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https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/clinton-trump-lawyer-payoffs/
|
What was the reason for the FBI search in Trump's lawyer's office, as opposed to Bill Clinton's office?
|
David Mikkelson
|
03/06/2019
|
[
"A meme presents a false equivalency between presidential payoffs to women made in completely different cases 20 years apart."
] |
A popular meme in March 2019 questioned why Bill Clinton had "paid Paula Jones $850K to go away" yet the FBI hadn't raided his lawyer's office. The meme was an obvious reference to two completely unrelated issues separated by decades: a 1994 lawsuit involving Clinton and a search warrant executed by the FBI in April 2018 at the office of President Donald Trump's attorney, Michael Cohen. In short, the major differences in the cases referenced by the meme one of which involved an FBI raid on a lawyer's office and the other not were as follows: Clinton openly paid Jones $850,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit well after he became president and well after Jones had had a chance to air her allegations to the public, press, and court system, while Trump secretly used an intermediary to pay hush money to porn actress Stormy Daniels just ahead of a presidential election in order to keep her allegations that she had an affair with him from reaching the public and influencing the election results against him. Nothing Clinton did in settling Jones' civil lawsuit was illegal (or even potentially illegal), but Trump's payment of hush money to Daniels through his lawyer was possibly an illegal act on the part of Trump and/or Cohen, hence the raid on the latter's office but not the office of Clinton's lawyer. On 6 May 1994, Jones, a former Arkansas state employee, filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Clinton just days before the statute of limitations would have expired. In her lawsuit, she maintained that on 8 May 1991, she was working the registration desk at Excelsior Hotel in Little Rock, Arkansas, where the Third Annual Governor's Quality Management Conference was being held, an event Bill Clinton (then governor of Arkansas) attended to deliver a speech. Jones alleged that an Arkansas state trooper, Danny Ferguson, approached her at the registration desk, told her that Clinton would like to meet with her, and escorted her to a business suite in the hotel where Clinton was staying. lawsuit According to Jones, once she entered Clinton's hotel suite he complimented her on her physical appearance, put his hand on her leg, attempted to kiss her on the neck, asked her if she was married, and finally lowered his trousers to expose his erect penis and asked Jones to "kiss it." When Jones rebuffed Clinton's advances, she said, he told her to "keep this between ourselves" and suggested that, in her words, he "could damage her in her job and even jeopardize her employment." Jones did not publicly discuss the incident until The American Spectator referenced it in a January 1994 article, apparently based on information provided by Trooper Ferguson: The American Spectator account asserts that a woman by the name of "Paula" told an unnamed trooper (obviously Defendant Ferguson), who had escorted "Paula" to Clinton's hotel room, that "she was available to be Clinton's regular girlfriend if he so desired," thus implying a consummated and satisfying sexual encounter with Clinton, as well as a willingness to continue a sexual relationship with him. These assertions are untrue. The American Spectator account also asserted that the troopers' 'official' duties included facilitating Clinton's cheating on his wife ... Since Jones ("Paula") was one of the women preyed upon by Clinton and his troopers, including by Defendant Ferguson, in the manner described above, those who read this magazine account could conclude falsely that Jones ("Paula") had a sexual relationship and affair with Clinton. Jones' reputation within her community was thus seriously damaged. Several months later, Jones filed her lawsuit against Clinton and Ferguson, seeking a total of $750,000 in compensation for damages and attorneys' fees on counts of sexual harassment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and defamation. The issue of whether Jones could sue a sitting president went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, who upheld an appellate court decision that "the President, like all other government officials, is subject to the same laws that apply to all other members of our society," and allowed Jones' case to proceed. However, Judge Susan Webber Wright of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas dismissed the lawsuit on 1 April 1998, holding that "the governor's alleged conduct does not constitute sexual assault," that "plaintiff's allegations fall far short of the rigorous standards for establishing a claim of outrage under Arkansas law," that "plaintiff has failed to demonstrate that she has a case worthy of submitting to a jury," and that "there are no genuine issues for trial in this case." dismissed When it came to light a few months later that Clinton had lied under oath about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky during proceedings in Jones' lawsuit, Jones filed an appeal to reverse the dismissal and have her claims reinstated. On 13 November 1998, Clinton settled the matter by offering to pay Jones $850,000 in exchange for her agreement to drop her appeal, without admitting to or apologizing for the conduct alleged by Jones. appeal Porn actress Daniels (the stage name of Stephanie Clifford) said she first met Trump at a celebrity golf tournament in Nevada in July 2006. The two engaged in sex in Trump's hotel room, she claimed, and continued an "intimate relationship" into the following year. Daniels discussed her relationship with Trump in a 2011 interview for In Touch magazine, but the interview was not published at that time, reportedly because Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, threatened to sue over it when the magazine reached out to ask for comment. threatened In January 2018, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump's personal attorney, Cohen, had arranged to pay Daniels $130,000 just weeks before the 2016 U.S. presidential election in exchange for her signing a nondisclosure agreement related to her alleged 2006 affair with Trump. reported The following month, Cohen confirmed that $130,000 had been paid to Daniels, but he maintained that he had used his personal funds for the payment, and that "Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly." On 5 April 2018, Trump denied to reporters that he knew about the payment to Daniels. When pressed about why the payment had been made, Trump replied, "You'll have to ask Michael Cohen" and asserted he didn't know where the $130,000 had come from. Four days later, acting on a warrant from federal prosecutors in New York's Southern District obtained in part on a referral from special counsel Robert Mueller's office, FBI agents seized a variety of material from Cohen's New York City office, home, and hotel room, including documents related to Cohen's payment to Daniels and to Karen McDougal, another woman who had alleged an affair with Trump. denied A month later, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, now a member of Trump's legal team, said that Trump had personally repaid Cohen for the $130,000 payment to Daniels, and that the reimbursement had been "funneled through a law firm." The following day, Trump contradicted his earlier claim that he didn't know about the payment by acknowledging that he had repaid Cohen, but he asserted the money "had nothing to do with the campaign." Rudy Giuliani contradicted In August 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to eight charges, including five counts of tax evasion, one count of making a false statement to a financial institution, one count of being a "willful cause" of an unlawful corporate contribution, and one count of making an excessive campaign contribution, the latter two stemming from the "hush money" payments made to Daniels and McDougal. Prosecutors held that the payments made by Cohen violated federal campaign finance laws because they were meant to benefit the campaign but did not come from campaign contributions and were not reported to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). The payments therefore constituted illegal in-kind contributions to the Trump campaign that violated laws limiting such donations to $2,700 and requiring their disclosure to the FEC. Whether Trump himself could be charged with engaging in a criminal scheme to violate campaign finance laws for his involvement in the hush money payments is still a matter of legal debate, but the issue took a dramatic turn in February 2019 when Cohen revealed before Congress that he was paid reimbursement for the hush money directly from Trump's personal bank account after Trump became president. legal debate revealed "Cohen's public testimony directly implicates Trump in serious campaign finance violations," former FECGeneral Counsel Lawrence Noble told the Washington Post. "Assuming Cohen is telling the truth about the purpose of the checks, the checks are documentary evidence supporting the allegation that Trump had Cohen pay Daniels $135,000 in hush money and then reimbursed Cohen." Washington Post All in all, events proved the FBI had good reason to raid Cohen's office, as they gathered evidence of multiple federal crimes (beyond just campaign finance violations) to which Cohen pleaded guilty. Bill Clinton's payment to Paula Jones was a settlement of a civil lawsuit that did not involve any criminal matter or criminal wrongdoing, and thus it was of no legitimate interest to law enforcement. The only commonality between the two cases was that they involved payments by politicians to women, but for very different reasons and circumstances. federal crimes Dowd, Katie. "Are These the Checks Donald Trump Gave Michael Cohen for the Stormy Daniels Payment?" San Francisco Chronicle. 27 February 2019. Goodman, Ryan and Andy Wright. "Mueller's Roadmap: Major Takeaways from Cohen and Manafort Filings." Just Security. December 8, 2018 Rupar, Aaron. "What's illegal About Trump's Hush Payments to Women, Briefly Explained." Vox. 12 December 2018. Kelly, Matthew. "In-Kind Contributions Are Boring ... Until Stormy Daniels Gets Involved." OpenSecrets.org. 3 April 2018. Lord, Debbie. "Michael Cohen Plea Deal: How Were Campaign Finance Laws Broken?" The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 22 August 2018. Associated Press. "A Timeline of Key Moments in Trump-Stormy Daniels Saga." 4 May 2018. Kirby, Jen. "A Timeline of Trumpworld's Changing Story on Stormy Daniels." Vox. 4 May 2018. Samuels, Brett. "Timeline: Trump, Cohen, Stormy Daniels and $130,000." The Hill. 4 May 2018. Theobald, Bill. "Why Hush Money Michael Cohen Paid Stormy Daniels Was an Illegal Campaign Donation." USA Today. 14 December 2018. Kirby, Jen and Andrew Prokop. "Michael Cohen Pleads Guilty to 8 Federal Crimes." Vox. 21 August 2018. Stewart, Emily and Dylan Matthews. "The Michael Cohen-Stormy Daniels Subplot, Explained." Vox. 27 February 2019. Chalfant, Morgan. "Prosecutors Submit Redacted Cohen Raid Documents Under Seal, Teeing Up Public Release." The Hill. 28 February 2019. Reuters. "Trump Says He Did Not Know About $130,000 Payment to Stormy Daniels." 5 April 2018.
|
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"funds"
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[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/pjones/docs/complaint.htm"
],
"sentence": "On 6 May 1994, Jones, a former Arkansas state employee, filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Clinton just days before the statute of limitations would have expired. In her lawsuit, she maintained that on 8 May 1991, she was working the registration desk at Excelsior Hotel in Little Rock, Arkansas, where the Third Annual Governor's Quality Management Conference was being held, an event Bill Clinton (then governor of Arkansas) attended to deliver a speech. Jones alleged that an Arkansas state trooper, Danny Ferguson, approached her at the registration desk, told her that Clinton would like to meet with her, and escorted her to a business suite in the hotel where Clinton was staying."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Paula_Jones_v._William_Clinton/Judge%27s_Opinion_Dismissing"
],
"sentence": "However, Judge Susan Webber Wright of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas dismissed the lawsuit on 1 April 1998, holding that \"the governor's alleged conduct does not constitute sexual assault,\" that \"plaintiff's allegations fall far short of the rigorous standards for establishing a claim of outrage under Arkansas law,\" that \"plaintiff has failed to demonstrate that she has a case worthy of submitting to a jury,\" and that \"there are no genuine issues for trial in this case.\""
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/jonesappeal073198.htm"
],
"sentence": "When it came to light a few months later that Clinton had lied under oath about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky during proceedings in Jones' lawsuit, Jones filed an appeal to reverse the dismissal and have her claims reinstated. On 13 November 1998, Clinton settled the matter by offering to pay Jones $850,000 in exchange for her agreement to drop her appeal, without admitting to or apologizing for the conduct alleged by Jones."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/2/27/18241849/michael-cohen-house-testimony-stormy-daniels"
],
"sentence": "Porn actress Daniels (the stage name of Stephanie Clifford) said she first met Trump at a celebrity golf tournament in Nevada in July 2006. The two engaged in sex in Trump's hotel room, she claimed, and continued an \"intimate relationship\" into the following year. Daniels discussed her relationship with Trump in a 2011 interview for In Touch magazine, but the interview was not published at that time, reportedly because Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, threatened to sue over it when the magazine reached out to ask for comment."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-lawyer-arranged-130-000-payment-for-adult-film-stars-silence-1515787678"
],
"sentence": "In January 2018, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump's personal attorney, Cohen, had arranged to pay Daniels $130,000 just weeks before the 2016 U.S. presidential election in exchange for her signing a nondisclosure agreement related to her alleged 2006 affair with Trump."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-daniels/trump-says-he-did-not-know-about-130000-payment-to-stormy-daniels-idUSKCN1HC2SN"
],
"sentence": "On 5 April 2018, Trump denied to reporters that he knew about the payment to Daniels. When pressed about why the payment had been made, Trump replied, \"You'll have to ask Michael Cohen\" and asserted he didn't know where the $130,000 had come from. Four days later, acting on a warrant from federal prosecutors in New York's Southern District obtained in part on a referral from special counsel Robert Mueller's office, FBI agents seized a variety of material from Cohen's New York City office, home, and hotel room, including documents related to Cohen's payment to Daniels and to Karen McDougal, another woman who had alleged an affair with Trump."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.vox.com/2018/5/2/17313770/trump-stormy-daniels-giuliani-hush-money-michael-cohen",
"https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/385974-trump-defends-payment-to-stormy-daniels-after-giuliani-revelation"
],
"sentence": "A month later, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, now a member of Trump's legal team, said that Trump had personally repaid Cohen for the $130,000 payment to Daniels, and that the reimbursement had been \"funneled through a law firm.\" The following day, Trump contradicted his earlier claim that he didn't know about the payment by acknowledging that he had repaid Cohen, but he asserted the money \"had nothing to do with the campaign.\""
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.justsecurity.org/61785/muellers-roadmap-major-takeaways-cohen-manafort-filings/",
"https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/cohen-testimony-campaign-finance-violation-check-13649011.php"
],
"sentence": "Whether Trump himself could be charged with engaging in a criminal scheme to violate campaign finance laws for his involvement in the hush money payments is still a matter of legal debate, but the issue took a dramatic turn in February 2019 when Cohen revealed before Congress that he was paid reimbursement for the hush money directly from Trump's personal bank account after Trump became president."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/02/27/michael-cohens-testimony-includes-three-remarkable-allegations-against-trump/"
],
"sentence": "\"Cohen's public testimony directly implicates Trump in serious campaign finance violations,\" former FECGeneral Counsel Lawrence Noble told the Washington Post. \"Assuming Cohen is telling the truth about the purpose of the checks, the checks are documentary evidence supporting the allegation that Trump had Cohen pay Daniels $135,000 in hush money and then reimbursed Cohen.\""
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.vox.com/2018/8/21/17764990/michael-cohen-plea-deal-trump-sdny-jail-cooperation"
],
"sentence": "All in all, events proved the FBI had good reason to raid Cohen's office, as they gathered evidence of multiple federal crimes (beyond just campaign finance violations) to which Cohen pleaded guilty. Bill Clinton's payment to Paula Jones was a settlement of a civil lawsuit that did not involve any criminal matter or criminal wrongdoing, and thus it was of no legitimate interest to law enforcement. The only commonality between the two cases was that they involved payments by politicians to women, but for very different reasons and circumstances."
}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2012/jun/10/tammy-baldwin/tammy-baldwin-says-tommy-thompsons-tax-plan-would-/
|
Says Tommy Thompson's tax plan amounts to an average tax cut of almost $87,000 for the top 1 percent.
|
Tom Kertscher
|
06/10/2012
|
[] |
If you havent heard U.S. Rep.Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin, say she is fighting for the middle class in her bid for the U.S. Senate, you havent been listening.But you can be forgiven. The gubernatorial recall all but filled Wisconsins political bandwidth until the election was held June 5, 2012.Now, more attention will turn to Baldwin and the four Republicans seeking to succeed Democrat Herb Kohl in the November 2012 Senate election.Baldwin sounded the middle class theme in attacking the best known GOP candidate, former governorTommy Thompson, in amemoreleasedto the media May 30, 2012.She declared:Thompsons tax plan amounts to an average tax cut of almost $87,000 for the top 1 percent.The 1 percent are people with incomes over $343,000, according to the memo.Sounds like a good deal for them. But is Baldwin on target?Baldwins evidenceBaldwin campaign spokesman John Kraus said Baldwin's is based on a flat tax provision in a tax reformplanthat Thompsonreleasedin April 2012.Two paragraphs in the four-page document are devoted to the flat tax.For two years, individual taxpayers could opt to file a tax return with a 15 percent rate, or file a return using existing exemptions. After two years, Thompson would move to an across-the board flat tax with provisions to encourage savings, investment, home ownership and support for charities, the plan says.Heres the Baldwin math:In 2009,accordingto the latest figures available from the Internal Revenue Service, the top 1 percent of federal income tax returns amounts to nearly 1.38 million people. They all earned more than $343,927.That group generated just over $1.32 trillion in adjusted gross income, which resulted in a total of just over $318 billion in income taxes paid.Had a 15 percent flat rate been in effect, the 1 percent would have paid $198.7 billion in taxes or $119.3 billion less, under Thompsons plan.That means those taxpayers would have paid an average of $86,502 less in income taxes.Thompson campaign spokesman Brian Nemoir noted that tax rates ranged from 10 percent to 35 percent in 2009 (as they do now). He said Thompsons plan better balances the nearly half of all Americans that dont pay income taxes against the nations top 1 percent of earners, who pay 37 percent of the income taxes collected.As for Baldwins figures, he said her analysis seems sufficient.While Thompson's proposal lacks enough detail for analysis, the Tax Policy Centerevaluatedthe more detailed 15 percent flat tax plan advanced by Newt Gingrich during his 2012 run for the Republican presidential nomination. The center concluded that no one, regardless of income, would see a tax increase under Gingrich's plan. Under onescenario, which divided all taxpayers into five groups based on income, all five groups would get a tax cut under Gingrich's plan.So, its likely Thompsons plan would benefit many more groups than the 1 percent cited by Baldwin, who is using that approach to bolster her underlying point.As for the specifics of Baldwin's claim, we ran her numbers by three tax experts: Tax Policy Center senior fellowRoberton Williamsand Tax Foundation economistMark Robyn, both in Washington, D.C.; and Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance presidentTodd Berryin Madison.All three said Baldwin is generally on target, but that Thompsons plan is too short on details to know for sure whether Baldwins $87,000 figure is on the money.Williams said Baldwins numbers, on their face, are accurate.Its a back-of-the-envelope calculation, thats what it is, said Robyn.Robyn and Berry agreed the 1 percent would almost certainly get a tax break under Thompsons plan, but they couldnt say whether Baldwins figure is accurate because Thompsons plan doesnt specify what deductions and exemptions might remain under his flat tax and who would qualify for them.Her calculations are probably overstated a little, but we dont know how much, said Berry.Our ratingBaldwin said Thompson's tax plan amounts to an average tax cut of almost $87,000 for the top 1 percent and Thompson didnt refute the figure.Tax experts said Baldwins figure is in the ballpark, at least as an estimate, but that Thompsons flat tax proposal lacks too much detail to know for sure.Baldwins claim is accurate but needs additional information -- our definition of Mostly True.
|
[
"Federal Budget",
"Taxes",
"Wisconsin"
] |
[] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.politifact.com/personalities/tammy-baldwin/"
],
"sentence": "If you havent heard U.S. Rep.Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin, say she is fighting for the middle class in her bid for the U.S. Senate, you havent been listening.But you can be forgiven. The gubernatorial recall all but filled Wisconsins political bandwidth until the election was held June 5, 2012.Now, more attention will turn to Baldwin and the four Republicans seeking to succeed Democrat Herb Kohl in the November 2012 Senate election.Baldwin sounded the middle class theme in attacking the best known GOP candidate, former governorTommy Thompson, in amemoreleasedto the media May 30, 2012.She declared:Thompsons tax plan amounts to an average tax cut of almost $87,000 for the top 1 percent.The 1 percent are people with incomes over $343,000, according to the memo.Sounds like a good deal for them. But is Baldwin on target?Baldwins evidenceBaldwin campaign spokesman John Kraus said Baldwin's is based on a flat tax provision in a tax reformplanthat Thompsonreleasedin April 2012.Two paragraphs in the four-page document are devoted to the flat tax.For two years, individual taxpayers could opt to file a tax return with a 15 percent rate, or file a return using existing exemptions. After two years, Thompson would move to an across-the board flat tax with provisions to encourage savings, investment, home ownership and support for charities, the plan says.Heres the Baldwin math:In 2009,accordingto the latest figures available from the Internal Revenue Service, the top 1 percent of federal income tax returns amounts to nearly 1.38 million people. They all earned more than $343,927.That group generated just over $1.32 trillion in adjusted gross income, which resulted in a total of just over $318 billion in income taxes paid.Had a 15 percent flat rate been in effect, the 1 percent would have paid $198.7 billion in taxes or $119.3 billion less, under Thompsons plan.That means those taxpayers would have paid an average of $86,502 less in income taxes.Thompson campaign spokesman Brian Nemoir noted that tax rates ranged from 10 percent to 35 percent in 2009 (as they do now). He said Thompsons plan better balances the nearly half of all Americans that dont pay income taxes against the nations top 1 percent of earners, who pay 37 percent of the income taxes collected.As for Baldwins figures, he said her analysis seems sufficient.While Thompson's proposal lacks enough detail for analysis, the Tax Policy Centerevaluatedthe more detailed 15 percent flat tax plan advanced by Newt Gingrich during his 2012 run for the Republican presidential nomination. The center concluded that no one, regardless of income, would see a tax increase under Gingrich's plan. Under onescenario, which divided all taxpayers into five groups based on income, all five groups would get a tax cut under Gingrich's plan.So, its likely Thompsons plan would benefit many more groups than the 1 percent cited by Baldwin, who is using that approach to bolster her underlying point.As for the specifics of Baldwin's claim, we ran her numbers by three tax experts: Tax Policy Center senior fellowRoberton Williamsand Tax Foundation economistMark Robyn, both in Washington, D.C.; and Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance presidentTodd Berryin Madison.All three said Baldwin is generally on target, but that Thompsons plan is too short on details to know for sure whether Baldwins $87,000 figure is on the money.Williams said Baldwins numbers, on their face, are accurate.Its a back-of-the-envelope calculation, thats what it is, said Robyn.Robyn and Berry agreed the 1 percent would almost certainly get a tax break under Thompsons plan, but they couldnt say whether Baldwins figure is accurate because Thompsons plan doesnt specify what deductions and exemptions might remain under his flat tax and who would qualify for them.Her calculations are probably overstated a little, but we dont know how much, said Berry.Our ratingBaldwin said Thompson's tax plan amounts to an average tax cut of almost $87,000 for the top 1 percent and Thompson didnt refute the figure.Tax experts said Baldwins figure is in the ballpark, at least as an estimate, but that Thompsons flat tax proposal lacks too much detail to know for sure.Baldwins claim is accurate but needs additional information -- our definition of Mostly True."
}
] |
true
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/cori-bush-ferguson/
|
Did White Supremacists Shoot at Rep. Cori Bush and Ferguson Protesters?
|
Dan MacGuill
|
11/18/2021
|
[
"The Missouri Congresswoman's claims about an alleged 2015 incident were met with considerable skepticism, in November 2021. "
] |
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.
|
[
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"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=13Tho0jJP8rBcrY9AmYUusVXT_nintSRH"
}
] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://archive.md/rgKYz",
"https://www.snopes.com/?s=rittenhouse"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://archive.md/rgKYz",
"https://archive.md/952Rx"
],
"sentence": "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. "
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://twitter.com/People4Bernie/status/1357496446161883137"
],
"sentence": "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]"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://archive.md/LI0iH",
"https://archive.md/cCDey"
],
"sentence": "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:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://archive.md/7ynq9"
],
"sentence": "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. "
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://archive.md/k9buz"
],
"sentence": "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.\""
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://archive.md/sbqqB"
],
"sentence": "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. "
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://archive.md/Li4EQ",
"https://www.blogtalkradio.com/gumboforthesoul/2015/08/12/pastor-cori-bush-with-fergusons-frontline-and-black-lives-matter-mikebrown"
],
"sentence": "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. "
}
] |
neutral
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/sinking-the-sub-club/
|
Subway Counterfeit Coupons
|
David Mikkelson
|
06/02/2005
|
[
"Is Subway ending its Sub Club promotion due to the counterfeiting of stamps?"
] |
Claim: Subway is ending its long-running Sub Club promotion due to the prevalence of counterfeit stamps. Example: [Collected via e-mail, 2005] Today I went to my local SUBWAY franchise, and was horriied to discover that they will no longer be doing the SUBWAY CLUB stamp program. The cashier at the store told me it was because some kids in California had stolen a roll of stamps and tried to sell it on eBay. He showed me a small in store display that explained that they would no longer be issuing stamps and would honor existing stamps until June 30th, 2005. Origins: Regular customers of the Subway chain of sandwich shops, which operates more than 23,000 restaurants in 82 countries, are familiar with one of longest-running promotions in retail history: the Sub Club. Ever since the 1980s, Subway customers have received a stamp for every six-inch sandwich purchased (two stamps for a foot-long); filling up a Sub Club card with the requisite number of stamps entitles the customer to a free sandwich. Alas, by the end of September 2005 the Sub Club will be no more, another victim of technology which makes counterfeiting coupons and proof-of-purchase stamps on home computer equipment all too easy. Coupon fraud has exploded in the last few years as counterfeiters using high-quality printers have not only created phony coupons for their own use, but have also sought to profit by offering millions of dollars' worth of false coupons for sale to others through on-line auction sites. In some cases grocery stores and other retailers have even stopped accepting legitimate coupons distributed on-line and printed at home because manufacturers have refused to honor counterfeits. Now, with thousands of Sub Club cards and stamps (real, stolen, and counterfeit) available for sale through auction sites, and Subway franchise owners increasingly discovering counterfeit stamps among their redemptions, the company has decided to pull the plug on the decades-old free sandwich promotion. Although each Subway restaurant can set its own timeframe, the Sub Club will be phased out company-wide by 1 October 2005. Subway is designing a replacement for the Sub Club, but details of the new promotion have not yet been announced (although some outlets are now using centrally-stored information retrieved via Subway cards with magnetic strips). Subway cards Last updated: 26 May 2011 Leamon, Scott. "Police Accuse Pair of College Students with Forging Subway Sub Club Stamps." WSLS-TV {Roanoke, VA]. 22 October 2004.
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"profit"
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"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1mlHOvDc5QMFLyzhiSigGqIGy4H5YxGu_"
}
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[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.mysubwaycard.com/"
],
"sentence": "Now, with thousands of Sub Club cards and stamps (real, stolen, and counterfeit) available for sale through auction sites, and Subway franchise owners increasingly discovering counterfeit stamps among their redemptions, the company has decided to pull the plug on the decades-old free sandwich promotion. Although each Subway restaurant can set its own timeframe, the Sub Club will be phased out company-wide by 1 October 2005. Subway is designing a replacement for the Sub Club, but details of the new promotion have not yet been announced (although some outlets are now using centrally-stored information retrieved via Subway cards with magnetic strips)."
}
] |
true
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hillary-clinton-goldman-sachs/
|
Transcript for Hillary Clinton's Speech to Goldman Sachs Leaked?
|
Dan Evon
|
02/28/2016
|
[
"A circulating purported transcript of Hillary Clinton's first speech to Goldman Sachs was originally written as a satire piece."
] |
In February 2016, the transcriptof a speech Hillary Clinton purportedly gave to Goldman Sach's on 4 June 2013 started circulating online: The following is a leaked transcript of Hillary Clintons 1st speech to Goldman Sachs delivered on 6/04/2013. Two other speeches are also rumored to be in circulation. This is the full transcript. Secretary Clinton received $225,000 for this speech. HILLARY CLINTON: Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you very much, Lloyd [Blankfein], and thanks to everyone at Goldman Sachs for welcoming me today. Im delighted to be back among friends, colleagues, collaborators, supporters, kindred spirits Let me jump right in. You know, over the past few months, there have been popular concerns about an economy that still isnt delivering for the majority of Americans. Its not delivering the way that they feel it should, that they feel entitled to. Most Americans that you speak to, speak a populist rhetoric that claims it is stacked for those at the top, that those of you here have it too good. (Laughter) But we know the hopes that the little people have for their future things like school, job, food, clothing on their backs all of those little things would not be possible without your leadership and innovation. Several publications,such asBSNews, CounterPunch,andDissident Voice, lent credence to thetranscripts when they published them in full.These web sites all attributed itstext to author K.J. Noh, who is not affiliated with the Clinton campaign. BSNews CounterPunch Dissident Voice While the aforementioned web sites are not exclusively satirical publications, they do occasionally (as is the case above)publishsatire: BSNews, in stark contrast, is here to tell you the truth. We pride ourselves on covering the news stories the corporate media wont dare touch. We will from time to time take satirical side swipes at journalists within the MSM (see Special Reports) and we will be producing spoof media animations (see Podcast) but we will never deliberately lie or mislead OUR audience about the most important news stories of the day. While we couldn't find any indication that BSNewshad labeled the above-quoted story as satire,Counter Punchfeatured a "satire alert" at the top of its article and theDissident Voice(where thepurported transcript of Clinton's speech first appeared) filed the story as piece of fiction: The transcripts of Hillary Clinton's speeches to Goldman Sachs have not been leaked or published anywhere on the internet. When the Democratic presidential candidate was asked about the speeches she made during a town hall meeting on 18 February 2016, she said that she would releasethemwhen the other candidates did the same: release At another town hall, on Feb. 18, a man in the audience pleaded, Please, just release those transcripts so that we know exactly where you stand. Mrs. Clinton had told him, I am happy to release anything I have when everybody else does the same, because every other candidate in this race has given speeches to private groups.
|
[
"economy"
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[
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"hrefs": [
"https://bsnews.info/hillary-clintons-speech-to-goldman-sachs-june-4-2013/",
"https://www.counterpunch.org/2016/02/26/hillary-clintons-speech-to-goldman-sachs/",
"https://dissidentvoice.org/2016/02/hillary-clintons-speech-to-goldman-sachs-june-4-2013/"
],
"sentence": "Several publications,such asBSNews, CounterPunch,andDissident Voice, lent credence to thetranscripts when they published them in full.These web sites all attributed itstext to author K.J. Noh, who is not affiliated with the Clinton campaign."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/26/opinion/mrs-clinton-show-voters-those-transcripts.html?_r=0"
],
"sentence": "The transcripts of Hillary Clinton's speeches to Goldman Sachs have not been leaked or published anywhere on the internet. When the Democratic presidential candidate was asked about the speeches she made during a town hall meeting on 18 February 2016, she said that she would releasethemwhen the other candidates did the same:"
}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/first-class-salesmanship/
|
Reselling U.S. Postage Stamps
|
David Mikkelson
|
12/01/2008
|
[
"Is it illegal to resell U.S. postage stamps for a price greater than their face value?"
] |
Claim: U.S. postage stamps may not be resold for a price greater than their face value. Example: [Collected via e-mail, October 2007] I was always under the impression that selling a regular US First-Class stamp for profit was illegal. I thought you could only sell it for face value, is this true? Origins: These days postal customers have a multiplicity of options for buying postage: They can purchase stamps not only at post offices but also from private mailbox chain outlets and from many grocery, warehouse, and convenience stores; they can order stamps by phone, through the mail, or over the Internet; and they can even print out postage stamps themselves through programs operated by authorized U.S. Postal Service (USPS) vendors. It wasn't all that long ago, however, when many customers had few (if any) alternatives for obtaining stamps other than by trekking down to the local post office. It might be memories from those days when the U.S. Post Office Department was strictly a government agency (i.e., prior to the creation of the USPS in 1970) and its offices were the only sales outlet for stamps for many people that have fostered the mistaken belief it is illegal to re-sell U.S. postage stamps for a price greater than their face value. Perhaps people viewed postage stamps as a type of government service, and therefore they thought making aprofit from the resale of stamps was a form of illegal profiteering. We know this not to be true from anecdotal evidence: Years ago, one of the few sources of stamps other than the post office was the mechanical, lever-operated machines commonly found in grocery stores which dispensed individual stamps (rather than booklets) and were notorious for not providing full value depositing a dime in such a machine would typically fetch the customer something like one five-cent stamp and two one-cent stamps, or a quarter might buy three six-cent stamps and one three-cent stamp. Even today, the private mailbox outlets that have sprung up across the country often add surcharges to the price of stamps they offer their customers as a convenience. (Plus, if selling stamps for more than their face value were truly prohibited by law, then all philatelic sales of uncancelled stamps would be illegal.) In any case, we don't need to rely on anecdotal evidence, because the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section of the USPS's web site explains that it has no control over the prices other entities charge for reselling U.S. postage stamps: FAQ Selling stamps at a higher price The Postal Service sells stamps at face value to everyone. We have no control over the pricing policies of private entrepreneurs, companies or agencies who resell our products. A charge at a higher price is most likely imposed to earn a return on their investment of capital and effort. The prices they charge are, no doubt, established on the basis of their needs and market evaluations. Customers may avoid paying more than the stated value for First-Class Mail postage by purchasing stamps at their Post Office, through Stamps By Mail, phone, online, Automated Postal Centers and retail outlets that are involved with our consignment programs or from one of the many postal stores. Last updated: 19 August 2013
|
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"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=15n2AA43G6vgb_Tq3t_mnm04O1RsKuUUN"
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[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://faq.usps.com"
],
"sentence": "In any case, we don't need to rely on anecdotal evidence, because the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section of the USPS's web site explains that it has no control over the prices other entities charge for reselling U.S. postage stamps:"
}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/non-compos-mentos/
|
Mentos and Coke Death
|
Barbara Mikkelson
|
11/08/2006
|
[
"Mixture of Mentos and Coca-Cola kills child?"
] |
Claim: A mixture of Mentos and Coca-Cola killed two Brazilian children. Status: . 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:
|
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[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.stevespanglerscience.com/who-is-steve-spangler.html"
],
"sentence": "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"
},
{
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"/horrors/freakish/poprocks.asp"
],
"sentence": "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."
}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/pigford-v-glickman/
|
Pigford v. Glickman
|
David Mikkelson
|
02/28/2011
|
[
"Did the 'Pigford v. Glickman' lawsuit settlement pay out more than $1.25 billion, much of it to fraudulent claimants?"
