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FMD1500 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Unprecedented Surge In Election Fraud Incidents From Around The Country Zero Hedge
Mounting evidence would suggest it's getting more and more difficult for the left to claim that there are "no signs" of fraud in the 2016 election cycle...though we're sure they will continue to try. Just this morning the Miami Herald noted that two arrests were made in Miami-Dade county on election fraud charges including efforts by one woman to illegally register voters (some of whom were dead...a recurring theme this election cycle) while another 74-year-old election worker was charged with actually " illegally marking ballots" .
A 74-year-old woman tasked with opening envelopes sent by Miami-Dade County voters with their completed mail ballots was arrested Friday after co-workers caught her illegally marking ballots, resulting in an unknown — but small — number of fraudulent votes being cast for mayoral candidate Raquel Regalado.
Investigators linked Gladys Coego, a temporary worker for the county elections department, to two fraudulent votes, but they suspect from witness testimony that she submitted several more.
In a separate election-fraud case, authorities also arrested a second woman for unlawfully filling out voter-registration forms on behalf of United for Care, the campaign to legalize medical marijuana in Florida.
The Miami-Dade state attorney’s office plans to accuse Tomika Curgil, 33, of filling out forms for five people without their consent. She also submitted at least 17 forms for people who apparently don’t exist — and several forms for people who are dead.
Police officers arrested Curgil at her Liberty City home Friday morning and intend to charge her with five felony counts of submitting false voter-registration information.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle was quick to praise the "swift arrest of the wrongdoers" and ensure voters of the " integrity of the electoral process." That said, we, like many others, wonder just how many similar cases of election fraud will go unnoticed between now and election day.
“Our law enforcement effort against these election law violators was swift and resulted in an immediate arrest of the wrongdoers,” Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle, a Democrat, said in a statement. “The elections department was quick to detect and report these violations to our task force.
“Anyone who attempts to undermine the democratic process should recognize that there is an enforcement partnership between the elections department and our prosecution task force in place to thwart such efforts and arrest those involved. Now we need to move forward with the election.”
“I want to ensure the voters of Miami-Dade County that the integrity of the electoral process is intact because our procedures work,” White said in a statement. “While disappointed by these incidents, I am very proud of the safeguards the Elections Department has in place to prevent these fraudulent attempts, and I commend the employees who remained vigilant just as they were trained to do.”
Meanwhile, Florida isn't the only state with fraud problems as an NBC affiliate in Virginia is reporting that a former resident of Alexandia was also arrested after being caught creating fictitious voter registrations and faces up to 40 years in prison. Of course, Virginia, run by long-time Clinton confidant Terry McAuliffe, is no stranger to election fraud as one democratic organization was already caught earlier this month re-registering dead voters .
A former resident of Alexandria, Virginia, is facing up to 40 years in prison after he allegedly used fake names to fill out voter registration applications.
Vafalay Massaquoi, 30, is facing four felony charges related to allegations of voter registration fraud , the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office said. Each charge carries a maximum of 10 years in prison.
In the spring of 2016, Massaquoi was registering new voters as an employee of a local advocacy group. According to the Commonwealth's Attorney, Massaquoi fabricated applications and used fake names to fill out the registration forms.
The fake applications were filed with the Alexandria Office of the General Registrar, who reported the issue to Commonwealth's Attorney Bryan Porter.
All of these reports simply add fuel to the fire of Trump who has been relentlessly attacking the "rigged" elections for the past several weeks. The election is absolutely being rigged by the dishonest and distorted media pushing Crooked Hillary - but also at many polling places - SAD
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 16, 2016 'Obama Warned Of Rigged Elections In 2008.' Time to #DrainTheSwamp https://t.co/AkczH8l0FJ pic.twitter.com/7mIkwAHTuV
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 25, 2016
Of course, these are just a few of the people who have actually been caught for their election "rigging" efforts. Meanwhile, there have seemingly been an unlimited number of other fraud cases pop up around the country involving everything from illegal voter registrations to dead people voting. In fact, a recent report from CBS Chicago found that over 100 dead Chicagoans had voted 229 times over the past decade.
Susie Sallee was buried in 1998. Yet records show she voted in Chicago 12 years later.
Victor Crosswell died in 1994, but records show he’s voted six times since then.
And then there’s Floyd Stevens. Records show he’s voted 11 times since his death in 1993.
“It’s crazy,” Sharon Stevens Anderson, Stevens’ daughter, tells CBS 2’s Pam Zekman. “I don’t see how people can be able to do something like that and get away with it.”
Those are just a few of the cases CBS 2 Investigators found by merging Chicago Board of Election voter histories with the death master file from the Social Security Administration.
In all, the analysis showed 119 dead people have voted a total of 229 times in Chicago in the last decade.
Moreover, an ABC affiliate in Philadelphia uncovered similar instances of dead voters in the "City of Brotherly Love."
So, Action News dug through a decade's worth of election and death records to see if there was any truth to the claim.
Some of what Action News investigation found was stunning.
Pezzano passed in 2006 . But state voting records show the South Philadelphia native still listed as an "Active Voter" who cast ballots in 2008, 2012, 2014, and the 2016 primary election.
Our investigation also found Joseph B. Haggarty resting peacefully in a Bucks County cemetery. His grave marker confirmed he died in 2010, but records show he voted five years after his death.
Action News also found Paul Bunch, who died in 2006, also cast a vote in this year's primary which was nearly ten years after death records show he died.
But, while all of this may seem shocking, in due time, we're confident these arrests and all other instances dead people voting, etc. will be seen for what they really are, namely another blatant attempt to suppress low-income and minority votes. Share This Article... | 0 | [
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FMD1501 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Print
It looks like the vaunted air space coordination between the U.S. and Russia in Syria isn’t producing a safe flying environment.
U.S. officials said Friday that a Russian fighter “flew dangerously close” to a U.S. warplane in eastern Syria on 17 October – something that can’t possibly be unavoidable, in light of the prior agreement by Russia and the U.S., in 2015, to deconflict air operations there.
The AFP report provides this description:
The near miss occurred late on October 17, when a Russian jet that was escorting a larger spy plane manoeuvred in the vicinity of an American warplane, Air Force Lieutenant General Jeff Harrigan said.
The Russian jet came to “inside of half a mile”, he added.
Another US military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the American pilot could feel the turbulence produced by the Russian jet’s engines.
“It was close enough you could feel the jet wash of the plane passing by,” the official said.
It appeared the Russian pilot had simply not seen the US jet, as it was dark and the planes were flying without lights.
“I would attribute it to not having the necessary situational awareness given all those platforms operating together,” Harrigan said.
One is tempted to go heavy on the sarcasm, in response to that.
But OK. AFP offers a bit of analysis:
The incident raises serious questions about the extent to which pilots are able to track the complex airspace they operate in.
Well, sort of. Basically, there are two separate networks exercising command and control over the same air space – and that’s your problem, right there. Add to it the likelihood that the Russians are not squawking IFF in a way that U.S. systems can interpret, and you have the potential for a nice fecal focaccia.
Looking at the air command/control assets that seem to be available for operations, there shouldn’t have to be a safety or awareness issue, at least not during planned air strike and air support operations. When they have aircraft operating, both coalitions, Russian and U.S., have the technical means to maintain good, fine-grain air pictures in the area in question. (The general area the encounter occurred in can be inferred from where the U.S. coalition conducted air strikes on 17 October . See map.) Locations of coalition air strikes in Syria on 17 Oct 2016. The locations at Ayn Isa, Abu Kamal, Al Shaddadi and possibly Palmyra could qualify as “eastern” Syria, the region reported for the close air encounter. If the Russian fighter was escorting the Tu-214R, the night Russian commanders expected to see ISIS fighters making their way into Syria, the easternmost area where Al-Shaddadi and Abu Kamal — or Al-Bukamal — are located would be the most likely. (Google map; author annotation)
The Russians have their S-300 and S-400 radars and command vehicles, along with the radars and command center of the Syrian national system. Russia has also operated the A-50 Mainstay AWACS over Syria since December 2015, although there’s no way to know if it was operating on 17 October. The A-50 isn’t forward-based in Syria, but rather operates out of Mozdok in southern Russia. (It may well have been operating that night, given the other things going on.)
The U.S. coalition has E-2C Hawkeyes from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) airwing, which come up from the Persian Gulf to support operations in both northern Iraq and eastern Syria. VAW-123 Screwtops tighten up an E-2C Hawkeye to support #OperationInherentResolve . #ForwardDeployed (Photo by SN Dartez C. Williams) pic.twitter.com/LX7pHI1Bs7
— U.S. 5th Fleet (@US5thFleet) October 18, 2016
The U.S. coalition can also interoperate right now with E-2Cs from FS Charles de Gaulle , which has been in the Eastern Mediterranean , and flying its airwing over Syria, since September. It’s not clear where Charles de Gaulle ’s E-2Cs are flying, but they are capable of providing interlocking air space coverage with Ike ’s E-2Cs, when both are airborne. French carrier FS Charles de Gaulle. (File image via Le Parisien)
Working with de Gaulle on 17 October were also two destroyers, USS Ross (DDG-71) and FS Chevalier Paul , one or both of which would have been able to track Russian aircraft to some distance inland over Syria. (Their more-constant but less extensive air picture(s) would complement and enhance that of the airborne Hawkeyes.)
These operational-level assets keeping up an area air picture supplement the on-scene information an individual aircraft has from its own radar system, as well as enabling the air defense command/control platform to keep each aircraft under combat direction.
At the time of the encounter, U.S. and French systems had the ability to know where Russian aircraft were, even if the Russians had to be identified by default, rather than by positive confirmation from Identification Friend or Foe (IFF). (The Russians, recall, up in the Baltic, have been going out of their way to not “squawk” IFF in good faith where NATO systems can detect it. They presumably reserve the right to behave the same way over Syria. From what U.S. officials have sometimes been careful not to say, it sounds to me like that’s what they’re doing. That said, there aren’t so darn many unidentified aircraft zorching around over Syria at 500 knots that it would have to take very long to know you’ve got either a Russian or a Syrian jet fighter.)
Russian systems also had the ability to know where U.S. coalition aircraft were on 17 October. It’s not credible to claim that they had no awareness. And they probably had the IFF codes of those aircraft, and knew whose they were, since the coalition is presumably squawking as per normal.
The “incredibility” of the claim that the Russian aircraft “couldn’t see” the U.S. warplane is compounded by the fact that the Russian fighter was said to be escorting a “large spy plane.” This was probably the Tu-214R , Russia’s newest, uniquely capable airborne ISR platform, with a sensor suite somewhat similar to the U.S. E-8 JSTARS. If the Russian fighter escort really didn’t know that a U.S. fighter was within weapons range of the “spy plane,” the fighter pilot’s head should have been delivered on a platter 15 minutes after he got back on the ground. (The search sector of his radar isn’t an issue. He’s getting paid to make it comprehensive, maneuvering as necessary, while he’s up their escorting a high-value asset. The fighter plane was probably an Su-30SM using a Bars N011M series radar system, incidentally.)
So it would take a lot of convincing for me to believe that the close encounter the night of 17 October occurred because of any inadequacy in system capability. The dangerously inadequate coordination arrangements the U.S. is tolerating are the real issue, I suspect.
A couple of points about those arrangements. One, let’s review the assessment from earlier again:
Basically, there are two separate networks exercising command and control over the same air space – and that’s your problem, right there. Add to it the likelihood that the Russians are not squawking IFF in a way that U.S. systems can interpret, and you have the potential for a nice fecal focaccia.
This is the situation when two hostile forces are operating in the same air space. Another word for that is “combat.” There’s no political will for combat between the two forces in question, of course. But the mechanical arrangements of military operations in the battle space don’t reflect that. It’s an incredibly stupid situation.
Two, the close encounter occurred at an interesting time; i.e., the second night of the ground assault on Mosul , which started on Sunday, 16 October. The U.S. had been striking targets around Mosul for about three days at that point, and had started pounding ISIS positions on the outskirts of Mosul with artillery late Saturday or early Sunday, according to local sources. Russia, at the time, was playing up a non-credible report that the U.S. planned to let thousands of ISIS fighters leave Mosul and move into Syria – implicitly to fight Syrian regime forces and thwart the intentions of the Russian coalition. (Trying to track such a stream of guerrilla evacuees, if the Russians really believed their own hype, would have been an ideal mission for the Tu-214R “spy plane.”)
One more significant thing was happening at exactly the same time. A NATO AWACS contingent was deploying to Turkey to support the U.S. coalition in Syria and Iraq. Russia opposes that move. Although the NATO AWACS hadn’t flown a mission yet, its first mission was three days later, on 20 October. The Russians knew it was there, in Turkey, setting up for operations.
In other theaters, Russia has been signaling dissatisfaction through dangerous, unsafe military encounters for many months now. We can conclude with strong confidence that that’s what has happened in Syria. We can expect it to happen again. | 0 | [
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FMD1502 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Israel Shamir is an internationally acclaimed political thinker, Internet columnist and writer. His comments about current affairs and their deeper meaning are published on his site IsraelShamir.net and elsewhere. They are also collected in three books, Galilee Flowers, Cabbala of Power and recently published Masters of Discourse available in English, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Norwegian, Swedish, Italian, Hungarian etc. Shamir is a Russian-born Jew who converted to Orthodox Christianity. Originally from Novosibirsk, Siberia, Shamir moved to Israel in 1969. He lives in Jaffa and and spends much time in Moscow and Stockholm ; and is an outspoken critic of Israel and Zionism. Israel Shamir can be reached at [email protected] I envy you, American citizens. By Israel Shamir on November 4, 2016 We know he is against the Masters because every newspaper is against him.
by Israel Shamir
I envy you, American citizens. I do not care about your military might, nor for your supreme currency, the US dollar. I envy your chance to deal on 11/8 a decisive blow to the rule of the Masters of Discourse.
Though the Masters control the entirety of world media, and they decide what people may think and say from Canada to Hong Kong, only you, American citizens, can defeat them. This is a great chance, a unique opportunity not to be missed.
The Masters of Discourse can be defeated. They are not stronger than any ruler of past. Trump has a great quality making him fit for the task: he is impervious to labels and libels. He had been called everything in the book: anti-Semite, racist, women hater, you name it. And he still survived that flak. Such people are very rare.
We know he is against the Masters because every newspaper is against him. I never saw a similar onslaught but once, in Russia in 1996. Then President Yeltsin, an old drunkard who had brought Russia to collapse, had to run for his second term. His popularity was next to zero. Two per cent of Russians intended to vote for him. And then the oligarchs turned on their propaganda machine. Yeltsin’s competitor Gennady Zyuganov, a mild church-going post-communist, had been presented like a Hitler of his days. All the Russian media of the day belonged to oligarchs, and all of it participated in the onslaught. Zyuganov surrendered.
Perhaps he won the election, but he congratulated Yeltsin with his victory. It was said that he was threatened with assassination unless… Others say he was bribed. I do not exclude both explanations, but for sure the might of united media can crush a timid man.
In the days of the Jewish Temple, there was a Magrepha, a wind instrument able to produce diverse and frightening sounds. There is no agreement among the scholars about what sort of thing it was. Whenever it sounded, people were scared.
The media of our days is a new Magrepha. If all of its outputs are united, they produce a terrible roar. A Magrepha, the organ of the ancient Hebrews in the synagogue.
Yes, the onslaught of the media upon Trump has been exceedingly unfair, but he survived it. What is even more important, you survived it, it does not matter what the polls say: they say what the newspapers tell them to say. Even people answer the polls according to the media prognoses: they are shy of saying they would vote for a man who … But at the moment of actual vote, they do what they know is right for them. Not for transgenders, not for Muslim brokers, not even for single mothers, but for themselves.
You have a very good chance to win, and to defeat the witch and her supporters. We learned that the British people voted for Brexit, though all the media said that proposal had no chance. But we also learned from Brexit, that nothing is over until it is over. The Masters of Discourse will try every trick to steal the elections, and only their fear of armed rising may finally force them to acknowledge their inevitable defeat. We know that in 2015, when Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, was afraid of losing the elections, he revealed that the American intelligence has some superior software which allows them to falsify the elections. Perhaps, but he won despite this magical software, despite Obama’s wrath. Even in Israel, that favorite son of the Masters, the Masters are hated. The New York Times is always speaking good about Israel, but still Israelis do not like the newspaper. Nobody likes them, nobody likes an old aunt who tries to tell us what we can say and what we can’t. If Netanyahu could win, Trump can win twice. KEY STATES TILTING TOWARD TRUMP AFTER FBI’S OCTOBER SURPRISE
After the first debate of Trump and Clinton, people said: She won! But we shall vote for him. This was a very encouraging sign. Indeed every woman worth its salt would win an argument with her husband or son-in-law, let alone a pretender. That is the way we are made.
The story of sirens enforces the belief that if you listen to a woman, she will bewitch you. Sirens actually ate the bewitched sailors; our womenfolk do not go to such extremes, but they can cause us a lot of trouble.
Trump seems to be almost pure of heart and deed, as even the extremely prejudiced media could not find anything really incriminating about him but bragging about having his way with women.
I shall not recount so many proven accusations against Hillary. All of that can be found in the emails revealed by Julian Assange and his great Wikileaks team. The media kept mum about it, but the secrets can’t be kept forever.
There are many practical things Donald Trump will be able to fix. He can return industries home, he can return American GIs home from four ends of the world, he can improve life for a lot of working men and women. But he surely will set all of us free from the annoying bondage of the Masters. Just for that reason, go and vote, for yourself and for millions of us who aren’t entitled to. Israel Shamir can be reached at This article was first published at The Unz Review .
Also see: | 0 | [
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FMD1503 | 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 spending in the fiscal 2009 budget was lower than spending in the fiscal 2014 budget
contextual information: Chris Christie has spent months emphasizing how high New Jersey's spending was when his gubernatorial challenger, Barbara Buono, chaired a Senate budget panel a few years ago. Now, Buono, a Democratic state senator from Metuchen, is taking her shot at spending under Christie. Buono made her move at a June 26 Senate budget hearing when she spoke against Christie's $32.9 billion budget for fiscal year 2014. The Legislature approved the plan that afternoon, and Christie signed it two days later. Buono noted in her speech that the fiscal year 2009 budget, crafted during her tenure as chair of the Senate's Budget and Appropriations Committee, spent less than what has been approved for fiscal year 2014. We wondered if that was true, especially since Christie has frequently criticized spending levels when Buono led the budget panel, particularly for fiscal year 2008. However, in this case, Buono's claim about higher spending in Christie's just-approved budget is accurate. Let's review the numbers. Patrick Giordano, Buono's chief of staff, said in an email that Buono's figures were confirmed by the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services. We reviewed an email sent by David J. Rosen, the OLS budget and finance officer, to Giordano, and then confirmed the data separately with Rosen. The result? Spending in the fiscal year 2009 appropriations act was $32.86 billion, compared with $32.97 billion for the fiscal year 2014 spending plan, Rosen wrote to Giordano. That's a difference of $108,491,000, or one-third of 1 percent. So, Buono's claim is correct: spending for the fiscal year 2014 budget is higher than for fiscal year 2009. For context, let's also look at spending under the fiscal year 2008 budget—the other spending plan that Buono helped craft during her chairmanship of the Senate budget panel. Buono referenced both budgets during her speech on the Senate floor. Former Gov. Jon Corzine had final approval of the fiscal years 2008 and 2009 budgets. Now, let's look at spending for every fiscal year since 2008:
FISCAL YEAR TOTAL APPROPRIATIONS
FY2008 $33.47 billion
FY2009 $32.86 billion
FY2010 $28.99 billion
FY2011 $28.36 billion
FY2012 $29.69 billion
FY2013 $31.65 billion
FY2014 $32.97 billion
Sources: New Jersey Office of Legislative Services Summary of Appropriations Acts for fiscal years 2008-2014
So, state spending dropped from fiscal year 2008 to 2009, but state spending has increased in each of Christie's budgets. It's worth noting that the recession had a major impact on decreased spending from 2008 to 2009. The National Bureau of Economic Research has defined the recession as beginning in December 2007 and ending in June 2009. New Jersey Senate Republicans spokesman Ben Sparks did not respond to our request for comment. Our ruling: Buono said during a speech on the Senate floor about the fiscal year 2014 budget that its spending level is higher than spending under the fiscal year 2009 budget. Buono chaired the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee when the 2009 plan was drafted and ultimately approved by Corzine. The OLS confirmed Buono's claim, noting that spending for fiscal year 2009 was $32.86 billion, compared with $32.97 billion for fiscal year 2014. We rate Buono's claim True. To comment on this story, go to NJ.com. | 1 | [
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FMD1504 | 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 the man from Ohio who referred to COVID-19 as a 'political scheme' pass away from the illness? Claim summaries: John W. McDaniel of Ohio passed away at the age of 60 in April 2020.
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.
In April 2020, a set of screenshots supposedly showing comments from a "John McDaniels," in which he called COVID-19 a "political ploy" and social-distancing measures "bullshit," started to circulate on social media. Along with the posts were articles claiming he died from complications of the coronavirus disease.
McDaniel truly died from complications related to COVID-19 in April 2020 after he downplayed the seriousness of the disease on social media. The New York Daily News reported that an Ohio man tragically died from COVID-19 after criticizing his state's coronavirus lockdown. John W. McDaniel, 60, died Wednesday in Columbus, exactly one month after reportedly calling Gov. Mike DeWine's stay-at-home order madness. "If what I'm hearing is true, that DeWine has ordered all bars and restaurants to be closed, I say bullshit! He doesn't have the authority," McDaniel reportedly wrote in a since-deleted social media post that circulated widely. As screenshots of McDaniel's posts went viral, many social media users took the opportunity to criticize him, saying he had received his comeuppance for calling the virus a political ploy.
McDaniel's wife, Lisa, acknowledged that her husband had made some "early assumptions" about the virus on social media but added that social media users were also making unfair assumptions about him. In a statement posted to the Snyder Funeral Homes Facebook page, which announced that services for McDaniel would not be live-streamed due to concerns about unwanted, negative social media reactions, she explained that McDaniel, like many others, was initially not fully aware of the severity of the pandemic. However, she wrote that he ordered the employees at his company, O&M, to work from home on March 16 (the day after the above-displayed Facebook post). Furthermore, according to her Facebook message, he self-isolated as soon as he was made aware that he had been in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.
Lastly, she wrote that if he were still alive, he would have abided by the state's stay-at-home order and would have encouraged others to do the same. Here's her statement from April 22, 2020 (emphasis ours): "Words do not describe all of the emotions we, John W. McDaniel's family, are experiencing right now. We are overwhelmed with grief for the loss of our beloved husband, father, soon-to-be father-in-law, son, brother, uncle, and dear friend to many. Similar to thousands of people, we are suffering from an unexpected and untimely loss due to the effects of COVID-19, the likes of which we never could have imagined. During this time of mourning, John's story, along with early assumptions that he stated on Twitter and Facebook, have turned into national news. The news has opened the floodgates for people to share their own misguided anger and unfounded assumptions about a man they don't know. Wanting to protect my family and John's legacy, we have decided not to live stream his funeral services via Facebook today. We will be privately recording his services today, and we will be sharing it directly with his family and friends. We have not come to this decision lightly, and we hope everyone will honor and respect this decision.
As each day passes, we are all learning more about this "invisible enemy." We have learned that the early actions taken by our national and state government were indeed the right actions to take. Quarantine and social distancing have been effective in flattening the curve. John, President of O&M, ordered the company to work from home on March 16. In addition, it is important to note that John immediately self-isolated as soon as he learned he had been in contact with someone who had tested positive. Many, like John, made statements early on not fully aware of the severity of COVID-19; many have retracted their statements knowing now the effects of this pandemic. We know if John were still here with us, he would acknowledge the national crisis we're in, abide by the stay-at-home order, and encourage family and friends to do the same. But sadly, he is not with us, and we will forever have to live and cope with how his life ended far too soon. Furthermore, we will never be able to erase from our hearts and minds the negative posts that have been made and shared about John this past week. To all of our family and friends, my sons and I will never be able to appropriately say "thank you" for all the love and support you have given us throughout this entire process. From the bottom of our hearts, we will forever be grateful for you and the special relationship we share.
While some may cast aspersions on McDaniel for not treating COVID-19 with the seriousness it deserved in March 2020, it should be noted that misinformation has been rampant during this pandemic. We've debunked scores of rumors over several months that have touted bad medical advice and promoted conspiracy theories. U.S. President Donald Trump has also been criticized for downplaying the seriousness of COVID-19 and has repeatedly called the news outlets covering this pandemic "fake news." On Feb. 28, just two weeks before McDaniel posted on social media that COVID-19 was a "political ploy," Trump said during a rally that "Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus" as their "new hoax." | 1 | [
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FMD1505 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Tell us again Barack, about the poor widows and orphans who are being strategically placed in our small towns and communities across America. With all the rape and violence being committed by these refugees, why in the world would we welcome these savage animals into our country? Oh that s right to vote for Democrats A Muslim councilor has admitted that some feel as though it takes two to tango as 12 men were jailed for gang-raping a 13-year-old white girl in West Yorkshire.The gang of men from Pakistani origin were jailed for a total of 143 years at Bradford Crown Court today, for 13 months of horrendous abuse of the British white girl in 2011 and 2012. However, the Councillor for Keighley Central, where the abuse took place, has admitted that some members of the community felt it takes two to tango and that the girl may have played her part .Zafar Ali, who has been a member of the Keighley Mosque for decades believes that some of the men may have attended in the past, but said the Muslim community totally condemn their actions.He told MailOnline: Everyone now believes that justice has been done, we need to move forward and it is a lesson for the whole Muslim community. There are a few bad apples but this does not represent the Muslim community as a whole and any sensible Muslim totally condemns these actions. Eleven of the men were today jailed for rape and a twelfth man was jailed for sexual activity with a child under 16 today at Bradford Crown Court, but the ringleader has fled to Bangladesh.West Yorkshire Police confirmed that the men jailed were of Pakistani origin.The sentences come as it emerged that:Ringleader Ahmed Al-Choudhury who facilitated most of the offences is believed to now be living in Bangladesh after fleeing at the beginning of the investigation in 2012 After the sentencing, Kris Hopkins, Conservative MP for Keighley spoke out against the sick model of organized groups of Asian men grooming young white girls , but said there are more women out there who need justice.He said the sentenced were vindication for controversial comments he made during a parliamentary debate in 2012, claiming that organised groups of Asian men were going around raping white girls .However, he claims that even today he has been lambasted for even mentioning that the men are Asian when talking about the sentences.He told MailOnline: There are sexual offenders who are white, but the fact is this particular model is all Asian men and all the victims were white. I was attacked in 2012 and today, when these men were convicted, the community was silent. You have to ask yourself why these men get away with this behavior. There is broader issues around the way women are treated in that community, there are hundreds if not thousands of women who live behind that door and have no voice. In a Commons speech three years ago, Mr Hopkins caused controversy three years ago when he suggested Muslim men were fundamentally sexist towards women.Judge Roger Thomas QC condemned the insolent and disrespectful behaviour the accused showed in court which he said reflected their treatment of their victim.They showed her no shred of decency or humanity when as a vulnerable child she so needed care and understandingJudge Roger Thomas QC told them: The attitudes of the majority of you have so clearly demonstrated to these proceedings has been contemptuous, disrespectful and arrogant on a scale that I have hardly seen before in many years of practice in criminal law. Exactly the same attitude to the 13/14 year old girl who you all sexually abused and exploited for your own selfish gratification. He added: None of these defendants had any concern for the victim. They were totally uninterested in her welfare and what damage they were causing her. The victim clearly demanded pity and understanding but their view of her was heartless and demeaning. They saw her as a pathetic figure who had no worth and who served no purpose than to be an object that they could sexually misuse and cast aside. Via: Daily Mail | 0 | [
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FMD1506 | 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 Mark Twain Say, 'In the Beginning of a Change, the Patriot Is a Scarce Man'? Claim summaries: We're happy to report that not all of the quotes attributed to Mark Twain on the internet are bogus.
contextual information: Mark Twain (1835-1910), the author of "Huckleberry Finn" and "Tom Sawyer," remains one of the most celebrated American writers and humorists. He is certainly among the most quotable authors of all time, not to mention one of the most misquoted. For whatever reason, people like to attribute jokes and aphorisms to Twain that he never said or wrote. In early 2023, we were alerted to a meme that was circulating with a quote attributed to Twain on the subject of patriotism. It had been met with some skepticism online, in part because some people pointed out that the year given for the quote, 1935, was 34 years after Twain's death. When we investigated, however, we found that the quote itself is properly attributed to him, and 1935 was the date it was first published. The passage is an excerpt from a section titled "Maxims in the Rough" from "Mark Twain's Notebook," a collection first published in 1935 by Harper & Brothers. Here is the full paragraph, plus the three that immediately followed it, for context: Maxims in the Rough Mark Twain's Notebook In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man, brave, hated, and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot. The soul and substance of what customarily ranks as patriotism is moral cowardice and always has been. In any civic crisis of a great and dangerous sort, the common herd is not privately anxious about the rights and wrongs of the matter; it is only anxious to be on the winning side. In the North, before the War, the man who opposed slavery was despised, ostracized, and insulted by the "Patriots." Then, by and by, the "Patriots" went over to his side, and thenceforth his attitude became patriotism. There are two kinds of patriotism: monarchical patriotism and republican patriotism. In the one case, the government and the king may rightfully furnish you their notions of patriotism; in the other, neither the government nor the entire nation is privileged to dictate to any individual what the form of his patriotism shall be. The Gospel of Monarchical Patriotism is: "The King can do no wrong." We have adopted it with all its servility, with an unimportant change in the wording: "Our country, right or wrong!" We have thrown away the most valuable asset we have—the individual right to oppose both flag and country when he (just he by himself) believes them to be in the wrong. We have thrown it away; and with it all that was really respectable about the grotesque and laughable word, Patriotism. Source: Twain, Mark. "Mark Twain's Notebook." London, New York: Harper & Brothers, 1935. https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/ItalTravLit/id/22396. Accessed 18 Jan. 2023. | 1 | [
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FMD1507 | 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 this photograph depicting legislators playing solitaire? Claim summaries: "The bills theyre passing by playing solitaire instead of voting for us are taking away our freedoms with every key stroke."
contextual information: A photograph that appears to show representatives playing solitaire on their laptops during a legislative session has certainly struck a chord among many viewers, undoubtedly because it seemingly confirms a widely held view of elected representatives as paid fat cats frittering away their time on frivolous pursuits rather than engaging in serious governmental problem-solving efforts. The photograph is real, although it has erroneously been attributed to a number of different legislative bodies, from the U.S. Congress to various state legislatures. This picture was sent to me, showing our Congress at work. It was said that this was while Congress was in session, which appears to be true, and that it was during the health care debate. Even if it wasn't during the health care debate, if this is how they spend their time while they are supposed to be deciding on important issues, then I not only want a rebate on my tax dollars, but I also want to see some new people who actually care about what is happening and are paying close attention to the matter at hand sitting in those seats. It seems we don't need to be sending them on any more expensive vacations; they're already on one. It seems to me that if all we are doing is paying these congressmen and women a gigantic salary to sit in congressional sessions and play solitaire or whatever, it's time to bring most of them back home by replacement. Democrats, Republicans, independents—it makes no difference. The bills they're passing by playing solitaire instead of voting for us are taking away our freedoms with every keystroke. Folks, we need to forward this to everyone we know to get the word out about these people who are being paid by our tax dollars. Nothing else needs to be said. This is one of their three-day work weeks that we all pay for. I am ready to start from the beginning by voting out all elected officials and not allowing any of them to stay in office for more than two terms. No more lifelong healthcare, retirement, voting in their own pay raises, or taking perks on our taxes, etc. These are the folks that can't get the budget out by October 1. Seriously! So, we've got a 30-day budget extension. Well, guess what? Thirty days from now, we will be in the same boat. I guess this makes it easy for the news reporters, as all they have to do is recycle the same headlines from this week and from two years ago. And these individuals will still be playing solitaire! The picture was actually snapped in the Connecticut House of Representatives on August 31, 2009, by photographer Jessica Hill, while Rep. Larry Cafero was delivering a lengthy speech on the state budget. The photo was captioned by the Associated Press as follows: "House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk, far right, speaks while colleagues play solitaire on their computers as the House convenes to vote on a new budget for the fiscal year in the Capitol, in Hartford, Conn." Ms. Hill described the reaction to her photograph as follows: "I have received a great deal of mail and even a few calls from people all over the country over the last couple of months about the photograph I have as a lead-off image on my member page. Some viewers have even gone so far as to say they believe the photograph is not authentic. I take my profession very seriously. There is nothing staged or altered in the photograph, and it is insulting to me to have been accused of otherwise by people who do not even know me." Rep. Jack Hennessy (D-Bridgeport), one of the two Connecticut legislators shown in the photo playing solitaire on a laptop computer (the other was Rep. Barbara Lambert [D-Milford]), issued a letter of apology to his constituents: "It was certainly bad judgment for me to play a computer game, even for just a few minutes, during the final House session on the budget. I am embarrassed, and I apologize to each and every person in the North End and to people across the state. My actions were inexcusable. I do want my constituents to know that my poor judgment for a few moments in no way means I ignored your interests in representing you on this very serious matter. Over the past seven months, as a member of the General Assembly's Finance Committee, I have participated fully in the budget process and have played an active role in crafting a budget that provides the necessary services that our communities so desperately need while at the same time minimizing any negative impact on the city of Bridgeport and its people. I sincerely apologize to each of you. I look forward to having the continued privilege of representing you and your interests in Hartford. I thank you in advance for your understanding and have been humbled by those of you who have already expressed your understanding and forgiveness." | 1 | [
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] | 1 |
FMD1508 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: As you know, Donald Trump put aside his disdain for intelligence, intelligence briefings, and basically anything associated with the i-word (after all, he does love the poorly educated) to attend a briefing on Vladimir Putin s hack of our election on Friday. Though the meeting was intended to drive the point home that 1.) Russia did indeed hack our election, 2.) the hack was meant to get Donald Trump elected, and Wikileaks was definitely used to disseminate the hacked documents, The Donald somehow managed to leave the meeting more sure than ever that he is right.Friday night, he went straight to his favorite pastime: victim blaming. Gross negligence by the Democratic National Committee allowed hacking to take place, Trump said. The Republican National Committee had strong defense! Gross negligence by the Democratic National Committee allowed hacking to take place.The Republican National Committee had strong defense! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2017In reality, as was made public some time ago, the Republican National C ommitteewas also hacked, but Putin chose not to release the information because he was trying to install his big orange puppet in the White House. But Trump, like nearly every Republican ever, has never been known to let facts get in the way of his beliefs.Apparently, having not gotten it all out yet, Trump woke up and tweeted another barrage of stupidity before you even had your morning cup of coffee. Intelligence stated very strongly there was absolutely no evidence that hacking affected the election results, he wrote in his morning dose of stupidity. Voting machines not touched! Intelligence stated very strongly there was absolutely no evidence that hacking affected the election results. Voting machines not touched! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2017Actually, there is strong evidence that the hacking affected the election results, though no one at any point has claimed that voting machines were altered in any way something he would have known before that meeting if he cared at all about fact checking before he unleashes on Twitter. Had he listened in his meeting, he would know that the report did not actually look into whether the hack impacted the election results:We did not make an assessment of the impact that Russian activities had on the outcome of the 2016 election. The US Intelligence Community is charged with monitoring and assessing the intentions, capabilities, and actions of foreign actors; it does not analyze US political processes or US public opinion.But what this all comes down to is ego, according to Trump. He doesn t mean his, of course, but he feels that Democrats fragile little egos were crushed because the loss by the Dems was so big that they are totally embarrassed! Only reason the hacking of the poorly defended DNC is discussed is that the loss by the Dems was so big that they are totally embarrassed! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2017Of course, Trump actually lost the popular vote by nearly three million and he managed one of the most humiliating wins even by the standards of the Electoral College, a system that was put in place solely to benefit slave owners by making rural voters ballots count more than many other Americans . In fact, only 12 elections since 1789 have seen winners with fewer delegate votes than Trump received. If anyone s ego is causing anyone to lash out like a madman, one only needs to look at Trump s Twitter feed to see whom that is.Naturally, he got thrashed by the denizens of Twitter:@realDonaldTrump You lost by over 3 million popular votes. You won the election but slow down on the "big" win. Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) January 7, 2017@realDonaldTrump You won electoral votes, but lost the popular vote by the biggest margin ever. America knows a loser when it sees one: you. Omeed (@Omeed) January 7, 2017@realDonaldTrump So when are you going public about being Putin's RIDE OR DIE CHICK? pic.twitter.com/kf5pBhIqJU Kristina Wong (@mskristinawong) January 7, 2017@realDonaldTrump Go fuck yourself. Noah Kalina (@noahkalina) January 7, 2017 @realDonaldTrump GOP was also hacked. Relevant question: Extent of your knowledge regarding Russia, Putin's efforts to win election for you. Jeffrey Guterman (@JeffreyGuterman) January 7, 2017.@realDonaldTrump You literally lost by 3 million votes even though the Russians hacked and interfered on your behalf. Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) January 7, 2017@realDonaldTrump This may be hard to understand, but we would like our future elections to not have a sprinkling of Russian involvement. MatthewDicks (@MatthewDicks) January 7, 2017@realDonaldTrump Their embarrassment over losing to the likes of you doesn't mitigate or negate the attack on our nation s election process. MatthewDicks (@MatthewDicks) January 7, 2017@realDonaldTrump You might want to delete this tweet. It s sort of designed for ridicule. Like the largest softball in all of human history. MatthewDicks (@MatthewDicks) January 7, 2017@realDonaldTrump This is a false equivalence.Yes, they are embarrassed to lose to a bigot.Yes, Putin undermined our election process. MatthewDicks (@MatthewDicks) January 7, 2017@flanagan_aj @keatonc33 @steveclarkuk @realDonaldTrump it was the 44th-largest electoral win, so even by that standard it wasn't "huge". Jeff Fecke (@jkfecke) January 7, 2017The report Trump ignored states that the 2016 election interference dwarfs anything Russia has done in the past:Russian efforts to influence the 2016 US presidential election represent the most recent expression of Moscow s longstanding desire to undermine the US-led liberal democratic order, but these activities demonstrated a significant escalation in directness, level of activity, and scope of effort compared to previous operations.Ultimately, no matter what Trump says, these are the facts:We assess Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election. Russia s goals were to undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency. We further assess Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump. We have high confidence in these judgments.We also assess Putin and the Russian Government aspired to help President-elect Trump s election chances when possible by discrediting Secretary Clinton and publicly contrasting her unfavorably to him. All three agencies agree with this judgment. CIA and FBI have high confidence in this judgment; NSA has moderate confidence.Moscow s approach evolved over the course of the campaign based on Russia s understanding of the electoral prospects of the two main candidates. When it appeared to Moscow that Secretary Clinton was likely to win the election, the Russian influence campaign began to focus more on undermining her future presidency.Trump has once again proven himself to be an imbecile who isn t qualified to run a banana stand let alone the country. He s right about one thing, though: Democrats are totally embarrassed not because of a bigly loss, but because our country somehow kinda-sorta elected someone who stands for everything it does not.Featured image via Getty Images (Mark Wilson)/screengrab | 0 | [
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] | 0 |
FMD1509 | 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: Health Insurance Under the Affordable Care Act Costs Hundreds or Thousands Per Month? Claim summaries: ACA costs are going up in 2017, but premium payments depend largely on the individual's income level.
contextual information: On 24 October 2016, health insurance broker Tyler McClosky created a phenomenon on Facebook when he posted a screen shot of what it would cost for a family of four with a total household income of $98,000 in Lee County, Florida, to buy insurance on the Affordable Care Act's marketplace: We were able to recreate McClosky's viral post using the shopping tool at healthcare.gov and the same data he entered (two non-smoking parents with a combined income of $98,000 and two 8-year-old children in Lee County, Florida): tool But data sent by a Department of Health and Human Services official pointed out that 81 percent of families of that size on an Obamacare plan have household incomes of less than $48,000. So the average family currently subscribing to Obamacare would not be paying nearly as much as the image above depicts in their out-of-pocket premium costs. We entered the same data but changed the income to $48,000 here: McClosky created the post on 24 October 2016, the same day a report by the Department of Health and Human Services was released detailing an average 25 percent increase in costs to the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) customers: customers Across states using the HealthCare.gov platform, the median increase in the second-lowest cost silver plan premium is 16 percent, while the average increase is 25 percent. This figure varies based on locale. For instance, a table compiled by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that people in Phoenix, Arizona will have a 145 percent premium increase, but a tax subsidy will mean a 40-year-old, non-smoking Phoenix resident with a $30,000 annual income will not have to pay any more than last year (which is roughly $207 a month, depending on the plan selected). table According to data sent by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), a majority of consumers covered by the ACA (85 percent) qualify for tax credits that keep pace with premium increases, so many won't see much of an impact on their out-of-pocket costs. data But McClosky was addressing people whose income disqualifies them from that assistance. He told us he used the $98,000 annual income as an example because that is the threshold at which households of four with two children do not qualify for tax credit assistance (you qualify if you make up to 400 percent of the federal poverty line). He said he created the post because he wanted to raise awareness about what it costs to insure a family in which each adult is making an annual salary of $44,000, and neither has access to employer-based health care a fairly common situation in the United States. His concern, he said, is that only consumers who qualify for a tax subsidy can afford insurance under ACA. If their incomes are too high to qualify for assistance, they may simply go without. While the number of uninsured Americans dropped under ACA, as of 2015, 28.5 million people still lack coverage. Per the Kaiser Family Foundation: Even under the ACA, many uninsured people cite the high cost of insurance as the main reason they lack coverage. In 2015, 46% of uninsured adults said that they tried to get coverage but did not because it was too expensive. Many people do not have access to coverage through a job, and some people, particularly poor adults in states that did not expand Medicaid, remain ineligible for financial assistance for coverage. Some people who are eligible for financial assistance under the ACA may not know they can get help, and others may still find the cost of coverage prohibitive. In addition, undocumented immigrants are ineligible for Medicaid or Marketplace coverage. Eric Seiber, associate professor of health services management and policy at Ohio State, said that the health care system in the United States is the most expensive in the world, and costs have steadily increased over the years. Despite its name, the Affordable Care Act doesn't actually address the cost of health care itself: The ACA is not health care reform. Its health insurance reform. It really doesnt do that much about affordable care or patient protection beyond the subsidies and Medicaid. People's perception that their wages have been flat is an effect of compensation increases going to cover rising healthcare costs instead of into their paychecks, Seiber said. McClosky, who sells health and life insurance plans in Florida, said that the Affordable Care Act has had the effect of diminishing competition among carriers. For instance, Lee County residents can only purchase Blue Cross Blue Shield. Prices in Miami-Dade are lower than in Lee County, because there are more carriers competing with each other. McClosky says insurance carriers have been squeezed by part of the mandate which requires them to spend 80 to 85 percent on claim payouts and health care quality improvement. He pointed to Assurant, a 123-yea-old insurer that specialized in individual and small business plans. They could not survive under the ACA and filed for bankruptcy in 2015. Health care is a source of roiling political debate for years. While the cost of health plans under Obamacare will go up an average 25 percent as of 1 November 2016, the majority of consumers won't experience much change in their out-of-pocket costs when open enrollment starts for 2017, because the tax credits will buffer that increase. Further, as the New York Times pointed out, many Americans are shielded from the immediate costs of health care by employer-based insurance or the public programs: pointed out These increases really matter only for those who buy their own insurance. Most people are unaffected by the rate increases because they get their insurance through an employer or are covered through government programs like Medicare, Medicaid or the Department of Veterans Affairs. Only a small fraction of Americans who have insurance buy individual policies. There are about 10 million people in the Obamacare markets and around an additional seven million who buy health plans outside the marketplace, according to Obama administration estimates. The published rate increases apply only to people who shop in the markets, but premiums are expected to go up sharply for the other plans as well. However, as McClosky's post makes clear, whether people notice it or not, American health care costs are high and not everyone can qualify for available assistance. Kaiser Family Foundation. "2017 Premium Changes and Insurer Participation in the Affordable Care Acts Health Insurance Marketplaces."
25 October 2016. ASPE Research Brief. "Health plan choice and premiums in the 2017 health insurance marketplace."
24 October 2016. Abelson, Reed, and Sanger-Katz, Margaret. "A Quick Guide to Rising Obamacare Rates."
The New York Times. 25 October 2016. Boulton, Guy. "Milwaukee-based Assurant Health to be sold off or shut down."
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 28 April 2015. | 2 | [
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FMD1510 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: October 27, 2016
The U.S. Elections: The Latest Crack in the System
The 2016 U.S. presidential elections are unprecedented: I don’t believe we have ever witnessed before a campaign year so toxic, so dangerously divisive and full of ad hominem attacks. Both camps have vilified the opposition and their followers, creating a schism in society. There has been no rational dialogue on the issues that truly concern the American public.
Instead, we have witnessed personal insults and petty attacks, rumors and gossip. At this point, as a result of this catastrophic campaign, the public will not vote in favor of the candidate they agree with the most or the one they like, but against the one they hate!
In this article, we do not focus on comparisons between Clinton and Trump; enough has been said and written about the candidates themselves. Here, we look at their supporters – the crowd behind the candidates, those that will in fact shape American policy making in the coming four years.
Hillary Clinton: The Establishment Remains in Control
The most important and formidable group within those backing Clinton belong to the upper echelon of society: Wall Street’s movers and shakers, big business, the top of the political pyramid and the servants and profiteers of the public sector. In one word: the establishment.
Clinton’s support base includes therefore practically everyone who profits from government regulations and government corruption – they have everything to lose if Hillary doesn’t win. It is the same group that advocates and leads the political correctness movement ; they are those state-bred and fed intellectuals who poison the university campus and mass media circus with their belief that they can transform the U.S. into a “utopia”.
In reality, this “utopia” will be created through intense centralization, endless wars and plundering, only to create a totalitarian government where the political elite enforces its will and instructs the public on how to live a happy life, which only benefits the top strata of society that designed it in the first place. Years ago, Jewish American philosopher Hannah Arendt summarized the toxic impact of political correctness as follows:
“There is no thought process without freedom. To deprive man of his liberty is to deprive him of his own ideas, and if one is not allowed to think, only subjugation and slavery remain.”
This can only be achieved through a strong foothold on the centralized state and its propaganda engine, the mass media, operating under the doctrine of Edward Bernays, the father of propaganda, better known as public relations.
Then there’s the other extreme of Clinton’s supporters: the artificially created underprivileged minorities. These groups have come to depend on the state for support and protection, which has also made it easy for the state to indoctrinate them and reset their mindset to its advantage.
Those are the people who have fallen in the trap of thinking that only the state can provide them with what they need for a good life, when in reality it only disempowered them. The globalist Clinton herself accuses Trump of “populism”, casting “nationalism” in a negative light, but she is actually the one promising free lunches for everyone: lenient immigration laws, higher minimum wages, universal healthcare, etc.
Clinton also preaches against income inequality and condemns Wall Street greed in her speeches, while her campaign cashes in from Wall Street’s finest: JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. Under those circumstances… what can you possibly do? Ms. Clinton’s top five donors are Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, DLA Piper, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley. Somehow we don’t think Wall Street has reason to fear her much. Cartoon by Cataslino
Trump – the Greatest Politically Incorrect Shock in Decades?
