect record and now I can leave at the very top.\" But a few days later a spokesperson for Bubl told NBC's Today Show that \"He is NOT retiring. Definitely not.\" told Perhaps Bubl's comments about having given his \"last interview\" and \"retiring from the business\" were meant to be tongue-in-cheek in a way that was misunderstood or didn't come across in print, as Today suggested: Given Bubl's sense of humor, we detect a little sarcasm in his self-praise and retirement talk. At least that's the theory TODAY's Savannah Guthrie is subscribing to. \"You know, he's a pretty funny guy,\" she said when the topic came up on the show. \"Maybe he just saying (his new album) is so good, I retire!\" The Canadian singer and songwriter himself also dismissed the Mail's report during a subsequent interview: dismissed After stepping back into the spotlight following a 2-year hiatus, it seemed like a strange time for Bubl to announce his departure. Fortunately, his rep calmed fans' fears, telling E! News in a statement that plans of his retirement are \"not true at all.\" As further reassurance, the 43-year-old father of three put the speculation to rest in a new interview with SiriusXM's Fantasy Sports Radio. \"Just consider the source -- that's all I say to people,\" he told co-hosts Mike Dempsey and Bob Harris. \"My buddies wrote me. I said, 'Look at who said it.' C'mon, are you kidding me? I need the money. I'm not going anywhere.\" Bubl's new album, Love, is scheduled to be released on 16 November 2018.  Storey, Katie.  \"Michael Bubl QUITS Music Following Heartache Over Son Noah's 'Life-Changing' Cancer Battle as He Reveals He Is Done with Fame in Final Interview.\"\r  Daily Mail.  13 October 2018. Hines, Ree.  \"Michael Bubl Is 'Definitely Not' Retiring Following Son's Cancer Battle.\"\r  The Today Show.  15 October 2018. Hautman, Nicholas.  \"Michael Buble Laughs Off Retirement Rumors: 'I Need the Money.'\"\r  US Magazine.   16 October 2018. Schnurr, Samantha.  \"Michael Bubl Laughs Off Retirement Rumors: 'Consider the Source.'\"\r  E! News.   16 October 2018.\r","issues":["debt"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Ag8CG1rdFqMP1dh0YJTJu9_G1lK-A62P","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1159","claim":"Today, you have six financial institutions, the largest six, that have assets that are the equivalent of 60 percent of the GDP of the United States of America.","posted":"10\/06\/2011","sci_digest":[],"justification":"During an Oct. 4, 2011, interview on MSNBC, host Ed Schultz and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., discussed the Occupy Wall Street protests, which are targeting the financial services sector. Sanders offered a statistic designed to demonstrate the power of American banks.Sanders suggested that many of the protesters have not seen the president be as strong as he should be on Wall Street, saying they want the federal government to take tougher measures against financial-services companies.Ed, today, you have six financial institutions, the largest six, that have assets that are the equivalent of 60 percent of the GDP of the United States of America, Sanders said. (GDP stands for gross domestic product. )We wondered whether Sanders math was correct.When we contacted Sanders office, a spokesman providedtestimonyto a congressional oversight panel by Simon Johnson, a professor of entrepreneurship at the MIT Sloan School ofManagement. Our six largest bank holding companies currently have assets valued at just over 63 percent of GDP, Johnson testified, citing figures for the fourth quarter of 2010. This is up from around 55 percent of GDP before the crisis (e.g., 2006) and no more than 17 percent of GDP in 1995.We wanted to find the original statistics, and we located them in achartposted by the National Information Center, the federal repository of data about banks and other institutions for which the Federal Reserve has a supervisory, regulatory or research interest. The chart lists the 50 biggest bank holding companies as of June 30, 2011.Here are the top six and their total assets:1.Bank of America Corp., $2.264 trillion2.J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., $2.246 trillion3.Citigroup Inc., $1.957 trillion4.Wells Fargo & Co., $1.260 trillion5.Goldman Sachs Group Inc., $937 billion6.Morgan Stanley, $831 billionTogether, the top six companies assets were $9.495 trillion.For the second part of the equation -- gross domestic product -- we turned to the U.S. Commerce Departments Bureau of Economic Analysis.Though the time spans dont line up perfectly, we decided to use the GDP figure for 2010, the most recent full year. That figure is $14.527 trillion.Dividing these top banks assets by the national GDP produces a result of 65 percent -- which is actually a slightly larger percentage than Sanders had indicated, but certainly in the ballpark.To make sure we werent missing something, we contacted a few experts on financial services issues. They offered a few caveats:The comparison is a bit of apples vs. oranges.The banks asset figures are an aggregation measured at a single point in time, whereas the GDP figure is an aggregation of goods and services measured over time. This distinction is the equivalent to a comparison of your net worth with your personal income, said Lawrence White, an economist at New York Universitys Stern School of Business. Economists generally don't find these sorts of comparisons very useful or interesting. So the best that can be said is that these comparisons provide a rough sense of comparative magnitudes.The data are constantly moving.Several of these banks, especially Bank of America, have lost significant value since the figures were published in June 2011, said Satya Thallam, director of the Financial Markets Working Group at George Mason University's Mercatus Center. The denominator, GDP, is always changing, as well. So, any estimate is true for a specific point in time, but possibly out of date not long after its made.Banks overseas holdings significantly complicate the comparison.For starters, the comparison Sanders is making doesnt mean that these banks own 60 percent of the U.S. wealth, because some of these banks assets are in overseas holdings. However, Sanders appears to be on safe ground with his phrasing, since all he said was that the two dollar figures were equivalent.Potentially more problematic for Sanders is that the assets-to-GDP ratio for the top six bank companies in the U.S. are actually quite modest when compared to the biggest banks in other nations.A2010 study by J.P. Morganlisted the 25 biggest banks internationally in 2008, along with the percentages of their home countrys GDP. The highest was UBS, with 376 percent of Switzerlands GDP. And six other banks all had assets as large as their home countrys GDP -- Credit Suisse Group of Switzerland (218 percent), Dexia of Belgium (180 percent), Fortis of the Netherlands (155 percent), Royal Bank of Scotland of the United Kingdom (131 percent), Barclays of the United Kingdom (112 percent) and BNP Paribas of France (101 percent).All of these dwarf the combined holdings of the top six banks in the U.S., in part because Americas GDP is so much larger than the GDP of these other nations.The significance of this fact for Sanders assertion, however, is less clear.This doesn't tell us what is a proper or appropriate number, Thallam said. One might reply that other countries are much more concentrated, but that only means they're worse -- not that we're in a good position. Some scholars, he added, have said that even at current concentration levels, U.S. banks should be broken up because they create a too big to fail problem. On the other hand, people for years said that banking exhibited economies of scale, so consolidation was natural, Thallam said.Our rulingSanders math is correct -- in fact, the percentage he offers is actually a little low. And hes careful to say only that the banks assets are only equivalent to 60 percent of the United States GDP, not that the banks own 60 percent of the United States. Sanders doesnt note that big banks in other countries are far bigger, compared to their nations GDP, than the U.S. banks are. Still, on balance, we rate his statement True.","issues":["National","Financial Regulation","New Hampshire 2012","Occupy Wall Street"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1160","claim":"The average family (is) now bringing home $4,000 less than they did just five years ago.","posted":"03\/12\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Economic stagnation is an issue that has become a major talking point for both parties. Take President Barack Obamas most recent State of the Union address, in which he said that during the past four years, average wages have barely budged. We rated that claimTrue. Now, Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, has offered an even more ominous statistic for working Americans. The average family, he said in the March 8, 2014, weekly Republican address, is now bringing home $4,000 less than they did just five years ago. We wondered whether Portmans claim was correct, so we turned todata from the U.S. Census Bureau. The bureau collects data on family income and found that Portman is correct as long as the dollar amounts are adjusted for inflation. We looked at both the mean family income (that is, total family income divided by the number of families) and the median family income (the middle value when all family incomes are lined up from biggest to smallest). For the inflation-adjusted mean, family income fell from $87,312 in 2007 to $82,843 in 2012, the most recent year available. Thats a drop of $4,469, making Portman correct. In fact, he underestimated a bit. The difference is even more stark if you use the inflation-adjusted median. By that measure, family income dropped from $67,943 to $62,241 over the same period. Thats a drop of $5,702 -- an 8.3 percent decline over five years. So Portmans only shortcoming is to lowball the size of the family-income decline. We should note that choosing 2007 as the starting year maximizes the decline, since the last recession began in December 2007. But we have no quarrel with the use of this period, because when looking at income trends, it seems reasonable to look at how big an impact the recession has had. Well also note that Portman wouldnt be correct if non-inflation-adjusted figures are used. Without an inflation adjustment, both mean and median family incomes went up from 2007 to 2012 -- about 5 percent for mean family income, and 1.4 percent for median family income. But economists generally prefer inflation-adjusted data for situations like this, since the adjusted data takes into account the most important aspect of income -- what it can actually purchase. Our ruling Portman said the average family (is) now bringing home $4,000 less than they did just five years ago. According to Census Bureau data, the decline is even greater, making Portmans overall point even stronger than the data he offered. We rate his claim True.","issues":["National","Economy","Families"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1161","claim":"Gov. (Rick) Perry helped balance his budget with about $6 billion worth of federal help, which he happily took, and then started blaming the members of Congress who had offered that help.","posted":"04\/24\/2011","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Asked by a Dallas television reporter whether he agreed with Texas leaders that the federal government should take some governing cues from the Lone Star State, President Barack Obama said he saw a little inconsistency in that position. Keep in mind, Gov. (Rick) Perry helped balance his budget with about $6 billion worth of federal help, which he happily took, and then started blaming the members of Congress who had offered that help, Obama said during an April 18 interview with WFAA reporter Brad Watson at the White House. That so? We started our fact-check with Obamas budget claim. Adam Abrams, a White House spokesman, told us that Obama was referring to stimulus funds when he said Perry plugged the budget with federal aid. The roughly $800 billion federal stimulus package, named the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act by Congress, became law in February 2009 after receiving only three Republican votes, all in the Senate. State governments were the primary recipients of the money, although funds have also gone directly to entities such as schools, hospitals and utilities. The law specified that governors had 45 days after its passage to certify that their state would request and use the offered funds. On Feb. 18, 2009, Perry sent Obama the requisite letter of certification, assuring the president that the state would accept the funds and use them in the best interest of Texas taxpayers. According to a February 2009 PBSNews Houronline post, some stimulus money was meant to help states avoid slashing funding for education and other programs that lawmakers could trim to offset shortfalls. Abrams, asked for backup for the presidents statement, pointed us to the National Conference of State Legislatures, which in turn sent us its July 2009 report on state budgets. According to the report, state budget-writing Texas lawmakers in 2009 were short $6.6 billion in revenue for 2010-11 and relied heavily on stimulus funds for a solution. We did our own budget research, finding that lawmakers agreed to spend $80.6 billion in state general revenue on basic expenses over the two-year period, according to a report by the Legislative Budget Board, which advises lawmakers on budgetary matters. However, the stimulus aid let legislators put an additional $6.4 billion toward programs, primarily Medicaid and education, historically financed with general revenue, according to a July 2009 House Research Organization report. Another $5.7 billion in stimulus money went to programs such as highway and bridge construction, child care development programs and weatherization assistance. Counting all funding sources, including the $12.1 billion in stimulus aid, the 2010-11 state budget totaled $182 billion. So, Obamas dollar figure holds up. What about his claim that after accepting the stimulus money, Perry started blaming members of Congress who voted for the bill  almost all of them Democrats? We searched news archives and websites for such jabs.For the record, Perry has long aired anti-Washington, anti-spending rhetoric. A December 2007Austin American-Statesmanstory reported that Perry, while campaigning in Iowa for presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani, said President George W. Bush is not and he never was a fiscal conservative. Back to the stimulus: On Feb. 18, 2009, the same day Perry accepted the federal funds, the governor slammed the legislation as being full of pork and special interest handouts. On his campaignwebsite, Perry wrote: The Democrats think this bill will change our country's financial fortunes, but you and I know better. This administration is saddling future generations with an increasingly unbearable debt. He then urged readers to sign an online petition telling Washington that they are fed up with bailouts. In his letter to Obama accepting the aid, Perry said: As you know, I have been vocal in my opposition to this legislation because I believe there are better ways to reinvigorate our economy and believe (the stimulus plan) will burden future generations with unprecedented levels of debt. Perry also wrote that he opposed using these funds to expand existing government programs because the state would be burdened with ongoing expenditures long after the funding has dried up. (Elsewhere, Perry was quoted as saying that he welcomed federal dollars that could be used for one-time expenses.) During a Feb. 26, 2009, interview with conservative radio host Mike Gallagher, Perry criticized those members of Congress who had supported both the stimulus plan and the earlier $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, which helped shore up struggling banks during the financial crisis. He said: Voting for the TARP in my opinion is even worse than voting for the stimulus; and theyre both very bad... At least some of the stimulus money may actually get into the hands of people where it might accidentally do some good. Theres more. In an April 7, 2009, video posted on his campaignwebsite, Perry urged fellow patriots to attend tea party rallies planned for April 15 to let Washington know what you think about the bailouts, all this stimulus, all this runaway spending thats going on. And during speeches at tea party rallies that day, Perry said the attendees were sending Washington a message that we will not stand for our pockets being picked, our childrens future being mortgaged, our rights being taken away. Perrys criticism of Washingtons policies was not limited to Democrats. Running against U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in the last Republican gubernatorial primary, Perry frequently attacked her by calling out Washington. According to a Sept. 25, 2009,Statesmanarticle, Perry wrote in a fundraising letter, If Washington Republicans hadn't spent like Democrats for 12 years, they might have maintained enough votes to actually kill Obamacare. More recently, during a January 2010 speech in favor of a proposal to require Congress to balance the federal budget, Perry said that leaders in Washington  pour out your tax dollars on every challenge, blissfully ignoring the consequences of their largesse while they consign our children, our grandchildren to a life of unprecedented, unmanageable debt. We asked the White House for examples of Perry blaming the members of Congress who supported the stimulus plan. Abrams didnt offer any but told us that the president was pointing out the well-documented habit of those who criticize Recovery Act assistance while using those funds to balance a state's budget. Summing up: Obama said Perry happily took federal stimulus funds that helped balance the states 2010-11 state budget. Perry hardly sounded happy about it, but Obama is correct that he accepted stimulus money that was used to help balance the budget. As to whether Perry then started blaming members of Congress who had supported the stimulus legislation  well, not in so many words. And as we noted, Perrys criticism of the federal government had started long before. But Perry criticized the plan specifically and the policies of Washington in general, using rhetoric that painted Congress and the White House with the same big-spending brush. We rate the statement Mostly True.","issues":["State Budget","Stimulus","Texas"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1162","claim":"Some states, like Montana and Nebraska, are getting more than $300,000 in federal stimulus money per reported COVID-19 case. New York is the hardest-hit state and yet we are getting only about $12,000 per case.","posted":"04\/29\/2020","sci_digest":[],"justification":"New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whose daily press briefings on the state's battle against the coronavirus have drawn wide coverage, has extended his rhetorical reach through social media. On April 12, Cuomo took to Twitter to spotlight what he saw as a disparity in federal funding between New York and states with fewer coronavirus cases. Some states, like Montana and Nebraska, are receiving more than $300,000 in federal stimulus money per reported COVID-19 case. New York is the hardest-hit state, and yet we are receiving only about $12,000 per case, Cuomo tweeted. We need a fair federal stimulus bill that is distributed by need. The statement relies on a credible study of how one part of the federal funding is being divided among the states, though it glosses over the fact that it counts money going to health care providers directly, rather than to the states themselves. The number of coronavirus cases changes daily, and even hourly. However, at the time he made his claim, Cuomo was correct to say the difference between New York and the other two states was lopsided. New York has been hardest hit by the coronavirus. On April 12, the state reported a cumulative 195,031 known cases of the virus. Montana and Nebraska, which have far smaller populations, saw much smaller outbreaks of the virus at that time: Montana had 394 reported cases, while Nebraska reported 792. The money Cuomo is referencing comes from the $2.2 trillion federal coronavirus aid package passed in March, known as the CARES Act. While that bill earmarked $150 billion directly for state, local, and tribal governments, the breakdown Cuomo is referring to comes from a different provision that provides funds directly to hospitals and other health care providers. This portion of the CARES Act allocates up to $100 billion to health care providers. When Cuomo sent his tweet, $30 billion of that total had been distributed. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, providers have received money from the stimulus bill based on a formula that involves how much money they received from Medicare reimbursements in 2019 (excluding payments under Medicare Advantage, which works through private insurers). HHS estimated that these Medicare reimbursements amounted to $484 billion in 2019. Because HHS wanted to push the first $30 billion of coronavirus aid out the door quickly, it allocated the money based on providers' share of these reimbursements from 2019. In other words, the formula for this first stage of funding had nothing to do with the number of coronavirus cases a state was facing. Using these guidelines, Kaiser Health News, a PolitiFact fact-checking partner, calculated how much money providers in each state had received from the $30 billion. The publication based these numbers on a House Ways and Means Committee funds breakdown and New York Times daily coronavirus numbers. The analysis was originally published two days before Cuomo's tweet. According to Kaiser Health News' published analysis, hospitals and providers in New York state were due to receive stimulus money amounting to $12,000 per coronavirus case at the time. Providers in states with fewer cases, such as Montana and Nebraska, had received over $300,000 per case, according to the analysis. So Cuomo's tweet tracks what the Kaiser Health News analysis found, though it's worth noting that the total amount given to New York providers in this initial round, nearly $1.9 billion, was significantly more than what went to the other states: about $111 million for Montana and $225 million for Nebraska, according to the authors of the analysis. Jack Hoadley, an emeritus professor at Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute, told PolitiFact New York that the Kaiser study's methodology was sound. He added that later rounds should address this imbalance. HHS has said that the next wave of the $100 billion will take into account how many coronavirus cases each state has. This should respond at least in part to the concern raised by Gov. Cuomo, he said, though more information is needed before we can assess the dollars-per-patient metric down the road. Freeman Klopott, a spokesman for the New York State Division of the Budget, told PolitiFact that the tweet relied on information from a Kaiser Health News article and quoted it nearly word for word. There's no question that the facts are accurate and there is a disparity in the federal funding structure among states in this regard. Cuomo tweeted, \"Some states, like Montana and Nebraska, are getting more than $300,000 in federal stimulus money per reported COVID-19 case. New York is the hardest-hit state, and yet we are getting only about $12,000 per case.\" In the first round of funding for health care providers, New York state's providers received far less money per coronavirus case than other, less-affected states, according to a credible analysis. However, Cuomo's tweet addressed only one part of the federal funding, and it glossed over the distinction between states and health care providers in those states. The funding source Cuomo tweeted about sends money to providers, not the state. The statement is accurate but needs additional information, so we rate it Mostly True.","issues":["Federal Budget","Health Care","Medicare","Public Health","State Budget","States","New York","Coronavirus"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1163","claim":"Indeed, the campaign slogan of Kandiss Taylor is 'JESUS, GUNS, AND BABIES'.","posted":"02\/17\/2022","sci_digest":["The Georgia governor hopeful launched her Paint Georgia Taylor Red Bus Tour in February 2022."],"justification":"Curious about how Snopes' writers verify information and craft their stories for public consumption? We've collected some posts that help explain how we do what we do. Happy reading, and let us know what else you might be interested in knowing. Political hopeful Kandiss Taylor, who is vying to be elected Georgia governor, launched her campaign tour on February 17, 2022, and quickly became a trending Twitter topic after the GOP candidate was pictured alongside the words \"Jesus, guns, babies.\" The campaign slogan appears to have been first made prominent by political analyst Arieh Kovler, who said on Twitter that the phrase was a hell of a campaign slogan. A look at Taylor's official website proved that her campaign slogan indeed read \"Jesus, guns, and babies,\" with the added verbiage \"morality over money!\" A scroll through the South Georgia native's website also showed that she has served as an educator in the public school system for 19 years as a third-grade teacher, school counselor, testing coordinator, student-services coordinator, and homeless liaison. \"The welfare, education, and safety of our children are of utmost importance to me. I want to see the focus of our government move to issues that matter and impact our daily lives. It's time to move away from the manipulation of special interest groups. Money and power have no place in influencing our public servants,\" wrote Taylor. According to her website, those issues include a pro-life platform centered around gun rights, election reform, immigration, the economy, and education. Her website further stated: \"She is passionate about the working class, mental health, less government overreach, education, small business growth, gun rights, our farmers, the economy, right to life, and election integrity. Put simply, Jesus, Guns, and Babies!\" When asked what made her decide to run, she responded, \"I can't complain about what is going on if I'm not willing to do something about it. The Governor's budget is 60% education, and who better to clean things up than a public school educator who knows where and what to cut!\" Taylor took to social media on February 17 to announce her three-day campaign launch, \"The Paint Georgia Red Bus Tour,\" which features her \"Jesus, guns, babies\" slogan painted in bold letters outside of her campaign vehicle. As of this writing, tour dates past February 19 were not made public. Snopes contacted Taylor for further elaboration on her campaign platform. We will update the article accordingly if we hear back.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=13vm0w175cKaC2RD-qdxe56zUAo_aa5P5"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1164","claim":"Is This a Picture of Bill Clinton with Convicted Sex Offender George Nader?","posted":"06\/04\/2019","sci_digest":["Two different people sharing a name does not make them the same person. "],"justification":"A set of photographs showing former President Bill Clinton on vacation is frequently shared online by conspiracy-minded websites and social media users, along with the claim that the pictures show him with his arms around a convicted sex offender named George Nader. This rumor was first promulgated by proponents of the \"Qanon\" conspiracy theory in March 2018 after it was revealed that Nader, a key witness in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election, had previously been convicted on charges related to child pornography: Qanon   The images were subsequently picked up by websites such as True Pundit, The Event Chronicle,, and News Punch and posted in articles that alluded to some sort of nefarious activity involving Clinton, pedophilia, and the Mueller investigation. True Pundit The Event Chronicle News Punch Here's how True Pundit presented these images in March 2018: BUSTED: Muellers New Star Witness Against Trump Caught Partying at Exclusive Island Resort with Bill Clinton ... George Nader testified last week to the Mueller grand jury. Mr. Nader is an adviser to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan of Abu Dhabi, the de facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates. According to The Times, Mr. Mueller is investigating whether Emirati money found its way to the Trump campaign, which would be illegal. That sounds very official and all but perhaps Mueller might ask his new star witness in the Trump investigation what he was doing partying on an exclusive island resort with Bill Clinton. Especially when The Clintons have been caught helping fund the bogus Trump dossier which helped launch Muellers probe. Optics here. Very bad.   Interest was renewed in these images in June 2019, after Nader was brought up on another set of charges related to child pornography. A tweet from \"Praying Medic,\" a Twitter user described as a \"Qanon Researcher\" in the account's bio, was shared more than 2000 times: another set of charges Praying Medic   The above-displayed images are real, and they truly show Clinton posing with a man named George Nader. However, this is not the same George Nader who has a record of child-pornography charges and who was a key witness in Mueller's investigation. The man seen in this picture is actually an art entrepreneur who happens to share a name with the convicted sex offender mentioned in the Mueller Report. Mueller Report These images were taken in January 2017 during Clinton's vacation to Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic. A number of Spanish-language news outlets received the images and published them in articles about the former president's trip. Diaspora Dominicana, for example, reported at the time as follows: reported LA ROMANA, Dominican Republic.- The former president of the United States, Bill Clinton, is on vacation in the Dominican Republic. He is spending his vacations in Casa de Campo, La Romana, in the residence of his friend and fellow student Ronald Gonzalez Bunster, a renowned entrepreneur with great interests in the electrical and tourism sectors of the Dominican Republic. Many of the pictured individuals were identified by these news outlets, including the person to Clinton's left. While these outlets identified this person as \"George Nader,\" they also described him as an \"artistic entrepreneur,\" a description that does not fit the Nader involved in Mueller's probe, who is a businessman and lobbyist: identified businessman and lobbyist (Clinton) is spending his vacations in Casa de Campo, La Romana, in the residence of his friend and fellow student Ronald Gonzalez Bunster, a renowned entrepreneur with great interests in the electrical and tourism sectors of the Dominican Republic ... In the photos appears the artistic entrepreneur George Nader Ricardo Cheaz, Dominican businessman, of oriental descent. The note received by Accent, along with the photographs is very eloquent. It says the following: \"In Palmilla. Former President Clinton is on vacation. Playing golf and enjoying Palmilla with his Dominican friends.\" A family of artistic entrepreneurs with the surname Nader are active in the Dominican Republic. Georges S. Nader opened his first gallery in Port-au-Prince Haiti in 1966, and since then his family has expanded the business with galleries in Miami and Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. family of artistic entrepreneurs gallery George Nader the artistic entrepreneur shared one of these photographs to his Instagram page in January 2017:   We reached out to Nader's company, Nader Enterprises, to confirm it was indeed him in the photograph. The company told us via email that \"It's George Nader but not the pedophile!\" Nader Enterprises, The websites sharing these images as if they showed Clinton with a sex offender are basing that claim solely on the fact that the pictured man shares a name with an individual involved in Mueller's investigation. Two people having the same name is quite common, however, and does not make them the same person. Aleem, Zeeshan.  \"George Nader, One of the Trump-Russia Investigations Most Mysterious Figures, Explained.\"\r  Vox.  28 March 2018. Kaplan, Talia.  \"Bill Clinton Est Pasando Sus Vacaciones en Casa de Campo con Amistades Dominicanas.\"\r  Diaspora Dominicana.  7 January 2017. Kaplan, Talia.  \"Mueller Probe Witness George Nader Charged with Trafficking Child Pornography.\"\r  Fox News.  3 June 2019. True Pundit.  \"BUSTED: Muellers New Star Witness Against Trump Caught Partying at Exclusive Island Resort with Bill Clinton.\"\r  13 March 2018. Gerstein, Josh.  \"Mueller Witness Was Convicted on Child Porn Charge.\"\r  Politico.  16 March 2018.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=18P36eJWyXpT2RvOdj1yAqYM_UXSUNuRh","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1a2z2GGyul3DrOn8FXvK8vJs0UUsO0f-J","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=105kZTtDWSPNR5vpIFfua3sCEnzJE5hnn","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1eUNsuNI-u5uWj3A2fYM4PqcFJIsqTvRx","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1165","claim":"Are IV Drug Users Cleaning Needles by Poking Toilet Paper Rolls?","posted":"03\/08\/2019","sci_digest":["A single, unverified Facebook post is never a good reason to panic. "],"justification":"In March 2019, a number of social media users encountered a piece of text warning them to be extra cautious in public bathrooms because intravenous drug users purportedly were known to clean their needles by sticking them into rolls of toilet paper:   I took a HAZWOP class about 6 months ago and ever since then I always look at the toilet paper roll in a porta potty or public restroom before deciding to do my business. The instructor warned us about intravenous drug users cleaning their needles by stabbing the dirty needle into the roll of toilet paper to clean the blood off of the tip. This photograph and text was originally shared by Facebook user Gavin Aubert. The post racked up hundreds of thousands of shares, but was ultimately deleted after it attracted bots that flooded the comments section with spammy links. We managed to get in contact with Aubert's wife, who told us that her husband truly wrote the text, and that the photograph had been taken at a KFC in Federal Way, Washington.  deleted While Aubert may be relaying something he actually heard during a HAZWOPER class  Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response is a set of guidelines set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)  that does not mean that this practice is widespread. A spokesperson for OSHA told us that the organization had not heard of this practice. We received a similar response from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The Institute told us that concerned citizens should check with their local public health departments for more information, but, generally speaking, the organization had no evidence that drug users were cleaning needles by stabbing them into toilet paper rolls in public bathrooms.  A spokesperson for the Washington State Department of Health said that they were also unaware of any reports of drug users cleaning needles by sticking them into toilet paper rolls: We have never heard of this. This practice seems extremely unlikely because the tip of the needle could break off if one tried to stab it through a toilet paper roll. I'm not sure why someone would risk that if what they wanted was to use the same needle for another shot. Logically it would be much easier to wipe off the tip with some toilet paper rather than stabbing it through the roll. Here is the info on how someone would properly clean a needle\/syringe. info That said, the best public health practice endorsed by CDC and the US Public Health Service is to use a new sterile needle\/syringe for every injection. We reached out to the Federal Way Police Department but did not hear back by press time. As noted by the Washington Health Department, the method described in this viral Facebook post is not effective in cleaning a needle. Health officials also say drug users should never share needles as it puts them at risk of getting or transmitting disease such as hepatitis or HIV. HarmReduction.org also recommends against re-using needles in general: HarmReduction.org The only to definite way to avoid disease transmission of this sort is to never share needles, syringes, or other injection equipment. It is therefore extremely important for every injector to have his or her own set of works, and an ample supply of needles and syringes so that they never have to share or re-use their ownbut especially othersinjection equipment. Cleaning needles and syringes is a complicated process that, even if done according to the best scientific advice currently available, is not a 100% fool-proof method of avoiding harmful bacteria, viruses, and other blood-borne pathogens. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that drug users can reduce the risk of HIV by cleaning their needles in bleach, but this method still does not completely eliminate the risk. The CDC suggests that drug users find a local syringe service program (SSP) to obtain free sterile needles: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The best way to reduce the risk of getting or transmitting HIV through injection drug use is to stop injecting drugs. Talk with a counselor, doctor, or other health care provider about substance use disorder treatment, including medication-assisted treatment. To find a treatment center near you, check out the locator tools on Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) or www.hiv.gov, or call 1-800-662-HELP (4357). If you continue injecting drugs, never share needles or works. Many communities have syringe services programs (SSPs) where you can get free sterile needles and syringes and safely dispose of used ones. They can also refer you to substance use disorder treatment and help you get tested for HIV and hepatitis. Contact your local health department or North American Syringe Exchange Network (NASEN) to find an SSP. Also, some pharmacies may sell needles without a prescription. Other things you can do to lower your risk of getting or transmitting HIV, if you continue to inject drugs, include: Cleaning used needles with bleach. This may reduce the risk of HIV but doesn't eliminate it. In short, rumors about intravenous drug users cleaning their needles by stabbing them into rolls of toilet paper in public bathrooms were based on a single, unverified Facebook post. As of this writing, we have not encountered any evidence to suggest that this practice is widespread.    Are Fentanyl Users Cleaning Needles by Poking Toilet Paper Rolls? Harm Reduction Coalition.  \"A Safety Manual for Injection Drug Users.\"\r  Retrieved 8 March 2019. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  \"Injection Drug Use and HIV Risk.\"\r  Retrieved 8 March 2019. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.  \"Frequently Asked Questions: HAZWOPER.\"\r  Retrieved 8 March 2019. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.  \"Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER).\"\r  Retrieved 8 March 2019. Update [29 August 2019]: Added a variation to this claim concerning fentanyl specifically.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1BvY5i2zTegYGsq9xLyC2NXaOHT0Dq-nZ","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1166","claim":"A 50-50 public-private split for paying for a new Milwaukee Bucks arena would be much better -- in terms of the portion of the public financing -- than most of the other arena projects done around the country.","posted":"05\/29\/2015","sci_digest":[],"justification":"News broke on May 27, 2015, that an agreement was close on how to pay for a new $500 million arena for the Milwaukee Bucks, the basketball team that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar once led to glory. Some details of the proposed arrangement between the Bucks and state and local government officials were new, but the overall cost-sharing was, more or less, what had long been expected: the Bucks' owners would pay half, and taxpayers would pay half. According to Tim Sheehy, president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, such a split would be good for taxpayers. Here is what he said on April 10, 2015, on Here and Now, a Wisconsin Public Television show: \"If this comes out close to a 50-50 partnership, it will be much better\u2014in terms of the portion of the public financing\u2014than most of the other arena projects done around the country.\" In other words, Sheehy, who supports the new arena, is saying that taxpayers picking up half the tab for a new Milwaukee arena is relatively low compared to how much taxpayers have contributed toward arenas for other National Basketball Association teams. The parties set a self-imposed deadline of May 29, 2015, to try and finalize the financing deal, which would have to be approved, likely within the next few weeks, as part of the 2015-17 state budget. So, let's take a look. \n\nThe Bucks and their arenas: The Bucks joined the NBA in the 1968-69 season. Led by Abdul-Jabbar and another future Hall of Famer, Oscar Robertson, they won their only league championship in the 1970-71 season. That, according to the team, meant the Bucks went further, faster, than any expansion team in the history of major professional sports. In recent years, however, the Bucks have struggled, and that is one reason there has been a drive to build a new arena. The team's current home\u2014the $90 million BMO Harris Bradley Center, which was built through a donation by the late Milwaukee philanthropist Jane Bradley Pettit\u2014opened in 1988. The 18,600-seat arena is the third oldest and the third smallest in the 30-team NBA. Momentum for a new arena picked up in April 2014 when the Bucks' longtime owner, former U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl of Milwaukee, announced he was selling the team to New York hedge-fund investors Marc Lasry and Wesley Edens. Kohl and the new owners pledged to contribute $250 million toward a new arena. Coming up with the other $250 million has been the sticking point, leading to months of negotiations involving Gov. Scott Walker, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, and Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele. There is time pressure in that the NBA has said a new arena must be built by the fall of 2017, or Milwaukee would risk losing the team to another market. \n\nOther arena deals: To see how other NBA arenas have been financed, we turned to two sources: the 2012 edition of Financing Economic Development in the 21st Century, a textbook that includes a chapter on financing professional sports facilities, and a database last updated in August 2014 that is maintained by Marquette University Law School's National Sports Law Institute. We\u2019ve listed the 15 NBA arenas\u2014comprising half the arenas in the league\u2014that have been built since 1999. We went back to 1999 because a wave of NBA arenas\u2014seven of them\u2014went up that year. As we\u2019ll see, there is some disagreement between the figures provided by the textbook and by Marquette. Holy Cross College sports economist Victor Matheson, who wrote the sports facilities chapter in the textbook, told us that\u2019s not surprising because there are different ways to define a public contribution and because stadium financing deals aren\u2019t always transparent. Based on the two sources we checked, at least eight of the 15 NBA arenas built since 1999 were financed with more than 50 percent taxpayer support. Indeed, although there is some variation in the figures in the two sources, seven of the eight arenas were built with at least 82 percent public money (the total cost figures are according to the textbook). \n\nArenas built with more than 50% public money: \nNBA city | Year arena built | Total cost | Portion paid by taxpayers per the textbook | Portion paid by taxpayers per Marquette \nOrlando | 2010 | $480 million | 90% | 87.5% \nCharlotte | 2005 | $265 million | 100% | 100% \nMemphis | 2004 | $250 million | 100% | 83% \nHouston | 2003 | $235 million | 82% | 100% \nSan Antonio | 2002 | $186 million | 85% | 84% \nOklahoma City | 2002 | $89 million | 100% | 100% \nMiami | 1999 | $213 million | 100% | 59% \nNew Orleans | 1999 | $114 million | 100% | 100% \n\nConversely, the textbook and Marquette agree that only four of the arenas were built with taxpayer contributions of 50 percent or less. \n\nArenas built with 50% or less public money: \nNBA city | Year arena built | Total cost | Portion paid by taxpayers per the textbook | Portion paid by taxpayers per Marquette \nDallas | 2001 | $420 million | 50% | 30% \nToronto | 1999 | $265 million | 0% | 0% \nDenver | 1999 | $160 million | 22% | 3% \nLos Angeles | 1999 | $375 million | 16% | 19% \n\nThere was not agreement between the two sources on the public portion paid for arenas in Brooklyn, Indianapolis, and Atlanta: \nNBA city | Year arena built | Total cost | Portion paid by taxpayers per the textbook | Portion paid by taxpayers per Marquette \nIndianapolis | 1999 | $183 million | 100% | 43% \nAtlanta | 1999 | $214 million | 29% | 91% \nBrooklyn | 2010 | $637 million | 24% | N\/A \n\nOur rating: Sheehy said a 50-50 public-private split for paying for a new Milwaukee Bucks arena would be much better in terms of the portion of the public financing than most of the other arena projects done around the country. Of the 15 NBA arenas\u2014comprising half the cities in the league\u2014built since 1999, at least eight were built with more than 50 percent of the money coming from taxpayers. Seven of those eight were built with at least 82 percent public money. We rate his statement True.","issues":["Economy","Recreation","Sports","State Budget","Taxes","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1167","claim":"Elevate the height of the pie!","posted":"02\/26\/2003","sci_digest":["Is the 'Make the Pie Higher' poem composed of actual quotes from George W. Bush?"],"justification":"Claim:  \"Make the Pie Higher!\" poem is composed of actual quotes from George W. Bush.   Example:  [Collected on the Internet, 2002] MAKE THE PIE HIGHERby George W. Bush  I think we all agree, the past is over.This is still a dangerous world.It's a world of madmen and uncertaintyand potential mental losses.  Rarely is the question askedIs our children learning?Will the highways of the Internet become more few?How many hands have I shaked?  They misunderestimate me.I am a pitbull on the pantleg of opportunity.I know that the human being and the fish can coexist.Families is where our nation finds hope, where our wings take dream.  Put food on your family!Knock down the tollbooth!Vulcanize society!Make the pie higher! Make the pie higher! Origins:  We certainly didn't need to write a piece to inform the world that, like his father, President George W. Bush is not a strong public speaker.  Particularly when speaking   extemporaneously, he often uses words similar in sound but different in meaning to what he intends tosay (e.g., \"vulcanize\" for \"Balkanize\") or uses incorrect forms of words (e.g., \"resignate\" for \"resonate\"), garbles familiar phrases by transposing words (e.g., \"where wings take dream\"), and makes a variety of grammatical mistakes (e.g., \"how many hands have I shaked\").  The point here was not to rehash the numerous lists of \"Bushisms\" to be found in a variety of media, but to perform a sort of investigative experiment into the accuracy of information transmission in the Internet age. A common phenomenon in the world of the printed word is that once a public figure  whether he be an athlete such a Yogi Berra, an entertainment figure such as Samuel Goldwyn, or a politician such as Dan Quayle  acquires a reputation for spouting malapropisms, people quickly begin to put words into his mouth. All sorts of humorous misuses of words and phrases that sound like something that person might have said are soon attributed to him as something he \"really said\"; newspapers run the erroneous quotes without verification and are later cited as documented proof of their veracity, thereby enshrining apocrypha as  fact. Only when someone undertakes the chore of trying to track the quotes back to their sources are the misattributions discovered, usually far too late to dislodge them from the public consciousness. So, we thought we'd tackle a project to see whether the increased availability of information in the Internet age has had any effect on this phenomenon; whether quotes are less likely to be misattributed when nearly every utterance of a public figure as prominent as a presidential candidate is recorded and stored in one form or another.  As a test example, we chose the \"Make the Pie Higher!\" piece reproduced above (generally credited to \"Washington Post writer Richard Thompson,\" a satirist and illustrator who produces the \"Richard's Poor Almanac\" feature appearing in the Post's Sunday edition) and attempted to trace every statement listed therein to its source to determine how many of them were actually uttered by George W. Bush.  Our standard was that in order to consider a statement to be a genuine \"Bushism\" we had to find at least one major newspaper article that quoted the actual words spoken (rather than paraphrasing them), included specific information about when and where the statement was made, and was printed within a few days of the event at which the statement was offered. In this statistically insignificant non-random sample of one, we found that yes, the accuracy of quote transmission was remarkably high: All but a couple of the items in this piece could be reliably traced back to the mouth of George W. Bush. Here are the results:  \"I think we all agree, the past is over.\" In March 2000, Texas governor George W. Bush locked up the Republican presidential nomination, beating out his chief rival, Senator John McCain of Arizona, in a rancorous primary campaign marked by personal attacks and charges of dirty tactics on the part of both sides.  Two months later Senator McCain somewhat reluctantly endorsed Governor Bush for president during a joint appearance at the Westin William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh, where both men tried their best (somewhat unconvincingly) to assure the press that they had put their differences behind them: Both sides swapped charges of dirty campaign tactics. McCain aides accused Bush supporters of personal attacks, and Mr. Bush denounced McCain forces for suggesting that the governor was guilty of anti-Catholic bigotry. On Tuesday, the pair told some 200 journalists that they had discussed policy, not personal history. \"There's no point,\" Mr. McCain said. \"I hold no rancor. Others will be the judge of this campaign, not me.\"  Mr. Bush said the McCain challenge toughened him for the fall campaign against Mr. Gore.  \"We had a tough primary,\" Mr. Bush said. \"I told him point blank: 'You made me a better candidate.'\"  Later, on his campaign plane, the governor described the discussion as \"very cordial, very frank, very open.\" He added: \"I think we agree, the past is over.\"1 \"This is still a dangerous world. It's a world of madmen and uncertainty and potential mental losses.\" On the campaign trail in South Carolina while pursuing the Republican nomination in January 2000, Governor Bush spoke before 2,000 loyal Republicans at a well-attended oyster roast held on a plantation outside Charleston and mystified his audience when, during his discourse on the need for a strengthened U.S. military, he made reference not to \"mental\" losses (which itself would have sounded odd in the given context), but to \"mential\" (pronounced \"men-shul\") losses: During his visit to South Carolina this week, the first Bushism exploded as the governor painted a passionate picture of the military dangers facing the US, and the pressing need for protection against rogue missile launches. \"This is still a dangerous world,\" he told more than 2,000 supporters at an oyster roast. \"It's a world of madmen and uncertainty and potential mential losses.\" Bush's spokespeople could not immediately explain what a mential loss was, but it seemed only distantly related to missile launches.2 \"Rarely is the question asked, 'Is our children learning?'\" During that same South Carolina campaign swing in January 2000, Governor Bush committed another grammatical mix-up while wrangling a sentence containing both singular and plural subjects, this example occurring (with a modicum of irony) during the portion of his stump speech dealing with education: That's not to say Bush hasn't had his share of flubs. Part of his stump speech focuses on education. On Tuesday, talking to a crowd of several hundred at a cavernous civic center in Florence, S.C., Bush decried those who ignore educational programs that produce no results  inadvertently revealing a temporary shortcoming in his own grammar skills.  \"What's not fine is rarely is the question asked, are, is our children learning?\" Bush said.3 \"Will the highways of the Internet become more few?\" During his January 2000 push to win the first primary election of the campaign, held in New Hampshire, Governor Bush was asked to comment on the recently announced merger of media giants Time Warner and AOL, and he addressed concerns over its potential monopolistic effects with some unusual phrasing: When asked about the Time Warner\/America Online merger, the candidate took an unexpected detour on the information superhighway. The key question in considering the merger, Bush said, is \"will the highways to the Internet become more few?\"4 \"How many hands have I shaked?\" By October 1999 Republicans were noting Governor Bush's relatively rare appearances in New Hampshire and were beginning to question whether he had assumed he had the nomination sewn up and could afford to take the February 2000 New Hampshire primary for granted.   When reporters persistently questioned him about that possibility on 22 October 1999, during his first campaign swing through New Hampshire since early September, Governor Bush expressed the notion that the important factor was not the number of appearances he made, but the number of people he reached during those appearances: Asked repeatedly today about why he had not been around more, Mr. Bush at one point interrupted a reporter's question to say, \"The important question is, How many hands have I shaked.\"5 \"They misunderestimate me.\" The misuse of 'misunderestimate' for 'underestimate' seems to be one of  George W. Bush's more common elocutionary mistakes.  We can't pin down exactly when he used 'misunderestimate' for the first time in a public statement as a presidential candidate; the earliest print reference we could find appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times on 13 November 2000, but it didn't detail where and when he said it.  Nonetheless,  Bush was still using the word (and catching himself at it) after his inauguration as President, as demonstrated by this excerpt from a 29 March 2001 news conference: Look, it is in our nation's best interests to have long-term tax relief, and that has been my focus all along. I'm confident we can have it, get it done. I believe not only can we get long-term tax relief in place. Since our country is running some surpluses in spite of the dire predictions about cash flow, I believe we have an opportunity to fashion an immediate stimulus package, as well. The two ought to go hand in hand. Those who think that they can say, \"We're only going to have a stimulus package, but let's forget tax relief,\" misunderestimate ...  or, excuse me,  underestimate  just making sure you were paying attention  underestimate our administration's resolve to get this done ...6 \"I am a pitbull on the pantleg of opportunity.\" This line is a retrospective statement Bush uttered during an interview about his involvement in a partnershipthat bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in 1989: George W. Bush has frequently claimed to have cobbled together the deal to buy the Rangers in 1989. \"I was like a pit bull on the pant leg of opportunity,\" Mr. Bush said in a long interview about his past. \"And I just grabbed on to it. I was going to put the deal together. And I did.\" The initiative, Mr. Bush acknowledges, came from Bill DeWitt, a businessman and friend of the family. Mr. DeWitt had heard that the Rangers were on the market and wanted to recruit Mr. Bush as a partner to buy the team.15 \"I know that the human being and the fish can coexist.\" On Friday, 29 September 2000, Governor Bush was on the stump in Saginaw, Michigan, and deviated from his prepared speech to reassure the business community that he would not support the tearing down of energy-producing dams merely to protect threatened fish species, an issue he had recently covered while campaigning in the Pacific Northwest:    Friday, feeling the need to explain his statement during a speech on energy policy that he intended to maintain dams in the Pacific Northwest, he departed from his text and added, \"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully.\" He did not elaborate.7 Mark Crispin Miller noted in The Bush Dyslexicon that: This remark is striking not because it's silly but because it casts a threatened creature as a national enemy.  A relic of the Cold War, the phrase \"peaceful coexistence\" was a predtente Soviet coinage, meant to pitch conciliation between the world's two rival superpowers. \"Families is where our nation finds hope, where our wings take dream.\" Swinging through Wisconsin in mid-October 2000 en route to a debate with Democratic presidential challenger Al Gore, Governor Bush was discussing the importance of tax cuts to American families when he transposed a couple of words in a well-worn phrase: The Texas governor and GOP presidential nominee tangles up words often enough that he sometimes jokes about it, and the phenomenon has acquired a name  Bushism. On the campaign trail Wednesday, he let one fly: \"Families is where our nation finds hope,\" he said, \"where wings take dream.\"8 \"Put food on your family!\" On 27 January 2000, speaking in Nashua just a few days before the New Hampshire primary, Governor Bush was trying to illustrate the economic plight of single working mothers and again transposed (and omitted) a few words in the familiar reference to putting food on the table for one's family: At a breakfast meeting with the Nashua Chamber of Commerce, Bush illustrated his brand of compassionate conservatism by urging his listeners to put themselves in the role of a single mother \"working hard to put food on your family.\"4 Since these words are difficult to quote in the context in which they were offered, they were soon being rendered as the pithier \"I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family.\" \"Knock down the tollbooth!\" Governor Bush's misuse of 'tollbooth' for 'roadblock,' in reference to eliminating tax obstacles that prevent the working poor from joining the middle class, comes from his New Hampshire campaign appearances in January 2000, but contemporary reports don't seem to agree on the exact words he used  perhaps there was more than one such incident: Things must be good here, because the mere mention of tax cuts is not enough to get the crowd cheering. What they like is when Bush worries about the working poor; they applaud vigorously when he complains that a single mother making $22,000 is being penalized by the tax system. \"It's not fair!\" Bush exclaims. \"It's a tollbooth on the road to the middle class, and I intend not only to reduce the fees but to knock the tollbooth down.\"9  \"The hardest job in America is to be a single mom, making $20,000 a year,\" Bush declared at a recent Rotary Club lunch where he promised that as president, he would reduce the struggling woman's marginal income-tax rate and \"knock down her tollbooth to the middle class.\"10   Last weekend, fire marshals were actually turning people away from political rallies. At a high school near Nashua, you could see folks forlornly peeking in the windows, yearning to be let inside to hear George W. Bush call for \"a law that provides liability to teachers who enforce discipline in the schools.\" All the candidates are tired, but Mr. Bush's speeches are getting particularly unintelligible  at the same high school, he announced, \"I think we need not only to eliminate the tollbooth to the middle class, I think we should knock down the tollbooth.\" 11 \"Vulcanize society! \" At the very beginning of the 2000 presidential campaign, Ken Herman reported in a front-page story appearing in the 23 March 1999 edition of the Austin American-Statesman that Governor Bush had expressed his disdain for racial quotas as programs that \"vulcanize\" society: Sometimes this smooth operator is anything but. This was evident in a March 23 piece by Ken Herman, the Austin American-Statesman's chief Bush watcher, who wrote about the governor's \"2-step around hot topics.\" Mr. Bush says he's against \"hard quotas, quotas that basically delineate based on whatever. However, they delineate, quotas, I think, vulcanize society.\"12 In this instance Governor Bush of course meant to say 'Balkanize' (to divide a group into small, often hostile units) rather than 'vulcanize' (to improve the strength of rubber by combining it with sulfur in the presence of heat and pressure).  However, the issue was muddied a few days later when the American-Statesman reversed itself and issued a correction:  A front-page story Tuesday inaccurately quoted Gov. George W. Bush's position on quotas in college admissions and the awarding of state contracts. The story said Bush believes quotas \"vulcanize society.\" Bush actually said he believes quotas \"Balkanize society.\"13 Whether the reporter misquoted Governor Bush or whether Governor Bush really did say 'vulcanize' and the American-Statesman later printed an amended quote at the behest of his office is something we can't determine. \"Make the pie higher!\" This final item (a misstatement of the concept of putting more money into the hands of Americans by reducing taxes to grow the economy and enlarge the economic \"pie\" that everyone shares  i.e., making the pie \"bigger\" rather than \"higher\") is the phrase perhaps most often cited as an example of \"Bushisms,\" so much so that it was used for the title of the poem quoted at the head of this page.  And it is a real quote, something Bush said during the course of a 15 February 2000 Republican debate (moderated by CNN host Larry King) in Columbia, South Carolina, between Texas Governor George W. Bush, Senator John McCain of Arizona, and former Reagan administration official Ambassador Alan Keyes: The difference between our plans is, I know whose money it is we're dealing with. We're dealing with the government  we're dealing with the people's money, not the government's money. And I want to give people their money back.  And if you're going to have a tax cut, everybody ought to have a tax cut. This kind of Washington, D.C., view about targeted tax cuts is tax cuts driven by polls and focus groups. If you pay taxes in America, you ought to get a tax cut.  Under my plan, if you're a family of four in South Carolina, making $50,000, you get 50-percent tax cut. I've reduced the lower rate from 15 percent to 10 percent, which does this  and this is important. There are people on the outskirts of poverty, like single moms who are working the toughest job in America. If she has two kids, and making $22,000, for every additional dollar she earns, she pays a higher marginal rate on her taxes than someone making $200,000.  You bet I cut the taxes at the top. That encourages entrepreneurship. What we Republicans should stand for is growth in the economy. We ought to make the pie higher. This one initially posed something of a mystery to us, because transcripts of the debate prepared by the Federal Document Clearing House and CNN attribute the block of text quoted above to Senator John McCain, not Governor Bush.  However, the immediately preceding question had clearly been posed to Governor Bush, and newspaper accounts the following morning noted the \"make the pie higher\" comment as something uttered by Governor Bush: Bush, shedding his sometimes goofy demeanor, was as animated and forceful as he has been in any debate, punching the air with his fist to underscore his words. He scored points among the party faithful in calling for an end to the Clinton era in Washington  one of the money lines of the night. On taxes and bringing prosperity to struggling working mothers, however, Bush mangled one metaphor: \"We ought to make the pie higher.\"14 Moreover, at a Radio\/TV correspondents' dinner in Washington, D.C., a few weeks later, Governor Bush made humorous use of the item with no indication that the words weren't his own: Now most people would say in speaking of the economy, \"We ought to make the pie bigger.\" I, however, am on record saying, \"We ought to make the pie higher.\" As frivolous as this experiment may have been, let's hope it's a harbinger of more accurate information to come. Last updated:  21 July 2008    Sources:    7.  Allen, Mike.  \"Bush's Gaffes Are Back As Debates Near.\"   The Washington Post.  1 October 2000  (p. A8).    11.  Collins, Gail.  \"Savor the Moment.\"   The New York Times.  1 February 2000  (p. A21).     5.  Henneberger, Melinda.  \"New Hampshire Warns Bush, 'Don't Be a Stranger Hee-ahh'\"   The New York Times.  23 October 1999  (p. A12).    12.  Hunt, Albert R.  \"George W. Can Run But He Can't Hide.\"   The Wall Street Journal.  1 April 1999  (p. A23).     4.  Hutcheson, Ron.  \"Candidate George W. Bush Sometimes Mangles Words.\"   Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  29 January 2000  (p. A8).        Ivins, Molly.  Shrub: The Short But Happy Political Life of George W. Bush.   New York: Random House, 2000.  ISBN 0-375-50399-4  (p. 19). Shrub: The Short But Happy Political Life of George W. Bush     1.  Jackson, David and Wayne Slater.  \"Subdued McCain Endorses Bush.\"   The Dallas Morning News.  10 May 2000.    16.  Kristof, Nicholas D.  \"The 2000 Campaign: Breaking Into Baseball.\"   The New York Times.  24 September 2000.    10.  Leonard, Mary.  \"Fight Intensifies for Votes of Women.\"   The Boston Globe.  22 January 2000  (p. A1).     8.  Mason, Julie.  \"Campaign Notebook.\"   The Houston Chronicle.  19 October 2000  (p. A38).    14.  Miga, Andrew.  \"Tight S. Carolina Race Fuels Contentious Debate.\"   The Boston Globe.  16 February 2000  (p. 27).        Miller, Mark Crispin.  The Bush Dyslexicon: Observations on a National Disorder.   New York: W.W. Norton, 2001.  ISBN 0-393-04183-2. The Bush Dyslexicon: Observations on a National Disorder     3.  Miller, T. Christian.  \"With a Grin, Bush Answers Early Charges of Aloofness.\"   Los Angeles Times.  14 January 2000  (p. 20).        Smith, Zay N.  \"A Small Comfort Amid Election Snafus, Quarrels.\"   Chicago Sun-Times.  13 November 2000  (p. 26).     9.  Von Drehle, David.  \"12 Hours, 4 Contenders, Many Parallels.\"   The Washington Post.  15 January 2000  (p. A1).    13.  Austin American-Statesman.  \"Corrections.\"   25 March 1999  (p. A2).     2.  The Financial Times.  \"Bushed Again.\"   14 January 2000.     6.  The New York Times.  \"In Bush's Words: 'Both Sides Must Take Important Steps' in the Mideast.\"   30 March 2001  (p. A12).","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=11-kXkQVBiw_uagSTtTXhPHosvdX2_R2R"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1168","claim":"Were the M-16 Rifles Used During the Vietnam War Made by Mattel?","posted":"07\/08\/2002","sci_digest":["Guns are not toys."],"justification":"The M-16, a rapid-fire, 5.56 mm assault rifle carried by thousands of American soldiers during the Vietnam War, grew out of efforts to develop a replacement for the standard M-1 Carbine used during World War II. The M-16 (originally designed by Eugene Stoner of Armalite as the AR-15) was constructed using plastics and alloys and was a much smaller and lighter weapon than its predecessors, one that fit in with the developing Vietnam-era strategy of less emphasis on long-range accuracy in favor of more easily-carried weapons with rapid rates of fire. M-16, Hundreds of thousands of M-16s were supplied to U.S. troops in the mid-1960s as US Army made the M-16 their standard rifle: Example:  [Morgan and Tucker, 1987] The handgrip of the M16 rifle was made by Mattel. When the gun was first introduced in Vietnam, soldiers noticed the toy company's logo embossed on the handgrip and complained. Later shipments arrived without the imprint, but the grips were still manufactured by Mattel. However, the M-16, manufactured by the Colt Firearms Corporation (who bought the rights from Armalite in 1959), soon developed a reputation for unreliability, frequently jamming and fouling (especially when not kept clean, a next-to-impossible task in the dust and mud of Vietnam battlefields). Problems with the M-16 eventually achieved such prominence that a congressional inquiry was ordered, resulting in design changes, additional troop training, and other modifications that ameliorated many of the reliability issues U.S. troops were experiencing with the weapon: Since the mid-1960s, when at Gen. William C. Westmorelands request an earlier version of the M-16 became the primary American rifle in Vietnam, the reputation of the M-16 family has been checkered. This is in part because the rifle had a painfully flawed roll-out. Beginning intensely in 1966, soldiers and Marines complained of the weapons terrifying tendency to jam mid-fight. Whats more, the jamming was often one of the worst sorts: a phenomenon known as failure to extract, which meant that a spent cartridge case remained lodged in the chamber after a bullet flew out the muzzle. The only sure way to dislodge the case was to push a metal rod down the muzzle and pop it out. The modern American assault rifle, in other words, often resembled a single-shot musket. One Army record, classified at the time but available in archives now, showed that 80 percent of 1,585 troops queried in 1967 had experienced a stoppage while firing. The Army, meanwhile, publicly insisted that the weapon was the best rifle available for fighting in Vietnam. The problems were so extensive that in 1967 a Congressional subcommittee investigated, and issued a blistering rebuke to the Army for, among other things, failing to ensure the weapon and its ammunition worked well together, for failing to train troops on the new weapon, and for neglecting to issue enough cleaning equipment  including the cleaning rod essential for clearing jammed rifles. A series of technical changes sharply reduced (but never eliminated) the incidence of problems. Intensive weapons-cleaning training helped, too. To the troops in the field, the original M-16 was new, it was small, it was light, it was made of plastic rather than wood, and it often performed poorly to boot. It was no surprise that many of them started expressing their dissatisfaction by referring to it derisively as a cheaply-made \"toy,\" and that they associated it with the most prominent toy company of the time: Mattel, the Hawthorne, California, toy manufacturer famous for introducing the Barbie doll to the world: Mattel One of the sayings soldiers had about the M16 was, \"You can tell it's Mattel\" which was a toy company's slogan at the time  the gun had a lot of plastic parts, which can't stand up to the vibrations like wood can but it is cheap. The Mattel legend was undoubtedly fed by the fact that Mattel really did sell an  M-16 Marauder toy gun in the mid-1960s, a quite good reproduction of the actual weapon, complete with \"realistic\" sound effects:  M-16 Marauder     The sardonic joke about problem-plagued M-16s being toys morphed into a legend about their really having been produced by a toy company, with \"proof\" offered in the additional detail of soldier's spotting M-16 handgrips embossed with the Mattel logo. The redesign that improved the M-16's reliability was then attributed to a switch in manufacturers (to a \"real\" gun company) prompted by soldier complaints. Chivers, C.J. \"How Reliable Is the M-16 Rifle?\"\rThe New York Times. 2 November 2009. Morgan, Hal and Tucker, Kerry. More Rumor!\rNew York: Penguin Books, 1987. ISBN 0-14-009720-1 (pp. 175-176).","issues":["liability"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1S35eF8efEgnLIS3YjN4Z67Mrws2ulyAE","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1assqQuf49kfaB5a2Md3uUG3vxQKWyUu6","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1169","claim":"Is there a provision in Biden's climate plan to reduce red meat consumption by 90%?","posted":"04\/25\/2021","sci_digest":["One way to smear a plan that is light on details is to make up your own objectionable details to tweet about."],"justification":"On April 22, 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden gave remarks at the \"Virtual Leaders Summit on Climate\" in which he framed a nationwide effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions as an opportunity for \"millions of good-paying, middle-class, union jobs.\" By investing in these new jobs, Biden said, he hopes the United States can cut its greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030:  Joe Biden remarks The United States isnt waiting. We are resolving to take action  not only the  our federal government, but our cities and our states all across our country; small businesses, large businesses, large corporations; American workers in every field. I see an opportunity to create millions of good-paying, middle-class, union jobs. I see line workers laying thousands of miles of transmission lines for a clean, modern, resilient grid. I see workers capping hundreds of thousands of abandoned oil and gas wells that need to be cleaned up, and abandoned coal mines that need to be reclaimed, putting a stop to the methane leaks and protecting the health of our communities. I see auto workers building the next generation of electric vehicles, and electricians installing nationwide for 500,000 charging stations along our highways. I see  engineers and the construction workers building new carbon capture and green hydrogen plants to forge cleaner steel and cement and produce clean power. I see farmers deploying cutting-edge tools to make soil of our  of our Heartland the next frontier in carbon innovation. By maintaining those investments and putting these people to work, the United States sets out on the road to cut greenhouse gases in half  in half by the end of this decade. Thats where were headed as a nation, and thats what we can do if we take action to build an economy thats not only more prosperous, but healthier, fairer, and cleaner for the entire planet. At no point in this speech did Biden announce any initiative to impose a limit on red meat consumption. At no point in his presidency has Biden suggested policies aimed at limiting red meat consumption. Despite these facts, right-wing news outlets and politicians began aggressively repeating the claim that Biden's plan included \"cutting 90% of red meat from our diets by 2030.\" This false notion stems from the British tabloid the Daily Mail, which  in lieu of actual details the Biden administration has not yet provided  took it upon themselves to speculate about what terrible things \"could\" be theoretically included in the plan: to speculate   The Daily Mail cited a report published by the University of Michigan Center for Sustainable Systems that looked, in extremely simplified terms, how much of a reduction would result from various dietary changes. As reported by the Center for Biological Diversity, the researchers concluded: reported That replacing half of all animal-based foods with plant-based alternatives would reduce diet-related emissions by 35%. And if half of all animal-based foods were replaced with plant-based alternatives and beef consumption fell by 90%, dietary emissions would drop by 51%. If American diets remain unchanged, emissions associated with producing the food we eat will climb 9% by 2030. The University of Michigan exercise is, in their words, \"reliant on a number of simplifying assumptions\" and designed to show the impact of various diet change scenarios on climate. It is not, in any way, a policy suggestion or proposal. As you may recall, the Biden announcement was about green jobs and did not once mention initiatives to change the diet of Americans. Despite this, Biden's critics used the Daily Mail's baseless speculation as if it were actual scientific analysis of a plan whose details Biden has not yet released. their words Former Fox News pundit Todd Starnes argued on his show that the January 2020 Michigan study was actually an analysis of a Biden plan that, at the time of this reporting in April 2021, has not been released: argued   The claim that Biden's plan includes this 90% red meat reduction is often paired with a Fox News screen capture: often paired   As it is clear by the citation, this information comes from the same University of Michigan study the Daily Mail relied on to speculate about potential paths to carbon emission reductions. It is not, as suggested, a \"requirement\" for Biden's climate plan. Fox's reporting made it all the way to the halls of Congress. On April 24, 2021, Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., asserted in a viral tweet that the Daily Mail's speculation was an actual policy proposal by Biden: viral tweet   Because the Daily Mail is a British tabloid and not involved in American climate policy discussions, and because Biden's plan has not yet been released, claims that it includes a policy that requires a 90% reduction in red meat are ","issues":["lien"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1euaqmYQg5Ztup7tbCyEuJUfE8WcL9OBF"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1lnB9QmV8M_XCMD5ZBu3Cqr71D5ItTLL4"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1tyfvA_YiRLnwO7uZ7fSwKYD3U7ZF2MRR"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1VSb95nl_Ki0BSuoQ-DrnWTtr5Vpdho0c"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1170","claim":"Photograph of Hillary Clinton Slipping on Stairs Circulated as Proof of Poor Health","posted":"08\/08\/2016","sci_digest":["Several right-wing web sites circulated a months-old photograph of Hillary Clinton slipping on some stairs as the 'latest evidence' that she is in poor health."],"justification":"On 7 August 2016, the web site The American Mirror published an article reporting that Hillary Clinton's \"health condition\" should be a \"major issue\" of the 2016 presidential race, along with two photographs purportedly showing Clinton being helped up a flight of stairs:  SHOCK PHOTO: Multiple staffers help unstable Hillary up stairs The questionable health condition of Hillary Clinton should be a major issue of the 2016 campaign. The latest evidence comes in the form of Clinton being helped up a set of stairs by multiple individuals outside what appears to be a home. The photographs received wider attention when they were shared by conservative commentator Matt Drudge on Twitter:  Other pro-Donald Trump web pages paired the above-displayed photographs with images of Donald Trump ascending stairs with ease: images Donald Trump on his way the presidency of the United States. Donald Trump on his way the presidency of the United States.  While the above-displayed photographs are real, they are not the \"latest evidence\" of Clinton's alleged poor health, nor are they by themselves indicative of any significant health problems. The photographs were originally published in February 2016, more than five months before they started circulating on various right-wing web sites. When Getty Images published their photograph, it was accompanied with a caption explaining that it depicted Clinton being assisted as she had just slipped while walked up stairs in South Carolina: slipped Democratic Presidential candidate, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton slips as she walks up the stairs into the non-profit SC Strong, a 2 year residential facility that helps former felons, substance abusers, and homeless move into self-sufficiency February 24, 2016 in North Charleston. The South Carolina Democratic Presidential Primary is held on February 27. Although these photographs were offered as \"proof\" that Clinton is in such poor health that she needs constant accompaniment while ascending stairs, several photographs of the Democratic presidential nominee ascending and descending stairs without help from anyone are not difficult to find: several photographs ascending descending  ","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1_VUfQt1fTsNSJyBVs9-f7ZEz2yrqKBWg","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1jzCkIGuP9TVAZD_eeOYgudt8xjvncPJj","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1bnwpOJmSJoxy7xMHhs65I84w7pHsc5l0","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1171","claim":"Did the #WalkAway Campaign Use Stock Photographs for People It Claimed Left the Democratic Party?","posted":"07\/25\/2018","sci_digest":["The founder of a viral political campaign claims memes featuring stock photo models instead of real people were not produced by the WalkAway Campaign."],"justification":"In July 2018, various websites reported that the social media hashtag #WalkAway represented a mass movement of people leaving (i.e., \"walking away\" from) the Democratic party. The #WalkAway movement was characterized as an answer to the \"blue wave,\" a belief shared by liberals that Democrats were poised to make major electoral gains in November 2018 midterm elections. websites reported answer blue wave The campaign was launched by New York resident Brandon Straka, who in mid-June 2018 created a video replete with dramatic theme music in which he presented himself as a former liberal who was \"walking away\" because liberal politics no longer embodied his values of \"unity, personal empowerment and love.\" The video was widely shared on social media, but as Abby Ohlheiser, who pens a blog about the Internet for the Washington Post noted, that following took place \"almost exclusively on the right-wing Internet.\" video noted In late July 2018 however, the #WalkAway campaign was criticized for sharing memes utilizing photographs of liberals who were purportedly personally testifying to \"walking away\" from the Democratic Party, but those memes actually employed commercial images of anonymous people provided by the stock photography site Shutterstock: Shutterstock Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, shared images of black people who had allegedly left the Democratic Party. They were actually models in royalty-free stock photos. pic.twitter.com\/FjfpZzv8mN pic.twitter.com\/FjfpZzv8mN  Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) July 23, 2018 July 23, 2018  Straka took to Twitter to say the memes were not authentic #WalkAway campaign material: These memes have nothing 2do w\/ the #WalkAway Campaign. Theyre being circulated by the left as evidence that #WalkAway is paid actors. ???So, in a rare moment of agreement, I am on the same page as those on the left- this is fake. These r not from the #WalkAway Campaign. pic.twitter.com\/nN3kNlBAsr #WalkAway #WalkAway #WalkAway pic.twitter.com\/nN3kNlBAsr  Brandon Straka (The Unsilent Minority) (@usminority) July 24, 2018 July 24, 2018  In an email, Straka told us he didn't know who created the memes, but that any official material from the #WalkAway campaign would bear specific branding: I dont know who created the memes. I first saw them within the last week. Anything officially released by the #WalkAway Campaign will bear our branding and trademark. Many people are excited and energized about #WalkAway, and in this excitement have created their own materials which are not approved or condoned by the official #WalkAway Campaign. #WalkAway will exist beyond social media but currently does not. It is an LLC, and will exist soon as a non-profit, but currently we are building toward this. It's unclear who created the memes, or whether they were shared by people who consider themselves associated with the #WalkAway hashtag movement. But verifying what materials and persons might have any \"official\" connection with the movement is difficult since the campaign exists mostly on social media, with Straka self-identifying in his social media profile as \"campaign founder\" and in a group hosted by him on Facebook. self-identifying group #WalkAway memes employing stock photographic images have been shared by at least one prominent conservative figure  Ginni Thomas, an attorney who contributes to the conservative Daily Caller website and is married to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas: Daily Caller   Noting that live Twitter tracking tool Hamilton68 (operated by the Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund) had recorded Russian bots and trolls helping to amplify the #WalkAway hashtag, some critics blamed Twitter for failing to quell the spread of Russian propaganda: Hamilton68 Walk Away is a scam created by Russian bots. In reality, I have never met a liberal who says, \"You know what, I've decided I hate people and their basic human rights. I think I'll become a Republican.\" https:\/\/t.co\/lb2VCeOVcm https:\/\/t.co\/lb2VCeOVcm  James Kosur (@JamesKosur) July 5, 2018 July 5, 2018  Ohlheiser, Abby. \"The #WalkAway Meme Is What Happens When Everything Is Viral and Nothing Matters.\"\r  The Washington Post.  2 July 2018. Kapur, Sahil.  \"Special House Election in Ohio Poses Latest Test of Blue Wave.\"\r  Bloomberg.  23 July 2018. Kosur, James.  \"Fake #WalkAway Ads Feature Images of People from Shutterstock.\"\r  HillReporter.com.  23 July 2018. This article was updated to include comment from Straka.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1LTNiYHwURiR2JZHHu-_hyqYIzDIkiTPB","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1172","claim":"FBI vs. Facebook Virus Lure","posted":"08\/04\/2008","sci_digest":["Information about the 'FBI vs. Facebook' virus lures."],"justification":"Virus:  FBI vs. Facebook virus lure. Real. Example:   [Collected via e-mail, July 2008]  Origins:  The \"FBI vs. Facebook\" mailings are new lures for an existing virus (rather than a new form of virus), but since they've garnered so much attention, we've created this separate entry for them. The mailings, which began in July 2008, typically arrive with a subject line of \"F.B.I. vs. Facebook\" and include the text \"F.B.I. Facebook Records\" with a link to what appears to be a news site.  However, clicking through on the link will initiate the download of an malicious executable (fbi_facebook.exe) onto recipients' PCs, while something like the screen shot shown above displays to trick users into believing they're merely visiting an innocuous news site. All of this camouflage is cover for propagation of the Storm worm, a virus which has been around for a few years and has been spread via many guises.  Because this particular incarnation invokes the name and symbol of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), that agency has issued a press release to warn the public about the misleading  messages: Storm press release FBI Warns of Storm Worm Virus The FBI and its partner, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), have received reports of recent spam e-mails spreading the Storm Worm malicious software, known as malware. These e-mails, which contain the phrase \"F.B.I. vs. facebook,\" direct e-mail recipients to click on a link to view an article about the FBI and  Facebook, a popular social networking website. The Storm Worm virus has also been spread in the past in e-mails advertising a holiday e-card link. Clicking on the link downloads malware onto the Internet connected device, causing it to become infected with the virus and part of the Storm Worm botnet.A botnet is a collection of compromised computers under the remote command and control of a criminal \"botherder.\" Most owners of the compromised computers are unsuspecting victims. They have unintentionally allowed unauthorized access and use of their computers as a vehicle to facilitate other crimes, such as identity theft, denial of service attacks, phishing, click fraud, and the mass distribution of spam and spyware. Because of their widely distributed capabilities, botnets are a growing threat to national security, the national information infrastructure, and the economy. \"The spammers spreading this virus are preying on Internet users and making their computers an unwitting part of criminal botnet activity. We urge citizens to help prevent the spread of botnets by becoming web-savvy. Following some simple computer security practices will reduce the risk that their computers will be compromised,\" said Special Agent Richard Kolko, Chief, FBI National Press Office. Everyone should consider the following:  Do not respond to unsolicited (spam) e-mail.  Be skeptical of individuals representing themselves as officials soliciting personal information via e-mail.  Do not click on links contained within an unsolicited e-mail.  Be cautious of e-mail claiming to contain pictures in attached files, as the files may contain viruses. Only open attachments from known senders.  Validate the legitimacy of the organization by directly accessing the organization's website rather than following an alleged link to the site.  Do not provide personal or financial information to anyone who solicits information.  Last updated:  6 August 2008    Sources:   Colker, David.  \"Don't Open 'FBI vs. Facebook' E-Mail, Lest You Loose the Storm Worm.\"   Los Angeles Times.  3 August 2008.    Durkin, Mike.  \"FBI vs Facebook Email Thread Has 'Storm Worm' Virus.\"    FOXNews.com.  30 July 2008.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ps8fJhDWnmiVaGumtF0_0ZKd6P-ur8rg","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1173","claim":"Is Kohl's Selling BLM Merchandise?","posted":"09\/18\/2020","sci_digest":["Anti-racism is not synonymous with the Black Lives Matter movement, and vice versa."],"justification":"In September 2020, readers asked Snopes to examine the accuracy of news reports and social media posts claiming that the department store chain Kohl's was launching a line of clothing themed around the movement against racial injustice and police brutality known as Black Lives Matter (BLM). On September 9, 2020, the website Shore News Network published an article with the headline \"Kohl's Stores Announce New Line of Black Lives Matter Clothing,\" which reported that \"Kohl's Department Stores, which operates Jersey Shore-based box stores, has announced a new line of Black Lives Matter and equality-based t-shirts that will be available for purchase in select Kohl's department stores. The shirts will be available on September 21st.\" On September 16, 2020, Twitter user @ElizabethKlave3 posted a widely shared tweet that read: \"I just called Kohl's and they confirmed that they will be selling BLM merchandise. I asked them if they were going to sell 'Back the Blue,' and they said no, not at this time. This is a shame, and they will no longer have me as a customer.\" Those claims contained a mixture of truth and falsehood. Kohl's did announce, on September 7, 2020, that it had collaborated with a local business near the company's headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to produce \"a line of tees for the whole family to support racial equality\": \"We've partnered with Cream City Print Lounge, a Milwaukee-area Black-owned business, to create a line of tees for the whole family to support racial equality. Mark your calendars for 9\/21 to shop the line in select stores and at Kohls.com. With this launch, Kohl's is proud to donate $100,000 to the National Urban League, which strengthens economic empowerment, equity, and civil rights.\" The T-shirts themselves do not appear to feature the words \"Black Lives Matter\" or \"BLM.\" A spokesperson for Kohl's told Snopes that the clothing would not feature the name of the movement itself and clarified, \"The collection is not affiliated with the Black Lives Matter organization.\" Photographs of some of the T-shirts being printed, which were posted on Facebook by local reporter Cassidy Williams, featured the slogans \"Black culture is not a trend\" and \"Racism is not cool,\" as well as the raised fist symbol, which has been used as a symbol of \"unity and solidarity,\" the BLM movement, and as a symbol of \"Black power.\" The T-shirt shown in the Kohl's announcement on September 7 also featured the same \"raised fist\" symbol with the words \"Justice, Respect, Change.\" On Facebook, Cream City Print Lounge advertised a launch party for its collaboration with Kohl's, and the graphic for the event featured T-shirts bearing the slogans \"Black culture is not a trend,\" \"Together we can create change,\" \"Peace, love, equality,\" and the raised fist with \"Justice, Respect, Change,\" but again, rather conspicuously, no T-shirts bearing the name \"Black Lives Matter\" or \"BLM.\" As a result, it's hard to argue that it would be more accurate to describe the forthcoming Kohl's line as \"BLM T-shirts,\" rather than \"T-shirts advocating racial equality.\" Anti-racism is not synonymous with the BLM movement, and vice versa, just as anti-racist rhetoric and symbolism should not be conflated with, or reduced to, the slogan \"Black Lives Matter.\" In this case, the company made that distinction explicit. Furthermore, the political and social atmosphere that prevailed in the United States in the autumn of 2020 was one of intense and widespread division surrounding acts of police violence towards Black people and the resulting protests. The BLM movement, in general, and the Black Lives Matter Global Network in particular, were the subject of a great deal of criticism, especially among right-leaning observers and supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump. Thus, the distinction between \"BLM T-shirts\" and \"T-shirts advocating racial equality\" could hardly have been more substantive. Nonetheless, the description of the T-shirts as \"BLM merchandise\" was clearly not arbitrary, and obvious areas of overlap existed between the principles and messages advocated by the broader BLM movement, on the one hand, and the collaboration between Kohl's and Cream City Print Lounge. Therefore, the mistake was an understandable one, but a significant mistake all the same. We issue a rating of \"Mixture.\" Shore News Network. \"Kohl's Stores Announce New Line of Black Lives Matter Clothing.\" 9 September 2020.","issues":["equity"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=12eB0ll8Ud03bJ8GO4yV-fqg2EjD7AobW","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1-LmFbQyhWnSUKEhIKvv5LrGisgNqxGv_","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1174","claim":"Did Study Find Vegan Diet Could Be Better for Dogs' Health than Meat-Based Diets?","posted":"04\/13\/2022","sci_digest":["Vegan diets were described by researchers as less hazardous for dogs than conventional or raw meat-based diets."],"justification":"Well-rounded vegan diets may be less hazardous and better for the health of dogs compared to conventional meat or raw meat diets, according to research published in April 2022. Pets are a multibillion-dollar industry. According to estimates published in 2018, there are 471 million pet dogs and 373 million pet cats worldwide, which sets the international worth of pet food sales at nearly 132 billion euros. Such high demand has a significant impact on the environment, particularly in the sourcing of the animal and agricultural products that make up pet food. Feeding pets is also a lucrative market. In 2020, the vegan pet food market alone was worth $8.7 billion in the U.S. and was expected to grow to over $15 billion in the next six years. Because pets and their nutrition represent large shares of both the economy and its production line, researchers at the University of Winchester in the U.K. set out to determine which diets are best for the health of pets. To explore the links between diet and health, the team advertised an online survey through social media between May and December 2020 and analyzed the data of more than 2,500 dogs included in the survey responses from the pets' guardians. Each dog had been living with its guardian for at least one year. About half were fed conventional meat-based diets, around one-third raw meat, and 13% were fed a vegan diet. The survey included questions about the dogs' health, such as veterinary visits, medications, and overall health disorders, and consulted both the guardian and a veterinarian on the dog's health status. \"We believe our study of 2,536 dogs is by far the largest study published to date exploring health outcomes of dogs fed vegan and meat-based diets,\" wrote the researchers in a news release. It analyzed a range of objective data, as well as owner opinions and reported veterinary assessments of health. It revealed that the healthiest and least hazardous dietary choices for dogs are nutritionally sound vegan diets. Figures show the three main diets fed to the 2,536 dogs included in the survey. Publishing their work in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS One, the team found that overall, dogs on conventional meat diets were less healthy than those on raw meat or vegan diets. Previously, it was thought that raw meat diets were linked to an increased risk of pathogen exposure, while vegan diets might result in nutritional deficiencies. However, when necessary hygienic and nutritional supplements were taken into consideration, both diets were, by and large, shown to be healthier and less hazardous to the canine consumer. In summary, when jointly considering health outcomes and dietary hazards, our results and those of other studies indicate that the healthiest and least hazardous dietary choices for dogs are nutritionally sound vegan diets, concluded the researchers. However, there are several limitations to the study that should be taken into consideration. For one, it could be the case that dogs given a raw meat diet were not necessarily healthier than those given a conventional diet, but rather that their guardians might have been less likely to take their pets to a veterinarian. Because the frequency of veterinarian visits was considered a health indication, this internal bias may have skewed the results. Furthermore, dogs given a raw meat diet tended to be younger in age than those eating other diets, which could further explain why they were deemed healthier. The study authors also didn't factor in the sex or breed of each dog, a limitation that may have influenced the results given that certain breeds are more prone to illness than others. Let's also look at the structure of the study itself. Participating guardians were asked to consider the main ingredients within their pets' normal diet, which means that a pet may not have been fed the identified diet exclusively, nor were treats or other dietary supplements excluded. It was also an opinion-based study in which respondents gave their thoughts on a dog's health in a non-standardized way. Additionally, because the survey was conducted online, this required that respondents have internet access and the time necessary to complete the survey, which may have excluded pet guardians of lower income statuses. Lastly, there is an inherent unconscious bias within the study structure, which means that a given guardian might have been expecting a better health outcome based on the preferred diet, and this expectation could have influenced how they responded to the survey question. While there is now scientific evidence to suggest that both raw meat and vegan diets are better than conventional diets alone, the study authors said more research is needed to determine which of the two is associated with better dog health outcomes. Dog guardians should ensure that all aspects of their dogs' nutrition are being met, regardless of primary diet preference. They should check pet food labels and consult with manufacturers to make sure that healthy practices are in place to provide nutritional soundness.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1VqJXyKrGwJ0qpEqInUEvjDy0FsXe1WNS","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1175","claim":"Was George Washington in favor of citizens being armed to resist the government?","posted":"01\/07\/2016","sci_digest":["Founding Father George Washington supposedly said that a free people need \"sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence\" from their own government."],"justification":"In January 2016, a quote attributed to first U.S. president George Washington, about the importance of an armed citizenry, started recirculating on the internet:  This statement had been making the online rounds for several years, but it regained popularity in January 2016 after President Obama announced new measures on gun control. announced George Washington never uttered the phrase in question. The first ten words (\"a free people ought not only be armed and disciplined\") are taken from the former president's annual address to theSenate and House of Representatives on 8 January 1790, in which he argued in favor of an armed citizenry and self-sufficiency in production military supplies as a deterrent to war: annual address Among the many interesting objects which will engage your attention that of providing for the common defense will merit particular regard. To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace. A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined; to which end a uniform and well-digested plan is requisite; and their safety and interest require that they should promote such manufactories as tend to render them independent of others for essential, particularly military, supplies. The proper establishment of the troops which may be deemed indispensable will be entitled to mature consideration. In the arrangements which may be made respecting it it will be of importance to conciliate the comfortable support of the officers and soldiers with a due regard to economy. A page dedicated to fake quotes attributed to George Washington on theMount Vernon web site addressed this passage as follows: addressed This quote is partially accurate as the beginning section is taken from Washington's First Annual Message to Congress on the State of the Union. However, the quote is then manipulated into a differing context and the remaining text is inaccurate. Although this meme does include a portion of Washington's first annual addressto members of theSenate and House of Representatives in1790, the majority of the quotewas never utteredby the Founding Father, and does not accurately represent his views on gun control. Nonetheless, its apocryphal nature doesn't hinder its continued reproduction as a genuine expression from George Washington: ","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1yBQ8Yz48N-AOYWIUbyljG7cF7WyS8jSY"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1rj1sfi21QWLho7uQsWnoe2ZW8zBX0SIe"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1176","claim":"Greg Comer Prayer Request","posted":"04\/25\/2017","sci_digest":["The lack of dates in prayer chains often causes confusion about the validity of such messages."],"justification":"A message requesting prayers for Greg Comer, a man who battled cancer for over six years, is periodically reposted on social media sites. Greg Comer has fought cancer for almost seven years, and the doctors are giving him only days to live. He is 41, married, and has two children, Jacob, 11, and Alyssa, 7. Jacob has asked his mom for a special request: for everyone to pray for a miracle for his daddy. He wants a prayer chain across the world. Please pray for Greg and help start this prayer chain for Jacob. Copy and repost, adding your city and state before posting to keep the prayer chain going. \n\nIt is true that Greg Comer, a 41-year-old North Carolina man, put up a years-long fight against cancer. Unfortunately, messages requesting prayers on his behalf are outdated, as Comer has since passed away. This viral Facebook message was first shared in January 2011. Comer fought the disease for another month before he died on February 26, 2011. Gregory Lee Comer, 41, of Lincolnton, won his battle and was welcomed into Heaven to be with the Lord on February 26, 2011. He leaves behind, but will see again one day, his loving wife Tina Hilton Comer (whom he called his angel, the love of his life); their daughter Alyssa Brooke Comer; and his son Jacob Carl Comer. He is also survived by his loving parents, Ernest and Sue Clemmer Comer; his brother and sister-in-law, Jeff Carl and Emily Albright Comer; his grandmother, Catherine Southerland; his brother-in-law, Kenneth R. Hilton; his brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Mark and Melissa Hilton Saunders; his father-in-law and mother-in-law, Tony and Juanita Hilton; nieces and nephews, Nick and Katie Sue Comer, Kensie, Kayla, and Brodie Hilton; and numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins. Greg, being the man he was, would want you not to mourn his loss but to rejoice for him. His concern would be for his family during this difficult time. Pray for them to have the comfort that only God can give, as his family and faith gave him the strength to battle for so long. Prayer chains are quite popular on social media, but they often contain incomplete, outdated, or inaccurate information. In many cases, such as this one, the lack of a date in the original message often fosters renewed circulation of information that is no longer current.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Z88v249XvrJlLkFr6WC9h19E_4AssGkb","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1177","claim":"Did Colonel Sanders Steal the KFC Original Recipe From a Black Woman Named 'Miss Childress'?","posted":"09\/13\/2019","sci_digest":["An intriguing rumor about cultural theft and fried chicken lacks concrete evidence but alludes to a deeper truth. "],"justification":"In September 2019, we received multiple inquiries from readers regarding an old story about the origins of the famous KFC original recipe  the blend of herbs and spices that went into creating \"Colonel\" Harland Sanders' original Kentucky Fried Chicken.  The African Diaspora Facebook page wrote: \"Meet Mrs. Childress. Colonel Sanders Stole His Famous Fried Chicken Recipe From A Black Woman Named Mrs. Childress. He later paid her $1,200 for her recipe. KFC is worth 15 Billion Dollars today.\" That text was accompanied by the following image:    On Sept. 3, a Facebook account with the name Glenn Dickens wrote, \"In case you didnt know. Meet Miss Childress, she died in poverty. She is the woman behind the original #KFC recipe. He took all her profits and made us think it was his recipe.