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FMD3400 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: At least 5, 300 Wells Fargo employees have been fired for ethics violations like setting up illicit accounts without customers’ knowledge to meet sales targets. Now there’s another group of aggrieved Wells Fargo workers: people who say they were fired or demoted for staying honest and falling short of sales goals they say were unrealistic. That second group of workers, who claim that they played by the rules and were punished for it, are starting to coalesce around two lawsuits that were just filed and that seek status. The first was filed in Los Angeles last week by former Wells Fargo workers who say that while their colleagues created unauthorized accounts to meet quotas, they were penalized or terminated for refusing to do the same. The bank’s chief executive, John Stumpf, has often stated his goal that each Wells customer should have at least eight accounts with the company. That aggressive target has made the bank’s stock a darling on Wall Street, the lawsuit notes. On Monday, a federal lawsuit with analogous claims was filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, seeking to create a class of current and former Wells employees across the country who had similar experiences. “These are the people who have been left holding the bag,†said Jonathan Delshad, the lawyer representing the workers in both suits. “It was a revolving door. If you weren’t willing to engage in these types of illegal practices, they just booted you out the door and replaced you. †In a statement on Monday, Wells Fargo said: “We disagree with the allegations in the complaint and will vigorously defend against the misrepresentations it contains about Wells Fargo and all of the Wells Fargo team members whose careers have been built on doing the right thing by our customers every day. †One former employee planning to join the lawsuit is Dennis Russell, 62, who said he was fired in 2010 after a career as a telephone banker at Wells Fargo’s call center in Orange County, Calif. Mr. Russell handled incoming customer service calls and was expected to refer 23 percent of his callers to a sales representative for additional product sales, he said. But the customers Mr. Russell spoke with were usually in dire financial shape, he said in a telephone interview on Monday. Looking at their accounts, he could see mortgages in foreclosure, credit cards in collections and cars being repossessed for overdue loan payments. “The people calling didn’t have assets to speak of,†Mr. Russell said. “What products could you possibly offer them in a legitimate way?†The two fresh lawsuits echo many of the allegations in a 2015 lawsuit filed by the Los Angeles city attorney’s office. Wells Fargo settled the case this month, agreeing to pay $185 million in fines, including a $100 million penalty levied by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the federal watchdog agency that conducted its own investigation. But some Wells Fargo employees tried, years earlier, to sound the alarm — with personally disastrous results. Yesenia Guitron, a former banker, sued Wells Fargo in 2010 — three years earlier than the bank has admitted it knew about the sham accounts. Ms. Guitron became alarmed when, two months into her job at Wells Fargo, she noticed that a fellow banker at the company’s St. Helena, Calif. branch was opening and closing customers’ accounts without their permission. Intense sales pressure and unrealistic quotas drove employees to falsify documents and game the system to meet their sales goals, she wrote in her legal filing. Ms. Guitron said she did everything the company had taught employees to do to report such misconduct internally. She told her manager about her concerns. She called Wells Fargo’s ethics hotline. When those steps yielded no results, she went up the chain, contacting a human resources representative and the bank’s regional manager. Wells Fargo’s response? After months of what Ms. Guitron described as retaliatory harassment, she was called into a meeting and told she was being fired for insubordination. In 2012, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California sided with Wells Fargo and ruled that even if its sales targets were unreasonable, the bank had the right to use them as an employment yardstick. Ms. Guitron appealed the decision and lost again — leaving her with a bill for more than $18, 000 in court costs. “She put her neck on the line†and they punished her, said Yosef Peretz, the lawyer who represented Ms. Guitron. “She’s a single mom with two kids, barely making it, and her reputation was poisoned. No one would hire her. †Ms. Guitron left the banking industry and now works in property management, he said. Christopher Johnson, 38, a plaintiff in the lawsuit filed on Monday, said he hesitated to get involved in the legal case because it brought back memories of “a very dark time in my life. †He was fired in 2008 after working for Wells Fargo for five months. In trainings, the company repeatedly emphasized the importance of its ethics code and urged employees to call its confidential hotline if they observed anything inappropriate, Mr. Johnson said. But just two weeks after he started working as a business banker in a Wells Fargo branch in Malibu, Calif. his manager began pressuring him to open accounts for his friends and family — with or without their knowledge. When he refused, he was criticized for not being a team player. Mr. Johnson soon learned that his colleagues routinely opened unauthorized accounts for customers who they thought wouldn’t notice, like elderly clients or those who didn’t speak English well. Disturbed by this practice, he did as he was instructed during training and called the company’s ethics hotline. Three days later, he was fired for “not meeting expectations,†he said. Broke, Mr. Johnson was evicted from his house and spent the next seven months living out of his truck. He put all of his possessions in a storage unit, then lost them to auction when he was unable to pay the storage bill. Mr. Johnson, who now works as a writer, said he had stepped forward at his mother’s urging: “She was like, ‘Your story needs to be told. You got fired because you tried to do the right thing. ’†Mr. Russell also lost his home after he lost his Wells Fargo job. Unable to find a new position in the industry, he now works part time for a church in Costa Mesa, Calif. helping with its outreach programs for the homeless. Last week, he watched — in disbelief, he says — as Mr. Stumpf was grilled by the Senate Banking Committee and insisted that Wells Fargo never wanted its employees to do anything unethical to meet their sales goals. “It’s a crock,†Mr. Russell said. “They established the culture that made this happen — it comes down from the top. †During the hearing, Mr. Russell said, “I was sitting there in a rage. The people who had a conscience, the employees who refused to go along, they deserve vindication. †Workers’ efforts to band together to litigate cases against employers are often derailed by mandatory arbitration clauses that require them to address disputes privately and individually. Wells Fargo has such a clause in some of its employment agreements, but it was added only recently, in December 2015, according to Mark Folk, a spokesman for the bank. Mr. Delshad, the lawyer pursuing the workers’ cases, said he thought the covered class could grow to “tens of thousands of people†nationwide. “We’ve had former workers, and some current ones, calling our office all weekend,†he said. “We have a whole bunch of new plaintiffs to be added to the suit. It’s just unbelievable, the amount and scope of this fraud. †Although Wells Fargo settled the civil cases with Los Angeles and its federal regulators, more fallout could be coming. Richard Cordray, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, strongly hinted that the agency had referred the case on to other federal bureaus for criminal investigation, and multiple federal prosecutors have sent subpoenas to Wells Fargo seeking information on the misconduct. On Thursday, the House Financial Services Committee will hold its own hearing on the scandal. Mr. Stumpf, who has been invited to speak, plans to appear, Wells Fargo said. | 1 | [
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FMD3401 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: IT S INTERESTING THAT A LIGHTHEARTED MOMENT LIKE THE ONE BELOW COULD CAUSE SUCH ANGER AND OUTRAGE FROM THE LEFT!Rob Gronkowksi popped into today s White House press briefing to ask Sean Spicer if he needed any help. Spicer, a Patriots fan, declined the offer. Mild laughs were had. Gronkowski then disappeared, presumably to cause more mischief in other parts of the building.It s not surprising that the tight end performed a bit like this. That he was wearing a shirt while doing it was a bit of a shock.Right after this video was posted Facebook comments were brutal about how unprofessional it was to have this guy pop into the briefing. We had Obama s antics for 8 years and these people can t take one light moment like this?The left went nuts with faux outrage: We can think of many moments during the Obama administration where some unprofessional antics took place. The only problem is that these antics are much more serious Remember Jay Carney? Well, here are 6 big moments he s caught in BIG lies. We consider this to be much more important than what happened today.6 OF THE TOP ANTICS FROM WHITE HOUSE PRESS BRIEFINGS UNDER OBAMA JAY CARNEY S NOT FUNNY BUT SERIOUS GAFFES : 1. When he said he knows 3 people named Hilary Rosen. After Obama adviser Hilary Rosen said Ann Romney hadn t worked a day in her life, it was discovered Rosen had visited the White House numerous times. When questioned on it, Carney claimed he knew 3 separate women named Hilary Rosen. 2. That one time he stumbled when asked why the Obama Administration withheld a crucial Benghazi email.3. That day when he called a reporter s repeated questions on Kathleen Sebelius lame. 4. That time he admitted White House staff knew of the IRS scandal and didn t tell Obama.5. That time he admitted that the Obama Budget wouldn t balance.6. That moment when he finally admitted Obama s Keep Your Plan promise wasn t true.Shouldn t the liberal snowflakes be outraged at what Jay Carney did? | 0 | [
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FMD3402 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Texas and four other states sued the Obama administration on Tuesday over extending its healthcare nondiscrimination law to transgender individuals, saying the move “represents a radical invasion of the federal bureaucracy into a doctor’s medical judgment.†Texas, along with Wisconsin, Nebraska, Kentucky and Kansas sued on behalf three medical organizations, two of which are affiliated with Christian groups. They argue the medical groups would be forced to violate their religious beliefs “and perform harmful medical transition procedures or else suffer massive financial liability,†according to the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, named as a defendant in the suit, was not immediately available for comment. On Sunday, a judge for the same district blocked an Obama administration policy that public schools should allow transgender students to use the bathrooms of their choice, granting a nationwide injunction sought by 13 states, led by Texas. The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, was passed in 2010 and included anti-discrimination provisions to prevent insurers from charging customers more or denying coverage based on age or sex. That law left some areas open to interpretation and thousands of consumers complain each year about being discriminated against, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said last year. The U.S. government said in September it would broaden its nondiscrimination law to transgender individuals and require health insurers and medical providers to treat all patients equally, regardless of sex. | 1 | [
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FMD3403 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: Is it true that Ecosia, the search engine, utilizes its earnings for tree planting purposes? Claim summaries: The search engine claims it has funded the planting of more than 60 million trees.
contextual information: If you browse Snopes.com, you'll likely come across the advice, "If it seems too good to be true, it it probably is" on pages about social media scams. While this platitude is certainly worth considering when browsing the internet, a few exceptions exist. social media scams The Germany-based search engine Ecosia claims to use its profits to plant trees around the world. Its home page even carries a tally of the number of trees that have reportedly been planted by Ecosia users: For many people, this business model may seem "too good to be true" and has led to some skepticism about the legitimacy of this company. A search on Google, for instance, results in several articles and blog posts questioning the legitimacy of the search engine and asking whether Ecosia is a scam. As far as we can tell, Ecosia is a legitimate search engine that truly uses a portion of its profits to help plant trees around the world. Ecosia was launched in 2009 by Christian Kroll. At the time, the search engine was partnered with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and promised to donate "at least 80 percent of its income from sponsored links to WWFs rainforest protection programme in Brazils Juruena-Apui region." WWF announced the partnership in a blog post: blog Those people unable to make it to the Copenhagen Climate Conference this month can still contribute to stopping climate change by using a new search engine from their own computers. The same day the conference begins on Dec. 7, web users can start using a new green search engine called Ecosia. The new application, powered by Yahoo! and Microsofts Bing search engines, will allow internet surfers to protect about 2 square meters of Amazon rainforest just by clicking on sponsored links. Although users do not donate any money themselves, the company behind Ecosia will donate at least 80 percent of its income from sponsored links to WWFs rainforest protection programme in Brazils Juruena-Apui region. The green search engine is a very modern and inventive method of saving the world climate without a huge effort, says WWF Germanys director Eberhard Brandes. Every year billions of dollars are being earned in the internet only from advertising revenue, says Christian Kroll, founder of Ecosia. There is a more eco-friendly way of using these huge profits: the money should better be used to fight global warming. Since 2009, Ecosia has partnered with a number of other environmental organizations. The company reports it uses a portion of its profits to fund these organizations, who in turn work to plant trees around the world. Ecosia makes money the way most other search engines and websites do: through advertising revenue. While this money covers various business expenses, such as advertising and operational costs, Ecosia claims that the majority of its revenue goes toward funding tree-planting projects. Ecosia releases monthly financial reports so users can see exactly how the company is spending its money. The most recent full report comes from July 2019. The following report shows that 52% of its total income (approximately 80% of its surplus revenue) was invested in tree-planting projects; 5% was spent on advertising; 30% was spent on operational costs; and 12% went into company "reserves," which are used to fund larger environmental investments: financial reports We have been unable to independently verify these numbers. However, we checked the websites of several of Ecosia's reported benefactors and found that many of these organizations list Ecosia as one of their partners. Dr. Simon Pfister, managing director of Green Ethiopia, an organization working to grow forests in Ethiopia that received approximately $150,000 from Ecosia in June 2019, told us that Ecosia accurately reported its donation in the company's financial report. Ecosia is also a Certified B Corporation. This means that Ecosia underwent a third-party evaluation that determined the company had an overall positive impact on its workers, community, and environment. According to the company: Ecosia Certified B Corporation. B Corp Certification doesnt just evaluate a product or service; it assesses the overall positive impact of the company that stands behind it. And increasingly thats what people care most about. Certified B Corporations achieve a minimum verified score on the B Impact Assessment a rigorous assessment of a companys impact on its workers, customers, community, and environment and make their B Impact Report transparent on bcorporation.net. Certified B Corporations also amend their legal governing documents to require their board of directors to balance profit and purpose. The combination of third-party validation, public transparency, and legal accountability help Certified B Corps build trust and value. B Corp Certification is administered by the non-profit B Lab. Ecosia lets users plant trees by searching the web. In donating 80 percent of its surplus ad revenue, the search engine has raised almost $3 million for reforestation projects since its founding in December 2009. Ecosia's mission to cultivate a world where the environment doesnt need protecting has it working to plant one billion new trees by the year 2020. By supporting high-impact reforestation efforts as well as neutralising all CO2 emissions related to its search Ecosia aims to achieve the highest positive environmental impact per dollar possible. By publishing its monthly donation receipts online, Ecosia aims to live up to its users demands for transparency. And by working to improve its charitable web service day after day, Ecosia aims to show the world that small changes can make a big difference. In its mission to plant one billion trees by 2020, Ecosia is working with experts and communities to reforest areas of the world that need it most. Sustainable, high-impact planting strategies mean improvements to the environment, local economies and social stability. Ecosia truly uses a large portion of its profits to fund tree planting projects. Of course, for anyone searching for an environmentally friendly search engine, planting trees isn't the only factor to consider. Ecosia is largely powered by Microsoft's Bing search engine. While Microsoft's global operations have been carbon neutral since 2012, the data centers powering Bing don't run entirely on renewable energy. Microsoft is working toward this goal, however, and expects to be driven by 100 percent renewable energy by 2023: Bing 2012 100 percent renewable energy In our data centers, we will continue to focus on R&D for efficiency and renewable energy. In 2016, we announced that we would power our data centers with more renewable energy, setting a 50 percent target by the end of 2018 and topping 60 percent early in the next decade while continuing to improve from there. We hit the first target nearly a year ahead of schedule, and today we are sharing the news that we will reach the 60 percent milestone before the end of this year. Were therefore setting our next milestone on the path to 100 percent renewable energy, aiming to surpass the 70 percent target by 2023. Well also launch a new data-driven circular cloud initiative using the Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor performance and streamline our reuse, resale and recycling of data center assets, including servers. For comparison's sake, Google announced in 2017 that its search engine was being powered by 100% renewable energy. announced While Microsoft may not be at quite at 100% renewable energy yet, Ecosia claims that its own servers run on clean power thanks to its new solar plant. Additionally, Ecosia's carbon footprint is lessened due to its involvement with various tree-planting projects around the world. The company says: carbon footprint Renewable energy: Did you know that the CO2 footprint of an average search is estimated at 0.2 grams? Not so with Ecosia. We recently built our own solar plant, so that we can run our servers on clean power. This is even better than buying renewable energy from existing plants, as the plant can deliver clean energy to the grid and replace electricity derived from fossil fuels. Carbon-negative: By planting trees and offsetting its energy use with renewables, each search with Ecosia actually removes 1 kg of CO2 from the air, which makes Ecosia a carbon-negative search engine. Heres the math: an average search generates around 0.005 of revenue. It costs roughly 0.25 to plant a tree, which means that Ecosia can plant one tree every 50 searches. On average, these trees will each remove 50 kg of CO2 during an expected 15 year lifetime. To sum up: Ecosia makes money through advertisements on its search engine. While a portion of that money is used to fund the operational costs of the business, about 80% of its surplus revenue is donated to environmental organizations and tree-planting projects around the world. Smith, Brad. "We're Increasing Our CarbonFee as We Double Down on Sustainability." Microsoft. 15 April 2019. Google. "100% Renewable is Just the Beginning."
Retrieved 27 August 2019. Ecosia. "Financial Reports and Tree-Planting Receipts."
15 May 2019. World Wildlife Fund. "Clicks to Help Save Amazon." 3 December 2009. | 1 | [
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FMD3404 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: Did Trapped Zoo Animals Drown After the Nova Kakhovka Dam Collapse? Claim summaries: Russia initially claimed that the story was false because the city in question which has a zoo did not, in fact, have a zoo.
contextual information: Early on the morning of June 6, 2023, at around the time residents reported hearing explosions, the Nova Kakhovka Dam in the Kherson region of Ukraine failed, leading to catastrophic flooding in several downstream towns and cities. Ukrainian authorities have blamed Russia for the collapse. Russian authorities have denied involvement, blaming Kyiv. Nova Kakhovka Dam failed have blamed denied The city of Nova Kakhovka, directly below the dam, experienced extreme flooding shortly after its failure. As images of the town's administrative center under several feet of water went viral, claims soon emerged that a large portion of a local zoo's animal population had perished in the floodwaters. These reports concern "a recreation complex for children and adults" named Kazkova Dibrova which roughly translates to Fairytale Dibrova that contained, along with sculptures and other attractions, a small zoo. On the morning of the dam's failure, the Facebook page of that park reported the death of its animal population: Kazkova Dibrova Facebook page This morning, the recreation complex "Kazkova Dibrova" was completely flooded with water after the explosion of the Russian Kakhovskaya HPP. About 300 animals that our Novokakhov residents knew and loved died. Monkeys Anfisa and Charlik, pony Malysh, donkey Osya, raccoons Mishka, Lolya, Dinka, parrot Venya, crow Roma, marmots, Cameroonian goats, sheep, parrots, guinea pigs, ferrets and many other small pets of ours. Only a couple of swans and ducks survived. A small swan chick, born only 5 days ago, also died. Already at 6 in the morning, when Dibrova's workers arrived, everything was flooded with water. A video shared on Telegram appeared to show the park as workers arrived that morning. While Snopes can verify that these videos showedthe entrance of the Kazkova Dibrova, we cannot independently confirm the time when the video was filmed: the entrance As viral headlines reported that "300 zoo animals drown in floodwaters," Russian media was quick to deny any aspect of the claim whatsoever, asserting in the English language version of the state-owned news agency TASS that the story couldn't be true because there was no zoo in the town: viral headlines no zoo Ukrainian media reports about animals who were killed by a flood at a zoo in the city of Novaya Kakhovka are untrue, because the city has no zoo at all, a spokesperson for the city's emergencies services has told TASS. "Earlier, the Ukrainian media reported that beavers, swans and dogs were killed in Novaya Kakhovka. Some media said that a zoo with around 300 animals was allegedly flooded," the spokesperson said. "No animals were killed, because our city has no zoo." As tourist guides and years of Instagram and other social media posts predating the war can attest, Kazkova Dibrova is a real place with a real zoo that was, indeed, a home to the animals described in the zoo's viral Facebook post. The park has been around since 1992, and is only meters away from the administrative center that flooded in the immediate wake of the dam collapse. tourist guides (Bing Maps / Snopes) Russian language editions of TASS later reported a slightly narrower denial that accepted the existence of a zoo in Novo Kakhovka (via Google Translate): narrower denial All animals from the zoo in the city of Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region were taken out last year, Mayor Vladimir Leontiev told reporters. "Even last year, all the animals from the Kazkova Dibrova Zoo were evacuated and transported, there was no one left, not a single animal. Volunteers took custody of these animals," he said. According to a TASS correspondent, now it is impossible to get to the place where the zoo was previously located due to the fact that it is flooded. This area is cordoned off for security purposes. Employees and volunteers associated with the zoo deny that narrative, but they did state that their earlier assertion that all the animals perished failed to account for the fact that some animals had been in the care of volunteers. As explained on the park's Facebook page: explained The information on the animals of Kazkova Dibrova, which were saved, is being clarified. Yesterday, the workers, being in a state of shock, gave me inaccurate information. Some animals were not on the territory of Dibrova, but were at home [with a volunteer] That's why they stayed alive! Our favorite parrot Venya, flying squirrels, ferrets, parrots, chinchillas and guinea pigs are protected from the flood. Volunteers had been working to keep many of the animals alive during the war. "A year back, we all raised funds as a group to buy feed for the year. Farmers, entrepreneurs, and many people helped by bringing vegetables and sending money to help animals," the park wrote on Facebook. Two volunteers, according to the zoo, had been risking their lives and taken fire in an effort to feed the animals as fighting intensified. on Facebook Some animals were, indeed, brought to zoo employees' homes during the winter, but the zoo said - these had been returned to the park. "Dibrova survived a terrible winter without light and heating," the park's Facebook page wrote, explaining that their park director "took home all the warm-loving animals" before they were "returned back to Dibrova." wrote The assertion that there were no animals at all present at the zoo at the time of the flooding is hard to support. For one thing, one of the earliest viral images of post-dam-collapse flooding showed two swans matching the description swans from the zoo next door swimming in front of the Novo Khakovka administrative center: The struggle posed by mines and shelling made the full-scale evacuation of all the animals impossible, zoo officials said. These assertions are supported by posts on Facebook by the zoo in late 2022. in late 2022 Because Kazkova Dibrova is a zoo in the city of Nova Kakhovka and because at least a large portion of animals were at that zoo at the time of the catastrophic flooding, the claim that many if not most of the animals died at a zoo following the dam's failure are CNN. "Kremlin Denies Allegations That Russia Attacked Nova Kakhovka Dam, Accuses Ukraine of 'Sabotage.'" CNN, 6 June 2023, https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/russia-ukraine-war-news-06-06-23/h_5988282ee9df7ca66979a76cb7b45107. ---. "Live Updates: Ukraine Blames Russia for Critical Dam Collapse." CNN, 6 June 2023, https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/russia-ukraine-war-news-06-06-23/index.html. Kazkova Dibrova, Nova Kakhovka: Information, Photos, Reviews. https://travels.in.ua/en-us/object/1104. Accessed 7 June 2023. Yerushalmy, Jonathan. "Nova Kakhovka Dam: Everything You Need to Know about Ukraine's Strategically Important Reservoir." The Guardian, 6 June 2023. The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/06/nova-kakhovka-dam-everything-you-need-to-know-about-ukraines-strategically-important-reservoir. " , 2022 ." TACC, https://tass.ru/obschestvo/17951039. Accessed 7 June 2023. ... https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid025tTJj5kHXLp4ry9R8jSupoJBZtZxpr3mWyCJBeNkMCetXaJRPN3qf1RfKWon8fcJl&id=100063905471298. Accessed 7 June 2023. , . , , ... | By " " . " | Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/100063905471298/videos/%D1%83%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%87%D0%BD%D1%8E%D1%8E%D1%82%D1%8C%D1%81%D1%8F-%D1%96%D0%BD%D1%84%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BC%D0%B0%D1%86%D1%96%D1%8F-%D0%BF%D0%BE-%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BC-%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BE%D1%97-%D0%B4%D1%96%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8-%D1%8F%D0%BA%D0%B8%D1%85-%D0%B7%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BB%D0%B8-%D0%B2%D1%80%D1%8F%D1%82%D1%83%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B8-%D0%B2%D1%87%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B0-/1319108985624200/. Accessed 7 June 2023. | 1 | [
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FMD3405 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: By Paul Craig Roberts on November 9, 2016 If only Trump could exile the lot of them. They are anti-American to the core.
by Paul Craig Roberts
The American electorate’s preference for Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders has established two facts. One is that the majority of the American people do not believe the media presstitutes. The other is that only the “progressives” and “liberals” who inhabit the Atlantic Northeast and Pacific West coasts believe the presstitutes.
Trump’s election to the presidency has confirmed these holier-than-thou souls in their strongly held belief that America is a white trash racist country. They have told us this all day long today.
From these people and from the presstitutes we hear that white supremacy elected Trump. This is their propaganda, the intention of which is to discredit a Trump administration before it is inaugurated. Funny how white supremacy elected black Obama twice previously.
Truthout has lost it completely. John Knefel declares “The David Dukes of the World Prevail.”
Kelly Hayes declares “White Supremacy Elected Donald Trump.”
William Rivers Pitt declares “We have elected a fascist that Mussolini would have recognized on sight.”
Hillary carried only a handful of states, the states that comprise the One Percent’s stomping grounds. Yet Amy Goodman of Democracy Now sees meaning in political writer John Nichols claim that as Hillary carried New York and California, she won the popular vote and should be in the White House.
I remember a few days ago George Soros saying that Trump would win the popular vote, but that the electoral vote would go to Hillary, thus ridding the oligarchs of Trump.
Earth Justice promises to hold Trump accountable. Trump who promises to end the threat of nuclear war with Russia and China, thereby doing more to save animal and human life than the entirety of the Democratic Party and environmental organizations, is going to be held accountable by an organization that allegedly is beyond politics and is dedicated to preserving animals from destruction.
The ACLU, of which I am a member, has also put “on notice” the president-elect who has said he will save us from nuclear war. Faced with this idiocy from the ACLU, I will not renew my membership.
Feminists tell us that we are “grieving, scared, and in shock,” and that “it is critical that we stand together and support each other.”
Jeremy Ben-Ami of the J Street Jewish Community tells us that it is “an incredibly sad and difficult day. For tens of millions of Americans who share a core belief in tolerance, decency and social justice, the election results are a severe shock. In this challenging moment, we turn to one another for comfort and community. During this election, J Street made unequivocally clear our conviction that Donald Trump is not fit to be president of the United States.”
Van Jones, a CNN commentator, said that Trump’s election is a nightmare, “a deeply painful moment,” a “whitelash” against minorities. While he bemoaned the pain inflicted upon poor little presstitute Van Jones, he didn’t mind insulting the American electorate and the President-elect of the United States. After all, Van Jones sees that as his racist prerogative. Architects of Endless “Regime Change” wars
And so, the holier-than-thou crowd prefers Hillary, despite her unambigious position that she would maximize conflict with Russia and China, provoke direct military conflict between the US and Russia by imposing a no-fly zone in Syria, attack Iran and other of Israel’s targets, further enrich her Wall Street handlers by privatizing Social Security, and prevent any dissent from the lowly people class of her high-handed ways. If William Rivers Pitt sees Trump as a Mussolini fascist, Trump is too mild for Pitt. He prefers Hillary, a Hitler to the third power.
The progressives have totally discredited themselves just as the presstitutes have done. Their need for a bogyman to nourish their hysteria indicates serious psychological disturbance.
They actually prefer the risk of Armageddon to peace among nuclear powers. As their 501(c)3s live off corporate contributions, they prefer globalist corporate profits to jobs for ordinary Americans.
These are the people who think of themselves as our instructors and our betters.
If only Trump could exile the lot of them. They are anti-American to the core. Related Posts: | 0 | [
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] | 0 |
FMD3406 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: The Dead Cat in the Package Claim summaries: Thief makes off with a package containing a dead cat.
contextual information: A package containing a dead cat is stolen by a thief who thinks she's making off with something of value. Two elderly women went shopping. As they came out of the mall, they spotted a dead cat in the parking lot. Being cat lovers, they couldn't bear the thought of leaving the poor dead kitty there. They decided to take it home and give it a decent burial. They went back into the store and got some Dillard's shopping bags. They wrapped the dead kitty in one sack and then put it in another Dillard's sack, hoping to contain the odor. It was lunchtime, so their next stop was a local restaurant. As it was a warm day, they were reluctant to leave the dead kitty closed up in the car. So, they placed the Dillard's sack beside the car and went in to eat. As it happened, their car was visible through the window where they were sitting in the restaurant. They watched a lady walk by their car, stop, go back, pick up their Dillard's sack, and walk into the restaurant. This lady was then seated next to our two elderly cat lovers. The lady ordered her lunch, and curiosity getting the better of her, she opened the Dillard's sack. She peeked inside, screamed, and in trying to get out of her chair, fell and hit her head. An ambulance was called to take the poor woman away. As they were taking her away, one of our elderly cat lovers placed the Dillard's sack on the gurney, saying, "I think this belongs to her..." Recent versions of this story often place it at the West Edmonton Mall in Canada or the Mall of America in the United States. In those incarnations, the action supposedly takes place in the parking lot, where a Good Samaritan places the deceased beastie in a shopping bag, then retreats to her own car to watch so she'll be on hand to give an explanation when the cat's owner returns. Another woman comes along, filches the bag, and gets it back to her own car, where she opens it and is seen fainting dead away once she catches sight of her ill-gotten gains. In some tellings, an ambulance is called, and the still-unconscious woman is placed on a stretcher with what the emergency workers believe to be the poor dear's bag thoughtfully placed on her chest. Now I'm going to ruin your day by telling you it never happened. Not only that, dead-cats-in-package stories are as old as the hills; one even turned up in a 1904 New York Times article. Another standard version has an old woman taking her dear, departed Fluffy across town on a bus so she can bury her in a lovely park. Either thieves brazenly steal her package, or her parcel somehow gets innocently switched with someone else's, and she arrives at her destination not with Fluffy but instead with a nice ham all wrapped up. It's told both ways. In a closely related version, the woman takes the subway with her soon-to-be-buried cat, but this time the beastie is in a suitcase. While the woman is struggling up the steep stairs, a nice young boy offers to carry the suitcase up for her. She gratefully hands over the bag, and he hurries off with dead Fluffy. In this version, you're left to imagine the lad's reaction when he pries it open. The following tale of one man's efforts to track down this story comes from David Jacobson's 1948 book, The Affairs of Dame Rumor: Through the association of ideas, a given concept turns into a dramatic event, such as the perennial wonder of the Dead-Cat-Come-to-Justice. A New York City newspaperman once decided to track down this tale. He had first heard it from a friend. Claiming to believe the story himself, the friend told the newspaperman about a woman who had placed her pet cat in a veterinary hospital where it later died. As she wished to give the animal a decent burial, the woman called for her pet's remains, and neatly wrapped in a box, she received the dead cat. Along the way home, the woman stopped to do some shopping at Stern's department store on 42nd Street. While selecting her purchases, the woman placed the box on a nearby counter. But suddenly she looked around for it, and the box was gone. Stern's detectives began searching the store for the packaged body of the cat. Within a short time, they found it. The opened box, the deceased animal leering out of it, was on the floor of a telephone booth. Alongside lay the body of a woman, immediately identified as a well-known shoplifter who had been under the scrutiny of this and other stores for several months. The shoplifter had apparently taken her loot to the telephone booth, opened it, caught a glimpse of the dead cat, and dropped to the floor dead of a heart attack resulting from fright. His friend, the newspaperman learned, got the rumor about this macabre justice from two actors who lived in the neighboring apartment. The two knew the full truth of the story, according to the friend. Yet, interviewing the actors, the journalist found they had received the tale from a Christian Science practitioner, a man whose word they did not doubt as he had told them the rumor as gospel. The Christian Science practitioner willingly repeated this gospel before the newspaperman, adding that he had heard it from a woman. She was the friend of the dead cat's owner. She would give him the names of all the people involved. And, to be sure, this woman was full of the dead-cat wonder, according to the journalist. Not that she actually knew the name of the animal's owner. But she had heard the rumor from her son-in-law, who knew all about it. "He turned out to know everything about it," the newspaperman reported. "He had heard the story firsthand from a passenger on a commuter train whose aunt knew the lady who owned the dead cat." Still curious about the rumor, the newspaperman went to Stern's department store. There, a somewhat firm, if not angered, chief detective swiftly assured him that nothing of the sort had happened. Neither had the local police station any record of either a dead shoplifter or a dead cat having been reported. While the newspaperman was playing ring-around-a-rosy with the Dead-Cat-Come-to-Justice rumor, it was having a gay time of its own. It was flying from table to table, from office to office on its cross-country journey. Readjusted to fit the local situation in Chicago, the rumor was an eye-opener months later when it became current talk. In California, the following year, people gasped in amazement as they heard about the fate of the shoplifter in the local department store. And at least one national magazine published the rumor as one of its truth-is-stranger-than-fiction features for the edification of the wonder-lovers among its loyal subscribers. | 1 | [
"0",
"1",
"2"
] | 1 |
FMD3407 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Western countries deliberately hide the details of the chemical attack in the Syrian city of Douma on 7 April 2018, because the attack did not happen; this is another fake from the Western leadership. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons hides these facts, in order not to be the violator of international law. | 0 | [
"0",
"1",
"2"
] | 0 |
FMD3408 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: The U.S. Defense Department’s fiscal year 2017 budget requests $145.8 million in support for Israel, including Iron Dome and other cooperative defense programs, according to Pentagon documents released Tuesday. The Iron Dome system is designed to defeat short-range missiles and rockets. The United States will also continue to help fund David’s Sling, a medium-range missile interceptor, set to be deployed this year, as well as the Arrow ballistic missile interceptor. The systems are meant to form a multi-level shield that the Israelis are developing with Washington’s help as a bulwark against Iran and its allies on the Israeli border. The U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s fiscal 2017 budget request included $103.8 million for Israeli cooperative programs, down from $267.6 million in fiscal 2016, plus $42 million for Iron Dome, down from $55 million in fiscal 2016. The budget forecast total spending on Israeli cooperative programs of $540 million over the next five years, with no additional funding for Iron Dome envisioned after $42 million in fiscal 2017. Vice Admiral James Syring, director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, told reporters the agency was working with Israel under a co-production agreement signed for the Iron Dome system, with a “not insignificant†workshare going to U.S. firms. He declined to give the specific percentage share. Syring said the United States and Israel were working on a second co-production agreement for the David’s Sling program, although he declined to give a timeframe for reaching a deal. He said a test of the David’s Sling system late last year exceeded expectations. Raytheon Co is working with Israel’s state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd on the Iron Dome and David’s Sling programs. Syring said Israel had not signaled any plans to request additional funds for missile defense programs, as it did last year, after the agency sent its budget request to Congress. He said any decision on funding would be up to Congress, which must approve the budget. Robert Scher, assistant defense secretary for strategy, plans and capabilities, told Congress last year that the U.S. government had provided more than $3 billion to Israel for work on David’s Sling and other missile defense programs since 2001. | 1 | [
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"1",
"2"
] | 1 |
FMD3409 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: LOL! You ll want to share this with everyone Democrat Convention ScheduleMonday, 25 July 2016 11:30 AM Free lunch, medical marijuana, and bus ride to the Convention. Forms distributed for Food Stamp enrollment.2:30 PM Group Voter Registration for Undocumented Immigrants.5:00 PM Opening Flag Burning Ceremony Sponsored by CNNTuesday, 26 July 2016 9:00 AM Address on Being the Real You Rachel Dolezal, former Head of the Seattle NAACP10:30 PM How to Bank $200 Million as a public Servant and claim to be broke Hillary Clinton2:00 PM How to have a successful career without ever having a job, and still avoid paying taxes! A Seminar Moderated by Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson5:00 PM Medals of Freedom presentation to Army deserter Bo Berghdal Baltimore Looters Wednesday, 27 July 2016 8:30 AM Invitation-only Autograph Session Souvenir photographs of Hillary and Chelsea dodging Sniper Fire in Bosnia9:00 AM Tribute to All of the 57 States Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi9:30 AM General vote on praising Baltimore rioters, and on using the terminology Alternative Shoppers instead of Looters 11:00 AM The White House Semantics Committee Meeting General vote on re-branding Muslim Terrorism as Random Acts of Islamic Over-Exuberance 1:00 PM Liberal Bias in Media How we can make it work for you Tutorial sponsored by CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, PBS, the Washington Post and the New York Times with Guest Speaker, Brian Williams3:00 PM Tribute Film to the Brave Freedom Fighters still incarcerated at GITMO Michael Moore5:00 PM Personal Finance Seminar Businesses Don t Create Jobs Hillary ClintonThursday, 28 July 2016 9:00 AM Group Condemnation of Bitter Gun Owners.9:30 AM Ceremonial We Surrender Waving of the White Flag to Afghanistan, Russia, and ISIS.10:00 AM Short film, Setting Up Your Own Illegal Email Server While Serving in A Cabinet Post and How to Pretend It s No Big Deal Hosted by Hillary Clinton11:00 AM Announcement of VP Nominee Chris Stevens, with a quick rebuttal and withdrawal when Hillary realizes he s someone she got killed in Benghazi11:30 AM Official Nomination of Hillary Bill Maher and Chris Matthews | 0 | [
"0",
"1",
"2"
] | 0 |
FMD3410 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: When researchers moved a marble covering that had been in place since 1555, according to Newser , they uncovered the stone slab.
National Geographic archaeologist Fredrik Hiebert was elated.
“The marble covering of the tomb has been pulled back, and we were surprised by the amount of fill material beneath it,” he told National Geographic . “It will be a long scientific analysis, but we will finally be able to see the original rock surface on which, according to tradition, the body of Christ was laid.”
The Edicule and the interior are being restored by a group of scientists from the National Technical University of Athens under the leadership of chief scientific supervisor Professor Antonia Moropoulou, who looks forward to the day when their research can bring the interior chamber to exact replication of what it would have looked like in the time of Christ.
“We are at the critical moment for rehabilitating the Edicule,” she told National Geographic. “The techniques we’re using to document this unique monument will enable the world to study our findings as if they themselves were in the tomb of Christ.”
That is truly amazing. | 0 | [
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"1",
"2"
] | 0 |
FMD3411 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: After taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street banks, (Debbie Wasserman Schultz) has voted to prevent the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from regulating payday loans and addressing racial discrimination in car loans.
contextual information: A law professor running against U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of South Florida says she is in the pocket of big banks and isnt looking out for consumers who get crushed by debt from payday loans. My opponent, after taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street banks, has voted to prevent the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFTP) from regulating payday loans and addressing racial discrimination in car loans, said Tim Canova on hiswebsite. Canova, a first-time candidate and professor at Nova Southeastern University, is challenging Wasserman Schultz in the August Democratic primary in a Broward/Miami-Dade district. The race has drawn national attention because Wasserman Schultz is the Democratic National Committee chair. Did Canova accurately describe her donations from banks and her votes related to payday loans and car loans? There is some truth to his attack, but each one requires explanation. Donations from Wall Street banks Canovas campaign pointed to donations from banks, securities/investment firms and finance/credit companies to Wasserman Schultzs campaign committee and her political action committee, or PAC. At PolitiFact Floridas request, the Center for Responsive Politics compiled the large individual donations (more than $200) and donations to her PAC starting with her 2006 election. The center found she received $309,020 from commercial banks, which represented about 2 percent of the total; $408,450 from securities/investment firms, and $325,850 from finance/credit companies. Her leadership PAC, Democrats Win Seats, received donations from the Goldman Sachs PAC:$5,000 in 2016and$10,000in 2014. Wasserman Schultz spokesman Sean Bartlett pointed to donations only to her campaign and plucked out what he said were the big bank donations. That totaled $15,400, including $4,000 from Goldman Sachs. But the Center for Responsive Politics shows a longer list of bank donations even if we only examine her campaign committee. It shows$171,303 for commercial bankindustry donations. Payday loan bill Payday loans are small, short-term loans that borrowers promise to repay out of their next paycheck at ahigh rateof interest. It is a controversial industry that targets the poor and is disproportionately located in minority communities. For years, payday loans were unregulated by the federal government, although some states had their own laws. President Barack Obama took a step toward regulating the industry when he signed a bill in 2010 that included the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Republicans have targeted the bureau for years. Enter some Democrats into the fray -- including Wasserman Schultz, who has gotten about $68,000 from payday lenders, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Wasserman Schultz is among Florida lawmakers who have defended Floridas payday law despite the fact that some consumer advocates have bashed it and say it traps the poor in a debt cycle. Wasserman Schultzs position is to give precedence to the state law, her spokesman said. On the federal level, the bureau released anoutline of payday loan rulesin March 2015 and is expected to announce a more complete proposal within the next several months. Congress doesnt have to approve it but can introduce legislation to kill it. All but one member of Floridas congressional delegation (Tom Rooney) signed aletterin April 2015 pushing back against the proposed rules. Instead, they want the bureau to look at Floridas law as a model. That led U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross, a Florida Republican, to file the Consumer Protection and Choice Act,H.R. 4018in November. Half of the 24 cosponsors are from Florida, including Wasserman Schultz, and nine of the cosponsors are Democrats. Canovas website said Wasserman Schultz voted on the bill, but it was only referred to a committee without a vote. (After we pointed that out to Canova senior adviser Richard Bell, the campaign changed the website to say co-sponsored instead of voted.) The bill states that if the bureau determines that a states law meets the federal requirements, then only state law will apply. It would also delay federal regulations for two years, which would allow states to come up with their own laws. More than 200 consumer or civil rights groups -- including the NAACP, National Council of La Raza, Southern Poverty Law Center and the Consumer Federation of America -- wrote aletterto Congress urging them to defeat the bill. They argued that the bill favors an industry-backed Florida law and would hurt consumers. Floridas 2001 payday loan law was a compromise and included protections that were intended to help the poor avoid an endless cycle of debt. But the loans leave consumers stuck on a debt treadmill in Florida, where they have racked up $2.5 billion in fees since 2005, according to the Center for Responsible Lendings Marchreport. In the past year, the average Florida payday loan had an annual rate of 278 percent. Richard Cordray, head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, disputed Ross description of Floridas law as the gold standard during a congressional hearing on March 16. In Florida, these loans are still being made above the 300 percent, and they are being rolled over on average nine times, Cordraysaid. Bartlett argued that Wasserman Schultz has fought against abusive payday lending practices and pointed to her vote on a separate bill in 2015. She voted against HR 766, the Financial Institution Customer Protection Act, which opponents argued would have prevented the Justice Department from going after the financial industry. Racial discrimination in car loans Canova also said Wasserman Schultz prevented action to stop racial discrimination for car loans. This part of Canovas attack relates to a2013 bulletinfrom the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which recommended steps for auto lenders to avoid discrimination. The bulletin was intended to provide clarity about existing law. But theHouse of Representativespushed back against the bureau by passing a bill to nullify the bulletin. The bill passed the House 332-96 in November 2015 and hasnt had a vote in the Senate. Wasserman Schultz was one of 88 Democrats who voted in favor of it, while 96 Democrats opposed it. Proponentsof the bill -- including auto dealers -- said the bureaus efforts would increase costs for consumers. Groups that representedminoritieswanted the new guidelines. This legislation in no way prevented the CFPB from addressing racial discrimination in car loans, and the congresswoman does not support that as a policy position, her spokesman said. The bill hasnt been acted on, and discrimination investigations can continue. A few months after the House vote,Toyotaagreed to a $21.9 million settlement to black and Asian buyers. Our ruling Canova says Wasserman Schultz after taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street banks, has voted to prevent the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from regulating payday loans and addressing racial discrimination in car loans. Her campaign committee and PAC have taken $309,020 from commercial banks since her re-election campaign in 2006 -- about 2 percent of the total. That includes $15,000 in donations from Goldman Sachs to her leadership PAC. The payday loan bill hasnt had a vote in the House yet, although Wasserman Schultz is a co-sponsor. The bill would not prevent the bureau from regulating payday loans entirely, but it would cede power to the states, including Florida, which has its own payday law that some advocates have criticized as weak. She voted for a bill that squashed bureau guidelines that were intended to provide clarity about the law on racial discrimination related to car loans. We rate this claim Mostly True. | 1 | [
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"1",
"2"
] | 1 |
FMD3412 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: 98 percent of small businesses make less than $250,000 and would not see a tax increase under Barack Obama's plan.
contextual information: During the final presidential debate in Hempstead, N.Y., Barack Obama and John McCain got into an argument about Joe the Plumber. McCain said Joe would get a bigger tax bill under the Obama tax plan. Obama defended himself by saying that 98 percent of small businesses make less than $250,000 and would not see a tax increase under the Obama plan. Joe the Plumber is an actual person: Joe Wurzelbacher, who met Obama during a campaign stop a few days before the debate in Toledo, Ohio. I'm getting ready to buy a company that makes about $250,000, $270,000, $280,000 a year, he told Obama. Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn't it? Obama said yes, it would --seetheir entire conversation on YouTube-- but Obama defended his tax policy as being good for people who are struggling. It's not that I want to punish your success. I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they've got a chance at success, too, Obama said. During the debate, John McCain mentioned Joe the Plumber at least a dozen times as the kind of small business owner who would pay more taxes under Obama's plans. It's not clear from the exchange just what Joe means when he says the business makes up to $280,000 a year. Is he talking about total revenue? Profits? That's an important point here and it's one that Obama and Joe the Plumber never discussed. Based on Obama's proposals and current tax policy, for Joe's taxes to rise Joe would have to make $250,000 in net profit, after deducting all his expenses: his employees' pay, his supplies, his truck, his fuel costs, and other legitimate business expenses. He'd have to be an extremely successful plumber. In response to McCain's statements during the debate, Obama said only 2 percent of small businesses would be subject to the tax. It seems likely that Obama is right, according to data and an analysis from the experts at the Tax Policy Center. Obama's plan is to roll back the Bush tax cuts on the top two tax brackets. In practice, this means that people with income above $200,000 for single people and $250,000 for couples would see taxes increase. Now what does this mean for small businesses? It's not as easy as you might think to identify small businesses via the tax code. But there are several typical ways that small business owners pay their taxes, usually by declaring business income on their individual tax returns. Many people who declare business income are small businesses, though the group also includes professionals like lawyers, authors, or public speakers. Looking at all the tax filers who report any business income at all, the Tax Policy Center confirms that about 2 percent will see their taxes increase under Obama's plan. In an effort to focus more effectively on small business owners, the Tax Policy Center did an additional analysis where they looked at people who reported business income that accounted for at least 50 percent of their income. This means people who derive a significant living off their business income. In 2007, about 2 percent of those tax filers would have made enough money to see a tax increase under Obama's plans. There is a small bit of uncertainty in the best data available; it includes some people who we would not think of as traditional small business owners. But still, Obama's statement during the debate that 98 percent of small businesses make less than $250,000 matches the findings of a respected, non-partisan group of tax analysts. For that reason, we rate Obama's statement True. | 1 | [
"0",
"1",
"2"
] | 1 |
FMD3413 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: The U.S.tax rate on successful small businesses is 44.6 percent, while the business tax rate in Canada is 15 percent.