Whenever people are forced by the government to accept and pay for things they do not want, the outcome is discontent and opposition, typically suppressed and downplayed by the mainstream media in accordance with the state’s agenda of political correctness. This further escalates the situation and things often take unpleasant turns, including the fostering of racist and bigoted subsections that we see within the Trump voting base.
But they are not the majority, not by long shot! One might get this impression, because the mainstream media tend to focus exclusively on this sub-set of supporters through footage and interviews at Trump rallies, because they are considered “interesting” material; after all, they say outrageously horrible things and are therefore great for TV sensationalism.
What does Donald Trump stand for? From my perspective, for anything and everything! He stands for everyone who is sick and tired of the current system and the political elite who have grown out of touch with ordinary American citizens. You will find them among the working class, small business owners, and the segment of society that used to be known as the middle class before the crisis; they all harbor grievances against the establishment.
These are people who understand that the slogan “the Union and the Constitution forever” has been under attack and downgraded to nothing more than an empty phrase by the power elite and the Deep State. We see first hand how the Patriot Act directly violates not only the first amendment’s guarantee of free speech, but also the fourth and fifth amendments, thereby tearing apart the very foundation of a country once based on respect for civil liberties.
There is no doubt that the second amendment will be crushed under Clinton as well, “regulating to extinction” the natural right to self-defense and personal sovereignty. We must never forget that we are born with inherent rights, that can neither be granted nor taken away from us by the State. As Judge Napolitano once put it:
“Natural law teaches that our freedoms are pre-political and come from our humanity and not from the government. As our humanity is ultimately divine in origin, the government, even by majority vote, cannot morally take natural rights away from us. A natural right is an area of individual human behavior – like thought, speech, worship, travel, self-defense, privacy, ownership and use of property, consensual personal intimacy – immune from government interference and for the exercise of which we don’t need the government’s permission.”
Even though polls suggest that Trump is trailing nationally, they probably underestimate exactly how big the Trump wave is, and it is significant: between 74% and 83% of Republicans said they will support him (according to polls conducted between Oct 9 th -11 th ). But there is also the silent majority that has been present at his rallies. This silent majority does not necessarily consist of Trump fans, but they do not want to see the country falling into the abyss of state centralization and political correctness.
They want to discontinue the economic system that has taken them from bad to worse – they are the American version of the European anti-establishment movement. They are well aware of Trump’s coarse character and crude remarks, but feel they can overlook that, for the sake of his main strategic advantage: Trump’s promise that he does not want America to be controlled by the establishment anymore.
A Tale of Two Hatreds
“Politics is like sausage being made. It is unsavory, and it always has been that way, but we usually end up where we need to be. But if everybody’s watching… then people get a little nervous, to say the least. So, you need both a public and a private position.” Hillary Clinton, National Multi-Housing Council, April 2013
One key reason behind the peoples’ hostility towards Clinton is that she personally embodies the hypocrisy and the hubris of the U.S. federal government itself: a government that maims and kills millions with its war on terror, it arms and supports murderous regimes and ideological fanatics and it is known to deploy chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. And yet, it somehow pretends to hold the moral high ground and lectures others on human rights.
Just as America is an “exceptional” country, for which normal standards don’t apply, Clinton is its “exceptional” candidate. She accuses her opponent of populism, when her own platform is entirely based on crowd-pleasing promises.
She calls Trump’s policies fascistic while her own would put the final nail on the coffin of free speech. She claims to stand up for the little guy, while she funds her campaign with Wall Street money. She positions herself as the defender of minorities’ and women’s rights, while her Foundation accepts donations from the most oppressive regimes on the planet.
At the same time, the American electorate also feels hostility for Trump; that hate is not equivalent though, as few would argue he is trying to hide who he is. The reason why so many dislike him is very different, and it has to do with the identity he projects. He is the ultimate “anti-intellectual”.
Of course the term “intellectual” is quite broad these days, and many intellectuals dislike Trump solely because of what it would say about who they are (in the eyes of their like-minded peers). But these people share a common denominator: they are educated beyond their intelligence and critically depend on repeating what other “intellectual” people say, as they feel (consciously or not) their ignorance would be exposed if they dared to express an original idea. Trump’s world, according to a recent NYT cartoon. The statist intelligentsia certainly feels threatened by Trump. Cartoon by Chappatte
The Day After: The Legacy of a Bitter Campaign Year
Unfortunately, whoever wins, the nation will pay a price for this “divide and conquer” rhetoric. Americans today are too polarized and the tensions that are brewing in the background will not just go away the day after the election: racial and social divisions, as well as the split caused by the choice between a planned vs. a free market economy, a big or a small government.
Under Trump, we can only hope that America will be given time to heal and to overcome these divisions. Free speech is key: Society can only heal if it returns to a culture of debate with a willingness to agree to disagree.
From what we know from modern American history, we shouldn’t be surprised that the financial markets appear to prefer Hillary over Trump. Wall Street, the bankers and the military industrial complex are expected to continue to thrive under President Clinton. The establishment will live on. Right now the establishment is seemingly pushing for war against Russia and Clinton is undeniably on board with this aggressive narrative.
And then we have Trump, who is certainly far from perfect. His objectification of women, his comments about Muslims and minorities, his crass demeanor: All these have made it very hard for him to find support for his genuine policy points.
Even if the actual net effect of his policies were to benefit women, he won’t get them on his side by calling them pigs – there is a difference between free speech and just being plain rude, uncivil and vulgar. We may disagree with his infamous “wall” with Mexico and demands for “a new budget to rebuild our depleted military” (which makes him no different from Clinton). But he is an outsider, a businessman, and most importantly, a crack in system!
He challenges the status quo, and that’s why the status quo attacks him, by trying to ridicule both him and his voters, by painting them as extremists, or as ignorant and racist. The question is, why don’t we just let Trump be Trump?
As he himself said: “It is so nice that the shackles have been taken off me and I can now fight for America the way I want to!”. Consider the boldness of this statement – regardless of whether one agrees with him, he stands confidently for his principles and ideas, even against his own party’s leaders (many of which have withdrawn their support). This is a clear projection of power and independence; it says that no one can dictate their demands to him. It says that he is unafraid to speak his mind.
I say, we should trust his followers. It seems clear that most Trump voters are striving to defend the essence of the constitution and its original intent – to be the basis of a free society. And for me as a believer in civil rights and sovereignty, this is enough to give him or let me rather say, his voters, the benefit of the doubt. | 0 | [
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FMD1511 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: B y Danny Haiphong Originally posted on 06/07/2016 L iberalism is “an ideology rooted in a nation founded upon imperial conquest and rabid capitalist exploitation.” Its main proponent in is the Democratic Party, which “has become the engine of US imperial rule.” Hillary Clinton is a twin of Barack Obama. “While Obama intensified imperial war, austerity, and domestic repression, liberal supporters sat on the sidelines and watched.” Liberals wage fake wars on Republicans and real wars on the world. It’s no wonder that the complacent liberals and liberal media, despite the pious posturing, did not stop any of the big postwar crimes of subversion and intervention, such as Korea, Vietnam, Iran, Chile, Guatemala and many others. “An American liberal is the arbiter of a more effective politics of exploitation and oppression.” If anything, the 2016 elections have exposed the steep descent into bankruptcy of liberal politics in the US. The concluding years of the 1970s began a right-wing, authoritarian process in the US that grew from the roots of a capitalist economic base in decline. Historians and left academics framed this process not as a sign of decline but as a right-wing backlash. The term neo-liberalism was created to describe the backlash. However, “neo-liberalism” was less new than it was an exposure of what has always been true about American liberalism. American liberalism has always been an ideology created by and for the interests of the American capitalist empire, regardless of the period.
A house of concentrated infamy, for the most part the world’s foremost assembly point for crooks and outright criminals. To be a liberal in America has meant being a participant in the highest form of opportunism. Liberals have historically championed the freedoms of American capitalist society and defended developments like the enslavement of Africans as a necessary evil. Once these evils become unmanageable, liberals jump ship and look to support more palatable forms of exploitation. For example, during the Civil War, many American liberals did not oppose slavery. It wasn’t until the combined force of African rebellion and industrial capitalist development dug the slave-ocracy’s grave that many liberals warmed to the idea of abolition. “It was the bankrupt liberal leadership of the labor movement that collaborated with President Roosevelt to “stabilize” capitalism.” During the Great Depression, US capitalism was on the verge of collapse. A recovery in the system seemed nowhere in sight. Socialists played a key role in organizing unions across industries to strengthen the position of the working class in this time of crisis. It was the bankrupt liberal leadership of the labor movement that collaborated with President Roosevelt to “stabilize” capitalism. This leadership proceeded to settle for legislative gains and purge socialist elements. And so began the labor movement’s descent into the back pockets of the Democratic Party. American liberalism has thus historically been able to fester and thrive in the US political landscape in periods of reforms in the capitalist order. The transition from chattel slavery to industrial capital, and subsequently from industrial capital to the so-called age of social welfare, gave American liberals political space to adjust their bourgeois principles to fit the needs of the time. In the current period of capitalist decline, this is no longer possible. The rule of capital has reached its highest stage and it must eliminate all that stands in its way of unfettered profit accumulation. This period of capitalism has stripped liberalism naked of its supposedly “progressive” veneer. US capitalism has no room for welfare politics. The system’s rate of profit is falling and its corporate debt is mounting. Finance capital has speculated the economic base of US society into a hole it cannot crawl out of. It is under these conditions that liberalism has revealed itself for what it really is: an ideology rooted in a nation founded upon imperial conquest and rabid capitalist exploitation. “Finance capital has speculated the economic base of US society into a hole it cannot crawl out of.” I n the US, the home base for liberal politics resides historically in the Democratic Party. During the height of anti-communist hysteria and Black liberation insurgency in the mid 20th century, the Democratic Party was compelled to promote itself as a force of progress. To this day, the Democratic Party takes credit for Civil Rights reforms and anti-poverty programs that were pressured into existence by grassroots movements. However, the wheels of reform have reversed. No longer able to deceive the masses with crumbs, the Democratic Party has become the engine of US imperial rule. Liberals have been instrumental in this political shift. The Obama era has been the quintessential example of what liberal bankruptcy looks like in the age of neo-liberal, capitalist decline. While Obama intensified imperial war, austerity, and domestic repression, liberal supporters sat on the sidelines and watched. In some cases, liberal forces cheered on Obama’s policies (like the intervention in Libya) and decried Republican “obstructionism” as the primary reason for why social conditions continued to worsen under his rule. Yet these same liberals refused to acknowledge that it was Obama who sidestepped a Democratic Party majority in the House and Senate in 2009 and 2010 to push through the corporate Affordable Care Act and dash any hopes of universal healthcare being instituted in the US in the near future. “While Sanders is no revolutionary force, his brand of liberalism is now outmoded by the world capitalist system that he sought to manage.” The case of Bernie Sanders in particular and the 2016 elections have broadly exposed the Democratic Party and its bourgeois liberal base for the agents of Empire they’ve always been. Hillary Clinton and her supporters have tirelessly attacked Sanders throughout the duration of his campaign. The reason for the attacks is simple. While Sanders is no revolutionary force, his brand of liberalism is now outmoded by the world capitalist system that he seeks to manage. Finance capital cannot back a candidate that calls for universal healthcare, affordable public university, or higher taxation of the rich. These policy proposals run in contradistinction to neo-liberal capital’s need to turn everything into a profitable market to ensure its survival. When one asks what an American liberal is today, it is important to be honest. An American liberal is the arbiter of a more effective politics of exploitation and oppression. The American liberal supports the Democratic Party by waging a fake war with the Republicans while the entire establishment moves ever more rightward. The American liberal is no less an enemy of social progress than the right-wing, Republican oriented populace. The American liberal must be combated or its ideological stranglehold over emergent movements now and in the future will continue to lead them astray. APPENDIX The U.S. liberal – the real greater evil. Liberalism: the hard and soft sides of the coinage of social control Submitted by Orwellian Ghost on Thu, 06/09/2016 E xplaining liberalism to North Americans is a thankless and possibly futile task, but it is one that must be attempted for clarity’s sake. Liberalism is a theory of political economy that arose in Great Britain in the 17th and 18th centuries. Its principal inspirations were Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) and John Locke (1632-1704). It emphasizes individualism, human avarice, the “virtue” of competition and the “justice” of the marketplace. It opposed feudalism and mercantilism. It sought to replace the traditional landowners with the rising commercial and manufacturing classes. It sought to liberate capital, not people (and especially not women, slaves and propertyless males). Liberalism is the foundational ideology of the United States. American Conservatives (aka Tories or Loyalists) were expelled to Canada, the Caribbean or sent back to England. The USA (a few southerners excepted – until the Civil War) began, and remains a homogenously liberal society. What, exactly, is liberalism? Here’s what classical liberal economist Adam Smith (1723-1790) said: “Whenever there is great property, there is great inequality. For one very rich man, there must be at least five hundred poor, and the affluence of the rich supposes the indigence of the many, who are often driven by want, and prompted by envy, to invade his possessions. … Civil government, so far as it is instituted for the security of property is in reality instituted for the defence of the rich against the poor, or of those who have some property against those who have none at all.” Liberal utilitarian Jeremy Benthan (1748-1832) added this: “In the highest state of social prosperity, the great mass of citizens will have no resource except their daily industry; and consequently will always be near indigence … uman beings are the most powerful instruments of production, and therefore everyone becomes anxious to employ the services of his fellows in multiplying his own comforts. Hence the intense and universal thirst for power; the equally prevalent hatred of subjugation. … When security and conflict are in conflict, it will not do to hesitate a moment. Equality must yield.” This means that, in liberal societies, the rich are pitted against the poor, gaining their wealth by appropriating the work of others; and it means that government is in “business” to protect the ruling class. Today, of course, there are two kinds of liberals. Soft-hearted liberals live mainly in the Democratic party. They sometimes toss crumbs to working and middle class people. In a pinch, they will do bad things reluctantly, but they will do bad things nonetheless, to protect the ruling class. Hard-hearted liberals live mainly in the Republican party. They do bad things gleefully, and never toss crumbs. They try to get racists and religious fundamentalists worked into a frenzy to oppose soft-hearted liberals, to protect the ruling class. They are the good cops and the bad cops, the soft and hard sides of the coinage of social control.
Submitted by Dosamuno on Tue, 06/14/2016 – 12:31 Why hasn’t there been a revolution in the United States? —Because it doesn’t have an American Embassy. NOTE: ALL IMAGE CAPTIONS, PULL QUOTES AND COMMENTARY BY THE EDITORS, NOT THE AUTHORS PLEASE COMMENT AND DEBATE DIRECTLY ON OUR FACEBOOK GROUP CLICK HERE ABOUT THE AUTHOR Danny Haiphong is an Asian activist and political analyst in the Boston area. He can be reached at [email protected] . Note to Commenters Due to severe hacking attacks in the recent past that brought our site down for up to 11 days with considerable loss of circulation, we exercise extreme caution in the comments we publish, as the comment box has been one of the main arteries to inject malicious code. Because of that comments may not appear immediately, but rest assured that if you are a legitimate commenter your opinion will be published within 24 hours. If your comment fails to appear, and you wish to reach us directly, send us a mail at: [email protected]
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What will it take to bring America to live according to its own propaganda? REMEMBER: ALL CAPTIONS AND PULL-QUOTES BY THE EDITORS, NOT THE AUTHORS. | 0 | [
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FMD1512 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: (mis à jour 18:15 26.10.2016) URL courte 0 57 1 0 Les livres d’entretiens ne réussissent pas aux candidats à la présidentielle ! Après « Un président ne devrait pas dire ça », qui éclabousse Hollande, c’est « Un Fantasme nommé Juppé » qui se retourne contre son auteur. Dans les deux cas, leur livre révèle surtout le manque de vision de ces politiciens.
Wesh, Péju, trop de la balle le mec, ou quoi ? Trop chanmé, sérieux, comment qu'il les calcule pas les condés ! T'ain, j'le prenais pour un bouffon, deux de tension, trop cheum, tu vois, mais y déchire sa race, le cousin !
Eh oui, Juppé, il ne lui manque plus que le sweat capuche, la casquette des Chicago Bulls avec une plaque en simili métal et les chaînes autour du cou. Tel le djeune de base emmerdé par les flics dans ses petits trafics — pardon, dans son activité d'entrepreneur indépendant —, voilà-t'y pas que notre Ali-du 9-3-larchourma-de-ta-vie — ah voilà que ça me reprend — confesse toute la détestation que lui inspirent les flics et les juges. C'est dans un livre à paraître, Un Fantasme nommé Juppé , mais dont mes confrères n'ont pas hésitéà divulguer quelques bonne feuilles.
Monsieur le Premier ministre me pardonnera ma familiarité, c'est bien lui qui affirmait, dans un effort de coolitude assez déplacé quand on l'air comme lui de faire un usage plutôt déplacé des balais, qu'il « emmerdait » ceux qui le trouvaient ennuyeux, je vous en parlais d'ailleurs il y a quelque temps.
Donc le candidat favori des Français, selon ses propres mots, s'apparente donc à un Black Block de base qui scande en marge des manifs Loi travail « tout le monde déteste la police ». Oui, mais pas que. Dans son bouquin, notre énarque assoiffé de pouvoir explique qu'il n'aime donc pas l'intérieur, la justice, mais pas non plus le ministère des Finances « où il n'y a que des coups à prendre ». Sous Sarkozy, il ne voulait même pas du Quai d'Orsay, expliquant au président « Je ne veux pas porter ton cartable ».
Bref, rien n'est assez bien pour lui, « le meilleur d'entre nous » ne se voit que sur le trône élyséen. Grattez un peu et sous la couche de coolitude, l'animal à sang froid réapparaît rapidement. Comme la plupart de ses petits camarades, Alain Juppé n'est intéressé que par le pouvoir. Mais pour en faire quoi ? Pas forcément pour appliquer des idées dites « de droite » si l'on en croit cette confession : « J'ai été de droite pour prouver qu'on pouvait être intelligent et de droite ! » Ou pas, donc.
D'ailleurs, il suffit de se pencher un peu sur son action pour que le vernis « de droite » craque aussi légèrement. Quel homme de droite — quel républicain sensé, d'ailleurs — entretiendrait des liens aussi étroits avec l'UOIF, c'est-à-dire les Frères musulmans, comme le fait Alain Juppé ? Rappelons qu'il a remis la Légion d'Honneur à l'imam Tareq Oubrou, membre de l'UOIF et ami de Tariq Ramadan en août dernier.
Je me réfère également au témoignage d'Amine Elbahi, un jeune ex-soutien du candidat bordelais. Bel exemple d'intégration, le jeune homme s'était engagé dans la réserve citoyenne de l'Éducation nationale et dans les Républicains, aux côtés d'Alain Juppé. « Rester à ses côtés serait renier mes convictions. » explique maintenant Amine Elbahi, qui déplore qu'Alain Juppé travaille aux côtés des salafistes de l'UOIF, comme Amar Lasfar, Tareq Obrou, Ahmed Miktar, qui tous prônent un islam politique incompatible avec nos valeurs françaises et républicaines.
Oui, le pouvoir pour faire quoi ? On ne sait pas trop donc. Pour l'exercer, tout simplement, tout comme l'actuel locataire de l'Élysée qui lui aussi est là pour le plaisir d'être là et non pour porter une vision. Autre point commun entre les deux hommes : ils ont sorti des livres d'entretiens qu'ils auraient mieux fait de relire avant publication. Le scandale (dans un verre d'eau) du bouquin de Juppé n'ayant pas encore effacé celui du bien nommé« Un président ne devrait pas dire ça » de Hollande, vous avez encore ne mémoire les propos peu amènes du Corrézien de service à propos de la magistrature (tiens encore un point commun), de l'immigration ou de l'islam.
Eh bien devinez quoi, ce n'est pas de sa faute, à Hollande ! Ce sont les méchants journalistes qui l'ont pousséà la faute ! Tu parles, en 62 entretiens et 10 dîners, ils ont le temps de le pousser, pépère ! et c'est Jean Glavany qui nous l'affirme :
« … ils savaient depuis le début qu'ils gagneraient d'autant plus d'argent qu'ils pousseraient le président à la faute. Alors ils l'ont poussé, poussé, poussé… et il est tombé, tombé, tombé dans le piège. »
Pauvre pépère, il n'a pas fait exprès ! En tout cas, il y en a un qui n'est pas content, c'est Alain Juppé, parce que cette excuse bidon pour des propos foireux dans un livre probablement lamentable, elle est déjà prise, maintenant ! | 0 | [
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FMD1513 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Shopify Erased Our Store From The Internet While I Was Fulfilling 55 Orders Shopify Erased Our Store From The Internet While I Was Fulfilling 55 Orders November 15, 2016 Work & Money
To launch a Return Of Kings t-shirt shop, I decided to go with Shopify because of how much easier it is to launch than a self-hosted store. I signed up with them, paid for one year of service, and did a pre-launch with a small group of readers, which resulted in 55 orders. As I began fulfilling them, Shopify pulled the plug on the entire store without warning, both the public storefront and the administrative backend with all our data.
Because of Shopify’s decision, my customers couldn’t access their order status, I had no way of informing them of what happened, and I couldn’t fulfill remaining orders. They put both me and 55 individuals in the lurch for no legitamate reason, forcing me to threaten legal action in order to get enough information to complete fulfillment of all orders. The Backstory
There are many open source solutions for hosting a web store. The problem with them is that it takes extra time to create the store and maintain it, compared to services like Shopify, Squarespace, Bigcommerce, Magento, and others. To get the ROK store up and running as quickly as possible, I picked Shopify because of their competitive prices, not knowing that I was in for a far greater price down the road.
After I set up the store, featuring photos of yours truly in our first t-shirt, I collected email addresses of those who were most interested with participating in the pre-launch. I sent this group an email announcing the store and 55 of them took action, ordering a t-shirt or two. The shirt in question
During this time, I received an email from a Shopify risk analyst by the name of Justin. He asked me to send in identification, which I was happy to do, and then asked me for more information:
Thanks for signing up with Shopify Payments and providing your ID.
In order to complete this initial review and ensure payments continue to be sent to your account we would need a little bit more information.
If you could send me any documentation you may have to validate the business that would be great. Examples would be a business bank statement, business license or business registration documents.
Could you also confirm where you’re primarily operating your business from?
I sent in my business incorporation documents, my IRS employer number designation, a recent bank statement (from my US-based bank), and a note of how I often travel through Eastern Europe, but that my business, bank accounts, and tax status all reside in the United States. In spite of that, Shopify unjustly classified me as a foreign business and gave me no means to dispute it.
Unfortunately, Shopify Payments is currently only available to companies that are based in Australia, Canada, United Kingdom and the United States, so we are not able to help with payments for your site right now. It’s frustrating for us to have to turn down good businesses, but we need to make sure we’re abiding by both US and international regulations. This means that any successful charges you have will be transferred to you on schedule, but you won’t be able to use Shopify Payments to accept any further payments. […]
Despite the information provided, our payment processing partner needs to ensure that the shops are based, operating from and have a substantial presence in the United States.
Ultimately, their decision is final and we must respect it.
According to the United States Federal Government and the IRS, my company is American and liable to pay American taxes, but to Shopify, I’m not an American business. The repercussion from this was that I couldn’t use Shopify’s own payment system (Shopify Payments) and had to pay a 2% extra commision on all orders, but this wasn’t a huge setback since there were many other payment options. I stayed the course because I wanted to do an on-time opening for my readers. I could always change stores later when it was convenient for me. The Disaster
I have a worker based in the United States who maintains the shirt inventory and is charge of shipping them out. He printed most of the shipping labels for the first batch of orders and got ready for shipment. Before he was finished, I tried to log into the admin area of the store to monitor his progress and saw this:
The public storefront was also taken down. There was no longer any way for me to know who my customers were and what they ordered. I couldn’t even send them an email. I then received this from Justin:
Hello,
I’m afraid that after reviewing your information and website we believe your business presents a level of risk for customer disputes that we will be unable to support on Shopify.
We will transfer your existing payments to you, but will be unable to accept any additional payments on your behalf from Shopify Payments.
I’m sorry we won’t be able to help with your business.
Regards,
Justin
After I read this email, I was absolutely livid. I’ve been doing business on the internet for over fifteen years, and have never had a situation where a company pulled the rug out from under me and my customers in a way that I would personally classify as fraud.
They allowed me to take 55 orders, begin processing them, and then removed all access so I could not complete fulfillment. Imagine if you bought a shirt from me and then tried to access the store to see the status of your order. You would have no way to know what’s going on and would probably think that I took your money and ran. Shopify created a situation of unneeded worry for 55 individuals while directly hurting my reputation as if I’m running some sort a scam operation. The Phone Call To Support
I called support and got on the line with a Level 1 support tech. I told him the situation as calmly as I could. His response: send an email reply to Justin. This was unacceptable because politely complying with him through email beforehand had only resulted in the deletion of my entire store without warning. I demanded to speak with someone from the risk department but the support tech told me there was no way to patch me through since he was working remotely. I was not calling Shopify’s main office but someone sitting in the middle of nowhere in his pajamas.
I also told the support tech that there was no further information asked of me, that this was a unilateral closing of my shop while I was in the middle of fulfillment. If Shopify is so worried about fraud, why would they leave 55 individuals in a position where they would believe they got defrauded and start initiating chargebacks with their credit card companies? I had no choice but to threaten legal action. I told the support tech that if Shopify doesn’t give me a way to complete these 55 orders, I would pursue all legal means as a response to what I saw as fraud.
The support tech put me on hold. After a few minutes of chatting with the risk team, he said that they have given him permission to send me a CSV file of all my orders. I decided that this was enough to satisfy the 55 individuals who purchased from me, but it still didn’t allow me an easyway to process exchanges or refunds if one of my customers was unsatisfied with the shirt.
Before ending the call with the support tech, I told him to relay to Justin and his team that they have created so much ill will by the way they have treated me that I will ensure that everyone knows exactly what they did, not just to me but also to my customers, who had an unfortunate experience because of their e-commerce platform.
Using the CSV file I received, I was able to contact my customers to let them know of the situation and complete fulfillment. Many of them have already received their t-shirts in the mail. The Lesson
Shopify has every right to choose who to do business with, and I would not be particularly upset if they said I have to go elsewhere after fulfilling open orders , but the way they removed all access from my store is absolutely reprehensible and the stuff of nightmares for a business owner. No owner wants to wake up one day and find that everything is gone with no way to contact his customers. I have never been treated so poorly by an American internet business before, and I’m confident that any business who treats people in this way won’t be in business for long.
Maybe my situation was special, as I am often abroad, but Shopify operates as if its customers are not even allowed to take a vacation out of the country. If you log in from a certain IP address pool, their algorithms go crazy and here comes Justin to hit the delete button on your store with one click.
Whatever the reason, it’s important for existing and potential Shopify customers to know that it doesn’t take much for them to shut you down at any moment and for any cause. They will take all your information and prevent you from contacting customers or fulfilling orders. Your only recourse to receive your data is to threaten legal action, and that may be no guarantee of success. If any of my friends ask me about which web store platform to use, I will strongly warn them against Shopify.
As for the ROK store, I’ve decided to try the open source method. Hopefully we will be ready for orders again within two months. Nov 15, 2016 Roosh Valizadeh | 0 | [
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FMD1514 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Harry Reid Vindicated: The FBI Is Sitting On Info Of Russian Operation ‘To Cultivate Donald Trump’ 10492
Outgoing Senator Harry Reid took a lot of flack for speaking out about the double standard that exists between how the FBI treats Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Many, even on the left, slammed Reid as a conspiracy nut for suggesting the FBI was sitting on information explicitly linking Russia and Trump. Left-leaning New Republic was particularly brutal: Republicans are right: Hary Reid should be ashamed of himself .
Instead, he’s been vindicated.
Just one day after making the remarks, several explosive stories dropped coming from entirely separate journalists that document several ways in which Trump is tied to Russia – and the FBI knows about it.
According to a report by NBC News, the FBI is making “preliminary inquiry” into Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort for his ties to Russian businesses. Trump himself is rumored to have business interests linked to Russia – but has thus far refused calls to release his tax returns to disprove it. Even more critically, Mother Jones spoke to an unnamed counterintelligence officer who said that the FBI has more information than they are letting on.
…a former senior intelligence officer for a Western country who specialized in Russian counterintelligence tells Mother Jones that in recent months he provided the bureau with memos, based on his recent interactions with Russian sources, contending the Russian government has for years tried to co-opt and assist Trump—and that the FBI requested more information from him.
According to the informant, the “Russian regime has been cultivating, supporting and assisting TRUMP for at least 5 years. Aim, endorsed by PUTIN, has been to encourage splits and divisions in western alliance.” This aligns with what many intelligence experts in the U.S. have suspected, as well. Putin doesn’t want Trump because he thinks he can work with him, he wants Trump because his presidency would tear American democracy apart at the seams. In the power vacuum that would ensue, Russia would then hope to capitalize on it geopolitically. Not a bad plan considering Trump has repeatedly demonstrated he is a moron when it comes to foreign policy.
Unlike Clinton, however. The FBI has clearly taken pains to keep this investigation out of the public eye. In a sardonic twist, they even cite privacy as the reason why they can’t comment, leading Democratic congressman Adam Schiff to note :
“Any specifics of what the FBI or intelligence agencies may be looking at are not something that the bureau should be discussing publicly,” Schiff said. “But here, where the director has discussed an investigation involving one candidate, it opens the director up to claims of bias if he doesn’t discuss other potential investigations.”
Meanwhile, Trump appears content to flaunt his love affair with Russia. On the very same day that Reid unloaded on him, the Republican candidate told a rally that he planned to work closely with Putin. Trump: "Wouldn’t it be nice? Wouldn’t it be smart?" To “put everything together with Putin" and Russia?
— Christina Wilkie (@christinawilkie) October 31, 2016
Wow is right.
Featured image via Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images Share this Article! | 0 | [
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FMD1515 | 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 This Photo of Crowded Train Station from 2022 or 1941? Claim summaries: Images from Ukraine in 2022 have reminded many of the scenes during the start of the Holocaust in 1941.
contextual information: In the days following Russia's deadly invasion of Ukraine, a photograph began circulating on social media that supposedly showed hundreds of people on a crowded train station platform attempting to flee the country. The photograph was frequently shared with a caption stating: "This is not a photo from 1941. This is a photo from March 2022." This photograph was indeed taken in early 2022 during Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The caption accompanying the photograph appears to compare the current situation in Ukraine to the millions of people across Europe who were forced to flee Nazi aggression during World War II and the Holocaust. In the BBC's March 2022 coverage of Ukraine's modern-day refugees, they noted that the scene was reminiscent of what these people's grandparents experienced roughly 80 years ago. On the westbound platforms, the refugees huddled in crowded corridors and stairwells, hoping to board trains that would take them to safety in Poland, Hungary, or Slovakia. Among them were groups of Roma Gypsies who came from Kharkiv, where Russian shelling was killing civilians. Like everyone else, they fled with only what they could carry—an assortment of holdalls and rucksacks. In Lviv, these scenes evoke the restless ghosts of Europe's past. The city is filled with people whose parents or grandparents experienced genocide and totalitarianism in the last century. Tens of thousands of Roma were murdered by the Nazis during World War II. The photograph displayed was taken in Kharkiv, Ukraine, as millions of people were attempting to flee the country. Tim Mak, NPR's investigative correspondent in Ukraine, was one of the first to share the picture online. Mak stated that the news organization received the picture from an aide to the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs. NBC News reported that more than 2 million people have fled Ukraine following Russia's invasion. It's unclear how many passed through this specific train station. The exact death toll in Ukraine is also difficult to determine. A U.S. official told CBS News on March 10, about two weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, that thousands of Ukrainian civilians and soldiers had already been killed. Thousands of Ukrainian civilians and soldiers are also believed to have been killed over the past two weeks. The U.S. official estimated that 2,000 to 4,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed. In the city of Mariupol, where an airstrike hit a maternity hospital on Wednesday, approximately 1,200 people have died during Russia's nine-day siege of the city, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's office, as reported by The Associated Press. A similar rumor circulated online about Ukraine's Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater, featuring two photographs—one taken recently in 2022 and another taken during World War II. These photographs are both real and were taken during the referenced times. Another photograph showing defense measures outside the Odessa Opera House in Ukraine during World War II can be seen here. Several news reports have featured the defensive measures outside this historical building in 2022, including a video of Odessa opera singers taking a moment to sing in between filling up sandbags and handing out rations. | 1 | [
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FMD1516 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Britain must strike a strong trade deal with the European Union after Brexit and avoid becoming a subordinate state of the bloc, foreign minister and leading Brexiteer Boris Johnson has told the Sunday Times newspaper. Failure to ditch EU law would make the United Kingdom a vassal state, Johnson said in an interview to be published on Sunday. The government must aim to maximize the benefits of Brexit by getting divergence from the bloc s rules so that it could do proper free trade deals with other countries. Prime Minister Theresa May this week secured an agreement with the EU to move Brexit talks on to trade and a transition pact. But she must now unite her deeply divided cabinet over what trade deal Britain actually wants. [nL8N1OF03W] Separately, in a measure of the difficulty May will face in bringing her side together, finance minister Philip Hammond caused a stir amongst some Brexit supporters because he said that after Britain formally leaves the EU in March 2019, it will seek to replicate the current status quo in a transition period. [nL4N1OG05L] Former work and pensions minister Ian Duncan Smith criticized Hammond, as did other leading Brexit supporters, for making a statement which he said was not government policy . Johnson told the Sunday Times he would advance the case for a liberal Brexit in a new intervention in the debate this week in which he would play up the advantages of leaving the EU. | 1 | [
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FMD1517 | 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: Florida has the third most-regressive tax structure.
contextual information: When it comes to taxes, Democratic candidate for governor Nan Rich wants to make things more fair for the little guy in Florida. Rich, a former state senator from Weston, faced a question about whether Floridas tax system should be changed during a Florida Press Association event July 11 at the swanky Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. I think it's a regressive tax base, and when you look at some of the studies saying its the third most-regressive tax base -- I don't want you to quote me on that because PolitiFact may get me, I'm not sure if its (No.) three -- but I think there are things we need to do to make a more equitable and fair tax structure. At PolitiFact Florida, our ears perk up when we hear rankings that put Florida near the top or bottom. As for her request for us not to PolitiFact her, well, we couldnt help but take that as a friendly challenge. Studies about regressive taxes Rich told PolitiFact Florida in an interview, dont hold me to third regressive.... I did not say third definitively... We are one of the most regressive. Rich cited a 2013reportby The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which partners withCitizens for Tax Justice, a group that advocates for fair taxation of middle- and low-income families. The report concluded that all states have regressive tax systems. It means that state taxes come more from the poor and middle class than from the rich. Virtually every states tax system is fundamentally unfair, taking a much greater share of income from middle- and low-income families than from wealthy families, the report says. The absence of a graduated personal income tax and the over reliance on consumption taxes exacerbate this problem in many states. The report measures property, sales and excise taxes on gasoline and cigarettes paid by different income groups in each state in 2013 and concludes Florida isNo. 2 of the terrible 10-- the second most-regressive tax system in the country. (No. 1 wasWashington state.) The No. 1 and No. 2 predictor of a very unfair tax system is not having a personal income tax of any kind and an above-average sales tax, and Florida has both of those things, said Matt Gardner, the institutes executive director. The report found that for non-elderly taxpayers, the bottom 20 percent pay 13.2 percent of their income toward state and local taxes. Meanwhile, the top 1 percent of earners only pay about 2.3 percent of their income toward state and local taxes. The report gives a nod to one progressive feature of Floridas taxes: We dont have sales taxes on groceries. We were unable to find any other entity that included Florida in a state-by-state comparison of regressivity and taxes. The Tax Foundation, a business-backed group that analyzes tax policy, wrote areportcriticizing the institutes study, but their points were not specifically about the states rankings. Instead, they criticized the report for promoting income taxes. The foundation does its own ranking of states in terms ofbusiness climate-- Florida placed fifth. We interviewed a few experts on taxes, and they were not surprised by Floridas ranking when it comes to regressive taxes. Not that many states dont have an income tax, so that puts us in a small group that looks more regressive, said University of Central Florida economist Sean Snaith. However, he said, regressive and burdensome are separate issues. The tax burden in Florida is still very low, despite being regressive. Aaron Twait, research director at the Minnesota Center for Fiscal Excellence, said there are only two taxes that are progressive: the income tax and the estate tax. States that dont have the income tax -- they just dont have that lever to pull, he said. Sales taxes, property taxes, and excise taxes run from moderately regressive to really regressive. Our ruling Rich said that there is evidence that Florida has the third most-regressive tax base, though she acknowledged when she spoke she wasnt certain if she had the number right. She was close: A study placed Florida No. 2 in terms of its regressive tax base. Florida has a regressive tax base because we lack a state income tax. Though the Tax Foundation criticized the report, it didnt dispute the states rankings, and other experts we interviewed also had no qualms about Floridas placement. Richs number of third place was just a smidgen low, so we rate this claim Mostly True. | 1 | [
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FMD1518 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Print
Have you ever noticed how Washington always has a plan to solve everybody’s problem – except their own?
For the federal government, it’s always easy and tempting to look at problems – real or imagined – outside of the beltway and solve them from afar.
You will recall, of course, how former Attorney General Eric Holder was going to stop police shootings all over America with sensitivity training, the power and force of the federal government and investigations, investigations and more investigations.
Now Loretta Lynch, his successor, also known as Hillary Clinton’s guardian angel, is set to turn police shootings throughout America into big business and more power for Washington.
Her latest pet project is assembling a national database on “interactions between law enforcement and civilians,” she reported this month.
“Accurate and comprehensive data on the use of force by law enforcement is essential to an informed and productive discussion about community-police relations,” Lynch said. “In the days ahead, the Department of Justice will continue to work alongside our local, state, tribal and federal partners to ensure that we put in place a system to collect data that is comprehensive, useful, and responsive to the needs of the communities we serve.”
The irony here is thick, indeed.
One of Lynch’s goals, she says, is to get law enforcement agencies to report more thoroughly about people who died during an interaction with them.
Meanwhile, Lynch presides over the most egregious cover-up of the most outrageous police shooting case I have ever seen in my life – namely the killing of Miriam Carey, a young black mother with baby in tow, who was gunned down by Washington cops and Secret Service agents for a wrong turn in the nation’s capital.
Lynch wants reports?
So does WND, which has been pursuing the information through Freedom of Information Act requests and finally, after being stonewalled for years, a lawsuit.
So does the public and the family of Miriam Carey. Unfortunately, Lynch is holding back on a few things: Missing Evidence The 92-page memo with findings, analysis of evidence and conclusions in the Carey shooting investigation. This would show the evidence and reasoning that led the Department of Justice to decline to file criminal charges against officers. Why they considered this a justifiable homicide – or whether they should have, based on the evidence. Why officers used deadly force. Whether officers followed or violated the policy of their agencies. Video of shooting at Capitol Police guard post at intersection of Constitution Ave., Maryland Ave. and 2nd Street. Only stills have been released. Video would show more clearly if officer’s life actually was in danger, as DOJ claimed, when he fired fatal shot to Carey’s head. Not one of the five witnesses at the scene said Carey was driving at the officer, as the DOJ claimed. Police statements The police report said four officers fired shots at Carey, two from the Capitol Police and two from the Secret Service. Not one statement from those officers was in the report. Their names were also redacted. Redacted information An attorney in the Washington, D.C., mayor’s office said the only redactions were names, in order to protect privacy. It turned out much more was redacted than names. The report was riddled with blacked-out sections and missing information. 12 pages in the report were entirely blacked out. 15 pages were mostly blacked out. 22 pages were partially blacked out. Some of the blacked-out pages just included a heading marked “Evidence.” Some just had a date. Witness statements An astonishing 38 witness accounts are missing from the police report. The police report stated: “There were seventy-two (72) witnesses interviewed regarding this incident and their statements were captured by audio and/or video recordings. Copies of the aforementioned recordings were turned over to the USAO for review. Copies of the aforementioned audio and video recordings are stored in the main case file at the Technical Support Unit (TSU) located at the IAD.” Of those 72 witness statements, only 34 were in the materials provided to WND, leaving 38 missing. Statement transcripts None of the actual transcripts of interviews in the witnesses’ own words were provided, just paraphrased versions in what the former NYPD officer Sanders described as “cop talk.” White House guard post video Stills were released but not the video. It would show whether anyone was manning the post when Carey drove up; whether she tried to drive around the off-duty guard who dragged a gate in front of her; and whether she sped off, or left at a normal speed, as a witness said. Police radio recordings No recordings or transcripts of radio transmissions during the pursuit and shooting of Carey were provided in the FOIA material. Also not provided were transcripts of computer transmissions (instant messaging) between squad cars and police headquarters. Ballistics and forensics reports The Justice Department Washington Metro Police Department responses to FOIA requests did not include a ballistics or a forensics report.
I could go on and on. For people who want facts and reports, the U.S. Justice Department under both Holder and Lynch have a strong propensity for not willingly releasing the facts and reports to the public or the press.
We’ve been at this for a long time – years. Yet the stonewall and cover-up of a horrendous, unjustifiable, outrageous police shooting right in their own jurisdiction and backyard continues.
Do we really expect Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch to find justice for police shooting victims outside of their own jurisdiction with a track record like that?
Media wishing to interview Joseph Farah, please contact . Receive Joseph Farah's daily commentaries in your email BONUS: By signing up for Joseph Farah’s alerts, you will also be signed up for news and special offers from WND via email. Name * | 0 | [
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FMD1519 | 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: Jimmy Carter on Helping the Poor Claim summaries: "Anyone unwilling to work should not eat"?
contextual information: A purported quote from Jimmy Carter admonishing, "If you don't want your tax dollars to help the poor, then stop saying that you want a country based on Christian values. Because you don't!" sounds to many like something the former U.S. president would have said, as he has long exhibited a deep commitment to Christianity, established himself as an international humanitarian (including founding the Carter Center, an organization dedicated to advancing human rights), and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for his work "to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development." However, as much as this sentiment might sound like something Jimmy Carter could have or would have said, he didn't originate the wording used here. The quote, as presented in the above graphic, appears to have originated with comedian John Fugelsang, who at one time presented a segment on Current TV's Viewpoint program entitled "Viewpoint's Revoltingly Fake Christian of the Week." The segment for the week of May 29, 2013, targeted Tennessee congressman Stephen Fincher, of whom Fugelsang said: "Congressman Stephen Fincher, a Republican from Tennessee, just took the Bible so far out of context he had to apply for a visa. Fincher is a fierce opponent of food aid for poor Americans. You know, like Jesus. He recently fought to cut $4.1 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. If you only watch Fox, that means 'food stamps.' And thanks to the fine work of Fincher and his colleagues, 2 million working American families, children, and seniors have already been cut off from food assistance. So during a recent House agricultural committee debate, he decided to show how Christian it is to turn your back on unemployed suffering Americans by quoting one of the favorite Bible passages of revoltingly fake right-wing Christians: 2 Thessalonians 3:10, 'anyone unwilling to work should not eat.' Fincher and the GOP cut services for the poor and taxes for the rich. And it's a free country. They're allowed. But if you don't want your tax dollars to help the poor, then stop saying you want a country based on Christian values. Because you don't. And that's why Representative Fincher is our 'revoltingly fake Christian of the week'!" | 0 | [
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FMD1520 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Today Notre-Dame died. Of course, the reason of "ignition" will be identified later, but the real reason is already apparent. France became a country in which people smash the windows of boutiques just because they are expensive, where taxes are so high that successful people leave. This is connected through karma with the fact that the magnificent cathedral, which very clearly represented impudent luxury and demanded more work than 36-hour-week, was burned down intentionally.
What will be constructed on this place in a country where now statistically every 5th citizen is named Muhammad? | 0 | [
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FMD1521 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: 21st Century Wire says Yesterday, WikiLeaks editor and founder Julian Assange confirmed what 21WIRE already knew that Hillary Clinton and the Obama White House s claim of the US election process being hacked by the Russian government was a desperate work of fiction. Not content with that fish tale, Hillary Clinton took the narrative to an embarrassing new low (if that was even possible) with another, wilder made-up conspiracy story about the Russians. The following statement made by Hillary Clinton yesterday epitomizes the term jumping the shark :It's time for Trump to answer serious questions about his ties to Russia. https://t.co/D8oSmyVAR4 pic.twitter.com/07dRyEmPjX Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 31, 2016Apparently, Hillary Clinton s campaign staff fed her a planted online news story (by the Clinton campaign?) which ran on a questionable pro-Democratic Party online news outlet. On Monday, the Slate ran the story by one of its alleged journalists named Franklin Foer, complete with a clickbait blog-like headline, Was a Trump Server Communicating With Russia? Whatever legitimacy the Slate had before last night, just evaporated.John Roberts from Forbes explains, The bottom line is that Slate screwed up by publishing this in the first place, and by adding more kooky misinformation to an already addled election season. As for Foer, he says on Twitter a follow up piece is in the works. Roberts rightly points out that the only follow-up story for this lemon should start with the word RETRACTION. CYBER FEUD: Assange believes Clinton has gone beyond the pale with her Russian conspiracy obsession.During his exclusive interview with award-winning filmmaker John Pilger, when asked what he thought of Hillary Clinton s shrill antics, Julian Assange said, I actually feel quite sorry for Hillary Clinton as a person, because I see someone who is eaten alive by their ambitions, tormented literally to the point where they become sick. The saddest thing about this and the other dishonest and destructive actions of the Clinton campaign and the Democratic Party is that no one in the party seems to see anything wrong with this level of deceit and dishonesty. Like Hillary Clinton in her sociopathic path to power, the party rank and file are acting like a cult coven following their high priestess.Still, Clinton surrogates in the media are trying to equate Clinton simultaneously scapegoating and baiting another nuclear superpower with a decade-old misogynist hot mic audio excerpt of Donald Trump in a TMZ-style tabloid sting. That pretty much sums up Democratic Party strategy for this election season.Assange was right. Clinton, the Democratic Party and their surrogate, are eating themselves. Such are the spoils of power in Washington that men and women will do and say anything to have it.READ MORE ELECTION NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire 2016 FilesSUPPORT 21WIRE SUBSCRIBE & BECOME A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV | 0 | [
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FMD1522 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: 1 Reply
Tyler Durden – Perhaps the most beneficial outcome resulting from last night’s loss of the Clinton Clan, whose “charitable” donations from generous donors such as Saudi Arabia to the Clinton Foundation just ended, is that with Hillary not in charge, the probability of World War III has been taken off the table.
This was confirmed early this morning, When Russian President Vladimir Putin – whose relations with the US and Barack Obama have deteriorated to Cold War levels – congratulated Donald Trump for his election victory on Wednesday, and said he expected relations between the Kremlin and Washington to improve.
The Kremlin announced that Putin had sent a telegram to Trump on Wednesday morning expressing “ his hope they can work together toward the end of the crisis in Russian-American relations, as well address the pressing issues of the international agenda and the search for effective responses to global security challenges .”