\"    In recent years, this story has appeared in many other social media posts, memes, and articles, all of them claiming that the recipe that made Sanders rich and gave rise to one of the most popular fast-food chains in American history was initially stolen from a black woman (sometimes named \"Mrs. Childress,\" sometimes \"Miss Childress,\" and in some instances not named). posts memes articles Many iterations of the story hold that Sanders later handed over the relatively meager amount of $1,200 after getting pressured by the woman's family, and most posts include an image of an African American woman preparing fried chicken in a kitchen, describing her as \"Miss Childress.\" In reality, the image was taken from a 1920s magazine advertisement for Snowdrift shortening, one that played on racist and painfully outdated stereotypes of that era, and depicted the woman (named only as \"Sarah\") as an exemplar of the racist \"mammy\" caricature  a cheerful, black, female domestic servant to white families, especially in the segregation-era American South. magazine advertisement mammy  Source: University of Illinois    It's possible the image is a photograph, but it is perhaps more likely a painting, since the norm for popular American magazines in the 1920s  such as Ladies' Home Journal, where the \"Sarah\" advertisement was published  was for photographs to be printed in black and white, with illustrations presented in color. It's not clear who the woman depicted in the advertisement was or on whom she was modeled, so we cannot rule out the possibility that she was the \"Miss Childress\" described in the KFC memes.  Journ a l published Also, evidence is lacking in support of the main claim  that Sanders stole his famous original fried chicken recipe from a black woman named Miss Childress. A 2010 blog post claimed that: \"Ron Douglas in 'Americas Most Wanted Recipes' says that Sanders took his secret recipe from a black woman, one Miss Childress of Kentucky, whose family he paid $1,200 when they complained.\" However, Douglas' book does not, in fact, make any such claim.  post book We found no evidence to support the \"Miss Childress\" story in a newspaper archive that stretches back more than 100 years, and the prominent food writer Joshua Ozersky made no mention of Sanders' having stolen the recipe from a specific black woman, in his widely cited 2003 biography \"Colonel Sanders and the American Dream.\" biography The version of events presented there by Ozersky is the conventionally accepted one: Sanders set up a gas station in Corbin, Kentucky, during the 1930s, then began serving food there, including fried chicken. His food and hospitality garnered the gas station a good reputation among passing travelers, and he eventually converted the business into a restaurant and motel. Sanders settled upon a blend of 11 herbs and spices that went into making his fried chicken, and began using a pressure cooker to fry the chicken. In later years, he franchised out the use of his recipe to restaurants across the United States, and from there the iconic brand emerged. Sanders' decision to use a pressure cooker (rather than a pan or deep fryer) to make the chicken was arguably the key factor in the development of fried chicken as \"fast food\" and the extraordinary success of Kentucky Fried Chicken. This is a factor the \"Miss Childress\" memes and social media posts typically neglect, suggesting as they do that the success of Sanders and KFC was entirely attributable to the blend of herbs and spices used to season the chicken itself. According to Ozersky, for example, the use of the pressure cooker was considerably more important. As he wrote in his 2003 biography of Sanders: biography \"... What made the chicken great was the innovation of using a pressure cooker to make it. It's much less glamorous than any secret mixture of herbs and spices but far more important ... No one was going to start a fast food empire using cast-iron skillets, even if those were the best way to cook chicken. (And they are ...) It takes too long to make chicken in a pan and even the most colossal version hammered out by a southern smithy can only hold thirty pieces at a time at most.\" Sanders patented his pressure cooker process in 1966, writing in his application that the method he had come up with allowed a cook to create \"accurately controlled conditions of temperature, pressure, time, sizes of serving pieces, and amount and composition of breading used, for the purpose of producing superior taste, texture and appearance in the finished product.\" application While Ozersky cited no specific act of intellectual property theft on the part of Sanders, he did allude to the racial tensions and cultural appropriation involved in the development of fried chicken in the early 20th century American South, writing that Sanders embodied the following \"paradox\": \"Anyone who knew anything of the South knew that no Kentucky colonel would have cooked the fried chicken in a southern household; the chicken in prosperous southern households, particularly in the Colonel's era, was inevitably cooked by a black maid or family housekeeper. Colonel Sanders created an alternative reality in which the white planter not only ate the chicken but implicitly made it. Nothing could have been further from the truth.\" We also put the \"Miss Childress\" story to Psyche Williams-Forson, chair of the department of American Studies at the University of Maryland College Park, an expert in the interaction of food, cultural history and women's studies and author of the 2006 book \"Building Houses Out of Chicken Legs: Black Women, Food and Power.\"  book She told us she had found \"no direct evidence that Colonel Sanders 'stole' the KFC recipe from an African American woman,\" and had come across no information that indicated Sanders later paid the woman $1,200 under pressure from her family.  However, Williams-Forson emphasized that a history does exist of white entrepreneurs and chefs taking recipes from African American women and men, without giving them proper credit. She pointed to the example of Idella Parker, who was a long-time maid to the white cookbook author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, and later an author in her own right. In her 2006 book, Williams-Forson wrote: \"The cookbook, according to Parker, required 'months and months together' in Rawlings' tiny kitchen extracting the recipes from '[Parker's] hands and head.' [Parker] says: 'Many of the recipes in the book were mine, but [Rawlings] only gave me credit for three of them, including 'Idella's biscuits.' There were several others that were mine too, such as the chocolate pie, and of course it was me who did most of the cooking when we were trying the recipes out.'  \"In the end, Parker, whose many contributions made the cookbook a reality, only received an autographed copy. But of this she says, 'in those days I was grateful for any little crumb that white people let fall, so I kept my thoughts about the cookbook strictly to myself.'\" More broadly, Williams-Forson told us, \"some black women who performed domestic service had their recipes improperly 'borrowed.'\" She added: \"Given that throughout enslavement and long after, African American and white women often worked together in the kitchen instructing and cooking various recipes, it is quite difficult to make a strong assertion of whose recipe belongs to whom. The issue, however, is that African American women were never credited in cookbooks. How is this possible given the proven evidence of African American culinary skill?\" Despite the absence of documentary evidence to support the \"Miss Childress\" theory, Williams-Forson outlined the reasons why it should not be dismissed, writing to us in an email: \"This is not to say it did not happen. I am saying I did not find this evidence. And where might this evidence be uncovered? Would Sanders have acknowledged it? Might the African American family have kept a receipt? This is a needle in a haystack because it happened so often to African Americans, who were denied the opportunity to read and write, and thus were unable to document their culinary practices.\" Although we have found no evidence to support the claim, it is possible that Sanders did directly steal his fried chicken recipe from a specific African American woman, who may or may not have been named Childress. If he did, it is also plausible that no documentary evidence of that act of plagiarism ever existed, or that if it did, it has not survived. Alternatively, Sanders might have borrowed and taken elements of several fried chicken recipes, perhaps some of them invented by, or passed down or shared between, African American women  in the way that many recipes evolve and change over the years. \"Miss Childress\" might simply be a stand-in or symbolic victim in the wider legacy of appropriation and intellectual property theft that characterized much of the cultural relations between whites and blacks in early 20th-century America. Until and unless we obtain concrete evidence that clears up that uncertainty, we are issuing a rating of \"Unproven.\" 4AM News. \"Did Col. Sanders Come Up With the 11 Herbs and Spices or Miss Childress?\"\r 10 February 2017. Pilgrim, David. \"The Mammy Caricature.\"\r Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia, Ferris State University. 2012. Abagond.Wordpress.com. \"Colonel Sanders.\"\r 7 September 2010. Douglas, Ron. \"America's Most Wanted Recipes: Delicious Recipes From Your Family's Favorite Restaurants.\"\r Atria Books. 25 June 2009. Ozersky, Josh. \"Colonel Sanders and the American Dream.\"\r University of Texas Press. 2003. Williams-Forson, Psyche. \"Building Houses Out of Chicken Legs: Black Women, Food and Power.\"\r The University of North Carolina Press. 8 December 2006.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=182dZhnjGnQr97e3ZiDcU2F13ZzSaa56m","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1178","claim":"Do these houses belong to John Kerry?","posted":"04\/01\/2004","sci_digest":["An emailed item supposedly shows five homes owned by U.S. senator John Kerry and worth many millions of dollars."],"justification":"John Kerry, man of the common folk... he understands your pain, really... trust him\u2014dah, yeah\u2014right! The many homes of Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry: Fox Chapel, Pennsylvania (assessed value: $3.7 million); Ketchum, Idaho ski getaway\/vacation home (assessed value: $4.9 million); Washington, D.C. - Georgetown area (assessed value: $4.7 million); Nantucket, MA waterfront retreat on Brant Point (assessed value: $9.2 million); Boston, Massachusetts - Beacon Hill home (assessed value: $6.9 million). The total assessed value of all five homes is $29.4 million... and he sold this estate in Italy to activist actor George Clooney just before announcing his candidacy for president. I guess he thought it might not look right to the common man. ($7.8 million) Other foreign property ownership by John Kerry is unknown because he denied repeated requests for this information. Please e-mail this information to all your friends, family, and contacts. Class warfare is not right, but neither is being a hypocrite. This man wants to be our president while claiming that he relates to Joe Six-Pack and the common man. He wants to raise income taxes on the rich; well, guess what? He won't pay those taxes because he is already rich! He wants to make it harder for you to get rich by raising taxes on your income! Talk about snobbery and protecting his \"class.\" Please e-mail to at least five people. It's certainly no secret to anyone familiar with the U.S. political scene that Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts has a net worth of several million dollars, and that his wife, Teresa, could accurately be described as \"super wealthy.\" Mrs. Teresa Heinz Kerry was previously married for 25 years to the late Henry John Heinz III, a member of the founding family of the H.J. Heinz Company, and after his death in a 1991 plane crash, she inherited a Heinz family fortune estimated at over $500 million. John and\/or Teresa Kerry own several valuable properties in the U.S., including: a five-story, twelve-room brownstone townhouse (with six fireplaces, a rooftop deck, and an elevator) in Boston's Beacon Hill. This home is John Kerry's main residence and was assessed at a value of $6.6 million in 2003; a nine-room colonial home on a 90-acre family farm in Fox Chapel near Pittsburgh. This home is Teresa Kerry's longtime residence, where she lived while married to John Heinz and where she raised her three children. It is valued at $3.7 million; a ski\/vacation home located near the banks of the Big Wood River in Ketchum, Idaho, fashioned from a reassembled barn originally built in England in 1485 and brought to Idaho by Teresa Heinz Kerry's late husband. It was purchased for $4.9 million in 1988; a three-story, five-bedroom waterfront estate near the Brant Point Lighthouse in Nantucket's harbor, where John and Teresa Kerry were married in 1995. The beachfront property is valued at $9.1 million; a 23-room townhouse in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C., valued at $4.7 million. The aggregate value of these five homes is roughly $29 million, but the claim that John Kerry \"owns\" all of these properties is problematic. John and Teresa Kerry signed a prenuptial agreement and have kept their premarital assets separate. The Boston townhouse (which John Kerry mortgaged in 2003 to finance his presidential bid) is the only one of these homes that they own as a couple; the other four belonged to Teresa before her 1995 marriage to John Kerry, and some of them are even still listed under the name of her late husband. Also, according to the London Times, the Italian villa bought by actor George Clooney was sold a year before John Kerry announced his intention to seek the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination, and it was owned not by John or Teresa Kerry, but by Mrs. Drue Heinz, a relative of Teresa's through her marriage to John Heinz. The Hollywood star George Clooney has parted company with his long-time agent in a dispute over the purchase of a historic 5 million Italian villa. Clooney is reported to have been \"incensed\" when he discovered that Michael Gruber, who steered his career from the television medical drama ER to box office hits such as The Perfect Storm, had discussed a 175,000 fee for helping to arrange for the star to buy the house from Drue Heinz, the philanthropist. The widow of Jack Heinz, grandson of the American entrepreneur who first bottled 57 varieties of pickle, Heinz lives in Ascot, Berkshire, but in recent years she had turned the Villa Oleandra on Lake Como, north of Milan, into a writers' sanctuary. Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of the American classic The Scarlet Letter, stayed there in the 1850s. Family illnesses persuaded Heinz to sell the villa, situated in the village of Laglio, where the neighbors include Donatella Versace, the fashion designer.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1cNVKuvf3uEDBrbvPfpVV0Ki4KRB3uTz1"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=17JkWNEDAl07DfiWjgEPdODVsS-zh0G98"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1LAVBM4DFT8D8m4I6cSnsa7b9o208zip1"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1MvVZkH-Z3MoL4CgRsDs9dJy2ZGDR978e"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1pT7ITlzBEMGp6Nx_9SDVQm3v4ivocawp"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1m4ddgpcDeGWGTseoXD4Z6N1ZT9EWoqKB"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1179","claim":"When I talk about (raising the) minimum wage ... half of Republicansagree with it.","posted":"03\/07\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"One of President Barack Obama's signature issues at the moment is a push to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $10.10 per hour. \"It's such a popular policy,\" he said in a speech on March 5, 2014, \"that even Republicans have little quarrel with it.\" When I talk about raising the minimum wage, Obama said, \"not only is it good policy, but the majority of the country, including half of Republicans, agree with it.\" We wondered whether polling data backed up this claim. So we looked at independent polls taken recently that asked about the minimum wage. A review of the polling data suggests a more nuanced situation than Obama's claim indicates. Our first look at the data showed that a minimum-wage hike is popular among Americans broadly. For instance, when the CBS News-New York Times poll asked, \"Do you favor or oppose raising the minimum wage to $10.10?\" in February 2014, the poll found 65 percent support. That was actually down a bit from the 72 percent support registered in the January edition of the poll. Similarly, a Pew Research Center\/USA Today poll from January asked whether respondents supported an increase in the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour and found 73 percent support. But what about Republicans specifically? More than half of Republicans favor a minimum-wage increase, polls found, but in most of these polls, less than half of Republicans supported raising the wage to $10.10, the amount Obama is seeking. One poll that did not specify a target amount for the minimum-wage hike was conducted by Quinnipiac University. It asked, \"Would you support or oppose raising the national minimum wage, which is now $7.25 an hour?\" Among Republicans, 52 percent expressed support, while 45 percent said they opposed it. That provides some support for Obama's claim. But once respondents were asked by other pollsters about the $10.10 figure\u2014a roughly 40 percent increase from today's federal minimum wage\u2014Republican support sagged. The clearest example is a CBS-New York Times poll from February that asked, \"As you may know, the federal minimum wage is currently $7.25 an hour. Do you favor or oppose raising the minimum wage to $10.10?\" Republicans expressed 42 percent support and 54 percent opposition. Another clear example was an ABC News-Washington Post poll from December 2013 that asked, \"The minimum wage in this country is now $7.25 an hour. What do you think it should be?\" Among Republicans, only 21 percent favored keeping it the same or lowering it, but even fewer respondents\u20147 percent\u2014favored a minimum wage in excess of $10. Two other polls showed Republican support close to 50 percent, but falling just short. However, the differences were within the margin of sampling error\u2014it's possible that more than half of Republicans were in support of a $10.10 wage, though it is also possible that the actual support level was even lower than the official result. A CBS-New York Times poll from January that asked the same question as the February poll found that Republicans expressed 48 percent support and 51 percent opposition to a $10.10 wage. An NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll from December 2013 asked, \"I'm going to mention a number of different amounts and for each one, please tell me if you strongly favor, somewhat favor, somewhat oppose, or strongly oppose raising the hourly minimum wage to that amount.\" When presented with the $10.10 rate, 47 percent of Republicans expressed support. One poll clearly supported Obama's position. The January Pew Research Center\/USA Today poll found 53 percent of Republicans backing a $10.10 minimum wage, with 43 percent opposed. The significance of the $10.10 figure is not academic. According to a March 6 account in the Washington Post, early last year, White House strategists rejected the $10.10 figure, worried that it could destroy jobs and anger the business community just as the regulation-heavy Affordable Care Act was about to take effect. Instead, former officials say, the White House settled on a more cautious path, unveiling a $9-an-hour minimum wage proposal\u2014a target even lower than Obama had proposed during the 2008 campaign. However, the Post reported, the lower amount disappointed advocates for the working poor, as well as congressional Democrats, who were already pushing to set the $7.25 wage closer to $10 an hour. Over the past year, Obama reconsidered, casting off initial concerns in favor of unifying his party ahead of this fall's midterm elections. In other words, White House officials had long realized there was a difference in the degree of public support for a $10.10 minimum wage and a smaller hike, so it would be misleading for Obama to imply that majority Republican support for an unspecified minimum-wage hike means that Republicans automatically support the president's proposal to raise the wage to $10.10. Our ruling: Obama said, \"When I talk about raising the minimum wage ... half of Republicans agree with it.\" Republicans do support a minimum-wage hike if you don't specify a dollar figure. But once you mention the $10.10 target Obama wants, his case gets shakier. We rate the claim Mostly True.","issues":["National","Economy","Jobs","Polls and Public Opinion"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1180","claim":"Yes, NASA Is Launching 'Armageddon' Mission to Destroy an Asteroid","posted":"10\/08\/2021","sci_digest":["It's all in the name of \"planetary defense.\""],"justification":"As if from a scene in a doomsday movie, real life Earth-bound space experts will take to their workstations in November 2021 to launch a small, golf-cart-sized spacecraft into space with the hopes that it will knock a looming asteroid off of its orbit. Except in this case, the asteroid in question poses no imminent harm. The target is the near-Earth asteroid Didymos and its moonlet, Dimorphos, neither of which pose a direct threat to Earth. And its all part of a test mission to be conducted by NASA to test the capabilities for redirecting potentially hazardous asteroids in the future. NASA announced the upcoming Double Asteroid Reduction Test (DART) mission on Oct. 1 and news outlets like CBS dubbed it an Armageddon-like mission. But rest easy, there is no \"Dottie\" in sight. DART Armageddon-like mission  At the time of this writing, there are more than 26,000 near-Earth asteroids, nearly 10,000 of which are known to be larger than 450 feet and another 891 that measure a half-mile long. In the last month, NASA says that 14 known asteroids passed closer to Earth than the moon  a number that reaches 127 when counting back 365 days. Thats where NASAs Planetary Defense Coordination Office comes in. This branch is responsible for finding, tracking, and characterizing near-Earth asteroids and objects, and this marks its first attempt at what is called the kinetic impactor technique, which sends a spacecraft like DART to the path of an asteroid to change its motion. NASAs Planetary Defense Coordination Office DART is our first full-scale attempt to demonstrate that we can change the motion of an asteroid in space, potentially as a way of defending Earth against the hazard of asteroid impacts, said Tom Statler, a DART scientist, in a podcast interview. podcast interview Asteroids orbit the sun like our home planet does, and when they are in their solar orbit, they do not come near Earths orbit or pose a threat. Asteroids that are potentially hazardous are those whose orbits intersect with Earths. To find those potential threats, telescopes around the world consistently scan the skies and collect data ultimately compiled by the International Astronomical Unions (IAU) Minor Planet Center. IAU then determines whether a detected moving object is an asteroid, calibrates its orbit, and figures whether it has the potential to make contact with Earth.    The key is to be able to find the asteroids on those Earth-intersecting trajectories, find them well in advance of any collision, and to take steps years ahead of time, not to destroy the asteroid -- don't need to do that; in many cases, we wouldn't be able to -- but just to prevent that collision from happening. And that's what we're going to do with DART. We're going to demonstrate one technology to cause that deflection that, someday, if we need to, we might use this technology to prevent an asteroid from hitting the Earth, explained Statler. The half-ton spacecraft will spend the better part of a year transiting to the binary asteroid system, Didymos, which is made up of two asteroids that orbit around each other. Just as the sun holds Earth in its orbit, the half-mile wide asteroid Didymos holds its football stadium-sized moon Dimorphos in orbit. DART is expected to run into the side of this small moon at a high velocity of 4 miles per second to change the motion of the binary asteroid, eventually slowing down and tightening up its orbit around the larger asteroid. Orbits are like donkeys, you pull them one way and they go the other way. So that's an aspect of this. You hit the thing to slow it down and it ends up going around faster, explained Statler.  Four sequential radar images of Didymos and its moonlet taken in November 2003. NASA  NASA   Currently, no known asteroid has a chance of impacting Earth in a century, according to Statler, but there could be some we havent yet discovered, and science is finding new ones all the time. And because scientists have been observing Didymos for decades, this natural laboratory will help researchers to determine whether systems like DART can move an asteroid and if so, by how much.  Two views of the DART spacecraft. NASA  NASA   The images DRACO returns of the target asteroid Dimorphos, including the last-second glimpse of its own impact site on the asteroid, will be crucial toward analyzing the results of the DART test and understanding how the asteroid was affected, wrote NASA in a news statement. news statement DART is scheduled to launch at 10:20 p.m. PST on Nov. 23 aboard a SpaceX Falcon rocket and ill be live-streamed from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The spacecraft will intercept Didymos moonlet in late September 2022 when Didymos is within 6.8 million miles of Earth. And yes, it will be visible to ground-based telescopes. live-streamed  Schematic of the DART mission shows the impact on the moonlet of asteroid Didymos. Post-impact observations from Earth-based telescopes would, in turn, measure the change in the moonlets orbit about the parent body. NASA\/Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab  NASA   Sources DART. https:\/\/dart.jhuapl.edu\/. Accessed 8 Oct. 2021. Margetta, Robert. NASA Invites Media to Launch of Double Asteroid Redirection Test. NASA, 4 Oct. 2021, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/press-release\/nasa-invites-media-to-launch-of-double-asteroid-redirection-test. Moran, Norah. Ep 215: Redirecting Asteroids. NASA, 30 Sept. 2021, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/johnson\/HWHAP\/redirecting-asteroids. NASA to Launch Armageddon-Style Mission to Deliberately Crash into an Asteroids Moon and Test Planetary Defense. https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/nasa-dart-mission-crash-asteroid-moon-planetary-defense\/. Accessed 8 Oct. 2021. Talbert, Tricia. DART Gets Its Wings with Innovative Solar Array Technology and Camera. NASA, 11 Aug. 2021, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/feature\/dart-gets-its-wings-spacecraft-integrated-with-innovative-solar-array-technology-and-camera. Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission. NASA, 30 June 2017, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/planetarydefense\/dart. Planetary Defense. NASA, 21 Dec. 2015, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/planetarydefense.","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ucYZ_2pInOXxfKmiM6mmFNi6duhGoEQ7","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1KF2O3buSEUYnHoFjbybEbdpo-BkZJRMp","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1immESb-L-BYjl1qJa0K3W7niPaQ_kpTO","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1181","claim":"Does this viral image showcase prejudice based on race in cases of tax evasion prosecutions?","posted":"03\/15\/2019","sci_digest":["What do these four examples have in common?  Nothing of significance, as far as we can tell."],"justification":"One of the more unusual political memes we've come across presented four different cases of tax-related financial improprieties to suggest that tax-evasion prosecutions were somehow influenced by racial bias against non-blacks. However, the \"Tax Racism\" meme offered examples, not all of which were actual cases of tax evasion, so widely spaced in time and differing in circumstances as to be unhelpful in making any point at all about either tax fraud or race. Martha Stewart, the entrepreneur who rose to prominence as the author of books on cooking, entertaining, and decorating, was not charged with or imprisoned for non-payment of income taxes. Stewart was found guilty in March 2004 of felony charges of conspiracy, obstruction of an agency proceeding, and making false statements to federal investigators in a case related to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation into insider trading activity. On June 4, 2003, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed securities fraud charges against Martha Stewart and her former stockbroker, Peter Bacanovic. The complaint, filed in federal court in Manhattan, alleges that Stewart committed illegal insider trading when she sold stock in a biopharmaceutical company, ImClone Systems, Inc., on December 27, 2001, after receiving an unlawful tip from Bacanovic, who was then a broker with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated. The Commission further alleges that Stewart and Bacanovic subsequently created an alibi for Stewart's ImClone sales and concealed important facts during SEC and criminal investigations into her trades. In a separate action, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York obtained an indictment charging Stewart and Bacanovic criminally for their false statements concerning Stewart's ImClone trades. Stewart was sentenced to five months in prison and also settled a civil suit with the SEC by paying a $195,000 fine, a penalty that reflected four times the amount of stock value loss she avoided by taking advantage of inside information, plus interest. Stewart did engage in a dispute with the state of New York in 2002 over unpaid property taxes that she contended she didn't owe because she hardly spent any time in that state, and she was eventually ordered by a judge to pay $220,000 in back taxes plus penalties. But contrary to the false impression created by this meme, she was not prosecuted or jailed over that issue; the time she spent in prison was solely related to a later insider-trading case, not to tax evasion. By the mid-1920s, notorious Chicago mobster Alphonse Gabriel Capone was reportedly taking in nearly $60 million annually ($878 million in 2018 dollars) from a variety of illegal activities, primarily Prohibition-era bootlegging. Capone was dubbed \"Public Enemy No. 1\" after the 1929 Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, in which gunmen allegedly hired by him posed as police officers to murder seven members of a rival gang, leading to increased public pressure on the government to rein Capone in. Federal authorities had difficulty gathering sufficient hard evidence to convict Capone on any substantial criminal charges, so they took what was then a novel approach: Even if they couldn't prove Capone was making his millions illegally, they could prove he wasn't paying income tax on his ill-gotten gains. Despite his obviously lavish lifestyle, Capone never filed a federal income tax return and claimed he had no taxable income, reportedly boasting at one point that, \"They can't collect legal taxes from illegal money.\" He was proved wrong. IRS and Treasury agents gathered evidence that Capone had made millions of dollars in untaxed income, and the mobster was eventually indicted on 22 counts of federal income tax evasion. After conviction, he was sentenced in 1931 to 11 years in prison, fined $50,000, and ordered to pay back taxes in the amount of $215,000. Capone was released from prison in 1939 with time off for good behavior and retired to Florida, where he died in 1947 at the relatively young age of 48. In a literal sense, Capone was indeed jailed for non-payment of income taxes, but the tax evasion charges were essentially a proxy for prosecuting the mobster over the multitude of vastly worse and violent crimes with which he was connected, as well as the immense profits he derived from those criminal activities. Capone was by no means an otherwise upright and law-abiding citizen who was thrown in prison simply because he didn't pay his income taxes. At this point in our narrative, we need to distinguish between different forms of tax evasion. At one end of the spectrum are those who haven't engaged in any fraudulent behavior but simply didn't or can't pay their taxes for any number of reasons\u2014maybe they didn't plan or withhold prudently, they received poor financial advice, they had legitimate confusion or dispute over what constituted taxable income, or they simply overspent and ended up in debt. Although non-payment of taxes is a crime, the IRS will not usually seek prosecution in these types of cases and will instead work with offenders to facilitate payment of their back debts, rather than making repayment difficult or impossible by incarcerating them. At the other end of the spectrum are those who actively engage in fraud to evade the full payment of taxes: They fail to disclose their full income, hide financial transactions, claim deductions to which they are not entitled, disguise monies earned as something other than income, or otherwise file falsified tax returns. The IRS will, at their discretion, seek prosecution in egregious cases of these forms of tax evasion. Leona Helmsley, derisively known as the \"Queen of Mean,\" was a billionaire who, along with her husband, real estate investor and broker Harry Helmsley, owned a vast portfolio of real estate and other assets, including a chain of hotels and the iconic Empire State Building. Leona Helmsley, who once reportedly asserted that \"We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes,\" fell into the latter class of tax evader, falsely manipulating her personal finances, business expenses, and dealings with third parties to avoid paying immense sums of taxes. Some of Helmsley's luster was tarnished in 1986 when court documents and law enforcement officials said she had failed to pay sales taxes in New York on hundreds of thousands of dollars of jewelry she purchased at Van Cleef & Arpels, the exclusive Manhattan store. Two senior store officers were indicted on charges that they operated a scheme by which customers with out-of-state addresses could have their purchases recorded as being mailed to them, thus avoiding city and state taxes. In 1987, a series of adverse articles in The New York Post about the Helmsleys, set off by one of their disgruntled employees, led to a broad investigation. The following year, Harry and Leona Helmsley were indicted by federal and state authorities on charges that they had evaded more than $4 million in income taxes by fraudulently claiming as business expenses luxuries they purchased for Dunnellen Hall in Greenwich, Conn., a 28-room Jacobean mansion on 26 acres with a sweeping view of Long Island Sound that they bought in 1983. In 235 counts in state and federal indictments brought by Robert Abrams, then the New York State attorney general, and Rudolph W. Giuliani, then the United States attorney and later mayor of New York, the Helmsleys were accused of draining their hotel and real estate empire to provide themselves with such extravagances at Dunnellen Hall as a $1 million marble dance floor above a swimming pool, a $45,000 silver clock, a $210,000 mahogany card table, a $130,000 stereo system, and $500,000 worth of jade art objects. Nothing was too small or personal to be billed to their businesses, from Mrs. Helmsley's bras to a white lace and pink satin dress and jacket and a white chiffon skirt\u2014the dress and skirt were entered in the Park Lane Hotel records as uniforms for the staff. Mrs. Helmsley was also charged with defrauding Helmsley stockholders by receiving $83,333 a month in secret consulting fees. She was convicted of 33 felony counts related to her evasion of $1.2 million in federal income taxes. She was sentenced to 16 years in prison (reduced to four years on appeal), fined $7.1 million for tax fraud, and ordered to pay some $1.7 million in back federal and state taxes. She began serving her sentence in 1992 and was released from federal prison in Connecticut in 1994 after having served less than half her sentence. Where along the tax-evader spectrum between \"legitimate dispute\" and \"willful tax fraud\" civil rights activist Al Sharpton might fall is difficult to determine. Claims were made in the press in 2014 that Sharpton owed some $4.5 million in unpaid taxes, but the accuracy of that number and how much of the money owed might already have been repaid by Sharpton were unclear, and his tax-troubles narrative involved a muddied mixture of personal, business, and non-profit finances, as well as liabilities for federal taxes, state taxes, payroll taxes, and personal income taxes. Much of the dispute over the \"why\" and \"how much\" of Sharpton's unpaid tax bill stemmed from the operations of the National Action Network, a not-for-profit civil rights organization founded by Sharpton in 1991. Sharpton contended in a 2014 New York Times account that he incurred an unexpected tax liability because he was taxed personally for income he had given to the non-profit organization, and that he was up to date on repayment plans. Officials contested that the amount he was in arrears for unpaid taxes had actually grown larger, though. Today, Mr. Sharpton still faces personal federal tax liens of more than $3 million and state tax liens of $777,657, according to records. Mr. Sharpton said the federal liens resulted from a demand by the IRS that he pay taxes on earnings from speaking engagements that he had turned over to the National Action Network. He said he was up to date on payment plans for both the federal and state liens, so, he said, the outstanding balance was much lower than records showed. But according to state officials, his balance on the state liens is actually $220,000 greater now than when they were first filed during the years 2008 through 2010. A spokesman for the State Department of Taxation and Finance said state law did not allow him to provide any further details. Sharpton then contested that news account, asserting that it referenced \"old taxes\" and insisting again that his tax liens had been paid down below the $4.5 million debt claimed in the New York Times report. During a news conference at the headquarters of his National Action Network in Harlem, Mr. Sharpton sought to refute the assertion that there were $4.5 million in state and federal tax liens outstanding against him and the for-profit businesses he controls. He said that the liens had been paid down, although he declined to say by how much, and that he was current on all taxes he was obligated to pay under settlement agreements with tax authorities. \"We're talking about old taxes,\" he said, adding, \"We're not talking about anything new. So all of this, as if I'm not paying taxes while I'm doing whatever I'm doing, it reads all right, but it just is not true.\" The accuracy of Mr. Sharpton's assertion that the amount he owes the federal government is much lower than the $3.6 million shown in records could not be verified. A spokesman for the Internal Revenue Service said federal law prohibited the agency from divulging any details about individual taxpayers. As for the state tax liens, Mr. Sharpton's assertion that he had paid them down conflicts with information provided by state officials. State authorities filed tax liens against Mr. Sharpton in 2008 and 2009, and again in 2010 against a for-profit business he controls, Revals Communications, all totaling $695,000. But a spokesman for the State Department of Taxation and Finance said the amount due had actually increased to $916,000. Regardless of the numbers, Sharpton wasn't put in prison because tax officials did not deem his case to be an exceptional one of scofflaw tax fraud or evasion that merited prosecution, instead working with him to facilitate his paying down the debt. The conclusion here is a simple one: Cherry-picking four very disparate cases of financial wrongdoing spanning several decades, while ignoring the many other instances of tax evasion successfully prosecuted by the U.S. government, documents nothing about any purported racial bias in such prosecutions.","issues":["finance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1RcUMxoMnMTqiI214Tn8goNCUCpka8cEB"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1182","claim":"IRS Notice","posted":"11\/28\/2006","sci_digest":["Is the IRS sending out e-mail about tax refunds?"],"justification":"Claim: The IRS is sending out unsolicited e-mails providing taxpayers with a web form to use to check on the status of their federal income tax returns and refunds. Examples: [Collected on the Internet, 2005] You filed your tax return and are expecting a refund. You have just one question and want the answer now - Where's My Refund? Access this secure website to find out if the IRS received your return and whether your refund was processed and sent to you. New program enhancements allow you to begin a refund trace online if you have not received your check within 28 days from the original IRS mailing date. Some of you will also be able to correct or change your mailing address within this application if your check was returned to us as undelivered by the U.S. Postal Service. \"Where's My Refund?\" will prompt you when these features are available for your situation. To check your refund status, you'll need to provide the following information as shown on your return: your first and last name, your Social Security Number (or IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number), and your credit card information. Okay now, Where's My Refund? Under the Privacy Act of 1974, we must inform you that our legal right to ask for information is based on Internal Revenue Code Sections 6001, 6011, 6012(a), and their regulations. They state that you must furnish us with records or statements for any tax for which you are liable, including the withholding of taxes by your employer. We ask for information to carry out the Internal Revenue laws of the United States, and you are required to provide this information. We may share the information with the Department of Justice for civil and criminal litigation, other federal agencies, states, cities, and the District of Columbia for use in administering their tax laws. If you don't provide this information or provide fraudulent information, the law stipulates that you may be charged penalties, and in certain cases, you may be subject to criminal prosecution. We may also have to disallow the exemptions, exclusions, credits, deductions, or adjustments shown on the tax return. This could increase your tax liability or delay any refund. Interest may also be charged. Origins: In December 2005, we began seeing copies of the above-reproduced phishing scam, an e-mail purporting to come from the Internal Revenue Service (sent with a return address of <irs_notice@irs.gov>) and offering consumers a link to a handy web form they can use to check the status of their federal income tax returns and refunds. Of course, the web form the recipient is directed to after clicking on the provided link is not from the real IRS website, but an imitation hosted on a server in a foreign country (Mexico in the example we received) that harvests information scammers can use for identity and financial theft by prompting the user to input all sorts of personal data (name, Social Security number, address) as well as other financial information (credit card number, ATM PIN). The IRS does not ask for personal identifying or financial information via unsolicited e-mail, and in no case would the IRS need information such as credit card numbers or ATM PINs in order to respond to inquiries about the status of tax returns or refunds. Taxpayers can contact the IRS via telephone at 1-800-829-1040 for questions regarding their taxes, or they can visit the genuine Where's My Refund? page on the IRS website. Where's My Refund? Last updated: 20 December 2005 Sources: Tri-Town News [Howell, NJ]. \"IRS Warns of E-Mail Scam.\" 8 December 2005.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1183","claim":"Mimail.i Virus","posted":"11\/17\/2003","sci_digest":["Information about the 'Mimail.i' worm."],"justification":"Virus name:  Mimail.i   Real. Example:  [Collected on the Internet, 2003] YOUR PAYPAL.COM ACCOUNT EXPIRES Dear PayPal member, PayPal would like to inform you about some important information regarding your PayPal account. This account, which is associated with the email address snopes@snopes.com will be expiring within five business days.  We apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause, but this is occurring because all of our customers are required to update their account settings with their personal information. We are taking these actions because we are implementing a new security policy on our website to insure everyone's absolute privacy. To avoid any interruption in PayPal services then you will need to run the application that we have sent with this email (see attachment) and follow the instructions. Please do not send your personal information through email, as it will not be as secure. IMPORTANT! If you do not update your information with our secure application within the next five business days then we will be forced to deactivate your account and you will not be able to use your PayPal account any longer. It is strongly recommended that you take a few minutes out of your busy day and complete this now. DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE VIA EMAIL! This mail is sent by an automated message system and the reply will not be received. Thank you for using PayPal. Origins:  The message quoted above is not a legitimate message from PayPal  it's a credit card number-stealing redirection scam spread by a virus rather than through direct spamming. scam The message includes an attached file with the filename www.paypal.com.scr; if this attachment is executed, the user is presented with a screen that looks like the following:  Most assuredly, any credit card data entered through this screen is not going to PayPal, but rather is e-mailed to some people who have no business with your personal information.  To add insult to injury, the Mimail virus also combs through files on victims' PCs to find e-mail addresses to which it can mail itself and continue spreading.  (As usual, only users of some version of Microsoft's Windows operating system are affected.) McAfee's Stinger stand-alone virus remover can be used to clean Mimail from infected systems. Stinger Additional Information:     W32\/Mimail.i@MM  (McAfee Security)       New Virus Appears as PayPal Scam  (PC World)  Last updated:  29 January 2008  ","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1rI-gBMNH5CKjHdnO02TxOYYLe8o9Rf5U","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1184","claim":"Says LeBron James stops paying his Social Security taxes at the beginning of the second quarter of the first game of the season.","posted":"04\/28\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Not only has U.S. Rep. Alan Graysonendorsed presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, he also has echoed one of the senatorsmain platform planksthat the rich should help shore up Social Security. At a Senate campaign debate with U.S. Rep. David Jolly, R-Indian Shores, in Orlandoon April 25, 2016, Grayson said the Social Security payroll tax cap on earnings needs to be lifted in order to make the program solvent. He used the mind-boggling salary of professional basketball superstar LeBron James to illustrate his point. Let's talk about LeBron James. Do you know when he stops paying his Social Security taxes? He stops paying his Social Security taxes at the beginning of the second quarter of the first game of the season, Grayson said. Rest of the game, pays nothing. Rest of the 81 games of the season, pays nothing. The offseason, still pays nothing. That's ridiculous. The Cleveland Cavaliers forward rakes in an average of$23.5 million per yearas part of his current two-year contract, so its not like hes going to depend on Social Security in his twilight years. But is Grayson right that James is done paying into the program before halftime of the first game of the season? Its not a slam dunk, but the Orlando Democrat does score points with this one. Tax tip-off Lets start by reviewing what Grayson is talking about. The federal government imposes a payroll tax of6.2 percent on wagesto pay into the Social Security fund. But theres a limit of how much income can be taxed. This maximum amount, which is periodically adjusted upward, was$118,500 in 2016. That means the most any employed person pays into Social Security annually is $7,347 (6.2 percent of $118,500). If you make less than $118,500, you obviously are taxed on that amount and pay less. Employers match that amount, so a single workers total contribution to Social Security is essentially a maximum of $14,694 per year. Benefits, for the record, also are capped. In the case of self-employment, the person pays both halves of the $14,694 contribution, or 12.4 percent of $118,500. Well come back to this in a moment. If you make more than $118,500 in salary from an employer  say, $23.5 million or so  youre still only on the hook for taxes on the maximum of $118,500. Thats the highest amount on which the government can tax anyone, LeBron James or otherwise. Grayson has said that this limit is exacerbating projected Social Security deficits as more people retire. Not only would lifting this cap keep the program solvent, it would allow the government toincrease benefits for seniors. President Barack Obama also has proposed lifting this cap, which has rated aPromise Brokenon our Obameter. Some argue that raising the maximum taxable wage basewouldnt fix the system on its own. For his James example, Grayson broke down the NBA 82 regular-season games into their 328 respective quarters, then divided that against James $23.5 million average salary. That amounts to $71,646.34 per quarter, which is almost $6,000 per minute, with 12-minute quarters. Not bad for a nights work. Using that math, James hits the $118,500 taxable earnings cap somewhere before the eighth minute of the second quarter of the first game of the season. Youre probably only on your second (maybe third) $11 beer by then. Now, this interpretation is obviously just to make Graysons point easier to understand. Its kind of likeTax Freedom Day, ostensibly the day people earn enough to pay their total tax bill. How James gets paid depends on the structure of his contract. We'll also note that the NBA season starts in October, with the playoffs running through June. The tax year starts Jan. 1 and runs the calendar year. That makes the actual timing of when taxes are deducted from James' pay different than what Grayson said  a minor detail in a broad example. The Cavaliers' first game of 2016 was onJan. 2, and was their 31st contest of the 2015-16 season. They beat the Orlando Magic, 104-79, by the way. It may sound minor to those of us not making millions annually, but while Grayson is sticking to the game clock, he understates James time commitment. This example doesnt include the hours James spends practicing, traveling, giving interviews, attending team events or anything else that goes along with a superstar athletes life. It also doesnt include preseason games, overtime, playoff games (which bring in more money) or the value of his endorsements, whichForbesestimated at $48 million. PKF OConnor Davies sports accountant Robert Raiola also cautions that Graysons example doesnt mention other taxes James must pay. Raiola pointed out James faces a1.45 percent Medicare taxthat includes no cap, plus a0.9 percent Medicare surchargeon all the income he makes over $250,000. Which is a lot. And dont forget that self-employment tax. James possibly also must pay that in some form, depending on how his income is structured, Raiola said. How that affects James depends on how he conducts his finances, so its not really possible to say without getting a peek into his books. (LeBron, if youre reading, email us and well talk.) But Graysons talking point  that no matter how much the mega-rich earn, they are only taxed on the maximum of $118,500 in income  holds up. If you make less than that, you pay less, but James isnt required to pay Social Security payroll taxes on his income beyond $118,500. Our ruling Grayson said James stops paying his Social Security taxes at the beginning of the second quarter of the first game of the season. Thats a broad statement meant to draw attention to the fact that Social Security taxes are capped at $118,500 of a persons income, no matter how much they make. There are a lot of factors that go into how much James is paid, and how much of that goes to various taxes. But the bottom line is that the athlete only faces Social Security taxes for a relative sliver of his income. We rate the statement Mostly True. https:\/\/www.sharethefacts.co\/share\/7010f3db-ddad-4d0d-98a5-197ed37eab1a UPDATE, April 28:An astute reader pointed out a minor flaw in Grayson's specific talking point. The NBA season starts in the fall, while the tax year begins Jan. 1. As such, James hypothetically would hit the threshold in the second quarter of the first game he played in the new calendar year, not the first game of the season. We've added that information to this story. ButGrayson's point that the uber-wealthy quickly hit the Social Security tax cap remains just as valid.","issues":["Social Security","Taxes","Florida"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1185","claim":"Wolf Kill","posted":"03\/06\/2012","sci_digest":["Photograph shows hunters posing with a large cache of killed wolves?"],"justification":"Claim:  Photograph shows hunters posing with a large cache of killed wolves. REAL PHOTOGRAPH; INACCURATE DESCRIPTION Example:  [Collected via e-mail, March 2012] Look at these 2 xxxxing bastards. Killing the great wolves. Spread this pic all the world people. This slaughter has got to stop.     Origins:   Although the specific origins of this photograph are still unknown to us (the location is often identified as being Newfoundland), the animals pictured here appears to be coyotes rather than wolves.  In many parts of the United States and Canada, coyote hunting is completely legal: Newfoundland coyotes coyote hunting legal The status of coyotes varies depending on state and local laws. In some states, including most western states, coyotes are classified as predators and can be taken throughout the year whether or not they are causing damage to livestock. In other states, coyotes may be taken only during specific seasons and often only by specific methods, such as trapping. Night shooting with a spotlight is usually illegal. Some state laws allow only state or federal agents to use certain methods (such as snares) to take coyotes. Some states have a provision for allowing the taking of protected coyotes (usually by special permit) when it has been documented that they are preying on livestock. In some instances producers can apply control methods, and in others, control must be managed by a federal or state agent. Some eastern states consider the coyote a game animal, a furbearer, or a protected species. In some areas coyote hunting is actively encouraged as a means of culling the animals to control overpopulation and keep them from preying on livestock (and other native animals, such as deer), with some locations offering bounties to coyote hunters.  Chippewa County, Minnesota, for example, enacted such a bounty in 2011: The Chippewa County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to enact a $10 bounty on coyotes from Dec. 1 through April 1 of each year. The commissioners explained that cattle and sheep producers had been complaining about coyotes attacking their younger livestock. They also said hunters had expressed concern that a coyote overpopulation was causing a decrease in deer population, because the coyotes were preying on fawns. To claim the bounty on a coyote, it must be killed through legal means through trapping or shooting in Chippewa County and brought to the Sheriffs Office in Montevideo. A hole will be punched in the animal's ear to indicate that a bounty has been paid, and then the hunter may sell the pelt, which the commissioners estimated to be worth around $15. Hunters must also report where in the county the coyote was killed. No limit was set on  the amount of coyotes a person can collect a bounty on. David Trauba,  Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Area supervisor at the Lac Qui Parle  Wildlife Management  Area expressed concerns over the bounty. \"They're unprotected  you can hunt them all year,\" Trauba said. \"There are plenty of coyote hunters, this isn't going to bring in more, but now we're going to be paying for them.\" Utah also has such a bounty system in place and in 2012 has been considering increasing its payment to coyote hunters: Coyotes could wind up with a price on their head, with one lawmaker looking to pay $50 for each pair of ears from animals that have been shot or trapped, a plan that could encourage hunters to kill more than 20,000 of the animals. Sen. Ralph Okerlund says coyotes are jeopardizing Utah deer herds and doing extensive damage to sheep and cattle herds and is proposing raising the bounty. \"We've got a lot more coyotes than we've got livestock and wildlife now and we need to do something about that,\" the Monroe Republican said. \"What we're hoping is this will encourage a lot more people to go out and hunt these animals.\" There already is a smaller bounty program in place. Currently, hunters or trappers in certain counties that turn in a pair of coyote ears can be paid $20: $10 from the county, matched by $10 from the state. But Okerlund said when gas and supplies are taken into account $20 isn't enough incentive to exterminate this member of the dog family. His SB245 seeks to raise the bounty, using the revenue from a $5 increase in fees for hunting licenses and additional funds from the state. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources also does coyote control and has spent $3.4 million over the past six years hiring trappers and aerial hunters to kill the predators, focusing efforts during the breeding season. Okerlund said he decided to sponsor the bill after a constituent reported losing $30,000 worth of lambs to coyotes after he moved to a new lambing range. \"This program is really targeted more toward the livestock-men than the sportsmen,\" he said. Sterling Brown of the Utah Farm Bureau Federation said the group supports the bill because coyote populations have increased and are claiming up to 15 percent of newborn lambs. Some hunting-related businesses also offer commercial coyote hunting services. coyote hunting Last updated:  2 March 2012    Jones, Jeremy.  \"Chippewa County Coyote Bounty Raises Concerns.\"   Montevideo American-News.  24 November 2011.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1wbN8yGn-kjJ1NwyNeY5ynokcaHF_Cslv","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1186","claim":"Do abortion rates decrease under Democratic administrations and increase under Republican administrations?","posted":"11\/11\/2016","sci_digest":["Abortion rates have risen and fallen throughout presidencies of both parties, making drawing a direct correlation between the two untenable."],"justification":"In 1969, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began collecting nationwide data on the numbers of abortions, the abortion ratio (abortions versus live births), and the abortion rate (abortions versus the US population of women aged 15-44 years old). collecting While these data are not perfect due to inconsistent (and sometimes non-existent) reporting from different states, they can be used to analyze relative changes in abortion rates during the presidencies of different presidential parties, as we will do here using numbers from the CDCs annual abortion surveillance study. Red portions of the lines show the ratio and rates of abortions occurring under Republican administrations, and blue under Democratic administrations: not perfect numbers  Before delving into the specific relationship between abortions and the political party affiliation of the President, the complete data set should be analyzed as a whole to provide context. This is how the CDC describes the overall trend in their data: describes Following nationwide legalization of abortion in 1973, the total number, rate (number of abortions per 1,000 women aged 1544 years), and ratio (number of abortions per 1,000 live births) of reported abortions increased rapidly, reaching the highest levels in the 1980s before decreasing at a slow yet steady pace. However, the incidence of abortion has varied considerably across demographic subpopulations. Moreover, during 20062008, a break occurred in the previously sustained pattern of decrease, but in all subsequent years has been followed by even greater decreases. The large uptick in legal abortions though the 70s is related to the the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, in which the United States Supreme Court ruled that a womans right to an abortion is protected under the right to privacy of the Due Process Clause of the 14th amendment. Roe v. Wade It is plain to see that abortion rates have risen (prior to their peaking in the mid-1980s) and fallen under both Democratic and Republican administration, suggesting little to no correlation with whichever political party controls the White House. The overall trend since the 1980s has been a fairly consistent decline across through administrations of both parties. It would be easy to demonstrate that abortion rates have not risen under Democratic administrations in the last several decades, but it would be false to argue that declines in abortion rates are an exclusive feature of Democratic presidencies. The claim that abortion rates fall under Democrats, while true, ignores the fact that rates have also continued to decline through Republican administrations as well. The claim, then, that abortion rates (at least since their mid-1980s peak) have risen when Republicans have held the White House is therefore equally false. At most, one can argue that the rate of decline appeared to slow during the presidency of George W. Bush before increasing under President Barack Obama's administration, but such an observation would be based on a comparison between only two administrations and would do nothing to demonstrate causation. In fact, causation between the presidency and abortion rates would be difficult to demonstrate in any case because it is hard to draw a straight line between federal government policy (let alone presidential policy) and abortion procurement. Nearly all challenges to open access to abortion have come at the state, and not the federal, level. According to a 2013 report by the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute: report Twenty-two states enacted 70 abortion restrictions during 2013. This makes 2013 second only to 2011 in the number of new abortion restrictions enacted in a single year. To put recent trends in even sharper relief, 205 abortion restrictions were enacted over the past three years (20112013), but just 189 were enacted during the entire previous decade (20012010). At the federal level, legislators have had more trouble passing abortion restrictions into law, making it difficult to argue that any presidential policy, specifically, has had an effect on abortion rates. The only relevant federal legislation that has been signed into law are the 1976 Hyde Amendment, which prohibited federal money from funding (most) abortions, and the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, which criminalized abortions in the second trimester of pregnancy and was upheld as constitutional by the Supreme Court in 2007. 1976 Hyde Amendment Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 What one can say, though, is that federal or myriad state-level regulations put in place do not appear to produce much of a change in abortion rates, according to a 2014 study by the Guttmacher Institute: study Forty-four laws intended to restrict access to abortion were implemented in 18 states between 2008 and 2010; an additional 62 were implemented in 2011 in 21 states. Some of these laws, such as those that added information to existing counseling requirements, would not necessarily be expected to have a measurable impact. In turn, we found no indication that they affected state-specific trends in abortion incidence. [...] Finally, a number of states that did not enact any new abortion restrictions and that are generally supportive of abortion rightsfor example, by allowing state Medicaid funds to pay for abortions for eligible womenexperienced declines in their abortion rates comparable to, and sometimes greater than, the national decline (e.g., California, New Jersey and New York). That these states also experienced a slight drop in the number of clinics offering abortion services may reflect a decline in demand as opposed to the imposition of legal barriers. According to the CDC, multiple factors can affect abortion rates, including those such as contraception and demographic changes that have an effect on the demand for (as opposed to availability of) abortions: CDC Multiple factors influence the incidence of abortion including the availability of abortion providers; state regulations, such as mandatory waiting periods, parental involvement laws, and legal restrictions on abortion providers; increasing acceptance of nonmarital childbearing; shifts in the racial\/ethnic composition of the U.S. population; and changes in the economy and the resulting impact on fertility preferences and access to health care services, including contraception.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1PU0lAbkaLUxR-qaLttiQQuVy8NN_IL4F"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1187","claim":"Video Captures Acesha Bright Committing Murder?","posted":"02\/19\/2017","sci_digest":["A woman named Acesha Bright was arrested for murder in February 2017, but a video purportedly showing someone by that name killing her boyfriend was staged."],"justification":"In February 2017, a video was widely circulated online purportedly showing a woman named AceshaBright committing a murder.  As depicted in the video, Bright enters a residence unannounced, finds her partner taking a bath with another man, and hurls a plugged-in electrical appliance into the tub, presumably electrocuting him:  Social media viewers pointed to an arrest report for an \"Acesha A. Bright\" as evidence that the video depicted a real murder: report   Although a woman named AceshaBright was arrested on 11 February 2017 for murder, she is not the woman seen in this video:   In addition to the optical differences, the viral video contains a clue that the event it depicts was staged.  The video contains a watermark for \"Dominic Low,\" who has posted several realistic videos to Facebook, many of which feature women getting revenge on unfaithful lovers. The same woman (wearing the same dress) is featured in at least one other of these videos: videos videos   In addition to using the same actress, Low also employed the same location in a prior video (notice the painting on the wall that appears in both): location   Furthermore, the earliest version of the viral video purportedly showing Acesha Bright's homicide was posted along with a caption stating that it occurred on Valentine's Day (\"Fried Ass and a glass of Wine...Hell of a Vday !!! credit Dominic Low\"), three days after the real Bright's arrest on 11 February 2017. Valentine's Day The original postings of the video also did not identify the scornful woman who fried her love as Acesha Bright (or anyone else). While we have not been able to positively identify the woman in the videos, social media users have pointed to \"Opal Culton,\" an actress from Las Vegas who is also Facebook friends with Dominic Low. friends","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1wPVtDy1RZXKkX2UrU90mBeFqJMzKXLui","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1LfCCiHeSPs1Nzxx5KJPNFhg7EsyQ0kKX","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1yui8dmVRXV8Gc3N0L6R3RgTSh5JCtP5o","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1myXOKIPzS6FpSYzih1iSdrVSHQruDf_8","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1188","claim":"Is the Equifax Data Breach Settlement Email Legit?","posted":"01\/31\/2022","sci_digest":["Such emails claimed to offer a free membership in Experian IdentityWorks for four years."],"justification":"In late January 2022, Google users looked to Reddit and elsewhere to find out if an email for the status of the Equifax data breach settlement was a \"scam or legit,\" as readers often do after receiving such notices. The email had the subject line, \"Equifax Data Breach Settlement (Credit Monitoring Instructions and Activation Code),\" and linked to the website, experianidworks.com\/equifaxsettlement. It promised a free four-year membership for the credit monitoring service Experian IdentityWorks. Google Reddit experianidworks.com\/equifaxsettlement This was a legitimate notice for a data breach settlement for Equifax. Readers might remember making a claim in the settlement back in July 2019. Users who opted to receive credit monitoring instead of a check were sent activation codes in the new email for Experian IdentityWorks. The official website for the settlement was equifaxbreachsettlement.com. back in July 2019 equifaxbreachsettlement.com The official settlement website documented the fact that in September 2017, Equifax was \"the victim of a criminal cyberattack,\" giving the attackers \"unauthorized access to the personal information of approximately 147 million U.S. consumers.\" This included \"peoples names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, and in some instances drivers license numbers, credit card numbers, or other personal information.\" documented Equifax Numerous lawsuits were brought on behalf of consumers whose personal information was impacted as a result of the Data Breach. Chief Judge Thomas W. Thrash Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia is overseeing these lawsuits. These lawsuits are known as In re: Equifax Inc. Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, Case No. 1:17-md-2800-TWT. The consumers who sued are called the Plaintiffs. Equifax, Inc., and two of its subsidiaries are the Defendants. Plaintiffs claimed that Equifax did not adequately protect consumers personal information and that Equifax delayed in providing notice of the data breach. The most recent version of the lawsuit, which describes the specific legal claims alleged by the Plaintiffs, is available here. Equifax denies any wrongdoing, and no court or other judicial entity has made any judgment or other determination of any wrongdoing. here In the end, both sides of the legal battle \"agreed to a settlement after a lengthy mediation process overseen by a retired federal judge.\" That settlement allowed claimants to choose to receive a check or credit monitoring. Anyone who chose to receive a check might eventually receive an amount much smaller than expected, as the \"alternative compensation of up to $125\" would \"likely will be substantially lowered\" to a \"small percentage\" of what was expected.  In 2017, the Equifax website provided steps for consumers to take following a security breach at the company. (Photo by Smith Collection\/Gado\/Getty Images)  The email that began to be sent in late January 2022 provided a status update on the Equifax data breach settlement. According to a copy of the email that we reviewed, it read as follows: Equifax Data Breach Settlement (Credit Monitoring Instructions and Activation Code) Issue Date: January 31, 2022 Claim No. (removed)Dear (removed): You filed a claim in the Equifax Data Breach Settlement and chose to receive free, three-bureau (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) credit monitoring from Experian for four years. Implementation of the Settlement was delayed by appeals; however, the Settlement is now effective because appellate courts have affirmed it. This email provides additional information about the services provided by Experian as part of the Settlement and how you can enroll. You are receiving free membership in Experian IdentityWorks for four years. You must enroll by June 27, 2022. This service is free for you and provided as a Settlement benefit. You do not need to provide any payment information to enroll and you do not need to cancel the service when it ends. We encourage you to enroll today. HOW TO ENROLL:  Visit the Experian IdentityWorks Website: www.experianidworks.com\/equifaxsettlement Enter Your Activation Code: (removed) www.experianidworks.com\/equifaxsettlement You must use the above code to enroll by June 27, 2022 (your activation code will not work after this date). If you have questions, need help with Identity Restoration (either because you were a victim of fraud or identity theft) because of the Equifax data breach, or would like another way to sign up for Experian IdentityWorks, please call Experians customer care team toll-free at 1-877-251-5822. So that the team may better serve you, please be prepared to provide them with engagement number (removed) so that you may access the Settlements Identity Restoration services for assistance with fraud or identity theft. For more information on Identity Restoration services, visit www.experianidworks.com\/equifaxsettlement. www.experianidworks.com\/equifaxsettlement The email also broke down exactly what is included in the four-year membership to the credit monitoring service known as Experian IdentityWorks: Experian IdentityWorks - Daily Credit Monitoring* from each of the three nationwide Consumer Reporting Agencies showing key changes to your Consumer Reports;- Automated alerts when new accounts are opened; inquiries or requests for credit reports are made for the purpose of determining credit; changes to address; and negative information (including delinquencies or bankruptcies);- On-demand online access to a copy of your Experian Consumer Report, updated monthly;- Automated non-credit alerts, using public or proprietary data sources, for example: when certain information is found on a suspicious website or the dark web; when names, aliases, and addresses have been associated with your Social Security Number; when a payday loan or unsecured credit has been taken or opened using your Social Security Number; when your information matches information in arrest or criminal court records; when your information is used for identity authentication; when your mail has been redirected through the U.S. Postal Service; when banking activity is detected related to new deposit account applications, changes to personal information, and new signers are added to accounts; and when a balance is reported on your credit line that has been inactive for at least six months;- Up to One Million in Identity Theft Insurance** which provides coverage for certain costs and unauthorized electronic fund transfers;- A customer service center to assist with enrollment, monitoring alerts, disputes, fraud, and other Credit Monitoring Service questions;- Full Identity Restoration Service if you are the victim of fraud or identity theft (which includes a dedicated identity theft restoration specialist who will provide you with step-by-step assistance, and form letters to contact companies, government agencies, and Consumer Reporting Agencies), and- Child Monitoring Services (for Class Members under the age of eighteen). * Daily credit reports are only available online. If you do not register online, you can call for additional reports each quarter after you sign-up.** The Identity Theft Insurance is underwritten and administered by American Bankers Insurance Company of Florida, an Assurant company. Please refer to the actual policies for terms, conditions, and exclusions of coverage. Coverage may not be available in all jurisdictions.  Close-up of code on a computer screen for the Apache Struts framework, which was exploited by computer hackers using a Remote Code Execution exploit in order to allegedly steal the personal information of millions of people from credit bureau Equifax, Oct. 2, 2017. (Photo by Smith Collection\/Gado\/Getty Images)  To reach the administrator of the Equifax data breach settlement or to inquire about its status, the email said to call 1-833-759-2982. Meanwhile, any questions about Experian IdentityWorks can be directed to the phone number 1-877-251-5822. Equifax We previously reported on other legal matters involving settlements for National Grid and a Plaid Inc. National Grid Plaid Inc","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1eDDU6F00HzutxJQ_lsxg8u4T2B-dmikC","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1HPi9IWGtjrPG0WnuI4fkDSNlZZS8-Sco","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1189","claim":"Did Rush Limbaugh Say Nicotine Was Not Proven To Be Addictive?","posted":"02\/07\/2020","sci_digest":["Some detractors hinted at a degree of irony in this quote after the conservative radio host announced his lung cancer diagnosis in early 2020."],"justification":"In February 2020, Rush Limbaugh announced he had been diagnosed with \"advanced lung cancer,\" prompting widespread reflection on the controversial and influential conservative talk radio host's career, as well as renewed scrutiny of his past pronouncements. diagnosed In light of Limbaugh's lung cancer diagnosis, some of his detractors suggested that a measure of irony was at work, given his previous statements on smoking and nicotine. In particular, some social media users shared the following quotation, attributed to Limbaugh: shared \"There is no conclusive proof that nicotines addictive... And the same thing with cigarettes causing emphysema, lung cancer, heart disease.\" Social media users posted several memes containing the same quotation, including the following AZ Quotes graphic: posted several memes AZ Quotes   The statement first emerged in 1994, when the left-leaning non-profit organization Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) published an in-depth examination of several dozen false and misleading claims made by Limbaugh on his radio and television shows, in his books, and elsewhere. The July\/August edition of FAIR's newsletter Extra! contained a report with the headline \"The Way Things Aren't  Rush Limbaugh Debates Reality.\" report In the \"Weird Science\" section of the eight-page article, FAIR highlighted the following claim, made by Limbaugh during the April 29, 1994, episode of his radio program \"The Rush Limbaugh Show\": section \"There is no conclusive proof that nicotine's addictive...[or with] cigarettes causing emphysema, lung cancer, heart disease.\" FAIR refuted those assertions as follows: Nicotines addictiveness has been reported in medical literature since the turn of the century. Surgeon General C. Everett Koops 1988 report on nicotine addiction left no doubts on the subject; \"Today the scientific base linking smoking to a number of chronic diseases is overwhelming, with a total of 50,000 studies from dozens of countries,\" states Encyclopedia Britannica's 1987 \"Medical and Health Annual.\" By that time, Limbaugh was already a leading conservative voice in American media, and his radio show was syndicated to hundreds of stations across the country. FAIR's expos made a splash and garnered news coverage by major outlets including The Associated Press. The Associated Press The lengthy magazine article later formed the basis for a book entitled \"The Way Things Aren't: Rush Limbaugh's Reign of Error,\" which was published in 1995 and debunked more than 100 of Limbaugh's falsehoods.  book One of the book's authors, Steve Rendall, told Snopes the tape recordings he had made of Limbaugh's radio broadcasts during that era had not survived the intervening 26 years, and therefore could not be consulted. Similarly, we did not find any official transcript of the April 29, 1994, episode. (Limbaugh's website features an archive of thousands of recordings and transcripts of his shows, but it only stretches back to the year 2000).  However, Limbaugh effectively confirmed the authenticity of the quotation and reiterated the same point in a lengthy rebuttal of FAIR's article, which the organization itself printed. Limbaugh wrote (emphasis added): printed My point, made over and over again in recent months, is that if nicotine is really a terrible drug then Congress should just call it a terrible drug and ban it outright. The fact is that nicotines addictiveness and whether or not it is a drug is, contrary to FAIRs assertion, a source of tremendous controversy  so controversial that The Washington Posts lead editorial on July 2, 1994 dealt entirely with this issue. \"[F]ood and drug commissioner David Kesslerhas begun an effort to determine whether nicotine-containing cigarettes meet the laws definition of a drug. If they do, the Food and Drug Administration has the duty to regulate them if cigarettes are a drug, and if they cant be shown in their present form to be safe and effective  which a drug would have to be in order to be sold, and which is not very likely  then what does the government do?\" In saying that \"nicotine's addictiveness ... is ... a source of tremendous controversy,\" Limbaugh was effectively reiterating the claim that \"there is no conclusive proof that nicotine's addictive.\" In his rebuttal, he also did not dispute in any way that FAIR's quoting of him was accurate. So while we cannot consult the original audio recording or an official transcript to verify whether Limbaugh's exact wording was as FAIR presented it, we can confirm that FAIR gave a proper presentation of Limbaugh's views on that specific issue, because the radio host effectively restated them shortly afterwards, and never disputed the wording presented by FAIR.  Limbaugh's views on the addictiveness of nicotine have since changed. In a July 2004 episode of his radio show, he said nicotine was \"the most addictive drug, substance, whatever, on the planet,\" but argued that it might have other health benefits. In September 2019, he again described nicotine as \"the most addictive drug on earth,\" but argued in favor of electronic cigarettes on the basis that the liquids they use do not produce the carcinogens produced by traditional, combustible tobacco cigarettes.  said described Limbaugh himself was often photographed smoking cigars and earlier in life smoked cigarettes, though he said he quit the cigarette habit in the 1980s. Limbaugh himself was often photographed smoking cigars Elber, Lynn. \"Rush Limbaugh Says He's Been Diagnosed With Lung Cancer.\"\r  The Associated Press. 4 February 2020. Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. \"The Way Things Aren't -- Rush Limbaugh Debates Reality.\"\r  Extra! 1 July 1994. The Associated Press\/The News-Press. \"Liberal Group: Limbaugh is Leading 'Reign of Error.'\"\r  29 June 1994. Rendall, Steven; Naureckas, Jim; Cohen, Jeff. \"The Way Things Aren't: Rush Limbaugh's Reign of Error.\"\r  The New Press. 1 May 1995. Limbaugh, Rush. \"Limbaugh Responds to FAIR.\"\r  Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. 28 June 1994. Limbaugh, Rush. \"Demonized Nicotine May Smoke Diseases.\"\r  19 July 2004. Limbaugh, Rush. \"'Experts' On TV Really Don't Have to Know Anything Anymore.\"\r  18 September 2019.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Ffc2_-mde3lsF0iT71XQpnbCOey-duo5","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1190","claim":"Sept 11 Funds Help Terrorists Rumor","posted":"11\/24\/2001","sci_digest":["Are funds from the September 11 Fund being used to help defend suspected terrorists?"],"justification":"Claim:  Monies given to the September 11 Fund are being used to defend suspected terrorists.  Example:  [Collected on the Internet, 2001] It may be time for the 9-11 charity relief-fund police to begin phase two of their oversight campaign. If you haven't already heard about it, you're not going to believe this. You've probably read that some of the Sept. 11 relief money was granted to an organization defending people suspected of involvement in the very crimes that made these charitable efforts necessary. The offending organization, the \"September 11th Fund,\" was established by the United Way and the New York Community Trust to receive and distribute donations to help victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. We're not talking about pocket change here. The Fund gave $171,000 to the Legal Aid Society, which is assisting in the legal defense of eight terror suspects now detained in Brooklyn, N.Y. That's like the Heart Association donating to the Society of Sedentary Butter Eaters. Actually, it's worse, because sedentarybutter-eaters harm themselves . they don't murder innocent people. Are you outraged yet? If not, there's more. The Fund, far from chastened by criticism from those outraged at the above, is up to further mischief. CNSNews.com now tells us that the Fund has made more than a million dollars worth of grants to various left-wing political groups  CNSNews' characterization, not mine, but it is undeniably correct. Origins:  The above are the opening paragraphs to a 20 November 2001 World Net Daily article written by David Limbaugh, titled \"For the Victims?\" It circulates in its shortened form (as quoted above) on the Internet rather than as the lengthier original article that continues onto other topics. original article In turn, information touted in the World Net Daily article was drawn from an 8 November article appearing on the National Legal and Policy Center web site. This NLPC press release states a 1 November Wall Street Journal article revealed that the LAS was providing civil legal assistance to eight detainees in the Special Housing Unit of the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. The WJS article did indeed say \"[New York's] Legal Aid [Society] represents eight [suspected terrorist] detainees  some of whom are still housed in the unit known as 'SHU'  all of them Arabs.\" The misunderstanding behind this whole matter thus originated with the Wall Street Journal, although it was the NLPC who gave it legs. article Officials of the September 11th Fund deny the allegation that they are funding the legal defense of terrorists. The New York Legal Aid Society echoes that denial, and its statement about the charge (as found on its web site) says:  On November 8, 2001, the National Legal and Policy Center charged that a six-week, $171,000 grant from the September 11 Fund to The Legal Aid Society was used to represent persons in detention accused of terrorism. This charge is not true. Grant funds have been used solely for advocacy on behalf of New Yorkers affected by the attack on the World Trade Center. The New York Legal Aid Society did receive $171,000 from the September 11th Fund, but the money was used for civil legal assistance for families affected by the tragedy who needed help getting access to wills, bank accounts, and insurance. The society also helped staff a family assistance center and provided consultation on a telephone hot line. In addition, attorneys from the Legal Aid Society's immigration unit interviewed several people detained by immigration officials because they had invalid passports or visas.  None of the financial assistance has gone to help terror suspects with their legal problems, although that last item  the interviewing of several foreign nationals who have been held by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) because of invalid paperwork  lays the groundwork for this misunderstanding. The LAS has in the past routinely involved itself in immigration matters, so its agreeing to talk to several INS detainees  some of whom were Arabs  after September 11 was business as usual for them, not a case of their \"defending terrorists.\"  Likewise, that the LAS advised a few key detainees \"You'll have to get your own attorney; we won't be representing you\" can hardly be interpreted as the LAS' mounting a legal defense of terrorism suspects. According to the New York Legal Aid Society's statement about those meetings (also as found on its web site): After September 11, the Immigration Court asked the Society's Immigration Unit to interview a number of detainees of Arab or Middle Eastern descent because they had no legal counsel. The Society complied with the Immigration Court's request, conducted some interviews, and referred most cases to the private bar. Society Immigration Unit staff accepted three cases for representation and facilitated a settlement for one of these cases. We have recently learned that the other two cases involve issues beyond immigration violations, and our Immigration staff therefore cannot provide further immigration assistance. Accordingly, these two remaining cases have been reassigned to private counsel. The Legal Aid Society's civil staff has not represented and would not represent anyone on matters related to perpetrating the World Trade Center attacks. In other words, two of the three cases accepted by the LAS turned out to involve more than immigration matters, so the LAS immediately backed away from them once it knew there was more involved. (Reading between the lines, one can arrive at the conclusion these two detainees are being held in relation to the September 11 attacks, but the LAS statement does not come right out and say this.) The one case the LAS did retain was strictly an immigration case, as its policy is that \"neither the Immigration Unit, nor the Society's Civil Division of which the Unit is a part, ever represents persons whose detention is predicated on issues other than alleged immigration violations.\" The Society firmly asserts it \"is grateful to the September 11 Fund and to all others who have supported our disaster recovery work. These funds have been used properly, and have not been used to represent individuals accused of wrongdoing in the tragedy.\" The National Legal and Policy Center appears to view the New York Legal Aid Society's behavior as reprehensible, however. Dan Rene, spokesperson for the NLPC, said in a interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: \"If the Legal Aid Society, which has an annual budget of $135 million, received any money from the September 11th fund, it should have no involvement with the detainees and should devote 100 percent of its time to helping victims.\"  Rarely has a more foolheaded statement appeared in a newspaper.  Those who can't afford lawyers yet require legal representation don't fade from existence because a legal aid society has accepted a grant and agreed to provide additional services to a specific group of clients. By far the greatest demand on any legal aid society will be the provision of legal representation to the underfunded, making the devotion of \"100 percent of its time to helping [Sept. 11] victims\" a notion only a lunatic would entertain. Should a mother fighting for custody of her child be put on indefinite hold because a September 11 victim's will needs to be probated? Should an elderly man victimized by his landlord be told he'll have to make do with an unheated apartment for the winter because staffing a legal hotline for September 11 victims is the only business this particular legal aid society can concern itself  with?  A legal aid society is first and foremost a legal aid society. Its acceptance of an additional mission doesn't alter or erase its primary purpose for being, nor does it wipe from existence those who need its help. This particular Society has a history of involvement with INS detention cases. This is part of what it does, and that didn't change in the post-September 11 world, nor did INS proceedings for all manner of needy folks suddenly go away. The NY LAS should not be expected to turn away INS detainees it would at any other time have routinely seen and assisted just because some terrorism suspects might have immigration problems and thus might be included with harmless detainees. It's a \"baby and the bathwater\" issue  the better response is to sift through all the cases and reject the unsuitable ones rather than to reject them all out of hand, in effect punishing the innocuous for having been incarcerated at the wrong time. More information about what this particular  legal aid society does and who it helps can be found in its FAQ. FAQ The larger question of how monies donated to The September 11th Fund should be administered continues to trouble many. A number of the organizations that were the recipients of the beneficience of a nationwide outpouring of donations provide aid to victims, victims' families, and the wounded community of New York City in numerous ways other than direct payment to the families of victims. Some find fault with that, and some don't. (A constantly updated list of projects funded can be found on The September 11th Fund site.)  list of projects Debate over what services should be underwritten by the Fund helps speed along tales of fundular wrongdoings, imagined or actual. Though the cause for concern in this particular instance was unfounded, real anxieties find voice through the expression of such stories. In other words, we pass along such gossip because at some level we're disturbed by the handling of the September 11th Fund, even if that sense of unease amounts to nothing more than merely wondering if things are being handled properly.  As long as that sense of unease continues, so will the stories. Barbara \"uneasy riders\" Mikkelson Additional Information:   September 11th Fund FAQ     Statement About 'Detainee' Allegation  (NY Legal Aid Society)Last updated:  16 March 2008     Sources:   Crist, Gabrielle.  \"Fund Officials Deny Sept. 11 Web Rumor.\"   Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  21 November 2001.     Cohen, Laurie.  \"Detainees on INS Breaches Held in Solitary Status.\"   The Wall Street Journal.  1 November 2001.     Miller, Steve.  \"Sept. 11 Fund Aids Defense of Detained Arabs.\"   The Washington Times.  9 November 2001  (p. A3).     Ruiz Patton, Susan.  \"United Way Defend Sept. 11 Fund.\"   The [Cleveland] Plain Dealer.  10 November 2001  (p. A4).","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1191","claim":"Megabucks Legends","posted":"08\/27\/2004","sci_digest":["Various Megabucks legends about near misses and unlucky winners."],"justification":"Claim:  Soon after winning the largest-ever Megabucks slots jackpot, the new multi-millionaire died a violent death.  Origins:  The potential for great wealth creates its own lore, which is why Las Vegas is a hotbed of Megabucks-related rumors. For the uninitiated, Megabucks is a network of linked progressive slot machines whose top prize starts at $10 million and continues to grow until someone gets lucky and lines up the three Megabucks symbols on the payline of his slot machine. At times when it's been a lengthy period since the previous win, the jackpot climbs to an almost unimaginable amount, and Megabucks rumors (which are always quietly simmering away in the background) become the hot gossip among the casino crowd. In general, Megabucks rumors fall into one of three categories:  The unhappy fate of previous winners.  Startling tales of flawed wins.  Where the next one is going to hit. On 21 March 2003, the largest-ever slots prize was awarded in Las Vegas when a 25-year-old man who prefers to remain anonymous hit a $39,710,826.36 Megabucks jackpot at the Excalibur casino. Scant days later, rumors were already afoot that tragedy had overtaken this lucky gentleman. According to the whispers, he had:  Fatally overdosed at The Palms (a trendy Las Vegas casino resort greatly favored by the 20- and  30-somethings).   Died in a plane crash.  Been killed in a gang fight in Los Angeles. Although the mode of the unnamed winner's demise changed from telling to telling, the basic rumor remained intact  this man so favored by Fate one day became its victim on another. His luck ran out soon after the win, said the rumor, felling him before he'd had any chance to enjoy his millions. The \"overdosed at the Palms\" version carried the further implication of the man's good fortune having been his undoing. In the unspoken subtext   of that telling, the lucky winner had used his new wealth to hole up in a swank hotel and dabble in drugs. In attempting to live like a rock star, he instead died like one. The rumor (all versions of it) was false. According to Connie Fox of International Game Technology (IGT), the maker of Megabucks machines and the distributor of its prizes, the young man has not been harvested by the Grim Reaper. He lives on, wealthy and anonymous. IGT It is possible memories of a tragedy that befell a previous Megabucks winner have fueled this tale of good luck turned chillingly bad. On 11 March 2000, 37-year-old Cynthia Jay-Brennan, a cocktail waitress who had hit a $34.9 million jackpot at the Desert Inn just six weeks earlier, was left a quadriplegic by an auto accident that claimed her sister's life. The pair had been sitting in their car at a red light when their vehicle was rear-ended by one being operated by a drunk driver. Five others were injured in the resulting chain reaction accident. A year later, 58-year-old Clark Morse, the driver who caused this carnage, was sentenced to 28 years in prison. Morse was a habitual drunk who had been previously arrested at least 16 times on driving under the influence charges and had at least five DUI convictions, yet he had not prior to this incident been jailed for his inebriated forays behind the wheel. On the one hand, it would be easy to see the 'dead Megabucks winner' rumor as a misremembering of the circumstances that have placed Cynthia Jay-Brennan in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Yet on the other, whispers about Megabucks winners having been struck down by  misfortune have been part of gaming culture long before the March 2000 tragedy. In one well-traveled Megabucks rumor, an elderly gambler who lined up the three winning symbols on his machine suffered a heart attack and died on the spot. (Shades of Vegas Vacation and Sid Caesar kicking the bucket after hitting a $30,000 keno jackpot, that.) That particular tale had for so long been part of the Megabucks canon that it came in for mention in a 1998 newspaper story, described even then as one of the many rumors IGT had been called upon over the years to debunk. Another whisper (also around since at least 1998) claimed that every Megabucks winner under the age of 50 was now pushing up daisies. (Not true, says Connie Fox of IGT. While she doesn't know the fate of everyone who has won Megabucks, all those she has become acquainted with or has heard of through her work are still alive.) I would hazard the opinion that such tales say a great deal more about our sense of envy than anything else. Every time a large jackpot is hit (Megabucks or otherwise), for every gobsmacked winner there are countless thousands  maybe even millions  of gamblers who were not awarded the prize. For at least some of them, a measure of solace is drawn from'misfortune followed soon afterwards' tales, both for their sour grapes (\"That lucky schmuck might have won a great deal of money, but it didn't bring him happiness, did it?\") and 'disaster narrowly avoided' (\"Just think, if I'd won the money I'd be the one left lying dead in a pool of blood\") values. The legends we tell are our way of mentally chewing over concepts that disquiet us, and very few feel at all comfortable with the realization of their feeling envious. Other rumors about the mystery man who won the $40 million Megabucks jackpot in March 2004 are undiluted expressions of envy  they assert he had no right to the prize and thus 'cheated' to get it, which in itself is another way of saying \"I feel cheated because I didn't win.\" One version claimed the unnamed man was an illegal alien. (Which, by the way, would not have barred him from winning, but that is not generally understood by most of those who frequent casinos.) Another proclaimed him to have been under 21 at the time of the win and thus ineligible. (That couldn't happen: Under the laws governing gaming in Nevada, persons under the age of 21 are prohibited from gambling. Casinos therefore must remove underage patrons or face heavy fines, and companies like IGT that pay out slot machine wins have to very carefully vet the ages of those laying claim to any win.) This last whisper brings us to the most common wild tales associated with the big jackpot: the flawed win. Over the years, I have heard the Megabucks 'one that got away' story told three ways:  The underage winner who could not be awarded the riches he'd won.  The casino worker who was ineligible for the prize because he had, against the rules, played the machine at the property where he was employed.  The player who lined up the three winning symbols on the pay line but who hadn't wagered the full $3 necessary to qualify for the top prize. Connie Fox of IGT denies there ever having been an underage Megabucks winner. However, such rumors did attach to the anonymous UNLV student who hit the $10.9 million jackpot on 18 October 1995 at the Gold Coast  it was said he'd had to return the money. Because the winner did not want his identity made known to the public, the members of the press who had heard the tale had no way of themselves determining the actual age of the young man. IGT held an online chat session with reporters to reassure them that the prize had been fairly awarded to a legal winner. Although Megabucks has yet to have an underage claimant, other large slots jackpots have. A young man who hit a big one at Caesars Palace in 1987 was denied his prize because he was underage. Kirk Erickson, a 19-year-old from Royal, Arkansas, lined up the winning combination on  a dollar slot machine called \"The Million Dollar Baby,\" but he was not paid the $1,061,812 jackpot for it. Erickson took the matter to court, and in 1989 a District Court judge ruled against him. As for casino workers being barred from playing the Megabucks slots at their place of employ, although individual properties might have such a policy, it is to be doubted that were such a person to play anyway and win that a prohibition against his gaming on the in-house machines would interfere with the jackpot being duly awarded. Granted, the worker would in all likelihood lose his job for having broken a casino rule, and he might have to wait until the Nevada Gaming Commission made its determination on the case before receiving his money, but there is little reason to suppose the Commission would deem the jackpot improperly gained. The one class of folks who could not possibly collect on such a win are IGT employees and all members of their households  even if one of them were to line up the three winning symbols, they could not be awarded the cash.  At least once, Megabucks has been hit by someone playing less than full coin. On 14 March 2001, Kirk Tolman, a 22-year-old Utah man, mistakenly played two dollars instead of the Megabucks-requisite three on a machine at the State Line Hotel and Casino in Wendover, a gambling establishment in Nevada just across the Utah state line. The Megabucks symbols lined up on the payline, and for want of a buck, $7.96 million was lost. The $10,000 consolation prize probably wasn't all that consoling to the man whose distracting chat with a friend had led to his not dropping the third coin into play.  An additional bit of Megabucks lore confidently states the jackpot will be hit at the newest resort casino in operation. Savvy frequent visitors to Las Vegas will sagely nod as they inform you the next Megabucks is \"set to go\" at whichever glitz palace just opened. That too is hogwash. Where the jackpot is hit is determined by pure chance, not by anyone high in the casino industry paying off IGT for the prestige of having one of its machines register the win. (And prestige is all that would accrue to the casino, because unlike some lotteries which distribute cash premiums to the venues that sold winning tickets, Megabucks does not award a small piece of the prize to the casino for having been the building that housed the winning machine. Although most of the money being dropped into play by jackpot seekers goes to fund the game's prizes, some goes to IGT, and some goes to the gaming establishment that hosts the machines, so casinos already receive compensation whether their Megabucks units are winners or not. Also, casinos that have been the sites of multi-million dollar strikes do very well just on the prestige alone because gamblers are attracted to luck, figuring if one guy hit the big one there, there's a fair chance they might be just as lucky if they went to the same spot.) If the Megabucks jackpot appears to be awarded more often at the newer casinos, it's due to their being better attended  more people through these gambling halls means more people playing the machines. The more people who play the machines at any one location, the greater the chances the jackpot will be hit there. And that's all there is to it.  Many of the instant millionaires Megabucks and its ilk create are reluctant to sign the releases that allow their names and some information about them to be made public, worrying that strangers will appear on their doorsteps to pressure them for money.  But from what Connie Fox of IGT has seen, the ones these people have the most to fear from are their nearest and dearest, the very kith and kin they were moved to telephone in the first blush of excitement over their astonishing good fortune. Connie has gotten to know a number of Megabucks winners over the years, and she has seen through the lens of their experiences with their loved ones how a large prize can shake up relationships and redefine the pecking order. A large win can and has in some cases changed the family dynamic, overnight making the fortunate slot player the de facto head of the family  that person suddenly finds everyone looking to him for everything.  It has also changed the power balance between couples, making the partner who had previously been the follower into the decision-maker for that pair. Some couples and families weather these shifts without too much trouble, and some do not. Barbara \"so there you have it  oranges, lemons, cherries, and a few sour grapes\" Mikkelson Additional information: Last updated:  1 June 2014    Koch, Ed.  \"When Good Luck Turns Bad.\"   Las Vegas Sun.  5 April 2000.    Schoenmann, Joe.  \"Megabucks Slot Bursting at Seams as Record Jackpot Continues to Grow.\"   Las Vegas Review-Journal.  4 April 1998  (p. B1).    Wagner, Angie.  \"Morse Gets 28 Years for Injuring Vegas Jackpot Winner.\"   The Associated Press.  20 April 2001.    Associated Press.  \"Judge Denies Jackpot to Underage Gambler.\"   27 June 1989.    Reuters.  \"$7.96 Million Jackpot Just a Dollar Away.\"   The San Diego Union-Tribune.  