contextual information: 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. | 1 | [
"0",
"1",
"2"
] | 1 |
FMD3414 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: Did Coca-Cola's Diversity Training Tell Workers 'Try To Be Less White'? Claim summaries: Opponents of critical race theory and diversity training railed against Coca-Cola in February 2021, but with no real evidence.
contextual information: In February 2021, several readers asked Snopes to examine the authenticity and accuracy of online posts which claimed that Coca-Cola had given its employees diversity training that included slides encouraging them to "try to be less white." On Feb. 19, the Twitter account @LeftyMoment posted a widely shared tweet which contained the caption "This was in Coca-Cola's diversity training" along with an image that appeared to be composed of two screenshots: one showing a presentation slide with the words "Try to be less white"; and the other with a list of "white" traits, explaining that "to be less white" means being "less oppressive," "less arrogant," "less certain" and so on: Those and other similar images appeared to have been leaked by a Coca-Cola employee to Karlyn Borysenko, a prominent online opponent of critical race theory and many aspects of corporate diversity training, who describes herself on LinkedIn as an organizational pyschologist and "executive/performance coach." LinkedIn Borysenko shared the screenshots on Feb. 19, consistently characterizing them as having been part of required training for Coca-Cola employees. As proof of this, she cited the Coca-Cola logo visible in the top right-hand corner of the screen. shared The screenshots were also shared on the controversial 4Chan thread /pol/, a frequent online source of political disinformation in recent years. Nigel Farage, former leader of the far-right UK Independence Party, mentioned the story in a YouTube video, saying Coca-Cola had "lost their marbles" by "putting their staff through compulsory training on 'How to be less white.'" shared on controversial mentioned The presentation in question is real, and the "try to be less white" slides were authentic. However, the evidence presented by Borysenko and others does not prove that Coca-Cola included the presentation in its required diversity training for employees, and the company has explicitly denied that claim. The slides contained in the widely-shared online posts in February 2021 came from a presentation entitled "Confronting Racism," which featured Robin DiAngelo, a writer and consultant whose work on racism has proven controversial and who has been hired to conduct diversity and anti-racism training for many American companies. work controversial The course was created by Big Think, an educational video platform, using footage taken from an earlier interview they conducted with DiAngelo. "Confronting Racism" had been available on LinkedIn Learning, but was removed on Feb. 23, on foot of a request by the producers of the course Big Think, and representatives for DiAngelo. Before it was taken down, it carried the following description: available In this course, Robin DiAngelo, the best-selling author of White Fragility, gives you the vocabulary and practices you need to start confronting racism and unconscious bias at the individual level and throughout your organization. Theres no magic recipe for building an inclusive workplace. Its a process that needs to involve people of color, and that needs to go on for as long as your companys in business. But with these tools at your disposal, youll be well on your way. The slides in question appeared during the "What you can do" section of the course: Those slides appeared as part of a video, which the screenshots shared widely in February 2021 did not fully reflect. In that section of the video, DiAngelo provides the following narration: I try to be a little less white. I'm really clear that I'm not going to be free of my conditioning and racism is not going to end in my lifetime. The question I ask myself is "How do I do a little less harm?" and "How do I know?" right? Am I, in any given moment, behaving in anti-racist ways? Not "I'm already done, I'm never racist." Not "I'm a terrible person, I'm always racist." In any given moment, how am I doing? And how do I know? And that keeps me humble, and it keeps me accountable. So for me, to do less harm is no small thing. Because it could literally be one more hour on a person of color's life, who didn't have to take home my nonsense and agonize all night long whether it was worth it to talk to me, or they should just suck it up yet again, lest they risk my lashing out in defensiveness. So for me to be "less white" is to be less oppressive, racially. To be less arrogant, to be less certain, to be less defensive, to be less ignorant, quite frankly. To be more humble, to listen, to believe, to break with apathy, to break with white solidarity. It's not easy, it's a lifelong process. But nothing is more rewarding. LinkedIn Learning is a service provided to LinkedIn members with a paid "Premium" subscription. Users do not purchase individual videos, but rather their premium membership gives them access to all the additional content contained in the LinkedIn Learning platform: videos; courses; and "learning paths." This is an important feature of LinkedIn Learning, in the context of the controversy prompted by Borysenko's tweets and YouTube videos about Coca-Cola. In a news release published on Feb. 20, Coca-Cola stated that "Confronting Racism" "was not part of the company's curriculum," meaning it was not something Coca-Cola obliged its employees to view. Rather, the company said, its training involved use of LinkedIn Learning, and the course was accessible there. news release So a company employee could log into a Coca-Cola LinkedIn account in order to watch videos that are part of their mandatory diversity training, but then navigate, within LinkedIn Learning, to "Confronting Racism," which need not be required viewing in order for them to access it. This would allow them to create screenshots that feature slides from the course, alongside a Coca-Cola logo in the top right-hand corner. So, contrary to Borysenko's claim, the presence of the logo was not proof that "Confronting Racism" was required viewing for company employees, merely that someone at Coca-Cola had viewed it. We asked Coca-Cola to provide details of the company's "diversity, equity and inclusion training." A company spokesperson did not provide a comprehensive curriculum, but did provide Snopes several examples of topics included as required viewing. Each of the following items appears to match individual videos available through the LinkedIn Learning platform: Fundamentals Six steps unconscious bias impact brave allyship The spokesperson also provided further clarification about Coca-Cola's use of LinkedIn Learning in company trainings: "On learning channels not owned by The Coca-Cola Company, users had the ability to navigate outside of the intended curriculum which may have given the false impression that certain videos were part of the training." The controversy appears to have been caused by a fundamental misunderstanding, on the part of Borysenko and others, as to how LinkedIn Learning works, and the fact that Coca-Cola employees could, while taking part in their mandatory training, access hundreds of videos and courses that bore no relation to that training, and were not required. However, we cannot rule out the possibility that, despite Coca-Cola's clear denials, the existence of a coherent alternative explanation, and despite the complete absence of evidence so far, "Confronting Racism" was in fact listed on the curriculum. [Correction]: Feb. 23, 2021. This fact check previously inaccurately described Robin DiAngelo as the producer of the video course "Confronting Racism." In fact, the course was produced by Big Think, using video footage taken from an earlier interview with DiAngelo. | 2 | [
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FMD3415 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: When a Fox News host tried to whine about the way the media has been covering Donald Trump, Mark Cuban dropped a truth bomb on him.Throughout this campaign, the Republican nominee has said increasingly more bombastic statements. In fact, Trump s rhetoric and behavior are totally unprecedented, which is why the media is covering him the way they do.But Trump has repeatedly complained about the media covering the things he has said and done, which is why he has been blaming them for his low poll numbers and is accusing them of rigging the election against him.And Fox host Howard Kurtz tried to push the Trump line on Sunday, only to be derailed by real billionaire Mark Cuban. The media coverage of Trump in the last couple of months has been overwhelmingly negative, Kurtz whined. But Cuban was quick to point out that Donald Trump only has himself to blame for the way the media covers him. Well, that s of his own making, isn t it? If you re going to say the things that he says, and if you re going to make the flippant comments that he makes, you re going to get covered. I mean, all he had to do was shut up nine out of ten times and the coverage would be distinctly different. That s just not something he s capable of doing. Cuban is exactly right. Donald Trump did this to himself by simply opening his mouth and saying and doing things that he shouldn t. He just doesn t want to take responsibility for his words and behavior so he is making the media his scapegoat and his supporters believe him.When Kurtz complained that the media is hostile towards Trump, Cuban once again informed the Fox host Trump knew what he was getting into when he threw his hat into the presidential arena. Look, on the way up, he was happy to ride the train, right? He bragged about media coverage, he was excited about it, he loved the live coverage of the primaries and early on the presidential race. It s a two-edged sword, you know that. So if you re going to love it on the way up, you got to learn to deal with it. Here s the video via YouTube.Once again, Mark Cuban is spot on. Donald Trump has seen a lot of presidential elections in his lifetime so he should know that media coverage of presidential candidates is intense. And Howard Kurtz should know that the primary job of the media is to cover the candidates because that s what journalism is all about. It s not that the media s coverage of Trump is negative, it s that Trump has made himself and his campaign negative from the start and he has made no effort to tone it down.So if Trump wants the media to start covering him differently, he ll have to change first. And that probably won t happen any time soon.Featured Image: Screenshot | 0 | [
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FMD3416 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: 21st Century Wire says A tidal wave of revelations is pouring out of the Clinton campaign as the 2016 presidential election draws to a close. MELTDOWN The Clinton campaign continues to unravel following a series of troubling details. (Photo illustration 21WIRE)Over the weekend, it was discovered through a Wikileaks email dump, that Neera Tanden of the Center for American Progress, John Podesta s top aide, had an email exchange with Michael Lux of Progressive Strategies revealing that the Democratic consultant Robert Creamer of Democracy Partners, was closely allied with Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook. POLITICAL BOMBSHELL Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook had close ties to disgraced DNC consultant Robert Creamer. (Image Source: Lockerdome)Creamer gained national attention when he became the subject of video sting operation captured by the investigative non-profit Project Veritas. Not only was it revealed that the Creamer discussed ways to commit voter fraud and violence at Donald Trump rallies on camera he also met with White House officials some 342 times over the past year, including 47 private meetings with President Obama or other senior officials. DNC SCANDAL Robert Creamer of Democracy Partners and Democratic congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. (Image Source: National Vanguard)Creamer s visits to the White House also included his wife, a 9-term Illinois Democratic congresswoman Jan Schakowsky.White House visitor records have shown that Schakowsky took 47 private meetings with Obama or his senior staff, over the past year. The consultancy Democracy Partners appears to have applied Schakowsky as a political buffering point, in the event of a fallout over their operations at a grassroots level. The nature of this type of procedural separation is to keep certain high-ranking officials of the hook in case of a massive upheaval over various underhanded campaign tactics, potentially giving the Clinton campaign and the DNC plausible deniability.The Mook fallout is the latest in a laundry list of problems for the Clinton campaign and comes at a time when interim DNC chair Donna Brazile, is embroiled in controversy of over leaked debate questions prior to at least two 2016 town hall debates. Brazile stepped down from her role at CNN earlier in October. Here s a passage from the Daily Caller describing the scenario: Donna Brazile, the interim chair of the Democratic National Committee, began providing town hall and debate questions to the Clinton campaign earlier than previously known, emails released by WikiLeaks on Monday show. The article continued by stating that the revelations expose that the interim DNC chair was more deeply involved than previously outlined: In the March 12 exchange, Brazile mentions [Roland] Martin by name and offers to provide more than just the one town hall question that she is known to have shared with the campaign. I ll send a few more. Though some questions Roland submitted, Brazile wrote to Palmieri in the March 12 email thread, which is entitled From time to time I get the questions in advance. Martin, is a commentator for TV One and the host of News One Now, as well as a CNN contributor.In another matter, the Wall Street Journal revealed the following, while disclosing an apparently contentious relationship between the FBI and DOJ, while the FBI appears to be somewhat fractured over the latest email server case developments: The latest development began in early October when New York-based FBI officials notified Andrew McCabe [of the Terry McAuliffe campaign contribution scandal], the bureau s second-in-command, that while investigating Mr. Weiner for possibly sending sexually charged messages to a teenage minor, they had recovered a laptop. Many of the 650,000 emails on the computer, they said, were from the accounts of Ms. Abedin, according to people familiar with the matter. Some critics have called for McCabe to recuse himself after it was revealed his wife received $675,000 from a well-known Clinton confidant, Terry McAuliffe. This was further underlined after the House Oversight Commitee wanted more information about the Senate campaign of Dr. Jill McCabe and its ties to the Clintons.The alleged internal feud among agencies was compounded when Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates objected to FBI Director James Comey reopening the Clinton email server case this past week something that added to the Lynch/Clinton tarmac meeting before the first FBI ruling in the Clinton case.According to a report filed by Zero Hedge, a close friend of Podesta, Peter Kadzik, the Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice (DOJ), will be in charge of a probe into Huma Abedin, Clintion s closest aide.Interestingly, as a mountain of controversy envelops the Clinton campaign, the FBI is now conducting an early inquiry into former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, over his alleged foreign business connections.Back in August, the following business connection was revealed by NBC news: In 2008, according to court records, senior Trump aide Paul Manafort s firm was involved with a Ukrainian oligarch named Dmytro Firtash in a plan to redevelop a famous New York hotel, the Drake. The total value of the project was $850 million. Firtash s company planned to invest over $100 million, the records say.That same year, Firtash acknowledged to the U.S. ambassador in Ukraine that he got his start in business with the permission of a notorious Russian crime lord, according to a classified State Department cable. Other cables say Firtash made part of his fortune through sweetheart natural gas deals between Russia and the Ukraine. Although the US State Department has determined that Firtash may have ties to a criminal enterprise in Russia so far, there s nothing directly linking Manafort to any underground element at this time.Watch this space as the Russia/Trump meme fostered by mainstream media or some other politically polarizing element will look to deflect from the Clinton campaign meltdown.More from LifeZette below OUT OF CONTROL? Wikileaks reveals Robby Mook s links to DNC contractor who discussed ways to commit voter fraud and violence. (Image Source: Slate)WikiLeaks: Trump Rally Agitator and Clinton Campaign Manager Are Close Top Clinton aides discussed Bob Creamer and his grassroots/netroots operationby Jim Stinson LifeZette Robert Creamer, the operative behind sending provocateurs to Donald Trump rallies, was close to Robby Mook, Hillary Clinton s campaign manager, according to new emails released by WikiLeaks.Creamer, who allegedly spearheaded the dirty tricks for the Democrats, wasn t just consulting for the Democratic National Committee, according to videos made by Project Veritas. He was sending people to provoke Trump at events.Creamer has thus become a red-hot issue in the campaign. And now it s apparent he is close to Mook. That surprising detail came out Sunday morning when WikiLeaks posted hundreds more emails from John Podesta s Gmail account. Podesta is Clinton s campaign chairman whose account was hacked in March.More from LifeZette here READ MORE ELECTION NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire 2016 FilesSUPPORT 21WIRE SUBSCRIBE & BECOME A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV | 0 | [
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FMD3417 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: Company Anniversary Free Product Scam Claim summaries: Businesses are not celebrating their anniversaries by giving away free product to Facebook users who share and like a page. Those offers are a form of online scam.
contextual information: Scammers and malware purveyors are always looking for ways to entice online users into following web links that will lead those victims into the traps set for them, and offers of free products are prime bait in that pursuit of prey. One common method such predators use is establishing fake Facebook accounts mimicking those of well-known vendors of consumer products (typically of the edible variety, such as Starbucks, Taco Bell, McDonald's, KFC, Wendy's, Burger King, Whole Foods, Safeway, Food Lion, and Little Caesars) and posting bogus offers for "lifetime passes" or other dispensations of free product as part of a supposed company anniversary or birthday celebration (e.g., "Starbucks is giving away free lifetimes in celebration of the brand's 44th anniversary"). The primary type of free product fraud is the "sweepstakes scam," which is intended to lure victims into completing numerous surveys, disclosing a good deal of personal information, and then agreeing to sign up for costly, difficult-to-cancel "Reward Offers" hidden in the fine print. The scammers spread links via e-mail and Facebook that purport to offer free product to those who follow those links. These web pages (which are not operated or sponsored by the companies they reference) typically ask the unwary to click what appear to be Facebook "share" buttons and post comments to the scammer's site (which is really a ruse to dupe users into spreading the scam by sharing it with all of their Facebook friends). Those who follow such instructions are then led into a set of pages prompting them to input a fair amount of personal information (including name, age, address, and phone numbers), complete a lengthy series of surveys, and finally sign up (and commit to paying) for at least two "Reward Offers" (e.g., Netflix subscriptions, credit report monitoring services, prepaid credit cards): Pursuant to the Terms & Conditions, you are required to complete 2 of the Reward Offers from the above. You will need to meet all of the terms and conditions to qualify for the shipment of the reward. For credit card offers, you must activate your card by making a purchase, transferring a balance, or making a cash advance. For loan offers you must close and fund the loan. For home security and satellite tv offers you must have the product installed. You may not cancel your participation in more than a total of 2 Reward Offers within 30 days of any Reward Offer Sign-Up Date as outlined in the Terms & Conditions (the Cancellation Limit). Not only that, but the fine print on the "free" product offers typically states that by accepting its terms, the user agrees to receive telemarketing phone calls and text messages from a variety of different companies: Similar phony free product lures are used to spread malware. In those versions of the scam, those who attempt to reach the URL provided for the purpose of claiming the free products are instead victimized by a Facebook "lifejacking" attack, a malicious script that takes over a user's Facebook profile without their knowledge and propagates itself to their friends' accounts as well. lifejacking In short, those who seek "free" merchandise generally end up paying a dear cost for it. | 0 | [
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FMD3418 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: Did you know Wisconsin's AFSCME union has lost 50%+ of its members since no longer requiring membership?
contextual information: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker survived a recall vote this month, prompting pundits to weigh in on what that means for public sector unions that had campaigned aggressively for his ouster. Remember, Walker is the Republican governor who pushed through a number of changes unfriendly to organized labor in the Badger State, including an end to automatic union dues deductions from public paychecks.Here in the Beaver State,Steve Bucksteinof theCascade Policy Institute, a think tank that promotes limited government,tweeted: Did you know Wisconsin's AFSCME union has lost 50%+ of its members since no longer requiring membership? The tweet links to a June 14 online post by Buckstein called End Forced Unionism Now, where he quotes from an opinion column by syndicated writerCharles Krauthammer, also published in The Oregonian:Without the thumb of the state tilting the scale by coerced collection, union membership became truly voluntary. Result? Newly freed members rushed for the exits. In less than one year, AFSCME, the second largest public-sector union in Wisconsin, has lost more than 50 percent of its membership.The question is a simple one: Did membership in Wisconsins American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees drop by 50 percent since dues became optional?Heres a quick reminder of what happened in Wisconsin: In March 2011, Walker signed a bill that drastically changed bargaining rights for some but not all state, local and school employees. As pointed out by Krauthammer, dues are no longer taken out of paychecks automatically, curtailing the unions money base.According to PolitiFact Wisconsin, the law limits the ability of public unions to bargain collectively for anything except raises controlled for inflation. It ended bargaining over benefits, overtime and work conditions. Unions have to recertify every year with fresh votes. And he increased employee contributions for pensions and health care.We asked Buckstein for his sourcing; he said he relied on the Krauthammer column. Krauthammer cites no source for the information, but a quick check online shows a May 30 news article in the Wall Street Journal: Wisconsin Unions See Ranks Drop Ahead of Recall Vote.The reporters write that membership in the states second-largest public-sector union fell to 28,745 in February from 62,818 in March 2011, according to a person who has viewed AFSCME's figures. That is indeed more than half its membership. Another story in the Wall Street Journal a few days later puts the drop at 45 percent.The union disputed the figures then, and disputes them now to PolitiFact Oregon. However, Wisconsin State Employees Union, AFSCME Council 24, declined to give updated figures, saying that even people on the inside dont have an accurate count. Certainly numbers are down, they say. (A spokesman for Walker said the state does not have figures. )But what the union really objects to is the underlying premise in the syndicated column, and by association, Bucksteins post: That premise is that union membership numbers dropped dramatically because people were given a choice between joining a union or not joining a union.According to the original Wall Street Journal news article, some members didnt re-up because of the financial pinch of health care and pension costs. Bargaining was so curtailed that anotherfact check by PolitiFact Wisconsinfound four experts who agreed the law could mean the end of some public unions in Wisconsin.Buckstein acknowledges that numbers probably went down more in Wisconsin because of the changes as a whole. But he stands by the idea that more members may opt out when deductions become optional.Oregon is a great example, he says. A check with the Department of Administrative Services finds that 24 percent of the more than 24,000 people eligible to be represented by the states two biggest state government unions pay a share in lieu of member dues. In other words, they pay in, but are not members. The fair-share option may not be available to all employees, and depends on the terms of the bargaining contract. In either case, the money is deducted automatically from workers paychecks.People on various sides of the political spectrum have their own theories about why there was a decrease in Wisconsin: higher premiums, limited bargaining subjects, complicated recertification votes, optional dues, all or some, or none of the above. We cant rule on reason.What we can rule on is that membership has gone down about 50 percent, according to news reports, since Walker implemented his changes. That decrease may or may not hold when numbers finally shake out. The tweet is accurate, but needs additional information.We rule the statement Mostly True. | 1 | [
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FMD3419 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: Did Betsy DeVos Say COVID-19 Will 'Only' Kill .02% of US Students? Claim summaries: Per the claim, which circulated widely among U.S. teachers and parents, that would mean 14,740 children and teens would die.
contextual information: Snopes is still fighting an infodemic of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. Find out what we've learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. Read the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and advice you encounter. Become a Founding Member to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the CDC or WHO for guidance on protecting your community from the disease. fighting Find out Read Submit Become a Founding Member CDC WHO In July 2020, as America's total of confirmed coronavirus cases surpassed 3.3 million, U.S. President Donald Trump criticized the advice of public health experts on how to safely reopen the country's K-12 school system during the pandemic, and campaigned in full force for in-person classes to resume nationwide. coronavirus cases criticized nationwide The push by the Republican president included threats to withhold federal funding to school systems that did not agree with his approach (see the July 8, 2020, tweet here), unsubstantiated claims that state Democrats had political motivations to keep schools closed ahead of the November 2020 election, and several media appearances in which he and ally Betsy DeVos, the secretary of education, emphasized how opening K-12 classrooms would jump-start the country's distressed economy. his approach here claims media appearances And during that parade of public events, critics of the country's top education official and the president claimed that DeVos had nonchalantly stated the cost of young American's lives should schools fully reopen during the pandemic. Facebook statuses and tweets went viral among educators, parents and activists, stating: It's unclear from where, exactly, the claim originated. And first, to measure its legitimacy, we did some back-of-the-napkin math. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the federal government prepared for 56.6 million K-12 students in fall 2019 (50.8 million in public schools and 5.8 million in private education). That means 11,320 not 14,740 is .02% of the country's student population. National Center for Education Statistics Apart from the statement's inaccuracy, our analysis of DeVos' public appearances found no evidence to show she made the comment. We deemed several speeches at the White House, as well as televised interviews on CNN's "State of the Union" and "Fox News Sunday" on July 12, 2020, as the likely sources of inspiration for the rumor, considering the timing and content of those events. In the first of those appearances, which took place on July 7, 2020, for instance, DeVos said: State of the Union Fox News Sunday Its clear our nations schools must fully reopen and fully operate this school year. Anything short of that robs students, not to mention taxpayers, of their futures and their futures represent our nations future. So its not a question of 'if'; its just a question of 'how.' The following day, after a meeting of the White House coronavirus task force, she made similar remarks, and praised several school systems for their quick transition to remote learning in the early weeks of the outbreak, including New York City's Success Academy Charter Schools and Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Simultaneously, she claimed, other local school districts were "doing next to nothing" to teach students during the unprecedented rules against in-classroom learning. New York City's Success Academy Charter Schools Miami-Dade County Public Schools Three days later, DeVos addressed CNN's audience via an interview on why she believed schools should fully reopen in the fall, even though the country's daily spike in COVID-19 cases was on the rise and did not show signs of a decline. There, DeVos mostly re-emphasized talking points she made during the White House briefings and downplayed the health risks to students should schools fully reopen, essentially affirming the underlying sentiment to critics' claim about the projected death toll. DeVos stated, referring to "data" that she did not define: on the rise There's nothing in the data that would suggest that kids being back in school is, is dangerous to them in fact, it's more a matter of their health and well-being that they be back in school. In both the CNN and Fox News interviews, DeVos pointed to research that suggests children are less likely to suffer severe symptoms due to COVID-19 compared to adults. While people of any age with certain underlying conditions are at higher risk of serious illnesses should they catch COVID-19, children are more likely than adults to have mild illnesses, and patients over the age of 18 may have different symptoms than youth, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to a study of U.S. children infected with COVID-19 between February and April 2020 by the CDC, for instance, the youth population made up less than 2% of the country's cases, totaling 150,000. Additionally, three COVID-19 patients under the age of 18 died during that time frame, compared to roughly 5,450 fatal cases among adults. The study stated: study [Relatively] few children with COVID-19 are hospitalized, and fewer children than adults experience fever, cough, or shortness of breath... Social distancing and everyday preventive behaviors remain important for all age groups because patients with less serious illness and those without symptoms likely play an important role in disease transmission. In other words, the CDC says: "If children meet in groups, it can put everyone at risk. Children can pass this virus onto others who have an increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19." says DeVos said school systems should consider those recommendations on a case-by-case basis, and urged local leaders to consider "granular data" that depicts COVID-19's impact on their community, specifically. However, at no point during the broadcast interviews or the previously-mentioned White House speeches in July 2020 did the education secretary make the alleged statement about a percentage of students dying as a result of COVID-19 when schools fully reopen. Additionally, there was no evidence that she had made the statement on social media accounts, nor via press releases, around the time the claim went viral. For those reasons, we rate this claim U.S. Department of Education. Press Releases.
Accessed 13 July 2020. Aivalis, Christo. "Data Bash GRILLS Betsy DeVos Over Trump Plan to FORCE Kids Back to Unsafe Schools."
YouTube. 12 July 2020. New York Times. "Coronavirus in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count."
The New York Times. 13 July 2020. CNN Politics. "Bash Questions DeVos: Why Do You Not Have Guidance?"
Accessed 13 July 2020.
Binkley, Collin. "Trump Pushes State, Local Leaders to Reopen Schools in Fall."
The Associated Press. 7 July 2020. Seewer, John. "'Moving Target': Schools Deal with New Plans, Trump Demands."
The Associated Press. 12 July 2020. Tanner, Lindsey. "Virus Spread, Not Politics Should Guide Schools, Doctors Say."
The Associated Press. 12 July 2020. CDC. "Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Children United States, February 12April 2, 2020."
Accessed 13 July 2020. Mayo Clinic. "COVID-19 (coronavirus) in Babies and Children."
Accessed 13 July 2020. White House. "Press Briefing by Vice President Pence and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force."
8 July 2020. National Center for Education Statistics. "Back to School Statistics."
Accessed 13 July 2020.
John Hopkins University and Medicine. "Mortality Analyses."
Accessed 13 July 2020. Correction [16 July 2020]: A paragraph comparing the ".02%" figure cited in the meme with the actual U.S. case fatality rate has been removed because the comparison was not apt. | 0 | [
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FMD3420 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Yesterday, The New York Times ran a story in which they gave moving accounts of two women who say that Donald Trump sexually assaulted them. Trump maintains that his boasts about being allowed to assault women because he s got star power were just words, and that he s never done such a thing. In a sorry attempt to maintain the illusion that he s a good person, Trump has had his lawyers send the Times an official cease-and-desist, claiming the story amounts to libel.The strange thing is that the bulk of this letter appears to be directed at the women that the Times spoke to than it is to the Times itself: [Y]ou apparently performed an entirely inadequate investigation to test the veracity of these false and malicious allegations, including why these two individuals waited, in one case, 11 years, and, in another case, more than three decades, before deciding to come forward with these false and defamatory statements. And there it is. Assassinating the characters of the victims by saying that, if they d really been assaulted sexually, they d have come forward right away, is a very typical ploy for those trying to defend themselves against such allegations. But there s still nothing in there about what, specifically, is false in the Times story and how they know the Times knowingly published a false story.Trump s victims could all find their names and characters dragged through the mud because of this, and make no mistake, he will do that as loudly as he can. The fear of having that happen, and of not being believed, keeps many sexual assault victims from coming forward.And that could easily be why Trump is doing this. However, his method appears to be two-fold: In addition to intimidating and bullying his victims, he s also intimidating and bullying press outlets. The hope there would be that they won t give a voice to any more of his victims out of fear of getting sued.This isn t the only absurdity in the letter, but it is the most damning, given its possible intent. The letter also makes it political instead of naming specific falsehoods, which is outright ridiculous if this is a serious cease-and-desist: Your article is reckless, defamatory and constitutes libel per se. It is apparent from, among other things, the timing of the article, that it is nothing more than a politically-motivated effort to defeat Mr. Trump s candidacy Clearly, The New York Times is willing to provide a platform to anyone wishing to smear Mr. Trump s name and reputation prior to the election irrespective of whether the alleged statements have any basis in fact. Really? That s a hell of a thing to say in a cease-and-desist. The letter itself is politically motivated it s actually quite difficult to believe that an actual lawyer wrote this baloney. Here s what a strong cease-and-desist letter should contain, and this is a template of a decent cease-and-desist. This idiocy meets none of the conditions it needs to.CNNMoney reports that Trump has also threatened the Palm Beach Post for publishing a separate story from yet another victim. Besides that, the Trump campaign told Times reporter Megan Twohey that he would sue if they published the story. She received her own letter yesterday afternoon and was called a disgusting human being. A lawsuit against the Times would uncover everything and probably sink Trump entirely, because these allegations are the tip of the iceberg. He knows that. But, if nothing else, the discovery phase of this would be interesting.You can read the letter in full here:BREAKING: Trump demands retraction from @nytimes, threatens lawsuit.https://t.co/GBwomM7tgA pic.twitter.com/Htm9uaEsne Christina Wilkie (@christinawilkie) October 13, 2016Featured image via Scott Olson/Getty Images | 0 | [
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FMD3421 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: Did Hillary Clinton Use Hand Signals to Manipulate the Debate? Claim summaries: Conspiracy theory holds that Hillary Clinton and moderator Lester Holt rigged the first presidential debate by communicating via hand signals.
contextual information: 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 | 0 | [
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FMD3422 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: The Black Widow just delivered a super smackdown of Republicans for messing with women s health.Republicans on the federal and state level have repeatedly assaulted Planned Parenthood for years now, with some GOP-controlled states actually going so far as to strip funding from the women s healthcare provider, rendering them helpless to provide services that women need.The attacks against Planned Parenthood stem from the Republican effort to ban abortion and punish anyone who gets one or performs one, even though the procedure is legal and a constitutionally protected right.But in trying to destroy Planned Parenthood, Republicans are also taking away crucial medical serives such as cancer screenings. STD treatments, and access to the contraception that would prevent abortions in the first place by preventing unwanted pregnancies.And that makes Republicans a bunch of evil anti-women villains who need a serious ass-kicking.During an interview with Cosmopolitan on Thursday, Johansson provided that ass-kicking by defending Planned Parenthood.She began by criticizing Republicans for focusing so much on defunding Planned Parenthood when there are so many problems in the world that need immediate attention. There are countries at war, there s terrorism, global warming, and we re like, We should definitely cut the budget for Planned Parenthood. Let s take away the availability of women s health initiatives! It s nuts, Johansson said. We re talking about preventing cervical and breast cancers. Johansson also explained that she and some of her friends have relied on Planned Parenthood for their healthcare needs and blasted Republicans for trying to take away the only healthcare that millions of women have access to and can afford, and if they lose it, women who need an abortion will risk their lives to get one. Growing up, I used [PP s] services. All my girlfriends did not just for birth control but for Pap smears and breast exams. You read about the rise of back-alley abortions, women having to mutilate themselves and teenagers having to seek help in unsafe conditions, and for what?! We re moving backward when we re supposed to be moving forward. Johansson just stood up on behalf of women and wiped the floor with Republicans in real life and you can watch her kick ass on the big screen as the Black Widow when Captain America: Civil War arrives in theaters on May 6, 2016.Featured image: Pinterest | 0 | [
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FMD3423 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Zero Hedge October 28, 2016
Moments ago, Russian president started speaking at the final session of the Valdai International Discussion Club’s 13th annual meeting in Sochi. More than 130 experts and political analysts from Russia and other countries are taking part in this year’s three-day meeting, titled ‘The Future in Progress: Shaping the World of Tomorrow’.
While Putin’s speech can be seen below, he has already had a handful of soundbites, most notably the following he just said in response to accusations that Russia could influence the US election:
“Hysteria has been whipped up in the United States about the influence of Russia over the U.S. presidential election,” said Putin, calling it a ruse to cover up for the fact that the U.S. political elite had nothing to say about serious issues such as the country’s national debt or gun control.
“It’s much simpler to distract people with so-called Russian hackers, spies, and agents of influence. Does anyone really think that Russia could influence the American people’s choice in any way? The number of mythical, dreamt-up problems include the hysteria – I can’t think of another word – that has broken out in the United States about the influence of Russia on the current elections for the US president.”
He ended that phrase as follows: “What, is America a banana republic?!” Putin mocks claim that Russia is trying to influence the US elections: “What, is America a banana republic? America is a great power”
— Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) October 27, 2016
And then, to emphasize his trolling, added the following: “correct me if I am wrong.”
He also said that “Russia has no intention of attacking anyone, it is ridiculous, foolish and unthinkable. I read your analytical materials prepared not only by those present but also by analysts in the US and Europe. However, it is just unthinkable, silly and unrealistic. In Europe alone, the combined population of NATO countries stands at 300 million, in the US the total population is, probably, 600 million, while in Russia – 146 million. It is just funny to talk about this.”
According to the Russian president, contradictions stemming from redistribution of political power are growing.
“Regrettably, next to nothing has changed for the better in the past months. To be frank, nothing has changed. Contradictions stemming from redistribution of economic power and political influence are only growing,” Putin said.
Hence, according to the Russian leader, the burden of mutual mistrust is limiting possibilities to stand to real challenges and real threats facing the world community. “As a matter of fact, the entire globalization project has turned to be a crisis and voices in Europe are speaking (and we know and hear it well) about the failure of the policy of multiculturalism,” Putin said, adding that this situation is a consequence of a wrong, hasty and somewhat arrogant choice made by Europe’s political elites some twenty-five years ago.
“Back then, at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s, there was a chance not only to spur globalization processes but to give them a qualitatively new, harmonious and sustainable character,” the Russian leader said.
He drew attention to the fact that the countries that claimed to be the winners in the Cold War began to reshape the global political and economic order in their own interests.
These states, in his words, embarked on a path of “globalization and security for themselves only, but not for all.” But not all agreed on that.Some could not resist that any longer whereas others were not yet ready, so, no wonder the system of international relations has been feverish and the global economy is failing to recover from the crisis, Putin added.
On globalization
The Russian president stressed globalization should be for all but not only for the select few.
“Obviously, the global community must focus on really topical problems facing the entire humankind, the solution of which will make the world a safer and more stable place and the system of international relations equal and fair,” Putin said.
He said such an approach will make it possible to “make the globalization for the select few turn into globalization for all.”
“I am confident that it is possible to overcome any challenges and threats only together,” Putin stressed.
On Global Propaganda
The president said he regrets that Moscow does not possess such global propaganda techniques as Washington does.
“I would like to have such a propaganda machine in Russia. But, unfortunately, I don’t. We have no such global media as CNN, BBC and some others. We have no such opportunities so far,” Putin said at a session of the Valdai Discussion Club.
On the world economy
The president expects the trend towards regionalization of the world economy will continue. It is absolutely evident that economic cooperation must be mutually advantageous and be based on general universal principles so that each state could become a full-fledged participant in the global economic life,” Putin said.
“In the mid-term prospect, the tendency towards regionalization of the global economy will apparently continue, but regional trade agreements should complement, develop, and not substitute universal norms and rules,” the president said.
The global economy is unable to get out of the current systemic crisis and the political and economic principles continue to be reshuffled, Putin stressed.
“The system of international relations remains feverish. The global economy is unable to get out of the systemic crisis. The principles and rules in politics and the economy continue to be reshuffled. Quite often dogmas that until recently had been regarded as fundamentally true are turned inside out,” Putin said.
These days, he said, whenever the powers that be find some standards or rules beneficial, they force everybody else to obey them. However, if at a certain point the very same standards begin to pose obstructions, they are at once sent into the dustbin as outdated and new rules are established.
As an example of that strategy Putin mentioned the missile and bombing strikes against Belgrade and Iraq, then against Libya and Afghanistan. The operation began without a corresponding resolution by the UN Security Council. Some superpowers, the Russian leader said, in their attempts to change the strategic balance of force in their favor have torn down the international legal regime that prohibited the deployment of new missile defense systems. They have created and armed international terrorist groups, whose cruelty is now pushing millions of migrants out of the unsafe areas.
Whole countries are being plunged into chaos. The principles of free trade are trampled on and sanctions are used to exert political pressures.
“We can see the freedom of trade being sacrificed and so-called sanctions being used for exerting political pressures. In bypass of the World Trade Organizations attempts are being made to form closed economic alliances living by harsh rules and putting up firm barriers alliances where dome
On NATO
He said that NATO has outlived its usefulness as a structure and on the topic of the escalating proxy war in Syria, Putin had a simple comment: “Our agreements with the US on Syria did not work out.”
And some more headlines from his pragmatic remarks: RUSSIA’S PUTIN SAYS RUSSIAN MILITARY THREAT BEING EXAGGERATED TO JUSTIFY MILITARY SPENDING RUSSIA’S PUTIN SAYS CYBER ATTACKS OR OTHER TYPES OF INTERFERENCE INTO OTHER COUNTRIES’ AFFAIRS UNACCEPTABLE RUSSIA’S PUTIN SAYS DONALD TRUMP BEHAVES EXTRAVAGANTLY , BUT IT IS FOR A REASON
Follow Putin’s speech live below. | 0 | [
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FMD3424 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: If youre a low-wage worker and youre single and dont have children, were literally taxing you into poverty. Claim summaries: The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics says there are about 1.1 million workers with wages at or below the federal minimum wage, making up 1.5 percent of all hourly paid workers., Moore, in her statement, did not define the terms she was using, but experts we talked to were able to create plausible scenarios and found that -- in at least limited scenarios -- she is on target
contextual information: After months and months of the ongoing debate over the various plans and proposals being considered in Washington D.C., its rare to see a new argument emerge. But in an Oct. 30, 2021 appearance on MSNBC, U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, offered this case for supporting President Joe Bidens Build Back Better plan. The framework is much more than a social safety net program, Moore said onVelshi, an MSNBC programhosted by author and finance correspondent Ali Velshi. I think these programs contribute as much to our growing economy as anything. What good is growth if were taxing our workers into poverty? Moore went on to say: If youre a low-wage worker and youre single and dont have children, were literally taxing you into poverty. Is Moore right? When asked to provide backup for the statement, Moores office directed PolitiFact Wisconsin to a July 2020 report from the liberalCenter on Budget and Policy Priorities. Thereport focused on a provision in the planthat would temporarily extend the Earned Income Tax Credit to about 17 million low-wage workers. The report said, in part: The federal tax code currently taxes about 5.8 million low-wage workers aged 19-65 into or deeper into poverty, because the payroll and (in some cases) federal income taxes they pay exceed any EITC they receive. Thats generally on point, but does not cover the single and no children aspect of Moores claim. So, we reached out to other experts on the topic. Lets start with the terms involved and some basic data. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, part of the U.S. Department of Labor, does not use the phrase low-wage worker. However, the agency does publish an annual report and data on workers with hourly earnings at or below theprevailing Federal minimum wage. According to the February 2021BLS Report: In 2020, 73.3 million workers age 16 and older were paid on an hourly basis, or about 55.5 percent of all workers. About 1.1 million of those, or 1.5 percent, were paid at or below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. Whats more, according to the report, among workers paid an hourly wage, those who were single were more likely than married workers to earn the federal minimum wage or less. And about 60 percent of those in the hourly-wage category worked in the hospitality industry, meaning bars, restaurants and food services. Low wages are common in these fields, in part because workers typically supplement their pay with tips. When asked about Moores claim,Christopher Wimer, senior research scientist at Columbia Universitys Center on Poverty & Social Policy, told us he would need more precise definitions for low-wage, worker and even single without children. Since Moores statement did not address those details, Wimer, who conducts research on the measurement of poverty and disadvantage as well as historical trends in poverty, constructed his own measurement. He chose 2017 to 2019, because 2020 was an unusual year with COVID-19 job losses, stimulus payments and more. He defined low-wage as being in the bottom quartile -- that is the bottom 25% -- of annual income from wage and salary income (among those with at least some wage and salary income, so a worker). Then he selected adults who lived with no other family members (including any children, so single with no children). The bottomline: For those folks, their poverty rates are indeed higher after you use after-tax income. That is, about 49 percent fall under the poverty rate after taxes, but if you take out federal, state and payroll taxes, the figure would be more like 41 percent. Elaine Maag, a principal research associate in the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center at the Urban Institute, said Moore's comment is not only plausible, but in limited contexts -- true. Maag pointed out that in 2020, the official poverty threshold for a single person under age 65 with no children in the home was $13,465. (For a married couple younger than 65 with no children, the threshold was $17,331.) If I select a household with income just above that threshold, you can see that after tax, their income will be below $13,465, Maag said. Moore said If youre a low-wage worker and youre single and dont have children, were literally taxing you into poverty. Moore, in her statement, did not define the terms she was using, but experts we talked to were able to create plausible scenarios and found that -- in at least limited scenarios -- she is on target. For a statement that is accurate but needs clarification or additional information, our rating is Mostly True. | 1 | [
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FMD3425 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: Small businesses create two out of every three American jobs.
contextual information: There has been controversy surrounding several of President Donald Trump's Cabinet picks. Notable selections, such as Betsy DeVos, Rex Tillerson, and Jeff Sessions, have drawn the ire of Democrats and even a few Republicans. One choice that didn't receive much criticism was the appointment of Linda McMahon as administrator of the Small Business Administration. McMahon was approved by an 81-19 vote by the Senate, one of the more lopsided approvals of Trump's Cabinet positions. In that same press release, though, McCaskill said something that caught our eye. She stated, "Small businesses—which create two out of every three American jobs—are an engine for job growth that we've got to support and sustain." The first part of that statement stood out to us. What is defined as a small business? Do small businesses really produce that many jobs? We decided to do some digging into McCaskill's claim. What is a small business? When you think of small businesses, you usually think of mom-and-pop shops that are locally owned and have a few employees. However, the government's definition of a small business is any business that employs fewer than 500 people. According to a 2016 newsletter published by the Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy, as of 2013, there were 28.8 million small businesses in the United States. That 28.8 million made up 99.7 percent of the businesses in the U.S. and provided 56.8 million jobs for U.S. workers. Having nearly 29 million small businesses in the country provides a very strong economic impact. In the United States, 54 percent of all sales come from small businesses. Additionally, 97.7 percent of all U.S. trade exporters are also small business owners, making small businesses a key fixture of the United States economy. How many jobs do small businesses create? While all of the numbers listed above are important in understanding the impact of small businesses, they do not answer our question about the accuracy of McCaskill's claim. When we asked McCaskill's press secretary, Sarah Feldman, where the senator got her numbers, she directed us to a 2011 report on the state of small businesses. In it, the report states that small businesses have created 64 percent of new American private sector jobs generated in the past 15 years—that's 40 million net new jobs, according to the Council of Economic Advisers. That report was from six years ago. We wanted to see if there were any current reports on small businesses in the United States. Luckily, the Small Business Administration posted an article breaking down recent small business trends. It states that small businesses provide 55 percent of all jobs and 66 percent of all net new jobs since the 1970s. This backs McCaskill's claim that two out of every three American jobs are created by small businesses. An important thing to point out is that just because two out of every three new jobs are created by a small business, that doesn't mean 66 percent of the U.S. workforce is employed by small businesses. As stated above, 55 percent of U.S. workers are employed by small businesses. While this is an increase from 48 percent in 2013, small business employment still does not represent two-thirds of the workforce in America. This is important to differentiate because McCaskill's statement could be misinterpreted to suggest that. She is strictly talking about the creation of jobs, not the overall amount of small business jobs in the country. Our ruling: Upon the approval of McMahon as administrator of the Small Business Administration, Senator McCaskill released a press release that said, in part, "Small businesses—which create two out of every three American jobs—are an engine for job growth that we've got to support and sustain." While two-thirds of the workforce is not employed by small businesses, 66 percent of net new jobs since the 1970s have been created by small businesses. And though McCaskill's statement could be interpreted differently, her statement is accurate, and there's nothing significant missing. We rate this statement True. | 1 | [
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FMD3426 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: A combat veteran with PTSD wasn’t allowed to fly with her service dog. So she sued. ‹ › Since 2011, VNN has operated as part of the Veterans Today Network ; a group that operates over 50 plus media, information and service online sites for U.S. Military Veterans. Vertical Pools Help Heal Wounded Combat Veterans Seeks Positive Doers To Help Make It Happen By VNN on October 31, 2016 The Vertical Pool was inspired by the anticipated need of the returning wounded, and veterans of all past conflicts, who have limited options for recovery and healing at home. Even if they’re within an hour of a VA hospital, it can be a challenge to get there without assistance. A heated, sanitized, filtered, compact pool in the back yard, house, garage, means convenient, private, daily immersions for exercise, traction, rehabilitation, and recovery. These pools should be available to veterans without convoluted forms and wait times. Simply a doctor’s prescription should put them on a list for immediate consideration. VetPools.org (an effort to raise funds to donate these pools to vets) was formed with the specific objective of helping improve upon the methods and manners by which America receives and treats her returning wounded. The most formidable military force in the world deserves a commensurate comprehensive recovery, reintegration program focused on body, mind, and spirit for those who require assistance. The purpose of this message is to inform interested and connected parties of the desire to hand this product and mission off to veterans who would then become The Vertical Pool LLC and VetPools.org . They could be instrumental in healing themselves and their fellow veterans, as well as civilian America from the physically challenged to the physically fit. Interestingly, while initially intended for veterans, the retail market has turned out to be women. As only one person, innovator/owner of The Vertical Pool and founder/director of VetPools.org , I cannot fulfill this objective alone. The R&D, pool product, and non-profit are all paid for in full, no debt or encumbrances. This “on-demand” pool can be manufactured as needed without excessive, costly inventory and/or storage space. I do not advertise this product because one person cannot build, deliver, and install more than 5 pools in two months. Career options with this DME device and non-profit include owning, manufacturing, marketing, selling, donating, fund-raising, case managing, delivering, installing, and teaching The Vertical Pool’s diverse functions and benefits. This pool is efficient in energy, water, and space; critical qualities in this, the 21st century. A group or collective of 3 to 7 individuals might be prudent to start the program. I would remain teacher, mentor, and guide for years to come while others slip into the ownership of this product and its sister non-profit organization. Please share this idea with any and all contacts who might have the connections to give some veterans a lead to a worthy endeavor and career. To get involved contact; Director, Peter G. Hold | 0 | [
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FMD3427 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: Does Dashcam Video Show a Handcuffed Man Saving Choking Police Officer? Claim summaries: A viral TikTok video asks viewers to put themselves in someone else's shoes.