] |
Claim: The Pigford v. Glickman lawsuit settlement paid out more than $1.25 billion, much of it to fraudulent claimants. OF AND INFORMATION Example: [Collected via e-mail, February 2011] In 1997, 400 African-American farmers sued the United States Department of Agriculture, alleging that they had been unfairly denied USDA loans due to racial discrimination during the period 1983 to 1997. The case was entitled "Pigford vs. Glickman" and in 1999, the black farmers won their case. The government agreed to pay each of them as much as $50,000 to settle their claims. But then on February 23, 2010, something shocking happened in relation to that original judgment: In total silence, the USDA agreed to release more funds to "Pigford". The amount was a staggering...... $1.25 billion. This was because the original number of plaintiffs - 400 black farmers had now swollen, in a class action suit, to include a total of 86,000 black farmers throughout America. There was only one teensy problem: The United States of America doesn't have 86,000 black farmers!!!! According to accurate and totally verifiable Official USDA 2007 Census census data, the total number of black farmers throughout America is only 39,697. Hmmm... by the Official USDA 1992 Census data the US had only 18,816 black farmers!! Oops!! Well, gosh - how on earth did 39,697 explode into the fraudulent 86,000 claims?? And how did $50,000 explode into $1.25 billion?? Well, folks, you'll just have to ask the woman who not only spearheaded this case because of her position in 1997 at the "Rural Development Leadership Network", but whose family received the highest single payout (approximately $13 million) from that action - Shirley Sherrod. Oops again!! Yes, folks it appears that Ms. Sherrod had just unwittingly exposed herself as the perpetrator of one of the biggest fraud claims in the history of the United States a fraud enabled solely because she screamed racism at the government and cowed them into submission. And it gets even more interesting... Ms. Sherrod has also exposed the person who aided and abetted her in thisrace fraud. As it turns out, the original judgment of "Pigford vs. Glickman" in 1999 only applied to a total of about 16,000 black farmers.But....in 2008, a junior US Senator got a law passed to reopen the case and allow more black farmers to sue for funds. The Senator was Barack Hussein Obama.. Because this law was passed in dead silence, and because the woman responsible for spearheading it was an obscure USDA official, American taxpayers did not realize that they had just been forced in the midst of a worldwide recession to pay out more than $1.25 billion to settle a race claim. Origins: Pigford v. Glickman was a lawsuit filed by Timothy Pigford in 1997 against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), naming Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman as the defendant. Pigford, who was initially joined by an additional 400 plaintiffs (the case eventually expanded into class action lawsuit representing thousands of farmers), maintained that the USDA had discriminated against black farmers on the basis of race in determining how to allocate various government support loans, disaster payments, and other financial assistance to farmers and had failed to investigate or properly respond to complaints of this nature from 1983 to 1997: Litigation against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for discrimination against African American farmers began inAugust 1997 with two suits brought by black farmers, Pigford v. Glickman and Brewington v. Glickman, but its origins go back much further. For many years, black farmers had complained that they were not receiving fair treatment when they applied to local county committees (which make the decisions) for farm loans or assistance. These farmers alleged that they were being denied USDA farm loans or forced to wait longer for loan approval than were non-minority farmers. Many black farmers contended that they were facing foreclosure and financial ruin because the USDA denied them timely loans and debt restructuring. Moreover, many claimed that the USDA was not responsive to discrimination complaints. A huge agency backlog of unresolved complaints began to build after the USDA's Civil Rights Office was closed in 1983. According to [a USDA] commissioned study, few appeals were made by minority complainants because of the slowness of the process, the lack of confidence in the decision makers, the lack of knowledge about the rules, and the significant bureaucracy involved in the process. Other findings showed that (1) the largest USDA loans (top 1%) went to corporations (65%) and white male farmers (25%); (2) loans to black males averaged $4,000 (or 25%) less than those given towhite males; and (3) 97% of disaster payments went to white farmers, while less than 1% went to black farmers. The study reported that the reasons for discrepancies in treatment between black and white farmers could not be easily determined due to "gross deficiencies" in USDA data collection and handling. Under a consent decree that consolidated and settled the Pigford and Brewington cases, any African American who (1) farmed or attempted to farm between January 1, 1981, and December 31, 1996, (2) applied to USDA for farm credit or program benefits and believed that he or she was discriminated against by the USDA on the basis of race, and (3) made a complaint against the USDA on or before July 1, 1997, was eligible to receive a monetary settlement of $50,000 plus relief in the form of loan forgiveness and offsets of tax liability. As of January 2011, a total of $769,400,000 had been paid out 15,388 claimants. total In response to claims that a large number of applicants were not fairly considered because, due to a lack of notice, they filed late and were denied review, Republican Senators George Allen and Charles Grassley introduced unsuccessful Congressional bills (in 2006 and 2007, respectively) to provide a mechanism for these applicants to have their claims considered. Finally, in January 2008 several members of Congress (one of whom was Senator Barack Obama of Illinois) urged the Senate and House Agriculture Committees to include in an upcoming farm bill a provision allowing "certain claimants who submitted late-filing requests under Pigford v. Glickman consent decree opportunity to receive determinations of their claims on their merits." These additional claims ultimately resulted in a $1.25 billion settlement: George Allen Charles Grassley urged farm bill Due to concerns about the large number of applicants who did not obtain a determination on the merits of their claims under the original Pigford settlement, Congress included a provision in the 2008 farm bill that permitted any claimant who had submitted a late-filing request under Pigford and who had not previously obtained a determination on the merits of his or her claim to petition in federal court to obtain such a determination. This provision did not reopen the previous Pigford litigation, but rather provided such farmers with a new right to sue. Ultimately, 11 separate lawsuits were filed on behalf of over 25,000 black farmers, and these claims were consolidated into a single case, In re Black Farmers Discrimination Litigation (commonly referred to as Pigford II). On February 18, 2010, Attorney General Holder and Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack announced a $1.25 billion settlement of these Pigford II claims. In response to claims that the number of applicants in the Pigford cases exceeded the number of black farmers enumerated by census information, the Congressional Research Service reported that: Questions have been raised about the number of black farmers who were or are eligible for a settlement under Pigford or Pigford II. Determining the number of African American farm operators who farmed during the period of January 1, 1981, and December 31, 1996, is difficult because of the way in which the Census of Agriculture defined farm operator. Prior to the 2002 Census of Agriculture, only principal farm operators were counted. In the 1982 Census of Agriculture, there were 33,250 African American-operated farms; in 1987, 22,954; in 1992, 18,816; and in 1997, 18,451. Essentially, the number of African American farms was treated as synonymous with the number of African American operators. These statistics, however, failed to recognize that many farms are operated by more than one farm operator. In 2002, the Census of Agriculture collected data for a maximum of three principal operators per farm. The 2002 Census enumerated 29,090 African American farm operators. This statistical change more accurately captured the actual number of operators, that is, those who areactually engaged in farming. For example, a single farm may be operated by four or more operators, each of whom could have conceivably made loan applications to USDA agencies. In addition, a farm operator might operate rented or leased land owned by a principal operator. In such a case, that operator renting or leasing farmland would not have been counted as the operator of that farm. Under the term of the consent decree, however, such a farmer could be an eligible claimant because he or she farmed or tried to farm during the requisite time period. The varying Census definitions of farm, farm operator, and farm owner help explain why the number of initial claimants in the Pigford case (approximately 94,000) was higher than the number of farms/farm operators enumerated by the Census of Agriculture between 1982 and 1997 and why the estimated number of potential Pigford II claimants may be greater than the number of farms/farm operators enumerated in those or subsequent Census counts. In addition, it is important to note that there may be other reasons for discrepancies between the number of farmers reflected in farm Census data and the number of claimants under Pigford or Pigford II. For example, individuals who attempted to farm but who were denied loans or other farm assistance would not be counted as farmers but may have been or may be eligible to file a claim under the terms of the two settlement agreements. Likewise, the estate of a deceased individual who farmed or attempted to farm during the eligibility period may be entitled to relief under either settlement, but such persons would not be counted as farm operators. Finally, due to fraud or mistake, some individuals who are not eligible may have filed or may file claims under Pigford or Pigford II, but such claims would not be entitled to an award. For example, nearly 7,000 Track A claims in Pigford (31%) were denied relief, presumably because such claims lacked merit or had other defects. Thus, the number of claims filed cannot be viewed as an accurate representation of the number of awards that have been or will be made under the two settlements. In April 2013, the New York Times reported that the latter settlement was agreed to despite substantial objections from those who maintained that there was no credible basis for it, and that the process for compensation was wide open to fraudulent claims: The deal, several current and former government officials said, was fashioned in White House meetings despite the vehement objections until now undisclosed of career lawyers and agency officials who had argued that there was no credible evidence of widespread discrimination. What is more, some protested, the template for the deal the $50,000 payouts to black farmers had proved a magnet for fraud. The compensation effort sprang from a desire to redress what the government and a federal judge agreed was a painful legacy of bias against African-Americans by the Agriculture Department. But an examination by The New York Times shows that it became a runaway train, driven by racial politics, pressure from influential members of Congress and law firms that stand to gain more than $130 million in fees. In the past five years, it has grown to encompass a second group of African-Americans as well as Hispanic, female and Native American farmers. In all, more than 90,000 people have filed claims. The total cost could top $4.4 billion. From the start, the claims process prompted allegations of widespread fraud and criticism that its very design encouraged people to lie: because relatively few records remained to verify accusations, claimants were not required to present documentary evidence that they had been unfairly treated or had even tried to farm. Agriculture Department reviewers found reams of suspicious claims, from nursery-school-age children and pockets of urban dwellers, sometimes in the same handwriting with nearly identical accounts of discrimination. Shirley Sherrod was the USDA's Georgia State Director of Rural Development who was forced to resign in July 2010 after video excerpts from her address to a March 2010 NAACP event were posted on the Internet, excerpts which supposedly caught her describing how she discriminated against a white farmer who sought her help in 1986 when his farm was about to be foreclosed on. However, a review of the unedited video in its full context revealed that Sherrod said she had in fact extended help to the farmer in question: In the heart of a farm community that still favored whites over blacks, with the USDA known as the "last plantation," Sherrod was tasked with helping Eloise and Roger Spooner save their farm. As she recounted many years later in a now widely viewed speech, Sherrod, by then working at a nonprofit organization that assisted farmers in danger of losing their farms, did not feel particularly motivated to help the Spooners, a white couple. Eventually, as any viewing of the entire speech makes clear, Sherrod changed her mind. She did help the couple, with whom she has remained friendly, and the experience became a turning point in her life when she learned to see beyond skin color and sought to work with blacks and whites battling to save small family farms that were shuttering by the thousands. White House officials subsequently issued an apology to Sherrod and offered her a new position with the USDA (which she declined). Shirley Sherrod and her husband received a share of a $13 million payment as part of the settlement of the Pigford case, as described by Time magazine: It was 1985, 20 years after her father was murdered by a white man who was never prosecuted, and the nearly 6,000-acre collective farm she had helped form in the early 1970s to create a sort of African-American utopia in the midst of Georgia's white farming community was going under. Governor Lester Maddox, a segregationist, called the tract of land "Sharecropper City," and refused to sign off on a grant that could have helped the families who owned the farm stay afloat. They had applied for loans from the Department of Agriculture's Farmers Home Administration, but often they were turned down or approved late in the crop season, delaying planting and harvesting, to devastating economic effect. The USDA would not let the collective restructure loans or take over the land and lease it back, as had been done for other farmers. Eventually, the land was sold to a white businessman and later turned into subdivisions. Back then, local USDA offices with power over loans were run by whites, and it took three times as long, on average, to process loan applications from black farmers as it did for whites. The Reagan Administration had shuttered the civil rights division in the USDA, which meant that complaints about discrimination were routinely discarded or thrown in drawers even as black ownership of farmland was on a steep decline. The failure of New Communities was so emotionally devastating to its participants that Shirley Sherrod's husband Charles later told the Washington Post, "For two years after all this happened, I wouldn't even talk about it. Couldn't talk about it, it hurt so much." But [Shirley] Sherrod did not let the USDA off the hook. New Communities became part of a massive class-action lawsuit against the department that was initially settled in 1999, reopened in 2008 and continues to pay claims for thousands of black farmers found to have been ignored, dismissed or mistreated by the USDA in the 1980s and 1990s. Out of about $1 billion paid out so far reportedly the biggest civil rights settlement in history the largest amount went to New Communities, which got some $13 million, with $330,000 awarded to Shirley and Charles Sherrod for mental suffering alone. "Thirteen million sounds like a lot, but it was not nearly enough. The land itself is probably worth at least $9 million," says the lawyer for New Communities, Rose Sanders. Last updated: 28 April 2013 Hennessey, Kathleen. "Hard Feelings About Handling of Shirley Sherrod Have Deep Roots." Los Angeles Times 4 August 2010. Pickert, Kate. "When Shirley Sherrod Was First Wronged by the USDA." Time. 23 July 2010.
|
[
"loan"
] |
[] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.pigfordmonitor.org/stats/"
],
"sentence": "discriminated against by the USDA on the basis of race, and (3) made a complaint against the USDA on or before July 1, 1997, was eligible to receive a monetary settlement of $50,000 plus relief in the form of loan forgiveness and offsets of tax liability. As of January 2011, a total of $769,400,000 had been paid out 15,388 claimants."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s109-3976",
"https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s110-515",
"https://www.allamericanpatriots.com/48742002_obama-congressmen-call-agriculture-committee-leade",
"https://www.ers.usda.gov/farmbill/2008/titles/titleXIVMiscellaneous.htm#social11"
],
"sentence": "In response to claims that a large number of applicants were not fairly considered because, due to a lack of notice, they filed late and were denied review, Republican Senators George Allen and Charles Grassley introduced unsuccessful Congressional bills (in 2006 and 2007, respectively) to provide a mechanism for these applicants to have their claims considered. Finally, in January 2008 several members of Congress (one of whom was Senator Barack Obama of Illinois) urged the Senate and House Agriculture Committees to include in an upcoming farm bill a provision allowing \"certain claimants who submitted late-filing requests under Pigford v. Glickman consent decree opportunity to receive determinations of their claims on their merits.\" These additional claims ultimately resulted in a $1.25 billion settlement:"
}
] |
neutral
| null |
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2010/jan/29/barack-obama/obama-inherited-deficits-bush-administration/
|
Obama came into office with a $1.3 trillion deficit before I had passed any law. ... We came in with $8 trillion worth of debt over the next decade.
|
Angie Drobnic Holan
|
01/29/2010
|
[] |
In a spirited and unscripted debate with the House GOP, President Barack Obama said Republicans were wrong to portray him as running up large deficits. Speaking at a retreat for House Republicans in Baltimore on Jan. 29, 2010, Obama was particularly critical of a question from Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas. Hensarling asked Obama, You are soon to submit a new budget, Mr. President. Will that new budget, like your old budget, triple the national debt and continue to take us down the path of increasing the cost of government to almost 25 percent of our economy? The fact of the matter is, Obama replied, is that when we came into office, the deficit was $1.3 trillion -- $1.3 trillion. So when you say that suddenly I've got a monthly deficit that's higher than the annual deficit left by Republicans, that's factually just not true, and you know it's not true. And what is true is that we came in already with a $1.3 trillion deficit before I had passed any law. What is true is, we came in with $8 trillion worth of debt over the next decade. We checked Hensarling's claim in a separate item. Here, we'll look at Obama's claim that he came into office with a $1.3 trillion deficit and $8 trillion worth of debt over the next decade. On Jan. 7, 2009, two weeks before Obama took office, the Congressional Budget Office reported that the deficit for fiscal year 2009 was projected to be $1.2 trillion. The 10-year projection was estimated to be about $3.1 trillion. So Obama's number was very close on the 2009 deficit -- he said $1.3 trillion -- but substantially different from the 10-year projection -- he said $8 trillion. There are two reasons why he differs from the CBO. On the difference between the $1.2 trillion and the $1.3 trillion, the Obama administration credited a small portion of spending on its watch to policies of the previous administration. The reason for this is that the federal government runs on a fiscal year that starts Oct. 1, so Bush and Obama technically split responsibility for 2009 spending. The large difference on the 10-year projection has to do with Bush administration tax cuts. The CBO creates its estimates based on current law, which means the CBO assumes that the Bush tax cuts will end in 2010 and everyone will start paying higher taxes in 2011 and going forward. The Obama administration, on the other hand, assumed in its baseline that those tax cuts would be renewed. Economists we spoke with -- Josh Gordon, policy director for the Concord Coalition, and Brian Riedl, lead budget analyst of the conservative Heritage Foundation -- both said they believe the White House approach is more realistic because it assumes current policy will continue. So the CBO's estimate is $5 trillion lower than the White House numbers, though economists don't quibble with the White House methodology. It does highlight, however, that when it comes to budget projections, people can have differences of opinion about what to include. In any budget projection there is room for interpretation, but it seems reasonable to assume for a baseline that the Bush tax cuts will continue. Obama's numbers are fairly solid, so we rate his statement Mostly True.
|
[
"National",
"Economy",
"Federal Budget"
] |
[] |
[] |
true
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/you-scare-me/
|
An Open Letter to President Obama - Lou Pritchett
|
David Mikkelson
|
05/31/2009
|
[
"Lou Pritchett penned an 'open letter' to President Obama?"
] |
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
|
[
"asset"
] |
[] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.loupritchett.com/"
],
"sentence": "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. "
}
] |
true
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/you-scare-me/
|
A letter addressed to President Obama by Lou Pritchett.
|
David Mikkelson
|
05/31/2009
|
[
"Lou Pritchett penned an 'open letter' to President Obama?"
] |
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
|
[
"economy"
] |
[] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.loupritchett.com/"
],
"sentence": "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. "
}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/you-scare-me/
|
A Letter addressed to President Obama written by Lou Pritchett.
|
David Mikkelson
|
05/31/2009
|
[
"Lou Pritchett penned an 'open letter' to President Obama?"
] |
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
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https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/a-boy-scout-outing/
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Boy Scout Petition
|
Barbara Mikkelson
|
10/31/2000
|
[
"A discussion of a petition in support of the Boy Scouts."
] |
Claim: The Boy Scouts of America has lost some funding over its refusal to accept homosexuals within its ranks. Status: True. Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2000] Good Morning,As near as I can tell the following is a real concern and not a hoax. The Boy Scouts need all the support they can get. The request is to sign a petition in their support in response to the many funding sources that have withdrawn support due to the issue that was ruled on by the Supreme Court. Also many Federal Parks that now will not permit them to use that facility. You can access this issue at the following address. https://www.grassfire.net/index1.asp?CID=2&PID=70471 https://www.grassfire.net/index1.asp?CID=2&PID=70471 They also provide a series of statements of what has happened concerning the removal of support. Thanks for your interest Origins: The petition quoted above began circulating on the Internet in October 2000. It calls upon folks to electronically sign a petition in support of the Boy Scouts. (The Boy Scouts of America are not sponsoring this petition; an unrelated entity is housing and administering it.) The petition (found at the Grassfire site) reads as follows: PETITION TO SUPPORT THE BOY SCOUTS!!As a concerned citizen, I am deeply troubled by the recent attacks which have come against the Boy Scouts simply because the Scouts have taken a stand for faith and moral values. As a private organization, the Boy Scouts has every right to set standards for leadership and morality. The U.S. Supreme Court made this clear! I urge you to cease these hostile attacks against one of America's great institutions. Should you sign it? The answer to that depends on two things: What your views on the underlying issues are, as well as what you think of the validity of online petitions. We think it's not at all likely any Internet petition (no matter what issue it addresses) will have an appreciable impact on anyone in a position to affect policy. It's too easy to cook up lists of fake names and phony e-mail addresses and festoon a petition with them for anyone charged with gauging public reaction to be tempted to give such documents much weight when it comes time to make a decision. Petitions signed in ink in a variety of different handwritings aren't given all that much consideration in this world; how valid will a computer printout appear? A decision to support this petition should probably be based on what one thinks of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision to uphold the Boy Scouts of America's right to exclude homosexuals from its ranks. The Grassfire petition glosses the question of why support is being sought by saying nothing other than "the Scouts have taken a stand for faith and moral values." This wording leaves those who weren't aware of the core issue in the dark as to what prompted folks to withdraw support from the BSA. We don't find that a fair way to write a petition. In a 5-to-4 opinion handed down on 28 June 2000, the Supreme Court decided that the Boy Scouts of America held the right as a private group to expel scoutmaster James Dale on the basis of his sexual orientation. The court ruled: Having determined that the Boy Scouts is an expressive association and that the forced inclusion of Dale would significantly affect its expression, we inquire whether the application of New Jersey's public accommodations law [the statute contended in a New Jersey suit involving Dale] to require that the Boy Scouts accept Dale as an assistant scoutmaster runs afoul of the Scouts' freedom of expressive association. We conclude that it does. Grassfire expresses its view of the issues at stake as: This summer, the Scouts won a hard-fought case before the U.S. Supreme Court called Dale v. Scouts. The Supreme Court affirmed the Scouts right to set standards for leadership within their organization. This apparently infuriated the politically correct cultural elites. Almost immediately, the anti-Scout campaign was launched, with the Scouts being branded as intolerant. The standard affirmed by the Supreme Court in Dale vs. Scouts, which recognized the BSA's right to determine how to run its organization, also applies to the groups who would now withhold funding from the Scouts: they too possess the right of association. Some local chapters of the United Way are guided by policies that expressly forbid them from financially supporting groups that practice discrimination. They have discontinued funding of the Boy Scouts of America because their entrenched principles rule out this association in much the same way the BSA's principles rule out an association with homosexuals. It's the same issue, just the other side of the coin. At this point, only a few chapters of the United Way have withdrawn financial support from the Boy Scouts of America. Some municipalities are also now refusing to allow Scout troops to use municipal sites for camping and rallies. United Way funding to the BSA has not yet been substantially affected, however. A rough estimate of loss of beneficence over this issue places the figure at $500,000 a year out of budget hundreds of times that. (In 1996, for example, United Way funding of the BSA amounted to $83,743,000.) As to what to make of the core issue behind the petition, it comes down to this: The Boy Scouts uphold their deeply-held beliefs by barring homosexuals from becoming scouts or scoutmasters. That stand, however, impels organizations who have sworn to refuse aid to those who practice discrimination to now recognize the Boy Scouts of America as one of the groups they must turn away. Barbara "one good turn deserves another" Mikkelson Last updated: 15 December 2007 Sources: Parker, Laura and Guillermo Garcia. "Boy Scout Troops Lose Funds, Meeting Places." USA Today. 10 October 2000 (p. A1). Zernike, Kate. "Scouts' Successful Ban on Gays is Followed by Loss in Support." The New York Times. 29 August 2000 (p. A1).
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https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2016/dec/01/dan-patrick/dan-patrick-mostly-right-texans-pay-nations-sixth-/
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Texans pay the sixth-highest property tax in the nation.
|
W. Gardner Selby
|
12/01/2016
|
[] |
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
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"sentence": "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."
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},
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"sentence": "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)."
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https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/gazas-al-azhar-university-israel/
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Authentic Photos of Gaza's Al-Azhar University Before/After Israeli Strikes?
|
Nur Ibrahim
|
01/26/2024
|
[
"According to news reports, no universities in Gaza have survived the Israeli onslaught."
] |
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 January 2024, as Israels bombardment of Gaza continued, a pair of photographs went viral showing the apparent impact of the violence on Gazas universities. viral Al-Azhar University in the north of the Gaza Strip was targeted by Israeli forces in particular, and since late 2023, a number of posts on Reddit, TikTok and X appeared to show what the educational institution looked like "before" and "after" it was hit by Israeli strikes. targeted Reddit TikTok X The above images accurately depict one of Al-Azhar Universitys buildings before and after military operations by Israel in Gaza. We found photographic evidence from reliable news sources as well as from the universitys official Facebook page verifying the claim, and as such rate this story as True. In November 2023, Al-Azhar University shared the before and after images in a Facebook post detailing the destruction that took place on the university campus after bombardment from Israel. One picture in particular showed the "before" version of the untouched building for the Faculty of King Hassan II For Environmental Sciences and Agriculture. November 2023 The post stated (English version via Google Translate): Part of the destruction and damage caused to university facilities and buildings as a result of the Israeli occupation forces bombing of the new university campus buildings south of Gaza City. (Screenshot via Facebook) We found images of this particular building from different angles in years prior including from the Moroccan press agency in 2021 that detailed a new specialty for Veterinary Medicine had been made available at the university. A news release from the Kingdom of Morocco noted that the facility had been reconstructed with Moroccos help and was inaugurated in 2015. angles Moroccan press agency news release On Nov. 22, 2023, Reuters published the photograph of the same building after it was destroyed, with the caption: The remains of Al-Azhar University of Gaza is seen, amid the ongoing ground operation of the Israeli army against Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in the Gaza Strip, November 22, 2023. [...] EDITOR'S NOTE: REUTERS PHOTOGRAPHS WERE REVIEWED BY THE IDF AS PART OF THE CONDITIONS OF THE EMBED. NO PHOTOS WERE REMOVED. published (Screenshot via Reuters) We determined that this was the same structure as the one posted by the Al-Azhar University Facebook page by observing the matching architectural details, including the white domes atop the building, the remnants of the signage and arch at the front of the building. Geneva-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, an independent nonprofit organization, said Israel was systematically destroying universities in Gaza in stages, with the first stage including the bombing of the Islamic and Al-Azhar universities. said Getty Images also published photographs of other Al-Azhar University buildings that had been destroyed by the bombardment. A New York Times interactive from Dec. 12, 2023, mapped out all the neighborhoods with satellite imagery that lay in ruins from thousands of Israeli strikes and the ground invasion. Switching between the Before and Now tabs in the interactive, visible damage can be seen on Al-Azhar Universitys campus, as well as the noticeable Israeli tanks in the courtyard. published New York Times The Israeli military said they had destroyed buildings on Al-Azhar Universitys campus because the Hamas terror organization used the university building for the purpose of fighting against our forces. said They claimed to find: terror infrastructure, including an underground tunnel that ran from the university's yard and [continued] to a school one kilometer away. Furthermore, numerous weapons, including explosive devices, rocket parts, launchers, explosive device detonation systems, and several technological assets were located and taken for an intelligence analysis and investigation. claimed We were unable to determine independently if the Israeli militarys findings were true. According to an Al Jazeera report, in more than 100 days of Israeli bombardment, hundreds of schools, including those run by the United Nations, had been bombed and students and teachers killed. Centers of higher education, including universities, have been completely paralyzed and according to Wafa, a Palestinian news agency, 12 institutions of higher learning have been either damaged or destroyed. Al Jazeera Wafa Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said the Israeli army killed 94 university professors along with hundreds of teachers, and called the attacks an intentional destruction of Palestinian cultural and historical properties including universities, schools, libraries, and archives. said 26 November 2023, Palestinian Territories, Gaza City: Palestinians... Getty Images, https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/november-2023-palestinian-territories-gaza-city-news-photo/1803522346. Accessed 26 Jan. 2024. Fabian, Emanuel. IDF Says It Destroyed Buildings Containing Hamas Infrastructure at Gaza Citys Al-Azhar University. Times of Israel, 8 Dec. 2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-says-it-destroyed-buildings-containing-hamas-infrastructure-at-gaza-citys-al-azhar-university/.Accessed 26 Jan. 2024. Hassan II Faculty of Gaza, New Vision of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Map Ecology, 1 Mar. 2021, https://mapecology.ma/en/slider-en/hassan-ii-faculty-gaza-new-vision-agricultural-environmental-sciences/.Accessed 26 Jan. 2024. Holder, Josh. Gaza After Nine Weeks of War. The New York Times, 12 Dec. 2023. NYTimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/12/12/world/middleeast/gaza-strip-satellite-images-israel-invasion.html.Accessed 26 Jan. 2024. How Israel Has Destroyed Gazas Schools and Universities. Al Jazeera, 24 Jan. 2024. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/24/how-israel-has-destroyed-gazas-schools-and-universities. Accessed 26 Jan. 2024. Israel Kills Dozens of Academics, Destroys Every University in the Gaza Strip. Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, 20 Jan. 2024. https://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/6108/Israel-kills-dozens-of-academics,-destroys-every-university-in-the-Gaza-Strip. Accessed 26 Jan. 2024. "GAZA: Inauguration of Hassan II Faculty Financed by King Mohammed VI." Morocco World News, Aug. 2015. https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/08/166428/gaza-inauguration-of-hassan-ii-faculty-financed-by-king-mohammed-vi. Accessed 26 Jan. 2024. "ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS/GAZA-EMBED." Reuters Pictures, Nov. 22, 2023. https://pictures.reuters.com/CS.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&VBID=2C0FCIXDNCBY70&SMLS=1&RW=1437&RH=685&POPUPPN=1&POPUPIID=2C0FQEP2VUCPS. Accessed 26 Jan. 2024. Upon Kings Order, Islamic Affairs Minister Takes Part in Inauguration of Hassan II Faculty in Gaza. Kingdom of Morocco, 24 Aug. 2015, https://www.maroc.ma/en/news/upon-kings-order-islamic-affairs-minister-takes-part-inauguration-hassan-ii-faculty-gaza.Accessed 26 Jan. 2024. Weapons Found in Al-Azhar University. Israeli Defense Forces, 8 Dec. 2023, https://www.idf.il/en/mini-sites/hamas-israel-war-24/war-on-hamas-2023-resources/weapons-found-in-al-azhar-university/.Accessed 26 Jan. 2024.
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"https://archive.li/zbjWD"
],
"sentence": "In January 2024, as Israels bombardment of Gaza continued, a pair of photographs went viral showing the apparent impact of the violence on Gazas universities."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/24/how-israel-has-destroyed-gazas-schools-and-universities",
"https://archive.li/zbjWD",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@manshurat_bilaal/video/7308902042406243590",
"https://archive.li/AKLiN"
],
"sentence": "Al-Azhar University in the north of the Gaza Strip was targeted by Israeli forces in particular, and since late 2023, a number of posts on Reddit, TikTok and X appeared to show what the educational institution looked like \"before\" and \"after\" it was hit by Israeli strikes."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=754415820062345&set=a.638544918316103"
],
"sentence": "In November 2023, Al-Azhar University shared the before and after images in a Facebook post detailing the destruction that took place on the university campus after bombardment from Israel. One picture in particular showed the \"before\" version of the untouched building for the Faculty of King Hassan II For Environmental Sciences and Agriculture."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/08/166428/gaza-inauguration-of-hassan-ii-faculty-financed-by-king-mohammed-vi",
"https://mapecology.ma/en/slider-en/hassan-ii-faculty-gaza-new-vision-agricultural-environmental-sciences/",
"https://www.maroc.ma/en/news/upon-kings-order-islamic-affairs-minister-takes-part-inauguration-hassan-ii-faculty-gaza"
],
"sentence": "We found images of this particular building from different angles in years prior including from the Moroccan press agency in 2021 that detailed a new specialty for Veterinary Medicine had been made available at the university. A news release from the Kingdom of Morocco noted that the facility had been reconstructed with Moroccos help and was inaugurated in 2015."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://pictures.reuters.com/CS.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&VBID=2C0FCIXDNCBY70&SMLS=1&RW=1437&RH=685&POPUPPN=1&POPUPIID=2C0FQEP2VUCPS"
],
"sentence": "On Nov. 22, 2023, Reuters published the photograph of the same building after it was destroyed, with the caption: The remains of Al-Azhar University of Gaza is seen, amid the ongoing ground operation of the Israeli army against Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in the Gaza Strip, November 22, 2023. [...] EDITOR'S NOTE: REUTERS PHOTOGRAPHS WERE REVIEWED BY THE IDF AS PART OF THE CONDITIONS OF THE EMBED. NO PHOTOS WERE REMOVED."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/6108/Israel-kills-dozens-of-academics,-destroys-every-university-in-the-Gaza-Strip"
],
"sentence": "Geneva-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, an independent nonprofit organization, said Israel was systematically destroying universities in Gaza in stages, with the first stage including the bombing of the Islamic and Al-Azhar universities."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/november-2023-palestinian-territories-gaza-city-news-photo/1803522346?adppopup=true",
"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/12/12/world/middleeast/gaza-strip-satellite-images-israel-invasion.html"
],
"sentence": "Getty Images also published photographs of other Al-Azhar University buildings that had been destroyed by the bombardment. A New York Times interactive from Dec. 12, 2023, mapped out all the neighborhoods with satellite imagery that lay in ruins from thousands of Israeli strikes and the ground invasion. Switching between the Before and Now tabs in the interactive, visible damage can be seen on Al-Azhar Universitys campus, as well as the noticeable Israeli tanks in the courtyard."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-says-it-destroyed-buildings-containing-hamas-infrastructure-at-gaza-citys-al-azhar-university/"
],
"sentence": "The Israeli military said they had destroyed buildings on Al-Azhar Universitys campus because the Hamas terror organization used the university building for the purpose of fighting against our forces."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.idf.il/en/mini-sites/hamas-israel-war-24/war-on-hamas-2023-resources/weapons-found-in-al-azhar-university/"
],
"sentence": "They claimed to find: terror infrastructure, including an underground tunnel that ran from the university's yard and [continued] to a school one kilometer away. Furthermore, numerous weapons, including explosive devices, rocket parts, launchers, explosive device detonation systems, and several technological assets were located and taken for an intelligence analysis and investigation."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/24/how-israel-has-destroyed-gazas-schools-and-universities",
"https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/24/how-israel-has-destroyed-gazas-schools-and-universities"
],
"sentence": "According to an Al Jazeera report, in more than 100 days of Israeli bombardment, hundreds of schools, including those run by the United Nations, had been bombed and students and teachers killed. Centers of higher education, including universities, have been completely paralyzed and according to Wafa, a Palestinian news agency, 12 institutions of higher learning have been either damaged or destroyed."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/6108/Israel-kills-dozens-of-academics,-destroys-every-university-in-the-Gaza-Strip"
],
"sentence": "Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said the Israeli army killed 94 university professors along with hundreds of teachers, and called the attacks an intentional destruction of Palestinian cultural and historical properties including universities, schools, libraries, and archives."
}
] |
true
| null |
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2011/apr/05/newt-gingrich/gingrich-states-should-consider-alternatives-priso/
|
Says some [states] with the largest reductions in crime have also lowered their prison population.
|
Eric Stirgus
|
04/05/2011
|
[] |
In the wake of the Great Recession, some conservative political leaders are considering a new portion of the state budget to save money -- the prison system.Gov. Nathan Deal has talked about his desire to find less costly alternatives to prison for drug addicts who commit nonviolent crimes.It is draining our state treasury and depleting our workforce, Deal said in his inaugural address.It seems some of this new thinking comes from conservative mastermind Newt Gingrich, the former Georgia congressman and one-time U.S. House speaker who says he is considering a run for president.Gingrich co-wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post a few days before Deals speech that contained similar themes.The criminal justice system is broken, and conservatives must lead the way in fixing it, wrote Gingrich and Pat Nolan, a former California lawmaker who is now vice president of a Christian ministry that aids prisoners, ex-prisoners and their families.Some people attribute the nations recent drop in crime to more people being locked up. But the facts show otherwise, they added. While crime fell in nearly every state over the past seven years, some of those with the largest reductions in crime have also lowered their prison population.AJC PolitiFact Georgia stumbled upon the second sentence late last week and wondered whether it was true. Wouldnt the reason why some states have less crime is because more criminals are in prison?A Gingrich spokesman pointed to data from states such as Texas to make the former speakers case. In 2007, Texas lawmakers approved broad changes to the states correctional system -- then the nations largest -- that included more drug courts and treatment programs, The New York Times reported. Crime, Gingrich and Nolan wrote, dropped 10 percent between 2004 and 2009, and the Lone Star State is expected to save about $2 billion in prison costs over five years.Gingrich and Nolan also compared New York and Florida to further prove their point.Over the past seven years, Florida's incarceration rate has increased 16 percent, while New York's decreased 16 percent, they wrote. Yet the crime rate in New York has fallen twice as much as Florida's. Put another way, although New York spent less on its prisons, it delivered better public safety.We looked around to see whether anyone has done research on this topic. The Washington-based Pew Center on the States puts together an annual report on the prison population of each state. Its most recent annual report, released in April 2010, found the number of state inmates in America declined for the first time in 38 years. Between 1972 and 2008, the number of state prisoners grew by an astounding 708 percent, Pew found.The Pew Center has also done research, using data from the federal government, on the nations crime rate. It shared two charts: one with the change in crime rate between 1999 and 2009; the other contained the incarceration rate change during that same time period.The Pew research showed four of the 10 states with the greatest drops in crime were also among the top 10 states in lowering their incarceration rates. Those four states were Illinois, New Jersey, New York and Utah. The six other states had increases in their incarceration rates. Texas, which Gingrich and Nolan held up as an example of their theory, had a 10 percent drop in crime and a 15 percent decline in its incarceration rate.Georgia, by the way, had a 21 percent decrease in crime and a 1 percent decrease in its incarceration rate, according to Pews data. The Peach State did not rank in the top 10 in either category.We also looked at data from the federal National Institute of Corrections, which compiled 2008 crime statistics from several state and federal agencies and the incarceration rates in 2009. Seven of the 10 states with the lowest crime rates also had among the 15 lowest incarceration rates. Those seven states were Iowa, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota and Vermont. Georgia had the eighth-highest crime rate and incarceration rate.Florida and Texas ranked among the top 10 highest crime rates and incarceration rates.So are some of these states making a concerted attempt to leave more space in their prisons?Texas is trying to change its approach in order to save money on incarceration, Gingrich and The New York Times noted.In Oregon, where officials say the crime rate is at its lowest rate in four decades, the states Criminal Justice Commission analyzed five-year intervals of the states incarceration rate, the Portland Oregonian reported. Oregon had a 36 percent decrease in crime between 1999 and 2009, the largest decrease in the nation, according to the Pew data.The commission found major drops in both violent and property crime from 1995 through 2000, when Oregon's prison population grew more than 50 percent, the Oregonian reported. It also showed that when incarceration remained fairly flat from 2005 to 2008, violent crime and property crime continued to fall. Then-Gov. Ted Kulongoski, a Democrat, has used the lack of growth in the prison system to argue that Oregon should not overinvest in our prison system. Others in the Oregonian article suggest the lower crime rate is a result of an aging population and efforts to reduce the production of a key ingredient of methamphetamine.There is some debate about what factors are causing a decline in crime. Gingrich and Nolan argued that some states with major reductions in crime have also had large drops in their incarceration rate. The Pew figures provide support to Gingrichs point. So does the National Institute of Corrections data. Therefore, we rate Gingrichs statement as True.
|
[
"Georgia",
"Criminal Justice",
"Crime",
"State Budget"
] |
[] |
[] |
true
| null |
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2014/aug/10/george-barker/sen-george-barker-says-uncompensated-care-has-fall/
|
Uncompensated care has gone down by 30 percent just in the first few months of Medicaid expansion in the states that adopted it.
|
Nancy Madsen
|
08/10/2014
|
[] |
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.
|
[
"Medicaid",
"State Budget",
"Virginia"
] |
[] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-pv2RewgBk"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.politifact.com/virginia/promises/macker-meter/promise/1155/insist-medicaid-expansion/"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.governing.com/topics/health-human-services/gov-uncompensated-care-dropping-fast.html"
],
"sentence": "When we asked Barker about his claim, he sent us a link toan articlefrom Governing magazine."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.cha.com/Documents/Press-Releases/CHA-Medicaid-Expansion-Study-June-2014.aspx"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://governor.arkansas.gov/newsroom/index.php?do:newsDetail=1&news_id=4481"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://investor.tenethealth.com/press-release/financial-announcements/tenet-reports-adjusted-ebitda-387-million-quarter-ended-march-"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://tucson.com/news/local/arizona-hospitals-doing-less-uncompensated-care/article_ddde554d-462b-5538-8ca7-33d144337581.html"
],
"sentence": "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."