17 March 2001  (p. A4).","issues":["lien"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=11mqOcTA9HFUCFAPrv2EyjVMebC9pHH8V","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1192","claim":"Maryland Schools Forced by Muslims to Remove Christmas and Easter Vacations?","posted":"11\/13\/2014","sci_digest":["Rumor: A Maryland school district was forced to rename Christmas and Easter vacation due to pressure from Muslim groups."],"justification":" Claim:  A Maryland school district removed Christmas and Easter vacations from school calendars due to pressure from Muslim groups. : WHAT'S : A Maryland school district renamed Christmas, Easter, and other religious holidays on school calendars after a Muslim group asked for the inclusion of an Islamic holiday.     WHAT'S : A Muslim religious group demanded that the school district rename or remove Christmas break from school calendars.  Example:  [Collected via e-mail, October 2014] Received this in an email.  or not? \"Thanks to the group of Muslims at this school, Christmas Break will now be 'Winter Break'. Way to bow and kiss the ring.\"   Origins:  On 11 November 2014, the Montgomery County [Maryland] Public Schools' Board of Education voted to remove all references to religious holidays from their schools' 2015-2016 calendars. That decision was made shortly after the local Muslim community asked the district to add one of the two major Islamic holidays (Eid ul-Fitr or Eid ul-Adha) to school calendars: Muslim community leaders have been asking Montgomery school officials for years to close schools for at least one of the two major Muslim holidays. Students who miss classes on religious holidays are given excused absences. But Muslim families have argued that students should not have to choose between their faith and their schoolwork and that missing even a day leaves many students behind. They say the day off is a matter of equity, with Christian and Jewish students getting days off for their holidays. Zainab Chaudry, spokeswoman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said she was shocked by the school district's decision, as that result was not what her group had requested: shocked We were blindsided. We are disappointed. It isn't what we asked for. We don't believe that other faith groups should be punished for our request. I think this really shows that the Board of Education would take drastic measures to ensure that the Muslim students don't receive equal and fair treatment. They would remove the Christian holidays and they would remove the Jewish holidays from the calendar before they would consider adding the Muslim holiday to the calendar. Other Muslim leaders also described the district's decision as both a surprise and a mistake: \"By stripping the names Christmas, Easter, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, they have alienated other communities now, and we are no closer to equality,\" said Saqib Ali, a former Maryland state delegate and co-chair of the Equality for Eid Coalition. \"It's a pretty drastic step, and they did it without any public notification.\" Zainab Chaudry, also a co-chair of the coalition, expressed dismay, too, contending the school board's members were willing to \"go so far as to paint themselves as the Grinch who stole Christmas\" to avoid granting equal treatment for the Muslim holiday. The Maryland school district's decision, which passed with a 7-to-1 vote, does not change either the number of vacation days students receive or when they will observe them. District schools will still be closed for major Christian and Jewish holidays, but school calendars will no longer include the names of religious celebrations such as Christmas, Easter, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Instead, the calendars will be marked with generic terms such as \"winter break,\" \"spring break,\" or simply \"no school.\" District officials explained the rationale behind their decision as being that schools do not close on Christian and Jewish holidays for religious reasons, but rather because those are days which historically see high rates of absenteeism among students and staff: Board members said that the new calendar will reflect days the state requires the system to be closed and that it will close on other days that have shown a high level of student and staff absenteeism. Though those days happen to coincide with major Christian and Jewish holidays, board members made clear that the days off are not meant to observe those religious holidays, which they say is not legally permitted. Superintendent Joshua P. Starr presented the board with three options to resolve the question, and a majority of members supported his recommended proposal to do away with the names of both the Muslim and the Jewish holidays on the calendar. But amending the proposal, the board opted to ditch references to Christmas and Easter, too. Board members pointed to the Fairfax County school systems calendar as an example; the largest school district in Virginia does not call out such religious holidays by name. In Montgomery, closing schools for Jewish holidays began in the 1970s. In voting to scrub the holiday names from the calendar, board members said they were trying to reflect the reason schools are closed on religious holidays: because of operational impacts  such as expected high absenteeism among students and staff on those days  not because the school system is observing a religious occasion. Montgomery school board member  Rebecca Smondrowski, who voted to remove references to religious holidays from school calendars, said that course of action was \"the most equitable\" decision the school board could make: Rebecca Smondrowski I just thought it was the most equitable thing to do. I respect and appreciate so much that this is a very personal issue for so many people. I was in no way trying to imply that I don't respect people's religious practices. I do. School board Vice President Patricia O'Neill agreed, saying several other Maryland schools have stopped using the term \"Christmas break\" in favor of the non-religious term \"winter break\": stopped It seems we've made multiple religious groups mad, but I believe we did the right thing. And we're in good company. Fairfax, Arlington, Loudoun. All are silent in calling out Christmas; they call it winter break.    Last updated:  28 September 2015    St. George, Donna.  \"Backlash Over Montgomery Decision to Strip Christmas from School Calendar.\"   Washington Post.  12 November 2014.","issues":["equity"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=17Xv5e-jmRBFfEHWIMxN95ltRsZIzUMbU","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1193","claim":"Was 'It's a Wonderful Life' ever labeled as Communist propaganda by the FBI?","posted":"12\/22\/2021","sci_digest":["Another fascinating chapter in the history of an American holiday classic. "],"justification":"During the 2021 holiday season, internet users enthusiastically shared articles and posts that described a fascinating episode from the history of a classic American Christmas movie, \"It's a Wonderful Life.\" On Dec. 21, for example, the London Independent reported that: \"'It's a Wonderful Life' was once considered communist propaganda by the FBI,\" while various outlets shared their own accounts of the story. Independent reported that shared own accounts Those accounts were broadly accurate, and based on high-quality primary documentary evidence. Although the FBI did not ever formally, as an institution, declare \"It's a Wonderful Life\" to be communist propaganda, FBI agents and informants investigated the movie, and the people behind it, as such. As part of a sweeping investigation ordered by bureau director J. Edgar Hoover, a special agent in 1949 included the film in a list of \"motion pictures disclosing communist propaganda therein.\" We are issuing a rating of \"true.\" That description of the movie, which was released in December 1946, can be found in an archived and redacted copy of the FBI report on \"Communist infiltration into the motion picture industry, available here. Specifically, it can be found on Page 12 in the ninth of 15 dossiers released under the Freedom of Information Act at some point in the ensuing decades. available here The sender of this 1949 update to the report is listed as one \"H.B. Fletcher,\" but it's not clear who specifically wrote the \"It's a Wonderful Life\" entry: listed   Although the FBI does not appear to have ever \"officially\" declared or designated the film as communist propaganda, it's quite clear those agents involved in the investigation of Hollywood (codenamed \"COMPIC\") were far from agnostic on the socialist, even Soviet inspiration behind the Christmas classic. Indeed, Hoover instructed Richard Hood, special agent in charge at the Los Angeles field office, to limit his team's criticism and reviews to films \"which are obviously communist propaganda in nature.\" instructed The entry on \"It's a Wonderful Life\" appears in the fourth section of the report (\"Communist Influence in Motion Pictures\"), under a sub-section entitled \"Analysis of Motion Pictures Disclosing Communist Propaganda Therein.\" entitled According to the author(s) of the briefing, Frank Capra's movie is noteworthy because: the two credited screenwriters, husband-and-wife team Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, were supposedly close associates of known communists; the film negatively portrays the villainous local businessman Mr. Potter, which is \"a common trick used by communists\"; and the storyline appears to have been borrowed from a putative earlier Russian film entitled \"The Letter.\" The first two sections of the briefing can be read in full below: According to the Informants [redacted] and [redacted] in this picture the screen credits again fail to reflect the Communist support given to the screen writers. According to [redacted] the writers Frances Goodrick and Albert Hackett were very close to known Communists and on one occasion in the recent past while these two writers were doing a picture for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Goodrick and Hackett practically lived with known Communists and were observed eating luncheon daily with such Communists as Lester Cole, screen writer, and Earl Robinson, screen writer. Both of these individuals are identified in Section I of this memorandum as Communists. With regard to the picture Its A Wonderful Life, [redacted] stated in substance that the film represented a rather obvious attempt to discredit bankers by casting Lionel Barrymore as a scrooge-type so that he would be the most hated man in the picture. This, according to these sources, is a common trick used by Communists. In addition, [redacted] stated that, in his opinion, this picture deliberately maligned the upper class, attempting to show the people who had money were mean and despicable characters. [Redacted] related that if he had made this picture portraying the banker, he would have shown this individual to have been following the rules as laid down by the State Bank Examiners in connection with making loans. Further, [redacted] stated that the scene wouldn't have suffered at all in portraying the banker as a man who was protecting funds put in his care by private individuals and adhering to the rules governing the loan of that money rather than portraying the part as it was shown. In summary, [redacted] stated that it was not necessary to make the banker such a mean character and I would never have done it that way. Magazine, Smithsonian, and Kat Eschner. The Weird Story of the FBI and Its a Wonderful Life. Smithsonian Magazine, https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/smart-news\/weird-story-fbi-and-its-wonderful-life-180967587\/. Accessed 22 Dec. 2021.","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1QB3sMNNK_r3fU0bAUK_YjHLVnv--G-sh"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1194","claim":"Did Soleimani Command Forces That Killed U.S. Capt. Brian S. Freeman?","posted":"01\/09\/2020","sci_digest":["Widely shared Facebook posts provided a poignant reflection in the U.S. in the wake of the assassination of the Iranian major general in January 2020."],"justification":"In January 2020, readers asked us about viral Facebook posts that offered a particularly poignant perspective in the U.S. on the U.S.-ordered assassination of Major General Qassem Soleimani, head of Iran's elite clandestine Quds Force.  On Jan. 3, the following message was posted to Facebook: posted For those people who want to apologize to Iran for the killing of Qassem Soleimani, I present you with Army Captain Brian S. Freeman. Brian was a loving husband, father, Olympic caliber athlete and Army Civil Affairs team leader who actually cared about people regardless of who they were, where they came from, what God they worshipped, or their politics. 13 years ago this month, Cpt. Brian Freeman and his team of Civil Affairs soldiers were in Karbala, Iraq at a meeting to help improve the lives of the people of that province. During that meeting, a team under the command of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, stormed in, killing a number of Americans, and capturing Brian and several members of his team. The captured CA team members were handcuffed, driven away from the meeting and later executed. Once found, in spite of our best efforts, several medics, including myself, unsuccessfully attempted to save Brian. Captain Freeman is but one of the lives lost due to the evil of Qassem Soleimani. Qassem Soleimani was an evil person whose end, regardless of the politics surrounding it is a good thing. With that, anyone apologizing to Iran for Soleimani's death is, I feel, pandering to an oppressive regime out of either ignorance, moral bankruptcy, or in a heartless attempt at self-promotion. Rest in Peace Brian.  That message was promulgated even further when it was re-posted by another user.   re-posted According to the U.S. Department of Defense, sufficient evidence and intelligence exists to conclude that the January 2007 attack in Karbala, Iraq, which killed five U.S. service members including Freeman, was one of several that was directed, planned, and funded by the Quds Force  an elite branch of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard. Soleimani was head of that force until his death on Jan. 2, 2020. So the key claim made in the Facebook posts shared so widely in January  that Soleimani, as senior leader of the Quds Force, was responsible for the death of Freeman  reflects the official position and conclusion of the U.S. government. However, both the Iranian government and Soleimani himself have denied any Quds Force involvement in attacks perpetrated against U.S. forces in Iraq at that time of Freeman's death. We asked the Department of Defense (DOD) if it could provide evidence that would demonstrate the role of the Quds Force, and Soleimani in particular, in the planning or ordering of the attack, but we received no response. The claim that Soleimani was, at least in part, responsible for the death of Freeman and four others in the January 2007 attack appears quite plausible. However, evidence that would definitively demonstrate that responsibility is not publicly available, and as a result, we are issuing a rating of \"Unproven.\" If we obtain such evidence, we will update this fact check accordingly.  Freeman was assigned to the 412th Civil Affairs Battalion and was attending meetings at the Provincial Joint Coordination Center in Karbala, on Jan. 20, 2007. Around 5 p.m. local time that day, insurgents wearing U.S.-style military uniforms attacked the compound. Here's how DOD described the attack, a week later: described At about 5 p.m. that day, a convoy consisting of at least five sport utility vehicles entered the Karbala compound and about 12 armed militants attacked the American troops with rifle fire and hand grenades, officials said. One soldier was killed and three others wounded by a hand grenade thrown into the center's main office. Other explosions within the compound destroyed three Humvees. The attackers withdrew with four captured U.S. soldiers and drove out of the Karbala province into the neighboring Babil province. Iraqi police began trailing the assailants after they drew suspicion at a checkpoint. Three soldiers were found dead and one fatally wounded, along with five abandoned vehicles, near the town of Mahawil. Two were found handcuffed together in the back of one of the vehicles. The other two were found nearby on the ground. One soldier was found alive but died en route to a nearby hospital. All suffered from gunshot wounds. Also recovered at the site were U.S. Army-type combat uniforms, boots, radios and a non-U.S. made rifle, officials said. The five U.S. service members listed as killed in the attack were: Due to the relative sophistication of the attack, U.S. military officials quickly suspected Iranian involvement in its planning. By July 2007, DOD had come to the conclusion that the Karbala attack was indeed one of several carried out against U.S. and Coalition forces in Iraq, which had been planned and directed by Iran, specifically by \"senior leadership\" of the Quds Force. At that time, Soleimani was the head of the Quds Force. Here's how the Department of Defense described that Iranian involvement in a July 2007 statement: suspected statement While al Qaeda in Iraq remains the main enemy in the country, coalition and Iraqi forces are increasingly targeting groups whose training, funding and supplies come from Iran, a spokesman for Multinational Force Iraq said today. Army Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner also said Iran is funding Hezbollah operatives in Iraq. Hezbollah is a Shiia extremist group based in Lebanon. The terror group has seats in the Lebanese parliament and operates as a shadow government for Shiia areas of that country. Iran trains, supplies and funds that group. Actions against these Iraqi groups have allowed coalition intelligence officials to piece together the Iranian connection to terrorism in Iraq. Bergner said that Irans Quds Force, a special branch of Irans Revolutionary Guards, is training, funding and arming the Iraqi groups... The groups operate throughout Iraq. They planned and executed a string of bombings, kidnappings, sectarian murders and more against Iraqi citizens, Iraqi forces and coalition personnel. They receive arms -- including explosively formed penetrators, the most deadly form of improvised explosive device -- and funding from Iran. They also have received planning, help and orders from Iran, Bergner said. Of greatest relevance to this fact check, U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner said two men prominently involved in the series of attacks, including the Karbala attack  Ali Musa Daqduq and Qayis Khazali  had themselves not only acknowledged the role of the Quds Force in planning and funding the Karbala attack, but said Iran's assistance was essential to its execution. One group leader was Azhar Dulaymi, whom coalition forces killed May 19. Bergner said the terrorist led the Jan. 20 attack on the Provincial Joint Coordination Center in Karbala that killed five U.S. soldiers. Dulaymi worked closely with Ali Musa Daqduq and Qayis Khazali, two men with direct links to Iran. Coalition forces captured Daqduq on March 20. He is Lebanese-born and has served for the past 24 years in Lebanese Hezbollah, Bergner said. He was in Iraq working as a surrogate for Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force operatives involved with special groups. Daqduq, a member of Hezbollah in Lebanon since 1983, served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah leader Sayyad Hassan Nazrullah. He also led Hezbollah operations in large areas of Lebanon, Bergner said. In 2005, he was directed by senior Lebanese Hezbollah leadership to go to Iran and work with the Quds Force to train Iraqi extremists, the general said. In May 2006, he traveled to Tehran with Yussef Hashim, a fellow Lebanese Hezbollah and head of their operations in Iraq. There they met with the commander and deputy commander of the Iranian Quds Force special external operations. Daqduq was ordered to Iraq to report on the training and operations of the Iraqi special groups. In the year prior to his capture, Ali Musa Daqduq made four trips to Iraq, Bergner said. He monitored and reported on the training and arming of special groups in mortars and rockets, manufacturing and employment of improvised explosive devices, and kidnapping operations. Most significantly, he was tasked to organize the special groups in ways that mirrored how Hezbollah was organized in Lebanon. Daqduq also helped the Quds Force in training Iraqis inside Iran. Quds Force, along with Hezbollah instructors train approximately 20 to 60 Iraqis at a time, sending them back to Iraq organized into these special groups, he said. They are being taught how to use (explosively formed penetrators), mortars, rockets, as well as intelligence, sniper and kidnapping operations. The Quds Force also supplies the groups with weapons and a funding stream of between $750,000 to $3 million a month. Without this support, these special groups would be hard-pressed to conduct their operations in Iraq, Bergner said...Khazali was captured with Daqduq. He was in charge of these groups throughout Iraq since June 2006. He is an Iraqi who worked to develop the Iraqi groups into a network similar to Hezbollah. It is important to point out that both Ali Musa Daqduq and Qayis Khazali state that senior leadership within the Quds Force knew of and supported planning for the eventual Karbala attack that killed five coalition soldiers, Bergner said. Ali Musa Daqduq contends the Iraqi special groups could not have conducted this complex operation without the support and direction of the Quds Force.\" Ali Musa Daqduq and Qayis Khazali both confirm that Qayis Khazali authorized the operation and Azhar al Dulaymi, who we killed in an operation earlier this year, executed the operation. All of this is counter to pledges Iran has made to the Iraqi government to respect territorial boundaries and work to ease violence inside Iraq, Bergner said. [Emphasis is added]. So the official position of the U.S. government has been that the Karbala attack which killed Freeman and four other service members was one of several attacks on U.S. and Coalition forces in Iraq which were planned, coordinated, funded or directed by the Quds Force, and that two terrorists captured months later had themselves said \"senior leadership\" of the Quds Force (which can reasonably be understood to mean Soleimani) \"knew of and supported planning\" for the Karbala attack.  This would certainly appear to lend credibility to the claim, in widely shared Facebook posts, that the forces that killed Freeman were commanded by Soleimani, though it seems more likely they were trained and commanded by others, as part of a broader strategy overseen and directed by Soleimani, on behalf of the Iranian government.  However, definitive proof of Quds Force and Soleimani involvement in the Karbala attack is not publicly available. We asked DOD to provide any evidence, potentially including correspondence or statements made by participants such as Daqduq or Khazali, that would corroborate and support the official U.S. position on responsibility for the Karbala attack. Unfortunately, we did not receive a response. Furthermore, both the Iranian government and Soleimani himself denied being responsible for attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq. After Bergner's July 2007 briefing, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson rejected allegations of Iranian involvement, in general, non-specific terms, saying: \"American leaders have gotten into the habit of issuing ridiculous and false statements without providing evidence, with political and psychological aims. The country's defense minister, Mohammad Najar, also reportedly denied Iranian \"military interference\" in Iraq.  rejected denied In 2007, shortly after the Karbala attack, then-U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad sent a diplomatic cable in which he recounted a meeting with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. According to Khalilzad, Talabani had met with Soleimani in Syria, and the Quds Force leader had assured the president he was not directing attacks on American troops in Iraq, reportedly saying: \"I swear on the grave of Khomeini I haven't authorized a bullet against the U.S.\" recounted Those denials should be viewed with an appropriate degree of skepticism, but they must be noted. The Iranian denials, combined with the absence of publicly available evidence that definitively demonstrates Iranian, Quds Force, or Soleimani responsibility for the Jan. 20, 2007, attack that killed Freeman and four other Americans in Karbala, means we are, for now, issuing a rating of \"Unproven.\" American Forces Press Service. \"Karbala Attackers Used U.S. Army-Styled Uniforms to Gain Access.\"\r U.S. Department of Defense. 26 January 2007. CNN. \"Iran Involvement Suspected in Karbala Compound Attack.\"\r 31 January 2007. Garamone, Jim. \"Iran Arming, Training, Directing Terror Groups in Iraq, U.S. Official Says.\"\r American Forces Press Service, U.S. Department of Defense. 2 July 2007. NBC News\/The Associated Press. \"U.S. Accuses Iran of Role in Deadly Attack in Iraq.\"\r 2 July 2007. Gordon, Michael R. \"U.S. Ties Iran to Deadly Iraq Attack.\"\r The New York Times. 2 July 2007. Gordon, Michael R. and Bernard E. Trainor. \"The Endgame: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Iraq, From George W. Bush to Barack Obama.\"\r Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. 25 September 2012.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1mRzIyuTFvR_Caa6lD4jKRAuMf9RNn4cN","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1195","claim":"WalMart Using RFID Tagging","posted":"06\/15\/2003","sci_digest":["Is Wal-Mart trying out products embedded with RFID tracking chips?"],"justification":"Claim:  Wal-Mart is trying out products embedded with RFID tracking chips.  Example:  [Starrett, 2003] BIG BROTHER COMES TO WAL-MART  Starting this week, the nation's largest discount retailer will quietly begin selling tracking-chipped products to clueless shoppers. The first volley in their war against our privacy is set to start at their Brockton, Massachusetts store.  Wal-Mart will put Radio Frequency I.D. sensors on shelves stocked with RFID-tagged Gillette products, but they'd rather you didn't know about it, because, hey, you might not like it, and then you might make noise and then they'd have a big PR mess on their hands.  You might even stop buying Gillette products or, say, refuse to shop at Wal-Mart.  These chips, researched at M.I.T.'s Auto-ID Center are about the size of a grain of sand. Chipsters say the technology will only be used to help retailers keep track of inventory  like bar codes. But privacy-loving consumers question the very concept of a device that sends out radio waves to \"readers\" that not only identify the article, but where and with whom it's going.  [Click here to view rest of article] here Origins:  One of the keys to the success of giant retailing chains such as Wal-Mart has been the advancement of information technology which allows for tight control of inventory.  The ability to quickly and accurately track the movement of product through their stores enables retailers to ensure that customers don't find a wanted item out of stock, while avoiding the spoilage and costly inefficiencies that come with keeping too much unsold inventory on hand.  These improvements lower retailers' operating costs, and the savings are (theoretically) passed along to consumers in the form of lower  prices. The adoption of the Universal Product Code, or UPC (more commonly known as the \"bar code\"), in the 1970s was one of the most significant steps in automating the tracking of inventory.  With every product assigned a unique code (encoded in bar form on the packaging) which could be read by a scanner and matched up with information stored in a database, retailers could eliminate the costly and time-consuming processes of individually price-tagging every single item and manually counting items to determine the amount of inventory on hand; instead, prices could be read by scanners at the point of sale, and purchases could be tracked automatically and the number of items sold subtracted from stock-on-hand to calculate current inventory levels. UPC A more recent advance in inventory control has been the development of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology.  Described as \"bar codes on steroids,\" tiny RFID chips are being embedded in products (or their packaging) to assist retailers with Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC).  The RFID chips, when triggered by sensors, emit short bursts of identifying data streamed via radio waves; this system is a significant improvement over bar coding system for a number of reasons, including: RFID  RFID chips can store much more information than bar codes.  RFID chips are a read\/write technology, so more information can be added to them as needed.  RFID chips don't require line-of-sight proximity (i.e., the information they store can be read even when products are still encased in boxes or crates).  RFID chips are more robust (i.e., not subject to problems caused by tearing, creasing, or alteration) than bar coding. Most important, perhaps, RFID chips can enable the tracking of individual pieces of merchandise.  That is, rather than simply identifying an item as a box of Cheerios (as bar codes do), an RFID chip can uniquely identify a particular box of Cheerios and enable it to be tracked all the way through the sales chain, from the warehouse to a consumer's shopping cart.  This level of uniqueness in tracking can, for example, aid in the removal of expired merchandise from store shelves or assist in locating items designated as part of a product recall. The announcement in June 2003 that Gillette would be trying out some of their RFID-tagged products (such as batteries, razors, oral care products) in cooperation with a Brockton, Massachusetts, Wal-Mart prompted the article by Mary Starrett quoted above, a dire \"Big Brother\" warning insinuating that RFID tags would not necessarily be disabled at the point of purchase and could be used to track items even after consumers had purchased them and taken them home.  Ms. Starrett also suggested that the Brockton store was chosen for this experiment because \"the store's customers are typically lower income minorities who'd be less likely to be aware of the tracking devices, and even less likely to make a fuss about them.\" (RFID tags have no built-in batteries or power supplies; they're activated by radio waves sent out from RFID readers which emit just enough power to trigger the tags and have a limited range limit, so Orwellian nightmare scenarios involving avaricious corporations tracking the locations of every one of their products all over the globe are not yet a reality.) The wireless inventory control system trial referenced in this particular 2003 warning did not take place.  On 9 July 2003, CNET news reported that Wal-Mart had canceled it: canceled \"The shelf was never completely installed,\" Wal-Mart spokesman Tom Williams said. \"We didn't want it. Any materials that were there (in Brockton) were removed. We never had products with chips in them.\" In July 2010, news accounts stated that Wal-Mart would soon be placing removable RFID \"smart tags\" on individual garments such as jeans and underwear in order to optimize stocking and inventory control procedures (and, if the results were promising, the company would eventually roll out RFID-tagging with other products as well).  Privacy advocates responded by again raising concerns that the RFID technology could be used not just for inventory purposes, but for intrusive customer-tracking activities: While the tags can be removed from clothing and packages, they can't be turned off, and they are trackable. Some privacy advocates hypothesize that unscrupulous marketers or criminals will be able to drive by consumers' homes and scan their garbage to discover what they have recently bought. They also worry that retailers will be able to scan customers who carry new types of personal ID cards as they walk through a store, without their knowledge. Several states, including Washington and New York, have begun issuing enhanced driver's licenses that contain radio- frequency tags with unique ID numbers, to make border crossings easier for frequent travelers. Some privacy advocates contend that retailers could theoretically scan people with such licenses as they make purchases, combine the info with their credit card data, and then know the person's identity the next time they stepped into the store. Wal-Mart tried to allay fears by noting that it was notifying customers about the RFID tags, that the tags would be easily removable, and that the tags themselves contain no personally identifying information: Wal-Mart is demanding that suppliers add the tags to removable labels or packaging instead of embedding them in clothes, to minimize fears that they could be used to track people's movements. It also is posting signs informing customers about the tags. \"Concerns about privacy are valid, but in this instance, the benefits far outweigh any concerns,\" says Sanjay Sarma, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. \"The tags don't have any personal information. They are essentially barcodes with serial numbers attached. And you can easily remove them.\" Additional Information: Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering  (CASPIAN)  Last updated:  25 July 2010    Gaither, Chris.  \"Tiny Tracking Chips Surface in Retail Use.\"   The Boston Globe.  9 June 2003.     Shim, Richard.  \"Wal-Mart to Throw Its Weight Behind RFID.\"   CNET News.com.  5 June 2003.     Shim, Richard and Alorie Gilbert.  \"Wal-Mart Cancels 'Smart Shelf' Trial.\"   CNET News.com.  9 July 2003.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1196","claim":"Is This a Photograph of Wounded Female Veterans?","posted":"07\/07\/2015","sci_digest":["A photograph of women with missing limbs is actually a picture of Brazilian amputees, not wounded veterans."],"justification":"A photograph purportedly showing a group of female veterans who had all lost one or both legs to combat wounds began circulating online in July 2015. The origins of this meme, with its textual overlay describing the women pictured as \"wounded female veterans,\" are unclear, but it has appeared on several websites and has been widely shared on Facebook. However, the women pictured are not American veterans who suffered limb losses due to combat injuries. According to a February 2015 article from Globo.com, the photograph shows a group of Brazilian women who gathered together for a calendar photo shoot to raise money for amputees who cannot afford prosthetic limbs. The idea for the project came from Nelson Nol, an entrepreneur who heads Sorocaba's prosthetic branch. He stated that the calendar would be sold nationally, and the collected funds would not only cover the costs of the campaign but also create a fund to help families who cannot afford prosthetics. \"[The purpose] is to promote beauty, to show that you have life after amputation, and that these patients can lead full lives that include attending clubs, hanging out with friends, and dating,\" stresses Nol. The goal is to show that amputation is only a detail and that beauty is a matter of attitude. The pictures are all in black and white, but the prostheses will be featured in vivid color images. The initiative aims to demonstrate that physical limitations cannot take away a woman's most valuable asset: pride. Banker Jaqueline Felizberto opened up in the photographs. She lost her right leg at seven years old when she was hit by a truck in front of her house. However, the trauma has not hindered her life. \"I have a normal life: super, super busy, well run. I really enjoy my makeup, go out and have fun. I love the beach. I like to enjoy a lot,\" says the banker turned model for a day. Camile Rodrigues was born with a malformed leg, but that did not stop her from becoming a top athlete. At the Pan-American Games in 2011, the swimmer won three silver medals and one bronze. For her, the concept of beauty has little to do with aesthetics. \"Beauty to me is happiness. I think if you're happy, you're beautiful.\"","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Lu3kKniBTSw8J9C7j9reh-EMnBditkK1","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1xQNvM3YJAhNQGjkvsefdmIJAJuePJVUp","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1197","claim":"Did Greta Thunberg Delete Tweet Claiming Climate Change Will Wipe Out Humanity by 2023?","posted":"03\/17\/2023","sci_digest":["Numerous tweets from conservative pundits misread the claim repeated by Thunberg, GritPost, and Forbes."],"justification":"In March 2023, several media outlets and conservative pundits began sharing images of what they described as a deleted 2018 tweet from climate activist Greta Thunberg's account. That tweet, quoting from a now-deleted article, said, \"A top climate scientist is warning that climate change will wipe out all of humanity unless we stop using fossil fuels over the next five years.\" tweet  Climate skeptics jumped on the deleted tweet as evidence of climate alarmism, insinuating that Thunberg's tweet suggested that, if climate science was accurate, humanity should be extinct at the time of this reporting. insinuating  Several problems exist with that narrative. First and foremost is the fact that the tweet and the article it linked to never said that humanity would vanish in 2023. Second, and also of crucial importance, is the \"top climate scientist\" referenced in the underlying article never actually said what these reports asserted him to have said. Here, Snopes untangles the controversy.  Yes, on June 21, 2018, Thunberg tweeted a link to a now deleted article on the website GritPost bearing the headline, \"Top Climate Scientist: Humans Will Go Extinct if We Don't Fix Climate Change by 2023.\" The GritPost article rehashed content originally published on Forbes about a seminar given by James Anderson, a Harvard University professor of atmospheric science, at the University of Chicago in 2018. tweeted deleted article content As reported by Forbes, Anderson's talk focused on the need for a massive effort to curb climate change over the next five years: reported People have the misapprehension that we can recover from this state just by reducing carbon emissions, Anderson said in an appearance at the University of Chicago. Recovery is all but impossible, he argued, without a World War II-style transformation of industryan acceleration of the effort to halt carbon pollution and remove it from the atmosphere, and a new effort to reflect sunlight away from the earth's poles. This has to be done, Anderson added, within the next five years. The assertion that humanity would collapse as a result of this inaction stemmed from statements Forbes attributed to Anderson about declining Arctic ice: Forbes attributed \"The chance that there will be any permanent ice left in the Arctic after 2022 is essentially zero,\" Anderson said, with 75 to 80 percent of permanent ice having melted already in the last 35 years. \"Can we lose 75-80 percent of permanent ice and recover? The answer is no.\" Based on Internet Archive records, the GritPost article to which Thunberg linked was deleted sometime after July 2020. Thunberg deleted her tweet sometime after Mar. 7, 2023. Thunberg did not respond to Snopes' request for comment. July 2020 sometime after The claim that a top climate scientist allegedly predicted the collapse of humanity in 2023 has been popular with climate skeptics since Anderson allegedly made the claim in 2018. The Forbes article and Thunberg tweet were both widely lampooned for their alarmism at the time. When 2023 came and humanity still persisted, these same actors were ready to relish the moment, as summarized by Newsweek: summarized [Charlie] Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, on March 12, 2023, wrote: \"One of the best headlines of the year so far... 'Greta Thunberg deletes 2018 tweet saying world will end in 2023 after world does not end.'\" Filmmaker [Dinesh] D'Souza, on March 12, 2023, added: \"Climate Radical Greta Thunberg Caught Red Handed: Deletes 2018 Tweet That Says World Will End Without Action by 2023.\" [Brigitte] Gabriel, founder of ACT for America, on March 11, 2023, also said: \"Greta Thunberg deleted this tweet because it exposes her for being a fraud. Make sure the entire world sees it.\" All of these tweets misread the claim repeated by Thunberg, GritPost, and Forbes. The point, as these individuals or outlets reported, was that humanity had to reach certain carbon emission benchmarks by 2023, or else catastrophic events decades to centuries later would be guaranteed because of feedbacks in the climate system. As Forbes described: The answer [to the question \"can we lose 75-80 percent of permanent ice and recover\"] is no in part because of what scientists call feedbacks, some of the ways the earth responds to warming. Among those feedbacks is the release of methane currently trapped in permafrost and under the sea, which will exacerbate warming. Another is the pending collapse of the Greenland ice sheet, which Anderson said will raise sea level by 7 meters (about 23 feet). Conflating the years scientists claim to be so-called \"tipping points\" with the year in which the end result of those tipping points is supposed to emerge is a rhetorical tactic common in climate-denial circles. Snopes has previously reported on the imprecise quotes contained in a 1989 Associated Press article misused in a similar way. a similar way Regardless of any Thunberg tweet, the claim allegedly made by Anderson that \"the chance that there will be any permanent ice left in the Arctic after 2022 is essentially zero\" has also recently been shared as evidence of climate \"fraud,\" suggesting Anderson made a failed prediction:  The Forbes article was the only place in which the content of Anderson's seminar was reported, but Anderson toldThe Associated Press that he never made that argument, and that his words were wildly misinterpreted in media reports: Anderson told \"That is a complete fabrication of what I said,\" Anderson wrote, referring to the claims he said humanity would be wiped out in five years. He said that during the seminar, he was displaying the most recent observations of Arctic sea ice volume  specifically the ice floating on the Arctic Ocean  and made the statement that \"the current observed rate of floating ice loss volume, there will be no floating ice remaining by 2022.\" The focus of the statement was on the floating ice volume and the observed rate of disappearance at that time, he said. \"Thus the statement was clear to those in attendance that the reference was to floating ice volume in the data shown on the slide, not arctic ice in general,\" Anderson clarified, adding, \"so, the 'wiping out of humanity by 2022' is a total distortion of what I said or meant at the University of Chicago colloquium in 2018. I would never make such a statement.\" Thunberg deleted a tweet that repeated an imprecise paraphrase of a climate scientist's 2018 seminar talk. While it is factual that she deleted this tweet, claims that the tweet argued humanity would end in 2023 are false. As such, we rate this claim as a \"Mixture\" of truth. McMahon, Jeff. \"We Have Five Years To Save Ourselves From Climate Change, Harvard Scientist Says.\" Forbes, https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/jeffmcmahon\/2018\/01\/15\/carbon-pollution-has-shoved-the-climate-backward-at-least-12-million-years-harvard-scientist-says\/. Accessed 17 Mar. 2023. Norton, Tom. \"Fact Check: Did Greta Thunberg Delete Claim That Humanity Will End by 2023?\" Newsweek, 13 Mar. 2023, https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/fact-check-did-greta-thunberg-delete-claim-that-humanity-will-end-2023-1787420. \"Posts Distort 2018 Greta Thunberg Tweet on Climate Danger.\" AP NEWS, 16 Mar. 2023, https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/fact-check-greta-thunberg-deleted-tweet-675395214080. Top Climate Scientist: Humans Will Go Extinct If We Don't Fix Climate Change by 2023. 1 May 2018, https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20180501150731\/https:\/\/gritpost.com\/humans-extinct-climate-change\/.\r Update [3\/22\/2023]: Updated to read that Thunberg deleted the tweet sometime after Mar. 7, 2023.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1RDCi4ZtwuwscVt47ZKDSMgToRiAjo3Uy","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1AxdKPyy3fuM_kRnLYZWb8hroF0HntV4D","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1198","claim":"Hillary Clinton Has Run No Positive Political Ads?","posted":"10\/14\/2016","sci_digest":["A Facebook image incorrectly claims that Hillary Clinton has never issued a political ad touting her own accomplishments."],"justification":"On 18 September 2016, the \"Donald Trump for President\" Facebook page posted a photograph of Hillary Clinton along with the claim that the Democratic presidential nominee had spent over $1 billion on negative attack ads targeting Trump, but she had spent no money at all on political ads touting her own political record and accomplishments:  The image asks viewers to \"share if you agree,\" but its claims are not up for debate. They are false.  First, the Hillary Clinton campaign has not spent \"over $1 billion on negative Trump ads on TV.\" Although Clinton has run a number of negative TV spots attacking her rival, she has not spent anywhere near $1 billion on such ads. Shortly after this image was published in September 2016, NBC partner Advertising Analytics released a report detailing how much money each of the candidates had spent on ads. They recorded that Clinton's campaign spent about $90 million on ads during the general election (up to 20 September 2016), while pro-Clinton groups had spent an additional $60 million or so: report Hillary Clinton and her allies continue to dominate Donald Trump and pro-Trump outside groups in the 2016 advertising race. According to ad-spending data from NBC partner Advertising Analytics, Clinton's campaign has spent $96.4 million in ads in the general election, versus $17.3 million for Trump's campaign. That's more than a 5-to-1 advantage for Clinton. And then when you factor in outside groups, it's $156.6 million for Team Clinton, and $33.6 million for Team Trump. That's almost a 5-to-1 advantage. It's also false to say that Clinton has never released a political ad touting her own accomplishments. The Clinton campaign has issued a number of videos touting her accomplishments from her 30-plus years of public service, including one that highlighted her work with children and health care and another featuring President Obama talking about Clinton's many achievements (including becoming the first woman to be nominated for president by a major party).  children and health care achievements Even if we assume the original image referred only to paid television advertising, it's still wrong in light of examples such as a June 2016 Clinton TV spot that showcased several highlights of her political career: ","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=19iHNgnFXn6FBh0Lkm1groiB7RMtaizbV","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1199","claim":"Did Ted Nugent Announce a 'Build the Wall' Benefit Concert?","posted":"01\/08\/2019","sci_digest":["Apparently someone forgot to tell the rock star that Mexico is paying for the wall."],"justification":"In late December 2018 and early January 2019, several dubious websites published articles reporting that famed rock-and-roller (and political activist) Ted Nugent had announced a \"Build the Wall\" benefit concert to raise funds for President Trump's U.S.-Mexico border wall project. The earliest of these articles appeared on WeAreTheLLOD.com, part of a network of junk news websites known as \"America's Last Line of Defense\" (LLOD). Here is an excerpt, as published on 30 December 2018: \"Ted Nugent, one of the greatest figures ever in rock and roll, has decided to throw a benefit concert to raise money to help build the border wall. Nugent will use his massive influence in the world of music to put together a music festival that will rival Woodstock. The hope is that the three-day festival will attract conservatives rather than liberals, who will do more than dance around drinking and drugging. According to Event Coordinator Art Tubolls: 'Rather than having self-proclaimed chemists selling doses of PCP, we'll have respectably dressed young men and women collecting donations from concerned Americans. We believe we can raise no less than $50 million, which is way more than they need to start a wall somewhere. The law says once you start a federal project, you can't stop. We will make our lives safer from the small percentage of refugees who come here on foot.' As we have pointed out on many previous occasions, however, none of the websites under the LLOD banner publishes real news. This article, like everything else that originates with America's Last Line of Defense, is fiction. By design, the content is preposterous and politically divisive, meant to provoke outrage among (and cause embarrassment to) conservative-leaning readers. The websites' disclaimers describe said content as \"satire\": America's Last Line of Defense is a whimsical playland of conservative satire. Everything on this website is fiction. It is not a lie, and it is not fake news because it is not real. If you believe that it is real, you should have your head examined. Any similarities between this site's pure fantasy and actual people, places, and events are purely coincidental, and all images should be considered altered and satirical. Over time, these websites have become more overt in displaying their intent, but given how the Internet works, simply slapping a \"satire\" label on a fabricated story doesn't necessarily prevent readers from mistaking it for fact. This is especially true when, as in this case, the article is reproduced verbatim on other websites and blogs that bear no disclaimers. This blurb for one such repost appeared in the Tomi Lahren Facebook group, which has more than 20,000 members: Some of these copycat sites also reproduced follow-up articles from LLOD claiming that liberals refused to grant a permit for Nugent's concert in New York and that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones agreed to allow the concert to be held in Texas Stadium (which no longer exists).","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ZjRDzog_44lt9HEgC7FZKZwCTZQq_bVk","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1200","claim":"Robbers Throwing Eggs at Cars","posted":"06\/17\/2015","sci_digest":["Rumor: Robbers are flinging eggs at cars to impair drivers' vision and force them to stop."],"justification":" Claim:  Robbers are flinging eggs at cars to impair drivers' vision and force them to stop.  Examples:   [Collected via Facebook, June 2015] Posted by Michelle Shel-lee Seibel on Monday, June 15, 2015 Michelle Shel-lee Seibel Monday, June 15, 2015   [Collected via e-mail, November 2009] Please take this seriously! If you are driving at night and are attacked with eggs, do not operate the wiper and  spray and water. Because eggs mixed with water become milky and block your vision up to 92.5% Then you are forced to stop at the road side and become a victim of robbers. This is a new technique used by robbers in Johor Bahru. Please inform your friends and relatives!!  If you are driving at night and eggs are thrown at your windshield. Do not operate the wiper and spray any water because eggs mixed with water become milky and block your vision up to 92.5% so you are forced to stop at the roadside and become a victim of robbers.  This is a new technique used by robbers.  Please inform your friends and relatives. This also happens on interstates near exits. Origins:  Breathless e-mailed warnings about the (usually false) latest ways in which thieves are purported to be getting motorists to pull over so they can be preyed upon are nothing new: a few we've previously documented include claims that gangs of robbers were placing tire-puncturing spikes in shopping mall parking lots, or affixing plastic baskets  spikes baskets  to the undersides of targeted vehicles (thereby prompting drivers to stop to investigate the noise), pouring sugar into gas tanks, festooning cars' windshields with flyers, and even acting drunk or as if they'd been struck by other cars.  sugar flyers drunk Our first sighting of this November 2009 warning about eggs being thrown at windshields was a 29 October 2009 YahooGroups mail list post. That earlier version, while it also asserted the claim of water mixed with raw egg's obscuring a windshield and bruited the (absurdly precise) 92.5% figure, differed from what has become the canonical form of the warning in that it stated motorists so attacked would become prey to \"robbers\/carnappers\" and recommended those so assaulted instead drive to \"a well lit place w\/ many people or nearest police station\" rather than stop. Later forms of the e-mail added further flourishes, such as \"used by robbers\" morphing into \"used by robbers in Johor Bahru\" (the capital city of Johor in southern Malaysia), the addition of the claim that these attacks \"happens on interstates near exits,\" and most commonly the inclusion of this new paragraph which blames matters on the flagging economy: \"Folks are becoming more and more cruel daily. But this is just the beginning of pangs of distress. With the decline in economy and job losses, we can expect anything. Just can't be too careful these days.\" Though we've queried our police contacts and scoured news reports looking for accounts of robberies and carjackings effected by disabling target  vehicles by pelting them with raw eggs, we weren't able to find any such occurrences in the U.S. Rather, we did locate news stories about police cars so pelted, with the officers retaliating by giving chase to the miscreants who'd thrown eggs at them. In various news accounts we found, officers not only were able to see well enough through their poultrified windows to go after the bad guys, they succeeded in running them to ground and bringing them to justice. Most tellingly, such accounts made no mention of the gendarmes so assaulted experiencing difficulty in seeing well enough through their egged windshields to give chase. While a mixture of raw egg and water vigorously stirred together in a glass will produce a somewhat milky-looking liquid (which might be the source of this tale), there's nothing about the interaction of egg and water that renders the resulting combination into a substance guaranteed to completely block a driver's vision. Egg alone or egg-and-water solutions are thin liquids and so are relatively easy to see through, with the vehicle's wipers generally sweeping away the worst of the mess fairly easily. Moreover, it would take a number of extremely well-placed eggs (a hen's typical offerings aren't that big) to splat a windshield so thoroughly as to completely impair the driver's view and force him to stop immediately  unless the visibility conditions were already poor, a motorist with a splattered windshield would generally still be able to see well enough to continue driving out of range of the egg-throwing hooligans to a safe stopping place. Certainly miscreants have long engaged in the practice of launching objects (rocks, eggs, firecrackers, paintballs) at moving cars in order to startle motorists into stopping and getting out of their automobiles (typically as a prank, but sometimes as a means of setting up the theft of a vehicle and\/or the driver's possessions), but that information is neither new nor shocking. Variations:   A March 2010 version combined the \"eggs baby  A November 2012 version included this photograph of a car's windshield that had some sort of white spatter upon it that looked to us to be white paint:  Barbara \"pitched battle\" Mikkelson Last updated:  17 June 2015    Hoober, John.  \"Egg Tossed at Cruiser Leads to Chase, Crash.\"   Lancaster New Era.  3 December 2008  (p. A1).","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=13gSery6JkSx9DtjtUm8jgrL3wE5YJs7O","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1201","claim":"Our state transportation department already has a heavy debt load and has paid more than $700 million in debt payments in just the last two years.","posted":"05\/08\/2019","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Infrastructure is one of Gov. Mike Parsons top priorities in the 100th legislative session, and some representatives have followed suit. House Budget Chairman Rep. Cody Smith, R-Carthage, presented a budget plan to fund road and bridge improvements throughout the state. Smith said his plan would fund the infrastructure improvements without raising taxes or accruing new debt. Smith wanted to do this by appropriating funds from general revenue to state infrastructure instead of taking out more bonds. Our state transportation department already has a heavy debt load and has paid more than $700 million in debt payments in just the last two years, Smith wrote in a Capitol report sent by his office. Has the Missouri Department of Transportation really paid more than $700 million in debt payments in the last two years? Lets take a look at the numbers Documents from MoDOTshow that his numbers are on point. MoDOTs 2018 Financial Snapshot shows the department paid a little more than that, totaling $702 million in 2017 and 2018. My preference is to avoid debt when possible, Smith said. But, the debt paid doesnt tell the whole story. The department paid $412 million in debt in 2017. The departments average payment since 2004 is about $242 million a year. The number was higher in 2017 than past years because the agency paid off some of its debt early. In 2017, $117.8 million of bonds were paid off early, saving future interest costs of $29.4 million, said Sally Oxenhandler, MoDOT interim spokeswoman. This helped inflate Smiths point when he said MoDOTs debt reached more than $700 million in just two years. This graph of MoDOTs borrowed funds and annual payments helps visualize the amount of debt MoDOT paid in 2017, compared to debt payments in the past. (Look for the mountain peak.) Graph courtesy of MoDOTs Financial Snapshot, November 2018 Compared to other state transportation departments, Missouri does not have a lot of debt, said Todd Grosvener, MoDOT assistant financial services director. Still, Smith wants to limit the state department accruing any more debt. Keeping our road funds stable over the coming years is of the utmost importance, Smith said. When MoDOT takes on more debt, it has fewer dollars to improve our roads and bridges. What is the borrowed money used for? The borrowed funds were and are still being used for hundreds of road and bridge projects throughout Missouri, the agency said. The department borrowed the most money in 2010 when it took on an additional $100 million to replace the Mississippi River Bridge in St. Louis. In 2010, the department also borrowed $685 million for theSafe and Sound Bridge Improvement Program. This three-and-a-half-year project replaced or rehabilitated more than 800 bridges across the state. On behalf of the House of Representatives, Ill be keeping a close eye on the amount of debt the state takes on to improve and maintain our transportation infrastructure, Smith said. Smith said, Our state transportation department already has a heavy debt load and has paid more than $700 million in debt payments in just the last two years. His numbers match MoDOTs records. They need clarification, however, because MoDOT paid off a big chunk of debt early, in order to avoid more interest accumulation. Because the statement is accurate and needs clarification, we rate the statement Mostly True.","issues":["State Budget","Transportation","Missouri"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1-SLQ1-7wo9rVb7Pp9sitj5TLvzp-LoqR","image_caption":"Graph courtesy of MoDOTs Financial Snapshot, November 2018"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1202","claim":"Mark Zuckerberg Promises $1,000 to Facebook Users If They Don't Share Hoaxes","posted":"10\/19\/2016","sci_digest":["Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's offering money to Facebook users who don't share social media hoaxes is itself a parody of social media  hoaxes."],"justification":"On 31 December 2015, the British spoof and satire website NewsThump posted an article parodying the numerous Facebook-related hoaxes that have been prevalent on social media, such as rumors that the social media giant will make all private posts public or that the company's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, is giving away money to users who share a particular message. The article claims that Zuckerberg has promised every Facebook user $1,000, but only if everyone stops sharing ridiculous hoaxes on his social network. This move comes after timelines have become inundated with absurd claims shared by people naive enough to think they could earn money for doing nothing but sharing a Facebook post. Zuckerberg is said to have implemented a new algorithm to track hoaxes and will make the payment to all Facebook users on the first of February if no new hoaxes are identified. Social media being what it is, an image from that spoof was circulated outside the context of the article, which led some Facebook users to inquire about whether what it said was true or not. NewsThump describes itself as \"Topical news satire from the UK and around the world. Never letting the truth ruin a good story.\" The spoof includes another made-up quote from \"Simone Williams,\" which alludes to another type of rampant Facebook post: scams involving fake offers of merchandise giveaways. \"It's a good offer, but I've got one here where I can get a new Range Rover, and all I have to do is share this Facebook post from a dodgy-looking page. I'd really hate to miss out if this one is real.\"","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=16vhw3BumB5A6Hd9s8orhGS9oZ5H_UVBc","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1203","claim":"The Inland Empire is the second fastest growing region for jobs in California.","posted":"07\/27\/2017","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Californiasworkforce of 19 millionis spread across distinct metro regions, from tech-heavy Silicon Valley to the agricultural powerhouses of Fresno and Bakersfield, to the movie studios of Los Angeles. Less talked about are the nearly two million who work in the states Inland Empire. Its home to more than 4.5 million people in sprawling San Bernardino and Riverside counties east of Los Angeles. Lt. Gov.Gavin Newsom, a Democratic candidate for governor, recently claimed this region of high desert and valley communities is among the leaders in California job growth. The Inland Empire is the second fastest growing region in California, Newsom said in an interview on MSNBCsMorning Joeon July 12, 2017. Its about logistics, warehousing, transportation. Newsom makes his claim at about the 2:00 minute mark above. We took Newsoms statement to mean the Inland Empire has the states second fastest job growth rate because the lieutenant governor went on to talk about statewide job growth immediately after making this claim. Newsoms comments follow Gov. Jerry Browns recent claim on NBCsMeet the Pressthat Californias Central Valley and Inland Empire are experiencing tremendous job growth. We examined that claim and rated itMostly True. Still, we wondered whether Newsom was right. We set out on a fact check. Our research Asked for evidence to support the claim, Newsoms spokesman cited research from John Husing, chief economist with the InlandEmpire EconomicPartnership. The industry group advocates for jobs creation in the region. The spokesman specifically pointed to a section of HusingsApril 2017report that found the Inland Empires 3.47% growth rate in 2016 was second to San Francisco (4.16%). The report went on to say the region added the second most total jobs of any in the state, 47,500, behind Los Angeles 109,000 and ahead of San Franciscos 43,800. These figures back up Newsoms claim. His statement also holds when looking at job growth rates over the past five years. In April 2017, Jeffrey Michael, director of the Center for Business and Policy Research at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, compiled data showing job growth rates by metro area. The Inland Empire had the fastest job growth rate over the past year at that time, 3.2 percent, and the second fastest rate, 22.3 percent, over the past five years. The economists analyzed data from the California Employment Development Department. Types of jobs Newsoms claim about the rapid pace of job growth appears on the money. But what about the type of jobs he described: logistics, warehousing, transportation ? Husing told us this description was also on the right track. With the explosion of e-commerce, developers have seized on the Inland Empires vast and affordable stretches of land to build warehouses for products shipped through ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach. More than 60,600 distribution and transportation jobs have been added in the Inland Empire since its rebound from the Great Recession in 2010, Husing said. In addition, nearly 46,000 construction jobs; about 25,000 healthcare jobs and 15,000 manufacturing positions have been created. Logistics, transportation and construction are overwhelmingly the sectors that are driving the growth, the economist said. Husing described most of these positions as blue collar jobs. In April, Husing described in more depth the Inland Empires wage picture. He said it had a lower share of high-paying administrative jobs compared with the state as a whole. But, he said, the region was outperforming the state in its share of middle-class jobs that pay between $45,000 and $60,000. Our ruling Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom recently claimed the Inland Empire is the second fastest growing region in California. We took Newsoms claim to mean it has the second fastest job growth rate. Data compiled by two leading economists back up Newsoms assertion. It shows the Inland Empires nearly 3.5 percent jobs growth rate in 2016 was second only to San Franciscos 4.16 percent. Figures over the past five years show the Inland Empire grew jobs at 22.3 percent, again second only to the San Francisco market. The lieutenant governor was also correct to describe these Inland Empire jobs as based in the transportation and distribution sectors, based on data from the economists. We rate Newsoms claim True. TRUE The statement is accurate and theres nothing significant missing. Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.","issues":["Economy","Jobs","The 2018 California Governor's Race","Transportation","California"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1i5Hc-XzafCYpoCK8jlLXQ6aitO9Tx4Jr","image_caption":"Morning Joe"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1204","claim":"Is this Really an Electric Car From 1905?","posted":"07\/10\/2017","sci_digest":["A photograph of the vehicle is real, but misdated."],"justification":"With a rise of interest in \"green energy\" fueling the expansion of automobile companies such as Tesla, one might assume that the electric car is a relatively recent invention. A photograph purportedly showing an electric vehicle from 1905, however, suggests otherwise: Charging an electric car, 1905. Follow us on Instagram https:\/\/t.co\/lZW5cbBPnP pic.twitter.com\/ABWshJASpn https:\/\/t.co\/lZW5cbBPnP pic.twitter.com\/ABWshJASpn  History Lovers Club (@historylvrsclub) July 10, 2017 July 10, 2017  This is a genuine photograph of an electric car charging in the early 1900s. However, according to the Library of Congress, this picture was taken several years later than claimed  in 1919, not 1905  and shows a Detroit Electric charging up between stops on a promotional tour between Seattle and Mt. Ranier in August 1919: Library of Congress tour Mt. Ranier The plugged-in car featured in the photo which initially caught my eye was a Detroit Electric, a vehicle produced by the Anderson Electric Car Company from 1907 to 1939. The photo is part of a group of promotional images showing the auto on a trip from Seattle to Mount Rainier. Other photographs from the group show the car wending its way through the mountains of Washington. Here are two more images showing this early electric car on its first promotional tour: images   The photographs also don't show the world's first electric car, just an early one; London inventor Thomas Parker claimed to have produced an electric powered vehicle as early as 1884. Here's a photograph of Parker in one of his earlier models: photograph   Sitting aboard is Thomas Parker, who was responsible for innovations such as electrifying the London Underground, overhead tramways in Liverpool and Birmingham, and the smokeless fuel coalite. Stoner, Julie.  \"Caught Our Eyes: Its Electric!\"\r  The Library of Congress.  12 April 2017. The Telegraph.  \"World's First Electric Car Built by Victorian Inventor in 1884.\"\r  24 April 2009.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1LJy_n0N3Yitp8U32E5Z-NjIxXXmJhY-z","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1DvwBfEAVlggCyDtjJwg0jemAcTXA3o_L","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1205","claim":"Was the NYC Veterans Day Parade in 1995 \"saved\" by Donald Trump?","posted":"11\/13\/2019","sci_digest":["Trump reportedly donated $200,000 and helped raise another $500,000 for the \"Nation's Parade.\""],"justification":"A story from 1995 resurfaced around Veterans Day 2019, reporting that then-private citizen and real estate mogul Donald Trump had \"saved\" the Veterans Day parade that year in New York City when organizers ran out of money. On Nov. 6, 2019, for example, the Daily Caller News Foundation website published a story bearing the headline, \"The 1995 NYC Veterans Day Parade Had $1.21 In The Bank. Then Donald Trump Stepped In.\" A meme circulating on Facebook similarly described Trump's intervention:This claim apparently originated with Trump himself, or at least it was touted on his campaign website in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election. The website at the time stated: headline  campaign website Mr. Trump has long been a devoted supporter of veteran causes. In 1995, the fiftieth anniversary of World War II, only 100 spectators watched New York Citys Veteran Day Parade. It was an insult to all veterans. Approached by Mayor Rudy Giuliani and the chief of New York Citys FBI office, Mr. Trump agreed to lead as Grand Marshall a second parade later that year. Mr. Trump made a $1 million matching donation to finance the Nations Day Parade. On Saturday, November 11th, over 1.4 million watched as Mr. Trump marched down Fifth Avenue with more than 25,000 veterans, some dressed in their vintage uniforms. A month later, Mr. Trump was honored in the Pentagon during a lunch with the Secretary of Defense and the entire Joint Chiefs of Staff. First off, Trump's website contained some confusing pieces of misinformation: The Veterans Day parade in New York City went by the name the \"Nation's Parade.\" The poorly attended parade \"with only 100 spectators\" occurred in 1994, not 1995 (The New York Times reported police did not give a crowd estimate). Only one Veteran's Day parade took place in the city in 1995  the Nation's Parade on Nov. 11. That event was slated by the U.S. Defense Department as representing \"the official close of the 50th anniversary of World War II.\" reported We contacted the United War Veterans of New York (UWNY), which organized the Nation's Parade in 1995, to ask about claims that Trump's intervention saved the event from cancellation, and we were referred by spokesman Pat Smith to a Nov. 10, 1995, New York Times article about the event. Smith told us that Trump did make a financial contribution toward the parade, but also said UWNY is a small, volunteer-staffed group that doesn't keep records that could answer questions in detail about an event that occurred more than two decades ago. article  The 1995 Times article reported that Trump did make a financial contribution, but that he tried to make it in exchange for being named the parade's grand marshal even though he is not a veteran. The Times reported Trump gave $200,000, not $1 million: By mid-August, organizers had a bank account of exactly $1.21. A request to airlines to donate blankets for aging veterans was turned down because logos might not be visible on television. Then Donald Trump, a nonveteran, agreed to throw in $200,000 as well as raise money from his friends, in exchange for being named grand marshal. Since then, money has come in, though not enough to meet the original budget, which was reduced from $2.9 million to $2.4 million. Fireworks were just one of many cuts. In May 2016, CNN spoke to Vincent McGowan, the president emeritus of UWNY who organized the parade in 1995. McGowan said that Trump's contribution was \"somewhere between $325,000 and $375,000,\" but McGowan also said Trump's donation did save the event. McGowan also said Trump was never the grand marshal because that honor was only given to military veterans. CNN In a follow-up story, the Times in 1995 reported that organizers had agreed to make Trump the parade's grand marshal, a move that had angered some veterans, while others expressed appreciation for his \"crucial\" financial assistance: reported Also in the reviewing stand was the developer Donald Trump, who provided the only note of controversy in an otherwise positive day. Many veterans were angry that organizers had agreed to name Mr. Trump, who is not a veteran, as grand marshal in exchange for his contribution of $200,000 and help in raising additional funds. Another story, dated Nov. 11, 1995, from the news service UPI, reported that Trump contributed $200,000 and raised another $300,000 for the parade, which was viewed by parade Director Tom Fox as having been key: UPI Police estimated 500,000 people attended the largest military parade ever held in New York. Organizers, who placed the turnout at closer to a million, said the parade would not have been a success if it hadn't been for real estate developer Donald Trump, who contributed $200,000 and raised another $300,000. \"Donald Trump saved the parade,\" said parade director Tom Fox, himself a Vietnam veteran. \"We had asked for donations from 200 corporations, and none of them came through,\" he said. \"This donation is the single most important thing I've ever done,\" said a beaming Trump. \"This is more important than all of my buildings and my casinos. This is my way of saying thank you to all the men and women in the armed services who have made it possible for me to become a success. Without them freedom and liberty would be gone.\" In sum, we are rating this claim \"True\" because two individuals involved with the planning of the 1995 parade stated on two separate occasions that Trump's efforts and donation did indeed enable the event to take place. Still unclear are the origins of other sources of funding. Martin, Douglas.\"Veterans Day Parade Tries for a Comeback.\"\rThe New York Times.10 November 1995. Fitzpatrick, David and Curt Devine.\"Trump Will Give $1 Million to Marine Charity, but There Are Other Discrepancies.\"\rCNN.25 May 2016. McFadden, Robert D. \"On Parade To the Beat of History.\"\rThe New York Times.12 November 1995. UPI.\"More Than 500,000 Watch Nation's Parade.\"\r11 November 1995.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1D2EsV0dfQ14QGlN-t_03YchmxB0ylRVe"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1206","claim":"My company was building the Keystone Pipeline when (President Joe) Biden canceled it.","posted":"07\/21\/2022","sci_digest":["Michels Corporation, the construction company Tim Michels co-owns, was awarded a contract to build eight pump stations in the United States for the Keystone XL pipeline., It was awarded another contract to build around half of the Canadian portion of the pipeline., Construction of the pump stations was likely nearing completion and construction of the segment of the pipelines Canadian portion was likely one-third complete when President Biden canceled the construction permit for the pipeline in January 2021., In total, however, only about 8% of the pipeline had been built when President Biden canceled the permit."],"justification":"On his first day in office, President Joe Biden put the final nail in the coffin of the Keystone XL pipeline when he revoked its construction permit via an executive order. Several months later, in June 2021, TC Energy Corporation announced the termination of the project, bringing an end to more than a decade of debate and legislative back-and-forth. The Keystone XL pipeline would have been an extension of the Keystone pipeline, an existing structure that brings tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada, to storage and distribution facilities in Cushing, Oklahoma, and eventually to refineries in Texas. The extension would have boosted this by carrying an additional 830,000 barrels per day from Alberta to Steele City, Nebraska. Environmental activists, Indigenous communities, and climate change experts hailed Biden's decision to cancel the pipeline, which could have damaged sacred sites, caused pollution and water contamination, imperiled wildlife, and dramatically contributed to carbon emissions. However, the decision was heavily criticized by many Republicans, including U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, former Vice President Mike Pence, and most recently, Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels, who had a personal stake in the matter. On June 23, 2022, Michels tweeted: \"My company was building the Keystone Pipeline when Biden canceled it. Both he and Tony Evers are making us all pay the price. I'll stand by Wisconsinites and ensure you keep more of your hard-earned dollars as your next governor.\" He made another claim in a video posted with the tweet: \"Biden killed hundreds of jobs, sent gas prices way up, making everything more expensive.\" We rated that Mostly False. Michels is the co-owner of Michels Corporation, an energy and infrastructure contractor headquartered in Brownsville, Wisconsin, with locations across the United States and Canada. In an email to PolitiFact Wisconsin, TC Energy confirmed that Michels Corp. had been awarded a significant construction scope on the Keystone XL pipeline for both the pipeline and facilities. Michels Corp. provided more details in an email: Michels Pipeline, a division of Michels Corporation, received a contract related to the Keystone XL pipeline to construct pumping stations. Michels Canada Co. received another contract in Canada to help build the mainline pipeline of the Keystone XL pipeline. According to a post on Michels Corp.'s website from September 2020, Michels Corp. was awarded a contract from TC Energy to construct eight pump stations for the pipeline in Montana, South Dakota, Oklahoma, and Texas. Pump stations are facilities along a pipeline that maintain the flow and pressure of oil as it is being transported. They were one type of ancillary facility required for the Keystone XL project, which would have traversed through Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska. Oklahoma and Texas, however, are part of the existing Keystone pipeline structure, so some of the pump stations Michels Corp. was constructing may not have been for the Keystone XL pipeline. The post stated that construction on the eight pump stations started in late June 2020 and was scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2021. It also mentioned that the company would employ more than 350 workers at peak construction. According to a June 2020 post on Michels Canada's website, Michels Canada was awarded a contract from TC Energy to construct approximately 260 kilometers (about 162 miles) of the pipeline in Alberta. An ATC Energy fact sheet about the Canadian portion of the pipeline stated it would be approximately 530 kilometers (about 329 miles) from Hardisty, Alberta, to Monchy, Saskatchewan. Thus, Michels Canada would have constructed about half of the Canadian portion of the pipeline. The full pipeline was to run around 1,200 miles. Michels Corporation was clearly a significant part of building the pipeline, but as stated, readers might think it was the primary or even sole contractor. The post indicated that Michels Canada was projected to hire 1,000 workers each year of the two-year construction period, which was scheduled to begin in the summer of 2020 near Oyen, Alberta, and finish in the spring of 2022 near Hardisty, Alberta. At the time Biden canceled the permit for the pipeline on January 20, 2021, Michels Corp.'s construction of eight pump stations in the U.S. was likely nearing completion. Michels Canada's construction of its segment of the pipeline's Canadian portion was likely about one-third complete. According to Reuters, only about 8% of the planned Keystone XL pipeline had been built by the time President Biden canceled the permit. In a tweet, Michels claimed his company was building the Keystone Pipeline when Biden canceled it. The way it was stated could leave readers thinking his company was fully responsible for the pipeline. Additionally, some of the pump stations his campaign and company cited are apparently tied to the existing portion of the pipeline, indicating a lack of precision. However, Michels is correct that his company had a significant role in the pipeline project. We rate the claim Mostly True.","issues":["Economy","Energy","Gas Prices","Jobs","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1207","claim":"Michelle Obama volunteering at a soup kitchen","posted":"06\/14\/2009","sci_digest":["Photograph shows Michelle Obama serving a government funded soup kitchen meal to a person with an expensive cell phone?"],"justification":"Claim:  Photograph shows Michelle Obama serving a government funded soup kitchen meal to a person with an expensive cell phone. REAL PHOTOGRAPH; INACCURATE DESCRIPTION Examples:  [Collected via e-mail, June 2009] Recently Michelle Obama went to serve food to the homeless at a government funded soup kitchen.   Cost of a bowl of soup at homeless shelter: $0.00 dollars Having Michelle Obama Serve you your soup: $0.00 dollars Snapping a picture of a homeless person who is receiving a government funded meal while taking a picture of the first lady using his $500 Black Berry cell phone and $100.00 per month cellular service: Priceless      Origins:  The above-displayed photograph is genuine, a snapshot taken on an occasion in March 2009 when Michelle Obama spent some time serving lunch to men and women at Miriam's Kitchen, a social service agency in Washington D.C., as part of the First Lady's effort to \"spotlight local organizations, connect with the city and help those in need amid the economic crisis.\"   However, all the assumptions and implications of the text accompanying this picture are incorrect or unsubstantiated.  To wit:  The photograph does not depict anyone \"receiving a government funded meal\": Miriam's Kitchen is a privately funded organization with the goal of \"providing individualized services that address the causes andconsequences of homelessness in an atmosphere of dignity and respect\"; it is not government run or taxpayer funded. Miriam's Kitchen  A cell phone capable of capturing images (even a BlackBerry Pearl) is not necessarily a \"$500 phone\" with a \"$100 per month cellular service.\"  Many much more affordable options are available, including cellular providers who give free phones to low-income customers under the Lifeline assistance program.  So a homeless person might very well carry a cell phone, as Scott Schenkelberg, the Executive Director of Miriam's Kitchen, observed when questioned about this photograph during an interview: BlackBerry Pearl affordable Lifeline interview Q: Since the First Lady's visit, both your guests and your food have been the subject of some criticism within the blogosphere. For example, some critics noted thatone of your guests had a cell phone and suggested that it was inappropriate to serve free food to someone who could afford a cell phone.  A: I suspect some people don't understand how inexpensive cell phones are, or how critical they are to this population. These days, you can purchase a cell phone at 7-11 for $10, then pay for minutes as you go. Our clients have a very fragile safety net. Many of them don't have shelter and are extremely vulnerable. For them, cell phones could literally be a lifeline. If they're looking for a job, the cell phone would also be incredibly important  can you even imagine trying to apply for a job without a phone number? Cell phones simply aren't luxuries anymore. If a guest can scrape together some money to purchase a cell phone, I think that's wonderful.  The assumption that a truly homeless person wouldn't have (or couldn't afford) a cell phone is also a mistaken one.  As Scott Schenkelberg noted, the ranks of the homeless served by organizations such as Miriam's Kitchen include not just the long-term, chronically homeless, but also the \"newly homeless\":  those who had recently been getting by economically until a sudden job loss or other reversal left them with nowhere to go: Until recently, we served mostly the chronically homeless, people who had fallen out of the economy long ago. More recently, we've been seeing more new faces, people who just fell into homelessness or other hard times. These people are generally high-functioning individuals who were hurt by the poor economy. It's very troubling to see previously self-sufficient people coming to Miriam's Kitchen in such high numbers. Last updated:  16 June 2009    Sweet, Lynn.  \"Can Michelle Influence what We Eat, Too?\"   Chicago Sun-Times.  6 March 2009  (p. C10).    Associated Press.  \"First Lady Puts Service on the Menu.\"   The Australian.  7 March 2009.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1rnEgth7JksTt63ZFeMUo27mzvdrmhPW4"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1208","claim":"Austin, deemed the safest major city in Texas, boasts an unemployment rate of less than 3% and has been consecutively recognized as the top place to reside in the entire United States for two years in a row.","posted":"04\/26\/2018","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Austin Mayor Steve Adler, who is seeking a second term this November, reacted to a game-show moment with a swaggering claim. In an April 25, 2018, tweet, Adler responded to a clue from that night's episode of Jeopardy: \"Per Rick Perry, it's the blueberry in the tomato soup.\" Perry, the Republican former governor, often offers the blueberry characterization of the Democrat-dominant capital. On the program, a contestant correctly answered \"Austin\" for $600. Next, Adler said in his tweet, accompanied by a photo of the Jeopardy clue: \"What is the safest big city in Texas with an unemployment rate under 3% that has been named the best place to live in the entire United States two years running?\" Is all of that true about Austin? Not entirely: In 2017, we found Half True an Adler reference to Austin as the state's safest big city. Not for the first time, we noted then that the FBI advises against using crime data it collects to declare one city safer than another. That said, such statistics at the time suggested that the five-county Austin region in 2015 had a lower violent-crime rate than other Texas regions and that El Paso had a lower violent-crime rate than Austin in the first half of 2016. \n\nSeeking the mayor's factual backup, the morning after Adler posted his comment, which was retweeted more than 200 times, we reached mayoral spokesman Jason Stanford. Stanford advised by phone that Adler didn't have fresh information to offer in support of his 2018 safest big city in Texas statement. He suggested we check federal statistics to confirm Austin's jobless rate and told us that U.S. News had consecutively named Austin the nation's best place to live. \n\nChecking Austin's unemployment, our search for Austin's jobless rate on the Texas Workforce Commission website showed that from January through March 2018, the latest month of available data, the city's jobless rate ran shy of 3 percent. We also fetched a longer view showing the city's jobless rate mostly staying below 3 percent from January 2017 on (all the rates not seasonally adjusted). Austin's unemployment rate was last above 3 percent, according to the TWC, when it was 3.1 percent in August 2017. The Austin rate's 15-month low, 2.5 percent, occurred in December 2017. \n\nOn April 10, 2018, U.S. News announced that for the second straight year, the online publication found Austin the best place to live in the United States among the country's 125 largest metropolitan areas; Colorado Springs, Colo., placed second. The rankings were based on affordability, job prospects, and quality of life, U.S. News said, and on surveying thousands of U.S. residents to find out what qualities they consider important in a hometown. The methodology, U.S. News said, also factored in data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the FBI, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics\u2014plus U.S. News rankings of the country's high schools and hospitals. Austin, the self-proclaimed Live Music Capital of the World, earned a score of 7.7 out of 10 for the 2018 rankings, U.S. News said, with even its few downsides having upsides. The story states: \"The median sale price for a single-family home in Austin is well above the national median.\" Then again, the story notes, Austinites' pocketbooks benefit from no personal or corporate income tax and a low state and local tax rate. Another semi-warning in the story: \"Summers in Austin take some getting used to, with temperatures often scorching.\" Though, the story adds, the metro area experiences mild weather throughout the rest of the year, temperatures have been known to drop in the winter. The story also notes: \"Austin is among the nation's worst metro areas for traffic congestion.\" But, the story suggests, that can be addressed with flexible work schedules, due diligence when choosing a neighborhood, and, for those wanting to get in some exercise while commuting, using public transportation, walking, and biking. \n\nOur ruling: Adler referred to Austin as the safest big city in Texas with an unemployment rate under 3% that has been named the best place to live in the entire United States two years running. He was correct about Austin's jobless rate of late and Austin being named the city's best place to live two years in a row, though it's worth clarifying that the rankings considered only the country's 125 largest metro areas. Whether Austin is the safest big Texas city rests on interpreting crime data the FBI counsels against using to compare communities. That said, we previously found that the five-county Austin region in 2015 had a lower violent-crime rate than other Texas regions, while in the first half of 2016, El Paso had a lower violent-crime rate than Austin. On balance, we rate this Adler claim Mostly True.","issues":["City Government","Economy","History","Crime","Texas"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1BudE3uZIxnKsQMAMY6H2CM9-M35Xb56X","image_caption":"SOURCE:"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1209","claim":"Scam for Target and Walmart Refrigerators and Ovens Hits Facebook","posted":"08\/16\/2022","sci_digest":["We strongly recommend sharing this article with any family members or friends who might be susceptible to falling for this potentially dangerous scam."],"justification":"On Aug. 16, 2022, we received mail from our readers that asked if Facebook pages named Target Fans and Walmart Fans were legitimately giving away or donating hundreds of refrigerators and ovens. The truth was that these pages were nothing more than the first step of potentially dangerous survey scams. The scammers appeared to be based in Indonesia. The posts showed pictures of refrigerators and ovens (ranges) with the caption, \"We are happy to announce that we will be donating 670 refrigerators and cookers which cannot be sold due to a few scratches and minor damage, all machines are in working order, so we will send them randomly to someone who writes 'DONE' before August 19th!\"  A search of Facebook for the words Target Fans and the lowercase and special characters ??????? ???? showed dozens of pages that were hosting the survey scams. Target Fans ??????? ???? Survey scams like the one for the Target refrigerators giveaway are a specific kind of ruse. They promise big prizes up front, but then lead to a seemingly endless number of surveys with other tantalizing prizing promises, such as a $750 transfer via the mobile finance app, Cash App. Usually, the scammers who created the Facebook posts are hoping that users sign up for accounts on various websites that might land them small amounts of commission. Target At the same time, survey scams can also be quite dangerous, reported AARP.org: reported AARP.org Amid questions about the supposed subject, sham surveys solicit personal or financial information, such as a credit card number to pay a shipping fee for your prize  something a legit survey will not do. They might trick you into signing up for a free trial offer thats actually a costly subscription for a dietary supplement or other product. Clicking on the link might also launch malware that can scrape sensitive data from your device. Either way, the scammers get information they can use for identity theft or sell on to other bad actors. Some major retailers, including Amazon and Walmart, do offer gift cards as prizes for customers who complete online surveys about their shopping experience, but those companies say they will never ask participants to provide sensitive data. We strongly advise readers to never click any links in offers that seem too good to be true. Also, we recommend sharing our article with family members or friends who might be susceptible to falling for this kind of a Target or Walmart Facebook scam. In sum, no, Target and Walmart weren't giving away or donating refrigerators or ovens on Facebook on pages named Target Fans and Walmart Fans. Walmart Facebook Source: Beware of Survey Scams That Require Personal Information. AARP, https:\/\/www.aarp.org\/money\/scams-fraud\/info-2021\/survey.html.","issues":["finance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1JPDnLuDNcRSefswzAnHEsHtRZTEeYTsy","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1210","claim":"What Is Cinco de Mayo?","posted":"05\/05\/2015","sci_digest":["The Cinco de Mayo holiday is not a celebration of Mexico's achieving independence from Spain, nor is it a major holiday in Mexico."],"justification":"Cinco de Mayo and St. Patrick's Day share many common elements from an American perspective: Although neither is a legal holiday in the United States, they are both nonetheless widely observed as celebrations of another nation's culture, both occasions are marked with parties featuring national music and cuisine (and involving a good deal of drinking), both events have become heavily commercialized, and most Americans have little idea what either holiday is actually about. St. Patrick's Day little idea either holiday Many Americans mistakenly believe that Cinco de Mayo (\"May 5th\") is the Mexican equivalent of the United States' Fourth of July holiday  a date marking the official casting off of colonial rule via the announcement of a new independent country. However, the Mexican version of Independence Day is celebrated on September 16, for it was on that date in 1810 that the commencement of the war for Mexican independence from Spanish rule was pronounced in the small town of Dolores by Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla -- an event now referred to as the \"Grito de Dolores\" (\"Cry of Dolores\") or \"El Grito de la Independencia\". Grito What Cinco de Mayo really commemorates is the Mexican victory against French forces led by Emperor Napoleon III in the Battle of Puebla, which took place on 5 May 1862. The French had invaded Mexico at Veracruz in 1861 (while the United States was preoccupied with its own Civil War) with the intent of establishing a dominance in Mexico that would favor French interests.  After beating President Benito Jurez and his government into retreat, the French army moved on from Veracruz toward Mexico City, where they encountered heavy resistance from Mexican forces just outside the city of Puebla. Despite possessing an overpowering superiority in weaponry and numbers (6,000 well-armed French troops battled 2,000 poorly-equipped Mexican troops), the French were forced to retreat after a full day of fighting. Although the French later overran Puebla, conquered Mexico City, and installed Emperor Maximilian I as ruler of Mexico, the Mexican victory at the Battle of Puebla was celebrated for its importance in symbolizing Mexican unity, pride, and determination in the face of overwhelming odds. (The event is roughly equivalent in national lore to the American celebration of the Battle of the Alamo: although the Texan defenders of the Alamo Mission near San Antonio de Bxar were decisively defeated by Mexican forces in 1836, the tenacity and courage of the 200 or so combatants who fought to their deaths against about 1,800 Mexican troops served as inspiration for the Texan defeat of the Mexican Army at the Battle of San Jacinto a few months later.) The other common misconception about Cinco de Mayo among Americans is that if the holiday is so well known here in the U.S., it must be a really big deal in Mexico itself. But Cinco de Mayo is not a national holiday in Mexico: It is celebrated in Mexico, but it's only an official holiday in the Mexican states of Puebla and Veracruz, and the biggest Cinco de Mayo celebrations typically occur not in Mexico but in U.S. cities with large Hispanic populations such as Los Angeles. And just as St. Patrick's Day has long been observed throughout America in areas without significant Irish populations, Cinco de Mayo is now also commonly celebrated in towns across the U.S. that are predominantly non-Hispanic.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1_iHtFzS-Fa8B_zpxzqE-P5OA7ZPOR4-n","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1211","claim":"Did US Intelligence Eliminate a Requirement That Whistleblowers Provide Firsthand Knowledge?","posted":"10\/01\/2019","sci_digest":["A conspiracy theory about the \"deep state\" got shared widely by the president and his supporters."],"justification":"In September 2019, whistleblower allegations that U.S. President Donald Trump withheld military aid to Ukraine in an effort to obtain damaging information on a political rival led to an impeachment inquiry and an ongoing scandal. It wouldn't be the 2010s if the fallout didn't include a conspiracy theory circulating in the right-wing media ecosystem. In this case, the conspiracy theory was given a major platform in the form of a tweet by Trump that his supporters widely shared: \"WHO CHANGED THE LONG STANDING WHISTLEBLOWER RULES JUST BEFORE SUBMITTAL OF THE FAKE WHISTLEBLOWER REPORT? DRAIN THE SWAMP!\" Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2019. The claim originated on The Federalist website, which published a story on Sept. 27 that was not only inaccurate but also played on the \"deep state\" conspiracy theory, an idea now popular among both fringe fanatics and White House officials alike. It posits that U.S. intelligence agencies are scheming against Trump. The Federalist story implied that the intelligence community changed existing rules so that the \"anti-Trump complaint\" could be filed on Aug. 12 using secondhand information. \"Between May 2018 and August 2019, the intelligence community secretly eliminated a requirement that whistleblowers provide direct, first-hand knowledge of alleged wrongdoings,\" The Federalist reported. The story included purported screenshots of previous and current versions of the Disclosure of Urgent Concern form. The current form allows the whistleblower to check a box indicating that the person either learned of the information firsthand or from others, whereas the previous form contained different language. But as Julian Sanchez, a senior fellow at the libertarian think tank Cato Institute, pointed out, even the previous version shown does not state that there was a requirement for whistleblowers to provide direct, first-hand knowledge of alleged wrongdoings. The law has never required them to do so. Sanchez noted that the form contains a \"description of the Inspector General's (IG) standard for making a credibility determination, as required by statute, within 14 days of the submission of a complaint. According to that guidance, the IG would not make a finding of credibility, and thus transmit the complaint to the [Director of National Intelligence], unless the DNI was in possession of direct evidence supporting the claim.\" It does not state, Sanchez continued, \"that whistleblowers may not submit reports based on secondhand knowledge, but rather that such reports will not be escalated to the DNI unless the IG can obtain more.\" The Intelligence Community Inspector General's Office (ICIG) was forced to issue a statement on Sept. 30 correcting the record. The statement read, in part: \"The Disclosure of Urgent Concern form the Complainant submitted on August 12, 2019, is the same form the ICIG has had in place since May 24, 2018, which went into effect before Inspector General [Michael] Atkinson entered on duty as the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community on May 29, 2018, following his swearing in as the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community on May 17, 2018. Although the form requests information about whether the Complainant possesses first-hand knowledge about the matter about which he or she is lodging the complaint, there is no such requirement set forth in the statute. In fact, by law, the Complainant or any individual in the Intelligence Community who wants to report information with respect to an urgent concern to the congressional intelligence committees need not possess first-hand information in order to file a complaint or information with respect to an urgent concern. The ICIG cannot add conditions to the filing of an urgent concern that do not exist in law. Since Inspector General Atkinson entered on duty as the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, the ICIG has not rejected the filing of an alleged urgent concern due to a whistleblower's lack of first-hand knowledge of the allegations. In other words, the entire premise of The Federalist story is wrong. No requirement exists that whistleblowers provide firsthand knowledge of alleged wrongdoings, and changing the rules would have required an act of Congress. Tom Devine, legal director for the watchdog non-profit Government Accountability Project, called The Federalist story a \"shameless legal bluff.\" \"No bureaucrat has the lawful authority to change the rules of the game for whistleblower rights,\" Devine told us. \"Not even the president can change that unilaterally.\" So how did the claim come about? It's true that the wording on an explanatory form for whistleblowers was changed, but the rules were not. The ICIG's statement notes that the wording was revised because \"certain language in those forms and, more specifically, the informational materials accompanying the forms, could be read incorrectly as suggesting that whistleblowers must possess first-hand information in order to file an urgent concern complaint with the congressional intelligence committees.\" Devine added that government whistleblowers who report allegations of wrongdoing based on hearsay are still valuable resources in ferreting out government waste, corruption, and wrongdoing. \"If we restricted all credible government investigations to those with whistleblowers who have firsthand information, we'd cancel out 90% of law enforcement activity,\" Devine said. \"Whistleblower investigations are routinely based on hearsay.\" The ICIG's Sept. 30 statement additionally noted that the whistleblower's complaint did not contain only secondhand, \"unsubstantiated assertions.\" The whistleblower \"checked two relevant boxes: The first box stated that, 'I have personal and\/or direct knowledge of events or records involved'; and the second box stated that, 'Other employees have told me about events or records involved.'\" In summary, the ICIG statement said: \"[The] whistleblower submitted the appropriate Disclosure of Urgent Concern form that was in effect as of August 12, 2019, and had been used by the ICIG since May 24, 2018. The whistleblower stated on the form that he or she possessed both first-hand and other information. The ICIG reviewed the information provided as well as other information gathered and determined that the complaint was both urgent and that it appeared credible. From the moment the ICIG received the whistleblower's filing, the ICIG has worked to effectuate Congress's intent, and the whistleblower's intent, within the rule of law. The ICIG will continue in those efforts on behalf of all whistleblowers in the Intelligence Community.\"","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1ARwUAApZG4AYlMO-i-J8HNB5vJyRg2VX","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1212","claim":"Did Donald Trump Remove the Terms 'LGBT' and 'Climate Change' from the White House Web Site?","posted":"01\/20\/2017","sci_digest":["While the U.S. presidency transitioned from Barack Obama to Donald Trump, rumors swirled that the latter removed the terms \"LGBT\" and \"climate change\" from the White House web site."],"justification":"As Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States on 20 January 2017, many people noticed some considerable changes to the official White House web site at WhiteHouse.gov web site, such as the seeming removal of the terms \"LGBT\" and \"climate change\": noticed It is true that searching for these terms immediately after the inauguration returned no related results:    However, it's inaccurate to say that these terms were specifically scrubbed from the site by Donald Trump. On 17 January 2017, WhiteHouse.gov issued an announcement explaining the digital transition that would take place on Inauguration Day. For instance, all of the messages posted by Barack Obama under the @POTUS handle on Twitter were transferred to a new @POTUS44 account, giving Donald Trump the opportunity to take over the previous presidential Twitter account @POTUS. announcement Twitter In the same way, the content related to the Obama administration on WhiteHouse.gov was migrated to a new web site, ObamaWhiteHouse.Archives.gov: Where you canaccess archival Obama White House content After January 20, 2017,materials will continue to be accessible on the platforms where they were created, allowing the public continued access to the content posted over the past eight years. WhiteHouse.gov becomes ObamaWhiteHouse.gov The Obama White House website  which includes press articles, blog posts, videos, and photos  will be available at ObamaWhiteHouse.gov, a site maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) beginning on January 20, 2017. If you are looking for a post or page on the Obama administrations WhiteHouse.gov from 2009 through 2017, you can find it by changing the URL to ObamaWhiteHouse.gov. For example, after the transition, this blog post will be available at ObamaWhiteHouse.gov\/obama-administration-digital-transition-moving-forward. ObamaWhiteHouse.gov\/obama-administration-digital-transition-moving-forward Content regarding the terms \"LGBT\" and \"climate change\" are still readily available on ObamaWhiteHouse.gov. ObamaWhiteHouse.gov As of this writing, Whitehouse.gov is sparsely populated. Its blog currently hosts one post (about the inaugural address), while pages for Press Briefings, Statements, Nominations, and Presidential Actions are all blank:  One of the new pages that has since gone up up on Whitehouse.gov (titled \"An America First Energy Plan\") suggests that the Trump administration will be targeting previous climate initiatives in order to help boost domestic oil and gas industries: new pages Energy is an essential part of American life and a staple of the world economy. The Trump Administration is committed to energy policies that lower costs for hardworking Americans and maximize the use of American resources, freeing us from dependence on foreign oil. For too long, weve been held back by burdensome regulations on our energy industry. President Trump is committed to eliminating harmful and unnecessary policies such as the Climate Action Plan and the Waters of the U.S. rule. Schulman, Kori.  \"The Obama Administration Digital Transition: Moving Forward.\"\r  The White House.  17 January 2017.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1UKA3PzoWZX2dmmvINeUIwtRMFPOCwunv","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1pGrvYaXREZLDisNJeFo19r410kBtUq6Q","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=12wthtg9nsDu1WKGkcV2c5C44Fqu3oG4R","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1-GN9Bt5RnMVh_tAggxseHAHCei_D9crc","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1213","claim":"Does This Photograph Show 26 'Corrupt' Politicians Executed by China?","posted":"09\/05\/2018","sci_digest":["Not a picture of 'corrupt' politicians or an execution, although some of the latter followed afterwards."],"justification":"In September 2018, a number of social media accounts started sharing a photograph purported to show 26 'corrupt' Chinese politicians moments before their execution: social media   This photograph was not recent in 2018, it did not feature corrupt politicians, and it was not taken during the course of a public execution. This photograph was snapped in Wenzhou, China, in April 2004 and shows Chinese police officers escorting a group of \"hardcore convicts\" at a \"sentencing rally.\" This picture is available via Getty Images where it is accompanied by the following caption: Getty Images WENZHOU, CHINA: Chinese police show of a group of hardcore convicts at a sentencing rally in the east Chinese city of Wenzhou, 07 April 2004, where 11 prisoners were later excuted for various crimes. Amnesty International has called for a moratorium on the death penalty in China, saying the country's dysfunctional criminal justice system meant many innocent people were being executed, after a senior Chinese legislator suggested China executes at least 10,000 people a year, about five times more than the rest of the world combined. AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read STR\/AFP\/Getty Images) We attempted to find more information about the crimes committed by the pictured individuals but were unable to uncover news about this specific incident. We suspect that the majority of people seen in this photograph were convicted of drug trafficking offenses, as the China Daily reported in June 2004, two months after this photograph was taken, that dozens of drug dealers had recently been executed in the country, with some of them having been sentenced in Wenzhou: China Daily Dozens of drug dealers were sentenced to death in a series of drug-related criminal cases across China as the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking draws near. In southwestern Yunnan province, Tan Minglin and three other people convicted of smuggling or selling five tons of drugs, including heroin and ephedrine, were executed after having all their belongings confiscated. Another Chen Xue'an and three other suspects accused of illegally purchasing 60 kg of drugs by raising over four million yuan (US$481,000) were sentenced to death in Wenzhou city of east China's Zhejiang province. A contemporaneous report from Amnesty International stated that China \"easily operates the most stringent capital punishment regime\" and that the the country had executed an estimated 3,400 people in 2004: Amnesty International The report says China easily operates the most stringent capital punishment regime, with an estimated 3,400 executions last year. In second place, Iran executed at least 159, Vietnam at least 64, and 59 prisoners were put to death in the US. The number of executions worldwide last year was the highest since 1996, when 4,272 were carried out. No official figures are available for China's execution rate, and Amnesty has changed the method it uses to calculate the number of executions there. According to Amnesty's report for 2003 China carried out at least 726 executions. The much higher figure of 3,400 executed last year is an estimate based on internet reports of trials, although it is still described as the \"tip of the iceberg\". China was still at the top of Amnesty International's annual report on capital punishment in 2018. report China Daily.  \"Dozens of Drug Dealers Executed in China.\"\r  25 June 2004. Penketh, Anne.  \"China Leads Death List as Number of Executions Around the World Soars.\"\r  The Independent.  5 April 2005. Drury, Colin.  \"China Executes More People Than Rest of World Combined, Amnesty Report Reveals.\"\r  The Independent.  12 April 2018.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1jFlVpo4tyavrX6iXp85WbpROuyQiDBlJ","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1214","claim":"Rhode Island's legislature is the strongest in the country.","posted":"11\/30\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Its a statement often heard in the Ocean State: Rhode Islands state legislature is the strongest in the nation. And it was recently repeated by Governor Lincoln Chafee as he doled out advice to his successor, Governor-elect Gina Raimondo. Chafee was one of several people who were asked by The Journal what advice they would give to Raimondo as she prepares to take office Jan. 6. Their comments were published Nov. 17 in The Journals Political Scene column. The only [advice] I would add is we all know ... that Rhode Island constitutionally has a very strong legislature, Chafee said. Thats a fact, the strongest in the country  And its critical, to move your agenda forward, to have relationships ... build those relationships. Since this claim has been made so often, we decided to check whether Rhode Islands General Assembly really ranks as the strongest in the nation. We asked Chafees office what facts he had to support his statement. It took awhile for his office to get back to us. Meanwhile, we reached out to nearly a dozen political science professors nationwide, the National Conference of State Legislatures, and others to get their views. All who responded generally shared the view that Rhode Islands governor has relatively limited power compared with governors in many other states We were referred to Governors and the Executive Branch, a chapter in the book Politics In The American States: A Comparative Analysis. Its author, Margaret R. Ferguson, a political science professor at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, measured the institutional power of governors in each of the 50 states, based on various factors. Those included  term limits; power to appoint without the involvement of the legislature; control over the budget; veto power; and whether the governor is the same political affiliation that controls the state legislature. Rhode Island placed dead last overall in Fergusons list for executive power, while Massachusetts placed at the top. The book also noted that Chafee was the only governor in the country in 2011 to face a legislature controlled by an opposing party. At the time, Chafee was registered as an independent; he changed his affiliation to Democrat in May 2013. We also looked to Rhode Islands Constitution. It limits governors to two terms and specifies that the governors appointments of state officers be subject to Senate advice and consent. Pardons, too, need Senate approval. A veto by the governor can be overridden  by a vote of three-fifths of members present in the House and Senate. One of the key provisions limiting a Rhode Island governors power concerns the state budget. Governors are required to submit budgets, but the documents are then subject to legislative cuts and additions, before the General Assembly passes its own version. In 44 other states, governors have so-called line-item veto authority, the power to reject individual items, while keeping the rest of the budget intact. In Rhode Island, the governor can only approve or veto the final budget, which usually prompts the Assembly to override a veto. When Chafees office got back to us, it shared emails sent to the governors staff by Peverill Squire, a University of Missouri political science professor who is widely known for his study of state legislatures. The email exchanges were part of the preparations for last years 350th anniversary of the Rhode Island Colonial Charter of 1663. We can always quibble about rankings, but every accounting puts the power of Rhode Islands governor at or near the bottom in terms of institutional powers, Squire said in an email to Jonathan Stevens, Chafees director of special projects. Rhode Islands governor enjoys only moderate appointment powers. The governor also has a weak veto and relatively little ability to influence the budget. A line-item veto and greater control over appointments would greatly strengthen the governor. On a constitutional power metric, Rhode Island is among the most powerful state legislatures,  Squires wrote. Squire confirmed the statements to PolitiFact Rhode Island via email and cited his book The Evolution of American Legislatures, Colonies, Territories and States, 1619-2009,  as well as an earlier book, 101 Chambers. We also heard from Jay S. Goodman, a political science professor at Wheaton College, who noted that the Rhode Island legislature had given up a certain degree of power over the past 20 years, including the appointment of Supreme Court justices, the revolving door limitations on jobs, ethics rules, and the separation of powers amendment. Voters approved the separation  of  powers constitutional amendment in 2004 to curb legislative powers and remove lawmakers from state boards and commissions. Those changes certainly strengthened the governorship, Goodman said via email. But the overwhelming one-party rule coupled with iron discipline still makes the Speaker [of the House] the most powerful single person [in Rhode Island]. While the strength of the governorship might appear to be inversely proportional to the General Assemblys power, Maureen Moakley, a political science professor at the University of Rhode Island, observed that a governors force of personality also factors in. She used the late Governor Bruce Sundlun, a Democrat, as an example. He was a very forceful personality. The day he took office he faced a crisis. [The collapse of Rhode Islands credit unions.] That gave him a lot of leverage through his administration, especially his first administration, Moakley said. If a governor has the political savvy to be able to take the bully pulpit and turn [it] into a political force, it can go a long way to mitigating the limitations of the office, Moakley said. Their initial presentation of their agenda is critical, she said. Our ruling Governor Chafee said the Rhode Island state legislature is the strongest in the country  Our research found that Rhode Islands governor has the least institutional power in the nation under the state Constitution. That would make the Rhode Island General Assembly the most powerful, supporting the governors point. We rule his claimTrue. (If you have a claim youd likePolitiFact Rhode Islandto check, email us at[email protected]. And follow us on Twitter: @politifactri.)","issues":["Rhode Island","Legal Issues","State Budget","States"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1215","claim":"Is the CDC a 'Private Nonprofit Corporation'?","posted":"05\/05\/2021","sci_digest":["The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the CDC Foundation are two separate entities. "],"justification":"Since November 2020, an identically worded piece of text alleging that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) \"is a private nonprofit corporation\" has been shared across multiple social media platforms. The claim originated on the website Armstrong Economics, which sells a variety of self-published conspiracy books by the titular Martin Armstrong, and it became a widely shared piece of \"copypasta,\" reproduced in part below: \"Did you know the CDC is a private nonprofit corporation? [...] The CDC is quasi-government under the Department of Health and Human Services, which strangely has sources of funding that are predicated on the fact that it also has a private 501(c)(3) public charity, like the Clinton Foundation.\" The CDC Foundation receives charitable contributions and philanthropic grants from individuals, foundations, corporations, universities, NGOs, and other organizations to advance the work of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is NOT a government-funded organization. Natural News, which boasts a massive audience of conspiracy theorists, republished it in December 2020. At the time of this writing, versions of this copypasta still appear on various social media platforms. On May 3, 2021, a Facebook account named The Daily Callout published it along with a picture of purported CDC funding sources. Commenters on that post were evidently confused. The allegations leveled against the CDC are not coherent in these posts. The copypasta suggests the CDC is both a non-profit and a \"quasi-government\" agency. Further, those issues are tangled up in the separate issue of corporate donations to the CDC. The title of the post, however, provides Snopes with a clearly stated contention: \"Did you know the CDC is a private nonprofit corporation?\" You most likely did not know this because it is, in fact, not true. The CDC is a federal agency housed in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The confusion stems from the fact that, in 1992, Congress mandated the creation of a non-profit foundation\u2014the CDC Foundation\u2014that would \"not be an agency or instrumentality of the Federal Government\" and whose purpose would be \"to support and carry out activities for the prevention and control of diseases, disorders, injuries, and disabilities, and for the promotion of public health.\" As part of that goal, the foundation has an endowment and accepts charitable gifts from a variety of entities, including corporations, which are forwarded to the CDC to support specific initiatives. \"The government has unique capacities as well as limitations. The same is true for the private and philanthropic sectors,\" the CDC Foundation argues on its website. \"We believe that people, groups, and organizations have greater positive impact and can accomplish more collectively than individually.\" Funds raised by the CDC Foundation are donated to various programs and initiatives within the CDC. The CDC Foundation is one of two ways corporations can legally provide funds to the CDC. Donations to the CDC Foundation are an indirect route, as, by law, \"officers, employees, and members of the board of the Foundation shall not be officers or employees of the Federal Government.\" Direct gifts by corporations to the CDC are also allowed under a portion of the U.S. Code that authorizes the secretary of HHS \"to accept on behalf of the United States gifts made ... for the benefit of the Service or for the carrying out of any of its functions.\" For both direct gifts to the CDC and gifts made via the CDC Foundation, conditional funding is allowed as long as those requirements are not, as outlined in CDC policy documents. The acceptance of corporate donations earmarked for specific causes\u2014both to the CDC Foundation and to the CDC itself\u2014has caused apparent conflicts of interest. In 2015, the medical journal BMJ published an editorial outlining several examples of potential conflicts, including these examples: In 2010, the CDC, in conjunction with the CDC Foundation, formed the Viral Hepatitis Action Coalition, which supports research and promotes expanded testing and treatment of hepatitis C in the United States and globally. Industry has donated over $26 million to the coalition through the CDC Foundation since 2010. Corporate members of the coalition include Abbott Laboratories, AbbVie, Gilead, Janssen, Merck, OraSure Technologies, Quest Diagnostics, and Siemens\u2014each of which produces products to test for or treat hepatitis C infection. In 2012, [a company named] Genentech earmarked $600,000 in donations to the CDC Foundation for the CDC's efforts to promote expanded testing and treatment of viral hepatitis. Genentech and its parent company, Roche, manufacture test kits and treatments for hepatitis C. The CDC argues that it has policies in place to prevent such conflicts. Its website states that \"when we engage with the private sector, we maintain our scientific integrity by participating in a gift review process that is rigorous and transparent. The CDC's gift acceptance policy requires a comprehensive gift review prior to accepting a gift. This includes CDC Foundation (CDCF) gifts and gifts given directly to [the] CDC, whether they are monetary or non-monetary.\" These processes have been refined and standardized several times since 2014. While the issue of potential corporate influence over public health policy merits scrutiny, it is also important to consider the scale of private funding compared to the overall congressionally appropriated budget of the CDC. In the 2020 fiscal year, the CDC received $13 million in conditional gifts from the CDC Foundation and $10 million in conditional and unconditional direct contributions from the private sector. This is a drop in the bucket compared to the nearly $8 billion in funding the CDC receives from Congress. Even from a rhetorical standpoint, it would be a stretch to argue that the CDC is proportionally awash in corporate funding. Narrowly speaking, however, the assertion that the CDC is a non-profit, non-government organization is incorrect because that claim conflates the CDC (a federal agency) and the CDC Foundation (a 501(c)(3) charity).","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1gqCZg1u4ff9eq2NDNHxv0SZzyW1Sza5P","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1nsLNGQPzmxDxwS4LWcbDCgS5FAlBcj41","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1216","claim":"Did Sasha Obama Crash Her Expensive New Car Into a Lake?","posted":"12\/29\/2017","sci_digest":["A fake news article wants you to hate former First Daughter Sasha Obama."],"justification":"On 21 December 2017, the web site DefenseUSA.site published a fake news article claiming that Sasha Obama had crashed a Bugatti Veyron into a lake: published   When Barack Obama bought his daughter Sasha a used Bugatti Veyron for Christmas, she apparently loved the new car so much that she immediately took it for a spin. Unfortunately, that car didnt last long. The former President* put his hard-earned speaking fees to work getting the car for his daughter, but it quickly became a $1.1 million piece of fish food when she picked up her friends and promptly crashed it into a lake.  There is no truth to this story. We found no credible reports of Sasha Obama receiving a Bugatti Veyron for Christmas, let alone crashing it into a lake.  The DefenseUSA.site does not appear to carry a readily available disclaimer labeling its content fiction. However, there were several ways to tell that this story was just another piece of fake news (besides the dodgy URL).  For one, the web site claimed that Sasha Obama had crashed her car into \"Lake Hope, about 32 miles outside of Washington, D.C.\" This lake does not exist. There is a Lake Hope in Ohio, but we couldn't find any body of water with that name in the D.C. area.  The article linked to a credible news outlet (though it failed to point to a D.C. paper, choosing instead an Indiana publication, the Washington Times Herald) to give the impression that the information about Sasha Obama's alleged crash came from a genuine news report. However, the link led to the Washington Times Herald's front page, rather than a specific article, and the (giant, all-caps) quoted material is nowhere to be found on the paper's web site:  Washington Times Herald page   Lastly, the story's featured photograph actually shows a Bugati Veyron that a man drove into a lake in October 2009 as part of an insurance fraud scheme.  insurance fraud Ballaban, Michael.  \"The Guy Who Crashed a Bugatti Into a Lake Has Been Sentenced to a Year in Federal Prison.\"\r  Jalopnik.  15 December 2015.","issues":["insurance"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Bl6Sdy6YHRaHTo2y8PJDifQSiEZ21Rvt","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1CwaS0B2o9sHzYi7hr_2wTq63swvHFhDf","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1217","claim":"Says Rob Portman said the auto rescue was a lousy deal for Ohio.","posted":"10\/20\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Former Democratic Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland didnt waste any time attacking Republican Sen. Rob Portman for opposing the 2009 automotive bailout and calling it a lousy deal. He said the auto rescue was a lousy deal for Ohio, Strickland told an audience during his opening statement at the third Senate debate in Cleveland. This isnt the first time Strickland made this claim. Strickland made the charge in front of some Ohio delegates during a meeting held the week of the Democratic National Convention, according to theColumbus Dispatch. We wondered if Strickland was right. Did Portman call the automotive bailout a lousy deal? Stricklands campaign said the remark in question comes froma 2009 statement from Portman, who was a candidate for Senate that year but was not yet in office. The campaign accessed the news release using the Wayback Machine, an Internet Archive website. The General Motors bankruptcy plan Washington announced today is a lousy deal for Ohio, reads the statement. Taxpayers, including hard working Ohioans, are investing $50 billion in a GM plan that we now find includes shutting down plants in Mansfield, Parma, and Columbus, Ohio. The reason for this unprecedented taxpayer bailout and government intervention was to preserve jobs. Instead, for our $50 Billion taxpayer investment, thousands more workers will see their jobs disappear. Ohio deserves better than this. Thats the only direct reference to lousy Stricklands campaign sent PolitiFact Ohio, but they also sent an article from theColumbus Dispatchthat quotes Portmans former spokesperson in 2011 saying Portman still thinks the auto bailout was not a good deal for Ohio. Portmans campaign told PolitiFact Ohio that although Portman was not in office when the bailout launched, he would have supported the auto rescue. As evidence of this, Portmans campaign pointed to a 2010 U.S. Senate debate against Democrat Lee Fisher. Portman was asked if he would have supported the 2009 bailout, which Portman responded to with a yes, while also mentioning he would have liked to see more conditions in the bailout. $50 billion of our taxpayer money went to a private entity that the government essentially took over, and then they closed four plants here in Ohio. Portman said at the debate. So, if I had been in office at the time I would have supported it, but I would have been sure that Ohio didnt fall behind. Our ruling Strickland said Portman said the auto rescue was a lousy deal for Ohio. As a candidate for Senate, Portman did call the 2009 automotive bailouts of GM and Chrysler a lousy deal in a press release from 2009. Strickland cited this remark without including the fact Portman said he still would have supported the bailout. Stricklands claim is accurate, but needs a slight clarification. We rate Stricklands claim Mostly True.","issues":["Ohio","Economy","Stimulus","Workers"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1218","claim":"Property taxes are lower right now than they were in December 2010 on a median-valued home in Wisconsin.","posted":"06\/07\/2017","sci_digest":[],"justification":"For a while there, Gov.Scott Walkerwas coyabout whether he would run for a third four-year term in 2018. But now hisintentions are all but official, and he is repeatedly sounding themes that could show up as part of his campaign platform. On May 18, 2017, Walkerwas interviewedby Jeff Wagner, a conservative talk show host on WTMJ-AM in Milwaukee. Wagner opened by asking about one of the governors favorite topics: property tax reform. Walker responded by declaring that property taxes on a median-value home are lower right now than they were in December 2010, the month before he took office. Hes correct, though theres a caveat. Prior fact checks Theres no question property taxes, though they might increase for some individual property owners and decrease for others, have generally been on the decline since Walker took office and his fellow Republicans took control of the Legislature in 2011. In 2015,we rated Mostly Truea Walker claim that because of his actions, property taxes were lower than they were four years earlier. Walkers actions to limit the ability of local governments and school districts to raise levies played a major role. But the lower property taxes to that point were also due in part to declines in housing values. In January 2017, when Walker said that property taxes -- as a percentage of personal income -- were the lowest that they've been since the end of World War II,our rating was True. An analysis by the nonpartisan Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance showed that on the measure Walker cited, they were lowest since 1946. And on ourWalk-O-Meter, which tracks Walkers campaign promises, weverated In the Workshis pledge to cut property taxes so that the levy on a typical home in 2018 is lower than it was in 2010. Current claim Walkers new claim refers to a specific measure -- an estimate of the hypothetical property tax on a median-valued, or typical, Wisconsin home. The estimates are done by the nonpartisan state Legislative Fiscal Bureau. That tax was $2,963 for 2010-11, just before Walker took office; and its $2,832 for 2017-18. 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 $2,963 $2,953 $2,943 $2,926 $2,831 $2,849 $2,852 $2,832 $2,831 A caveat Todd Berry, president of the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, told us its important to note that levies -- the total property taxes collected -- have risen in each year but one during Walkers tenure, even though the the tax on a median-valued home is lower than before he took office. The reason is that compared to commercial and manufacturing properties, residential values have lagged. As a result, more of the property tax burden has shifted to commercial and manufacturing and away from residential, Berry said. Our rating Walker says property taxes are lower right now than they were in December 2010 on a median-valued home in Wisconsin. Estimates done regularly by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau show that the hypothetical property tax bill on a typical Wisconsin home is $2,832 for 2017-18 -- $131 lower than the year before Walker took office. But its worth noting that the total amount of property taxes collected have risen in each year but one during Walkers tenure. And that the drop in residential property taxes is due to commercial and manufacturing properties rising at a faster rate -- not due to collecting less taxes. For a statement that is accurate but needs additional information, our rating is Mostly True.","issues":["Housing","State Budget","Taxes","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1219","claim":"Greece is not a big economy. It's about the size of metropolitan Miami.","posted":"07\/06\/2015","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Greek voters stuck a wrench into European finances with their rejection of an austerity-bailout package on July 5, 2015. With the referendum results all in, the possibility that Greece might ditch the Euro, the European Unions common currency, became more likely than ever. Before the vote though, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman warned that the greatest worry might have less to do with Greece than with other shaky economies in the Euro zone. On ABCsThis Week, Krugman downplayed the impact of the Greek economy per se. Greece is not a big economy, Krugman told host George Stephanopoulos, It's about the size of metropolitan Miami. So if you asked how much direct spillover there is from whatever happens in Greece, not that much. But if Greece bailed on the Euro, Krugman said, Spain and Portugal might follow, which would gut the idea of a unified pan-European economy to compete with the powerhouses of America and China. Our focus is decidedly more humble than the future of Europe. We wanted to check Krugmans comparison of Greece to the greater Miami area. Krugman has not rested on his Nobel Prize laurels. He is correct. The latest estimate of the Gross Domestic Product of the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metropolitan area, according to WashingtonsBureau of Economic Analysis, was $281 billion in 2013. The same year, theCIA estimatedthe size of the Greek economy at $282.6 billion in 2013. Another estimate, from theOrganization for Economic Cooperation and Development, put Greeces GDP at about $283 billion. Either number supports Krugmans point. The only caveats are technical. The CIA and OECD estimates are based on purchasing power parity, a set of formulas that adjust for how much it costs to buy exactly the same basket of goods in two countries using different currencies. The OECD says thatfiltering out price differencesgives a more accurate comparison of the economies of the two countries. If you measure the Greek economy strictly by the market exchange rate, the numbers shift. According to theWorld Bankthe countrys GDP was $242.2 billion in 2013. Compared to the total Euro zone economy, Greece represented about 2.2 percent of the zones $12 trillion-plus GDP in 2013. By the way, if the size of the Greek economy is about the same as that of the greater Miami metro region, thats the extent of the similarity. The average person in Miami was much better off financially with a per capita GDP of $48,225. In Greece, it was $25,666. Our ruling Krugman said that the economy of Greece is about a big as that of the Miami metropolitan area. Based on a common measure of Gross Domestic Product, that is accurate. The GDP of Greece was about $282 billion in 2013, and the Miami metro area had a GDP of $281 billion. We rate the claim True.","issues":["Economy","Foreign Policy","PunditFact"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1220","claim":"Give away a $100 gift card from Chipotle.","posted":"07\/31\/2018","sci_digest":["Chipotle is not offering free $100 gift cards for National Avocado Day to internet users who share a link with their friends."],"justification":"In July 2018, the Chipotle Mexican Grill chain of fast casual restaurants ran a promotion in conjunction with National Avocado Day, offering free guacamole to customers with their orders on 31 July: free guacamole  Unfortunately, scammers took advantage of this promotion to post counterfeit offers for free $100 Chipotle gift cards, touting that users need only share a link with five friends to claim their bounty: counterfeit offers   This fake offer was just another variation of a long-running form of scam with a familiar pattern.  First, scammers set up look-alike websites and social media pages that mimic those of legitimate companies in order to promote scams advertising free gift cards or coupons. Users who respond to those fake offers are required to share a website link or social media post in order to spread the scam more widely and lure in additional victims. Then those users are presented with a \"survey\" that extracts personal information such as email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, and even sometimes credit card numbers. Finally, those who wish to claim their \"free\" gift cards eventually learn they must first sign up to purchase a number of costly goods, services, or subscriptions (negating the free aspect of the gift card). The Better Business Bureau offers three tips to identify similar scams: Dont believe what you see. Its easy to steal the colors, logos and header of an established organization. Scammers can also make links look like they lead to legitimate websites and emails appear to come from a different sender. Legitimate businesses do not ask for credit card numbers or banking information on customer surveys. If they do ask for personal information, like an address or email, be sure theres a link to their privacy policy. Watch out for a reward thats too good to be true. If the survey is real, you may be entered in a drawing to win a gift card or receive a small discount off your next purchase. Few businesses can afford to give away $50 gift cards for completing a few questions.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1cGC60QKtLLibvC8-bbB0_H8tcjH8coUU"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1zpOUB-7QrFWxrWfi3uIqYbdyZK31Wvch"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1221","claim":"Everything Donald Trump Has Accomplished in Just Four Months?","posted":"05\/24\/2017","sci_digest":["We looked into the accuracy of a viral list touting President Trump's accomplishments during his first four months in office."],"justification":"In May 2017, a Reddit user posted a graphic that purported to list all of President Trump's accomplishments during his first four months in office. It was then widely shared on social media: \"Reddit TRUMP ACCOMPLISHMENTS ..Retweet the hell out of this to annoy @ABC @CBS @cnn @cnbc @MSNBC @nbc @nytimes @washingtonpost #dishonestmedia.\" Creating homebrew visual aids touting the accomplishments (or failures) of top politicians is a popular online pastime, not least because it's a cheap and easy way to propagandize, and because there are no pesky standards of fairness and accuracy to meet. As we've noted with regard to previous specimens (for example, a late-2016 meme touting the alleged economic achievements of President Obama), the graphic format lends itself to the display of cherry-picked facts to make a simplistic case with no semblance of context or nuance. In this case, the claim is that, despite all the carping in the mainstream press about \"chaos\" and \"ineptitude\" in the Oval Office, President Trump has actually accomplished quite a lot during his first four months as chief executive, and thus you will not find mention of major campaign promises Trump has had difficulty keeping so far, such as instituting a Muslim immigration ban and building a wall on the Mexican border. Also, since it's very much a partisan case being made, there will be disagreement over what constitutes an \"accomplishment.\" Some feats, such as reducing unemployment, are uncontroversial, while others, such as dismantling entire government agencies, aren't likely to be regarded as accomplishments by those who find the functions of those agencies critical. Here are the claims: 4.4 percent - lowest since May 2007. As reported in the Washington Post, government data released on May 5, 2017, indicated that the national unemployment rate hit a new low in April: The U.S. job market rebounded strongly last month, and the unemployment rate fell to the lowest level seen in a decade, government data released Friday morning showed, calming fears that had bubbled up in the past month about the state of the economy. Employers added 211,000 jobs in April as the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.4 percent, the lowest level since May 2007. It bears pointing out that the jobless rate had already been on a steady decline since 2010. Further, unemployment hit a previous nine-year low of 4.6 percent in December 2016 when President Obama was still in office. It climbed back up to 4.8 percent in January, dipped to 4.7 percent in February, and to 4.5 percent in March 2017. To what degree short-term improvements in the economy since January can be attributed to a new chief executive whose economic policies remain nascent is perennially up for debate, though according to The New York Times' senior economic correspondent Neil Irwin, a \"Trump effect\" that is buoying corporate hiring policies after the election cannot be ruled out. So does Mr. Trump deserve any credit for solid economic results? If you think the economy is driven by concrete, specific policies around taxes, spending, monetary policy, and regulation, the answer is no. If you think that what really matters is the mood in the executive suite, then just maybe. This is a mostly accurate, partial list of corporations that have announced investments in American facilities and\/or jobs since the election of Donald Trump. With the exception of Bayer AG (which announced $8 billion in new investments, not $1 billion as claimed), the dollar amounts match those cited in press reports between January and April 2017 (sources: Softbank, Exxon Mobil Corp., Hyundai-Kia, Apple, Fiat Chrysler, General Motors, Bayer AG, Toyota, LG Electronics). It's not necessarily accurate to characterize all of these commitments as \"accomplishments\" of President Trump, however. As CBS Moneywatch's Irina Ivanova reported in January 2017, few of the jobs companies are promising to create in the U.S. can be attributed to a sudden renewed commitment to USA Inc. inspired by Trump's America First policies. Indeed, the businesses Trump has been quick to praise have been careful not to characterize their recent hiring announcements as new. And as usual with corporate investments of this scale, such plans are typically months or even years in the making, suggesting they long predate the presidential election. For example, Fiat Chrysler said their promise of a $1 billion investment in Michigan and Ohio plants, projected to create 2,000 jobs, was the \"second phase\" of an industrialization plan announced in 2016. GM's $1 billion investment was \"several years in the making,\" according to sources cited by CBS. The largest of all the announced commitments, SoftBank's pledge of $50 billion, was also in the works long before Trump won the election: Another widely publicized corporate initiative that Trump trumpeted\u2014a promise by SoftBank to create 50,000 high-tech jobs in the U.S.\u2014was the result of a tech fund the company announced on October 14, three weeks before the election. Given the massive tech industry in the U.S., economists say much of the planned $50 billion investment would have found its way to the states regardless of who occupied the White House. You don't just decide overnight to invest $3 billion, said Nathan Jensen, a professor at the University of Texas who studies interactions between government and corporations. Bayer AG's commitment to an $8 billion investment and the creation of 3,000 U.S. jobs was announced by the Trump transition team after the president-elect met in January 2017 with the CEOs of Bayer AG and Monsanto, who are planning a merger. Transition spokesman Sean Spicer credited Trump's negotiating skills for the pledge, but some analysts were skeptical that the companies had actually promised anything that wasn't already on the table when plans for the merger were first revealed in September 2016. Bayer and Monsanto said in a joint statement after Spicer's remarks that the \"combined company expects to spend approximately $16 billion in R&D in agriculture over the next six years with at least half of this investment made in the United States.\" That amounts to about $2.7 billion a year, which roughly equates to what the combined companies already spend in that area globally, [Wall Street analyst Jeremy] Redenius said. As for the U.S. breakdown, he estimates it's likely close to half already; Monsanto spends $1.5 billion a year, the majority of which is in the U.S., he said, and Bayer already invests in R&D here as well. \"Not an increase, but not substantially cutting,\" he said of the global figure. The merger, which awaits U.S. regulatory approval, is not likely to be completed until 2018, CNBC reported. It is true that the U.S. Treasury reported a $182 billion budget surplus in April 2017, the largest April surplus since 2001 (and the second-largest in history), according to MarketWatch. It's unclear exactly how that surplus is attributable to President Trump, however. April is typically a surplus month because of tax receipts. In addition, citing a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) review as its source, the Associated Press reported that the April 2017 surplus was \"inflated\" because of a tax deadline change allowing corporations to pay federal taxes in April that in previous years were paid in March. It remains to be seen what effect Trump's policies will have on the budget deficit for 2017 as a whole (the fiscal year ends on September 30). The CBO projects a 4.6 percent drop in the deficit from what it was in 2016, but that is based on laws and policies already in effect when Trump took office. The stock market can be fickle. As of April 29, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 20,940.51, 6.12 percent higher than when Trump took office\u2014positive movement, unquestionably. That number had risen to 20,981.94 by May 16, then plummeted 372 points the next day as the market was shaken by news that Trump had shared classified information with Russian diplomats in the White House and attempted to divert FBI Director James Comey from an investigation of Trump's alleged ties to Russia before he fired him. It's true that the Consumer Confidence Index, a metric assessing how ordinary consumers feel about the strength of the economy, hit 125.6 in March 2017, its highest point since 2000. It is also true that it fell five points to 120.3 the following month. Even so, it showed that consumers (as of April) had more confidence in the economy under Trump than under Obama, during whose administration the index never exceeded 113.7 (although it did manage to rise to that point after bottoming out in 2009 at 25). As of May 17, 2017, President Trump had signed 34 bills passed by Congress, a comparatively high number in such a short period of time (since Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who signed 76 pieces of legislation in his first 100 days, only Harry Truman, at 55, signed more). That's not to say that all of the legislation signed by Trump between January and May 2017 was necessarily noteworthy, however. One bill changed the name of a Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic in Pago Pago, American Samoa; another renamed a VA health center in Pennsylvania; another approved the location of a memorial honoring Desert Storm and Desert Shield veterans; three appointed citizen regents to the board of the Smithsonian Institution. Nor should it be assumed that Trump's signing of a given bill meant he or his administration was actively involved in its passage. Thirteen such bills nullifying federal regulations enacted during the Obama administration (such as H.J. Res. 69, reversing a U.S. Fish and Wildlife rule pertaining to Alaska's National Wildlife Refuges and S.J. Res. 34, reversing FCC Internet privacy rules) were rushed through Congress and quickly signed because they made use of the Congressional Review Act of 1996, which imposes a 60-day limit on the time allowed to overrule previously passed laws. This is true. Gorsuch was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 7, 2017. This is true. Trump fulfilled a campaign promise by signing an executive order withdrawing the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership international trade agreement on January 23, 2017, one day after announcing he would renegotiate it. Despite President Obama's fervent support for the deal, many groups, including labor unions, were critical of the TPP, and CNN reported that its chances of approval by Congress were already \"bleak.\" The number of illegal border crossings from Mexico into the U.S. in February 2017 was indeed down 40 percent from the previous month, according to statistics provided by the Department of Homeland Security, and that downward trend, which had actually started the previous November, continued in March and April 2017. It's true that in March 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded a $100 million grant to the state of Michigan to upgrade the drinking water infrastructure in Flint, which experienced a lead pollution crisis potentially affecting as many as 100,000 people beginning in 2014. There has been some dispute, however, over whether this ought to be labeled a \"Trump accomplishment\" or an \"Obama accomplishment.\" As we noted in a previous article, funding for the grant came from a bill signed by President Obama in 2016, though the monies weren't officially awarded until after he left office, hence some prefer to credit it to Trump. Although President Trump pledged to \"strengthen\" overseas relationships going into office and he had already met with several important foreign leaders by mid-May 2017, it is too soon to tell to what degree his promise will bear fruit. The president-elect got off to a rocky start with China in December by accepting a congratulatory call from the leader of Taiwan, which China views as a province, not an independent nation, and with which the U.S. does not have diplomatic relations. China lodged a formal complaint. In April, Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, with whom he said he made \"tremendous progress\" but no breakthroughs. A trade deal negotiated by the Trump administration with China in May was rated \"pretty good\" by The Wall Street Journal. Japanese Prime Minister Abe, who has met twice with Trump, issued a joint statement with him reaffirming the \"unshakable alliance\" between the U.S. and Japan. That is despite Trump having called Japan a \"currency manipulator\" during the presidential campaign and pulling out of the TPP, which Abe supported. Whether the \"very, very good chemistry\" Trump says he has with Abe will improve the relationship between the two countries over the long haul remains to be seen. U.S.-Russia relations have been strained for many years, a situation not improved by Russia's attempts to meddle in the U.S. presidential election, nor by the fact that Trump associates are under investigation for possible collusion in that effort. A U.S. missile strike by Trump against Syria, with whose government Russia is closely allied, was strongly condemned by Russian leaders, who warned there could be \"extremely serious\" consequences. British Prime Minister Theresa May was the first foreign leader to visit the Trump White House, and their cordial meeting was portrayed by both countries as a renewal of the \"special relationship\" between the U.S. and the U.K. According to the BBC, Obama was seen by many Britons as more interested in the European Union as a whole than in the U.K. itself, while Trump, who was in favor of Brexit, is perceived as the opposite. President Trump has employed what the Washington Post calls \"hard-line rhetoric\" against North Korea, including threats of force, in hopes of squelching that country's increasing militarism, a strategy some experts dismiss as \"macho posturing\" that could escalate into a Cuban Missile Crisis-like confrontation. In April 2017, Trump ordered U.S. missile strikes against an air base in Syria in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack on civilians by the Syrian government, which has been known to brutalize its own people during the ongoing civil war there. Trump's gesture came up short, however, in that the Syrian Air Force was able to launch a new attack against rebel forces from that same base just hours later. In April 2017, President Trump negotiated the release of U.S. citizen Aya Hijazi, her Egyptian husband, and four other humanitarian workers from a prison in Cairo, Egypt, where they had been locked up since 2014, without evidence or trial, on charges of child abuse and trafficking. Although it is true that President Trump signed an executive order on March 13, 2017, directing the heads of executive branch departments to eliminate all \"unnecessary\" agencies and reorganize those that remain to improve their \"efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability,\" the order gave said department heads six months from the date of signing to come up with suggestions for this process, so not much fat has been trimmed thus far despite the groundwork being laid. Regarding efforts to \"reign in\" the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a CNN report confirms that's been among Trump's top priorities from the start. President Donald Trump made a campaign trail promise to eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency\u2014a department once looked to as an important national force tackling climate change\u2014and during his first 100 days in office has held true to his word, taking swift strides towards dismantling the agency and rolling back regulations. Alongside EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, a former Oklahoma attorney general who once worked tangentially with the fossil fuel industry to oppose Obama-era regulations, the Trump administration has so far issued a flurry of EPA-focused executive orders, proposed employee buyouts, handed down a social media gag order, and is proposing significant cuts to the EPA budget. The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), a small business advocacy group, has hailed Trump's commitment to cutting \"burdensome regulations,\" while environmental protection groups see it as a threat to public health and the future of the planet. The controversial Dakota Access Pipeline project, halted under President Obama, was revived by President Trump and will begin commercial operations on June 1, 2017. Trump also issued an executive order directing a review of lands designated as national monuments. Specifically, the review will consider all national monument designations of federal public lands since 1996 that are 100,000 acres or larger. Mr. Trump singled out former President Barack Obama's egregious use of federal power in using the Antiquities Act to unilaterally place swaths of American land and water under federal control, adding, \"it's time we ended this abusive practice.\" As with many of the other items discussed above, whether or not one regards this as an \"accomplishment\" (as opposed, say, to a travesty) will depend almost entirely on one's political views going in.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1SZMVsEK9YDyEe2cgSJ72L9pESk1QLxPn","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1222","claim":"Did Putin Ban 5G in Russia Due to Health Concerns?","posted":"08\/07\/2023","sci_digest":["\"What has Russia uncovered that would make them take such drastic action?\" a prominent British conspiracy theorist asked his followers."],"justification":"On Aug. 5, 2023, Jim Ferguson, a former candidate for a seat in British Parliament whose social media presence is steeped in false conspiratorial claims, posted to X, the social media outlet formerly known as Twitter, a message about the state of 5G cellular technology in Russia: false conspiratorial claims about  Citing an article from a purported Bangladeshi news website named dainikbidyaloy.com, Ferguson suggested that Putin had \"ban[ned] 5G across Russia'' and \"destroy[ed] All [5G] Towers,\" suggesting this \"massive step\" likely meant Russia knows something negative about the technology that the West does not. 5G is a cellular technology that operates at a higher frequency band than 4G and can carry more data as a result. an article cellular technology Dainikbidyaloy.com is not, in fact, a credible source of information. It is a website that republishes content that originated on Real Raw News, a prolific source of disinformation. that republishes Real Raw News The story Ferguson shared to nearly a million people originated on Real Raw News on Aug. 5, 2023  a site with a satire disclaimer  andasserted that Putin had ordered the end of 5G in Russia and that he even publicly executed a tech executive over it: originated on Real Raw News asserted Russian President Vladimir Putin has banned 5G towers in the Russian Federation amid concerns the technology is medically unsafe and has caused the deaths of school children near St. Petersburg. His mandate wasn't well-received by the Telecom executives. MTS Vice President of 5G Infrastructure Borya Vlasov said the absence of 5G would put Russia at a technological disadvantage, adding that Russia needed 5G to strengthen a once-thriving economy now faltering thanks to Putin's actions in Ukraine. [...] Putin ordered the security agent beside him to shoot Vlasov squarely between the eyes. Without hesitation, the agent drew his Makarov pistol and put a bullet in Vlasov's forehead in full view of 15 people. Real Raw News carries a disclaimer on its \"About Us\" page that says \"Information on this website is for informational and educational and entertainment purposes\" and that it \"contains humor, parody, and satire. a disclaimer In reality, Russia is working to expand 5G access and reduce a technology gap created by the retreat of western telecom technology since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022. In a speech made in June 2023, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin reiterated Putin's plans in the area of \"technological sovereignty,\" which explicitly called for the creation of Russian-made 5G base stations: a speech The disruption of foreign telecom equipment supplies is posing certain challenges, especially in the mobile segment, where Western solutions were traditionally used. To speed up the transition to Russian base stations for LTE and 5G, the Government and market participants have adopted a roadmap for the development of modern networks. It includes several state support programmes, including 3.5 billion roubles in subsidies for the manufacture of the required high-tech devices to be allocated this year. On Aug. 6, 2023, Andrey Zarenin, the deputy minister of digital development, telecommunications, and mass media of the Russian Federation, also spoke of forward progress on 5G technology at a conference of telecom leaders, according to a news release from that ministry. forward progress About Us | Real Raw News. https:\/\/realrawnews.com\/about-us\/. Accessed 7 Aug. 2023. Baxter, Michael. \"Putin Bans 5G across Russia, Destroys All Towers.\" Real Raw News, 5 Aug. 2023, https:\/\/dainikbidyaloy.com\/2023\/08\/05\/putin-bans-5g-across-russia-destroys-all-towers\/. Digital Development, Telecommunications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation. Andrey Zarenin Represented Russia at the Ninth Annual Meeting of the BRICS Ministers of Communications. 23 June 2022, http:\/\/government.ru\/en\/news\/48806\/. Mikhail Mishustin Held a Strategic Session on the Telecommunications Industry Development until 2035. 7 Aug. 2023, http:\/\/government.ru\/en\/news\/48806\/. \"Privacy Policy for The People's Voice.\" Real Raw News, https:\/\/dainikbidyaloy.com\/privacy-policy-for-the-peoples-voice\/. Accessed 7 Aug. 2023. Putin Bans 5G across Russia, Destroys All Towers | Real Raw News. https:\/\/realrawnews.com\/2023\/08\/putin-bans-5g-across-russia-destroys-all-towers\/. Accessed 7 Aug. 2023. \"What Is 5G? - How Does 5G Network Technology Work.\" Cisco, https:\/\/www.cisco.com\/c\/en\/us\/solutions\/what-is-5g.html. Accessed 7 Aug. 2023. Correction [Aug. 16, 2023]: This story has been updated to reflect that RealRawNews denies any connection with dainikbidyaloy.com.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1MCaRnDEHgXXzYV4m5h15XZx_CpWdAF83","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1223","claim":"President Obama Wants Mandatory Voting?","posted":"03\/19\/2015","sci_digest":["Rumor: President Obama has proposed a constitutional amendment to make voting mandatory in the U.S."],"justification":"Claim: President Obama has proposed a constitutional amendment to make voting mandatory in the U.S. Example: [Collected via Twitter, March 2015] Obama believes voting should be MANDATORY. Government TELLING you what to do #WakeUpAmerica. Now Obama wants a constitutional amendment to make voting mandatory. Think about it. Why? Don't mess with my Constitution, just obey it. Obama proposes a constitutional amendment making voting mandatory. I wish this were fake, but it's very real. When a right is forced upon people by law, it is no longer a right but an infringement upon their rights as free citizens #mandatoryvoting. Origins: On 18 March 2015, President Obama appeared before the City Club of Cleveland at the Cleveland Convention Center to discuss civic issues such as middle-class economics and manufacturing. In the course of a discussion about how money influences elections, President Obama mentioned that mandatory voting was one strategy that could be employed to try to offset the effects of political spending. \"Other countries have mandatory voting,\" Mr. Obama said at a town hall-style event in Cleveland, Ohio, citing places like Australia. \"It would be transformative if everybody voted; that would counteract money more than anything.\" The president continued, \"The people who tend not to vote are young, they're lower income, they're skewed more heavily toward immigrant groups and minorities ... There's a reason why some folks try to keep them away from the polls.\" Although he suggested that adopting mandatory voting rules could be a feasible \"short-term\" solution to the problem of money in politics, President Obama stopped short of actually calling for a constitutional amendment to bring that requirement about, saying only that in the long term it would be \"fun\" to go through the extensive process of adopting a constitutional amendment. Nonetheless, \"news\" outlets such as the Washington Times published superficial reports of the President's remarks under misleading headlines such as \"Obama calls for mandatory voting in U.S.\" As of November 2014, there are 11 countries that have and enforce mandatory voting rules, most notably Australia. Australia adopted compulsory voting in 1924 after turnout plunged from more than 70 percent in 1919 to less than 60 percent in 1922. By contrast, recent turnout by eligible voters in U.S. presidential election years has barely cracked 60 percent; in midterm elections, it has been hovering in the low 40s. Australians who fail to vote can be fined (or, in theory, jailed for repeated no-shows). Interestingly, the mandate to vote is overwhelmingly popular, with about three-fourths of those polled supporting the requirement. Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus opined in a column on the subject that it was unlikely the United States would follow Australia's example: \"The United States is not about to go the way of Australia. The same partisan forces that agitate for voter ID laws or less opportunity for early voting hours would block any change on the assumption that it would work to their electoral disadvantage.\" Last updated: 19 March 2015. \"Mandatory Voting? Obama Says It Would Be 'Transformative'.\" Associated Press. 18 March 2015.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/i.imgur.com\/V3cYCbe.png","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/i.imgur.com\/A351mIw.png","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1224","claim":"All of Donald Trump's achievements in only four months?","posted":"05\/24\/2017","sci_digest":["We looked into the accuracy of a viral list touting President Trump's accomplishments during his first four months in office."],"justification":"In May 2017, a Reddit user posted a graphic that purported to list all of President Trump's accomplishments during his first four months in office. It was then widely shared on social media: Reddit TRUMP ACCOMPLISHMENTS ..Retweet the hell out of this to annoy @ABC @CBS @cnn @cnbc @MSNBC @nbc @nytimes @washingtonpost #dishonestmedia. Small Biz for Trump (@SmallBiz4Trump) May 15, 2017. Creating homebrew visual aids touting the accomplishments (or failures) of top politicians is a popular online pastime, not least because it's a cheap and easy way to propagandize, and because there are no pesky standards of fairness and accuracy to meet. As we've noted with regard to previous specimens (for example, a late-2016 meme touting the alleged economic achievements of President Obama), the graphic format lends itself to the display of cherry-picked facts to make a simplistic case with no semblance of context or nuance. In this case, the claim is that, despite all the carping in the mainstream press about \"chaos\" and \"ineptitude\" in the Oval Office, President Trump has actually accomplished quite a lot during his first four months as chief executive, and thus you will not find mention of major campaign promises Trump has had difficulty keeping so far, such as instituting a Muslim immigration ban and building a wall on the Mexican border. Also, since it's very much a partisan case being made, there will be disagreement over what constitutes an \"accomplishment.\" Some feats, such as reducing unemployment, are uncontroversial, while others, such as dismantling entire government agencies, aren't likely to be regarded as accomplishments by those who find the functions of those agencies critical. Here are the claims: 4.4 percent - lowest since May 2007. As reported in the Washington Post, government data released on May 5, 2017, indicated that the national unemployment rate hit a new low in April: The U.S. job market rebounded strongly last month, and the unemployment rate fell to the lowest level seen in a decade, government data released Friday morning showed, calming fears that had bubbled up in the past month about the state of the economy. Employers added 211,000 jobs in April as the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.4 percent, the lowest level since May 2007. It bears pointing out that the jobless rate had already been on a steady decline since 2010. Further, unemployment hit a previous nine-year low of 4.6 percent in December 2016 when President Obama was still in office. It climbed back up to 4.8 percent in January, dipped to 4.7 percent in February, and to 4.5 percent in March 2017. To what degree short-term improvements in the economy since January can be attributed to a new chief executive whose economic policies remain nascent is perennially up for debate, though according to The New York Times' senior economic correspondent Neil Irwin, a \"Trump effect\" that is buoying corporate hiring policies after the election cannot be ruled out. So does Mr. Trump deserve any credit for solid economic results? If you think the economy is driven by concrete, specific policies around taxes, spending, monetary policy, and regulation, the answer is no. If you think that what really matters is the mood in the executive suite, then just maybe. This is a mostly accurate, partial list of corporations that have announced investments in American facilities and\/or jobs since the election of Donald Trump. With the exception of Bayer AG (which announced $8 billion in new investments, not $1 billion as claimed), the dollar amounts match those cited in press reports between January and April 2017 (sources: Softbank, Exxon Mobil Corp., Hyundai-Kia, Apple, Fiat Chrysler, General Motors, Bayer AG, Toyota, LG Electronics). It's not necessarily accurate to characterize all of these commitments as \"accomplishments\" of President Trump, however. As CBS Moneywatch's Irina Ivanova reported in January 2017: Few of the jobs companies are promising to create in the U.S. can be attributed to a sudden renewed commitment to USA Inc. inspired by Trump's America First policies. Indeed, the businesses Trump has been quick to praise have been careful not to characterize their recent hiring announcements as new. And as usual with corporate investments of this scale, such plans are typically months or even years in the making, suggesting they long predate the presidential election. For example, Fiat Chrysler said their promise of a $1 billion investment in Michigan and Ohio plants, projected to create 2,000 jobs, was the \"second phase\" of an industrialization plan announced in 2016. GM's $1 billion investment was \"several years in the making,\" according to sources cited by CBS. The largest of all the announced commitments, SoftBank's pledge of $50 billion, was also in the works long before Trump won the election: Another widely publicized corporate initiative that Trump trumpeted\u2014a promise by SoftBank to create 50,000 high-tech jobs in the U.S.\u2014was the result of a tech fund the company announced on October 14, three weeks before the election. Given the massive tech industry in the U.S., economists say much of the planned $50 billion investment would have found its way to the states regardless of who occupied the White House. You don't just decide overnight to invest $3 billion, said Nathan Jensen, a professor at the University of Texas who studies interactions between government and corporations. Bayer AG's commitment to an $8 billion investment and the creation of 3,000 U.S. jobs was announced by the Trump transition team after the president-elect met in January 2017 with the CEOs of Bayer AG and Monsanto, who are planning a merger. Transition spokesman Sean Spicer credited Trump's negotiating skills for the pledge, but some analysts were skeptical that the companies had actually promised anything that wasn't already on the table when plans for the merger were first revealed in September 2016: Bayer and Monsanto said in a joint statement after Spicer's remarks that the \"combined company expects to spend approximately $16 billion in R&D in agriculture over the next six years with at least half of this investment made in the United States.\" That amounts to about $2.7 billion a year, which roughly equates to what the combined companies already spend in that area globally, [Wall Street analyst Jeremy] Redenius said. As for the U.S. breakdown, he estimates it's likely close to half already; Monsanto spends $1.5 billion a year, the majority of which is in the U.S., he said, and Bayer already invests in R&D here as well. \"Not an increase, but not substantially cutting,\" he said of the global figure. The merger, which awaits U.S. regulatory approval, is not likely to be completed until 2018, CNBC reported. It is true that the U.S. Treasury reported a $182 billion budget surplus in April 2017, the largest April surplus since 2001 (and the second-largest in history), according to MarketWatch. It's unclear exactly how that surplus is attributable to President Trump, however. April is typically a surplus month because of tax receipts. In addition, citing a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) review as its source, the Associated Press reported that the April 2017 surplus was \"inflated\" because of a tax deadline change allowing corporations to pay federal taxes in April that in previous years were paid in March. It remains to be seen what effect Trump's policies will have on the budget deficit for 2017 as a whole (the fiscal year ends on September 30). The CBO projects a 4.6 percent drop in the deficit from what it was in 2016, but that is based on laws and policies already in effect when Trump took office. The stock market can be fickle. As of April 29, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 20,940.51, 6.12 percent higher than when Trump took office\u2014positive movement, unquestionably. That number had risen to 20,981.94 by May 16, then plummeted 372 points the next day as the market was shaken by news that Trump had shared classified information with Russian diplomats in the White House and attempted to divert FBI Director James Comey from an investigation of Trump's alleged ties to Russia before he fired him. It's true that the Consumer Confidence Index, a metric assessing how ordinary consumers feel about the strength of the economy, hit 125.6 in March 2017, its highest point since 2000. It is also true that it fell five points to 120.3 the following month. Even so, it showed that consumers (as of April) had more confidence in the economy under Trump than under Obama, during whose administration the index never exceeded 113.7 (although it did manage to rise to that point after bottoming out in 2009 at 25). As of May 17, 2017, President Trump had signed 34 bills passed by Congress, a comparatively high number in such a short period of time (since Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who signed 76 pieces of legislation in his first 100 days, only Harry Truman, at 55, signed more). That's not to say that all of the legislation signed by Trump between January and May 2017 was necessarily noteworthy, however. One bill changed the name of a Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic in Pago Pago, American Samoa; another renamed a VA health center in Pennsylvania; another approved the location of a memorial honoring Desert Storm and Desert Shield veterans; three appointed citizen regents to the board of the Smithsonian Institution. Nor should it be assumed that Trump's signing of a given bill meant he or his administration was actively involved in its passage. Thirteen such bills nullifying federal regulations enacted during the Obama administration (such as H.J. Res. 69, reversing a U.S. Fish and Wildlife rule pertaining to Alaska's National Wildlife Refuges and S.J. Res. 34, reversing FCC Internet privacy rules) were rushed through Congress and quickly signed because they made use of the Congressional Review Act of 1996, which imposes a 60-day limit on the time allowed to overrule previously passed laws. This is true. Gorsuch was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 7, 2017. This is true. Trump fulfilled a campaign promise by signing an executive order withdrawing the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership international trade agreement on January 23, 2017, one day after announcing he would renegotiate it. Despite President Obama's fervent support for the deal, many groups, including labor unions, were critical of the TPP, and CNN reported that its chances of approval by Congress were already \"bleak.\" The number of illegal border crossings from Mexico into the U.S. in February 2017 was indeed down 40 percent from the previous month, according to statistics provided by the Department of Homeland Security, and that downward trend, which had actually started the previous November, continued in March and April 2017. It's true that in March 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded a $100 million grant to the state of Michigan to upgrade the drinking water infrastructure in Flint, which experienced a lead pollution crisis potentially affecting as many as 100,000 people beginning in 2014. There has been some dispute, however, over whether this ought to be labeled a \"Trump accomplishment\" or an \"Obama accomplishment.\" As we noted in a previous article, funding for the grant came from a bill signed by President Obama in 2016, though the monies weren't officially awarded until after he left office, hence some prefer to credit it to Trump. Although President Trump pledged to \"strengthen\" overseas relationships going into office and he had already met with several important foreign leaders by mid-May 2017, it is too soon to tell to what degree his promise will bear fruit. The president-elect got off to a rocky start with China in December by accepting a congratulatory call from the leader of Taiwan, which China views as a province, not an independent nation, and with which the U.S. does not have diplomatic relations. China lodged a formal complaint. In April, Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, with whom he said he made \"tremendous progress\" but no breakthroughs. A trade deal negotiated by the Trump administration with China in May was rated \"pretty good\" by The Wall Street Journal. Japanese Prime Minister Abe, who has met twice with Trump, issued a joint statement with him reaffirming the \"unshakable alliance\" between the U.S. and Japan. That is despite Trump having called Japan a \"currency manipulator\" during the presidential campaign and pulling out of the TPP, which Abe supported. Whether the \"very, very good chemistry\" Trump says he has with Abe will improve the relationship between the two countries over the long haul remains to be seen. U.S.-Russia relations have been strained for many years, a situation not improved by Russia's attempts to meddle in the U.S. presidential election, nor by the fact that Trump associates are under investigation for possible collusion in that effort. A U.S. missile strike by Trump against Syria, with whose government Russia is closely allied, was strongly condemned by Russian leaders, who warned there could be \"extremely serious\" consequences. British Prime Minister Theresa May was the first foreign leader to visit the Trump White House, and their cordial meeting was portrayed by both countries as a renewal of the \"special relationship\" between the U.S. and the U.K. According to the BBC, Obama was seen by many Britons as more interested in the European Union as a whole than in the U.K. itself, while Trump, who was in favor of Brexit, is perceived as the opposite. President Trump has employed what the Washington Post calls \"hard-line rhetoric\" against North Korea, including threats of force, in hopes of squelching that country's increasing militarism, a strategy some experts dismiss as \"macho posturing\" that could escalate into a Cuban Missile Crisis-like confrontation. In April 2017, Trump ordered U.S. missile strikes against an air base in Syria in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack on civilians by the Syrian government, which has been known to brutalize its own people during the ongoing civil war there. Trump's gesture came up short, however, in that the Syrian Air Force was able to launch a new attack against rebel forces from that same base just hours later. In April 2017, President Trump negotiated the release of U.S. citizen Aya Hijazi, her Egyptian husband, and four other humanitarian workers from a prison in Cairo, Egypt, where they had been locked up since 2014, without evidence or trial, on charges of child abuse and trafficking. Although it is true that President Trump signed an executive order on March 13, 2017, directing the heads of executive branch departments to eliminate all \"unnecessary\" agencies and reorganize those that remain to improve their \"efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability,\" the order gave said department heads six months from the date of signing to come up with suggestions for this process, so not much fat has been trimmed thus far despite the groundwork being laid. Regarding efforts to \"reign in\" the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a CNN report confirms that's been among Trump's top priorities from the start: President Donald Trump made a campaign trail promise to eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency\u2014a department once looked to as an important national force tackling climate change\u2014and during his first 100 days in office has held true to his word, taking swift strides towards dismantling the agency and rolling back regulations. Alongside EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, a former Oklahoma attorney general who once worked tangentially with the fossil fuel industry to oppose Obama-era regulations, the Trump administration has so far issued a flurry of EPA-focused executive orders, proposed employee buyouts, handed down a social media gag order, and is proposing significant cuts to the EPA budget. The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), a small business advocacy group, has hailed Trump's commitment to cutting \"burdensome regulations,\" while environmental protection groups see it as a threat to public health and the future of the planet. The controversial Dakota Access Pipeline project, halted under President Obama, was revived by President Trump and will begin commercial operations on June 1, 2017. Trump also issued an executive order directing a review of lands designated as national monuments: Specifically, the review will consider all national monument designations of federal public lands since 1996 that are 100,000 acres or larger. Mr. Trump singled out former President Barack Obama's egregious use of federal power in using the Antiquities Act to unilaterally place swaths of American land and water under federal control, adding, it's time we ended this abusive practice. As with many of the other items discussed above, whether or not one regards this as an \"accomplishment\" (as opposed, say, to a travesty) will depend almost entirely on one's political views going in.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1UiFfwcMC-9-4E_UsqLmjs2OTrTU21dfs"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1225","claim":"Ronda Rousey Death Hoax","posted":"01\/02\/2017","sci_digest":["A fake news site appropriated the name of a popular newspaper to claim MMA fighter Ronda Rousey was found dead in her bathtub."],"justification":"On 2 January 2017, the \"USA Today News\" web site reported that Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter Ronda Rousey had been discovered dead in her home following a routine wellness check: reported On the morning of January 2, 2017, Ronda Rousey was found in a bathtub in her Venice residence, dead. Despite an immediate medical response, EMTs were unable to revive her. The cause of death is still unknown, however a preliminary autopsy has been confirmed to be underway. First responders told us that they discovered what appeared to be a needle used for drugs, as well as a bag of an ambiguous powdered substance. While no drug use has been substantiated, her mother had previously spoken to the media about Rouseys previous depression & drug abuse. Rouseys mother had this to say, All of those who have criticized Ronda for taking a loss so to heart, for not just shrugging it off dont understand that what made Ronda so successful is that she cares DEEPLY about winning to an extent that I dont believe the average person can wrap his\/her head around. After her last fight, where she lost to Amanda Nunes in less than one minute, Rousey went silent  no one has heard a thing from her on social media, or from interviews. Her whereabouts and status were completely unknown to the public until this tragic happening was uncovered by two police officers discovered her body on a wellness check. However, the report that Ronda Rousey was found dead on 2 January 2017 was merely fake news that appeared solely on the fly-by-night \"USA Today News\" web site and was reported neither by the legitimate USA Today news outlet nor any other credible source. \"USA Today News\" in no way resembles the actual USA Today web site:    The \"USA Today News\" article included an image of a large law enforcement presence in a residential neighborhood, a picture that appeared to come from a blog devoted to the television show House and did not depict any real event involving Ronda Rousey. blog","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=19voyTrqANVQakIqrvR1jseqV9PJTRqSz","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1UKuEbD6O8VD7VQ4FxnY0D6Az0BXrwnGc","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1226","claim":"Does This Picture Show a Case of Hyperdontia?","posted":"02\/04\/2019","sci_digest":["Hyperdontia is a genuine medical condition, but take a close look at these images."],"justification":"A photograph supposedly showing the mouth of an adult suffering from hyperdontia (i.e., an excessive number of teeth) has been circulating online for several years. In February 2019, the Facebook page \"Pictures From History\" renewed interest in this image when they shared it on social media with the caption \"Inside the mouth of an adult suffering from Hyperdontia\": Facebook Pictures From History   Hyperdontia is a genuine medical condition involving the growth of more teeth than is usual (also known as \"supernumerary teeth\"), as described by the Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago: medical condition described Extra teeth, also called supernumerary teeth or hyperdontia, is a condition in which the jaws contain more teeth  usually permanent teeth  than the usual number. These extra teeth are usually categorized in two ways, by their shape and by their position. They can be of normal shape but simply be extra (called supplemental). They can be barrel-shaped (tuberculate), peg-shaped or conical, multiple shapes (compound odontoma), or an undefined shape (complex odontoma). They can form in several places. They may be mesiodens (midline), paramolar (on either side of the molars), or distomolar (behind the molars). Most often occuring is the mesiodens, which is peg-shaped and grows between the top two center teeth. However, the viral photograph seen here does not offer a genuine look at the mouth of a person experiencing that condition. This image has been online since at least December 2010, when it was shared on the Blogspot blog Holyloly. The image reached a larger audience a few months later when it was included in a post from the SCP Foundation -- a fictional organization that purports to cover a wide range of highly classified materials -- in a blog post about SCP-478, an imaginary disease that causes a body to generate extra teeth: Holyloly SCP Foundation SPC-478 will enter a victims mouth while they sleep, and attach onto the soft palate in the upper nasal cavity, usually blocking one nostril. The bodys mucus production will increase, leading the victim, upon waking, to believe that they have developed a minor cold. From there, the victims palate will begin to generate teeth in addition to the gingiva's (gums) normal replacement of teeth. This growth process will begin at a rate several times faster than normal tooth growth, and quickly increases in speed and severity. It's clear that this image was created with the help of digital photo-editing software. It appears that someone took a genuine photograph of a mouth and then duplicated several of its teeth to make it appear as if the picture captured an extremely severe case of hyperdontia. Here we've circled a few of the teeth that were digitally repeated throughout this image:   Interestingly, this isn't the only fake photograph purporting to show an extreme case of hyperdontia. Again, we found that these images were created with the same technique of duplicating existing teeth:   While researching this article we came across one more example below of this sort of digitally doctored dentistry. This image on the left of the following graphic is often shared as if it showed a person suffering from hyperdontia, but again, this picture was created by digitally duplicated existing teeth. The image on the right of the graphic below, meanwhile, is unaltered and shows the mouth of a person who genuinely experienced a (less severe form of) this condition: person   Parolia, Abhishek.  \"Management of Supernumerary Teeth.\"\r  Journal of Conservative Dentistry.  July 2011. Lurie Children's Hospital.  \"Extra Teeth (Supernumerary Teeth, Hyperdontia).\"\r  Retrieved 4 February 2019.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1auSc7gOXDPWbq_yvxS81HLWqp2dOkooN","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=12y6bFVBzGLkYDz8REGpAnQ8JtaE_0a3B","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Je6h-0ZAwGiUyANz8I2Xhbc2bX5z87aE","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=19hYV9zZuZNEZG6f5wNTTptX-YtRbCENZ","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1227","claim":"Did the NYT Tell People to 'Breathe Like a Baby' to Relieve Election Day Stress?","posted":"11\/09\/2022","sci_digest":["The list was mocked by some on the internet."],"justification":"On Nov. 8, 2022, the day of the much-anticipated midterm elections, The New York Times published a list of tips to help particularly stressed election watchers. A couple of those tips earned the Times a round of jeering from right-wing media and social media users. Yes, the tips came from the Times. Some seem straightforward enough, such as limiting scrolling on your phone for updates or taking a short walk. A couple of them went viral for the wrong reasons, including \"breathe like a baby\" and face-plunge into ice water. The list of tips is titled \"5 ways to soothe election stress,\" with pointers that include, \"Breathe like a baby. Focus on expanding your belly as you breathe, which can send more oxygen to the brain.\" Here's a screenshot of the list, as posted on the social media platform Twitter: (Screenshot, @nytimes Twitter page). The phrase \"breathe like a baby\" may sound infantilizing, but the breathing practice described in the list is a technique known as diaphragmatic breathing, sometimes called belly breathing, and it is known to ease anxiety and stress, whether from watching election returns or anything else. Licensed clinical psychologist Dianne Grande wrote in Psychology Today that the technique works because \"it signals the brain and body to relax.\" This is because it stimulates the body's parasympathetic nervous system, known as the \"rest and digest\" aspect of the nervous system; think of it as the opposite of the \"fight or flight\" response, according to the University of California, Los Angeles' Health blog. We can't say we found much in the way of reputable medical sources to support the idea that going face-first into a bowl of ice will help with anxiety, election-related or otherwise, though Psychology Today states that research does support the idea that hot and cold baths can help with mood.","issues":["returns"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Cnrp8lQSgK-2OFPJqVWR1AbCzSb3a_bY","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1228","claim":"Is Starbucks Offering $100 Coupons During the COVID-19 Pandemic?","posted":"03\/20\/2020","sci_digest":["Coupon scams are not uncommon  with or without a global pandemic."],"justification":"In late March 2020, amid the COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic, scams abounded on the internet. One such scam reported that consumers could get a $100 coupon during the pandemic for use at Starbucks cafes by simply clicking on a link. Here is a screenshot of a Twitter post promoting the bogus offer:     Although the links shared with the posts no longer appear to work, we are rating this offer a \"Scam\" because no evidence exists that the coupon was real. The web address for the \"coupon,\" for example, was not from an official Starbucks website. We asked Starbucks to confirm the offer was a scam but didn't receive a response in time for publication. However, the \"offer\" being made echoes similar coupon scams that promise \"free\" or discounted goods from well-known brands if users click on a site  collecting people's private information in the process  but then don't deliver on the promise. As we have reported in the past on such scams: reported These types of viral coupon scams often involve websites and social media pages set up to mimic those of legitimate companies. Users who respond to those fake offers are required to share a website link or social media post in order to spread the scam more widely and lure in additional victims. Then those users are presented with a survey that extracts personal information such as email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, and even sometimes credit card numbers. Finally, those who want to claim their free gift cards or coupons eventually learn they must first sign up to purchase a number of costly goods, services, or subscriptions. The Better Business Bureau offers consumers several general tips to avoid getting scammed: general tips","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1cpxaYnJ4CGOdRFSPUdki8ll51AjQRpHw","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1229","claim":"Says the inspector general for the IRS said there was no political motivation and no outside influence for targeting of tax-exempt applications from tea party groups","posted":"05\/24\/2013","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agree: The IRS screwed up, big time, when it watched for phrases like tea party to trigger extra scrutiny of groups seeking tax-exempt status. But theres a partisan disagreement over whether it was merely an ill-conceived time-saver for overworked Ohio staffers or a sinister White House plot to hamstring conservative groups before an election. (It's the IRS targeting-gate! said New York Republican Tom Reed.) Rep. Sander Levin, a long-serving Democrat whos the ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee, said after a May 17 hearing that evidence is on Democrats side. My view is that the criteria were very inappropriate, he told MSNBC host Chris Matthews. There was terrible mismanagement. I think there was very terrible oversight... But the IG, the inspector general, when asked, Was there any political motivation for the people who were in the exempt organization in Cincinnati, the lower-level people who were working on this, he said no. Was there any outside influence? And he said no. Theinspector general for tax administrationis charged withindependent oversightof the IRS. Did he say there was no political motivation or outside influence driving the agencys inappropriate behavior? Inappropriate criteria The latest round of congressional hearings  and there will be more  kicked off after the May 14 release of amildly titled auditfrom the inspectors office: Inappropriate Criteria Were Used to Identify Tax-Exempt Applications for Review. It asked whether the IRS:  Targeted groups applying for tax-exempt status. Delayed processing of targeted groups applications. Requested unnecessary information from targeted groups, such as donor lists. It found that Cincinnati employees did all of those things, beginning in early 2010. A determinations unit there reviews applications for tax-exempt status for various kinds of organizations  such as charities and nonprofit schools and hospitals. It ran into trouble with applications for501(c)(4)status  a designation that allows a tax-exempt group whose primary activity is social welfare to engage in political activity without disclosing its donors. In theory, a group whose primary activity was actually political activity  such as supporting candidates for office wouldnt qualify. So IRS employees developed criteria to identify and group applications from organizations likely to engage in political activity for a deeper look. But regulations dont define how to measure a groups primary activity. So, according to the report, amid confusion, three inappropriate things happened. For months, employees used phrases such as tea party, patriots, 9\/12 and political-sounding names such as we the people, or take back the country to group applications for special review. The criteria got more generic in 2011, then more specific again in mid 2012, including political action type organizations involved in limiting\/expanding government, educating on the constitution and bill of rights, social economic reform\/movement. Most of those applications languished for more than a year as employees sorted out how to handle them. Then it sent lengthy, probing questionnaires to many applicants, requesting detailed responses, such as lists of all donations and donors, whether any leaders or donors had run for office or would in the future, and lists of all issues important to the organization and its position on those issues. The basic result was that while none of those groups had their applications denied, more than half of them waited more than 200 days  and some as long as three years, across two election cycles. Some are still awaiting decisions. Auditors asked various IRS leaders and employees in Cincinnati and Washington whether anyone outside the IRS influenced the inappropriate criteria. They found the opposite: that one problem was insufficient high-level oversight. Specifically, only first-line management approved references to the tea party, the report said. However, interviews with employees in the Cincinnati office didnt turn up exactly who had been involved in creating the criteria, the report said. Inspector general Since the audit, lawmakers have repeatedly brought in the Treasury inspector general for tax administration, J. Russell George, to testify about the findings of his auditors. Levins staff pointed us to this exchange before Ways and Means, when the congressman asked George to clarify the audits results on outside influence and political motivation: Levin:On page 7, Mr. George, of the IG report it states and all of these individuals stated that the criteria were not influenced by any individual or organization outside the IRS. Is that correct? George:That is the information we received, correct. Levin:Did you find any evidence of political motivation in the selection of the tax exemption applications? George:We did not, sir. Its important to note that George is careful to say that information gathered during the audit didnt point to outside influence or political motivation  not that he was certain it had been ruled out. He was similarly careful in his responses that day to Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., and later, Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis.: McDermott:The inspector general report says that no one acted out of malice or political motivation. Mr. George, I want to know, do you still stand by that? George:We have no evidence at this time to contradict that assertion, sir...  Kind:According to your report, you found no bias or partisanship behind the development and the use of the criteria for selecting applications in the Cincinnati office. Is that right? George:That is correct, sir, but we did find gross mismanagement in the overall  Kind:Right. And that's clear in your report, too. Did you find any evidence that anyone outside of the IRS was involved in the development and review of  George:Not at this time, sir. Kind:Not the White House or Treasury? George:That's correct, sir. Rep. Tim Griffin, R-Ark., pointed out that day that Georges office had conducted an audit, but not yet an investigation. There's a reason you don't know who came up with this. You didn't investigate that, he said. Indeed, George clarified for lawmakers in the days after Levins MSNBC interview that auditorsdidnt ask directlyabout White House involvement, because no evidence pointed that direction. He also distinguished between an audit  designed to uncover systemic problems  and an investigation, which focuses on misconduct by specific people. It is not uncommon for audits to present specific issues that lead to additional reviews or investigations, he said. Our ruling Levin told Matthews on MSNBC that, the inspector general, when asked, Was there any political motivation for the people who were in the exempt organization in Cincinnati, the lower-level people who were working on this, he said no. Was there any outside influence? And he said no. That was the gist of Georges testimony the same day before the Ways and Means Committee, but with the important clarification that he was careful to explain that the assessment was based solely on evidence turned up so far by auditors. Levin offered no such caveat. We rate his claim Mostly True.","issues":["National","Taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1230","claim":"There is no evidence of a port slowdown as a result of California laws that are considered liberal.","posted":"11\/02\/2021","sci_digest":["A confluence of issues have created congestion at the busiest port in the U.S."],"justification":"In late October 2021, a misleading copypasta meme spread on Facebook that attributed port bottlenecks and shipping delays to \"California's liberal trucking laws.\" The meme circulated on various platforms including Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Here is a version of the meme that was posted to Facebook:   The meme above reads, in part: So ships are piling up at Long Beach waiting to get unloaded. The port is jammed full of containers with no place to stack more. The liberal media is blaming it on the trucking industry while the nation's store shelves are becoming bare ... Well there's more to the story. Could Gavin Newsom and California's liberal trucking laws be the blame ? ? The NEWS says the California port situation is caused by a driver shortage. Not so fast: It is in part caused by a California Truck Ban which says all trucks must be 2011 or newer and a law called AB 5 which prohibits Owner Operators. The two state laws mentioned are AB5, a 2019 law intended to prevent employers from wrongly classifying workers as contractors, and something called \"California Truck Ban.\" The meme also mentions a September 2020 executive order by California Gov. Gavin Newsom that seeks to phase out fuel-burning vehicle engines by 2035 in an effort to combat global warming. AB5 executive order The meme is referencing congestion at the ports in San Pedro Bay in Southern California and the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, which collectively handle an estimated 40 percent of the nation's imports. The back-up is resulting in something of a crisis in shipping delays right before the 2021 winter holidays. congestion 40 percent crisis The meme above attempts to lay the blame for the crisis at the feet of Newsom, along with California labor and environmental laws. But from a broad perspective, the disruption in the supply chain is a global phenomenon sparked by a confluence of major calamities in 2020 and 2021, including labor shortages, facility closures, and an increased e-commerce demand resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, extreme weather, and a massive container ship that had become lodged in the Suez Canal for nearly a week. global phenomenon Here we will look at whether the two laws and executive order mentioned in the meme are to blame for the slowdown at the Southern California ports. There is no law called the \"California Truck Ban.\" But from the description above  that \"all trucks must be 2011 or newer\"  it appears the post is referencing the California Truck and Bus Regulation. That regulation doesn't currently block registration of vehicles from the year 2010 and older, however. Regulation The Truck and Bus Regulation requires trucks serving the ports to have engines from 2010 or newer as of Jan. 1, 2023. If they don't, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) would deny registrations to non-compliant vehicles. But the rule, which was adopted in 2008, has taken effect gradually over several years. It's not new, whereas the situation at the L.A. and Long Beach ports in the fall of 2021 is acute. requires In an email, Stanley Young, spokesperson for the California Air Resource Board, told Snopes, \"As of 2021 only trucks with engines older than 2005 would have their registration denied.\" Young added that 96 percent of the trucks currently serving the major ports in California are already compliant with the regulation. \"Despite what you may have heard or read, there is simply no evidence to support any claims that the current congestion at our ports has any connection to the states efforts to clean up Californias trucks,\" Young stated. \"Since trucks at major California ports have been required to have 2007 or newer engines since 2014, and since these engines are legal until at least 2023, its impossible that any shortage of vehicles at ports is the result of CARB regulations.\" Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5) is a California law that went into effect in January 2020, although it has faced an onslaught of legal challenges preventing it from being implemented. The law is intended to prevent companies like Uber and Instacart from misclassifying so-called gig workers as independent contractors, rather than employees.  Truckers often operate under an \"owner-operator\" model, in which they own their own vehicles, which they then use to transport goods as contractors for trucking companies. Both the California Trucking Association (CTA) and freight transport company Cal Cartage Express filed legal challenges against AB 5. Cal Cartage lost its case but the U.S. Supreme Court has yet to decide whether to hear a petition by CTA. Until it does, AB 5 remains in limbo for the trucking industry. Matt Schrap, CEO of the the Harbor Trucking Association (which represents drayage truck companies serving the ports of L.A. and Long Beach) said it's not a shortage of truckers that's driving the delays, and pointing the finger at AB 5 doesn't take reality into account. Instead, Schrap said that the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns spurred an explosion of online buying that ramped up sharply during the pandemic lockdowns, and the ports of L.A. and Long Beach don't have the infrastructure to handle the sudden influx. explosion \"Its like jamming ten lanes of freeway traffic into five lanes,\" Schrap said in a phone interview with Snopes. Currently, the bte noire for truckers and trucking companies at the ports of L.A. and Long Beach is an excess of empty shipping containers piling up at the ports, which often block truckers from picking up and dropping off cargo. \"Were struggling with these empty containers,\" Schrap said. \"That is really whats working us over.\" Schrap said he expects that the situation will start to improve, because with the sudden attention on the issue, officials are taking steps to help resolve it, like placing fees on cargo ship companies that leave behind empty containers, and potentially allowing empty container stacking on empty parcels of land at the ports. placing fees But these are just Bandaids on a larger problem, which is that the Southern California ports need investment in infrastructure to prevent crises like these, Schrap stressed. \"Were in this problem because of the underinvestment in the infrastructure that supports the American consumers buying habits,\" Schrap said. \"It's a temporary solution to a longstanding problem.\" Newsom issued an executive order in September 2020 seeking to phase out gas-burning vehicles by making all new vehicles sold as of 2035 and beyond zero-emission. But Newsom's order wouldn't make the current fuel-powered trucks illegal as of 2035. The executive order explicitly states that while California will require new vehicles sold as of 2035 and beyond to be zero-emission, older vehicles will not be illegal to own and operate, and can still be purchased and sold. executive order A news release from the governor's office announcing the order states, \"The executive order will not prevent Californians from owning gasoline-powered cars or selling them on the used car market.\" FreightWaves. \"CTAs Last Hope To Protect California Trucking From AB5: US Supreme Court,\" 10 August, 2021, https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/now\/ctas-last-hope-protect-california-184730483.html.  Goodman, Peter S., and Erin Schaff. Its Not Sustainable: What Americas Port Crisis Looks Like Up Close. The New York Times, 10 Oct. 2021. NYTimes.com, https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/11\/business\/supply-chain-crisis-savannah-port.html. Koetsier, John. COVID-19 Accelerated E-Commerce Growth 4 To 6 Years. Forbes, 12 June 2020, https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/johnkoetsier\/2020\/06\/12\/covid-19-accelerated-e-commerce-growth-4-to-6-years\/. No SCOTUS Review of California Laws Impact on Trucking Industry. Reuters, 5 Oct. 2021, https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/legal\/government\/no-scotus-review-california-laws-impact-trucking-industry-2021-10-04\/. Lynch, David J. Stubborn Supply Chain Woes Are Resisting Bidens Remedies. Washington Post, 26 October 2021, https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/business\/2021\/10\/26\/supply-chain-ports-fees-biden\/.  Swanson, Ana. Angling for a Merry Fishmas Despite Global Shipping Delays. The New York Times, 31 Oct. 2021, https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/31\/business\/economy\/global-shipping-delays-shortages.html. Updated to note AB 5 remains in limbo for the trucking industry pending legal actions.","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1AHcm0kgtw99E8kFwtGpgeemTa3tY_f58"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1231","claim":"What the 'Choosing Your COVID-19 Vaccine' Meme Gets Wrong","posted":"05\/21\/2021","sci_digest":["A viral image makes a range of claims about vaccine manufacturers to try to discourage people from getting shots. We fact-checked each of them."],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease.  fighting Find out Read Submit Become a Founding Member CDC WHO As COVID-19 vaccines became widely available to Americans in spring 2021, anti-vaccine groups attempted to frame the shots' manufacturers as untrustworthy to try to stop people from getting inoculated. COVID-19 Below is a sample of such claims  all from a single meme  that we fact-checked using reputable sources such as court records, resources distributed by the FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the vaccine manufacturers' websites.   All in all, the meme stated facts about companies that have developed COVID-19 vaccines but failed to demonstrate how those histories are relevant to the safety or effectiveness of the manufacturers' solutions for ending the pandemic.   Firstly, in an attempt to persuade people against the two-dose Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, the meme alleged the New York-based company faced almost $5 billion in penalties for supposedly breaking laws while manufacturing or distributing unidentified products.  \"Pfizer: $4.7 billion in fines for false claims, drug and medical equipment safety violations, off-label promotion, corrupt practices, kickbacks, and bribery,\" according to the meme. The claim was factually accurate. But its implication  that, because of prior lawsuits, Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccines were potentially unsafe  was unsubstantiated, a conclusion on which we elaborate below. As one of the world's largest pharmaceutical corporations, Pfizer's multiple subsidiaries (which produce a range of drugs, including Advil, the erectile disfunction drug Viagra, and the anti-cholesterol drug Lipitor) indeed faced penalties totaling about $4.7 billion over the years, according to Good Jobs First, a left-leaning watchdog group tracking corporate subsidies. left-leaning Those cases, which originated in jurisdictions nationwide, essentially included the above-listed offenses involving all sorts of products between 2000 and 2019, according to Good Jobs First's database. above-listed offenses For instance, in 2004, the Warner-Lambert company  which Pfizer acquired four years earlier  pleaded guilty to illegally marketing the epilepsy drug Neurontin \"even when scientific studies had shown it was not effective,\" the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a statement. illegally marketing statement Pfizer agreed to pay $430 million, said that it \"cooperated fully with the government to resolve this matter,\" and stressed the alleged violations occurred before Pfizer acquired Warner-Lambert. agreed said Then, in 2009, the company paid the largest settlement for health care fraud to date, totaling $2.3 billion, according to the DOJ.  