contextual information: In February 2021, a video went viral on TikTok that supposedly showed a handcuffed man saving a choking police officer's life. The video, which supposedly came from the cop car's dashcam, racked up more than 26 million views within a few days of its initial posting by @kd_k97: There are strong reasons to doubt this is a genuine video of a handcuffed man saving a choking police officer's life. More likely, it's a staged video that was created as a sort of "morality play" asking the viewer to ponder what they would do in this situation. While there are no explicit disclaimers labeling this footage as a scripted moment as opposed to a genuine incident captured on a police car's dashcam, there are a number of indications that this video could be more accurately captioned as the former. For one, this "dashcam" video did not originate with a police department, a news article, or any other official source. Rather, this video first went viral on TikTok. This is also just one part of a three-part video series. Part one showed the initial confrontation, involving a Black man being stopped and handcuffed after reports of "suspicious activity." Part two shows the handcuffed man saving the cop's life after he starts to choke. Part three shows the Black man retrieving the cuffs after saving the cop's life, giving them back to the police officer and preparing to be arrested again, before the cop decides to reward his good deed and let him go. Part one showed Part two shows Part three shows While this may be an effective way to break down and share a scripted performance, this would be an odd way to release a genuine police dashcam video. We have not seen any news reports about this alleged incident, nor have we found any "official" versions of this video from a police department. On social media, users also noted that the officer's "costume" didn't seem authentic. For instance, he doesn't appear to be wearing a weapon and the "bullet proof vest" appears a bit flimsy. TikTok user kd_k97 has not commented on the authenticity of the video. However, they did respond to a comment that highlighted the intended message of the video: We reached out to KD97 for more information, and will update this article accordingly. | 2 | [
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FMD3428 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Vice Presidential candidate Tim Kaine has some explaining to do! It sure looks like he sold his soul to the Clintons to run as Vice President. He had a totally different view of Bill Clinton in 2002 and stated he thought Bill should have stepped down during the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal. The lack of integrity and lack of respect for the office that Bill Clinton held should be enough for any Democrat to not want him anywhere near the White House again. Clinton shook his finger as he looked in the camera and LIED to the American people about his disgusting affair with a White House intern. Does anyone care to recall that this was a HUGE DEAL AND NOW HIS ENABLING WIFE IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT! This all seems so impossible but the press, globalists and Republican elitists are making it possible Do what you can to keep the Clinton Grifters out of the White House. America deserves better! TRUMP 2016! How quickly Democrats forget! Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine is pretty much part of the Clinton family at this point. But in 2002, he said Bill Clinton should have stepped down in the wake of his affair with a White House intern.Bill Clinton should have resigned over the Monica Lewinsky scandal at least, that s a view Tim Kaine once held.Kaine s remark reported 14 years ago in the Richmond Times-Dispatch in the aftermath of a state-level sex scandal hasn t drawn any attention thus far in the 2016 presidential cycle. But it suggests Hillary Clinton s running mate at one point harbored reservations about the integrity of the man poised to become the country s first first gentleman.Kaine commented on the Lewinsky scandal in 2002, when allegations of sexual harassment had rocked the Virginia House of Delegates. The speaker of the house, Vance Wilkins, was a Republican power broker who had just helped his party flip the House and build its majority after Democrats had historically controlled the chamber.Just one problem: Earlier in 2001, Wilkins agreed to pay $100,000 in hush money to a former female employee at his construction company who said he sexually harassed her.The woman, Jennifer Thompson, alleged privately that Wilkins groped her and pinned her against office furniture. She considered pressing charges, according to a Washington Post report that broke the news on June 7, 2002. But she ultimately decided not to, accepting the $100,000 from Wilkins and signing a confidentiality agreement. The Post cited sources familiar with the settlement in their report on it. Wilkins held and still holds, as he stated in an interview with The Daily Beast that he didn t sexually harass Thompson, and that he only paid her to keep her allegations from becoming a scandal that would have undermined Republicans efforts to control the House.The Post s report caused an immediate firestorm, and top Republicans called for Wilkins to resign. Jerry Kilgore, then the state s attorney general and top-ranking elected Republican, joined the chorus.So did Tim Kaine, who was the state s lieutenant governor at the time. And according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, he said he also believed Bill Clinton should have resigned from the presidency over his own sex scandals.Here s what the paper wrote, in a story published June 8, 2002: If the allegations are true, he should definitely resign, Kaine said, adding he held the same view about President Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal. That is an intolerable way to treat women and it s not something that the state should be dragged through. The Times-Dispatch story is behind a paywall in its archive.A report in The Washington Post, also published on June 8, 2002, characterized his views the same way:Lt. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D), who may face [state Attorney General Jerry] Kilgore in the 2005 governor s race, likened the matter to the sexual scandal of President Bill Clinton and White House intern Monica S. Lewinsky, saying, If the allegations are true, he ought to resign. Somebody in public life shouldn t behave that way toward women, Kaine said. It s tawdry. It s not the leadership that Virginia should have. An AP story that ran on the same day also highlighted Kaine s criticism of Bill Clinton. When I read it this morning, my reaction was the same I had when I read about the Clinton-Lewinsky affair: this is not appropriate conduct. It s beneath the dignity of the office, he said.Amy Dudley, a spokesperson for Kaine, said the Virginia senator is focused on the future. As the Associated Press reported at the time, Kaine characterized President Clinton s actions as not appropriate conduct, but he had previously been on record criticizing the impeachment effort, she said. He believes this election is about Hillary Clinton s vision to make historic investments to create good paying jobs, make college debt free and build an economy that works for everyone, not re-litigating personal issues from the distant past. Wilkins told The Daily Beast that he didn t recall Kaine making the comment, but that he didn t pay much attention to him anyway. He saw a political opportunity to make a political hit and he took it, Wilkins added. It doesn t surprise me at all. Kaine wasn t the only Democrat disturbed by Bill Clinton s affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Clinton s world-famous lie I did not have sexual relations with that woman became one of the definitive lines of the 90s. And their dalliances ultimately led to the House voting to impeach Clinton. Five House Democrats including Virginian Virgil Goode, who later became a Republican voted for some of the articles of impeachment. No Senate Democrats voted that Clinton was guilty. Read more: Live Leak | 0 | [
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FMD3429 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Algeria is deeply concerned about a U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel s capital, saying it was a blatant violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, state news agency APS said on Wednesday. Algeria learned with deep concern about the U.S administration s decision to recognize Jerusalem as capital Israel s, APS said, quoting a foreign ministry statement. | 1 | [
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FMD3430 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: [Photo: Before and after mountain top removal for coal extraction. Devastation brought to you by the Koch Brothers. Credit: Earth Justice.] =By= The Real News Network Editor's Note
We are at the point in Earth history, the breaking point. Humanity, (let’s be fair shall we?) western “civilization” has virtually killed the only home we have. There is no place for homeless humanity to go when this home becomes habitable only for cockroaches and similarly hardy beasts. Those in the worst offender nation, the United States, have allowed themselves to be pacified into disbelief that we are, or even can, destroy the only home we have. Much of that willing disbelief is founded on a welll orchestrated propaganda campagn carried out by the fossil fuel industry and the owners of it such as the Koch Brothers. The video below examines this decades long campaign that has been waged to lead a willing populace to the graveyard of humanity.
We are literally at a point where days matter in reversing course. We (humanity) does not have centuries to address this problem. We don’t even have decades. Some argue that if something significant is not done by 2017 to radically reduce the production of global warming gasses that it will be too late to avoid the worst that is coming at us. We are talking months – not years. Recognizing the urgency, many organizations and publications are devoting major effort to addressing the destruction of our world. The Real News Network is starting a Global Climate Change Bureau. The Greanville Post and Uncommon Thought Journal are dedicated to bringing you consistent news, analysis, and engagement opportunities focused on ACD ( Anthropogenic Climate Disruption ) – as Dahr Jamail argues, ACD clear puts the blame for the problem on humans. Please join us in this effort and send pertinent materials to Rowan Wolf at [email protected] .
From The Real News Network
Scientists say Temperatures Will Rise to Critical 2° by 2050
The Real News Network is Building a Global Climate Change Bureau
2014 and 2015 each set the record for hottest calendar year since scientists began measuring surface temperatures over 150 years ago, and 2016 is shaping up to be even warmer. This will be the first time that we’ve seen three consecutive years with record-breaking temperatures.
A temperature increase of two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels will now be reached much sooner than earlier predicted according to a report by seven leading climate scientists.
“The 1.5°C target could be reached by the early 2030’s and the 2°C target by 2050” says the report that included Sir Robert Watson, former Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The scientists say that even if all the pledges made by the signatory countries to the Paris agreement are fully implemented, climate will pass this dangerous mark in 34 years.
This is a threshold that most scientists have warned cannot be crossed without dire consequences, including a rise in sea levels of several feet that would flood many coastal cities in the U.S., longer droughts, more intense heat waves that cause a major disruption in the world’s food supply, and large migrations of people from countries of the global south.
It is also a point where it becomes far more difficult to reverse the warming trend. Some scientists suggest temperatures by the end of the century could rise as much as 4-6°C above pre-industrial levels. [1°C equals 1.8°F, so this is a temperature rise of 7.2-10.8°F]
The report titled The Truth About Climate Change says, “Much of the public believes that climate change is only going to happen by the end of the century,” and that this is a misunderstanding of the urgency. Unless there is a dramatic change in current public policy, most people alive today will live to see the 2°C threshold crossed.
The report continues: “Climate change is happening now, and much faster than anticipated.” Climate change related floods, droughts, more intense storms, heat waves, and wildfires have already had devastating effects on livelihoods, infrastructure, and lives.”
If the 2°C threshold is to be avoided, the report calls for far more aggressive targets than those set by the Paris Agreement and for that action to begin immediately. The report says, “To meet the 2°C target, global CO2 emissions should be net zero by 2060-2075.”
The threat is catastrophic, the science overwhelming. So why aren’t solutions to the climate change crisis at the top of the political agenda?
Why don’t we see millions of people in the streets demanding decisive action? Why isn’t this a major issue in the election debates? Why are politicians who deny the existence of human-caused climate change even elected to office?
The lack of American public engagement in the climate crisis is a global concern. If U.S. policy doesn’t change, human life as we know it and thousands of other species will not survive.
According to a Yale survey, 70% of Americans now believe global warming is real. If so, why isn’t there more political pressure to face up to the crisis?
Dig further into the numbers and the state of public opinion is more fully revealed. Of those who believe climate change is real, only half (53%) think that global warming is mostly human caused. One in three (34%) believe it is due mostly to natural changes in the environment. Only about one in ten Americans understand that nearly all climate scientists (more than 90%) are convinced that human-caused global warming is happening. Over half of Americans (58%) say they are at least “somewhat worried” about global warming, but only 16% say they are “very worried.”
Why are only 16% of people surveyed very worried about what 90% of scientists think is a catastrophic threat?
The Koch Brothers’ war on science certainly plays a major role in promoting doubt about the overwhelming scientific evidence of human-caused climate change. They spend millions financing witch hunts against climate scientists and funding “research” designed to confuse public opinion.
The Kochs and other billionaires with a vested interest pour hundreds of millions into the coffers of politicians willing to obstruct legislation that would regulate fossil fuel and promote a green sustainable economy.
Perhaps as responsible for the gap between public opinion and scientific evidence is corporate television news, “The gatekeeper of public consciousness.”
Firstly, they ignore the crisis. The report cited above was not the lead story on television newscasts. We can’t find evidence it was carried by any U.S. television news outlet at all .
According to a Media Matters report, the four major corporate TV networks aired a total 146 minutes of climate change coverage in 2015. ABC only aired 13 minutes of coverage and Fox’s coverage consisted mostly of “criticism of efforts to address climate change.”
The report continues: CNN aired almost five times as much oil industry advertising as climate change-related coverage in the one-week periods following the announcements that 2015 was the hottest year on record and February 2016 was the most abnormally hot month on record.
Only 16% of Americans are “very worried” about global warming because corporate TV news doesn’t want us to worry about it.
Larry Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, says: While US foreign policy is mostly responsible for the growth of militant terrorist groups, the threat of a nuclear terrorist attack is existential. Think about what we’ll do when 500,000 people are killed in New York City. We will declare martial law nationwide. We will be the most draconian tyranny you’ve ever seen on the face of this earth. But still I consider climate change a greater danger because it is a threat to the very survival of the human race.
What are the reasons for corporate TV’s lack of interest in the major news story of the century?The obvious answers are pressure from certain advertisers, the interests of corporate ownership, and the political intrigues of the fossil fuel industry.
But I think it goes even deeper.
In 2009, two years after the Fourth IPCC Assessment Report said, “Warming of the climate system is unequivocal,” TV coverage of climate change was at its height – a whopping 205 minutes for the entire year. Even former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich appeared in an ad with Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi calling for action on climate warming.
Then something happened.
A large section of the elites looked at what it would really take to meet the target scientists said was necessary to mitigate and stop the terrible consequences of climate change. They said, “No way.”
The transformation required to drastically reduce the use of fossil fuels and move to a green economy would change who has power and how business is done. There is no way to achieve the necessary reduction in carbon emissions without serious government regulation, a strengthening of the public sector, and massive public investment. All this requires a reduction in the political power of the fossil fuel industry and the financial elites associated with it.
Gingrich renounced the Pelosi ad in 2011.
The majority of the billionaires who control the commanding heights of the economy and politics are more interested in short-term profits and immediate personal gratification than some “long-term” threat. They either fight against all climate change legislative action or support relatively weak measures to reduce carbon emissions – better than nothing, but far from what scientists say is required.
For most people of wealth it comes down to a simple calculation: My family and I will be ok . As the IPCC puts it: “Risks are unevenly distributed and are generally greater for disadvantaged people and communities in countries at all levels of development.”
People who understand the scale of the systemic risk are marginalized by corporate media and thus are marginalized in politics.
A critical task in engaging large numbers of ordinary people in fighting and voting for a rational climate change policy is breaking the corporate monopoly on daily video news. We must create an independent, uncompromising source of global climate change news and investigative reports.
The very first story ever produced by TRNN in 2007 was an interview series with George Monbiot on the urgent climate change threat. We produced a series titled “Who Cares About Bangladesh” soon afterwards.
We reported directly from the COP21 Climate Conference in Paris.
We did in-depth interviews with climatologists like Dr. Alan Robock and Dr. Michael Mann who both worked on the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Economist Robert Pollin has appeared in numerous interviews with specific proposals for a transition to a green economy.
We recently interviewed the esteemed actor Emma Thompson while she was onboard a Greenpeace vessel in the Arctic.
We’ve reported on environmental activism from all over the world.
We will soon be releasing the documentary “The Doubt Machine: The Koch Brothers War on Climate Science” narrated by Emma Thompson.
With our limited resources we have produced more than 535 reports on climate change since the fall of 2007 when we started our service. In 2015, we produced 1029 minutes of programming about climate change. That’s more than seven times of all the major networks combined .
We have produced more than 10,000 reports and interviews overall since we began our daily production. We also cover international and national news and now have a bureau in Baltimore reporting on the problems and solutions to the crisis of urban America. Millions of people have watched. We average 1.5 million views per month.
While we have worked hard to keep a focus on climate change, what we have accomplished is far from enough. We need a Climate Bureau with sufficient resources to become a major daily video climate news service for online and TV.
The power of daily video news is what shapes most people’s world view and the field is dominated by news organizations that will not seriously address the problem or are in fact, part of the “doubt machine.”
It is clear that a radical change in the way the world produces and uses energy is required. Currently, about 82% of energy produced in the world is obtained by burning fossil fuels. How we produce energy without burning fossil fuels will be critically important as the world population is expected to grow by 40% to 10 billion by 2050.
Please go to The Real News in order to read the rest of their plans for their new Global Climate Change Bureau (GCCB). | 0 | [
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FMD3431 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Among the findings:A Complex Fiscal Picture Welfare use. Our findings show that many of the preconceived notions about the fiscal impact of illegal households turn out to be inaccurate. In terms of welfare use, receipt of cash assistance programs tends to be very low, while Medicaid use, though significant, is still less than for other households. Only use of food assistance programs is significantly higher than that of the rest of the population. Also, contrary to the perceptions that illegal aliens don t pay payroll taxes, we estimate that more than half of illegals work on the books. On average, illegal households pay more than $4,200 a year in all forms of federal taxes. Unfortunately, they impose costs of $6,950 per household.The Impact of Amnesty. Finally, our estimates show that amnesty would significantly increase tax revenue. Because both their income and tax compliance would rise, we estimate that under the most likely scenario the average illegal alien household would pay 77 percent ($3,200) more a year in federal taxes once legalized. While not enough to offset the 118 percent ($8,200) per household increase in costs that would come with legalization, amnesty would significantly increase both the average income and tax payments of illegal aliens.What s Different About Today s Immigration. Many native-born Americans observe that their ancestors came to America and did not place great demands on government services. Perhaps this is true, but the size and scope of government were dramatically smaller during the last great wave of immigration. Not just means-tested programs, but expenditures on everything from public schools to roads were only a fraction of what they are today. Thus, the arrival of unskilled immigrants in the past did not have the negative fiscal implications that it does today. Moreover, the American economy has changed profoundly since the last great wave of immigration, with education now the key determinant of economic success. The costs that unskilled immigrants impose simply reflect the nature of the modern American economy and welfare state. It is doubtful that the fiscal costs can be avoided if our immigration policies remain unchanged. Center For Immigration Study | 0 | [
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FMD3432 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Editor’s Note: We can only hope that the following is finally the real deal. As noted by Zero Hedge in the report below, the FBI is re-opening the probe into the Hillary Clinton email scandal. With less than two weeks to go before election day, however, we’re not convinced anything will come of it because once Hillary has been selected to the highest office of the land, it is quite likely that any and all investigations into all matters Clinton will cease instantly. So, unless charges are filed in the next week or so, chances are this “probe” will end just like the last one.
Via Zero Hedge :
Donald Trump has opined:
*TRUMP SAYS HE NOW HAS `GREAT RESPECT’ FOR FBI, DOJ *TRUMP ON FBI NEWS: `PERHAPS FINALLY JUSTICE WILL BE DONE’ *TRUMP: FBI WILL RIGHT THE SHIP *TRUMP SAYS FBI NEWS SHOWS SYSTEM MAY NOT BE `RIGGED’ * * *
As we detailed earlier, in a stunning development moments ago Jason Chaffetz tweeted that the FBI’s probe into Hillary Clinton emails has been reopened: saying that “ The FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation .”
FBI Dir just informed me, “The FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation.” Case reopened
— Jason Chaffetz (@jasoninthehouse) October 28, 2016
After being briefed by his investigative team, Comey “agreed that the FBI should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to asses their importance to our investigation.” Comey said he could not predict how long it would take the bureau to assess whether the new emails are “significant.”
Moments later, NBC News reported that the agency was reopening the investigation and shared a letter from FBI director James Comey informing key lawmakers of the investigation.. .
“In connection with an unrelated case, the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation,” Comey wrote. “I am writing to inform you that the investigative team briefed me on this yesterday, and I agreed that the FBI should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information,” Comey wrote
The full letter to members of Congress, in which FBI director James Comey said the agency had “learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation” in connection with an unrelated case, is shown below.
BIG: The FBI is reopening its investigation into @HillaryClinton ‘s email server. Here’s the letter from the FBI to Congress: pic.twitter.com/OKjipTeiJp
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) October 28, 2016 | 0 | [
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FMD3433 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: Has Target Discontinued Its 'Shop with a Cop' Program? Claim summaries: Pointing out a rumor exists is not the same as proving that the rumor is true.
contextual information: In late July 2020, Snopes readers requested verification of numerous social media posts stating that Target had canceled its annual "Shop with a Cop" program, officially known as "Heroes & Helpers," in an effort to "distance themselves from police officers." Here is an example of one such post circulating on Facebook: Similar posts also circulated on Twitter, and to add to the confusion, a website called The Courier Daily only reported that people were discussing the rumor on Twitter but didn't provide any evidence for the claim. We reached out to the source itself, asking Target Corporate whether it had ended the long-standing program that pairs children from low-income backgrounds with local law enforcement officers for holiday shopping trips funded by charitable donations. A spokesperson for Target informed us that the program will continue, although details about how it will proceed amid the COVID-19 pandemic are still pending. In response to our inquiry about whether the program had been canceled, the company sent the following statement: "We plan to continue to support children with Heroes & Helpers events across the country this holiday season. Like many of our holiday programs, we are carefully considering how to manage these events during the COVID-19 environment in a way that ensures the health and safety of our team and guests. We will have additional details to share as we approach the holiday season." The program was launched in 2009 and takes place in stores nationwide. To date, $5 million in grants has been used to support the shopping trips, and more than 100,000 children and 60,000 police officers have participated, according to Target. The false social media rumors may have been inspired by the fact that since the May 25, 2020, death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody, there have been ongoing protests against and discussions about police violence and racism in America, spurring calls to reform policing practices and even some activists calling for police departments to be defunded. However, as of this writing, Target does not plan to cancel the program as a result of the racial justice protests. With the information currently available, we rate this claim as a Bullseye View. "Target Teams Up with Donnie Wahlberg to Celebrate 10 Years of Heroes & Helpers." 4 December 2019. Trujillo, Damian. "Shop With a Cop Foundation Considers Name Change to Reconnect with Community." KNTV. 2 July 2020. Hill, Evan, et al. "How George Floyd Was Killed in Police Custody." The New York Times. 31 May 2020. | 0 | [
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FMD3434 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Israel has ordered the deportation of two of three Turks who were briefly arrested during Palestinian demonstrations last week after U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel s capital, the Interior Ministry said on Monday. The three were detained on Friday on suspicion of assaulting Israeli police near a Al-Aqsa mosque in East Jerusalem, which Palestinians see as the capital of their own future state. An Israeli court freed them without charges on Saturday. An Interior Ministry spokeswoman said one of the men was scheduled for deportation later on Monday and another on Saturday. She said both had entered Israel on Belgian passports. Israeli police had described the three as Turkish tourists. A photograph circulated on social media showed them among a group of fez-wearing men and boys outside Al-Aqsa. One is seen wearing a Turkish flag T-shirt and waving a Palestinian flag, while two hold up pictures of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan has been vocal in opposing Trump s Jerusalem move, which reversed decades of U.S. policy over the status of a city whose eastern sector Israel captured in the 1967 war and which is holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims. The Interior Ministry spokeswoman said she had no information on the third Turk who had been arrested in the case. | 1 | [
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FMD3435 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreed to take help from the U.N. refugee agency to safely repatriate hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who had fled violence in Myanmar, Bangladesh said on Saturday. More than 600,000 Rohingya sought sanctuary in Bangladesh after the military in mostly Buddhist Myanmar launched a brutal counter-insurgency operation in their villages across the northern parts of Rakhine State following attacks by Rohingya militants on an army base and police posts on Aug. 25. Faced with a burgeoning humanitarian crisis, the two governments signed a pact on Thursday agreeing that the return of the Rohingya to Myanmar should start within two months. Uncertainty over whether the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) would have a role had prompted rights groups to insist that outside monitors were needed to safeguard the Rohingya s return. Addressing a news conference in Dhaka, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali gave assurances that the UNHCR would play some part. Both countries agreed to take help from the UNHCR in the Rohingya repatriation process, Ali said. Myanmar will take its assistance as per their requirement. The diplomatic breakthrough came just ahead of a visit by Pope Francis to Myanmar and Bangladesh from Nov. 26 to Dec. 2 that is aimed at promoting reconciliation, forgiveness and peace . While the violence in Rakhine has mostly ceased, Rohingya have continued to stream out of Myanmar, saying they have largely lost access to sources of livelihood such as their farms, fisheries and markets. Thousands of Rohingya, most of them old people, women and children, remain stranded on beaches near the border, waiting for a boat to take them to Bangladesh. Ali said a joint working group, to be formed within three weeks, will fix the final terms to start the repatriation process. After leaving the refugee camps in Bangladesh, Rohingya who opt to be voluntarily repatriated will be moved to camps in Myanmar, the minister said. Most houses were burnt down. Where they will live after going back? So, it is not possible to physically return to their homes, Ali said. Myanmar officials have said returnees will be moved to camps only temporarily while so-called model villages are constructed near their former homes. Win Myat Aye, the minister for social welfare, relief and resettlement who heads a Myanmar government panel on rehabilitation in Rakhine, said India and China had offered to provide modular houses for returnees. The U.N. and the United States have described the Myanmar military s actions as ethnic cleansing , and rights groups have accused the security forces of committing atrocities, including mass rape, arson and killings. The United States also warned it could impose sanctions on individuals responsible for alleged abuses. Led by Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar is in the early stages of a transition to democracy after decades of military rule. But civilian government is less than two years old, and still shares power with the generals, who retain autonomy over matters of defense, security and borders. The commander of Myanmar s armed forces, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, has denied that soldiers committed any atrocities. On Friday he met China s President Xi Jinping in Beijing having been told earlier in the week by a top Chinese general that China wanted stronger ties with Myanmar s military. Under the deal struck with Bangladesh, Myanmar agreed to take measures to see that the returnees will not be settled in temporary places for a long time. Myanmar plans to issue them an identity card on their return, although most Rohingya have so far rejected a scheme to give them national verification cards . While the agreement says Bangladesh would seek the U.N. refugee agency s assistance on the process, Myanmar | 1 | [
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FMD3436 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: ROAR MagI want to give testimony on what are called the highways of death. These are the two Kuwaiti roadways, littered with remains of 2,000 mangled Iraqi military vehicles, and the charred and dismembered bodies of tens of thousands of Iraqi soldiers, who were withdrawing from Kuwait on February 26th and 27th 1991 in compliance with UN resolutions.US planes trapped the long convoys by disabling vehicles in the front, and at the rear, and then pounded the resulting traffic jams for hours. It was like shooting fish in a barrel, said one US pilot. The horror is still there to see.On the inland highway to Basra is mile after mile of burned, smashed, shattered vehicles of every description tanks, armored cars, trucks, autos, fire trucks, according to the March 18, 1991, Time magazine. On the sixty miles of coastal highway, Iraqi military units sit in gruesome repose, scorched skeletons of vehicles and men alike, black and awful under the sun, says the Los Angeles Times of March 11, 1991. While 450 people survived the inland road bombing to surrender, this was not the case with the 60 miles of the coastal road. There for 60 miles every vehicle was strafed or bombed, every windshield is shattered, every tank is burned, every truck is riddled with shell fragments. No survivors are known or likely. The cabs of trucks were bombed so much that they were pushed into the ground, and it s impossible to see if they contain drivers or not. Windshields were melted away, and huge tanks were reduced to shrapnel. Even in Vietnam I didn t see anything like this. It s pathetic, said Major Bob Nugent, an Army intelligence officer. This one-sided carnage, this racist mass murder of Arab people, occurred while White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater promised that the US and its coalition partners would not attack Iraqi forces leaving Kuwait. This is surely one of the most heinous war crimes in contemporary history. The Iraqi troops were not being driven out of Kuwait by US troops as the Bush administration maintains. They were not retreating in order to regroup and fight again. In fact, they were withdrawing, they were going home, responding to orders issued by Baghdad, announcing that it was complying with Resolution 660 and leaving Kuwait. At 5:35 p.m. (Eastern standard Time) Baghdad radio announced that Iraq s Foreign Minister had accepted the Soviet cease-fire proposal and had issued the order for all Iraqi troops to withdraw to postions held before August 2, 1990 in compliance with UN Resolution 660. President Bush responded immediately from the White House saying (through spokesman Marlin Fitzwater) that there was no evidence to suggest the Iraqi army is withdrawing. In fact, Iraqi units are continuing to fight. . . We continue to prosecute the war. On the next day, February 26, 1991, Saddam Hussein announced on Baghdad radio that Iraqi troops had, indeed, begun to withdraw from Kuwait and that the withdrawal would be complete that day. Again, Bush reacted, calling Hussein s announcement an outrage and a cruel hoax. Eyewitness Kuwaitis attest that the withdrawal began the afternoon of February 26, 1991 and Baghdad radio announced at 2:00 AM (local time) that morning that the government had ordered all troops to withdraw. The massacre of withdrawing Iraqi soldiers violates the Geneva Conventions of 1949, Common Article III, which outlaws the killing of soldiers who are out of combat. The point of contention involves the Bush administration s claim that the Iraqi troops were retreating to regroup and fight again. Such a claim is the only way that the massacre which occurred could be considered legal under international law. But in fact the claim is false and obviously so. The troops were withdrawing and removing themselves from combat under direct orders from Baghdad that the war was over and that Iraq had quit and would fully comply with UN resolutions. To attack the soldiers returning home under these circumstances is a war crime.Iraq accepted UN Resolution 660 and offered to withdraw from Kuwait through Soviet mediation on February 21, 1991. A statement made by George Bush on February 27, 1991, that no quarter would be given to remaining Iraqi soldiers violates even the US Field Manual of 1956. The 1907 Hague Convention governing land warfare also makes it illegal to declare that no quarter will be given to withdrawing soldiers. On February 26,199 I, the following dispatch was filed from the deck of the USS. Ranger, under the byline of Randall Richard of the Providence Journal: Air strikes against Iraqi troops retreating from Kuwait were being launched so feverishly from this carrier today that pilots said they took whatever bombs happened to be closest to the flight deck. The crews, working to the strains of the Lone Ranger theme, often passed up the projectile of choice . . . because it took too long to load. New York Times reporter Maureen Dowd wrote, With the Iraqi leader facing military defeat, Mr. Bush decided that he would rather gamble on a violent and potentially unpopular ground war than risk the alternative: an imperfect settlement hammered out by the Soviets and Iraqis that world opinion might accept as tolerable. In short, rather than accept the offer of Iraq to surrender and leave the field of battle, Bush and the US military strategists decided simply to kill as many Iraqis as they possibly could while the chance lasted Continue this story at ROAR MagazineREAD MORE IRAQ NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Iraq Files | 0 | [
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FMD3437 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: The brutal and largely illegal immigrant filled street gang recently became a primary target of the Trump Administration — and rightfully so. However, Trump promised to target and go after Mexican cartels and has yet to actually do so. [1. are the hired help and act as foot soldiers for Mexican cartels or transnational criminal organizations they are not the top dogs. This fact is best shown in news from 2014 involving gang members and a methamphetamine stash house in St. Paul, Minnesota. In that case, a Mexican Sinaloa Cartel stash house had been robbed in the city of St. Paul. gang members flew from Los Angeles, California, and kidnapped two Minnesota teens. tortured the teens in an effort to obtain information on who might have robbed the Sinaloa Cartel stash house. The significant factor here is that were acting as the hired help for the Mexican cartel they were not acting on their own direction or for their own interests. They were working for the masterminds in the Sinaloa Cartel. In addition to Breitbart reporting on the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime also illuminates the relationship between Mexican cartels and : the cartels are apex criminals and are “mara,†or street gangs employed by the Mexican cartels. 2. Going after gives the appearance of going after Mexican cartels while avoiding the actual repercussions of doing so. Going after Mexican cartels entails possibly going after Mexico’s president and many of Mexico’s state governors, city mayors, and other officials — as the line between Mexican politicians and does not exist. The diplomatic consequences would be huge and it is far easier to appear that the administration is keeping its promises by going after a largely Central street gang like than actually going after Mexico’s elite. Even though is a Central street gang, most Americans would likely not know this and would not distinguish between Central crime groups and the crime groups who actually run the show. 3. Official talk of being designated as a terror group allows the Trump Administration to look tough on crime from south of the border while avoiding the diplomatic consequences of designating Mexican cartels as terror groups. Several Mexican cartels, specifically Los Zetas and the Gulf cartel, have crossed the line from being just organizations and have actually obtained direct and official political power. They have control of certain regions of Mexico. This is most true in Tamaulipas, a state immediately south of Texas. They use targeted assassinations against officials, have camera systems set up in border cities to monitor the populace, and they have “links†in nearly all news outlets who decide what can and cannot be published. They are paramilitary groups that use extreme violence to keep political control of regions of Mexico. These groups hire the street thugs of at times, but are simply the hired help. Designating these Mexican cartels, or factions thereof, as foreign terror organizations would mean that many of Mexico’s leaders would be in trouble for their participation in such groups. Governors would go down and possibly even the current Mexican president. Singling out allows the Trump Administration to look tough and send a message, but to avoid actually going at the root of the problem and facing the consequences for doing so. At best it risks creating diplomatic difficulties with a small Central American nation while avoiding making Mexico’s elite angry. Brandon Darby is managing director and of Breitbart Texas. He the Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and Stephen K. Bannon. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart. com. Ildefonso Ortiz is an journalist with Breitbart Texas. He the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Stephen K. Bannon. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. | 1 | [
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FMD3438 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Newborn Baby Kidnapped from Alabama Hospital After Parents Decline Birth Certificate and SSN Christian and Danielle Holm – on a mountaintop in 2015. Photo source: Christian Holm’s Facebook page .
by Health Impact News/MedicalKidnap.com Staff
Theirs was a spiritual journey of getting back to nature and rejecting the materialism that they felt held them in bondage. Christian and Danielle Holm began their journey together in early 2016 as itinerant missionaries, traveling across the country and speaking to churches as they sought to live simply and biblically.
The last thing that they expected was for Child Protective Services to seize their 1 day old baby literally off of his mother’s breast in an Alabama hospital. What started out as an apparent case of mistaken identity has turned into a nightmare that the family cannot wake up from. They don’t understand why their baby was taken from them, or why he still remains in state custody in foster care while social workers continue to challenge their religious beliefs.
According to a close family friend who contacted Health Impact News , the couple are grieving.
The most sacred thing to Danielle and Christian is the bond of male and female coming together and giving life with God. This bonding process in the beginning of a baby’s life has been stolen from them.
There was never any reason for their baby to be taken from them to begin with, and even now, they have adequate housing and anything else that could ever be needed and they still don’t have their baby back. Story Reported in Local Media
The Anniston Star first reported their story on October 13, 2016, just days after the couple’s baby was born on Monday, October 10. Excerpt:
Just out of Regional Medical Center, Danielle has a belly still swollen from a pregnancy that ended Monday with the birth of a healthy baby boy.
Her arms, however, are empty. Her son was taken from her the day after he was born and is in the custody of the Cleburne County Department of Human Resources pending a hearing at Cleburne County Courthouse this morning.
“We told them that we were going to do whatever we could,” she said as tears ran down her face. “I’m his mother. I’m supposed to be nourishing and bonding with him right now and I can’t.” Judge Issues Gag Order, Family Friend Contacts Health Impact News
Shortly after the story was reported, District Judge Melody Walker of the Cleburne County Circuit Court issued a gag order on the couple, forbidding them to speak about their case.
Since that time, Health Impact News was contacted by a close family friend who talked to us about the couple and their story. The source, who asked not to be named, made it clear that the information that she gave us was from conversations which occurred before the gag order was placed on Danielle and Christian Holm.
She communicated that the Holms want to cooperate with DHR to do everything that they can to get their baby back. They are heartbroken, and they are scared. The source is concerned that the couple may have unwittingly stumbled into a great deal of corruption, and their baby could be an innocent victim of some sort of trafficking ring. Couple Chooses to Leave Materialism Behind, Pursue Spirituality
Though their simple lifestyle of hiking and backpacking through state parks may suggest otherwise, the Holms come from a background of means and education. 32 year old Danielle holds a triple bachelor’s degree in psychology, sociology, and biology. She has worked as a nurse, chiropractic assistant, child and adolescent mental health counselor, personal trainer, and was a group leader for Special Needs children at a youth center. Her husband Christian, 35, comes from a very well-off, politically connected family. He spent several years caring for his ailing grandparents before their deaths.
They met and fell in love after finding common ground online. They decided to make a life together in August of 2015 and moved to New Hampshire together. Both increasingly felt that possessions and materialism were holding them in bondage. After they married in February, they made the conscious decision to give away their possessions to charity and live simply, traveling as itinerant missionaries and getting closer to nature.
Excerpt from The Anniston Star :
The process of surrendering is difficult, though. It took them until May to start travelling, and even then they were driving, he said. They only recently left their car in a storage unit in Montgomery and started walking.
They found the journey amazing; people they met along the way would give them money, food and water to keep going, they said. On the way they stopped at probably 30 churches to talk with people and minister to them, Christian said.
They travelled about five miles a day and ended up camping at Cheaha State Park a few days ago, Christian said. Pulpit Rock at Cheaha State Park. Photo Source: Alabama State Parks They Wanted as Close to Natural Birth as Possible
The expectant couple reportedly sought prenatal care and preparation along the way from midwives, doulas, ob-gyns, and lactation consultants. They researched and read and asked questions.
They considered seeking a midwife in Alabama, since they expected to be in the state when the baby was born, but they found information that told them that midwifery is illegal in Alabama. However, the only reference in the Alabama code to non-nurse-midwifery is in the section governing nurse-midwives, Al Code 34-19-3 (b):
(b) Nothing in subsection (a) of this section shall be construed as to prevent lay midwives holding valid health department permits from engaging in the practice of lay midwifery as heretofore provided until such time as the permit may be revoked by the county board of health.
There is no definition of lay or other non-nurse midwives, such as traditional midwives, in the Alabama statutes. Because of conflicting information in the media and online, the Holms did not know that having a traditional midwife was an option open to them. Instead, they prepared for an unassisted, husband-coached, natural lotus birth, planning to birth as closely to nature as possible.
When Danielle went into labor, they had been camping for several days at Cheaha State Park in Cleburne County, Alabama. After 2 days of labor, they reportedly became concerned about some bleeding and decided to call an ambulance, which took them to Northeast Alabama Regional Medical Center (RMC). Danielle gave birth to a baby boy the next morning, and he was “perfectly healthy” according to a family friend. Simple Lifestyle Conflicts with Standard Protocols
The couple wished to adhere to their religious beliefs and remain as natural as possible, declining any unnecessary hospital interventions. They agreed to allow eye ointment in their baby’s eyes, but declined the other typical interventions, including the hospital security band on the baby’s leg. They reasoned that, since there was never a need for the baby to be out of his parents’ sight while he was at the hospital, there was no need for the hospital security band. Danielle chose to breastfeed her baby.
The couple were able to bask briefly in the beauty of their new son, but their joy was short-lived. Danielle with her new baby at the hospital. Photo source: Christian Holm’s Facebook page .
The source close to the family reports that Danielle and Christian sensed that the hospital staff got a bit nervous when the parents declined a birth certificate and social security number for their baby.
There were 2 reasons for their declining the documents. Christian and Danielle felt that the naming of their baby is a spiritual experience. They wanted to wait to decide on a name for their baby until they first had time to bond with and get to know their baby to see what name would be the most appropriate. They also believed that the decision as to whether or not to have a social security number was one that should be left up to the child to make when he is older.
Because they sensed that the hospital staff was uncomfortable with their philosophy, which is rooted in their spiritual beliefs, the family friend states that Christian pro-actively decided to approach the hospital social worker “on his own terms,” to ensure that there were no issues and that they would be in compliance with applicable laws.
Instead of answering, the social worker reportedly left to seek more information. A short time later, she returned to their room with an intern from DHR, the Department of Human Resources, Alabama’s Child Protective Services. The DHR representative reportedly questioned the couple about their religious beliefs. The Holms reportedly stated that they wanted to “live as close to nature as possible, just like their native American ancestors.”
When Christian asked, “What is the most simple way we can live without being harassed?” the DHR worker reportedly told him she had never been asked that before, and that she would consult her supervisor. Baby Snatched from Mother’s Nursing Breast Danielle and Christian loved the simple life. This photo was taken atop Mt. Percival. Photo source: Christian Holm’s Facebook page .
The family friend explained that Christian has a house in his name, but it is currently tied up in a family trust. Despite their journey of walking through nature, camping wherever they found themselves, the couple has been in process of trying to move into the house, but there have been complications, causing those plans to fall through. The friend reported that Christian had hoped to discuss this with the social worker, but he did not get the opportunity, because the hospital social worker and the DHR intern returned to the hospital room with 4 police officers, a detective from the sheriff’s department, and a hospital security guard.
After Christian was escorted to another room, Danielle was shocked when the sheriff’s detective allegedly reached down and pulled the baby literally off of his mother’s breast where he was latched on.
As she cried out, asking, “Why?” and telling them she has done nothing wrong, the detective told her that they had reason to believe that they were not who they said they were. He reportedly told her that the baby was now in state custody. Case of Mistaken Identity Has Devastating Consequences
The detective reportedly began a barrage of questions aimed at the confused new mother, demanding “her real name.” Danielle thought that the confusion could be from her previous married name. Her ex-husband was Holmes, and her current husband is Holm, so she simply deleted 2 letters from her last name. That was apparently not the source of the confusion.
The detective asked Danielle if she was really Daniella Ruiz, and asked her about her involvement in human and drug trafficking in Arizona. She asked if she had ever been arrested in Arizona, and when she had crossed the border into Mexico.
None of this reportedly made any sense to Danielle, who had spent a short amount of time in Arizona as she and Christian were on their journey, but she had never been to Mexico, never been arrested, and had never been in any trouble at all. The name Daniella Ruiz meant nothing to her.
They asked if Christian had ever gone by another name, which he had. His middle name is Clarke, and that is the name he went by growing up.
Both Danielle and Christian readily showed the detective their IDs. In addition to her New Hampshire drivers license, she showed her social security card and her passport, which did not show any trips to Mexico. Christian reportedly showed his New Hampshire drivers license, social security card, and a federal ID.
It was not enough. DHR took their baby into custody, and they were only able to see their baby once more before they left the hospital, and that visit was under the watchful eyes of a nurse and a police officer.
Christian Holm later posted an article on his Facebook page that he found about the criminals that the Cleburne County officials apparently thought they were. Though the comment has since been deleted, Christian had this to say:
So this is who the investigating officer said that my wife and I are after giving her three forms of identification from both of us showing that we are not these people. She was not satisfied with that and told me that these can be faked. They really need an oops button in these situations when an infant and or innocence is involved to give child back. Swallow the pride and stop destroying lives for your view on life. We are children of God being attacked by the ones influenced by the devil. They know not what they do.
The criminals arrested in Arizona were Daniella Ruiz of Tuscon, Arizona, and Richard Christian Holm of Nogales, Arizona. There are several news stories which appear to originate from the same source which simply describe 2 separate incidents in the same article, such as this article that Christian Clarke Holm found:
Though both people arrested have similar names to the couple traveling in Alabama, the Arizona duo do not appear to be connected even to each other. They were arrested on 2 different days in 2 separate incidents. Is Violation of the 4th Amendment Standard Practice in Alabama?
According to the Holms’ friend, there was no court order or warrant to seize the baby, nor was there an emergency situation. This is consistent with what other Alabama parents have reported to Health Impact News . Earlier this year, Shelby County DHR social worker Ahzshaka Evans told a 14 year old rape victim:
There are two people who don’t need a court order or a warrant: the Department of Human Resources and law enforcement. (See story .)
Shelby County police officer Edmunson told the Prince family in June that DHR didn’t need a court order or warrant to take a child. All they needed was a pickup order from DHR.
Haly Boothe’s 3 day old baby was taken in May from a Birmingham hospital without a court order or warrant. (See story .)
Several parents have reported being told that the state legislature has given authority to DHR to seize children with only a “DHR pickup order,” which may apparently be merely verbal, not necessarily written. Parents are told that the court hearing within 72 hours meets the standard of search and seizure laws.