}
] |
true
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trip-wire/
|
No, Associated Press Did Not Report that Obama Was 'Kenyan-Born'
|
David Mikkelson
|
10/19/2009
|
[
"Internationally syndicated news stories are sometimes edited or added to by local newspaper publishers."
] |
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."
The Associated Press. 25 June 2004.
|
[
"investment"
] |
[
{
"image_caption": null,
"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1dHMNslrxGdWd8e6myAlkHgmgWaLmpt-b"
}
] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://web.archive.org/web/20040627142700/eastandard.net/headlines/news26060403.htm"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://web.archive.org/web/20040906153157/www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20040625-1644-illinoissenate.html",
"https://web.archive.org/web/20040816064954/seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001966048_cdig26.html"
],
"sentence": "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.\""
}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trip-wire/
|
No, the Associated Press did not publish a report stating that Obama was born in Kenya.
|
David Mikkelson
|
10/19/2009
|
[
"Internationally syndicated news stories are sometimes edited or added to by local newspaper publishers."
] |
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."
The Associated Press. 25 June 2004.
|
[
"investment"
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[
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],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://web.archive.org/web/20040906153157/www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20040625-1644-illinoissenate.html",
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],
"sentence": "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.\""
}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/facebook-removing-amputee-photos/
|
Is Facebook Removing Military Amputee Photos?
|
David Mikkelson
|
10/15/2013
|
[
"Cognitive dissonance: Using Facebook to share a photograph that has supposedly been banned by Facebook."
] |
Since at least August 2013 a message has been circulated via Facebook claiming the social networking site was removing posted photographs of military veterans who had lost limbs due to amputation or injury, reportedly because Facebook has deemed such images to be "offensive" and a violation of the company's community standards: Facebook is removing Veteran Amputees photos' and calling them offensive and against the Community Standards of Facebook. Please like and share. However, there is absolutely no basis for asserting that Facebook has taken such an action or implemented such a policy. No published Facebook guidelines make reference (directly or indirectly) to this class of photograph being unacceptable, and many images featuring amputees and other persons with missing limbs (including both military personnel and civilians) have long been plainly viewable on that social networking site. (In fact, one of the more popular images commonly shared on Facebook in recent years is one that is identified, albeit incorrectly, as showing a group of female veteran amputees.) amputees amputees Moreover, the content of the warning message itself belies its claim, as it has been posted and shared on Facebook countless times despite its inclusion of a supposedly-banned photograph of a military amputee. The image shown above is a picture of Casey Owens, a U.S. Marine whose legs were amputated after he was injured by shrapnel from an anti-tank mine while he was taking part in a rescue mission in Iraq in September 2004. This particular photograph was taken while Owens was attending the inauguration of President George W. Bush in January 2005: inauguration Casey Owens, a wounded Marine, salutes as his mother Janna Owens cries during the inaugural speech by President Bush. The president pledged to work to heal a country divided by the Iraq war. "We have known divisions, which must be healed to move forward in great purposes, and I will strive in good faith to heal them." Sydiongco, David. "Don't Bother Posting the 'Facebook Privacy Notice' That's Spreading Around."
Slate. 5 June 2012.
|
[
"share"
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}
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[
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"https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.218013354895846.60671.160761323954383&type=1",
"https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/fashion-warriors-2/"
],
"sentence": "No published Facebook guidelines make reference (directly or indirectly) to this class of photograph being unacceptable, and many images featuring amputees and other persons with missing limbs (including both military personnel and civilians) have long been plainly viewable on that social networking site. (In fact, one of the more popular images commonly shared on Facebook in recent years is one that is identified, albeit incorrectly, as showing a group of female veteran amputees.) "
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://web.archive.org/web/20081015234751/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/administration/inauguration05/blog/day_7.html"
],
"sentence": "The image shown above is a picture of Casey Owens, a U.S. Marine whose legs were amputated after he was injured by shrapnel from an anti-tank mine while he was taking part in a rescue mission in Iraq in September 2004. This particular photograph was taken while Owens was attending the inauguration of President George W. Bush in January 2005:"
}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/obama-country-owes-gratitude/
|
Did Barack Obama Say 'The Country Owes Me a Debt of Gratitude'?
|
David Emery
|
07/19/2017
|
[
"Unreliable web sites stoked partisan rancor by attributing a fake, self-aggrandizing quote to former President Barack Obama."
] |
In July 2017, a number of right-leaning news and opinion web sites simultaneously reposted a six-month-old online editorial piece implying that former United States President Barack Obama believes the country owes him a debt of gratitude for his eight years of service in the White House. piece The reposted article is striking on various counts, not least for the fact that nowhere in it is President Obama quoted as saying such a thing. The false attribution has nevertheless been used as the headline in virtually every instance of the article's aggregation, as exemplified in these blurbs found on Facebook: published Conservative Daily Post Discerning readers will note that in lieu of a substantive critique, the author chose to further stoke the already existing anti-Obama sentiment of his audience by piling on epithets such as "delusional," "stinks of entitlement," and "blatantly disrespectful": Obama: The Country Deserves [sic] Me A Debt Of Gratitude For My Leadership During Barack Obamas final press conference Friday afternoon, he spent a majority of the time patting himself on the back. Obama told a room full of reporters that after eight years of his presidency, the United States is stronger, in better shape, and more respected across the world than ever before. Almost every country on Earth sees America as stronger and more respected today than they did eight years ago. Compiling a list of reasons why Barack Obama is a terrible president seems like a project for a book rather than a column, but I am sure many of you agree that Obama will undoubtedly go down as one of the worst presidents in American history. We dont even need to choose one failure of his the list of catastrophic failures will forever place the United States in a bad position. Our allies no long trust or respect us while our enemies no long fear us. Obama is right, he did accomplish all of that on his own. Its clear that hes been a disaster for America on a scale that few other presidents can match. Just look at his record. Whats worse, his blatantly disrespectful attitude stinks of entitlement a [sic] delusional thinking; Obama literally thinks we owe him something for his leadership. How does it make you feel to read that he thinks he will go down as one of the greatest presidents in our history? Most tellingly, the author's claim that Obama "literally thinks we owe him something" was conjured out of thin air. If the President had said or even implied any such thing, there is no evidence of it in the article, much less in the transcript of the December 2016 press conference. transcript So, what's to be gained by fabricating such a statement and attributing it to the former president? We can think of at least two motivations: politics and money (though not necessarily in that order). Some people, clearly, are ideologically motivated to share this kind of propaganda. For example, witness this true believer who converted the text into a YouTube video: video But others, such as the Serbia-based owner(s) of The Breaking News Today, and the Macedonia-based owners of USA Breaking News, Morning News, and Infowars Today (to cite just a few examples of foreign-owned web sites promulgating the Obama story), were likely in it for the advertising revenues. Serbia The Breaking News Today Macedonia based owners USA Breaking News Morning News Infowars Today The town of Veles, Macedonia, in particular, was known to be a hotbed of young pro-Trump fake news producers, according to a 15 February 2017 feature in Wired, many of whom have become extraordinarily wealthy grinding out propaganda for U.S. consumption: feature In the final weeks of the U.S. presidential election, Veles attained a weird infamy in the most powerful nation on earth; stories in The Guardian and on BuzzFeed revealed that the Macedonian town of 55,000 was the registered home of at least 100 pro-Trump websites, many of them filled with sensationalist, utterly fake news. (The imminent criminal indictment of Hillary Clinton was a popular theme; another was the popes approval of Trump.) The sites ample traffic was rewarded handsomely by automated advertising engines, like Googles AdSense. An article in The New Yorker described how President Barack Obama himself spent a day in the final week of the campaign talking almost obsessively about Veles and its digital gold rush. Within Veles itself, the young entrepreneurs behind these websites became subjects of tantalizing intrigue. Between August and November, Boris [the pseudonym of one of such entrepreneur] earned nearly $16,000 off his two pro-Trump websites. The average monthly salary in Macedonia is $371. One might suppose that Trump's electoral victory would have been bad for business, but the U.S. market for pro-Trump fake news -- even months-old pro-Trump fake news -- is still booming, probably due to the constant storm of controversy surrounding his administration. A sharp uptick in interest in the Obama "debt of gratitude" article leading to its aggregation by more pro-Trump sites occurred during a week in which it was announced that Donald Trump, Jr. had held a previously undisclosed meeting with a highly placed Russian lawyer during the 2016 presidential campaign, GOP legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare appeared to be tanking, and the president's approval rating fell to 36 percent. Coincidence? Possibly, but we suspect not. Clement, Scott and Balz, Dan. "Poll Finds Trump's Standing Weakened Since Springtime."
The Washington Post. 16 July 2017. Subramanian, Samanth. "Inside the Macedonian Fake News Complex."
Wired. 15 February 2017. Walsh, Martin. "Obama: The Country Deserves Me a Debt of Gratitude for My Leadership."
Conservative Daily Post. 16 December 2016. The Breaking News Today. "Obama: The Country Owes Me a Debt of Gratitude."
18 July 2017. Infowars Today. "Obama: The Country Owes Me a Debt of Gratitude."
15 July 2017. Morning News. "Obama: The Country Owes Me a Debt of Gratitude."
15 July 2017. Politico. "Full Transcript: President Obamas Final End-of-Year Press Conference."
16 December 2017. USA Breaking News. "Obama: The Country Owes Me a Debt of Gratitude."
15 July 2017.
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],
"sentence": "In July 2017, a number of right-leaning news and opinion web sites simultaneously reposted a six-month-old online editorial piece implying that former United States President Barack Obama believes the country owes him a debt of gratitude for his eight years of service in the White House."
},
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],
"sentence": "Most tellingly, the author's claim that Obama \"literally thinks we owe him something\" was conjured out of thin air. If the President had said or even implied any such thing, there is no evidence of it in the article, much less in the transcript of the December 2016 press conference."
},
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],
"sentence": "But others, such as the Serbia-based owner(s) of The Breaking News Today, and the Macedonia-based owners of USA Breaking News, Morning News, and Infowars Today (to cite just a few examples of foreign-owned web sites promulgating the Obama story), were likely in it for the advertising revenues."
},
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],
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}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/chauvin-income-underreport/
|
Did Derek Chauvin 'Under-Report Half a Million Dollars in Income'?
|
Dan MacGuill
|
06/28/2021
|
[
"The former Minneapolis police officer, already sentenced for the murder of George Floyd, has been charged with nine counts of felony tax evasion."
] |
In June 2021, as former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin faced sentencing for the murder of George Floyd, one widely-shared social media post accused Chauvin of other crimes, namely tax evasion. On June 25, @davenewworld_2 wrote on Twitter: "Derek Chauvin underreported half a million dollars in income while owing $20,000+ in taxes, and then fucking murdered George Floyd over an alleged $20 counterfeit bill..." wrote That tweet, and the claims it contained, were further promoted in a popular Reddit post, on the following day. popular Reddit post On June 25, Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill sentenced Chauvin to 22 and a half years in prison for the murder of Floyd, a Black man who died after Chauvin kneeled on his neck for more than nine minutes, in May 2020. sentenced The claim that Chauvin "underreported half a million dollars in income" stems from an ongoing criminal case against him, and his former wife Kellie May Chauvin. However, Chauvin has not yet entered a plea in that case, and has not been tried or convicted, as of June 28, 2021. As a result, we are issuing a rating of "Unproven," for now. When the case is resolved, we will update this fact check accordingly. A brief note: Kellie May and Derek Chauvin divorced in February 2021, and during those proceedings she expressed an intention to change her last name. However, we have not been able to find any record of that name change, so this article refers to her using her last-known last name, Chauvin. expressed an intention On July 22, 2020, the office of Washington County Attorney Pete Orput charged the Chauvins with nine counts each of felony tax evasion, claiming that they "failed to file income tax returns and pay state income taxes, underreported and underpaid taxes on income generated from various employments each year, and failed to pay proper sales tax on a vehicle purchased in Minnesota." charged The complaint against Derek Chauvin summarized the details of their alleged offenses, as follows: complaint The Chauvins did not file tax returns in 2016, 2017, and 2018. The filed tax returns for years 2014 and 2015 did not report income received from D. Chauvin's off-duty security work and K. Chauvin's photography income. Tax returns for years 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 filed on June 26, 2020, did not report D. Chauvin's off-duty security work and K. Chauvin's photography income. According to prosecutors, the Chauvins under-reported a total of $464,433 in income between 2014 and 2019, just short of the "half a million dollars" included in the widely-shared tweet from June 2021: Source: Washington County Attorney's Office However, the Chauvins have not yet entered pleas in this case, as of June 28, 2021. An omnibus hearing, at which the two defendants could potentially enter pleas, was scheduled for June 30, the Washington County Attorney's office told Snopes. could potentially enter pleas Since Derek Chauvin has not yet pleaded guilty or been convicted of the charges against him, and neither might ever occur, the claim that he "under-reported half a million dollars in income" was unproven, as of June 28. When the case is resolved, we will update this fact check accordingly.
|
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"sentence": "In June 2021, as former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin faced sentencing for the murder of George Floyd, one widely-shared social media post accused Chauvin of other crimes, namely tax evasion. On June 25, @davenewworld_2 wrote on Twitter: \"Derek Chauvin underreported half a million dollars in income while owing $20,000+ in taxes, and then fucking murdered George Floyd over an alleged $20 counterfeit bill...\""
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"sentence": "On June 25, Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill sentenced Chauvin to 22 and a half years in prison for the murder of Floyd, a Black man who died after Chauvin kneeled on his neck for more than nine minutes, in May 2020."
},
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],
"sentence": "A brief note: Kellie May and Derek Chauvin divorced in February 2021, and during those proceedings she expressed an intention to change her last name. However, we have not been able to find any record of that name change, so this article refers to her using her last-known last name, Chauvin. "
},
{
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],
"sentence": "On July 22, 2020, the office of Washington County Attorney Pete Orput charged the Chauvins with nine counts each of felony tax evasion, claiming that they \"failed to file income tax returns and pay state income taxes, underreported and underpaid taxes on income generated from various employments each year, and failed to pay proper sales tax on a vehicle purchased in Minnesota.\""
},
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"sentence": "The complaint against Derek Chauvin summarized the details of their alleged offenses, as follows:"
},
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"sentence": " Source: Washington County Attorney's Office"
},
{
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],
"sentence": "However, the Chauvins have not yet entered pleas in this case, as of June 28, 2021. An omnibus hearing, at which the two defendants could potentially enter pleas, was scheduled for June 30, the Washington County Attorney's office told Snopes. "
}
] |
neutral
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/chauvin-income-underreport/
|
Was there an allegation that Derek Chauvin failed to report $500,000 in income?
|
Dan MacGuill
|
06/28/2021
|
[
"The former Minneapolis police officer, already sentenced for the murder of George Floyd, has been charged with nine counts of felony tax evasion."
] |
In June 2021, as former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin faced sentencing for the murder of George Floyd, one widely-shared social media post accused Chauvin of other crimes, namely tax evasion. On June 25, @davenewworld_2 wrote on Twitter: "Derek Chauvin underreported half a million dollars in income while owing $20,000+ in taxes, and then fucking murdered George Floyd over an alleged $20 counterfeit bill..." wrote That tweet, and the claims it contained, were further promoted in a popular Reddit post, on the following day. popular Reddit post On June 25, Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill sentenced Chauvin to 22 and a half years in prison for the murder of Floyd, a Black man who died after Chauvin kneeled on his neck for more than nine minutes, in May 2020. sentenced The claim that Chauvin "underreported half a million dollars in income" stems from an ongoing criminal case against him, and his former wife Kellie May Chauvin. However, Chauvin has not yet entered a plea in that case, and has not been tried or convicted, as of June 28, 2021. As a result, we are issuing a rating of "Unproven," for now. When the case is resolved, we will update this fact check accordingly. A brief note: Kellie May and Derek Chauvin divorced in February 2021, and during those proceedings she expressed an intention to change her last name. However, we have not been able to find any record of that name change, so this article refers to her using her last-known last name, Chauvin. expressed an intention On July 22, 2020, the office of Washington County Attorney Pete Orput charged the Chauvins with nine counts each of felony tax evasion, claiming that they "failed to file income tax returns and pay state income taxes, underreported and underpaid taxes on income generated from various employments each year, and failed to pay proper sales tax on a vehicle purchased in Minnesota." charged The complaint against Derek Chauvin summarized the details of their alleged offenses, as follows: complaint The Chauvins did not file tax returns in 2016, 2017, and 2018. The filed tax returns for years 2014 and 2015 did not report income received from D. Chauvin's off-duty security work and K. Chauvin's photography income. Tax returns for years 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 filed on June 26, 2020, did not report D. Chauvin's off-duty security work and K. Chauvin's photography income. According to prosecutors, the Chauvins under-reported a total of $464,433 in income between 2014 and 2019, just short of the "half a million dollars" included in the widely-shared tweet from June 2021: Source: Washington County Attorney's Office However, the Chauvins have not yet entered pleas in this case, as of June 28, 2021. An omnibus hearing, at which the two defendants could potentially enter pleas, was scheduled for June 30, the Washington County Attorney's office told Snopes. could potentially enter pleas Since Derek Chauvin has not yet pleaded guilty or been convicted of the charges against him, and neither might ever occur, the claim that he "under-reported half a million dollars in income" was unproven, as of June 28. When the case is resolved, we will update this fact check accordingly.
|
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"sentence": "On June 25, Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill sentenced Chauvin to 22 and a half years in prison for the murder of Floyd, a Black man who died after Chauvin kneeled on his neck for more than nine minutes, in May 2020."
},
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],
"sentence": "A brief note: Kellie May and Derek Chauvin divorced in February 2021, and during those proceedings she expressed an intention to change her last name. However, we have not been able to find any record of that name change, so this article refers to her using her last-known last name, Chauvin. "
},
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"sentence": "On July 22, 2020, the office of Washington County Attorney Pete Orput charged the Chauvins with nine counts each of felony tax evasion, claiming that they \"failed to file income tax returns and pay state income taxes, underreported and underpaid taxes on income generated from various employments each year, and failed to pay proper sales tax on a vehicle purchased in Minnesota.\""
},
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},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.snopes.com/tachyon/2021/06/Screenshot-2021-06-28-at-13.07.43.png"
],
"sentence": " Source: Washington County Attorney's Office"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://web.archive.org/web/20210628171836/https://www.revisor.mn.gov/court_rules/cr/id/11/"
],
"sentence": "However, the Chauvins have not yet entered pleas in this case, as of June 28, 2021. An omnibus hearing, at which the two defendants could potentially enter pleas, was scheduled for June 30, the Washington County Attorney's office told Snopes. "
}
] |
neutral
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/chauvin-income-underreport/
|
Was Derek Chauvin suspected of omitting to report an income of five hundred thousand dollars?
|
Dan MacGuill
|
06/28/2021
|
[
"The former Minneapolis police officer, already sentenced for the murder of George Floyd, has been charged with nine counts of felony tax evasion."
] |
In June 2021, as former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin faced sentencing for the murder of George Floyd, one widely-shared social media post accused Chauvin of other crimes, namely tax evasion. On June 25, @davenewworld_2 wrote on Twitter: "Derek Chauvin underreported half a million dollars in income while owing $20,000+ in taxes, and then fucking murdered George Floyd over an alleged $20 counterfeit bill..." wrote That tweet, and the claims it contained, were further promoted in a popular Reddit post, on the following day. popular Reddit post On June 25, Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill sentenced Chauvin to 22 and a half years in prison for the murder of Floyd, a Black man who died after Chauvin kneeled on his neck for more than nine minutes, in May 2020. sentenced The claim that Chauvin "underreported half a million dollars in income" stems from an ongoing criminal case against him, and his former wife Kellie May Chauvin. However, Chauvin has not yet entered a plea in that case, and has not been tried or convicted, as of June 28, 2021. As a result, we are issuing a rating of "Unproven," for now. When the case is resolved, we will update this fact check accordingly. A brief note: Kellie May and Derek Chauvin divorced in February 2021, and during those proceedings she expressed an intention to change her last name. However, we have not been able to find any record of that name change, so this article refers to her using her last-known last name, Chauvin. expressed an intention On July 22, 2020, the office of Washington County Attorney Pete Orput charged the Chauvins with nine counts each of felony tax evasion, claiming that they "failed to file income tax returns and pay state income taxes, underreported and underpaid taxes on income generated from various employments each year, and failed to pay proper sales tax on a vehicle purchased in Minnesota." charged The complaint against Derek Chauvin summarized the details of their alleged offenses, as follows: complaint The Chauvins did not file tax returns in 2016, 2017, and 2018. The filed tax returns for years 2014 and 2015 did not report income received from D. Chauvin's off-duty security work and K. Chauvin's photography income. Tax returns for years 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 filed on June 26, 2020, did not report D. Chauvin's off-duty security work and K. Chauvin's photography income. According to prosecutors, the Chauvins under-reported a total of $464,433 in income between 2014 and 2019, just short of the "half a million dollars" included in the widely-shared tweet from June 2021: Source: Washington County Attorney's Office However, the Chauvins have not yet entered pleas in this case, as of June 28, 2021. An omnibus hearing, at which the two defendants could potentially enter pleas, was scheduled for June 30, the Washington County Attorney's office told Snopes. could potentially enter pleas Since Derek Chauvin has not yet pleaded guilty or been convicted of the charges against him, and neither might ever occur, the claim that he "under-reported half a million dollars in income" was unproven, as of June 28. When the case is resolved, we will update this fact check accordingly.
|
[
"returns"
] |
[
{
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"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1vh0Lq-B100nGVm4shYH2nY1qROW0ITEW"
},
{
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"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=10wMLqk6yAIOAkEPuqjebpnwLn1Fb1z5X"
}
] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://web.archive.org/web/20210628143613/https://twitter.com/davenewworld_2/status/1408507958267363336"
],
"sentence": "In June 2021, as former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin faced sentencing for the murder of George Floyd, one widely-shared social media post accused Chauvin of other crimes, namely tax evasion. On June 25, @davenewworld_2 wrote on Twitter: \"Derek Chauvin underreported half a million dollars in income while owing $20,000+ in taxes, and then fucking murdered George Floyd over an alleged $20 counterfeit bill...\""
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://archive.is/y6oZr"
],
"sentence": "That tweet, and the claims it contained, were further promoted in a popular Reddit post, on the following day."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://archive.is/3u8uz"
],
"sentence": "On June 25, Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill sentenced Chauvin to 22 and a half years in prison for the murder of Floyd, a Black man who died after Chauvin kneeled on his neck for more than nine minutes, in May 2020."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://web.archive.org/web/20210628165741/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/wife-accused-minneapolis-police-officer-derek-chauvin-says-divorce-filing-n1221271"
],
"sentence": "A brief note: Kellie May and Derek Chauvin divorced in February 2021, and during those proceedings she expressed an intention to change her last name. However, we have not been able to find any record of that name change, so this article refers to her using her last-known last name, Chauvin. "
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.snopes.com/uploads/2021/06/Derek-and-Kellie-Chauvin-charged..pdf"
],
"sentence": "On July 22, 2020, the office of Washington County Attorney Pete Orput charged the Chauvins with nine counts each of felony tax evasion, claiming that they \"failed to file income tax returns and pay state income taxes, underreported and underpaid taxes on income generated from various employments each year, and failed to pay proper sales tax on a vehicle purchased in Minnesota.\""
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.snopes.com/uploads/2021/06/Chauvin-Derek-Complaint.pdf"
],
"sentence": "The complaint against Derek Chauvin summarized the details of their alleged offenses, as follows:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.snopes.com/tachyon/2021/06/Screenshot-2021-06-28-at-13.07.43.png"
],
"sentence": " Source: Washington County Attorney's Office"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://web.archive.org/web/20210628171836/https://www.revisor.mn.gov/court_rules/cr/id/11/"
],
"sentence": "However, the Chauvins have not yet entered pleas in this case, as of June 28, 2021. An omnibus hearing, at which the two defendants could potentially enter pleas, was scheduled for June 30, the Washington County Attorney's office told Snopes. "
}
] |
neutral
| null |
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2014/jun/10/mark-warner/warner-says-us-student-debt-has-surpassed-credit-c/
|
Right now, America has $1.1 trillion of student debt. Thats more than credit card debt.
|
Nancy Madsen
|
06/10/2014
|
[] |
Sen. Mark Warners re-election stump speech dwells on giving everyone an equal opportunity and high on that list is an affordable college education. Warner and many of his fellow Democrats have called for legislation that would ease student debt by allowing students to refinance their federal college loans at substantially lower interest rates and limit their loan repayments to 10 percent of their annual income. President Barack Obama endorsed those measures during a speech Monday.. Warner, during a recent speech of his own,said, Right now, America has $1.1 trillion of student debt. Thats more than credit card debt. This statistic caught our attention, so we put it to the Truth-O-Meter. David Turner, spokesman for Warners campaign, backed up the statement by sending us aspeechby an official at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau anddatafrom the Federal Reserve System. Both of those sources say that student debt has topped $1 trillion and the speech noted that it had surpassed credit cards. But the best data comes from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which publishesdebt statisticsevery quarter. In the most recent report, covering first three months of 2014, student loan debt totaled $1.1 trillion, while credit card debt hit $659 billion. The largest type of debt for Americans is mortgages, which came in at $8.2 trillion in the first quarter. Student loan debt is No. 2, followed by automobile loans at $875 billion and credit card debt in making up $11.7 trillion in all debt. Student debt began to outpace credit card debt in the second quarter of 2010, when college loans hit $762 billion. Student debt topped the $1 trillion mark in the third quarter of last year. Average tuition across the nation increased 79.5 percent from 2003-2013, according todatafrom the U.S. Labor Department. For comparison, the Consumer Price Index grew by26.7percent during the same span and average wages grew by30.1percent. Credit card debt, by contrast, has gradually fallen from $843 billion in early 2009 to its $659 billion level this year. Much of the decrease occurred during the recession when people cut back on spending. But the recession exacerbated college debts, according to Caroline Ratcliffe, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute. She cited two reasons: You have to remember that during the time of the Great Recession, more people were going back to school because of the job situation, so they were taking on more debt, she said. Astudyshe co-wrote tackled the demographics of people with student loan debt. It found that student loan debt, for those ages 29 to 37, had increased by $10,381 on average from 1989 to 2010, while car loans had increased $302, credit card debt had increased $1,215 and other debt had decreased $2,078. In 2012, 40 percent of Americans in their 20s had student debt, 30 percent in their 30s owed on student loans, 19 percent of Americans in their 40s, 12 percent in their 50s and 4 percent in their 60s. This included students and parents who borrowed to send their children to college. Our ruling Warner said, Right now, America has $1.1 trillion of student debt. Thats more than credit card debt. His figure on student debt is accurate and total U.S. credit card debt in the first quarter of this year was $659 billion. We rate Warners statement True.
|
[
"Debt",
"Education",
"Message Machine 2014",
"Virginia"
] |
[] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbRdysGIRDc"
],
"sentence": "Warner, during a recent speech of his own,said, Right now, America has $1.1 trillion of student debt. Thats more than credit card debt."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.consumerfinance.gov/newsroom/student-debt-swells-federal-loans-now-top-a-trillion/"
],
"sentence": "David Turner, spokesman for Warners campaign, backed up the statement by sending us aspeechby an official at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau anddatafrom the Federal Reserve System."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.newyorkfed.org/microeconomics/data.html"
],
"sentence": "Both of those sources say that student debt has topped $1 trillion and the speech noted that it had surpassed credit cards. But the best data comes from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which publishesdebt statisticsevery quarter."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/10/23/charts-just-how-fast-has-college-tuition-grown"
],
"sentence": "Average tuition across the nation increased 79.5 percent from 2003-2013, according todatafrom the U.S. Labor Department. For comparison, the Consumer Price Index grew by26.7percent during the same span and average wages grew by30.1percent."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/412849-Forever-in-Your-Debt-Who-Has-Student-Loan-Debt-and-Whos-Worried.pdf"
],
"sentence": "Astudyshe co-wrote tackled the demographics of people with student loan debt. It found that student loan debt, for those ages 29 to 37, had increased by $10,381 on average from 1989 to 2010, while car loans had increased $302, credit card debt had increased $1,215 and other debt had decreased $2,078."
}
] |
true
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/stopwatt-elon-musk-tesla/
|
Was StopWatt Created by Elon Musk and Tesla?
|
Jordan Liles
|
08/28/2023
|
[
"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%."
] |
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.
|
[
"income"
] |
[
{
"image_caption": null,
"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"
}
] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/pro-power-saver-elon-musk/"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/elon-musk-founder-and-chief-engineer-of-spacex-speaks-at-news-photo/1211442310"
],
"sentence": "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."
}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2016/sep/28/tammy-baldwin/donald-trump-only-major-party-nominee-40-years-not/
|
Says that except for Donald Trump, every other major party nominee for the past 40 years has released their tax returns.
|
Tom Kertscher
|
09/28/2016
|
[] |
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
|
[
"Candidate Biography",
"Income",
"Wealth",
"Taxes",
"Wisconsin"
] |
[] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.politifact.com/personalities/state-democratic-party-wisconsin/"
],
"sentence": "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:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2016/aug/17/tammy-baldwin/does-donald-trump-have-long-record-exporting-jobs/"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/01/opinion/donald-trump-ducks-tax-disclosure.html?_r=0"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.taxhistory.org/www/website.nsf/web/presidentialtaxreturns"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.factcheck.org/2012/07/romney-and-the-tax-return-precedent/"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.taxhistory.org/www/website.nsf/Web/AboutTheProject?OpenDocument"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/aug/01/bill-clinton/its-typical-presidential-candidates-release-10-or-/"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.politifact.com/personalities/hillary-clinton/"
],
"sentence": "In the 2016 race,Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, has released returns from 2000 through 2015."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/sep/07/donald-trump/donald-trump-says-his-financial-disclosures-more-m/"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/3b799eb7-8454-41ff-a343-3c13c44e9c78"
],
"sentence": "https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/3b799eb7-8454-41ff-a343-3c13c44e9c78"
}
] |
true
| null |
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2014/apr/27/alicia-menendez/menendez-white-family-likely-have-6-times-much-wea/
|
A white family is likely to have about six times as much wealth than a black or Hispanic family coming out of the recession.
|
Julie Kliegman
|
04/27/2014
|
[] |
ABCsThis Weekspent much of their show Sunday discussing race issues, from affirmative action to racist comments allegedly made by Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling to economic disparity. During a roundtable segment on the difference between the middle class in the United States and Canada, Fusion reporter Alicia Menendez argued that differences in wealth arent just generational, theyre racial. We also know that there is a racial component to this, that a white family is likely to have about six times as much wealth than a black or Hispanic family coming out of the recession, she said. PunditFact finds her ratio correct. Menendez pointed us to anApril 2013 reportfrom the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan social policy think-tank. The institute measured mean wealth by race. Using 2010 data from the Survey of Consumer Finances, the Urban Institute looked at assets including cash savings, homes, retirement accounts and subtracted any debt. TheUrban Institute concluded that, post-recession, for every $1 an average black or Hispanic person has in wealth, an average white person has $6. Thats up from 1983, the farthest back the study goes, when the ratio was 5-to-1. Thomas Shapiro, a Brandeis University social policy professor who studies the wage gap, said the 6-to-1 ratio is correct, but represents the lower end of the wealth gap range researchers have come up with. At the higher end of the spectrum,Pew Research citeda 20-to-1 ratio in 2011. They took median wealth from the Census Bureaus Survey of Income and Program Participation 2009 data. So the data varies by survey used, year and measure of average (mean vs median). Theres debate among economists and social scientists about which ratio is the most accurate. Darrick Hamilton, an urban policy professor at The New School,said the Census Bureau surveys more low-income families, while the Survey of Consumer Financesoversamples high-income families where minorities arent as well represented. Overall, any ratio from 6-to-1 to 22-to-1 could be considered an accurate measure of the wealth gap, Shapiro told us. Our ruling Menendez said, A white family is likely to have about six times as much wealth than a black or Hispanic family coming out of the recession. A study from the Urban Institute supports her statistic. Other research shows an even wider gap, further proving her point that race is a factor in U.S. wealth. Menendez's statement is accurate, and might even understate the issue. We rate her claim True.
|
[
"Income",
"Jobs",
"PunditFact"
] |
[] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/412802-Less-Than-Equal-Racial-Disparities-in-Wealth-Accumulation.pdf"
],
"sentence": "Menendez pointed us to anApril 2013 reportfrom the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan social policy think-tank. The institute measured mean wealth by race. Using 2010 data from the Survey of Consumer Finances, the Urban Institute looked at assets including cash savings, homes, retirement accounts and subtracted any debt."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2011/07/26/wealth-gaps-rise-to-record-highs-between-whites-blacks-hispanics/"
],
"sentence": "At the higher end of the spectrum,Pew Research citeda 20-to-1 ratio in 2011. They took median wealth from the Census Bureaus Survey of Income and Program Participation 2009 data. So the data varies by survey used, year and measure of average (mean vs median)."
}
] |
true
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/journalism-taliban-takeover/
|
Is This Journalism Before and After Taliban Takeover?
|
Dan Evon
|
08/17/2021
|
[
"The threat to female journalists in the region is undoubtedly real. "
] |
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
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https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/secret-symbols-oreo-cookies/
|
Do Oreo Cookies Have a Hidden Meaning?
|
David Emery
|
01/04/2017
|
[
"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."
] |
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.
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"hrefs": [
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],
"sentence": "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:"
},
{
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],
"sentence": "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?"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.reddit.com/r/freemasonry/comments/2jf08u/til_oreo_cookie_masonic_symbolism/#bottom-comments",
"https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14493a.htm",
"https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09771a.htm"
],
"sentence": "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:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.mondelezinternational.com/~/media/MondelezCorporate/Uploads/downloads/OREO_Fact_Sheet.pdf"
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"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
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],
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},
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"hrefs": [
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],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1999/03/15/256478/index.htm"
],
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},
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},
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"hrefs": [
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],
"sentence": "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.\""
},
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"sentence": "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:"
},
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"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_patt%C3%A9e",
"https://www.seiyaku.com/customs/crosses/lorraine.html",
"https://logos.wikia.com/wiki/Nabisco",
"https://bfdg.com/thoughts/thinking-brands-transition/"
],
"sentence": "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:"
}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/amazing-duck-story/
|
Spokane Man Saves Ducklings Jumping from Building Ledge
|
David Mikkelson
|
07/30/2008
|
[
"\"Could you imagine the second day of your life having to jump from a building to get home?\" "
] |
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."
KREM-TV [Spokane, WA]. 26 May 2008.
KREM-TV [Spokane, WA]. "Duck Makes Nest on Spokane Office Ledge ... Again."
1 May 2009.
KREM-TV [Spokane, WA]. "Duck Family's Amazing Journey Caught on Tape."
19 May 2009.
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] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.spokane.net/stay_connected/HotTopics_DuckHero.aspx"
],
"sentence": "Armstrong's story quickly spread on the Internet in the form of the narrative reproduced above, put together by his sister, Candace Mumm."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.krem.com/news/local/stories/krem2-051809-amelia-duckheart.184db7df.html"
],
"sentence": "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."
}
] |
true
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/power-lifting/
|
Is this Weightlifter with a Prolapsed Rectum Real?
|
David Mikkelson
|
04/02/2003
|
[
"This fact check is not safe for anywhere."
