Maine Gov. John Baldacci has declared August Maine Lobster Month.
Source: Maine Lobster Council
FactCheck Mailbag, Week of July 28-August 3
This week, readers sent us comments on Facebook trolls, bias and the uninsured. In the FactCheck Mailbag we feature some of the e-mail we receive.
Readers can send comments to editor@factcheck.org. Letters may be edited for length.
August 4, 2009
The world’s ocean surface temperature for June 2009 was the warmest on record, surpassing the previous record in 2005. The ocean surface temperature was 1.06 degrees Fahrenheit more than the 20th century average of 61.5 degrees Fahrenheit.
Source: NOAA
Abortion and the Health Care Bills
If you don’t keep your eye on the health care overhaul bills making their way through Congress, it’s easy to find your knowledge quickly outdated. We posted an article Friday dealing with accusations by some conservative groups that the bills would mandate government-funded abortions (they wouldn’t). That very evening, the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed a new bill. Government-funded abortions still wouldn’t be possible under this version – in fact, it’s the only bill that explicitly prohibits the use of taxpayer money to pay for the procedure,
CPR Administers Bad Facts, Again
The latest ad from the group Conservatives for Patients’ Rights claims that “new rules could hike your health insurance premiums 95 percent.” That’s misleading. The claim in the ad refers to only 5 percent of Americans who have health insurance – those who buy it on their own. The claim comes from an analysis by a group that advocates for …
August 3, 2009
President James Polk died four months after leaving office, at the age of 53. His wife lived for another 42 years.
Source: AmericanPresidents.com
Surgery for Seniors vs. Abortions?
A new TV ad sponsored by an anti-abortion group shows a white-haired man fretting that under a federal health plan, “They won’t pay for my surgery, but we’re forced to pay for abortions.”
“Will this be our future?” the ad asks, merging the fears of seniors …
July 31, 2009
President Eisenhower named the presidential retreat Camp David after his grandson. President Franklin Roosevelt previously had called it the “USS Shangri La.”
Source: WhiteHouse.gov
July 30, 2009
Air Force One, the call sign of any Air Force aircraft in which the president flies, is in practice used to refer to one of two Boeing 747-200B series aircraft, which have been customized.
Source: WhiteHouse.gov
O RLY?
Yesterday, we wearily acknowledged that nothing would dissuade birth-certificate doubters from their conviction that Barack Obama is not a United States natural-born citizen. As if on cue, dentist/lawyer Orly Taitz appeared on the "Colbert Report," and told the faux pundit that nothing short of retroactive zombie naturalization would convince her that Obama was qualified to be prez.
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The money quote:
Colbert: What would he have to do to satisfy you and those in your movement?