DOJ. In that case, the company's subsidy Pharmacia & Upjohn Company pleaded guilty to promoting a painkiller Bextra \"for several uses and dosages that the FDA specifically declined to approve due to safety concerns,\" and paid a $1.3 billion criminal fine, the DOJ said in a statement. Bextra had been taken off the market four years earlier. statement had been taken off Additionally, Pfizer paid $1 billion to resolve civil claims regarding not only Bextra but also the antipsychotic Geodon, the antibiotic Zyvox, and the anti-epileptic drug Lyrica, per the statement. Pfizer denied all of those accusations, aside from acknowledging the improper promotion of Zyvox, Reuters reported at the time. Reuters reported Shortly after reaching the historic settlement, the company's general counsel told reporters that it regretted \"certain actions in the past,\" but was proud of the action it had taken to strengthen its internal oversight. told reporters But here's how the meme misled people: It lacked critical evidence to show how those cases against Pfizer were relevant to COVID-19 vaccines, pictured below.    It also failed to acknowledge that clinical trials have shown the vaccines to be safe and effective. In December 2020, the FDA issued what's called an \"Emergency Use Authorization\" that deemed a COVID-19 vaccine created by Pfizer and BioNTech, as well as one manufactured by competitor Moderna, safe and effective enough for mass production. December 2020 Emergency Use Authorization BioNTech Moderna The CDC's advisory committee on immunizations also recommended the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, along with Moderna and Johnson & Johnson's (J&J) formulas. (Here's the CDC's explanation for how vaccines like Pfizer's  which uses mRNA technology  attempt to train people's immune systems into producing antibodies that can fight the coronavirus, if necessary.) CDC's advisory committee (Here's the CDC's explanation mRNA technology Early on, clinical trials showed the Pfizer vaccine 95% effective in preventing COVID-19. The company confirmed \"high efficacy and no serious safety concerns\" after a March 2021 follow-up study. 95% effective confirmed follow-up study Because of those results, the FDA expanded Pfizer's eligible vaccine population to include adolescents between the ages of 12 to 15 in mid-May. Also, at that time, Pfizer and Moderna were seeking the FDA's full, regular authorization for their inoculation formulas. That status, which requires at least six months of patient data, would allow the companies to begin marketing the shots. Pfizer and Moderna  full, regular authorization In other words, if or when the FDA grants the Pfizer vaccine full approval, the company \"can advertise on TV and promote their products under the watchful eye of the FDA,\" former FDA commissioner Dr. Robert Califf told CNBC. told CNBC To conclude our research, we reached out to Pfizer's communication's department with the following questions: No one has answered our inquiry, but we will update this report when, or if, that changes. In sum, we rate the claim regarding Pfizer a \"Mixture\" of true and misleading information. It was an accurate depiction of the company's alleged violations involving a handful of its numerous drugs over years. However, no evidence connected those offenses with COVID-19 vaccines nor showed Pfizer had made false claims about, or illegally promoted, its vaccine.  Next, in attempt to deny the legitimacy of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, the meme claimed the Massachusetts-based company had tried numerous times to develop vaccines for mass production prior to the pandemic with no success. \"Moderna: Has never brought a vaccine to market since its founding, despite fielding 9+ vaccine candidates, none of which made it through phase 3 clinical trials,\" the meme alleged. Similarly to the Pfizer allegation, the claim was rooted in truth. But the statement failed to explain how it was relevant to Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, as well as erroneously implied the company's other vaccines did not reach mass distribution solely because of shortcomings in the products themselves, such as their effect on patients or alleged lack of success preventing viral outbreaks. Rather, other barriers  such as a lack of funding for research  also played a role in the pharmaceutical company's vaccine history. In addition to the COVID-19 vaccine, Moderna has developed nine prophylactic immunizations using mRNA technology since its founding in 2010, according to the company's website. The company describes mRNA \"like software for the cell\" with the potential to fighting many diseases. prophylactic immunizations using mRNA technology company's website like software for the cell In April 2020, before the FDA granted emergency authorization of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, BioSpace reported: BioSpace reported So far, Moderna has conducted early trials with success on nine vaccine candidates, including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), human metapneumovirus (hMPV) and parainfluenza virus (PIV3), influenza H7N9, cytomegalovirus (CMV), Zika, Epstein-Barr, chikungunya. [...] However, the meme was accurate in claiming none of those experimental immunizations (aside from the COVID-19 vaccine) progressed past Phase II clinical trails. That's the stage after researchers test a product on an initial group of people and want to see how it affects a larger sample. (See the FDA's website for more differences between phases of clinical research, and see here for Moderna's process for developing and testing its mRNA vaccines.) test a product clinical research here for Moderna's process for Here's Moderna's visualization of its various vaccines and their development:   But, as you can see, Moderna's Influenza H7N9 vaccine was only advancing \"subject to funding,\" negating the meme's implication that the company halted development solely due to safety concerns or ineffectiveness. Furthermore, Moderna's Cytomegalovirus (CMV) vaccine was the first of its kind to enter a Phase II clinical trial, showed \"promising\" results so far, and was scheduled to progress in 2021, The Medicine Maker reported. Studies on the company's other immunizations remained ongoing, too. Phase II clinical trial The Medicine Maker Similar to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, the Moderna shot was 94% effective in preventing recipients from catching the virus. 94% effective Lastly, Snopes contacted representatives of Moderna with the following questions: Pending answers to those questions, we will update this report. In short, the meme factually stated that the COVID-19 vaccine was Moderna's first inoculation to reach mass production. However, it simultaneously implied, without evidence to substantiate the claim, that the company's other vaccines stalled due to their effects on test patients. For those reasons, we rate the claim a \"Mixture\" of true and misleading information. Much like the meme's claim about Pfizer, its allegation that Johnson & Johnson was \"named in hundreds of thousands of lawsuits for toxic and\/or dangerous products, including drugs, shampoos, medical equipment, and asbestos-contaminated baby powder\" was at least partially accurate at face value. asbestos-contaminated baby powder But the post failed to provide substantial evidence to prove how, or to what extent, that fact was relevant to the safety of the company's COVID-19 vaccine. Let us explain. In fall 2020, Johnson & Johnson indeed paid over $100 million to resolve more than 1,000 lawsuits claiming that the pharmaceutical giant's banned powder and talc products caused cancer due to asbestos contamination, Bloomberg reported. Some 20,000 pending cases made similar accusations. Bloomberg reported Additionally, unrelated lawsuits alleged the company violated medical equipment or drug safety guidelines, among other offenses, according to Good Jobs First, the corporate accountability watchdog. For instance, one investigation concluded the company did not fully disclose the risks of devices to support women's prolapsed pelvic organs, according to The Gaurdian. Good Jobs First The Gaurdian Let us note here: The exact number of lawsuits that named the company for allegedly selling \"toxic and\/or dangerous products\" since its founding was unknown, which meant the meme's reference to \"hundreds of thousands\" of cases was unsubstantiated. No violation listed in the Good Jobs First database was related to Johnson & Johnson's single-dose COVID-19 vaccine, which the FDA approved months after Pfizer's and Moderna's, in early 2021. approved Instead of using mRNA technology, the J&J shot takes the form of whats called a viral vector to attack one specific part of SARS-CoV-2. AstraZeneca's COVID-19 immunization (which the FDA has not approved, as of this writing, and discuss below) uses that same process. The J&J shot was about 66% effective in preventing COVID-19 from infecting recipients during clinical trials, according to the CDC. AstraZeneca's COVID-19 according to the CDC That said, J&J's immunization was not without controversy. In mid-April, mass vaccination sites in states including Georgia, Colorado, and North Carolina temporarily halted the shot's distribution after a few recipients felt dizzy, light-headed, and faint. The CDC monitored the reports and continued to recommend the shot's use. temporarily halted Then, shortly later, the CDC recommended all vaccine providers nationwide to temporarily halt giving out the J&J shot while health officials investigated a potential blood clotting issue that occurred in seven cases out of 6.8 million shots administered. recommended That pause ended on April 23, when the CDC said in a statement: said in a statement We reached out to J&J with the following questions: We will update this report when, or if, the company responds. In conclusion, we also rated the meme's statements about J&J a \"Mixture\" of true and misleading information. While it was a mostly factual representation of the company's alleged lawsuits over the years, nothing linked those cases with the company's COVID-19 immunization nor showed that the product included toxic or dangerous ingredients, like the meme implied. Of all of the meme's claims, the assertion about AstraZeneca was the least misleading. It was a direct reference to the manufacturer's COVID-19 vaccine (which is not currently in use in the U.S. and was developed in partnership with Oxford University) instead of an out-of-context fact pertaining to other pharmaceutical products. not currently \"AstraZeneca: Suspended by two dozen European countries due to severe, lethal adverse reactions, like blood clots,\" the post alleged. lethal Yes, in spring 2021, a number of European countries (Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Bulgaria, etc.) temporarily suspended rollouts of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine after reports of patients developing blood clots. Less than 40 cases of blood clots were reported out of the 17 million vaccine recipients, according to AstraZeneca.  Denmark Norway Iceland Bulgaria according to AstraZeneca Reputable sources, including Snopes, said \"more than a dozen European countries\" issued the suspension  not \"two dozen,\" like the meme claimed. Reputable sources Snopes Additionally, the meme's use of the phrase \"due to\" discredited its message. Rather, AstraZeneca, health officials, the World Health Organization (WHO) and government regulatory bodies all said there was no causal link between the vaccine formula and the patients' blood clots. \"In fact, nearly every country that issued a suspension acknowledged that it had no evidence the vaccine had caused the blood clots,\" NBC reported at the time. \"Health experts have pointed out that the people most likely to currently be receiving COVID-19 vaccinations are also more likely to have other health problems, which could put them at higher risk for blood clots.\" reported at the time See our fact check into the matter here. here Since then, many European countries restarted their programs after the European Medicine Agency dubbed the AstraZeneca vaccine safe and effective\" despite the blood-clot reports. EMA said in a statement: European Medicine Agency In other words, we rate the meme's claim regarding AstraZeneca a \"Mixture\" of false and factual information. It was true that a number of European countries temporarily suspended the use of the manufacturer's COVID-19 vaccine after a handful of recipients reported blood clots. But no evidence proved those thromboembolic issues were a direct, adverse affect of the vaccine (rather than unrelated medical issues), and several countries restarted their AstraZeneca vaccination programs since the brief halt.","issues":["accountability"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=17GDufSCZTiWy_qlKtgzzcgNMj9OkGISd","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1qLbq88qBvy0Re1JzFcGljJCcu2-QTbq7","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=17fOc-2uoixi0IFd8fjwq2wMO9Okm5whp","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1232","claim":"'May They Rot in Hell': Trump Curses Political Enemies in Christmas Day 2023 Post","posted":"12\/27\/2023","sci_digest":["Readers asked Snopes if it was true that the former U.S. president had ended a Christmas message with the words, \"May they rot in hell.\""],"justification":"On Dec. 27, 2023, readers emailed Snopes to ask if it was true that former U.S. President Donald Trump had written a post on Christmas Day that included the words, \"May they rot in hell.\" A check of Trump's posts on his social media platform, Truth Social, showed dozens of new posts (\"Truths\") and reposts (\"Retruths\") in the previous two days. Buried below all of the more recent shared posts was a \"trending\" post in which Trump had offered a \"Merry Christmas\" message on Dec. 25. That post truly did include the words, \"May they rot in hell,\" which appeared in all capital letters. The imprecation was aimed at so-called \"thugs\" Trump claimed were \"looking to destroy our once great USA.\"  The full post (archived) read as follows: post archived Merry Christmas to all, including Crooked Joe Bidens ONLY HOPE, Deranged Jack Smith, the out of control Lunatic who just hired outside attorneys, fresh from the SWAMP (unprecedented!), to help him with his poorly executed WITCH HUNT against TRUMP and MAGA. Included also are World Leaders, both good and bad, but none of which are as evil and sick as the THUGS we have inside our Country who, with their Open Borders, INFLATION, Afghanistan Surrender, Green New Scam, High Taxes, No Energy Independence, Woke Military, Russia\/Ukraine, Israel\/Iran, All Electric Car Lunacy, and so much more, are looking to destroy our once great USA. MAY THEY ROT IN HELL. AGAIN, MERRY CHRISTMAS! Snopes has previously published a wealth of reporting about claims mentioned in the above post: \"open borders,\" worldwide inflation, the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Green New Deal, U.S. President Joe Biden's plans for taxes, Biden's record on energy independence, the idea of the U.S. military being \"woke,\" Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the war in Israel and Gaza and electric-powered vehicles. open borders worldwide inflation U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan Green New Deal taxes energy independence woke Russia's invasion of Ukraine war in Israel and Gaza electric-powered vehicles On the same day that Trump posted his Christmas message on Truth Social, a Biden-Harris campaign spokesperson named Seth Schuster responded by calling it an \"erratic Christmas Day rant,\" according to reporting from Washington Examiner. Washington Examiner We reached out to the Trump campaign by email to ask about the statement and will update this story if we receive a response. In addition to the Truth Social post on Christmas Day, Trump also released a video message on Christmas Eve that did not include the words, \"May they rot in hell.\" Rather, the video simply showed Trump offering positive, forward-looking sentiments about Christmas, U.S. military servicemembers and the upcoming 2024 U.S. presidential election.  Dapcevich, Madison. Does Biden Support the Green New Deal? Snopes, 1 Oct. 2020, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/does-biden-support-green-new-deal\/. Datoc, Christian. MSN.MSN.Com, Washington Examiner, 26 Dec. 2023, https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/news\/politics\/biden-campaign-rebukes-trump-s-rot-in-hell-christmas-wish\/ar-AA1m43Pg. Electric Vehicles Archives | Snopes.com. https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/tag\/electric-vehicles\/. Huberman, Bond. About That Biden Tax Plan Meme. Snopes, 29 Oct. 2020, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/collections\/about-that-biden-tax-plan-meme\/. Ibrahim, Nur. Do Democrats Want Open Borders? Snopes, 17 June 2022, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/news\/2022\/06\/17\/do-democrats-want-open-borders\/. Inflation Is Spiking Around the World  Not Just in US. Snopes via The Conversation, 1 Aug. 2022, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/news\/2022\/08\/01\/inflation-us-world\/. Israel Hamas War Archives | Snopes.com. https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/tag\/israel-hamas_war\/. Kasprak, Alex. Did Biden Set US Back 50 Years on Energy Independence Progress? Snopes, 15 Feb. 2021, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/biden-energy-independence\/. Liles, Jordan. Did the Trump Admin Agree to Free 5,000 Taliban Prisoners? Snopes, 12 Dec. 2022, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/trump-5000-taliban-prisoners\/. Palma, Bethania. Top General Blasts Rep. Matt Gaetz for Offensive Comment About Military Being Woke. Snopes, 24 June 2021, https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/news\/2021\/06\/24\/matt-gaetz-mark-milley-woke\/. Ukraine War Archives | Snopes.com. https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/tag\/russia-ukraine\/.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=18B9Vv9_M9aVMqXouu5OSEKcMk6rUwIc5","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1233","claim":"Was a donation made by Home Depot to Herschel Walker's campaign?","posted":"10\/10\/2022","sci_digest":["The truth of the matter regarding Home Depot and Walker, a Georgia Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, wasn't as simple as it was presented by some news articles."],"justification":"On Oct. 7, 2022, a Twitter user named Nathalie Jacoby tweeted, \"Will you join me in boycotting Home Depot for donating $1.75 MILLION to Herschel Walkers campaign?\" Walker is a Republican U.S. Senate candidate for the state of Georgia. The tweet led several of our readers to email us about the matter. tweeted  In the 2022 U.S. election, Walker was challenging U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat. Should Walker win the seat, it would potentially give Republicans a coveted Senate majority. The race brought with it a lot of rumors and news stories. One of the biggest rumors appeared to be about Walker purportedly encouraging a woman to have two abortions. However, for this fact check, we will only be looking into the claim about Home Depot. Walker encouraging a woman to have two abortions Home Depot responded to Jacoby's tweet by saying that the contribution in question came from the company's co-founder Bernie Marcus. responded  We also reached out to the company to inquire about the matter. By email, a company spokesperson told us the following: \"Thanks for reaching out. This isnt true. Home Depots PAC hasnt donated to Walkers or Warnocks campaigns. Our co-founder Bernie Marcus left Home Depot more than 20 years ago, and his views do not represent the company.\" It's true that Marcus retired from the company in 2002. However, despite what some readers may have read in other articles that appeared at the top of Google search results, that wasn't the full story. retired On the morning of Oct. 10, Judd Legum of the Popular Information blog reported that Home Depot PAC, a political action committee associated with the company, had donated funds to a Republican organization that funded ad spending for Walker's campaign. reported associated funded ad spending After reviewing Legum's reporting, we located expenditure records for Home Depot PAC that had been published on OpenSecrets.org. The website calls itself \"the nation's premier research and government transparency group tracking money in politics and its effect on elections and policy.\" published The information on Open Secrets indicated the following: While there is no record of Home Depot directly donating to Walker's efforts to win the Senate seat, Home Depot PAC did provide funds to the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC). According to reporting from Politico that was published on Oct. 4, the NRSC was \"splitting a new $8.5 million ad buy with the Walker campaign.\" National Republican Senatorial Committee reporting We contacted Legum by Twitter DM, who told us that the Federal Election Commission website, FEC.gov, also showed four key records related to Home Depot and NRSC. These records indicated that Home Depot PAC, shown on the website as The Home Depot Inc. Political Action Committee, had donated a combined $90,000 to the NRSC in late 2021 and early 2022. four key records  Other large expenditures made by the Home Depot PAC in 2021 and 2022 also went to organizations that were associated with the Republican Party, according to the FEC website. Examples included $45,000 to the California Republican Party and $25,000 to the Georgians First Leadership Committee. Other large expenditures At the same time, Home Depot PAC also gave money in 2021 and 2022 to organizations that appeared to be led by Democrats. Examples included $60,000 to the California Legislative Black Caucus Policy Institute, $50,000 to the Los Angeles Delegation Foundation, $30,000 to the Women in Power PAC, and $25,000 to the Asian Pacific Islander Leadership PAC. Home Depot Note: Jacoby, the Twitter user, also previously tweeted in support of boycotting CNN, Chick-fil-A, Kanye West, and Hobby Lobby and MyPillow. CNN Chick-fil-A Kanye West Hobby Lobby and MyPillow Allison, Natalie, and Marianne Levine. Republicans Rally around Walkers Imperiled Candidacy. POLITICO, 4 Oct. 2022, https:\/\/www.politico.com\/. Federal Election Commission. https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/. Grace Meng Elected as New Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Leadership PAC. Capacleadership.Org, 13 Apr. 2016, https:\/\/www.capacleadership.org\/. Home Depot. Twitter, https:\/\/twitter.com\/homedepot\/. Jacoby, Nathalie. Twitter, https:\/\/twitter.com\/nathaliejacoby1\/. Kamisar, Ben. Big Georgia Senate Ad Spending Shift Highlights a Novel Strategy. NBC News, 23 Sept. 2022, https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/meet-the-press\/meetthepressblog\/big-georgia-senate-ad-spending-shift-highlights-novel-strategy-rcna49125. Kempner, Matt. Home Depot Founders Reunite: $40M for Vets, 1st Responders Health. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 16 Feb. 2021. AJC.com, https:\/\/www.ajc.com\/ajcjobs\/home-depot-founders-reunite-40m-for-vets-1st-responders-health\/WRWBASV6GREQTKUU56LWLXGGY4\/. Koseff, Alexei. Women Target Seats Held by California Lawmakers Accused of Sexual Harassment. The Sacramento Bee, 15 Feb. 2018, https:\/\/www.sacbee.com\/news\/politics-government\/capitol-alert\/article200150799.html. Legum, Judd. Who Is Really Financing Herschel Walkers Campaign? Popular Information, 10 Oct. 2022, https:\/\/popular.info\/p\/who-is-really-financing-herschel. Members. CLBCPI Foundation, https:\/\/cablackcaucus.org\/members\/. National Republican Senatorial Committee. https:\/\/www.nrsc.org\/. NBCSL | California Legislative Black Caucus Elects New Leadership. 25 Aug. 2022, https:\/\/nbcsl.org\/media-center\/news\/item\/2376-california-legislative-black-caucus-elects-new-leadership.html. OpenSecrets. https:\/\/www.opensecrets.org\/. Report: Walker Encouraged Woman to Have Second Abortion. The Associated Press, 8 Oct. 2022, https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/2022-midterm-elections-herschel-walker-congress-government-and-politics-9d7d9c68a802169994b9db719d8256c0. Rosenhall, Laurel. The New Thing for California Politicians? Sweet Charity. CalMatters, 18 Feb. 2020, https:\/\/calmatters.org\/projects\/california-lawmaker-nonprofits-politics-charity-campaign-finance-foundation-dark-money\/. Scribner, Herb. Home Depot Denies Donating over $1 Million to Herschel Walkers Campaign. Axios, 8 Oct. 2022, https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2022\/10\/08\/home-depot-herschel-walker-georgia-donation. Werschkul, Ben. Home Depot Now the Biggest Corporate Donor to 2020 Election Objectors, Analysis Finds. Yahoo Finance, 25 Mar. 2022, https:\/\/finance.yahoo.com\/news\/home-depot-biggest-corporate-contributor-to-2020-election-objectors-analysis-finds-185705617.html. After this story was published, on Oct. 10, we added an email statement sent to us by Home Depot.","issues":["funds"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Q7ouL5TGI8FQV5z9Op6LJXbydei6h9fZ"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1234","claim":"Billy Graham's Daughter's Speech","posted":"10\/02\/2001","sci_digest":["Did Billy Graham's daughter say that 'We cannot just ask God in when disaster strikes'?"],"justification":"As many others have pointed out, one of the pitfalls of the Internet as a means of communication is that it can spread misinformation as rapidly as accurate information. Unfortunately, the former often circulates widely, while corrections come too late, if at all. Here is a case in point illustrating why even a simple memory of a recent event\u2014a television appearance by someone prominent\u2014spread via email cannot be trusted as accurate. Although the gist of the message is true, nearly every detail it contains is incorrect. For example, [Collected on the Internet, 2001] Bryant Gumbel recently interviewed Billy Graham's daughter on the Today Show. Gumbel asked, \"Why didn't God stop this or do something about this?\" Billy Graham's daughter responded, \"For years we have told God we didn't want Him in our schools. We didn't want Him in our government, and we didn't want Him in our finances, and God was being a perfect gentleman in doing just what we asked Him to do. We need to make up our mind\u2014do we want God or do we not want Him? We cannot just ask Him in when disaster strikes.\" Bryant Gumbel was silent. On September 13, Anne Graham Lotz, the daughter of the Reverend Billy Graham, appeared on CBS's Early Show, not NBC's Today program. She was interviewed by Jane Clayson, not Bryant Gumbel. Neither the question posed to her nor her response is quoted accurately above. Her interviewer was not \"silent\" after her remarks; the interview continued as before after this exchange: Jane Clayson: \"I've heard people say, those who are religious and those who are not, if God is good, how could God let this happen? To that, you say?\" Anne Graham Lotz: \"I say God is also angry when He sees something like this. I would say also that for several years now, Americans in a sense have shaken their fist at God and said, 'God, we want you out of our schools, our government, our business, we want you out of our marketplace.' And God, who is a gentleman, has just quietly backed out of our national and political life, our public life, removing His hand of blessing and protection. We need to turn to God first of all and say, 'God, we're sorry we have treated you this way, and we invite you now to come into our national life. We put our trust in you.' We have our trust in God on our coins; we need to practice it.\" Ms. Lotz did say, in effect, that we cannot simultaneously reject God in our daily lives yet still expect His protection when disaster strikes, but now a paraphrase of one response she made during a longer interview has been presented as a direct quote, and all the details about the context in which she made the remark have been misrepresented.","issues":["finance"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1235","claim":"Was an 'Omicron' Movie Made in the '60s?","posted":"12\/01\/2021","sci_digest":["The only thing the internet loves more than a good prediction is pretending that a good prediction exists."],"justification":"The only thing the internet loves more than a good prediction is pretending that a good prediction exists. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we've seen far-reaching attempts to claim that this contagious and deadly disease had been predicted by episodes of \"The Simpsons,\" George Orwell's book \"1984,\" the alleged soothsayer known as Nostradamus, the alleged psychic Sylvia Browne, South Korean television shows, the video game Resident Evil, and a novel by Dean Koontz. In November 2021, as a new variant of COVID-19 emerged that health officials called \"omicron,\" social media users started looking for old pieces of media containing the word so that they could claim that this variant had been \"predicted.\" What they found was a movie from the 1960s: there really was a movie made in 1963 called \"Omicron.\" And that's where this movie's connection to the current COVID-19 pandemic ends. The word \"omicron\" isn't new, and its use in a 1960s movie isn't all that surprising. \"Omicron\" is the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet and has been in use for thousands of years. In academic fields, it is often used to represent the 15th item in a list. The World Health Organization announced in May that it would be naming new COVID-19 variants as they emerge by using the Greek alphabet. While the \"delta\" variant made headlines, there have been several other variants, such as epsilon, iota, and lambda, that didn't warrant too much concern. When the latest variant emerged, WHO skipped two letters, nu and xi, as they are common surnames, and named the new variant omicron. WHO has assigned simple, easy-to-say and remember labels for key variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, using letters of the Greek alphabet. These labels were chosen after wide consultation and a review of many potential naming systems. WHO convened an expert group of partners from around the world to do so, including experts who are part of existing naming systems, nomenclature and virus taxonomic experts, researchers, and national authorities. The word \"omicron\" is also frequently used by astronomers to name stars. Omicron Persei, Omicron Andromedae, and Omicron Ceti are all real stars in the galaxy. It's not far-fetched to see how a fiction writer could name a fictional planet or a fictional alien \"Omicron.\" In fact, when some social media users encountered the name of this new COVID-19 variant, a number of people noted how \"omicron\" would make a great name for a sci-fi movie. Some even created and posted fake movie posters. Here's one fake \"Omicron\" movie poster next to the original movie poster it was created from: While a few fake \"Omicron\" movie posters were circulated on social media in November 2021, there have been a few movies with this title. In 1963, Italian writer and director Ugo Gregoretti made a movie called \"Omicron\" about an alien that took over a human body in order to learn more about Earth. Here's one scene from the satirical film: This is a real movie, but it has practically nothing to do with the current pandemic. Furthermore, using \"omicron\" in a work of fiction isn't all that uncommon. In 2013, \"The Visitor from Planet Omicron\" explored how an alien invasion could be thwarted by really good cooking. The plot of \"The Visitor from Planet Omicron\" would probably make better conspiratorial fodder as it involves a botanical virus and a corrupt government, but this low-budget comedy in no way \"predicted\" COVID-19. The animated show \"Futurama\" also features an alien character named Lrrr, who is the ruler of the Planet Omicron Persei 8. While one could build a conspiracy theory around Lrrr and the other Omicronians starting the COVID-19 pandemic, Lrrr would probably rather eat humans (or force them to make more sitcoms) than kill them with a plague. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic is not a work of fiction. It wasn't predicted by old sci-fi movies, and it wasn't planned by nefarious forces. The latest variant was named \"omicron\" because that was the next usable letter in the Greek alphabet. The next variant will likely be called \"Pi,\" the 16th letter of the Greek alphabet, which will undoubtedly lead people to claim that the pandemic was predicted by movies like \"Life of Pi\" or by Greek mathematician Archimedes of Syracuse, who was the first to calculate an accurate approximation of pi.","issues":["lien"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1G2V_pZax6VzEhaTcNmPmMTYN0keyuUbF","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1236","claim":"A Letter addressed to President Obama written by Lou Pritchett.","posted":"05\/31\/2009","sci_digest":["Lou Pritchett penned an 'open letter' to President Obama?"],"justification":"Claim:  Lou Pritchett penned an \"open letter\" to President Obama. CORRECTLY ATTRIBUTED Example:  [Collected via e-mail, May 2009] AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA Dear President Obama: You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me. You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you. You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support. You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American. You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll. You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don't understand it at its core.. You scare me because you lack humility and 'class', always blaming others. You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail. You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the 'blame America' crowd and deliver this message abroad. You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector. You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one. You scare me because you prefer 'wind mills' to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves. You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world. You scare me because you have begun to use 'extortion' tactics against certain banks and corporations. You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals. You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people. You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient. You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do. You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaughs, Hannitys, O'Relllys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view. You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing. Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years. Lou Pritchett Origins:  Lou Pritchett is a former vice president of Procter & Gamble whose career at that company spanned 36 years before his retirement in 1989, and he is the author of the 1995 business book, Stop Paddling & Start Rocking the Boat.   Lou Pritchett Mr. Pritchett confirmed to us that he was indeed the author of the much-circulated \"open letter\" quoted above: I did write the 'you scare me' letter. I sent it to the NY Times but they never acknowledged or published it. However, it hit the internet and according to the 'experts' has had over 500,000 hits. In April 2012, the following update was added to the original: In April 2009, I sent President Obama and the New York Times a lettertitled \"You Scare Me\" because, as a candidate, he promised to\"fundamentally transform America.\" Now, after observing his performancefor over three years, he no longer scares me  he terrifies me for thefollowing reasons: FIRST-- He has done more to damage America's standing in the world, tolower the standard of living in America, to impoverish future generationsand to shake our faith in the country's future than any other Americanpresident in history. SECOND-- With a compliant Democrat congress, a lapdog media and a weak,almost nonexistent Republican opposition, he has shattered the Americandream of job security, home ownership and rugged individualism formillions of Americans and has poisoned and divided our civil society withhis politics of envy, class warfare, race warfare, and religious warfarewhich he is using as fundamental building blocks for his 'socialist'agenda. THIRD-- culturally, he remains totally out of touch with traditionalAmerican values. This has absolutely nothing to do with race or where hewas born, rather it has everything to do with where, how and with whom hewas raised, schooled, educated, trained and associates with still today. FOURTH-- he has surrounded himself with naive academicians, lawyers,politicians, bureaucrats and socialist leaning czars who arrogantly thinkand behave exactly as he does.People who offer no balanced suggestions or devils advocate positions andthink in lock step with him that big government is the answer to all ourproblems. FIFTH-- he not only encourages but aids and abets the unionization of allAmerican industry, the albatross around the neck of the free market. Inturn, they provide the money and muscle to intimidate his opponents. SIXTH-- he has increased the national debt by over 30% in just threeyears. If re-elected and this rate of increase continues, America will beburdened with an unsustainable 20 trillion dollar debt which will resultin the Country's financial death. Recovery will be impossible ---- Americawill be the Greece of 2016. SEVENTH-- given his fanatical beholding to the 'environmental' and'man-caused global warming' fringe, he has deliberately discouraged U.S.fossil fuel exploration and production while wasting millions of tax payerdollars on solar, wind and algae experiments. He refuses to accept thatoil, gas and coal are not America's enemies, they are America's assetswhich, properly managed, could make us energy independent within ageneration. EIGHTH-- He views the U.S. as a power in retreat which abused its Worlddominance. Therefore he systematically apologizes round the world. LastMarch he whispered to Russian President Medvedev \"--this is my lastelection. After my election, I have more flexibility\". Just what is thesecret that Obama and Putin are concealing from the American people untilafter the election? With what other leaders has he made similar secretagreements? NINTH---and finally, after all his mis-steps, bad decision making, poormanagement, and zero leadership, the fact that he has the audacity to seekre-election should terrify every American.I predict that if re-elected, future historians and political interpreterswill look back at the eight year period 2008-2016, and conclude \"the 44thPresident of the U.S. allowed the takers to overpower the payers whichresulted in the greatest economy in history vanishing from the face of theEarth\". Lou Pritchett  April 15, 2012Farewell America, the World will really miss you! Last updated:  12 May 2012 ","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1237","claim":"Did Major General Paul D. Eaton Say Trump's Decertifying Iran Deal 'Dishonors America'?","posted":"05\/09\/2018","sci_digest":["A meme reproduces a former general's comment about President Donald Trump's announcement that the U.S. would be withdrawing from a nuclear deal with Iran."],"justification":"On 8 May 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump announced his administration's plans to withdraw the U.S. from an Obama-era nuclear deal with Iran. Shortly afterwards, the Facebook page \"Far Left Veteran\" shared a meme with a related quote attributed to Major General Paul D. Eaton: withdraw meme Paul D. Eaton   Maj. General Eaton is a retired U.S. Army officer who commanded operations to train Iraqi troops during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003-04 before returning to the U.S. to become Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Training, United States Army Training and Doctrine Command, Fort Monroe, Virginia. That Eaton made the comment attributed to him above is documented by his verified Twitter account, where he posted that comment on the same day President Trump announced his intentions to withdraw the U.S. from the Iran deal: I have served with foreign Soldiers and armies all my professional life - including Iranian. The American Military word was trusted. I deeply regret @realDonaldTrump decision to walk away from the Iran Deal. He dishonors America and puts us and our allies at risk. #IranDeal @realDonaldTrump #IranDeal  Major General (ret) Paul Eaton (@PaulDEaton52) May 8, 2018 May 8, 2018  In a statement published on VoteVets.org, the major general provided additional opinion on the issue: statement Today, Donald Trump has moved us closer to a war with Iran, while he has also moved us closer to a nuclear war with North Korea. All this while we wage a war in Afghanistan. By decertifying the Iran deal, and putting the question of new sanctions before Congress, Iran will now consider restarting its nuclear program. Should Congress reinstitute sanctions, Iran will undoubtedly speed towards nuclear weapons, putting us on the path to war. If Congress inserts new triggers for sanctions, Iran will likely consider whether staying in the deal is worth it, at all. At the same time, North Korea now knows that any deal signed by the United States is not worth the ink it is written in, when it comes to Donald Trump. That chops diplomats off at the knees, as they struggle to find a non-military solution to the crisis in Korea. It moves us closer to nuclear war with North Korea. In short, today Donald Trump has put us on the path to two new wars, with nuclear weapons. We are very much less safe today, than we were yesterday. The path we are now on  massive loss of human life, on the scale of millions  is not a positive development for America, or humanity. We implore Congress to step in, and rein in this president. VoteVets.org.  \"Statement of Major General (Ret.) Paul D. Eaton, Former Iraq War Commander, Senior Adviser to VoteVets, on Trump Decertifying Iran Deal.\"\r  Accessed 9 May 2018.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1sDRfqlVnpuzINHy3nt3ikcayGLhxijPp","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1238","claim":"Did Israel-Hamas War Protester Aaron Bushnell Post Antisemitic Comments on Reddit?","posted":"02\/29\/2024","sci_digest":["On Feb. 25, 2024, Bushnell lit himself on fire to protest Israeli military action in Gaza."],"justification":"The protracted, often bloody Israeli-Palestinian conflict exploded into a hot war on Oct. 7, 2023, when the militant Palestinian group Hamas launched a deadly attack on Israel and Israel retaliated by bombarding the Gaza Strip. More than 20,000 people, the vast majority of them Palestinians, were reportedly killed during the first two months of the war alone. The violence is driven by mutual hostilities and territorial ambitions dating back more than a century. The internet has become an unofficial front in that war and is rife with misinformation, which Snopes is dedicated to countering with facts and context. You can help. Read the latest fact checks. Submit questionable claims. Become a Snopes Member to support our work. We welcome your participation and feedback. Israeli-Palestinian conflict Hamas deadly attack on Israel retaliated were reportedly killed mutual hostilities Read Submit Become a Snopes Member feedback According to some posts on X (formerly known as Twitter), a Reddit account supposedly used by Aaron Bushnell, the U.S. Air Force member who died in February 2024 after lighting himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C., contained blatantly antisemitic comments. some posts on X These posts used a supposed screenshot ofa comment attributed to Bushnell, which read \"Palestine will be free when all the jews are dead,\" to question his motives for carrying out his protest. These posts  (@TheHarrisSultan \/ X) This was not a real comment posted by \"acebush1,\" the handle Bushnell allegedly used on Reddit, and cannot be attributed to Bushnell. On Feb. 25, 2024, just before 1 p.m. Eastern time, Bushnell went live on the video streaming platform Twitch. Dressed incombat fatigues, he walked up to the gate of the Israeli embassy, set his phone down so it would capture his actions, poured a liquid accelerant over his head out of a metal thermos, put on his cap and lit himself on fire. lit himself on fire While walking toward the embassy, Bushnell did provide a brief explanation for his action. \"I will no longer be complicit in genocide,\" he explained to the camera. \"I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest, but compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it's not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal.\" As Bushnell lit himself on fire, he began repeatedly shouting \"Free Palestine,\" interrupted by loud screams of pain. A censored version of the video, posted to X by independent journalist Talia Jane with permission from Bushnell's loved ones, can be viewed here. (Because the video, even censored, is very disturbing, Snopes has elected to only provide a link in lieu of embedding the footage.) Talia Jane here As the news of the act spread, various news outlets and individuals began investigating Bushnell's online presence. By using a since-deleted post on Bushnell's Facebook page that linked to his Twitch account, The Intercept was able to identify one of Bushnell's long-term usernames online: \"acebush1.\" This is the username Bushnell supposedly used to post the antisemitic comment to Reddit. The Intercept We started by investigating who owns\/owned the \"acebush1\" Reddit account, and we came to the same conclusion: It does appear to be owned by Bushnell. The posting history of the now-suspended account contains plenty of references to the Air Force and a confirmation that the user was an active-duty member. It also contains a lot of posts supporting leftist, mainly anarchist, viewpoints. The presence of those political views further solidifies the connection between the account and Bushnell, who, according to the BBC, sent emails to left-wing and anarchist news sites earlier that day alerting them to his planned protest. Finally, we cross-checked the \"acebush1\" username across other platforms and discovered that the Instagram account with that username, which was created in April 2018, also belonged to Aaron Bushnell. posting history BBC Instagram Next, we attempted to verify whether there was a comment made on Bushnell's Reddit account that matched the screenshots we saw on X. This process was complicated by the fact that many of Bushnell's Reddit posts had been deleted. However, by going to the \"acebush1\" user profile directly, Bushnell's comment history was still visible. According to the screenshots on X, the post in question was made \"2 months ago.\" acebush1 We looked at all comments from the account that were posted between one month and three months ago just to be sure we would catch the comment in question. It wasn't there. We double-checked this using PullPush, a website that allows you to view the contents of deleted Reddit comments. Nothing matched the screenshot. We reverse image searched the photo of the supposed post on TinEye and Google and looked through those links to see if anyone could provide a link to the original comment. Again, nothing. PullPush TinEye Google In fact, according to athread posted to X(archived) by Talia Jane, the screenshot's original poster \"got it from a friend.\" In conclusion, there is absolutely zero evidence for the claim besides the one screenshot of the supposed post shared on X. As such, we rate this claim \"Fake.\" posted to X archived Some online have claimed that to rationalize his actions, Bushnell must have been mentally unstable. The history of self-immolation does not necessarily support that claim. According to Time magazine, self-immolation as an act of protest dates back centuries, as far back as an old Hindu practice of ritual suicide called sati and Catholic persecution during the Roman Empire. It was brought to international attention when photojournalist Malcolm Browne captured the Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc while he was actively burning in 1963. In the years that followed, several American citizens set themselves on fire to protest the Vietnam War. Some Time sati Thich Quang Duc several American citizens More recently, Tunisian street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi's self-immolation in 2010 directly started the Tunisian Revolution and is credited as one of the main causes of the Arab Spring. In the United States, multiple people have self-immolated to protest inaction against climate change, first in 2018, then in2020, then in2022. Bushnell became the second American to do so in protest of Israeli military action in Gaza, following an unidentified personwho self-immolated outside the Israeli consulate in Atlanta on Dec. 1, 2023. Mohamed Bouazizi's 2018 2020 2022 unidentified person","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1PzKXfuXvnl1NeKhVl5ipDpHeleNmcFpI","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1239","claim":"Is Pelosi seeking to include 'assured minimum incomes' for 'undocumented immigrants' in the upcoming COVID-19 stimulus package?","posted":"05\/11\/2020","sci_digest":["A right-wing provocateur made the claim in a May 2020 tweet as federal leaders negotiated what to include in their next COVID-19 economic relief package."],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease.  fighting Find out Read Submit Become a Founding Member CDC WHO On May 4, 2020  as federal leaders debated how to respond to an unprecedented interruption to the U.S. economy due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic  a conservative provocateur tweeted that U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she wanted the country's next economic relief package to establish \"guaranteed minimum incomes\" for \"illegal aliens.\" COVID-19 Suggesting that only legal U.S. residents should benefit from federal stimulus packages, Charlie Kirk  who's the founder of the conservative political group Turning Point USA and social media ally of U.S. President Donald Trump  said in the tweet to his roughly 1.7 million followers:   To investigate the validity of his claim, we examined Pelosi's public statements and media appearances to determine if, or when, she used the phrased \"guaranteed income\"  and under what circumstances. While Kirk provides no explanation for where or when or to whom Pelosi made the remarks in the above-displayed tweet  aside from the tweet's indication with the word \"BREAKING\" that the House Speaker had made the comments shortly before he composed the post  we considered statements by Pelosi since the beginning of the COVID-19 U.S. outbreak in early 2020 for our investigation. Within that timeframe, she used or referenced the phrase \"guaranteed income\" in three public statements, two of which were televised interviews. First, the House Speaker spoke the words on HBO's \"Real Time with Bill Maher\" on April 24. In light of the federal government's approval of the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in March 2020 (and stimulus bills totaling about $500 billion since then), Maher asked Pelosi if the federal government could afford similar economic relief packages for Americans should the pandemic keep businesses closed and systems locked down in the coming months. She responded: April 24 CARES I think that it should be clear that this (COVID-19 stimulus spending so far) is not doing the job that it is set out to do completely, that we may have to consider some other options. Others have proposed a sovereign fund  profits of which go to these unemployed people  or guaranteed income, other things that may not even be as costly as continuing down this path. She provided no further details on the so-called proposals for \"guaranteed income,\" which generally refers to a government-imposed system so that every citizen receives a minimum income  a central idea of the 2020 presidential campaign by former Democratic candidate Andrew Yang. Also in the conversation with Maher, Pelosi did not explicitly state that she wanted the system implemented via Congressional legislation. Andrew Yang Three days later, however, the House Speaker again said the words \"guaranteed income\" in a televised interview, this time with more specificity on her openness to the social welfare system. In the April 27 segment of MSNBC's \"Live with Stephanie Ruhle,\" while explaining federal leaders' next steps to help small businesses survive the financial crisis, Pelosi said: MSNBC As we go forward, let's see what works: what is operational and what needs other attention. Others have suggested a minimum income for  a guaranteed income for  people. Is that worthy of attention now? Perhaps so, because there are many more people than just in small business and hired by small business, as important as that is to the vitality of our economy. And other people who are not in the public sector, you know, meeting our needs in so many ways, that may need some assistance as well. Soon after she made the statement on live TV, news outlets including CBS News and CNBC published stories with headlines such as, \"Pelosi says 'guaranteed income' for Americans is worth considering for coronavirus recovery.\" In a story by Business Insider about the televised comments, an aid to Pelosi said the House Speaker was referring to proposals that would guarantee worker paychecks  not a sweeping system for universal basic income. CBS News CNBC Business Insider guarantee worker paychecks Then, on May 1, the House Speaker and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus made themselves available to journalists via a conference call to discuss provisions within the CARES Act that exclude immigrants without Social Security numbers from receiving one-time stimulus checks.  May 1 receiving one-time stimulus checks.  In the call, Pelosi expressed support for legislation that would guarantee COVID-19 economic relief to not only people with Social Security numbers but also immigrants and their families who use Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs), which the IRS assigns to workers without Social Security numbers, to pay annual taxes. According to the IRS, the federal agency issues the numbers \"regardless of immigration status, because both resident and nonresident aliens may have a U.S. filing or reporting requirement under the Internal Revenue Code.\" In other words, some immigrants who use the identification numbers (ITINs)  not social security numbers  to pay taxes may be \"undocumented.\" According to a transcript of the May 1 call, at one point a reporter asked Pelosi: transcript Pretty recently you said that Congress should consider adding some form of guaranteed monthly income into the next coronavirus relief package. So I was wondering if you would extend that form of guaranteed income to undocumented immigrants and non-citizens who file taxes with tax ID numbers, ITINs, instead of Social Security numbers? In her response, Pelosi reiterated that she thinks federal leaders should consider guaranteed income and that she would talk to chairs of House committees about exploring the idea further. Additionally, as they consider future economic benefits for Americans during the pandemic, she said: Any way we go down the path that [ITINs] should apply, whether its direct payments, whether its participation in PPP (the federal Paycheck Protection Plan loan program)... I said it [guaranteed income] should be considered. And, why it should be considered, in my view, is because there is a lot of money, federal taxpayer dollars, going out the door. Whether its PPP, whether its Unemployment Insurance, whether its direct payments ... But, whatever we do, I think the tax number is an easy entre to many more people who deserve it, who should get this, but are being cut out now, in whatever it is that we are putting out there.  Given the nature of and circumstances surrounding the May 1 call, and considering the fact that Pelosi did not mention \"guaranteed income\" in any other public statements after the U.S. COVID-19 outbreak and before Kirk's viral posting, we determined it to be the most likely source of inspiration for his May 4 tweet. However, though Pelosi said she wants people who use ITINs to receive economic relief from the federal government during the pandemic  a group that would include \"undocumented\" immigrants  she did not say she wants the government to provide stimulus payments to all \"undocumented\" immigrants. Additionally, the House Speaker said she wanted federal leaders to consider, not implement, \"guaranteed income\" for Americans, unlike what Kirk's tweet implies. In sum, given those reasons  as well as the lack of clarity for what Pelosi means by the phrase \"guaranteed income,\" the context in which she made the comments analyzed above, and the fact that she did say she wanted future stimulus money to help foreign people without Social Security numbers  we rate this claim as \"false.\"   Rosenberg, Mattew and Rogers, Katie. \"For Charlie Kirk, Conservative Activist, the Virus Is a Cudgel.\"\r The New York Times. 19 April 2020. Ruhle, Stephanie. \"Pelosi says guaranteed income may be worth considering amid coronavirus hardships.\"\r MSNBC. 27 April 2020. Real Time with Bill Maher. \"Speaker Nancy Pelosi | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO).\"\r YouTube. 24 April 2020. Silverstein, Jason. \"Pelosi says 'guaranteed income' for Americans worth considering for coronavirus recovery.\"\r CBSNews. 28 April 2020. Zeballos-Roig, Joseph. \"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi opens the door to guaranteed income for Americans, saying it's 'worthy of attention.'\"\r Business Insider. 27 April 2020. Pelosi, Nancy. \"Pelosi Remarks on Press Call with Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Mixed-Status Families on Denial of COVID-19 Stimulus Checks.\"\r Newsroom. 1 May 2020. Pelosi, Nancy. \"Transcript of Pelosi Interview on MSNBC's Live with Stephanie Ruhle.\"\r Newsroom. 27 April 2020. Pelosi, Nancy. \"Transcript of Pelosi Interview on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher.\"\r Newsroom. 24 April 2020. Internal Revenue Service. \"Individual Taxpayer Identification Number.\"\r Accessed 11 May 2020.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1XLtvwh-HJy2BmklclY4eMebdYmxiUvQj"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1240","claim":"Is Catherine Elizabeth Clennan's GoFundMe Campaign Authentic?","posted":"12\/28\/2016","sci_digest":["Social media users mocked what appeared to be a sincere (if tone-deaf) GoFundMe plea from Catherine Clennan, but the campaign resembled a publicity hoax."],"justification":"On 23 December 2016, a woman identifying herself as Catherine Elizabeth Clennan created a GoFundMe campaign destined for viral attention, in which she asked donors to supply her with US$5,000,000 in order to fulfill her \"lifelong dream\" (of having five million dollars). Clennan's bid for money stated that at 27, she dreamed of one day being independent of her family who \"pay for everything\" for her. Although she said that she hoped to raise $2,000,000 to buy a home in California, the campaign's goal was set at more than twice that amount: My name is Catherine Elizabeth Clennan and my whole life I have been trying to live by other's definitions of who I 'should be'. I have been trying so hard to live this lie that I came face to face with a choice: either live as others definitions of you and die OR strike out on your own and find for yourself who you really are. Well I chose life. I chose to live by my own definition ... With this choice I am in the process of turning my life in a new direction. Currently I live in Laramie, Wyoming. in a property owned by my family. They pay everything for me - and I am 27 years old. I feel that as long as I live by their definition I am 'taken care of', but this definition is leading me to deaths door - it forces me to live a lie - to turn my back to who I really am; a free spirit, an artist, a woman, a lesbian, a civil rights activist, a woman who goes against the grain, a woman who knows that not everything is as it seems. I need $2,000,000 dollars to purchase my dream home in California. I need the money to help me walk out of the lie that I am living, but more importantly I need the money to live my dream - which is to live as much as my life in the spiritual dimension as possible. The money will go towards the purchase of a new home, new transportation, and the various fees and taxes that accumulate with a move across the country. These funds will help me live the life that I feel I am meant to live, the life I want to live - the life defined not by other people - but by me. These funds will help me break free from the tyranny of what other people think is 'right'. The 'right' job, the 'right' education, the 'right' way to earn a living...   Although GoFundMe marked the campaign as \"trending\" as of 28 December 2016, Clennan had only received $21 of that goal on that date:   Although she has not indicated that her campaign is a hoax or prank (and GoFundMe has not flagged or removed it), Clennan does not appear to have much of an online footprint other than this campaign, aside from a LinkedIn profile and what may be a Huffington Post contribution (which as of April 2016 indicated she was an active student). That single article led some social media users to claim Clennan worked for the Huffington Post, but it looked as if she had submitted only one piece as a contributor. LinkedIn contribution In that article, Clennan expressed a desire to \"be a public figure\": Exposing my vulnerabilities publicly and confidently gave that girl the strength she needed to participate. Thats when I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life  I want to use computer science to inspire other women to explore computer science. I want to be a public figure in computer science that is the exact opposite of what you would typically expect to find in the field. I want to be that girl who no one thought she could, who had all the odds against her, that everyone thought was dumb, and yet she becomes incredibly successful in computer science. Then I want to turn that success around and use it as a pedestal to expose every wound, every failure, every painful vulnerability I have, even with my hands trembling, Clennan invited potential donors to visit her Facebook page for more information, but few additional details were available there. It remains possible that her goal is genuine and presented honestly with no expectations that it would go over poorly or go viral, but also within the realm of possibility that the GoFundMe request was a step in her stated aim to become a public figure. Facebook Clennan, Catherine.  \"The Benefits Of Being A Dumb Girl In Computer Science.\"\r  Huffington Post.  12 April 2016.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1mfSTXi-hwkWt8p64CsIlDZhF2XE87Jcx","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1241","claim":"Is this billboard claiming Elon Musk is defending billionaires authentic?","posted":"06\/11\/2021","sci_digest":["We found no sign of it."],"justification":"In early June 2021, social media users shared a photograph that purportedly showed a billboard displaying a black-and-white image of billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk along with the message, \"Defend billionaires. We're just like you.\" We were unable to find any evidence that this billboard exists in the real world. There are no news reports about it, which would be surprising given that single tweets penned by Musk often spark headlines. Additionally, none of the posts containing the photo included any specific information, such as the location of this alleged billboard. The image appears to be a joke poking fun at Musk and others among the mega-wealthy, a class of people who have been in the news lately for stories critical of wealth inequality and the fact that billionaires are able to avoid paying income taxes. Another red flag is that the image contains what appears to be a picture of Musk that can be easily found on the internet, along with a black background that other social media users have used to create their own billboards. While we are very skeptical that this billboard exists anywhere, without definitive proof we are rating this as \"Unproven\" for now. This would not be the first time, however, that Musk has been trolled via billboard.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1accJG1r2u1ijcF6-mpoFVDfxoaKnzR8-"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1242","claim":"Is Whataburger Changing Their Colors?","posted":"07\/11\/2019","sci_digest":["A Chicago investment firm acquired a majority stake in the Texas-based restaurant chain. "],"justification":"In June 2019, the Chicago investment firm BDT Capital Partners acquired a majority stake in the Texas-based restaurant chain Whataburger. The news was unsettling to some Texans who feared that their beloved burger joint would undergo unwanted changes. \"Okay, I say we all chip in and buy Whataburger back. Make honey butter chicken biscuits available all day, add kolaches to the menu, and change nothing else. Especially not the ketchup.\" Shortly after this news broke, an image purportedly showing a screenshot of a message posted to Whataburger's Twitter account\u2014announcing that the restaurant chain was changing its colors from orange and white to blue, black, and white in honor of Chicago's baseball teams\u2014began to circulate on social media. This was not a genuine tweet from Whataburger; it does not appear anywhere on the company's Twitter timeline, and we were unable to locate any archived versions of this supposed message. Furthermore, the Whataburger Twitter account has responded to several curious social media users to inform them that the above-displayed image is fake. In other words, Whataburger is not changing its signature orange color to blue, black, and white in honor of the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox. The social media post announcing that Whataburger was changing its colors was fake, but the following social media post from Whataburger assuring fans that they will continue to make Texas proud is real. \n\nFernandez, Manny. \"Whataburger Got Sold to Chicago. Texas Is Flipping Out.\" The New York Times. 20 June 2019.","issues":["investment"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1_2vu-IJfif8Rbs7eAM6VbLmIXQZPKlFX","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Bo9bany6sBYevlYZ9lgKgDIeP6p7T7sy","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=16ikCdtXlaNu69ENY77sZWMO4UhCPZOrN","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1243","claim":"Gun Con-Troll","posted":"10\/02\/2015","sci_digest":[""],"justification":"FACT CHECK:  Did President Obama \"suspend\" the Second Amendment?  Claim:  President Obama has \"suspended\" the Second Amendment.     Examples:  [Collected via Twitter, October 2015] BREAKING NEWS- President Barack Hussein Obama Jr. SUSPENDS 2ND AMENDMENTRead more at https:\/\/t.co\/CVT80kEfls https:\/\/t.co\/CVT80kEfls  The Dc Gazette (@TheDcGazette) October 2, 2015 October 2, 2015   This is bull crap. Get rid of this idiot! He cant do this https:\/\/t.co\/oqv0GWX1d2 https:\/\/t.co\/oqv0GWX1d2  Mason Page (@MasonKanePage) October 2, 2015 October 2, 2015   Origins:   On 1 October 2015, ten people were killed in a mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon.   In the wake of the incident (and ensuing interest in the topic of gun violence), the disreputable web site Universal Free Press published an article with the clickbait headline \"BREAKING NEWS  President Barack Hussein Obama Jr. SUSPENDS 2ND AMENDMENT,\" stating that: mass shooting In a move unprecedented by a sitting president and in wake of the recent mass shooting in Oregon, Barack Obama said Ive had enough and I will not allow more women and children to die by gun violence on my watch. Sources on Capitol Hill say, that Obama while in a cabinet meeting, was handed the recent statistical reports on violent crime and at the same time was told of another mass shooting, it was then that he exclaimed Are you joking, this is unacceptable and THIS time Im going to do something about it! He continued by saying, For too long, have I sat idly by and watched crime after crime be committed when there was a gun involved, well NO MORE, I have to think of the safety of the American people, after all, I took a solemn oath to do so. Sources close to the president explained that suspending a constitutional right was not within his power, Obama exclaimed,  I have certain powers granted to me and I intend to use them to keep the citizens of this great nation safe, if there is a legality issue, we can sort it out later. A few (but not all) users who shared the link on Twitter noted that the article was both prefaced by and concluded with a note indicating that its claims were entirely fabricated (and calculated to take advantage of the tragedy and produce revenue-generating traffic by provoking baseless outrage): *Disclaimer* This article is satire and there is no basis of fact for it to be taken seriously. Last updated:     2 October 2015 Originally published:   2 October 2015","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1244","claim":"Republican candidate for California governor Travis Allen gave campaign donations to Jerry Brown, Gavin Newsom and Barbara Boxer.","posted":"05\/25\/2018","sci_digest":[],"justification":"DidTravis Allen, arguably the most conservative candidate for California governor, donate campaign money to three of the states leading liberal Democrats? Thats the Republican-on-Republican attack levied by John Coxs campaign for governor in arecent TV adthat goes after Allen, an Orange County assemblyman whos positioned himself as a GOP populist. Heres the full text of the ad, which includes three attacks on Allen: Narrator: For Republicans, the race for governor is crystal clear: Theres conservative businessman John Cox, leading the opposition to Jerry Browns Sanctuary State and chairman of the initiative campaign to repeal the gas tax. Then theres career politician Travis Allen. He gave campaign donations to Jerry Brown. Gavin Newsom and Barbara Boxer. And on the floor vote, Allen refused to join Republicans opposing driver licenses for illegal aliens. The conservative choice is clear: John Cox for governor. The ad was paid for by John Cox for Governor 2018. Well examine the other two attacks on Allen in future fact-checks. In this piece, well focus on the claim he donated to top Democrats. Background on GOP rivals Recent polls show growing support for Coxs campaign for governor, less than a week after President Trumpendorsedthe San Diego businessman. A surveyreleased Wednesday nightfrom the Public Policy Institute of California shows Newsom, the states lieutenant governor, leading Cox, 25 percent to 19 percent. Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was third, at 15 percent, followed by Allen with 11 percent,  State Treasurer John Chiang at 9 percent and former state schools chief Delaine Eastin with 6 percent. Coxand Allen have sparred at campaign events over who is the most conservative candidate. Theyve both criticized Californias Democratic leadership over the gas tax increase and sanctuary state protections. The top two candidates in the June 5 primary, regardless of party affiliation, will move on to the November runoff. Donating to Democrats? The ad accuses Allen of donating to three of the states top Democrats. The irony, of course, is that Allens run for governor has centered on criticizing those same politicians, particularly Brown and Newsom. We found clear evidence supporting the claim, though Coxs ad ignores the fact that the contributions took place nearly a decade ago, before Allen ran for elected office, and that he also donated to Republicans. Campaign finance records show that in October 2010, Allen donated $1,000 to Jerry Brown for Governor, through Wealth Strategies Group, his wealth management firm in Huntington Beach. In August 2010, Allen gave $100 to Gavin Newsom for Lieutenant Governor. And, in October 2010, he donated $250 to Barbara Boxer for Senate. SOURCE: Campaign finance records from the California Secretary of State'swebsite. Asked about this, a spokeswoman for Allens campaign said in an email that the contributions took place before Travis was an elected official, as a businessman, he purchased tickets to some events. A November 2017 Mercury-Newsarticlesummarized these and additional donations Allen made to Democrats in 2010 and 2011. He told the paper at that time: As a businessman I was invited to some events by friends, and I purchased tickets to these events. Attending these events, however, opened my eyes to the damage the Democrats were doing to California, and brought about my decision to do everything in my power to stop them, including running for public office. Similar claim In April 2016, PolitiFact California ratedMostly Truea similar claim about then Presidential candidate Donald Trump donating to Democrats. Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, at the time Trumps rival for the Republican presidential nomination, claimed Trump has given $12,000 to Jerry Brown, Gavin Newsom and Kamala Harris. Campaign finance data showed the claim was accurate, though we noted Cruz left out that the donations took place long before Trump announced his run for president. The contribution to Jerry Brown took place in 2006, while the donations to the other Democrats took place in 2009, 2011 and 2013. Our ruling In a recentTV ad, John Coxs campaign for governor claimed rival GOP candidate Travis Allen donated to three of Californias top Democrats. Campaign records prove the claim, though the contributions took place a decade ago, before Allen entered politics. The statement is accurate but needs this clarification. We rate it Mostly True. MOSTLY TRUE The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.","issues":["Campaign Finance","Negative Campaigning","The 2018 California Governor's Race","California"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=10Nww-jkh7tqhaenzNx5RSNQdKRm4xQZC","image_caption":"Narrator: For Republicans, the race for governor is crystal clear: Theres conservative businessman John Cox, leading the opposition to Jerry Browns Sanctuary State and chairman of the initiative campaign to repeal the gas tax."}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1245","claim":"Will the name of Trump be displayed on COVID-19 stimulus checks?","posted":"04\/15\/2020","sci_digest":["While the unprecedented move could potentially delay these payments, U.S. Treasury officials insist the checks \"are scheduled to go out on time and exactly as planned.\""],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease. \n\nIn April 2020, millions of Americans who lost income due to circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic were waiting for promised relief payments from the United States government. So when news broke that U.S. President Donald Trump was making the \"unprecedented\" move of having his name added to these stimulus checks\u2014a decision that could potentially delay their arrival by several days\u2014many citizens took to social media to voice their displeasure. Trump's name is indeed being added to the COVID-19 stimulus checks, otherwise known as Economic Impact Payments. As of this writing, however, officials at the U.S. Treasury Department insist this will not result in any delays. \n\nThe Washington Post first reported on Trump's decision on April 14, 2020. According to the news outlet, Trump's name is expected to appear in the memo line of the check, not as the payment's official signatory, and this will be the \"first time that a president's name appears on an IRS disbursement.\" The Treasury Department has ordered President","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1-jVVbrAxTZtmBvipLe5Q8EqvxkFFhiAl"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1246","claim":"Should Hotel Guests Always Put Coins in the Sink?","posted":"04\/12\/2021","sci_digest":["The claim appeared in an online ad."],"justification":"\"Here's Why Hotel Guests Should Always Put Coins in the Sink\" is the text in an online advertisement thats been making the rounds since at least November 2020. an online advertisement  The key word here appeared to be always.  This was not the first such ad about hotels on which we reported. We previously published a story about a similar ad that read: \"Why You Should Always Put a Towel Under Hotel Door.\" published a story Readers who clicked on the ad about putting coins in a hotel's bathroom sink were led to an 80-page slideshow article. Its headline read: \"Use These Hacks the Next Time You Stay in a Hotel\": We all love to travel, but let's admit it - not every hotel is fit for a king or a queen. Sometimes, we have to compromise if we want to have a vacation that fits our budget. What makes things a bit worse is that the hotel room might not always look exactly as it did in the online photos. The photos might have been misleading - the bed looking bigger than it actually is or the booking website posting photos of a completely different room altogether. The truth is, youll never know until you arrive. That's why sometimes you need to bring some items that will amp up your holiday. With these hacks, you'll always be prepared for a five-star hotel experience! The picture from the ad finally showed up on page 28. The ad about coins in the sink and the one about putting a towel under a hotel door both appeared to imply some sort of ominous safety concerns: Wash and Roll Have you ever paid to have your clothes cleaned by the hotel? There's always the chance that something could get ruined or lost. Even if everything goes off without a hitch, there's still the high price you'll have to pay for this service. Just a few garments can end up costing you a pretty penny. Instead, use a few coins and some plastic to clog the sink and wash your clothes in the sink, then you can hang them around the room to dry them out. The article simply advised hotel guests to grab some plastic and coins to clog the sink for washing clothes. We'll leave it up to readers to decide if they consider it sanitary to wash clothes in a hotel sink with coins and plastic. Also, bathroom sinks typically come with stoppers that can be used to hold water in the basin. The ad in question appeared in a previous submission on Reddit's r\/savedyouaclick subreddit. The top-voted comment read: \"Why coins??? Why not just a regular plug? This is insane.\" Another user jokingly replied to the comment with: \"ALWAYS put coins in the sink!\" submission r\/savedyouaclick Perhaps one thing we recommend \"always\" doing is avoiding ominous clickbait ads that lead to 80-page slideshow articles. Snopes debunks a wide range of content, and online advertisements are no exception. Misleading ads often lead to obscure websites that host lengthy slideshow articles with lots of pages. It's called advertising \"arbitrage.\" The advertiser's goal is to make more money on ads displayed on the slideshow's pages than it cost to show the initial ad that lured them to it. Feel free to submit ads to us, and be sure to include a screenshot of the ad and the link to where the ad leads. submit ads to us","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=19GuHaH41VcLsk947yP39SesGmUzYQeJU","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1247","claim":"Did CDC 'Quietly Update' COVID-19 Deaths To Say Only 6% Are Legitimate?","posted":"09\/03\/2020","sci_digest":["A rumor downplaying the seriousness of the deadly virus was promoted by a group of people that included U.S. President Donald Trump"],"justification":"Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease. \n\nIn an attempt to ring the alarm on supposed deceptive practices by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), hard-line conservatives, including U.S. President Donald Trump, promoted the idea in August 2020 that the public health agency suddenly changed its methods for reporting COVID-19 mortality statistics. As a result, viral social media posts alleged that America only tallied about 9,000 COVID-19 fatalities, or roughly 6% of the more than 150,000 deaths widely reported by politicians, scientists, and news reporters. Many believers, including conspiracy theorist Jeff Berwick, dubbed the alleged change by the CDC evidence that people other than his followers were exaggerating the seriousness of the pandemic and that everyone should be skeptical of rules on social distancing that halt the economy. In a Sept. 1 video, for example, he said: \"It's been proven by the CDC [the pandemic] is nothing, it was absolutely nothing. Zero. 9,000 people? That's nothing.\" \n\nNumerous readers asked Snopes to investigate the matter. Several inquiries included a link to the hyperpartisan, junk news website The Gateway Pundit or another conspiratorial web page that phrased the alleged revelation like this: \"The CDC quietly released new COVID numbers showing those who solely died from the virus was only 6% (9,210) of the total deaths (153,504). 94% of those who died did so because they had existing health conditions.\" Additionally, The Gateway Pundit page claimed that \"the overwhelming majority\" of reported COVID-19 deaths were among \"very old Americans\" without going into specifics on what age population that meant and suggested nefarious intentions on the part of the CDC to try to change its guidance without anyone noticing. Versions of this notion circulated widely online in summer 2020, in part because of support from American politicians such as Trump. In two retweets\u2014one by his campaign adviser that linked to the Gateway Pundit page and another by a supporter of the unfounded QAnon conspiracy theory\u2014Trump endorsed the claim, essentially denigrating scientific evidence provided by his own health advisers, Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx. However, as of this writing, Twitter had removed the below-displayed post for violating its terms of service. \n\nFirst, to unpack the claim, let's be clear about how COVID-19\u2014which is the disease caused by the coronavirus dubbed SARS-CoV-2\u2014attacks the body and can become deadly. According to an article in the journal Science, a highly credible scientific publication, once inside, the virus hijacks the cell's machinery, making myriad copies of itself and invading new cells. As the virus multiplies, an infected person may shed copious amounts of it, especially during the first week or so. Symptoms may be absent at this point, or the virus's new victim may develop a fever, dry cough, sore throat, loss of smell and taste, or head and body aches. If the immune system doesn't beat back SARS-CoV-2 during this initial phase, the virus then marches down the windpipe to attack the lungs, where it can turn deadly. In other words, SARS-CoV-2 attacks lung cells, and that assault on a person's respiratory system can greatly exacerbate other preexisting conditions. This means COVID-19 patients run the risk of previously manageable health problems turning fatal\u2014including cardiac arrest, liver failure, or lung scarring\u2014after they're infected with SARS-CoV-2. \n\nPut another way, Ryan McNamara, a virologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in a series of tweets, compared the SARS-CoV-2 virus with the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, which causes AIDS. He wrote: \"After years of (HIV) virus spread, and in the absence of treatment, a patient infected with HIV will develop AIDS. [...] During this state of HIV progression, white blood cells called T-cells are depleted. This can allow co-infecting pathogens to spread unchecked or tumor cells to grow and metastasize. Hence pneumonia and AIDS-associated cancers are leading causes of death in HIV+ patients.\" \n\nNext, we investigated how the CDC compiles COVID-19 death toll data. Since the viral posts did not specify what \"numbers\" by the CDC they were alleging nefariousness, we considered the CDC's Provisional Death Counts for Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) web page, which is a compilation of death certificates updated weekly by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Additionally, we obtained an April 2020 document by the World Health Organization titled \"International Guidelines For Certification and Classification (Coding) of COVID-19 As Cause of Death,\" which stated that medical examiners must include as much detail as possible based on records and lab testing when filling out death certificates. For example, a death certification for a patient who was infected with SARS-CoV-2 and subsequently developed pneumonia and fatal respiratory distress would list all three conditions as causes of death. \n\nThe document also stated that death certificates for people who suffered from chronic conditions, such as coronary artery disease or diabetes, before their exposure to the coronavirus would list those conditions in addition to COVID-19. The coronavirus would still be labeled the underlying cause of death\u2014or the disease that initiated the train of events leading directly to death\u2014since the preexisting health issues were likely exacerbated by the initial SARS-CoV-2 infection. Next, we considered the CDC's process for analyzing those death certificates that list COVID-19. Its website explained: \"When a person dies, the cause of death is determined by the certifier\u2014the physician, medical examiner, or coroner who reports it on the death certificate. States register all death certificates and send them to [NCHS], where they are used to produce the nation's official death statistics. [...] When COVID-19 is reported as a cause of death on the death certificate, it is coded and counted as a death due to COVID-19. COVID-19 should not be reported on the death certificate if it did not cause or contribute to the death. [...] Complete means describing a clear chain of events from the immediate to the underlying cause of death, reporting any other conditions that contributed to death, and providing information that is specific.\" \n\nIn short, the CDC compiles mortality statistics based on all possible causes of death for one individual. So if a diabetes patient with high blood pressure was infected with COVID-19\u2014which can target blood vessels\u2014and they die because their blood vessels were already so damaged, the CDC would consider their death related to both the coronavirus and diabetes. (According to the CDC database of death certificate data, that was the case for more than 27,500 people.) As of this writing, the CDC last updated its mortality statistics on Sept. 3, 2020. At that point, the agency said 171,787 death certificates included COVID-19 since the beginning of the U.S. outbreak in February 2020. Alongside the coronavirus, the majority of documents also listed comorbidities, or additional health issues that can either worsen or develop after the initial SARS-CoV-2 infection. For instance, 71,700 included influenza or pneumonia and COVID-19 as potential causes of death. However, fueling the conspiracy theory, the CDC web page stated: \"For 6% of the deaths, COVID-19 was the only cause [of death] mentioned. For deaths with conditions or causes in addition to COVID-19, on average, there were 2.6 additional conditions or causes per death.\" This meant that medical investigators believed only 6% of COVID-19 patients died from the coronavirus alone, with no reported comorbidities. However, it was dangerously misleading to interpret that fact to mean that the remaining fatalities (or 94 percent) died from health issues other than the coronavirus. Rather, most people's underlying cause of death was COVID-19, and the virus either intensified or caused other illnesses that contributed to patients' deaths. \n\nThe \"6%\" claim was not the first attempt by COVID-19 conspiracy theorists to allege without substantial evidence that the CDC was nefariously compiling data to trick people into thinking the coronavirus was more serious than it actually is. In spring 2020, for instance, they attempted to ring the alarm on the agency supposedly inflating COVID-19 death numbers for political reasons, but in reality, the alleged discrepancy was a result of comparing two separate data sources that report different measurements. The death certification statistics, in short, prove that people with preexisting health problems\u2014such as asthma or hypertension\u2014face a higher risk for serious illness or death if they're infected with COVID-19, according to Bob Anderson, lead mortality statistician at NCHS. He said in a statement to NBC News: \"These data are consistent with CDC guidance that those with underlying medical conditions are at greater risk for severe illness and death from COVID-19.\" \n\nAdditionally, Fauci explained the phenomenon in a Sept. 1 interview on the ABC program \"Good Morning America\": \"The point that the CDC was trying to make was that a certain percentage of [COVID-19 deaths] had nothing else but just COVID. That does not mean that someone who has hypertension or diabetes who dies of COVID didn't die of COVID\u2014they did. So the numbers that you've been hearing\u2014the 180,000-plus deaths\u2014are real deaths from COVID-19...It's not 9,000 deaths from COVID-19.\" \n\nNext, we found data to address another aspect of the fringe theory: that the \"overwhelming majority\" of reported COVID-19 deaths were among people of a \"very advanced age.\" For the purpose of this report, we considered that group to be people aged 85 or older. According to the CDC death certificate data, 53,000 documents for that population listed COVID-19 as a potential cause of death, accounting for about one-third of the total, or less than the majority. We should note here that epidemiologists and health officials have been upfront with the fact that COVID-19 patients who are older\u2014as well as those who have underlying health problems\u2014are at greater risk for serious problems. \"As you get older, your risk of being hospitalized for COVID-19 increases. Everyone, especially older adults and others at increased risk of severe illness, should take steps to protect themselves from getting COVID-19,\" according to the CDC. Eight out of 10 people who have died as a result of COVID-19 in the U.S. were over the age of 65, per the agency's data. \n\nLastly, we looked for any evidence to confirm or deny that the CDC attempted to \"quietly\" adjust its mortality statistics under the public's radar. Bob Anderson, lead mortality statistician at NCHS, told NBC News in a statement that the death certificate data does not represent new information, as NCHS has been publishing this same information since the outset when we began posting data on COVID-19 deaths on our website. \n\nIn sum, considering the way in which the coronavirus impacts the human body, the way the CDC compiles data from death certificates\u2014listing comorbidities that were either developed or exacerbated by COVID-19\u2014as well as the fact that one-third of COVID-19 fatalities were people aged 85 or older, we rate this claim as false.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1CDkLPhOBGp2zvJYTM6Mc6E__0ZSC6C20","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1VsWN-MFWRS9Kiq3FB46i_hdHXtqNW-FF","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1IIGtjIkRAVVBNq0xObFtnDFXNVD-pFuG","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1248","claim":"Is Kamala Harris Jussie Smollett's Aunt?","posted":"02\/25\/2019","sci_digest":["The surname \"Harris\" is one of the 30 most popular last names in the United States. "],"justification":"In February 2019, a rumor circulated on social media that Jussi Smollett, the Empire actor accused of making false claims about being the victim of a hate crime, was the nephew of Democratic U.S. senator (and presidential candidate) Kamala Harris of California. false claims Conservative radio host Kevin McCullough was one Twitter user who promoted the notion that Harris was Smollett's aunt:McCullough deleted his tweet after it generated a considerable amount of ridicule.The claim that Kamala Harris is Jussie Smollett's aunt was offered by a number of social media users, but the documentation presented with it was flimsy at best. In fact, the most substantial piece of \"evidence\" presented to support this conspiracy theory was that Smollett's mother and the California senator share a surname:Sharing a last name does not constitute proof that these two women are siblings, however. In fact, the surname \"Harris\" is one of the most popular surnames in the United States, ranking in the top 30 of the 2010 U.S. Census.  We've examined the biographical information available for these two public figures and found that their family branches simply do not intersect.  Kamala Harris, who was born in Oakland, California, has a single sibling, a younger sister named Maya who was born in Illinois. In order for Kamala to be Jussie Smollett's aunt, Maya -- who is only 16 years older than Smollett -- would have to his mother.  However, Smollett's mother's first name is Janet, not Maya, and she is from New Orleans, not Illinois.  Neither did we find any familial relationship between Kamala Harris and the Smollett family through marriage that might provide a basis for referring to Kamala as Jussie's \"aunt.\" Jussie Smollett was born in Santa Rosa, California, to Janet (Harris) Smollett and Joel Smollett Sr. (who migrated to the U.S. from Russia and Poland).  Jussie said the family moved to Queens when he was two years old, and afterwards, according to the New York Times, he grew up \"bouncing with [his] parents and siblings between New York and Los Angeles, as the kids pursued careers in modeling, acting and music.\"Neither Kamala Harris' husband, Douglas Emhoff, nor Maya Harris' husband, Tony West, has any discernible connection to Jussie's parents.   Emhoff hails from New York, graduated USC law school, is a prominent entertainment and intellectual property lawyer in Los Angeles, and has two grown children from a previous relationship.  West hails from San Francisco, graduated Stanford  law school, serves as general counsel and Chief Legal Officer at Uber, and has one daughter with his wife Maya.  Conservative radio host Kevin McCullough was one Twitter user who promoted the notion that Harris was Smollett's aunt: Kevin McCullough promoted   McCullough deleted his tweet after it generated a considerable amount of ridicule. deleted The claim that Kamala Harris is Jussie Smollett's aunt was offered by a number of social media users, but the documentation presented with it was flimsy at best. In fact, the most substantial piece of \"evidence\" presented to support this conspiracy theory was that Smollett's mother and the California senator share a surname: evidence   Sharing a last name does not constitute proof that these two women are siblings, however. In fact, the surname \"Harris\" is one of the most popular surnames in the United States, ranking in the top 30 of the 2010 U.S. Census.  We've examined the biographical information available for these two public figures and found that their family branches simply do not intersect.   2010 U.S. Census biographical information Kamala Harris, who was born in Oakland, California, has a single sibling, a younger sister named Maya who was born in Illinois. In order for Kamala to be Jussie Smollett's aunt, Maya -- who is only 16 years older than Smollett -- would have to his mother.  However, Smollett's mother's first name is Janet, not Maya, and she is from New Orleans, not Illinois.   Neither did we find any familial relationship between Kamala Harris and the Smollett family through marriage that might provide a basis for referring to Kamala as Jussie's \"aunt.\" Jussie Smollett was born in Santa Rosa, California, to Janet (Harris) Smollett and Joel Smollett Sr. (who migrated to the U.S. from Russia and Poland).  Jussie said the family moved to Queens when he was two years old, and afterwards, according to the New York Times, he grew up \"bouncing with [his] parents and siblings between New York and Los Angeles, as the kids pursued careers in modeling, acting and music.\" Neither Kamala Harris' husband, Douglas Emhoff, nor Maya Harris' husband, Tony West, has any discernible connection to Jussie's parents.   Emhoff hails from New York, graduated USC law school, is a prominent entertainment and intellectual property lawyer in Los Angeles, and has two grown children from a previous relationship.  West hails from San Francisco, graduated Stanford  law school, serves as general counsel and Chief Legal Officer at Uber, and has one daughter with his wife Maya. Emhoff West Sullivan, Kevin.  \"'I Am Who I Am': Kamala Harris, Daughter of Indian and Jamaican Immigrants, Defines Herself Simply as 'American.'\"\r  The Washington Post.  2 February 2019. Ryzik, Melena.  \"The Smollett Family Business: Acting and Activism.\"\r  The New York Times.  9 March May 2016. Driscoll, Sharon.  \"Tony and Maya: Partners in Public Service.\"\r  Stanford Lawyer.  17 May 2010. Fearnow, Benjamin.  \"Conservative Radio Host Peddles Conspiracy Theory That Kamala Harris Is Jussie Smollet's Aunt, Later Deletes Tweet.\"\r  Newsweek.  24 February 2019.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1qGILtEXRYx6ZiBKDjlnk_4Q8t6v08Ult","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=18td2rgUJ1znVgFCyZrvPh4NQC3IP1hsc","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1249","claim":"Legislation on energy known as Cap and Trade Bill.","posted":"11\/24\/2009","sci_digest":["The 'Cap and Trade energy bill' requires that all real estate must meet new energy standards before it can be sold?"],"justification":"Claim:  The \"Cap and Trade energy bill\" requires that all existing real estate must meet new energy standards before it can be sold.  Examples:  [Collected via e-mail, November 2009] For those of you who have real estate for sale or rent, be advised that the Cap and Trade energy bill that passed Congress has the following provisions: Before any real estate, new or old, commercial or residential, can be sold or rented, the building must meet the new energy standards set forth in the Bill. These standards are about a general 35% increase in what is now required in building codes. It requires such things as requiring solar reflective roofs, double pane windows, energy efficient appliances and lighting, increased insulation, leak test, and on and on and on. In order to sell or rent any building, you will be required to have a certificate of efficiency issued by a federal building efficiency inspector (new division of the US Dept. of Energy). No certification, no sell or rent, simple as that.  [Collected via e-mail, August 2010] A License Required for your HOUSE? Thinking about selling your house.  Take a look at H.R. 2454 (Cap and Trade bill), that has passed the House of Representatives and being considered by the Senate. Home owners take note & tell your friends and relatives who are home owners! Beginning 1 year after enactment of the Cap and Trade Act, you won't be able to sell your home unless you retrofit it to comply with the energy and water efficiency standards of this Act. H.R. 2454, the \"Cap & Trade\" bill will be the largest tax increase any of us has ever experienced. The Congressional Budget Office (supposedly non-partisan) estimates that in just a few years the average cost to every family of four will be $6,800 per year. No one is excluded. A year from now you won't be able to sell your house. The caveat is, that if you have enough money to make required major upgrades to your home, then you can sell it. But, if not, then forget it. Even pre-fabricated homes (\"mobile homes\") are included. In effect, this bill prevents you from selling your home without the permission of the EPA administrator. To get this permission,you will have to have the energy efficiency of your home measured. Cost $200 to start. Then the government will tell you what your new energy efficiency requirement is and you will be forced to make modifications to your home under the retrofit provisions of this Act to comply with the new energy and water efficiency requirements, which easily could cost over $50,000. Then you will have to get your home measured again and get a license (called a \"label\" in the Act) that must be posted on your property to show what your efficiency rating is; sort of like the Energy Star efficiency rating label on your refrigerator or air conditioner. If you don't get a high enough rating, you can't sell. And, the EPA administrator is authorized to raise the standards every year, even above the automatic energy efficiency increases built into the Act. The EPA administrator, appointed by the President, will run the Cap & Trade program  (AKA the \"American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009\") and is authorized to make any future changes to the regulations and standards he\/she alone determines to be in the government's best interest. Requirements are set low initially so the bill will pass Congress; then the Administrator can set much tougher new standards every year.  The Act itself contains annual required increases in energy efficiency for private and commercial residences and buildings. However, the EPA administrator can set higher standards at any time. Sect. 202 Building Retrofit Program mandates a national retrofit program to increase the energy efficiency of all existing homes across America. The label will be like a license for your car. You will be required to post the label in a conspicuous location in your home and will not be allowed to sell your home without having this label. And, just like your car license, you will probably be required to get a new label every so often - maybe every year. The government estimates the cost of measuring the energy efficiency of your home should only cost about $200 each time. Remember what they said about the auto smog inspections when they first started: that in California it would only cost $15. That was when the program started. Now the cost is about $50 for the inspection and certificate; a 333% increase. Expect the same from the home labeling program. Origins:  HR 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (also known as the \"cap-and-trade energy bill\"), is a bill intended to \"create clean energy jobs, achieve energy independence, reduce global warming pollution and transition to a clean energy economy.\"  The bill was passed by the Houseof Representatives in June 2009, but it has not yet been voted upon by the Senate. HR 2454 The version of the bill passed by the House sets energy efficiency standards benchmarks that must be met by new buildings, both residential and  commercial, constructed after the bill takes effect (i.e., after the bill was passed by both the House and Senate and signed into law).  Contrary to what is claimed above, however, HR 2454 contains no provisions requiring that existing homes \"must meet the new energy standards\" before they can be re-sold.  Likewise, the bill includes no requirements that an existing residential property undergo an energy usage-related audit or inspection and be assigned a \"certificate of efficiency issued by a federal building efficiency inspector\" before it can be re-sold or rented. This misinformation about mandatory energy standard retrofits and licensing requirements has been promulgated primarily through a misunderstanding of Section 202 of HR 2454, which is headed \"Building Retrofit Program\" and calls for the establishment of \"standards for a national energy and environmental building retrofit policy.\"  However, those standards are specifically indicated as being part of the Retrofit for Energy and Environmental Performance (REEP) program, a program intended to establish state programs to provide cash incentives to property owners who voluntarily choose to make their buildings more energy efficient.   REEP The House Energy and Commerce Committee, who has jurisdiction over the implementation of cap-and-trade legislation, notes in their section-by-section explanation of HR 2454 that Section 202: explanation Establishes the Retrofit for Energy and Environmental Performance program to provide allowances to states to conduct cost-effective building retrofits. Provides that states may use local governments or other agencies or entities to carry out the work and may use flexible forms of financial assistance providing up to 50% of the costs of retrofits, with funding increasing in proportion to efficiency achievement. Provides additional assistance for the retrofitting of historic buildings. Directs the Administrator of EPA to establish standards and guidelines for the program, in consultation with the Secretary of DOE. Allows federal funds provided to disaster victims to qualify as a building owner's contribution toward matching requirements. Requires states to offer preferential access to at least 10% of dedicated program funding to public and assisted housing. Nothing would require a homeowner to audit or retrofit their home to ensure that it meets building code requirements. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) also noted of that section of HR 2454:  NAR [HR 2454] does not require that buildings be retrofitted. Rather, it provides federal funding for states to offer financial incentives, such as loans or grants, for property owners to voluntarily decide to improve energy efficiency. In order to receive the funding, there are conditions on how states can spend the money, such as verification of energy improvements performed by private contractors, but that is only to ensure that taxpayer dollars are actually spent on the purpose for which it is intended (building efficiency improvements). There is no point-of-sale guideline or any other requirement of any sort in the House passed bill. Nowhere does this bill create a federal requirement that a property owner would have to retrofit a property to any guideline at any time  let alone at point of sale. The bill does stipulate federal guidelines to ensure that states spend and verify that bill funding goes to financial incentives for property owners to voluntarily make improvements. An entirely separate bill would have to be drafted, introduced, passed by committees and both houses of Congress, and signed by the President into law in order for the Federal government to go beyond [HR 2454's] financial incentives for voluntary energy improvements. Last updated:  7 September 2010 <!