Additionally, speaking at the presentation ceremony of foreign ambassadors’ letters of credentials in Moscow, President Putin said that Russia is ready and looks forward to restoring bilateral relations with the United States, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, commenting on the news of Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election.
“We heard Trump’s campaign rhetoric while still a candidate for the US presidency, which was focused on restoring the relations between Russia and the United States.”
He added that “we understand and are aware that it will be a difficult path in the light of the degradation in which, unfortunately, the relationship between Russia and the US are at the moment.”
Speaking about the degraded state of relations between the countries, the Russian president once again stressed that “it is not our fault that Russia-US relations are as you see them.”
Other Russian politicians joined in.
Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin has also expressed hope that Trump’s victory in the presidential election will help pave the way for a more constructive dialogue between Moscow and Washington.
“The current US-Russian relations cannot be called friendly. Hopefully, with the new US president a more constructive dialogue will be possible between our countries,” he said. “The Russian Parliament will welcome and support any steps in this direction,” Volodin added on Wednesday.
Commenting on Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia will judge the new US administration by its actions and take appropriate steps in response. “We are ready to work with any US leader elected by the US people,” the minister said on Wednesday.
“I can’t say that all the previous US leaders were always predictable. This is life, this is politics. I have heard many words but we will judge by actions.”
Sergey Zheleznyak, member of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party in parliament, hailed Trump’s “deserved victory” in a statement on the party’s website.
“Despite all the intrigues and provocations that the current U.S. government put in front of Trump, people supported his intention to address the serious problems that have accumulated in America, and to move from confrontation to cooperation with Russia and the world, ” Zheleznyak said. “I hope that between now and [his] entry into office as the new president of the United States there will be no tragic events and the new U.S. administration will have enough political will and wisdom for civilized solutions to existing problems.”
Russia’s second biggest party the Communist Party also issued a statement Wednesday morning, expressing hope for more cooperation and calling Trump’s win “astounding” and against the “elite clans” in the United States. The party leader was more lukewarm on the news, noting that U.S. imperialism was unlikely to change.
Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the right-wing nationalist leader of the Liberal Democratic Party who has previously been nicknamed the Russian Donald Trump, called Clinton a “mindless old woman” and praised U.S. voters for “coming to their senses” after eight years of President Barack Obama, whom he referred to as “the Afro-American.” SF Source Zerohedge | 0 | [
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FMD1523 | 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: Long Distance Bill Revenge Claim summaries: Woman gets revenge on former boyfriend by calling long-distance number and leaving his phone off the hook.
contextual information: This typical female revenge legend, which describes a woman's effective (but non-violent) way of striking back at her (former) partner, has been around since at least 1981. Legends such as these (see The $50 Porsche, for example) often feature a clever method of causing financial loss without the destruction of property.
Examples:
[Smith, 1986] A young couple living in the Bristol area had been experiencing marital problems, primarily due to the husband's bad temper and the constant fighting and arguing that had persisted for several months. Things finally came to a head one morning when the husband, just before leaving on a three-week business trip, told his wife that they were finished and that she had better get out of his house for good before he returned. When he arrived home, his wife had gone, leaving the house in a terrible mess. While he was cleaning up, he noticed that the telephone was off the hook. He replaced it and thought no more about it. Several weeks later, the quarterly telephone bill arrived, and it was astronomical, running into several thousands of pounds. He immediately queried it, only to be told that the phone had been connected to the speaking weather report in Australia for a three-week period.
[Marsano, 1987] In Hollywood, a man dumped his live-in girlfriend by telling her that he was off on a business trip and expected her to have cleared out of the house by the time he returned. Pretty cold, right? The woman left, but when the man returned, he learned that she had found what Paul Simon might call the fifty-first way to leave your lover. The house was in good order, and the only thing amiss was that the phone was off the hook. When he picked it up, he heard incomprehensible babbling, so he hung up. When his next phone bill arrived, it explained a couple of things. The strange language he had heard was Japanese, and it was giving the correct time. It had been giving the correct time enough to run up a bill of $80,000.
Variations:
Sightings: An episode of the British sitcom Only Fools and Horses ("The Second Time Around," original air date 29 September 1981) features the evicted woman leaving a note announcing she's dialed the speaking clock in America.
Eskapa, Roy. Bizarre Sex. London: Quartet Books, 1987. ISBN 0-7043-2518-7 (pp. 82).
Fiery, Ann. The Complete and Totally True Book of Urban Legends. Philadelphia: Running Press Books, 2001. ISBN 0-7624-107404 (pp. 81-86).
Holt, David and Bill Mooney. Spiders in the Hairdo. Little Rock: August House, 1999. ISBN 0-87483-525-9 (p. 97).
The Big Book of Urban Legends. New York: Paradox Press, 1994. ISBN 1-56389-165-4 (p. 183).
Barreca, Regina. Sweet Revenge: The Wicked Delights of Getting Even. New York: Harmony Books, 1995. ISBN 0-517-59757-8 (p. 45).
Brunvand, Jan Harold. Curses! Broiled Again! New York: W. W. Norton, 1989. ISBN 0-393-30711-5; (pp. 216-217).
Brunvand, Jan Harold. Too Good To Be True. New York: W. W. Norton, 1999. ISBN 0-393-04734-2 (pp. 79-80).
Hardy, David. What a Mistake! Secaucus, NJ: Octopus Books, 1983. ISBN 1-55521-164-X (p. 78).
Marsano, William. Man Suffocated By Potatoes. New York: Signet, 1987. (pp. 149-150).
Smith, Paul. The Book of Nastier Legends. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1986. ISBN 0-7102-0573-2 (p. 85). | 1 | [
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FMD1524 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Food shortages and price hikes caused by extreme weather will be three times more likely over the coming decades, according to a new report.
The U.K.-U.S. Taskforce on Extreme Weather and Global Food System Resilience found that unless better planning, modeling and trade arrangements are put in place, massive disruptions to our food supply — the kind that usually only occur once a century — will happen every 30 years.
Extreme weather in areas that produce our most important crops is largely the cause. A massive drought is already underway in California — the world's richest food-producing region — causing a loss of 30% of its cropland at a value of nearly $2 billion.
The U.S. isn’t alone in feeling the impact of extreme weather. Venezuela is undergoing beer shortages because of a heat wave. Violence has even struck food lines there.
Countries that are heavy grain importers will be the most vulnerable to severe food impacts, the task force reported. Egypt has even begun taking steps to thwart shocks to its food supply by boosting wheat production. Food protests and riots broke out there in 2008 when food prices rose sharply.
China is also taking preventative steps. Among other strategies to shore up supplies, it is securing agricultural production capacity in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere in the developing world.
The U.S. and European Union will likely be sheltered from widespread impacts because of strong economies and the ability to outbid other countries for food supplies, the report found. Still, it says global cooperation needs to happen to prevent large food shocks. That means policy and trade agreements that take into account sharing water resources and banning restrictions on certain staple crops.
Resiliency efforts are key to battling weather extremes and crop production. India, for example, is highly dependent on monsoon patterns for rainfall. Linked to those patterns is its agricultural system. A dramatic shift in weather could throw off productivity.
With a “Godzilla†of an El Nino event predicted for this coming winter season in the U.S., an extreme weather case study on food supplies could be on the horizon.
Steps should be taken now to prevent food problems in the future. The task force recommends five solutions:
• Countries with high vulnerability to global grain production shocks should take measures to reduce their exposure.
• Greater investments in agricultural research should be made to reverse losses in yield-gain and to improve food system efficiencies.
• Unsustainable withdrawals of ground water and any unnecessary uses of non-renewable energy should be stopped.
• Public-private partnerships, or cooperation between governments and businesses, should be fostered to lessen the potential impact of future global grain production shocks.
• Better resiliency efforts should be developed to reduce risks and manage the effects of storms and extreme weather events.
We often think of the immediate destruction that weather brings, whether through floods, wildfires, wind or snow. But the effects after the event can be just as serious. Food, shelter and water are the three basic prongs to survival, and all are coming under attack by extreme weather.
Thomas M. Kostigen is the founder of TheClimateSurvivalist.com and a New York Times best-selling author and journalist. He is the National Geographic author of "The Extreme Weather Survival Guide: Understand, Prepare, Survive, Recover" and the NG Kids book " Extreme Weather: Surviving Tornadoes, Tsunamis, Hailstorms, Thundersnow, Hurricanes and More!" Follow him @weathersurvival, or email [email protected]. | 1 | [
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FMD1525 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Leading Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, who has said he wants to be a bridge between the British government and the new U.S. administration, will attend U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration later this month. Farage, who will attend the event as a guest of Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant, spoke at a Trump rally in Mississippi during the U.S. presidential campaign and was the first British politician to meet the president-elect after his victory, ahead of Prime Minister Theresa May. Farage spent decades campaigning for Britain to leave the European Union and helped to force then Prime Minister David Cameron to call the June 2016 referendum that resulted in the Brexit vote. Trump has said Farage | 1 | [
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FMD1526 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Facebook will soon begin to roll out their “fake news†filter in Germany according to a report in the Financial Times. [The Financial Times reports that following Angela Merkel’s worries about fake news and misinformation prior to the upcoming German elections, Facebook will begin their fake news monitoring program in Germany very soon. Facebook announced their fake news fact checking program in the US in December, partnering with partisan organisations such as ABC News, Snopes, and Politifact to determine what counts as fake news. Stories reported on Facebook’s platform as fake news will now be forwarded to Correctiv, a news organisation. If the news is deemed to be incorrect it will be marked as “disputed†and an explanation for the judgement will be attached. These items will also appear lower on Facebook timelines as items are sorted by Facebook’s algorithm. Speaking to the Financial Times, a Facebook spokesperson stated that the social media company was searching for other German media partners to help with fact checking. Facebook also stated that Germany was just the first of many countries that they planned to implement their fake news fact checking service in. “Our focus is on Germany right now but we’re certainly thinking through what countries will unveil next,†said the spokesperson. German politicians have called for a crackdown on fake news for some time now and specifically targeted Facebook in relation to misinformation. Justice Minister Heiko Maas said last November that Facebook should be treated as any other media company and be held responsible for the content on their platform. The German government reportedly previously considered setting up their own bureau to monitor fake news, according to German newspaper Deutsche Welle. Justice Minister Heiko Maas has previously stated that fake news was a “danger to our culture of debate†and that social media companies had a duty to curb the spreading of misinformation. “It can’t be in Facebook’s interest that its platform is misused in order to spread lies and hate campaigns,†Maas told Deutsche Welle. “Criminal content should be deleted immediately once it has been reported. And it must be easier for users to report fake news. †Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan_ or email him at lnolan@breitbart. com | 1 | [
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FMD1527 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: They're not crossing the Rio Grande, they're invading Mexico from the south. < No, Mexico Doesn’t Have A Wall On Its Southern Border—But If Trump Wins It Might Build One > November 6, 2016, 10:55 pm
Many people say Mexico has a wall on its southern border. It doesn’t . It should. And if it did, we Americans wouldn’t have to deal with all the Central Americans coming to our own border. It would be better for both our nations .
Some outlets are reporting Mexico is going to build a wall against migrants. [ Mexico builds its own wall against migrants , by James Fredrick and Jude Webber, Financial Times, September 14, 2016]. (The article is paywalled, but you can access it here ).
But the title is misleading. It’s not a literal wall, but a metaphorical “wall,” and not even an effective one.
The piece takes the view of a Central American planning to come to the United States and claims “Mexico already acts as a formidable barrier.” It also quotes a nun who runs a shelter for illegals in Mexico City . She moans: “Mexico has become a wall for migrants. The current [Mexican] policy is to arrest migrants to stop them from getting to the US border.”
Thus, the term “wall” is a metaphor for “some Central Americans get caught in Mexico and deported back to Central America.” Not very impressive.
The Mexican policy for dealing with its own illegals is a hodgepodge. Though Mexico doesn’t have walls on its borders with Guatemala and Belize, Mexican authorities do detain and deport illegal aliens . And the American government has reportedly put pressure on Mexico to do more. Nonetheless, plenty are still getting through. According to the article, Mexico deported a record 175,000 Central Americans last year, but the United Nations estimates 400,000 enter Mexico annually.
There is a pre-election “surge” of illegals on the U.S.-Mexican border, as migrants want to get in now regardless of who wins. If Hillary wins, they expect amnesty. If Trump wins, they expect The Wall . Illegal immigrants surging to US-Mexico border in race against #ElectionDay . https://t.co/VwFlS1BNRW pic.twitter.com/0OeeKvljLT
— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) November 4, 2016
We’ve been told for some time now there is zero net Mexican immigration to the United States [ More Mexicans Leaving Than Coming to U.S., by Ana Gonzalez-Barrera, Pew, November 19, 2015] But this misses the point. Illegals coming across the southern border are coming from Mexico. As Mexico can’t or won’t stop them, we need a barrier on our border with Mexico.
Which brings us to another question. If Trump wins the election and builds The Wall, the Mexican government may be stuck with Central Americans who can’t continue north to the U.S. And they really don’t want that.
In 2012, after the election of current Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto but before his inauguration, his coordinator Arnulfo Valdivia discussed the new administration’s goal in this area. The new Mexican president wanted “to create the necessary filters so that those who cross by the southern border [of Mexico] do not stay stranded in their attempt to cross to the United States. “Valdivia also said a goal was to “diminish the number of indocumentados [illegal aliens] who are concentrated on the northern border [of Mexico] without possibilities of crossing it, forming belts of poverty [in Mexico].”[ Peña quiere `patrulla fronteriza` mexicana , by Miriam Castillo, Milenio , October 9th, 2012]
In other words, if they cross Mexico and get to the United States, we don’t care, as long as they don’t stay in Mexico. And Mexico admits these illegals bring poverty. Indeed, Mexican authorities are quite cynical about this. A new report indicates the Mexican government is granting Haitians 20-day transit documents to reach the U.S. border, resulting in a 1,800% in illegal Haitians c rossing the border in 2016. As Duncan Hunter’s chief of staff Joe Kasper said, “Mexico doesn’t want them, but it’s entirely content with putting migrants—in this case Haitians—right on America’s doorstep.” [ DHS Documents Reveal How Mexico Is Helping Haitians Reach the U.S. Illegally , Numbers USA, October 11, 2016]. Remember this the next time somebody claims Mexico is our partner in securing the border.
But a President Trump who, like the Israelis, shuts down illegal immigration would force Mexico to build a border barrier if they don’t want to be flooded by Central Americans. This is no easy task, given the geographical situation. Mexico’s border with Guatemala alone is 541 miles long—about a quarter the length of the U.S.-Mexican border. It’s sparsely populated and crosses forested regions, rivers, lakes, farmland, pasture, valleys and mountains, some of which are in the 13,000 feet above sea level range.
But where there’s a will there’s a way. Some form of effective fencing could be done depending on the particular ecosystem, by utilizing natural barriers (such as mountains, rivers and valleys) as part of an overall border security plan.
And it’s already being suggested in the Mexican press. A bold editorial in Mañana , a newspaper from the Mexican border city of Reynosa, openly calls for a border wall with Central America Sí al muro fronterizo…Pero en el sur de México [“Yes to the Border Wall…But in the South of Mexico,” July 24, 2016]. It argues Mexico’s borders with Guatemala and Belize “only give us problems because these crossings are utilized for a new invasion, that of Central Americans who utilize our country to cross to the United States”. That’s very provocative language, using the term invasion ( invasión in Spanish).
The editorial also claims Central Americans are deported from the U.S. back to Mexico, even if they’re Central Americans and not Mexicans. The greatest number are supposedly deported to Reynosa, where they wait to try to enter America again. But while they wait, “Many of these migrants, not finding an honest way of earning a living, dedicate themselves to crime, resorting to assault, kidnapping and extortion, and in the worst of cases joining organized crime gangs.”
This Mexican editorial says deported Central American illegals commit crimes in Mexico! What intolerance! It might as well have been written by Trump!
Indeed, the editorial blames Central American illegals for much of the lawlessness of the border region: “Peace and tranquility have ended on the Mexican border and much of that has been due to the Central Americans who are deported from the U.S., backed up with false documents, who stay in Mexican territory.”
The editorial proposes a solution. “Trump’s idea [of a wall] is good [!], but more necessary than constructing a wall on the northern border of Mexico is to make one on the south/southeast border to stop the passage of Central Americans to both countries.” Furthermore, the Mexican government should also demand “migratory documents for the foreigners who enter our country.”
Though this editorial advocates a wall on Mexico’s southern border, not the American southern border, there’s no reason we can’t do both. And it’s unlikely the first will happen unless preceded by the second.
The editors of this paper have guts and are true Mexican patriots. But in order to help Mexican patriots, we need an American patriot in charge of our own country.
American citizen Allan Wall ( him) moved back to the U.S.A. in 2008 after many years residing in Mexico. Allan`s wife is Mexican, and their two sons are bilingual. In 2005, Allan served a tour of duty in Iraq with the Texas Army National Guard. His VDARE.COM articles are archived here ; his Mexidata.info articles are archived here ; his News With Views columns are archived here ; and his website is here . | 0 | [
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FMD1528 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: The result of Honduras presidential election remained in limbo on Tuesday, with a gregarious TV host s surprise lead narrowing sharply, prompting him to call on supporters to take to the streets of the capital to defend the vote. President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who won U.S. praise for helping tackle the flow of migrants and deporting drug cartel leaders, was favored to win before Sunday s vote in the poor Central American nation with one of the world s highest murder rates. But a delayed, partial count on Monday morning pointed toward an unexpected victory for TV entertainer Salvador Nasralla, 64. Inexplicably, election authorities then stopped giving results for more than 24 hours. When, under mounting criticism from international election monitors over a lack of transparency, the electoral tribunal began updating its website again, the tendency rapidly began to change. In a television interview on Tuesday evening, an angry Nasralla said the election was being stolen from him and asked his supporters to flock to the capital, Tegucigalpa, to protest. We ve already won the election, he said. I m not going to tolerate this, and as there are no reliable institutions in Honduras to defend us, tomorrow the Honduran people need to defend the vote on the streets. The Electoral Observation Mission of the Organization of American States (EOM/OAS) in Honduras urged people to remain calm and wait for official results, which it said should be delivered as quickly and transparently as possible. The credibility of the electoral authorities and the legitimacy of the future president depend on this, it said in a statement. On Tuesday evening, Nasralla s original five-point lead had thinned to under 2 percentage points, with nearly 71 percent of ballots counted, according to the election tribunal. Nasralla said in a later television interview that the election tribunal was only counting ballots from regions where Hernandez had won, skewing the results and giving the false sense that the president was heading for victory. He asked the tribunal to include ballots from regions where he was stronger. A self-described centrist, Nasralla headed a center-left coalition called the Opposition Alliance Against the Dictatorship, and claimed victory on Monday | 1 | [
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FMD1529 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: President Donald Trump’s commission investigating voter fraud may request voter roll data from U.S. states, a federal judge ruled on Monday, in a setback for groups that contend the effort could infringe on privacy rights. The judge said a lawsuit by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) watchdog did not have grounds for an injunction in part because the collection of data by the commission was not technically an action by a government agency so was not bound by laws that govern what such entities can do. Washington-based U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly also pointed out that the commission was an advisory body that does not have legal authority to compel states to hand over the data. Most state officials who oversee elections and election law experts say that voter fraud is rare in the United States. Trump, who set up the commission by executive order on May 12, has charged without evidence that millions voted unlawfully in the November presidential election. Republican Trump won the Electoral College, which tallies wins in states and determines the presidential winner. But he lost the popular vote to his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. “We look forward to continuing to work with state election leaders to gather information and identify opportunities to improve election integrity,†the commission’s vice chair Kris Kobach said in a statement after Monday’s ruling. Kobach is the secretary of state for Kansas and a high-profile advocate of tougher laws on immigration and voter identification. Civil rights groups and Democratic lawmakers have said the commission could lead to new ID requirements and other measures making it harder to vote. The panel, chaired by Vice President Mike Pence, met for the first time last week. It ran headlong into controversy when Kobach asked states to turn over voter information. The data included names, the last four digits of Social Security numbers, addresses, birth dates, political affiliation, felony convictions and voting histories. Some states refused, and others said they needed to study whether they could provide the data. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a separate lawsuit against the commission to ensure that it follows open government laws. “The commission’s efforts to gather personal data should not escape judicial review,†EPIC’s senior counsel Alan Butler said in a statement, adding the group would closely watch what the commission does next. | 1 | [
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FMD1530 | 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 Biden and the Democrats considering monitoring bank and Cash App accounts? Claim summaries: Social media posts mischaracterized how the American Rescue Plan will affect users of cash apps like Venmo.
contextual information: Various social media posts circulating in late December 2021 claimed that thanks to coronavirus stimulus legislation known as the American Rescue Plan, U.S. President Joe Biden's administration and Democratic legislators would begin "spying" or "snooping" on users of cash apps like PayPal and Venmo. Here is an example of one such post: example The truth is, unsurprisingly, more nuanced, but the bottom line is that, contrary to what the above Twitter posts state, the effect of the legislation in question isn't that the Biden administration or Democrats will be "tapping into" or "spying on" bank or cash app accounts. This is a misleading characterization. What the legislation does is significantly lower the threshold for reporting taxable transactions made using cash apps like Venmo, PayPal, or Zelle for goods and services to the IRS. And when you reach that threshold, the app companies will then be required to send a tax form called a 1099-K to both you and the IRS. A 1099-K is, according to PayPal, an "informational tax form that is used to report goods and services payments received by a business or individual in the calendar year." PayPal As of this writing, the current threshold for such reporting is $20,000 and 200 payments in goods and services. Come Jan. 1, 2022, that reporting threshold will drop down to $600. threshold This could have a significant impact on platform users' tax returns. Here's how Bloomberg Tax described how users might experience the change: Bloomberg Tax For example, a model train collector may have paid $5,000 for model train pieces over several years that they now sell for $8,000, and the marketplace that introduced the seller to the buyer and through which the sale took place may charge the seller a total fee of $800. It may cost the model train seller $200 in postage to send the pieces to its buyers. The Form 1099-K that the seller will receive from the TPSO will report $8,000 in gross proceeds paid. However, the sellers taxable gain from that sale would only be $2,000. As a result, collectors and other online sellers will need to keep extensive records of their expenses going forward to avoid over-reporting of income and overpayment of tax. Also, consider the alternativea teenager who walks dogs to earn extra money. If their income in 2022 exceeds $600, their expenses may be limited to the fees charged by the website that connects them to pet owners, but they will owe income taxand possibly self-employment taxon the income they earn. According to PayPal, which owns Venmo, the change doesn't affect people who use the apps for personal transactions, like paying a friend back for your share of dinner, gifts, or chipping in for trips. PayPal also states that its app allows users to categorize their own transactions as personal versus rendering payment for "goods and services." PayPal Business Users on Cash Apps Will Begin Receiving Tax Forms. Heres What You Need to Know. WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather, 14 Oct. 2021, https://www.wjhl.com/news/business-users-on-cash-apps-to-begin-receiving-tax-forms-what-you-need-to-know/. Pflieger, Deborah. "New Form 1099 Reporting Coming in 2022," Bloomberg Tax, 15 Dec. 2021, https://news.bloombergtax.com/tax-insights-and-commentary/new-form-1099-reporting-coming-in-2022. New U.S. Tax Reporting Requirements: Your Questions Answered. PayPal Newsroom, 4 Nov. 2021, https://newsroom.paypal-corp.com/2021-11-04-New-US-Tax-Reporting-Requirements-Your-Questions-Answered. "PayPal and Venmo Taxes: What You Need to Know About P2P Platforms." TurboTax, 27 Nov. 2021, https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/self-employment-taxes/paypal-and-venmo-taxes-what-you-need-to-know-about-p2p-platforms/L5DNjOUM1. | 0 | [
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FMD1531 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Former NSA officer John Schindler reports on a devastating fact NOT mentioned in the FBI s investigation of Hillary Clinton conducting State Department business on an unsecure homebrew email server: Sidney Blumenthal s email read exactly like classified NSA reporting, as anybody acquainted with our SIGINT would immediately recognize. As one veteran agency official told me back in January, Blumenthal s email was NSA information with at least 90 percent confidence. Which was no coincidence, since an NSA investigation subsequently determined that Blumenthal s Sudan assessment was derived from their reporting in some cases verbatim. As I reported in March, NSA concluded that Blumenthal s Sudan report came from four different agency SIGINT reports, all classified Top Secret/SCI. Then it got worse:At least one of those reports was issued under the GAMMA compartment, which is an NSA handling caveat that is applied to extraordinarily sensitive information (for instance, decrypted conversations between top foreign leadership, as this was). GAMMA is properly viewed as a SIGINT Special Access Program, or SAP, several of which Clinton compromised in another series of her unclassified emails.NSA had no doubt that Blumenthal somehow got his hands on some of their crown jewels information. It s word-for-word, verbatim copying, an agency official of them explained. In one case, an entire paragraph was lifted from an NSA report that was classified Top Secret/SCI. To add to the mystery, Sid emailed Hillary his personal assessment on Sudan only hours after some of those classified NSA reports were issued.Somehow Sid Blumenthal who in 2011 was not working for the U.S. Government in any capacity and had not held security clearances in a decade was reading above-top-secret NSA reports just hours after they appeared in tightly restricted GAMMA channels.Read more: Observer | 0 | [
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FMD1532 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Donald Trump has had a rocky relationship with the press ever since his presidential campaign, and he s only punished them further for trying to report the truth since becoming the President-elect.On Monday, Trump was set to have an off the record meeting with television networks to try and hash out presidential press access. This meeting was particularly important because Trump has previously limited press access, and has ditched two protocol press pools since getting elected.Some reporters in attendance were NBC s Deborah Turness, Lester Holt and Chuck Todd; ABC s James Goldston, George Stephanopoulos, David Muir and Martha Raddatz; CBS Norah O Donnell and Charlie Rose; Fox News Bill Shine, Jack Abernethy, Jay Wallace, Suzanne Scott; MSNBC s Phil Griffin; and CNN s Jeff Zucker and Erin Burnett. It was a good group, and it could have been a very effective meeting if only things had gone according to plan.Unfortunately, instead of having a respectful conversation and coming up with an amicable way to move forward, what the press got was a baby Trump temper tantrum of epic proportions. Or, as one person put it, It was like a f*cking firing squad. Trump made zero attempt to hide his disrespect for the media. According to The New York Post, one anonymous source said: The meeting was a total disaster. The TV execs and anchors went in there thinking they would be discussing the access they would get to the Trump administration, but instead they got a Trump-style dressing down. This claim was backed up by another person, who said: The meeting took place in a big board room and there were about 30 or 40 people, including the big news anchors from all the networks. Trump kept saying, We re in a room of liars, the deceitful dishonest media who got it all wrong. He addressed everyone in the room calling the media dishonest, deceitful liars. He called out Jeff Zucker by name and said everyone at CNN was a liar, and CNN was network of liars. This attack left reporters stunned, and even as they tried to keep bringing up press access to stay on topic, Trump barely let them speak. While this is certainly shocking, this behavior is completely typical of Trump. He has always hated the free press because it has held him accountable and reported on his mistakes and shortcomings.Americans on social media are already coming to terms with how terrifying this is:TwitterTwitterTwitterInterestingly enough, Trump spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway had the nerve to say the meeting went well. She said: Excellent meetings with the top executives of the major networks. Pretty unprecedented meeting we put together in two days. Disgraceful.Featured image by Christopher Furlong via Getty Images | 0 | [
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FMD1533 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: shorty BY PETER LEE I ’ve written a couple pieces of the smoking hot issue in Pivotland, Philippine president Duterte’s swerve toward a pro-PRC foreign policy, and what the U.S. and pro-American sector of the Manila elite are going to do about it. The first piece, Reports of death of US-Philippine alliance may be exaggerated, addresses the fact that Duterte’s freedom of movement is constrained by the need to keep the Philippine military happy, and notes that ex-prez and retired general Fidel Ramos, who facilitated Duterte’s entrance on the national political stage, is signaling dissatisfaction with Duterte. The second piece, Duterte Plays the ‘Mamasapano’ Card, covers a Duterte counter-attack: a threat to relitigate the death of 44 Philippine National Police commandos at Mamasapano in Mindanao, a 2014 special ops fiasco conducted under the aegis of the United States which a) exposes ex-president Aquino to serious legal jeopardy b) posits that the US alliance is doing a better job of killing Filipinos than the PRC can ever hope to do. The US seems to be embedded in a colonial mindset when it comes to the Philippines, something along the lines of “we’ve been selflessly looking after the Philippines for a century, and that thug Duterte won’t be allowed to screw that up during his brief (maybe curtailed) presidency.” It takes a pretty superficial view of Philippine history, one that accepts the US self-definition as the Philippines’ security savior while ignoring the distortions and shortcomings of the colonial and neo-colonial relationship. For me this tunnel vision was typified by the US media crowing over the formal delivery of a refurbished C-130 transport to the Philippine government by outgoing ambo Philip Goldberg. Message: here’s the US making provisions for Philippine defense at the same time Duterte’s selling out the country to China. To me, the inadvertent message was 1) here’s the US blindly stroking the pivot fetish while Duterte tries to solve the Mindanao insurgency that has cost at least 400,000 lives over the last century, win his drug war, and find a place for the Philippines in Asia that doesn’t give primacy to the US preoccupation confronting the PRC and 2) the U.S., in my opinion, pretty much has a policy of keeping the Philippines flat on its behind as an independent military force by trickling out second-hand gear to the Philippine military while the sweet stuff is dangled in front of it during US joint military maneuvers and port calls. But the United States is trying to find political leverage wherever it can and the Western media will, I’m sure, put its shoulder to the wheel to help out. Feelings of nationalism are pervasive in the US, but Americans have difficulty understanding why people in other nations may harbor animosity toward them on account of their colonialist and imperialist experiences. P hilip Goldberg sat down for a 45-minute exit interview with Rappler. As befitting Rappler’s origins in the Soros/Omidyar network of pro-US globalization advocacy, the interview was a stream of softballs about what to do about Duterte’s disregard of the awesomeness of the American relationship, an awesomeness that is acknowledged by virtually all Filipinos who inexplicably (and, if the US has anything to do about it, temporarily) at the same time give Duterte approval ratings of over 80%. It’s worth watching if you have the patience. Goldberg is a smooth cat, and the Rappler tonguebath gives you no inkling of the fact that he intimately familiar with the wet work of end-arounding national governments to cultivate secessionist movements, you know, like what he did in Bolivia (declared persona non grata as a result) and Kosovo, and like that thing in Duterte’s home province of Mindanao, which in my opinion probably the main reason why Duterte wanted him out of the Philippines. Goldberg also discretely plays the economic threat card, concern-trolling that anti-US attitudes will dismay “foreign investors”. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in subsequent weeks. As far as I can tell, the biggest U.S. factor in the domestic Philippine economy is the call-center industry. I doubt US corporations are interested in actually pulling their operations out and subjecting them to the English-language mercies of India, but certainly a call from the State Department or White House would convince them of the wisdom of at least making the threat. And I also wonder if expected President Hillary Clinton will find it necessary to drop the hammer on Duterte, in order to demonstrate to a rather dubious Asia that there is no alternative to loyalty to the pivot. I expect the next few months, in other words, to be very interesting. NOTE: ALL IMAGE CAPTIONS, PULL QUOTES AND COMMENTARY BY THE EDITORS, NOT THE AUTHORS | 0 | [
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FMD1534 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: So Trump opposes "free trade" and Hillary is all for it. This is not denied, yet T/O spins a BS story to make Trump the villain. He doesn't make anything, that is all down the subcontracting chain, and requiring everything to be made in the USA would be a complex and expensive effort. So he, and no one else does this, including our government! However, if trade were regulated, this would fix the problem for all, as Trump wants. | 0 | [
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FMD1535 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Home / Be The Change / NSA Whistleblower: ‘NSA Has ALL of Clinton’s Deleted Emails’— FBI Can Access Them Any Time NSA Whistleblower: ‘NSA Has ALL of Clinton’s Deleted Emails’— FBI Can Access Them Any Time Jay Syrmopoulos August 1, 2016 8 Comments
Washington, D.C. – One of the architects of the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs dropped a bombshell over the weekend when he stated that the NSA has “all” of Hillary Clinton’s deleted emails. He also noted that the FBI has the technical and legal ability to gain access to them if they chose to do so.
William Binney is a former highly respected NSA official that served the agency for over 30 years, helping to create its surveillance program – before becoming a famed whistleblower upon resigning in 2001. On Sunday, he declared in a radio interview broadcast that the hack of the DNC could have been coordinated by someone inside the U.S. intelligence community angry over Clinton’s compromise of national security data with her email use.
Appearing on Sunday on “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio,” and speaking as an intelligence analyst, Binney questioned whether the hack of the Democratic National Committee’s servers were actually the work of Russian hackers, as the Clinton camp has alleged. Instead, he raised the possibility that it was actually the work of disgruntled U.S. intelligence officials upset about Clinton being given a pass on criminal charges after compromising national security secrets through her use of unsecure personal email servers that were undoubtedly accessed by numerous foreign intelligence services.
During his interview with reporter Aaron Klein, Binney referenced then-FBI Director Robert S. Mueller’s testimony in March 2011 before the Senate Judiciary Committee, in which Mueller spoke of the FBI’s ability to access a number of secretive databases “to track down known and suspected terrorists.”
“Now what he (Mueller) is talking about is going into the NSA database, which is shown of course in the (Edward) Snowden material released, which shows a direct access into the NSA database by the FBI and the CIA. Which there is no oversight of by the way. So that means that NSA and a number of agencies in the U.S. government also have those emails,” Binney said. “So if the FBI really wanted them they can go into that database and get them right now,” Binney stated in regards to the missing Clinton emails.
When Klein asked whether he believed the NSA has copies of “all” of Clinton’s emails, including the deleted correspondence, Binney replied with a one-word bombshell. “Yes ,” he responded. “That would be my point. They have them all and the FBI can get them right there.”
According to a report by Breitbart :
And the other point is that Hillary, according to an article published by the Observer in March of this year, has a problem with NSA because she compromised Gamma material. Now that is the most sensitive material at NSA. And so there were a number of NSA officials complaining to the press or to the people who wrote the article that she did that. She lifted the material that was in her emails directly out of Gamma reporting. That is a direct compromise of the most sensitive material at the NSA. So she’s got a real problem there. So there are many people who have problems with what she has done in the past. So I don’t necessarily look at the Russians as the only one(s) who got into those emails.
The Observer defined the GAMMA classification:
GAMMA compartment, which is an NSA handling caveat that is applied to extraordinarily sensitive information (for instance, decrypted conversations between top foreign leadership, as this was).
How interesting to think about the distinct possibility that the hacked and leaked emails are not the result of Russian hackers, but actually came to WikiLeaks from an unknown crusader at the NSA itself — another “Snowden” if you will.
Let us hope that after for years of watching Clinton expose national security secrets, through reckless handling of highly classified intelligence, some determined patriots within the intelligence community are now working to see the downfall of Clintons by exposing their corrupt political apparatus. Likely we will never know: as Zero Hedge reported , it is the NSA that has been tasked with determining if the Russian government is behind the hacks. One thing we already know is that when an agency investigates itself, it NEVER finds itself responsible. Share | 0 | [
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FMD1536 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Liberals have been telling American citizens for decades that illegal aliens are doing the low-wage jobs Americans won t do. Is that really true?How much do those illegal aliens standing on various street corners make per hour, per week or per year? Do they really pay taxes? Are they helping or harming American citizens who are hoping to find work and become self-sufficient? How does employing illegal aliens in America affect our economy? How much money does the government take from working American citizens via taxes to provide illegal aliens the opportunity to work and live in America tax free?Comedian and conservative activist Steven Crowder goes undercover in his latest video that answers all of these questions. Crowder joins illegal aliens on a street corner who are looking to be picked up by employers and given a job for the day. Watch the negotiation process and notice how boldly one of the illegal aliens admits to Crowder that he doesn t pay any taxes. The illegal alines are also not so subtle about the way they let Crowder know they don t want any white male US citizens competing for jobs with them.Watch: | 0 | [
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FMD1537 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: The waiting room at St. Lambert Lock in Montreal looks out at a of fence, six security camera towers, a derrick and a guardhouse. There, three armed men stare at a stretch of placid, water waiting to lift freighters up along the St. Lawrence Seaway. The lock is part of the oldest and most traveled inland waterway in America — a corridor that connects the Atlantic Ocean with all five Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. Since deep draft navigation opened on the St. Lawrence in 1959, more than two and a half billion tons of cargo, worth around $375 billion, have traversed the seaway. I’d been waiting 20 minutes for my ride — a freighter called the Algoma Equinox. The Equinox traverses the St. Lawrence and four Great Lakes twice a month, transporting iron ore west and grain back east. Like many freighters around the world, it also occasionally carries people. Travelers willing to take the slow boat get a private cabin, three meals a day and shore leave wherever the ship loads, unloads or stops at a lock. After picking me up in Montreal, the Equinox’s captain, Ross Armstrong, told me the ship would cross Lakes Ontario, Erie, Huron and Superior and drop me in Thunder Bay, Ontario — six hours north of Duluth, Minn. The trip would take six days. Three crew members lowered a steel gangplank onto the parking lot curb, and I dragged my roller bag onto the ship. The Equinox is almost the exact size of the Carnegie Hall Tower in New York City, leaned over on its side. The long, blue hull floated just a few feet above the water, weighed down by 33, 000 tons of iron ore pellets in the cargo holds. All three crew members wore coveralls and hard hats. One, from Newfoundland, introduced himself as Tony. He looked like a Tony, with a bushy black mustache, pudgy cheeks and curly black hair. “You’ll be in the owner’s cabin,†he said. “Better hurry up, supper’s almost over. †It was 5 p. m. on a warm June day. The sun was still high overhead and the air smelled like river water and algae. Fluorescent lights gave the interior of the ship a pale blue hue. The halls were timeless in a way that any steel room, like a prison cell, is timeless. My cabin was on the third floor, starboard side. It was surprisingly large. The bed could have been transplanted from a Comfort Inn. The separate sitting area had a chipboard desk and and there was an en suite bathroom by the foot of the bed. The walls were covered with white plastic panels. The curtains were a kind of shiny plastic I had never seen before. Behind them, two oversized portholes looked out on a constantly moving scene. I dropped my bags and headed straight to the mess hall. It was empty, something that appeared to please the cook, Mike Newell. The dining area and kitchen were Mike’s domain, though it seemed as if he would trade the keys for a plane ticket home. For a man who openly hated his job, Mike cooked a hearty meal. The first night’s menu: chicken curry, rice, steaks, spaghetti, meatballs, short ribs, steamed veggies, salad, pie and a choice of a dozen nonalcoholic juices and drinks. Mike with a dishtowel as he told me about riding lakers. He was 62 and had been sailing for 41 years. He has cloudy blue eyes and gray hair and opens his shirt a couple of buttons lower than other crew members. He was a mate once. He was an ordinary seaman who worked the decks, too. He was laid off, rehired, laid off again. In the old days, he said, the mess hall was crowded 24 hours a day. Sailors played cards, gambled, got drunk and got into knife fights. Hells Angels, mental patients and gang members hiding from the law worked there. Every now and then one would disappear over the rail in the middle of the night. There was such a demand for labor that if someone was fired, he’d be hired the next day by a competitor. When Mike reached 25 years of service, the company gave him a clock mounted on a brass helm. Mike responded, “You should have given me a Congressional Medal of Honor for surviving!†Mike was still talking an hour later when I slipped out of the mess hall to catch the sunset. Captain Ross gave me permission to roam the ship, as long as I wore a hard hat outside. And didn’t fall overboard. The sun was still above the treetops, and silhouetted skyscrapers in downtown Montreal 10 miles northeast looked like shadows. The engine vibrated the deck and every surface as the ship motored toward Lac St. . A rain shower hit, carried by a ferocious wind. Five minutes later it passed, and the evening sun hammered the deck. I had never moved this slowly as a passenger and wondered if I would lose my mind with boredom in the next six days. But the pace was meditative, too. From the wheelhouse, you notice things onshore you would typically miss in a car, train or plane. Like kids playing lacrosse in a hockey rink, a teenager peeking into his neighbors’ windows with a drone, and a red fox hunching his back and relieving himself on a beautifully manicured lawn. The canal opened into Lac St. where it was nearly four miles wide, then narrowed again near Île Perrot. We were 300 miles due north of New York City and on the same latitude as Portland, Ore. Elms and cottonwood bent in the breeze, casting shadowy fingers onto the water. White cedar and ash grew close to the river where 350, 000 cubic feet of water passed every second. Moraines and gentle drumlins rose and fell along the riverside, creating miniature highlands shrouded in red oak and sugar maple. In between, peat bogs were laced with the skeletons of fallen trees. Two riders on a bike path lining the dike left us in the dust. I found it hard to believe that we would be in Minnesota in six days. In my mind, it was difficult to connect Montreal and Minnesota by water at all. I was so used to driving and flying, the shape of the continent had been distorted. You get on a plane or Interstate in New York and get off in Minneapolis. Or Chicago. Or Los Angeles. Most people don’t travel anymore. They arrive. Unless you are riding the slow boat. Then you see every mile. The Great Lakes basin spans 10 degrees of latitude and 18 degrees of longitude — set almost exactly between the Equator and the North Pole. The circumference of all five lakes combined is 10, 500 miles, nearly half the distance around the world. An average of 200, 000 cubic feet of precipitation falls somewhere on the lakes every second. The first ships to sail the lakes were classic European schooners, sloops and brigs. “Canallers†were the workhorses of the and by 1860, 750 of them were in service. The steam engine brought larger boats, and larger locks too. Steam barges called “smokers†spoke to each other using “whistle talk. †Next came hookers, whaleback tows and bulkers, before steel ocean freighters sailed up the St. Lawrence and the age of the modern laker began. These days oreboats, straight deckers, bulkers, sternenders, self unloaders, longboats and lakeboats deliver 180 million tons of cargo to and from the lakes annually. Most goes to or comes from electric utilities, steel mills, construction companies, mining companies, factories and farms. Because a freighter can transport a ton of cargo 576 miles on a single gallon of fuel — compared with 413 miles by train or 155 miles by truck — shipping is often a greener way to move people and freight as well. Many shipping companies like Canada Maritime, and Grimaldi Lines offer passenger cabins on certain routes. Prices average around $100 a day for trips to most major international ports. Specialty travel agencies like Maris and A la Carte Freighter Travel book and trips, and others like ZIM Integrated Shipping Services take applications for artist residencies on their ships. Great Lakes freighters are unique in that almost all passenger tickets are sold through nonprofit — mostly to benefit shipping museums — so booking a room is not easy. I got lucky while researching a book about America’s northern border when I met Peter Winkley, vice president of Algoma Central. The border splits the St. Lawrence River and four Great Lakes, and the Equinox follows the line almost the entire journey. The only way to see it up close is on a ship, and Mr. Winkley offered me a ride. The Equinox is the most advanced bulker on the Great Lakes. Algoma captains, engineers and naval architects designed it, making it 45 percent more fuel efficient than Algoma’s existing fleet. They added a computerized, gearless engine that occupies four stories of the engine room and gas scrubbers on the smokestack, which remove 97 percent of emitted sulfur. The result is the fastest, largest and most efficient ship sailing all five Great Lakes. Still, the next morning mustard yellow exhaust fell from the smokestack and hovered a few feet above the water. Thick bands of clouds blocked the sun. The Equinox deck glowed dull red. Every handle is painted white and safety instructions are bright yellow. Captain Ross looked more like a retired police officer on vacation at the helm — wearing a polo shirt, jeans and Crocs — than the captain of a $40 million ship. He was 27 when his father, a lifetime Great Lakes captain, called him from Quebec City and asked if he wanted to be a deckhand. years later he was celebrating his third decade as a captain. The job is more demanding than it looks, he said. The lakes sit in a lowland between the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachians, creating a vortex of dangerous weather. Winds can blow 40 to 50 knots and whip up waves 25 feet tall. The slender and flexible lakers seek shelter or to survive these storms. The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum estimates that 6, 000 ships and 30, 000 lives have been lost on the lakes. The most famous wreck, Edmund Fitzgerald, sank a few hundred miles ahead on our route. The wheelman stood behind Captain Ross, clutching a surprisingly tiny, computerized steering wheel. He wore driving gloves and turned the Equinox every few seconds in whatever direction the captain told him to. The wheel, computer monitors and what looked like a server farm filling the wheelhouse are indicative of changes in the shipping industry. Twenty years ago, it took 35 crew members to run a laker. The Equinox operates with 16, only a handful of whom are on duty at once. I stepped onto the wheelhouse deck in Chippewa Bay to see Thousand Islands, N. Y. summer home to millionaires for a century and a half. There are 1, 864 islands along the stretch, many of which were retreats for business moguls and movie stars during the Gilded Age. Singer Castle’s walls and roof, built by Frederick Gilbert Bourne of the Singer Sewing Machine Company, passed a few hundred yards to starboard. A couple of miles farther, we passed within a few hundred feet of another castle built by George Boldt, proprietor of New York City’s original Waldorf Astoria, and Deer Island, a retreat for Yale’s Skull and Bones club. The channel was so tight in the American Narrows that the Equinox completely filled it. and mahogany runabouts zipped 30 feet in front of the bow and alongside the gunwales. An S O S message came across the VHF radio saying that a private boat had lost power and drifted into the shipping lane, and I asked the wheelsman how long it would take the Equinox to stop. “It doesn’t stop,†he said. Then he added, “You should see this place at night. Or in the fog. †That evening we passed the windmills and farms of Wolfe Island, then broke into a deep blue plain. From the bow, Lake Ontario looked like an endless silvery horizon. The air was still and the view ahead was so wide I could see the curvature of the earth. The only sign of land was a smokestack 20 miles away on the southern shore. Seeing a Great Lake for the first time, I understood how French explorers, who discovered “the sweet seas†and essentially blazed the border with Canada, assumed that the lakes led to the Pacific — and China. Most mapmakers estimated that North America was only 300 miles wide, and every indication on the edge of Lake Ontario suggested that the lake went on forever. Seagulls circled the smokestack and a gentle swell from the last storm gently rolled the ship. The sun was a bonfire three fingers off the horizon, and an exact image of the sky reflected off the surface of the water. The first mate throttled up to 17 miles an hour, and the bow of the Equinox plowed ahead. Foam breaking off the hull turned green as it slid along the sides of the ship, then split from the stern in a wide V. The sky was dark the next morning. The land was dark too. Flames blazed above tall, cylindrical smokestacks, casting an orange light on the Equinox. The waterfront was barricaded by black, pyramidal dunes of coal and iron ore pellets at the ArcelorMittal Dofasco steel mill. My watch read 9 a. m. We were docked in Hamilton, Ontario, steel capital of Canada. Unloading takes about a day, so Captain Ross gave me shore leave until 10 p. m. I took a cab straight to Jamesville, an unlikely arts district that recently popped up in Hamilton. I found a art galleries, three coffee shops, a smoothie bar, eight restaurants and two boutique saloons on North James Street alone. The neighborhood didn’t look like Manhattan’s Chelsea, but it didn’t look like a steel town, either. I wandered all day through shops and public parks, looking at wood prints, paintings, a recording studio, art center and the Hamilton farmers’ market, the oldest indoor market in Canada (founded in 1837). That evening at a bar called the Brain — where the owner was with an artist friend from Berlin — a patron in skinny black jeans showed off a print headed for New York City. It was a matted grid of 28 life rings from Great Lakes ships. Neighborhoods grew progressively darker and poorer as I rode in a cab back to the waterfront that night. An orange cloud hovered over the steel mill and flames flickered above Dofasco’s smokestacks. Inside Gate 15, earthmovers roared as they pushed piles of iron and coal around. Nothing had changed inside the Equinox. The system whirred. The fluorescent lights made hallways and cabins bright and sterile. The only smell was of spaghetti sauce in the mess hall, where a lone crewman sat staring at his food. By the time I woke up the next morning, the Equinox had finished unloading, crossed Lake Ontario and cleared two locks in the Welland Canal — an engineering marvel that circumvents Niagara Falls. The first Welland Canal was dug between Lake Erie and Ontario in 1829. The current one lifts ships 326 vertical feet up the Niagara escarpment over 27 miles and eight locks. Captain Ross let me off at Lock 3 and told me I had six hours to explore Niagara, before reboarding at Lock 8. I climbed a rope ladder up the lock wall and walked to a cab that took me to the Table Rock Welcome Center on the Canadian side of the falls. A rock wall with an ornate steel railing held back 1, 200 humans gazing at the waterfall on the planet. It is a strange thing to see a wonder of the world in the flesh after gazing at photos of it 1, 000 times. I spent a watching the river wend around rocks and submerged logs, then accelerate and shoot forward, cascading, ricocheting and vaporizing into a white cloud of mist before coalescing into a cushion of foam. What you don’t see in photos is the view the falls have of everyone looking at them, an explosion of tourism almost as breathtaking as the cataract itself. I embraced the chaos for a moment over a Jack Daniel’s New York Strip Steak at TGI Fridays — near the Guinness World Records Museum, Ripley’s Believe It or Not, Upside Down House, Brick City toy museum, Movieland Wax Museum of the Stars and the Haunted House. Then I caught a cab to an older world in Port Colborne at the opposite end of the Welland Canal. Port Colborne sits on Lake Erie and is the kind of place where local legends include a high school kid who played in the N. H. L. and a World War II Canadian battleship that was named after the town. Like Hamilton, Port Colborne had become a chic weekender destination and was packed with gift shops, cafes and the incredible Minor Fisheries cafeteria — where your breaded and fried perch comes in daily from the local fishing fleet. The Equinox eased into Lock 8 around 6 p. m. After I boarded, Captain Ross directed the ship into Lake Erie. Sunset comes slowly on the Great Lakes. The surface of the water morphed into an antique mirror, clouded and rippled. Before long, land on the far shore became a shadowy thumbnail, marked by a dozen bristling towers and smokestacks. The final leg of the journey through Lakes Huron and Superior was the fastest. There is one stop at Soo Locks between Lake Huron and Superior, and the ship cruises at top speed the rest of the way. We were in the Detroit River when I woke up the second to last day. After coffee and an omelet, Detroit appeared like a house of mirrors off the port bow. From there we steamed past Belle Isle into Lake St. Clair, through the St. Clair River and Lake Huron. Sometime that night we turned north up St. Mary’s River to the Soo Locks at Sault Ste. Marie and continued west across Lake Superior. The fog set in on the last night, and I couldn’t see the bow of the ship. The dampness and cold penetrated my jacket on deck, and beads of water formed on my eyelashes. There were no buoys, ships or rocks. You could see them on the radar but not through the windshield. “Lake’s too cold,†the wheelman said. I woke in the middle of the night and looked through the porthole. The fog had lifted and Superior was black and calm. The average depth of the lake is 483 feet. Off Grand Island, the bottom drops to 1, 333 feet. Somewhere down there the Midcontinent Rift, a giant scar of hardened magma where the North American continent split in two a billion years ago, runs across the bottom. Deepwater ciscoes swim through the deepest trenches of the lake. Native lake trout and lake herring circle above them. Sleek black loons, herring gulls, harlequin ducks and oldsquaw dive at the fish on the surface, and eagles, falcons, terns and plovers glide above. Before I went to bed, I had packed my things. I couldn’t imagine riding a boat for three months, much less 30 years as a career seaman. I stared at the ceiling for an hour, wondering if I would fall asleep. I imagined the cliffs that border the northern shore of Lake Superior passing by, and gray wolves and black bear wandering through stands of paper birch and pine. In a I dreamed of the cottony white cloud covering the lake. Above the cloud the moon seared a crescent into the sky. The ship made a long furrow through the mist, just the smokestack poking through. It was a clear night above and a whiteout below. Lights flickered onshore. Cars zipped along highways. America went on as usual while the giant ship slid forward in the silver light. | 1 | [
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FMD1538 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: A police detective in the north Texas community of Frisco is struggling to overcome paralysis and find a way to return to service as a police officer. [Detective Daniel Bardwell became paralyzed after becoming infected following a surgery to repair damage caused by a illness. Doctors diagnosed the police veteran with Crohn’s disease at the age of 17, Fox News reported. Despite the illness, he joined the police force. Several times, Bardwell underwent painful surgeries to repair damage to his intestines. However, in August, he encountered something he never dreamed he would face. Following his surgery, Barwell developed a staph infection that left the police officer paralyzed from the chest down. The infection settled in the detective’s spine, WFAA reported. He went to sleep one night with a pain in his neck. When he awoke, he could no longer move anything below his chest. “If you’d have given me a choice of a million things that would have happened, this is not one,†Bardwell told the Fox News reporter. For months, the police detective has struggled through treatments and therapy to attempt to overcome this setback and return to the job he loves. “All of a sudden, something like this happens and you realize all the components that actually go into standing up,†he explained. The detective, who works in the crimes against people unit of the Frisco Police Department is not facing the challenge of recovery alone. Bardwell’s wife of 18 years, Jill, is standing by her man. She said she is excited about the progress he is making. “We’ve seen from a toe wiggle to finger movement to being able to lift his right leg,†she said. “And with each of those, we just celebrate. †She said his goal is to walk again. “Daniel says it is a matter of when, not if. Maggie Lastukhin, a physical therapist at Baylor University Medical Center, told WFAA, “I’ve never seen a work ethic like his before. He never says no. He never complains. †His fellow officers are also doing what they can to help by raising money for a wheelchair accessible van. The goal is for Bardwell to be able to drive himself to work when he is ready to return, officials said. “Everybody wants to help to do their part, whatever it may be — little or big,†Officer Ryan Chandler told Fox 4 News reporters. “So I think that they are really feeling that love from the police department now. †The community of Frisco is also chipping in. A local Schlotzsky’s Deli is donating a portion of this weekend’s proceeds. Others have set up a “YouCaring†account to help with expenses not covered by insurance. “It’s been humbling. That’s the best word to use when I think about all the support we’ve gotten,†Daniel told WFAA reporters about the support he has received. Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook. | 1 | [
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FMD1539 | 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 in West Virginia make up 99 percent of the total number of businesses in the state and employ nearly 50 percent of the states workforce.
