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☆ Opinion: DeSantis and Pence are wrong in pushing to bring back Fort Bragg
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( Dean Obeidallah | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence, are attempting to take our nation backward by vowing to rename a military base in North Carolina in honor of Braxton Bragg, a slave-owning, former Confederate general. Fort Bragg became Fort Liberty earlier this month as part of a push to remove the names of Confederate leaders from military bases in the wake of protests over the police killing of George Floyd. Confederate President Jefferson Davis asked Bragg to leave his plantation and serve as a general. At the 1863 Battle of Chickamauga alone — where Bragg was uncharacteristically successful in defeating Union forces — patriotic US soldiers suffered 16,000 casualties. of Fort Bragg, Fort Robert E. Lee, and many other Military Bases.

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☆ Elon Musk says Tucker Carlson will be subject to Twitter's fact-checking force, Community Notes. This might be a problem for a TV host whose record on Snopes isn't exactly the cleanest.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Hannah Getahun | Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Elon Musk responded by saying anything misleading would be flagged by community notes. Tucker Carlson is moving his show from a traditional broadcasting outlet to Twitter where he will be subject to the social media platform's fact-checking force, Community Notes. The TV host's history of making untrue statements is well documented on third-party fact-checking sites such as Politifact and Snopes. Not every piece of misleading or false information on the platform is publicly marked by a Community Note. When enough people from different points of view rate a note as "helpful," the Community Note will appear, according to Twitter.

☆ Is Putin using a body double? Listen here: Skeptics say spotting a decoy is all in the ears.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The trip to the besieged region renewed claims that Putin uses body doubles for public appearances. The original Washington Post article has been updated to remove references to Putin using a body double. However, the Post isn't the first publication to reference the possibility of a Putin body double. It cannot be repeated," though he has not offered concrete evidence to back up the claim that Putin uses a body double. Ears as evidenceWhile Budanov's claims about Putin's health or use of body doubles cannot be verified, the use of ears as forensic evidence has been documented for decades.

☆ Elon Musk thought it was unfair to jail the 'QAnon Shaman' who broke into the Capitol, but the DOJ says none of the footage was withheld and Tucker Carlson only showed 4 minutes of it
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A Proud Boy wants to dismiss his seditious-conspiracy case based on Tucker Carlson's Jan. 6 footage. The DOJ responded on Sunday that all of the footage was already provided during discovery. Elon Musk previously suggested there was a miscarriage of justice by jailing the "QAnon Shaman." Chansley's former attorney, Albert Watkins, also said that he had not seen the footage aired on Carlson's show, The Washington Post reported. "In the weeks prior to the plea repeated requests were made to make sure we had all the video footage," Watkins wrote in an email.

☆ Elon Musk called for the release of 'QAnon Shaman' Jacob Chansley, jailed for his role in the Capitol riot
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk called for the release of 'QAnon Shaman' Jacob Chansley, jailed over the Capitol riot. "Free Jacob Chansley," the Tesla CEO and Twitter owner tweeted on Friday while sharing a video of Chansley outside the Capitol telling protesters that Trump had told people to go home. And the other video shows him calmly walking in the Capitol building, being escorted by officers and then thanking the officers." The outlet added that the footage aired by Carlson left out important context. According to a timeline of events by the Department of Justice, Chansley was one of the first 30 people to enter the Capitol building on January 6, 2021.

☆ Fact Check-No evidence for alleged George Soros ‘life mission’ quote in Newsweek interview
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Memes shared on Twitter (here) and Facebook (here) (here) read: “’I’ve made my life’s mission to destroy the United States. I hate this country and I hate all of the people in it,’ George Soros, Newsweek 1979.”Laura Silber, a spokesperson for Soros-funded Open Society Foundations told Reuters that Soros had not “ever expressed such sentiments.”“We can absolutely confirm that George Soros gave no such interview to Newsweek in 1979,” Silber said via email. Soros was indeed interviewed by the outlet in 2009, but no such quotation about his “life’s work” is included in the report by The Australian. There is no public record of George Soros saying this to Newsweek in 1979. The quotation has been debunked before and a spokesperson for Soros told Reuters he never made such a statement.