] |
This email from the dawn of the millennium made its way to our inbox in 2003: This rather shocking photo was snapped in November 16th by a spectator at the collegiate power lifting championships at Pennsylvania State. The unfortunate competitor, who expressed a plea to remain anonymous, remembered to surgeons that he was "stuck" at the bottom of a personal best attempt in the squat lift when he "sort of pulled his stomach in and pushed extra hard, at the same time as trying to complete the lift." He remembers a loud popping, splattering noise then a fierce stabbing pain and then not being able to move from the squat position. He remained in this position for about half an hour, since trying to stand caused him overwhelming agonizing pain. Paramedics arrived and applied anaesthesia on the spot and carried him to an ambulance. He was rushed to surgery, where surgeons described the trauma as an "explosive and aggravated prolapse of the bowel". Meanwhile it was revealed that the weight was removed from his shoulders at the time of the incident by two "spotters" on either side of the lifter. The third spotter who was standing behind the lifter was unfortunately sprayed with fecal matter at the time of the incident. This spotter promptly fainted when he realized the extent of the injury to the lifter, who was a personal friend. This compounded the task of first aid officers who were at a loss as to how to treat the injury to the lifter in any case, who remained in the squatting position moaning in pain much to the consternation of the helpless audience. The hapless lifter had successful surgery to relieve the prolapse, but remained immobilized with his feet elevated in stirrups for 2 weeks to ensure "internal compliance with the surgery and that the organs retracted successfully". To add insult to injury, the ex-lifter required rectal stitching to partially occlude the anal orifice and stitch the rectal passage (which had significantly expanded and torn during the prolapse) and also was put on a low fibre low residue diet to combat flatulence to avoid any possibility of a recurrence. CBS news spoke to his wife and asked if she thought he would resume his power lifting career. "Not if I have anything to say about it, would you like to risk something like that again?" We agreed!! CBS news This item is "false" in the sense that the accompanying text does not correspond to the image: The message reproduced above was not written or published by CBS news or any other news agency. (The poor writing, non-news format, and focus on "gross out" details mark it as a fabrication.) The annual USAPL Pennsylvania State Powerlifting Championship contests are held early in the year (February or March), not in November. contests No such injury as the one described occurred to any weightlifter at the Pennsylvania State Powerlifting Championships in the last several years. The "weightlifter" in the photograph is posed squatting immediately in front of a doorway or wall, which would not be the case if had suffered an injury in the midst of a powerlifting match and then found himself "not able to move from the squat position." (He'd be in the middle of an arena or gymnasium floor with plenty of room on all sides.) Although a prolapsed rectum or bowel is a real medical condition, the text cited here is an obvious attempt at a "gross out" piece involving all the familiar aspects of potty humor (e.g., rectums, sprayed fecal matter, farts). How and why the image accompanying the text was produced (and by whom) is still unknown to us. prolapsed rectum Canadian Press. "Is It a Cactus or a Rude Gesture?"
|
[
"loss"
] |
[
{
"image_caption": null,
"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1np5cEvXNqGzMCrRMGGzYg9fUaPJcNYI5"
}
] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://web.archive.org/web/20041010122031/https://www.ironsport.com/article/detail.asp?ArticleID=137"
],
"sentence": " The annual USAPL Pennsylvania State Powerlifting Championship contests are held early in the year (February or March), not in November."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://web.archive.org/web/20060908060003/https://catalog.cmsp.com/data1/fx060021.htm"
],
"sentence": "Although a prolapsed rectum or bowel is a real medical condition, the text cited here is an obvious attempt at a \"gross out\" piece involving all the familiar aspects of potty humor (e.g., rectums, sprayed fecal matter, farts). How and why the image accompanying the text was produced (and by whom) is still unknown to us."
}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2015/jul/08/barack-obama/wisconsin-visit-barack-obama-brags-he-reduced-fede/
|
We've cut the deficit by two-thirds.
|
Tom Kertscher
|
07/08/2015
|
[] |
Making an economicspeechat the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse on July 2, 2015, Barack Obama ticked off a list of his accomplishments as president -- and made a bolder version of a claim we have heard before about slashing the federal budget deficit. So, weve got a record streak of private-sector job growth, Obama said in his remarks, which includedveiled criticismsof Gov. Scott Walker on the day Walker filed federal papers as a precursor to announcing his run for president. Weve cut the deficit by two-thirds. Our stock market has more than doubled, restoring 401(k)s for millions of families. This is progress. Step by step, America is moving forward. Middle-class economics works. It works. Yes!Here's why the deficit claim caught our attention: In September 2014 in Milwaukee, Obama said he had cut the deficit in half. Werated that statement True, and it has become one of our most-clicked fact checks. Could it be that, less than a year later, the deficit is down by two-thirds? Deficit vs debt Lets be clear at the top that Obama is talking about the deficit, which has been getting smaller -- not the debt, which is getting bigger. The deficit is an annual number. Its the difference between what the government collects in revenues and spends in one year. The United States hasnt seen budgetsurplusessince the days of President Bill Clinton. The debt, meanwhile, is a running tally -- its the total of annual deficits minus any annual surpluses. The nation's debt currently exceeds$18 trillion, and it has risen by more than$7 trillionunder Obama. (Heres agood primerfrom PolitiFact National on the difference between the two.) Tracking the deficit numbers In reviewing the cut-the-deficit-in-half claim, our baseline was fiscal 2009. That period started on Oct. 1, 2008, when George W. Bush was still president, and ended on Sept. 30, 2009, eight months after Obama took office. We found the deficit was $1.41 trillion in 2009 and $679.5 billion in 2013 -- a drop of more than half. Measured another way, the deficit made up 9.8 percent of the economy (gross domestic product) in 2009 and dropped to less than half of that -- 4.1 percent -- by the end of fiscal 2013. But now we have figures for fiscal 2014. PolitiFact National examined those figures in January 2015, after Obama said in his State of the Union speech that we've seen our deficits cut by two-thirds. Our colleagues rated his statementMostly True. The 2014 deficit was $486 billion -- a drop of two-thirds from the $1.41 trillion in 2009. And it was 2.8 percent of GDP, a reduction of more than two-thirds from the 9.8 percent in 2009. (In June 2015, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected that 2015 will end with a deficit that, as a percentage of GDP, will be the lowest since 2007.) So, math wise, Obamas two-thirds claim is solid. But there are a few caveats. Yes, we reduced the deficit two-thirds from its peak in 2009, but that was after deficits had just increased by nearly 800 percent to theirhighest leveloutside of World War II, Marc Goldwein of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget told us. Indeed, Obamahelped growthe 2009 deficit with his stimulus spending, although he can take some credit for the economy, which has improved since the Great Recessionendedin June 2009 and helped bring down the deficits. And although the Congressional Budget Office projects that deficits relative to GDP will decline slightly over the next few years, they will then rise and add more to the debt. Largely as a result of the aging population and rising health care costs, CBOprojectsthe deficit to grow from less than 3 percent of GDP in 2015 to more than 6 percent in 2040. Our rating Obama said: We've cut the deficit by two-thirds. In raw dollars and as a percentage of the overall economy, the annual federal deficit in 2014 was two-thirds smaller than in 2009, the year Obama took office. But there are several caveats, including the fact that his stimulus spending helped raise the 2009 deficit and the economy, for which he can take some credit, has improved since the end of the Great Recession the same year. For a statement that is accurate but needs additional information, our rating is Mostly True.
|
[
"Debt",
"Deficit",
"Economy",
"Stimulus",
"Wisconsin"
] |
[] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.c-span.org/video/?326903-1/president-obama-remarks-economy"
],
"sentence": "Making an economicspeechat the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse on July 2, 2015, Barack Obama ticked off a list of his accomplishments as president -- and made a bolder version of a claim we have heard before about slashing the federal budget deficit."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/drama-expected-as-obama-visits-la-crosse-and-greeted-by-scott-walker-b99531109z1-311464001.html"
],
"sentence": "So, weve got a record streak of private-sector job growth, Obama said in his remarks, which includedveiled criticismsof Gov. Scott Walker on the day Walker filed federal papers as a precursor to announcing his run for president."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2014/sep/05/barack-obama/obama-says-he-has-cut-national-deficit-half/"
],
"sentence": "In September 2014 in Milwaukee, Obama said he had cut the deficit in half. Werated that statement True, and it has become one of our most-clicked fact checks."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.factcheck.org/2008/02/the-budget-and-deficit-under-clinton/"
],
"sentence": "The deficit is an annual number. Its the difference between what the government collects in revenues and spends in one year. The United States hasnt seen budgetsurplusessince the days of President Bill Clinton."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/debt/current"
],
"sentence": "The debt, meanwhile, is a running tally -- its the total of annual deficits minus any annual surpluses. The nation's debt currently exceeds$18 trillion, and it has risen by more than$7 trillionunder Obama."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2014/feb/27/debt-vs-deficit-whats-difference/"
],
"sentence": "(Heres agood primerfrom PolitiFact National on the difference between the two.)"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/jan/20/barack-obama/barack-obama-claims-deficit-has-decreased-two-thir/"
],
"sentence": "PolitiFact National examined those figures in January 2015, after Obama said in his State of the Union speech that we've seen our deficits cut by two-thirds. Our colleagues rated his statementMostly True."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2014/feb/27/debt-vs-deficit-whats-difference/"
],
"sentence": "Yes, we reduced the deficit two-thirds from its peak in 2009, but that was after deficits had just increased by nearly 800 percent to theirhighest leveloutside of World War II, Marc Goldwein of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget told us."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2014/oct/06/barack-obama/barack-obama-says-deficit-fell-10-percent-gdp-3-pe/"
],
"sentence": "Indeed, Obamahelped growthe 2009 deficit with his stimulus spending, although he can take some credit for the economy, which has improved since the Great Recessionendedin June 2009 and helped bring down the deficits."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/114th-congress-2015-2016/reports/50250-LongTermBudgetOutlook-3.pdf"
],
"sentence": "And although the Congressional Budget Office projects that deficits relative to GDP will decline slightly over the next few years, they will then rise and add more to the debt. Largely as a result of the aging population and rising health care costs, CBOprojectsthe deficit to grow from less than 3 percent of GDP in 2015 to more than 6 percent in 2040."
}
] |
true
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/executive-salaries-charities/
|
Think Before You Donate!
|
David Mikkelson
|
11/13/2005
|
[
"An article that compares the salaries of top executives of several large charitable organizations is mostly outdated and inaccurate."
] |
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.
|
[
"finance"
] |
[] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.charitynavigator.org/",
"https://www2.guidestar.org/",
"https://www.forbes.com/lists/2011/14/200-largest-us-charities-11_rank.html"
],
"sentence": "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.)"
}
] |
neutral
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/executive-salaries-charities/
|
Consider before you contribute!
|
David Mikkelson
|
11/13/2005
|
[
"An article that compares the salaries of top executives of several large charitable organizations is mostly outdated and inaccurate."
] |
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.
|
[
"budget"
] |
[] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.charitynavigator.org/",
"https://www2.guidestar.org/",
"https://www.forbes.com/lists/2011/14/200-largest-us-charities-11_rank.html"
],
"sentence": "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.)"
}
] |
neutral
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/executive-salaries-charities/
|
Consider carefully prior to giving a donation!
|
David Mikkelson
|
11/13/2005
|
[
"An article that compares the salaries of top executives of several large charitable organizations is mostly outdated and inaccurate."
] |
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.
|
[
"finance"
] |
[] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.charitynavigator.org/",
"https://www2.guidestar.org/",
"https://www.forbes.com/lists/2011/14/200-largest-us-charities-11_rank.html"
],
"sentence": "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.)"
}
] |
neutral
| null |
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2014/sep/07/greater-wisconsin-political-fund/scott-walker-cut-school-funding-more-any-governor-/
|
Scott Walker cut school funding more per student than any governor in America.
|
Tom Kertscher
|
09/07/2014
|
[] |
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.
|
[
"Children",
"Education",
"Message Machine 2014",
"State Budget",
"States",
"Taxes",
"Wisconsin"
] |
[] |
[
{
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],
"sentence": "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?"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2014/sep/03/greater-wisconsin-political-fund/greater-wisconsin-committee-says-walker-gave-570-m/"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2012/feb/19/kathleen-falk/recall-candidate-kathleen-falk-says-governor-scott/"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=SSF_2012_SSF020.US01&prodType=table"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=4011"
],
"sentence": "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."
}
] |
true
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hillary-or-karl/
|
'Marxist' Quotes from Hillary Clinton
|
David Mikkelson
|
09/02/2007
|
[
"A quiz about list of various statements supposedly made by Hillary Clinton."
] |
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.
|
[
"insurance"
] |
[
{
"image_caption": null,
"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1mPTteXqMmlelEEGRUlbgh216glwtl-_e"
}
] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.cbpp.org/4-14-04tax-sum.htm"
],
"sentence": "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:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://web.archive.org/web/20070704003656/https://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/speech/view/?id=1839"
],
"sentence": "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:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0706/04/sitroom.03.html"
],
"sentence": "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: "
}
] |
neutral
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hillary-or-karl/
|
Quotations from Hillary Clinton with Marxist ideologies.
|
David Mikkelson
|
09/02/2007
|
[
"A quiz about list of various statements supposedly made by Hillary Clinton."
] |
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.
|
[
"economy"
] |
[
{
"image_caption": null,
"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1NQArIZe1G4tkv6g4ilMXCxuK-ZzApirX"
}
] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.cbpp.org/4-14-04tax-sum.htm"
],
"sentence": "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:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://web.archive.org/web/20070704003656/https://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/speech/view/?id=1839"
],
"sentence": "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:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0706/04/sitroom.03.html"
],
"sentence": "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: "
}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hillary-or-karl/
|
Quotes from Hillary Clinton that are reminiscent of Marxist ideology.
|
David Mikkelson
|
09/02/2007
|
[
"A quiz about list of various statements supposedly made by Hillary Clinton."
] |
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.
|
[
"insurance"
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"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1OX0FqLSMcsqb5jHi8TXl0Uy_JYeZ-rh9"
}
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[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.cbpp.org/4-14-04tax-sum.htm"
],
"sentence": "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:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://web.archive.org/web/20070704003656/https://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/speech/view/?id=1839"
],
"sentence": "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:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0706/04/sitroom.03.html"
],
"sentence": "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: "
}
] |
neutral
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/cross-honor-fallen-firefighters/
|
Is Facebook Deleting an Image of a Cross Carved to Honor Fallen Firefighters?
|
Dan Evon
|
11/15/2018
|
[
"Clickbait social media posts claim Facebook has an anti-religion bias."
] |
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
|
[
"share"
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[
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"image_caption": null,
"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"
}
] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/barbara.church.127/posts/1333433376793929",
"https://www.facebook.com/barbara.church.127/posts/1333433376793929"
],
"sentence": "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:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/communitystandards/objectionable_content"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/CaliforniaWildfireNet/photos/a.157893051071603/830016030525965/"
],
"sentence": "This image has been on Facebook since at least 30 July 2018 when it was shared by \"California Wildfire Net\" with the caption:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/norwegian-cartoon-banned-twitter-facebook/",
"https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/facebook-removing-amputee-photos/",
"https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/nativity-seen/",
"https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/facebook-bans-christian-content/",
"https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/facebook-usmc-ban/",
"https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/social-media-sites-will-begin-banning-users-post-photos-confederate-flags/",
"https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/facebook-amen-ban/",
"https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/cyber-bully-pulpit/",
"https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/little-timmy-facebook-flag/"
],
"sentence": "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."
}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2014/jun/30/john-chisholm/milwaukee-sheriff-pays-overtime-deputies-sit-secur/
|
Says Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke has deputies collecting overtime while sitting passively in chairs watching courthouse security personnel work.
|
Tom Kertscher
|
06/30/2014
|
[] |
Milwaukee County SheriffDavid A. Clarke Jr.regularlyuses the mediato criticize other elected officials -- having, for example, accused Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele ofpenis envyand Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett of beingclueless. In contrast, Milwaukee County District AttorneyJohn Chisholmrarely engages in public political battles. So it was a surprise when Chisholm excoriated Clarkein a letteron June 2, 2014. Among other things, Chisholm said the Sheriff's Office was running a budget deficit partly because Clarke has deputies collecting overtime while sitting passively in chairs watching courthouse security personnel work. Chisholms charge seemed worthy of a look. The backdrop The district attorneys letter was in response toa letterhe and the countys chief judge received a few days earlier from Clarke. Clarke, in the wake ofa shootingof a 10-year-old Milwaukee girl, who was gravely wounded in the crossfire between two men on a playground, called for temporarily suspending plea bargaining and probation sentences for major crimes. For years, he wrote, the county's prosecutors and judges had engaged in soft-on-crime practices. Security checkpoints Security checkpoints for the county courthouse complex, which includes the Public Safety Building and the Criminal Justice Facility, are not the responsibility of the Sheriffs Office but rather the county Division of Facilities Management. In other words, county workers, not sheriffs deputies, check visitors and operate metal detectors at the various entrances to the complex. The security work is not part of the sheriffs budget. Clarke, however, has asserted his authority to help provide security. In March 2013,Clarke announcedthat during an integrity check, an undercover sheriff's deputy with a gun cleared security checkpoints at all six entrances into the county courthouse complex. He said that, as a result, he had ordered deputies posted at each security checkpoint in the complex until he is convinced weapons cannot get through. He said the staffing would be paid for with overtime. That staffing is continuing. When we checked the entrances one afternoon in June 2014, we found two county employees manning each checkpoint and a deputy nearby. At one checkpoint, we saw a deputy actively working the metal detector; but at the others, a deputy was only observing. Our colleagues who regularly visit the courthouse told us the same: usually they see deputies merely observing, but occasionally actively working a checkpoint. For his part, Clarke told us the deputies are not posted at the checkpoints to watch the screeners. The deputies are there to provide an armed presence for the protection of the public and employees, and to prevent and deter an armed person from getting into the building, he said in an email. The cost Theres no dispute that overtime pay is being used, at least in part, to pay deputies to work security checkpoints at the courthouse complex. But the amount is not clear. Based on overtime reports the Sheriffs Office submits to county officials, its not possible to tell how much in overtime pay is being spent on deputies working security checkpoints at the courthouse complex, said county Auditor Jerome Heer. Overall, the sheriffs overtime expenditures have gone over budget. In 2013, the Sheriffs Office spent $5.9 million for overtime, exceeding the $3.6 million overtime budget, Heer said. As of June 23, 2014, he said, overtime expenditures were $2.7 million, which is on pace to exceed the overtime budget of $4.1 million. Our rating Chisholm said Clarke has deputies collecting overtime while sitting passively in chairs watching courthouse security personnel work. Theres no dispute that part of the sheriffs overtime budget pays deputies to work security checkpoints at the courthouse complex. The deputies typically are observing visitors passing through the checkpoints, but sometimes get actively involved in screening them or monitoring metal detectors. We rate Chisholms statement Mostly True. To comment, go to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinelwebsite.
|
[
"County Budget",
"County Government",
"Criminal Justice",
"Crime",
"Wisconsin"
] |
[] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.politifact.com/personalities/david-clarke-jr/"
],
"sentence": "Milwaukee County SheriffDavid A. Clarke Jr.regularlyuses the mediato criticize other elected officials -- having, for example, accused Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele ofpenis envyand Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett of beingclueless."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://county.milwaukee.gov/DistrictAttorney7715.htm"
],
"sentence": "In contrast, Milwaukee County District AttorneyJohn Chisholmrarely engages in public political battles."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://media.jrn.com/documents/chisholmresponse.pdf"
],
"sentence": "So it was a surprise when Chisholm excoriated Clarkein a letteron June 2, 2014."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://media.jrn.com/documents/053014+to+CJ+and+DA+on+social+eng.+experiments.pdf"
],
"sentence": "The district attorneys letter was in response toa letterhe and the countys chief judge received a few days earlier from Clarke."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.jsonline.com/news/crime/2nd-suspect-in-playground-shooting-shot-killed-a-teen-in-2005-b99280183z1-261106231.html"
],
"sentence": "Clarke, in the wake ofa shootingof a 10-year-old Milwaukee girl, who was gravely wounded in the crossfire between two men on a playground, called for temporarily suspending plea bargaining and probation sentences for major crimes."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/sheriff-david-clarke-says-undercover-deputy-got-gun-past-courthouse-checks-9r926n8-195672671.html"
],
"sentence": "In March 2013,Clarke announcedthat during an integrity check, an undercover sheriff's deputy with a gun cleared security checkpoints at all six entrances into the county courthouse complex. He said that, as a result, he had ordered deputies posted at each security checkpoint in the complex until he is convinced weapons cannot get through. He said the staffing would be paid for with overtime."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.jsonline.com/news/politifact-are-deputies-paid-overtime-to-sit-and-watch-at-security-checkpoints-b99301674z1-265228351.html"
],
"sentence": "To comment, go to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinelwebsite."
}
] |
true
| null |
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2012/sep/06/bill-clinton/bill-clinton-says-democratic-presidents-top-republ/
|
Since 1961 our private economy has produced 66 million private-sector jobs. So what's the jobs score? Republicans 24 million, Democrats 42 (million).
|
Louis Jacobson
|
09/06/2012
|
[] |
Are Democratic presidents better than Republican presidents at job creation? Former President Bill Clinton said so -- forcefully -- in his speech to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte. Since 1961, for 52 years now, the Republicans have held the White House 28 years, the Democrats 24, Clinton said. In those 52 years, our private economy has produced 66 million private-sector jobs. So what's the jobs score? Republicans 24 million, Democrats 42 (million). In the packed convention hall, it was one of the nights biggest applause lines. In 2010, we checked a similar claim from Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., who said that Democratic presidents have been considerably more effective at creating private-sector jobs. After crunching the numbers back to President Harry Truman, we found that jobs did indeed grow faster under Democratic presidents when adjusted for a presidents years served in office. So we rated the claimTrue. Clintons claim at the convention was worded differently, so we quickly re-crunched the numbers based on his specifications. Lets cut to the chase. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, here are the net increases in private-sector employment under each president, chronologically by party: RepublicansRichard Nixon: Increase of 7.1 million jobsGerald Ford: Increase of 1.3 million jobsRonald Reagan: Increase of 14.7 million jobsGeorge H.W. Bush: Increase of 1.5 million jobsGeorge W. Bush: Decline of 646,000 jobsTotal: Increase of 23.9 million jobs under Republican presidentsDemocratsJohn F. Kennedy: Increase of 2.7 million jobsLyndon B. Johnson: Increase of 9.5 million jobsJimmy Carter: Increase of 9.0 million jobsBill Clinton: Increase of 20.8 million jobsBarack Obama: Increase of 332,000 jobs Total: Increase of 42.3 million jobs. So Clinton is right. But well bring up a few points worth noting. This does not include government jobs The combination of private-sector jobs and public-sector jobs is a broader measurement of job creation than private-sector alone. But excluding government jobs would presumably hurt Democrats more than Republicans, given the two parties historical stances toward the role of government. The fact that Democrats finished so far ahead despite taking government jobs off the table makes it a more impressive accomplishment. The Democrats didnt benefit from population growth For our previous story, Brookings Institution economist Gary Burtless calculated that the U.S. working-age population actually grew slightly faster under Republican presidents, also making the Democratic accomplishment more impressive. Presidents deserves less credit for the good times and less blame for the bad times It's a truism of politics that when things go well, the president generally gets too much credit, and when things don't go well, the president usually gets too much blame. Shouldn't the Republican Congress of 1995-2001 get a share of the credit for Clinton's robust job growth? Shouldn't the Democratic House that served under Reagan? Most experts would say yes and yes. Since we published our previous story, we have changed our policy: We now factor into our ratings whether the politician or party deserves credit or blame for the statistical trend being analyzed. In this item, though, we will not factor in credit or blame, because both parties have had presidents serve during the time we looked at, meaning that both parties would have benefited and suffered in roughly equal proportions. Its unclear how much this finding says about our political and economic systems Job creation for each president depended to a certain extent on timing, external factors and luck. And as Yale political scientist David Mayhew pointed out for our previous story, conclusions drawn from a relatively narrow data set -- in this case, just 12 postwar presidencies -- need to be taken with a grain of salt. Our ruling Clintons figures check out, and they also mirror the broader results we came up with two years ago. Partisans are free to interpret these findings as they wish, but on the numbers, Clintons right. We rate his claim True.
|
[
"National",
"Economy",
"History",
"Jobs"
] |
[] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/jan/25/carolyn-maloney/congresswoman-says-democratic-presidents-create-mo/"
],
"sentence": "In 2010, we checked a similar claim from Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., who said that Democratic presidents have been considerably more effective at creating private-sector jobs. After crunching the numbers back to President Harry Truman, we found that jobs did indeed grow faster under Democratic presidents when adjusted for a presidents years served in office. So we rated the claimTrue."
}
] |
true
| null |
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2014/apr/10/national-partnership-women-families/would-eliminating-pay-gap-oregon-let-women-buy-287/
|
Women in Oregon are paid 79 cents for every dollar paid to men. If the wage gap was eliminated, a working woman in Oregon would have enough money for 2,877 gallons of gas, 72 more weeks of food for her family or nearly 12 more months of rent.
|
Dana Tims
|
04/10/2014
|
[] |
The economic equity issues that proved pivotal in the 2012 presidential campaign are again shaping up as big factors this year. Both major parties are pushing to make sure their talking points prevail. Democrats cite statistics showing a yawning pay gap between men and women, with Republicans countering that young women are out earning men in some urban areas. The Claim The National Partnership For Women & Families, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, released a new analysis April 8, 2014, to coincide with Equal Pay Day. It cited U.S. Census data showing that women who work full time in Oregon are paid 79 cents for every dollar paid to men -- a claim PolitiFact Oregon has investigated previously and found solid. But it went further. If the wage gap were eliminated, it said, a working woman in Oregon would have enough money per year for 2,877 gallons of gas, 72 more weeks of food for her family or nearly 12 more months of rent. We wondered if the specific pieces of the claim were on the money. The Analysis The basis of the groups claim comes from the U.S. Census Bureaus Current Population Survey. It lists, state by state, median annual earnings for year-round, full-time workers and draws on statistics from 2012, the most recent year available. Men in Oregon earned $47,402, compared with $37,381 for women, according to the data. Thats 79 cents on the dollar and adds up to a gap of $10,021 a year. The gap persists for a variety of reasons, said Mary King, a Portland State University economics professor, including a gender division of labor under which womens jobs are paid less, lack of strong family-leave policies, and women disproportionately ending up in low-paying retail and service work. Satisfied that women do earn 79 cents for every dollar earned by men -- the gap would be 21 cents -- we emailed Sadie Kliner, the National Partnership for Women & Families communications director. She directed us to a separate fact sheet. Gasoline prices, according to the sheet, were provided by Oil Price Information Service in cooperation with Wex, Inc. A gallon of regular gas in Oregon currently costs $3.697, it read. We checked that against AAA Oregon/Idahos website, which shows regular gas in Oregon right now averaging $3.69 per gallon. Then we did the math, dividing the wage gap of $10,021 by $3.69. The group claimed a woman could buy 2,877 gallons, but we found closing the gap would enable a woman to buy only 2,715 gallons. We contacted Kliner again, who noted that Oregons gas prices were $3.48 when the fact sheet was prepared in early March. A check of AAAs gas-price information confirmed Kliners point. We moved on to the 12 months worth of rent piece of the claim. The group, citing data from the Censuss 2012 American Community Survey, put the median cost for rental housing in Oregon at $862 a month. It showed a margin of error of plus or minus 8 percent. Independently verifying that number wasnt easy, since no county or or state organization tracks it. We called Multifamily NW, whose members manage more than 150,000 rental units from southern Washington to Medford. Jonathan Clay, the associations research and communications analyst, pointed us to a semi-annual survey released in October. Two-bedroom, one-bath units averaged $818 per month across the metro area, according to the survey, putting it within range of the margin of error in the Census data. We calculated that $10,021 would pay for 11.5 months of rent, just over half a month shy of the groups original claim of 12 months. Again contacting Kliner about the discrepancy, she noted that the group rounded the figure up, using the word nearly to account for the difference. Finally, in assessing food costs, we noted that the original claim said 72 more weeks of food for her family. While the claim didnt specify the number of children, we settled on two. We then checked the U.S. Department of Agricultures website, which publishes monthly food plans representing a well-rounded diet at four different cost levels. Drawing from the low-cost plan, two children could be fed on $97.50 per week. Food costs for an adult female would bring the familys weekly total to $144.90. That compares with the $139.10 per week for the 72 weeks in the groups pay-gap claim. Our Ruling A national advocacy group, in spotlighting Equal Pay Day, claimed that a pay gap between men and women exists in Oregon. PolitiFact Oregon has looked at the gap before and found that its real, but we took the next step by fact-checking the groups claim that the gap is big enough to pay for 2,877 gallons of gasoline, 72 months of food or nearly 12 months of rent. All three elements of the claim checked out -- or were very close -- according to independent sources. We rate the claim True.
|
[
"Oregon",
"Economy",
"Families",
"Income"
] |
[] |
[] |
true
| null |
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2016/apr/27/john-oliver/mystery-strom-thurmond-puerto-rico-and-bankruptcy-/
|
We knew Strom Thurmond had proposed the amendment that blocked Puerto Ricos use of Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection.
|
Jon Greenberg
|
04/27/2016
|
[] |
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.
|
[
"Bankruptcy",
"Corrections and Updates",
"PunditFact"
] |
[] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://youtu.be/Tt-mpuR_QHQ"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/98/hr5174/text"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://genius.com/9048498"
],
"sentence": "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:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://media.ca1.uscourts.gov/pdf.opinions/15-1218P-01A.pdf"
],
"sentence": "Ina 2015 ruling, the judges of the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals provided some very helpful background."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://archive.org/stream/congressionalrec130eunit#page/n816/mode/1up"
],
"sentence": "In fact, we went through theCongressional Recordfor that day (thank you, Internet Archive). Thurmond said less than little. He said nothing."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwiJbAWhwPe_end3dmN2bjVMUTdaVEF1Y3lQRjJnYnRlNDR3/view?usp=sharing"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/260b6aad-f921-45fc-9937-1d82d35f7874"
],
"sentence": "https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/260b6aad-f921-45fc-9937-1d82d35f7874"
}
] |
true
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/geocities-confidential/
|
GeoCities Closing
|
David Mikkelson
|
05/06/2001
|
[
"Will Yahoo be shutting down all Geocities web site ?"
] |
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).
|
[
"stock market"
] |
[] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://geocities.yahoo.com/",
"https://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/geocities/geocities-05.html"
],
"sentence": "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:"
}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-tower-billboard-in-mumbai/
|
Is This a Trump Tower Billboard in Mumbai?
|
Dan Evon
|
12/30/2016
|
[
"A photograph purportedly shows a billboard for Trump Tower in Mumbai with homeless people sleeping in the street beneath it."
] |
An image purportedly showing a billboard advertisement for Trump Tower Mumbai which shows a photograph of the American businessman and President-elect alongside the slogan "There is only one way to live" with a group of apparently homeless people sitting and sleeping in the street beneath it was circulated on social media in December 2016: Embed from Getty Images A billboard for the upcoming luxury residential apartment complex Trump Tower Mumbai, which bears the name of billionaire real estate tycoon and US presidential hopeful Donald Trump, is seen next to a busy road in Mumbai on June 3, 2016. Trump, the Republican frontrunner in the US presidential elections, to his fans, is the definition of American success, the cut-throat tycoon who can magically fix all that ails a nation no longer sure of its place in the world, and home to an increasingly frustrated white working and middle class. But there is barely a corner of Manhattan that the Trump Organization hasn't conquered with luxury buildings. Its portfolio of hotels, golf courses, casinos and luxury estates straddles the world, from California to Mumbai. A photograph published by India news outlet Mid-Day in May 2016 also shows that a similar billboard in the same area displayed the slogan "Trump is back" rather than "There is only one way to live": Mid-Day We uncovered an image that was posted on 21 December 2016 by Muhammad Sabir, the founder of Slumabad (an organization that works to give homeless children access to education and economic opportunities) along with a message about income inequality: posted Muhammad Sabir Slumabad This photo tells a story of poverty, inequality and deprivation of basic human dignity and rights. It puts all human development in question and asks basic simple questions from us: Can we call ourselves civilized, while we see our fellow human beings living on footpath like animals? Is there only one way to live left for millions of deprived souls? Let us hope sun also rises for marginalized souls, I mean sun of equality, development and justice. While many people who viewed the image were initially skeptical about its authenticity (including us), the image is real. It was originally posted to Facebook on 27 August 2014 by Paul Needham, who took the photograph: Needham also sent us a high-resolution, uncropped version of the photograph to prove its authenticity: He also sent us different photographs of the same scene: Note: The original version of this article said that the image was not real, based on our initial inability to track down its photographer or source. We have now heard from him and updated our article accordingly. Singh, Varun. "Donald Trump Is Mumbai builder's Latest Poster Boy."
Mid-Day. 31 May 2016.
|
[
"income"
] |
[
{
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"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1_WOO8PlfNUFqrMQlNpVY45Gi5e7r494r"
},
{
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"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1f9mrSSxFmMI2SM08plpUtjD4RxgJuFT8"
},
{
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"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1Wmy_7EfWWdNHw214WjUBE5UiFXajX5Vt"
},
{
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"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1qmNF5gEVaHRLinydLZVkxywurg--Cdh5"
},
{
"image_caption": null,
"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1eBhOazlk3JySzNF7YgdmE6tA1h5KFavl"
}
] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.mid-day.com/articles/donald-trump-is-mumbai-builders-latest-poster-boy/17288174"
],
"sentence": "A photograph published by India news outlet Mid-Day in May 2016 also shows that a similar billboard in the same area displayed the slogan \"Trump is back\" rather than \"There is only one way to live\":"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.snopes.com/uploads/2016/12/mumbai-billboard.jpg",
"https://www.snopes.com/uploads/2016/12/mumbai-billboard.jpg"
],
"sentence": ""
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10211452098437697&set=a.1225410274957.34591.1220027055&type=3&theater",
"https://www.facebook.com/sabirarif.cima",
"https://slumabad.org/"
],
"sentence": "We uncovered an image that was posted on 21 December 2016 by Muhammad Sabir, the founder of Slumabad (an organization that works to give homeless children access to education and economic opportunities) along with a message about income inequality:"
}
] |
true
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hillary-clintons-premature-celebration/
|
Hillary Clinton's Premature Victory Celebration
|
Dan Evon
|
12/19/2016
|
[
"A video purportedly showing Hillary, Bill, and Chelsea Clinton prematurely celebrating an election victory was likely taken after the first presidential debate."
] |
A video purportedly showing Chelsea, Bill, and Hillary Clinton prematurely celebrating a presidential election victory was widely shared on the internet in the wake of the Democratic nominee's loss on 8 November 2016: While this video was distributed by several web sites along with the assertion that it showed the Clintons prematurely celebrating a victory on election night that proved to be unrealized, little evidence was provided to back up this claim. The video contains no audio, is only a few seconds long, and as of this writing the sourceis still unknown. The earliest version we could uncover was published by LiveLeak on 16 November 2016, but that video was also lacking context. The Gateway Pundit attempted to prove to their readers (or possibly to mislead them into believing) that the video was takenon election night by providing a photograph ofBill, Chelsea, and Hillary Clinton in similar clothing at an 8 November 2016 campaign event: Although that photograph was taken on Election Day 2016, there were some obvious differences between the clothes the Clintons were wearing in that image and the ones they are seen wearing in the video. Mainly, Chelsea Clinton was garbed a sort of aqua sleeveless dress in the still photograph, but she sports a dark blue long-sleeved dress in the video: photograph Perhaps more telling is the change in Bill Clinton's attire. Photographs from Election Day 2016 show that Bill Clinton was wearing a light blue shirt with a dark blue and white tie, but in the video he is seen clothed in a white shirt with a salmon-colored tie: In addition to the optical discrepancies, the narrative behind the claim doesn't quite add up. Clinton was likely confident heading into the election since most polls showed her with a large advantage, so it's hard to fathom a moment which would have elicited such an act of jubilation in the course of an election night in which she lost. So when was this video taken? Bill, Hillaryand Chelsea Clinton were wearing outfits that match those shown in the video at the first presidential debate of 2016 at Hofsfra University: Embed from Getty Images It's plausible that the Clintons would have engaged a short but jubilant celebration after this event, as many observed felt that Clinton had won the debate. won The "premature celebration" video is frequently shared in close proximity to a similar claim holding that Clinton threw a tantrum following her election night loss. This rumor, too, is largelyunfounded. unfounded The Economist. "A Win for Hillary Clinton: The First Presidential Debate."
27 September 2016.
|
[
"loss"
] |
[
{
"image_caption": null,
"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1J9PVNNtblbYeK0-312hURS2Yroa5VAbM"
},
{
"image_caption": null,
"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1NvaFIxpFOJXOz6Xyc4e3Lw1Vgn-I1nDI"
},
{
"image_caption": null,
"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1rvD5C7Kie_bl74KqqS1iyaKCMquAB82x"
}
] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.snopes.com/uploads/2016/12/clinton-election.jpg",
"https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3915596/The-results-come-Dixville-Notch-New-Hampshire-population-nine-people-two-women-vote-Hillary-Clinton-write-MITT-ROMNEY.html"
],
"sentence": "Although that photograph was taken on Election Day 2016, there were some obvious differences between the clothes the Clintons were wearing in that image and the ones they are seen wearing in the video. Mainly, Chelsea Clinton was garbed a sort of aqua sleeveless dress in the still photograph, but she sports a dark blue long-sleeved dress in the video:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2016/09/win-hillary-clinton"
],
"sentence": "It's plausible that the Clintons would have engaged a short but jubilant celebration after this event, as many observed felt that Clinton had won the debate."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.snopes.com/hillary-clinton-had-drunken-meltdown-after-losing-the-election/"
],
"sentence": "The \"premature celebration\" video is frequently shared in close proximity to a similar claim holding that Clinton threw a tantrum following her election night loss. This rumor, too, is largelyunfounded."