contextual information: How big a deal are small businesses in West Virginia? Pretty big, according to a recent article in WVNews. Thearticle, published March 30, 2019, quoted Nikki Bowmar, a spokeswoman for the West Virginia district office of the U.S. Small Business Administration, saying that there are approximately 114,391 small businesses in West Virginia. Cumulatively, these businesses make up 99 percent of the total number of businesses in the state and employ 280,213 people nearly 50 percent of the states workforce. Last year, a prominent West Virginia lawmaker, Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, garbled a related talking point, saying that small businesses make up about 96% of our state's economy. PolitiFact rated that statementMostly False. Manchin was wrong because he used the term the economy, which refers to all economic output in the state. While small businesses account for nearly 99 percent of businesses in the state, small businesses only account for about half of employees in West Virginia. The other half of workers, who work for a small number of big companies, produce a disproportionate share of economic output due to their large workforces, economists told us. So did Bowmar get it more accurately? Yes, though the data is a bit old. When we contacted Bowmar, she sent us the same data release that we used when we researched Manchins statement -- theSmall Business Administration Office of Advocacys 2018 Small Business Profile. Bowmars remark in the newspaper lined up with the data in the agencys profile. The only caveat is that the data was collected in 2015. Small businesses are created and fail all the time, making the numbers somewhat volatile. Still, the data she cited is the most recent available. Bowmar said that small businesses in West Virginia make up 99 percent of the total number of businesses in the state and employ nearly 50 percent of the states workforce. Thats correct according to the most recent data from the federal Small Business Administration, though the data is a bit old. We rate it Mostly True. | 1 | [
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FMD1540 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Two Muslim American YouTube stars who were returning home to New York after a world tour said they were removed from a Delta Air Lines flight in London on Wednesday after other passengers expressed discomfort with their presence on the plane. Adam Saleh, 23, a filmmaker from Manhattan, and his friend Slim Albaher, 22, from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, said they had been asked by the captain to leave their flight at Heathrow Airport after Mr. Saleh spoke in Arabic to his mother by phone, and he and Mr. Albaher followed up by speaking to each other in Arabic, causing alarm among British passengers on the flight. The news was met on social media with anger at the airline industry, but also skepticism, though passengers who were on the plane when it landed in New York corroborated the men’s story. Mr. Saleh, who has more than two million subscribers on YouTube, has a history of perpetuating video hoaxes and pranks, some of them aimed at exposing stereotypes about Muslims. In his latest YouTube video, posted this month, he pretended to smuggle himself onto a plane in a suitcase. In a phone interview Wednesday from Heathrow before he and Mr. Albaher boarded a later flight, Mr. Saleh said this was not a stunt. “The only thing I can say is, I would never film a phone video,†he said. “That’s when it’s really serious, and I must film. †His video camera was in his luggage. Delta said in a statement on Wednesday evening that, based on information collected so far, the two customers removed from the flight “sought to disrupt the cabin with provocative behavior, including shouting. †“What is paramount to Delta is the safety and comfort of our passengers and employees,†the airline said. “It is clear these individuals sought to violate that priority. †Earlier in the day, Delta said that it was taking allegations of discrimination “very seriously. †Camilla Goodman, a spokeswoman for London’s Metropolitan Police, confirmed that two passengers had been removed from the flight and that they “didn’t do anything lawfully wrong. †They were not arrested, she said. Mr. Saleh and Mr. Albaher later boarded a Virgin flight to New York. In Periscope videos and the phone interview, Mr. Saleh and Mr. Albaher gave their version of events. Mr. Saleh said he had just spoken to his mother on the phone, in Arabic, to tell her when his flight would land. After the call, he and Mr. Albaher continued to speak briefly in Arabic until they were interrupted by a woman in front of them, who asked them to speak English because they were making her uncomfortable. They did not respond aggressively, Mr. Saleh said, but told her that they were speaking Arabic and asked whether she had ever heard another language. Then, Mr. Saleh said, a man with a British accent who appeared to be traveling with the woman swore at them and said they should be “chucked†off the plane. “At this point, me and Slim looked at each other,†Mr. Saleh said in the interview. “We didn’t know what to do. We felt like we were terrorists. †The situation escalated, Mr. Saleh said, and other passengers joined in asking that Mr. Saleh and Mr. Albaher be kicked off the plane. Some of them mentioned Monday’s terrorist attack in Berlin, he said. After the disturbance continued for what Mr. Saleh said was about seven minutes, the captain was summoned, and he asked that the two men leave the plane with their baggage. At that point, Mr. Saleh started filming with his phone. He later shared the video, and others from the airport, on Twitter, where he has more than 250, 000 followers. Chris Ashford, 47, who was aboard the plane after a layover in London, said he believed that the woman had “overreacted. †“She heard somebody speaking in Arabic and assumed the worst,†he said. He added that while he thought Delta had acted in the interest of some of its passengers, “I do think it was kicking the guy off the plane and then removing his bags. †The Rev. Karen Georgia Thompson, 51, was also on the plane. Although she said she could not judge the airline’s actions because she had only witnessed some of the disruption, Ms. Thompson did say that both parties should have been removed. “If you’re going to investigate, how are you going to investigate one side of an altercation?†she asked. In the video, Mr. Saleh is escorted from the plane as he points out passengers who were heckling him, yelling goodbye and waving at the camera. “You guys are racist,†Mr. Saleh shouts in the video as he describes the confrontation. “Six white people against us bearded men. †With Mr. Saleh’s large following, the story quickly took off, and many people were immediately critical of Delta. Reports of Muslims’ being asked to leave planes have risen in recent months, according to advocacy groups. Zainab Chaudry, a spokeswoman for the Council on Relations, the United States’ largest Muslim civil rights group, said in a phone interview on Wednesday, “More and more reports have been made of Muslims or Arabs, or people who were perceived to be Muslim or Arabs, who were removed from planes by airline personnel. †“There isn’t one particular airline I can point to and say, ‘We’ve been hearing more reports on this airline than others,’†she said. “Delta has not been one of the more common offenders. †In April, a college student was removed from a Southwest Airlines flight in California when he was heard speaking Arabic, a week after a Muslim woman was asked to leave another Southwest flight when she sought to switch seats. In May, an Italian professor was removed from an American Airlines flight because another passenger was alarmed by his handwritten notes, which were in fact math equations. Mr. Saleh and Mr. Albaher, who are best friends and frequently work together, had recently traveled to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Sydney, Australia, to perform their stage show, which mixes comedy with inspirational speaking. Their fans are largely young, Muslims from around the world, Mr. Albaher said, though he added, “A bunch of other people watch us too. †Mr. Saleh was born and raised in New York City. After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, he recalled, he was afraid to tell people he was Muslim, but he later embraced his culture and religion. “I wanted to show people we can have fun,†he said. “We can be normal just like everyone else. †| 1 | [
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FMD1541 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Truth about Mosul to emerge at mass funerals 08.11.2016 AP Photo Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the IS terror group, has fled from Mosul, as the Iraqi army reported. Intelligence sources have also confirmed information about escape of the head of terrorists, who was allegedly leaving the city among its residents to cover himself against airstrikes. The data was confirmed by the Western intelligence services as well. However, before that al-Baghdadi published an audio where he called to stay in the city and fight, opposing with all the possible means without regard to own lives. Beside that, the warlord threatened Turkey, calling this country to be a new field for ISIS. Anatoliy Tsyganok, head of the Centre for Military Prognosis , commented Pravda.Ru on the events. Can this information be trusted? I have serious doubts. First of all, because there is a so-called terror military leadership, 24 people were deliberately chosen for this purpose. Seven of them had been imprisoned in Guantanamo, others - in the Iranian prisons. This situation is a fake. Print version Font Size Mosul is really being bombed now. If the situation is compared with that in Aleppo, it should be noted that there are just some 200-250 civilians in Aleppo and humanitarian corridors operate there. While in Mosul the number of civilians reaches a million and a half, and there are no humanitarian corridors at all. In Aleppo there are journalists, and there are none of them in Mosul. Information which comes from the Americans is quite negative. And one will be able to check it only after mass funeral in Mosul. How will events in Mosul be developing? What will Turkey face? The Americans always compare today military acts with those when they were fighting in Iraq before, when six out of eight Iraqi corps just surrendered, because generals were bribed. And creating ISIS, they decided that they knew its military authorities. I doubt that they will manage to bribe them. And the idea itself to take Mosul by 8 November is crazy. One should understand clearly that fighters prepared defence in a very clever way . Moreover, they built 2-3km long catacombs. We've evidenced may times when they were attacking at one place, and exited at another. The Islamic State fighters will oppose, I have no doubts. And it will be a long-lasting process. And what about Turkey? It's very interesting. Note that three years ago they wanted to dethrone Bashar al-Assad, then after reconciliation with Moscow they changed their stance. Motivation is very simple. First of all, some power should be present in Syria. And the opposition cannot decide who will be the president. While for the president it's also quite hard to rely on the opposition. What is more, if speaking about the Turkish authorities. What are they doing? Certainly they may be trying to make use of the situation to take some lands from the Syrian government. But it's an old story. Second, they want to take territory which is defended by Kurds. And in this case the Turkish government gets into a conflict with the Americans, who said 15 years ago that they would create a Kurdish state. In fact, they have created it in the territory of Iraq. Thus, given it, the Turks will fight, but not for Mosul . Beside that, when Americans say that they are allegedly legitimate and backed by countries, its is also an insanity. That is only Russia which is at request of Damascus in Syria, and the Americans have been deployed here illegally. I believe countries which fight in Aleppo have their own goals, which do nor correspond with those of Bashar al Assad's government, the Kremlin or Turkey's government. What is going on in Syria may create a certain configuration of military and diplomatic forces in two or three years. The war in Syria has been on for almost 15 years, but talks about it were started just 5 years ago. Norwegian experts found oil fields in Syria, which according to their estimations surpass all the fields of Qatar . That is, war is going on for oil. Six years ago the US president said an interesting thing: he would interfere in situation in the Middle East to bring order under the US scenario, and so that there's no possibility to deliver oil reserves. Namely this is the main task of the US in the region. Pravda.Ru Read article on the Russian version of Pravda.Ru | 0 | [
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] | 0 |
FMD1542 | 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: Man Claiming to Be Transgender Arrested for Filming Women in Restroom Claim summaries: A 2013 news story about a man filming in women's bathrooms was misrepresented as having occurred "last weekend" in 2016.
contextual information: On April 1, 2016, the website Breitbart published an article reporting that a California man posing as a woman had been arrested after filming women in the bathroom of a Macy's department store. A Palmdale, California, man wearing women's clothing was arrested in a Lancaster Macy's store after he was seen in a women's bathroom. The man was allegedly videotaping women in the bathroom. Jason Pomare, 33, was arrested over the weekend after mall security officers learned he had been lingering in a Macy's department store women's bathroom. The security guards contacted a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) deputy who found the cross-dressing man in a mall storage area, NBC Los Angeles reported. Breitbart also tied the story to anti-discrimination ordinances regarding bathroom usage by transgender people, stating that it is not clear if Lancaster has a bathroom ordinance like the one defeated in Houston the previous year, which would have allowed men to legally enter women's bathrooms and locker rooms. Breitbart Texas's Lana Shadwick covered the defeat of that ordinance in Houston. Pomare was not charged with any offenses related to being in the women's bathroom other than the illegal filming. On April 12, 2016, the website Daily Headlines published the same story, citing Breitbart as a source, and inaccurately conflating the use of bathrooms with filming inside them. The article stated that a man from Palmdale, California, wearing a bra and dress entered the ladies' bathroom at Macy's, and what happened next should not surprise you. The man, Jason Pomare, 33, entered the bathroom, which the ACLU and the liberal elitists in this country claim is his God-given right. He set up a hidden camera in one of the stalls and, for the next two hours, taped women using the bathroom. Eventually, one woman noticed the camera with the recording light on and notified mall security, who arrested Pomare. There was absolutely no way for anyone to see this coming, was there? (Removes tongue from cheek.) Although Breitbart provided a link to the source for their report, the site either didn't bother to check that source's date or deliberately misrepresented the incident to generate more interest. The linked news article from Los Angeles television station KNBC was clearly dated May 13, 2013 (not 2016, or "last weekend"). KNBC's 2013 reporting described an unambiguous violation of the law. The incident had nothing to do with bathroom ordinances; it involved unquestionably illegal actions, and the individual identified was arrested and charged. Charges were filed against a man who wore a wig and women's clothing to disguise himself as he allegedly used a concealed camera to record "hours" of video of women in a Los Angeles-area department store restroom. Jason Pomare, 33, of Palmdale, was arrested after customers contacted security officers at a Macy's store to report a man in the women's restroom. The security officers contacted a deputy who was on patrol at the Antelope Valley Mall when he saw a man matching the subject's description leave the store. Pomare was charged with six counts of unlawful use of a concealed camera for purposes of sexual gratification. After his arrest, investigators said a video camera found in his purse had "hours" of video of women using the restroom inside the store. Pomare's arrest was also reported by the Antelope Valley Times in May 2013. Neither Breitbart nor Daily Headlines updated their articles to note that the incident hadn't taken place in April 2016 and that the arrest occurred well before the passage of any prominent bathroom ordinances. Both sites failed to consider that more recent non-discrimination ordinances haven't legalized filming bathroom occupants, regardless of their gender identity. Pomare was charged with six counts of unlawful use of a concealed camera for the purposes of sexual gratification, a charge that would also be applicable in any jurisdiction that permitted transgender individuals to use bathrooms aligned with their gender. Ordinances of that nature have no provisions permitting the surreptitious filming of bathroom occupants for personal sexual gratification (or any other reason), nor have such provisions been sought or suggested by anyone. | 0 | [
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FMD1543 | 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: National Prayer Breakfast Remarks: President Trump vs. President Obama Claim summaries: An image comparing remarks made by President Trump and former President Obama at National Prayer Breakfasts used genuine quotes, but the implied claim was misleading.
contextual information: An image macro purportedly showing two statements, one from former President Obama at the National Prayer Breakfast in 2016 and the other from President Trump at the same event the following year, was circulated on social media in February 2017: The quotes depicted in the image margo are largely accurate, although President Trump's remarks were edited together from a few different portions of his speech. President Obama's speech at the 2016 National Prayer Breakfast is archived at ObamaWhiteHouse.Archive.Gov. The relevant portion of his speech can be seen at around the 1:50 mark of the following video, and we've reproduced the relevant text portion below (the bolded text was omitted from above-displayed graphic): ObamaWhiteHouse.Archive.Gov And on this occasion, I always enjoy reflecting on a piece of scripture thats been meaningful to me or otherwise sustained me throughout the year. And lately, Ive been thinking and praying on a verse from Second Timothy: For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. President Trump's 2017 National Prayer Breakfast speech was also archived by the White House. The above-displayed image macro condensed a larger portion of President Trump's speech into a brief paragraph. The entire speech can be seen in the following video, and we've reproduced the relevant text portion below (bolded text was omitted from above-displayed graphic): archived Thank you as well to Senate Chaplain Barry Black for his moving words. And I don't know, Chaplain, whether or not thats an appointed position. Is that an appointed position? I dont even know if youre a Democrat or if youre a Republican, but Im appointing you for another year the hell with it. (Laughter and applause.) And I think its not even my appointment, its the Senates appointment, but well talk to them. Your son is here. Your job is very, very secure, okay? (Laughter.) Thank you, Barry. Appreciate it very much. I also want to thank my great friends, though, Roma. Wheres Roma? Beautiful Roma Downey. The voice of an angel. Shes got the voice every time I hear it, that voice is so beautiful. Everything is so beautiful about Roma, including her husband because hes a special, special friend, Mark Burnett for the wonderful introduction. So true. So true. I said to the agent, Im sorry. The only thing more I actually got on the phone and fired him myself because he said, you dont want to do it, itll never work, itll never, ever work. You dont want to do it. I said, listen but I really fired him after it became the number-one show. It became so successful, and he wanted a commission, and he didnt want to do it. Thats what I really said. (Laughter.) But we had tremendous success on "The Apprentice." And when I ran for President, I had to leave the show. Thats when I knew for sure I was doing it. And they hired a big, big movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger to take my place. And we know how that turned out. (Laughter.) The ratings went right down the tubes. Its been a total disaster. And Mark will never, ever bet against Trump again. And I want to just pray for Arnold, if we can, for those ratings, okay? (Laughter.) The gist of this image macro was that President Obama's speech focused on scripture while President Trump's speech focused on TV ratings, but President Trump did talk about other subjects including the death of a U.S. Navy SEAL in Yemen and quote a piece of scripture (John 15:13) during his remarks: No one has inspired me more in my travels than the families of the United States military, men and women who have put their lives on the line every day for their country and their countrymen. I just came back yesterday from Dover Air Force Base to join the family of Chief William Ryan Owens, as Americas fallen hero was returned home. Very, very sad, but very, very beautiful. Very, very beautiful. His family was there. Incredible family, loved him so much. So devastated he was so devastated. But the ceremony was amazing. He died in defense of our nation. He gave his life in defense of our people. Our debt to him and our debt to his family is eternal and everlasting. Greater love hath no man than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends. We will never forget the men and women who wear the uniform, believe me. (Applause.) Thank you. From generation to generation, their vigilance has kept our liberty alive. Our freedom is won by their sacrifice, and our security has been earned with their sweat and blood and tears. God has blessed this land to give us such incredible heroes and patriots. They are very, very special, and we are going to take care of them. (Applause.) One could cherry-pick other portions of both speeches to create the impression that both Presidents Trump and Obama had focused equally on scripture during their remarks: Trump, Donald. "Remarks by President Trump at National Prayer Breakfast."
The White House. 2 February 2017. Obama, Barack. "Remarks by the President at National Prayer Breakfast."
The White House. 4 February 2016. | 2 | [
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FMD1544 | 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 Marjorie Taylor Greene Call Capitol Metal Detectors a Form of 'Voter Suppression'? Claim summaries: The machines to screen people entering the U.S. House chamber were installed after an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.
contextual information: On March 3, 2021, conservative media outlet The Washington Times reported that U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said new metal detectors designed to keep lawmakers safe following the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection were a form of voter suppression. The Washington Times U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene voter suppression First, some context: Capitol maintenance crews installed the machines to screen people entering House chambers after the deadly insurrection. Since then, most House members used the metal detectors regularly without questions, The Associated Press reported. But some Republicans initially sidestepped the devices or refused to be checked with wands after they set them off. deadly insurrection The Associated Press "Capitol Police have now placed desks and velvet ropes near the metal detectors to block anyone from walking around the machines," the AP reported on Jan. 22. Now, let us address the claim that Greene, a far-right conspiratorialist, compared the safety measure to nefarious schemes by partisan groups to prevent people from voting in U.S. elections. According to CSPAN's video recording of congressional proceedings on March 2, the representative indeed said the practice of standing in "long lines to enter the chamber" to use the metal detectors was "real voter suppression" in her opinion. She made the statement during a debate over legislation to change campaign-finance and voting laws on (read bill H.R. 1 here). CSPAN's video recording here Here's Greene's full quote, according to the video footage: I rise in opposition to H.R. 1. While we are talking about voter suppression and long lines, there is real voter suppression that happens right here in Congress. Many members of Congress have to stand in long lines to enter the chamber going through metal detectors, emptying our pockets, and being treated very disrespectfully. So that is real suppression, and it's a shame it happens right here on the House floor. Standing in line to vote is not voter suppression it's just part of the voting process, just like people stand in line to buy groceries at the grocery store. Voters in a northwestern region of Georgia in November 2020 elected Greene to represent them, and she began her term in Washington, D.C., in January 2021. During her campaign and afterwards, she embraced the QAnon conspiracy theory and advocated on the frontlines of former President Donald Trump's misinformation campaign to try to convince voters that Joe Biden won the presidency using illegal methods. See our fact checks regarding that false claim here. QAnon conspiracy theory President Donald Trump here | 1 | [
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FMD1545 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Laura Loomer of Rebel Media and citizen journalist Jack Posobiac disrupted the Central Park performance of Julius Caesar or more accurately the Trump Assassination play last night. At the point where Julius Caesar, (who is intentionally made to look like President Trump) is about to be stabbed by a gang of minorities, Loomer rushed the stage and admonished the cast and audience for promoting violence against our current president and against Republicans in general.See video of Rebel Media s Loomer rushing the stage here:Only 3 days ago, an unhinged Democrat opened fire on Republican House members at a baseball practice for a charity game against Democrats Congressmen. Representative Steve Scalise (R-LA) remains in critical condition. Doctors who were in attendance when the married father of 2 arrived at the hospital have now revealed that Scalise was very near to death when he arrived. Democrats like George Soros continue to fund violence against opposing voices, Barack Obama, former AG Loretta Lynch, Hillary Clinton and her running mate Tim Kaine have all advocated for action and/or violence against Trump supporters. Liberal professors promote hate and disrespect for anyone with opposing political views and have made their classrooms a hostile environment for students who dare to speak up or speak out against their radical views. Hollywood has come unhinged, and there doesn t appear to a line they won t cross when it comes to promoting violence against Americans who openly support President Trump. The left has shown themselves to be the largest collection of bullies and domestic terrorists this nation has ever seen.At about the 4:30 mark in the video, Laura Loomer, who is a fan of theater recites a Shakespeare line, Violent delights have violent ends. She then looks into the camera and calls out Hollywood and the left for the violence against Trump supporters and Republicans, Just like Shakespeare said; If you re delighting in this violence, this normalized political violence against the right, it s going to have a violent end. Loomer goes on to point out how liberals like Kathy Griffin and the CNN network who glorify those who commit or threaten violence are responsible for this violent atmosphere, and that they re no better than ISIS. Loomer points out the comparisons between the actors on the Central Park stage who are gang stabbing President Trump: I just couldn t help but think to myself: Wow! When you re holding a knife to someone s throat in the play, and joking about chopping someone s throats off, what makes you any better than ISIS? Jack Posobiac makes a very interesting point at about the gang stabbing of President Trump: It was like a gang stabbing. All the people stabbing him were minorities. Loomer agrees and goes a step further by suggesting the producers were racists because they chose all black actors to stab President Trump.Watch:Citizen journalist and author of Gorilla Mindset, Mike Chernovich called on Americans to join him in disrupting the Trump Assassination play 2 days ago:New York!Who wants to go watch the Trump assassination play maybe use some "free speech" during the play?https://t.co/64WAPvQjBT pic.twitter.com/7zDQcjNX7y Mike Cernovich (@Cernovich) June 15, 2017Twitter followers of Chernovich responded by suggesting they skip the ticket process and instead use the same techniques as leftist agitators, like whistles and drums or bongos and cowbells to disrupt the production. Chernovich is all about using the tactics of the left against them. There has never been a better time to shut down the violent left in a non-violent way. To stand back and allow a performance of our president being gang stabbed is about as horrible as it gets:If it's in a park can't we just go to the park and bring our whistles and drums Ralph Butler (@secure1man) June 15, 2017bongos and cowbells for everyone Deplorable Snuzzlez (@SnuzzleBabiez) June 15, 2017 | 0 | [
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FMD1546 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: It s about time Kansas Republicans saw the light and told Governor Sam Brownback to go f*ck himself.Kansas has been taking a beating because of Brownback s trickle-down economics policy of slashing taxes. And Republicans in the state have finally done something about it.In 2012, Brownback convinced the Republican-controlled state House and Senate to pass massive tax cuts for businesses and wealthy individuals. For the first time, conservatives employed their trickle-down policy over an entire state. And the experiment turned out to be an immediate disaster that has destroyed the state financially to the point where little revenue was coming in, creating an unsustainable budget shortfall of hundreds of millions of dollars that was only going to get worse.Republicans desperately tried to plug the budget hole by cutting education and other programs, which caused a lot of Kansans to suffer. Basically, Republicans refused to admit that their tax policies failed and hoped they could the problem without reversing the tax cuts.Unable to do so, and facing a $348 million shortfall, Republicans in Kansas passed legislation in the House and Senate designed to raise income tax rates and end a tax exemption for roughly 330,000 business owners. In other words, Republicans rejected Brownback s tax policy.Brownback, of course, vetoed the legislation. But lawmakers in the Kansas House formally overrode his veto on Wednesday by a huge margin of 85-40. The legislation now heads to the state Senate.If enough state senators have the backbone to stand up to their unpopular governor, revenues will start pouring into government coffers to cover the budget hole he dug and Kansas will avoid future financial ruin.For four years, Republicans denied reality by insisting that tax cuts on businesses and the wealthy somehow generate more revenue and they continue to insist on such a policy at the national level. The problem is that Republican tax policies have only created a skyrocketing national debt and trillion dollar deficits that cannot be filled by slashing things like food stamps, which only accounts for less than 4 percent of federal spending.The fact is that taxes make civilization possible. If we want things like good education, healthcare, roads, food aid, and Social Security, then we need to pay taxes to pay for them. And that includes businesses and the wealthy. Arguing otherwise on their behalf like Republicans have been doing for decades is unpatriotic and un-American. And Kansas failed experiment proves it.Featured Image: Win McNamee/Getty Images | 0 | [
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FMD1547 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Last week, President Trump stepped in and interceded on behalf of three young UCLA basketball players who foolishly were caught shoplifting in China. Shoplifting in China is not treated lightly and most likely would have resulted in a prison term for all three young men. President Trump was able to convince China s President Xi, however, to release the three young men from custody. When asked how the loudmouth father of LiAngelo Ball felt about President Trump helping to secure the release of his son, LiAngelo, LaVar Ball suggested the President had little to do with the matter. Who? Ball told ESPN when asked about Trump s involvement in the situation. What was he over there for? Don t tell me nothing. Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out. They try to make a big deal out of nothing sometimes. I m from L.A. I ve seen a lot worse things happen than a guy taking some glasses. President Trump took to Twitter to reply to LaVar Ball s ignorant comments:Now that the three basketball players are out of China and saved from years in jail, LaVar Ball, the father of LiAngelo, is unaccepting of what I did for his son and that shoplifting is no big deal. I should have left them in jail! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2017So who is this crackpot LaVar Ball, and why would anyone in their right mind make such arrogant and ignorant remarks after the President of the United States just helped their son to escape a prison sentence in a foreign country? Andrew Stephens of the Armchair All Americans did a pretty good job of summing up what a horrible human being the self-serving, money, and fame-obsessed LaVar Ball really is. In his article, Stephens reveals a sick man, who is so controlling of his 3 sons and their basketball careers, that he wouldn t even let them visit their very sick mother in the hospital, over fears that it could create media attention that could damage his merchandise brand. On March 15, 2017, Andrew Stephens of Armchair All Americans published an article about Lavar Ball titled Lavar Ball: The epitome of what is wrong with modern sports. It touched on helicopter parenting and the monetization of potentially profitable children.Stephens claimed that in the article, without commenting on upbringing tactics, I attempted to delve into Lavar Ball s seemingly unnecessary promotion of his own sons for his personal benefit.About an hour after the article was run, I received a comment on it from a member of the Ball family, who wishes to remain anonymous. The comment (which has since been removed to protect the email address and identity of the commenter) read as follows:- Wow. You nailed it. Although you don t even know the half of it. Lavar took over the high school program, added the Coach, his puppet (which is why he quit last year after becoming the national coach of the year) and Lavar stepped on and crushed countless other kids careers and love for the game to get his kids on the court. If you are allowed to shoot at any time from any where and never come out of the game, any decent idiot could score 30 points.Also, Tina Ball, his wife had a stroke on Feb 21. She had life threatening skull surgery to relieve brain pressure guess where Lavar was during the operation that could have killed his wife? at the CHHS vs. LB Poly game with his sons, including Lonzo. He still has not allowed his kids to see their sick mother due to the media attention it would bring to him, and cause BBB sales to diminish. [Name of hospital] in [City of hospital], CA Tina is there now and he only visits for 1 hour a few days a week, while her Mother has yet to leave her side. Pathetic!!! I was a bit skeptical when I initially viewed the comment. I figured that it was someone attempting to drive a smear campaign against the Ball family, seeing how Lavar was such a polarizing figure. But, the information was oddly specific.After a bit of deliberation, I contacted the email address listed with the comment. They confirmed through multiple email and social media confirmations that they were, in fact, a close relative of Lavar and Tina Ball. I also spoke with the hospital listed in the email. The hospital confirmed that Tina Ball was checked in as of 12:30 PM EST on March 15.Tina, who was very active on Twitter, stopped communication on February 19, which fits in with the timeline provided below by a member of the Ball family.Watch this video as the loud-mouth, obnoxious LaVar Ball is interviewed on the Skip and Shannon Undisputed sports show.One of the first questions the female host asked of LaVar was about his desire to have a reality show made about him and his family (Keep in mind, this interview took place shortly after a very serious stroke). It s hard not to pick up on the sadness expressed on the face of his oldest son Lonzo Ball, while his overbearing father dominates the conversation and makes a complete ass of himself:When confirming the identity of the member of the Ball family that commented via email, we received another large piece of harrowing information: Notice, she is not at any games, she is not at work, and she is not at home. Someone needs to ask the question, where is Tina? She is severely disabled and paralyzed on right side. Cannot talk and is questionable about her comprehension. Left side of her brain impacted with massive stroke, while at home on Feb. 21 (school holiday President s day). Tina is a PE teacher in [City of school],CA [Name of school].Feb. 20: Tina Ball admitted at [Name of first hospital] ICUFeb. 21: Surgery to remove a portion of her skull to reduce swelling from the stroke (evening)Feb 21: Chino Hills vs LB Poly @ Cerritos College evening game (same time as surgery) Lavar & Lonzo at the game with the other Ball boys missed the surgery and post op. Did not come to hospital during or after surgery. The Ball boys are not allowed to see their mother, Lavar is afraid it will take away from their game(s). Lonzo had big game at ASU and U of A later that week. Also, media buzz would take away from all the interviews and media touring for Lavar + BBB brand would suffer. It literally is bigger than Tina s life, as evidenced by Lavar s approach. As a family member, I am embarrassed and feel so sorry for Tina, since Lavar is on a media tour, he visits her rarely, while her mother has stayed by her side continuously. The crux of the original story was rooted in that fact that Lavar Ball s priorities were self-motivated and not for the betterment of a family brand. After hearing the explicit details given to us, if these allegations are true it only confirms one thing for Lavar Ball: money and fame are king.LaVar recently attempted to sell his Ball s Big Baller Brand for a billion dollars. When major shoe companies laughed at his offer, he raised his price to 3 billion dollars. How Ball ever got his product line this far is really quite amazing. When LaVar Ball said he wanted $1 billion for a Big Baller Brand co-branding shoe deal for his three sons, the big shoe companies scoffed.After that rejection, Big Baller Brand released Lonzo Ball s first signature shoe, the ZO2, and decided to charge a minimum of $495 for a pair. LaVar told Colin Cowherd on Wednesday that companies like Nike, Adidas and Under Armour will regret not forking over $1 billion and that he s decided to raise the price for a deal. Now that Lonzo s headed to Los Angeles, what they should have done is give me a billion dollars and let me be on my way, LaVar said, referring to the Lakers drawing the No. 2 pick in next month s NBA draft.But now? Apparently, the draft lottery results tripled Big Baller Brand s value. Now you know if they want to talk to me now, it just went up to $3 billion. Triple B s billion, billion, billion, he told Sports Illustrated.LaVar had a chance to fix his embarrassing error of disrespecting the President for the gift he gave their family, but instead chose to double down on stupid, in one of the most painfully ignorant interviews you will ever witness, with CNN s Chris Cuomo: | 0 | [
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FMD1548 | 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 photo does not depict a crowd saluting Obama with the Nazi gesture. Claim summaries: A photograph of a crowd with their hands raised in front of Obama was circulated with misleading information.
contextual information: Shortly after Donald Trump asked his supporters to raise their hands and pledge that they would vote for him in the 2016 Presidential election (drawing comparisons to Nazi Germany), an image purportedly showing President Obama making a similar request to a crowd began circulating online. While the image is real, it does not show President Obama asking his supporters to pledge allegiance to him. This photograph was taken in Columbus, Ohio, in November 2008, and shows a crowd raising their hands after Obama asked how many people in the audience made less than $250,000 per year. People raise their hands as Democratic presidential nominee U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) asks the audience how many of them make less than $250,000 a year while speaking during a campaign rally at the Ohio State House on November 2, 2008, in Columbus, Ohio. Obama continued to campaign against Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) as Election Day drew near. A video on PBS showed President Obama asking the audience to raise their hands if they made less than $250,000: "Let me just see a show of hands. How many people make less than $250,000 a year? Raise your hands. All right, now, I want you to be very clear here. Here are the facts. There was another report in the New York Times this morning that laid out the fact that I give much more relief to middle-income people and also that I will not raise taxes for anybody making under $250,000 a year, not your capital gains tax, not your payroll tax, not your income tax, no taxes. The middle class doesn't need a tax hike. I want to give you a tax cut. So don't be confused by what John McCain says. My tax rates will be lower than they were under Ronald Reagan." | 0 | [
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FMD1549 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Has she seen what s going on with her mom s buddies at Black Lives Matter? The violence and hate is astounding!How about her own mother s hateful rant to Union members admonishing them in a big way: Michigan State University students were delighted to hear that Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has a plan to relieve them of at least some of their massive college loan debts.The message was delivered Thursday night to a packed MSU Union lobby by the candidate s daughter, Chelsea Clinton, who s stumping for her mother in Michigan. Federal loans would automatically be set to the prevailing interest rate, she said. Right now Interest rates are low, and if we can renegotiate mortgages and our car loans we should be able to have our federal student loans set to the lowest rate. Clinton s speech lasted eight minutes without a mention of her mother s rival for the White House Republican nominee Donald Trump.But during a 20-minute question-and-answer period, she spoke of the rise in hate speech, the way it s cropped in with the election and in society as a whole. I never thought I would see in my lifetime I certainly didn t think I d see it in my children s lifetime all this normalization of hate speech that we re hearing from the Republican nominee, she said to a woman asking about hate crime toward Muslims.Clinton criticized what she called rhetoric undisputed by the GOP against women, other races, people with disabilities, veterans and immigrants. That s not our country, Clinton said, and that s also what s at stake, the core values of our country. Read more: DFP | 0 | [
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FMD1550 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: BRUSSELS — Antonio Tajani was elected president of the European Parliament on Tuesday, and he won’t have much time to settle in. Mr. Tajani, an Italian who beat out his countryman Gianni Pittella in the fourth round of voting, takes over as the European Union confronts an array of pressing issues. The Parliament is the only directly elected body among the bewildering list representing the European Union, but it often struggles for relevance — a fact underscored when Mr. Tajani’s ascendance on Tuesday was overshadowed by a speech by Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain on plans for her country to leave the bloc, and an address by Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader, in Davos, Switzerland. Mr. Tajani, 63, from the European People’s Party — the Parliament’s largest political group, with 217 members from 27 nations — was the favorite for the post. Mr. Tajani is something of an insider, having previously worked alongside the former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who appointed Mr. Tajani nearly a decade ago to the European Commission, the bloc’s executive office. He served two terms there from 2008 to 2014, overseeing the transport sector and then taking the industry and entrepreneurship portfolio. Some members of the European Parliament criticized Mr. Tajani for failing to do enough in that role to address emissions from cars. “He wasn’t a commissioner who was very open, transparent and fair,†Ska Keller, a prominent German lawmaker with the Greens, said on Tuesday. Mr. Tajani has sought to distance himself from the approach taken by his predecessor, Martin Schulz, who announced in November that he would return to German politics. Mr. Schulz was regarded by some members of the Parliament as too ready to use his perch to promote his personal views. The Parliament needed a “president, not a prime minister,†Mr. Tajani said on Tuesday before the voting. “When I stand in front of the Council, it won’t be my ideas I’ll be expounding on, it’ll be the ideas of the majority in Parliament,†he added, apparently referring to summit meetings of the European Council. There were five other candidates for the post, but Mr. Tajani’s only real rival during the voting was Mr. Pittella, from the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. By the fourth and final round of balloting on Tuesday night, Mr. Tajani won 351 votes in a runoff against Mr. Pittella, who took 282 votes. Pivotal to Mr. Tajani’s victory was a decision by Guy Verhofstadt, a former Belgian prime minister and the leader of the Parliament’s centrist Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group, to withdraw from the race and form a coalition with Mr. Tajani’s group. Mr. Verhofstadt suggested that he was taking the step to ensure that the Parliament did not end up weakened by small but staunchly parties. Politics at the Parliament have become “hugely fragmented,†Mr. Verhofstadt said. The hottest issue in European Union affairs is how tough to be over Britain’s exit, and the Parliament has a veto on any deal London reaches with the rest of the bloc. Mr. Tajani pledged Tuesday to take a approach: “We’ll need to be very balanced here — we’ll need to defend the rights of Europe, but I think that in the future the U. K. will be an important partner of ours,†he said. Mr. Tajani must also balance demands among liberal and lawmakers for greater openness and free trade with demands from factions of the and fringe parties to take a more protectionist approach. That will be tested when the Parliament votes in on whether to approve the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between the European Union and Canada. Mr. Tajani will also need to oversee passage of highly contentious legislation that could oblige European Union member states to share the burden of hosting asylum seekers under emergency conditions. The move in 1979 to hold direct elections for the Parliament was intended to bring the European project closer to ordinary citizens and to enhance the democratic legitimacy of its decisions. But success has been limited and, in some respects, the initiative has backfired. As the number of voters participating in elections held every five years has dropped steadily since 1979, to just above 40 percent, the body has become a foothold for a number of insurgent, parties with strongly views. The Parliament has also become a magnet for lobbyists seeking to influence legislation on issues from the amount of permissible emissions from industry, including cars, to the way cellphone calls are priced. A number of lawmakers have been caught up in corruption scandals, breeding further disenchantment with the organization. | 1 | [
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FMD1551 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Miguel Cruz awoke to the descent of Hurricane Maria on his home on Wednesday morning when the massive storm peeled off most of the roof, sent his belongings flying in all directions, but left intact an icon of Jesus hanging above his bed. Cruz was one of thousands of Puerto Ricans picking through the wreckage left by Maria after the hurricane devastated basic services on the debt-laden U.S. territory, pitching most of its 3.4 million residents into darkness as night fell. Crashing into Puerto Rico as a Category 4 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, Maria flipped the tops off buildings, knocked out phones and electricity across the island and turned low-lying roads into swollen rivers awash with debris. I was terrified. I prayed to God that the door and windows wouldn t open, said Sonja Alvarez, 52, who spent 10 hours shut in a bedroom with her family while Maria raged outside. But there came a point when I thought they would. Trees were torn apart, windows shattered and exposed homes turned inside out by Maria, which killed at least one man, who was struck by a piece of flying lumber. The storm also killed at least nine elsewhere in the Caribbean. By 11 p.m. EDT (0300 GMT), Maria was drifting away from Puerto Rico. The slowing storm was blowing maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (175 kph) and was 55 miles (90 km) off the eastern tip of the Dominican Republic, the National Hurricane Center said. The brutal winds left streets in the historic Old Town of the Puerto Rican capital, San Juan, strewn with rubble, from collapsed balconies to fallen lamp posts and dead birds. Among the most dramatically damaged areas in the capital was La Perla, a small barrio nestled into the steep hill separating the stone walls of Old San Juan from the sea. Once a notorious slum, La Perla s image has brightened in recent years as it has become an artsier enclave with colorful homes providing the setting for the megahit Despacito by Puerto Rican singers Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee. However, the red, wooden home of area resident Cruz was reduced to a roofless jumble, with the front door hanging at right angles to the frame. Behind it, a painting of the Sacred Heart of Jesus looked out from a bare white wall. (Maria) has turned my house into a convertible. I can see the stars, the 45-year-old self-employed laborer said wryly, after relating how he had fled to a bunker downstairs with his pit-bull, Estrella. I m sort of used to these things, Cruz added. But this was tough. Down the slope from his home stood the shattered hulk of a concrete and steel garage with five cars trapped under the roof and sidewall that gave way under Maria s battering. Beyond his home, near the stone walls of the 500-year-old city, a cooker, a fridge and a toilet stood exposed atop another wooden house with views of the Caribbean. There used to be another floor, said Angela Torres, 32, explaining that the rest of the kitchen, two bedrooms and living room had been stripped from the building by Maria. After the rooms flew off, Torres, who had hunkered down on Tuesday night with her 87-year-old grandmother one floor below, learnt that Maria had knocked down one wall and the balcony of her own home a few miles away. I almost died when they sent me the photos, she said. But I haven t been able to go yet because you can t get out. Many in the capital left their coastal homes for refuge elsewhere, filling hotels across the city. Some returned to find their flats ruined by Maria, battered and full of water. Gingerly entering her sodden fifth-storey flat in the heart of Old San Juan, Aida Pietri was suddenly gripped by panic as the battered door to her rooftop terrace slammed open and shut in the wind and a bird flew through it. Where are my daughter s ashes? she said, rummaging through the scattered cushions, plants and papers. Eventually her eyes alighted on a metal box, and she found them, undamaged. | 1 | [
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FMD1552 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Saturday to end government payments to health insurers if Congress does not pass a new healthcare bill and goaded them to not abandon their seven-year quest to replace the Obamacare law. In a Twitter message on Saturday, Trump said “if a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon!†The tweet came a day after Senate Republicans failed to muster enough votes to repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare bill commonly known as Obamacare. The first part of Trump’s tweet appeared to be referring to the approximately $8 billion in cost-sharing reduction subsidies the federal government pays to insurers to lower the price of health coverage for low-income Americans. The second part appeared to be a threat to end the employer contribution for Congress members and their staffs, who were moved from the normal federal employee healthcare benefits program onto the Obamacare insurance exchanges as part of the 2010 healthcare law. Trump has previously threatened to suspend the payments to insurers, which are determined by the Department of Health and Human Services. In April, he threatened to end the payments if Democrats refused to negotiate over the healthcare bill. Responding to Saturday’s tweet, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said that if the president carried out that threat, “every expert agrees that (insurance) premiums will go up and health care will be more expensive for millions of Americans.†“The president ought to stop playing politics with people’s lives and health care, start leading and finally begin acting presidential,†Schumer said in a statement. Trump later urged Senate Republicans to try again on a healthcare vote. The Senate is in session for another week before it is scheduled to begin an August recess. “Unless the Republican Senators are total quitters, Repeal & Replace is not dead! Demand another vote before voting on any other bill!†Trump said in a subsequent tweet. Many insurers have been waiting for an answer from Trump or lawmakers on whether they will continue to fund the annual government subsidies. Without assurances, many plan to raise rates an additional 20 percent by an Aug. 16 deadline for premium prices. With Republican efforts to dismantle Obamacare in disarray, hundreds of U.S. counties are at risk of losing access to private health coverage in 2018 as insurers consider pulling out of those markets.   In response, Trump on Friday again suggested his administration would let the Obamacare program “implode.†He has weakened enforcement of the law’s requirement for individuals to buy insurance, threatened to cut off funding and sought to change plan benefits through regulations. Meanwhile, some congressional Republicans were still trying to find a way forward on healthcare. Senator Lindsey Graham said in a statement issued late on Friday that he and two other Republican senators, Dean Heller and Bill Cassidy, had met with Trump after the defeat to discuss Graham’s proposal to take tax money raised by Obamacare and send it back to the states in the form of healthcare block grants. Graham said the move would end Democrats’ drive for a national single-payer healthcare system by putting states in charge. “President Trump was optimistic about the Graham-Cassidy-Heller proposal,†Graham added. “I will continue to work with President Trump and his team to move the idea forward.†However, a majority of Americans are ready to move on from healthcare at this point. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Saturday, 64 percent of 1,136 people surveyed on Friday and Saturday said they wanted to keep Obamacare, either “entirely as is†or after fixing “problem areas. When asked what they think Congress should do next, most picked other priorities such as tax reform, foreign relations and infrastructure. Only 29 percent said they wanted Republicans in Congress to “continue working on a new healthcare bill.†Asked what they think Congress should do next, most respondents picked other priorities such as tax reform, foreign relations and infrastructure. Only 29 percent said they wanted Republicans in Congress to “continue working on a new healthcare bill.†| 1 | [
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FMD1553 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Hillary lied again! This time, a very important e-mail recently obtained by Judicial Watch shows that the Pentagon was demanding Secretary of State Hillary Clinton allow them to send help to Benghazi during the 2012 attack. This would completely contradict the claim from Hillary and Leon Panetta that no forces were available and within reach to provide help to the compound that was under siege.As the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi was unfolding, a high-ranking Pentagon official urgently messaged Secretary of State Hillary Clinton s top deputies to offer military help, according to an email obtained by Judicial Watch.The revelation appears to contradict testimony Defense Secretary Leon Panetta gave lawmakers in 2013, when he said there was no time to get forces to the scene in Libya, where four Americans were killed, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens. I just tried you on the phone but you were all in with S [apparent reference to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton], reads the email, from Panetta s chief of staff Jeremy Bash. After consulting with General Dempsey, General Ham and the Joint Staff, we have identified the forces that could move to Benghazi. They are spinning up as we speak. Ironically, Hillary Clinton and her minions were concerned with spinning the story instead of gearing up the military forces.The email was sent out at 7:19 p.m. ET on Sept. 11, 2012, in the early stages of the eight-hour siege that also claimed the lives of Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith and two former Navy SEALs, Ty Woods and Glen Doherty, private CIA contractors who raced to the aid of embattled State Department workers.Although the email came after the first wave of the attack at the consulate, it occurred before a mortar strike on the CIA annex killed Woods and Doherty. This leaves no doubt military assets were offered and ready to go, and awaiting State Department signoff, which did not come, Judicial Watch, a nonprofit government watchdog said in a statement.Parts of the email from Bash were redacted before release, including details on what military forces were available.But, if you want to know what forces were likely to be available, all you have to do is listen to, or read, the account from an ex Special Forces member who explained it to Bryan Suits on the Dark Secret Place, a popular radio show in Los Angeles.In the interview from November of 2012, he explained why Panetta s claim was a LIE, and described the CIF which stands for Commanders In extremis Force, that could have been sent to Benghazi:[The CIF is a] heretofore little known American option You ve probably never heard that before. It s not secret per se, but it s not publicized very much the CIF, as it s called is something that is available to every theater commander.The CIF are US army special forces soldiers who are specifically dedicated to being prepared at all times for months on end to leave with no notice, with little or no information to move by air or whatever vehicle, to a situation, that they have been determined to be the best immediate solution to. They oftentimes get in the air with absolutely no idea where they re going or what the mission is. Oftentimes they are briefed in the air. The entire purpose of this [CIF] in the extreme, there is no worse case than this. Something is happening right now, and we don t have 24 hours to get Delta force in there. Something is happening right now, and that s why these forces, the CIF are pre-positioned to at the drop of a hat, to go anywhere and do anything.It s time to explain what is angering so many people in the special operations community, because they re aware of the CIF.He then explained why Panetta was lying about there not being enough time to send them:The bottom line is this did the president have an option? He did. What Leon Panetta said about real-time information , when Leon Panetta was saying that on Thursday, we know that s a LIE. Because we ve known for weeks that there was a predator drone orbiting the Benghazi consulate. Have US forces been sent places with less information? YES. I can personally vouch for being sent places where my initial mission was to find out what was going on.There s no such principle that you don t deploy people without information.So there it is. Panetta and Hillary LIED to the American public over and over, and the media never pressed them enough to demand answers.And this information has been available since a MONTH after the attack TESTIMONY FROM WHISTLEBLOWER GREGORY HICKS: | 0 | [
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FMD1554 | 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: Genpets Claim summaries: Pets that are genetically engineered and manufactured to order may be a dream (or nightmare) of the future, but they aren't here quite yet.