However, this practice stand in direct conflict with the 4th Amendment of the Constitution:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. New Mother Denied Basic Care After Baby Seized
In another disturbing similarity between the Holms’ story and others of mothers whose newborn babies are taken from them at the hospital, basic medical care was reportedly withheld from Danielle after her baby was seized by DHR. She was given no discharge instructions. There was no counsel or handout given about what signs of infection to watch for or how to care for her stitches, even though she was a first-time mother.
Ordinarily, all patients checking out of hospitals are escorted out in a wheelchair. Not so with many mothers whose babies are taken from them by the state. Despite their pain and grief, they are singled out to walk out of the hospital on their own strength. Orders Given to Put Baby on Formula Against the Wish of Parents
The family member reports that Danielle is still pumping her milk for her baby, even though the Anniston Star reports that the Holms have no idea whether or not their baby is receiving the breastmilk, and that there were orders given at the hospital for the baby to be given formula.
This is especially hard for mothers to deal with who know the myriad of benefits of breastfeeding and the multitude of health risks that formula-feeding carries. Feeding their baby his mother’s own milk in the natural way that God designed was a very important value to Danielle and Christian Holm, according to their friend, and knowing that their baby is being fed formula from the hands of a stranger is yet another tragic aspect of their baby’s kidnapping.
The couple are also reportedly very concerned about the emotional and psychological well-being of their baby, because they understand that separation of mother and baby, especially in the early weeks and months, can have a devastating psychological impact on the growing baby. Danielle celebrated freedom on Mt. Washington. Where is that freedom now? Photo source: Christian Holm’s Facebook page . Gag Order Issued
The Anniston Star reported that the Holms were issued a gag order after the publication brought the story to public attention. In their article dated October 18, some important considerations are raised. Gag order ensures privacy, but at a cost, experts say
Excerpts:
Courts can use gag orders to protect the interests of children or victims, but some attorneys say the instrument does so at the cost of other constitutional rights. Gag orders are not a black-and-white issue, though, and they can be challenged, said Andy Olree, professor of law at Faulkner Law in Montgomery. Gag orders can be an infringement on constitutional rights, Olree said.The first amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects citizens’ right to express themselves and the public’s right to hear discussions of issues of value to them, but that right is not absolute, Olree said.
See also: Family Court Judges’ Unconstitutional Gag Orders On Parents
DHR has questioned the intelligence of ordinary citizens with regard to understanding the meaning of confidentiality. According to the Anniston Star :
All juvenile dependency cases, those in which a child’s custody is decided, are confidential cases by state law, Cleburne County Judge Melody Walker said Monday. Tony Hamlin, attorney for the Department of Human Resources, said a judge could issue a gag order because lay people don’t always understand what confidential means. Alabama Attorney – Confidentiality Laws Not Designed to Silence Parents Birmingham-area attorney Lisa Chasteen disagrees. She told Health Impact News that the Alabama law regarding confidentiality of juvenile cases is often misused by the system to tell parents that they cannot talk about their own cases, but that is not the way the law is written. Alabama Code § 12-15-133(g) states: Except for the purposes permitted and in the manner provided by this section, whoever discloses or makes use of or knowingly permits the use of information identifying a child, or the family of a child, who is or was under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, where this information is directly or indirectly derived from the records of the juvenile court or acquired in the course of official duties , [emphasis added] upon conviction thereof, shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court and also may be subject to civil sanctions. Provided, however, that nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit or otherwise limit counsel from disclosing confidential information obtained from the juvenile court file of the child as needed to investigate the case of the client or prepare a defense for that client, provided that the disclosure is in furtherance of counsel’s representation of the party.
Chasteen asserts that the confidentiality laws were designed to protect the family from the people working on their case disclosing information to the public. They do not apply to the families themselves talking about their case with friends, family, or the media.
Attorneys, GALs, social workers, or any other agent working for the state could “acquire” information about the case “in the course of official duties,” and are thus bound by confidentiality laws, but the family members are not.
She cites KR v. LAUDERDALE COUNTY DEPT. OF HUMAN, 133 So. 3d 396 – Ala: Court of Civil Appeals 2013 , which clarifies that the information that law 12-15-133 refers to is that which is “derived from the records of the juvenile court.” The findings of the Appeals Court further state that “§ 12-15-133 is intended to protect the identity of juveniles, not DHR employees, guardians ad litem, or juvenile-court judges….”
Though this law is often cited to parents simply as the “confidentiality law” and is often used in the attempt to bully and silence parents from discussing their case with the media, attorney Lisa Chasteen maintains that this was not the intent of the law at all. The family has the right to discuss their story with whomever they wish. She made these points in a meeting last year with other attorneys and DHR state commissioner Nancy Buckner, and reports that no one refuted her that day.
Law Professor Jenny Carroll notes issues of concern with gag orders, reports the Anniston Star :
An additional problem with a gag order in the Holmses’ case is that the public has no information about what steps the state is taking to protect the child and if the parents’ rights are being protected through the proceedings, said University of Alabama School of Law Professor Jenny Carroll. It is, she noted, the parental rights that are in question in the case.
“The public has a right to check if actions being taken in our names are in fact correct,” Carroll said.
The courts are public forums, she said. If they are insulated to the point that the public is excluded it makes it very difficult to know that everyone involved is being treated fairly. That’s not how our courts are supposed to work, she said. Land of the Free?
Because of the gag orders and threats about confidentiality, Danielle and Christian Holms are reportedly afraid to speak out about the injustices that their friend says are happening to them. The lifestyle they are leading appears to be similar to that of John the Baptist or some of the Old Testament prophets. Many of the patriarchs of the Judeo-Christian faiths, such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, lived relatively nomadic lifestyles. While Jesus told his disciples to “Follow Me,” He also said:
Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head. (Luke 9:58, NIV)
The Holms’ friend doesn’t understand how America, “the land of the free,” can take someone’s newborn baby away from them for choosing to follow their religious beliefs and living a life that is not like the mainstream. Yet, Danielle and Christian Holm are stuck in a state they were simply passing through, engaged in the fight of their lives for their baby. How You Can Help the Holms
Call Alabama Governor Robert Bentley’s office at 334-242-7100. He may also be contacted here . He is also on Facebook .
Senator Gerald Dial is the Senator for Cleburne County. He may be reached at 334-242-7874, or contacted here .
Representative Richard Lindsay represents their district. He may be reached at 334-242-7713, or contacted here . According to the Alabama Family Rights Association , ALFRA: Alabama has a nine-member task force created to examine the work of the Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR). If you have issues or concerns about DHR services, your best plan of action is to contact the following legislators/lawmakers and committee members: Connie Rowe, State Representative, has replaced Mac McCutcheon as the Task Force Chair / 334-242-7600/ email here . Chris England, State Representative / 334-242-7703 / 205-535-4859 / email here . Greg Reed, State Senator / 334-242-7894 / he is on Facebook . The complete list of committee Members can be found here: Executive Order Number 11 Comment on this article at MedicalKidnap.com. Support the cause of Medical Kidnapping by purchasing our new book! If you know people who are skeptical and cannot believe that medical kidnapping happens in the U.S. today, this is the book for them! Backed with solid references and real life examples, they will not be able to deny the plain evidence before them, and will become better educated on this topic that is destroying the American family. 1 Book – 228 pages | 0 | [
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FMD3439 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: Says Donald Trumps proposed tax treatment of hedge fund managers makes the current loophole even worse.
contextual information: Hillary Clinton is attacking DonaldTrumps tax plan, saying it actually benefits the hedge fund managers Trump had promised to cut down to size. Now, before releasing his plan, Trump said, Hedge fund guys are getting away with murder. And he added, Theyll pay more, Clinton said. Then his plan came out. And it actually makes the current loophole even worse. It gives hedge-fund managers a special tax rate thats lower than what many middle-class families pay, Clinton continuedin the June 21, 2016, speech. And I did have to look twice because I didnt believe it. Under Donald Trumps plan, these Wall Street millionaires will pay a lower tax rate than many working people. Trumps plan does roll back one high-profile advantage for hedge fund partners. Is Clinton right to say they still come out ahead? Trump took an aggressive position on tax rates for hedge fund managers during his fight for the Republican nomination. In an interview with CBS in August, Trumpcalledthem paper pushers who did not build this country. In a Republicandebatein September, Trump said his tax plan would make them pay more. The hedge fund guys wont like me as much as they like me right now. I know them all, but theyll pay more, Trump said. After the Republican debate, Trump released the outline of histax plan. Trumps plan eliminates the so-called carried interest tax loophole, which allows general partners in private investment firms (including most hedge fund managers) to treat some of their income as income from investments, or capital gains, subject to a top tax rate of 23.8 percent, instead of the much higher tax rate for ordinary income (43.4 percent). Under Trumps plan, income from carried interest would no longer be treated as capital gains. Tax rates for ordinary income tops out at 25 percent under Trumps plan. This looks like a hike in line with Trumps promises. Except. Along with private equity and venture capital funds, many hedge funds are structured as partnerships. Under Trumps plan, income through a business partnership is taxed at a rate of no more than 15 percent, significantly less than the 23.8 percent they previously paid, according to ananalysisof Trumps tax plan from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. Eliminating the carried interest loophole actually helps these hedge fund managers under Trumps plan. If carried interest was still treated as capital gains, it could be taxed at the top rate for capital gains in the plan (20 percent), higher than the fixed 15 percent tax for partnership income. Trumps plan presents the discounted rate for partnership income as a way to help the small businesses that are the true engine of our economy. It also helps large businesses and wealthy financiers who structure their businesses as partnerships, including the hedge funds managers he attacked in his campaign. Clinton also said that rates for hedge fund managers would be lower than for middle-class families under Trumps plan. Defining the middle class can be tricky, but in thePew Research Centers rangeof $42,000 to $125,000 for a household of three in 2014, a substantial number of middle-class households would make enough to qualify for a marginal tax rate of more than 15 percent if Trumps plan were enacted. Not all of these people would pay more than 15 percent overall, according to Bob Williams at the Tax Policy Center, and it would be difficult to say how many middle-income people would pay more than hedge fund managers once the many different variables involved played out. But some would, Williams wrote in an email. In May,Politicoreportedthat the Trump campaign had engaged two economists to craft a new tax plan. The Trump campaign has not confirmed whether they plan to re-write their tax plan, and did not respond toPoliticosrequest for comment. The tax plan announced in September remains on Trump's website, and is the basis of this article. The Trump campaign did not respond to our request for comment on this article. Our ruling Clinton said Trumps proposed tax rate for hedge fund managers makes the current loophole even worse. She has a point. By setting a lower tax rate for income from business partnerships, Trumps tax plan would benefit many hedge fund managers. Though the plan would cut tax rates for middle-class families as well, the cuts that would apply to most hedge fund managers are steeper and their resulting tax rate is lower. Trump promised that his tax plan would roll back advantages for hedge fund managers. Instead, in most cases, it would improve their position. We rate the statement True. | 1 | [
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FMD3440 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Shawn Helton 21st Century WireThe 1994 cult film Natural Born Killers, is an examination of media manipulation, archetypal psychology and the violence embedded within American pop culture.Although it s been more than two decades since Natural Born Killers (NBK) first shocked viewers with its adrenaline fueled brutality, biting satire and darkly ironic media montages, the enigmatic picture s overall depiction of the American media complex is just as effective today. CHAOS ROAD Mickey and Mallory Knox are depraved icons in the twisted world of NBK. (Photo illustration: Shawn Helton)On the film s jarring surface, we see Micky (portrayed by Woody Harrelson) and Mallory Knox (Juliet Lewis) metaphorically reborn (from their violent past) as outlaw-lovers embarking on a psychopathic cross country murder spree but as well come to find out, there s much more to this psychologically challenging piece of cinema.Over the years, NBK has seen comparisons to Hollywood crime classics such as the Badlands (1973), Bonnie and Clyde (1967), the serial killer mockumentary , Man Bites Dog (1992), as well as the dystopian mind-bender, A Clockwork Orange (1971). NBK has also been thematically linked to Network (1976), another motion picture with a scathing appraisal of mass media, as well as the 1960 s road-film Easy Rider (1969), and the strikingly similar dark thriller Kalifornia (1993), which also starred Juliet Lewis playing a near identical role.In many ways, much of the media driven subtext of NBK has never seemed more relevant than now, as the film recognized mass media s growing obsession with violence and trashy entertainment all at once. The film also acknowledged the public s fixation with reality TV in all of its incarnations, perhaps envisaging the multi platform information craze in the age of social media.To this day, the Oliver Stone directed controversial feature Natural Born Killers (Based on a story by Quentin Tarantino) remains a harsh critique of American media and pop culture, as it casts a spotlight on the lurid agitprop used to steer public perception through various forms of infotainment.Over the course of this analysis, we ll explore some of the underlying aspects of Natural Born Killers, as well as contextualize its relation to real-life violence seen in the modern era CULT OF PERSONALITY Natural Born Killers reflects the heartless transformation of mass media.On The Road: Tragedy & SatireFrom the outset, sight, sound and mood take precedence over a traditional narrative structure throughout NBK. The film begins with a roadside montage of predatory animals (coyote, eagle rattlesnake) struggling to survive while Leonard Cohen s classic song Waiting for the Miracle slowly fades in creeping along to the foreboding imagery. The sequence subliminally conjures the all too familiar eugenics based survival of the fittest axiom something which reflects the ruinous and fractured socio-political environment that has become so pervasive in modern America.All the while, the action shifts dramatically from grainy black-and-white footage of America s Southwest, to a red filtered glow, then back to full color, as elliptical-style editing (as well as cross-cutting and parallel) sets the tone for the illusory motion picture magnified by its tension inducing dutch-style camera angles.18 different film formats were used to create NBK in addition to many unusual lighting techniques everything from black-and-white to dusty old 8mm, to 16mm, to 35mm stock, to CCTV video and animation. DINE & DASH NBK sees Mickey Knox on a quest to become Nietzsche s Overman. When the establishing sequence of NBK finally settles inside the 5 to 2 Cafe, we see a television rapidly changing channel to channel going from the all-american series Leave It to Beaver, to 77 Sunset Strip, a late 1950 s secret agent crime drama, to the resignation speech of President Richard Nixon, which is juxtaposed against an old horror film relic featuring Boris Karloff.The short panning shot is emblematic of America s dark evolution during the 20th century and serves as a stark bell weather for the rest the high paced surreal picture. In fact, strategically placed images, products and objects are seen throughout the entirety of NBK, evoking a strong emotional response in the viewer bringing to mind the psychology behind propaganda. DAEMON Subliminal dissolves bring a mystical depth to NBK.In the movie s first scene, the camera slips across the cafe, sliding past a character later revealed to be Owen Traft (Arliss Howard), who is a guardian angel or daemon, linked to the Knox pair. Traft vanishes before our eyes (Traft is later seen in the film s prison break sequence) while reading a newspaper about the highway 666 murders, prefiguring the dark media frenzy soon to envelop the Knox outlaws.Celebrating after a fresh deer kill, a pack of foul-mouthed cowboys file into the 5 to 2 Cafe. We then see Mickey order a key lime pie, as his partner in crime Mallory, looking part prostitute, part Pocahontas, seductively dances to the jukebox. Mickey surveys the room and a bright toxic green is contrasted against some of the action within the scene. While some green tones traditionally have a calming restorative quality, the kind used in NBK denotes a sickness inside the mind. SPIRIT ANIMAL NBK s cafe cowboys run over a scorpion on the road, impacting their fate when facing Mallory and her quasi-totem.Shortly thereafter, Mallory challenges one of the boozed-up misogynistic buckaroos to hand to hand combat just as L7 s Shit List kicks in on the jukebox. The cafe scene erupts into chaos as the soon-to-be famous fugitives dispatch all but one person (the pinball cowboy) in the roadside cafe. The pinball cowboy is kept alive to tell the tale of Mickey and Mallory, in a twisted version of the counting game Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.Following the murderous cafe ruckus, the Knoxes ride out into the desert as wild dissolves intertwine with projected news clippings, images of past crimes and the Hydra myth in the form of a monster flick clip. Additionally, there s a musical schizophrenia to NBK, with a collection of modern and classic songs intermixed with fragmented and atmospheric snippets, signifying a faded, yet stitched together memory in the Trent Reznor/Jane Hamsher selected soundtrack.Later on during a roadside pit stop, Mallory invokes the Book of Revelations and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, as she describes seeing a vision of Mickey riding a red (war) horse, while suggesting the star-crossed lovers might be fallen angels. At that same moment, a floating image of a multi-armed Mallory is seen in the sky, bringing to mind the devouring Hindu goddess Kali. CUPID S REVENGE NBK s dingy satire of TV sitcoms of old in I Love Mallory serves as a dysfunctional backdrop to Mickey and Mallory s hard-edged romance.Oedipal, Electra & the Hidden OrderContinuing by the roadside, the scene drifts into a dream sequence/flashback in the form of a 1950 s style sitcom parody entitled I Love Mallory. Here we see Mallory s dysfunctional family completely controlled by her abusive and incestuous father Ed Wilson (Rodney Dangerfield). The scene is an inversion of the soft TV sitcoms dominating the airwaves in real-life, as the lecherous Wilson unleashes a disturbing diatribe amid a background laugh-track.During the same scene, a deliveryman named Mickey enters the frame, falling in love with Mallory at first sight. Mickey leaves with Mallory and in the process steals Ed s car. Later, Mickey is arrested and imprisoned, managing to escape from a prison work farm during a tornado. NBK s tornado prison break, may be seen as a reference to the classic film The Wizard of Oz a storm system which forever alters Mickey s future world.Mickey and Mallory return to the Wilson residence, seeking revenge on Mallory s father and mother, in what could be seen as a loose interpretation of the dark lyrical finish to the enigmatic song The End by The Doors. The Wilson s are murdered in a shocking home invasion scene and the house is set ablaze, while Mallory s brother Kevin (Sean Stone) is set free during the inferno.With each new set of kills, Mickey and Mallory grow closer and after their demented Oedipal/Electra complex resolution at the Wilson residence, the two get hitched in a blood ritual ceremony filmed on the scenic Rio Grande Gorge Bridge in Taos, New Mexico. Here Mickey proclaims the couple s marriage is sanctified because he is the god of his world, conjuring Friedrich Nietzsche s Overman concept, as well as a Apollonian/Dionysian influence within the killer s process.In an analysis entitled, The Dionysian and the Apollonian in Nietzsche: The Birth of Tragedy, by Alexander Gatherer of Cardiff University, we are provided a more detailed look at both the Apollonian and Dionysian philosophical concepts: The opposing concepts of the Dionysian (hereon DI) and Apollonian (hereon AP) are central themes within Nietzsche s first major work, The Birth of Tragedy (hereon BT). His contemplation of such opposing forces of nature are primarily used to analyse Greek culture in general, and Greek art in particular, stating that its role in Greek attic tragedy places these plays at Greece s cultural pinnacle. Continuing, Gatherer s essay analyzes critical aspects of AP and DI: Nietzsche s concepts of the AP and DI, along with the entirety of BT, were not well received initially: the author himself called the book badly written, ponderous, embarrassing, image-mad and image-confused (Sweet, 1999, p.49). However, the ideas have left a notable legacy and are still discussed in matters of ethics, politics and art. Indeed, Michael Motta (1991) likens the opposing forces to mental illness, stating how stages of mania in bipolar artists can be likened to that of the DI ( The urge to create is great, but the ability to step back, to control the process is reduced ), with depressive phases linked to the AP ( Critique and reflection take precedence over impulsivity, inhibition holds sway over exhibitionism ). With this in mind, we can interpret Mickey and Mallory s unresolved tension between AP and DI, as a philosophical reason for their dissent into madness.Although in Stone s view, Mickey and Mallory are tragically flawed because of a failed system, which frames the prison system, the police system and mass media, as the true American criminals. However, this ideological stance of the film is itself a false paradigm stuck in a social justice vortex, while masked in Carl Jung s rebel archetype pointing to Stone s sometimes radical political perspective.Returning to NBK, we see Mickey and Mallory make a blood pact and exchange snake rings presented by Mickey, who is connected to the reptilian realm via his Caduceus chest tattoo. At significant points during NBK, snake imagery is observed, recalling the occult and mythological associations of the serpent. Additionally, there seems to be a Shiva/serpent attachment linked to Mickey as a counterpart to Mallory s Kali connection, with an underlying current of the symbol of immortality, Ouroboros. Other distorted biblical themes are also echoed during NBK, such as the Book of Genesis and the Garden of Eden exemplified by Mickey s assisted escape from prison by a rattlesnake.Many associations are often seen throughout NBK, which reflect a deeper archetypal presence contained within the film.In Anton Ehrenzweig s The Hidden Order of Art, we can explore a deeper analysis of the unconscious mind many elements that relate to the main characters in NBK: Some evidence of creative work and poemagogic phantasy points to incomplete superego maturation as an important source of mental illness. The ego has not absorbed the death instinct into the mute workings of the creative process so that self-destruction goes rampant to destroy entire itself. In other words, Mickey and Mallory lack any mature ethical component, which leads to their shared self-destructive psychosis, which in turn, is acted out in their murderous rage. Ehrenzweig, coined the phrase poemagogic, which is interpreted as an aspect emblematic of inducing the ego s creativity in a layered dream state. The nightmare/dream state of Mickey and Mallory visually comes to life in the strewn together time-worn scenes of NBK, like fragmented vitriolic memories. BLOOD BOND A ritualistic roadside marriage filmed on the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge.Media Made Political AgitatorsWhen NBK continues, all of the berserker-like chaos is captured by Wayne Gale (Robert Downey Jr.), a ratings consumed tabloid host on the fictitious television series American Maniacs. A show which obsessively covers the violent action of Mickey and Mallory at any cost. Gale is an amalgam of Australian TV s investigative host Steve Dunleavy and the long time reporter and talk show host Geraldo Rivera.American Maniacs uses the image of cult leader Charles Manson, University of Texas shooter Charles Whitman, and the sadistic killer Richard Ramirez during its credits, setting the tone for a sordid crime show reminiscent of The Current Affair and Hard Copy. NBK s representation of popular true crime programming, gives the film another disturbing art imitates life layer. In one scene, Gale describes the targeted killing of several law enforcement officers at the hands of the Knoxes which ironically, reflects many real-life crimes we see plastered across today s headlines in America.All in all, American Maniacs very well could have been a template for the seedy video-stringer film Night Crawler, while packaged in the marketing gloss of American Gladiators. In a world of news makers, Gale says repetition works, and when questioned over reusing reenacted death scenes by producers, he callously exclaims do you think those nitwits out there in zombieland remember anything. This is where we see Gale s mind warping programming taking shape for maximum psychological impact.This is what Stone s film is truly about, showcasing the often cold-hearted and calculating nature of mass media s carefully engineered narrative.With media analysis in mind, we might also consider this passage from Cult of Distraction in The Mass Ornament by film theorist, sociologist and writer, Siegfried Kracauer: Here, in pure externality, the audience encounters itself; its own reality is revealed in the fragmented sequence of splendid sense impressions. Were this reality to remain hidden from the viewers, they could neither attack nor change it; its disclosure in distraction is therefore of moral significance. Whether its banal programming intermixed with mass media s terror lens, the viewer has a choice to accept the media manipulated distractions at wholesale or attempt to unpack them through critical thinking, questioning the very nature of reportage. AMERICAN MANIAC Gale s American Maniacs glorifies tragedy for ratings.As NBK moves forward, we see the media trail and trial of Mickey and Mallory after the duo has been taken into custody. In a mockumentary style scene centered around super-fans and tacit supporters of the Knoxes, there s a decidedly social justice flair to a series of fictitious man on the street interviews.The whole segment relates to various political agitator groups that we see today like Occupy Wall Street (OWS) and the controversial identity focused activism of Black Lives Matter (BLM), as well as the FBI and the CIA s various counter-intelligence programs from the 1960 s and 1970 s. Both OWS and BLM alliances, are neo-liberal think-tank/NGO designed gatherings, meant to divide and control participants over class, identity and other socio-political concerns.NBK s court house scene featuring fervid group-think supporters, could be seen as another signal of social strife in America at the turn of the century marked pointedly by the polarizing corruption of the 1992 L.A. riots, the gross federal negligence of both the Ruby Ridge incident and the Waco siege, as well as the heavily publicized Menendez murder case (the strange and salacious trials of Lorena Bobbit and Tonya Harding) and the show trial of O.J. Simpson, an all-time ratings bonanza not counting the 95 million who watched Simpson s car chase on live TV.Interestingly though, the choreographed bombing of the World Trade Center (1993) carried out by FBI handlers and federal informants, was a curiously under reported event at the time. Which could be a reason for its absence from the media montages seen throughout NBK.The volatility of the 1990 s, proved to be an ideal backdrop for NBK, a picture made during a wave of high-profile sensationalized crime. MOTEL MAYHEM The murderous bride and groom conjuring the death of Mickey s innocence at the Lodge. Later on in NBK, with symbols fully on display, we see close camera shots of the pair s tattoos Mickey s light and dark Yin and Yang symbol and crudely drawn Christ-like tattoo are contrasted against Mallory s scorpion ink, as they ride along to abduct a hostage. As they make their way to the neon-lit Log Cabin Lodge, there very well could be a subtle reference to Freemasonary, when we witness the ritualistic behaviour shown at the Lodge. Stylistically, the motel resembles something out of the macabre cinematic world of David Lynch.In the background while Mickey and Mallory are on the motel bed, projected images on a window pane range from clips of raging dictatorships, to a young Mickey haunted by his father s suicide and a pale horse recalling the book of revelations once again. All of this takes place while a violent torture scene from the Hollywood film Scarface (written by Oliver Stone) plays out on the TV in front of their hostage.When love turns dark, Mickey and Mallory argue as time-lapse imagery of a Pray Mantis is seen symbolizing the need for contemplation during their chaos. The two separate briefly, as shamanic chanting cascades over their turbulent night crimes with visions of terror projected onto the sides of buildings.Whether its quick cut edits of opposing and often disturbing montages mixing vitriolic live action, clever special effects, absurdly horror filled projections or startling animated graphics reminiscent of Pink Floyd s The Wall NBK is a conceptual master work.As the hallucinogenic and often kinetic film progresses, a massive manhunt for the deranged Knoxes is launched by Detective Jack Super Cop Scagnetti, a masochistic vigilante law-man (Tom Sizemore) who has his own repressed demons to contend with, which manifest in his psychotic behavior towards prostitutes.We later learn that Scagnetti s mother was gunned down by the infamous shooter Charles Whitman at the University of Texas in 1966. ROADSIDE SHAMAN The Knoxes come face to face with themselves during Red Cloud s vision.Shifting mood once again, we hear the haunting piano-driven History Repeats Itself by A.O.S, (named after the 60 s counterculture chemist and sound engineer, Augustus Owsley Stanley III) which atmospherically plays in the background as Mickey and Mallory high on hallucinogens, are lost, out of gas and at odds with one another. This is the first time Mallory questions Mickey and nature of events that led to her becoming a spree killer.While looking for gas, the Knoxes approach Red Cloud and his grandson, first passing by Jacob (four-horned) sheep, revealing another biblical reference with the presence of the rare breed of sheep guardians. This is another significant scene in NBK, as the sovereign Oglala Lakota activist Russell Means, adds unique depth to the sequence playing the Navajo, Warren Red Cloud (perhaps a reference to US Marine Mitchell Red Cloud).Once inside Red Cloud s hut, the inner turmoil of the Knoxes is exposed. We then learn that Red Cloud served in the Vietnam War, reminding one of the staged Gulf of Tonkin false flag that led to the war. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which granted President Lyndon B. Johnson the ability to militarily engage in a full-scale conflict with North Vietnam, was made possible due to the fabrication of a crime.During the latter half of the Vietnam War, the development of controversial counter-terrorism techniques was at the utmost importance for then Director of the CIA, William Colby. One such program materialized named The Phoenix Program (Operation Phoenix), which employed various terror tactics to destabilize the North Vietnamese leadership, claiming to have eradicated the Vietcong through the use of psy-ops, extortion, the release of criminals and random targeting of civilians to achieve its aims. Some geopolitical critics believe that this template for destabilization has been used in Afganistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria in recent years.Given that Stone himself was a Vietnam veteran in the US Army, we can view that the deliberate inclusion of Red Cloud s service record was a significant aspect to the story, perhaps reflecting the false premise that the Vietnam War was based upon. SKIN-WALKER Mickey s inner demons come to the surface prior to killing Red Cloud.The pivotal scene with Red Cloud dramatically altered the emotionally unhinged killers, who were taken on a shamanic journey and forced to face their own reality during a cleansing ritual involving chanting, fire and snakes. Here Mickey s torment and abuse comes to the surface with vivid drug induced flashbacks and after being haunted by his past, he awakens and shoots Red Cloud. The tragic death of Red Cloud, is the first time both Mickey and Mallory feel the weight of their actions.With an axe to grind against mass murders Mickey and Mallory, Scagnetti, manages to apprehend the pair in a dramatic shootout at the Drug Zone pharmacy after they were bitten by rattlesnakes following their quasi-spiritual pilgrimage conducted by Red Cloud. While observing the Drug Zone s logo we see the Caduceus image (winged staff wrapped with two snakes) often inappropriately used in medicine, as it is said to be the conductor of the dead. DRUG ZONE subconscious slogans envelop Mickey in the Drug Zone shootout with police. This neon green filtered scene also represents the poisonous consumer culture, as Mickey and Mallory, drugged and snake bitten, stalk to store for anti-venom like the walking dead. Mike Smith s energetic cartoon animation is also featured, as the pharmacist ID s the pair while watching Gale s American Maniacs. Mickey revels in his newfound celebrity catching himself on TV, before he and Mallory are taken in by Scagnetti. WATCHTOWER Charles Whitman opened fire on the 27th story of the University of Texas clock tower on August 1st, 1966 in one of the most well-known mass shootings in American history. (Image Source: hartford courant)Scagnetti later hatches a scheme to kill Mickey and Mallory with the fast-talking neurotic Warden Dwight McClusky (Tommy Lee Jones), who plans his own twisted brand of justice inside the riotous Batonga Penitentiary. When Scagnetti s plot fails during NBK s prison riot scene, Mallory executes him in her cell.Scagnetti s fictitious link to a well-known true crime, merges the illusory world of NBK with the UT shooting, subconsciously grafting fantasy onto a traumatic event. In effect, the concept mimics the way news stories sometimes strangely and unexpectedly overlap within a blended hyper-reality of fact and fiction.In recent years, there has been a series of surreal and unreal news stories since the Smith-Mundt Act was effectively rendered obsolete by US lawmakers on July 2nd 2013, as confirmed by RT below: Until earlier this month, a longstanding federal law made it illegal for the US Department of State to share domestically the internally-authored news stories sent to American-operated outlets broadcasting around the globe. All of that changed effective July 2, when the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) was given permission to let US households tune-in to hear the type of programming that has previously only been allowed in outside nations. The Smith-Mundt Act has ensured for decades that government-made media intended for foreign audiences doesn t end up on radio networks broadcast within the US. An amendment tagged onto the National Defense Authorization Act removed that prohibition this year. There has been an unprecedented increase in propaganda over the years, despite claims that the NDAA provision offered more transparency to the American public.On another note, there are other uncanny historical elements associated with NBK Fresh off his fame from the hit sitcom Cheers, Woody Harrelson was an intriguing choice to play the character Mickey Knox, as it emerged that his father Charles Harrelson, was a contract killer linked to organized crime. Charles was convicted in the murder of a grain dealer named Sam Degelia Jr in 1968. Later in 1981, he received two life sentences for the murder of US District Judge John H Wood. THREE TRAMPS Charles Harrelson (ID d by forensic experts on the left) is believed to be one of three arrested in Dealey Plaza after JFK s assassination in 1963. (Image Source: jfkmurdersolved)It has been stated that after a six-hour suicidal standoff with police in 1980, Charles, apparently high on cocaine admitted to killing Judge Wood, while also claiming to be involved in President John F. Kennedy s assassination.When considering the Harrelson-Kennedy connection, the 1989 book Crossfire comes to mind.Crossfire, written by the well-known researcher Jim Marrs, was also adapted for the highly controversial and successful Oliver Stone film JFK. Below is a passage from Crossfire, as it relates to the apparent Harrelson-Kennedy link: Aside from being twice convicted of murder for hire, Harrelson the father of actor Woody Harrelson had a long history of involvement with Dallas underworld characters linked directly to Jack Ruby. Continuing, the Crossfire also stated: The late Fort Worth graphics expert Jack White, who testified before the House Select Committee on Assassinations, already had noticed the resemblance of Harrelson to the youngest tramp. In a 1981 interview with Chuck Cook, Harrelson claimed to have the biggest story the reporter would ever have, when questioned about Kennedy s death. Additionally, Jo Ann Harrelson noted the similarities between the tramp photos and her husband. All this coupled with the fact Diane Lou Oswald (the mother of Woody), who had also been married to Charles Harrelson in Midland, Texas, made for a strange background concerning the JFK saga.Throughout 1981, more questions materialized regarding the assassination of Judge Wood in a UPI article, as Defense lawyers maintained [Charles] Harrelson was framed by police and the informant. Charles an ex-felon, said a friend, Hampton Robinson III, who failed to show up to testify, had driven the car. He suggested someone, possibly federal agents, had planted the guns so he could be arrested. He denied telling [Department of Public Safety agent] Pagel he carried a gun. Below, in a KDFW-TV interview in 1982, Charles Harrelson back tracks somewhat on his claims of killing Kennedy but does point directly to a larger conspiracy concerning the US government s involvement in the death of Kennedy as well as their alleged link to drug trade in America.The interview is a startling revelation, adding to the enigmatic JFK mystery and in the process provides another strange backdrop to NBK Do you believe Lee Harvey Oswald killed President Kennedy alone We ll get back to that alone, without any aid from a rogue agency of the US government or at least a portion of that agency? I believe your very naive if you do. Charles HarrelsonOn Independence Day in 1995, Charles along with two other inmates, Gary Settle and Michael Rivers, tried to escape from Atlanta Federal Penitentiary later surrendering after warning shots were fired by guards. ENTROPY & ECSTASY - NBK s mass murder mayhem hits prime time TV.Fragmented Psyche, the Death Drive & Mind ControlWhen exploring the concept of Sigmund Freud s Death Drive and its relation to NBK, we should consider a thoughtful essay by Jon Mills entitled Reflections on the Death Drive. Here we can gain a better understanding of the tension at play within the psyche of Mickey and Mallory: Freud did not argue that death [thantos] was the only aim of life, only that it maintained a dialectical tension in juxtaposition to a life principle under the ancient command of Eros, yet the two forces of mind remained ontologically inseparable. In this relational age, the death drive appears to be a drowning man. Through this analysis, we can see the tug of war within the main characters of NBK caught within a life and death cycle.Also observed throughout the nonlinear narrative of NBK, are the media mobs and throngs of onlookers mesmerized by the murderous duo s violent deeds during the course of the film, arguably revealing a Schadenfreude (joy derived from the misfortune of others).In essence, the abused become the abusers within the fragmented framework of NBK. This twist to the story pushes the observer into accepting and perhaps identifying with the malevolent turn of the Knoxes because of their own flawed and tragic upbringing. This reality is recognized in the rise against perceived corruption (particularly law enforcement) in the form of social justice group think.However, this is where the film purposely presents a false paradigm to those subconsciously seeking their own radical retribution something which further fractures the viewer s perception by utilizing stereotypical patterns or in this case violent molds to excuse the rampage carried out by Mickey and Mallory Knox.This type of false paradigm forms a preconditioned response in favor of vigilantism; preventing the viewer s ability to see things in an unbiased way, which induces a type of cognitive dissonance in passive audiences, blocking one from considering a rational outlook in the aftermath of trauma.These concepts are central to understanding the nature of NBK, as it stirs questions about morality, societal behavior and the role played by both media and the public in an ongoing celebration of violence. In this sense, we can view NBK s excessive use of trauma-based imagery as statement about the modern age, a culture perpetually inundated by destructive media programming.In many ways, mind control abuse is heavily present within the topsy-turvy world of NBK. However, its presence in the film should be seen not necessarily as an indoctrination of the viewer but perhaps as a warning to those unaware of the psychic assault on their senses from all kinds of media.The film is laced with references to Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), conjuring the CIA s mind-warping military backed program, MK-Ultra, an illegal project that used hypnosis, sensory deprivation and other forms of torture to coerce an individual psychologically. This is represented in the film s main characters, as they vacillate between periods of ultra-violent behaviour and delusional wishful daydreaming, something which reflects a complex background of abuse.Here s an in-depth ABC news documentary examining Project MK-Ultra and the role played by Scottish-American psychiatrist Donald Ewen Cameron The heart of MK-Ultra is also seen in the controversial paper entitled From PSYOP to MindWar: The Psychology of Victory , written in part by the avowed satanist Michael Aquino, a high ranking security official, who was stated to have been inspired by Lieutenant Colonel John Alexander s article on pyschotronics, the employment of extrasensory perception, the transmission and reception of information via the mind.NBK s use of disturbing content might be best understood through its critique of mass media and the larger role that media has played in forcing trauma-based imagery on the public in a manner similar to that of covert military projects. In other words, NBK s volatile imagery is meant to be a savage attack on media itself and should be observed as a critique on media abuse as a whole not something that overtly supports cruelty.Other aspects of abuse are also present in NBK, whether it s Mallory s unseen abuse by her father Ed, the hostage held captive by the psychotic pair at the Lodge motel or Scagnetti s deranged and vile coping mechanism for his own tragic upbringing.Towards the end of the film, under a Stockholm Syndrome spell, crack reporter Gale, attempts to transform himself for the sake of Mickey and Mallory. This later leads to his demise, when he discovers he s not truly a natural born killer. We see the camera capture the action to tell the tale of Mickey and Mallory o | 0 | [
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FMD3441 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: Does Representative Ocasio-Cortez possess a low credit rating, previously closed checking accounts, and a record of being evicted? Claim summaries: You can claim anything you want if your audience is unconcerned with matters such as evidence.
contextual information: Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) became a favorite target of conservative trolls after winning election to the U.S. House of Representatives in November 2018. The freshman lawmaker was subjected to a number of false rumors, most of which focused on her inexperience (at age 29, she was the youngest woman ever elected to Congress), her financial status (she was a bartender before running for election), or, inexplicably, her dance moves. On January 16, 2019, a day after Ocasio-Cortez announced that she would be joining the House Financial Services Committee, Facebook user Donn Johnson posted a message alleging that Ocasio-Cortez was an ill fit for this position and claimed, without evidence, that she had had two checking accounts closed, that she had been the subject of two "sheriff evictions," and that her credit score was a lowly 430. A credit score of 430 puts a consumer in the "very poor" range of creditworthiness. Although this message was posted without any evidence to support its claims, many viewers accepted its unverified information as fact and spread it around Facebook. The rumor was also picked up by an army of Twitter trolls who continued to parrot the claim as if it were based on some sort of credible reporting. Repeating this claim over and over again, however, did not make it true. We encountered several dozen accounts spreading this rumor, yet not a single one pointed to any sort of news report, interview, financial record, witness statements, or anything else even slightly resembling evidence. In addition to a lack of evidence, it should be noted that it is highly unlikely that Johnson, a security officer living in Florida, would have access to information regarding Ocasio-Cortez's credit score, as this information cannot be obtained by a third party without written consent under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Johnson claimed that Ocasio-Cortez had been evicted from her home twice with the help of a sheriff's office. We did a background check on the congresswoman and found no mention of such an incident, no court cases tied to her living arrangements, and no irregularities in her housing history. She was a rising political star in 2018. As such, a number of news outlets published profiles about her that detailed Ocasio-Cortez's upbringing, her education, and her political motivations. We examined several of these stories and also found no mention of her alleged "sheriff evictions," closed bank accounts, or low credit score. For instance, Fox News published an article headlined "Who is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? 5 things to know about the New York congresswoman." That article briefly went into Ocasio-Cortez's financial history and stated that, rather than facing evictions and account closures, she worked multiple jobs to help support her family after the death of her father. She grew up in the Bronx and helped support her family after the death of her dad. Born in the Bronx, Ocasio-Cortez was raised by a mother from Puerto Rico and a father who was a small business owner. After her father passed away from cancer in 2008, Ocasio-Cortez worked two jobs in the restaurant industry to help her family make ends meet. After returning to the Bronx after college, Ocasio-Cortez pushed for greater childhood education and literacy, according to The New York Times. She also started a publishing company that produced books portraying the Bronx in a positive manner, as reported by The New York Daily News in 2012. Her upbringing also helped her foray into politics, she told Elite Daily. Politics were discussed at the table every single day, she said. It's the culture. In Puerto Rico, you talk about politics all the time, even when people disagree. In general, we found nothing indicating financial irresponsibility in Ocasio-Cortez's background, whose April 2018 Financial Disclosure Report detailed a modest amount of assets and income, but also no liabilities other than a federal student loan. We also note that low credit scores can potentially attach not only to persons who have poor credit histories (i.e., numerous late or unpaid debts) but also to those who simply have not built up their scores through means such as taking out credit-building loans and using credit cards. | 0 | [
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FMD3442 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: Mitt Romney Charged with Violating Federal ethics Law Claim summaries: Is Mitt Romney facing federal ethics charges?
contextual information: Claim: Mitt Romney is facing federal ethics charges. : Mitt Romney has been charged with ethics violations by the federal government. The United Auto Workers (UAW) and several other organizations have requested a federal investigation of Mitt Romney's financial disclosures. Example: [Collected via e-mail, November 2012] I saw this on Face Book and I am wondering if this is true? BREAKING: Romney facing federal ethics charges. YES. This is REAL. On Monday, Mitt Romney is expected to face charges for ethics violations and profiteering with regard to his involvement with the 2009 government bailout of the auto industry. Origins: On 1 November 2012, five days before the U.S. presidential election, the United Auto Workers (UAW) and several other organizations sent a letter to Don W. Fox, the General Counsel and Principal Deputy Director of the United States Office of Government Ethics, calling for an investigation of Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's financial disclosures. The senders maintain that Mitt Romney has "undisclosed stock holdings [that] create very serious conflicts ofinterest" and that he garnered a profit of "at least $15.3 million" from the automobile industry bailout of 2009. letter In a press release about the letter, the UAW stated: press release A coalition of community, labor and good government organizations is calling on the U.S. Office of Government Ethics to investigate presidential candidate Mitt Romney for noncompliance with the Ethics in Government Act and compel him to either disclose his investments or divest them. A letter sent to Don W. Fox, general counsel of the Office of Government Ethics, states that Gov. Romney "has not even attempted to meet the requirements for a federal blind trust with respect to his substantial equity holdings. The only way for this law to be enforced in a meaningful way is for your Office to act promptly to demand that candidate Romney disclose his stock holdings, or divest them if disclosure is not feasible." The letter was sent by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, People for the American Way, Public Campaign, Public Citizen, SEIU, UAW and The Social Equity Group, and it follows up on a previous letter sent to the Office of Government Ethics on Aug. 23, 2012, that urged the office to act. "The American people have a right to know about Governor Romney's potential conflicts of interest, such as the profits his family made from the auto rescue," said UAW President Bob King. "It's time for Governor Romney to disclose or divest." The groups believe that Romneys undisclosed stock holdings create serious conflicts of interest. They point to the auto loans as a key example. The Nation recently reported that the Romney family personally profited by at least $15.3 million from the auto loans of 2009. Yet Romney's June 1, 2012, Public Financial Disclosure Report to the Office of Government Ethics did not reveal this windfall because he did not disclose the underlying holdings of his private equity and limited partnership funds. Romney profited from his family's investment in Delphi Corp. at the expense of the Delphi workers. Other unreported investments that could create conflicts of interest include controversial holdings in Sensata and Global-Tech. The statement that Mitt Romney is "facing federal ethics charges" is at this point an exaggeration, however, as no charges have been issued against him by the federal government for violating ethics laws. All that has happened is that some groups have sent a letter to the Office of Government Ethics requesting an investigation of Romney's financial disclosures, based on information of as-yet undetermined accuracy. Whether sufficient basis will be found to merit an investigation, whether any such investigation will be conducted, what that investigation might find, and whether it would result in any criminal charges being brought against Mitt Romney are all matters of mere speculation. Last updated: 5 November 2012 | 2 | [
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] | 2 |
FMD3443 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: 1.5 TRILLION Net Wealth Lost In 15 Days!It s never about America, when it comes to this fraud. It s not about telling the truth about our economy or about the accepting responsibility for 93.8 million unemployed Americans. It s only about this egomaniac and his false legacy The stock market route is starting to get really expensive destroying $2.3 trillion from the market s top last year and $1.5 trillion in net wealth just this year.The giant companies that predominantly populate the Standard & Poor s 500 have fallen an average of 9.2% this year which when translated into dollars is real money. Real big money. The S&P 500 is down 8.1% this year already including another 2.3% Friday in what s been one of the worst starts to a year ever. Since the market peak on May 21, 2015, the market has declined 11.9%.Here s our Liar In Chief, who s clearly more concerned about his legacy than the actual truth:Latest on markets:The biggest wealth destroyers in the S&P 500 from the high have been gadget maker Apple (AAPL), pipeline company Kinder Morgan (KMI) and corporate software company Oracle (ORCL) crushing $224 billion, $63 billion and $49.6 billion in market value, respectively, from the May 21, 2015 top.S&P 500 STOCKS THAT DESTROYED THE MOST SHAREHOLDER WEALTH FROM THE MAY 21, 2015 TOPCompany, Symbol, % lost from high, $ market value erased from the high ($ billions)Apple, AAPL, -26.9%, -$224.4Kinder Morgan, KMI, -69.5%, -$63.5Berkshire Hathaway, BRKA, -22.7%, -$49.6Wal-Mart Stores, WMT, -13.3%, -$47.5Qualcomm, QCOM, -18.3%, -$46.4Source: S&P Capital IQ, USA TODAYThis year, most of the money is being shredded by the giant companies that many U.S. investors loaded up on during the bull including gadget maker Apple, online retailer Amazon.com (AMZN) and online advertising firm Alphabet (GOOGL).When it comes to destroying market value, Apple is in a class of its own. The company has erased a staggering $51.1 billion in investor wealth this year following its 8.8% decline this year to $96 a share. More than $200 billion in market value has been erased by just this one stock from the market high which is more than a vast majority of big companies are worth.Red hot retailer Amazon is down a whopping 16% this year after more than doubling in value in 2015. That means investors in Amazon are down $49 billion this year.Google s parent Alphabet is also taking the shredder to investors money falling 8.6% this year to $46.2 billion.When you see how much money is being erased by the biggest companies you can see why this sell-off is getting uncomfortable and expensive.Nothing s changed in the past 6 years. He s still lying. Too bad our friend, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) wasn t available for comment at this year s SOTU.S&P 500 STOCKS THAT DESTROYED THE MOST SHAREHOLDER WEALTH THIS YEARCompany, Symbol, % lost YTD, $ market value erased YTD ($ billions)Apple, AAPL, -8.8%, -$51.1Amazon.com, AMZN, -15.6%, -$49.3Alphabet, GOOGL, -8.6%, -$46.2Microsoft, MSFT, -7.8%, -$34.4JPMorgan Chase, JPM, -13.4%, -$32.7Facebook, FB, -9.9%, -$29.4Wells Fargo, WFC, -9.9%, -$27.5Citigroup, C, -17.4%, -$26.9General Electric, GE, -8.4%, -$24.6Bank of America, BAC, -14%, -$24.5Intel, INTC, -14%, -$24.5Cisco Systems, CSCO, -11.8%, -$16.2Home Depot, HD, -9.3%, -$15.6Source: S&P Capital IQ, USA TODAY | 0 | [
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FMD3444 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: 5% Downpayment Quote Claim summaries: Senator Chris Dodd opined 5% down payment requirement 'would restrict home ownership to only those who can afford it'?