}
] |
neutral
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/pelosi-seniors-social-security/
|
Did Pelosi Tell Seniors, 'You Are Not Entitled to Social Security! It's Gone!'?
|
Bethania Palma
|
05/13/2020
|
[
"The U.S. House Speaker is the frequent target of inflammatory fake quotes."
] |
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."
14 August 2019.
|
[
"income"
] |
[
{
"image_caption": null,
"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1MZUaot9ts-L330EXgOXHo7bsWUlx9kY7"
}
] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://archive.is/4aAwg"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.snopes.com/uploads/2020/05/biz.jpg",
"https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/pelosi-ss-leeches/"
],
"sentence": "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."
}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/darkprofits-2/
|
DarkProfits
|
David Mikkelson
|
10/24/2003
|
[
""
] |
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
|
[
"credit"
] |
[
{
"image_caption": null,
"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1SsbcixRjUAoAhK12z8aRhmCiwqLHsEhU"
}
] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"joejobs.asp#joejob",
"/inboxer/hoaxes/joejobs/darkprofits01.asp",
"/inboxer/hoaxes/joejobs/darkprofits03.asp"
],
"sentence": "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"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"joejobs.asp#joejob",
"/inboxer/hoaxes/joejobs/darkprofits01.asp",
"/inboxer/hoaxes/joejobs/darkprofits03.asp"
],
"sentence": " .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"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"joejobs.asp#joejob"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"/inboxer/hoaxes/joejobs/darkprofits01.asp",
"/inboxer/hoaxes/joejobs/darkprofits03.asp"
],
"sentence": "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."
}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/drug-test-benefits-trump-tweet/
|
Did Trump Tweet That Drug Testing Will Be Mandatory for Public Benefit Recipients?
|
Kim LaCapria
|
01/24/2017
|
[
"A fake tweet attributed to President Trump suggested mandatory drug testing would be imposed on recipients of public assistance."
] |
In January 2017, a screenshot of a tweet purportedly sent by President Donald Trump (pledging "mandatory drug testing" for recipients of public assistance) circulated on social media. The text of the suspiciously undated tweet read "Drug test will be mandatory before receiving anything the government has to offer! We have to clean up these streets!": Twitter's advanced search tool returns no results for such a tweet, and the deleted tweet archive Politwoops also has no record of President Trump's issuing such a statement via Twitter. results Politwoops Although President Donald Trump has tweeted about drug tests and drug testing in the past, none of those tweets mentioned a connection to qualifying for public assistance: drug tests drug testing The San Fran crash was totally the pilot's fault - may be too late for drug testing, RIDICULOUS! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2013 July 9, 2013 Given the lack of standard Twitter formatting, and the lack of any attendant news coverage about it (despite all the attention paid to Trump's Twitter feed by the news media), it's safe to say this tweet was fabricated and does not represent any statements made by President Trump via Twitter in January 2017.
|
[
"returns"
] |
[
{
"image_caption": null,
"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1wL5DeczWtCX5L6MHrSS8R9M0N9i8IlpX"
}
] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&q=mandatory%20drug%20from%3Arealdonaldtrump&src=typd",
"https://projects.propublica.org/politwoops/user/realDonaldTrump?page=1&per_page=1000"
],
"sentence": "Twitter's advanced search tool returns no results for such a tweet, and the deleted tweet archive Politwoops also has no record of President Trump's issuing such a statement via Twitter."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://twitter.com/search?q=drug%20test%20from%3Arealdonaldtrump&src=typd",
"https://twitter.com/search?q=drug%20testing%20from%3Arealdonaldtrump&src=typd"
],
"sentence": "Although President Donald Trump has tweeted about drug tests and drug testing in the past, none of those tweets mentioned a connection to qualifying for public assistance:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/354740632180359169"
],
"sentence": " Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2013"
}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/board-stiff/
|
Cheating Husband Billboard
|
David Mikkelson
|
08/29/2006
|
[
"Did a woman take revenge on her cheating husband by advertising his infidelities on a billboard?"
] |
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."
New York Post. 22 January 2010. Bosman, Julie. "Public Hath No Fury, Even When Deceived."
The New York Times. 24 July 2006 (p. C6). Gardner, David. "Revenge by Billboard."
Daily Mail. 23 Janaury 2010. Tucker, Chad. "Wifes Billboard Revenge a Clever Marketing Ploy by Restaurant Company."
WGHP-TV [Greensboro]. 20 March 2013. [Greensboro] News & Record. "Greensboro Billboard Draws Attention."
22 March 2013.
|
[
"investment"
] |
[
{
"image_caption": null,
"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1N40AdqK-SZPbGAD0z9H-BGJl-t49TnNH"
},
{
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"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1qNRu0wjl635HjBfEfN1B6vwG-kyBnNd0"
},
{
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"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1nz02jfZgfz-LYAnP8kK5xpWl4r-GluPf"
},
{
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"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1poiMeCPhgnE91bfmuHtOCPXO5EndGDVJ"
}
] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://web.archive.org/web/20060827073359/https://www.thatgirlemily.blogspot.com/"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://web.archive.org/web/20060823073153/https://www.courttv.com/onair/shows/parco/"
],
"sentence": "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:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2281503/"
],
"sentence": "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.)"
}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/debate-secret-hand-signals/
|
Hillary Clinton Used Hand Signals to Rig Debate?
|
Dan Evon
|
09/28/2016
|
[
"Conspiracy theory holds that Hillary Clinton and moderator Lester Holt rigged the first presidential debate by communicating via hand signals."
] |
Just when we thought we'd had our fill of debate-related conspiracies, a new one came along, this one in the form of a video purportedly documenting that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and moderator Lester Holt had colluded to rig the first presidential debate through a system of secret hand signals: Scratching ones face is one of the oldest signals in the book. You can be sure if this was a blackjack table and the house noticed a player making similar signals to a dealer theyd be investigated. When the alt-right web site True Pundit shared the video, they did so along with the additional claim that Clinton had never made similar gestures in previous debates, campaign appearances, or speeches: Before critics view this video and scream Conspiracy, True Pundit cross referenced Clintons speeches, campaign appearances and her 2008 debate performances against President Obama. According to that analysis, Clinton never previously used these hand motions to supposedly scratch her face. In fact, she rarely touches her face at all. (So, you haters can save the trouble of instructing people to remove their tin-foil hats.) The above-displayed video does not provide any evidence that Hillary Clinton and Lester Holt communicated via hand signals so that Clinton could indicate to Holt when she wanted him to call on her so she could get in a "zinger." The creator of the video simply strung together several unrelated events Clinton scratching her face, Holt making a comment, Clinton replying to Trump and then claimed that they were somehow connected to a furtive signaling plot without providing any proof. But before we dig deeper into the video, let's look at the accompanying claims about it from True Pundit and Infowars. Hillary Clinton has been in the public eye for decades. She was the First Lady of Arkansas in 1983, the First Lady of the United States in 1993, a U.S. Senator in 2001, a presidential candidate in 2008, Secretary of State in 2009, and and a presidential candidate again in 2016. It is simply ridiculous to claim that Clinton never once touched her face during a speech, campaign rally, or debate: Clinton touched her face during speech It should be noted that Hillary Clinton was not the only one making these gestures during the first presidential debate: It should also be noted that (as shown in the image at the head of this page) the two candidates were physically separated on the stage, and therefore in order to catch the supposed "signals" from Hillary Clinton, moderator Lester Holt who didn't have the advantage of the split-screen shot presented to television viewers would had to have been rather obviously watching her even when she was not speaking. If Donald Trump truly "dominated the early part of the debate" but then lost his advantage, the more logical explanation is that his opponent's strategy to throw him off his game simply worked as expected: strategy The quiet Mr. Trump took the first shift, presenting a general-election version of his forceful campaign persona minus the bluster, insults and defenses of his anatomy. He pushed his case firmly, hitting his campaigns focal points on the economy and trade. defenses of his anatomy But it didnt take long for Mrs. Clinton to find the other Mr. Trump under that thin second skin. Her needling began immediately. She referred to her opponent as Donald, where he pointedly called her Secretary Clinton. (Yes, is that O.K.? he asked at his first reference to her.) She referred to his starting a business with a $14 million loan from his father, which Mr. Trump preferred to call a very small loan. The digs targeted Mr. Trumps status and founding mythos, triggering his image-protection reflex. He became combative and rattled, letting his opponent lead him down rhetorical detours (at one point he revived an old feud with Rosie ODonnell) knowing that he would follow his ingrained ABCs: always be counterpunching. It was Tony Soprano vs. Dr. Melfi, TVs biggest antihero blustering against the woman who had gotten inside his head. This conspiracy theory also doesn't account for the much more obvious approach that if Hillary Clinton really wanted to say something during the course of the debate when it wasn't her turn to speak, she could simply have interrupted her opponent rather than invoking secret hand signals and waiting to be called upon by the moderator as she did in fact do multiple times ... while Donald Trump also did so, but three times as often. three times
|
[
"economy"
] |
[
{
"image_caption": null,
"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1Y6HP1qDkkPZ6jnG1jC3PgD9gzmIe69m6"
},
{
"image_caption": null,
"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1JFPv2HcggeV2_hoJZAzLrwWnCaeqLV3I"
}
] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/barack-obama-u-s-senator-from-illinois-and-2008-democratic-news-photo/94901247#barack-obama-us-senator-from-illinois-and-2008-democratic-candidate-picture-id94901247",
"https://www.gettyimages.com/event/candidates-vie-for-votes-at-last-presidential-debate-83218315#democratic-presidential-nominee-us-sen-barack-obama-speaks-as-us-picture-id83288344",
"https://www.gettyimages.com/event/democratic-presidential-candidates-debate-in-los-angeles-78261463#democratic-presidential-hopefuls-us-sen-barack-obama-and-us-sen-at-picture-id79459508",
"https://www.gettyimages.com/event/dubai-backs-out-of-deal-to-control-u-s-ports-57032306#containers-are-loaded-onto-a-ship-at-the-tioga-marine-terminal-march-picture-id57041099",
"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Msc_2005-Sunday-Hillary.jpg",
"https://heavy.com/comedy/2012/09/bill-clintons-dnc-address-top-10-deleted-passages/"
],
"sentence": "Hillary Clinton has been in the public eye for decades. She was the First Lady of Arkansas in 1983, the First Lady of the United States in 1993, a U.S. Senator in 2001, a presidential candidate in 2008, Secretary of State in 2009, and and a presidential candidate again in 2016. It is simply ridiculous to claim that Clinton never once touched her face during a speech, campaign rally, or debate: "
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/28/arts/television/presidential-debate-donald-trump-hillary-clinton.html"
],
"sentence": "If Donald Trump truly \"dominated the early part of the debate\" but then lost his advantage, the more logical explanation is that his opponent's strategy to throw him off his game simply worked as expected:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/05/arts/television/a-national-descent-into-trumps-pants.html"
],
"sentence": "The quiet Mr. Trump took the first shift, presenting a general-election version of his forceful campaign persona minus the bluster, insults and defenses of his anatomy. He pushed his case firmly, hitting his campaigns focal points on the economy and trade."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/for-many-women-watching-trump-interrupt-clinton-51-times-was-unnerving-but-familiar/"
],
"sentence": "This conspiracy theory also doesn't account for the much more obvious approach that if Hillary Clinton really wanted to say something during the course of the debate when it wasn't her turn to speak, she could simply have interrupted her opponent rather than invoking secret hand signals and waiting to be called upon by the moderator as she did in fact do multiple times ... while Donald Trump also did so, but three times as often."
}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/debate-secret-hand-signals/
|
Did Hillary Clinton Use Hand Signals to Manipulate the Debate?
|
Dan Evon
|
09/28/2016
|
[
"Conspiracy theory holds that Hillary Clinton and moderator Lester Holt rigged the first presidential debate by communicating via hand signals."
] |
Just when we thought we'd had our fill of debate-related conspiracies, a new one came along, this one in the form of a video purportedly documenting that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and moderator Lester Holt had colluded to rig the first presidential debate through a system of secret hand signals: Scratching ones face is one of the oldest signals in the book. You can be sure if this was a blackjack table and the house noticed a player making similar signals to a dealer theyd be investigated. When the alt-right web site True Pundit shared the video, they did so along with the additional claim that Clinton had never made similar gestures in previous debates, campaign appearances, or speeches: Before critics view this video and scream Conspiracy, True Pundit cross referenced Clintons speeches, campaign appearances and her 2008 debate performances against President Obama. According to that analysis, Clinton never previously used these hand motions to supposedly scratch her face. In fact, she rarely touches her face at all. (So, you haters can save the trouble of instructing people to remove their tin-foil hats.) The above-displayed video does not provide any evidence that Hillary Clinton and Lester Holt communicated via hand signals so that Clinton could indicate to Holt when she wanted him to call on her so she could get in a "zinger." The creator of the video simply strung together several unrelated events Clinton scratching her face, Holt making a comment, Clinton replying to Trump and then claimed that they were somehow connected to a furtive signaling plot without providing any proof. But before we dig deeper into the video, let's look at the accompanying claims about it from True Pundit and Infowars. Hillary Clinton has been in the public eye for decades. She was the First Lady of Arkansas in 1983, the First Lady of the United States in 1993, a U.S. Senator in 2001, a presidential candidate in 2008, Secretary of State in 2009, and and a presidential candidate again in 2016. It is simply ridiculous to claim that Clinton never once touched her face during a speech, campaign rally, or debate: Clinton touched her face during speech It should be noted that Hillary Clinton was not the only one making these gestures during the first presidential debate: It should also be noted that (as shown in the image at the head of this page) the two candidates were physically separated on the stage, and therefore in order to catch the supposed "signals" from Hillary Clinton, moderator Lester Holt who didn't have the advantage of the split-screen shot presented to television viewers would had to have been rather obviously watching her even when she was not speaking. If Donald Trump truly "dominated the early part of the debate" but then lost his advantage, the more logical explanation is that his opponent's strategy to throw him off his game simply worked as expected: strategy The quiet Mr. Trump took the first shift, presenting a general-election version of his forceful campaign persona minus the bluster, insults and defenses of his anatomy. He pushed his case firmly, hitting his campaigns focal points on the economy and trade. defenses of his anatomy But it didnt take long for Mrs. Clinton to find the other Mr. Trump under that thin second skin. Her needling began immediately. She referred to her opponent as Donald, where he pointedly called her Secretary Clinton. (Yes, is that O.K.? he asked at his first reference to her.) She referred to his starting a business with a $14 million loan from his father, which Mr. Trump preferred to call a very small loan. The digs targeted Mr. Trumps status and founding mythos, triggering his image-protection reflex. He became combative and rattled, letting his opponent lead him down rhetorical detours (at one point he revived an old feud with Rosie ODonnell) knowing that he would follow his ingrained ABCs: always be counterpunching. It was Tony Soprano vs. Dr. Melfi, TVs biggest antihero blustering against the woman who had gotten inside his head. This conspiracy theory also doesn't account for the much more obvious approach that if Hillary Clinton really wanted to say something during the course of the debate when it wasn't her turn to speak, she could simply have interrupted her opponent rather than invoking secret hand signals and waiting to be called upon by the moderator as she did in fact do multiple times ... while Donald Trump also did so, but three times as often. three times
|
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"sentence": "Hillary Clinton has been in the public eye for decades. She was the First Lady of Arkansas in 1983, the First Lady of the United States in 1993, a U.S. Senator in 2001, a presidential candidate in 2008, Secretary of State in 2009, and and a presidential candidate again in 2016. It is simply ridiculous to claim that Clinton never once touched her face during a speech, campaign rally, or debate: "
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/28/arts/television/presidential-debate-donald-trump-hillary-clinton.html"
],
"sentence": "If Donald Trump truly \"dominated the early part of the debate\" but then lost his advantage, the more logical explanation is that his opponent's strategy to throw him off his game simply worked as expected:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/05/arts/television/a-national-descent-into-trumps-pants.html"
],
"sentence": "The quiet Mr. Trump took the first shift, presenting a general-election version of his forceful campaign persona minus the bluster, insults and defenses of his anatomy. He pushed his case firmly, hitting his campaigns focal points on the economy and trade."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/for-many-women-watching-trump-interrupt-clinton-51-times-was-unnerving-but-familiar/"
],
"sentence": "This conspiracy theory also doesn't account for the much more obvious approach that if Hillary Clinton really wanted to say something during the course of the debate when it wasn't her turn to speak, she could simply have interrupted her opponent rather than invoking secret hand signals and waiting to be called upon by the moderator as she did in fact do multiple times ... while Donald Trump also did so, but three times as often."
}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/debate-secret-hand-signals/
|
Did Hillary Clinton Utilize Hand Gestures to Manipulate the Debate?
|
Dan Evon
|
09/28/2016
|
[
"Conspiracy theory holds that Hillary Clinton and moderator Lester Holt rigged the first presidential debate by communicating via hand signals."
] |
Just when we thought we'd had our fill of debate-related conspiracies, a new one came along, this one in the form of a video purportedly documenting that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and moderator Lester Holt had colluded to rig the first presidential debate through a system of secret hand signals: Scratching ones face is one of the oldest signals in the book. You can be sure if this was a blackjack table and the house noticed a player making similar signals to a dealer theyd be investigated. When the alt-right web site True Pundit shared the video, they did so along with the additional claim that Clinton had never made similar gestures in previous debates, campaign appearances, or speeches: Before critics view this video and scream Conspiracy, True Pundit cross referenced Clintons speeches, campaign appearances and her 2008 debate performances against President Obama. According to that analysis, Clinton never previously used these hand motions to supposedly scratch her face. In fact, she rarely touches her face at all. (So, you haters can save the trouble of instructing people to remove their tin-foil hats.) The above-displayed video does not provide any evidence that Hillary Clinton and Lester Holt communicated via hand signals so that Clinton could indicate to Holt when she wanted him to call on her so she could get in a "zinger." The creator of the video simply strung together several unrelated events Clinton scratching her face, Holt making a comment, Clinton replying to Trump and then claimed that they were somehow connected to a furtive signaling plot without providing any proof. But before we dig deeper into the video, let's look at the accompanying claims about it from True Pundit and Infowars. Hillary Clinton has been in the public eye for decades. She was the First Lady of Arkansas in 1983, the First Lady of the United States in 1993, a U.S. Senator in 2001, a presidential candidate in 2008, Secretary of State in 2009, and and a presidential candidate again in 2016. It is simply ridiculous to claim that Clinton never once touched her face during a speech, campaign rally, or debate: Clinton touched her face during speech It should be noted that Hillary Clinton was not the only one making these gestures during the first presidential debate: It should also be noted that (as shown in the image at the head of this page) the two candidates were physically separated on the stage, and therefore in order to catch the supposed "signals" from Hillary Clinton, moderator Lester Holt who didn't have the advantage of the split-screen shot presented to television viewers would had to have been rather obviously watching her even when she was not speaking. If Donald Trump truly "dominated the early part of the debate" but then lost his advantage, the more logical explanation is that his opponent's strategy to throw him off his game simply worked as expected: strategy The quiet Mr. Trump took the first shift, presenting a general-election version of his forceful campaign persona minus the bluster, insults and defenses of his anatomy. He pushed his case firmly, hitting his campaigns focal points on the economy and trade. defenses of his anatomy But it didnt take long for Mrs. Clinton to find the other Mr. Trump under that thin second skin. Her needling began immediately. She referred to her opponent as Donald, where he pointedly called her Secretary Clinton. (Yes, is that O.K.? he asked at his first reference to her.) She referred to his starting a business with a $14 million loan from his father, which Mr. Trump preferred to call a very small loan. The digs targeted Mr. Trumps status and founding mythos, triggering his image-protection reflex. He became combative and rattled, letting his opponent lead him down rhetorical detours (at one point he revived an old feud with Rosie ODonnell) knowing that he would follow his ingrained ABCs: always be counterpunching. It was Tony Soprano vs. Dr. Melfi, TVs biggest antihero blustering against the woman who had gotten inside his head. This conspiracy theory also doesn't account for the much more obvious approach that if Hillary Clinton really wanted to say something during the course of the debate when it wasn't her turn to speak, she could simply have interrupted her opponent rather than invoking secret hand signals and waiting to be called upon by the moderator as she did in fact do multiple times ... while Donald Trump also did so, but three times as often. three times
|
[
"economy"
] |
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"sentence": "Hillary Clinton has been in the public eye for decades. She was the First Lady of Arkansas in 1983, the First Lady of the United States in 1993, a U.S. Senator in 2001, a presidential candidate in 2008, Secretary of State in 2009, and and a presidential candidate again in 2016. It is simply ridiculous to claim that Clinton never once touched her face during a speech, campaign rally, or debate: "
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/28/arts/television/presidential-debate-donald-trump-hillary-clinton.html"
],
"sentence": "If Donald Trump truly \"dominated the early part of the debate\" but then lost his advantage, the more logical explanation is that his opponent's strategy to throw him off his game simply worked as expected:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/05/arts/television/a-national-descent-into-trumps-pants.html"
],
"sentence": "The quiet Mr. Trump took the first shift, presenting a general-election version of his forceful campaign persona minus the bluster, insults and defenses of his anatomy. He pushed his case firmly, hitting his campaigns focal points on the economy and trade."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/for-many-women-watching-trump-interrupt-clinton-51-times-was-unnerving-but-familiar/"
],
"sentence": "This conspiracy theory also doesn't account for the much more obvious approach that if Hillary Clinton really wanted to say something during the course of the debate when it wasn't her turn to speak, she could simply have interrupted her opponent rather than invoking secret hand signals and waiting to be called upon by the moderator as she did in fact do multiple times ... while Donald Trump also did so, but three times as often."
}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2011/feb/02/mike-villarreal/mike-villarreal-says-texas-population-grew-three-t/
|
Says that over the last decade, the state's population grew three times faster than the Texas state tax system.
|
W. Gardner Selby
|
02/02/2011
|
[] |
State Rep. Mike Villarreal maintains the state tax system, untended by ruling Republicans, needs a full review. In a Jan. 7 op-ed column in theSan Antonio Express-News, the San Antonio Democrat wrote that Republicans have ignored the fact that over the last decade our population has been growing three times faster than our state tax system.Were not gauging what Republicans notice, but wondered if Villarreal correctly compared population growth and state taxes.In an interview, Villarreal told us he drew his population counts from the state demographer, Lloyd Potter, and fiscal information from annual cash reports by the state comptrollers office, adjusting figures for inflation to reflect 2009 dollars. Villarreal said he considered all state taxes including sales and franchise taxes and taxes on motor fuels, vehicle sales, tobacco and alcohol products, insurance and oil and natural gas production.He said he prepared a spreadsheet in consultation with experts including Dale Craymer, president of the business-oriented Texas Taxpayers and Research Association, and Eva De Luna Castro, senior budget analyst for the liberal Center for Public Policy Priorities, which has made a case for Texas to create a state personal income tax.According to Villarreal, the states population increased 19 percent from 1999 to 2009, from 20.9 million to 24.8 million. In 2000, according to Villarreal, inflation-adjusted state taxes generated $35.8 billion. In 2009, the comparable total was $37.8 billion, up 6 percent.So, Villarreal said, population increased three times faster than annual state tax revenue.What we noticed: Villarreals spreadsheet also showed that money from non-tax revenue such as state fees went up 13 percent, trailing population growth, while federal aid surged 47 percent, more than double the rate of population growth. State income from all sources, including federal aid, increased 26 percent.Next, Villarreal shared a revised spreadsheet indicating that revenue from all sources increased 19 percent--not 26 percent. In an e-mail, Villarreal said he fixed an error that had me over-counting non-tax revenue and as a result over-counting total revenue from all sources. He said hed inadvertently double-counted the federal aid, but stressed the error did not bear on his comparison of state taxes to population growth.Even in the revised version, we noted, all revenue to state government increased at about the same pace as population growth. Villarreal agreed, but said that the bulk of money from all sources--which broke down in 2009 to 45 percent from state taxes, 18.5 percent from state non-tax revenue and 37 percent from federal funds--consists of dollars dedicated to specific purposes. His point: Lawmakers cant easily tap such sources, which include public college tuition, to support general needs such as public education and health care.We sought outside perspective.Craymer of TTARA, which represents businesses and trade associations, said Villarreals work leads to a flawed conclusion--that the states main revenue source, the sales tax, is undependable.If there is a systemic problem with the tax system, Craymer said, its probably that it reflects the economy, which was rocked by two recessions in the decade. So its not surprising to me that sales taxes would not have kept pace with population.Craymer said too that any analysis varies due to the time period it covers. For instance, he said, sales tax revenues steadily rose from 2005 through 2007.Lobbyist James LeBas, formerly the states chief revenue estimator, offered a per-person breakdown of Texas taxes over the decade, adjusted for inflation, which also took into account property taxes levied by local governmental units. LeBas, who said his figures came from the comptrollers office, said in an e-mail that from 2000 to 2010, taxes per person grew slightly faster than inflation--by 37 percent compared to the 27 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index. In 2000, he said, Texas taxes per person, adjusted for inflation, amounted to $2,180; the 2010 figure was $2,195.LeBas, summing up, said the tax system has produced a stable, if unremarkable, amount of revenue per capita, even adjusted for inflation.We asked De Luna of the CPPP for her perspective on per-capita state plus local taxes. She suggested that combining state taxes and locally levied property taxes obscures the fact state taxes have dropped. Drawing on figures published by the comptroller in January 2011, she said 3.6 percent of personal income in Texas went to state taxes in 2010--down from the 4.4-percent level of 2001.Next, we asked LeBas to focus on state taxes alone. He reported that inflation-adjusted per-capita state taxes were $1,210 in 2000 but $1,145 in 2009. The 5-percent decrease reflected slower growth in state taxes than population.DeLuna floated another way to pit changes in taxes and population. She said average annual rates of change can be more meaningful than comparing a recent year to an earlier year. The year-by-year average helps put numbers in a better context for the average person, she said. From 1999 to 2009, she said, the states average annual population growth, 2 percent, compared to inflation-adjusted growth in state revenue of .8 percent and inflation-adjusted growth in all funds of 1.7 percent.Finally, we asked DeLuna the question wed asked Villarreal: If revenue to the state from all sources pretty much kept pace with population growth, should there be a beef? DeLuna replied that revenue from all sources soared mainly because of federal aid, which the comptroller expects to drop in 2012-13. Also, she said, lawmakers perpetually added to the states funding burdens in 2006 by cutting local school property tax rates and committing the state to cover the difference going forward.Phew. What a seminar.Our take: Villarreals analysis disregards that state revenue from all sources, in part due to increased federal aid, about matched population growth from 2000 through 2009. He also disregards property taxes, which are affected by legislative decisions.That said, his statement accurately compares population to state taxes, which are, as he said, the taxes lawmakers directly set.We rate the statement Mostly True.
|
[
"State Budget",
"Taxes",
"Texas"
] |
[] |
[] |
true
| null |
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2014/feb/14/republican-party-wisconsin/1988-wisconsin-unemployment-rate-greater-us-rate-o/
|
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.
|
Tom Kertscher
|
02/14/2014
|
[] |
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.
|
[
"Candidate Biography",
"Economy",
"Jobs",
"Labor",
"State Budget",
"Wisconsin"
] |
[] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/245319761.html"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.wisgop.org/2014/02/can-run-governor-without-jobs-plan-mary-burke-trying/#sthash.4URvSes5.dpuf"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2013/sep/18/scott-walker/gov-scott-walker-says-policies-democrat-jim-doyle-/"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LASST550000000000003"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2013/oct/09/mary-burke/mary-burke-says-wisconsin-had-84000-more-jobs-when/"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.jsonline.com/news/politifact-testing-state-gop-claim-on-mary-burke-unemployment-rate-b99205856z1-245583321.html"
],
"sentence": "To comment on this item, go to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinelsweb page."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://twitter.com/PolitiFactWisc"
],
"sentence": "Follow us onTwitterandFacebook."
}
] |
true
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/soberc/
|
Sober.C Virus
|
David Mikkelson
|
01/07/2004
|
[
"Is the FBI sending out illegal download warnings?"
] |
Claim: The FBI's "Department for Illegal Internet Downloads" is sending out automated warning messages via e-mail. . Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2003] Subject: You use illegal File Sharing... Ladies and Gentlemen, Downloading of Movies, MP3s and Software is illegal and punishable bylaw. We hereby inform you that your computer was scanned under the IP 94.195.57.211. The contents of your computer were confiscated as an evidence, and you will be indicated. In the next days you will receive the charge in writing. In the Reference code: #34510, are all files, that we found on your computer. The sender address of this mail was masked, to protect us against mail bombs. - You get more detailed information by the Federal Bureau of Investigation -FBI-- Department for "Illegal Internet Downloads", Room 7350- 935 Pennsylvania Avenue- Washington, DC 20535, USA- (202) 324-3000 Origins: The address and phone number given at the foot of the message quoted above are real (they belong to the FBI's Washington, D.C., headquarters), but that's the only thing genuine about this e-mail. headquarters The FBI may have an interest in tracking illegal downloads of copyright-protected material on the Internet, but they don't have a "Department for Illegal Internet Downloads," and they aren't sending out automated messages like the one quoted above to serve notice that "your computer was scanned" and the "contents of your computer were confiscated." If nothing else, the poor grammar and spelling "an evidence" rather than "evidence"; "indicated" rather than "indicted" should be an obvious giveaway that the message is a phony, and likely crafted by a non-native speaker of English. (The latter point is probably confirmed by the fact that similar messages stemming from the same source are sent out with subject lines in German.) The FBI has issued the following denial: denial Attention FBI e-mail hoax alert! Have you recently received an e-mail, purportedly from the FBI, with the subject "Your IP was logged," warning you about illegal downloading of movies and software and saying you are under FBI investigation? If you have, please be advised that the e-mail is a fake the Bureau, even though it does investigative violations of Intellectual Property laws, does not investigate or notify persons under investigation as outlined in the e-mail. It may also contain a virus. If you've received the e-mail, please contact the FBI at www.ifccfbi.gov. This message (which also arrives with subject lines such as "Preliminary investigation were started" [sic] and "Your IP was logged" is actually a carrier for an executable attachment which harbors the Sober.C virus, a mass-mailing worm that affects systems running any version of Microsoft Windows (other than Windows 3.x). When activated for the first time on a target PC, the worm displays a fake error message similar to the following: Sober.C Symantec offers a removal tool for Sober.C on its web site. removal tool Last updated: 29 October 2007 Sources: Varghese, Sam. "Invoking the FBI to Spread Malware." The Sydney Morning Herald. 6 January 2004.
|
[
"interest"
] |
[
{
"image_caption": null,
"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1plrGfJIdNCWDt2zBxM59AdPzjTNzww4H"
}
] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.fbi.gov/contactus.htm"
],
"sentence": "Origins: The address and phone number given at the foot of the message quoted above are real (they belong to the FBI's Washington, D.C., headquarters), but that's the only thing genuine about this e-mail."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.fbi.gov/fbiemail.htm"
],
"sentence": "The FBI has issued the following denial:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.sober.c@mm.html"
],
"sentence": "This message (which also arrives with subject lines such as \"Preliminary investigation were started\" [sic] and \"Your IP was logged\" is actually a carrier for an executable attachment which harbors the Sober.C virus, a mass-mailing worm that affects systems running any version of Microsoft Windows (other than Windows 3.x). When activated for the first time on a target PC, the worm displays a fake error message similar to the following:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.sober@mm.removal.tool.html"
],
"sentence": "Symantec offers a removal tool for Sober.C on its web site."
}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/colonel-sanders-kfc-miss-childress/
|
Did Colonel Sanders Steal the KFC Original Recipe From a Black Woman Named 'Miss Childress'?
|
Dan MacGuill
|
09/13/2019
|
[
"An intriguing rumor about cultural theft and fried chicken lacks concrete evidence but alludes to a deeper truth. "
] |
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?"
10 February 2017. Pilgrim, David. "The Mammy Caricature."
Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia, Ferris State University. 2012. Abagond.Wordpress.com. "Colonel Sanders."
7 September 2010. Douglas, Ron. "America's Most Wanted Recipes: Delicious Recipes From Your Family's Favorite Restaurants."
Atria Books. 25 June 2009. Ozersky, Josh. "Colonel Sanders and the American Dream."
University of Texas Press. 2003. Williams-Forson, Psyche. "Building Houses Out of Chicken Legs: Black Women, Food and Power."
The University of North Carolina Press. 8 December 2006.
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"sentence": "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)."
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"sentence": " Source: University of Illinois"
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"https://www.amazon.com/Building-Houses-out-Chicken-Legs/dp/080785686X"
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"sentence": "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. "
},
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"https://www.amazon.com/Americas-Most-Wanted-Recipes-Restaurants-ebook/dp/B002ENBLRC/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=America%27s+Most+Wanted+Recipes&qid=1568391888&s=digital-text&sr=1-1"
],
"sentence": "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. "
},
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],
"sentence": "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.\""
},
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],
"sentence": "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:"
},
{
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],
"sentence": "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.\""
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.amazon.com/Building-Houses-out-Chicken-Legs-ebook-dp-B00ZVEM2EC/dp/B00ZVEM2EC/ref=mt_kindle?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid="
],
"sentence": "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.\" "
}
] |
neutral
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/pico-jackfruit-snake-bite-injury/
|
Did a Pico Jackfruit Snake Bite Cause a Gruesome Hand Injury?
|
Dan Evon
|
08/15/2019
|
[
"Source: A finger or entire hand may have to be amputated three to four days after the bite.\""
] |
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"
News.com.au. 15 August 2017. Weisberger, Mindy. "What Should You Do If You're Bitten by a Venomous Snake?"
Live Science. 2 June 2019. BBC. "The amazing science behind fatal snake bites."
13 September 2015.
|
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],
"sentence": "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: "
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1472552/",
"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4488026/",
"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6027691/",
"https://annalsofafricansurgery.com/aasn/major-upper-limb-amputation-after-snake-bite-gangrene/",
"https://www.bbc.com/news/health-34214029"
],
"sentence": "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:"
}
] |
neutral
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/exclusive-club/
|
Golf Club Gift
|
Barbara Mikkelson
|
07/20/2007
|
[
"Legendary golfer is rewarded by a sultan with the gift of a golf club."
] |
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).
|
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],
"sentence": "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."
}
] |
true
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/pelosi-congress-virus-quote/
|
Did Pelosi Say Congress Would Not Return 'Unless There Is an Emergency'?
|
David Mikkelson
|
04/21/2020
|
[
"Both the U. S. House and Senate extended their recesses until May 4 due to the dangers of coronavirus."