☆ Drag queens take on Tennessee bill seeking to restrict their performances
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Andrew Davis | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

At 5 Points Diner & Bar in Nashville, Tenn., drag performer Veronika Electronika can often be seen strutting between brunch tables. The measure, known as Senate Bill 3, was introduced by Tennessee Republican Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson in November. Tennessee has proposed 31 anti-LGBTQ bills this year, the most of any state, according to Freedom for All Americans. “We tip our servers, we tip our bartenders, we tip our hair stylists, and we tip our drag queens,” she said. As for Veronika, she said she’s determined to rally enough opposition to scuttle Tennessee’s drag bill before it becomes state law.

☆ Congress is poised to ensure that no vice president could unilaterally decide an election 2 years after Trump pressured Pence to reverse his loss
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

After months of debate, lawmakers are poised to pass major changes to the Electoral Count Act. They wanted the vice president to either delay the January 6 joint session of Congress and/or unilaterally find that the certified results of states in disputes were not legitimate. I think Vice President Pence … did exactly the right thing and previous vice presidents have done the same. Trump himself has suggested that by clarifying the Electoral Count Act, senators are implicitly suggesting that Pence could have had this power. In order for pro-Trump lawmakers to throw the election to the vice president, they still needed to file objections to the results.

☆ George Santos responds to report that accused him of misrepresenting credentials on campaign trail
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Zoë Richards | Zoë Richards Is The Evening Politics Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Santos, 34, was elected to represent New York’s 3rd Congressional District, beating Democrat Robert Zimmerman last month. Representatives for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs told NBC New York they had no record of his employment. In a statement Monday, Santos’ lawyer, Joseph Murray, dismissed the story, insisting that Santos was being smeared by "enemies" at the paper, and suggesting that Santos, posed a threat to Democrats. "It is no surprise that Congressman-elect Santos has enemies at the New York Times who are attempting to smear his good name with these defamatory allegations. The upset means Santos will succeed Democrat Tom Suozzi, who lost a primary bid for governor this year.

☆ Incoming GOP congressman accused of lying about his employment history and where he went to college defends himself with a false Winston Churchill quote
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Charles R. Davis | Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Long Island Republican George Santos has been accused of fabricating his biography. In a statement Monday night, Santos's attorney quoted Winston Churchill. The statement posted on George Santos' Twitter account attributes a Victor Hugo quote to Winston Churchill. It goes on to quote the former Conservative UK prime minister who led Britain during World War II: "As Winston Churchill famously stated, 'You have enemies? As a representative for the International Churchill Society told the fact-checking website: "Churchill never said it."

☆ Biden leans into manufacturing in campaign-style Michigan speech
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Peter Nicholas | Peter Nicholas Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

“We’re building a better America,” Biden said at a plant that makes components for electric vehicles. Two years ago, anyone betting against Biden’s political prospects would have lost. Biden has said more than 700,000 manufacturing jobs have been added since he took office. Democrats would like to flip the county in 2024, when Michigan will, as ever, loom as a crucial battleground state. “We’re hoping that President Biden’s visit might entice people to come back to the fold and recognize what his administration is doing for us economically.”

☆ A breakdown of gun terminology to help you in discussions on mass shootings and debates over gun control
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( John Haltiwanger | Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Brian Witte/Associated Press"Assault weapon" is among the most contentious phrases in discussions on gun control. There's not a universal definition of what an assault weapon is, which is part of the reason this subject tends to antagonize the gun lobby or gun advocates. In short, gun enthusiasts typically say a firearm should be called an assault rifle only if it's capable of fully automatic fire — and they tend to reject the term assault weapon altogether. "None of the so-called assault rifles legally owned by US civilians are assault rifles as the term is used in military contexts," Gary Kleck, a criminal-justice professor emeritus at Florida State University, told PolitiFact. Kleck added: "Assault rifles used by members of the military can all fire full automatic, like machine guns, as well as one shot at a time, whereas none of the so-called assault rifles legally owned by US civilians can fire full automatic."

☆ Fact Check-2020 video of poll worker in Delaware County recirculates as false evidence of voter fraud in 2022 Midterm elections
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

An old video showing a poll worker in Delaware County, Pennsylvania filling in blank ballots and stamping them has been shared again as alleged evidence of voter fraud in the 2022 midterm elections. According to election officials, the poll worker was transcribing damaged ballots, with poll watchers present during the process. Delaware County Pennsylvania. In 2020, Reuters addressed a similar allegation about a poll worker who was legally making duplicates for damaged ballots at Delaware County (here) (here). The transcribed ballots and the original damaged ballots and the batch report for the two are maintained together in the permanent records,” Marosfsky added.