--    Ellen, Daryn.  \"Guide to Tipping.\"   O, The Oprah Magazine.  December 2002.","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1250","claim":"This governor has cut funding repeatedly for people who have AIDS, who need drugs to save their life.","posted":"07\/08\/2011","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Wearing pink shirts and holding up signs, people gathered outside the Statehouse in Trenton recently as Democratic legislators led a rally to increase women's health care funding in the face of opposition from Gov. Chris Christie. When Assemblyman Herb Conaway Jr. (D-Burlington\/Camden) addressed the crowd on June 20, he claimed that Christie has also been cutting health care funding for another group: people with AIDS. \"This governor has cut funding repeatedly for people who have AIDS, who need drugs to save their lives,\" said Conaway, a physician specializing in internal medicine. \"People who have AIDS today can live out their lives almost as long as anybody else if they get the drugs they need, and this governor, time and time again, has cut that.\" PolitiFact New Jersey confirmed that the Christie administration had cut or proposed to cut state funding for AIDS and HIV services, but in two cases, other funding sources would allow the same number of individuals receiving those services to be served. When we asked Conaway's chief of staff, Ethan Hasbrouck, to back up the statement, he pointed to two funding cuts in the governor's proposed budget for fiscal year 2012, as well as a change made last year in eligibility for the AIDS Drug Distribution Program. Although a final budget for fiscal year 2012 was approved at the end of June, this Truth-O-Meter item focuses on the proposed budget at the time of Conaway's statement. We later called Hasbrouck twice and sent him multiple emails to set up an interview with Conaway about our findings, but we never heard back. Let's review those three items one at a time. Hasbrouck said the fiscal year 2011 budget lowered the income eligibility for the AIDS Drug Distribution Program, disqualifying about 960 people from the program and saving $7.9 million. However, the state later set up a new drug benefits program to assist those individuals who would no longer be eligible under the AIDS Drug Distribution Program. That new program was funded through additional rebates from pharmaceutical companies and a new federal grant program. The state increased AIDS Drug Distribution Program funding last year for people who met the new income eligibility but reduced spending in other categories of HIV services, according to Dawn Thomas, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health and Senior Services. Now, let's turn to the cuts in the originally proposed fiscal year 2012 budget. Hasbrouck correctly states that the governor's proposed budget would have cut $4.7 million for special-care nursing facilities, including Broadway House in Newark, the state's only long-term care facility for people living with HIV and AIDS. The second proposed cut cited by Hasbrouck was $3.7 million from the AIDS Drug Distribution Program. Although that state funding was proposed to be cut, the mix of funding sources would enable the same amount of participants to receive access to medications through both the AIDS Drug Distribution Program and the other drug benefits program, according to Thomas. But remember this: two of the funding cuts cited by Hasbrouck were only proposals at the time of the assemblyman's statement. Here's how the final budget for fiscal year 2012 affects AIDS and HIV funding: The income eligibility for the AIDS Drug Distribution Program was restored to its previous level, but state funding for the program has been further reduced for a total cut of about $10.7 million, Thomas wrote in an email. Other funding sources will allow the same number of participants to be served, she wrote. The budget reduces overall funding for nursing facilities, but there is no longer a specific cut to special-care nursing facilities like Broadway House, Thomas wrote. The impact on those special-care facilities remains unclear, she wrote. Let's review: Conaway claimed at a Statehouse rally that Christie has repeatedly cut AIDS funding. His chief of staff pointed to three pieces of evidence, one from the budget approved last year and two from the proposed budget for fiscal year 2012. A spokeswoman for the state Department of Health and Senior Services confirmed cuts to AIDS and HIV funding in both budgets. However, last year, a new program was created to assist people impacted by the eligibility change. This year, state funding was proposed to be cut, but other funding sources were to maintain services for participants. Conaway correctly stated that Christie has cut state funding for AIDS and HIV programs, but at least when it comes to pharmaceutical assistance, people continued to receive medicine for their AIDS and HIV treatment. We rate his statement Mostly True. To comment on this ruling, go to NJ.com.","issues":["New Jersey","Health Care","State Budget"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1251","claim":"Seven years later, (Scott Walker) has not hit his first campaign promise of creating 250,000 jobs.","posted":"06\/23\/2017","sci_digest":[],"justification":"U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan criticized Gov. Scott Walker's ability to fulfill his No. 1 campaign promise during the Democratic Party of Wisconsin's annual convention. Pocan, D-Madison, attacked Walker and Republican lawmakers on job growth and other issues during his 15-minute speech, at one point focusing on the governor's failed 2010 campaign promise to add 250,000 private-sector jobs within his first term. Seven years later, \"Scott Walker has not hit his first campaign promise of creating 250,000 jobs,\" Pocan said halfway through his June 2, 2017, speech. The convention took place as state Democrats sought to ramp up support among their base before the 2018 mid-term elections. Walker is expected to be on the ballot again, seeking a third term, so the promise is likely to come up repeatedly. Here, we will briefly revisit Walker's original promise and see where the jobs tally currently stands. \n\nIn 2010, Walker first sought the governor's office on the promise that he would bring 250,000 private-sector jobs to Wisconsin by the end of his first term. \"Scott Walker will get government out of the way of employers ... who will then help Wisconsin create 250,000 jobs by 2015, and as we create those new jobs, we will be able to add 10,000 new businesses,\" his campaign said at the time. From 2011 through 2014, Wisconsin added 130,153 private-sector jobs, meaning Walker fell short of his first-term promise by about 100,000 jobs, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. For this tally, we used the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, which surveys nearly all state businesses, to get the most accurate picture of Walker's years in office. We made comparisons using the fourth quarter reports from the QCEW. On the Walk-O-Meter, which we use to track the governor's campaign promises, we rated Walker's pledge as a Promise Broken when economists said in September 2014 that it was impossible to reach the target by the end of his first term. \n\nSince then, Wisconsin's economy has continued to add jobs throughout Walker's second term, but at a much slower pace. The fourth quarter numbers for 2015 and 2016 from the BLS show Wisconsin added 38,077 and 11,548 jobs, respectively. The 2016 growth numbers were the worst during Walker's tenure and the worst since the economy rebounded after the 2008-09 recession. In total, Wisconsin has added 179,778 private-sector jobs during Walker's nearly seven years as governor, which puts him 70,000 short of the pledged 250,000 new jobs. Pocan's spokesman, David Kolovson, said in an email that the congressman's claim was based on a March 12, 2017, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story, which stated the governor's promise remains elusive. The Journal Sentinel story listed the total number of jobs under Walker as 185,208, which differs from the total offered here because that article was published before the BLS released final numbers covering the end of 2016. Walker's spokesman, Tom Evenson, also pointed to the same story and Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development numbers, saying in an email, \"We don't have anything to add.\" \n\n\"Wisconsin's business climate has consistently improved from one of the worst in the nation to one of the best under Governor Walker, and our state's economy is in the best shape it's been in 16 years,\" Evenson was quoted as saying in the March story. \"We've seen more people employed than ever before, wages are up, and Wisconsin's labor force participation rate continues to be one of the best in the country.\" And yet, the topic of job creation under Walker lingers. President Donald Trump ran on the platform of being a jobs president, famously saying, \"I'll be the greatest jobs president God ever created.\" In a June 13, 2017, visit to Wisconsin, President Trump hinted at a major manufacturer locating to the state. The Journal Sentinel reported on June 15 that Foxconn, a Taiwanese company that assembles Apple's iPhones and other electronics, is considering Wisconsin as the site for a 1,000-acre manufacturing plant, which could generate thousands of jobs. \n\nAt the Democratic Party of Wisconsin's state convention, Pocan said, \"Seven years later, Scott Walker has not hit his first campaign promise of creating 250,000 jobs.\" Pocan is correct in stating that Walker has not fulfilled his first campaign promise. In 2014, we rated Walker's campaign pledge as a Promise Broken. The number of jobs created still falls short of that promise. We rate Pocan's statement as True.","issues":["Economy","Jobs","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1252","claim":"Who Increased the Debt?","posted":"01\/23\/2012","sci_digest":["A chart from 2011 compared changes in the U.S. national debt over the last several presidencies."],"justification":"Debt is typically a major campaign issue in elections, from the municipal level all the way up to the office of the President of the United States. Candidates tout their accomplishments in balancing budgets or reducing government debt as examples of fiscal prudence while pointing to increased debts during their opponents' administrations as indicators of profligate and wasteful spending of taxpayers' money. The chart reproduced above, which was posted to the Flickr account of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, attempts to reverse conventional political stereotypes by portraying recent Republican presidents as responsible for significant increases in the national debt, while showing recent Democratic presidents as responsible for much lower increases in the level of debt. As a first step in evaluating this chart, we must determine the applicable definition of \"debt.\" In general, the term \"public debt\" (or \"debt held by the public\") refers to money borrowed by the government through the issuance and sale of securities, government bonds, and bills. It includes federal debt held by all investors outside of the federal government, including individuals, corporations, state or local governments, the Federal Reserve banking system, and foreign governments. Another form of debt is \"intragovernmental debt\" (or \"debt held by government accounts\"), which refers to money that the government has borrowed from itself, such as when the U.S. government invests money from federal savings programs like Medicare and the Social Security trust fund by purchasing its own treasury securities. A variety of names have been applied to the total of these two forms of debt, including \"gross federal debt,\" \"total public debt,\" and \"national debt.\" Although this chart is labeled as presenting a \"percent increase in public debt,\" it actually uses figures corresponding to the total described as \"gross federal debt\" above (i.e., a combination of debt held by the public and debt held by government accounts, rather than just the former). We checked the numbers in this chart by using (for pre-1993 years) the U.S. Treasury's Monthly Statement of the Public Debt (MSPD), noting the total debt reported as of January 31 of each relevant year, and (for 1993 onwards) the Treasury's The Debt to the Penny and Who Holds It application, noting the total debt reported as of Inauguration Day of each relevant year. From these records, we gleaned the following information: Ronald Reagan: Took office January 1981. Total debt: $848 billion. Left office January 1989. Total debt: $2,698 billion. Percent change in total debt: +218%. George H.W. Bush: Took office January 1989. Total debt: $2,698 billion. Left office January 20, 1993. Total debt: $4,188 billion. Percent change in total debt: +55%. Bill Clinton: Took office January 20, 1993. Total debt: $4,188 billion. Left office January 20, 2001. Total debt: $5,728 billion. Percent change in total debt: +37%. George W. Bush: Took office January 20, 2001. Total debt: $5,728 billion. Left office January 20, 2009. Total debt: $10,627 billion. Percent change in total debt: +86%. Barack Obama: Took office January 20, 2009. Total debt: $10,627 billion. Total debt (as of the end of April 2011): $14,288 billion. Percent change in total debt: +34%. So, as far as raw numbers go, the chart is reasonably accurate (although our calculations produced a somewhat higher debt increase for Ronald Reagan than reported). That said, we must consider how valuable these numbers are; whether by themselves they present a reasonable comparative measure of presidential fiscal responsibility. In that regard, one could find several aspects to take issue with: The chart isn't a true comparison of equals, as it includes three presidents who served two full terms (Reagan, Clinton, and George W. Bush), a president who served one term (George H.W. Bush), and a president who served half a term (Obama). Obviously, the longer a president holds office, the greater the opportunity for him to influence the debt, and certainly (barring a radical change in current circumstances) the increase reported for Barack Obama would be considerably higher by the time he left office. All presidents come into office with policies and budgets that were put into place by their predecessors in the White House and Congress, and they all pass the same along to their successors when they leave office. Therefore, determining how much of the change in debt that occurs during a given president's administration is actually the result of his actions (rather than the consequence of factors over which he had little or no influence) would require a much more complex analysis than the one presented here. Which is the best measure of debt for this purpose: public debt, intragovernmental debt, or a combination of the two? As noted in the General Accounting Office's FAQ on Federal Debt, they represent rather different concepts: Debt held by the public approximates current federal demand on credit markets. It represents a burden on today's economy, and the interest paid on this debt represents a burden on current taxpayers. Federal borrowing from the public absorbs resources available for private investment and may put upward pressure on interest rates. Further, debt held by the public is the accumulation of what the federal government borrowed in the past and is reported as a liability on the balance sheet of the government's consolidated financial statements. In contrast, debt held by government accounts (intragovernmental debt) and the interest on it represent a claim on future resources. This debt performs largely an internal accounting function. Special federal securities credited to government accounts (primarily trust funds) represent the cumulative surpluses of these accounts that have been lent to the general fund. These transactions net out on the government's consolidated financial statements. Debt issued to government accounts does not affect today's economy and does not currently compete with the private sector for available funds in the credit market. Are plain percentage changes in the national debt level a useful figure, or do they need to be placed in context to have relevance? Some would argue, for example, that the Debt-to-GDP ratio is a better measure of economic health relative to the national debt than raw debt figures alone, and a chart that tracked the change in that ratio over the last several presidencies would paint a significantly different picture of debt levels than the one displayed above. All in all, this is a case of relatively accurate information that is of marginal value due to a lack of proper comparative context.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=12ktKGpR81S9zE8UT5BIn9JF4sHA95WdY","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1253","claim":"In Malaysia  many of the workers are indentured servants because their passports are taken away when they come into this country and are working in slave-like conditions.","posted":"04\/12\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Bernie Sanders lines up fairly close to Donald Trump when it comes to the topic of trade. To some, that means Sanders has some explaining to do. In aninterviewwith theNew York Daily News, Sanders attempted to detail his position. Its about a fundamental inequity in labor standards, Sanders suggested, enabling human rights abuses at the cost of American jobs. I do believe in trade. But it has to be based on principles that are fair, Sanders said. So if you are in Vietnam, where the minimum wage is 65 an hour, or you're in Malaysia, where many of the workers are indentured servants because their passports are taken away when they come into this country and are working in slave-like conditions, no, I'm not going to have American workers competing against you under those conditions. Sanders has made trade a big topic on the campaign trail  highlighting Hillary Clintons comments and votes in favor of trade deals. (PolitiFact has documented a lengthy comparison of the two.) Here, we wanted to fact-check Sanders claim that workers in Malaysia  which would be part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership  are forced into working under slave-like conditions. In a word, yes. Not only is forced labor widely documented by labor and human rights groups, its openly acknowledged by the U.S. government. From cell phones to sneakers to palm oil The Sanders campaign referred us to a 2014reportfrom Verit, an NGO that monitors labor standard compliance. Verit interviewed 501 workers in Malaysias electronics industry (the countrysleading sector), and found that 28 percent of them were coerced under both global standards and Malaysian law. This work has led us to conclude that forced labour in this industry is systemic and that every company operating in this sector in Malaysia faces a high risk of forced labour in their operations, Dan Viederman, chief executive of Verit,toldthe Guardian in 2014. The International Labor Organization, an agency of the United Nations, defines forced labor usingfour dimensions: unfree recruitment, work and life duress, impossibility of leaving an employer and penalty or menace of penalty. The Malaysian electronics industry violated all these guidelines in some capacity. Like the indentured servants who came to America in the 18th century, the vast majority of foreign workers  largely from other parts of Southeast Asia   were charged excessive job-finding fees and had to take on debt to pay them off, effectively tethering them to the job (unfree recruitment). One in five workers were also deceived about their wages or other employment conditions, and one in three lived in and often confined to crowded, unsafe housing provided by their employer or recruitment agency (work and life durres). Verit also found that 94 percent of workers had their passports withheld by the factory or agent (penalty), though the practice is prohibited by local labor laws . Fifty-seven percent said they couldnt leave their jobs out of fear of getting slapped with high fines, losing their passport, being reported to the authorities or other forms of retribution (impossibility of leaving an employer). But forced labor is by no means limited to one sector. Malaysia has thefourth-largest migrant worker populationin the world, and its 3 million to 6 million foreign workers all are vulnerable to exploitation in a variety of industries, said Abby McGill, the campaigns director for the International Labor Rights Forum. The State Departmentnotesthat passport confiscation was widespread and generally unpunished, and has placed Malaysia in its Tier 3 watch list for human trafficking  the rating reserved for the worst offenders  in2001,2007,2009and2014. In addition to electronics, the U.S. Labor Department currentlyliststhe garments and palm oil industries where labor abuses occurs (palm oil is also cited for child labor). Human Rights Watchreportedon exploited migrant domestic workers in 2011. Amnesty Internationalchronicledthe stories of trafficked, trapped and physically and sexually abused workers in a variety of industries from agriculture to construction in 2010. They buy and sell us like cattle, a 25-year-old Bangladeshi working for a palm oil producer whose customers includes U.S. agricultural giant CargilltoldtheWall Street Journalin 2015. Free trade and chained work The debate over whether free trade stymies, improves or has no bearing at all on working conditions is an ongoing one. International labor standards are actually included in many trade agreements.The United Statesmonitors worker conditions in partner countries, and has spent $275 million to support labor rights since 2001, according toa 2014 Government Accountability Office audit. But despite this, the GAO concluded that theres still a lot of room for improvement. The USTR and Labor Department lack a strategic approach to systematically assess whether partner countries conditions and practices are inconsistent with labor provisions in (free trade agreements), according to the audit. Academics have also pointed out these provisions are oftenambiguous,difficult to enforceorsimplyignored. In other words, agreements on paper dont necessarily translate to improved conditions in real life. Malaysia is actually a prime example of labor rights possibly taking a backseat to free trade. In 2015, it wasupgradedto Tier 2 for human trafficking by the State Departmentover the objections of its own human rights experts. Many perceived the move to bepolitically motivated, as the improved rating made the country eligible to join the TPP. Because of Malaysias poor labor record, it also signed abilateral agreementwith the United States, promising to implement workers rights and protect against forced labor before obtaining trade benefits.Human rightsandlaborrightsgroups, however, are skeptical this will lead to actual reform. The devil is in the details of actual implementation, and Malaysia is a very corrupt place where those with connections and money can get away with not complying with the law  as both Malaysian and migrant workers have found out frequently over the past two decades, said Phil Robertson, the deputy director of Asia at Human Rights Watch. Said McGill of the International Labor Rights Forum: Given that they get everything they want upfront whether they change anything or not (not an ideal negotiating strategy), the labor enforcement provisions are so weak there isn't a stick to force them to comply. That approach has never worked in the history of free trade agreements. No reason to think it will start now. Nonetheless,manyhavearguedyoucanhaveyourfree trade and be humane, too. A2010 study, for example, found that labor conditions have improved in Cambodia as a result of labor provisions in a trade agreement signed with the United States. But many argue that improved working conditions are actually a cascading effect of global trade, not regulation itself. The kinds of adjustments that go with free trade, while painful in the short run, lead to improved labor conditions in the long run, Stanford labor economist Robert Flanagan said in aninterviewabout his book,Globalization and Labor Conditions. Gary Burtless, a labor economist at the Brookings Institution, acknowledged that some are certainlyworseoffas a result of global trade. He pointed out that working conditions were terrible in the United States a century ago, but improved when the economy developed and standard of living rose. Do we really think it would a good idea for the U.S. not to have been able to trade in 1916 or 1886? Burtless said. It is very hard to think of anything that has delivered a bigger improvement in the lives of poor workers than expanding their ability to sell to other countries. Period. End of story. To pretend otherwise, that youre going to protect their workers by keeping their products out of our country, flips on its head policies most conducive to improving their lives. Our ruling Sanders said, In Malaysia  many of the workers are indentured servants because their passports are taken away when they come into this country and are working in slave-like conditions. Forced migrant labor and passport withholding is widely documented across Malaysia by human rights and labor groups. The United States acknowledged the abuses in several government reports and databases. While there is a debate about whether free trade can help curtail these abuses, there is no debate to the veracity of Sanders claim. We rate it True.","issues":["Global News Service","Human Rights","Labor","Foreign Policy","Trade"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1254","claim":"Says the proposed fiscal year 2013 budget is still below the level of state spending when I took office.","posted":"03\/08\/2012","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Gov. Chris Christie wants to increase state spending in the coming fiscal year, but he claims the proposed budget is smaller than the one in place when he took office in January 2010.The governor made that point in a Feb. 21 speech before state legislators and other officials, when he unveiled his proposed $32.1 billion budget for fiscal year 2013, which begins July 1. The adjusted budget for the current fiscal year stands at roughly $30.9 billion.The budget I propose would total $32.1 billion for the coming year, Christie said. While this represents minimal growth from last year, it is still below the level of state spending when I took office.PolitiFact New Jersey was interested in whether state spending was higher two years ago, and a state Treasury Department spokesman showed us the numbers that back up Christies claim.The proposed fiscal year 2013 budget is smaller than the fiscal year 2010 budget in place around the time Christie took office -- but just barely. The difference between the two budgets is about $5 million.Lets break down the numbers.Christie, a Republican, was sworn into office on Jan. 19, 2010 -- in the middle of fiscal year 2010, which began under former Gov. Jon Corzine, a Democrat. Two months later, the new governor introduced his budget for fiscal year 2011.To support the governors statement, Treasury spokesman Andrew Pratt pointed out how the fiscal year 2010 budget when Christie took office was $32.151 billion. That figure represented the adjusted budget as of March 16, 2010, according to a Treasury report at the time.The governors proposed budget for fiscal year 2013 is $32.146 billion, according to a recent budget summary. As such, his statement is true, Pratt told us.So, the proposed budget is roughly $5 million less than the level of state spending when Christie took office, marking a decrease of 0.016 percent. Thats not a lot of money, but it still means Christies statement is correct.But theres a major reason for why the fiscal year 2010 budget was larger than the proposed budget for fiscal year 2013: federal stimulus dollars.That adjusted budget of $32.151 billion for fiscal year 2010 included $2.289 billion worth of appropriations supported by stimulus funds. Those stimulus funds were used to help close a projected budget shortfall.Without those stimulus dollars, the proposed budget for fiscal year 2013 would be larger than the budget in place when Christie took office.Our rulingIn his Feb. 21 budget speech, Christie claimed in regard to his proposed fiscal year 2013 budget: While this represents minimal growth from last year, it is still below the level of state spending when I took office.According to state Treasury documents, Christie is accurate. The proposed budget is $32.146 billion -- about $5 million less than the $32.151 billion spending plan in place when Christie took office.We rate the statement True. To comment on this ruling, go toNJ.com.","issues":["New Jersey","State Budget"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1255","claim":"The Northridge Earthquake was not accurately reported.","posted":"06\/06\/2000","sci_digest":["Was the Northridge quake underreported as a 6.7 to get FEMA off the hook?"],"justification":"Claim:  The magnitude of the 17 January 1994 Northridge earthquake was deliberately under-reported in order to spare the government from having to pay out emergency relief funds.   Examples:  [Harvey, 1994] Urban Myth No. 5,212: It's linked to the earthquake, of course  what isn't these days? The [Los Angeles] Times has heard from several callers who claim there's a conspiracy to hide the fact that the quake's magnitude was really 8.0. One caller quoted an unnamed structural engineer who said that only an 8.0 temblor could have inflicted the damage of the Northridge quake. And why the conspiracy? The unfounded rumor that FEMA is obligated to give outright grants, rather than loans, to damaged houses and businesses after quakes of 8.0 or more.  [Collected on the Internet, 2000] Right after the Northridge earthquake in 1994, word was going around that the State of California coerced CalTech to declare the magnitude of the earthquake under 7.0. This was due to a hidden clause in the state laws saying state income tax in California is suspended that year for affected areas when there is a major earthquake over 7.0 on the Richter Scale. Origins:  On 17 January 1994, Los Angeles area residents were shaken awake at 4:31 A.M. by the seismic event that would come to be known as the Northridge quake. In the usual way of earthquakes, those few seconds of violent shaking took a terrible toll.  The quake killed 57 people, injured another 9,000, and caused property damage in the $13-$15 billion range. It closed seven freeway sites and two hospitals, and left 150,000 people without water, 40,000 without natural gas, and 25,000 without homes.  It was devastatingly awful. Folks were shocked when the quake was reported to have registered a mere 6.7 on the Richter scale. They were thus prepared to believe almost anything that would confirm the quake's intensity to have been much higher. After the Northridge quake, a bogus fax on fake Caltech letterhead (misstated as \"Cal Tech\") was circulated throughout the Los Angeles area. It purportedly assigned an \"intensity scale\" to different Los Angeles ZIP codes, with the strength  of the quake measured in one ZIP code area listed as a whopping 9.5. The numbers quoted in the fax were, in fact, estimates of the intensity of the shaking around the Los Angeles basin based on the modified Mercalli scale, which uses the Roman numbers I through XII. (The Mercalli scale is a measurement derived from observable earthquake damage; the Richter scale is based on seismometer readings.  The Mercalli scale is thus largely a subjective measurement, while the Richter scale is generally considered to be more objective and scientifically accurate.)  Parts of Santa Monica and the San Fernando Valley experienced Mercalli IX-level intensity, which was misconstrued on the fax as a 9-level Richter scale measurement (instead of  the officially reported 6.7).  Caltech (actually the U.S. Geological Survey at Caltech) had not under-reported the figure  the Northridge quake was a 6.7 no matter who measured it. Earthquake data is almost instantaneously shared among a number of organizations worldwide, and one group's under-reporting the magnitude would have been quickly picked up by the others. Even if Caltech had wanted to suppress the real numbers, it would have been unable to do so without the cooperation of a number of other scientific organizations. The scary fax played into what people wanted to believe.  Those who'd lived through the quake swore it had to have been much stronger than the 6.7 that was being reported. From this belief was the legend born: if Caltech was fudging the magnitude of the event, there had to be a reason. Inventive sorts that humans are, it wasn't long before someone advanced the plausible-sounding explanation that the amount and type of aid provided to disaster victims by the government was predicated upon the severity of the event; by convincing Caltech to under-report, the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) slipped off the hook. According to this rumor, since the quake's intensity was under 7.0, FEMA only had to provide loans to earthquake victims rather than outright grants, which saved the agency billions of dollars. The rumor, of course, was false. FEMA never gives loans to those disadvantaged by disaster; its assistance comes in the form of grants to those affected. That agency works with the Small Business Administration (SBA), which provides low-interest loans.    Also, FEMA bases its aid on need, not upon a standardized chart that determines how much can be allocated according to what scientists measure.  Likewise, insurance companies base their earthquake policy liability on damage estimates, not on magnitude scales. This makes sense  under a system like the one hinted at in the legend, survivors of a large earthquake in a relatively unpopulated zone would be eligible for free aid while those trying cope with the aftermath of a lesser disaster in a far more densely populated area would be saddled with repaying government loan debts (or would receive no financial assistance at all). An extreme hypothetical example could see millions of free dollars directed towards the rebuilding of one house in Alaska while 200,000 uninsured and homeless Californians had do without, all because Alaska was hit by an 8.2 while California had to cope with only a 6.7.  The legend took off the way it did for reasons other than just the usual mistrust of government and science that marks such whispers. Getting up close and personal with the unthinkable heightens the experience, which explains in part why this legend was so widely believed by Los Angeleans: they'd been shaken out of bed and back to reality by this earthquake, whereas they had experienced other large quakes that had taken place in other lands merely as words on a page or images on a television screen. In a world where the ruin of the 6.9 Kobe quake (17 January 1995) was dispassionately presented by the nightly news and barely given a second thought here in California, what the authorities were telling skeptical Los Angeleans was a 6.7 felt like it was more because it had been experienced with all our senses, not just the television-dulled ones.  There was yet another reason for this legend's running rampant: its location. The quake's epicenter was in the heart of the San Fernando Valley, a heavily-populated area, and so felt stronger to many people because those who experienced the sensation were right on top of the worst of it.  Additionally, we humans have a desire to star ourselves in the drama of the moment. A 6.7 didn't sound worthy of the harrowing experience endured by those resident on 17 January 1994, and those who'd been through the shake and looked to regale others with their horrific accounts were especially receptive to any suggestion that the figure was far too low. On a final note, one further rumor attached to FEMA in California: that illegal immigrants who surfaced to apply for disaster relief would be rounded up, handed over to INS, and deported. That rumor did not begin with the Northridge quake, however; it was recorded in the aftermath of the 17 October 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in the San Francisco area. While FEMA's aid is now available only to U.S. citizens, legal residents of the U.S., and the resident parents of U.S. citizens (that is, children born in the USA), at the time of the Loma Prieta quake, the assistance it directed was available to citizens and non-citizens alike. As for alerting the INS to potential illegals, FEMA pointed out at that time that it didn't ask about the citizenship status of aid applicants, with  questions about citizenship status not even being presented on any of its forms. (That has since changed  FEMA Form 90-69 is specifically for that purpose.) Barbara \"not a milked shake\" Mikkelson Additional information:        Federal Emergency Management Agency   (FEMA)        Earthquake Myths   (U.S. Geological Survey)   Last updated:  18 July 2007    Sources:   Harvey, Steve.  \"Only in L.A.\"    Los Angeles Times.  2 March 1994  (p. B2).    Jackson, Robert and Miles Corwin.  \"Aid Centers Open But No Money Yet.\"    Los Angeles Times.  23 October 1989  (p. A1).    Mitchell, Sean.  \"Warning: The Following L.A. Stories Are Not True.\"    Los Angeles Times.  24 November 1996  (Magazine, p. 32).","issues":["income"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1256","claim":"Says black Americans have 10 times less wealth than white Americans.","posted":"08\/23\/2018","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Beto ORourke, the Democratic nominee challenging Republican U.S. Sen.Ted Cruzof Texas, said that vast U.S. wealth differences show the economy doesnt work for everyone. The El Paso congressmans half-page ad, in theHouston Defenders July 26, 2018,issue, shows ORourke shaking hands with an African-American man. Accompanying text says: Our economy isn't working for everyone when black Americans have 10 times less wealth than white Americans. Let's level the playing field by ensuring access to good jobs, higher pay, skills training, and a fair shot at economic success. A reminder: Wealth is distinct from income. It measures how much we own, not how much we make. While the two are closely tied, economists talk about wealth in terms of net worth. A house, for example, adds to net worth if its value is higher than the amount of the mortgage. Assets minus debts gives you net worth. 2016 federal survey We asked ORourkes campaign about the basis of ORourkes 10 times less claim in the ad, which had come to our attention in a Texas Tribunenews storyon ORourkes advertising expenditures. By email, Chris Evans of ORourkes campaign pointed out an October 2017Washington PostWonkblogstoryand other reports rooted in 2016 consumer survey data summed up by the Federal Reserve in fall 2017. That data, Evans told us, pegged the median net worth of white families at 10 times the median net worth of black families. The Wonkblog story says that according to the survey results, the median net worth of white families  $171,000  is now 10 times that of black families and eight times that of Hispanic families. A factor, the story says, is that white families are five times more likely than black or Hispanic families to inherit money. That translates into opportunity  a down payment on a home, tuition to go to school, capital to build a small business, savings to retire on. Other factors, the story says, include distinct rates of home ownership and participation in job-related savings plans. Median and average wealth differences According to apairofSeptember 2017 Federal Reserve articles, the agencys 2016 Survey of Consumer Financesreached6,254 familieswith queries onhouseholds total pre-tax income, balance sheets, pensions, income and demographic characteristics. No other study for the country collects comparable information, the agency says. The 2016 survey found about a 10-to-1 difference in the median wealth\/net worth of white and black Americans--the ratio between $171,000 and $17,600. Net worth is defined as the difference between families' gross assets and their liabilities. The survey results otherwise suggest the difference in the average wealth of white and black Americans is nearly 7-to-1--$933,700 for white residents and $138,200 for black residents. (An equal number of households earn more and less than each median. Averages are based on adding up reported incomes and dividing by the number of households.) The Fed offered one other comparison: Nearly 1 in 5 black households reported zero or negative net worth compared to a smaller share of white households, 9 percent, the study says. Factors behind white-black difference We spotted a Fed chart specifying disparities by race identified in the survey in household income and by whether people reported owning  homes and cars or having retirement accounts: SOURCE:Excerpted from chart in data analysis,Recent Trends in Wealth-Holding by Race and Ethnicity: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances,FEDS Notes, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Sept. 27, 2017 (accessed Aug. 17, 2018) As ORourkes spokesman also noted, the Pew Research Center took a longer view of the wealth disparity singled out by ORourke. Pews November 2017 Fact Tankstorysays that according to the Feds surveys over the years, the wealth gap between white and black and Hispanic households shrank by about half from 2007 to 2016. The month before, another non-partisan entity, the Urban Institute,updated its chartsdrawing on the Feds surveys. For more than 50 years, the institute says, white families have outpaced black and Hispanic families in average wealth. We asked the institute to evaluate ORourkes claim. The statement had the right spirit, we heard back, thoughCaroline Ratcliffe, a senior fellow, offered a caveat in that the 2016 Fed survey suggests that black Americans had one-tenth the median wealth of whites, not 10 times less. Older survey A 2014PunditFact fact-checkled us to fetch what turned out to be older results from a different survey. In June 2017, the U.S. Census Bureaureleasedits estimates of household net incomes attributed to its 2013Survey of Income and Program Participation. Tables in the release suggest that white households at the time had median net worths of $103,796 and black households had net worths of $9,211--signaling an 11-to-1 ratio. White households had average net worths of $292,217, the bureau says, compared to $91,595 for black households--indicating a 3-to-1 ratio. Our ruling ORourke said that black Americans have 10 times less wealth than white Americans. Survey results pinpoint two ways to gauge such disparities. According to the Feds 2016 consumer survey, black Americans had one-tenth the median wealth of white Americans while black Americans had a little over one-seventh the average wealth of white Americans. We rate this claim Mostly True. MOSTLY TRUE The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.","issues":["Economy","Income","Poverty","Texas"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1bGxUrLQ2qimY_MA4vSzVzjfp1mfrSjIY","image_caption":"Houston Defender"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1257","claim":"The New American Way of Life","posted":"09\/01\/2015","sci_digest":[""],"justification":"FACT CHECK: Are the claims made in an email titled \"New American Way of Life\" accurate? Claim: An email titled \"New American Way of Life\" accurately describes a generous safety net available to Americans who opt not to work. Examples: [Collected via Facebook and email, August 2015] Do you have any information on this article? I find a lot of it to be incorrect, and no sources are cited. From what I understand, less than 5% of the population abuses welfare, and Pell Grants barely cover college tuition and books. Who gets free cell phones? Does a mother of two really receive $600 a month in food stamps? I've seen this posted three times today in my Facebook feed and feel it needs to be dispelled. ------------------------ The Key to Success for Those Who Are Inheriting America in 13 Easy Steps! How to get $75,000 in benefits every year from the US Government for you and your girlfriend? Follow these proven and simple steps. First ... get a girlfriend. 1. Don't marry her. 2. Use your mom's address to receive your mail. 3. The guy buys a house. 4. The guy rents out the house to his girlfriend, who has two of his kids. 5. Section 8 will pay $900 a month for a three-bedroom home. 6. The girlfriend signs up for Obamacare so the guy doesn't have to pay for family insurance. 7. Being a single mother, the girlfriend gets to go to college for free! 8. The girlfriend receives $600 a month for food stamps. 9. The girlfriend gets a free cell phone from the US Government. 10. The girlfriend receives free utilities. 11. The guy moves into the home but still uses his mom's house to receive mail. 12. The girlfriend claims one child, and the guy claims one child on taxes. Now you both get to claim head of household at an $1,800 credit. 13. The girlfriend receives disability for being \"crazy\" or having a \"bad back\" at $1,800 a month and never has to work again. This plan is perfectly legal and is being executed now by millions of people. A married couple with a stay-at-home mom yields $0. An unmarried couple with a stay-at-home mom nets $21,600 in disability + $10,800 in free housing + $6,000 in free Obamacare + $6,000 in free food + $4,800 in free utilities + $6,000 in Pell Grant money to spend + $12,000 a year in college tuition free from Pell Grants + $8,800 tax benefit for being a single mother = $75,000 a year in benefits. Any idea why the country is over $18 trillion in debt? Welcome to the new multicultural, diverse, fundamentally changed America, thanks to the ever-popular and exciting notion that everyone is entitled to everything. Origins: The item reproduced above has been circulating online since at least April 2015, and after it was published in the Miller County Liberal of Colquitt, Georgia, on August 19, 2015, it received a boost in popularity due to the implied authority of appearing in print. (Although it was attributed to \"John Tabb,\" an earlier version was credited to \"Jeffery Rightmire.\") As is often the case with email polemics focused on purported welfare abuse and taxpayer outrage, the \"New American Way of Life\" offers an implausible, far-fetched scenario to condemn those who use public assistance to make ends meet. 1. Don't marry (your girlfriend). 2. Use your mom's address to receive your mail. 3. The guy buys a house. 4. The guy rents out the house to his girlfriend, who has two of his kids. 5. Section 8 will pay $900 a month for a three-bedroom home. Points 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the forward pertain to the imagined generosity of the housing program colloquially called \"Section 8,\" the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) assistance program that provides very low-income families with subsidized vouchers they can use towards paying a portion of their monthly rent. While Section 8 is frequently derided in the fashion referenced above, it's very difficult to play the system in the manner described due to the low supply versus tremendous demand for housing and vouchers among those in need of them. Applicants typically have to spend years on waiting lists before Section 8 housing becomes available, and in many cases, it takes years to even get one's name on a waiting list in the first place. Waiting lists for the program close to new applicants for years at a time on a not-infrequent basis, as a August 24, 2015 article in the Albuquerque Journal reported: The waiting list for Section 8 subsidized housing will re-open on September 1, after closing 28 months ago, the Bernalillo County Housing Department announced Friday. But getting onto that waiting list is no assurance that a person will move into Section 8 housing anytime soon. According to Housing Department senior administrative assistant Craig Smith, the waiting list will re-open with 600 people still on the list, and we expect to add thousands by the time the list is closed again, though there is no tentative date when that will happen. The waitlist was shut down on May 1, 2013, because of sequestering of funds and budget cuts from the federal government, particularly the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD. So it's extremely unlikely the baby daddy landlord in this hypothetical scenario could simply make a residence available for the Section 8 program and then immediately rent it to the tenant of his choosing. He'd typically have to wait years for his preferred renter (i.e., his girlfriend) to get on a Section 8 waiting list, then more years for her to work her way to the top of the list, before he could double-dip by getting the government to subsidize his girlfriend's rent to him for living in a house he owns. The baby daddy in this scenario (one who can afford to buy his own house) would probably be far better off financially if he simply lived in the house with his girlfriend or rented it out to someone other than her. 6. The girlfriend signs up for Obamacare so the guy doesn't have to pay for family insurance. There is a persistent misperception that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) guarantees free health insurance for everyone. 7. Being a single mother, the girlfriend gets to go to college for free! If there is any guaranteed way for a \"single mother\" to obtain a college education for free, we've yet to locate it. Yes, federal Pell Grants can provide qualifying students with up to almost $6,000 per year towards the cost of attending college (depending upon financial need), but they aren't tied to one's status as a single mother. There are some grants and scholarships available for single parents to help them afford school while they are in and help them pay it off once they have graduated, but those types of programs are scarce, and very few unpartnered mothers could get a free ride to any college based solely on their status as single parents. 8. The girlfriend receives $600 a month for food stamps. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, commonly known as \"food stamps\") is an often criticized assistance program aimed at combating hunger among financially struggling families. Eligibility for SNAP varies based on household size, but the maximum monthly allotment ranges from $194 for a family of one to $1,169 for a family of eight. Each additional family member after that can qualify a household for up to $146 more each month in benefits, or just under $5 per person per day. The household size posited here (a single mother with two children) wouldn't qualify for $600 per month in SNAP benefits. The Department of Agriculture (under which the program operates) estimates a total annual program \"loss\" of about four percent. Despite widespread belief that the SNAP program is rampantly abused with little oversight, fraud in the program is aggressively investigated and prosecuted where applicable. 9. The girlfriend gets a free cell phone from the US Government. The Lifeline program (commonly known as \"Obamaphones,\" even though the program was actually initiated long before Barack Obama took office) requires phone service providers to offer monthly discounts on landline or wireless telephone service to eligible low-income consumers. The program does not require those providers to issue \"free cell phones\" to anyone (although some cellular providers choose to do so at their own expense). 10. The girlfriend receives free utilities. Various programs administered at the state level provide low-income families with financial assistance to offset the costs of essential utilities, but often only in emergency situations. 11. The guy moves into the home but still uses his mom's house to receive mail. One might theoretically do this, but the person who deliberately falsified his residence address in order to live in self-owned housing that he was being paid to rent to another party under the Section 8 program would be committing a crime, not simply taking legitimate and legal advantage of government assistance programs. 12. The girlfriend claims one child, and the guy claims one child on taxes. Now you both get to claim head of household at an $1,800 credit. Whether or not taxpayers are setting out to craftily claim tax deductions to which they are not entitled, the IRS's head of household tax filing status indeed entitles the person filing to a higher deduction ($9,250 in 2015 versus $6,300 for taxpayers filing as Single or Married Filing Separately). It's important to bear in mind that that dollar amount is what taxpayers may deduct from their taxable income, and not necessarily an amount that they will receive back in the form of a tax refund. And of course, if each parent is claiming one of the two children as a dependent, then the mother can't be legally collecting benefits (such as SNAP) for both children. The girlfriend receives disability for being \"crazy\" or having a \"bad back\" at $1,800 a month and never has to work again. For starters, one cannot simply declare herself to be mentally ill or have back problems, then sit back and collect disability payments for the rest of her working life. Such claims have to be documented by medical professionals as genuinely disabling conditions, and even then those living with disabilities find that securing benefits isn't quite so easy. Presuming the woman in this anecdote is fairly young, she would have to have accrued sufficient work credits to qualify for lifelong disability payments (an unlikely scenario), and then she would still have to meet separate criteria for a qualifying condition (which precludes having earned more than $1,090 per month in that year). The condition under which a person qualifies also must be one that limits the ability to do any other work: If you cannot do the work you did in the past, we see if you are able to adjust to other work. We consider your medical conditions and your age, education, past work experience, and any transferable skills you may have. If you cannot adjust to other work, your claim will be approved. If you can adjust to other work, your claim will be denied. According to data from the agency, more than half of disability claims are denied, and the wait for hearings has increased (partly due to an aging pool of applicants). The anecdotal claimant's purported plundering of disability benefits also conflicts with her concurrent sponging of educational grants, as the usefulness of the latter is negated by the former: A full-time student wouldn't qualify for lifelong disability payments, and college would be unnecessary for the matriarch of a household who intended to remain home for life collecting benefits for her fabricated disability. This plan is perfectly legal and is being executed now by millions of people. A married couple with a stay-at-home mom yields $0. An unmarried couple with a stay-at-home mom nets $21,600 in disability + $10,800 in free housing + $6,000 in free Obamacare + $6,000 in free food + $4,800 in free utilities + $6,000 in Pell Grant money to spend + $12,000 a year in college tuition free from Pell Grants + $8,800 tax benefit for being a single mother = $75,000 a year in benefits. Any idea why the country is over $18 trillion in debt? As the excerpt above concludes, the figures bandied about in the email encompass virtually all programs available to low-income Americans and extrapolate that the fictional family described routinely accesses all of them. Some of the benefits described (such as free college for single mothers or free utility programs) don't seem to exist, and several forms of assistance (such as Section 8 or disability) are not administered in the simplistic manner suggested by this item. Furthermore, while this item asserts that the complex welfare hustling plan described here is \"perfectly legal,\" several aspects of it involve defrauding the system in an expressly prohibited (and largely criminal) fashion. Were any family to hide assets or lie about household income on application forms, they would be subject to severe penalties and prosecution should their actions be uncovered. The scheme also rests upon the (fallacious) notion that access to assistance programs is easy to both maintain and retain. Finally, the causes of the national debt are fairly complex. However, Social Security, Medicare\/Medicaid, and Defense broadly account for most government spending. Last updated: August 31, 2015 Originally published: August 31, 2015","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1DFNb5fVlHPQcM6D-6jzpNkx5nBylH0rD","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1258","claim":"Most folks wages havent gone up in over a decade.","posted":"02\/23\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"After giving his fifth State of the Union address, President Barack Obama hit the road. One of hisfirst stopswas a GE gas engines plant in Waukesha, a city about 20 miles west of Milwaukee. In both theHouse chamberand on thefactory floor, the president insisted that over the past four years, corporate profits and stock prices soared while wages fluttered. In the State of the Union, Obama claimed that average wages have barely budged. PolitiFact National rated his statementTrue, finding the average had risen no more than 1.7 percent above inflation from 2008 to 2012. In Waukesha on Jan. 30, 2014, the president alluded to a slightly different statistic and was more bold. He said: Because the truth is -- and you know this in your own lives, and you see it in your neighborhoods among your friends and family -- even though the economy has been growing for four years, even though corporate profits have been doing very well, stock prices have soared, most folks' wages haven't gone up in over a decade. We wondered: Even taking inflation into account, is it true the majority of Americans havent seen their wages increase in more than 10 years? Obamas evidence Income inequalitywas a big topic in the weeks leading up to the State of the Union. So, one thing to make clear upfront is that in his Wisconsin remarks, the president singled out wages -- the paycheck you get from your job. Thats a narrower category than income, which can include money taken in from other sources such as investments or government benefits. When we asked for evidence to back the presidents wages claim, a White House spokesman citeda databasefrom the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It shows the median weekly earnings for full-time workers in the final quarter of each year from 1999 through 2013. The median wage means half of workers earned more than that amount and half earned less. From the database, we assembled the following table. The wage figures are adjusted for inflation. Year Weekly wages, 4th quarter of each year 1999 $335 2000 334 2001 340 2002 336 2003 337 2004 337 2005 332 2006 337 2007 332 2008 340 2009 344 2010 341 2011 335 2012 334 2013 334 So, the inflation-adjusted median wage during the final quarter of 2013 was $334 --  $1 lower than during the final quarter of 1999, more than a decade earlier. However, the table also shows that the median wage went up in some years and down in others during the period cited by the president. It was as high as $344 and as low as $332. Outside experts We put Obamas claim and the database to four experts: economistAparna Mathurof the conservative American Enterprise Institute; economistEugene Steuerleof the Urban Institute, who served as a deputy assistant Treasury secretary under President Ronald Reagan;Michael Tanner, senior fellow of the libertarian Cato Institute; and Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance research directorDale Knapp. They agreed that its not possible to track the wages of actual individuals over a period of more than a decade, and so it cant be known whether most of them had a higher wage in 2013 than in 2009. But the experts also agreed the median wage figure cited by The White House is the best available. As Steuerle told us: Looking at the median tells us what is happening across the economy, but not what is happening to each individual worker over time. Two other points, neither of which bears directly on the accuracy of Obamas wage claim: Mathur said the broader measure of income gives a better picture of the standard of living of low- and moderate-income people, since it includes assistance such as the earned income tax credit, food stamps and Medicaid. And Tanner said total compensation, including things such as health and retirement benefits, has risen in recent years even if wages havent. Our rating Obama said: Most folks wages havent gone up in over a decade. Its not possible to know, considering all Americans, whether most of them saw a wage increase in the period cited by the president. But he cites the best-available figure, which shows the  median weekly wage, adjusted for inflation, was $1 less at the end of 2013 than it was in 1999. We rate the presidents statement Mostly True. Follow us onTwitterandFacebook.","issues":["Corporations","Economy","Income","Jobs","Workers","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1259","claim":"Does Macaulay Culkin's Real Brother Appear in 'Home Alone'?","posted":"12\/19\/2021","sci_digest":["Apparently acting runs in the IRL family. "],"justification":"Now deemed a holiday staple, \"Home Alone\" tells the story of the misadventures of Kevin, one of 11 children who was accidentally left at home when his family went on a Christmas vacation. As the holiday season rolled around in 2021, some social media users pointed out that there was more to the behind-the-scenes lives of the actors who made up the fictional McCallister family. One such claim suggested that cousin Fuller was played by Kieran Culkin, the real-life younger brother of Macaulay Culkin. This fact was first shared on Twitter in December 2018 by the account ChristmasMovieFacts, handle @XmasMovieFacts, and in the years since has been shared by other popular social media accounts, like @iamthirtyaf. A look at the cast list on the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) showed that Kieran Culkin, who played Kevin's cousin Fuller in \"Home Alone,\" is indeed the younger Culkin sibling. According to IMDb, Kieran had one significant line in the first \"Home Alone\": \n\nFuller McCallister: What time are we going to bed?  \nFrank McCallister: Early, we're leaving the house at 8 AM, on the button.  \nKate McCallister: Hey, I hope you're all drinking milk; I want to get rid of it.  \nKate McCallister: [to Megan who is throwing food] Hey, don't you do that!  \n\nA cross-reference of the young brother's IMDb profile also confirmed that the actor is one of six Culkin children. He would have been around 8 years old at the time of the release of the 1990 Christmas classic, two years younger than his real-life brother. Snopes also watched the classic and found that Kieran made his debut in the film just before the 8-minute mark. According to Entertainment Weekly, the part earned Kieran his first feature film credit. Kieran also made an appearance in the sequel, \"Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.\" A photograph hosted by Getty Images showed the two brothers at the premiere in 1992, when the boys would have been 10 and 12 years old. \n\n\"Culkin's real-life little brother, Kieran, portrayed his annoying cousin Fuller in the Home Alone films. He has since starred in the Father of the Bride franchise, She's All That, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Quitters, and Infinity Baby,\" wrote US Magazine in November 2021. \"Kieran appeared on Go Fish and a few episodes of Long Live the Royals before playing Roman Roy on Succession, which earned him both an Emmy and Golden Globe nomination in 2020.\" If you want to see for yourself, \"Home Alone\" can be streamed throughout the holiday season on Disney+. \n\nSources:  \nBoardman, Madeline, et al. \"'Home Alone': Where Are They Now?\" EW.Com, https:\/\/ew.com\/gallery\/home-alone-where-are-they-now\/. Accessed 17 Dec. 2021.  \nHome Alone (1990) - IMDb. www.imdb.com, https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0099785\/fullcredits. Accessed 17 Dec. 2021.  \n\"'Home Alone' Cast: Where Are They Now?\" Us Weekly, 16 Nov. 2021, https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/entertainment\/pictures\/home-alone-cast-where-are-they-now\/.  \n\"Kieran Culkin.\" IMDb, https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0001085\/. Accessed 17 Dec. 2021.  \n\"Macaulay Culkin and Kiernan Culkin.\" Getty Images, https:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/news-photo\/macaulay-culkin-and-kiernan-culkin-news-photo\/82149204. Accessed 17 Dec. 2021.  \nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/XmasMovieFacts\/status\/1076301766436835328\/photo\/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1076301766436835328%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.snopes.com%2F%3Fp%3D386295post_type%3Dfact_checkpreview_id%3D386295. Accessed 17 Dec. 2021.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1_3oKcb8HWNP6r99ADqpIFAD9O_lw4L21","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1260","claim":"40 percent of American households have female primary breadwinners.","posted":"05\/03\/2017","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Despite the large number of women in the American workforce, society still treats them as an anomaly, first daughter Ivanka Trump wrote in the introduction to her new book, Women Who Work. Forty-seven percent of the U.S. workforce is made up of women; 70 percent of all mothers support themselves or contribute financially to their family's bottom line; and 40 percent of American households have female primary breadwinners, Trump wrote. Yet we still say \"working woman\" as if she were an anomaly. We never say \"working man.\" There are a few statistics in that passage, but we wanted to focus on one of them: that women are the primary earners in 40 percent of American households. In the notes section of her book, Trump referenced a widely cited 2013 Pew Research Center report that looked at households with children under the age of 18. The report found that in 2011, women earned most or all of the family's income in 40 percent of these households, adding up to about 13.7 million breadwinner moms. That's quadruple what it was in 1960\u201411 percent. The Pew figure is a little more specific than what Trump wrote because it only looked at households that had kids, not those that don't. But in context, it's clear Trump was referring to the Pew report\u2014especially because she referred to the same statistic later in the book when talking about being a working mom herself. As much as motherhood is a joy to so many of us, it is also the greatest predictor of wage inequality between men and women in our country, she wrote. Forty-seven percent of the U.S. labor force is female; 40 percent of women are their family's primary breadwinner. The fact is correct, said Betsey Stevenson, a professor of public policy and economics at the University of Michigan and former chief economist at the U.S. Labor Department. We couldn't find any comprehensive data that spoke to how many households total, including those without kids, had women as the primary earners. Of the families where the woman is the primary breadwinner, Pew found that 37 percent are married women who earn more than their husbands, while 63 percent are single mothers. The households with a married primary breadwinner, with a median family income of $80,000, are wealthier than the single mother households, which have a median family income of $23,000. The Pew report is the most recent independent report we could find speaking to this issue. But we also came across a 2016 report by the liberal Center for American Progress that had similar findings. According to the Center for American Progress, 42 percent of mothers were the sole or primary breadwinners in their households in 2015, and 22.4 percent were co-breadwinners, earning one-quarter to one-half of their total household income. Even though women's share of the labor force grew dramatically throughout the latter half of the 20th century, it has stagnated in recent years, at least in part because of a lack of family-friendly labor policies, said Casey Schoeneberger, communications director at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. Our ruling: Ivanka Trump said, \"40 percent of American households have female primary breadwinners.\" A widely cited Pew report found that in 2011, 40 percent of American households with children under 18 had women providing most or all of the family's income. A report by a liberal think tank found similar results looking at 2015 data. The context of Trump's statement shows that she had working moms in mind. We rate her statement Mostly True.","issues":["National","Economy","Income","Labor","Women","Workers"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1W6WnVaTSIdIAcnjbaCf04n-sQk-oAn6-","image_caption":"Women Who Work"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1261","claim":"\"Did Someone Send a Uterus to the Supreme Court? Trending TikTok Story Takes Off\"","posted":"06\/30\/2022","sci_digest":["Some people definitely fantasized about committing such an act after Roe v. Wade was overturned. "],"justification":"In June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, ending 50 years of constitutionally protected abortion rights. While many people took to the streets to protest the ruling, others used social media to share fantasy scenarios of protesting by other means. On TikTok, for example, some people fantasized about mailing their uterus to the Supreme Court as an act of protest. While the video described a potential future action (\"I need to mail\" vs. \"I mailed\"), other TikTok users shared videos claiming that someone had indeed followed through with this action. Although a number of TikTok users claimed that someone literally sent their uterus to the Supreme Court, there is no actual evidence that this happened. Protests against the Supreme Court in the wake of the Roe v. Wade ruling garnered significant coverage from mainstream media outlets. If someone truly had one of their organs removed, placed it in a box, and sent it to the Supreme Court, there would certainly be news coverage of the incident. However, no credible news outlets have reported any such events. While there are plenty of videos on TikTok of people making this claim, none of them contain images of the alleged package or the identity of the alleged sender. In fact, most of the TikTok videos we viewed involve imagining what it would be like for an employee of the Supreme Court to open such a package. The claim that someone mailed their uterus to the Supreme Court is part of a larger trend on TikTok involving users asserting that some extreme action was taken to protest the abortion ruling. For example, another series of videos claimed (without evidence) that several Supreme Court justices had their credit card numbers leaked. Social media users also claimed (without evidence) that the IP addresses of the justices had been leaked.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Xt-Vj68cFrYnkJbaWpBAJysyTGLzgH_W"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1262","claim":"No, Walmart Isn't Writing Off Your Checkout Donations","posted":"06\/29\/2021","sci_digest":["A social media meme mischaracterized business tax practices."],"justification":"In late June 2021, social media users shared a meme misinforming viewers that Walmart and other large businesses were taking customers' point-of-sale charitable donations and writing them off on their taxes. Readers have been asking Snopes about this meme since at least August 2020. The meme addresses a phenomenon called \"checkout charity,\" in which many large businesses ask customers to donate a small amount to a charitable cause upon checkout:   according to What happens to the money you donate at the cash register? This is where you round up your bill to give to a charity designated by the retailer, and the donation amount appears on your receipt. The store serves only as a collection agent for your gift. Assuming the business is following the law, it will not include your donation as part of its business receipts, or income, nor will it claim the charitable gift as an expense. In other words, your gift has zero impact on the stores income taxes. Keep in mind that the store chooses the receiving charity, so make sure it is one you can support. As a customer, the donation will appear on your receipt and you can claim it as a charitable deduction when you file your income tax return. But you probably wont. A whopping nine out of ten customers don't write those donations off, even with a receipt, according to the Tax Policy Center, which estimates only 9% of households claim deductions for charitable donations. according to The Tampa Bay Times reported that the practice is gaining in popularity because both charities and businesses benefit from it: reported \"Checkout charity, as it's sometimes called, has become big business for nonprofits and retailers. Charities love it because it raises money from the masses at little cost. Companies love it because it makes them look caring and generous, even if it comes on the backs of customers.\"","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1cMwGmel4slSR1Y928LPHLmWdGqARZY5R","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1263","claim":"Equitable Distribution","posted":"08\/01\/2008","sci_digest":["Did Barack Obama say 'a strong government hand is needed to assure that wealth is distributed more equitably'?"],"justification":"Claim:  During an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Barack Obama said, \"a strong government hand is needed to assure that wealth is distributed more equitably.\"  Example:  [Collected via e-mail, July 2008] Well, Barack has finally decided to step up and tell us what he has in mind for us with his promises of 'change.'  Just a few short days ago, he had an interview with the Wall Street Journal to further discuss his economic plans\/policies for the future and he spelled it out quite clearly.  As you can see from the excerpt quote from that interview (below), he plans on officially doing away with capitalism and replacing it with his much favored system of socialism.  Many of us already knew of his strong socialist tendencies in the past, but he has now put it out there officially on record.  It is amazing that this article, and specifically this quote, is getting overlooked, especially when he is so direct and brazen about his plans.  Every single American who works for a living should be absolutely scared spitless.   Pass this along to everyone you can. Quote from Wall Street Journal: \"a strong government hand is needed to assure that wealth is distributed more equitably.\" Barack Obama, WSJ, 6\/17\/08 If this doesn't scare Republicans to get out the vote, I don't know what would!! Origins:  This item comes from a 17 June 2008 Wall Street Journal article about Senator Barack Obama's economic plans for the U.S., some of which was based on an interview Senator Obama gave to that publication.not article Sen. Obama cited new economic forces to explain what appears like a return to an older-style big-government Democratic platform skeptical of market forces. \"Globalization and technology and automation all weaken the position of workers,\" he said, and a strong government hand is needed to assure that wealth is distributed more equitably. (The phrase \"a strong government hand is needed to assure that wealth is distributed more equitably\" also does not appear in the Wall Street Journal's transcript of Senator Obama's interview.) transcript As for whether the phrase in question is a fair summary of Senator Obama's economic philosophy (whether or not he actually uttered those words), here is what he  said during the portions of the interview apparently summarized by that phrase: I do believe the tax policies over the last eight years have been badly skewed towards the winners of the global economy. And I do think there is a function for tax policy in making sure that everybody benefits from globalization or at least the benefits and burdens are shared a little more easily. If, as some talk about, we've  got a winner-take-all economy where the highly skilled, highly educated are reaping huge rewards and the unskilled or even semi-skilled are getting a much smaller share of the economy, then our tax policies can help cushion some of the blow through providing health care. So if people lose their jobs they're not losing their health care as well. That actually makes a more flexible work force that makes workers more mobile and less resistant to change. If we've got investments in education, that will make us more competitive in the long run. We've got to pay for that like anything else. But it would be a mistake to say I view our tax code only as a distribution question. I also think that our tax code has come to distort a lot of economic decision making so I'd like to see simplification as part of an overall tax agenda. On the corporate side, for example, one of the things I've asked my folks to look at is: Are there ways we can close existing loopholes in tax havens at the same time as we're lowering overall rates? We've got this new problem: The biggest problem with our tax code when it comes to the business side is that we have one of the highest tax rates  corporate tax rates  on paper but our effective tax rate is one of the lowest ... You know, how much you pay in taxes as a corporation a lot of times is going to depend on how good your lobbyist is, as opposed to any sound economic theories. So those distorting effects I'd like to actually remove and eliminate from our tax system, but obviously that's a complicated and difficult task. The last time we did it was in 1986. We're going to have to, I think, revisit that.  I say that the combination of globalization and technology and automation all weaken the position of workers. I would add an anti-union climate to that list. But all weakens the position of workers, particularly blue-collar workers, in the economy, and some of it is just historical. You know after World War II,we were in this unique position where Europe was decimated, Japan was decimated. China was off the grid because of Mao. And so we didn't have a lot of competition out there, and now other countries are rising and automation has supplanted a lot of work that used to be done by middle-class workers. We have drastically increased productivity since 1995, and there was the theory that if you increase productivity enough some of these problems of living standards would solve themselves. But what we've seen is rising productivity, rising corporate profits but flat-lining or even declining wages and incomes for the average family. What that says is that it's going to be important for us to pay attention to not only growing the pie, which is always critical, but also some attention to how it is sliced. I do not believe that those two things  fair distribution and robust economic growth  are mutually exclusive. You get to a point, I think, if you have a participatory income tax, for example, where you might be discouraging work because marginal rates are so high. You might undoubtedly get to a point where the capital gain and dividend taxes are so high that they distort investment decisions and you're weaker economically. But you know if you've got a sensible policy that says, we're going to capture some of the nation's economic growth ... and reinvest it in things we know have to be done, like science and technology research or fixing our energy policy, and then that is actually going to be a spur to productivity and not an inhibitor. Last updated:  17 August 2008    Sources:   Davis, Bob and Amy Chozicks.  \"Obama Plans Spending Boost, Possible Cut in Business Tax.\"   The Wall Street Journal.  17 June 2008  (P. A1).    Davis, Bob and Amy Chozicks.  \"Barack Obama on Economics: 'We're Going Through a Big Shift.'\"   The Wall Street Journal.  17 June 2008.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1264","claim":"According to one study, the minimum wage today is worth $2 less than in 1968.","posted":"02\/21\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Debate over raisingthe minimum wageis heating up. President Obama is advocating for it, Democrats in Congress are promoting it and their Republican counterparts are warning that it would have a negative impact on the U.S. economy. Adding fuel to that fire was Tuesday'sCongressional Budget Office report, which predicted that increasing the minimum wage would lift 900,000 people out of poverty but cost 500,000 jobs. U.S. Rep. David Cicilline, D-RI, went on thefloor of the House on Feb. 11to argue that inflation has eroded the value of the minimum wage, now $7.25 per hour, over time. It's been five years since those working for the minimum wage have seen an increase in the minimum wage, and according to one study, the minimum wage today is worth $2 less than in 1968. This is shameful, and we have the responsibility to address growing income inequality by increasing the minimum wage immediately, he said. In other words, a worker in 2014 would need to earn $9.25 an hour to have the same buying power a minimum-wage worker had in 1968. We wondered whether that was true. Cicilline's office wouldn't say what study the congressman was referring to. When we asked Cicilline about it during a Feb. 18 news conference, he said couldn't recall. Instead, his chief of staff said a Google search had just uncovered a June 2013 Huffington Post article headlined, The Minimum Wage Is Worth $2 Less Today Than It Was In 1968: Study. The Huffington Post article citesa study from the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal Washington, D.C. think tank funded by organized labor, that quotes the $2 figure but doesn't analyze the minimum wage directly. Instead, it quotesanother EPI studythat did, looking at the minimum wage value from 1968 through 2012. It reports that the 1968 minimum wage of $1.60 per hour was essentially worth $9.25 in 2012 dollars, precisely two dollars less than $7.25. But what was the difference when Cicilline gave his speech this month?The latest EPI study, issued Dec. 19 byDavid Cooper, puts that difference at $2.15. When we tried to confirm that calculation by going to theonline inflation calculatorfrom the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, we came up with an amount that was even higher: It said that today's $7.25 minimum wage is worth $3.46 less than in 1968, a much bigger difference than what Cicilline cited. Why the difference? The online calculator, Cooper said, uses the conventional Consumer Price Index, known as CPI-U. He and other researchers use a variant of that, called theCPI-U-RS, which tries to take the modifications that have been made to the CPI-U over the years and apply them to previous years. Although the government doesn't claim one index is better than another, he said the CPI-U-RS is designed to do a better job of accurately capturing the changing value of the minimum wage. If you adjust an old minimum wage for inflation using the traditional CPI, its value appears much higher today. In summary, Cicilline says he was quoting a report, but we're not sure what report that was. There is a report that supports his claim, as his staff noted, but it's out of date. He said the buying power of the minimum wage in 1968 was, in effect, $2 higher than its value today. The difference in 2013 dollars, by one measure, is actually $2.15. That's pretty close. By another measure, it's even more: $3.46. His underlying point -- that the minimum wage has significantly less buying power than it had 45 years ago -- is correct, and the erosion in the minimum wage is even more dramatic if you use the conventional cost of living index. We rate his statementMostly True. (If you have a claim youd likePolitiFact Rhode Islandto check, email us at[email protected]. And follow us on Twitter: @politifactri.)","issues":["Rhode Island","Economy","Income","Jobs","Labor"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1265","claim":"Did a Florida Judge Give Vastly Different Sentences to Two Men, Whose Only Difference Was Their Race?","posted":"08\/20\/2018","sci_digest":["A viral meme, based on a piece of investigative journalism, left out some important context in the cases of Chase Legleitner and Lamar Lloyd."],"justification":"Racial disparities have long been a contentious element of the United States justice system, with black and ethnic minority suspects statistically more likely than their white counterparts to be arrested and charged, and to face stiffer penalties, even in similar circumstances. The Sentencing Project, a non-profit organization that researches and lobbies for fairness in the American criminal justice system, summarized the phenomenon in a 2015 study, writing that \"Once arrested, people of color are also likely to be charged more harshly than whites; once charged, they are more likely to be convicted; and once convicted, they are more likely to face stiff sentences - all after accounting for relevant legal differences such as crime severity and criminal history.\" study From time to time, examples emerge which appear to shine a light on those racial disparities, especially in sentencing. One particular case re-emerged on social media in the summer of 2018, which promoters claimed was a stark illustration of racial discrimination in sentencing. The \"I Love Africa\" Facebook page was one of many social media accounts which posted a widely-shared meme comparing the widely disparate sentences of Chase Legleitner (who is white) and Lamar Lloyd (who is black) for similar offenses: meme  The clear statement made by this meme and those who shared it is that with two similar sets of circumstances involved, only the differing races of the two men could account for their very different sentences. The comparison between Legleitner and Lloyd was first brought to light by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune as part of a 2016 series of articles titled \"Bias on the Bench,\" about racial disparities in sentencing by Florida judges. One article focused on the record of Sherwood \"Chip\" Bauer Jr., a judge on the 19th judicial circuit in Florida: article Chase Legleitner was 19 when he robbed three men in a 2008 drug deal. Lamar Lloyd was 21 when he stuck up a Pizza Hut and gas station the following year. Both men pleaded no contest to two counts of armed robbery. They went before the same judge, in the same courthouse. Each had a single misdemeanor on his record. They tallied the exact same points on the scoresheets used to determine criminal punishments in Florida. But their sentences could not have been more different. Legleitner spent less than two years in county jail. He is now free to golf and fish on the weekends. Lloyd got 26 years in prison. He will be 47 upon his release in 2034. That disparity is not unusual in the courtroom of Judge Sherwood Chip Bauer Jr. Since taking the bench a decade ago, Bauer has been tougher on those with a darker complexion, often sentencing blacks to two or three times longer than white defendants who committed the same crimes. Or in the case of Lloyd and Legleitner, 13 times longer. Florida's 12th Judicial Circuit Court firmly rejected many of the claims made in the Herald-Tribune's series, publishing a lengthy and detailed rebuttal. In March 2017, the New College of Florida published an audit of the Herald-Tribune's methodology, calling it \"deeply flawed.\" In response, the Herald-Tribune published a detailed fact check of the claims made in the New College study.; rebuttal audit fact check This article will focus exclusively on the factual claims made in the viral meme comparing the sentences given to Legleitner and Lloyd, and the underlying claim that the vast discrepancy in their sentences was due to their differing races. Basic facts armed robbery arrested two armed robberies pled pled Legleitner Lloyd sentenced sentenced So the meme has the basic facts right. The two men were charged with the same crime, in the same court, had an equal number of sentence points, and were sentenced by the same judge -- but one was committed to state prison for 26 years while the other spent just under two years in county jail. \"I Love Africa's\" Facebook post was off in one respect: the sentences were handed down a year apart, not on the same day, and the meme did not clearly explain that Legleitner spent no time in prison after his conviction because he was given a sentence equal to time already served in jail (just under two years). Different sentences In Florida, sentencing guidelines involve a \"scoresheet\" of sentence points which correspond to various details about the crime in question, any injury suffered by victims of the crime, the defendant's criminal history, and other contextual factors. Higher points are added, for example, where a crime is committed with a firearm, or when the defendant is on probation or is an escapee from incarceration during the commission of the crime. sentencing guidelines After tallying these sentence points, the judge uses a set formula to calculate the \"lowest permissible sentence\" in months. In the case of both Legleitner and Lloyd, this minimum sentence was 82.65 months (just under seven years), with a possible maximum sentence of life in prison. So Lloyd's sentence (13 years in prison, doubled for the two counts of armed robbery) was actually within the range of sentencing guidelines in Florida. Damien Louissaint, who committed the Pizza Hut and Sunoco robberies with Lloyd in March 2009, faced the same charges as Lloyd, but Bauer gave him a life sentence. (Louissaint was found to have threatened civilians with a gun whereas Lloyd was merely in possession of one, and Louissaint pled not guilty and was convicted by a jury whereas Lloyd pled no contest to the charges.) sentence What's most notable about the discrepancy in Lloyd and Legleitner's sentences, then, is the relative leniency shown to Legleitner, to whom Bauer gave a much lower sentence than the minimum set out in the sentencing scoresheet. According to the guidelines in place in Florida at that time, the \"lowest permissible sentence\" was defined as \"the minimum sentence that may be imposed by the trial court, absent a valid reason for departure.\" guidelines So if a judge thinks good reasons exist, he can depart from the minimum sentence yielded by the scoresheet, but he must put those reasons on the record. The factors listed in the guidelines as legitimate grounds for a \"downward departure\" from the minimum permissible sentence include instances of plea bargains, cases in which the defendant was too young or did not have the mental capacity to appreciate the criminality of their conduct, cases in which the defendant was an accomplice to a crime and not a major participant in it, and instances of a defendant's cooperating with prosecutors. Different facts According to 19th Judicial Circuit Court records which we obtained, the race of the defendant was not the only difference between the cases of Legleitner and Lloyd. During the 23 June 2011 sentencing hearing for Legleitner, the defense attorney and the prosecutor agreed that he qualified for a downward departure in his sentence. David Lustgarten, the prosecutor, said Legleitner had been \"contrite and remorseful\" and that his testimony had been crucial in convicting the \"real bad guys\" within the group that committed the armed robbery: [Legleitner] was more than cooperative with us in his pre-trial, his deposition, provided truthful statements at trial ... Mr. Legleitner understands the seriousness of the crime and the severity of the situation that he got himself into. He...was the last to join this party, if you will. He is...the least culpable of the entire group. He knows he should have left the situation. He knows he should have not partook [sic] anything. He did not touch anybody. He did not hurt anybody. And I think that is important for Your Honor to understand that without his assistance we would not [have] been able to get secure convictions, get past a judgment of acquittal, and certainly not to get to the real bad guys here. So ... I would agree that based on what I just represented to you that he qualifies for a downward departure, I would have no good faith basis to object to a downward departure ... Judge Bauer accepted these recommendations and sentenced Legleitner to time served, meaning that he walked free after his sentencing, having already spent 722 days (just under two years) in Martin County Jail. Bauer explained his reasons for ordering a downward departure from the minimum permissible sentence by saying that \"[Legleitner] cooperated with the state to resolve current offenses ... The offense was committed in an unsophisticated manner and it was an isolated incident. Of course, the defendant showed remorse and at the time of the offense the defendant was too young to appreciate the consequences of the offense and those are the reasons.\" These mitigating factors were not present in the case of Lamar Lloyd. In fact, Lloyd's crimes contained elements that would be considered aggravating factors, as the 12th Judicial Circuit pointed out in their rebuttal of the Herald-Tribune series: rebuttal Besides the substantial assistance offered by Legleitner to the prosecutor, there are monumental factual differences in the circumstances of the crimes of Lamar Lloyd, the defendant the [Herald-Tribune] authors chose to compare to Legleitner. One of the foundations of the authors flawed methodology is their insistence that they are comparing like offenses, or making an apples to apples comparison of the cases. To the contrary, there are significant factual differences between the crimes committed by the two defendants. For example, we know that Legleitner did not threaten the general public in the manner that Lloyd did by robbing a public and family friendly restaurant during business hours. We know that Legleitner cooperated fully with the State Attorney and his testimony was needed to get convictions for the co-defendants. Although there may have been multiple parties involved in the robbery of the drug dealers in the Legleitner offense, there was only a single incident. This contrasts dramatically with the circumstances involving the two separate robberies committed by Lloyd and his co-defendant during their crime spree. The rebuttal pointed out that, according to a Stuart Police Department arrest affidavit, Lloyd and his co-defendant Louissaint had caused a Pizza Hut employee to \"fear for his life\" before handing over $150 in cash, and that when the two men (along with another man who was driving them) were stopped, police found \"two young children inside the vehicle ... [who] were inside the vehicle during both armed robberies.\" The children were aged two and five years old. affidavit Conclusion Whether the discrepancies between the cases of Legleitner and Lloyd amounted to \"monumental factual differences,\" as the 12th Judicial Circuit described them, is ultimately a matter of opinion, as is the question of whether those factual differences warranted such vastly different sentences. However, it cannot be disputed that significant differences existed between the two cases which went beyond the race of the defendants, and in giving Legleitner a relatively lenient sentence, Judge Bauer followed the recommendations of both the defense attorney and the prosecutor, and he fulfilled his obligations by citing the reasons for that lighter sentence. Ghandnoosh, Nazgol.  \"Black Lives Matter: Eliminating Racial Inequity in the Criminal Justice System.\"\r  The Sentencing Project.  3 February 2015. Salman, Josh et al.  \"Tough on Crime -- Black Defendants Get Longer Sentences in Treasure Coast System.\"\r  The Sarasota Herald-Tribune.  12 December 2016. Twelfth Judicial Circuit of Florida.  \"Twelfth Circuit Court Response to Sarasota Herald Tribune 'Bias on the Bench' Series.\"\r  2017. Dowdy, C. et al.  \"Preliminary Bias Report.\"\r   New College of Florida.  March 2017. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune.  \"Rebutting the New College Study.\"\r  April 2017. Circuit Court for the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit of the State of Florida, for Martin County.  \"State of Florida vs. Cerniglia et al -- Information.\"\r  17 March 2009. Circuit Court for the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit of the State of Florida, for Martin County.  \"State of Florida vs. Chase Andrew Legleitner -- Judgment and Sentencing.\"\r  23 June 2011. Circuit Court for the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit of the State of Florida, for Martin County.  \"State of Florida vs. Lamar D. Lloyd -- Judgment and Sentencing.\"\r  23 July 2010. The Florida Department of Corrections\/The Office of the State Courts Administrator.  \"Florida Criminal Punishment Code -- Scoresheet Preparation Manual (November 2008 Version.)\"\r  The Supreme Court of Florida.  November 2008. Circuit Court for the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit of the State of Florida, for Martin County.  \"State of Florida vs. Chase Andrew Legleitner -- Sentencing Hearing Transcript.\"\r  23 June 2011.","issues":["profit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1gtqrWNWQ2hUo7OdhGHTvsUZBFcBiu1_g","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1266","claim":"Under Republicans, recessions happen four times as frequently as under Democrats.","posted":"09\/22\/2015","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Recently, Hillary Clinton has been making the ultimate pocketbook argument for her candidacy: When theres a Democrat in the White House, she says, the economy does better. Earlier in this campaign season, she said thestock market does betterunder Democrats. In a speech to theNew Hampshire Democratic Party Conventionon Sept. 19, Clinton went even further. I know its inconvenient for our Republican friends, but the facts do speak for themselves, the former secretary of state said. Economic growth is stronger under Democratic presidents. Unemployment is lower. The stock market rises faster. Businesses do better, and deficits are smaller. And one of my favorite inconvenient facts is under Republicans, recessions happen four times as frequently as under Democrats. In this fact-check, we decided to focus the claim that recessions are four times as likely under Republicans as they are under Democrats. A look at the numbers The primary research on this question -- and the source cited by the Clinton campaign when we asked -- comes from apaperwritten by two Princeton University economists, Alan Blinder and Mark Watson. The paper, published in July 2014, found that the economy tends to do better under Democratic presidents by numerous measures. The authors looked at quarterly economic data from 1947 through mid 2013 and the National Bureau of Economic Researchsofficial list of recessionsand found that Clintons claim is pretty much on point. Since 1947, there have been 11 official recessions, totaling 49 recessionary quarters. Of those 49 quarters, just eight occurred under Democratic presidents, compared to 41 under Republicans. So, over the past 65 years, quarters in recession were about five times more common under a Republican president than under a Democratic president. Sec. Clinton is correct in her claim, Watson, one of the papers authors, told PolitiFact. Looking at how many recessionsstartedunder Republicans, the difference is even more stark, noted Blinder, the co-author. Of the 11 recessions since 1947, nine under Republicans, compared to just two under Democrats. The paper also looked further back in history to 1875 and found that the trend held, though it was less pronounced. But what does this mean? Economists emphasize, however, that Clintons claim needs some additional context. Clinton presumably wants listeners to believe that Republican policies dont work for the economy. But the research doesnt necessarily support this contention. There are far too many factors that contribute to the countrys economic health. Democrats would no doubt like to attribute the large (Democratic\/Republican) growth gap to macroeconomic policy choices, but the data do not support such a claim, the Blinder-Watson paper says. In short, the paper found that half of the Democrats economic advantage is a result of factors outside the control of the White House, Congress or the Federal Reserve. The other half remains a mystery, Watson said. It seems we must look instead to several variables that are mostly good luck, with perhaps a touch of good policy, the report says. One section of the paper (its on page 14) gives an overview of booms and busts since World War II. It concludes that its difficult to draw a direct line from a presidents fiscal policy positions to economic cycles. For example, defense spending led to prosperity during the Korean War under Democratic President Harry Truman. His successor, Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower, ended the war, and thus the prosperity turned into recession. Energy price shocks are another important factor, since they can produce economic downturns. Unfortunately for the Republicans, shocks hit during the presidencies of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and George W. Bush, compared to just once under a Democrat, Jimmy Carter. The authors add that Democratic presidents have benefited from higher total factor productivity, which is essentially a measure of technological growth and dynamism. A clear example is the technology boom under Bill Clinton, which produced significant productivity gains. The authors acknowledge that its unclear why this has been the case under Democratic presidents. And sometimes the fiscal policy of a previous administration bleeds into the next one -- so just because a recession happened when one president was in office, the prior administration might bear some of the responsibility. While Democratic President Lyndon Johnson saw no recessions, for instance, his administration had to implement anti-inflation policies near the end of his tenure. Those policies contributed to a recession early on in Nixons term. Because of all the factors at play, assigning credit for economic results is tricky, said Tara Sinclair, a George Washington University professor and chief economist for the job site Indeed.com. In fact, its possible that causation actually runs the other way. It's possible that the public votes in response to economic conditions, she added, meaning political cycles can follow economic cycles. Our ruling Clinton said that under Republicans, recessions happen four times as frequently as under Democrats. The numbers back up Clintons claim since World War II: Of the 49 quarters in recession since 1947, eight occurred under Democrats, while 41 occurred under Republicans. Its important to note, however, that many factors contribute to general well-being of the economy, so one shouldnt treat Clintons implication -- that Democratic presidencies are better for the economy -- with irrational exuberance. Clinton is right on the numbers, but her claim needs additional information to put its implication into the proper context. We rate her claim Mostly True.","issues":["National","Economy"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1267","claim":"Has Rep. Joe Kennedy Received $348,000 in Donations from the Pharmaceutical Industry?","posted":"02\/02\/2018","sci_digest":["A meme targeting the Democratic lawmaker gets some, but not all, of the facts right."],"justification":"In January 2018, Rep. Joe Kennedy III attracted scrutiny from both left-wing and right-wing observers after he was designated to give the official Democratic response to President Donald Trump's first State of the Union address. On 28 January 2018, a meme appeared, making claims about the Massachusetts Congressman's purported links to the pharmaceutical industry and his record on several major issues. The meme stated: \"This is Joe. Pharmaceutical companies have given Joe $348K since 2011. Joe has $434K of stock in a company charging $1,000 per pill for a life-saving drug. Joe opposes legal marijuana and universal healthcare legislation. Don't be like Joe.\" An article from GritPost.com elaborated on these claims, stating that Rep. Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) might be pharma's favorite Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives, given that he has received more than $57,000 from the pharmaceutical\/health products industry in this current election cycle alone. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, that is approximately four times more than pharma's average contribution to House Democrats. Over the course of his short Congressional career, Kennedy has received more than $348,000 since 2011. The source of these claims about contributions to Kennedy is the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington, DC-based non-profit that tracks political donations on the website Open Secrets. The figures in the article are accurate; the industry's contributions to Kennedy total $348,077 over the course of his six-year career as a politician. The Grit Post article and the meme also allege that Kennedy had personal investments in a controversial pharmaceutical company. Grit Post writes: \"As the Boston Globe reported last year, Rep. Kennedy has more than $434,000 invested in Gilead Sciences, Inc. Gilead is the manufacturer of the life-saving hepatitis C drug Sovaldi, which Gilead recently increased to $1,000 per pill, or $84,000 for a treatment.\" While it's true Kennedy has investments in Gilead, this claim is slightly misleading and out of date. In May 2016, the Boston Globe reported that the Congressman had \"earned stock value of up to $434,999 from investments in Gilead Sciences Inc.\" Furthermore, his holdings in Gilead, as of the end of 2015, totaled between $180,004 and $450,000, according to financial disclosures. So actually, Kennedy's investments in Gilead could have been as low as $180,004 at the time of the Boston Globe article in May 2016. The Globe was careful to point out that members of Congress are not required to provide exact figures for their personal investments and assets, but rather ranges. Grit Post left out this detail. In any event, Kennedy provided a more up-to-date financial disclosure at the end of 2016, which showed his investments in Gilead by then totaled between $80,003 and $200,000. Financial disclosures for 2017 have not yet been published. Whatever the exact amounts involved, Kennedy's investment in Gilead has been controversial largely because the company sells Sovaldi, its brand name for the drug sofosbuvir, which is used to treat Hepatitis C. As Grit Post points out, Gilead Sciences has attracted criticism for the high price of Sovaldi, which is $1,000 per pill or $84,000 for a course of treatment. Kennedy's investment is part of a trust fund managed by a financial adviser. Craig Holman, from the advocacy group Public Citizen, told the Globe in 2016 that the profits Kennedy and the company were making were \"harming many of the citizens of Massachusetts.