] |
In April 2020, as much of the U.S. economy was at a standstill while the federal and state governments scrambled to deal with the COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic, a meme circulated via social media held that U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had declared Congress would be out of session until the following month unless an "emergency" arose: This meme was a gross distortion of what actually took place, which was not that Pelosi took it upon herself to decide no current emergency required lawmakers' attention and to adjourn Congress until the following month (a power she does not possess). Rather, bipartisan statements from the majority leaders of both houses of Congress Republican Mitch McConnell for the Senate and Democrat Steny Hoyer for the House of Representatives announced that Congress would be extending its current recess by an additional two weeks due to the COVID-19 outbreak, but legislators would continue to work remotely until May 4 unless they needed to return to Washington, D.C., earlier than that to pass emergency measures related to the pandemic. For example, CNBC reported the following of the House Majority Leader's statement on scheduling: reported scheduling The House will not come back to Washington until at least May 4 unless it needs to pass emergency measures to respond to the coronavirus pandemic, Majority Leader Steny Hoyers office told representatives. The chamber previously expected lawmakers to return on April 20 after an extended absence. House members, most of whom have been in their districts for all of April as Covid-19 spreads, will not have to travel to Washington before May 4 absent an emergency, the Maryland Democrats office said. It added that lawmakers would get sufficient notice if they have to travel to Washington to vote on coronavirus legislation. Similarly, NPR reported the following of the Senate Majority Leader's statement on scheduling: reported Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced the full Senate will not plan to return to the Capitol before May 4 -- a delay from a planned return [on April 20]. McConnell said the decision to change the schedule was made "following the advice of health experts" and in consultation with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. McConnell, R-Ky., stressed that Congress continues to work remotely to respond to the economic impact of the coronavirus. "As Senators continue working together from our home states, we must stay totally focused on fighting this pandemic and strengthening our nation. The coronavirus does not take days off and the United States Senate must not either, wherever we are," McConnell said in a written statement. The move follows a similar announcement a day earlier from House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., informing members the House would not return until May 4. Both leaders indicated that if Congress needed to act quickly on something, members would be given at least 24 hours' notice. Here is the full announcement issued by U.S. Senate Majority Leader McConnell on April 14, 2020, regarding scheduling: announcement Since the Senate passed the historic CARES Act in late March, Senators have been working around the country to monitor its implementation and help our states and nation attack this pandemic. As the country continues working together to flatten the curve, following the advice of health experts, the full Senate is not expected to travel back to Washington D.C. sooner than Monday, May 4th. All members will receive at least 24 hours notice if this changes. This bipartisan decision reflects consultation with Leader Schumer and my colleagues in Senate leadership. As Senators continue working together from our home states, we must stay totally focused on fighting this pandemic and strengthening our nation. The coronavirus does not take days off and the United States Senate must not either, wherever we are. For example, the crucial Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which is literally saving millions of American jobs, will run dry this week if we do not pass more funding. While other CARES Act programs such as hospital funding and assistance for state governments are just beginning to push out money, 70% of the PPPs funding has been already allotted in just a week and a half. President Trump, Secretary Mnuchin, and Senate and House Republicans simply want to add more funding for this job-saving program that both parties designed together. There is no time to insist on sweeping renegotiations or ultimatums about other policies that passed both houses unanimously. Clean funding for worker pay in a crisis should not be controversial. I hope our Democratic colleagues will let Congress act this week. American workers deserve paychecks, not pink slips caused by political games. And here is the scheduling announcement issued by U.S. House Majority Leader Hoyer: announcement Members are advised that absent an emergency, the House is not expected to meet prior to Monday, May 4, 2020. Members are further advised that if the House is required to take action on critical legislation related to the coronavirus response or other legislative priorities, Members will be given sufficient notice to return to Washington, DC. Further information will be provided as it becomes available. Congressional leaders also left open the possibility that members might return sooner than May 4 if pandemic-related legislation was ready to be voted upon: Pramuk, Jacob. "House Will Not Return to Washington Until May 4 Unless It Has to Pass Emergency Bill."
CNBC. 13 April 2020. Walsh, Deirdre. "Congress Won't Return Until May, As Talks Appear yo Stall on Small Business Aid."
NPR. 13 April 2020.
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{
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],
"sentence": "For example, CNBC reported the following of the House Majority Leader's statement on scheduling:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/14/834257366/congress-wont-return-until-may-as-talks-appear-to-stall-on-small-business-aid"
],
"sentence": "Similarly, NPR reported the following of the Senate Majority Leader's statement on scheduling:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.republicanleader.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/mcconnell-update-on-senate-schedule-and-urgent-priorities-april-2020"
],
"sentence": "Here is the full announcement issued by U.S. Senate Majority Leader McConnell on April 14, 2020, regarding scheduling:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://democraticwhip.house.gov/content/floor-schedule-update-566"
],
"sentence": "And here is the scheduling announcement issued by U.S. House Majority Leader Hoyer:"
}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/did-huge-shark-wash-up-kitty-hawk/
|
Did a Huge Shark Wash Up on a North Carolina Beach?
|
Dan Evon
|
02/19/2018
|
[
"An image purportedly showing a large shark on a Kitty Hawk beach is a composite of at least two different photographs."
] |
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
|
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],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
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],
"sentence": "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:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/JackCohenPhoto/photos/a.886902844725160.1073741857.254650294617088/886903004725144/?type=3&permPage=1"
],
"sentence": "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:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/JackCohenPhoto/posts/1778049952277107"
],
"sentence": "Cohen also commented on the hoax image:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.snopes.com/hurricane-jose-30-foot-waves-jennettes-pier/"
],
"sentence": "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. "
}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2019/jul/03/bernie-sanders/bernie-sanders-target-saying-3-richest-have-much-w/
|
The wealthiest three families now own more wealth than the bottom half of the country.
|
Tom Kertscher
|
07/03/2019
|
[] |
In an opinionarticlehe wrote for the Wall Street Journal, U.S. Sen.Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., called for an end to corporate socialism and made a claim about wealth inequality. The wealthiest three families now own more wealth than the bottom half of the country, and they will do everything they can to block our agenda, wrote Sanders, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president. The latest-available data back up his statement, and it appears the gap is widening. A note aboutwealth, before we dig in: Many Americans make a good income, have some savings and investments, and own a nice home. But they also have debt, typically from a mortgage, credit cards or other bills. The result is that even some people with relatively healthy incomes, as well as many poorer people, have a negative net worth the more technical term for wealth. Sanders campaign told us his claim is based on a 2017 study from the left-leaning Institute for Policy Studies. It used Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans and data from agold-standardfederal government source on wealth. Those are 2016 figures, from the Federal Reserve Boards Survey of Consumer Finances, which are updated every three years. The study found that the three wealthiest individuals wereBill Gatesof Microsoft with $89 billion, Jeff Bezos of Amazon with $81.5 billion andWarren Buffettof Berkshire Hathaway with $78 billion. Their total wealth of $248.5 billion was higher than the wealth of the bottom 160 million Americans, at $245 billion. Despite Sanders suggestion that the three men would block his agenda, they have expressed centrist political views over the years, and Buffett was a well-known supporter of former PresidentBarack Obama, a Democrat. Whatever their views, Sanders is correct about their wealth, which is on the rise. Forbes latest annual rankingsfor 2018show Bezos, Gates and Buffett still ranked at Nos. 1, 2 and 3, respectively, and that their total wealth was $345 billion. New federal figures for the bottom 160 million Americans arent expected to be released until sometime later in 2019. For the 160 million people at the bottom of the scale, the study used the net worth figure reported by the Fed and then subtracted automobiles and other durable goods such as electronics, furniture, and household appliances, from that figure. Subtracting durable goods from net worth offers us a more accurate depiction of household wealth as these items are not easily sellable and neither appreciate nor hold constant their value, the study said. University of Michigan sociology professorFabian Pfeffer, whose research specialties include wealth inequality, was among a number of economists and wealth inequality experts who told us the federal figures used in the study are the best for assessing wealth in the population. He told us that the wealth gap is much greater in the United States than in other Western industrialized nations. Pfeffer said the top 5% hold more than 70% of all net worth in the United States. Thats compared to 44% in Austria and Sweden, and lower figures in other comparable nations. Sanders said, The wealthiest three families now own more wealth than the bottom half of the country. The latest available figures indicate that the total wealth of Gates, Bezos and Buffett was $248.5 billion, exceeding the total wealth of $245 billion of the bottom half of Americans. We rate Sanders statement True.
|
[
"National",
"Wealth"
] |
[] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-is-the-worst-kind-of-socialist-11561589372"
],
"sentence": "In an opinionarticlehe wrote for the Wall Street Journal, U.S. Sen.Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., called for an end to corporate socialism and made a claim about wealth inequality."
},
{
"hrefs": [
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],
"sentence": "A note aboutwealth, before we dig in:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2019/jul/01/ta-nehisi-coates/seeking-reparations-ta-nehisi-coates-says-typical-/"
],
"sentence": "Sanders campaign told us his claim is based on a 2017 study from the left-leaning Institute for Policy Studies. It used Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans and data from agold-standardfederal government source on wealth. Those are 2016 figures, from the Federal Reserve Boards Survey of Consumer Finances, which are updated every three years."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.politifact.com/personalities/bill-gates/"
],
"sentence": "The study found that the three wealthiest individuals wereBill Gatesof Microsoft with $89 billion, Jeff Bezos of Amazon with $81.5 billion andWarren Buffettof Berkshire Hathaway with $78 billion."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.politifact.com/personalities/barack-obama/"
],
"sentence": "Despite Sanders suggestion that the three men would block his agenda, they have expressed centrist political views over the years, and Buffett was a well-known supporter of former PresidentBarack Obama, a Democrat."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.forbes.com/forbes-400/list/#version:static"
],
"sentence": "Forbes latest annual rankingsfor 2018show Bezos, Gates and Buffett still ranked at Nos. 1, 2 and 3, respectively, and that their total wealth was $345 billion."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://lsa.umich.edu/soc/people/faculty/fpfeffer.html"
],
"sentence": "University of Michigan sociology professorFabian Pfeffer, whose research specialties include wealth inequality, was among a number of economists and wealth inequality experts who told us the federal figures used in the study are the best for assessing wealth in the population. He told us that the wealth gap is much greater in the United States than in other Western industrialized nations."
}
] |
true
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/alton-sterling-photograph-myspace/
|
Photograph Shows Alton Sterling with Children, Guns
|
Dan Evon
|
07/07/2016
|
[
"A years-old image purports to show a man who was fatally shot by police in July 2016."
] |
On 7 July 2016, a photograph purportedly showing Alton Sterling and two of his children holding guns was posted to the "White Rights" section of Reddit. There is no evidence, however, that the man pictured in this image is the same man who was shot and killed by police officers in Baton Rouge. The image displayed above has been circulating since at least 2010 (a time stamp on the image shows it was taken even earlier in 2007) when it was posted to comedian Dan Goodman's "Ghetto MySpace" web, where it was accompanied by several other images of this family: Ghetto MySpace A few of these photographs have also been featured on "Parenting Fails" lists. While Goodman did not provide an exact source for the images displayed here, the pictures from "Ghetto Myspace" were purportedly culled from real MySpace profiles: Parenting Fails GhettoMyspace.net, recently featured on Tosh.0, Bossip.com, and Death and Taxes Mag, is a site dedicated to real photos from peoples myspace profiles. On this site you will find kids with guns, drug dealing, ghetto booty, hood funerals, and in general people having a great time. May we all have as much fun as the people in the pictures. Goodman removed the post containing these images from Ghettomyspace.net shortly after this article was published. He explained the decision in an email, writing that he wanted "zero association" with the community claiming that the images showed Alton Sterling: I've deleted the post. I want zero association with that community. I'm saddened anyone would use these pictures in how i'm guessing they're using them. I don't think it's him and furthermore if you look closely all the guns in the picture are Airsoft guns and not the real thing. Ghettomyspace was always meant to be funny and more commentary on the crazy stuff people share on social media and the gun culture, and at the time the social divide that was happening in 2010 when some people were only on myspace and some were only on facebook. There is no evidence that this image is of Alton Sterling (it bears little more than a passing resemblance to later photographs of him) or that it came from Sterling's MySpace profile:
|
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"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1JGz2uucsPiXWPqgKyESCnzlJl0DRSfe-"
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"https://getdangoodman.com/ghettomyspace/"
],
"sentence": "The image displayed above has been circulating since at least 2010 (a time stamp on the image shows it was taken even earlier in 2007) when it was posted to comedian Dan Goodman's \"Ghetto MySpace\" web, where it was accompanied by several other images of this family:"
},
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"https://www.snopes.com/uploads/2016/07/parental-guidance.jpg"
],
"sentence": " "
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.mandatory.com/2015/05/18/even-more-of-the-worst-parents-ever/"
],
"sentence": "A few of these photographs have also been featured on \"Parenting Fails\" lists. While Goodman did not provide an exact source for the images displayed here, the pictures from \"Ghetto Myspace\" were purportedly culled from real MySpace profiles:"
}
] |
neutral
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/jeff-green-foundation-email/
|
Is the 'Jeff Green Foundation' Email Giveaway a Scam or Legit?
|
Jordan Liles
|
05/03/2022
|
[
"Billionaire philanthropists typically don't make multiple errors in grammar, nor do they ask people to respond to foreign email addresses."
] |
In May 2022, we received inquiries from our readers that asked if an email message from the "Jeff Green Foundation" was legitimate. According to the email, a philanthropist named Jeff Green had decided to give away $1 million each to 20 different lucky recipients. However, this had all the signs of a classic email scam. Jeff Green scam According to a screenshot captured by a reader, the email appeared like this: We transcribed the scam email below: scam From: Jeff Green Foundation Subject: My philanthropy! To: YOU Reply-To: privatewealth.donation@webmail.hu Greetings to you and your family. In a thousand years, I never thought I would do something like this. My Name is Jeff Green, Below is a Link of me and what i do. https://www.forbes.com/profile/jeff-t-green/?sh=1fc2467a41e2 https://www.forbes.com/profile/jeff-t-green/?sh=1fc2467a41e2 https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/billionaire-utahn-to-give-away-90-of-his-wealth https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/billionaire-utahn-to-give-away-90-of-his-wealth https://www.sltrib.com/news/2021/11/16/richest-utah-native-vows/ https://www.sltrib.com/news/2021/11/16/richest-utah-native-vows/ When I was 17, I met a homeless man named James in Five Points, Denver, Colorado. I spent hours listening to him, his stories, and the twists and turns of choice and fate that led him to a life on the streets. His journey deeply affected me, and I found myself dwelling on it a great deal over the following months, unable to shake one core question that was taking root in my mind - Why is he out here on the streets in the December cold while I am living a more comfortable life? I think this adage is generally true: luck is preparation meeting opportunity. But I also understand that many people experience major life events that obstruct their preparation and as a result, opportunity passes them by. I also believe that we all encounter people who can propel us forward or hold us back. No one gets to their situation in life alone, good or bad. I didn't get to this statistically outlying position alone, and neither did James. Money cannot buy happiness. Money can buy things that make life more enjoyable. But those things and that enjoyment are always fleeting. When you think about the problems you face in life, the accumulation of things is rarely the solution. My philanthropy is not about politics or handouts - it is about getting the best outcomes for all the potential talent, which can only benefit our nation, and humankind. It will help people step up to opportunity, not lay back. I will give away the vast majority of my wealth through data-driven philanthropy before or at my death. My target is more than 90 percent of my wealth. But I will also give of my time, my most precious commodity, to allocate those funds deliberately, and to be personally engaged. So I decided I was going to contact 20 people via their email address which I paid for from a Data Firm. If you receive this email, I am giving you $1 Million. Thinking about it again, I must be crazy to do something like this but crazy is what made me who I am today so lets go for it! All you have to do is reply to this email with your full names and you will be paid $1 Million. My Life's Mission is to deploy capital against humanity's toughest problems. Jeff Green. A search of Twitter showed that several users were curious whether the "Jeff Green Foundation" email was legitimate: Twitter We didn't find any similar messages available on Facebook, but it's likely that some users were discussing the email in private posts only visible to friends. Facebook Some of the paragraphs in the "Jeff Green Foundation" email scam were copied and pasted from the text of a genuine letter written by a real philanthropist named Jeff T. Green. In November 2021, Green truly did pledge to try to give away "more than 90 percent" of his billions in wealth. scam a genuine letter billions However, there's no indication that Green or his foundation had anything to do with the email scam. scam We quickly noticed several issues with the "Jeff Green Foundation" message. Before the email got into the "when I was 17" story from the genuine letter, several words were either capitalized or not capitalized that should have been the reverse. For example, one usage of the word "I" was left to be lowercase as "i" in the same sentence as an oddly-placed comma: "My Name is Jeff Green, Below is a Link of me and what i do." Additionally, the sentence was poorly worded. The message also asked recipients to respond to privatewealth.donation@webmail.hu. The idea that a billionaire philanthropist would publish an email with such poor grammar and, at the same time, ask people to respond to a fairly generic Hungarian email address, did not scream "legitimate." We reached out to a company associated with Green to see if they had been alerted to the scam that used his name. We will update this story if we receive a statement. scam In sum, no, the "Jeff Green Foundation" emails that promised $1 million each to 20 different people was not a legitimate giveaway. Jeff T. Green. The Giving Pledge, https://givingpledge.org/pledger?pledgerId=430. Stack, Peggy Fletcher. Richest Utah Native Vows to Give Away 90% of His Billions. The Salt Lake Tribune, 16 Nov. 2021, https://www.sltrib.com/news/2021/11/16/richest-utah-native-vows/. Swant, Marty. Billionaire Jeff T. Green, Founder Of The Trade Desk, Joins The Giving Pledge. Forbes, 16 Nov. 2021, https://www.forbes.com/sites/martyswant/2021/11/16/the-trade-desk-founder-jeff-green-joins-list-of-billionaires-to-sign-the-giving-pledge/. Tavss, Jeff. Billionaire Utahn to Give Away 90% of His Wealth. KSTU, 16 Nov. 2021, https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/billionaire-utahn-to-give-away-90-of-his-wealth.
|
[
"funds"
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"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1sx2XiBIst4G5tqZ1nNvTh22imAdqU5FW"
}
] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.snopes.com/tag/jeff-green/",
"https://snopes.com/tag/scams"
],
"sentence": "In May 2022, we received inquiries from our readers that asked if an email message from the \"Jeff Green Foundation\" was legitimate. According to the email, a philanthropist named Jeff Green had decided to give away $1 million each to 20 different lucky recipients. However, this had all the signs of a classic email scam."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/walmart-750-gift-cards/"
],
"sentence": "We transcribed the scam email below:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.forbes.com/profile/jeff-t-green/?sh=1fc2467a41e2"
],
"sentence": "https://www.forbes.com/profile/jeff-t-green/?sh=1fc2467a41e2"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/billionaire-utahn-to-give-away-90-of-his-wealth"
],
"sentence": "https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/billionaire-utahn-to-give-away-90-of-his-wealth"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.sltrib.com/news/2021/11/16/richest-utah-native-vows/"
],
"sentence": "https://www.sltrib.com/news/2021/11/16/richest-utah-native-vows/"
},
{
"hrefs": [
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],
"sentence": "A search of Twitter showed that several users were curious whether the \"Jeff Green Foundation\" email was legitimate:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://snopes.com/tag/facebook"
],
"sentence": "We didn't find any similar messages available on Facebook, but it's likely that some users were discussing the email in private posts only visible to friends."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/walmart-kitchenaid-facebook/",
"https://givingpledge.org/pledger?pledgerId=430",
"https://www.sltrib.com/news/2021/11/16/richest-utah-native-vows/"
],
"sentence": "Some of the paragraphs in the \"Jeff Green Foundation\" email scam were copied and pasted from the text of a genuine letter written by a real philanthropist named Jeff T. Green. In November 2021, Green truly did pledge to try to give away \"more than 90 percent\" of his billions in wealth."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/keanu-reeves-cbd-gummies-interview/"
],
"sentence": "However, there's no indication that Green or his foundation had anything to do with the email scam."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/ukraine-crypto-scam/"
],
"sentence": "We reached out to a company associated with Green to see if they had been alerted to the scam that used his name. We will update this story if we receive a statement."
}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2011/jul/31/ron-johnson/us-senator-ron-johnson-says-federal-government-spe/
|
The federal government is spending 25 percent of our entire economy versus 100 years ago we spent only 2 percent.
|
Dave Umhoefer
|
07/31/2011
|
[] |
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.
|
[
"Deficit",
"Federal Budget",
"Taxes",
"Wisconsin"
] |
[] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TglT-i87SHo"
],
"sentence": "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."
}
] |
true
| null |
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2015/dec/10/paul-ryan/paul-ryan-says-us-taxes-small-businesses-446-perce/
|
The U.S.tax rate on successful small businesses is 44.6 percent, while the business tax rate in Canada is 15 percent.
|
James B. Nelson
|
12/10/2015
|
[] |
Shortly after hiselection as House Speaker, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis) spelled out his agenda for Fox News anchor Greta Van Susteren. A key concern is tax reform, Ryan saidduring the Nov. 4, 2015 appearanceon Van Susterens On the Record show. We have to reform the U.S. tax code if we want to create more economic growth and more jobs, said Ryan, who was chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee before becoming speaker. Ryan then dropped a stat thats long been one of his key talking points, including when he was the GOPs 2012 vice presidential candidate. The tax rate on successful small businesses is 44.6 percent right now, Ryan said. The tax rate on businesses in Canada is 15 percent. So we are taxing American businesses at a much higher rate than our foreign competitors are. He made a similar claim Nov. 15, 2015, during an interview onCBS News 60 Minutes. That seems like quite a gap. Is Ryan right? Digging into the numbers PolitiFact National looked into a version of this claim made during the 2012 vice presidential debate, whenRyan stated:The Canadians they (dropped) their tax rates to 15 percent. The average tax rate on businesses in the industrialized world is 25 percent. That claim was ratedMostly True. According to theOrganization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of advanced industrialized nations, Canadas central government corporate rate has declined from 29.12 percent to 15 percent. Businesses in Canada, however, also pay provincial taxes. The combination of the central and provincial corporate tax rates has fallen from 42.94 percent to 26.1 percent. Using the same data for the 34 countries examined, the average 2012 tax rate was slightly under 25 percent. The tax claim that Ryan made on Fox News was somewhat different. He cited the business tax rate in Canada, and compared it with the U.S. tax rate on small businesses, which he put at 44.6 percent. To support the claim, Ryans office cited a 2013 report by the Ways and Means Committee,Tax Revenues to More Than Double by 2023, While Top Tax Rates Hit Highest Level Since 1986.That report puts the federal tax rate for small businesses at 44.6 percent. So Ryans right on that number. As for the second part of the claim, Ryans office pointed us toTaxtips.ca, a Canadian tax and financial information service. Tables on that web site put the federal tax rate in Canada at 15 percent, which, again, is what Ryan cited. The group says that provincial tax rates for business range from 16 percent in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island to 10 percent in Alberta. Scott Hodge, president of the Washington D.C.-based Tax Foundation, agreed that Ryan had it right, based on hisgroups data. If anything, Hodge said, Ryan understated the gap between the United States and Canada. CitingCanadas Revenue Agency, Hodge said that Ryan compared U.S. small businesses with the general business rate in Canada. The top federal tax rate for businesses is 15 percent. However, they do have a special small business rate of 11 percent, Hodge said in an email. Mr. Ryan was obviously referring to the main rate, not the special small business rate. That would make the differences even starker. Our rating While arguing for tax reform, Ryan compared the difference in tax rates for small businesses in the United States with the general business tax rate in Canada. He was right on both numbers. Indeed, if he used the small business rate in Canada, the gap would be even larger. We rate his claim True.
|
[
"Taxes",
"Wisconsin"
] |
[] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/paul-ryan-poised-to-be-elected-house-speaker-b99605894z1-338302021.html"
],
"sentence": "Shortly after hiselection as House Speaker, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis) spelled out his agenda for Fox News anchor Greta Van Susteren."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/on-the-record/index.html#/v/4597175933001"
],
"sentence": "A key concern is tax reform, Ryan saidduring the Nov. 4, 2015 appearanceon Van Susterens On the Record show."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.cbsnews.com/news/unaired-clips-from-paul-ryan-60-minutes-interview/"
],
"sentence": "He made a similar claim Nov. 15, 2015, during an interview onCBS News 60 Minutes."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.npr.org/2012/10/11/162754053/transcript-biden-ryan-vice-presidential-debate"
],
"sentence": "PolitiFact National looked into a version of this claim made during the 2012 vice presidential debate, whenRyan stated:The Canadians they (dropped) their tax rates to 15 percent. The average tax rate on businesses in the industrialized world is 25 percent."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/oct/12/paul-ryan/paul-ryan-says-canada-now-has-15-percent-corporate/"
],
"sentence": "That claim was ratedMostly True. According to theOrganization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of advanced industrialized nations, Canadas central government corporate rate has declined from 29.12 percent to 15 percent."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://waysandmeans.house.gov/tax-revenues-to-more-than-double-by-2023-while-top-tax-rates-hit-highest-level-since-1986/"
],
"sentence": "To support the claim, Ryans office cited a 2013 report by the Ways and Means Committee,Tax Revenues to More Than Double by 2023, While Top Tax Rates Hit Highest Level Since 1986.That report puts the federal tax rate for small businesses at 44.6 percent. So Ryans right on that number."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.taxtips.ca/smallbusiness/corporatetax/corporate-tax-rates-2014.htm"
],
"sentence": "As for the second part of the claim, Ryans office pointed us toTaxtips.ca, a Canadian tax and financial information service."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://taxfoundation.org/sites/taxfoundation.org/files/docs/TaxFoundation_SR227.pdf"
],
"sentence": "Scott Hodge, president of the Washington D.C.-based Tax Foundation, agreed that Ryan had it right, based on hisgroups data. If anything, Hodge said, Ryan understated the gap between the United States and Canada."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/bsnss/tpcs/crprtns/rts-eng.html"
],
"sentence": "CitingCanadas Revenue Agency, Hodge said that Ryan compared U.S. small businesses with the general business rate in Canada."
}
] |
true
| null |
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2008/aug/01/barack-obama/obama-cites-ethnicity-in-mortgage-crisis/
|
I have repeatedly said that many of the predatory loans that were made in the mortgage system did target African-American and Latino communities.
|
Angie Drobnic Holan
|
08/01/2008
|
[] |
In a town hall in St. Petersburg, Fla., an audience member challenged Obama about speaking out on issues affecting the black community, including the subprime mortgage crisis, among other issues. Why is it that you have not had the ability to not one time speak to the interests and even speak on behalf of the oppressed and exploited African community or the black community in this country? the man asked. Not true, Obama replied. I think you're misinformed about when you say not one time. Every issue you've spoken about, I actually did speak out on, Obama said. I have repeatedly said that many of the predatory loans that were made in the mortgage system did target African-American and Latino communities, Obama said. He went on to defend his record on other civil rights issues. We wondered if Obama's statement on the subprime mortgage was true, so we looked through press releases, transcripts and news stories to find out. Most notably, on Oct. 18, 2007, Obama wrote a letter to the Federal Trade Commission asking it to investigate subprime lenders to determine whether minority borrowers have been victims of discrimination. Obama wrote in his leter that there was already substantial evidence to indicate this was so. Black families are paying more for home loans than similarly situated white families. Effective action to address this disparity is long overdue, Obama wrote. On the campaign trail, Obama has also discussed the same issue several times, though we found most of our examples of him discussing it before Hispanic audiences. On June 28, 2008, Obama told the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, We have to stabilize the housing market. And the Latino community as well as the African-American community was particularly hard hit when it comes to foreclosures. On Feb. 19, 2008, Obama was at a campaign event in San Antonio, Texas, and discussed the need for people having mortgage problems to receive help negotiating with their lenders. My suspicion is that it's very important we have Spanish-speaking counselors because I know that both the African-American community and Hispanic community have been disproportionately targeted by some of these practices. It's not a campaign theme he hits over and over again, but Obama has made the statement several times, and the 2007 letter is particularly strong evidence to bolster Obama's argument. We rule his statement True.
|
[
"National",
"Economy"
] |
[] |
[] |
true
| null |
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2017/jun/09/antonio-villaraigosa/villaraigosa-gets-it-wrong-california-poverty-figu/
|
Seventy-seven of the top 300 cities with the highest poverty rate nationwide are in California.
|
Chris Nichols
|
06/09/2017
|
[] |
When asked to list his top three priorities for California at a recent forum, Democratic candidate for governorAntonio Villaraigosaresponded: I think weve got to start with the economy, the economy, the economy. The former mayor of Los Angeles acknowledged strong economic growth in some places, but made it clear that not all of California is growing together. Villaraigosa went on to make an eye-opening claim about how many California cities rank among the poorest in the nation. Seventy-seven of the top 300 cities with the highest poverty rate are in our state, Villaraigosa said at theforum, hosted on June 6, 2017 in San Francisco by the Public Policy Institute of California. Villaraigosa makes his claim at about the 6:45 minute mark in this video by the Public Policy Institute of California. We know the state has struggled mightily with poverty. As an example, we ratedTruea claim by Republican Assembly Leader Chad Mayes in January that California has the highest poverty rate in the nation when comparing states and considering cost-of-living. At 20.6 percent, Californias poverty rate in 2015 was well above the national average of 15.1 percent, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report called theSupplemental Poverty Measure. Floridas 19 percent poverty rate ranked second. For a two-adult, two-child family in California, the poverty threshold was an average of $30,000, depending on the region in the state, according to a2014 analysisby Public Policy Institute of California. With this in mind, we decided to fact-check Villaraigosas assertion that California is also home to one-quarter of the nations poorest cities. Governors race Villaraigosa is amongseveral prominent Democratscompeting to succeed Jerry Brown as governor. Others include California TreasurerJohn Chiang; Delaine Eastin, the states former superintendent for public instruction; andGavin Newsom, the states current lieutenant governor. Republican candidates include John Cox, a venture capitalist from San Diego County and Rosie Grier, a former professional football player. PolitiFact California is fact-checking claims in this race. See our Tracking The Truth governors race fact-checkshere. Tracking the Truth: Hear a claim you want fact-checked? Email us at[email protected], tweet us@CAPolitiFactor contact us onFacebook. Our research Villaraigosas spokeswoman said his poverty claim draws on a 2015 report by the National Resource Network calledHidden in Plain Sight: Why California's Economically Challenged Cities Matter. The network was created by the Obama Administration to develop innovative solutions to American cities to help them address their toughest economic challenges. Its study listed 77 economically challenged cities in California, ranging from big metros such as Los Angeles, Sacramento and Oakland to small ones like Lodi, Delano and Watsonville. It defines economically challenged as having at least one of the following characteristics: -- More than 9 percent of residents remained unemployed as of 2013 -- More than 20 percent of adults are living in poverty -- Population decline between 2000 and 2010 reached 5 percent Nationwide, it found nearly 300 such cities. Californias count equals about one-quarter of those. We wondered, however, whether cities listed as economically challenged (due at least partly to a 2013 jobless rate) could also be considered as currently having the highest poverty rate, as Villaraigosa described them this week. Had Villaraigosa stretched the truth or perhaps conflated two separate descriptions of economic hardship? Staff at the National Resource Network, including the studys lead author, did not immediately return requests for comment. Experts weigh in Ann Stevens director of the Center for Poverty Research and a professor of economics at the University of California at Davis, reviewed the study and Villaraigosas claim at our request His statement is not accurate in terms of the poverty rate, Stevens told us. Thats because the study labeled many of these cities as economically challenged because of their 2013 jobless rate, which is different than the poverty rate in 2013 or the poverty rate on average today. We found nearly half of the 77 cities described as economically challenged qualified for that label not because their poverty rate was above 20 percent, but because of their high jobless rate in 2013. In fact, the poverty level for at least some of these cities was closer to or below the national average. At that time, many cities in California were still struggling with high unemployment due to the Great Recession, Stevens added. But thats a temporary measure of economic hardship, not a permanent one. Caroline Danielson, who researches poverty at the Public Policy Institute of California, said many of those cities are no longer struggling with unemployment. Los Angeles, for example, now has a jobless rate of 3.9 percent down from 9.7 percent in 2013, she said. Danielson said theres no comparable ranking of every American city, large and small, by poverty rate. If there was, she said: I dont believe that California would be quite so overrepresented as we found in this report. Thats not to say that California has no high poverty cities. Along with pointing to the study, Villaraigosas spokeswoman said the candidate would still consider the 77 cities in the study to be among those nationally with the highest poverty rate - certainly well above the average - and that is what makes them economically challenged. Thats not the same as Villaraigosas original statement that all 77 rank nationally among cities with the highest poverty rate. Our ruling Candidate for California governor Antonio Villaraigosa recently claimed: Seventy-seven of the top 300 cities with the highest poverty rate are in our state. He relied on a study that grouped 77 economically challenged cities in California among nearly 300 such cities in the nation. But it used data from four years ago, when many cities were still recovering from the Great Recession. Villaraigosa made it sound as if these cities are still experiencing the same level of hardship. Also, experts on poverty said the economically challenged label isnt the same as Villaraigosas description of these cities as among the poorest in the nation. Nearly half the cities on the studys list qualified for that label not because of their poverty level. Many, in fact, had poverty rates below the state average. Instead, they qualified because they had a high unemployment rate in 2013. The jobless rate in many of those cities has improved considerably since then. Villaraigosa touched on a real problem in California: Poverty remains widespread and entrenched. But he mischaracterized the results of a study and painted a darker picture of economic hardship in California than the facts bear out. We rate Villaraigosas claim False. FALSEThe statement is not accurate. Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.
|
[
"Economy",
"Poverty",
"The 2018 California Governor's Race",
"California"
] |
[
{
"image_caption": "Villaraigosa makes his claim at about the 6:45 minute mark in this video by the Public Policy Institute of California.",
"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1aU2JomlKV6dDAq9aZz3bGrjH4YpSMIHN"
}
] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.politifact.com/personalities/antonio-villaraigosa/"
],
"sentence": "When asked to list his top three priorities for California at a recent forum, Democratic candidate for governorAntonio Villaraigosaresponded: I think weve got to start with the economy, the economy, the economy."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.ppic.org/main/stream.asp?i=2273"
],
"sentence": "Seventy-seven of the top 300 cities with the highest poverty rate are in our state, Villaraigosa said at theforum, hosted on June 6, 2017 in San Francisco by the Public Policy Institute of California."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.politifact.com/california/statements/2017/jan/20/chad-mayes/true-california-has-nations-highest-poverty-rate-w/"
],
"sentence": "We know the state has struggled mightily with poverty. As an example, we ratedTruea claim by Republican Assembly Leader Chad Mayes in January that California has the highest poverty rate in the nation when comparing states and considering cost-of-living."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2016/demo/p60-258.pdf"
],
"sentence": "At 20.6 percent, Californias poverty rate in 2015 was well above the national average of 15.1 percent, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report called theSupplemental Poverty Measure. Floridas 19 percent poverty rate ranked second."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.ppic.org/main/publication_quick.asp?i=1114"
],
"sentence": "For a two-adult, two-child family in California, the poverty threshold was an average of $30,000, depending on the region in the state, according to a2014 analysisby Public Policy Institute of California."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-california-governor-list-2018-htmlstory.html"
],
"sentence": "Villaraigosa is amongseveral prominent Democratscompeting to succeed Jerry Brown as governor. Others include California TreasurerJohn Chiang; Delaine Eastin, the states former superintendent for public instruction; andGavin Newsom, the states current lieutenant governor."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.politifact.com/california/elections/2018/california-governor/"
],
"sentence": "PolitiFact California is fact-checking claims in this race. See our Tracking The Truth governors race fact-checkshere."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.politifact.com/subjects/2018-california-governors-race/"
],
"sentence": ""
},
{
"hrefs": [
"/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#02726d6e6b766b646361766163426163727063666b6d2c6d7065"
],
"sentence": "Tracking the Truth: Hear a claim you want fact-checked? Email us at[email protected], tweet us@CAPolitiFactor contact us onFacebook."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.nationalresourcenetwork.org/en/Document/306226/Hidden_in_Plain_Sight_Why_Californias_Economically_Challenged_Cities_Matter"
],
"sentence": "Villaraigosas spokeswoman said his poverty claim draws on a 2015 report by the National Resource Network calledHidden in Plain Sight: Why California's Economically Challenged Cities Matter. The network was created by the Obama Administration to develop innovative solutions to American cities to help them address their toughest economic challenges."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2011/feb/21/principles-truth-o-meter/"
],
"sentence": "Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check."
}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/public-housing-grousing/
|
Sharon Jasper Section 8 Public Housing
|
David Mikkelson
|
02/17/2008
|
[
"Welfare queen decries New Orleans public housing."
] |
Claim: Welfare queen decries New Orleans public housing. Status: Multiple see below. 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.
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],
"sentence": "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.\""
},
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],
"sentence": "That same blog contains other works of satire, such as \"Vermont to Arrest George Bush and Dick Cheney\" and \"Hillary Clinton Sues Barack Obama.\""
}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-raytheon-stock/
|
Did President Trump Profit from the U.S. Missile Strike Against Syria?
|
Kim LaCapria
|
04/10/2017
|
[
"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."
] |
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."
MarketWatch. 7 April 2017. Mufson, Steven. "Trump Dumped His Stock in the Dakota Access Pipeline Owner Over the Summer."
The Washington Post. 23 November 2016. Murphy, Olive. "Trump Caught Profiting from Missiles Used in Syria Stock Price Skyrockets."
Bipartisan Report. 7 April 2017. Palmer, Bill. "Donald Trump Owns Stock in the Tomahawk Missiles He Used in Syria."
Palmer Report. 7 April 2017. Terrarosa, Tom. "How Raytheon Really Stands to Gain from U.S. Missile Attack."
TheStreet. 7 April 2017. Venook, Jeremy. "Donald Trumps Conflicts of Interest: A Crib Sheet."
The Atlantic. 7 April 2017. Walker, Hunter and Myles Udland. "Here's What's In Donald Trump's Stock Portfolio."
Business Insider. 22 July 2015. Walker, Hunter. "Donald Trump Personal Financial Disclosure Report."
Scribd. 22 July 2015 (page 37). The Dallas Morning News. "Donald Trump Form 278E Disclosure 2016."