contextual information: Senator Chris Dodd opined that a 5% down payment requirement "would restrict home ownership to only those who can afford it." In a bid to stem taxpayer losses from bad loans guaranteed by federal housing agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn) proposed that borrowers be required to make a 5% down payment in order to qualify. His proposal was rejected 57-42 on a party-line vote because, as Senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn) explained, "passage of such a requirement would restrict home ownership to only those who can afford it." One factor that fueled the subprime mortgage crisis of the 2000s was the easy access given to home loans for those who were poor risks. As these loans almost inevitably failed, mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures not only rose but spiraled dramatically upwards, seriously affecting banking and financial markets around the world. Many people believe that a tightening of lending practices would prevent similar economic collapses in the housing market from occurring again, with one proposed tightening being the imposition of a five percent down payment requirement upon prospective home buyers. However, not everyone believes such a requirement would be the best way to address the issue. Although the debate was real, the quote was a fabrication penned by John Semmens of Semi-News, an online publication billed as "A Satirical Look at Recent News," and it appeared as the final item in his 15 May 2010 column. Other offerings from that column include "Election Officials to Bar Voluntary Showing of ID by Voters" (an item that included the made-up statement of a Wisconsin Election Board official: "Allowing those who have valid IDs to show them would intimidate those without IDs. They might be discouraged from attempting to vote. This would lower turnout and threaten the democratic process") and "Crist Refuses to Return GOP Donations" (which quoted Crist as saying: "Look, my view has always been caveat emptor"). Semi-News is a satirical publication, albeit one that draws upon the news of the day. Senator Bob Corker had proposed an amendment (S.A. 3955) to the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010, which would have instituted a residential mortgage underwriting standard requiring a five percent down payment from prospective home buyers. Democrats did oppose the amendment, with one reason given by Dodd being that it would have disadvantaged home buyers who had good credit and solid incomes but lacked the cash to make the required down payments. S.A. 3955 Stability Act Last updated: 20 June 2010. | 2 | [
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] | 2 |
FMD3445 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Add another lie to an exhaustive list of Obama lies Emergency-room visits continue to rise in the second year of Obamacare, the Wall Street Journal reports.The visits are up despite claims by President Obama that the law would reduce emergency-room visits because Obamacare would increase access to other kinds of care. There was a grand theory the law would reduce ER visits, Dr. Howard Mell, a spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physicians, told the Journal. Well, guess what, it hasn t happened. Visits are going up despite the ACA, and in a lot of cases because of it. Emergency-room visits continued to climb in the second year of the Affordable Care Act, contradicting the law s supporters who had predicted a decline in traffic as more people gained access to doctors and other health-care providers.A survey of 2,098 emergency-room doctors conducted in March showed about three-quarters said visits had risen since January 2014. That was a significant uptick from a year earlier, when less than half of doctors surveyed reported an increase. The survey by the American College of Emergency Physicians is scheduled to be published Monday.Medicaid recipients newly insured under the health law are struggling to get appointments or find doctors who will accept their coverage, and consequently wind up in the ER, ACEP said. Volume might also be increasing due to hospital and emergency-department closures a long-standing trend.Via: Washington Free Beacon | 0 | [
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FMD3446 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Regulators released rules on Thursday morning that aim to restrict how big financial institutions can pay their top executives. The new limits on banker bonuses would make the employees at the biggest banks wait at least four years to receive parts of their annual pay. If the proposals are completed in the coming months, banks would also have to reclaim bonuses from bankers who take risks that lead to big financial losses. The regulators are responding to an uproar of criticism over Wall Street’s pay practices after the biggest American banks had to take government bailout money during the 2008 financial crisis. That public anger has been rekindled during the 2016 presidential campaign season, putting pressure on regulators to tighten their oversight of Wall Street. The new rules on executive pay grew out of the 2010 financial overhaul, but it has taken years to put them into practice, even though President Obama has pushed regulators to complete them. The administration is running out of time to get rules approved before a new president is elected. Rick Metsger, the vice chairman at the National Credit Union Administration — one of six agencies responsible for drafting the rules — said on Thursday that politicians and the public “want senior executives at large financial institutions held accountable if their desire for personal enrichment leads to that results in material losses. †The structure of executive pay packages before the financial crisis was blamed for encouraging bankers to take unnecessary risks. In some cases, pay was set up in ways that motivated bankers to seek gains even if their actions led to losses over the longer term. The new rules will force many banks to withhold pay for longer than they have in the past, to ensure that top employees can be held accountable for the consequences of their . The proposals leave many financial firms, including large asset managers and hedge funds, shielded from the new restrictions because of the way the regulators have defined which institutions are subject to them. Young Wall Street workers, and potential recruits who might once have aspired to jobs in the industry, are already decamping for less regulated corners of finance and corporate America, including Silicon Valley. For those institutions subject to the rules, the new restrictions are broadly in line with changes that many banks have already been making since the financial crisis. For instance, it is already an industry standard to wait three years to release bonuses. The new rules aim to push that to four years. There has been less consistency in how banks have approached seizing pay from employees if their actions lead to losses. The new proposal makes bankers’ pay vulnerable to clawbacks for seven years after the pay is received, if they are found to have engaged in misconduct or taken actions that led to big losses. Steven Eckhaus, an expert on executive compensation at Cadwalader, Wickersham Taft, said he did not see the new rules “having a big impact except around the margins. †“This largely codifies the practices that have evolved over the last eight years,†he said. The regulators were supposed to propose the new rules within 90 days of ’s passage. Instead, the regulatory agencies delivered a first draft of the rules in 2011, but that draft was widely panned as being too weak. In the previous draft, the largest banks had to hold back at least 50 percent of all pay for three years. Under the new proposals, the same banks will have to withhold 60 percent of that pay for four years. The new draft also applies the limits to a broader set of “material †at big banks, not just top executives. Marcus Stanley, the policy director at the advocacy organization Americans for Financial Reform, said the new version was stronger than the 2011 proposal, but did not push the banks to go far enough beyond already accepted practices. He said, for instance, that he had hoped that banks would have to hold back pay for more than four years because big losses on bank investments can often take longer than that to materialize. In Britain, by contrast, banks are now forced to hold back some pay for at least seven years. European countries have generally imposed stronger restrictions on executive compensation since the financial crisis, including some hard caps on salary and bonuses. The new American rules would apply only to compensation — generally bonuses — which varies according to the performance of the bank and the individual executive. Even without the rules, banks have faced steady pressure from regulators and shareholders since the financial crisis to change the way they pay their employees and tie more compensation to a firm’s rather than success. JPMorgan Chase, for instance, recently announced that it was altering the pay package of its chief executive, Jamie Dimon, so that he is compensated primarily with stock that he will receive only if the firm achieves certain levels of future profitability. Mr. Dimon will get the stock after five years, which is longer than the new rules propose. Banks and other financial institutions have generally been cutting pay in recent years because of their lagging performance, and other parts of the legislation have limited their ability to take big risks and earn the big profits that were common before the financial crisis. This week, Goldman Sachs said that the pool of money it had put aside so far this year for employee compensation is 40 percent smaller than it was at the same time last year. The new rules were debated and described for the first time at a meeting on Thursday of the National Credit Union Administration, the first of the six agencies to take up the proposal. The public will have until July to comment on the new rules, and it will likely be months after that before they go into effect. | 1 | [
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FMD3447 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: White House budget director Mick Mulvaney told reporters on Monday that President Donald Trump would sign a spending bill that avoids a government shutdown when he receives it on Thursday or Friday. At a White House briefing, Mulvaney said that while the legislation did not include funding to build a wall along the U.S. southern border with Mexico, it did have $1.5 billion for border security. He said that when Trump makes a budget request in late May for the 2018 fiscal year that begins in October, he will include a request for money to build the wall, which is a top priority of the president. Mulvaney said the short-term spending bill that Trump would sign did not have everything Trump wanted but contained a significant increase for defense the president requested. | 1 | [
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] | 1 |
FMD3448 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: Danny Trejo Death Hoax Claim summaries: The popular Los Angeles-born actor did not suddenly pass away at age 74 in September 2018.
contextual information: On 9 September 2018, the website Your Daily News published an article headlined "Danny Trejo: The Famous Native American Actor Dies at Age 74." Curiously, however, the article provided no details about the time or manner of Trejo's alleged passing, nor did it even mention Trejo's death; it simply offered a summary of the actor's life and career. Danny Trejo was born Dan Trejo in Echo Park, Los Angeles, to Alice (Rivera) and Dan Trejo, a construction worker. With his intimidating, tattooed, muscle-bound appearance, character actor Danny Trejo has built a successful career as the all-purpose hard case throughout his curious and enduring cinematic journey. Beating the odds of repeat offender syndrome after being released from prison, Trejo has risen through the ranks to find himself in high demand as an actor and has even expanded his talents to include a producer credit on his résumé. That lack of information is not surprising, as the article was a hoax—Danny Trejo is not dead and is still actively posting on social media: "Rest in peace Burt Reynolds. You were an icon and one of my heroes." -DT pic.twitter.com/0fKZhaKpuH Danny Trejo (@officialDannyT) September 6, 2018. The only source reporting Trejo's death in September 2018 was Your Daily News, a site that had only been active for a very short time and, as of this writing, was no longer reachable. Moreover, Trejo himself has previously been the subject of celebrity death hoax rumors, which he has personally disclaimed: "DANNY TREJO IS NOT DEAD." Danny Trejo (@officialDannyT) November 8, 2016. | 0 | [
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FMD3449 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Ahead of the launch of her daily morning show, Megyn Kelly Today, the NBC News journalist stopped by The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where she explained how Donald Trump influenced her decision to leave Fox News after 12 years. THRIt s pretty clear by Ellen s reactions to Kelly s answers that she s not a fan, and that as an employee of NBC, she s being forced to take one for the team with this very forced interview of the very unpopular Megyn Kelly prior to the debut of her new show.Watch, as Kelly attempts to convince Degeneres that after several years of making a fortune on FOX News where she became popular for what appeared to be her passionate political views, that she was never a political person . LOL! :Kelly spent a good time of her interview with Degeneres deflecting from her unpopularity with the general public by blaming President Trump for her decision to accept $17 million from NBC to make the move to fluff journalism. Donald Trump has a way of clarifying one s life choices and that was true in my case, too, Kelly said, explaining how she was struck by how her primetime news coverage became all political. When Kelly contemplated if Fox News was the right place for her, the universe came and sort of shone a light and it was clear to me what I wanted to do. DeGeneres asked if any of Trump s infamous tweets targeted at Kelly were particularly what motivated her move, but Kelly said it was more than just the tweets: The country s so divided right now and it s so political. It s like politics has become like race, you can t discuss it at all. Degeneres, who is known for being funny, only appeared to laugh twice during the entire segment. The first time was when Kelly wasn t honest with the audience when she claimed her ratings at FOX went up after she disrespected the President. (See chart below from Oct. 13, 2016, following her full-blown feud with then-candidate Donald Trump:)The second time was when she made Kelly look like a complete jackass by suiting her up in a sumo wrestler costume, to which Megyn responded in a very awkward and NOT funny way. Watch: | 0 | [
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] | 0 |
FMD3450 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: Did Sex Traffickers in Florida Trick Motorists By Lying in the Road? Claim summaries: Yet another sex trafficking scare was promoted on social media in late 2019.
contextual information: In late 2019, concerned readers asked us about a series of widely shared Facebook posts that claimed to include photographic evidence of a new tactic being employed by sex traffickers in the state of Florida, and in the city of Tampa, in particular. The earliest example of the post that we found was published on Nov. 19. It included three photographs that appeared to show a road at night, with a car pulled over and a person lying on his or her back in the middle of the road. The message read: read "This Shit Happened To My Lil Brother Last Night In Tampa, Sex Trafficking Is Real, These People Lay In The Middle Of The Road And Act Like Their Car Broke Down Or Play Hurt For You To Stop. When U Get Out The Car They Attack. If Yall See Anything Like This, Dont Hesitate To Run Their Ass Over. If U Scared Then Try Your Best To Go Around, But Whatever You Do, Dont Get Out Of Your Car, Lock Your Doors And Keep It Moving....!!!!!!!!!!!" Over the course of the following days and weeks, the same or similar messages, using the same photographs, were shared hundreds of thousands of times. In some cases, the "lying in the road" method was identified as a sex trafficking ruse specific to Tampa, and in other cases specific to the state of Florida. In still other instances, no geographic marker was provided, giving many readers the impression that sex traffickers all across the United States were using the same ruse. In each case, the Facebook post claimed that the photographs were merely one illustration of a broader trend of incidents, and that the purported "lying-in-the-road" ruse was a prevalent sex trafficking tactic. some cases Tampa Florida still other In reality, we found no evidence to support or corroborate the claim that a pattern of incidents existed, in Tampa, in Florida, or anywhere in the United States, in which sex traffickers attempted to kidnap unsuspecting motorists by tricking them into stopping their cars by lying in the middle of the road. Nor did we find any evidence that the photographs included in the November and December 2019 Facebook posts showed a specific incident of attempted sex trafficking. A spokesperson for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (akin to the "state police" found in other states) told Snopes that the agency "has not heard of this tactic in Tampa or elsewhere." A spokesperson for the Tampa Police Department told Snopes much the same and emphasized that "No such incident took place in Tampa." The spokesperson added, "We have not heard of this method or tactic being used in our jurisdiction." A spokesperson for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office (the county where Tampa is located) also told Snopes: "No reports have been filed related to this incident or matching what is described in the post, so we can not confirm if it is related to human trafficking or if it is even real." Laura Palumbo, communications director for the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, told Snopes in a statement that: "Our organization is not aware of any reports of human trafficking similar to the one described in these viral social media posts ... Although it may be possible that in isolated incidents human trafficking attempts like this have occurred in the past, it is unlikely that this is a common trend." Both Theresa Prichard, associate director of the Florida Council Against Sexual Violence, and Kathleen Kempe, senior director of the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, also told Snopes they had never heard of any such sex trafficking tactic. It's not clear what the origins of the photographs were. We put a series of questions to the Cornelius King Facebook account above where the trafficking post originated, requesting to speak to his brother, who according to the post was a firsthand witness to the alleged incident shown in the photographs. We asked whether he, his brother, or anyone else had reported the alleged incident to any law enforcement agency, the exact time and location of the incident, and we requested any evidence that might corroborate the claim that the alleged incident was connected to sex trafficking. We received no response. It's also unclear whether the photographs were authentic or staged, perhaps as part of a stunt, prank, advertisement, or film of some kind. If they were authentic, it's not clear what the motives or state of mind were of the person shown lying in the road. The photographs themselves do not contain any elements or features whose presence indicates a connection to sex trafficking, in particular, as opposed to several other explanations. Since we have not yet discovered the origins of, and facts surrounding, the photographs, we cannot definitively rule out the possibility that they show a specific instance of attempted kidnapping or sex trafficking. However, based on the responses provided by several law enforcement agencies and relevant non-profit organizations, we can say that no broader pattern or trend of incidents exists in Tampa, or Florida, or in the United States, whereby motorists are tricked into stopping their cars by a person lying in the middle of the road, as part of a sex trafficking plot. All of the widely shared Facebook posts cited above claimed that the photographs were an illustration of a broader trend. As a result, we are issuing a rating of | 0 | [
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FMD3451 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: You may think you are discreet about your political views. But Facebook, the world’s largest social media network, has come up with its own determination of your political leanings, based on your activity on the site. And now, it is easy to find out how Facebook has categorized you — as very liberal or very conservative, or somewhere in between. Try this (it works best on your desktop computer): Go to facebook. on your browser. (You may have to log in to Facebook first.) That will bring you to a page with your ad preferences. Under the “Interests†header, click the “Lifestyle and Culture†tab. Then look for a box titled “US Politics. †In parentheses, it will describe how Facebook has categorized you, such as liberal, moderate or conservative. (If the “US Politics†box does not show up, click the “See more†button under the grid of boxes.) Facebook makes a deduction about your political views based on the pages that you like — or on your political preference, if you stated one, on your profile page. If you like the page for Hillary Clinton, Facebook might categorize you as a liberal. Even if you do not like any candidates’ pages, if most of the people who like the same pages that you do — such as Ben and Jerry’s ice cream — identify as liberal, then Facebook might classify you as one, too. Facebook has long been collecting information on its users, but it recently revamped the ad preferences page, making it easier to view. The information is valuable. Advertisers, including many political campaigns, pay Facebook to show their ads to specific demographic groups. The labels Facebook assigns to its users help campaigns more precisely target a particular audience. For instance, Donald J. Trump’s presidential campaign has paid for its ads to be shown to those who Facebook has labeled politically moderate. Campaigns can also use the groupings to show different messages to different supporters. They may want to show an ad to their supporters, for example, that is unlike an ad targeted at people just tuning in to the election. It is not clear how aggressively Facebook is gathering political information on users outside the United States. The social network has 1. 7 billion active users, including about 204 million in the United States. Political outlook is just one of the attributes Facebook compiles on its users. Many of the others are directly commercial: whether you like television comedy shows, video games or Nascar. To learn more about how political campaigns are targeting voters on social media, The New York Times is collecting Facebook ads from our readers with a project called AdTrack. You can take part by visiting nytimes. com and searching for “Send us the political ads. †| 1 | [
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] | 1 |
FMD3452 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: Did Liberals Demand an 'Offensive' WWI Memorial Be Torn Down? Claim summaries: A popular meme about the Bladensburg Cross claimed that "liberals" were "offended" by the WWI memorial and demanded its removal.
contextual information: On 7 December 2016 , a meme appeared on social media that claimed an unnamed "liberal group" sought to tear down a 90-year-old World War I memorial, because they found it offensive: meme The post contained no information or citation, did not name the "liberal group" involved, the location of the memorial, the date of the purported controversy, and the grounds by which these individuals believed the monument to be offensive. (Nevertheless, the item's share count reached six digits in just two days.) The image was easily identifiable as the Bladensburg, Maryland "Peace Cross" (known simply as the Bladensburg Cross): Bladensburg Known also as Peace Cross. The Snyder-Farmer Post of the American Legion of Hyattsville erected the forty foot cross of cement and marble to recall the forty-nine men of Prince Georges County who died in World War I. The cross was dedicated on July 13, 1925, by the American Legion. A bronze tablet at the base of the monument contains the unforgettable words of Woodrow Wilson: The right is more precious than the peace; we shall fight for the things we have always carried nearest our hearts; to such a task we dedicate ourselves. At the base of the monument are the words, Valor, Endurance, Courage, Devotion. At its heart, the cross bears a great gold star. A 7 December 2016 Washington Post article reported that years-long litigation over the cross was brought by the American Humanist Association due to the religious nature of the public memorial: reported The high court has allowed some monuments with religious content to stand and rejected others on public sites ... The towering, pink-hued cross honors the 49 Prince Georges County men who died in World War I. The monument was completed in 1925 with funds raised by the American Legion and local families. It sits on land owned by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, a state agency that pays for upkeep and repairs, according to court filings. The appeal was brought by the American Humanist Association after a U.S. District Court judge [in 2015] declined to order that the cross be removed, saying that it is a historically significant secular war memorial. The original complaint [PDF] was filed in February 2015 against the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. In the suit's opening lines, the plaintiffs explained the action was not because they found the symbol itself offensive: PDF This action challenges the constitutionality of the Defendants ownership, maintenance and prominent display on public property of a massive Christian cross (the Bladensburg Cross) as a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, as applied to Maryland by the Fourteenth Amendment. Under "Causes of Action," the group reiterated its motivation in bringing the suit: The Defendants ownership, maintenance and prominent display on public property of the Bladensburg Cross amounts to the endorsement and advancement of religion (and, specifically, an endorsement of and affiliation with Christianity) in violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Defendants ownership, maintenance and prominent display on public property of the Bladensburg Cross lacks a secular purpose in violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Defendants ownership, maintenance and prominent display on public property of the Bladensburg Cross fosters excessive governmental entanglement with religion in violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Defendant acted under color of state law in violating the First Amendment as described herein in violation of 42 U.S.C. 1983. The American Humanist Association said repeatedly that the litigation was about what the group argued was a violation of the Establishment Clause, not a matter of offense. A 26 February 2014 article in The Humanist further explained the suit: Establishment Clause explained At the core of the First Amendments Establishment Clause is the principle that the government must not favor or prefer some religions over others, or religion over non-religion. No matter how small the preference may seem to some, particularly to adherents of the favored religion, the framers of the Constitution believed that The breach of neutrality that is today a trickling stream may all too soon become a raging torrent. When the government erects an exclusively Christian monument on government property, it violates this central command of the Establishment Clause by sending a clear message that Christianity is the preferred religion over all others. When the religious monument is dedicated to fallen soldiers, it sends an even more egregious message that only Christian soldiers are worth memorializing. Non-Christian soldiers such as atheists and humanists are inherently excluded. Such is the case with a cross in Bladensburg, Maryland, commonly known as the Peace Cross, which stands forty-feet high on a government-owned median between roadways. In addition to the obvious sectarian nature of the Latin cross, the Bladensburg cross was also erected with religious motives ... In seeking the removal of the Bladensburg cross, the American Humanist Association seeks only to eliminate this stigmatic message to non-adherents of Christianity. It urges the government to erect an inclusive monument that will honor all fallen soldiers, regardless of their faith. On 30 November 2015, the Baltimore Sun reported that a federal court in Maryland ruled the Bladensburg cross was constitutional, a decision that prompted the December 2016 appeal: reported The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland ruled [in November 2015] that even though the Bladensburg World War I Veterans Memorial, a 40-foot-tall monument erected in 1925, takes the shape of a cross, its purpose is not primarily religious. Therefore, the court found, it does not violate the First Amendment's provision that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." Social media users were riled once again about the controversy after the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the ruling, prompting a Fox News opinion column by Todd Starnes on 18 October 2017: column In 2014, the American Humanist Association -- a group that believes in "being good without a god" -- filed a lawsuit alleging the cross-shaped memorial is unconstitutional and demanding it be demolished, altered, or removed ... On [17 October 2017], the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed and ruled the historic memorial must be torn down -- all because the Bladensburg Memorial is in the shape of a cross. [...] I warned Americans in my new book, The Deplorables Guide to Making America Great Again, that the war against religious liberty and traditional American values is far from over. A militant group of atheists, agnostics and free-thinkers want to eradicate Christianity in the public marketplace. The only way to stop this evil scourge is for people of faith to stand together and fight back in the courts. Starnes did not mention that the American Humanist Association's "[urged] the government to erect an inclusive monument that will honor all fallen soldiers, regardless of their faith" or that the cross was on public land. The Baltimore Sun reported: reported A federal appeals court ruled that a 40-foot, cross-shaped war memorial that has stood on public land in Maryland for nearly a century is unconstitutional because it excessively entangles the government with religion ... The 2-1 ruling reverses a 2015 district court decision that found the purpose of the cross is not primarily religious and that the site has been used almost exclusively for celebrating federal holidays. Supporters of the memorial have raised the impact an adverse decision could have on other sites notably, Arlington National Cemetery. Crosses are common on headstones and elsewhere at the cemetery. A 24-foot granite cross, the Canadian Cross of Sacrifice, is positioned near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The court dismissed the notion that the two sites are related. The crosses there are much smaller than the 40-foot tall monolith at issue here, the court wrote. And, significantly, Arlington National Cemetery displays diverse religious symbols, both as monuments and on individual headstones. Chief Judge Roger L. Gregory, writing in dissent, questioned the legal significance of the crosss size. In the majoritys view, the memorial is unconstitutional based predominantly on the size of the cross, and neither its secular features nor history could overcome the presumption, Gregory wrote. But such a conclusion is contrary to our constitutional directive. Fritze, John. "Appeals Court Rules That Peace Cross In Bladensburg Violates The Constitution."
Baltimore Sun. 18 October 2017. Marimow, Anne E. "Could Moving a Giant Cross or Cutting Off Its Arms Resolve a 1st Amendment Case?"
The Washington Post. 7 December 2016. Miller, Monica. "Why We Sued Bladensburg, Md Over a 40-Foot Cross."
The Humanist. 26 February 2014. Pitts, Jonathan. "Court Finds Cross Memorial Constitutional."
Baltimore Sun. 30 November 2016. Starnes, Todd. "Federal Court Rules World War I Memorial Cross Must Be Torn Down."
Fox News. 18 October 2017. U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. "American Humanist Association v. Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission."
25 February 2014. The Town of Bladensburg. "Memorial Cross."
Accessed 9 December 2016. Updated [19 October 2017]: Added information about a 17 October 2017 reversal of the 2015 decision deeming the preservation of Bladensburg cross constitutionally sound. | 2 | [
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FMD3453 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Read by 1,225 people
This article was written by Tyler Durden and originally published at Zero Hedge .
Editor’s Comment: Would anything the Clinton’s allegedly did be enough to constitute a “scandal”? It is questionable whether even (rumored) video of Bill Clinton engaged in sex acts with minors would raise media eyebrows. It isn’t a question of what “is” is anymore, it is a question of what the supposed ‘watchdogs’ of the political scene (in all their official and self-appointed capacities) are willing to put on the table. For Alt-Right supporters of Trump, anything and everything is fair game, and there is plenty of detritus to bring to the surface; but for CNN and even FOX, many of these bombshell scandals may well not even exist.
The establishment is in the battle of its life to spin the great political realignment and rebuke of its powers into a new mandate for control. Whether that plays out in Hillary, or in some bastardized control of Trump’s administration after the fact, it is quite clear that the “Teflon” candidate is being allowed to sweep everything under the carpet. No matter what Wikileaks emails, Guccifer 2.0 hacks, whistleblowers and witnesses reveal, it is smooth sailing for Big H.
For any other politician, a mere fraction of the dirt piled up on this family would have ended careers, stirred media scrutiny and ended in prosecution, even if it is all just formality ending in suspended sentences. Instead, Hillary only becomes more inevitable in spite of, or possible even because of, the scandals that have emerged (both inside and outside the White House, the federal government, the State Department and the rigged DNC process). It is entirely possible that the electoral college is so locked-up that literally nothing could block her path. Let’s see how they tally the score come Tuesday night…
Doug Band Accuses Chelsea Of Using Clinton Foundation Money To Pay For Her Wedding
by Tyler Durden
A couple of days ago we shared a Podesta email from Doug Band about Chelsea talking openly in public about her “internal investigation” into the Clinton Foundation.
As with many of the Doug Band email chains , the rabbit hole just got a little deeper today with Band accusing of Chelsea of “using foundation resources for her wedding and life for a decade” among other accusations. He also concludes with another veiled threat on the consequences “once we go down this road….”
The investigation into her getting paid for campaigning, using foundation resources for her wedding and life for a decade, taxes on money from her parents….
I hope that you will speak to her and end this
Once we go down this road….
The implications are troubling: as our friends from the Southern Investigative Reporting Foundation point out, “* If true* people (then) worth well into 8 figures used 501c3 $ to pay for a wedding. ” *If true* people (then) worth well into 8 figures used 501c3 $ to pay for a wedding. #PodestaEmails32 @wikileaks https://t.co/xpYZbDN4C0
— SIRF (@SIRF_Report) November 6, 2016
The latest Band email comes after he previously accused Chelsea of talking about her “internal investigation” in the Clinton Foundation with “one of the bush 43 kids.”
I just received a call from a close friend of wjcs who said that cvc told one of the bush 43 kids that she is conducting an internal investigation of money within the foundation from cgi to the foundation
The bush kid then told someone else who then told an operative within the republican party
I have heard more and more chatter of cvc and bari talking about lots of what is going on internally to people
Not smart
Something tells us that Chelsea and Doug may not be on speaking terms for a while after all the WikiLeaks revelations.
This article was written by Tyler Durden and originally published at Zero Hedge . Click here to subscribe : Join over one million monthly readers and receive breaking news, strategies, ideas and commentary. Please Spread The Word And Share This Post
Author: Tyler Durden Views: Read by 1,225 people Date: November 7th, 2016 Website: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-11-06/doug-band-accuses-chelsea-using-clinton-foundation-money-pay-her-wedding
Copyright Information: This content has been contributed to SHTFplan by a third-party or has been republished with permission from the author. Please contact the author directly for republishing information. | 0 | [
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FMD3454 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Once again, Putin reminds our weak and ineffective Commander In Chief what winning a war against terrorists looks like When US attack planes destroyed 116 ISIS oil trucks on November 16 (allegedly after dropping leaflets warning innocent drivers to scatter), it purportedly marked a shift in strategy. Somehow , the Obama administration had grossly underestimated the proceeds ISIS derives from the illicit oil trade while overestimating the damage US warplanes had inflicted on the group s oil infrastructure.Here is the video from the Russian Defense Ministry:Additionally, Bloomberg suggests the Pentagon routinely declined to take out tanker trucks for fear of collateral damage. None of these guys are ISIS. We don t feel right vaporizing them, so we have been watching ISIS oil flowing around for a year, Michael Knights, an Iraq expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy told Bloomberg.There are a couple of things that should jump out at you there. First, it s not exactly clear why it matters that the administration underestimated the amount of revenue ISIS derives from oil. That is, the difference between $100 million and $400 million per year would be quite meaningful if you were talking about a corporation here, but this is a terrorist group. Sure, it matters that they re making four times more than you thought when it comes to assessing their operational capabilities (the more money you have, the more you can do), but it shouldn t matter when it comes to formulating a strategy to cripple their ability to produce oil. It s not like you can say oh, well they re only making $100 million per year, so that s fine.. now if it s $400 million, that s where we ll have to draw the line. Second, since when is the US worried about collateral damage when it comes to taking out terrorists? As The Intercept laid bare in a series of recent investigative reports, 90% of those killed in drone strikes aren t the target. It s not as if the CIA isn t aware of that statistic each and every time they pull the trigger on an MQ9 Reaper.So sure, perhaps the US overestimated the effect its airstrikes were having on Islamic State s oil production capabilities and perhaps The Pentagon was concerned with killing innocent truck drivers, but it could also be that, as Sergei Lavrov suggested earlier this week, the US has until now intentionally avoided hitting ISIS where it hurts in order to keep them in the game and ensure they can still be effective at destabilizing Assad. If you cut off the oil trade, they lose the ability to battle the regime.In any event, there are other pressing questions about ISIS and oil and we encourage you to read more in The Most Important Question About ISIS That Nobody Is Asking, but for now, we turn to Russia and The Kremlin s efforts to dent Bakr al-Baghdadi s wallet.According to Russian General Staff spokesman Colonel General Andrey Kartapolov, around 500 fuel tanker vehicles transporting illegal oil from Syria to Iraq for processing have been destroyed by Russia s Air Forces. In recent years, Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) and other extremist groups have organized the operations of the so-called pipeline on wheels on the territories they control, Kartapolov continued, adding that in just the first few days, [Russian] aviation has destroyed 500 fuel tanker trucks, which greatly reduced illegal oil export capabilities of the militants and, accordingly, their income from oil smuggling. Via: Zero Hedge | 0 | [
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FMD3455 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Debbie Dooley and a crowd of great Patriots marched in front of the CNN headquarters in Atlanta today in a show of support for President Trump and in protest against CNN s fake news. Who isn t proud of these people literally walking the walk to voice their opposition to the constant drip, drip, drip of propaganda from CNN.Debbie Dooley of Main Street Patriots told Breitbart News why they were protesting CNN today:CNN threw objective journalism out the window once Donald Trump was elected President and have begun to report DNC talking points as news. CNN can no longer claim to be a news organization that reports facts without bias, because they report innuendo with no facts as news with the intent on bringing down a democratically-elected President. They have simply become an entertainment network not to be taken seriously.Time for Trump supporters to get active and show the Democrats that we are very passionate about our support of President Trump and we will fight hard to pass his agenda, the notice of the event states on Main Street Patriots website. Bring your signs and let s show CNN that we support President Trump and call them out for becoming an arm of the DNC intent on bringing down President Trump with biased coverage and false innuendos, the invitation on Main Street Patriots Facebook page states.A TRUMP SUPPORTER ON WHY SHE S JOINING THE PROTEST: She is 100% spot on Trump supporter on why she's joining protest against Fake News CNN. She is 100% spot on. pic.twitter.com/IblSehMU52 Tennessee (@TEN_GOP) June 17, 2017 We re so happy about this! It s the outward and visible signs of protest that make a HUGE difference. | 0 | [
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FMD3456 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: The Kremlin says U.S. intelligence agency allegations it ran an influence campaign to help President-elect Donald Trump win the White House are false. But if U.S. spies are right, Moscow may wish it hadn’t bothered to meddle in the first place. The belief, widely held in the West, that the Kremlin helped discredit Democratic rival Hillary Clinton by orchestrating embarrassing media leaks, has relegated U.S.-Russia relations to a post-Cold War low and stoked fears Russia will try to subvert French and German elections this year. And true or not, the bipartisan view that Russia tried to help Trump, supported by a classified U.S. intelligence report, may make it harder, not easier, for Trump to make common cause with President Vladimir Putin, something both men say they want. In the latest wrinkle, U.S. officials said on Tuesday that Trump has been presented with claims that Russia had compromising information about him. The accusations are uncorroborated and denied by the Kremlin. “There was initial delight in Russia when Trump won and there was more delight after Trump picked Rex Tillerson as secretary of state,†said Alexei Makarkin, deputy director at the Moscow-based Center for Political Technologies. “There is significantly less delight now.†Former Exxon-Mobil CEO Tillerson, Trump’s pick for America’s top diplomat, is seen as a friend of Russia. His firm has been thwarted from carrying out a huge project in the Russian Arctic by economic sanctions imposed by the outgoing Obama administration to punish Moscow for its actions in Ukraine. Makarkin said Trump and his circle would now be accused of being Kremlin stooges every time they pushed for detente with Russia, with senior Republicans likely to warn that any rapprochement would hand political capital to the Democrats. Putin, who has repeatedly praised Trump’s political skills, is hoping his incoming U.S. counterpart will ease or annul the sanctions, stay out of Russia’s domestic affairs, and maybe even team up with the Kremlin in the Middle East. But the furor over hacking and allegations of wider Russian interference have triggered pressure from Democrats and Trump’s fellow Republicans in Congress for tougher, not weaker, anti-Russian measures. That has amplified Congressional calls for an independent bipartisan investigation into Russian dirty tricks and prompted President Barack Obama to expel 35 suspected Russian spies, denting early Russian optimism about a Trump presidency. When the announcement that Trump had won the Nov. 8 presidential election was made in Russia’s parliament by Vyacheslav Nikonov, the grandson of Stalin’s foreign minister, lawmakers erupted in applause. In Moscow, Clinton was widely seen as being anti-Russian. Two months later, the mood has soured. “The new hacking allegations against Russia are clearly timed to coincide with the handover of power in the United States,†Alexei Pushkov, a senator who sits on the upper house of parliament’s defense and security committee, said. “The aim is to force Trump into enmity with Russia.†Victoria Zhuravleva, an expert on U.S.-Russia relations who writes analytical papers for the government, said the current mood in the United States meant Trump would struggle to improve relations with Moscow even if he wanted to. “If we are realistic we have nothing to wait for,†said Zhuravleva, who said Congress could stymie Trump’s Russia policies and would probably present him with proposals to hit Moscow with fresh sanctions rather than roll back existing ones. To be sure, some observers of U.S.-Russian relations say the Kremlin still emerges from the affair with a major win: the new U.S. president favors closer ties with Russia and has named people who share that view to key posts. And Trump can plow ahead with rapprochement even if some in Washington oppose it. “The Constitution privileges the Executive in war and foreign policy,†Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones, author of ‘We Know All About You: The Story of Surveillance in Britain and America,’ wrote in e-mailed comments. “Once Trump and Putin begin to play together (if they do), the hacking issue will become a minor historical footnote.†But with U.S.-Russia tensions so strained, some in Russia fret Washington will strike back with its own cyber attack. German Klimenko, Putin’s Internet adviser, has suggested Russia must be ready to disconnect itself or to be involuntarily cut off from the global Internet. “America could say it will throw up virtual borders to protect itself from (external) influence,†Klimenko told Reuters. “I can imagine ... any actions.†With so much focus on alleged Russian meddling, attention is now turning to presidential elections in France and Germany this year with some European politicians and intelligence services warning Moscow will try to interfere there too. The Kremlin’s preferences appear clear from state media, where Chancellor Angela Merkel has been denigrated as ‘an old witch.’ French National Front leader Marine Le Pen and center-right Francois Fillon have both been portrayed more positively. Former intelligence agents and cyber experts say neither country has the technical ability to protect itself or fully understand by whom and how it is being hacked, creating a rich opportunity for disinformation and unverifiable claims. Several intelligence experts said elements of Russia’s intelligence community won’t be able to resist trying to replicate their U.S. election operations in European elections — even while other parts of the ruling elite see such operations as highly risky. “This publicity (around the U.S. election) made Russia look so powerful that it almost provokes them to try their hand elsewhere,†said Andrei Soldatov, co-author of Red Web, which examines how the FSB security service uses the Internet. Yuri Felshtinsky, a friend of murdered Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko and an expert in the Russian intelligence services, said Europe should brace itself. “During the U.S. campaign Russia created a very powerful tool to influence elections. This tool, including hacking and the creation of web sites involved in publishing fake news, will now be used everywhere.†| 1 | [
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FMD3457 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Saudi Arabian authorities have made further arrests and frozen more bank accounts in an expanding anti-corruption crackdown on the kingdom s political and business elite, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday Dozens of royal family members, officials and business executives have already been held in the purge announced on Saturday. They face allegations of money laundering, bribery, extortion and exploiting public office for personal gain. But the sources, speaking on Wednesday, said a number of other individuals suspected of wrongdoing were detained in an expansion of the crackdown, widely seen as an initiative of the powerful heir to the throne, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Others under scrutiny are being telephoned by investigators about their finances but appear to remain at liberty, one of the sources said, adding that the number of people targeted by the crackdown was expected eventually to rise into the hundreds. The number of domestic bank accounts frozen as a result of the purge is over 1,700 and rising, up from 1,200 reported on Tuesday, banking sources said. A number of those held most recently include individuals with links to the immediate family of the late Crown Prince and Defence Minister Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz who died in 2011, the sources said. Others appear to be lower-level managers and officials, one of the sources said. Many Saudis have cheered the purge as an attack on the theft of state funds by the rich, and U.S. President Donald Trump said those arrested had been milking their country for years . But some Western officials expressed apprehension at the possible ramifications for the secretive tribal and royal politics of the world s largest oil exporter. Saudi Arabia s stock market continued to fall in early trade on Wednesday because of concern about the economic impact of its anti-corruption purge. The Saudi index .TASI was 1.0 percent lower after half an hour of trade. Shares in companies linked to people detained in the investigation slid further. Late on Tuesday, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the Saudi central bank sought to ease worries about the crackdown. They said that while individuals were being targeted and having their bank accounts frozen, national and multinational companies | 1 | [
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FMD3458 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Add one more person whose career or life has been destroyed by the Clinton s as they scratch and claw their way into the White House Actress and comedienne Roseanne Barr revealed that she paid a high price for crossing Hillary Clinton.Barr believes her talk show was cancelled after she gave Paula Jones, who accused former president Bill Clinton of sexual harassment, a platform to speak in 1998.The 63 year-old actress is sure the fate of her show was sealed when she interviewed Jones and did not support the Clinton narrative that the former president was innocent of the allegations. Liberal Hollywood took note and Barr s show ended, despite its former success, she believes. There really is a deeper issue underneath the Clintonite spin of this right-wing conspiracy because apparently conservatives are not letting the President keep his pants zipped up, or something. Here is her 1998 interview with Paula Jones who accused Bill Clinton of sexual abuse: Barr has made no secret of her dislike for the Clintons and has filled her social media with criticism of the Democratic presidential nominee and her husband. She even caught the attention of Donald Trump who tweeted his thanks for one of her comments.Via: DownTrend | 0 | [
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FMD3459 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: During the most recent Republican Presidential debate, Donald Trump proposed getting rid of the Environmental Protection Agency altogether, a government agency founded in 1970 by Republican President Richard Nixon. Trump s skewed logic was the agency s $8 billion budget is wasted and should be reallocated to the states.In response to Rubio s pressing of Trump for what his plan is to cut taxes and balance the federal budget, Trump replied: Environmental protection we waste all of this money. We re going to bring that back to the states. We are going to cut many of the agencies, we will balance our budget and we will be dynamic again. The radical proposal of Trump defies anything remotely close to being realistic. Trump has also accused the EPA of creating more damage than they protect and making it impossible for the country to compete. His rhetoric is part of the mode of thinking many of his supporters have, that the government somehow is impeding their ability to improve their lives, and the solution is de-regulating everything in order for a free market of competition will solve everything. In reality, dissolving the EPA, which would involve repealing many environmental laws, would leave environmental protection up to the states, where most do not have the resources to enforce meaningful environmental regulations. This would also cause a vacuum of competition where states would try to appeal to hazardous industries to come to their state by downgrading environmental regulations.Because the entire Republican Party has lost their minds, Trump s proposal is one that has also been adopted by Senator Marco Rubio and Senator Ted Cruz. This past January, Rubio dubbed the EPA, the Employment Prevention Agency, adding the agency s regulations are out of control and hurt our economy.Cruz, who already is notorious for wanting to repeal all federal climate change regulation and the Clean Air Act, told Breitbart News in 2015, I think states should press back using every tool they have available. We ve got to rein in a lawless executive that is abusing its power, in response to a question as to whether states should comply with EPA coal regulations.The proposal to get rid of the EPA would be disastrous for the environment and the daily lives of every American. The endemic species throughout this country and the ecosystems they inhabit are already under insurmountable stress, and the science overwhelmingly shows environmental regulations, caps, and oversight are needed to mitigate the effects of climate change and other environmental influences.Dissolving the EPA is just one of the many dangers the Republican presidential candidates pose to the American public if elected, and if they were ever successful in doing so, the damage incurred could potentially destroy parts of the country indefinitely with hazardous sites, toxic waste pollution, and increasing emission rates becoming more of the norm. If anything, the EPA s funding needs to be increased, and the agency improved by making it more effective, because the stakes couldn t be higher. America cannot afford a president who doesn t understand action needs to be made to combat climate change, not worsen it.Featured image via Screen Capture | 0 | [
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FMD3460 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: Did Barack Obama Say 'The Country Owes Me a Debt of Gratitude'? Claim summaries: Unreliable web sites stoked partisan rancor by attributing a fake, self-aggrandizing quote to former President Barack Obama.
contextual information: 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. | 0 | [
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FMD3461 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Russia This photo taken from a Norwegian surveillance aircraft shows Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov in international waters off the coast of Northern Norway on October 17, 2016. (Via Reuters)
Russia says it has cancelled plans for a fleet of its warships to refuel at a Spanish port on their way to Syria.
Vasily Nioradze, a spokesman at the Russian embassy in Madrid, said on Wednesday that the request was canceled, without giving further details, the Associated Press reported.
The Spanish Foreign Ministry also confirmed that Russia had withdrawn its request for the warships to refuel in the Spanish port of Ceuta.
