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Viral Spiral
FactCheck Mailbag
FactCheck Mailbag, Week of May 7-13.
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2012 Players Guide
Author Archives: Lori Robertson
Cherry-Picking Assault Weapons Ban Studies
On Connecticut Public Broadcasting, Managing Editor Lori Robertson talks about how both sides of the gun-control debate are selectively quoting from studies on the effectiveness of the 1994 assault weapons ban. The head of the NRA, Wayne LaPierre, claimed the studies found the ban “had no impact on lowering crime,” …
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Posted in factcheck.org On the Air, Other Media
Tagged assault weapons ban, Dianne Feinstein, NRA, Wayne LaPierre
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Biden Wrong on Police Deaths
In an online interview promoted by the White House, Vice President Joe Biden made the false claim that “there were fewer police being murdered … when the assault weapons ban, in fact, was in existence.” But the FBI statistics on killings of law enforcement officers show no such trend. In …
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Voting Conspiracies
Q: Is it true that there were more votes than voters in Wood County, Ohio, and St. Lucie County, Fla., and that Obama lost every state with photo ID laws? A: No. A viral email that makes those claims is bogus. It fabricates Ohio and Florida results. Also, Obama won …
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Viral Spiral 2012
We’ve long warned our readers to make good use of the delete key when emails spreading sketchy claims pop up in their inboxes. But we’ve found that old viral emails, unfortunately, never die — and new ones spread like a highly contagious disease. These overwhelmingly anonymous messages are, by and large, bogus.
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Health Care Claims Still Viral
On Connecticut Public Broadcasting, Managing Editor Lori Robertson discusses the resurgence of old, viral email claims about the Affordable Care Act. Bogus emails claim the law would deny dialysis to Medicare patients, or have a government committee decide what treatment anyone can receive. That’s not true. For more on viral …
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Posted in factcheck.org On the Air, Other Media
Tagged Affordable Care Act, viral emails
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The Life of the Mother
Illinois Republican Rep. Joe Walsh falsely claimed that there wasn’t “one instance” where an abortion would be necessary to save the mother’s life. But the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said that more than 600 women die each year due to complications from pregnancy and childbirth, and more would …
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