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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Obama at Georgetown

Q: Did Obama ask Georgetown University to remove all religious symbols before he would speak there?
A: A religious symbol was covered at the Catholic and Jesuit institution after the White House asked for a neutral TV backdrop.

April 27, 2009

Most of the world’s cases of malaria and deaths from the disease occur in sub-Saharan Africa.
Source: World Health Organization

How Serious Is Swine Flu?

Blogs, news organizations and Twitter are all exploding with rumor and fact about the swine flu outbreak. But at the National Academy of Sciences today, President Obama said there was no need to panic:

Obama: We are closely monitoring the emerging cases of swine flu in the United States. And this is obviously a cause for concern and requires a heightened state of alert.  But it’s not a cause for alarm.

So what’s the real terror alert level on swine flu?

April 26, 2009

Honey is 80 percent sugars and 20 percent water.
Source: Department of Agriculture

April 25, 2009

Honeybees are herbivores — but they can turn to cannibalism when stressed.
Source: Department of Agriculture

Rescue of Captain Phillips

Q: Did Obama delay the rescue of Captain Phillips?
A: No. Military officials say that the claims being made in a widely circulated chain e-mail are false.

April 24, 2009

The Library of Congress was created on this day in 1800, when President John Adams approved spending $5,000 for “such books as may be necessary for the use of congress.”
Source: Library of Congress

Congress and Progress

Americans United For Change, a liberal labor-funded group, has released a new ad accusing congressional Republicans of opposing "progress."

The ad accuses Republicans of voting against children’s health insurance, equal pay for women, economic recovery, middle-class tax cuts and a budget that would lead to "long-term prosperity." We’ve called this group out before for unfounded claims about the Republican agenda, but this ad sticks closer to the truth. Democrats did push through bills on expanding the Children’s Health Insurance Program and guaranteeing equal pay for women,

April 23, 2009

A worker honey bee’s brain is only a cubic millimeter in size, but it has the densest neuropile tissue of any animal.
Source: Department of Agriculture

An Unlawful Congress?

Q: Have 84 members of Congress been arrested for drunk driving in the last year? Have seven been arrested for fraud?
A: We judge these statistics to be not credible. They originated nearly a decade ago with a Web site that still refuses to provide any proof or documentation, or even to name those accused.