"The Russian embassy in Madrid has just told us that it is withdrawing its demand for permission to stop over for the boats, which means that the stopovers have been cancelled," the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
The development came after Spain, a NATO member state, said it was reviewing Russia's request to refuel its naval fleet at Ceuta after passing through the Straits of Gibraltar en route to Syria, where Russian forces are engaged in an anti-terror campaign in support of the Syrian government.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the Spanish Foreign Ministry said that Spain had been allowing Russian navy ships to dock in Spanish ports for years, but that it treated such requests on a case by case basis.
The naval group, which passed through the English Channel on Friday, is made up of Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, as well as a nuclear-powered battle cruiser, two anti-submarine warships and four support vessels, escorted by submarines.
The fleet will join around 10 other Russian vessels already off the Syrian coast.
Ceuta sits on the tip of Africa’s north coast, across the Straits of Gibraltar from mainland Spain, and bordering Morocco. The port is part of the EU, but its NATO status is unclear. Since 2011, at least 60 Russian warships have docked in Ceuta.
NATO irked by Spain’s announcement
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg claimed that the Western military alliance was "concerned" by the deployment of the Russian warships.
"It is each up to each nation to decide, as has been NATO policy for many years, but we are concerned about the potential use of this carrier group to increase attacks… in Aleppo," Stoltenberg said, adding, "All allies are aware of our concerns."
Britain echoes NATO’s stance
British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon also said on Wednesday that London would be "extremely concerned" if Spain refueled the Russian carrier group heading through the Mediterranean towards Syria.
"NATO should be standing together,” he added.
Since March 2011, Syria has been hit by militancy it blames on some Western states and their regional allies. Russia has been conducting air raids against Daesh and other terrorist groups in the Middle Eastern country at the Damascus government’s request for more than a year now.
Russia boosts Baltic Fleet
In another development on Wednesday, a report said that Russia was reinforcing its Baltic Fleet in Kaliningrad with two small warships armed with long-range cruise missiles to counter a worrying NATO build-up in the region.
The report by Russia's daily Izvestia quoted an unidentified military source as saying that the vessels, the Serpukhov and the Zeleny Dol, had already entered the Baltic Sea and would soon become part of a newly formed division.
Kaliningrad shares land borders with Poland and Lithuania.
The deployment comes at a time when NATO is planning its biggest military buildup on Russia's borders since the Cold War. Loading ... | 0 | [
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FMD3462 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Chancellor Angela Merkel s conservatives secured a fourth consecutive term in office on Sunday in an election that brought a far-right party into the German parliament for the first time in more than half a century, exit polls indicated. After shock results last year, from Britain s vote to leave the European Union to the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, many look to Merkel to rally a bruised liberal Western order and lead a post-Brexit Europe. Merkel s conservative bloc | 1 | [
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FMD3463 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: Cicero on Government Budgeting Claim summaries: This quotation from Roman statesman Cicero about balancing the budget comes from a 1965 novel, not from history.
contextual information: As we've noted many times in these pages, one common way in which people attempt to demonstrate the aptness of a particular social or political viewpoint is to put its expression into the mouth of a revered historical figure. [Collected via e-mail, April 2008] This quote is going around the internet. I would like to know if it really came from Cicero as claimed. "The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance." Cicero, 55 BC Surely if one of great minds of our civilization, someone who lived hundreds (or even thousands) of years ago, said the very same thing we're thinking today, then surely that's proof we've hit upon some eternal truth that should be sagaciously heeded. In short, attributing apocryphal quotations to everyone from Confucius to Abraham Lincoln is an attempt to capitalize on the maxim that "great minds think alike." One prime representative of this phenomenon is the passage reproduced above, which warns about the perils of governments' overspending their budgets and lavishing too much money on foreign aid and welfare programs. For the last half century it has been attributed to Roman philosopher and statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero and widely quoted by politicians and pundits seeking to bolster their arguments in favor of fiscal conservatism. For example, Louisiana representative Otto Passman, who for thirty years "pursued a relentless battle against spending for foreign aid" in the U.S. Congress, read these words into the Congressional Record on April 25, 1968: read these words into the Congressional Record Mr. Speaker, the record shows that in all ages where republican forms of government have been lost, it has been through the pretense of a share-the-wealth program, a blind faith in public officials, and apathy on the part of those who could act but did not. To mention only one of many, many examples from past history, may I quote from a statement made by Cicero over 2,000 years ago: The budget should be balanced, the treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt, the mobs should be forced to work and not depend on government for subsistence. History reveals that public officials heeded not the warning therefore, the government collapsed. On March 29, 1971 the Chicago Tribune published a letter from a reader who invoked the same words to make a similar point: Someone said years ago: "The more things change, the more they are the same." Today's problems are not new. The Roman Empire faced bankruptcy 2,000 years ago, as more and more power was concentrated in central government and government spending grew. Cicero spoke out against the trend. This great Roman senator said: "The budget should be balanced, the treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. The mobs should be forced to work and not depend on government for subsistence." Romans ignored Cicero; Rome fell. History is great if we learn from it. It is not too late for the United States to heed those words out of the past. Those words were never uttered by Cicero, however; and the reason no one ever quoted them as such until about fifty years ago is because they weren't written until 1965. They sprang from the pen of Taylor Caldwell, a fiction writer best known for historical novels such as Captains and the Kings, her 1972 best-selling chronicle of the rise to wealth and power of an Irish immigrant named Joseph Francis Xavier Armagh (which was also made into a popular television mini-series in 1976). popular television mini-series Caldwell penned several novels based on real-life religious and historical figures, including Genghis Khan (The Earth Is the Lord's), Cardinal Richelieu (The Arm and the Darkness), Saint Luke (Dear and Glorious Physician), Saint Paul (Great Lion of God), Aspasia (Glory and the Lightning), and Judas Iscariot (I, Judas). Her 1965 effort A Pillar of Iron was a historical novel about the life of Cicero, the great Roman statesman who "is a pillar of iron as he publicly maintains his search for honor and justice under law in the face of plots against his life and his country." Although A Pillar of Iron often drew directly from the recorded speeches and letters of Cicero for its dialogue, it was nonetheless a work of fiction, and the now famous statement from Cicero about "balancing the budget" was an invention of Caldwell's and not a reproduction of Cicero's own words. In fact, the novel doesn't even present these words as something spoken by Cicero, but rather as a summation of Cicero's political philosophy presented as a preface to an imagined conversation between Cicero and Gaius Antonius Hybrida: Reared in republican virtues, Cicero found himself frequently confounded by Antonius. Antonius heartily agreed with him that the budget should be balanced, that the Treasury should be refilled, that public debt should be reduced, that the arrogance of the generals should be tempered and controlled, that assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt, that the mobs should be forced to work and not depend on the government for subsistence, and that prudence and frugality should be put into practice as soon as possible. But when Cicero produced facts and figures how all these things must and should be accomplished, by austerity and discipline and commonsense, Antonius became troubled. "But this or that would bring hardship on this or that class," Antonius said. "The people are accustomed to lavish displays in the circuses and the theaters, and the lotteries, and free grain and beans and beef when they are destitute, and shelter when they are homeless and a part of the city is rebuilt. Is not the welfare of our people paramount?" "There will be no welfare of the people if we become bankrupt," said Cicero, grimly. "We can become solvent again, and strong, only by self-denial and by spending as little as possible until the public debt is paid and the Treasury refilled." "But one cannot if one has a heart at all deprive the people of what they have received for many decades from government, and which they expect. It will create the most terrible hardships." "Better that all of us tighten our girdles than Rome fall," said Cicero. As Jess Stearn observed in In Search of Taylor Caldwell, this imagined historical conversation was reflective of Caldwell's own political outlook much more than Cicero's: "She was a conservative politically, believing the spoils belonged to those who toiled for them. There were not free lunches. She abhorred the welfare philosophy that gave handouts to free-loaders, decrying rewards for indolence and incompetence." Or, as John Blundell aptly quipped in Ladies for Liberty, "Taylor Caldwell gives us fiscal policy, civil service reform, cuts in aid to less developed countries, and welfare reform all in one sentence." The reproductions of Caldwell's words as a historical quote from Cicero have altered the original a fair bit over the years: the admonition that "prudence and frugality should be put into practice as soon as possible" was quickly dropped from the end of the sentence; "people" have replaced "mobs" as the ones who should be "forced to work and not depend on the government for subsistence"; the proclamation that the "arrogance of the generals should be tempered and controlled" now refers to generic "officialdom" rather than military figures; and the warning that this advice need be followed "lest Rome become bankrupt" has mutated into the more ominous-sounding "lest Rome fall." Blundell, John. Ladies for Liberty: Women Who Made a Difference in American History.
New York: Algora Publishing, 2013. 0-875-86865-7 (p. 145). Caldwell, Taylor. A Pillar of Iron.
Lake Oswego, OR: eNet Press Inc., 2013. ASIN B00CEINOCW. Collins, John H. "False Quotations."
Chicago Tribune. 20 April 1971. Connolly, Jerry. "Warning from the Past."
Chicago Tribune. 29 March 1971 (p. 14). Lueck, Thomas J. "Otto Passman, 88, Louisiana Congressman Who Fought Spending."
The New York Times. 14 August 1988. Stearn, Jess. In Search of Taylor Caldwell.
New York: Stein & Day, 1981. 0-812-82791-0. Tench, Helen. "Cicero's Rome Quarried for a Scholarly Novel."
Ottawa Citizen. 14 August 1965 (p. 24). Congressional Record [House]. "History's Warning."
25 April 1968 (p. 10635). | 0 | [
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FMD3464 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: Says middle-class New York State residents will have the lowest tax rate in 70 years.
contextual information: Gov. Andrew Cuomo believes you can win money by betting with someone on New York State's tax rates. Ask people about what the state has done with the rates, and everyone is going to say they raised taxes because it is inconceivable that a government actually lowers taxes, Cuomo said. At recent public appearances, Cuomo touted what he called the lowest tax rate for the middle class in 70 years. "Wager anyone you know and say, 'Did New York State raise taxes or lower taxes?'" Cuomo said. New York State has lowered taxes for everyone and every income level in the state. Taxes are always a top issue for voters. So does the governor's claim check out? Are middle-class state residents taxed at the lowest rate in seven decades? Who is in the middle? No official state definition exists for the middle class. But in the context of today's tax brackets, the middle class consists of those making between about $40,000 and $300,000 a year. Who is included in the middle class has changed over time with the rate of inflation. A salary today of $80,000 is equivalent to a $9,000 salary in 1953. The tax brackets used today are not the same as those used in past decades. In 1946, anyone making more than $9,000 was taxed at a 3.5 percent rate. The next year, the rate increased to 4.2 percent. In 1948, the rate jumped to 6.3 percent, and that is the year the Cuomo administration bases its claim. The Department of Tax and Finance says most, if not all, earners in the middle class in 1948 would have paid the top rate. That year, the top rate applied to people making about $9,000. That fits what the state has defined as middle class in today's dollars, and the Department of Tax and Finance says that is how the middle class would have been defined in that year. How low? Since 1948, the lowest top tax rate fell to between 6.45 and 6.65 percent for people in the same comparable income bracket. That was in 2014 and remains at that level. That is higher than the now-scheduled rate for 2025 as part of this year's resolution. Anyone making between $40,000 and $150,000 will see their income tax rate drop to 5.5 percent by that year. The tax rate will drop to 6 percent for those making between $150,000 and $300,000. But there are caveats. The rates do not factor in tax exemptions or deductions, as pointed out by E.J. McMahon from the Empire Center for Public Policy. The center researches and analyzes the state's economy, including tax law. To some extent, the tax rates for 2025 and 1948 are like apples to oranges, McMahon said. "It's much like saying the 2016 Ford Focus has the best headroom since the 1946 Ford Tudor—the two tax codes and the household situations to which they apply are that different," McMahon said. He wrote recently that the new rates will be the largest tax cut since the mid-1990s, when lawmakers passed the Taxpayer Relief Act. At the time, the legislation dropped taxes to the lowest rates since 1954. The new tax rates, once fully phased in, will be even lower, according to the Department of Taxation and Finance data. An analysis from the Fiscal Policy Institute confirms Cuomo's claim holds true—but like McMahon, the institute points out that the income range that defines the middle class looks different today than it did 70 years ago. The 1958 exception The Department of Taxation and Finance, in a different report, reveals another interesting historical nugget. Employers were not required by law to withhold tax until 1959. According to the document, because this would have required two years of taxes to be paid in just one year, taxes were canceled for 1958—meaning the tax rate for that year was zero. Our ruling: Governor Andrew M. Cuomo claimed new tax rates passed by lawmakers during this year's state budget process are the lowest in the state in 70 years. Data from the Department of Taxation and Finance backs up his claim. Because of an unusual set of circumstances, there was no income tax rate in 1958 as the state implemented a new system. The first year rates will appear lower than the 1948 rates will be in 2019. We rate this claim as Mostly True. | 1 | [
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FMD3465 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: A study conducted by Stanford University provides evidence of election fraud based on inconsistencies observed in exit polls. Claim summaries: Two researchers released a paper (not a study) examining whether primary election fraud that favored Hillary Clinton had occurred.
contextual information: On 8 June 2016, the Facebook page "The Bern Report" shared a document authored by researchers Axel Geijsel of Tilburg University in The Netherlands and Rodolfo Cortes Barragan of Stanford University suggesting that "the outcomes of the 2016 Democratic Party nomination contest [are not] completely legitimate: That social media share described the document as "a fantastic research piece put together by a couple of college students, Rodolfo Cortes Barragan & Axel Geijsel." That document (properly termed a "paper," not a "study," as the latter term implies some form of professional vetting) concluded with the statement that the data examined by its author "suggest that election fraud is occurring in the 2016 Democratic Party Presidential Primary election" and that "this fraud has overwhelmingly benefited Secretary Clinton at the expense of Senator Sanders": document Are the results we are witnessing in the 2016 primary elections trustworthy? While Donald Trump enjoyed a clear and early edge over his Republican rivals, the Democratic contest between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernard Sanders has been far more competitive. At present, Secretary Clinton enjoys an apparent advantage over Sanders. Is this claimed advantage legitimate? We contend that it is not, and suggest an explanation for the advantage: States that are at risk for election fraud in 2016 systematically and overwhelmingly favor Secretary Clinton. We provide converging evidence for this claim. First, we show that it is possible to detect irregularities in the 2016 Democratic Primaries by comparing the states that have hard paper evidence of all the placed votes to states that do not have this hard paper evidence. Second, we compare the final results in 2016 to the discrepant exit polls. Furthermore, we show that no such irregularities occurred in the 2008 competitive election cycle involving Secretary Clinton against President Obama. As such, we find that in states wherein voting fraud has the highest potential to occur, systematic efforts may have taken place to provide Secretary Clinton with an exaggerated margin of support. In an appendix, Geijsel and Barragan stated that their research was still in progress and had not yet been subject to peer review, but since the information was highly topical they believed it better to pre-release their findings due to the ongoing primary ballot count in California (among other factors): Statement on peer-review: We note that this article has not been officially peer-reviewed in a scientific journal yet. Doing so will take us several months. As such, given the timeliness of the topic, we decided to publish on the Bern Report after we received preliminary positive feedback from two professors (both experts in the quantitative social sciences). We plan on seeking peer-reviewed publication at a later time. As of now, we know there may be errors in some numbers (one has been identified and sent to us: it was a mislabeling). We encourage anyone to let us know if they find any other error. Our aim here truly is to understand the patterns of results, and to inspire others to engage with the electoral system. The post-introduction portion of the paper began with a comparison of outcomes in "primary states with paper trails and without paper trails," holding that potentially inaccurate results led the researchers to "restrict [our] analysis to a proxy: the percentage of delegates won by Secretary Clinton and Senator Sanders." After identifying via the Ballotpedia web site 18 states that use a form of paper verification for votes compared to 13 states without such a "paper trail," they concluded that states without "paper trails" demonstrated a higher rate of support for Hillary Clinton: Analysis: The [data] show a statistically significant difference between the groups. States without paper trails yielded higher support for Secretary Clinton than states with paper trails. As such, the potential for election fraud in voting procedures is strongly related to enhanced electoral outcomes for Secretary Clinton. In the Appendix, we show that this relationship holds even above and beyond alternative explanations, including the prevailing political ideology and the changes in support over time. The information included in the Appendix didn't explicate exactly what those alternative explanations might be: Are there other variables that could account for our main effect (states without paper trails going overwhelmingly for Clinton)? We conducted a regression model and included the % of Non-Hispanic Whites in a state as of the last Census, the states electoral history from 1992 to 2012 of favoring Democratic or Republican nominees for President (i.e., the blueness of a state), and our variable of interest: paper trail vs. no paper trail. As expected, race/ethnicity and political ideology played a role: The Whiter and more liberal a state, the less it favored Clinton. However, the effect for paper trail remains significant. States with paper trails show significantly less support for Clinton. As such, even beyond the potential for other likely factors to play a role, the potential for fraud is associated with gains for Clinton. Dependent variable: Percent support for Clinton in the primaries In the paper's second portion, the researchers examined discrepancies between exit polls and final results by state, a subject of debate (hashtagged #ExitPollGate on social media) that antedated the publication of their paper and was addressed in a Nation article disputing the claim that exit polls revealed fraud. The Nation's analysis held that fraud detection exit polling varied significantly from the type of exit polling typically carried out in the United States: While exit polls are used to detect potential fraud in some countries, ours arent designed, and arent accurate enough, to accomplish that purpose. [A polling company VP], who has conducted exit polls in fragile democracies like Ukraine and Venezuela, explained that there are three crucial differences between their exit polls and our own. Polls designed to detect fraud rely on interviews with many more people at many more polling places, and they use very short questionnaires, often with just one or two questions, whereas ours usually have twenty or more. Shorter questionnaires lead to higher response rates. Higher response rates paired with larger samples result in much smaller margins of error. Theyre far more precise. But it costs a lot more to conduct that kind of survey, and the media companies that sponsor our exit polls are only interested in providing fodder for pundits and TV talking heads. All they want to know is which groups came out to vote and why, so thats what they pay for. As well, standard exit polling conducted in the U.S. can be very inaccurate and systematically biased for a number of reasons, including: including o Differential nonresponse, in which the supporters of one candidate are likelier to participate than those of another candidate. Exit polls have limited means to correct for nonresponse, since they can weight only by visually identifiable characteristics. Hispanic origin, income and education, for instance, are left out. o Cluster effects, which happen when the precincts selected arent representative of the overall population. This is a very big danger in state exit polls, which include only a small number of precincts. As a result, exit polls have a larger margin of error than an ordinary poll of similar size. These precincts are selected to have the right balance of Democratic and Republican precincts, which isnt so helpful in a primary. o Absentee voters arent included at all in states where they represent less than 20 percent or so of the vote. As the New York Times put it, "[N]o one who studies the exit polls believes that they can be used as an indicator of fraud in the way the conspiracy theorists do." Nonetheless, Geijsel and Barragan contended in their paper that: Anomalies exist between exit polls and final results Data procurement: We obtained exit poll data from a database kept by an expert on the American elections. Analysis: On the overall, are the exit polls different from the final results? Yes they are. The data show lower support for Secretary Clinton in exit polls than the final results would suggest. While an effect size of 0.71 is quite substantial, and suggests a considerable difference between exit polls and outcomes, we expected that this difference would be even more exaggerated in states without paper voting trails. Indeed, the effect size in states without paper voting trails is considerably larger: 1.50, and yields more exaggerated support for the Secretary in the hours following the exit polls. The expert whose numbers were utilized for the paper wasn't expressly cited by name, but his moniker appeared on the linked spreadsheet: Richard Charnin. Charnin indeed lists some impressive statistical credentials on his personal blog, but he also appears to expend much of his focus on conspiracy theories related to the JFK assassination (which raises the question of whether his math skills outstrip his ability to apply skeptical reasoning to data). spreadsheet conspiracy theories Geijsel addressed questions about exit poll numbers in a subsequent e-mail to a blogger who was highly skeptical of his research: skeptical In short, exit polling works using a margin of error, you will always expect it to be somewhat off the final result. This is often mentioned as being the margin of error, often put at 95%, it indicates that there's a 95% chance that the final result will lie within this margin. In exit polling this is often calculated as lying around 3%. The bigger the difference, the smaller the chance that the result is legitimate. This is because although those exit polls are not 100% accurate, they're accurate enough to use them as a reference point. In contrast to the idea that probably 1 out of 20 results will differ. Our results showed that (relatively) a huge amount of states differed. This would lead to two possibilities, a) the Sanders supporters are FAR more willing to take the exit polls, or b) there is election fraud at play. Considering the context of these particular elections, we believe it's the latter. Though that's our personal opinion, and others may differ in that, we believe we can successfully argue for that in a private setting considering the weight of our own study, the beliefs of other statisticians who have both looked at our own study (and who have conducted corroborating studies), and the fact that the internet is littered with hard evidence of both voter suppression and election fraud having taken place. That blogger passed the anlysis on to his father ("a retired Professor Emeritus in Mathematics and Applied Statistics at the University of Northern Colorado"), Donald T. Searls, Ph.D., for comment: comment I simply asked him to review it in full and send me his comments as to its methodology and his view as to its validity. For the record, he has been a Republican for as long as I can recall and has no interest in voting for the Democratic nominee, whoever that might be. I received his response via e-mail today. Here is what he wrote: I like the analysis very much up to the point of applying probability theory. I think the data speak for itself (themselves). It is always problematic to apply probability theory to empirical data. Theoretically unknown confounding factors could be present. The raw data is in my mind very powerful and clear on its own. My personal opinion is that the whole process has been rigged against Bernie at every level and that is devastating even though I don't agree with him. I called him after receiving his response to [ask him to] clarify his remarks on the application of probability theory to the data. His comment to me was that he did not believe it was necessary for the authors to take that step. If he had done the study himself, he would not have bothered with doing so. As he said, the data speaks for itself. Although Geijsel cited a number of sources to substantiate the claim that fraud was well-documented in the 2016 primary season, most of those citations involved persons with an interest in the overall dispute (such as groups party to lawsuits). That factor doesn't necessarily cast doubt on the researchers' findings, but it highlights that not much independent and neutral verification of their conclusions has occurred yet. Cohn, Nate. "Exit Polls, And Why The Primary Was Not Stolen From Bernie Sanders."
27 June 2016. Geijsel, Axel and Rodolfo Cortes Barragan. "Are We Witnessing a Dishonest Election?"
7 June 2016. Holland, Joshua. "Reminder: Exit-Poll Conspiracy Theories Are Totally Baseless."
The Nation. 7 June 2016. Booman Tribune. "My Dad's View of Election Fraud Study."
11 June 2016. Booman Tribune. "Election Fraud Study Authors Respond."
13 June 2016. | 2 | [
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FMD3466 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: In 1990, during a close and bitter congressional race, Mike Pence came under attack for using campaign funds to pay for personal expenses, including his mortgage and credit card bills. The expenditures were not illegal at the time, but proved difficult to explain for a candidate who had railed about the outsized role of money in politics. Pence in turn blasted his opponent with attack ads, including one featuring a man in traditional Arab clothing who thanked Pence’s opponent in thickly accented English for policies that benefited Middle Eastern oil producers. The commercial was attacked by Arab-American groups, and the Indianapolis Star called it one of the two worst campaign commercials that year. Pence, who is now Indiana’s governor and was selected this week to be Donald Trump’s presidential running mate, lost his 1990 race, but what he regretted more than losing, he later said, was his decision to sling mud. In the 25 years since that loss, Pence’s political allies and enemies alike say he has steered clear of personal attacks. This could prove challenging when campaigning with Trump, who enthusiastically tears into his rivals. Pence’s style is likely to cast him in a very different role from that of traditional vice presidential candidates, who often throw and take punches to allow presidential contenders to remain above the fray. In the case of Trump and Pence, said Indianapolis University Professor Laura Merrifield Albright, the roles are likely to be reversed. “It’s a different dynamic. It’s tough to imagine anyone out-trumping Trump,†she said, noting that he is “willing to do his own dirty work.†Michael Totten, a retired architect who worked on Pence’s 1990 campaign, thinks the two candidates will complement one another. He dubbed Pence “the perfect No. 2,†a running mate who can “temper some of Trump’s enthusiasm†and “be the calming voice.â€Â Neither Pence nor the Trump campaign immediately responded to a request for comment. After losing his 1990 race, Pence apologized to his opponent for the oil advertisement. He later told his colleague at a conservative think tank, William Styring, that he regretted the tone of the campaign. “I really screwed up on this. It’s not me,†Styring recalled Pence as saying. In 1991, Pence wrote an apologetic article for the think tank’s policy journal, titled “Confessions of a Negative Campaigner.†After the defeat, Pence did not seek public office again for a decade. He worked at the Indiana Policy Review and hosted his own statewide conservative radio talk show, describing himself as “Rush Limbaugh on decaf.â€Â He also hosted a morning TV show in Indianapolis from 1995 to 1999. In 2000, Pence again ran for a U.S. House of Representatives seat, this time successfully. And he demonstrated that his 1990 mea culpa was more than just political theater, observers of Indiana politics say. His opponents in campaigns after he re-entered politics describe him as extremely disciplined and cordial. Melina Fox, Pence’s Democratic challenger in 2002, said that his statements in the race were “calculated and thought-out.†Democrat Barry Welsh, who ran against him in 2006, 2008 and 2010, said Pence was invariably “polite, professional and gentlemanly.†But some question how he will cope with being constantly challenged in a hard-fought presidential race. “He seems uncomfortable with difficult questions and does not take counterpunches very well,†said Rebecca Pearcey, who ran the losing campaign of Pence’s opponent in the 2012 race for Indiana governor, Democrat John Gregg. “He doesn’t engage. He operates as though the opponent is not there.† Before being picked as Trump’s running mate, Pence was poised for a tight rematch race against Gregg. In recent months, Pence’s approval rating had fallen below 50 percent, in part because of controversy surrounding the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which held that “a governmental entity may not substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion.†Pence first alienated liberals and moderates by signing the bill into law. He then outraged the measure’s evangelical supporters by endorsing changes to the law aimed at preventing discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The 2016 gubernatorial campaign had started to become more negative, with yard signs calling for Pence to be fired. The Republican Governors Association ran an independently produced ad that attacked his opponent’s record. But Pence himself had not gone negative. At a Saturday morning event to formally introduce his running mate, Trump called Pence “a man of honor,†contrasting him with Hillary Clinton, whom he described as “the embodiment of corruption.†It remains to be seen how aggressive Pence will be in campaigning for Trump in coming months | 1 | [
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FMD3467 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Democrat Senator Kristen Gillibrand (NY) likes to think of herself as a champion of women. After multiple women came forward to accuse fellow Democrat Senator Al Franken of sexual assault (photos were also supplied as evidence of one of the accuser s claims), Gillibrand finally called for Franken to step down. Was Gillibrand s call for her fellow Senator to step down part of a larger plan to appear neutral, as she then attacked President Donald Trump for unfounded allegations against him only months before the election? Isn t it kind of hypocritical for Gillibrand to call anyone out of sexual misconduct after she fought to bring a Muslim athlete to upstate New York who molested an innocent 12-year old girl while he was in America?The media CHEERED when NY Democrat Senator s Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer helped a 24-yr old Muslim man enter the U.S. after he was denied entry The media was strangely SILENT, however, after he molested a 12-yr-old upstate NY girl while she was with her family at an event celebrating the Muslim athlete. Yesterday, it was discovered that the Islamic extremist who killed 9 people and injured dozens of others, when he rammed his truck into them on a busy bike path in New York City, entered our country on a Diversity visa that was the brainchild of none other than the Democrat Senator from NY, Chuck (I always put diversity before our nation s security) Schumer An Indian athlete who overcame a visa denial with the help of U.S. lawmakers and a local mayor to attend the World Snowshoe Championship in New York has been arrested on charges of the abuse of a minor.It was a long journey for Indian snowshoe champion Hussain and his coach to the World Snowshoe Championships in Saranac Lake, New York last weekend.The US embassy in New Delhi rejected Tanveer Hussain s application for a visa so he could compete in the World Snowshoe Championship last month, Fox News reported.Local officials then appealed for help to Schumer and Gillibrand, and their offices reached out to the New Delhi embassy, which let Hussain successfully reapply for a visa.Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer, an outspoken opponent of President Trump s position on stricter immigration policies for immigrants and visa holders coming into the United States, bragged about getting around Trump s temporary travel restrictions to bring convicted pedophile Tanveer Hussain to New York on his Facebook page:Schumer s office told Fox he often intervenes to help international competitions. As we often do when local communities ask for help, at the request of Saranac Lake we helped to navigate the visa process so these athletes could compete at a local competition. The charges against one member of the group, who is accused of a serious crime and abusing our visa program, are extremely troubling. If he s found guilty, he should be punished to the fullest extent of the law, a rep said.Gillibrand s office offered a similar response, adding that the charges are extremely serious. Hussain hails from the Indian side of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, which is predominantly Muslim. Although India is not one of the seven countries that were part of the initial travel ban, Hussain and Khan had alleged they were victims of it when their first attempt at procuring visas to travel to the United States was turned down in late January, the first business day after Trump s travel ban was put in place.Khan told the BBC that an employee at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi told them they were being rejected because of current policy. U.S. officials said at the time that the denial was not connected to the travel ban. An embassy spokesman said they were preparing a statement for release later in the day. National PostTanveer Hussain was indicted in August 2017, by an Essex County grand jury for allegedly having inappropriate contact with a 12-year-old Saranac Lake girl earlier this year.Tanveer is pictured below surrounded by young teenagers at Saranac Middle School. Taneer is pictured in center-left with his arms around a young girl.The grand jury returned the indictment charging Tanveer Hussain with one count of first-degree sexual abuse and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, a report in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise quoted a press release from Essex County District Attorney Kristy Sprague as saying.The reckless and irresponsible acts of Democrat legislators like Senator Chuck Schumer, perfectly illustrates why Trump was right about demanding that we put additional vetting measures in place for immigrants.Hussain and team manager Abid Khan arrived Feb. 23 in the bucolic Adirondacks town, which had been following their visa ordeal and extended them a hero s welcome. Locals offered congratulations and free lodgings at an inn that in the snow looked like a fairy tale scene from a movie, Khan said in a Facebook post.The fairy tale was shattered Wednesday, when Hussain, 24, was arrested and charged with felony sexual abuse and child welfare endangerment, police said.The parents of the 12-year-old girl allegedly involved said the incident happened Monday, after the end of the three-day snowshoe competition, and reported it to local authorities.Chief Charles A. Potthast Jr. of the Saranac Lake Village police force said the girl was playing pool Monday afternoon with other young people at the inn where Hussain was staying. There was a moment when the two were alone, and that s when the incident occurred, Potthast said. The girl told police there was a passionate kiss and that Hussain touched her in an intimate area on top of her clothing.During their time in Saranac Lake, Hussein and his coach were honored with a special reception by the mayor and gave a talk about Kashmir at Saranac Lake Middle School, where students had waged a letter-writing campaign on their behalf. Pack your bags. Next year you are coming to Kashmir, Hussain told them, according to one of Khan s Facebook posts. Washington Post | 0 | [
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FMD3468 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: Curves and organizations supporting the sanctity of life. Claim summaries: Does Gary Heavin, founder and CEO of the fitness chain Curves, support pro-life causes?
contextual information: Claim: Gary Heavin, founder and CEO of the fitness chain Curves, supports pro-life causes. Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2004] Just so you know: Gary Heavin, the founder of the Waco, Texas-based chain of exercise studios called Curves, is a heavy contributor to several organizations allied with Operation Save America, the more muscular successor to Operation Rescue, the anti-choice group. The organizations he funds are spreading the falsehood that abortions lead to an increased risk of breast cancer. Planned Parenthood states that its operations in Texas are being threatened by Heavin-funded clinics based on the outdated therapeutic model of "you must carry your child to term." In an article in Today's Christian, Heavin expressed pride in his involvement with anti-choice groups, to which he donates 10 percent of Curves' profits. You may do with this information what you will. Origins: With more than 7,000 fitness and weight loss centers around the globe, Curves is the largest fitness franchise in the world. One in four health clubs in the U.S. is a Curves, a remarkable feat given that the company has only been around since 1992. Yet, for the utterly amazing, consider this: Prior to January 2004, Curves didn't have a national ad campaign. Almost all of its customers found out about the chain through word of mouth. You wouldn't think one exercise club could be that different from any other, but Curves is, and that difference accounts for the success of the chain. Curves exercise clubs are strictly for women. Their stripped-down, no-frills look will likely come as a shock to those who have been conditioned to believe that proper fitness palaces should be fashioned of glass and gleaming chrome and populated by herds of designer-clad, hard-bodied 20-somethings setting new land speed records on treadmills and exercise bikes. At Curves, there are no lockers or showers, and the clientele is predominantly middle-aged and overweight. The equipment members use is set up in a circle. Every 30 seconds, those working out are told to move to the next station, which is either another machine that works different muscle groups or a space between two machines where exercisers run or walk in place. A typical Curves workout regimen is 30 minutes a day, three times a week. Because the equipment is hydraulic, it adapts to each user's level of fitness, making these workouts suitable for anyone, regardless of physical conditioning. Women appreciate the Curves program for its "30 minutes and you're on your way" aspect, but also for the camaraderie that comes from exercising with others, which appears to be spurred on by the arrangement of the workout stations in a circle. Friendships form. Encouragement is given. A sense of "We're all in this together" pervades. More than 7,000 outlets since 1992. Obviously, they're doing something right. This highly successful chain is the brainchild of Gary Heavin, a Texas businessman who earlier in his life had a 17-location fitness center chain before filing for bankruptcy, divorcing, losing custody of his two children, and serving a six-month jail sentence for failure to pay child support. Although a Christian from his teen years, he recommitted his life to Christ while in jail, after which he and his new wife (whom he married just before his incarceration) opened the first Curves in Harlingen, Texas, in 1992. The text of the e-mail quoted above was written by Jon Carroll, a columnist with the San Francisco Chronicle. It appeared in that paper on April 20, 2004. The statements made by Carroll in those three short paragraphs about Gary Heavin, the founder and CEO of Curves, hold water for the most part. Heavin (pronounced "Haven") is a born-again Christian who is strongly pro-life and, according to an Operation Save America website (a pro-life group of a more radical orientation than Operation Rescue, which asserts there is a connection between abortion and an increased risk of breast cancer), is one of their supporters: Operation Save America Operation Rescue We then contacted Mr. Gary Heavin, Founder and CEO of Curves International. Mr. Heavin is a wealthy man who is a committed pro-life Christian. He is the premier customer of the bank that sponsors Komen. He graciously returned our phone call and promised to use his influence to convince the bank to allocate some of the funding to Care Net, so they could take care of the women instead of Planned Parenthood. Several months passed, and, lo and behold, on Tuesday, September 23rd, in the year of our Lord 2003, Care Net, our local CPC, held their annual banquet. It was the most attended, and as far as I was concerned, the best one to date. At the end, a major announcement and press statement was issued for Central Texas. Gary Heavin made a five million dollar grant to Family Practice, Care Net, and McCap. These groups and ministries would receive one million dollars a year for the next five years. Granted, some shortcuts were taken by Jon Carroll in his heads-up about Heavin. If Heavin does support Operation Save America, his "support" is of a non-financial nature. The "article in Today's Christian" was actually published in Today's Christian (formerly Christian Reader), a magazine put out by Christianity Today. Also, the "donates 10 percent of Curves' profits" is a misleading way of saying Heavin gave away that much money in 2003; the wording implies he donates that percentage of Curves' profits on an ongoing basis, yet the source material this information was drawn from speaks only to one particular year (2003), not to any year before it, and not to any plans by Heavin to gift at a similar level in future years. Moreover, the Today's Christian article stated that Heavin donated an amount equal to 10 percent of Curves' profits to "charities," which Jon Carroll has represented solely as "anti-choice groups." Though Heavin does financially support pro-life organizations and might well give only to them, he might also donate to other charitable groups as well, with the 10 percent figure representing the total of what he doled out in charitable contributions in 2003 to various causes, both pro-life and otherwise. Ergo, either Carroll mischaracterized or misunderstood what he read, or he based his statement on information outside that Today's Christian article: Servanthood may not be today's normal model for business success, but that hasn't stopped the Heavins. In 2003, the couple gave away $10 million—10 percent of their company's gross revenues and 80 percent of Gary's net income—to charities. Heavin matches the first $1,000 that each franchise raises for community causes such as walkathons to benefit pro-life pregnancy-care centers. Such controversial stances have led to criticism, but Heavin is unfazed. "There's nothing healthy about abortion," he says. "I'm not afraid to tell the truth." In a correction published on May 4, 2004, The San Francisco Chronicle stated: "A Ruth Rosen column Thursday 'What's wrong with curves?' stated that three 'pregnancy crisis centers' that received $5 million from Curves owner Gary Heavin were 'supported by Operation Save America.' The column was referring to Operation Save America's verbal endorsement of the centers, not financial support." On May 13, 2004, The San Francisco Chronicle published a further correction to information contained in both the Rosen and Carroll pieces: Two recent columns contained errors involving contributions made by Gary Heavin, founder and CEO of Curves, the women's fitness chain. Ruth Rosen's April 29 opinion-page column stated that Heavin "has given at least $5 million of his profits to some of the most militant anti-abortion groups in the country." That characterization is not accurate. The column specified that the money went to "three Texas organizations to fund 'pregnancy crisis centers.'" Only one of the recipients, Care Net, operates pregnancy crisis centers that are designed to dissuade pregnant women from having abortions while offering other support services to encourage adoption. Heavin has pledged to give Care Net $1 million over the next five years, according to a Curves spokeswoman. The largest of the pledges—$3.75 million over five years—goes to the Family Practice Center of McLennan County, which provides a variety of health-care services to Central Texas residents, many of whom are uninsured, according to the Curves spokeswoman. The Catholic-run center does not provide abortions but is not actively involved in the anti-abortion movement, the center's CEO said. The other recipient of Heavin's pledge, $250,000 over five years, was the McLennan County Collaborative Abstinence Project, which promotes sexual abstinence among teens. Its director said that, as a matter of policy, its staff would not discuss abortion when making presentations. The column presented the contributions as a percentage of the company's annual gross revenues. But the Curves spokeswoman said that those pledges, as well as millions of dollars in donations to a wide range of charities, came from Heavin's personal wealth. The column also referred to Heavin's comments in a "recent Christianity Today" article that he "is proud to support these organizations." In fact, the interview was published in the January-February issue of Today's Christian, a magazine affiliated with Christianity Today. In it, Heavin expressed his anti-abortion views but did not talk about his support for any specific organization. In addition, Jon Carroll, in his April 20 Datebook column, erred in referring to Heavin's comments as appearing in "Christianity Today" and by stating that Heavin "donates 10 percent of Curves profits" to "anti-choice groups." He also wrote that Heavin's recipients were allied with Operation Save America, a radical anti-abortion group. As stated in a May 4 clarification on Rosen's column, Operation Save America has praised those recipients on its website but does not provide financial support, nor does it have a formal alliance with them. The Chronicle regrets the errors. Gary Heavin is far from the first successful businessman to underwrite reproductive causes—Tom Monaghan of Domino's Pizza and Carl Karcher, founder of the California-based hamburger chain Carl's Jr., have been very open and public regarding their support of the pro-life philosophy, just as Warren Buffett, ranked by Forbes magazine as the second-richest man in the world, has been forthcoming about his backing of pro-choice programs. In each instance, these men are acting as private citizens who choose to bestow parts of their fortunes on the causes they believe in, not as officers of their corporations. The money is theirs to do with as they please, just as anyone's paycheck belongs to the person who earns it and stops being the employer's money at the moment it is paid out. That a spendthrift employee might choose to gamble away his earnings doesn't mean the company he works for supports gambling; likewise, that a wealthy man financially supports particular causes doesn't mean the corporation that paid him the money favors those movements. All this is by way of saying that while it's correct to identify Gary Heavin as a patron of pro-life endeavors, it would not be right to point to Curves as a supporter of those same causes. Barbara "cause and effect" Mikkelson Additional information: Curves International website Last updated: November 19, 2006 Sources: Carroll, Jon. "Jon Carroll." The San Francisco Chronicle. April 20, 2004 (p. E12). Chan, Vera H-C. "Gary Heavin Creates Sanctuaries for Women." San Jose Mercury News. April 16, 2004. Kennedy, John W. "Rolling with the Curves." Today's Christian. January 2004 (p. 30). Lawrence, Elana. "Curves, Without Frills." The Washington Post. May 27, 2003 (p. F1). Reimer, Susan. "The Mature Are Ready to Go Around These Curves." The Baltimore Sun. February 8, 2004 (p. N1). Rosen, Ruth. "What's Wrong With Curves?" The San Francisco Chronicle. April 29, 2004 (p. B9). The San Francisco Chronicle. "Corrections." May 4, 2004 (p. A2). The San Francisco Chronicle. "Corrections." May 13, 2004 (p. A2). | 2 | [
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FMD3469 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: The average student loan debt in Texas is over $22,000...the cost of an average size pickup truck. But unlike car owners, students are not allowed to refinance their loans at lower rates.