contextual information: Pets that are genetically engineered and manufactured to order may be a dream (or nightmare) of the future, but they aren't here quite yet: There is a website, www.genpets.com, that claims to have made genetically engineered "pets" that are part-human and part-animal and are "living, breathing" creatures. Although the web site Genpets.com puts on a good show of spoofing an outlet for the sale of "pre-packaged, bio-engineered pets," no such product exists. One common giveaway: prospective buyers couldn't actually order anything through the (since-removed) Genpets store, with the excuse given that "Bio-Genica is still developing its connections and relations with resellers while we get the various approvals needed to sell Genpets worldwide." store Like similar items we've been asked about, Genpets are actually artworks in this case plastic and latex sculptures (including circuitry and robotics) created in 2005 by then 24-year-old Canadian commercial artist Adam Brandejs. As the artist explained in conjunction with an exhibition of his work, the point of Genpets is to get the public thinking about the concept of bioengineering and how they feel about where that science might lead us: items artworks I'm not against bioengineering, I'm simply hesitant towards where and how and by whom the technology will be used. That's what this art sums up. I don't ever want to be confused for as a crazy activist, nor do I want to appear as endorsing this technology. Bioengineering could lead to medical breakthroughs that save lives, but will it? This is more a critique of corporate ethics than of technological ethics. If you're still caught up on whether they're real or not, that's ok, a lot of people are, but that's not the point of the work. Slow down, stop, and think. Think about why it is that you probably, like most people seeing the work, find it highly disturbing on some level, and yet, still want to buy one. Why is it that you're so inclined to buy things, no matter what? And what is it that makes this concept so disturbing, or not disturbing to you? Consider both sides of the issue, and consider how we treat animals in farms, and pet stores today. How does that relate? This sculpture is the physical representation of a question. Bioengineering, like any new technology promises a great deal of positive effects. We as a race however tend to put a great deal more faith into technology as a saviour than it necessarily has earned. Through Genpets I question the negative effect that bioengineering can have, for we all know that when it all comes down to it, profit is the bottom line.The question surrounding bioengineering is not in its positive or negative ramifications, or where it can take us; it is whether or not we are responsible enough to go there. When Genpets were exhibited in a Toronto storefront, they created a reaction much like the one now being prompted by the Genpets.com web site: Genpets seems to create a reaction wherever they go. While in the store window of Iodine Toronto, the shop owner began sleeping in the store as many nights, people would bang at the windows furiously. Some in protest of the small Bio-genetically engineered creatures trapped in plastic, some wanting to wake them up or buy them. Hordes of teens wanting a bioengineered pet met confused, baffled, or even shocked looks from parents. For an upcoming generation, through our own marketing techniques, life and the idea of life are quickly becoming viewed as disposable commodities. Adam Brandejs' other works include the animatronic flesh shoe and a prosthetic zipper. flesh shoe prosthetic zipper | 0 | [
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FMD1555 | 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 (Wisconsin) governor has proposed tax giveaways to corporations.
contextual information: The budget crisis in Wisconsin has spurred a national discussion on spending priorities, including among the commentators on ABC'sThis Week with Christiane Amanpour.Amanpour asked her guests if the plans in Wisconsin were shared sacrifice.Where is the sacrifice going to be borne the most? And is it equitable? Amanpour asked.Donna Brazile, a Democratic strategist, said it wasnt.Just like the tea party went out there and grabbed the microphone, what you have is grassroots people out there saying, No more, no more budget cuts on the back of working people, Brazile said. The governor has proposed tax giveaways to corporations.We're trying to balance the budgets on the backs of the poor and the middle class, and that's why workers are standing up for their rights, she said a little later in the program.The word giveaway is a loaded term for tax cuts, but we feel its fair to fact-check whether Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has proposed tax breaks for corporations while advocating budget cuts for public workers.Walkers budget proposal asks state workers to pay more for their pensions and health insurance, which reduces take-home pay. But it also sets significant limits on collective bargaining power formost public sector unions, which has enraged union members and sparked protests at the state capitol.We next looked to see if Walker has proposed tax cuts for corporations.We found Walker has already signed bills that cut taxes for corporations.Walker signed a law on Jan. 31 that says that companies that relocate to Wisconsin will not have to pay corporate taxes for two years. The law stipulates that the company must move at least 51 percent of the workers on its payroll or at least those who account for $200,000 in wages. Walker also signed into law a bill that gives small tax breaks to companies that create jobs. Its debatable whether these could fairly be considered giveaways, since they are intended to reward companies for creating jobs.But Walker proposed additional tax breaks for business during the campaign for governor. PolitiFact Wisconsin documented those promises on PolitiFacts Walk-O-Meter, a database of Walkers campaign promises. That includesreducing taxes on employersand repealing the combined reporting requirement for business taxes, a measure that increased tax revenues and was approved in 2009.If you elect me as your next governor, Ill get government out of the way and lower the tax burden so Wisconsin business owners and factories can create 250,000 jobs and 10,000 businesses in our state by 2015, said Walker during the campaign.We also found that Walker told the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce during the campaign thathe supportedefforts to repeal the corporate income tax. Though its a fine distinction, we should note that we were not able to find statements from Walker proposing a repeal, so its not a promise listed in the Walk-O-Meter database.Brazile said, The (Wisconsin) governor has proposed tax giveaways to corporations. The tax breaks he signed into law were linked to job growth, which means they were not necessarily giveaways. But he has proposed lower taxes for all businesses. And hes supported those tax cuts even in the face of a tight budget, saying they would lead to job growth. Because Brazile gets Walkers basic position on business taxes right -- he wants them lower -- we rate her statement Mostly True. | 1 | [
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FMD1556 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: A North Carolina fast food restaurant owner has apologized to the Raleigh Police Department after officers said the store’s employees sang NWA’s enforcement anthem, “F*ck tha Police,†while they dined on Friday. [A Facebook post claimed that the restaurant’s “manager sang along as well,†The News Observer reports. The viral social media message prompted David Harris, the owner of Smithfield’s Chicken ’N restaurant, to issue a stern apology and promise to “terminate anyone employed that doesn’t share our RESPECT of ALL law enforcement. †On Saturday, a Facebook post on the Raleigh Police Department’s page said that the department “appreciates the long term and strong relationship it continues to have with Smithfield’s. †Raleigh Police Protective Association union President Matthew Cooper also posted a Facebook message. “We really appreciate the support we have received from the incident involving Smithfield’s Chicken and BBQ,†Cooper’s message read. “We are confident that a positive resolution will occur as a result from our effortâ€: As recently as last July, rapper Ice Cube vowed to continue to perform the vulgar 1980s song. In the wake of fatal police shootings in Dallas, Texas, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the NWA rapper and actor told TMZ, “I ain’t gonna change nothing I do because I ain’t do nothing wrong. †The profane “f*ck the police†refrain is often heard at Black Lives Matter rallies and is shouted during protests. Ice Cube performed “F*ck the Police†last July at the 2016 Le Festival d’été de Québec (Quebec City Summer Festival) just two days after Houston New Black Panther Party member Micah X Johnson shot and killed five officers in Dallas. Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @jeromeehudson. | 1 | [
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FMD1557 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: LEXINGTON, Ky. — John Calipari, residue from that morning’s Ash Wednesday service smudged on his forehead, unbound his iPad’s leather case and showed a visiting reporter its gleaming desktop. “It’s never off,†he said. “Because I don’t know how to turn it off. †Calipari, 58, Kentucky’s successful and controversial basketball coach, does not have a computer in his office overlooking the Wildcats’ practice gym. He does not know how to post Facebook updates or messages on Twitter. He does not, he said, even use email. Yet Calipari, whose résumé at Kentucky includes four Final Fours, a national championship and a No. 2 seed in this year’s N. C. A. A. tournament, is the driving force behind several powerful media platforms — including a Twitter account with more than a million followers, a website and a popular weekly podcast. Collectively, these serve as a permanent branding campaign, a public record of his thoughts and actions, and a mechanism for one of the sports world’s most and polarizing personalities. “We’re going to give out our message,†Calipari said this month, “but they’re also going to be able to see who I am, who my friends are, what I do, what I read — and it’s not filtered through anybody. †Calipari has long sought to connect directly with fans and showcase his boisterous personality, said David R. Scott, the of Calipari’s 2009 book, “Bounce Back,†and the founding editor of Calipari’s website, CoachCal. com. In an earlier era, Scott said, those connections were forged in interactions he recalled that Calipari, while coaching at the University of Massachusetts, delivered pizza to students waiting in line before games. New technology has allowed Calipari to do the same type of thing, only on a much grander scale. “His major was marketing,†said Scott, now a senior director in communications at ESPN, “and he’s used it every day of his life. †The internet and social media have eliminated the costs of printing and distribution, making anyone a potential publisher. From political campaigns to corporations to celebrities, organizations or individuals that in the past depended on traditional media outlets for their messaging now communicate directly with voters, consumers and fans. This autonomy is especially crucial for Calipari, who stands atop perhaps the most college sports program this side of Alabama football who seeks a prominent public profile, at least partly to aid the endeavor of recruiting and who in the past, he acknowledges, has been fitted with the “black hat. †Notoriety and negative coverage have long trailed Calipari, a Hall of Fame coach known for his brash personality and disruptive methods, along with his teams’ consistent success. The N. C. A. A. vacated his Final Four runs with two previous teams, UMass and Memphis, and it takes only a few keystrokes to find someone criticizing his embrace of the “ †strategy — recruiting talented prospects who expressly aspire to enter the N. B. A. after a single season in college. While in the past, Calipari said, he could not effectively combat reports or columns that cast him or his team in a bad light, that is no longer true. “In the old days, you had to wait,†said Calipari, describing how he would respond to slights or what he viewed as misinformation earlier in his career. “You can get on a day later on the radio, but it’s too late. It’s already singed in their mind. †Today — with the aid of staff members in Kentucky’s sports information and image operations, who transcribe and publish the thoughts and musings of the coach — things are different. “Now,†he said, “I can respond in 30 seconds. †Calipari does not eschew traditional media availabilities, and even cooperated on a forthcoming ESPN documentary about his career. But his own megaphone is a big one. Calipari’s Twitter account has three times as many followers as the main one for Kentucky’s basketball program. More than 500, 000 people follow his Facebook feed, and a track his posts on Instagram. Then there is CoachCal. com. It is not — like some other coach websites — a sleepy venue for occasional videos and links to articles posted elsewhere. Instead, it is an source for news, with its own de facto beat writer, Metz Camfield, and a certain, if limited, amount of exclusive access. (While the site is branded with Calipari’s image, it is owned by JMI Sports, Kentucky’s multimedia rights holder.) The site also has a personal blog with Calipari’s reflections on his team’s progress, celebrations of mentors and, of course, rebuttals to criticism. The newest addition to Calipari Inc. is Cal Cast — Calipari’s podcast, a breakout by a major active coach. After only three months and 15 episodes, it has more than a million listens. Calipari has hosted fellow coaches, businessmen, basketball commentators and his good friend Drake. (His dream guest is another clamorous, technologically challenged media machine according to Calipari, President Trump told a journalist whom Calipari declined to identify that he was open to appearing on the program.) All of these endeavors push a daily dose of the gospel according to Calipari. Wondering whether he truly cares about his players? A recent Instagram photograph showed the stat sheet that Calipari said he receives daily, detailing how his alumni are faring in the N. B. A. Want to know his philosophy? A “Recruiting Manifesto†emphasized Calipari’s “ †approach (foreshadowing “Players First,†one of two books Calipari has written with the writer Michael Sokolove in the last three years). Skeptical that he is following N. C. A. A. rules? A rundown last year reminded readers that Calipari’s squads have among the highest graduation success rates of top teams. A case study in how Calipari can bypass the traditional news media came amid the firestorm that erupted after a 2014 Yahoo report that Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski had used his perch as U. S. A. Basketball’s head coach to recruit high school prospects. Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim, then a Team U. S. A. assistant, said in response that Calipari had complained about the arrangement and added that Calipari’s protests seemed disingenuous since he had coached the Dominican Republic’s team — a job that might have helped secure the commitment of the star prospect Towns. One day after Boeheim’s comments ran on Syracuse. com, Calipari, after appearing to respond via a snarky Twitter post, took to CoachCal. com to tell the world that he had called Boeheim (“We are friendsâ€) to praise Krzyzewski’s stewardship of U. S. A. Basketball and to say he did not “begrudge†any potential recruiting advantage. Years later, Krzyzewski appeared as the guest on Cal Cast’s second episode. Calipari gushed about Krzyzewski’s triumphs with the national team, and the coaches bonded over their boyhoods and their affinity for legendary coaches. “Everybody’s going to be stunned,†Calipari said, “that we just talked for 30 minutes. †Was it benign sincerity? Did Calipari have ulterior motives for staying on the good sides of U. S. A. Basketball and Krzyzewski? Either or both might be true — this month, U. S. A. Basketball announced that Calipari would coach the national team. But Calipari’s public stance was probably delivered more cleanly and persuasively than it would have been even through a with a friendly reporter. “It enables him to put his version of the story out exactly the way he wants to, as sanitized or unfiltered as he cares to,†said Bill Grueskin, a Columbia Journalism School professor. Calipari’s credibility is buttressed by all the things he publishes that have no obvious utility, whether it is a tribute to his family’s late German shepherd or CoachCal. com’s stream of updates on the team, written mostly by Camfield, a former Kentucky journalism major. Even the sponsor announcements Calipari reads during Cal Cast are disarmingly genuine, most of all the Blue Apron spots in which Calipari’s wife, Ellen, describes some delicious meal she has just cooked for her husband. Jerry Tipton, the longtime Lexington basketball beat reporter, said that Calipari’s platforms had an unavoidable bias. “Cal talks about ‘no filters,’ which is fine,†Tipton said, “except it has the biggest filter of all: Coach Cal. †But Calipari disputed this characterization. “It isn’t filter,†he said. “It’s transparent. †“I’m not perfect, I’m a sinner — that’s why I’ve got my ash on my head,†Calipari said. But, he continued, “there were so many coaches in the old days that were painted with black hats, and there were guys painted with white hats that should have had black hats on. †“I’m not trying to write my legacy — someone else will write my legacy,†he added. “But what I am is, I’m transparent, and you are not writing my legacy. †| 1 | [
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FMD1558 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: MIAMI (AP) — A person with direct knowledge of the negotiations says Joshua Kushner, whose older brother is an adviser to President Trump, has a preliminary agreement to buy the Miami Marlins for about $1. 6 billion. [The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Friday because the Marlins and owner Jeffrey Loria have not commented publicly on negotiations. The preliminary agreement preceded due diligence by Kushner, the person said, adding the final offer could be much lower than $1. 6 billion. Other parties are also interested in buying the Marlins, and Loria might reopen negotiations with them. Kushner is a New York City businessman and investor and part of the real estate family that also includes Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s and an adviser to the president. Any sale must be approved by at least of Major League Baseball teams. | 1 | [
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FMD1559 | 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 O.J. Simpson Tweet That He Would Join SAG-AFTRA Strike? Claim summaries: The former football player has acted and produced professionally in the past.
contextual information: In mid-July 2023, the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), the union representing Hollywood actors and performers, voted to go on strike against major studios after negotiations broke down. A tweet by @KeatonPatti went viral on July 13, 2023, purporting to show a screenshot of a tweet and video in which O.J. Simpson appeared to show his support for the strike. The screenshot shows Simpson wearing a green shirt while standing in front of flowers. An overlaid caption quotes him as saying, "As a proud SAG member, I can't wait to join you all on the picket line." The screenshot also indicates that Simpson tweeted from his official Twitter account, adding the words, "Union strong. #SAGStrike." However, the screenshot is fake. There is no evidence that Simpson issued such a tweet, nor that he made a video in which he expressed support for the guild strike. The writer Keaton Patti, who has previously written stories for humor sites like The Onion, likely shared this screenshot as a joke. Indeed, the replies to the tweet are largely joking about the impact the spectacle of the controversial figure joining the strikes would have. We went to Simpson's Twitter account, which primarily consists of videos of him sharing his views on a range of topics, but found no tweets in which he expressed support for the strike. The screenshot was likely created by editing a real screenshot from a July 11, 2023, tweet from Simpson titled, "Sports should be equal and fair," in which he shared his views on the inclusion of transgender athletes in sports. In that video, Simpson was shown sitting in front of the same flowers, wearing the same shirt, with the camera at the same angle as the one in the manipulated screenshot, and the same reflection in his glasses. Simpson, a former professional football player, gained notoriety in the 1990s after a sensational trial in which he was acquitted of the murder of his estranged wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman. In 2008, he was found guilty in a botched robbery and sentenced to more than three decades in prison, of which he served nine years. Simpson also produced and acted professionally, appearing in "The Naked Gun" movie series, among others. His finances fell under scrutiny upon his 2017 release from prison. Tom Scotto, his friend, told USA Today that Simpson received money from a SAG pension, in addition to his National Football League pension and his personal investments in a retirement fund. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Simpson's SAG pension was protected from the millions of dollars he owed to the families of Brown Simpson and Goldman after they won a wrongful death lawsuit against him in 1997. Simpson's acting and producing credits entitled him to SAG membership, and he appears to have a SAG pension as well, but the extent of his active participation in union activities and current status is unknown. Regardless, the above screenshot clearly does not show Simpson supporting the actor's strike; rather, it was manufactured by altering a separate video and adding a fictional caption. As such, we rate this claim as False. | 0 | [
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FMD1560 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: One of the foundations of living a good life in today’s times is having a good place to call home. Whether you want a solid, comfortable place with which to pursue your hobbies, recover from the day’s tribulations, and just to be, or whether you want a bachelor pad for your romantic pursuits, or both; a good home is essential to the modern man.
I purchased a home and I decided to be my own general contractor for the renovations. My home was an as-originally-furnished home of the 1970s, and I brought its multi-color painted, green shag carpeted datedness up to a sharply trimmed, hardwood-floored modernity while being of a somewhat timeless style. A general contractor is a person hired by the architect or engineer to run the job site, source the labor, follow the schedule, get the materials, and execute the vision of the plan. Here are ten things I learned as my own general contractor.
1. There are good contractors, and there are bad contractors
You will run into both good and bad contractors out there. A good contractor does good work, at good value, follows the schedule, and is honest and doesn’t lie to you. A bad contractor will do any or all of the above. I fired a contractor who had good value, but did poor work, could not follow the schedule, and lied to me. I paid more for a later contractor who did excellent work, hit the schedule on time, and was a perfectionist. Give a bad contractor a second chance, mainly to see how he corrects it; and, if he fails to shape up, cut him loose.
A good contractor has the correct amount of paperwork, but no more. Some firms I turned down did things by hand and had no contractor’s license, and that is too little, whereas a firm that gives you fifteen pages of legalese allowing them to take out an uncontested mechanic’s lien on your home if you do not pay is too much.
A lot has to do with the presentation of the representative. Tradesmen are naturally rough people who work with their hands, but a man that does not have a good handshake, good eye contact, and is evasive on important details is shady.
2. Good contractors cost more, and they are busy The best indicator of a good contractor is that they have a busy schedule, and I mean they are booked often a month or so in advance. The guy I fired kept trying to work me in on the weekends and at night, which, while it SEEMS like he’s busy, he’s actually operating in the red and trying to use your funds to cover his other jobs.
A good contractor will negotiate terms up front and not change them, and he will, when awarded the job, put you in his schedule at an agreed-upon time. My best contractor was so busy that I had to do other things first before I could get his firm to bid my work, and they did what good contractors do when they are too busy; they turned down my work until later.
3. You need to establish a reputation
General contractors in an area have a reputation amongst their customers and the contractors they sub-contract to, and the only difference between those that do it for a living and you is that you have no reputation.
A busy contractor will work with a GC who will give them work in the future over one who will not. I was an unknown, so the busy guys during the busy season (fall and pre-holidays) would pass on me and work with ones they knew.
However, word got around to the others that I gave jobs of good scope, and paid on time. I hired a sub contractor for a set of jobs, and, once they found out who I used as my electrician (it was who they subbed their own electrical jobs to), they called and the electricians vouched that I was picky as all hell, but paid on time, and let them run their own schedule and have the run of the house. At that point, I was in.
4. Good contractors know other good contractors
Reputation works the other way too. A good roofer who I only turned down because he was too busy and wouldn’t meet my timetable has a brother who runs the electrical shop mentioned above. Although you should ALWAYS get multiple competing quotes (bid to three, two will generally respond, and pick the better one), the deciding factor was that his brother, the roofer, ran a good shop, and it stood to reason he would, too.
My plumbers knew my AC guys and my chimney guy. My flooring guys knew my kitchen cabinets guys. Everyone works with and around everyone else, and I saved all my paperwork and contact info for all my vendors so that, on any future projects, I know who to call for what, and, even if I don’t know, I know who to ask for recommendations.
5. It will take more money than you think it will
Home renovation is expensive, and it’s mainly for the nasty reason that, once you commit to action, you can get hit with extra costs. You can mitigate this with good bid scopes that you give to your contractors so all parties know what is what, but you will find that the home will need things you didn’t think about, or that the hourly rate of the laborers is higher than you budgeted, or materials will simply cost more.
Part of the balancing act that is required is you will learn what to spend money on now, and what to spend money on later. Right now, I live in the place (finally), but I still have construction paper down on my floors as I have not yet bought furniture pads or rugs for the high traffic areas. My bathrooms have plumbing in, but no mirrors, cabinets, towel racks, or toilet paper holders. Entire rooms are without furniture. All of these can, and should, be taken care of later, but things like flooring and painting needed to happen earlier.
6. It will take more time than you think it will You may not need something this complicated, but a Gantt chart shows dependency of one job on others.
Contractors have their own schedules, and there is also the time outside the work time where they have to arrange a site visit, you have to juggle quotes, they have to then write you in, then they do the work, then there’s follow-ups and punch-lists, and then, finally, that job is done and you pay them.
You can’t do some other jobs before you finish the first one. This is where having a master schedule and knowing who is doing what and affecting whom matters. My floor guys had to have the run of the place when they were finishing the floors, but they did not when they were laying sub-floor, and I was able to have plumbers in that day as well. Contrariwise, I could not start the kitchen install until after the floors were done.
7. Some of your ideas are wrong, some are right I had my own thoughts about what to do with the place. Sometimes I was wrong; it was stupid to try to reuse the baseboard that was over the carpet and put it over the hardwood (even though it was the same color) and I listened to my contractor and used new. Sometimes I was right, my backsplash behind my sink was supposed to match the counter-tops’ colors, and the ratio of white I wanted was correct, but I was persuaded to add more by my contractor.
Know what is important in your vision and be able to explain your intent, but the contractor might have a better way of how to do it in mind than if you had told them the how, instead of the what. I have a rather creative way of running the drains on my basement fixtures; they did what I wanted, but did it in a better way than I would have suggested, and they got it almost completely right to my intent in the process.
8. There will be gaps in your manpower coverage
The one thing a professional general contractor does that you, as a private operator, will not is do all the basic stuff themselves. A GC will hire an electrician to wire fan boxes for mounting fans, but he will install the boxes and hang the fans himself. My electricians did install and hang them for me anyway.
This was for two reasons, and this is how you can mitigate having little shit jobs that no one will want to do as a single job. The first is to provide all the materials yourself, which also allows you to pick out what you want. I had a pile of fixtures, fans, and bulbs laid out for them with a plan of what went where, and this helped them just throw them up after the technical wiring part was done.
The second reason is to provide a good scope of work. Will a plumber come install a single faucet? Maybe. Will he come install five and a garbage disposal? Certainly, that’s a good day’s work, so, if you have little jobs, have a LOT of little jobs, and you’ll get more interest.
9. There are things with which you will not be satisfied; good enough is good enough
This house is old, but renovated. Some things simply cannot be fixed without massive upheaval; I cannot have perfectly flat ceilings because the drywall is 40 years old and it had popcorn texture on it. Some things I did not address; I have new baseboard and new window trim, but the door trim is original and has the nicks and stains of time.
Some things were done, but were not perfect. The drywall where my kitchen cabinets’ bulkhead used to hang from the ceiling has one spot where, even after two reworks, still has a hairline paint crack. Some of the window film has pull away lines, and there’s a couple things trapped under the film in places. One of the toilets will top itself off for a few seconds signifying a small seal issue. You cannot have perfection, but you can go for reasonable excellence.
10. Code enforcement sucks The Man sucks. Someone called Code Enforcement on me, and I had to go get a permit of a cost of X% of the renovation’s cost, mainly so they can jack my taxes up.
I got the permit, and I expect my taxes to go up. The inspector was a real schmuck, as most appointed officials are, but the joke’s on him, as I only got the permit on what I had left to do and I omitted some things that would still happen, but weren’t too noticeable.
With code enforcement and county ordinances, the idea is reasonable cooperation and being able to explain things away with saying you were mistaken, instead of flouting the law. I went and got the permit when I was busted for it, but they only know a third of the story. Had I gotten a permit earlier, perhaps whatever nosy neighbor that ratted me out might not have called at all. Another tactic, which I will do on a future project I have planned, is to get the permit months ahead of time, then hit it hard over a few days and be done before anyone notices.
Conclusion If you have the time, the patience, and the skill to know exactly what you want, who to get for it, and how to juggle a massive schedule, running your own home renovation is a lot of fun and very educational. If you want it done faster and just want to deal with one person for everything, then hiring a professional general contractor might be the way to go instead.
Read More: 14 Essential Subjects That We Will Teach Children At The ROK International School | 0 | [
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FMD1561 | 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 Barack Obama Arrested in a Japanese Drug Bust? Claim summaries: Rumors that the former U.S. president was arrested in connection with the seizure of massive amounts of cocaine on his yacht are fake news.
contextual information: In April 2017, rumors appeared on social media that former United States President Barack Obama had been arrested in Japan in connection with large quantities of cocaine purportedly found on his yacht: The arrest rumor appeared to have originated via a 31 March 2017 blog post from Benjamin Fulford (who days earlier had claimed that the Japanese government was trying to kill him) that was further aggregated by other dubious web sites: originated claimed aggregated Former US President Barack Obama, in custody of the US military police, has informed on his drug dealing bosses, according to sources in Japanese military intelligence. As a result of this, an airplane filled with Afghan Heroin and North Korean amphetamines was impounded at Argyle International Airport on St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean, the sources say. The money raised from this drug flight was intended to be used to finance the operations of Daesh (formerly known as ISIS), the sources say. This impoundment follows the capture of an Obama linked ship containing 4.2 tons of cocaine, the sources note. At the bottom of the post was a citation referencing a 15 March 2017 post on conspiracy site WhatDoesItMean.com about Barack Obama's supposedly fleeing the scene of a drug bust that took place in the Caribbean on a "fishing vessel named the Lady Michelle" that was linked to the former president: post Obama Flees After Massive Drug Bust Aboard Lady Michelle Vessel In Caribbean An intriguing Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) report circulating in the Kremlin today states that former President Barack Obama fled Washington D.C. this past Friday (10 March) traveling to New York City, Omaha (Nebraska), San Jose (California) and ending up in Hawaii all occurring within 36 hours while he sought elite allies to defend him, and keeping him ahead of investigators from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the US Department of the Treasury (DoT) seeking to interview him about one of the largest drug busts in American history occurring in the Caribbean aboard a fishing vessel named the Lady Michelle. 4.2 tons of seized cocaine, worth an estimated $125 million, from the President Barack Obama linked fishing vessel named Lady Michelle on 16 February 2017 According to this report, nearly immediately upon taking office as President Donald Trumps Attorney General on 9 February, Jeff Sessions, as head of the US Department of Justice (DOJ), was handed a top secret file by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey detailing the nearly two-decade long crimes of 12 current and former security and intelligence officers belonging to the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) who for at least 18 years under both the Bush and Obama regimes had smuggled into the United States at least $100 million worth of cocaine. None this was true, as the "Obama drug bust" story originated with the WhatDoesItMean.com is a fake news conspiracy site, described by RationalWiki as follows: WhatDoesItMean.com fake news RationalWiki follows Sorcha Faal is the alleged author of an ongoing series of "reports" published at WhatDoesItMean.com, whose work is of such quality that even other conspiracy nutters don't think much of it. Each report resembles a news story in its style but usually includes a sensational headline barely related to reality and quotes authoritative high-level Russian sources (such as the Russian Federal Security Service) to support its most outrageous claims. Except for the stuff attributed to unverifiable sources, the reports don't contain much original material. They are usually based on various news items from the mainstream media and/or whatever the clogosphere is currently hyperventilating about, with each item shoehorned into the conspiracy narrative the report is trying to establish. The image used to illustrate the WhatDoesItMean article was taken from an earlier news report about a 16 February 2017 U.S. Coast Guard drug bust off the coast of Suriname that had nothing to do with Barack Obama or Japan: report The U.S. Coast Guard busted four men suspected of smuggling more than four tons of cocaine worth $125 million in the Atlantic Ocean. Officials said on Feb. 16 they intercepted a suspicious fishing boat off Paramaribo, Suriname. The 70-foot vessel was allegedly carrying numerous bales of cocaine, the Coast Guard said. Officials seized 4.2 tons of the drugs, worth an estimated $125 million in wholesale value. | 0 | [
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FMD1562 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Meanwhile Hillary Clinton is at home sleeping
Steve Watson Prison Planet.com October 27, 2016
GOP nominee Donald Trump took time out of a relentless campaign schedule Wednesday to spend around an hour opening a new hotel, prompting one CNN reporter to accuse Trump of “taking time out of swing states.” Meanwhile Hillary Clinton is again nowhere to be seen.
CNN’s Dana Bash suggested that Trump should be more concerned with campaigning in swing states, yet Trump had three campaign stops scheduled for the same day. Dana Bash: Is your DC hotel opening free advertising?Donald Trump: “No, not at all” https://t.co/6OZtrfIwim https://t.co/9HHqooom8r
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) October 26, 2016
“So to people who say you’re taking time out of swing states to go do this, you say?” Bash asked.
“I say the following: You have been covering me for the last — long time. I did yesterday eight stops and three major speeches, and I’ve been doing this for weeks straight,” Trump responded.
“For you to ask me that question is actually very insulting because Hillary Clinton does one stop and then she goes home and sleeps. And yet you’ll ask me that question. I think that’s a very rude question, to be honest with you.” Trump exclaimed.
Trump added that the opening of the hotel also served to prove a point that he can get things built under budget and ahead of schedule, suggesting that the country needs to be able to follow suit.
While CNN has continuously run defense for Hillary Clinton amid a myriad of scandals, and even rigged its own polls to suggest she won the debates, the network has been forced to admit that Hillary is running an extremely light campaign schedule.
Last month, for example, Hillary went six days without an event except for a short speech she gave in Orlando, Florida.
And in August, Hillary took seven of the first 14 days of the month off and even went four days without a single campaign appearance.
“Her speeches are so short – they don’t last long, they’re like 10 minutes and ‘let’s get out of here,’” Donald Trump said about her schedule. “Go back home and go to sleep.” This article was posted: Thursday, October 27, 2016 at 8:12 am Share this article | 0 | [
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FMD1563 | 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 Will Smith Donate $150,000 to a 'Terrorist Organization'? Claim summaries: The celebrity couple reportedly gave $150,000 to help support the 2015 "Justice or Else! Million Man March."
contextual information: On 9 September 2015, Minister Louis Farrakhan announced on Facebook that actor Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith had donated $150,000 to help cover the cost of the "Justice or Else! Million Man March" event planned for 10 October 2015: Facebook event While neither Will Smith nor Jada Pinkett Smith commented on the announcement, their donation was seemingly confirmed on Twitter by Brother Jesse, a journalist and Million Man March supporter: Shortly after news of the reported donation broke, several conservative media outlets picked up on the story and asserted that Will Smith had donated to a "black Muslim" who planned to "kill all whites." Many of these stories were posted along with a photograph of Will Smith in a kaffiyeh: stories Reports have begun to surface that Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, have given a huge sum of money to Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the radical group Nation of Islam. Nation of Islam also has ties to the Black Panthers, a black power movement that borders on being terrorist organization. That should be interesting to explain on their tax returns. Farrakhan is proudly stating that Smith gave $150,000 to his Justice ... or Else! march. This march, which is theoretically supposed to honor the 20-year anniversary of Farrakhan's Million Man March, will take place on October 10 in Washington D.C. The reality is that this event will most likely be used to call for violence against the police and could well lead to rioting and more than a few arrests. The image of Will Smith in a kaffiyeh was not a genuine photograph of the actor. It was a piece of artwork created by Mohammad Kanoo: artwork His series "A Question of Identity" (2012) presents a range of recognizable international public figures political leaders and celebrities dressed in the traditional kandoorah and ghutra for the men, and for the ladies in the abayya and hijab, once again using disjunction as a means of engaging viewers. Using Photoshop, Kanoo gives us an idea of what politicians such as Barack Obama, George Bush and Margaret Thatcher, and celebrities like George Clooney, Oprah Winfrey and Paris Hilton, would look like "out of their comfort zone," that is, if they adopted an Arab sartorial identity. Will and Jada Pinkett Smith's reported donation would go towards sponsoring the "Justice Or Else! Million Man March" event, not to Louis Farrakhan personally. And while Minister Farrakhan is the leader of the Nation of Islam (and did once say that "if the federal government will not intercede in our affairs, then we must rise up and kill those who kill us), those are the views of an individual and not the official position of the organization. say Farrakhan's controversial positions have inspired criticism of his involvement ever since the first "Million Man March" in 1995: criticism March supporters point out that instead of the stereotypes, often perpetuated by the media, of criminals, druggies or dropouts, most African-American men are hardworking people with families and communities. And many are troubled themselves by the reality that some black men have not measured up to their responsibilities. "I have taken the position that this march is directed first at the African-American community, and secondly at the nation at large," said Ron Walters, a professor at Howard University. But both the nation and the African-American community have reservations. Not with the message, but with the messenger: Farrakhan. The controversial head of the nation of Islam is, to many, a racist and separatist. A number of black churches, especially Baptists, have refused to endorse his march. "If it had originated from our end, we would be there," said Levi Chaplin of Pleasant Lane Baptist Church. "But we can't support somebody that talks against us in one breath, and in one breath hugs us. I mean, that's not right." Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith may have donated to an event sponsored by Farrakhan's organization, but the associated cause was supporting equal rights for the black community and not funding the murder of white people. | 2 | [
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FMD1564 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Andrej Babis, the frontrunner to become Czech prime minister after this month s election, said on Monday he had been formally charged with fraud in a case involving a 2 million euro EU subsidy a decade ago. Babis has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, saying the investigation was a plot by adversaries who want to prevent him from taking power and cutting corruption links between the EU member country s incumbent politicians and business. I have received a decision on the commencement of criminal prosecution in the pseudo-case ... I immediately appealed this decision, Babis said in a text message through his spokeswoman. Spokesmen for the Prague prosecutor and police were not immediately available for comment. The charges were expected after police asked parliament in August to lift parliamentary immunity of the billionaire businessman Babis, leader of the ANO movement, and ANO deputy chief Jaroslav Faltynek. Parliament voted to allow prosecution on Sept 6. The ANO spokeswoman said Faltynek, former executive at companies owned by Babis, had also been charged with fraud. He also denies wrongdoing. Babis is almost certain to win a new parliamentary mandate in the Oct 20-21 vote, which would renew his immunity. Parliament would have to vote again to lift it to allow the prosecution to go ahead. ANO is expected to win the most votes in the election but fall short of an overall majority in parliament. Several potential coalition parties have said they would not join a government led by Babis personally due to the investigation. The case involves an allegation that Babis hid ownership a decade ago of the farm and conference center, Capi hnizdo (Stork Nest), so it would qualify for a European Union subsidy that was meant for small businesses. It would not qualify as part of Babis s Agrofert group of companies which is the largest private employer in the central European country. Babis said it was owned by his family members when the subsidy was awarded. It was folded into Agrofert later. Babis and Faltynek, a former executive at Agrofert companies, face potential prison sentences if the case is brought to court and if they are found guilty. The Slovak-born Babis moved Agrofert and other assets into trust funds earlier this year to meet new conflict of interest legislation. He remains beneficiary of the funds. Apart from police, the European Union s anti-fraud unit OLAF has also been looking into the case. | 1 | [
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FMD1565 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Even if hackers don't strike on Election Day, the drumbeat of cyberattacks and leaks this campaign cycle has affected the way citizens view the electoral process.
—Even if hackers don't actually try to tamper with voting Tuesday, the unprecedented amount of cyberattacks this campaign cycle – and the public warnings of possible Election Day digital fraud – has already had a profound impact on American democracy.
Consider this: In the wake of widespread hacks against political organizations this summer, a survey from cybersecurity firm Carbon Black found that 38 percent of Americans are "concerned" that the election itself could be hacked, while another 18 percent are "very concerned." Just 11 percent of respondents said they were "not concerned at all."
These fears of digital sabotage, apparently, led 1 out of 5 respondents to say they might not even vote.
If that's representative of the entire electorate, it means that some 15 million people could stay home Tuesday – as a result of a hacking campaign the Obama administration has blamed on Russia.
After an unknown group or person known as Guccifer 2.0 claimed responsibility for the hack on the Democratic National Committee this summer, the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence blamed senior Russian officials for orchestrating the breach as part of a broader effort to sway American public opinion and undermine trust in the election.
But the high-profile accusation didn't quash Guccifer: It resurfaced once again over the weekend to hint at more Election Day tampering: "I will monitor that the elections are held honestly. I also call on other hackers to join me, monitor the elections from inside and inform the US society about the facts of electoral fraud."
While election and cybersecurity experts dismissed that claim as hyperbole, it may be a "last-ditch effort" to sway the vote or deter people from heading to the polls, Justin Fier, director for cyber intelligence and analysis with security firm Darktrace, told PCWorld. "His goal during all this time has been public influence."
Warnings that voting booths might be hacked have certainly put state election officials on alert for any abnormalities Tuesday. DHS officials say they've spoken to all 50 states about providing help with scanning their systems for risks and offering other services, but wouldn’t detail the assistance specific states had received.
But even if foreign hackers can't compromise actual voting systems, the internet campaign to spread fear of vote hacking and manipulation may be enough to have a major impact on public trust.
Daniel Chiu, deputy director of the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security at the Atlantic Council, noted that since Republican candidate Donald Trump and others are claiming the election could be rigged, hackers don't need to actually strike on Tuesday to discredit the vote. "Merely a credible claim of doing so could compel voters to cry foul and undermine the legitimacy of the vote both at home in the US and abroad," said Mr. Chiu.
To be sure, successfully compromising voting machines would be difficult, say experts.
"The US election landscape is made up of approximately 9,000 different state and local jurisdictions, providing a patchwork of laws, standards, processes, and voting machines," noted Ian Gray, cyber intelligence analyst at the firm Flashpoint, in a blog post today. "This environment is a formidable challenge to any actor – nation-state or not – who seeks to substantially influence or alter the outcome of an election."
But that's probably not Russia's aim, he said. "Russia can most likely achieve a more reliable outcome with fewer resources not by attacking the election infrastructure directly, but rather by organizing a disinformation campaign attacking confidence in the election itself."
Some experts say that mere reports of possible Election Day hacking on social media, blogs, and in mainstream news outlets could fuel post-election challenges to the results.
"If you lose faith in the process, then what? There could be appeals for months," said Ben Johnson, chief security strategist at Carbon Black. "There could be appeals for months. We need to have enough integrity and transparency in the process so people are comfortable that the election wasn't tampered with."
State officials are on guard for any potential signs of tampering. "There's a heightened awareness and a heightened concern," said Karen Jackson, Virginia Secretary of Technology. "If you're paying attention to cybersecurity, then election systems are just one of the systems you're paying attention to anyway."