\" According to Open Secrets, 19 members of Congress (as well as Donald Trump) held shares in Gilead Sciences in 2015. The Grit Post meme's claim that Kennedy opposes marijuana legalization is accurate. While the national conversation has shifted to discuss the legalization of recreational marijuana, many leaders have come to voice support for the medical uses of marijuana. However, Kennedy not only opposes recreational use, but he has a record of voting against measures to protect and enhance access to medical marijuana. In 2015, Kennedy was one of 10 Democrats who sided with a Republican majority to pass a bill that would, among many other things, restrict funding for states that wanted to legalize marijuana. The bill died in the Senate. Grit Post also correctly pointed out that Kennedy, in a 2016 interview, said, \"I don't think marijuana should be legalized.\" The meme's claim that Kennedy opposes \"universal healthcare legislation\" requires closer examination. In September 2017, Kennedy expressed tentative support for a single-payer healthcare system but hesitated to support bills then before the House of Representatives and Senate that would have expanded Medicare. At the time, Kennedy told Boston Public Radio that the bills were \"100 percent right on the value that they're trying to enshrine into federal law -- that healthcare is a right in this country, not a privilege to be enjoyed by the few...\" However, he said there were \"details\" in the House bill (introduced by Democratic Rep. John Conyers) with which he was \"struggling.\" When pressed, Kennedy said he supported universal healthcare but noted that a single-payer system (funded by taxes and administered by the government) was \"a way that we could get there, and that's great, but I think that the critical piece to this is ensuring that everybody gets access to quality, affordable, accessible healthcare...\" So Kennedy has given theoretical support to universal healthcare but has been vague on the details of how it should be achieved, and he did not support specific legislation that, if passed, would have massively expanded health coverage in the United States.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1sq9wuObcIGZ5HZWBLNrv7tviDQx1eICl","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1268","claim":"FBI ATM Cards Scam","posted":"09\/10\/2008","sci_digest":["Is the FBI offering 'ATM Cards' to help victims recover money from Nigerian scammers?"],"justification":"Scam:  The FBI is offering \"ATM Cards\" to help victims recover money from Nigerian scammers. Example:  [Collected via e-mail, September 2008] Federal Bureau Of Investigation ATM CARD PAYMENT NOTIFICATIONFrom: Federal Bureau Of Investigation (robertmueller@fbi.gov)Sent: Mon 9\/01\/08 9:24 AMReply-to: atm_card_centre303@hotmail.com  Anti-Terrorist and Monitory Crimes Division.Federal Bureau Of Investigation.J. Edgar. Hoover Building, Washington D.CTelephone Number : ( 202 )-324-3001  ATTN: BENEFICIARY  This is to Officially inform you that it has come to our notice and we have thoroughly completed an Investigated with the help of our Intelligence Monitoring Network System that you are having an illegal transaction with Impostors claiming to be Prof. Charles C. Soludo of the Central Bank Of Nigeria, Mr. Patrick Aziza, Mr Frank Nweke, none officials of Oceanic Bank, none officials of Zenith Bank and some impostors claiming to be the Federal Bureau Of Investigation agents. During our Investigation, it came to our notice that the reason why you have not received your payment is because you have not fulfilled your Financial Obligation given to you in respect of your Contract\/Inheritance Payment. So therefore, we have contacted the Federal Ministry Of Finance on your behalf and they have brought a solution to your problem by coordinating your payment in the total amount of $800,000.00 USD which will be deposited into an ATM CARD which you will use to withdraw funds anywhere of the world. You now have the lawful right to claim your funds which have been deposited into the ATM CARD. Since the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been involved in this transaction, you are now to be rest assured that this transaction is legitimate and completely risk-free as it is our duty to Protect and Serve citizens of the United States Of America. All you have to do is immediately contact the ATM CARD CENTER via E-mail for instructions on how to procure your Approval Slip which contains details on how to receive and activate your ATM CARD for immediate use to withdraw funds being paid to you. We have confirmed that the amount required to procure the Approval Slip will cost you a total of $550 USD which will be paid directly to the ATM CARD CENTER agent via Western Union Money Transfer \/ MoneyGram Money Transfer. Below, you shall find contact details of the Agent whom will process your transaction: CONTACT INFORMATION NAME: MR. PAUL SMITHEMAIL: atm_card_centre303@hotmail.comTelephone Number : +234-808-252-6229 Immediately contact Mr. Paul Smith of the ATM Card Centre with the following information: Full Name:Address:City:State:Zip Code:Direct Phone Number:Current Occupation:Annual Income:  Once you have sent the required information to Mr. Paul Smith he will contact you with instructions on how to make the payment of $550 USD for the Approval Slip after which he will proceed towards delivery of the ATM CARD without any further delay. You have hereby been authorized\/guaranteed by the Federal Bureau Of Investigation to commence towards completing this transaction, as there shall be NO delay once payment for the Approval Slip has been made to the authorized agent. Once you have completed payment of $550 to the agent in charge of this transaction, immediately contact me back so as to ensure your ATM CARD gets to you rapidly. FBI DirectorRobert Mueller. Origins:  The message quoted above represents another slightly different turn on the venerable Nigerian Scam: Rather than providing straightforward bait to Nigerian Scam  lure new victims into the scam, it seeks to re-hook those who have already been snared once with yet another false promise of easy money. The basic premise of the Nigerian Scam is that the target is offered a substantial cash reward for helping out with a transaction involving the transfer of a large sum of money (a transaction that usually needs to be kept hush-hush).  However, the transaction never takes place, and the reward is never forthcoming; instead, the target is repeatedly called upon to shell out ever-increasing amounts of his own money to clear away a variety of fictitious roadblocks (e.g., legal fees, documentation fees, customs fees, taxes, bribes).  This version of the Nigerian Scam targets those who have already participated in (or been victimized by) it, offering the lure of FBI assistance in recovering the rewards that victims were cheated out of the first time around ... all they need do is send $550 to the FBI for an \"ATM CARD\" that will allow them to tap into accounts holding $800,000. If the numerous red flags in the basic version of the Nigerian Scam weren't enough to warn away potential victims, this variant adds several more factors that should give anyone pause about its legitimacy:  The FBI wouldn't acknowledge that you have been participating in \"illegal transactions\" with foreign nationals and then turn around and reward you for having done so.  (They'd probably be hauling you off to custody and charging you with a half-dozen federal crimes.)  The FBI wouldn't be conducting criminal investigations and doling out hundreds of thousands of dollars via e-mail. (They'd be sending agents out to meet and talk with you personally.)   The FBI wouldn't help fraud victims recover legitimately owed monies and then turn around and charge them several hundred dollars to access those funds.  The FBI wouldn't be asking you to contact them by placing a phone call to Nigeria (as indicated by the \"234\" country code prefix to the phone number provided for \"Mr. Paul Smith of the ATM Card Centre\").  You'd be talking to an agent from a local or other U.S.-based FBI office.  The FBI wouldn't be collecting sensitive personal information from the public by asking them to provide that information via the extremely unsecure method of e-mailing it to a Hotmail account.  (They wouldn't be asking for or collecting this kind of information via the Internet in the first place, and even if they were, at the very least they'd be using a secure web protocol with encryption rather than plain-text e-mail, and the collection method would be tied to an FBI web site and not a commercial e-mail provider.)Last updated:  11 July 2011    Flaum, David.  \"Scam Hits Sellers Over Net.\"   The [Memphis] Commercial Appeal.  2 March 2003  (p. G1).     Jones, Matthew.  \"Beach Police Officers Warn of Fake-Check Web Scam.\"   The Virginian-Pilot.  9 January 2003  (p. B4).     Kades, Deborah.  \"Wisconsin Residents Fall Prey to Used Vehicle, Lottery Scams.\"   The Wisconsin State Journal.  12 December 2002.     Kristof, Kathy M.  \"Nigerian Money Con Targets Small Firms.\"   Los Angeles Times.  7 September 2003 ; (p. C3).     Associated Press.  \"Missoula Credit Union Members Taken.\"   15 March 2003.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1269","claim":"We have the highest corporate income tax in the world right now.","posted":"05\/06\/2011","sci_digest":[],"justification":"If theres one issue that binds Republicans, its a preference for low taxes. So its no surprise that in the first debate of the 2012 presidential campaign -- held May 5, 2011, in Greenville, S.C. -- the topic came up.At one point, Fox News commentator Juan Williams asked Gary Johnson -- the former Republican governor of New Mexico and a strong libertarian -- about corporate taxation.Gov. Johnson, Williams said, the nation's unemployment rate is 8.8 percent and this week, jobless claims rose to their highest level in eight months. Among your proposals for getting the private sector to start hiring are eliminating corporate income tax, doing away with the federal minimum wage law and to stop extending unemployment benefits. Isn't that just a windfall for big business?Johnson responded, Well, absolutely not. I think that repealing, or doing away with the corporate income tax is simply getting us back to where we were. And we need to understand that the corporate income tax is a double tax -- that we all own the corporations, and when income gets distributed to us, we pay the tax on that. So, we have the highest corporate income tax in the world right now. Let's abolish it.We have looked at the question of whether the United States has the highest corporate income tax in the world inpreviousitems, so we thought wed revisit it now.There are two primary ways to compare corporate tax burdens. One is to compare statutory corporate tax rate -- the rate thats actually on the books.The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of more than two-dozen large, industrialized democracies, publishes the rates of its member countries. The most recent data shows Japan on top at39.54 percent, vs. 39.21 percentfor the United States. Japan had been scheduled to cut its corporate tax rate to a level below the United States, but the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster that crippled portions of the country earlier this yearhas left thatin doubt.The other way to look at it is to gauge what firms actually pay, once exclusions and other adjustments are taken into account. This is called the effective tax rate.The World Bank hasassembled datafrom 183 nations and made a series of statistical adjustments to produce a full international comparison of effective tax rates. By this measurement, the U.S. rate is considerably lower than the published rate -- 27.6 percent. But in a comparative sense, that's still pretty high: Among larger international economies, only Japan, New Zealand and Thailand imposed a higher effective rate, according to the World Bank study.The World Bank also produces another -- and broader -- statistic. It factors in not only the corporate profit tax but also a range of other taxes paid by businesses, including the cost of employee taxes borne by the employer. When the World Bank ranked countries from the lowest level of taxes to the highest, the U.S. ranked 124th out of 183 -- meaning corporate taxes were relatively high. A number of other large and\/or democratic countries were higher, including Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China, France, Hungary, India, Italy, Spain and Sweden.This last measure provides a wider snapshot of U.S. tax policy toward businesses, but it also introduces some complications. Factoring in the employer-paid portion of labor taxes makes the corporate tax rate seem higher in countries that provide higher benefits such as pensions or health care through business taxes, while making the rate seem lower for countries that provide less generous benefits through the tax code. So making apples-to-apples comparisons can be tricky.There's also broader context that Johnson doesn't get into.In a previous item, we noted that when all taxes, including those such as personal income taxes and property taxes -- not just corporate taxes -- are taken into account and compared to gross domestic product, the U.S. doesn't rank near the top of the OECD table in total tax burden.Still, Johnsons claim was more limited, addressing only corporate taxation.To be more accurate, Johnson should have said the United States has the highest corporate tax rate rather than the highest corporate taxes. By using the term corporate taxes, Johnson opens the door to the broader World Bank figure, which would put a number of other major countries above the U.S. in the rankings.That way of looking at it would undercut Johnsons argument. On the other hand, he is close to correct when using the two more common benchmarks -- statutory tax rates (in which the U.S. trails only Japan, for now) and effective rates (where the U.S. trails only Japan, New Zealand and Thailand). On balance, we rate Johnsons statement Mostly True.","issues":["National","Taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1270","claim":"Is it required for banks to disclose every transaction exceeding $600 to the IRS as per the Biden proposal?","posted":"09\/16\/2021","sci_digest":["The American Families Plan has a reporting requirement for banks that has infuriated some."],"justification":"Announced in April 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden's American Families Plan is an ambitious proposal that aims to expand Americans' access to childcare and education and increase the number of women in the workforce. The plan intends to fund all of this through higher taxes on income earners and increased reporting requirements for banks that could potentially yield more tax revenue. These reporting requirements have drawn the ire of several banks that took issue with this less widely known section of the plan. A Facebook post by FNB Community Bank claimed: \"The Biden administration has proposed requiring all community banks and other financial institutions to report to the IRS on all deposits and withdrawals through business and personal accounts worth more than $600, regardless of tax liability. This indiscriminate, comprehensive bank account reporting to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) could soon be enacted in Congress and will create an unacceptable invasion of privacy for our customers.\" Another screenshot shared by our readers expressed similar concerns: The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) even began a campaign, calling on communities to send a letter to Biden to prevent this so-called intrusive proposal: \"Tell Congress: Don't Let IRS Invade My Privacy. The Biden administration is proposing requiring financial institutions to report to the IRS all transactions of all business and personal accounts worth more than $600. This is an unprecedented invasion of privacy. In order to oppose this intrusive proposal, please send this letter to your representative and senators immediately.\" We looked up the proposal itself, and it does require more robust reporting of transactions across business and personal accounts. The proposal, which aims to go into effect after December 31, 2022, states: \"This proposal would create a comprehensive financial account information reporting regime. Financial institutions would report data on financial accounts in an information return. The annual return will report gross inflows and outflows with a breakdown for physical cash, transactions with a foreign account, and transfers to and from another account with the same owner.\" This requirement would apply to all business and personal accounts from financial institutions, including bank, loan, and investment accounts, with the exception of accounts below a low de minimis gross flow threshold of $600 or fair market value of $600. We begin by explaining some of the more technical terms in this proposal. A \"de minimis threshold\" is broadly defined as the amount of a transaction that has such a small value that accounting for it would be unreasonable. We spoke to Visiting Assistant Professor of Tax Law at New York University, Nyamagaga Gondwe, who explained, \"It is the amount below which the IRS would argue isn't worth investigating. It's the difference between your company giving you a $5 card to Subway versus traveling on a private jet on your company's dime. The latter is worth reporting.\" In this case, \"gross flow\" refers to the aggregate inflows and outflows of cash from bank accounts. In sum, the current proposal stipulates that an aggregate amount of less than $600 worth of cash flowing into and out of accounts is not worth reporting. The \"fair market value\" refers to the amount people are willing to pay for an asset in the open market. In this case, Gondwe argued, the use of the term could possibly refer to the changing market value of transactions exceeding $600 that may occur in foreign currency transactions. The ICBA claims that the proposal will make banks report \"all transactions\" above the limit, but this is misleading. While it is true that the IRS will have more information on cash flows above $600, that doesn't mean they will have all the information pertaining to all transactions. The Center for American Progress (CAP) points out that banks will only be providing aggregate numbers to the IRS after each year\u2014gross inflow and gross outflow\u2014and not individualized transaction information. This reporting requirement would also extend to peer-to-peer payment services like Venmo, but wouldn't require people to report any additional information to the government. According to The Wall Street Journal, financial institutions must already report interest, dividends, and investment incomes to the IRS, and the IRS can obtain other information through audits. According to Marie Sapirie of Tax Notes, a publication focused on tax news, a parenthetical to the proposal indicates that there is some flexibility in raising the minimum account balance\/inflow\/outflow above $600. The Tax Notes report also states that the Treasury Department estimated this form of reporting would raise $463 billion over the 10-year budget window, making it the third-largest revenue raiser proposed in the budget. The aim is to target businesses outside of large corporations that carry out gross underreporting of their income, amounting to $166 billion per year. According to the proposal: \"Requiring comprehensive information reporting on the inflows and outflows of financial accounts will increase the visibility of gross receipts and deductible expenses to the IRS. Increased visibility of business income will enhance the effectiveness of IRS enforcement measures and encourage voluntary compliance.\" Banks claim this would be an invasion of consumer privacy, with the ICBA saying it would allow the government to monitor account information. However, CAP analysts Seth Hanlon and Galen Hendricks argue, \"Only the prior year's total inflow and total outflow would be reported on annual forms. No one would say that the IRS monitors you on your job because it receives a W-2 from your employer with your total wages every January.\" Another challenge not mentioned in the ICBA's consumer alert is the higher costs this reporting proposal may impose on banks. In May 2021, a coalition of banking associations wrote a letter to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, arguing that they already provide a lot of data to the IRS, and that this would impose additional costs on their systems. The costs and other burdens imposed to collect and report account flow information would surpass the potential benefits from such a reporting scheme. New reporting would appear to require material development costs and process additions for financial institutions, as well as significant reconciliation and compliance burdens on impacted taxpayers. For example, reporting total gross receipts and disbursements would require a new reporting paradigm for depository institutions, necessitating system changes to collect the information. On the flipside, Sapirie wrote for Tax Notes, the benefits of such a reporting proposal may be difficult to realize: \"Increasing the amount of information flowing into the IRS would not in itself lead to increased enforcement, and it might come with added challenges.\" Former IRS Commissioner Charles O. Rossotti acknowledged that the IRS today cannot use all the information it already receives, and significant areas of noncompliance are barely addressed, so more reporting alone will not solve the problem. It would almost certainly have a deterrent effect for taxpayers contemplating evasion, but the extent of that effect is unclear, and it might be insufficient to justify the costs to financial institutions and the federal government of implementing such a large new reporting regime. But CAP's analysis argues that this will help prevent tax evasion while also providing more funding to enhance data security for consumers. Additional funding would go to enhancing data security. Even at present, the IRS's data security is already much better than that of the financial industry, with only very rare and limited breaches compared to the exponentially larger data breaches from financial institutions. Second, the reporting of information flows only from financial institutions to the IRS and not in the other direction, as some earlier proposals had called for. The Biden administration's bank reporting proposal is a critical element of the Build Back Better agenda. It gives the IRS some visibility into opaque forms of income that disproportionately accrue to high-income individuals. Despite fearmongering from bank lobbies, the proposal protects taxpayers' privacy while simply requiring banks to provide basic, aggregated information about flows. That enables the IRS to select audits in a more efficient and equitable way so that the vast majority of taxpayers will be less likely to be audited. By deterring and helping catch tax cheats, the proposal raises substantial revenue for the Build Back Better agenda, which provides critical investments to increase economic opportunities for American families and communities. On October 12, 2021, Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended the proposal in response to a question from a reporter, who said, \"[Banks] are concerned about the tracking of transactions that are greater than $600. Americans are starting to get worried about this. Do you think [this] is going to stay in the Reconciliation Bill?\" \"With all due respect, the plural of anecdote is not data,\" Pelosi said. \"Yes, there are concerns that some people have. But if people are breaking the law and not paying their taxes, one way to track them is through the banking measure. I think $600\u2014that's a negotiation that will go on as to what the amount is. But yes.\" Whatever the impact of this proposal is, it does require additional reporting of certain bank transactions, just not in the way the banks are portraying it.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1AyzX7ZrCd3LZl_qqgpEbDdjUKsCBzvA4"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1jkd3TBurSDH37NO_BttSEtNQOn_dcaJd"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1271","claim":"Canadian Richard Brunt wrote an open letter regarding the Mid-Term Elections in America.","posted":"11\/11\/2014","sci_digest":["Canadian Richard Brunt penned an open letter about America's midterm elections."],"justification":" Claim:  Canadian Richard Brunt penned an open letter about America's midterm elections.  On 7 November 2014, shortly after midterm elections in the U.S., the Detroit Free Press published Canadian Richard Brunt's open letter to American voters, a missive that quickly went viral on the Internet: published  A Canadian perspective on the #GOPtakeover. pic.twitter.com\/NmBaPjnqju #GOPtakeover pic.twitter.com\/NmBaPjnqju  Rick Strandlof (@RickStrandlof) November 9, 2014 November 9, 2014  Brunt wrote in his letter, titled \"You Americans have no idea just how good you have it with Obama,\" that his fellow Canadians were confused about the results of the midterm elections. For Brunt, the Republican gains in those elections did not make sense to him when things were seemingly going so well in the U.S.:  Many of us Canadians are confused by the U.S. midterm elections. Consider, right now in America, corporate profits are at record highs, the country's adding 200,000 jobs per month, unemployment is below 6%, U.S. gross national product growth is the best of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. The dollar is at its strongest levels in years, the stock market is near record highs, gasoline prices are falling, there's no inflation, interest rates are the lowest in 30 years, U.S. oil imports are declining, U.S. oil production is rapidly increasing, the deficit is rapidly declining, and the wealthy are still making astonishing amounts of money. America is leading the world once again and respected internationally  in sharp contrast to the Bush years. Obama brought soldiers home from Iraq and killed Osama bin Laden. So, Americans vote for the party that got you into the mess that Obama just dug you out of? This defies reason. When you are done with Obama, could you send him our way? Richard Brunt Victoria, British Columbia The letter was soon shared thousands of times on Facebook and Twitter by both Republicans and Democrats, although their reasons for sharing the message were very different:  Hey Richard Brunt, of Victoria, British Columbia... if you want our Obama, you can have our Obama.  Frank Miani (@FJM2425) November 11, 2014 November 11, 2014  Richard Brunt from British Columbia, telling it like it is... pic.twitter.com\/OKm0Rkfu5x pic.twitter.com\/OKm0Rkfu5x  Baumer Kid (@bostonsboy87) November 11, 2014 November 11, 2014  Richard Brunt's letter represented one man's opinion, but it wasn't the first such expression of admiration from fans of President Obama up north. In a 2009 article titled \"Canada's Love Affair with Barack Obama,\" for example, author Charlie Gillis wrote: Charlie Gillis We love him, with an asterisk. The broad-band smile, the Lincolnesque bearing, the sense of the man as an avatar of multiculturalism  it all makes Barack Obama the perfect U.S. president in the eyes of Canadians. Heaven knows we've been waiting. When the motorcade rolls down Wellington Street, or pulls up to Rideau Hall, you can expect dewy-eyed kids to line barricades with paper flags, no matter how foul the Ottawa weather. Eighty-two per cent of us say we approve of Obama, the polls indicate, and the number requires a moment to digest. Never mind American politicians. Who's the last American we can say that about?   Last updated:  11 November 2014","issues":["inflation"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1vkDq2Imw6ZSLImfQQ0jTHyHf7jDkYOnL"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1272","claim":"Is This 'Your City on Socialism' Meme Accurate?","posted":"06\/14\/2019","sci_digest":["A meme uses a series of miscaptioned and out-of-context images to make its supposed point about the effects of socialism. "],"justification":"A set of images supposedly documenting the impact of socialism on the lives of people residing in some unidentified locale(s) is frequently circulated on social media as a warning about the alleged deleterious effects of that system: circulated   The \"Your City on Socialism\" meme has been circulated online since at least February 2017, when it was posted to the Facebook page of the conservative nonprofit Turning Point USA along with the caption \"Socialism Never Works. Never Has, Never Will.\" Turning Point USA Turning Point USA's point would be more effective, of course, if they used images that accurately reflected the impact of socialism. The first image (\"Your City on Socialism\") was not taken in any socialist country but rather in the United States. It's an Associated Press file photo shot by Paul Sancya in July 2011 that captured a row of abandoned stores in Detroit, Michigan: Associated Press In this July 27, 2011 file photo, a section of vacant stores is shown in Detroit. Michigan is getting $100 million in federal aid to demolish abandoned buildings to fight blight in Detroit and four other cities, Gov. Rick Snyder said Tuesday. Snyder said the U.S. Treasury Department has approved the aid. Detroit is getting $52.3 million, Flint $20.1 million and Saginaw 11.2 million. Pontiac is getting $3.7 million and Grand Rapids $2.5 million, while $10.2 million goes to a reserve fund for additional demolition, Snyder said. (AP Photo\/Paul Sancya, file) The second image (\"Your Hospital on Socialism\") is the lone photograph in this meme that was actually taken in a socialist country. It was included in a 2016 New York Times article about the health care crisis in Venezuela: New York Times The economic crisis in this country has exploded into a public health emergency, claiming the lives of untold numbers of Venezuelans. It is just part of a larger unraveling here that has become so severe it has prompted President Nicols Maduro to impose a state of emergency and has raised fears of a government collapse. The economic crisis in Venezuela is frequently brought up by those arguing against the merits of socialism. While Venezuela is a socialist country, that aspect is far from the only factor that has led to the country's severe economic turmoil. As we noted in a previous article on the topic, news outlets ranging from Bloomberg, the New York Times, to Fox News have noted that plunging oil prices, government corruption, and political unrest have also contributed to the crisis. article Bloomberg New York Times Fox News Furthermore, a single photograph of a run-down hospital is not representative of socialized medicine as a whole. The following image, for instance, was taken at a hospital in Switzerland, a country with universal health care:   The third image (\"Your Grocer Story on Socialism\") does not document a grocery store that ran out of food due to a failed socialist economy. It actually captures a Walmart outlet in Texas that ran out of food items and other supplies as it was thronged by customers stocking up ahead of the approach of Hurricane Rita in 2005. The picture was taken by Jay Jenner for the Austin-American Statesman, and the  original caption described it as follows: \"Preparing for Hurricane Rita, Maria Chavez of Austin looks for a loaf of bread Thursday in the empty shelves of a Wal-Mart at Interstate 35 and Slaughter Lane. The store was sold out.\" original caption Turning Point USA isn't the only conservative group to use this image to push an anti-socialism narrative. In 2015, the National Review published a doctored version of this image in an article critical of Bernie Sanders. National Review doctored version The final photograph (\"Your Politician on Socialism\") does not show the home of a politician in a socialist country. Again, this image was taken in the U.S. and pictures a hotel in Glen Cove, New York, called The Mansion. hotel The Mansion Rather than accurately depicting the impacts of socialism, this meme is perhaps a better example of how images can be taken out of context, re-captioned, and repackaged in order to spread a political agenda. Llorente, Elizabeth.  \"Caracas, Once a Thriving Metropolis, Is Struggling as Country Plunges Further Into Chaos.\"\r  Fox News.  4 April 2019. Malkin, Michelle.  \"Ask Venezuelans How Sanders-Style Socialism Is Working Out for Them.\"\r  National Review.  27 May 2015. Novak, Matt.  \"5 More Viral Photos That Are Totally Fake\"\r  Gizmodo.  2 June 2015. Little Green Footballs.  \"Busted! National Review Crops and 'Dirties' Photo from Austin Walmart, Claims It Shows 'Venezuela.'\"\r  31 May 2015. Casey, Nicholas.  \"Dying Infants and No Medicine: Inside Venezuelas Failing Hospitals.\"\r  The New York Times.  15 May 2016. This story has been corrected to reflect that Glen Cove is in New York, not New Jersey.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1w7NyLczqWHc3C8DL771S1n4T8TsfiET1","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=15uvF4sb5v2aFVs30uh4m9__RfHGfPWKe","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1273","claim":"Says his campaign has released his past tax returns.","posted":"04\/06\/2016","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders took some heat from CNNs Jake Tapper during anApril 3 interview. The topic: The degree of public transparency Sanders has provided for his tax returns. Tapper brought up the topic: Im kind of surprised that you havent gone further on transparency. You released the summary page of your 2014 tax returns. Hillary Clinton has posted on her website the last eight years of her personal returns, all of the returns. Before the New York primary, will you match her? Will you post your full returns for the last eight years? Sanders responded, You know who does our tax returns? My wife does our tax returns. Weve been a little bit busy lately. So we will get out as much information as we can. There aint going to be very much exciting in that. I get a salary from the United States Senate, you know, theres not going to be anything new in it that people havent seen for the last many years, but we will get it out as soon as we can. Tapper wasnt satisfied. But nobody has seen them at all, I guess, is the point, and whether or not theres anything exciting in them.... At this point, Sanders interjected, No, that is not true. That is not true. Of course, we have released them in the past. Our financial situation, to the best of my knowledge, has not changed very much, but we will get out all of that information as soon as we can. How transparent has Sanders been with his tax past returns? Not very, compared with others in the 2016 presidential field. Heres a closer look. As our friends at theWashington PostFact Checkerhave noted, Tax Analysts, a publisher specializing in tax policy, has been collecting publicly available tax returns of presidential candidates and other top officials for itsTax History Project. This archive goes back as far as the 1913 tax returns of future president Franklin D. Roosevelt. Heres a look at what theircurrent archiveof the 2016 candidates looks like:   In other words, among the candidates still in the race, Sanders releases are less extensive than anybodys but Donald Trump. (Trump, too, hasfaced criticismfor refusing to share his returns.) And Sanders shortcomings are actually bigger than the screenshot above would suggest. The2014 filings Sanders releasedconsist of just the first two summary pages of his Form 1040 and the equivalent summary pages from his home-state Vermont tax form. Why does this matter? Unlike most of the other candidates, Sanders has not released the succeeding pages -- the nitty gritty detail of things like charitable donations and other types of itemized deductions. For instance,Clintons release for tax year 2014is 44 pages long, or more than 10 times the length of Sanders for the same year. Its worth noting that Sanders, as a member of Congress, filesannual financial disclosures, which are accessible online back to 2012. And as a presidential candidate, he also filesfinancial disclosure documentsto the Federal Election Commission. But tax returns are much more detailed. And despite what Sanders said in the exchange with Tapper, his campaign did not provide PolitiFact with any earlier, publicly available tax forms. The campaign told thePostthat it has not released any other tax returns prior to 2014. (The campaign did tell PolitiFact that they would release his 2015 returns once they are filed.) Tax and disclosure experts we contacted agreed that Sanders current disclosures are weak by historical standards. If I filed the first two pages of my return with the IRS, it would not take long for them to ding me, said Kenneth A. Gross of the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and a specialist in political disclosure and ethics. There is a lot of information on the pages following the cover pages. Joseph J. Thorndike, the Tax Analysts official who heads the Tax History Project, agreed. Sanders has not, in fact, released his most recent tax return, Thorndike said. He has released a portion of that return. The IRS would not accept a Form 1040 as a complete return and neither should voters. Also, its worth noting that Sanders has not released any portion of his older returns. If Mitt Romney had tried to release an incomplete return in 2012, the media would never have accepted it. Our ruling Sanders told Tapper that his campaign has released his past tax returns. Sanders said his 2015 return is forthcoming, and he has made other types of disclosures in the past, including congressional and presidential-candidate filings. But his releases of prior-year tax forms -- the specific documents Tapper asked about -- have been limited in several ways. Hes only released information for one year, which pales compared to most other recent presidential candidates, and even that years release only includes a summary page, not the full return. We rate his claim False. UPDATE: As he had promised, Sandersreleasedhisfull 2014 tax returnon April 15, 2016. https:\/\/www.sharethefacts.co\/share\/ba140e0d-4c11-436d-ad29-15e562ba5a98","issues":["National","Candidate Biography","Transparency","Taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1WJruaHOTh1Xt-tJClaN96__Qmd5DP_yn","image_caption":"Washington Post"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1JzidF85Fjhd6q1PiavYWDKSSvLPOvYxT","image_caption":"Post"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1274","claim":"Is Jennifer Aniston Starting a 'Celebrities for Trump' Group?","posted":"11\/20\/2017","sci_digest":["A particularly brazen attempt at \"clickbait\" scraped together two unrelated stories under a random headline."],"justification":"Here's a glimpse into a particularly brazen attempt at producing \"clickbait\" by making a huge claim about a beloved celebrity with an attention-grabbing headline that is literally unrelated to the story underneath. A 17 November 2017 post on the website ConservativeSociety.net featured a headline that included a quote misattributed to actress Jennifer Aniston: \"Me and All The Trump Supporter Celebrities Decide To Make A Company Named 'Celebrities For Trump,' Which Fight Against All Anti Trump Celebrities, I Think President Trump Needs Our Support.\" The idea, presumably, was that viewers would share the post online based solely on their reaction to the headline rather than the underlying story, which does not include Aniston's fabricated \"quote,\" and offers no interview, publication, or any other proof of her interest in this subject. To boot, this piece of clickbait appeared to be a mishmash of off-topic information and wholesale reproduction of another site's work. Instead of a reported story, the narrative under the headline opened seemingly in the middle of a recap of a December 2016 Saturday Night Live sketch concerning the president and a 16-year-old supporter, Pete Davidson. Four paragraphs later, the story turned into a \"report\" on a rumored collaboration between Aniston and singer Sheryl Crow on a clothing line. However, this text was taken verbatim from a 26 October 2017 report published on the gossip site GossipCop.com. A Gossip Cop spokesperson told us they first encountered the story on another questionable website, DailyNewPosts.com, in October 2017: \"The word-for-word use of our story, which is clearly unrelated to Donald Trump, is a clear example of willful copyright infringement. We plan to seek all legal remedies and demand the site remove our material immediately.\" Conservative Society's \"story\" lists DailyNewPosts.com as its source; however, the latter website's version of the piece is no longer available.","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1FqwsvdmQk878s-91DCw8FqXVWjI-zaJx","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1275","claim":"The deficit ... is coming down, and its coming down rapidly.","posted":"07\/02\/2018","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council for President Donald Trump, raised eyebrows when he said in a Fox Business Network interview that the nation's deficit is falling on Trump's watch. The economy under President Donald Trump, Kudlow stated on June 29, is generating enormous amounts of new tax revenues. As the economy gears up, with more people working and better jobs and careers, those revenues come rolling in, and the deficit, which is one of the criticisms of Trump's economic policy, is coming down, and it's coming down rapidly. Growth solves a lot of problems. As it happens, the deficit hasn't come down to date, which sparked a quick backlash on social media and prompted Kudlow to amend his remarks later that day. Kudlow told the Washington Post that the economy is so strong right now that it's going to produce lower deficits. I probably should have said future deficits. However, that assertion is questionable as well. The most trusted source for future budget projections, the Congressional Budget Office, shows rising deficits for years into the future. In fiscal year 2015, when Barack Obama was president, the federal deficit was $438 billion. (A refresher: The deficit refers to federal revenues minus federal outlays. Each year's deficit adds to the overall public debt.) In fiscal year 2016, which was also under Obama, the deficit rose to $585 billion. In fiscal year 2017, which was about two-thirds on Trump's watch, the deficit rose to $665 billion. The deficit also rose as a percentage of the nation's gross domestic product\u2014a way of comparing economic statistics across time. In fiscal year 2015, the deficit was 2.4 percent of GDP, rising to 3.2 percent of GDP in fiscal 2016 and 3.5 percent in fiscal 2017. So on a full-year basis, Kudlow is wrong. He's also wrong if you look at the first seven months of fiscal year 2018. According to the Treasury Department, the first seven months of the current fiscal year saw a deficit of $385 billion, which is 12 percent higher than the first seven months of fiscal year 2017, when the deficit totaled $344 billion. As for the future, CBO finds no reason to expect the deficit to go down any time soon. For fiscal year 2018, CBO projects a deficit of $804 billion, rising each successive year to $981 billion in 2019, $1 trillion in 2020, $1.1 trillion in 2021, and $1.3 trillion in 2022. The deficit is also poised to increase as a percentage of GDP\u2014from 3.5 percent in 2017 to 4.0 in 2018 and eventually to 5.4 percent in 2022. Here's the full chart from CBO's most recent projections, released in April. Not only that, but CBO specifically cited the tax cut Trump backed and signed into law as a reason for spiraling deficits. The deficit that CBO now estimates for 2018 is $242 billion larger than the one it projected for that year in June 2017, CBO wrote in its April report. Accounting for most of that difference is a $194 billion reduction in projected revenues, mainly because the 2017 tax act is expected to reduce collections of individual and corporate income taxes. And the projections would be even worse if Congress doesn't allow the recent round of tax cuts to expire. In that scenario, far larger deficits and much greater debt would result than in CBO's baseline projections for the 2019-2028 period, CBO wrote. Kudlow said, \"The deficit ... is coming down, and it's coming down rapidly.\" After being criticized, he later clarified that he probably should have said future deficits. Kudlow's first formulation is wrong, and his revised version isn't supported by the most widely trusted barometer\u2014projections by the CBO. The Trump tax bill, which dramatically cut revenues, is a big reason why. The statement is inaccurate and ridiculous. We rate the statement Pants on Fire!","issues":["National","Debt","Deficit","Economy","Taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1fffBZkzrujE2EZHvNRZGTvxL_qY0D9Hd","image_caption":"Washington Post"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1276","claim":"The average faculty member at UW-Madison brings in close to a quarter million dollars a year in grant money.","posted":"03\/23\/2015","sci_digest":[],"justification":"A leading Democrat predicts devastation if Gov. Scott Walkers proposed $300 million cut over two years to the University of Wisconsin System is adopted. For UW-Madison its a major issue, Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, said in a March 12, 2015Wisconsin Eye interview. Its penny wise and pound foolish there. Barca added: The average faculty member at UW-Madison brings in close to a quarter million dollars a year. So you cut them and theyre leaving. They have plenty of opportunities to go to Harvard or Princeton or Stanford. Barca was joined on the Wisconsin Eye program by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester. He thinks the university cut is too large, but says Democrats are overreacting. Lets remember that the cut thats happening under Gov. Walker is about the size of the one that happened under (former Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat), and I didnt hear Democrats complaining about the loss of the university and how the world was going to come to an end. Well test Vos claim soon. For now, lets examine Barcas statement about the prowess of the Madison faculty in attracting research grants. Researching the research When we asked Barca to back up the claim, spokeswoman Laura Smith pointed to apage on the UW-Madison websitethat answers frequently asked questions about the 2015-17 budget -- at least from the UW Systems perspective. The page asserts that asking professors to teach more classes -- as Walker suggested -- would cut into critical functions of the university: Research is central to their jobs. According to university statistics, each faculty member is bringing in approximately $242,000 on average to support their research in a highly competitive national environment. Faculty and staff brought in more than $500 million in federal research awards in 2012-13, money that would not otherwise come to Wisconsin. So theres Barcas close to a quarter million figure. We asked UW-Madison about the numbers. They are from 2012-13, and were published in March 2014 in theuniversitys Data Digest. The document provides a detailed look at various aspects of the campus and is put together by three offices: Academic Planning & Institutional Research, Office of the Provost and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Finance & Administration. UW-Madison is one of the leading research institutions in the country as measured by total grants from outside sources, mostly the federal government. Out of its 2,173 faculty members, 1,275 (or 59 percent) secured research grants in 2012-13, the latest year available. So theres a point of clarification: Barca frames his claim around the idea that any cuts will hurt the universitys ability to bring in research money. But in the year examined, 41 percent did not bring in grants. The university says it uses the total number of faculty when calculating the per-professor grant haul because all faculty members are expected to do research. In all, professors pulled in a total of $525.7 million in grants from outside sources. The grants are in these areas: biological sciences, humanities, physical sciences, social sciences. Spread over 2,173 faculty, thats the $242,000 figure. If you spread it out over just the faculty receiving grants, the average is $412,000. Jocelyn Milner, a UW official who helps prepare the Data Digest, told us that grant productivity is calculated in another way as well. Theres another $355 million in grants that are not awarded to individual professors, but to a dean or other official even though professors end up doing the research. When you add those in the per-faculty grant figure rises to $399,000 per year, Milner said. UW prefers the more conservative methodology that is behind the $241,935 figure, Milner said. We found that ranking universities on research prowess often turns on how much money they pull in. There areother factors that can help judge research prominence, such as journal articles published, endowment assets, faculty awards, and so on. Our rating Barca said, The average faculty member at UW-Madison brings in close to a quarter million dollars a year. He referred to research grants won. UW-Madison figures back up the claim, but theres one point of clarification, in that not all faculty get grants. We rate Barcas statement Mostly True.","issues":["Education","State Budget","Wisconsin"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1277","claim":"Hillary Clinton and the Victims of War","posted":"12\/30\/2015","sci_digest":["Hillary Clinton asserted that women \"have always been the primary victims of war\" during a domestic violence conference in 1998."],"justification":"In December 2015, an image of Hillary Clinton was circulated via social media along with a quote ostensibly uttered by her about the primary victims of war:  This quote originated with a 17 November 1998 speech that Hillary Clinton (as First Lady) delivered at a conference on domestic violence in El Salvador. One of the central themes of Clinton's speech was the effect that war had had on that country (the Salvadoran Civil War had ended a few years earlier), specifically in regards towomen and children.  Clinton referred to women as the \"primary victims of war\" not just in the literal sense of being injured or killed themselves (as civilian non-combatants), but also as being left without the support and care of their male family members and seeing their own children suffer and die: speech The experience that you have gone through is in many ways comparable to what happens with domestic violence. Women have always been the primary victims of war. Women lose their husbands, their fathers, their sons in combat. Women often have to flee from the only homes they have ever known. Women are often the refugees from conflict and sometimes, more frequently in today's warfare, victims. Women are often left with the responsibility, alone, of raising the children. Women are again the victims in crime and domestic violence as well. Throughout our hemisphere we have an epidemic of violence against women, even though there is no longer any organized warfare that puts women in the direct line of combat. But domestic violence is now recognized as being the most pervasive human rights violation in the world. Here in El Salvador, according to the statistics gathered by your government, 1 in 6 women have been sexually assaulted and the number of domestic abuse complaints at just one agency topped 10,000 last year. Between 25 and 50 percent of women throughout Latin America have reportedly been victims of domestic violence. The problem is all pervasive, but sometimes difficult to see. Every country on earth shares this dark secret. Too often, the women we see shopping at the markets, working at their jobs, caring for their children by day, go home at night and live in fear. Not fear of an invading army or a natural disaster or even a stranger in a dark alley, but fear of the very people  family members  who they are supposed to depend upon for help and comfort. This is the trust-destroying terror that attends every step of a victim of violence. For these women, their homes provide inadequate refuge, the law little protection, public opinion often less sympathy. That's why we have to say over and over again, as Elizabeth has done and as so many of you have echoed, that violence against women is not simply cultural or a custom. It is simply criminal, a crime. The devastating effects of domestic violence on women are just as dramatic as the effects of war on women. The physical injury, the mental illness, the terrible loss of confidence limits the capacities of women to fulfill their God-given potentials. While some might argue that Clinton was inaccurate in labeling women as the \"primary victims of war\" (since the majority of military members are male), a resolutionadoptedby theUnited Nation Security Council in 2000 arrived at a similar conclusion, stating that \"civilians, particularly women and children, accountfor the vast majority of those adversely affected by armed conflict.\" majority resolution The United Nation Security Council repeated this assertion in 2008 when it adopted Resolution 1325, which stated in its introduction that rape and sexual assault were considered tactics of war: stated [C]ivilians account for the vast majority of those adversely affected by armed conflict; women and girls are particularly targeted by the use of sexual violence, including as a tactic of war to humiliate, dominate, instill fear in, disperse and\/or forcibly relocate civilian members of a community or ethnic group; and sexual violence perpetrated in this manner may in some instances persist after the cessation of hostilities. [We] condemn in the strongest terms all sexual and other forms of violence committed against civilians in armed conflict, in particular women and children. [We] reiterate deep concern that, despite its repeated condemnation of violence against women and children in situations of armed conflict, including sexual violence in situations of armed conflict, and despite its calls addressed to all parties to armed conflict for the cessation of such acts with immediate effect, such acts continue to occur, and in some situations have become systematic and widespread, reaching appalling levels of brutality. ","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1AzKHF8QsmmfoVVq0xLR8BwSvQSnDJW1-","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1278","claim":"Don't Fall for This Squarespace-Wix Email Scam \u2014 Your Payments are in Danger","posted":"08\/29\/2023","sci_digest":["A professional-looking email about verifying Squarespace users' payment information was anything but legitimate."],"justification":"In late August 2023, we reviewed an email scam that deceived recipients by claiming that their Squarespace membership was \"on hold\" and that a billing address needed to be \"verified\" in order to continue service. It is possible that a similar scam was also circulating in the form of a text message. This message came from squarespace_usa@icloud.com. The email address was designed to mislead users into believing it had an affiliation with Squarespace. To be clear, Squarespace, a website-building and hosting company, does not send users email messages from iCloud accounts. Furthermore, there is no indication that the companies whose platforms were used in this scam had any involvement in the criminal activity. The scam email included odd language intended to create a sense of urgency for any Squarespace users who received it. For example, one line in the message read, \"Please take care of this right away so you can use your domain\": Your Squarespace membership is on hold. Verify your billing address to use your domain. We are required to put your domain, and any connected website, on hold if we cannot confirm that we have the correct billing address on file. The message included a link to a website on Wix, a competitor of Squarespace, that redirected to squarespace.account.gs. On this website, scammers asked users to fill out their credit card information and mailing address on a page that resembled Squarespace.com. Domains ending in .gs are affiliated with \"a group of islands located off the southernmost tip of South America called South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands,\" according to GoDaddy.com. Aside from the fraudulent iCloud email address used in this scam, examples of legitimate Squarespace email addresses include noreply@mail.squarespace.com, customercare@squarespace.com, and form-submission@squarespace.info. If any readers fell for this scam, we recommend immediately contacting your credit card company or any other payment method you may have provided to the scammers. We contacted both Wix and iCloud to alert them of the malicious website and email address so that they can take action against the accounts behind the scam. This story will be updated if we receive any responses.","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1uc7Rpw0JKXYm1Z5m14cxgF9mgaRjkASB","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1279","claim":"Did Robin Williams Say 'Politicians Should Wear Sponsor Jackets Like NASCAR Drivers'?","posted":"04\/26\/2021","sci_digest":["The comedian would not have been the first to make such a suggestion. "],"justification":"Memes are frequently circulated online containing a quip ostensibly uttered by Robin Williams to the effect that \"politicians should wear sponsor jackets like NASCAR drivers\": Robin Williams   This quote is, in fact, a reasonably faithful paraphrase of the following bit from Robin Williams' 2009 television comedy special, \"Weapons of Self Destruction\":  Weapons of Self Destruction And if the whole health care debate -- if you want to know how your congressmen and senators are going to vote, we should actually, maybe they should be like NASCAR drivers. They should actually have to have jackets with the names of all the people who are sponsoring them. Wouldn't that be cool? Then you might have a clue to why the fuck they voted that way. Williams, who died in 2014, also made a similar joke as the character Tom Dobbs in the 2006 movie \"Man of the Year.\" In that film, Dobbs says: \"If you're representing special interest groups, maybe we should be like NASCAR with the little patches on the back: 'Enron: We take your money and run!'\" This line can be heard around the 50 second mark of the \"Man of the Year\" trailer:  This 2006 movie, however, was not the first time someone suggested that politicians should have to display their corporate sponsorships.  In 2004, for instance, columnist Paul Halvey wrote in the Illinois newspaper \"The Life\" that \"when a company springs for a political campaign contributions, it should be able to put its logo on the politician.\" Five years earlier, in 1999, columnist Jim Hightower made a similar suggestion, writing: The Life writing We'd like to mandate full and forceful disclosuremake every politician or candidate own up to where every dollar of their money's coming from. Maybe we could even make 'em wear their sponsors' logos like NASCAR drivers do, as in the illustrations in this issue. But this idea dates back at least a little further. The earliest example we could find comes from a column published in March 1995 in the Harford Courant entitled \"Politicians Should Wear Sponsor Logos\" by journalist Don Noel:  08 Mar 1995, Wed Hartford Courant (Hartford, Connecticut) Newspapers.com  08 Mar 1995, Wed Hartford Courant (Hartford, Connecticut) Newspapers.com We're not sure who came up with the exact phrasing of the viral version of the joke. The idea that politicians should wear the logos of their corporate sponsors on their clothes, similar to NASCAR drivers, has been circulating since the 1990s. While it doesn't seem as if this quote originated with Williams, he did tell the joke in a 2009 TV special, and the concept served as a basis for a line his character said in the 2006 film \"Man of the Year.\" Robin Williams: Weapons of Self Destruction. Directed by Marty Callner, David Steinberg Entertainment, 2009.  Update [Aug. 16, 2022]: Rating changed to \"Correct Attribution\" with citation of comedy bit from Williams' 2009 TV special, \"Weapons of Self Destruction.\"","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1Cr1XDktPpCR4gc27xTB77V3j0JI-lH5q","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/img.newspapers.com\/img\/img?clippingId=76517321&width=700&height=820&ts=1607535806","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1280","claim":"Says Lloyd Doggett voted for the health care, stimulus and cap-and-trade bills.","posted":"10\/26\/2010","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Seeking to unseat U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, Republican nominee Donna Campbell of Columbus paints him as a career politician with some questionable positions. In an ad posted online Oct. 19, the narrator compares Doggett and Campbell, an emergency room doctor. They disagree on ObamaCare: Doggett voted yes, Dr. Campbell says repeal. Stimulus spending: Doggett voted yes, Dr. Campbell says it's a waste of money. Cap and trade: Doggett voted yes, Campbell says job killer. We're not weighing in on whether the stimulus was a waste of money, or if cap and trade is a job killer. But since earlier this month we ratedTrueDoggett's statement that he voted against big bank bailouts, we were curious whether Campbell accurately recapped his votes on other high-dollar issues. Amanda Tyler, Doggett's campaign manager, told us by e-mail that Doggett voted for each piece of legislation, though the campaign has reservations about the visuals in Campbell's ad; for example, she said, a shot of a foreclosure sign doesn't make sense in connection with his vote for stimulus aid. Let's review Doggett's votes one at a time. Health care On Nov. 7, 2009, the U.S. House voted on its version of health care legislation in a 220-215 vote. Doggett joined 218 Democrats and one Republican, Rep. Anh Cao of Louisiana, in passing the legislation. On March 21, 2010 , Doggett voted for legislation reconciling Senate and House versions of the proposal. The compromise passed 220-211, with no Republicans in support. Doggett said in a floor speech with this reform, every insured American gets valuable consumer protections, and every uninsured American can become insured. We later rated that statement asTrue. Stimulus On Jan. 28, 2009, the House passed the $819 billion economic recovery bill 244-188 without a single Republican vote. Doggett voted aye. One way this bill promotes economic recovery is by promoting educational opportunity, he said on the House floor the day before. $13.5 billion of targeted tax relief to help young people and not-so young people attend college. Today, one out of five graduating high school students does not qualify for this assistance. But because we provided a refundable tax credit, we help them, just as the appropriations section of this bill helps with expanded Pell Grants and other direct aid. We asked Campbell's campaign why it showed an image of foreclosure sign while describing Doggett's vote for the stimulus legislation. Mike Asmus, Campbell's campaign manager, told us the stimulus spending Lloyd Doggett has voted for has prolonged the narrative of economic malaise, running from joblessness to foreclosure and beyond. Cap and trade Doggett voted for a cap-and-trade measure aimed at reducing greenhouse gases. With Doggett's vote, that proposal cleared the House 219-212 on June 26, 2009, though Doggett also aired objections about the measure being too soft, saying the plan stripped too much oversight from the Environmental Protection Agency and encouraged new coal-fired plants. I struggled deeply about whether to support this flawed bill, but I finally determined that voting for it was my best hope for making it better, he said on the floor that day. I've been listening to the debate  not so much to those who support a bill that I'm not all that enthusiastic about, but listening to the Flat Earth Society and the climate-change deniers, and some of the most inane arguments I have heard against refusing to act on this vital national security challenge. Tyler also told us that Doggett hoped to improve the bill by being tapped to serve as a House member of a possible House-Senate conference committee on the plan. That panel never was named; the House-approved bill stalled in the Senate. Our vote? The ad's imagery might be objectionable (at least to Doggett). He still gave his 'aye' for all the legislation cited by Campbell. We rate her statement True.","issues":["Cap and Trade","Climate Change","Economy","Health Care","Message Machine 2010","Texas"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1281","claim":"Can Federal Government Workers Be Fired After 30 Days of Shutdown?","posted":"01\/17\/2019","sci_digest":["The law varies depending on the type of shutdown."],"justification":"In mid-January 2019, a meme spread on social media that led some users to believe furloughed federal government employees could be fired if the government remained in an ongoing shutdown for 30 days. However, the scenario of hundreds of thousands of people losing their jobs during the current shutdown will not happen. Federal statute requires agencies to take reduction-in-force (RIF) action against employees who have been furloughed for 30 days or more, but this only applies in administrative furloughs, which are \"a planned event by an agency designed to absorb reductions necessitated by downsizing, reduced funding, lack of work, or any budget situation other than a lapse in appropriations.\" Furloughs of federal workers resulting from lapses in appropriations are called emergency furloughs. According to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, reduction-in-force regulations do not apply in such events: emergency furloughs do not apply. \"Reductions in force (RIF) furlough regulations and SES competitive furlough requirements are not applicable to emergency shutdown furloughs because the ultimate duration of an emergency shutdown furlough is unknown at the outset and is dependent entirely on Congressional action, rather than agency action. The RIF furlough regulations and SES competitive furlough requirements, on the other hand, contemplate planned, foreseeable, money-saving furloughs that, at the outset, are planned to exceed 30 days.\" As of this writing on January 17, 2019, the federal government is entering its 27th day of partial shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, resulting from an impasse reached between President Donald Trump and Democratic members of Congress over Trump's demand to include $5.7 billion in appropriations for new U.S.-Mexico border-wall construction. The shutdown has resulted in 800,000 federal employees going without pay, thousands of whom have been ordered back to work anyway.","issues":["budget"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1YEPUACmgZqbH1pHorSGI8Lp0rX_cPJ-0","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1282","claim":"There was an estimated $5.3 million of economic loss just for a few hours of shutting down the border. Youre talking about millions and millions of dollars  billions of dollars  of economic consequence, if we continue with this rhetoric around shutting down the border without considering what that means.","posted":"12\/03\/2018","sci_digest":[],"justification":"During a recent visit to the U.S.-Mexico border, Californias Democratic Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom claimed the Trump administrations temporary border closure last month cost $5.3 million in economic loss in the area and that future shutdowns could run into the billions of dollars. U.S. border officials on Nov. 25 stopped all traffic for several hours at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, which serves as the gateway between Tijuana and San Diego. Its the busiest land border crossing in the United States and among the busiest in the world. The six-hour shutdown happened as migrants from Central America protested just south of the crossing. A group later rushed a border fence and were met with tear gas fired by U.S. border agents, who said some threw rocks at them. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said in astatementthe same day that her agency will not hesitate to shut down ports of entry for security and public safety reasons, and would not tolerate this type of lawlessness. Days after the closure, heres what Newsom claimed at apress conferenceheld near the San Ysidro crossing: Every time, with respect, that there is a flippant comment about shutting down the border, it impacts the economy and the lives of hundreds of thousands if not millions of people that are reliant on that trade and commerce on a daily basis. [There was] an estimated $5.3 million of economic loss just for a few hours of shutting down the border. Youre talking about millions and millions of dollars  billions of dollars of economic consequence, if we continue with this rhetoric around shutting down the border without considering what that means. As the debate over the shutdown lingers, we wanted to know whether Newsom got his figures right about its economic impact. We set out on a fact check. U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents attend operational readiness exercises at the San Ysidro port of entry on the U.S.-Mexico border in November 2018. (AP Photo\/Ramon Espinosa) Our research An average of 90,000 people legally pass north through the San Ysidro crossing each day, 70,000 in cars and 20,000 by foot. Many work, go to school or shop in the community of San Ysidro, which is the southernmost portion of San Diego, and points north, serving as an economic engine for the region. Californias other border crossings include Otay Mesa, about 11 miles east, along with Tecate, an hours drive east, and two in Calexico in Imperial County. For the specific dollar loss from the Nov. 25 closure, Newsom appears to have relied on an estimate from Jason Wells, executive director of the San Ysidro Chamber of Commerce. In an interview with PolitiFact California, Wells said the $5.3 million loss figure is an estimate based on an average day of sales for the 650 businesses in the area during the Nov. 20 to Jan. 6 holiday period. The area is home to outlet malls, money exchanges and many immigration and tax services, all a short distance from the border. Wells said it draws between 97 and 99 percent of its customers from Mexico. The threat of violence at the border led owners of The Las Americas Premium Outlets, a shopping center next to the port of entry, for example, to shut down the mall that day. Wells said some businesses in the area believe the $5.3 million figure is conservative, given the shutdown happened the Sunday after Black Friday. He added that approximately 75 percent of the areas businesses closed within about 90 minutes of the 11:30 a.m. closure of the border crossing. Just in that one Sunday alone, because of the Christmas and holiday season and so forth, we lost $5.3 million. Just in that one day, Wells added on theSan Diego Union-Tribunespodcast,The Conversation. Tijuana itself lost another $6.9 million. So, just between Tijuana and San Ysidro [there] was $12.2 million lost in one day. And thats not even counting Chula Vista, National City, San Diego, LA, all those areas that were affected by the closure. Lynn Reaser, chief economist at San Diegos Point Loma Nazarene University, said at least some of the economic loss was probably recovered. At this point, the impact on San Ysidro may have been primarily temporary during the relatively brief stoppage, Reaser said in an email. Shoppers appeared to have returned to stores at the Las Americas Premium Outlet, which means that sales could have been primarily delayed. Of course, if border closings start recurring, the picture could become much more grave. Wells said its our hope and prayers that the $5.3 million was made up by shoppers who returned to San Ysidro. Newsom didnt say anything about the potential recovery of this loss, but was generally on the mark. We also examined his claim that future shutdowns could cause billions, a figure thats a bit more difficult to assess. Billions in losses? Extended border closings and delays could mount to billions of dollars in economic losses over the coming months, Paola Avila, a vice president at the San Diego Chamber of Commerce, told Bloomberg in a recentarticle. The uncertainty of border closures occurring at any time is a substantial economic threat for our region, she said. Our economies are inextricably linked. We produce together, we work together, we have families together, we have an integrated supply chain worth $2.5 billion. Jerry Sanders, the former Republican mayor of San Diego and current head of the citys regional Chamber of Commerce, echoed those sentiments in aNew York Timesarticle. If people are staying home because they are worried, the economic impact is obviously huge  we have 73 million crossings a year and we know that the regions $255 billion gross regional product depends on cross-border commerce, Sanders told the paper. Newsoms spokesman said the news reports supported the claim. Our ruling California Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom claimed there was an estimated $5.3 million in economic loss from the temporary closure of the San Ysidro border crossing that separates San Diego and Tijuana on Nov. 25. He added billions of dollars are potentially at stake should future closures take place. Newsoms $5.3 million figure was supported by the head of the San Ysidro Chamber of Commerce, which represents hundreds of businesses on the U.S. side of the border. A leading economist in the region said San Ysidro is likely to recover at least some of that loss when shoppers who delayed their visits return, as long as there arent additional border closures. Newsom can also point to warnings from business groups about billions of dollars potentially being lost in future shutdowns. San Diegos regional chamber of commerce, including the citys former Republican mayor, said future closures could threaten the billions of dollars in economic activity that flows through the international gateway. This portion of Newsoms claim, however, assumes a worst-case scenario of a prolonged weeks- or months-long closure. While President Trump has threatened to close the border, theres been no evidence that his administration is seeking an extended shutdown. We found Newsoms overall statement was accurate but could use some clarifications. We rated it Mostly True. MOSTLY TRUE The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information.","issues":["Immigration","Economy","Public Safety","California"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/static.politifact.com\/politifact\/photos\/border_closure_san_ysidro_AP_1.jpg","image_caption":"Every time, with respect, that there is a flippant comment about shutting down the border, it impacts the economy and the lives of hundreds of thousands if not millions of people that are reliant on that trade and commerce on a daily basis.  [There was] an estimated $5.3 million of economic loss just for a few hours of shutting down the border."}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1283","claim":"Is Biden implying that there might be the biggest tax hike ever in the United States?","posted":"10\/15\/2020","sci_digest":["The Trump campaign repeatedly made the claim to try to convince average Americans they would pay more in taxes under Biden."],"justification":"Voting in the 2020 U.S. Election may be over, but misinformation continues to spread. Never stop fact-checking. Follow our post-election coverage here. During his 2020 presidential campaign, U.S. President Donald Trump claimed on multiple occasions that his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, would impose the \"biggest tax increase in history\" if voters elected him. In an August interview on Fox News, for instance, Trump said of Democrats, \"They want to tax $4 trillion; it's going to be the biggest tax increase in history by far. It will triple records, and they're big taxers. It's just something that won't work. You will see a depression the likes of which you have never seen.\" In the following weeks, he reiterated the claim that \"you are going to have the tax increase of your life\" if Biden wins the 2020 election in social media posts and during campaign events, without explaining who would bear the brunt of the alleged hike. Trump tweeted on Oct. 5: \"Below is an analysis of Biden's tax proposal assessing whether it would indeed raise taxes by an amount never seen before in modern U.S. history, and who would most feel its impact.\" According to his campaign website, Biden ran for president on the promise that he would change multiple aspects of the country's tax system, specifically regarding individual income and payroll taxes, business taxes, and tax expenditures. The proposed changes would repeal aspects of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which the Trump administration and Republicans framed as a solution to fuel economic growth, while Democrats saw it as a gift to the country's richest individuals and large corporations at the expense of low-to-middle-class Americans. Specifically, Biden's tax plan would roll back the act's income tax reductions for the country's top bracket of taxpayers and expand that category to include Americans with incomes over $400,000 annually, rather than just those who earn more than $518,400. His proposal would also require that group of top earners to limit deductions and pay an additional Social Security payroll tax, according to an analysis by Howard Gleckman, a senior fellow with the nonpartisan Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. Millionaires and billionaires would be subject to taxes on long-term capital gains at ordinary, not preferential, income tax rates. Additionally, Biden's plan would increase the top tax rate for corporations from 21% to 28% and impose a 15% minimum tax on companies' book income, according to his campaign website. It would also reduce tax subsidies for commercial real estate and fossil fuels and incentivize renewable energy investments, among other changes. All of that said, the country's richest taxpayers and corporations would cover the majority of Biden's proposed tax increases, not average Americans, both in dollar amounts and as a share of their incomes. But let's look at the anticipated impact at a granular level. All income levels would face some sort of tax burden in 2021 under Biden's plan (we explain more below), though the highest-income households would pay higher income taxes directly and see substantially larger increases than anyone else. Gleckman made the following estimations: His plan would raise taxes on households in the top 1% of the income distribution (those with income more than $837,000) by an average of about $299,000. By contrast, taxpayers in the middle-income quintile (those with income between $52,000 and $93,000) would experience an average tax increase of just $260. Taxpayers in the bottom quintile (those with income less than $26,000) would see an average tax increase of only $30. That added burden on low- and middle-income households, representing about 2% of the proposed change, would be an indirect result of employers shifting the cost of the higher corporate tax rate to some workers. Corporations on a grand scale would slightly lower wages and investment income, which would, on average, more than offset the effects of Biden's new tax credits, the center concluded. Alicyn McLeod, a tax adviser and writer for Accounting Today, said in October 2020, \"Biden's proposal is primarily motivated by fairness. Many U.S. taxpayers are concerned that large corporations aren't paying their fair share.\" While understandable, this position ignores the belief among many tax and economic policy experts that a significant portion of corporate taxes are ultimately paid by workers, shareholders, and consumers, rather than companies themselves. In sum, the overwhelming majority of Americans\u2014those who earn $400,000 or less annually\u2014would not see their taxes increase as a direct result of Biden's tax proposal, and the top 1% earners would shoulder the brunt of his proposed hike. However, low-to-middle-class workers would see slightly lower investment returns and wages as a result of corporate tax increases, according to economists' analysis, including a budgetary model by the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Biden's plan would raise about $3.38 trillion in additional tax revenue over 10 years, according to the university's model. Concurrently, per Gleckman's analysis, that would amount to an increase in federal revenue by about 1.5% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). GDP is the economy's total output of goods and services, and economists rely on it greatly to measure the economy's health and how fiscal or regulatory policies could impact it\u2014not raw dollar amounts that don't consider inflation and population changes. To determine the legitimacy of Trump's claim, we considered federal tax proposals and their impact on GDP over decades. Of almost two dozen congressional tax bills that increased federal tax revenues between 1940 and 2012, for example, the five largest tax increases raised annual revenue between 1.33% and 5.04% of GDP, according to a 2013 compilation of such records by the U.S. Department of Treasury. The following table compiled by the Tax Foundation, another independent public policy think tank, showed where Biden's plan would stand in comparison to those other proposals: According to those findings, Biden's tax proposal, if enacted by Congress, would amount to the fifth-largest tax increase since the 1940s\u2014not the biggest hike in modern U.S. history.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1zvYtiySwyDwTRdWIjPbtN7T9mC7JR6ZQ"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1rLN0GH91X8kEYErZItTX8HtJo6lLwE-4"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1284","claim":"What alterations have occurred in the net worths of presidents?","posted":"12\/28\/2017","sci_digest":["An image comparing changes in the financial status of former and current United States presidents is not particularly revealing."],"justification":"An image comparing changes in the financial status of former and current United States presidents was widely shared on social media at the end of 2017, with minimal text suggesting that the data it presented was particularly revealing of something (without providing any detail about what that \"something\" might be). As for the hard data, we won't dwell on precise numbers because net worth figures are typically estimates that are at least partially based on assets with fluctuating valuations, and federal election disclosure laws have only required that candidates list their assets and liabilities in ranges rather than specific amounts. However, in general, we can note that the information in the image is at least within the ballpark of reasonable. The Clintons' net worth was reported as $700,000 in their 1992 statement, the Obamas' net worth was estimated at about $1.3 million in 2007 (mostly derived from book publishing advances and royalties), while the Trumps' net worth was pegged at $3.7 billion in 2016. As of 2017, the Clintons were estimated to have made $240 million since Bill Clinton left office in 2001, the Obamas' combined net worth was reckoned to be about $24 million, while the Trumps' net worth was thought to have dropped to about $3.1 billion. Suffice it to say that the Clinton and Obama families have done very well for themselves since leaving the White House, but the Trumps have realized no similar windfall and have possibly seen their overall wealth decline a bit. The comparison in this image is one of apples and oranges, however, and therefore it reveals nothing remarkable or surprising. It contrasts two men who each served eight years as President and are no longer in office with one man who has only been the U.S. chief executive for a year and still occupies that position. The longer one holds high office, the more opportunity one has to establish connections and build experience that might prove financially lucrative later on, so obviously, two men who sat in the White House for eight years each have a considerable advantage over the one who has barely been in Washington for a year. More importantly, though, is that former Presidents Clinton and Obama are ex-presidents who have returned to private life, and thus they can avail themselves of many money-making opportunities common to ex-presidents\u2014writing books, giving speeches, consulting for private companies, holding board seats, advising businessmen and politicians\u2014that are simply not available to a sitting president. For the incumbent chief executive, the position of President of the United States affords its holder little time to manage any outside business interests, and conflict of interest laws make it difficult for presidents to engage in profitable business ventures while they are serving as public officials. Most sitting presidents choose to put their business interests into blind trusts or otherwise delegate their day-to-day management to others during their terms of office. This image also conveniently omits data that demonstrates the money-making proclivities of former presidents to be neither an aberration nor an activity limited to Democrats: George H.W. Bush saw his fortune grow from $4 million in his pre-presidential days to $23 million in 2017, and his son, George W. Bush, began his presidency with $20 million and is now reportedly worth $35 million. Finally, nothing about this subject has anything to do with any presidents, current or former, \"stealing\" anyone's money. Whatever controversies may have surrounded Presidents Clinton, Obama, and Trump so far, none of them has been accused of enriching themselves by looting the public treasury.","issues":["asset"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1EfKE4gdixF50nUDwUhbm2VfjI5TAIGKw"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=15bgItTdvAYzqMggbj0AXVuTcDZWCk6od"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1TWbZ-uraNfDqsj-jHFaYYwyUcNFS9k6q"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1285","claim":"Is Actor Tom Hanks Related to Fred Rogers?","posted":"11\/21\/2019","sci_digest":["You may be surprised to find out just how many sixth cousins the average person has."],"justification":"A few days before the release of \"A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,\" a movie starring Tom Hanks about children's television host Fred Rogers, a representative for Ancestry.com told CBS News that the two men were related. CBS News reported that Tom Hanks bears a striking resemblance to children's television star Fred Rogers, whom he portrays in the upcoming film. However, the similarities extend beyond mere casting; the performers are actually related, according to a discovery made by Ancestry.com. Hanks is sixth cousins with Rogers, and they share the same great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, Johannes Mefford, as a company representative informed CBS News. The company utilized its database of over 20 billion online historical records to construct Hanks' family tree, the representative said. We have no reason to doubt Ancestry.com's findings. However, some readers may not fully grasp just how distant a distant cousin really is. The genealogy website reported that Rogers and Hanks are sixth cousins who share a 5x great-grandfather (or a great-great-great-great-great-grandfather). Here's how Ancestry.com described Hanks' relationship to Rogers: Fred Rogers and Tom Hanks are sixth cousins sharing the same 5x great-grandfather, Johannes Mefford, who immigrated from Germany to America in the 18th century. Johannes raised a family of patriots; three of his sons (including the ancestors of Tom Hanks and Fred Rogers) served in the Revolutionary War. Fred Rogers' 4x great-grandfather, William Mefford, served in the navy and was captured by the British in 1782. He endured life on a prison ship in Barbados and Antigua until he was released ten months later. Tom Hanks' 4x great-grandfather, Jacob Mefford, joined the War as a private and participated in a skirmish at Chesapeake Bay. Thus, Rogers and Hanks not only share the same ancestor, but they also descend from two brothers who fought for America's independence. While it may be \"true\" to say that Hanks and Rogers are related, phrasing their relationship this way can be somewhat misleading. We found varying estimates about just how closely related sixth cousins really are, but the general conclusion was that these \"relatives\" are very distant. For instance, a study by Ancestry DNA in 2014, based on British birth rates and census data, found that the average person in Britain has about 175,000 sixth cousins. While it's true that Hanks and Rogers are related, they are distant cousins who probably don't share much in terms of DNA. But don't let that detract from Hanks' performance as Rogers in \"A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.\" We reached out to the Association of Professional Genealogists and the International Society of Genetic Genealogy. We will update this article when more information becomes available. Garrand, Danielle. \"Tom Hanks Discovers He's Related to Mister Rogers Days Before 'A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood' Released.\" CBS News. 20 November 2019. Mirror. \"Average British Person Has 193,000 Living Cousins Says New Research.\" 17 June 2015. Correction [21 November 2019]: A table about the probability of sixth cousins sharing DNA was mischaracterized and removed from the article.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1HHls-X26UJeYxzCnK6fMGOO3CPd4uUaW","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1286","claim":"Is the USPS intentionally delaying mail to support Trump's reelection?","posted":"08\/06\/2020","sci_digest":["U.S. Postal Service workers nationwide reported backlogs of letters and packages in summer 2020. But was the issue political?"],"justification":"As U.S. President Donald Trump accelerated unsubstantiated attacks on the legitimacy of mail-in voting during the summer of 2020, numerous Snopes readers asked us to investigate whether the leader of the U.S. Postal Service was carrying out a nefarious scheme to help Trump win another presidential term. mail-in voting In late July and early August, various rumors surfaced regarding Louis DeJoy, a North Carolina businessman whom the Postal Service's governing board selected to run the agency in May 2020. For example, a viral tweet thread alleged: viral tweet My mailman just confirmed they have all officially been told to \"SLOW THE MAIL DOWN,\" per trump's Postmaster General...He says that there is backed up mail ALL OVER THE FLOOR. He's never seen anything like it. It has ALREADY begun. But as long as we keep each other informed, we can beat their dirty tricks with INFORMATION.   The claim's underlying notions were these: DeJoy was a political ally to the Republican president, and the new postmaster general had used his new authority to order Postal Service carriers and clerks to slow deliveries to help Trump win the 2020 November election. A backlog of ballots in the weeks or days before Election Day, critics of the president worried, could lead to votes going uncounted or deemed invalid due to state laws governing mail-in election deadlines. state laws What follows is an examination of federal documents obtained by Snopes  including letters by members of Congress, campaign finance reports, and internal memos to Postal Service employees  as well as interviews with postal union representatives and a Postal Service spokesperson, to determine the legitimacy of those questions. DeJoy could not be reached for an interview for this report.  Note: Snopes not only investigated DeJoy's relationship to Trump, but his financial stake in companies that compete with the Postal Service to evaluate if, or to what extent, his past investments provided any evidence of a plan to undermine the Postal Service's longstanding mission: to provide mail service to every American, no matter their address or income. Yes. DeJoy, who lives in Greensboro, donated more than $1.2 million to the Trump campaign between August 2016 and February 2020, according to campaign finance reports compiled by the Federal Elections Commission (FEC). Federal Elections Commission It's unclear when or how DeJoy developed a relationship with Trump, and why he decided to support the billionaire's political pursuits. In a 2005 interview with Greensboro's local newspaper, DeJoy  then-CEO of New Breed Logistics, a distribution and warehousing company  appeared less supportive of Trump, saying his self-important attitude on the reality-TV show \"The Apprentice\" was destructive. 2005 interview The Apprentice \"I'd be fired,\" DeJoy said, if he was a contestant. Nonetheless, by early 2017, DeJoy was among his state's top donors to Trump (see below for The Charlotte Observer's list that ranks DeJoy at No. 3 with a total contribution of $111,000). And by October of that year, DeJoy had become close enough to the president to host him and other donors for fundraiser at his Greensboro house. top donors Greensboro house.     Also, by that time, DeJoy's wife, Aldona Wos, had been appointed by the president to serve as vice chair of a White House commission that oversees paid fellowships in federal offices, according to the couple's foundation website. foundation website In addition to his contributions to Trump's political campaigns specifically, DeJoy has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican causes or campaigns over decades, the FEC records show. The Postal Service's governing board, a group appointed by the president with confirmation from the Senate, selected DeJoy as Postmaster General on May 6, 2020, after what it described as an extensive nationwide search for qualified candidates. At the time of that decision, Trump had appointed all six board members  Chairman Robert Duncan, John Barger, Ron Bloom, Roman Martinez IV, Donald Moak, and William Zollars  since the early days of his presidency. what it described Robert Duncan John Barger Ron Bloom Roman Martinez IV Donald Moak William Zollars  DeJoy, who was in charge of fundraising for the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Charlotte when the board made its announcement, made the following donations since the start of 2020, according to filings from the FEC: National Republican Congressional Committee. National Republican Congressional Committee Facebook In sum, considering DeJoy's record of donations, as well as evidence of him hosting a Trump fundraiser at his Greensboro home in fall 2017, it is accurate to claim that the new postmaster general is a political ally to the Republican president.  home The answer to this question is less clear. In summer 2020, the viral claim about DeJoy  that he had directed carriers to delay mail to benefit Trump's reelection campaign (which we unpack below)  took on another layer: that DeJoy had also allegedly invested $70 million of his own money in delivery companies that compete with the Postal Service. another layer allegedly     That allegation, which we deemed true (see the explanation below), was particularly worrisome for critics of Trump and DeJoy, who believed the alleged holdings were more proof of the two leaders conspiring together  this time in an attempt to privatize the Postal Service. critics Here's some context before we dive into DeJoy's personal assets: Conservative Republicans have long pushed to remove government from mail services that they believe should be left to the private commercial market. Since Trump took office, he has called the Postal Service \"a joke\" or Amazon's \"delivery boy,\" considering its package rates, and has floated the idea of eventually privatizing the agency. a joke delivery boy eventually privatizing the agency Meanwhile, others fear dismantling the federally-mandated mail service would disproportionately affect people who live in rural areas, where private companies such as FedEx and UPS either charge higher rates or do no shipments at all. At the same time, the Postal Service  which does not receive tax dollars for its operating expenses  faces a worsening financial situation due to a 2006 congressional mandate that required the agency to prepay health care benefits of retirees, as well as a decline in first-class mail customers. The coronavirus pandemic exacerbated those long-standing problems, forcing several post offices nationwide to completely close or scale back hours. congressional mandate coronavirus pandemic scale back hours For instance, on April 9, 2020, roughly one month before DeJoy was selected to lead the Postal Service, then-Postmaster General Megan Brennan said the agency was preparing for a $13 billion revenue shortfall due directly to COVID-19 and an additional $54.3 billion in losses over 10 years. Considering those projections, she said the agency could run out of cash this fiscal year  or the end of September  without federal intervention. (Brennan announced her retirement in October 2019, after more than 30 years with the agency.) April 9, 2020 announced her retirement The former Postal Service leader made those comments shortly after federal leaders negotiated a $2.2 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package, called the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which, initially, included a $13 billion one-time boost for the mail service. But, purportedly at the urging of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and aides to Trump, congressional leaders removed that provision from the stimulus package, and instead included a $10 billion loan that the Trump administration could leverage in its favor. Then, on July 29, 2020, The Washington Post reported that under DeJoy's leadership, the postal agency gave Mnuchin's office's proprietary information about the Postal Service's most lucrative private-sector contracts, such as Amazon, FedEx and UPS, in exchange for the loan money. economic relief package Steven Mnuchin The Washington Post By that time, Congressional leaders and Trump were battling yet again over another emergency relief package; Democrats proposed a $25 billion boost for the Postal Service but then lowered that amount to $10 billion during talks with Republicans. On Aug. 13, 2020, during an interview on Fox Business Network, the president said frankly the tug-and-pull over Postal Service funding was part of his administration's plan to try to make it harder for the agency to handle the expected surge in mail-in ballots in the November election. If we dont make a deal, that means they dont get the money, Trump told host Maria Bartiromo, referring to the false claim that Democrats are are proposing a universal mail-in voting system. That means they cant have universal mail-in voting; they just cant have it. told Which brings us to DeJoy's assets, and the above-mentioned claim that he had \"$70 million invested in companies that compete with USPS.\" For the basis of this analysis, we considered private companies that provide shipping or distribution services, such as DHL, the FedEx Corporation, and United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS), business competitors with the post office. For more than 30 years, DeJoy was the CEO of New Breed Logistics, a supply chain business that contracted with a variety of public and private companies, including the Postal Service. In 2014, XPO Logistics acquired DeJoy's company, and he served on the company's executive team or board of directors until May 2018. According to internal documents, which we obtained using the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) database of company filings, XPO Logistics considered its competitors to include DHL, FedEx, UPS, and J.B. Hunt Transport Services.  XPO Logistics DHL FedEx UPS J.B. Hunt Transport Services Aside from that evidence, which proved DeJoy's former company competed for business with organizations that also competed with the Postal Service, Snopes uncovered a letter from his wife, Wos, to a White House legal advisor on January 3, 2020, that listed her family's financial assets, known as \"Attachment A.\" According to that list, the family had stock in companies including UPS, J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc., and XPO Logistics, Inc. letter She wrote the letter in response to a nomination by the Trump administration to serve as U.S. ambassador to Canada, and she said she would divest from all holdings in the document within 90 days of her confirmation. However, as of this writing, Wos had not been sworn into the position. The letter, which was available via the Office of Government Ethics, read: nomination Office of Government Ethics   As of June 15, 2020, the day DeJoy assumed his role as postmaster general, The Washington Post reported the couple had between $30.1 million and $75.3 million in assets in Postal Service competitors or contractors. XPO Logistics represented the vast majority of those investments, and the couple's combined stake in UPS and trucking company J.B. Hunt, for examples, was roughly $265,000. The Washington Post reported On DeJoy's first day, the Senate's top Democrat, Charles Schumer of New York, said in letter to the Postal Service's board of governors' chairman: \"[DeJoy's] financial interests in companies that have business ties with the Postal Services, as well as his extensive campaign fundraising efforts, raise questions\" over his ethical conflicts of interest and partisan interests. letter By that point, a spokeswoman for DeJoy told journalists he had resigned as finance chair for the Republican National Convention, and would \"comply with any financial divestitures that are required\" for the new leadership position. told journalists In sum, reports proved the DeJoy family at one point had millions of dollars in assets in companies that compete or contract with the Postal Service, which lend credibility to the viral assertion. But the exact amount of such investments was unclear, and as of this writing, it was unknown if or to what extent the couple had divested any of the financial holdings. Not exactly  but there is some truth to the claim. Upon our analysis, the rumor seems to have stemmed from a series of directives DeJoy gave Postal Service employees since he took over the agency. On his first day, for example, he addressed the agency in a video that alluded to impending changes under his leadership that aimed to create a \"viable operating model,\" though he did not go into specifics. video Then, in mid-July, he issued several memos to employees, including a \"New [Postmaster General's] expectations and plan.\" Those messages to all managers, clerks, and carriers nationwide appeared to be the source of the claim, and detailed changes to how and when the Postal Agency would deliver mail. A July 10, 2020, internal document to managers, which Snopes received from the American Postal Workers Union and refers to an \"operational pivot\" for the agency, said the following, for example: American Postal Workers Union The initial step in our pivot is targeted on transportation and the soaring costs we incur due to late trips and extra trips, which costs the organization somewhere around $200 million in added expenses. $200 million in added expenses The shifts are simple, but they will be challenging, as we seek to change our culture and move away from past practices previously used. But perhaps most relevant to the claim, the DeJoy-sponsored directives included instructions for employees to leave letters or packages at distribution centers if they delayed carriers from their routes  contradicting previous rules for deliveries  and said the Postal Service would no longer pay employees overtime to complete all mail deliveries. The July 10, 2020 memo said:  contradicting One aspect of these changes that may be difficult for employees is that  temporarily  we may see mail left behind or mail on the workroom floor or docks [in Processing and Distribution Centers], which is not typical. We will address root causes of these delays and adjust the very next day. Any mail left behind must be properly reported, and employees should ensure this action is taken with integrity and accuracy. As we adjust to the ongoing pivot, which will have a number of phases, we know that operations will begin to run more efficiently and that delayed mail volumes will soon shrink significantly. We also considered a separate message to employees in July 2020 that said, under a new initiative, carriers in certain regions would not sort any mail during the morning and instead clock in, retrieve sorted mail from the previous day and limit time in the office as much as possible. Then, when they returned from the streets, they would sort all available mail for the next day. July 2020 The agency said the extra spending on employees' overtime or delivery trips had not improved \"our performance scores,\" without going into detail on what that meant, and framed the changes as necessary steps to improve its financial position. A July 27, 2020, public statement from DeJoy said: said public statement Given our current situation, it is critical that the Postal Service take a fresh look at our operations and make necessary adjustments. We are highly focused on our public service mission to provide prompt, reliable, and efficient service to every person and business in this country, and to remain a part of the nations critical infrastructure. David Partenheimer, manager of media relations for the Postal Service, told Snopes that the postmaster general was not doing any media interviews regarding the initiatives, nor about the underlying claims of this report. In a roughly 760-word email to us, however, Partenheimer reemphasized what the agency viewed as the need for the adjustments, and said: \"We acknowledge that temporary service impacts can occur as we redouble our efforts to conform to the current operating plans, but any such impacts will be monitored and temporary ... and corrected as appropriate.\" Soon after the directives, American Postal Workers Union President Mark Dimondstein told us in a phone interview that employees and customers across the country were noticing mail delays. In the Philadelphia region, for instance, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported situations where residents were going upwards of three weeks without receiving packages and letters, and postal union leaders and carriers said mail was piling up at offices, unscanned and unsorted. Mark Dimondstein employees Philadelphia Inquirer \"When you ... say this is what you have to do as workers, then that's what we have to do  [the change] runs counter to everything that the Postal Service is about, which is we treat the mail as our own; we get it to the customer as quickly as we can,\" Dimondstein said. \"They've never seen mail backed up like this  it's not being moved.