☆ Kevin O'Leary: Do this for 1 hour every morning, or 'you will lose money 100% of the time'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"You have to invest in information," O'Leary says. Spending an hour skimming through articles on your social media feed may sound easy. O'Leary avoids articles with "ridiculous and outrageous headlines" during his daily morning news hour, no matter how enticing they sound, he says. Google has a free fact-checking tool, where you can search keywords and verify if claims on social media or in blog posts are accurate. If you let the news and social media "bleed your time, you're going to become a very inefficient person," he adds.

☆ Fact Check-Hoax about serial killer posing as taxi driver in New York City resurfaces
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A fabricated report that is several years old about a New York City taxi driver who is a serial killer has recirculated on social media. An example can be seen (here) with the text: “*** Warning *** This is a man with Taxi number (2465RB) in NY Who drives around taking People to kill. A Google search on the story or on the license plate number produces no credible results to support the claims about a New York City serial killer taxi driver (bit.ly/3Sl6ZBE), (bit.ly/3ShD25K). The story has been debunked by fact checkers Snopes (here) in 2018 and PolitiFact (here) in 2022. There is no evidence of a serial killer posing as a taxi driver in New York City.

☆ Fact Check-No evidence of schools accommodating ‘furries’ with litter boxes
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A claim that schools are placing litter boxes in student restrooms for those who identify as “furries” is circulating on social media again. The latest claim appears to originate in an October episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast where host Joe Rogan told former U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard a story about litter boxes at an unidentified school. In July, Reuters Fact Check explored and debunked claims surrounding “furries” in detail (here) and previously fact checked claims related to litter boxes in student restrooms (here), (here). Fact checking organizations including the Associated Press, PolitiFact and USA Today have also debunked claims about litter boxes in schools across the U.S. (here), (here) and (here). There is no evidence that U.S. schools are accommodating litter boxes to students self-identifying as “furries.”This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team.

☆ Herschel Walker tries to turn 'prop' badge controversy into campaign gold
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Marc Caputo | Marc Caputo Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +12 min

And Walker’s campaign told NBC News that it has ordered 1,000 imitation plastic law enforcement badges that say “I’m with Herschel” as a fundraising tool. “Herschel Walker has been a friend to law enforcement and has a record of honoring police,” said Gail Gitcho, the Walker campaign strategist who ordered the badges Saturday. "It just gives us a chance to talk about Herschel’s support of law enforcement and law enforcement's support for him. If he said, ‘I’m a law enforcement officer and I have these powers,’ then I have a problem with that. Asked whether he had a problem with Walker’s flashing the honorary badge onstage, Wilcher said: “No.

☆ Fact Check-The Simpsons did not predict the date of Queen Elizabeth’s death
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Altered and fabricated footage purportedly showing scenes from the animated television show The Simpsons has been shared on social media to claim that the series “predicted” the date of Queen Elizabeth II’s death. Queen Elizabeth, Britain's longest-reigning monarch and the nation's figurehead for seven decades, died on Sept. 8, 2022 aged 96 (here) (here). It highly resembles an edited image, debunked by Snopes in 2017 (here), that was fabricated to show former U.S. president Donald Trump. Matt Selman, executive producer of The Simpsons, tweeted on Sept. 22 an article by Variety that debunked the claim that the show had predicted the death of Queen Elizabeth (here). The Simpsons did not predict the date of Queen Elizabeth’s death.

☆ Anti-vaxxers evaded social-media content bans by replacing the word 'vaccine' with a carrot emoji, BBC investigation finds
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-16 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

One large Facebook group used the carrot emoji to replace the word vaccine, per the BBC. The shot glass emoji was also used to replace the word "shot" and disparage vaccines. Per the BBC, several social media groups were using the emoji as a code for the word "vaccine." He said in a Twitter thread on Sunday the carrot emoji symbol was used to replace the word vaccine "presumably to evade censorship. Turqay Melikli/Getty imagesThe BBC flagged the group using the emojis as code to Facebook's parent company Meta, which took them down.

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