The idea of nameless, faceless hackers or foreign spies disrupting the election, clearly, is a major concern on Tuesday. But it's not just a cyberattack that could have an impact, she notes. "Somebody could pull a fire alarm. All of those things have the power to disrupt the voting process." | 1 | [
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FMD1566 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Republicans need to stop whining about President Obama offering condolences for Fidel Castro s death, because they ve offered condolences for even worse monsters.After news of the longtime Cuban dictator s death, President Obama issued the following statement:At this time of Fidel Castro s passing, we extend a hand of friendship to the Cuban people. We know that this moment fills Cubans in Cuba and in the United States with powerful emotions, recalling the countless ways in which Fidel Castro altered the course of individual lives, families, and of the Cuban nation. History will record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure on the people and world around him. Today, we offer condolences to Fidel Castro s family, and our thoughts and prayers are with the Cuban people. In the days ahead, they will recall the past and also look to the future. As they do, the Cuban people must know that they have a friend and partner in the United States of America.President Obama s statement was much different from Donald Trump s, which seemed to celebrate Castro s death. Indeed, Trump s statement is the kind of dangerous reaction that could damage international relations between nations at a time when we should be seeking peace.Republicans, of course, have been attacking President Obama ever since. Marco Rubio called Obama s statement pathetic. Ted Cruz says the United States should not send anyone to represent America at the funeral.But once again, just like they did when President Obama did not attend former First Lady Nancy Reagan s funeral, Republicans are conveniently forgetting history and precedent.As it turns out, the Republicans themselves sent condolences after a brutal dictator died on two occasions. In 1953, President Eisenhower offered condolences upon learning that Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin was near death.At this moment in history when multitudes of Russians are anxiously concerned because of the illness of the Soviet ruler2 the thoughts of America go out to all the people of the U.S.S.R. the men and women, the boys and girls in the villages, cities, farms and factories of their homeland.They are the children of the same God who is the Father of all peoples everywhere. And like all peoples, Russia s millions share our longing for a friendly and peaceful world.Regardless of the identity of government personalities, the prayer of us Americans continues to be that the Almighty will watch over the people of that vast country and bring them, in His wisdom, opportunity to live their lives in a world where all men and women and children dwell in peace and comradeship.That s right. Republicans sent condolences for a brutal dictator who murdered at least 10 million people and is known as one of the worst mass murderers of the 20th century.After Stalin died, Eisenhower even offered praise of Stalin and reached out to the Russian people in his Chance for Peace speech.The world knows that an era ended with the death of Joseph Stalin. The extraordinary 30-year span of his rule saw the Soviet Empire expand to reach from the Baltic Sea to the Sea of Japan, finally to dominate 800 million souls.The Soviet system shaped by Stalin and his predecessors was born of one World War. It survived with stubborn and often amazing courage a second World War. It has lived to threaten a third.Now a new leadership has assumed power in the Soviet Union. Its links to the past, however strong, cannot bind it completely. Its future is, in great part, its own to make.The United States was even represented at Stalin s funeral by U.S. Ambassador Jacob Beam.And when Mao Tse-tung died in September 1976, President Gerald Ford sent the following condolences: Mrs. Ford joins me in extending to you our deepest sympathy on the death of Chairman Mao Tse-tung. Chairman Mao had a profound impact on his era. . . . Please accept my personal condolences. So by attacking President Obama, Republicans are being total hypocrites. Yes, Fidel Castro was a terrible person. But he was still a human being and many people are mourning him in Cuba. Sending condolences is the human thing to do and it s the American way even if the foreign leader who died was our enemy. By extending our hand in friendship, we are sending a message to the Cuban people letting them know that we are with them and that we still want to work with them to make a better world for both of our nations. It s how diplomacy works. Petty statements like Trump s only do more harm than good.Featured image via Cagle | 0 | [
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FMD1567 | 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 Lionel Messi Officially Sign for Paris Saint-Germain? Claim summaries: Rumors and speculation surrounded the future of the Argentine soccer star, one of the greatest of all time, in August 2021.
contextual information: In August 2021, rumors swirled around the future of Lionel Messi, one of the greatest soccer players of all time, who broke down in tears at a press conference to announce he would be leaving FC Barcelona of Spain, for whom he had played for two decades, leading the club to extraordinary success and establishing himself as a global superstar of the sport, rivaled only by Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo. broke down in tears According to statements issued by both the club and Messi himself, both sides had agreed a new contract for the Argentine attacking midfielder, now aged 34, the terms of which would have seen his previous salary reported to have be $667,000 per week cut in half. statements reported However, strict Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules put in place by Spain soccer authorities, combined with Barcelona's dire financial straits the club has debts of more than 1 billion ($1.2 billion) ultimately made the new contract impossible. debts of more than 1 billion Messi's previous contract expired earlier in the summer of 2021, meaning he was now a free agent, and could be signed by any other club without the need for a transfer fee to be paid. However, Messi's profile in the sport, and his likely wage demands, meant only a very small number of clubs were in a realistic position to sign him. Over the weekend Aug. 6 to Aug. 8 of 2021, rumors emerged online that French giants Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) were aggressively pursuing the signing of Messi, who scored a staggering 672 goals in 778 first-team appearances at Barcelona, and won a record six Ballons d'Or an annual award generally considered to recognize the world's best player each year between 2009 and 2019. scored PSG was taken over in 2012 by the Qatari government-run Qatar Investment Authority, providing an extraordinary injection of cash and sponsorship deals that have helped drastically improve the club's fortunes in the intervening decade. taken over in 2012 The club's controversial Qatari backers also funded a series of marquee signings, including the two most expensive transfers in soccer history: that of Brazilian star Neymar from Barcelona, in August 2017 for 222 million ($264 million or $293 million in 2021 terms); and that of French star Kylian Mbappe from AS Monaco, in February 2018 for 180 million ($223 million or $247 million in 2021 terms). controversial Qatari backers 222 million 180 million On Aug. 10, PSG further fueled speculation that its signing of Messi was imminent scheduling a press conference for the next morning, and posting short videos featuring the Argentinian flag and snippets of an Argentinian soccer jersey. press conference short videos When Messi himself was greeted by PSG fans at Paris-Le Bourget airport, on the outskirts of the French capital, and at the Royal Monceau hotel, the rumors were all but officially confirmed. greeted by PSG fans Royal Monceau However, the club removed any remaining doubts when, on the evening of Aug. 10, they officially confirmed Messi's move to the club on a two-year contract, with the option of a third year. In a news release posted to the club's official website, PSG wrote: news release [PSG] is very happy to announce the signing of Leo Messi on a two-year contract, with the option of a further year. The six-time Ballon d'Or winner is considered a legend of the sport, and a true source of inspiration for all generations, on and off the field. The signing of Leo reinforces the ambitions of PSG and offers our loyal supporters an exceptional team, which promises to bring incredible footballing moments in the years to come. Messi himself further confirmed the bombshell move, providing the following statement as part of PSG's news release: I can't wait to start a new chapter of my career in Paris. The club and its vision match perfectly my own ambitions. I know just how talented the players and staff are here. By their sides, I'm determined to create something great for this club and for the fans. I cannot wait to step on to the grass at [PSG home ground] Parc des Princes. | 1 | [
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FMD1568 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: As the presidential race heats up and the coffers start to pour in for a general election, Senate Democrats are preparing to introduce a package of reforms aimed at curbing (once and for all) the influence of big money in politics. This is a liberal s dream come true.Spearheading the reforms is Senator Chuck Schumer of New York who is poised to become Majority Leader should the Democrats take back the Senate. Closely involved with Schumer are Sens. Tom Udall, Sheldon Whitehouse, Claire McCaskill and Tammy Baldwin.Included in the package is a Constitutional amendment that would overturn Citizens United and other Supreme Court decisions that have allowed dark money to be injected into the political process.The Disclose Act would be included, which would require outside, anonymous groups that spend money on political campaigns to make the identities of their donors public. No more dark money, no more twice removed parties, no more secrets in campaign finance.A new program in the package would replace the watered down, virtually powerless FEC with a five member independent agency that would tasked with enforcing rules an regulations in a fair and open manner.When it comes to fixing America s broken election system, Democrats will include in the package the FAIR Act, which would effectively end partisan gerrymandering by requiring the states to establish independent commissions to draw district lines, and not lawmakers who hold majorities.Senator Claire McCaskill has apparently bee working on a reform to increase voter turnout and participation, which could mean a provision establishing automatic voter registration.According to MSNBC:There are other efforts to address voting rights on Capitol Hill. A group of Democratic lawmakers earlier this week announced the formation of the Voting Rights Caucus, which has 50 members, all Democrats. They said they ll introduce legislation next month that would ban voter ID laws that force voters to pay an associated cost, for instance by requiring them to obtain a birth certificate to get ID.A new constitutional amendment, a new agency to replace the FEC, automatic voter registration and an end to gerrymandering. This is a package every American should support. Considering the overwhelming majority of Americans (including Republicans) support getting money out of politics, oppose dark money contributions, and support fair elections, the GOP has no leverage to oppose any of these measures.But they will. Such a package would surely fail a Republican controlled Senate and House. But this is an election year, and a year where Democrats could make great strides. If Democrats show up at the polls in droves, we could finally have an America free of big money in politics.If Democrats are serious about political revolution, they will need to come together to have a blue White House, Congress, Supreme Court and state legislature.Featured image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | 0 | [
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FMD1569 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Britain wants an outline agreement with the European Union on the transitional arrangements that will apply after it leaves the bloc by the first quarter of 2018, Brexit minister David Davis said on Wednesday. I would be aiming to get certainly the outlines of it agreed, if we could, in the first quarter (of 2018) ... but it s a negotiation, Davis told a parliamentary committee. | 1 | [
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FMD1570 | 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: In the 1950s and 1960s, the minimum wage was such that it would lift you out of poverty.
contextual information: In the battle to raise the federal minimum wage, proponents have been arguing that the minimum wage now buys far less than it has in the past, and is no longer high enough to lift someone out of poverty. Duringa May 1 speechon the floor of the U.S. Senate, Jack Reed (D-RI) offered a version of that argument. The federal minimum wage has not been increased since 2009 and today an individual who works 40 hours per week, 52 weeks a year, at the federal minimum wage earns $15,080 per year, and that is nearly $5,000 below the federal poverty level for a family of three, and almost $9,000 below the poverty level for a family of four, he said. People who work hard for a living shouldn't have to live in poverty, and that was not the case in the 50s and the 60s when the minimum wage was such that it would lift you out of poverty, Reed said. And I think that's what we have to do today. Reed supports a proposal to raise the minimum wage to $10.10, which would bring a family of three above the poverty threshold. For this fact check, we are going to examine whether the minimum wage was really high enough in the 1950s and 1960s to pull people out of poverty. We asked Reed's spokesman for the source of his statistic. While we waited for a response, we looked on our own. Forhistorical minimum wage data, we went to the U.S. Department of Labor. During the time period Reed was talking about, the minimum rose six times, starting at 40 cents per hour and eventually reaching $1.60. How much did it take to lift someone out of poverty during that era? That's a much harder question to answer, and it depends on the size of the family, something Reed wasn't specific about. The federal poverty level, the adequacy of which is stillthe subject of debate, wasn't developed until the early 1960s, so it wasn't even in existence during the start of the time period Reed was talking about. Thefirst poverty threshold, in 1963, was about $3,100 for a family of four. Someone earning the minimum wage that year would have earned $2,460, enough for a family of three but not a family of four, according to theSocial Welfare and the Economy pageon the Social Security Administration's Office of Retirement and Disability Policy website. Those data only go back to 1959. We used acost of living calculatorfrom the Bureau of Labor Statistics to get a rough idea of living costs from 1950 through 1958. According to our calculations, throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the minimum wage was high enough to keep an individual above the poverty level The first time it was enough to push a two-person family above the poverty level was in 1956, when it jumped to $1 an hour. But throughout the 1950s and 1960s, in most years, the minimum wage couldnt lift a family of three out of poverty and was never enough for a family of four. When we shared our information with Reed's office, they provided information that confirmed our findings. Reed spokesman Chip Unruh said the senators statement about the minimum wage and poverty levels in the 50s and 60s is accurate. I think it is very clear that Reed is talking about his perception that hard work used to get you a livable wage, he said. The federal poverty rate as measured today didn't always exist as a unit of measurement, but that doesn't mean poverty itself didn't exist . Reed referenced families earlier in his speech, but he also was referencing individuals. Our ruling Sen. Jack Reed, lobbying for an increase in the minimum wage, said that in the 1950s and 1960s, the minimum wage was such that it would lift you out of poverty. We found that during that period, the minimum wage always generated enough income to keep an individual out of poverty. But when it comes to making enough money to support a family -- and Reed made several references to families -- that wasn't always true during those two decades. Based on federal data, the minimum wage didn't become high enough to support a two-person family until about 1956 and it wasn't consistently high enough to lift a family of three until 1967. It never covered a family of four, regarded as a typical family size in that era. One might assume that Reed was talking about families, but the statement we're checking isn't specific. Because that statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information, we rate itMostly True. (If you have a claim youd likePolitiFact Rhode Islandto check, email us at[email protected]. And follow us on Twitter: @politifactri.) | 1 | [
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FMD1571 | 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: Credit for the burdensome financial responsibilities imposed on black individuals as a result of systemic inequalities. Claim summaries: Are African-Americans entitled to a $5,000 slavery reparation tax credit?
contextual information: Claim: African-Americans are entitled to a $5,000 slavery reparation tax credit. Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2002] This goes out to all my friends, family, and everyone in the African American community. Once you receive this message please write down the number and then pass it along to every AfricanAmerican you know. As you my know, all African Americans living here in the United States are descendants of slavery,therefore our government has finally passed a bill to pay all descendants back. The way they are paying us back is through a refund called the, "Black Inheritance Tax Refund/40 Acres and a Mule". When you call this number you'll give them your name, address, and phone number and they'll send you out a packet, which includes further details and information on how to receive the refund. I was informed that it will take only two weeks to receive the packet and then two weeks to receive themoney. Now, if you know our government I bet they are not expecting a lot of people to call for this refund, and they may be right, because many of us will not be informed of this. Therefore, this is why I am taking it upon myself to pass on this information, so our community will soon be informed through word-of-mouth about what has been owed to our ancestors all these years. Black Inheritance Tax Refund 1-800-441-5629 press #3 to direct you to the appropriate line open betweenEast Coast: 8am and 12amWest Coast: 5am and 9pm Expect to wait anywhere from 5mins-25mins (There will not be any music to entertain you while you wait!) Ps: You must be 18 years or older and I'm assuming a legal residence of the United States. So, request an application for yourself, husband, wife, sister, brother, father, mother, etc, or just pass the number along. God Bless You All and please check this out!!!!!!!! Origins: In 2000, bogus letters claiming certain senior citizens were eligible for slavery reparations or higher Social Security payments were circulating in black churches in the South and elsewhere. The letters claimed blacks born before 1928 were eligible for a $5,000 "Negro Inheritance Tax Refund" due to a "Slave Reparation Act," and folks born between 1911 and 1926 might be entitled to higher monthly Social Security payments. This was but one of the many forms the "slavery reparation tax credit" misinformation has taken over the years. An April 1993 Lena Sherrod commentary entitled "Forty Acres and a Mule" which appeared in Essence magazine dealt with the concept that reparations were owed to the descendants of African-Americans who were forced to work unpaid for 246 years, and that African-Americans were owed a tax rebate for years of legalized racial discrimination. Sherrod wrote: The government also owes African-Americans a tax rebate for the 60 years of segregation and Jim Crow that followed slavery. Although we were consigned by law to second-class citizenship, we were still forced to pay first-class taxes . the delinquent tax rebate [is] now estimated . to be at $43,209 per household." Since de facto racial discrimination continues to function as a hidden Black tax, it ought to be deductible. So when income-tax time rolls around, on line 59 of form 1040 which asks you to list 'other payments' simply enter $43,209 in 'Black taxes' and compute accordingly. This commentary undoubtedly helped to foster the belief that a real income tax deduction was available as a form of reparation to the descendants of slaves. In 2002, people were being urged in e-mail to call an 800 number. Yet it's all the same hoax. No matter whether you got the letter from your church or read about the give-back in a magazine, the "reparations credit" does not and never has existed. Those who claim the deduction because they are black can be subject to fines and penalties, so really, really think twice before trying to wring it out of Uncle Sam. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) can fine a taxpayer $500 for filing a frivolous claim. Moreover, if the tax department fails to catch the erroneous deduction at the time of filing, it has an additional six years to right its error. Upon catching the error, the taxmen would not only strike off the deduction, but would calculate interest owed on the new balance of tax due, dating it to the year of the original return. (For example, if you claimed the credit in 1994, and the IRS caught it in 1998, your 1994 return would be re-computed to remove the effect of the bogus deduction. You'd now get a bill from the IRS for the re-computed difference between tax paid and tax due, plus all the interest that had piled up on it across those four years, and maybe even a $500 penalty for trying to pull the wool over the tax department's eyes. Eeesh.) IRS offices across the nation have received thousands of requests daily for Form 2439, which some people have been mistakenly led to believe reimburses the descendants of slaves. Form 2439 is actually for shareholders trying to claim undistributed capital gains. Form 2439 Though word of the phony benefits is most often spread by well-meaning individuals whose only motivation is ensuring those who are supposedly in line for the break hear about it, at times unscrupulous tax preparers have stepped in to turn what is already a heart-wrenching disappointment into an out-and-out fraud perpetrated on the unwary by charging fees of hundreds (sometimes thousands) of dollars to "help" people apply for these nonexistent benefits. In a common version of this take-down, a con man promises his unwary clients that he can obtain up to $40,000 in "slave reparation" credits for them from the government and offers to file the necessary tax forms on their behalf in exchange for a percentage of their refunds. He then loads up his clients' tax returns with all manner of deductions and credits they're not entitled to take and thereby scams the government into sending them refund checks. When the IRS later goes over the returns more thoroughly and starts clamoring for their money back, the victims are left holding the bag. The $43,209 "Black tax refund" figure one sometimes hears bandied about is said to be based on the estimated value of "40 acres and a mule," a reparation supposedly laid out in an 1866 bill which lore claims was passed by Congress but was vetoed by President Andrew Johnson. The truth is a bit more complicated than that. The origins of the belief that the U.S. government promised 40 acres of land and a mule to freed slaves after the Civil War are indefinite. One possible source of this claim is Special Field Order No. 15, issued in January 1865 by Union General William Tecumseh Sherman, which set aside a coastal strip of land from Charleston, South Carolina, to Jacksonville, Florida, for the exclusive use of freed slaves, with each freed-slave family receiving a 40-acre chunk of this holding. As Eric Foner noted in his history of Reconstruction: Special Field Order No. 15 Sherman was neither a humanitarian reformer nor a man with any particular concern for blacks. Instead of seeing Field Order 15 as a blueprint for the transformation of Southern society, he viewed it mainly as a way of relieving the immediate pressure caused by a large number of impoverished blacks following his army. The land grants, he later claimed, were intended only to make "temporary provisions for the freedmen and their families during the rest of the war," not to convey permanent possession. Understandably, however, the freedmen assumed that the land was to be theirs, especially after Gen. Rufus Saxton, assigned by Sherman to oversee the implementation of his order, informed a large gathering of blacks "that they were to be put in possession of lands, upon which they might locate their families and work out for themselves a living and respectability." Debate continues over whether Sherman acted solely on his own authority in issuing Special Field Order No. 15 or whether he had the approval of the War Department (or even President Lincoln himself), but the end result was that a new policy (known as Howard's Circular 15) issued by the White House in September 1865 ordered the restoration of land to pardoned owners and thereby took away from freedmen the land appropriated for them by Sherman under Special Field Order No. 15 (The order made no provisions for giving mules to freedmen, but Foner notes that after issuing it, "Sherman later provided that the army could assist [freedmen] with the loan of mules.") Another possible source of the "40 acres and a mule" belief is the creation of the Freedmen's Bureau (originally the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands), a federal agency established as a subsidiary of the War Department in March 1865 (a month before the end of the Civil War) to deal with issues concerning refugees and freedmen within states under reconstruction, including the management of abandoned and confiscated property. One of the provisions of the Freedmen's Bureau Act directed that the bureau's commissioner should "have authority to set apart, for the use of loyal refugees and freedmen, such tracts of land within the insurrectionary states as shall have been abandoned, or to which the United States shall have acquired title by confiscation or sale, or otherwise, and to every male citizen, whether refugee or freedman, as aforesaid, there shall be assigned not more than forty acres of such land." However, this act did not propose giving property to freed slaves (the land was to be leased to freedmen for three years, then made available for purchase by them), nor did it make any mention of mules. Freedmen's Bureau Freedmen's Bureau Act President Johnson did not veto the Freedmen's Bureau Act, which was passed by Congress in March 1865 and signed by President Lincoln. (Johnson did not assume the presidency until Lincoln's assassination the following month.) Two events occurred in February 1866, both of which have been misstated as overturning the "forty acres" provision of the Freedmen's Bureau Act: An amendment to the Freedmen's Bureau Bill (also known as the "Second Freedmen's Bureau Act") proposed by Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, to add "forfeited estates of the enemy" to the land available to blacks, was overwhelmingly defeated in the House of Representatives. (At that time, the only group of slaveholders who were compelled to provide their former slaves with land were Indians who sided with the Confederacy.) President Johnson vetoed the Freedman's Bureau Bill, which sought to extend the life of the bureau indefinitely (it had originally been chartered only for one year after the end of the Civil War) and to greatly increase its powers. Congress passed the bill again (in modified form) over Johnson's veto in July 1866. The Southern Homestead Act of 1866 did in fact make land in five southern states available to freed blacks, but only public land, not plantations or other property confiscated from former slaveholders. Unfortunately, most of the land still available in the South for homesteading was too swampy and too far away from transportation links to be of much good to freedmen, and even then the largest portion of this inferior land was claimed by whites (often for quick resale to lumber companies). Although the notion of a "Black Inheritance Tax Refund" has long since been debunked and disclaimed, it nonetheless lives on and continues to cause headaches to the IRS and taxpayers alike. In April 2002, the Washington Post reported that the IRS had received more than 100,000 tax returns seeking nonexistent slavery-tax credits and had mistakenly paid out more than $30 million in erroneous refunds in 2000 and 2001. And in April 2005, the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office obtained a temporary restraining order enjoining a New York man from preparing income tax returns for others because he had "been including bogus tax credits such as reparations for African-American slavery and segregation." Barbara "taxing the imagination" Mikkelson Last updated: 27 May 2011 Brown, Timothy. "Black Churches in the South Targeted in Mail Hoax." The Associated Press. 31 August 2000. Deibel, Mary. "IRS Warns Black Taxpayers About Reparation-Claim Scam." The Washington Times. 7 October 2000 (p. A2). Fennell, Edward. "Slavery Reparations Program Labeled Lie." The [Charleston] Post and Courier. 24 September 2000 (p. B1). Foner, Eric. Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution. New York: Harper & Row, 1988. ISBN 0-060-91453-X (pp. 70-71, 245-246). Foner, Eric and John Garraty. The Reader's Companion to American History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1991. ISBN 0-395-51372-3 (pp. 987-988). Josar, David. "IRS Warns Against Trying to Get Refund for Reparations." The Detroit News. 28 August 1996 (p. D1). Kessler, Glenn. "IRS Paid $30 Million in Credits for Slavery." The Washington Post. 13 April 2002 (p. A1). La Hay, Patricia. "Slavery Reparations Tax Break Is Illegal." The Arizona Republic. 9 August 1997 (p. A1). McLeod, Ramon. "Even Street Gangs Are Among Those Involved in Fraud." The San Francisco Chronicle. 13 April 1996 (p. A17). Moore, Linda. "League Explains Nonrole in Slavery Reparations Hoax." The [Memphis] Commercial Appeal. 15 September 2000 (p. C2). Oubre, Claude F. Forty Acres and a Mule: The Freedmen's Bureau and Black Land Ownership. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1978. ISBN 0-807-10298-9. Sherrod, L.G. "Forty Acres and a Mule." Essence. April 1993 (p. 124). Stiehm, Jamie. "IRS Official Warns of Tax Hoax Using Slave Reparations." The Baltimore Sun. 12 February 2002. The Associated Press. "Blacks Targeted in Slavery Reparation Scam." 6 October 2000. Chicago Sun-Times. "Reparations Scam Preys on Ignorance." 17 July 1996 (p. 47). Chicago Tribune. "Tax Myths Don't Add Up at IRS." 23 February 1997 (p. C7). Reuters. "Man Barred from Making Slavery Tax Claims." 15 April 2005. | 0 | [
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FMD1572 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Michigan s Republican governor, Rick Snyder hasn t quite satisfied his penchant for evil doing. Snyder, who is globally infamous for overseeing the poisoning of the city of Flint, Michigan, is now trying to re-steal more than half a billion dollars from Michigan s teachers.In 2010, a law was passed that forced school employees to contribute 3 percent of their pay to their healthcare retirement benefits. The law was ruled as unconstitutional by the Court of Appeals on June 7. That means that the already collected $550 million dollars that are currently held in escrow must be returned to the school employees that it was originally stolen from. Governor Snyder s decision to drag this case out, even though the Attorney General will not assist in the appeal, is a shameful use of the people s time and money. School employees deserve to have their hard-earned money returned to them as soon as possible, but instead they will have to wait as Governor Snyder spends more time defending what is clearly an unconstitutional law, said David Hecker, president of American Federation of Teachers Michigan.That ruling doesn t fit into Snyder s master plan. He is now suing to appeal the court s decision. The suit is so frivolous and politically toxic that even the governor s Republican comrade, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schutte isn t willing to touch it with a ten-foot pole. Schuette has announced that he will not represent the Snyder administration. After reviewing the appellate decision in American Federation of Teachers V. State of Michigan the Attorney General is declining to provide counsel if the Governor wishes to appeal the ruling, said Schuette spokeswoman Andrea Bitely.Bitley also said that In this case, we ve not only reviewed the ruling, but we ve also spoken with many teachers and heard from many teachers across Michigan, and it just didn t make sense to continue the appeals process through our office at this point. Snyder insists that he is trying to protect the stability of the system, according to a statement from Snyder s press secretary, Anna Heaton.The Snyder administration has proven once again how badly government functions when it is controlled by Republicans. Snyder s political career is virtually over. That means he is free to fight for the causes he truly believes in without worrying about his name becoming more tarnished than it already is. Apparently, those causes include stealing from teachers and school employees paychecks.Featured image from Mark Wilson/Getty Images | 0 | [
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FMD1573 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: So, the working people of America are basically supposed to sit back and watch Bernie Sanders and Hillary compete to see who can pander to get more votes by promising Americans and illegal aliens more free sh*t with our hard earned money? Like healthcare, education is a sclerotic, overexpensive, underperforming industry. Both have strong parallels: they re dominated by government subsidies and controls, though not entirely socialized; they re perhaps the only growth industries in our moribund economy; and they dominate the thought life of the nation. As Arnold Kling and Nick Schulz pointed out in 2011:These are our foremost growth sectors the ones most central to employment and consumption; the ones that, increasingly, drive our economy. And it is in precisely these two sectors that the case for extensive government intervention and planning, if not outright control, is dominant and becoming ever more so.If there is to be any hope of reversing this trend, champions of market economics must come to see these two sectors as the front lines in the battle for capitalism. At stake is not only an ideological or theoretical point, but also American prosperity. The historical record makes this clear: In the nations where it was practiced, government control of the old commanding heights of the economy made those industries less efficient and less innovative bringing overall economic performance down with them.Today, Hillary Clinton is touting her plan for Obamacare-izing higher education. Competing Democratic presidential candidates Martin O Malley and Bernie Sanders have already proposed essentially socializing college straight up. Clinton s proposal, like Obamacare, is also collectivist and unjustified wealth redistribution, but with a more complicated, less direct, crony capitalist flavor. In other words, it s not direct socialism, but it might as well be.By mucking around this way, Clinton gains the benefit of deception: She can argue that both the left and the right (by right, she of course means the craziest of Republicans, not actual conservatives) have proposed elements of her plan. So she gets to smear her Frankenstein with pretty bipartisan makeup. And the average voter won t care, because the average voter doesn t give jack about enslaving his children (or other people s children) to the unseen but growing monstrosity of federal debt, as long as he gets feel-goodies now, regardless of whether they actually benefit anyone. But it s still a Frankenstein.What Does Hillary Clinton Propose, Exactly? Before we get into the mud-slinging, let s do what most journalists do not and give some actual hard facts about Clinton s proposal. (Do any of you also scan news articles looking for actual facts instead of paid spokespeople s lying spin? It s hard to find those, isn t it?) The full proposal doesn t seem available (probably so they can tweak its details in response to initial criticism); reporters have gotten three fact sheets, MSNBC says. Inside Higher Ed kindly posted them. A news summary of the major points: Under the plan, which was outlined by Clinton advisers on Sunday, about $175 billion in grants would go to states that guarantee students would not have to take out loans to cover tuition at four-year public colleges and universities. In return for the money, states would have to end budget cuts to increase spending over time on higher education, while also working to slow the growth of tuition, thought the plan does not require states to cap it. (NYT) military veterans, lower-income students and those who complete a national service program, like AmeriCorps, would go to school for free in the Clinton plan (AP). She would also expand income-based repayment programs, allowing every student borrower to enroll in a plan that would cap their payments at 10 percent of their income with remaining debt forgiven after 20 years. (AP) Student borrowers would be expected to work at least 10 hours a week to contribute, while their families would continue contributing under the current income-based model. Clinton s plan would also expand a tax credit from $1,000 to $2,500 for families paying for college. (MSNBC) Her campaign says she will create a dedicated fund for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and will expand AmeriCorps from 75,000 to 250,000 members. (MSNBC) Mrs. Clinton would pay for the [supposedly $350 billion] plan by capping the value of itemized deductions that wealthy families can take on their tax returns. (NYT)So more income redistribution and more federal micromanagement because, clearly, central planners know better how to manage college costs than colleges and families. Topped off, of course, by (what else?) playing self-appointed Robin Hood against people who earn lots less money than she does. Envy and greed are our society s favorite sins, after all.Federal Meddling Is the Problem, Not the AnswerThe most expensive portion of Clinton s proposal involves bullying states into following federal marching orders in order for them to receive cash the feds scooped from taxpayers.For entire story: The Federalist | 0 | [
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FMD1574 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: It was the sort of question — Does Israel have a right to defend itself as it sees fit? — that had often caused candidates, especially those with designs on winning a primary in New York, to produce paeans to the strength of the relationship and a stream of orthodoxy. But Senator Bernie Sanders dug in. “There comes a time when if we pursue justice and peace, we are going to have to say that Netanyahu is not right all of the time,†Mr. Sanders said, referring to the Israeli prime minister, amid cheers from the crowd at Thursday’s Democratic debate in Brooklyn. He added: “All that I am saying is we cannot continue to be . There are two sides to the issue. †Jewish Democrats, like the rest of the party, have been struggling for years over the appropriate level of criticism when it comes to Israel’s policies in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. But that debate burst onto a big national stage this week thanks to Mr. Sanders, the most successful Jewish presidential candidate in history. Mr. Sanders’s comments, in the de facto capital of Jewish American politics, buoyed the liberal and increasingly vocal Democrats who believe that a frank discussion within the party has been muzzled by an older, more conservative Jewish leadership that is suspicious of criticism of Israel. Jeremy the president of J Street, a progressive lobbying group whose more critical view of the Israeli government has gained influence on Capitol Hill, said Mr. Sanders’s comments were “very different from the stale talking points that have dominated those types of discussions before†and contributed to a “meaningful redefinition of what it means to be . †But the comments, as measured as they were striking, worried more traditionally Jewish Democrats and Jewish organizations trying desperately to maintain bipartisan support for the Israeli government but watching it slowly being chipped away. “I thought that Bernie Sanders’s comments were disgraceful and reprehensible, and I thought he was just over the top,†said Eliot Engel, a Jewish congressman from the Bronx who supports Hillary Clinton. He said that Mr. Sanders’s comments were irresponsible, giving radical elements in the party more license to attack Israel. “Maybe he feels like he has to bend over backwards because he’s Jewish?†Mr. Engel said, adding, “It bothers me a great deal. †Even before the debate, unease over Israeli policies within the Democratic Party was rising. At the 2012 Democratic National Convention, delegates lustily booed officials who reinstated in the party platform a recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, at odds with the United States’ official position that the city’s status must be negotiated between Israelis and Palestinians. Protesting Israel’s policies and advocating boycotts to pressure its government are practically electives for liberal college students furious about the growth of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. In Washington, relations between President Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are acrid, and last year more than 50 members of the Democratic caucus boycotted Mr. Netanyahu’s speech to Congress in which he criticized Mr. Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran. Mr. Sanders’s response on Thursday was to a question about his past statement that Israel had used disproportionate force in responding to Hamas’s rocket attacks from Gaza into Israeli towns. One of the moderators, Wolf Blitzer of CNN, asked whether Israel had a right to defend itself. Mr. Sanders said Israel had “every right in the world to destroy terrorism. †“But,†he said, “we had in the Gaza area — not a very large area — some 10, 000 civilians who were wounded and some 1, 500 who were killed. †The applause and cheers that accompanied Mr. Sanders’s answers — someone yelled “Free Palestine!†— might have been the most vocal signs yet of shifts in the Democratic Party. A Pew Research Center poll in 2014 about violence in Gaza found that Americans under 30 were more likely to blame Israel than to blame Hamas, though half blamed both or did not have an opinion. and Hispanics also blamed Israel more often than Hamas. Those surveyed who were over 30 found Hamas more responsible, and the older the respondents were, the less they blamed Israel. “The roar in the crowd was telling,†said Peter Beinart, a leading voice in the liberal Zionist movement. “A Democratic Party dominated by progressive millennials, and Latinos will gradually defect more and more from the line,†he added, referring to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and to Mr. Netanyahu by his nickname. “Those aren’t their values,†Mr. Beinart continued. “What Bernie said last night, and the crowd’s response, were a sign of things to come. †Younger Jews’ waning support for Israel in its dealings with Palestinians may not be so surprising. Unlike their parents and grandparents, who grew up when Jews were still reeling from the Holocaust, they know Israel primarily as a powerful nation rather than an existential necessity. Andy Bachman, a prominent Brooklyn progressive rabbi, said the energetic applause at Mr. Sanders’s criticism of Israel “spoke to this growing rift in the Democratic Party — it was proof of a major crisis in the Jewish community that no major Jewish organization has resolved or figured out to handle. †Mr. Sanders, who is not observant, has spoken at times about family members killed in the Holocaust, and he spent time in an Israeli kibbutz after college. But he has had some stumbles related to his views on Israel. His hiring of a young activist leader, Simone Zimmerman, as his Jewish outreach director turned out to be a rare blunder for his campaign when Facebook posts turned up in which she referred to Mr. Netanyahu with a vulgarity. She was suspended a few hours before the debate. Supporters of Mrs. Clinton raised concerns about the substance of Mr. Sanders’s statements, arguing that he showed his haphazardness on the issue in a recent Daily News interview in which he greatly exaggerated the number of civilians killed in Gaza, saying more than 10, 000 had died. Clinton supporters also said he had supplied no specifics when he called for an “evenhanded†approach. In Mrs. Clinton’s response to the same question Thursday night, she stopped short of endorsing Israel’s response but echoed its argument that Hamas fighters were often mixed in with civilians. She noted her experience dealing with both sides as secretary of state and said — to applause — “I believe that as president I will be able to continue to make progress and get an agreement that will be fair both to the Israelis and the Palestinians without ever, ever undermining Israel’s security. †Mr. Engel, the congressman, said he took solace in the fact that Mrs. Clinton still had a large delegate lead. “I don’t have a fear because he’s not going to be the nominee,†Mr. Engel said of Mr. Sanders. “Hillary is going to be the nominee, and she’s just fine. †Still, Jewish activists who are highly critical of Israel said they would be thankful for his contribution even if he did not win. Minutes after the debate, Rebecca Vilkomerson, the executive director of Jewish Voice for Peace, a growing organization that advocates pressuring Israel with the threat of boycotts, released a statement calling Mr. Sanders’s remarks “heartening†and added, “Today showed that the movement for Palestinian rights is shifting the discourse at the highest political levels. †| 1 | [
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FMD1575 | 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 there a tweet by O.J. Simpson stating that he intended to participate in the SAG-AFTRA strike? Claim summaries: The former football player has acted and produced professionally in the past.
contextual information: In mid-July 2023, the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), the union representing Hollywood actors and performers, voted to go on strike against major studios after negotiations broke down. A tweet by @KeatonPatti went viral on July 13, 2023, purporting to show a screenshot of a tweet and video in which O.J. Simpson appeared to show his support for the strike. The screenshot shows Simpson wearing a green shirt while standing in front of flowers. An overlaid caption quotes him as saying, "As a proud SAG member, I can't wait to join you all on the picket line." The screenshot also indicates that Simpson tweeted from his official Twitter account, adding the words, "Union strong. #SAGStrike." However, the screenshot is fake. There is no evidence that Simpson issued such a tweet, nor that he made a video in which he expressed support for the guild strike. The writer Keaton Patti, who has previously written stories for humor sites like The Onion, likely shared this screenshot as a joke. Indeed, the replies to the tweet are largely joking about the impact the spectacle of the controversial figure joining the strikes would have. We went to Simpson's Twitter account, which primarily consists of videos of him sharing his views on a range of topics, but found no tweets in which he expressed support for the strike. The screenshot was likely created by editing a real screenshot from a July 11, 2023, tweet from Simpson titled, "Sports should be equal and fair," in which he shared his views on the inclusion of transgender athletes in sports. In that video, Simpson was shown sitting in front of the same flowers, wearing the same shirt, with the camera at the same angle as the one in the manipulated screenshot, and the same reflection in his glasses. Simpson, a former professional football player, gained notoriety in the 1990s after a sensational trial in which he was acquitted of the murder of his estranged wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman. In 2008, he was found guilty in a botched robbery and sentenced to more than three decades in prison, of which he served nine years. Simpson also produced and acted professionally, appearing in "The Naked Gun" movie series, among others. His finances fell under scrutiny upon his 2017 release from prison. Tom Scotto, his friend, told USA Today that Simpson received money from a SAG pension, in addition to his National Football League pension and his personal investments in a retirement fund. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Simpson's SAG pension was protected from the millions of dollars he owed to the families of Brown Simpson and Goldman after they won a wrongful death lawsuit against him in 1997. Simpson's acting and producing credits entitled him to SAG membership, and he appears to have a SAG pension as well, but the extent of his active participation in union activities and current status is unknown. Regardless, the above screenshot clearly does not show Simpson supporting the actor's strike; rather, it was manufactured by altering a separate video and adding a fictional caption. | 0 | [
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FMD1576 | 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: Man who sells wedding dresses Claim summaries: Did a man lists his ex-wife's wedding dress on eBay with a hilarious offer of sale?
contextual information: Claim: A man listed a wedding gown on eBay via a hilarious offer of sale that included photos of him posing in the dress. . Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2004] For Sale: One Slightly Used Size 12 Wedding Gown. Only worn twice: Once at the wedding and once for these pictures. Make: Victoria Style: 611 Size: 12 Divorce forces sale I found my ex-wife's wedding dress in the attic when I moved. She took the $4000 engagement ring but left the dress. I was actually going to have a dress burning party when the divorce became final, but my sister talked me out of it. She said, "Thats such a gorgeous dress. Some lucky girl would be glad to have it. You should sell it on EBay. At least get something back for it." So, this is what Im doing. Im selling it hoping to get enough money for maybe a couple of Mariners tickets and some beer. This dress cost me $1200 that my drunken sot of an ex-father-in-law swore up and down he would pay for but didnt so I got stuck with the bill. Luckily I only got stuck with his daughter for 5 years. Thank the Lord we didn't have kids. If they would have turned out like her or her family I would have slit my wrists. Anyway, its a really nice dress as you can see in the pictures. Personally, I think it looks like a $1200 shower curtain, but what do I know about this. We tried taking pictures of this lovely white garment but it didnt look right on the hanger as you can see, so my sister says, "You need a model." Well, quite frankly my sister isnt exactly small, (like a size 12 is?) so she wouldnt pose for the picture. Seeing as I have sworn off women for the time being and I aint friends with any, it left me holding the bag. I took the liberty of blacking out my face - not to protect the ex-wife but to protect me from my bar buddies and co-workers finding out about it. I would never live it down. Actually I didnt think my head would fit in the neck hole, but then I figured she got her Texas cheerleader hair through there I could get my head in it. Though, after looking at the pictures, I thought it made me look fat. How do you women wear this crap? I only had to walk 3 feet and I tripped twice. Dont worry ladies - I am wearing clothes on underneath it. I gotta say it did make me feel very pretty. So if it can make me feel pretty, it can make you feel pretty, especially on the most important day of your life, right? Anyway, I was told to say it has a train and a veil and all kinds of shiny beady things. I think it's funny that one picture makes it look like the chest plate off an Imperial Storm Trooper. Did I mention that all I want is a ball game and beer? Cheap at twice the price. Ladies, you wont regret this. You may regret the dude you marry but not the dress. Just a little side note - As I was putting this ad in EBay, it asked me for a color. Is a wedding dress any other freaking color than white or ivory??!! If it is it wouldn't be a wedding dress, now would it?? I suppose black would work... On Apr-26-04 at 10:38:31 PDT, seller added the following information: Well, the auction is a little over half over and I am just amazed. This thing has taken more hits than that pothead that lives in the next building. Man, oh man, if hits were bucks Id be getting a suite at Safeco. I also have received TONS of email. I dont have the time to reply to all of them but I just want to let everyone know that I appreciate the well wishes. Of the email I received: Five or so were invitations to ball games in other states. Two of those were for little league games. Do they have those cushy executive boxes with the free chicken wings at those? One email was from Scotland. Its a good thing he wrote it because I wouldnt be able to understand a word he said. Never did get through Braveheart. Most were thanking me for the laugh. Youre entirely welcome. Five years of misery was well worth the hearty guffaw that was my pleasure to give you. Oh, yeah. I also got three marriage proposals. Yes, you read it right - three marriage proposals. I feel like one of those mass murderers on death row. I never understood how the hell they got more chicks than I did. Now I know. They sold crap on eBay. On Apr-26-04 at 23:45:56 PDT, seller added the following information: Holy Moly! The hit counter is starting to look like the odometer in my truck! Not the new shiny black full-size 4-wheel-drive American pick-up that I had to part with, but the somewhat older, multicolored, lumpy, tiny, 2-wheel-drive foreign pick-up that belches smoke. A little something about that vehicle, though: its absolutely amazing! When I get inside it to go to the store, I am all depressed. But when I arrive at the store, Im so freaking loopy from inhaling the fumes, I forget why I went there in the first place. Im saving buckets of money. Of course, I will probably have to spend it all on the tuberculosis I will acquire, but hey, you cant have everything. I felt compelled to update this ad once more due to all of your emails. The first thing I have to say is thank you all for your support in my time of need. It was a truly harrowing experience. Some of you men know exactly what I mean. Seeing as this has turned into my little public forum, I just want to address a few of the emails that kind of left me scratching my head. I now have five marriage proposals. You would think my speaking of the ones I already got yesterday would have put a damper on it, but you women sure are persistent. One woman actually said she doesnt want to marry me, but wouldnt mind being my ex-wife. Hmmm. Let me think about that. Nope. No thanks, already got one. (Pssst. Didnt I mention I had one? Who wants an ex-wife that cant read? Now, I know what you guys are thinking - "If she cant read, then the divorce would be smooth sailing." Well, that would be all well and good but I didnt say her ATTORNEY couldnt read. You following me on this?) Other emails are serious buyers asking about the dress. "How long is the train?" and "Does the gown come with the headdress and veil?" Yes, headdress and veil are included, but the do-rag stays with me. And if the train was long enough for my exs caboose, its long enough for yours. You will have to supply your own baggage, though. I gave mine to Goodwill. There was this one woman who wrote, "You should have covered your tattoos. People will be able to recognize you, like on Americas Most Wanted." HELLO!!! Im a guy selling a dress. Im not wanted for war crimes. Some of your emails made me laugh. Like the bitter woman that wished she had her exs testicles to sell on eBay. Im not too sure theres a market for that, though. Then there was the guy that gave his wifes wedding dress to the Salvation Army by mistake, thinking it was a Christmas tree. Guess he didnt have any Christmas balls that year. This has also been a learning experience for me. I got a lot of messages correcting me about the color of wedding dresses. For Russian Orthodox, they are blue. For Chinese they are red. Mexico has multi-colored ones. All I know is, for my next wedding I will be wearing a hairy, flesh-toned ensemble because I will be buck naked with a toe tag lying on a slab in the morgue because I would have killed myself. A lot of folks were asking me if I wear womens dresses a lot. I can honestly say that this is the first time I have ever donned female attire. Its also the first time Ive been inside something feminine that didnt nag me to take out the garbage. It seems a few people have taken offense to my inferring a size 12 is big. One male even pointed out that Marilyn Monroe was a size 14. Now, I would agree with you that size 12/14 is small if I lived elsewhere. But I live right here in the good old 48 Contiguous, where binging and purging is a way of life. American women do not want to be double digits in size. Just ask any woman what size they want to be. Invariably they will say five or seven. Wealthy will be the person that opens a store for Lane Bryant-sized women but sews size 7 tags on all the clothes. On the flip side of that, I have taken offense to some of the people that told me Im ugly and a loser. All I have to say is youd be ugly too if you had a huge white blotch on your face. And as far as being a loser, I think you have it all wrong. I am such the winner. It isnt every day an average guy can make 50,000 people laugh. Thanks to each and every one of you from the heart of my bottom. Origins: The online auction powerhouse eBay has been the setting of many strange come-ons, some seriously meant and some far less so. In addition to a throng of earnest sellers and determined bargain hunters that frequent this popular online bazaar, it is also populated by its share of crazies intent upon sneaking their hoax listings into the marketplace. Consequently, one can't always tell fish from fowl at first glance. Over the years, our readers have queried us about various eBay auctions because they harbored suspicions about particular listings, either due to the nature of the goods being tendered or because something about the pitch struck them as not quite right (e.g.; an offer of a tea kettle, which displayed additional wares of the seller). Yet few of the auctions so doubted have been asked about as often as the April 2004 proffering of a size 12 Victoria wedding gown, an item that isn't in and of itself all that unusual. But it wasn't the dress that set people to wondering; it was the seller's comments, which appeared to afford a hilarious look into one man's private hell. The seller wasn't so much advertising a dress as he was proclaiming from a public soapbox how awful his wife had been. The auction listing was just as much about getting even as it was about unloading an item he had no particular use for. tea kettle Or was it? Had a gal with "Texas cheerleader hair" really so turned a man against marriage that he swore that "for my next wedding I will be wearing a hairy, flesh-toned ensemble because I will be buck naked with a toe tag lying on a slab in the morgue because I would have killed myself"? Herein rested the listing's appeal: The story was entertaining, but was it real? The solicitation was on the up and up, at least in regard to the nature of the merchandise being vended there was such a dress, and the offer of sale was genuine. However, some (if not all) of the gown's backstory was the stuff of fairy tales. The original eBay listing posted by 42-year-old Larry Star wasn't provoking much interest among those shopping for a wedding dress, so he rewrote it to make it amusing resulting in the posting that has served to make him famous. The tale of marital woe posted by this Brooklyn native both contained invented details and omitted key bits of information. Though he has a sister, she didn't talk him out of the dress burning party he had his heart set upon by suggesting he list the gown on eBay and so get something out of it. He also had an ex-wife prior to the one whose dress he supposedly was selling. (Star and his first missus were married in 1994, separated in 1996, and were divorced in 1998.) And contrary to his statement, "Thank the Lord we didn't have kids. If they would have turned out like her or her family I would have slit my wrists," he and his second wife did indeed have a son together during their short-lived marriage. The unhappy couple wed in 2000, separated in 2001 after a domestic kafuffle (which reportedly resulted in Star's being charged with domestic violence assault in the fourth degree and interfering with the reporting of domestic violence), and divorced in 2003. Though "five years of misery" might well have been worth the hearty guffaw he says was his pleasure to give the online community, those years weren't spent "stuck" with the "drunken sot's" daughter; his time cohabitating with Wife #2 amounted to just a bit more than a year. It's not known if the gown in question even belonged to his ex-wife, as she hasn't surfaced to speak publicly about the matter. Also, according to the Houston Chronicle, when asked if the dress had really been hers, Mr. Star sidestepped the question, instead replying, "I got the wedding dress, I wanted to get rid of it. I was going to burn it and had the idea of selling it on eBay. I needed to sell it on eBay with all the other dresses on there, and I needed to make it stand out." And stand out it did. The auction of the fabled wedding gown ended 28 April 2004 with a buyer using the online handle of "absolutsth" placing the winning bid of $3,850. Yet all is not coming up roses for the intrepid seller who one would assume to be realizing a profit of $2,650 on the gown he says cost originally $1,200, as the sale has fallen through. According to Star, the buyer has backed out, claiming "I left my computer on and somebody made the bid for me." The folks at eBay have told Star he can either accept the second-highest bid or re-list the dress and hold the sale again. As of 7 May 2004, he had not decided whether he would accept the next highest legitimate bid (if there even was a legitimate bid). By the time the auction ended, Star's listing on eBay had been viewed more than 5.8 million times. Some of those visitors, possibly caught up in the frenzy of it all, placed bids they did not intend to honor. (Officials at eBay had to weed out many phonies at one point the bidding reached $99 million.) How many of the remaining bids were legitimate is not known. And, even if all those bids were meant seriously at the time they were placed, some of those prospective buyers may now be having second thoughts, particularly those who offered more than $1,000 for a used, stained dress that was only worth $1,200 when it first came off the hanger. The ultimate fate of the frock may take it in a far different direction than down the aisle on the back of a budget-conscious bride. Its listing (which has now been viewed 11 million times) has brought recognition to its owner and has possibly opened the way to a new career for this software test designer and part-time musician. Thanks to the dress, Larry Star has twice been a guest on both MSNBC's Countdown and NBC's Today Show, each time wearing the unsold gown. Also thanks to the dress, he has made his debut as a stand-up comedian at the Punchline Comedy Club in Atlanta. He has said he would like to pursue a comedy writing career, and all this attention might well work to get that going. Though there are many stand-up comedians on the circuit, we know of none that perform their schtick outfitted in wedding regalia. Could this gown do for Star what a sledgehammer and a watermelon did for Gallagher? Barbara "smash hit" Mikkelson Additional Information: Weddingdressguy.com (Larry Star) Last updated: 3 July 2007 Sources: Brodeur, Nicole. "Fact Is, There's Some Fiction to Man's Pitch to Sell His Ex-wife's Wedding Dress on eBay." The Seattle Times. 29 April 2004 (p. B1). Curry, Ann, Matt Lauer and Katie, Couric. "Today." NBC. 30 April 2004. Eldredge, Richard. "Wedding Dress Guy Jilted by eBay Bidder." The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 7 May 2004 (p. E2). Kelso, John. "Best of eBay: A Wedding Dress Tale." Cox News Service. 2 May 2004. Olbermann, Keith. "Countdown." MSNBC. 30 April 2004. Olbermann, Keith. "Countdown." MSNBC. 28 April 2004. Parks, Louis. "On eBay, Wedding Dress for Success." The Houston Chronicle. 30 April 2004 (Houston; p. 1). Weiss, Tara. "A Star is Born, Selling Wedding Dress on eBay." Hartford Courant. 30 April 2004 (p. D2). Associated Press. "Man Who Sold Ex's Wedding Dress on eBay Earns Instant Fame." 30 April 2004. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "15 Minutes Still Ticking for Wedding Dress Guy." 4 May 2004 (p. E2). | 1 | [
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FMD1577 | 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: Adjusting for inflation, West Virginias median household income has not grown in a decade.