\" That meant, while DeJoy had not told carriers to \"slow the mail down\" verbatim, he initiated changes to how and when carriers go about doing their job that the Postal Agency said would cause temporary mail delays. However, it would be inaccurate to assume all slow deliveries under DeJoy's leadership were a result of the July 2020 directives specifically, when they could also be linked to reduced hours for some post offices or other circumstances. Roughly three months before the 2020 presidential election, voting rights groups and outspoken critics to the president believed the new directives by DeJoy occurred at a convenient time for Trump: when a record number of Americans were preparing to vote by mail and avoid potential exposure to the COVID-19 coronavirus by casting ballots at in-person polling places. Specifically, they worried the new requirements for post office carriers and clerks would lead to backlogs of mail-in ballots and thus create challenges for elections officials who, in the majority of states, must invalidate ballots that reach them after Election Day  even if they were postmarked before that date. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat from New York, for example, led colleagues in writing a letter to DeJoy on July 20, 2020, that said: Rep. Carolyn Maloney \"While these changes [to mail service] in a normal year would be drastic, in a presidential election year when many states are relying heavily on absentee mail-in ballots, increases in mail delivery timing would impair the ability of ballots to be received and counted in a timely manner  an unacceptable outcome for a free and fair election.\" We asked Dimondstein, APWU president, whether he believed the July directives by Postal Service leadership were somehow linked to a plan to cause mail service chaos before the November election and help Trump win reelection. He said: What we do know for truth is this administration is, in written record, proposing and planning to sell the post office to private corporations, i.e. privatizing...That was June 2018. We also know as a fact that ...that [there are] calls for reduced service, increased prices, and less workers' rights and benefits. So if you take those two things together, certainly if they're implemented, then they're going to cause delays in mail; they're going to cause service being undermined... written record This is a fact: [DeJoy is] what's considered a mega-donor of the Trump administration and the Republican party... Anything that undermines the Postal Service' [service to customers] ... has us concerned that it could be linked back to those who have an agenda to eliminate [the Postal Service]. But I can't sit here and tell you that that's a fact. Partenheimer said any notion that DeJoy made decisions for the Postal Service under directions from Trump (which include claims that he issued the July 2020 changes that resulted in delays to help Trump's re-election campaign) were \"wholly misplaced and off-base.\" He said the Postal Service, typically an apolitical agency, remains committed to \"fulfilling our role in the electoral process\" in places where politicians allow voters to cast ballots by mail and \"to delivering Election Mail in a timely manner consistent with our operational standards.\" He elaborated: \"[Despite] any assertions to the contrary, we are not slowing down Election Mail or any other mail. Instead, we continue to employ a robust and proven process to ensure proper handling of all Election Mail consistent with our standards.\" Days later, he said in a statement to news media that certain deadlines concerning mail-in ballots, may be incompatible with the Postal Services delivery standards, especially if election officials dont pay more for first-class postage. To the extent that states choose to use the mail as part of their elections, they should do so in a manner that realistically reflects how the mail works, he said. news media Then, on Aug. 18, 2020, DeJoy issued a statement in which he said he would temporarily suspend initiatives \"that have been raised as areas of concern as the nation prepares to hold an election in the midst of a devastating pandemic,\" including the controversial July 2020 directives that eliminated overtime and some delivery trips. The statement read: statement To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded. I want to assure all Americans of the following: In addition, effective Oct. 1, we will engage standby resources in all areas of our operations, including transportation, to satisfy any unforeseen demand. In sum, it was accurate to state that DeJoy, a political ally to Trump, ordered Postal Service workers to leave late-arriving mail at distribution centers for delivery the following day and eliminate extra trips in July 2020  a change the Postal Service was expecting to cause temporary mail delays  although no verifiable evidence proved those directives were part of a deliberate scheme to disenfranchise voters in the November 2020 election. Additionally, there was no proof to show the changes aimed to help Trump win reelection. For those reasons, we rate this claim \"Unproven.\" Ye Hee Lee, Michelle and Bogage, Jacob. \"Postal Service Backlog Sparks Worries That Ballot Delivery Could Be Delayed In November\".\r The Washington Post. 30 July 2020. Naylor, Brian. \"Pending Postal Service Changes Could Delay Mail And Deliveries, Advocates War\".\r NPR. 29 July 2020. Naylor, Brian. \"Pending Postal Service Changes Could Delay Mail And Deliveries, Advocates War\".\r NPR. 29 July 2020. USPS Contributor. \"What Is The History Behind The Unofficial USPS Motto?\"\r Postal Posts. 11 September 2015. USPS. \"Postmaster General Statement On Operational Excellence And Financial Stability\".\r 27 July 2020. Office of Inspector General. \"U.S. Postal Service's Processing Network Optimization And Service Impacts\".\r USPS. 16 June 2020. Dawsey, Josh, et. al. \"Top Republican Fundraiser And Trump Ally Named Postmaster General, Giving President New Influence Over Postal Service\".\r The Washington Post. 6 May 2020. Bogage, Jacob. \"Postal Service Memos Detail 'Difficult' Changes, Including Slower Mail Delivery\".\r The Washington Post. 14 July 2020. Naylor, Brian. \"New Postmaster General Is Top GOP Fundraiser\".\r NPR. 7 May 2020. Hummel, Marta. \"New Breed CEO No One's 'Apprentice' Louis DeJoy Is A Big Supporter Of George W. Bush But Says The Clinton Era Was His Most Profitable\".\r News & Record. 7 January 2005. Heckman, Jory. \"USPS Board Names Logistics Executive As New Postmaster General\".\r Federal News Network. 6 May 2020. Gordon, Aaron. \"USPS Plans To Slash Hours At Many Post Offices, Hoping To Save A Buck\".\r Vice. 29 July 2020. Cohen, Rachel. \"USPS Workers Concerned New Policies Will Pave The Way To Privatization\".\r The Intercept. 29 July 2020. Derysh, Igor. \"With Trump Donor In Charge, Postal Service May Shut Locations And Cut Service Before Election Day\".\r Salon. 31 July 2020. Rushing, Ellie. \"Mail Delays Are Frustrating Philly Residents, And A Short-Staffed Postal Service Is Struggling To Keep Up\".\r The Philadelphia Inquirer. 2 August 2020. Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney. \"Maloney, King Lead Bipartisan NY Delegation Call For Immediate Help For The Postal Service\".\r 28 April 2020. House Committee On Oversight And Reform. \"Senior Democrats Request Information On Postal Service's Operational Changes\".\r 20 July 2020. Bogage, Jacob. \"Trump Ally Takes Over Crisis-Ridden Postal Service As Top Senate Democrat Demands Inquiry On Hiring\".\r The Washington Post. 15 June 2020. Murphy, Brian. \"NC Businessman, A Big-Time GOP Donor, Is Tapped To Lead US Postal Service\".\r The News & Observer. 7 May 2020. Shear, Michael. \"Mail Delays Fuel Concern Trump Is Undercutting Postal Service Ahead Of Voting\".\r The New York Times. 1 August 2020. Sargent, Greg. \"Trump Just Told Us How Mail Delays Could Help Him Corrupt The Election\".\r The Washington Post. 31 July 2020. Reichmann, Deb, and Izaguirre, Anthony. \"Trump Admits He's Blocking Postal Cash To Stop Mail-In Votes.\"\r Associated Press. 14 August 2020. USPS. \"Postmaster General Louis DeJoy Statement.\"\r 18 August 2020. This report was updated to include an interview by Trump with Fox Business Network on Aug. 13, 2020, where he acknowledged that he was intentionally blocking Postal Service funding in an attempt to make it harder for the agency to process mail-in ballots in the November presidential election. This report was updated to include a statement by DeJoy on Aug. 18, 2020, in which he announced the suspension of certain initiatives \"to avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail.\"","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1MuxtC2mF0rUC5-PEEJmw62FLR6FaqGoA"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1pZkbxPhoKP6eD3QxjYokkLY9HQlc7bOp"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1t619KoLVfE5ypRgBNN2FW5XytonAhhKO"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1K_dV52S5RuURK2H9K8kFrobwDTGSR-9F"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1N32A62GPp6gNGVbQNrMuCC8yKdHzf2A0"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=11x0twvb0Vc-xoqiG4-hbZ3varF1Jj-sP"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1287","claim":"A tax plan promoted by North Carolina Senate candidate Thom Tillis will overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy.","posted":"07\/25\/2014","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Controversial changes to North Carolinas tax code passed under Thom Tillis leadership are now a target in his Senate campaign. In 2013, the North Carolina government received national attention for a wave of conservative legislation. The Republican-dominated General Assembly -- with Tillis as speaker of the House -- passed laws increasing voter ID requirements, lowering business regulations, upping restrictions on abortion providers,tightening education spendingand trimming unemployment benefits. Now, Patriot Majority USA, a liberal political action committee, hasreleased a television adsaying Tillis policies have disproportionately benefited the wealthy. The ad notes in particular thetax legislationenacted last summer -- which Tillis touts in his campaign against incumbent Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan. The ad says Tillis is cozy with Charles and David Koch, the billionaire brothers who cofounded Americans for Prosperity, an influential conservative PAC. And his policies are designed to benefit people like them. Thom Tillis thinks the wealthy, like the Koch brothers, deserve tax breaks, while teachers get a pay freeze, the ad says. Tillis thinks corporations like the ones owned by the Koch brothers should also get tax breaks, while seniors see their pensions taxed and pay more for prescription drugs. Thom Tillis: He may not be a Koch brother, but he certainly treats them like family. At one point, text on the screen says the Tillis tax plan will overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy. We looked into it and found that the law does not overtly harm those at lower-income levels, but the wealthy reap more of the benefits. Lets go to the numbers. Income taxes Supporters of the tax plan most often point to the reduced income tax rate, which they say cuts taxes for people in every income bracket. Thats true. However, people in higher-income brackets get bigger cuts than those in the lowest brackets. The income taxpart of the law sets the rate for everyone at 5.75 percent. Previously, the state had a graduated three-tier system, with rates of 6 percent for the lowest earners, and rates of 7 percent and 7.75 percent for higher earners. The lowest earners tax rates shrunk only marginally -- 0.25 points, while higher earners rates went down 1.25 and 2 points, respectively. Lower earners get a small break, though, in the income tax changes. The child tax credit goes from $100 to $125 per child for those earning below $40,000. The North Carolina Legislatures Fiscal Research Divisioncalculated how muchpeople in various scenarios would owe on average based on the changes to the income tax (other tax changes not included). Heres a sample of what they found: Scenario Tax owed before change Tax owed after change Change in taxes owed Married, two children, $20,000 income $40 $38 -$2 -5% change Married, two children, $250,000 income $15,832 $13,398 -$2,434 -15% change Married, no children, $20,000 income $540 $288 -$252 -47% change Married, no children, $250,000 income $16,142 $13,398 -$2,744 -17% change Single, $20,000 income $870 $719 -$151 -17% change Single, $250,000 income $17,858 $13,786 -$4,072 -22% change  In none of the scenarios examined by the Fiscal Research Division do people owe more in income taxes than they did under the previous tax code. But some benefit more than others. Theres no question who benefits the most -- the people at the upper end of the income distribution, said Lawrence Zelenak, a tax law professor at the Duke University School of Law, which is in North Carolina. For most people, it hardly makes any difference. But the people who get the major decrease have incomes of $200,000 or more. Other changes Critics say the new tax law also disproportionately benefits the wealthy because the Legislature did not renew -- effectively eliminating -- the State Earned Income Tax Credit, which is a refundable tax credit for low-income workers. In 2011, about 907,000 North Carolina tax filers claimed the state EITC, according to theNorth Carolina Justice Center, a liberal advocacy group. The maximum credit ranges between $24 for a single person and $302 for a family with three or more children. Additionally, the Legislature expanded the sales tax base -- making more goods and services subject to the tax, which everyone pays regardless of income. The tax base widened to include natural gas, electricity and some entertainment services, including admissions charges. The law also eliminated North Carolinas sales tax holidays and several sales tax exemptions, such as those for newspapers, vending machines and meals sold in schools. Opponents of raising the sales tax andother regressive taxessay they are unfairly burdensome on lower-income people because a higher percentage of their income is subject to these taxes than wealthier people. For example, if two people -- one making $500 a week and the other making $2,000 a week -- spend $100 each on groceries, the person with the lower income is spending a greater share of their income on these taxed items than the person with a higher income. Its worth noting that in 2011 -- Tillis first year as speaker -- the Legislature reduced sales tax rates from 5.75 percent to 4.75 percent. Tillis andother Republicansalso say the new laws reductions in corporate tax rates (down from 6.9 percent to 5 percent, and 3 percent if certain parameters are met) will bring business and jobs to North Carolina, which will benefit everyone and bring in more revenue over the long term. In total, the new tax code will reduce tax-collected revenue by about $684 million between 2013 and 2015, according to the Fiscal Research Division. Less revenue means less money for the state to spend on social programs, which hurts people in low income brackets, Zelenak said. Even if the law does not obviously harm poor people, this is a possible indirect effect. Our ruling A Patriot Majority USA ad said Tillis tax plan would overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy. North Carolinas tax code saw a wide array of changes in 2013 under Tillis leadership. We found that changes to the income tax code reduced taxes for everyone, but much more for wealthier people than lower-income people. Additionally, sales tax expansions, less government revenue and eliminating the state EITC are especially burdensome on poorer people. But some changes -- such as the increased child credit for lower-income tax filers and the possibility of more jobs and business due to lowered corporate tax rates -- could benefit the whole. Overwhelmingly is a strong word. For that reason, we rate this claim Mostly True.","issues":["National","State Budget","Welfare","Taxes"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1288","claim":"Says U.S. corporate tax rate is highest in the world at 35 percent.","posted":"11\/01\/2012","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Finally, a point where Republicans and at least one prominent Democrat agree.LikePresident Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, Austins U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul says corporate tax rates are too high.To a recentvoters guidequestion on how to combat unemployment, McCaul -- a Republican seeking another term representing the 10th Congressional District -- gave responses that included lowering Americas corporate tax rate, highest in the world at 35 percent.A decrease to 25 percent would stop driving American businesses overseas, McCaul said in the guide, produced by the Austin and Texas chapters of the League of Women Voters and theAustin American-Statesman. McCaul faces Tawana Cadien (Democrat) and Richard Priest (Libertarian) on Nov. 6.PolitiFact has recently checked corporate tax rate claims with a different figure, so we decided to compare this statement.McCaul spokesman Mike Rosen told us by email that 35 percent is the top statutory rate for U.S. corporate taxes, citing an April 5, 2012,backgrounderfrom the Council on Foreign Relations.The council, an independent, nonpartisan think-tank, said the U.S. had the highest corporate tax rate in the world by two measures: Excluding state and local taxes, the rate was 35 percent. With those sub-national taxes, the rate was 39.2 percent.Most news stories we read while researching this fact-check used the latter rate -- combining federal, state and local. Thats the yardstick used in related PolitiFact articles, and its also the statistic that made headlines when an April 1, 2012, rate cut took effect in Japan and moved the U.S. into first place. The rest of the top five are France, Belgium and Germany, according to a September 2011reportby the Washington-based Tax Foundation that gave 2012 federal-plus-state\/local rates, weighted to reflect the economies sizes so that small countries would not have a disproportional effect on the average. OECD statutory corporate tax rates, 2012  Source: Tax Foundation 2011report The foundations 2011 report and most of the news articles we read for this story limited their comparisons to advanced industrialized countries -- often citing the34 membersof the global Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. We asked foundation spokesman Richard Morrison for help tracking down country-by-country rates that did not include taxes below the federal level, to make an apples-to-apples comparison with McCauls 35 percent.Morrison pointed us, via email, to anOECD web pagewith achartshowing those numbers for 2012.The U.S. rate of 35 percent is the highest on the chart, with the other OECD nations averaging 23.6 percent (figures that, unlike the statistics cited above, are not weighted to reflect size of national economies).So McCauls statement holds true for federal-level-only corporate tax rates as well as for the state\/local-plus-federal rate.Butrecent PolitiFact itemshave also taken into account the rate corporations pay after deductions and exemptions, called the effective rate.In anAug. 27, 2012, Truth-O-Meter article, PolitiFact New Jersey wrote, When you factor in various tax breaks, the rate actually paid by U.S. businesses has been among the highest in the world, but not in first place, studies show.The 2011 foundationreportsummarized 13 studies of effective corporate tax rates across the world, which used different methodologies and were not limited to the OECD roster. The smallest study compared 10 countries; the largest, 183.Those studies found the U.S. effective tax rate ranging from 23 percent to 34.9 percent, which often placed it in the top five, but never No. 1.But the U.S. hit the top spot in a more recent report. Morrison told us the latest such comparison was made in September 2012 for the libertarian Cato Institute. Thatreportcalculated the U.S. effective rate at 35.6 percent and ranked it highest among OECD nations but fourth among all 90 nations it examined.How did U.S. rates get to be among the highest? Actually, other countries dropped theirs, we learned by phone from Jonathan Masters, author of the Council on Foreign Relations piece.We found succinct descriptions of the history in Time magazine and The Hill, a Washington, D.C. newspaper. An April 2, 2012, Timeblog postsays that while the U.S. rate stayed steady for two decades, the trend internationally has been towards lower corporate tax rates. The Hills Aug. 27, 2012blog postsays that in 1986, the OECD nations average corporate tax was 50 percent, but today, its 25 percent for those countries -- it has fallen in half. Meanwhile, the U.S. rate, which fell from 46 percent to 34 percent as a result of tax reform in 1986, is now stuck at 35 percent.Our rulingMcCaul said the U.S. corporate tax rate is the highest in the world at 35 percent.The rate set by federal statute is the highest, both by itself and when considering the federal rate plus state and local taxes.However, theres much less consensus about effective corporate tax rates -- the rates corporations actually pay. Studies dont even agree on what the U.S. effective rate is, pegging it between 23 percent and 35.6 percent. Older studies put the U.S. near the top; a recent study says the U.S. is No. 1 among OECD nations.We rate McCauls statement as Mostly True.","issues":["Economy","Federal Budget","Jobs","Taxes","Texas"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1gZX7Vx-xQKVLRrmOi3udzrCAaUy-vjDa","image_caption":"Austin American-Statesman"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1289","claim":"Marco Polo on Muslims","posted":"01\/23\/2015","sci_digest":["Rumor: Marco Polo commented on the difference between 'militant' and 'moderate' Muslims."],"justification":" Claim:  Marco Polo said: \"The militant Muslim is the person who beheads the infidel, while the moderate Muslim holds the feet of the victim.\"  Example:  [Collected via e-mail, January 2015] A quote attributed to Marco Polo.  Marco Polo, a Venetian merchant whose travels are recorded in the Book of the Marvels of the World, was the first to leave a detailed chronicle of his travel experience through Central Asia and China. \"The militant Muslim is the person who beheads the infidel, while the moderate Muslim holds the feet of the victim.\" Is this accurate and attributed to Polo? Origins:  The Book of the Marvels of the World, more commonly known in English as The Travels of Marco Polo, is a travelogue compiled in the 13th century by Rustichello da Pisa.  The work was based on accounts told to da Pisa by Venetian merchant traveler Marco Polo when the two men were imprisoned together in Genoa and comprises tales of Polo's world travels and his experiences at the court of Kublai Khan.  The  Book of the Marvels of the World includes descriptions of a number of different cultures and comments about the religion of Islam, but neither Marco Polo nor the compiler of his travel tales wrote a \"militant Muslim is the person who beheads the infidel, while the moderate Muslim holds the feet of the victim.\" The referenced quote has been circulating on the Internet for several years and seems to have originated in an article titled \"The Alien Concept of Free Speech\" published on a web site called Islamic Scriptures Unveiled.  That article offered up several quotes from \"great thinkers\" about Islam, including the phrase that has since been attributed to Marco Polo. But credit for that quotation was given to a professor of philosophy named Dr. M. Sabieski, not the famous Venetian traveler.  originated It's uncertain when Marco Polo's name became incorrectly attached to the \"militant Muslim\" quote, but it probably started after the Islam Watch web site reproduced the quotes used in the \"Alien Concepts of Free Speech\" article in August 2008. Islam Watch changed the order of many of the quotes and placed Marco Polo's name below the words originally attributed to Sabieski: reproduced  These quotes have subsequently been copied and pasted to various blogs over the years, and somewhere along the line Dr. M. Sabieski's name was elided.  An e-mail circulated in January 2015 under the title \"Marco Polo Got It Right\" included the quote superimposed over an image of Marco Polo: Marco Polo got it right. Marco Polo, a Venetian merchant whose travels are recorded in the Book of the Marvels of the World, was the first to leave a detailed chronicle of his travel experience through Central Asia and China.  There is no mention of \"moderate\" or \"militant\" Muslims in Book of the Marvels of the World. Marco Polo's name apparently became attached to the quotation now credited to him only because his name appeared in close proximity to the statement when it was reproduced online in 2008.  So that's the end of that, right? Well, the origins of the quote are still something a mystery, as no reliable information about Dr. M. Sabieski, the professor of philosophy who was originally credited for these words, is currently available. Last updated:  23 January 2015 ","issues":["credit"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1YVlZKwiw-ZvRZJWlxXW7me6gFPRtzD0M","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1B0h85d2BKwgg1tbAbWSApbwGTh7JnVmD","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1yV0DfkwylklHbwlVapJlVMQM6uZspjFt","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1290","claim":"Mathias Dopfner on Europe Cowardice","posted":"02\/02\/2005","sci_digest":["Did German publisher Mathias Dpfner write an editorial blasting the timidity of Europe?"],"justification":"Claim:  Axel Springer CEO Mathias Dpfner wrote an editorial for Die Welt blasting Europe for its timidity in confronting Islamic fanaticism.  Example:  [Dpfner, 2004] A few days ago Henry Broder wrote in Welt am Sonntag, \"Europe  your family name is appeasement.\" It's a phrase you can't get out of your head because it's so terribly true. Appeasement cost millions of Jews and non-Jews their lives as England and France, allies at the time, negotiated and hesitated too long before they noticed that Hitler had to be fought, not bound to toothless agreements. Appeasement legitimized and stabilized Communism in the Soviet Union, then East Germany, then all the rest of Eastern Europe where for decades, inhuman, suppressive, murderous governments were glorified as the ideologically correct alternative to all other possibilities. Appeasement crippled Europe when genocide ran rampant in Kosovo, and, even though we had absolute proof of ongoing mass-murder, we Europeans debated and debated and debated, and were still debating when finally the Americans had to come from halfway around the world, into Europe yet again, and do our work for us. Rather than protecting democracy in the Middle East, European appeasement, camouflaged behind the fuzzy word \"equidistance,\" now countenances suicide bombings in Israel by fundamentalist Palestinians. Appeasement generates a mentality that allows Europe to ignore nearly 500,000 victims of Saddam's torture and murder machinery and, motivated by the self-righteousness of the peace-movement, has the gall to issue bad grades to George Bush... Even as it is uncovered that the loudest critics of the American action in Iraq made illicit billions, no, TENS of billions, in the corrupt U. N. Oil-for-Food program. And now we are faced with a particularly grotesque form of appeasement. How is Germany reacting to the escalating violence by Islamic fundamentalists in Holland and elsewhere? By suggesting that we really should have a \"Muslim Holiday\" in Germany. I wish I were joking, but I am not. A substantial fraction of our (German) Government, and if the polls are to be believed, the German people, actually believe that creating an Official State \"Muslim Holiday\" will somehow spare us from the wrath of the fanatical Islamists. One cannot help but recall Britain's Neville Chamberlain waving the laughable treaty signed by Adolph Hitler, and declaring European \"Peace in our time\". What else has to happen before the European public and its political leadership get it? There is a sort of crusade underway, an especially perfidious crusade consisting of systematic attacks by fanatic Muslims, focused on civilians, directed against our free, open Western societies, and intent upon Western Civilization's utter destruction. It is a conflict that will most likely last longer than any of the great military conflicts of the last century - a conflict conducted by an enemy that cannot be tamed by \"tolerance\" and \"accommodation\" but is actually spurred on by such gestures, which have proven to be, and will always be taken by the Islamists for signs of weakness. Only two recent American Presidents had the courage needed for anti-appeasement: Reagan and Bush. His American critics may quibble over the details, but we Europeans know the truth. We saw it first hand: Ronald Reagan ended the Cold War, freeing half of the German people from nearly 50 years of terror and virtual slavery. And Bush, supported only by the Social Democrat Blair, acting on moral conviction, recognized the danger in the Islamic War against democracy. His place in history will have to be evaluated after a number of years have passed. In the meantime, Europe sits back with charismatic self-confidence in the multicultural corner, instead of defending liberal society's values and being an attractive center of power on the same playing field as the true great powers, America and China. On the contrary, we Europeans present ourselves, in contrast to those \"arrogant Americans\", as the World Champions of \"tolerance\", which even Otto Schily justifiably criticizes. Why? Because we're so moral? I fear it's more because we're so materialistic, so devoid of a moral compass. For his policies, Bush risks the fall of the dollar, huge amounts of additional national debt, and a massive and persistent burden on the American economy, because unlike almost all of Europe, Bush realizes what is at stake  literally everything. While we criticize the \"capitalistic robber barons\" of America because they seem too sure of their priorities, we timidly defend our Social Welfare systems. Stay out of it! It could get expensive! We'd rather discuss reducing our 35-hour workweek or our dental coverage, or our 4 weeks of paid vacation, or listen to TV pastors preach about the need to \"Reach out to terrorists, to understand and forgive\". These days, Europe reminds me of an old woman who, with shaking hands, frantically hides her last pieces of jewelry when she notices a robber breaking into a neighbor's house. Appeasement? Europe, thy name is Cowardice. Origins:   The editorial reproduced above, entitled \"Europe, Thy Name Is Cowardice,\" was written by Mathias Dpfner, CEO of the large German publishing firm Axel Springer, and published in the German periodical Die Welt on 20 November 2004. Axel Springer published However, many of the English-language translations of this editorial that have been circulated via the Internet (such as the one reproduced above) include alterations or additional invective not present in the original.  Here is our own translation, which we have prepared to be as faithful to the original as possible: A few days ago, Henryk M. Broder wrote in the Welt am Sonntag, \"Europe  thy name is appeasement.\" It's a phrase you can't get out of your head because it's so painfully true.  Appeasement cost millions of Jews and Gentiles their lives as England and France, allies at the time, negotiated and hesitated far too long before realizing that Hitler had to be fought, not bound to agreements. Appeasement stabilized the Communist Soviet Union and the former East Germany, those parts of Eastern Europe where inhuman, suppressive governments were glorified as the ideological alternative. Appeasement crippled Europe when genocide ran rampant in Kosovo, and we debated and debated and were still debating when the Americans finally came in and did our work for us. Rather than protecting the only democracy in the Middle East, European appeasement, camouflaged behind the fuzzy word \"equidistance,\" relativizes the fundamentalist Palestinian suicide bombings in Israel. Appeasement generates a mentality that allows Europe to condone the 300,000 victims of Saddam's torture and murder machinery in Iraq and condemn the actions of George Bush in the self-righteousness of the peace movement. And in the end it is also appeasement at its most grotesque when Germany reacts to the escalating violence of Islamic fundamentalists in Holland and elsewhere by proposing a national Muslim holiday.   What else has to happen before the European public and its political leadership realize that there is a form of crusade underway, an especially perfidious one of systematic attacks by fanatic Muslims targeting civilians, directed against our free, open Western societies. This is a conflict that will likely last longer than any of the great military conflicts of the last century, waged by an adversary who cannot be tamed by tolerance and accommodation but is instead spurred on by such gestures, mistaking them as signs of weakness.  Two recent American presidents had the courage needed for staunch anti-appeasement: Reagan and Bush. Ronald Reagan ended the Cold War, and Bush  supported only by the persuasive Social Democrat politician Tony Blair  recognized the danger in the Islamic war against democracy. His place in history will need to be evaluated a number of years down the road.  In the meantime, Europe snuggles into its multicultural niche instead of defending the values of a liberal society with charismatic certitude and acting as a positive center of power in a delicate balance between the true global powers, America and China. We instead present ourselves as the world champions of tolerance against the intolerants, which even Otto Schily [Germany's former Federal Minister of the Interior] justifiably criticizes. And why, actually? Because we're so moral? I fear it's more because we're so materialistic.  For his policies, Bush risks the devaluation of the dollar, huge amounts of added national debt, and a massive and lasting strain on the American economy  because everything is at stake.  Yet while America's so allegedly materialistic robber baron capitalists know their priorities, we timidly defend the benefice of our social affluence. Just stay out of it; it could get expensive.  We'd rather discuss our 35-hour workweek or our dental coverage or listen to televangelists preach about the need to \"Reach out to murderers.\" These days, it sometimes seems that Europe is like a little old lady who cups her shaking hands around her last pieces of jewelry as a thief breaks in right next door. Europe, thy name is Cowardice. Last updated:  29 July 2006    Sources:   Dpfner, Mathias.  \"Europa  Dein Name Ist Feigheit.\"   Die Welt.   20 November 2004.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1291","claim":"Mentos and Coke Death","posted":"11\/08\/2006","sci_digest":["Mixture of Mentos and Coca-Cola kills child?"],"justification":"Claim:  A mixture of Mentos and Coca-Cola killed two Brazilian children.  Example:  [Collected on the Internet, 2006] One year before the same accident happened with another boy in Brazil. Please check the experiment that has been done by mixing Coca Cola with MENTOS........ Be careful with your Coke   Origins:  Mentos, a candy that has a soft, chewy interior encased in a slightly hard shell, is no longer just for noshing on  when combined with a carbonated beverage in a closed environment that  has a small opening (think \"soda bottle\"), it serves to produce a frothy geyser that shoots many feet into the air, a secondary use of the product that has served to enthrall countless persons with a penchant for making things explode. The combination of any carbonated liquid and mint-flavored Mentos will rapidly produce copious amounts of foam because the candy works to disrupt the surface tension of the liquid, thereby releasing all the drink's fizz (carbon dioxide) in one surprisingly speedy whoosh. The resulting effect is quick, high, and explosive, yet what takes place is not a chemical reaction but a physical one (even though some are moved to believe the confection's gum arabic component or diet soda's aspartame has something to do with the process). As Steve Spangler, former high school science teacher turned hands-on science guru, explained: \"The Mentos effect has nothing to do with the inside of the Mentos and everything to Steve Spangler do with the outside.\" The candy's shell is pocked with little nooks and crannies the beverage's carbon dioxide molecules are immediately drawn to, and the confection's relatively large surface area provides infinitely more such nooks and crannies (nucleation sites) than, say, an M&M would. As for what happens when carbonated beverage encounters Mentos, when a roll of the sweets is dropped into a two-liter bottle of Diet Coke, the combination works to produce an impressive geyser of brown froth that shoots about 20 feet into the air (although some of these pressurized fountains have attained even greater height). Diet cola of any manufacture is regarded as the liquid of choice for creating a \"Mentos eruption\" or \"Mentos effect\" because a cola's brown color serves to make the reaction much more starkly dramatic in all its explosive glory, and diet versions of those sodas don't leave the same sticky residue that their sugared counterparts do (an aspect well worth considering when contemplating spraying a wide area that you may afterward be called upon to clean). Plus, some folks swear diet sodas make for higher geysers. Numerous video clips of \"Mentos eruptions\" exist on the Internet; one needn't search all that diligently to stumble across scads of them. Not all such videos found on the Web are on the up-and-up, however, including the famed \"Pepsi Girl\" clip, which purports to document a demise caused by the ingestion of a mixture of Mentos and Coca-Cola. Which brings us back to this article's topic, the ballyhooed death of a youngster who consumed this combination. This alert about an unnamed child in Brazil's sorry fate began circulating on the Internet in November 2006. Since no checkable details are provided in the account (the deceased is described as \"a little boy\" rather than by name, he died in \"Brazil\" rather than in any particular city or region within that country, and his demise occurred \"last week\" rather than on a specific date), the story should be regarded as fiction. No news accounts of such a death (in Brazil or elsewhere) have surfaced, and given the media's interest in \"Mentos effects,\" such write-ups wouldn't have gasped their last on a jaded editor's desk because they weren't deemed sufficiently newsworthy to include in that day's edition of the local rag. Likewise, with regard to \"One year before the same accident happened with another boy in Brazil,\" once again the news is silent regarding such a death. However, the failure of this explosive combination of candy and soda to cause any fatalities should not be taken as a ringing endorsement of chasing down a handful of Mentos with as much pop as can be gulped. A harmless procedure it's clearly not  one look at online video clips of the force of \"Mentos effect\" eruptions shooting out of pop bottles should convince even the most adventurous not to risk any part of their digestive systems on such parlor tricks. Those who have disregarded common sense and tried such anyway report that the intensity of the reaction forces the mouth open, thereby releasing most of the gas and foam into the wild, as it were, rather than keeping them contained within the person. Do not try such experiments yourself though. Videos of those who have attempted such foolishness consistently show the subjects experiencing great physical distress in the aftermath of their ill-judged stunts. The \"child who died from combining Mentos and Coca-Cola\" story is an updating of an older legend that began in 1979. That year, the grist being run through the rumor mill included the sad tale of a misadventuring tot who had gulped soda and ingested Pop Rocks, a carbonated candy known for producing a fizzling sensation in the mouth. According to legend, said child went out with a bang. Further versions of the story specified the deceased youngster was the taciturn \"Mikey\" of LIFE cereal commercials. Mikey Once again there hadn't been such a child, but that did little to slow the rumor's spread. The gruesome appeal of the combusted tot story kept the legend in circulation long after it had been repeatedly debunked and dismissed. Barbara \"fizzical attraction\" Mikkelson Last updated:  9 November 2006     Sources:  ","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1eXOAnbyVJywVd-59MZ0WjO5BjM3MLHWY","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1292","claim":"Is there a photograph depicting Ice Cube and 50 Cent wearing hats with the Trump logo?","posted":"10\/20\/2020","sci_digest":["A manipulated image was just a lil bit misleading."],"justification":"Voting in the 2020 U.S. Election may be over, but misinformation continues to spread. Never stop fact-checking. Follow our post-election coverage here. On Oct. 20, 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump's son, Eric Trump, posted an image to social media that supposedly showed musicians Ice Cube and Curtis \"50 Cent\" Jackson wearing \"Trump 2020\" hats. This is not a genuine photograph of 50 Cent and Ice Cube wearing \"Trump 2020\" hats; it is a doctored image created from a photograph of Ice Cube and 50 Cent at a BIG3 basketball game in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2017. In the original image, Ice Cube is wearing a hat with the BIG3 logo, while 50 Cent is wearing a hat with a New York Yankees logo. Ice Cube shared the original photograph on his Twitter page in July 2020, along with a birthday message for his friend 50 Cent. Getty Images has archived a few other photographs taken at this event. The image at the top of this article, for example, carries the caption: \"LAS VEGAS, NV - AUGUST 26: BIG3 founder and recording artist Ice Cube and Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson attend the BIG3 three-on-three basketball league championship game on August 26, 2017, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey\/BIG3\/Getty Images).\" Ice Cube confirmed that the image was fake in a message posted to Twitter, and Trump has since deleted his tweet. Although this image is fake, both musicians have indeed aligned themselves, at least in part, with the Trump administration. While Ice Cube has not endorsed Trump for 2020, he did work with the president's administration to create a \"Contract With Black America.\" Ice Cube stated that he would \"advise anyone on the planet who has the power to help Black Americans close the enormous wealth gap.\" 50 Cent's support for Trump was more explicit. On Oct. 19, 50 Cent took to Instagram and shared a message endorsing Trump, along with a screenshot from CNBC's \"Power Lunch\" concerning a report that Biden's tax plan would raise the tax rate to as much as 62% on Americans who make more than $400,000 a year. This screenshot comes from a segment of \"Power Lunch\" that aired on Oct. 19. During this segment, CNBC's Robert Frank explained how people earning more than $400,000 a year could pay income taxes at a rate of more than 62%. Interestingly, Ice Cube and 50 Cent appear to be aligning themselves with Trump for polar opposite reasons. Ice Cube, for instance, said that he was willing to work with either presidential campaign in order to improve the lives of Black Americans and to \"close the enormous wealth gap.\" 50 Cent, on the other hand, stated he didn't care that \"Trump doesn't like Black people\" and that he was endorsing the incumbent because his opponent's tax plan would increase taxes on wealthy Americans.","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=18tbm9FFtV6qhdf8AqTJou9LWKlhVd8fW"},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1xKEuNZWjHDx6xfaOYrl3PNeuo6gOuClW"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1293","claim":"Alabama Mother's Tale of Woe with the Affordable Care Act","posted":"01\/02\/2014","sci_digest":["Alabama mom's Obamacare horror story gives America a glimpse of government run healthcare."],"justification":" Claim:  Alabama mom's Obamacare horror story gives America a glimpse of government run healthcare. CORRECTLY ATTRIBUTED Example:  [Collected on the Internet, December 2013] My family's journey with securing our new insurance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) started on October 1, 2013.   I have decided to write this letter to let the American people know what it has been like for us.   We are a family of four, with two little boys' ages seven years old and three years old.   My husband and I have had full time jobs for 6 years and 13 years respectively.  We have been with the same two companies for those years.  We are a middle class family; we own our three bedroom two bath house, we own two cars, and previously provided our own insurance for the four of us.  We have coverage through Individual Blue from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama until 12\/31\/13. Our premiums have been $380.00 a month, which also included dental coverage for all four of us.  On October, 1, 2013 we received our letters like other Alabamians about our new premiums and plans for 2014 from Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) of Alabama.  When I opened our letter to say I had sticker shock was an understatement.  Our premiums for the Blue Saver Silver would now be $753.26. This included the ACA tax but did not include the additional $75.00 we would need to pay in order to keep dental for me and my husband.  So we would need to pay total $828.26 to keep health and dental insurance for the four of us.  This payment is roughly $64.00 less than what we pay for our mortgage each month.  I was outraged that anyone thought we could afford this.  Sure we have some savings, but with that price tag we would whittle it down to almost nothing very quickly.  I consider savings as a rainy day fund, a start to saving for the kids college, our retirement, etc.  I never dreamed in a million years we would need to use it to pay our insurance premiums each month  how in the world could this help the economy too?  [Rest of article here.] here Origins:  The item referenced above, an open detailing one Alabama woman's extreme difficulty and frustration in obtaining ACA-compliant health insurance coverage for her family (including her 7-year-old son with ADHD) was posted under the name of Karri Kinder on 23 December 2013 as the sole entry in a blog and was republished (without additional comment) by the Independent Journal Review on 31 December 2013. blog republished Certainly her experience is not unique in kind, as many residents of Alabama covered by Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) of Alabama (an insurer who has an 88% share of the state's health insurance market) found out at the end of 2013 that they would be paying much higher premiums for ACA-compliant coverage through BCBS: Doug Hoffman, who works statewide to help people sign up for benefits through the Affordable Care Act, just received a Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama notice in the mail to find health insurance rates for his family have doubled. And  he's mad  at Blue Cross. \"I just got my benefits renewal from Blue Cross for next year and they doubled my rate!\" he wrote AL.com in an email. \"I was paying $675 for a family premium (2 adults, one 22 yo dependent) with a $1,500 deducible. The new rate for a comparable plan is $1,360 with a $3,000 deductible. Basically they have doubled my costs.\" \"It appears as though Blue Cross is taking advantage of the ACA by hiking rates big time,\" said Hoffman, who is based in Birmingham with Enroll Alabama. Others, who have received the notices from the state's dominant health insurer are mad as well  at Obamacare. \"Obama thinks that he is making insurance affordable,\" wrote one reader to the Mobile Press Register Sound Off feature. \"I just got a letter from my Blue Cross Blue Shield that if I want to keep their insurance it's going to cost me $300 more a month. I already pay $300 a month now and they're wanting right at $600 a month for this Affordable Care Act.\" Blue Cross posted an explanation for the rate hikes to its Facebook page, maintaining that several reasons are behind the increased premiums: more taxes and fees, a requirement to rate family members individually, and the elimination of health underwriting and waiting periods for preexisting conditions: explanation The new law requires all health insurance companies in the individual and small group markets to use a consistent rating method called \"member level rating.\" For the individual market, this means each person on an insurance policy will now be rated based on age, whether he or she uses tobacco, and the county in which the policy holder lives. In the past Blue Cross was able to offer one family premium, no matter the size.  For family plans, most family members will now be rated individually. Once each person has been rated, the amounts are added together to get a family's premium cost. For children age 20 and younger, the oldest three children will be individually rated and included in the family premium amount.   As a result, larger families may experience higher premiums. As Mike Oliver noted in an article for AL.com, the elimination of health underwriting may have a substantial effect on health insurance premiums in that state: article \"Alabama has allowed medical underwriting  you're going to be quoted a high premium if you have something wrong with you,\" said Michael Morrisey, director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Lister Hill Center for Health Policy. \"The Affordable Care Act abolishes medical underwriting.\" This means that those with expensive health problems will likely now jump in and buy coverage because it will be less expensive for them  or if they already have coverage  their rates will go down. But that also means rates will go up for everyone else as the insurer spreads that new cost around. \"The thing that happens when you eliminate underwriting is that you lump dissimilar people together,\" Morrisey said. \"When you combine groups, one group is better off and the other group is worse off\"  in terms of premium prices. As a policy, the elimination of medical underwriting and preexisting condition clauses helps broaden access to health care coverage and that was the aim of its inclusion in the Affordable Care Act. Reformers say it eliminates insurers from \"cherry-picking\" and reduces uncompensated care. Karri Kinder subsequently posted followups to her original blog entry about her insurance issue, the update of 4 January 2014 stating that: Karri Kinder blog entry I do have some good news.  Because I decided to write my letter and speak out, people stepped up and helped us.  We were contacted on January 1, 2014 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  I was told by the woman I spoke with that she had read my letter and wanted to get her team involved and see what they could do to help us.  I recounted to her what was happening and that I had been advised to go ahead and sign me and my husband up for a plan on healthcare.gov.  We went with a lower cost plan because it was going to just be the two of us.  We had no idea what it was going to cost for the children once we got some answers.  So we went with BCBS Blue Value Saver plan.  The cost of the plan is $459.19.  We qualified for $255.00 in subsidies so the final cost of the plan to us is $204.19 each month.  I told the lady that I would cancel that plan if I needed to.  What we wanted was to have all of us on one plan like we always have been.  She said, \"If the kids qualify for All Kids then I am pretty sure they have to go that route or you will have to buy them a plan at the normal rate.\"  So again we were told more than likely we will have to go through All Kids.  She took the rest of our information down and said she was getting her team to work on it and would either call us back or All Kids would contact us. Last updated:  4 January 2014    Oliver, Mike.   \"Blue Cross in Alabama: We Didn't 'Cancel' Health Policies.\"   AL.com.  2 December 2013.    Walsh, Alex.   \"Obamacare, Big Blue, and You.\"   AL.com.  31 December 2013.","issues":["economy"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1asodV_dRjQO_HnBw3AOpadJFUVprffli"}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1294","claim":"Las Vegas Casino Owners, Gaming Commission Seek to Legalize Dog Fighting","posted":"10\/20\/2014","sci_digest":["Are Las Vegas casino owners lobbying to legalize dogfighting?"],"justification":" Claim:  Las Vegas casino owners and the Nevada Gaming Commission are lobbying to legalize dog fighting.  Example:  [Collected via email, October 2014] There is an article on a website known as \"Empire News\"  which states that casino owners in Las Vegas are attempting to legalize dog fighting as a new gambling incentive !Is this true ????   Origins:  On 12 October 2014, Empire News published an article positing that a steep drop in gambling revenues was inspiring Vegas casino owners and the Nevada gaming commission to push for the legalization of dog fighting in order to reverse that financial decline: article The steady decline in revenue affecting many casinos across the country has forced many gaming houses to seek other sources of income.  As a result, the gambling industry has been quietly seeking a controversial betting offshoot  legalized and industry regulated dog fighting Social media users erupted in anger and disgust at the claim as it wended its way through Facebook and similar sites: \"Think of the images of Michael Vick and everything else that comes to mind when you mention dog fighting,\" said Roger Kenny, administrator with the Nevada Gaming Commission. In a press release he stated, \"If we regulate dog fighting, promote it as a sport, eventually people will come to accept it, and it will be as common as blackjack or prostitution.  We'd like to change the negative perception that certain groups have put out there about the activity,\" he said. If the \"as common as blackjack or prostitution\" line didn't tip off readers to the article's true nature, the following should have: Dog trainer and television host Cesar Millan said, \"This is the most inhumane act that I can think of.  Dogs are our companions and are among the most intelligent creatures on Earth.  Something like this with cats, now that I could understand,\" continued Millan. \"Put a couple of cats in a boxing ring, maybe with little gloves and helmets  nobody's going to give a crap, it's just cats. But with dogs, it's different  they're man's best friend. When I heard this news I wanted to rabidly tear the Commission's collective throat out. Of course, you'd be hard-pressed to find a beast more beloved by the internet at large than cats; and the Vegas dog fighting yarn is just one of many \"satirical\" stories from Empire News, a web site whose stock in trade is posting outrage-provoking fake news articles. Other leg-pulls from the site include \"Record-Shattering Snowfall Coming Soon (Bread and Milk Prices Expected to Soar),\" \"MTV Begins Production On New Show '12 And Pregnant',\" and \"Colorado Becomes First State to Legalize Crystal Meth.\" Record-Shattering Snowfall Coming Soon MTV Begins Production On New Show '12 And Pregnant' Colorado Becomes First State to Legalize Crystal Meth A disclaimer page on Empire News admits the publication \"is a satirical and entertainment website.\" disclaimer page   Last updated:  20 October 2014 ","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1IQxNG44ws2NOOtLNfmvfbq0izMYuVGkH","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1295","claim":"Did President Trump Profit from the U.S. Missile Strike Against Syria?","posted":"04\/10\/2017","sci_digest":["Online reports claimed that President Trump owns stock in Raytheon and thereby profited from a U.S. Tomahawk missile strike on a Syrian airbase in April 2017."],"justification":"On 7 April 2017 multiple web sites reported that President Trump owned stock in defense contractor Raytheon (RTN), thereby standing to personally profit from a U.S. military action strike he ordered that had launched some 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian air base the previous day. (Those missiles have an estimated replacement cost of $60 million.) profit replacement cost The headline in one of the more prominent articles of that nature held that \"Trump owns stock in the Tomahawk missiles he used in Syria,\" although the body of the article only averred that Trump had once owned stock in Raytheon: headline In other words Trump just set a bunch of Tomahawk missiles on fire which, according to a recent Defense Department report, may have been worth as much as $93.8 million in total. Why would he do this? Well, he does own shares of stock in the company that makes the Tomahawks. Tomahawk missiles are manufactured by Raytheon Inc., and according to [a] report from Business Insider, Donald Trump owned stock in Raytheon up through at least the start of the presidential election cycle. There is no record that he subsequently sold that stock. Cited at least two links away from that article was a 15 July 2015 Federal Election Committee (FEC) document disclosing then-candidate Donald Trump's financial holdings prior to his election. Page 37 of that 2015 disclosure report listed Raytheon as one of Trump's assorted smaller holdings in 2015: two document  Line 23 of that July 2015 form also disclosed that that portion of Donald Trump's portfolio had a value of between $1,001 and $15,000 and brought him $201 or less in income:   Newer FEC disclosure forms for President Trump are available, including a similar May 2016 report: The 2016 Raytheon holding was reported as being within the same value range previously stated (i.e., between $1,001 and $15,000), but the listed income derived from it was slightly higher ($1,001 to $2,500):   If the stated holdings are accurate, it doesn't appear that President Trump stood to directly gain much, in anything (especially relative to his extant wealth), from Raytheon's market gain following the Syrian attack. According to MarketWatch, several other defense stocks also experienced modest bumps in their value immediately after the event: value Raytheon RTN, +0.25% the maker of the Tomahawk missiles that were used in the attack, was last up 0.8%, after jumping more than 3% in the premarket to lead S&P 500 gainers. Another defense stock, Lockheed Martin Corp. LMT, +0.28% rose 0.9%. L3 Technologies Inc. LLL, +1.78% gained 1.4% and Harris Corp. HRS, +0.62% was up 0.9%. General Dynamics Corp. was up 0.8% and Northrop Grumman Corp. NOC, +0.90% was up 0.7%.  A critical long-form piece published by the Atlantic examined President Trump's putative financial conflicts of interest in depth but did not mention Raytheon. examined Rumors that Donald Trump stood to profit off Raytheon stock due to the Syrian missile strike of 7 April 2017 were not the first of their kind. In November 2016, then-President Elect Trump was rumored to be profiting off Energy Transfer Partners's (ETP) Dakota Access Pipeline (completion of which he green-lighted as president), and in December 2016 he was said to hold stock in Carrier (with whom he had just negotiated a pre-inaugural deal). Trump spokesperson Hope Hicks asserted the President Elect sold off his minor stakes in ETP in mid-2016, and Trump's 2016 Personal Financial Disclosure did not include a listing for stock in United Technologies (Carrier's parent corporation). Dakota Access Pipeline Carrier asserted The White House has not responded to our request for comment on President Trump's defense stock holdings. Linnane, Ciara.  \"Tomahawk Maker Raytheon, Defense Stocks Retreat from Highs Fueled by Syrian Strike.\"\r  MarketWatch.  7 April 2017. Mufson, Steven.  \"Trump Dumped His Stock in the Dakota Access Pipeline Owner Over the Summer.\"\r  The Washington Post.  23 November 2016. Murphy, Olive.  \"Trump Caught Profiting from Missiles Used in Syria  Stock Price Skyrockets.\"\r  Bipartisan Report.  7 April 2017. Palmer, Bill.  \"Donald Trump Owns Stock in the Tomahawk Missiles He Used in Syria.\"\r  Palmer Report.  7 April 2017. Terrarosa, Tom.  \"How Raytheon Really Stands to Gain from U.S. Missile Attack.\"\r  TheStreet.  7 April 2017. Venook, Jeremy.  \"Donald Trumps Conflicts of Interest: A Crib Sheet.\"\r  The Atlantic.  7 April 2017. Walker, Hunter and Myles Udland.  \"Here's What's In Donald Trump's Stock Portfolio.\"\r  Business Insider.  22 July 2015. Walker, Hunter.  \"Donald Trump Personal Financial Disclosure Report.\"\r  Scribd.  22 July 2015  (page 37). The Dallas Morning News.  \"Donald Trump Form 278E Disclosure 2016.\"\r  14 June 2016  (page 37).","issues":["income"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1_1CYAf1xk0NzQPxRKYcrCWmOvly_oFVA","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1HhJ204keFpBhEpWKdxl9TBlTRaxpSgLl","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1296","claim":"Pele and Lava Rocks","posted":"03\/03\/2003","sci_digest":["Tourists who have taken rocks from Hawaiian beaches have returned them in hopes of ending streaks of bad luck."],"justification":"Claim:  Tourists who have taken rocks from Hawaiian beaches have returned them in hopes of ending streaks of bad luck.  Example:  [Collected on the Internet, 2001] Hawaiian legend: anyone that removes a piece of rock from the Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park will incur the wrath of the Godess Pele. Supposedly terrible curses follow those that do prompting them to soon abandon the rock(s) in interest of self-preservation.   Origins:  Can a souvenir casually pocketed on a Hawaiian beach bring misfortune? Though the more skeptical will scoffingly dismiss the notion as pure hooey,   thousands have come to believe that yes, volcanic rocks taken from Hawaii fetch with them a curse of impressive proportions. And the only way to undo the jinx is to return the purloined items whence they came.  Legend has it that Pele, goddess of fire and volcanoes, is so angered when the rocks (which she sees as her children) are taken from her that she exacts a terrible revenge on the thief. She is especially protective of volcanic rock and sand, two items tourists almost unthinkingly pocket as mementos of their vacations. After all, who would miss a rock? Pele, apparently. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and far too many hotels to name receive a never-ending stream of packages containing sand, shells, and rocks from guilty-minded vacationers who are intent upon reversing their sudden downpours of bad luck. Many of these returns are accompanied by notes begging forgiveness of the goddess or detailing litanies of calamities that have befallen these casual purloiners: Please take this sand and put it back somewhere on your island. I have had very bad luck since it came into my life and I am very sorry I took it. Please forgive me and I pray that once I send it back where it comes from, my bad luck will go away.  Please return to soil. I have been having bad luck.  Ever since we have taken items, we have had nothing but back luck and medical problems. We apologize for taking items, so we are returning same to Hawaii.  We placed the rock last fall on a cast iron chair in our garden, this spring the chair's leg had fallen off. This is the least of the problems we have had since we have taken the rock. Pele's supposed curse is not a mild-mannered one. Those allegedly afflicted by it don't misplace their car keys or develop runs in their stockings  their bad luck is of the grievous variety. Pets die. Jobs are lost. Houses burn down. Sudden and devastating illness strikes loved ones. Marriages break apart. The Los Angeles Times reported on the sad case of Timothy Murray, a 32-year-old who scooped some of the unusual black sand from Hawaii Volcanoes National Park into a bottle and brought it back with him to Florida. Everything in his life immediately went into a nosedive: his pet died, his five-year relationship  with a gal he was to marry ended, and the FBI arrested him in a computer copyright infringement case.  The native Hawaiian view of taking such souvenirs is that it's tantamount to stealing from Pele while visiting her home. Only the return of the stolen items appeases her wrath.  Some believe the curse is the invention of park rangers who became fed up with visitors making off with little bits of the island. Whether the curse has an ancient origin or a modern one, many have come to respect it thanks to the cascade of bad luck that descends upon those who take volcanic keepsakes.  Barbara \"rock steadied\" Mikkelson Additional Information:     Rock Return Service  (Volcano Gallery)  Last updated:  16 May 2013    Honolulu Advertiser.  28 January 2003.   Cart, Julie.  \"Hard Luck Blamed on Hot Rocks.\"   Los Angeles Times.  7 May 2001.   Chalfant, Anne.   \"Returned Lava Rocks Fill a Garden to Appease a Goddess in Hawaii.\"   The Salt Lake Tribune.   12 January 2003.    Cart, Julie.  \"Hard Luck Blamed on Hot Rocks.\"   Los Angeles Times.  7 May 2001.   Chalfant, Anne.   \"Returned Lava Rocks Fill a Garden to Appease a Goddess in Hawaii.\"   The Salt Lake Tribune.   12 January 2003.    Los Angeles Times.  7 May 2001.   Chalfant, Anne.   \"Returned Lava Rocks Fill a Garden to Appease a Goddess in Hawaii.\"   The Salt Lake Tribune.   12 January 2003.    Chalfant, Anne.   \"Returned Lava Rocks Fill a Garden to Appease a Goddess in Hawaii.\"   The Salt Lake Tribune.   12 January 2003.    The Salt Lake Tribune.   12 January 2003. ","issues":["interest"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1m_gIouM4pqkkfYkn7rgdzgtz4k4iO0k2","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1297","claim":"Did 30,000 Cows Freeze to Death in a Winter Storm?","posted":"01\/11\/2017","sci_digest":["A story that thousands of cattle were left dead after a winter storm was from 2015, not 2017."],"justification":"In January 2017, a photograph purportedly showing a group of cows that had apparently frozen solid was circulated on Facebook along with the claim that 30,000 animals had just died in a winter storm. Both the photograph displayed here and its accompanying claim are legitimate. However, while this meme reappeared (and was mistaken for current) in January 2017, this graphic actually references a winter storm that occurred at the end of December 2015. Weather.com reported that more than 15,000 cows died during Winter Storm Goliath in Texas, while another 20,000 froze to death in New Mexico. Dairy producers in Texas and New Mexico have estimated that the number of animals that died during Winter Storm Goliath will climb to more than 30,000. The winds are believed to be the cause of many of the animals' deaths. They created drifts as high as 14 feet and pushed animals into fenced corners where they suffocated, according to The Associated Press. \"As Winter Storm Goliath wrapped up over the southern Plains, strong winds were associated with the storm's tightening pressure gradient,\" said Weather.com meteorologist Quincy Vagell. \"When combined with snow, the winds were strong enough to create dangerous blizzard conditions.\" Executive director of the Texas Association of Dairymen, Darren Turley, stated that an estimated 15,000 mature dairy cows died between Lubbock, Muleshoe, and Friona, the primary impact area of the storm, AP also reports. This region includes half of the state's top 10 milk-producing counties, which provide 40 percent of Texas milk. According to an agent with New Mexico State University's extension service, the state lost an estimated 20,000 cows. \"Like all agriculture, dairy producers always operate at the mercy of Mother Nature,\" said Turley. \"With Goliath, she dealt a particularly harsh and costly blow to the area's dairy producers, from the death of thousands of livestock they spend so much time caring for to a loss of milk production both over the weekend and in the future.\" The photograph is also real, although we were unable to determine a definite source. An uncropped version of the image was published by Tri-State Livestock News shortly after the storm, which showed a group of frozen (or near-frozen) cattle on the side of the road. The other part of the meme heavily implied that the cows froze to death out of neglect because nobody \"felt the need\" to bring them inside in the cold weather. The truth is, of course, more complicated. A January 5, 2016 report from the Houston Chronicle detailed efforts farmers undertook to protect their cattle from the freak storm. More than one foot of snow on December 27 surprised ranchers and dairy farmers in a region accustomed to a few inches of precipitation each winter. Unlike their northern peers, Texas cattle raisers rarely own four-walled barns designed to keep cattle warm, often opting instead for open structures meant to keep Texas cattle cool during the long, hot summers. Forecast warnings of a \"historic blizzard\" came too late. Voinis said some cattle raisers had tried to build shelters with hay bales and machinery, to little avail. Some cattle were buried in snowdrifts formed by gale-force winds. Others froze to death in the open, died of frostbite in later days, or just disappeared. Initial loss estimates increased greatly in the days following the storm. A similar story unfolded in New Mexico, which was swept by the same storm. Meteorologists sounded the first warnings about the storm some eight days before it hit on December 26. Farmers prepared as best they could\u2014putting down extra bedding behind windbreaks, placing extra bales of hay in front of calf bungalows, and in places where snow typically accumulates. But as the blizzard raged on, cows that had sought shelter behind windbreakers were buried alive by drifting snow. Others froze to death in open fields. Calves that had been nestled inside hutches went hungry because no one could reach them. Farmers who tried to rescue their animals became disoriented and lost on their own land. \"We did the best we could for our animals,\" Ms. Beckerink said. \"But as the storm worsened, saving them meant risking the lives of our workers\u2014a horrifying decision to make.\" The deaths of the cattle dramatically affected the livelihoods of farmers in both states. It is extremely unlikely that any farmer (dependent on their animals for money and food) would cavalierly leave their main source of income and food out in the snow to freeze to death, despite what this meme implies.","issues":["loss"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1aYYjpBZRxFfddfoDtCKJwXhhNYotcNNF","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1nKfmfmVogYpd4933fpod0b3isnhBh7i8","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1298","claim":"Pic Shows Taylor Swift Eating Ice Cream as Children Cry?","posted":"11\/13\/2023","sci_digest":["The photo was supposedly taken while she was visiting a small African village, according to a viral post."],"justification":"In November 2023, an image circulated online allegedly showing Taylor Swift holding an ice cream cone as children cry. One post on X (formerly Twitter) claimed, Taylor Swift has recently shared a photo of her visiting a small village and enjoying an ice cream on her most recent trip to Africa.\" claimed ? BREAKING NEWS ? Taylor Swift has recently shared a photo of her visiting a small village and enjoying an ice cream on her most recent trip to Africa ? the photo is disturbing to say the least as it's obvious this child is crying and she is enjoying his misery. How cruel... pic.twitter.com\/Yql07nhrTL pic.twitter.com\/Yql07nhrTL  TheButcher_1776 (@TheButcher_1776) November 12, 2023 November 12, 2023  \"I hope this is fake,\" one X user commented on the above-mentioned post. \"Why would Taylor do this?\" read another post with over 72,900 views, as of this writing. Some social media users shared the image as part of an alleged conversation containing the message, \"All i know is that she went to Africa and flew on her private jet just to take this photo.\" commented read shared alleged conversation From the Africa leg of her tourbyu\/_tomato_paste_ inpopheadscirclejerk From the Africa leg of her tour u\/_tomato_paste_ popheadscirclejerk  We used reverse-image search to verify the authenticity of the viral image. The results showed it had been shared, for instance, on iFunny  a meme website. However, no reliable sources of news had posted the photo, nor was it published by any of Swift's official social media accounts. reverse-image search results iFunny Moreover, we closely examined the image and saw telltale signs of artificial-intelligence (AI) software. For instance, a child's body in the center of the image was deformed, and several hands in the background were unnaturally shaped or blurred. artificial-intelligence   (X user @TheButcher_1776) In sum, because the photo was created using AI software, we rated it \"Fake.\" this Furthermore, at the time of its circulation, Swift had not recently made a trip to a small village in Africa, much less anywhere else on the continent. She was instead in South America for a run of performances in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as part of \"The Eras Tour.\" South America The Eras Tour Argentina, Billboard. 5 Highlights From Taylor Swifts First of Three Sold-Out Shows in Buenos Aires.Billboard, 10 Nov. 2023, https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/concerts\/taylor-swift-buenos-aires-concert-highlights-1235468238\/.","issues":["share"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1BMgPRjoP9ghGFgn4TkaclEADGK70LFL9","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1299","claim":"Elijah Cummings Said Democrats Gave Black People the Right to Vote?","posted":"07\/27\/2016","sci_digest":["A meme claiming Rep. Elijah Cummings misattributed responsibility for the 15th Amendment during his 2016 DNC speech was mostly inaccurate itself."],"justification":"Around July 25, 2016, various versions of the claim reproduced above began circulating, suggesting that Representative Elijah Cummings incorrectly stated that Democrats were responsible for giving black people the right to vote during his 2016 Democratic National Convention speech. The portion most in line with the meme included the following remarks: \"It was our Democratic Party that pushed open the opportunities for me and millions of children across this great country. It was our party that fought for Head Start and good schools, made college affordable, championed affirmative action and school desegregation, passed Social Security and Medicare, fought for veterans back home, fought for the rights of workers, and made the dream of home ownership possible for millions of American families. Yes, it still is our Democratic Party. Civil rights and voting rights\u2014and voting rights. As we Democrats\u2014it is we Democrats who fully understand that when you take away a person's right to vote, you take away their ability to shape their own destiny. And it was and it is our Democratic Party that fights for women's rights, gay rights, and LGBTQ rights. Our party understands that black lives matter.\" Cummings' quote was ambiguous, but he appeared to say that the Democrats \"fought\" for civil rights and voting rights, a fairly open-ended statement. Many critics argued that Cummings' statement was incorrect based on historical fact: The 15th Amendment to the Constitution granted African American men the right to vote by declaring that the \"right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.\" Although ratified on February 3, 1870, the promise of the 15th Amendment would not be fully realized for almost a century. Through the use of poll taxes, literacy tests, and other means, Southern states were able to effectively disenfranchise African Americans. It would take the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 before the majority of African Americans in the South were registered to vote. The meme reproduced above stated that 141 Republicans voted to approve the 15th Amendment, with zero Democrats in favor, 39 no votes, and seven abstentions. According to the Library of Congress, the vote was as follows: The House of Representatives passed the 15th Amendment on February 25, 1869, by a vote of 144 to 44. The Senate passed the 15th Amendment on February 26, 1869, by a vote of 39 to 13. The text of the 15th Amendment can be found in the United States Statutes at Large, volume 16, page 346 (15 Stat. 346). Secretary of State Hamilton Fish issued a proclamation certifying the ratification of the 15th Amendment by the states on March 30, 1870. A detailed tally of Senate Vote #586 in January 1869 indicated support by Republicans with 33 \"yea\" votes and zero for Democrats. While the meme was close to accurate in providing tallies by party for votes on the 15th Amendment, it was less so with Cummings' remarks. Putting aside the fact that it did not mention any changes in party dynamics between the 1940s and 1970s, it also misconstrued Cummings' statements to suggest that he incorrectly attributed the 15th Amendment specifically to Democrats and not Republicans.","issues":["taxes"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=19rz7l1WpaHbUT3NxDc7Nay-NGn9evUUe","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1300","claim":"Is Kosher Food Certification a 'Jewish Scam'?","posted":"05\/23\/2002","sci_digest":["The presence of certain symbols on a variety of food products does not indicate that a 'secret tax' has been paid to Jews."],"justification":"People sometimes search for proofs of their darkest imaginings everywhere, including on the shelves of grocery stores. One example of this phenomenon is that packages bearing marks whose meanings aren't readily apparent to the average shopper have been interpreted by those always on the sniff for a Jewish conspiracy as signs that Big Business is in league with the Jews: The \"Kosher Nostra Scam\" on the American Consumer  By Ernesto CienfuegosLa Voz de Aztlan  Los Angeles, Alta California  (ACN) La Voz de Aztlan receives quite a few \"news tips\" per week from our many subscribers and readers. Some we dismiss immediately but a very few catch our attention. Last week we receive an e-mail asking us if we knew the significance of the small encircled letter \"U\" or letter \"K\" that can be found printed on many food cans, food packages and on other kitchen products. The message gave us some clues and suggested that we do some research into the subject. What we found certainly was \"news\" to us and it both shocked and angered us.  On arriving at my residence, I immediately went to the pantry to verify that what I had just learned was actually true. Sure enough, most of the packaged and canned foods from major companies, like Proctor & Gamble and others, did have the (U), the (K) or other similar markings. The Arrowhead water bottle, the instant Folgers Coffee, the Kelloggs box, the Jiff Peanut Butter, the Pepper container, the Trader Joe's tea box and even the Glads plastic sandwich bags carton had the (U) or (K) mark on them.  We needed a little more verification so we called two major companies to asked some questions. We chose Proctor & Gamble that markets the Folgers Coffee and the Clorox Company that manufactures the Glads plastic zip lock sandwich bags. Each of the two companies, as well as most others, have 1-800 telephone numbers printed on their packages for consumers to call in case they have any questions about their products. When we asked the Proctor & Gamble representative what the (U) meant on their Folgers Coffee container, she asked us to wait until she consulted with her supervisor. She came back and informed us that the mark meant that the coffee was \" certified kosher\". We than asked her how and who certified the coffee to be \"kosher\" and whether it cost any money to do so. She refused to answer these and other questions. She suggested that we write to their Corporate Public Affairs Department. We than called the Clorox Corporation to ask what the (U) meant on the package of their Glads plastic sandwich bags and she also said that the (U) meant that the plastic bags were \"kosher\" but refused to answer questions concerning payments the Clorox Corporation has to make in order to be able to print the (U) on their products.  What we learned next, pretty much floored me personally. I learned that major food companies throughout America actually pay a Jewish Tax amounting to hundreds of million of dollars per year in order to receive protection. This hidden tax gets passed, of course, to all non-Jewish consumers of the products. The scam is to coerce the companies to pay up or suffer the consequences of a Jewish boycott. Jewish consumers have learned not to buy any kitchen product that does not have the (U) the (K) and other similar markings.  Another shocker was learning who is actually behind these sophisticated \"Kosher Nostra Scams.\" It turns out that the perpetrators of these elaborate extortion schemes are actually Rabbinical Councils that are set up, not just in the U.S. but in other western countries as well. For example, the largest payola operation in the U.S. is run by those who license the (U) symbol. The (U) symbol provides protection for many products sold here in Aztlan and in the United States. This symbol is managed by the The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations with headquarters at 333 Seventh Avenue in New York City.  The scam works like a well oiled machine and is now generating vast amounts of funds, some of which are being utilized by the Union of Orthodox Rabbis to support the Ariel Sharon Zionist government in Israel. The website of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations is full of pro-Israel and anti-Palestinian propaganda.  The \"Kosher Nostra\" protection racket starts when an Orthodox Rabbi approaches a company to warn the owners that unless their product is certified as kosher, or \"fit for a Jew to eat\", they will face a boycott by every Jew in America. Most, if not all of the food companies, succumb to the blackmail because of fear of the Jewish dominated media and a boycott that may eventually culminate in bankruptcy. Also, the food companies know that the cost can be passed on to the consumer anyway. The food companies have kept secret from the general consumer the meaning of the (U) and the amount of money they have to pay the Jewish Rabbis.  It is estimated that the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations, which manages the (U) symbol protection racket, controls about 85% of the \"Kosher Nostra \"certification business. They now employ about 1200 Rabbi agents that are spread through out the U.S. Food companies must first pay an exorbitant application fee and than a large annual fee for the use of the (U) copyright symbol. Secondly, the companies must pay separate fees each time a team of Rabbis shows up to \"inspect\" the company's operations. Certain food companies are required to hire Rabbis full time at very lucrative salaries.  The amount of money that the non-Jewish consumer has paid the food companies to make up for the hidden Jewish Tax is unknown, but it is estimated to be in the billions since the scam first started. The Orthodox Jewish Councils as well as the food companies keep the amount of the fees very secret. The Jewish owned Wall Street Journal wrote about the problem many years ago, but they have stopped writing about it now.  Only public awareness concerning the \"Kosher Nostra Scam\" will eventually help stop this swindle of the American consumer. Public education of the scam may lead to an eventual non-Jewish boycott of all products with the (U), (K) or other Jewish protection symbols. I certainly do not need to pay extra for \"kosher water\", \"kosher coffee\" or \"kosher plastic sandwich bags\". In fact, I demand my money back for all the money I had to pay over the years for the hidden and illegal Jewish Tax. Are there any bright attorneys out there that could bring a class action suit against the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations on behalf of the citizens of Aztlan and other non-Jewish people? The rumor that the presence of those mysterious markings signifies that the manufacturers of those products have paid a secret tax to the Jews of America has been afoot for decades, and the e-mail quoted above is merely a more recent manifestation of this age-old canard. The claim is wholly false, and we wonder at the twisted minds that would advance such a slander. No \"Jewish Secret Tax\" exists, or ever has. The markings pointed to in the rumor are real; however, their purpose is entirely different from the one asserted by the rumormongers. They do not signal that a secret tax has been paid or that corporations have succumbed to blackmail; they are there to indicate to members of a particular faith that such items have been vetted as having met the strictures their religion imposes. (If the notion of a religion imposing dietary requirements upon its followers sounds like an outlandish proposition, keep in mind that only in recent times have Catholics taken to eating meat on Fridays, and that Muslims still eschew pork.) As to what those markings mean:  The letter \"K\" simply means \"Kosher.\" Kosher, in Hebrew, means fit or proper, and is generally used to describe foods that are prepared in accordance with special Jewish dietary laws. These laws are stringent and almost incomprehensible to those not versed in them.  The small \"u\" in a circle or (\"OU\") stands for the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations and shows that the food underwent rabbinical supervision in its preparation. (An \"OUD\" marking shows that the package contains dairy products, while an \"OUM\" indicates the presence of meat.)  \"Parve\" (also \"pareve\") is Yiddish for \"neutral.\" The presence of this word on packaging signifies that the contents of the package contain neither milk nor meat and thus can be combined with other ingredients in recipes. (Jewish dietary law forbids the mixing of meat and dairy, thus a packaged food that contained cheese could not be combined with, say, hamburger.) This variety of markings used on packaged foods alert consumers that items contained therein either meet the strict dietary constraints imposed by Judaism on its followers or that the contents of the package can be mixed with other foods or can touch them. Not all Jews keep kosher, nor even among those who do are the strictures always adhered to rigorously, but those determined upon being truly pious are aided in this endeavor by the presence of those markings. The devout go so far as to maintain two separate sets of utensils, cookware, and cutting surfaces so that meat and dairy never encounter one another in their kitchens. It is for their benefit that otherwise puzzling kosher certifications on non-foodstuff items are there (e.g., certifications are placed upon dishwashing liquid because dishes used for dairy cannot be washed using a soap made from animal fats). Less observant Jews do not bother themselves overly much about the kosherness of everyday items; they avoid the out-and-out no-nos such as pork and shellfish but don't lose much sleep over the animal fat content of their washing-up liquid, nor do they fret that cold cuts might now be resting upon a plate that had months earlier been used to serve cheese. The proponents of the \"Jewish Secret Tax\" slander often assert that a sub rosa Jewish cabal forces large companies to comply via the threat of a nationwide boycott, backed by the underlying presumption that all Jews can be marshalled into turning their backs on products that fail to display kosher certification marks. That is not the case  Jews buy and use non-kosher items too, so although lack of kosher certification keeps the ultra-conservative crowd from buying certain products, it doesn't prevent the less stringent from making such purchases, nor would a \"don't buy that because it's not kosher\" directive have much effect even if there were a secret Jewish cabal to issue it. Those seeking kosher certification for their products have to adhere to kosher practices through the manufacturing process, use only kosher ingredients, and have their facilities regularly vetted by qualified inspectors. Kosher certification companies do charge for this service, which is the backbone of the \"secret tax\" claim  it costs money to obtain and maintain kosher certification, thus this is an extra expense a manufacturer must bear if he's determined upon having that certification. Where the rumor and reality part ways, however, is where the money goes. Fees paid to kosher certification companies go to keeping those businesses afloat with the profits siphoned off by those companies' owners; they do not flow off into some special Jewish fund used to advance Zionist causes. These are businesses, not charities, and those who run them do so with every expectation of making a living, in the same manner that someone who owns a hardware store does so with the notion of making  enough from the endeavor to support himself and his family. Does certification add to the price of a product? Certainly, but the amount is miniscule, especially compared to the advertising,  packaging, shipping, research, testing, admin and finance-related costs, and a myriad of other components that contribute to the process of bringing a product to market or making it better appeal to consumers. One might as well rail against the costs associated with selecting the ink colors and style of lettering used on a package  it's all legitimate business expense, even though no one ever rails against the \"Secret Red Ink Conspiracy\" or rants about the \"Helvetica Font Tax.\" <!--      A Kosher Primer  (Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America)-->   Brunvand, Jan Harold.  The Mexican Pet.\r  New York: W. W. Norton, 1986.   ISBN 0-393-30542-2   (pp. 106-107).\r\r Morgan, Hal and Kerry Tucker. More Rumor!","issues":["finance"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1301","claim":"Is This a Prescription Written for Elvis One Day Before He Died?","posted":"12\/05\/2018","sci_digest":["Elviss doctor faced immense criticism over his excessive prescription practices, but it's unlikely he would have misspelled his own name on a pad with the wrong ZIP code. "],"justification":"On 3 December 2018, the Facebook page Pictures in History posted what appeared to be a prescription written by Elvis Presleys doctor, George Nichopoulos, the day before the singer died at his Graceland estate in Memphis on 16 August 1977: posted   Several clear indicators show this document to be a forgery. First, the ZIP code 34108 does not correspond to Memphis, Tennessee, but rather to part of Naples. The forger transposed a couple of digits, as the correct ZIP code for the Memphis address is 38104. Naples correct Second, we find it unlikely that a doctor would spell his own name incorrectly. Presley's controversial personal physician (colloquially referred to as \"Dr. Nick\" even after he lost his medical license in 1995) was Dr. George Nichopoulos, not George Nichopolous. Even if Dr. Nick had accidentally misspelled his name in this one instance, though, it's still the case that the handwriting on the prescription in no way matches Nichopoulos actual signature. Below is his real signature as it appeared on a loan agreement between Presley and Nichopoulos signed in 1975 and the signature on the forged prescription for comparison: loan agreement  Real     Not real  That being said, the forged document does speak to some historical realities. The faux prescription lists a variety of drugs that were frequently prescribed for Presley while he was a patient of Nichopoulos. Dilaudid (hydromorphone) and Percodan (oxycodone\/aspirin) are both narcotic painkillers, Amytal (amobarbital) and Quaalude (methaqualone) are sedative drugs that Presley used to sleep, and Dexedrine (dextroamphetamine) and Biphetamine (amphetamine salts) are both stimulants similar to Adderall. Dr. Nichopoulos prescribed them all: prescribed Between 1975 and 1977, he had prescribed 19,000 doses of drugs. In the first eight months of 1977 alone, he had written 199 prescriptions totaling more than 10,000 doses of sedatives, amphetamines and narcotics: all in Elvis's name. Nichopoulos was blamed for the singers death and branded a Dr. Feelgood in the media. In September 1981 he faced trial on 14 counts of overprescribing uppers, downers, and painkillers to Presley, entertainer Jerry Lee Lewis, himself, and eight others: September 1981 The two counts of the indictment dealing with Presley allege Nichopoulos \"unlawfully, wilfully and feloniously\" prescribed for the entertainer \"certain quantities\" of the synthetic narcotic, Dilaudid; the painkillers Percodan and Demerol; the sedatives Quaalude and Parest; the barbiturate Amytal; the stimulants Dexedrine and Biphetamine; and the appetite suppressant Ionamine from May 17, 1976, to Aug. 16, 1977 -- the day Presley died at the age of 42. Nichopoulos was acquitted on all counts in November 1981, but in 1995 the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners permanently suspended his medical license, stating that he had been overprescribing to numerous patients for years. acquitted 1995 Nichopoulos died on 24 February 2016 at the age of 88. died EssentialElvis.com.  \"Loan Agreement for the Nichopoulos' Home.\"\r  Accessed 4 December 2018. Higginbotham, Adam.  \"Doctor Feelgood.\"\r  The Guardian.  10 August 2002. Murphy, Pamela.  \"Elvis' Doctor Goes on Trial, Charged With Overprescribing Drug.\"\r  United Press International.  26 September 1981. The New York Times.  \"Presley's Doctor Acquitted on All Prescription Charges.\"\r  5 November 1981. Grimes, William.  \"George C. Nichopoulos, Elviss Last Doctor, Dies at 88.\"\r  United Press International.  26 February 2016.","issues":["loan"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1evJkBYpROc5GxnGDqfm0doNBxkvK6MTs","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1005aEj_eRdmPS85LCYyJwbUaKqoZurKd","image_caption":null},{"image_src":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/uc?export=view&id=1oDj9tjmdZ8jv_4EEbtps0BXj05luQOq4","image_caption":null}]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1302","claim":"Vern Buchanan. His old business was caught illegally funneling over $60,000 in campaign donations to Buchanan to influence his election.","posted":"06\/24\/2011","sci_digest":[],"justification":"When it comes to illegal campaign cash, the wheels of justice move slowly. So when a May 2011 court filing brought fresh attention to old claims involving illegal campaign contributions to U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, Democrats jumped, airinga radio adin his Florida district. Congressman Vern Buchanan. His old business was caught illegally funneling over $60,000 in campaign donations to Buchanan to influence his election, the narrator of the ad says. Tell Buchanan to come clean.The ad ran from June 13-17 and was paid for by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. It relied onnews articlesabouta lawsuit filedby theFederal Election Commissionagainst a business Buchanan once owned, the DCCC said.The 'old business' Buchanan, 60, is awealthy Republicanfrom Longboat Key serving his third term in Congress representing Florida's13th Congressional District. He built his wealth founding a chain of print shop franchises in Michigan, leaving for Florida in the 1980sas the chain struggledand investing in a range of new businesses, including Florida auto dealerships.One of those dealerships is at the heart of this claim.Buchanan had owned a majority interest in Hyundai of North Jacksonville,the FEC says, when his business partner Sam Kazran arranged for dealership employees and relatives to donate to the Vern Buchanan for Congress committee, then be reimbursed by the business. This went on during the 2006 and 2008 campaigns, the FEC says. (We should note that the date Buchanan legally parted ways with the dealership is a matter of disagreement.The FEC saysBuchanan owned 51 percent of the dealership until Kazran completed his purchase of Buchanan's stake to become the sole owner in 2008  after the suspect contributions were made. Buchanan spokeswoman Sally Tibbetts says Buchanan sold the dealership to Kazran in 2005, putting more distance between the congressman and the illegal contributions. )What's the big deal with reimbursing contributions? It violates federal election law, which says (n)o person shall make a contribution in the name of another person. The Federal Election Campaign Act also limits how much a single contributor may give to candidates' campaign committees. Funneling cash through employees would have made it possible for the dealership to bust through that limit.The Buchanan campaign said they brought the questionable contributions to the attention of the FEC, which then launched the investigation. We can't independently confirm if that's the case, because the FEC does not comment on open cases. However, we found no evidence to the contrary. The commission combined the complaint withone filed in 2008 by a Washington groupand two employees of a Venice dealership, which you canread more about here. The FEC investigated,finding probable causeto believe that the Hyundai dealership and Kazran had illegally reimbursed $67,900 in campaign contributions, but it didn't go after Buchanan.Instead, it's now seeking $67,900 in fines from Kazran.Kazran, for his part,admits reimbursingcampaign contributions, but told theBradenton Heraldhe did it at Buchanan's direction. I've been caught in this political nightmare that I have nothing to do with, he told PolitiFact Florida. But he failed to reach an agreement with the Federal Election Commission  andfailed to respond to the complainton behalf of Hyundai North Jacksonville, which is no longer in business. That means facts in the case stand uncontested. So the commission voted to sue him to collect the fines, asking a judge for a default judgement.The FEC told the U.S. District Court that the dealership illegally spent $67,900 in an attempt to influence an election for Congress, presumably believing this to be a worthwhile investment. And that's the May suit that prompted stories in aWSJ.com blog, theSarasota Herald-Tribuneand theBradenton Heraldthat the DCCC cited as it released the script for its Florida radio ad. Jesse Ferguson, speaking on behalf of the committee, theofficial campaign armof the Democrats in the U.S. House, used partial quotes from the lawsuit when he said, The FEC is seeking fines from a business that Vern Buchanan owned at the time for an 'extensive and ongoing scheme' of 'secret illegal contributions' to help his campaign and were going to make sure his constituents know about it.Buchanan's responseWhat does Buchanan's team say? That the FEC has cleared Buchanan himself  so the ad linking the behavior of Kazran and his dealership to the congressman is misleading and dishonest.It creates the false impression that Vern Buchanan has done something wrong when in fact he has been fully exonerated by the FEC, said Sally Tibbetts, his spokeswoman.Arelated news releasethat says Buchanan has been completely exonerated is the subject of its own fact-check, andwe found the claim to be Barely True. But we'll summarize here by saying that what little information is available so far from the FEC doesn't fully clear Buchanan  though it does mean the commission won't take any further action against him in the case.Information's limited because the case isn't yet closed, soconfidentiality rulesapply.That means for the purposes of this fact-check, we'll rely on what's in the public record  information that the DCCC had access to when it scripted its ad.The rulingThat ad starts by naming the congressman, then says his old business was caught illegally funneling over $60,000 in campaign donations to Buchanan to influence his election.The FEC and Buchanan's team agree that he owned a significant stake until at least 2005, when suspect campaign contributions started. The FEC says the dealership reimbursed more than $60,000 in contributions. The money went to Buchanan's main campaign committee, and the FEC says the money was spent in an attempt to influence an election for Congress.What is contested is Buchanan's role in the scheme.The FEC has said it will take no further action against him, closing his file. But it didn't go further to declare it had no probable cause to believe he was involved  which would have better supported his team's claim that he's been cleared. Meanwhile, his former business partner still says Buchanan put him up to it, and says he plans another lawsuit to prove it.While we think the DCCC could have done a better job noting it was Buchanan who turned in the illegal contributions, we rate this ad Mostly True.","issues":["Campaign Finance","Florida"],"image_data":[]}
{"ID":"FMD_test_1303","claim":"Says Ronald Reagan reversed his worlds largest tax cut and raised taxes when revenues did not match the expectations.","posted":"09\/25\/2015","sci_digest":[],"justification":"Stephen Colbert has intervieweda slew ofpresidential candidates in the first weeks of his new job hosting CBSThe Late Show, including Jeb Bush, Donald Trump, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. His time with Cruz on Sept. 21 stood out for a fact-filled back and forth about a major Republican role model, President Ronald Reagan. Colbert asked Cruz if he could agree with Reagans support of amnesty for undocumented immigrants and record of raising taxes amid budget shortfalls. Cruz said of course not before pivoting to Reagans most conservative accomplishments, one being that he signed the largest tax cut in history and spurred economic growth. You know, when Reagan came in, from 1978 to 1982, economic growth averaged less than 1 percent a year. Theres only one other four-year period where thats true. Thats true from 2008 to 2012, Cruz said. Colbert jumped in, saying But when conditions changed in the country, he reversed his worlds largest tax cut and raised taxes when revenues did not match the expectations. So its a matter of compromising. PolitiFact explored Cruzs point about economic growth inanother fact-check. We wondered if Colberts retort was on the money or overstated. (Its our first fact-check ofColbertin his new role  and the first one in five years, period.) Did Reagan really shift course on tax cuts when the growth stopped? A CBS press contact did not return an email for comment. Reagans tax cut As Cruz said, the Gipper really did cut taxes  with the help of Congress  in his first year as president. The largest tax cut in history that Cruz mentioned is in reference to the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981, a $38 billion phased-in cut ($99 billion in 2015 dollars). Put in the way that economists prefer to discuss tax cuts, it represented 1.91 percent of the countrys gross domestic product. This law included across-the-board cuts of about 30 percent to statutory income tax rates. As Colbert said, Reagan raised taxes, too. Two laws, one in 1982 and another in 1984, were especially dramatic. These laws generally raised taxes by removing tax loopholes, not by raising the tax rate, said Dean Baker, a liberal economist and co-founder of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Still, Baker said, the loopholes were big ones. Reagans tax increases 1982:The most significant tax increase Reagan signed was also the first. The Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 (yes, another law with a very sexy name) increased taxes by almost 1 percent of GDP. The 1982 tax increase was probably the largest peacetime tax increase in American history, said economist Bruce Bartlett, who advised Reagan on domestic policy and then worked as Treasury deputy assistant secretary for economic policy in the George H.W. Bush administration. (An analysis by Jerry Tempalski, an analyst in the Office of Tax Analysis with the U.S. Department of the Treasury,agrees.) This law was driven by pressure to attack the federal budget deficit, as well as the impression that Reagans tax-cutting was partially responsible for lower-than-expected tax revenues. Bartlett, who reviewed Reagans tax record forTax Notesin 2011, cited aTreasury estimatethat the 1982 law raised taxes by almost 1 percent of GDP, or about $150 billion in modern dollars. Specifically, it rolled back some but not all of the 1981 tax cut for writing off equipment, and it repealed 1981 safe harbor leasing provisions, said Stephen J. Entin, senior fellow at the Tax Foundation and former deputy assistant secretary for economic policy in the Reagan administration. 1983:A law Reagan signed in 1983 aimed to keep Social Security afloat by increasing payroll taxes and taxing Social Security benefits for some high-earners. This cost $24.6 billion, or almost $50 billion in 2015 dollars, through 1988, according to an administrationestimate. 1984:The Deficit Reduction Act that Reagan signed rolled back part of the 1981 cut on buildings, Entin said, with the idea that Congress would enact spending cuts. But many of those cuts were either never enacted or were later restored, Entin said. This led to $25 billion in tax receipts. Reagan also signed tax increases in 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1988 (as well as a couple other laws with revenue reductions). So where does that leave Reagans tax record on the whole? Its mixed. On one hand, revenues were lower as ashare of GDPin his last year in office (17.6 percent of GDP in 1988) compared to the year before he took office (18.5 percent of GDP in 1980), according to the White House Office of Management and Budget. However, the thrust of the 1981 tax cut that Cruz touted on Colberts show didnt prove to have lasting effects on the whole. A 2006 Treasury Departmentanalysisoffers another view of the plunge after the 1981 law and the subsequent changes that wound it back. Reagans staff tallied up the effect of major legislation on tax receipts over his tenure for his final budget proposal (page 4-4). The 1981 tax cuts comprised most of the total $275 billion in tax relief, but the other side of the ledger listed $133 billion in cumulative tax increases. Thus, Reagan took back about half the 1981 tax cut with subsequent tax increases, Bartlett wrote. Our ruling Responding to Cruzs assertion that Reagan signed the largest tax cut in history, Colbert said he reversed it and raised taxes when revenues did not match the expectations. Legislation that Reagan signed over his time in office and raised taxes did not completely reverse the 1981 Economic Recovery Tax Act. But the broader point Colbert makes is on point. Reagan agreed to raise taxes to deal with budget deficits, even if he wasnt enthusiastic about it. We rate the claim Mostly True.","issues":["Taxes","PunditFact"],"image_data":[{"image_src":"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/6MDZZnaU0whdFVDK6CZTnxJiXuV2lI61-6UTjuMzoPp7CaFDfZeJvoH_yExJJqJnizM_XGU85FJVhuFdMrqXKeJJ60X3-wbtDyqXi7m-rzzk4zHEb2vqFDv_WW4ZgZ5pJw=s1600","image_caption":"The Late Show"}]}