contextual information: U.S. Rep. Pete Gallego invoked pickup trucks to frame his case for making it easier for college students and young graduates to refinance student loans. The average student loan debt in Texas is over $22,000, the Texas Democrat wrote in a May 14, 2014, email blast. That also happens to be the cost of an average-sized pickup truck! But here's what’s truly alarming: students are not allowed to refinance their loans at lower rates—the same way car owners can, Gallego wrote. Democratic-sponsored legislation would provide federal aid so students and graduates stuck with high-interest rates could repay their loans at the lower rates Congress approved for new student loans in 2013. However, a May 16, 2014, National Journal news story called the proposal a long shot in the Senate, where Republicans were described as likely to resist higher taxes on the wealthy to pay for the refinancing measure. Gallego's statement piqued our curiosity. By email, Gallego's campaign manager, Anthony Gutierrez, told us the congressman's average student loan debt figure came from a news story posted online May 8, 2014, on the GovBeat blog of The Washington Post. That story stated that more than a million Americans would graduate this year with substantial student loan debt, a conclusion it attributed to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The graduates will have an average of $26,500 in student loans, the Post story said, joining the tens of millions of other adults who collectively hold more than $1 trillion in student loan debt. That burden is largest, on average, in many Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states, a few Southeastern states, and California. An accompanying U.S. map shows more than 20 states, including Texas, where the average student loan debt is between $22,000 and $25,000. The Post credited these conclusions to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, using data from the third quarter of 2012. We ventured to a webpage for the reserve bank, where its entry on student loan debt led us to a research paper published in 2012 and revised in April 2013 by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. According to the revised paper, student loan debt increased dramatically over the last several years, from about $346 billion in the fourth quarter of 2004 to $996 billion in the fourth quarter of 2012, a surge of nearly 14 percent a year. By comparison, the report said, total credit card debt was $679 billion and auto debt was $783 billion. The report states that increasing levels of debt were driven largely by growth in the number of borrowers rather than growth in average debt levels of borrowers. The report indicated that in the fourth quarter of 2012—a few months after the period analyzed in the Post's chart—the median borrower holding student loan debt owed $13,924. The average amount of student loan debt across all consumers with student loan debt was $24,699. That’s the latest available calculation, Bill Medley, spokesman for the Kansas City Fed, told us by email. Next, did Gallego accurately capture the price of an average-sized pickup? Gutierrez informed us that the campaign researched average used truck prices on the Cars Direct website. He pointed us to an April 5, 2012, article on the site showing suggested retail prices for five 2010 and 2007 models. These prices are for a base model pickup truck with standard options and no additional accessories, the article stated. According to the story, the average manufacturer's suggested retail price for a 2010 two-door Ford F-150 was $22,355, and the average for a 2010 Dodge Ram 1500 was $21,510—prices close to the $22,000-plus cited by Gallego. However, the Cars Direct article listed estimated prices for two 2010 models at less than $22,000. It also listed the price for another 2010 truck as nearly $6,000 higher. But Gallego priced used pickups; we looked on Edmunds.com, which compiles car and truck prices, for manufacturer's suggested retail prices for model-year 2013 and 2014 pickups. According to the site, the price for a basic Ford F-150 regular cab starts at $24,070 (2013 model) and $24,735 (2014). A Toyota Tacoma regular cab starts at $17,625 (2013) and $18,125 (2014), the site says. Finally, are students really not allowed to refinance college loans? Gutierrez pointed out news articles, including a Feb. 20, 2013, Time magazine piece stating that, unlike other consumers who have taken advantage of reduced interest rates to refinance purchases, student borrowers have been restricted because Congress—not the free market—sets the interest rate on the vast majority of student debt. Additionally, because these loans are not secured by collateral, private lenders are loath to undercut the federal government's terms. The Time story noted that student loan debt was at $1 trillion, and of that, the federal government backed $864 billion. Also, most of the debt was being carried at an interest rate higher than 6 percent, a figure Time attributed to a Feb. 13, 2013, report from the left-leaning Center for American Progress. That’s almost twice the rate of an average 30-year mortgage, Time said. By telephone, Heather Jarvis, a North Carolina attorney specializing in student loan law, stated that some graduates may be able to refinance student loans at lower rates through private lenders, though she noted this would only happen in cases of substantial income. (Car owners, in contrast, have four-wheeled collateral.) By email, Jarvis said refinancing federal loans with a private loan is risky. The borrower gives up important protections that accompany federal loans (like flexible repayment and discharge provisions). Students repaying federally backed loans, Jarvis said, are effectively barred from refinancing opportunities because federal law makes no provision for the government to make such offers. Also by phone, Brian Stewart of the Center for American Progress—which has urged the Democratic-backed action—said it’s possible but difficult to refinance student loans with private lenders while there’s no way for students to get the federal government to refinance a government-backed loan. Stewart, a spokesman for Generation Progress, a center project focused on young adults, said the center has been researching student loan issues for about two years. | 1 | [
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FMD3470 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: The T.I.N.A. Doctrine There Is No Alternative Brandon Smith Alt-MarketWhen people unfamiliar with the liberty movement stumble onto the undeniable fact of the conspiracy of globalism they tend to look for easy answers to understand what it is and why it exists. Most people today have been conditioned to perceive events from a misinterpreted standpoint of Occam s Razor they wrongly assume that the simplest explanation is probably the right one.In fact, this is not what Occam s Razor states. Instead, to summarize, it states that the simplest explanation GIVEN THE EVIDENCE at hand is probably the right explanation.It has been well known and documented for decades that the push for globalism is a deliberate and focused effort on the part of a select elite; international financiers, central bankers, political leaders and the numerous members of exclusive think tanks. They often openly admit their goals for total globalization in their own publications, perhaps believing that the uneducated commoners would never read them anyway. Carroll Quigley, mentor to Bill Clinton and member of the Council on Foreign Relations, is often quoted with open admissions to the general scheme: The powers of financial capitalism had (a) far-reaching aim, nothing less than to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole. This system was to be controlled in a feudalist fashion by the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements arrived at in frequent meetings and conferences. The apex of the systems was to be the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland; a private bank owned and controlled by the world s central banks which were themselves private corporations. Each central bank sought to dominate its government by its ability to control Treasury loans, to manipulate foreign exchanges, to influence the level of economic activity in the country, and to influence cooperative politicians by subsequent economic rewards in the business world. Carroll Quigley, Tragedy And HopeThe people behind the effort to enforce globalism are tied together by a particular ideology, perhaps even a cult-like religion, in which they envision a world order as described in Plato s Republic. They believe that they are chosen either by fate, destiny or genetics to rule as philosopher kings over the rest of us. They believe that they are the wisest and most capable that humanity has to offer, and that through evolutionary means, they can create chaos and order out of thin air and mold society at will.This mentality is evident in the systems that they build and exploit. For example, central banking in general is nothing more than a mechanism for driving nations into debt, currency devaluation, and ultimately, enslavement through widespread economic extortion. The end game for central banks is, I believe, the triggering of historic financial crisis, which can then be used by the elites as leverage to promote complete global centralization as the only viable solution.This process of destabilizing economies and societies is not directed by the heads of the various central banks. Instead, it is directed by even more central global institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the Bank for International Settlements, as outlined in revealing mainstream articles like Ruling The World Of Money published by Harpers Magazine.We also find through the words of globalists that the campaign for a new world order is not meant to be voluntary. When the struggle seems to be drifting definitely towards a world social democracy, there may still be very great delays and disappointments before it becomes an efficient and beneficent world system. Countless people will hate the new world order and will die protesting against it. When we attempt to evaluate its promise, we have to bear in mind the distress of a generation or so of malcontents, many of them quite gallant and graceful-looking people. HG Welles, Fabian Socialist and author of The New World Order In short, the house of world order will have to be built from the bottom up rather than f rom the top down. It will look like a great booming, buzzing confusion, to use William James famous description of reality, but an end run around national sovereignty, eroding it piece by piece, will accomplish much more than the old-fashioned frontal assault. Richard Gardner, member of the Trilateral Commission, published in the April, 1974 issue of Foreign Affairs The New World Order cannot happen without U.S. participation, as we are the single most significant component. Yes, there will be a New World Order, and it will force the United States to change its perceptions. Henry Kissinger, World Action Council, April 19, 1994I could quote globalists all day long, but I think you get the general idea. While some people see globalism as a natural offshoot of free markets or the inevitable outcome of economic progress, the reality is that the simplest explanation (given the evidence at hand) is that globalism is an outright war waged against the ideal of sovereign peoples and nations. It is a guerrilla war, or fourth generation warfare, waged by a small group of elites against the rest of us.A significant element of this war concerns the nature of borders. Borders of nations, states and even towns and villages, are not just lines on a map or invisible barriers in the dirt. This is what the elites and the mainstream media would like us to believe. Instead, borders when applied correctly represent principles; or at least, that is supposed to be their function.Human beings are natural community builders; we are constantly seeking out others of like-mind and like-purpose because we understand subconsciously that groups of individuals working together can (often but not always) accomplish more. That said, human beings also have a natural tendency to value individual freedom and the right to voluntary association. We do not like to be forced to associate with people or groups that do not hold similar values.Cultures erect borders because, frankly, people have the right to vet those who wish to join and participate in their endeavors. People also have a right to discriminate against anyone who does not share their core values; or, in other words, we have the right to refuse association with other groups and ideologies that are destructive to our own Continue this story at Alt-MarketREAD MORE NWO NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire NWO Files | 0 | [
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FMD3471 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: The biggest prize payday in science came around again Sunday evening when the Breakthrough Foundation handed out more than $25 million in its annual prizes to more than a thousand physicists, life scientists and mathematicians. This year’s winners include five molecular biologists who won $3 million each for work in genetics and cell biology, one mathematician, a trio of string theorists who split one $3 million physics prize, and another 1, 015 physicists working on the LIGO gravitational wave detector split a special $3 million physics prize. In addition, there were six smaller “New Horizons†prizes totaling $600, 000 for 10 “early career†researchers, and a pair of high school students won $400, 000 apiece for making science videos. The Breakthrough Foundation was founded by Sergey Brin of Google Anne Wojcicki of 23andMe Jack Ma of Alibaba and his wife, Cathy Zhang Yuri Milner, an internet entrepreneur, and his wife, Julia Milner and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and his wife, Priscilla Chan. It sprang from Mr. Milner’s decision in 2012 to hand out $3 million apiece to nine theoretical physicists, in the belief that physicists are equal to rock stars and deserve to be paid and celebrated like them. Over the years, as more sponsors have joined, the prizes have spread to life sciences and mathematics. The winners each year are chosen by a committee of previous winners. For the last few years, the awards have been given out in an ceremony held at NASA’s Ames Research Center, with a variety of Hollywood celebrities, who this year include Morgan Freeman, Alicia Keys and Jeremy Irons. There were two physics prizes awarded this year. In May, Mr. Milner, the founder of the Breakthrough initiative, announced a special $3 million prize to the LIGO (for Laser Interferometer Observatory) experiment, which detected gravitational waves from colliding black holes last year. A third of the money will be split among the three leaders of the experiment, Ronald W. P. Drever, Kip S. Thorne and Rainer Weiss. The remainder of the award money will be split among the other 1, 012 scientists on the team. In a return to the way it originally was, the regular Breakthrough prize this year is going to a trio of theorists who have made serious advances in string theory, the alleged but still unproven theory of everything, and what it might mean for black holes and the universe. They are Andrew Strominger and Cumrun Vafa from Harvard, and Joseph Polchinski of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. According to string theory, all the forces and particles of nature are composed of tiny little wriggling strings. In 1995, Dr. Polchinski showed that the theory also contains objects of two dimensions or more, called “branes,†short for membranes. This led to a whole new branch of cosmology, in which branes could be island universes floating in an space like leaves in a fish tank, colliding and otherwise interacting with each other through a higher dimension. In a celebrated calculation in 1996, Dr. Strominger and Dr. Vafa used string theory to compute the information content, or entropy, of a black hole. Their result verified a prediction made by Stephen Hawking using more approximate methods that black holes would leak radiation and eventually explode. In a career spanning four decades, Jean Bourgain, a mathematician at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N. J. has published, on average, 10 papers a year, tackling some of the hardest problems in a range of mathematical fields. Some recent work includes a “decoupling theorem†— a sort of very abstract generalization of the Pythagorean theorem applied to oscillating waves like light or radio waves. While Pythagoras merely showed how the length of the two shorter sides of a right triangle are related to the longer hypotenuse, the decoupling theorem proven by Dr. Bourgain and Ciprian Demeter of Indiana University shows similar relationships in the superposition of waves. Stephen J. Elledge, 60, is a professor of genetics and medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute researcher. He received the breakthrough prize for research explaining how “cells sense and respond to damage in their DNA and providing insights into the development and treatment of cancer. †Dr. Elledge has described DNA as being constantly under attack but having the ability — he calls it a sort of chemical intelligence — to monitor its own integrity and activate various defense mechanisms. His research interests range far and wide. In 2015, he and his team reported that they had developed a test that, using less than a drop of blood, could reveal nearly every virus a person had ever been exposed to. Other scientists saw vast potential in the test, suggesting it could be used to track patterns of disease across populations and to learn more about how viruses, and the body’s immune response to them, contribute to chronic diseases and cancer. Last year, Dr. Elledge won another major prize: the Lasker Award, which is often described as the American Nobel. Harry F. Noller helped unravel the structure of ribosomes and identify the importance of RNA to their mechanics. Ribosomes are like factories that assemble proteins within a cell. They look like a tangled mess of rubber bands and coiled wires. But by decoding their twists and folds, scientists can better understand how the genetic code gets translated. Dr. Noller is a biochemist and director of the Center for Molecular Biology of RNA at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He and his colleagues used crystallography to obtain the first image of the ribosome’s molecular structure. His work also helped show that ribosomes are ribozymes, a type of RNA molecule that can facilitate chemical reactions. In this case, the ribozymes stitch amino acids together to build proteins. Roeland Nusse, professor of developmental biology at Stanford University and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, helped discover the first Wnt gene in 1982. The gene is part of the larger Wnt signaling pathway, which plays a crucial role in the development of embryos, stem cells, bone growth and the progression of cancer. It is also critical for communication in adults and developing embryos. The Wnt signaling pathway is found in every branch of the animal kingdom. It is involved in things as diverse as setting off breast cancer in mice and helping orchestrate the body plan of fruit flies. It has become an important part in many aspects of biology because the molecular cascade it sets off affects the growth of the entire ecosystem of the body. Dr. Huda Zoghbi, a professor of neurology at Baylor College of Medicine, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and director of the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s Hospital, discovered that a mutation to a gene known as SCA1 causes Spinocerebellar ataxia, a neurodegenerative disorder. It can rob people of their control over their hands, legs and speech. An estimated 150, 000 people in the United States currently suffer from the disease. There is no known cure and it ultimately is fatal. But insight into its inner workings may provide a way to combat its progression. Dr. Zoghbi’s findings have helped provide the groundwork to fighting the disease. Dr. Zoghbi also helped uncover the culprit behind another neurodegenerative disease, Rett syndrome. This crippling condition mostly affects young girls and is often fatal. There are fewer than 1, 000 cases a year in the United States. Her team searched for the cause behind the malady for 16 years, eventually identifying it as a mutation in the gene MECP2. By identifying the gene, she also found that it plays a part in other neurological disorders, providing a starting point to fighting the diseases. Yoshinori Ohsumi, a cell biologist and honorary professor from the Institute of Innovative Research at Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan, helped pioneer our understanding of how cells recycle themselves — known as autophagy — through his research with yeast in the 1990s. Organelles, proteins and other molecules inside the cell are constantly becoming damaged or worn out, especially as the cell divides. If too much rubbish builds up, it can become toxic and kill the cell. Autophagy is also a tool that the cell uses to refuel itself if it is starving. During autophagy, the cell produces internal garbage bags called autophagosomes that capture waste. The autophagosomes are sealed by a double membrane that keeps in the junk. They then fuse with organelles called lysosomes, which carry enzymes that help dissolve whatever is inside. Researchers think that failures in autophagy could contribute to Type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer, as well as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. They also think it could help us better understand the process of aging. This year, Dr. Ohsumi won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for illuminating the importance of cell cannibalism. In addition to the big $3 million prizes, there were six $100, 000 New Horizons prizes — half in physics and half in mathematics. The young physics winners are: Asimina Arvanitaki of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Ontario, Canada, Peter Graham of Stanford and Surjeet Rajendran of the University of California, Berkeley, who split one prize Simone Giombi of Princeton and Xi Yin of Harvard who split another prize and Frans Pretorius of Princeton. In mathematics, the New Horizons winners were Mohammed Abouzaid of Columbia University Hugo of the University of Geneva and Benjamin Elias of the University of Oregon and Geordie Williamson of Kyoto University. | 1 | [
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FMD3472 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Despite massive boycott threats by consumers, at least 3 major sponsors of the NFL have come out in support of players disrespecting our flag and our veterans. NFL players have joined the now unemployed 49 ers QB Colin Kaepernick to take a knee on the field during our national anthem as a way to show support for the Black Lives Matter anti-cop movement. The protest exploded over the weekend when President Trump spoke out against the disrespect NFL players are showing for our flag, turning the protest into an anti-Trump protest for players who many believe are still angry that Trump won the election, defeating the seriously flawed Democrat candidate, Hillary Clinton.Ford Motor Co., Armour Inc., and Anheuser-Busch InBev SA issued statements that affirmed NFL players rights to kneel during the pre-game national anthem, while also sounding patriotic notes and affirming their support for the flag.Ford Motor Co, one of the biggest sponsors of the NFL just revealed that they are supporting the national anthem protests. We respect individuals rights to express their views, even if they are not ones we share, Ford stated. That s part of what makes America great. Ford Motor Co chairman Martha Firestone Ford took her support for the players anti-cop, Black Lives Matter and anti-President Trump protests one step further when she joined her players on the field and linked arms with her daughters. The tangled responses are the latest version of the challenges faced by corporations in a world in which the president makes public demands and denouncements of companies via Twitter. General Motors Co., Campbell Soup Co., ESPN parent Walt Disney Co. and Uber Technologies Inc. have all faced calls for boycotts related to their perceived support of or distance from the White House. BloombergAmericans are not as easily fooled by the actions of these disrespectful athletes and the team owners, as they work together with the media in an attempt to weaken and discredit our President for having the audacity to stand up for America, our flag and for the honor of every brave man and woman who have sacrificed their lives for our great nation.One of the great things about America is that consumers can decide not to purchase merchandise or goods from companies who continue to advertise with the NFL. | 0 | [
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FMD3473 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: A U.S. judge on Thursday ordered President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort to remain under home arrest and wear an electronic monitoring device for now as he awaits a tentative trial date on money-laundering and other charges. Manafort, who ran Trump’s presidential campaign for several months last year, and his associate Richard Gates pleaded not guilty on Monday to a 12-count indictment. The charges include conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy against the United States and failing to register as foreign agents of Ukraine’s former pro-Russian government. They are part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of alleged Russian efforts to tilt the 2016 election in Trump’s favor and into potential collusion by Trump’s associates. The investigation has cast a shadow over the first nine months of the Republican’s presidency. Another top Trump former campaign advisor, Sam Clovis, withdrew his candidacy for an administration job, apparently as a result of Mueller’s probe. For Manafort and Gates, a conviction on conspiracy to launder money alone could carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. Both men appeared in court in Washington on Thursday. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said initial bail terms for the pair would remain in place for now, and set a bail hearing for Monday to consider changes. Manafort and Gates are under house arrest, under unsecured bonds of $10 million and $5 million respectively, which means they do not have to post the bail unless they fail to show up for court or violate other conditions. Prosecutors have argued there is a risk the men would flee. They are also subject to electronic monitoring. Manafort’s attorney, Kevin Downing, argued that while his client is willing to comply with a daily curfew, he would like to have the GPS monitoring lifted. Jackson expressed reservations about the idea, saying she would “need to see some good reasons†and that he must articulate those in writing. “I am concerned | 1 | [
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FMD3474 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: When you consider the stunning ways students are wasting their student loan money that SHOULD be going towards their education, it s pretty clear why Bernie Sanders was so wildly popular with college kids. Sadly, there are a large number of students who have bought into the whole Peter Pan and the I m never growing up thing Remember these clowns who wore signs around their necks bemoaning the amount of money they WILLINGLY borrowed to pay for their education as a reason Americans should vote for Bernie? Per a survey of 500 college co-eds, LendEDU found that 31% of students, or roughly 2.4 million kids, admitted to using student loan money to fund their binge drinking trips to Cancun and Daytona Beach for spring break.According to the LendEDU poll, 30.60% of college students with student debt claim that they are using money they received from student loans to help pay for their spring break trip this year. For reference, you can use student loan funding for living expenses.The National Center for Education Statistics calculated that 20.5 million students will be attending college this year in the United States. Orbitz reported that 55% of students will be going on spring break. Using this data, we can roughly calculate that 11,275,000 students will be going on spring break this year.Factoring in our data, and assuming the claims made in our survey are accurate, this means that 2.38 million students are using money received from student loans to pay for their spring break excursion this year.Adding insult to injury, 24% of students admitted to using their student loan money for alcohol and 7% use those federally-subsidized checks for drugs.Nearly a quarter (23.80%) of respondents stated that they have used money received from student loans to pay for drinking some type of alcohol. This answer also included spending money at bars.A third (33.40%) of students answered that they have used money received from student loans to pay for clothing and other accessories.Similarly, the same amount (33.40%) of students said that they have used money received from student loans to pay for restaurants and take-out.6.60% of respondents responded saying that they have used money received from student loans to pay for drugs.Finally, 5.60% of students that participated in our survey stated that they used money received from student loans on gambling or sports betting. For entire story: Zero Hedge | 0 | [
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FMD3475 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: The leader of Lebanon s Hezbollah group, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, on Monday said the group and its allies in the region would renew their focus on the Palestinian cause after what he called their victories elsewhere in the region. Nasrallah called on Hezbollah s allies to put in place a united strategy in the field to confront Israel. The Iran-backed group has been fighting Islamic State in Syria alongside regional allies and the group has been largely defeated. Nasrallah was speaking by video link to a large protest in Beirut over the United States decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move its embassy there. On Saturday a video was released of the commander of an Iraqi Shi ite militia allied to Hezbollah visiting Lebanon s border with Israel, apparently accompanied by a Hezbollah commander. Nasrallah said in June that any future war waged by Israel against Lebanon or Syria could draw in fighters from countries including Iran and Iraq. On Monday he repeated a call he made last week for a new Palestinian uprising against Israel and called on Arab states to abandon the peace process, describing negotiations with the United States as futile. Today the axis of resistance, including Hezbollah, will return as its most important priority ... Jerusalem and Palestine and the Palestinian people and the Palestinian resistance in all its factions, he said. Hezbollah was formed in the 1980s as a resistance movement against Israel s occupation of southern Lebanon and they remain bitter enemies. Israel and Hezbollah fought a brief war in 2006 and tensions rose again this year as Israel struck Hezbollah arms stores and convoys in Syria. | 1 | [
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FMD3476 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: 1010 Views November 15, 2016 16 Comments commenter-corner mod editor This comment was chosen by Mod FK from the post “Battle for the ages: Protectionist Trumponomics vs. Neoliberalism”. The moderator feels the commenters take on moving from ‘left’ to right as the situation demands is very interesting and brief. As in ‘brevity is the soul of…….’. Comment by Earthrise
“There has been an awakening, have you felt it?” TFA
I can’t believe how much my worldview has shifted over the last year. Hailing from the radical Left, I have felt the pull of History in a new direction. I have become a critic of the social engineering that has been carried out since the 60’s; it has gone too far. Because of this over-reach, I have had to shift to defending the foundations of our society; community and family. On the hand, I will always be proud to have stood against the Empire and the ruling class Capitalists. The Right was very happy to stay quiet while the Financial-Military Empire raped the world, and we always told you these chickens would come home to roost. But now that they have, it is time to call a truce.
I propose that we call a halt to the Culture Wars; this is the area where the Left is winning. I think we need to pause to assess the damage of this 50-year project anyway; the baby has almost been washed out of the bath. Then the patriotic Left (the anti-imperial/capitalist faction) and the Right can join against our common enemy. The division over social issues has been exploited by our enemy to prevent us joining on the political front. This must end, time for all People to come together against the evil which rules our world.
The momentum is with the Right, so I am coming over to join my brothers and sisters to fight our common enemy. I am worried about playing with Nationalism, it has a very bloody history, and will put a lot of pressure on our minorities. They will try and turn our nationalism outwards, towards a fake external enemy. The enemy is inside the gates. If we all stand together and maintain our focus, there is nothing they can do.
I am going to keep asking everybody to stop falling into the Left-Right trap. The patriotic-national Left and Right need to join, and anyone pushing social change during this war needs to see they are aiding the enemy. Once we are free, we can address the remaining social issues. A truce then, and all patriots rally to the banner. The Essential Saker: from the trenches of the emerging multipolar world $27.95 | 0 | [
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FMD3477 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: BOMBSHELL: Leaked Emails Expose How Muslims Got In Obama’s Administration Posted on October 27, 2016 by Dawn Parabellum in Politics Share This
Since the mainstream media won’t do their job, people everywhere are making it a point to go through the WikiLeaks emails to uncover the truth that the political elite are trying to hide. Upon perusal of the emails leaked yesterday in dump number 19, an interesting discussion surfaced, exposing how Muslims got in Obama’s administration, and it’s so unbelievable, you have to read it for yourself.
Under the subject line, “ Asian American Candidates, Muslim American Candidates, ” we get some juicy insight into how these candidates got into the Obama administration. However, the first thing that should stand out like a sore thumb is the date of this email. October 18, 2008, was about 3 weeks before Obama was elected. Muslims were chosen to be in the Obama administration weeks before his “election.”
The date indicates that Gayle Smith and John Podesta were staffing the Obama administration with Muslims weeks before Barack Obama was actually elected. This is not mainstream information, but Mad World News noticed that Obama was “transitioning” to the White House long before the election even took place. Unfortunately, that is not the worst part of this email.
The fact that Muslims were selected for the Obama administration before the American public voted for him is not a good sign, but it doesn’t look like Obama chose these appointments either. He’s not included in the conversation about who will be in his cabinet, leading skeptics to believe that this is all a setup. The date on this is September of 2008, well before Obama was elected. Note the highlighted areas where Christians are specifically excluded.
The even more terrifying aspect of this email is highlighted. “I excluded those with some Arab American background who are not Muslim (e.g., George Mitchell). Many Lebanese Americans, for example, are Christian.” Those who selected Obama before the election handpicked Muslims for his Administration knowing he’d be “elected.” Not only that, they specifically excluded Christians.
This particular email does not list a reason why Christians were excluded and Muslims were chosen specifically because of their religion, but with several more days of WikiLeaks Podesta email dumps, we may get some answers. But, that’s still not all. The email also indicated that a list for Muslim DOJ and judges would come soon.
Later, in the email right before signing off, Preeta Bansal , an Indian-American lawyer who ended up in the Obama administration as the General Counsel and Senior Policy Advisor to the federal Office of Management and Budget from 2009 until 2011, says the Muslim list for the DOJ (Department of Justice) will be on its way soon. Not long after, the list of Muslim Judges and US attorneys to appoint will follow.
Now, we know how the Obama administration was packed with Muslims, but we still aren’t sure why. Maybe they were hoping to avoid discrimination — or perhaps the reason is more sinister. Perhaps the infiltration of the US government with Muslims is a preplanned way to slowly allow the religion to permeate the West. Although that seems far fetched, this email is absolutely horrifying and nothing should shock us anymore after reading these leaked emails. | 0 | [
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FMD3478 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Posted by Matthew Bernstein | Nov 18, 2016 | American Strength He Wasn’t Happy At The Latest Bill That Was Passed
As we all know the country has spoken and Donald Trump is set to be the 45 th president of the United States. He won the election fair and square, despite what the whiny liberals have to say about it. Of course that means that with his victory, President Obama is on his way out.
We are literally two months away from having President Obama leave the White House. That is something that should be applauded, considering the destruction that he has caused the country over the past eight years. But there was a fear that some Republicans had regarding the time leftover in office.
Considering the fact that Obama is leaving, there were fears that he was going to pass some legislation that would affect the country and be nearly impossible for Trump to repeal. These were going to be called the “Midnight Rules” and it was going to ensure that Trump was going to have some issues before tackling the issues he wanted to tackle the most.
Except that fear is NO MORE. The House of Representatives passed legislation, by a margin of 240-179, allows Congress to undo any of the last-minute rules and regulations that were going to be put on the books before President Obama leaves office.
The bill’s sponsor, Representative Darrell Issa, a Republican out of California and the former chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, had this to say about the bill. “This bipartisan bill is about reviving the separation of powers to ensure our laws are written by the representatives we actually vote for – not unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats who are on their way out the door.”
This was put into place to make sure that Obama doesn’t try to sneak any last minute laws by that would further his agenda. Which means that any law that he thinks is going to get through is going to get shut down by the GOP controlled Congress. Obama’s Plans To Push His Agenda Through Last Second Have Been Just Squashed
“Presidents of both parties have made habit of enacting scores of last-minute regulations, with little oversight, to sneak in as much of their agenda as possible before the clock runs out on their time in office.” And there is still so much more that Obama wants to put in. After all, he was in favor of adding as many Syrian refugees as possible.
“The bill helps ensure this President, and any future president, will be held in check and that their policies have the proper level of scrutiny by both Congress and the American people. I’m pleased to see the House pass this important measure and look forward to its quick passage by our colleagues in the Senate.”
This was an important bill because Obama has shown that he is willing to undermine the Constitution. He has done so repeatedly, including one of the more recent examples being the $1.7 billion that he sent to Iran as part of the ransom payment for four American hostages.
And it wasn’t just members of Congress that were excited about this bill. FreedomWorks CEO Adam Brandon was also pleased with the House vote. He committed his Washington-based logistics and policy hub for conservative activists to working with Capitol Hill conservatives in making sure that law-making authority returns to Congress.
“The Obama administration’s regulatory agenda has been damaging to the economy and the destructive to separation of powers in Article I of the Constitution.” He is completely right. The Constitution ensures that there is supposed to be a separation of powers between the branches and make sure that one of the branches isn’t more powerful than the other. Obama Continues To Try And Destroy Our Constitution
Obama has proved over and over again that he wanted to go over the powers of Congress to make sure that his agenda was secure. This includes the fact that he tried to have millions of millions of illegal immigrants granted amnesty so that they were able to stay in the country and possibly vote.
And they ended up voting! In this last election there were three million illegal immigrants that cast a ballot. That was despite the fact that they weren’t allowed to vote considering that they aren’t legal citizens of the United States! And yet the liberals were all in favor of this because they were all voting for Hillary . Anything to help her out right liberals?
Not to mention that his ability to go over Congress has corrupted the minds of the younger generation. There have been several petitions out there that wanted to change the very basis of how this country works. First there was a petition that wanted to change the basis of electing the next president.
And the second petition that was going around included people asking that President Obama go over his Constitutional policies to appoint the next Supreme Court member without the consent of the Senate. Of course that is just another example of people saying that he should do what he can to overthrow the Constitution .
Share this article with your friends and family to show them that Congress has just passed a law that is going to make it impossible for Obama to implement any of his policies at the last second. This rule is going to make it impossible for him to try and push his agenda.
This was the necessary change that needed to happen. President Obama has done enough to undermine the Constitution since he first sat in office eight years ago. And now any plans that he had to continue to do so until Trump gets into office have been destroyed. | 0 | [
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FMD3479 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Highlights of the day for U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday: Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal calls for U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to be questioned by the Senate Judiciary Committee over his failure to disclose meetings with Russia’s ambassador during last year’s presidential campaign. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says the U.S. political scandal over contacts between the Russian ambassador and members of Trump’s administration looks like “a witch hunt.†Less than five weeks after Trump took office, the chances of a thaw in relations between Washington and Moscow – once buoyed by an apparent “bromance†between Trump and President Vladimir Putin – are much dimmer, U.S. officials say. A Kremlin spokesman says Trump’s proposed increase in U.S. defense spending is an internal matter for Washington and does not concern Russia unless it disrupts the existing strategic balance of power. New Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke tells employees he will not sell off federal lands, as had been feared, but says he plans to review Obama-era measures that limited energy development on some federal land and undertake a “bold†reorganization of his 70,000-employee agency. The Trump administration’s attempts to plug leaks creates unease among some career civil servants who say the campaign appears designed to limit the flow of information inside and outside government. German Chancellor Angela Merkel will travel to Washington on March 14 to meet Trump, their first encounter after a rocky start to relations amid disagreements about trade, Trump’s travel ban and his comments about the media. The Trump administration says it is suspending action on an Obama administration decision in October to investigate a long-time practice by some airlines of preventing various travel websites from showing their fares. Mexico is prepared to negotiate changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement to modernize the 23-year-old open trade pact grouping the United States, Canada and Mexico, Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo says. Mexico’s peso rallies to a nearly four-month high after the new U.S. commerce secretary offered support to the battered currency and said Mexico and the United States could reach a mutually beneficial trade deal. | 1 | [
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FMD3480 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: Is an Asteroid Expected to Hit Earth Around Christmas? Claim summaries: The Earth is constantly surrounded by "near-earth objects."
contextual information: On Oct. 23, 2019, the U.K. tabloid Express published an article that left some readers believing they need not make Christmas plans that year because Earth was in danger of being hit by a large asteroid. The article was entitled "Asteroid Terror: NASA Spot Mammoth Space Rock to Hit Earth's Orbit Five Days Before X-mas." The subheading gave earthlings an even smaller chance of survival: "AN ASTEROID the size of the World Trade Centre is on a dangerous Earth-bound orbit that could see the rock smash the planet during Christmas festivities." When the article was regurgitated by even less reputable websites, the fear-mongering title morphed into a factually inaccurate claim. For instance, the website Digital Wise rehashed this article under the title "NASA Issues Warning Over Asteroid Predicted To Hit Earth Five Days Before Christmas!" However, NASA has made no such announcement, and Earth is not in danger of being hit by an asteroid around Christmas. These articles are all based on a real asteroid (known as 216258 2006 WH1) and its holiday approach toward Earth. However, they present the information as if this asteroid is particularly dangerous. But there's nothing unusually threatening about asteroid 216258 2006 WH1. NASA's Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) currently lists 26 near-Earth objects that are scheduled to pass by our planet within the next 60 days. While asteroid 216258 2006 WH1 (which was discovered in 2006) will indeed be passing by Earth around Christmas, CNEOS reports that the asteroid is expected to safely pass by at a distance of about 15.19 LD (lunar distance), approximately 3.6 million miles. Dr. Paul W. Chodas, the Director of the Center for Near Earth Object Studies, told us in an email that there is "nothing unusual or dangerous" about asteroid 216258 2006 WH1: "No, there is nothing unusual or dangerous about this asteroid. It is simply making a close approach to the Earth. Astronomers have been observing this asteroid's position for 13 years; we know its orbit very accurately, we can predict its close approaches accurately for the next 200 years, and we know with certainty that it cannot hit our planet." Lindley Johnson, NASA's Planetary Defense Officer and Program Executive of the Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO), also told us that this asteroid "poses no hazard to impacting Earth." NASA and other U.S. agencies are lead players in the international effort to develop plans to respond to a possible Near-Earth Object (NEO) impact. In 2018, the White House released the National Near-Earth Object Preparedness Strategy and Action Plan, which identifies key steps that U.S. agencies need to take to better prepare the United States and the world for detecting and responding to a possible impact. NASA has been directed by Congress to catalogue and characterize all NEOs bigger than 140 meters, the ones that could be catastrophic. NASA is approximately 35% complete for NEOs 140 meters and larger, and approximately 96% complete for those 1 km and larger. Strategic investments in our space-based programs will benefit all of humanity as we continue to catalogue any NEOs that pose a potential threat. This particular asteroid's trajectory has been well tracked by NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies since its discovery 13 years ago and poses no hazard to impacting Earth. Here's a little more information about near-Earth objects from CNEOS. The organization writes on its website (emphasis ours): "On a daily basis, about one hundred tons of interplanetary material drifts down to the Earth's surface. Most of the smallest interplanetary particles that reach the Earth's surface are the tiny dust particles that are released by comets as their ices vaporize in the solar neighborhood. The vast majority of the larger interplanetary material that reaches the Earth's surface originates as the collision fragments of asteroids that have run into one another some eons ago. With an average interval of about 10,000 years, rocky or iron asteroids larger than about 100 meters would be expected to reach the Earth's surface and cause local disasters or produce tidal waves that can inundate low-lying coastal areas. On an average of every several hundred thousand years or so, asteroids larger than a kilometer could cause global disasters. In this case, the impact debris would spread throughout the Earth's atmosphere so that plant life would suffer from acid rain, partial blocking of sunlight, and from the firestorms resulting from heated impact debris raining back down upon the Earth's surface. Since their orbital paths often cross that of the Earth, collisions with near-Earth objects have occurred in the past, and we should remain alert to the possibility of future close Earth approaches. It seems prudent to mount efforts to discover and study these objects, to characterize their sizes, compositions, and structures, and to keep an eye on their future trajectories. No one should be overly concerned about an Earth impact of an asteroid or comet. The threat to any one person from auto accidents, disease, other natural disasters, and a variety of other problems is much higher than the threat from NEOs. Over long periods of time, however, the chances of the Earth being impacted are not negligible, so some form of NEO insurance is warranted. At the moment, our best insurance rests with the NEO scientists and their efforts to first find these objects and then track their motions into the future. We need to first find them, then keep an eye on them. NASA's Near-Earth Object Observations Program is constantly monitoring the skies for approaching asteroids and meteors. So far, the program has discovered more than 19,000 NEOs. When NASA discovers an NEO, it works to determine as much information as possible about the object, such as its size, speed, and orbit, so that the agency can calculate when it will approach Earth and how close it will come when it does. But the 19,000 NEOs in NASA's database aren't really what we have to worry about. The organization writes that thousands of NEOs have yet to be discovered: "Asteroid impacts are a continuously occurring natural process. Every day, 80 to 100 tons of material falls upon Earth from space in the form of dust and small meteorites (fragments of asteroids that disintegrate in Earth's atmosphere). Over the past 20 years, U.S. government sensors have detected nearly 600 very small asteroids a few meters in size that have entered Earth's atmosphere and created spectacular bolides (fireballs). Experts estimate that an impact of an object the size of the one that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013—approximately 55 feet (17 meters) in size—takes place once or twice a century. Impacts of larger objects are expected to be far less frequent (on the scale of centuries to millennia). However, given the current incompleteness of the NEO catalogue, an unpredicted impact—such as the Chelyabinsk event—could occur at any time. Still, the chances of an asteroid larger than 140 meters hitting Earth in the next 100 years are minimal. The current congressionally directed objective of the NEO Observations Program is to find, track, and characterize at least 90 percent of the predicted number of NEOs that are 140 meters and larger in size—larger than a small football stadium—and to characterize a subset representative of the entire population. Objects of this size and larger pose a risk to Earth of greatest concern due to the level of devastation an impact would cause and should continue to be the focus of global search efforts. While no known asteroid larger than 140 meters in size has a significant chance to hit Earth for the next 100 years, less than half of the estimated 25,000 NEOs that are 140 meters and larger in size have been found to date. Asteroid 216258 2006 WH1 will pass by Earth a few days before Christmas. However, NASA has issued no warnings about a catastrophic impact, and CNEOS reports that this asteroid will get no closer than 3 million miles from Earth during its approach." | 0 | [
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FMD3481 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Will Trump pull a Brexit times ten? What would it take, beyond WikiLeaks, to bring the Clinton (cash) machine down? Will Hillary win and then declare WWIII against her Russia/Iran/Syria “axis of evil”? Will the Middle East totally explode? Will the pivot to Asia totally implode? Will China be ruling the world by 2025?
Amidst so many frenetic fragments of geopolitical reality precariously shored against our ruins, the temptation is irresistible to hark back to the late, great, deconstructionist master Jean Baudrillard. During the post-mod 1980s it was hip to be Baudrillardian to the core; his America, originally published in France in 1986, should still be read today as the definitive metaphysical/geological/cultural Instagram of Exceptionalistan.
By the late 1990s, at the end of the millennium, two years before 9/11 – that seminal “before and after” event – Baudrillard was already stressing how we live in a black market maze. Now, it’s a black market paroxysm.
Global multitudes are subjected to a black market of work – as in the deregulation of the official market; a black market of unemployment; a black market of financial speculation; a black market of misery and poverty; a black market of sex (as in prostitution); a black market of information (as in espionage and shadow wars); a black market of weapons; and even a black market of thinking.
Way beyond the late 20th century, in the 2010s what the West praises as “liberal democracy” – actually a neoliberal diktat – has virtually absorbed every ideological divergence, while leaving behind a heap of differences floating in some sort of trompe l’oeil effect. What’s left is a widespread, noxious condition; the pre-emptive prohibition of any critical thought, which has no way to express itself other than becoming clandestine (or finding the right internet niche).
Baudrillard already knew that the concept of “alter” – killed by conviviality – does not exist in the official market. So an “alter” black market also sprung up, co-opted by traffickers; that’s, for instance, the realm of racism, nativism and other forms of exclusion. Baudrillard already identified how a “contraband alter”, expressed by sects and every form of nationalism (nowadays, think about the spectrum between jihadism and extreme-right wing political parties) was bound to become more virulent in a society that is desperately intolerant, obsessed with regimentation, and totally homogenized.
There could be so much exhilaration inbuilt in life lived in a bewildering chimera cocktail of cultures, signs, differences and “values”; but then came the coupling of thinking with its exact IT replica – artificial intelligence, playing with the line of demarcation between human and non-human in the domain of thought.
The result, previewed by Baudrillard, was the secretion of a parapolitical society – with a sort of mafia controlling this secret form of generalized corruption (think the financial Masters of the Universe). Power is unable to fight this mafia – and that would be, on top of it, hypocritical, because the mafia itself emanates from power.
The end result is that what really matters today, anywhere, mostly tends to happen outside all official circuits; like in a social black market.
Is there any information “truth”?
Baudrillard showed how political economy is a massive machine, producing value, producing signs of wealth, but not wealth itself. The whole media/information system – still ruled by America – is a massive machine producing events as signs; exchangeable value in the universal market of ideology, the star system and catastrophism.
This abstraction of information works as in the economy – disgorging a coded material, deciphered in advance, and negotiable in terms of models, as much as the economy disgorges products negotiable in terms of price and value.
Since all merchandise, thanks to this abstraction of value, is exchangeable, then every event (or non-event) is also exchangeable, all replacing one another in the cultural market of information.
And that takes us to where we live now; Trans-History, and Trans-Politics – where events have really not happened, as they get lost in the vacuum of information (as much as the economy gets lost in the vacuum of speculation).
Thus this quintessential Baudrillard insight; if we consider History as a movie – and that’s what it is now – then the “truth” of information is no more than post-production synch, dubbing and subtitles.
Still, as we all keep an intense desire for devouring events, there is immense disappointment as well, because the content of information is desperately inferior to the means of broadcasting them. Call it a pathetic, universal contagion; people don’t know what to do about their sadness or enthusiasm – in parallel to our societies becoming theaters of the absurd where nothing has consequences.
No acts, deeds, crimes (the 2008 financial crisis), political events (the WikiLeaks emails showing virtually no distinction between the “nonprofit” Clinton cash machine, what’s private and what’s public, the obsessive pursuit of personal wealth, and the affairs of the state)
seem to have real consequences.
Immunity, impunity, corruption, speculation – we veer towards a state of zero responsibility (think Goldman Sachs). So, automatically, we yearn for an event of maximum consequence, a “fatal” event to repair that scandalous non-equivalence. Like a symbolic re-equilibrium of the scales of destiny.
So we dream of an amazing event – Trump winning the election? Hillary declaring WWIII? – that would free us from the tyranny of meaning and the constraint of always searching for the equivalence between effects and causes.
Shadowing the world
Just like Baudrillard, I got to see “deep” America in the 1980s and 1990s by driving across America.
So sooner or later one develops a metaphysical relationship with that ubiquitous warning, “Objects in this mirror may be closer than they appear.”
But what if they may also be further than they appear?
The contemporary instant event/celebrity culture deluge of images upon us; does it get us closer to a so-called “real” world that is in fact very far away from us? Or does it in fact keep the world at a distance – creating an artificial depth of field that protects us from the imminence of objects and the virtual danger they represent?
In parallel, we keep slouching towards a single future language – the language of algorithms, as designed across the Wall Street/Silicon Valley axis – that would represent a real anthropological catastrophe, just like the globalist/New World Order dream of One Thought and One Culture.
Languages are multiple and singular – by definition. If there were a single language, words would become univocal, regulating themselves in an autopilot of meaning. There would be no interplay – as in artificial languages there’s no interplay. Language would be just the meek appendix of a unified reality – the negative destiny of a languidly unified human species.
That’s where the American “dream” seems to be heading. It’s time to take the next exit ramp.
This piece first appeared Strategic-Culture .
Pepe Escobar is the author of Globalistan: How the Globalized World is Dissolving into Liquid War (Nimble Books, 2007), Red Zone Blues: a snapshot of Baghdad during the surge and Obama does Globalistan (Nimble Books, 2009). His latest book is Empire of Chaos . He may be reached at [email protected] . | 0 | [
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FMD3482 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Asda shoppers ‘just generally angry’ 31-10-16 SHOPPERS at Asda are generally very angry people, it has emerged. Following scenes of chaos at the budget supermarket as card machines failed, customers confirmed that they were angry about that, but angrier still about having to shop in fucking Asda. Mother-of-two Donna Sheridan said: “This isn’t Lidl or Aldi where the slumming bourgeoisie go to semi-ironically buy a frozen lobster and a scuba mask, this is Asda and shit here is real. “You don’t choose the Asda life. The Asda life chooses you. “Even in Morrison’s you get a bit of social mobility, the odd shopper scrabbles up the supermarket class system to Sainsbury’s while dreaming in vain of Waitrose.” She added: “If anyone blocks my access to the massive boxes of tea bags then I’ll serve them a family pack of kickass.” Teaching assistant Nikki Hollis said: “The worst thing about the card machines going down was having to hand over real money for some of this shit. “It really made the reality of Asda Smart Price Porridge Oats hit home. I think that’s when I went apeshit with a checkout divider and declared myself the barbarian queen of the prepared meats section.”