contextual information: In a Nov. 8 op-ed in the Charleston Gazette-Mail, Democratic state Sen. Mike Romano offered a litany of troubling statistics about West Virginia's economy and urged the creation of a real economic comeback in the state. One of Romano's statistics was that, adjusting for inflation, West Virginia's median household income has not grown in a decade. We fact-checked two other statements from his op-ed that turned out to be true. Is the latest claim about stagnant income correct? We turned to official federal data from the Census Bureau to find out. That data shows that in 2007, the inflation-adjusted median household income in West Virginia was $49,885, the culmination of a decade and a half of consistent gains above the rate of inflation. However, one decade later, the 2007 figure remains the state's highest median income level since the statistic was first recorded in 1984. Over that decade, the median income fell by 9 percent when factoring in inflation. (Data for 2018 is not available yet.) The nation as a whole has seen some income stagnation since 1999, but nothing as severe as what West Virginia experienced. Nationally, median incomes have risen every year since 2014 and hit an all-time high in 2017. Comparing the specific years Romano used—2007 to 2017—the national figure rose by 3 percent. Romano wrote that, adjusting for inflation, West Virginia's median household income has not grown in a decade. West Virginia's inflation-adjusted median income has dropped 9 percent in the last decade, even as the national figure has risen by 3 percent. We rate his statement true. | 1 | [
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FMD1578 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Russia accused the United States on Tuesday of pretending to fight Islamic State and of deliberately reducing its air strikes in Iraq to allow the group s militants to stream into Syria to slow the Russian-backed advance of the Syrian army. The Pentagon strongly denied the accusations, saying that the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State posts data every day on the number and result of strikes for the public to see. In the latest sign of rising tensions between Moscow and Washington, the Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement that the U.S.-led coalition had sharply reduced its air strikes in Iraq in September when Syrian forces, backed by Russian air power, had started to retake Deir al-Zor Province. Everyone sees that the U.S.-led coalition is pretending to fight Islamic State, above all in Iraq, but continuing to allegedly fight Islamic State in Syria actively for some reason, said Major-General Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for Russia s defense ministry. The result, he said, had been that militants had moved in large numbers from Iraqi border areas to Deir al-Zor where they were trying to dig in on the left bank of the River Euphrates. The actions of the Pentagon and the coalition demand an explanation. Is their change of tack a desire to complicate as much as they can the Syrian army s operation, backed by the Russian air force, to take back Syrian territory to the east of the Euphrates?, asked Konashenkov. Or is it an artful move to drive Islamic State terrorists out of Iraq by forcing them into Syria and into the path of the Russian air force s pinpoint bombing? In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Colonel Robert Manning described the Russian accusations as absolutely false . We remain committed to killing ISIS and denying them safe havens and the ability to carry out strikes in the region or globally, Manning said, using an acronym for Islamic State. Konashenkov added that Syrian troops were in the midst of trying to push Islamic State out of the city of al-Mayadin, southeast of Deir al-Zor, but that IS tried daily to reinforce its ranks there with foreign mercenaries pouring in from Iraq. | 1 | [
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FMD1579 | 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: (Strickland) raised taxes last year to the tune of $840 million.
contextual information: Over the past month of their hotly contested race for governor, Republican challenger John Kasich has accused Gov. Ted Strickland of raising taxes on Ohioans, a charge the Democratic governor has vehemently denied.Kasich has leveled the tax hike charge in his public speeches, during both gubernatorial debates and in campaign commercials. He says the governors decision last December to halt a scheduled 2009 income tax cut essentially took away $844 million in refunds earmarked for Ohioans and instead gave it to the government.A television ad from the Republican Governors Association released this month features still photographs of Strickland with a woman speaking: Ted Strickland promised not to raise taxes. He broke that promise.Strickland says he didnt raise taxes, he only temporarily froze a planned income tax cut to fill an unexpected budget hole. Stricklands running mate Yvette McGee Brown certainly feels comfortable with that explanation.They had the nerve to say, the Republican Governors Association, that this governor (Strickland) raised taxes $800 million on Ohioans. Not true, Brown said during a rally on Sept. 27 in Cleveland with Strickland standing behind her. And I wish PolitiFact would go check that.So, we are.The tax issue Kasich is referencing is Stricklands decision last year to halt the final year of a five-year, 21-percent across-the-board income tax cut that started in 2005. The move saved the state approximately $840 million, money the governor used to fill a budget hole. The only alternative, Strickland insists, was to cut the equivalent amount of cash out of primary and secondary education.Strickland is careful to characterize his move as having frozen the final year of that tax cut and not having eliminated it altogether. The difference: whats frozen can be thawed and used, but it might not be possible to replicate what has been completely erased.We have cut the state income tax 17 percent since 2005, Strickland said during his Oct. 7 debate against Kasich, taking credit for the first four years of the tax cuts. Strickland became governor in January 2007.And the governor notes that the postponed final year tax cut is scheduled to be reinstated next year after the current budget cycle expires. Also, the decision to freeze the tax cut required legislative approval, which means the Republican-controlled Ohio Senate had to OK the deal and it did narrowly.But having received the first four years of the tax cut, Ohioans were already looking forward to the final year, 4.2 percent reduction, Kasich said, until the governor snatched it away.He raised taxes last year to the tune of $840 million, Kasich said on Oct. 4 during a press conference at the Ohio Republican Party headquarters.To be fair, Strickland had to find a source of revenue or would have had to slash programs. Ohio law requires the state budget be balanced. And part of the reason for the shortfall can be pinned on Republicans, whoincreased spending in seven consecutive budgets while they controlled the General Assembly while also cutting taxes.And the truth is Ohioans didnt pay any more in taxes for 2009 over what they paid in 2008, and maybe less once you factor in some inflationary indexing. So, this was not a tax hike in that sense, which Kasich concedes.But he argues it is an increase when residents are forced to pay more in taxes than they had been promised, or to look at it another way, get back less in their state income tax refund than they anticipated.Those who owed the state after filing their 2009 taxes, owed a little bit extra thanks to Stricklands tax freeze. Stricklands decision cost a family of four earning $60,000 a year about $78 last year.Strickland prides himself on having made tough decisions in rough economic times. One of those decisions was postponing the income tax cut which meant taking money out of the pockets of Ohioans.But while the freeze is expected to be lifted next year, there are no guarantees that will happen in what is still a rough economic landscape for Ohio. And state taxpayers, who had to pay more in income taxes than what had been promised, may continue to pay at the higher rate.We rate Kasichs statement Mostly True. Comment on this item. | 1 | [
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FMD1580 | 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 Muslims Demand the Cross Be Removed From the Swiss Flag? Claim summaries: A purported flag-burning incident in Switzerland is wanting of real facts.
contextual information: In late September 2019, the anti-Muslim hate site Frontlines News published a bogus story reporting that "Muslims in Switzerland are demanding that the white cross be removed from the Swiss national flag because, as a Christian symbol, it 'no longer corresponds to today's multicultural Switzerland.'" The story contains a thumbnail image of men holding up a flag and burning it. The image was not taken recently, nor was it taken in Switzerland; in fact, the flag being burned is Danish, not Swiss. The photograph in question was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Rizwan Tabassum in February 2006 in Karachi, Pakistan. According to the picture's caption, it depicts men burning a flag in response to outrage over cartoons in European newspapers depicting the Prophet Muhammad, the central figure of Islam. Generally, depicting Muhammad in images and statues is forbidden for observant Muslims. Frontlines News quotes and links to a story that was originally published by the Gatestone Institute, an anti-Muslim non-profit organization that, as NBC News reported in April 2018, "promoted misleading and false anti-Muslim news, some of which was amplified by a Russian troll factory" in the lead-up to the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. The Gatestone story cited by Frontlines News quotes only one source, Ivica Petrusic, who was the vice president of the Swiss social justice advocacy group Second@s Plus. Petrusic was quoted as saying the cross should be removed from the flag to reflect a separation between church and state and the country's growing cultural diversity. Petrusic makes no mention of Muslim people making that demand. The only element of the story linking to Muslims is Gateway's unfounded assertion that Second@s "represents mostly Muslim second-generation foreigners in Switzerland." Because the image took place at a different time and in a different place than Frontlines News reported, and because the underlying story originated in 2011 from an already unreliable source, we rate this claim "False." | 0 | [
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FMD1581 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: (Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the .) Good morning. Here’s what you need to know: • The second presidential debate. Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump spent nearly 90 minutes exchanging personal attacks Sunday night, suggesting that the final weeks before Election Day on Nov. 8 will be an ugly political brawl. Mrs. Clinton criticized Mr. Trump for not showing remorse after several provocative comments during the campaign, and Mr. Trump accused her of having “tremendous hate in her heart. †He also repeatedly described recorded remarks from 2005, in which he boasted that he could grope women because he was a celebrity, as “ talk. †Here are more highlights from the debate. • analysis. The takeaways: Mrs. Clinton stuck to a safe script and leveled no surprise attacks Mr. Trump widened his political vulnerabilities with comments. Who won? According to some pundits, Mr. Trump exceeded expectations and showed supporters that his campaign wasn’t over. Finally, we several of the nominees’ statements. • Fallout from lewd comments from 2005. Mr. Trump has threatened to retaliate against Republican lawmakers who withdrew their support for him. The list has grown to more than 160 prominent party members. And Billy Bush, the “Today†show host who was bantering with Mr. Trump on the recording, has been suspended by NBC. We look at why the network was slow to report its own story about the video despite knowing about it last Monday. • Hurricane Matthew’s toll. Nearly 900 people died in Haiti as a result of the storm that blasted the island last week, and more than 500, 000 remain stranded in the country’s south. “God gives and God takes,†a resident in one town said. “Mankind, for all the evil he does, could never do something like this. †In the U. S. at least 17 people were killed by the hurricane, which caused record flooding in North Carolina. • More problems for Samsung. The world’s biggest smartphone maker temporarily suspended production of its Galaxy Note 7 devices after reports of fires in its replacement models. The company had previously said it would recall 2. 5 million Note 7 phones over reports that the battery could catch fire. • Nobel in economics science. The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science was awarded this morning to Oliver Hart and Bengt Holmstrom for their insights into how best to write contracts. • Choosing a voice for conversational computing, an emerging field in technology, reflects society’s preconceptions around race and gender. Companies are having to decide whether it is better to succeed by complying with a stereotype, or risk failure by going against type. • A automotive company is turning to an unlikely ally for advertising help: the satirical news outlet The Onion. • Resolving workplace conflicts with empathy and forgiveness can improve conditions at work, a business professor’s recent studies have found. • U. S. stocks finished down on Friday. Here’s a snapshot of global markets. • Two police officers in Palm Springs, Calif. were shot and killed while responding to a domestic disturbance. • Pope Francis named 17 new cardinals, including three Americans, the most he named from any one country. • Ethiopia has declared a state of emergency after months of antigovernment protests have left an estimated 500 people dead. • In sports, Tom Brady returned from his N. F. L. suspension and threw for over 400 yards to lead New England to victory. Toronto moved on to the American League Championship Series, and Cleveland and Chicago are a win away from advancing in the M. L. B. playoffs. • “The Girl on the Train†was the top movie at the North American box office. “The Birth of a Nation†had a disappointing opening. • Obama’s valedictory tour. President Obama made a rare stop in his adopted hometown, Chicago, spending Friday and Saturday there for a and some golf. He also spent time with supporters discussing plans for his presidential library and charitable foundation in the city. • New market for medical marijuana. Some owners of dogs and cats are giving their pets remedies to treat seizures, inflammation, anxiety and pain. The Food and Drug Administration, though, has not approved marijuana for domesticated animals, citing a lack of research showing its effectiveness. • Start the week with style. Here are 50 of our best photographs from fashion month. • Recipe of the day. Take it easy with this classic tuna salad sandwich. Columbus Day is being observed in the U. S. today. In Canada, it’s Thanksgiving. And new holidays seem to be invented every year. Today is also Handbag Day and Angel Food Cake Day. One event on this date, though, highlights a more serious subject: World Homeless Day. Started in 2010, the day seeks to bring attention to homelessness, a problem that affects tens of millions of people worldwide, according to the United Nations. In the U. S. more than a people live on the streets or in shelters for temporary stays. But national statistics show that homelessness is declining. And Salt Lake City has been held up as a model. The city’s approach is simple: Before tackling the problems that led someone to become homeless, those in need first receive a place to live. The program is credited with reducing the number of chronically homeless people across the state by 91 percent since 2005. Lloyd Pendleton, who leads Utah’s homeless task force, initially doubted the plan. “I get probably two to five calls a week now,†he said in an interview last year, “wanting to know how we did it. †For information on how you can help, the National Alliance to End Homelessness and the National Coalition for the Homeless offer resources. Your Morning Briefing is published weekdays at 6 a. m. Eastern and updated on the web all morning. What would you like to see here? Contact us at briefing@nytimes. com. You can sign up here to get the briefing delivered to your inbox. | 1 | [
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FMD1582 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Most Latino voters intend to support Democrat Hillary Clinton, but the more traditional conservatives are split between Republican Donald Trump and Libertarian Gary Johnson, who is beginning to court their vote.
Protesters face off with a supporter of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump outside the Phoenix Convention Center as the candidate gives a speech on immigration in Phoenix, Wednesday.
The last week of the presidential race has focused on immigration, culminating with a visit to Mexico by Republican nominee Donald Trump and a campaign rally in Phoenix.
Suggested solutions to illegal immigration and security have ranged from amnesty to border walls, but it has left most Hispanics supporting Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and tossed others afield.
"I'm going to flip, but not flop. I am no longer supporting Trump for president, but cannot with any conscience support Hillary [Clinton]," Massey Villarreal of Houston told NBC Latino after Trump's Wednesday night speech.
Mrs. Clinton currently has the lion's share of support from the nation's Hispanics, with as much as 76 percent of the vote, according to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll in July.
Gary Johnson, former Republican governor of New Mexico and Libertarian candidate for president, aims to siphon off the rest. On Monday, his campaign hired Lionel Sosa, who has worked for multiple Republican presidential campaigns beginning with Ronald Reagan's, to coordinate his outreach to American Hispanics, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Mr. Sosa declared in a June op-ed in the San Antonio Express News, "If my party winds up electing Donald Trump, I’ll have to bid farewell, hoping that one day soon, it comes to its senses."
He expressed his affection for the traditional values of the Republican Party. "Here's my quandary," he wrote. "If my party's left me, where do I go?"
Sosa has gone to Mr. Johnson's campaign, and 16 percent of Hispanics have done the same, according to a Fox News Latino poll in August. Trump currently has 17 percent of the Latino vote, compared to Mitt Romney's 27 percent and former President George W. Bush's 44 percent.
"The appeal of Johnson is that there is part of the Latino electorate who don't trust either Clinton or Trump," Ariel Armony, a political scientist at the University of Pittsburgh specializing in Latino politics, told Fox News Latino.
In that sense, American Latinos are no different from the rest of the United States, as both Clinton and Trump have some of the lowest favorability ratings in recent political history. This mistrust is leading some Americans who otherwise support Republicans or Democrats to consider a third-party vote for the first time, The Christian Science Monitor reported.
Johnson, especially with the experience of Sosa, may also appeal specifically to some Latino voters looking for immigration solutions. His platform on immigration is, not surprisingly, Libertarian.
"We want immigration – we are a nation of immigrants," Johnson told a Saturday rally in Boston.
He described his immigration solution: a simple work visa program that would give immigrants a means to enter the country, receive a Social Security card so they can pay taxes, and go to work, often doing jobs most Americans don't want.
Johnson's is one of many ideas playing to a complex reality: Most Americans want some immigrants, but they want them to adapt to local culture, and many fear the current situation, the Monitor's Peter Grier wrote earlier this week.
But because immigration touches many Hispanics so personally, the question of how to solve it leaves many wondering where to go. | 1 | [
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FMD1583 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday spoke positively about a border adjustment tax being pushed by Republicans in Congress as a way to boost exports, but he did not specifically endorse the proposal. Trump, who has lashed out at U.S. companies for moving operations and jobs to countries such as Mexico, had previously sent mixed signals on the proposal at the heart of a sweeping Republican plan to overhaul the tax code. “It could lead to a lot more jobs in the United States,†Trump told Reuters in an interview, using his most approving language to date on the proposal. Trump sent conflicting signals about his position on the border adjustment tax in separate media interviews in January, saying in one interview that it was “too complicated†and in another that it was still on the table. The proposal has divided American businesses. Critics say the planned 20 percent tax on imports could be passed along in higher prices to consumers, including manufacturers that rely on imported goods to make their products. Some critics have warned of a potential global trade war which would sharply curtail U.S. and world economic growth. Advocates say U.S. exporters will gain as their revenues will be excluded from federal taxes. They say the tax on imports will encourage domestic production and cause the already strong dollar to rise, offsetting upward pressure on import prices. Trump has also called for a 35-percent border tax on U.S. companies that move jobs abroad and import products back into the U.S. market. It has been unclear in the past if those references referred to the border adjustment proposal. “I certainly support a form of tax on the border,†he told Reuters on Thursday. “What is going to happen is companies are going to come back here, they’re going to build their factories and they’re going to create a lot of jobs and there’s no tax.†White House spokesman Sean Spicer also came to the defense of border adjustment on Thursday, disputing the claim that it could lead to higher consumer prices. “That benefits our economy, it helps American workers, it grows the manufacturing base,†Spicer told reporters at a White House briefing. The Mexican peso MXN= weakened slightly against the U.S. dollar immediately after Trump's comments and was last trading at 19.68 per dollar. Earlier on Thursday, the Mexican currency hit its strongest level since Trump's Nov. 8 election victory. Stocks of retailers, which could be hurt by border adjustment, weakened on Wall Street after Trump’s remarks. The S&P 500 retailing index .SPXRT ended down 1 percent. Shares of Wal-Mart Stores (WMT.N) slipped and closed down 0.6 percent. Trump said his administration will tackle tax reform legislation after dealing with Obamacare, the health insurance system that his fellow Republicans have bashed since it was put in place in 2010 by his predecessor, President Barack Obama. Earlier on Thursday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC the Trump administration aimed to formulate a tax plan with support from the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and Senate and pass it before August. Lawmakers and corporate lobbyists say the border adjustment tax could die in Congress, potentially jeopardizing the prospects for tax reform, mainly because of opposition from a handful of Senate Republicans. But experts say Trump’s endorsement could change the political climate. “If Trump supports it, that makes it considerably more likely,†Harvard Business School professor Mihir Desai told Reuters. Trump’s comments were followed by dueling statements from lobbying groups. A statement from the pro-border adjustment American Made Coalition said the White House was “sending its strongest signals yet that it’s leaning toward supporting the House blueprint with border adjustability.†The Americans for Affordable Products coalition that opposes the border adjustment tax issued a statement saying Trump’s remarks were “consistent with what he’s already said†and that it was “impossible†to know if they were specific to any individual legislative policy. Trump spoke to Reuters after meeting with more than 20 chief executives of major U.S. companies to discuss ways to return manufacturing jobs to the United States, one of the linchpins of his 2016 presidential campaign. Many CEOs of large multinationals back the border adjustment tax. The chiefs of 16 companies, including Boeing Co (BA.N), Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N) and General Electric Co (GE.N), sent a letter to Congress on Tuesday urging support for it. A border adjustment has emerged as the most controversial segment of the House Republican tax reform blueprint. Under the House plan, it would raise more than $1 trillion in revenues to help pay for a corporate tax cut. | 1 | [
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FMD1584 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: October 28: Daily Contrarian Reads By David Stockman. Posted On Friday, October 28th, 2016 My daily contrarian reads for Friday, October 28th. You need to login to view this content.
David Stockman’s Contra Corner isn’t your typical financial tipsheet. Instead it’s an ongoing dialogue about what’s really happening in the markets… the economy… and governments… so you can understand the world around you and make better decisions for yourself.
David believes the world -- certainly the United States -- is at a great inflection point in human history. The massive credit inflation of the last three decades has reached its apogee and is now going to splatter spectacularly.
This will have lasting ramifications on how governments tax and regulate you… the type of work you and your family members will have available and what you get paid… the value of your nest egg… and all other areas comprising your quality of life. Login
David Stockman's Contra Corner is the only place where mainstream delusions and cant about the Warfare State, the Bailout State, Bubble Finance and Beltway Banditry are ripped, refuted and rebuked. Subscribe now to receive David Stockman’s latest posts by email each day as well as his model portfolio, Lee Adler’s Daily Data Dive and David’s personally curated insights and analysis from leading contrarian thinkers. | 0 | [
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FMD1585 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: The Art of the Deal: Trump's phone calls provoke hysteria in Kiev and panic in Brussels November 16, 2016 - Fort Russ - Ruslan Ostashko, PolitRussia - translated by J. Arnoldski - Until recently it was believed that Donald Trump’s main media weapon is his Twitter account, through which the president-elect of the US fights his political opponents, beats the media, and “trolls” foreign politicians. But this was true only until Trump won the elections. Since his victory, the American billionaire now uses his phone as his main weapon of mass (information) destruction. For example, just recently we learned it was enough for Trump to simply talk with Putin on the phone to drive all top European officials to hysterics and panic. Only one conversation, and the British media is already talking about nervous breakdowns among Brussels politicians who simply don’t understand how to live in this terrifying new reality in which the US president-elect easily finds opportunities to reach understanding with Putin. This means that many European politicians who built their careers on selling Russophobia might be left without a job, career, and money. The Financial Times writes that British diplomats are preparing for a “diplomatic crisis” caused by a possible rapprochement between the US and Russia. Between the lines, it can be read that London has simply no ready-made solutions for this problem. The reactions of American and European media are suddenly creating some kind of aura of a miracle around Trump and Putin’s conversation, or a universal catastrophe from the perspective of Clinton’s supporters and ISIS fans. For example, the popular American newspaper USA Today has released a thoughtful article entitled “After Trump chat, Putin's airstrikes pound Syria” which hints that it is Trump’s fault that Russian aircraft have stepped up bombardments against the Syrian terrorists so near and dear to the heart of every true American liberal. It seems like American journalists are telling us that “this wouldn’t happen under Clinton” which, of course, is a shameless lie. Everything would be the same, the only difference being that Syrian militants would die from Russian bombs only after receiving their paychecks from the CIA or Pentagon. And now they are completely terrified, as the Americans aren't paying out and the Russians are bombing them. Let them at least feel comforted by the fact that they have sincere sympathy from Clinton’s pool of American journalists. In fairness, it should be noted that Trump’s phone conversations are provoking not only unhappiness, but are also a real treat. Kiev’s political club is now filled with euphoria over the fact that Poroshenko managed to get through to talk to the US president-elect. This really is a great achievement. That Poroshenko didn’t get told off after what official Kiev did during the American election campaigns is a real success. It is a pity that the only description of the conversation is on Poroshenko’s website. Trump’s official website doesn’t say a word about it. Trump’s website features the news of his conversation with Putin, while nothing is said of the chat with Poroshenko. Nothing at all. Poroshenko’s website doesn’t deserve much confidence as a source. After all, Poroshenko has already been caught in prank conversations, but even if we can assume that the two really did talk, then Kiev’s euphoria is still not quite logical. Sure, official Ukrainian propaganda says that the two presidents agreed to meet, but no specifics in terms of dates were given. Does anyone really believe that Poroshenko is such a genius in psychological maneuvers and such a titan in political negotiations that he will be capable of changing the opinion of the US president-elect on Crimea, Ukraine, and the need to cooperate with Russia? It will be interesting to see how this looks. On the one hand, Trump is a billionaire, businessman, and a man with a very difficult character. On the other hand, so is Poroshenko, who quickly needs to convince Trump to pour money into the geopolitical project known as “Ukraine.” It’s a pity that they won’t sell tickets to see this show. I would pay to see such with my own eyes even though I think that the conversation will not be very long. Most likely, it will end with Trump’s famous catchphrase: “You’re fired!” Bloomberg has published an article headlined “Trump, Putin and Sluggish Reforms Push Ukraine Toward Russia.” In this piece, American journalists gathered the opinions of Western politicians and experts on Ukraine’s future, among which it is difficult to find anything optimistic. Overall, the interviewed experts agree that Ukraine is out of luck. For example, the ardent Russophobe and Vladimir Putin critic Ian Bremmer articulated his vision of Ukraine’s future in the following words: “Trump will want to put points on the board and I think it is highly likely the U.S. under Trump will move quickly to re-establish the relationship with Russia, on Syria in particular. That clearly throws Ukraine under a bus.” This time, I don’t even want to argue with this American political scientist. Only one thing interests me: will Trump put all of Ukraine up for sale or only parts of it? Follow us on Facebook! | 0 | [
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FMD1586 | 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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FMD1587 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Ted Cruz did everything right in his campaign for the White House. He built a happy campaign operation that achieved all of its ambitious goals. Cruz elbowed out candidate after candidate to consolidate support among social conservatives, Tea Partiers and libertarians in the Republican field. He raised considerable amounts of money to build a political apparatus unrivalled in the GOP field.
There was only one problem. Every successful move, every stratagem that took Cruz – who dropped out of the presidential race on Tuesday night after a disastrous loss in Indiana – from an ambitious Ivy Leaguer to one of the final three Republican candidates for the presidency prevented him from attaining the ultimate goal.
The Texas Republican was elected to the Senate in 2012 after winning a bitter primary as a Tea Party candidate. He was positioning himself for a White House bid almost from the get-go, travelling to Iowa for presidential cattle calls less than six months into taking office. In a legislative body that values tradition, Cruz’s undisguised ambition didn’t help him make friends. But what really alienated colleagues was his push to shut down the government in October 2013 in an attempt to defund Obamacare, the president’s signature healthcare reforms. The quixotic effort alienated almost all of his colleagues who were left calling him a “wacko bird†and viewed him as an amoral opportunist who would do anything for his own political gain.
Cruz did nothing to alter his image when he became the first candidate for the White House in 2016 to announce his campaign, in an event at Liberty University in Virginia in March last year. He was then racing to beat competitors with stronger roots in Iowa – such as Rand Paul and Mike Huckabee – to be the first out of the starting gate.
Cruz’s message that day was consistent with what the Texas senator would say every day on the campaign trail until the moment he withdrew from the race in Indianapolis on Tuesday. He told a crowd of college students: “I believe in the power of millions of courageous conservatives rising up to reignite the promise of America†and pledged to “reclaim the constitutionâ€.
In fact, Cruz’s campaign was remarkable for its consistency. There was only one key issue on which Cruz changed his message significantly in the course of the campaign – Donald J Trump.
For months after Trump’s entry into the race, Cruz engaged in a virtual bear hug with the New York billionaire. Immediately after Trump said that Cruz’s Senate colleague John McCain, a former POW who was tortured in Vietnam, was not a hero, Cruz called him a friend.
He told reporters in Iowa in July 2015: “I recognize that folks in the press love to see Republican on Republican violence. So you want me to say something bad about Donald Trump or bad about John McCain or bad about anybody else. I am not going to do it. John McCain is a friend of mine. I respect and admire him. He is an American hero. Donald Trump is a friend of mine.â€
In contrast, the then candidate Rick Perry immediately condemned Trump and called on him to drop out of the race.
This pattern continued throughout 2015. As late as December, Cruz even tweeted that he thought Trump was terrific – long after other candidates had begun to condemn the frontrunner’s rhetoric.
But eventually, after Cruz’s win in the Iowa caucuses, the two turned to focus on each other. Cruz targeted Trump as a “New York liberal†who was no more a conservative than Hillary Clinton. After Trump had endured months of attacks for failing to adhere to conservative orthodoxy, this had little impact.
But Trump’s labelling of Cruz as “Lyin’ Ted†– based on the campaign rushing to inform Iowans that Ben Carson might drop out of the race after misconstruing a report on CNN just minutes before the caucuses were scheduled to begin – did have some effect.
The result was that exit poll after exit poll showed that voters thought Cruz ran a dirtier campaign than Trump and the Texas senator’s favorability numbers dropped with Republicans.
This happened even though the most personal attacks came from Trump, not Cruz. Trump tweeted an unflattering image of Cruz’s wife and threatened to “spill the beans on her†and, on the day of the Indiana primary, implied Cruz’s father was involved in the assassination of John F Kennedy. A campaign surrogate even repeatedly referenced a totally unproven tabloid story about Cruz’s personal life at multiple Trump rallies
In contrast, Cruz insisted that he was merely going after Trump’s record when he slammed the frontrunner’s past support for abortion rights and gun control and current support for allowing grown men “alone in bathrooms with little girlsâ€, ie his contention that transgender people should use whichever bathroom they felt appropriate.
Like other candidates in the race, Cruz had no way to cope with Trump’s strange political jujitsu. Even as Cruz out-organized Trump on the ground, it was to little avail. The Texas senator’s campaign concentrated on Illinois in the final days before the 15 March primary after poll numbers showed him solidly ahead in North Carolina and Missouri.
However, the backlash among Republican voters after unrest at a canceled Trump rally in Chicago led to the frontrunner surging in the polls there, and Cruz was shut out in those crucial primaries as a result.
Cruz’s only hope was to somehow unite the GOP behind him. As the last remaining opponent to Trump, he should have been the standard bearer for the Stop Trump forces, and indeed some longtime detractors like Lindsey Graham – who had joked about him being murdered on the Senate floor just a week earlier – begrudgingly endorsed him.
As Jimmy Kimmel joked to Cruz in late March: “Yeah, what you did is you kind of held out until they found someone that they liked less than you.â€
Cruz responded by saying: “There you go. It is a powerful strategy.†The problem was the strategy didn’t work.
The antagonism Cruz inspired among many mainstream Republicans made this a near impossible task. They sat on their hands and viewed Cruz as just as bad as Trump. The same factors that got him to the brink of the Republican nomination, his disdain for the “Washington cartel†and impatience with politics as usual, kept him from grasping the ring.
After a campaign in which he appealed to conservatives who were tired of voting for the lesser of two evils, Cruz could never win over those establishment Republicans he had spent the past year calling the lesser evil. That became undeniable this Tuesday. | 1 | [
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FMD1588 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Jose Alvarez has trouble sleeping. It is the pain from his back injury. It is the stress of paying the bills. It is the worry that his daughter will never live a normal life. Mr. Alvarez’s life changed in 2005, when a car backed into him on 24th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues in Manhattan. Mr. Alvarez, now 63, was working as a boiler mechanic and welder at a few buildings on the street. Since the injury, he has been unable to work, because of herniated disks in his back. A quick jerk or movement sends Mr. Alvarez into excruciating pain. Without a job, he relies on his mechanical worker’s pension and Social Security disability benefits. “I don’t feel like a man anymore,†he said. “I don’t have a lot of movement, and the doctor says I should not pick up any more than 12 pounds. †His limited mobility has proved especially difficult because his daughter, Kenerly, has Down syndrome. Kenerly was born in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. When Mr. Alvarez and his wife, Yuny, found out that she had Down syndrome, they were shocked and devastated. “I cried,†Ms. Alvarez, 41, said. “I knew something was wrong when they didn’t bring me the baby right away. †The parents knew they would need to move to New York, where they would have access to better health care for Kenerly. The problem was getting into the country. For years, Mr. Alvarez, who had initially moved to New York to work and send money back to his family, tried to gain entry for his wife, whom he had met during one of his trips home. But immigration authorities questioned the legitimacy of their marriage, until January 2014, when the couple was able to move to New York, Mr. Alvarez said. Leaving their entire support system behind in the Dominican Republic, Ms. Alvarez and Kenerly moved into Mr. Alvarez’s home, which was the back half of a apartment in Washington Heights, in Upper Manhattan. The family owns the back bedroom and living room but shares a kitchen with neighbors. For the first few years of his daughter’s life, Mr. Alvarez was Kenerly’s primary caretaker during the day because his wife works as a home attendant. With Mr. Alvarez injured and Kenerly struggling to walk and climb stairs, father and daughter had to stay inside until Ms. Alvarez returned home. Everyday tasks, such as changing her diaper and feeding Kenerly, are a struggle. She is not fully and still uses diapers. It is difficult for Mr. Alvarez to lift her onto the toilet, and for a while she would use the bathtub instead. “I do things even though it’s hard,†he said. Unable to lift her into a highchair, Mr. Alvarez had to improvise. “It was hard for me to pick her up,†he said. “So I had to teach her how to get up there by herself. †But Mr. Alvarez had help teaching his daughter to climb into the chair. In September last year, the family found Kennedy Child Study Center, an agency affiliated with the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York. Kenerly, who receives physical and occupational therapy through the center, which helps children with developmental delays, is learning to climb stairs and can now use a spoon to feed herself. “It takes a lot of pressure off me having the school and feeling like I’m not the only person who can take care of my child,†Mr. Alvarez said. But with the added costs of Kenerly’s diapers and food, he still worries about paying the bills and even the rent. The couple receives about $2, 500 a month total in benefits and in Ms. Alvarez’s pay. “Sometimes we have to be late on the rent,†Mr. Alvarez said. “It’s hard, but we have to do it. †Catholic Charities, one of the eight organizations supported by The New York Times’s Neediest Cases Fund, used $297 to pay for diapers, wipes and clothes for Kenerly. Kenerly, sporting her new Minnie Mouse sweatshirt, showed off her newfound skills by unzipping the jacket, something she was unable to do until she started going to Kennedy Child Study Center. She then went straight into the bedroom and emerged with her mother’s makeup. She climbed up on the reclining chair and began to apply it to her face. “She’s a very special child,†Ms. Alvarez said. “She has a lot of personality. †But Mr. Alvarez still worries about Kenerly as she grows up. “Will she be able to work? Make money? I often can’t sleep thinking about this,†he said. “Will she ever get married? Have children?†Kenerly is drawn to her father. It is as though being stuck in their apartment all that time allowed them to form a particularly close bond. She often climbs out of her crib near her parents’ bed and over her mother and snuggles up next to her father. “I love her so much,†Mr. Alvarez said, holding back tears. “You can’t imagine how much I love her. I have her in my heart and soul. †| 1 | [
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FMD1589 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Air quality in some East Asian capitals is famously poor, with residents of Beijing taking extreme measures to avoid the health risks associated with heavy pollution. [The problem has grown worse as emerging Asian economies, particularly China, have increased their use of coal and private automobiles. Now, scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) warn that East Asian pollution may be causing smog along the West Coast of the United States, as nitrogen oxides move on air currents across the Pacific Ocean. National Public Radio reports: The problem, scientists say, is that Asian countries’ emissions of nitrogen oxides — which sunlight then breaks down in reactions that produce ozone — have tripled since 1990. When those harmful gases circulate to North America, they offset gains in U. S. air quality that have come from cutting nitrogen oxide emissions by 50 percent. … The research was published in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. The study looked at levels of ozone (the key component in smog) from 1980 to 2014. … They concluded that the spike in emissions in Asia “is the major driver†of the rise in ozone levels in the western U. S. for both spring and summer in recent decades. According to the study, which was funded by NASA, U. S. air pollution whose original source is in Asia has increased by 65%. In the 2011 Fukushima nuclear reactor disaster, which followed the Japanese tsunami, there were concerns that Pacific air currents could bring radioactive particles across the ocean and into the U. S. Such radiation was first detected in December 2016. Joel B. Pollak is Senior at Breitbart News. He was named one of the “most influential†people in news media in 2016. His new book, How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak. | 1 | [
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FMD1590 | 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: An amendment, pushed by Lyndon Johnson many years ago, threatens religious institutions with a loss of their tax-exempt status if they openly advocate their political views.
contextual information: In his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, presidential candidate Donald Trump singled out the evangelical and religious community for their assistance in getting him nominated. They have much to contribute to our politics, yet our laws prevent you from speaking your minds from your own pulpits, he said. An amendment, pushed by Lyndon Johnson many years ago, threatens religious institutions with a loss of their tax-exempt status if they openly advocate their political views. Their voice has been taken away, Trump said. I am going to work very hard to repeal that language and to protect free speech for all Americans. We were curious about the issue and whether an amendment constitutional or otherwise prevents the practice for religious institutions. For this fact-check, we're relying largely scholarly articles in theDenver University Law Review, theCase Western Reserve Law Review,Boston College Law Review. The restriction is actually a law, not an amendment, and it isn't exclusive to religious institutions. Lyndon Johnson is best known as America's 36th president, the Texan who assumed the office when John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. Texas politics can be rough, and Johnson knew how to play that game. Therein lies the origin of the Johnson amendment. The restriction was championed by LBJ in 1954 when Johnson was a U.S. senator running for re-election. A conservative nonprofit group that wanted to limit the treaty-making ability of the president produced material that called for electing his primary opponent, millionaire rancher-oilman Dudley Dougherty, and defeating Johnson. There was no church involved. Johnson, then Democratic minority leader, responded by introducing an amendment to Section 501(c)(3) of the federal tax code dealing with tax-exempt charitable organizations,includinggroups organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, literacy and educational purposes, or to prevent cruelty to children or animals. It said, in effect, that if you want to be absolved from paying taxes, you couldn't be involved in partisan politics. There was no record of any debate around the amendment. The logical argument favoring such an amendment is that those corporations qualifying for the section 501(c)(3) tax subsidy should not be permitted to directly or indirectly use that subsidy to support candidates for office, said Michael Hone in the Case Western article. However it was likely, he said, that Johnson was motivated by a desire to exact revenge on the foundation he believed supported his opponent and to prevent it and other nonprofit corporations from acting similarly in the future. Nonetheless, Subsequently it proved to have a profound effect on how thousands of tax-exempt organizations including churches dealt with issues relating to political campaigns, according to Patrick O'Daniel of the University of Texas School of Law in the Boston College article. Thelaw saysall such organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. That includes contributions to political campaigns and any form of public statement for or against a candidate or group of candidates. Violating the restriction could result in the revocation of the organization's tax exempt status and the imposition of taxes. Nonpartisan, unbiased voter education or similar activities such as church-organized voter registration drives are allowed. Historically, that hasn't stopped some religious organizations from issuing endorsements anyway. O'Daniel has a list of examples. To cite two from 2000: Rev. Jerry Falwelltold worshippersat the Genoa Baptist Church in Ohio to vote for the Bush of your choice and We simply have to beat (Al) Gore. That same year, a pastor at a Bronx church who supported Hillary Clinton's run for the U.S. Senate at the time, substituted her opponent's name for Satan during a hymn. In the face of lackluster opposition by the Internal Revenue Service, the Democrats and Republicans . continue to use the literal bully pulpits of the churches to preach to the party faithful, O'Daniel wrote. Nonetheless, the threat of losing tax-exempt status persists as long as the law is in place, and politically-minded religious groups, particularly evangelicals, have regarded it as a suppression of free speech and an entanglement of the IRS in the operation of their religion. In 2008, for example, pastors in 20 states organized to give politically-oriented sermons to protest the law,according to the Pew Research Center. The GOP platform has picked up that cudgel,calling for the repealof that portion of the tax law. The Johnson amendment survived court challenges in 1983, 1990 and 2000,according to Pew. Our ruling Trump said, An amendment, pushed by Lyndon Johnson many years ago, threatens religious institutions with a loss of their tax-exempt status if they openly advocate their political views. Trump is correct that the law was pushed by Johnson and that religious groups that advocate for candidates risk losing their tax exempt status. It's important to note that the prohibition is not just restricted to religious institutions. It's nonprofit charitable organizations in general. But overall, we rate the statement as True. | 1 | [
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FMD1591 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: The Afghan capital Kabul braced on Saturday for further possible attacks ahead of Ashura, the holiest day on the Shi ite Muslim calendar, a day after an attack claimed by Islamic State that killed at least five people near a large Shi ite mosque. Ahead of the celebration on Sunday, signs of increased security were in evidence across Kabul, with extra police checkpoints and roadblocks in many areas, while security was also increased in other cities. Afghanistan, a majority Sunni Muslim country, has traditionally not suffered the sectarian violence that has devastated countries like Iraq, but a series of attacks over recent years have targeted the Shi ite community. We are concerned about this. We had internal fighting in the past but never religious fighting, said Arif Rahmani, a member of parliament and a member of the mainly Shi ite Hazara community that has been particularly targeted. The government has provided some basic training and weapons for a few hundred volunteer guards near mosques and other meeting places but many fear that the protection, which covers only some of the city s more than 400 Shi ite mosques, is insufficient. In 2011, more than 80 people were killed in Ashura attacks in Kabul and the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif and there have been a string of others since, with 20 people killed in a suicide attack on a mosque in Kabul a month ago. Friday s attack, by suicide bombers posing as shepherds walking their sheep along a road outside the Hussainya mosque in the Qala-e-Fatehullah area of the city, did not reach the mosque itself but wounded 20 people in addition to the five killed. No up-to-date census data exists for Afghanistan but different estimates put the size of the Shi ite community at between 10-20 percent of the population, mostly Persian-speaking Tajiks and Hazaras. Ashura, on the 10th day of the month of Muharram, celebrates the martyrdom of Hussein, one of the grandsons of the Prophet Mohammad, and is marked by large public commemorations by Shi ite Muslims. President Ashraf Ghani condemned Friday s attack and said it would not break the unity between religions in Afghanistan. But at a time when rivalry between the patchwork of different ethnic groups in the country has increasingly come into the open, Rahmani said the evident objective of the attacks was to ratchet up the tensions to create instability. In the past, there were warnings that there were groups that wanted to stir ethnic and religious conflict among Afghans but now it is reality, Rahmani said. There are people who want to create disunity among ethnic and religious groups, he said. | 1 | [
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] | 1 |
FMD1592 | 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 President Donald Trump Donate His Entire $400,000 Salary to Rebuild Military Cemeteries? Claim summaries: Prominent conservative commentators boosted a false, mathematically impossible rumor about the president's salary donations, taking aim at the news media along the way.