14 June 2016 (page 37).
|
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],
"sentence": "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.)"
},
{
"hrefs": [
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],
"sentence": "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:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trumps-stock-portfolio-2015-7",
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],
"sentence": "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:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.marketwatch.com/story/tomahawk-maker-raytheon-leads-premarket-gainers-after-syrian-missile-strike-2017-04-07"
],
"sentence": "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:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/04/donald-trump-conflicts-of-interests/508382/"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.snopes.com/does-donald-trump-own-a-stake-in-the-dakota-access-pipeline/",
"https://www.snopes.com/donald-trump-carrier-stock/",
"https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/11/23/trump-dumped-his-stock-in-dakota-access-pipeline-owner-over-the-summer/"
],
"sentence": "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)."
}
] |
neutral
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-raytheon-stock/
|
Did President Trump benefit financially from the U.S. missile strike on Syria?
|
Kim LaCapria
|
04/10/2017
|
[
"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."
] |
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."
MarketWatch. 7 April 2017. Mufson, Steven. "Trump Dumped His Stock in the Dakota Access Pipeline Owner Over the Summer."
The Washington Post. 23 November 2016. Murphy, Olive. "Trump Caught Profiting from Missiles Used in Syria Stock Price Skyrockets."
Bipartisan Report. 7 April 2017. Palmer, Bill. "Donald Trump Owns Stock in the Tomahawk Missiles He Used in Syria."
Palmer Report. 7 April 2017. Terrarosa, Tom. "How Raytheon Really Stands to Gain from U.S. Missile Attack."
TheStreet. 7 April 2017. Venook, Jeremy. "Donald Trumps Conflicts of Interest: A Crib Sheet."
The Atlantic. 7 April 2017. Walker, Hunter and Myles Udland. "Here's What's In Donald Trump's Stock Portfolio."
Business Insider. 22 July 2015. Walker, Hunter. "Donald Trump Personal Financial Disclosure Report."
Scribd. 22 July 2015 (page 37). The Dallas Morning News. "Donald Trump Form 278E Disclosure 2016."
14 June 2016 (page 37).
|
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{
"hrefs": [
"https://archive.is/DmpZQ",
"https://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-is-how-much-it-will-cost-to-replace-the-tomahawks-used-in-syria-2017-04-07"
],
"sentence": "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.)"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://archive.is/HPaaT"
],
"sentence": "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:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trumps-stock-portfolio-2015-7",
"https://www.scribd.com/document/315632622/Donald-Trump-form-278e-disclosure-2016"
],
"sentence": "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:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.marketwatch.com/story/tomahawk-maker-raytheon-leads-premarket-gainers-after-syrian-missile-strike-2017-04-07"
],
"sentence": "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:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/04/donald-trump-conflicts-of-interests/508382/"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.snopes.com/does-donald-trump-own-a-stake-in-the-dakota-access-pipeline/",
"https://www.snopes.com/donald-trump-carrier-stock/",
"https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/11/23/trump-dumped-his-stock-in-dakota-access-pipeline-owner-over-the-summer/"
],
"sentence": "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)."
}
] |
neutral
| null |
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2017/sep/29/antonio-villaraigosa/has-gavin-newsom-flip-flopped-californias-high-spe/
|
California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom was for (high-speed rail), before hes against it, and then hes for it again.
|
Chris Nichols
|
09/29/2017
|
[] |
High-speed rail has wedged itself into the 2018 campaign for California governor, splitting the current top two Democrats in the race. Former Los Angeles MayorAntonio Villaraigosarecently claimed Lt. Gov.Gavin Newsomthe frontrunner in the racehas essentially flip-flopped in his support for the states controversial and costly rail project. Heres what Villaraigosa told theSacramento Beeon Sept. 20, 2017: Newsom was for it, before hes against it, and then hes for it again. He added that Newsom was revising his positions when the winds blow in his direction. Given the key decisions Californias next governor will need to make on high-speed rail, we wanted to know whether Newsom has really shifted this much in his support for the massive project. We hopped aboard for a fact-check. Background on the bullet train In 2008, California voters approved a nearly $10 billion bond to jump-start the development of a high-speed rail network. Plans called for trains to zip across the state at 200 miles per hour, initially connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles and eventually extending the system to Sacramento and San Diego. Cost estimates for the project, however, have see-sawed from an initial $33 billion to $98 billion to $64 billion. The project has also fallen far behind schedule with construction limited to a small segment in the Central Valley. We asked Villaraigosas campaign for evidence of Newsoms shifting positions. As examples of his initial support, it pointed to news articles showing Newsom backing the 2008 bond measure. The campaign then cited a2014 radio interviewthat it says proves Newsom opposed the project. Finally, it cited articles from October 2016 in which the lieutenant governor again pledged his support. We absolutely need this, Newsom said of high-speed rail in a2007Mercury-Newsarticle. In February 2014, however, Newsom was asked by conservative radio host Ben Shapiro:Are you pro or against the train, especially now that the California public, which approved the train in the first place, has reneged and no longer likes the train? Newsom responded:I think Im where the public was and is. Apoll in September 2013found 52 percent of Californians wanted the rail project stopped and 51 percent felt it was a waste of money. Newsom went on to tell Shapiro:We dont have the federal dollars we were hoping for ... the private sector hasnt stepped up. Shapiro then asked:If you had your druthers, Gavin, would you kill the thing? Newsom responded:I would take the dollars and redirect it to other, more pressing infrastructure needs. I am not the only Democrat that feels this way. I gotta tell you, I am one of the few that just said it publicly. Most are now saying it privately. This exchange gave many the impression Newsom had backed away from the project. Newsom did not clarify in the interview what kind of funds should be redirected. In October 2016, Newsom told the Sacramento Press Club that he would 100 percent seek a solid funding source for the train project if he's elected governor in 2018. TheAssociated Presstook that to mean he again supported the project. AMarch 2017 pollfound Californians remain divided over high-speed rail, with 48 percent favoring the project and 46 percent opposed. The survey added that 66 percent say they would favor high-speed rail if it cost less than the current estimate of $64 billion over the next 20 years. In this Feb. 26, 2016, file photo, the supports for a 1,600-foot-viaduct to carry high-speed rail trains across the Fresno River are seen under construction near Madera, Calif. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File) Newsoms response Dan Newman, Newsoms campaign spokesman, described Villaraigosas claim about shifting positions this way: The statement is extremely misleading at best, he said in an email. Villaraigosa is simply trying to score political points with a disingenuous cheap shot, by blithely ignoring the fact that the project being discussed today is significantly different than what voters supported in 2008. The spokesman said Newsom has never opposed high-speed rail. Instead, Newsom publicly scrutinized the projects business plan when cost estimates ballooned to nearly $100 billion and questioned Gov. Jerry Browns plans to use cap and trade funds for it, the spokesman said. Scrutinizing the business plan is very different from opposing (high-speed rail), Newman added. He said Newsoms comment in the 2014 radio interview about redirecting money away from the project was referring to redirecting cap and trade money away from it, not the state bond money passed by voters. He said a statement from Newsoms office in March 2014 clarifies Newsoms consistent support even as he questioned the projects finances: The lieutenant governor has long supported high speed rail and still does, but this project in its current form gives him pause, Newsoms spokeswoman Andrea Koskey, told Buzzfeed News for anarticleon March 27, 2014. He added that Newsoms statements of support in more recent years are also consistent with previous comments. Experts we spoke with were split on the claim. Sacramento State Political Science ProfessorWesley Husseysaid Villaraigosas claim about Newsom vacillating on the project isnt right. I don't think it's a fair assessment, the professor said in an email.Newsom came out several years ago with serious doubts about the high speed rail, but I don't think he's ever said definitely he would stop the program if he became governor. Maybe he fluctuates from lukewarm to a soft no, but that's not the same as consistently changing his opinion. Key to our assessment, however, was the 2014 radio interview and Newsoms own admission that he agreed with the growing public sentiment that opposed the train at that time. We spoke with one more expert. Lou Thompson is chairman of theCalifornia High-Speed Rail Peer Review Group, an independent oversight group that issues reports to the Legislature on the project. He declined to comment about whether he believed Newsom had definitely switched his stance on high speed rail. Thompson said, however, that redirecting cap and trade money away from the project in 2014, as Newsom suggested doing, would have made the projects future a lot more difficult. Asked whether such a move would have effectively killed the project, Thompson said: I dont know what other source of money they would have found. He described cap and trade money as the key revenue source for the project both then and now, given the restrictions on other sources, including the bond funds. Our rating Villaraigosa claimed Newsom has essentially flip-flopped in his support for Californias high-speed rail, saying he was for it, before hes against it, and then hes for it again. Villaraigosas campaign cited articles showing Newsom strongly backed the project a decade ago. It also pointed to aradio interview in 2014in which Newsom admitted that he shared the publics growing opposition to high-speed rail. He also suggested redirecting funds away from the project, a move that the head of the projects oversight panel said would have made building high-speed rail a lot more difficult. A spokesman for Newsoms campaign defended the candidates stance, saying Newsom has scrutinized project costs as they have soared beyond initial estimates. He said, however, that Newsom has never turned his back on high-speed rail. We found Villaraigosa pointed to key evidence, particularly the 2014 radio interview, that shows Newsoms stance had shifted, at least for that moment in time. In fairness to Newsom, hes consistently expressed concern that the project no longer represents what voters supported in 2008 and that his main worry was its cost. Villaraigosas statement could have used this additional information. We rate his 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.
|
[
"Infrastructure",
"State Budget",
"The 2018 California Governor's Race",
"Transportation",
"California"
] |
[
{
"image_caption": "Sacramento Bee",
"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1GKc7Ob-OiCVN-VfQBUytKGbNDwxfipsa"
}
] |
[
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"hrefs": [
"https://www.politifact.com/personalities/antonio-villaraigosa/"
],
"sentence": "Former Los Angeles MayorAntonio Villaraigosarecently claimed Lt. Gov.Gavin Newsomthe frontrunner in the racehas essentially flip-flopped in his support for the states controversial and costly rail project."
},
{
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"http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article174477816.html"
],
"sentence": "Heres what Villaraigosa told theSacramento Beeon Sept. 20, 2017: Newsom was for it, before hes against it, and then hes for it again."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://kiroradio.com/listen/9967827/"
],
"sentence": "As examples of his initial support, it pointed to news articles showing Newsom backing the 2008 bond measure. The campaign then cited a2014 radio interviewthat it says proves Newsom opposed the project. Finally, it cited articles from October 2016 in which the lieutenant governor again pledged his support."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.mercurynews.com/2007/08/23/south-bay-eager-to-shape-high-speed-rail-connecting-bay-area-to-los-angeles/"
],
"sentence": "We absolutely need this, Newsom said of high-speed rail in a2007Mercury-Newsarticle."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://articles.latimes.com/2013/sep/28/local/la-me-poll-high-speed-rail-20130928"
],
"sentence": "Apoll in September 2013found 52 percent of Californians wanted the rail project stopped and 51 percent felt it was a waste of money."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/gavin-newsom-seeking-governors-office-now-backs-high-speed-rail"
],
"sentence": "In October 2016, Newsom told the Sacramento Press Club that he would 100 percent seek a solid funding source for the train project if he's elected governor in 2018. TheAssociated Presstook that to mean he again supported the project."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.ppic.org/press-release/majority-oppose-trumps-travel-ban/"
],
"sentence": "AMarch 2017 pollfound Californians remain divided over high-speed rail, with 48 percent favoring the project and 46 percent opposed. The survey added that 66 percent say they would favor high-speed rail if it cost less than the current estimate of $64 billion over the next 20 years."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.buzzfeed.com/hunterschwarz/the-california-bullet-train-and-the-impervious-jerry-brown?utm_term=.rqMez4QBj0#.dspW8bvEYg"
],
"sentence": "The lieutenant governor has long supported high speed rail and still does, but this project in its current form gives him pause, Newsoms spokeswoman Andrea Koskey, told Buzzfeed News for anarticleon March 27, 2014."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://paweb.csus.edu/Profile/?name=Wesley%20Hussey"
],
"sentence": "Sacramento State Political Science ProfessorWesley Husseysaid Villaraigosas claim about Newsom vacillating on the project isnt right."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.cahsrprg.com/"
],
"sentence": "Lou Thompson is chairman of theCalifornia High-Speed Rail Peer Review Group, an independent oversight group that issues reports to the Legislature on the project."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://kiroradio.com/listen/9967827/"
],
"sentence": "Villaraigosas campaign cited articles showing Newsom strongly backed the project a decade ago. It also pointed to aradio interview in 2014in which Newsom admitted that he shared the publics growing opposition to high-speed rail. He also suggested redirecting funds away from the project, a move that the head of the projects oversight panel said would have made building high-speed rail a lot more difficult."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2011/feb/21/principles-truth-o-meter/"
],
"sentence": "Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check."
}
] |
true
| null |
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2016/feb/08/carly-fiorina/carly-fiorina-says-her-campaign-has-more-cash-hand/
|
Says she is 6th in hard dollars raised and has more cash on hand than Governors (John) Kasich and (Chris) Christie combined.
|
Louis Jacobson
|
02/08/2016
|
[] |
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.
|
[
"National",
"Campaign Finance"
] |
[] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://medium.com/@CarlyFiorina/what-carly-is-doing-tonight-d53e747382ec#.6qz44w5un"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://graphics.wsj.com/elections/2016/iowa-caucus-results/"
],
"sentence": "(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.)"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/"
],
"sentence": "For fundraising data, we turned toopensecrets.org for the latest presidential fundraising data."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/candidate.php?id=N00036973"
],
"sentence": "1.Ben Carson"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/candidate.php?id=N00033085"
],
"sentence": "2.Ted Cruz"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/candidate.php?id=N00037006"
],
"sentence": "3.Jeb Bush"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/candidate.php?id=N00030612"
],
"sentence": "4.Marco Rubio"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/candidate.php?id=N00023864"
],
"sentence": "5.Donald Trump"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/candidate.php?id=N00031348"
],
"sentence": "6.Carly Fiorina"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/candidate.php?id=N00009778"
],
"sentence": "7.John Kasich"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/candidate.php?id=N00037008"
],
"sentence": "8.Chris Christie"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/candidate.php?id=N00033085"
],
"sentence": "1.Ted Cruz"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/candidate.php?id=N00030612"
],
"sentence": "2.Marco Rubio"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/candidate.php?id=N00037006"
],
"sentence": "3.Jeb Bush"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/candidate.php?id=N00023864"
],
"sentence": "4.Donald Trump"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/candidate.php?id=N00036973"
],
"sentence": "5.Ben Carson"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/candidate.php?id=N00031348"
],
"sentence": "6.Carly Fiorina"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/candidate.php?id=N00009778"
],
"sentence": "7.John Kasich"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/candidate.php?id=N00037008"
],
"sentence": "8.Chris Christie"
}
] |
true
| null |
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2014/jan/26/ted-cruz/labor-force-participation-its-lowest-point-1978-sa/
|
Under President Barack Obama,Weve got the lowest labor force participation in over three decades, since 1978.
|
Katie Sanders
|
01/26/2014
|
[] |
President Barack Obamas upcoming State of the Union address gave Republicans and Democrats on the Sunday news shows another chance to make their case about the countrys economic performance over the past five years. OnFox News Sunday,Obama adviser Dan Pfeiffer pointed out the country has added 8 million jobs since the health care law passed in March 2010. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, offered a different take on the state of the labor force onFace the Nation. Why are jobs and economic growth so dismal? he asked. Weve got the lowest labor force participation in over three decades, since 1978. And if President Obama wants to give an honest, candid State of the Union address this week, hell address the fact that his economic policies are not working. It's difficult to say how Obama's policies are causing the economy to stall or succeed, but we can examine Cruz's specific claim about labor force participation. Cruz, whose press office did not respond to our request for comment, is correctly breaking down data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. The labor force participation rate is another measurement of the health of the labor market. The unemployment rate is the number of people who are not working as a percent of the labor force. There are multiple lenses through which to view jobs data. Another measure, thelabor force participation rate, refers to the percentage of Americans who are considered to be in the labor force as a part of the overall population. To be counted in the labor force, someone must be working or actively looking for work. In December (and also October), the labor force participation rate was 62.8 percent. In January and March of 1978, it was also 62.8 percent. We know what youre thinking: Cool numbers, PolitiFact, but what do they mean? Take a look at the trend. The labor force participation rate had been increasing since 1948, the first year the labor force participation rate was calculated. Then, it was 58.6 percent. It peaked in the late 1990s and 2000 to just more than 67 percent, before more recently hitting its lowest point in 36 years. Its fallen 2.9 percentage points since Obamas first month on the job in January 2009. Whats happening is the subject of an ongoing debate. There is understandable concern about the countrys long-term unemployed anddiscouraged workers. The economic recovery from the 2007-09 recession has been slow, which may have propelled people to go back to school, stay at home with their kids or give up on a search altogether when they could not find jobs in their field. Still, many economists attribute at least a portion of the drop to an unsurprising reason: the retirement of baby boomers, which does not exactly qualify as an American horror story. The trick is to determine how much of the drop represents the impact of a lagging economy, which is worrisome, and how much is due to non-worrisome factors, such as the aging of the adult population, said Gary Burtless, an economist at the Brookings Institution, ina 2013 PolitiFact interview. Theres no reason to believe things will change anytime soon. The labor force will become older, slowly add workers as the overall population grows and become more racially diverse in the next decade, according to theBureau of Labor Statistics. BLS researchers say the labor force participation rate will continue to slowly fall until hitting 61.6 percent in 2022 -- a projected decline of 1.2 percentage points since December 2013. The past decade saw a much more dramatic drop, declining 3.6 percentage points since December 2003. Our ruling Cruz said, Weve got the lowest labor force participation in over three decades, since 1978. Were pretty confident Obama isnt asking Cruz for State of the Union talking points, and hes especially not interested in one that may suggest todays economic policies arent working. Cruz has his statistics right. But well note at least part of the trend has been years in the making and appears strongly tied to the inevitable aging of the baby boomer population. In other words, its not all Obamas fault, and its not going to change the minute he leaves office. We rate Cruzs statement Mostly True.
|
[
"National",
"Economy"
] |
[
{
"image_caption": "Fox News Sunday,",
"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=114C17FWKI9xf0dLnW2R_AV5-CLby7kVo"
}
] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.bls.gov/bls/glossary.htm#L"
],
"sentence": "Another measure, thelabor force participation rate, refers to the percentage of Americans who are considered to be in the labor force as a part of the overall population. To be counted in the labor force, someone must be working or actively looking for work. In December (and also October), the labor force participation rate was 62.8 percent. In January and March of 1978, it was also 62.8 percent."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNU05026645"
],
"sentence": "There is understandable concern about the countrys long-term unemployed anddiscouraged workers. The economic recovery from the 2007-09 recession has been slow, which may have propelled people to go back to school, stay at home with their kids or give up on a search altogether when they could not find jobs in their field."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2013/apr/12/cathy-mcmorris-rodgers/rep-cathy-mcmorris-rodgers-says-fewer-now-working-/"
],
"sentence": "The trick is to determine how much of the drop represents the impact of a lagging economy, which is worrisome, and how much is due to non-worrisome factors, such as the aging of the adult population, said Gary Burtless, an economist at the Brookings Institution, ina 2013 PolitiFact interview."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2013/article/labor-force-projections-to-2022-the-labor-force-participation-rate-continues-to-fall.htm"
],
"sentence": "Theres no reason to believe things will change anytime soon. The labor force will become older, slowly add workers as the overall population grows and become more racially diverse in the next decade, according to theBureau of Labor Statistics."
}
] |
true
| null |
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2013/aug/10/jeff-merkley/average-debt-upon-college-graduation-more-24000/
|
Says in Oregon today, the average debt upon college graduation is more than $24,000.
|
Yuxing Zheng
|
08/10/2013
|
[] |
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.
|
[
"Oregon",
"Debt",
"Education"
] |
[] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"http://portlandtribune.com/pt/10-opinion/156361-yellow-balloons-tell-tale-of-student-debt"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/41000.html"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Oregon1.pdf"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.newyorkfed.org/householdcredit/"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org/state_by_state-view2012.php?area=OR"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.petersons.com/"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.politifact.com/ohio/statements/2012/may/07/sherrod-brown/sherrod-brown-says-ohio-students-graduate-college-/"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.ous.edu/"
],
"sentence": "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."
}
] |
true
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/tom-price-cancer-patients/
|
Did Tom Price Say It Is 'Better for Our Budget If Cancer Patients Die More Quickly'?
|
Dan Evon
|
03/17/2017
|
[
"A statement attributed to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price about the budget benefits of cancer patients' dying quickly is apocryphal."
] |
On 16 March 2017, the web site Newslo published an article positing that U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price had said that it would be better for the federal budget if cancer patients died quickly: "At the risk of sounding insensitive, we've pretty much got two choices here: we either repeal Obamacare, or we take out more loans from countries like China. And nobody wants to be in debt to the Chinese. At the end of the day, it's better for our national budget if cancer patients pass away more quickly, it's a lousy way to live anyway, and I'm sorry to say it out loud, but it's the truth," Price concluded. This quote was not a genuine statement issued by Secretary Price. It originated with Newslo, a "hybrid" web site that publishes articles containing a mixture of fact and fiction: hybrid JUST ENOUGH NEWS ... 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. The web site's hybrid articles are accompanied by two buttons labeled "show facts" and "hide facts" that allow readers to see which parts of an article are factual and which parts are fictional. In this case, pressing the "show facts" button highlighted the introductory paragraph of the article, indicating that the remainder of the article, the portion containing the fake Price quote, was fictional: Newslo is a rather prolific purveyor of fake news, having previously penned articles containing fake quotes from Steve Bannon, KellyAnne Conway, and Mike Pence. Steve Bannon KellyAnne Conway Mike Pence Newslo. "Tom Price: 'Its Better for Our Budget If Cancer Patients Die More Quickly.'"
16 March 2017.
|
[
"loan"
] |
[
{
"image_caption": null,
"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1N-6lBXQ8VNjlZDHN26BQZizLEQipcDYF"
},
{
"image_caption": null,
"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=14iGAO5FPfVwwSmy-4K28aznklZ9d9OHU"
}
] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.snopes.com/uploads/2017/03/newslo-2.jpg"
],
"sentence": ""
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://archive.is/PMF5f"
],
"sentence": "This quote was not a genuine statement issued by Secretary Price. It originated with Newslo, a \"hybrid\" web site that publishes articles containing a mixture of fact and fiction:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.snopes.com/stephen-bannon-nobody-can-blame-you/",
"https://www.snopes.com/conway-racist-small-price-to-pay/",
"https://www.snopes.com/mike-pence-calls-michelle-obama-vulgar/"
],
"sentence": "Newslo is a rather prolific purveyor of fake news, having previously penned articles containing fake quotes from Steve Bannon, KellyAnne Conway, and Mike Pence."
}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/tom-price-cancer-patients/
|
Did Tom Price suggest that it would be more financially beneficial if cancer patients succumbed to their illness sooner?
|
Dan Evon
|
03/17/2017
|
[
"A statement attributed to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price about the budget benefits of cancer patients' dying quickly is apocryphal."
] |
On 16 March 2017, the web site Newslo published an article positing that U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price had said that it would be better for the federal budget if cancer patients died quickly: "At the risk of sounding insensitive, we've pretty much got two choices here: we either repeal Obamacare, or we take out more loans from countries like China. And nobody wants to be in debt to the Chinese. At the end of the day, it's better for our national budget if cancer patients pass away more quickly, it's a lousy way to live anyway, and I'm sorry to say it out loud, but it's the truth," Price concluded. This quote was not a genuine statement issued by Secretary Price. It originated with Newslo, a "hybrid" web site that publishes articles containing a mixture of fact and fiction: hybrid JUST ENOUGH NEWS ... 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. The web site's hybrid articles are accompanied by two buttons labeled "show facts" and "hide facts" that allow readers to see which parts of an article are factual and which parts are fictional. In this case, pressing the "show facts" button highlighted the introductory paragraph of the article, indicating that the remainder of the article, the portion containing the fake Price quote, was fictional: Newslo is a rather prolific purveyor of fake news, having previously penned articles containing fake quotes from Steve Bannon, KellyAnne Conway, and Mike Pence. Steve Bannon KellyAnne Conway Mike Pence Newslo. "Tom Price: 'Its Better for Our Budget If Cancer Patients Die More Quickly.'"
16 March 2017.
|
[
"debt"
] |
[
{
"image_caption": null,
"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1L4-7rHONQZEwX7XdNLLyndT8otQ2rEFK"
},
{
"image_caption": null,
"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1vAPkc8taIkMg6kfvAm0jTiHJu2KlkdHb"
}
] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.snopes.com/uploads/2017/03/newslo-2.jpg"
],
"sentence": ""
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://archive.is/PMF5f"
],
"sentence": "This quote was not a genuine statement issued by Secretary Price. It originated with Newslo, a \"hybrid\" web site that publishes articles containing a mixture of fact and fiction:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.snopes.com/stephen-bannon-nobody-can-blame-you/",
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}
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false
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/tom-price-cancer-patients/
|
Did Tom Price express the view that it would be more financially advantageous if cancer patients were to pass away sooner?
|
Dan Evon
|
03/17/2017
|
[
"A statement attributed to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price about the budget benefits of cancer patients' dying quickly is apocryphal."
] |
On 16 March 2017, the web site Newslo published an article positing that U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price had said that it would be better for the federal budget if cancer patients died quickly: "At the risk of sounding insensitive, we've pretty much got two choices here: we either repeal Obamacare, or we take out more loans from countries like China. And nobody wants to be in debt to the Chinese. At the end of the day, it's better for our national budget if cancer patients pass away more quickly, it's a lousy way to live anyway, and I'm sorry to say it out loud, but it's the truth," Price concluded. This quote was not a genuine statement issued by Secretary Price. It originated with Newslo, a "hybrid" web site that publishes articles containing a mixture of fact and fiction: hybrid JUST ENOUGH NEWS ... 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. The web site's hybrid articles are accompanied by two buttons labeled "show facts" and "hide facts" that allow readers to see which parts of an article are factual and which parts are fictional. In this case, pressing the "show facts" button highlighted the introductory paragraph of the article, indicating that the remainder of the article, the portion containing the fake Price quote, was fictional: Newslo is a rather prolific purveyor of fake news, having previously penned articles containing fake quotes from Steve Bannon, KellyAnne Conway, and Mike Pence. Steve Bannon KellyAnne Conway Mike Pence Newslo. "Tom Price: 'Its Better for Our Budget If Cancer Patients Die More Quickly.'"
16 March 2017.
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https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/revolving-door-inventor-women/
|
Was the Revolving Door Invented by a Man Who Disliked Holding Open Doors for Women?
|
Dan MacGuill
|
10/27/2017
|
[
"The claim that Theophilus Van Kannel was motivated by a hatred for chivalry stems from no more than a humorous blog post published almost a century after his death."
] |
Since the middle of the last century, revolving doors have been a quietly ubiquitous feature of modern cities around the world. But do they have their origins in one man's neurotic attitude toward holding doors open for women? The most often-cited example of this legend is a 2013 article in Slate by Roman Mars, of the design podcast 99% Invisible. Slate The story goes like this: Theophilus Van Kannel hated chivalry. There was nothing he despised more than trying to walk in or out of a building, and locking horns with other men in a game of oh you first, I insist. But most of all, Theophilus Van Kannel hated opening doors for women. He set about inventing his way out of social phobia. In the accompanying podcast episode, Mars warned: "Keep in mind that with all these origin stories, when they sound a little too much like stories, they're probably not completely true." David McCall, writing in the Australian Design Review four years later, also traced the invention to Van Kannel's purported misogyny: writing The story goes that he invented the revolving door because he simply hated holding doors open for people, especially women. It has also been reported that Kannel [sic] was a man without a family. These two facts may not be unrelated. The earliest version of the story that we could find was a 2008 post by Jaime Morrison on the art and design blog The Nonist, which went into considerable detail about the origins of Van Kannel's aversion to chivalry, tracing it back to a public spanking from his mother and attributing his invention to his wife's insistence that he hold open doors for her at all times. post It seems that when Van Kennel [sic] was a boy, still in the care of his mother but just on the cusp of cultural manhood, he found the lingering rules of chivalry rather bothersome. In particular he refused to accept that he was expected to open the door for women and allow them to cross the threshold before him. A silly sort of quirk to our minds, certainly, but it was taken seriously enough by his mother that after numerous warnings and threats she eventually felt compelled to take action. Van Kennel [sic] family histories have it that at some point in his twelfth year she administered a savage bare-bottomed spanking, during a salon in the familys drawing room, in full and explicit view of 37 local mothers and daughters. ...Had this been the only episode the world may have never had a revolving door to shuffle through. As it so happens, however, Theophilus Van Kennel [sic] married a woman who, though beautiful and slyly clever, had an odd and stubborn quirk of her own. Young Abigail Van Kennel, it seems, refused to pass from one room of their apartments to another without the assistance of Theophilus. That blog post contains the tongue-in-cheek disclaimer that "...All untruths are, I assure you, my own. Ill leave it to you to sort out which is which"; and cites just one source, an essay by the MIT professor James Buzard -- which makes no mention of Van Kannel's now-legendary misogyny. essay Indeed, despite extensive archival research, we did not find any evidence to back up the persistent rumor that Theophilus Van Kannel invented and refined the revolving door because of a neurotic aversion to holding doors open for women and others. In fact, we found several pieces of evidence which severely undermine the credibility of this claim. In July 1882, an H. Bockhacker received a patent in Berlin for a "Thr ohne Luftzug" ("draftless door") whose design is essentially that of a revolving door. patent European Patent Office Six years later, on 7 August 1888, Theophilus Van Kannel of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania received Patent #387,571 for his "Storm Door Structure." Patent #387,571 U.S. Patents Office/Google In his patent application, Van Kannel wrote: It will be evident that a storm door structure of the character described possesses numerous advantages over a hinged-door structure of the usual character, for, as the door fits snugly in the casing, it is perfectly noiseless in its operation and effectually prevents the entrance of wind, snow, rain, or dust either when it is closed or when persons are passing through it. Moreover, the door cannot be blown open by the wind, as the pressure is equal on both sides of the center of motion. Van Kannel subsequently patented several refinements and improvements to the revolving door, founded the Van Kannel Revolving Door Company, and died in New York City on Christmas Eve, 1919, at the age of 78. refinements died Undated photograph of Theophilus Van Kannel. He was born in a log cabin in Coshocton County, Ohio, on 21 October 1841, to Swiss immigrant parents. Throughout his life, he was a prolific inventor. A 1988 publication of his autobiography and journal, housed in the Library of Congress, lists 49 patents, but the book's editor writes that Van Kannel might have actually put his name to "about 75" of them. autobiography and journal Over the years, Theophilus invented a cherry stoner, cider mill, water hydrant, shipping tag, gas machine check-valve, a sewing machine, an "apparatus for scalding vegetable or fruit," and many more. He was also the inventor and owner of the Witching Waves ride at a Coney Island amusement park. He married Amanda Clayton, of Chester, Illinois and in November 1867 the couple had a daughter named Lulu. This refutes David McCall's suggestion that Van Kannel's alleged misogyny was due to the fact that he did not have a family. He did. The fact that Van Kannel's wife was named Amanda also severely undermines The Nonist's colorful stories about his wife "Abigail," who "refused to pass from one room of their apartments to another." In fact, Theophilus Van Kannel's two-volume, almost 500-page autobiography and journal does not contain any evidence of any neurosis relating to women, nor any social phobias of any kind. What it does reveal is a multi-talented young man, somewhat sober and straight-laced, who struggled for many years with debt and an artificial leg, but enjoyed a fairly healthy social life, combined with a consistent dedication to his work. He wrote frequently to his mother, regularly visited his sister and her family, and spoke lovingly about his female relatives. (His journal entry on 30 January 1864 reads: "Letter from my sister requesting me to write an obituary for her husband. Sent $5 to mother.") Another entry suggests Van Kannel understood and honored the Victorian norms of chivalry, without any reservations. 28 September 1861 (aged 19): ...I received permission to buy some window blinds for the schoolhouse. While in the post office a very old lady came in to send off a letter, but she had no money to pay for the stamp. She asked the postmaster, Mr Bowman, to credit her, but he refused. I then bought ten cents' worth of stamps and sent her letter. She was a stranger to me... As he grew into his 20s, Van Kannel's journal shows him courting young women in Cincinnati, Ohio, all the while following the rules of chivalry and decorum. 26 February 1863 (aged 21): We all went to the church again this evening to practice our parts for the exhibition, and all showed great improvement. For the first time I mustered up enough courage to ask a young lady for her company home, and she very readily accepted. 1875 photograph of Theophilus Van Kannel with his wife Amanda and daughter Lulu. Nothing in his journal suggests the kind of "social phobia" or misogyny involved in the many stories told about him 150 years later. He attended church every Sunday, taught children, attended school with men and women, was an active member of debating societies, met friends for dinner and drinks (although he disliked drunkenness), and occasionally escorted young women home or to the theater. His interests and inventions were eclectic. By 1867 he was already developing a type of door spring, and so it's not at all surprising that he would turn his mind to the innovation that eventually became the revolving door. Swinging doors let in drafts, making it difficult to control the temperature of a building, especially one with heavy footfall like a bank or train station. It is in keeping with the pattern of Van Kannel's professional life that he would have identified this problem, and attempted to solve it using his gift for engineering. His invention of the revolving door does not require a psychological motivation. Nor were we able to find one, despite reading hundreds of pages of archival material and the journal of Theophilus Van Kannel himself. We looked at several news and feature articles about Van Kannel, some dating to the early 20th century. Not one mentioned Van Kannel's now-mythical misogyny or aversion to chivalry -- until The Nonist post, the veracity of which is extremely questionable. We contacted the 99% Invisible podcast, but we did not receive a reply by publication time. In October 2018, we received an email from Jaime Morrison, creator of the Nonist blog and author of the 2008 article about Theophilus Van Kannel and the invention of the revolving door. Morrison told us that he had written about Van Kannel's now-legendary misogyny as no more than a joke which he was disappointed to find had been taken seriously by others: I just wanted to confirm that yes, the piece was in fact a humor piece, and that yes the chivalry aspect of the story was a total fabrication...When I wrote the piece I assumed that the absurdity of the idea would be self-evident, and even hedged by including the disclaimer which [you quoted]. Alas, that old chestnut about assumptions proved its inherent wisdom yet again. Van Kannel, Harvey E.; Fox Marshall, Joanne. "T. Van Kannel, The Inventor: His Autobiography and Journal, Vol. 1-2."
Library of Congress. 1988. Bisset, Colin. "Design File with Colin Bisset - the Revolving Door."
Radio National/ABC (Australia.) 15 March 2014. Hrala, Josh. "The Revolving Door Was Invented to Put an End to Chivalry."
Modern Notion. 15 May 2015. McCall, David. "In a Spin: the History of Revolving Doors."
Australian Design Review. 24 July 2017. Morrison, Jaime. "The Secret History of the Revolving Door."
The Nonist. Unknown publication date. Buzard, James. "Perpetual Revolution."
Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Archive.org. 29 July 2005. Mars, Roman. "Why Don't People Use Revolving Doors?"
99% Invisible/Slate. 7 November 2013. Bockhacker, H. "Patentschrift No. 18349. Thr Ohne Luftzug."
Kaiserliches Patentamt (Germany)/European Patent Office. 8 July 1882. Van Kannel, Theophilus. "Patent No. 387,571 - Storm Door Structure."
U.S. Patents Office/Google. 7 August 1888. New York Tribune. "Death Notice - Theophilus Van Kannel."
New York Tribune. 26 December 1919. Updated [23 October 2018]: The verdict on this fact check has been changed from "Legend" to "False" after the author of a 2008 blog post -- the earliest source of the claim -- came forward to confirm that he had fabricated it as a joke.
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https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2011/jun/13/rick-scott/gov-rick-scott-says-state-debt-23-billion/
|
We already have $23 billion worth of debt.
|
Katie Sanders
|
06/13/2011
|
[] |
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.
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"sentence": "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."
}
] |
true
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/rothschild-family-wealth/
|
Rothschild Family Wealth
|
Dan Evon
|
10/29/2016
|
[
"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."
] |
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."
Skeptoid Media. 22 May 2012. Kersley, Richard. "Global Wealth in 2015: Underlying Trends Remain Positive."
Credit Suisse. 13 October 2013.
|
[
"income"
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}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/rothschild-family-wealth/
|
The riches possessed by the Rothschild family.
|
Dan Evon
|
10/29/2016
|
[
"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."