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FMD3483 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: MSNBC host asked one final question during an interview with Rudy Guiliani on Thursday and his answer caused Matthews to take the former mayor to the woodshed.For years, Donald Trump has been outright accusing President Obama of not being born in the United States. Then President Obama released his birth certificate to the public and thoroughly humiliated the businessman.And now that Trump is the Republican nominee, his birtherism is coming back to bit him in the ass as he has repeatedly been asked if he still believes President Obama was born in Kenya.So far, Trump has refused to talk about it and is hoping the media will just forget about the whole thing, but Chris Matthews had other ideas on Thursday as he cornered Rudy Guiliani about it.Matthews pointed out that Mike Pence and Ben Carson have both broken with Donald Trump to confirm that President Obama is the legitimately elected Commander-in-Chief of the United States.Guiliani claimed that he also believes that and said that Donald Trump believes that as well, but Matthews didn t buy it because Trump has avoided talking about it and has not publicly admitted that President Obama was born in America. When did he do that? Matthews demanded to know.Guiliani claimed Trump said it a few years ago, but that was news to Matthews, who continued to grill Guiliani about it.Guiliani then tried to blame Hillary Clinton for the birther movement, but Matthews quickly shut that lie down and made Guiliani squirm. When is he gonna say that this president is legitimate? Matthews repeated. This is a fundamental question, mister mayor. Is the President of the United States legitimate of not? Guiliani continued to try and cover Trump s ass, but Matthews was not having any of it. Can you commit to your candidate saying in the next 24 hours that President Barack Obama s a legitimate president? Matthews asked. Can you commit for him that he will say that? But Guiliani couldn t even do that and ended up desperately trying to change the subject to Hillary Clinton.Here s the video via YouTube:Guiliani got his ass handed to him in this interview and that makes it very clear that Donald Trump needs to eat some crow and admit that President Obama is a legitimate president and reject birtherism once and for all.Featured Image: Screenshot | 0 | [
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FMD3484 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: The governor of Kansas on Thursday vetoed a bill expanding eligibility for Medicaid for the poor under the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) because the measure was not fiscally responsible and would still fund Planned Parenthood. State lawmakers in the Republican-controlled senate voted in favor of the measure on Tuesday, just days after President Donald Trump’s efforts to repeal and replace the ACA, also known as Obamacare, ended with the bill being pulled from a vote. Republican Governor Sam Brownback said the bill also failed to eliminate waiting lists for disability services, did not add work requirements and was not budget neutral. “The cost of expanding Medicaid under Obamacare is irresponsible and unsustainable,†he said. He added it was “unwise to undertake such a drastic change†to the state’s Medicaid program while work on an ACA overhaul was underway in Washington. “I will not support this legislation that continues to fund organizations that undermine a culture of life,†he said, referring to groups such as Planned Parenthood, which provides a range of reproductive services including abortions. Planned Parenthood said in a statement that “the overwhelming majority of Kansans†support the health care provider and the expansion of Medicaid in the state. The Republican-controlled House, which passed the bill last month 81-44, quickly took up a debate on overriding Brownback’s veto on Thursday, but a vote was postponed. “You are going to put a dagger right through the heart of our small communities,†Republican Representative Leonard Mastroni, who voted in support of expansion, told the House in Topeka after Brownback’s veto. In the House, 84 lawmakers would need to vote in favor of the override for it to advance. The failed Obamacare replacement bill in Washington, pushed by House Speaker Paul Ryan, would have ended the ACA’s expansion of Medicaid, the federal and state funded insurance program for the poor and disabled. Kansas was not among the 31 states that in 2016 had opted to expand Medicaid, with the federal government footing much of the cost under Obamacare. With the ACA’s enhanced federal funding, Medicaid expansion in Kansas, effective Jan. 1, 2018, would cost the state an estimated $31 million in fiscal 2018, which begins July 1, and $67 million in fiscal 2019 with more than 180,000 additional recipients, according to estimates cited in a legislative report on the bill. Without enhanced federal matching funds, the state’s costs would balloon to $465 million by fiscal 2019. | 1 | [
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FMD3485 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: Was a Chinese Company Set to Buy General Electric in 2021? Claim summaries: A Facebook meme shared widely in late 2020 and early 2021 asked American readers, "Are you concerned yet?"
contextual information: In late 2020 and early 2021, multiple Snopes readers asked us to examine the accuracy of a viral Facebook meme that claimed a Chinese company was set to purchase General Electric for a sum of $5.4 billion. The post, published by Hal Downing on Dec. 23, 2020, read: read General Electric is being sold to a Chinese company for 5.4 billion dollars. Americans are you concerned yet??? The warning "Americans, are you concerned yet?" appears to be a reference to the imminent inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden in January 2021, and a slew of baseless conspiracy theories that allege sinister connections between Biden and China. conspiracy theories Several other Facebook posts by Downing demonstrate a belief that: "Democrats are owned by China"; that Biden's elevation to office will represent a moment of calamity for the United States; and that Democrats committed treason by "colluding" with China by deploying millions of fraudulent, Chinese-made ballots in order to secure Biden's victory. owned calamity colluding In reality, we found no record of any announcement, or reliable news report, of a deal to sell General Electric (GE) to any Chinese company in 2021. Rather, the figure of "5.4 billion dollars" refers to the sale of GE's appliances division to the China-based company Haier. That sale was announced in January 2016 and completed in the summer of 2016 before that year's U.S. presidential election took place, and long before Biden had even announced his intention to run for president four years later. announced completed That sequence of events fatally undermines the broader suggestion that Biden's presidency will "open the floodgates" for aggressive Chinese involvement in the American economy, as part of an underlying, sinister relationship between Biden and the Communist Chinese regime. Furthermore, the Chinese company in question bought one of GE's divisions, not the entire entity an additional, highly significant inaccuracy in the widely shared meme. | 0 | [
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FMD3486 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Big brother is alive and well 3 months only 3 months In Obamaland surveillance on Muslim terror suspects is considered Islamaphobia, surveillance on Black Lives Matter riots is considered racism, but surveillance on law-abiding gun owners is an important crime-fighting tool. It turns out that federal agents have been spying on customers at guns shows and tracking their movements. Why? Because the current administration is hostile to legal gun ownership and completely inept.The Wall Street Journal originally broke this story but they have a stupid business model and put the article behind a pay wall. Thankfully there is this thing called the Internet where all information is available for free and Fox News has the scoop:The first problem you may notice in this illegal surveillance is how insanely pointless the operation is. There was no way this would ever yield any results if you understand California gun law. The Golden State does not have the gun show loophole that liberals love to blame for all crimes involving a gun. Even at a gun show, a person purchasing a firearm must undergo a background check and wait 10 before taking possession of the weapon.All gun transfers in California go through a federally licensed firearms dealer with no exceptions. Handgun purchases are limited to one every 30 days and require additional licensing. The state maintains a firearms registry. This is the last place in America where a person would try to make a straw purchase. Even less so for someone trying to buy guns, smuggle them into Mexico, and arm the drug cartels.On top of all that, California also bans many popular handguns and all assault rifles. Do the feds really think there is a vibrant black market in Mexico for California-compliant weapons? Apparently so.And despite the feds claim, this was completely illegal it is most certainly not. The government can t just start spying on Americans without probable cause that a crime is being committed. The feds went fishing here and they forgot to bring bait, rods, and reels. They also didn t pick a spot with any fish.If the feds want to know how guns are getting from the US to Mexico they should go ask former Attorney General Eric Holder who green-lit Operation Fast and Furious. In that, the BATF let guns go walking from US gun stores right into the hands of the Mexican drug cartels. One of those guns was used to kill a US border patrol agent. Via: Downtrend | 0 | [
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FMD3487 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: More leading universities have been sued on claims that their retirement plans charged employees excessive fees, following a series of similar suits filed earlier this week. In the latest round, complaints were filed in various federal courts on behalf of employees at Duke, Johns Hopkins, the University of Pennsylvania and Vanderbilt. The earlier lawsuits were filed against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University and Yale on Tuesday. All of the complaints seek status. Jerome J. Schlichter, a lawyer well known for his pioneering litigation in the world of 401( k) retirement plans, is representing the plaintiffs. But with these suits, the spotlight has shifted to a more obscure corner of the retirement savings market, 403( b) plans, which are similar to 401( k) plans but are typically offered by public schools and nonprofit institutions like universities and hospitals. All of the suits, including the latest four, share similar overarching themes: The universities all used more than one provider, known as a record keeper, to operate their plans and perform the administrative services to keep them running. Had they consolidated to one provider, the plaintiffs claim, they could have used their bargaining power to negotiate much lower fees. Instead, the suits allege, the plans overpaid millions of dollars each year. The complaints also argue that the plans sponsored by the universities offered far too many investment options — many of which were too expensive — when cheaper alternatives were available. It also argued that the long lists of investments served only to confuse investors. For instance, Duke, which had $4. 7 billion in assets held by nearly 38, 000 participants at the end of 2014, used four providers (TIAA, Vanguard, Fidelity and Valic) offering 400 investment choices. In response to the suit, Michael J. Schoenfeld, Duke’s vice president for public affairs and government relations, said the university offered a range of options to give employees more flexibility. Those investments, he added, “are reviewed and carefully managed in accord with federal law to provide low costs and good outcomes. †Vanderbilt, which had $3. 4 billion in assets and nearly 42, 000 participants at the end of 2014, used the same four providers, offering 340 investment options, until April 2015. At that time, it consolidated to Fidelity and shrank its plan menu to a core set of 14 investment options, according to the suit, which argues that the changes should have come many years earlier. In addition, the complaint claims that the university continues to pay too much for record keeping. The suit also notes that Vanderbilt admitted that its older plan structure had caused employees to pay unreasonable and investment fees. Beth Fortune, Vanderbilt’s vice chancellor for public affairs, said that the university had not yet been served with the complaint and needed more time to respond. Johns Hopkins, with $4. 3 billion in assets, offered more than 440 funds from its plan’s five record keepers. In January, it reduced the number to three the complaint argues that the changes did not go far enough. A spokeswoman said the university offers its employees “a generous and carefully managed benefits program, including for retirement,†and is in the process of reviewing the lawsuit. A spokeswoman for the University of Pennsylvania, with $3. 8 billion in assets at 2014, said it employed a rigorous process to review all investment options, and ensured they were administered with the highest degree of care and prudence she said the university planned to defend itself vigorously. | 1 | [
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FMD3488 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: It is estimated that as many as 300,000 auto workers may be out of a job before the end of the year.
contextual information: Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris recently criticized President Donald Trump over his trade policy, stating that it is harming American workers. The California senator claimed that as many as 300,000 auto workers were expected to lose their jobs this year, suggesting that Trump was to blame. "Donald Trump betrayed a lot of people. He came into office making all kinds of promises to working people, from farmers to auto workers," Harris said in a CNN interview on Aug. 12. "He said he was going to help working people, and it is estimated that as many as 300,000 auto workers may be out of a job before the end of the year." Trump's trade policy, particularly the tariffs he has imposed on China, has been blamed by economists for hurting farmers. However, are as many as 300,000 auto workers really expected to lose their jobs by the end of this year, as Harris claimed? Two recent fact-checks have called that figure into question. We will review the facts and assign a rating to the senator's claim.
Checking the facts: After the interview, Harris's campaign told CNN that the 300,000 number is from a February study by the Center for Automotive Research (CAR). The research group examined the impact of a 25 percent tariff Trump proposed on all imported cars and auto parts, except for those from Canada, Mexico, and South Korea. It estimated that between approximately 70,000 and 367,000 jobs would be lost across all sectors of the U.S. economy, but not specifically among autoworkers, under a worst-case scenario. In May, Trump delayed for six months his decision on whether to impose the tariffs. Kristin Dziczek, vice president of industry, labor, and economics at CAR, told FactCheck.org in an email: "300,000 auto workers out of a job before the end of the year is NOT what CAR is projecting." FactCheck.org added that Dziczek confirmed the figure was an estimate for job loss across the economy one year after several proposed and implemented trade policies on the auto industry went into effect.
The CAR report did not specify how many of the up to 367,000 job losses would come from the auto industry. Dziczek told CNN that the auto sector is starting to shrink, but she added that a rapid loss of 300,000 autoworker jobs would be orders of magnitude worse than what we're expecting to see. The only industry-specific estimate was for 77,000 job losses at car dealerships. Dziczek told PolitiFact California that there would be an overall net loss in the auto assembly and parts sectors. "How big of a loss depends on how willing consumers would be to switch brand preference from imports to vehicles made in the United States," she wrote in an email. FactCheck.org described Harris's claim as wrong, while CNN stated it was false. Harris's campaign did not respond to our request for comment, including whether the senator has corrected or plans to correct her statement.
Our ruling: Sen. Kamala Harris claimed that as many as 300,000 auto workers may lose their jobs by the end of this year. She relied on a study that predicted, in a worst-case scenario, that between 70,000 and 367,000 jobs could be lost across all sectors of the U.S. economy, but not all from the auto industry. The losses would occur one year after President Trump imposes a proposed 25 percent tariff on imported cars and auto parts. Trump has delayed his decision on those tariffs until later this year, meaning the one-year later impact would not be felt until well into 2020, and not by the end of this year, as Harris stated. Harris's claim significantly overestimates potential job losses for the auto industry, the timing of those losses, and ignores the fact that no decision has been made on the tariffs. We rated her claim False. | 0 | [
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FMD3489 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: Bush and French Word For Entrepreneur Claim summaries: Did George W. Bush say the problem with the French is they have no word for entrepreneur?
contextual information: Claim: President George W. Bush proclaimed, "The problem with the French is that they don't have a word for entrepreneur." Origins: Yet another "George W. Bush is dumb" story has been taken up by those who like their caricatures drawn instark, bold lines. According to scuttlebutt that emerged in the British press in July 2002, President Bush, Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair, and France's President Jacques Chirac were discussing economics and, in particular, the decline of the French economy. "The problem with the French," Bush afterwards confided in Blair, "is that they don't have a word for entrepreneur." The source was Shirley Williams, also known as the Baroness Williams of Crosby, who claimed "my good friend Tony Blair" had recently regaled her with this anecdote in Brighton. Lloyd Grove of The Washington Post was unable to reach Baroness Williams to gain her confirmation of the tale, but he did receive a call from Alastair Campbell, Blair's director of communications and strategy. "I can tell you that the prime minister never heard George Bush say that, and he certainly never told Shirley Williams that President Bush did say it," Campbell told The Post. "If she put this in a speech, it must have been a joke." This is far from the first time Bush has been made the butt of a jibe meant to showcase what some perceive as his less than stellar intellectual abilities. Without straining our memories too hard, we can come up with three other instances we've chronicled on this site. In the summer of 2001, the joke of the moment centered upon a supposed study that had resulted in the ranking of Presidential IQs, with George W. Bush being pegged as the Chief Executive who scraped the bottom of the intelligence barrel. In December 2000 it was a fake Nostradamus quatrain which pontificated that the "village idiot" would win the 2000 Presidential election. And in the spring of 2002, it was the story of Bush's waving at Stevie Wonder that set folks to chortling up their sleeves. Presidential IQs Nostradamus quatrain waving Stories that illustrate this widely believed intellectual shortcoming will always waft after George W. Bush because they seemingly confirm what many already hold as true about this public figure, that he's not the brightest fellow that's ever been. It is human nature to revel in yarns that the hearer at some level agrees with, thus tales of this sort will always fall upon appreciative ears. Barbara "ears of corn" Mikkelson Last updated: 23 September 2007 Sources: Fitchett, Joseph. "The Global Class: Word for It." The International Herald Tribune. 11 July 2002 (p. 18). Grove, Lloyd. "The Reliable Source." The Washington Post. 10 July 2002 (p. C3). Malvern, Jack. "Bush and Blair." The [London] Times. 9 July 2002 (p. 18). Smith, Liz. "Stovepipe Dreams." Newsday. 12 July 2002 (p. A13). | 0 | [
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FMD3490 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: Who was the individual known as Michael Myers? Claim summaries: The face of the mass-murdering Michael Myers character in the 'Halloween' films was originally a Captain Kirk mask.
contextual information: One of the most iconic masks in movie history is the one worn by the crazed killer Michael Myers in the Halloween franchise of slasher films, the first installment of which was released in 1978. According to rumor, this frightful face originated with a character from a very different series and medium: Captain Kirk from television's Star Trek. The 1978 horror film Halloween was produced on a very limited budget, and director John Carpenter didn't have the funds to create a custom mask. Carpenter told the Hollywood Reporter in a 2015 interview that the movie's art director instead picked up a mask of Captain Kirk at a magic shop and made a few alterations to create the iconic look of Michael Myers. He explained, "There was a choice we had to make because we didn't have any money to make a mask. So the art director went up to Bert Wheeler's magic shop on Hollywood Boulevard, which was right up the street from our offices, and he got two masks. One was a clown mask, and one was a Captain Kirk mask. It was supposed to be Captain Kirk. It looked nothing like William Shatner, nothing like anybody, really. It was just a strange mask, which was perfect for us. So we spray-painted it, altered the eye holes, and just did a couple of things with the hair, and there you had it. I like to think it's Shatner, but it's not really." Similar versions of the story have been told by other members of the crew, including Rick Sternbach, who worked as an illustrator/designer on Halloween 2, and William Shatner (who portrayed Captain Kirk) himself. Sternbach's account is of particular interest because he was one of the first to transition this movie legend into a movie fact. He stated, "I was hired as an illustrator on Halloween 2 in 1981, working for production designer J. Michael Riva. In a supply cabinet at Pumpkin Pie Productions, we had one mask left from the original Halloween and no idea where to get any others for the sequel. It appeared that we'd need to check out some of the toy stores and such, but I noticed that there was some wording molded into the neck area. There was a model number and the words 'Don Post Studios.' I made a call, read off the model number, and the word came back, 'It's our Captain Kirk mask.' I asked if we could buy a number of them, and was told, 'We'll give you a box, just give us credit.' With that, I turned the official dealings over to the higher-ups." | 1 | [
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FMD3491 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: November 8, 2016 - Ruslan Ostashko, PolitRussia - translated by J. Arnoldski -
One of the symbols of the “new Ukraine”, the ex-Georgian president, fugitive, and part-time governor of Odessa, Mikhail Saakashvili, has announced his resignation, which came as a shock and to the dismay of Ukrainian citizens, who for some reason had great political hopes for him. I’ll leave aside the discussion of how Saakashvili’s biography, character, and addiction to hard narcotics couldn't possibly leave anything good to be expected from him. What is more interesting to discuss are the motives behind his resignation and explaining whether this is connected to the American elections.
Before delving into this, let’s immediately eliminate two entirely untenable theories which nevertheless have a number of supporters on social networks.
Untenable theory number one is that Saakashvili has some kind of insider information that the US elections will be won by Hillary Clinton, and that he was warned in advance to secure a good starting position in the new American leadership’s Ukraine strategy. I understand the appeal of this theory, but I can’t agree with it. Saakashvili can hope that Clinton will win, and he can pray for her victory, but he cannot know the results of the US elections or possess any top insider secrets. For those who doubt this, let me remind you of two episodes.
The first episode was in 2008, when Saakashvili was 100% sure that America would completely sign up to back him against Russia. Well, how did that 'insider knowledge' work out?
The second episode was just recently, in this year, when he spoke of his future triumphant return to Georgia, apparently hoping that the Americans would falsify the results of the Georgian parliamentary elections in favor of his party. The Americans could have done this, but they didn’t. His party lost the elections by a landslide.
Thus, the image of Saakashvili as a super insider can be very appealing, but it does not correspond to reality.
The second untenable theory is that Saakashvili left for internal Ukrainian reasons or was forced to leave by ‘disgruntled Odessans.” Contemporary Ukraine is a territory full of national injustice. Local, regional, and national authorities couldn’t care less about dissatisfied citizens, whether in Odessa, Kiev, Zaporozhya, and so on. They also don’t care about their approval ratings. Saakashvili was given Odessa to “eat up,” and the people who took this decision to quarter a US mercenary in Ukraine are clearly not the ones sitting in Kiev.
Given this, it can be supposed that the version that the former Georgian president, famous for his greed, left his post because of tensions within Ukraine is in the least a strange theory.
And now about Saakashvili’s gesture. Apparently, he really needed to officially distance himself from Poroshenko who, from the point of view of many Western experts, has fulfilled almost all of the tasks in Ukraine that he was given. Even better was Saakashvili putting the emphasis on conflict with Poroshenko.
The new US president, whoever it will be, will be forced to do something with this situation, and the fact is not too far off that the decision will be made to do some behind-the-scenes spanking.
The scenario of backstage spanking, reducing salaries, and rinsing dirty laundry in the media is the best thing that could happen to Poroshenko under any new American administration.
Saakashvili is pretending that he has nothing at all to do with what has and is happening in Ukraine. For him, it would be ideal if Washington believed that he has no relation to Poroshenko, doesn’t know Kolomoysky, and has never seen Yatsenyuk, but had instead been somehow dragged into the mess created by the US’ political puppets in Ukraine.
Under these circumstances, distancing himself is a good strategy, but Saakashvili has run into an obstacle. He should have distanced himself earlier. Now this trick might not work.
The former Georgian president is now demonstrating a kind of behavior which is really familiar in Russia and which is difficult to be misconstrued. What does a regional official who has thieved or failed at an important project do when he learns that a check up is soon coming from Moscow? The pattern of behavior has not changed since the times of the USSR, believe me. This official immediately flies to the capital and tries to, so to say, resolve issues in a small circle of interested associates. Saakashvili and his team have failed in two spheres of work, the Georgian and Ukrainian ones. In Georgia, he lost elections, and in Ukraine he failed to create a success story out of Odessa. The Americans needed such success stories and Saakashvili 100% promised them something of the sort.
Now Saakashvili is covering his weak spots and unleashing into the information field the theory that he failed as governor only because of corrupt Kiev and interference by Poroshenko himself and his entourage.
Surely, Saakashvili has already written something in this spirit to Washington and is now simply publicly confirming his position and line of defense. If he gains the nerve, then he could try to ask the new US administration (and he has friends among both the Republicans and the Democrats) for a promotion, to let him steer something in Kiev, or participate in a new political project in Ukraine.
Considering that the Americans love to arrange political shows in which some political puppets are replaced by other political puppets under cries of fighting against corruption, then this might just work out for him.
Saakashvili’s actions are a very bad sign for Poroshenko. Poroshenko has no good way out of the unfolding situation. It may very well be that he has been left with only two paths: one to Rostov and the other to the gallows.
Saakashvili’s actions are also a possible sign that the Americans will radically shake up the Ukrainian political elite and bring real freaks and misfits to the forefront. For us, this is more good than bad. Any sudden movements could finish off the government system in Ukraine and lead to the delegitimization of the regime in Kiev, especially if outright Nazis come to power there.
For us, this collapse of the administrative system and the delegitimization of the government in Ukraine is good, even if Saakashvili earns something out of this.
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FMD3492 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: The political news cycle is fast, and keeping up can be overwhelming. Trying to find differing perspectives worth your time is even harder. That’s why we have scoured the internet for political writing from the right and left that you might not have seen. We would love to hear your thoughts on this collection. Send your feedback to ourpicks@nytimes. com _____ • From National Review: “To claim that something is technically legal is not to say that it is appropriate. †For Andrew McCarthy, the question is not whether it was legal to monitor President Trump or his associates during the campaign, but whether it was a political abuse of power. Read More » _____ • From The Weekly Standard: “The distribution of benefits is deeply contrary to the principles of republican government. †Jay Cost evaluates the Trump administration’s federal budget along moral and historical lines, arguing that the Founding Fathers would have balked at the ease with which modern administrations — both Democratic and Republican — borrow money. Mr. Cost argues that high levels of debt betray the ideals of the Constitution and our moral obligation to future generations. Read more » _____ • From The American Spectator: “[. ..] is developing a work force for corporations what schools should be about?†Emmett McGroarty and Jane Robbins, senior fellows at the American Principles Project, argue that the Common Core and other progressive education policies focus, incorrectly, on preparing students for industry. School should instead instill the tenets of “traditional, classical education†that prepare students to be knowledgeable citizens. Read more » _____ • From Red State: “[. ..] the conditions requirement is not some perk that we can keep while ditching the rest of Obamacare. †Using a blog post by Senator Ted Cruz as a point, a writer for Red State outlines the contours of a proposed bill for Republicans who have vowed to repeal the Affordable Care Act. It begins, appropriately, with some bitter pills to swallow. Read more » _____ From The National Interest: “It defies logic that if we have made a bad investment we must continue to do so. †Amitai Etzioni, a professor of international relations at George Washington University, recommends that President Trump abandon the attempts of the two previous administrations and deny a request to send more troops into Afghanistan. Read more » _____ • From The Intercept: “Fight fewer wars and for narrower reasons, but be more barbaric and criminal in prosecuting the ones that are fought. †One should not mistake Mr. Trump’s “ †for “pacifism,†Glenn Greenwald warns. That distinction, according to Mr. Greenwald, helps to explain the precipitous increase in civilian casualties in the Middle East since Mr. Trump took office. Read more » _____ • From TruthDig: “His policies haven’t sprung from thin air. †Bill Blum traces a line from President Trump’s executive orders concerning immigration back to specific legislation from an unlikely predecessor: President Bill Clinton. Read more » _____ • From Salon: “Government will never run the way Silicon Valley runs because, by definition, democracy is messy. †Now that Mr. Trump’s Jared Kushner, has been tapped to lead a “SWAT team of strategic consultants†to reform the federal government, Simon Maloy reminds us of why we might not want the government to be more like a business. Read more » _____ From In These Times: “The fundamental failures of Obamacare stem from the law’s reliance on the private market. †Miles and Mr. Trump agree on one thing: Obamacare is going to get worse for millions of Americans. But according to Mr. the only way forward for Democrats after the failure of the American Health Care Act is to embrace a system. Read more » _____ • From Politico: “The demise of the Republican plan [. ..] could open the door for bipartisan efforts to rescue the individual market. Don’t laugh it’s possible. †Sometimes, you need a mediator to help you find common ground. That’s why, hoping to encourage bipartisan cooperation, Timothy Stoltzfus Jost, a former law professor and consumer representative to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, identifies pieces of the American Health Care Act that could have earned support from moderate Democrats. Read more » _____ • From BuzzFeed: “Know your enemy and stop giving them ammunition. †On this week’s “60 Minutes,†Scott Pelley interviewed the blogger Mike Cernovich for a segment about fake news. But Charlie Warzel writes that Mr. Pelley was out maneuvered by the figure when the discussion turned to “alternate universes. †Mr. Warzel argues that reporters in traditional media must educate themselves about the new media ecosystem and not play into the hands of “The New Right media,†a collective armed with its own facts and reality. Read more » _____ • From Washingtonian: “Part of Ham’s appeal is her commitment to ideology over party. †Meet Mary Katherine Ham, a conservative pundit whose star has risen in recent months. The secret to her success? She’d rather persuade than entertain. Read more » _____ From The Atlantic: “I take no pride or pleasure in saying ‘I told you so. ’†In today’s political climate, it’s sometimes difficult to identify precisely where the “center†is. That’s why we offer this piece by the Republican commentator David Frum with a bit of qualification. Here the former speechwriter for George W. Bush (who is also a staunch writing for the Atlantic) speaks to members of his own party to explain how the refusal to accept universal health care as a right has led to a “Republican Waterloo. †Read more » _____ | 1 | [
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FMD3493 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Yahoo appears to be making progress in efforts to sell itself, despite some initial skepticism. The latest piece of evidence: Among those vying for the company is the unusual combination of the investor Warren E. Buffett and Dan Gilbert, the founder of Quicken Loans and owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers. That consortium is one of several suitors that have moved into the second round of bidding for Yahoo, according to people briefed on the matter. Mr. Gilbert is leading the bid, said the people, who were not authorized to speak publicly. Mr. Buffett’s conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway, is offering to provide financing, as he has done with the investment firm 3G Capital in its takeovers of H. J. Heinz and Kraft, and is leaving the negotiations to Mr. Gilbert, according to the people. The unusual presence of Mr. Gilbert and Mr. Buffett in the bidding suggest just how far Yahoo and its advisers have cast their net to find potential buyers for the embattled Internet company. The two are joined in the second round by a range of other bidders, including Verizon Communications and private equity firms such as TPG Capital and a group that comprises Bain Capital and Vista Equity Partners, people briefed on the process have previously said. Several other strategic bidders are also in the second round. Yahoo declined to comment. Representatives for Quicken Loans and Berkshire did not return requests for comment. The companies in the second round of bidding are seeking to buy one of the names in Silicon Valley — though one that ceded a longtime hold on the Internet to younger rivals like Google and Facebook. Repeated efforts to reinvent itself, led by a string of chief executives, including the company’s current leader, Marissa Mayer, have failed to take hold. As Yahoo and its bankers canvassed for preliminary bids, the company received criticism, including from some prospective bidders and from the activist hedge fund Starboard Value, over the state of the sales process. Yet Yahoo can point to progress. It settled a looming board fight with Starboard, offering the investment firm four director seats. One of those is held by Starboard’s chief executive, Jeffrey Smith, who now sits on the special board committee overseeing the potential sale. Yahoo executives, including Ms. Mayer, and advisers have been sitting down with bidders in the second round, furnishing those suitors with additional details. Among them is Mr. Gilbert, who built his fortune with the financial empire. But he is also an active investor in his own right, having taken stakes in a number of online . Yahoo would be orders of magnitude larger than those other technology investments and significantly more troubled. But Mr. Gilbert’s consortium, like other bidders, has been interested in the digital footprint that the company possesses, including its popular finance and sports sites. Backing him is his friend Mr. Buffett — who has long spoken of his aversion to technology companies, outside of an investment in IBM. But the role of Berkshire in the Gilbert bid would be financial, and Mr. Buffett’s conglomerate would collect interest from its financing with the opportunity to convert those holdings into an equity stake in the company. Both men are familiar with Yahoo in other ways. Mr. Buffett turned to Yahoo Finance for the live stream of the session at Berkshire’s annual shareholder meeting on April 30. And one of Berkshire’s directors is Susan L. Decker, a former president of Yahoo. Providing advice to the Gilbert consortium are the former senior Yahoo executives Dan Rosensweig, who is now chief executive of the education company Chegg, and Tim Cadogan, now the head of the online advertising platform OpenX. Neither has expressed interest in rejoining Yahoo, one of the people briefed on the matter said. Mr. Buffett and Mr. Gilbert have another — albeit more troubled — tie to the Internet company. In 2014, Berkshire, Quicken Loans and Yahoo briefly united to offer a “Billion Dollar Bracket Challenge†tied to the NCAA basketball tournament that year, though the contest was called off and devolved into a morass of lawsuits. Reuters previously reported the existence of Mr. Gilbert and Mr. Buffett’s bid, while Recode reported the presence of Mr. Rosensweig and Mr. Cadogan as advisers to the group. | 1 | [
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FMD3494 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: German lawmakers have protested after Wolfgang Schaeuble, the new president of the Bundestag, announced a ban on sending tweets from inside the parliament chamber. In a letter published in German media on Thursday, the former finance minister told lawmakers that using devices to photograph, tweet or send messages from the plenary chamber is inappropriate to the proceedings of the Bundestag . German politicians are far behind other countries in addressing voters via Twitter s short messaging service, and none comes close to U.S. President Donald Trump | 1 | [
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FMD3495 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: Planned Parenthood is nothing more than a referral service. They dont do anything except profit from killing babies and then selling body parts of those aborted babies.
contextual information: Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said in a nationally broadcast interview that Planned Parenthood does little more than profit from killing babies. Patrick, a Republican,appeared Oct. 19, 2015, on Your World with Neil Cavuto, a Fox News program. That wasthe day a Texas state official moved to cut off$3.1 million in annual Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood, 90 percent of it federal aid, for contraception and health services. That came as a result, the official said, of videos showing doctors for the group altered abortion procedures to procure intact fetal tissue for researchers in violation of federal law. Planned Parenthood, denying misconduct, commented that it was considering its options, including a lawsuit. Patrick, talking to Cavuto, said: Were not going to tolerate Planned Parenthood pretending, Neil, to be something theyre not... Cavuto: Do you think that Planned Parenthood does anything good? Patrick: No. I dont think they do anything good. Look, theyre nothing more than a referral service. They pretend to care about womens health. But they dont have professionals even giving any information to women except referring them to another clinic. They dont have equipment. They dont do anything except profit from killing babies and then selling body parts of those aborted babies. Cavuto: Well, I understand your passions, sir. But they do a little bit more than that. Patrick: Very little. Theres been debate about what the videos taken with hidden cameras by the Center for Medical Progress, an anti-abortion group, show about sales of fetal tissue. But on Oct. 7, 2015,PolitiFact Florida rated Falsea claim that Planned Parenthood has now (been) found to also illegally sell baby parts. Federal law permits fetal tissue donations to researchers. Abortion providers also are allowed to charge a fee for facilitating such donations. We focused our sights on whether Patrick is right that Planned Parenthood solely provides abortions. To our request for backup information, Patricks spokesman, Alejandro Garcia, said by phone: We dont have anything further to add. Past fact checks In August 2015, PolitiFactrated Pants on Firea claim by Jeb Bush that Planned Parenthood is not actually doing womens health issues. That story said Planned Parenthood offers contraception, sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment, pregnancy testing, prenatal services and cancer screenings, including breast exams, though not mammograms. In September 2012, PolitiFact Georgiarated Truea claim that Planned Parenthood does not provide mammograms. Planned Parenthood refers women to mammography providers. Earlier, in April 2011,PolitiFact rated Falsea claim that abortion services are well over 90 percent of what Planned Parenthood does. That story, citing a Planned Parenthood fact sheet, concluded that abortions accounted for just under 3 percent of the procedures Planned Parenthood provided in 2009, then the most recent year for which the group was reporting statistics. There is lately more up-to-date information. On Planned Parenthoods website, we spotted aBy the Numbers documentlast updated in July 2015 stating that 34 percent of its health services are contraceptive services and 3 percent are abortions. Another document,Services,states that in 2013, Planned Parenthood provided more than 4.4 million services related to testing men and women for sexually transmitted infections or diseases; more than 3.5 million contraception services; more than 935,000 services related to cancer prevention and detection; some 1.1 million pregnancy and prenatal services; 327,653 abortions; and nearly 132,000 other services. The most prevalent listed contraception service was reversible contraception for women (2.1 million services). The most common cancer screening was breast exams/breast care (487,029 services). That story said that a Planned Parenthood spokeswoman said doctors and nurses at Planned Parenthood health centers provide clinical breast exams and refer patients to facilities with technicians for mammograms based on breast exams, age or family history; she said Planned Parenthood also refers women to breast specialists when a potential abnormality is found and follow-up tests are needed. According to the July 2015 list, Planned Parenthoods most common pregnancy services in 2013 were pregnancy tests (1.1 million services). Other identified services include HIV tests (704,000 services); emergency contraception kits (1.4 million services) and Pap tests (378,692 services). A longer view: Nationally from 2006 through 2013, the number of abortions provided by Planned Parenthood essentially held steady, with marginal increases and a modest peak in 2009, according to an Oct. 1, 2015,PolitiFact article. That story presented a chart showing how the number of specific services provided by Planned Parenthood went up or down from 2006 to 2013, based on Planned Parenthoods annual reports from 2006 to 2013 (though a report from 2008 didnt turn up): Another chart, likewise drawing from the annual reports, showed counts for abortion and non-abortion services provided by the group: Caveats Per all these figures, its worth repeating caveats offered by PolitiFact in 2011: --First, many people would acknowledge a difference between providing an abortion and, say, handing out a pack of condoms or conducting a blood test. The former is a significant surgical procedure, whereas the latter are quick and inexpensive services. So Planned Parenthoods use of services as its yardstick likely decreases abortions prominence compared with what other measurements would show. Using dollars spent or hours devoted to patient care would likely put abortion above 3 percent in the calculations. --Second, Planned Parenthood self-reported these numbers, though the group says each affiliates numbers are independently audited. This basically means observers must accept their accuracy more or less on faith. Planned Parenthood In Texas To our inquiry about Patricks claim, Yvonne Gutierrez of Planned Parenthood Texas Votes,which saysit battles to protect womens health care access, said the same range of services are offered in Texas by the group. Gutierrez emailed us an undatedPlanned Parenthood documentindicating that in 2013, its Texas clinics had 150,710 patients including 108,533 contraception patients. The document showed state-by-state counts in those categories and for Pap tests plus tests for sexually transmitted infections, breast exams and sex education and outreach. Gutierrez also emailed us achart, attributed to state agencies, distributed by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. The chart shows $3.1 billion in Medicaid spending on Planned Parenthood-provided services in the fiscal year through Aug. 31, 2015. That spending covered Medicaid reimbursements and payments through health plans for patients who went to Planned Parenthood clinics, Gutierrez said. We also asked Gutierrez about Planned Parenthood in Texas making fetal tissue available for research. Planned Parenthood Greater Texas and Planned Parenthood South have never participated in fetal tissue research projects, she replied by email, and have no plans to do so. While Planned Parenthood Center for Choice (in Houston) does not currently participate in a fetal tissue study, they have taken part in such worthy studies in the past, following all laws and the highest medical and ethical standards. These studies hold the potential to cure disease and save lives. They last partnered with UTMB, the University of Texas Medical Branch, on a study to prevent miscarriage. Our ruling Patrick said Planned Parenthood is nothing more than a referral service. They dont do anything except profit from killing babies and then selling body parts of those aborted babies. To the contrary, Planned Parenthood provides family planning and other womens health services, including abortions and theres been no confirmation it sells body parts. We rate this incorrect and ridiculous statement Pants on Fire. PANTS ON FIRE The statement is not accurate and makes a ridiculous claim. Click here formoreon the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check. | 0 | [
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FMD3496 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: The Islamic State is back with another video that is even more depraved than the last “Cubs of the Caliphate†release. This time around, the terror state gives us a small child blowing a chained prisoner’s head off in an abandoned amusement park. [Heavy. com reports that the new video appeared on ISIS social media channels on Sunday, under the title “Sometimes With His Own Blood,†but it has also been posted under the name “He Revived Me by His Blood. †The footage was shot in Deir Syria. The prisoners executed in the video are said to be Kurdish fighters. Most of the children, dressed in military fatigues and stalking through an abandoned amusement park, executing prisoners tied to the inert rides, look to be around 10 years old. One of them performs a gruesome knife beheading on a captive. The UK Sun has a clip from this sequence, with the shocking violence and bloody aftermath edited out. According to a report at PJ Media, it ends with the victim’s decapitated head sitting in the middle of the ride while it slowly spins. The most horrifying sequence in the new video shows a much younger boy — ARA News says he is 4 years old — approaching a prisoner chained to the wall of a dusty old ball pit. The little boy is handed a gun, and he proceeds to pump five rounds into the victim while shrieking, “Allahu akbar!†The last child killer in the video cuts his victim’s throat next to a kiddie train track and then leaves his knife planted in the victim’s back. The video includes coerced confessions from the prisoners. According to ARA News, they confess to working as spies for Kurdish forces. Warning: Graphic Video Content below, | 1 | [
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FMD3497 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Britain said on Monday it would create a new national economic crime center to crack down harder on money laundering by drug dealers and people traffickers who are expected to net 90 billion pounds ($120.3 billion) this year. As a unit of the existing National Crime Agency (NCA), the center will be tasked with coordinating a national response among the agencies that tackle money laundering and fraud and with increasing the confiscation of crime proceeds. Britain s interior minister, Amber Rudd, said the new initiative was part of a package of measures in response to a review of the country s economic crime agencies. The measures we have announced today will significantly improve our ability to tackle the most serious cases of economic crime by ensuring our agencies have the tools and investment they need to investigate, prosecute and confiscate criminal assets, Rudd said in a statement. Britain s plan to exit the European Union in 2019 has raised fears of a bonfire of regulation that could occur thereafter and result in the City of London losing its top global financial center ranking. Strengthening the integrity of Britain as a financial center will be a top priority under the package, which also includes proposed new laws. These would allow the new center to directly task the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to investigate the worst offenders in a step that will buttress the SFO, whose future as a standalone entity has been in doubt. SFO Director David Green is due to step down next year. Separately on Monday, the Attorney General s Office, a government department, said the SFO would continue to act as an independent organization, supporting the multi-agency response led by the NCA. We will begin recruitment for the SFO s next director very soon, the AGO said in a statement. The government estimates that financial fraud costs the country 6.8 billion pounds a year, or more than 100 pounds per person. Rudd will chair a new economic crime strategic board to ensure the right resources are allocated across law enforcement agencies to tackle economic crime, the interior ministry statement said. With only a modest portion of criminal proceeds confiscated, the package announced on Monday makes further commitments to seizing criminal assets through greater use of existing powers by the SFO, the NCA and tax authorities. There will also be a review of existing rules on confiscating proceeds of crime in order to improve the process by which confiscation orders are made and applied. ($1 = 0.7479 pounds) | 1 | [
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FMD3498 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Chancellor Angela Merkel s conservatives are rallying around her despite the failure of talks to form a three-way ruling coalition, buying her time in office and putting the onus on her Social Democrat rivals to break Germany s political impasse. Resolute conservative support for Merkel is significant, as some members of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) have said privately their price for a re-run of its grand coalition with the conservatives would be Merkel s head. The collapse late on Sunday of the coalition talks, which followed an inconclusive Sept. 24 election, has plunged Germany into the worst political crisis since the end of World War Two. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who is trying to broker a deal, is keenly aware the source of Germany s international clout is its economic power and that businesses want a stable coalition soon to end the uncertainty and avoid another poll. SPD leader Martin Schulz, whose party is the second biggest in Germany and was the junior coalition partner to Merkel s conservative bloc in the last parliament, has insisted the SPD should rebuild in opposition after heavy losses in September. But with Merkel secure for now at the helm of her Christian Democrats (CDU), the pressure shifts to the SPD to help form a coalition after the failure of the chancellor s three-way talks with the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) and Greens. Surveys suggest going to the polls again would deliver a similar outcome to September s result. Furthermore, 58 percent of voters want Merkel to remain chancellor, an Infratest Dimap poll for broadcaster ARD showed this week. While the SPD prevaricates, Merkel looks reasonable for trying to resolve the impasse. One thing is clear: Angela Merkel s position in the CDU is very strong. She is our Number One, David McAllister, a CDU executive committee member, told Reuters. Her party believes she did all she could to forge a three-way coalition. Merkel s efforts also improved ties with the CDU s Bavarian allies in the conservative bloc, the Christian Social Union (CSU), which had been strained over immigration. Another senior CDU official said there was no question of sacrificing Merkel as the party had no credible alternative. A third senior CDU official, Volker Kauder, leader of the conservative parliamentary group in the lower house of parliament, said he hoped the Social Democrats would change their minds about rejecting another grand coalition.[nL8N1NT1PP] Steinmeier is due to meet Schulz on Thursday at 1400 GMT as part of his efforts to help facilitate a coalition government and avoid more elections. Asked about the possibility of the SPD supporting a Merkel-led minority government or entering a new grand coalition, an SPD spokesman pointed to Schulz s meeting with Steinmeier and said, then we will see what comes afterwards . A former SPD leader, Steinmeier is meeting leaders from all parties in parliament this week and wants them to make agreement on a new government possible in the near future . Only after a new government has formed is Merkel s position likely to come under pressure | 1 | [
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FMD3499 | Task: Please determine whether the claim is 0. False, 1. True, or 2. Not Enough Information (NEI) based on contextual information, and provide an appropriate explanation.
The answer need to use the following format:
Prediction: [0. False, 1. True, or 2. NEI]
Explanation: [Explain why the above prediction was made]
Claim: Tabitha Adkins and Jesse Shedd Claim summaries: Tabitha Adkins and Jesse Shedd are wanted by the police for beating an autistic woman named Ashley Hamilton?
contextual information: Claim: Jesse Shedd is wanted by the police for beating an autistic woman named Ashley Hamilton. Example: [Collected via Facebook, April 2013] WANTED BY THE LAW - TABITHA ADKINS AND JESSE SHEDD If you know the whereabouts of these criminals, please report this to your local police immediately, or post a comment on this blog or on Facebook. I see too many posts on Facebook about monsters who abuse and kill the innocent. We must not be silent. Silence implies consent. If you can stop a monster, you have to do your part—or you become an "accomplice after the fact" and share the guilt for the crime. We need everyone's help to find these two; their names are Tabitha Adkins and Jesse Shedd. They brutally beat this sweet little girl, Ashley, who is autistic, handicapped, and uses a wheelchair. Please, everyone, report this so they can be brought to justice. Origins: According to information posted on the Facebook site Justice for Ashley Hamilton, an autistic young woman by that name was "severely beaten by her caregivers" on April 3, 2013 (just three days before her 22nd birthday). Atlanta television station WIXI reported on the case, noting that: Justice for Ashley Hamilton. The Rabun County Sheriff's Office is investigating the possibility that a wheelchair-bound woman was assaulted. The victim, 21-year-old Ashley Hamilton, suffered extensive injuries to her head and face. Police found her at Raco's Sports Bar in Clayton on April 3. Rabun County Sheriff Frank Andrews said investigators think Hamilton was left in the care of family friends while her mother was out of town. The victim suffers from disabilities and must use a wheelchair. Andrews said Hamilton may have sustained her injuries on April 2. A home health professional said she told the victim's mother, Kelly Hamilton, to take the young woman to the hospital, but Ashley Hamilton did not receive medical attention until police and EMS found her at the sports bar. No arrests have been made, but Andrews said the sheriff's office has several persons of interest. They are trying to determine when and how Hamilton was injured. "We must be diligent in our efforts to find as much tangible evidence as possible since our victim is not in a position to tell us what happened to her," Andrews said in a statement. "It is in the interest of justice to see that no stone is left unturned." Atlanta television station WAGA has also reported that police were investigating the case: Authorities are investigating after a 22-year-old autistic woman was brutally attacked in Rabun County. Kelly Hamilton says she was out of town when she learned about injuries to her daughter Ashley's feet and face. "Her mouth was busted and her tooth was knocked out," Hamilton said. Family members say the autistic woman is developmentally on par with a 2-year-old child. They don't know who is responsible and say they remain stunned that anyone could or would harm the helpless woman. "The night I got home, there was no swelling or any bruising on her eye that had shown up. The doctors said that it would take 24 hours for bruising to develop," Kelly Hamilton said. After family members reported the attack, doctors treated Ashley Hamilton for those bruises. She spent a birthday in the hospital. Authorities are investigating the beating. Authorities say while Kelly Hamilton was out of town, Ashley stayed with family friends. Family members say they hope that the investigation leads to an arrest for an attack on a woman who can't fight back. "She's a beautiful little girl who can't defend herself, and she's brutally beaten up here, and I just want justice for her," said Kelly Hamilton. Rabun County authorities say that they are gathering details in the case. The Clayton Tribune posted on their Facebook page on April 5, 2013, that: Facebook page In regard to the widely circulated photo on our Facebook page and beyond of an alleged beaten girl, we confirmed [yesterday] with the Rabun County Sheriff's Department that there is an open investigation. There are currently no other official updates, but we will provide news updates as we have them. On April 17, 2013, WAGA reported that seven people, including Ashley's mother and Jesse Shedd, were facing charges in connection with the case: Jesse Shedd. Seven people are facing charges in connection to the alleged beating of an autistic woman. Now, the victim's mother and other family members responsible for her care have been arrested. Kelly Hamilton says the charges of disabled person abuse against her are unfounded. Hamilton says she was out of town when a family friend severely beat her 22-year-old daughter, Ashley. Authorities also charged Richard Foss, Hamilton's fiancé, with reckless conduct. "They're saying the reason for the charges is because we didn't immediately call the night we got home to see her in that condition, but that condition wasn't visible until the next day," said Hamilton. "They said 24 hours later the bruises would show after a beating to her head." "Besides the cut on her lip and a broken tooth, those were the only visible signs the night we arrived," Foss said. Authorities have also charged five other people in the case. Deputies say one family friend who cared for Ashley, 28-year-old Jesse Terrell Shedd, faces charges of battery and disabled person abuse for actually hitting the severely autistic woman. "During that two-hour timeframe, we don't know to what extent the abuse occurred, but the facts and circumstances led us to believe he did inflict substantial visible bodily injury on Ashley Hamilton," said Rabun County Sheriff's Office chief investigator Gerald Johnson. Last updated: April 17, 2013 Carver, Darryl. "Mom, Six Others Charged in Attack on Autistic Woman." WAGA-TV [Atlanta]. April 17, 2013. Sawicki, Beth. "Disabled Woman in Wheelchair Possibly Assaulted." WIXI-TV [Atlanta]. April 8, 2013. | 1 | [
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