contextual information: During his 2016 presidential campaign, Republican candidate Donald Trump, a billionaire real estate developer, vowed that if elected he would forgo the $400,000 annual presidential salary. So far as president Trump has stuck to that promise, handing over checks every three months for various projects overseen by different government departments. vowed In the first quarter of 2017, for example, President Trump donated $78,333 (his $100,000 salary for that quarter, after taxes) to the Department of the Interior, specifically for the National Park Service's maintenance of an historic Civil War site. His contribution was put towards two projects at Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland.In July 2017, the White House announced in a press release that President Trump had donated his second-quarter salary to a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) camp for children, overseen by the Education Department. He signed over his third-quarter salary to the Department of Health and Human Services for a public awareness campaign about opioid addiction, and the last of his 2017 salary went towards an infrastructure grant program overseen by the U.S. Department of Transportation.As the Washington Post has pointed out, some of the initiatives President Trump donated to were at uncertain stages of development or did not yet exist at the time he made his contribution, which prompted some additional scrutiny, but President Trump has nonetheless stayed true to his word and handed over a check representing his presidential salary every three months.Trump continued this tradition in 2018, donating his first-quarter salary to the Department of Veterans Affairs, a sum which then-Acting VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said had been earmarked for "caregiver support in the form of mental health and peer support programs, financial aid, education training, and research." The president donated another quarter's salary to the U.S. Small Business Administration for the purpose of establishing an Emerging Leaders program focused "on helping veterans start small businesses after military life." And the third quarter of his 2018 salary went to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, according to the Associated Press. On 18 March 2019, Trump announced on Twitter he was donating a quarter of his salary to the Department of Homeland Security. On 26 November 2019, Trump announced he was donating again, this time to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Health in order to help battle the nation's opioid crisis.'Military Cemeteries'In late July and early August 2018, scattered social media posts and memes claimed that the president had donated his entire $400,000 salary to the Department of the Interior, for the purpose of rebuilding military cemeteries. Many of these posts criticized the news media for not having reported on this purported donation. On 31 July 2018, for example, conservative radio host Mark Simone wrote, in a tweet that has since been deleted:White House sent their spending report to Congress. This was in it: "Instead of taking his salary, Trump donated all $400,000 to the Department of the Interior where it will be used for construction and repair needs at military cemeteries!" Media gave this no coverage. Charlie Kirk, a prominent conservative activist and founder of the Turning Point USA organization, followed suit:News the media didnt report today:Today @realDonaldTrump donated his $400,000 salary to rebuilding military cemeteries Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) August 1, 2018One Facebook user garnered almost 150,000 shares within three days for a 31 July post which made similar claims:And on 2 August, "Uncle Sam's Misguided Children" posted a widely-shared meme on Facebook, which was almost identical to Charlie Kirk's tweet:These social media posts were accompanied by articles published by various right-wing web sites including the Gateway Pundit, the Right Scoop, and the viral content web site Social News Daily.AnalysisThere were two immediate problems with this set of claims. First, President Trump could not possibly donate his entire $400,000 annual salary for 2018 for the purpose of rebuilding military cemeteries, because he has already donated the first quarter's worth of that salary to the Department of Veterans Affairs for an entirely separate initiative. So he only had three-quarters of his salary left to distribute, a mathematical fact that undermines the credibility of these claims.Second, the social media posts and articles making this claim were very thinly sourced, to say the least. Neither the viral Facebook post nor meme that we highlighted above cited any source, and the three news articles we mentioned all relied on the two tweets from Charlie Kirk and Mark Simone.Kirk's tweet cited no source whatsoever. Simone claimed that the information came from a White House "spending report" sent to Congress, which he asserted contained the following statement: "Instead of taking his salary, Trump donated all $400,000 to the Department of the Interior where it will be used for construction and repair needs at military cemeteries!"Simone did not include a link to that report in his tweet, and neither he nor Kirk responded to our requests for clarification or documentation.The White House did send a somewhat related report to Congress a month before these claims emerged online. The White House Office's Annual Report to Congress on White House Personnel lists the names, titles and salaries of White House employees, and the 2018 report, published on 29 June, made no mention of President Trump's salary, nor his donations from that salary.Furthermore, we did not find the quotation that Simone included in his tweet in any official White House document or report to Congress. We did, however, find it in several online postings from the summer of 2017. As posted to the web site MyCrazyEmail.net on 25 July 2017, the message typically read as follows:The Trump administration released their annual report to Congress on White House Office Personnel. It includes the name, status, salary and position title of all 377 White House employees. The report also said that Trump decided not to take a dime of his salary, instead he donated it to an amazing cause.... Its what the report said Trump did with this salary that has everyone talking! Instead of taking his salary, Trump donated all $400,000 to the Department of the Interior where it will be used for construction and repair needs at military cemeteries! AMAZING! Its so great to have a President who loves our brave military men and women so much! Oh, and wheres the media coverage of this? Oh thats right, they dont cover anything good that the President does. So the claim that Trump donated his entire $400,000 annual salary for rebuilding military cemeteries actually comes from online rumors posted in 2017. This means the vast majority of claims made in July and August 2018 are false on this basis alone, since they stated that Trump's donation had happened "today." However, the claim was as false in 2017 as it was in 2018. As we outlined at the beginning of this article, President Trump distributed his 2017 salary in four separate chunks, to four separate projects, none of which involved military cemeteries. The White House had already announced two of those donations by 26 July 2017, so the viral rumor was demonstrably false even as it first emerged online, twelve months before Mark Simone and Charlie Kirk's viral tweets. The 2017 rumor, which was the source of Simone's tweet, claimed that the 2017 White House Office Personnel report had described President Trump's intention to donate his whole salary for repairs on military cemeteries. That official report, which can be viewed here, did not mention the president's salary, his donations from that salary, nor cemeteries of any kind.The original source of this flurry of inaccurate rumors appears to have been a 2 July 2017 article in Forbes magazine, about that year's White House Office Personnel report. The rumor which spread online later that summer plagiarized whole sections of the article, indicating that the Forbes piece provided a template for subsequent distortions and falsehoods -- particularly the section that read as follows:While on the campaign trail, Donald Trump vowed to forego his paycheck. However, Article II of the United States Constitution mandates a presidential salary. In the first quarter, President Trump donated his pay to the Dept. of Interior for construction and repair needs at military cemeteries.The president did donate his first-quarter 2017 salary to the Department of the Interior, but not for the reconstruction of military cemeteries. This inaccuracy was then compounded in the subsequent online rumor, which took Forbes' accurate description of the donation as being "in the first quarter," and simply replaced it with "all $400,000" (i.e., the entire yearly salary).According to a Department of the Interior press release, President Trump's $78,333 donation formed part of a larger $263,545 fund which was used by the National Park Service to make repairs at Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland, site of the Civil War Battle of Antietam (or the Battle of Sharpsburg, as it was commonly known in the South).A press release described the project in detail:The donation will restore the historic Newcomer House on the Antietam battlefield, and will underwrite the replacement of 5,000 linear feet of deteriorated rail fencing along the Hagerstown Turnpike where some of the most intense fighting of the battle occurred.There is a cemetery at Antietam National Battlefield, but President Trump's donation had nothing to do with it. ConclusionThe claim that President Donald Trump decided either in 2017 or 2018 to donate his entire $400,000 salary to the reconstruction of military cemeteries, and that a blinkered, biased news media refused to report this, is false.Each of President Trump's actual salary donations (executed in quarterly disbursements, not once a year) has been reported by major news media, including some of the nation's biggest and most widely-read news outlets.The news media has not reported on the president's donation of his entire $400,000 annual salary for the reconstruction of military cemeteries due to the plainest reason of all: because it hasn't happened. In the first quarter of 2017, for example, President Trump donated $78,333 (his $100,000 salary for that quarter, after taxes) to the Department of the Interior, specifically for the National Park Service's maintenance of an historic Civil War site. His contribution was put towards two projects at Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland. donated Battlefield In July 2017, the White House announced in a press release that President Trump had donated his second-quarter salary to a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) camp for children, overseen by the Education Department. He signed over his third-quarter salary to the Department of Health and Human Services for a public awareness campaign about opioid addiction, and the last of his 2017 salary went towards an infrastructure grant program overseen by the U.S. Department of Transportation. press release addiction program As the Washington Post has pointed out, some of the initiatives President Trump donated to were at uncertain stages of development or did not yet exist at the time he made his contribution, which prompted some additional scrutiny, but President Trump has nonetheless stayed true to his word and handed over a check representing his presidential salary every three months. Washington Post Trump continued this tradition in 2018, donating his first-quarter salary to the Department of Veterans Affairs, a sum which then-Acting VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said had been earmarked for "caregiver support in the form of mental health and peer support programs, financial aid, education training, and research." The president donated another quarter's salary to the U.S. Small Business Administration for the purpose of establishing an Emerging Leaders program focused "on helping veterans start small businesses after military life." And the third quarter of his 2018 salary went to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, according to the Associated Press. On 18 March 2019, Trump announced on Twitter he was donating a quarter of his salary to the Department of Homeland Security. On 26 November 2019, Trump announced he was donating again, this time to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Health in order to help battle the nation's opioid crisis. Veterans Affairs salary Associated Press 'Military Cemeteries' In late July and early August 2018, scattered social media posts and memes claimed that the president had donated his entire $400,000 salary to the Department of the Interior, for the purpose of rebuilding military cemeteries. Many of these posts criticized the news media for not having reported on this purported donation. On 31 July 2018, for example, conservative radio host Mark Simone wrote, in a tweet that has since been deleted: tweet White House sent their spending report to Congress. This was in it: "Instead of taking his salary, Trump donated all $400,000 to the Department of the Interior where it will be used for construction and repair needs at military cemeteries!" Media gave this no coverage. Charlie Kirk, a prominent conservative activist and founder of the Turning Point USA organization, followed suit: News the media didnt report today: Today @realDonaldTrump donated his $400,000 salary to rebuilding military cemeteries Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) August 1, 2018 @realDonaldTrump August 1, 2018 One Facebook user garnered almost 150,000 shares within three days for a 31 July post which made similar claims: And on 2 August, "Uncle Sam's Misguided Children" posted a widely-shared meme on Facebook, which was almost identical to Charlie Kirk's tweet: meme These social media posts were accompanied by articles published by various right-wing web sites including the Gateway Pundit, the Right Scoop, and the viral content web site Social News Daily. Gateway Pundit Right Scoop Social News Daily Analysis There were two immediate problems with this set of claims. First, President Trump could not possibly donate his entire $400,000 annual salary for 2018 for the purpose of rebuilding military cemeteries, because he has already donated the first quarter's worth of that salary to the Department of Veterans Affairs for an entirely separate initiative. So he only had three-quarters of his salary left to distribute, a mathematical fact that undermines the credibility of these claims. Second, the social media posts and articles making this claim were very thinly sourced, to say the least. Neither the viral Facebook post nor meme that we highlighted above cited any source, and the three news articles we mentioned all relied on the two tweets from Charlie Kirk and Mark Simone. Kirk's tweet cited no source whatsoever. Simone claimed that the information came from a White House "spending report" sent to Congress, which he asserted contained the following statement: "Instead of taking his salary, Trump donated all $400,000 to the Department of the Interior where it will be used for construction and repair needs at military cemeteries!" Simone did not include a link to that report in his tweet, and neither he nor Kirk responded to our requests for clarification or documentation. The White House did send a somewhat related report to Congress a month before these claims emerged online. The White House Office's Annual Report to Congress on White House Personnel lists the names, titles and salaries of White House employees, and the 2018 report, published on 29 June, made no mention of President Trump's salary, nor his donations from that salary. report Furthermore, we did not find the quotation that Simone included in his tweet in any official White House document or report to Congress. We did, however, find it in several online postings from the summer of 2017. As posted to the web site MyCrazyEmail.net on 25 July 2017, the message typically read as follows: message The Trump administration released their annual report to Congress on White House Office Personnel. It includes the name, status, salary and position title of all 377 White House employees. The report also said that Trump decided not to take a dime of his salary, instead he donated it to an amazing cause... Its what the report said Trump did with this salary that has everyone talking! Instead of taking his salary, Trump donated all $400,000 to the Department of the Interior where it will be used for construction and repair needs at military cemeteries! AMAZING! Its so great to have a President who loves our brave military men and women so much! Oh, and wheres the media coverage of this? Oh thats right, they dont cover anything good that the President does. So the claim that Trump donated his entire $400,000 annual salary for rebuilding military cemeteries actually comes from online rumors posted in 2017. This means the vast majority of claims made in July and August 2018 are false on this basis alone, since they stated that Trump's donation had happened "today." However, the claim was as false in 2017 as it was in 2018. As we outlined at the beginning of this article, President Trump distributed his 2017 salary in four separate chunks, to four separate projects, none of which involved military cemeteries. The White House had already announced two of those donations by 26 July 2017, so the viral rumor was demonstrably false even as it first emerged online, twelve months before Mark Simone and Charlie Kirk's viral tweets. The 2017 rumor, which was the source of Simone's tweet, claimed that the 2017 White House Office Personnel report had described President Trump's intention to donate his whole salary for repairs on military cemeteries. That official report, which can be viewed here, did not mention the president's salary, his donations from that salary, nor cemeteries of any kind. here The original source of this flurry of inaccurate rumors appears to have been a 2 July 2017 article in Forbes magazine, about that year's White House Office Personnel report. The rumor which spread online later that summer plagiarized whole sections of the article, indicating that the Forbes piece provided a template for subsequent distortions and falsehoods -- particularly the section that read as follows: article While on the campaign trail, Donald Trump vowed to forego his paycheck. However, Article II of the United States Constitution mandates a presidential salary. In the first quarter, President Trump donated his pay to the Dept. of Interior for construction and repair needs at military cemeteries. The president did donate his first-quarter 2017 salary to the Department of the Interior, but not for the reconstruction of military cemeteries. This inaccuracy was then compounded in the subsequent online rumor, which took Forbes' accurate description of the donation as being "in the first quarter," and simply replaced it with "all $400,000" (i.e., the entire yearly salary). According to a Department of the Interior press release, President Trump's $78,333 donation formed part of a larger $263,545 fund which was used by the National Park Service to make repairs at Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland, site of the Civil War Battle of Antietam (or the Battle of Sharpsburg, as it was commonly known in the South). press release A press release described the project in detail: The donation will restore the historic Newcomer House on the Antietam battlefield, and will underwrite the replacement of 5,000 linear feet of deteriorated rail fencing along the Hagerstown Turnpike where some of the most intense fighting of the battle occurred. There is a cemetery at Antietam National Battlefield, but President Trump's donation had nothing to do with it. Conclusion The claim that President Donald Trump decided either in 2017 or 2018 to donate his entire $400,000 salary to the reconstruction of military cemeteries, and that a blinkered, biased news media refused to report this, is false. Each of President Trump's actual salary donations (executed in quarterly disbursements, not once a year) has been reported by major news media, including some of the nation's biggest and most widely-read news outlets. The news media has not reported on the president's donation of his entire $400,000 annual salary for the reconstruction of military cemeteries due to the plainest reason of all: because it hasn't happened. U.S. Department of the Interior. "Press Release -- Secretary Zinke Accepts President Trump's Q1 Salary as a Donation for National Park Service."
3 April 2017. U.S. Department of the Interior. "Press Release -- President Trump's Salary and Matching Funds to Restore Antietam National Battlefield."
5 July 2017. Lima, Cristiano. "Trump Donates Third-Quarter Salary to HHS Opioid Efforts."
Politico. 30 November 2017. Fahrenthold, David A. "Trump Donates $100,000 of His Salary to a New Federal Grant Program for Infrastructure Projects."
The Washington Post. 13 February 2018. O'Connell, Jonathan and David A. Fahrenthold, David A. "10 Key Questions About the Ethical Issues Surrounding President Trump's Company."
The Washington Post. 6 March 2018. Hoft, Jim. "Trump Gives $400,000 to Repair Military Cemeteries -- Liberal Media Ignores the Story."
The Gateway Pundit. 1 August 2018. The Right Scoop. "Trump Just Donated His Presidential Salary to the Rebuilding of Military Cemeteries."
1 August 2018. Granger, Aaron. "Trump Donates His Salary to Rebuild Military Cemeteries -- Media Ignores Story."
Social News Daily. 1 August 2018. White House Office. "2018 Annual Report to Congress on White House Office Personnel."
29 June 2018. White House Office. "2017 Annual Report to Congress on White House Office Personnel."
30 June 2017. Andrzejewski, Adam. "Trump's Leaner White House Payroll Projected to Save Taxpayers $22 Million."
Forbes. 2 July 2017. Reints, Renae. "Trump Donated His 2018 Third-Quarter Salary to an Organization That Funds Alcoholism Research."
Fortune. 25 January 2019.
Sullivan, Kate. "Trump Donates Part of His Salary to Department of Homeland Security."
CNN. 19 March 2019. "Trump Donates 3rd-Quarter Salary to Help Fight Opioid Crisis."
The Associated Press. 26 November 2019. Updated to include information on President Trump's most recent salary donation. | 0 | [
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FMD1593 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: At Saks Off Fifth recently, an Ivanka Trump white polyester and spandex blouse made in Indonesia was marked down to $34. 99, from $69. A few racks over, her black and white jacket came from Vietnam, while several blocks away, at Macy’s, her leather bootee manufactured in China sold for more than $100. At the Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, a $35 blue cotton cap embroidered with “Trump National Golf Club†was made in Bangladesh. A Trump Tower hoodie from Pakistan set tourists back $50. A majority of clothes these days are made anywhere but in America. And in this era of local pride and nationalistic fervor, that has become a political liability. The conflict is starkly evident in the apparel brands made and marketed by Donald J. Trump and his daughter Ivanka. Mr. Trump has cast companies that make goods in China and other foreign countries as economic pariahs, siphoning off jobs better left at home. He has blamed the system, a set of policies in the United States that Mr. Trump acknowledged using for his own gain. And since being elected, he has continued to rail against global forces, threatening to punish companies with high tariffs if they don’t move production to the United States. Should Mr. Trump make good on such promises, he would take aim at not only his own brand, but his daughter’s as well. Mr. Trump doesn’t stand to lose much. While his goods are largely manufactured overseas, most of his retail ventures have gone the way of Trump vodka and steaks. And what products can be found — at his hotels and golf courses and on Amazon sold by independent sellers — are the vestiges of a mostly defunct clothing line or sporadic shipments of Trump sweatshirts and hats. Ivanka Trump’s company, by contrast, is the type of operation that Mr. Trump is squarely aiming for. Her shoes and dresses largely retail for less than $150. Coats cost as much as $400. Factored into those prices is the cost of materials and production, as well as shipping, tariffs, marketing and advertising expenses. Cheap production overseas means more coin in the coffers of Ms. Trump and the shoe, accessory and clothing makers that are her partners, among them Marc Fisher footwear, the Apparel Group and Mondani. (Ms. Trump’s company, which is privately held, does not disclose its financials.) Almost all of her goods are made overseas, according to a New York Times review of shipments compiled separately by Panjiva and ImportGenius, two trade databases. ImportGenius tallied 193 shipments for imported goods associated with Ms. Trump for the year through Dec. 5, mostly shoes and handbags. Her dresses and blouses are made in China, Indonesia and Vietnam, according to a review of hundreds of clothing tags and financial documents filed by . It is the harsh reality of the clothing business. Before Ms. Trump started her shoe and clothing lines in the early 2010s, she did what any New Yorker would, consulting corporate chieftains, fashion designers and department store executives. She ultimately decided to license her name. Since then, Ms. Trump, 35, has pondered making some items . Investors were consulted, and a business plan was drawn up — but the project was scrapped, said one person briefed on the discussions. It was costly and impractical, so suppliers continued to make her clothes overseas. “When I started my business, I recognized where my strengths were and knew that I didn’t have any experience in production and manufacturing,†Ms. Trump said in a rare interview. “I am not a designer. I am an entrepreneur. †In retail, where margins are slim, overseas manufacturers are crucial to profits. Most of the clothing Americans buy at Walmart, Macy’s and Target are made abroad, including 97 percent of apparel and 98 percent of shoes, according to the American Apparel and Footwear Association. It is part of a long history of American garment manufacturers chasing cheap labor. They moved to China in the 1980s, then elsewhere in Asia. Now, Chinese shoemakers are building factories in Africa, where wages are about $40 a month, compared with $400 in China. Even then, an overseas strategy does not portend survival, as Mr. Trump’s experience shows. At Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, the Trump Store is downstairs from the lobby, sandwiched between a restaurant and an ice cream parlor. While a $65 white polo golf shirt from Lesotho in southern Africa was available, there was no sign of many of Mr. Trump’s other items, like the dress shirt made in Vietnam on display upstairs. Last year, Macy’s dropped Mr. Trump’s clothing line over inflammatory comments he made about Mexican immigrants. Now about the best place to find his ties, dress shirts and accessories is on Amazon. com — and even that stock is just a hodgepodge. The company that made comforters and sheets, Downlite, said it had ended its relationship with him last year. His beds, designed by Dorya, aren’t in stores, either. They are made to order overseas, according to the company. Mr. Trump said in campaign interviews that he would like to make his apparel in the United States, but that it was hard to find companies that did. When George Stephanopoulos of ABC pressed him to explain, Mr. Trump said, “They don’t even make the stuff here. †That is not exactly true. B J Nickol, president of the All American Clothing Company, based in Arcanum, Ohio, said he employed 15 people, as well as subcontractors in about 20 states who cut, sew and ship shirts, jeans and sweaters. He estimated it cost All American $10 to $15 to manufacture a polo shirt, including fabric and labor. He sells them for about $28 to $38, or about half of what a polo shirt costs at Trump Tower. While the company mostly sells shirts to individuals, Mr. Nickol said he would welcome a customer like Mr. Trump. Mr. Nickol said he had witnessed the impact on his community when apparel manufacturers moved away. “And the only way we could think of to fix that was to keep jobs here,†he said. While clothing manufacturing is unlikely to return to the United States, specialty items or apparel has promise. Todd Shelton, a fashion designer who makes sleek separates and sells them online, sews his clothes at a factory in East Rutherford, N. J. But there are namely price. A pair of women’s jeans made by Todd Shelton costs $200 an Oxford shirt is $180. And cost is only one factor. Fashion is another. Recently, Ms. Trump tried to make a in the United States. She and one of her main partners, Marc Fisher, shopped a design to retailers, according to a person with knowledge of the venture. Buyers, though, didn’t like the design — and it never got made. With the Ivanka Trump brand, another variable now comes into play: politics. Ms. Trump served as a more polished emissary of her father’s messages during the campaign, and she is under pressure to bring jobs home. And in a postelection era, her carefully crafted public persona, which is at the heart of the brand, is at risk. Ms. Trump has found a way to commercialize female empowerment, selling petal pink sheaths and trendy shoes to young professionals on the go. Her brand’s hashtag #womenwhowork often accompanies pitches to buy her satchels and clothes. “She wants to make sure her reputation is unblemished,†said Marshal Cohen, a consumer behavior and retail analyst at the NPD Group, a research firm. Ms. Trump is already facing some blowback. She was criticized for meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan while completing a licensing deal with a company whose largest shareholder is wholly owned by the Japanese government. Consumers offended by her father’s inflammatory comments about minorities continue to boycott her line. Ms. Trump acknowledged the potential appearance of conflicts as her father prepared to move into the White House. She said she would step down as the head of her namesake brand if asked to become an adviser to her father and the Trump administration. “I would completely separate myself from my businesses,†said Ms. Trump, who is also considering a leave of absence from the Trump Organization, where she serves as an executive vice president for development and acquisitions. Representatives for Mr. Trump declined to comment. But it will not drastically change her company’s strategy. She and her team do not plan to move manufacturing back just to quell critics. “It’s great to say we want to do all of this, but we want to make responsible business decisions, too,†said Abigail Klem, president of the Ivanka Trump brand. “From a business perspective, we have to have longevity. †| 1 | [
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FMD1594 | 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: Depending on which study you look at, either 68% or 5 out of 6 individuals ... are making more on unemployment than they did on the job. Claim summaries: The National Bureau of Economic Research found 68% on UI were making more with unemployment with the federal supplement.
contextual information: A central part of the stalemate between the White House and Democrats in Congress over a new coronavirus relief bill is what to do about enhanced federal unemployment benefits. Democrats want to extend the $600 weekly payment, which expired at the end of July. President Donald Trump signed an executive order that would create a new $400 payment, but only if states set up a new system and contribute a quarter of the cost. Some Republican lawmakers are also hesitant to extend the benefit at all. This includes U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who, in an August 2, 2020, interview on WISN-TV's UPFRONT program, characterized the $600 in federal bonus money as a perverse incentive to keep people out of the economy. "Depending on which study you look at," he said, "either 68% or 5 out of 6 individuals, according to the Congressional Budget Office, are making more on unemployment than they did on the job." When asked to back up the claim, Johnson's office cited a May 2020 study by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a private nonprofit that conducts economic research, for the 68% statistic, and a June 2020 letter from the Congressional Budget Office's director to U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the Senate Finance Committee chair. The National Bureau of Economic Research study indicates that 68% of unemployed workers eligible for unemployment payments received benefits that exceed lost earnings, with 20% able to receive benefits that are double their lost earnings. The study noted that the $600 benefit, when combined with state unemployment, is meant to replace the mean U.S. wage. Most U.S. workers have weekly earnings below the national average. In contrast, most states base unemployment benefits on a percentage of previous earnings rather than a fixed amount, the study noted. Meanwhile, the CBO letter to Grassley stated that roughly five of every six recipients would receive benefits that exceeded the weekly amounts they would expect to earn from work during those six months. So, Johnson is correct with the numbers in his claim. Now, let's look at the disincentive question, which is the essence of his point. Let's start with the same CBO letter Johnson cited. It indicated that the nation's economic output would be higher in the short term with the $600 benefit. That's because, in the near term, Americans on unemployment would spend the additional money, increasing consumer demand. To meet that higher demand, suppliers would increase production and hire more people—or call them back to work—to do so. Thus, extending the $600 could boost employment, at least to a degree. However, the letter also noted that the effects from reduced incentives to work would be larger than the boost to employment from increased overall demand for goods and services. Other reports link people not looking for work more closely to the availability of jobs rather than the extra money from the benefit. A July 14, 2020, Yale University study on the effect of the $600 benefit found that when it went into effect, workers who received larger increases in overall payments were not less likely to leave unemployment and find a job. Yale also found that workers with expanded benefits returned to their previous jobs at similar rates as those who did not receive the extra money. Moreover, a June 2020 analysis by the Chicago Federal Reserve states that those who receive unemployment benefits are more likely to look for another job more intensively than those who have exhausted their unemployment benefits. Indeed, researchers found in this analysis that once unemployed individuals exhaust their benefits, their search effort decreases. The analysis noted that, before the COVID enhancements, unemployment insurance—on average across the country—paid individuals 35% of their previous earnings. The analysis indicated that there is evidence that when the government extended the unemployment eligibility period in the past, the length of time people spent unemployed increased. However, researchers found that those collecting unemployment now are looking for work more intensively than unemployed people not receiving benefits. The intensity of the job search was measured in terms of hours spent searching and the number of applications submitted. In a television interview, Johnson said, "Depending on which study you look at, either 68% or 5 out of 6 individuals ... are making more on unemployment than they did on the job." He gets the numbers right, and the CBO acknowledges a disincentive to work. That said, other studies found that those who are unemployed and receiving the extra money are looking harder for work than those without it. In other words, those studies downplay the idea that the extra money is encouraging people to remain unemployed. Our definition for "Mostly True" is that the statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. That fits here. | 1 | [
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FMD1595 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: Moments before Catalonia s leader, Carles Puigdemont, baulked at declaring independence from Spain this week, cracks were already appearing in his secessionist ranks. Some members of his political alliance say they were waiting for him at Barcelona s 18th-century regional parliament building on Tuesday evening, fully expecting him to call for an independence vote in the chamber that night. Instead, after arriving late, to the cheers of thousands of supporters, the former journalist and lifetime advocate of independence told his allies an hour before entering the chamber that there had been a late change of plan, according to one of those present. There would be no vote. Instead, Puigdemont made a symbolic declaration of independence, then suspended it and called for negotiations with Madrid. We are annoyed, we are hurt, we are angry because he came up with a strategic change one hour before the parliamentary session, said Carles Riera, a member of the Catalan parliament from the far-left CUP party, which backs an unequivocal declaration of independence and whose support keeps Puigdemont s minority government alive. A spokesman for Puigdemont s party denied he had surprised all of his own political allies, saying his core coalition had agreed the plan in the morning. The CUP was not included in that morning meeting but was informed afterwards, the spokesman said, without saying when. The CUP s claim of betrayal reveals the shaky political foundations upon which Catalonia s independence movement is built, a jumble of parties ranging from anti-capitalists to free marketeers whose only common cause is to split from Spain. There are now doubts over Puigdemont s ability to survive the worst confrontation between Catalonia, a former principality with its own language and culture, and Madrid in 40 years. Members of the CUP say Puigdemont lost his nerve at the crucial moment. One CUP lawmaker present at the meeting, Eulalia Reguant, quit the day after, citing his reversal. Instead of persuading Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to accept talks, his gesture was met with an ultimatum: renounce independence by Thursday or Madrid will use its constitutional power to take control of the region directly. Now Puigdemont, 54, finds himself in a struggle with not only Madrid, but also internally with the CUP, which may end up being the bigger danger for his political career and for his prospects of winning another regional election on a pro-independence platform. The small CUP party had ousted Puigdemont s predecessor as Catalan president, Artur Mas, in 2015. It refused to back the mainstream independence coalition, Junts pel Si, unless Mas stepped down. If Puigdemont backs down and says we tried but this is not working, unilateral secession isn t doable, I don t think CUP will support him again, said Eurasia analyst Federico Santi. He said Puigdemont s party was already sliding in opinion polls. In the final hour before Puigdemont stood up in the regional parliament to announce that he was suspending the independence push, he also made it clear to those in his political circle that their voices were not the only ones that mattered. I am talking to the world, he told them when pressed for an explanation, according to two people who were present. Some in the room said they suspected he had taken a phone call from a senior EU figure in Brussels, though the heads of the two main EU political institutions, Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk, said it was not them. One EU official, however, said there was reason to believe that an emotional personal appeal Tusk had made publicly to Puigdemont a couple of hours before he was due to speak had weighed on the Catalan leader s decision. Puigdemont has always considered world opinion as crucial to Catalan independence: as a journalist in the 1990s, he traveled Europe to research media impressions of Catalonia and wrote a book, Cata ... que? (Cata ... what?). A supporter of the European Union, he switches easily from Catalan to Spanish, French or Romanian, the native language of his wife, whom he met at the Catalan News Agency he founded. The president made a speech which was very much addressed to EU institutions and governments, a Catalan government source said on condition of anonymity. Puigdemont also made clear that he considered it would be Spain s responsibility if it rejected his offer of dialogue. Several neighboring countries criticized Spain s use of force to disrupt Catalonia s Oct. 1 independence referendum, which had been banned by Madrid. Hundreds were injured when police used batons and rubber bullets on voters. The crackdown, though, fired up independence supporters and hardened expectations among Puigdemont s base that he would unilaterally declare independence in parliament. When he didn t, supporters watching his speech on large screens outside the assembly buried their heads in their hands, some wept, and they rolled up their Catalan flags and went home. Inside, the recriminations were well underway. Some lawmakers in Puigdemont s Junts pel Si coalition said they, too, had only been informed of his tactic at the 11th hour, though the spokesman for Puigdemont s party denied this. The government source said Catalan companies leaving the region in the days before his speech had also weighed on Puigdemont s mind. Several firms, including Catalonia s two major banks, moved their legal headquarters to other parts of Spain. Some anxious Catalan depositors traveled to neighboring regions to open bank accounts there. Jordi Alberich, director of Barcelona-based business association Cercle D Economia, met Puigdemont on Oct. 7. He seemed to be very conscious of the consequences of a unilateral declaration of independence, Alberich said. He was very worried about companies fleeing. | 1 | [
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FMD1596 | Task: Please determine whether the text is 0. Fake or 1. True. Answer directly without explanations. Text: WASHINGTON — The Trump administration proposed new rules on Wednesday to stabilize health insurance markets roiled by efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, by big increases in premiums and by the exodus of major insurers. The move came a day after Humana announced that, starting next year, it would completely withdraw from the public marketplaces created by former President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement. The proposed rules, backed by insurance companies, would tighten certain enrollment procedures and cut the health law’s open enrollment period in half, in hopes that a smaller but healthier consumer base will put the marketplaces on sounder financial footing and attract more insurance companies in states with limited choices. But part of the market’s problem stems from President Trump’s determination to repeal the health law while the White House and Congress struggle to find a politically acceptable replacement. Even as the Department of Health and Human Services worked to answer insurance company concerns, the Internal Revenue Service and Congress were taking steps that could add uncertainty to the jittery insurance economy. On Capitol Hill, conservatives declared that they are not about to accept a health law replacement that remotely resembles the Affordable Care Act. And the I. R. S. adopted a policy for the coming tax season that could weaken the requirement for people to have insurance. The tax agency said it was reversing one aspect of an Obama administration plan after Mr. Trump, on his first day in office, issued an executive order instructing agencies to reduce burdens imposed by compliance with the Affordable Care Act wherever legally possible. The proposed rules signal the Trump administration’s urgency in trying to keep other insurers from fleeing the market after Humana’s departure. The company said on Tuesday that it was losing money by insuring too many sick people without enough healthy ones enrolling. Humana had already scaled back its participation to 11 states this year, from 19 in 2016. Mark T. Bertolini, the chief executive of Aetna, said Wednesday that the marketplaces were in “a death spiral,†and at a conference sponsored by The Wall Street Journal, he declined to say if his company would participate next year. And Molina Healthcare, one of the few insurers that seemed to be financially successful under the health law, reported on Wednesday that it was losing money in the marketplaces. It threatened to drop out if its concerns about a program requiring the company to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to other insurers were not addressed. Dr. Patrick H. Conway, the acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the rules proposed on Wednesday “will help protect Americans enrolled in the individual and small group health insurance markets while future reforms are being debated. †But Democrats and consumer groups denounced the proposed rules, saying they would make it more difficult for people to enroll and increase costs for some consumers. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, the senior Democrat on the Finance Committee, said the rules sent “a clear message to the American people: Patients are not a priority, and insurance companies are back in charge. †Under the proposed rules, the annual open enrollment period would be reduced to about six weeks from two months. The shorter time frame would be similar to the open enrollment periods for Medicare and for many health plans. But the administration acknowledged that the shorter period “could lead to a reduction in enrollees, primarily younger and healthier enrollees†who often sign up near the deadline. Other parts of the rules would limit opportunities for people to hold off on buying insurance until they get sick, a phenomenon that has loaded many health plans offered under the Affordable Care Act with more expensive, sick customers than they expected. By manipulating a system that now precludes insurers from rejecting customers with medical conditions, consumers are avoiding the purchase of insurance when they are healthy and rushing in when they need it, insurers say. The rules also would require consumers to provide “supporting documentation†to prove they were eligible to enroll in health plans through HealthCare. gov outside the standard open enrollment season. The administration estimated that 650, 000 people annually could have their enrollment delayed because of the new requirement to verify eligibility. People can sign up after the deadline if they experience certain “life changes†like having a baby, getting married or losing insurance. Insurers have told the government for several years that people who sign up in a special enrollment period use up to 50 percent more services than those who sign up in the regular enrollment season. Insurers and Republican members of Congress welcomed the proposed changes, which will be published in the Federal Register on Friday, giving the public until March 7 to comment. Final rules are likely to be issued in March or April. Insurers must decide by early May what kinds of health plans they will offer in 2018. Senator Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee and chairman of the Senate health committee, said the proposals were “important first steps to rescue a collapsing Obamacare individual market. ’’ But insurers cautioned that the proposed rules, while helpful, would in no way provide a solution if, in a few weeks, Republicans introduce legislation to repeal major provisions of the Affordable Care Act, such as the requirement for most Americans to have coverage. Christopher W. Hansen, the president of the advocacy arm of the American Cancer Society, said the tighter restrictions on special enrollment periods could “cause problems for cancer patients,†delaying treatment and reducing their chances of survival. Changes being made by the I. R. S. could weaken incentives for people to obtain insurance. The tax agency said it would accept and process tax returns even if taxpayers failed to indicate whether they had coverage, qualified for an exemption or were paying the penalty for going without insurance. The individual mandate, requiring most Americans to have insurance, was to be enforced through the tax system. The I. R. S. said the requirement was “still in force until changed by Congress. †The government can deduct the amount of any penalty from refunds that would otherwise be sent to taxpayers. But it is unclear how it will use this authority. In the rules proposed Wednesday, the Trump administration said that it would generally allow states to determine whether insurance plans had enough doctors, hospitals and other health care providers to serve patients. The hope is that would lure more insurers into the market. Additionally, insurers could refuse to provide new coverage to consumers who failed to pay premiums owed in the previous year. If an insurer terminates coverage for nonpayment of premiums, it could require consumers to pay all premiums owed to that insurer before restarting coverage. And insurers would be allowed to sell health plans covering a smaller share of expected costs. The administration said consumers would have “more coverage options†as a result, but it acknowledged that some consumers could see increases in their deductibles and other costs. | 1 | [
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] | 1 |
FMD1597 | 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 Fauci the Villain in 'Dallas Buyers Club'? Claim summaries: A periodic reminder that movies are not real life.
contextual information: In December 2021, a meme circulated on social media claiming that Dr. Anthony Fauci, who leads the U.S. COVID-19 response and has become a figure of disdain for pandemic conspiracy theorists, was the real-life model for the villain in the 2013 movie "Dallas Buyers Club." The meme features images from the movie's promotional materials, including stars Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, and Jared Leto, alongside a black-and-white photograph of a young Fauci. It also includes text that reads: "Remember the movie 'Dallas Buyers Club' about a group of AIDS patients fighting for the right to use cheap, effective drugs against government bureaucrats in the pocket of Big Pharma? The bad guy was Dr. Anthony Fauci." First of all, we note that movies are not real life. Even if it were true that the villain in the movie was based on Fauci, that doesn't mean the story is completely factual rather than dramatized for the purpose of making a good movie. Producer Rachel Winter commented on this in a statement published by Slate in 2013: "[Screenwriters] Craig [Borten] and Melisa [Wallack] found the right blend of accuracy, not only for the medical details but for the legal and government issues that Ron faced. There was only so far we could go into 'procedural' mode; the movie had to be entertaining." And entertaining it was, racking up six Academy Award nominations and winning the Oscar for Best Actor, Supporting Actor, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling. Various aspects of the movie's script do not align with the claim that the villain in the film was modeled after Fauci, and we could not find any public statements made by anyone involved with the film indicating that the antagonist was based on him. The film is a classic tale of the heroic man who uses his ingenuity and grit to confront the uncaring and callous bureaucrats of Big Government. Although the protagonist in the story is a real person, the antagonists appear to be fictional characters. We do not know whether they are based on real people or amalgamations of individuals the protagonist encountered during his life. McConaughey plays Ron Woodroof, a hard-living Dallas electrician and rodeo rider who is diagnosed with HIV in 1985. At that time, an HIV/AIDS diagnosis was a death sentence because there was no treatment for the new epidemic. Woodroof is placed in a clinical trial for azidothymidine (AZT). The thrust of the movie is that there is a conspiracy between the government and the medical establishment to push "toxic" AZT on HIV patients, while Woodroof circumvents the system by going to Mexico and obtaining an unapproved cocktail of drugs and supplements from a doctor who lost his license to practice in the U.S. Woodroof then returns to form the Dallas Buyers Club with a transgender woman named Rayon (Jared Leto), where they illicitly sell the cocktail, initially for profit and later to save lives, only to be pursued by an FDA agent. The antagonist (or "bad guy") in the film is an FDA investigator, which is not an equivalent position to the one Fauci held at the time the events portrayed in the film took place. Fauci was an important public health figure during the HIV/AIDS epidemic, but he was not an FDA agent. He spent his career at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (part of the National Institutes of Health), becoming that agency's director in 1984, one year before the events in the film. The Washington Post reported in 2014 that neither the portrayal of AZT nor Woodroof's legal troubles were accurate in the film, noting, "AZT is actually a very effective therapy against HIV/AIDS." It was known to prolong life after a diagnosis. While it is true that the doses prescribed early in the epidemic were often too high, resulting in deleterious effects, those effects could easily be countered by lowering the dose or stopping the drug. The Post noted that AZT became an important part of lifesaving HIV/AIDS treatment for about a decade and, as such, saved "millions" of lives. The film included a title card at the end admitting as much. Its portrayal of the FDA's actions regarding such buyers clubs was also factually problematic, as in reality, the FDA did cooperate with them. Peter Staley, an HIV/AIDS activist who informally consulted on the film, told the Post: "The true story was that we made the system bend, and we used the system and needed the system. I wouldn't be alive today without the companies this film paints as evil, and I wouldn't be alive today without civil servants at the FDA who worked incredibly hard in the 1990s to get these drugs out there quickly." Furthermore, Woodroof's issues with the FDA largely stemmed from "his reluctance to stop using harmful treatments." In sum, there is no evidence that the antagonist in the movie was based on Fauci, and even if that were the case, that does not mean one should draw any real-world conclusions about Fauci based on a movie made for entertainment purposes. | 2 | [
"0",
"1",
"2"
] | 2 |
FMD1598 | 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 Biden Admin Restarting Border Wall Construction? Claim summaries: Joe Biden promised not to build "another foot of wall" during his 2020 campaign.
contextual information: In early April 2021, Snopes readers asked us to investigate rumors that U.S. President Joe Biden's administration was considering a continuous wall between Mexico and the U.S. and potentially restarting construction on it. Among the entities that highlighted the claim was Charlie Kirk's conservative political group, Turning Point USA. Through statements like the Facebook post displayed below, the group and other Biden critics attempted to frame the rumor as evidence of the president's alleged hypocrisy; he had promised not to build "another foot of wall" during his 2020 presidential campaign. While it was false to claim the Biden administration had warmed up to the border wall as a solution to immigration problems, it was true that funding was allowed for "limited construction" (via unspecified congressional actions) to occur during the Biden presidency, according to The White House. Below, we lay out evidence for those conclusions. First, the claim surfaced after Biden issued an executive order on Jan. 20 pausing a stream of federal funding toward border-wall construction initiated by former President Donald Trump. Trump had framed the multi-billion-dollar spending as a necessary step to curb illegal border crossings by people fleeing poor living conditions in Central American nations. By contrast, Biden dubbed the concept "a waste of money that diverts attention from genuine threats to our homeland security." As of Jan. 15, 2021, the government had spent $6.1 billion of the $10.8 billion in work it signed contracts to have done, according to a Senate Democratic aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity to The Associated Press (AP). Around that time, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the agency that oversees border security and operations, said the wall, in total, spanned 771 miles, including vehicle barriers and pedestrian fencing—about one-third of the length of the entire border. The Associated Press reported that Biden's executive order halted "immediately the obligation of funds related to construction of the southern border wall, to the extent permitted by law," and required his administration to determine the cost of canceling in-process construction contracts and whether the money could be spent elsewhere, according to the order and news reports.
Cut to April 5, when the Washington Times, a conservative-leaning news outlet, published an article titled, "EXCLUSIVE: Biden's DHS may restart border wall construction to plug 'gaps'." The reporting was based on notes supposedly documenting a meeting the previous week between Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) employees. It was unclear, based on The Washington Times report, when or under what circumstances the purported meeting took place, as well as how the media outlet obtained the notes. No reputable news outlet—such as The Associated Press or Reuters—reported on the alleged conversation about filling in "gaps" at the border wall (aside from Business Insider, which primarily recirculated The Washington Times' reporting). According to the purported notes, Mayorkas said CBP leaders have submitted proposals for "different projects" along the border wall because officials supposedly have the opportunity to finish or update certain areas. Here's his full quote in The Washington Times: "The president has communicated quite clearly his decision that the emergency that triggered the devotion of DOD funds to the construction of the border wall is ended. But that leaves room to make decisions as part of the administration, in particular areas of the wall that need renovation, particular projects that need to be finished," he said. He mentioned those parts include "gaps," "gates," and areas "where the wall has been completed but the technology has not been implemented." Put another way, despite Biden's order to stop pumping emergency dollars into the project, Mayorkas purportedly said an unidentified sum of money could still be used to repair or update certain areas. Such construction could include gates or technology improvements, according to his alleged comments. It is unclear how, or under what congressional action or work contract, border officials could legally access said funding for the potential construction. We reached out to agencies including the White House and DHS for clarity on that legality, and we did not receive a response. We will update this report when, or if, we do. During daily press briefings on April 6 and 7, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed previously approved congressional actions set aside funding for "some components of the wall" and "limited construction." Her comments did not explain the nature of that construction, nor when it would take place. Here's the verbatim transcription of her statement on April 6, according to an official White House transcript and C-SPAN video recording of the media event: "Wall construction remains paused, to the extent permitted by law. So some has already been funded through a congressional authorization and funding allocation. But as agencies develop a plan, it's paused while agencies are developing a plan for the President on the management of the federal funds. When the administration took office, as you referenced, funds had been diverted from congressionally appropriated military construction projects and other appropriated purposes toward building the wall. And wall construction was being challenged in multiple lawsuits—and for much of the wall, I should say; not all of it—by plaintiffs who allege serious environmental and safety issues. Under those circumstances, federal agencies are continuing to review wall contracts and develop a plan to submit to the President soon. It is paused. There is some limited construction that has been funded and allocated for, but it is otherwise paused." The following day, she reiterated the same points, stressing the administration's overall opposition to the border-wall concept, according to C-SPAN and a White House transcript. "There are some components of the wall that had already been allocated," she said. "We don't believe the wall is an answer. We have never believed the wall is an answer to addressing the challenges—immigration challenges at the border. There's a review underway of, kind of, where this funding had been allocated and not, but it's currently paused for the most part." Meanwhile, criticism of the Biden administration's alleged participation in border-wall construction surfaced among progressives. U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, tweeted on April 7: "It's shameful and unacceptable for @POTUS to continue the construction of Trump's xenophobic and racist wall."
In sum, the nature of the "limited construction" that could still take place on the wall under the Biden administration is unknown—no evidence showed it would extend the barrier's length. For that reason, and those listed above, we rate this claim a "Mixture" of true and misleading information. | 2 | [
"0",
"1",
"2"
] | 2 |
FMD1599 | 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: Video Doesn't Show Ukraine Soldiers Killing Civilians in Chechnya Claim summaries: The 2014 French drama film The Search is about Russia's invasion of Chechnya in 1999.
contextual information: In March 2022, a video was circulated on social media in an apparent attempt to justify Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The video, according to some social media users, supposedly showed Ukrainian soldiers ruthlessly killing civilians in Chechnya. The post reads: "This is what the Ukrainian army did when they entered Chechnya and executed an old man who was reciting a Surat Fatihah and today they are paying back for their crimes. Then Russia was with them now on Chechnya's side. A friend sent, if anyone is having a different version plz share." This is not a genuine video of civilians being murdered by soldiers. This is a scene from a movie. Furthermore, the movie soldiers in this film are playing Russians, not Ukrainians, killing Chechnyans at the start of the Second Chechnyan War. The above-displayed video comes from the 2014 movie "The Search" by French director Michel Hazanavicius about Russia's invasion of Chechnya in 1999. The scene above comes during the opening minutes of the movie. You can see the clip at the 3:50 mark of the following video: French director Michel Hazanavicius about Russia's invasion of Chechnya in 1999 Chechnya Profile - Timeline. BBC News, 17 Jan. 2018. www.bbc.com, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-18190473. Film Scene Viral as Russian Atrocities during Chechen War. Alt News, 11 Mar. 2022, https://www.altnews.in/a-clip-from-a-movie-on-chechan-war-shared-as-ukrainian-army-killed-old-man-and-his-wife/. Russias Wars in Chechnya Offer a Grim Warning of What Could Be in Ukraine. NPR.Org, https://www.npr.org/2022/03/12/1085861999/russias-wars-in-chechnya-offer-a-grim-warning-of-what-could-be-in-ukraine. Accessed 14 Mar. 2022. | 0 | [
"0",
"1",
"2"
] | 0 |
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