] |
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."
Skeptoid Media. 22 May 2012. Kersley, Richard. "Global Wealth in 2015: Underlying Trends Remain Positive."
Credit Suisse. 13 October 2013.
|
[
"investment"
] |
[
{
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},
{
"hrefs": [
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}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/rothschild-family-wealth/
|
The riches of the Rothschild family.
|
Dan Evon
|
10/29/2016
|
[
"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."
] |
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."
Skeptoid Media. 22 May 2012. Kersley, Richard. "Global Wealth in 2015: Underlying Trends Remain Positive."
Credit Suisse. 13 October 2013.
|
[
"income"
] |
[
{
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}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hyperdontia-supernumerary-teeth/
|
Does This Picture Show a Case of Hyperdontia?
|
Dan Evon
|
02/04/2019
|
[
"Hyperdontia is a genuine medical condition, but take a close look at these images."
] |
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."
Journal of Conservative Dentistry. July 2011. Lurie Children's Hospital. "Extra Teeth (Supernumerary Teeth, Hyperdontia)."
Retrieved 4 February 2019.
|
[
"interest"
] |
[
{
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"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"
},
{
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"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1Je6h-0ZAwGiUyANz8I2Xhbc2bX5z87aE"
},
{
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"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=19hYV9zZuZNEZG6f5wNTTptX-YtRbCENZ"
}
] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://web.archive.org/web/20190204201025/https://www.facebook.com/PicturesInHistory/posts/1216522535192292",
"https://www.facebook.com/PicturesInHistory/photos/a.542142282630324/1216522478525631/?type=3&theater"
],
"sentence": "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\":"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.luriechildrens.org/en/specialties-conditions/extra-teeth-supernumerary-teeth-hyperdontia/",
"https://www.luriechildrens.org/en/specialties-conditions/extra-teeth-supernumerary-teeth-hyperdontia/"
],
"sentence": "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:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://holyloly.blogspot.com/2010/12/prolly-one-of-top-5-worst-things-ive.html",
"https://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-478"
],
"sentence": "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:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3198547/"
],
"sentence": "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:"
}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/genpets/
|
Genpets
|
David Mikkelson
|
06/26/2006
|
[
"Pets that are genetically engineered and manufactured to order may be a dream (or nightmare) of the future, but they aren't here quite yet."
] |
Pets that are genetically engineered and manufactured to order may be a dream (or nightmare) of the future, but they aren't here quite yet: There is a website, www.genpets.com, that claims to have made genetically engineered "pets" that are part-human and part-animal and are "living, breathing" creatures. Although the web site Genpets.com puts on a good show of spoofing an outlet for the sale of "pre-packaged, bio-engineered pets," no such product exists. One common giveaway: prospective buyers couldn't actually order anything through the (since-removed) Genpets store, with the excuse given that "Bio-Genica is still developing its connections and relations with resellers while we get the various approvals needed to sell Genpets worldwide." store Like similar items we've been asked about, Genpets are actually artworks in this case plastic and latex sculptures (including circuitry and robotics) created in 2005 by then 24-year-old Canadian commercial artist Adam Brandejs. As the artist explained in conjunction with an exhibition of his work, the point of Genpets is to get the public thinking about the concept of bioengineering and how they feel about where that science might lead us: items artworks I'm not against bioengineering, I'm simply hesitant towards where and how and by whom the technology will be used. That's what this art sums up. I don't ever want to be confused for as a crazy activist, nor do I want to appear as endorsing this technology. Bioengineering could lead to medical breakthroughs that save lives, but will it? This is more a critique of corporate ethics than of technological ethics. If you're still caught up on whether they're real or not, that's ok, a lot of people are, but that's not the point of the work. Slow down, stop, and think. Think about why it is that you probably, like most people seeing the work, find it highly disturbing on some level, and yet, still want to buy one. Why is it that you're so inclined to buy things, no matter what? And what is it that makes this concept so disturbing, or not disturbing to you? Consider both sides of the issue, and consider how we treat animals in farms, and pet stores today. How does that relate? This sculpture is the physical representation of a question. Bioengineering, like any new technology promises a great deal of positive effects. We as a race however tend to put a great deal more faith into technology as a saviour than it necessarily has earned. Through Genpets I question the negative effect that bioengineering can have, for we all know that when it all comes down to it, profit is the bottom line.The question surrounding bioengineering is not in its positive or negative ramifications, or where it can take us; it is whether or not we are responsible enough to go there. When Genpets were exhibited in a Toronto storefront, they created a reaction much like the one now being prompted by the Genpets.com web site: Genpets seems to create a reaction wherever they go. While in the store window of Iodine Toronto, the shop owner began sleeping in the store as many nights, people would bang at the windows furiously. Some in protest of the small Bio-genetically engineered creatures trapped in plastic, some wanting to wake them up or buy them. Hordes of teens wanting a bioengineered pet met confused, baffled, or even shocked looks from parents. For an upcoming generation, through our own marketing techniques, life and the idea of life are quickly becoming viewed as disposable commodities. Adam Brandejs' other works include the animatronic flesh shoe and a prosthetic zipper. flesh shoe prosthetic zipper
|
[
"profit"
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[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.genpets.com/store.asp"
],
"sentence": "Although the web site Genpets.com puts on a good show of spoofing an outlet for the sale of \"pre-packaged, bio-engineered pets,\" no such product exists. One common giveaway: prospective buyers couldn't actually order anything through the (since-removed) Genpets store, with the excuse given that \"Bio-Genica is still developing its connections and relations with resellers while we get the various approvals needed to sell Genpets worldwide.\" "
},
{
"hrefs": [
"/photos/arts/family.asp",
"https://www.brandejs.ca/details.asp?view=genpets"
],
"sentence": "Like similar items we've been asked about, Genpets are actually artworks in this case plastic and latex sculptures (including circuitry and robotics) created in 2005 by then 24-year-old Canadian commercial artist Adam Brandejs. As the artist explained in conjunction with an exhibition of his work, the point of Genpets is to get the public thinking about the concept of bioengineering and how they feel about where that science might lead us:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.brandejs.ca/portfolio/2/Animatronic-Flesh-Shoe",
"https://www.brandejs.ca/portfolio/22/Prosthetics-Zipper"
],
"sentence": "Adam Brandejs' other works include the animatronic flesh shoe and a prosthetic zipper."
}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/citibank-5/
|
Citibank
|
David Mikkelson
|
02/24/2008
|
[
""
] |
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
|
[
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{
"image_caption": null,
"image_src": "https://www.c2it.com/C2IT/images/hdr_welcome_01.jpg"
}
] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://211.155.234.84/cgi-bin/s.pl?m=foo@foo.com"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://211.155.234.84/cgi-bin/s.pl?m=foo@foo.com"
],
"sentence": " .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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://211.155.234.84/cgi-bin/s.pl?m=foo@foo.com"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://211.155.234.84/cgi-bin/s.pl?m=foo@foo.com"
],
"sentence": "Click here to access our Terms & Conditions page and not allow your Citibank checking account suspension."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"paypal.asp",
"earthlink.asp",
"https://211.155.234.84/cgi-bin/s.pl?m=foo@foo.com",
"https://www.nanhua.org/",
"https://www.citibank.com/citibank/disclaim.htm"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.citibank.com/domain/email_scam.htm"
],
"sentence": "According to the warning Citibank has posted on their web site:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"mailto:andreas666@earthlink.net"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"mailto:andreas666@earthlink.net"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
null,
"https://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAMN1J3JJD.html",
"/author/snopes/",
"/tag/asp-article/"
],
"sentence": "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"
},
{
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}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2013/apr/14/one-new-jersey/new-anti-chris-christie-ad-democratic-group-mostly/
|
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.
|
Caryn Shinske
|
04/14/2013
|
[] |
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.
|
[
"New Jersey",
"Economy",
"Jobs",
"States"
] |
[] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.onenewjersey.org/2013/04/09/one-nj-releases-1st-television-commercial-highlighting-the-real-story-behind-christies-record/"
],
"sentence": "New Jerseys just about gone to economic hell under Chris Christies leadership, a Democratic group suggests ina new TV ad."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.bea.gov/"
],
"sentence": "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."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/04/politifact_nj_one_new_jersey_ad_targets_chris_christie_on_unemployment_jobs_economic_growth.html"
],
"sentence": "To comment on this story, go toNJ.com."
}
] |
true
| null |
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2012/jun/04/caroline-casagrande/caroline-casagrande-says-women-have-come-through-r/
|
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.
|
Caryn Shinske
|
06/04/2012
|
[] |
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.
|
[
"New Jersey",
"Economy",
"Jobs"
] |
[] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/06/politifact_nj_truth-o-meter_post_264.html"
],
"sentence": "To comment on this story, go toNJ.com."
}
] |
true
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hotel-always-coins-sink/
|
Should Hotel Guests Always Put Coins in the Sink?
|
Jordan Liles
|
04/12/2021
|
[
"The claim appeared in an online ad."
] |
"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
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"sentence": "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!\""
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"sentence": "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."
}
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false
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/cecilia-zhang/
|
Cecilia Zhang
|
David Mikkelson
|
11/10/2003
|
[
"Is nine-year-old Cecilia Zhang missing from her Toronto home?"
] |
Claim: Nine-year-old Cecilia Zhang is missing from her Toronto home. Outdated. Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2003] TORONTO POLICE ISSUE AMBER ALERT FOR MISSING 9-YEAR OLD GIRL DONG-YUE (CECILIA) ZHANG The Toronto Police Service is requesting the assistance of the public and media in regards to locating a missing 9-year old girl from the area of Don Mills Road and Finch Avenue East. An amber alert has been issued in regards to the young girl's disappearance from her residence. The missing girl has been identified as Dong-Yue (Cecilia) ZHANG a 9-year old grade 4 student at Seneca Hill Public School. Her parents last saw the child when she went to bed on Sunday night (October 19th, 2003). Her disappearance was not noticed until Monday morning shortly before 8:30 A.M. She is described as; female, Asian, 9 years of age, 4'11", 70lbs, thin build, shoulder length black hair with blond highlights, brown eyes, wearing unknown clothing. Anyone with Information is asked to contact 33 Division at (416) 808-3300 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) On a more personal note: ATTENTION: Please everyone, this only takes a few minutes to forward to everyone you can think of who can also send this on. The more people who can hear her name and see her picture, the more likely that is it for this girl to be found safely. How would we feel if this was our child? I can't even imagine what her parents are going through right now. Thanks for taking the time to care... Origins: Sadly, this was no hoax the child described in the e-mail quoted above and in a number of similar alerts was all too real, as were the circumstances of her disappearance. On the morning of 20 October 2003, nine-year-old Cecilia Zhang was discovered missing from her family home in North York, a satellite of Toronto. She had been last seen at 10 p.m. the previous evening. Police believed she had been abducted during the night, and the theory of the crime had the kidnappers entering the house through the window of her second floor bedroom. (Its screen was broken.) Two phone calls were made from different pay phones in Brampton (a nearby town) to the Zhang home just before Cecilia's parents realized their daughter was gone. In each instance, the caller said nothing when the phone was answered. No ransom demand was received, and no contact was made by the abductors either with the family or the police. A province-wide Amber Alert was issued on the day Cecilia was taken. It sent a description of the girl across Ontario and activated highway signs alerting motorists about the abduction. The alert was canceled a day later. As part of its 1 November 2003 episode, America's Most Wanted ran a segment on the kidnapping of Cecilia Zhang. Thanks to the show, one day later thirteen fresh tips were turned over to the Toronto police working the segment case. Two rewards totaling $85,000 were being offered. Numerous hotlines had been set up in English and in Chinese dialects. More than 1700 posters and flyers bearing photos of the missing girl were posted in bus and subway stations. Yet little new information came in as time went by, and the older leads were exhausted. As of 13 November 2003, police confirmed that they still had no suspects in the case. There was hope the child was taken by those looking to strike it rich. Kidnapping for profit is not unheard of within the Chinese community though not common by any means, such abductions occur more often than they do within the general population. Had she been such a hostage, there would have been greater reason to hope she would eventually be returned unharmed. But that was not to be. Two days before what would have been Cecilia Zhang's tenth birthday, police in Toronto reported that she had been found. On 28 March 2004, authorities confirmed as hers the remains discovered in a Mississauga park by the Credit River the previous day. On 21 July 2004, Min Chen, a 21-year-old Chinese national in Canada on a student visa, was arrested in connection with the case and the next day charged with first-degree murder for the death of the fourth-grader. It appears he knew the child, having been introduced to her during visits to a classmate who at one time rented a room from the Zhangs. Chen pled guilty to second-degree murder in May 2006 and was sentenced to life in prison. Last updated: 2 December 2010 Sources: Campbell, Colin. "Canada: No Suspects in Girl's Disappearance." The New York Times. 13 November 2003 (p. A9). Robertson, Lloyd. "Toronto Girl Abducted From Her Home in the Middle of the Night." CTV News. 20 October 2003. Robertson, Lloyd. "'America's Most Wanted' Airs the Cecilia Zhang Story." CTV News. 30 October 2003. Woods, Allan. "Crime Show Adds Tips in Search for Cecilia." National Post. 3 November 2003 (p. A12). Woods, Allan. "Phone Sites Suggest Lead in Cecilia Case." National Post. 29 October 2003 (p. A15). Canadian Press. "Police Find Remains of Cecilia Zhang." 28 March 2004. United Press International. "Reward Jumps for Missing Girl's Return." 31 October 2003.
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true
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/a-brunt-message/
|
Canadian Richard Brunt Pens Open Letter On America's Mid-Term Elections
|
David Mikkelson
|
11/11/2014
|
[
"Canadian Richard Brunt penned an open letter about America's midterm elections."
] |
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
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"sentence": " Baumer Kid (@bostonsboy87) November 11, 2014"
},
{
"hrefs": [
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}
] |
true
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/a-brunt-message/
|
Canadian Richard Brunt wrote an open letter regarding the Mid-Term Elections in America.
|
David Mikkelson
|
11/11/2014
|
[
"Canadian Richard Brunt penned an open letter about America's midterm elections."
] |
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
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},
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},
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],
"sentence": " Baumer Kid (@bostonsboy87) November 11, 2014"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/canadas-love-affair-with-barack-obama/"
],
"sentence": "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:"
}
] |
true
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/chick-fil-a-closing-down-2024/
|
Is Chick-fil-A Closing All Restaurant Locations in 2024, as Announced in 2023?
|
Jordan Liles
|
12/13/2023
|
[
"Reference.com appeared to report via online ads in late 2023 that Chick-fil-A would be shutting down all of its restaurants. However, this was false."
] |
In December 2023, multiple online advertisements were displayed to users, including possibly on YouTube, that showed one or more photos of Chick-fil-A restaurant locations with the claim that the company would be closing down in 2024. The caption for one of the ads read, "They're Closing Doors in 2024. These Fast Food Restaurant Chains Are Closing The Doors In 2024." Another ad with a picture of a Chick-fil-A restaurant read, "Restaurant Chains Closing. It's Time To Say Goodbye, These Restaurants Be Closing The Doors." We found several other variations of similar ads that made the same claim about Chick-fil-A's supposed future plans. Some of the ads said said the company would be closing up shop in 2023. All of these ads were false. It was not true that Chick-fil-A was going to be closing all of its locations, going bankrupt or going out of business for other reasons. An April 2023 report from QSR Magazine detailed the chicken sandwich company's strong financial earnings. QSR Magazine All of the ads led to a lengthy article on Reference.com with the headline, "These 53 Restaurant Chains Are on the Brink of Disappearing Entirely." In the article's page source code, we noted 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 nearly 70 businesses, most of which 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. Nowhere in the nearly 70-slide article was Chick-fil-A mentioned even once. The ads with the photos of Chick-fil-A restaurant locations were false and misleading clickbait that may have originally been created to entice readers to scroll or click through the slides, all 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 Chick-fil-A's media relations team by email to ask if it 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 Klein, Danny. Chick-Fil-A Nearing $19 Billion in Sales.QSR Magazine, 6 Apr. 2023, https://www.qsrmagazine.com/growth/finance/chick-fil-nearing-19-billion-sales/. Liles, Jordan. Snopes Tips: How To Avoid Ad Arbitrage Clickbait. Snopes, 2 Jan. 2022, https://www.snopes.com/articles/387913/avoid-ad-arbitrage-clickbait/.
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"sentence": "All of the ads led to a lengthy article on Reference.com with the headline, \"These 53 Restaurant Chains Are on the Brink of Disappearing Entirely.\" In the article's page source code, we noted 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."
},
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"sentence": "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."
},
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"hrefs": [
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"sentence": "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."
}
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false
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hostile-forces/
|
Obama Eliminates Combat Pay
|
David Mikkelson
|
02/08/2012
|
[
"Does a new policy eliminate combat pay for U.S. military personnel 'unless they are being shot at'?"
] |
Claim: A new White House policy eliminates combat pay for U.S. military personnel "unless they are being shot at." Example: [Collected via e-mail, February 2012] Obama pulls combat pay from service personnel. President Obama's latest policy outrage makes no attempt to hide his contempt for our military, as he is ordering that our troops serving overseas in war zones overseas are not to receive combat pay unless they are being shot at. A Marine who lives in Florida has just posted a note on Facebook which stated that he received a letter from his MyPay account that he would only be receiving his Hazard pay (Imminent Danger Pay) if he is actually in a hostile area and at risk of being shot at. So I just got a letter from MyPay (the way we get paid in the military), saying that I will only reason Combat Pay while deployed for the days that I take fire or am in a hostile area. Now, as an Infantry Marine, I'm constantly in a combat zone it may not always be popping off, but for them to take that away from us is bullshit. Now, the aviation tech who sits on Camp Leatherneck, sure, I can see him not getting Combat Pay, but to take it away from the grunts, the ground pounders, the front line of defense ... come on, Uncle Sam. You let the Liberals win a big one here Florida Marine Corp Soldier Origins: This item about the elimination of imminent danger pay (also known as "combat pay" or "hostile fire pay") for all U.S. military personnel save for those who are "being shot at" includes some truth and a good deal of mischaracterization. It references a policy change that took place back in February 2012 not as an "order from President Obama," but rather with the implementation of the sprawling 2012 National Defense Authorization Act passed by Congress: National Defense Authorization Act The first major overhaul in hostile fire pay since World War II has been ordered by a Senate committee in a plan that would pay troops based on their actual number of days in a hostile area rather than a flat monthly rate. Approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee as part of the 2012 defense authorization bill, S 1254, the provision would convert the current $225 for hostile fire and imminent danger pay, paid for any month in which a person spends any time in a designated zone, to a new prorated payment of $7.50 for each day spent in a designated danger zone. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., a Vietnam combat veteran and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee's personnel panel, called the change a "basic accounting measure to ensure that individuals receive hostile fire or imminent danger pay only for the time they spend in qualifying areas." Webb said ground combat troops will see "minimal impact" from the change "as they are stationed full time in the qualifying areas." In effect, all members of the U.S. military continue to receive imminent danger pay (IDP) for serving in areas "where members are subject to the threat of physical harm or imminent danger because of civil insurrection, civil war, terrorism or wartime conditions," whether or not they are actually "shot at." The change that came about in February 2012 was that previously service members received a flat monthly payment ($225) for each month in which they spent any time at all in an imminent danger pay area; instead, they are now paid a per diem rate of $7.50 for each day they actually spend in such areas. Service members who come under fire still receive the full monthly hostile fire pay amount regardless of where they are serving. As described by the Air Force Times, the reasoning behind the change in policy was as follows: Beginning with Feb. 15 [2012] paychecks, troops will be paid only for the actual days they spend in a qualifying danger pay location, Pentagon officials said. Under the previous policy, troops who spent any portion of a month in a danger pay location received full monthly danger pay of $225. The proration amounts to $7.50 per day. So, for example, if an airman spends only 10 days of the month in an eligible area, he will have only $75 in IDP added to his paycheck. The change would fall mostly on rear-echelon and headquarters staff whose occasional and short visits to a hostile area, such as attending a change-of-command ceremony in Afghanistan, had provided them the same $225 monthly hostile fire pay that went to the front-line airmen or soldiers facing imminent danger every day of the month. Because changes of command often happen on the first day of a month, someone arriving May 31 to attend a June 1 ceremony previously drew $450 two months of danger pay. Those one- or two-day visitors benefited from what ground combat troops had derisively called "sightseer pay." The change was designed mainly to prevent people who briefly visit a combat or danger zone from receiving the same pay as someone assigned to a deployed unit. Under the previous rules, a person could schedule a visit to an eligible area on the last day of one month, depart the next day and collect two full months of danger pay. Exceptions will be made for troops who are "exposed to a hostile fire incident." Regardless of location, those troops will receive a monthly payment of $225. A 2 February 2012 Armed Forces Press Service release explained the implementation of the new policy: release Service members now will receive imminent danger pay only for days they actually spend in hazardous areas, Pentagon officials said. The change, which took effect [1 February 2012], was included in the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, which President Barack Obama signed into law Dec. 31. "Members will see the prorated amount in their Feb. 15 pay records," Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. John Kirby said. The act called for DOD to pay service members imminent danger pay only for the time they spend in areas that qualify for the pay. In the past, service members received $225 per month if they spent any time that month in an area where the pay was authorized. "This is a more targeted way of handling that pay," Kirby said. Now, service members will receive $7.50 a day for days spent in these areas. Personnel who travel to the designated areas for periods less than 30 days should keep track of the number of days they are in the area to verify that they are paid for the correct number of days, officials said. The military services are working to waive or remit debts for members who may have been overpaid for January, officials said. The services can waive this "when there is no indication of fraud, fault, misrepresentation, or when members were unaware they were overpaid," Pentagon spokeswoman Eileen Lainez said. Proration is based on a 30-day month, which translates into a rate of $7.50 per day. It does not matter if the month is 28 or 31 days long, officials explained; if service members serve in affected areas for the complete month, they will receive the full rate of $225 per month. The Defense Department defines imminent danger pay areas as places where members are subject to the threat of physical harm or imminent danger because of civil insurrection, civil war, terrorism or wartime conditions. Service members who come under fire, regardless of location, will receive the full monthly hostile-fire pay amount of $225. Service members will receive notification of the change via emails, on the MyPay system, on social media sites and via the chain of command. Last updated: 31 December 2013 Tighman, Andrew. "New Danger Pay Rules Begin." Air Force Times. 7 February 2012.
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"sentence": "Origins: This item about the elimination of imminent danger pay (also known as \"combat pay\" or \"hostile fire pay\") for all U.S. military personnel save for those who are \"being shot at\" includes some truth and a good deal of mischaracterization. It references a policy change that took place back in February 2012 not as an \"order from President Obama,\" but rather with the implementation of the sprawling 2012 National Defense Authorization Act passed by Congress:"
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| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/black-knight-conspiracy-theory/
|
Is There an Ancient Alien Satellite Known as the 'Black Knight'?
|
Bethania Palma
|
01/07/2022
|
[
"The explanation is, like many things in real life, much more boring than the conspiracy theory."
] |
It's a story that seems like it was dreamed up by science fiction writers: An alien satellite has been orbiting Earth for thousands of years, and the government has kept it a secret. Or so the story goes. According to Space.com, the "Black Knight" conspiracy theory goes like this: For about 12,000 years, an alien satellite orbited Earth, surveilling humanity. It was discovered about 120 years ago, but was the subject of a cover-up. Space.com Then in 2017, UFO conspiracy theorists claimed, it was shot down by the Illuminati, a clandestine group they believe secretly controls the world. claimed The "Black Knight" satellite conspiracy theory continues to get attention online. Here's one example, posted to Twitter on Jan. 3, 2022, with the user's name cropped out for privacy: If there really is an alien craft orbiting Earth and it's the subject of a cover-up, the government is doing a very bad job of it, considering the images that catalyzed the conspiracy theory were taken and shared by NASA. And contrary to what the above post says, the origin of the object in question is known. images We will explain more below, but the object is essentially space junk, and it wasn't shot down, it burned in Earth's atmosphere. According to a debunking of the conspiracy theory published by James Oberg, a former NASA engineer, the image was taken during STS-88, the first shuttle mission to the International Space Station in 1998. The crew of the space shuttle Discovery was sent to space to help assemble the space station. debunking During a space walk in which astronauts were placing thermal covers over trunnion pins, one of the blankets came loose and, to the dismay of the astronauts, drifted away into space. Oberg pointed to video of the moment the thermal cover mishap, which can be viewed here: trunnion pins here Crookes, David and All About Space. The Black Knight Satellite: A Hodgepodge of Alien Conspiracy Theories. Space.com, 17 Dec. 2021, https://www.space.com/what-is-the-black-knight.html. Oberg, James. "Phantom satellite? What IS it? What ISNT it? WHY the confusion?" 21 Oct. 2014, https://www.jamesoberg.com/sts88_and-black-knight.pdf
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"sentence": "According to Space.com, the \"Black Knight\" conspiracy theory goes like this: For about 12,000 years, an alien satellite orbited Earth, surveilling humanity. It was discovered about 120 years ago, but was the subject of a cover-up."
},
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"sentence": "If there really is an alien craft orbiting Earth and it's the subject of a cover-up, the government is doing a very bad job of it, considering the images that catalyzed the conspiracy theory were taken and shared by NASA. And contrary to what the above post says, the origin of the object in question is known."
},
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"hrefs": [
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"sentence": "According to a debunking of the conspiracy theory published by James Oberg, a former NASA engineer, the image was taken during STS-88, the first shuttle mission to the International Space Station in 1998. The crew of the space shuttle Discovery was sent to space to help assemble the space station."
},
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],
"sentence": "During a space walk in which astronauts were placing thermal covers over trunnion pins, one of the blankets came loose and, to the dismay of the astronauts, drifted away into space. Oberg pointed to video of the moment the thermal cover mishap, which can be viewed here:"
}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/us-tons-ppe-china/
|
Did the Trump Administration Send 18 Tons of PPE to China in Early 2020?
|
David Mikkelson
|
03/31/2020
|
[
"Critics have questioned the wisdom of exporting to China medical supplies that would soon be vitally needed in the U.S."
] |
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."
Accessed 31 March 2020. Branswell, Helen. "Coronavirus Concerns Trigger Global Run on Supplies for Health Workers, Causing Shortages."
Stat. 7 February 2020.
Obeidallah, Dean. "Trump Administration Sent Protective Medical Gear to China While He Minimized the Virus Threat to US."
CNN. 30 March 2020.
Miller, Tim. "Warnings Ignored: A Timeline of Trumps COVID-19 Response."
The Bulwark. 25 March 2020.
Palma, Bethania. "Did President Trump Refer to the Coronavirus as a Hoax?"
Snopes.com 2 March 2020. Pompeo, Michael R. "The United States Announces Assistance to Combat the Novel Coronavirus."
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."
The Globe and Mail. 25 March 2020.
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"sentence": "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: "
},
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"hrefs": [
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"sentence": "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\":"
},
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"sentence": "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.:"
},
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},
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"sentence": "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\":"
},
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"hrefs": [
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],
"sentence": "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:"
}
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true
| null |
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2015/jan/08/mitch-mcconnell/mitch-mcconnell-says-economic-uptick-coincides-exp/
|
A recent economic uptick appears to coincide with the expectation of a new Republican Congress.
|
Louis Jacobson
|
01/08/2015
|
[] |
In remarks from the Senate floor, newly elevated Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., suggested that his partys takeover of Senate control appears to coincide with recent good economic news. After so many years of sluggish growth, were finally starting to see some economic data that can provide a glimmer of hope, McConnell said. The uptick appears to coincide with the biggest political change of the Obama administrations long tenure in Washington: the expectation of a new Republican Congress. McConnell stopped short of saying the Republican Senate takeover actuallycausedan economic improvement, though manymediaobserversassumedthat was what he was trying to imply. In the liberalNew Republic, Brian Beutlerjoked,It absolutelydoescoincide with the expectation of a new Republican Congress. Relatedly, things that coincide are called coincidences. But is McConnell even right that the economic data and the political expectations coincided? We focused on two questions. First, when did the expectation of a new Republican Congress actually solidify? And second, was there an uptick in economic data that actually coincided with that time frame? Well also briefly address the question of causation, even though McConnell didnt explicitly claim that. The data we found suggest McConnell is engaging in some wishful thinking. When did the expectation of a new Republican Congress actually emerge? To answer this question, we checked with political analysts who handicapped the 2014 battle for the Senate and also looked at poll-based forecasting models. McConnell said expectation, a stronger word than possibility and one that requires a reasonable degree of consensus. Going into the 2014 Senate elections, most observers expected the GOP to gain seats, due primarily to a favorable map for the GOP (far more Democrats were up for re-election, especially in conservative states) combined with the longstanding history of six-year-itch midterm elections bedeviling second-term presidents, in this case Democrat Barack Obama. But whether the GOP would actually manage to win enough seats to seize control of the chamber -- six -- was less certain. Going into the election, the Democrats held a 55-45 edge (counting two Democratic-caucusing Independents as Democrats). With many individual races rated as highly competitive right through Election Day, winning a net six seats was no slam dunk. Jennifer Duffy, who handicaps Senate races for the Cook Political Report, said different political experts settled on a Republican takeover at different times but added that she felt pretty comfortable with a gain of six seats around Labor Day, which was on Sept. 1 last year. Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato's Crystal Ball, agreed that Labor Day was a turning point, though he added that there were slivers of doubt right up until the end. We formally called the Senate for the Republicans the week before the election, but we also suggested that a GOP Senate was likely in the months prior to the election. The forecasters atfivethirtyeight.comsuggested the toss-up lasted past Labor Day. They calculated the likelihood of a GOP takeover at just over 50 percent as late as mid September, before rising again, ultimately to 76 percent on the eve of the election. TheNew York Times in-house forecast saw much the same pattern, narrowing to essentially a coin flip in mid September before climbing to a 75 percent chance of a GOP takeover by Election Day. All told, this suggests that an expectation of a GOP takeover didnt emerge until the beginning of September at the earliest, and possibly as late as the second half of September. This leads to our next question. Has there been an economic uptick that appears to coincide with this timeline? McConnells office pointed us to the announcement that the economy grew at an annualized 5 percent rate in the third quarter of 2014, the biggestexpansionin more than a decade. So well start there. Thefigurewas indeed impressive. But there are two problems with citing this as evidence for McConnells point. First, the third quarter covers July, August and September. So the bulk of this growth occurred before the expectation of a GOP Senate began to jell. Second, GDP growth for thesecondquarter -- covering April, May and June of 2014 -- was almost as impressive, 4.6 percent. And that was well before the expectation of a GOP takeover seemed to take hold. (In fact, for much of that quarter, theNew York Timesmodel showed the Democrats likelier to win control than the Republicans.) Indeed, the longer-term trend for GDP growth shows that three of the past five quarters -- that is, since mid 2013 -- have exceeded 4 percent growth, and another quarter came close to that. Only one quarter, the first quarter of 2014, was a dud. So its not as if the impressive third-quarter growth of 2014 came totally out of the blue. Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis We also looked at another major yardstick for the economy -- the monthly change in employment. During 2014,total monthly employment gainsaveraged 241,000. In October -- the month after the expectation of a GOP takeover would have taken hold -- the gain was almost exactly that, 243,000. The November total was 321,000 -- the highest of the year, but not far out of line when compared with the general trend for job creation since early 2011 (see chart below). Its too soon to tell whether Novembers figure kicks off a new, higher threshold or whether the number settles back again into the 240,000 range. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics The strongest evidence for McConnells point is consumer confidence. TheUniversity of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentimentdid experience an uptick between November and December, but even with this measurement, confidence had been rising consistently since July. And other evidence actually points in the opposite direction. Data fornew orders of capital goods-- a good statistic for gauging how much confidence there is in future economic conditions -- actually fell every month between August and November. The question of causation Even if the statistical timeline fit perfectly, its worth remembering that correlation does not equal causation. I don't think that either party has that much power to affect short-run economic movements, except by royally screwing up, and I haven't seen any evidence that theexpectationof a regime change of this sort would affect economic outcomes, said Tara Sinclair, a George Washington University economist. Its even possible to draw up a theory that runs the opposite direction as McConnells linkage. Gary Burtless, a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution, said one reason GDP and employment have increased a bit faster in recent months is that government investment, government consumption, and public employee payrolls have recently been rising instead of falling. Given this, McConnells comments linking the GOP and accelerated economic growth are ironic, Burtless said, since Republicans have been at the forefront of cutting government spending and payrolls. Our ruling McConnell said a recent economic uptick appears to coincide with the expectation of a new Republican Congress. Even leaving aside the question of causation, key statistics show that the economic recovery was under way well before September, which is our best estimate for when the expectation of a GOP Senate solidified. We rate the statement False. Help fund PolitiFact's Kickstarter to live fact-check the 2015 State of the Union and GOP response.
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"National",
"Economy",
"Jobs"
] |
[
{
"image_caption": "caused",
"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1gPMQNOJ9AkpRkPN6cRX3M6QlnDyNxnwS"
},
{
"image_caption": "New Republic",
"image_src": "https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1xkfJV5AtQHEq2UY3689-x5QOGCjr_-5C"
}
] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/07/did-mitch-mcconnell-just-take-credit-for-the-economic-recovery/?_r=0"
],
"sentence": "McConnell stopped short of saying the Republican Senate takeover actuallycausedan economic improvement, though manymediaobserversassumedthat was what he was trying to imply. In the liberalNew Republic, Brian Beutlerjoked,It absolutelydoescoincide with the expectation of a new Republican Congress. Relatedly, things that coincide are called coincidences. "
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://fivethirtyeight.com/interactives/senate-forecast/"
],
"sentence": "The forecasters atfivethirtyeight.comsuggested the toss-up lasted past Labor Day. They calculated the likelihood of a GOP takeover at just over 50 percent as late as mid September, before rising again, ultimately to 76 percent on the eve of the election. TheNew York Times in-house forecast saw much the same pattern, narrowing to essentially a coin flip in mid September before climbing to a 75 percent chance of a GOP takeover by Election Day."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-23/economy-grows-by-most-in-a-decade-on-u-s-consumer-spending-gain.html"
],
"sentence": "McConnells office pointed us to the announcement that the economy grew at an annualized 5 percent rate in the third quarter of 2014, the biggestexpansionin more than a decade. So well start there."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/glance.htm"
],
"sentence": "Thefigurewas indeed impressive. But there are two problems with citing this as evidence for McConnells point."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CES0000000001?output_view=net_1mth"
],
"sentence": "During 2014,total monthly employment gainsaveraged 241,000. In October -- the month after the expectation of a GOP takeover would have taken hold -- the gain was almost exactly that, 243,000. The November total was 321,000 -- the highest of the year, but not far out of line when compared with the general trend for job creation since early 2011 (see chart below). Its too soon to tell whether Novembers figure kicks off a new, higher threshold or whether the number settles back again into the 240,000 range."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://www.sca.isr.umich.edu/files/tbcics.pdf"
],
"sentence": "The strongest evidence for McConnells point is consumer confidence. TheUniversity of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentimentdid experience an uptick between November and December, but even with this measurement, confidence had been rising consistently since July."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/NEWORDER/"
],
"sentence": "And other evidence actually points in the opposite direction. Data fornew orders of capital goods-- a good statistic for gauging how much confidence there is in future economic conditions -- actually fell every month between August and November."
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1448393631/live-fact-checking-2015-state-of-the-union-and-gop"
],
"sentence": "Help fund PolitiFact's Kickstarter to live fact-check the 2015 State of the Union and GOP response."
}
] |
false
| null |
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/mcmemo/
|
McDonald's Drive-Through Memo
|
David Mikkelson
|
10/11/2009
|
[
"Memo from a McDonald's director advocates making a policy of omitting items from customers' drive-through orders."
] |
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
|
[
"profit"
] |
[
{
"image_caption": null,
"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"
}
] |
[
{
"hrefs": [
"https://mcdonalds.com.au/#/home/promo2"
],
"sentence": "Moreover, the McDonald's Australia web site now carries an alert offering a \"customer update on fabricated letter\":"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://web.archive.org/web/20130102184449/https://mcdonalds.com.au/about-us/organisation"
],
"sentence": "Additionally, the organizational listing on the McDonald's Australia web site included only one Managing Director, whose name was Catriona Noble, not Robert Trugabe. "
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.parade.com/dictators/2009/the-worlds-10-worst-dictators.html"
],
"sentence": "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:"
},
{
"hrefs": [
"https://www.news.com.au/technology/prankster-david-thorne-behind-mcdonalds-hoax/story-e6frfro0-1225786544355"
],
"sentence": "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.\" "
}
] |
false
| null |
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